POV Midorima
I call my father and he arrives with the car so quickly, I know Kaori has alerted him that there is an emergency. I leave Takao in Dad's care while the police let me through to the apartment to get his things.
"Excuse the intrusion," I say as I step inside. The front room has been destroyed. Furniture is broken and upended; it looks like someone has put a foot through the television. It is a small apartment made smaller by the mess. The first room is a combined living room and kitchen and off to the right is the bathroom. There are four toothbrushes. I guess that the green one that matches my eyes is probably his, but I leave it. I have spares. Across the hall, his mother is packing a very large suitcase. She looks like she won't be coming back to this place. I don't blame her.
"Kazu shares the room at the end of the hall with Yukina," she says without looking up. I don't trust myself to speak to her. "There should be a suitcase under the bed."
The door to the room is broken and hangs off the hinge. I move it aside. The siblings share the smallest room in the apartment. It is barely larger than the bathroom and at first glance I can tell it wasn't meant to be lived in – maybe it had once been storage. I ignore the blood splattered on the floor. If I think about it, I will vomit. They have bunk beds. The bottom bunk is flowery and pink. The top is unsurprisingly green and orange. There is a small window above his bed and it is the only source of light in the room. Takao's uniforms and the yukata I bought him are hung on hangers that hang on hooks on the wall. There is a suitcase stuffed under the bed. I carefully fold his hanging garments and all the clothing from the dresser. There is plenty of room in the suitcase.
Takao's homework is spread out on the desk and I gather it all up and repack his school bag. I look around to see what else he may need. Under his pillow is a manga from the library with a book mark in it, I toss that on top. On the ceiling above his pillow, he's taped a photograph of the two of us on the day we took third place at last year's Winter Cup. I carefully peel it free and slip it into the manga to protect it. There are two lucky items I gave him on the windowsill, one is a rubber ducky wearing a snorkel and the other, a pen with a goldfish topper. The first I bought him on day we took an especially hard English test and Oha Asa's prediction for Scorpio had been particularly bad. With the lucky item, he'd scored first in our year and second in the prefecture. If his sign had had a higher ranking, he would most likely have place first in the prefecture.
That's it; his whole life fits loosely into an old suitcase. I close it up and run into his mother in the hallway as she comes out of the bathroom. She doesn't say anything to me, but she hands me a plastic shopping bag filled with sundries. At the door, I find a pair of black shoes that look like the right size and I take those and the white slippers and go downstairs.
"How is he?" I ask my father.
"He's in shock, but we can treat that at home."
Dad puts the suitcase in the trunk while I guide Takao into the back seat. I don't remember the drive home or getting him into the house, but I focus again when Dad sits Takao down in his office and examines the cut on his head. Takao hisses as the antiseptic bubbles at the wound.
"That's a good sign," Dad says with a smile.
POV Takao
Nobou said something to Shin-chan and he relaxed. His fingers were partially wrapped and that bothered me.
"Silly Shin-chan," I smirk. "I always have extra tape in my locker." Tears, big fat, heavy ones rolled warm down my cheeks. "I didn't want you to…"
"Shut up, fool," he said and moved in close enough to palm the back of my head. When I didn't resist, he pulled me to his chest. His pulse was strange, beating wildly, but after taking a deep breath, it slowed, steady and even against my ear. Nobou excused himself and Shin-chan's right hand massaged the tight muscles in my shoulder.
"What would you do if someone hurt me?" he asked.
"I'd kill them," I said, no hesitation.
"That is how I feel as well. When you keep things from me, you deny me the right to do the same on your behalf."
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be a burden. I didn't want you to see us like that."
"I've seen it before, in every smile you've faked. I'm stoic, not stupid. Did you believe I'd think less of you? You can't be blame for your father's addictions. "
"No," I said, knowing it sounded unconvincing. "It's a habit, I guess. It's sucked for so long; I haven't even known life without him like that. Mom swore us to secrecy so long ago. It's not really lying…" my voice trailed off.
"No, it's lying. Lying to me, to your partner. You will not do that again," he said and his arms tightened around me.
"Are you angry?" I asked.
"No, I'm scared, terrified. What if he'd…?" Shin-chan said, his voice stuttered into silence.
"It's ok. I'm ok."
"But that's not completely true either; I'm angry that she left you alone with him."
"I told her to run, to call the police; she did."
Nobou returned with a crate of sport drinks and made me drink liter after liter of the stuff until I thought it would pour from my ears. Only after I was finished, did he invite us both to join the rest of the family at the kotatsu. Shin-chan and I shared one side of the table where two red ceramic bowls waited for us, heaped high with pure white rice. Keiko served us each a matching plate of yellowtail and mixed pickled vegetables. A simple miso soup accompanied the meal. The meal warmed me up from the inside as much as the heat of the table warmed my outside.
After dinner, Shin-chan gave me the first go at the bathroom. While I showered, he retrieved my dirty laundry, leaving my yukata and a pair of boxers for me to dress in. When I stumbled out of the bathroom, Keiko was in the bedroom, on her knees pulling back the covers of Shin-chan's futon. If I couldn't be with Shin-chan, if I had to sleep in the office tonight it would break me, but I didn't know how to say that to her without sounding like some sort of creepy pervert. I watched as she added a second pillow.
"You don't mind sharing, do you Kazu-kun? We still don't have a spare futon," she asked as she caught me staring.
"No, not at all," I said, my voice was shaking almost as hard as my legs. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." I got down on my knees before I could fall.
"Three sons, two daughters. What is one more?" she said, stood, and went to the door. "Shintarō put your things in the closet, but if you need anything, please ask."
"Where is Shin-chan?" I forced myself to blink back the tears building in my eyes.
"Using our shower. He didn't want to leave you alone, but he smelled bad," she smiled.
"Ok," my voiced cracked.
"Get under the covers," she directed and I did as I was told. She came around and knelt beside me.
"How are the first years shaping up?" she asked and the simple question was so easy to answer.