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Gentle fingers carded through his hair, a large, warm body curled around his own in the lull of the early morning hours.
“It's okay Aki. I'm going to figure it out,” his mother whispered against his auburn locks, rocking him back and forth, “I've been talking to a divorce lawyer, and I'll get a restraining order too. He won't be able to touch us.”
There was a slight tremble to her voice. Akihiko curled his own arms tighter around her shoulders. He was too old to be cradled like this - he was already thirteen - but right now, the warmth of his mother was more important than that.
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“Yes, it's under my name,” were the first words Akihiko heard upon entering the house. He slipped off his shoes, adjusted his posture to hide the pain in his ribs, and stepped into the kitchen.
“I have pictures. Of mine and my son’s injuries, that should be enough right?”
Akihiko poured himself a glass of water, smiling when he caught his mothers eyes. She gave a small wave back, making an exaggerated kissy face as she listened to the phone.
“Okay, I'll be able to meet with you then. That's perfect. Thank you.”
She placed the phone down on the counter and sighed, running a hand up her face and pushing away the tangled brown hair.
Akihiko hesitated, but his curiosity won out.
“Was that the lawyer?”
His mother smiled. She made her way towards him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her chin on his head. He had always been short.
“Yep! Good news, we get to keep the house. Your dad will be the one finding a new place to stay, not us,” she rocked them both as she spoke, a hopeful lilt to her voice.
Akihiko beamed at the news, “really?”
“Really,” her hands snaked around him, hugging him closer, but inadvertently pressing against the bruise hidden away on his abdomen. Akihiko couldn't hide his wince.
“Aki?”
“N-nothing. Just um… a few boys from school again…”
His mothers smile wobbled and she looked at him with wet eyes, “maybe we should move-”
“No!” Akihiko yelled, startling them both. He looked away, hiding his face in her shirt, “I like Makochi. I want to stay here.”
His mother sighed, a feather light touch in his hair as she spoke, “Okay.”
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It took several more months of secret meetings, hushed conversations and painful beatings, but when the judge ruled full custody, Akihiko felt his tears run free.
His mother held him closer than ever, her own tears streaming down her face.
That night, she made their favourite meal and they ate together on the couch, a cheesy musical playing on the TV. Just the two of them.
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“Sakura-san, that's not a nice thing to say.”
The two toned boy scoffed, kicking a stone in lieu of a response.
Suo laughed beside them, a delicate hand over his mouth, “honesty is the best policy, Nire-kun.”
Akihiko only rolled his eyes, a reluctant smile spreading across his face, “don't encourage him. He needs to learn to stop cussing people out immediately…”
Akihiko trailed off, steps faltering as a man turned the corner ahead of them. His head was ducked low, shoulders hunched like he knew he shouldn't be there. He shouldn't be there. He shouldn't be there-
“Nire-kun?”
Akihiko startled, his narrow focus fading to reveal his two friends looking back at him with concern. Sakura faced forward, eyes narrowing on the crowd ahead of him.
“Is there something there?”
The blonde's words were caught in his throat. The man, that man - his father - walked closer, eyes roaming the shop windows, hands stuffed deep in his pockets.
It was scary how he looked exactly as Akihiko remembered him. His face was still splattered with freckles, the very same one's Akihiko inherited. His shoulders were broad, a large bulky frame that had barged into the boy more times than he could count.
He wanted to leave. He wanted to run back to his mother and hide against her chest, eyes closed tight as she whispered that he was safe now.
Sakura and Suo were calling his name. He could see their mouths moving, but he couldn't hear their voices. Only the heavy footfall managed to breach his eardrums as his father got one step closer, closer, closer.
“Akihiko?”
God, even his voice was the same. All rough edges and hard consonants. Actually no, it was rougher. More raspy. The smell of tobacco gave away why.
Suo stepped in front of him and Akihiko had never been more grateful for his friend's broad shoulders.
“Sorry, do you have business with our friend?” He asked, polite and amicable as ever. But Akihiko could see the way his hands clenched behind his back, his stance just a little wider than usual.
“I need to have a reason to speak with my own son?” His father spat out, the gruff response enough to make Akihiko's breath hitch, memories of burly shouts, cruel words and slamming doors as his mother cried.
“Yeah, looks like you need a pretty damn good reason,” Sakura growled. He'd caught the stuttered breath, the tentative step back. Despite his protests, he was always so considerate.
His father only sneered in response, looking his two friends up and down with poorly disguised disgust. “You should learn some respect. You don't speak to your elders like that-”
“Respect is earned,” Suo cut off, a new edge to his voice.
Akihiko could see his father turning red. He wasn't like Sakura, he didn't turn red when he was embarrassed or flustered. It wasn't endearing. No, his father turned red when he was angry. It rose from beneath his collar until it coloured the tips of his ears.
Despite his pounding heart, his shallow breaths and unsteady legs, Akihiko found himself stepping out from behind Suo.
His father was the same as ever. Same short fuse and narrow eyes. Same furrowed brow and balled fists. But Akihiko had changed. Akihiko was stronger.
“You're not allowed to be near me,” he started quietly. A gentle protest as he found the confidence to meet the man's eyes.
“Who's gonna know?” His father scoffed, leaning his weight back as if they were having a casual chat, “I heard the police are still shit ‘round here. Who are you gonna tell?”
“The lawyer. I have two witnesses,” Akihiko gestured to his two friends who only looked on, bewildered. “You can't just break a restraining order and get away with it-”
“Oh yeah?” His father stepped forward and all of Akihiko's confidence left in one swift moment. His shoulders curled inward as the large figure looked over him.
“Look, I'm not here for you. Where's your mother? I went to the house but she wasn't home. Where does she work now?” He spoke dismissively, as if his son was never even an afterthought.
Akihiko trembled, craning his head to try and see his father's face. He hated how tall he was. Both Akihiko and his mother had always been short and it made it so hard to fight back.
“I-I'm not g-gonna tell you-”
He was cut off by a hand reaching for him. His body moved without him realising, stumbling backwards until he was falling against the pavement, scurrying backwards frantically. His breaths picked up, eyes screwed shut and hands raised above his head.
He waited for the blow, body tense and ready to try and take the pain. His knees protected his torso, ribs already aching at the memory of being shoved into a wall, slammed against the table, punched against the floor…
But the hit never came.
There was a small puff of air, fond and quiet, before Suo's comforting voice spoke up beside him.
“My silly student, what did I tell you about closing your eyes?”
Akihiko blinked slowly, taking in the scene before him. He nearly choked out a laugh at the sight of Sakura's much smaller form pinning his father to the ground, a knee pressed firmly into his back while he twisted his arms in ways they shouldn't be twisted.
Suo offered a careful hand and Akihiko gratefully took it, rising to his feet on trembling knees.
“Restraining order, was it?” Suo hummed aloud, squeezing the blonde's hand before letting go. His hands were clasped behind his back, a sinister smile on his face, “well, our dear Nire-kun is right. You can't just go around breaking those.”
His father shifted, clearly ready to fight back, but one swift kick to the face sent his eyes rolling back. Suo lowered his foot and turned to Sakura, “excellent job.”
“That was nothing. Fighting a toddler would have been harder,” he scoffed, stepping off the unconscious man non-too gently before they both made their way over to Akihiko.
The blonde was at a loss for words. His father, the boogeyman that still lived in the shadows of his bedroom and crept into his nightmares, was out cold, taken down by two teenagers.
Taken down by his friends.
It didn't take much for his eyes to begin stinging, hands quickly moving to wipe at the stray tears as his shoulders hitched.
“T-thank you-” he stuttered. The only feeling he could register was relief. Pure, unfiltered relief.
Suo put a gentle hand on his shoulder and guided the shorter boy against his chest, hiding him from the growing crowd, “let's get him dealt with, and then… how about dinner?”
Akihiko nodded, looking at the two with hopeful eyes, “would you like to come over? S-sleepover… I mean?” He trailed off bashfully, playing with the hem of his jacket.
Crimson fought its way up Sakura's cheeks, mouth open as if he wanted to protest, but instead he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. “Sure.”
Suo laughed, nodding his own agreement.
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Akihiko poured three glasses of barley tea, sliding them across the counter, “sorry we don't have much else.”
“Not at all,” Suo countered, taking a sip before turning to Sakura, “we're grateful for any hospitality, right?”
“Y-yeah,” the youngest mumbled back, gulping down his own drink. “So that lameass was actually your dad?” He then asked curtly.
Suo's single eye widened, clearly not expecting Sakura to breach the topic, but Akihiko only huffed, crossing his arms on the counter.
“I prefer to think of him as a sperm donor.”
Sakura choked on his tea, coughing wildly as he curled over the counter, Akihiko floundered, grabbing a towel to wipe up the mess while Suo patted the two tones boys back.
“Sorry, that was a bit crude-”
“No,” Sakura cut off, and it was only then that the two other boys realised he was laughing, “that's a great way to put it.”
Akihiko stared for a moment, before bursting into his own fit of giggles, Suo soon following after.
It was only the sound of keys in the door that cut them off, a short, older woman bursting into the room frantically.
“Aki?” She called, cradling the blonde's face as soon as she saw him, “he was really- did you actually-” she stumbled over her words, tears welling in her eyes as she checked over her son.
Suo and Sakura both found themselves smiling at the resemblance the two shared.
Akihiko placed his own hands over his mothers, calm and comforting “he didn't do anything. Sakura-san and Suo-san didn't even give him the chance,” he giggled, sounding almost proud.
It was only then that the woman spotted the two other teenagers in her kitchen. She laughed brightly, dusting off her blazer with a smile, “where are my manners? I'm Fuyuko Nirei, I've heard so much about you!”
Suo returns her greeting with his own while Sakura barely manages to stutter out his own name. Fuyuko seems instantly endeared.
“You're staying for dinner? The night? Aki you should give me more warning, I haven't aired out the futon!” She chastised gently, pinching her son's cheek as she set up the rice cooker.
“Well…” Akihiko began, but he quickly shook the idea away, cheeks blushing a soft pink.
Suo smiled at his hesitance and urged him to continue.
“Uh… I- I have. Well, my bed's king size, s-so we could all… we could all fit…” he practically squeaked out the last part, shoulders up to his ears.
Sakura's cheeks took on a blush of their own. He sputtered, hands balling into fists on the counter as a strange grimace made its way onto his face, “if… if it'll make you feel s-safer. Or just, ugh do whatever you want!”
Suo laughed, loud and honest as he patted Sakura's back, “I think that means he'd love to!”
Akihiko allowed a small smile to make its way on his face, fists pumping in the air slightly as excitement coursed through his veins, “g-great!”
Fuyuko looked at the three with a fond smile, shaking her head at their banter. She decided that she liked Suo and Sakura.