Chapter Text
Moving about his kitchen, Daichi made his sons' lunches. It was their first day in a new school so he needed to make sure they arrived on-time and ready to face the day. The two small boys sat at the table, each with a bowl of cereal and a half of a banana as they watched their father fuss with their lunch boxes, putting in their juice boxes before closing them up.
"I don't wanna go." The younger boy, Tobio, whined with an indignant pout as he watched Daichi put their lunches in their backpacks. "School's dumb."
"Sorry, bud. Kindergarten is important, even if you don't think it is." Daichi said as he set the backpacks in the front hallway. He turned around to see his 3 year old's mouth turn into a deep, hard set frown, and sighed. He wondered how such a young kid could make such terrifying expressions. His 4 year old, Chikara, on the other hand ate his banana and smiled up at his father.
"I'm a little scared, but it's a good kind." Chikara said as he swallowed a mouthful of food.
"You mean you're excited." Daichi chuckled at his boys, thinking back fondly to the day he'd brought them home, almost 2 years ago.
They were biological brothers, and when he went to adopt, he wanted to make sure they stayed together. So he'd gotten 2 sons, which was both a blessing and a curse for a single man who didn't have any prior experience in fatherhood. Despite the obvious dilemmas and constant worry that comes with having children, they were a happy bunch(most of the time) and made it work. It helped that Daichi didn't work weekends and had a job where he could work from home if he needed to so he could be there for his kids.
"Yeah! That's the word." Chikara grinned.
"Well boys, let's clean up from breakfast so we can get you to class." Daichi said as he noticed that Tobio had stopped picking at his breakfast. The two nodded, and even though Tobio grunted in protest, he helped clear the table and put the dishes into the dishwasher. Daichi cleaned the table with a dish rag before he washed his boys' faces with a soft washcloth.
Soon enough, the boys grabbed their backpacks and the three of them were out the door, heading to the elevator follow-the-leader style with Chikara in the lead. Once in the elevator, Tobio pressed the button that brought them to the parking garage in the basement of the building. Daichi smiled to himself, proud of his son for remembering which button to press after only living in the building for a week. He took Tobio up on his hip and held Chikara's hand as they walked with echoing footsteps to his car.
As they got to the car, however, Tobio let out a loud shriek and started squirming around and whining. A tiny hand pushed at his face and when Daichi looked at his son to figure out what was wrong, he was met with a scowling red-faced Tobio.
"What's wrong, Tobio?" He asked, setting him into his car seat and attempting to buckle in the squirming child. Chikara had climbed into his own car seat and was waiting patiently for Daichi to get to buckling him in.
"I don't wanna!" Tobio bellowed, swinging his tiny arms and legs in protest. "I don't wanna! I don't wanna! School is bad, Daddy!"
"There are new kids in this school, Tobio. You can make new friends here. That's what your brother is going to do. He's gonna make new friends." He said as he somehow managed to fasten his son's seatbelt.
"No!" Tobio yelled. "I can't make friends! Everyone is mean and stupid!"
Daichi sighed, shutting the door on Tobio's side of the car before he walked around to buckle in Chikara. He looked at the hurt expression on Tobio's face and felt his heart clench in his chest. "Why don't you give them a chance? The kids here might be different."
Tobio scowled and shook his head as tears began to form in his angry blue eyes. "No! They're gonna be mean and they're not gonna play with me!"
"You don't know that." Chikara said quietly. "They could be nice."
"Nuh-uh." Tobio shook his head and crossed his tiny arms over his chest.
Daichi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "How about I take you in, and you can tell me whether or not you want to stay after you see how it is?"
Tobio pushed out his lips in a pout as he thought this over. After a moment or two, he nodded. "Y-Yeah. That's okay." Tobio answered as he looked up at his dad.
"Good." Daichi nodded and reached around to ruffle Tobio's hair lightly before he did the same to Chikara and closed the back door, getting into the drivers side seat. He started his car and looked up into the rear view mirror at Tobio and Chikara. When he saw that Tobio wasn't fussing anymore and instead was playing with a stuffed crow keychain that hung from his backpack, he smiled fondly.
"Hey dad?" Chikara spoke up from the backseat, drawing Daichi's eyes to him.
"What is it?" Daichi asked, kindly as be started the car.
"Can I use your phone to make a movie?" Chikara asked, his eyes shining with excitement.
Daichi let out a quiet huff of laughter and nodded. "Alright." He handed over his phone to his four year old who immediately found the camera option and started filming.
"Thank you!"
"No problem, baby." Daichi hummed, watching his sons play for a bit before he turned his attention to driving, pulling out of the parking garage as he silently hoped that Tobio would have friends in this kindergarten. He'd had a lot of problems getting along with the other children in his class and he'd had to fight to get him to school every morning. It was partially why they'd moved all the way across the city in the first place. He'd jumped at the chance to be transferred to this new law firm as it was close to his parents' house so babysitting wouldn't be an issue, it paid better, and also it would give Tobio a fresh start.
Luckily for him, Chikara was more adaptable. He wasn't sure what he'd do if they both acted like school was poisonous.
He pulled into the parking lot of the kindergarten and parked his car in one of the designated spots. There were flower beds that were well kept and lush green grass surrounding the building. There was a fenced in playground to the left of the building, filled with colorful structures with slides and swings. In every window there were cut-out flowers with messy characters scrawled onto each one. It looked so full of kind and playful energy that Daichi couldn't help but smile.
Looking into the rear view mirror, he saw Tobio eyeing the playground with an excited expression and Chikara turning the camera to look at the school building before he pressed the screen to stop the recording. Instead of commenting, Daichi got out of the car and helped his boys out of their car seats. He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket where the name of their teachers were written when Chikara returned his phone to him. 'Takeda and Sugawara, huh?' He thought, handing Chikara his backpack before stuffing the paper back into his pocket.
"Excited, bud?" Daichi asked with a smile. Tobio looked up at him and nodded slowly as his father handed him his backpack and watched him slide it onto his shoulders.
"Only a little." Tobio muttered as he glanced back to the playground. Chikara took Tobio's hand and smiled at him.
"Me too." The older boy said. Daichi took Tobio's other hand and lead the three of them into the building.
Walking down the drawing-lined hallways, he paused briefly to check each plaque outside of the classrooms, scanning for a 'Takeda' or 'Sugawara.' He found Takeda's classroom relatively quickly and knocked twice on the door.
"This is your class, Chikara." He said with a soft smile, watching as Chikara nodded nervously.
The door opened and a kind looking man with glasses opened the door. "Sawamura-san, right?" He asked with a smile.
"Yes. Chikara is supposed to start in your class today, Takeda-san." Daichi held out his hand and the teacher quickly shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you!" Chikara said with a nervous smile and a small bow before he held his hand out in an imitation of his father.
Takeda laughed crouching down to shake Chikara's small hand. "Likewise, Sawamura-kun. Come on in and we'll get you all set."
"Okay!" Chikara said with a bright smile, turning to look up at his dad. "Bye Daddy!" He said with a wave. "See you later, Tobio!" Takeda took Chikara into his classroom and the door shuts.
"Time to find your classroom, Tobio." Daichi said softly, earning a wary glance from his son as he lead him down the hallway.
Finally he found the plaque that read 'Sugawara', and knocked on the door that was covered in construction paper flowers of pink, blue and purple. On top of the door sat a canary yellow Sun with a happy-face drawn on it. "Looks like Sugawara-sensei likes crafts." He said to Tobio, watching his son nod with a twinkle in his eyes.
When the door opened, Daichi looked up and he almost gasped at the sight of the beautiful man that opened the door. Initially he'd thought that Sugawara would be a woman, because of the decorations on the door but he couldn't have been more wrong. He was slender, cloaked in pale skin and ash-blonde hair that looked silver in the florescent lights that shined from the ceiling. He wore baggy clothes, but they suited him just perfectly.
"Um." Daichi tried to talk but found that he couldn't.
"Ah, Sawamura Tobio, right?" Sugawara asked as he flashed a bright smile at the small boy at his side. Tobio nodded slowly and hid behind Daichi's leg. "And you're Dad, I assume." Sugawara grinned turning back to Daichi and held his hand out to shake.
"Ah.. Yeah." Daichi muttered awkwardly, shaking his hand. "Sawamura Daichi." He found himself staring at him, and-oh God, was that a beauty mole?
"Come inside Sawamura Daichi and Tobio." Sugawara said, stepping out of the way to allow them inside. Daichi felt like stepping into the room was like walking into a child's paradise. There were so many bright colored toys and rugs, a corner of the room was designated for art and crafts, a couple of long tables stretched across the middle of the room, and a section of the back wall had about 20 cubby holes designated for students and labeled for each one. Around the room were a little over a dozen children playing in small groups. Sugawara clapped his hands 3 times and the entire classroom was suddenly silent. Daichi almost whistled, he had a hard time getting 2 boys to be quiet for a moment, but Sugawara had just silenced about 14 kids almost effortlessly.
"This is Tobio-kun. He'll be joining our class starting today." Sugawara said, and his voice was almost song-like. He scanned over the students and pointed at a tiny boy with orange hair. "Shouyou, why don't you show Tobio around the room while I talk to his daddy?"
"Okay!" Shouyou said loudly, and the rest of the students returned to what they'd been doing. The tiny orange haired boy ran to the front of the room, and took Tobio by the hand. "Come on, Tobio! I'll show you were to put your backpack!" Tobio stared at him and nodded slowly, before he was tugged across the room by Shouyou. Daichi chuckled, watching his awkward son interact with the tiny ball of energy named Shouyou.
"So, Sugawara-san, I'm not sure how much you know about my son from his records.. but I'll answer any questions you have." Daichi said, and Sugawara turned to him with a light laugh.
"Please, Sawamura-san, call me Suga." He said with a grin.
"Suga, then." Daichi smiled at the sweet-sounding nickname. "Tobio had a lot of problems making friends in his last school. I had to practically force him to go to school every morning. He's awkward and.. I don't know, he just didn't get along with anyone. I'm afraid you might have your hands full with him."
Suga nodded but chuckled light heartedly. "There was something about that in his file, but I don't think we have to worry about that." He said with a smile. "It appears that Shouyou has already charmed him." Suga motioned to the back of the classroom where Shouyou and Tobio were sitting on the floor and coloring a picture in a sports-themed coloring book, Tobio's backpack at his side, as the cubbies were completely forgotten.
"That's a first." Daichi smiled fondly.
"I bet your wife will be pleased to hear that he's already made a friend." Suga said, turning his attention back to Daichi. The words shocked Daichi back into reality and he quickly shook his head.
"Oh, no. I've never been married." Daichi said, shrugging with a light smile. He looked at the teacher and noticed that Suga looked a little surprised, a little embarrassed, and a little nervous. "I wanted to be a father so I adopted. I have 2 boys."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I just assumed-Oh gosh," Suga face-palmed, groaning softly. Daichi laughed, watching as Suga's nervous expression melted into a soft smile topped with slightly flushed cheeks. "Are you laughing at me, Sawamura-san?"
"I'd never." He grinned, his eyes flicking up to the clock briefly. "Shoot.. I've gotta get going. I have to be at work in 5 minutes." Daichi said, sighing. "Tobio, I'm leaving."
"Bye, Dad!" Tobio called across the room, and Suga chuckled softly.
"Dismissal is at around 3, but we allow 2 hours of leeway for pick-up." Suga said. "I'll see you when you-" A crash sounded and a little girl was on the floor. "See you later!" Suga said, waving as he jogged over to the little girl who'd started to cry. He picked her up and started talking to her as the girl rubbed her eyes and cried. Daichi had to tear his eyes away from the beautiful kindergarten teacher and leave the room before he stayed too long and was late for work.
--
Suga sat on a bench near the playground, watching the kids play and definitely not day dreaming about that hunk of a father when he was on the job. Nope. Not at all. He'd paid close attention to Sawamura-san's son all day. Tobio was awkward, and moody, but he was a good kid. He and Shouyou had gotten into an argument earlier that day, but it was nothing to write home about and now they were playing together as if they'd known each other all their lives. He smiled, tempted to text his friend and Shouyou's uncle Akaashi about how Shouyou found a boyfriend before he did, and he's 4.
It was early September, so it was still warm from summer, the grass still lush and green. Suga sighed looking up at the blue sky as he thought about his student's father. Sawamura-san was thick, and even though he'd been in a suit, Suga had noticed how large those arms were, and how thick those thighs were. He could feel his face heating up in a blush as he shook his head to keep his head clear.
"Suga-sensei?" Shouyou's voice broke him of his trance and he looked to the small boy who was holding Tobio's hand.
"What is it, Hinata?" He asked, smiling at him even though the boy looked like he was about to cry.
"My mommy's here, but I want to stay with Tobio! Will you hide me?" He asked, his eyes wide and hopeful.
"Sorry, Hinata. There's rules that say I can't hide you from your mommy." Suga said, looking up as he watched Shouyou's mother come through the gate and over to him.
"Sensei, I'm here for Shouyou." She said, with a pleasant smile.
Suga nodded, looking down at the two boys that looked like they'd cry if they were separated. "Shouyou, it's time to say goodbye to Tobio." He said, watching tears well up in Shouyou's large brown eyes. "Don't worry, he'll be here tomorrow too."
Shouyou nodded and hugged Tobio who didn't look like he understood the concept of a hug, and patted Shouyou's back awkwardly. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He said, grinning as he let go of the other boy.
Tobio nodded with a crooked smile. "Yeah!" Shouyou then turned to his mom and took her hand. "Bye, Shouyou!"
"Bye bye!" Shouyou grinned as he practically dragged his mother toward the fence, asking if he could get a meat bun on the way home.
Suga chuckled, turning back to look at Tobio. "Hey, Tobio-kun. If you want, you can sit with me until your daddy comes to get you."
Tobio nodded, climbing up onto the bench and sitting beside him. "Hey, sensei?"
"Yes?" He smiled at the small boy.
"I think I like school now." He said softly, his cheeks turning pink.
"That's good." Suga said. "Why didn't you like it before?"
"It's 'cause the kids in my class used to pretend I wasn't real. They were mean, and didn't want to play with me." Tobio answered, kicking his feet. "I actually like the class a lot. It's nice here, you're a good teacher."
"Thank you, Tobio." He said, grinning. "I really wanted you to like it here."
"Sugawara-san!" Takeda called from across the playground. "Sawamura-san is here to pick up Tobio-kun!"
"I'm coming!" He called back, picking up Tobio's backpack and handing it to the small boy that pushed off the bench. "Let's go tell your Daddy about your day, Tobio." Tobio nodded, holding his tiny hand out to him. Suga chuckled and took his hand, walking his student over to where his father was waiting.
"Daddy!" Tobio said excitedly, taking off on a run once he saw Sawamura and jumping to hug his waist. Suga couldn't help but laugh at the startled expression on Sawamura's face.
"I take it you had fun today." Sawamura chuckled, crouching down as Tobio released his waist. The small boy nodded.
"Suga-sensei is awesome! And Shouyou is fun!" Tobio said, crossing his arms over his chest as if he were stating a fact, and there was no room for argument.
"Oh yeah? You can tell me all about them later, on our way home, how's that?" Sawamura said, his low voice warm and especially kind.
"Okay." Tobio nodded, and Sawamura stood back up.
"Thank you, Suga." Sawamura chuckled, patting his son's hair fondly. "I don't think Tobio has ever had a good day at school before."
Suga nodded, smiling even if he found himself staring at Sawamura's arms under rolled up sleeves. "It's no problem, Sawamura-san. Tobio is a wonderful addition to our class."
"'Sawamura-san' reminds me of my father. Please, just call me Daichi." The man said, flashing a warm smile. Suga nodded in agreement to the name change, stuffing his hands into his sweatshirt pocket.
"Got it, Daichi." Suga grinned.
"Daddy!" A boy's voice called and another small boy ran over to hug Daichi's legs.
"Did you have fun today, Chikara?" Daichi asked, ruffling the boy's hair.
"Yes, I made lots of friends!" Chikara said, bouncing a little as he talked. He then looked up at Suga and blinked. "Are you my brother's teacher?"
"Yeah, you must be Tobio's big brother." Suga said, smiling. "Tobio told me all about you, Chikara-kun. I hear you want to make movies."
Chikara's eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly. "I'm practicing with daddy's phone! I make movies every day!"
"Wow, I'll have to ask him to show me some of your movies sometime." Suga pat Chikara's head fondly before looking back to the thick man that was their father, he was staring at him and Suga couldn't help the soft giggle that bubbled out. "You're staring, Daichi."
"Ah, sorry.." Daichi said, smiling nervously. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. See ya!" Suga grinned with a wave before turning back to the playground to avoid staring himself. The kids' chatter softened and Suga chanced a look back at the handsome father as he put his children into his car. 'God, he's cute.' He thought, running a hand through his hair and turning away to greet another parent.