This is a bonus chapter! What that means is that it's a chapter that is through another character's P.O.V. bc I said so.

This chapter is following around Sojiro when the police came in for Akira and said aftermath.

Chapter 5 will be a bonus chapter as well, albeit longer than this one. But I feel like you guys will enjoy that one more than this one. :) Oh by the way, to answer Guest's question (imma assume ur the same person considering),

"Does Mishima let the others know how Akira is doing? Did the others know he was a victim too?"

Legit, your questions will be answered next chapter. And hey, if you make an account instead of reviewing as a guest, I can PM you the answers instead. You'll get them mini spoilers. :3c Heh heh.

With Children's Day over business will be back like usual. Which is to say that the regulars will pop in and some random tourist(s) who'll never be back after a visit or two.

People might wonder how Sojiro manages to keep this place afloat with the seemingly little patronage he gets. Well, it doesn't concern you. Mind your own damn business.

But really, he has a way. Don't worry about it.

As such he embarks on his daily schedule of, well… It's kind of boring, maybe you don't want to hear about it.

Today was slow as the sun would predict it with only three of his regulars coming in and a young couple from America visiting the place. Surprisingly the girlfriend had very good Japanese, putting aside her accent. The same could not have been said about her boyfriend… After tasting some of the coffees he had to offer, she had asked about any recommendations of where they should visit next. Sojiro had a few places on the top of his head to recommend.

Unfortunately that was the only highlight of his day.

The cafè was quiet and he decided now was the time to finish up this morning's newspaper. His ward should be coming back from school around this time to an hour later.

Usually.

The newspaper reports on the suspiciously coincidental mental shutdowns cases he's been hearing so much about. He isn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation, feels a little unreal if he's being honest. (Besides the train incidents.) Deep down he doesn't believe it to all be a coincidence, something is pointedly at play here.

He just wasn't sure what and he had a feeling he wouldn't want to find out. Besides, he took himself out of that sort of game years ago.

Nearing the crosswords' sections of his reading material, the bell on the door jingles. He readies himself to greet whoever it may be when he finally looks up.

He places his papers not so gently on the counter and considerably straightens up. It was a trio of cops.

Shit.

He has an awfully big feeling they weren't stopping for coffee and curry.

When the first one walks up to his counter he gives him an indifferent stare.

The officer tilts his hat to him and Sojiro nods back out of niceties.

"Hello Sir, are you the owner of this establishment?"

"I am. What is this about?" He wouldn't call his tone snappy, but others might. Who cares what they think though? He just wants them out of his café if they have no business here. The last thing he wants right now is more trouble.

"We wanted to confirm with you if you had a ward."

Futaba. Is his first thought as his panicky brain jumps to conclusions. He simmers down when rationale reintroduces itself. He had already legally adopted Futaba, they wouldn't be referring to her as his 'ward'. Which leaves…

Must be the Kid. And now he's interested, but for a different reason. What did he do? "I do. Are you looking for him?"

The officer nods.

He's disappointed.

"We're looking for a Kurusu Akira." One of the officers who hung in the back noted.

The first one speaks up again. "Is that the one-?"

"Yes. He houses here."

The boy in blue doesn't seem at all fazed by the interruption and gets down to business. "We would like to take him for questioning, Sir."

This is seriously happening right now. It's barely been a month and who knows what this kid got himself into. It has to be involved with that day he came back with bruises. "What did he do?" His eyes narrow in anger? Indignation? Something like that.

To his surprise, the trio of officers seems to hesitate at that question. It makes his brain stir with thoughts. Did he do something that bad that they won't tell me? No way, the Kid looks like a gust of wind will blow him over. Did he get involved in a gang? Seems plausible…

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to speculate any longer as the man of the hour walks in. The bell chimes and with it the appearance of Kurusu. The cops this time straighten up at the new addition to the place.

Deep down, Sojiro is honestly impressed by how quickly the teen's eyes go from 'sleepy time' to 'fuck' . He knows why they're here then. Kurusu looks at the unfamiliar faces with apprehension and that's enough of a story for him. "Akira!" He shouts to get the boy's attention, and it hits the dice alright.

What's left of the boy's tired expression is wiped clean off his face, his eyes fluttering up in surprise. He distinctly heard him squeak as well, which would've been humorous to him any other day.

"Get over here." He can't say it with any more conviction than he already has. The boy doesn't put up a fight at this at all, instead complying with his no-so-much-a-request-than-command.

When the teen stands across from his placement, avidly avoiding looking at their company; he tries scanning him for any clues or body language. All he manages to make out is the boy is scared out of his wits and most certainly wants to be anywhere but here right now.

Should've thought about this before you did something stupid. That's all he's probably going to get for that. With it out of the way, he addresses the elephant in the room. "They said they wanted to talk to you regarding something they're investigating. I don't know what the Hell you did Kid, but you better tell the whole truth to these guys, got it?"

Kurusu's bottom lip quivers and he blinks up his eyes. Tell-tale signs he's well aware of. He's near tears.

It makes the man pause.

That chatty officer steps up to add his two cents. "We can assure you he's not in trouble, Sir." He sounds irritated behind the polite notice.

Obviously there was something he wasn't getting and they weren't too keen on explaining. It relaxes him, even if only a little bit.

"We have reason to believe that your ward here may have been in direct contact with someone we're…" The man pauses to the utter annoyance of Sojiro. Thankfully after a passing glance at his colleague he continued. "Currently having an investigation about, as he was referenced by name from the person of interest." He waves his hand at Kurusu, who hasn't said anything yet.

"We'll like to take him in for questioning if that's okay with you." Another office adds on. Did they just expect him to hand the kid over without more context? Sure, if it's an ongoing investigation of course they're not allowed to share too many details. But as his current guardian they should be informing him a little more.

"A statement, huh?" He strokes his chin out of habit. He looks at Kurusu again, only to stop in his tracks when he sees him. The boy had managed to school his expression by now, but was also a few shades paler. After a moment he redirects his question at the cops standing around. "So you just want a statement from him then?"

"Yes." The officer who didn't bother contributing to the conversation until now snaps.

"I see…" Asshole. "Kurusu." The boy quits staring off to the slide to look up at him. "You want to give a statement, don't you?" The teen doesn't answer for a couple of seconds, and Sojiro is sure he's going to decline. He may not be sure what precisely is going on, but his brain is painting a picture of the kid seeing something he wasn't supposed to, and in return was beaten up to encourage his silence. Even if one person was detained, that doesn't mean anyone else who was involved has been as well.

Of course, he could have completely missed the nail on that one.

Apparently he was taking too long to make a decision as the less chatty officer coerces him for an answer. "Come on kid, this would aid us in our investigation. Besides, he's already admitted to what he's done. We just need you to come in and confirm it with us."

And Kurusu seems to reluctantly nod without even looking at the man.

"I'm busy with something at the moment, I won't be able to do my usual run for you."

"Are you going to be back home later?"

"Probably."

"Oh, okay. Well, are you sure there's nothing I can do? Maybe-"

"No Futaba, keep your tech skills to yourself. I'm not certain what's going on myself. Like I said, I'll explain to you when I get back."

"You're being awfully vague about this. I'm curious now."

He shakes his head in partial fondness, partial dismay. "Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat? Like I said, I'll tell you what I can later." He looks up impatiently at the clock. It's been a while since they took the kid into a private room. He was instructed to wait outside, and honestly these shitty plastic chairs were hurting his back. "If I arrive back after dinner time there's chicken in the fridge. Just warm it up."

"Alright. See you later then."

"Goodbye." Sojiro hangs up the phone and sighs. This is not how he anticipated his day to go. Not at all.

He had welcomed the call from Futaba with more vigor than he tends to as there wasn't much he could do waiting at the station. Not to mention just being here puts him on high alert.

Can you blame him? The man used to live a very different life from the calm coffee shop owner he is today.

He sat there, waiting for an undisguisable amount of time before footsteps seemed to head his way. It was Kurusu being trailed by a few police officers.

The kid looked like shit.

Scratch that, the kid was visibly shaking and obviously trying to quill his crying fit. Aw, crap. He leapt to his feet and grabbed the extra water bottle he had purchased from the nearby vending machine. When he reached him he hesitantly asked if he was okay before dismissing his own question. The answer was obvious. He hands him the drink and the boy doesn't protest when he steers him to take a seat.

Now the man has a mission.

He makes his way over to the offers he saw walk out of the room to confront them.

He was still pissed even as he drove back to his café. He's silent because he doesn't know what to say, he's quiet because he still feels his rage from the station.

He chooses not to talk because Kurusu seems like he needs the ambiance.

Well, maybe that wouldn't be the right word.

Upon getting back he notices that Kurusu looks like a cat ready to bolt. He's not having any of it. He refused to have the kid he's supposed to be taking care of shove something like this under the rug. He knows what happens when you allow someone to do that for too long. So he sits him down and ponders just for a second how to address this. From the argument he had with those cops he's gathered that they obviously didn't give a shit about how they treated him, and one even mentioned how the kid got what he deserved.

It boils his blood.

But that was as much as he gathered, so he occupies the stool next to him and dares to ask.

Kurusu stares at him for a few seconds, unmoving before words tumble. His voice is low and soft, like it always is; and as he explains what happened at school Sojiro feels the hairs at the back of his neck stand up. He's appalled by what he's hearing, and enraged when he hears how the cops handled it.

They're always shit at this kind of stuff, much less when the victim is male.

Kurusu had sounded weary, surprising not bitter. He just simply sounded tired in a way no one his age should.

His eyes were worse for wear though.

The next day he closed up shop to let Kurusu have some peace and quiet. The messy haired teen sits downstairs on one of the stools and mindlessly surf the channels on the television.

"Sheez Kid, is there nothing on you wanna watch?"

He shakes his head for no and leaves the TV on a random channel about baking of all things. He slouches over to rest his head on his arms and it dislodges his glasses.

He kinda looks boneless from where the man was standing.

Sojiro rolls his eyes and returns his attention to finish up making breakfast. He had made sure to leave food in the fridge for Futaba last night, so she should be good. He had some other stuff to deal with for the next few days it would seem. Kurusu didn't arrive with much to Tokyo, nor did he seem to add anything to his stuff or so it would seem. Packing and unpacking would be a breeze. Getting him used to the place would be the hard part.

Then there's Futaba…

"I'm back!" He shouts as he locks the front door behind him. A plastic bag holding take-out was held across his wrist—that was his dinner seeing as the man was not in the mood to cook. Footsteps from upstairs trail down until a short figure greets him at the landing. "I thought you'd still be awake."

Futaba shrugs, sliding her headphone down. "I wanted to wait for you. Besides, there was a new special guild event in Unison League."

"Oh?" He's used to hearing about this even though she loses him sometimes. "What is it this time?" The container is set down and he goes to dig out some utensils for himself.

"More Vocaloid, you know, Hatsune Miku. All my gems are gone…"

"Gachas are basically gambling, you know." He jokes, putting the food on a plate for easier access.

"Legal gambling!" She pipes up. When she leans against the kitchen counter and quietly stares at him, he sighs.

"Want me to tell you?" He brings the first spoonful of rice up to eat.

She nods. "You promised."

He puts the plate down. That could wait. It was already starting to get cold anyhow. "Hmmm… I know what I said before, but I can't actually tell you."

"Why not?" She whines.

"Because—it's serious. I can't tell you. However I will say this…" She perks up at this. It remembers him of a raccoon and he's not sure why. "You remember that teen I decided to house?"

A nod.

"Well, due to some events coming to light I've decided to move him out of there."

Her brows furrowed. "Out of the attic?"

"Yes…"

"He's going to live here!?"

"Futaba-"

"Does he know?!"

"Not yet. I'm telling him tomorrow. I wanted him to rest."

She looks uncertain, rather than uneasy like he had expected.

"It'll be fine, I'll make sure to tell him not to bother you." And he rustles her hair, much to the girl's protest.

He would have to mention her soon.

After they had eaten the two of them sat around to watch television as neither could properly strike up conversion beyond small talk. But Sojiro doesn't mind. He's used to this sort of silence with Futaba.

Speaking of her, he couldn't help but cast passing glances in Kurusu's direction. Just thinking about what happened made his blood boil. No kid should have to go through that. The kid didn't deserve it, the only reason why he was here is because he decided to be a good Samaritan. Only to be targeted by a scumbag after he had his reputation ruined at school.

Life dealt him some shitty cards indeed.

A thought that would creep in was knowing that Futaba would have most likely attended Shujin Academy if she was well enough to go back to school.

Something like this could happen to her. She could've gotten into that deplorable teacher's crossfire.

He makes a promise at this moment that he would help and support this kid as much as he could. It doesn't matter that they don't know each other too well or the fact Kurusu is only due to be here for a year, he's his responsibility at the moment and he won't be taking it lightly anymore.

The writing for this chapter is pretty weaksause, but I got busy when I was writing this so I rushed. Sorry 'bout that,,,

Well now it's time for me to work on that other story,,,which is a Voltron fic btw I don't think I ever mentioned that.

Btw I personally hc that Futaba only bugs the downstairs area of LeBlanc, not the attic. (I imagine she heard the conversation about what happened,,,)

And wow, look, it's 3AM again. I'm so tired,,,