Chapter Text
The week had been extremely rough for Miya. Emotions were all over the place and the situation he was in was overwhelming. Recently, his parents have been accused of not being able to care for their child and were being taken to court. Miya was actually not too affected negatively by that. He was sick and tired of being treated as if he was only their child to pay the bills and make them look good. The unfortunate thing about this whole situation was that if he was taken away from them, he would have to live in a foster home. That scared him the most. He didn’t know what he’d do then. All of this took place within a week, not giving Miya enough time to truly process. But he knew he had to keep it in. He didn’t want to burden his friends with his problems.
However, as the days passed and things were getting finalized, he grew more and more anxious and stressed. His parents were upset with him even though he wasn’t the one who called for a social worker to check in on the family. They were constantly fighting with each other and he couldn’t take it anymore. One night, as they were fighting, he grabbed his board and a backpack that held an extra set of clothes, his switch, his cat stuffed animal, and his headphones. His parents were too busy arguing that they hadn’t even realized him leaving through the front door.
Miya threw his board down and hopped on, skating to the place he knew he could calm down and not have to worry about what comes next. But as he skated, he realized S wasn’t open yet, as it was a little bit past 10. He still had two hours before the gates opened. This was just great. Everything was going horrible and he didn’t know what to do. Defeatedly, he made a turn and started skating to the only other place he knew where to get support. It wasn’t his ideal place, but he’d have to deal with it.
As he rode his board down the street, he stopped when he came upon Joe’s restaurant. It had a closed sign on the door and the blinds were closed but he knew the green haired man would still be there. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked in.
“Hey, we’re closed, come back tom- Miya? What are you doing here?” Joe asked. He was cleaning a table but stopped when he saw Miya. He was confused and a bit worried. “You and the others don’t usually meet up here until 11:30.”
Suddenly Cherry came out from the back and looked surprised when he saw the 13 year old boy. It wasn’t unusual that Kaoru met up with Joe before the others came by. But it most definitely was strange for Miya to show up without Reki, Langa, and Shadow.
“I- I needed to get out of the house… My parents are fighting again,” Miya said defeatedly, sitting down at a booth.
“That sounds rough, kid. Wanna talk about it?” Joe asked, walking over to him.
“I don’t wanna bother you with my problems,” He mumbled.
“It is not healthy to keep in emotions,” Carla suddenly announced from where it was charging. Miya would’ve cursed at it if Kojiro and Kaoru weren’t so strict about him using “adult words”.
“Carla’s right, Miya, You can talk to us,” Cherry promised, sitting down next to him in the booth. Miya looked down, not wanting to make eye contact. He felt like he was burdening them with his problems. It was a difficult subject to talk about and he didn’t want them to have to be stressed out with it.
“But what if you guys get stressed out because of me?” Miya asked.
“We won’t. We’re adults, we learn how to deal with stress,” Joe explained, sitting across from the two. With everyone now worrying about him, he really started feeling vulnerable and seeking comfort was very tempting right now.
Miya hugged his backpack to his chest. The two boyfriends were so kind and caring to him, it felt foreign. He never got much love after he came out as trans and started skateboarding. He was certain his parents only let him socially transition because it would get people to talk about him more and then give them more money whenever people wanted to do interviews about it. But he was also scared that he would be in the same situation in a foster home or his caretaker would end up being scared because he was “famous”. He just wanted someone to give him the unconditional love a parent would have for their child.
Miya looked up at the two, who were waiting for him to respond. Finally feeling safe enough, he started to spill his guts out.
“I- My parents are being trialed for child neglect and they keep fighting and telling me it's my fault and I- I just wished they loved me. I don’t have anywhere to go and I don’t know what I'm going to do if I get put in foster care and I’m scared…” Miya’s voice cracked, tears threatening to spill. Kojiro and Kaoru sat in silence, processing this information before Kaoru wrapped his arms around the boy’s small frame and hugged him tightly.
“I’m so sorry that’s happening, dear. No kid should have to go through that. It’s not your fault in any way,” Cherry said, rubbing his back, “is that why you came here? Your parents were fighting?”
Miya nodded and hid his face in Kaoru’s chest, trying to hide the stray tears that fell. He never was held like this before and it was so comforting that he was practically clinging onto Cherry. It just felt so nice to be held and soothed.
Kojiro reached across the table to brush the boy’s hair with his fingers. His hand was so big compared to Miya that the boy felt so small as his fingers weaved through the strands. Being a touch-starved kid, Miya felt overwhelmed with all the comfort and the tears started to become more prominent. He started sniffling and letting out small hiccups.
“Shh, it’s alright, Miya, you can cry, we won’t judge,” Cherry whispered and held him close.
As Miya started to sob, he felt a weight be lifted from his chest. It felt so much better, finally letting himself talk about his troubles and being able to get assurance. He cried for a couple of minutes, letting the week’s worth of anxiety and stress out. However, as he started to calm down, a loud grumble was heard. Miya blushed when they all looked at him.
“When was the last time you ate, kid?” Joe asked. Miya just let out a small whine, refusing to tell.
“Come on, we won’t be mad, dear,” Cherry promised. The boy sighed.
“Last night…” He mumbled. He hated talking about his eating problems. His manager always talked about how much better he’d be if he was skinnier. He’d be lighter on his board and look better for the media. That mindset started to stick with him and he soon got obsessed with managing his diet. His parents noticed that he never ate, they just never cared. If anything, they thought it was better because it meant they didn’t have to buy him food and he’d look more impressionable to the media.
“Oh boy. Let me go get you something to eat,” Joe said, getting up from the table. Miya felt bad. Now he was forcing Joe to make him something.
“M sorry…” Miya mumbled.
“It’s alright, you don’t have to be sorry. All I ask is that you eat something now,” Cherry said, rubbing his back. He nodded and waited patiently for Joe to return.
Within a couple of minutes, Kojiro came back with some garlic bread and a juice box. Miya gulped. There was so much sugar in the juice and oil in the bread. He let out a small whimper as he stared at the food.
“You just need to eat half, it’ll be okay,” Joe told him. Miya took a deep breath, even though it didn’t help at all. He picked up the oily, buttery bread and took a bite. As it went down his stomach, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief. The pains in his stomach felt satisfied. However, that didn’t last long, as guilt took over, telling him he’d get fat if he ate anymore.
“You can do it, Miya,” Cherry encouraged.
Miya didn’t want to disappoint him so he cautiously took a sip of juice and another bite of garlic bread. After a couple more pieces, he actually managed to eat ¾ of the bread!
“Great job, dear, I’m proud of you,” the pink haired skater told him. Miya smiled. It had been so long since he’s heard those 4 words. It felt really nice. However, before he could say anything, he let out a yawn.
“Feeling tired?” Joe asked. The kid looked really sleepy. Miya nodded. He didn’t get much sleep the night before. Plus he was still growing! He needed his sleep.
“I’ll take him to our place. You wait here for the rest of the kids,” Kaoru said, picking up the boy and his skateboard. Luckily, Carla was all charged up.
Cherry rode on his board, Carla while carrying a falling-asleep Miya back to his and Kojiro’s house. He was surprised he could keep himself balanced while carrying so many things. When they got to the small house, Kaoru unlocked the door and walked in. Luckily, they had a guest bedroom for Miya to stay in. It was usually used as a small office for Kaoru but right now, Miya needed it more.
Cherry tucked him into the bed after helping him get his binder off. He thought it was so cute when Miya curled up with the cat plushie he brought. It didn’t feel right, letting him go to foster care. He didn’t deserve to go through that. Kaoru needed to have a conversation with his boyfriend later.
“Sleep well, Miya, we’ll talk in the morning,” He told him before shutting the lights off and closing the door just a little bit. Miya smiled sleepily and soon fell unconscious, exhausted from all the emotions.