TW // Mentions of abuse
CW // Profanity
Jax hated himself for thinking Logan could be on an impromptu vacation. The moment he had walked into the classroom, smiling at raising a hand at him, he hated himself. Smiling? When Logan had a clearly swollen cheek and a large bandage across it, hiding whatever made it swollen. He wanted to curl up in a hole from the embarrassment.
However, Jax had priorities. Priorities that involved not turning a blind eye to the injury like everyone else seemed to be doing. Jax scoffed at their heartlessness. He was clearly in pain and nobody bothered to even ask about it? Only Mr Kamatani looked worried.
Jax sat down next to Logan, clearing his throat. “So, what happened?” Jax asked. He saw the other boy’s eyes widen for a split second before he regained his composure.
“Just fell and hit my cheek on the edge of a table,” he signed.
Jax furrowed his brows. “Really? Did it knock out any teeth? I sure hope not,” he replied. He wasn’t sure if he believed the unlikely event, but he went with it nonetheless. Logan hiding it meant it was something personal. Too personal for Jax to know. And if he was telling the truth? Impressive.
Logan shook his head no. That was a relief, at least.
Mr Kamatani started class with a short glance at Logan, a nervous swallow, then an “I hope everyone has read the eighth through fifteenth chapters. Pop quiz!”
Oh fuck. Jax hadn’t.
As Mr Kamatani passed out the papers, Jax felt his palms grow sweaty. He had read part of the book. He had actually just stopped at the eighth chapter. But he hadn’t read it yet. He was totally unprepared for this. Fuck.
Mr Kamatani paused at his desk. “You just recently joined this class. I expect you to be caught up by next week. Spend this time reading as well. This assignment won’t count towards your grade.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out his book. Thank fuck Mr Kamatani was a good teacher. That quiz would have landed him a zero and that would not look good on his report card.
He didn’t notice Kuro’s quiet, “Stay after class,” to the boy next to him.
Jax would call it a productive day. He read three chapters in Mr Kamatani’s class, and he hadn’t needed PE to get his brain to wake up.
He’d count that as a win.
Logan was going to be severely late for his AP physics class. He was planning on missing it anyways, though, so he didn’t mind. He stayed back until the second bell rang, signifying the start of second period. Then he went to his locker to grab his flash drive.
He was lucky that second block was Kuro’s planning period. It made it easier to catch the guy alone. Walking back into the classroom, Logan passed his flash drive into Kuro’s hands. The teacher held it in his palm for a moment. Then, he glanced at Logan. “This is…?”
“The video you asked for,” Logan signed.
Kuro’s eyes widened, first shining in hope, then muddling down to worry. “Do you need bandages, supplies, anything? I’ll ask your teachers to bring your work here,” Kuro said.
Logan was grateful for the silent understanding that he was in pain. He shrugged off his shirt as Kuro went to grab the medical kit. When he turned around, he froze.
“Logan,” Kuro whispered. “He- Did you- Was this because of the video?” He settled on asking after a moment.
“Sort of,” Logan signed. Kuro looked horrified. “Not entirely. Just- I wasn’t supposed to have my phone,” Logan added quickly. That did little to ease Kuro’s worry.
“Logan,” he said once more, setting the first aid kit on a desk. “Never do that again if this is the result. We’ll go to court without it.”
Logan swallowed. He couldn’t agree to that, not when he needed to leave so badly. If they failed in court again, they might not get another chance. He was betting everything on them winning.
If they failed—
If they failed, Logan may as well be a dead man.
He let the thought settle in as Kuro opened the kit and took out a wound disinfectant.
They spent multiple class periods carefully disinfecting and bandaging each of Logan’s wounds. By the time Kuro was done, Logan felt like he had an extra jacket on. He felt glad that it was October and not August.
He slipped back on his shirt, and then Kuro replaced the bandage covering the bruise on his face. He offered Logan a sad smile as he finished.
“I’m sorry,” Kuro said. He didn’t need to. There was no reason he should be sorry. It was Logan’s choice.
Logan just bowed his head. His mind felt all foggy and he didn’t want to think. He took a seat in one of the bean bag chairs in the reading corner and relaxed. His teachers had yet to bring his assignments, likely waiting until their planning period to do so.
He wondered if it would be okay to take a short nap. Surely it would? His wounds still ached and it hurt to move, but that was fine. He was used to at least a little pain all the time in various areas. It didn’t bother him too much.
His eyes slipped shut, the weight of his eyelids suddenly becoming too heavy. Yes, sleeping would be fine. He allowed his mind to take a rest, drifting in and out of consciousness for only a moment before sleep consumed him.
It only occurred to Logan after his brain was well-rested and smart again that Kuro had likely taken third block off to dress his wounds. He would have to be sure to thank the man later, but at that moment, he was nowhere to be seen.
Logan sat up groggily, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He checked the clock and oh, he missed most of fourth period, but he was planning to go because he didn’t want to skip out on the project two days in a row. And Jax was in that class and he’d be weirded out. And— And that was enough thinking. Sometimes he wished his brain had a switch. Then he wouldn’t have to think. That sounded nice.
Kuro returned a few moments later, Logan still leaning against the fabric of the blue bean bag. Kuro offered him a smile in greeting, his attention glued to his phone.
He was probably texting Joshua. Kuro’s husband had been all excited about Logan’s agreement to fetching the right information. He would probably be disappointed and Oh, please tell me Kuro didn’t tell him. He’d flip out.
Despite Joshua having left, Logan still believed his brother cared about him. He needed to if he was fighting for custody. Hope was one of the few things he was left with.
Letting out a huff of air, Logan sighed, flopping his head back on the bean bag. A bell rang and Kuro motioned for him to get up. “I only took off half the day,” he explained as Logan headed to his seat in the back. He threw his jacket on over his short-sleeved shirt to hide the bandages. He tapped his fingers repetitively on his desk as students filed into the classroom. Jax seemed confused to see him when he walked in.
“Where were you in fourth?” he asked, his gaze full of curiosity. Logan just shrugged, staring at the front of the classroom. He noticed Jax’s frown from the corner of his eye. Feeling a little guilty, he made eye contact with Jax for a short moment before pointing towards the floor.
“Here?” Jax asked, clearly befuddled. Logan nodded. His brows only furrowed more, a mixture of emotions Logan couldn’t pinpoint swirling in his eyes.
Logan averted his gaze, choosing to let it follow Kuro as he checked his email. The teacher’s eyes seemed to light up as he read something on the computer. Sure enough, he got up only a moment after the second bell rang and stood at the front of the room. He clapped his hands once to gain the students’ attention.
“Everyone,” he began, excitement clear in his voice. “The school has decided to host a narrative contest. It depends on how many people participate, but the top ten or so will receive extra credit as a reward.” Many grumbles could be heard at this. Most people didn’t care, but it didn’t seem to faze Kuro much.
“Write your name on this paper as we leave the classroom if you’re interested. I’ll give more details to those who are,” he finished cheerfully. He dismissed the students just moments later.
Logan paused at the paper and wrote his name down. He wasn’t sure if he would actually participate, but he would prefer to have the information than not. Next to him, Jax quickly scribbled his name down next to the other six.
Logan surveyed the short list of names. Half of them he knew were people that wanted (or needed) the extra credit. He was skeptical that those people would actually go the extra mile to get it. The other half were students who actually wanted to participate to write. Well, maybe they needed extra credit too, but that wasn’t the only reason they were participating.
Or maybe they were like him and just wanted the information.
Logan easily slipped away from the rest of the class. He made his way to the roof door, pushing it open. Harper and Riley were already chatting away.
Harper was the first to notice him. “Logan! We missed you yesterday,” he said. Riley nodded in agreement, a cloud of concern lingering over her face.
“You okay?” She asked, eyeing the bandage on his cheek. Logan offered a small smile and nodded. No, not really. But was he ever okay?
Harper frowned, reaching up towards the bandage. “You sure? This doesn’t look too good.”
Logan nodded once more. “Kuro bandaged it for me,” he said.
Harper and Riley knew to leave it at that. Riley walked towards him, offering him a miniature cake from her lunch. “Take it,” she said. Logan did so, taking a small bite of the sweet treat. He savoured the flavour for just a few seconds before swallowing. He repeated the motion a few more times before the cake was finished.
He sat down with Riley and Harper, only then realising that he forgot to bring lunch. He figured he’d be fine with just the cake.
They discussed various events; the upcoming football game, their school’s new card-making club (Seriously, it seemed like such a random thing to create a club for), and a math teacher’s absence from school for the past two weeks seemed to be the day’s main points.
“Hey, Mr Kamatani didn’t have class today, but apparently he did in first block,” Harper said.
Riley’s gaze flicked to Logan. He grimaced as he spoke. “That’d be my fault. He was helping me.”
An awkward silence fell over the group. Riley and Harper knew what that meant by that point. Logan needed medical care and Kuro gave it to him the best he could. It was a sweet gesture, but it made them worry for their friend more. Clearly, he was not as alright as he claimed.
Logan shivered, somehow cold even with a shirt, jacket, and bandages. He blew warm air onto his wrists, hoping to warm himself a little. Finally, the silence broke. “Did you hear about that essay contest?”
Logan shot Riley a thankful look, pressing his hands closer to his face. Harper also shivered a little, the cold air biting into his skin. “Yeah. I dunno if I’ll participate.”
“Same,” Logan agreed.
“I’m gonna crush you boys,” Riley teased, earning a glare from Harper.
“Like hell you will,” he replied. “I’m gonna crush you.”
Riley smirked. “Mm-hmm. Yeah, right. Keep dreaming, shorty.
Harper lunged at her. Although the action was done in a playful manner, it still made Logan flinch back. Harper shot him an apologetic look, mouthing “sorry,” before tackling Riley to the ground.
They spent the few minutes left of lunch like that. Then an alarm went off on Riley’s phone and they snuck back downstairs just in time for sixth period.
Band. Something he could actually look forward to.
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