"It's very simple. Once a week, you go on a date with me to eat parfaits with me and I'll help you rise up through the rankings."
That was the agreement Hideyasu Jonouchi proposed with Raid Wild leader Hase Ryouji. The alliance was Ryouji idea in the first place, so Hideyasu's one condition, he felt was his right to make.
Ryouji, of course, didn't. He scoffed, crossing his arms. "The hell would I do that for? Do you need somebody to spoon feed you? Are you a child?"
Hideyasu shrugged. He cozied himself into the cushions at Drupers. "If you are so inclined." He smiled as he saw the comment made Ryouji uncomfortable. "I'm lonely, Hase-chan." Oh, more uncomfortableness. "I want to eat lunch with somebody. And you've so graciously offered yourself to fill that position of 'somebody.'"
"You are insanely stupid." Ryouji growled out. He shot up, walking out of the cafe.
"It's that or no alliance." Hideyasu called out, the smile never leaving his face.
He did not look over his shoulder to watch Ryouji leave. He heard the brash Beat Rider's footsteps stop, the leather crinkle as Ryouji flailed his arms (surely in a fit of annoyance), and then the shoes scratch across the tile as Ryouji returned to the table.
Hideyasu smiled up at the slick-haired boy as Ryouji slammed his hand onto the table. "Fine...I'll..." The smile only got bigger. Hideyasu saw how irritated Ryouji was about all this and it was absolutely marvelous. Even better when Ryouji hung his head in submission. "...have lunch with you."
Hideyasu stood, arms crossed across his chest in his usual fashion. "Well then...I'll see you next Tuesday then, Hase-chan."
Ryouji stood tall, glaring down at the other Beat leader. "Don't call me that!"
Hideyasu didn't listen to him, walking out of Drupers with a spring in his step. "You're paying for this one, Hase-chan."
"Don't call me that!"
Hideyasu would. Everytime they met up, Hideyasu made sure to call Ryouji by that ridiculous name at least three times (oh yes, Ryouji counted.) And that self-confident smirk never left his face.
It wasn't a passing condition that Hideyasu created. At least once a week (usually mid-week), his phone rang with Hideyasu's name written across it. At one point, some point, Hideyasu hijacked it and now, it rang with a stupid, childish ringtone.
But Ryouji was true to his word. He came to Drupers and shoveled down the fruity parfait down his throat. Hideyasu would just sit there across from him with his own parfait. Neither would say anything and when the Invitto leader was done with his, he'd give Ryouji a new high class lock seed or a brand new weakness found in a rival dance team. Then Hideyasu would pay for the treats and walk out of Drupers. To meet up again for another day.
Eventually, Ryouji didn't know when, but he started to look forward to hearing that annoyingly childish ringtone. He didn't just cram the whip cream down his throat, but instead actually took the time to enjoy it. He sometimes talked to the dancer. He even offered to pay once. Jonouchi didn't let it him, but he started smiling again from the offer.
You see, Ryouji started noticing things about when Jonouchi called him for lunch. It was all in the way that Jonouchi ate his parfait. The times when it was him that was shuffling the parfait in like he was clearing snow, he was pissed off angry about something. When he was picking at the fruit and whip cream, acting like he was going to eat it, the Invitto members were up and about causing trouble he hadn't authorized and making a royal pain of themselves. But when he was fiddling with the dessert spoon, it was something else – something not related to the Beat Rider contest – that was making him upset. And then there were times where he just sat in the booth, not eating the parfait at all. The times when he was just thinking about something. Not scheming, not planning, but just...thinking.
These times were becoming more and more usual. Where usually, the whip cream would be licked almost seductively, trying to get a rile out of him, or the fruit would be consumed with a smile, Jonouchi now called him whenever he was troubled.
It was probably sometime after he started calling Hideyasu by his first name...at least inside his head. (Because actually calling him by his name would be embarrassing.)
As he realized the sudden change in them both, he also realized that it sort of made him feel...special. He was Jonouchi's recluse, the person he went to when he felt...not at hist best. He'd never felt special before. Not really.
But, just as he kept referring to Jonouchi as 'Hideyasu' he kept all these personal feelings to himself. After all, this was an alliance. It was all about the Invess Game and the teams. If he revealed everything he thought – and if he was wrong – then that meant Jonouchi would've found a weakness and he'd have a way to take him out of the game...for good.
After all, this was an alliance. There was no say about what would happen if and when Invitto and Raid Wild would need to face each other.
Things get tough when Baron challenged Invitto...and Invitto had lost.
Ryouji wouldn't lie – he was beyond pissed off when he heard about it. One of the insolent Baron brats had cheated (regardless of the fact there were no rules in the Invess Games) and shot a rock at Jonouchi's Invess. The creature being only a hologram in its small form, it went through and instead smacked right into the leader. Jonouchi was diagnosed with a fractured ankle and would have to keep off it for the following month and a half.
Ryouji didn't know which he was more upset about – that Baron cheated...or that they injured Jonouchi in the process.
He found out where he lived by asking Bando (he may or not have gotten Jonouchi's credit card information as well...) and knocked on his door rather harshly.
"I can't very well open the door! You might as well come on it!" He heard from the other side.
Ryouji furrowed his brows together. Well...yes, that was all very true but...didn't Jonouchi have anybody to live with? He turned the door handle (open) and walked inside.
It certainly was a nice place. Much better than the ¥450 dump that he lived in. This one...this was an apartment for a well-off young man.
"Hase-chan? This...this is a surprise." Jonouchi was lounging on the couch, his injured ankle propped up on the opposite arm rest.
"Uh...yeah..." Ryouji felt like a fool coming here. He was supposed to keep his personal friendship feelings to himself. And now here he was...visiting Jonouchi at home. "How are you feeling?"
Jonouchi smirked, chuckling only a little. "In all honesty, I'm feeling like a complete idiot." He gestured to the leg. "I guess I underestimated how underhanded Baron is. A mistake I won't make again. But it doesn't matter...I won't be battling for a good long while."
Ryouji nodded. He looked around the fancy apartment (to avoid looking at Jonouchi.) "Aren't...do you live here on your own?"
"Yeah. Oh, forgive the mess - it's not like I can clean up around here." Jonouchi bent his knee just a little, reminding Ryouji once more.
"Don't you...don't you live with your parents?"
Jonouchi chuckled (forced, Ryouji noticed) "My parents are workers at the Yggdrasil Corporation - they're much too busy to actually live with their son."
Ryouji bit as his lip. It was that movement that reminded him of what was in his hands. "Here." He thrust forward two wrapped up parfaits, placing them on the coffee table between the two of them. He tucked his legs underneath him and sat on the carpet floor. "It's your favorite...for when you're...upset..." He'd been paying attention. It was unspoken and Ryouji wished he had never let that be known.
Jonouchi was gob-mouthed. He stared at Ryouji for the longest time. Neither of them said a word. "Hase-chan...you don't need to do this. This...this isn't part of the alliance."
"I know, Jonouchi. It's just..." Ryouji forced himself to breathe normally, to not be embarrassed by this whole situation. "I...I like to meet with you. Regardless if we're eating parfaits or...or...or talking about Beat Riders and Invess. I...I want to be friends with you, Jonouchi."
If the other was surprised before, what Ryouji just said had his eyes the size of saucer plates. "That...that's the first time you've called me 'Jonouchi.'"
"Oh...is it? I keep calling you that in my head."
Jonouchi...he actually smiled. "You've been calling out to me in your head, Hase-chan?"
It was enjoyable, the teasing flirts that Jonouchi said. It was pleasant, to hear them again as well, after seeing his...his friend miserable for so long. Ryouji smiled.
Neither said anything for a good long while after that. They ate their parfaits in silence, smiling at each other across the coffee table.
It started as an alliance...now it was a friendship.