Written for the request:

I enjoy many of your fics. I saw in a post that you don't mind taking request, so I want to try too. I don't mind how long it may take, just want to read more about characters' interaction. It's from World Trigger: Inukai & Kageura. Not neccessary a shounen-ai/yaoi, just that I find the detail about Inukai is on-side hated interesting (don't know if it is related to Kag's SE or not). Sorry for bothering you, please ignore this if you don't feel like it. Thank you.
I am the one who ask for KageInu fic the other day. After discovering you are also shipping two of them, I, well, I know I said no SA/yaoi is not neccessary, but if you can, it is just make things better! Feel free to ignore this too if you decide to refuse my request. Thanks and sorry for any inconvience.

I ended up making up a lot of stuff, just because canon hasn't really given us much interaction between them, or just much of them in general. But I am actually quite proud at how I managed to cameo pretty much every 18 year old, so no regrets there.

I do kind of regret making Kageura kind of masochistic, but it's pretty unavoidable considering his Side Effect.

In his childhood, Inukai's sisters had often told him, 'you should smile more!' 'it's a waste of such a pretty face to frown all the time!' and 'smiling doesn't cost you anything!'

As if the reason people didn't smile was because they were stingy. Inukai hadn't wanted to be stingy, and he was not a particularly moody child in the first place, so he had no problems with learning to smile and be pleasant.

It made a noticeable difference even to his young and unobservant self. People treated him differently when he smiled - they were more likely to smile back, to listen to his words, to be more accommodating than they otherwise might have been.

He grew up, lost his childish angelic looks, and the ability to charm people with just a flash of his dimples. But the habit remained. By that point he knew all about service smiles and the social game behind it, and, when it comes down to it, why not treat people nicely just because he could?

It didn't always work, of course. The world was filled with contrary people, and to them, the more he smiled the less they liked it. You couldn't please everyone, that was another thing Inukai learned.

Kageura Masato was an extreme case. A prickly individual who seemed to hold everything Inukai do in contempt; had Inukai been anyone else he might have even cared.

Today, like all the other times they met, Kageura turned a scowl his way the moment he saw Inukai sitting next to Arafune on the lounge couch. Arafune, who was well used to Kageura's attitude, rolled his eyes and said, "You're welcome to leave if you really care that little about your grades."

Kageura's scowl deepened. Anyone who had heard Nire's shrieks of despair over her team's terrible marks the past week knew that Kageura was in no position to not care about his grades. True to form, Kageura said not a word as he flopped down in a chair opposite them, smacking his bag down on the table between them with a loud bang.

Inukai immediately leaned over to poke at the open bag. "Where are your notes? You do take notes right?"

"Shut up, stupid dog, I don't answer to you. Kou's the one tutoring me," Kageura snapped, clutching the bag towards himself possessively. "What would you know anyway? You're not even in the same school!"

"We're prep schoolers, anything you're doing now we've probably already covered," Inukai pointed out, an unruffled look on his face. But he did turn back to his own open textbook.

Wonder of wonders, Kageura actually took the hint and slouched back in his seat instead of picking a fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Inukai could see him fidgeting, visibly uncomfortable from the glances being thrown their way. Perhaps it was even acting as a deterrent today. "Where are the others anyway? And why are you guys here in the first place?"

Arafune glanced at him. "Kou and Kon wanted moral support while they whip you guys into shape. And studying here's as good as anywhere else really."

Kageura narrowed his eyes at Arafune. "Why together though? You guys aren't in the same class."

Inukai couldn't help himself. "You knew what classes we're in? Why, Kage, I didn't know you cared!"

Under the table, Arafune kicked him sharply in the shin. Inukai could feel the corners of his mouth lifting in a smile and wasn't even sorry.

Predictably, Kageura leaned forward again, a snarl back on his face and a hand fisted in the front of Inukai's hoodie. "I don't give a shit about you or your class, stupid dog, so keep those emotions away from me. I don't need your condescension."

Inukai gave him a surprised look. "I would never condescend to you, Kage."

"You are so full of shit," Kageura spat at him. Then turned and looked at the growing number of faces looking their way. "And what are all of you looking at!"

"You making a scene, probably," Kon said dryly. Inukai turned towards her to see that, not just Kon, but Kunichika, Murakami, and Hokari had arrived too.

Kageura reluctantly let go of Inukai and thumped back into his seat. "What took you so long," he groused.

"Riling him up, you are," Hokari pointed out to Inukai as he took the chair at the end of the table. His expression was even, not a hint of censure in his tone.

"Are you casting aspersions on me?" Inukai asked in response, turning to his left to face Hokari fully and deliberately exaggerating his expression.

"Oh, we would never do that," Kunichika said cheerfully, not at all looking like she was about to fail class just a month into the new school year as she took the seat opposite Hokari. "We just think you guys mess around with each other a lot."

"WHAT-" Kageura started up again, clearly feeling aspersions were being cast on him.

"Okay, that's enough guys." Kon clapped her hands. "We're all here now, so let's study, not talk about Kageura-kun's little fixation."

"Why are you all picking on me?" Kageura bared his teeth in futility.

"We're not picking on you," Murakami said soothingly. "We just think you're really obvious. Now which topic do you want to start with?"

"Maths," Hokari piped up before Kageura could say anything.

Watching Kageura simmer down again, Inukai turned back to his textbook now that the excitement was over. He half agreed with Kageura, though he never spoke up when this topic came up - the last thing Kageura wanted was Inukai agreeing with him, about anything. But Inukai did not set out to rile Kageura up, not deliberately at least - not often, and whatever the others thought was between them, it was very one-sided on Kageura's part. Inukai himself held Kageura no ill will, he didn't blame Kageura for his Side Effect making him so twitchy. But then, that was the problem, wasn't it?

Border HQ's corridors had a reputation for being confusing, identical looking passages that made it difficult to tell where one was or where one wanted to go. It was a common rite of passage for new enlistees or workers to get lost, and the longer he's been with Border the better Inukai got at directing people to where they needed to be.

Unfortunately, some people never mastered that skill. Even before he turned the corner, Inukai could hear the sounds of Kageura making a disturbance, as usual.

In the corridor ahead, as blankly homogeneous as the five or so corridors Inukai had walked down already to get there, Kageura stood looming over a couple of C-ranks. One of them was looking down at the ground, long black bangs covering his eyes and thin hands fisted vulnerably in the jacket of his uniform; the other two were glaring at Kageura fiercely, not at all cowed by his reputation or bared teeth.

As Inukai drew closer, he could hear Kageura saying, "You got something to say? Why don't you try saying it to my fucking face?"

"Okay, I will then!" one of the glaring C-ranks shouted, flipping her pale hair back with a sharp jerk. "All we did was ask you for directions, there's no call for you acting like that!"

Kageura loomed closer. "You think I can't hear what you were saying?"

The other glaring C-rank, who had been looking just as self-righteous, went pale with shock. "But...we were using internal comms…"

The boy who had been facing down suddenly looked up, staring straight into Kageura's eyes through his bangs. "We were just saying the truth," he hissed. "Everyone knows about your temper. The only reason you haven't been kicked out yet is because you can fight. Otherwise no one would want you here!"

Emboldened by her friend's words, the girl added, "There are so many people who want to be where you are, an official Border agent, and you've even been A-rank! And you just waste it all with your tantrums!"

It was not the worst they could have said, not that it made much of a difference. Inukai quickly clamped a hand down on the shoulders of Kageura and the boy with long bangs, tightly enough to stop them both from rushing forward. "Now what's going on here?"

All three C-ranks paled to see someone else wading in, or possibly they were just scared of the expression on Kageura's face. Inukai had never seen him so angry before. There was something transcendent about it, a light in his eyes that burned. The shoulder under his hand jerked sharply, Kageura's hand coming up and squeezing Inukai's wrist tightly.

"Get your hand off me," Kageura hissed lowly.

Inukai did so slowly, backing up with both hands in the air and keeping all four of them in his field of view.

The C-ranks took the hint, running off without looking back. Inukai turned to Kageura fully once they were completely out of sight. He still looked angry, but a more impotent anger now that the rightful targets were no longer there. Inukai gave him a considering look. "Wanna go a round in the rank war booths?"

Kageura narrowed his eyes. "Don't patronise me."

"Have I ever?" Inukai tilted his head coquettishly. It did the trick.

Kageura snarled at him. "I will slice in you into dog food." He whirled around without waiting for a reply, long strides heading unerringly in the direction of the booths.

Inukai hurried after him. "Is that a joke on my name? That's mean!"

"Maybe I should slice you up right here and now!" Kageura howled without looking back, not letting up the pace.

Inukai fell silent, keeping his eyes on Kageura's back as he followed. It was a broad back, firm and dependable; not that anyone could tell with the way Kageura hunched in on himself all the time. But that was just like him, deliberately misrepresenting himself as if he expected other people to do all the hard work of getting close. Inukai knew this was why Kageura hated him, but he couldn't help the compassion welling up inside him. Life would be so much easier for Kageura if he compromised more, but he wouldn't be Kageura if he did.

Ahead of him, Kageura stopped, still not looking back. "Don't."

"I can't help it," said Inukai. "I don't mean anything bad by it."

"I don't care," Kageura barked. "I don't want your pity."

"It's not about that," Inukai replied, half-exasperatedly. "I like you, you fool."

Finally, Kageura turned. "I know."

Inukai waited, but Kageura didn't say anything else, just stared with something Inukai didn't understand in his eyes. "That's it?"

Kageura sighed. "You think I don't get it? I can feel your fucking condescension. You're so sorry for me because of what a fucking inconvenience my Side Effect is." He paused to bare his teeth. "You 'like' me because it makes you feel superior, poor dumb Kage who can't even play the game and make life easy for myself. But I don't need to play to live the life I want. You think I don't know that Border only puts up with me because of what I can do? You think that's bad?"

Inukai frowned. It felt weird having a conversation with Kageura sounding so calm. "Of course I don't think that. That Border needs you enough to give you concessions just shows how valued you are. I- maybe I am proud that I can 'play the game'. But I don't think there's anything wrong if you don't play. And I'm sure you've noticed, but there are a lot of people in Border who don't play. That's not what it's about."

"So what," Kageura said mockingly. "You're saying that you're jealous of me because I don't play?"

"I'm not that unself-aware." Inukai wrinkled his nose. "I don't have a problem with playing. I'm just saying that feeling sorry for you does not mean I think I'm better than you." Inukai took a breath. "I think you're fine the way you are, Kage."

Kageura sent him a sharp look. Inukai wondered if maybe he was finally getting through to him.

"That's what I hate about you." Kageura turned his back to Inukai again.

Inukai blinked. Then started running after Kageura again as the other stomped down the hallway. "I'll take that as you being embarrassed, shall I?"

"Sure, if you want me to end you," Kageura shouted over his shoulder.

"You can try!" Inukai shouted back, a smile spreading across his face.