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[Kokoro - Remix] Fatherhood
Title: Fatherhood
Fandom: Tokyo Mew Mew
Universe: Kokoro
Summary: Jishou's always dreamt of being a father, but most people don't take this dream seriously. After all, he's freaking Jishou Shirogane! Locally known prankster and troublemaker of the year! His girlfriend Liz thought she agreed with this assessment... until she realized that maybe he's got what it takes to be a father after all.
Notes: This is a remix of an old fic, Caring. The idea was to take the same plot and rewrite it as if I were currently coming up with it for the first time! I have no clue if I succeeded, but it's fun to see how my writing has changed over the years.
Only an idiot would think that Jishou Shirogane was cut out for fatherhood. Sure, most high schoolers weren't ready for fatherhood. Not when they worried about tests, prom dates, basketball games, and other typical nonsense that filled their social calendars. Shou couldn't adequately articulate it: whenever someone asked him why he felt so strongly about children, his tongue twisted in knots and he just stared glumly at his untied shoes.
Boys weren't supposed to think of their future children, were they? It was supposed to be abnormal. Brett and Max certainly didn't pay his woes much attention. They just shrugged and said "the time will come," before moving the conversation back towards the movie they'd seen last week or the book they read for school.
Plus, with a girlfriend like Liz, how were they supposed to raise a family? Liz always lost her temper at him over the stupidest things ("Jishou! Stop wallpapering my locker!!") and besides, she always told him no. Their personalities couldn't have been more opposite if they'd tried. What kind of stable family could live under their roof?
Liz hadn't exactly given children much thought, compared to her boyfriend. She'd always figured it would happen eventually, but she had to live in the present, where her prom date and upcoming history tests mattered more. The (imaginary) future kids would understand, right? Today was no exception to the calendar: she, Brett, Max, and Kotoko were supposed to spend the afternoon in the local park.
Brett had arrived late, as par for the course, but Jishou still hadn't arrived. Strange. He was always the first, no matter the weather. It was almost a sore point of pride for him! ("Even though my English sucks, I can still be early!" He'd once told her, much to her amusement.)
"You didn't get his call, Liz?" Max shot his good friend a worried glance. "I thought he told you he wasn't coming today."
Huh? She glanced over her shoulder at him. "He's not? What happened?"
"His family came into town." Brett smiled at her warmly as he folded his arms. "They invited us out to lunch, but I didn't think you'd be able to understand them."
Liz just stared at him blankly. "Brett, you wouldn't be able to understand them either. Don't you speak German?" What was he implying? That he'd magically learned Japanese overnight? Because last she checked, that was pretty close to impossible.
"Uh..." Brett laughed nervously, barely able to hide the sweat rolling down his cheeks. "Dictionary?"
His reply sent Max and Kotoko into a fit of laughter - the kind that they couldn't stop, even after a couple of minutes - and Liz really wanted to understand the joke. What was so funny about all this?
She didn't quite buy his 'dictionary' excuse, but she knew better than to call him out on it. "Whatever," she said with a small huff. "So when're we heading out?"
"About now, actually." Max stared down at his watch, before grabbing Kotoko by the arm.
Liz followed them, casually keeping pace with Brett. "So where's Cassie? I thought she was supposed to join us later."
"Her parents dragged her out for Fall Break," Brett said with a slight shrug. "It was kind of a last minute thing."
Oh. If Cassie were here, Liz would've felt more at ease - like her, Cass didn't understand Japanese, and she certainly didn't blend into the crowd the same way Max or Kotoko did. Nor did she have intimate connections to the Japanese community in the same manner that Brett did (as Brett grew up with them).
Guess she'd have to take the plunge all by herself and hope that her friends had her back! Liz gulped, before following them to the Shirogane Manor. If she fell, at least she fell trying.
"Niiiiiiiichan!"
Jishou laughed softly at the little girl sitting in his lap. Carefully brushing her hair, he then tied it neatly into a comfortable-looking braid. His hands kept up easily with the delicate work. It was fun, in a way: he hadn't helped anyone with their hair in a while, and most people in America thought him weird for knowing how anyways. "What? Am I pulling too hard on your hair, Ki-chan?"
She shook her head, almost causing Jishou to lose his grip on her hair. "Nope, but I missed you a lot! More than like, a thousand!" She then cast her gaze towards her older brother sitting on the opposite end of the room. "Sei-niichan missed you too, but he won't say so."
"Kirei-chan!" Their older brother sharply looked up from his book. If Jishou didn't know better, he would've sworn that his brother almost looked embarrassed. "You shouldn't put words into my mouth!"
"But I'm not." Kirei looked at him with huge, innocent-looking eyes. "I'm just saying that you miss niichan."
Jishou rolled his eyes at the scene. "No need to spell out the obvious, Ki-chan." A book almost flew at his head. "Jeez, niisan! Did college teach you how to do that?"
His older brother smirked. "I wish."
Figures! This guy passed for unathletic his whole life, only to have a killer arm when it mattered most. Jishou was half-tempted to toss that book back at him. "So what is university teaching you? It's clearly not medicine."
His older brother rolled his eyes. "The classes are fine. Just focus on Kirei-chan's hair, will you? She'll whine about it all night if it's not perfect."
"Will not!"
To which Jishou and his older brother both responded, "Will too."
A loud knock sounded, and a servant peered through the door to announce the arrival of young Master Max, Master Brett, Miss Elizabeth, and Miss Kotoko. Jishou looked almost perplexed as the door swung to give way to his friends. "Since when were my friends 'masters'?"
"Since I have no idea." Max furrowed his brows as he watched the servant disappear into the maze that was Shirogane Manor. "It does make you feel kind of special, though."
Kirei bounced off his lap and asked in Japanese, "Are these your friends, oniichan?"
"Aw!" Max grinned, leaning forward so that he and Kirei were at eye level. "She's pretty cute, Shou! Is this your little sister? Kirei Shirogane?"
Wait.
Had they switched into Japanese without realizing it? Jishou rose to his feet, giving his friends a polite bow. "Hi. Lunch will be late, but you can meet my brother and sister now." His English - although heavily accented - was endearingly awkward, and Liz couldn't hide her smile as she turned to look at them.
Jishou wasn't quite sure what Liz had been expecting, but he went ahead and gestured towards his older brother. "This is Seijaku, my older brother. He is in second year of medical college."
Seijaku politely bowed at them. "It is nice to meet you."
Kotoko and Max bowed in return, while Brett held out his right hand. "Hey man," he said with a small laugh. "It's nice to finally meet the older brother Shou can't ever live up to!"
Shou almost choked on empty air.
Liz giggled. "Brett! You didn't have to say that!"
"It's true, isn't it?"
Max rolled his eyes. "And people say Jishou's the insensitive one here..."
Jishou coughed. "Anyways! This is my little sister, Shirogane Kirei. She is ten years below me."
"Younger than," Max politely corrected, ruffling the girl's hair.
Kirei giggled.
"Wait." Liz tugged on Jishou's sleeve. "Does she speak English?"
"Not really." Jishou looked almost disappointed. "She can understand it perfectly, but to speak it..." He shrugged helplessly. "It will be bad."
"Ah." Liz frowned ever-so-slightly. "Makes sense."
"We'll translate for you guys," Max piped up, gesturing towards the couch. "I figure that'll be easier than you and Brett trying to figure out what's going on."
"Me?"
Everyone stared at Brett.
"You don't speak Japanese, remember?" Kokoto groaned, nearly burying her face in her hands. "It's not as if you own a universal translator!"
A wave of understanding washed across Brett's face, as he hastily nodded. "Right! I'll... I'll definitely take you up on that."
The second they sat down, Kokoto attempted to hold out her hand for a hi-five from Kirei. Kirei took one look at that hand before jumping back into Jishou's arms. Huh? Kotoko was like, the least scary person Liz had ever met. How could she instill fear into a little kid? The poor kid was in hysterics, rambling on and on in a language that Liz couldn't hope to deciper.
Worst part was, Brett and Kotoko looked so uncomfortable that she could've sliced a cake and still had extra tension to spare. Liz supposed there were just some things in this world that didn't make sense.
Jishou gently rocked Kirei in his lap, whispering words that Liz couldn't understand (or hear). As time passed, Kirei's sobs grew softer, even as her head didn't leave his chest. She could see her tiny hands fervently holding onto him for dear life, as if Kotoko were truly out to get her and Jishou was the only one who could prevent it from happening.
"Sssh," he whispered in his kid sister's ear. "It'll be okay."
Seijaku rose to his feet, asking Jishou something that seemed vaguely like 'should we give her back to Mom?' Jishou nodded, also getting up from his seat.
He smiled at the group apologetically. "We will be back. She is not feeling good."
Max rubbed the back of his neck. "It happens. I hope she feels better soon!" Kokoto nodded, though her gaze was firmly focused on her shoes and the wooden floors underneath them. The more Liz witnessed, the less she understood everything.
Was there some kind of inside joke that she just wasn't in on?
Just then, the servant poked his head in again. "Lunch is ready!"
"On second thought..." Brett rose to his feet. "How about we go get lunch and let you guys be? Come join us whenever she's feeling better."
Seijaku nodded. "Okay."
Kotoko and Max hurriedly followed him out the door, but Liz? Liz hung back, taking a seat next to Jishou and Kirei. "Is she feeling any better?"
Jishou quickly glanced down at his sister's face. "Yeah. I think she will be okay." He paused for a moment, looking at his brother. "Kotoko-chan scared her. I do not know why."
From the looks of it, Kotoko had scared more than just Kirei. During the entire conversation, Seijaku had remained silent - and from Jishou's stories, his older brother was anything but silent. Especially when he was in the middle of his sibling's "bratty" drama.
"You think you could leave us alone?" He winced the second the words left his mouth. "I do not want to, but she is..." He shrugged helplessly.
"Sure thing." Liz couldn't hide her smile as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "You know, you might not be bad at fatherhood."
Just as she rose and closed the door behind her, she couldn't help noticing just how bewildered she'd left her boyfriend. So what if she changed her mind? People were entirely entitled to a change of heart, right?
Maybe an idiot would think that Jishou wasn't cut out for fatherhood, but only his girlfriend would think that some day, he would make one girl a very, very lucky wife and mother.
Fandom: Tokyo Mew Mew
Universe: Kokoro
Summary: Jishou's always dreamt of being a father, but most people don't take this dream seriously. After all, he's freaking Jishou Shirogane! Locally known prankster and troublemaker of the year! His girlfriend Liz thought she agreed with this assessment... until she realized that maybe he's got what it takes to be a father after all.
Notes: This is a remix of an old fic, Caring. The idea was to take the same plot and rewrite it as if I were currently coming up with it for the first time! I have no clue if I succeeded, but it's fun to see how my writing has changed over the years.
Only an idiot would think that Jishou Shirogane was cut out for fatherhood. Sure, most high schoolers weren't ready for fatherhood. Not when they worried about tests, prom dates, basketball games, and other typical nonsense that filled their social calendars. Shou couldn't adequately articulate it: whenever someone asked him why he felt so strongly about children, his tongue twisted in knots and he just stared glumly at his untied shoes.
Boys weren't supposed to think of their future children, were they? It was supposed to be abnormal. Brett and Max certainly didn't pay his woes much attention. They just shrugged and said "the time will come," before moving the conversation back towards the movie they'd seen last week or the book they read for school.
Plus, with a girlfriend like Liz, how were they supposed to raise a family? Liz always lost her temper at him over the stupidest things ("Jishou! Stop wallpapering my locker!!") and besides, she always told him no. Their personalities couldn't have been more opposite if they'd tried. What kind of stable family could live under their roof?
Liz hadn't exactly given children much thought, compared to her boyfriend. She'd always figured it would happen eventually, but she had to live in the present, where her prom date and upcoming history tests mattered more. The (imaginary) future kids would understand, right? Today was no exception to the calendar: she, Brett, Max, and Kotoko were supposed to spend the afternoon in the local park.
Brett had arrived late, as par for the course, but Jishou still hadn't arrived. Strange. He was always the first, no matter the weather. It was almost a sore point of pride for him! ("Even though my English sucks, I can still be early!" He'd once told her, much to her amusement.)
"You didn't get his call, Liz?" Max shot his good friend a worried glance. "I thought he told you he wasn't coming today."
Huh? She glanced over her shoulder at him. "He's not? What happened?"
"His family came into town." Brett smiled at her warmly as he folded his arms. "They invited us out to lunch, but I didn't think you'd be able to understand them."
Liz just stared at him blankly. "Brett, you wouldn't be able to understand them either. Don't you speak German?" What was he implying? That he'd magically learned Japanese overnight? Because last she checked, that was pretty close to impossible.
"Uh..." Brett laughed nervously, barely able to hide the sweat rolling down his cheeks. "Dictionary?"
His reply sent Max and Kotoko into a fit of laughter - the kind that they couldn't stop, even after a couple of minutes - and Liz really wanted to understand the joke. What was so funny about all this?
She didn't quite buy his 'dictionary' excuse, but she knew better than to call him out on it. "Whatever," she said with a small huff. "So when're we heading out?"
"About now, actually." Max stared down at his watch, before grabbing Kotoko by the arm.
Liz followed them, casually keeping pace with Brett. "So where's Cassie? I thought she was supposed to join us later."
"Her parents dragged her out for Fall Break," Brett said with a slight shrug. "It was kind of a last minute thing."
Oh. If Cassie were here, Liz would've felt more at ease - like her, Cass didn't understand Japanese, and she certainly didn't blend into the crowd the same way Max or Kotoko did. Nor did she have intimate connections to the Japanese community in the same manner that Brett did (as Brett grew up with them).
Guess she'd have to take the plunge all by herself and hope that her friends had her back! Liz gulped, before following them to the Shirogane Manor. If she fell, at least she fell trying.
"Niiiiiiiichan!"
Jishou laughed softly at the little girl sitting in his lap. Carefully brushing her hair, he then tied it neatly into a comfortable-looking braid. His hands kept up easily with the delicate work. It was fun, in a way: he hadn't helped anyone with their hair in a while, and most people in America thought him weird for knowing how anyways. "What? Am I pulling too hard on your hair, Ki-chan?"
She shook her head, almost causing Jishou to lose his grip on her hair. "Nope, but I missed you a lot! More than like, a thousand!" She then cast her gaze towards her older brother sitting on the opposite end of the room. "Sei-niichan missed you too, but he won't say so."
"Kirei-chan!" Their older brother sharply looked up from his book. If Jishou didn't know better, he would've sworn that his brother almost looked embarrassed. "You shouldn't put words into my mouth!"
"But I'm not." Kirei looked at him with huge, innocent-looking eyes. "I'm just saying that you miss niichan."
Jishou rolled his eyes at the scene. "No need to spell out the obvious, Ki-chan." A book almost flew at his head. "Jeez, niisan! Did college teach you how to do that?"
His older brother smirked. "I wish."
Figures! This guy passed for unathletic his whole life, only to have a killer arm when it mattered most. Jishou was half-tempted to toss that book back at him. "So what is university teaching you? It's clearly not medicine."
His older brother rolled his eyes. "The classes are fine. Just focus on Kirei-chan's hair, will you? She'll whine about it all night if it's not perfect."
"Will not!"
To which Jishou and his older brother both responded, "Will too."
A loud knock sounded, and a servant peered through the door to announce the arrival of young Master Max, Master Brett, Miss Elizabeth, and Miss Kotoko. Jishou looked almost perplexed as the door swung to give way to his friends. "Since when were my friends 'masters'?"
"Since I have no idea." Max furrowed his brows as he watched the servant disappear into the maze that was Shirogane Manor. "It does make you feel kind of special, though."
Kirei bounced off his lap and asked in Japanese, "Are these your friends, oniichan?"
"Aw!" Max grinned, leaning forward so that he and Kirei were at eye level. "She's pretty cute, Shou! Is this your little sister? Kirei Shirogane?"
Wait.
Had they switched into Japanese without realizing it? Jishou rose to his feet, giving his friends a polite bow. "Hi. Lunch will be late, but you can meet my brother and sister now." His English - although heavily accented - was endearingly awkward, and Liz couldn't hide her smile as she turned to look at them.
Jishou wasn't quite sure what Liz had been expecting, but he went ahead and gestured towards his older brother. "This is Seijaku, my older brother. He is in second year of medical college."
Seijaku politely bowed at them. "It is nice to meet you."
Kotoko and Max bowed in return, while Brett held out his right hand. "Hey man," he said with a small laugh. "It's nice to finally meet the older brother Shou can't ever live up to!"
Shou almost choked on empty air.
Liz giggled. "Brett! You didn't have to say that!"
"It's true, isn't it?"
Max rolled his eyes. "And people say Jishou's the insensitive one here..."
Jishou coughed. "Anyways! This is my little sister, Shirogane Kirei. She is ten years below me."
"Younger than," Max politely corrected, ruffling the girl's hair.
Kirei giggled.
"Wait." Liz tugged on Jishou's sleeve. "Does she speak English?"
"Not really." Jishou looked almost disappointed. "She can understand it perfectly, but to speak it..." He shrugged helplessly. "It will be bad."
"Ah." Liz frowned ever-so-slightly. "Makes sense."
"We'll translate for you guys," Max piped up, gesturing towards the couch. "I figure that'll be easier than you and Brett trying to figure out what's going on."
"Me?"
Everyone stared at Brett.
"You don't speak Japanese, remember?" Kokoto groaned, nearly burying her face in her hands. "It's not as if you own a universal translator!"
A wave of understanding washed across Brett's face, as he hastily nodded. "Right! I'll... I'll definitely take you up on that."
The second they sat down, Kokoto attempted to hold out her hand for a hi-five from Kirei. Kirei took one look at that hand before jumping back into Jishou's arms. Huh? Kotoko was like, the least scary person Liz had ever met. How could she instill fear into a little kid? The poor kid was in hysterics, rambling on and on in a language that Liz couldn't hope to deciper.
Worst part was, Brett and Kotoko looked so uncomfortable that she could've sliced a cake and still had extra tension to spare. Liz supposed there were just some things in this world that didn't make sense.
Jishou gently rocked Kirei in his lap, whispering words that Liz couldn't understand (or hear). As time passed, Kirei's sobs grew softer, even as her head didn't leave his chest. She could see her tiny hands fervently holding onto him for dear life, as if Kotoko were truly out to get her and Jishou was the only one who could prevent it from happening.
"Sssh," he whispered in his kid sister's ear. "It'll be okay."
Seijaku rose to his feet, asking Jishou something that seemed vaguely like 'should we give her back to Mom?' Jishou nodded, also getting up from his seat.
He smiled at the group apologetically. "We will be back. She is not feeling good."
Max rubbed the back of his neck. "It happens. I hope she feels better soon!" Kokoto nodded, though her gaze was firmly focused on her shoes and the wooden floors underneath them. The more Liz witnessed, the less she understood everything.
Was there some kind of inside joke that she just wasn't in on?
Just then, the servant poked his head in again. "Lunch is ready!"
"On second thought..." Brett rose to his feet. "How about we go get lunch and let you guys be? Come join us whenever she's feeling better."
Seijaku nodded. "Okay."
Kotoko and Max hurriedly followed him out the door, but Liz? Liz hung back, taking a seat next to Jishou and Kirei. "Is she feeling any better?"
Jishou quickly glanced down at his sister's face. "Yeah. I think she will be okay." He paused for a moment, looking at his brother. "Kotoko-chan scared her. I do not know why."
From the looks of it, Kotoko had scared more than just Kirei. During the entire conversation, Seijaku had remained silent - and from Jishou's stories, his older brother was anything but silent. Especially when he was in the middle of his sibling's "bratty" drama.
"You think you could leave us alone?" He winced the second the words left his mouth. "I do not want to, but she is..." He shrugged helplessly.
"Sure thing." Liz couldn't hide her smile as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "You know, you might not be bad at fatherhood."
Just as she rose and closed the door behind her, she couldn't help noticing just how bewildered she'd left her boyfriend. So what if she changed her mind? People were entirely entitled to a change of heart, right?
Maybe an idiot would think that Jishou wasn't cut out for fatherhood, but only his girlfriend would think that some day, he would make one girl a very, very lucky wife and mother.