Water
YAYOI NAKAYAMA BRUSHED her long hair out of her face as she watched her teammates skate up the school wall. Her eyes followed each of their paths until they finally landed on a certain blue-haired boy who skated in time with Kazu, easily keeping speed with the jet. She felt her cheeks growing warm and looked the other way, blaming the summer heat.
That boy, ever since the fight with the old Sleeping Forest…no, ever since the Orca incident, had held her attention. She didn't know why. He was certainly not the kindest on the team, nor the gentlest, and perhaps not even the most dedicated or passionate…but somehow, she always felt her gaze being drawn to him.
Perhaps it's that I like him? Yayoi wondered. If that was the case, though, then it was one-sided and a lost cause. As if he could ever feel an attraction to anyone, much less her. Especially her. He probably wanted someone who actually rode ATs and was actually good at it. He was always forgetting her name anyway. But, a small voice in the back of her head whispered, has he forgotten your name since the Orca incident? Yayoi pondered the question.
A few seconds later, she heard her name being called. "Oi, Nakayama! Who won?"
Crap! She'd forgotten to pay attention to who had reached the top of the school first. "S-sorry! I wasn't watching!"
"Well," Ikki said, lifting his nose in the air, "as team leader, I declare that I won!"
Kazu and Buccha looked at each other and with a wild cry of "Screw you!" they leapt upon their cocky friend. Emily and Agito skated back down the wall, ignoring them, and Onigiri spotted some poor girls walking down the street in their short summer dresses. He went after them.
"Yayoi! I've gotten better!" Emily cried. "One step closer to being able to skate side by side with my Kazu-sama!"
Agito snorted and she glared at him, but didn't retort. She instead went to rest in the shade of a tree. Yayoi giggled and went over to the cooler she had brought for the team. "Water, you guys!" she called. She grabbed several water bottles and tossed one to Emily. Ikki came dashing at her, still trying to avoid Kazu and Buccha's assault and she threw one to him. He caught it and took a deep swig, skating away. Kazu and Buccha came quickly after him, and she threw bottles out to them as they passed.
"Here, Agito," she said, tossing him the last bottle she held. A squeak left her lips as the bottle burst into shreds and liquid. She hadn't even seen his leg move, but she knew that it had been ripped apart from the shark's Fangs.
"Fuck, I don't want that," he snapped. He blinked as he looked at her. "And who the hell are you?"
Biting her lip in frustration, Yayoi grabbed her hair in both hands to form makeshift ponytails. "Nakayama! I'm Nakayama! Geez, I'd think you'd still remember after I tuned you!" She then deemed him a prick and a bastard in her mind, even if she did feel attracted to him. Her eyes widened when he smirked.
"I know who you are," he snickered evilly. "But seeing as it pisses you off if I seem to forget…"
Bastard! she thought. "Well, if you don't want water, then what the heck do you want?"
"Boss coffee," came the instant reply.
"Oh, yeah, sure," Yayoi said, putting her hair up in a high ponytail. "Like I happen to have any of that on hand."
"Then go get some," Agito commanded. Without waiting for her reply, he proceeded to skate up the wall again.
Yayoi moaned and went to sit by Emily who was cheering Kazu on. "What's up?" Adachi asked.
"Nothing," Yayoi muttered, though her eyes still followed Agito as he went up the wall on his ATs.
"Ah, boy problems," Emily declared, nodding in a sage-like manner. Yayoi glared at her and she shrugged. "A bit too obvious. What're you going to do about him?"
Yayoi shook her head, her hair brushing against her nose. "Nothing. What can I do? I'm content as I am."
"Anyone in your position who's said that is obviously lying," Emily stated.
"At least he remembers my name now, I think."
Her friend nodded. "Yeah, that's a start."
---
'OH, COME ON, Agito,' the shark's lighter half pleaded in his mind. 'Drink something. I'm thirsty!'
'Stop whining!' Agito snapped. 'I don't need anything.'
'This isn't good,' Akito warned in an attempt to get his needed fluids. 'You're gonna be dehydrated and you won't be able to fight properly if you get sick or something.' When he didn't get a response, he reached out to his brother's mind, wondering if he was being ignored. He blinked. He could see Nakayama through Agito's eyes. He was watching her discretely as she conversed with Adachi. A smile spread across his face. So Agito liked her?
'Fuck, no!' Agito roared to his counterpart, having heard his thoughts. 'Where did you pull that shit from?!'
Akito pouted, though he couldn't help but giggle at Agito's response. 'Just calling it like I see it.'
'Well, don't,' Agito growled as he skated a small circle on the roof, looking down at the rest of Kogarasumaru.
'If I don't mention it, though, you won't admit it. You're a very stubborn person. Are you…attracted to Nakayama-san?'
'No.' The reply was calm and blunt, and normally Akito would have believed him, if it weren't for the fact that Agito was still watching Nakayama.
'It's okay if you are,' Akito pressed. Agito was silent. Akito added gently, 'It's okay to let someone in. She wants you to let her in.' Come to think of it, Akito mused, he had seen Nakayama staring at Agito plenty of times. Even when Agito wasn't in control of the body, Nakayama still watched Akito, as though waiting to see Agito come out. 'You put your trust in Ikki-kun and the rest of the team. Now it's time to put your trust in her.'
'Fuck, I never said that I trusted them,' Agito replied, but his words were weak and Akito knew that he had won.
'Your actions were your words,' Akito said.
Agito didn't reply. Akito smiled and retreated back into his corner of their mind. Now it was up to Agito to act on his feelings. 'And Agito,' the lighter shark said. 'Get something to drink.'
---
THE DAY WORE on to the evening and Yayoi found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the Wanajima boy. I'm going crazy, she sighed. Kogarasumaru was resting in the long shadows of the trees at the moment. The boys were talking about the Secret Base yet again, and even Emily was throwing in an idea or two.
Nakayama watched as Kazu grinned at Adachi and squeezed her shoulder when Ikki agreed with the girl's thoughts. Emily's blush spread like wildfire at the casual friendly touch and she fell silent as the boys continued their chatter. But then she kicked out at Onigiri when he mentioned that they should have a harem room filled with women under the school.
Agito lay a few feet away against a tree, his eyes closed and his breathing steady. Yayoi regarded him carefully. His cheeks were flushed and his hands gave a small twitch. The uncovered eye opened revealing a dazed golden pupil which lazily took in the scene before him. Then it came to rest on Yayoi. She couldn't bring herself to look away. Agito's face screwed up into a frown and he suddenly rounded on the small group near him, shouting, "You fucking loudmouths are giving me a fucking migraine! Shut up!"
"Go sleep somewhere else, then, little shark," Ikki laughed. Agito rose up with a snarl but Kazu held the shorter, fiery boy back as Ikki taunted him safely from behind Buccha.
"Fuck," Agito finally spat, turning and stalking away.
Yayoi watched him go and stood, stretching. Come to think of it, she suddenly realized, he wasn't looking too well. Had he even drank any water today? She tried to remember if he had, but couldn't recall seeing the shark even glance at the cooler. Stupid, stubborn guy, she sighed. Well, there were some vending machines on campus. If he wouldn't drink water, then maybe he'd drink his coffee.
She snuck away from the group, coin purse in hand, and located the nearest dispenser. "Boss coffee, Boss coffee," she murmured to herself as her finger hovered over the buttons, looking for the right one. "Ah." She pressed it. There was a low rumble, and then a thunk as the can landed in the bottom of the machine. Maybe I should get some water too? Yayoi mused. She deposited the needed amount into the machine and hit the button.
She retrieved both drinks and started to head back. As she rounded the corner, she smacked into someone and dropped her prizes and her still open coin purse flew from her hand. Her change clinked and pinged on the sidewalk as she fell down with the mystery person. There were grunts from both of them and she quickly started to apologize.
"Fuck."
She froze. Crap. One golden eye was frowning down at her. "Sorry, Agi…to…"
"Instead of apologizing, how about getting up?" he snapped.
Yayoi squeaked and started to squirm, trying to pull herself out from under him. The boy's eye went wide and he quickly gripped her shoulder and held her still. "Never mind," he gritted out. "I'll get up first." He pulled himself up with a groan and grabbed the neck of her shirt, hauling her up with strength.
As he turned to leave, Yayoi remembered what she was here for and said, "Please, wait!" As Agito looked at her, she scrambled about, searching for the dropped drinks. She located the water bottle and held it out to him. "Here. You need to drink it. You haven't had anything all day."
Agito glared at her and she almost shrank back. "What makes you think I want to drink that weak shit?"
A glint from the sinking sun reflected off the missing can of Boss coffee and Yayoi snatched it up and showed it to him. "If you drink some water, then I'll give you this."
"And what's to stop me from buying my own?" Agito asked, though he did eye the coffee greedily.
Yayoi's mouth drooped. "Nothing, I guess. Fine. Go ahead." She bent her head and began to pick up her scattered change. Each clink the coins made as they were dropped into her coin purse was an insulting reminder of the money she had wasted on the cold-hearted shark.
"Did you buy that water just now?"
Yayoi looked up. What, is he mocking me now? "Yes," she bit out a little harsher than she had intended.
"Why didn't you just grab one from your cooler?"
She considered the answer and felt her cheeks grow red. The cooler was stocked with water that she could have used. So now she had wasted money on something she already had plenty of. "I forgot about it," she murmured sheepishly, glancing at the ground again. She heard a sigh and suddenly Agito's face was right next to hers. She fell back on her butt and the coin purse dropped from her hand. Once more, the change was scattered across the sidewalk.
"Guess I have no choice," Agito said, taking the water bottle and cracking the seal. "I left my wallet back with the others and I don't want to go get it. So I'll drink this, and then," the bottle paused at his lips, "you will give me that." It almost sounded like a question, but Yayoi knew that it was more of a demand.
"Yes," she giggled, then once again began to pick up the change. She noticed that as soon as Agito began to drink, he swallowed it greedily, thirstily, having been deprived of much needed fluids. He finally pulled the bottle away from his lips with a gasp and breathed deeply. There was barely any water left. He finished it off.
Yayoi offered the can of coffee, but he ignored it and instead started picking up her scattered coins. Yayoi stared at him open-mouthed for a second, but then snapped out of it and finished the task with him. They dumped the silver and copper into the coin purse and she zipped it closed to prevent anything from falling out again.
Agito looked at her expectantly now. With a sigh, Yayoi handed him his desired drink. He took it, his calloused fingers closing over hers before pulling away with the can. He sat down beside her and stretched out his legs, the Fang Regalia gleaming in the dimming light. Yayoi shook her head. He did have his moments. Then she noticed that in his front right pocket was his wallet. She looked at it.
Oh…oh… Her brain could barely register what had happened.
"What?" Agito asked, sounding annoyed.
She looked at him. And smiled.
---
AGITO SAW HER lips curve upward softly and immediately knew that he was caught. But he didn't acknowledge it. He just sipped his Boss coffee and stared off at the campus.
"Thank you, Agito."
The whisper was soft, and he just barely heard it, but it was there. He smirked and stood and offered Nakayama a hand, knowing it was time to return. She stared at it for a second before blushing and taking the hand. He helped her up and they headed back to team Kogarasumaru. When they reached their companions they saw that they were all grabbing their jackets and packing up their things.
"Time to go home?" Nakayama asked Adachi. The other girl nodded.
Agito watched lazily as Nakayama gathered up her light jacket and grabbed the handle for the cooler. "Bye, guys!" the girl called as everyone went their separate ways in the weakening light. "Here tomorrow, right?"
Yells of confirmation sounded and faded into the evening. "Oi, Agito!" Ikki said, snapping the shark out of his slight daze. "You coming?"
Agito sneered at his housemate. "I'll go when I want, fucking crow."
Ikki scowled, but muttered, "Fine, shark bastard, but I'm eating your dinner."
Agito ignored him and skated quietly after Nakayama. The girl didn't hear him approach and gave a small squeak of surprise when he grabbed the handle of the cooler from her and skated ahead. "A-Agito?"
"Which way?"
"H-huh?"
"To your house!" the shark snapped. "Which way to your fucking house?"
"Oh." The girl fell silent and regarded him for a second before saying, "Well, follow me."
They went together in silence for a while before Agito stated, "Just so we're clear, I'm carrying this as payment for the coffee."
"Hm."
---
THEY REACHED HER house within a few minutes. At the door, Yayoi took the cooler from him shyly and muttered a small thanks. She unlocked the door and went inside with the cooler, glancing back to see Agito turning away. Sighing, she started to close the door.
An AT blocked it.
She looked down to see the Fang Regalia stopping the door. She opened it again and looked at Agito. "Yes?"
The boy cocked his head for a minute as though observing her before leaning and placing a chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth. He drew away and smirked. "That was payment for the water."
He skated down the small pathway and leapt onto the roofs, disappearing into the evening. Yayoi stared at his retreating from, unable to move. Her brain was too much of a melted pool of water for her to process anything at the moment.