Title: Ohayo (one-shot)

Author: lavariel

Pairing: HayaRyu

Series: Gokusen 2

Summary: Ryu really hated mornings especially if they were spent alone.

*

Ryu really hated mornings.

He hated having to go to school alone these days and having to go home in precisely the same way. He missed going out of his way to play billiards, watch movies or even fool around anywhere with his friends. The redhead gritted his teeth at the word—his friends. Yeah right. But it was okay. This kind of solitude was alright, he convinced himself.

Ryu was the type of person who wasn't uncomfortable being alone. Afterall, he had spent the first eight years of his life at home, tutored by a strict teacher hired by his father to hone his intelligence, never mind his personality. The first time he had ever been approached by another kid ended up in a fight and a bruised lip. The other boy had tried to bully Ryu into giving him his crayons so Ryu, not used to being pushed over to the side, punched the other boy so hard, some of his front teeth fell out.

So right now, being at odds with Hayato and quite frankly, the rest of 3-D (except Take, of course) shouldn't bother him that much. Ryu was used to being alone but that was more than ten years ago so he had to admit that the accusatory glances that were occasionally sent his way did hurt a little. The way that Hayato would act as if Ryu was invisible hurt more than any blow that he had ever received.

He kept his eyes down and sat in front (which was the only seat left vacant, kicked to the far side of the room by someone he knew too well). Strands of dyed red hair obscured his view of 3-D's overly enthusiastic homeroom teacher who was busy handing out English reviewers for the upcoming finals.

Today was the third day he had come to class and had been constantly ignored or treated like a nuisance. Ryu found that this didn't come without any benefits—he had actually listened and taken down notes on every subject and noticed how interesting some of the grafittis in the classroom walls were (their room was previously used by Kudo's batch before his gang was kicked out). Some of the wounds and bruises that he got from quitting Frentzen still hurt and throb but Ryu didn't bother to tend to it this morning (he got up a little later than usual) because he didn't want to be late again and face the whole class alone.

From his experience yesterday, he figured that it'd be better to come earlier than usual so he could avoid meeting Hayato's eyes every time he came to the room. He'd just pretend to read something or go to the washroom.

At the moment, he was actually reading the handouts that were passed to him by Yankumi. He had barely read the heading of the first title, something like 'subject-verb agreement' before he was unceremoniously staring face to face with his homeroom teacher. Ryu felt a tug on the collared shirt that he wore to class today (because it was quite a chilly Thursday morning), "Oi, what do you think you're doing?"

"Kyaaah! Blood! Odagiri, you're bleeding~" the woman in sweatshirt screamed, pointing at his chest.

The red head looked down and saw an ugly patch of crimson in the front of his shirt, which much to his annoyance, was a white one. Yankumi was still berating him loudly, "Are you okay, Odagiri? I'll call the school doctor~"

She was about to turn and leave before Ryu got hold of her wrist. "No need. It's just a bit of blood. It'll come off," he said carelessly, eyes still trained on his shirt. He stood up and gingerly left the room quickly towards the washroom before Yankumi could say another word.

*

"Damn it."

Odagiri Ryu cursed under his breath as he furiously tried to wash off the dried blood on his shirt. The redhead had taken it off and was only wearing his school uniform, which was only half-buttoned up, revealing a map of bruises and wounds on pale skin. He had felt ashamed at being caught vulnerable like that and silently, Ryu vowed not to let such weakness slip again. He had probably looked stupid in front of his classmates and he almost sure that they would be laughing right now at his expense, with his ex-bestfriend cracking the most amusing jokes.

Then as if on cue, Hayato walked into the washroom, hands coolly tucked in his pockets. Ryu looked away instantly, wondering how his day could go even worse. "Couldn't resist a taunt, could you?" the redhead said, still vainly attempting to wash the offending stain off. Hayato was here to make fun of him and right now, the redhead wasn't sure if he could still take it anymore.

But Hayato didn't say anything in response to that and merely walked in front of the sink near Ryu and started to wash his hands. The older one's eyes were trained on his task, as if ignoring his companion.

The redhead sighed, so this was how Hayato wanted to play it—pretend he didn't exist. His mind was still going through a myriad of incoherent, negative thoughts but none of them involved what his ex-bestfriend was doing right now. The older boy had taken off school uniform, leaving him with an opened collared white shirt with a sleeveless black tank top inside. Then, Hayato took off the white one and fisted it in his right hand and held it out to Ryu, "It's cold outside, baka."

The redhead stood unmoving for a while, eyes resting on the offering before looking up to meet the older boy's eyes which were looking at the wall as if it was something interesting. "Eh?" was all he could say as realization slowly started to dawn upon him.

Hayato was never known for his patience so it was unexpected to see Ryu's shocked face staring at him and his shirt, "Damn it, Odagiri. Do I have to do everything?"

The older boy roughly took Ryu's shirt with the blood stain and threw it carelessly to the sink. He advanced towards the younger boy and was about to start unbuttoning the halfway-closed buttons on the other's uniform when he stopped. Dark brown eyes were met with the sight of bruised pale skin and for a moment, as Ryu watched him, something akin to anger and pity danced in those depths and as the redhead caught those emotions, he roughly turned the other side and did the task.

He finished unbuttoning his shirt and took it off, carefully avoiding Hayato's eyes as he almost angrily took the offering from his ex-bestfriend's hand. "Don't look at me like that," he muttered quietly as he started to fidget under the other's intense stare. Ryu was about to hook an arm in the shirt when he felt a gentle touch on his back.

Hayato had taken his discarded shirt and was proceeding to clean some of the wounds in his back which had bled out. "Hayato…" Ryu said under his breath, understanding evident in his voice. The other made touched his shoulder and the redhead understood, turning to face the class leader of 3-D. "Don't get me wrong. I'm doing this so my shirt won't get dirty," his ex-bestfriend muttered defensively.

While Hayato gently cleaned his wounds, there was complete silence as if both were holding their breaths and the only sound that could be heard was the gentle flowing of the water from the sink from where the older boy had opened it, constantly moistening the once white cloth in his hand.

When the task was done, Ryu mechanically buttoned up the shirt and took his school top and wore it over. Slowly, he looked up at the boy standing in front of him. Their eyes met for a while before Hayato stepped forward, leaning down so close that his lips were almost touching the redhead's. "I still hate you, Ryu," he whispered, eyes locked on Ryu's lips, the older boy's breath mixing with the other's that smelled so vaguely of mint tea.

"Don't worry, I still hate you too," Ryu whispered back as their eyes met again and they understood (understood what they want to say but couldn't because they were supposed to hate each other).

Hayato was always the cool one, at least on his mind so he broke up the contact and stepped back. He turned his back and started to walk off when he turned around and continued, "Go home. I don't want to see your ugly face today." What he meant to say was: 'Ryu you better go home right now or I'll kill you if anyone sees you wearing my shirt'.

But Ryu is still the Ryu that Hayato had grown up with—stupid fights, school, cooties and all.

So Ryu understood.

*

He took his bag when he was sure the rest of the class walked on Yankumi again to spy on some girls or to head to the newest pachinko parlor. As he walked through the gates, Ryu ran his hand over his collar and smiled.

Today was a beautiful morning after all.

A/N: I thought this out when I was watching Gokusen 2's TV Reunion Special. I loved the part where Kame sings Kizuna and some HayaRyu moments were shown. Makes me realize how much I miss the series. I was supposed to write something for the holidays but alas, inspiration came late. ^^"