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Taichi sat at the kitchen table, visibly bored, swinging his legs. Grandma Sagawa had gone to visit a neighbour, and there wasn't much to do at his grandfather's house when she wasn't there. He kicked one of the legs and the tableware tinkled.
"Taichi, stop that."
He started jumping on his seat.
"Stop that, too. Can't you sit still for ten minutes?"
"But gramps, I'm booooooored."
Sagawa Genji ignored him and kept reading his newspaper. After a while, it sounded like Taichi had finally stopped squirming in his seat – but of course, this was not a kid that would just sit still if you asked him to. In fact, Taichi was currently sticking as many fingers as possible in his mouth. When he noticed his granddad looking at him, he proudly announced: "Gramps, look, my tooth's coming off! Look how much I can move it around” and started fiddling with a falling tooth. The man sighed.
"Taichi, don't put your hands in your mouth."
"But look! It's almost all gone already!"
"If you don't stop that, I'm going to tie your tooth to that handle and slam the door closed. You'll see how it comes off then."
He meant it as a threat and wasn't expecting Taichi to gasp and say, "Wow! We should try! Hey gramps, let's do that!"
Grandkids were so annoying. He'd make sure to warn his idiot son to never give him another.
"Taichi, come with me."
Taichi looked up from where he was sitting on the floor, teary-eyed.
"Stand up. We're not going to stay here longer than we need to."
The boy rubbed his eyes and promptly got up.
"I wasn't crying."
"Sure you weren't. Let's go."
Genji made sure to slam the door as loud as he could while leaving his son's house with his grandson.
Since they had gotten in the car, the only sound Taichi had made was blowing his nose. Eyes wide, he kept staring at his surroundings, then his feet, then his granddad, focused on the road.
"Taichi."
"Yes, granddad?"
"I don't expect we're gonna hear much from your parents from now on."
Taichi drew his gaze away from him.
"Ah. Well, it's ok. It's not like I see them a lot now anyways. They're never home."
"Hm. I thought so." He swore at another driver going past them. "I'll ask them to bring me your stuff tomorrow. Is there anything you need right away?"
"My baseball glove" said Taichi without missing a beat. His granddad ruffled his hair.
“I’ll have you know I won’t stand you acting like a brat in my house.”
"Hey! I'm not a brat! I'm in middle school already!"
"Yet you still look like a six-year-old. You haven't grown much, either."
"Shut up, you old man! And you... you stink, there's that!"
"GRAMPS, YOU HOME?"
"Don't be so noisy, you brat, I'm trying to read" grumbled Genji, making a point of not taking his eyes off his newspaper even when Taichi got inside the room.
"Shut up, geezer! And here I had something nice for you. Guess I'll just keep it to myself" he pouted, placing an anonymous looking box on the kitchen table.
"What's that?"
He could see Taichi was trying his best to keep his mouth closed, but his giddiness in the end got the better of him and he excitedly opened the package.
"It's ohagi! I haven't eaten homemade ohagi in so long. A friend of mine made them. They're almost as good as grandma's!"
In the time it took Gen to say "well, good for you" Taichi had already snatched two of the round sweets and had a third in his mouth.
"Well, I gueff I coulf let u haf' sum" he said. The older man raised his eyebrows, almost impressed, then took one of the sweets.
"How is it? Good, right?" Said Taichi, practically beaming. His granddad grunted in response.
"You said a friend made these? I'm surprised you didn't ask for their hand in marriage on the spot."
"WHAT!" sputtered Taichi.
"When you were a kid, every time someone brought you some food, you'd ask them to marry you." he chuckled. "Such a dumb kid."
"Ah... so that's what... hey, there's no way that's true!"
"Of course it is. Ask the neighbours if you don't believe me. You didn't even care if it was a boy, a girl or your kindergartener teacher."
Taichi was still hiding his face behind his hands. "That does sound like me, doesn't it..."
"Don't worry, your grandma made sure to cancel all engagements after."
"Please stop, gramps..."
"Sooo... there's that. I really hope you don't hate me now, granddad." Taichi drew a long breath and supported himself against the chair with both his hands, facing the floor. When it became clear that his grandad did not intend on saying anything, he gingerly raised his head to peek. He gave a nervous chuckle. "Wow, that was tiring. I'm just going to... get some water... and then go, ok?"
"Taichi."
He flinched. "Yes, grandfather, sir?"
Gen rubbed his temples
"I said once you should do whatever you want with your life, as long as it's not stupid. I still think that. But this is going to be a little harder to wrap my head around. I'm an old man after all."
"A-aw, gramps... you're not THAT old..."
"I’m an old geezer and I know that. Please sit down, you're making me uneasy standing there."
Taichi promptly sat down as if executing an order. "Yessir."
"So, if you really want to date this... boy... I'm not saying you can't. Just do it out of this house, please."
Taichi’s expression immediately fell, and he knew he had said the wrong thing. He hit himself mentally for that.
"No, Taichi, stop. I'm not kicking you out. Just, please don't get all lovey-dovey in front of me. I couldn't stand it when my idiot son did that with that woman, much less now."
"Dad did that?"
"Yes, every time he'd bring her here. They were insufferable." He drew a long breath. "So, as long as this boy isn't forcing you or something like that..."
"Of course he's not! Kouhei would never do that!"
"... and as long as you don't start just bringing guys around..."
"Gramps, come on! What do you think of me?"
"Then, just live the way you want to, Taichi. I don't understand why you would want that, but I'm not interested in stopping you. I sure as hell don't care about you marrying to give me grand-grandkids. You were enough of a bother for a lifetime."
He expected Taichi to retort against that, but the boy just got teary-eyed and started sniffling.
"Don't start crying now, you brat."
"Gramps... I'm so glad..." he whispered, hiding his face against the table. "Thank you... you're the best granddad in the world..."
"Stop that, you're creeping me out." He ruffled his grandson's hair. "I'm not going to leave you, Taichi."
Taichi turned his head towards him and gifted him with the biggest, warmest smile. "Who's being creepy now?"
"Good morning, Gen-san!"
Grandpa Sagawa groggily greeted the mailman. "What're those women so excited about? They've been yapping for a good ten minutes."
"Ah, seems like earlier they saw a handsome guy walking around here. I think he was Taicchan's friend? He left something in your mailbox."
"Honestly, is a single passer-by enough for them to get so excited? And what're those, more taxes?"
"I'm afraid so. Also, some advertisement."
"Ugh. Well, at least those I can just throw away. Have a good day."
Later, he opened the elegant blue package he had found in his mailbox. Inside, there was a platter tray of sweets and a letter.
To Sagawa Genji-San
A peace offering.
Thank you
Sugihara Kouhei
"Afraid to show his face, eh?"
"Gramps, I'm home! What's that?"
"Welcome home, Taichi. Your guy left them in the mailbox, it seems. Got the neighbourhood ladies all worked up."
"Kouhei did?"
"They're good, too. I get it now."
Taichi already had his mouth full. " 'derfanf wha'?"
“You were lured by food.”
"wh- i was NOT!" Taichi blushed furiously. "Ok, well, maybe a bit, but-"
His granddad laughed heartily.
"Not even denying it… I can't believe it. Still such a brat after all."
"Shut up, geezer! I'm confiscating that! You're too old for all this sweet stuff anyway!"