Chapter of fluff/angst ahoy.

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4 - A Good Summer

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"Hey loser. Nice entrance today," Hiruma leaned against Rui's bike like it was still his own. "I missed this thing. One day I'll steal it from you."

"I'll hafta kill ya though," Rui pretended to be regretful. It made Hiruma laugh, and he pulled at Rui's helmet.

"Keh! Whatta ya doin'?"

"Nothing," Hiruma managed to pry the helmet off, and look very pleased with himself. "Just kinda missed your stupid face too."

"What?" Rui stared at his bike handles, not knowing where else to look. "You're crazy."

Hiruma's satisfied mouth broadened, and he bent a bit, before ruffling a hand through Rui's hair. It wasn't much, but Rui felt himself burn, like something entirely too intimate had just happened.

He batted the hand away and cleared his throat. "Ya...ya wanna lift anywhere?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

Hiruma placed the helmet back on Rui's head, and then fastened it for him. The way skin brushed on his jaw and throat; it was crazy how much Rui cared to notice, but there it was. Rui guessed that was Hiruma's way of thanking him.

There was also the way the demon's arms fit round his waist like an old jigsaw, and the warmth there was something he could get used to, or he was already. He wasn't sure.

"How was it, taking the godly Eyeshield 21 to the game? Bet you felt special?"

"Like fuck," Rui scoffed. "I think he broke my ribs holding on so tight."

"Not like me, then," Hiruma's arms tightened just a bit round Rui, making him feel dizzy for some reason. "You do drive like a maniac though. Bet he was scared out of his fuckin' mind."

"Yeah," Rui knew Hiruma was grinning behind him. It made him want to. "It was kinda funny."

"I bet," Hiruma's fingers moved up his stomach.

It was just a tiny motion, like he was adjusting himself, but Rui heard his own heart in his ears, and he wondered whether Hiruma heard it too. He'd probably think that was pretty funny.

"That's why I like it," Hiruma said, his voice a little quieter. "Let's go."

"Where to?"

"Clubhouse."

The journey was short, way shorter than Rui had wanted. And he wanted to talk to Hiruma for some reason. He didn't know what about, but he just wanted to.

Three months seemed a long time.

He pulled up just outside Deimon High, noticing the anxious faces everyone gave him.

Hiruma spoke into his ear as he got off the bike; "See, you can come here for an ego boost whenever you like, since everyone's so terrified of you."

Rui grinned vaguely. "Thanks."

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Even if Hiruma wasn't good at saying thanks, he seemed to be alright at showing it.

"Are you nervous?" Hiruma said, as he pulled Rui into him, and kissed him with some force.

Rui never knew what to say. Fuck, of course he was nervous, and he didn't really know what was happening. But like hell he'd ever say it. He pushed Hiruma back. "I'm not-"

"I mean about the tournament," Hiruma smirked. Rui wanted to punch him for maybe the millionth time now. "You know this is our last chance for the Christmas Bowl."

"I know. Why should I be nervous? I'm gonna win."

"Hah," Hiruma pulled him close, so that their foreheads touched and Rui had to look at that taunting face. Well, he didn't have to. He closed his eyes.

He felt the hand, now very familiar, as it curved over his face, thumbing his lip and tracing his jaw line. He'd hate himself for it later, but for now he could imagine that Hiruma loved it as much as he did.

"Why'd you want another match with us, anyway?" he murmured.

"Why do you think?"

The question invited Rui to open his eyes. When he did Hiruma was watching him expectantly, as if he knew the answer was so easy, and Rui should know it too.

Rui didn't know. "To torment me?" he guessed.

Hiruma's smirk became unsteady. He shook his head. "You should be flattered. I only picked the people who were worth the fuckin' challenge."

Rui opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Idiot," Hiruma rolled his eyes and sighed, then kissed him some more.

It was funny; the insults always disappeared when Hiruma did that, and Rui could forget about them. Maybe that was where he was going wrong.

"You must really hate me," he broke away from the demon, with some effort. "To do all this."

"Do what?" Hiruma said sweetly. "You think too much, which is surprising," he tapped Rui's head. "I didn't even know you had a brain in there."

Rui turned away to look at anything else. "Fuck you," he said, not really meaning it.

"Really?"

A hand curled under Rui's top. He was still hot and sticky from the game, and his muscles were tense enough. Hiruma was good at making things worse though.

"Stop it," Rui caught the demon's roaming hand, pushing it firmly back. "You're mental."

"Okay, so you're not totally stupid," Hiruma said, and seemed halfway apologetic. But that would mean Rui had lost his mind, and he liked to pretend he still had a bit of it. "You were good today. I mean, like, really fast."

Rui just stared at him; he didn't like to acknowledge a compliment, nor completely ignore it either. It was better just to stare, and wonder when Hiruma got his temporary brain transplant.

"That hard ass coach of your's must be doing something right, hm? What is it? She giving you a good fuck after training?"

Rui grimaced and could feel himself burning. "You dunno what you're talking about,"

"Nah, that's not right," Hiruma trailed his fingers back along Rui's stomach, making him quiver. The demon was getting to be expert at ignoring anything that came out of Rui's mouth now. "You're as tense as a fuckin' tight rope."

"Fuck off,"

"I'm right though," Hiruma's fingers found Rui's lower torso, smoothing over the flesh there. In his mind, Rui swung an arm and punched Hiruma away. It was easy to imagine that, even when his body ached with the demon's touch, and his voice became breathless and faint in his throat.

"Don't you ever get tired of it? Being right all the time?" he asked, digging his hands into Hiruma's shoulders.

Hiruma grinned like a crocodile. "Not at all," and he put his hand in Rui's pants, making him gasp.

It was hard to stay angry, when Hiruma held him like that, and worked him like some clockwork toy that definitely did need unwinding.

There were some distant shouting voices, and it reminded Rui where he was and what he was doing. He cursed and grabbed Hiruma's busy hand.

"It'd be cruel if I stopped now," Hiruma pouted.

"So stop. You're good at that."

"Fine," Hiruma's hand stayed on Rui though, and his eyes stayed on Rui's like it was some horrible staring contest that Rui was bound to lose. Of course, he always lost!

Rui bit his lip and bowed his head. "I fuckin' hate you."

"Oh well. You'll get over it," then Hiruma moved his hand away, and everything else.

There should have been relief, but it was more like a punch in the stomach, and the lost anticipation of something he'd become so stupidly attached to. Rui always felt like he was in too deep, whether it was a math exam, football or Hiruma smiling at him like he knew everything in the world. But this was the moment he knew it for sure.

He swung back an arm, then punched the wall with all his might. He kept it there. It was kind of satisfying, to let the throbs of pain lance through his arm like that.

"I told you," Hiruma said, sounding indifferent. Then his hand covered Rui's fist. "You played good today,"

Rui glared at the demon's hand, and out of the corner of his eye saw how graceful he was; the way he pried Rui's fist away from the wall, and then even looked at it like he didn't like it.

"You're still a retard though."

And Hiruma was still a bastard.

Rui wanted to say something like it didn't hurt, but those voices were getting closer. Then Rui remembered how crazy it was, standing behind a clubhouse in broad summer daylight. Because Hiruma didn't like logical things, like going inside the clubhouse, where there'd be keys and no-one to find them.

Not that Rui wanted to do anything like that.

Hiruma slipped a hand round his back and kissed him again, but too slowly, like he was aware they'd get caught. Bastard. Rui pushed him away.

"It's been a good summer," Hiurma looked amused, "Don't you reckon?"

The demon's eyes were amber bright, too much for Rui to ignore. Background noises were just faint buzzing in his ears. They didn't mean anything anymore. It was funny, how easily he forgot to panic when he just looked at the demon like that.

"Mm," he breathed out, and it felt like he'd been holding it forever. "It's been good."

Shadows were casting only yards away from them, and Rui easily recognised Megu's silhouette. She was waiting for him, just like everyone else, wondering where the hell he was.

"See you soon," Hiruma hand was still light on Rui's, and the demon squeezed it just a bit before he turned away. "Get some ice for that, you idiot."

Rui watched him leave, and then he leaned heavily against the wall. His knuckles were sore and so were his lips. He smoothed a hand through his hair and waited a few minutes.

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When Megu met him she frowned at his fist and then ordered him to pick up his bike. She was never very sympathetic, not until Rui was dragging his feet and thinking he might die.

Then she knelt down to him and told him not to worry, and that Hiruma wasn't that bad.

Of course he wasn't. He was never that bad. That was the problem, after all.

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