Matchablossom

A Slight Head Wound

Kojiro Nanjo, leant against the railings next to the river bank, waiting for Kaoru to join him. It was early in the morning, around 7am, and a Tuesday. The two had school but it's not like either of them went to their classes. For them, skating was more important. 

Putting running his hand through his hair he pulled out his phone to message Kaoru. It wasn't like him to be late, especially when they were planning on skating across town. 

Kojiro: Four -eyes. Where are you? 

Waiting for an answer, Kojiro dropped his board on the floor before sitting down on it. He listened to the river rushing behind him, and the sound of the cars driving down the nearby road. 

As time passed, Kojiro checked his phone for the tenth time, but still no reply from his best friend. Getting a bit concerned Kojiro figured he'd just meet Kaoru at the skate park whenever he decided to reply. 

Kojiro: I'm going to the skate park, I'll meet you there. 

After sending the message, Kojiro started to skate down the back streets, finding it easier to skate down than the streets filled with people. He avoided those who leant against the broken walls, yelling curses at him as he narrowly avoided them. 

Kojiro passed a darker alleyway, not thinking anything of it until he saw a familiar skateboard out of the corner of his eye. Stopping his own board, Kijiro stood at the open of the alleyway, he couldn't see all the way down it, only what was lit by the street lamps behind him. The skateboard that caught his attention was lying on it's side next to the wall. It had a crack down the deck, almost splitting the board in half. 

Kojiro flipped the board over which confirmed his worry. The deck was a familiar pink and purple in a tie dye pattern, on one side of the board KN+KS was etched with a drawing of a cherry underneath it. Kojiro knew the board belonged to Kaoru.

"Kaoru?" Kojiro called out his voice wavering. Not waiting for a reply, he pulled out his phone and switched the flashlight on. The new light showed a bit more of the alley, it looked normal and like every other alleyway he passed. However, a flash of pink caught the attention of Kojiro who was already freaking out. 

"Kaoru." Kojiro repeated walking over to the wall. As he feared, Kaoru was curled up next to a dumpster, he had his hands and arms covering his face, he was frozen in that position, the only sign of life was the fact that he was shaking. Kaoru was pale, his knuckles scared and bloody and his hair pooled under his head. 

Reaching out, Kojiro pulled Kaoru up into a seating position, this made Kaoru's arms fall to his side. That's when Kojiro could see his face. It was bloody and bruised, he had a split lip, a large cut from one side of his face above the eye to the opposite end, next to his lip. Blood was soaking his hair and clothes. 

"Holy shit- Kaoru-!" Kojiro shook him a bit rougher than he'd like to admit, but wanted to make sure he was okay. After a bit of shaking, Kaoru's left eye opened, fear flickering behind it. Kaoru moved away quickly, hitting his back against the wall. 

"Get away from me-" Kaoru hissed, putting his arms in front of his face again. Kojiro moved back slightly to give him some space but watched on terrified. He then noticed that Kaoru's ankle was at an odd ankle, this made him more mad to whoever did this to him. 

"Cherry-" Kojiro started, this made Kaoru look up. He teared up realizing it was Kojiro. He dropped his hands away from his face, silently begging for Kojiro to hold him and make him feel safe. Noticing the look Kojiro moved over, holding Kaoru tightly, resting his head on top of his. 

"What happened?" Kojiro asked, barely able to keep the anger out of his voice. Kaoru curled up in his chest tightly, not wanting to answer as he knew it would make Kojiro more angry. "Blossom, I won't be mad at you or start any fights with anyone if you don't want me to, but I want to know what happened." He added with a reassuring smile. 

"It was a beef, the others played dirty. It was with some guy called Ainosuke.." Kaoru started wiping some blood off his lip, hissing as it stung worse than it thought. "We were just supposed to race down he back alleys.. but, I don't even know, I just felt the pain of something hitting my face, and sliding across the floor." 

"I'm going to kill that guy." Kojiro mumbled earning a soft glare from Kaoru. He didn't care at that moment, all he could think about was Koaru getting hurt by some asshole who clearly couldn't win on his own speed or talent. "Let's get you back home, your ankle looks bad, so you can't go skating again." 

This caused Kaoru to sigh and shake his head. He tried to protest by standing up on shaky legs, almost instantly he collapsed, his ankle giving out under him. Darting up and forward, Kojiro grabbed Kaoru before he could hit the ground and picked him up. 

"I told you." Kojiro sighed, carrying him in a bridal style back to his skateboard. He picked up the skateboard, holding it under his arm. Kojiro carried Kaoru back to his house, taking the back alleyways again, to avoid the glares and strange looks of strangers who passed them. Halfway back to their apartment, Kaoru passed out again but luckily all the bleeding had stopped. When he was passed out, Kojiro started to overthink, he wondered what happened to Kaoru in the beef or how long he had been out, passed out. By the temperature of his skin, Kojiro figured it must've been since the early hours of the morning. 

Kojiro swore at himself, for not looking for Kaoru before, why he didn't go looking for him when he didn't turn up or message back. Before he could beat himself up some more, Kaoru stirred in his arms, his right eye refused to open as the cut mad made the other one swollen, with a purple and black bruise. 

"Joe.." Kaoru mumbled, gripping his shirt a bit tighter, he trusted Kojiro not to drop him, but he was still scared. Not only that but he was also in pain which he refused to show to anyone, including Kojiro, he didn't need any more stress and worry. 

"I'm here Blossom, it's okay." Kojiro reassured, opening his front door. Before any of his parents could notice, Kojiro carried the other to his room, making sure he was comfy on the bed. After Kaoru was comfortable enough, Kojiro turned to leave to get the mini first aid kit he had in his bathroom. 

Before he could walk away, Kaoru grabbed onto his hand tightly. "Please stay with me," 

"I'll be back now, we need to clean your cuts, before they get infected." Kojiro explained gently. Kaoru huffed before letting go of his hand, hugging his pillow instead. 

Kojiro returned quickly with a small box in his hand, sitting down, he opened it earning another sigh from a sleepy Kaoru. Kojiro looked down at him, moving a strand of pink hair from his face. 

"Before you say anything, no it cannot wait." Kaoru just flipped the other off and let him get on with helping him with his wounds. 

With great care, and much pain, Kojiro cleaned all the wounds he could see and before Kaoru could say anything, he grabbed the others hand and pressed a small kiss into the forming scars on Kaoru's knuckles, and continued as if he didn't do anything leaving Kaoru a bit confused but he appreciated the sentiment. 

After what felt like hours, Kaoru could finally get enough sleep, even if it was in Kojiro's bed, which he didn't mind but definitely didn't let Kojiro know. But soon enough, he was drifting into a comforting sleep, with Kojiro sat next to him, keeping him company. 

"Thank you Gorilla," Kaoru mumbled sleepily, "I love you.." He added, barely audible, however Kojiro just caught it. He smiled to himself, wrapping an arm around Kaoru and pulled him closer. 

"I love you too.."