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The kid is dating someone. He must be. The coming back late at night, the weekends always being fully booked, his eyes being constantly glued to his phone… Sojiro knows he's always been busy being out there doing who knows what, but his availability has decreased considerably this past month. There's only one explanation then; teenage romance. Now the question is, with who?
Sojiro tries to recall all the female friends he's brought along as he enjoys his morning coffee, eyes mindlessly scanning the day's newspaper. The foreigner-looking blonde one, the serious one with the short hair, the sweet one with the soft voice… No, it's none of these… Definitely not Futaba either… Someone from school then? No, everyone gives him the cold shoulder there… Who's left then? A girl from another school? How could he possibl-
The sound of the attic stairs creaking pulls him out of his thoughts. There he is, the boy himself, cat-bag on his shoulder and ready to take on the day.
"I'm leaving", he says in his usual quite tone, doing a beeline for the door.
"No breakfast?" Sojiro asks him, going to stand up and heading for the kitchen.
"No, I'm eating out with Yusuke. Later."
And with that, he's gone.
Yusuke… that was… the art kid, right? Yes, Sojiro's seen a fair amount of him… He’s the one that stops by the most, and also the one that stays for longer. Heck, he even remembers that one time they talked about him living in the attic as well. Sojiro still doesn’t know how he managed to be so close to someone who moves in totally different spaces as the boy with the criminal record, but things sometimes do develop in strange ways.
… Wait.
…. Could he be…?
No, there’s no way.
Shaking the thought off with a deep sigh, he finally goes to arrange the shop for the day. Sometimes he wonders why he even bothers to keep it open, if more often than not the business only gives him losses. Sentimentalism can be a strange thing.
Today’s no different than the other days; the old couple from three blocks down stop by for a post-lunch coffee, the back-alley doctor orders her usual and leaves within the next 10 minutes… It’s the weekend, so the men stopping by after work aren’t coming today. It’s not until early evening that another person comes by. As Sojiro’s about to take the most recently washed cups off the sink, he sees the boy under his care and his artist friend enter the café.
“Hey,” greets the boy with glasses, letting a nervous looking cat out of his bag. The critter quickly disappears out of sight and climbs up the stairs.
“Good evening Boss,” says the other boy, doing a small bow. “Would it be too much trouble if we stayed downstairs for some coffee?”
“Knock yourselves out, not like I’m busy,” he replies going to the shelves to grab some beans. He then walks to where the siphons are and sees that the boys have taken a seat right next to them. ”You, watch and learn,” he calls out to get his ward’s attention. “Your last cup of Kilimanjaro was mediocre at best.”
“Ok,” he responds, his face calm as ever, though he takes on a sheepish look when he sees the artist subtly laughing at the comment.
Just within minutes, Sojiro finishes the cups and presents one to each boy. Once the liquid stops being lava-hot, they give it a try.
“Ah, yes. I can totally taste the differences between this and your brews, Akira. The depth in this one is truly marvellous, the mastery and expertise of the maker show easily," Yusuke explains before having another small sip, taking his time to fully enjoy the beverage.
“Hey, you don’t have to say it like that… I’m getting better you know," Akira refutes, his voice low and fingers gently swirling around the white ceramic of the cup, in almost nervous movement.
“Yes, it was not my intention to critique your progress. Quite the contrary, since now I have a clear image of what you’re aiming for, I think my future feedback will be much more helpful," he quickly responds, giving the other a reassuring smile.
It seems to work, because Akira stops his idling to instead curl the fingers around the handle and locks eyes with the other. “Yeah, that’s true… Still, I think you’d like a different bean. Kilimajaro doesn’t suit you.”
“Oh? What do you have in mind?”
“Well, for example…”
Akira keeps chatting and reciting out loud much of what Sojiro’s taught him thus far, and it’s hard for the café owner to contain his surprise. For one, he didn’t think they boy paid him any mind at all, and this is also the most he’s seen him talk, ever. And where those small chuckles from time to time? The only expression he remembers the boy wearing is a frown and a disinterested face.
Just as he’s trying to recover from the surprise, he witnesses something that makes all the jigsaw puzzles slowly fit together.
Amid their conversation, both boys end up sitting so that they’re facing each other, forearms and hands resting on the counter. As the talk continues, their hands inch closer and closer, until Akira rests his fingers atop Yusuke’s bony ones. It’s just a gentle touch, a small brush of skin, but Sojiro can’t tear his eyes away. It’s not until he sees the tender gaze they share in silence, a small smile curling both their lips, that he has no more doubts.
That’s him. That’s the person the kid’s dating.
When the cups get emptied, the boys leave upstairs and Sojiro has some quiet time to think.
Now it all makes sense. It all makes a lot of sense. Why didn’t he think about that earlier? He guesses it’s just because he’s not used to… He’s never known someone like that. And the kid didn’t look… You know, how gay men are supposed to look. And he didn’t act like how they’re supposed to act either. But what does Sojiro know about that anyway? What he’s learned from media? Social prejudice? He wondered about why Akira might now have told him, and he sees it very clearly now.
He can’t help but feel angry at himself. Helpless too. This is not the kind of person he wants be. When Futaba decided to get out of her room, he swore to himself that he would be a better father. He clearly isn’t doing that very well, is he?
Lost in thought, the time to close comes before expected. He can’t help but notice Yusuke still hasn’t left. His eyebrows immediately furrow.
He thinks about going upstairs to tell the kids it’s gotten late, but then realizes it’s better if he doesn’t. Instead, he waits at the bottom of the stairs and raises his voice.
“I’m closing shop!”
“Ok!” Says Akira.
“Keep an eye on the clock so that your… friend doesn’t lose the last train!”
“Yes!”
With that, he leaves and stops by the supermarket to buy some food for dinner. Now there’s something else bothering him. If he thinks about it, Yusuke’s been staying late at Leblanc for some time now. Almost every time he visits, he stays even after Sojiro’s left for the day. If they truly are a thing, and both being teenagers, it’s sure that one day they’ll… Or maybe they already have. Should Sojiro give Akira the talk ? But… but he doesn’t know anything about gay sex, what should he tell the kid?
He keeps thinking about it as he prepares the food and as he eats it with Futaba on the living room, the girl’s overcomplicated rambling about the newest anime she’s been watching turning into white noise. Even when he sips his pre-sleep tea with the news on, his mind doesn’t stop racing. How could he help the boy out?
Research may be the only way. Hesitantly, he grabs his smartphone and opens the browser, looking at the search bar for a few seconds before entering ‘how does gay sex work?’.
His eyes widen just a few paragraphs in. He didn’t want to have such detailed information. Most of what he finds talk about positions, ways to ‘spice it up’ or how to prevent if from getting ‘too messy’... He really never thought about stuff like that. It’s not until he gets to the part talking about proper protection and the risk of venereal diseases that he pays full attention. The statistics showing just how many people who have same-sex relationship suffer from HIV worry him a bit.
After 30 minutes of intense reading, he thinks he’s more of less gotten the gist of it. Now that he’s gotten the proper knowledge, he just needs to figure out how to use it best, but he’ll do that tomorrow. He’s had way too many revelations for one day, and he really needs to go sleep for now.
***
A few days later, when the weekend is about to come around, Sojiro decides to take a longer lunch break. Once he’s done eating his egg sandwich, he gets on the train and takes a seat next to an elderly woman. A few stations later he gets off and starts looking for the closest supermarket. He feels embarrassed, going to buy a pack of condoms and lube at his age, but… better him than to risk the kids not doing it and running into trouble. He thought about ordering online, but he doesn’t really know how all that buying on the internet thing works and besides, Futaba would find out easily. So, hiding the goods with some groceries, he buys them and leaves as fast as he can. Once in the café, he stocks the two items behind the counter, inside a black plastic bag, and thinks about the best way to give it to Akira.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t give Sojiro much of a chance to talk, since as soon as he’s back from school, he leaves immediately. The few times he’s around, Sojiro doesn’t know how to start. The weekend comes around again, and Akira’s out of Leblanc even before Sojiro arrives to open.
It’s not until late into the evening that he shows up again, Yusuke in tow. Of course, what was Sojiro expecting.
“Good evening Boss,” the artist greets, polite as always. Sojiro can’t help but notice the heavy looking bag hanging on his shoulder when he bows.
“... Evening,” he replies, eyes glued on the bag.
“Yusuke’s staying the night. Is that ok?” Akira asks, going directly to the point.
Sojiro’s eyes grow wide at the statement, the cigarette in his mouth almost falling. Shit. This is it. The moment he’s been fearing all week. He needs to do it, now or never.
“Sure,” he replies, trying to sound as casual as he can.
Both boys say a quick thank you and start walking to the stairs. Before they disappear, Sojiro slightly coughs and calls for Akira.
“Hey, wait here for a sec.”
“... Ok,” the boy says, slightly confused. He does a small motion with his head and Yusuke walks upstairs, leaving them alone.
Before he starts, Sojiro takes in a breath and locks eyes with the boy. “I know you and him are… together,” he begins, cautious. He sees Akira freezing on the spot, his face going pale, and he decides to continue before he has a panic attack. “It’s fine. This is your house kid, you don’t need to hide in here. Don’t feel like you have to lie to me.” Before he proceeds, he takes a long drag of his cigarette. ”I was your age once, so you can bet I know what’s going through your head right now. Having your... boyfriend staying the night.” He sees Akira’s pale face steadily grow an intense red now, knowing he hit the bull’s eye. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I am going to ask you to be careful and take care of yourself. Don’t… don’t rush things, ok? You’re a smart kid, use your head. And make sure that whatever you want to do, both of you want to do it. Being intimate with someone you like is great an all, but there are many other important things that go into a relationship. You have plenty of time to explore all of them, just make sure to enjoy them at your own pace. Ok?”
It’s clear that the boy wants to be anywhere but there in that instance, but he keeps his eyes firmly locked with Sojiro’s, his whole body tense. “Y-yes…”
“And if you have doubts about something, just ask. I’ll do my best to help, even if I don’t know much about… these type of relationships.”
“I…” He starts, hesitant. “Someone from work has been helping me a lot.”
“I see… So, do you know how…” Sojiro coughs a bit to strengthen his resolve. This is as uncomfortable for him as it is for Akira. “How… it , works?”
“... I do.” The reply comes in a whisper, the tilt of the boy’s head making the shimmer of the glasses obscure his eyes.
“G-great then.” Even if his cigarette is still not done, he presses it in the ashtray and goes to adjust his own glasses. “Turn to that person from work or to me if something eats you up.”
“Ok…”
When Sojiro stops talking, Akira finally takes his eyes away from him, the awkwardness palpable in the air.
“Akira.”
He snaps his eyes back up.
“He’s a kind person. You caught a good one,” Sojiro tells him with a smirk.
The boy smiles, slightly but sincerely. “Yeah, I know.”
Not a second after they hear steps coming down the stairs and Yusuke comes to stand next to Akira once more, apparently not noticing the slightly tense atmosphere.
“Ready to go get the things for dinner?” Akira asks him, taking his hand.
The contact makes the artist flinch slightly, his wide eyes settling on Sojiro before he looks back at his boyfriend. “Of course.”
With some quick goodbyes they leave. Sojiro lets out an audible sigh, one hand going up to rub his eyes. It went better than expected, but he still has something else to do. Taking advantage of the couple’s absence, he grabs the black bag hidden under the counter and walks to the attic, leaving the items on top of the desk, tucked on a corner so that they’re still visible, but not wide in the open.
Half an hour later they’re all together again. No further comments on the matter are made during the rest of the night, and when the time to close comes, Sojiro leaves with peace of mind.
Next morning comes. He enters the café more careful than usual, feeling a bit nervous even if he knows everything is probably all right. He finds both boys already downstairs, sitting next to each other on one of the booths, drinking coffee. The giddy lovebird attitude they have lets Sojiro know that everything went ok last night.
He smiles internally. His job is done then.
Recomposing his cool, he takes off his jacket and approaches the table, the boys already looking up at him.
"Good morning Boss," greets the artist, wearing a worn down shirt a bit too small for his square shoulders. Probably borrowed.
"Morning," says the other, his body subtlety resting against his boyfriend’s.
"Hey," Sojiro says back before reaching out and grabbing the cup in front of Akira. "Let me see what you did."
He gives the black liquid a smell first, checking if the aroma is correct. Pretty good. Then he follows it by taking a small sip and letting the coffee swim around his mouth, his taste buds processing all the intricate flavours.
"Now that is a decent cup of coffee," he concludes placing the cup back in the table. "And you were right, Blue mountain suits him better," he adds with a quirk of an eyebrow and a smirk.
Akira's eyes lightly sparkle at the praise and he turns to the other with a soft smile. "I told you."
"Yes, you were right, I have to admit this brew is more enjoyable that the ones I previously tried. You're slowly becoming a true expert on the matter," the artist explains, his flowery narration rewarded by a small chuckle from Akira.
"Not yet though, he's still wet behind the ears," Sojiro mockingly adds before walking behind the counter, putting his apron on. "Come boy, help me with breakfast."
Akira nods and gets up, joining his guardian and helping him out while Yusuke distracts himself watching the morning news, the café falling into a comfortable and familial atmosphere.