A/N: In regards to Chapter 12 of Horimiya - When the Miyamura and Ishikawa fought, and Ishikawa ended up covered with bruises while Miyamura had nothing but a single hurt cheek.
Bruises of Love
Ishikawa-san's sudden statement of "Hori likes you" affected Izumi more than he would ever admit.
He thought he held in his emotions reasonably well, but a simple action from Ishikawa knocked it all loose.
Ishikawa-san's first strike at him was unintentional. On instinct, Izumi fought back. But then, even after Izumi's hazy mind cleared, he'd continued relentlessly hitting Ishikawa, hoping his friend would strike him back.
It was pathetic, really, but he'd wanted to get hit; he'd wanted to be able to cast his quavering heart onto his swelling bruises so that when they faded, so did his love for Hori-san. Because Hori-san deserved someone more than a worthless being like himself.
Yet Ishikawa never retaliated, to Izumi's surprise. Somewhere deep within his heart, Izumi couldn't help but desperately wonder if that was a sign.