SENIORITIS (Ishimondo)

9. Now I Know My A.C.A.B.'s

[TW- mentions of police brutality
Mondo is a jealous boy but he's trying
Getting into them serious topics, boys! The Diamond brothers are a BLM supporting family, you can't change my mind 👍]

Mondo was cold. Too cold.
The bed next to him was empty, and he vaguely remembered that it shouldn't be, but he wasn't sure why. There should be something warm next to him...
Chuck?
No, of course not....something else?
Oh .....
Taka.
That's right, Ishimaru had spent the night.
Mondo groaned and rolled himself out of bed.
He could vaguely hear Daiya and Taka in a heated conversation in the kitchen.
'Oh god...' he thought, not bothering to put on a shirt before leaving to break up the debate.
'Six in the morning's too early for this shit...' The awake part of Mondo's brain thought.

"No, I'm just asking a question! No metaphorical loaded gun. Just a question." Daiya said, sloppily folding cheese into eggs. "I'm asking you to tell me why a black guy is statistically more likely to get killed by a cop than me?"
Taka stood extremely still over the stove, quiet for a moment.
"I....suppose only explanation is...r..racism." the hall moniter muttered, back turned.
"Yes! And because they're in power positions like that, they can get away with it too! D'ya see what I've been saying?" His brother said, seemingly proud.
"I do think I better understand now...." Taka seemed shell shocked.
"Hey, everything okay?" Mondo asked, revealing his presence to the two men in the kitchen.
He noticed that Taka was already wearing his uniform.
"Morning, 'lil bro, we're just having...what didja call it earlier? An educated discussion." Daiya smirked and set down his bowl.
"Y-yes!" Ishimaru said and turned to look at them, his eyes distant. "An educated... discussion... Could I see that page one more time, please?" He asked the older Owada, who promptly handed him his phone.
"What's going on, Dai?" Mondo asked warily.
"Relax, we're just making you breakfast!" He said, switching spots with Taka, who was scanning over the phone screen with an expression of horror. Daiya started cooking the eggs on the stove where Taka had been.
"How have I not seen... This is absolutely.... I don't..." Kiyotaka stuttered.
"No, seriously, what did you tell him?" Mondo warned, getting protective. He knew how sensitive Taka was and didn't want Daiya making him upset.
"M just showing him the facts!"
"Facts of what?"
"People... Are so... Cruel.." Taka whispered, setting the phone down and stumbling out of the kitchen. His eyes were wet and he looked dazed as he made his way over to stand sheepishly next to Mondo.
He shot his brother a glare that could kill.
"What. Did. You. Show. Him." He growled
"It was a police brutality article." Daiya confessed.
"I-It had citations an- and everything, Mondo... i-incredible formatting .... reliable d-data....." Fat tears beaded up and rolled down Taka's cheeks.
"WHAT?! Y-you can't just... Christ, bro! His dad was a fucking cop! Why would you just jump into..?!"
"HE HAD TO KNOW!" Daiya laughed, before continuing. "He actually asked me about it I didn't bring it up, so you can't be mad at me."
"It's true, Mondo. I opened the metaphorical Pandora's box, it is my own fault." Taka sniffled, wiping his eyes.
"Okay, I don't care who's fault it is, let's just...getcha re bandaged before breakfast, okay?" Mondo said, trying to push down his temper and exude a calming energy.
"Alright, thank you." Taka gave him a pitiful look and followed Mondo to the bathroom.

+

"Are you okay? Ya should've woken me up!" Mondo said, sitting the other boy onto the toilet seat.
"I'm fine, just a bit emotional.... I can take care of myself."
"Really? With Daiya? You were so scared 'a him yesterday, what happened?" He asked, procuring his supplies and beginning on his work.
"I discovered we have a lot more in common than I originally thought." Taka said, as his friend began gently removing his bandages.
"Yeah? How's that?" Mondo prompted, trying to distract Taka from the pain he would probably be feeling as the gauze peeled from his wounds.
"Well, I had no idea we shared similar interests in debate and politics. After hearing this information, I asked for an educated explanation on a phrase I heard around, and well...I suppose he provided that."
"....Phrase?"
"It's... A bit embarrassing now that I understand the concepts. Ah!-" Taka winced in pain as Mondo took away the bandage on his temple.
"What was it? Won't make fun, I promise."
"U...Uh, it w-was... A-C-A-B?" Taka said, spelling out each letter.
"Oh." Mondo frowned. The conversation he had walked in on made sense now.
"It was something I heard quite a bit when my dad was still on the force, but I never got a straight answer on what it stood for. This summer I walked past a group of people, presumably protesters, with signs that said ACAB and BLM, amongst other things. My father would not tell me what these acronyms meant, therefore I knew they had to do with law enforcement."
Mondo finished up opening new bandages.
"So ya asked Daiya, cuz he would also know about cops. Just in a... different way."
"Exactly. However, I didn't expect such...unfortunate connotations, I wouldn't have brought it up if I had known...." Taka fumbled, embarrassed. "I guess I didn't realize the two of you might.... I do apologize for anything that I ..... I d-don't want you to think of me like that." His voice wavered, on the verge of crying again.
"Kiyodai, no, hey..." Mondo paused his rewrapping of Taka's knees to gently place a hand on his friend's thigh. "I know yer a good person, kay?"
"It's just... My morals are everything, and to find out something I wholeheartedly supported my entire life could be so disgustingly corrupt, I..."
"Oh Ishi..."
"Of course you hated me for so long, kiyodai..."
These words sent a pang through Mondo's heart. He had hated the hall monitor, for years in fact. Mondo loved going out of his way to make things difficult for Ishimaru for the entirety of high school so far. Things had only changed a mere week ago, and yet Mondo felt closer to Taka than he had with anyone ever (besides Daiya, of course).
"I go against everything you stand for...we are s-so...."
"Different?"
"Yes!" Taka's eyes snapped onto him, filled with fresh tears, hands tense and fingers curled, his eyebrows furrowed almost past the point of anxiety.
"And that's okay, 'member? I promise ya I wouldn't be tryin half as hard for any of my other friends. I like that we're different. S' like.... yin and yang or some shit."
Mondo finished bandaging Taka's knees, rolling the white uniform pant legs back down after he was done and patting the knees in front of him gently before standing.
"I suppose that....isn't the worst analogy." Taka mumbled, his sadness seeming to ebb away with that thought. "We are opposites, but we compliment each other."
"You bring out the best in me, bro. Lemme get your hands."
"Of course." Taka obediently flipped his palms towards Mondo. The scraped skin was still just beginning to heal, and he knew it would be at least another several days before the bandages could come off.
"Hey Mondo?"
"Yeah?" He replied, switching the wraps to clean ones.
"D-do you actually believe.... Rather, um... Do you agree with that statement?"
"What statement?"
"That all cops are... B-bastards..."
Mondo sighed.
He was going to have to explain the fundamentals of punk philosophy and systematic racism to the child of a police officer at six in the morning.
This was way more than he signed up for and Mondo was still half asleep.
"Yeah. Well not literally... S' just something you say. It's not so much about them being individually all bad people but it's that they're all feeding into a bastardized system, y'see? There's a lotta history to it, too, ACAB's been 'round since the 40s. In my opinion, it's time ta revamp the entire judicial system, but doubtful that'll ever happen."
"Hmm..." Ishimaru was lost in thought. "So you're saying... If perhaps a government official, say, a prime minister or president, were to pass ... what kind of bill would even...." he mumbled as Mondo re patched his head.
"...Ishi, ya lost me."
"Oh, sorry! I'm just thinking. I have a lot of research to do, it looks like."
"That's probably a good plan, bro." Mondo wound the final bandage around Taka's head. "It's too much ta explain this early..."
Kiyotaka smiled and tilted his chin to the side.
"I was informed that you are not a morning person... Perhaps some breakfast and coffee? We will have to hurry if we are to be on time." Taka glanced at his wristwatch.
"Nah it's fine, it only takes ten minutes to get to campus from-" Owada paused.
It only took ten minutes on his bike to get to school when he was alone. He'd have to add some extra time to that estimate now that Kiyotaka was riding with him, as every speed bump and slow blinker would be cause for a lecture on traffic safety.
"Okay, we'll eat fast."
"Wonderful."