He was headed home after another boring day of school, a familiar smile flashing through his mind without his consent. Even after he found out the girl's – not a girl – identity, he couldn't get past how cute his underclassmen was. "Stop it! Kashima is NOT cute!" He shook his head vigorously, clenching his fist in an attempt to convince himself that's how he felt. It wouldn't work though. Hasn't been for months.
His head lowered as that guy continued to invade his thoughts. While it was irritating, he couldn't deny how pleasant his gut felt whenever he remembered the boy's smiles. Especially when said lip quirks were aimed at him.
Nearing the gate, Hiroyuki raised his head at the sound of panicked shouting. He knew that voice! Turning frantically, the redhead tried to catch a glimpse of the voice's owner. Through the foliage of some trees, Hiroyuki saw Kashima glaring at some man in black. When he looked closer, the man had his left arm wrapped around a little, black haired girl. "Kirin-Chan…"
"Nii-Chama!"
The girl was bawling her eyes out, arms reaching desperately for Kashima. Hiroyuki's heart clench in horror and sorrow. Kashima loved all of those kids like his own siblings. If one was ripped away from him, he'd probably crash and burn with guilt.
Sneakily, Hiroyuki moved closer to the man in black, hoping to catch the man off guard. Then, Kashima moved. He took a few, fast steps forward, ready to sprint at the man. However, before he could get too close, the man pulled a gun from his coat's inside pocket and aimed it at the girl's head. Kashima froze, as did Hiroyuki. This was bad. Really bad!
Gritting his teeth in anger, his attention flickered to Kashima, trying to mentally project that he doesn't do anything stupid.
"Let Kirin-Chan go! You'll get nothing good out of kidnapping her!"
The redhead's eyes widened, shocked at the composure Kashima held. Then he saw the brunette's hands. His clenched fists were shaking by his sides. Shaking his head, Hiroyuki got back to watching the black cladded man. The gun wielding maniac grinned as he backed up, Kirin whining softly in his grasp.
"I'll get away, that's the greatest thing I could have right now."
Just as the man was about to step past the school's threshold, Kashima made a break for him. His legs carrying him mere feet from the man before a loud bang rang through the otherwise silent air. Kirin screamed, tears streaming down her face worse than it had been before.
Kashima stood frozen in place, eyes wide and stupefied. Then, he looked down at his abdomen, crimson slowly seeping through his school shirt. A moment later, he fell to his knees, hands raising in a vein attempt to stop the bleeding. And suddenly, the world seemed to stop for Hiroyuki.
His mind raced, and yet was silent at the same time. It felt as though his thoughts were rocketing through his brain before he could even hear them. Kashima slouched forward, hand gripping his chest, and the world snapped back into pace.
Without anymore thought, Hiroyuki dove from his place in the trees and bushes to grab the man's collar, hand slapping the gun away as if it was a toy. Kirin gasped, eyes wide in surprise. He wasn't thinking about her right now however. The only thought in his mind, was that someone had the audacity to hurt Kashima.
"I'm gonna make you pay for harming Kashima you piece of shit."
"I-Inui-Senpai!"
For once, he ignored Kashima's startled cry. He was too mad. Rage burning beneath his skin. Satisfaction coursed through his veins as the man trembled in his hold, face shifting into one of fear. "Wait… why does he look familiar?"
"Cut!"
His body froze, eyes blinking as if someone had thrown dust at them. Then his head turned, eyes locking with Kumatsuka-Sensei. A bunch of students surrounded the woman, each holding some sort of filming equipment. Realisation dawned quickly enough, and it made his face light up like a red nightlight.
"Wonderful. This will make for great footage. Thank you Kashima-Kun."
The brunette nodded sheepishly as Hiroyuki slowly released his grip on the black cladded man's clothes. Said man then dropped to the floor with tears in his eyes, his name finally making it into Hiroyuki's mind. "That's Mamizuka Kousuke!"
"Kiwin did good, wight Mama?"
The toddler cheered as she raced over to her mother, finally having been released by the actor. Kumatsuka-Sensei smiled as she lifted Kirin off the ground, the little girl bouncing in her mother's hold.
"Yes, very good Kirin."
"Yay!"
The two turned away from the scene, the older ravenette starting to give the students orders, each one moving out to fulfil their tasks. Mamizuka-San nodded hastily, scuttling to his feet and speeding over to the teacher in hopes of getting away from the 'scary' second year. He also wanted to know what his next job was, but that was outweighed by his fear.
Hiroyuki stood stock still, expression blank from ensuing embarrassment. He only snapped out of his stupor when Kashima approached, but that only made the blush that was already coming ten times worse.
"I'm sorry Inui-Senpai, I should have told you what was going on sooner…"
There he goes, blaming himself again. If it wasn't so adorable Hiroyuki would be complaining at him right now.
"I-It's fine. Was my fault for jumping to conclusions…"
It wasn't really, he knew that. Anyone would assume the worst when seeing a scene like that. Not everyone would jump in like a reckless idiot because a gun had been fired though. If anything, that would have made someone run to call the police. Why hadn't he done that?! Idiot!
"Though… when Senpai faced the attacker – even if it was Mamizuka-San –, you were really cool!"
His mouth broke out into a beaming smile, eyes closing from it's size. Hiroyuki felt his heart skip a beat in response. Flush darkening at the attention. He couldn't look at such radiance for long though, and soon found himself looking to the side.
Kumatsuka-Sensei apparently caught this, and her mouth slipped into a small smirk. A few students startled in shock as her bangs fell over her eyes, giving her the look of a Yokai. Instantly, the drama club moved away from their teacher, knowing something mischievous was controlling her brain in that moment.
She took a few steps forward, closing the gap between her and the two impromptu actors. At the sounds of nearing steps, Kashima's smile dimmed as he turned to look at her, Kirin waving happily once they caught each other's gazes.
"Kashima-Kun, Inui-Kun, please sit on the bench over there until we have the next scene prepared. We're gonna work Inui-Kun's appearance into the film."
The two nodded, somewhat hesitantly in Hiroyuki's case. Doing as told, the two sat on the bench. Hiroyuki had attempted to sit at the end of the bench in the hopes that Kashima would sit on the other end. However, the world was cruel, and Kashima decided to situate himself right in the middle. Hiroyuki only registered a few minutes later that Kashima was actually a little closer to his side than previously believed.
"Sorry about this Inui-Senpai. You were probably heading home too…"
Peeking through his peripheral vision, Hiroyuki saw Kashima scratching his cheek in embarrassment. His cheeks heated up yet again as he drew his attention back to the working crew setting up the next scene. Bodies flicking through his sight as his mind worked overtime in an attempt to calm down, while simultaneously trying to subtly move closer to the brunette. "What am I doing?! I'm not a little school girl!"
"Look, I get it, it's fine. Wrong place wrong time."
He winced at his own tone, knowing for a fact that he came across as angry. He really wasn't. Mortified was more accurate. Especially so many people had seen his faux-par. If not the amount of people, then definitely from the fact that Kashima had seen him. "My angel saw something totally uncool!" He wanted to be eaten by the bench.
Suddenly, Kashima turned to him with a determined look, face set into a cute sense of certainty that Hiroyuki never knew existed.
"While we wait, I'll explain the film."
And that's exactly what he did. Without time to argue, Hiroyuki found himself being captivated by Kashima's voice as he recounted what he remembered of the plot. Before he knew it, Hiroyuki was smiling like a lovesick fool as Kashima talked. The brunette being adorably into the story he was laying out. When Kumatsuka-Sensei turned to the two, she couldn't help but let a genuine smile settle on her lips. The two boys had subconsciously gotten close enough for their knees to bump together, and they looked happy enough with the arrangement.
"Inu-Chama likes Ryu-Nii-Chama!"
Kirin stated beside her, hands raised in the air in some sort of celebration. Kumatsuka-Sensei turned to her daughter with a small smile on her lips, eyes shining with fondness.
"That's right Kirin, Inui-Kun likes Kashima-Kun. And I think maybe, Kashima-Kun likes Inui-Kun too."