#foster dad

Motonari:

It happened so fast that it made his head spin.

Motonari was docked at the port of Sakai, handling some shipments when suddenly, a cloaked woman handed him a baby in a hurry, dashing off.

It took a few seconds for the pirate captain to register what had just happened, but when he did, he tensed up immediately, breaking into a cold sweat as he quickly handed the baby to the person nearest to him, which was Hiroyoshi.

“G-Go and find the woman who just handed me a damn baby! Quickly!” He urged, as the older gentleman nodded, looking down at the quiet baby and going to do what his lord asked of him.

He just touched someone else…

Even if he was wearing gloves, he felt slightly nauseous. 

Despite Hiroyoshi’s best efforts, it appeared that the mysterious woman was gone without a trace.

Which meant Motonari, the head honcho, was now stuck with some lady’s baby.

“...If I may, my lord… This baby is quite the quiet one. You should take it in. It would be cruel to abandon it.” Hiroyoshi told him, as Motonari sucked in his teeth in annoyance.

“Tell that to the lady who just dumped it in my arms!” He barked, his sharp red eyes going to look down at the baby. He didn’t want to hold that thing, it had the capabilities of doing everything he despised in human beings.

However, when the baby’s eyes opened and went to look at Motonari, Motonari felt as if he was looking back at his younger self, defenseless, with nowhere to go and no one to care for him.

As much as he hated the idea of taking a little one in, he hated the idea of inflicting the same fate he was subjected to in his youth to the baby… So he took the baby in.

Unlike other babies, this one never let out a peep, not even a small cry. When the baby was awake, their eyes would just stare at Motonari. Most of the time, however, the baby just slept, to the point it even concerned Motonari.

“Hiroyoshi, what the hell is wrong with this baby? It isn’t being annoying at all like I heard babies are supposed to be!” Motonari confided in his loyal vassal, who merely chuckled. “Oh, my lord, consider it a blessing that you have been given such a good baby!”

Over time, the cold pirate warmed up to the baby, even more than he had warmed up to his pet Wallaby Kajisuke. Since the baby was a girl, he decided to give her a name befitting her more-than-bizarre circumstances of “joining his crew”: Umiko.

She very quickly became a part of the crew, their treasure that they would do absolutely anything to protect. Though Motonari didn’t like to admit this out loud, Umiko really brought out the best of him,. She reminded him of the humanity he still had deep down, of the heart he thought he had long abandoned.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Motonari would very quickly be her primary caretaker. He would feed her, clothe her, and even braid her hair when she had it long enough. He would teach her everything he knew about how to live life at sea, and even the basics of being a merchant. He taught her so much about his profession, that her first word would have been “stock” before she even called Motonari papa.

The older she got, the more Motonari would teach her, especially on self defense and speaking multiple languages. She would have spoken for a period a combination of Japanese and Portuguese before learning to separate the two languages, which meant that only he and a select few would even understand what she was saying for a while.

Motonari made sure that Umiko would grow up to be one of the greatest merchants ever, and that she wouldn’t be a pushover. She would be steadfast and confident in her many abilities he had taught her, and would always do it with the neatest of braided hairstyles. Umiko particularly favored the fishtail because of her namesake.

He was such a proud foster dad… Though he would only admit it to Umiko, and no one else.

Shingen:

Shingen was on his way to his favorite teahouse to indulge in some sweets when he found himself halting as his ears picked up on a certain sound.

It was in a backalley where he found a baby… And another unsettling sight that made him sick to his stomach.

In these tumultuous times, anything could happen, including the very sudden loss of life, a reality he himself knew very well.

“...You poor thing…” Shingen frowned as he crouched beside the bundle, and went to pick it up.

For once, sweets could wait. This poor baby needed to see a doctor immediately.

After many hours, and many of the Kasugayama Castle Residents questioning him, Shingen was able to get the baby back to full health.

Despite finding the baby boy in a dark backalley, Shingen thought to name him Kousei. After all, just because his start in life was rough, didn’t mean the rest of his life had to be.

While the baby boy got some well needed rest, Shingen decided to take to building a special area of his room for the little one, taking after him like a doting father.

Shingen decided to make a toy for the little boy, so whenever he would cry, he would cease upon seeing the toy.

“Don’t cry, Kousei. Look!” Shingen smiled as he then took the spinning top he made, and spun it in front of the baby boy, who looked at the toy in awe, tilting his head like a curious puppy, which made Shingen laugh.

The rest of the residents, besides Yukimura, found Shingen’s fatherly love towards Kousei to be quite… Excessive. Shingen even made a basket to wear where Kousei would be in while he walked around town. It caught women’s attention, which was something Shingen had no complaints about.

In Kousei, Shingen saw that brilliant fire of life. The way he looked at the world, the way he was always so excited to see something new. It was something that furthered his resolve to get his homeland back, to not surrender until he had fulfilled his own wishes and the wishes of his people.

As Kousei got older, Shingen would teach him many things, such as carpentry, horseback riding, and the most important skill of all… How to pick up girls.

“So, how did it go with Asana today, Kousei?” Shingen would ask as he was working on some new furniture, only to see the now adolescent Kousei fold his arms and pout. “Not good at all. She said I was being weird today, but I did everything you told me to do!” He stomped his foot, as Shingen raised a brow. “Oh? Show me what you did.” He turned to him, only to fight an incoming snicker as he saw Kousei strike the cheesiest pose ever.

“So, Asana, how would you like to go to the teahouse and have some dumplings as sweet as you?” He then winked in an equally comedic way, which had Shingen laughing, not being able to hold it back any longer.

“O-OI! That is what you told me to do to impress her!” Kousei glared at him, as Shingen shook his head. “O-Oh, Kousei… You are just like your Uncle Yuki. It seems to me that you are going to need a lot of practice to impress Asana.” His laughter died down, as Kousei sighed.

No matter what obstacles Kousei would have to endure, Shingen knew he would persevere.

Yukimura:

Today was supposed to be another simple reconnaissance mission in Azuchi with Sasuke…

“Supposed to” being the key words.

Some ragged man was running through the bustling market of Azuchi town, when he spotted Yukimura’s stall, and ran to him.

“Please, take care of him!” The man begged him, handling him a baby, before running off, as Yukimura paused to process the fact that he was now holding onto a baby.

“...Huh?!” Yukimura gawked, it finally sinking into him as the baby looked up at him with just as much confusion.

“I-I can’t take care of this thing! I am supposed to be undercover!” Yukimura started to panic, before he noticed his panic was just scaring the poor baby boy, who started to cry.

“O-Oh, no no, don’t cry! Uh…” He then looked over his stall, before handing the baby some fancy handkerchief to play with, that only made the baby stare dubiously at the item, and then at him.

“D-Don’t look at me like that! I never took care of a baby before! Hell, I never even had a lover before!” Yukimura averted his gaze with a stammer. What was he supposed to do in this very strange predicament?! He couldn’t just abandon the baby, and by the look of the old man, trying to return the baby didn’t seem like a good idea, either.

So, when his bff came back from his spying, he gave him plenty of suggestions on how to deal with his predicament, all suggestions he barely could make heads or tails with.

“Uh… Nevermind. I will figure out something…” Yukimura sweated nervously, as he looked down at the baby.

With many, many, trials and errors, Yukimura eventually found a way of parenting the baby that worked best for him. It wasn’t perfect, but hey, the baby got all of its necessities fulfilled, right?

Since he needed to come up with a name, he came up with the first name that popped into his head.

“Okay, baby, your name is gonna be… Haru…” Yukimura stared firmly at the baby boy, who blinked up at him, before smiling. Seems like Haru was the winner.

As the baby boy grew older, Yukimura decided to train him in the ways of hunting and basic first aid, so he could survive anything life throws at him. This resulted in many incidents, including Haru and Yukimura franctically running away from many angry boars.

“I-I think… I prefer the boar… from the castle…” Yukimura panted, as Haru looked up at him with a cheeky smile. “The boar?... You mean the princess of Azuchi you are madly in love with?” He smirked, as Yukimura tensed up. “W-Who told you that?! I don’t love that wild lady!”

“Yes you do! Papa loves the boar lady! Papa loves the boar lady!” Haru chanted with a haughty laugh, as Yukimura sighed. If this was any indicator, it was that Haru was going to be a handful. When it counted, at least, Haru cared for those in his life, including Yukimura who he saw as his papa.