Yuma Tsukumo expected nothing on his walk to school. He'd dressed the same way for years, though the color of his uniform evolved from youthful red to a mature blue over time, and walked to the same building. Tetsuo, a friend, stopped accompanying him ever since he began to drive, but Yuma enjoyed his private walks, assuming he could afford to move leisurely without being late. The only part he really missed was seeing Shark's motorcycle drive by on occasion when the purple-haired male bothered to go to class.
Since Shark was a year older than Yuma at sixteen, he went to the upper-grade school. The two schools were literally right next to each other, but Yuma's classes started an hour later. As such, the younger male had arranged his schedule to have the earliest lunch, seeking more opportunities to be with his best friend across campus. Many others such as Kotori and Cathy disapproved of not being able to see Yuma, but they never minded his reasons.
Yuma had expected the same routine of sleeping in his classes, lunch with Shark, and more sleeping in classes, but his ruby eyes noticed a lot more vehicles than any of the under-aged students could drive parked between the two schools. Large buses occupied the normally vacant lot, and Yuma discovered that they belonged to the Heartland Blood Donor Society, a large red cross painted on the side of each blue bus.
Many students from the other school were lined up to get passes for their appointment times, and Yuma envied them greatly because registration and donating took time away from sitting in class. Only some of the oldest students in the highest grade at his school were eligible, but Yuma was still a few months shy of 16, the minimum donor age. Being only a few months off aggravated Yuma when he saw the buses, so the young teen headed back to his morning classes with hands in his pockets and a dull expression on his face. The school could hold an army of students with its size, so Yuma needed to keep moving to arrive at his class across the large campus to avoid another pesky tardy.
The classroom filled with students just in time for the bell, Yuma being early enough to see a few late arrivals, but no Kotori or Tetsuo. The hyperactive teen groaned at how boring class would be with the only friends he had that period being missing. If they were donating blood so early, they'd probably be too lethargic to be any fun later anyway. Shark likely avoided the opportunity to be surrounded by swarms of medical personnel and students, and Yuma relished the idea of finding him at lunch. "Pestering" would more accurately describe Yuma's actions around Shark, not that either truly minded the other's company.
"Shark better not mind," Yuma thought to himself. "We're best friends; that jerk better love my company!"
After four painful hours of waiting out his morning classes, Yuma rushed outside to grab lunch with Shark. The lot between the schools still filled with incoming and outgoing donors, but being the shortest way, Yuma dashed through the area quickly, his tie and necklace pendant flying behind him. An older nurse halted herself directly in front of Yuma's fixed line of fire, and felt the skinny teen collide with far too much pressure than should be natural for a male his size, knocking her completely on her rear.
"You imbecile! You were supposed to stop. Do you find it funny to run around causing mayhem? Do you, young man?" The woman's harsh eyes silenced Yuma contrary to her actual question. She stood hastily and began to brush herself off. "You're lucky that my uniform isn't soiled. My, the filth of this campus!"
Yuma glared at the woman. "You purposely stood in the way to have a reason to scold me. Your clothes are nasty like your personality. Besides, I have a friend to catch, ya old bat."
The nurse's rosy face mottled with rage. "You lousy child! You'd better run before I drain you of all your tainted blood. Run, before I decide to catch up!"
Yuma highly doubted the woman would be able to keep up with him, and he almost made a comment that running away defeated the purpose of the original scolding, but a hand covered his mouth from behind.
"Let's go, Yuma," a familiar voice ordered, the owner of it already walking forward as a means of encouraging Yuma to follow along. Yuma smiled despite the hand covering his mouth, and the other could feel it. "Should I trust you to speak?" Regardless of the question, the hand fell from Yuma's face.
"Heh, very funny, Shark. I could've handled that hag. It's not like she was easy to miss. The kids here are a lot less of a target."
Shark creased his eyebrows, but he never truly minded his friend's antics. On the contrary, he found the little argument he'd happened upon quite funny. "You're an idiot. You should leave me alone so I can eat in peace. I need to load up."
"Huh?! Load up what? You know I'm not going to leave you alone now, Shark. Tell me, tell me, tell meeee!" Yuma pleaded while circling Shark in a hyper jog. Tan hands grabbed Shark's alabaster ones and swung them hastily as he pestered the older male for information.
Shark snapped his hands away. Turning his back to his friend, he scoffed. "You wouldn't understand, idiot." Shark never openly asked Yuma to leave, and while the younger teen knew it was implied by how long the two had spent together, Shark should have known it wasn't going to happen.
"Well, I never will if you don't bother to explain it! I bet you're just being lazy again. I'm really not that slow at learning."
Shark cocked his head slightly behind him with an eyebrow raised. "Yuma, it took you thirteen years to learn how to narrowly beat someone in Duel Monsters."
"And the first person I beat was you! I'd say I have a pretty intense learning curve." Yuma's grin looked far too proud to be admitting he was every bit the poor learner he denied being.
Shark rubbed his temples and sighed. "You probably don't even know what a learning curve actually is."
"You can teach me that along with your special secret!" Yuma continued to beam as he grabbed Shark's elbow and dragged him to the lunch tables nearby.
"Wait, stop! You idiot, I have my stuff in the opposite direction." Shark tugged his arm away, embarrassed to be dragged around by his irksome friend, but he didn't tug hard enough to actually free himself, nor would he want to if they were in private.
Yuma scarcely heard Shark, but stopped in his tracks with a goofy grin on his face. "Then you lead the way, crabby pants."
"Fine," Shark replied in defeat. He grabbed Yuma's wrist and began to walk to where he put his stuff.
Shark and Yuma headed up the steps of the upper-level school across from the busses. No one dared mess with Shark's belongings, so his lunch waited patiently for his return. Yuma wondered about the peculiar blue lunchbox, though. Normally the antisocial teen either skipped eating at lunch or would only eat when Yuma forced him. Yuma's smile split his face with sheer joy that his friend did was actually doing something to take care of himself for a change.
The younger male's stomach growled, but he didn't want to abandon Shark to get food for himself. Instead, sly fingers reached for the mysterious lunchbox, intending to steal a snack. "Uh, what is this, Shark?" Yuma asked, utterly disappointed at the lack of pudding cups or chocolate milk to steal.
"Food," came Shark's simple reply. "Or in the proper sense—nourishment. Now back off from my lunch, you bottomless pit of a stomach!" Shark snatched at his lunchbox, and actually looked a bit disappointed himself when he finally peaked inside. The contents consisted of what appeared to be half a bag of spinach leaves with a small half-pint juice box buried beneath it in the corner.
"What is that? It looks like someone dumped a salad without the croutons in there and decided to call it lunch!"
"That's because it is." Shark seethed through his teeth. "Rio, that little …" Furious blue eyes closed as he exhaled deeply. Hardly feeling calmed by the action, the vexed teen took a handful of the leafy greens and devoured bunch by bunch in angry mouthfuls. Yuma kept his mouth shut while Shark ate, but seeing him so upset with every bite confused the younger teen greatly.
"Uh, if it bothers you so much, I can just buy us both some lunch," Yuma offered with an awkward grin.
"Mm, no. This is, uh, I don't even know. I need to eat it anyway. Freaking Rio has no damn cooking abilities. Should've made my own lunch," Shark grumbled as he reached for the last piece of raw spinach. The only thing at the bottom was his tiny juice box and a note. Since Shark could not entirely bite back his curiosity, he snatched up the paper and glanced at it.
"Sorry, bro. Kotori called and said she wanted to hang out before school. Decided this was good enough. You should probably make sure you have more fluids and sugar, too. I was going to buy something at the mall today, so use your own money. They give snacks anyway. Hope you enjoy your lunch.
Made with love,
Rio"
Shark crumpled the note and vigorously tore it to shreds. "I hate my sister. She made my 'lunch'. Really, she can be such a child," Shark groaned. His deep blue eyes turned upward at the encompassing sky, and finally he relaxed a little as he felt Yuma hold his hand, staring at the clouds with him.
"I can act pretty childish, and you don't mind me. It'll be fine." Yuma leaned his head on Shark's shoulders, content smile gracing his lips as a matching pair settled on Shark's face.
"'Pretty childish'," Shark mused with a chuckle. "Yuma, you are a child through and through. There isn't a 'pretty' or 'ish' to it!" Shark felt himself almost completely relax with Yuma around, the stress of the day eased considerably.
Yuma stuck his tongue at Shark, but the older male ignored his friend's immaturity. Really, if Yuma responded any differently, he'd have been worried. That idiot had enough spirit and emotion for five people, and the effect it had on Shark's sour personality was profound. He tended to like himself a bit more around Yuma.
Still, Yuma only changed Shark's personality, not his body. Shark wished he could do half as much as Yuma without feeling so lightheaded. Normally, the dizzy spells were few and far between and Shark ignored it, but both the technicians and the nurses at the hospital kept insisting it should be addressed. Shark had a fairly tone physique and could definitely at least keep up with someone like Yuma, but certainly not for prolonged intervals, and his physical stamina had little to do with the other symptoms of his ailment. Just looking down at his sheet-white fingers on Yuma's tanned ones brought light to the amount of neglect he'd done to his body. A pang of guilt plagued him; today wasn't about him, after all.
"Hey, I think I'll take you up on that lunch offer. I'd imagine you owe me a few lunches from all the times I let you pig out at my wallet's expense," Shark teased, standing up and motioning his head to a snack machine.
"Hey, don't make it sound like my fault. After the first time, you should have stopped offering!" Regardless of his offended tone, Yuma never ceased smiling at Shark. "C'mon. Lunch'll be over soon!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shark followed his younger friend to the lower-school cafeteria, allowing his companion to buy him some snacks to munch on and a soda.
Yuma was right about lunch ending soon. The two only had about five minutes to eat before the bell would ring for students to scramble to class. Shark and Yuma sighed at the thought; Yuma because he hated class and Shark because his appointment was scheduled after lunch.
Quickly gobbling their meals, the two put their lunch trays away just as the bell sounded through the school. Yuma turned to Shark, who actually looked more distressed than usual after lunch, and frowned. Though emotions normally flew over Yuma's naïve head, no one could mistake the disappointment and annoyance in those mesmerizing blue orbs.
"Hey, we can always hang out after school. You can come by my house; Akari will let you in until I get home."
Shark's eyes widened as though he had not even noticed his friend was speaking. "What?"
"Mm! I said we should hang out later. You look like a bigger grump than usual today. We can duel at my place or something." Yuma put his hands behind his head, leaning back slightly on a leg just behind the other. "Y'know, as friends. You seem down is all."
Shark just stared at Yuma's nonchalant invitation, smile slowly forming on his lips. "I want to, Yuma. It just … depends on how I'm feeling."
The second bell rang—the one that meant students were to already be back in class—and Yuma jumped nearly a foot in the air. "Oh, man! I'm going to be late again, and I don't even have an excuse. Ugh, what do I do…" Yuma turned to Shark, and his panic increased ten-fold. "You! You're not even on your campus! I'm so sorry, Shark. I made you late."
"It's fine, Yuma," Shark's calm voice explained. Yuma didn't comprehend his friend's current composure when he'd looked so stressed mere moments before, but Shark grabbed Yuma's shoulders firmly, an understanding smile on his face. "I'm not even going to class. They looked to be running behind anyway."
"Who?"
"Huh?" Shark asked, sounding no less clueless as Yuma had prior. "You didn't figure it out? I have my appointment after lunch." Shark should have known Yuma wouldn't know any better. Honestly, he should have known the oblivious male wouldn't understand why his lunch consisted solely of spinach.
"An appointment? With who? Kotori had an appointment this morning for the blood drive, but you seem way too stingy to do something nice like that!" Of course, Yuma meant no malice behind the words, but he might've been better off not saying anything.
"Stingy?! You really don't know what it was like treating you to food on all those da- outings," Shark retorted with a huff. "Besides, I've wanted to donate for a while now."
"Really? That's so cute, Shark!" Yuma exclaimed, oblivious to his friend's gasp and slight blush. "Why have you only wanted to? You've met the age minimum for a while. Are you scared of needles or something? Jeez, you're practically a VIP at the hospital; you should be more than okay with needles."
Shark punched Yuma's arm, not hard at all, but enough to let the other know he was annoyed. "I'm not scared! I'm…I'm nervous. There's a huge difference, smartass." Shark hadn't been keeping track of time, but he assumed he'd need to hurry to get started on the paperwork. "Aren't you still late?"
Yuma froze, a whiny "ugh" escaping his lips. "Uh, I think I'll just hang out with you until next class. Since you're basically a nervous wreck, I'm sure the teacher will understand! C'mon, we hafta move quickly!"
Before Shark even realized he had been spun around, Yuma was pushing him out the door. "Yuma, do you even know whe-"
"Ah ah ah! I'm moral support. I remember I was really nervous before my tennis shot. It was horrible! And really painful, too. Sis said it was because I licked my ice cream off from a rusty surface, but I can't understand why they would name it after tennis. Tennis is actually fun, getting shots is terrible!"
Shark needed a moment while Yuma pushed him toward the blood donation busses to understand what his dense companion meant, and when he figured it out, the stoic male threw his head back in laughter, promptly hitting Yuma's. "Ow, you idiot, I mean it hurts, but wow!" Shark tried to say something coherent, but his words were broken between bits of laughter and grunts of pain. Yuma did much the same, but he didn't know why he was laughing.
The two continued walking as they tried to ignore their aching skulls. Shark had been feeling almost chipper when they left the cafeteria, but actually seeing the busses and various students going in and out brought his anxiety back full-force. Yuma sensed this and reached for the older male's hand once more. With one look into Yuma's determined pink eyes, Shark calmed down enough to walk up to one of the phlebotomy technicians and ask for the paperwork. Yuma stayed slightly out of their sights to avoid being caught, but ran to Shark when he left their view.
"I got a pack of cookies and a Dr. Pepper," Shark noted with a smirk as he passed Yuma a cookie. "You can't have all of them since I do actually need them more." The two of them sat on some stairs near the busses as Shark took out his papers.
"Pfft, I'll say!" Yuma replied mid-swallow. "You're skin and bones." Yuma's curious eyes peaked at Shark's paperwork. "What's that?"
"Huh?" Shark asked, distracted with the papers. "Oh, this. Uh, it's just the general questionnaire they give to make sure they aren't wasting their time getting tainted blood. It asks about things like whether I've been to high-risk countries or if I'm pregnant, or even if I've had sex with guys."
Yuma's eyebrows rose at the last two, mostly the last one. "Are you not telling me some important things, Mr. Kamishiro?"
Shark shot him the bird and laughed. "Nothing at all." The older male showed Yuma his answers, all negative. "I'd think my personal stalker would notice if I left the country. I don't think anyone around me has good enough genes to dare get me pregnant, not to mention I'm simply way out of everyone's league for sex." Shark tossed his hair behind his shoulders playfully, purposefully hitting Yuma in the face as he did so.
Yuma growled and tackled Shark to the ground, laughing as he pinned his friend to the steps. "You're such a cocky jerk. It's a damn good thing you aren't a girl. You'd make a grouchy pregnant lady." To emphasize his point, Yuma gave a genuine shudder at the idea of a pregnant Shark.
Shark spilled the last of his Dr. Pepper after Yuma pushed it off the step, but he shrugged it off. Granted having the extra fluids would have been nice, but Shark simply had to hope for the best. Taking a deep breath, he pushed Yuma off and filled out the end of his survey.
Shark stood up with his papers and jumped off the steps. "Guess I should probably go. I don't want to be around your corrupting self. You're encouraging all those young children around you to skip class too, you know."
"No way! I'm encouraging them to help their friends." Yuma smiled at Shark. "I did help, right?"
Shark took a moment to think, but he knew the honest answer in an instant. "Yeah. I guess I'm not as nervous anymore."
"Sweet! But hey, why were you nervous to begin with? I thought only Rio's anger did that to you?"
Shark pursed his lips and shrugged. "It's hard to explain. Long story short is that I've always liked the idea of donating, even tried to a couple of times, but I've never been able. Most of those sad charity cases were me as many times as I've been in and out of the hospital, but blood is something I thought anyone could give." Shark shrugged again in a vain attempt to seem nonchalant about the situation. "I've been anemic for years and no matter how often I try to eat iron-rich foods and keep healthy, I've always been turned away. I really want to go in there and be able give my pint instead of wasting the nurse's time and resources that could go toward finding someone who can actually donate."
"Oh, Shark." Yuma jumped off the steps too, going to embrace his friend. The two stood at nearly eye-level before Yuma leaned in and squeezed Shark close. "You go in there and let them drain you dry!"
Shark nodded and turned away. With his friend's support, he knew he'd be well enough to donate. Even though Yuma could not walk inside the bus with Shark, he could at least watch as Yuma waited outside in the heat (skipping class) as a loyal cheerleader might.
Shark got on the bus, and a technician quickly took his papers, ready to begin. The woman took him to a small room in the back of the bus, and asked for him to hold out his right hand.
"Have you ever done this before? We've got to test your hemoglobin and get your vitals before we can proceed." The woman grabbed an alcohol pad and cleaned the tip of Shark's cold finger, milking it to stimulate circulation. She saw the boy nod, and proceeded without further comment, pricking the tip and wiping away the first drop to rid it of any epithelial cells. The next drop was quickly collected by a lancet in a small hand-held meter. Shark extended his hand to her in silence, anxiously awaiting the results.
His heart sank a mere five seconds later.
"Looks like you came just a little short, darling. Let me put a Band-Aid on you and let you go then."
"No!" The tech almost dropped her chart upon hearing Shark's adamant yell. "I mean, uh, please. Try the other finger. I'm barely under and I just ate. Maybe it's just not circulating well in this hand. Try the other, please."
The technician admired Shark for his insistence and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Though his reasoning was slightly off, she had encountered enough situations where the other hand or even finger produced varying results. She cleaned a new digit and prepared another Band-Aid, pricking his hand once more. Another familiar pinch shot through Shark's ice-cold fingertip, and when the tech smiled at him shortly thereafter, he actually found himself smiling back.
"Looks like I'll let you through after all. Go lay on one of the cots and a nurse will hook you up."
If Shark showed emotion like anyone else, he probably would have done a cartwheel in that tiny bus. Instead, Shark calmly walked to the main part of it, taking a seat by the window closest to Yuma's school and watching as the idiot tried to evade a group of nurses and volunteers outside. Shark chuckled to himself, bringing someone's attention to him.
"Oh, hello there, sweetie! Would you like anything to drink while you lay down?" A young woman asked, already gathering her supplies to draw Shark's blood with.
"No, thank you." Shark saw her nod, and she grabbed his arm, placing a thumb on the underside of his elbows. "Wha?"
"Your veins seem good. Just pump this every few seconds to make sure your blood keeps moving." She handed him a stress ball, and smiled when Shark did as she instructed. Simple as the request was, he felt rather stressed by the whole ordeal.
When he felt her clean the area with a large alcohol swab, he noticed she also held the needle in her other hand. Shark took a deep breath, continuing to watch Yuma as he tried to catch a moth outside, probably thinking it was a butterfly. He flinched when he felt cool metal break into his skin, but continued to pump the stress ball and relax. Shark tore his eyes away from his lovable idiot of a friend to glance at his arm, disgusted and intrigued by the coursing crimson liquid. He had a ways to go before filling his pint, but didn't mind waiting. Looking at Yuma passed the time very quickly, he realized. Before he even noticed a difference, the nurse told Shark that he'd filled his share, removing the needle in a well-practiced flick of the wrist. She held a piece of gauze over the site and applied pressure, encouraging him to hold his arm up to stop the bleeding.
"How ya feeling?" the nurse asked politely.
"Anxious to leave," Shark answered coldly. Inwardly, the teen was overjoyed, but he wanted to go be with Yuma already. The nurse seemed to understand and smiled at him.
"You sound like you have a hot date waiting for you. Make sure you don't pass out, okay? Nothing strenuous for the next twenty-four hours and rehydrate when you get the chance. Take it easy, yeah?"
"Yeah," Shark murmured, surprised he had enough blood in him to blush a little.
"Well, we certainly hope to see you at the next blood drive. Enjoy your day!" the nurse ordered with a kind smile, hustling off to attend to her next donor.
Shark sat up slowly, careful not to cause himself a dizzy spell in the process. With a little more confidence, he stood and stretched. Shark escorted himself out, and when he was close enough for Yuma to notice him, he even shot his friend a smile.
"Shark! How ya feeling? Didja do it?"
"Yeah, yeah. I just feel woozy. I don't think I should ride my bike home today. Maybe I should have picked an earlier time. I'd probably feel better by now."
"Pfft, it's fine. I'll carry you home like a fair maiden if you require it." Yuma added with a wink.
"Grr, you're going to need a blood transfusion if you keep that up, you idiot!" Shark barked out. Despite the obviously empty threat, Yuma ceased with the jokes in exchange for giggling.
"I gotcha, no worries. You're the best, Shark." Yuma held the older male's face in place by his chin, and smiled when he noticed a slight blush. "I'm sad that your face isn't red as it normally is when I do this. That's it, no more donating your blood! You're too cute when you blush," Yuma teased as he gave Shark's cheeks a small pinch.
"Oi, you shut it! It's not my fault I'm so damn pale!"
"Well, you did volunteer to give blood, so you're a little paler now. Until you suddenly regain a pint, it is your fault."
Shark glared at Yuma's annoyingly upbeat smile for a few moments, but too soon he surrendered to his friend's will and smiled for himself. "You're still annoying."
"Wouldn't want it any other way. Now let's go get one of those cool blood donor shirts. It's the funny one that asks what 'type' you are!"
Yuma already sprinted to the direction where the shirts were, but Shark couldn't but think to himself, "You should already know my type, idiot. Why else would I be around you so damn much?"
Hello, Grey again with some sharkbait. Mondays are supposed to be for my Deathshipping story, but the sharkbait options are waaaay too low. This is for/based of the prompt giving by TheCrimsonClarity. She helped give me the medical details since I only donated blood twice. I'd have done it three times, but I didn't have enough iron the third attempt. The second time I barely donated since the first finger they pricked was low but not the other? It's weird, but true.
Reviews are totally loved. Thanks, bros!