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Cherry. That was the first thing his mind said with any clarity. The first solution he could possibly see. “Cherry,” Adam called out. “I need to talk to you.”
The pink-haired man turned quickly to face him, his expression wavering between concern and admonishment. “What do you want? Don’t you have somewhere more important to be?” Cherry asked, crossing his arms.
Adam frowned and looked around as he tried to find the words to say. This was stupid. Why was he unable to ask for things? He supposed it was a product of having everything in his life handed to him. He expected it in a way. Asking was still new. There was a lot he should have asked for in his life. “Did you drive that van of yours tonight?”
“Yes. What about it?”
“Did you drive Langa and the others?”
Cherry groaned in annoyance and huffed. “Don’t you have other things to be concerned about? Worry about your little pet or whatever he is. Not if your snow boy has a ride home.”
Adam stayed silent. The pause was long and it was as if Cherry was waiting for him to say something else. When he didn’t, Cherry turned to leave without a word. Adam stepped forward. “I...I can’t drive,” he admitted, his voice shaking and unsure in a way Adam never showed.
Cherry paused and turned to face him.
Adam swallowed hard. “One of the capmen took him to the hospital and I need to be there and...I...can’t drive.” He felt himself bite hard on the inside of his lip as he remembered the sight of Tadashi limp against the ground. It had all been so sudden and at the same time painfully drawn out. All Adam could remember was standing there and staring as it all unfolded on the screens. The crowd, the chaos of S, it all faded to nothing around him as his sole focus was on Tadashi. Adam had felt paralyzed.
“Ok,” Cherry said simply, answering a question that hadn’t been asked.
“What?”
“Ok. Get in the van before I change my mind.” Cherry looked him up and down. “Do you have a change of clothes?”
Adam paused for a moment. Why would he need...oh. He looked down at himself. Showing up in full S gear was the last thing he needed. Luckily, Tadashi always made sure he was prepared. “I have a suit in the car.”
Cherry quirked an eyebrow. “The car?"
Adam nodded. "The car that...he has the keys to.” He gritted his teeth. Why had he never insisted on being given a spare set? “Damn it, I can't be seen like this!" He started to rush toward where the black town car was parked, hoping in vain that Tadashi somehow left the door unlocked. After trying every handle multiple times in vain, he kicked the rear wheel. "DAMN IT!"
Cherry sighed. “We’ll figure something out. You can borrow a yukata if you have to.”
“I need my suit,” he said, pressing his face to the window. “I can’t just leave it here.”
“Hey, Adam! Why are you still here?” Joe asked, approaching. “He’s probably already at the hospital by now.”
Cherry groaned. “He’s being a big baby about his suit. We’re locked out of the car because Snake has the keys.”
“Oh, is that all?” Joe shrugged. "I know how to open a locked car."
Adam whipped his head to Joe. "You do?"
"Yeah," Joe said. "It's easy. One sec." He shrugged his jacket back onto his shoulders and examined the driver’s side window. He nodded once, reared back and smashed the window open with his elbow before reaching in and unlocking the door. "There ya go."
Adam clenched his fist, unable to be sure if he should be angry about the shattered window or relieved he could retrieve his mundane clothing. Joe and Cherry were right, though. Tadashi was the most important thing right now. He needed to be there first. A car window was replaceable. Tadashi was not. As he held his suit close to his chest he looked at his two friends, the two people who had been there for him and still were despite everything that had occurred in their past. They were by his side now making sure he could get to where he needed to be. THey understood Tadashi’s importance. They understood Adam. And that meant more than they could ever realize.
“Got your clothes?” Cherry asked.
Adam nodded.
“I’ll make sure the kids get home all right. Do you need me to meet you guys at the hospital?”
Cherry shook his head. “We’ll be all right.”
“Thank you,” Adam said quietly.
“Just get in the van.”
Adam wasn’t used to the space Cherry’s van provided to allow him to change back into a more presentable state. He was able to dress himself quickly and tame his wild hair before climbing into the rear seat and looking out the window as Cherry continued to drive in silence. “You could have left me there,” Ainosuke said. “No one would have blamed you.”
“You’ve been eating at Joe’s restaurant, haven’t you?” Cherry asked.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You sound like a dumbass and his idiocy is contagious." Cherry sighed. "I wouldn’t leave you there, Adam. I didn’t know you couldn’t drive yourself. Then again, self-sufficiency was never your strong suit.”
“No, I suppose it’s not.” He glanced to his phone. Nothing but a few texts and email notifications. None from Tadashi. No calls from the hospital either. “I’m his emergency contact!” he exclaimed in frustration. “Why haven’t I been contacted!?”
“Probably because he’s fine.”
“He’s not fine! He hasn’t sent me a text! He wouldn’t just be quiet.”
“He fell hard,” Cherry said pointedly. “Not as hard as some of us have, mind you, but hard.”
Ainosuke started to say something in retort, but decided against it. Cherry was vicious with his words and Ainosuke didn’t feel like arguing at the moment. He reached for his cigarette case and pulled one out.
“Roll down the window if you’re going to smoke that.”
“Yes, mom,” he grumbled as he put the cigarette between his lips. He lowered the window before fumbling with his lighter. Normally he was so smooth with it, it felt like second nature. But at the moment, his hands could not stop trembling.
“It’s going to be all right, Adam,” Cherry said, calmly. “The hospital is very good at what it does. He’s being well cared for. He’ll be fine. I promise.”
“He had better be,” he said, finally managing to light his cigarette.
“He needs to be,” Cherry said. “You’ve become far more tolerable since you’ve been with him.”
Ainosuke didn’t respond before taking a long drag of his cigarette. His mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of Tadashi. The relationship was still in a phase of figuring things out, as far as he was concerned. They’d expressed a mutual longing, desires they'd pushed down for far too long. So many wants and emotions they had only begun to explore. The fear that it could be taken away at any moment hadn’t made itself known until Tadashi fell. It had been sudden, but Ainosuke could only remember it in slow motion. He wasn’t even sure what caused it. The track, his board, the other skater...it didn’t matter. One moment Tadashi was skating confident and cool and the next he flew off his board and slammed hard against the ground. The fact that all Adam could do in the moment was stand there helplessly ate at him as he exhaled out the window. Cherry was right. Tadashi needed to be fine.
Hospital rooms were boring, Tadashi Kikuchi realized. There was nothing on TV and with his phone shattered, not much he could really distract himself with while his arm was in a cast. Perhaps he could try to get some sleep and then figure out how to get home without inconveniencing Ainosuke.
The sound of raised voices came from down the hall and culminated in his hospital room door being thrown open. “Tadashi!”
Tadashi sat up, startled at quickly met Ainosuke’s furious gaze. “Sir! What are you doing here?”
Ainosuke stormed into the room followed by a nervous looking nurse who was clearly realizing that Ainosuke was currently unable to be reasoned with. “What do you mean what am I doing here? I heard you had an accident!”
“Yes, and…”
“And I would appreciate it next time,” he continued as he turned to look at the nurse, “if I were informed immediately.”
“I told them not to,” Tadashi said. “I’m fine.”
Ainosuke stared at him, frowning. Tadashi watched him take a deep breath before turning to the nurse. He smiled at her politely, immediately looking as if he were a different person entirely. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I misunderstood the situation. Would you mind giving us a little privacy? It’s work related.”
“Of course, Mr. Shindo. My apologies,” she said with a bow.
“Nothing to worry about. Thank you,” he said as the nurse left the room. The moment the door was closed he rushed to Tadashi’s side and kissed his forehead. Tadashi all but melted into the bed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. But still, you should have had them call me. Do you know how worried I was?”
“It’s all right, Mr. Ainosuke. It’s nothing exciting. I’m just going to be out of commission for a little.”
Ainosuke frowned. “I don’t like that at all.”
“Neither do I, Mr. Ainosuke,” he said with a sigh as he looked down at his arm. “Unfortunately, it cannot be helped. But I can’t say I’m not prepared. Can I ask you a favor, Mr. Ainosuke?”
“Anything.”
Tadashi nodded once. “In my desk drawer is a series of file folders. There is a folder labeled ‘Broken Arm - Right” which contains a series of envelopes. Please hand them out accordingly. I won’t be able to do much until my arm recovers.”
“But you’ll be home, right?”
“Mr. Ainosuke?”
Ainosuke pulled up a chair and sat, taking Tadashi’s good hand in his. “You certainly don’t have to stay here. All things considered, a broken arm and a sprained ankle aren’t terribly serious.”
“No. Thought there might have been brain damage, but they say I’m fine. Even so, I won’t be of much use to you.”
“I don’t care about any of that! You don’t need your right arm to wake me up in the morning! Or be there to read my schedule. Or just...be there while I’m working. Besides, who better to take care of you than me? Let me tend to your every need.”
Tadashi shook his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I have this handled.”
“Handled? You shouldn’t have to-”
“Mr. Ainosuke, I need to have everything handled,” he snapped. He sighed and relaxed, looking apologetically at Ainosuke. “I don’t like feeling helpless like this. It’s one of the reasons I stopped skating. We’re not kids anymore, Mr. Ainosuke.” He looked to his cast knowing he was exceedingly lucky. He’d always considered himself a cautious skater, despite the speed and heights he could achieve. Risks weren't in his nature. There shouldn't have been any risk in tonight's beef. But that was part of the thrill, wasn't it? He wasn't even sure why he’d lost his footing and been unable to recover. It was the nature of the beast and ultimately no one's fault. This knowledge couldn't prevent him from saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ainosuke."
“Tadashi,” Ainosuke said, gently rubbing his arm. “It’s all right. I will make sure everything is taken care of. Now tell me what it is you need right now.”
Tadashi exhaled and placed his hand atop of Ainosuke’s. “You’re here, Mr. Ainosuke. That’s nice for right now. How did you get here? I had the keys and you - “
“Cherry drove me, if you’d believe it.”
Tadashi smiled gently and nodded. “I do, yes. You have very good friends. How’d you manage to get a new suit, though? Did you go to the office? I’ll need to erase the security footage.”
Adam laughed and shook his head. “Joe broke into the car.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He shattered the window.”
Tadashi exhaled. “Well that’s a relief. He read my message.”
Ainosuke frowned. “You messaged him before you messaged me? Tadashi.”
“What? Oh, no, this was a while ago. I tasked Joe with creating an alibi if I ever got hurt,” he said with a laugh. “Now we can say I was the victim of an attack. My phone broke in the fall, Mr. Ainosuke. That’s why I didn’t message you. My apologies.”
Ainosuke hugged him as best he could. “I’m so glad,” he said. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
Tadashi hugged him back with his good arm. “I’m sorry for scaring you, Mr. Ainosuke.”
“Don’t you dare do it again.”
Tadashi laughed. “I’ll do my best, sir.”
Ainosuke entered his office by himself for the first time in a long while. Tadashi had messaged him to wake him up which was a nice addition to the terrible phone alarm he used when he was off on work trips. Still, he missed Tadashi’s gentler method. Slowly opening the blinds, quietly calling his name, saying good morning, asking if he slept well. It was all very tender and caring and Ainosuke truly hoped Tadashi’s ankle would heal quickly.
Tadashi had a small desk he worked from when he needed to and it was not much effort to locate his filing cabinet. He grew concerned at the multiple files with labeled contingency plans. ‘Broken leg - left’, ‘Concussion’, ‘Flu’, ‘Food Poisoning’, were near the front and Ainosuke tried to not focus on the one marked ‘Death’ as he located the one he was searching for. Inside the folder were 5 envelopes, each addressed to senior staff members of the house, and one final envelope addressed to Ainosuke himself. Ainosuke purposefully saved until he’d distributed the other letters accordingly. It was helpful, Ainosuke realized, as having Ainosuke distribute the letters let him know who would be taking care of things in his secretary’s absence. He appreciated the warning. Still, he wondered what tasks Tadashi had seen fit to delegate to him, especially since he often prevented Ainosuke from fully acting on his own. He opened the letter and frowned as he saw the words printed neatly in the middle of the page.
“Dear Mr. Ainosuke,
Please don’t worry about anything. I’ll be fine.
Tadashi Kikuchi”
He crumpled Tadashi’s note and forcefully tossed it in the wastebasket. How dare Tadashi and everyone else treat him as if he were useless? As if he didn’t want his help!? He stormed toward the kitchen, furious. Tadashi often forgot to eat. Ainosuke was going to make sure he did. He was going to do something, anything, whether Tadashi liked it or not.
“Mr. Ainosuke, this isn’t necessary,” Tadashi said as he looked at the breakfast spread Ainosuke had placed upon his lap. He had never once taken breakfast in bed. He rarely had breakfast that was anything more than toast and coffee. This, while he knew it was Ainosuke’s preferred style, seemed a little excessive.
“Of course it is. You need to eat. And a healthy breakfast will help fuel your healing along..”
Tadashi looked down at the full breakfast. Eggs, sausage, toast, potatoes,juice, coffee, a little bowl of fruit...it was too much. “I don’t typically eat this much.”
Ainosuke huffed. “No wonder you’re skinny as a rail.” He lied down on top of the blankets next to Tadashi. “I’ll help.” He reached for a slice of toast and coated it in butter and jam. “Strawberry all right?”
“I guess so?”
“You guess so?” Ainosuke rolled his eyes. “Tadashi, come now. What’s your favorite flavor of jam?”
He shrugged. “I don’t really have one, I don’t think.”
“Well, here’s hoping it’s strawberry.” He held the toast toward Tadashi. “Say Ah.”
“Mr. Ainosuke, I’m capable of feeding myse-” Tadashi found himself cut off by Ainosuke shoving the toast into his open mouth.
“I’m doting on you,” he said. “Let me dote.”
Tadashi groaned lightly as he chewed on his toast. There was no stopping Ainosuke when he got like this and he wondered why he even tried to protest. Perhaps because this was so reminiscent of his job and he hated other people doing his job. Perhaps it was simply because he’d spent nearly his whole life taking care of Ainosuke that having their roles be flipped felt off. “I’m not helpless, Mr. Ainsouke.”
“I’m not either!” Ainosuke barked.
Tadashi said nothing and resumed eating his toast. If Ainosuke wanted to elaborate he would. Tadashi assumed the morning had been rough without him, and he felt guilty enough that he’d be stuck in bed until his ankle recovered.
"I hate it, just so you know," Ainosuke grumbled. "I hate the way everyone treats me like a useless child. Cherry does it. My aunts do it. You do it too. Even your letter to me told me to not worry. You gave me nothing to do as if I couldn’t possibly help, even though I want to!"
Tadashi tilted his head in confusion. "I didn't mean to imply that, Mr. Ainosuke."
"Well what did you mean to imply? Did you ever think that I'd want to take care of you, Tadashi?”
Tadashi shook his head. He thought he’d been perfectly clear. “I wrote for you to not worry about me because I knew it would be difficult for you to not. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be a distraction. I wanted to make sure your work wouldn’t suffer. It’s far more important than me.”
“Tadashi,” Ainosuke groaned and rolled his eyes before taking a deep breath and draping his arm around Tadashi’s shoulder. “That’s not true. Besides, the master is supposed to take care of his dog, you know.”
Tadashi stared at him for a moment before looking down at his breakfast tray, a small smile coming to his lips and his heart beating a little faster. His whole life he’d been in service of Ainosuke. The thought that he would be taken care of in turn had never crossed his mind. The idea that Ainosuke would want to was unfathomable. Yet as he thought on it, that was always where Ainosuke had stood. They were together. They could support each other. “I hadn’t thought about it that way. Thank you. I’m sorry I’m not used to being cared for.”
“Sorry if I’m terrible at it.”
“You’re not terrible at anything, Mr. Ainosuke.”
Ainosuke scoffed and leaned against him. “Don’t lie to me, pup. That’s a bad dog thing to do.”
Tadashi whimpered like a sad little puppy and looked up at Ainosuke pathetically, playfully and he couldn’t help but laugh as Ainosuke’s tough facade cracked into laughter.
“-nosuke? Mr. Ainosuke?”
Ainosuke groaned and clenched his eyes shut. Waking up was always the worst.
“Good morning, Mr. Ainosuke,” Tadashi’s voice gently called.
“And what’s good about it,” he grumbled, shoving his face into the pillow.
“Well, my ankle’s feeling better, so I thought you’d be happy to be back to routines. You’ll still have to carry your own breakfast for a little longer, though.”
Ainosuke’s eyes shot open and he propped himself up on his side, to see Tadashi standing there smiling, arm still in a cast, framed in the morning light. He relaxed back onto the bed and smiled back. He beckoned Tadashi closer and let their lips meet in a gentle kiss. Ainosuke sighed as Tadashi pulled away, knowing full well that when it came to Tadashi Kikuchi, he’d always be helpless.