Well, I didn't intend to use this pairing for two fics in a row, but I did it anyway. I intended for the pairing to be stronger, but despite the fact that I wrote it, I actually have very little control over stuff like that. This one is more from Ikki's point of view, while the last one was more from Kazu's. Writing about Kazu is going to drive me crazy, because for some reason I tend to type KAzu a lot, and going back to fix it is becoming an irritation. I've read volumes 1-4 of the manga now, which is also going to drive me crazy (my computer takes forever loading manga pages). It's really good, though!
Thank you to Crimson Vixen for reviewing my other AG fic; it totally made my day to see that someone liked it, especially someone who writes as well as you do!
Warnings: light Ikki x Kazu, possible spelling/grammar mistakes (I run spell check, but it doesn't catch everything and neither do I)
Disclaimer: Air Gear belongs to Oh! Great and not to me. I don't even own a decent pair of Rollerblades.
Amazing.
It was just routine training, really. Nothing special, just a few laps before calling it a day. Ikki had decided to go a little easier on everyone since they were still a little tired from fighting the previous night. So instead of ending the training session with something challenging, he had simply told them to do ten laps as fast as they could before they left.
It was such a simple task, but Ikki was mesmerized. The object of his attention was Kazu, who was riding so fast he was hardly even visible, just a faint blur in the scenery. Ikki knew that he'd already surpassed the required ten laps, but he would keep going until someone else finished. If asked just how many he had done, the answer was sure to be, "I don't know; I kinda lost count."
It didn't seem to matter how fast the jet flew, he was always wanting to go higher instead, to be more like Ikki. Why couldn't he see how awesome he looked traveling on his own road?
Ikki noticed something blow towards him from his teammates' general direction and caught it in midair. Kazu's beanie; I wonder how he manages to keep it on at all. It was a wonder that it hadn't been lost by now.
Everyone was finished with today's training now. Bucca and Onigiri were the first to leave, probably because they were the only team members with parents to demand that they be home by a certain time. Agito left soon after, mumbling something about wasting his time on Ikki's worthless training games. Kazu was walking sort of aimlessly, looking at the ground.
"Lose something?" Ikki asked, grinning and holding up the white beanie.
"Yeah, my..." Kazu began, looking up. "Oh, thanks. Didn't even realize it was gone until I stopped."
"That was really impressive," Ikki said, tossing the beanie to Kazu. "I'd like to see how it feels, going that fast."
Kazu looked a little surprised. Why was it so hard for him to believe that someone might actually want to do what he could do? Ikki had never really understood why his friend was like that, so unable to see any good qualities in himself.
"Thanks," Kazu replied, "But it wasn't anything that great, not like what you can do."
"Stop comparing yourself to me!" Ikki shouted, exasperated. Sure, he loved being looked up to, especially by his team, but Kazu was so focused on catching up with the crow that he couldn't see his own strengths. It had been that way for as long as Ikki could remember. He was always seeking attention while Kazu stayed in the background, like he wasn't worthy of any one's notice. It was really wearing on Ikki's nerves.
Kazu could tell that this was not a good time to protest. "Okay," he replied.
Ikki raised an eyebrow, seeming quite unconvinced, but he decided to let it slide. He figured that a half- hearted, insincere agreement was slightly better than nothing. "Good," he said, "'Cause the next time I hear you say anything bad about your abilities, I'm gonna kick your ass!"
A wonderful response to that remark suddenly popped into Kazu's mind, and he couldn't help but smile. He got right beside Ikki, very close, and gave him a quick kiss before speeding off, yelling behind him, "You can't kick what you can't catch!"
Ikki stood there in shock for a couple seconds before regaining his composure. "Dammit, Kazu!" he exclaimed. He took off after his friend, knowing he would never catch up but screaming threats at him all the same.