"Alright, let's get you tucked in and ready for your bedtime story," Mayuzumi said as he pulled the blanket up to Tetsuya's chest.
They had just come back from the airport and Tetsuya convinced him to sleep with him tonight after Akashi had him occupy the guest room at the mansion.
"What story would you like me to read, Tetsuya?" Mayuzumi asked, combing the silky blue strands of Tetsuya's hair.
"This one!" Tetsuya said, showing him a hardbound marroon book that looked like it belonged to Midorima.
"Where did you get that?" Mayuzumi asked with a smile and skimmed the contents of the book to see a compilation of poems.
"I borrowed it from Shintaro-nii," Tetsuya answered with a smile.
"But these aren't stories, Tetsuya, they're poems,"
"I know," Tetsuya answered. "We learned about them in school. They have rhymes in the end. But... they tell stories too, right, Chihiro-nii?"
Mayuzumi was actually astonished to hear Tetsuya speak when just a few years ago the only words Tetsuya could say was 'nii-chan' that was always addressed to Akashi. But now, after just three short years, words spill out of his mouth in truth and in curiosity and Mayuzumi was impressed at how Tetsuya was as smart as Akashi had described him.
"Yes, they do," he answered with a smile but positioned himself to sit next to Tetsuya and opened the book.
He turned the pages and tried to find any entry on the compilation that would interest Tetsuya. He was halfway through the book when the child pointed at a certain page and said, "That one,"
The word Voyage was in bold-italic that indicated the title of the five-stanza poem. Mayuzumi scanned through the lines about the author being on a voyage that would take him far from his beloved but promised his return one day.
Mayuzumi took a deep breath before he started to read the poem.
"I take a step forward and felt my heart shatter
Like how glass does in a noisy clatter
Something heavy weighted me down
And I felt like crying with a frown.
I took another step and I heard her cry
My heart shattering once more, I might die
I couldn't look back, paralyzed on my feet
As she called out and continued to weep.
She asked me to come back to her
Back in her arms and stay there forever
But I had to take a step away
My eyes on the horizon as I stood from the bay.
I had to move forward and leave her behind
Even though leaving would have me lose my mind
I loved her very much but I had to go
And I watched as, in her eyes, faded hope.
'Goodbye, my love' I whisper to the winds
Hope that it would carry to her and forgive my sin
But I will return in her arms once more
Hoping she'll still be there to open the door."
Tetsuya smiled sleepily at the book as he rested his head on Mayuzumi's chest. "Do you want me to continue reading to the next poems?" Mayuzumi asked.
Tetsuya shook his head and Mayuzumi smiled as he put the book away and kept Tetsuya close to him as he hummed a lullaby to help him sleep.
"That man was sad for leaving his love behind, wasn't he, Chihiro-nii?" Tetsuya asked.
"Yes," Mayuzumi answered. "But he will return. He said so in the end, so it's not a sad ending,"
"Do you think Papa will do the same?" Tetsuya asked and Mayuzumi froze.
"Do you think Papa will come back?" Tetsuya asked and looked at Mayuzumi who was caught off guard by his question, "Do you think he'll come back with Mama too?"
"I-I... I can't say," Mayuzumi forced himself to answer and forced himself to recover from his shock.
"Mama told me I looked a lot like him," Tetsuya answered as he remembered the days where he stayed with his mother who used to hurt him and curse him for being born. "Do I look like Papa, Chihiro-nii? Have you seen him before?"
Before Tetsuya was born, his mother worked as a theater actress in their town and have captivated millions with her acting skills, but only had eyes towards a tourist who came to visit their town for business. They met and eventually fell in love and she had convinced the tourist to stay with her for good. Mayuzumi, at the time, had just graduated from college and was reviewing for his board exams when he received a call from his parents and asked him to come home.
That day, he saw his aunt-- broken and crying her eyes out in the arms of Mayuzumi's mother. She cursed the man she fell in love with after finding out that he was in another relationship and had left her for it. That was when Mayuzumi's mother offered her a place in their home since his aunt didn't want to go back to her house where she shared tons of memories with the man she once loved.
Everything went out well, until weeks later, and his aunt found out that she was pregnant with a baby from the same man that destroyed her heart-- she was pregnant with Tetsuya. Enraged, she wanted an abortion as she said it would only remind her of the man that ruined her. But Mayuzumi's mother convinced her to keep the baby and even offered that they'd adopt it once it was born.
Mayuzumi had never been so proud and happy the moment he heard Tetsuya's cries echoing through the nursery and he easily spotted the wailing baby boy with cyan-blue hair and eyes. But his and his parents' joy didn't reach his aunt-- the very mother of the said baby-- who looked down at the infant in both disgust and anguish.
"He looks a lot like his father," were her first words to her baby, tears of bitterness trailing down her face.
"Yes... you look like him," Mayuzumi answered the child's question.
"Have you seen him before, then?"
Mayuzumi smiled, but it never reached his eyes. "It's getting late, Tetsuya, you should get some rest," he said and started to comb the child's hair to help him fall asleep.
"Chihiro-nii," Tetsuya called, his eyes heavy as he slowly welcomed sleep. "They will come back for me, right? Papa and Mama will come back home?"
Mayuzumi didn't answer and he was glad that Tetsuya had finally fallen asleep. He wouldn't have to lie to him that night.
A movement caught his eyes and Mayuzumi finally acknowledge the presence that had been hiding behind the barely closed door and overhears his conversation with his cousin. Mayuzumi slowly removed himself from Tetsuya and silently tucked him in bed before making his way out of the room to see Akashi leaning against the wall beside the door he had just come out.
Akashi had his head hung low as he took an interest on the ground, and he had a sort of vibe waving off of him-- a combination of anger, sadness, and confusion.
"How much did you hear?" Mayuzumi asked, closing the door behind him.
"Enough to know that being by his side is not enough for him," Akashi answered bitterly
Mayuzumi looked at him then sighed silently. "Have I told you that you can be pretty stupid for a businessman?"
Akashi opened his mouth to argue, but Mayuzumi beat him to it.
"Of course he's looking for his parents. He grew up seeing his mother for four years only to be shipped into your doorsteps as if he was a sort of package to be delivered," Mayuzumi answered. "Of course he'd start looking for them after seeing his classmates and friends able to spend their time with their family. Of course, he'd start asking questions without knowing how hard it might be to answer them. He will start asking and he will continue to ask unless you tell him the truth,"
"How am I supposed to tell him that?" Akashi asked, his voice wasn't raised but it had enough tone to let Mayuzumi know he had hit a nerve. "How am I supposed to tell him that his mother died when he moved away? That his father was somewhere in the globe and didn't want him? That he had a broken family? That the only ones who cared about him are me and you and the rest of the guys living under the very same roof?"
"Just how it is," Mayuzumi answered so calmly that it caught Akashi off guard. "Tell him how it is... he'll understand,"
"And if he doesn't?"
"Why does it feel like I know your brother more than you do?" Mayuzumi countered. "Tetsuya is a nice kid. He will understand,"
Akashi took a deep breath.
"You aren't worried about him knowing the truth, aren't you?" Mayuzumi guessed.
No, he wasn't. Akashi didn't mind telling Tetsuya what really happened to his mother, he didn't mind telling him that his father left just before he was born, he didn't mind telling him that the only family the boy has was him, Mayuzumi and the rest of the gang.
He worried that if the time comes, and his father decides to come back and take him away-- like how Mayuzumi tried once-- Tetsuya might come with him. He was afraid to lose him again... to see him walk away before his very eyes... to have no right to keep him... to just watch and cry for him to come back-- like how the woman in the poem did.
What will he do if Tetsuya doesn't choose to stay with him?
"Akashi," Aomine's voice brought him back to reality and they both looked at Aomine who held a folder in his hands.
"You should rest," Akashi told Mayuzumi then walked towards Aomine where they started discussing matters in a hushed tone as they moved to Akashi's office.
Mayuzumi looked at the redhead and heaved out a sigh, "You aren't related by blood but you prove your brothers by being both annoyingly stubborn," he muttered to himself before going back inside Tetsuya's room.
***
Tetsuya smiled up at him as they took a stroll in the park and Akashi had never been happy to see his little brother smiling. He was eating vanilla ice cream and was joining Akashi on a bench while they watched as the rest of the children played among the playground stationed at the park.
"Are you happy, Tetsuya?" Akashi asked and the little boy broke into a grin.
"I am, nii-san! Thank you!" he said, licking the frozen sweet. "But you know... I'll be happier with Papa,"
Akashi tore his gaze from the view in front of them and down at the cyan-haired child that sat next to him. "What?" he asked, his heart beating in his chest.
"Tetsuya!" an unfamiliar voice called and Akashi looked ahead. A man older than Akashi was stood at the other side of the park-- his blue hair resembled Tetsuya's as well as his eyes. He smiled at the child beside Akashi and held out a hand. "Come, Tetsuya, let's go home,"
Akashi's eyes widened and made a move to stop Tetsuya from standing up. But he was already gone from his seat, his frozen treat already forgotten and was now on the dirty ground.
"Nii-san," Tetsuya's voice caught his attention and saw his brother up ahead, holding hands with the man he awfully resembled with. He was smiling at Akashi who gaped at him. "I'm going home now. I'm going home with Papa,"
Akashi stood. "No," he whispered and ran after them but he never got close as they continued to walk away from his sight. "No! Tetsuya! No please! Don't leave! Come back! No! Don't take him! No!"
In his bed, Akashi gripped his sheets as his brows furrowed and his lips formed a frown while his eyes were shut closed. "Tetsuya..." he whispered, tears escaping his eyes as he dreamed of his brother leaving him behind-- just like how his mother did.