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Ninja Cookie knew he had some unresolved issues with his childhood and his father being… well, himself, but he would never expect to regress like that! Especially in front of his friends! That was so embarrassing!
He avoided the gazes on the street in shame as he walked home. His shoes were much more interesting than being judged.
As he arrived, he unlocked the door, stepping inside. If he was lucky, his dad could be sleeping…
"Ahem," the man cleared his throat, waiting in the living room. Oh no.
"Hello, dad," he greeted, short and sweet.
"Where did you go?" Direct and bitter.
"I—" The teen tried to come up with an excuse, any excuse, but he couldn't. So he decided to tell the truth. "I was at a friend's house."
"You went to someone else's home without my permission and disappeared for several hours, is what I'm hearing?" He crossed his arms.
"Dad, look, it wasn't that far! It was only a ten minute walk from school! And he—" His eyes widened at his slip up, then he tried to fix it. "I trust my friend." Too late.
"Listen here, son," his tone was harsh. "I don't want any homosexuals under my roof, alright?" He spat along with his words. "I want you to grow up to be a man, not some sort of fairy."
"Okay," Ninja nodded along, trying to fight the urge to either cry or fight the man in front of him.
"Got it?" A nod. "That's good. How's school?" He diverted from the topic so easily, it was almost comical if Ninja wasn't terrified right now.
"At least he's not drunk," he thought to himself. It could always be worse. "Been doing good, I got an 8 in Geography and—"
"An eight? That's all?" He mocked him. "I thought I raised you better than this."
"I'm sorry," his voice cracked, but he didn't cry. Boys don't cry. He repeated that every day like a mantra on his head.
A sigh. "Whatever. I'm gonna get a drink," he mumbled as he walked to the kitchen.
With his dad out of sight, Ninja ran to his room and locked the door behind himself. It was frowned upon by his dad to lock his bedroom door, but… he needed some time alone. Especially after what just happened.
Not only that, but he had to search more about this whole regressing thing. He picked up his phone and started browsing. "It's gonna be quick," he told himself.
…It was now 2am and he was giggling as he watched clips of some random cartoon he couldn't pronounce the name of. It was cute and it made him fuzzy, exactly like the day before. Is this what age regressing felt like? Because it wasn't bad!
Obviously, Ninja couldn't do it at school — or in front of his dad — however, he could enjoy the moment for now, under his covers and cuddling a pillow.
As he woke up, he realised he wasn't feeling too well. He was… weirdly anxious, way too anxious for his own good. So that was a problem, because he couldn't leave the house like that. What to do…
Faking the flu to not go to school was a possibility, of course, however, his dad would never believe him. Even when he did have the flu, the man would still force him to go, so that was off the table. Therefore, he had no choice but to go to school in that state. Crap.
Ninja got his backpack and rushed downstairs, avoiding his dad like the plague before leaving the house. Skipping breakfast was bad, he knew that, but he could always go to the cafeteria and eat a snack there. Anything to not spend one more second at home.
He arrived to his class on time, sitting down at his desk and casually greeting his friends.
"Oh, Ninja!" Gingerbrave called. "Are you okay? What happened yesterday?" His tone was full of worry.
"I'm fine," he sighed. "It was just my dad being… my dad," he winced as yesterday's conversation played in the back of his mind.
"Dang, that sucks," Skater said plainly. "At least you're not grounded, so that's good."
"Yeah," Strawberry nodded. "You're here, safe and sound!"
"C'mon, my dad is not a monster," he tried to explain. "He's just a bit strict, is all, I'm used to it," he shrugged.
His friends exchanged a look between themselves. Then, Gingerbrave spoke: "Look, we don't wanna assume anything about your home situation and all, but it's like…" He took a second to organise his thoughts, having to thread carefully about the topic at hand. "We get worried, you know? Because you're our friend!" He smiled genuinely. "So if you ever need our help, just tell us, okay?"
"I don't need help," he hissed, grimacing at the thought of having to reach out for his friends for help. Because that's for the weak, and he's not weak! He likes to think he's pretty tough, actually! "What you saw yesterday was just— I was just—" He tried to justify his slip up, the whole "age regressing" thing.
"Dude, nobody was talking about that," Skater quickly interrupted. "We were talkin' about your dad, not you going all weird and soft."
"Skater—" Strawberry mumbled, wanting to deescalate the situation as soon as possible.
"You guys told him?!" Ninja really didn't mean to raise his tone or lose his cool, but this— this was a secret! They shouldn't have told him!
At this point, all the other students were looking at the group and gossiping about whatever was going on. Some even started to chant "Fight, fight, fight!" under their breaths. The teacher kept going with her explanation, though. She wasn't paid enough to care.
"Oh, so you don't trust me, alright," the boy rolled his eyes. "I thought we were friends!"
"It's nothing personal, Skater, it's just—"
"Gingerbrave, stop defending your boyfriend, for fuck's sake," he snarked, and that single-handed comment, implying that about him, was more than enough for Ninja to snap.
He stood up from his seat.
Everyone froze.
His fists were clenched tight as he trembled. His breath was heavy, laboured. Skater's eyes were blown wide in fear as he was sure he had just signed his own death sentence. Even though Ninja was younger than him by two whole years, he was much stronger. Thus, if he were to fight, he would definitely lose.
Fortunately — for him, at least — there wouldn't be any fights happening.
Because Ninja ran away.
He ran out the door, not knowing where his feet were taking him as tears ran down his face. He felt pathetic, and— and dumb! He was unable to control his emotions, and he hated that! He hated Skater's words, he hated how Gingerbrave and Strawberry tried to act like they cared about him, he hated everything! It sucked!
At some point, when he was finally aware of his surroundings, he was inside a locked stall at the boy's bathroom, sitting on the floor. And oh, he was way too aware now. His clothes itched, and he felt uncomfortable in his own dough and— and—
Why would Skater say those things?!
He took off his bandana, revealing his white icing-hair and pulling on it. It was a bad habit, he was aware, but whenever he was stressed, he did it without much thought behind his actions. If Ninja were to be in a better state of mind, he would stop and think, yeah. He wouldn't let his emotions take over, because that's stupid! And he wasn't supposed to cry! Boys don't cry! And boys certainly don't date boys, so why would Skater taunt him like that? It was wrong! It was—
"Ninja?" Someone called from the other side of the door.
"Go away!" He shouted desperately. As if that would make the other Cookie give up on him...
"What? No, I'm not gonna leave you alone there!" Gingerbrave said. "Look, me and Strawberry already talked to Skater. What he said was obviously not cool, but," he emphasised the last word. "He is our friend, so he has the right to know too, 'cuz, like— imagine if you're both alone and you end up regressing." Ninja whined at the word, the sheer reminder of his weakness. "Who's gonna take care of you?"
"I don't need to be 'taken care of'! I'm fine on my own," he tried defending his imaginary honour, but his voice was clearly shaky. He was lying and they both knew it.
"Ninja…" He frowned, then he thought of a different approach. "Don't you like it, though?"
"What," Ninja blurted out. He didn't like where this was going.
"Like, when we treat you like a kid and all," his voice was soft, careful. "And when we call you nicknames, and explain things to you slowly, and—" He was interrupted by the sound of what was most likely his friend stomping his foot. Then, a defeated whimper. He grinned, happy to see his strategy was working.
"I'm not a kid," he pouted, not even noticing how quickly he was slipping into his younger headspace.
"Aw, it's okay, buddy…" That tone, that stupid tone that threaded carefully between condescending and comforting. He was done for and he knew it. "Come on, let's get out of here," Gingerbrave coaxed.
"Alright," he squeaked, standing up on shaky legs and unlocking the stall door before opening it. What he didn't expect, though, was that there was someone else along with Gingerbrave.
"Hey," Skater's eyes were fixated on the floor, clearly ashamed of his past behaviour. "Gingerbrave explained me this whole regression thing and— like, I gotta be honest? I was judging, 'cuz it seemed strange and all but— but I think there's no reason for me to be mean about it, you know?" He explained his point of view. "Like, it's helping you, and—" He moved his hands vaguely. "It's not harming anyone, so who am I to judge, man?" He forced an awkward grin. "This sounds so bad, but I— I guess I got jealous, to be honest," he finally admitted, both to himself and to Ninja. "Not like— like— you know, I—" He stammered all over his sentence.
Gingerbrave patted his shoulder. "Relax, you got this."
"Okay, okay," he took a deep breath before— "I'm also like you."
"Oh?" He mouthed, then tilted his head.
"Like, a little. I'm a little too," he mumbled, but it was still audible for the two other boys. "That's the whole reason why I was mad, I guess. I'm sorry 'bout that."
"Ah." Ninja took a moment to process all that was said, but when he did, his eyes lit up. "Friend…" He pointed weakly at Skater, unsure.
"Yeah! I'm your friend," he smiled genuinely. "Hope you can forgive me for all that, legit, like—"
"Friend!" Ninja beamed, wrapping his arms around Skater. Usually, he wasn't one to be too touchy with his friends, but he was so happy right now to meet someone like him! "Is' okay," he muttered.
"Good, that's good!" He welcomed the hug, reciprocating it.
"Aww, that's adorable," Gingerbrave cooed at the scene. He was glad this whole conflict got resolved.
Their cute moment, however, was quickly interrupted by the sound of a toilet being flushed. Then, Devil Cookie left the neighbouring stall. They looked at the three cookies with a grimace, said something along the lines of "buncha weirdos" under their breath, and left the bathroom.
"…Sure, whatever," Gingerbrave shrugged. "Let's get back to class!"
"Wait, what time is it…?" Skater questioned.
Ironically enough, just as he asked that, the school bell rang. Ninja jumped at the sudden noise, and Skater held him tighter by instinct.
"Shhh, it's okay…" He soothed the little.
Gingerbrave hummed in agreement. "We gotta go home," he reminded them.
"Noooooo," he wailed dramatically. "Don't wanna…"
For a moment, the boy thought to ask why, but…
His dad.
That was a problem, he could complain and procrastinate all he wanted to go home, yet he had no choice. That was bad. Very bad.
"I'm sorry, lil' guy…" He comforted him, or at least tried to. "Do you want us to walk with you?"
Ninja nodded slowly, letting go of Skater. "Bag," he mumbled.
"Your backpack?" Another nod. "Sure, let's go there."
They quickly retrieved the backpack from the empty classroom — save for a janitor — and headed to Ninja's house. It took a bit to walk there, but as they got there, Skater and Gingerbrave bid their farewells before letting Ninja deal with his own father.
Little did they know, though, is that his dad was watching the scene from his bedroom's window.