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Miya awoke with a start.
Where was he? His eyes couldn’t adjust to the darkness fast enough.
Breathe, Chinen, breathe. You’re in your bed at… a hotel?
That’s right. He had gone to Miyakojima with the gang to check out some hot springs. And along the way, they had a very unpleasant encounter. Some weird mud creature things chased them and captured them and Miya swore that the musty rancid smell still lingered in the air.
He propped himself up on his elbows and scanned the room. Wasn’t there a mud monster at the foot of the bed? Hadn’t it just been there? Lurking, watching, waiting. Thirsting for its next prey.
No.
He was alone. And that was even scarier.
He didn’t want to be alone right now.
He needed comfort. Needed to see with his own two eyes, teary as they were, that his friends hadn’t fallen captive to the same fate. Of those disgusting critters.
Now for the hard part of abandoning his bed for the vast expanse of the hallway. And all that came with it. Outside of the room, the halls were dark and cold and who knows what lurked there in the darkness and coldness? Miya debated staying in the comforter, but it offered no comfort. The bed offered no warmth.
Hugging himself (for warmth? security?), he hopped off the bed and tiptoed out of his room.
He considered his options.
Shadow. Passed out in a drink-induced stupor. He couldn’t wake him, both in the physical “inability to successfully awaken” sense and in the moral “he didn’t have it in him in good faith to do so” sense.
Next, Reki and Langa. They were probably cuddling. He didn’t want to get in the middle of that. Literally. As he passed their door he heard them swapping stories of skateboarding vs. snowboarding and under normal circumstances, he would love to join them.
But these weren’t normal circumstances.
He needed people who could chase the bad guys away.
Two adults he trusted unconditionally, who he had called Mama and Papa only mere hours ago. That felt like a lifetime ago.
So he quickened his pace to Joe and Cherry’s room, whipping his head around at every few steps to make sure he wasn’t being followed.
Here we are. Home safe.
Should he knock? Should he walk right in?
He settled for knocking on the door. Lightly, three little taps.
On the other side of the door, Kaoru groaned.
“It’s too early for this.” Or late, depending on what one considered this time of night. Where it was not quite dawn but no longer evening. Whatever category it fell under, it was now-disturbed sleep time hours for Kaoru, who had enough trouble sleeping as is.
He fetched his glasses from the nightstand, swung his feet to the edge of the bed, switched on the drawstring lamp above the nightstand, and padded to the door.
He opened the door to see little Miya looking back at him, eyes red and puffy.
It broke Kaoru’s heart.
All grumbles of the early morning hour vanished in a snap, replaced by concern. He knelt down to match Miya’s height. “Hey now. What’s the matter? What happened?”
“It’s stupid.” Miya dragged his foot in slow lazy circles around the floor.
“It most certainly is not. If it were stupid, you wouldn’t have come here. Now out with it before I send you back to bed.”
Miya’s eyes widened and his voice rose in panic. “No!” Back to bed meant back to nightmares. Giving the demons in his mind free rein to taunt him some more.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaoru saw Kojiro leap from the bed. He knew that his best friend wanted to run over there too but held up a hand to stop him, with a look that said Don’t overcrowd him. Come over in a moment.
He returned his attention to Miya. “Was it about tonight?” He needed to know that there was no real danger. That the child, and the other children, were in no real harm.
Miya looked down, averting his eyes. He felt silly for bothering them.
“Miya.” Kaoru spoke the name in a stern but concerned tone. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, boy.” Kaoru was nothing if not stubborn. Miya should know that by now. He would stay there all night if it meant getting Miya to concede.
He opened his arms.
That was enough. Miya ran into those arms and clung to the man. It all came flooding back. He felt so weak! Tears ran down his cheeks, sobs shaking his small frame. “It was - it was so real. They were there and they were right there and - and they were going to get me, Cherry!”
Kaoru may look small compared to Kojiro, but he was no weakling. Strong arms wrapped around the frantic boy. “Hush, child. You’re alright. Nothing can get you here.”
Miya hiccuped. “But the mud monsters-”
“Aren’t real,” Kaoru finished. And even if they were, even if he had been equally as terrified, the frightened child didn’t need to know that. “You’re safe. You’re at the hotel with Kojiro and I. Reki and Langa are at the other end of the hall. Shadow is right across the way.”
Having deemed it appropriate to now join the others, Kojiro sat down on the floor with an unceremonious plop. “Kaoru’s right. I mean, obviously he’s right about the coordinates of the other guys, but all that other stuff too. You’re safe. We’re not going to let anything getcha, k kiddo? Anything or anyone.” He bumped his fists together. “They’d have to get through me first and trust me, there’s a lot of me to get through.”
He had been hoping to elicit a giggle or at least a smile from the boy with that little joke. Nothing? Wow, tough crowd. Come on kid, you’re cramping my style.
Kaoru repositioned himself to sit down on the floor as well and drew the boy fully into his lap. “Take a look, sweetheart. Look around the room. Tell me how many monsters you see, mud or otherwise.”
Miya whipped his head around the room, frenzied eyes scanning every nook and cranny. He didn’t trust his eyes. Didn’t trust this perfect setup. “None.”
“Precisely. There are no monsters here and there will continue to be no monsters here.”
“But what if they appear out of nowhere? Like through a trap door? That’s what happens in all the games. Or if they slide through the wall.”
“Miya…” the two adults began.
“I’m scared.”
“There’s no need to be frightened.” That was Kaoru.
“No big bad monsters are going to get through us!” Kojiro. A natural echo of Kaoru. A built-in counterpart. Where there was one voice, there was the other.
Miya was quiet for a moment, only the sounds of sniffles and the occasional hiccup. Then, in a small voice:
“Ma-Mama.”
Oh. Oh sweet boy.
Kaoru would play along if it restored Miya’s comfort. Give in to the play family dynamic. Chase away demons, real or otherwise. He found that he would do anything, indulge in any of the boy’s ploys or whims if it meant helping him feel safe. When did that happen?
Miya talked a big game and skated an even better one. But he was still a child. Too young to feel this fear. Too precious to fall victim to such a cruel scheme. As Kaoru cradled the tiny weight in his arms, he was reminded of that fact. That reality.
“I’m here, dear boy. You have nothing to fear.” He stood with his shaking, sniffling charge in his arms. “Let’s go back to bed.”
Kojiro hopped to his feet, right by Kaoru’s side as always, and led them to the bed. He pulled the covers back for Kaoru, helping him settle Miya into bed.
The two adults tried to help the little one lie down. Miya refused, scrambling right back into Kaoru’s arms. His mind wouldn’t stop playing tricks on him! He didn’t want to be alone!
So here they were: Kaoru sitting up in bed with Miya in his arms, Kojiro sitting at the edge of the bed, keeping watch in case anything else happened.
For the first time that night (morning), Kaoru got a good look at the boy: Hair askew. Eyes darting around in fear. Little hands clenched into shaking fists.
He had never seen Miya look so small.
Kaoru decided that he hated that expression on Miya.
“Carla,” he instructed the bracelet on his wrist, “weighted blanket.”
“Right away, Master.” Carla emitted her warm purple glow and morphed into a cottony lilac blanket. Kaoru hoped that the weight would ground Miya. He knew that medics gave similar devices to people after experiencing an emotionally traumatic event. Shock blankets, he recalled.
Kaoru settled the blanket around Miya, tucking it in so he felt the comforting pressure against his neck and shoulders. “Do you feel that?”
“Yeah.”
Good. Keep the child talking. “Does it feel nice?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you too warm? Too cold?”
“No. This is good.”
Not taking his eyes off of the child in his arms, Kaoru addressed his best friend. “Kojiro. Do your thing.”
Kojiro knew precisely what “your thing” signified. He closed his eyes and began singing a gentle Italian aria, low and wispy and airy. One reason Kojiro loved the Italian language so much was that it was so delicate; everything sounded so passionate, rolling off the tongue, like love was the most natural thing in the world. That, and the Italian language was home to titles of dishes that he knew Kaoru adored.
For him, Italian had a passion that was near impossible to miss. The words were strong, the melodies full of love. The crisp vowel sounds, the smooth baritone of the singers, the way the letters and subsequent words flowed together was nothing short of poetry.
He had soothed a restless, anxious Kaoru to sleep many a time with a song (and knew he would many a time in the future). Tonight he hoped it would bring Miya the same comfort. Their youngest deserved to feel safe and protected.
And so, Kojiro sang.
Kaoru rocked Miya to Kojiro’s song. The lullaby seemed to be living up to its name, lulling Miya into slumber at long last.
A little fist gripped Kaoru’s sleep shirt (which was really Kojiro’s shirt that Kojiro was most definitely not getting back).
Kojiro opened his eyes and huffed in amusement at what he saw. “No sense kicking the kid out now. Bed’s big enough for three.” He yawned, feeling quite lulled to sleep himself. “Night hasn’t been kind to him, huh.”
Kaoru lay down in bed, Miya instinctively curling in toward him. “I can’t say it has.”
Kojiro observed this with watchful red eyes. “Something tells me he’s going to be very clingy to you in the morning. Maybe all of tomorrow.”
“That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” Kaoru replied simply. He watched the rise and fall of Miya’s chest. The poor child. He did not take his eyes off of Miya as he spoke in a soft, almost sad voice. “I know what it’s like to be terrorized by your imagination.”
Kojiro knew that all too well. Kaoru came to him with nightmares or when his brain simply wouldn’t leave him alone. Had been coming to him for years. Kojiro wouldn’t have it any other way. He was grateful that Kaoru found a safe place in him. And tonight, he would provide that security for Miya as well. He yawned. “Yeah, but you got me. And so does he.”
He kissed the heads of the two people who sassed him the strongest, gave him the most trouble, and took top spots in his list of humans for whom he would walk through fire without blinking.
“Guy’s got good taste. I can’t fault him for his choice in company.” Kojiro smiled fondly at the two for a moment, then held his hand out. “I’m going to put your glasses on the nightstand.”
So that Kaoru wouldn’t have to disturb the sleeping boy in his arms, Kojiro gently took his glasses and placed them on the nightstand, tugged the string to turn the lamp off, and crawled into bed.
Miya clinging to Kaoru made such a heartwarming image that naturally Kojiro had to comment on it.
“Your little clone.”
“My what?”
“Oh please, Kaoru, he’s exactly like you. Have you seen the look he gives me when I’m doing something stupid? No you probably don’t because you’re giving me the same look.”
“You’re an imbecile.”
“Like that!” A hearty laugh. Leave it to Kaoru to make him laugh like that. Only Kaoru could. “See, I knew you’re picking up what I’m putting down.”
“Why are you so…” Kaoru would gesture to Kojiro, all of Kojiro, but he has his arms full of their little minion.
Kojiro smirked. “You’d point to me but you got your hands full of Baby Blossom, huh?”
“Pardon?”
“Yeah! He’s Baby Blossom. It’s adorable, right? I originally wanted to go with Mini Blossom, but Baby Blossom is so much more fun to say.” A contented sigh, of victory and self-assuredness. Typical Kojiro. “He may look more like me but he acts just like you.”
Kaoru scoffed. “He’s not our actual child. Your brain must be waterlogged from today.”
“Coulda fooled me.” Kojiro rolled his shoulder to stretch it. “Let’s get some shut-eye. Time to go night-night. The best part of the day is when the day’s over.”
“I hope you have nightmares this time.”
“Sweet dreams to you too, Kaoru.”
As long as he doesn’t have any more bad dreams.
He won’t if I have anything to say about it, is what that last exchange translated to.
And if Kaoru slept better that night with the weight of the child against his chest, the promise that the child was safe in his arms… Well, that was for only him and Kojiro to know.