Title: And They Lived Happily Ever After

Author: sllebswap

Characters/Pairing: Miura Haru and Belphegor

Type: OneShot Collection (InComplete)

Genre: Romance/General/Humor

Word Count: 1310

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira-san.

Summary: TYL ficlet. Outtakes and short stories from the 'Of Sparrows and Princes'-verse.

Chapter Last Revised on: 17/04/19

Parenting 101

He was in the middle of an assignment when he caught a glimpse of a very familiar profile at the edge of his peripheral vision, almost casually hidden behind a gaggle of passing tourists.

He immediately stopped in his tracks, momentarily thrown from his mission mindset…or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he had swiftly dropped the assassination as a priority and swerved sharply towards the one who had caught his attention instead.

Belphegor caught up to the other blissfully oblivious individual in a few long, prowling strides, reached out towards that similarly shaded golden head and clasped his hand on that young shoulder attached to it, eliciting a small surprised twitch from the startled boy as the latter was unceremoniously whirled around.

The monarch of Astonia gazed at his nine-year-old son in a distinctly unamused fashion. His entirely alone, unaccompanied nine-year-old son.

"What," he asked in a silky, dangerous drawl. "-are you doing here?"

Malaki looked sheepishly at his father, getting over his own surprise quickly enough. "Oh, hi- Hi, dad! I was, uh, looking for you?"

The neutral expression on Belphegor's face did not change, but somehow his son knew that the older man was far from impressed. Malaki grimaced inwardly. Oh, bother.

"Really," Belphegor questioned with skeptical calm. Last he was aware of, this boy was supposed to be in Japan with his siblings, safely ensconced in the bosom of the Vongola.

"Really," Despite his rising nervousness, Malaki's tone instinctively started to take after his father's, slow and deliberate. Composed, almost bored even, so as not to give himself away. "Mom said to come."

Now, Belphegor was even more skeptical. "Your mother," he repeated in rampant disbelief. "Said to come."

Well, technically mom pulled them all from the Namimori base and made them promise to go home. But this was close enough…right…?

"…Yeah," the young prince replied. "She said it's your turn to watch us."

Putting the fact that the woman had basically dumped childcare duty on him again aside, Belphegor did a silent doubletake as he quickly figured out what his son was not saying.

"…Us?" he parroted with a growing furrow between his brows. "Your sisters are here too?"

Malaki shrugged. He did not know what his father expected to hear. It wasn't as if he had any control over what the other members of the family did. Everyone just more or less did whatever they pleased, after all.

Belphegor barely resisted the urge to mutter epithets. Of course the other two bratlings would be around too; this boy would not do anything unnecessary unless he had been dragged along (often against his will) by his siblings.

"And where are they now?" The older blond allowed his veiled gaze to drift away from his son and to briefly study their surroundings instead, scanning the area for visuals of the remaining two thirds of his offspring. Much to his annoyance, the girls were nowhere in sight. They were currently on one of the more populous streets of Catania, Sicily, surrounded by merrymaking vacationers and locals enjoying the evening. Belphegor had an appointment to take care of a very troublesome person of interest in a private casino nearby, but that was moot now.

Malaki shrugged again at his irritated father. Most people in his shoes would be quaking in their shoes at the sight of the visibly vexed Varia Storm Unit Commander, but the nine-year-old had insurance in knowing that he was a child most beloved by his parents. Or rather, he was a child most beloved by his female parent whereas the other parent loved said female parent enough to stick around and have even more offspring with her, so it was safe to say that there was some familial attachment going on at the very least.

"Miyu went to look for you and Hotaru decided to tag along too."

Belphegor remained unimpressed. "So why are you not with your sisters?"

Aki was starting to see the problem now. He started to shrug again in reply but his father was leveling him a particular look that indicated would not be in his best interest to do so. The boy wanted to sigh.

His father never hid the fact that he was always a little softer on his sisters, not because they were girls, but probably because they looked like mom, with her coloring and the distinctive shape of her expressive eyes. …Much unlike himself, who had been told more than enough times over the years that he was a spitting image of his dad and his twin, which of course meant that he often got pushed harder than his siblings by his demanding parent.

It seemed kind of unfair sometimes, this favoritism, only that his father was also something of a strange one and the way he usually showed his affection was by coming down really hard on all of his children with no exception during training, and in that endeavor he was always equally loving to all of them, so as to speak. Honestly, Malaki was starting to think that he could do with a little less TLC from his male parent, but that was unlikely to happen since the man was bound and determined to turn his progenies into badasses whether they wanted it or not.

Malaki barely resisted the urge to fidget. It was a restless habit that he was trying to control in front of his dad, since the man was ridiculously good at reading people and was subtly teaching his son what to do…or rather, what not to do.

The boy blinked slowly at his father, even as his mind raced quietly to figure out what the latter was actually asking of him. "…We'd stand out too much if we went everywhere together."

So the youngest had went off with the oldest, while the middle child ventured solo.

"And why would you not want to stand out too much?" Belphegor continued to question, interested in hearing more.

Aki eyed his father. Was this really the time for a field lesson...? "…To avoid detection, and stay out of trouble."

The older blond glanced at him cursorily. "And did you manage to stay out of trouble?"

The young prince hesitated…and then he lifted one shoulder. "…Dunno. I haven't been found long enough to get into trouble yet," he replied candidly, which amused his father enough to relent.

"No, you haven't," he drolly acknowledged. He also reached out with a ringed hand and proceeded to mess up his child's golden head with rough affection. The boy grunted and hurriedly clutched at his crown to keep it from falling off at his father's sudden demonstrative demeanor. But he did not shy away, and peered at the older man with similarly veiled eyes.

"So…I'm not in trouble?" he enquired, just to be sure.

His father, still amused, retorted. "Did you hear me say that?"

Malaki looked so comically dismayed, there was a very funny 'oh shit' expression on his face. Belphegor chuckled and slung one arm over his son's shoulders, swiveling the boy around and frog marching him forwards, preventing him from squirming away from their impending father and child bonding time. "When we find your sisters, let's play this really fun game I like to call 'hide and seek' until the lot of you finally understands what it means to hide in plain sight."

The boy shivered at his parent's gleeful tone. Whatever his father called fun was not always necessarily a pleasant experience for himself…or his siblings. "Or I can always go back to join mom on her mission," he uttered without enthusiasm.

Fat hope. Belphegor snorted.

"Suck it up. You're a bit too old to still be whining for your mom, kid."

"…But you also call for mom all the time," Malaki mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"…Nothing."

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

Was suddenly in the mood to write some BelHaru!fam thingies, so this drabble practically came into existence all on its own lmao.

Malaki: 9 y.o.

Miyuko: 12 y.o.

Hotaru: 7 y.o.

(No mention of the littlest bratling here 'coz he's not born yet XD)

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-sllebswap