A/N: Sorry this took so long. XD These chapters are beasts to type up. Thank you to my reviewers, I really appreciate them so very much!
…He moved forward before I could react, and his soft lips were against my cheek…Such a soft touch of affection. I couldn't think for a moment, and all I could see was his gray eyes boring into mine with curiosity. His lips retracted and then we watched each other. His lips were soft and gentle, and I could still feel where they had been pressed against my skin. My fingers moved up to touch the spot, the warmth remaining from the other's kiss. For the first time in a long while, I smiled and laughed.
"Odagiri-san, pay attention!" Mitsuru snapped as she passed by. I jerked from my memory, eyes returning to monitoring the study body as they passed by to enter the stands in the pool gym. Mitsuru gave me a curious look, then she put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. Long locks cascaded over her shoulders, her legs spread just enough to give her a look of dominance. She was a woman with power and it scared the hell out of me. Minato was much easier to deal with; he was quiet and didn't really strike me as a person to fear.
Pulling herself to the side, out of the traffic of students, she moved her hands across her chest and gave me an inquisitive gaze. "It is rare for you to be off guard as such, Odagiri-san. Care to share with me what is interrupting your duty?" I shook my head, sneering and jerking my chin up. Showing her that I didn't care what she said, showing her that I was on top of everything in my jurisdiction. With a grand sweep of my hand, I gave her a cocky smirk.
"My mind wanders, but never too far, Kirijo-san. I do not think you should worry," I replied evenly, and with a raised eyebrow, she let out a small chuckle of bemusement and let me be. She sided the boxing champ, Akihiko, who gave me a faint wave as he was pulled into the stands. He had his own sport to participate in later, but for now, it was the swimming team's time to shine.
I fought to stay focused, but that was so very hard when all I wanted to think about was that little peck. It had been so…sickeningly adorable to see his cheeks turn a hot red after I began to laugh. He got flustered, but knew I was perfectly fine with the concept. It had made me laugh a bit harder than I would've liked, actually. Though this meant that perhaps he was drawing me more out of my usual self, and into the person I wanted to become. He was such a strange boy, he was offbeat and so quiet…but I had noticed his effect on many around me. I especially noticed this effect on myself.
Would I have ever gone to 'hang' with other boys? No, I consider it obnoxious and unproductive. However, he had lured me out into daylight with the company of boys who irritated the shit out of me. Would I have ever 'visited' another residence on reasons I knew weren't related to student council to business? Probably not, for I just wasn't very comfortable with such things. Would I have ever gone out and watched the idiots sing 'karaoke' before? No, never in my life could I have imagined doing such a thing. I knew his presence had greatly changed my life…and I believed, for the better.
There was a graze along my sleeve, forcing my eyes to focus again. I looked to my side, startled and expecting it to be Mitsuru again. But instead, I found my gaze meeting those unreadable gray eyes that I found dancing in my mind so often today. Opening my mouth to ask something, I shut it and smirked. Minato jammed his hands into his pockets after cranking up the volume on his headphones, and he leaned back against the wall behind me. My stomach did a happy little flip when I realized he was going to stay by me. Then my stomach filled with dread as I heard, "S'up, dude?"
A slap on my back, followed by Junpei's loud laugh. "Hah, you listen to such emo bullshit, Minato-kun!" he boomed. Trying not to turn on him and snarl at him to sit his self down, I merely folded my arms and scowled unhappily. As I should know from my own experience, Minato was a person you naturally approached. So out of the crowd came some familiar faces; Kenji Tomochika and Kazushi Miyamoto (dressed in his swimgear and looking pumped up) made their way from the crowd. Soon, the group (meaning Kenji, Kazushi, and Junpei, since Minato saved his words from such meaningless conversation) was blabbering on about the swim team's soon-to-be-shown performance.
"You guys are going to totally going to show everybody just how embarrassing it is to be in a little rubber hat," Junpei taunted, tugging his cap backwards and grinning. "While it's still so awesome to be wearing caps." Kenji snatched it and put it on his own head, throwing back his head and letting out stupid guffaws.
"I am Junpei," he said in a high voice. "I think dressing like a punk is sexy! That's why I want to get up in Aragaki's--"
"Shaddup!" Junpei snapped back, reaching for his hat, but Kazushi had taken it and held it high up, grinning cockily. Minato turned his volume up a little louder, but the scene was obviously amusing him. The same could not be said for me. Turning sharply on my heels, I strode forward, took the hat, and flung it across the room.
Jerking my chin, about to growl like a feral dog, but Minato had left the wall and gone to obediently grab the hat. Handing it to Junpei like a trained dog and then looked to me with a small little smile. My fire died and I lost the sharp words that had been on my tongue. Kenji laughed, smacking my back (I swear, the next person who does that…), and gave me a friendly and warm grin.
"See? It's irresistible. You can't say no to that face, can you? He's like a toddler, but I guess that makes us like mushy big kids, right?" Kenji said, and I let out a 'humph' instead of answering. Hiding my blush with a scowl, because I knew he was right. Minato had a sort of magic, and trying to fight against it would just leave you feeling rather shallow in your stomach.
"Oh sh-- I got to go, guys. I'll totally show up my teammates, just you see!" Kazushi boasted, then ran off to go join the rest of the team. I caught the glance of longing in Minato's gaze, and I knew he wanted to participate too. Kenji dismissed himself so he could go stand in the stands, but Minato remained, and so in turn did Junpei. I stood by the two, but not close enough to really engage in conversation. I did have a job to do, after all.
He could hear them nonetheless. Junpei tugged at his hat, pouting. "Aragaki…If he heard that, I get the feeling he'd pummel my ass into the dirt…Remember that wicked headbutt he gave…" Conversation faded out at Yuko Nishiwaki, swim team manager, pulled up a megaphone and began to introduce the swim team. I didn't really pay attention to what went on--I heard yells and calls as the boys began to race against each other, but my mind was drifting away again. It drifted until it finally reached a destination…
The rest of Sports Day went off without a hitch. The student body enjoyed themselves, watching their peers compete so strongly with their own teammates. Akihiko dominated single-handedly when it came to boxing, and I even found myself smiling up at him as he threw his hands up and grinned through his mouth guard.
I found myself remaining at the school long after the day had ended. I was cleaning up some of the mess in the bleachers in the track field, (cigarettes, mostly, and it made me want to spit on whoever had left them there after I got their asses into suspension, so this would require some investigation but not now), but I knew it was getting late. I was tired, and my brain felt a bit fuzzy from being so far-off all day. As I grabbed my bag and was about to head off for home, I heard the familiar noise of Minato's 'emo bullshit' music. I turned my head, and saw that he was looking dizzy himself. He was nursing his thigh a little awkwardly, which looked very interesting from my point of view. I moved to him and stabilized him, then giving him a questioningly look.
"Heh…painkillers..." the boy chuckled wryly, eyes watering a little. I remembered what his injuries looked like…and it made my stomach churn at the thought of what kind of pain he would be in without his medicine. "At...home…I can't...see so straight, Hide-kun." I blushed at the name, but said nothing on it. I gingerly supported him, trying not to bump his ribs or cause him to put weight on his bad leg. Minato's bag slid from his free hand limply, and I knew he was just to thrown out to be very mobile at the moment. Helping him carefully, I guided him to the bleachers and dropped my bag onto a bench. I helped him down and put him on his back, then I sat on the bench up, watching down over him.
"I'm going to wait until you're asleep to bring you home," I admitted to him. "You'll hurt and maybe open up your wounds if we try when you're awake. I'll just carry you." A weak little smirk pulled at his pale lips, and he turned his head to see me clearer.
"You're too weak…"
It was my turn to smirk. "Maybe. More than you can say at the moment, though, Minato-kun." The other let a tight chuckle escape him, and his gray eyes fluttered shut. Breathing harshly through clenched teeth as his wounds pulsed. He clutched at his thigh, but my fingers pulled his back so he couldn't inflict damage to the injury. "I'm going to slide your pants down a bit, Minato-kun. Perhaps it'll relieve some of the pressure?" We both blushed, but his was short lived and he let out a short-breathed grunt of agreement. I moved and did as I had said, trying not to blush, and then I pulled my coat from my bag. Rest it over the other's groin and upper thighs, for his sake.
For a while, we sat quietly. He hissed and grunted, and I watched him and the fading sun. Then, finally, I decided to fill the silence. "When I was little," I said softly. "I went to go play with some kids. They were a bit bigger and older than me, but I stayed with them anyway. I didn't go outside a lot, and therefore I lacked quite a bit of common sense pertaining to things such as the higher you climb in a tree, the harder it is to get back down." My fingers circled the seat next to me slowly. I hadn't remembered that in a long time, that memory… "I climbed the tree along with another boy. He knew how to get back down, but I got stuck. I was scared.
"I tried to move, but I slipped and fell. I don't remember waking up until a little later; the boys had all left me and my mother was carrying me home…I'd broken my leg and sprained my wrist from the fall. I didn't go outside much after that…I was kind of raised with my head in a textbook and probably up my own ass as well. Father was always a stickler for rules, though…Just kind of grew on me." I tried not to let it be shown that I had made myself uncomfortable. I had become a real prat, hadn't I? Such a rule enforcer…It'd been a little more of a shallow existence than I had realized it to be. I had been lonely, and I had no one who wanted to hang with me. Except…Except Minato…
Minato cleared his throat sleepily. I could tell he was beginning fade out. It was getting darker. "…When I was a small boy…" he whispered. "I lost my parents in a car crash…After that…I was a foster care kid, since I had no other living relations…" His fingers moved and rested weakly on his chest, feeling his broken ribs weakly. "…My voice had gone missing, so…I could never answer them…I knew they hated me because I couldn't talk…I liked it better that way, really…I…never liked words much anyway." I felt my stomach flip again. I knew very little about Minato--about his past, about his present, about everything. Anything he gave me, I would take with vigor.
"That's…I'm sorry," I told him quietly. He didn't reply, because I knew he was asleep. "I'm sorry you lost your voice, Minato…I'm glad you have it back, though." I gathered up our bags, and I tugged his jeans up but didn't zip them, knowing that maybe the tightness would wake him. He was pretty much out cold though, and I very carefully pulled him into my arms like he was a small child. I was hardly strong enough to carry him as such, but somehow, I made it through the school without dropping him, or getting caught by late-night monitors. The sky was rather dark now, and I let out a soft moan when I learned…the school gates had been locked. I gingerly set Minato down on the ground, very careful not to disturb his sleep, and I went to the gate.
It was very, very firmly locked. So I tugged Minato on the other side of some of the hedges, pulled him into my lap so we were less obviously, and I leaned against the wall. We were hidden away…we were safe…I was pretty tired, and I figured we weren't going anywhere at the moment. I let my eyes shut…and I entered a very comfortable sleep. Minato was warm in my lap and I felt pretty good, despite my back being against hard brick.
I slept soundly…until I opened my eyes when I felt Minato moving. The instant I opened my eyes, I felt my sound disappear. I gawked up in shock, the air feeling tight. Hands moved and grabbed my shoulders, but I was staring up at my school. No…this wasn't Gekkoukan High anymore…This…I didn't know what it was, but it was goliath. My head felt like it was imploding, I was in pain, and I felt everything start to slip. First hearing…now my touch was fading, my mind wanted to go very far away….
Then I saw it. The moon. Standing alone in a green sky. A hand slapped over my eyes…and that was the last thing I could recall from that moment. I slumped, unconscious, but I heard Minato breathing in relief, "He's…not Lost…Thank…" just before my world went dark all over again.