A/N: I have a headcanon that, after coming back from Europe, Aruto tries to make up for lost time by becoming the ultimate embarrassing father. I also have a headcanon that he likes to sneak into Ikuto's apartment and surprise him whenever he feels like it. I tried to put the two into one little one-shot.

Enjoy.


It all started on that one, chilly winter's evening in Belgium.

To be reunited with his absent father again had left Ikuto without words to express himself. All the anger, frustration and longing and glee... It could not all be effectively put into any sentence or phrase or even a single word.

A hug had sufficed, though. Gentle, but with a certain sense of urgency and a rough pat of a hand on the back of the older man's shoulder as if to demonstrate just how much longing he had held these past ten years and almost as if to carry out a form a punishment. Yet still it was as warm and tender as anything and in that one embrace many of the wounds the two men held had perhaps already stopped bleeding. It was not enough to heal - but it was something; something positive and it was about damned time too.

And so Ikuto and Aruto Tsukiyomi - like mirror images, the two of them were! - had sat down in a little bar in some ridiculous hour of the morning and began the long awaited process of reconnecting. It had started with his father's recollection of the events that lead to his disappearance and the deep regrets he carried with him. He was soon told to stop his moping, though, and from there Aruto was eager to catch up on all that had happened in the last few years. Ikuto told his father about Kazuomi; he told him about his mother's health and Utau's career; he went on to speak of Easter and how the downfall of their tyrant leader had been brought about all thanks to a bunch of stupidly lucky students...

And at the end of the night (or morning because they'd been sat there for a good number of hours) Aruto said;

"Well, damn-" (he raised another pint to his lips and took a gulp) "-I've got a lot of catching up to do..."

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "Then catch up, stupid old man."

And so Aruto made the move back to Japan with his son and quite thoroughly surprised the two Tsukiyomi women who hadn't at all been expecting him back any time in the future. Emotional and frantic hugging ensued and after that (when many, many hours had been spent discussing everything that had happened in each of their lives since his departure) all was looking pretty damn fine. Aruto vowed to stay at home with his wife who was now looking brighter and healthier with each passing day and both had been given a new lease of life. He made regular visits to his kids to make up for the shameful amount of absence. He settled and found a job and everything was looking good for him.

Except that, when it came to making up for lost time, Aruto had decided to take a rather... Unusual approach.


A feminine giggle and the stumble of uneasy steps broke the silence.

"Ikuto..."

"Mm..."

"Oh!" A huff and the jingle of keys. "Ikuto, honey, just get those damn things out already and open the door so we can get inside..."

A finger trailed down his jawline and Ikuto shuddered. "Damn," he cursed a few times under his breath, realising suddenly that he had way too many keys in his pocket; "Baby," he breathed heavily as she kissed him and he took a moment to pull away and land a big, passionate one on her sensitive neck. She moaned and he confessed that he couldn't think of a sound more satisfying. "Baby, maybe if you didn't distract me so I would be able to get it open faster."

She chuckled at his deep, teasing tone, but stepped back a little as Ikuto managed to locate the correct key – too many damn keys – and unlock the door to his apartment. It clicked in the lock and the handle jiggled – a sign that it would turn all the way to allow entry – and Ikuto turned back, mischief dancing bright like stars in his beautiful eyes.

His voice was now seductive and his famous smirk began to show itself. "Now, where were we?"

In a second lips were locked and hands woven into midnight hair; bodies pressed together in a mould so tight that Ikuto swore he could feel her heartbeat against his chest. Breathing loudly and stumbling back into the apartment – the door carelessly slammed shut behind them – Ikuto and the woman awkwardly shuffled towards the sofa and collapsed there in a pile of heaving chests and rising heat. In the heat of the moment and still slightly carried away by the alcohol, it seemed to Ikuto like the best idea in the history of the entire world to bring this girl back to his home and set her down right here and the way she looked up at him – so cheekily and naughtily with her finger twirling a strand of her hair and her leg stroking his, so very nearly making her skirt succumb to gravity and slide back over her leg – was enough to send him over the edge, so he dived down, taking her lips again, and clumsily working at getting at least one of them in some way naked...

"A-hem!"

The couple simultaneously jumped and Ikuto was now entirely distracted, glancing up with the most bizarre expression of confusion and frustration (because how dare they be interrupted!) to see none other than his father – Aruto Tsukiyomi – leant up against the doorway to the bedroom, holding a can of beer – Ikuto's last damn can of beer! – and smiling at the two of them like they completely weren't about to have it away in the living room or anything. He stares at them with such familiarity and fake naivety and so, so knowingly grins like a Cheshire cat.

Ikuto had always hated the Cheshire cat.

The younger male let out a groan of frustration, mood utterly destroyed by the annoying beast that is his dear old dad, and stood upright, fixing his crooked tie. The woman sat up immediately and properly, fumbling to get her dress back up to cover her chest and burning bright red in a fiery blaze of embarrassment and humiliation.

"Father." The word was weary and full of the unwanted sense if déjà vu.

"Welcome home, Ikuto." Aruto said cheerily, strolling over and sipping at his can. Meanwhile the woman mumbled something about having left her oven on and had rushed right out of there before either man could realise what was going on.

"Father," Ikuto repeated through gritted teeth; "that was the fourth woman you have scared out. For the last. Damn. Time... You cannot break into my home and expect me to let you stay the weekend!"

"But it's the perfect opportunity, Ikuto!"

"I'll come over tomorrow, just leave my apartment!"

"But-"

"Now."

Aruto placed down the mug and sighed, exasperated. "Son, I know you always missed me not being close by when you were younger, so..."

Ikuto was stalking off past his father and into the bathroom, intent on washing up and trying to settle for a good night's sleep (alone) after this magnificent interruption. Dear God. This was not how he had been planning on spending his evening. He had planned on a deliciously naughty, passionate evening whilst he was still powering through on a fuel of cocktails and mixes and whatever the hell else she had tried to get down him all in the name of drunken love-making.

"That does not mean you get to chill in my apartment whenever it takes your fancy!"

"But, you know, your mother agrees with me on this one. I think it would be a-"

"And shut the door on your way out!"

The bedroom door shut with a force that knocked down the picture in the hallway. The seconds ticked by and Aruto silently drained his beer can, crumpling it against the coffee table and stepping slowly down the hallway. The glass in the picture frame was shattered against the carpet. He looked at the shards. And then at the door.

"But…" Ikutos's father began; "We're still up for tomorrow, though, right?"


A/N: So I never specified who Ikuto's 'lady friend' was because I don't really want to assume a particular ship or anything when the story's not about romantic relationships... But yeah, a comment or two on your thoughts would be very much appreciated ^^