Author's note! Alright, I wanted to warn you that I base a lot of Shinya's personality in this to some fan fictions I read with him in them, as most of the anime scenes of him, he's in serious mode. I needed a bit of his non-seriousness to work off of. So, if he's a somewhat OOC, I apologize, I tried my best.

"Yuichiro!"

Hearing his name called, the black haired teen whipped his head around to see a blob of gray and brown, with a bit of black and green on his collar of his jacket. "Oh, you live this close, Yoichi?"

The boy nodded and pointed a bit of the way up, before coming in step with his new friend. He was kinda sticking to him like glue, and usually, Yu would find that annoying. But for some reason, he didn't. Maybe it was just because Yoichi just didn't have the capacity to be an annoying person. And he understood being in a place where you don't know anyone. It was only his second day after all. When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he curiously pulled it out and checked a new text from Guren.

You could have picked someone bigger.

He stared for a moment, before he remembered that he and Guren left at about the same time every morning. They just didn't socialize at this time, since they both weren't morning people. He probably got a glimpse of Yoichi on the way out.

"Who texted you?" Yoichi asked curiously.

"No one." Yu replied, as he thought of a witty reply. He didn't want Yoichi to know what Guren said either, it could hurt his feelings. Yoichi didn't press him anymore as he texted out the perfect retort.

And you could have picked someone less annoying.

Satisfied, he smirked. He was referring to his best friend Shinya. Sure, he had other close friends, Sayuri, Mito, Shigure and Goshi, but they either tended to go in groups or hang out at other places so he never saw them much. However, Shinya tended to dwell in their place for some reason.

That's fair.

Triumphantly, Yu smirked as he read the message and almost rammed straight into a telephone post, had Yoichi not stopped him. "Maybe you should put away your phone for now? I don't want you hurting yourself…"

Yu shrugged and shoved his phone back in his pocket. "I was done anyway."

The lavender haired girl soon joined them, living a bit closer to the school. "Great to see you two this fine morning," Shinoa smiled.

The brunet returned her smile. "Good to see you too."

"You two sure are chipper for so early in the morning." Yu remarked.

His female companion chuckled lightly. "Yu's not a morning person~ huh?"

"Dang straight I'm not. So, could you tone it down?"

"Nope, sorry~"

Sighing, Yu seriously doubted she was actually sorry. By the time they arrived at the school, they were still several minutes early so his friend, and his companion attempted to make conversation with him, but he decided that laying his head on the desk was what he would rather do. Except, he didn't intend to actually fall asleep, sleeping was not peaceful for him as he was still plagued with nightmares, and when he wasn't, he was light and jittery.

When class was about to start, Yoichi put a hand on his shoulder to lightly rouse him from sleep. For a normal person, it would have been fine. However for the young man in front of him, he jolted awake, his arm swung out, clutching painfully hard on his forearm. Startled, Yoichi let out a yelp, his hazel eyes wide and alarmed. As he came to awareness, the ebony haired boy released him, while Shinoa waved away the curious (and perhaps concerned) on-lookers.

"Sorry, Yoichi! I just… I'm just a light sleeper." Yu apologized, he can't believe he even fell asleep; usually it wasn't something that came easily to him.

"It's okay. It was just an accident." Yoichi assured in a nervous smile, rubbing his tender forearm.

Surprisingly, the rest of the day went on without a hitch. So, did their project and the next few weeks of school. During that time, he had come to accept Shinoa as his friend as well, and didn't find her annoying like he did initially. He supposed, Yoichi was the first step, which was often the hardest to make. That was until Yoichi didn't meet up where they were supposed to walk home together, and he set out a search for his friend.

"Hah, why don't you defend yourself, brat!?"

At the sound of the voice, Yu's blood began to boil. There was nothing that he hated more than bullies who attacked others without a reason, especially when it was completely one-sided. After all, he believed the death of his family to be arson, or at least the reckless stupidity of someone else. When he heard a familiar yelp, his fury only intensified. It wasn't just some random unfortunate kid who they were beating up, no, it was his friend.

Once he caught the sight, he was too blinded by his anger to be rational, as he saw three fairly broad boys, probably third years, all huddled around his poor friend that was lying on his side, beginning to curl into a ball to protect himself. He whimpered as the one in the middle had a foot pressed against his hair.

Aiming for a surprise assault, he sent the one in the middle flying against the wall with a powerful punch. With incredible speed, he kicked one of the other two, leaving only one left who didn't seem interested in fighting him and hesitated. Taking the opportunity, he easily knocked him over with a punch to the stomach. He snorted. Of course cowards like that would be weak. They make fun of others, yet they are no better themselves. To be fair, Guren had taught him in training in self defense but still.

"Y-yu…?" Yoichi weak voice reached his ears and he winced at how horrid it sounded and he cracked his neck and knuckles. Hmph, I hope these jerks get up so I can beat them up some more. However, they showed no signs of picking themselves off the ground anytime soon and his eyes narrowed. Seriously? I know I hit them hard but still, they're wimpy for bullies. Or maybe they didn't want to be dealt more punishment so they pretended to be in lots of pain when they weren't. Kneeling down next to his brunet friend, he carefully assisted him to a sitting position as he coughed a bit.

"Are you alright? No, that's a stupid question. How bad is it?" Yu worried, glancing him over, his eyes lingering on his midsection that appeared to take much of the blows.

"I-I… Don't think anything is broken…" Yoichi replied with another cough.

That was really not a high standard. The young man frowned and was about to carry Yoichi out of here on his back, when Yoichi voice called out in warning. "L-look out!"

He didn't react swiftly enough as the middle one had stood upright and assaulted him while he was distracted taking care of Yoichi. It landed, leaving an ugly puffy bruise on his cheek. Scrambling back to his feet, he landed another blow on the brute. "You three are a bunch of cowards, all this uneven, unfair crap." His voice was dripping with bitterness and he reached down and was about to carry his friend on his back, when he insisted that he could walk. Deciding not to argue, he took one of his arms and gently hauled it over his shoulders as he walked. The poor boy had an obvious limp.

When some distance had been put between them, a girl with ruby eyes was staring wide eyes at them. "Oh, what happened?"

"Shinoa? I thought you left ages ago." Yu muttered as she closed the gap between them.

She frowned. "Yoichi, you look awful. Did someone do that to you?"

He nodded as tears edged their ways to the ends of his eyes. "They just… did it out of nowhere and… I pleaded with them to stop but…"

"Those jerks got what they deserved." Yu added coldly, gently running a hand through Yoichi's hair as he struggled to hold back tears.

"Don't worry, Yoichi, everything is okay now." Shinoa smiled, taking up his other arm to assist Yu in shouldering his weight.

"Here, we should go to my place, it's the closest. I'm sure there'll be a first aid kit there."

Nodding, the trio headed out. As they were nearing there, the thought that he had just gotten into a fight, again, was enough to make him far from eager to return home. Guren was not going to be pleased, at all. Well, he can't exactly hide it since it's on his face; he knew that he'd have to face the music eventually. But he wasn't even his fault this time! Those cowardly jerks truly deserved it!

"Yu, this is your place isn't it?" Shinoa questioned, glancing up at it.

"Uh yeah, but how did you know?" Yu wondered. Shinoa couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"You haven't figured it out yet? I'm surprised, Yu."

"What are you talking about-"

Hold on a moment. Wasn't Shinya's last name Hiragi and… Shinoa Hiragi, Shinya Hiragi? Oh! He must be her older brother. He mentally face palmed at missing such an obvious thing. It was so clear too, he could totally see the resemblance.

"Oh good, you figured it out." Shinoa smiled. "My adoptive brother spends quite a bit of time here; I wouldn't be surprised if he was here right now."

"'Adopted'? I don't remember ever hearing that…" Yu thought, but perhaps he just didn't pay attention. "Anyway, let's just go. Yoichi needs help."

"Right." The trio of friends headed in single file to fit through the door and Yu heard voices and muttered something under his breath. It was Guren's voice and that of his silver haired best friend. Maybe if they could sneak by them… Unfortunately, Shinya was leaning his arms comfortable on the head of the chair he was sitting in and noticed them.

"Oh, I don't think I've seen you come here before, Sister." Shinya grinned jovially. Yu didn't know if he broke their cover because he was too dense to figure out they were sneaking, or because he purposefully wanted to squeal on them. He found the latter more likely. Oh well, time to face the music.

At his friend's change of subject, Guren twisted around and he immediately scowled. "Oh great, I thought since you made friends now, you wouldn't get into fights anymore."

"It wasn't my fault! Those people beat Yoichi for no reason!" Yu defended himself instantly. "Now, we need to go help him-"

"If he's not dying, I'm sure you can spare a few minutes."

"Ah, Guren, don't be so hard on your son. It's a natural thing to want to protect your friends." Shinya chided.

"I'm not his father." Guren retorted, instantly frowning, used to Shinya's antics. Usually, Yu and Guren would speak in unison about that, though, Yu didn't have the heart now. "I'm his guardian."

"Right, right, same difference." Shinya waved him away which Guren rolled his eyes at.

"Can I leave now?" Yu scowled.

"No." Guren replied. "Yoichi."

"Y-yes, sir?" Yoichi answered timidly.

"Did Yu provoke the boys who attacked you at all?"

The brunet shook his head, his hazel orbs focused on him. "N-no… Yu wasn't even there when they hurt me. We were supposed to meet up and… He went looking for me and found them attacking me so he just took them down. Uh well… I guess he did say something but only after they were all defeated."

"Hmm…" Guren hummed for a few tense moments in thought. "I guess it would be dumb to be angry at you for that. Plus, if I punished you, it would be sending a message to your idiot brain that defending yourself and your friends is a bad thing."

"Really?! Yes!" Yu grinned, and Shinya nodded in approval. Yoichi and Shinoa gave a sigh of relief as the trio left the room to dress Yoichi's injuries.

"Alright, now that's solved, can we go back to our conversation, Guren?" Shinya smirked.

"What were we even talking about?" Guren crossed his arms.

Shinya deflated like a balloon. "Ah, I can't believe you forgot!"

"Well, maybe I'd remember if you shut your mouth for a few seconds."

"Ouch, straight to the heart." Shinya frowned playfully. "But fine, I'll be quiet."

Meanwhile, Shinoa was sitting outside of the room, as Yu bandaged the bruises on Yoichi's chest. He had said it would make it uncomfortable for her to stay inside the room, so she had been considerate and promptly left. As she had nothing to do, she popped her head in wondering what her brother and Guren were speaking about. Ah, were they speaking about the businesses of the powerful Hiragi family? She couldn't be sure and couldn't help but eavesdrop. She's had no interest in joining in the fray since the death of her sister, but still, she couldn't help but be curious.

"Shinoa, I have eyes on the back of my head." Shinya grinned. "You can listen if you want though."

"My, I'm impressed with your senses." Shinoa returned the grin, coming out of hiding with her gray uniform, adorned with a sizable green bow and black skirt.

"Ah, yes. They are impressive aren't they?" Shinya remarked. "Though in all seriousness, they have to be, with me being the best sniper in the family."

Shinoa sighed, hoping that expertise of his would not have use anytime soon. It was a necessary precaution after what happened with Mahiru… Guren was dead silent and his grip had tightened on his glass of water. Mahiru was his lover after all, so Shinya hastily changed the subject in consideration of his friend.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I'll get in trouble with Kureto if I stay too long." Shinya regained his demeanor. "You don't want to get on that guy's bad side."

Guren nodded in agreement, disliking the man as well as he regained himself and Shinya waved playfully as he left the room. "Good to have him out of my hair." He mumbled. "Hey Shinoa, Shinya's not gotten himself in any trouble has he?"

"Not that I know of, but since I'm disjointed from the family, I'm not sure how much that means." She admitted, before she soon left as well to check if Yu had finished bandaging Yoichi. She knocked on the door and heard Yu's voice come from inside loud and clear.

"You can come in now!"

Following his advice, and opening the door, her eyes landed on Yoichi, who was without the gray outer jacket of their uniform, exposing the white dress shirt underneath. His only visible bandages were the ones around his forehead. She could tell Yu had done them, since they were on the sloppy side. Yoichi was temporarily using Yu's bed and leaning up against the wall, drinking water from a glass that was nearly depleted.

The lavender haired girl could not help but examine the room that Yu called home, it was surprisingly normal in her standards. "Wow, I was expecting your room to be a little more… I don't know, exciting, a little bit blacker?"

Yu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I wonder how girly your room is."

She chuckled. "Very girly I assure you. Yoichi, do you want me to fill that for you?"

"Yes please." Yoichi smiled warmly, handing her the glass. "Thank you both. You're both wonderful friends."

The two of them shared his smile. "Yeah well, that's what friends do right? Good ones at least." Yu remarked, a bit sheepish.

"Ah, Yu's getting embarrassed~" Shinoa grinned, talking in a sing song voice.

"Shut up, you're supposed to be getting water aren't you?!"

Shinoa and Yoichi shared a small chuckle as Shinoa left the room to get water. Soon, it was getting late and the two assisted Yoichi in arriving at his home for the night.