Author's notes:

And here we go, catching back up with main story at the infamous ep 9.

The tournament progressed as well as they'd expected, with Joe narrowly missing out as Langa's talent dazzled the crowds. Kaoru found it increasingly difficult not to make fun of his long-time friend. Really, being beaten so publicly by a rookie, that had to sting. The gorilla was able to laugh off a lot of things, but his ego had surely taken a hit today and his eagerness to face (and beat) Adam rivalled his own.

Cherry had waited so long to affect Ainosuke and make him see the error of his ways, that he couldn't quite believe their timely showdown was here at last. Not only that, but this was a chance to speak to Adam in language he'd understand. Kaoru was racing for his teenage self, for Miya, and for anyone else this asshole had harassed. He had to win here today. Losing was not an option. Willing his shaky hands to still, he really needed to get it together; Adam wasn't going to go down quietly.

3-2-1 and they were off

Flying down the S track side by side, Cherry was precise and composed as he kept pace with the blistering take-off of his opponent. They'd predicted Adam would start strong and, so far, his tactics were in line with the previous runs. Kaoru still had a few tricks up his sleeve that Adam hadn't seen, starting with his death-defying counter to the Love Hug move. Smirking behind his mask as Adam sharply turned towards him, he'd gladly closed his eyes and let Carla perfectly time his corner, avoiding the off-putting attack with ease. He trusted Carla with his life and, unlike the man he was racing against, she'd never let him down.

As they progressed along the course, despite his multiple warnings to the kids, it turned out that Kaoru wasn't entirely prepared for the level of violence Adam was willing to throw at him. When his antagonist had briefly dropped back, muttering about not wanting to fight, for a split second, Cherry heard the miraculous proof that his friend and first love was still in there somewhere. Ha, how stupid was he? Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Adam smugly dismounted and threw his entire bodyweight behind the skateboard flying at Cherry's face.

Kaoru's breath caught in his throat. He had nowhere to go and no time to react beyond widening his eyes. They were both moving way too fast. Accepting his fate, Cherry tried to loosen the urgent tension throughout his body, aiming to reduce the chance of catastrophic injury when he bailed. No ifs, no buts. At this point, the collision was unavoidable. There was no room for lingering doubt in his mind and Kaoru knew this was going to hurt like a mother fucker.

! ! !

The impact itself was, as he'd anticipated, fucking awful, knocking Kaoru's chin and head backwards at a sickening angle as the ground hurtled up to meet him.

Jerking back into semi-consciousness, spreadeagled on the rough terrain, Kaoru was disgusted with himself for not predicting such a potent retaliation from Ainosuke. He knew better than most the how little Adam cared for the safety and well-being of those around him, and how cruelly manipulative he could be. Still, as Cherry struggled to keep his eyes open, through the noise and fog of the S crowd, he could still hear the ugly words directed his way. The man peacocking over him had never been a gracious winner and possessed all the subtlety of a brick. Unfortunately, his own poor show on the track today would only add fuel to Ainosuke's fire. His majesty's ego would further inflate after this 'oh so glorious win'. All hail their resident pompous psycho.

Adam loomed large over his little Cherry Blossom, running a finger through the trail of blood seeping prettily from the other man's hairline, and sighed. "As always, your skating has no surprises. It's overcalculated, so it can never cross the line. The reason why I didn't respond to your beef was, simply, because it was boring."

When the man didn't react to the provocation, Ainosuke smirked at the insolence and leaned in closer to make his point privately. Languidly running his palm over Cherry's broken form before pausing on his knee, Adam's touch shifted inwards, and he teased the flesh within his reach. "Now, this is where you excel my Cherry flower. Soft petals tainted with blood and dirt; you paint quite the picture. A pity that things turned out this way. I should have preferred to prime my porcelain canvass, as all true artisans should, before breaking you apart piece by piece. But, alas, you left me no choice. Snow is my Eve and the one I've been looking for. You were nothing more than a temporary distraction my Sakura Mochi, and a disappointing one at that."

Unable to move away, Kaoru grit his teeth at the mention of Langa and tried to position himself better, wishing he'd been able to pivot his left leg a fraction more. If he could angle his knee just so, he'd have caught the SOB right in the balls and halted his stupid speech flat.

Lifting his head, Cherry dimly heard someone shout his given name. Thank heaven for small mercies. With the interruption, Adam would finally back the fuck away from him. Although, seriously, how many times did he have to tell Kojiro not to call him that here? Was the jolly green giant brain damaged? Stiffening slightly at the thought, Kaoru reflected that it may be best not to joke about such things before he knew the status of his own head injury... The adrenaline rush from his fall was beginning to wear off and he could feel his body's pain receptors firing brightly in response. Fucking perfect.

Adam nonchalantly withdrew at Kojiro's approach, uncaringly pushing down on Kaoru's thigh for leverage as he rose. The quiet gasp of pain ignored, he instead lamented his disappointment with the beef. "I thought I could have a little fun… but Cherry was really boring."

Joe widened his eyes at the insult. Boring? Ha, Adam had always been a fool. The Kaoru he knew was anything but boring. Obviously, Ainosuke had never taken the time to notice.

Once Kojiro got close enough to see the true extent of Cherry's injuries, his blood thundered in his ears. Sickened at the sight of his closest friend crumpled and discarded on the floor in this manner, Kojiro's hands shook with the need to punch and claw at the unrepentant bastard responsible. Ainosuke could have easily killed Kaoru tonight, and he wouldn't have thought anything of it. Hadn't he already done enough? Kojiro knew in his heart, that for his friend, the devastation of today's betrayal would last far beyond any physical damage he endured. If only he'd been the one to fight Adam, maybe things would have been different.

Shaken from his thoughts by Shadow's arrival, Kojiro's decision was an easy one. Defend. Protect. Keep safe. Adam, the sanctimonious prick, could wait. He wasn't important right now. Joe gingerly scooped Kaoru against his broad chest and ran, not focusing on the dampness seeping through to his own costume, he tried to jostle his friend as little as possible.

- - -.

As their rag-tag group thundered away from S and made their way towards the nearest hospital, Kaoru was shocked to wake up and find such open concern in Kojiro's eyes. The man was normally a ray of sunshine, annoyingly puppy-like in his outlook, and he hated that his usual goofy grin was replaced by this dark expression. The hilarious faces he pulled when they were arguing didn't count, of course, they were just funny. Finding his voice, Cherry croaked out a reproach. "Koji? Try to pull it together, will you? Your ugly mug is scaring the kids."

Joe shook his head at the antics of his oldest friend, glad to see he'd not had all his signature bullshit knocked out of him. Smiling fondly at the man carefully cradled in his lap, he poked Cherry's forehead lightly. "You're one to talk four eyes, throwing yourself and that robot down the damn mountain. You trying for a double suicide? Always such a drama queen."

Cherry snickered at the weak attempt to goad him. Despite the pain in his chest at the movement, there was a welcome warmth that had nothing to do with his blood loss. "Pft, least I don't look like a weepy gorilla."

Kojiro's eyes softened. "Well, you were always the prettier one."

Not recognising the compliment, Cherry bit back. "Wait… were, as in, past tense?! Even with a face full of board I'm still looking better than you."

"Hah?!"

Unable to keep up as their argument became even more ridiculous, and with his vision blurring, Kaoru eventually closed his eyes. In the encroaching darkness, his free hand was gently grasped by a much smaller one. Knowing who'd left the safety of their own seat to slip into the car footwell, Cherry squeezed back and groggily mumbled. "S'ok Miya. 'Mm not going anywhere. Promise."

Miya's cheeks burned at the comment, but he didn't loosen his hold, remaining attached to the pink haired skater until he was forcibly prised away by the paramedic upon their admittance to the hospital. He didn't care what Reki or Langa made of his actions.

While Joe, who was listed as Cherry's emergency contact, dealt with the medical forms, Miya's small stature and distraught expression caught the attention of one of the passing nurses who stopped to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Mr Nanjo, your son is welcome to go through to the family area while you wait. There are more chairs through there and a fully stocked vending machine."

Seeing no reason to point out the glaringly obvious, that he wasn't actually related to Kaoru or Kojiro, Miya politely nodded his thanks and took a seat in the family waiting room. The late hour meant that Shadow and the rest had already departed and were planning to call back in the morning. Miya was lucky Joe was distracted and didn't insist on his being dropped back home with the others, although, he wondered if he'd known Miya was home alone and chose to keep him here with Cherry rather than his empty house. Either way, he was grateful.

Kojiro eventually joined him, looking as lost and tired as he felt, so Miya tried to add a little levity. "Oya-joe? Any word yet on when we can see Okaosan?"

All he'd gotten in return for his efforts was a shake of the head, so Miya hunched in further on himself and continued worrying his sleeves in tense silence.

Joe noticed the teen's growing agitation and nudged him in the ribs to make him quit it. Outraged, Miya practically hissed but, before the kid could get his claws out, Kojiro gestured towards the theatre. "Kaoru is in surgery right now, but they've already said the CT scans came back negative."

At Miya's still suspicious expression, Kojiro elaborated with a sigh. "Means he's got one hell of a concussion, but they aren't concerned about brain damage or serious bleeds. Seems his stupid ponytail helped cushion the fall or something and his neck and back are all as they should be, so the surgery is to patch up the rest. If there aren't any complications, he'll be on the ward and back to his usual grumpy self in a few days."

Nodding at the overview, and relieved they had some good news at least, Miya tucked his bare legs under his hoodie and prepared himself for a long night of waiting around. He did not end up falling asleep wrapped up in Joe's jacket. Well, whatever, it was cold.

- - -.

/ The Next Day /

"Eh? You and Cherry did what?!" Joe's voice reverberated through the hospital car park.

Shadow, having kindly driven them to collect Kaoru's personal effects, mentioned he'd wanted to bring flowers but had ultimately decided against it given the recent 'funeral decorations for Adam' escapade. Met with stunned silence, he'd spent the last 10 minutes detailing exactly what had gone down.

As he locked the car door behind them, Hiromi blinked in confusion. "He really didn't tell you?"

Kojiro was beyond furious. "Does this look like the face of somebody in the know?"

Although initially reluctant to leave the hospital, Miya had joined the pair under the guise of not trusting Joe to be let loose in Cherry's home unsupervised, much to Kaoru's delight, and he chimed in. "Mama seriously broke into the Shindo Mansion to wreak havoc? All by himself?"

Joe, hearing the awe in Miya's voice, turned on the teen with his finger raised. "Don't go getting any ideas pipsqueak. You need to give that bastard, and his family home, a wide berth. Stay away from them and don't get involved. Otherwise, Kaoru will personally kill us both."

Rolling his eyes at the unnecessary warning, Miya leant his hip against the car and sullenly folded his arms. "Yeah, like I'd choose to go near the slime."

Miya's face fell as an unpleasant thought occurred to him. "Wait, was that my fault? Back when he showed up at my school out of the blue, Cherry lost it when he heard what had happened. Shit, is that why he's stuck in the hospital now? Because of me?"

Hiromi looped an arm loosely around the young skater's shoulders, ignoring the half-hearted attempt from Miya to shrug him off. He held firm, having witnessed first-hand Cherry's determination to protect Miya and the teen's own ashen face when the man had been injured, it was clear they cared for each other. Releasing him, Shadow ruffled Miya's hair affectionately. "No kiddo, none of this is on you. Me and Cherry just warned Adam to stop messing with our family."

With a sigh, Miya pulled away. Glumly commenting. "Yeah, I don't think he got the message."