requested by my friend hagane! at first i was honestly stumped on how to do this word, malapert - clever in manners of speech, and make a story based on it

but i would like to thank hoshihara hikaru's existence bc he. is. sass.

and i love it.

Haruki's not entirely sure why Hikaru is looking at him like that.

The platoon captain stops working on his homework, turning his head to face the blond. Hikaru doesn't flinch or look away, his blue eyes boring holes into Haruki's soul, like he knows everything about him that Haruki has never said out loud.

It's unnerving.

"Uh, Hikaru…?" he says, gulping. "Is everything alright…?"

Arata and Sakuya also turn around to look at the blond, seeming to have noticed his weird behaviour. Their faces hold a curious gaze as they silently question the reason behind Hikaru's actions.

Hikaru opens his mouth. "You like Muraku."

Haruki's mechanical pencil snaps in two.

"W-WHAT? W-W-WHERE'D YOU GET AN IDEA LIKE THAT?!" Haruki slams his hands on the table, shouting at Hikaru, who has a smug smirk on his pretty face.

Hikaru merely shrugs, resting his chin on his hand. The fact that he said it so confidently, like he's so sure of it, infuriates Haruki even more.

"Now that you mention it…" Arata starts, tapping his chin. "Haruki has been acting weird around Muraku lately."

"Eh?! Even you noticed, Arata? I thought I was the only one…" Sakuya said, looking understandably surprised.

"Of course he would, Haruki's the worst at hiding his own feelings." Hikaru remarks, still looking like a very proud cat who caught a terrified little mouse.

In this context, Haruki is that mouse.

"So, does Haruki really like Muraku? Like, seriously?" Arata asks, looking at both Hikaru and Sakuya for confirmation.

"Yeah, though I don't think Muraku notices…" Sakuya looks contemplative. "I mean, that's just how it always is, isn't it? You never notice it when someone crushes on you."

"That's true. Even if Muraku is sharp in battle, I don't think he's the type who's sharp when it comes to the matter of the heart." Hikaru agrees. "Haruki could blush bright red at the brush of their fingers and he wouldn't notice."

Feeling weak in his knees, when everyone is talking about him while he's right here god damn it, Haruki falls back into his seat and hides his face behind his arms with a defeated groan. He feels like crying.

"Am I really that obvious…?" he voices, though he sounds muffled.

"Like the Sun shining in the sky." He hears Hikaru reply, and he groans even more.

"You should just tell him already." Arata suggests after a moment's pause.

Haruki's head shoots up at this, his face screaming, Are you freaking nuts?!

The redhead grins sheepishly, unaffected by Haruki's sharp glare. "Aw, come on, it can't be that hard."

"Haruki would rather fight Seledy by himself than tell Muraku about that." Hikaru says with a smirk. Haruki's 100%, completely, positively, sure that Hikaru, the god damn sadist, is absolutely enjoying himself with this. He likes seeing Haruki suffer. He likes seeing anyone suffer.

One day he'll get back at the blond for this.

"Tell me about what?" a familiar voice comes from behind him.

Oh my God, please no.

Hikaru's smirk grows more evil, if that's possible. "Well, speak of the Violet Devil."

"Muraku!" Arata smiles wide and stands up, heading over to greet the other platoon captain who just entered the dorm common room. "You're back already?"

Haruki isn't looking at them, but he can tell there's a smile in Muraku's voice. "Yes. Since my platoon didn't have a mission today, the owner let me have an early shift."

"Really? Must be tiring to work part time while in school though… Not to mention you're the platoon captain… I can't tell if I'm jealous of your dedication or not." Arata replied.

And he is absolutely not jealous of Arata's intimacy with his crush.

Even with his head still in his arms, he can catch a glimpse of Sakuya looking apologetically at him. Their eyes lock and Haruki nods at him to say that he understands the other's sentiment. At least Sakuya here still treats him like a friend. (Unlike a certain blond.)

"Come and sit with us, Muraku. We were just talking about you."

Holy crap, how insensitive is Hikaru?!

"Oh?" Muraku takes the empty seat beside Haruki, and Haruki feels a part of his soul slip away when Muraku turns to look at him and smile. "Are you okay, Haruki? You look tired."

"I'm fine..." Haruki mumbles, straightening up and wiping his face to remove excess despair out of his expression. He hurriedly finds a replacement for his broken mechanical pencil and diligently starts working on his homework again, hoping he can solve this problem fast enough so he can say he wants to go for a walk into town and disappear for a while to calm himself down.

"So, anyway, Haruki was telling us how he's been thinking of working part time with you too." Hikaru says.

Haruki's mechanical pencil breaks again.

"WHAT?!" he snaps at the blond.

"Really?" Muraku looks at Haruki again, and if Haruki was imagining things, he thinks he's seeing a twinkle in those purple-yellow eyes.

His heart does flips in his chest.

Although he certainly never told his platoon, he has been considering it, if he was being honest… He's been looking at part time job offers a lot lately. Hikaru must have noticed. That's why… That's why he's doing this.

Haruki can't tell if he should be grateful for Hikaru's intervention or sock him in the gut for being nosy.

Hoping he's not blushing, Haruki nods his head ever so slightly, though he doesn't dare to look at Muraku. "Yeah, but I'm still… unsure… I don't know if I can keep up with the workload like you do…"

"I'm sure you can." Muraku says with confidence. "You're a hard worker, Haruki. And besides…" he trails off a little. Haruki turns to look at him, and he sees that Muraku is smiling at him. "I think it'd be fun to work with you."

Yeah, he's totally going to sock Hikaru in the gut.

Because he's sure his face turned even redder than Arata's hair.