A/N:
Hello!
First off, I just wanna say, I love the Teikou kids ;A;
And by that I mean, including Nijimura and Haizaki (lol). Thus, I dedicated the past two chapters and this one to them, who we sadly didn't get to see much in the anime/manga. But don't worry, the rest of the Teikou babies will soon come back!
Next, how are you, my dear readers? As you know, the world is currently facing a pandemic :( Please, don't panic, tho! Just be alert. Do preventive measures and keep your bodies strong, everyone~
Lastly, I hope that in this time of crisis, this story could cheer you all up a little :)
"Oi, why won't ya confess to her?"
"Ha?"
Yup, Nijimura shouldn't have went easy on the boy walking beside him and popping a question randomly, while they were on their way back to the latter's home.
Said boy had bruises on his face – the new ones, courtesy of Nijimura – but he didn't seem to be concerned about gaining more bruises, as he chattered, "Oh c'mon, it's simple! No biggie! Ya don't have to do that anime or manga bullshit where they're like 'I like you' and 'Please go out with me' and shit, y'know."
Haizaki halted in his steps, causing him to follow suit. The former was seriously confusing him now. Who in the world was this kid talking about?
"Just say the usual.."
The captain perplexedly watched as his companion set a distant gaze forward, " ...'Wanna go out?'", then bounced excitedly at him, "or or!", before going back at his imaginary acting partner in front of him, "'You. Me.' and just do this..", ultimately facing him again to wriggle his eyebrows suggestively at him.
There was a huge urge to shut the kid up by knocking him out, but there was also a part of him – his conscience – that tells him that maybe he had caused the kid brain damage and thus, the reason why the kid was too bubbly and even more vexing. Plus, it was already awkward to bring back a beaten-up son to his family, and admit that he had beaten him up. Therefore, it would be even too awkward to bring back an unconscious son back.
"Oh oh! This one's the bomb. You just say 'You're hot. I'm hot. Let's get it poppin' ha! Get it? A lil corny but dope!"
Speechless at such comical display from his kouhai, he could only curse himself when his kouhai dared to shoot a disapproving look at him, "Oh. OH. No way. Bruh. Don't fucking tell me you're waiting for her to confess first? "
"Ya want her to go.."
When the ash-head looked ahead again, the raven-head braced himself for another dumb demonstration.
"...'Nijimura-senpai, please meet me after practice at the back of the gym' "
The idiot didn't even give him a chance to crack at the idiot's high-pitched voice, as the idiot continued with his idiotic impression.
"And then when you meet her there, it'll be sundown and shit, and she'll be like 'Senpai, I like you', and then you'll be acting cool and say 'I like you too...' "
There was a dramatic pause, and Nijimura didn't even had the chance to be offended at the bastard's ridiculously deep voice (was that supposed to be him?), when the moron continued,
"'...Tsumiko.' "
'Tsumiko?!' , he repeated inside of his mind, because he couldn't just say her first name out loud like that – damn it! And was she the her, he was referring to because –
What.
The.
Fuck.
"Fuckin' hells", Haizaki cringed, "Ugh, girls shouldn't always be the first ones to confess, bro. Man, that crap's boring. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'The great, handsome, cool, and awesome Haizaki Shougo is also a genius?' Yeah suck that, loser, I'm not a dumbass."
.
.
.
"Wow."
That was what the second-year could utter. Compared to the first-year's ramblings, he had only breathed out two syllables so far. Who knew Haizaki Shougo could be this noisy? It was almost adorable. The hell.
"You talk too much. The range of nasty stuff coming out from your potty mouth is amazing, I'm not even mad."
Replaying the skit he, for whatever luck and reason, was made to witness, he couldn't help but be disturbingly amazed at the other's hidden talent and at how quick the other was in shifting his expressions and voice. Again, what the hell.
"And you got so much energy like – what the fuck – you could be in the drama club for your imagination."
With a smug grin, his teammate slash rookie actor shrugged, "Well, if you're asking me to be IN the drama club's president, then hell yeah, I already did – OW! You prick!", then paused to clutch the side of his ribs that were jabbed.
"That was just a joke! We only kissed, because 'Sorry, Haizaki. I'm not over my ex yet. This is wrong.'"
After his impersonation of Hashimoto-senpai, he kicked the ground, "Pfft, she can go back to that Komagi asshole for all I care. I got lots'a girls waiting on me." Probably catching himself onto how sulky he had sounded, he abruptly stomped his feet and raised his voice at the the older one, "Anyway, just tell her, stupid!"
While he was irritated at his underclassman's disrespect, he was still trying to convince himself that maybe he just heard the name wrong and that 'her' wasn't really the girl he was with earlier. Hence, instead of kicking the small forward's shin, the power forward opted to hiss, "The fuck you talking about."
Silver orbs rolled at him, "Duh. Miss little whitey coach. Tiny-san. Tsu-mi-ko~"
Fuck.
He didn't hear wrong.
"Sheesh, alright dude. Irosuzuka. There. Happy now?", Haizaki corrected, after protecting his sides from the hands of the glaring demon beside him. Unfortunately, he couldn't cover his shin from the legs of the demon.
Even if in pain, a snort could be heard coming from his teammate. Because of this, Nijimura swore that he, himself, just dug his own fucking grave.
Well, fuck.
"Holy shit. You really do like her."
"I don't."
The freshman, with full confidence, ignored him, "Heh, pretty sure she likes you too. Trust me, I got a lot of chicks around me. Fuckin' call me senpai, Nijimura~"
"Shut your shitty mouth."
"Whaaat? Ya wanna be professional and shit?"
"I swear – "
"Man, chill. We're still kids, we can kiss and fuck who we want, nobody cares."
"Haizaki!"
"Stop being an asshole, and be a dick."
And that last comment earned him a punch.
"Bitch that hurt!"
Wordlessly, and with multiple veins popped out of his head, Nijimura readied his right fist to strike again.
"Wait, wait!", the light-haired teen raised his hands in surrender, "I just wanna know what the hell's holding you back, dammit!"
Hauling his junior by the collar, the senior dangerously hummed, "Listen here, you brat. If you're not gonna stop talking about crap, I will not fucking hold back in my next punch. Understood?"
"O-okay, fine."
He released his grip off the shorter teen, thinking that the crass kid actually cared about himself and still valued his life.
"Wuss."
Or, maybe not.
"Oi!", the boorish lad held his freshly-smacked head, before glaring at the taller teen, "I'll tell my mom about you!"
"Oh, I'll tell her myself, you little shit."
Mentioned little shit challenged back, "Oh yeah? Then I'll tell Tsumik– ah, ah, ack!", until his left ear started burning from the pinch. "Yeah, yeah, okay, sorry, sorry. I won't, I swear! Ah! Ouch! Pleaseee~ Captain! Senpai! Anikiiiii?!"
The captain let go of the poor ear, and smirked at its owner, who was cursing like a sailor.
But this satisfaction didn't last long.
The middle-schooler with more bruises met Nijimura's dark eyes, with his own twinkling ones – as if the bruises and the pain in his ear were nothing and that he had, ultimately, won the battle.
A sly grin formed on the brat's face.
.
.
.
"God, you fucking like her!"
And he sprinted away, while laughing like a maniac.
In the end, the two middle-school students reached the front door of the Haizaki household, with the uninvited guest trailing behind its resident, ready to teach the latter a lesson. The kouhai's older brother, however, beat the senpai to it.
Shigeru flicked his younger brother's forehead, "Idiots." Following this was a noogie on the top of his sibling's hard head.
"Shigeru, you fucker!"
"Who do ya think ya talkin' to, ha, punk?", the oldest among the three grinded his knuckles even deeper at his kin's skull, causing its owner to whimper.
"Ah-a-aniki."
Nijimura was about to snicker at the punk, who was once again grumblingly clutching his head, when he met the hardened gaze of the so-called aniki. Inhaling, he was beginning to be a little worried for his own skull's well-being. A pat on his shoulder was all he got, though.
"I'll leave your forehead to your sister."
At his raised brows, the slightly taller teen replied to his unspoken question, "Nijimura Rui is your sister, right? She's a classmate."
In response, he could only nod and bow at the third-year high school student.
"What?! Is she the chick you're talking about?"
Shigeru pinched the bridge of his nose, "No, Shougo. My girlfriend is Sora. She's two years younger than me, remember? I told you this before, dumbass."
Shougo was about to retort, when the same adult woman came out of the door and urgently wrapped her arms around him, "Shougo!"
Appearing behind the woman was no one but, 'her.'
Opal eyes met his steel ones, and he saw them worriedly roam around the very small amount of bruises he had.
Both their attentions were brought back to the mother-and-child duo, as athletic arms gently patted the small back, "H-hey, it's okay. I'm sorry, okay? I'm cool now. Just stop...it's embarrassing!"
Over her son's shoulders, Saya beamed at Nijimura, "I apologize for my foolish son, Nijimura-kun. Don't hesitate punishing him, captain."
"Ma?!"
Despite this outburst, the now-thirteen-year-old didn't move away from the hug.
The fourteen-year-old, on the other hand, pushed away his memories of a lady currently in the States, and politely returned the smile of the mother across him.
"The second-string has a practice match against Komagi Junior High next Friday. I'd let the rest of the coaches know that Haizaki will be assisting them."
Such statement made the first-stringer break away from his parent and pointed at their team's leader, "Oi! But I just joined the second-string jerks during their last practice match! Goddam– "
"Hush, Shou-chan." With a finger placed on her youngest's lips, she resumed,"Shi-chan's gonna buy Fuji apples, so be a good host. Go and wait with Nijimura-kun and Irosuzuka-chan inside. I'll get the first aid kit", leading to the synchronized groans of the siblings at their nicknames.
If he only knew that things would end up like this, he wouldn't have volunteered to chase after Haizaki hours ago – heck, he would've even done everything to convince their young coach to not visit Haizaki during this second of November.
It's been some time since he had fight injuries, yes. But he was still used to it, like some kind of muscle memory, so having some minor ones today didn't bother him that much.
That was until now.
"Um, please do tell if it hurts, senpai."
Parallel to the dining table, he hummed at the girl seated on the chair next to his.
Moments prior to this, the injured guys protested, saying that they can do the treating themselves. Unluckily, the boss of the house had the authority to shut them both down. Moreover, she babbled about how it would be useful for a coach to know basic first-aid.
Using a cotton bud soaked with water, the first-year coach softly cleaned the single tiny cut near his left eyebrow. Her brows were slightly knit, showing how focused she was.
Shit.
Fighting the urge to lift the corners of his lips at the cuteness, he made himself annoyed by glancing at the other person getting treatment across the table. When he saw the brat already looking at him and was teasingly gagging at him, he got what he had hoped for and got really irritated.
"I think it's clean enough", the white-haired lass muttered, before tilting her head at the antiseptic on the table. Sensing her internal debate, Nijimura took a cotton swab and showed her how much antiseptic was needed, to which she 'ooh-ed' in understanding.
Afterwards, her fingers were cold as they graced his to take the cotton bud with antiseptic from him. Once the tip met his grazed skin, he didn't even wince.
"You're used to this", she concluded.
He mentally winced.
Somehow, he believed that while her words meant that she wanted to know more, her tone proved that she respected him enough to not pry any further.
"I had a rough phase. But that's in the past."
She pulled back, looking contented at her work and seemingly at his answer, as well.
Placing the band-aid, she appeared to be more relaxed, probably because she knew how band-aids work. Seeing such expression and comparing it from the one she had during that moment a knife was poking at her neck, made his blood boil again. Thankfully, the ice-pack she was now holding against a bruise helped him cool down.
Settling on her lenses, he remembered the night of the festival. He was confused as to why her gaze was fixed on him, that time. All things were forgotten, however, once she turned towards the sky and in consequence, he saw fireworks in her eyes.
It was colorful. It was pretty.
She was pretty.
Damn it.
He recalled looking up the fireworks, as soon as he had such thought. Mind blank, he didn't do anything afterwards, except allowing himself to hold her small and soft hand, but only until the display ended.
And maybe, just maybe, he actually did hold b–
"Ack!", Haizaki flinched, "Ma, that hurts!"
Blinking, he realized that Tsumiko had gotten a little closer. Instinctively (like any other pubescent male would do in such situation – he justified) , he gripped the hem of his shirt.
Dark irises briefly glossed over his, and he tried to distract himself with Shougo and Saya's squabbles, and tried to not mind how he liked the feel of her fingertips on his jaw, as Tsumiko moved the ice-pack to another and last bruise.
The rest of the afternoon went like this. Shigeru returned, and all five of them relished the refreshing Fuji apples. The cake, that the unexpected visitors had given, was then served – the mom not forgetting to persuade the birthday celebrant to blow his candles. The guests, who were suddenly invited for the rest of the celebration, insisted not to stay for dinner, because they had to go home, as well. More importantly, the two shared the same concern that they had already weirdly trespassed enough into private space. Thus, they simply wanted to respect the Haizaki's family time.
By the time Nijimura arrived at his own house, the sun was setting, and his father hurriedly approached him from the living room.
"Shuuzo! What happened? Don't tell me– "
"No, dad. I didn't pick a fight with a gang. By the way, is Rui-nee home?"
Nijimura Ryotarou feigned disappointment, "Aww, I was already thinking about what hair color will suit you", before responding, "Rui texted me minutes ago. They're just waiting for the donuts Toshi ordered."
Shuuzo nonchalantly nodded, but inside, he was rejoicing, knowing that he still had time to prepare for his older sister's possible scolding. Just like in the past, it was always his sister, who got mad at him for getting into fights, whereas his dad would always joke around. Relieved, he decided to play along with his dad's antics, "How thoughtful, old man. But, sorry to get your hopes up. I only disciplined some brat."
"Hmm. Which color of the rainbow?"
At the term, he choked. The fuck.
Nonetheless, he amusedly formed a come back, "The clouds, dad."
It seemed that he did good in dad language, because his dad instantly figured it out, "Oh, Haizaki, was it? The one that reminds me of you!"
So many things happened today that he couldn't even get himself to be offended. That or maybe he, himself, knew it was somewhat true. He could only roll his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, him."
Before he could stop himself, however, he slipped out, "Turns out we're more similar than I thought."
Cursing his carelessness, he weighed out alternative explanations he could tell to the now-intrigued adult. Because he had faith in his own father, who was understanding and was not the type to spread personal matters – he eventually decided to tell the truth, he had managed to discover through fists (probably the best and worst way of communication Haizaki Shougo knew.)
"His father left them. Well if you call some jerk who fucking laid his hands on his own blood and flesh, a father, that is."
As if on impulse, he hovered over the cut and the bruise – which served as payment for such personal information – and he was reminded of the pain he had received from the blow. Thinking about how strong Haizaki's hook was, he realized that it was fueled by something much more painful, "That kid had it worse."
Unlike the subject of their conversation, he had a father, who quietly listened and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, son."
Wanting to change the topic and atmosphere, Shuuzo shrugged the other's hand off and weakly glared, "The hell you're sorry about? If there's something that you apologize about, that would be you going to work on Monday. Can't you extend your sick leave or something?"
"I already feel better, Shuuzo", the other chuckled, just like he had forgotten about skipping work because he wasn't feeling well since Thursday.
"You sure?"
The grown-ass-man just childishly let out a long 'yes.'
As if he was actually the parent, the younger Nijimura nagged, "As long as you don't overwork yourself."
"Aye, captain!", the adult saluted, waiting for him to salute back.
Normally, he would've either laughed or face-palmed at such acts. Yet, this time, the old man was being extra playful. Suspicious at this kind of behavior, the teenager narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.
"Spill it."
Just like how the man lowered his saluting hand, his sprits lowered, as he admitted.
"Your mom called."
And that was enough to shift back to the gloomy mood.
Shuuzo walked past him, not even bothering to face him, while he went on with the details, "Seiki said that she's flying to Tokyo before the month ends, and she would like to meet you."
Without missing a beat, he flatly affirmed, "Tell her I said no."
"I already said yes."
Pausing in his steps, he scoffed, "Gee, thanks."
"Shuuzo..."
The tone was stern and typical of a parent, but there was an odd mixture of something a kid like him had difficulty in grasping. Was his dad sad? Worried?
Curiously, like the child that he was supposed to be, he turned around to take a peek. What he saw was that same apologetic and guilty expression his old man had every time he earned himself injuries because of his delinquent actions. It's been more than a year since his last major fight, but he recalled that this look his father had was a look that gets lost quickly once he starts teasing his son about joining gangs or yakuzas, and about gangster fashion. The difference of today's version, was that it remained on his face and there were no more jokes to let it vanish.
As if such expression wasn't enough to make Shuuzo melancholic and frustrated, Ryotarou laid out his thoughts.
"I know you miss her."
Fuck.
Yup, he does, damn it!
It was impossible not to. Not after witnessing Saya and Shougo earlier. Not after longing for a mother's warm embrace. Not after hoping for his mother to treat his wounds, and not to be one that indirectly causes them. Not after wishing to celebrate his own birthday with his own mother.
God – he was now clenching his teeth too hard.
Masculine arms warmly enveloped him. Again, as if that wasn't enough to threaten the fucking tears to fall, this stupid old man just had to say one last thing.
"You don't have to hold back because of me."
A/N:
T.T
Thank you and stay safe, everyone!
