" – calm and collected composure, making preparations step by step…" The sudden warmth of two presences directly behind her interrupted Yankumi's long-winded explanation of how she was going to 'fight' for her Valentine this year.
"Sorry, but we're in a hurry," Ryu informed the teacher.
"Thanks for the treat," added Hayato, even as his best friend made to leave.
Yankumi blinked. "Huh?"
"See ya." The pair left, though they waited just outside so as to confirm that Yankumi had received their… 'gifts'.
Having heard the affirmative gasp of shock, followed almost immediately by an exasperated shout – "Those guys!" – Hayato and Ryu headed back to the main street from the alley where the Café de Rovne was located.
"Che. Serves her right for stalking us," said Hayato. "As if we don't see enough of her at school…"
Ryu didn't comment, but Hayato didn't mind; he knew Ryu didn't like to talk unnecessarily. It was a welcome change from the rest of their class – all of them loved the sound of their own voices. Hayato thought his friend had the right of it – sometimes, shutting up was better.
They'd reached the main street. Over the noise of the traffic, Ryu inquired, "Where to?"
The taller boy thought for a moment. Since there were still a few daylight hours left, maybe he could persuade Ryu (i.e. drag him) to come along to scout out some cute Momo High girls… no, Ryu and girls never did make a good combination. Well, the arcades should be open.
--
They only left the arcades three hours later, after Hayato had sufficiently kicked Ryu's ass in just about every available game to make himself feel better. After all, who wouldn't be pissed off if all the girls one tried to pick up chose to ask for one's friend's cell phone number instead of one's own?
What was surprising, thought Hayato, was that Ryu not only didn't show any interest in the girls – let alone give or ask for cell phone numbers – but that he also let Hayato trash him in the arcades afterwards. Not that Ryu had been obvious about it, but they'd frequented the arcades together for long enough, and Hayato knew that Ryu wasn't an easy opponent. Maybe the other boy felt he had to make it up to him…?
He hated it when he felt that he was being looked down on. After all, he was supposed to be the leader of 3-D, right? Right? Even if they were technically joint leaders, Ryu usually just went along with whatever Hayato wanted – which in the end all boiled down to him being the leader.
Hayato shook his head hard in an effort to get rid of all the troublesome technicalities spinning around in his brain and then casually slung an arm over his best friend's shoulders. "I'm hungry; let's go grab a bite."
Ryu gave him a look that was half-amused, half-exasperated. It was uncannily like the look Yankumi enjoyed giving them. "About that – as I was trying to tell you while you were busy stoning – I've got to go for dinner with some girl."
'Some girl'? That couldn't be right. "… Come again?"
"I. Have. To. Go. For. Dinner. With. Some. Girl," repeated the smaller boy. "Are you sick or something? You're acting kinda off… Hayato?"
Unfortunately for him, Hayato had switched off after the 'girl'. The world tilted dangerously around him; brilliant novas glared through the swirling darkness that engulfed him; his ears roared with the crash of waves as the ocean decided to cover the earth…
…Figuratively speaking, that is. In reality, Hayato's jaw was gathering dust on the pavement as his brain tried in vain to process this new information about his friend – that Ryu was apparently, refuting all previous data, straight.
Almost a year ago, when he and Ryu had first become friends, Hayato would have sworn that Ryu was asexual – the boy never seemed to get turned on in that way by anybody, male or female.
Not too long after Yankumi had brought Ryu back to school, when Take explained what had really made Ryu bow to Ara High, Hayato would have bet his eyeteeth that Ryu was a fag (i.e. homo).
It seemed that he'd have lost them, too. Nobody would just 'go for dinner with some girl'. Nope; it had to be a date. An early Valentine's Day thing. Ryu was often targeted by girls who didn't know he was a member of Kurogin's 3-D, so it was entirely possible.
That didn't mean that Hayato was going to let just any girl get anywhere near Ryu.
… Somehow that reminded him very much of an anxious dad worrying over his teenage daughter…
In any case, why hadn't Ryu said anything about having a girl? Heck, they were best friends! Ryu's closemouthedness could be a pain in the ass at times…
"… Hayato? Anybody in there?"
He snapped out of it, speaking the first thing that came to mind. "You're leaving me for some… girl?"
That sounded so wrong… complained part of his mind. The other part kept it from continuing that line of thought.
Ryu blinked at him. "Well… you could put it that way, too."
"Ah…" Hayato groped for something to say, finally settling for, "Is she cute?"
The other boy thought about it. "Maa… I suppose so."
"… Right. I see." It had to be his girlfriend – Ryu had never admitted to thinking anybody cute.
"I'd better go now or I'll be late," said Ryu, apparently judging the conversation to be at an end. "See ya."
Dammit, he thought. He'd have to eat alone, and he hated doing that. Eating alone was boring. Plus he'd be cracking his head over what kind of girl Ryu was dating. She would have to be someone pretty incredible; normally, Ryu wouldn't go on a date unless paid for it if the alternative was to hang out with Hayato and the rest. Or just Hayato, since the rest were redundant. There'd never been a girl able to compete with Hayato in the matter of Ryu.
He refused to think about certain implications in that thought. What mattered now was getting Ryu back and thoroughly investigating the presumptuous female in question before allowing this relationship… and why he was worrying about this was something he didn't want to waste valuable mind space and time thinking about.
Hayato only managed to let him go about ten paces before shouting, "Wait a second!"
Ryu half-turned, tilting his head questioningly. He waited while Hayato sauntered over, waiting patiently while the other boy re-draped his displaced arm back over his shoulders before asking, "What?"
"I'm sure I'd be better company than her," purred Hayato.
"I'm sure you would be too," agreed the smaller boy seriously. "I was wondering how long you'd take to realize it."
The unexpected agreement made Hayato blink in surprise. "Eh?"
"Let's go," he said, steering Hayato in a slightly different direction from before.
--
Someone had spiked their drinks, Hayato decided. There were always questionable people around to do such things. And there was no other explanation as to why he'd pin his best friend against the wall of a dark alley with less than three inches of space between them… without the friend in question slapping him to his senses.
…Not that there was anything wrong with his senses; if anything, they were even better than usual. Hayato could see Ryu's heavy-lidded eyes reflecting what little light there was; could smell the familiar mix of sweat and dust and smoke and that other something that made it Ryu's; could hear each rattling breath over the muted roar of traffic; could feel the pounding of the blood in his veins and the lightheadedness of a high as well as Ryu's body heat; could taste dryness as adrenaline raced through his system.
Ryu was definitely not in his normal state of mind either; had he been, he'd have knocked Hayato's teeth up between his ears by now. Instead he was leaning against the wall as if it was taking all of his energy to simply stay upright, arms limp and eyes half-closed.
It was rare to see Odagiri Ryu in such a vulnerable state. Hayato couldn't help but just stare at him and wonder why he'd never thought him attractive.
Yup, the alcohol was surely doing significant damage to what remaining brain cells he had. Hayato was – or had been – straighter than a pole in these matters; if he loved females any more he might just become one. Finding a guy attractive was absolutely out of the question. Or so he'd believed, until now.
"… Hayato, it's getting late," whispered Ryu, as if raising his volume would use up the last of his energy.
"Ah," said Hayato, very eloquently, sluggish mind focusing on the way Ryu's lips were slightly parted as if in invitation.
Heck. Rules and limitations could all go and flush themselves down the toilet. Consequences would come when they would come. Right now, all Hayato wanted was Ryu. So he leaned in, closing the last couple of inches, and kissed his best friend on the lips. Ryu sighed softly and tilted his head, correcting their angle as his tongue flicked out to tease Hayato's lips.
--
"So… why did you stop me from going?"
"You were going for a date, weren't you?"
"…No."
"But you said you were going for dinner with a girl –"
"That doesn't necessarily mean it's a date."
"Then what?"
"My parents were trying to set me up with their friends' daughter."
"Isn't that a blind date?"
"Who cares? I never did get along with her…"
"Well, I'm not complaining."
--
OMAKE
"Yabuki, Odagiri, can I have a private word with you two?" asked Yankumi the next day after Take had ran out of school.
Wondering what exactly they'd done to incur her wrath (she was still in a rather touchy mood), they nodded and followed her out of the classroom. When she turned to face them with her fists propped on her hips, they instinctively braced themselves.
To their surprise, her face was split by a foolish grin. "You two… I'm so proud of you! You've already won your battle of love!"
"Huh?" they chorused.
"Though of course, there'd be a small problem in who's going to give who chocolates for Valentine's…" mused their teacher. "Considering your situation, I would say that perhaps…"
--
A/N: Erm… this is my first Gokusen fic and my second shounenai fic, which is why it's… cringeworthy. Since I don't really know the characters, I think they ended up pretty OOC… and let's just say that romantic fluff is NOT my strong point. I have mangled the Akame pairing beyond belief… sorry, all Akame fans!! –kowtows– (Don't kill me, Ken-chan!! I tried my best with them!!)
Ah wells. This was written as a birthday fic for Hayato's actor Akanishi Jin, so OTANJOUBI OMEDETOU AKANISHI JIN-SAMA!! –fangirls–
Please Review!
PS. The title is random. O.o I meant to have something in the fic to relate to it, but… :-X it somehow didn't happen. Though one might say that Ryu is 'not straight' and therefore they ended up doing 'crooked' things… agh, I'm not making sense… T.T