7: Late
"It's late."
Miya looked up from his game and over at the bed where Shadow sat, the bandages around his head starkly visible in the darkness.
"Really?" he said, sarcastic, stretching his arms above his head. "I hadn't noticed."
Shadow raised an eyebrow, not taking the bait. He was different here, somewhere between his refined manners as Hiromi and his S persona. Less angry, but with zero tolerance for bullshit. Miya thought this might be Shadow's real personality.
"Surely you've got something better to do than to hang out at the hospital all day," Shadow persisted. "Don't your parents wonder where you are?"
"You never cared about that all the nights we were at S," Miya pointed out, because it was true. S took place at a time that was obviously past a 13-year-old's curfew, but none of the other skaters had batted an eyelid at his presence.
"I'm caring now," Shadow returned.
Miya gave him a flat look. "They don't care unless I have a test to study for the next day."
Shadow was quiet. Miya returned to his game, but it was harder to get absorbed back into it. He didn't like it when the other S skaters treated him like a kid; he skated well enough to be their equal, and most of the time that was how they acted. Besides, Reki and Langa had school too.
All the same...
Miya gave an exaggerated huff and saved his progress. "I'm only here to make sure you don't re-injure yourself in some stupid way," he said. "Since you probably won't, I may as well head home."
"Hey!" Shadow barked indignantly, and Mia escaped with a smirk as Shadow's rant about his disrespect followed him into the corridor.
All the same, it was nice that someone gave a crap.
Author's Notes:This one is my first triple drabble, also known as a tribble or a trouble - so pretty apt for a fic that focuses on Miya ;D I batted around a few ideas about Miya at school, or Miya sneaking out of the house to go to S, but then I came up with an idea centered on his and Shadow's friendship, which was more fun to write. I imagine this as being set sometime during/post episode 10, not long after Shadow gets hospitalised.