Author's Note: I usually ship ChihiroxMondo, but at one point I felt like writing something different. That was how I came up with my first ChihiroxIshimaru, then suddenly realized that this ship was equally cute. Female pronouns are used for Chihiro.

Enjoy!

~ May I Call You Chi-chan? ~

They could already spot her from far away.

It was already a quite long time after school hours, but the front yard of the school was still filled with students. Despite that rather pleasant pandemonium, Ishimaru and Mondo were able to spot their friend, the one who completed their threesome. Although she was as different from both Ishimaru and Mondo as anyone could get, things just weren't right without Chihiro Fujisaki.

When Ishimaru and Mondo saw her, she was sitting on a bench alone, completely indifferent to the students bustling about in front of her. Her face looked thoughtful as she typed into her green laptop.

"Fujisaki-kun!" Ishimaru exclaimed when they got nearer, in his usual formal manner. "I apologize for our tardiness! I had to take Kyoudai to detention. Have you been waiting long?"

The girl looked up but didn't smile. "Mm. Huh?" She sounded a bit spaced out as she shut her laptop. "Uh, no, Ishimaru-kun, d-don't worry about it." She sniffled and didn't get up.

Ishimaru's thick eyebrows shot up. "Fujisaki-kun? Are you all right? You sound as if you have been crying. Is something wrong?"

"N-no, n-n-nothing is..."

Mondo frowned. Walking past Ishimaru, he sat down next to Chihiro. His expression was hard. "Of course something's up," he interrupted. "Lemme guess. They bullied ya again?"

Chihiro didn't reply but from the tears gathering at her eyes, the other two knew that it was the case.

Ishimaru's expression turned sour. When Mondo often had behavior problems that usually land him in detention, Chihiro's problems had to do with bullies. For some reason Ishimaru didn't know, she was always getting picked on. He guessed that it was because of her tiny frame, but to him that still didn't explain the problem. If anything, he thought her small frame made her look cute.

Mondo sighed and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Oh, kiddo, I'm sorry to hear that. If only I'd been here instead of in detention, I would've given those fuckers a piece of my mind. Or fist."

Ishimaru gave him a disapproving look. "Three warnings, Kyoudai," he said. "You will not start any fist fights, you will not have any ideas to skip detention, and please refrain from using bad words." He turned to the still sniffling Chihiro. "Fujisaki-kun, who are they? I must know their names for my report! Bullying is a serious offense!"

Chihiro only groaned and slouched on the bench. "I... I don't want to talk about it," she moaned weakly. "Th-th-they're horrible!" Then she burst into tears again.

Mondo sympathetically put his arms around her shoulders, drawing her close. "There, there, kid," he said in a soothing voice people didn't even know gang leaders were capable of. "At least you're safe now... You're safe with us." Chihiro's only reaction was to sob into his shirt.

Ishimaru found that he was rooted to the spot with absolutely nothing to say. He didn't know what to say to a girl who suddenly burst into tears right in front of him. He just wasn't very good with girls - the only contact he made with them was probably just to remind them when their skirts didn't reach their knees like how the school rules stated they should.

In the end, he only echoed what Mondo had said.

"Of course," he said. "You are safe with us."

»̶✽«

During the walk to their two-bedroom dormitory, Ishimaru mostly hung back as Mondo continued to try to lift Chihiro's spirit. The two walked in front, Mondo's hand still on the girl's shoulder. Sometimes he would bend down and whisper something in her ear. It was obviously something uplifting because she would chuckle a bit, and then Mondo would stand up again and ruffle her hair. And at one point of their walk, Chihiro took the gang leader's hand.

Ishimaru allowed himself a small smile. Look at Kyoudai and Fujisaki-kun, he thought. They are best friends. It seems as if Kyoudai has succeeded in cheering her up. That's great, because seeing both of them happy makes me happy.

He suddenly frowned.

Kyoudai can cheer Fujisaki-kun up, he thought. He can do it very well, too. As for me, I can't cheer people up. I don't think I've ever cheered anyone up - I only send them to detention.

However, he quickly steeled himself, putting on his usual serious expression. He knew it was a pointless train of thought. Although Kyoudai is better at cheering her up than I am, that doesn't mean she and I cannot be best friends, right?

Ishimaru put a stop to those thoughts and instead focused on the walk ahead and his two best friends in front of him. His red eyes traveled down...

Until they stopped when he saw their joined hands. It immediately set off a new train of thoughts, equally pointless.

Yes, we are all best friends... But my friendship with Fujisaki-kun doesn't even begin to resemble the one she shares with Kyoudai. Kyoudai knows a lot about her - he knows the things one should say to cheer her up after being bullied.

It suddenly occurred to Ishimaru that he knew almost nothing about Chihiro. Sure, he did know that she was a sweet and law-abiding young lady who never got sent to detention. She was also rather shy and introverted, but she made a pleasant companion. She wasn't your typical teenage girl - she actually preferred tinkering with computers over doing any kind of feminine activities. She was also quite smart - she was good with numbers so she was exceptional when it comes to programming.

However, these things were what you should know when you were their classmate. Anyone in that class should know those trivial things. Anyone in that class should know how she behaves, things she's good at, and what she enjoys doing.

So Ishimaru didn't know much at all.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Ishimaru watched his friends in front of him... But he was actually staring at Chihiro's hand, small and pale compared to Mondo's. The hall monitor wrapped his right hand with his left with a feeling of longing, suddenly feeling lonely and desolate.

I wonder what it feels like to hold that hand...

»̶✽«̶

Ishimaru still hasn't said anything by the time they arrived at their dorm. After making sure that Chihiro was no longer unhappy, Mondo left for a workout. Ishimaru and Chihiro found themselves sitting in the living room - Chihiro tapping away on her keyboard accompanied by some potato chips, and Ishimaru silent, shooting occasional glances at the tiny brunette.

I wonder what it feels like to touch that brown hair...

Ishimaru had been wondering why his relationship with Chihiro was so different from that between her and Mondo. She and Mondo knew a lot about each other, they cheered each other up. Ishimaru felt as if the only part he played in this friendship was that of a hall monitor.

"Kyoudai, I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you to detention after school..."

"Threatening other students is a serious violation of the school rules, Kyoudai!"

"You will not, Kyoudai, and you will not have any ideas about skipping detention."

"Fujisaki-kun, why are you still out here when the bell has rung? Please hurry to class before I decide to give you a detention slip."

"Fujisaki-kun? Are you all right?"

"Fujisaki-kun, who are they? I must know their names for my report!"

"Fujisaki-kun! I apologize for our tardiness!"

Fujisaki-kun!

Fujisaki-kun!

Fujisaki-kun.

That's it.

Suddenly Ishimaru knew.

He and Chihiro weren't close because something was distancing them. Something was between them - an invisible obstacle. Something was keeping their feelings back, like a vice or a harness.

And Ishimaru knew what it was, for it was he who put it there.

That something was Ishimaru's formality.

He had been playing the part of hall monitor in that friendship because he had given that part to himself. Being a hall monitor at school was a part assigned to him by his teachers, but being a hall monitor outside school was a part he gave himself. That was why he never called her anything else besides Fujisaki-kun, right? Because that was what a hall monitor was supposed to do - and he himself had upgraded it into a full-time job that held him back from her, even outside school.

His own formalities were the vices. His calling her "Fujisaki-kun". They were all vices.

However, Ishimaru was determined to break those boundaries - for the sake of a chance to hold that hand and caress those brown locks. He would do it by first deleting some of those harnesses of formalities.

All right, Ishimaru. Now you're not a hall monitor for the time being - you're a friend.

He cleared his throat. "Fujisaki-kun..."

She brought her head up. "Yes, Ishimaru-kun?"

"Um..." Ishimaru found himself struggling to think of what to say next. How should he tell her that he was going to stop being so formal towards her?

Waiting for an answer and not getting any, Chihiro's eyes traveled to the table, and then widened when she saw her empty snack wrappers. "Ah! Sorry, Ishimaru-kun! I'll throw these away."

"No! Don't." Ishimaru's hand suddenly shot out and caught hers to keep her from rising, but then he immediately regretted it. Chihiro shot him a confused look and sat back down. Ishimaru wondered, was that appropriate to do to a lady?

Instead, he took a deep breath, attempting to start over.

"Fujisaki-kun... do you... do you love Kyoudai?"

Chihiro looked confused. "Do I love Mondo-kun? Mm, of course I do! You love him too, don't you, Ishimaru-kun? I mean, you're brothers!"

"Umm, yes," Ishimaru said. "Of course I do... But do you love Kyoudai? Do you?"

Chihiro blinked. "Uh... Is th-there a difference between your first question and your second one, Ishimaru-kun...?"

"Umm, yeah." Ishimaru racked his brains. He knew perfectly well what he was trying to say, but had trouble explaining it to her. "In the second one... It's more, err, serious..."

"Serious?" Suddenly Chihiro's hazel eyes widened slightly with understanding. "Oh, y-you mean the serious kind of "love"." She looked down, hiding her eyes behind her brown bangs.

"I... I don't know, Ishimaru-kun... I don't know what I feel about him yet. Wh-what d-do you th-think?"

"I think..." Ishimaru started, then paused. All right. There was no use hiding it now. "I think yes."

She didn't reply and kept her head down, but Ishimaru caught a blush creeping onto her pale cheeks.

Ishimaru started again. "You know... I have never experienced the feeling of loving a girl before."

"Y-y-you haven't?"

"No," Ishimaru said shortly... "At least, not until now."

"Huh?" Chihiro looked at him. "Ah, Ishimaru-kun! Wh-who is the lucky girl?" She smiled sweetly, and Ishimaru's heart melted.

"Well, she actually is a very, very lucky girl, because she has two brothers who love her very much."

Ishimaru swallowed the second he finished saying that. He hadn't expected that to come out so easily.

"Wow, that's..." Chihiro started, but stopped when the full weight of Ishimaru's words sank in. Her hazel eyes widened impressively.

"Oh..."

Ishimaru didn't say anything.

"O-oh... That girl... Th-that's m-m-me..."

Ishimaru still didn't say anything.

"Oh m-my, Ishimaru-kun, I... I'm sorry! I didn't k-k-know that!"

"That is all right," Ishimaru told her. "I did not expect anyone to notice that anyway, since I am not too good at conveying feelings, or pretty much doing anything else besides being a hall monitor."

Chihiro looked up with a start. She looked almost alarmed. "N-n-no! Th-that's not true...!"

"You do not have to defend me, Fujisaki-kun. I know it is true."

"N-n-no..." Chihiro's voice dropped to a whisper. She clasped her hands in front of her.

Ishimaru was taken completely by surprise when out of the blue she literally crashed into him, circling her arms around his shoulders.

"D-d-don't say that," she said sternly, although her voice still wavered. "You're a great person, Ishimaru-kun. Y-y-you are a good person, a good hall monitor, but you are also a good friend and a good brother. I-I won't l-like it if you talk like th-that again, OK?!" She hugged him tighter still.

"Ah..." Ishimaru's face went fire engine red. At first he didn't know how to respond, but then he began to hug her back. And then he also began to stroke her soft brown hair.

And that, he realized, felt great.

"Th-thank you for being th-there for me, Ishimaru-kun," Chihiro went on. "Th-thank you for loving me. You're right, I really am lucky..."

"Y-y-you're welcome, Fujisaki-kun," Ishimaru stammered in reply, still a bit dazed. "I thank you for being my best friend also."

After a while staying like that, Chihiro withdrew. Ishimaru looked down and saw that she was still holding his hand. Although his hand wasn't as big as Mondo's, hers still seemed very small and fragile in comparison.

But again, it felt great.

He cleared his throat. "Umm... Fujisaki-kun, there is something I was meaning to ask you."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"...I have decided to not act towards you like a hall monitor outside school," he said. "I wish to delete some of my law enforcer-ish formalities, because we are friends."

"Uh-uh?"

"So..." He paused.

"So...?" Chihiro smiled shyly.

"So... M-may I... call you... Chi-chan?"

"Chi-chan?" Chihiro looked thoughtful.

"I-it is okay if you do not want to!" Ishimaru exclaimed quickly, his heart sinking. "It is okay with me if you would like me to keep calling you Fujisaki-kun-"

Suddenly he felt her hand hold his tighter. He stopped rambling.

"N-no, Ishimaru-kun," she said with a small smile. "I would like that... Yes, Chi-chan sounds n-n-nice! I d-don't mind at all!" She grinned happily. "Th-thank you for coming up with that for m-me, Ishimaru-kun! Y-you are very k-kind!"

Ishimaru's heart swelled even more when she hugged him again.

"A-all right then," he said in the most upbeat manner possible.

"Chi-chan it is."

~END~