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archester-creations · 3 years

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Mom and Dad

"Why don't you ask mom or dad for once you twerps?" Shadow bit out, making the other three go mute, their mouths dropped open. "What?"

"You called Cherry and Joe 'mom and dad'!" Reki exclaimed.

"No I didn't," Shadow scoffed.

"Yeah, you did," Miya said. "You said 'ask mom or dad'."

"You guys are just hearing things," Shadow insisted.

"Hiromi?" Shadow's coworker called over to him and Miya latched onto the moment.

"Big brother, please??" Miya whined loudly, arms wrapped around Shadow's arm. And Shadow froze. Unable to do anything he wanted to, like pry Miya off his arm, because of his coworker staring right at them.

"Oh! I didn't know you had little brothers," she said happily. Completely unaware of the situation.

"Yeah..." Shadow gritted out with a smile he hoped looked a lot less forced than it felt. The other two boys smiled sunnily at her. Well, Miya and Reki smiled. Langa just grinned, but it seemed happy and it did the job. His coworker smiled just as sunnily back.

"I need your brother right now but you have to make sure he introduces you guys to me sometime! He never wants to talk about his family for some reason," she clicked her tongue with a pout.

“We will!” Miya and Reki chorused happily, if not a bit cheekily. Shadow was gonna kill these little brats.

🛹

Kojiro found Reki all hunched into himself against a wall with blocky graffiti. For once, he'd actually been looking for the kid. Recently Reki had started to look… muted. Like all his colours were fading. He'd even started coming around Sia La Luce less. There was definitely some relief when he found Reki. A cursory glance said he was unharmed, just, well… whatever this was. Biting his lip, Kojiro sat next to him.

Just sat, no words exchanged. Leaned his back against the wall, one leg bent toward his chest and the other splayed out in front of him. Let Reki break the silence when he was ready.

"I'm not good enough," Reki said eventually, into his knees.

"I understand," Kojiro said. He watched the kid. Reki didn't move.

The scoff was muffled, but still audible. "How could you? You're one of the best skaters out there! One of the three founders," Reki said.

"Maybe," Kojiro sighed and Reki turned his head to watch him. "But I was never as good as Adam, never as talented as Kaoru. I lagged behind them constantly. Even Kaoru, though we started skating together. I never thought I'd catch up and it ate at me sometimes."

"... what'd you do about it?"

"Got hospitalized."

"What!?" Reki's head shot up from his knees and snapped to Kojiro so fast he was half surprised it didn't fall off.

"Yeah," Kojiro laughed. It had been incredibly embarrassing as a kid (still was sometimes even now), but it had also been a real eye opener. "I worked myself ragged trying to be a skater that wasn't me and landed myself in the hospital because of it. Gotta tell you kid, nothing will change your perspective like a few days staring at nothing but white walls, machines, and crappy tv. Don't push yourself so much you lose yourself- or majorly hurt yourself. So you're not Langa or Adam. You've still got something they don't- you know your board. Honestly, you kinda remind me of Kaoru in that regard."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You... think I'm ever going to be able to be as good as Langa again?"

Kojiro shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know you're still learning and that you're gonna be great."

Reki sat there silently for a while. It was honestly longer than Kojiro would've thought he could be silent. Then, quietly, "Thanks dad."

Something in Kojiro glowed and he smiled. He didn't think Reki even realized what he said. And he wouldn't tell him. "Sure thing Reki."

🛹

“I'll ask, you cowards.” Miya stood from his seat on his board, rolling his eyes at the other two boys. Namely Reki. Since he was the one who suggested asking Joe and Cherry to take them. Honestly Miya wasn't sure why Reki didn't want to ask such a measly question. It's not like he hesitated last night to ask Joe for food.

“Hey Joe!” He could feel their eyes on him as he walked up to where Joe stood with his skateboard.

“What's up?” Joe looked down at him and Miya clasped his arms behind his back.

“Can you take us to the arcade?” Miya asked, a small, hopeful smile on his face. One the others hopefully also had.

Joe glanced over his head at the others. Then he looked back down at him. For a second Miya thought he'd say yes. “Ask your mom.”

“Daaaaad,” Miya begged. Barely able to bite back the sigh. He had a feeling that was coming. Should've forced the slime to ask. Maybe then Joe would've said yes.

Joe just gives him a Look. That parenting look that he'd used to see the other kids’ parents give them sometimes, back before all the other kids stopped wanting to be around him. It wasn't a look Joe gave him very often. And Miya cursed inside just a little because he'd honestly hoped he could get away with just asking Joe. Apparently he should've known better. So instead he trudged over to where Cherry sat in the sun, an umbrella set up over him and a book in his hands. He rocked up into his toes briefly. “Mom can I-”

“Absolutely not,” Cherry cut him off.

“You don't even know what I was gonna ask!”

“That doesn't matter.” And, oh, Cherry’s looking at him over his glasses, his eyebrows raised and the book sat open on his lap. Meaning it's not an issue for him to push. “You're still grounded.”

Miya pouted at Cherry. It was ineffectual, he knew. Pouts only ever worked on Joe. Even if they did work on Cherry, it wouldn't work now. If there was one thing Cherry was serious about, it was his grades. Still, instinct trumped logic. Barely sparing him a glance, Cherry went back to his book. He sighed.

“Mom?” Reki asked quietly. Langa and him looked at each other, mirroring expressions of confusion. “Dad?” Langa asked.

“Maybe in a few days, kiddo,” Joe said, drifting close on his board. It didn't take a genius to know Joe knew what Cherry’s answer would be. To be fair, Joe likely knew Miya knew what Cherry’s answer would be, too. He pushed off, skating closer to where Langa and Reki were still seated on their boards. Both just stared, eyes on Miya like he was an exciting movie they couldn't look away from.

“ What ?” Miya snapped. “You never get grounded before?”

“No, you just,” Reki frowned.

“You called Cherry mom,” Langa said.

“Yeah, and?” Miya asked. It's not like it's the first time. He's done it before in front of them. Like at the beach, though that was only to mess with Joe. And because even knowing Joe would never cheat on Cherry, watching girls flirt with his dad wasn't something he wanted to do.

It also wasn't like they'd never done it. Miya had heard Joe tell Cherry one night that Reki had called him dad.

“You're not embarrassed or something?” Reki asked, seeming surprised. Miya stopped his board to be able to just look at Reki. Sometimes it felt like him and Shadow- surprisingly- were the only two with their heads on straight.

“Why would I be?”

“You called Joe and Cherry mom and dad.” Reki shrugged. “You just seem like the kind of person to find that embarrassing, calling adults that. It's kinda funny, actually. Never thought you'd do it, too. Figured only Shadow would accidentally call them that.” He snickered.

Miya turned to Reki, eyebrow crinkled, ready to inform him it hadn't been an accident and that he'd heard him call Joe and Cherry just that at least a few times. Before he did, it kinda clicked. “You don't know.” He blinked at them before he laughed. Laughed so much he almost fell off his board and Joe turned a worried eye on him. Christ , and he thought those two were just oblivious about each other. Apparently they were more oblivious than he thought. “I’m their kid, you idiots.”

There was a pause.

“ WHAT ??” Reki demanded, sitting so far forward on his board he was in danger of faceplanting. (Before he could fall, Langa grabbed his shoulder and steadied him. It went unnoticed by Reki.) His surprised, open-mouthed gaze went between Miya, Joe, and Cherry. “Since when ?!”

“Since I was eight,” Miya said casually.

“And you didn't tell us about this ??” Reki demanded.

“I thought you slimes knew.” Miya shrugged.

“How would we know?” Reki demanded.

Miya eyed his parents. “They're not exactly subtle, you know. And it's not like I was hiding it from you. I just forgot you were dense as a rock.”

Reki pouted on his board for a few more minutes. Miya ignored it. It wasn't his fault if the slimes didn't notice romantic feelings.

“How’d you get grounded anyway?” Reki asked after a while, skating past.

“Miya failed a test because he felt his skating career was more important than his academic one.” Cherry answered him, calmly, all matter of fact, and Miya huffed. An embarrassed flush rose to his cheeks. Reki laughed loudly and he suppressed the urge to run over his toes when Reki next stopped.

🛹

There were eyes on him. Kaoru could feel them as he worked, brush moving smoothly through the thin lines of kanji. He ignored it for a time. Just let the brush carry itself down the page. When he was finished and before the ink of the last stroke could dry, he turned to whoever was behind him, looking over his glasses at them.

Langa.

The boy’s eyes were barely on him. That was his only tell of nervousness. Unlike the others, Langa didn't fidget. After years of Kojiro and then Miya it took Kaoru seconds to notice that. And months to get used to it. “What is it?” Kaoru asked, looking back at the paper.

“I need help,” Langa said, voice slightly quieter than normal. Slightly embarrassed, perhaps. Since he was alone this was unlikely to be Reki’s idea.

“Oh?” Kaoru asked, not bothering to look back at him. No further response came. He sighed. Apparently even Langa, who had better manners than most of their kids- and when had he started to think of that mismatched group as theirs - had that habit. “I can't hear a nod.”

“Yes,” Langa said. And again, nothing further. A minute passed. This time Kaoru turned back to him, putting his glasses down. He focused on Langa and that must have been why he didn't answer. The embarrassment Kaoru thought he'd heard in his voice was clear in his eyes.

“Well?” Kaoru raised an eyebrow. Embarrassed or not, Kaoru didn't intend to wait all day.

“I'm failing written Japanese,” Langa said, straight to the point, frustration leaked into the first sentence. “I thought you could tutor me?”

Kaoru looked at him in silence. It only made sense that Langa would ask him, of course. Afterall he was famous for his calligraphy. As well as one of the few adults Langa knew. One of the adults Langa trusted to come to for things, Kaoru hoped but would never say out loud. (If he wasn't, Langa wouldn't be asking about tutoring) The digital clock in the corner changed by a minute. “Alright. But don't think it'll be easy. I won't have you whining about me being strict.”

Despite the warning, Langa lit up. Just slightly, eyes glowing in a way others likely wouldn't notice. He breathed and his body relaxed with it like he'd been holding his breath the whole time he stood there or possibly since he'd gotten the idea to ask him about tutoring. Metaphorically waiting for the ceiling to collapse. As if Kaoru would say no . Kaoru had a sudden feeling Langa wasn't exaggerating when he said ‘failing’. “Thank you, mom.” The relief in his tone was palpable. The ceiling stayed firm. Even under a heavy burden. And Kaoru fought not to preen under his thank you.

A beat. All that relaxation flew out the window as Langa froze like a statue. “I mean-”

“It's fine, who better to tutor you?” Kaoru said, taking out his fan to wave it dismissively at the boy before he opened it, hiding the pleased smile behind pink cloth. He was allowed that, at least. Later he'd preen to Kojiro just as his husband had done when Reki did the same.

Langa nodded and thanked him again before he was off, leaving Kaoru to place Langa’s tutoring in his schedule with a warm feeling in his chest.

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