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Wind ripped past him, pushing against his body as the engine revved underneath him. Powerful and dangerous, every bump felt through his body, as he raced down the track. It all fuelled the adrenaline crashing through his veins.
The final corner raced towards him, the bike leaned low to make it. The ground rushed up to him, a part of his brain screamed that he was going to crash but he ignored it.
Coming to the finish line he couldn't help but do a little trick, just for the fun of it.
As he pulled his helmet off, the fresh air a relief against his sweat slick face, he heard a voice call out, “And the crowd goes wild!”
Buddy snorted, climbing off the bike as Martin gave him a slow clap. The track was empty of everyone except them, a rare practice day that he’d intended to take advantage of. His cousin had decided to tag along after he learned Buddy was going alone. He was sitting on the steps leading down to the track .
“Congrats you shaved a minute off your last time.”
Buddy sighed, dropping down next to his cousin, “But not off my best time.”
Martin chuckled, “You'd need to go a lot faster than that and you promised Uncle Alan you weren't going to do anything risky if he let you in without supervision.”
“I have supervision, I have you.”
Martin snorted, “Yeah, sure. We both know that wouldn’t fly with Uncle Kenta.” He turned back to his laptop, “Have you seen all the coverage the finals is getting?”
“You know I don’t read those things.”
Unsurprisingly Buddy, like a number of the X-Hunter pups (as they were collectively referred to), had got into racing. Appa had been dedicated to trying to at least get one of them interested and while Taro was fine watching or even occasionally racing, he didn't end up being a professional racer. Buddy on the other hand, had dived in head first. He loved the adrenaline rush that came with it, the power he felt on the track, the triumph of winning.
The thing was, Appa had wanted him to race cars and Buddy in a moment of teenage rebellion had decided to race bikes. Uncle Babe had a few super bikes, and when Buddy had definitely been too young to be on one had managed to convince Uncle Babe to take him out on one of them. He’d been hooked despite Uncle Babe refusing to even go that fast. The second he’d been able to obtain his motorcycle license he’d started racing. At seventeen he was one of the youngest racers in the junior league.
“It’s all good press. You’re one of the favourites.” Martin drew out the last word into annoyance, “this one is actually pretty good.”
Buddy rolled his eyes, Martin was determined to become a driver for X-Hunter but was still too young to do anything more than karting. Martin drove with Uncle Way a lot, and once he was legally allowed to drive, there would be no stopping him. Until then Buddy had to deal with his cousin being overly invested in his own career.
“Alright,” he leaned against his bent knees, “tell me.”
“As the Junior Cup Championship race draws closer, it's time to take note of the racers battling for first place. Of course all attention is on Rider from Team Da(image)-” Buddy rolled his eyes, Rider was two years older than him and a pain in his ass. Buddy wasn't quick to anger but Rider always managed to get under his skin, “-but this year we have a newcomer coming for the title. Buddy Kim took second place at his last race, and has continuously held the podium since he burst onto the scene. The rookie racer of X-Hunter fame, is also the son of Minsiu Kim, one of X-Hunter’s elite racers. If anyone can come for Rider’s crown, could it be Buddy?” Martin looked up, “and then it goes into some of the other racers but we don't care about that.”
Buddy laughed, “Don't be mean to my competition.”
“They're the ones who aren't doing anything noteworthy. And anyway the point,” Martin popped the t, “is that you are son of Minsiu Kim.”
Buddy couldn't stop the smile, of course he knew what Martin had wanted him to hear. Since Buddy had started racing, and even before then when Appa had still raced, reporters had always called him and Taro either Appa’s stepson or his “mate’s children”. Being called Appa’s son without that stupid asterisk, it made Buddy stupidly happy.
Martin was the same way, whenever someone referred to him as Uncle Way's stepson he always bristled. Especially considering Martin’s two younger siblings were biologically Uncle Way's. He knew his cousin was going to need to get that under control before he started racing.
“How do you think you and Taro would have handled Uncle Kenta having a pup with Uncle Kim?”
He looked over at his cousin wondering not for the first time if he had somehow managed to inherit mind reading. When Martin just cocked his head to the side Buddy let that thought go.
He shrugged, “I dunno. Probably fine, I mean Taro already went through it with me so I can't imagine he'd react all that poorly. I probably wouldn't have liked the idea of sharing my brother.”
“But not your parents?”
“Nah, Appa always treated us like our own,” he thought for a second, “would have been weird to have a non-traumatized sibling though.”
Martin gaped at him, “Seriously?”
Buddy couldn't stop the grin, it was a true statement. Even though it had been almost a decade and a half since their grandfather had been brought down, the damage still lingered. Buddy may have been four when they escaped, but the scars had run deep. His anxiety had spiked when he’d got older, his therapist had told them it could be because he was now Taro’s age when things had gone sideways. Some part of him just cracked open.
He and Taro still had wickedly bad separation anxiety. They'd moved out of Alan's add-on when Buddy had been eight, somewhere where he and Taro got their own room, but even then it wasn't uncommon for one of them to end up in their parents bed at least once a week because of nightmares. Taro had gone to a local university that allowed him to live at home because he still didn't like being separated from their family.
As a teenager he should have been seeking out independence but he was still incredibly clingy. When Taro had decided to move out, Buddy had ended up in a full blown panic attack. The fear that his brother was abandoning him had torn open old scars that Taro hadn't even brought up the subject for months afterwards. Now Buddy usually spent at least two nights a week at his brother’s place, allowing his parents some much needed privacy.
“I mean, the whole pack is kind of like that,” Except maybe for Martin who had been young enough and protected by Uncle Pete’s quick actions. He tilted his head, “why did you ask?”
Martin shrugged, while it was rare for Martin to feel insecure about his place in his family unit, Buddy knew insecurities weren’t rational. Though Buddy also knew it was easier to speak from the outside looking in, Uncle Way adored Martin. Even though he had two of his own pups, Martin would always be his first born. But, again, insecurities were never rational, and Buddy definitely couldn’t judge.
“Do you remember when Uncle North convinced Uncle Winner that Uncle Way secretly had you during the racing season?”
Martin weakly chuckled, “I don't think Mama ever actually managed to set him straight.”
“I mean you do look a lot like Uncle Way.”
Martin gave him an unconvinced look but Buddy knew he was right. When Martin had been a kid he looked like Uncle Pete had cloned himself but he'd changed as he got older. He never took on Uncle Pete's bulk, retaining a frame similar to Uncle Way's. With his hair grown out and the styling of his clothes he looked more like Uncle Way's kid, especially when he got upset. No genetic test was needed because no one would be able to deny who raised Martin.
“Speaking of convincing pack mates of parentage,” Buddy groaned at Martin's grin, “remember when everyone was convinced you were somehow Uncle Babe's.”
“Ugh, don't remind me.” He dropped his head in between his knees as Martin laughed. It'd been a whole thing, they'd found a list of all the enigmas and special alphas that Tony had kept track of. Someone had realised one of the names could be Buddy's other biological parent and it had become a whole thing when someone had pointed out that Uncle Babe's name had been on the list. Buddy wasn't even sure why Uncle Babe had been signalled out, half the pack was on the list. Buddy didn't even look like Uncle Babe!
It had taken Appa shutting the whole thing down after he realized it had been starting to upset both him and Dad. Buddy wasn’t even sure what bothered Dad more, that he didn’t know who Buddy’s other parent was, or that there was a possibility it had been Uncle Babe.
“Do you ever wonder who your other parent was?”
“God no,” Buddy had never cared, Appa had always been his other parent. That was never going to change.
“What about P’Taro? It's weird that Uncle Kenta doesn't know either of your other parent.”
Buddy had to fake a cough to hide his reaction. He'd known since he was ten who Taro's other parent was, it was painfully obvious. The only reason no one else had probably not figured it out was because Taro looked so much like Dad.
There was a curl to Taro's scent that smelled like the undercurrent of Uncle Pete's. Buddy thought most people couldn't put two and two together was because Taro had turned out as an alpha and all of Uncle Pete's kids had turned out to be enigmas.
“Swallowed my spit.” He went for his water bottle when Martin gave him a raised brow. If Dad wasn't going to say anything then Buddy sure as hell wasn’t going to. Honestly he wasn't sure how Taro would handle the truth, it had taken years for him to fully accept that Appa saw him as his own. Sometimes Buddy got the sense Taro still didn't believe Appa. He didn’t want to risk setting his brother off, even if it wouldn’t change anything. They had Dad and Appa and that was all they needed.
They lapsed into silence, Martin doing whatever on his computer and Buddy just enjoying the silence. He loved his pack but they were so goddamn loud. No matter how old the pack members got, it never did anything to their volume. Buddy was usually fine with it but he was still his Dad's kid, he needed some silence.
“Oh Stop-Light did a little piece on you.” And there went the silence. He tilted his head to the side with a groan.
Stop-Light was one of those online-only news articles that specifically focused on the racing scene. The only reason he didn't particularly like them was how much they went on and on about Rider, praising him for breathing.
Martin chuckled, “It looks good I promise. Mainly just pictures from the socials. If you hate it just tell Uncle Sonic and he'll get them to pull it.”
That was true. Uncle Sonic and Uncle North were great with PR and helped Buddy a lot with the public image of his career. Despite their antics, they were incredibly reliable in making X-Hunter look good and we're just as fiercely protective of all the pups as the rest of the pack.
“What did they say?”
“Fluff mainly, your stats, a little bio. A lot about Uncle Kim-”
“Don't make that sound like a bad thing,” Buddy liked being compared to Appa, “Don't forget when you get racing everyone will be comparing you to Uncle Way. Even worse than me because Uncle Way was an original X-Hunter racer.”
“Whatever.” Martin grumbled.
“Let me see the pictures.”
Martin handed over his laptop to let Buddy click through. There were about twenty or so, and like Martin said most from the official X-Hunter page. Him racing or going over strategy with Uncle Alan, one with Uncle Jeff helping him work on his bike. He liked that they included the one from his first win, Buddy had just pulled his helmet off when Appa had scooped him up into a bone crushing hug. Buddy had clearly inherited his dad's height, putting him above both Appa and Taro. That rarely stopped Appa from lifting him up. That photo was a particular favourite.
There was a shot of him, Taro, and Dad cheering for Appa from a couple years ago. Like all professional athletes, retirement came earlier in life than the average person. When Appa had retired, Buddy had been a bit bummed out but it had allowed Appa more time with them. Most of the previous X-Hunter drivers now either helped train the newer drivers or helped with the charity that Uncle Pete had founded to help kids in bad situations build skills for the future.
Buddy absently reached for his neck, pulling out his necklace to fiddle with as he looked through the pictures. There was a great shot of him and Dad that must have been pulled from Appa’s social media.
“You still wear that?”
“Huh?”
Martin just gave him a look and gestured down to the necklace.
“Of course, it's a good luck charm.”
“Really helps the whole cool racer persona.” Martin sarcastically replied.
“You're just jealous.” He mocked back.
The necklace in question was one Uncle Sonic had made for him years ago, maybe his fourteenth birthday? When Buddy had been four he had hidden a bunch of pink Lego frogs around Uncle Alan's house and the garage, for years afterwards Uncle Sonic and Uncle North would buy those frogs in bulk and scatter them everywhere. There was a bucket in the garage just filled with thousands of those little suckers. Buddy still couldn't live it down.
What he couldn't remembered was sticking one in the pocket of Appa’s racing suit. That race had been one of Appa’s best and when Appa had found it afterwards, he’d declared it a good luck charm, refusing to race without it. After retiring he'd asked Uncle Sonic to turn it into something for Buddy. The result was a looser style choker, pink, purple, and blue beads with the little frog acting as the pendant. Buddy adored it and refused to race without it. It wasn't even like Buddy only wore the monochrome colours his family preferred, he enjoyed having colour in his wardrobe so the necklace didn't even stand out that much.
Martin rolled his eyes, “Whatever.”
“Here take this back,” he handed over the laptop and flopped onto his back, “so tired.”
Martin huffed with an Uncle Way looking eye roll but went back to whatever he had been doing. At some point he'd need to get up and change, bring his bike into the garage, but he just wanted five minutes to rest.
Sometimes Buddy struggled to remember life before he joined X-Hunter, even though the trauma still haunted him. He knew the rest of his family had gone through hell but Buddy had practically been a baby. Martin was even worse, he swore he couldn't remember not having his Mama in his life. He knew if they stayed his life would have been horrible, he’d only used his special ability less than a handful of times since then (they’d learned that he could keep a heart pumping during heart failure…not something he wished he knew all things considered), and still hated the feeling of them. As a member of X-Hunter he never had to be the little kid with the creepy powers. His brother didn’t have to be the monster his grandfather was raising him to be. His Dad didn’t have to be a weapon. They still had scars that ran deep but they no longer bleed.
Buddy didn't wish ill on anyone but he was really glad his grandfather was dead.
Shaking his head of the dark thoughts, he pulled his phone out and checked through his feeds. A little bored, he opened his camera and snapped a shot of him and Martin, quickly uploading it to his story. When Martin's phone pinged with the notification, he shot Buddy a no-heat glare but did repost it to his own story.
The silence continued and at some point Buddy found himself beginning to drift.
“Buddy!” He groaned as he twisted to see Appa walking over.
“Hi Appa,” he pulled himself up, “is my time up?”
“It is if you actually want to get ready for dinner.”
It was pack dinner tonight and Buddy would need time to properly get ready. It was why Uncle Alan had allowed him full use of the track, everyone else was busy.
Appa came right up to them, “Hey Martin, do you need a ride home?”
“No thanks, Mama and Papa are on the way. Apparently Uncle North wants to rearrange for the pack nest again.”
Buddy groaned, “Ugh.”
Appa chuckled, ruffling his hair, “Don't complain like you don't have your best sleep in his nests.”
“They're just so big now.”
“Kid, they were big when we first joined. Now go get your bike or else you won't have time to get ready.”
“I should probably go wait for my parents,” Martin shoved his laptop back into his bag, standing up, “I'll see you both tonight.”
Buddy gave a wave, “See you.”
Appa also ruffled Martin's hair as he walked by. “Okay, go get your bike or else I'm leaving without you.”
Buddy called his bluff, “You wouldn't do that.” But he did run down to the track to get his baby. In his hand his phone buzzed.
Rider_Driver has replied to your story.
Cute
He glared at the response, shoving his phone back into his pocket. Asshole.