Title: The LoveJinJin Chronicles, drabbles of chibiAkame (side story of xx_lovelain_xx 's Second Chance fic)
Authors: xx_lovelain_xx  and chuukibito 
Paring: ChibiAkame
Disclaimer:

Lesson #31: The Best Christmas Present EVER

"Jin! Slow down!" Yamapi huffed as he chased the four-year-old down another aisle of the store.

Ryo panted, "We've got to stop feeding that kid sweets." Yamapi could only nod in agreement.

Jin sped down the aisle, stopping ever so often when a toy caught his eye. It usually took him all but two seconds to decide that it was not the perfect present before he took off again.

Yamapi groaned inwardly as Jin almost crashed into a tower of action figures. He stopped short when he noticed another familiar young child at the front door of the store.

"Kazuya's here," Yamapi told Ryo as they chased after Jin's bright yellow jacket. The boy had as good a sense of direction as a faulty compass, and it would only be a matter of time before he got hopelessly lost in the big toy store.

Both men gave quick waves as they rounded another corner.

"I just saw Yamapi," Tatsuya said quietly. He decided to ignore the impatient tugging on his pants. "Which means...."

"... Jin is somewhere here too," Junno finished the sentence, almost too happily.

Tatsuya sighed, and his mind began to create all the horrific disaster scenarios that could possibly happen.

He let out an involuntary shudder.

"Let's go, Kazu-chan!" Koki said, grabbing Kazuya by the waist and settling the toddler on his shoulders.

"Ko-Ko, high!!" Kazuya clapped happily, squealing at the sight from his vantage point.

Koki turned to Tatsuya and Junno. "Don't worry, we'll be fine," he winked.

"Bye bye, Tat-tat! Ju-Ju," Kazuya waved his little hand, an excited smile on his face.

Ruffling Kazuya's hair affectionately, Tatsuya said, "Bye, Kazuya. We'll be back soon. Be nice to Koki."

Kazuya and Koki continued to wave as Tatsuya and Junno made their way out of the toy store to finish up the food shopping for the annual Christmas get-together.

Feeling a wave of nostalgia wash over him, Koki let himself be taken back to that day so many years ago.

Kame had dragged him all the way from Chiba to this very same toy store to pick out a Christmas gift for Jin.

They had just recently made it into Johnny's and a fast friendship had developed. They had promised to get each other the best possible Christmas present as a celebration of their first Christmas together.

"Ko-ko OK?" Kazuya's voice shook Koki back to reality. He looked up to come face-to-face with the two-year-old.

Giving the child a reassuring smile, Koki bounced Kazuya on his shoulders, making the child shriek in delight.

"We'll get you the best Christmas present ever!" Koki proclaimed, heading to an aisle.

Kazuya clapped his hands happily, only to throw them around Koki's head when the adult came to an abrupt stop.

Almost on the verge of toppling over, Kazuya looked down to see Jin sprawled on the floor in front of them.

"JinJin?"

The call of his name made Jin look up abruptly.

"Kazu!"

"JinJin!!" Kazuya exclaimed, reaching out to the older child. Koki grabbed Kazuya by the ankles to stop the child from falling over.

"Kazu-chan, be careful! You'll fall!" Koki exclaimed, trying hard to balance while the toddler squirmed around.

Jin's eyes widened in fear. "Kazu, don't worry! I'll save you!" he called out as he tried to scale Koki's legs.

"Jin! Don't climb! I can't balance~~" Koki yelped as Jin and Kazuya's trashing sent the three of them crashing into a tower of foam blocks.

Yamapi and Ryo jogged to a stop at the fringe of the disaster area. Koki's legs could be seen sticking out of a pile of foam blocks.

Thankfully, he managed to tuck both children safely into each arm before they hit the tower.

Jin, ever worried for Kazuya's safety, clambered over Koki's chest to Kazuya. "Kazu! Are you hurt? Pain?" he asked, worry in his eyes.

Kazuya ignored Jin for now, focusing instead on thumping Koki's chest with his little hands. "Ko-ko give best present EVER!"

Koki managed a pained groan as he felt Kazuya give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Ko-ko give JinJin!"

"LoveJinJin!" Kazuya squealed as he embraced Jin on top of Koki's chest. "LoveJinJin the most!"

Lesson #32:  Skating Lessons

Jin was pouting as he looked at Ryo and Yamapi. Both of his grandparents were sitting firmly on either side of him, so that one or the other could grab him if he tried to run off.

Sneaking a glance at them and seeing that they seemed to be arguing about something, Jin tried again. He didn't get very far, only two steps, before he was pulled back down onto the bench.

Jin scowled, "Pi-Pi!!!!" he wailed, pointing in the distance, "JinJin want to do it too!!!"

Yamapi crossed his arms, letting Ryo make sure Jin stayed on the bench, "No. You already know how. The only thing you'll do is make trouble"

"Will not!" Jin sulked, crossing his arms in a manner very much like Yamapi. Ryo's lips quirked up into a smile that he tried to hide.

"And how do you explain knocking over all the other kids in an attempt to get to Kazu?"

"They were in JinJin's way" Jin insisted, "Their fault!"

Yamapi palmed his forehead.

"Jin...just wait until Kazuya's done alright?" Yamapi tried, "Then you can go out and skate all you want with Kazuya" he said, pointing across the outdoor skating rink to where Kazuya was learning how to skate. As there was to be a Christmas party thrown by the parents of one of the children's classmate's parents which involved going to a skating rink, Kazuya had been determined not to be left out and asked them to teach him.

"Fine" Jin sulked, "But I don't like it!" he declared. Yamapi raised his eyebrow, "You can't possible tell me that he didn't learn that one from you" he said to Ryo.

"Bite me"

"If you really want me too"

Jin, already used to this sort of byplay between his grandparents, merely began to try to glare holes into the back of random children's heads for blocking his view of Kazuya.

*

Kazuya let out a yelp as he almost fell. Luckily, he managed to get upright again with the help of the adult next to him.

"Be careful, alright, Kazu-chan?" Uchi asked with a grin on his face, "Ryo would kill both Notti and I if you got even a scratch on your face"

Kazuya giggled, "Ri-Ri go boom-boom?"

Kusano laughed, "Exactly"

Kazuya giggled even more as he unsteadily tried to skate on his own, the two adults who were instructing him trailing very close behind him in case he fell again.

He was suddenly pushed to the side by an older boy who had passed by and Kazuya let out a yelp of fright as he flailed, trying to regain his balance, "Roki-Roki!!!!!" he called out in panic, "Notti!! Roki-Roki!!!!!"

Hands caught him and Kazuya let out a loud wail as he clung to Uchi's legs.

"There, there, Kazu-chan" Uchi said, lifting the toddler up into his arms, "Don't cry, don't cry" he said quickly, patting Kazuya's head awkwardly. He may have gotten a little better over the years at calming crying children down, but he still panicked when confronted with crying babies.

"Uh-oh..." Kusano murmured from next to Uchi.

Uchi looked up and saw Ryo skating over. Yamapi and Jin were both on the ice, and Yamapi was scolding Jin, who was red-faced and looking murderous - for a four year old anyways.

"What happened?" Uchi asked as Ryo took the crying Kazuya from him and almost immediately, Ryo rubbed circles onto Kazuya's back and the two year old stopped crying.

"Jin saw that kid knock Kazuya over. He got up before Yamapi and I could stop him, skated over and threw a snowball into the kid's face" Ryo said calmly as he made a funny face at Kazuya, who was sniffling. Kazuya giggled, "Ri-Ri!"

"I don't know how you do that" Uchi said, resigned to the fact that Ryo would always be able to calm crying children down better than he could.

Then Kazuya brightened, "JinJin!" he said happily, struggling to get down. Ryo carefully put Kazuya back down on the ice, steadying him. Kazuya beamed up at the three adults around him before carefully and hesitantly skating over to the four year old.

Jin, who had been sulking at being scolded, beamed as he skated from Yamapi over to Kazuya.

"Kazu-chan!" he yelled happily. Kazuya's hands were stretched out to either side, trying his best to balance on the ice. When he finally got to Jin, he threw his arms around the older boy, "Kazu reached JinJin!" he said happily, "Kazu can skate!"

Jin beamed, "Kazu can!"

Turning to Yamapi with huge eyes, Jin asked with a pout, "JinJin can go to Christmas skating party with Kazu right??"

Yamapi sighed, "Fine, I won't punish you this time since it's almost Christmas, but no throwing snowballs at the other kids at the party"

Jin nodded, "'Kay! JinJin will be next to Kazu the WHOLE time anyways! JinJin won't let other kids push Kazu or let Kazu fall!" he declared proudly, holding up Kazuya's hand as though it was proof.

Kazuya smiled delightedly, "Kazu love JinJin!" he declared as he hugged Jin. As he did this, he stumbled a little on the ice but Jin stayed upright, keeping them from falling down. His smile grew wider, "Kazu love Jinjin lots!"

Lesson #33: Candy and Babies

"Candy canes!"

"Marshmallows!"

"Candy canes!!"

"Marshmallows!!"

Four pair of eyes glanced back and forth between the children. This was the first time they had seen the four-year-old and the two-year-old arguing with each other.

"Candy canes!" Jin said adamantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his face red from anger.

Kazuya mimicked Jin's posture, adding a pout. "No! Want marshmallows!"

The arguing lapsed into silence as the two children stared determinedly at each other.

"What do we do?" Kusano whispered, worry evident in his trembling voice. "They're arguing."

"Calm down. This is all a dream. Yes, that's it... It's probably all a dream," Shige muttered, hoping that if he said it often enough, it would come true.

"We are so dead when the others come back," Uchi sighed.

"When who comes back?" Ryo's voice cut through the atmosphere in the room.

"Ryo-tan, you're back! Thank God!" Tegoshi breathed a sigh of relief, latching himself to Ryo's arm.

Yamapi, Junno, Tatsuya and Koki came in, hauling bags of candy and food. "What's going on?" Tatsuya asked suspiciously.

"They're arguing," Kusano wailed.

Yamapi put down his bag of groceries and went to Jin. "Why do you have the angry look on your face?"

Jin pouted and broke eye contact with Kazuya to stare imploringly at Yamapi. "No want marshmallow. Want candy cane!" he said, stomping his foot for effect.

Kazuya sniffled and ambled away, crying for Tatsuya. Jin's expression softened a bit, but he still refused to comfort the distraught toddler.

Raising an eyebrow at Jin's reversion back to baby speech and attitude, Yamapi prodded, "And why don't you want marshmallows? Your tooth is acting up again. You know you can't have candy canes."

"Jin no want marshmallows!" Jin yelled, running to a corner of the room.

Yamapi looked helplessly at Ryo, who seemed to understand the child's reasoning better than anyone else.

Ryo rolled his eyes and sauntered over to the sulking four-year-old.

"You wanted candy canes because they're colourful and Kazuya likes them, right?"

Jin turned back uncertainly to see Ryo's expectant face. He hesitated for a moment before nodding his head. "Ri-Ri, Kazu love candy canes," he said softly, sneaking a peek over at the sniffling child being comforted by Tatsuya.

"Jin, go over there and tell that to Kazuya," Ryo ordered, stepping aside and nodding his head in the direction of the smaller child.

Shaking his head, Jin stood rooted to the spot. "Don't wanna." And then a softer, "Jin made Kazu cry."

Sighing dramatically, Ryo reached down and pushed Jin gently on the back. "Just go. Everything will be alright. I've never lied to you."

Jin looked at Ryo one more time before making his way unsurely to Kazuya.

"Kazu," Jin called softly, and was glad when the younger boy peeked at him briefly before hiding his face back into Tatsuya's chest.

Tatsuya slowly pried his grandson off his chest and manouvered him to face Jin. "Jin is talking to you, Kazuya."

Kazuya looked up unsurely, sniffling quietly to himself. "JinJin angry," he murmured.

"Kazu, I wanted candy canes because you like candy canes," Jin said, fidgeting in his spot.

Wide eyes met his as Kazuya looked up. "Kazu want marshmallows because JinJin mouth has owwie," he answered.

Jin's eyes widened, as he took a step forward to envelop Kazuya in a hug. "I'm sorry, Kazu!"

"Kazu sorry too," was the muffled reply. "Kazu loveJinJin," was said softly, but everyone heard it loud and clear.

Lesson #34: The Spirit of Giving

Cries could be heard throughout the entire house. Loud cries and the sound of screaming and foot stomping was what Yamapi, Jin and Ryo walked into when Junno opened the door for them.

Ryo blinked and pointed at the stairs where a whole line of people were standing, obviously watching something, most likely the crying that was going on.

"What's happening?" he asked.

Jin was looking up at Junno with wide eyes, "Kazu crying?"

Junno had a troubled expression on his face, "Yeah, well..." he trailed off, shaking his head, "Kazuya's kinda upset?"

"Really? I could never have guessed" Ryo drawled sarcastically. Jin was soon pulling on Yamapi's hand to drag him to the stairs where Uchi, Kusano, Shige, Koyama, Tackey, Tsubasa, Akira (much to Jin's irritation), Koki, Nakamaru, Nino, Matsujun and Ohno were lined up on the stairs. Some of them were even sitting at a spot at the top of the stairs just watching. Jin pushed his way through (or more like, the adults let Jin through) and Ryo blinked seeing the scene in front of him.

Kazuya was jumping up and down, crying and screaming his lungs off as Tatsuya held his hand out for something, looking irritated and trying to be patient with the two year old. Kazuya's face was red as he hugged something to his chest.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!!!" Kazuya screamed at the top of his lungs. Ryo was almost surprised that Kazuya could scream that loud. Jin was biting his lip and looking apprehensively at the scene. Even he was scared to approach right now.

Nino murmured a quiet, "Normally, I'd say something like 'Oh, look, Kazu called me so many times; he loves me more than he loves you" he grinned at Matsujun who glared, but then he sobered, "But...I think I'll keep quiet for now. I don't want to be murdered by Ueda"

"What's going on anyways?" Yamapi whispered to Koyama.

"Umm...it started about half an hour ago..." Koyama winced.

"NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!!! TAT-TAT NO!!!! NO NO NO KAZU WON'T TAT-TAT MEAN GO AWAY!!!!!!" Kazuya ran to a corner, squishing the front of his body into the corner so that all anyone could see was the back of Kazuya.

"Kazuya. Hand it over. Now" Tatsuya said through gritted teeth, "Don't make me give you a time-out while everyone is here" he said finally.

Kazuya's arms tightened around the object he was holding and tried even harder to blend in with the wall.

"Kazuya. You don't even use that toy anymore. You haven't for a year. We're going to go to the mall and give it to the toy donation so some other little boy can play with it on Christmas" Tatsuya tried, "You're not keeping it"

"NO!!!!! KAZU WANT. KAZU PLAY WITH IT AGAIN. NO GIVE AWAY. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Kazuya wailed. Tatsuya calmly walked over to where Kazuya was and lifted his grandson up, despite the struggle he put up, trying to cling to the wall. Kazuya's wails increased but Tatsuya was firm, finally sitting Kazuya down on a chair facing him and slowly and gently lifting the crying Kazuya's fingers from the soft baby’s rattle that Kazuya was holding onto desperately.

Kazuya continued to cry, throwing a tantrum.

"Why is he so upset?" Ryo whispered, "I haven't seen him play with that since he was eight months old"

Junno whispered back, "He doesn't want to share. He kinda thinks that on Christmas he should be getting more toys, not giving them away"

Kazuya sniffled, "But Kazu want to keep rattle!" he protested even as he held on tightly to the baby toy.

"You don't play with it" Tatsuya pointed out.

"KAZU WANT!"

"He also hasn't been sleeping well" Junno provided, "Meaning Tat-chan hasn't been sleeping well 'cause he's up all night with Kazuya so they're both cranky"

"Kazu want rattle!" Kazuya cried, "Want. Want. Want!"

Jin poked his head into the room. Ryo's eyes widened, as his head swivelled to the spot where Jin had just been. When had he moved?!

"Kazu?" Jin tried tentatively, crawling into the room. Kazuya looked up, sniffing and holding the rattle closer to his chest. Then he burst into tears as he ran over to Jin, "JinJin!" he cried, "Tat-Tat mean! Kazu don't want to give rattle away!"

"Kazu" Jin hugged Kazuya to him, "S'okay"

"No, not okay" Kazuya protested.

"JinJin is giving JinJin's baby toys away too" Jin said finally with a pout at Kazuya, "Kazu not want to give toys away with JinJin? Not wanna be elves with JinJin?"

Kazuya blinked, "Elves?"

Jin nodded, "Pi-Pi and Ri-Ri said 'cause JinJin was helping Santa give presents to uh...nee...needy children, JinJin is an elf because JinJin is helping Santa!"

"Damn, why didn't we think of that?" Junno muttered. The others who had been gathered on the stairs save Ryo and Yamapi nodded in agreement, surprise on their faces as they looked at Ryo and Yamapi.

"To be fair, we were prepared for this months ago" Yamapi said, "Nobody expected Kazuya to be the difficult one. We all expected the tantrum from Jin..."

"Kazu want to be elf! If JinJin is elf, Kazu want to be elf too!" Kazuya cried out, flinging his arms around Jin, "Can Kazu be elf?"

"Give rattle to Tat-Tat" Jin said after a moment's thought. Kazuya quickly did so, murmuring a "Sorry Tat-Tat" to his grandfather after hugging his legs tightly.

Then he ran back to Jin, who hugged Kazuya with a proud look on his face. Kazuya looked up at Jin, "Can Kazu be elf now?"

"Yes. Kazu can be elf with me!"

Kazuya burst out into a smile and hugged Jin, "Kazu love JinJin!"

Lesson #35: Creative Minds

The walk from the main door to the frozen lake by the lodge was long and arduous. At least, it was for Jin.

Yamapi, after watching a documentary on how there were much higher chances of children getting sick this holiday season, practically freaked out and decided to bundle his grandson in not two, not three, but 7 layers of winter wear.

The sheer amount of layers meant Jin resembled the Michelin Man more than a four-year-old.

Hopping off the last step, Jin stumbled and fell forward. Thanks to the bulk of the winter wear, his face was kept two inches from the ground as he flailed and yelled for Ryo.

Two little hands pulled on Jin, but only managed to drag him along. "Kazu, I can't get up," Jin lamented, holding tightly onto Kazuya's hands.

"JinJin no up?" Kazuya asked, cocking his head to the side.

Jin shook his head sadly, a frown on his face.

Kazuya let go of Jin's hands and moved to sit next to the older boy. "Kazu stay with JinJin, ok?" the toddler beamed, patting Jin on the head.

Ryo, who had been at the shed, checking the heaters, stomped through the snow, muttering under his breath about paranoid freaks and accursed snow with a glower on his face and Junno by his side.

"Kazu, don't stand so close. Ri-Ri may go boom-boom," Jin whispered to the two-year-old.

Kazuya nodded solemnly and got up to stand a little ways away. Unfortunately, he stepped on his muffler and fell directly onto Jin, sending the both of them skidding a few feet away.

"Again! Again!" Kazuya squealed, bouncing on Jin's back.

Ryo blinked and exchanged glances with Junno. "Well, there may be some good to this after all," the Osakan grinned, hurrying over to the children.

Kazuya noticed the approaching adults and waved happily. "Ri-Ri! Ju-Ju! Kazu want again!" he clapped.

"Now, Kazuya. You shouldn't do that to Jin, alright?" Junno said, giving Kazuya's nose a little poke. "It's not nice."

"But-" Kazuya started, looking down dejectedly when Junno shook his head disapprovingly.

Ryo tried his best to hide his grin. "Mm-hmm. Anyways, Jin can't really play like this. How about we call Akira over to play with you, Kazu-chan?"

"NO! NO KIRA-KIRA!" the voice under Kazuya bellowed. Jin waved his arms and legs in protest at the thought of Akira spending more time than necessary with his Kazuya.

Ryo smirked a little at Jin's outburst. Predictable, as always.

"Well, how are you going to play with Kazuya, then? You can barely move," Ryo asked innocently.

Jin pouted, completely at a loss for words.

"It's not like you could be a sledge and slide through the snow with Kazuya," Ryo shrugged, ignoring Junno's horrified look.

His eyes lighting up, Jin flailed excitedly. "Kazu! Kazu! Sit on my back!!"

Kazuya looked doubtful, but followed the older, and supposedly smarter, child's request. He hopped on Jin's back, his little legs dangling off the sides.

"Now, push!" Jin called out, holding his arms straight out at his side. "Push hard, okay?!"

Holding on tightly to Jin's shoulders, Kazuya put his little legs as hard as he could, sending the duo sliding away.

"That's your grandson!" Junno exclaimed, staring at Ryo like he had suddenly sprouted four heads.

The Osakan shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Kazuya's younger and cuter."

Yamapi smiled a little in kitchen as he heard the happy laughter and squeals of "LoveJinJin!"

Lesson #36: Mall Santa

Kazuya bit his lip as he stared at the front of the long line that he was standing in. Or more like, he was sitting in. Jin was straining his neck to try to see the front but he wasn't tall enough to look over the taller kids yet and Kazuya was attached to his back so Jin couldn't jump up and down to try to see.

Nino, Uchi and Yamapi were standing behind them, Yamapi and Uchi casting wary looks for any chance that Kazuya was going to fall for he was practically sitting on Jin's shoulders - not really sitting but close enough to be worried. Nino was just having fun playing and making faces to make Kazuya laugh.

Despite the fact that Jin was stubbornly making sure he didn't let go of Kazuya and Kazuya was clearly not afraid of being on Jin's shoulders, Yamapi kept an eye out. At least with Uchi and Nino there, if Kazuya fell, then one of the three adults would catch him.

It had started this morning when Tatsuya and Junno had apparently needed to go buy some things at the grocery store and had asked if he would take Kazuya and Jin to see the mall Santa instead. Of course, Yamapi had agreed, but he had soon realized that he needed another adult to help him watch them because Ryo had gone out to buy Christmas lights. Knowing Ryo, he would get into an argument with the clerk at the supply store and come home hours later, tangled in lights like he had last year when the clerk had just thrown a random set of lights at him.

So, Yamapi had asked the people that were practically staying at his house now, as they never seemed to leave and they had a party of some sort every night. Uchi and Nino had practically killed everyone else in an attempt to get to Yamapi first and as Yamapi didn't really want to spend the rest of the day cleaning blood out from the carpet, he had decided to take both of them.

"Santa soon!" Jin whispered excitedly to Kazuya nodded, his arms tightening around Jin's neck.

"Kazuya, are you going to fall?" Nino asked immediately. Yamapi looked at the toddler as well. Kazuya shook his head, "No, Kazu no fall" he said puffing his cheeks out as though insulted that they thought that Jin was going to let him fall, "Jin never let Kazu fall!"

Jin beamed, "'cause Jin doesn't want Kazu to cry" he said happily, "Look, Kazu, they're handing out candy canes!" he said excitedly, pointing at the exit where a little girl had just been handed a candy cane by a woman dressed as an elf.

"Candy..." Kazuya said longingly, eyes following the candy held tightly in the other child's hand, "Kazu want candy..." he said and then he made a face that made Nino randomly hug the baby and what Yamapi recognized as his 'determined-and-no-matter-what-you-say-I'm-going-to-do-it-whether-you-like-it-or-not' face.

Soon, it was their turn to meet 'Santa' and Jin was struggling not to bounce around excitedly because Kazuya was still on his back.

"Why hello there" the Santa smiled cheerfully at them. Jin eagerly walked toward the fat man with the white beard and red clothes that he had seen many times in this mall. He looked excitedly at Kazuya, who apparently according to Tatsuya, didn't remember any previous visits to the mall Santa, because he had still been too young in previous years.

"Kazu!! It's Santa!" Jin said in a loud whisper.

The Santa chuckled, "Yes, yes I am. Why don't you come here and we'll take a picture for your mommy and daddy?"

Kazuya was frowning as he looked down, "Tat-Tat not here. Kazu not have daddy or mommy. Kazu have Tat-Tat. Tat-Tat not daddy. Tat-Tat is Tat-Tat" he said.

There was a long silence.

"Then how 'bout a picture for your Tat-Tat?" the Santa, used to difficult children, tried again in the same jovial voice.

Nino, Yamapi and Uchi who had been subjected to Jin's excited rambling about Santa today and knew that Kazuya looked forward to Christmas eve and getting presents from the man in red, were surprised when Kazuya suddenly started to sniffle and cry.

"Kazu?" Jin asked in concern, panicked.

"JinJin!!!!" Kazuya wailed as he threw his arms around any part of Jin he could, which was coincidentally, Jin's head. So, the two year old had his arms wrapped around Jin's head, covering the four year old's eyes and was crying as he buried his head into Jin's shoulders, "JinJin!! Kazu no want!!! No no no no no!!" he cried, "Tat-Tat! Kazu want Tat-Tat!! Pi-Pi!! No-No!! Roki-Roki!! Kazu no want to go!!"

"Kazu?!" Jin asked in shock. The three adults were starting to move forward, wondering what was going on. Kazuya held on tighter to Jin as he cried. The Santa and the people masquerading as elves were at a loss as to what to do; it was rare that a child cried when meeting Santa. Usually, if they cried, they were the young babies who didn't want to be held by a stranger, but this child wasn't that young.

"Kazu no want!! Tat-Tat!! Tat-Tat!!! TAT-TAAAAAAAT!!!" Kazuya cried for his grandfather.

Yamapi quickly knelt down and tried to take Kazuya off of Jin. However, Kazuya was stubborn and wouldn't let go. He sighed, "Kazu, I thought you were excited?"

"Want Tat-Tat" Kazuya sniffled, "Tat-Tat, Tat-Tat"

"Tat-Tat's not here, so tell Pi-Pi what's wrong okay?" Yamapi asked gently.

"Kazu want Tat-Tat. Last year, Kazu scared. Tat-Tat there. Tat-Tat took picture with Kazu and JinJin. Tat-Tat hold Kazu 'til Kazu scared no more. Want TAT-TAAAAAAAAT!!"

Realization dawned on Yamapi and he remembered that last year, when Tatsuya and Ryo had taken the children to the mall, Kazuya had started crying not too long after seeing the Santa up close, and had clung to Tatsuya, refusing to let go of a familiar adult. The prospect of a stranger holding him had probably terrified the child last year, and Kazuya probably still remembered being scared, despite the fact that they thought that Kazuya had forgotten all about it - he had only been one then.

Yamapi sighed. There was no way he could call Tatsuya to make him come over just to take a picture; plus, the other people in line would kill them.

However, Jin managed to help Yamapi out.

"Kazu, don't be scared" JinJin said, his voice muffled by Kazuya's little arm that was half covering his mouth, "I'll hold Kazu this time, 'kay? JinJin'll make sure Kazu won't fall. I won't let Kazu be hurt, k?" he asked, looking up eagerly at Kazuya, "Kazu safe with JinJin"

"JinJin..."

"Kazu trusts me right?" Jin beamed, "Kazu trusts me not to let Kazu fall, so Kazu will definitely be safe!" he said happily, "Don't be scared, Kazu. JinJin is here"

Uchi leaned down and said gently, "Let's try to take a picture okay?" he asked, "If you get scared, JinJin will be there, or Pi, Nino or I can hold you, alright?"

He got a stubborn silence, during which he added, "You don't have to of course. You can stand with us while Jin gets his picture taken"

To his surprise, Kazuya let go of Jin and allowed Yamapi to pick him up. The two year old nodded at Uchi with a hesitant smile, "Kazu do it. But only if Kazu gets to sit on JinJin's lap and JinJin hold Kazu the WHOLE time!" he said, stretching his arms out at the word 'whole' to emphasize it.

Uchi and Nino grinned apologetically at the Santa as Jin sat on the man's lap, and Kazuya climbed up to sit on Jin's lap, Jin's arms wrapped securely around Kazuya.

He didn't cry any more after that and as they were leaving, the elf at the exit took one look at his eyes that were a bit swollen from crying and his happy smile, and gave them both a child-sized Santa hat as well as an extra candy cane.

Kazuya beamed as they walked out of the mall and back to the car, the picture of Kazuya, Jin and Santa Claus in Uchi's bag.

"Are you glad you took a picture with Santa, Kazu?" Nino asked curiously as he made sure Kazuya was properly sitting in his car seat.

"No-No, Kazu happy! Kazu love JinJin!" he beamed, "JinJin make scary go away! Kazu love JinJin the most!" he said as the rim of the Santa hat fell over his eyes.

Jin blushed and beamed at Kazuya, "I love Kazu too!"