Kid!yuji - Tumblr Posts

I’m just a kid (and life is a nightmare)

Dad!Nanami and Kid!Yuji

another installment of my teen papamin series! in which yuji gets into trouble at school

[chapter 2, the haircut, on tumblr] [ch 1-3 on ao3]

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Nanami fought to keep his face neutral, but he was furious. What had Yuji been thinking? This was exactly the kind of thing that could call his care-taking into question, get some nosy administrator suspicious about Yuji and his conspicuously teenage guardian.

He paused outside the headmaster’s office and smoothed his hair down, trying to look as responsible as possible. With a deep breath, he pushed open the door and bowed.

“Sir, I’m terribly sorry for Yuji’s behavior. There’s no excuse, and I will discipline him appropriately.” He gave this speech to the ground, then straightened up warily. A shock of pink hair peeked over the chair in front of the headmaster’s desk, tiny feet kicking dismally.

The headmaster steepled his thick fingers. “I would hope so. Fighting of any kind is not tolerated, let alone to the degree that your,” he frowned over his glasses, “son here has exhibited.” The tuft of Yuji’s head sunk lower.

“Of course, sir. I can assure you that this is very unusual for him.” Nanami tapped his fingers on his briefcase. “Given that, might I ask what triggered this…altercation?”

“Does it matter?” The headmaster snapped.

“I believe so, yes. Did someone provoke Yuji? Was he defending himself?”

The headmaster scowled. “Itadori threw the first punch, if that’s what you’re asking. The first and last, might I add. His classmate lost two teeth.” The pink hair disappeared entirely, the little legs pulled up to hide in the chair.

“Well they are children, sir. Those teeth are meant to come out,” Nanami deadpanned.

The headmaster stood up from his desk, which added very little to his overall height. “Are you making light of this, young man? I would advise against it. We take delinquency very seriously here.”

Nanami flinched at the word, unable to reconcile it to the sweet boy in his care. “Of course not. I will ensure that this never happens again.”

“See that you do that. You’re dismissed, Itadori.” The headmaster glowered as Yuji clambered out of the desk chair and shuffled behind Nanami, clutching at his belt loops. Nanami inclined his head again to the headmaster, the bow a little shallower this time, and hustled Yuji out of the office.

It wasn’t until they were safely outside school property that Nanami sighed and knelt down next to Yuji. “Wanna tell me what happened back there, kid? You punched someone? You know better than that.”

Yuji’s lip trembled. “I’m sorry, Nanamin. Didn’t mean to get you in trouble…” Nanami put a heavy hand on the kid’s head.

“I know, I know. I’m not in trouble, okay? But I need to know what happened.” His lips thinned into a hard line. “Did someone hurt you?” Yuji shook his head. “Did someone threaten you?” Another head shake. He looked down at the kid, his heart squeezing painfully as he took in his wide, tearful eyes. “You don’t wanna talk about it now, huh?” A tight nod. “I understand. Let’s go home, okay?” Yuji slipped his hand into Nanami’s as they walked back together.

Back at the apartment, Nanami installed Yuji on the couch with cartoons. He popped his head out of the kitchen every so often to make sure the kid was still glued to the television as he prepped sandwiches for the two of them. He carried both plates out to the living room, then tilted his head, teasing a little to test the waters. “Is this seat taken?”

Yuji giggled and scooted over. “Nope!”

Nanami smiled at him and sat down, his shoulder nudging Yuji’s much smaller one. “Thanks, kid. Made this special for ya.” It was the same exact sandwich they always had. Though to be fair, he had made it with extra care this time, hoping it would magically draw the truth out of the boy.

They ate in comfortable silence, the brightly colored cartoons reflected on their faces. When the sandwiches were gone and Nanami had washed up, he cautiously settled back down next to Yuji, waiting for him to break the silence.

He was rewarded after a few moments as Yuji hid his face behind a pillow and finally spoke up. “I can tell you now, but I gotta stay back here.”

Nanami nodded, remembering how uncomfortable he was with confrontation at that age. Clearly something had upset Yuji badly, and he just wanted to give the kid a safe place to share it. “That’s okay.”

Silence from behind the pillow. “Nanamin…don’t look at me ‘kay?”

Looking quite serious, Nanami grabbed another pillow and held it over his own face. “Look, Yuji. I can’t see you, promise.”

Yuji peeked over the pillow and giggled a little, his voice shaky. “Okay. Someone…someone said something bad.”

“They said something bad? Something mean about you?”

“No-oo, not mean about me.”

Nanami furrowed his brows behind the pillow. “I see. Were you, maybe sticking up for somebody else?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, that’s a good thing to do, Yuji. But you can’t solve problems with violence. Well, not most of them anyway.” Nanami’s shoulders fell. Who was he to lecture a kid about violence? That was the only way he had solved anything for the last few years. “Just because someone says or even does something mean, that doesn’t give you the right to hurt them.” He sighed. “Next time, you could stick up for the other kid with your words, you know?”

Yuji was quiet for a while. Then, softly, “Wasn’t another kid.”

“Hmm?”

Yuji’s muffled voice was barely a whisper. “It was you, Nanamin.” Nanami suddenly felt two short arms flung around his waist, their pillows shoved together as Yuji reached for him. “They said you’re not my-” he sobbed, “not my real dad!”

Nanami’s face crumpled at the same time Yuji’s did. He tried to regain his composure behind the pillow, not wanting Yuji to see how much it affected him. As sweet as the gesture was, he couldn’t have the kid go around knocking out teeth any time someone gave him a hard time.

“Ah, Yuji…” Nanami pulled him into a tight hug. “All that matters is what you believe.” He gently tugged the pillow down, meeting the boy’s stricken eyes. “If you feel like I’m your-” the label stuck in Nanami’s throat, and he swallowed it down. “If you feel that way about me, no one else can take that away.”

Yuji wriggled out from behind the shield of his pillow and into Nanami’s arms. He hid his face in the older man’s shirt, sniffling. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, promise!”

“I know.” Nanami ran a soothing hand down his back. “But you’re a strong kiddo. Stronger than most people, you know? Being powerful means being careful. We don’t get to make as many mistakes.”

Yuji nodded wetly, snotty tears collecting on Nanami’s work shirt. “Nanamin, do you- do you feel that way about me? You’re my dad, right?” The vulnerability on his face shattered Nanami. He could see the hope and the tight-coiled dread that hung heavy on Yuji’s little shoulders. He mustered the courage to answer, not wanting to add any hurt to the pile that was already too big for the kid’s age.

“Of course I do. It’s…it’s an honor to be your dad, Yuji. If- if you'd like me to be.”

Yuji didn’t say anything, but Nanami felt the kid burrow into his chest. He held him close.

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an: tysm for the love on my last post of this au!<3