After High School

Chapter 25

Noya's POV
I sat there silently. I didn't mean for Aku to hear that... As much as I resented him and his father, Aku was just a 4 year old. All he wanted was what anyone else wanted.. All he wanted was love and affection. Probably moreso since he was a neko. Nekos were always looking for approval and affection. It's part of why we were so easy to sell. We were eager to please if trained right.

I sighed, burying my face into my hands. I didn't know what time it was. No idea when Asahi had left... I quietly stared at the table underneath me. What was I going to do.. I couldn't, I just couldn't keep doing this to Aku. He'd grow up worse than his father if I continue to treat him like this. And.. he's to old to put up for adoption. He'd understand he was being given away, and I don't think even I could go through with that.

"Daddy?? Are you okay?" I looked over, picking Takeo up and setting him on my lap. Kissing his forehead and gently petting his ears.

"Yeah. I'm okay.. Where's your sister?"

"She's still asleep."

"I see.."

"Where's Aku?"

"He went to work with your dad."

"Why?"

"..It was for his birthday. He wanted to go with your dad today." I lied, Takeo shrugging as he held onto me. He busied himself playing with my tail as I looked at him. I felt an awful guilt eating away at me as I held my son close to me.. I was glad Aku went to work with Asahi. I needed some time to think about what to do.

Asahi's POV
I sighed, checking the time. Alright... break time. Aku was still hanging onto me silently. This whole time, his ears have been laid back and his tail has been tucked between his legs shamefully. I gently pet his head, getting him to look up at me slowly.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, Aku shrugging. He must be. He's skipped breakfast and hasn't eaten anything. And it was 1 in the afternoon. I carried him to the break room, holding him in one arm while getting myself a cup of coffee with the other. The others in the room looked over and kind of stared at my son. The stares making him turn more shy as he hid his face in my chest.

I held him closer, glaring at the people whispering or staring. Most of them got their snacks, water, coffee, whatever they were here for before leaving. The break room was now empty, so I sat down at the little table and pulled over a box of donuts someone had brought in.

"Want one?" I said, opening the box and grabbing one of the sweets. Aku looked at it before quietly taking the donut and nibbling at it. He had a sweet tooth like Noya. I was surprised that Katsumi and Takeo didn't have it as well. Of course both of them liked sugar, almost all kids do, but they didn't have the same sweet tooth as their dad.

I cuddled Aku as he ate, holding him close and petting his ears when I wasn't using my free hand to sip my coffee. It was unfortunate I didn't get to spend a lot of time at home with the kids or with Noya. But work kept me busy and I couldn't afford any break. It was kind of nice to have Aku here. I know Noya wasn't exactly aware, but Aku was actually very, very sweet. And he tried to please his dad. He wanted his affection like he showed to his older siblings.

He'd offer to help cook even though he didn't know how to. He's always drawing pictures of him and Noya together. He'd try and behave and not wrestle too much with his siblings. But he always ended up being the one who got scolded or blamed for things. Sometimes things that weren't his fault or were beyond his control.

After he was done eating, I carried him back to my office and sat back down. Aku watched me work for a while, looking semi-interested. I leaned over, grabbing a notepad and some pens from my desk.

"Want to draw?" I said as I offered him the supplies. He looked at it hesitantly before taking the notepad and pen in my hand. I only had old clothing designs I was gonna scrap in that book, so he was free to draw all over them or color them in or whatever he wanted. I was a bit worried about the pens since those were very good quality colored pens for cloth design, but I had nothing else and he needed something to cheer him up.

Aku got busy drawing, his ears returning to a normal position and his tail swaying slightly. Another few hours passed, and Aku fell asleep in my lap. I took the notepad and took a peak at what he had been drawing. He had colored in some of my old designs. Good to know that he thought yellow looked good on everything.

I chuckled slightly while flipping through the colorings. Once the old sketches were run out, Aku started drawing his own "designs". Honestly, they weren't the worst things in the world. At least not for a 4 year old's work. After flipping through all the pages, I put the book and pens away.

By the end of the evening, Aku seemed anxious. I could tell he didn't want to go home, but he couldn't avoid his dad forever, and I knew he truly didn't want too. Once we were home, I held him close and looked around.

"Noya?" I called out, hearing a response from our room. I walked to our bedroom, Noya glancing at Aku who just kept his face hidden in my shoulder. Noya looked a bit guilty about early, and he looked like he had been crying.

"Let me take him to bed. And I'll be back.." I said, wanting to see what was wrong and to comfort Noya. But before I could leave the room, Noya shook his head and walked over. His eyes were red and slightly puffy from indeed crying.

"No.. I'll take him to bed." He said, surprising me greatly. Aku didn't resist when Noya carefully took him from my arms and instead just latched onto his dad. I watched Noya walk off towards Aku's room in silence. I hope that he's been thinking about today and this is his decision.