The afternoon sun hung low over Patch, bleeding gold through the windows of the Xiao Long-Rose household as Kaito Gojo sat cross-legged on the floor, his dark glasses pushed up the bridge of his nose, homework spread across the low table in front of him like a battlefield he hadn't yet decided to engage with.
"Come on, Kaito, please — just help me with the homework." Ruby's voice carried that particular frequency she reserved for requests she already knew the answer to, wide silver eyes fixed on him with practised precision.
Kaito was quiet for a moment, the kind of quiet that meant he was weighing something he'd already decided.
"Mhm." He tilted his head, considering. "I don't know… should I?"
Ruby opened her mouth.
"Fine." He cut her off before she could deploy the eyes again. "But in exchange — you have to watch all my battles at the tournament." He pulled a face, the expression somewhere between inconvenienced and resigned. "Every single one."
Ruby groaned. "Oh, come on
I already know you're going to win all your matches anyway. And it was Yang who signed you up, not me!"
From the other end of the room, Yang Xiao Long didn't even look up from where she was sprawled across the couch, boots still on, entirely unbothered. "Yeah, it was me," she said. "Because you wouldn't stop bragging about being the strongest on Patch. So honestly? It's a win-win scenario."
"But all the students here are weak
"Hey." Ruby pointed at him. "Stop looking down on people. And by saying that, you're kind of implying that Yang and I are weak too, you know."
Kaito paused. A rare, microscopic pause of actual consideration.
"Ah. Fine." He corrected himself with the measured tone of someone making a legal amendment. "All students here are weak — with the sole exception of Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long." He glanced at Ruby. "Is that better?"
She looked like she was trying very hard not to smile. She failed. "…So is that a yes to the homework help?"
"Sure." He was already pulling her textbook towards him. "Let's get it done."
"Yes! Thanks, Kaito!"
"Hey
what about me?" Yang sat up immediately, pointing at him. "Help me too, Kaitoooo
"You both owe me an unreasonable number of snacks after this," he said flatly, already reading the first problem.
Yang snorted. "Says the guy who could spend a thousand Lien without even checking his balance. Rich boy." She grinned, drawing the words out with obvious enjoyment.
Kaito did not look up. "I don't hear you complaining when I'm buying you outfits."
"I sure don't," Ruby said cheerfully, shuffling closer until she was sitting right beside him, her shoulder nearly against his. "And I definitely don't complain about the year's worth of cookies you get me for my birthday." She reached up, almost absently, and patted the soft white of his hair.
"Hey " Kaito made a noise of protest that carried absolutely no heat.
"You barely even let Yang pat you on the back," Ruby observed, like this was a reasonable rebuttal.
Kaito was quiet for a moment. The light through the window caught the edge of his glasses, and something in his expression shifted — not dramatically, but perceptibly, like a door opening by a few degrees.
"…I suppose letting you two show a bit of affection wouldn't hurt so much, would it." It came out slower than the rest, more considered. He set the pencil down. "Alright. I'll drop my technique when I'm with you. Both of you. How's that sound?"
He had approximately half a second before Ruby launched herself into his side and then Yang followed from the other direction, and suddenly there were two of them, which was significantly more than he had calculated for.
"Oof
ribs, guys. I have ribs."
"See, Yang?" Ruby announced triumphantly, her voice muffled against his arm. "He does care."
Kaito said nothing to that.
But for the first time in a while, he was smiling small, half-hidden, the kind that didn't quite know what to do with itself. The pencil turned slowly between his fingers. Outside, the evening was settling across Patch like something easy and familiar.
He helped them with the homework.
Later, when the lamps had come on and the sky over Patch had turned deep blue, Tai Xiao Long appeared in the doorway with the same quiet openness he always seemed to carry.
"You're welcome to stay, kid it's no trouble at all."
Ruby appeared from behind her father's shoulder almost immediately. "Kaito, are you sure you don't want to stay tonight?"
Kaito was already standing, brushing off his jacket with the unhurried ease of someone who had somewhere to be and was entirely comfortable getting there alone. He offered them the slightest, warmest version of a smirk.
"Nah, I'm all good." He raised two fingers in a casual wave. "Home's just one teleport away. Ja ne."
He landed in front of the house without a sound.
It was large the kind of house that announced money without trying to, clean lines and empty windows that caught the moonlight and reflected nothing personal. He stood on the front step for a moment, listening.
Silence greeted him.
Figures.
He let himself in, closed the door behind him, and found the note where they'd left it. On the kitchen counter. Folded once.
He unfolded it.
Kaito we can't raise you. Quite frankly, I see better opportunities for myself without you in my life. Goodbye. Mum and Dad.
He read it twice. Not because he needed to. Just because he was being thorough.
Then he folded it back up and set it down.
"Tch." The sound was quiet, matter-of-fact. "Figured as much." He turned away from the counter. "Good thing I wrote a few songs. Made a few smart investments."
He climbed the stairs. Changed. Lay back on his bed with his glasses resting on the nightstand, staring up at the ceiling with those pale, extraordinary eyes that saw everything and chose, for once, not to.
The house was silent. It had always been silent. He had learned to sleep in silence, and he would again.
He closed his eyes.
At least, he thought and the thought came without bitterness, which surprised him slightly at least I know my friends like me.
That was enough.
For now, that was more than enough.