When Stars Don't Shine

Chapter 9

T/W: violence (that is a braud term for this, but it basically sums it up) & Maki's backstory (I overexagerated it a bit compared to how Maki told Touma in the anime)

    When Aya & Touma got to the front door, Maki looked petrafied, or like he had a concussion.

    "What are you doing here Kenji? Go away!," shouted Aya.

    "Why? I just wanted to visit my dear son~."

    "Leave Maki alone! He doesn't deserve to be hurt like this."

    "Touma, right? Nice to see you again," said the older man as he smirked

    Touma bared his teeth at the older man.

    "Now now, let's not get to feisty. Don't want anyone else to get hurt, right?"

    "What do you want?!," asked Aya, while protectivly sheilding Touma unintentionally.

    "Take a guess Aya. What do I usually come here for?"

    "W-we don't-," started Maki.

    "Shut up boy!," shouted Kenji.

    "Please just leave. I'll have something out tomorrow. Ok?," pleaded Aya.

    "Sounds good darling~. Until next time kids~."

    When Kenji closed the door, Aya ran to lock it while Touma ran to Maki, who was now barely conscious thanks to Kenji.

    "I'm going to get the first aid kit, then I'm taking Maki to the hospital. You & the others can hang out here if you want. If you don't feel safe here, you may be able to go to the Mitsue apartment, ok?," asked Aya.

    "Yes ma'am," replied Touma

    "Alright. Stay with Maki till I come back. I'll only be a minute."

    With that, Aya walked into the living area of the apartment where the other kids were sitting, worried for their friends.

    Nao & Yuu were too nervous to ask how Maki & Touma were doing, so Kanako spoke up.

    "Uhm, ma'am. How are Maki & Touma?," she asked.

    "Oh! Touma is just fine. He is still on edge though. Maki has some bruises & a bloody nose, & I'm worried that he may have a concussion, but other than that he is fine."

    The three of them look more worried than before, so Aya decited to try to ease their nerves.

    "I'm sure he's alright though. He is pretty tough. He'll get through this!," said the adult woman.

    With that, their nerves eased a little bit, & Aya got the first aid kit out of the bathroom. After she got it, she ran back to where the two boys were sitting & began to patch up Maki, with Touma helping to hold him up.

    After a couple minutes of bandages & disinfectant, Maki was deemed moveable by Aya

    "We'll be back soon. If you, Kanako, & Yuu want to leave before we get back, I'm sure Nao will be more than willing to tell you how Maki is."

    "Got it, although I doubt we will be gone."

    "I'm glad my boy has such good friends!"

    After that, the two Katsuragis left, leaving four teenagers to wait for them to come back.

    "So, who was at the door?," asked Yuu.

    "It was Maki's father," replied Touma.

    "He sounds violent," chimed in Kanako.

    "He is."

    "How often does he "visit"?," asked Yuu.

    "Not sure. I guess how often Maki goes to school with visible injuries."

    "So that's what all of that banging is usually. Damn it. Why didn't I knowtice," said Kanako as tears began to fall down her face

    "It's not your fault Mitsue. You didn't know," said Yuu as they started to gently hugged her in an attempt to comfort her.

    "I'm going to help clean up," said Nao.

    "Me too," said Touma.

    After about fourty five minutes, Nao & Touma had finished cleaning while Kanako was quietly sleeping on Yuu's shoulder.

    "Is she alright?," asked Nao while pointing at Kanako.

    "I think so, but she might be dehydrated. I think she exhausted herself by crying," replied Yuu.

    "I'll get her a glass of water," said Touma.

    "Good idea. Although, we should really put her somewhere comfortable first so her neck isn't in pain when she wakes up."

    "There's a futon set on in Maki's room. We could lay her there," said Nao.

    "Good idea," said Touma as he picked up Kanako & walked into Maki's room.

    After another twenty minutes, Aya had called Touma's phone. She said that Maki had a minour concussion. She also said that she was going to keep him home from school the next day. When Touma told Nao & Yuu, they visibly relaxed. They decited to tell Kanako after she woke up, which was only about ten minutes later. She was very relieved too, but she wouldn't admit it.

    When Maki & Aya arrived home, they were shocked when Touma, Yuu, & Kanako were still there, but the two weren't surprised. When they walked into the apartment, Kanako ran to hug Maki, & yelled at him for not coming to her sooner. Yuu had to lead her away, telling Maki to blame what she did on dehydration.

    After a couple more minutes, Touma, Yuu, & Kanako left, since it was pretty late already & they had school the next day. Although Aya did offer the three to stay the night, but they didn't want to overstay their welcome.

    When it was just Maki & Nao, Nao had started a conversation with him.

    "Do you want to talk about it?," he said.

    "I guess I should. Well, I guess it started when I was younger, before my parents split. My dad was always home with me, while my mom was out working. He would be the one to watch me, which was a bad idea. He was always drinking & smoking, & drunk. That made him violent, & when I did something, such as cry, or even make a loud enough noise, he would get violent, with me."

    Nao's eyes widen.

    Maki continued, "Eventually, that lead to my parents splitting. We had moved away from here, so that he couldn't find us, but he still did. He did the same thing as he did tonight, more times than I can count. Eventually, my mom's work had moved us back here, but thanks to the law, my dad still found out. Mom is trying to get a restraining order on him, but so far it hasn't gone through the system yet. I-."

    Maki paused. When Nao looked at the shorter boy, he knowticed his eyes had tears in them.

    "You don't need to say anymore if you don't want to. Would you like to hug or platonically cuddle?"

    Maki said, "Cuddle."

    Nao guided Maki to their bedroom & onto the shorter boy's bed. They both laid down carefully & Nao wrapped his arms around Maki's head & torso, while Maki wrapped both of his arms around Nao's torso & stuck his face in his chest. When he did that, Nao had began to play with Maki's hair. After a little while, the two boys fell asleep.

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JESUS FUCKING CHRIST DID THIS CHAPTER TAKE FOREVER TO WRITE. I am honestly glad that I am finished with this chapter, since over my hiatus, I have had the worst writers block on this story. It sucked. Although, I find it kinda funny. I've been working on this chapter forever, & I'm on my testing week while I write this (sadly I have to go to school for the tests, so I can't write during my test, which I find disappointing). Anywho, go drink water.

- Big Sibling Authour