Life of Mystery

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/59503957.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: Gen, F/M, M/M
Fandom: #000000 Ultra Black (Manga)
Relationships: Fuki Sanetora & Shidou Kanae, Baku/Kojima (#000000 Ultra Black)
Characters: Fuki Sanetora, Shidou Kanae, Kojima, Mito, Kujirai, Other Character
Tags to Be Added
Additional Tags: One Shot Collection
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-10-06 Updated: 2024-10-07 Words: 2,282 Chapters: 2/?
 Life of Mystery
by cass_apocalyptic_series_lover

Summary

This is essentially an Ultra Black AU that's a lot more simple because I'm stupid, I can't
understand Japanese, and I can barely understand the translated version.

You don't have to read the manga since I'm basically writing it but its still pretty cool. I'm
mostly focusing on the dynamics.

Notes

this chapter is mostly on Shidou and Sanetora's relationship. Fyi, sanetora is 13 and shidou is
28.

I love father-son duos <3

 Emotions
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Sanetora scrubbed the toilet begrudgingly. He did not expect Shidou to immediately put him
to work. Or to put him to work at all. Chores was the last thing on his mind. You would think
that maybe your benefactor-turned-foster-father would be a bit lenient, especially with having
supported you already for 11 years. But, no, he seemed to have a sharp tongue and generally
didn't like Sanetora that much. The perfect image Sanetora had of his benefactor was now
smudged, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He was a little hopeful for
someone that he could look up to, maybe a father figure. Sanetora thought he was a nice guy.
He thought they were going to be a family. Now, Sanetora looks more like a maid rather than
a foster child. The orphanage/home was starting to seem a bit more preferable than these
circumstances at this point; there wasn't exactly any hope or expectations for anything
different back then.

Sanetora let out a sigh as he finished up cleaning the toilet. He stood up and set the lid down
before wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He glanced around at the now sparkling
clean bathroom. He smiled proudly at his work.

Nei yelled down the hallway, calling out for Sanetora. "Sanetora-kun! Oh, Sanetora-kun,
where are you?"

Sanetora pocketed the hand rag in his apron pocket before peeking out of the doorway and
calling back. "Yeah! Coming!"

"Oh, hey, do you mind washing these too?" Nei approached the bathroom with a big basket
of laundry.

Sanetora let out a small grunt as the cumbersome basket was shoved into his arms. "Whose
are these?"

"Those are mine!" She responded cheerfully. Nei tilted her head to the side to look at him
around the basket. "Don't worry, there's just skirts and stockings in there, no underwear."

Sanetora opened his mouth to reject the request before Nei skipped away, not allowing
Sanetora to respond.

He let out a sigh and walked to the laundry room. Sanetora didn't exactly know how to feel
about everything. He couldn't help but question Shidou's motives and feel conflicted about
this sudden turn in his life. Sanetora set down the basket on the floor before opening the
washing machine and hesitating as he looked at the settings. He glanced back at the clothing
in the basket. He didn't know how to wash women's clothing; he's never washed women's
clothing. Sanetora leaned down and carefully grabbed one of the stockings. He let out a groan
of irritation and let his head drop against the washing machine. Everything seemed so
strange. Why did he have to be so suddenly employed in this random weird business? Why
couldn't Shidou be a bit nicer to him? What type of foster family was he in? Sanetora sighed
as he lifted his head up and stared at the blinking settings of the washing machine. He didn't
like this.

Sanetora laid back against the couch after he finished cleaning the majority of the house.
"God, that was exhausting." He muttered to himself as he placed his forearm across his eyes.

Shidou had passed by the room before noticing the young boy in his peripherals. He
backtracked before getting a good look at Sanetora. He seemed exhausted, his initial positive
demeanor absent.

Shidou decided to approach him, walking up behind the couch and leaning over him.
Sanetora was still blissfully unaware due to his eyes being covered and Shidou's steps
remaining silent.

"Are you done with your chores?" Shidou spoke up abruptly.

Sanetora quickly flung his arm off his face and looked up at Shidou, jumping back. "Jesus-
oh, hey, Shidou-san." He quickly recovers with his polite and respectful demeanor, trying not
to make the same mistake before with being so blunt.

Shidou smiled at his recovery. He repeated his question. "Did you finish cleaning, Sanetora?"

Sanetora stared at him for a few seconds before finally processing his question. "Oh, yeah, I
did."

Shidou leaned back and placed his hands on his hips, glancing around at his environment and
feigning surprise as he takes note of the new cleanliness. "Hm... good, that's good." His eyes
flickered back to Sanetora. Shidou's smile softened, becoming more genuine rather than
amused. He extended his hand and ruffled Sanetora's hair. "Good job."

Sanetora blinked in shock for a moment at the sudden show of physical affection. For just a
moment, he saw that ideal father figure he was hoping for in Shidou. The silly concept of
"Daddy Long Legs", a notion he came up with in his younger years of someone he could look
up to as his father, suddenly seemed possible.

In the orphanage-home, he heard many things. He knew the nickname "mommy" was for
mothers and "daddy" for fathers. So when he saw a lanky spider in the corner of one of the
rooms and an older kid pointing it out as a "daddy long legs" spider, he couldn't help but
think of a man with comically lengthy legs and a fatherly personality. The idea updated over
time as other people started explaining to him the concept of a benefactor and his benefactor
specifically. He knew it was a silly notion but now his current conception was a rich man
with long legs to spoil him with affection and money.

Shidou retracted his hand after a few seconds as he noticed Sanetora looking more shocked
than appreciative of his gesture. Weird kid. "You can change back onto your normal clothes
and rest for now, Sanetora."
 He blinked out of his thoughts and grounded himself back into the moment. "But, don't I
have more work? You said I need to repay all the resources you've given me-"

"You've done plenty, Sanetora. You don't need to do anymore. You need time to prepare for
school next week." Shidou answered benevolently.

Finally, Sanetora smiled.

As Sanetora slept in his new room with his mouth slightly ajar and his arm hanging off his
bed, Shidou managed to pass by him once more. Shidou walked into the room and glanced
around. He made sure to remind himself to get more furniture for Sanetora. Shidou looked
over at Shidou's desk and noticed the school supplies that were set out. Since the transfer of
schools takes some time, he had given Sanetora a week to adjust himself to the new
environment (along with the tasks of cleaning).

Shidou walked over to Sanetora's sleeping form on the bed. He was just an innocent thirteen-
year-old boy. He wasn't ready to face the dangers of the company. Shidou didn't exactly want
to get attached but he couldn't really help it.

He grabbed the blanket and tenderly tucked it over Sanetora, making sure he was
comfortable. Shidou gently ruffled his hair once more, a smile crossing his face.

After all, daddy long legs' are harmless.

Chapter End Notes

I know the word "daddy" has been sexualized a lot in recent years but I just really
wanted to write about that part. I know kids take things very literally and that is really
dear to me.

I'm gonna yap for a quick second but when I was little, I used to think that the egg
cleansing thing was literally rubbing a cracked egg all over you and I thought it was
really gross.

That's just one example but I love parent-kid relationships and i could write essays about
it. Anyways thx for reading, I'll write more soon.
 Character
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Shiba walked into the house, carrying a paper bag in his hand. He was beaming. "I'm home!"

Sanetora quickly walked to the house entrance, happy to see Shiba.

Shiba was one of the co-workers of Shidou, but he was a decade older than Shidou. This led
to the embarrassing mix-up Sanetora had between the two when Sanetora initially met them,
immediately assuming his benefactor was the older of the two.

"It's a small gift, but we can share it, Sanetora-kun." Shiba says enthusiastically.

"What is it?" Sanetora tilted his head with curiosity as he looked at the bag.

"It's some expensive-"

"Pork!" Nei interrupted eagerly as she snatched the bag from him and brought it to the dining
table, setting out all the food. She took one of the sandwiches out and smelled it, letting out a
sigh of contentedness. "If you don't hurry, I'm gonna eat it all myself!"

Sanetora glanced at Shiba before laughing a bit. He sat down at the table across from Shiba;
Nei sat beside Shiba.

Nei set a plate with a pork sandwich in front of each of them. Shiba picked up his sandwich
as Sanetora hesitated, looking at the heavy meal in front of him. He was pretty hungry
though; he's just never had a meal so substantial.

Shiba didn't quite notice, preparing to bite into his own sandwich. "Itadikama-"

Chomp!

Shidou had bitten into the sandwich before Shiba could. Shiba reeled back, giving Shidou the
opportunity to grab the sandwich from his hands and continue eating the rest of it.

Shidou seemed to barely acknowledge the presence of Sanetora next to him. "Morning,
Sanetora."

"Uh...you, too, Boss...?" Sanetora responded hesitantly. Shidou seemed to appear out of
nowhere between Shiba and him.

Shiba let out a groan of irritation. "Can I have at least one bite?"

Shidou stared at him for a few seconds and ate the rest of his sandwich simply to spite him,
briefly licking his fingers after finishing it with a smirk.
Shiba's eye twitched in irritation before he angrily stood up from the table. "You bastard!"

Shidou let out a laugh before Shiba started chasing after him. "And what's more, in front of a
child!" Shiba continued exclaiming. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Shidou circled around the table before placing himself behind Sanetora once more, placing
his hands on his shoulders.

"Taking a hostage; you're a real coward, Shidou." Shiba muttered with feigned hatred. Nei
watched on in amusement, sipping from her mug.

"Don't be stingy, you old fart." Shidou responded teasingly. He leaned down next to
Sanetora's head, whispering some advice with fake seriousness. "Remember, Sanetora, the
world of the adults is a jungle..."

Shidou suddenly pushed off of Sanetora to do a martial-arts style kick towards Shiba. "Where
the strong prey upon the weak!"

"I'm sorry. It's always like this. It'll get quiet soon." Nei said reassuringly.

Sanetora watched the adults play with amusement.

Shidou worked in his office, sorting through different possible cases on more supernatural
items. He was now a lot more stoic and serious than just the previous morning. Shidou
quickly licked his finger to assist him in flipping through more pages and papers. One after
another, yet none seemed quite relative to his business, although he had a feeling there would
be something.

Shiba walked into his office with a very late knock, a soft smile on his face. "How's work
going, Boss?"

Shidou glanced up at the older man with a curious look before letting out a scoff and looking
back down at the task at hand. "Just fine." He muttered.

Shiba walked around his desk before leaning over and flickering his gaze over the papers.
None seemed to point to new work for the Rough Workers company to do. "Seems like we're
free."

Shidou gave a quick glare to the man before searching through the papers with more purpose
and speed. "No, see, there's one-" He confidently grabs one of them and faces it towards
Shiba.

"That's... an article about children turning into 'monsters' during their teenage years." Shiba
gestures with air quotations marks.

Shidou quickly flips the paper back around before hastily reading the title and crumpling up
the paper, grumbling under his breath as he tosses the paper into the trash can.
"Well, you know what that means..." Shiba starts with a cheesy smile. He leans back against
Shidou's desk, his hands gently grasping the edge of the furniture behind him.

"Yeah, I got it. It's a free day. Go have fun, you old geezer." Shidou reluctantly gives in. He
was usually pretty lenient and teasing, but his business and work was something he would
always remain strict on.

Shiba's smile softens slightly. He playfully punches the younger adult. "You can be included
in it, too, Boss. Maybe have some bonding time."

"Bonding time? With you? I'd rather drink a jar of spiders." Shidou snarks back, without a
hint of true venom in it.

"Not with me, you dummy. The kid. I mean, you brought him here for a reason, right? Out of
every other kid there in the orphanage..."

"Yes, but... I just need him for the company. That's all." Shidou briefly states.

Shiba furrows his eyebrows. "He doesn't have any abilities; he's not an ability holder. You
know that. What possible use could he be to you?"

Shidou remains silent for a moment as he thinks of an excuse. He needed something from
him. "I would like to just... keep an eye on him. I need him close to me."

Shiba narrows his eyes at him, pushing himself off the desk for a moment. "Right... well, if
you want to be close to him, you should try getting out of the office and go up to him." Shiba
opens one of the drawers, grabs the stack of papers, and gently places it inside.

Sanetora was contentedly making charm bracelets with Nei in the living room. He reached
over and grabbed a specific blue little charm, slipping it through the thin string and pushing it
along with the other ones.

Nei smiled and continued helping him with it. "Mhm, and then once you're done with it, you
want to tie it into a knot. Bunny ear... through the hole... pull it out, and ta-da! You've got a
bracelet." She demonstrates cheerfully.

Sanetora discreetly sticks his tongue out as he focuses on his bracelet, somehow managing to
tie it around his finger.

Shidou walks in, taking in the scene and sits across from Nei and Sanetora.

"Oh, hey, Boss!" Nei greets happily. Sanetora does similarly with a sheepish wave (his non-
tied one.)

Shidou lets out a small huff of laughter at his predicament. "Here, let me help..." He reaches
across and unties the knot.

"You tie it like this..." He grabs Sanetora's hands, guiding them into the motion.
Chapter End Notes

Ok I didn't expect to write another chapter just the day after but I couldn't help it. Don't
expect a full on everyday post schedule but I think I might start posting pretty often
(hoping that I don't get the ao3 author curse) (I actually hope I get the curse because my
mom won't let me stay home from school unless I'm in a hospital bed)

Anyway, I know that not many people aren't interested in works about platonic
relationships, much less my own work, so I don't expect much. Either way, thanks for
reading, love y'all <3
Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!