fanfic; call it a family

[acperience]

Title: Call It a Family
Series: Durarara!!
Game: somarium
Character(s): Kasuka, Shizuo, Akane, with a guest appearance by Rena.
Warnings: None.
Summary: In which Kasuka skips a question, wins an argument, spoils Akane, Shizuo paces, loses an argument, buys books, and Akane is sick.
Dedication: To laenavesse.
Note: Original post here.



—

Call It a Family

—

Kasuka wondered if this was what it was like to have a daughter or younger sister.

At the moment, he and Shizuo were in the waiting room of the clinic—Kasuka on the chair, filling out paperwork, while Shizuo paced across the room. It was probably an odd sight: the tall young man in a bartender suit, striding back and forth, his hand twitching as if he wanted a cigarette. He apparently didn’t notice the stares he was receiving from others in room, or perhaps didn’t care.

(Kasuka hoped it was the latter, if only because it meant he was improving. Akane was a good influence on him.)

“Should’ve known that it was a bad idea to let her play outside so much…” Shizuo muttered. One could almost see the annoyance rising from him (like steam from a boiling water, Kasuka dimly thought), but Kasuka was glad that he was at least keeping it down. The last thing they needed was for Shizuo to lose his temper in the waiting room.

Kasuka filled out her name. Awakusu Akane.

“I don’t think it’s anything serious…” he quietly replied.

“T’ch! It better not be.”

Shizuo was worried. They both were.

(Kasuka, of course, was just better at not showing it.)

It continued like this for a few more moments, with Shizuo pacing and Kasuka filling out the form. The room was silent, save for the buzz of the television and the occasional murmur from the other occupants of the room.

Kasuka broke it.

“… Brother, do you know when Akane-chan was born?”

Shizuo stopped to look at him. “Ahh? No. Can’t you just leave it blank or something…?”

A beat.

“… I guess I don’t have a choice,” answered Kasuka, moving onto the next question on the sheet.

“Mmm.”

The silence resumed.

—

It’d actually been Rena who discovered that Akane was sick.

Kasuka sent her to tell Akane that breakfast was ready, as Shizuo had already left the apartment by then. She knocked on the door, calling out to the younger girl, only to receive no reply. Figuring she was simply still asleep, she wasn’t too concerned, and merely knocked and called again. When Akane still didn’t answer, Rena decided it was safe to open the door. It was when she went over to Akane’s bed and realized she was sweating that she became worried.

“K-Kasuka!”

She had a temperature of 39°C, according to the thermometer Kasuka had stuck in her mouth after she woke up.

“I think she might have a fever…” he said, before pausing. “Do you think we should call Brother?”

He wasn’t entirely sure what good it would to do to call him and make him worry until he got home from work—but it seemed rude to just leave him in the dark.

In the end, they decided it would be best to let him know. While Kasuka phoned his agency to tell him he wouldn’t be coming that day, Rena phoned Shizuo.

He wasn’t pleased at the news, to say the least—though Kasuka had to give him credit for not taking his anger out on Rena.

—

In hindsight, it probably hadn’t been necessary to bring her to a clinic, but Kasuka and Shizuo chose to be on the safe side.

—

Fortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than a fever, so they brought her back home without much fuss.

“I’ll stay home,” Kasuka offered. Shizuo just stared at him blankly.

“… Huh? No, I can do it…” he replied. Akane simply listened from her bed, too tired to say anything. Kasuka shook her head, before handing her a glass of water.

“It’s fine. I have experience with looking after you, after all.”

“A fever’s not the same as fractured bones,” said Shizuo, frowning. Kasuka stared back for a second or two, his expression unchanging, before he responded.

“The principle is the same,” he pointed out. “I don’t think you should be missing work…”

“… But—”

The argument continued for a while.

“—Kasuka, and you already took yesterday off—”

(“Kasuka onii-chan, can I have more water…?”

“All right.”)

“—Brother, let me—”

(At one point, Akane fell asleep.)

“—I should—”

—

For the record, Kasuka won.

—

The end of the next day went something like this:

“… Her fever hasn’t improved…” said Shizuo.

“…”

“Ah, well. It’s only been a day.” There was some uneasiness in Shizuo’s voice, but for the most part, he seemed to brush it off as no big deal.

Kasuka and Akane shared a glance.

—

The morning of that day had gone something like this:

As Kasuka entered her room to bring her a cup of hot water, he hadn’t been expecting the request that came out of her mouth.

“I want to go outside.”

He handed her the cup, which she took with shaky hands. She managed not to spill it, and took a sip while Kasuka formulated a reply in his head.

“… You shouldn’t. You have a fever, Akane-chan.”

She drank some more, before smiling weakly.

“But winter only comes once a year, so we should enjoy it while we can…” she said.

There was silence, and then—

“You should be better in a few days. You can go outside then.”

She shook her head. “You and Shizuo-nii probably won’t let me in case I get sick again.”

“… That’s not true.”

Possibly.

“So it’s best that I just stay sick for a little longer than get better and then get sick again, right?” she asked—rather, stated—still smiling.

“Your fever might get worse,” replied Kasuka, with what was supposed to be a frown. Akane’s smile didn’t falter.

“But I have you and Shizuo-nii to look after me, so it’s okay. So can I?” she said.

Kasuka mulled over this for a moment.

“… All right, but only for a short while.”

—

Shizuo probably should’ve stayed home instead, Kasuka decided.

—

“Uh…” Shizuo started off to the bookstore clerk, scratching the back of his neck.

“Can I help you, sir?” she asked, not even looking up from her MP3 player. His temper flared, as he struggled to keep it under control.

This was for Akane this was for Akane this was for Akane this was for Akane—

“I’m… looking for books,” he managed intelligently. This time, she looked up, giving him a look.

“… I figured as much, sir.”

His mouth twitched, but he stayed calm.

“… For a ten-year-old,” he added. “She’s sick and bored at home, so she asked me to get her some books…”

“Then I would recommend that you look at the children’s section,” the clerk answered in a bored tone.

“I did,” Shizuo said, scowling. “But ‘children’ is a large age span to cover, y’know. How do I know those books aren’t for five-year-olds or something?”

The clerk sighed. Shizuo reminded himself that it was rude to hit a woman, not to mention this was for Akane.

“What kinds of books does she like?” the clerk asked. Shizuo was quiet.

“… I dunno.”

It was just like Christmas shopping all over again.

“Well, then, sir…”

This was going to take a while.

—

Luckily, Akane enjoyed the books that evening, and Shizuo vowed never to go book shopping again.

—

And so, one day out, several cups of water and cocoa, and a couple of books later, Akane got better.

—Shizuo and Kasuka were made aware of this fact when they woke up to the fire alarm going off.

Shizuo got to the kitchen first (as Kasuka was too busy trying to pry Neaka off his face), to find Akane panicking near the stove. He noted that she seemed steady on her feet, before—

“… What’s going on?” He shook his head lightly to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Ah… Shizuo-nii…!” Akane cried, dropping the plate she was holding—and then cringed when reminded why dropping plates generally wasn’t a good idea.

“I’ll… clean that up later,” Shizuo said slowly, before walking around the broken glass to turn off the stove. “… But what were you doing?”

“I just… you two were taking care of me, so…” she said, fidgeting as she stepped away from the smoke rising from the stove. “I wanted to make you and Kasuka onii-chan breakfast.”

There was a period of silence, during which Shizuo wished Kasuka were here to deal with the situation, and during which Akane squeezed her eyes shut—only to open them, surprised, when she felt a hand on her head. Shizuo awkwardly ruffled her hair, smiling softly.

“… Thanks.”

At that, Akane smiled back, albeit much more brightly.

“I-If you give me some more time, I can cook breakfast! Really!”

“Ahh…” Shizuo looked around the kitchen. “Sure, but we have to clean this up first.”

“Right!” replied Akane, nodding. “But don’t let Kasuka onii-chan know, okay?”

“… I won’t,” Shizuo promised, not entirely sure what he was doing (but less wishful that Kasuka would come and deal with this). Akane beamed.

“The dustpan’s under the sink, right?” she asked.

“Yeah…” said Shizuo, quiet for a few moments before he added:

“… Good to see that you’re better.”

Just about to bounce over to the sink, Akane paused.

“Yup! And it’s because my onii-chans took care of me!”

“…”

Shizuo didn’t know what to say for that, and instead settled for scratching his cheek.

“… I’ll go get the mop.” And with that, he headed out into the hallway.

—

By then, Kasuka had already slunk away from the doorway, smiling inwardly. Akane was definitely a good influence.

—

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” ~Jane Howard

—