This has been in my drafts forever. I thought that I’d go ahead and share these head canons. I’ve wanted to write a fic about this for awhile, but don’t have the motivation to. Also this is incredibly sad and angsty
CW: Alcohol Abuse, Child Abuse, Child Neglect & Suicide.
Thinking about Junpei and his relationship with his dad.
A lot of people are quick to paint his dad as completely evil- which, is a fair interpretation. However, I like to interpret him as more nuanced.
He doesn’t hate Junpei, far from it. He loves him more than he loves life itself. No matter how distant and angry he becomes, Junpei will always be his baby boy. That love is clouded by anger, hate for the world and his own life.
When Junpei was born, Iori sobbed his eyes out- the first time he had cried since he was a kid himself. He’d stare at his little face for hours, utterly baffled on how he managed to make something so innocent…so perfect.
His alcohol abuse started slow. Junpei was around 6 months old, and going through a sleep regression. Previously he’d sleep through the night just fine. But now, he woke up every hour or so, sobbing his little eyes out for one reason or another. Iori and his partner were completely exhausted, and utterly at their whitts end. Junpei’s mom was a housewife, so she stayed home with him all day while Iori worked long days to support his family. I like the idea that he’s blue collar, working in construction. So both of them constantly worked in one way or another, never getting a break.
So, one day after work, Iori decided to hit up a couple of bars with his coworkers. Just something to take the edge off.
A few drinks grew into too many, one night drinking with coworkers turned into every night. He couldn’t stop, and it was destroying his family.
It happened over the course of a few months. He went from only drinking out at bars to drinking at home. He grew impatient and aggressive when drunk, which devolved into violence
Junpei’s mother took the brunt of it, always taking any hits that could have been directed to her son. Junpei often witnessed these attacks- as soon as he could walk he’d hide in cabinets and under tables. When his dad didn’t drink, Junpei didn’t mind being around him…but there was always that lingering fear.
The alcohol abuse only got worse and worse. Eventually, Junpei's mother couldn't take it anymore, and committed suicide when Junpei was around 3-years-old.
They are both utterly devastated. Junpei is still so little, he can’t wrap his head around the whole situation. He’s confused and scared, he doesn’t understand why his mother isn’t there anymore. She was his safe space, and she’s not there anymore. Following his mother’s death, Junpei stayed a few days at his grandparents house, specifically his dad’s parents. His father stayed at home drinking, an absolute mess.
When he showed up to bring Junpei home- he was drunk. He wasn’t violent, just bumbling and crying, getting level with his toddler and hugging him close. Junpei didn’t run or hide, he just accepted his father’s attention. His grandparents, however, were incredibly concerned. They knew their son was struggling, but didn’t want their grand son to be around their son while he was drunk. They didn’t know about the abuse. They made him stay and sober up, before letting them go home.
The agreement was that Iori would bring Junpei to his parents house while he worked. It started fine. Junpei was very sensitive, but they just assumed it was from the grief and confusion of loosing his mother. It wasn’t until he started being dropped off with bruises and scrapes, flinching when they went to pick him up that they realized something was very wrong. Their son was visibly drunk when coming to pick him up, and even drop him off several times. Junpei was nervous, acting up in tantrums over having to go home- they knew that something had to change. They threatened to take custody of Junpei. His father was furious. The argument leading to him permanently cutting his parents off, and moving. Junpei lost his only other safe space. He tried to send Junpei to a nursery school, but it wasn’t long before they started to notice the bruises as well. Another move. Iori had a severe work accident around this time, permanently altering his spine. He wasn’t able to work, getting on disability payments. This meant that he was home with Junpei 24/7 till he started school.
He wasn’t awful all the time- he’d take Junpei to the park, read him bedtime stories, comfort him after a nightmare and such. They’d bond watching baseball together. He’s the one that encouraged Junpei to go into Little League, and sometimes showed up to his games. But then he’d go on a bender, grow violent. He’d neglect Junpei’s needs. Junpei would fall sleep hungry in dirty pajamas on unwashed sheets. Sometimes, Iori wouldn’t come home for days at a time, leaving Junpei completely alone.
Junpei didn’t try to fight back till he was much older. Even then, he just took the abuse most of the time. The reason they moved to Iwatodai was because their house was condemned. Described as unlivable by the prefecture.
He didn’t want Junpei to move into the dorm. He screamed at him, became violent, everything. But, that didn’t change anything.
He loves his son, and Junpei loves his dad.
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