Love is not Extinct

Halloween Special: Hocus Pocus

Haruhisa hummed and swung his legs back and forth as he sat at the bar in their kitchen, watching his father make breakfast. It had become part of their morning routine since Haruhisa had started living with his father. Tsukishima hadn't been one to worry too much about what he ate for breakfast when he lived alone. He would grab leftovers, or pick something up on the way to work without thinking much of it. But his son couldn't live like that.

The first few months after Haruhisa moved in, Tsukishima's mother came over a lot to help out, and during that time he had made sure to take the time to learn some things from her so he could make sure that he was preparing proper meals for a growing boy.

Now it had just become second nature to him.

Tsukishima dished them both a portion of rice, a warm bowl of miso soup, and a plate of koachi and natto. By the time he finished that, the grilled fish was done and he carefully pulled it out of the pan and portioned it onto each of their plates.

"Itadakimasu." Haruhisa pressed his palms together and bowed his head before shoving a large clump of rice into his mouth. "Thank you, otousan," he mumbled with a full mouth. Tsukishima smirked, chuckling at his son.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. You'll choke and then you'll throw up on my floor and that would upset me."

Haruhisa pouted as he looked back at his father whose smile didn't falter. "Otousan..." he whined. "All you're worried about is the floor?"

"Humm..." he replied, tapping his finger to his chin as if he was really pondering this. "You're right that's not the only thing I should worry about." Haruhisa perked up, pleased, before his shoulders slumped again at his father's follow up remark, "I would hate to see that food go to waste."

"You're mean." Haruhisa frowned and Tsukishima laughed.

"Stop your pouting, you know I'm teasing you."

His son eyed him warily, but his father was right. He had in fact known his dad was teasing him. "Meanie face," was his intelligent reply as he stuck another big clump of rice into his mouth before sticking his tongue out at his dad, saliva-covered rice and all.

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose. "Oi! That's nasty kid." He chuckled, reaching up and, with his palm on top of his head, he turned his son's head to face back towards the rest of his food. Haruhisa put his tongue back in his mouth and began the chew again, smiling brightly as his shoulders shook with laughter. "Make sure you eat the rest of your food too. You can't just have rice for breakfast."

"Mess-ser" Haruhisa mumbled incoherently through his food.

"So..." Tsukishima started up the new conversation between bites of his own food. "Halloween is only a couple days away and you still haven't told me what you want to be. You know if we don't get you a costume soon they won't have any good ones left and you'll have to be a rainbow unicorn or something."

He looked over, expecting his son to have an expression of horror at just the thought of being caught wearing something so embarrassing. But to his surprise the boy seemed indifferent to the idea as he picked up his bowl of miso soup and drank some of the broth.

"I already know what I want to be," he said very matter-of-factly.

"Oh, is that so? And what is it that you want to be?"

"Can't tell you," Haruhisa replied and his father looked down at him puzzled.

"Uh, why not?"

"It's a secret. Don't worry, Yamaguchi-sensei helped me get my costume." He put down his bowl looking up at his father with an expression very intense and serious for a seven year old boy. "You are not allowed to see it, okay?"