Author's note: Yes I know its been a while, but I had a few busy weeks, and then Pokemon X happened.
To make up for it, here's 3000 words of fight scenes and identity revealed. (ps, its 330AM here and I've uploaded while my housemate/beta is asleep so any big spelling errors let me know)
As always, I hope you enjoy. -SBB
11:30 AM found Furuichi sitting at Miki's dining table, drinking a very strong coffee and reading unopened text messages from that morning and last night.
[SENDER: Oga Tatsumi]
[What time are you finishing tomorrow?]
[SENDER: Oga Tatsumi]
[Oi, Idiot, answer]
[SENDER: Oga Tatsumi]
[Well I'm going game shopping tomorrow. Message me if you want to come with]
[SENDER: Oga Tatsumi]
[What time are you finishing today? We're going game shopping remember]
[MISSED CALL: Oga Tatsumi]
[SENDER: Oga Tatsumi]
[Are you home yet?]
[MISSED CALL: Darling little sister]
[SENDER: Darling little sister]
[DO NOT GIVE MY PHONE NUMBER TO YOUR STUPID FRIENDS. And answer your phone!]
[SENDER: Oga Tatsumi]
[When did Honoka become such a bitch? Screw you, I'm going game shopping]
Furuichi re-read the messages, partly amused, partly resigned to his fate as best friend to an idiot. No matter how often he told Oga that his and Miki's study marathons lasted all weekend, Oga continued to believe that they finished Saturday morning. Chose to believe was probably more accurate, though to Furuichi it just seemed like stupidity.
[TO: Oga Tatsumi]
[What part of SUNDAY keeps confusing you, dumbass? ... if you buy something good I'll try to get over TOMORROW arvo.] [SEND]
As he closed his phone, he heard Miki coming down the stairs from his room. Miki ignored Furuichi's "good morning" completely in pursuit of coffee, and a second cup later they were both awake enough to begin studying.
After spending an hour working on maths tasks, Miki demanded lunch. Partly because he was hungry, but mostly because quadratics were kicking his arse and he had been staring at the same question for 10 minutes. While Miki went in search of food, Furuichi began clearing their books from the table.
Furuichi had been actively not discussing The Website with Miki, and had been feeling pretty good as a result. Gaming, junk food, the making out, and even studying had all helped to take his mind off the idea of someone watching him, right up until he went to move Miki's laptop and saw himself as the screensaver.
It was The Towel Picture. Again.
Furuichi initially felt a moment of shocked annoyance. Not only had Natsume, all of the Oga household, and the ENTIRE INTERNET, seen this picture, but now his Sex and Study Buddy had too? Unfortunately, the sweet taste of annoyance only lasted the few seconds it took for the image to change. The second image was very similar to the first, but the photographed Furuichi had moved further into his bedroom, and the lighting had changed, and an explanation seemed just out of Furuichi's reach. On the third image, he realised what he was looking at.
Unedited pictures. Almost identical, but every frame slightly different as Furuichi moved about his room. These weren't copied images from the website – these had to be the photographer's originals.
Set as Miki's screen saver.
It seemed to Furuichi that there was only one person who could have these additional images, and he was currently in that person's house.
"That fucking bastard..." Furuichi growled, watching himself walk into his bedroom, cross the floor to his wardrobe, then cycle back to the start.
As Furuichi listened to the sounds of his friend with occasional benefits making lunch in the kitchen, something inside him snapped. When he hadn't known who the person could be, Furuichi had felt more afraid than he would have ever admitted to Oga. He hadn't thought anything would be worse than that fear. But realising that he had been afraid of a friend, especially one he had trusted so much as Miki, made him so angry the fear was pushed down completely. Before he could stop and think, Furuichi grabbed the laptop, walked through to the kitchen and threw the computer right at Miki.
"WHAT THE FU- my computer!" Miki yelled, trying to both dodge and catch the flying computer at the same time, dropping the plates of food he had been holding. He managed to cushion the laptop with his foot before it hit the ground. He was crouching down to check it wasn't damaged when Furuichi's foot almost collided with his jaw, only years of training enabling Miki to dodge back in time.
"What's wrong? Why are you doing this?" Miki asked Furuichi, looking up him in hurt and confusion, wondering how someone who had been so intimate with him that night could look at him with such contempt now.
For Furuichi, the sight of Miki crouched pitifully amongst the mess of food and crockery just made him madder. The look of betrayal in Miki's eyes offended him. He had been the one stalked and photographed, he had been the one unknowingly put on display and he would be damned if he would let the perpetrator play the victim. A part of him wanted to go get the demonic tissues he had in his bag, but mostly he wanted to hurt Miki himself. It was difficult to move within the small kitchen, but moving forward quickly, he managed to kick Miki in the wrist.
When Miki flinched back, Furuichi spoke, " 'What's wrong?'" he repeated trying to stamp on Miki's fingers, "I wonder what could possibly be wrong!?"
Miki quickly moved back out of reach, and managed to regain his footing. Putting some distance between them, he tried to move towards the door, but Furuichi cut him off.
The two boys grappled in the doorway, Miki trying to get Furuichi into a hold of some kind without hurting his friend, but struggling as Furuichi seemed determined to bite, kick or punch his way towards hurting Miki any way he could. Miki finally managed to pin Furuichi to the ground on his back, holding his down by his arms. Furuichi continued to thrash for a moment before falling back. Panting, both boys glared at each other for a moment catching their breath.
Miki spoke first, although a gasping "why?" was all he could manage.
At the question, Furuichi's eyes had flared up again, and Miki braced for another struggle, but Furuichi only spoke.
"Because I saw your fucking screen saver, you fucking perve. You're the one who's been taking pictures of me aren't you!? DON'T EVEN TRY TO DENY IT," Furuichi yelled up when he saw Miki try to speak.
"Not all of the pictures were on that website! You had to be the one who took them! What the fuck?" Furuichi's throat caught for a second, as he fought against tears of rage and hurt and fear and broken trust. Concerned Miki released his grip, Furuichi pushing him away as he sat up.
Miki didn't say anything for a long moment, he just stared at the floor, mind racing in horror. He had completely forgotten that he had set those pictures as his screen saver. Terrified of the consequences this mistake might have, he spoke.
"I didn't take -"
"BULL SHIT!" Furuichi interrupted, "those were originals, you didn't copy them off someone else's website!"
Miki flinched, then said all in a rush "I didn't take them, but I know who did, please, I'm sorry, just please don't hate me." His last words were nearly a whisper as he finally looked up, quickly looking away from the angry expression he saw on the face he admired so much.
"Tell me who did."
A few short hours later, Furuichi appeared to stand alone in small alley way behind a green grocer, watching the back door to the building. He had spoken to a store hand who had been on a break moments earlier, and who had now gone inside to collect the person he was waiting for. In the few minutes he waited, he would occasionally wave away small bugs that were flying about his head. Two rolled up tissues were in his nose, which looked strange enough, but to anyone who had the ability to see demonic auras, there also appeared to be a large, trench coated young man sitting just behind Furuichi's back, drumming his fingers on Furuichi's head.
"Stop that," Furuichi said, still focused on the door.
"Stop thinking so loudly then tactician," Hecadoth countered, "your thoughts are making me edgy."
"Just wait, alright. He'll be out in a -" he cut off as the door swung open, and the person he was waiting for stepped out looking for them. When he spotted Furuichi, he smiled and waved, walking towards them.
Furuichi clenched his fists, and quickly whispered to Hecadoth, "can I do it myself?"
Hecadoth frowned, looking at the large man approaching them, "depends how much you want to do."
"I want to hurt him."
Hecadoth grinned in anticipation at the sudden venom in his contractor's thoughts. "I think you can manage that," he said opening up his power to Furuichi, who leapt forward swinging his fists.
There are many things that have surprised Toujou Hidetora in his life, but Furuichi attacking him in an alley behind his current work place had to rank in the top 10 at least. Years of alley fights allowed him to block the incoming blow, but he was still forced backwards by the power of the punch.
He looked up from behind his defensively raised arms, and at the sight of Furuichi standing ready to come at him again, confusion gave way to delight.
"I thought I'd never get a chance for our rematch!" he said as he took off his work apron, "do you have another fever? Will you be ok to fight?" he asked, gesturing to the tissues in concern.
"Is he really this stupid?" Hecadoth asked peering over Furuichi's head as Furuichi launched himself at Toujou again, this time managing a low kick to his knee.
"Yes," Furuichi replied, grunting with the recoil, "can't he see you? He has a king's crest."
"It doesn't look like he's noticed me," Hecadoth replied, frowning at Toujou's smiling face, "this time, try punching him under the ribs, that will definitely hurt."
Furuichi nodded as he dodged under an incoming punch from Toujou, and aimed where Hecadoth had suggested. Based on the grunt Toujou made, Hecadoth had been right. "Any other recommendations?" he asked the demon.
"Would you consider rupturing one of his kidneys? No, I didn't think so. Hmm, one moment." Furuichi stopped to gather his breath while Hecadoth rifled through Furuichi's thoughts, trying to find the level of pain he wanted to inflict on his stalker. To the demon's thinking, there would never be enough pain to inflict on someone who did that to him, but he had noticed that some humans had a soft spot for other humans, and his little contractor was one of them. Finally he recommended "throwing him against a brick wall."
Furuichi nodded while blocking a flurry of punches from Toujou, then quickly ducked down, grabbed his ankle, and with a herculean heave, threw Toujou against the wall of the grocers, where he lay groaning.
Furuichi leant against the opposing wall trying to catch his breath while Hecadoth looked over Toujou critically. "I could have done it a lot more effectively, but I suppose pain is pain. Are you satisfied?" he asked Furuichi. Barely waiting for the contractor's nod he continued, "then I take my leave. I look forward to doing this again."
And then he was gone, and the only sounds Furuichi heard were Toujou's moans, the hallucino-bugs buzzing and his own pulse pounding in his ears. Dropping the used tissues on the ground, he crossed the alley, and gave Toujou a shallow kick to the ribs. The grunt and twitch response he received made him happy.
"I've seen your website," he said looking down on the fallen senior.
Groaning, Toujou slowly sat up and squinted up Furuichi.
"Which one?" he asked.
Furuichi gave him another kick, this time to the hip, "WHICH ONE DO YOU THINK, FUCKWIT! The one with the pictures of me! Why have you been stalking me?" he yelled, punctuating each of his sentences with further kicks to the leg.
"Oi, OI, stop that!" Toujou growled, trying to grab the offending foot. Furuichi quickly moved out of reach, not wanting to risk a fight without Hecadoth. Toujou frowned at him across the alley, "who's stalking you? Isn't this our rematch?" he asked.
For a second Furuichi thought he had heard wrong. Then he considered that Miki might have lied to him that Toujou was the photographer, and in the moment of doubt, he suddenly felt terrible regret for having attacked Toujou, who had always been nicer to him than the other delinquents. He closed his eyes, and taking a deep breath, tried to calm down. Then he took a few more deep breaths as the first hadn't worked at all.
A few moments later, he felt calm enough to speak. He opened his eyes to see Toujou frowning across the alley at him in concern.
"Have you been taking pictures of me and putting them up on a website?" he asked finally.
Toujou blinked. "Is that what this was about?"
Furuichi fought down a sudden flare of rage. "Yes or no?"
Toujou nodded, "well yes, but I'm not stalking you – I take photos of everybody."
Furuichi spent the next half an hour sitting on the alley floor looking at photography websites on Toujou's phone. After half an hour, they relocated to Toujou's home as his employer fired him for skipping work to fight and look at photos.
Toujou had four photography websites in total. The one of Furuichi and Beel, a flower and nature collection and one filled with babies and puppies playing (Beel featured heavily in that one as well, which Toujou deemed his favourite collection). But it was the fourth that most captured Furuichi's interest, as it was composed entirely of pictures of fights. Most of them involved Toujou's friends, but many of the other Ishyama students featured. Furuichi had been so entranced by a picture of Oga smiling within a whirlwind of blood drops, that Toujou had had to call his name repeatedly to get his attention.
"Oh, sorry, what did you say?"
"I said why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer."
Furuichi did not dignify the terrible joke with any kind of answer. Toujou continued unperturbed.
"I said, why do you want me to stop? You admit you like these," he said gesturing to the screen, "and I told you I wasn't following you, I just happen to work everywhere, and take pictures when I see something I like."
Rubbing at the newly developed ache between his eyes, Furuichi repeated his arguments. "I do like the pictures, but it is incredibly creepy to take pictures of people without them knowing. And very illegal! One day someone will spot you photographing a kid at the park and you'll be arrested!"
Toujou made a face that on anyone else would have been called sulky.
"But I just like cute things! It's not creepy."
Furuichi paused before asking nervously, "why did you take so many of me? All these other ones, there's lots of different people, but on that site, it's just me and Beel. Why?"
Rather than explaining right away, Toujou opened up that particular site, and clicked on a picture of Furuichi. He was looking up at the sky as sunlight reflected off falling snow. Furuichi couldn't remember ever making such a face at snow.
"That face there," Toujou said pointing at it, "is perfect. It's all beautiful and sad – it's a very romantic face," he finished with a nod, as if that explained everything.
Furuichi's current face was not beautiful and sad and romantic. It was horrified and very, very confused, mostly by Toujou Hidetora's use of the word romantic. He had also used words like 'photogenic', 'ambient light' and 'retouching' throughout the afternoon while explaining his unexpected hobby.
Toujou had once had a part time job at a photographer's studio. The job hadn't lasted, but his interest in photography had, and supporting his hobby was part of the reason why Toujou worked so many jobs. Looking around Toujou's bedroom, Furuichi noticed that Toujou's cameras seemed to be the most expensive things he owned. They were certainly more valuable than the computer he used to edit them. The walls of the room were covered in photographs, most of which Furuichi suspected Toujou had taken as he taught himself photography. With a growing sense of dread, Furuichi knew he couldn't take this away from Toujou, so already regretting it, made a proposal.
"If you promise to stop taking pictures of little kids, you can keep your nature and fighting pictures – and the puppies too I guess."
Toujou eventually nodded, though his eyes lingered sadly on the frolicking toddlers. The easy part over, Furuichi took a deep breath, and steeling himself made the second half of his proposal.
"I'll let you keep taking pictures of me – on three conditions," he hurriedly added seeing Toujou reach for his camera.
"What conditions?"
Furuichi counted the first two off on his fingers. "No more pictures of baby Beel, and I approve any pictures before they go online." Toujou nodded reluctantly to both.
"And the third?" he asked, poised to grab his camera then and there.
Furuichi drew up the dreaded Towel Picture, and pointing to it named the final condition.
"Why did you give the originals of this picture to Miki? Why did you even take this picture anyway, it's nothing like the others?"
Toujou fidgeted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at Furuichi or the screen.
"Well, my friend Nanami owed him a favour, and I owe her dozens, so... this was kind of..."
"You pimped out my picture."
"Yeah...sorry about that... So, ready to take some photos?"
Furuichi was already regretting his earlier pity. Screw Toujou and his hobby. He should have just called the cops.
Author's footnote: if all goes to plan, the OgaFuru should start stepping up in the next few chapters... however I make no promises if Tamura sensei doesnt give furubaby a fucking apology in the next few weeks - I will make oga cry if i have to.
just out of curiosity, did anyone guess it was toujou? who did you suspect?
