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Rei wasn't sentimental.
At least, that's what he tells himself.
Though perhaps "tells himself" is the wrong term. More like, "it has never been on his radar, like, ever." Or if it had, it was crushed. Discarded under the lectures and blood and gunsmoke that permeated his memory as far back as he could remember. Buried like the cadavers he had grown accustomed to creating.
Though something crept in after the field day. Once he carefully tucked Miri into bed for a well-deserved afternoon nap, he sat on the edge, reaching out to gently brush her bangs from her face. He felt himself smile. God, his face almost hurt from how much he had been doing that today, but he couldn't help it. How did Kazuki do it so much?
"Mmng..." Miri grunted in her sleep, rolling over. Rei pulled his hand away to let her be, though couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. Without much else to do, he reached into his pocket and pulled out that small piece of paper. His boney, calloused hands gently unfolded it, thumb brushing over the single word written.
'Family,' it read.
He told himself he would throw it away on the way back. Then he told himself he'd toss it once they were home. But now... what? He could simply drop it into the bin on his way to the couch. And yet, as he stood up and walked downstairs, he couldn't take his eyes off of it.
"Hm?" Kazuki hummed from the living room, taking a small break to let his back rest. The blonde turned his head to peer over the arm of the couch, watching intently as Rei stood at the base of the stairs. "Oh, is that the paper from Miri's sports day?" he asked, sitting up a bit.
"Mm," Rei replied with a curt nod.
"... are you going to throw it out?" Kazuki asked, raising a brow.
"... mm," Rei answered, though he didn't move still.
Kazuki watched Rei stand there for a moment, eyes flickering from the paper in his hands to the trashcan. Then, he chuckled. "Wow, never thought I'd see you of all people get sentimental!"
Now that got Rei's attention. The man's head shot up at that remark, expression unchanging but betraying the confusion to Kazuki. After living with someone for so long (and raising a kid with them for a few months), you learn to read them a bit.
Kazuki sat up, leaning his elbow on the arm of the sofa to prop himself up. "Y'know you can just keep the paper, right?"
His partner listened for a moment. Rei stood there, thinking over what he said before his eyes suddenly widened by a fraction. Then, he promptly turned around to look around the living room for his wallet. It would likely be safer there. He didn't have anything else to put it in, and it would probably get lost if he just set it on something.
Kazuki watched as Rei grabbed and opened his wallet. An indulgent smile spread across his face as Rei carefully folded the paper up and tucked it into a small pocket. Small, hard to slide out, hard to lose or see. "Just promise me you wont hoard too much random crap again," he playfully jabbed, earning a huff in response.
Later that night, after dinner and tucking Miri back into bed, Rei laid in the bathtub. When sleep didn't immediately take him, he pulled out his wallet and carefully took out that paper once more.
'Family,' it still read.
Warmth blossomed in his chest. It was... an unusual feeling. One he wasn't accustomed to. But perhaps he could get used to it.
With a final smile, he tucked the paper back into the wallet for safekeeping, and tried to drift off to sleep. Maybe he could get used to having a family.