Disclaimer: I am not the mangaka.
Pairings: None. It's friendship all the way. But I suppose shippers could squeeze some OgaxFuruichi out of this if they wanted to.
PS: Thanks again to my wonderful beta, sweetgums!
This is basically something I wish would happen but I know it won't.
It's the shining number on Himekawa's hand that does it.
When his soul went back to his recovered body, Furuichi had been fine. Sure he had been beaten and temporarily killed, but seeing the Ishiyama gang go out of its way to save him made him feel warm inside. Even seeing Himekawa was fine with him; it was, afterall, not the first time Furuichi has had to be friendly with a person that had him hurt before.
And then he saw the King's Crest in Himekawa's hand, and it was like someone had punched him in the gut.
The Crest. The Crest that means his loyalty to Oga and Beel and gives him has one, Kanzaki has one and even Toujou has one.
It was worse than a slap to the face: somehow those people were more loyal to Oga than he was. He, who had been with Oga for so long and just nearly died to help him wasn't loyal enough.
Or maybe, it dawned on Furuichi, I'm just not useful enough. I'm not good enough to be given Beel's power.
It hurt, as if Lucifer was trying to take his heart out again.
"Furuichi are you ok?" Lamia's worried voice snapped him out of his reverie. Looking around, Furuichi saw everyone silent, looking at him and waiting for his answer. Oga was somewhere behind him, he could feel his eyes boring into his back.
The last thing Furuichi wanted was to sound ungrateful after all they did for him, so he lied "Oh, ehehe sorry I'm fine just a bit tired. You know, getting your heart ripped out and your soul split and swallowed is kind of tiring." he had expected some snorts or chuckles but there was only dead silence in answer.
Huh, guess I'm not that funny he shrugged and blabbed some more, telling Lamia he was going home and that no, he didn't need help going there. She was reluctant at first, but finally let him go.
"Oi." Oga called as he was about to leave. Furuichi turned to him.
"What?"
"…don't get lost."
"The fuck? Are you implying I can't even walk back correctly? Moron!" in a huff, Furuichi left.
As he exited the school gates, he heard the familiar sound of a body hitting the wall so hard the bricks broke. He didn't bother turning around. In the end, it just meant everyone was acting normally.
—
Furuichi walked to school alone the next day. He woke up still sore about the King'sCrests business, so a few hours to himself to sort his thoughts seemed like the best option, and he feared he might blurt something out to Oga.
No, if he was honest with himself, what he really feared wasOga's answer to that, or - to be more precise- his dismissal of it.
Furuichi smothered any guilt he had over not waiting for Oga by telling himself Oga wouldn't even notice; obviously too busy with his even stronger ties with Baby Beel right now. The guilt went away, but Furuichi didn't feel any better.
He regretted coming alone as soon as he reached the school gates, however. Nothing had changed in the status quo; he was still weak and there was no Oga anywhere on campus to protect him from the delinquents.
What if I'm taken again?
Furuichi considered waiting for Oga by the gate, but that would make him an even more obvious target. Going back home wouldn't work either; Lamia would probably go check on his injuries and he didn't want to be called a coward when she found out why he didn't go to school. Taking a deep breath, Furuichi marched through the school gates.
Walking to the classroom was…weird. Or at least, weird for Ishiyama. It felt like the other students were giving him a wide berth, avoiding coming within a meter of him. It was specially strange when he turned into a corridor and found the way blocked by a huge fist fight. It defused quickly, with delinquents scrambling out of his way.
Maybe I should call Lamia, I'm hallucinating?
Just as he thought that, a hand tapped on his shoulder. Turning around he found himself face to face with Nene.
"Come on, the classroom has changed."
Ah, they must have been avoiding me because they knew Nene was looking for meFuruichi thought.
According to Nene, due to the partial destruction of the school (again) the few remaining classrooms would have to be shared between the students of every year. Naturally, the top dogs of Ishiyama got themselves the nicest class. And the top dogs were, naturally, the people around Oga.
Meaning I'm about to spend the next weeks with the ones that have the Crest…the mere thought of it made Furuichi consider turning around and leaving. But not being around them would be too dangerous so he had no choice but to follow the former leader of the Red Tails.
The classroom has an even weirder sight than hooligans avoiding Furuichi.
Himekawa has been beaten bloody. His face is a mass of bruises, swollen cheeks and two bloody eyes and on of his arms is in a cast.
The strangest thing though was the lack of reaction around the class. None of the Ishiyama gang from last night seemed to so much as blink in surprise at his injuries. Nor was Kanzaki making fun of them. Even stranger, Himekawa wasn't seething with anger or giving money to some hitmen to go and kill whoever it was that did it.
Furuichi remembered the sounds he heard when he left everyone the night before and wondered if Himekawa's state was the result. Except that made no sense because fights between the gang just meant a never-ending cycle of revenge and also, why would any of them beat Himekawa so much? He had been the hero that night.
Himekawa noticed him staring, frowned, opened his mouth to probably tell him off…and then things got even weirder. The Pompadour man flinched, gave Furuichi a curt nod in acknowledgement and hunched in his seat as if trying to be swallowed by it.
Confused, Furuichi sat on one of the two empty seats (located right next to the Red Tails, clearly someone had forgotten 'Creepichi' was coming to this class).
Before he could even comment on the seating arrangements, the door was kicked open by Oga. The guy barely glanced at anyone, instead making a beeline for Furuichi and -as expected- hitting him.
" . . .me?" he asked, in between banging Furuichi's head on the desk.
Furuichi scowled and swatted Oga's handaway "What's the point of waiting for you if I don't get to see Hilda? Much better to just come here and admire the Red Tails." The lie was so absurdly flawed he half expected Oga to call him on it, but the dense guy said nothing, grunting and hitting Furuichi's head one more time. Glancing at the Red Tails, in case they felt like hitting him for the comment, he saw Kunieda turn away with a troubled expression on her face.
Annoying and painful as it was, Furuichi was glad Oga had gone to the trouble of repeatedly whacking him. It meant Furuichi's absence had, even if only a little, bothered him.
The comfort did not last for long as Toujou came in from the window (even though they were in the third floor) and starting asking questions about the Crests. Quickly the others flocked to Oga to ask things ("any news about those demons?" "hey I don't want to be your underling forever, when does this expire?"). Himekawa strangely hanging back. Meanwhile, the rest of the classroom not on par with the truth huddled together and began to speculate on what "King's Crest" could mean, maybe a new faction?
Furuichi sighed, finding himself in a sort of limbo; he knew too much to join the rest of the class on their increasingly strange speculation (Paako "it's how Oga's harem system works. Wait…oh my god Kanzaki is his favorite!"), but he didn't have the damn number so he could hardly talk about it since he had no experience on it.
Deciding staying in the classroom was pointless -not like any teacher would dare try to give them any education- Furuichi left to go get something to eat. Oga didn't stop him.
Things looked up somewhat when Furuichi went to the cafeteria and found out a 'person that didn't wish to be named' had made a very generous donation to the cafeteria under the condition that Furuichi never pay for his lunch again.
Years of surviving Ishiyama, Oga and now demons had taught Furuichi that either a) this was a trick and the food was poisoned or b) this "lifetime free lunch" offer would be gone in a day. Naturally, he chose to risk being killed and took as much food as he could carry and ran to the roof.
Maybe being alone is better if it means I get all this to myself he thought gleefully as he stared at the mountain of free (FREE!) food that belonged only to him…
…and it was at this moment that Oga practically materialized on the roof.
"Oi." Oga said as a means of greeting him.
Furuichi scowled; of course the bastard had to come just in time to eat the free (FREE!) food. Damn him, getting the attention of the girls and now trying to get my free food…wait…oh, he could be my food taster…
"Oga~!" Furuichi chirped with his most friendly smile. When Oga's reaction was to widen his eyes and take a step back in fear he decided to change tactics, throwing him a bun "Here," he now said with fake exasperation "might as well give it to you since you were going to eat it anyway…"
Warily, Oga sat down next to him and ate. When he failed to keel over and die, Furuichi was satisfied enough to begin eating.
"How d'ya get all this stuff?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full, you're getting crumbs in my face! Anyway, seems some wealthy lunatic gave the cafeteria ladies a load of cash with the condition that I get free food! FREE food Oga! Aaaah, my life is finally looking up~"
Oga didn't look at all surprised or impressed at the news. This was strange, as the normal Oga reaction should be to scoff and point out Furuichi would never have that luck. The dissonance dampened his spirits again, as it made him wonder just how far Oga had gone from him that he couldn't even guess Oga's reactions anymore.
"Why are you even here?" Furuichi couldn't help but ask. Oga looked at him as if he was asking the color of the sky.
"Because I wanted to eat."
"Then are they coming here? Because I can leave if they-"
"Who the hell areyou talking about?"
"Oh come on, who else? Your loyal subjects of course!" Furuichi pratically spit out, standing up. Oga subtly (for him that is) turned to Beel and mouthed something suspiciously like "he's gone mad", Beel nodded in agreement.
"Oi, Furuichi," Oga said slowly, as if talking to a kid or -most likely- a madman while also standing up "are you talking about the guys with the King's Crest? Cause they ain't coming here, why would they come here? And if they did, why does that bother you? Wouldn't you want to drool all over Kunieda?"
"I don't drool! And why shouldn't they eat with you?" he asked bitterly "After all, shouldn't you eat with the people you trust and value the most?"
For a second it seemed Oga would retaliate by asking how much brain damage he had suffered, but it seemed something in Furuichi's expression changed his mind and he took to looking at his feet.
"I'm doing that, you idiot" he grumbled quietly, still avoiding eye contact.
Oga so much as admitting he had feelings other than desire for violence was something so unexpected that Furuichi immediately assumed he was being pitied and coped with it the only way he knew how: he concentrated on his anger and head-butted Oga.
"That's bullshit, you fucking liar!" Furuichi yelled, clutching his head, which of course hurt while Oga was fine.
"Ha?" Oga answered, now pissed off. He pressed forward until his and Furuichi's foreheads touched and they were trying to push each other back like two bulls "they're my fucking feelings, you can't say I'm a liar!"
"I fucking can when you are fucking lying about your feelings!"
"Who says I'm lying?"
"I'm saying it, you idiot!"
"And how do you know I'm lying, huh? Got any fucking proof?!"
"Yes! Yes I do have some fucking proof you moron! The CRESTS!" all the anger he was feeling was quickly draining away, leaving him hurting and tired "Those numbers signify that…that…oh, you know what they mean! Damn it Oga," he was no longer trying to push Oga away, instead using their touching foreheads as a crutch so he didn't fall to his knees "damn it, am I never getting one too?"
Silence, Furuichi couldn't bear to look at Oga's face. Then-
"You are never going to get a King's Crest." Oga stated.
Oh, well, that settles it. Furuichi pushed himself off his best friend and turned to leave.
He didn't walk two paces when he heard Beel cry and was promptly hit by 1000 volts.
"AAAAAGH! Oi!What the fu-" he never finished, as he was then grabbed and found himself in a headlock.
"L-let go!" He choked out. Oga ignored him.
"Look, I don't know if a screw got loose after last night but you are going to listen to what I'm about to say, alright?"
"Like hell I am!" Oga tightened his hold "Okokok! I will! But say it quickly, damn you."
"Hilda said that 'it's a title given only to those that swear a life long allegiance-'"
"I know all that! I was there when she unnnnng!" Oga had completely cut his air supply momentarily. When he was satisfied that Furuichi wouldn't try to interrupt again, he continued.
"A life long allegiance to the King." when that failed to get a reaction from Furuichi, Oga sighed and let go of his head "To the King, you idiot. That means those guys are like my underlings. Get it?"
No, I don't understand- Furuichi began. And then it dawned on him; the Crest required that they be loyal like subordinates are to their King. Furuichi could never have a Crest because he saw Oga as an equal, as his best friend, and not as someone superior to him.
It was like a great weight was lifted from him.
"You are never going to get a King's Crest." Oga repeated, only now sounding like a child hoping if he repeated something long enough it'd come true. It made Furuichi extremely guilty; he had been basically complaining that he was Oga's friend and not his subject. He had been an idiot.
"Heh, as if," he scoffed, trying to hide a smile, as he dusted himself "I forgot about that. Really, I just wanted the power, but hell will freeze over and Hilda will have sex with me before you become the boss of me!"
If he hadn't been looking for it, Furuichi would probably have missed how Oga's shoulder imperceptibly relaxed a fraction. Oga then showed him his gratitude with his equivalent of a hug, that is to say, another headlock.
…
"But why," Furuichi later asked, when they were back in class and the subject of his question nowhere in sight "Is Himekawa so beat up?" The gang milling around him froze and, in a hive mind state, turned to look at Oga, who was too busy eating Furuichi's free food to notice.
"Because his plan was shit." He said nonchalantly, still looking at Furuichi's food. The others surprisingly nodded in agreement. Furuichi looked at them in confusion.
"What? Well…I guess there were risks-" Everyone collectively snorted around him "but it worked didn't it?"
"You almost got killed." Oga said. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say this was a detail, but something in his tone made it clear it was obviously not so.
"Yeah, what kind of moron hands you over to a homicidal maniac?" Paako piped in.
"And then goes so far as to suggest you should get hurt to make Oga angrier? You're lucky you didn't get killed before Oga arrived." Kunieda amended angrily. Watching everyone again nod in agreement, a sudden idea came to Furuichi.
"Do you guys," he began, staring suspiciously at Oga "know why it looked like people were avoiding me this morning?"
This time, Oga frowned and it was Nene who answered. "Err…well…i-it's not like I know who did it but…but it seems like some people" she stuttered, while the rest of the class all of a sudden found the ceiling and floor really interesting to look at "went around spreading the rumors that the school got partially destroyed again because someone tried to kidnap you. B-but the Red Tails had nothing to do with it!"
Knowing the short attention span of the students, Furuichi was aware this fear wouldn't last long. Still, he was extremely touched and, happy beyond words, he decided to thank everyone by saying they could take his free food.
He regretted it later, when they took all the food from the cafeteria before he could get to it. Furuichi never ate another free meal again.
Notes:
1- In case anyone felt Oga constantly going for Furuichi's head was too repetitive, I wrote it like that because I think that, while Oga would never ever go easy on Furuichi, he might hesitate to attack him in the chest area because, you know, heart ripped out and all. So he kept going for the head. Didn't write this into the fic because I don't think Furuichi would notice.
2- I felt it was a bit easy to figure out who gave Furuichi the free food (clue: has a pompadour) so I didn't bother to write it in.
3- Trying to write Oga with feelings while still in character is hard, sorry if I failed. OTL.
Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome!