Chapter Text
“How come we didn't notice before?” Joe asked out loud.
Joe and Cherry were looking in the distance at the kids (and Shadow) who were showing each other skate tricks at the park. That day all of them were dressed in casual clothes. Miya and Reki laughed loudly because when Shadow tried to do an epic jump he fell on his back. Reki was holding his stomach in pain from laughing so much and Langa was trying to hold a chuckle with his hand.
When Shadow got up from the ground, he started screaming at them, making them laugh even more.
Cherry, at the sight, chuckled a little, but soon his face turned into a worried frown. “To be true, at first I thought that he got himself hurt in the race against Adam, but those bruises… look kind of more serious.”
Reki, who was talking at the moment with Langa, had a bruise on the right cheekbone and a split in the bottom lip. And even without seeing his whole body, they could tell that he had more bruises under his clothes. Every time Reki did a sudden movement with his body, he flinched a little like he was containing his pain.
He wasn't skating at all.
He sat at one of the banks, limiting himself to watch the others play with the skate.
Joe sighed. They even asked Langa if he knew what happened to their friend who with a pained expression, said that when he brought the bruises to the conversation, Reki quickly changed the topic. He didn't want to meddle in his affairs so he did not ask again, even though he was worried.
“What if we just asked him?” Joe looked at Cherry, expecting a solution. Cherry rolled his eyes and scoffed.
“As if that could work.” Cherry crossed his arms. “Obviously he isn't gonna tell us what happened to him. He will probably just say a lame excuse and run away.”
Joe caressed his chin, deep in thought.
“Maybe if we just, you know, corner him and force him to tell us what the hell happened to him…?” Joe suggestively moved his eyebrows.
Cherry was just about to complain, but fell silent, considering the proposal. “It's not the most elegant way to do it but… It may work.” Cherry smiled at him with slyness.
“A characteristic proposition of a stupid gorilla. I'm not surprised at all.”
“I at least had an idea!” Cherry ignored him and started walking to the rest.
When he arrived, Reki was the first one to welcome him. “Cherry! Did you see how Shadow fell? It was the stupidest fall I ever saw!” Reki laughed at remembering how Shadow whined when he hit the ground. Miya nodded with energy.
“It sounded like a mouse!!” Joe just arrived at Shadow screaming.
“STOP LAUGHING YOU ASSHOLES!” Of course, they did not pay any attention to him and continued laughing.
They were talking for a while before Cherry interrupted the conversation.
“Hey Reki, can you do me a favor?” Cherry moved his eyelashes in a lovely way. Reki looked at him confused.
“Huh… Sure ” Reki finally said.
“Great. Can you go to the vending machine and bring me a coffee? You know, I still don't feel fully recovered from the race against Adam, so if you could go for me you would do me a huge favor.”
Cherry said in the most convincing way possible.
Joe tried not to laugh but got anyways hit in the side by Cherry.
“Oh yeah, No problem dude! “ Cherry gave him money, and Reki started walking away in the direction of the vending machine. Langa tried to go as well, but it was stopped by Joe grabbing his arm. He looked at the adult confused but stayed still. When Reki was no longer in sight, Cherry told the others with a gesture to come closer and started talking in whispers.
“I thought you didn’t like coffee from the vending machine,” Miya said with curiosity.
“I don’t, but I needed Reki to go away for a few minutes so we could talk. Anyways, all of you come near right now”
“All of us can agree that Reki isn't telling us what happened to him, right?” Everyone looked at each other before nodding. “So we thought that the best option is forcing him to tell us” Joe smiled in confidence like it was a great idea.
“Good idea! I don't like seeing the boy like that…” Shadow agreed with the plan.
“Maybe we can take away his skateboard and tell him that until he tells us the truth we won't give it back!” Miya whispered.
“That would only make him cry, Miya,” Langa said with a serious face.
“I'm trying to say options, stupid slime!!” Miya screamed in a whisper.
“Low your voice stupid! We are trying to be sneaky!!” Shadow screamed as well. The adults tried to shut them up, getting in the discussion as well.
…
In the distance, Reki looked thoughtfully to the vending machine. “He forgot to tell me what coffee he wanted, ugh”
What was he supposed to do?
He didn't want to make Cherry wait, but also didn't want to come back empty-handed. He played nervously with the coins in his hand, dancing in his fingers. When he was about to choose a random coffee, one of the coins slipped out of his hands and rolled under the machine. Reki grunted.
“Great…” said sarcastically to himself. Reki tried to bend down to catch the coin but had to stop himself when his muscles groaned in pain. His whole body was paralyzed because of the burning feeling. He couldn't get up, so he kneeled to the ground, holding his stomach.
It took seconds that felt like hours to get his body to relax again. He let out a shaky sigh before trying again to grab the goddamn coin.
The first few days it hadn't hurt so much. More than pain, it was a discomfort in his ribs. But as time passed, his body began to sting even more. The worst was in the morning, when he had to force himself to get up off the bed or when he showered.
...
The days when he was in a fight with Langa were definitely the worst days of his life. Specifically that day. First he ugly ignored Langa, he got beaten up by his old gang, and he ended up being run over by a car that later tried to bribe him to not tell anyone (a thing that still did even though he didn't accept the money).
His fingers did not reach the coin, exhausting the little patience he had left. Tears of impotence threatened to come out.
“Come on… Please just fucking reach the-”
“Do you need help?” A thick voice from behind him startled him. He jerked around, making his muscles groan in pain. A man in an elegant suit was in front of him, with short black hair and a beauty mark on his left cheek. Reki couldn't help blushing for a few seconds before recognizing him.
“Ah! You are the guy from the love hotel! I-I mean Snake right?” Reki stood up to confront him. Snake looked at him emotionlessly.
“Good to see you again Kyan Reki”
An awkward silence made Reki nervous. He looked anxiously at the grown man. “So… What brought you here? You aren't gonna give me another race invitation from Adam right? “ Reki laughed nervously. His body couldn't take another one of those.
“Do not worry. Adam will not bother you anymore… for a while at least.” Snake said without joking. Reki gulped.
“Oh, I see... So what are you here for?” Reki moved around in the place, shifting support from one foot to the other. Tadashi took out from his pocket a package that Reki recognized immediately.
“Take this.” The package that the adult tried to give him in the love hotel was again in his hands, offering it back to the minor. Reki looked at him with an exasperated face.
“Look, I already told you that I didn't-” he was interrupted before finishing his sentence.
“I noticed that you got hurt. This is not a bribe, it’s an apology for the inconveniences.” Snake looked directly at the bruise on his face. Reki instinctively covered his cheek in shame.
He had even tried putting on makeup, but not even that had managed to cover the ugly wound. He was grateful that none of his friends insisted on the subject of what caused his bruise. There was a lot to tell.
“O-oh. Don't worry! I got hurt before you hit me with your car, so it's not your fault! You don't need to pay or anything.” Reki relaxed a little. Snake didn't look like a bad guy. He may work for Adam but nobody is perfect.
“Anyhow, I was rude to you in the Love Hotel. Please accept my apologies.” Reki shivered a little at the mention of the Love Hotel. Tadashi did not let that go unnoticed, smiling a little at the adorable reaction of the teenager.
Reki looked again at the offered package. He had never liked bribes because he knew he would end up feeling bad about himself… But Snake said it wasn't a bribe, so…
Reki started to consider the offer.
“How… much money are we talking about?” Reki asked, curious. Tadashi looked him directly in the eyes. “Fifteen thousand yens. Five thousand more than the first time I tried to… buy your silence.”
Reki clenched his jaw. It was a really good apology.
“I will accept... only if you pay for the coffee too”
Reki couldn't help but smile when saw how Snake started searching in his pockets for coins.
…
On the other side of the park, Joe and Cherry were throwing curses at each other in full voice. Langa had covered her ears with his hands, pretending to ignore Miya's complaints, and Shadow was looking at the park, searching for something.
“Wait!” Shadow screamed, making everyone stop their arguing at the sudden interruption.
“Isn't Reki taking a long time to come back?” They have been fighting for a while now, and Reki still has not come back.
Everyone realized the fact at the same time.
“Now that you say it… The vending machine isn't that far and I don't think that Reki got lost.” Miya said, suddenly worried.
“Let's go search for him then” Langa was the first one to start walking to the vending machine. He had a bad feeling in his gut.
Everyone nodded and started to follow the teenager.
When they had the vending machine insight, they found two figures standing in front of it. One of them was his friend who looked kind of serious. The other one was a strange adult in a dark suit. They didn't even know why, but their first instinct was to hide in bushes that were conveniently near enough to watch the scene.
The whole group froze when they witnessed how Reki put down the drink and took a small package from the man. He opened with a single yank and revealed a wag of bills. Reki didn't look surprised at all.
“What is he doing with-” Miya tried to ask, choking in his own words. Once Reki finished counting the money he looked at the adult who seemed to wait for a response from the minor. Their jaws dropped to the floor when Reki saved the money in his pocket.
Once the money was saved, Reki smirked at the adult. Both of them continued talking for a few minutes, and even the adult bought a coffee for Reki. The group didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want to prey on Reki’s intimacy but they couldn’t just let Reki do whatever he was doing with a very suspicious man!
Langa couldn't take it any longer when the elegant adult began stroking Reki's bruised cheek, making Reki blush.
“Reki!” Langa was the first to come out of the hideout to get between Reki and the man. Reki’s heart dropped at seeing all his friends running to him.
Nononono. Have been they watching this the whole time?
All his friends stood in front of him to the point he couldn’t see Tadashi anymore. Miya and Langa hugged him while the adults confronted the suspicious man.
“Guys?!” Reki screamed in surprise.
Cherry put himself just in front of Reki, facing the stranger, and frowned when he recognized the man
“Snake?” At Cherry’s comment, everyone realized at the same time the identity of the mysterious man. It was the pro skater that has been appearing in S for a while.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Joe threatened, pushing the black-haired man away. Miya protectively was hooking up Reki arms. Even though he was shorter and younger than the rest, if Snake dared to go near Reki he would bite his hand off.
Tadashi looked startled at the sudden confrontation.
“I was just apologizing to Reki. I didn’t mean any harm” His voice sounded a little nervous because of the huge angry men looking at him.
“So if you excuse me, I’m gonna go now-” Tadashi tried to walk away but was held by Shadow by the neck of his shirt.
“OH! IS THAT SO?! And what exactly were you apologizing for huh?!” Shadow said threateningly, making Tadashi gulp.
“Guys, please stop! It’s a misunderstanding!” Reki finally said, making everyone look at him.
“Reki, what did he do to you?” Langa looked at him with those blue eyes that for a second took Reki's breath away.
“It must have been something really bad to give you that amount of money.” Joe said, crossing his arms.
“I-I mean...” Reki didn’t really want to tell them what happened. He was sure they would get mad at him for not telling them earlier, but he was embarrassed. It was his fault that he crossed the road without looking when he ran away from the hospital.
Cherry got out of the way, so Reki could finally look at Tadashi, begging him with his eyes to help him.
“Reki please…” Miya said in a plea, still hugging his side.
Reki avoided the eyes of the rest. “It was nothing important, I swear. You don’t have to worry” his knuckles started to white at the force he was doing in his hands.
“It doesn’t look like it was something unimportant Reki.” Cherry said with severity in his voice. Reki couldn’t keep lying to them anymore.
He looked up. “Don’t get mad, okay?” Nobody agreed but he continued. Tadashi murmured an ‘Oh no.’ which was heard by everyone.
“He kind of... hit me with his car,” Reki said with a nervous smile.
“He WHAT?!” Joe and Cherry screamed at the same time, making Reki flinch.
“It was an accident! And it didn't hit me that hard you know? I swear I’m fine!“ Reki tried to comfort Langa and Miya, who were touching him to confirm that Reki was still in one piece.
The whole group, except Reki, started to scream at Tadashi, who was trying to clarify what happened but was ignored.
“That’s how you got to hurt your face?” Langa looked at him worried.
“No! That’s another thing that is not relevant right now!”
Cherry looked like he was just about to call 911, Joe and Shadow were screaming at Tadashi, and Langa and Miya were asking him if he was really fine.
A whole disaster.
“Come on! He didn’t do it on purpose. It’s not a big deal!” Reki tried to save Tadashi, who looked like a scolded puppy.
“It happened the night that Shadow was in the hospital!” He looked at Miya. “Just after we fought in the elevator!”
“Then why didn’t he take you to the hospital?!” Joe was about to snap. It just didn’t make sense! The most rational thing was to call an ambulance, right?!
“W-well…” Reki stuttered.
…
Reki moved fast enough to free himself from the grip of his friends and win over the reflexes of Shadow, pushing him with all his body to free Tadashi, who was smart enough to start running away.
“HEY!” Joe ran after him, regretting leaving his skate in the park.
“Reki!!? What-” Shadow tried to say.
“Why did you do that?!” Miya managed to ask. Cherry and Langa looked at him like he was crazy.
“Because you were going to punch him if I didn’t!!” Reki knew his friends weren't going to react well.
“Reki… Please tell me, what happened?” Langa said with a soft and sweet voice while holding Reki's face with both hands Reki’s face, making a chill run down his spine.
Reki played with the hoodie cuffs. “T-the blow knocked me unconscious and when I woke up I was in a strange and luxurious love hotel. He was there with me and then he offered me money so that I wouldn't sue him.” Everyone held their breath in shock.
“H-he didn’t do anything to me though! I just rejected it and left the place.”
Langa tried to relax Reki by stroking his cheeks with his thumbs.
“You know? I’m even somewhat grateful to him because if he didn’t have hit me with his car I wouldn’t have dared to apologize to you! haha… Silly, isn’t it?” Reki chuckled a little at seeing the expression of Langa.
Now it was Reki's turn to comfort Langa, who seemed not to know what to say. Reki placed his hand just above Langa's, stroking his knuckles affectionately.
“Hey… I swear I’m fine… I just got for a moment a little scared. That's all” Reki's voice sounded tired but at the same time full of affection. Miya was the first one to react, hugging Reki while Langa stared to the ground, lost in thoughts, with his hands still on Reki’s shoulders.
Cherry left out a shaky exhalation. “Shadow” Cherry said seriously.
Shadow, still somewhat in shock, turned to see the pink-haired man. “Y-yes?”
“Take the kids to the restaurant and make sure Reki's wounds aren't serious. There are bandages in one of the lower drawers in the kitchen. I'm going to call Kojiro to see if he managed to catch that son of a bitch”
“In a minute. I’m going to get the skates.” Shadow ran to where they had left their skates. Cherry turned to the minors “You three go wait in the car.” Langa and Miya nodded, while Reki looked at them confused. Cherry searched for something in his pocket.
“Take this. The key of the restaurant. If necessary, cook something in the kitchen” Cherry left the key in the hand of Langa. When Shadow arrived with all the skates, Cherry grabbed his and Joe's and left.
“I'm really fine!” Reki tried to escape but failed, being irremediably dragged to the car by Langa and Miya.
The car ride was in complete silence, the only sound coming from Miya's game console. Reki sat in the back next to Langa, while Shadow and Miya were in the front of the car. Langa played with Reki's hands nervously, gently stroking each finger. Reki just watched as his hands were treated with love by Langa's gentle grip, but also trying to avoid meeting glances with him.
Was Langa upset that he didn't tell him? God, it hadn't been a whole week since they'd reconciled and he had already screwed up again. And even if he had tried to speak and apologized for not having told him before, the words could not have come out due to his dry throat. So he tried to quiet his thoughts and just breathe.
…
“That it didn't hit you hard?! Reki, have you seen yourself in a fucking mirror?” Shadow asked angrily, ruffling his hair with his hands as he moved nervously through the restaurant.
The bruise covered the ribs and part of the back, purple with yellowish parts. Langa stared intensely (Causing Reki to inevitably blush at his gaze), and Miya looked like he was about to cry.
“Is not that bad” Reki tried to relax the atmosphere. Reki was internally grateful that the darkness of the bruise had for the most part faded since a few days ago it looked even worse.
“Either way, I don't have a cut or anything like that! The only bad thing is that it hurts a little, but nothing serious” He turned on himself, to show others that indeed he did not have any injuries other than the bruise. Shadow finally sat down with a huff next to Miya and Langa.
The whole group except Cherry and Joe, who hadn't shown up yet, had chosen a well-lit corner of the restaurant to check on Reki's injuries. On the table were some bottles of water, a first aid kit (just in case they ended up needing it), and some snacks that were stolen from the kitchen.
“Okay okay! You’re fine! I get it! Now get dressed. You have to do some good explanations.” Shadow commanded, throwing the yellow sweatshirt to Reki’s chest. Reki dressed reluctantly, thinking that he should tell them to drop the matter at once.
Already dressed, he sat next to the others who looked at him expectantly.
“So … Exactly, what do you want me to tell you?” Reki scratched his neck nervously.
“Why didn't you tell us before?” Langa was the first to ask. His tone of voice sounded even somewhat monotonous, frightening Reki.
“I don’t know?! I mean, it was kind of embarrassing. And also how I'm supposed to tell you?”
“Good morning guys! Do you know what happened to me yesterday? You see, a totally unknown adult ran me over with his car, took me to a love hotel, and tried to bribe me!. What bad luck!” Reki said sarcastically, crossing his arms.
“Yes! That would have worked!” Miya responded in the same tone.
“What if something had happened to you?” Langa said with a softened expression.
“The thing is, Langa, that nothing serious happened to me” Reki answers with a fake smile, pretending that he didn’t like Langa's affectionate tone. “Okay, next question”
“You said that you didn’t accept that creep money, right?” Shadow asked next. Reki slowly nodded.
“SO! What is THIS?!” Shadow threw the packet of money that Tadashi had given to Reki hard at the table. Reki stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking about his answer.
“An apology,” Reki said in a breath.
“Fifteen thousand yen just to apologize?!” Shadow scoffed.
“...A really good apology?”
“Reki! For God’s sake!” Shadow hit the table with his hand.
“I know I shouldn't have taken the money! But he looked like he was really sorry and -I don't know- I just wanted to settle the issue at once and forget everything that happened!`` So what if he had accepted the money? Adults do it all the time.
Shadow grabbed the bridge of his nose. “You can't just go around accepting money from strangers! And even less if said stranger kidnapped you and took you unconscious to a fucking hotel!”
“So I have to give him the money back or what?!” Reki replied.
“No way! You will NEVER see him again, do you hear me?” Shadow ordered with authority.
“And don't ever let him touch you again, do you understand?” Langa said with the scene in the mind of Snake caressing Reki's cheek.
Reki let out a sigh, admitting defeat. His friends worry too much, but it wasn’t worth arguing further.
“Ugh, fine!.” He rested his head on his fist, relieved that the interrogation was over. Reki grabbed a snack and ate it, trying to hide the sting of the salt on the sores in her mouth.
Shadow looked anxiously at the time on his phone. It was late at night, past dinner time, and neither Cherry nor Joe showed any signs of life.
It wasn't until another half hour passed that two sweaty figures walked through the door in an oddly calm manner. Everyone was startled, getting up from their place automatically to ask the two adults what had happened.
“Guys! What happened with-?” Before Reki could ask, Joe grabbed him with his big arm around his neck, and with his knuckle began to ruffle his hair.
“You douchebag! Do you know how many blocks I've had to run because of you?" Joe was grinning wickedly, ruffling Reki's hair hard. The minor was trying to free himself from the grip, which was impossible.
“H-HEY! Joe stop-!” Reki begged. The others just smiled at the torture, relieved that the adults returned safely.
When Joe finally released Reki, Reki had his headband out of place and his hair even more disheveled than normal, to which Langa couldn't help but laugh.
“So Cherry, what happened?” Shadow dared to ask.
“Tell us! Tell us!” Miya hopped closer, putting on his best adorable face.
“Why do you ask him?! I did all the dirty work!" Joe showed them his damaged red knuckles.
Miya gasped in shock, while Shadow and Langa stared proudly at Joe's knuckles. Reki felt his stomach knotting from guilt. I’m sorry Snake.
“Oh my god! Did you punch him?!” Miya asked excitedly, adorably shaking his fists.
Joe scoffed. "You think I would hit that bastard just once? I hit him SEVERAL times” Joe's smile was malicious and proud, without a hint of remorse.
“Hell yeah!!” Miya smiled with the same mischief.
“That happens to him for driving carelessly” Joe said with pride. Cherry pulled up his glasses, smiling proudly remembering his boyfriend's aggressive actions.
“Believe me, he deserved it for much more than that. Right, Reki?” Shadow looked at Reki intensely.
Reki laughed nervously. “Haha! That’s right! Well anyway, the other day I-”
“Joe doesn't know the full story yet. If you don’t tell him, I will.” Shadow threatened with an angry expression on his face.
Reki groaned in answer
“Well… The thing is…”
When Reki finished telling them the whole story again, Joe stood up intending to go hit Snake again. Cherry and Shadow stopped him, but no one stopped Cherry from giving Reki the worst scolding he ever had. Reki could only say “Yes” “I know” and “I’m sorry”
Once Cherry was satisfied, he ordered Joe to cook dinner.
They ended up choosing one of the simplest dishes on Joe's restaurant menu, as Joe refused to cook a homemade meat lasagna at 2 a.m.
The atmosphere felt strangely gentle. Reki noticed how Miya tried not to mess with him so much, focusing all his insults on Shadow.
Langa kept asking him if he was okay, and Cherry and Joe had the detail of arguing in whispers so as not to break the calm.
Although Reki had assured more than a hundred times that he was fine, a warm feeling filled his chest as he saw how the others cared for him. The reheated pasta didn't taste the best, but at that moment he wouldn't have changed it for anything.
...
Shadow took the job to leave them in their house.
They left Miya at his house first, but when they later left to drop off Langa He forced Reki out of the car with him.
"He's staying with me tonight, you can go back to your house." he said, hugging Reki's arm so he wouldn't escape. Shadow sighed tiredly.
"Okay. I don't care. Don't get into trouble, you guys." Reki didn't even have time to complain before Shadow drove away from them.
"Langa, you realize that I have no clothes or anything prepared to sleep at your house, right?" Reki looked at him with a small smile. In the end, he was kind of excited to sleep at Langa's house.
"You can wear my clothes" Langa answered
"They won't be my size!" Reki fought back.
"Who cares. Come on. We still have things to talk about."
With that last sentence, concern settled in the bottom of Reki's stomach. For a moment he came to think that the stressful part of the day was over but obviously he had to face what he was most afraid of at that time.
To tell Langa the truth.