o1. Panther + Tetsu

"Tell me if you regret it when you're older, alright?"

It was a decidedly good thing that Tetsu was sometimes easy to please. Daiki decided that the small boy in his arms was simply content with being there, given that he wasn't really rambunctious or overactive. The two of them usually went on a walk every day at the same time, along the same path. Sometimes they would take a less scenic route whenever he had errands to run, but today was refreshingly peaceful, and Akashi didn't have anything for him to do.

"Ice cream." Tetsu announced, his small, pale fist balling into Daiki's black shirt.

At the idea that quickly grew on him, he smiled in return, "Yeah. I could go for some too."

He liked kids, truth be told; they were easy to please and to take care of, and Tetsu was the best of them all. When Daiki had first picked him up, he wondered how a pair of parents couldn't have – he was calm, quiet and had a sense that most kids his age didn't. Daiki had met a lot of brats, but Tetsu was definitely special, and since they had been together, there was a calmness that had suddenly appeared in his chaotic life that was never really around before. It was relaxing and refreshing after living in the fast lane for so long.

In the long run, maybe, just maybe, it would turn out to have been a shit idea to bring the kid into a life like this, but Daiki was never one for thinking into the future. As long as Akashi kept good on his promises of protection in exchange for Daiki's special services, they had a mutual understanding, and Tetsu would be just fine.

With the small boy burying his face into the crook of Daiki's neck, the two of them made their way down the cobblestone path towards the nearest ice cream parlor. His phone vibrated in his pocket, but even if it was Akashi with some random, annoyingly sudden assignment, it could definitely wait until they had their treat.

The young woman at the counter didn't even notice that there was a little boy in Daiki's arm until he set Tetsu down on the counter. She yelped and Tetsu looked at her curiously with those large, seemingly all-knowing blue eyes of his. Daiki had gotten used to the stare after those first few weeks of having to deal with it in silence, but he remembered how unnerving it could be, even from the angelic face of an adorable brat like him.

After paying for their frozen confections, he reminded himself to ask Murasakibara to make ice cream for the both of them some time. With a smooth movement of his strong arm, Daiki swooped Tetsu up with his vanilla cone, grabbed his own chocolate cone and then headed out of the small shop. Enjoying their treats, the pair began on the path back home so that Daiki could check the message ( or messages; there had been a few more vibrations in his pocket. It probably was another assignment. He sighed. )

"Do you like it?" he asked the young boy with a grin, and Tetsu peered up at him, holding his cone that seemed too big for him with both hands and gave him one of his rare, tiny smiles; it translated to a "yes". So cute. It made Daiki feel light and happy. He leaned to share his chocolate cone, "Wanna try?"

Tetsu regarded the darker-colored ice cream warily but then experimentally stuck his tiny pink tongue out to give it a try. His face scrunched up with immediate dislike and he quickly returned to the vanilla. "Too much taste," he mumbled, frowning with white cream lining his lips.

Daiki laughed at the sight and then motioned to his own face, "You've got a little . . . something – there – here, let me – " He tried to bring up a napkin, but with his hands pretty much full, he couldn't clean the tiny mouth. He sighed, resorting to leaning in and kissing away cream, which elicited a tickled laugh from Tetsu, who put one of his hands on Daiki's tanned face and pushed it away.

The laugh caught Daiki by surprise and made him feel warmth inside. He wondered, whenever Tetsu got older, if he'd hate him for adopting him into a life like this. He'd never force him to join the line of work, but honestly, sometimes Daiki didn't even feel like that was up to him – mostly because of Akashi. Then sometimes, Tetsu would talk so freely, in that childishly-mature way of his, about protecting Daiki from the "bad things".

He sighed. It'd definitely be bad when a twenty-five-year-old guy would need to be looked after by a kid – even if that kid was the cutest little brat ever.

By the time they had broken from the forest path that led back to Daiki's rather secluded cottage ( yeah, he lived in a cottage, wanna fight about it? ), his chocolate ice cream had been finished and he was helping Tetsu with his. He laughed, "Maybe next time, you won't get such a big cone, mm?"

The blue-eyed boy made a stubborn face and stuck out his tongue, "I'll definitely be able to finish it next time!" he proclaimed, a determined light passing through his eyes. With such a look, Daiki didn't doubt it . . . if Tetsu didn't say something like that every time he couldn't finish his ice cream. Then again, he had to admit that each time, the cone got smaller and smaller. It made him smile to think about the kid actually finishing the treat off one day, as small a thing as it was.

Before they could reach the lawn, Daiki spotted something. More like somethings. He came to a stop, and then looked thoughtful. "Oi Tetsu," he began calmly, "wanna play kakurenbo¹?" ( A good distraction will keep you busy. )

Blue eyes connected with his look that was placid and smooth, "Kakurenbo?" he repeated, sounding slightly confused. ( Don't be scared. It'll be alright. )

Daiki nodded, giving a small grin, "Yeah. You'll be the oni², okay? Close your eyes." ( If I angle my body this way, you won't see. Just keep your eyes closed, I'll take care of the rest. )

He knew that Tetsu didn't like to be "it" because to be frank, the kid was better at hide-and-seek than he was. He slowly nodded and then put his small hands over his eyes. ( Such tiny hands . . . ) Daiki pulled up the light blue hood with cat ears on it onto Tetsu's hair. It covered his face from seeing behind him. ( You'll never have to see. I can't let you be tainted like that. )

Tetsu buried his face into his shoulder and the arm that supported him tightened ever so slightly while his other hand raised and balled into a steely, dangerous fist.

"Count to ten." Daiki breathed out soothingly. "Make sure you don't peek, 'cuz that's cheating." ( I never want you to see this. )

His voice was light and comforting to Tetsuya, but the little boy wondered why he wanted to play a game so suddenly.

In front of Daiki was a crowd of dangerous-looking thugs, all wielding deadly weapons. A stark contrast from his voice, the expression on Daiki's face was dark and menacing. What a hell of a day, huh? He'd probably have to hear about this shit later, but oh well. Another mental note was made to be more careful in the future when he offed gang leaders. Fortunately, they didn't call him Panther for nothing.

He almost let out a sigh before remembering that Tetsu was with him, and that this was supposed to be their day out together. These assholes would definitely regret bothering them.

.

.

.

" . . . Nine . . . Ten!"

Tetsuya's hands popped away from his eyes excitedly, and in front of him was Daiki-chan and his really wonderful face. Tetsuya really liked it when Daiki-chan smiled, "I found you!" he declared, his normally-quiet voice happy and excited.

Daiki laughed and nuzzled his face into Tetsu's cheek. They were walking again, still towards the cottage which had just come into view under the sunset.

The footprints that the young man left behind were thick and muddy with blood. His free arm was carefully hidden behind his back, cut up, marred, and dripping with thick red liquid. In his wake, there was a mess of bloodied and beaten bodies, all down for the count, and some of them, permanently. Tetsu curled into him and his hold tightened once more. Midnight blue eyes closed.

"Yeah, you found me."

Later that night, Daiki had finally got around to checking his phone. There were four messages.

From: Akashi
Subject: Warning

Kirisaki Daiichi isn't happy about Hanamiya Makoto's unfortunate
circumstances. I suggest you be wary for the remainder of the day.
Don't be foolish anymore than you already have been. I'm expecting
you tomorrow. Be punctual, or I will double your workload.

From: Four Eyes
Subject: Caution

Your work on Hanamiya was ridiculously sloppy and you left tracks,
so they'll be after you. Oha-Asa ranks Virgo near the bottom, but your
lucky person is an Aquarius. I assume even an idiot like you knows what
that means. Don't be careless. I'll see you and Akashi tomorrow about
the Ōnita job.

From: Bimbo
Subject: You better keep Kurokocchi safe!

I mean it Ahomine, if you let him get hurt, I'll seriously never forgive
you! I heard that Hanamiya's gang is super upset and knows you
offed him, so you better be careful! You n Kurokocchi should
come visit me soon, ok? I have the day off tomorrow, maybe we
can have ice cream ~ （○゜ε＾○）

From: Fatty
Subject: no fair ~

how come mine-chin gets the good job, and then leaves a trail
behind ~ ? (¬д¬。) i really wanna crush u for that, mine-chin.
maybe if u bring me snacks and kuro-chin tomorrow then i'll forgive
u. dont forget! ( – ▽ – )ノ

He cracked a smirk at the messages and then set the phone down on the nightstand. He laid down next to the petite, curled figure that was warm in his side and then pulled a blanket over the both of them. Recounting Kise's message, Daiki let out a quiet snort; like he'd ever let Tetsu get hurt. His arm wrapped warmly around the young body. Even, deep breaths bloomed across his bare chest, relaxing him while his eyes drooped closed.

Who knew, the future would probably tell him that it was a shitty idea to have adopted the kid, but for now, Daiki decided it was fine.

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.

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¹kakurenbo; Japanese for 'hide-and-seek'. Also referred to as kakure oni.
²oni; The person who is "it" in tag is usually referred to as "oni", which translates to demons, devils, ogres or trolls.

The story was inspired by a Shingeki no Kyojin strip comic by 霧縞 [ pixiv ID: 318547 ]. Thanks for reading. This is just one of the too-many stories I have lined up, and a good deal of them are multi-chaptered. I have no damned idea how the hell I'm going to pull any of that off, but inspiration doesn't seem to want to slow down. Anyway, on the comic, I thought it was really cute and neat how Levi was a badass while still being good to Eren, and I could completely and totally see Aomine and Kuroko in this position!

There will be a second chapter where Aomine and Kuroko's roles are reversed, and then after that, maybe I'll write another story relating to this one. This isn't a birthday story for Ahomine, but I'm going to write that today and hopefully post it on time – happy birthday, Ahomine ~

I hope you leave a review. • u •