Chapter Text
“Is everything okay bud?”
Kenta braced for the response from where he was doing the dishes, Kim’s question hanging in the air as Buddy padded into the kitchen. It was past ten, which wouldn't have worried Kenta too much seeing as his pup had got in last enough last night that both of them had been asleep, it was the way Buddy had looked when Kenta had popped his head into Buddy's room after waking up. His pup had been curled into a ball, looking less coloured than normal.
There was a scrape of the chair against the floor that had Kenta peeking over his shoulder just as Buddy dropped down, his head coming to rest on the kitchen table. “Fine.” came the muffled response.
He met Kim’s gaze, as a pup Buddy would have gladly crawled into Kenta's lap for comfort, but as a teen it was more random. Sometimes he craved comfort, other times he was a moody teen. He didn’t know what to expect whenever Buddy wasn’t his normal sunny self.
“You want some porridge or something?”
The “no” was mumbled, and Kenta felt his heart sink. Buddy liked food, spurred on by Kim after they had escaped Tony, if he wasn't an athlete Kenta wasn't sure what he'd do with his appetite.
Drying his fingers on a rag, he tipped Buddy’s head back, ignoring the grumblings.
“Mmm…fine,” Buddy groaned, face flushed with a faint sheen of sweat.
“No you're not,” he pressed the back of his hand against Buddy's forehead, frowning, “you're warm.”
“No, I'm cold.”
Now Kim was frowning, his eyes tracking Buddy's frame as he slipped back down. Buddy wasn't an enigma with a heightened immune system, but he still rarely got sick.
Kenta ran his fingers through Buddy's hair, taking the lack of a rejection as an okay to continue. Slumped down, half buried in one of Kim's old sweaters, he looked nothing like the fierce racer he'd become.
Kim crossed his arms, a little wrinkle between his brows. “Did you eat something bad last night?” Kim asked.
“Blood.”
Kenta frowned, not because his pup sounded like a hungry vampire, but because of what Buddy was telling them. Buddy rarely used his ability to manipulate blood, never having been forced to use them growing up, they fell by the wayside. Kenta wasn't sure if this was the reason why Buddy reacted negatively to exerting himself. It was such a rare occurrence, the only time Kenta really remembered was he'd been seven and had kept Alan's heart beating after it had stopped.
That was all to say it was rare and usually an extreme circumstance.
He met his mate’s gaze, both of them openly confused. Buddy had been out with team members. If something had happened Buddy should have called or texted or something.
A high pitched whine redirected Kenta's spiralling thoughts. His mint was developing a sharp edge that had Buddy turning away on instincts.
“Sorry,” Kenta soothed, forcing his scent into something comforting.
“Hey,” Kim rubbed Buddy's shoulder, “why don't we get you back to bed? How's that sound?”
“No. Smells bad.”
That was probably Buddy's distressed scent, “How about our bed? Hm? Sound better?”
There was a small noise that both of them took for confirmation. Buddy was more rag-doll than teenager, forcing both of them to try and guide the teen towards their room. Despite now living most of his life as an omega, Kenta still didn’t have a lot of omega instincts, including nest making. Maybe once he would have felt bad about not wanting to make one and depriving his family of an essential part of life, but his boys never complained.
His and Kim’s bed was huge, big enough to allow both pups space to climb in if they wanted to, even as big as they were. Kim had gone a bit nuts with the cozy stuff, pillows, plushies, blankets, weirdly turning the bed into a nest. A haphazard nest, but still a nest.
Buddy flopped face first into the center, rolling towards Kenta’s side. Kenta felt a pang, it was rare to see Buddy like this, and while he always loved having a cuddly pup, he hated seeing them unwell.
“Hey,” Kim ran a hand up Kenta’s back, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple, “why don’t you stay with him today? I can text Alan and tell him Buddy isn’t going to practice. And let Pete know you can't make lunch.”
He would never not be grateful that he got Kim as a mate. That someone this loving and kind looked at him with this kind of love and devotion, and saw Kenta's pups as his own.
Gladly he crawled next to his pup, Buddy easily curling up into his hold. Petting sweaty curls, he waited for Buddy to get comfortable as he kept twisting around.
“...san.”
“What?” Kenta leant down, trying to hear Buddy.
“Where’s nii-san?”
Kenta blinked. Taro was in Japan for work, when he'd left the boys had barely been talking to each other. It was the worst he'd ever seen them fight, even if Babe had rolled his eyes at the proclamation.
“He's in Japan, remember?”
Buddy blinked, his big brown eyes glassy, “ No?”
“Yeah, he has to work.”
Buddy tipped his head into Kenta's side, taking deep breaths of Kenta's scent, “He's supposed to be here.”
“We can call him, I'm sure he'd want to hear from you.”
Buddy made an intelligible noise before his scent faded into sleep, leaving Kenta with his thoughts. He’d have had to use his powers last night but Buddy just wouldn’t. Kenta couldn’t fathom a scenario that would have Buddy using his powers to an extent of falling ill that he wouldn’t also tell him and Kim about it. Laying there, gently running his fingers through Buddy’s hair, he tried not to worry. His pup was beside him and that was all that really mattered.
Time drifted past, Buddy waking slightly only to drift back down with a few puffs of Kenta's scent. Kenta found himself drifting off without anything to keep his focus.
Consciousness came back when the bedroom door slowly opened, Kim popping his head in, with his phone pressed to his ear.
“Kenta’s awake, hold on,” Kim's voice was low, but Kenta knew by the cadence who his mate was talking to.
Expectantly he held out his hand, not even needing to check as he took it.
“Taro.”
“Hi dad,” Taro greeted, as Kim took a seat next to Kenta, “how's Buddy?”
“Better, did Kim tell you?”
He heard his oldest shift around, probably getting back from his office, “Yeah, something about him overusing his powers?”
Kenta made a noise in agreement, “Did he tell you anything?”
“No.” It had been a long shot considering whatever cold war was happening between them, but he hoped maybe Buddy had confided in someone.
There was shifting and Kenta looked down just as Buddy blinked his eyes open, his face still missing pigment but there was more awareness in his eyes, “Dad?” He squinted at the phone, “Who’re’you’talkin’to?”
He tried not to chuckle at the slurring words that reminded him of when Buddy had been first learning to speak, “Taro, he’s checking in on you.”
Buddy reached up with uncoordinated hands, pulling the phone away from Kenta’s ear but not out of his hand. With the coordination of his three year old self he smacked the screen until the icon Kim had set for Taro switched over to a video call.
His oldest was in his Japanese apartment, hair slightly dishevelled, tie gone from his dress shirt with a startled expression.
Buddy squinted, “Where are you?”
Taro frowned, “I’m in Japan for work, don’t you remember? I left a week ago.”
Kenta could almost see the little processing wheel in Buddy’s brain before frowning, “You’re supposed to be here.”
He watched the way that Taro softened, reading what Buddy didn’t say, “I’m sorry I’m not there, but you’ve got Dad and Appa,” Buddy hummed, his eyes already weighing down again. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”
Buddy didn’t look convinced, “You keep leaving.”
If it wasn’t for the vice grip Kim clamped down on Kenta’s arm, Kenta wasn’t sure what his reaction would be. This wasn’t a conversation his pups should have on the phone, one of them being sick, and with both him and Kim right there.
“I have to work.”
Buddy huffed, letting his head drop back into Kenta’s side. On the screen Taro looked stricken, “Buddy, you know I always come back. I’ll be back by the end of the week.”
He stuck his head up, “You promise?”
“Yeah, Buddy I promise.”
Buddy clearly wasn’t fully convinced but he didn’t seem to have the energy to continue whatever all this was. He stared at the screen for another second, before he dropped back into Kenta’s neck, taking a deep breath of mint. It only took another moment for Buddy to drop back into sleep, his coffee scent mild with drowsiness.
“Ugh,” Taro rubbed his face, looking stricken, “I should come back.”
As much as Kenta loved having his pup around, he also knew Buddy wasn’t in any danger and would probably rebound by the morning.
“If he gets worse,” he compromised, “we’ll call you, but he’s okay right now.”
“I know,” he was glad Taro wasn’t home right now because his son’s scent could be overpowering with its chemical edge when distressed, “Why did he even use his powers? He never does, I honestly thought he hated them.”
Kenta hoped his pup didn’t hate a part of himself, but he did have to agree with Taro’s statement. “I don’t know, but we just have to trust that he’ll tell us if something is wrong.”
Taro sighed, “I know,” there was a faint ding of Taro’s phone on the other end, his face doing a complex series of emotions, “Hey dad, appa, I’ve got to go. Keep me posted.”
Kenta barely got a goodbye out before Taro hung up. He turned to look at Kim who was trying not to smile.
“Don’t,” Kenta warned, not wanting to think about who was stealing the attention of his oldest.
Kim shrugged, “He is thirty.”
That made Kenta want to shudder, his pups weren’t supposed to grow up. At least right now he had one curled up in his arms. It killed him that his babies were growing up, a reality he was still coming to terms with. He could still remember them as tiny pups, terrified that everything was going to go wrong and he’d never see them grow up. It had been his worst fear and one now long gone. Now he had two grown pups, ones he got to raise with his mate because Kenta got that.
He got all of it, and more.
He leaned into Kim’s side, the spice washing over his mint. The effect was instantaneous for their pup, Buddy went boneless in Kenta’s hold, sinking into a deeper sleep. He could feel himself drifting off as well, a press against his forehead, “Go to sleep, I’ll be right here.”
***
Buddy woke up warm, not the kind that came from within, but because he was wedged between two bodies that were emanating heat. He pried his eyes apart, sunlight creeping from in between the curtains. On his right his appa’s chest went up and down, on his left his dad, an arm slung around Buddy.
His brain was slowly churning as he tried to figure out why he was in his parents’ bed, feeling like he’d been hit by a truck.
A faint buzzing under his head had him shoving his hand blindly to reveal his phone, a litany of texts lighting up the screen, the most recent from Uncle Alan telling him to take the day off.
Oh yeah.
Underneath Uncle Alan’s text were a few from his brother checking in on him which he swiped away with an annoyed huff. If Taro cared he wouldn’t be in Japan with that weird guy that-
Buddy cut off his thoughts before his scent would sour and wake his parents. After Taro were a few texts from his teammates, and then…
Rider
Dude are you sure you’re okay?
I don’t know what that morons problem was
10:05PM
But you didn’t need to get involved
10:06PM
Not that I even understand what you did
10:08PM
Are you dead???
11:01PM
You’re scaring me, text me back
12:36PM
My dad called Mark, Alan says you’re sick. IDK what happened or if it’s related but text me when you’re awake
07:15AM
The only hearts around him were his parents, even and steady with sleep. They pushed against his own, keeping him grounded as the events from the night before filtered back in. Biting his lip he considered what to respond, he hadn’t meant to use his powers with so much force but it had been that or…
Shutting that thought down (his therapist would be proud) he typed back a simple “Alive” before silencing his phone and turning back into the warm comfort of his dad. His parents were warm and safe, he didn’t have to worry about anything else when right there.