(x)

(Ryohei Interlude)

Sasagawa Ryohei hadn't always been good at making friends, you see.

It wasn't that he wasn't friendly, nor was it that people disliked him or anything like that.

He was just loud. Very loud.

Ryohei's always been pretty fond of living life to the extreme, after all.

A lot of kids his age (at the time, eight) didn't really like that. Sure, Ryohei had made for a good playmate once in a blue moon, but long term? It had probably been a bit embarrassing.

Ryohei had had a collection of acquaintances as a child, but few friends. He had his sister, but Kyoko was in a different class, in a different year. He had once considered pretending to be dumb to get left back so that he could be with her, but really, even he couldn't fake being bad enough at school to be left back two years.

But then again, it probably wouldn't have been too hard. Even as a child Ryohei had had a reputation amongst his teachers for being kind of an idiot, too slow with too much of a tendency to ask obvious questions. Hell, he still had that reputation for about a month or two every year. Then the teachers saw his grades and promptly shut up.

It might have even been worth trying, if he hadn't met Morishiba Atsuko.

Ryohei was weird. Strange to the extreme. Kids didn't like that kind of thing.

But he was lonely too and no kid liked being lonely. Sure, he didn't look lonely, but he was never one to let anyone see that kind of thing. He always was, had to be, the strong one to the extreme, for Kyoko, for Atsuko, his parents, the club.

When Ryohei first laid eyes upon Atsuko in the second grade, his first thoughts were that she looked as extremely lonely as he felt and that she needed a friend.

But then again, she looked quiet. He wasn't. She probably wanted a different friend.

And so, he waited. Even after a few days, the girl was still as alone as ever. Ryohei had made a few more acquaintances in that time, but nothing solid or lasting (even for an eight year old). Ryohei hated the feeling of wanting to do something without being able to actually do it - especially when it came to things like this.

The next day, he approached her.

Their first interaction was nothing to really write home about.

"Hey!" he had said, loudly, wearing his best grin. Smiles made people friendlier, he noticed. "Atsuko-chan, right?"

Ryohei had expected an expression of shyness, not the sheer boredom he has been greeted with.

"Sasagawa-san. What do you want?"

It was something new, different. He hadn't ever been greeted like this, but somehow it was better. More honest. He knew where he stood from the simple question - there was no awkward laughter or misdirection.

He liked that.

"Let's be friends to the extreme!"

"No."

Ryohei didn't give up. Atsuko didn't relent.

Eventually, after a month or so of this, their childish arguments became more like banter and they began to seek each other out the moment they entered the school.

It was a simple routine - sitting down together everyday. Atsuko would pretend that they weren't friends, Ryohei would hear the laughter in her voice as she said as much. He would chatter on and on, she would listen. She would hesitantly bring up something she liked, Ryohei would go home and see if he liked it too.

He didn't always like what Atsuko liked, but when he did it was great to the extreme - they had things to talk about!

They never explicitly said 'we're friends', they simply were. And then they became best friends, two halves of one whole - only really needing each other.

They didn't interact with the other children very much unless it was for a team sport or a group assignment. Why bother? They were just fine on their own.

It was easy, natural, the way their friendship fell into place. When Ryohei started boxing lessons Atsuko would never miss a single one. When Atsuko wanted to try new things - new foods or new shows, the like, Ryohei was always there to enjoy them with her.

They did things together because they both knew how much better it was than to be alone.

It was warm, extremely warm, like the way he felt with Kyoko. Speaking of, Kyoko liked Atsuko too. Her Atsu-nee, she said. Ryohei couldn't have been happier - it would have been hard to continue a friendship with a person that Kyoko didn't like.

Well, truthfully it was near-impossible for Kyoko not to like someone, but that was besides the point.

As the years went by, they only became closer and closer. Ryohei was well aware that their friendship wasn't exactly normal, probably more than Atsuko was. It wasn't quite normal for a girl to sleep in her best friend's sweaters, or walk around her house in only said sweaters.

Most boy/girl best friends also didn't walk around holding hands all the time, he noticed. They didn't seem to be as physically affectionate, either. They probably didn't rely on each other as much as Atsuko and Ryohei did, for emotional support and validation and everything that came in between.

Codependency, he knew it was called. Probably a bit unhealthy, but it wasn't like they couldn't survive without each other, probably.

Ryohei didn't actually care. The looks they got from teachers and other kids were an indication that they, outsiders, did, but that just made Ryohei care extremely less.

When Ryohei was named captain of the boxing club, it was only natural that Atsuko be manager. They knew each other like the backs of their hands, working together almost-seamlessly.

(Atsuko still glares pretty venomously at him everytime he breaks something while training and Ryohei fully admits to being extremely annoyed by the way that Atsuko somehow manages to drink all their grape soda in an hour and never leaves him any, the hoarder.)

It wasn't hard to include the rest of the club, their real friends (wow, that was new for a while) in on their routine either. Everyone fit into their life seamlessly - the banter, the hard work, the love.

Ryohei liked to think that their little family was perfect. In fact, his whole life was perfect. He has the world's greatest best friend, a loving little sister, understanding parents and a whole club full of people just as passionate about boxing as he is.

Of course, the real world wasn't perfect. Things changed. And so, Ryohei always did his absolute best to maintain this perfection - he got near-perfect test results in everything but history (sorry, but no amount of perfectionism was ever going to make him stay awake through an entire history lecture) to maintain his status as the club's captain.

He stayed by Atsu's side and supported her through everything she did. He gave her his every secret in return for her own - though he knew she still had a few left. But he also knew that she couldn't keep anything from him for over a few months without having a mental breakdown over the guilt, so he could afford to be patient.

Ryohei is her shoulder to cry on, Atsuko is his rock, keeping him afloat in this endless sea of changes and fragility.

He listens to Kyoko. He listens to her every trouble, holding her, providing her with only the best of extreme brotherly advice. Kyoko, he has always known, is not the flawless, secure little princess she likes to make herself out to be. He spars with her, keeps himself from fighting every person to anger him. He loves her and he will always do whatever it takes to keep her smiling.

Ryohei was convinced that he was doing everything right - that nothing could go wrong in this life of his so long as he continued on like this.

But then reality came knocking on his door.

Namie Subari, a bright, brilliant girl, committed suicide.

He recalls the silence of the classroom as the teacher's news hit them like a pile of bricks - or would chunks of ice be a better comparison? Either way, it was…

Ryohei remembers that the girl used to have a lot of friends - almost everyone in the class. They talked once or twice, but he's never really felt the need to talk to anyone in his class besides Atsuko and the other club members present, Rin and Kazu. She would answer the teacher's every question, score in the top ten on every exam.

Sometimes she caught her looking at them, though he could never identify the emotion. Now, he realizes, the girl had wished to have an other half for herself - someone to see that she was being abused, someone to save her from her nightmares.

But she wasn't so lucky. That didn't happen.

The entire class missed it, what was going on. Ryohei missed it and she had literally been sitting right in front of him, day by day.

That scared him. Terrified him.

What if he missed something like that with Kyoko? Atsuko? What if something was going on right before his eyes, and yet he was entirely blind to it?

He was entirely certain, extremely certain, that he would never be able to handle that.

If anyone noticed that he switched seats so that his arm never left Atsuko's shoulders at school for the next few days, then no one said a word.

Atsuko had been, unsurprisingly, unphased by their classmate's death. She lived with death, was surrounded by it, in a way that he could tell wasn't just because of what her family did. It was tied to her, somehow, and he hated that.

There was nothing he hated more than Atsuko talking about death. It was like a tic with her, she couldn't actually control it, he noticed. Death was simply always on her mind, whether they liked it, or not.

He hates it.

He hates that it reminds him of her mortality. One wrong move, one mistake, one accident, and he will be alone. Not alone, per se, but half empty.

He can't, won't, be without Atsuko. He'd protect her, no matter what. He needs her to be there to treat his hands after he trains until they bleed, he needs her to ride her bike with him as he runs at sunrise, to be there for him.

Now, if only he had something a bit more extreme than a spray bottle to protect her from her own self…

Ryohei isn't quite sure how he ended up as Atsuko's pillow during training.

One moment he was looking over some new proposal of Hayato's - wow, that tournament has an extreme amount of prize money, how does he even find these things - and the next Atsuko had pulled him down and put her head down in his lap before he could even think to protest.

He doesn't actually mind - he knows she hasn't been sleeping very well lately, which is why he stopped dragging her out for morning jogs and started sleeping over at her place more often (or inviting her to his). She sleeps better with Ryohei around.

(So does he.)

"Looks like Atsu and I are out of commission for a while," he says cheerfully, leaning back against the wall. Atsuko twitches, but remains asleep. Honestly, there's a reason why he has to be so loud in the mornings, even though everyone says his cheer is downright monstrous.

"Thank Kami," Mozumo says, collapsing to the floor. "Bloody slavedriver…"

Rin takes the moment of weakness as a chance to throw a light stress ball at Mozumo's head, much to the other's chagrin. "Oi, stop it with those British dramas - you sound like an idiot."

"Bloody bastard."

"I dunno, I think it's kinda hot," Kamui chimes in, pausing thoughtfully from where he was lifting weights. "Just not on you, Mozu. Ew. Now, Haya on the other hand…"

"Do you want to get your ass kicked, motherfucker?!"

"Language." Ah good old Kazu… it's a wonder that he hasn't given up on that yet. They're boxers, after all.

But then again Kazu always has been a stickler for rules - it's what makes him such a good referee during practice matches.

Hayato shouts back something in Italian that Ryohei is vaguely certain is a string of expletives. Ryohei doesn't bother holding back his laughter at the whole scene. "Y'know, Mozumo, just 'cause I can't get up and make you train doesn't mean that I won't kick your ass later for slacking off."

"Language!"

"But captain," Mozumo moans pitifully, "- not everyone's a superhuman like you! Come on, look around! Everyone looks dead, even the people who haven't even been doing anything!"

"That's no excuse not to work extremely hard," Ryohei argues. "Come on. You guys only have another half hour, you can do this! I extremely believe in you!"

"Captain," Rin says and Ryohei is fairly certain that he's about to get extremely scolded by a guy who's literally a foot shorter than him. "There is clearly such a thing as taking a motherfucking break -"

"Rin, I swear to fuck, if you people don't control your dirty mouth, we have fluffs in the room half the time -"

"Not right now, hypocrite," Rin retorted, earning a glare from Kazu. "Anyways, as I was saying -"

Rin, it seems, would not be finishing that sentence anytime soon. The doors to the gym swung open and in came the missing members of the club - both official and unofficial.

"I come bearing drinks and cuteness!"

Tsuna sighed, shaking his head fondly as he made his way to the mini-fridge with several bottles of soda. "Yusuke…"

Ryohei had never actually noticed Tsuna before, not really. He was peripherally aware that there was a social outcast in their school, but he didn't exactly have a name nor was this person in his grade. The gravity of such a situation had never actually hit him, not until the Namie Subari incident.

Then, he and Atsuko decided to take a walk. That wasn't very common, since they usually just stuck to their favorite spots after school. He doesn't actually remember why they decided to take that walk, but that doesn't matter.

He saw Sawada Tsunayoshi, bruised and alone and resigned. He closed his eyes, just for a moment, and then he saw alabaster skin, glassy eyes and black clothing.

Ryohei couldn't let that happen again - not when he can finally see it. He realizes that this is probably some sort of misplaced guilt complex, he does read psychology books all the time (how can he make sure that nothing's wrong with his loved ones if he doesn't know what to look for?) but that doesn't matter. He is there, and so is Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Atsuko, of course, struggled against Ryohei's decision at first. She didn't like people (which is a lie, Atsuko loves people. Just not most people.) and disliked the idea of adding more to their circle.

However, Atsuko loves Ryohei. Therefore, if something would truly make him happy, such as helping Tsuna, then she would - if a bit grudgingly - go along with it. Hell, she'd even help him.

That's what best friends are extremely for, after all.

And that's exactly what she did. Ryohei, though much better than Atsu at social interactions, didn't actually know what he was doing in that situation.

Atsu did. Ryohei loves Atsuko, really, he does.

In any case, they recruited Tsuna. While yes, Tsuna did spend quite some time breaking their hearts with how obviously insecure and traumatized he is, Ryohei likes to think that he's improved by a lot.

He is Ryohei's extreme little brother, after all.

"You shouldn't take credit for our presence, Yu-chan," Kyoko agrees, plopping down next to Ryohei and taking up the rest of the space in his lap. Atsuko still doesn't stir - how she does it is one of the extremest mysteries he's ever encountered.

Yusuke sniffed. "Excuse you two - if I wasn't here then you guys'd be wandering around lost forever."

Tsuna flushes slightly. "It's not our fault we had to take that detour…"

Ryohei grins, lacing his fingers into Kyoko's hair. "What happened?"

Hayato turns back from where he is putting away drinks while simultaneously arguing with Kamui over something or another. "I did tell you that there would be a long construction detour on the way to that store, Juudaime."

Tsuna moans. "I know, this is the last time I don't listen to every word you say. But in my defense you said it while I was finishing something up for Hibari-san at the time…"

Hayato laughs and Ryohei marvels at how much the younger boy has changed since he joined them a few weeks ago. Atsuko once said that he changes to reflect what Tsuna needs most and what Tsuna needs most is a best friend to love him. Hayato does extremely well, though he can be a bit awkward. "It's not like I say these things to waste your time, but it's fine. I'm here to listen to you, not the other way around."

Tsuna frowns. "Hayato…"

"Actually, speaking of Hibari," Kazu interrupts, walking over to grab a drink from where he had been working with the punching bags. "We need to know. Is he worthy?"

Kyoko instantly perked up. "Oh, yes! We can't continue supporting the royal courtship if he isn't, you know."

Ryohei laughed. "I'd prefer it if Atsuko stayed away from guys, period, but she does have a crush on Hibari, sooo."

Hayato raised an eyebrow. "I thought she hates that bastard, though? Where the hell do you get that from?"

"Haya, Haya, Haya," Kamui says, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "This is why you guys can't keep missing the early morning meetings."

"But they're so...early," Tsuna protests. "And they're on Mondays."

"What's wrong with Monday's?" Ryohei asks, somewhat defensively. He likes Mondays. Starting a week well is always the best way to make sure a week ends well too.

"Everything, you psycho," Mozumo deadpans. "But yeah, generally if you come to early Monday practices you'll get to see Manager-chan half asleep - and a half asleep Manager-chan is a very interesting one."

Rin grins, putting a sweaty arm over Tsuna's shoulders - "get your disgusting arm off of Juudaime!" - and says, "Interesting is an understatement. Her lips are looser when she's sleepy than if she were drunk."

"Tell me about it," Ryohei complains without any real bite. "I extremely did not need to know that pineapples have sexy abs. I didn't even know that fruit can have abs."

"Did you know that someone called Xan-something can totally tie her up with his suit tie?" Kyoko adds, giggling. "Atsu-nee has interesting tastes."

"And the things I've heard about some blonde prince dude…" Yusuke adds, shaking his head. "A sleepy Atsuko is a very pervy Atsuko."

"Um," Tsuna says unsurely. "Are you guys sure we can talk about Atsu-senpai like this?"

"We're sure," Ryohei and Kyoko say in unison.

There are very few secrets in this room and just about everyone has seen Atsuko in this particular state. It's not like she isn't aware of it either, or as if everyone else hasn't been seen in similarly embarrassing states.

Like that one time Rin and Mozumo got drunk off of eggnog (however they actually managed that one) and back when Kazu thought he was going to die after drinking expired milk. Or Yusuke's panic attack over getting a B on a paper for once in his life. And Ryohei's mini mental breakdowns over Kyoko actually liking guys, too. Or Kamui everyday.

"Anyhow, she's also got some pretty dang loose lips over our resident demon prefect," Kazu says, returning them to their original subject. "Like how his eyes are 'of liquid silver', his cheekbones are sharper than some demon's knives, how interesting he'd be in bed…"

Tsuna's cheeks began to glow pink. Atsuko really didn't comprehend a good seventy five percent of what came out of her mouth on Monday mornings before eight a.m., but Ryohei really did need her around on those mornings and it wasn't like they could stop doing Monday mornings - they had to stay ahead of the baseball team somehow.

"Tsuna-kun," Kyoko says with authority. "I have to know about the rival Kyo. Tell us."

Kyoko can be so passionate, Ryohei thinks fondly. It's probably a family thing.

"Don't just order Juudaime around like that," Hayato hisses. Tsuna sighs fondly. "Hayato, it's fine. Anyways… um… I guess Hibari-san's a responsible person?"

"We already knew that," Ryohei dismisses. All jokes aside, if Atsuko was going to have a love interest then it definitely wasn't going to be one that he didn't truly know. "That's extremely obvious. What else?"

"He's a very fair person too, I think," Tsuna says thoughtfully. "He likes to do everything himself without burdening others, but he's also smart enough to know what he can and can't do. Overall, even though Hibari-san's very scary, I think that he's very honorable and close enough to our standards for Atsu-senpai."

"Hmm…"

Just then, Atsuko's eyes slowly, painfully, opened as though she was a vampire waking up to the morning light. She sat up, holding on to Ryohei's shoulder for support as she looked around before finally locking eyes with Ryohei.

"I hate every last one of you."

"We love you too, Atsu."

A/N

You guys seriously have no idea as to how long I've been waiting to write this chap. Hmmm, I think the next one'll be from Yamamoto's POV. Thoughts?

Til next time!