LXIV

a/n: just to clarify, ALL of Tamiko's story happens when Isuma is interning in California. He returns to Tokyo a week before she does!

love yall! enjoy :)

Tamiko watched Aoki and Sakura eat their ice creams, captivated by the street performance. Five young men- maybe a new j-pop or k-pop group?- were dancing to a song he vaguely recognized. A large crowd had gathered around them and were singing along and cheering. Sakura turned around to Tamiko. "Who are they??"

"They're from a boy band. See, look." Tamiko pointed at a girl a little younger than him handing out flyers to the audience. Tamiko accepted one and knelt down to show Sakura. She glared at the sheet for a second then looked back at Tamiko, defeated. "I can't read this!"

"Sorry. It's in Korean." He read it out in Korean first, then in Japanese. "'ROYAL invites you to their free performance on September 30th.' This is them."

He pointed at the five young men- some younger than him- on the flyer. Sakura said, "They're pretty!"

Tamiko laughed. "You think so? Here, lemme lift you up so you can see better."

He scooped her up in his arms and held her up. She watched the performance eagerly, captivated. ROYAL was just finishing up, and the crowd was louder than ever. The song tapered to a finish, and everyone exploded in cheers. Sakura yelled along with them, excited. The members bowed and waved to their audience, smiling. Sakura waved back enthusiastically. "Hi!!"

One of them noticed her and smiled brightly. He said something to another, who nodded. The first member walked over to Tamiko, Sakura, and Aoki. Sakura said excitedly, "That was amazing! Who are you!"

"My name is Yujin. What's your name?" He said in fluent Japanese. Yujin was probably in his late teens and had perfectly fluffy hair and flawless skin. Sakura replied, "I'm Sakura! That was so good! You're a really good dancer and singer!"

Yujin laughed, throwing back his hair. "Thank you, Sakura. Will you come to our performance in September?"

"Can we?" Sakura asked Tamiko eagerly. He was momentarily caught off-guard. "Yeah. For sure."

"Well, just in case you can't..." Yujin had an album in his hand and was signing it with a sparkly gold marker. "Here you go, Sakura-chan."

She took it in awe, holding it in her hands as if it were a holy object. "Thanks, Yujin-nii! Can I call you that? How old are you? Where are you from? Are you Korean? Do you live in Japan? Can you speak Korean? Is it-"

"Ok, ok, Sakura." Tamiko clapped his hand over her mouth and looked at Yujin apologetically. "I'm sorry. She can get excited quickly."

"No. She's adorable. Is she your sister?" Yujin asked, rubbing Sakura's hair affectionately. Tamiko replied, "No, just a special friend. Thank you for the album."

"No problem." Yujin began to say something else, but the young woman from earlier approached them. Up close, she was much younger than Tamiko had realized. 17- maybe even 16. She hastily bowed to Tamiko and Sakura before turning to Yujin. "Let's go, Yujin."

"Yeah. Hopefully I'll see you in September, Sakura." He flashed a beautiful smile before retreating with the woman. Several other people immediately surrounded him as they walked to a van parked at the curb. Sakura gasped and yelled, "BYE, YUJIN!!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!!"

Tamiko assumed her voice would be lost in the deafening roar of the crowd, but Yujin actually turned around. His eyes found them and he smiled again, lifting his hand in a wave. Sakura laughed and waved wildly. Tamiko let her watch ROYAL until the van finally drove away. Aoki immediately said, "Tamiko-sannn, can we go eat? I want taiyaki!!"

"No, let's get dango!!" Sakura exclaimed, already distracted. Tamiko set her down carefully. "We can get both. Okay?"

He took both of their hands and began walking back the direction they'd come from. Sakura was skipping happily, gripping the album in her hands tightly. "Tamiko-san, we can go watch Yujin in September, right?"

"We will. I promise."

One way or another. 

***

Tamiko worked to adopt Aoki and Sakura for months. He made up his mind once he was officially named their temporary emergency guardian. Every spare second he had was spent filling out applications or on phone calls with social workers. He had to consent to dozens of separate background checks which took weeks- each. 

Slowly yet surely, the future he envisioned for Aoki and Sakura began piecing together. He contacted Hinosa, who promised to have Tamiko's old apartment prepared for them whenever they were ready to return. He enrolled Aoki and Sakura ahead of time in a school. 

And he kinda forgot to tell anyone but Hinosa that he was returning with two kids. 

Tamiko wasn't planning to tell everyone. Just a few close friends. But at the moment, it was difficult to talk to them at all. He'd left Tokyo abruptly, without informing dozens of people who definitely should've known. He knew a lot of them would be hurt, confused- maybe even angry. His problems were no excuse; he should've addressed the issue directly and at least let them know. 

He felt good. He felt healed. It had taken a long, long time... but he'd finally let it all go. He was okay. 

THREE MONTHS LATER

ONE WEEK BEFORE ISUMA RETURNS

"Slow down, Sakura!!" Tamiko yelped as she ran up the stairs at a dangerous pace, eager to get to their apartment. Aoki was running even faster, climbing the steps three at a time. He paused to look over the railing of the staircase. "Come on! You're so slow!"

"No, you're just so fast!!" Tamiko protested, slightly regretting all of his recent choices. Kids were EXHAUSTING. 

Tamiko's apartment was in a new complex that was mainly made up of younger people without children. Half the apartments were empty because it was so new and the facilities were extremely clean. It was located close to Tamiko's campus and  the school Aoki and Sakura would (hopefully) go to. The school year had already begun in March, but Tamiko was hoping they'd be able to enter right after summer break ended. 

They finally reached the right floor. Tamiko set down the suitcases he'd carried up and looked at Aoki. "Do you remember the code I taught you?"

"Yeah!" Aoki eagerly punched in four digits- 1717- in the electronic keypad located just underneath the door handle. The door clicked, and Sakura shoved it open. Tamiko flipped on the lights and turned his attention to the suitcases as Aoki and Sakura bolted inside. 

"Wow!!!" Sakura beamed. She immediately jumped onto Tamiko's pristine couch and spun around in a circle. His apartment was kept minimal, although that would definitely change in the next few months. Tamiko entered behind them and pointed around. Aoki was already examining Tamiko's TV. "Can we watch cartoons?!"

"Once you've changed and eaten." Tamiko promised. Aoki frowned but quickly lit up when Tamiko showed them their new rooms. After they showered and ate, Aoki watched a show on the TV while Sakura explored every inch of the apartment (with Tamiko close behind, ensuring she didn't hurt herself or break anything). 

When Sakura finally joined Aoki in safely watching the TV, Tamiko finally took a moment to relax. He sat at the dining table and looked at his phone, wondering if he should even tell anyone else that he'd returned. Or anything. He'd changed so much in the past few months he wasn't sure if they'd even accept him anymore. 

Wow, he really was a coward. 

Tamiko groaned and set his head on the table, wanting to hit himself. Finally, he forced himself to call Hinosa. He had insisted Tamiko call him later so they could set up a time for all their friends to meet. 

Hinosa answered immediately. "Why has it taken you four hours to get to your apartment?"

"I forgot." Tamiko fibbed. He could almost feet Hinosa's disapproving gaze through the phone. "Yeah, right. Are you home? There's a few things I forgot to leave at your apartment earlier. And I want to meet Aoki and Sakura. We need to establish that I'M the favorite uncle before they meet anyone else."

"Yeah. Sure. You can come by whenever you want." Tamiko said, too tired to really argue. Hinosa cheerfully said, "Okay, great, because I'm here!"

He hung up. Tamiko stood up and rubbed his eyes. Aoki and Sakura were still watching their show. He decided there was no point in interrupting them until Hinosa actually got there. 

It only took him forty seconds. Aoki and Sakura turned around immediately when the doorbell rang. They leaped over the couch's back- before Tamiko could even warn them- and raced to the door. Tamiko called, "Let him in!"

He turned the TV off and began cleaning off the dining table. The door creaked open, and he heard Sakura's voice say, "Umm... who are you?"

Puzzled, Tamiko set down the dishes so he could turn around. "What do you mean; it's just Hinosa-"

Tamiko's eyes widened. Hinosa was there, alright... with three uninvited visitors.

Atsumu. Osamu. And Suna. 

Osamu was the first one to say something. "Hi, Tamiko-kun. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Tamiko leaned against the dining table in shock as they entered. "What- what are you DOING here??"

"Coming to meet a friend. Who, you know, disappeared off the face of the Earth a while ago." Suna said, his mouth pressed into a thin line. He didn't look too thrilled to see Tamiko- not that he blamed Suna. Tamiko wouldn't be too thrilled to see himself either. He instead looked at Hinosa, who didn't look embarrassed in the slightest. "What? YOU certainly weren't about to let them know, so I did it for you."

"You really are such an idiot, you know?" Atsumu snapped. "We could've helped you, Tamiko. You don't have to choose to run away every single time, you know. There are other options. We exist for a reason."

Aoki and Sakura looked frightened by his harsh tone. Tamiko immediately stepped in front of them. "Atsumu-kun, you're scaring them."

Atsumu's expression relaxed- slightly. He let out his breath and took a step back. "Sorry."

"I know why you left. And I understand." Osamu said. "Atsumu's POINT was" -here he threw his brother an annoyed glance- "that you didn't have to leave. But I get it. It hurt, so you left. That seemed like the easiest way."

"You're so dumb." Suna shook his head, looking slightly less ticked off. "This is Aoki-chan and Sakura-chan, right? Hinosa-kun, where's the stuff we bought?"

"Oh, right!" Hinosa lifted the giant bag high into the air. "This is a peace treaty! Sorry for scaring you. They aren't usually this scary, I promise."

Sakura and Aoki both looked at Tamiko, who nodded. They ran up to Hinosa, who began pulling out chocolates and toys. Tamiko glanced at the other three, who were watching the children. Abruptly, Suna said, "Isuma's in the hospital in California."

"Suna-kun!" Osamu whipped around. Tamiko staggered back even further. "What? Did she- is she-"

"She was assaulted. And she nearly died." Atsumu said flatly. Tamiko began noticing small details he'd previously overseen: the bags under the brothers' eyes, the state of their clothes. These two were in a living hell- and Tamiko felt stupid for not noticing right away. Suna continued, "She's coming home in a week. We just thought we'd let you know. Seeing as you're her best friend. And all."

Tamiko didn't even know how to respond. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut- several times. Thankfully, Aoki and Sakura were turned away so they didn't see his expression. Osamu finally said, "We have a LOT to tell you."

Yeah. They really did. 

They explained everything- at least, the details they were sure of. How Isuma had met Irene. How something had happened with Irene's brother. That Hishari was there.

That Isuma had been in the hospital for the past week. That the three of them- and Kita- had been out of their minds with worry. 

That she was coming home soon. 

Hinosa kept Aoki and Sakura entertained while they talked for over half an hour. Eventually, they fell into a tense silence. Suna kept looking at the door, as if waiting for someone. Finally, the doorbell rang and he immediately sprang up. "About time. It took him a while to get here."

Tamiko scrambled up. "Him? Who else is here?"

Suna opened the door and turned, allowing one last person to enter. He looked around, searching for Tamiko, and smiled. "Hi, Altan-san."

"...Kita-san?" 

i know i say this every chapter but WE'RE SO CLOSE IM SO EXCITEDD

again, tamiko returns a week before isuma!

this might go on a bit longer that i expected. there's a few things i forgot about when calculating how many more chapters i'd need to wrap the story up. we're going to have a few more, shorter timeskips so i can tell yall the important pieces of isuma and shinsuke's story. 

and as always, thank you for reading :)

 yall have my whole heart for dealing with me for over two years <33