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There was something off about Genba. Jou picked up on it early on. He was pretty certain everyone else seemed to have noticed as well. None of them had said anything to Genba while he had been here though.
Genba had only been in the base for a little bit. He had dropped by in the morning to give Taiya something that he had ordered. There was something off about the way he was acting even during that small interaction. And then Genba left again and had yet to come back.
Jou had been glancing at the entrance for a while now, hoping Genba would come back in. That he would be normal again. And yet the time just kept ticking on by. And of course nothing was else happening to even give him something else to do to take his mind off of Genba for a bit.
"You good?" Mira finally asked him about his behavior.
"I... I'm fine. Just... didn't Genba seem... off?" Jou replied.
"He did. Wonder what's up." Mira agreed.
"His family's in town." Ishiro replied, not even looking up from the laptop he was typing away on.
"Why is he acting weird about it?" Mira asked before Jou could.
Ishiro sighed and sent a look over at Taiya. Taiya was sitting, busy working on something with Bundorio, but caught the look. He stood up and looked at Jou and Mira.
"His family isn't very... receptive over his path in life." Taiya said. "He doesn't like seeing them but going no-contact doesn't work when they know where you can be found."
"Can't he just hide and ignore them?" Mira asked.
"He's tried. They just stake-out the town until he shows his face again. Trust me, we have tried pretty much everything legally we can to get them to leave him alone." Ishiro answered.
Jou stood up from where he had been sitting on the couch. "Do you know where he might be?"
"I think the last thing he needs is you showing up." Ishiro commented.
"But..." Jou began to protest, but fell quiet quickly. These two probably knew better than he did what was a good idea and what wasn't.
"They'll probably not be pleased he's dating a guy." Taiya said. "You might make their words even worse to him."
Jou frowned. He just wanted to help. He didn't like the thought that his boyfriend was out there getting harassed by his parents and there was nothing he could do about it. Was there really nothing he was able to do to help?
"Do you know how long he'll be with them for...?" Jou asked instead.
Taiya shrugged. "Unfortunately, we never know. Could be a few hours, could be the entire day. Depends on how much they want to say to him."
"Is there really nothing I can do to help...?"
"Not until they leave, most likely."
Jou sat back down, looking defeated. He was supposed to be protecting people and yet... he couldn't do that? If he tried, he'd just make things worse for Genba? He really didn't like that at all. This wasn't what he wanted.
He sent a text to Genba a little later, telling him to come to his house when he was free. If he couldn't help him right now, he was certainly going to help him after the fact. There was no doubt about that in his mind.
...
Genba hadn't ever responded to his text. It made Jou a little worried. It was evening now. He had been in his house for a while, hoping he'd get word of what was going on. He really didn't like the radio silence from Genba.
Maybe he should've tried to secretly follow him around...?
The doorbell rang. Jou jumped at the sudden noise and then went to answer.
"H-hey..." Genba was on the other side of the door.
He looked rough. Jou stepped back and motioned for him to enter. "Come in."
Genba entered the house. Jou closed the door. Before he could turn around, arms had wrapped around him.
"You okay?" Jou asked.
"Do you want the honest answer?"
"Of course I do."
"I'm not doing well at all."
"Why don't we go sit down then? You want something to drink? Tea? Coffee? Soda?"
"Tea would be nice..."
Genba let go of him. Jou diverted to the kitchen to make some tea for them. Genba sat down on the couch in the living room. He placed his elbows on his knees and then leaned forward and shoved his face into his hands.
Jou frowned and walked over to check on him while he waited for the water to boil. He sat down and placed an arm around Genba's shoulders.
"Want to talk about any of it?" Jou questioned.
"I hate them..." Genba said quietly.
"Have they... always been like this?"
"Yeah. They had my life planned out before I was born and I've never done anything they wanted without a fight."
"They don't like your job?"
"Not in the slightest. I should be something more normal, you know?" Genba let out a bitter laugh. "They insinuated the only way I even make enough from this job is by sleeping with my boss."
"Jeez. That's rude." Jou wasn't sure how to react to what he was learning.
"I'm used to it, as much as I wish I didn't have to be..."
Jou briefly left to go finish the tea now that he heard that the water was ready. He soon returned with two cups and handed one to Genba. Genba thanked him.
"I wish I could've helped more than after the fact..." Jou mumbled. "But Taiya-san it was a bad idea to try anything."
"He's not wrong." Genba agreed. "They... would've taken this pretty badly too. They really were pushing me on why I wasn't settled down with a wife yet."
"Are you an only child?"
"Yeah."
"And there's really nothing they'll accept except what they want?"
"It seems that way."
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what it's been like..."
"You have a good relationship with your parents?" Genba asked.
Jou nodded. "Yeah. They've always been supportive of whatever I wanted to do. Well, within reason."
"Must be nice... having a family that cares..."
Jou frowned. "Hey. You do have a family that cares. I'm here, aren't I? And Taiya-san, and Shiro-senpai, and Mira-senpai too. We're all here."
Genba blinked at him, as if processing for the first time that their little group could be considered a family of sorts.
"Blood isn't everything." Jou continued.
"I..." Genba cracked a small smile. "Right... I do have a family that loves me for me..."
"Exactly." Jou moved closer and kissed him on the cheek. "You have us. You have me."
Genba kissed him on the cheek in reply. "Thank you..."
They sat in silence and just enjoyed the peace. After a little bit, they headed off to bed. To not surprise, they shared the bed for the night.
Jou didn't even think twice before he had pulled Genba into a hug. Genba didn't fight his action and settled down in his embrace.
"I love you." Jou said quietly.
"Love you too..." Genba replied. "Thank you for... this."
"Don't mention it. I'm not leaving my family upset."
Jou couldn't see it, but Genba smiled at being referred to as family.