Night Out
CappuccettoRosso
Beta: None
Fandom: Gokusen
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): None
Genre(s): General / Friendship
Disclaimer: Gokusen is the intellectual property of Kozueko Morimoto, and its publisher, Shueisha. I am only borrowing the characters without permission for my own amusement. No profit is being made in the publishing of this story.
Author's Note #1: Written for LiveJournal's dove_drabbles' March prompt: "lead on!"
Author's Note #2: I know I have mentioned this before in another story, but I absolutely enjoy putting Sawada and Uesugi together. I mean, I can honestly see them being friends, or friendly enemies. They are their own intellectual equal. So here is another story with these two. Also, there is a very brief mention of Vol. 4, Ch. 9 "Young Chief pays a visit?."
Summary: Sawada Shin is a bad influence. Uesugi Ritsu can't help but follow his lead.
:::
"Does it get easier?"
His companion shifted beside him. "What?"
Uesugi Ritsu held up his right hand. Lighting was shit in the alley; the only source of it being a bare bulb at the end of the alley way. His bleeding knuckles looked grotesque in the weak light. He flexed his fingers, hissing through the pain.
"Yeah. You'll get use to it after a while."
"The pain, you mean." Ritsu reached inside his inner jacket pocket. He pulled out a handkerchief. The cloth was plucked out of his hand. He looked up.
Sawada Shin moved to stand in front of him. "Yeah, that too." He fingered the cloth and raised an eyebrow. "Silk, really?" He deftly wrapped the handkerchief around Ritsu's right hand.
Ritsu shrugged. "I have standards." He grunted when Sawada tightened the knot.
"Pretentious bastard." Sawada looked up and down the alley. "We should probably keep moving."
"I've never been in a fight before," Ritsu said. His voice sounded strange to his ears. It was quiet, oddly intimate, with the frailty of a confession. It was disturbing and it shook him inside, more than the taste of blood in his mouth had.
Sawada didn't comment on his odd behavior. "If you had come to Shirokin, then you'd been an old hand at this." He chuckled quietly to himself.
Ritsu knows that he would have discovered more than a penchant for bare-knuckle fighting if he had gone to Shirokin; if he had met Sawada sooner. He rolled his eyes instead. "Never let anyone tell you, you are funny, Sawada."
"Kumiko thinks I'm funny."
"We've established that Yamaguchi-san has terrible taste."
Sawada made a noncommittal sound. "Come on, I know a place. We can lay low there for a while." He began to move toward the light and the street beyond. Ritsu didn't follow him immediately.
"The last time you said that," Ritsu began, watching Sawada's retreating back. Even in the dark, Sawada's red mane shone; "it was earlier this evening and we ended up in a bar fight, trading punches with an entire biker gang at a cheap bar in the ass end of Ginza and being chased by police. So please excuse me if I hesitate at those words."
Sawada laughed. "So suspicious." Ritsu could barely make him out in the darkness, but he could easily imagine Sawada smirking at him when he turned around to look back at Ritsu. "Also, I wasn't the one that started the fight. That was all you, when you decided to punch their leader in the face."
Ritsu felt his lips twitch. "He had it coming. Whining like that. I never knew scum like that were sore losers."
He could hear the smile in Sawada's voice. "Yeah, they never like it when a baby-faced kid cleans them out in a poker game. It was great. You're a natural card shark, Uesugi-san."
Ritsu pushed off the wall and moved to stand beside Sawada. "And this other place you happen to know as well...What are the chances of it ending in another fight?"
"Oh, I can guarantee it."
Ritsu sighed, even as his pulse picked up speed and his hands curled into fists. His hand didn't hurt as much. "I was afraid you would say that."
"Stop bitching. It'll be good. And if you're lucky, you might get a matching set."
Ritsu reached up to gingerly touch one of his eyes. He had completely forgotten about the bruise, distracted as he had been by the blood on his knuckles and the adrenaline in his veins. He couldn't imagine the sight he made, with a black eye, swollen lip and stained clothes. Ritsu wondered if his former Aotama classmates would recognize him now, if they were here to see him. He found that he couldn't give a shit.
Ritsu rolled his shoulders and smoothed down his jacket. "Might as well. Lead on, Sawada."
Sawada wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Okay, round two."
They walked companionably out of the alley and merged into the night crowd.
"Ne, Uesugi-san, have you ever been to a tenbonbiki?"