Naoto struggled getting out of the front door that morning.
"Yeah, uh, you sure you don't need help carrying your bag or anything?" Kanji asked again while opening the front door for her.
"No," the detective said once more. "I'm fine, Kanji-ku-," she was interrupted when her school bag hit the floor.
"Yeaahhh," the delinquent trailed on with a grin. "I think I'll carry your bag for you." He bent over to pick up her school bag as Naoto hobbled out the door, with an embarrassed grin on her face.
As soon as she was out the door, Kanji was out too, closing it behind them. It didn't take long for him to catch up, as she was only a few feet or so away after hobbling so much. "Hey," the other first-year joked as he came up behind her, "slow down there, Speedy Gonzales."
"Excuse me? Speedy Gonzales?" Naoto repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, Kanji-kun, but I'm not that short," she continued sarcastically with a grin.
Kanji gave a snort and came up next to her, throwing one of the school bags over his shoulder. "Jeez, Naoto," he complained. "The hell you got in here, rocks?"
Naoto laughed. "If that were the truth," she began, "my bag would be much lighter." Kanji rolled his eyes playfully in response.
This morning was much nicer than the last, Naoto noted. Though she was suffering from a broken leg, she would have much preferred mornings like these over mornings like yesterday any day.
"But really," the other first-year began, "thanks a ton for, well, uh, y'know, not spilling anything." His face was serious, but there was a blush creeping over his cheeks.
"Oh, it's fine, Kanji-kun," she replied, remembering last night. A warm smile came over her face. "Your secret is safe with me." Maybe on the outside, doing drugs didn't seem like such a bizarre thing for someone like him to do, but once getting to know him, he definitely didn't seem like the type. Maybe he just got caught up in the wrong crowd, Naoto thought, while growing up. Something else came into Naoto's mind. "Did you, er," the first-year started. Kanji turned his attention towards her. "Or do you, uh," Naoto trailed off, at a loss for words.
"Do any other drugs?" Kanji filled in for her, raising an eyebrow. She nodded. "Naw, man. Stuff like LSD and crack and stuff? That shit's insane." The detective nodded once more. At least he wasn't on that train, she thought. "I wouldn't wanna get caught up in that crowd." The detective agreed with him. "Hell," the delinquent started, "I don't even know HOW they get that shit in Japan." Naoto laughed, though she didn't exactly know why. Kanji's face grew pink as he scratched the back of his head.
The two walked on in silence; not awkward silence, but just enjoying each other's company. Though, it was more like Naoto hobbling and Kanji walking as slowly as possible to not leave the injured detective behind. As they arrived on the main road to school, more and more students came walking on the road as well, some noticing the two first-years together.
"Hey, uh," Kanji began, looking around at the other students walking around them. "People are starting to stare..."
Naoto looked around as well. She caught a few of the students' gazes, who then quickly looked away after eye-contact with the detective. "Well," she began, "I don't see why they wouldn't. I was mentioned on the news as having a broken leg."
"Well, uh, yeah," the taller boy started, his face becoming pink again. "But, y'know, people might start to say things. We did walk to school together yesterday, too."
Naoto got the hint and took that fact into consideration, but soon shrugged it off. "I decided to stop caring about what people thought of me a while ago, Kanji-kun," she said with a small smile.
"O-oh, yeah," the other first-year replied, flustered. "I guess you're right."
"Besides," Naoto added with a playful grin. "Who else would carry my bag to school for me?"
"Hey," Kanji snorted. "You just said that you didn't need my help when you were tryin' to get outta the house."
"Did I say that?" Naoto asked jokingly.
"Uh, yeah," the other first-year replied, "I'm pretty sure you did."
The detective laughed as she hobbled through the front gates of the school along with the delinquent.
"So, Kanji-kun, how was your day at school today?"
"Oh, it was, uh, the usual."
"And you, Naoto-kun? How was yours?"
Naoto swallowed the last bit of food she had in her mouth before answering. "It was fine," she replied. Mrs. Tatsumi nodded in response. It was awkward, eating dinner with the Tatsumis, Naoto felt, but it was more than likely because Naoto herself was a guest.
"Jeez, Ma," Kanji started. "Enough with the questions."
"Oh, hush, Kanji," the older woman said. "It's not every day we have a guest eating dinner with us. You should show more manners." Kanji grumbled to himself and looked back down at his empty plate.
The detective couldn't help but give a small snort at Kanji's reaction. "Well," Kanji's mother started, "I hope my Kanji hasn't caused any trouble for you so far."
"Oh, he's no trouble at all," Naoto replied with a smile, looking at the now furiously blushing delinquent.
"I'm glad," his mother replied. "Kanji-kun here has improved drastically academically and attitude-wise ever since he became friends with you all. I think you are all wonderful role-models as well as friends for him."
Naoto blushed after the compliment. "Oh, well, I'm sure we're all equally as glad to have Kanji-kun here with us as well." Kanji slumped even lower, trying to hide himself from all of the compliments about him being thrown around.
Mrs. Tatsumi laughed. "Well, you know, if you ever need Kanji-kun to change anything, I'm sure he'd be willing to do it for you all if he put enough effort into it. He doesn't exactly make the best decisions all the time, but his intentions are always for the best."
The detective smiled once more. "I don't think that's necessary, Mrs. Tatsumi," she started. Gazing over at the other first-year, he was already as red as, well, something very red. "I think Kanji-kun here is just perfect the way he is; he doesn't need any changing," she said, still looking at the extremely flustered delinquent.
"My," Kanji's mother started with a playful smile. Naoto looked over at the older woman who seemed to have noticed something about the detective that Naoto didn't quite notice herself. "You're not in love with my Kanji-kun, are you?"
"That's it!" Kanji started, standing up from the table. His face was beet red."I'm done with you guys!" He took his plate and made his way over to the kitchen sink.
"Well," the detective snorted, keeping her gaze on the other first-year walking to the sink. "I'm not quite sure. I can't say that I am," she said with a playful smile as she turned towards the older woman, "but I can't say that I'm not."
The detective heard a clatter of plates into the sink. She turned back towards Kanji, who was leaning with his palms against the sink counter. She could see that his face was still quite pink.
Mrs. Tatsumi laughed as well. "Oh," she started with a grin. "I think that's more than enough for Kanji." She then looked over towards her son. "Kanji-kun?"
The delinquent looked over towards her, still leaning over the countertop. He was still red. "Could you put away the dishes for tonight? I need to finish up that kimono for Ms. Suzuhara by tomorrow," she asked as she stood up.
Naoto looked up at the boy whom she wasn't quite sure she was in love with. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, taking his own dishes that were in the sink and washing them off. The older woman turned towards Naoto and gave her one last nod, which she promptly returned, and then walked away, leaving the two first-years by themselves.
The detective stood up as well, grabbing a couple of the dishes from the table. She shuffled over to Kanji's side, placing the dishes next to the sink. Naoto was already quite used to the cast, being able to travel short distances without crutches. "Uh, thanks," the taller boy mumbled, turning towards the injured first year.
Naoto looked up at him and gave a smile in response. Seeing the smile, the delinquent turned red once more and quickly shifted his gaze back down towards the dishes in the sink. The shorter first-year made her way back to the table, grabbing the remaining plates and various dishes. Kanji came up next to her, looking for more dishes to take. Naoto had already taken most of them; there was only a glass left on the table.
"You fine carrying that?" the delinquent asked, motioning towards the pile in front of her. She nodded in response. "All right, then," he said, looking over the table once more.
The bleached-blonde bent over to take the glass cup placed on the other side of the table, his arm barely brushing Naoto's. "Oh, uh," he began, quickly recoiling his arm with glass in hand, "sorry."
"It's fine," she stated with a small smile. Kanji quickly turned, his face pink and began to walk back towards the sink. He was strange, Naoto thought, always getting flustered over the slightest compliment or touch. Hell, he even got that way whenever she asked him a simple question.
The detective's train of thought was interrupted when she heard a loud crash behind her. Quickly twisting around, she saw the other first year crouching on the floor. "Shit," he whispered gathering pieces of shattered glass scattered all over the floor. The shorter first-year made her way next to Kanji, crouching over as well to help gather the shards.
"Clumsy" was definitely the right word. The detective's hands were much smaller than the other first-year's, she noticed. Kanji looked up at her after noticing her small, petite hands gathering the scattered glass alongside his, but quickly looked back down, continuing to gather the stray pieces. His hands were a bit shaky, Naoto noted. They were much like Kanji himself, if that made sense. Big and clumsy, not that there was anything wrong with that, she thought, but it seemed a bit out of place when someone like him was virtually a professional at sewing and tailoring.
"Careful, Kanji-kun," Naoto cautioned with a worried grin coming over her face. "You might cut yourself."
The taller boy laughed. "Like hell I'm gonna do tha- Shit!" He quickly recoiled his hand away from the pile of shards. A bead of blood formed on his thumb as he brought his hand up to his face.
The detective snorted at him as he stuck his thumb in his mouth embarrassedly and continued to sweep the shards into the pile in front of him with his free hand.
No, she thought once more, still staring at him as he brought the glass into the pile in front of him. There was nothing wrong with him. Being big, being clumsy, getting flustered easily, there was nothing wrong with any of those; they made him who he was. They made him the type of person that Naoto found so enjoyable to be around.
Being so close to him, she remembered the other night in the hallway, when they were close as well. He smelt like fabric softener and smoke, then. Now, it was fabric softener and dish soap. She could feel her heart beating in her chest.
"Damn," Kanji said with an embarrassed grin. "I guess if that old bat never asked me to clean up, this never woulda happened." The detective nodded dumbly.
And it was true.
She had to admit that it was completely, utterly, and perfectly true.
AN: i think i know what you're probably asking. "Speedy Gonzales? what the hell?" well, actually, there was a Game Boy game about Speedy Gonzales which had a Japanese version as well as an English version, called Soreyuke! Speedy Gonzales, so, yes, Speedy Gonzales does, in fact, exist in Japan.
