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“Are you sure it’s fine for me to attend?”asked Katakuri, watching carefully as he was hoping Rosinante’s expression or body language would give away the answer. Yet much to his relief, as he didn’t want Rosinante to lie to him, but also disappointment, as he still didn’t feel welcome, the blonde kept driving calmly while he spoke up.
“Kuri, yes he wants you here!”he replied, but he was quick to correct himself. “Not exactly, but I want you there and Law doesn’t mind. Plus the more people the better.” Now that was true.
“Last time Law saw me he threatened me… This is a big field trip, I get that they need more parents to watch over the kids, but-” before the taller male could finish though his boyfriend had already interrupted him.
“It was a joke, he said it as a joke, do you know how many times and in how many ways he has threatened me before?”he hummed chuckling, taking his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look at Katakuri with a soft smile on his lips. “And you aren’t his father, sure, but a lot of kids have parents who can’t or won’t come to such things.”
Dating a guy with kids, or one kid in this case, was never in his plans. Dating in general didn’t really interest him until he met Rosinante, but he was just too charming for Katakuri to not talk to and later on not hang out with and soon enough not to date. This gentleness his boyfriend had, his kindness, how forgiving he was. Then there were his stupid jokes, or his clumsiness, the way he’d cry when watching most movies and how calm he was when the situation called for it. Rosinante had something safe and comforting about him, but he was also one of the most humane people he had ever known.
So such a unique guy had to be the exception to Katakuri’s rule. And he loved how much Rosinante loved Law, he also cared about the boy to some extent. But he was just so hostile sometimes, whenever he was thinking that they were getting closer, Law would just do or say something to push him away once again. Of course Katakuri had the maturity to understand why that was happening and not mind, but he wasn’t used to being unable to fix things so he just wanted to give the boy time.
“Don’t think too much of it, he threatened you not to mess up his lunchbox for this field trip which we spent all afternoon making.” continued Rosinante as he had noticed his partner growing too quiet. “Law knows and appreciates everything you’ve done for us, for him and me individually as well, he’s smart.” Now Rosinante had slowed down, taking his sweet time to reach museum. Katakuri was being a bit paranoid, but his comfort was important.
“Yes and then he went to bed so this was the last time i saw him.” he replied, adjusting the scarf around his neck and face before fidgeting with some of the many rings he was wearing.
“Look if you’re really uncomfortable, you don’t have to come and I’ll take you out on a better date this Monday after work does that sound better? I know today was supposed to be a date, but 4 parents cancelled and I have the day off, I can’t not go.”he hummed, his tone gentle as it always was. Today they were supposed to sleep in, relax and go on a date, that was until one of the professors called him asking for more chaperones on the field trip. As he was one of the most present and active parents, Rosinante was almost always one of the first people the school called for such things.
“Rosi I want to go, it’s just that, I just don’t want to rush things with Law and make him dislike me. But as an older brother, I get the need for chaperones, even if my school never needed those..”he replied, now returning the smile and although Rosinante couldn’t see it from behind the scarf, he could tell he was smiling.
Law’s school was a relatively large public one, but underfunded as well, so there weren’t many teachers available. Parents volunteering to join during field trips were important. Katakuri’s and his siblings’ school was a private one, but Rosinante had explained everything.
With that settled, they decided to put on some music, blasting punk all the way until they finally reached the museum. It was the national history museum, which made Law even more excited for today. The whole school was going as well, not just his grade. Though they were only going to meet up with the other grades at the park later as they were all going to different museums.
“If i had known we’re chaperoning a field trip I would have dressed better.” muttered Katakuri looking at himself, intimidatingly tall, plaid black pants with bright pink and maroon elements, spiky, tall, black combat boots. Thankfully his t-shirt was a plain black one and he had decided to leave his spiked, ripped leather jacket in the car.
“I think you look cute, plus it’s important to - Penguin, Shachi what are you doing here?” asked the blond, quickly changing the topic as he saw two of Law’s friends. Which would have been normal if they weren’t high schoolers going to a different school.
They didn’t look that well.
“Oh - Rosi hi!”greeted Penguin, awkwardly waving at the tall adult, trying to sound more cheerful.
That was of course more than enough for Rosinante to understand that they got into another argument with their guardians, Shachi’s aunt and uncle, as he knew the situation. Katakuri seemed to piece together everything quickly as he had seen the two boys spending even whole weeks at Rosinante’s and Law’s apartment so he had asked at some point.
“Have you two had breakfast yet?” hummed Katakuri, his tone calm yet caring.
Judging by their looks, they didn’t want to admit that they had probably left way too early and in a hurry.
“Ok I’ll go get you two something, Kata can you go in with Law?”asked Rosinante nervously. “We’ll join you after we grab a bite and get tickets.” Normally he would want to go with Law, but those boys hadn’t eaten yet and Law had in fact spent enough time with Katakuri to be ok with him. Shachi and Penguin had occasionally seen him around the house.
“Sure, I’ll go find Law inside.” he agreed quickly, giving Rosinante a nod of reassurance before turning around and rushing at the entrance of the museum.
“Huh you two are doing pretty good~”grinned Penguin, glancing up at Rosinante in a teasing manner. Probably an attempt to lighten the mood.
“You’re both so smitten.” added Shachi playfully.
The blond adult just chuckled and shrugged off the comments, instead taking both of them by their hands despite the two teens being 15 and leading them to the nearest bakery.
The school’s tour was a bit ahead, but Katakuri soon enough spotted the group joining them and awkwardly waved at one of the professors who seemed to remember him because she just gave him a grateful smile. Huh, had been at Law’s school that much? There was this week when Rosinante’s car had broken down so he was the one driving Law around always with Rosinante in the car. Then those cookies and muffins he baked for Sports Day… Which made him organize the snacks and overall menu for that Christmas party, bringing his own donuts and cake pops as well. Oh and that one da-
“Why are you here? Where’s dad, did something happen?”asked Law, nudging the adult’s leg in order to get his attention.
“Penguin and Shachi were outside, something must have happened and Rosinante took them to get breakfast.”mumbled Katakuri, looking down at Law before focusing on the tour again.
The boy nodded, understanding the situation. Honestly he didn’t mind Katakuri as much as he claimed to, plus the guy wasn’t as much of a dork as his dad or rather he didn’t look like one, so being seen with a tall, punk adult was kind of cool. It made Law feel cooler.
It had taken months for Law to even consider liking him, but the two of them were dating for around a year now.
Much to both of their dismay though, the tour went on and Rosinante was nowhere to be seen and he wasn’t answering Katakuri’s texts either.
“He still hasn’t answered?”whispered Law, only to see Katakuri check his phone again and shake his head no.
Shit.
As if life hated them more and wanted to force them to spend more time together, it was lunch break time and all of the students were left to wander around the cafeteria of the museum.
“Do you want to buy anything to eat?” asked Katakuri, breaking the silence that had been lingering between them for more than 5 minutes awkwardly sitting on a bench in the cafeteria.
“Didn’t you make me lunch?”
“I did, but you might want something from the cafeteria, you can get something to drink?”
After seemingly giving the topic some thought, Law shrugged. “Will you get anything?”
“I don’t eat or drink in public much.”
Oh right, Law had seen the scars on the guy’s cheeks, but he thought they were pretty sick especially if he thought of their healing process. From what he had gathered Katakuri got those while he was still pretty young. So it’s been years, but the wound must have been deep because he could see the scars. “Right…” muttered Law.
Yet a part of him wanted to say more. “I don’t think you should care about what others say though.”
“I don’t, but it affects people around me as well.” From getting Law bullied at school, to even ruining a kid’s appetite or scaring them. It’s just better if he doesn’t. Especially not around that many kids, occasionally at restaurants with Rosinante if the light was dim and if they had a corner table. Only then.
“Do you know anyone here? Besides me.”
Katakuri looked around before shaking his head.
“Then stop giving a fuck! Give me your wallet, I’m getting coffee for the both of us.” mumbled Law, holding out his hand.
The adult chuckled and handed his wallet to the kid without arguing further. Yet he wasn’t planning on drinking the coffee. Should Law even drink coffee? Well, he would allow him to drink half a cup, he was almost 14 anyway.
After Law stood in the line and paid, he returned to Katakuri, holding a cup out for him.
“Your dad said something happened but everything is alright, he’s on his way with Penguin and Shachi. Also you will only drink half of your coffee and not on an empty stomach eat at least one of the onigiris before.”
Why did his almost step-dad have to be the only step-dad who didn’t desperately want the kid’s approval, enough to make him do whatever they wanted. Oh if Rosinante could only date a fool like that.
“I will drink all of it after I eat one onigiri and you will drink your coffee as well.”said Law, staring at the guy in front of him with a stern poker face. Which didn’t seem to faze Katakuri much.
Sure he was a bit nervous about Law liking him and felt awkward at times, but it wasn’t enough to let himself be manipulated by the teen.
“Law, you remember I have 6 younger siblings right? I can handle a poker face. But I promise to drink some of my coffee, thank you.” he replied, his tone firm but gentle as he was more than capable of handling such situations. His family was a big one after all.
Law grinned slightly, taking his seat next to Katakuri once again. As fun and useful as a mindless, pathetic stepdad would have been, Katakuri was pretty cool and he was one of the few people that still made Law feel like a kid. Like he had someone around who would take care of him, protect him. As stupid and immature as that sounded, he secretly liked it.
Then they sat in silence once again, Law cheerfully eating those delicious onigiri the other made for him last night. Katakuri’s food was always so tasty.
“Do you want an onigiri? You two packed me way more than needed.”
PLus there were more waiting for him at home, so he could spare one.
“No thank you.”
“I’ll leave one for you.” said Law quickly, being stubborn as always. In the meantime he of course drank his coffee, making sure to not drink much more than half of it.
Then much to his surprise, Katakuri pulled down the black scarf he usually had around his neck, taking a sip from his coffee as well and giving Law a small smile. “Thank you for the coffee.”
The boy shrugged, containing how honored he felt because he wouldn’t give Katakuri the satisfaction. “You paid for it, thank yourself.”
Before Katakuri could respond though, he received a text from Rosinante, telling him that he would be here in 5 minutes. “Your dad will be here soon.” he informed, seeing the boy’s eyes beam just a little bit.
“Just so you know, it wasn’t bad.” mumbled Law.
“Huh?”
“You being here today, it wasn’t bad. You got me coffee, you’re a good cook, you look cool enough to be around. Shachi and Penguin are older, Bepo is younger, so I don't have many friends in my grade.”
The man looked a bit stunned, trying to act calm and not to choke on his sip of coffee. “I had fun too, you’re a cool, clever and most importantly kind kid. The tour was interesting as well, I didn’t know most of the things the guide told us.”
“Oh I knew some and this is my second time here, dad brought some years ago. But that tour was nice-”
“Law!”said Rosinante, still holding both of the boys’ hands but quickly making his way towards his kid, letting go of the other teens, getting on his knees and smiling widely and brightly at his son “Did you have fun? I’ve missed you!”
“Dad I saw you this morning, you made me eggs? Remember?” asked Law, ignoring how softly and stupidly Katakuri was looking and turning to wave at his friends. “But I had fun.” He didn’t have friends in his grade or class, so this was a good change… Maybe Katakuri was a good change as well…
“Well that’s all that matters!”said Rosinante, cheerfully standing up, giving Katakuri an extra thankful smile.
“Do you guys want to see some of the exhibits? We still have 10 minutes.” mumbled Law, looking over at his friends who nodded eagerly.
Of course Rosinante trusted his son to be back on time.
“How did being a chaperone go?” asked Rosinante, taking a seat next to Katakuri and leaning on him before stealing his coffee and taking a sip.
“It was nice, I just sat with Law most of the time honestly. He told me he had a good time with me as well, so that’s rewarding.” hummed the taller male. It wasn’t that eventful, yet it mattered. Maybe he was a bit capable of spending time alone with the boy. Because he hadn’t done much of that. Sure he had talked to him, he spent a lot of days at their house and Law and Rosinante went to his place occasionally, he had driven him around. But Rosinante was mostly there.
Even if he needed to babysit Law, which happened rarely, the boy would have friends over or just lock himself up in his room. Although Katakuri understood, he didn’t mind.
“Yes but d-did you enjoy your time? I mean here, with Law.” No guy, or girl, or date or anyone could come between his relationship and love for Law, yet Rosinante was really hoping the man he had grown to love so much would like his son.
“Rosi please, I’ve always liked Law. He's a clever, kind-hearted kid, you’ve raised him well of course I care about him.” Upon saying that a slight blush made its way on Katakuri’s cheeks. Had he said too much? Honestly he could go as far as to say he loved Law, but that took a lot of guts he didn’t have.
“Penguin and Shachi will be coming over by the way, since you were going to spend the night i thought i might tell you. I got into a messy phone argument with their guardian, Shachi’s aunt is frustrating. I hate how she got custody of them. So if you mind all those kids around, you can go home and I promise to make it up to you soon.” Of course Rosinante knew that his boyfriend wouldn’t get mad, this guy was so understanding and kind. But today wasn’t going as planned, it’d be alright if the taller male didn’t like it.
Katakuri let out a hum and nodded. “We can go pick up Bepo too and we can all go to my place? It’s bigger, it has 2 guest rooms and I think it’ll be a good distraction for the kids. I can ask if my siblings have any of their high school textbooks so Penguin and Shachi can study too.”
With his eyes already tearing up the blonde looked up at his boyfriend.
He never expected to find anyone who would care for Law as much as he did. Let alone for his friends too. Yet somehow he had managed to find the most handsome, nice and caring guy on earth. How and why did he get so lucky.
“Rosi don’t start crying, of course I care and I love you.” he said calmly, mumbling that last part as he wasn’t good with PDA.
“EW-”yelled Shachi who was approaching the couple once again, playfully sticking out his tongue as Penguin snickered beside him and Law looked amused despite his best efforts to hide it.
The couple drove the two high schoolers to the rest of the field trip at the park and asked one of the professors if they could take Law directly from the park since they were chaperoning and of course the school agreed. At the park though the students were more spread around so they actually needed to keep their attention to the kids.
Bepo soon enough joined his friend group and was informed about the sleepover, all 4 of the boys getting excited at the thought of a new place. Plus Law told them that Katakuri’s place was really cool and fancy. Not in front of the couple of course, but Rosinante accidentally heard and held back a small laughter.
Katakuri wasn’t sure what made him end up like this, was it the love of his siblings? How good Rosinante was for him? All he knew was that he had taken his own car, as it was bigger and he had 4 boys huddled in the back seat as they talked loudly, mostly Shachi, and they were trying to guess what his apartment looked like. Rosinante of course sitting in the passenger seat and just looking lovingly at Katakuri. Not only was he driving them, but he was also making dinner for 6.
Weirdest part was that he actually didn’t mind it. This love, his care for Rosinante and his family was so different from the love Katakuri had for his family. This wasn’t stressful. Or forceful. It was something he clearly chose to do, because his heart told him so and that was liberating actually.
He didn’t even actually cook that night, because everyone told him he had done enough and Rosinante made a simple pasta recipe for everyone. Law even insisted that Katakuri shouldn’t do anything else and forcibly wrapped a blanket around him.
No one minded that he didn’t cook, no one cared about it. Strangely neither did he.