Chapter Text
Joe never thought he’d have a family of his own.
When he finally got to call Cherry his- really, truly his- he was content with that. If he was only going to have one other person in his family, he was so happy it was Cherry.
Then, because of their stupid love of skateboarding, he got four more.
Shadow, a reliable and honest guy. Shadow was just like a brother to Joe, and he trusted almost nobody else as much as he trusted him.
Thus, he became like an uncle to the three, gifted, and hilarious children Joe somehow became a fatherly figure to.
Langa’s dad was dead, Reki’s wasn’t there anymore, and Miya never had a relationship with his real father, anyway. Joe didn’t mind.
He loved the late night talks with Reki about various- and quite honestly ridiculous- ideas. Joe felt his heart tighten whenever he saw the typically reserved and shy Langa asking him to teach him a skateboarding trick.
Or when he saw Cherry sitting with Reki and Miya trying to get them to understand their English homework- since Langa gave up on that weeks ago.
Joe couldn’t feel anything but happiness when he saw Cherry finally becoming more himself after years of being trapped in his own skin. Cherry was the light of his life, and always has been.
Getting to take care of three, random kids who just so happened to be legendary at skateboarding was not a normal kind of life, and not the family Joe expected to have, but god, was he so grateful.
So, yeah.
It wasn’t surprising that seeing his Cherry, sobbing while gripping Miya’s bruised hand in the hospital, absolutely tore him to shreds.
He felt so frozen, but he had to get next to him.
How could someone have been so cruel to Miya?
As his knees made contact with the tiled floor, right next to Cherry, whose head was knelt down onto the space of the bed that Miya wasn’t laid in. Joe titled his head to place it onto Cherry’s.
The absolute adoration both adults felt for Miya could never crumble, even when the younger boy was in such a state.
Neither of them knew what to do but sit there and wait. Miya deserved someone to be there when he woke up- because he was going to wake up.
Eventually, they both pulled up a chair on either side of Miya’s hospital bed, careful of the machine that was connected to the tube that was helping Miya breathe.
Joe had even gone out to the car and told Shadow to take Reki and Lamga home, it was getting fairly late and it wasn’t looking like they were going to be able to be with Miya anytime soon.
Considering Langa and Reki were back to sleeping in the backseat, the conversation with Shadow went smoothly with no complaints from the teenage boys.
Just as Dr. Nhi had warned them, the same nurse came in quite often throughout the hours of the night. She was very nice and definitely worked a lot with kids.
She would talk to the unconscious child, telling him what she was doing when she drew blood or even just checked on his bruises. Joe had to ask, “Do you think he hears you?”
She laughed, “Oh, no. It’s so unlikely, but if he can, you know- it might be comforting to know what’s going on.”
She removed the IV from Miya’s arm, and began working on preparing a new one, “Sometimes I have patients who claim they can hear things, but it’s like that weird stage where they can’t tell if it’s real or not. Unconsciousness is so unpredictable.”
“Intriguing,” Cherry muttered out, “I hope he’s not scared.”
“Well,” the nurse shot the man a sad smile, “It can’t be any worse than waking up- that’s when it tends to get bad.”
“Bad, how?” asked Joe.
The nurse tapped on Miya’s arm, getting his veins to reveal easier, “Children are more likely to freak out when they wake up in a hospital then adults, don’t you think? He’s been here for hours, but he doesn’t know that yet.”
Cherry and Joe agreed.
“But, it’s a good thing he’ll have his parents here when he finally does know he’s here, huh?” she smiled, finishing up her work. She stood up and bid her farewells, mentioning that she’d be back later to check his vitals.
That’s when Joe thought it might be smart for them to text Miya’s actual parents, let them know about what was going on- and maybe why their child wasn’t home.
He told Cherry this, who bit his lip, “Are you sure? Miya doesn’t really get along with them, you know that.”
“What kinda people would we be if we didn’t tell them their kid is in the hospital, though?”
“I don’t care about what those people think of us, Kojiro,” said Cherry sternly, “Not to toot our own horn, but I have a feeling Miya would prefer waking up to us then the people who stole his childhood from him.”
Joe sighed.
Cherry was- truly- never wrong.
Miya’s parents were determined to be wealthy. They just didn’t want to do it themselves, so when Miya started showing his passion for skateboarding, obviously they took it too far. Joe remembers nights where Miya couldn’t even go skating because he was feeling weird about it.
No matter how much Reki and Langa have pushed him to remember the fun, it was still hard for the boy. After so many years of the concept of his parents' wealth being the reason he skateboarded, it was difficult for him to grasp the change.
Miya loved skateboarding, no doubt about it! But, healing is a process.
“Okay,” said Joe, “But, I’ll ask Miya if he wants them, alright? I don’t want to get in legal trouble here.“
Stubbornly, Cherry muttered, “Mhm.”
With both of them on the same page, they continued their wait.
Joe didn’t want to look at Miya, but what else could he do? He hated seeing him laying there helplessly and in so much pain.
Usually, when Miya’s asleep he’s lounging in a booth in Sia La Luce afterschool, or on the couch of his and Cherry’s apartment with Reki and Langa- video game controllers still in hands.
And Miya always moved like a wild thing when he was asleep- how else did his hair get so messy? Joe had to admit, seeing him smack Reki’s face, suddenly waking up the redhead in his sleep, was a common and far too funny occurrence.
But, Miya wasn’t moving in his sleep right now.
There was no Reki to accidently hit, no video game controller long forgotten of, no stray chips dusted across the floor, no scattered papers of homework- nothing.
“You’re thinking too hard.” Cherry said, making Joe flinch out of his thoughts about the kids.
“I’m fine, Kaoru.”
“Are you now?”
“Yeah.”
A bit of silence. Cherry turned his head, connecting gold eyes to red ones.
Joe groaned, “I’m not fine.”
“You’re fidgeting,” Cherry pointed at Joe’s hands, which were anxiously picking at his fingernails, “I can always tell when you’re nervous.”
“I know,” Joe said quietly, “It’s hard not to be when he’s right there and there’s nothing I can do to help him more.”
Cherry hummed, pulling Joe’s hands away from each other so he’d stop his nervous habit, “Is there something I can do to calm you down? I’m worried, too, but I don’t- you know- I just don’t want you upset.”
Joe’s face grew a smile. He was so soft when it came to Cherry.
“Can I just- hold on,” Joe said, bringing his hands up to cup his lover's face, and planted a few kisses to his lips, he pulled back and kept his hands still on either side of Cherry’s face, “Yeah, that did the trick.”
Cherry’s face burned, “You- you’re despicable.”
“I thought you were trying to cheer me up,” Joe chuckled, placing his head gently against the others, “And now you’re calling me names- at a time like this- you moron.”
“You cheered yourself up by kissing me, you needy gorilla.”
“It’s not like I could’ve walked out of the room, kissed a random nurse and felt like a teenage schoolboy- kickin’ my feet and shit,” Joe pressed his lips slowly back onto Cherry’s, lingering there for a few moments, “Only you make me feel that way.”
Cherry sighed, “You are so-”
“Handsome? Awesome? Dare I say, breathtaking?”
“I was going to say stupid,” Cherry chrugged his shoulders, grinning, “But, I suppose that works as well.”
Joe felt himself feel warmer inside, he never can pinpoint how- or why- Cherry is the only person to have ever made him feel comfortable in times where all he’s wanted to do is crawl into a hole and pass away slowly. He’s the only one who could pull Joe out of his thoughts, the only one who could’ve distracted him from Miya this long, the only one he’ll ever need in life.
He knew Cherry would think the exact same way.
To each other, they were everything.
Cherry glanced back over to Miya, and Joe thought to himself.
Miya’s a part of this everything, too.
The time had just struck four in the morning, and Miya felt his eyes twitch.
The fuck?
He felt paralyzed, his whole body was stinging and his head hurt terribly. Miya tried lifting a finger to rub his eyes, but it just wouldn’t work.
Where am I?
“Miya?”
That was his name. He felt a bit of weight on his shoulder- but he just couldn’t open his eyes.
“Hey, Miya,” the voice was so familiar but everything was so fuzzy as his head pounded, “Miya, you’re alright- are you awake?”
Who was that?
Miya tried using his words, but all he could do was grunt.
“Miya, it’s Joe- it’s Kojiro,” the voice now became comforting, “You’re okay, you’re going to have to calm down, kid. You’re shakin’ like a leaf.”
Shaking?
Why was Joe here when he was trying to sleep? Did he fall asleep on the couch again?
Miya jolted, shifting his body a bit- in an attempt to shout, “I’m here,” since he couldn’t verbally say anything. His throat hurt horribly, it felt tight and dry.
“Kaoru, baby, wake up.”
Was Cherry there? Why was Joe waking him up?
Miya laughed internally, Joe was about to get his ass beaten waking Cherry up. Everyone knew that was the last thing you want to do unless you’re ready for a day of reminders of the lack of beauty sleep he lost.
“Miya!”
That was Cherry’s voice, probably.
Miya felt his hand grip to a familiar one. Cherry always held his hand.
Then another voice joined in. A female, and seemingly very serious, “Miya, can you hear me, honey?”
Miya didn’t know how he was meant to respond. He tried to squeeze Cherry’s hand- as that was all he could think of- but his fingers wouldn’t budge.
“Can you squeeze your eyes, Miya?” asked the woman.
Miya tightened his eyelids, earning a content sigh from whoever else was in the room besides Joe and Cherry.
She said, “Okay, honey- this is not going to be comfortable, but you have to take a big, deep breath right when I say go, okay? Can you do that, buddy?”
She was treating him like a five year old- Miya wished he could scoff. He squeezed his eyes hard again, assuming she wanted an answer.
“We’re going to be removing the tube,” the lady explained, “You can hold his hand still, this isn’t a very pleasant thing to watch, though.
The tube?
Was the tightness in his throat a tube?
Why had Cherry and Joe let a tube get stuck in his throat? Why was it so uncomfortable?
Where am I?
“Alright, Miya,” he felt a hand tilt his chin up, “Deep breath, go!”
Miya sucked in as much air as he could, and he felt his throat burn as suddenly the uncomfort disappeared. Once he started coughing, his eyes finally opened.
Miya gasped for the fresh air, his throat horrifically sore.
“Hey! Hey, kid!” Joe appeared in front of him as the bed he now saw he was laying in shifted due to his weight, “Hey, Miya. Look at me.”
Miya’s face tilted, his eyes adjusting to the dim lighting in the room. Joe was smiling at him, the green haired man had tears rolling down his face, “Man, little dude, that was a nightmare, huh?”
“Oh, my Miya,” Cherry smothered the raven haired boy in a comforting hug, “You scared me shitless, how dare you do this to me?”
Miya choked out, “Do what?”
“Make me care about you so damn much,” Cherry pulled away, getting a good look at Miya’s eyes that he was so happy to see open, “You’re the reason my hair will gray.”
Miya raised an eyebrow, his voice hoarse, “Why am I here?”
“You took quite a beating, young man.”
Miya snapped his head towards the other side of the bed- the hospital bed- to see the woman who was stuck in his brain for the past couple minutes. She had relatively long black hair, glasses sat prominently above a surgical mask that was snug upon the bridge of her nose, and a doctor’s coat on.
She handed Miya a cold cup of water and instructed him to drink it before she said, “I’m your doctor, Dr. Nhi, I’ve been working quite hard to get you back to normal.”
“Normal?” Miya mimicked, taking the final swig of the liquid.
“I have some things to ask you, sweetie, before we get into anything else,” the doctor pulled up a chair and clicked a pen open against a clipboard, “Can you answer some questions for me?”
“Uh,” Miya shrugged, “Yeah?”
“Can you tell me your name?” Dr. Nhi began, looking curiously at the child.
“Miya.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m twelve.”
Dr. Nhi pointed her pen towards Joe and Cherry, “Do you know who they are?”
“What’s with these stupid questions? Duh! Of course I know who they are!”
Cherry placed his hand onto Miya’s shoulder, “Answer them, you feral cat.”
Miya groaned- coughing as he realized his throat wasn’t ready for his verbal complaints- then said, “That’s Cher- I mean- I mean that’s Kaoru, and that’s Kojiro.”
Miya’s eye’s awkwardly panned over to Joe’s after almost calling them by their skater names in public.
“You… let your child call you by your names?” Dr. Nhi questioned, her face expressing a bit of confusion.
Joe awkwardly laughed, ready to answer but Cherry beat him to it, “Our family functions differently than the stereotypical way. We’re all so close- our children are best friends, and we chose to parent them as equals rather than lower to us.”
Cherry continued finding more words, “He isn’t biologically our child- so we never forced him to call us his father.”
“Oh, I see, he’s adopted?” Dr. Nhi hummed, clicking her pen.
Cherry didn’t mean for it to get so complicated. He couldn’t let them find out that he and Joe weren’t his parents.
“Um, yes,” Joe chimed in, “We have three boys- our oldest were… adopted later in their lives? So we- um, we never made them call us dad- because, you get it? Like… Some kids find that change hard! So, we just… let them call us what they wanted.”
Joe mentally cursed at himself- he should’ve let Cherry finish what he was saying- was he too obvious? Maybe he should’ve left Langa out? It was kind of weird saying Reki and Langa were both his children, wasn’t it? He loved both of them, but maybe “two boys” would’ve sounded a lot better than what he’d said? Did Cherry think that was dumb?
Cherry, on the other hand, felt a wave of relief- Joe had honestly made the lie work better than he could’ve.
Miya was stunned at how well thought out their lies were going. Of course, he did look at Joe and Cherry as parental figures, but nevertheless- they were lying- and Miya caught onto why.
Memories flooded back into Miya’s head- school.
School was the last place he can remember being at, and he was in a hospital bed now, so something pretty bad must’ve happened that required Joe and Cherry to be called.
Miya wanted to slap himself in the face- now both of them knew he’d put them onto his emergency contact list as his parents.
How embarrassing.
They must be so mad at him- especially because of this obnoxious lie they had to keep up for them not to get in trouble.
So, Miya did his best to help, “Yeah! My- um, my brothers called them Kaoru and Kojiro, so I just caught on n’ stuff. I wasn’t disrespecting them.”
Dr. Nhi smiled, her eyes crinkling softly, “No worries, I just got a bit confused, sweetie! You sound like you have a great family- can you tell me your big brother's names?”
Her pen connected to the paper again as Miya muttered out, “Reki n’ Langa.”
Luckily, the rest of the questions went by smoothly- and there was no more talk about the parent situation- much to Joe and Cherry’s relief.
The doctor finally stood up from the chair, and scanned the paperwork, “Well, Miya, you’re memory is a bit foggy, but I’m sure enough that there’s nothing serious regarding memory loss, okay? You’re doing great.”
“Um, thanks.” Miya said.
“A nurse will come around in a while to check up on his vitals,” Dr. Nhi said, flipping through the papers clipped to her clipboard, “But, otherwise, you three let anyone know if you need anything!”
Joe and Cherry thanked her, while Miya remained silent as the doctor walked out and closed the door.
He was so sure that the adults were pissed at him for- quite literally- illegally putting their names on really important documents.
“Miya,” Cherry said, “I am so sorry I couldn't have been there to protect you- you- you really toughed it out.”
Miya slumped his shoulders.
Right, I still don’t even know why I’m here.
“Why didn’t you tell us- or hell, even Reki and Langa things were getting that bad at school?” Cherry’s hand gently ruffled his hair.
School, yeah. He knew he was last at school, but things weren’t bad at school! Sure, a few lame kids sending him glares or rude comments- but nothing out of the ordinary.
Miya shrugged, “Cherry, I don’t know what you’re talking about- I- I don’t know why I’m here.”
“You were beat the fuck up by some older kids,” Joe explained, “You didn’t fight back, either. The teacher said she’d never seen you before.”
Then it hit Miya.
Science class, he was late, he went the faster way.
He tried making out the faces of the people who had beat him up, but he couldn’t make out anything. Plus, he didn’t remember why they were messing with him in the first place.
“Oh,” Miya mumbled, “Okay, yeah. Yeah, I kinda remember.”
“So, again, I ask you, why did you not tell us?” Cherry pestered the boy.
Miya responded, “I didn’t know things were bad! I guess since it was the older kids- and I went a different way to my class. Maybe they didn’t like that, I dunno.”
“So,” Joe sighed, “You don’t even know these kids?”
“Psh, why would I? I don’t need to know any of those slimes at that school,” Miya rolled his eyes, leaning back into the bed and crossing his arms, “Nobody likes me, so I don’t like them.”
Joe snorted.
Miya shot his eyes at him, “Hey!”
“Sorry! I’m sorry, I wasn’t teasing you,” Joe sighed, his laugh falling, “It’s just that entire sentence you just said has definitely been said before.”
“What?”
Cherry smacking Joe in the shoulder was enough for Miya to figure out the answer.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! You’re just so much like Cherry it shocks me you’re not like- biologically his!” Joe cackled, rubbing the side of his arm that lingered Cherry’s hit.
Cherry sighed, “Is this really a time for jokes?”
“Probably not,” Miya said, “But I’d rather us laughing with Joe than crying over a few hits.”
“A few hits?” Cherry stared at Miya, “You dense child, you were beaten so badly you almost died during your surgery!”
Miya threw his head backwards in a bit of surprise, “I was in surgery?”
“Yes! You stopped breathing and had no oxygen to your brain for a good while,” Cherry continued, “I was scared absolutely shitless! You didn’t just get hit a couple times, you were terribly hurt.”
“Is that why my head hurts?”
“Proba-fucking-ly!” Cherry groaned, his head falling into his hands as he muttered, “You are so important, Miya Chinen, you need to understand that.”
Miya rolled his eyes, a smug look appearing on his face, “Of course I’m important!”
“Miya,” Joe smiled at him sadly, “Cherry and I were really worried about you- don’t even get me started on Reki, Langa, and Shadow- do you understand?”
Shoulders slumping, Miya nodded, “Sorry, no more jokes…”
The room grew silent for a while.
“You're gonna be here for a while, Miya,” Joe finally said, “Do you want us to call your parents?”
Miya shook his head immediately.
“Okay! Don’t worry, I just had to ask, kiddo,” Joe told him, “If you ever wanna talk to them, though, let me know.”
“I won’t want to.”
“And that’s fine,” said Cherry, brushing Miya’s hair out of his eyes, “Besides, it’s late, you’re going to head back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Miya said, his eyes were growing heavy anyway- there was no reason for him to argue the sleep that was inevitably going to take over him in a few minutes.
Joe and Cherry both knew they had work in a few hours, so they would have to leave Miya for a little while- so it was best they left when he was going to be sleeping.
As much as they wanted to stay- life had to go on.
Cherry stood up from the chair by the side of the bed, but his hand was grabbed quickly. He looked back down to Miya, who’s eyes filled with worry.
“You’re not leaving me, are you?”
That broke Cherry’s heart for the millionth time it had shattered that night, “Oh, Miya. We have to go to work, but I promise we’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“I don’t wanna stay all by myself!” Miya’s lip trembled- he was tired.
“We’ll be back soon,” Joe crouched down to Miya’s level on the bed, “I gotta get your switch from the restaurant, and I gotta make sure you get your hoodie! C’mon, you know you can’t go without your hoodie!”
Miya seemed to loosen his grip on Cherry’s hand, “Will you bring Reki?”
“Yeah!” Joe told him with a smile, “Reki’s worried sick, he’ll come.”
Miya let go of Cherry’s hand, but quickly grabbed it again and glared at Joe, “And Langa?”
“Hm,” Joe tapped his chin in a joking manner, “And Shadow, perhaps?”
Miya released Cherry’s hand completely, “Deal.”
In a few seconds, Miya was sound asleep- meaning the Joe and Cherry made their way out of the hospital. The sun was rising, and they were both exhausted but much better mentally then they were the previous hours they’d gone through.
Their work day was filled with eyebags and plenty of coffee- but it was worth it to know Miya was alive.
“Miya!”
The red haired boy nearly crushed his friend in a smothering hug, “Miya! Oh my- shit, dude! Do you know how fucking scared I was?!”
“You moron,” Miya laughed, his voice still raspy from his hurt throat, “Get off of me- blegh!”
Langa joined in not too far behind Reki, and wrapped Miya up in a hug, too.
“You- Langa, you slime!”
Cherry, Joe, and Shadow tumbled into the room- fondly staring at their three younger friends.
Cherry laughed, “You two can let him go, he isn’t going anywhere.”
Miya groaned, “Yeah! Listen to Cherry!”
Reki and Langa pulled away at the same time, both sitting on the edge of either side of Miya’s hospital bed with stupid happy grins on their face. Reki sighed happily, “I’m so happy to see you, I’m sorry. I’ve been really worried, bro.”
“Me, too.” said Langa, unzipping his backpack and handing Miya his nintendo switch- who took it gratefully.
“I’m gonna rock whoever did this to you’s shit!” Reki told him.
Miya shrugged, “You don’t gotta- it’s fine! I’m fine, aren’t I?”
“I hope you are,” Langa expressed, “But I am going to kill them. Every single one of them, Miya.”
Miya rolled his eyes- trying to hide his adoration for both of his best friends. They were always there for him, and he was happier than ever that they were with him.
For a while, Miya leaned up against Langa’s arm- like he normally did when it was Joe’s couch and not a hospital bed- while playing games on his Nintendo, occasionally stopped to drink water and respond to the conversations that were going on between all of his friends in the room.
It felt like a normal day- despite the constant nurses and Dr. Nhi swung by to check up on him.
Shadow even brought them all some dinner- considering they stayed there all day long and doubted anyone wanted to eat more hospital crackers that night. Reki and Langa were perched at the end of Miya’s bed- since his legs cut off right in the middle and there was enough room for the two teens to sit there.
Joe and Cherry were sitting on chairs on the left of Miya, and Shadow’s seat sat comfortably to his right.
And for some strange reason- even with his whole body still aching from what happened to him, with oxygen still supporting him through his nose, and pizza sauce all over his face- Miya had never felt happier.
Maybe it was the comfort of all his favorite people beside him, or how every sentece was filled with laughter follow it, or perhaps it was the feeling that he survived a fucking nightmare.
The warmth of feeling genuinely loved and a part of something didn’t vanish when his friends- no, no- his family had to leave.
As he waved to them goodbye, preparing to grab his phone to spam Reki with memes on Instagram, Joe stuck his head back through his room's door and smiled at him.
“Oh and kid,” Joe said, looking over his shoulder and chuckling, “For future reference, let us know if we’re the ones on your emergency contact list.”
Miya felt his smile grow wider. They didn’t care that he had inserted them into the role of his parents. Joe and Cherry weren’t mad that Miya wanted them instead of his mom and dad. Life was always perfect with them, and he wouldn’t have wanted to spend these hard times with anyone but those two.
“I will,” said Miya, waving as Joe closed the door and finally left. He took a deep breath, clicking his phone’s on button and tilting his head happily at the picture on his lockscreen of him, Cherry, and Joe after he won a beef at S, “I will.”
Fin.