love war || inotan

seventeen

     After debriefing for the cops, Inosuke, Umei, Tanjiro and the neighbour were all brought down to the station where they awaited questioning. Thankfully, they allowed the two boys to be questioned together. The detective that was in the interrogation room with them had a slightly annoyed expression, likely because of Inosuke's attire.

     "My first question is...how old are you two? And to follow up, what were you doing when you found out about the crime?" He seemed laidback, despite the ice being tough to break between them. It was only natural, though. They were practically kids.

     Tanjiro heard the questions loud and clear, and he nervously tapped his fingers on his legs underneath the table. He knew they weren't guilty of anything, but he was just scared for Inosuke. "We're both seventeen. We're friends for a very long time, but up until a day or two ago I was completely unaware of his father's wrongdoings."

     The older teen folded his arms across his chest and shivered, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed. His entire face was red. Before he could muster enough courage to speak, Tanjiro suddenly took his coat off and wrapped it around his freezing body. The adrenaline had helped outside, but now it was clearly hitting him how cold it was. "My fuckface dad makes me dress up like a girl to satisfy him. I ran away from home and he got angry, so he said I had to send him naughty pictures or else he would hurt my mom again. So that's what me and Tanjiro were doing... He's the only person I trust enough..." He paused, taking a deep breath and releasing it. "I got a call from my mom; she told me that a nice neighbour had heard the yelling and called the police before he came over to defend her. I still don't know his name, but he's Hoshishido-san's dad, isn't he?"

     The detective nodded firmly. He seemed to have a new emotion on his face, most likely disgust after discovering what Inosuke's father did to his own son. "Did your father ever force you to have sex with him? Pardon me for the bluntness, but I need it on record."

     Inosuke pulled Tanjiro's coat over his arms and averted his gaze from the detective shyly. "Y-Yes... He forced me several times. You're gonna punish him, right?" His voice was somewhat quiet, but thankfully the detective didn't get upset.

     "We'll do everything we can to gather evidence against him. Scum like him should be put behind bars for a very long time." The man offered a gentle smile, but suddenly Inosuke stood up and put the coat in Tanjiro's lap, then lifting his shirt so the man could see his bruises.

     "This is what he did to me. A few years ago, he even broke my arm because I tried to fight back. You can look through my medical record, right?" Before he could get too worked up, the detective cleared his throat and stood up, then walking over to him and holding his shoulders comfortingly.

     Tanjiro stood up and pulled Inosuke behind himself instinctively. He didn't like how the atmosphere felt... this guy was kind of shady. "Can we go now, sir? I'm sure his mother wants to see him." He handed his jacket back to Inosuke, then taking a protective stance.

     The detective glanced away nervously and bowed, stopping the recording behind him and taking the tape out. As he wrote the two teens' names on the strip of adhesive, he walked over to the exit. "That should be all we need for now. We'll keep in touch with you through the contact info you provided us earlier. We'll make sure he stays in prison, Hashibira-kun. You can count on us."

     Once again, Tanjiro thought it was a bit too formal, so he grabbed Inosuke's hand and dragged him out into the office area where both Umei and her father were waiting. He wanted to visit Kotoha as soon as possible, but before they could get too far, Inosuke stopped in his tracks as Umei grabbed his other hand. Tanjiro let go to give the two some space, though his heart was aching at the sight.