Summary: Sanji gets a call from the office after his son Quin gets into a fight at school.
Quin Facts:
They named their son Quin after Zoro's dead step-sister Kuina.
Sanji is the biological father, after some really shitty romantic shit went down where some things were said which Zoro still likes to pretend he never said.
Quin learned both martial arts from his fathers but is obsessed with MMA after going to one of Uncle Luffy's national matches.
Time period: Fifteen year old Quin.
Sanji paused before the maple panelled door, with its bubble marred windows leaving him invisible to the occupants inside, hand hovering over the rustic knob as he gave himself a small ounce of patience to deal with what was no doubt in store. This was hardly Sanji's first time having to walk into this room and deal the misbehaviour that caused him to have to be present. There had been fights with fellow students, smoking in the boy's washroom, and even messing around with a girl in the janitor's closet.
The behaviour wasn't exactly instilling Sanji's motivation to come back to the office, nor have to dish out repercussions in return for such obnoxious behaviour – behaviour that Zoro would jokingly point out he got from Sanji – but even his husband's jest couldn't stop the fact that Sanji felt morally obligated to doing right by this kid. Sure the boy was mimicking much of Sanji's childhood, but the blond finally understood that age old parental instinct where you didn't want your own kids to go through your mistakes.
Letting out a small sigh in preparation he placed his hand on the door knob, opened the portal and was faced with two heads turning to look up at him. The principal – Mr. Smoker – gruffly glaring Sanji down as he no doubt was as unhappy to see Sanji back here as Sanji was to see him. The other head belonged to his son – Quin – his sandy blond hair a complete mess as a bloody and dirt marked face looked up at Sanji in defiance and slight trepidation. Much like his father would look at Sanji, but still enough of a child to have Sanji's presence strike fear within him.
Slouching in one of the office chairs, Quin acted like he owned the damned place – though from the amount of time he spent in here it was beginning to look that way. Butt nearly hanging off the seat as he leaned so low in his chair, his long, gangly legs were bent in front of him; his skinny jeans ripped and torn and were resembling more of a mud puddle than a jean blue. Arms crossed over his chest he covered the logo of their family's dojo that was on his shirt as he turned his head away from Sanji just as fast as it had turned to face him.
Refraining from sighing in front of the boy Sanji made his way over and took the chair directly beside his son, facing Smoker and allowing Quin his moment to sulk immaturely. Sanji could give the kid one thing, he may have Sanji's looks but he was all Zoro's attitude; a quite, brooding little shit.
"Thank you for coming, Mr. Roronoa."
Sanji finally released his sigh, "Let's cut to the chase; what'd he do this time?"
"Oi!" Quin started up in defiance, sentence coming to a screeching halt as Sanji sent the kid a single glare before facing the principal again. It was one nice thing that Sanji could do to Quin that he could only occasionally do to Zoro, though at the rate the boy was mimicking his fathers habits; it wouldn't belong before that stare would be useless.
"Another fight." Smoker drawled in annoyance, "Decided to pick a fight with some seniors and hospitalize two of them."
Letting out a soft groan Sanji placed a hand to his forehead, pressing at his temples wearily as he could already predict the oncoming migraine. The last time Quin had sent some kids to the hospital it had ended up being the most awkward thing ever to deal with the PTA and go to school gatherings where he ran into the other parents. How were you even supposed to apologize for it?
"They were asking for it." Quin muttered grumpily, classic defensive response as the child petulantly tried to make his argument seem somehow valid. Though Zoro and him had taught their son well Sanji was beginning to question if maybe he was putting to much faith into the kid and he was just being a rebellious little shit... Much like Sanji had been.
"Oh, really?" Smoker inclined sarcastically, "And yet you still refused to tell me what they were goading you about."
Sanji could see the look in the kid's eyes, it was the same one Zoro had that breathed, 'Fuck you.' with all the maliciousness he could muster, but thankfully the boy remained silent. Turning away completely he seemed to be done with the principal altogether. Another good trait from Zoro; the kid knew when to hold his tongue.
Abandoning Quin, Smoker turned to Sanji directly, "I can not tolerate this violent behaviour, I understand you and your husband's profession but this is highly irresponsible. He claims it was in self-defence, but will give no evidence to prove otherwise; and let's not forget the massive amount of belligerent behaviour he has been showing lately."
Eyes flicking over to his son, Quin only huffed quietly, continuing to stare out the window in his silent rage as Sanji turned back to Smoker, "We raised him well; his grades are good, he has good morals, none of his fights to date have been unjustified."
"That's not the point." Smoker growled, "We want students to use words, deal with their problems by talking."
"He's a kid." Sanji defended hotly, "That's how kids deal with shit."
"So you're condoning this behaviour?" Smoker raised a brow in interest, twisting the words around on Sanji and making the blond have to take a moment to reel in his rage and not act out inappropriately. He could hardly condone his son's behaviour if he himself acted like a raging idiot, but his visits with Smoker made him less and less patient with the professor.
"Not in the slightest." Sanji countered, "I'm just saying I think there's something else behind it all. Quin wouldn't just start a fight for no reason."
"Really?" Smoker drawled in obvious disbelief, eyes shifting the boy before grumbling, "So, what's it to be kid? Was there a justified reason for breaking that boy's arm?"
Quin's shoulders began to raised defensively, eyes shifting back and forth between Sanji and Smoker as he seemed to become more and more uncomfortable with the situation. Finally shoving himself from his seat as he uttered, "I'm going to wait outside."
Striding from the office with his jeans awkwardly hanging from around his hips Sanji refrained from yelling at the boy to get a belt and instead waited until his son had closed the door behind himself – albeit unnecessarily hard – before turning back to Smoker with a falsely improvised apologetic look, "I'll talk to him."
~X~
The car ride was eerily silent as the radio remained off in almost useless punishment, but Sanji refused to talk to the boy while driving. It would be easier to wait until they were home and then he could actually looked his son in the face, and also not risk getting them into a crash. Quin for his part seemed content with the silence as he still had his brow set in an angry frown, arms crossed as he glared out the window.
Sanji couldn't fathom at the moment what was pissing the boy off so much, but he had a feeling that it was a slowly building problem. His recent rise in delinquency had gone from simple to boyish behaviour to out right channelled frustration. It was clear that his sudden rise in misbehaving was caused from something, Sanji just hadn't realized it had gotten so out of hand that it lead Quin to want to hurt somebody else.
When they arrived home it became clear that Quin was desperate to make a bee line for his room and avoid Sanji altogether, and a part of Sanji wanted to allow the kid the privilege. Certainly it would be easier to talk to the kid when they were both a bit more level headed, but he knew his parental obligation was to immediately follow through on the repercussions of Quin's unacceptable behaviour.
Damn, but he hated being the one having to lay down the law, Zoro was just lucky he was busy teaching a class.
"Quin." Sanji started quietly as the boy struggled with kicking off his shoes before entering the house.
"What?" Quin grumbled out quietly as he kicked off his other shoe somewhat violently before storming into the living room, Sanji silently following behind his son as he mulled over exactly how to handle the situation. Though it was simple enough what he had to find out, he couldn't understand why the boy hadn't just explained to Mr. Smoker what the problem was.
If it was indeed something that Quin didn't feel like sharing with a teacher than it must've have been a fairly big issue. Letting out a small sigh he asked heavily, trying to keep any traces of disappointment from lacing into his words. Knowing that any hint of disapproval would immediately set the boy on the offensive, "Why'd you beat up those kids?"
The internal struggle was obvious on the kid's face, a mixture of humiliated embarrassment and tightly coiled anger as his hands were already curling into fists. A sick feeling of trepidation began to settled into his stomach as Sanji began to realize what was probably bothering his son. There were very few things that could rile the boy up, but it seemed like the only logical explanation for Quin lashing out without thinking.
"They were making fun of you and dad." Quin finally bit out, shoulders tensing as he seemed to be riling himself up over the whole ordeal again, obviously remembering the fight as he noted the shake to the boy's fists. "They called you fags so I beat the shit out of them."
Sanji couldn't even form words behind the pained understanding that swept through him at that moment, wanting nothing more than to pull his son into a swift hug. It had happened a lot to Quin when he had been younger – especially in elementary school where the kids would be confused by why he had two dads. He still remembered when the boy got off the bus one day and looked up at Sanji, chubby cheeks caked with mud and food from his day at school, eyes wide and curious as he asked fearfully, "Is there something wrong with us?"
Sanji had never been ashamed of what he was, frankly he was the mouthy one that would have Zoro holding him back as he would yell obscenities at anyone whom said smack to him. If Zoro wasn't around he was usually the one up in the discriminative asshole's face threatening to break his face in... But it still hurt unbelievably to see his son getting hurt and bullied over something that had nothing to do with him.
Quin had always been strong enough not to cry over the bullying, but it hadn't stopped Sanji from holding the boy close in a hug as he had murmured ridiculous things into the child's hair. Telling him over that there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, that the other kids were just confused and didn't understand; stressing to Quin how there was nothing to be ashamed of.
For some reason it hurt a million times more to have his sexuality taken out on his son than having it directed at himself.
"Quin." Sanji breathed out quietly, trying to not let the kid know how upset he actually was over the whole ordeal, "There's nothing to be ashamed of."
"I KNOW THAT!" Quin shouted back angrily, face contorting as the edges of his blue eyes were beginning to shine from the tears he was fighting against. The boy so rarely cried it was startling to see how torn up the boy was really getting over all of this.
"I-" He choked out quietly before continuing, "I have the coolest parents in the fucking world. I remember bragging to other kids about how my dad was a professional sword fighter. Everyone talked about how their parents were firefighters, or doctors, or nurses and I got to say my Dad's taught martial arts. And – and then..."
Quin seemed unable to continue as his words were becoming so broken as he struggled to keep the sadness from leaking into his voice, though his throat was already cracking under the stress. But even as he was slowly breaking down he remained standing tall and rigid, seemingly trying to force his tears to stop while also trying to continue talking.
"It doesn't matter." Sanji urged sternly, "Whatever those people say you have to just ignore it. It doesn't matter what they thin-"
"I'M SICK OF IT!" Quin shouted over top, keeping his stance firm as he roughly wiped aside the few tears that had managed to leak free from his eyes, "I'm tired of keeping my mouth shut when people make rude comments. I'm tired of not saying anything when half the fucking school make gay jokes and don't think it's wrong. I'm so fucking tired of not doing anything when people make fun of my parents when they are literally the coolest people I know!"
"Quin..."
Sniffling loudly, Quin drew the back of his hand across his nose to wipe away the stray snot as he continued, "I did like you and Dad taught me and I've never done anything to them! But they cornered me during break between classes..."
Sanji felt utterly useless as he watched his son cry in front of him, knowing that any motion to hug or calm the boy would just lead to the teen lashing out hysterically. So he remained frozen to the spot, watching as the most precious thing in the world to him was being hurt and there was nothing he could do about it. It was clear that right now no matter what he said or did it couldn't erase the words and actions that were thrown upon him by the kids at school. And nothing was more cruel than watching your own kid suffer and be unable to help.
"Those assholes started calling you guys fags and stole my pack." Quin screamed, blue eyes brimming with tears as he shook lightly, "So I snapped and beat the shit out of them!"
Sanji was honestly at a loss from words, he didn't know how he was supposed to say anything aside from the fact that he probably wouldn't have done any different. It scared him because usually he was the level headed one when dealing with Quin – Zoro was amazing but he usually failed in the verbal consolation department – Sanji had always known the right thing to say to calm Quin down. But now here they were – same as it had been ten years ago – and yet this time Sanji couldn't find the words to make it better.
Before Sanji could even begin to try and find the words that were paining him so, Quin was already stalking away angrily wiping at his face in embarrassment, clearly not happy with showing his tears as he grunted, "I'll be in my room."
~X~
The house was oddly silent when Zoro arrived home from work, no music blasting from Quin's room nor the television playing some show from the living room. Only sign of life within the house was the lights on in some of the various rooms as he kicked off his shoes and made his way toward the kitchen where he could vaguely hear his husband working on something.
"Hey shit cook!" Zoro groused teasingly as he slunk up behind his husband, hands coming to wrap around the slim blond's waist as he placed a kiss to the base of the man's neck. Nuzzling his nose into the soft blond strands that smelt of his lover's shampoo and was far more comforting and erotic than a simple smell should be. Humming quietly as he tightened his grip he muttered, "What's for dinner?"
Instead of rising to the insult like he normal would, or sassily elbowing Zoro in the gut before telling him be patient, all he got was a small sigh and the clink of a knife being set down on the counter. Teasing forgotten as the blond leaned back into his arms heavily with a defeated sort of sigh as Zoro raised an eyebrow in question and peered over the man's shoulder.
"Who pissed in your coffee?"
"I got a call from the principal again." Sanji replied simply, not rising to the bait once again as he finally seemed to find his feet and turn in Zoro's grip, though still seemed preoccupied as he stared off vaguely toward their son's room.
Letting the blond turn, but still keeping his hands around the blond's waist he chuckled, "What'd he do this time? Shag some chick in an empty classroom?"
Zoro was really getting tired from Sanji's lack of response to his witty jibes, but when the blond finally looked up at Zoro he realized entirely what was bothering the man. It was that pained look of rejection that he got whenever he got something offensive yelled at him and thought no one could see him, it was the suffering frustration of a parent whom didn't know what to do to make things better, it was the same hollow look he had gotten the first time Quin had asked if there was something wrong with his parents.
"It happened again, huh?" Zoro asked before Sanji could respond, glancing over at the hallway that lead toward their son's room. It was oddly quite so the kid didn't seem to be taking his anger out through obnoxiously loud music nor trashing his room.
Sanji only nodded quietly before shrugging, trying to play off his discomfort by making himself seem more aloof. "Broke some kid's arm."
Chuckling, Zoro pulled the unwilling blond into a small hug and murmured, "Taught him well."
Sanji was trying to keep a disapproving face, lips pursed as he tried to fend off the impending giggles as he seemed desperate to maintain his parental facade. He lasted all of three seconds before bursting into a small fit of chuckles as he raised a hand to Zoro's shoulder and punched him lightly, "That's such a bad thing."
"Naw, it's not." Zoro mused as he rested his chin on Sanji's shoulder, vaguely staring out the window into the backyard and the tree fort that still stood prominently in the tree out on the lawn. Vaguely remembering building it with Sanji as a surprise for Quin's eighth birthday.
"We're supposed to be the mature ones." Sanji reasoned as he leaned into Zoro's hold, chin resting on Zoro's shoulder as they leaned back against the kitchen counter together, "We're supposed to tell him to use his words, and that violence isn't the answer. And tha-"
"Oh, shut it, you hypocrite." Zoro snorted roughly before pulling away with a smirk, "You know damned well you never lived by any of that shit. Besides, Quin knows when not to pick a fight. If he broke that kid's arm, then that little shit had it coming."
Zoro could see Sanji lacking an argument, knowing that the stubborn blond agreed with him but wouldn't admit it to him on instinct alone. Though the whole issue still seemed to be weighing on the blond heavily and Zoro resigned himself to having to have to talk some sense into both of his blond's.
"I'll go talk to him."
"Thanks." Sanji murmured back.
~X~
When Zoro started opening the door to his son's room he was immediately met with an extremely annoyed grunt before his son pissily snapped, "Dad, go the fuck away, I don't want to talk to you right now."
"Shut the fuck up." Zoro scoffed back as he entered his son's room, not even bothering for permission as he closed the door behind himself and glared down at his mouthy kid clutching his guitar on his bed. Those normally soft eyebrows were set into a scowl and it never ceased to annoy Zoro at seeing his own expression directed towards himself.
"Oh," Quin said softly as he seemed to realize it wasn't Sanji, look changing from annoyance to a mixture of apprehension and guilt, "Hey, Dad."
Zoro made his way over to his son's bed, sitting down heavily on the edge as he placed his foot on his knee and glanced sideways at Quin lightly. The blond clutched his guitar tighter to himself as he purposefully avoided eye contact, glancing over at the wall as though it was suddenly very interesting. It never ceased to amaze Zoro how his son revered him in a way no one else did.
He had that smart mouth of his father – the little shit never missed an opportunity to call Zoro out, tease him, and generally butt heads with his old man at any opportunity – but the kid also had an unprecedented loyalty and fear directed towards him that was astounding. It went way beyond simple respect and seemed to be the type of emotion only a kid could have towards his parents; but still it never ceased to amaze Zoro how the child would remain cocky of his actions in front of others and yet in fear of judgement when faced with Zoro.
"Did Dad send you in here to give me the riot act?" Quin finally asked, resting his chin on the edge of his guitar while still refusing to look at Zoro.
Zoro chuckled, "Naw, I believe his exact words were, "Some kids were calling us fags so Quin broke their arms; tell him dinner's ready.'"
It seemed to be exactly the wrong thing to say as the boy threw down his guitar with an enraged yell before turning to Zoro furiously, "Why are you guys always so fucking calm about this shit?!"
Cocking a curious brow he remained unfazed at his panting son, "What 'shit'?"
A flustered and annoyed expression flashed across Quin's face looking entirely too much like his father when Zoro had managed to come up with a quip that would stump the man into silence. After a moment of searching Quin grumbled out, "People calling you guy's names! And making fun of you! Doesn't it bother you?!"
"Fuck no." Zoro snorted with a laugh, "I don't give a fuck what other people think about me, and neither should you. You know there's nothing to be ashamed of; so why get riled up about it?"
"B-But-" Quin managed in frustration, "They talk shit like it's a bad thing to be gay. They make it sound like it's something disgusting."
"Is it?" Zoro cocked an eyebrow in interest, noting as the question seemed to set his son of in instant indignation.
"No!"
"Then ignore it." Zoro drawled out with a small roll of his eyes, "Everyone gets shit on for something, the key is to remember that they are underneath you."
"It – It's just so frustrating!" Quin finally fought out with a pained whine as he fell back onto his bed, hands coming up to cover his face.
"I can understand that." Zoro conceded after a moment, gently following suit and laying back on the bed beside Quin, staring up at the large poster adorning his son's ceiling. A large picture of every type of sword created, from all different ethnicities and historical time periods, with the names scrawled underneath.
They lay in silence for a few minutes, Zoro just allowing himself to relax in the comfortable bed after a long day as he listened to the breathing of his son. It was much calmer now, every now and then he would release a frustrated breath, but as time went by they became less and less angered and more just accepting.
Zoro wasn't always the best when talking to people, but Quin was mature enough that given a few minutes to calm himself down he usually wouldn't even need a stern talking to. He'd know what he did was wrong, he'd berate himself for it, and then he'd even apologize; all without Zoro really needing to say much to the kid. It was something that Zoro had really felt proud about when he looked at his son; young but still much more level headed than most kids his age.
"I've just kept quiet for so long, ya know?" Quin finally muttered, staring up at the ceiling absently, "Usually I just walk away but..."
"And we're very proud of you for it." Zoro grunted as he pushed himself up, glancing down at his son still sprawled across the bed, "You know the time and place for a fight; we taught you well enough to know that. And it's okay to lose your temper once in a while; no one is perfect."
"I'm sorry." Quin let out a held breath before slowly sitting up as well, biting his lower lip and scrunching his eyes shut as he mentally berated himself, "It won't happen again."
"It's okay." Zoro smirked, placing a hand atop his son's head and ruffling the dirty blond strands affectionately in a way that usually got him kicked by Sanji, but only made Quin dopily grin up at him. Letting his hand fall away he scoffed, "Besides you think your father is much of a saint?"
"What do you mean?" Quin chuckled as he vainly tried to straighten out his hair.
"Let's just say that the money for our second anniversary didn't go towards a dinner date." At Quin's confused and expectant looked Zoro admitted, "I had to bail him out of jail."
"You're joking?" Quin scoffed around a laugh, eyes wide in disbelief as the kid was clearly mentally coming up with several possibilities as to why his father would get thrown in jail.
"Nope." Zoro smirked devilishly, before raising an arm and leaning back into a long stretch, "But c'mon. Dinner's ready and you know your Dad hates it when you let food get cold."
""Kay." Quin conceded with a small grunt, still looking entirely to surprised and interested by the fact that Sanji had been to jail. It would be a fun story Sanji would have to explain to the kid; it would earn Zoro a swift kick in the ass later but it would so be worth it.
Pushing himself up from the bed he strode over to his son's door, opening the portal and holding it open for Quin as the boy followed Zoro's example and hopped up from the bed. Taking pause to rub at his face quickly to try and hide any remnants of the evidence that he had obviously been crying. When the boy lowered his hands his eyes were still puffy and red, but Zoro decided he wouldn't ruin the kid's fun and pretended not to notice.
"So..." Zoro stalled lightly as they exited Quin's room, grinning down sharply at his son, "Which arm bar did you use to break the kid's wrist?"
There was a small moment of trepid confusion on the boy's face before his eyes widened slightly and a large excited grin split the boys face. Heading towards the kitchen as Quin set off into ecstatic detail of how the fight had went.
~The End~
A/N: I don't know where this was spawned from... It's a 3am plot bunny that wouldn't go away...
