Thread by @pearlsephoni

#kagehina as dads 3, tokyo drift (now with Davi!! 💖)

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Tobio screwed his eyes shut tight against the headache looming like a threatening raincloud over his mind. "So...let me get this straight."

https://twitter.com/sinopiah/status/1639071049865388032

"Akechi took Davi's soft volleyball during lunch and wouldn't give it back, Luka heard Davi yelling and went to make Akechi give the ball back, but Akechi pushed *both* of you, and that's when Lili...got involved?"

"I pushed him!"

"...Right. Pushed him."

Tobio finally opened his eyes to look at his kids, all in a row on the couch like battered ducklings. Davi's scowling face was swollen from tears, Luka's hands and elbows were bandaged, and Lili's knees were scuffed from diving after the bully and wrestling the ball from him.

The ball at the center of it all was clutched in Davi's lap, unscathed apart from the streaks of dirt smeared across its soft surface.

"Lili, how did you even know what was going on? Aren't the third graders in a different schoolyard?"

"Mako-chan told me! And the teachers couldn't stop catch me!"

A badly-stifled snort erupted from Tobio's side, followed by a grunt when he stuck his elbow out. "Why didn't you tell any of the teachers what happened?"

"They would only yell and make Akechi give the ball back! And then he'd do it again! But now he won't mess with Davi anymore."

Tobio couldn't be bothered with cutting off Shoyo's laughter that time. He was too busy pressing his own lips thin against a smile.

At first glance, Lili didn't look anything like either father. None of their kids did. But when she frowned like that and stuck her nose in the air, she looked so much like Shoyo in their first year, Tobio felt like he could die from feeling so much love.

"Lili...," Shoyo began slowly, carefully, in that way Tobio recognized from the few times he actually thought before speaking. "We're glad you stood up for your brothers, and we're glad none of you got hurt any worse. But..."

He paused and looked at Tobio, giving him a clear view of the panic in his warm eyes. Tobio understood perfectly—Shoyo would've done the same thing for Natsu, and he knew Miwa would've done the same for him. And they didn't want to discourage Lili's fiercely protective spark.

"Just...be careful, okay?" Tobio said. Whatever the kids were expecting him to say, it wasn't that. All three faces went slack from surprise. "You should always protect yourselves and your family, but we don't want you getting yourself badly hurt."

"What you did today was good: you stopped him from hurting your brothers more and got the ball back. After that, you walk away. You should always end the fight, never start it, okay?"

"But didn't you and Papa get into a fight?"

He was never leaving the kids alone with Miwa again. "That...wasn't bullying. That was an argument that went too far. And it didn't happen again."

Shoyo's eyebrows raised at the white lie, but Tobio looked away before he could say anything. "Luka, you did the right thing, too."

Their middle child perked up, eyes widening before his face split into a sunny smile. He had the brightness of the sun where Lili had the burning heat, two parts of the whole that made up Shoyo.

Davi, on the other, didn't wear any smile. He just curved around the ball in his lap, eyes dry but lips still pouted out. Tobio glanced at Shoyo and got a nod, before his husband said, "Alright, little warriors, let's get you some juice!"

"I want ice cream!"

"But juice will make you stronger! C'mon." With that, he tugged the 7 and 8 year olds up and led the way to the kitchen, leaving Tobio alone with their youngest.

"Davi...what's wrong?"

He didn't say anything, just clung tighter to the ball.

With a soft sigh, Tobio crouched in front of him and leaned down to look at his hidden face. "Hey...talk to me, kiddo. Why so sad?"

"I wanna fight by myself," Davi mumbled. "I don't want Nii-chan and Nee-chan to protect me."

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing."

"You've got a cool brother and sister who love you and want to protect you. What's embarrassing about that?"

Davi paused for a beat, stumped, before deciding on, "It's cooler to do it by myself."

"Mm...maybe. But you don't have to be good at fighting. You're already so good at other things. You love drawing and singing, and you are way better in school than Papa and I ever were."

That finally coaxed a smile to Davi's lips.

He'd heard about the way they had fought for their lives to get passing grades and be able to go to training camps. Because of course Miwa was only too happy to share those stories, too. At least they were letting Tobio see his son smile again.

"Nee-chan and Nii-chan want to protect you, Davi. And you can help them, too, in other ways. That's what families do. We help each other. Okay?"

Davi stared hard at his volleyball, the softer filling dipping under his clutching fingers.

Then, all at once, it was rolling to floor as he let go of it and flung his arms around Tobio's neck. The momentum of the hug nearly tipped Tobio back, but he managed to steady himself and catch his son in warm arms.

Davi was only six, but already knew how to express himself in actions rather than words. He was quiet and awkward, but so hard-working and loved fiercely in a way that Tobio recognized. If their youngest was going to be anything like him, he was glad he'd gotten his passion, too.

That evening, Tobio sat on the master bedroom floor, filing his nails while Shoyo finished washing up. Usually he would be done by the time Shoyo crawled into bed, and would slide in next to him after turning the lights on.

After the day they'd had, he shouldn't have been surprised to get a lapful of his husband instead, before he could get off the floor. He still grunted with the sudden weight, and frowned up at Shoyo's glinting eyes. "What?"

"You look so serious."

"That's just my face, dumbass."

"Tobio."

"What?"

"We're married. I think I know what my husband's face usually looks like."

Tobio tried to hold on to his scowl, he really did. But a single kiss from Shoyo made him melt, like always, and he ended up leaning his forehead on his bare shoulder.

"Hey," Shoyo whispered, stroking his fingers through Tobio's hair and making him melt even more. "What's wrong? Is it Davi?"

Tobio nodded weakly into his shoulder. "I know there's no point worrying about what might happen," he mumbled, "but...what if this happens again?

"Neither of us got bullied, Sho. How are we supposed to know how to help him?"

"We talk to other people," Shoyo murmured, "and we make sure the teachers know what happened. The kids know they're allowed to protect themselves and each other. He'll be okay, Tobio."

The quickness of his answer told Tobio that he had been thinking about the same thing all day. "I don't want him to get hurt. Any of them."

"Me, neither. We can only do so much to protect them when they're away from us.

"But when they're home, we can help them heal, and we will love them. Whatever happens, they know they can come home and be safe and loved. We can at least do that."

"Yeah...but I wanna do more."

He didn't expect to earn a soft laugh with his response.

"Me, too, Tobi. Me, too."

They sat in silence for a moment, squished against their bedroom wall with their arms tight around each other. Shoyo only shifted when Tobio began pressing light kisses along the strong of his shoulder up to his neck. "Let's go to bed?"

"Mm."

But Tobio didn't loosen his hold, not until Shoyo laughed from the ticklish brushes of his lips on his throat and gently pushed at his shoulders. "Lemme go!"

Tobio grunted before finally releasing him, letting him stand up and tug him to his feet.

In bed, Tobio wrapped his arms back around Shoyo and tucked him under his chin, burying his nose into his hair. "Love you," he mumbled.

"Love you, too," he heard and felt whispered against his throat. Sleep came easy after that. It always did, with Shoyo in his arms.

//fin

I...am not a parent lmfao but I've dealt with my fair share of kids whining when they experience literal pushback from classmates, and my response (after checking for injuries) has always been, "if you don't want that happening to you, then don't do it to others." So...cheers lol