Hideaki wasn't used to Tetsuya being angry with him. They hadn't been enemies since First Year, when they had frequently fought and then - upon actually trying to physically beat each other to pulp - found themselves equally matched. Since then, they had both swallowed their pride and worked on tolerating each other, eventually becoming best friends to everyone's surprise, not least of all their own.
However, and understandably, it seemed like that friendship was all on the rocks right now.
"I'm going to stick with you on this, Hide, because you're my friend and I trust that somewhere in this mess, you've done something really good," Tetsuya said tersely as he paced up and down in the Student Council Office during lunch. "At least, I seriously hope you're doing this for a reason other than sheer vindictive bullheadedness." Neither of them had gone to the cafeteria to eat: Hideaki didn't want to risk seeing Shichijo and so had pre-arranged for Shunsuke to deliver his lunch; Tetsuya had not yet eaten as he wanted to avoid seeing Saionji and having to announce that he was picking his best friend over his new boyfriend.
No need, apparently, as the Student Council office door suddenly banged open and Saionji stormed in. Shichijo, Hideaki noticed beyond the approaching Saionji's shoulder, had been following his pink-haired friend, but didn't enter the room. Instead the junior stood on the threshold, not looking at any of them, his eyes lowered.
The slap echoed loudly in the room. Hideaki didn't try to duck away from it. It was the least he deserved, after all.
"You stay the hell away from us," Saionji seethed. "And you too," he added, glancing disgustedly at Tetsuya, who had taken a step towards him. "I see you've chosen your side."
"Kaoru…"
"Don't speak to me so familiarly!" the Treasurer snapped. He turned and glared hatefully at Hideaki. "This isn't the end of this, Nakajima." Then he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Hideaki reached up and took off his glasses. He pinched the bridge of his nose briefly, then dropped it to cradle his smarting cheek.
"Hurts a bitch, doesn't it," Tetsuya said, with a weak laugh. "Better than his punch, though."
Hideaki smirked. "That's true." At least he hadn't received a black eye.
There was a pause during which they both smiled stupidly at each other. And then Tetsuya sighed and flung himself down on the sofa. "Hey, Hide, when are you going to tell me what this is all about?"
"Later," Hideaki said quietly. "I want to see how it pans out first."
NHSO/NHSO/NHSO/NHSO
It was late afternoon on the following day - Tuesday - when Omi finally received the summons to the Chairman's office.
On arriving there, he was surprised to find only Kazuki there. Also, the Chairman was smiling broadly. Before him on the desk rested Omi's laptop. With relief, Omi knew that he would be hearing good news.
"Welcome, Shichijo-kun," Kazuki said. "You'll be glad to hear that I've spoken with both your politics and Japanese teachers and they're happy to let you reattempt the assessments on account of a stressful week…" he trailed off, letting sink in the implication of the fact that Omi hadn't actually been under any especial stress until yesterday and that Kazuki was basically giving him a free pass.
"As for your laptop, I'm sorry that it was confiscated and I'm sure that having it back will help you with your studies. Please take it."
Omi frowned. Was Kazuki saying that Kurosawa hadn't found anything damning on his laptop? "I hope my laptop helped you with your enquiry," he said pointedly as he stepped forward and picked up the device, tucking the beloved machine under his arm.
The Chairman smiled broadly. "Yes, it was a great help in clearing suspicions regarding those malware programs from your name. Good luck with the rest of the pacemaker project. I look forward to seeing the promising results. You'll be heading to AI Hospital tomorrow with Nakajima-kun for the simulation, I take it?"
"...Yes. Everything is ready," Omi assured him. And everything was ready. He and Nakajima had finished everything on Sunday night.
"Excellent. Keep up the good work, Shichijo-kun."
"Sir, what about the problem with my platinum paper that was reported to the national board?"
Kazuki shrugged. "I withdrew it. I see no reason to call into question the abilities of an exceptional computer studies student." He winked. And like that, Omi was dismissed.
Mystified, he left the office and went straight to the Student Council Office to find Nakajima. Only Niwa was there, however.
"Nakajima's in the dojo," the President of the Student Council told him, frowning slightly. "So you found your laptop?"
"Yes." A thought suddenly struck Omi and, frowning, he set the laptop down on the desk and turned it on. After logging in, he began browsing through his files and folders, checking his documents and then - finally - the system files. His frown deepened as he worked.
Finally, he snapped the machine shut and, tucking it back under his arm, left the office.
"Oi, Omi, wait up."
He blinked and looked behind him. Niwa was following him. "You're coming with me?" he asked.
Niwa grinned sheepishly. "Well, despite what he's done, Hide is still my friend. I'll let you punch him, but not kill him, okay?"
Omi blinked. "He'd win a fight against me," he pointed out.
"No," Niwa said, a note of certainty in his voice, "he wouldn't." He slapped Omi on the back, making the junior wince. "Hide wouldn't fight you; he wouldn't risk hurting you. He likes you too much."
Omi decided not to comment and they walked the rest of the way to the dojo in silence. Upon entering, he saw Nakajima on the far side of the hall, tackling a junior. Shinomiya was standing nearby, also in karate uniform, his arms folded as he watched the match carefully. When Omi entered the hall, he saw Shinomiya glance up. The Third Year frowned at him.
Nakajima had yet to notice them, but it wasn't long. After neatly flipping his opponent to the mats, the senior looked up and saw him. Straightening, he went over to Shinomiya and the pair spoke briefly. Shinomiya nodded and stepped onto the mat, gesturing for another junior to come forward and tackle him.
Nakajima stepped out of the group and walked out of a door on the far side of the hall. Omi followed him. Niwa did too. The President halted at the door way and leaned against the jamb, arms folded. Outside, he found the senior drinking water out of a faucet in a small paved area where bicycles were parked. No one else was out there. Nakajima glanced at him, then continued drinking. When he had finished, he straightened and turned off the tap. Turning, he regarded Omi.
"What is it, Kohai?" he asked.
Omi flushed. So they were back to being impersonal. "Why didn't you tell me that you were helping me?" he asked seriously.
Nakajima frowned and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "For the same reason that I've refrained from telling you that I know you live above me and like to spy on me when I smoke. Shichijo-kun," he said quietly. "You're a terrible actor."
Oh. Was he really? Wait. He had known?
Nakajima saw his doubtful expression and clarified, "Hiding your strong feelings isn't easy for you. Your…" he glanced at the open door of the dojo, which Niwa was both blocking and guarding, "…opponent is skilled at detecting lies and he has been chasing you for a long time. If you want to be left alone, you need to fool him. Appearing smug or indifferent wouldn't have helped your case."
Omi swallowed. "Well," he said finally, "thank you for saving me from the board." He bowed formally.
"You're welcome. It was an entertaining diversion, and the project has been worthwhile." Nakajima's eyes narrowed at him, "You are accompanying me tomorrow to the hospital, aren't you?"
"Considering I've done half of the programming, as per this laptop that is supposedly mine, it's only right that I do so," Omi replied, smiling. Awkwardly, he walked up to the older boy and reached out with his free hand to feel the material of the karate top between finger and thumb. It felt light and smooth. "Where is my real laptop, by the way?" he asked. He slid his hand underneath the top to seek out Nakajima's skin, smooth and sinewy, and so warm.
Nakajima's eyes had become hooded. "Omi, it's safe."
"May I have it back?" Omi asked dubiously. Despite the lovely work that Nakajima had done with this duplicate computer, he really did want his baby with all its implicating stored history back.
"That depends." Nakajima smirked at him. "Will you let me take you out to dinner on Sunday?"
"Of course. I wasn't aware that that was in dispute," Omi retorted with a smile. "Besides," he added quietly. "You hacked my computer. You must know by now that I won't let you get away with doing that."
Nakajima chuckled and wrapped his arms around him, drawing him close so that they were touching chest to chest. "Oh Omi," he said softly, dangerously, "I'm counting on it."
NHSO/NHSO/NHSO/NHSO
Sunday night found them at yet another expensive Japanese restaurant by the seaside. Upon entering the restaurant, however, Hideaki was bemused to realise that they weren't the only student couple dining there from Bell Liberty Academy. On the other side of the room, on a lower level in a booth seat, sat none other than Tetsuya and Saionji. They were talking animatedly or rather, as Omi - when Hideaki pointed them out to his boyfriend - described it: quarrelling.
"Should we wager on whether Kaoru-kun will hit him?" Omi asked as they watched the dispute grow more heated.
"No," Hideaki said amusedly. "Tetsuya's going to back down and Saionji will reassure him." He was right: a minute later Tetsuya raised his hands in frustration and proceeded to sulk, and then Saionji, alarmed by his own overly vicious and hastily said words, slid across the seat and sat right next to Tetsuya so that they were touching side to side and - from the looks of it - holding hands under the table.
"You're good at reading relationships," Omi observed. "Your experience makes me a bit jealous." Under the table, he ran a foot against Hideaki's calf.
Hideaki cleared his throat. "I better order dessert sooner rather than later."
Shortly afterwards, they were waiting for dessert to arrive when Saionji and Tetsuya came over, having apparently both finished dinner and noticed them. The pair looked flushed and happy and were almost holding hands in the public space, they were standing so close, Hideaki noticed with amusement.
"This is a coincidence," Saionji remarked. "We came over to say hello."
"We're going for a walk on the beach afterwards," Tetsuya said. "You're not welcome, but if you do decide to do the same, please be discreet about what you may see." He yelped when Saionji, scowling, pinched him on the arm. "Ai! Kaoru-chan."
Saionji twisted his fingers, causing tears to come to Tetsuya's eyes, and then let him go. Smiling at both Hideaki and Shichijo, he said, "You're very welcome to join us because nothing perverse is going to happen. Nothing like that at all! Are you just finishing up?"
And then dessert arrived at the table and Saionji's smile faded when he saw the spread of ice cream, mousse, cream, mashed up meringue, cheesecake and glazed fruit that comprised Hideaki's dessert order.
"Are you seriously going to eat all of that?" Saionji asked abruptly, looking at Omi.
Omi faltered and, although his silver haired boyfriend was still smiling, Hideaki saw that Omi's smile was now forced. He looked irritatedly at Saionji. Omi was his date and he wasn't Saionji's fucking knight or slave or whatever the student body might call him, and in addition to liking Omi's little bit of softness, he loved seeing Omi get deliriously happy about pretty desserts.
"Saionji-kun," he said quietly, warningly, "my extremely handsome boyfriend needs all the energy he can get. Because I am very, very perverse and intend to mess him up all night."
There was an awkward silence. Hideaki relished the embarrassed looks on Saionji's and Tetsuya's faces. Then he looked at his date and noticed that Omi was also flushed and looking uncomfortably down at the table. He smirked and raised his right leg under the table to rub it against one of Omi's calves.
Omi jerked and looked at him, eyes widened slightly. Then his lover looked at the couple standing beside them. "Ah, thank you for the offer, but I don't think we will join you tonight. Perhaps…" he swallowed when Hideaki's leg moved higher, brushing against his inner thighs, "…perhaps another time."
Tetsuya was the first to recover. The King had probably guessed at what was happening under the table, but was thoughtful enough not to point it out. He chuckled and, rubbing the back of his neck, grinned and replied, "Yeah. Another time, right, Kaoru?"
Kaoru's face had settled into a neutral expression, but at the prompt, the Queen smiled, his eyes warm. Utterly oblivious. "Have a good night," he wished them. Then the King and Queen of Bell Liberty Academy turned and quietly left the restaurant together.
Omi glanced down at the dessert dishes and then looked over at Hideaki. "Uh… if you don't remove your foot, I may not be able to get up for a while." His blush deepened.
Hideaki snickered. "You're too cute," he murmured. He lowered his leg back to the floor. Beneath the table, he felt one of Omi's legs chase his leg and brush their feet together. They smirked at each other.
"I like you too," Omi said.