Chapter Text
Niki was really making a habit of taking in strays.
He was walking down the street - the same street he had found Rinne lying in 2 years ago - carrying their shopping (which was lighter than usual, because Rinne had decided to spend their usual grocery money on his stupid pachinko machines) back to the apartment, when he spotted a sight that gave him deja vu.
On the street laid a small human, their blonde mop of hair covering the face that laid against a small suitcase, completely passed out. They couldn't be much older than 13, Niki reckoned. Somebody so young shouldn't be out there on their own… Niki knew that feeling of loneliness all too well, even if he was used to pretending it never bothered him.
But another mouth to feed meant even less food for him, even if they were making extra money from the small jobs Rinne had been making them take on recently. It just wasn't rational! He just needed to keep on walking!
It appeared Niki was still as much of an idiot as he was 2 years before, because he's dragging the small human and suitcase along with him against his better judgement.
“Niki… I didn't really expect ya to ever bring a girl home, but one that can't even argue ‘bout ya bringing her back, really?”
“I couldn't just leave her, Rinne!”
The disheveled Rinne sighed, patting Niki's head as the pair stared at the blonde heap on their floor.
“I know. You did the right thing, kid. Grab her somethin’ to eat for when she wakes up.”
Niki nodded, hopping over to their too-small-for-his-liking kitchen and rummaging through it.
Rinne, on the other hand, was more cautious of the stranger Niki just brought into their home. At least he didn't have to worry about the kid attacking them - Rinne could probably beat the kid with just his pinky finger. But if anything was to go wrong…
The older man sighed as he began to rummage through the backpack the kid had been found with. He stopped once he found what he was looking for - ID, in the form of a passport.
Rinne flicked the document over to reveal 2 parts of information he didn't expect.
Firstly, the sex listed.
And secondly, the year of birth listed.
…How the hell was this kid a 16-year-old guy!?
As Niki returned with a bowl of leftover curry, the blonde finally began to blink awake, his delicate eyelashes fluttering to reveal big, pale blue eyes underneath.
“Oh! She's waking up!”
Before Rinne had the chance to clarify, the blonde figure shot up, his small body trembling.
“Who the fuck are you guys!? Where the hell am I!?” A voice that was surprisingly harsh for a boy of his size, shrieked.
“Hey, hey! I'm Rinne Amagi, and the boy next to me is Niki Shiina, yeah? We ain't here to hurt ya. You were passed out in the street, so Niki brought ya here, our apartment.”
The boy seemed to calm as he took in his surroundings, realizing he wasn't in any immediate danger.
“Passed out, huh…? I guess I haven't eaten in a while. Or slept.”
The concern in Niki's face grew. He handed the bowl to their unforeseen guest, who turned his nose up at the smell.
“What is that? Curry? I don't eat that crap, it looks like vomit.”
The chef's face fell, dejected. His cooking had been insulted, and wasting food went against Niki's principles!
The blonde seemed unconcerned by the rejection in Niki's face, whereas Rinne felt the opposite.
“Refusing food offered out of kindness would already make ya a huge brat, but refusing food after ya passed out from starvation makes ya stupid as hell, too.”
The boy bristled at Rinne's tone, but he relented, taking the bowl from Niki with a mumbled ‘thanks’ before begrudgingly picking through it.
Rinne slid the passport over to their strange guest (Rinne supposed pest might be a better term, really), pointing to the name.
“Saku Sasaki?”
The blonde whipped his head up in surprise upon hearing his name. His eyes widened as the item came into his view.
“Huh!? Why do you have that??”
“Looking fer information on possibly injured strangers brought into yer home seems like a reasonable thing to do.”
The boy looked conflicted, refusing to speak for a while. Just as Rinne was giving up all hope on a reply and on keeping the rest of his sanity, the blonde spoke up.
“Yeah, that's me.”
Rinne nodded, sighing as he watched the kid - Saku - pick through his meal. Seriously, how ungrateful was the damn brat? If not even Niki’s cooking could get through to him, there must be something seriously wrong with the guy.
Once Saku had finished - in some sense of the word - his curry, he placed the bowl on the floor and stood.
“Thanks for the meal. I’ll be off now!”
…Huh?
“The hell are ya talkin’ about?? Didn’t ya say ya haven’t slept in ages? If ya go out there in yer state, you’ll just pass out again.”
“What do you suppose I do, exactly? Stay at the Amagi and Shiina Hotel? Sorry, I don’t stay in hotels that are any less than 5 stars!”
“You don’t have to be so sarcastic, little brat. We have a perfectly suitable bed ya can use.”
“…Fine.”
The small boy begrudgingly made his way to their bedroom.
That wasn’t the kid’s only attempt to escape, though. After having a nap and a quick shower, he emerged back into their living room.
And damn, the kid was… adorable. It was a simple observation! Rinne knew Niki had noticed it too from the way he looked up from his current meal to stare in awe at the other boy. Saku’s big, blue eyes really stood out without the previous eye bags under them. He had soft, pink cheeks surrounded by blonde hair that framed his face almost angelically. (Although, in Rinne’s opinion, it was no match for Niki’s charming ponytail).
“Okay, I’ll be off now~!”
Saku called as he skipped to the door. His voice was much cheerier than before.
”Hold it. Where exactly is a kid like you gonna stay? Ya never even told us what ya were doing passed out in the street in the first place.”
”Ohh, silly me! See, I wasn’t passed out at all! I just totally love sleeping in the street, it has a super lovely atmosphere, y’know? So I’ll just go back to my concrete mattress, but thanks for the field trip today!”
Rinne sighed, holding back his desire to shake some sense into the kid. Seriously, what was his problem? They hadn’t been anything but kind to him.
…Maybe that was the problem. The kid was just taking advantage of their kindness! Time for a different approach.
“Enough. Knock it off. Tell us what the deal is with ya. You aren’t getting out of here until ya do.”
Saku’s eyes narrowed at the sharp tone of Rinne’s demand, a small pout forming on his pink lips. After a short moment of contemplation, he spoke up in a reluctant voice.
”I ran away from home, okay? Happy now? Threatening a cute boy like me, really Amagi, you’re so cruel!”
A look of surprise flashed across both the boys’ faces as Saku’s words sunk in. Niki's wide eyes peered over at Rinne, a knowing gleam in them, causing the older to shoot a warning glare at the younger. He didn't need this kid knowing his life story.
As Saku seemed to miss the silent hint he was supposed to elaborate, Rinne spoke up again.
“Gonna tell us why?”
“No, thank you!”
“That wasn't optional.”
“But it was a question, was it not?”
Rinne's eyes narrowed. This kid really was insufferable.
“Okay! I told ya, so I'm gonna go now! Bye-bye!”
As Saku turned to leave again, he yelped as he felt a grip on his arm. He expected to turn around and see Rinne's ape strength on him, so his eyes widened in surprise when he spotted the hand was none other than Niki's.
“You can't leave! Not if you've got no place to stay!”
“So, what? You just want me to move into your little brothel here?”
“If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay here. No, you should stay here!”
Rinne watched as Saku’s face seemed to flash something unreadable at the genuineness in Niki's voice. But as quickly as it appeared, the look was gone.
“How do I know you're not just gonna like, murder me in my sleep?”
“Huh!? Why would we do that?? That's illegal, and I really don't want a run-in with the police…”
“So it's really not that? Why do you want me to stay so badly, then?”
“Because if I let you leave when you've got nowhere safe to go, I'll be so worried I won't even be able to eat! And that would be real bad…”
That seemed to appeal to the kid’s emotions. He walked back over and slumped against the couch, defeated.
“Fine. But I need a long-term rental contract here. Apparently, hotels won't let you book a room if you're a minor… So I've got 2 more years to go!”
“That's fine! If I can survive Rinne for 2 years, I'm sure you'll be easy compared to hi– Ow! Not the ponytail, please!”
That was in fact also not Saku’s final escape attempt. He tried to bolt again that night when he believed the other two weren't looking, although it was unclear what had triggered him. Rinne had been the one to make him stay that time, with the softness in his tone taking Saku by surprise.
(Of course they'd allow the boy to leave if he really wanted to, but something about him just seemed like it didn't. He wasn't exactly hard to convince.)
That night, Niki insisted Saku sleep in the bed that had once been his parents with him and Rinne to avoid Saku escaping during the night. He put up a fight he didn't seem to want to win, but eventually, Saku relented and agreed. He spent the night curled up at the bottom of the bed like a nervous kitten.
The pair never did get an explanation for the boy's runaway, but they didn't push him. Rinne figured they'd get an answer one day, when Saku was finally ready to let down his walls for them, whereas Niki was just glad they finally got him to stop attempting his escape acts.
And that’s how Niki ended up with a new stray added to his growing collection. He truly hoped this would be the last, though. His rations could only be spread so far!