Bokuto yawned, leaning over Emiko's crib. "Mm... do you miss mommy too?"
Emiko whined at him.
"I miss mommy..." Emiko reached up for him. Bokuto picked her up carefully and moved her hair from her face. "I feel so bad that he's got to go somewhere else... I can't help him anymore."
Emiko grabbed his shirt, babbling.
"Eh..."
"Banana!"
"Alrighty..." Bokuto went into the kitchen and grabbed a small bowl and an apple sauce. "You must want him to take care of you instead. I don't blame you."
"Daddy!"
Bokuto turned. "Great job!"
Emiko squealed. "Daddy!"
Bokuto set the bowl down and kissed her hair. "Gah you're so cute."
Emiko giggled. She found the bowl on her tray and put her hand in it.
Bokuto chuckled. "It's probably better if I feed you." He picked up a spoon and fed her slowly, making little airplane noises so that she was entertained while she ate. "Yum, right?"
Emiko squirmed. She started getting fussier as she sat in her high chair, frustrated by something. Bokuto finally picked her up and realized she needed to be changed into a new diaper.
"Ack... okay time to actually do something. Come on brain, don't give out on me this time."
****
Akaashi whined, turning over in the bed he'd been set in. Tendou looked up. "Oh you're awake!"
"Unfortunately..."
"Ah you pessimist." Tendou got up. "You feeling better?"
"Yeah... just sore right now."
"Yeah. I'm sorry about that. Ushijima is well..." Tendou coughed. "Large."
"For an omega he is... "
"Yep! My precious little omega." Tendou smiled. "You should see what happens when he goes into heat."
"I'd rather not."
"He'll be going in today though. That should be fun."
Akaashi sat up. "He's too gentle."
"Not my fault you didn't like when I did it."
"I don't even remember what happened."
"Really?" Tendou tensed. He felt Akaashi's forehead and sighed. "No fever. You should remember what happened. It was pretty odd."
"What happened?"
"You wouldn't stop crying. You were begging for Bokuto even though it felt good... So I got Ushy. He's the closest thing I had to Bokuto and was all in for it."
Akaashi rubbed his eyes. So he'd cried? That was embarrassing. He understood the want for Bokuto. They were mates. That happened. But full on crying for him while someone took care of him? That wasn't something that had ever happened before and was somewhat shocking to him.
"S-Satori!"
"Coming!"
Akaashi got himself dressed, wincing. Today was his rest day. He should have been fine but it hurt too much. He should have been resting right now with Bokuto but instead he'd had to stay here at Tendou's apartment while he was in heat.
Tendou and Ushijima both took care of him this time instead of Bokuto. Bokuto was fine with it but it was very strange.
Akaashi left and drove himself home. He was tired though, trying his best to focus on the road and not fall asleep at the wheel. He got home safely and as soon as he closed the door, he just laid in the entryway. He was exhausted anyways, so this wasn't too bad.
****
"Keiji! I heard the door open!" Bokuto walked out into the living room. "Keiji?"
Bokuto looked around, holding Emiko on his hip with care. He spotted Akaashi and set the child on the couch. He hurried to pick Akaashi up, worried that he had hurt something. Akaashi startled awake, confused.
"Hey, hey, hey why're you sleeping on the floor silly?"
"Eh... I guess I was too tired to make it to our room in time for me to fall asleep. Sorry about that."
"It's okay!" Bokuto set him on the couch as well. "Did they do the aftercare stuff that I told them about or not?"
"Ah no... I took a bath though. I think. I don't know I was so tired that I couldn't remember anything at all."
Bokuto stared at him. "You mean they didn't take care of you? At all?"
"Pretty much."
"Eh... I don't like that. If they take care of you in that way then you should be able to be taken care of in the other way."
"Koutarou let's not be rude or get angry. Please. I'm tired."
"Right, sorry." Bokuto gave him a glass of water.
Akaashi leaned back and sipped from the glass.
Bokuto picked Emiko up and kissed her head. "Mommy's home."
"Mimi!"
Akaashi smiled. "Mm. Hi princess."
Bokuto snuggled up next to Akaashi, holding Emiko. "She finally said "daddy" to me and it was so cute. She's adorable. I tried to get her to say mommy. She got close."
"Really?"
"Yeah…" Bokuto smiled. "Emmy, can you say mommy?"
"Mimi!"
"Eh. Wrong one. Ma-Ma."
"Mama!" Emiko shouted, smiling.
"Aw." Akaashi smiled. He closed his eyes for a second. "Tired..."
"Ah right. You need to be taken care of. Be right back." Bokuto hurried off and put Emiko in her room. He came back and brought Akaashi to their room.
"Thank you." Akaashi mumbled, taking his shirt off.
"It's okay!" Bokuto picked up the lotion and started rubbing his shoulders. "Here we go…"
Akaashi put his head back and took a deep breath. "Does Tendou just not do aftercare…? Cause he isn't gentle enough. Ushijima is too gentle. It's weird."
"Ah. So you got both of them?"
"Mhmm."
"I thought it would just be Tendou though? That was the agreement."
"Well… something happened so I couldn't be with him."
"What?"
"It's complicated."
"I don't think so. What happened to you?"
"I don't think you want to know."
"But-"
"Please."
"A-ah okay." Bokuto kept rubbing his shoulders, going down and rubbing his waist. He kissed the side of his head. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah. I'm just really tired." Akaashi coughed. "Whew. Sorry."
"It's okay." Bokuto gently kissed his shoulders. "He spotted a small bite and frowned. "He gave you hickeys…"
"He did?"
"Yeah…" Bokuto felt a wave of jealousy come over him.
"I'm so sorry."
"I need to get better faster. I don't like people marking you up. I hate it."
Akaashi turned and kissed him. "No more Tendou then. Or Ushijima. I'll find something else." He coughed again before closing his eyes. "Cold."
Bokuto wrapped him up in a blanket. "I'll get the thermometer."
Akaashi nodded.
Bokuto came back and pressed the thermometer to his forehead. "Oh that's not good…"
"What is it?"
"One hundred and one (37 C). Um…" Bokuto picked up his phone and keys. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna get you medicine and stuff."
Akaashi nodded. "Thank you."
"Of course." Bokuto kissed his forehead. "I love you~"
"I love you too." Akaashi burrowed into his blankets. He watched Bokuto as he left, smiling faintly.
Bokuto was worried and he could see that but he'd smiled. Not his little fake one. He'd been so happy to see Akaashi back home.