Lunch was definitely not Mineki's favorite time of day, especially when he forgot to ask his brother for lunch money. The boy glared at his stomach as he cried out in protest. It didn't help that he didn't have a chance to eat breakfast, either.
He glanced over at the blue-haired boy next to him, who was seated on the grass next to him eating an unknown substance between two slices of bread. Mineki raised a brow at the strange food. What were his parents feeding him? Still, it had to be better than nothing. He sighed wearily.
In his distraction he didn't notice Sage walk up to them until a huge pile of packaged breads were nearly dumped in his lap. Leaning back to avoid being hit, he gazed up in wide-eyed surprise at his smiling friend.
"My parents always give me way too much lunch money," he explained, as though it was an actual explanation. He plopped himself down across from the two boys on the other side of the pile. He stared at the bread intently for a moment before selecting some melon bread near the top and taking a bite. He then looked up at the others, who were still staring at him. "Come on, have some! I can't eat all this by myself!"
Mineki smiled in spite of himself as he picked up the nearest one. Curry bread! His favorite. An odd thought occurred to him as he shoved half of it in his mouth. Sage didn't like curry bread, did he?
Before he could think to say anything Thyme sighed heavily and took a pork bun. "You really shouldn't spend all your money on us, Sage."
The darker-skinned boy blushed slightly and tilted his head with a grin. "I kinda thought you'd figure me out...but I want to! It really is just my lunch money, I promise..."
"Hn," replied the other boy, tearing a small piece from the pork bun after putting the remainder of his sandwich away for later.
Mineki eyed the blue-haired child as he angrily bit into his remaining meal. It always seemed like Thyme was one step ahead of him...it really was irritating. The looks Sage gave him were irritating too, though he couldn't really tell why it bothered him so much.
He was about to take another bun when he was roughly shoved from behind, falling face first into the food in front of him.
"Ki-kun!" Sage gasped, jumping up from his place on the ground to help the other boy up.
"Oops...sorry about that," the taller boy who had 'bumped' Mineki said, though his tone clearly indicated otherwise. Two other students behind him just sneered.
For a moment Mineki was too stunned to do anything on his own. But he noticed, as Sage helped him to his knees, that he had fallen on most of the bread, effectively squishing them. He turned to confront the older students, but was held where he was by the arms around his own.
"Ki-kun, don't..." his friend whispered to him.
Silently Thyme began picking up the flattened bread pieces, putting the ones that remained in their packages back into the bag they came from.
"Yeah, 'Ki-kun', stop it," one of the other boys mocked, taking a step closer. Before Mineki could even think to get up Sage was on his feet and standing between the aggressors and his friend, arms held wide open in a warding gesture.
"Leave Ki-kun alone!" he said boldly. "He didn't do anything to you!"
The third boy rolled his eyes, stepping forward and smacking Sage roughly to the ground. "He's here, ain't he?"
A low growl sounded from Mineki's throat as he lunged for the boy who attacked first. He managed to get one punch in before the other two jumped in to help their friend.
By the time Sage pulled himself up, Mineki was quite simply being pummeled by the older students, unable to defend himself. Looking around, he found that their area of the schoolyard was now empty...even Thyme had disappeared somewhere. With a growl of his own Sage stood and glared at the three attackers. They were not going to get away with this.
The best and closest place to get help, Thyme realized, was their teacher. He slowed his running pace as he reached the classroom.
Thankfully the teacher was inside, writing in a notebook. She lifted her eyes when she heard the door open.
"Sensei...Mineki-kun needs help outside," the blue-haired boy stated, his normally neutral tone reflecting a little worry. "Some of the older students..."
His voice trailed off as he noticed she was no longer looking at him, and had gone back to her work.
"Sensei..." Thyme called to her again, but this time he received no response at all. With a tiny frown he closed the door and turned back into the hallway. Many walked past him, and it seemed all of them were intentionally looking anywhere but at him. He knew he wouldn't find help here...so he'd have to go to someone that would.
"Damn," Yoru hissed to himself as he took a seat with his friends, near the school fence. "I forgot to give Mineki money for lunch..."
Izumi shrugged as she untied the cloth around her bento box. "He hangs out with that rich kid, right? Don't you think he'd buy him lunch?"
When all that did was earn her a glare from Yoru, Kyosuke intervened."I'm sure if he needed it he'd come over here and get it," the blue-eyed student pointed across the fence, where the elementary school stood. "That's why we sit over here, isn't it?"
Yoru said nothing and took a bite of his school-bought sandwich, but the blush across his face confirmed Kyosuke's suspicions.
"I dunno why you spend so much time worrying about the brat anyway," the violet-haired girl muttered before sticking a hunk of rice in her mouth.
Before Yoru could snap at her, a voice sounded from behind him. "Yoru-kuuuuuun!" it squealed as she dark-skinned, busty girl it belonged to glomped into his back, nearly shoving his face into his meal.
The attacked boy sighed heavily, turning his head to look at his assailant while his companions looked on in wide-eyed shock. "M, how many times have I told you not to do that!"
"You did?" she responded, looking confused for a moment as she pushed her glasses back onto her nose with the hand that that was draped around Yoru's neck. She then gasped loudly, and leaned in closer to look at Yoru's face with giant puppy eyes. "...Can I have your sandwich?"
He turned an intense glare on her. "No, you can't have it! Shouldn't you be in class now!"
"Oooooh yeah..." she said slowly. Without warning she nabbed a huge bite of his meal before skipping off to class. "See you later, Yoru-kun!"
He rolled his eyes before turning to face the other two again, who still wore the same dumbfounded expressions. "What?" he said with a bit of confusion.
It was Kyosuke who broke through his shock first. "You KNOW her!"
"That's Marley-sempai, isn't it?" Izumi added, just as awestruck.
Yoru shrugged before glaring at his now half-eaten sandwich. "It's just M..."
"'Just' M!" Kyosuke leapt to his feet and shook his fist at the other boy. "She's only the most popular girl in the senior class! Every guy in school is after her, but no one can get close with those two weird bodyguards around! How on Earth do you know her!"
Yoru raised an eyebrow as he continued to chew on his meal. He hadn't known any of that...and didn't particularly care, either. "She lives next door to me," he replied nonchalantly.
Kyosuke dropped back to his knees, leaning in close to the other and staring him directly in the eyes. "Are you sure you're not gay?" he asked seriously, earning him a punch in the head from each of his two classmates.
"What he means," Izumi said as she rolled her eyes at the redhead, "is why aren't you dating a girl like that? You seem awfully familiar with her, and she definitely seems to like you, that's for sure."
"Not interested," he grumbled. It was his turn to roll his eyes. Sure, she was attractive...but he didn't really see the point in dating her, or anyone for that matter. He couldn't understand why his friend were always bothering him about it...especially Izumi. The two of them had seen each other for a while, but she had been the one to both start and end it. What did it matter if he had a girlfriend? It wasn't worth the effort to keep relationships. Experience with his parents had proved that much.
He was just about to go back to his sandwich when he heard sounds just beyond the fence. He looked up to see Thyme standing there, his expression grim. "Your brother...was all he said.
It was all he needed to say. In an instant Yoru was on his feet, and he flipped over the barrier between schools with seemingly minimal effort. "Where is he?" The boy demanded, following the blue-haired child as he rushed off.
"Who does he think he is, a ninja?" Izumi grumbled as she and Kyosuke stood to follow. Only, she planned on using the gate...
Disclaimers: Yoru, Mineki, Sage, Thyme, Izumi, Kyosuke, Marley – Property of the Bishounen Hunters Group.
