: Pull the Trigger :
First Shot, Warning
Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is the property of Amano Akira.
Author's Note: Now to pick up where that last chapter left off~ I'm not sure whether to call this a sap fest or what, haha. Oh well.
Warning Three: The Mouse Ran Up the Clock
While her brother was busy with club practice, Emiko found other ways to keep herself entertained. Namely, scaring off anyone and everyone who dared to approach her, like a game, one meant to pass the time. Smirking, she watched her latest target – a third year with an attitude - scamper off like a pup with its tail between its legs and laughed quietly to herself.
"You're playing around again, Sawada-sama?"
The brunette twitched, hating to be addressed like that. "Hitomi, I thought I told you to stop calling me that. It's Emiko, say it with me now!" She purposely dragged out the syllables of her name again, hoping that today might be the day she could actually convince the older girl to call her something less constricting. Her attempt was spectacularly unsuccessful.
"But Sawada-sama," the short haired girl seemed flustered, letting her slanted bangs hide her eyes as she looked down, "that would be disrespectful!" Emiko had never understood that, but it wasn't as if Hitomi would explain herself today, just like any other day, so she let it slide. "Well," and here came the part Emiko had foreseen as inevitable, "if you're done with school, let me walk you home?"
"Che, whatever," was the answer to that, Emiko heading for the school gates without looking back. The older girl followed, accustomed to her friend's curt mannerisms, and attempted a bit small talk along the way. Keyword being attempted because Emiko was quick to yell, "If you don't have something important to say, then don't say it at all!" A couple of tense moments later and then the younger girl rephrased, "Unless you're going to stop calling me Sawada-sama, then I'm all ears." Since Hitomi wasn't about to that, much to the vexation of Emiko, the walk to the Yoshida residence was a quiet one.
- XI -
Bringing his middle finger up to his mouth, Hiro nursed the sore skin there, whimpering slightly. He had taken the fingers tabs off already to get a better look at the damage done to his left hand, but even the protection of the finger tabs hadn't been enough to spare his fingers. Owwww. Overuse again, damn. It was the early stages of it, but he had learned to catch himself before he completely over did it, not wanting a repeat of blood-stained fingers. That didn't make it any less painful to admit, especially since he was going to have to take a break now. Setting his bow down and resigned to his fate, he reached for the nearby water bottle and took a long pull from it. The sweet, slightly bitter taste of an iced cappuccino hit his tongue. The blond had long ago found he liked that taste. He could thank Gokudera Hayato for that too, though it had been more of an accident as opposed to his teachings in archery. Grinning in memory, he could still recall the angry shout of, "Get back here with my espresso, midget!" He wished he could go back to that time, he missed those days. Rather than worrying about growing up, he had been more concerned about the latest baseball scores, or whether or not his dad would come home early so he could get a piggy-back ride. Being a kid had been so much easier.
"Are you finished for the day?" The clipped query came from somewhere off to his left, severe and critical, but Hiro didn't mind. His limits had been reached and he wasn't going to push it until he felt confident he could keep going without it leading to bandages and another long lecture from his father. Plus, Takeshi-occhan. He would kill me if he found out I did something that stupid again.
"Kind of," he replied unthinkingly, wiping the sweat from the back of his neck and taking a few more swallows from his drink. "You wanna use my target?" he supposed, flicking amber eyes in the direction of the speaker. When it finally sunk in who he was addressing, his blood ran cold, and then suddenly hot. The feeling was so at odds with itself that he couldn't think of anything to compare it to. "A-Ah, Nakamura-senpai." He couldn't believe he had admitted to slacking in front of a captain, his captain. Forget Takeshi-occhan, senpai's going to kill me instead. His luck had already been expended to save his neck the other day. He couldn't count on it to save him now. "Sorry, sorry! I'll get back to practice right away."
Putting his water bottle aside, he picked up his bow and the last arrow in his bag and readied them both for a shot. He noticed his senpai admiring his bow form out of the corner of his eye and felt a little pleased when he found approval there. Drawing the string back as far as he could, he aimed. His hands were as steady as they were going to get and his eyes now saw nothing but his target. He let out a hiss as the arrow was released and glanced down at his hand. Way to go, Sawada, forgetting something? His thumb as well as the two fingers next to it were raw and bleeding, testament to the string's final duet with his drawing hand. It had been such a novice mistake he had made too. Where the hell did I put my finger tabs?
"Kouhai," Hiro kept his head lowered, blond bangs covering his eyes, "your hand." He nearly pulled away when his wrist was caught, someone taking the bow from him and tossing it lightly off to the side. "Let me see." Belatedly realizing what Michi meant, having instinctively balled his bleeding hand into a fist, he relaxed and allowed the older boy to see, but grimaced when the wounds were touched. "Exactly how often do you practice?" There was a hint of awe in that usually so unresponsive voice, but it was replaced too soon for Hiro's liking with disappointment. "You should know better than to let it get this bad." It was a statement meant to scold, but the blond's lips twitched as if he wanted to smile. It's almost like he's worried. "Come with me. I have a first aid kit in the changing room," Michi was the ever dutiful captain for a change.
More or less dragged, Hiroyuki had no choice but to go along with it, stumbling into the boys' changing room inside the club house. His wrist was let go abruptly and the unbalance caused him to crash into the closest wall, but thankfully not the floor. In a mild daze, the blond took a seat on a bench and watched his senpai pull down a first aid kit from medical cabinet. All the while he kept thinking the same thing over and over: is this really necessary? It wasn't exactly an life-or-death, end-of-the-world situation, surely –
"Hold out your hand again." Michi was crouching in front of him by now, holding out a hand expectantly. The blond was reluctant to comply, if only because the piece of cotton in the archery captain's other hand looked suspicious. "Come on, Sawada, I haven't got all day."
"But this is going to hurt." Hiro had been through this before, he knew what to expect. He held out his injured hand anyway. Might as well get it over with. He wanted to ask if he could do it himself, but with the way Michi was being so insistent, it wasn't likely to happen.
"Probably," the older boy responded as if it hadn't been rhetorical. The blond winced as the antiseptic was brushed over his irritated skin without further prelude. Michi made quick work of the cleaning, calm and efficient and able to finish swiftly. Once that was done, he moved on to bandaging to ensure the wounds didn't get infected on the way home, apparently knowing at least a little of what he was doing. "There. Done. Now I have a question." The archery captain looked absolutely serious about whatever it was, making Hiro fidget on the spot. Is he going to yell at me again? He watched as his senpai rocked back on his heels, getting ready to stand. "Did you notice?"
Raising an eyebrow, Hiro replied with an intelligent, "Ah?"
"Mm. Guess not." The older boy straightened up, clasping his hands behind his back. He looked down at Hiro with the expected apathy, admitting, "I couldn't let a kouhai out do me in hair fashion, could I?"
The blond gaped. What? He could have handled a reprimand, a simple 'don't let me catch you bleeding at practice again', but where had that come from? He stuttered out a similarly intelligent, "H-Huh?" Although, now that Michi mentioned it, he had noticed something different about his captain, he just hadn't been able to place it. So that's why. He dyed some of it red, neat. … wait. Did he … he couldn't have. I mean, who actually wears rice in their hair and thinks it's fashion?! His senpai had gotten the wrong impression entirely if that were the case.
"Well. Let's get back to practice. You pack up and get started with the clean-up duty. I have to speak with the others about extra practice, which you'll be sitting out of until further notice," the captain dismissed, the switch from random to important making Hiro's head spin.
Wait, what does he mean I'll be sitting out until further notice? No fair! He couldn't work up the courage to say it out loud and settled for sighing, "Okay, Nakamura-senpai." Oh well, Hayato-occhan will know what to do.
"Good. And I'll know if you don't lay off the extra practice until your hand is healed, so don't even think about trying it," warned Michi, walking towards the exit. "It's important everyone is in top shape for next week's tournament. Even if that means taking a break." The archery captain paused with one foot out the door, turning back, "Bet you didn't notice you hit a bull's eye either, Sawada. And that is why you deserve a break. Deal with it." Put that bluntly, Hiro had little time to let the shock sink in – I hit a bull's eye for crying out loud! – before he had to nod in agreement, accepting that a break was necessary. His senpai let a fleeting smile show and then left. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Hiro realized he was gaping again and hastened to close his mouth, lest a fly get in and choke him on his own disbelief. Had Captain Nakamura actually, truly smiled? Like everything else lately, maybe that had been a figment of his imagination too.
- XI -
It wasn't every day that one's best friend walked in looking like someone had kicked their imaginary puppy. Not that Daichi thought Hiroyuki had an imaginary puppy or anything. "Hey, what happened to your hand? You don't look so good, man." The spiky haired boy shifted on the couch to get a better view of his friend. He was a little tired and didn't feel like getting up right now, but his concern was still there. Concern that wouldn't be easily dissuaded.
"Nothing, nothing," Hiro played it off as if his hand wasn't throbbing and still sore to the touch. Then, dropping his school bag next to an armchair, he plopped down on couch as well, nearly sitting on Daichi's legs in the process. The other boy was fast enough to move them out of the way, not really wanting someone using him as a seat. "How was judo?" The blond hid a yawn behind his hand and leaned his head back, getting comfortable.
Daichi didn't miss a beat. "It was crazy, man. The guys have this weird idea in their heads that I'm dating someone besides Yuko, and pft. Get this. One of them even had the balls to ask if it was you."
The blond laughed nervously, closing his eyes. "W-Where would they get that idea?"
"I know, right? It's weird they would think that." The taller of the two scratched his cheek. "I mean, when did I give them the impression that I liked you that way? As if I like anyone that way." It was true. Hiro remembered his friend admitting in private that he hadn't even liked his girlfriend that way. That was why the dates between them had grown more and more infrequent as of late and that, in turn, had caused their classmates to become suspicious. No wonder Emiko had chosen rumors as her weapon of retaliation. It was easy to influence the rumor windmill when there were already circulating ones doing the work for her. All she had to do was add the right one into the mix and presto! Instant result.
She's too smart for her own good sometimes, Hiro thought resentfully, but did she have to get me involved in this as well? He shook off the voice in his head reminding him it had been his own fault. "Yeah, what were they thinking," agreed Hiro in a half-hearted tone, "like you're capable of being anything other than an idiot's idiot."
The other boy pretended to take offense. "Hey, come on. That's cold, man. I'm capable of love!" Ignoring the protesting of his sore limbs from practice, Daichi moved into a kneeling position on the couch, pumping an excited fist in the air and going, "Yosh! That's it! I'll show Hiro-chan I'm capable of love no matter what!"
Hiro was mildly concerned for his friend's sanity. Or lack thereof. "Oh? And how do you propose you're going to go about doing that?" Scoffing at the absurdity of what he was about to say, Hiro went along with the joke anyway, "I'm flattered, really, but you're not my type so -"
"Ahahaha! What are you talking about?" Blond eyebrows shot skywards as Hiro became aware of the embarrassed flush on his friend's face. I was only teasing, idiot. "I meant," Daichi declared much too loudly for a normal person's ears, "I'm gonna call Yuko right now and set these rumors straight once and for all."
"You do that," the blond cheered, offering a hopefully believable smile. "Just leave me out of it, if you know what's good for you. I get the feeling Yuko-san doesn't like me very much." Gah, what an understatement. Fujihara Yuko was a scary girl in Hiroyuki's opinion. She was arrogant and aggressive, willing to go to any lengths to get what she wanted. How his friend had ended up dating someone like that in the first place, he wasn't too sure. Stupid idiot lets her walk all over him.
"Whaddya mean, doesn't like you?" Daichi leaned back until he was resting on his heels in an almost traditional style. "What are you talking about, Hiro? I was under the impression you two got along pretty well."
One eye twitched, Hiro immediately thinking, Oooh yeah, he's an idiot all right. The only reason he even tolerated Yuko was for Daichi. If not, she would be fairly high up on his 'people to avoid' list. "Sure we get along," the blond flat-out lied, "but that doesn't mean she likes me a whole lot, you know?" She plays nice while you're around, but as soon as you're gone … well, you should hear some of the stuff she comes up with, Daichi. She's a nutcase.
The taller boy was quiet for a while, no doubt mulling over a way to respond to that. Eventually he found the words and they were spoken swiftly. "She's such a tomboy, I know. But bear with it for a little while longer. Let's clear up these rumors and then I'll find a way to break up with her."
Hiro wondered what kind of idiot even thought of breaking up with a girl like Yuko, given some of her more violent tendencies, but then quickly amended that in his mind. Daichi's just that kind of idiot. "It's not like you have to break up with her," Hiro insisted, "it could still work out."
"I doubt it." The other boy shrugged as if it were of no concern to him. "It was fun while it lasted, I guess, but we just don't click anymore." Figuring that was a good enough explanation as any, Daichi reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone, sliding the top screen up to punch in a set command. The phone was raised to his ear a moment later, the dark haired teen waiting for someone to pick up on the other line.
Slouching further back into the couch, Hiro tried to disappear. He half-wanted to leave, to allow his friend some privacy, but one look at Daichi and he knew that was out of the question. The other boy had that don't you dare think about leaving vibe about him and the expression on his face – well, Hiro knew that had taken time to master. The blond often made a habit of skipping out on people when he was hurt or upset, so yeah, Daichi had received plenty of practice over the years to perfect that one look.
"Hey, Yuko," Daichi was saying sweetly into the phone, Hiro chanting in his head I'm not here, I'm not here. "Yeah, I missed you too." There was a pause and the blond had to bite back the strong urge to gag when they started exchanging lovey dovey pleasantries. Then, as if reading his friend's mind, Daichi said in a placating tone, "No, no, none of that's true. That's actually why I was calling." Another pause, this one longer than the last. A frown started to take shape on the taller boy's face. "Yeah. It's true I was with Hiro last night. He was sick, got some fumes in his lungs or something since he went home when the exterminators were there. You know how forgetful he can get." Hiro furrowed his brows in bemusement. What exterminators?
A strangled laugh left Daichi, drawing the blond's attention back to the conversation. "No, he's still alive, Yuko. Hah! That's what I like about you. You're always so funny." Actually, no, she's not. You're just an idiot, Dai. Covering his eyes with a hand, Hiro tuned the rest of the small talk out. Well, tried to, until he heard his name mentioned again. "What about Hiroyuki? Yeah, he's staying here. Why?"
It was quiet enough in the house that Hiro was able to hear the reply of, "You have to ask why? Because he's always taking advantage of you, that's why."
Daichi kept his gaze down, refusing to look at the now annoyed Hiroyuki. "That's not true, Yuko, and you know it. Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow. We'll walk home together." He clicked the end button before she could get another word in. "Okay, maybe you were right about her not liking you," Daichi admitted sheepishly, "but moving on. Shouldn't we get started with that search?"
It took a moment for Hiro to catch on. "Oh, uh, yeah. Sure." Then, realizing why the house was so quiet finally, he sat up straighter and fixed an inquisitive stare on his friend. "Wait, what about Emiko? She should have been here."
Daichi stared back, unfazed, and pocketed his cell. "To be honest, I thought she was with you. Know where she could be?"
"She's obviously not with me," Hiro scolded tiredly, "why else would we be speaking in indoor voices?" Running a hand through his hair, he thought over all the places she could be and settled on, "She's probably at the hospital again with mom or – or -"
"Excuse the intrusion," grumbled someone from the outer room where shoes were exchanged for slippers, forestalling Hiro's worries. "You're slow, Hitomi, keep up!" A brown haired girl appeared at the main room's entrance, followed closely by another girl. "Yo, dumb and dumber, where ya been?"
"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" Hiro accused.
"No," the girl was so sure of herself, "because I got here before either of you idiots. And guess what?" She spared them the trouble of replying and said, "Yeah, no key-code, no entry." A thumb was jerked backwards in the direction they had just come from, nearly hitting the other girl in the eye. "You guys forgot about that, huh?" Both boys looked suitably chastised. "Che, we got tired of waiting so I dragged Hitomi across the street to have ice cream with me."
That didn't explain why the darker haired of the two girls was still holding two semi-melted ice cream cones. "Uh, right. Emiko why is -" He recoiled back into the couch when one of the cones was suddenly thrust into his face, taken aback by the abruptness. When did she get so close? The girl evidently wanted him to have the ice cream so he politely accepted, if only to get her to back up a bit. "Thank you?" The girl flushed a bright red and quickly moved on, holding the other cone out to Daichi. "Tomato-chan's always so, um, thoughtful."
"Don't call her that." The first girl, the one and only Emiko, had by now taken a seat on the arm of the Yoshida's couch, scowling down at her brother. "Address her with more respect."
"Really?" Hiro tilted his head to the side, quirking an eyebrow up at her. "Before you go condemning others, think about yourself first. You're the one using her first name, right? Did she ever give you permission to?"
Emiko bristled, not taking that too well. "She's my friend. And if she had a problem with it, she would have told me by now." The other girl, Hitomi, said nothing as she sat down next to Daichi, the judoka making room for her. "See? She's got nothing against it! You're the one with the problem!"
The blond clucked his tongue in disagreement and then looked over at Hitomi imploringly. "Please tell one of us off. Else she's going to keep going on and on about it until she's as red in the face as you are, Tomato-chan."
Blushing further, Hitomi kept her head down and dutifully replied in an attempt to appease the other Sawada. "Um, well," she stumbled out, "I-I don't think I can do that, Sawada-sama."
It was surprisingly both Emiko and Hiro that shouted a protest - only not for the unwillingness to tell one of them off. "Don't call us that! How many times do we have to say it?" It seemed there was one thing they could agree on and that was Hitomi's overly formal way of addressing them was a bit too much. They looked at each other, glared, and then crossed their arms, 'hmph'ing and staring in opposite directions. The other two merely watched in borderline amusement, neither of them willing to spoil the sibling-bonding moment. Until, of course, Daichi got bored.
"Now that we're all here and accounted for," the taller boy started with a laugh as he finished licking the melted ice cream off his fingers, "can't we go ahead and look for those missing things we gotta find or whatever? We've only got three days! Let's go, go! Fight, fight!"
Hitomi was the only one in the room who didn't understand and calmly let the excitement of the judo member roll off her as she asked, "What are we looking for exactly?"
Emiko turned to her friend, ready to explain, but Hiro cut her off with a well-placed, "What are you even doing here, Gokudera?"
Light green eyes widened slightly, uncertainty clouding Hitomi's judgment. "W-well, I … I was just going to go home once I knew Sawada-sa …" The glares she received had her stopping and amending herself at once. "I mean, once I-I knew Emiko-sama was here, safe and sound, and out of harm's way, but she asked me to stick around." She fiddled with the hem of her skirt nervously. "I didn't think Dad would mind, so I decided why not. Is that not okay with you, Hiroyuki-sama?"
"No, it's fine," Hiro's answer was flat, neither too thrilled at the company nor willing to turn her away. "But that's unlike you, Emiko." His attention was back on his sister, curiosity getting the better of him. "You planning on making her spend the night too, while you're at it?"
"Of course not! How rude would that be?" Emiko made a face and slapped him upside the head. "This isn't our house, yeah? Now eat your damn ice cream soup and shut up."
Hiro let out a loud, "Hiiie!" The cone had practically melted all over his hand by now. What a mess.
- XI -
Two decisions had been reached while the boys were finishing off their ice creams. One, they would break up into pairs to do the searching. And two, the first to find either the ribbon or the choker would be the winner and the losing team would have to treat them to lunch tomorrow. With a competition like that fueling them, the four kids were hard-pressed to leave any place unchecked.
"Ah, think I found someth – no, wait, my bad. Just a shoelace."
Hiro didn't ask why his friend had a shoelace in his underwear drawer of all places and kept looking through the desk that hardly ever saw any use. There was no sign of anything resembling a necklace or a hair-tie, but he did find something, just not the something he had been expecting. "Eh, this is that photo album …" His hand trailed over the embroidered cover before he pulled it out of the drawer and sat it atop of the desk. "I forgot I brought this with me." He flipped through the pages with a growing unease. There went his rationalization that everything from last night had been a dream or some kind of freaky coincidence. "Um, did you -?" The blond sighed and stopped short. It was almost like he was about to accuse his friend of looking at something inappropriate, but Daichi had every right to look in a photo album. It was just a photo album, after all. But if he saw mom's family name, it'd lead to another fight. After the day he had had, he really didn't want that to happen. Another argument with Daichi would just about finish off what was left of his sanity. "Never mind. There's nothing here. Let's move on to the kitchen or look in the washing room. The girls are probably way ahead of us."
"Okay," Daichi was happy to oblige, "to the kitchen it is then. We can't lose!"
Just as easy to distract as always, huh? Hiro went to shut the album with his left hand unthinkingly and winced when the bandages pressed into the raw skin underneath. His friend was beside him immediately, snatching up his hand and inspecting it. He would have swore, the jostling making it hurt worse, but his friend was frowning and speaking before he even had the chance to think.
"You pushed yourself too hard at practice again, didn't you?" The dark haired boy snorted and dropped the hand he was holding. "Why do you do that? It's like you don't give a shit what happens to you sometimes," the taller boy scolded, reaching out and grabbing his friend by the tie. He tugged the blond forward and crashed their foreheads together. "But oi. Who did your bandages? It's too sloppy to be your work."
That was true. Hiro had had a lot of practice in that field thanks to his mother knowing how to tend to wounds. He wasn't as good as his mother, or his sister for that matter, but he knew the basics and happened to be a bit of a perfectionist when it came to applying them. Of course his friend would notice the difference. "It was Nakamura-senpai," he didn't see any harm in saying. "He helped me out. I guess he felt bad for making me stay late." It was said jokingly, but the more Hiro thought about it, the more truth he saw in it. Senpai's got a really weird way of expressing himself …
"Hm? Nakamura? Well, huh, who would have thought he had a nice side too?" Hiro didn't like where this was going. "Or maybe it's just a weakness of his? For cute blonds, no less!" Yes, he definitely didn't like where this was going. "Ahaha, gotta remember to give Nakamura my blessing next time I see him," the dark haired boy mused with absolute seriousness.
Hiro blanched. "That's not funny, Yoshida!" I won't be able to look at senpai the right way again.
"Pfft, haha! You should see your face!" Daichi's good mood was rather contagious and even Hiro couldn't help but crack a smile in the end. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, though, as soon as his friend said, "See, even you know he has a thing for you!"
"Not funny," the blond grumbled, pushing his friend away. "Come on, idiot, the girls are still at the advantage. Let's get going."
Properly distracted like Hiro had been hoping, Daichi was already half-way out the door. "What are you waiting for, slow poke? Let's go, go, go!"
- XI -
An hour and a half later and still no results. It was a depressing situation. Collapsing back onto to the couch, Daichi let out an exhausted sigh and looked over at girls sitting cross-legged on the floor. "No luck either?"
"None," Emiko snapped, glaring at no one in particular. "I told Hitomi about the letter while we were searching. She says it might be best we tell someone." She balled her hands into fists and rested them in her lap. "I don't think that would go over too well, do you guys? I mean, who would believe a bunch of kids about a Phantom Thief targeting them? Don't make me laugh."
Hitomi kept her head down, taking the verbal lashing as if it were to be expected. "Then we'll just have to keep trying. What's been stolen … it's not in the house, we know that. Maybe we should broaden our horizons?"
"To what? The whole town?" Hiro shook his head as he took a seat on the couch's arm, much like his sister had done before. "That won't work. It would take us more than three days to cover that kind of area. Hell, we only have two days starting tomorrow. How could anyone possibly expect us to win this game?"
"That's simple. They don't." Daichi didn't look too pleased at being the one to say it, but it had to be said. "Maybe it really is just a joke," he insisted with a lopsided smile. "I can't think of any reason why the real Phantom Thief would target you guys, so it's probably just a gag by someone looking to scare you."
"Maybe," Hiro said to appease his friend's hope. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got homework. So …" He glanced at his friend. "Mind if I use your desk?" Daichi gave him a thumbs-up. "Daichi, why don't you help me with math? I still don't get those quadratic equations."
The other boy pouted, but began to stand anyway. "Oh well, it can't be helped."
"Yo, nii-san." Hiro met his sister's displeased stare, quirking an eyebrow. "Hitomi and I are going to go meet mom at the hospital, okay? She's off early today, so we're going shopping. Make sure you listen to Yoshida, I guess," Emiko added the last part reluctantly.
"… You're kidding, right? Leaving me alone with this idiot?" Hiro waved a hand at the 'idiot', pretending to be horrified. "I won't last until you get back, Emiko! Take me with you!"
The brunette had to stifle a laugh. "Sure, sure. You can come with us, nii-san! Let's see, there's this new dress I've been dying to get your opinion on."
"As much fun as that sounds," Hiro shivered, proving it didn't sound fun at all, "I think I'll pass. I'll take my chances with the idiot."
The 'idiot' scoffed, acting as if he had just been insulted. "Oh, fine, now you say that. See if I help you with math any more, Sawada."
The girls left, giggling the entire way. Once they were gone, Hiro turned to his best friend and smiled, giving him the best 'you know you love me' look that he could manage. It was moments like this he wished could last forever, if only because they made life worth living. "Shall we start with math then?" Hiro asked as innocuously as possible.
Daichi grinned and interlaced his fingers behind his neck, giving the blond a cocky wink. "That's fine. But you so owe me one."
"Don't push it, Yoshida," warned Hiro, standing, "you ate my lunch today, don't think I've forgotten about that. It's you who owes me." Ah, friends. Definitely had to love them.
"Woah! Hiro's angry. Angry Hiro! Everyone run for the hills. Scary," the judoka laughed, which died down into a, "I didn't mean it, Hiro!" as soon as the aggravated blond lunged into a tackle. Needless to say, not much homework was finished until their inpromptu wrestling match was over - and at least Daichi could boast about winning later.
