The biggest reason why Hayato had a hard time forgiving Ryu when he went to apologise to those Ara High bastards wasn't that he actually did it. It was the fact that he didn't talk to Hayato before he did it. Hell, they had been together only hours before he went, he had plenty of opportunities to tell. If he had done so, then maybe a lot of anger, tears and pain could have been prevented. As it was, Hayato took it as a personal case of lack of trust. And it hurt. It hurt a lot! The fact that the person closest to him didn't see fit to trust him with what he was about to do made him devastated. They had a big fight in the classroom and after that Ryu stopped coming to school. Hayato didn't want to miss him. In fact he didn't want to think about it at all, but it was impossible. The atmosphere in the classroom was completely changed with Ryu gone. And Hayato did miss him. He missed him a lot. And that made him irate and easily angered, causing more fights and the hospitalization of their latest homeroom teacher. Then everything changed. Their new homeroom teacher, Yamaguchi Kumiko, decided to bring Ryu back to class. She desperately worked for it, and although Hayato acted like she was stupid and that he didn't care, he could feel the excitement build up inside him. He knew that the moment Ryu stepped into the classroom he had to act like an enemy, no matter how much he wanted to talk to him. He had to be cold, he had to be cruel, no matter how much it hurt him. And he was. When Yamaguchi finally was able to bring him back, Hayato and the class went out to meet him. "I still haven't forgiven you." The words were honest and the second before Hayato's fist connected with that pretty face, he could see that the hidden meaning was understood.
Ryu knew that Hayato wouldn't forgive him that easily. When the fist hit him, he instictivly hit back, only to soon be stopped when cold water drenched them. That weird teacher was actually standing on the roof with an empty barrel in her hands. Ryu couldn't help but think that he liked this teacher and her unusual ways. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to bring peace to the class. But there was something that he couldn't figure out. She was apparently ridiculously strong, but why was she so desperate to hide it? The next day he tried asking her about it, but she denied ever having fought. She insisted that he had been dreaming or hallucinating at the time, and Ryu decided to leave it at that. For now. When he left the rooftop he saw Hayato at the bottom of the stairs and his heart skipped a beat. Those piercing eyes looked straight at him for a few seconds before turning away. Ryu followed Hayato's back until he disappeared. There was a strange feeling in his chest. The look in Hayato's eyes had been one of pure rage. He hoped that nothing bad would happen. His heart sank when he entered the classroom. Hayato was glaring at him for a moment before turning to Yamaguchi. When the challenge came, Ryu couldn't help but feel a little worried. He had seen Yamaguchi's strength and hoped that Hayato hadn't started something he would regret.
Hayato was burning with fury. Seeing Ryu and Yamaguchi together on the roof looking all friendly had lit the flame of jealousy inside of him. He was planning on messing her up good and make her quit. Everything to keep her away from his Ryu. He smirked to himself. He was really looking forward to this one. Hayato glanced over at the thin boy sitting at the front row. He hadn't forgiven him, but that didn't mean that he would let her have him. No way!
When the school day ended Hayato was completely ready for the confrontation. He went to the riverbank early to wait. He sensed that Ryu was close by watching and that gave him a strong sense of satisfaction. He wanted Ryu to see this, the fall of his precious teacher. He was never going to admit that to her or any of his classmates. He could only hope that the one person that he wanted to understand, would. He became bitterly disappointed. Yamaguchi showed up as promised, not that he had ever doubted that. However, she had no desire to actually fight him! Hayato grabbed the front of her jacket in anger, but stood frozen at the look in her eyes. She knew! There was no doubt in his mind at that moment. She had realized the true reason behind his challenge. Before he had time to react to this realization they heard a police whistle and that strange teacher bolted away yelling at them to run away. Hayato was dumbstruck for a second before reason returned and he grabbed his jacket to chase after Yamaguchi. This wasn't over.
Ryu had sneaked away when the others had started running and now he was frantically searching for Hayato and Yamaguchi. He didn't think that she would go all out against a student, but Hayato could be pretty provoking. He could only hope that he wouldn't be too late.
After a little while of searching he suddenly heard Yamaguchi's voice and looked over at where it came from. What he saw made him sigh in relief. Hayato was rushing blindly at the teacher, who only avoided him and caused him to fall to the ground time after time, all the while giving him a lecture about strength. Ryu couldn't say that she was wrong even if he wanted to. In fact he hoped that Hayato would understand why he had done things the way he did. He had tried to protect a friend by taking the blame all on himself. On the expence of losing Hayato. He hadn't counted that into the plan, but that's how it ended up. Ryu shook his head violently to make the memory of the pain and disappointment in Hayato's eyes go away and turned his attention back to the two fighting. He saw Hayato lying on his back on the ground and had to swallow down the impulse to run over to him. Instead he quietly left the scene before any of the two saw him.
When Hayato came to school the next day he could hear his classmates all the way out in the hallway. Apparantly some of the 3D guys had a run-in with the bastards from Ara High the previous night and now they were telling Ryu not to interfere again. He raised his head in surprise when he suddenly heard Take speak up in Ryu's defence. He listened intently while Take told their classmates the true reason for Ryu's betrayal and when Yamaguchi's words about protecting things precious echoed in his head he finally understood everything. Ryu hadn't been trying to hide it from him, he had been protecting Take's weakness. Hayato closed his eyes as he remembered all the hard words he had thrown at the boy when he found out what he had done. He slowly opened his eyes. He knew what he had to do now. He would protect Ryu, Take and the rest of the class the only way he knew how to. By fighting.
When Hayato's bag was found outside the classroom Ryu acted on pure instinct. He ran off the fastest he could to come to his aid. He knew that Hayato had probably heard Take's confession and felt pretty sure that he wouldn't push him away anymore. Although he hadn't wanted Take to tell everyone the truth, it was still a fact that a part of him felt relieved to know that Hayato knew now. As he reached the warehouse where he knew that the guys from Ara high were he halted for a few seconds to catch his breath and regain his composure before he went in. Nobody noticed his entrance, they were too busy with Hayato. When the Ara high leader lifted his hand to hit, Ryu grabbed his arm firmly. Otherwise he ignored the bastard and turned towards the beat-up Hayato, who was looking at him with a surprised expression.
"Hayato! Don't go running off on your own!"
When Hayato saw that it was Ryu coming to his rescue his eyes widened. He was the last person he had thought would rush to help him after everything that happened. But when Ryu looked him in the eye and reprimanded him for going off alone he felt a sense of calm, he would be able to fight again if Ryu were by his side. Together they started fighting off the Ara high guys the best they could, but they were soon overpowered. The opponents were just too many. When Hayato felt like he wouldn't be able to stay concious, he heard someone enter the warehouse. He looked up to see Yamaguchi and the rest of the class. Before he knew what happened they were out of there, their opponents beaten, and he felt like he had to say something very important to Ryu. He turned his head away to hide the slight blush as the words "I'm sorry" left his mouth. Ryu didn't answer, but he knew that the apology was accepted. He could feel the warmth coming from the boy beside him and he surpressed a grin. Maybe now things could go back to the way they were.