Shit!

Yeah, he really fucked this up. Eak gulped as his eyes widened. He really had to be careful here, maybe he could talk himself out of it?

"What the hell are you talking 'bout?" Eak huffed, glaring at the man.

"You know well enough what I'm talking about, kid. Jack and two of his other friends were found beat up in a mall's parking lot on Saturday, around 1 AM. He gave me the name Eak Mendez and said he didn't remember the names of the other teenagers that were with you that night. I'm gonna have to take you to the police station for an interrogation." The cop explained surprisingly patient.

"Uh, you can't just do that! It was in self-defense, Jack and those goons of him attacked us first!" Eak protested, trying to get his arm out of the cop's grip to no avail.

"That's odd, Mister Caldéron told me you were the one that punched him first, and that you were with way more people than he was with. There's also been smashed cameras found, but we couldn't make out who were the ones responsible, considering the vandalists were smart enough to cover their faces." Oh God, he was so fucked.

Why was he stupid? Like, what fucking idiot tells someone their name before beating the shit out of them?

Taking note of Eak's silence, the man sighed.

"How about this? You give me the names of your friends, and whoever else helped with this crime, and I'll interrogate you tomorrow instead?" The white-haired male offered, trying to sound reasonable.

"No." Eak simply answered, staring up at the taller male unfazed.

"So be it. If you know what's good for you, you'll fess up at the station."

"Did that asshole Jack leave out that he fucking ruined my friend's car?" Eak growled, at last tearing his arm back.

"Excuse me?" The man raised a dyed eyebrow at the teenager.

"Yeah, that's right! Jack was the one that challenged my friend to a fight after he was the one that smashed his car to pieces! Sounds pretty illegal to me." Eak angrily explained.

"Jack did not mention any of that, no. I'll be sure to ask him about it when we get back to the station." The man-who had a certain shade of green eyes that looked familiar to Eak-stated.

"Look, Sir, I know this is your job n' all, but I'm not the bad guy here! Jack and his two buddies are homophobic pieces of shit, and they were the ones that wanted to fight us!" Eak slightly raised his voice, but already quieted down with the fear of alarming his parents.

"Look, kid, I get your frustration, and hearing your side of the story, it's only reasonable you lashed out. And you seem pretty beat up as well, I can't imagine what the rest of your friends look like. But this is still a crime, you could've at the very least called an ambulance." The man's green eyes were filled with light sympathy, but his frown stayed present.

"Can't I just pay for the damage? What's the fund? 400 dollars or somethin'?" Eak tiredly offered, feeling the exhaustion well up in himself again.

"1000, each." The man simply corrected him.

Oh shit.

"Why can't you just-" The man suddenly got cut off by his phone ringing.

Keeping a close eye on Eak, the man took out his phone and looked at the caller's ID. Eak just happened to catch a glimpse of it as well, and then the pieces of the puzzle he didn't even know was there, fell into piece.

The caller ID was Usagi.

This guy was, like, her dad.

"Her dad's cop, and he's rarely ever home."

Deuz's words rang through Eak's head, and the Mexican suddenly felt a great amount of sympathy for the dark blue-haired girl.

"Usagi, why are you calling? You know I'm at duty right now. Just-I told you it's in the fridge! Bottom drawer, to the left." The man continued to argue with Usagi.

"Otōsan, soko ni inai!" Eak could make out from the other end of the line.

"Sarani kensaku shite kudasai!" The man replied irritated.

"Hiroshi Owada, if you don't tell me where the fuck my Pocky sticks are right fucking now, I'm gonna lose it!" Usagi suddenly yelled.

Hiroshi hung up.

"I know your daughter." Eak suddenly spoke up.

He had an idea, but, if it didn't play out like how he wanted it to, it could backfire terribly. But like, seriously terribly.

As in, he might drag The Nightmares and Usagi down with him if it didn't work out.

"And?" Hiroshi seemed interested enough to let the Mexican speak.

"She's dating that guy from The Nightmares, right?" The question was simple enough, but Eak knew it was very complicated, especially to Hiroshi.

The white-haired man narrowed his eyes.

"Deuz, yeah......." He simply shrugged.

"Aren't The Nightmares some kind of......gang or somethin'? That stole from people, sold drugs to minors, took part in money concerts........." Eak went on, staring Hiroshi down with the intent of making him unnerved.

Looks like it worked.

"I am aware of their troubled history, yes." Hiroshi stared back at the teenager with the same intense gaze.

"Then why, if I may ask, do you let your daughter date 'im? I mean, since you're a cop and all I thought you'd totally forbid Deuz from seeing Usagi." Eak continued his interrogation, still wildly praying this wouldn't go sideways.

"Look, I know what those kids did, but I also know they didn't have a choice! I was gonna arrest that Onnie kid first but when I looked into his eyes? I realized he was that kid that made the news 8 years ago because he'd been locked away in his own house, left to starve for almost two weeks! I'm the one that arrested his parents, and when I looked at him, I just.......I couldn't do it."

Hiroshi frantically whispered, running a hand through his previously smoothened hair.

Eak visibly cringed. A feeling of guilt washed over him as he watched Hiroshi in his distress.

Oh man, was he really using The Nightmares' trauma's as a way to get out of a situation he stupidly caused himself?

"The Nightmares are basically famous in the police station. Not just for being a gang, their files are thicker than a horse's paw........" Hiroshi muttered, shaking his head saddened.

Eak was kind of at a loss of words. What now? He wasn't sure what to say next.

"I know you're trying to guilt-trip me into letting you go because The Nightmares are legally criminals and I didn't arrest them so you don't think it's fair." Hiroshi suddenly stated, and Eak could feel his cheeks heating up with embarrassment and light shame.

"I'm, uh......" Eak stuttered, trying to think of how he could save his ass.

"I know your dad. I was in his class in the first two years of middle school, he's not a bad guy and I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it if he knew that his son almost got arrested for beating people up." Hiroshi sternly glared down at the young Mexican.

Eak's shoulders slumped. He was definitely fucked now.

"But.......although Usagi has a horrible taste in friends, I know none of them are bad people. So, for this one time, I'm letting you off the hook. However, if I hear about you being involved with shit like this again, it's game over. Got that?" Hiroshi slapped the back of Eak's head to make the teenager look at him.

Eak quickly nodded, still shocked that Hiroshi was letting him off the hook.

"Y-yeah, I got it! Thanks du-uhm Sir!" Eak kept himself from bursting out in relieved laughter.

"You're still payin' at least 500 dollars, though. And tell your parents about this." Hiroshi seriously added.

Of fucking course.

"Yeah, okay......" Eak muttered defeated.

"Alright.....stay tough, kid." Hiroshi patted Eak's shoulder and headed back towards his police car.

"Hey." Eak suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Hiroshi looked up over his car.

"You should try stayin' at home more. Usagi probably misses ya."

Hiroshi didn't reply, merely kept quiet for a few seconds before getting into his car and driving off.

Eak hid his face in the bouquet of roses and groaned.

Why always him?

Nah, maybe that was a stupid question to ask. He was the one that gave his name to that dickhead in the first place.

He was just stupid!

At last, Eak opened his front door and headed on inside. Federico was sitting at the table on his phone, and Eak tried untying his shoes as quietly as possible.

"Oh, hey Eak." The bearded man suddenly said.

"Hey, dad!" Eak tried sounding cheerful, but quickly realized how hollow he sounded.

"What took you so long? I thought I heard ya walking up to the house but then nothing just happened for a while." Federico commented, still looking down at his phone.

"............" Eak stayed quiet, walking over to the couch.

Ah, you know what? Fuck it, he was gonna tell him.

"I almost got arrested for physical assault." Eak simply stated.

"Wait, what?!" Federico looked up from his phone, looking absolutely shocked.

Eak explained the whole thing, though he did leave out the part where Hiroshi said he had to pay 500 dollars. He'd find a way for that himself. Federico had been unnervingly quiet throughout Eak's explanation, and Eak was seriously starting to wonder where the fuck Jacinta was.

"Haha yeah that's about it......." Eak awkwardly laughed at his dad's silence.

"You're grounded for two days straight." Federico darkly stated. 

"What?!" Eak looked at his dad rather angrily.

"I should actually be grounding you for the rest of the summer, young man! I mean, beating the living hell out of people, almost getting arrested?! And not to mention vandalizing an ENTIRE neighborhood?!" Federico's face was red with fury as he rambled on.

"Wait, what?" Eak's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, come on, Eak! It's not a damn coincidence that the jackets they showed on the news looked pretty much identical to the one you have! Don't you think we know something's up when you disappear for the entire night to hang out with your 'friends'?" Federico rolled his eyes at his son.

"Hey! They ARE my friends, alright? And what's it matter that we vandalized a few houses? We ended up getting criminals arrested, so what's your bloody point?!" Eak raised his voice, bordering on the edge of yelling.

"The point is, no son of mine is becoming some thug! I know you think you and your gang of nerds are super cool 'Anti-heroes' or whatever, but how far are you gonna go to prove a point? You're not a cop or superhero, you're a teenager with some kind of crazy grudge against the city you live in! You might've gotten out of both these situations without consequences, but when is something really gonna go wrong, huh? I'm just waiting for the moment you finally realize what a GANG is!" 

Federico yelled, looking straight into Eak's eyes with a grounding glare.

Eak sunk deeper into the couch, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. Federico thought he looked miserable, and immediately his eyes softened.

"I just......don't want you gettin' hurt, okay? I know you're only trying to do what's right, but what you're doing is really dangerous. Just tone it down a bit with your whole gang stuff, alright?" Federico softly suggested, wrapping an arm around his son's shoulders.

"Okay......." Eak muttered, leaning his head against Federico's arm.

"You're still grounded for two days."

"Fuck!"

"And if I hear about some gang of anti-heroes on the news again it's over, got it?" Federico sternly added.

"Yeah, yeah........" Eak grumbled, expression souring.

"Where's mom, anyways?" Eak suddenly asked.

"To the store. We're out of breakfast tacos again." Federico simply answered.

The two of them were quiet for a while until Federico spoke up again.

"How'd your not-confession go?" Federico curiously asked.

Eak didn't reply, merely stared at his dad with darkened eyes and then Federico understood.

"Right..... Well, you should head off to sleep. G'night, son." Federico got up and walked back over to the table.

"G'night, dad." Eak quietly replied.

Just when Eak was about to go to sleep, he received a message on his phone. 

Queen💕: Heyy, Bon just called me to say u wanted to know where I was @. Everything ok?

Eak stared down at his phone blankly. A part of him wanted to reply in an asshole way, but the bigger part of him was way too tired to deal with even more drama.

Me👌: Haha yeah. Nvm abt it, I just wanted to check up on u

Queen💕: Oh well thank u!💋 Btw, u should totally go on a date with Chica or Town or something, just for fun, y'know? 👀

Eak had to laugh.

As if! He wouldn't be going on any fucking dates, especially not with a dude.

Me👌: Lmao, yeah right. Gn, Toddy

Queen💕: Night, Lover Boy

That was a stab in his heart, even though Toddy probably didn't know her nickname was so incredibly frustrating to him.

Turning off his phone, Eak fell asleep.

Loon had received Usagi's message a bit late, but his best friend still insisted of him coming over.

BonBon🍱: It's ok, Loon!! Just come over, and take ur toothbrush with u!

Me🌠: Uhm sure??

What in the world did he need a toothbrush for? But as always, Loon complied and simply told his parents he'd sleep over at Usagi's.

At least, he hoped that's why she texted him. Loon skated over to Usagi's house, surprised that there were barely any lights on. Sure, Usagi's dad wasn't home as usual, but Usagi was the type of person to forget turning off the lights.

Loon did his very specific knocks on the door and waited for an answer. A few seconds later the door wildly swung open, revealing Usagi in her pajamas and a dirty spoon in her hand.

"Hey, dude! Glad you could make it!" Usagi cheerfully ushered her bestie inside.

"So what's this all about?" Loon questioned, nervously chuckling as he entered the familiar house.

"Well, it's just....... We haven't had a sleepover in a while. So I thought, why not invite you over right now?" Usagi bashfully replied, looking almost guilty as she smiled.

"You okay? You look kinda.....uhm, guilty." Loon worriedly looked at the taller girl.

Usagi sighed, letting her arms drop by her side with her head held down.

"I'm sorry, Loon....... Lately I've been spending so much time with Deuz and it's like, I haven't had any time with you at all! I mean, we still spend time together but like, it's been a while since it was just the two of us. I've just really been a shitty friend to you, and I'm sorry."

Usagi looked down to meet Loon's eyes, and the freckled teenager couldn't help but smile in relief.

Did venting to Spring actually affect people outside of their conversation?

Then Spring must've been some kinda psychic or something!

"You're not a shitty friend, Usagi! You're still my BFF, nothing's gonna change that. But.....thanks for inviting me over! I've been wanting to do another sleepover for a while now." Loon beamed at his friend, even mustering up the courage to hug her.

"Glad we're on the same page, then! What's with the flowers, by the way?" Usagi suddenly pointed out, nudging towards the vase in Loon's hand.

Oh wow.....he completely forgot about those. He even forget he was still holding them. It was like the vase and the flowers just melted into his hands.

"Oh, right! Spring gave these to me." Loon softly smiled, remembering Spring's awkward yet comforting advice.

"Wait, you talked to Spring? When?" Usagi looked rather surprised.

"Just earlier tonight! Came across him at the junkyard." Loon replied, purposely leaving out the baseball bat and venting parts.

"That's pretty cool! Y'know, I just finished baking my cake so take off your skates and we can eat!" Usagi ordered, already heading back into the kitchen.

Usagi had always been excellent at baking. The mere suggestion of a home-made cake by Usagi made Loon's mouth water.

He put down the vase and untied his roller skates, just then, Loon could hear the door being unlocked.

Hiroshi Bon appeared in the doorway, eyebrows going up at the sight of Loon.

"Oh, hey Loon....... What're you doing in my house?" Loon had to laugh at the dry question.

"I'm having a sleepover with Usagi." Loon simply announced.

"Oooooh, that's what she needed those Pocky sticks for........ They're your favorites, right?" Wow, had Usagi really thought about everything??

"Dad! What're you doing here?? Weren't you gonna stay out late tonight 'cause you were gonna arrest some kid or something?" Usagi waltzed out of the kitchen with her glorious vanilla cake.

"Uh......change of plans. The guy turned out to be innocent so I let him go." Hiroshi hastily replied, and Usagi knew something was off but decided not to comment on it.

"Hmm, okay! You came at just the right time, I made a cake!" Usagi proudly said.

"Sounds great! By the way, I got you some Pocky sticks from the store, since you couldn't find the other ones." Hiroshi offered his daughter a pack of milk-chocolate Pocky sticks.

"O-M-G, seriously?? Arigatōgozaimashita!!" Usagi happily hugged her dad, dangerously balancing the cake in one hand.

"It's not bother. But next time you swear at me like that in front of another person I swear I'll ground you." Hiroshi sternly added.

"Oh shit, the speaker was on??" Usagi gulped, feeling kind of silly at the thought that she cursed her father out in front of a kid he was supposed to arrest.

"Uh-huh. Thankfully he didn't react too annoyingly to it." Hiroshi shrugged, being surprisingly casual about it, because Loon was used to him being so stern.

Then again, Usagi was a really difficult teenager. Loon didn't blame the guy for just giving in sometimes.

"I'm hungry, let's eat." If he were talking to anyone else, Loon would've probably been more polite, but he'd already known these people for 6 years, and he was fucking starving.

"Alright, alright! Take a seat, y'all." Usagi let them to the short table, where the three of them kneeled down onto soft cushions.

"Have you gotten better at baking? This cake looks way less exploded than your previous ones." Hiroshi commented, a proud undertone to his statement.

"Bruh, the last cake of mine you ate was like three months ago already. Of course, I've bettered myself!" Usagi confidentely answered.

"Oh my God, this is delicious!" Loon happily sighed, already feeling much better.

After finishing the cake, Usagi took Loon upstairs.

"You kids behave, alright? I'm gonna finish up some work downstairs!" Hiroshi called after them.

"Got it, dad!" Usagi hastily replied.

Loon looked rather confused when Usagi was heading towards another room instead of her bedroom.

"Why are we in your dad's office?" Loon asked, identifying the office as soon as he noticed a dusty police hat on a chair.

"It's the only room that's got a balcony." Usagi simply told him.

Loon didn't understand until Usagi opened up the windows, revealing-

"Whoa!" Loon gawked in amazement at the cozy sight.

"Just thought it would be fun to sleep outside! You like stars, right? There's plenty to see tonight!" Usagi grinned down at her shorter friend.

Oh man, was he really getting emotional over a sleepover?

"Usagi, this is......so fucking cool......" Loon muttered, sniffling.

"H-hey, don't cry! It's okay, Loon! I missed this too, you're not alone........." Usagi comfortingly smiled, putting an arm around Loon's shoulder.

You're not alone.

Usagi reminded Loon of Spring for a moment, and then he realized how much he was actually craving for a real friendship between him and the blonde.

"So yeah, get comfy, and we'll brush our teeth after the pizza arrived or somethin'." Usagi plopped down onto one of the mattresses, getting cozy underneath a fluffy blanket.

Loon laid beside her, like they used to do ever since their first sleepover. Loon remembered how embarrassed he'd been. Cuddling with a girl, although it was platonic, always got him flustered.

This time however, he kept calm, smiling as Usagi put her head on his shoulder.

"Dude, I should totally get Deuz a phone for his birthday, I bet he's freaking out right now 'cause I forgot to tell him I was gonna spend the night with you!" Usagi pouted, offering a Pocky stick to Loon.

"Mhhm." Loon hummed, not really paying attention.

Usagi blinked as she received a message from someone. She gasped when she realized it was Deuz.

Deuz💖: So Mai gave Oxy a phone but we can use it too so I can text u from now on!! Bonnie taught me how to use this thing in exchange for free blackberries. That little prick >:/

Deuz💖: Where are u?? I miss you, bae :(

Usagi was about to reply when she took a notice of Loon next to her.

Right. It was incredibly rude to be busy on your phone when someone's over!

And this was about the two of them spending time together!

"Sooo, how's your love life going?~" Usagi teasingly asked, putting her phone down.

"What love life?" Loon scoffed with no real bite behind it.

"Oh, I don't know. The one with Spring, maybe?" Usagi casually suggested, shrugging.

"oH mY gOd UsAgI!!" Loon's voice cracked (which happened to him a lot lately, stupid puberty) as he attacked his BFF with a pillow.

"HELP, I'M BEING ATTACKED! CALL THE POLICE!" Usagi screamed dramatically.

"Your dad is the police!"

"Oh, right!"

Deuz sadly sighed to himself as he stared down at his phone. Maybe he was a bit too clingy. Maybe Usagi just needed some space?

Maybe she wanted to break up??

Okay, no. He was overreacting. Deuz just became so used to spending almost all of his time with Usagi he kind of forgot he had a life outside of her too. She was probably hanging out with Loon or something.

He should hang out with the other Nightmares more too. Maybe he could hang out with Maggie tomorrow? Oxy and Onnie were currently busy trying to get lucky with Mai and Toddy, after all.

Speaking of one of the devils, Deuz heard the door open. In a few seconds, Onnie entered the living room.

"Hey, champ. How'd your date go?" Deuz asked, putting Oxy's phone down.

"Well......" Onnie trailed off, and Deuz took it as a hint that he got rejected.

"Aww, man! Come on, sit down and tell me what happened, lad." Deuz nudged Onnie to sit down onto the couch.

Onnie sat down, and just as Deuz joined him, he received a message from someone. He quickly glanced at it, not very interested.

Angeldust💛: Sorry for not answering! I'm hanging out wt Loon. Love you, gn💕

And well, Deuz would have been lying if he said he hadn't turned red and smiled shyly at that.