It's pitch black. Not even a glimpse of light filters through into the room. The soft whir of the A/C drowns out any other sound. Its temperature was set on too low. His bare skin prickled every so often, and his fingers had gone numb because of it. Suddenly, there is a kachack, as the door is slowly pushed open. He immediately scuttles to the corner adjacent to the door, hoping they wouldn't see him. That, of course, didn't work. Before he knew it, a hand gripped itself tightly around his fragile wrist. "No! Lemme go!" he struggled against the arm, scratching it, biting it, anything to free himself; but his attempts were useless. He chokes on something and is soon losing oxygen. He continues to struggle, but his head is spinning. He hears someone speak. "The boy seems to be tolerating this dosage." His brain can't comprehend what it is that they're saying. He doesn't care though. All he cares about is air. He needs air!
"Ma'am, the boy is choking."
"Leave him. He can handle it."
A wet tear slides down his temple as he his thrown back into the pitch black room. He claws at his throat, wheezing for air.
Can't...breathe..!
Chikusa is startled awake, gasping for air. His heart throbs hard against his chest, and his throat is burning. What the hell..?
...
The wind whipping at his face wasn't enough to distract him from the dream. It actually made him feel more riled up. Like the A/C..."I've got to stop thinking of that dream," he muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth. A sudden punch to his shoulder broke his thoughts. He brought his own fist up and spun towards the attacker, but stopped in time when he saw it was just Ken.
"Whoa! Sorry about that, Kakipi," he'd brought up his arms in surrender, looking worriedly at the fist just inches from his nose.
Chikusa relaxed but stayed silent. It took him a while to calm his adrenaline. Ken realized this and grinned. "Did I scare ya?"
"..." Spinning on his heel, Chikusa started to walk away.
"Aw come on, Kakipi! Hey, wait for me!" he ran after his quiet friend.
a.m.
It was around noon when Chikusa was approached by a small group of girls. They were obviously from some other town, because no one ever spoke to him (not that it bothered him, he was just caught by surprise).
"Hi!" one of them said.
"Are you here by yourself?" another asked.
The spectacled boy didn't know whether to reply or not. Instead, he backed away, slowly. The girls though, followed him.
"Hey wait!"
"Do you wanna hang out with us?"
The girls were entering his personal space, and that made him very uncomfortable. He soon found himself running away from them. Nosy girls, I hope they leave.
...
Chikusa should've hoped harder. For the next day, he found himself in the same predicament.
"Hey, you're from yesterday, right?"
"..." he purposely ignored them, making it look as if he were interested in the key chains; which, he wasn't.
But those girls just wouldn't leave! They started bombarding him with questions. Annoying questions like, 'are you here with someone', 'are you a loner', 'where'd you get those glasses', 'where'd you get that beanie' (he stepped away when they reached for his hat...no one touches his hat), and 'why are you so quiet'.
Where's Ken when you need him? he had left the shop, the girls still following him. He started running again, eventually losing them in the crowd.
...
It's the third day in a row...
"Kakipi? What's up?" Ken had noticed a dark raincloud hovering over his beanie friend's head.
"...they won't leave me alone," the raincloud darkened.
"Who?" Ken followed his gaze and saw that it landed on a group of girls. "Aren't those the girls from yesterday?" he remembered seeing them on his way to the restroom.
"Yeah."
"...Do you wanna get rid of 'em?" Ken eyed his friend curiously, he'd never seen such a desperate look in Chikusa's eyes.
"It'd help, yeah."
A wide grin split Ken's face. "Alrighty then! Go over there and stall 'em while I give you the cue." He started pushing his beanie friend over to the group.
Chikusa-while holding his ground-stuttered, confused. "Wait, what? What cue?"
"I dunno. Haven't thought of it yet," he answered quickly, and shoved his beanie friend away from him.
"Ke-" he stumbled on his feet, nearly crashing into a stand...that the group of girls were currently examining.
"Oh hey!" they immediately forgot their shopping and started at him.
Chikusa looked behind him, but Ken was already gone. Damn it, where did he go?
"How come you're alone?"
"Come with us, yeah?" The girls' smiles scared him. He really wanted to run.
"I-I'm waiting for someone," he managed to say-or mumbled.
The girls gaped at him. What? What did I do? Apparently the girls thought he was a mute or something.
"Omygosh!"
"You're voice is so soft!"
"How cute!"
"You should talk more!"
"..." he really wanted to run, and just as he was about to-
"Kakipi!"
Chikusa sighed in relief.
"Oh? Hi, who are you?" the girls were all startled by Ken's sudden shout.
Ken ignored them and went on asking Chikusa, "Hey, Kakipi, why didn't you wait for me?"
Chikusa followed along. "I was. Just...these girls..."
Ken glanced at the girls-who were all watching with great interest-then back at his beanie friend. With a sly smile, he laced his fingers with Chikusa's.
Two things happened when he did this.
1: the girls silently gasped and had their eyes widened.
and 2: Chikusa spun his face to meet Ken's. "Ken!" he silently shouted. The blond's smile only grew, "Oh come on, Kakipi," he whispered back.
...No words could explain the amount of emotion the girls felt. Firstly though, the air around them heated up. And secondly, the way they saw this scene was completely different-
Moe Girls' Minds
The spiky haired blond smirked. Without hesitating, he wrapped his hand around the spectacled youth. A transparent blush colored said youth's cheeks, and he shyly whined his companion's name in embarrassment. The companion only smirked wider, amused. In a husky voice he says to him, "Oh come on, Kakipi."
...
"U-um, were you waiting for him?" one of the girls spoke. She-along with her other gal friends-was red all over.
"Of course he was. Were you all keeping him company? He does tend to get lonely when alone in public," Ken says, ignoring Chikusa's glare.
The girls nodded furiously. "Yes, we did!" and "Of course!" and "He was lonely? How cute!"
"Well I graciously thank you, ladies," Ken bowed at them.
Squealing, the girls curtsied and ran off.
...
"Ken...what the hell was that?" Chikusa was fuming, though one couldn't see it.
"It was the only thing that popped into my mind!" the blond defended.
"You can't be serious," the beanie friend had a strong urge to smack someone-specifically a blond that couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"I saved you didn't I?"
"...true."
"You should thank me."
"Don't wanna."
"You're welcome."
"..."
"..."
...
"Ken."
"Yeah?"
"You can let go now."
"O-oh, right," he slipped his hand-which was now sweaty-free, genuinely embarrassed.
Chikusa simply reset his glasses, trying hard not to notice the obvious pink flush the blond had across his cheeks.
"Public displays of affection is not tolerable in my town."
The temperature dropped to at least freezing when that voice spoke. But wait...public displays of-
"It's not what you think!" Ken had shouted before Chikusa did.
The dark clad officer raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what was it you were doing just now?"
"N-nothing! I had to-" the blond was cut off.
"You had to?" Officer Hibari now raised one of tonfa, it glinted even without the sun's rays. "That's strike two, anything more to say?"
Ken's jaw dropped. Is he serious? He waved his arms around, as if creating a magical barrier between the officer and himself. "Nonono! Wait just a sec! Look, I was-well. Kakipi, you tell him...Kakipi?" His eyes were looking at the empty space that his beanie friend had previously occupied. Where did he-?
"Strike three, herbivore," the man's eyes narrowed darkly as he went through and shattered the magical barrier.
...
"Kakipi, you ass," Ken wheezed.
"Sorry."
"'Sorry' doesn't cut it," he snapped.
"...sorry." Chikusa mumbled.
The pair trudged through the emptying street market. After a long chase and thoroughly 'bitten to death', Ken was picked up by Chikusa. Quite literally.
"I can not believe I'm letting you carry me bride style," the blond grumbled. He was facing away from his carrier.
"You can't walk, and piggy back wouldn't work."
"And why not?"
"You just said your thighs were hurting a while ago, remember?"
"...I can not believe you remember that," Ken looked at him, astonished.
"Why wouldn't I?" Chikusa didn't seem to notice the expression.
"...You know, I've always wondered what goes through that head of yours."
"Hn."
"Yeah, I do."
"Okay then."
"Fine then."
Silence engulfed them...for three seconds.
"Kakipi?"
"What?"
"Where are we going?"
"A clinic, where else?"
"..." Ken's mouth went dry. Clinic?..!
At the Clinic
Ken's leg twitched insistently as more time went by. Chikusa noticed this and placed his hand on the blond's shoulder. "Ken, calm down."
The hurt boy didn't respond. He stared intently at the door, looking ready to jump once that door opens.
"Ken..." there was something in the blond's eyes that startled the beanie friend. They look...distant. As if seeing something else.
The creak of the door opening made both boys jump. Thankfully, Ken had stayed put.
"Good evening, you must be the wounded child, yes?" the nurse closed the curtain and flicked on the lights. Ken blinked furiously from the sudden lighting. He looked dazed.
"...Yes, he is," Chikusa answered for him.
The nurse didn't seem startled in the least when she looked over the wounds. She went over towards a cabinet and pulled out materials: bandages, ointment, alcohol, and a...needle. She held a rag with alcohol in one hand, and the needle with the other. "This will hurt a bit," she told them, mainly to Chikusa though.
Ken's screams and shouts were heard throughout the small clinic. He had almost lashed out at the nurse, but Chikusa held him down.
"God dammit that hurts! It hurts! Ow! Fuck, lemme go, Kakipi!" he grit his teeth from the burning sensation coursing through his veins. It burned so much. Too much.
It was half past the hour when the nurse sighed. "All right, we're done."
Ken's panting was the only response she got. Grabbing the tray with its bloodied rags and swabs, the nurse started for the door but was stopped when Ken asked, "You're really good at this...how come?"
The nurse smiled. "I'm a pro when treating Hibari's victims."
"..." Ken was exhausted all over again.
...
The moon had already risen when the pair walked out of the clinic. Ken's legs were strong enough to walk the way home. His tattered shirt, though, failed to protect him from the cold air. His wounds, though bandaged, hurt again from shivering. Aw damn it, and I lost my sweater during the chase. He sneezed once, twice, thrice in a row. He glanced over to his beanie friend, who hadn't spoken at all since they left the room.
"...Kakipi?"
No response.
"Kakipi? Hey."
Nothing.
He had barely poked his shoulder when Chikusa flinched away. "Oi, Kakipi. What's up with you lately?"
"...what're you talking about?"
Ken huffed. "You've been spacing out a lot these days. Something up?"
"..." Chikusa hesitated. Was I really spacing out?
"Kak-"
"No."
"Wha-"
"Just thinking up stuff," he said a little too quickly. Ken eyed him, not believing him. "You're cold."
"What?" Ken was caught by surprise by the sudden change of subject.
The beanie friend removed his sweater and placed it around the blond's shoulders. "Keep it," he said.
"But won't you get cold?" Ken gratefully accepted the clothing, but still...
"The house isn't that far from here. See ya," and with that said, Chikusa walked off.
"Kakipi..."