#knights of hanoi as found family my beloved <3

[merryfortune]

Welcome to the family, little one

Written for Year of the OTP 2023

Prompts: High School/College Sweethearts | Hurt/Comfort | Meeting the Family | “I wrote this for you.” | Flood | Shifter AU

Title: Welcome to the family, little one

Ship 1: Respectfulshipping | Ryoken/Spectre

Ship 2: Infectshipping | Aso/Kyoko

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,281

Tags: Fluff, Light Angst, Flirting, Pregnancy, Parenthood, Kidfic, Knights of Hanoi as Found Family

   “Welcome to the world, little one.” Aso murmured as he kissed Kyoko’s temple. His voice was rich and fond.

   Kyoko held said little one - their baby - and looked suitably exhausted. Her eyes were droopy and her smile was lopsided but the moment of calm after all the chaos of giving birth was welcome.

   Speaking of welcome, so were their guests.

   “They’re ready to see us now.” Genome said to both Ryoken and Spectre.

   He was standing on the threshold of the door. He hovered in and out between the hallway and the infirmary. He was acting as the mediary between himself as a general practitioner when it came to all things related to the human body, and a family friend. The home birth had been as safe and successful as it could be on a cruise liner lived in by five people, three of whom were doctors, even if one of said doctors was the patient.

   Ryoken and Spectre exchanged a look. Excitement did not begin to describe the emotion on Spectre’s face, it was oddly giddy whereas Ryoken was smiling but not over the moon. But, upon invitation, they both came inside the infirmary.

   The infirmary had bit of a smell to it. Some of it was tolerable - like the heady, new baby smell - but some of it not so much. Ryoken hid the way his nose wrinkled but Genome was very vocal about his disdain for unsanitary smells. 

   “Are you guys ready to meet the new addition to our family?” Kyoko asked.

   Aso proudly stood by Kyoko’s bedside, he warmly placed his hand on her shoulder and she practically glowed. She looked the perfect picture of the Nativity scene: husband by her side, three wise stooges involved, and of course the most perfect infant child to have ever been born swaddled in her arms.

   “We’ve decided on Noriaki as his name.” Aso said.

   Ryoken snickered, “Noriaki? Really?”

   “We knew you’d say that.” Kyoko sighed. “No, not like “law light” but rather “roasted seaweed autumn” regarding the kanji.”

   “That’s even worse.” Ryoken said as he amusedly folded his arms.

   “I think it's a nice name. Regardless of reading.” Spectre piped up.

   “Thank you, Spectre.” Kyoko said and Aso nodded in agreement.

   “We also considered ‘Shinichiro’ but I’m sure you would have had even more problem with that.” Aso said.

   Ryoken took a moment to puzzle out the potential obvious Kanji for such a name and sure enough, Aso was right. Seventh son. That was a worse idea than autumnal roasted seaweed- er, law light. Spectre reserved judgement, however, as he had no complaints about being one of the preceding six but could understand the perspective of the others.

   “Do you two want to hold Noriaki?” Kyoko asked, breaking the mounting tension over her and Aso’s choice of name for their son.

   It had been hard to come up with a good name. There were plenty of things to omit but not a lot to include which made it difficult. 

   They didn’t want to use names which had either “Ryo” or “Ken” in them for obvious reasons. They couldn’t pick anything with “Ki” in it nor anything with “Yoshi” either. “Aki” was already a risk considering who their SOL Tech benefactor was. Then there was the issue of using anything containing either Spectre and Genome’s real names which were dead to them. Nor did they want to use anything too short since Noriaki was going to use his father’s family name (but even if he wasn’t, Taki wasn’t that long of a name either) for mouth-feel related balance reasons. 

   It was really hard but Noriaki just felt right at the end of the day for a baby born in the season of fall and at sea no less. 

   And, maybe, one day, he would even grow up and develop a fondness for Aqua or Fish type decks. Wouldn’t that be amusing? If he followed in the footsteps of his family when it came to Duel Monsters. Seaweed would be a good name for such a duellist. 

   Until then. Ryoken did have a point. He was probably going to be correcting tons of people regarding the kanji of his name. Good thing, or maybe a bad thing, he was going to be homeschooled for most of his life…

   “I’d love to.” Ryoken said. “What about you?” He turned his head to look at Spectre.

   Spectre was… not so discreetly excited by the idea of holding Noriaki.

   The topic of Spectre and babies was a thorny one to say the least. His past made it hard, he was a good example of what happened when babies were abandoned and what negative outcomes could develop thereof. 

   However, he had experience. Far more than Ryoken as there had been instances when he was at the orphanage where his caregivers tried to funnel his clear familial cravings into the younger kids that had also come into their care. It hadn’t worked. He hadn’t much interest in human babies but clearly, his feelings had appeared to have changed, and become more complicated, since then as his smile was surprisingly kind. If hidden.

   “I’m not opposed to it.” Spectre said, his teeth were chattering through the nervousness that he was trying to suppress.

   Ryoken, meanwhile, was much more gungho. He was eager, willing to learn.

   Of course, Ryoken (and by extension, Spectre and Genome, too) had been forced to read parenting books and books on foetal development, and baby development, too. But that was all theory. The practice involved less books which were notably very still and stable creatures and more babies which were not known to be very still nor all that stable. 

   Still, Aso was confident as he entrusted his son into Ryoken’s arms. The exchange was difficult, Ryoken only sort of knew was he was doing and as soon as Noriaki left Aso’s arms, already so known and precious to him, he began to scream. And screech. 

   Ryoken made a face, awkward, as he held Noriaki with not quite enough support. He did his best, even if Noriaki was being troublesome and Spectre, hovered by Ryoken’s side, wanting to correct both their postures.

   “It’s okay, it’s okay, Daddy’s right there.” Ryoken tried to goad Noriaki.

   Ryoken tried to pull faces for Noriaki but Noriaki’s eyes were tightly closed. Aso leaned over him and tried to do the same. That half helped. They both cooed at Noriaki and Noriaki still screamed. Ryoken’s nervousness began to increase as he tried to keep Noriaki calm and Noriaki was having absolutely none of it.

   “M-May I?” Spectre asked. His voice practically drowned out by Noriaki’s screaming, however.

   “Yes Spectre, you may.” Aso said, cringing through the absolute ordinance that Noriaki was concocting. It was though he didn’t need to breathe.

   “Good luck.” Ryoken whispered.

   He shuffled in closer next to Spectre, trying to rock Noriaki calm but that didn’t seem to be helping. Though, he hadn’t noticed any additional weight in Noriaki’s bundle which might be the culprit for his sudden shift in demeanour. He had been much more better behaved in mama’s arms.

   And, also, Spectre’s. Apparently.

   Ryoken helped to deposit Noriaki into Spectre’s awaiting arms and he had a much better posture for both himself and Noriaki. Noriaki blinked a couple times once he realised that he had been moved around like a football but now. He had stopped moving and he paused to consider what that meant and so. He went quiet.

   Quiet for one second, then two, and then a minute. He seemed content and as did Spectre. Ryoken smiled, fondly, as Spectre got more confident with holding Noriaki. His nerves had settled and so, his face lit up as he held little baby Noriaki. Spectre was gentle and just over the moon. His smile, though wobbly, was getting wider and wider the longer he held Noriaki and the longer Norki was quiet.

   Spectre was so much more confident holding Noriaki, too, especially compared to Ryoken. He looked so uncharacteristically soft and vulnerable as he held Noriaki close and better still.

   Noriaki had no complaints for being held by Spectre. He quietened down in Spectre’s arms, too. Again, especially compared to Ryoken. In fact, Noriaki had appeared to have fallen asleep in Spectre’s care, which made sense. He was rocking him ever so slightly so as to not disturb the adults around him but at the same time, he couldn’t help himself.

   Noriaki was so tiny and warm. His existence was so blissful at present, wrought in screaming having just been born mere hours ago, but the legacies he would come to inherit would grow so complicated. Perhaps he should never have been born, perhaps he would wish one day that he had never been born. For now, he wished for dreamland and for mother’s milk. 

   For now, he was a welcomed addition to the family that they were making in the wake of what had brought them all together. Noriaki’s existence was fraught but he was going to be cherished nonetheless. There was no doubt.

   “Do you guys want a picture?” Genome asked and he had his Polaroid at the ready.

   “I’m not really the pictures type, you know that.” Spectre said.

   “Nonsense, I want a souvenir of you two meeting Noriaki for the first time.” Kyoko pouted.

   “I’d like one too.” Ryoken added.

   “Alright.” Spectre said.

   Ryoken smiled and he snaked his arm around Spectre’s lower back. He leaned into him and embraced him, kissing him on the side of his face, making Spectre go even more camera shy. Genome rolled his eyes but managed to take a photo regardless. 

   “I know you probably don’t want to hear this,” Ryoken whispered into Spectre’s ear, “but I think in another life, you would’ve been a good parent.” He held his pose beside Spectre as they listened to the polaroid click and whirr at Genome’s use of it.

   “What was that?” Genome asked, his voice grumbly as he shook out the photo that had been printed. “Why not share it with everyone?”

   Spectre’s face began to go red.

   “I was just saying that we appear to have found Noriaki’s favourite.” Ryoken lied, matter-of-fact. 

   “Hm… Probably true.” Genome agreed but he knew that he was being lied to. 

   Aso laughed and he came around to Spectre to collect Noriaki.

   Sure enough, Noriaki stirred and began to cry again. All the typical infant newborn stuff but it was oddly endearing despite the lungs that he had on him. He could scream and he could scream loud. Aso sighed as he tried to calm Noriaki, all whilst Spectre fussed, embarrassed. The whole changeover was kind of clumsy but Noriaki’s crying complicated it.

   “I think you might be right, Ryoken, I think Noriaki might have a second favourite already.” Kyoko said, with some correction. She knew that once Noriaki made it back to her, she would undoubtedly be his absolute favourite as mama. Favourite uncle or male relative, perhaps. “Also, Genome, I wanna see the picture of Ryoken and Spectre, did it turn out good?”

   Genome hummed thoughtfully as he actually checked the photo. He smiled a small smile. He was chuffed enough by the results but when he went over to the side of the bed where Kyoko laid to show it to her, she squealed in delight.

   The photo had turned out excellent. The polaroid picture was shiny and glossy, perfectly capturing the moment of Ryoken kissing Spectre and Spectre holding Noriaki who was a tiny bundle of blue blankets in his arms with his tomato red face peeking through. It would make a wonderful souvenir in years to come, Kyoko was sure as she beamed, gazing at it.

   “Oh, it's adorable.” Kyoko gushed. “You both look like the perfect picture of fatherhood. Out of context, anyway.” She laughed.

   Spectre continued to go red. Right to the tips of his ears. He sputtered wanting to say something - anything - but was floundering. Ryoken, meanwhile, was taking the joke much better. He couldn’t be more amused at hearing Kyoko saying his quiet part out loud and Genome was still grumpy. He was demoting very quickly as favourite uncle. At least he could still be Spectre’s favourite.

   She showed the photo to Aso as he stood next to her, holding Noriaki.

   “Mm, it's a good photo.” Aso agreed.

   “Yes, well, I have many talents now, don’t I?” Genome piped up, disgruntled.

   “You do.” Kyoko giggled.

   She leaned in and brushed kisses into Noriaki’s hairline. He had sparse hair, the colour of which couldn’t be fully determined just yet as it was thin and slicked down over his skull but it might have been a very, very dark blue (like dad) or perhaps an auburn (like mum, just influenced by dad). 

   “I love you so much, Nori…” Kyoko murmured. She noisily kissed him some more.

   It was hard not to watch with swelling hearts, the utter adoration mother had onto son. They would all have a part to play, of course. To help out. To justify the peril of bring new life into the world in the long wake - fifteen years, to be exact - after their crimes.

   But it was healing. That’s what they told themselves. They were going to raise and protect Noriaki, he would one day grow up into a capable young man and citizen of the world. That was their promise. Ryoken reached out to Spectre and took his hand to wordlessly hold it. Spectre squeezed it back, holding back tears in his eyes. They were going to do their best - all of them, Kyoko, Aso, Genome, Ryoken and Spectre: all of them - and it was going to be healing.