Chapter Text
Leo always makes it a point to find all the best hiding spots he can whenever they have to stick around somewhere new. They made for great places to hide away when he was trying to compose in peace, and Sena and Suou were terrible at finding him when he tucked himself away like that. He'd escaped so many annoying lectures that way. They were also nice though, for the occasional times Leo simply wanted to be alone.
Case in point, they'd all been living off and on in the dorms for a few months now and Leo was pretty confident in the fact he'd found just about all of them. Okay, well, maybe not all of them, he had yet to figure out how to get into the vents and use them like that one member of Alkaloid. Leo kept trying to find him to ask, but he'd just mumble out a little screech any time Leo so much as approached him before hightailing it out of there.
Leo wasn't one to give up hope though! He knew he'd corner him eventually, and then Leo really would have all the best hideouts and hidden away corners that the ES dorms had to offer. For now, Leo contended himself with the ones he did have, in fact, he thought as he rounded a corner into a less often used hallway, he was on his way to one of his favourites right now. He'd felt too antsy in his room to focus there, and for some reason the rest of the floors seemed abuzz with some kind of frantic energy. Leo didn't know what was going on with that, but it had been annoying, grating on his nerves until he'd just given up. He couldn’t concentrate like this,, it was giving off all the wrong vibes to get him in the mood.
In a couple hours maybe it would be over, but for now Leo was content to squirrel away where no one could see and compose like he'd been planning to do since he woke up this morning.
Except when Leo finally arrives at his spot there’s a little boy already curled up there, glaring up at him as he sees Leo stop in front of him.
Ah?
Since when are kids allowed in the dorms? Since when was anyone who wasn't an idol allowed in here, wasn't that the whole point of this thing? He looks vaguely familiar in a way, but Leo didn’t know any children.
This is... weird? Definitely weird! Some kid Leo has never seen before hiding in some less than often used part of a building Leo didn’t think he should even have been able to get into, But also how interesting! Leo doesn't often get to interact with children, but he loves them! They were always so happy and full of energy and friendly.
Well, this kid has a scowl and was tense like he wanted to run, but it was the principle of the thing! Besides he’s still cute, his cheeks all puffed out like a little hamster.
"Hey there!" He greets, crouching down to his level. "What are you doing here?"
The kid glares, his arm flexing as he turns his head away. Well that was fine! Leo’s great at talking to himself, by himself, he always has lots to say.
“Did you get lost? I can take you wherever you need to go if you are!” He tries and at this the boy stills completely, turning to watch Leo with a hesitant angry gaze. Leo stares back, taking in the kids shoeless feet, his disheveled hair, the oversized shirt that was his only clothing. It’s doing a poor job at hiding the scrapes and bruises that litter his skin, now that Leo’s taking a better look.
His smile wavers, this was really bad actually. But Leo isn’t one to give up!
Leo reaches his hand out, starting to feel a bit concerned, only to feel a tiny hand quickly wrap around his extended wrist and tug him forward. Something metallic flashes in front of his eyes and he panics, free arm rising in front of him as he shuts his eyes. If the kid's intent was Leo’s body he misses, but it does not stop whatever it is from slashing the side of his arm as it passes him by.
He gasps, the pain sharp, his body slipping forward as the pain causes him to lose whatever balance he had left. There is a clatter, and then a pained yelp that does not come from him. A beat of silence filled with nothing but breathing, and Leo blinks his eyes open.
“Fuck,” the kid hisses, head completely turned away from Leo, “if I wasn’t missing my goddamn glasses.”
The kid's words are harsh but Leo notes that he has stilled himself so much he is almost trembling. Face held in a clenched scowl like he’s bracing himself for something.
Leo notes that with their new position he’s practically pinning the kid down, that Leo’s been hovering in front of this hiding spot blocking the only avenue of escape. Clearly the kid wasn’t afraid of using violence to get his way but it’s also just as clear he’s been perceiving Leo as some kind of threat right from the start.
He laughs awkwardly at the thought, reaching to rub the back of his head and then hissing when it pulls at his injury, blood dripping onto the floor.
He’s not sure what to do now, but he isn’t particularly upset about being attacked.
Leo’s more than familiar with feeling so confused, stressed, and angry there was no option left but to lash out at others.
Of course Leo preferred to keep his lashing out mainly to himself, but Leo wasn’t a stranger to hurting others, not emotionally anyways. The physical... well this wasn't the first time Leo had found his arm stinging and bleeding, it was fine.
He peels himself off slowly, leaning back with his hands held in front of him. “Hey, I’m not gonna hurt you.”
The kid glares, disbelief colouring his features. “Like I’d believe that.” The kid spits, and that’s fair Leo thinks. “Doesn’t matter even if you did.”
And that was... very very sad, the kind of sad that Leo had tried banishing from at least his own world. It just wouldn’t do for a kid to be thinking like that.
“Okay then don’t!” He says, smiling wide, “You don’t have to believe that, words are hard to believe right? I’m more of a music and action guy myself, I can prove it to you that way!” He finishes with a laugh.
The kid stares at him like he’s insane, it’s a better expression than anything Leo’s seen so far.
“What can I do to help you trust me?”
“Leave.” The kid says flatly, and hah, Leo had already expected that answer.
“Other than that!” He replies immediately. “What if I take you to the infirmary so we can treat those scrapes you have!” The kid glares, like Leo daring to point out the fact the kid has injuries was some kind of offense. He doesn’t immediately refute Leo’s offer though, which Leo is counting as a win.
His eyes fall onto the knife that had skated a bit into the hallway, stained with his own blood. “You can even keep the knife! Stab me if you think I'm doing something wrong.” The kid probably wouldn’t kill him, he seemed more like he just wanted to run, it was fine!
“There’s something wrong with you.” The kid says flatly, bringing up his knees to his chest as he holds out his hand, and Leo gladly bends down to pick it up and hand it over. He takes it suspiciously but holds it close like it’s something precious. “...Do you know who I am?” He asks after a moment.
“Nooo...?” Leo replies, tilting his head. “Should I?”
“No.” The kid replies, lips pursed. “I don’t know you and so you shouldn’t know me.”
Leo nods, feeling distinctly like he’s missed something there.
“Anything else I can answer?” He asks, once again trying to lift his arm and then hissing, ah that time hurt a bit more, it really was bleeding huh.
The boy huffs, reaching down to rip the bottom hem of his shirt. “Tie this around it, don’t just stand there bleeding out and dying. Dying is for idiots and cowards.”
“Thank you!” He says genuinely, and the boy startles, looking almost disgusted.
“Don’t thank someone who stabbed you...” he mutters, hands clenching around his knife before looking back up at him, “Tell me where we are.”
“Uh, you’re in the Starmony Dorm? In Ensemble Square?” And when the kid keeps staring blankly at him, adds, “We’re in Tokyo?”
He mouths the word, nodding firmly. “Okay. That’s good.” He says, holding his hand out for Leo to take, which he does without missing a beat, pulling him up to stand. The kid stares at him like he’s stupid, like he hadn’t actually expected Leo to fall for that, but it seems the surprise is more than enough to keep him from actually trying to drag him down again. “We can go now,” he says after a moment, the surprise wiped from his face, “I’ll consider you a risk worth taking for now, but know I will show you no mercy should you act out of turn.”
Leo should probably a bit more concerned about this, but the kid is really cute, even if he’s sure (even if he knows) that he’s more than capable of making truth from those words.
“Did you have someone you need to call?” He should make sure of at least that right?
“No.” The kid all but growls, “And if you even try I’ll gut you.”
“Great!” Leo claps, choosing to ignore that, spinning on his heel to walk away only to feel a hand curl into the back of his shirt and keep him still. “... Let’s go?”
“Dumbass.” The kid mutters, scowling when Leo turns his head back to look at him curiously. “I’m hiding, we need to avoid the cameras if you’re going to show me where to go. Tell me the directions but I’ll lead the way.”
Leo tries his best not to frown at the image of an injured child apparently on the run, “Whatever you say!” He says with a bright grin.
“Can I know your name now by the way?” He tries.
“No.”
“Well mine’s Leo, if you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.”
Leo hums, well he could make this kid smile yet!
-
Leo isn’t sure how to feel as a child half his age efficiently stitches together a wound he inflicted on Leo in the first place. And, as always when words fail to come, he tries to think of a song about it, but the resulting sound is too sad to be anything actually usable.
He sighs, and the boy stills, hands pausing before continuing when Leo doesn’t do anything else.
“Suck it up.” He says, stabbing the needle into Leo with what is probably too much force, but Leo doesn't particularly have any reference for that.
It had taken them longer to get here than it usually would, but the kid had insisted on taking roundabout ways, dragging Leo behind plants and walls without so much of a warning. There was still that odd energy floating about, but weirdly enough Leo hadn’t seen anyone roaming the halls.
As soon as they’d arrived the kid had darted over to the medical cabinet, snapping at Leo to come read the bottles for him. It had been obvious since he’d admitted to needing glasses himself, but the kid didn’t really move like someone who was visually impaired. If it wasn’t for something like this, Leo probably wouldn’t have even believed it.
Still, Leo had cheerfully complied, and watched as he had methodically tended to all his scrapes and bruises like it was something he did every day.
And then he’d turned around and demanded Leo sit down so he could fix him up too.
“You’re good at this.” He says, not particularly expecting a reply.
“It’s not my first time,” he says, eyes intent on Leo’s arms, “and it’s easier on other people.”
And, well, Leo hated the implications of that. But it isn’t particularly surprising given what Leo had seen so far.
The boy pauses again, “You’re weird.” He says after a moment, pulling at the string harsh enough for Leo to flinch.
“Huh?” He replies after the pain fades.
“You don’t...” Leo turns to look at him and his brows are furrowed, mouth twisting. “Nevermind, I’m done here.”
“Thanks” Leo says, and again the boy looks annoyed at the platitude.
“Again. Don’t thank me when I’m the one that injured you.”
“Well, if you hadn’t I probably would’ve just slapped a bandage on it. So this is way better.” Leo wasn’t particularly fond of hospitals.
“There’s something wrong with you.” The kid repeats, voice so solemn it’s almost comical. So Leo laughs, which just makes the kid stare at him some more.
“Do you want some clothes?” The kid looks down at himself, in an oversized button up that reaches his knees, stained in some spots with Leo’s own blood.
“... Acceptable.”
Perfect! Nazuna’s clothes were definitely still too big for the kid, but it’d be way better than what he currently had on, and hopefully with a belt he’d at least be able to wear some pants.
-
Leo rummages through his drawers as the kid changes, having handed him the smallest things he could find in Nazuna’s closet along with one of Leo's belts. There was nothing they could do about the shoeless thing, but it was better than nothing.
Aha ! He thinks as he spots what he’s looking for, just in time for the kid to make a disgruntled sound. Leo turns, seeing him standing there, hands on his hips, over a too big purple shirt wih a rabbit print, and light blue shorts held up solely by Leo’s belt. Three wrappers that had contained the granola bars Leo had given him rested on the table beside him.
“I look stupid.” He spits, and Leo grins.
“You look cute!” He says, wishing he knew where his phone was so he could snap a picture.
“Don’t say that.” The kid scowls, cheeks puffing out in a decidedly cute way, but Leo thinks he's better off not mentioning that.
“I have something for you.” He says instead, ignoring the kid's suspicious stare the second he says it. “Look! Come here.”
He rolls back on his feet, shying away, before walking over with a frown. “What is it?”
“Here! Take this!” Presenting the kid with a box cutter he had bought on a whim one day, thinking it’d be useful before promptly forgetting it existed. It was pretty, which is why it had caught his eye in the first place, and was still practically brand new.. “Better than a kitchen knife right? Easier to carry around too.”
“You’re giving me... a weapon.”
“Yup!”
“Are you suicidal or something? Tell me right now I don’t want to deal with that.”
Leo laughs, possibly a bit too loud for the comment, “Nope!” He says as firm as he can, twisting the boxcutter in his hands. “Just thought you might feel better with it!”
“Shut up,” He says unhelpfully, swiping the blade from his hands, mouth twisting like he’s struggling. “...”
“You’re welcome!” Leo supplies instead and whatever reply he might’ve given when a knock comes at the door. The kid stills, swiping the blade out.
He tenses as his posture curls slightly, like he’s ready to pounce. Leo frowns, he thought he’d been making pretty good progress here until this.
He has no idea who’s at the door, Nazuna and Natsume had been gone before he woke up, and Leo wasn’t expecting anyone.
The knock comes again and Leo thinks about the odd energy in the building, and the way the kid was always ready to bolt like someone was out to get him.
The knock comes again.
“Hey,” he says softly, and the kid's eyes flit over to him, “there’s a fire escape on the balcony, let’s go okay?”
The kids' eyes narrow. “Why are you still helping me?”
“Because it’s fun!” He says cheerily, taking the boy's free hand and dragging him over to the balcony, beginning to slide down the fire escape. The boy following quickly behind.
“Hurry.” He hisses, foot hovering angrily over Leo’s head, like he’ll stop on him if he decides Leo isn’t moving quickly enough.
Well, at the very least a 3 story drop probably wouldn’t kill him?
-
The kid is tense as they make their way through the crowd, eyes darting cautiously in every which direction. He hasn’t even fought against Leo’s hold on his hand, which makes Leo think he hasn’t even noticed it.
“Would you feel better higher up?” He asks and the kid snaps his gaze over to him, glaring.
“I do not need to be coddled like some child.”
“Nah like, on my shoulders, better vantage point and all that?” He says quickly, and the kid's anger fades just a tad at the wording.
“... Fine.” He mutters, stopping and staring up at Leo expectantly, a faint red to his cheeks.
Leo grins, easily lifting him up, and placing him on his shoulders. He’s almost shockingly light, they’re definitely have to grab food too.
“Better?”
The kid only hums, hands resting in Leo’s hair.
Okay, way better then. Now, step one: some shoes and clothes that actually fit, and then food!
-
Leo hasn’t stepped in a store like this in forever, not since Ruka was still young enough to need one. But it’s big, and parents mill about with their kids all around. It’s almost easier to see how the kid is feeling from up here, feeling the way his hands tighten into Leo’s hair.
“Did you want to come down?”
“No.”
Leo hums, “Okay! Point me in the direction we should go in.”
“Left, where the shirts are.” Leo nods, the balance throwing them both off for a second before he rights himself.
It is a slow experience, and the kid glares at everything like he wants to torch it, including any of the other customers, who then give Leo a nasty look like it’s his fault he's hanging out with some traumatized kid who seems far too familiar with knives.
Well it was his choice, but really people could stand to be nicer. It’s not like a glare’s gonna hurt them.
Leo picks out anything the kid so much as glances at, guessing at the sizes, before taking them both over to the changing rooms, grabbing a pair of socks on the way.
“I’m buying these!” He tells the staff member at the entrance, before ripping them open and handing him a pair.
When Leo sets him down he expected the kid to tell him to leave, but instead he just stares at the pile of clothes Leo has dumped onto the floor and then back at Leo.
“Try them on!” He urges.
“All of them?”
“Yeah!” And the kid frowns, but doesn’t question it apparently, undressing and picking up the first article of clothing with a blank expression before putting on.
The kid is silent as he tries them on, not saying anything, but Leo watches and sorts the clothes into three piles. Ones that made him frown, ones that he stared at himself in the mirror a bit longer for, and a pile that's just like the second, but the piece of clothing didn’t fit him quite right.
Once he’s done that he changes back into Nazuna’s clothes, staring at Leo’s piles suspiciously.
“Now what?”
“Pick two things out of this pile and put them on.” Leo says, gesturing at his ‘kid approved’ pile. And he does, watching Leo oddly as he picks out a shirt and pants seemingly at random, slipping on some dark blue shorts and a red button up.
“And now?” He asks, frowning.
“And now I buy you that, and all the rest of it!”
“... I don’t need this much clothing. It’s useless.” Leo hums, ignoring the comment as he piles his unneeded clothing into the discard bin.
“Well it’s my money, so don’t worry about it!”
“That you are wasting on me.”
“I’m crazy right?” He says with a laugh, and the kid scowls, “So don’t think about it. Now, come on, you need to pick out some shoes.”
“... Okay.” And Leo grins, having expected that response, he’d definitely want the shoes afterall.
While the kid picks Leo quickly exchanges the shirts from pile 3, meeting up with him just in time for the kid to have finished picking two pairs of sneakers, staring at the ones he’s currently wearing.
“Great, keep those on and we’ll go buy everything.” The kids lips purse, but he doesn’t argue, presumably having correctly assumed Leo was not going to budge on this at all, carrying his box over to the worker along with Leo. While the lady scans their purchases, Leo notices him glaring down an orange cat plush on the rack by the till and Leo swipes that up too, adding it to his total.
The lady, seeming to understand Leo’s intent, scans it right away, handing it back over to him and then Leo hands it over to the kid.
“Why are you giving me this?” He asks, staring at the toy blankly, his hold tight enough the poor thing is beginning to crumple.
“It’s yours now!”
“... I don’t need this. It’s useless, how is this going to help me?”
Leo grins, “Well you see, you can get anything you want in life, even if you don’t need it. You just need to want it a tiny little bit, and that’s enough!”
“It’s still useless.”
“Things don’t need to be useful for people to want them! Besides, plush toys are plenty useful, they’re great at keeping nightmares away.”
The boy goes quiet at that, and when Leo grabs him to put him back on his shoulders, doesn’t protest.
“...Ibara.” The kid says as they exit the store, bags in hand.
“Hm?”
“That’s my name. Ibara.” Leo's grin is so wide he’s glad the kid - Ibara! - isn’t able to see it.
“Well it’s nice to meet you Ibara~!” He cheers, grinning happily for the rest of their trip to the restaurant.
-
Ibara glares at the menu, his plush cat seated neatly against the wall of the restaurant, like he’s going to eat along with them. They were seated outside, the weather was pleasant and it was still bright out and Ibara seemed a bit more at ease when he could better see around him. Though the sun was starting to look like it was going to set soon; they really had spent a lot of time clothes shopping hadn't they.
“Is something wrong?” Leo asks, when Ibara continues to glare, his own menu beneath his hands, having already picked out what he’s going to order.
“No.” Ibara scowls, not looking up from the menu.
“... Did you need help reading it?”
“No!”
“You said you were missing your glasses right? It’s not a big deal”
“I can read it just fine.” He insists, slamming the menu down. “I just don’t know what any of this is!” And then quickly looks down, like he hadn’t meant to say that part.
Ah, Leo should’ve expected that too.
“I can order for ya if you want?”
“I don’t need you to do that.” Ibara insists, scowling. “But if you want to do that I’m not gonna stop you from wasting your time.”
“Great! Did you want something sweet or savoury?” Leo asks, picking the menu back up.
“Savoury.” He says decisively.
Leo hums, scanning the menu as he presses the button to call the waitress standing at the head of the patio over.
She arrives shortly, and Leo orders both their meals, along with two strawberry shakes.
“What’s a milkshake?” Ibara asks, and honestly, it might be the saddest thing he’s said yet.
Still, the rest of the meal goes well, even if Ibara doesn’t touch his food until Leo tries it first himself. And Leo gets to see something almost like a smile when the other tries the milkshake, eyes sparking with the closest thing to joy Leo worries might be in his whole life.
“Did you want dessert?” He asks as they finish and Ibara shakes his head, yawning slightly.
Ah... It was getting kind of late huh? The sun was just about gone, the lights of the restaurant illuminating their table instead.
Leo nods, pressing the button once again to call for their bill, and once again their waitress returns, happily handing Leo their total as Leo fishes out his wallet once again.
When he looks over at Ibara, the boy is asleep, leaning suspiciously close to the stuffed animal.
Leo grins, carefully collecting their purchases before picking him up, curling him around the stuffed cat in his arms.
It’s the most relaxed he’s seen him since they met.
-
It’s not until the taxi drops him off that Leo remembers that maybe going back to the dorms wasn’t the best idea. Wasn’t someone trying to find Ibara? And Leo wasn’t exactly keen on whoever the boy was running from, considering the state Leo had found him in.
He seems calmer now, and Leo wants to keep it that way, but it isn’t like Leo could defend him from any attackers should they find him.
Maybe he should message Mama... Mama was good at things like this wasn’t he? He frowns, wishing once again he hadn’t misplaced his phone for the umpteenth time. Maybe he should just start walking back into the city and call another taxi to go rent out a hotel room? He’d go home but he didn’t wanna risk any danger coming to his family.
He hums, pondering his options, Ibara still sleeping quietly in his arms.
“Tsukinaga-sama?” A familiar voice calls and Leo turns, looking to see Yuzuru walking over to him. “It is rather late to still be...” Yuzuru’s voice trails off, staring at the child in Leo’s arms.
“Yuzuru?” He asks, shifting his arms a bit to better hide Ibara, Leo knew Yuzuru wouldn’t hurt him, but for some reason he felt weirdly defensive. Maybe it was the look in his eyes, it wasn’t one Leo was used to.
“You found him?”
“...Ibara? You know him?” That was good... probably?
“You... don’t?” Yuzuru questions, mouth turning into a small frown as he looks up at Leo.
Leo laughs, softly, so as to not wake Ibara. “He asked me the same thing! I don’t know many kids you know, I’m surprised you do.”
“Right... Child.” Yuzuru says, gaze slipping back down to Ibara. “There was a Hold Hands message, telling everyone in the dorms to be on the lookout for a lost child.”
“Oh! I don’t know where my phone is, and we’ve been out all day!” Maybe that’s what the knock was about? Maybe Leo was just overreacting, Ibara definitely came from somewhere unsafe, but that didn’t mean the dorms weren’t safe.
“Thank you for finding him, Tsukinaga-sama, I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for you.” Yuzuru replies, bowing slightly. “But I can take over from here, you can head up to bed.”
Leo’s grip tightens, laughing weakly. “Uh! Don’t worry about it, he can sleep in my dorm tonight, he’s really tired as you can see. We can deal with everything in the morning...?”
“It’d be best to get him back to his family as soon as possible Tsukinaga-sama, I’m sure you can understand that.”
Leo’s eyes narrow. “He doesn’t have parents.” Well, Leo wasn’t entirely sure about that, but nothing about the kid screamed well loved home, especially not the familiarity with weapons. This kid belonged to an orphanage at best and was a street kid at worst.
Yuzuru’s eyes widened a bit, like he wasn’t expecting Leo’s rebuttal.
“We’ve been together all day, we went clothes shopping and had dinner!” Leo says, and Yuzuru’s eyes flit to the bags, like he hadn’t noticed them before. “So I don’t really get what’s going on here, but he’s going to sleep with me tonight and I’ll make sure he’s safe, and then we can deal with this in the morning okay?”
Yuzuru’s expression shifts, a pleasant smile adorning his features. “Of course, my apologies Tsukinaga-sama, I’m sure this must be very confusing for me to spring on you all of the sudden. I’ll be at your dorm room tomorrow in the morning to better explain.”
Leo nods, even if the thought of Yuzuru’s ‘morning’ sounds exhausting to him. “Sounds great! Don’t worry Yuzuru, I’ll make sure to keep him safe, you don’t have to worry about that!”
“If I may be candid with you Tsukinaga-sama, it is your safety I am more concerned with.” Which implied Yuzuru knew more about this kid than he might’ve wanted to suggest. Now why did fine’s butler know that much about some traumatized little kid?
“Don’t worry Yuzuru! He’s already stabbed me and I’m still kicking, so I think I’ll be okay!”
And when Yuzuru stares at him in frozen blank surprise, uses that to escape quickly into the dorms.
Leo really had no idea what was going on here, but he could at least do his best to keep one kid safe and happy.
He thought Ibara deserved at least that much.