Winter air brushed against warm cheeks, causing the man to shiver. Blue eyes looked up at the tall building that his partner and he were about to enter, critical analysis of the outer appearance instantly filling the man's mind. The building was old with paint peeling on what seemed to be a mural of some sort. The shingles looked like they needed to be replaced several years prior, and what should have been grass around the now leafless tress was nothing but brown weeds. There were small clumps of snow on the ground that were going brown as they turned the dirt to mud. All in all, the place was a mess.
"Shinya," A voice called the man from his thoughts.
Looking to his left, violet eyes caught hold of his azure ones. They stopped walking, only a few feet from the door now.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Ah, Guren. His grumpy, stubborn Guren. They had been discussing this for almost a year, but the opportunity didn't arise till a few weeks ago. Shinya smiled at Guren, knowing full well that the other was concerned due to his scent.
"My dear, dear Alpha. You need to get your nose checked if you think I'm second guessing this."
Guren huffed at that. Shinya chuckled, grabbing his mate's arm to pull him closer to the door. This was their chance to start over- away from the Hiiragi name, away from their prejudices, and away from the damage they had done.
"You must be the Ichinose family," a young Omega woman greeted. Her brown hair was pulled back on the left side in a braid that led to a bun on the back of her head. Soft brown eyes squinted a bit when she smiled at them. "I'm glad you two were able to make it in this weather."
Guren nodded while Shinya smiled. The blue eyed Omega was glad that the interior of the building was in much better shape than the outside. It looked clean, for the most part, and the lament floors only had a few scuffs. The receptionist looked pleasant as well. He hoped that all the workers were like her.
"Sorry it took so long. We, ah... had to get ready for him and everything," Guren tried to explain, getting a bit flustered.
Shinya gently wove his fingers with Guren's, squeezing his hand in support. It was rare for the Alpha to get tripped up. But then again, this was new territory for both of them. They would be going to into this together, but that didn't make it any less unnerving.
"Oh, no worries!" The receptionist smiled as she came from behind the desk. "It was very sudden, so I'm sure that the paper work held you up a bit as well. But now you're here!" She motioned for them to follow.
"So... How has been holding up?" Guren asked their guide, breaking a minute long silence as the trio moved throughout the building. Shinya was concerned that either the building was larger than it appeared, or the receptionist had lost her way.
"To be honest, I personally only worked with him a few times, so I don't know how accurate I can be in answering your question."
Shinya frowns. He had heard stories from Guren and from the case files- the disappearing, the abuse, the accident... All of it made the Omega shiver. But now they were going to try and fix all of this, for them and for the little one waiting for them.
Finally, the three reached a fairly large room where several children were running around playing and shouting at each other. The guide gave a nervous smile as she turned to the couple.
"Excuse the mess. They had arts and crafts today and we can't really take them outside with how cold it is, so they are all a little pent up with energy."
Shiny gave a small nod of understanding. "So, where is he?"
The receptionist looked around before motioning over to a small table where a lone child was colouring. As they approached, Shinya could hear his heart beating in his chest.
