After remedying himself with those heavenly blue pills and relaxing with his crew to wolf down their takeout, Mika still couldn't sit still.
Occasionally, the faint whimper or weep sounded in his head, making his hand suddenly clench or a leg jolt, a forkful of rice flinging to the floor. He was eyed down nearly all dinner by his mates, becoming the laughing stock of the night.
They were all aware of his mentality since the days they met him, and although they respected his boundaries and wished best upon his daily struggles, no one could deny the sporadic hilarious moments it caused him.
Even though some cases ate him alive...
He tossed out his empty box of rice, returning to his cozy corner on the leather couch in the living room and buried himself back under the colorful assortment of sheets. He laid in fetal position, growling to himself like a dog.
The guys were beyond used to his habitual hermit-like nature which was undeniably volatile at times. At this point, they were blind to it.
Except for Sully.
He sat on Mika's legs, slapping the blond's butt.
"What's wrong, bud?"
"Don't slap my ass. And I'm fine."
"Aw, come on. We aren't gonna play this game, are we? What is it? Constipation? Loneliness? Did Jesus Christ leave you on read? Spill it to me."
Mika flipped the covers off of his face, inhaling deeply. He stared into the chocolate eyes of his companion, signaling him to follow with a finger.
Moments later, the two sat in the darkness of Mika's attic with a lantern between them, as if a ghost story was being expounded.
Sully chewed his nail, squinting at the blue-eyed boy wrapping himself in covers. "You couldn't have gotten anyone pregnant, right?"
Mika paused, his gaze enough to make his friend regret his words. "No."
"Yeah, yeah. I had a feeling. You're too good for that."
Not to mention the "sex after marriage" vow that came with his devotion. He was raised with it and stuck with it. Luckily, that wasn't his biggest issue. He couldn't care less about the topic, earnestly.
"Alright," the brunette casually sighed, leaning back on his palms. "You alright, man?"
"That boy on the rooftop," Mika began already, a deep breath following. "...Is everywhere in my damn life. In the pool, nearly dying; lunch, getting picked on-" He could hear Sully's groan in annoyance. "-I'm not joking!"
"Bro, let it go," the brunette sang, "he's a lil kid. Of course you're gonna see him all the time. You two go to the same damn school. Just be happy he's keeping his mouth closed about what happened."
"Of course, but - that should've been the end. This kid nearly dies every time he's around me. He's like bad luck and it irks me," Mika shivered, burying his face in his palms. "I swear to God it's because I tried to kill him..."
He could envision those green puffy eyes gazing in terror at him in the darkness of his head.
"Ooo, watch out now, I think the mighty Christ has cast a spell upon you," the boy teased in a mimicking voice, rolling his eyes. Mika shot him a minatory look. "Chill. He'll live. Ain't you ever seen shy kids at Harbor Lee? They're always getting their asses whooped. It's how they learned. Was that not us when we were in middle school?"
"It was."
"And he's just on the same path, Mika. Relax. He isn't out to beleaguer you. You're just worked up because you know he knows something he shouldn't about you. Like I said, he's too afraid to do anything. He's like me approaching women," Sully snorted, playfully shoving the blond's shoulder.
"I know... That's why someone could kill him, or he might kill himself," Mika retorted, displeased with himself that he cared so much. Unfortunately, he was well aware he couldn't control it any longer and Sully was already acknowledging this, too. "I hate it but I can't let him die. I couldn't care less about him, but I can't let him die, Sully. I can't."
Silence poured into the cramped triangular room, Mika's own words still ringing in his head like a church bell. He couldn't hate not being in control of his own mind more. Being the co-admin against his brain wasn't enough. However something else was polluting his head. It was not just the act of keeping Yuu alive, but protecting him, in a sense.
Mika could not bear the sound of Yuu in distress. It touched a part too deep into his own memories, igniting a neurosis so strong that it could've made him ill.
After acknowledging that cancerous fact, he was infected with a repulsive urge to care.
"So don't let him die," the shorter boy sighed, crossing his arms. "Fine. That's another life on your hands to deal with. You gotta watch this boy every single second in that damned building, after school, and for fuck's sake - even when he sleeps. God knows if someone crawls through his window and puts a knife through his head as he's passed out. You do what you want, but just know your costs, Mika. As soon as that other gang sees that he's your lil pet of some sort, that's the first person they're gonna try and kill. You and I both know damn well. He is not safe in your hands."
If Mika wasn't molested by psychosis, he would've agreed with his companion in a heartbeat. Why should he care? He owed Yuu nothing and Yuu owed him nothing. They were strictly even with the deal of secrecy and Yuu's allowance to live.
Why care?
"Fine," Mika murmured, an icy chill settling over the two of them. He looked up at his partner, something unreadable in his eyes. "Perhaps I have another life on my hands."
It felt as if their bond was sliced right in two. Sully shook his head, stretching his arms.
"Alright. Whatever. Don't listen to me then. You want that lil boy to survive?" he asked as he raised the wooden door's latch to reveal a beam of light projecting from the lower level. "Teach him to fight back."
Darkness smothered Mika again as Sully leapt down and shut the latch, only his lone self haunting his room. He peered out his dirty, small window, moonlight casting upon his features.
Mika stuffed a remaining box of Chinese food in the cup holder of his car, buckling up his seatbelt. He drove with his lights off, his tires slowly crunching the tiny pebbles aligning their apartment road.
He arrived at the foster home, parking his car in the dimness of the alley. He rubbed his rough climbing gloves together, scuffing his boots against the gravel. Then he placed the cold, thin metal handles of the white box between his teeth, and tested for a leap.
"Let's see which window you're at, Yuichiro," he murmured through the metal, making sure every piece of gear was on right before he leaped up to a ledge. "Oh, fuck," he hissed, unprepared to have his entire weight dependent on his arms again. He dangled, only a foot or two from the ground. The bricks of the building dug into his hands, a loose rock falling on his helmet.
He growled, looking up as he continued to climb. His biceps ached, his fingers clinging on tightly to the miniature slopes of the ledges. The scent of the Chinese food was making him even more on edge, in some way.
Maybe delivering this around dinner time instead of 2 AM would've been more approachable... God knows with these crazy ass nuns. Let's hope they aren't against the Chinese. He thought to himself.
Now fifteen feet off of the ground, he began to slightly sweat. He tried to ignore that factor, peering into the many grimy windows of the foster building. None of them resembled that black-haired, baby-faced boy that was ever so famous in Mika's brain.
After swinging to a final ledge, and on the verge of giving in, he peered into another room, cracking the window this time. He leaned in over the window sill, relaxing and catching his breath for a moment. That looked quite terrifying though, half body in and the other nowhere to be seen.
He gazed into the hideous, poorly-decorated room, gentle snores filling his ears. He looked directly down, Yuu's small body curled up on the bed just below Mika's dangling arms from the window, sleeping soundly with a hand covering his lower face.
Mika nearly choked on the metal, the box threatening to collapse all over Yuichiro's face and spill a rice piñata everywhere. He battled a hazardous urge to kidnap Yuu right then and there and take him somewhere better... He looked purely gentle as his chest rose and fell, his blanket cocooning his tiny body.
I know you're starving...
Mika nudged the boy's soft cheek with a finger, scoping around to make sure the other boys in the room hadn't awakened. Yuu twitched microscopically in his slumber, shaking his head. He made a soft noise, fighting the urge to be woke by Mika's hand.
The blond removed the box from his mouth, whiffing the scent by Yuu's nose by teasing it in front of his face.
Drool pooled from the ravenette's lips.
Mika furrowed his eyebrows, shaking him one last time. Exhausted emerald eyes finally cracked open, slowly looking up at the helmeted blond boy dangling into his window.
At first, he assumed he was still dreaming. Then he saw him crack a smile. That was utterly fake.
He shot up, his head whipping around in panic.
"What-" he whispered to no one, the rest of the boys asleep. What on Earth could've been going on? He looked back at the blue-eyed criminal, wide awake now.
"Delivery for Yuichiro. Shh, eat it quick and toss the box out the window," Mika whispered, giving Yuu a thumbs up as he accepted the box.
Yuu stared at it in pure disbelief as if it were some million dollar's worth artifact. Right in his small hands. A meal. He looked back up at Mika with those innocent eyes.
"This is real?"
The criminal raised his brows. "Yes." He could practically hear the boy's heartbeat, making him smile again. "What's your name?"
Of course, he already knew. But he asked for a reason.
"Yuu..." the small boy whispered, the scent of the food making his stomach rumble.
That was Mika's reason.
"Hi, Yuu. I'll tutor you if you want. See you tomorrow."
And then he disappeared back over the ledge, never to be witnessed again.
Yuu stared back at the white box decorated in kanji, a tiny cartoon panda looking right back at him.
What are you waiting for? It seemed to ask. Eat!
And Yuu did, with his bare hands, tears of relief streaming down his pink cheeks.
A 2 AM miracle.