Every Rose Has Its Thorn || ShojiNeta

14||Resting

By the time the boys got back to Shoji's house, they were completely out of breath. Mineta immediately dropped to his knees.

"Th-That just happened ...." Mineta stammered, tears threatening to spill. "H-He actually-" he cut himself off with a sob. "Why? Why did I have to be raised by such a fucked up family?" he asked, mostly to himself.

Shoji had no idea how to respond. He had never seen anything like that before. Hesitantly, he kneeled down next to the smaller boy and carefully pulled him into a hug. Mineta responded by gripping Shoji's shirt and sobbing into his chest. Shoji gently rubbed circles into his back, hoping to help calm him down. The octopus boi also took this as an opportunity to process what the hell just happened.

I knew he was abusive, but I didn't think he was capable of murder. Shoji thought. Then he thought about the condition Mineta was in when he found him in the first place. Those stab wounds were probably intended to kill. Yet he survived. The bastard probably grew frustrated and took his anger out on his wife. Then he tried to kill both of us because he thought we were dating. The thought of someone believing they were dating - even if it was a total asshole - made Shoji get that flustered feeling again. Why do I keep feeling like this? Agh! Why do I keep letting it distract me?! Focus! Get back to the point! Okay, he tried to kill us because he knows Mineta is gay and he thinks I'm gay, too. So definitely thinks it's wrong. We're gonna have to do something about this. But what?

Suddenly, Aizawa's words echoed in Shoji's head.

"If there is any trouble, alert me immediately."

"We should tell Aizawa," Shoji said. "He and the pros can go to your house and arrest your father. Once he's behind bars, you'll be safe."

Mineta wiped his eyes and nodded in agreement. "I'd like that more than anything. I just want him to leave me alone for good."

Shoji nodded in understanding. "Come in. Let's go inside and get you settled. Then we can call Aizawa."

Mineta nodded in agreement and the two of them stood up.

Mrs. Shoji was waiting for them. "You two are okay! Thank goodness!" she said as she immediately pulled the two boys into a hug.

"We're fine, Mom. We're completely unharmed," Shoji assured, returning the hug.

"Okay. That's good," Mrs. Shoji said. She turned to Mineta and saw the evidence of him crying. Her relieved smile disappeared. "What happened?"

"We'll explain later," Shoji said. "For now let's get him settled."

"All right then. Well, the guest room is currently being used as a storage room, so ... we should figure out where Minoru should stay first," Mrs. Shoji said.

Mineta opened his mouth to suggest sleeping in the living room, but then Shoji beat him to it.

"He can sleep in my room."

As soon as Shoji said it, he immediately felt his face turn red. Why? Why do I keep feeling like this?

Mrs. Shoji was a little surprised by this. But then she gave her son a somewhat teasing smile. "All right. I'll go get the air mattress. You boys can just take some time off your feet. Leave the rest to me."

Shoji felt his blush deepen. Why'd she smile at me like that? Does she know something I don't? It's like when Aizawa seemed like he was implying something. Damn my flusteredness! Why does it keep happening? Is it because I ...? No. That's crazy.

Shoji sighed to himself in annoyance and took a seat on the couch. Mineta sat down next to him, phone in hand. He started scrolling through his notifications.