Happy birthday, Chii! :D
This story happens in a timeline where Koushiro goes to a different high school.
The nemesis of Yagami Taichi
"So I was talking to Koushiro the other day about us having fun Friday. We almost don't see each other anymore and I thought it would be nice to be together."
"Huh, Taichi…" Yamato tried to interrupt.
"But he declined, saying that a Wakaba guy from his school had already asked him to go to his place."
"Taichi…" Sora attempted to cut her friend's monologue.
"So I said: 'it's alright, we can spend time together during the night.'"
"Seriously, Taichi." Yamato was getting impatient.
"You're not going to believe in this! Apparently, Koushiro is going to sleep over on the guy's house!"
"TAICHI!" Sora raised her voice, which made the brunette finally stop talking. "Is this the emergency you wanted to discuss with us?"
"Couldn't it wait until the end of our date?" Yamato sighed.
"Of course it couldn't wait!" Taichi sounded offended, while grabbing the plate of French fries his friends were eating. He was sitting across from them at a snack bar table. "I'm telling you that some suspicious stranger called Wabaka is aggressively trying to separate Koushiro from me, I mean, from us, and you're barely reacting to it!"
"Wasn't the person's name 'Wakaba?'" Sora asked.
"It doesn't matter what his name is! The guy is a total jerk! He has a secret agenda! He's basically a psychopath!"
"Do you actually know that guy? I mean, he goes to Koushiro's school." Yamato inquired.
"Well…" Taichi looked away, pouting. "Okay, I have never met him or talked to him but I totally know that he's up to no good!"
"So you're jealous?" Yamato believed he had cracked the code. Taichi blushed furiously.
"What the… what are you talking about?" The brunette made sure to sound outraged. "I'm just a good person worried about my shy, dorky, super intelligent, sweet and innocent friend!"
"Wow." Sora giggled. "Now, that's revealing."
"Yeah." Yamato smirked. "He's like a little kid blaming the cat for something he broke."
"Oi, stop bringing up the cat story! Damn it, Sora, why did you tell him about that?"
"We should focus on what's important here." Sora decided.
"That's right! We need to dig Wabaka's dirty secrets and unmask him in front of Koushiro!" Taichi agreed, with a victorious grin.
"No." Sora cut him off. "It's obvious that you're jealous and you're trying to make Wakaba-san into some evil caricature. What you really should do is: tell Koushiro-kun about how you really feel."
"I've already told you that I'm being moved solely by friendship! I don't like you implying that I'm some jealous possessive person madly in love with Koushiro!" Taichi was getting mad.
"You're the one calling yourself jealous and possessive, Taichi." Yamato tried to make the other listen to reason. "Why don't you just admit that you fell in love with Koushiro? What's the problem? Is it because you're both boys?"
"I have no problem with that!" Taichi stated. "And I wouldn't have a problem with dating a guy! I just don't like when people assume that I have impure thoughts regarding Koushiro! Nobody should have impure thoughts about him! In fact, people should keep a safe distance from him and only being allowed to look into his eyes after I am convinced that they don't want to cause him harm."
"You are seriously scaring me right now." Yamato told him.
"Taichi, you can't stop other people from being interested in Koushiro-kun." Sora advised. "In the end, it's up to him to decide who he wants to date."
"Yeah." Yamato agreed. "The only thing you can do is to talk to Koushiro about your feelings, preferably before someone else conquers his heart."
"What do you mean by 'conquers his heart?'" Taichi inquired furiously. "As if Koushiro would fall for the charm of some random dude who doesn't care about him as much as I do!"
"So now you admit that you like him?" Sora asked, excited. Taichi blushed intensely, got up and left the place.
"Should we have done something to stop him?" Sora asked her boyfriend, worried.
"Nah. Taichi has to come on terms with this on his own." Yamato said.
During the following two days, Taichi was not able to stop thinking about Koushiro. Could it be that he was in love with the smaller boy and what he believed to be concern was actually jealousy? The boy did not want to believe that his feelings were that ordinary. He had believed that he and Koushiro had a bond that was larger than life and that the boy with red hair would always be by his side. Koushiro's smile was his source of inspiration; his patient words gave him strength. Taichi adored Koushiro so much that it was only normal that he would not allow someone with bad intentions to hurt the shorter teenager. The very idea of that happening made his heart beat in pain.
Taichi knew very well that he had harmed Koushiro in the past. His explosive moments lead him not to only have intense discussions with the other but also punch him at least twice. Koushiro had forgiven him for that, saying that he understood that Taichi was going through a lot. But the older boy never felt that he deserved that forgiveness. He wished that Koushiro would have been harsher to him; that he would have punished him for hurting his feelings.
Maybe, that was what was behind Taichi's concern. Not exactly jealousy, but fear that Koushiro would let someone bad enter his life. Taichi knew that he was not perfect; but he had sworn not to ever hurt his precious friend anymore, nor to let anyone else do the same. And to do that he would have to check with whom Koushiro was going out.
When Friday came, the brunette waited outside of Koushiro's school. The 16 years old boy did not have soccer practice that day, so he could go there straight from school. He was five meters away from the gate, hiding behind a tree. Taichi took a deep breath and remembered the plan.
Okay, relax. I'm just going to peek to find out who this Wakaba person is. If he doesn't have any bad intentions, I can let him go.
Soon, he saw Koushiro coming, carrying a pile of at least ten books. Taichi was surprised to see the other out so soon. On his way through the gate, the redhead accidentally let one of the books fall. Taichi resisted the impulse to run to the smaller boy and help him. Another person aided the younger teenager.
It was a tall and muscular guy with wavy black hair and seductive brown eyes. Wait, why did I find his eyes seductive? Taichi thought, confused.
"Be more careful, Kou." The tall boy said in a voice that Taichi believed could melt an iceberg. Then, he realized that the stranger was talking to Koushiro too intimately and got mad.
"Thank you, Wakaba-kun." Koushiro replied, picking the book from the other's hand. Their fingers touched and the boy's cheeks became as red as his hair.
THAT'S WABAKA! Taichi screamed internally. WHAT IS THAT GUY DOING GETTING ALL TOUCHY WITH KOUSHIRO? WHY DID KOUSHIRO BLUSH?
"You should let me carry some of those books." Wakaba said. Taichi was 100% sure he was giving the redhead the bedroom eyes.
What is he doing? Is he putting his own hands over Koushiro's? Why is he leaning? I can't take this anymore!
"KOUSHIRO!" Taichi yelled, jumping out from behind the tree. The younger boy and the tall guy turned their heads in his direction, staring at him in disbelief.
"Taichi-san?!" Koushiro had no idea what was happening. "What are you doing here? I told you I couldn't hang out with you today."
"Yes. He's going to help me study for the finals." Wakaba said, putting his right hand on Koushiro's shoulder, possessively. Taichi wanted to jump on the guy and punch him on the face.
"I…" Taichi started. Unfortunately, he had not formulated anything to say, so he improvised. "It's extremely necessary that you come with me!"
"What?" Koushiro had a concerned look. "Did something happen? Is it a new threat?"
"Threat?" Wakaba questioned.
"It's not a threat!" Taichi felt guilty for making Koushiro worried. "It's just… we haven't seen each other a lot since you came to this school..."
The older chosen child felt silly for saying that and wondered if Koushiro found him lame.
"I miss you too, Taichi-san." The younger boy told him in a sweet voice that made the soccer player's cheeks pink. "I had already agreed to study with Wakaba-kun tonight, but tomorrow I can be all yours, if you agree."
Taichi's heart skipped a beat when he imagined Koushiro being entirely his and feared that he could die of anticipation. That wave of happiness was so intense that the brunette forgot what he went there to do.
"That sounds great! Yeah, let's have a fantastic day tomorrow!" Taichi exclaimed, grinning.
"Kou." Wakaba called the shorter boy. "Now that I think about it, you've brought too many books. I think we'll probably only need three of them."
"I wasn't sure how many we would need. Maybe I exaggerated." Koushiro sounded embarrassed. "I'll return the others."
Taichi and Wakaba watched him walking back to school. The brunette was visibly in a better mood. As soon as Koushiro was out of sight, Wakaba started to slowly follow the redhead's path.
"It was nice to meet you, Taichi-san." He said a polite tone, without turning back. "I wish you two have a fun day tomorrow, although…"
Wakaba dramatically turned around and gave the other a malicious and proud grin, adding:
"I doubt it will be more pleasurable than the night I have prepared for Kou."
At that moment, Yagami Taichi was certain that he had found his most vicious enemy.
I hope you liked it, Chii. There might be more chapters, I haven't decided it yet. Happy birthday!