Thanks to the advice of a friend of mine, I've decided to post this special now (to elapse the time between the last and next chapter). Also I made a new cover and I don't think it looks too shabby, I'm no artist but at least y'all have a fainter idea of what my baby looks like. By no means should you feel required to read this to understand the rest of the story; it's just a bit fun, and some minor questions are answered. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own BroCon or any of its characters.

~Crimrose

Special One

Yusuke

Vivi Hinata was "that girl" at the entrance ceremony. Not because she was indescribably beautiful, overly edgy, or took your breath away in any way as soon as you saw her. She just looked different, is all. It was obvious she wasn't entirely Japanese, from her porcelain complexion and naturally blonde hair, and maybe that's what got students all curious and staring. Every step she took a new set of eyes locked on her, examined for a moment, then continued about their own business once again. She wasn't remarkable, or breathtaking, just out of the ordinary.

Yusuke Asahina was no exception. She caught his eye as well, though for longer than the other students. Maybe it was something similar to the suspension bridge effect; his heart was already racing and panicked due to it being his very first day of high school, and he was experiencing a whole roller coaster of emotion when they exchanged glances for a brief moment. All he could think was that he'd never seen eyes so big and blue, and that a cherry blossom petal was snagged in the frizz of her curly hair. He'd felt blood rush to his face, and his gaze was trained on her even as she kept walking towards the entrance of Hinode Public High School. She wore her hair down then, and it fell to the middle of her back, winking silver in the sunlight.

Never before had he experienced trouble breathing in that particular way. Nothing was physically wrong with him, he knew that much. Yet there was this sensation, deep in the pit of his stomach, that felt electrified. It buzzed like the cries of cicadas shrieking in the middle of summer, shook him like lightning crashing to the ground. He was frozen for a few moments, then shook himself loose, wondering what the hell had just happened. The possibility that he'd just had a heart attack actually ran through his mind – to him, that seemed much more likely than the reality of the situation.

Orientation seemed so completely unremarkable after that. He tried to pay attention as best he could, but to no avail. His mind kept flashing back to the moment he'd locked eyes with that girl, like any other in his new school, yet somehow completely different. After he'd returned home and Masaomi, his eldest brother, asked him how his first day went, he did not have much to report. But it was the fifth son, Tsubaki's question that threw him.

"Were there any cute girls?" He asked, that familiar teasing glint in his eye he got basically anytime he spoke with Yuusuke.

He had to struggle to swallow his food without choking, a pair of blue eyes gazing into his etched into his head. "Wh-what does that matter?" He'd stuttered, unable to meet his older brother's eyes.

Yuusuke absolutely hated the smile Tsubaki got on his face then, and he had ever since he was a child. It meant nothing but trouble and torment for him. "So there was! Making sure to bring her home for me, 'kay?"

"Get your head out of your ass," he snapped, his face so hot he felt the need to leave the room. "Thanks for the food," he said to the table before making his escape, each of his brothers staring at him with a knowing look in their eyes. He could hear Tsubaki's chuckles until he was inside the elevator to go to his room.

And that was only the first time he saw her. Throughout the entire week, his eyes somehow managed to find her in a crowd, that distinct hair of hers grabbing his attention even from afar. He saw her with every kind of group of high school kids imaginable – the jocks, the popular girls, the loners, the smokers, but most often she was with a girl a bit taller than her with a giant forehead and bursting with energy. Every person she was with she had a smile on her face, the same genuine smile as she just said hello, or even simply waved. She was the same way with everyone, all throughout high school, every single day. At the end of their first week some of the upperclassmen took a fair amount of first years on a night out, the hazing and unbearable awkwardness finally over. He only went because he'd figured she'd be there, and though he couldn't fathom why, he wanted to know more about her – especially her name.

Sure enough she was there, smiling that little grin of hers, the forehead girl attached to her hip. She was drinking, like the majority of the other students there, but her countenance never changed to indicate that she'd had too much. She managed and held herself well. And that managed to get him even more reluctant, even more nervous to just walk up and talk to her. He couldn't. What if she didn't smile in that way of hers for him? What if the sight of him scared her away, since he was so often assumed to be a delinquent from his hair and the way he dressed? He didn't think he could stand it.

As more time passed, he became more familiar with one of his classmates, Kazuma Sasakura. He was popular enough, rather average looking in Yuusuke's opinion, and had seen him in Physical Education – more specifically, seen him perform outstandingly in the one class he was actually good at. He wanted him on the soccer team from seeing him run alone, and he was adamant in his refusal.

"But why not?" Kazuma demanded one lunch break after he'd asked for the nth time.

"I told you, I have a part time job," Yusuke answered gruffly, irritated to be having this conversation again. Just thinking about quitting and not being able to make any more money to pay Tsubaki back for the times he'd loaned him some gave him the shudders. "I don't see any merit in joining a sport, either. It's just bothersome."

"Oh, come on." As nice a guy as Kazuma seemed, he was particularly stubborn, and that natural charisma of his and the windblown flip of his hair was grating on Yuusuke's nerves. "It'll make you more popular!"

Popular enough to get noticed by her? He shook the thought away immediately, taking another bite of his lunch packed diligently by the second son, Ukyo. "I don't care about being popular…" He trailed off as he glanced out the door to the classroom, the seats in his row empty for lunch, and saw her stride past the doorway, following Forehead Girl. His heart stopped, and the words caught in his throat. He was dimly aware of Kazuma saying something, something about girls in particular, but his ears were honed in on one thing: Forehead Girl calling out: "Come on, Hinata!"

"I'm coming!" Responded his mystery girl with an easy laugh, rubbing the shoulder on the side furthest from him somewhat tenderly. He watched as she moved past the doorway, elegant as a dancer, until not even the tips of her hair were in sight.

So her name was Hinata. His whole body felt tingly, from the ends of his hair to the tips of his toes. It took him a second to realize that he was happy – overjoyed, even, to simply learn her name. He wondered why she was holding her shoulder like it hurt. He wondered if Hinata was her first or last name. He wondered what she liked to eat, what her favourite colour was, how her voice sounded without the din of his classmates' conversations in the background.

"Asahina!" Snapped him out of his enraptured daze, and he whipped his head back to Kazuma to see his companion staring at him like he'd grown another head. "You okay, man?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He muttered, wanting to eat more of his lunch but worried he may get sick from the storm brewing in his stomach. No, not storm – a flurry of butterflies.

"Your face is really red," Kazuma murmured, the crease in his eyebrows indicating that he was genuinely concerned. "Maybe you should go to the nurse's office."

"Really, I'm fine," Yuusuke insisted, forcing himself to take another bite. "Just felt… a bit hot in here for a second, is all."

Kazuma clearly didn't believe him from the skeptical look on his face, but seemingly a perceptive guy, he let the subject drop. "Anyway, I told my senpais on the team about you, and they're interested in you joining as well. So won't you at least think about it?"

They had a long staredown, Kazuma with a look of desperation and puppy dog eyes on his face, Yuusuke's expressionless mask twitching out of place. Finally he sighed: "I'll think about it, that's all." When Kazuma started cheering and doing a victory dance in his seat, he snapped louder, "That's all! I make no promises, so don't be disappointed, all right?"

"That's all I ask for," Kazuma responded, a cheerful grin stuck on his face. "Anyway, about that girl I'm interested in…"

Yuusuke tuned out at that point, aware that he wasn't being very polite, but only interested in hearing about one girl in particular. Besides, he and Kazuma weren't exactly friends, at least not at that point. And little did he know that someday, something would happen to further strain that budding friendship, something he just hadn't bothered to listen to at that point.

That something was not the incident that occurred a few days later, though he supposed it had a certain part in the distance that inevitably formed between them. Yusuke knew Kazuma hadn't meant any harm when he said he'd told his senpais in the club about him, but he hadn't exactly been truthful when he said they were interested in him joining. That was obvious when he found himself cornered against the back of the gymnasium, out of sight from any bystanders and hearing range of any passerby. They weren't thugs, not exactly, but the were older and bigger than him, and undoubtedly intimidating. And, most of all, they were not impressed.

"What makes you too good to join the soccer club?" One of them asked, his jersey zipped up to hide his team number. So Yusuke couldn't rat him out. Clever. "When you're just some wannabe delinquent."

Yusuke was, by no means, a delinquent. He'd gotten into a couple fights back in junior high, but only because the other kids deserved it. He was used to roughhousing, anyhow, growing up with twelve brothers. And what could he help it if he was born with an odd hair colour, bright red as the embers in a firepit? He was free to do with it what he wished, yet was consistently judged for it. Honestly, it was getting tiring. "And these," said another team member, yanking on one of the delicate braids coming from behind his ears. "What the hell are these supposed to be?"

Surely at that point shoving him away was only self-defense. "None of your business," he said simply, blankly, lowering his hands to show that he meant no harm. He didn't want to get into a fight right then, ruining his chance at friendship with Kazuma, and perhaps warranting a reputation that Hinata would come to hear about. He didn't want to be a delinquent, not here, where she was. He'd rather take a few punches and be done with it.

And it looked like that was exactly what was about to happen in retaliation for the shove when the victim took him by the collar of his uniform, glaring death into his eyes. He met them straight-on, physically tightening and bracing his body for a hit, when a small voice permeated the all too intimate space between them: "Is everything alright over here?"

His heart was sent into a frenzy, and he knew even without looking who it was. He was both ashamed and giddy to turn his head, shoved up against the concrete wall of the building, to see Hinata standing a few meters away, hands calmly at her side and with that little smile on her face. Though it didn't exactly look completely friendly right then, it still made Yuusuke feel like he was going to pass out just by looking at it.

"Perfectly alright, girlie," said the first soccer team member, striding over to her with a swagger that suddenly made Yuusuke's blood boil and vision go red. "Why don't you just come over here with me and leave them to it?"

That was Yusuke's opponent's cue to lift him up against the wall by the collar and smack him against it, hard enough that the breath got knocked out of him. More than anger, more than joy, he felt utterly ashamed to appear so weak and victimized in front of a girl like her. The one his eyes followed wherever she went. The one who seemed to always walk on air. Who had hair like a princess in an anime, eyes like the ocean at his family's beach house, a smile like the sun shining down on the damned earth.

The upperclassman reached his hand back, curled into a fist, about to thrust it into Yusuke's face. He knew it would hurt, judging from the way his tendons stood out, pointed like knives. He knew that wouldn't be the only one, since the third team member who'd spent the whole exchange smirking was actually cracking his knuckles like he was some kind of gangster. Still he didn't blink, and still he didn't move. He just looked at the upperclassman inches away from his face, and his expression only served to enrage him further. His fist went flying and got him square in the cheek, crushing into his nose enough to make it crack so loudly that he could have sworn it was a boom of thunder.

But that was impossible. The sound couldn't be that loud; the punch wasn't even that bad. That's when he realized that the cracking he'd heard didn't come from him, but rather from another one of the upperclassman, the ringleader of the three, who was making noises strongly resembling a small mammal caught in a bear trap.

Yusuke and the soccer team members looked his way, absolutely befuddled, and in unison their hearts sank. All they could see was the first team member, the one with his jersey zipped up, on his knees with his arm twisted at an awkward angle and held in the grip of someone with the face of an oni mask. His heart stuttered then kickstarted into overdrive, some indescribable feeling rushing through him as he was released from his opponent's shocked and slack grasp.

"I imagine that members of the soccer team don't have to use their arms too often," Hinata snarled, the smile on her face contorted and capable of striking terror into the hearts of children. "But it would probably inconvenience you a lot to have it snapped, huh? Not to mention that it would hurt a whole fucking lot, don't you agree?"

She had the upperclassman in her tightening grasp, had him whimpering like a wounded dog. The other two stared at her, bewildered and shell-shocked, while her smile grew and she twisted just a bit more, enough to make her victim cry out from the pit of his gut.

"Jesus Christ, let him go!" One of them yelped, fear colouring his tone. Yusuke was still rendered speechless, his eyes showing whites all around, and his knees gave out so that he slid down against the wall.

"So long as you leave him alone, and don't say a word about this, I'd be glad to," she sang, shoving her arm under their upperclassman's opposite armpit and shifting her grip into a headlock. "Deal?"

"Whatever!" They cried, and she let him go with a heavy thump as he hit the ground. He was left wheezing, clutching his right arm in fevered pain as they made off, cursing words like "crazy bitch" and "monster" under their breath.

That left the two of them, gazing at each other wordlessly, the dark expression on her face replaced by one as blank as a sheet of paper. Without warning she crumpled to the ground, and Yusuke felt a surge of adrenaline help him to his feet as he crouched next to her, concerned. He was about to ask if she was alright, the words stuck in his throat, when he saw that she didn't look like she was in pain – instead her face was flushed bright red, highlighting freckles dotted along her nose and the tops of her cheeks, her face a mask of shame.

"I'm so sorry for butting in like that," she groaned, clapping her hands to her face. "That was absolutely mortifying, I'm so sorry. Um, I should probably go now…" She stood to leave immediately, that lovely shade of red still colouring her face, when Yusuke cried out and stopped her. He didn't wail anything dashing or inspirational, not even a simple word like "wait!" but instead just some garbled noises making him sound like a drowned turkey that made her concerned enough for his mental well-being that she turned around.

Yusuke couldn't find any words. The only noises coming from his mouth were incomprehensible stutters. She was finally there, in front of him, all of her attention focused on him. All he could think was about how absolutely adorable she looked with her face all red, and how cool she seemed to him, so fearless and brave. He was finally able to settle on two words, albeit roughly: "Th… thank you."

She stared at him for a moment, the redness draining from her face and her blue eyes wide. Even though she'd twisted that upperclassman's arm like it was no more than a frail branch, she was a completely average size, not too skinny and not too tall, either. She was so normal, but at the same time, she was so completely unique to him. He knew he was a goner when she responded with a boisterous, amazing laugh, her cheeks only a rosy pink and her eyes shut tight in glee. His heart stopped, and suddenly he was the one with the face that matched his hair colour.

"You're very welcome!" She said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "I'm just glad you're not hurt too badly." She held a hand out to him, to help him up, and he felt a bolt of lightning shoot through his arm upon contact. He was shocked to feel her lift up his entire body weight like it was nothing, yet at the same time he was only more taken with her strength. "I'm Vivi Hinata, and I'm in class C. I hope I'll be seeing you around."

His name. He had to remember his damn name. "Yusuke Asahina," he managed, his voice coming out a bit strangled. She'd let go of his hand as soon as he was standing, but he could feel the warmth of her touch lingering like a gentle caress. He clutched that hand into a fist, desperate to keep the feeling for even a few seconds longer, and suddenly he knew exactly what that feeling he'd had such difficulty identifying was.

Now he understood why they called it a 'crush'. It felt like a weight was constantly pressing down on his chest, leaving him struggling for air, yet craving it more and more. Her very presence was intoxicating, making him dizzy and clumsy. And the feeling would only grow stronger and stronger as time went on, devastating in nature, yet as addicting as the sun was to flowers.

I don't hate Yusuke - I think he's sweet. I don't know what the official spelling of his name is though; is it Yuusuke or Yusuke? I prefer two U's, probably because I'm the whitest white girl alive and it's easier for me to correlate between the spelling and pronunciation that way. Just lemme know if it bothers you and I'll change it from now on.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this short special! I think I've mentioned before - maybe, I haven't slept - that it feels weird to be writing so little, as Cross Ice's chapters have 30,000 words at a time; this is a tenth of that (I'm not a mathematician shut up). I FEEL LIKE I'M DOING SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WHEN I HAVE SO LITTLE WORDS WHEN THE REALITY IS THAT SHORTER IS BETTER YA IDIOT UGH

P.S. My mother was shocked - and delighted- to see that review containing the words 'eat shit and die etc'. THANKS.