According to my notes, this fic was originally one of several possible stories for Underdog Hero's birthday. (Obviously not the one I chose, since Hero's birthday was in December, lol.) It's also dedicated to everyone who fails to remember little Manami being all like "I wonder what it feels like to get stabbed by a sword".

Doesn't fit anywhere in canon; it's just a short little thing I wrote once and am finally uploading.

"It wasn't so bad, really," Manami replied in return to something Toudou had just said. He glanced at the large bruise on his arm thoughtfully, proving that Toudou had felt more pain than he did when he'd crashed by adding, "I didn't know bones could make sounds like–"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Toudou cried out.

He punctuated every repetition with a frantic wave of his hands. Manami's only reply was an inappropriately angelic smile. According to Miyahara – that childhood friend of Manami's with the long hair and the glasses – Toudou didn't actually have to worry, because the other boy had always been like this. But even after learning the reason why, Toudou couldn't process it. Pain was bad no matter what, right?

Manami had an unusually high tolerance for pain. Toudou was very much the opposite. His skin was flawless, free of bruises and blemishes, right down to his neatly trimmed nails, and he liked it that way. Even thinking about blood made him so squeamish that he'd start worrying about hair loss fifty years too early, and of course once that thought crossed his mind things only got worse.

So Toudou took a deep breath and attempted to rationalize the situation. "That was definitely a tree branch."

"Aw, but I wanted a cast..."

"No, you don't."

Panic seized at Toudou's heart, and he very narrowly avoided shouting. Out of affection, of course!

Somehow, his voice managed not to quaver as he explained, "Casts are heavy and itchy. They make it hard to move your fingers and by the time you're finally allowed to take it off, the skin underneath has dried out so it's also smelly."

Luckily, that was enough to dissuade Manami, who was now pouting. On the other hand, Toudou almost choked as he realized he'd just realized how impossible it would be to get a cast on Manami now, if it turned out he did need one.

Happy thoughts, Toudou. Happy –

"I hope we don't have to look at any more x-rays," Toudou complained with a sigh. "I'm really not looking forward to – W-why are you poking it!"

"Don't you think it's neat how bruises change color when you press on them?" Manami asked with another completely unsuitable smile.

"No!"

Every time he'd gotten bruised or scraped as a kid, he'd cried!

Toudou heaved a sigh of relief as they finally approached the hospital, moving at what felt like a snail's pace since he refused to hazard letting Manami riding a bike on the way over. At times like this, he almost wished Manami were as cautious as he was, unwilling to risk any injury more severe than what a kiss could heal.