Chapter 2~ \(^o^)/


"So, next one is… 'Which property of addition is shown: associative, commutative or identity?'"

They were both sitting around a kotatsu in Shinya's room. The boy was trying his best to focus on his math book, still nothing was coming out. Well, in point of fact, the problem wasn't that hard, but it was just too hot to think about anything else but dive in cold water… or at least some icy, frosty juice. The window was already wide-open and the fan was doing absolutely nothing, and Shogo had to poke the other boy's head to make him rise from the table.

"Which one?" The white haired boy asked again.

"Who knows?" Shinya grunted. "Associative?"

"Commutative."

Shinya grunted even louder. "Why do we have to study at home a Saturday afternoon anyway? It's hot as hell and mom said the repairman won't be done with our air conditioner before next week. At least we should go to your place. Your house has got one, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has. But I don't think you want to walk in the heat outside until we get there." Shogo was writing something in his notebook. Despite the apparent willingness he was trying to put in his work, the dark haired boy could definitely tell he was at least as bored as him. "So we have no choice. Plus exams are close."

"I'll work it out, like always." Kougami rolled on the desk. "I don't even know why the old man told me to revise with you. You don't even need my help to catch up. Didn't you say something like even when you're not attending school, you always have home tutoring anyway?"

"I did. But isn't it funnier this way?" Shogo replied with a gentle smile. It made Shinya frown, as though to say, 'Yeah, maybe for you, but not for me.'

It was true, indeed, that the white haired boy was in no need for help when it came to school. Shogo did pretty well during practice tests, and didn't even seem like he had to put any effort into it. Moreover, in spite of his light build, he was also pretty good at sport – not even minding the hot and burning weather outside. Thus, to make it short, there was no problem at all. None… expect, perhaps, a little, tiny one. Something very common, honestly.

It happened maybe one week after Shogo's transfer. At first, it wasn't that serious: only small stuff like pens or notebooks disappearing from his desk or from his locker, from time to time. The boy didn't say anything to the teachers and, really, it was not something serious. Shogo thought the bullying would stop one day or another… but it didn't. Next, he found the stolen notebooks… but all torn and scattered in the toilet. Together with his gym outfit. And in spite of everything, Shogo never ratted out.

"I'm not going to play their game." He simply told Kougami, one afternoon they were leaving their classroom. The last course was over and the boys were both off to home.

"I think that's not the problem here." The dark haired boy replied. "You know, next time it won't be only books and clothes. You're going to get hurt. Badly."

"I'm not." Shogo yawned before opening a new novel.

Maybe he was right, Kougami pondered. Tearing stuff and actually attacking somebody were two totally different things. Anyhow, bullies were just cowards, and Shogo was clever enough to avoid fighting with them. Probably.

"At any rate, stop reading while walking." Kougami lightly pulled Shogo's book (it was Gargantua). "Are you listening?"

"I am listening. You're being noisy."

"And you're being annoying." Kougami fumed, and yet opened the door to let the white haired boy pass. A scorching heat welcomed them outside the building, so burning it made Kougami frown. "When people are worried about you…"

"My, that's so thoughtful of you." Shogo joked.

"Che. May the fire of St. Anthony fly up thy fundament."

"That was less thoughtful."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Shinya added right before walking past the white haired boy. He wanted to run away from the sun and get home as soon as possible. At that moment – Shinya would recall long after it happened – at that moment, he should have paid more attention to his surroundings. Instead of just keeping on walking like a dumb idiot, he should have been more careful, and he was about to regret it. "And don't read under the sun. You'll ruin your eyes for… sure…Eh?"

Kougami lost balance. Someone was pushing him from behind. A quick glance showed him white and feathery hair, amber eyes… then two pallid hands actually doing the pushing. 'What the hell are you doing?' The boy wanted to scream, but he didn't have that opportunity.

Something dark, rather big, and seemingly heavy just fell on Shogo's neck. It made a loud sound (or was it Kougami's imagination?) when it fell on him, almost as loud as when the boy himself fell on the ground, head first.

It all happened in a fraction of a second.

Mechanically, Kougami looked up to see where the projectile was coming from, but could see no one at the windows upstairs. Only, in the courtyard, other students were rushing towards them. Shogo still was lying on the ground, motionless. People asked what happened, and everything Kougami could do was whether staring stupidly at them or at the unconscious boy. He felt something akin to panic making his legs going numb, and sweat drops that weren't caused by the heat covering the palm of his hands. What was he supposed to do? Call the teachers? Call the school nurse? Or immediately an ambulance? Or he should at least carry the boy to the infirmary. But what if there were injuries that required him to remain still until help is coming?

"Hey, move out!" Someone violently shoved Shinya aside. That was the school nurse. They picked Shogo from the ground and quickly brought him back inside the building. Outside, the crowd made by curious students already got a little smaller. Maybe ten minutes later, there was almost no one left – almost no one because Kougami still was standing there, unable to move, as though his feet were screwed on the ground…

"Now, how many loaves were served in all?" Shogo's voice suddenly stirred the dark haired man from his daydream.

"Ah?" Shinya rubbed his eyes, as though to erase the last images from his recent flashback, only to see he was back in his bedroom, with the fan's monotonous humming. And Shogo staring at him inquiringly, eyes looking brighter than usual. "What's that?"

"You…" The other boy asked suspiciously. "You were sleeping, weren't you?"

Kougami yawned while stretching his arms above his head. "Yeah…" It made the white haired boy sigh.

"I guess it's our limit for today." He said as he closed his notebook. "I wanted to finish this novel anyway."

"Which one?"

Shinya's jaw dropped when he saw Shogo pull out from his bag the same, dark (the cover was dark brown) and enormous projectile that had knocked the other boy some time ago. He read the title: 'Joseph and His Brothers'. "Why the heck had you brought this book with you?"

Shogo unhurriedly opened the novel where he left the last time he read it. Halfway through the book. "Well, I wasn't going to leave it in the infirmary. It's quite an interesting approach of the bible." He paused and looked up at Kougami's bewildered expression. "What? I'll lend it to you when I'm done."

"You really have no common sense at all."

"Why are you telling me that?"

"No… for nothing."

A slight knock on the bedroom's door. "Boys, are you okay? I have orange juices." Kougami heard his mother's voice say from the hallway.

"Get. Up." Kougami pulled at Shogo's arm. The white haired man was half asleep on his seat but seeing how his eyelids looked heavy at that moment, Kougami was pretty sure he'd fall out soon. It wasn't late yet – maybe few minutes to 7 pm. It was rush hour at the izakaya – if one could call it that way when everything you have I your shop is a little gathering of about ten or so people. Obediently, Shogo followed Shinya outside, still clinging to him like a kindergartener to his favorite plush toy. Even the cold wind that blew on his face when they got on the storefront couldn't sober him up. "Are you okay? Wait, don't move. I'll call for a cab."

"Don't." Shogo lazily uttered. Not for a second did he let go of the dark haired man's arm.

"Stop being childish." Shinya frowned. "You're in no condition to walk home, aren't you?"

"I am. I just need to sleep a little."

"Not here. And let go of me."

"I won't."

Out of patience, Kougami heaved a sigh. What was he supposed to do, then? He positively couldn't leave the other man like that, drunk and on his own. There was just something about the other idiot that made Shinya plainly unable to do that. Really, was he the idiot? It's not like they still were in middle school. They were no longer kids, no longer classmates, no longer friends…

"I'm not listening to your nonsense anymore." Kougami said then hailed at taxi that was passing by them, only to get ignored by the driver, which pissed the dark haired man even more. "The hell is that."

In any case, they were grown up men. Makishima could take care of himself alone, he was sure about that.

"Mmnh…" The white haired youth suddenly whined, his weight now almost totally thrown on the other male. His head was leaning on Kougami's shoulder, his face titled so that light from the stores around them could now illuminate it completely. They were so close Kougami could practically hear his breathing; he could easily study the tiniest detail of the white haired man's face – the vaguely furrowed eyebrows, the white eyelashes that could almost touch the soft and fair skin of his cheeks, long and thick enough to entirely conceal so dazzling amber orbs behind them (and that day they looked particularly alluring. Was it because the other man was drunk?). He almost laughed at the tip of Shogo's nose and ears which had gone a little darker shade of pink, but it still was darker than his thin, glistening lips…

They were both immobile in the half-dimness. Around them, some people – not so many, though – would come and go, come in the pub, leave it, or just pass by on the sidewalk where they were standing. But, in general, everything around was quiet. Quiet and deathly still. So nothing could divert Shinya's thoughts from the man that was nearly lying in his arms; for the young man, at that precise moment, there was nothing but the warmth of the other male, his sweet smell, nothing but his quiet breathing, the magnet-like orbs and the soft and enticing lips…

"Shinya?" Shogo asked with a little pout (or was Kougami seeing things again?) before tugging a little more on his knight's arm, now gradually closing the distance between them, making the white haired man's face draw dangerously close to his, until their lips were only one inch away from each other. "It's okay?..."

"Mr. Makishima?" A voice resounded from the other side of the street. Instinctively, Kougami pushed the white haired man away from him then stared at the stranger who was walking toward them. Weird, he thought at that moment. Had his heart been racing that fast all that time? Kougami couldn't say. So hiding his rising confusion, he tried to focus on the third man.

It was indeed a man, a rather tall one (even in the dark it was easy to spot him). As he got closer, Kougami saw more clearly the short brown hair altogether with the man's face – looking at it, he was certainly in his late 30s or early 40s, although his casual and modern clothes firstly mislead the dark haired man. "Thanks God, I wasn't wrong!" He spoke while opening his arms as though to emphasize his words.

"You found me?" Shogo inquired. This time, Shinya was sure about it, he was sulking. It looked like the sight of the newcomer made a job of sobering him up.

"Of course, I found you." Choe Gu-sung smiled politely. "I was worried when I didn't see you at home. Well, it's not very late, but it was just very unusual for you not to be home at this hour… Oh, is he a friend of yours?" He turned to look at Shinya then extended his hand. "My name is Choe Gu-sung. I'm… how to say it properly? Let's say I'm Mr. Makishima's assistant. I suppose I should thank you too, for taking care of him while I wasn't there."

"You didn't have to pick me up." Shogo stated with a hint of displeasure in his voice. "How did you find me anyway?"

"With this." Choe showed him his smartphone. A map was opened on the screen.

"A tracing app. So mine is…" The white haired man slightly frowned. "When?"

Gu-sung's smile never once faded from his lips as he brought his phone back in his pocket. "Some time before you started college. Well, I can't constantly watch over you, so I thought this kind of gadget would be very useful."

Kougami watched the scene without getting much of what was happening. He had never met nor heard about that man, Choe Gu-Sung, before. The guy said he was Shogo's assistant (if that was true), so perhaps was he working for the latter's tutor? Now wasn't the time to ask about that. This felt quite frustrating, to say the least, to be so oblivious to one person's world. Nonetheless that's how things were going to be between them… No, there was at least one thing Shinya did understand:

"I think I should leave now." He said then waved briefly at Shogo. "He's bringing you back home, isn't he? Then, see you tomorrow."

Slightly bowing to Gu-sung, Shinya crossed the street, leaving Shogo and his caretaker before heading to the next metro station.

"Get. Up." A younger Kougami ordered to a younger Makishima who until now had been quietly sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor of the school gymnasium, his back to the wall. Both boys were in their judogi, however, while the dark haired one had spent the last hours warming-up, gaming and practicing with the other members of his club, the white haired one had only been reading, from time to time looking at the other kids and yawning then reading again. He didn't even care about the other kids looking at him slyly, and when the sensei asked him he wanted to join them, he just smiled, shrugged and kept on reading. For about two hours, that's all they did. Even when the other kids left, Shogo still was stuck in his own universe. For him, Shinya's call was like an annoying alarm clock that stirs you awake in the morning.

Entering the judo club wasn't even the boy's idea in the first place, but Kougami insisted on his coming to their evening training. Well, Shogo wasn't totally against the idea since he didn't have anything to do after classes anyway, but…

"Why do I have to participate as well?" He said out loud. "I was okay with only watching. You even forced me to wear this…" He stared with boredom at his judogi. They were undeniably too big for him, but there was no other size left.

"Next time, just bring yours." Kougami replied evenly. "Now, leave that book there and get up."

Makishima heaved a sigh before getting to his feet. "You guys are done, aren't you? So let's just go home. It's late and I'm starting to get hungry."

"You practically did nothing! What's the point of coming here if it's only to spend all your time reading in your corner?"

"I've never been in a judo club before. And I've never really practiced it."

"But you do know the basis, don't you? That's more than enough."

The white haired boy stared at his classmate. "… I don't need self-defense courses, if that's what you're trying to say. I'm not planning on fighting anyone anyway."

"You know, if anything wrong happens, I won't always be there to look after your ass.

Shogo frowned. Kougami recognized his particular frown – which was something between a scowl and a pout. It made his friend look like a spoiled kitten. "If I do it, will you let me go home?"

"Right after." Shinya grinned.

Finally, Shogo gave up and followed Kougami on the mat. They both bowed to each other (tradition oblige) then get started. Shogo's moves were kind of dull, and Kougami could clearly see he wasn't putting in any effort at all. It was as though only pushing him a little would be enough to make him fly to the ground. He didn't want to break the other boy's bones after all, so maybe he'd go easy on him…

"Like hell."

Kougami pulled the other male to his right front corner so that Shogo had to step forward with his right foot, right before putting his left foot outside the white haired boy's and swiftly pulling the latter again toward using his hand. Shogo easily lost balance as Shinya pushed him backward. However, as the dark haired boy tried to swing his right leg past the white haired one's, he only found an empty space. In the blink of an eye, Shogo sent him a thunder-like kick, briefly confusing the other boy, then answered to Shinya's previous attack with a quick succession of straight punches the other boy could barely avoid. It caught Kougami off guard, that was true, but not for too long as the latter mechanically blocked the last blow then used that momentum to pull at Shogo' collar, simultaneously plant his knee on the latter's thigh before rolling backward, thus dragging the other boy with him. A light "thud" could be heard as Shogo fell on his back? After the throw, however, the boy didn't falter. He got back on his feet as fast as the dark haired boy.

Soon, the pace of their spar grew faster. At that point, Shinya didn't even look like he was surprised to see that bookworm Shogo easily countering most of his attacks, swiftly dodging his kicks and, as often as he could, avoiding his throws. He wasn't surprised… or more exactly, he w as too engrossed in their fight to think about it anymore. His opponent was right before his eyes, and that was all that mattered. They were supposed to practice judo, but what the other guy was doing was obviously something different. But it didn't bother Shinya. He could find his own way amongst the fluid and fast attacks, his speed was more or less matching the white haired boy's, and despite the rather important gap between their built, the other boy still could effortlessly last the distance.

'Sparring with Makishima Shogo was a lot of fun' Shinya couldn't help but think – although he couldn't think too much about anything else except dodging and trying to bring down his opponent, right now.

"Hey, do you want me to stop?" Shogo grinned at him as he made an attempt at sweeping away the dark haired boy's leg.

"Hell no." Shinya grinned back, this time barely avoiding his attack.

Stepping back a little, Shogo resumed his hitting, smile never fading from his face. "Are you sure?" He was breathing deeply between each sentence. "Your body has started moving more slowly. Or do you want me to go more slowly as well?"

"Shut your damn mouth and concentrate!"

Gripping hard on the other boy's arm, Kougami stretched his leg to trap Shogo's and tried throwing him back to the ground again – and his attempt would have been successful if Shogo hadn't took advantage of it to pull hard at his collar, in the same time hooking his leg behind Shinya's neck so that the latter was now the one being thrown down. Shinya emitted a deep grunt as his back hit the mat, and a louder one when he felt something heavy crushing his stomach.

"You stupid. Get off!" He yelled at Shogo, who was now sitting on top of him, all grinning and boasting.

"Now, let's call it a tie." He said. "I'm hungry. Let's go to the old Shimahara's ramen shop. He knows I don't like eggs in my ramen. And it isn't too late yet. If we go now-"

Shinya didn't wait for him to finish for making the other boy lose balance, throwing him back on the ground, trapping Shogo's legs and hands under his so that the white haired boy was now totally unable to get free. However, what he hadn't thought about is, in that position, he was pretty (and even very) close to his friend. Without noticing their closeness, he smirked at his prisoner, whose eyes . "Iiidiot. I told you to concentrate, for lord's sake." He was panting and sweating heavily. "That's what you get when you don't listen to what people say to you. Next time-"

Smoooch.

Kougami jerked as though he just got struck but a lightning, then swiftly let go of the white haired boy as he got up and took quick steps backwards.

"You bastard! What was that for?" He shouted, glaring at Shogo. The latter was up on his feet too, a cunning expression beaming on his features when he dusted off his gi.

"Because if it were up to you, I'd never get to eat ramen today."

"But you didn't have to do that!"

"Maybe…" He grinned. "But look, you let go of me, didn't you? So it was efficient."

"Don't feed me with your nonsense!" Kougami kept on shouting, but Shogo wasn't listening anymore. Nor was he even looking at Kougami. He was heading to the locker-room, at the back of the gymnasium.

"Shinya, hurry and get changed." He was almost chiming. "If we get there too late, there'll be a hellish queue, and I'm too hungry to wait."

The locker-room door shut behind the white haired boy, but even once it was close, a shocked and rather annoyed Kougami kept on glaring in that direction. For few seconds only.

"That idiot." At last he muttered to himself. He looked behind the windowpanes: it was certainly a bit late, since the sky has gone from its orangey color to a darker, bluer one. That was right; there sure would be a huge queue in front of Shimahara's shop. And it would be a pain now to go look for another ramen shop. At least if that idiot wasn't so picky about his food (seriously, where in the world did he want Shinya to find ramen with no meat and no egg inside?) they could have settle for any place. But unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case. What a pain in the ass. And he was going to whine again, Kougami was sure about that. So he'd have to go buy snacks to make the other boy stop complain, but then when they'd get their ramen, he would barely touch his because he'd have stuffed himself with crisps and ice shaves. And then they'd end up arguing again and again… Kougami paused, perplex. Then, louder: "How the hell did things end up like this."

TBC