𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 [𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑢 𝐺𝑜𝑗𝑜]

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

"Am I– Am I your daddy?" Suguru slowly blinks, trying to see if he's seeing straight. He pinches his arm to check if he's dreaming or something along those lines. Maybe he drank so much that he's ascended to another place. A whole different universe. He rubs his eyes to see if it's just his vision that is deceiving him, but the young boy is still there. "What's your name?"

"I asked you first." The boy points out, and Suguru thinks about it for a minute. He shuts his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them, Suguru shakes his head in response. The boy in front of Suguru is the spitting image of Satoru, there's no way that Suguru is the father of the child.

"I'm not your father." Suguru answers. Suguru wonders whose kid this is. In whose place is he at? There's no picture frames around, nor anything on the walls. He's thinking about you– But there's no way this is your child... There's no way this is Satoru's child. "What's your name?"

"Who are you?" The child ignores the question.

"It's my turn to receive an answer. What's your name?" Suguru ignores the second question that was asked. He watches as the kid furrows his eyebrows and purses his lips, most likely wondering if he should share that vital piece of information to a mere stranger– A stranger that woke up in his home. He ponders on it for a minute before he ends up answering,

"I'm Ren." And just as the answer leaves the kid's lips, Suguru looks up to find you. You wear a white robe around your body, hiding the old pajamas that you wear. Suguru's eyes shift from your face back to Ren's. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, but he still asks,

"Who's this kid? He looks just like Satoru." Suguru's eyes still shift back and forth between you and Ren. Maybe he's a figment of his imagination because there's no way there's a child that looks identical to Satoru right in front of him.

You bite down on your lip. You were a little too tipsy– No, you were drunk. You remembered your address, and you gave it to Shoko, but your judgment was clouded. Bringing back Shoko and Suguru to your apartment would not be a decision you would make sober. Shoko knows about your son but Suguru definitely doesn't. Your blood runs cold and this cold sweat runs down your face. You take a deep breath before you mutter, "He's my kid."

"Huh?" Suguru knows a sound came from his lips, but he can't quite make out the muffled sound.

"He's my son." You tell him, and his eyes widen. That should've been expected, it's pretty obvious. You were with Satoru for so long, and since the child clearly isn't Sayo's, it must be yours. Additionally, a child doesn't just spring out of nowhere.

Suguru sits dumbfounded, unsure of what to say, and you stare at him for a minute before you grab Ren's hand and you walk to the kitchen. You pour water into two glasses, one for you and another for Suguru. You give a glass of water to Ren and you smile at him, asking him, "Will you please take this to Suguru?"

He nods, a grin coming to his face, happy to be helping. You gulp down your water and then rinse the glass. Your hands rest on the edges of the sink, thinking about how you'll explain everything, how you'll tell him that you had a baby with Satoru and that he better not tell anyone about this, not even Satoru; you don't know how you'll explain that Satoru has a kid that he doesn't know about, one that he won't know about.

"How old are you?" You hear, and you slightly turn your head to look at Suguru and Ren. Suguru takes the glass of water to allow Ren to hold four fingers up. Ren then returns the same question, and Suguru answers.

"Oh–" You hear a more feminine voice, and you're immediately startled. You had totally forgotten that Suguru and Ren aren't the only people in the place. Shoko and your mother are also here. You look at Shoko and try your best to smile at her, but she doesn't notice since her gaze is on Suguru and Ren, "They look so cute together. He could be the step dad."