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There were so many thoughts and emotions running through Kaoru's head there was no room to stop and contemplate one, only making it back to Sia la Luce with the help of Kojiro's hand on his arm and the need to not break down in front of these children. These children.
The husbands had been out on a date when they stumbled upon Adam's car, and neither wanted to think about what could've happened if they didn't. They'd been making to move quickly past, until they heard what sounded like an aborted scream. A scream. Kojiro, the goddamn altruist, was at the window in a second flat, the other close behind. Kaoru hadn't had time to recognize the blue hair before his husband was flinging the door open, yanking Ainosu- Adam out by the collar. Kaoru went to help his victim out of the car only to come face to face with Langa. A crying Langa with a scraped up chest, shirtless, baggy pants pushed up to be scandalously short, hunched over and trying to cover himself from the unseen newcomer. He only half heard the other man's protests of "I was just helping him! He's hurt! C'mon Joe, you know me-" as he stared, horrified, sighing the name of the teen he'd come to love as his own.
"Ch-cherry? Are you- he's- I was just- We-we were going, along, and, because he off-ered to skate me back, and, he told me to t-try, a trick, n I-I fell, an-" Langa was full sobbing now, hyperventilating and clinging to the hand that Kaoru held out. The story was painfully familiar, and the noise outside the car had quieted down but he wanted Langa to be able to say his part. "He, he said he could h-elp, and f-fix me up and, he m-made me take off my shirt, and he, and rolled up my pants-s but I said I was fine but he did it anyways, and, and he, you know?"
"Langa, hey, look at me. We're here to help you. I do know, you don't have to say anything you don't want to, it's okay. I'm gonna get Ko- Joe, and we'll go back to the restaurant, yeah?" At the meek nod, he helped Langa out of the car, to see his husband and, what was Miya doing here?
"Where's Adam?"
"He ran, and calling the cops won't do shit, he'll just pay it off. Roughed him up some, scum'll be back for his car eventually." The large man knelt down, trying to seem smaller and less intimidating to the teen before him. "Hey bud, let's get outta here, okay? You too Miya." The teen's eyes shot up at the mention of the younger, nodding slowly.
"I was passing by, and I saw... what happened?" Nothing like lifelong trauma to show how young these boys truly were.
"We'll talk about it later, let's get going." They headed off, Kojiro holding tightly to were Kaoru was gripping his arm, grounding him as he held Langa's hand, Miya keeping 2 steps behind. They hadn't made it far from Sia la Luce, luckily, only about 10 minutes at the pace they were walking, and the men were glad that Kojiro had decided to completely close it today, rather than letting his other employees run in his stead. Kaoru went straight to the back room as Kojiro set the kids up in a booth, letting them know that he'd be back and rushing after his husband.
The pink haired man was curled up on the plush couch, glasses pushed off his face and shoulders shaking with sobs. His husband heavied his footsteps as he came over, letting Kaoru know he was there and giving him the chance to move away. As soon as he was close enough, the pretty head that Kojiro adored so much planted into his abdomen, prompting him to sit down and bring his husband close.
They'd talked long and hard about Adam and their past with him, the consequences and scars left on both of them, and no words were needed (besides the muttered insults and curses coming from the smaller man). Just a moment to mourn who they once knew, for Kaoru to take a moment to confront his traumas without the teens, and then to be back out there to give Langa all the same support, plus some.
Once the pink haired man's sobs died down, he put his glasses back on and whispered to the other, without moving his head from his chest. "Wanna make the kids food? I can talk to them."
"Sure," he kisses the top of his husband's head. He helps Kaoru up from his lap, taking the offered hand in return, heading to the kitchen to make comfort food.
Kaoru, graceful as ever though with a heavier weight on his shoulders, sits across from the kids in their booth. "Alright, I know it sucks, it sucks ass, but we need to talk about what happened. Miya, I can drop you off at home-"
"No."
"It's fine Cherry, he can stay."
He sighed. "Alright. Well, can you tell me what happened? Did he..."
Langa's already whispered voice broke as he spoke. "He didn't, um, go, all the way? I was skating along the way, and he saw me, or, maybe he was following me? But... well, he showed me a trick, a hard one, and convinced me that I could do it, that I'm 'brilliant enough' to get it. Turns out I'm not-"
"And he knew that, whatever he wanted you to do, he probably took weeks at least to get it himself. It says nothing of your skill."
"...Yeah. Yeah, probably. Well, I bailed, fell hard on my side. He... he said he could patch me up in his car. It looked kind of bad, so I agreed, I didn't want a huge open gash. But, um," Langa swallowed hard. "H-he took off my shirt, an-nd cleaned it off, and said he wanted to see if it went down my leg. I told him it didn't hurt and there was no rips, but he... he didn't, um, listen, and I."
"Take a breath, Langa. Continue when you're ready." He took Kaoru's hand, taking a bite of the food Kojiro had just brought (who then sat down next to his husband, having heard everything from the counter).
"He rolled up m-my pants, a-and wanted to ch-check my, my hip, but you showed up before he could see it."
"'Before he could see it?' ... Langa, did he touch it? Touch you?" A nod had Kojiro growling, but Miya was still looking into the distance like he had been the whole time.
"Miya," Kaoru tapped his hand. "Are you okay?"
"I used to train with Adam." 2 sharp intakes of breath came from the elders, but he didn't so much as blink.
"Oh, he... how long? Did he ever...?" A lip wobble and a small nod had Kojiro doing a lap around the room.
"Tuesdays, he'd take me for 'extra practice.' Other days were spent taking me shopping after practice, prettying me up, that bullshit. He only stopped when he saw Langa, said I got boring, that I 'didn't deserve his attention anymore.'" A heavy silence spread, a single tear falling down the youngest's, the 13 year old's, face.
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do," Kaoru spoke up. "We can't get him arrested. It isn't worth it, all they do is ask invasive questions, only to come out with jack shit. Even if they did, he'd pay bail. I don't want you kids to go through the same thing I had to." Their heads shot up, Kojiro's heavy hand on his husband's shoulder as the calligrapher took a moment, blinked a few times to collect himself before continuing. "But we'll do all we can to keep you away from him. If you see him, run; he won't spend the time to chase after you, he likes his prey easy."
"Kaoru," Kojiro said in a light, chastising tone. The couple had a conversation with their eyes, and the smaller let out a sigh as he turned back, the other's fingers now running through his hair.
"Sorry. We don't have to tell Reki, or Shadow, but I'll never discourage doing so if you want to. We won't tell anyone, only you guys get to do that. I recommend telling your parents, especially you Langa, your mom will want to get you help. Miya, if yours don't... well, fuck them, but I'm sure you knew that anyways. I doubt we'll see him at S anymore, and if we do, just leave. There's other S days without him being there. You don't have to explain to anybody. And hey, this is the most important," he waited until the teens' eyes were on his. "Come to us. I dated the man, I know how he is, and I was a victim of his tricks. Kojiro was too, to a lesser extent, and he was there for me through all of it. I can't promise we won't make mistakes, but we'll try our damn best to help. Alright?"
"Hmm," Langa hummed, but a small smile spread across his face.
"Okay," broken words were all Miya could manage, lack of expression obvious to anyone who knew him, replaced with a different look that Kojiro knew all too well.
"Okay."