House Broken

"I told you, I'm not letting you go out of the house like that!"

Lyov grunted and glowered at his adoptive mother as she tightened his collar, putting tie around his neck. He hated things squeezing his neck like that. It was suffocating and made him look like a stiff. "I'm... I'm going to be late for school, Mei--"

"I told you not to call me that!" She snapped, tightening it a little bit too much. "I'm your mother... and you'll regard me as such."

Lyov wheezed slightly, pulling away to loosen his collar and the tie. "Fine..." He had to resist the urge to take it off again and make her hang from the second story chandelier by her neck. Ever since he was put into her home, all he tried to do was control him, mold him into someone he's not. He didn't like touching people, or people trying to touch him. He'd told her time and time again he was a bit of a germaphobe, but that didn't stop her from hanging on him in public when she introduced him to all of her soccer mom friends. He also wasn't the type of person to fit in very well, but she volunteered him for sports and lots of social activities after school, but he just went to play chess after school everyday. That didn't require a lot of talking, and it put his mind at ease most of the time.

"You'll have to walk to school today, Lyovi, because I have a meeting in twenty minutes. DON'T walk in the dirt this time, or I'll make you hand-wash your pants." With that, she left the house, not even looking back at him once.

He was okay with that, because that gave him the chance to shove a whole slice of pie down his throat before leaving for school. Once he was on the sidewalk, he put an ear bud in his ear, turning on his music, not even paying attention who he was about to walk into.

Yosuke was lazily heading to school, debating on whether or not he should skip to go to the anime convention nearby when he felt a harsh bump and fell over.

Lyov grunted, nearly falling forward himself. He sighed in annoyance, grabbing it by the wires and looked to see who he had walked into. He vaguely recognized him. He had seen him a few time in the school, but he was new, so he didn't know his name... More accurately, he didn't really care. "... Sorry. That's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you hurt?"

"My ankle is sore...but I think I'll be fine." Yosuke said with a kind smile, before trying to walk...only to fall forward. "Oww."

Lyov watched him fall, an apathetic look on his face. He felt bad, but a big part of him didn't feel like he could do anything to help. "I think you sprained it." Well, Lyov sprained it. "Do you want help?" He asked blandly, staring down at him.

"Maybe the nurse can help with it...are you alright with carrying me to school? My dad's not home." Yosuke explained, making faces as he tried to stand again.

Lyov's eye twitched slightly. This stranger wanted him to not only touch him, but carry him? He blinked slowly, sighing heavily. He had all the luck in the world. He pulled him up onto his feet, pulling his arm around his shoulder. "I'll help you limp to school."

"O...Okay." Yosuke agreed, wincing a bit, as they started off.

Lyov walked him all the way to the nurse's office with him, looking slightly irritated. "You should strengthen your ankles, you know... Don't drag your feet so much."

Yosuke gave him a dull look. "I had to drag my feet...I have bad knees from a car accident." he told him, before looking elsewhere.

"So you're going to have bad everything. Wonderful." He said sarcastically. The nurse gave him a disapproving look.

"Thank you for your help, Azarov, but I think I can take it from here." She said, obviously agitated by his manners. "I would have thought your mother taught you better..." She mumbled under her breath.

Lyov clenched his jaws, his hand twitching. "She's not my mother, and maybe SHE should take lessons from someone else." He looked at Yosuke again. "See you around... and I'm sorry for knocking you down."

"Hey um...thanks...and I'm sorry to be a damper on your day...um...when I get better, want to have an outing with me? I'll pay for everything." Yosuke offered shyly.

Free food? "You don't have to." Why the hell would he say no? "But if you insist." He told him his name and which neighborhood, which happened to be the house right across from Yosuke's.

"I live right across the street." Yosuke said with a small smile. "Well...I'll be knocking when the day comes." he promised.

Lyov blinked, his lips pursing slightly. His adoptive mother always went on about how the chief of police lived right across from them, and they were probably the safest house on the block. Not to mention the fact that the house always had to look its best because of his close presence. "Thanks, Yosuke-kun. Feel better." He walked out of the nurse's office, a mile on his face... Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

The nurse sighed, wrapping his ankle. "You shouldn't hang around the likes of him, Yosuke-kun." She chided. "He came from an orphanage just recently, and he's very troubled. He'll only cause you grief."

"Maybe I can make him feel better...and besides...he shouldn't be alone all the time like that...he'll only be more troubled don't you think?" Yosuke asked, wincing.

The nurse chuckled and sighed. "Oh, you're such a considerate boy. Your father must be so proud." When she was finished, she gave him some Ibuprofen. "Stay off of it as much as you can. When you get home, switch between ice and heat and keep it elevated." She patted his head. "Whenever I can get in contact with your father, I'll tell him to come get you. You don't need to be walking on that right now."

"Yes Ma'am...um...can you ask Mr. Itami for my lessons?" Yosuke asked.

She stood up straight, blushing slightly. Nearly every female sighed as Mr. Itami walked by... and it was the same with his very close friend, Mr. Azarov. "Oh, yes, of course." She almost giggled. "I'm sure he can... drop by here for you." She ran off to the phone, twirling the cord around her finger while she talked to him.

Yosuke nearly laughed at her giddiness, before looking at his ankle. “ At least I got hurt and not him..." he mused softly.

Nobusori came into the office mere minutes later, his blue hair tied up in a tight pony tail. "Ah, my frail little student. Perhaps I should rent you a wheel chair. That would save us some time." He gave him a teasing smile and handed him some papers. "How long will you be out of commission this time?"

"A month." Yosuke sighed sadly. "I was paying attention this time, honest."

"Uh-huh... Well, I suppose your father is going to want me to drop by a few times a week again. You really should be more careful. You know how weak your knees are already, you could just end up in a wheelchair for a long time, all jokes aside. Snow--- er... Mr. Azarov and I want to see you succeed. But to do that, you have to take care of yourself. Can you do that?"

Yosuke sighed and nodded, before looking at his notes. “ For now I'll study as hard as I can." He promised.

"That's my boy." He said with a grin. "I have a class to get back to. I'll tell Snow you said hi."