Togepi Writes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
togepi_writes) wrote2017-04-25 11:10 pm
togepi_writes) wrote2017-04-25 11:10 pm
Entry tags:
(Non-Canon) Fatherhood
- Fatherhood -
Characters: Juudai Yuuki, Asuka Yuuki (Tenjoin), Midori Hibiki
Notes/Synopsis: This story is not canon to the RP timeline and was just an experimental piece written a while ago.
Juudai struggles to bond with his daughter.
"Are you sure you'll be okay...?"
Asuka looked back at Juudai from where she stood by the door, the look of concern was unmistakable on her face. Since the birth of their daughter, Asami, only a month ago, the two of them had struggled through endless sleepless nights as the baby often refused to settle for more than a few hours at a time. This had made the both of them completely exhausted from lack of sleep and had resulted in an increase in arguments between the couple. Knowing this was just from being too tired and being over stressed, the two had agreed to start taking breaks. One of them would look after the baby for the day, while the other went to do something relaxing. But Asuka's concern was not souly for this situation alone...
... she had noticed that Juudai had not been settling into fatherhood as well as they thought he would. Despite his initial excitement about being a father, when it actually came to it, he had become hesitant around the baby, like he was afraid that even touching her was going to hurt her. The baby also never seemed to settle when he held her and would cry whenever she was in his arms which Asuka could tell was bringing his self-confidence with her down even more. The two just didn't seem to be bonding.
Asuka had tried bringing her concerns up, but doing so had been one of the catalysts for the increase in arguments.
But Juudai was trying, so despite her worry, even at his returned reply of "I'll be fine", she could see he wanted to prove himself, despite his waning confidence with the child.
Hesitant, and against her better judgement, Asuka decided to trust his words... mostly.
"Okay, but... if you feel you do need help, call Midori, okay? She said she would be fine helping us out."
"Asuka, you'll be gone half the day at the most, right? I think I can handle things for that long."
"Well... if you're sure..."
"Of course I am! Go and have fun!"
With that last statement, Asuka walked out of the door and headed towards the exit of Sakana, but couldn't help looking back hesitantly a few times at Juudai who was waving to her at the door.
Once Asuka was out of sight, Juudai shut the door and let out a sigh.
"Okay. I can do this."
As if on queue, the unmistakable and familiar wailing of a baby began coming from Asami's room. Juudai looked towards the room hesitantly, but then braced himself as he began walking towards it.
Walking in, he looked down at the baby briefly, before slowly reaching in to the cot to pick her up. Although he'd been shown how to handle such a young baby, his method, although safe, was clunky and awkward in motion. She looked so small and fragile, he really was afraid of hurting her if he held her wrong.
"You're not going to give me any free chances today, ey... hahaha..."
Trying to joke about the situation really did not make himself feel better, or help to improve the situation. Desperately, Juudai scanned the room for an item that he could use to try and grab Asami's attention with. Spotting a maraca-shaped shaker on a dresser table, he picked it up and began shaking it.
"C'mon... I want to prove I can do this... please..."
The shaker and the pleading both did nothing to improve the situation and only served to increase Asami's crying. Juudai looked defeated down at his daughter, he had no idea what to do anymore. This situation just kept repeating itself over and over.
"Asami... why..."
--------------------------------------------------------
Sat alone in her office working on her laptop, Midori was interrupted by the sudden ringing of her office phone. Stopping what she was doing, she reached out for it and picked it up.
"Hibiki Midori's offi---"
She found herself cut off my the loud wailing of a baby on the other end of the phone. This was followed by the sound of Juudai's tired voice.
"Midori-san...?"
"Juudai, is everything okay?"
"Ah, well..." there was a pause before he continued. "...not... really."
"Asuka said to call you if I needed help and... I just... I can't stop her crying, I ..."
"Okay, Juudai. Calm down. Do you need me to come over?"
There was another pause. "...yes."
"I'll be over in fifteen minutes, okay?"
Midori quickly gathered up her laptop and placed it in a bag before leaving her office.
Her thoughts began moving to only four days before. Asuka had visited her and confined in her about the issues at home and her concerns over Juudai and how he was struggling to bond with their child. She wasn't really too sure what she could do, but she reassured Asuka that if they needed any help, they could always ask her.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Once arriving at Juudai and Asuka's apartment, Midori was met by by the dishevelled appearance of Juudai, holding the screaming baby and looking on his last string of hope. The black lines and bags under his eyes clearly showed the lack of sleep he had been suffering. Asuka had sported a similar look when she visited her.
"I've tried absolutely everything and she just won't stop crying...!"
"Okay, okay...let's take a look." Midori held her arms up. "Am I okay to hold her for a moment?"
Juudai nodded in response and carefully, but awkwardly, handed over his daughter to Midori. After she had gotten the child into a comfortable position in her arms, she began rocking the child and pacing slowly up and down the living room while talking softly to her. Within five minutes, the baby had stopped crying. Picking up a pacifier from a nearby table for the baby, Midori smiled at her contently.
"There. I guess she just wanted to be walked around a bit."
She looked up at Juudai who was staring at her in disbelief before looking at the floor.
"I tried that..."
There was an awkward silence before Juudai looked back up at her.
"Do you have some sort of experience looking after babies?"
"Well, not a huge lot. I used to babysit for some neighbours of mine when I was 16... that's about it."
She could see how defeated Juudai was looking at the current situation.
"She hates me, she must do. I've tried and tried so much and she just doesn't seem to like me."
"Juudai, she's a month old. I don't think she's capable of hating anyone."
"Then why is it that she's always crying with me and I can never calm her down!? TELL ME!"
Midori glared at Juudai and motioned to him to be quiet. Asami was now asleep in her arms. Juudai, realising he'd lost his temper temporarily, just lowered his head.
"Sorry, I'm... I'm just tired..."
"I know. How about we put her down to sleep and we can talk a bit."
Juudai agreed as they began walking towards Asami's room. Midori admitted she was a little fearful for Juudai and the young family as a whole. She'd seen this behaviour in Juudai before back during the year she taught at the academy. She remembered how stressed he had been from both his backlog of studies and the more serious issues he had to deal with as the islands go-to hero and how it had left him run-down, sick and short-tempered. He didn't like being in situations he felt useless in, that he couldn't solve with a simple duel.
Midori placed the young child in her cot and covered her with a blanket, before setting the mobile going above her, which played out a sooth music box lullaby. Juudai watched her closely, before resting his eyes on the child who was now so quiet and sleeping contently.
Midori placed a hand on Juudai's shoulder, bringing him out of his daze.
"Asuka talked to me the other day. About what's been going on. She was really worried. She said you'd been struggling with Asami and that you both been arguing a lot lately."
Midori could feel Juudai tense up a little at what she said, but he continued staring downwards, seemingly now at nothing.
"Juudai. You just need to be more confident with the child. She might not be capable of hating anyone, but I'm sure that she can pick up on when you are feeling anxious with her. If you feel uncomfortable around her, she will feel it with you and this will upset her."
Juudai slowly looked up at Midori.
"So... I'm causing this...? How she is with me...?" Juudai gave out a snort. "Some father I am, huh?"
"Juudai, this doesn't make you a bad father. You're a new father, so you shouldn't be afraid to make some mistakes with her. Books and articles can only give you so much information and every experience is different. Every new parent learns some things through trial and error. You and Asuka love your daughter, so the mistakes you make won't be ones that impact on Asami, they'll just be there to let you learn as parents, that's all.
You're not going to break her simply by holding her, and she's not going to hate you if you find some things difficult at first and if you are finding something difficult, just talk, to Asuka, to me, to anyone.
Understand?"
Juudai's head was hung low, with his bangs covering his face so Midori could no longer see it. After a moment had past, she began to notice he was shaking slightly and tears were dropping from his face to the floor. Midori placed her hand on his back for reassurance.
"Juudai..."
"I'm such an idiot...! I got so wrapped up with worrying I didn't even realise that it would be the cause of how Asami was responding to me. It just started as worry over whether I was going to do the right things and be a good dad but before I knew it I-"
"-got a bit in over your head?" Midori finished. Juudai just gave a laugh through his tears, he did have a habit of doing that.
"And Asuka, I was so frustrated over everything, I couldn't even see that she was trying to bring up the issue because she was concerned and wanted to help. I just kept snapping at her and pushing her away."
Juudai looked up and took a deep breath, in an attempt to calm himself down, but the tears continued to stream from his eyes. With that he simply wiped the tears away with his arm.
"This is so stupid!"
"You're just exhausted."
Midori looked down at the baby, that had slept through the entire exchange.
"Come on, we should probably leave her to sleep."
Juudai followed Midori out of the room and she quietly closed the door behind them.
"Do you want me to stay so you can get some rest."
Juudai opened his mouth, almost ready to tell her that she didn't need too and that he'd be fine, but he paused when he realised just how bad he felt. The combination of his fatigue from both lack of sleep and the crying had really left him feeling terrible. He felt so ill and awfully dizzy. He just wanted to try and sleep.
"Yes."
Midori nodded. "Okay then. Let me tend to her for today then, and you try and get some rest."
Juudai walked over to the door of his room, before looking back at Midori. "Thank you, Midori-san."
"Don't mention it."
-------------------------------------------------------
"Juudai, I'm home."
Asuka was met with silence as she entered the apartment. Thinking it was a little odd, she wandered into the living room where Midori was sat with Asami in her arms. Asuka didn't really seem too surprised with Midori being there. Midori looked up and smiled as Asuka walked over to her.
"She started getting fussy a bit ago."
Asuka returned her smile as she gently took Asami from Midori's arms. "Thank you." She then looked around the room, noting Juudai wasn't there.
"Where's Juudai?"
"He's resting. He was absolutely exhausted, but I had a talk with him and I think I got through to him."
Asuka breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. Usually when he gets in over his head in things, I can snap him out of it, but I've been so tired myself I just..."
"Asuka, I'm going to give you a suggestion."
Asuka looked at Midori with curiosity as the older woman stood up from where she was sat.
"You and Juudai need a bit of time on your own, just the two of you, for a weekend, four days, a week, however long you need to rest and relax a little. Give the little one to your or Juudai's parents for the duriation. I know that alone would be difficult, but I think just getting the chance to de-stress will be good for the both of you and allow you to come back refreshed."
Midori's attention turned towards the baby in Asuka's arms.
"Even in the short time I've looked after her today, I can tell that she is a demanding and fussy girl, you need a lot of energy for that."
Asuka nodded. "You're right." Her head then turned in the direction to the living room door. "I should see how Juudai is doing."
Once outside their room, Asuka knocked lightly on it, then opened the door gently.
"Juudai...?"
Juudai was laying with his eyes closed on the bed, but opened them and lifted his head up when Asuka entered the room.
"Did I wake you?"
Juudai shook his head slowly. "Nah, I was awake."
Slowly, Asuka, still carrying Asami, walked around the bed and sat beside Juudai. Midori looked in, but stayed at the door.
"Asuka. I'm sorry for how I've been lately, I was a real jerk and--"
Juudai was stopped by Asuka, who simply pressed a finger against his mouth.
"I know. I think we've both been a little short-tempered and tired recently. In fact Midori just suggested--"
Juudai simply took her free hand and held it in his own.
"I heard. I think it's a good idea."
Juudai's eyes then moved to look at his daughter in his wife's arms.
"Can I try holding her?"
"Sure"
Asuka allowed Juudai to pick the girl up from her and although still a little awkward, his demeanour towards the child seemed different than before. The baby fussed a little from being moved, but Juudai just laughed a little.
"Oi, oi, come on now. I'm determined that we're going to be friends."
Much to the surprise of everyone, the girl eventually just stopped fussing and simply closed her eyes, resting in her father's arms. Smiling, Asuka rested her head on Juudai's shoulder.
"See. You can do it."
Juudai smiled fondly at his daughter and his wife, this was the first time in the last few weeks where he actually felt they were a proper family again.
From the door, Midori watched them proudly.
"I think my work is done here."
Juudai looked up at her with the smile still on his face.
"Thank you."
Midori nodded at him before leaving the family alone to enjoy the peaceful moment together.
Characters: Juudai Yuuki, Asuka Yuuki (Tenjoin), Midori Hibiki
Notes/Synopsis: This story is not canon to the RP timeline and was just an experimental piece written a while ago.
Juudai struggles to bond with his daughter.
"Are you sure you'll be okay...?"
Asuka looked back at Juudai from where she stood by the door, the look of concern was unmistakable on her face. Since the birth of their daughter, Asami, only a month ago, the two of them had struggled through endless sleepless nights as the baby often refused to settle for more than a few hours at a time. This had made the both of them completely exhausted from lack of sleep and had resulted in an increase in arguments between the couple. Knowing this was just from being too tired and being over stressed, the two had agreed to start taking breaks. One of them would look after the baby for the day, while the other went to do something relaxing. But Asuka's concern was not souly for this situation alone...
... she had noticed that Juudai had not been settling into fatherhood as well as they thought he would. Despite his initial excitement about being a father, when it actually came to it, he had become hesitant around the baby, like he was afraid that even touching her was going to hurt her. The baby also never seemed to settle when he held her and would cry whenever she was in his arms which Asuka could tell was bringing his self-confidence with her down even more. The two just didn't seem to be bonding.
Asuka had tried bringing her concerns up, but doing so had been one of the catalysts for the increase in arguments.
But Juudai was trying, so despite her worry, even at his returned reply of "I'll be fine", she could see he wanted to prove himself, despite his waning confidence with the child.
Hesitant, and against her better judgement, Asuka decided to trust his words... mostly.
"Okay, but... if you feel you do need help, call Midori, okay? She said she would be fine helping us out."
"Asuka, you'll be gone half the day at the most, right? I think I can handle things for that long."
"Well... if you're sure..."
"Of course I am! Go and have fun!"
With that last statement, Asuka walked out of the door and headed towards the exit of Sakana, but couldn't help looking back hesitantly a few times at Juudai who was waving to her at the door.
Once Asuka was out of sight, Juudai shut the door and let out a sigh.
"Okay. I can do this."
As if on queue, the unmistakable and familiar wailing of a baby began coming from Asami's room. Juudai looked towards the room hesitantly, but then braced himself as he began walking towards it.
Walking in, he looked down at the baby briefly, before slowly reaching in to the cot to pick her up. Although he'd been shown how to handle such a young baby, his method, although safe, was clunky and awkward in motion. She looked so small and fragile, he really was afraid of hurting her if he held her wrong.
"You're not going to give me any free chances today, ey... hahaha..."
Trying to joke about the situation really did not make himself feel better, or help to improve the situation. Desperately, Juudai scanned the room for an item that he could use to try and grab Asami's attention with. Spotting a maraca-shaped shaker on a dresser table, he picked it up and began shaking it.
"C'mon... I want to prove I can do this... please..."
The shaker and the pleading both did nothing to improve the situation and only served to increase Asami's crying. Juudai looked defeated down at his daughter, he had no idea what to do anymore. This situation just kept repeating itself over and over.
"Asami... why..."
--------------------------------------------------------
Sat alone in her office working on her laptop, Midori was interrupted by the sudden ringing of her office phone. Stopping what she was doing, she reached out for it and picked it up.
"Hibiki Midori's offi---"
She found herself cut off my the loud wailing of a baby on the other end of the phone. This was followed by the sound of Juudai's tired voice.
"Midori-san...?"
"Juudai, is everything okay?"
"Ah, well..." there was a pause before he continued. "...not... really."
"Asuka said to call you if I needed help and... I just... I can't stop her crying, I ..."
"Okay, Juudai. Calm down. Do you need me to come over?"
There was another pause. "...yes."
"I'll be over in fifteen minutes, okay?"
Midori quickly gathered up her laptop and placed it in a bag before leaving her office.
Her thoughts began moving to only four days before. Asuka had visited her and confined in her about the issues at home and her concerns over Juudai and how he was struggling to bond with their child. She wasn't really too sure what she could do, but she reassured Asuka that if they needed any help, they could always ask her.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Once arriving at Juudai and Asuka's apartment, Midori was met by by the dishevelled appearance of Juudai, holding the screaming baby and looking on his last string of hope. The black lines and bags under his eyes clearly showed the lack of sleep he had been suffering. Asuka had sported a similar look when she visited her.
"I've tried absolutely everything and she just won't stop crying...!"
"Okay, okay...let's take a look." Midori held her arms up. "Am I okay to hold her for a moment?"
Juudai nodded in response and carefully, but awkwardly, handed over his daughter to Midori. After she had gotten the child into a comfortable position in her arms, she began rocking the child and pacing slowly up and down the living room while talking softly to her. Within five minutes, the baby had stopped crying. Picking up a pacifier from a nearby table for the baby, Midori smiled at her contently.
"There. I guess she just wanted to be walked around a bit."
She looked up at Juudai who was staring at her in disbelief before looking at the floor.
"I tried that..."
There was an awkward silence before Juudai looked back up at her.
"Do you have some sort of experience looking after babies?"
"Well, not a huge lot. I used to babysit for some neighbours of mine when I was 16... that's about it."
She could see how defeated Juudai was looking at the current situation.
"She hates me, she must do. I've tried and tried so much and she just doesn't seem to like me."
"Juudai, she's a month old. I don't think she's capable of hating anyone."
"Then why is it that she's always crying with me and I can never calm her down!? TELL ME!"
Midori glared at Juudai and motioned to him to be quiet. Asami was now asleep in her arms. Juudai, realising he'd lost his temper temporarily, just lowered his head.
"Sorry, I'm... I'm just tired..."
"I know. How about we put her down to sleep and we can talk a bit."
Juudai agreed as they began walking towards Asami's room. Midori admitted she was a little fearful for Juudai and the young family as a whole. She'd seen this behaviour in Juudai before back during the year she taught at the academy. She remembered how stressed he had been from both his backlog of studies and the more serious issues he had to deal with as the islands go-to hero and how it had left him run-down, sick and short-tempered. He didn't like being in situations he felt useless in, that he couldn't solve with a simple duel.
Midori placed the young child in her cot and covered her with a blanket, before setting the mobile going above her, which played out a sooth music box lullaby. Juudai watched her closely, before resting his eyes on the child who was now so quiet and sleeping contently.
Midori placed a hand on Juudai's shoulder, bringing him out of his daze.
"Asuka talked to me the other day. About what's been going on. She was really worried. She said you'd been struggling with Asami and that you both been arguing a lot lately."
Midori could feel Juudai tense up a little at what she said, but he continued staring downwards, seemingly now at nothing.
"Juudai. You just need to be more confident with the child. She might not be capable of hating anyone, but I'm sure that she can pick up on when you are feeling anxious with her. If you feel uncomfortable around her, she will feel it with you and this will upset her."
Juudai slowly looked up at Midori.
"So... I'm causing this...? How she is with me...?" Juudai gave out a snort. "Some father I am, huh?"
"Juudai, this doesn't make you a bad father. You're a new father, so you shouldn't be afraid to make some mistakes with her. Books and articles can only give you so much information and every experience is different. Every new parent learns some things through trial and error. You and Asuka love your daughter, so the mistakes you make won't be ones that impact on Asami, they'll just be there to let you learn as parents, that's all.
You're not going to break her simply by holding her, and she's not going to hate you if you find some things difficult at first and if you are finding something difficult, just talk, to Asuka, to me, to anyone.
Understand?"
Juudai's head was hung low, with his bangs covering his face so Midori could no longer see it. After a moment had past, she began to notice he was shaking slightly and tears were dropping from his face to the floor. Midori placed her hand on his back for reassurance.
"Juudai..."
"I'm such an idiot...! I got so wrapped up with worrying I didn't even realise that it would be the cause of how Asami was responding to me. It just started as worry over whether I was going to do the right things and be a good dad but before I knew it I-"
"-got a bit in over your head?" Midori finished. Juudai just gave a laugh through his tears, he did have a habit of doing that.
"And Asuka, I was so frustrated over everything, I couldn't even see that she was trying to bring up the issue because she was concerned and wanted to help. I just kept snapping at her and pushing her away."
Juudai looked up and took a deep breath, in an attempt to calm himself down, but the tears continued to stream from his eyes. With that he simply wiped the tears away with his arm.
"This is so stupid!"
"You're just exhausted."
Midori looked down at the baby, that had slept through the entire exchange.
"Come on, we should probably leave her to sleep."
Juudai followed Midori out of the room and she quietly closed the door behind them.
"Do you want me to stay so you can get some rest."
Juudai opened his mouth, almost ready to tell her that she didn't need too and that he'd be fine, but he paused when he realised just how bad he felt. The combination of his fatigue from both lack of sleep and the crying had really left him feeling terrible. He felt so ill and awfully dizzy. He just wanted to try and sleep.
"Yes."
Midori nodded. "Okay then. Let me tend to her for today then, and you try and get some rest."
Juudai walked over to the door of his room, before looking back at Midori. "Thank you, Midori-san."
"Don't mention it."
-------------------------------------------------------
"Juudai, I'm home."
Asuka was met with silence as she entered the apartment. Thinking it was a little odd, she wandered into the living room where Midori was sat with Asami in her arms. Asuka didn't really seem too surprised with Midori being there. Midori looked up and smiled as Asuka walked over to her.
"She started getting fussy a bit ago."
Asuka returned her smile as she gently took Asami from Midori's arms. "Thank you." She then looked around the room, noting Juudai wasn't there.
"Where's Juudai?"
"He's resting. He was absolutely exhausted, but I had a talk with him and I think I got through to him."
Asuka breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. Usually when he gets in over his head in things, I can snap him out of it, but I've been so tired myself I just..."
"Asuka, I'm going to give you a suggestion."
Asuka looked at Midori with curiosity as the older woman stood up from where she was sat.
"You and Juudai need a bit of time on your own, just the two of you, for a weekend, four days, a week, however long you need to rest and relax a little. Give the little one to your or Juudai's parents for the duriation. I know that alone would be difficult, but I think just getting the chance to de-stress will be good for the both of you and allow you to come back refreshed."
Midori's attention turned towards the baby in Asuka's arms.
"Even in the short time I've looked after her today, I can tell that she is a demanding and fussy girl, you need a lot of energy for that."
Asuka nodded. "You're right." Her head then turned in the direction to the living room door. "I should see how Juudai is doing."
Once outside their room, Asuka knocked lightly on it, then opened the door gently.
"Juudai...?"
Juudai was laying with his eyes closed on the bed, but opened them and lifted his head up when Asuka entered the room.
"Did I wake you?"
Juudai shook his head slowly. "Nah, I was awake."
Slowly, Asuka, still carrying Asami, walked around the bed and sat beside Juudai. Midori looked in, but stayed at the door.
"Asuka. I'm sorry for how I've been lately, I was a real jerk and--"
Juudai was stopped by Asuka, who simply pressed a finger against his mouth.
"I know. I think we've both been a little short-tempered and tired recently. In fact Midori just suggested--"
Juudai simply took her free hand and held it in his own.
"I heard. I think it's a good idea."
Juudai's eyes then moved to look at his daughter in his wife's arms.
"Can I try holding her?"
"Sure"
Asuka allowed Juudai to pick the girl up from her and although still a little awkward, his demeanour towards the child seemed different than before. The baby fussed a little from being moved, but Juudai just laughed a little.
"Oi, oi, come on now. I'm determined that we're going to be friends."
Much to the surprise of everyone, the girl eventually just stopped fussing and simply closed her eyes, resting in her father's arms. Smiling, Asuka rested her head on Juudai's shoulder.
"See. You can do it."
Juudai smiled fondly at his daughter and his wife, this was the first time in the last few weeks where he actually felt they were a proper family again.
From the door, Midori watched them proudly.
"I think my work is done here."
Juudai looked up at her with the smile still on his face.
"Thank you."
Midori nodded at him before leaving the family alone to enjoy the peaceful moment together.