From A-Z, and Everything in Between

Now That You're Older...

  How many years had it been since things changed for them? MafuMafu would've lost count a long time ago if it wasn't for Sora. The child was a constant reminder of how things were, and how long it had been since Soraru and MafuMafu were close. MafuMafu supposed they were still close now, but it was different from before. It was almost as if Soraru was purposely trying to put some distance between them. MafuMafu passed it off as the dark-haired male being busy with his family. It was understandable. Sora was twelve now, about to enter the infamous teenage years. Soraru was going to have his hands full until the day he sent Sora off to college.

MafuMafu continued to be a big part of Sora's life as he grew. He was practically a member of the family at this point, always attending every birthday party and holiday gathering. MafuMafu treated Sora like his own child. Over the years he had been asked multiple times when he was going to decide to settle down and start his own family. After all, he was so good with kids he'd probably make a great father. But MafuMafu would just laugh and say he hadn't found the right person yet, and there'd be no point in settling down with someone he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with. In actuality, though, the right person had already been taken away from him.

Surprisingly, MafuMafu became more and more okay with the fact that Soraru didn't return his feelings as time went on. There would still sometimes be times where he'd look back on the old days and wonder what would've happened if he had confessed back then, but he'd always shake his head at the thought. It probably wouldn't have worked out even if he said something back then. Plus, even if it had gone well, Sora would never have been brought into this world. That alone was enough for MafuMafu to not regret the past.

"Hey, Uncle Mafu," Sora greeted with a smile.

MafuMafu waved, coming over to sit beside Sora. Now that he was older, he didn't run up to MafuMafu and hug him excitedly when he saw him. MafuMafu kind of missed that.

"What are you doing?" MafuMafu asked.

"Just playing a game," Sora answered, showing MafuMafu the screen of his device.

It had been a while since MafuMafu had played a game, so he didn't recognize it. Man, I feel like I'm getting so old, MafuMafu thought to himself. He wasn't actually that old, but a lot of his childishness had disappeared in the past few years. He didn't really act like a goofy high schooler anymore. MafuMafu continued asking about the game, with Sora happily explaining the story and mechanics to him, until a familiar dark-haired male entered the room. He smiled at the two warmly.

"You guys ready to go?" Soraru questioned.

Sora immediately jumped to his feet, an excited grin on his face. "Yeah, let's go!"

MafuMafu stood up as well. He looked over at Soraru and Sora and was once again shocked by how much Sora resembled his father. Their eyes were the same, the color of the evening sky. Their faces had similar shapes, with Sora's being more rounded from youth. The only major difference was their hair. Instead of Soraru's dark hair, Sora had Lon's blonde hair. It was just as curly as his father's, but just as bright as his mother's. MafuMafu hated to admit he didn't like the fact that Sora had blonde hair.

"Hey, what are you zoning out for?" Soraru asked as he waved a hand in front of MafuMafu's face.

MafuMafu blinked and, realizing he had been lost in thought, his face flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Ah, it's nothing. Just got kind of distracted for a moment."

He laughed a bit at the end in hopes that Soraru wouldn't press the matter any further, but this only resulted in him receiving a questioning look from Soraru. Fortunately, Soraru didn't get the chance to ask him anything more because Sora started pulling on his sleeve and whining that he wanted to go.