What Ails You, a beyblade burst fanfic

Yes, this is the 'met for the first time in the hospital' AU that literally nobody asked for (not even me, and I wrote it). It, uh, got away from me.

I definitely screwed up the timeline for regionals/the entire beginning of BeyBurst, but as this is an AU, I kindly ask that you just roll with it. Along with any other potential canon discrepancies. Or just discrepancies in general. I guess. I...did my best?

Shoutout to my friends Lisa and Luna for helping me decide on the format!

This fic is dedicated to my friend Aisha, who read it back when it was just scraps and provided me with inspiration! Thank you, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What Ails You

Wakiya is only properly waking up for the second time after his surgery when the kid in the bed next to his introduces himself. His first thought is that it's too early for this, and his second thought is why should he bother to make friends in a hospital?

So he just closes his eyes and ignores the other boy.

"Komurasaki Wakiya."

That's the next thing he hears, and Wakiya squints his eyes open in a ready-made glare. The kid is standing between their beds, holding Wakiya's patient information in one hand and looking way too triumphant.

"Congrats, ya read a name," Wakiya grumbles.

"So you can talk!" the boy grins, putting the patient info back where it belongs. His face is bruised to all heck in nasty shades of dark purple – there's a brace on his nose and he's got two black eyes framing it.

"Wish you couldn'." This is also a grumble, and Wakiya desperately wishes he could sit up, just so it wouldn't feel as much like he's being towered over.

Fortunately, the other boy crosses his arms and sits down heavily on his own bed, reducing said towering effect. "You don't have to be mean, I'm just trying to be friendly! We're gonna be sharing this room, after all."

Wakiya groans and covers his face with both hands, despite being hooked up to a few too many things to be comfortable. "Why couldn't my parents spring fer a private room? Ya'd think after all they donate t' this hospital…." He's sore and groggy and not-at-all in the mood for lectures from strangers – hopefully this guy will be smart enough to take the hint.

"Hey! You think I wanna share with someone as rude as you?!"

"Doesn' it hurt yer face ta shout?" Wakiya shouts, pulling his hands away and offering another savage glare. It kind of hurts his abdomen to raise his voice, but it's worth it if it gets this kid to just shut up already. His roommate is frowning, his eyebrows twitching like they want to scrunch but can't. With the shape he's in, Wakiya thinks that's probably actually likely.

"Kiyama Rantaro," the other boy says, and it sounds like it comes from between grinding teeth, "but everyone calls me Kumicho."

"Hah – why d'they call ya somethin' like that?"

"It's a nickname!"

"A stupid one."

"Just go back to sleep already!"

"Yer the one that woke me up!"

"Hmph!"

Wakiya closes his eyes and angles himself away as much as he can while remaining on his back, and he hears Kiyama grumbling as he presumably lies down in his own bed.

A few hours later, Wakiya wakes up again.

This time, it's definitely voices that rouse him, and although one of them is the already-familiar sound of his wonderful roommate, the other is one he doesn't recognize. It's definitely someone much older than them though. Curiosity wins out, and he cracks his eyes open just enough to see.

There's a man in their room, and he's currently affectionately ruffling Rantaro's messy hair.

"Hang in there," the man says, "you'll be out of here in just a few more days."

Wakiya can see enough of Rantaro to know that he's smiling. "I have to deal with this guy, though," he says, and points a thumb at Wakiya, who closes his eyes reflexively.

"What? You don't like your roommate? I'm sure you just have to get to know him," the man is saying.

"But he's terrible," Rantaro mumbles. Wakiya gets some kind of satisfaction out of the way he sounds like a petulant child.

"Just a few more days," the man repeats. "I know you can get along with anyone."

"But dad – "

The word makes something uncomfortable twist in Wakiya's chest, but he pushes whatever it is away.

"No buts." Somehow, Wakiya imagines that Rantaro's father has a hand on his shoulder as he speaks this time. "Now: get well soon and listen to the nurses! Don't get into any trouble. I love you."

The twinge reappears in Wakiya's chest at that, and doubles when Rantaro enthusiastically returns the sentiment and insists that he never gets into any trouble. This time, though, the ache isn't easily dispelled. It's still there when the lights in the hospital room go out, and it's still there when Wakiya eventually falls back asleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, a nurse comes in to change Wakiya's bandage after making him get out of bed to walk around the room some. He doesn't really enjoy either of these activities, especially the standing up part, because even with pain meds he's still sore. At least he isn't hooked up to any monitors or IVs anymore.

But there's that damn roommate of his.

Rantaro watches from the comfort of his own bed as Wakiya walks the room, and that serves to make Wakiya try harder to excel at this simple task.

When it comes time to change the bandages, Rantaro actually gets out of bed to crane his neck and watch. Seeing the small stitched up incision, he makes a disgusted face and sticks his tongue out.

"Mind yer business!" Wakiya snaps, pointing a finger at the other boy and accidentally jostling his nurse.

The woman sighs, then moves to close the curtain that separates Wakiya's bed from the rest of the room and – most importantly – Rantaro. And that isn't even the best part: the best part is that she reminds Rantaro that he's getting his injuries checked next, and he had better behave or his father will be called.

That seems to get the other kid to lay off, at least until Wakiya is done.

True to her word, the nurse goes to Rantaro next, pulling his curtain closed right off the bat this time. Wakiya guesses that she's probably poking at his nose, and he hopes it hurts. There were a couple other bandages, too, he guesses, but he hadn't been paying much attention, really.

Curious – and wanting revenge for earlier – Wakiya briefly pokes his head through the curtain. He gets a glimpse of the nurse checking over a nasty cut on Rantaro's arm; it's got more stitches than Wakiya's stomach, and is also surrounded by a bruise.

That's all he sees before Rantaro catches his eye, though. Wakiya makes a face at him and then expertly retracts before the nurse notices.

Rantaro squawks something indignant, but Wakiya only ignores him and laughs to himself as he climbs back into bed.

"Don't work each other up, you two!" The nurse scolds them on her way out the door.

Neither of them make any promises.

There's peace for about two minutes before Wakiya shatters it. "What did ya do ta yerself, anyway?" he asks. He figures it's obvious why he's here, but Rantaro's injuries are…inexplicable. "D'ya lose a fight or something?"

"No!" Rantaro is glaring at him, but the effect is completely lost because of that dumb cast on his nose. "I don't lose fights!"

Wakiya scoffs. "I bet I could beat ya."

"Could not!"

"Could to!"

"Could not!"

"Could – "

The nurse reappears in their doorway, with an "I told you two not to work each other up!" and her aura is threatening to say the least. "It'll only take you longer to heal if you bicker like that – and you don't want me calling your parents! So behave."

"Yes ma'am!" They chorus, and Wakiya cringes at the way Rantaro's voice sounds alongside his own.

"I'll hold you to it," the nurse says, nodding at them before stomping off.

As soon as she's gone, Wakiya dives right back in. "So what did happen to ya?"

Rantaro looks down and mutters something into his chest. His hands are folded in his lap, and he's picking at his nails.

"What was that?"

"I said," Rantaro sighs, "I fell out of a tree."

It hurts to laugh, but Wakiya does it anyway. Throws his head back and everything. He's coughing by the end of it, and it feels kind of like he's ripped his stitches right out, but it's worth it. Still giggling once the cough subsides, Wakiya presses a hand to the ache in his abdomen and looks at Rantaro.

Somehow, he's blushing under all the bruises on his face. "S'not that funny," he grumbles, and he's got that glare going again.

"Yea it is," Wakiya says with another laugh. "Did ya land on yer face?"

"It hit a branch!"

Wakiya covers his stomach with both hands as he cackles this time.

Rantaro throws his pillow at him.

Just ten more minutes.

Just ten more minutes until eleven o'clock, when Hoji said he'd visit. Wakiya just has to make it ten more minutes, and then Hoji will be here to brighten his mood in that way that only he can. Also, Wakiya will finally have company that isn't…currently halfway off of his bed and digging around for something out of sight.

"What're ya doin'?"

Rantaro doesn't respond, only continues his search for something on the floor next to the far side of his bed.

"…I hope yer face swells up more from all th' blood rushin' to yer head right now."

Dragging himself back into bed properly, Rantaro resituates to his previous position – this time with a lollipop in one hand and another in his mouth. "Mind your own business," he says.

"Where'd ya get that?" Wakiya asks, because he's very definitely sure that their carefully regulated meals don't come with those kinds of things.

Rantaro shrugs and gets an irritating smirk on his face. "I have my ways," is the vague explanation he offers.

His mouth is open and ready with a retort, but he's cut off by what sounds like a stampede of elephants making their way at top speed down the hall and into their room.

"KUMICHO!" A short kid with spiky blue hair shouts as he skids to a stop just inside the door, then makes a mad dash for Rantaro's bed.

"VALT!" Rantaro shouts right back. The kid is up on Rantaro's bed now, on his hands and knees, and they're hovering almost nose to nose with each other. "I didn't know you were coming today!"

"We wanted to surprise you!" Valt says, bouncing on all fours before sitting back on his bottom.

'We' turns out to be a kid with dog hand puppets, two younger children with colorful hair, and…Daina Kurogami?

Daina recognizes him, too, and stops by Wakiya's bed while the rest file right in to smother Rantaro.

"Wakiya," he says, hands in his pockets and trademark blank expression in place, "what are you doing here?"

"Got my appendix out," Wakiya explains. He pushes himself into a sitting position with his hands, then crosses his arms across his chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting," Daina explains. His eyes flick over to check on the others, but Wakiya refuses to follow his gaze, even when a tiny smile appears on his face.

"Didn't realize ya had such energetic friends."

Daina smirks. "Get well soon, Wakiya." And then he goes to join the rest in their little circle around Rantaro's bed.

Rantaro seems overjoyed to have all of these visitors, and his grin is extra-wide as he talks to them all at once. The little kids (Tokonatsu and Nika? Wakiya overhears) are up on the bed with him and Valt, while Daina stands between the beds and the puppet guy stands on the far side.

"I miss you at Beyclub every day," Valt is whining, "it's not as much fun without you! Daina is too strict!"

"It's for your own good," Daina mumbles.

"Yeah," the brown puppet agrees, "your skills always need improvement!"

"You've been slacking," the blue puppet adds.

…Wakiya wishes he could go to sleep and forget they were all here.

"How's the hospital?" one of them asks.

"Boring," Rantaro answers. Then he raises his voice and adds, "but my roommate is really annoying."

"Oh?" Valt leans out of the bed and stares right at Wakiya, showing a complete lack of subtlety. "Him?"

From his place between the beds, Daina looks extra amused, so Wakiya goes ahead and sends his fiercest glare to that entire half of the room. "I'm th' one who's got the annoyin' roommate!" he says, probably a little louder than is necessary.

"As if!" Rantaro scoffs.

"You're th' one that's been botherin' me since I woke up," Wakiya points out, crossing his arms over his chest. He's confident that this time, at least, he didn't start anything.

"But you – "

"Calm down," Daina says. One of his hands is on Rantaro's shoulder, and it gently eases him back until he's sitting completely relaxed again. His eyes tell Wakiya that there's no room for argument here, and he wants to protest – especially because Rantaro has deflated.

But that's when Hoji appears to save the day. He strolls into the room and gives a little wave to the people he's not there to see before stopping next to Wakiya's bed to talk. Wakiya hears the kid with the puppets say something, and then conversation is on again on that half of the room, too.

There's always later to pick fights with Rantaro, Wakiya figures. For now, talking to Hoji is much more relaxing.

This counts as a victory for himself, Wakiya decides. It has to. He's going to create a scoreboard just so he can mark this moment down as a point in his own favor.

The grumpiest of all the nurses has found Rantaro's lollipop stash.

Wakiya won't admit it, but he was impressed by the sheer amount of lollipops that the woman pulled out of hiding and tossed into the trash. He kind of wonders how Rantaro gathered so many, but more than that he's basking in the disappointment etched into the other boy's face.

Really, it's for his own good. Or at least that's what the nurse says once she's got them all tossed away. Wakiya knows that he's smirking, but he can't help it! It's not fair that Rantaro got so much candy anyway – this is just justice at work, really.

Once the nurse is gone (she took the trash with her) Wakiya turns to Rantaro, mouth open and ready to comment.

"Don't start," Rantaro warns. He was allowed to keep the lollipop that's in his mouth, at least, and it's twisting almost angrily behind his teeth.

"Well, it serves ya right," Wakiya says, not at all heeding the warning. "Ya shouldn't'a had those in th' first place."

Rantaro pulls his last, lonely lollipop out of his mouth and looks at it sadly. "My friends brought them," he says, as if that's a valid reason he should have been allowed to keep them.

"So that's how ya got 'em!" It makes sense. They probably handed them over sometime after Hoji came in earlier. (…Maybe he could get Hoji to smuggle something in for him, now that he thinks about it. His phone, maybe? That'd be nice – he forgot to grab it.) "They're bad fer yer teeth," he adds, because it's a fact and also because the way Rantaro glares at him is satisfying.

"Shut up," Rantaro growls. He bites into the lollipop he has, though, and that makes him frown more. "It's not like I don't brush my teeth."

"Yeah, but I saw ya eatin' one of those last night after ya brushed. Yer lucky I didn't tell the nurse about that."

"Wakiya."

There's a warning in his tone, and that grumpy nurse probably isn't too far away. So Wakiya only waves a hand at Rantaro in a dismissive gesture, smug smirk still in place. "Glad ya got busted," he adds, "maybe it'll teach ya to follow the rules."

Rantaro snorts, and immediately flinches – apparently doing anything like that aggravates a broken nose. "I still have some stuff stashed they haven't found," he mumbles defensively as he presses his fingers lightly against the cast on his face.

(That last lollipop is gone already, so Rantaro is chewing on the stick, and somehow that's even more obnoxious.)

"Yer outta lollipops, though," Wakiya points out, and then literally points at the sad, quickly flattening plastic stick that's clenched tightly between Rantaro's teeth.

The sigh that Rantaro heaves is via his mouth (his nose is probably still too sore). He pulls the lollipop stick out and stares at it with as much of a scowl as his face can comfortably form. "I'll get more," he vows…and then shoves the nasty chewed up stick into the pocket of his pajama pants.

"Yeah right." Wakiya rolls his eyes and flops back against his pillows.

It's the middle of the afternoon, and Wakiya is absolutely sure he's never been more bored in his entire life. He's counted the ceiling tiles in the room twice now, and he has to stare down at the lumps of his feet beneath the blanket to keep from counting them again.

He feels fine, and suddenly wishes he were back home. Or at school. Hoji's house would also be acceptable. Running would be preferable; now that his pain has mostly settled he's starting to really hate being cooped up. He's always been quick to get cabin fever, and the present company is absolutely not helping.

Rantaro is lucky. He, at least, gets a window seat. It looks like a nice day outside, even – it's too bad Rantaro is too busy staring at the garish orange beyblade clutched in his palm to enjoy it.

"That's an ugly bey," Wakiya says, boredom getting the better of him. "Mine's nicer." He leans over and plucks Wyvern up off of his bedside table, holding it out so Rantaro can see.

…Or, at least, where he could see, if he would look over. "Ragnaruk is better," Rantaro says without so much as a glance. Since his last lollipop ran out, he's been biting layers of skin off of his lips and chewing his fingernails down to stubs, and at the moment he's working his bottom lip between his teeth.

"That's impossible. Wyvern is undefeated in tournaments." Wakiya refuses to stop holding Wyvern out until Rantaro looks at it, so he brandishes it a little bit more. "We would'a made it to nationals if we weren't stuck here."

Rantaro finally turns to look, just briefly. "Ragnaruk holds the record for the most spin finishes at three local tournaments," he says, turning away again.

"Wyvern bursts most of its opponents." Wakiya fires right back. "Anyone can get a spin finish."

"Bet you couldn't get one against me!" Just like that, Rantaro is sitting up, and he shoves Ragnaruk forward as close as he can get it to Wakiya's face without leaving his bed.

Wakiya blinks, and then pushes himself up until he's sitting, too. He won't be outdone, no matter the challenge. "Yeah, 'cause I'd burst ya!"

"Wanna bet?!"

"Why don't we battle right now and find out!"

That was probably a mistake, because Rantaro hops right out of bed and stands with hands on his hips. He sways when he first gets up, but ultimately stays steady. "Why don't we," he agrees.

Wakiya gets up slower, for a more dramatic effect. It's not that moving too quickly aggravates the wound in his abdomen, or anything…just that he doesn't have to be hasty to be threatening or tough. Like some people seem to think is necessary. "Yer gonna regret challengin' me."

When Rantaro steps forward, he gets close enough that Wakiya can feel warmth radiating off of him. "I could beat you any day!" He's peeled too many layers of skin off of his bottom lip, and there's blood welling up in the resulting split.

…The most annoying thing, though, is now that they're face to face, Wakiya realizes that Rantaro is taller than him. So, he straightens his back and rises up onto his toes as subtly as he can manage, refusing to back down. "Prove it, then!"

Rantaro pulls a launcher out of his pocket, and Wakiya snatches his off of the same bedside table Wyvern had been resting on –

– and that, of course, is when a nurse appears.

"You two are supposed to be resting!" she gripes, stomping into the room. She isn't the grumpiest one from earlier, but she is one that's had to yell at them before (which, truthfully, is most of the nurses by now). "I'm serious about calling your parents, you know!"

Wakiya stands down at the same moment Rantaro does, and they both ease back from each other.

"Into bed!" the nurse commands. When they (slowly, reluctantly, petulantly) follow through, she yanks both of their curtains shut.

Once she's gone, the peace doesn't last very long at all.

"This's all yer fault."

At that, Rantaro actually gets up and shoves aside the curtain separating them. "My fault?"

"When we get outta here," Wakiya says, hauling himself into a sitting position again, "I'm gonna crush ya."

"My Ragnaruk will burst your bey to pieces!"

"As if!"

Rantaro still has one hand fisted in the curtain, and he drags it shut again almost violently. Wakiya hears him getting back into bed and muttering to himself.

"What was that?"

"I said shut it before you get us in trouble again!"

"Me?!"

"You!"

Wakiya folds his arms over his chest and frowns, falling back against his pillows. Distantly he registers a similar fwump sound coming from the other bed, and he hopes that means Rantaro is at least pouting, too.

It seems that nurse has finally made good on her promise of calling their parents after all. Not that it does much good in Wakiya's case – the best she gets is the butler, and it doesn't really matter if he knows.

Rantaro, though, is a different story, and Wakiya isn't even trying to hide his amusement as Rantaro is presumably given a talking to over the phone. His father had, apparently, asked to speak to his son personally, and so here we are.

Although…it doesn't seem like it's as severe as Rantaro deserves, because he doesn't seem overly upset. He looks a little grumpy, sure, but not remorseful or apologetic.

Then again, Wakiya really isn't sure how these things are supposed to go. He isn't often reprimanded, after all.

"Yeah," Rantaro is saying, "but he's hard to get along with!"

Hearing this, Wakiya sticks out his tongue.

Rantaro reciprocates the action immediately. "I am trying!" he says into the phone. "I promise!"

Wakiya shakes his head and leans back onto his pillows, pretending to lose interest. He half-heartedly braids and unbraids his hair as he continues to eavesdrop.

"Yeah…I will. They took my lollipops though!"

There's silence for a little while, and Wakiya can just tell – even without looking – that Rantaro is biting his nails again during the lull.

"What? Why not?"

Aaand now he's talking around the fingernails that he's still biting at, and that's gross. Wakiya frowns a little.

"Oh. I understand."

Another bout of silence, only this time Rantaro stops chewing his nails and actually glances at Wakiya. The expression on his face is weird and unreadable, and soon enough he's looking away again.

"I'm okay," Rantaro continues. (Wakiya isn't an expert of course, but he thinks he hears a hint of false bravado.) "I'll see you tomorrow." And then he hangs up the phone and hands it off to the nurse, who leaves without fanfare.

It's quiet again for a long while, and Rantaro is back to biting his nails as he lies there, staring at the ceiling.

Eventually, Wakiya just can't take it anymore. "Aren't ya gonna apologize ta me?" he asks.

"No!" Rantaro is quite vehement for someone who looks so morose.

"That's bad manners," Wakiya scoffs.

"You always start it anyway," Rantaro grumbles, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back.

Before Wakiya can retort, the nurse with the phone comes back, looking for him this time. It's not his father on the other end – of course it's not – and it's also not his mother, or even the butler. Hoji's dad's voice greets him calmly, and Wakiya will take what he can get.

"How are you doing, young master?" Mr. Konda asks.

"Fine." He's not in the mood for conversation, and anyway, Rantaro is watching him a little too curiously.

"That's good. I heard you and your roommate have been causing trouble." It's lighthearted in tone, and somehow Wakiya doubts he's actually in any hot water here. Hoji's dad, of all people, isn't going to be the one to discipline him, after all.

"He always starts it."

"Well, I know it's not any of my business, but try to get along." If Wakiya isn't mistaken, there's amusement in his voice. "You most likely only have two more days before you can come home."

Wakiya nods, knowing full well that Mr. Konda can't even see him. "Is that all?"

"Yes, young master. Hoji will be visiting soon."

The urge to insist that he doesn't need that much companionship is strong, because one visit a day is enough (or it ought to be) but somehow he stays quiet. Having company that isn't Rantaro will be nice, if nothing else. "Okay."

And that's it. End of phone call, goodbye nurse, nothing really accomplished at all.

"Not your parents?" Rantaro asks. His hands are still folded behind his head as he watches, and apparently he was observing a little too well.

Wakiya can't wait until Hoji gets here. "No. What's it to ya?"

Rantaro only shrugs, but of course that can't be the end of it. "Are they going to visit you at all?"

"That's none of yer business!" Wakiya snaps.

"Just asking!" Rantaro defends. There's a genuine tone to his voice that's more than Wakiya was bargaining for. "My dad can't come tonight either. He has to work late and doesn't want to be a bother after visiting hours…."

"Is that why ya looked sad on th' phone earlier?" It comes out much sharper than Wakiya had intended, probably a result of his sour mood.

Rantaro pulls his pillow out from behind his head and presses it over his face in a move that has to be uncomfortable. A muffled noise that sounds a lot like "Forget it," comes from underneath all the fluff.

For the first time in maybe his entire life, Wakiya does as he's told.

Wakiya wakes up and doesn't even remember falling asleep. He figures it must be a combination of the medication, boredom, and his body subconsciously trying to escape Rantaro.

The first thing that registers is that Hoji is here, and the second thing is that he isn't anywhere near Wakiya, really. He's leaning on Rantaro's bed – not quite sitting on it – and they're talking to each other in quiet voices.

This can't be good, Wakiya thinks, and he doesn't even know why. He just knows that the thought of his closest companion talking to his horrible roommate is unsettling somehow, and he wants it to stop. Especially because, through squinted, half-asleep eyes, Wakiya can see that they're both smiling.

Hoji gives something to Rantaro, who holds it up into the light with one hand while pushing blond hair out of his eyes with the other. Between his thumb and forefinger is Horusood.

"This looks like a strong bey!" he says, and he's got some nerve, considering he would barely glance at Wyvern earlier.

"Your Ragnaruk seems strong, too," Hoji returns the compliment, soft smile still in place. "We should battle sometime."

"Yeah!" Rantaro is clearly enthused, shifting around so he can lean closer to Hoji. "A stamina stand-off!"

Hoji's head bobs in a nod and his grin broadens.

Wakiya decides he's had enough.

He makes a show of stretching, ignoring how it tugs on his stitches. When he's sure he has the others' attention, he sits up with a sigh. "Hi, Hoji," he greets.

"Master Wakiya!" Hoji seems happy to see him, at least, even if Rantaro's smile fades a little. Horusood changes hands again, back to its original owner, fingers brushing on the exchange. Hoji slides his bey back into his pocket and stands up. "We didn't want to wake you."

"It's fine," Wakiya says, and it's just the fact that he's still a little sleepy that makes his voice sound kind of indignant there, really. "You're not gonna believe how boring today was…." And then he launches into a spiel about his day, just like that – he complains about Rantaro, even, ignoring the glares and protests.

Hoji does his best to mediate, and even moves to sit on a helpfully supplied chair between the two beds.

He stays there until visiting hours are done for the day.

"Kiyama!"

It must, on some level, be painful to snore with a broken nose – but that's exactly what Rantaro is doing regardless. It's not really that obtrusive to a good night's sleep, and sure, maybe it's Wakiya's own fault for sleeping so much earlier, but….

"Kiyama, wake up!"

Wakiya kind of wants to throw his pillow at the other boy, but he likes his pillow, and the last time he tried that (shortly after Hoji left), Rantaro had just kept it. (Wrestling it back had been a feat, and they'd gotten yelled at by a nurse in the end…again.)

With a quiet grunt that's two parts frustration, one part pain, Wakiya throws off his covers and stands up. The floor is cold even through his socks, and he stomps across it quickly to get to Rantaro's bed. The other blond is sprawled on his back, limbs all over the place.

Wakiya reaches forward and maneuvers his fingers under the brace to pinch the tip of Rantaro's nose shut. He only has to hold it for a few seconds before Rantaro wakes up with a strangled squeak and a full-bodied flail – which Wakiya takes a fast step back to avoid.

"What was that for?!" Rantaro nearly shouts, looking disoriented with one foot on the floor while the rest of him is still spread-eagled in bed.

"Shh!" Wakiya hisses. "Ya idiot!"

"You're the one who touched my broken nose!" Rantaro whines. He's quieter now, although his eyes are watering as he gingerly checks the damage to his face. "Geez…."

"How else was I s'posed ta wake you up?" Hands on his hips, Wakiya refuses to feel bad about the nose thing…really.

Rantaro sits up, swinging his leg around so that both of his bare feet are flat on the floor. "Who said I wanted you to wake me up in the first place! I was sleeping. "

"We're sneakin' out," Wakiya explains. He's just decided he can't stay in this room any longer – going out for a bit might be just the thing to finally put him to sleep. But if he gets busted, he isn't about to get busted alone, so….

"Since when?" Rantaro rocks back on his bed, hands gripping the side of his mattress. "You know we're not supposed to leave our room at night. And who said I'd go with you? That's just – "

He goes on, but Wakiya blocks him out. He knows Rantaro will agree, so he doesn't have to waste time with the actual argument that gets them out of this room. Grabbing an elastic off of his side table, he ties his loose hair off in its usual over-the-shoulder ponytail.

"We should get goin'," he says, turning to Rantaro with a smirk, "unless you wanna be a goody-two-shoes an' stay behind."

Rantaro stands up, pushing a hand through his hair in an attempt to keep it out of his face. "If you go alone you'll probably get lost," he grumbles.

Wakiya feels too smug about his victory to argue.

When they're halfway down their darkened hallway, Rantaro jabs him in the back, right along his spine.

"What?" Wakiya whispers out on a breath, whipping his head around so fast his ponytail flips over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?" Rantaro is biting his nails again, pointer finger jammed between his teeth in a way that's entirely uncivilized.

"…Vending machines," is the first thing that comes to Wakiya's mind, so it's the first thing he says.

"Do you even have money?!"

He shoves Rantaro back the way they came and grumbles, "Why didn't ya ask me that sooner?"

As soon as they dig their pocket change out of their respective belongings ("Carry my money for me." "No!" "I don' have pockets! Quit bein' lazy!" "Fine!"), they're back on their way again.

Fortunately, there are vending machines inside the hospital itself, and as an added bonus, they're tucked away in a hallway that should be free of patrolling nurses for a while. There's a snack machine and two drink machines standing in a row.

Somehow, they make it there without incident.

…Their luck doesn't exactly hold out, though. Or at least Wakiya's doesn't.

"What do you mean you don't have any smaller change than this?" Rantaro grumbles after he digs all of their money out of his pockets. "The machines won't take this much!"

"It was dark! An' how was I s'posed ta know?" Wakiya busies himself with perusing the snacks. He's not really too concerned – after all, small change seems to be all Rantaro has. "Besides, don't ya have enough for both of us?"

"I'm not buying you anything!" Rantaro says.

He's already feeding money into the machine, though, and Wakiya snatches the opportunity that presents itself. Ducking under Rantaro's arm as he puts through the last of the required balance, Wakiya punches in the buttons for the bag of chips that caught his eye.

"Hey!"

"Snooze ya lose," Wakiya says, pulling his prize out and brandishing it.

"Don't you have any manners at all?!" Rantaro's fist is clenched around his cash, and the bruises on his face make him look extra murderous in the dim light of the hallway.

Wakiya puts his nose in the air. It's not his fault Rantaro wasn't faster! "At least I don't bite my nails."

With a growl, Rantaro pushes Wakiya in the direction of one of the drink machines. "Just pick something out!" He turns back to the snack machine, then, and goes about getting himself something to eat.

Grinning triumphantly, Wakiya only does as he's told because it suits him, and he was just about to do it anyway. Really, Rantaro is too easily swayed with these things, it's almost ridiculous. Still, Hoji would be way less difficult….

"Well, what are you getting?" Rantaro asks. He's stuffing some kind of snack cake into his pocket as he meanders over, and pulling more change out of his other pocket at the same time. Once the correct price is inserted, he turns to Wakiya with his fingers hovering over the buttons.

Wakiya points at a bottle in the upper left of the machine. "Just water is fine."

"Okay," Rantaro says, pressing the code for something that is definitely not water.

"What are ya doin'?!"

"Your drink choice is boring," Rantaro explains.

Bristling, Wakiya complains. "Ya can't just pick for me!"

"My money," Rantaro says, "I get to pick what I spend it on." He pulls the bottle of definitely-not-water (it's some kind of juice) out of the machine and passes it off to Wakiya.

"S'not fair." It's Wakiya's turn to grumble as he snatches the drink and examines the label. At least it's not something he hates.

Rantaro raises his eyebrows at him, giving an incredulous look as he heads to the last drink machine. "Neither is you spending my money!"

As he vends his own beverage – some kind of energy thing that he definitely shouldn't be having, probably – Wakiya comes up behind him and presses his cold drink to the back of his neck. When Rantaro jerks in response and tries to grab it out of his hands, Wakiya steps out of reach with a grin on his face. "Let's get back, then!"

This journey is uneventful, too – but only right up until they turn the last corner into the hallway where their room is.

Wakiya is in front, so he sees the trouble first. Immediately he whirls around and pushes on Rantaro's chest, forcing him to backtrack around the corner and into relative safety.

"What are you – "

"Sh!" Wakiya hisses, in as quiet a whisper as he can. "There's someone coming down our hall!"

"Maybe they didn't see us?"

But the sound of hurried footsteps hits both of their ears at the same time, and of course it's after lights-out at the hospital but the hallways aren't that dark, unfortunately. Also unfortunately, a quick glance around shows there are no convenient unlocked rooms close by to hide in.

They stare at each other for half a moment, perplexed and panicked. This time it's Rantaro who saves the day. He snatches Wakiya's snack and drink out of his hands and shoves them in his pockets just in time for a nurse to round the corner and spot them.

"I knew I saw someone," the nurse says, his tone accusatory. "You two should be in bed."

"Oh, um…" is all Rantaro has to say.

Wakiya intervenes, taking his turn at saving their skins. "We just wanted ta go fer a walk," he says, "those rooms get so stuffy."

The nurse looks unimpressed and unconvinced, and he raises an eyebrow at them.

"We didn't go far, honest," Rantaro adds, nodding as if his enthusiasm will make it more believable.

He didn't take the excuse in a bad direction, at least, Wakiya has to admit. "We only just got ta the end of our hall when you showed up."

Again, Rantaro nods to confirm. Wakiya wants to reach over and press down on his head so he'll stop doing that, but he refrains.

The nurse scrutinizes them a bit more before apparently deciding that he believes them. Either that, or he doesn't think they're worth the trouble. Whatever the reason, he relaxes and backs off some. "Well, don't do it again. Especially not at night."

"We won't," Wakiya says.

"Promise!" Rantaro agrees.

"Let's get you back to your room." The nurse turns around and beckons over his shoulder, and then he leads the two of them down the hall to the doorway of their room. "Back to bed."

Wakiya climbs into his bed and under the covers, tugging them up to his chin. In the bed next to him, Rantaro does the same, turning onto his side with his back to the nurse and Wakiya alike. It's probably for the best – wouldn't want him to ruin the charade, after all.

The nurse nods at them, bids them goodnight, and then leaves, shutting the door behind himself.

Throwing his covers off, Wakiya sits back up. "That was a close one."

A puff of air leaves Rantaro as he rolls onto his back – he must've been holding his breath. "I thought we were busted for sure," he says, fingers running through his hair.

"Ya better not've crushed my chips," Wakiya says, remembering that his food is still in Rantaro's pockets that he was very much just laying on.

Heaving another sigh, Rantaro twists out of bed and onto his feet. "Relax. They're fine." He pulls all of their things out of his pockets, then, and they are impressively undamaged.

"They better be," Wakiya says, accepting the food and drink as they're handed to him. And then he adds, "What're ya doin'?" when Rantaro climbs onto the foot of his bed and sits cross-legged, facing him.

"Sitting," Rantaro says with a shrug, cracking open his energy drink.

Wakiya extends his own leg and kicks his roommate in the knee. "Why are ya sittin' there? Yer gonna get crumbs all over my bed."

"My money, I decide where the crumbs go."

The only reason Wakiya doesn't shove him off and onto the floor is because he doesn't want that drink spilled all over his bed.

…And, if they actually have a pleasant conversation over their midnight snack, it's absolutely an accident.

Rantaro's friends bring him lollipops – first thing in the morning!

Wakiya can hardly believe it. It feels like no sooner have they had breakfast, than their room is full of energetic kids. It isn't just lollipops that they drop off, either; there's a whole other stack of belongings that gets carefully tucked away under Rantaro's bed or even into his pockets.

The entire time, Wakiya pretends to be busy on his cell phone (that he did succeed in getting Hoji to bring him, he dropped it off that morning). None of them really actually bother him, per se, but they do greet him on the way in and farewell him on the way out, and all-in-all their presence is just obnoxious enough to be…uncomfortable.

He wonders if Hoji is going to visit again.

By the time midafternoon rolls around, Rantaro's dad is back.

On some level, this is worse than the friends.

Dad insists on talking to both of them, to some degree, and so Wakiya acts as cold and disinterested as possible until he's left relatively alone. He is still said bye to on the way out the door, though, and he still has to watch Rantaro's hair get affectionately ruffled.

It's…it's not fair, but he's not going to breathe a word of that. He doesn't even really want to think it.

Hoji probably isn't coming again today, and that's a sadder thought than it probably should be. Visiting hours are nearly over, after all, and with only fifteen minutes left, it seems…really unlikely.

Wakiya isn't pouting, because that's not something he does. It's just too quiet in the room, and he's too bored again, and he just wants to get out of here.

For his part, Rantaro seems fine, and that's all the more infuriating. The other boy's got a comic book spread out over his knees, happily sucking on his lollipop now that his supply has been replenished. Even the bruises on his face look happier, although their healing has left them with ugly greenish-yellow tints at the edges.

Turning away from his roommate, Wakiya stifles a sigh and goes back to staring at his fingernails. They need trimmed and buffed, and somehow that makes him want to leave the hospital even more.

And then Rantaro is there, with one knee planted on Wakiya's bed. "Move over," he says, offering absolutely no explanation.

Wakiya only moves enough to fix him with a bewildered stare.

"Scooch," Rantaro says, making a kind of shooing motion with his hands. He's still got hold of his comic book in one of them.

Frowning comes naturally to Wakiya, especially in a situation like this. "Get off my bed."

With a sigh of his own, Rantaro does as asked…

…Only to use both hands to shove Wakiya over far enough to make space for himself.

"Watch it!" Wakiya places a palm carefully over his abdomen. It doesn't really hurt at all right now, but, "you could've torn my stitches!"

Rantaro make himself at home on Wakiya's bed, and he looks entirely unconcerned for the other boy's health. "If you haven't torn them by now, I doubt I could." He's sitting down directly next to Wakiya, legs stretched out in front of him as he leans back against the headboard. His hand disappears into his pocket, and when it reappears he's holding yet another lollipop.

Wakiya really, really almost kind of wants to push this kid onto the floor. If he can't get the hint that Wakiya just wants to be left alone, then there isn't much hope for him to stop being a bother any time soon. "What are ya doin' over here?"

"You looked mopey," Rantaro explains, flipping open the comic book to the first pages.

"I don't mope."

"D'you read comics?" The question blatantly ignores Wakiya's admittedly cliché protest.

All Wakiya can do is scrunch up his nose in distaste. "Not really."

"We'll start at the beginning of a new series, then…"

Somehow, in the middle of making criticisms and other negative commentary that has Rantaro rolling his eyes, Wakiya forgets all about wanting to push him onto the floor.

It's almost lights out by the time Rantaro returns to his own bed, and it's only by the insistence of a nurse (who honestly seems relieved to find them not bickering for once). By this point, Wakiya has learned that Rantaro has weird taste in comic books and lollipop flavors, but he might – might – not be the worst person Wakiya's ever met.

They've come to something like an understanding, maybe. At the very least, Wakiya doesn't feel like picking on him and goes straight to sleep without pointing out that he's eating candy after brushing his teeth again.

The next day, however, their peace feels…fragile. It's entirely Rantaro's fault, too, because he's the one laying there, looking completely exhausted with a hand pressed to his forehead. That's how Wakiya finds him as soon as he wakes up, and that's how he stays for at least half an hour.

"Hey, Kiyama," Wakiya tries, eventually, because this is very eerie behavior and it's worse than Rantaro making a nuisance of himself.

The only response he gets is a grunt – and not a very happy one, either.

Wakiya didn't do anything! He's absolutely sure, this time, being as he just woke up and all. He wouldn't have had time to do anything. …But he is about to do something, because this is too weird and abnormal, and Wakiya only just got used to Rantaro's normal weird and abnormal.

"What's with you?" he asks, trying not to sound concerned, because he absolutely is not. Well, not overly so, anyway. It's just strange and there's nothing else for him to do…that's all.

"Just tired," Rantaro answers, but still doesn't move, "couldn't sleep, and my head hurts."

Pushing himself up until he's sitting, Wakiya cranes his neck to get a better look at his roommate. "Y'do look terrible," he says. It's kind of a lie, because you can't really see bags under someone's eyes when they already have dark bruises spreading outwards from their nose – but he guesses Rantaro looks a little pale.

(Also, if Wakiya can't provoke him into being his usual self, this day is gonna be even more boring than usual.)

Apparently sleep deprivation and headaches make Rantaro cranky, because he scowls right off the bat. "Shut up."

Judging by the tone of his voice, Wakiya really shouldn't push his luck here, but he's already talking by the time he realizes this. "Maybe ya shouldn't eat so much sugar before bed, then ya'd be able ta sleep."

Rantaro growls and yanks his blankets over his head. "Leave me alone."

Wakiya's eyebrows shoot up, because that's new. That flat-out refusal to rise to the obvious argument bait throws Wakiya completely off, and he takes a moment to just stare at Rantaro's form under the blanket. "Someone's grouchy this morning," he mutters, just to himself, and watches as Rantaro twists under his blanket (probably turning away from him).

A few more minutes tick away, and Rantaro is apparently done moving for the day.

"Can ya breathe under there?" Wakiya prods, fighting the urge to get out of bed and poke at the other boy until he shows signs of life. "Ya gotta come out sometime."

It'll be time for breakfast soon, and one of the dayshift nurses will check on them then. Rantaro doesn't seem to care, but he does pull the blanket down far enough to glare daggers at Wakiya. His brown eyes are a little bloodshot, and yeah, upon closer inspection, he actually doesn't look too good.

"Y'know, ya could probably sleep better if ya didn't have half yer face covered."

Rantaro sits bolt upright then, apparently at his limit. "Are you always this rude?" he snaps, and his eyes are still narrowed into a glare.

That definitely strikes a nerve, but for some reason all Wakiya can do is stare right back until their nurse shows up. And even then, all he does is turn his attention to her as he points a finger directly at Rantaro and announces, "Somethin's wrong with him."

Rantaro presses both hands to his forehead and lies down with a definite wince, grumbling under his breath.

The nurse seems concerned, and abandons their breakfast at Wakiya's bedside to go tend to Rantaro. Her hands ease him into a sitting position, and then they run over the back of his head, parting his hair and gently prodding around.

Carefully, Wakiya inches over to the very edge of his bed for a better view. Does this mean Rantaro has a head injury other than his broken nose? It must, if the uncomfortable grunt he just made is anything to go by.

"I'll be back in a moment," the nurse says, hurrying out of the room.

Rantaro is back to rubbing at his forehead and running his hands through his hair. He doesn't look happy at all, and Wakiya feels something mostly unfamiliar squirming around in his gut.

Still, he can't do anything except watch with wide eyes when the nurse comes back with a doctor in tow, and Rantaro is asked questions like 'are you dizzy' and 'can you stand' alongside mediocre ones like his name and birthdate. When Rantaro answers the batch of personal questions correctly, the atmosphere in the room relaxes significantly.

In the end, the nurse pushes Rantaro out of the room in a wheelchair, though, and Wakiya's heart feels like it's stuck in his throat. His eyes stay glued to the doorway until Hoji appears in it a minute later, looking concerned.

"What's wrong with Kumicho?" Hoji asks as soon as he's in the room properly.

Wakiya blinks at the use of the nickname, but decides to ask about it later. "I don't know. He had a headache."

"Oh," Hoji says, his voice soft, for some reason. He carefully moves aside the breakfast trays (which Wakiya had completely forgotten about, in all the excitement) so he can sit down on the side of Wakiya's bed.

It's only then that Wakiya realizes his hands are gripping the blanket a little too tightly, so he focuses on relaxing them one finger at a time. What's with him today? It's not like he's that worried about Rantaro – he's only known the kid for a few days!

"I hope he's not getting worse," Hoji says, looking and sounding sympathetic.

"Whattaya mean?" Wakiya shifts closer and sits up a little bit straighter.

In response, Hoji inches further onto the hospital bed, leaning in conspiratorially, like he usually does when sharing information about other people. "When they brought him in, they checked for brain damage," he explains, "they thought he might have cracked his skull, but it was just a concussion. He really hit his head hard, though – he showed me the bump."

Wakiya's mind is working overtime, because he suddenly has a lot of questions, but the only one that comes out is: "When did he show you?"

Hoji smiles a little, and he almost looks amused. "The first time I met him. You were asleep."

"Oh." Wakiya sits still a moment, staring blankly at the food he doesn't really feel up to eating at the moment.

"…Didn't you know?" Hoji asks, and damn him and how well he knows Wakiya. Damn him and his ever-present gentle undertones.

"No." When would he have had time to figure that out? It's not like they ever discussed their health, and Rantaro always seemed fine anyway.

"Young Master," Hoji says after a long moment. His fingers brush Wakiya's arm, and then fall to rest over his hand. "You should be a little nicer to him." He gives a small, almost teasing smile, then.

Wakiya can't manage more than the mildest frown in his arsenal. "Just 'cause he's hurt doesn't excuse his irritatin' personality." He's arguing, yeah, but he doesn't have the energy to fill it with his usual fire.

Hoji shakes his head. "Not because he's hurt. You can both do better than that."

Wakiya has no idea what he means.

He wonders when Rantaro will come back, even as Hoji changes the subject to something more pleasant.

Hoji lingers as long as he can, but he eventually has to leave for school. Before he goes, he makes Wakiya promise to tell him how Rantaro is doing, and Wakiya wishes he hadn't said anything, because he'd almost managed to forget all about that.

Now that he's alone, and that's what he was left with, it's hard not to think about it. Where'd they take him, anyway? He should be back soon, right? They wouldn't have just…switched his room, or anything. All his stuff is still here.

Speaking of stuff, Wakiya wonders how much trouble he'd get into if he snooped through Rantaro's hidden stash under his bed. Maybe he has the next volume of that horrible comic they were reading yesterday, or better lollipop flavors, or –

Come to think of it, Rantaro never gave him back his money from the other night, did he? That little brat. Is it still in his pockets, or did he stash it with the rest of his junk? Wakiya's got one foot out of bed on his way to go check it out when there are suddenly people in the doorway.

He stops what he's doing, not bothering to pull his leg back into bed as he twists around to look, and the first thing he notices is that Rantaro is walking now.

The doctor isn't there anymore, it's just Rantaro and the nurse, and she walks him over to his bed. He looks steadier than when he left, but still tired, and he sits down gingerly on his bed. The nurse tells him to get some rest before her attention falls to Wakiya.

"Now," she starts with a smile, "how are you feeling today?"

Wakiya shrugs, realizing he's still halfway out of bed and also staring at Rantaro. He yanks his eyes away when Rantaro raises an eyebrow at him. "I'm fine."

"Let's check you over, then."

He's given a clean bill of health, of course – told that his incision is healing nicely, and he should be able to leave as early as tomorrow if he's feeling up to it. And really, Wakiya is feeling more than up to it. Getting out of here and back to normal life definitely sounds nice. It also means he won't have to put up with Rantaro for much longer.

Rantaro, who at some point during Wakiya's checkup, curled up on top of his covers and is currently staring at him with sleepy brown eyes.

It's Wakiya's turn to raise his eyebrow.

"What are ya lookin' at?"

"Nothing," Rantaro says, and it's really nice to hear his voice not steeped in irritation like earlier. He yawns almost immediately after.

"Quit it," Wakiya says around a yawn of his own, "those're contagious! Just 'cause you didn't sleep last night…"

Rantaro snickers into his pillow, face half buried and hair more mussed up than usual. "I only did it once, Wakiya."

Wakiya rolls his eyes, and then decides to give up on holding his curiosity at bay. Because later he knows Hoji will ask him and if Rantaro is asleep, he wants to be able to answer. Yeah. "Where'd they take you, anyway?"

"Just for some tests," Rantaro says. He stretches his legs out and props his elbow on his bed so he can support his head in his hand. "They wanted to make sure my head was healing alright, since it starting hurting out of nowhere."

"What'd they wheel ya out fer?" It spills out automatically, and Wakiya tells himself he doesn't know why he cares, but it isn't working.

"I was dizzy," Rantaro explains, lifting a finger on the hand not supporting his head and twirling it through the air to demonstrate.

"Oh," is all Wakiya can manage. There's relief flooding his chest, for some reason (he wasn't even that worried!) and it makes his next words stick in his throat. Luckily, Rantaro answers the unasked question, anyway.

"I'm alright now, though," he says. "They gave me something for my headache, but it made me – " he cuts himself off with a yawn again "– sleepy."

Wakiya, of course, yawns as well. "I told ya ta stop doin' that!" he says, glad to have his voice back as his heart calms down.

"I only did it twice!" Rantaro points out, both eyebrows raised.

"And ya'd be tired anyway, 'cause ya stayed up all night," Wakiya continues, "so go ta sleep already."

There's a brief pause as Rantaro watches Wakiya with mild astonishment, and then a grin grows on his face, crooked and crafty, and he says: "You were worried," all proud of himself like he's solved some ancient mystery.

"Wasn't!" Wakiya makes sure to shoot that down immediately. "Ya were actin' weird!"

Rantaro's laughing at him again, and he rolls over to sprawl out on his back. He's quiet as he calms down, but still has that obnoxious smile in place. "…Thanks," he says at length.

Yeah, sure, Wakiya can feel his face getting warm, but hopefully Rantaro can't see it. "Shaddup!" he snaps.

But Rantaro is still smiling.

It's not until Wakiya looks at the clock a little while later that he remembers what today is, and in all the excitement, he must have forgotten.

"Ah! Dang it!" He twists around in bed, and digs under his pillow for his phone.

"What're you doing?" Rantaro asks, apparently awake after only dozing off an hour ago. He's watching Wakiya curiously as he sits up slowly, still a little groggy.

Wakiya unlocks his phone and taps away at it furiously, sparing his roommate a glance. "The finals are today!" he says, booting up the stream on the WBBA app.

That wakes Rantaro right up. "For regionals?!"

"Yea for regionals, what else?" Wakiya says, busy staring at the still-buffering screen and willing it to hurry.

Just like that, Rantaro is out of his own bed and squeezing in next to Wakiya. "Valt's battling!" he says, a bit too loud and a bit too excited.

But it's okay just this once, Wakiya figures as he slides over to make room, because he's also excited. "Kurenai Shu is up against him," he says, "yer friend doesn't stand a chance."

"Don't count him out yet," Rantaro argues, leaning on and over Wakiya's shoulder to get a better view of the phone screen, so close that their cheeks nearly press together. "He's beaten me before, after all."

Wakiya scoffs, tolerating the weight against his side…just this once. "He never would'a made it past me," he says, "it's jus' been dumb luck so far!"

"Shh!" Rantaro shushes him, reaching to turn the volume up higher. "Look!"

The battle is already underway by the time their video plays, with one point in Shu's favor.

"See, what'd I tell ya?"

"Sh!"

They watch the regional finals like that, and Wakiya is amazed that nobody comes to tell them to keep quiet, what with Rantaro's cheering and shouting. (Of course, Wakiya has to raise his voice to be heard above the commotion sometimes, but that's different, and not at all his fault.)

When it's all said and done, and Shu is pronounced the winner after a few tense matches, Wakiya feels oddly smug.

Rantaro's shoulders slump a little, and he sits back just a bit, finally done yelling in Wakiya's ear, apparently. "Poor Valt," he mutters, looking morose as Valt cries onscreen.

"Told ya he was just lucky," Wakiya says, shrugging his shoulder so it bumps against his roommate. "Shu's just a whole 'nother class of 'blader. Like me."

"Quiet, you," Rantaro says, nudging back. "Valt trained hard for this!"

On the phone in front of them, Valt himself was offered the microphone, so he's sputtering out a few words. The spotlight doesn't suit him, if the obvious nerves are anything to go by, but he does work his way through an acknowledgement at least:

"But it's because of my friends that I got this far," he's saying, "so then, Daina, Kensuke…thank you!"

"What?!" Rantaro's indignant shout effortlessly drowns out the sound of the cheering crowd as he yanks the phone out of Wakiya's hands. "Don't forget about me, stupid Valt!"

After a moment of being shocked at Rantaro's reaction, Wakiya bursts into laughter. He laughs so hard he has to curl in on himself a little.

"It's not funny!" Rantaro, of course, protests.

"Ye – yes it – " Wakiya tries to look at Rantaro's face, but all that does is make him dissolve into giggles again. That frown! With that stupid nose brace! Offended because he didn't get thanked. This kid is something else.

Wakiya bows his head again as he laughs, one arm wrapped around his abdomen. Clearing his throat, he calms down after a bit and sits back up straight, again trying to look over at Rantaro.

Beneath his fading bruises, his face is red. "I helped Valt, too!"

"Ya were in the hospital!" Wakiya says, smile still tugging at his mouth. "How'd ya help from in here?"

"I meant before!"

"Sure, Kiyama. Now gimme my phone back before the nurse confiscates it or somethin'."

Rantaro hands it over with a pout, still mumbling something about having the most ungrateful best friend in history. It makes Wakiya laugh again, just a little, as he backs out of the stream. He tunes out the rest of Rantaro's complaints as he scrolls through the app, and in just a few days he's really missed a lot of battles. Orochi versus Shu, huh?

"What're you doing now?" Rantaro asks, and now he's shoving his legs under Wakiya's blanket and inching closer again. Clearly, he thinks this is some kind of permanent invitation.

Wakiya rolls his shoulder when Rantaro tries to peer over it, then holds the phone further down and out so they can both see it. "Tryin' ta catch up on all the battles I missed," he explains.

"Good idea!" Rantaro takes over scrolling through. "We should start here," he says, tapping on a video without waiting for confirmation.

"This's my phone y'know!"

Rantaro hums a half-hearted acknowledgment as he adjusts the volume and turns the screen sideways.

Since he wants to see all the battles eventually anyway, Wakiya lets it go – just this once.

For the next hour or so, the announcer's voice fills their room again as they watch match after match. Wakiya makes sure to brag about Hoji, and Rantaro points out the people he knows (his visitors, and Daina). Both of them pick on Aota Halt, and Rantaro even laughs when Wakiya mentions the similarity to Valt.

There's also the mostly unspoken agreement that they're both sorry they had to drop out (just mostly, because at one point Rantaro sighs wistfully and mourns the loss, to which Wakiya nods along).

Wakiya is about to remind Rantaro that this tournament would've gone a lot different if he'd been around, when he realizes that the weight against his shoulder has stopped moving. If what he suspects has happened is really happening, Wakiya is not going to be happy – so he looks, and yeah, Rantaro is definitely asleep on him right now.

"At least go ta yer own bed," Wakiya grumbles.

Everything about the other kid looks softer like this, though, so Wakiya just sighs. Carefully, he puts his phone in his lap so he can reach a hand behind them to fluff his pillow against the head of the bed. Then he slowly leans back, and gravity brings Rantaro with him.

Shifting around, Rantaro turns a little until his head is better settled on Wakiya's shoulder, but he stays fully asleep.

"Yer a hassle," Wakiya whispers. Sure, he could wake Rantaro up, but…he was tired, and he did stay up most of the night…so Wakiya decides to leave him be, just this once….

Picking his phone up again, Wakiya backs out of the video they're watching, and he's about to plug the device in to charge when a title catches his eye. Kiyama Rantaro versus Valt Aoi – and it was apparently the very first match of the tournament.

A quick glance tells him that Rantaro is still very much asleep, and so Wakiya selects the video and lowers the volume.

"Can I ask you something?"

It's a weirdly polite request, with an odd amount of seriousness to it, but really, it's way too late at night for this. Wakiya wants to ignore him, or flat out refuse him and tell him to go to sleep.

"Hey, Wakiya."

A pause.

"Wakiya."

More silence.

"Psst! Can I – "

"Alright fine!" Wakiya snaps, giving up on bedtime for now. This is what he gets for letting Rantaro sleep for half the day – at least he's back in his own bed now. "Whattaya want?"

Rantaro doesn't seem to care about his grumpy tone, or he just decides to ignore it. His voice is quieter when he speaks, though. "Why don't your parents visit you?"

So that's it. Earlier, Rantaro's father had visited again – having been told about the incident in the morning, he'd come to check on his son for himself. That's what had woken Rantaro from his nap, in fact, and Mr. Kiyama had abruptly lifted his son out of Wakiya's bed with a hug.

And Wakiya…Wakiya got to watch them sit and talk on Rantaro's bed until Hoji showed up. Hoji, who was a little irate with Wakiya for not letting him know that Rantaro was okay (he genuinely forgot!).

It wasn't so bad, though. Mr. Kiyama was at least friendly, even when Hoji chastised Wakiya for being "rude", he didn't get upset. He was pretty weird, which fit, because Rantaro was even weirder.

But anyway.

That little visit is probably why Rantaro feels that asking about Wakiya's parents is in any way a good idea, after the reaction he got last time.

"They're prob'ly away on business," Wakiya explains, after being quiet for too long. "They're very busy."

"Oh," Rantaro says, and then, "I'm sorry."

"Ya don't gotta pity me!" Wakiya already feels wound tight, but he stomps down fervently on any feeling that resembles jealousy. "I don't need 'em ta visit."

For a while everything is still and quiet, and Wakiya assumes that'll be the end of it. He's trying to settle back into sleep mode, but apparently Rantaro has other ideas.

"…I don't know what I'd do if my dad wasn't around."

"I don't know what I'd do if mine was." The words tumble bitterly out of Wakiya's mouth, and he clicks his jaw shut and keeps it clamped firmly, too late to keep them in.

"That's – "

Wakiya can sense the pity coming, and he really, really doesn't want it. So he cuts Rantaro off and lightens his voice, and pushes away all thoughts of fathers. "Do I get a question, since ya bothered me with one?"

He can almost feel Rantaro narrowing his eyes at him in the dark.

"I guess that's fair."

"Why d'ya dress so funny? And how come ya didn't tell me Valt knocked ya outta regionals in the first round?"

Rantaro goes from sympathetic to indignant all at once – he even sits up in bed. "What's wrong with how I dress?!"

That's better, Wakiya thinks, grinning to himself. "Everythin'," he says, "but yer hair's cute at least." Wait, what?

"Shut up!" Rantaro pushes a hand through his loose locks, in what Wakiya assumes by now is a habit, especially since he's seen how it's usually styled. It must bother him, hanging in his face like that.

"An' what about my second question?" Wakiya presses. "Losin' in the first round? I thought you said ya were good!"

"How do you even know that?!"

"The WBBA app has all the battles, ya idiot! Yers was right at the top of the list." Now that he thinks about it, if Wakiya hadn't decided to skip those early battles and only keep up with Shu's fights, he might have seen Rantaro much sooner. Which sounds aggravating.

"Valt got lucky," Rantaro is grumbling.

"Heh," Wakiya says, "but before ya said he was good."

"He was lucky then and didn't get good until afterwards, okay?! I helped him!"

"Whatever ya say…"

Rantaro throws his pillow at him, then, and they don't end up going to sleep until the night nurse comes to scold them for having a pillow fight.

This morning starts off way better than the last, because Rantaro actually looks happily awake this time, and he's got a lollipop again. He's sitting on top of his covers and flipping through the pages of one of his comic books.

Wakiya sits up and stretches, wincing when he tugs on his stitches. He's already bored, and he hasn't even really started his day yet. So he searches for his phone, which fell sometime last night during their pillow battle (that he totally would have win if it hadn't been interrupted), but when he finds it, it doesn't really offer any entertainment.

He tries browsing for new stadiums to buy, but there aren't any good ones. The WBBA hasn't updated their app or their website, and he's trying to forget about how he completely missed out on this year's nationals anyway.

It's not even breakfast time yet when he tosses his phone somewhere into his covers. That does it then. His only source of entertainment is, as usual….

Leaning out of bed, Wakiya tries to catch sight of what Rantaro is reading. He's at a bad angle, but he can see enough to tell that some of the characters look awfully familiar.

"Hey! Isn't that th' one I was readin' with ya?"

"Huh?" Rantaro looks up from his book. "Yeah," he answers when his brain catches up with the question, and he shows Wakiya the cover.

"Well then what're ya doin' readin' ahead?!"

"You said you hated it!"

But Wakiya is already standing up and taking the two steps to Rantaro's bed. "I just can't get this stupid storyline outta my head 'til I know how it ends," he says, "so move over."

Rantaro obliges, and Wakiya climbs up next to him so he can take over turning the pages. He flips back through them until things start to look familiar, then lets Rantaro take control from there.

…Only, Rantaro is just kinda staring at him. Not glaring, this time – just watching.

Wakiya meets his eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," Rantaro says with a shrug. He looks back down at the comic book in his hands, and flips a few more pages. "We were here, I think..."

Wakiya doesn't even remember that he's supposed to go home today until the nurse officially gives him the all-clear after checking him over. He's healing just fine, and as long as he takes it easy, he'll be able to get back to normal life.

Rantaro is up next, and the nurse mutters to herself as she straightens out the brace over his nose. She also checks his various other bumps, bruises, and scrapes.

"Well, you're definitely doing better than yesterday," she says, "we'll see about getting you home tomorrow."

On her way out, the nurse tells Wakiya she'll call his house to come pick him up after lunch, and then she leaves.

"So you're out of here, then," Rantaro says, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back. He's already got a lollipop in his mouth, and they haven't even been alone for ten seconds.

"Can't wait," Wakiya admits, "this place is so boring."

The white plastic stick twirls from one corner of Rantaro's mouth to the other as he stares up at the ceiling. "Yeah."

For some reason, the atmosphere in the room is just a little uncomfortable. Wakiya does his best to ignore it, and instead stands up and makes his way to Rantaro's bed again.

"So are we gonna finish that lousy comic?"

"It's not lousy!" Rantaro argues, but he pulls it out and opens it to the candy-wrapper bookmark all the same. "It's an old favorite."

"Ya got weird taste."

When Hoji shows up, his dad is with him, which definitely means Wakiya is going home, and Hoji is in high spirits.

"My siblings wanted to come, you know," he tells Wakiya as he hands over a fresh change of clothes. "We convinced them that the car would be too crowded – but they'll probably beg me to bring them to visit you soon."

Wakiya grins – he's even started to miss those little (admittedly well-behaved) brats. "We can continue their beybladin' lessons."

"They'd like that." Hoji's smile is bright enough to lift the mood of the whole room, as usual.

As Mr. Konda packs up the meager belongings Wakiya has with him, Wakiya goes to the bathroom to change. By the time he comes out, Hoji is sitting talking to Rantaro, and all of his things are ready to go.

"Are you ready, Young Master?" Mr. Konda asks.

Wakiya almost wants to take one last look around the room that's been his home for the past few days, but he doesn't know why. Instead he moves to his bed and packs away the pajamas he's just changed out of. "Yea," he answers, a little delayed, maybe, but Mr. Konda doesn't comment. "Let's go."

Hoji and Rantaro have stalled their conversation; Hoji seems content, but something about Rantaro is still a little off.

Standing up, Hoji places a hand on Rantaro's shoulder and squeezes it. "I'll talk to you later," he says, all smiles. "I'm glad we met."

That definitely seems to brush off Rantaro's mood, and he grins back. "Likewise!"

Mr. Konda also says goodbye to Rantaro, and thanks him – for some reason – before heading out the door. Hoji gives one last wave as he follows, shouldering Wakiya's bag.

With no idea why he's doing so, Wakiya hangs back for just a moment. He makes some awkward eye contact with Rantaro, and suddenly wonders if he can qualify him as a friend. It's not like it matters, he figures, because he probably won't see Rantaro again until some tournament somewhere.

Shaking off his thoughts, he raises a hand and says, "See ya," before leaving the room.

"See you around, Young Master Wakiya."

When he's finally cleared to go back to school, Wakiya feels good enough to waltz right in as though he hadn't just had an extended absence. He's right as rain by now, and it helps that he's gotten some great news from the WBBA.

They're holding a tournament for all the promising 'bladers who didn't qualify through regionals, and the winners will receive the chance to participate in the nationals after all. It's invitation only, and Wakiya's showed up today.

There's also the team segment at nationals, but he'll cross that bridge when and if he feels like it.

Currently, he's minding his own business, talking to Hoji in the schoolyard before class. He's just saying how good it is to be back, when a too-familiar voice shouts something unintelligible that gives him pause.

"Young Master?" Hoji asks, looking concerned.

Wakiya knows that stopping mid-sentence is odd for him, but whatever he was saying couldn't have been nearly as important as….

"Hey, Valt! You're on time for once!"

He turns on his heel and glares across the yard, and yep, there he is. Rantaro looks just as he did in his battle video, and everything about him is completely unmistakable, right down to the lollipop.

They say if you stare at someone long enough, they can feel you watching, and that must be what happens here, because Rantaro turns away from patting his friend on the head. He returns Wakiya's glare, and somehow they're standing closer now than they were before.

"What're ya doin' here?" Wakiya demands, hands on his hips. He's surprised, and it maybe comes across just a little more vicious than he intended.

Rantaro's brows scrunch together in a frown, and his still-healing nose (it's only got one bandage stretched across the bridge now) wrinkles. "What do you mean what am I doing here – we've always been in the same school!"

Wakiya makes a 'hmph' noise to play off his shock. Have they really always been in such close proximity to each other? Why didn't he know that? "It's no wonder I didn't notice someone as annoyin' as you!" is what he says. (Hoji can probably tell he means something else entirely, if the look on his face means anything. Fortunately he stays quiet.)

"You're the annoying one!" Rantaro fires back, eyebrows raised.

"I can't believe I hafta put up with ya for even longer!" Because Wakiya isn't about to say that it's almost kind of a little bit nice knowing that Rantaro is going to be around.

Those raised eyebrows lower into a glower, and Rantaro leans close. "Who asked you to?!"

So Wakiya leans back. "Shaddup!"

"No!"

Their foreheads touch, and as Rantaro growls at him, Wakiya has the brief thought that his eyes are a nicer brown when they're not bloodshot and bruised, before it leaves to make room for things along the lines of 'I can't believe this guy!'

Life sure is going to be more interesting from here on out.

"So, how did ya fall out of a tree, anyway?"

"I lost my balance."

"Yea, but what were ya doin' up there in the first place?"

"….There was a kitten."

Wakiya laughs. "Ya fell outta a tree rescuin' a cat? An' then hit every branch on the way down?"

"Well I didn't want to drop it!"

"Ya really are somethin' else."

(As usual, I'm not 100% pleased with this but! I can't keep sitting on it forever! I guess!)

Thanks for reading.