“Fine,” Kurohi muttered. “We won’t worry about any of that today. I guess if you want to have…fun, it won’t be all that bad. We can forget about training for the day. And if you still want to hunt for eggs after you learn to swim, I suppose we can do that as well.” he sounded resigned to his fate, as if he had a lot of experience with getting roped into things his family found ‘fun.’ He remembered one night when Himea and Hayate had corralled their older sisters into having a pillow fight. Kurohi had promptly fled to the forest to avoid it (because he was aware that hiding in the closet was rather undignified and they probably would’ve found him anyways). Their pillow fights became a common occurrence, and he was forced to find new hiding places in order to escape their version of ‘fun.’ He didn’t really see the need for it; after all, training was sufficient enough to pass the time, and it was practical and useful in the long run. But he didn’t begrudge them their fun, even if he didn’t like it himself. ‘Fun sucker’ was a very apt term to describe him, as he settled down on the bank of the pool, orange basket beside him, and folded one leg up to rest his arm on. He turned in time to see Lolita scoop Hayate up, and bit back a remark about ‘coddling’ being bad for the children, but decided against it; he knew his son was slightly insecure and unsure of himself, if only because he was the only male member of an almost entirely female family (Kurohi didn’t quite count, because he was a demon, and he wasn’t a sibling, but a parent). His expression softened slightly into what could’ve been perceived as a smile, even as he canted his head and watched his small family. He spared Mei a glance, surprised that she was taking off her mask, but didn’t comment on it as he returned his gaze to the water, glad that his family was at least at peace here, if only for the moment.
Hayate allowed his mother to pick him up and squish him (because he loved his mother’s hugs, though he’d never let on) and hung his arms around her neck, looking slightly unsure. “Are you sure? It’ll be easier for me because I don’t have wings.” When his mother set him down, he unlocked his arms from around her, and held out his feet for his father, who turned to gaze at him with a quirked eyebrow before remembering that Hayate had always had a bit of difficulty with the ‘shoe thing’ as he called it. Kurohi carefully unlaced the bows and pulled his son’s shoes and socks off his feet, depositing them neatly beside him. “It’ll be fine, Hayate,” he remarked, his face and gaze steady as his son nodded quietly, before standing up and squishing his toes in the soft, fine clay-like sand near the water’s edge. He reached up and took his mother’s hand again, nodding towards the water. “Can we just jump in? It doesn’t look too deep…”
((Oh Hayate. Y U SO FUN TO WRITE FOR? He's a lot more kid-like than I imagined he'd be. XD))