*slams fists on table* HEIGHT DIFFERENCES
Takes place from ? to sometime during the solo nationals.
A little while after they become friends, Rantaro learns something very interesting about Daina. Looking back, he realizes that it's probably something he should have assumed – but Daina is just so quiet, and has a tendency to be reserved.
And so how was Rantaro to know he actually has a sense of humor?
It starts on a Monday. Rantaro isn't the first one to the BeyClub; Daina beat him to the roof this morning, and is currently standing on their bench. It's a bizarre sight – at least until Rantaro realizes that Daina has to stand there in order to get a proper handle on their beydish so he can finagle it out.
Without thinking, Rantaro goes over to help. He's a lot taller than Daina, after all, and he doesn't have to stand on anything to reach high enough to lug the beystadium out from behind the bench. Between the two of them, they get it out in no time at all.
"Thanks," Daina says as he hops off of his perch. His expression doesn't change, eyes watching all the while with his hands fisted in his jacket pockets.
"No problem." Rantaro rolls the stadium until it's far enough away from the bench to set up. Conversation with Daina still seems like a difficult thing to him, so instead he offers another way to pass the time: "Wanna battle?"
"Sure."
Deathscyther ends up bursting Ragnaruk, and Daina's mouth upturns the tiniest bit at the corners.
x
The next day, the two of them are assigned to dragging class supplies out of the gym closet.
Rantaro busies himself with the tangle of nets and poles tucked away in the back corner. "Tch, I can't believe no one ever puts these back right," he mutters, poking sadly at the mess. "I might need your help with –"
When he turns around to talk to Daina properly, he sees that volleyballs, apparently, are in high demand lately. The crate is nearly empty, and Daina's toes are scraping the floor as his top half disappears into the oversized basket. His fingertips are still barely brushing the meager supply of balls at the bottom, but he already has two on the ground next to him.
Rantaro knows he shouldn't laugh.
He really shouldn't.
It wouldn't be polite!
It's not Daina's fault that he can't reach.
So he really should stop smirking.
…Probably sometime soon.
Giving up and settling for disguising his snicker as a cough, Rantaro approaches the container of volleyballs with his hands tucked into the waistband of his gym shorts.
If he knew Daina better – if this were Valt struggling here instead, for instance – Rantaro would just grab him and pull him out of the bin to get him out of the way. Somehow, though, he doesn't really think Daina would appreciate that, so instead he goes around to the other side.
Reaching in, Rantaro snatches a third and fourth volleyball before straightening back up.
Daina's face is a bit red from exertion, and the expression on it is unreadable as he slowly flattens his feet to lower himself back to the floor. He stands with his palms resting on the lip of the basket until Rantaro hands over the balls.
"Thanks."
Rantaro claps Daina on the shoulder. "Anytime!"
He feels eyes glued to his back, following him as he returns to his corner to fish out the poles.
x
Rantaro's favorite part of cleaning up the classroom is being able to put everything away afterwards. (This supply closet isn't nearly as cluttered as the gym one, and also, putting everything away means he's definitely done cleaning, which is always a great feeling.)
He runs into Daina at said closet, and the shorter 'blader has a bottle of cleaner clenched in his fist as he almost-probably glares up at the highest shelf where it belongs.
While Rantaro busies himself putting his stuff away, Daina seems to be figuring out what to do about his predicament. By the time he's done, Daina is still just standing there with a frown on his face.
Cracking a grin, Rantaro adjusts his lollipop stick between his teeth. "Here," he says, holding out a hand.
Daina seems hesitant to hand the bottle over, but he does so nonetheless, apparently realizing he doesn't have much choice.
The shelf really is pretty high, and even Rantaro has to stretch a bit to reach it. It's not a problem, though – not until something jabs him between the ribs, that is.
Reflexively, he yelps and drops the cleaner, and only when Daina catches it in a smooth and easy motion does he realize what just happened.
Daina poked him.
Daina poked him just to make him relinquish his hold on the bottle.
Rantaro blinks down at Daina in mild shock. The other boy has a tiny grin on his face, hand fisted triumphantly around the neck of the spray bottle.
Still grinning, Daina steps forward and puts one foot on the lowest shelf, hauls himself up, and places the cleaner in its appropriate spot before hopping back down. When he looks up at Rantaro, his expression isn't quite as hard to read as usual.
There's very clear amusement in his eyes.
Rantaro smiles. "Well played."
Daina shrugs and walks off, hands in his pockets and smirk in place.
x
It turns into a kind of running joke between them – because for Rantaro it's a reflex to help people shorter than him, but Daina is used to working that kind of thing out on his own. And lately, since it's just the two of them who aren't participating in the Nationals, they suddenly have a lot of free time together.
Rantaro gets in trouble twice for running in the halls in his haste to put something away for Daina – and he figures that's a pretty good record, since he knows he's done that at least ten times so far. Half of the time, Daina already has whatever it is put away before Rantaro gets there, and the other half of the time they play tug-of-war until one of them is inevitably victorious.
…There was one memorable occasion when Rantaro had grabbed Daina mid-climb and put him back on the ground, which didn't go so according to plan, what with Daina's squirming.
He's also started to really enjoy asking Daina for a high five and holding his hand up as high as it will go. Daina's answer to that is usually to jump and make the high five anyway, which is something Rantaro is always impressed by.
Until now, though, Daina's retaliation has been tame.
Rantaro has to admit he's going to have a hard time topping this.
"Daina," he complains, mostly for show, "this isn't fair!"
From his perch atop the shelter over their bench, Daina just kicks his feet and grins. Tucked away in his pocket and out of sight is Ragnaruk, and Rantaro is still trying to work out how he got ahold of it unnoticed.
"How did you get up there, anyway?"
Daina shrugs. His heels tap the side of the enclosure a couple more times before he stills them. "I climbed."
"How?" Rantaro presses.
In response, Daina shrugs again. Unless it's a trick of the light, Rantaro could swear his smile broadens, too. Indeed, he looks awfully proud of himself for this stunt.
Rantaro decides to try a slightly different approach. "Don't you want to practice?"
"We have plenty of time still." Pulling Ragnaruk from his pocket, Daina brandishes it like a trophy. "Besides, you'll need this if you want to practice."
"You've been hanging around Wakiya too much!"
Daina lets out a quiet laugh at that, and then he stuffs Ragnaruk back in his pocket again. There's definitely a challenge in his eyes, and Rantaro decides he's going to take that to heart.
Lurching forward, he pours all of his strength into a jump – which, in hindsight, is probably a bad idea. This particular wall isn't as flimsy as it looks, and is definitely sturdy enough to still hurt when you throw yourself at it. One of his palms slaps Daina's knee, though, and the other grabs uselessly at the roof for a moment before sliding off.
Looking thoroughly amused now, Daina scoots backwards and pulls his feet up onto the roof next to himself.
Glaring up at him with a look that's half mild irritation and half amazement, Rantaro huffs. "I'm impressed, but…how?"
Once again, all Daina does is shrug. He's still grinning triumphantly, too, and Rantaro can't really bring himself to get properly annoyed. It's…funny, actually. Maybe this is what Daina feels like every time he pulls that high five trick on him.
But Rantaro isn't about to let himself be outdone!
So, of course, he takes another running jump, and this time he manages to hang onto the roof. All that working out pays off, because he hauls himself up with much less trouble than he would've thought, and actually manages to pull himself forward until he's half on and half off the roof.
Daina seems surprised when Rantaro makes a grab for him, but pushes himself back and out of the way in time.
"Give! Me! Ragnaruk!"
"…I don't think so."
Rantaro heaves himself the rest of the way up on top of the shelter, crawls in pursuit of Daina all the way to the other side…where he proceeds to misjudge the distance and topple over the edge.
Opening his eyes and shaking his head to dispel the beys circling his brain, the first thing he sees is Daina, still up on the rickety roof of the shelter, leaning over the edge and staring down at him.
"Are you okay?"
Rantaro considers. It wasn't that bad of a fall, really, and at the worst he has a lot of new bruises. It's nothing he hasn't done before, really. "…I'd be better if I had Ragnaruk."
Daina disappears from his view for a moment, and Rantaro sits up to try and catch sight of him again. As he watches, Daina stretches from the back of the little rooftop to the fence surrounding the roof proper, grabs hold, and starts climbing down.
"So that's how you did it!"
x
The mood of their little group is a bit morose today – going from five team members down to three will do that to you. It wouldn't be so bad, except that Valt looks decently down in the dumps, which is always an unsettling sight to Rantaro.
The whole thing is just Not Right enough to make him want to fix it, but he isn't sure how to best brighten the mood. (Short of tracking at least Wakiya down and physically dragging him back, that is.)
And then Daina nudges him, elbowing him in the side. "Hey, Boss," he says, tilting his head back to look up at Rantaro properly. "What's the weather like up there?"
Rantaro raises his eyebrows at Daina – he's only confused for a few seconds before he works out what he's trying to do. A grin spreads across his face as he realizes there's an excellent opportunity here that the other boy probably hasn't considered. "Pretty great," he answers, "why don't you come see for yourself?"
Before Daina can run or resist, Rantaro wraps his arms around his waist and hoists him into the air.
Daina protests and shoves at the arms holding him, of course, but Valt is laughing and soon Rantaro is, too – and he doesn't think Daina really minds all that much.
x
"I was thinking, I could probably carry you on my shoulders – I've done it with Valt, after all."
"No."
"A piggyback ride then?"
"…No."
"Give you a leg up so you can scare Wakiya from above the roof entrance?"
"No. And be nice."
"You're no fun!"
...Daina strikes me as mischievous if you catch him on a good day? I have no real excuse. Who knows how plausible this is but it seemed like a good idea at the time? Sorry.
This one took way too long, I edited it for three months and I'm still not happy with it at all but...I gotta move on I guess, so please accept it as well as my apologies ahahaha
Anyway, Boss has picked up every small character except for Daina so far and, well, I couldn't, just leave well enough alone, (I mean, he hasn't picked up Lui either, but I really don't think that would end well for anyone so Daina it is)
(Also now that Kit is a thing, I hope he gets picked up, too, at some point.)
...These oneshots are all just "Rantaro has positive interactions with his peers" if you hadn't noticed. I'm. So sorry.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I'm also sorry for making you fall so often Kumicho...