Title: The Other Side of Him

Summary: In which Saisei and Honan were training together, Riku had gotten himself injured and everyone witnessed another side of Asuma.

A/N: Another RikuAsu fic because I need it, you need it and we need it. My fic's starting to feel more and more like me but still not quite there… soon (bless RikuAsu for getting me out of my slump tbh)

I hope you enjoy this little ficlet of mine.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Other Side of Him

The day started normally, well as normal as it could be with two rival teams in another unofficial race—which seems to happen more often than not nowadays. And because the day began normally, it should have ended the same way.

Unfortunately for them, that wouldn't be the case.

And this surprising turn of events happened not even a minute after they signaled the race to begin.

Asuma, as the lead off runner for Saisei, was almost near the takeover zone when he felt something amiss. Frowning to himself, Asuma tried to figure out what was wrong. The wind was blowing just fine and he was still running at top speed. Everything was just how it was supposed to be and for a few moments, Asuma thought it was silly of him to think that something is wrong. But then his eyes strayed to the side where Riku was running beside him… rather where Riku was supposed to be running. Seeing only an empty space where Riku should be—because really, Riku is fast and competitive and he should definitely be there— Asuma felt dread coiling at the pit of his stomach, his initial worry increasing tenfold. He knew this was the reason for his sudden feeling of unease.

Without even the tiniest bit of hesitation, Asuma turned around and ran back from where he came from, race quickly forgotten. It was just a practice race and they could easily do it again some other time. He had a far more important matter to attend to, knowing that they'd all understand. Besides, there's no way he could focus on stride when there's something greatly troubling him.

Heart hammering inside his chest, Asuma forced his legs to move faster, calling out to his brother whom he knew was listening, "Shizuma! Shizuma! Can you hear me? Please stop the race." Asuma's voice was frantic as he ran faster than he ever did in his entire stride career, "Hurry and call an ambulance. I think something happened to Riku."

Everything was a blur after that.

Asuma barely heard his brother asking him what was wrong through his earpiece, heck even Asuma himself was not sure what he told him. All he knew was that he needed to get to where Riku was, his mind set on reaching the other as fast as he could.

"Riku?!" Asuma gasped when he finally reached the other teen, worry evident in his eyes as he saw Riku crouched on the ground, the younger teen's face contorted in obvious pain.

"Asuma?" Riku blinked, momentarily forgetting the stinging pain from his twisted ankle, clearly shocked at seeing Asuma there. As far as he knew, the race was still on going and there's no way that Asuma should be there. "What are you doing here?"

Not even bothering to give an answer, Asuma rushed to kneel beside the other. "Riku? Riku are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine!" Riku answered, trying to laugh off the pain he was feeling but winced instead. "…ow."

"You're not fine at all!" Asuma sounded distressed, "Tell me where it hurts."

Riku shook his head, managing a half-grin, "Asuma, I'm fine. Really! This is nothing, haha—"

"Riku."

The sudden change in the tone of Asuma's voice was serious, firm and so unlike what Riku was used to that he immediately paused, eyes wide as he stared at the other in some sort of wonder. Even Asuma's face was devoid of his usual smile, the intensity of his eyes making Riku gulp.

"Tell me where you're hurt." Asuma repeated, his unwavering gaze locked onto Riku's.

"…M-my ankle," Riku stuttered, clearly not used to this side of Asuma. "I miscalculated my jump back there and… I think I twisted my ankle." He winced again as if to prove his point.

"I see," Asuma nodded, "I already asked my brother to call for an ambulance, so try not to jostle your injury too much."

Riku could only nod at that, finding it hard to avert his eyes from Asuma. He was so used to Asuma's cheerful demeanor that he almost feels like an entirely different person at the moment, at least that's what Riku thinks. Asuma looked really serious and calm despite his obvious worry.

"Worry for me," Riku thought and promptly decided that he liked this side of Asuma, too.

With both teens being so deep in their own thoughts, they failed to realize the rest of their teammates rushing towards them, curious and worried.

Nana was the first one to reach them, being the closest to the scene, and upon seeing Riku on the ground, she immediately knelt beside near him, hands reaching out as if to examine Riku. However, before her hands could make any contact, she was gently stopped by Asuma.

"I'm sorry, but please don't touch him." Asuma stated. "We can't risk making his injuries worse by touching him." His words were said in a voice so soft that they could barely make out his words and yet, there was a strange weight in his tone that made all of them take a step back. Asuma sounded worried yet commanding, sure and protective at the same time.

He was very different from the Asuma they knew and it was a strange feeling but not entirely unpleasant. It was just shocking, yes but it was also quite amazing. Nodding, the rest of them allowed Asuma to take charge, silently watching in wonder as Asuma took care of Riku, even going as far as to reprimand Riku from trying to move too much.

"Don't worry, Riku is in good hands." Shizuma assured everyone, he too just letting Asuma do his thing—Asuma knew first aid after all—until the medics arrived. He knew Riku would be fine and that Asuma would make sure of that besides, his younger brother was acting almost like their mother every time one of them would get injured. He almost let out a tiny laugh when he heard Asuma hissing at Riku to stay still, his brother really sounding like their mother now.

"He's quite protective, isn't he?" Nana asked, a tiny smile on her lips.

"He most definitely is," Shizuma replied fondly, still watching his brother calmly freaking out, which was very ironic, really.

Hovering and worrying over Riku while trying to make him stop moving around, Asuma barely heard the ambulance arrive until someone told him that it is fine now and that they'd take over from there. Asuma nodded without a word, letting the medic check on Riku while still staying close to the other.

"Well, he did twist his ankle," The medic announced, eyeing each and every one present. "We'll be taking him to the hospital… is any of you accompanying him?"

"I'll go." Asuma declared before anyone else can answer. The tone of his voice telling them that arguing otherwise would be futile.

Not that it would stop Riku from trying, "Eh? Asuma you don't have to! I'll be fine on my own! I've troubled you enough for the day!" He said, sounding really embarrassed that it would be really adorable if he wasn't injured… though it still was.

"Riku, it's okay. Let me do this," Asuma stated gently, smiling down at the other. "I don't mind and you didn't cause me any trouble… just a huge amount of worry."

"…oh," Riku's cheeks colored lightly, feeling uncharacteristically bashful. "Sorry and thank you."

Asuma's answer was a very gentle smile that got Riku blushing darker.

And with that, the medics took Riku away, Asuma staying not leaving his side at all even after they got inside the ambulance and it began moving.

"Eh? What was that about?" Kaede asked with a tilt of his head, looking absolutely confused as he watched the ambulance disappearing from sight. "I've never seen Asuma like that before."

"Love," came Kuga's simple answer, a tiny smile on his lips.

"Ah."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Extra

Later that evening, all the members of Saisei were gathered somewhere, talking about anything and everything. Their conversation wasn't really serious, just about stride and Gal-Stan… until Kaede decided to ask something really interesting.

"Hey Asuma are you in love with Riku?" Kaede asked bluntly as if he wasn't born with tact at all, eyes staring at his teammate.

Asuma choked on air, his face quickly turning into a very nice shade of scarlet. "What?!"

Kaede shrugged, "I asked Kuga-san why you were acting so seriously and he said 'love'… so are you really in love with Riku? Is that why you got all worried when he got injured? Because you love him?"

The rest of them watched Asuma and his nearly comical reactions to Kaede's statement in mild amusement. The bleached-blond was spluttering and stuttering, hands flailing wildly in the air while shaking his head in denial.

"You are!" Bantaro half-squealed, half-exclaimed after a while, excitedly jumping around the red-faced Asuma.

"Are you really?" Reiji eyed him quizzically. "… In love with Riku, I mean. Because you know, it's perfectly alright if you are."

"W-what? No! You got it all wrong!" Asuma denied vehemently, "I'm only worried about him because he's my friend! That's right, Riku's my rival and my friend so it's normal to be worried about him! Friends worry for each other, right? Right?"

Too bad his bright red face wouldn't be able to convince anyone otherwise. At all.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: I'm very serious regarding this ship. Like very very serious. Please send help.