Chapter Text
Leone felt bored.
Patrol duty wasn’t the most exciting task, but someone had to do it. He had been getting too many injuries the past few weeks so his partner pushed him to take a rest from the action by volunteering them for patrol duty — he expected a few days at most, but no, they were stuck with it for the next month — so here he was, walking around the streets bored out of his mind, regretting being fond of his partner: he was his only friend, and Leone was not about to lose his friend by arguing about his health and how reckless he had been the past few weeks, so patrolling it is.
Though if Leone had to be honest, there was something that kept bothering him whenever he went around the park for a break — it was still in the zone he was supposed to patrol, so he used that as an excuse to go around there often. For the past three days, he had seen a kid sitting on a bench, as if they were waiting for something — or someone.
At first he ignored it, after all parents would let their kids run around the park unsupervised and later on they would pick them up. The second day, he was suspicious when he saw the same kid on the same spot being ignored by the other children and adults around the place. So, when on his third day he saw the same kid again, went away for an hour and then came back, once again finding the kid unmoving like a statue, he went to approach them — they couldn’t be older than five with how small they seemed to be, even from afar —, making his steps noticeable so that he wouldn’t startle the kid by accident and noticing that a backpack was being clutched as a lifeline.
“Hey, kid.”
The little boy looked at him with startling blue-green eyes: it was a stunning mix, surprising him in the same way that people would be startled by his eyes — a gradient from purple to yellow that looked like a sunset wasn’t natural per se, but his eyes were like that and several times he had to deny wearing contacts for the sake of aesthetics —, though those eyes that should have been full of childish innocence were duller than a horror’s movie knife.
“… Officer.”
Leone could tell Italian was not the kid’s first language by that word alone: he had seemed unsure on how to address him for a long while, and when he finally seemed to have found the word, he said it so carefully as if scared he had made a mistake.
“None of that, just ‘Leone’ is fine.”
“Signore Leone.”
“I guess that’ll have to do.” He sat down on the same bench, careful to leave as much space between him and the kid as he could to not make him uncomfortable. “Are you lost?” When he denied with his head, he answered with a hum, thoughtful about his next question. “Then what are you doing?”
“… Waiting, ka- uh, mama told me to… to…”
“To wait here for her?” The kid nodded when he finished the sentence for him, confirming the fact that he was not Italian at all. “Mind if I wait with you? Just to be sure, it’s not safe for a kid like you to be alone.”
They stayed in silence after that; the kid getting distracted by three ladybugs roaming around the bench, looking at the bugs as if they were the best thing ever to exist in the entire universe.
“So, what’s your name?” He made sure to enunciate the words as slowly as possible to not create confusion, only getting a head shake as an answer. “Okay, can I know how old you are, then?”
“I… na- no, uh- se- no, that’s…”
“You know how to count?” A nod, so he raised five fingers up, raising another after a while when the kid shook his head, repeating the motion one more time until he got his answer, trying his best not to frown at learning that the kid was seven but looked as small as a five-year-old child — that was a huge shout-out of how badly his parents are taking care of him, if they’re taking care of the kid at all.
Leone decided to let the kid be for now, only looking at him now and then, noticing how little by little the tension left from his small body. His face was devoid of emotions, but his eyes were all he needed to know that the kid was comfortable with him around, happy to watch the ladybugs starting to roam around his body.
“You seem to like ladybugs.” The kid nodded, his blue-green eyes fixated on the three bugs in his hand.
“They… they’re my friends.”
Leone hummed, eyes on the sunset. He and the child had waited for a couple of hours; no parents arrived. From the corner of his eye, he could see the kid smiling softly while playing with the bugs, a sight that made his heart clench in anguish; because how could someone abandon their child like that? It was unacceptable, and, in that moment, he knew he had to do something or the kid wouldn’t survive for long..
“C’mon, Coccinella, you’re coming with me to the station.”
“‘Coccinella’?”
“You didn’t want to give me your name, and you like ladybugs, might as well call you one, hm?”
He seemed hesitant, and no wonder: his parents had probably abandoned him to his own devices with only a bag — that he wasn’t sure it had enough to keep him alive for long. He didn’t even know for sure that they had promised the kid to come back for him, only that he had to wait there for his mother.
In the end, he got a nod as an answer. The kid let the ladybugs down on the bench delicately, and Leone decided that would be the best moment to stand up, turning around a little to offer a hand towards the kid with the kindest smile he could muster — he was told he had an intimidating smile, and scaring the child was the last thing he wanted to do now —, waiting with patience for him to decide what to do.
Though something caught his eye at that moment: there on the bench where the ladybugs had been put, now rested three small pebbles instead of the bugs. He would have pondered more about that if it wasn’t for the kid hesitantly taking his offered hand, looking up at him with so many emotions now swirling in those little eyes of his.
Hand in hand, they started walking together towards the station, hoping that he would find who the kid was and what to do about him.
* * *
Leone had hoped for too much.
He should be used by now that things never go the way he expects them to go, so when he left the kid to wait while he went to talk to the chief, he expected anything but the reaction he got: as soon as he was done describing the kid, his boss sank on his chair, a pained expression evident on his face, as if he had expected something like that to happen.
“I’ll be honest with you, Abbacchio: this is not the first time that kid has been brought here.” His superior looked exhausted, his eyes staring at the picture of his two daughters — twins, as he would brag about them a lot when he could — with something akin to pain. “His name is Haruno Shiobana. He’s a half-Japanese kid that’s been brought at least once or twice a month for the past year. It’s always the same: we find him somewhere, he’s brought here, his parents are called, they lie saying that the kid had run away again , and then they take the kid and the cycle repeats.”
“So, you’re saying that he keeps running away?”
“No, I know he doesn’t. His parents are trying to abandon the child over and over again.” Anger passed through the chief’s eyes, making him shiver: his superior was a very chill guy, so seeing him angry was something that only happened when they had to deal with the worst kind of criminals. “I followed them once, three months ago. I was off duty and I had no way to ensure we could win the case, but the parents of that kid…” He shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe what he had seen back then. “They’re horrible, so Abbacchio, I’ll give you two options the same way I’ve done with everyone who brought that kid before you.”
“Two options about what?”
“We can call the kid’s parents now, say that we found him, let them take him back to whatever shit-hole they live in, and then repeat this cycle again next month or in a couple of weeks, washing our hands about this whole situation until next time.”
“Or…?”
“Or you could take the kid back home with you, take him in and all that: his parents won’t fill a missing person report, and with enough time we could file a fake case of a parentless child that grew so attached to an officer it was impossible to give him to any orphanage and any judge wouldn’t think twice to allow a cop to become the kid’s legal guardian. Obviously, the kid would need a new name and everything, but that’s something you can discuss with him later on. So, what’s it gonna be, Abbacchio? Will you let him go back to his parents, or will you take him with you?”
“… You’re fucking with me, right? Me? A parent to that child?”
“So, we call his parents?”
“Like hell!” He slammed his hands on the desk, standing up abruptly. “There’s no way I’m letting him go back there if his parents keep abandoning him. I’m no dad material, but fuck those assholes, they don’t deserve the kid.”
The chief gave him a sincere smile, and that was everything he needed to know that he was dismissed and allowed to take the kid — no, Haruno, his name was Haruno — back home with him. His apartment wasn’t the best equipped right now, but with a thorough cleaning, he could free the other room he had in there for Haruno. Tonight, though, he would have to offer the child his room and sleep on the couch — like hell he would let the kid sleep on the couch when he had been sleeping outside for two or maybe even three nights in a row.
Calming himself as to not startle Haruno, he walked out from the chief’s office, finding the kid exactly where he left him, his eyes that were curiously looking everywhere now fixated on him, anxiety clearly radiating from his small body, as if he was expecting to be told that his parents had been called to pick him up.
But not this time, no.
Leone lowered himself to be at the same eye level, offering his hand to the confused kid, his eyes going between his offered hand and his face as if he didn’t understand what was happening.
“Your parents aren’t coming.” It took a little for Haruno to understand him, but the way he stared at him as if he had grown a second head was enough to know he was surprised by his words. “You can come home with me, if that’s what you want.”
“I… Signore-”
“There’s no need for that, but if it makes you comfortable, I guess I could get used to that, hm?”
“I can…? With Signore?”
“Mhm, you can come live with me, but we need to work together on this, okay? I don’t know how to take care of a kid, but I’ll try my best, so if anything I do makes you uncomfortable, you tell me. No need to rush your Italian either, I’ll teach you, but I’ll also try to learn Japanese just in case.”
“… ‘Kay.”
Leone couldn’t help but smile when Haruno took his hand, a little bit of hope shining in his eyes.
It was going to be a long journey, but the first step was already done and over. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy for either him or Haruno, but he had to try: he was a cop and he was supposed to protect the weak and the innocent, so what kind of person would he be if he let the kid go back to parents that wouldn’t care for him?
He wasn’t sure that taking him in was the best idea, but he had to do something. And, well, he must admit that he had already become fond of the kid.