Summary: Momoshiro gives Kaidoh a present. Kaidoh is unimpressed. Inui observes.
Author Notes: Fuji completely scares me.I don't think I like Fuji. That is all.
Falling
Inui Sadaharu definitely wasn't spying. Contrary to Fuji's assumptions, he wasn't stalking either. He was observing, in the way that David Attenborough might observe a penguin.
His subject was currently standing at the end of the corridor, glaring at a pin-up board as though it was something other than an inanimate object hung neatly on the wall. Inui would have moved closer to see what was on the board itself, but he didn't want to disturb the boy. He didn't want errors in his data, because in every experiment, there could only be one variable. Everything else was constant.
Inui adjusted his glasses, pushing them back up the bridge of his nose as he watched a shadow in the stairwell. From here it was hard to tell who it might be, but since he was situated in the hallway next to the second year rooms, there was a ninety-six percent probability that it was a harmless fellow second year who would not in any way influence his data. It wasn't that he didn't want to analyse every other aspect of Kaidoh Kaoru, it was just that at the present moment he was interested in how long it would be before Kaidoh grew bored by himself and chose to seek out company.
More specifically, he was wondering whether Kaidoh would voluntarily choose to seek out his company, and he was a little surprised to find Kaidoh here of all places anyway.
The shadow seemed to be lingering on the landing, so it didn't pose much of a threat for the moment, although Inui was prepared to intercept if the shadow proved a viable threat to the quality of his data. There was a four percent chance after all, that it was either Momoshiro or another member of the Seigaku regulars, though they shouldn't have any genuine reason to seek out Kaidoh at this time of day.
Inui scribbled in his notebook quickly, watching Kaidoh as he appeared to grow increasingly agitated. It was frustrating not being able to see the board, since Inui couldn't deduce anything until he knew exactly what Kaidoh was looking at. So in slight frustration, he pushed his glasses down his nose and squinted, extremely hard, at the board. For a moment he thought he could make out a few characters – something about a dance perhaps? Or was it something about –
Kaidoh was moving slightly towards the stairwell, allowing Inui a closer look at the board. He tried to read the characters quickly, but was having trouble focusing from so far away.
A dark out-of-focus blob moved in front of him, and he stepped back, quickly pushing his glasses back on. He blinked, realising the blob was a lot further away than he had first thought…
A quick rub at the corner of the right lens removed a speckle of dust, and then Inui focused on the aforementioned blob. It was indeed a member of Seigaku, moving quickly towards Kaidoh.
Inui scribbled furiously in his notebook.
Kaidoh Kaoru turned his head quickly, suddenly alert.
And in fact, the blob was Momoshiro.
-(S)-
Kaidoh couldn't place the thoughts in his head. He felt so frustrated that Inui wasn't around either, because he could have used a confidant at that moment. He didn't often like to share his thoughts, and he certainly wouldn't have considered sharing the inner workings of his mind with anyone except Inui. But Inui wasn't here, and it felt like all his thoughts were breeding off each other; increasing exponentially until his head wanted to explode.
What the hell was Momoshiro thinking? The stupid boy had been driving him to the brink of his sanity all morning. It wasn't just the usual bickering; the idiot had just kept at it all day. In chemistry, he'd accidentally bumped into Kaidoh when he'd been carrying silver nitrate so Kaidoh and Momoshiro now had matching white lab coats; that is to say that they were no longer white at all.
And at lunchtime, Momoshiro had chosen to sit straight across the room from Kaidoh so that the viper had the horrible luck to see Momoshiro cram four obento's worth of food into his mouth. Just thinking about it made Kaidoh's stomach turn in disgust and his own lunch threatened not to stay down.
And then Echizen had bumped into him just a few minutes ago – who knew what he was doing up here? – and had smirked at him and asked if he'd seen Momoshiro yet.
Well of course he'd seen the damn Momoshiro. Who the hell could miss the idiot? But the brat wasn't one to waste his words, which made Kaidoh feel horribly apprehensive, like he everything was just going to fall on his head when he least expected it.
So here he was now, in the corner at the end of the corridor, tucked somewhat neatly away from the rest of the bumbling masses. His final period was a free study one, but there was no way he was going to study with that idiot behind him and screwed-up paper balls raining down on his head. The thought just made him angry again, so he continued to glare at the board, which by now should have burst into flames and become a pile of ashes.
And how he wished it would.
When he heard the rustle of books in the classrooms next door, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and assumed he could return from "running his errand" now. Actually he had no errand to run, and standing on the spot and glaring had been just as productive as sitting in his chair would have been.
Kaidoh turned and began walking down the stairs when there was a loud commotion behind him. He turned his head quickly, eyes scanning for any signs of danger but all he saw was a flash and a tumble of blue and then something hit him straight between his shoulder blades – right there, where it hurt. His eyes widened in surprise. His heart was suddenly beating too fast; hard so that it hurt almost. He stumbled forwards, nearly tumbling down the stairs, and he instinctively closed his eyes, screwing them shut as to block out the force of the fall –
But instead of falling, he felt a jolt on his arm – a quick and painful jerk that shot up to his shoulder. Fingers pressed into his skin, gripping his forearm like he might have gripped his racket.
And he felt his body suspended in the air.
Kaidoh opened his eyes and realised that just the heels of his shoes were balanced precariously at the edge of the top stair. His body was leaning forwards; his limbs stiff with the shock, and he stared down at the stairs under him.
The hand yanked him back suddenly. "Baka Mamushi. Don't you look where you're going?"
Kaidoh found his feet at the words "baka Mamushi" and spun quickly on his feet. "Stupid! What were you trying to do?"
Momoshiro grabbed Kaidoh's shirt and pulled the boy until they were nose to nose. "Are you saying I did it on purpose?"
Kaidoh hissed.
Momoshiro growled.
And someone coughed.
Momoshiro hurriedly let go of Kaidoh and grunted. "Anyway, I wanted to give you something." He pushed the boy backwards away from the edge of the stairs and stared up at the ceiling for a moment.
"Yeah, broken neck, right?" Kaidoh scowled and tried to push past Momoshiro to get to the stairs again.
Momoshiro looked the boy in the eyes and frowned, looking serious for a change. "No," he corrected, putting his hand to the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, I got you a present."
Kaidoh stared.
And continued staring.
Momoshiro frowned as he pulled a small package from behind his back and thrust it ungracefully at the other boy.
Kaidoh looked at the package suspiciously and noted its rather crinkled paper and the somewhat miserable bow tied sloppily to one side of the present. It looked okay, but when it was coming from Momoshiro Takeshi, he wasn't really sure what to think.
Momoshiro impatiently grabbed Kaidoh's hand and forced the package into it, huffing a little and looking pink in the cheeks.
Kaidoh glanced up quickly to meet the boy's eyes and found himself blushing as well, despite his dislike for Momoshiro. It was… That someone would give him a gift for no reason at all…
He almost couldn't believe it, but he turned the package over in his hands and saw his name written neatly under a tag, partially hidden by the sloppy bow, and he nearly forgot to breathe. A present… for him… from Momoshiro?
"Go on, open it Mamushi," Momoshiro said, the pink colour still on his cheeks. It was strange, Kaidoh realised, for Momoshiro to look so… nervous? Was he nervous?
"Come on, I bought it for you," Momoshiro insisted, squirming on the spot.
"Fshhhh…" Kaidoh hissed. "I'll open it when I want."
Momoshiro laughed a little uncomfortably. "Okay then," he grinned lopsidedly and disappeared down the staircase.
Kaidoh stared after him and then craned his neck to peer up at the ceiling. The sky was definitely falling today.
A few seconds later, unable to resist the mysterious present, he opened the gift with nervous fingers. The paper was already horribly wrinkled, and it was just like that stupid Momo to have thrown it at the bottom of his bag, Kaidoh thought. But he couldn't help the tingle of happiness he felt as he slipped off the ribbon and pulled a piece of sticky tape cleanly off the paper at one end. He unfolded the paper and peered into the package. It was small, and whatever was wrapped inside was sitting snug against the paper, so he blinked and squeezed his fingers in, trying not to rip the paper.
He felt something soft between his fingers first, and quickly pulled out the suspect gift.
The material uncurled in the palm of his hand and fell gently against his skin.
Kaidoh stared for a moment, unsure what he was supposed to think at a moment like this. He was caught between surprise and embarrassment, and he suddenly wished Momoshiro hadn't disappeared so he could ask him 'why?'.
He stared at his gift a moment longer, before carefully pressing the paper between two pages in the middle of one of his textbooks, and making his way down the stairs.
-(S)-
Inui noted that Kaidoh didn't take his usual route home. He hadn't been able to see Momoshiro and Kaidoh through the crowd of second years who streamed past him and down the staircase, and now he wanted to know exactly what had happened, right down to the last detail.
Kaidoh walked past the bike racks feeling a little apprehensive. He generally didn't like not knowing – and today, not knowing meant wondering exactly when the sky was going to fall and whether Momoshiro might be around the next corner.
As he walked out through the school's gates, he found himself staring at Momoshiro who was not quite mounted on his bike and was leaning one foot against the ground. He grinned when he saw Kaidoh, and started pedalling slowly alongside him; the bike wobbling from side to side with the slow changes in balance. "So…" he started.
Kaidoh grunted.
"Aren't you going to thank me?" Momoshiro chided, enjoying riling the boy in his current state.
Kaidoh ignored him, concentrating instead on walking ahead.
Momoshiro rolled his eyes. "Not even a small thanks? Jeez, I could have bought five hamburgers with what I spent on that!"
Kaidoh snorted. It was just like Momoshiro to measure his money in hamburgers.
"And a large fries!" Momo added seriously, suddenly feeling hunger overtake his senses again.
It took a lot to feed a growing boy and keep him fed.
Kaidoh just kept on walking straight. His cheeks were just a little pinker than usual and it was enough for Momoshiro, who rolled his eyes once more and then sped past. Five more minutes and he'd be killing his hunger with a couple of burgers, some fries and some Coke.
Kaidoh watched Momoshiro go and was glad that the idiot had left now. It was better without him and his stomach around.
He walked home in peace and quiet, still wondering when the sky would fall on his head, and glancing up just to check that it was still in place like it ought to be. But his fingers went back time and time again to touch the new bandanna on his head.
And he smiled.
Stupid Momoshiro.
Stupid pink bandanna.
But he couldn't help but like it anyway.
fin