Chapter Text
Niijima Jiro took his eyes off the road for a second to sneak a look at his wife, an unreadable expression drawn across her features. "Izumi-chan, are you sure about this?"
Izumi tilted her head slightly, turning towards her husband with a sad smile. "We already promised the girls a baby brother. Makoto-chan would be heartbroken."
Jiro sighed through his nose, clicking on his turn signal. Izumi and he had been expecting a baby boy this month, but Izumi had unfortunately miscarried the child at seven months. Sae, seventeen and in her final year of high school, knew about the miscarriage and had mourned her baby brother by herself. Makoto, six years old with bright, ruby eyes full of innocence... Izumi didn't have the heart to break the news to her youngest daughter.
"Well, it's a good thing we were expecting an addition to our family anyways." Jiro let a smile tug at his lips, burgundy eyes crinkling slightly. Truthfully, he had always wanted a son. He loved his girls, but he always dreamed of teaching a son how to play chess or to play pretend as a police officer with. Sae had already passed her bar exam and was on her way to becoming a prosecutor, but Jiro couldn't help but wish for a son. "It was foolish of me to ask. Once your heart is set on something, you won't give up."
Izumi smiled, a knowing look in her crimson eyes. "That's why you married me, right?" There was a playful lilt to her voice. "'I like a girl who knows what she wants'... I'll never forget you saying that on our first date."
Her husband laughed, a light blush blooming on his face in embarrassment. "Let's not talk about that now, we're here." Surely enough, he shifted the car into park and began unbuckling his seat belt. "Do you need help...?"
She chuckled, waving a hand in his direction. "I may have just had a miscarriage but I'm no damsel in distress, Jiji."
Jiro averted his eyes, distracting himself with opening the driver's side door. "I thought you had forgotten about that nickname..." Izumi grinned in reply with a devilish glint in her eyes, getting out of the car and meeting her husband on the sidewalk.
Standing before them was Tokyo's Orphanage. It was larger than the residential homes around it, but it didn't look large enough to house many children. Jiro bit his tongue, recalling the awful stories he had heard about Tokyo's foster system and local orphanages. Society was failing its own children. By bringing one boy here out of the system and into their home... it was the least they could do, really.
Nevertheless, he turned towards his wife and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go find our son."
They entered the orphanage, Jiro holding the wooden door open for Izumi. She nodded in a quick show of gratitude before holding the door open for him in turn. He smiled back at her, stepping into the house. The foyer was relatively small and there was a small desk in front of them. On top of it was some papers and in the corner was a small, silver bell. Walking up to the desk, the wooden floorboards creaked beneath their feet. Jiro rang the bell, wincing slightly at how its shrill sound instantly filled the air.
A woman who looked to be in her forties strode into the foyer, long black hair pulled over her shoulder in a loose braid. "Good afternoon. Are you looking to adopt?"
Jiro blinked, giving a small nod. "Yes, my wife and I were looking for a young boy, preferably six years old or younger."
Izumi frowned slightly. "I recently had a miscarriage and my daughters were expecting a younger brother. We wanted to adopt a boy who was younger than our youngest daughter."
The woman raised her eyebrows, her mouth forming a small 'o'. "I'm sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I'm certain you'll find a nice young man among our bunch."
"Pardon me but," Jiro rubbed the back of his head in a small show of nervousness. "I didn't catch your name?" He bowed slightly, "I'm Niijima Jiro and this is my wife, Izumi."
"Ah, my apologies." The woman gave a small smile and a bow of her own, "Seicho Yumikiko. I run the orphanage." She made her way to the other side of the desk, shifting through the papers on top of it. Finding a piece of scratch paper, she skimmed through the pages and wrote something down on the scrap. After about a minute, she made her way back over to the Niijima's. "I compiled a list of our boys six years old and younger. If you would please follow me..."
Seicho strode into an adjacent room that consisted of a few chairs. An interview room, perhaps? After sitting the Niijima couple down, Seicho requested IDs and other information as an informal background check. "A police officer and a free-lance novelist, hm?" The woman hummed, handing the documents back. "This will be fine for now. If you decide to adopt, I'll perform a more extensive background check. I'm sure you are wonderful people, but rules are rules." She gave a small shrug before exiting the room, presumably to find the boys she would have interviewed.
Izumi glanced over to her husband. "I'm feeling a little nervous about this."
"Hm?" Jiro met her gaze, eyes softening. "We're already parents. We've been parents for seventeen years now."
The brunette tilted her head slightly, closing her eyes with a teasing smile. "This is our first time adopting, Jiji. I've never been interviewed to see if I was a suitable mother."
Jiro chuckled sheepishly. Despite being a police officer, common sense certainly loved to evade him. "I... can see why you're feeling nervous then." He was rewarded with his wife's hum. He had almost begun to speak again when Seicho returned with a young boy who hardly came up to her thigh.
"Sorry for the wait," she smiled pleasantly, putting a soft hand on the boy's shoulder. "This is Kai. Say hello, Kai-chan."
The boy met the gazes of the Niijima's for all of a split second before returning his gaze to the floor. "H-hi."
And seven other boys came and went in similar ways. Each boy was relatively nice, but none of them really... fit. There hadn't been a single boy that screamed I'm your new son! I'll fit right in with the Niijima's and be a good baby brother to Makoto-chan! Jiro and Izumi had been ready to give up and go home, return empty-handed and break Makoto's heart. But out of the corner of her eye, Izumi noticed a small boy sitting in the other room. He couldn't have been more than six, so...
"Excuse me, Seicho-san," she began, pointing towards the boy in the other room. "What about that boy over there?"
Seicho followed Izumi's finger and, upon laying eyes on the boy, her shoulders rose in surprise. She turned back to the Niijima's, an unreadable expression on her face. "I don't think he would fit your family. He is six years old and has already been bounced between many other foster families-"
Jiro leaned forward in his chair, as if he was extending his presence in the room. "Bring him over here. I want to meet him."
The woman seemed to visibly tense up, biting her lip and drawing her eyebrows together. Her eyes seemed to say, Don't say I didn't warn you. She got up from her seat and took hesitant steps into the other room, approaching the boy. The boy was crouched against the wall, knees pulled tightly to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. His brown hair shrouded his face, hiding whatever emotions he was showing.
Despite not being able to decipher what Seicho was saying, the Niijima's could tell the woman was goading the child into meeting them. He seemed somewhat uncooperative, stubbornly staying in his compact position and never meeting her eyes. Jiro couldn't help but think of the gruesome case he investigated about two years ago, a young boy clinging to his mother's corpse after she had committed suicide in their bathtub. The boy had stayed his ground, grabbing at his mother's arm and only being torn away once they needed to remove the body from the house. Distantly, he wondered what ever happened to that boy.
He was pulled from his musings when he heard footsteps. Seicho led the child back towards the interviewing room. The boy kept his head down, long brown hair still covering his face. He seemed to mutter something to himself but followed the woman nonetheless. Seicho stood next to the boy, gesturing to the chair that all of the other boys had sat in while jittering with the excitement of possibly being adopted. Being the absolute antithesis of the other children, the boy all but fell into his seat, obviously unhappy to be there.
"Go on," Seicho said in a kind voice, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "introduce yourself."
The boy pulled away from her touch as if he had been burned. "Don't touch me." He shuddered. "Please."
Jiro turned towards Izumi with a cautious glance. He didn't want to think that the boy had been hidden away for a reason, but usually children were excited to be considered for adoption, right? The boy seemed to be positively miserable at the prospect. But they needed to give him a chance. This was their last option before they came home and upset their youngest daughter.
Izumi nodded, understanding her husband with a shared look. "Well, we're the Niijima's." The boy tilted his head slightly, but his eyes were still hidden. Regardless, it was a start. "My name is Izumi and I'm a novelist."
"A... novelist?" The boy seemed to perk up, mouth pulled into the illusion of awe. His voice was quiet, she noticed. Out of fear? Maybe he was just shy.
She smiled past her spiraling thoughts. "Yep. I write books for a living." Izumi could have sworn the boy's lips twitched into a small smile before turning back into a frown.
"I'm the cool one," her husband interrupted, a grin on his face. Izumi rolled her crimson eyes, used to her husband being proud enough to brag about his position. "I'm a police officer."
The boy finally picked his head up, brown bangs shifting to reveal garnet eyes. "A police officer?"
Jiro kept the smile on his face, retrieving his badge from his pocket and brandishing it to the child. "I risk my life every day to keep the good people of Tokyo safe. I'm very happy to be doing what I'm doing."
"-If you couldn't tell from him interrupting my "boring" job of being a novelist," Izumi slipped in, looking at the boy. He was very handsome and his eyes reminded her of her own.
"So you're like a superhero? Just like the ones in Featherman?" Where the boy's eyes had once been dull, light seemed to spark against the garnet.
Jiro turned towards his wife, a sheepish smile on his face. "Featherman? Isn't that the show Makoto was watching the other day?"
Frankly, Izumi couldn't tell the difference between the shows Makoto wanted to watch. The young girl liked action movies, the ones with an excessive amount of explosions, so maybe some superhero show wasn't too far off. "I think so."
The boy blinked up at them. "Who's Makoto?"
Jiro, always ready to brag about his daughters, leaned forward in his seat. "Makoto is our youngest daughter and she's six. We also have another daughter, Sae, and she's seventeen."
"You already have two children," the boy averted his eyes, catching his gaze on his fidgeting hands. "Why are you looking to adopt?"
Izumi, unsure if she truly wanted to bring up the miscarriage to a six year old, twisted her face into a slight frown. "Makoto wanted a baby brother and we... lost our son."
The boy's hands froze, eyes snapping wide open. "So I'd just be a replacement, huh." The warmth had left his voice. Had it ever been there in the first place?
"It isn't like that," Jiro asserted immediately, taking his wife's hand in his own. "We want a son and giving a child in the system a loving home seems like the best of both worlds."
Wide, garnet eyes looked up at him from under brown bangs. An instant later, he looked back down at his lap again, hands clenching into fists. "So many other families said that."
"We can't say that you would be the perfect fit because we hardly know you, but please give us the chance to." Izumi squeezed her husband's hand, a small smile on her face as she faced the boy. Her crimson eyes shone brightly. "Would that be okay?"
The boy pulled into himself, shoulders slumping forward. He lowered his head. "I don't understand," he muttered to himself, "Whenever I look at you, I want to cry."
Izumi pulled away, opening her mouth to speak before closing it. What was she to say about that? Did... did she remind this boy of someone?
Jiro furrowed his eyebrows, glancing towards his wife before turning back to the boy. He steeled himself and said, "We want to give you a home. We would be happy to have you in our family. Would you give us a chance? If you're truly unhappy, we can bring you back here or find you a new family. But please, let us try?"
The boy crumpled in on himself even more, his shoulders shaking. His hands gripped his shorts tightly, enough to make his knuckles flare white. Seicho seemed like she was about to intervene but the boy began to mumble under his breath.
"Please," he sounded like he was on the verge of tears, "just let me die here. No one wants me. M-Mother killed herself because I'm a cursed child."
Seicho stood suddenly, but before any words could leave her mouth, Jiro spoke up. "We would like to adopt him."
No hesitation, all authority. It wasn't up for debate.
The boy's head shot up, staring at the Niijima's with surprise written all over his face. Wide garnet eyes blinked at them innocently. They still wanted him? After he had admitted his curse to them? ... Did he not have to pretend in order for people to want him?
A small voice in the back of his head pushed forward. You still haven't introduced yourself, you know.
"M-my name is Goro," he said finally, bowing his head slightly to hide the prickling sensation in his eyes, "I look forward to being your son."
Seicho watched the display with an overwhelming feeling of hesitation. Goro usually lasted a few months with a family before he was inevitably brought back. She hated to think the families she entrusted him to were awful, and he had always been the common link... but maybe this time would be different. She wanted him to find a family that loved him.
Retrieving the necessary paperwork, she allowed herself to believe the Niijima's would be the ones to fulfill the wish.
It didn't take long to leave, seeing as Goro didn't have any belongings besides the clothes he was wearing. Izumi had frowned at her husband, sharing a look that seemed to say, we need to get Goro new clothes. Jiro nodded in understanding.
"Yeah, no thanks," Goro mumbled under his breath, approaching the Niijima's. They hadn't said anything and it didn't seem to be directed at them either. Maybe the boy had an imaginary friend? Or maybe he just thought out loud sometimes. He glanced up at them, garnet eyes slightly narrowed. "I'm ready to go."
Izumi smiled down at him, "Okay." She waved to Seicho, who was standing behind the desk and organizing paperwork. "Thank you so much, Seicho-san."
The women shared pleasantries and Goro fidgeted awkwardly. Now that he was adopted and so close to leaving the orphanage, he was antsy to get out of the stifling air. He was still unsure about the Niijima's - they seemed like nice people, but so many of the other families that adopted him acted nice during the interview before showing their true colors behind closed doors. He had tried to look disinterested during his meeting with them so they would cast him back into the shadows. He didn't deserve a nice, loving family. He was a cursed child.
Keep your head up, Goro-chan, the same voice from earlier whispered.
Another presence seemed to push forward as well. I have a good feeling about this family. And if they end up like the others, Robin and I will protect you.
Goro let a smile pull at his lips. Right. Loki and Robin Hood would protect him. They always had.
Jiro crouched down in front of his new son, burgundy eyes soft and reassuring. "Ready, big guy?"
Goro was caught off guard by the nickname, nodding after his stupor. "Yeah. I'm ready."
The three exited the orphanage, the heavy wooden door shutting behind them with a resolute bam. Goro looked around him, garnet eyes roving over the most familiar street in his memory. He had lived at the orphanage the most in the last two years. He never lasted too long at his foster homes. It wouldn't be long before he ended up back here, thown away again once he had outlived his usefulness.
Loki nudged him forward. They're waiting for you and you're standing there like a deer caught in the headlights.
Have we ever seen a deer before? Robin asked. Loki grumbled in reply, and Goro took tentative steps to meet with the Niijima's.
He followed them willingly and was surprised at how distrust had seeped out of him, leaving behind blind obedience. He would usually be wary of being led into a trap, but for some reason, this couple... genuinely didn't seem like they were going to hurt him. They made it to the car with little fanfare, Jiro opening the backdoor for him.
"I wanted a cooler-looking car but my wife argued that the girls needed to fit in the car comfortably," he whispered to Goro, as if telling him a secret. "A sports car wasn't worth sleeping in the dog house."
Why would he be sleeping in a dog house? Robin inquired innocently. He was genuinely confused.
Loki sighed. It's a saying.
Once Goro was sitting in the back seat and reaching for the seat belt, he noticed that Jiro had closed the door and made his way back to the driver's seat. Had he silently blinked back at him for that long? Robin and Loki made it difficult to hold up conversations sometimes.
"Goro, are you hungry?" Izumi asked from the passenger's side, crimson eyes shining kindly at him. "Is there anything you want in particular? Or maybe we can go clothes shopping and then get food after-"
"You don't have to spend money on me!" He interrupted. Foster parents spending money on him was just a ploy to win his trust before they turned around and hurt him. As soon as he let his guard down, he would be going to bed hungry and covered in bruises. He could survive with this one shirt, the one where threads were tapering off at the seams. His shorts were not nearly long enough to protect him in the November air, but he could suck it up. His socks had holes in them and his shoes were a size or two too small, but he could survive! As soon as he asked for something, they would hate him...!
Jiro looked at him through the reflection in the rear view mirror, a stubbornness in his eyes. "Absolutely not. We're getting you new clothes. And Goro, please let us do things for you. No one should have to live like that."
Goro sat in shocked silence, mouth agape. This couldn't be real. This all had to be a trick! A trick to win his trust before they took everything he loved away. Adults were never nice. Adults used him and threw him away when he wasn't useful anymore. It wouldn't be long before they sent him back. He didn't deserve their love. He was a cursed child. He was-
Loki pushed forward. Goro-chan, you're crying.
Truthfully, Goro hadn't even noticed the tears streaking his face. His vision was bleary, colors mixing together. Robin pushed forward as well, wiping away Goro's tears for him. Despite it all, Goro couldn't help but feel scared. These... were happy tears. He was so used to abusive households. He was used to going to bed hungry, feeling bruises form on his skin. He had no idea what it was like to live with adults who... who... cared for him. It was foreign, it was new, it was scary. At least he knew what to expect when it came to the other families. This? This was completely new.
"We're here," Jiro broke the silence, putting the car into park. Goro hadn't even realized they stopped moving.
The car door next to him clicked and opened in an arc, revealing Izumi. She looked at him with kind eyes. They were a brilliant shade of red, just like his mother's. "Goro honey, do you want to come look at new clothes with us?"
We're already at the store, Loki remarked, certainly rolling his eyes, it's not like we can say no.
It'll be fine. And besides, new clothes will be nice. Robin, ever the optimist, encouraged Goro to go.
Goro gave a hesitant smile. "Okay." He unbuckled his seat belt and hopped out of the car, Izumi closing the door once he was out.
She offered her hand to him. If he was two years younger, he would have taken it without a second thought. Now? That would be too much. She pulled her hand away, giving him some space, but stayed close enough to reach for him if she needed to. Loki smiled, Huh. Usually they'd smack us for not taking their hand.
Jiro came around to the other side of the car, smiling down at Goro. "Ready, big guy?"
For the first time in a long time, he, Loki, and Robin smiled in unison. "Yeah, I'm ready."