Chapter Text
Kaoru wandered through the streets, on his way home to his family. As always, the thoughts running through his mind were about his husband, Kojiro and the child they had recently adopted, Miya. The poor thing had been through so much with his previous family before he had been able to live with him and Kojiro. In addition, they had just taken in a foreign student from Canada, who was studying abroad in Japan while his mother worked elsewhere. Langa was a good kid, quiet and somber, but still a good child nonetheless. During the meeting with his mother, they briefly touched on the subject of his father, but the mood he got from his mother made most things clear.
He sighed, why did all the kids in his life have so many problems. Granted, he and Kojiro had also had their fair share of trials during their youth, but it hurt his heart when he met kids who were going through so much.
"All these problem children are really going to be the end of me..." he grumbled, trudging down the pathway in the park which was a shortcut. There were lamps on throughout the area, but the corners were eerily dark, making the lighting of the park slightly creepy.
Suddenly, a figure approached him from the said dark corners of the park, and Kaoru immediately went into a defensive position. He hadn't taken self-defence class for nothing.
But what approached him was the thin frame of a boy, probably around middle or high school, with flaming red hair and eyes that were a warm amber shade. Kaoru saw the tremble in his shoulders as he stepped closer, hands clasped behind his back and head tilted at an angle. Big eyes blinked twice before his mouth twisted into a nervous smile. Kaoru could see clearly that the smile did not reach his eyes in the slightest.
"Would you like to take me home for a night, sir?" the boy spoke softly, as if this was just a secret between the two of them. Which he supposed, if he were any older male taking home a young boy in the park, would probably be.
"I-I promise I can make you feel good..." he added on, stepping forward into Kaoru's personal space and lightly fluttering his fingers across his arm.
Kaoru frowned at the sight, eyes narrowing and trying to observe the rest of this young boy. Why was someone as young as him out in the park at night trying to pick up men to sleep with?
He saw the boy flinch at his seemingly unpleased expression, his hands immediately retreating and taking multiple steps back.
"Oh, nevermind, sir, I'll just take my leave now then..." the redhead made to walk away, and in response, Kaoru grabbed onto his arm.
"No, I'll take you to my house. Follow me." he promptly replied, ignoring the gaping mouth and surprised noise he received from the other. Kaoru then set a brisk pace and made his way home, making sure the boy was following him properly from time to time. He was following with his head down, hands grasping anxiously at the shirt he was wearing.
"What's your name, kid?" he realised he didn't know what the other was called.
The redhead jumped in surprise, "R-Reki."
Kaoru mentally sighed again, another problem child.
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When they got to the house, it was almost 10 PM. Miya and Langa were probably in their rooms while Kojiro would usually be in the kitchen, fixing up some late dinner for Kaoru. It wasn't often that he returned home this late.
The redhe-no, Reki, was getting considerably more nervous as they approached the door, Kaoru made a mental note of this. He unlocked the door and called into the house as he took his shoes off.
"Kojiro, I'm home!"
His husband emerged from the kitchen donning a striped apron, and as always, a wooden spoon in his hand.
"Welcome back, love. I heated up some of the pasta we had for dinner for you to eat. You know it's bad to eat this late ri-well hello, who is this?" he glanced curiously at the boy hiding behind Kaoru's back, and Kaoru could almost feel how bad Reki's body was trembling.
Reki grabbed at his work suit, hands still shaking and head down.
"W-Wait, I didn't hear anything about t-two people, I..." he was trying to say something, but Kaoru interrupted.
"Just go sit down at the dining table in the kitchen, it's the room this big oaf just came out of, and don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you. Kojiro, please put out another portion of pasta." His husband raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, retreating back into the kitchen and turning the stove on once more. It seemed that he trusted whatever Kaoru's decisions were.
"I-I...okay..." the boy slumped as Kaoru heard his stomach growl softly, and he didn't say anything in response as he made his way into his own room to change back into comfortable clothes.
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Kaoru came into the kitchen and was met with an awkward scene.
Kojiro was simply standing there, stirring pasta sauce silently, while Reki sat at the table, hands placed awkwardly into his lap and back straight. A steaming hot plate of pasta was placed in front of him, but he made no move to eat any of it.
"Eat, child. We didn't put anything weird into it." Kaoru said with a sigh, sitting down next to Reki.
Reki flinched, arms then moving slowly to grab utensils. He looped some pasta around with a fork and ate a minuscule bite from the plate. Then, it was like that bite of pasta had awakened something in him. His eyes regained some light, hands moving to gather a bigger bite and then shoving it in his mouth. He grabbed the entire plate and shoved the food down like it was nothing. Kaoru raised his eyebrows.
"Kojiro."
His husband nodded, moving to place more food onto Reki's plate, the both of them not missing the slight recoil of Reki's body when Kojiro moved closer to him. They made eye contact and the both of them moved out of the room, leaving Reki to eat his fill inside peacefully.
"So, what's with the kid?" Kojiro spoke first.
Kaoru sighed, "I was walking through the park with the shortcut home when he approached me," he crossed his arms over his chest, "He asked me if I wanted to take him home for a night and that he'd make me feel good."
Kojiro frowned at this, "You mean..."
"Yeah. I didn't want to leave him there for some unsavoury pedophile to pick up, so I just told him to follow me. I think he misunderstood when he saw you and he thought-"
"Yep. I get it." Kojiro replied with an exasperated tone. God, how did they manage to find another kid who was suffering so horribly, what has this world become?
He continued, "So...you want to let him sleep here for the night? Or do you have some other plan?"
Kaoru massaged his temples, "I think it's best to just let him rest here for the night, but I have no idea what to do after that, I didn't think that far."
Kojiro kissed his forehead, "How...do you wanna explain this to Miya and Langa in the morning?"
"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there." Kaoru said with an exasperated tone.
"Hey, it's fine. I know you're just trying to help this kid, you big softie."
Kaoru snorted in response, smacking Kojiro lightly on the shoulder, the both of them making their way back into the kitchen. It seemed like Reki had just finished eating, and was now hunched over on the chair. He swerved around when he heard the two of them come in, eyes bugged out and looking all over the place.
Kaoru sighed again, looks like they weren't going to get much out of this boy tonight, he looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack already.
"Come up, we have a spare room that has a bathroom attached to it. We'll leave some pyjamas and sanitary things for you so just clean up and go to sleep." he spoke softly to the boy, not wanting to spook him any more. Reki's breathing calmed down, and he silently followed Kaoru up the stairs and into the guest room.
"Good night, Reki."
He heard the faint reply of a 'thank you'.