Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leo knows he shouldn’t have said anything. He could have just let it pass and move on with his day like nothing happened. But his blood boiled at even the slightest sign of unfairness. And honestly he thought his teachers would have learned that by now. So here he is now, twenty-five minutes after yelling at his math professor, standing in the hallway waiting for Daniel and Jake to get their asses out of the lecture hall. He got kicked out of the lesson for disturbing the class to argue ‘for no reason’. Of course there was a reason, it was just well hidden from Leo’s college peers.

“Finally’’ he said spotting his best buddies in the flow of people leaving the hall. Leo let his friends catch up to him to give them both his signature troublemaker grin. He couldn’t wait to hear his friends comments about his outburst, he knew they got more in them then those few shocked emoji’s and numerous variants of ‘you’re fucked’ memes they sent to the groupchat when he left the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but not everybody gets kicked out of the class Mr.Tell-me-how-my-dick-tastes" laughed Daniel, not at all surprised by Leo's lack of answer, aside from the slight shrug of his shoulders. Infact he was very fond of black-blue haired wordless responses. It was nice to know what he wanted to say without using words.

"But for real, you got Mr.Davenport so pissed off to like whole new level" added Jake, smiling when he saw Leo rolling his eyes at the name. Afraid they were still in the enormous hear rage of their professor, he didn’t use the nickname students made for him. Batman, as bats are in top 3 of the animals with the best hearing ability, besides it was funny to imagine their grumpy old teacher in the Batman suit.

"I know, I know I'm just so great" black-blue haired boy said, making a circle gesture with his hands pointing at himself, trying really hard to look like it was totally his plan to let himself get that carried away by fury. "Now let's go already" he said while extending the 'y', a habit the seemed to picked up from his little siblings "we're blocking the hallway and you two are going to whine if we don't our usual seats "

"We're going, we're going just don't piss off Papworth as well, 'kay? I'd like to live after that lecture you know" agreed Jake, trailing after Leo and Daniel who had already taken off without waiting for him to finish talking. All of them knew better then to mess with professor Papworth. Leo himself tried to behave more in his class, not take any chances for letting loose on his anger issues there, so he slept on most of lectures with that man.

"Your wish is my command, I think I'm going to take a nap" answered Hamato jokingly. He’d have been thinking about taking a nap for an hour now. Actually he was just about to fall asleep in the hall earlier but just as Morpheus's arms started to tighten around him, he heard something he wish he hadn’t and the anger got the best of him.

"Do as you please, my royal servant" came the light response from freckled boy, who was in the middle of putting his headphones on his short, messy hair as they were all walking through the door of the auditorium. The walk to this specific class was always rather short, but it was better not even risk being late.

They were lucky as their favorite, carefully chosen seats were still unoccupied. Jake sat in the front with Daniel which was arranged back when the academic year started, in a way that Leo will stay unseen by teacher’s eagle-like eyes. Both boys were aware of weird sleeping habits that the oldest of their little group had, but they didn’t really want to interrogate him on that matter. Instead they just let him have his little thing, as he let them had theirs.

More and more students filled the room, and only when all chairs were taken an middle aged man walked into the room, taking a place in the front. He’s hair was light brown with greyish accents in it, Daniel often joked that he got grey hairs at forty becouse of all the yelling he is always doing. Other then being grey at that age, he looked just like any other ordinary teacher.

When all the leftovers of anger from earlier left Leo’s body, it took all of his self-control not to fall asleep while the list was being checked. It sucked. All he wanted was to lay down, and sleep for whole lecture. He had to physically hold his face up with one hand to make it to the letter ‘H’. As soon as the squre next to his name was checked off, signilasing he was indeed present, Leo crossed both his arms on a table before him, looking around the class once more. After this quick round up of the class, and double checking if his phone is on vibrate mode (perfect if you don’t want to distrub the whole group, but want to know if your brothers need anything) he finally layed his head down and nodded off.

As one of best students on the year, Leo loved the chance to catch some z’s as he is definitely not getting enough of them at home. There’s always something to do there. Making dinner, taking care of laundry, going grocery shopping, helping Raph with homework, keeping twins from tearing each other or house apart. He had to do all chores, so the amount of sleep he’s getting isn’t his top priority. Especially since he’s responsible for the amount of sleep his siblings get. After they all are sound asleep, then and only then it is time for his homework, some overall house cleaning and then finally his sleep. So sleeping midday in class was the best possible choice he had. And since he’s not missing anything he wouldn’t be reading about later at night, sleeping didn’t make him much difference, the important thing was him being physically present in the room, so he wouldn’t have any problems from skipping lectures.

It was going great, as a light sleeper he somehow learned how to distinguish an important thing like someone walking around the house at night, from completely useless information for example the buzzing of the fridge when he fell asleep studying on the kitchen counter. And that skill let him easily tune out every word that Mr. Papworth spoke, which in theory were important things, but as it was stated he will learn all about today’s subject at night. Tuning most things out thankfully didn’t make him any less aware of his environment. That’s why he immediately reacted to Daniel’s words.

“Dude, you probably wanna hear this” his reaction wasn’t a big one per se, he just opened up his eyes and titled his head a bit up, to see better whatever it was that his redheaded friend wanted him to know. It took few seconds but he realized that most of his current classmates attention was pointed at him or at certain blonde haired boy that sat in the very first row of tables. Said boy raised his hand causing their teacher to turn to him.

“Yes Usagi?” the man said, curiosity written all over his experienced face. Leo glance around a bit, trying not to seem too focused on one of the other best achieving students in this college. He caught on few of his peers whispering about some kind project, which gave him an overall idea what was going on.

“Can I have a different partner?” the boy asked, his voice polite yet strong, like he had already made up his mind and won’t back down. He controlled the syllables gracefully as they slid off his tongue, giving an impression of merciful emperor who is asking a strategic question to his right hand man. To others it might have come off as rude, to speak that way to someone who had been put higher then you, but Leo saw only greatness when he looked at the blonde. He was down bad, seeing as his descriptions of Usagi just got this poetic.

“Sorry, but you cannot change your partner” Papworth stated firmly. It was easy to tell he was not a fan of the tone Usagi used. Professor’s expression changed to something sour, but Leo paid no mind to it. His head was full of unorganized panicked thoughts. How come he can make a whole poetic comparison of Usagi on the spot but was not able to compliment his last girlfriend with something more than ‘you’re pretty’.

“Can I-?” he tried again, but every emperor has his time and it seemed like that was the end of Miyamoto’s. Despite all odds Leo managed to get out of his head just in time to catch the milli-second wave of shock that showed up at boy’s face. Said wave of course was smoothy covered by perfect stoic mask. All in all it was still rude to be interrupted while speaking, especially by someone who was supposed to set a great example for young people.

“No, you cannot work alone either” Usagi must have noticed how mildly annoyed professor looked, so he resigned from asking further questions. He mumbled that he understands and that was is. After carefully observing him for a while Leo was quite sure he looked frustrated. So frustrated that Leo wondered how bad the person he’s paired up with must be. At the same time he was kinda jealous of whoever that was. As it turned out it was all unnecessary seeing he was the guy, Miyamoto Usagi wanted to get rid off to work by himself.

It is a bit of understatement to say it stung Leo a little, that the blonde’s first reaction to being paired with him was to find a way out. He was well aware of his troublemaker reputation, but he could swear that he didn’t think it would overshadow the state of his grades. Black-blue haired boy despite that aching feeling in his gut managed to keep a straight face on, when Jake was filling him in the whole project fiasco. Because he couldn’t possibly be that bad, could he?

He didn’t get any more time to doze off again, as the lecture came to an end soon after that. He wanted to take it slow and walk out of the room last until a certain light hair flashed between people and Leo realized that he did in fact have to take it fast to catch Usagi. That blonde was surprisingly fast, like a young rabbit sprinting for the first time once spring arrived after winter. It was hard pushing through the crowd, but even more difficult was keeping eyes on the blonde. Even if Leo seemed not to be able to take his eyes off him usually, he lost him in that avalanche of people for a few minutes. Mercifully he was lucky enough to spot the boy once again by the lockers.

“So partners ay?” Leo asked calming his breath while walking towards Miyamoto. Trying not to look like he was running through the hallway to catch him. He decided to lean on the yellow shelfs to seem more comfortable. Usagi must have noticed him coming or was expecting him to do so as he did even flinch from the sudden appearance of Leonardo, nonetheless he let out one long sigh like talking to him was the worst possible thing ever.

“I'll do the whole project myself, it's not like I'm going to get any help from you” came the harsh response from slightly shorter boy. Well Leo was expecting to be underestimated after all that trying-to-change-partners stuff but that just wasn't right. It wounded his ego.

“Dude, I'm literally on the same level of intelligence as you, just because one of my friends is a dumbass doesn't mean I am too” was calling your crush 'dude' bad idea? Probably, but it was already done so there was no use crying over spilt milk. What Leo needed is some kind of plan on how to do that project in a way that would work well with his home life. “Anyway.. so today at yours?”

“We can't at mine” okay that was quite the surprise for the taller one of them. He could practically feel the curiosity creeping up from his gut onto his tongue, just barely holding from asking. That attempt at self-discipline lasted about 0.01 seconds. It wasn’t Leo’s fault it was tempting to know more about that secretive number one nerd.

“Why not? Don't you have a big ass house? or what you're scared I'm gonna steal something?” Leo agreed he was multi-talented man with many names. Troublemaker, heartbreaker, fuckboy, bi icon, secret genius and he even got called an emo boy few times. Thief however was not one of them. He does not steal. Never before had Leo been anxious about how he came off to others, but now he was starting to get worried. That wasn't what people really thought of him, right? Not wanting to go that way of thinking, especially right after school day ended, he took a few deep breaths. The situation was quite tense, it was time for a pick up line. “The only thing I'm planning on stealing is your heart”

“I want to work somewhere quiet, so we can work at your house” said Usagi completely ignoring Leo's attempt at flirting. The answer itself made the troublemaker want to laugh. His house quiet? That's just hilarious. That place is everything but quiet. Silence is almost impossible with two kids and a teenager running around. Of course Leo, being the oldest sibling he is wholeheartedly loves the chaos. Usagi on the other hand might not be a big fan of it.

“We can't at mine” He said unintentionally mirroring blonde’s earlier words. Even without counting the noise that is a constant part of Hamato household, Leo’s siblings themselves could be a big part of problem. Not to the troublemaker of course, but they happened to need their big brother quite a lot which would be in a way of their work. Especially Donnie and Mikey who can’t make up their mind about killing or loving each other. Also Leo is not a big fan of someone from college knowing about his personal life either.

“Why not? Don't you live alone?” If alone meant without any other adult the statement would be correct. But sadly that's not the meaning of it. No matter how much the taller thought he couldn’t possibly think of any other place they could meet. Coffeshops were off the list immediately as Usagi pointed out the silence. Library would work well if not the lack of wi-fi they will no doubt need for the project. Maybe the blonde will figure it out somehow.

“I just don't like people going to my house.” Leo said after few seconds of those considerations. Honestly, he should’ve thought about a better excuse instead because this one straight up sucked. The blonde kept his face calm but in his grey stormy eyes Leo could see that he was actually rather ticked off.

“Well then I guess we cannot work together after all” That pretty much destroyed taller’s hope of him finding the solution. It seemed like both of them were on the edge of giving up the whole idea of group project. Well Leo seemed to be on the edge, Usagi was already hanging on a rope like on a bungee and said rope was tied to Hamato’s own torso. The troublemaker knew thatcouldn't lose this chance of finally getting to know the other, because there won't be another one like this.

“Give me your phone number” There it is. Done. All that was left for Leo is to wait for a positive response and possibly rethink all his life choices later. He hadn’t fully thought this trough and he might regret it in the future. Hopefully he won’t. Although a lot of things could go wrong from here.

“Why should I?” Usagi asked, visible confusion drawn on his face. It’s a miracle itself he was showing it that openly and his baffled expression made Leo want to take a picture, print it out and carry around with him to use every time he feels taken-aback. Of course right after seeing the other smiling like he’s living in fool’s paradise he went back to his standard ‘peaceful’ mask.

“So I can text you my address later” he explained with a tone he usually used while describing an exotic animal to Mikey or teaching Raph step by step how to make really good pancakes. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to use it with a person who is already annoyed but he just couldn’t help himself.

“Can't you just tell me now?” the other asked, his gaze calculating like he was trying work out for what sinful things could that personification of the god of Chaos himself use his phone number for. It would probably be sending him ‘fatherless’ memes, but Usagi wasn’t aware of that at the time.

“God! My house is a mess okay? I need to clean it up first and when I'm done I'll text you the address.” That and he also needed to carry out a whole ass army behavior training so his brothers won’t scare him off in the first ten seconds. Leo knew they could behave like real angels when they really wanted to. His job was to make sure they want to. Maybe bribing them with candy will do the trick.

“Fine, but after we're done with this project delete my number.” At least he got Miyamoto's number out of this hell of conversation. Optimistically thinking maybe he won’t have to delete his number by the end of this project. He’s not planning anything big though, he just hopes they will get along fine enough for Usagi to actually consider him as at least his friend.

“I’m not making any promises, sweetheart”

Chapter Text

It is fair to say that Miyamoto Usagi had serious doubts about his whole partnership with school's most famous troublemaker. It’s not that he disliked the boy, he just wasn’t sure what to make of him. He seems chaotic and reckless at most times, but he keeps all of his grades high all the same. Usagi also saw him many times, just taking a nap trough various lectures, which probably wasn’t the healthiest for person’s back, but it also meant he must be tired most of the time. That lead to the conclusion of Leo having to stay up most night doing some mysterious activity and that had Miyamoto worried. He didn’t know much about his partner and he didn’t know if he was or wasn’t involved in some kind of illegal activities. He knew Leo smoked, but looking at their age it wasn’t illegal, just unhealthy. Usagi couldn’t afford to have any kind of relationship with anyone who crosses the law. Besides the blue-black haired boy was a jokester, a prankster even and that usually lead straight to trouble. It is true that the blonde found many of his rebellious acts funny, remembering of course never to show in any way that he did laugh a little on the inside. The blonde saw Leo in a fight few times too. As disturbing it was, Miyamoto had to admit he was impressed with the other’s ability to fight. He also had to admit Hamato was kind of cute when he wasn’t fighting.

Going back to the present, he wasn’t even sure if he got the correct address. For all he knew it could be a joke ending with him knocking on some Karen's door. And even with his considerable patience, Karen’s tend to be too much. Usagi really hoped it wasn’t a prank and Leo is acting serious about their project. He had looked more into the person that Leonardo Hamato stated he is. After checking college’s website and seeing that he in fact is a high achieving student, the blonde decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He just hopes he won't regret that.

It was a nice, sunny day, barely any clouds in the sky and the wind was blowing gently, just scarcely tugging at one’s clothes. He took a bus that stops near the street that was given to him by Leo, deciding to walk the rest of the way rather then taking a taxi for the whole trip. Looking around he confesses to himself that it looked like pleasant neighborhood. Of course after being brought up in rather wealthy household he could tell that people who lived here were certainly not the richest, but everything looked nice and clean nonetheless.

It didn’t took him a lot of time to get to his destination. There he was, 79 Staszic Street, standing in front of neat stale-blue door. He needed a moment to gather his anxiety-bitten thoughts and most of his courage to even ring the bell, but in the end he did it and that was all that mattered. He waited for a few seconds for any kind of response from the other side of the door, his mind basically eating him alive about all of this being a mistake plus the overall nervousness of being at someone’s house for the first time was making it hard for him to stay still as his brain screams for him to flee.

When the piece of wood finally moved out of the way a pair of forest-green eyes met his gray ones. Well, met was a bit of exaggerating taking in at the fact that the person to who said eyes belonged to was rather small. A kid sided person. A kid. A freaking child. A really short teenager at least.

It took him a bit to fully take in that information. Next thing he knows is anger mixed with disappointment slowly creeping its way up his throat. It was a joke. Leo gave him the wrong address and just in few next moments that brown haired kid with red highlights will ask him who he is and what does he want. Then he will have to politely explain that he got pranked by his classmate and pray that child before him won't laugh at his misery. How stupid he was for believing in troublemaker's lies that easily. Stupid stupid stupid stu-

“Oh, you must be Leo's friend” the little one stated, somehow managing to look both anxious and bored “he said you would come, sorry the house is a little messy, but come in I guess” the younger finished blissfully unaware that he just cut in on Usagi’s mental monologue. He also opened the door a bit more so his brother’s guest could actually get inside.

“Um, yes thank you” the blonde answer, slowly taking a step into the house. It seemed cozy, I mean there's not much he could say about it from just the corridor. When he bent down to take off his shoes he noticed that there were multiple pairs of kid's boots laying in the hallway, which he found weird but decided to reserve all of questions that starter popping up in his mind for Leo and not his brother? Who exactly the (possibly) teen was Usagi still wasn't sure but he assumed he must be brunette's little brother. He just hoped he won't turn out to be his son. It's not like he would shame Hamato for being a teenage parent if it came to it, especially since he seemed to be taking responsibility for his actions, but it would be kind of awkward. At least at first, Usagi was sure he could get used to that information. Something in the back of his mind he still wished he wouldn’t have to. Even though that being a teen dad would be a good explanation for keeping the kid secret. He shrugged off trying to shake this type of thoughts from his head. It wasn’t really his business, he was here for a project not for the inspection of the troublemaker’s family three. The blonde recalled what the shorter told him and tried to focus more on what exactly that little human said. Messy? Miyamoto was under the impression that he would get a message from Leo when he's done cleaning up.

“I'm Raph by the way” he heard suddenly, looking up to see Raph waiting patiently for him to be done putting his shoes away. After standing up again, he followed the boy to the next room, which turned out to be a living room. Usagi's face once again froze in ratted expression. Two more kids sat on the couch and were looking at him expectantly. More children? What the hell was going on in this house?

Blonde's mind once again was at battle with information he just gained. Leo was supposed to be living alone. It was all so dramatically ironic. The troublemaker seemed to be taking care of three little people. How was that even possible? Where did those kids even came from? Was it possible they all were Leo's siblings? Or were they all his kids? No, no, they were just nineteen he couldn’t possibly have three kids already. Usagi restrained himself from growling. It would all be easier if he could just stop overthinking every little information. Luckily for him Raph once again decided to come to rescue him from his own brain.

“You can sit on the couch if you want, I'm gonna go get Leo” the who seemed to be the eldest of the three announced and without further delay he walked out the room to do as he said. Usagi's eyes followed boy's silhouette for few seconds, before he turned around to the two pairs of eyes scanning his face carefully. Well, that wasn't awkward at all. After looking over those two kids, he came to the conclusion they're twins. They wore matching purple and orange outfits consisting of two long-sleeved withe shirts and one-color dungarees. They also had the same skin color and their faces all in all looked almost like exact copies. Literally copy + paste with slight color change. Honestly, the college students assumed that all three of them will just sit in that uncanny silence till man of the household aka Leonardo Hamato himself arrives. He didn't have much experience with kids but for all he knew children tend to be wary and shy around strangers. Turns out that wasn't the case with this set of twins.

“I don't understand why Leo writes about you in his diary” the purple one said without any warning. Usagi didn't even get a chance to process his words trough because the second one decided to share his thoughts as well. The audacity of just one of them was too much to process for this poor nineteen year old and there were more of it coming from the other twin.

“Yeah.. like nothing is special about you..” orange one stated. Usagi looked like he was struck by lightning. That was quite harsh for such little people. They were eight or nine, ten max looking at the size of them. Miyamoto practically couldn’t believe what just happened. His usually deafening mind actually shut up for a minute there. Well, more like it lagged and needed a moment to reboot the system but the point stayed unchanged.

“Excuse me? What-?” He's cut off by Leo himself bursting into the room. He's left even more speechless when his stormy eyes lay on the newcomer. For a second he's convinced all over again that it was in fact a wrong address or that all of this is happening in some sort of fever dream. Maybe he dressed too lightly for that tricky weather and now he's seeing things? There is no way the person standing right in front of him is the same troublemaker he was supposed to met here. There's always a chance he has a twin too, right? Assuming the kids on the couch are his brothers it could be possible. “Sorry for the wait!”

“Hey” he greeted the kids, sending a quick what-did-you-do glance their way, but it wasn’t too harsh so neither of the twins reacted apart from smiling right back at him with their faces made up in the most angelic way Usagi ever seen. "Hope they didn't cause any problems while I wasn't there" Leo smiles, this time at the ‘outcast’ of the room, in a way Usagi never saw before. The corners of his mouth lift up a little bit, in a sweet, soft way. Still sitting on the couch Usagi just shakes his head a bit as an answer trying to shake off the warm feeling in his chest as well. Leo has very pretty smile his mind sums up at the end and he tries his best not to compare what that smile did to him to the feeling of waking up to gentle sunlight shinning on your face on a warm spring morning. That smile is nothing like the toothy grin he knows from college. The school one seems so easy to place on troublemaker's face and it means something insane just happened or will happened soon. What Usagi just saw seemed to be so intimate, something that is reserved for family, friends and other special people. Miyamoto feels a bit unworthy of that smile just yet. He had done nothing. He showed up when he was told to show up and went nonverbal right after noticing the other side of his fellow classmate.

“No, no, it’s all fine” he answered finally, praying in his mind that his inner dramatic monologue hadn't lasted too long. The blonde scanned Leo up and down once again, fully taking in what he was seeing this time. Long gone were dark-gray ripped jeans with little silver chain, smokey-blue turtle neck and leather-like black vest. In their place there were light blue t-shirt with the collar up to the neck, light gray pants with like seemed to be the monstera plant pattern and a black belt that could be wide enough to do as a corset if needed with a light ribbon attached to it, everything perfectly fitting on brunette’s torso.

“Great, let’s go then” the eldest Hamato said smiling brightly at him once again “Donnie, Mikey, listen to Raph and please don’t make a big mess around here ‘kay? We’ll be in my room” while Leo was giving instructions to the kids, Usagi stood up and walked slowly to his side, making a mental note of the children names (even though he had no idea which is which). After finishing up with his ‘orders’, the big brother of the house sent the kids another caring smile, turning to wink mischievously at Usagi right after. That caught the blonde off guard, but honestly there’s a small list of things that didn’t do that to him since he got inside that house. The adolescent and not-quite-teenagers-yet answered with shared chorus of agreement.

The walk to Leo’s room wasn’t long nor uncomfortable, it was actually quite pleasant for both of its participants. However there were some worries in the host’s thoughts. Of course he had tidied up his room as best as he could, but it didn’t change the fact his bedroom wasn’t usually used to having anyone over. Sure, their almost-aunt April sometimes came by, but she and any other quests to ever visit usually stuck to the living room, maybe the playroom if they were friends of any of his brothers. He would have probably worried less if his room was kept clean all the time, but it was hard to maintain any energy to keep his own space neat while also looking after his siblings and trying to somehow preserve the rest of the house from rotting or falling apart from dirt and dust.

Hamato had spent all of his afterschool time trying to make his room spotless for Usagi, but there was only so much he could do in one and half an hour. He hoped it’ll be enough not to bother his classmate. It wasn’t really bad, he took all of the trash out, dusted off and even vacuumed! All of which would had never been done otherwise because as previously stated, the condition of his room, much like his sleeping habits, weren’t a priority to Leo. So the darkhaired tried his best to stay calm and in all honestly just hoped for the best.

As for Usagi he wasn’t as worried anymore, surprisingly the troublemaker seemed to have some weird contagious aura of calmness around him, that the blonde must have missed before. Maybe it came from being at his own home? Miyamoto didn’t know, but for the second time this day his mind decided to take a break. This time he got to actually enjoy the feeling of not overthinking every little step that he took.

Normally he would probably be rocking his brains trying to figure out how Leonardo’s room could look like. Someone’s room usually reflected their mind in some way. Just on the bus ride Usagi thought that his room must be covered in dark chaotic dark colors, just splashed on the walls partly hidden behind many hanged up posters and all kind of weird random things scattered all around the room, like stolen street sign or something. Now however, the grey-eyed just appreciated the short walk. He took the chance to look around the hallway, glancing at all of those family photos that decorated the way. The pictures were various, some showed just Leo and Raph or the twins while others had all four of them. Nevertheless it seemed like just three of them had someone else featured in them. Miyamoto didn’t want to come off as weird right away so he didn’t ask who it was, he didn’t stop to inspect the woman portrayed there either. He caught a glimpse of her red hair and light skin, that was it. She might be some kind family friend or even their cousin. He took his mind off that topic and tried to go back to enjoying that comfortable silence of his and his project partner’s walk.

Listening to Leo’s footsteps had done the trick. He had stopped caring at all about what would he approach when they went up the stairs. He knew now, that whatever he would see in few moments might be just as unexpected as Leo’s different appearance or that group of his little roommates. No matter what it turns out to be Usagi decided he will cherish it. As something inside of him was telling him not many people got to know that side of Leo. It was special, even if the reason for it was school project, there must have been many ways they could have done it without bringing their privet lives into it that much. If both of them thought about it a little bit more at school they would have been now in some kind of isolated room in the library. It was exceptional for the blonde to even be in the house, Leo said himself that he does not like having people over. Usagi wasn’t sure what was so special about him, but obviously something must have been.

Leo’s room was kept in lovely warm colors. There was no bed, but the blonde noticed a turquoise couch that probably was a pull out one, next to which stood an armchair in a matching shade. Walls were all painted in peach-like pinkish paint that might have been falling into orange shade. There were few posters on them as well, but most of the space was taken by more family pictures (with the addiction of few shots with Leo and his friend group) and plants. Usagi wasn’t a plant enthusiast but as the know-all he was, he recalled the names of few of them. Overall Hamato’s space was really cozy, it seemed to be welcoming him to come in and stay forever. It was homey. Or at least that’s what Miyamoto thought homey should feel like. Leo of course had a desk big enough for both of them to work on, but for their own comfort and the need of having bit more then five centimeters of personal space, they agreeably decided to just sit on Leo’s fluffy gray carpet instead.

Before they could start working, Leo went to check if the door was closed correctly, he didn’t want any of his brothers silly cartoons to be heard while he was working with Usagi. Doublechecking the door never hurt anybody. Just when he went back to the other boy he noticed the confused look that the grey-eyed was wearing.

“Are you okay?” the taller asked seriously concerned about blonde’s well being. He didn’t want the first time Usagi visited him to be associated with being uncomfortable or god forbid sick. Usagi seemed to be confounded if he wanted to answer that at all or not.

“I was just.. Not expecting.. This" he responded after few seconds. After casting an eye over him quickly Leo came to the conclusion that his face was painted in faint pink shade. He was embarrassed. That shook the host to his very core, as he wasn’t expecting to see that expression on Usagi. Like ever. The shorter titled his head down a bit, probably to try and hide his blush. It was too late for that though.

“Expecting what?” Hamato asked, still standing and looking down at the other boy while waiting for an answer. He did not in any way think about how adorable blonde’s usually stoic and calm looked with such uncommon expression like embarrassment. Usagi was Mr.Perfect, no drawbacks, no mistakes, no weaknesses. Sometimes Leo thought it meant no emotions as well.

“This whole thing I guess, like you act nothing like you do at college and kids? I thought you lived alone?” Miyamoto was looking up now, right at Leo, apparently all of his shame already gone. His tone wasn’t rude by any means, but it did seem a bit accusing. Oh well the brunette thought how do I say it without actually saying it? He was aware that he himself probably set up the illusion of being a lone wolf and literally being the opposite of his troublemaker persona might cause a bit of confusion too. Okay, definitely more than just a bit. In hindsight Leo should probably be expecting questions like those, what a pity he wasn’t.

“Well there’s always two sides of a coin and the same goes for humans, besides people from school don’t need to know about my home life” The Hamato felt like another pat on his back was due, as he just danced around the subject perfectly. Usagi seemed satisfied with his answer too. He truly should be proud of his ability of coming up with things on the spot. As the blonde nodded, the taller finally sat down and they started on the very reason they met up.

They were both surprised how easy it was for them to work efficiently as a duet. Their project was going smoothly, even if it was just the start of it. They had already worked out the main sketch of it and made first few pages of it without any kind of interruption till a knock on the door stopped their brainstorming. Usagi looked at Leo confused, seeking an answer in the other’s face expression, but those ocean-blue eyes were focused fully on the entrance of the room.

“Lee.. Can I come in?” a uncertain quiet voice asked through the door. Miyamoto failed to match the voice to any of the faces he saw in the living room earlier. All of the kids left there were rather confident while speaking to Usagi then so this tone was certainly a new one. He didn’t even try guessing the name of the newcomer.

“Excuse me please” the brunette said to his partner with a knowing halfly disappointed look, why he wore it, the blonde sadly didn’t know, but he supposed he was going to find out what’s that all about in few seconds. Leo got up and walked to the door just as they opened and a little blonde hair poked in. It was one of the twins. The orange one.

“Hey buddy, what is it?” Leo asked, crouched down in front of his little brother, sadly only silence and miserable face of the kid answered him. From his seat Usagi wasn’t able to notice much but basing on the way light shone off Mikey’s eyes they were glossy. “Mikey, is there something wrong?”

“Can I please.. Stay with you?” the shortest blonde in the room asked in a trembling, quiet voice. Miyamoto was barely able to make out his words and they weren’t even far apart. Leo was searching for a clue in Mikey’s eyes, but Usagi didn’t know that as he could only see taller’s back. All in all the silence from the eldest Hamato, even a short one, was nerve-racking.

“Did you and Donnie fight again?” He asked the boy and it all finally clicked for the house guest. He was already spiraling in his own thoughts in all of the worst possible scenarios and reasons the orange twin could visit his and Leo’s little made up workshop. It was a relief for him that it turned out to just be a sibling fight. From the sigh the brunette released he realized he must have been worried too. “hey Usagi, do you mind if he stays here? I promise he’s very quiet” Hamato asked, making up his mind about little one’s request while turning a bit to look at him and smile. That wasn’t the same happy smile like before but it was a soft one nonetheless. Looking from one of brothers face to another Usagi wondered if he could ever deny such request. He was a bit surprised he got a say in this, as this wasn’t his house, but he cherished the thought all the same.

“I don’t mind” he really didn’t, which came as surprise to Usagi himself. As big of surprise as the fact that Leo’s smile literally bought him for the second time that day and something was telling the blonde that from now on this will keep on happening. He wasn’t sure if he should put it in the ‘bad things about troublemaker’ box in his mind or not.

Through the rest of their work now, he found himself looking at Hamoto’s face searching for at least a ghost of that first smile. He managed to find it few times, when their eyes crossed paths or when Mikey looked in awe at the papers that laid out before him, tilting his head a bit like a confused puppy. Usagi always set his goals high. Staying top of the school, taking part in multiple scientific competitions and violin championships, you name it. It looked like his next goal is finding a way to keep that particular smile on his project partner face for as long he could. Or possibly becoming one of the reasons of why that smile would appear there at all.

Their work was going smoothly. Twin kept quiet as promised, his eyes scanning the papers, sometimes both Usagi and Leo as well. Miyamoto was used to being watched, but he was usually judged by jury that consisted of adults, not a sassy ten-year old. Something that he was surely not used to, however, was being questioned by a kid, so it’s fair to say that Mikey caught him off guard with that one.

“So.. Are you Lee’s boyfriend?”

Chapter Text

Are you Lee’s boyfriend? Usagi decided to take a second before acknowledging the elephant in the room and instead focused on that nickname. It was effortlessly cute. If given the time he would probably spiral into thinking about how did the little one came up with it? Maybe it started out as simple blunder of eldest’s usual name? One of the kids could have tried to say it in a hurry and it came out like this and then it just stuck. Lee. Lee. If he had a chance to say it out loud, he probably would have done so. He would taste it on his tongue and decide if he likes how it slides off it enough to use it himself. But Usagi didn’t have the time. Being perfectly aware of the blush that spread across his cheeks, he took a short in and out breath, just for the shake of his dignity and finally stuttered out his answer.

“w-what..!? No! We-we're just classmates..” he wasn’t proud of the chaotic way the words came out, but there was nothing he could do with that when they were already heard by him, Mikey and his brother. He had the slightest hope that this answer would be enough for the boy, but Orange (as that’s what the older decided to call the boy from now on) didn’t seem satisfied at all. He just looked up a bit to meet Usagi’s gaze, his blue like clear sky eyes practically looking into other’s soul. He wore a stumped expression while he searched for an answer in the other blonde’s eyes.

“But he writes so much about you in his diary, he even got some fancy picture of you” he stated finally, his voice all pitchy and whiney as if Usagi just went out his way and told him that the Santa Claus isn’t real and Leo is the one who has been putting all the presents under the Christmas tree. As if the blonde weren’t the one who was the most rattled person in the room. He was flustered too, he needed answers and he needed them now, so naturally he turned to look at Leo. The brunette’s face seemed frozen in shock with pink painted gently on his cheeks and nose, until something seemingly clicked in his head.

“So we’re reading my diary now, huh?” he asked, eyeing his brother like a predator would its prey. He definitely was bugged by the situation. He wanted to be mad, he really did but the big brother in him wouldn’t let him. He let it go, because, c'mon on, sue the little one for being curious about his big brother’s secrets. However he is going to have a talk about privacy with Mikey later on today. The boy was probably just worried about him, but Leo still will make sure he knows it’s not nice to look through other people’s things.

“It was Dee’s idea..” his sibling reveled sheepishly, turning his face down a bit to hide the embarrassment that showed up on his face after he confessed to reading his brother’s private notebook. He might have felt a bit guilty about throwing his twin under the bus too. The only brunette in a room sighed loudly.

“Like Usagi said, we’re not dating, just classmates and currently project buddies” he said patiently, already mentally preparing himself for questions that he knew would surely come. After practically raising not only the twins but Raph as well he knew kids always have many questions, that are just waiting to be asked. For them everything is new and mysterious,so it’s only right that they want to know things. That doesn’t mean that answering their questions is always easy. Leo hoped his project partner was ready for being quizzed as well.

“But why not? He seems nice from what you wrote about him” the little blond the stopped for a second, to gather his thoughts and quickly solve the mystery of what was he going to say. And before Leo could get the chance explain that it’s not easy to get into a relationship with somebody, Orange continued a bit less boldly but just as valiant “at least nicer than your previous boyfriend.. He was mean..” and that had taken Leo aback and at the same time made Usagi join the conversation again.

“What makes you say he was mean?” he asked and the question hung in the air for a while, the atmosphere painfully uncomfortable. Miyamoto knew just how risky and inappropriate of him was to ask a thing like that. He hadn't thought before asking it. He just impulsively did it. He reacted like impulsive kid who acts only basing on his emotions. He hadn’t done anything like that in years. He really wanted to look at Leo and see what he had done. Was he mad? Disgusted with how Usagi acted? Nevertheless he hadn’t even glanced at the brunette in fear of what could he see on his face. He decided to apologize for asking such personal question far too late, as Mikey started speaking again.

“Well.. Raphie saw him hurt Lee one time” he seemed to be determined to say it, to tell the story to somebody, to let it all out of his mind. Usagi found these words odd, he quickly became overwrought. That’s a agitated way to start the description of Leo’s ex. Miyamoto also found himself curious as to what exactly ‘hurt’ meant in this example. There’s a lot of way you can hurt someone and blonde’s mind came up with the worst possible options first. Beating, yelling, having him participate in something illegal or god forbid using him in a sexual way without his consent. It was hard for the storm-eyed to wrap it around his head. This Leo hurt? Usagi once saw him holding a guy by the hair so he could repeatedly hit his head on the lockers just because that asshole was being transphobic to one of the trans girls in school. Maybe it was different when someone you love hurts you? It had to be different when the attacker is someone close to you. Maybe that’s why Leo did get hurt. You never expect that someone dear to you could put a knife in your back.

“And he would yell a lot” Orange adds and Usagi finally searches for any kind of feelings in Leo's face. There's none. The brunette seemed to have dissociated during this conversation. He must be in his own mind, in his own little world. It's not a good world, if the dark look in his eyes is anything to go by. Miyamoto wishes he could get him out of there but the list is not done yet. The little one visibly struggles to find the right words but he eventually continues, his voice completely changed from the one he used in the living room or even when he first walked into Leo’s bedroom. Before it had that cheerful tone in it, a little something that many kids tend to have. Now it was gone, just like the sparkle from the eldest eyes.

“ Oh and he was creepy” and then as if making sure he could say something more he looks up to his older brother. The only thing that made it clear Leo was in fact not a porcelain figurine was his chest slightly moving up and down. Not really seeing what he wanted, the little blonde decided for himself “I didn’t like him..” and the older boy, sitting across from him just stays shocked, a bit frightened even. He wasn’t expecting that. This whole project turned out nothing like he expected. And anytime he dares to think ‘okay that's all, nothing else shocking is going to happen’ it happens. It's like cleaning the whole house and then suddenly discovering it has a whole new floor you need to explore, dust off and mop.

“but Lee broke up with him! So now he’s gone!” Mikey finished, once again gaining brightness in his tone, the shadows of the past no longer in charge of it. Usagi could almost touch the happiness that that sentence revealed, still sitting on the other side of the carpet. Leo seemed to come alive after it was said too. Visibly pushing all of the things he went through behind, to the farthest corner of his mind, ending with a smile on his face. It wasn’t the smile Usagi wanted to see. It wasn’t that smile. But it was a smile nonetheless and the blond will take anything that was given to him.

“Yeah, the mean guy is gone now!” the brunette parroted, the blue streak in his hair shining in the light of sunlight. He hugged his brother closer and Usagi wondered for whose comfort he did that. Even thinking about the past must have brought some of those horrible memories closer to the front of his mind again. He wished he could help but at the same time he knew it wasn’t his place to do so. They weren’t close. Just project buddies as Leo put it. Just classmates. And just classmates don’t comfort each other. Not like Miyamoto would like to do so. Just classmates also probably shouldn’t know as much as he does now, but Usagi hadn’t even dared to think about it.

They went straight to the project after that insane conversation and they worked well for some time, mostly in comfortable silence that was just sometimes disturbed by exchanging an idea. Until someone knocked on the door again. Miyamoto couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed with that, it was bound to happened with so many kids in the house. A little head peeked into the room.

“Sorry to interrupt but Lee can you make me a snack?” the other twin, which Usagi now identified as Donnie, said a bit doubtfully, obviously being ashamed that he has to bother his brother while he was working on something with his friend “I'm hungry.. and Raphie can't make anything as good as you do!" He added as to justify his sudden appearance in the room.

“Usagi?” Leo called to get blonde’s attention and he got it in light-like time. They held an eye contact for a moment until the blue-eyed one smiled and huffed playfully. Usagi hoped this memory will burn itself into his mind really solidly. A quick moment passed before the brunette asked shamefully “um, would you mind?”

“Not, no at all, go for it” his project partner assured, even adding a shy smile at the end of the sentence to make it look more believable. Of course it was whole-heartly genuine, but he knew people tend not to take his words for granted due to his lack of face expressions. Leo nodded his way, then turned to his little brother still pressed into his side.

“Mikey do you want anything?” he consoled the boy, who looked rather nervous, now that his twin was in the room as well. He gawked in the way of the other preteen, curiosity and longing for something that Usagi guessed to be an apology present in his eyes, but Purple seemed to be intentionally ignoring him. Orange pouted a bit and then finally looked at other brother.

“ Yeah..” Leo nodded once again, rapidly looking over Usagi once more before standing up. He takes Mikey‘s hand when he stands up too and then they are all walking, heading out of the bedroom. Miyamoto is not sure what to do with himself, so he just sits still like he was before. He starts to think about what he’s supposed to do till the host of this meeting is back when he hears Orange speak again "Leeeee! You said it yourself! It's not nice to leave your guest all alone in your room, invite him to eat with us!!”

"Oh yeah right Mikey" Leo blushes, thanking whoever’s above them that Usagi is not able to see him now, blushing stupidly while being scolded by his littlest brother. He chuckles softly, knowing the blonde could hear this whole conversation just fine and praises Mikey "good thing you remembered" he also ruffles his head for good measure, which earns him a very offended 'hey!' From the boy. Then he reappears in the room, and smiles at Usagi "you want to join us?"

"If it’s not much trouble" the blonde says, and it’s just his manners speaking. How could he ever refuse an offer like that, when a little kid went out of his way to remind his older brother to behave? Was it possible now to say no, when he had already said yes once? Will he ever regain the ability to simply decline something to the Hamato family? It was weird, to be an outsider and still be so welcome to join and bask in the light of this family.

"I don't think there could even be more trouble than two preteens and a teen" Leo smirks, and it’s like a warning that Miyamoto sees, takes in and still agrees. He stands up too and unites with the brothers right out the door. They slowly go down the stairs, with the twins still mad at each other. The eldest the family doesn’t seem to mind it much, heading to the kitchen, with a quick recipe already picked out in his head.

“Mike, would you mind asking Raph if he wants something to eat too?” he offered when they arrived at their destination, Orange just gushed an acceptance of the task before practically dashing out of the room. Leo then began to stare pointedly at the other twin. “What was your fight about this time?”

As the elder was tying a bright pink apron around his waist, the younger mumbled “nothing” under his breath while also getting Leo eggs from the fridge. There was something domestic about the way they both moved around each other. Usagi was glad he could witness this. Leo took his sweet time answering, whisking eggs in a bowl. “If you say so, I’ll hold your word for it”

Red and Orange showed up in the kitchen just few seconds after that. They got to work right away, falling into routine that Usagi was unfamiliar with. Leo or Blue, as blonde’s mind just jokingly came up with, must have noticed how uneasy he felt just standing there without any task, so after making sure that his classmate wanted to help, politely ordered him to keep a watch on the piece of bread he just put on the pan after dipping them in the egg while he gets on with cutting the fruit previously washed by the twins. Usagi was impressed by their ability to put their fight apart for a sake of sweet little snack.

They all worked like a big well-oiled machine, which couldn’t possibly work with even one piece missing. Miyamoto was adoring every second that he spend helping to cook with this family. Of course he was familiar with cooking itself but it had never felt as good as now. It was almost magical, and Usagi was zealous to feel like that more often.

It wasn’t long before they were all around a table, which was previously set up by Raph, and ate, each one of them with French toast with fruit on their own. The dish was sugary, but Usagi had a bitter-sweet feeling of this all ending soon on his tongue. And it did, as all good things must come to an end.

The three of them went back to Leo’s room right after Raph promised to take of the dishes, just so his overworked older brother wouldn’t have to worry about them too. Where Purple went Usagi didn't know. All the sweetness must have taken a toll on Mikey, as he fell asleep almost right after Leo sat down next to him on the same fluffy carpet.

“You okay?” Leo asked for the what time today Usagi wasn’t even sure anymore. But as for the present Miyamoto wasn’t really aware of many things, having zoned out for yet another time. It’s wasn’t surprising at all that the observant Hamato had finally caught him red handed. “You seem to be out of focus, even made a mistake there” he said, pointing with his hand to a place on paper. And sure enough there was an error there.

“I just.. Overwhelmed by all of this..” There was no way he could hide it now, was there? He did make a mistake and it was a really easy question too, far below his level of understanding. He couldn’t bury his distracted state, so he went with the truth. Everything that happened that day would probably stay in his head for a long time. Randomly appearing through the day, popping up in his mind right before he falls asleep, just so he can spent hours overthinking all of the little details he fought really hard to notice. “Can we maybe continue this some other time?”

“ Yeah, sure, no problem, I think I need to get started on dinner anyways, so whenever you want we can continue this!” the brunette agreed happily. And now when Usagi looked at him he saw that he was tired. Not overwhelmed with all the new informations like he was, because this house, those people it all was just a part of his safe daily routine, but he was tired. Still he wore a smile on his face as he mentioned making dinner. The blonde wonder how did he do this, and how long exactly was he the man of the house?

Quickly, but not in a real hurry they packed up everything, putting the books, papers and pens away. Neither of them spoke but the atmosphere was comfortable anyway. It was quiet, pleasant. Peaceful even. Orange, who slept through all of cleaning up, arouse just in time to make Leo carry him downstairs. He didn’t quite catch what was happening yet.

“So see you tomorrow then?” Leo reassured when his schoolmate was already done putting his shoes on, his hand already reaching for the handle of the door. Usagi took a step back and turned to the black-haired man. He didn’t smile per se, but he made an effort of at least trying to lift up one corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, tomorrow at 3!” he exclaimed once again enjoying how lights reflect on the other’s hair when he nodded. His answer must have shaken the rest of sleep out of Orange’s mind as the boy looked up at him in surprise.

“Is bunny boy leaving already?” little blonde boy mumbled, his tiny hands holding onto his big brother’s pants as he stood by his side. It took a second for Miyamoto to realize that that nickname referred to him. Bunny boy? And from where could that come from?

“Bunny boy?” he repeats, still rattled with the name itself and the fact that he got one. He was utterly honoured to be given one. It felt special. His first very own nickname that wasn’t based on his academic achievements. At least he hoped so. He knew that bunny’s tend to symbolize creativity, so maybe somehow Mikey knew this and tied it to his ability of coming up with various ideas that he showed up a lot while working on the project earlier. Of course that was before he got distracted.

“Well yeah, Usagi means “bunny” in Japanese” the kid replies shortly, smiling like the sun itself. Like he never experienced anything bad in his life. Maybe he hadn’t, maybe by some miracle Leo managed to shield him from all of the bad things taking them all himself instead. The blonde honestly hopes he did protect him, without sacrificing himself. “I know cause Lee teaches us Japanese!” the preteen adds, visibly proud of himself and of his big brother too if the look of ‘he hung the moon and stars’ he just gave Leo is anything to go by. “ So you’re a bunny boy!”

“You know Japanese?” Storm-eyed turns his gaze once again to the man of the house. He can’t really argue with the deduction Orange had, so instead he focused on getting an answer to a new question that just popped up in his mind. Hopefully, that’s a last one of today, otherwise his head mind actually explode with all of the random knowledge he gathered.

“I mean I’m half Japanese, so of course I do” the smirk is back on the troublemaker’s face. He had just made a mind note to change Usagi’s contact name in his phone to ‘Bunny Boy’. That was just hilarious, but also cute. It was the perfect combination of both. He doesn’t even pity himself for not coming up with that nickname. He’s actually glad he didn’t. There’s a high chance that if he had, it would’ve ended up in his dairy at some point and that would lead straight to Mikey calling Usagi that because of him. He can definitely live without that on the list of the embarrassing things that happened today. It’s a long list alright.

“I didn’t know-” the other starts but never gets a chance to finish as there is a newcomer in the room. The resident teenager stands awkwardly in the hall, math-book and a dark notebook in hand with desperation clear in his green shining eyes.

“Leo..” he says, his words barely something more than a whisper. He looks anxious, obviously uncomfortable for bothering his brother and interrupting his friend. When said brother turns to him his gaze softens immediately.

“Hey bud, what is it? Need help with your homework?” the raven-headed asks, turning his voice into something sweet but not too sweet, so he won’t accidently crush his little brothers masculinity. It’s caring. Leo sounds like a parent and Usagi tries his best not to think about the fact that he might have been forced to become one for his brothers.

“Um.. Yes but if you’re busy..” the boy murmurs just as quietly as before. He looks down at his feet, his brown cheeks burning up a little as his bangs cover his face. Leo takes a quick breath before walking up to the boy and putting a hand on his shoulder.

“No, no, it’s okay, we’re done for today anyway, so I’ll help you with that right after dinner” the older soothes, applying a bit of pressure to shorter boy’s shoulder for reassurance and comfort. It must have worked because Raph smiled shyly at him.

“I’ll.. Um will be going now, see ya” Usagi says and to Leo it seemed like he wanted to add something more but he couldn’t quite place what it could have possibly been. Deep inside he wanted the blonde to stay for the dinner as well but he knew that won’t do this time around. Miyamoto was the witness to enough things for one day, he didn’t need ‘dinner with Hamato’s experience' too. It was a good thing Usagi doesn’t gossip.

“See ya!” he answers instead, watching his project buddy walk out the door in the beautiful sunset scenery around him. A nice view for sure. In the end it was a quite productive day as well. And if Usagi spends all of his time on the bus ride home on looking for the Japanese inheritance in all of the pictures that Leo had on published his social media, well no one has to know but him.