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It felt so… strange, to get this hurt at this time of his life.
Sure sure, skate was about getting hurt, about cutting oneself on rocks and pavement, about getting bruises and scratches and even broken bones, but that was mostly reserved to difficult tricks and new skaters. He was a man with experience, with several scars to show for his practice and with na age Where things weren’t so easy to heal, but weren’t impossible either. Still, he had to be honest, he really didn’t remember the last time he felt this bad.
It was supposed to be a demonstrative race in S for the new skaters. Despite Langa’s incredible ability, he wasn’t a good example for new skaters and therefore they all decided that Joe would be the one with most ability, charisma and humbleness to take it easy and show the rookies how to behave in their first times in S (considering that Reki and Shadow, although less experienced than Joe, also lacked his carefulness and would absolutely show the rookies moves they weren’t ready to do).
He was supposed to take it easy, keep up with the group and show them the hard turns and quick straight ways all the way down the mine. They were new and inexperienced but they weren’t completely new to skating, so they weren’t supposed to make dangerous mistakes - taken with care, the usual S course wasn’t such a monster after all.
So when one of the rookies took a sharp turn in a curve that had no protection on the other side, absolutely far from their first timers rules, Joe knew that he was either very stupid, completely new to the sport, or was trying to show off. In any of those cases, he was going to fall down the hill, so Joe sped up and grabbed his arm, using his weight as leverage and pushing the kid away from the danger and back into the road.
However, he was left without his balance due to a rock that made his skate take air, and before he knew it, he was rolling down the cliff with his skate following behind, whole body hitting several rocks along the way.
He fell on his back with a loud sound and gasped out in pain, hearing a crack very like of that of a stick, knowing that simply could not be good. He could hear faint sounds of people calling for him, but his vision was blurry and due to the dark surroundings, he really couldn’t see anything but blurs of the mountain and the people above.
And then, everything began to hurt.
It felt like being stuck with fire needles all over his body. It started on his hands and feet and slowly went to the middle of his body, and then up his head, throbbing hard. He closed his eyes and tried to move, to reassure the rookies, but the moment he moved his leg a sharp pain ran through him and he let out a loud cry, finally finding out what the hell had made the broken stick sound.
Perfect.
The pain was so intense he passed out for a moment, but when he opened his eyes again he was surrounded by people calling his name, all of them blurry. He could recognize some of them, like Reki’s red hair, Miya’s green eyes, and Cherry’s pink locks next to his face, close enough that he could feel them against his cheek.
“..oe? … Joe? … jiro… Kojiro… KOJIRO!”
“Wha...” he mumbled, blinking slowly until his vision wasn’t as blurry and he met eyes with Kaoru, who was staring at him with narrowed lids and pressed lips.
“I got the car!” he heard someone yell and Kaoru’s eyes left his for a moment before he nodded and reached down. Kojiro felt his arms going under his torso and knees and he opened his mouth to warn Kaoru he wouldn’t be able to carry him (he was heavy after all), when Kaoru moved his leg and he cried out in pain again, making him freeze for a second.
“It’s broken! It’s for sure broken” he heard someone, maybe Reki, saying it before someone lifted him up regardless, his leg moving and making him yell in pain again. He grabbed the person’s clothes, opening his eyes through the beginning of tears to see Kaoru’s pink hair moving next to his face as he was carried over to somewhere dark and put down.
“We will meet you at the hospital!” someone (Langa?) cried out and soon they were moving, his head resting against Kaoru’s shoulder, his leg spread out and throbbing in pain. He tried to move but groaned in the process, making Kaoru hold him tighter.
“Don’t. You will get yourself hurt… more hurt” he said, looking down at him, and their eyes met again. Kaoru had his mask pulled down and his eyes were narrowed, concerned. Kojiro tried to force a smile but the pain was too great and he only managed a grimace instead.
“You can’t… talk about being hurt… I didn’t forget your last… beef with Adam” he said, trying to sound teasing but sounding more tired than anything. Kaoru didn’t even tease back, huffing and tightening his hold on Kojiro, looking forward.
That was rare.
But Kojiro didn’t have much time to think about it. Between the pain and the rushing, he basically passed out three or four times before they arrived at the hospital, and once inside everything was a blur. He got checked, went to surgery to put his bone back in place (apparently it was that bad), and was then placed in a hospital room, where he remained alone until he was fully conscious and the doctor could explain everything that had happened.
Only then he was allowed visitors.
He felt honestly great with the pain meds, he felt high like the few times he had tried good quality weed, and nothing hurt. When his friends came inside (somehow being able to convince the doctors to let them all in at once), he smiled and gave them his reassurance that he was fine, making a very concerned Reki stop tearing up. The rest all seemed relieved, except for Kaoru, who didn’t say anything and remained in the corner while the others surrounded him.
Only after several questions and parents’ phone calls later that Miya, Langa, Reki, and by default Shadow, left him to his own devices, having to go back home and sleep for school in the next day. Kojiro reassured them that he was fine, that he felt great, and although he would probably not be able to skate for quite a while, he would go to the S every day and watch them.
After they left, Kaoru stayed, but he remained still in the dark corner he had chosen beforehand. Kojiro stared at him for a moment, noticing the man’s eyes were not focused on him, and allowed him a moment of silence before he chuckled, calling his attention.
“How long since the last time I was in a hospital bed?” he asked, smiling at him and tilting his head. Kaoru didn’t answer. “I feel like… it has been at least like five years since I had a serious fall.”
“Four” Kaoru said quietly, before he stepped away from the corner and into the room’s light. “When you foolishly tried to make Adam’s time in the old S track. You broke your arm and your ankle. It was an absolutely stupid and idiotic move.”
“It was cool” Kojiro mumbled, smiling to himself and closing his eyes. he remembered that day. It was fun. It hurt like hell and he thought he would die but at least he was able to reach what? Two minutes to Adam’s time?
“It was not” Kaoru responded coldly and he opened his eyes again, finding him now next to his bed, his expression serious. Way too serious. “You almost died. Like you almost died today.”
“That is an over exaggeration” he said, shaking his head. “I didn’t even pass out.”
“Is that your limit? Passing out?” he asked, perhaps angrier than he expected to because he immediately relaxed his shoulders. “You broke your leg. You will take months to recover. We are not teenagers anymore Kojiro.”
“What did you want me to do? Let the rookie fall?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows, this time getting serious as well. “My job in that demonstration race was to keep an eye on them. I don’t know why he did that stupid move, but I couldn’t let him fall. He might give up on skating.”
“Well he should” Kaoru said coldly and Kojiro’s eyes widened at his reaction. “We know how dangerous S is, we told them all how it would work, and he still went out of line. We are not allowing that to happen anymore, remember? We changed the rules.”
“Doesn’t mean he did it on propose” Kojiro replied. “I wasn’t going to let him fall. And you wouldn’t either, I don’t know why you’re acting like this.”
“Because!” Kaoru stopped again, his cheeks were pink and he was clearly stressing over whatever was going on in his mind, something Kojiro couldn’t quite understand. He took a deep breath and looked away. “Because it wasn’t me, Kojiro.”
That… didn’t make any sense.
“What?” Kojiro asked, even more confused, and Kaoru frowned.
“I would have done the same if I was in your place but then, it would have been me, not you. I would be the one hurt.”
“Okay… and I would have carried you to the car and brought you here and you would be here and I would be standing there probably laughing with you and teasing you, not lecturing you” he frowned. “Skating is dangerous. We all know that when we sign up for it. Besides I’m strong, I’m healthy, I’ll recover.”
“That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“I don’t like seeing you get hurt!” Kaoru raised his voice again and this time he didn’t back down, but his cheeks turned darker pink and his hands were curled up and shaking. Kojiro’s eyes widened and felt his cheeks burning up a bit as he stared at Kaoru’s golden eyes.
“Kaoru…”
“I… don’t like it. I never did. You talk about when I got my ass beaten by Adam but I was relieved that you didn’t get to race him” he said, looking away and closing his eyes. “I… don’t care about getting hurt or watching other people get hurt but you…”
He quieted down, and Kojiro didn’t know what to say. Staring at Kaoru, he felt breathless and his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. It was so rare to see Kaoru show any emotions other than apathy and annoyance, let alone worry. He knew exactly how Kaoru felt, because he too felt like he was the one wounded whenever Kaoru got hurt, but he knew it was pointless to linger on those feelings because well, Kaoru was a skater and skating was dangerous, he got hurt all the time and his abilities and tricks were all difficult to perform. His own skating style was more grounded, focused on his brute strength, which usually lead to less wounds than Kaoru’s, but even someone like Adam or Langa (skaters way beyond their own level) weren’t immune to getting hurt.
Kaoru should understand that, and yet…
“Kaoru, skating is-”
“Dangerous I know” he huffed and turned his face back to Kojiro, eyes narrowed. “I know! It doesn’t matter, I… I know it rationally, I don’t even get worried when the kids get hurt, but I can’t help it, when it’s you I…”
“Kaoru…”
Kojiro reached out, taking Kaoru’s hand and pulling it gently. He looked at Kojiro with wide eyes and then leaned forward as he was pulled, blushing up to his nose in the cutest way. Following his lead, Kaoru sat down on the bed near him and stared into his eyes.
They didn’t really speak. Kojiro knew it was rare, to have Kaoru in such a mood, so he simply let the silence linger and sat up, moving closer as he lead Kaoru near. He released the man’s arm and reached up to his cheek, tilting his head and closing his eyes, gently pressing his lips against Kaoru’s.
And he was responded in kind, with Kaoru reaching up and holding his face, before sliding his hands down to his shoulders. Their lips pressed together in a chaste kiss until Kaoru parted his and slowly licked Kojiro’s bottom lip, requesting passage, and he gave it willingly, opening his mouth and letting Kaoru deepen the kiss, his tongue sliding in and his head tilting to give them more space. Kojiro felt like he was floating, doing the sickest skate move and soaring through the clouds. Every time, every kiss they shared, ever since their first up to this one, it always felt like this. He always felt like a stupid teenager in love when Kaoru came near him, and when he kissed him, he felt like the luckiest man in the world.
They pulled away, lingering close, foreheads pressed together, and Kojiro opened his eyes to look at Kaoru’s, seeing the worry deep inside his eyes. It made him feel like the most important person in the entire world.
“Stay?” Kojiro asked, and Kaoru’s eyes widened in surprise. “I mean I know you are not fond of hospitals but I didn’t-”
“Yes sure” he said quickly, and Kojiro held back a smile. “I will stay. I have to go home and shower however, so, I’ll be back in one hour or so.”
“That’s not a problem” he assured and Kaoru nodded before leaning in for another soft kiss, a press of lips, and pulled back.
“I’ll be back soon” he said, grabbing his stuff and heading out of the hospital room to go home and shower. And Kojiro, although alone, leaned back and smiled to himself in delight.
Yeah getting hurt sucked. But it wasn’t half as bad to have Kaoru caring about him so much.