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synergetic2024-08-08 06:22 pm
senselessness) wrote in synergetic2024-08-08 06:22 pm
Entry tags:
Sometime in the future...
Himawari's crying was usually enough to make her doting father fly, an anxiety-inducing siren call that hit something primal in a part of his soul so deep he hadn't even known it was there--
But there on the stairs, directly in his way, was a different little damsel in distress, and she was not an obstacle he needed to overcome, she was not a problem he needed to solve, and if he kept saying this to himself he might believe it.
"Yukiko-chan, what's the matter?" Yukimura glanced up at the exact part of the ceiling that happened to be underneath his infant's crib and wondered why humans hadn't evolved X-ray vision.
"My tummy hurts."
"Still?" He was concerned. It'd been a couple of hours since she'd gone to lay down over it. He hadn't wanted to jump right to medicine, especially since it would have been somewhere in Bunta's boxes and crates, and he didn't trust himself to recognize the right one anyway.
"It's because I didn't have Hanabi to stay with me," she said, with the roughly the same conviction he'd had when he said he was going to go undefeated across all three years of middle school.
No, when he ordered his teammates to go undefeated.
She was going to be formidable if she took up sports.
"Did Daddy pack Hanabi up?" He'd seen pictures of the stuffed mouse Jackal gave her the day she was born, but no sign of it (her?) since he'd welcomed the Maruis into his home late last night. (Or was it early this morning? The commencement of Himawari's control over his life seemed to have negated his awareness of the passage of time.)
"When did you last see her, and where? Do you remember what box Daddy might have put her in? Or where he put the boxes?"
Yukiko just started up at him with a slowly crumpling face, and Yukimura might have said a few things Yukiko shouldn't repeat, but he knew damn well she'd immediately repeat them, probably to her brother, and he needed to calm her down after his barrage of questions clearly overstimulated her.
And he should have gotten Atobe to move in, because that bastard did have X-ray vision, he thought, as Himawari wailed again.
"Let's go look upstairs together," he said quickly, hoping against hope that Marui managed to get some of the kids' belongings upstairs by now. "I'll carry you," he added, assuming it would be faster and leave less risk of him trampling her in his need to get to Himawari, now.
He opened his arms and luckily she cooperated, and he forced himself not to groan because he'd had no idea she was this heavy and what if he needed to check Himawari's temperature, he was going to need a free arm, could he hold her with just one? At least he didn't have to choose which one... his athleticism was getting him up the stairs under the weight of an eight year old girl and he'd developed Mirage Mirror so he could use either hand for anything, right? Right.
There were crates between Himawari's and Yukiko's room, luckily, and Yukimura somehow, with Herculean strength, kicked it into Himawari's room so he split his attention between both girls.
"Now my ears hurt," said Yukiko, and Yukimura gave her a little squeeze.
"I'm sorry, honey."
"She needs a Hanabi too."
"Soon, soon," he murmured, shifting Yukiko, who, with the patience of a saint and not an elementary schooler, waited for him to look over Himawari frantically.
"What's the matter, darling?" he wondered out loud, unable to stop himself from hoping for an eloquent and detailed answer.
But there on the stairs, directly in his way, was a different little damsel in distress, and she was not an obstacle he needed to overcome, she was not a problem he needed to solve, and if he kept saying this to himself he might believe it.
"Yukiko-chan, what's the matter?" Yukimura glanced up at the exact part of the ceiling that happened to be underneath his infant's crib and wondered why humans hadn't evolved X-ray vision.
"My tummy hurts."
"Still?" He was concerned. It'd been a couple of hours since she'd gone to lay down over it. He hadn't wanted to jump right to medicine, especially since it would have been somewhere in Bunta's boxes and crates, and he didn't trust himself to recognize the right one anyway.
"It's because I didn't have Hanabi to stay with me," she said, with the roughly the same conviction he'd had when he said he was going to go undefeated across all three years of middle school.
No, when he ordered his teammates to go undefeated.
She was going to be formidable if she took up sports.
"Did Daddy pack Hanabi up?" He'd seen pictures of the stuffed mouse Jackal gave her the day she was born, but no sign of it (her?) since he'd welcomed the Maruis into his home late last night. (Or was it early this morning? The commencement of Himawari's control over his life seemed to have negated his awareness of the passage of time.)
"When did you last see her, and where? Do you remember what box Daddy might have put her in? Or where he put the boxes?"
Yukiko just started up at him with a slowly crumpling face, and Yukimura might have said a few things Yukiko shouldn't repeat, but he knew damn well she'd immediately repeat them, probably to her brother, and he needed to calm her down after his barrage of questions clearly overstimulated her.
And he should have gotten Atobe to move in, because that bastard did have X-ray vision, he thought, as Himawari wailed again.
"Let's go look upstairs together," he said quickly, hoping against hope that Marui managed to get some of the kids' belongings upstairs by now. "I'll carry you," he added, assuming it would be faster and leave less risk of him trampling her in his need to get to Himawari, now.
He opened his arms and luckily she cooperated, and he forced himself not to groan because he'd had no idea she was this heavy and what if he needed to check Himawari's temperature, he was going to need a free arm, could he hold her with just one? At least he didn't have to choose which one... his athleticism was getting him up the stairs under the weight of an eight year old girl and he'd developed Mirage Mirror so he could use either hand for anything, right? Right.
There were crates between Himawari's and Yukiko's room, luckily, and Yukimura somehow, with Herculean strength, kicked it into Himawari's room so he split his attention between both girls.
"Now my ears hurt," said Yukiko, and Yukimura gave her a little squeeze.
"I'm sorry, honey."
"She needs a Hanabi too."
"Soon, soon," he murmured, shifting Yukiko, who, with the patience of a saint and not an elementary schooler, waited for him to look over Himawari frantically.
"What's the matter, darling?" he wondered out loud, unable to stop himself from hoping for an eloquent and detailed answer.
no subject
Keita, immediately realizing his error, chimes in, "me too, me tooooooo!"
"Okay, okay." And offers a silent salute to Yukimura in acknowledgment of his request before turning around and--
Shit.
"Ah... Sorry. I didn't buy chocolate chips at the store. Yukiko, check the boxes in my room by the mini-fridge. There might be some in there. Be quick."
Meanwhile, Bunta sprays the pan, finishes mixing together the batter, and scoops a few dollops onto the surface. While they cook, he juggles preparation of whipping cream, strawberries, and banana. When the first batch comes off the heat, one small one goes onto its own plate and the other two are stacked with banana sliced over the top, then served to Yukimura. The end of the banana goes into a small dish and gets mashed with a spoon for Himawari, passed to Yukimura along with silverware for cutting up his and his daughter's cakes.
Keita eyes the pancakes longingly. "Daddy where's mine??"
"Up next, sport. Let's see if your big sister found any chips upstairs."
"Agghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm so hungryyyyy! They smell good!"
"Almost there."
Another batch goes into the pan while he cuts up another banana, a few strawberries, and finishes whipping the cream.
no subject
The smell of the pancakes frying alone is enough for him to think cooking at home more will be worth it. It would be nice to have Himawari think as highly of him as Yukiko and Keita do of their father. Nice if he can earn it.
He can at least start getting the banana into her system. Start with the familiar! Once she seems happy enough to stick her hand into the banana mash and... she's eating some of it, at least, and the floor is getting the rest... he takes a moment to cut up the pancakes.
"DADDY, WHICH BOX?" Yukiko suddenly hollers.
no subject
He flips the pancakes on the range to finish cooking.
"Keita, decision time. Do you want pancakes with no chocolate chips now, or do you want to wait to see if your sister finds them?"
"I WANT... CHOCK-A-CHIPS!"
"I hear you. We might not have any. How about one pancake with everything else while we wait and see?"
"YES PEAS."
"Roger that. Indoor voices for someone in the same room, remember!" He cheerfully reminds Keita and gets to work creating his plate, a couple of minutes later passing over a small fork and a plate of pancake already cut into bite-size pieces in a bed of whipped cream, the fruit and sprinkles scattered over the top.
While the next round of pancakes cooks, he grabs a paper towel and wipes up the banana mush.
"What do you think?" He asks Yukimura with a tip to the pancakes and his typical abundance of confidence. "Aren't they brilliant?"
no subject
And, belatedly, cuts up his own now-room-temperature pancakes to taste.
"If you want to go fishing, ask Tezuka," he added, after swallowing. "But I hope you make pancakes tomorrow, too."
no subject
"Well, challenge accepted: tomorrow I'll make something even more delicious."