Author's Notes: So... yeah it's Wednesday... what of it?! Huh?! SAY THAT SHIT TO MY FACE!

Yeah yeah I know, it's fuckin' Wednesday and I said I'd update every Friday and even though the fic is pretty much finished on my end I'm still not being regular with it, I've just been super busy lately in work. Don't get me wrong, I work the same hours every week but sometimes I go from a late to an early shift and when I get home I'm so exhausted I just go straight to bed.

Excuses excuses.

I was going to update yesterday after my Bikram Yoga class, but I really wasn't expecting it to be so intense. Jesus. I could barely move when I got home. Awh do yoga they said, it's so relaxing they said, it's like meditating they said. LIES.

In any case, here is the update, AND IT WILL BE UPDATED ON. FUCKING. FRIDAY.

Hagakure was warm, smelled amazing even though she didn't feel like eating at all. Akihiko shut the door behind her and they weaved their way through the tables to the counter; she barely heard him order for them past the humming in her ears.

She was still feeling pretty empty, pretty sick. She wished she could feel something so she could tell Akihiko just how grateful she was, but the words couldn't get past the fogginess in her brain. Her eyes glassed over as she hauled herself up onto the high stool beside her senpai and let out a long sigh through her nose, her feet tingling in relief as she rested them on the steel bar of the stool.

A hand gently touched her back, she looked across to see it belonged to Akihiko on her left, his brow was creased with worry, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed, the heat in the room seeping under her clothes, warming her, "I think I'm okay."

And she started to feel better. Her breathing returned to normal and the fog in her brain slowly started to lift as she warmed up. The more lucid she became, the more she could feel his fingers rub into a particularly achy spot between her shoulder-blades, the more she could smell him off the coat wrapped around her... the more she thought about what just happened.

Shrugging the coat off and draping it over her arm, she handed it back to him and he took it with a gentle smile, "Warmed up yet?"

"Yeah, thanks," she couldn't even begin to describe just how thankful she was... if he didn't show up, those boys probably would have done some serious damage to her... maybe even raped her. The train of thought was starting to make her nervous so she pushed it away, laying her hands on the counter and focusing on making them steady. Nothing happened to her; she was okay, she was safe and warm and there was a fierce boxer sitting next to her who wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

She could feel him watching her intently, probably to make sure she didn't pass out. Yukari could feel herself coming back, her heartbeat was steady and she could finally think straight and start talking again.

The coat must have been on her shoulders for a while, she could still smell it when she turned her head. It was... warm, comforting, masculine-

Yukari practically cried her eyes out while holding on to Akihiko for dear life earlier, she remembered because when her nose was buried in his sweater it was all she could smell. The situation was not lost on her, as her mind returned she really started to think about it in earnest and realized he not only saved her from three overzealous boys from school, but stopped her from having a total meltdown in the street.

And he said nothing to scold or demean her, he had only comfort and security.

"I..." she started, looking down at the wood grain in the counter, "I really can't thank you enough."

"It's okay Yukari, really."

All because she was planning on beating up a girl who was perving on her senpai, she nearly got raped. If she had only told him from the start-

It was actually kind of funny. Compared to what just happened, that group of girls seemed like such a small problem, something she shouldn't have even worried about. Something she should have just been honest with Akihiko about from the beginning.

Yukari started chuckling and shook her head. When Akihiko looked at her quizzically, she said; "You know... I was following you to the gym... that's what got me in to this mess."

He rose a thin brow, reaching up to scratch the plaster on the corner of his eyebrow, "You were following me? Why?"

Yukari waved her hand, the laughter still bubbling up in her throat, "There's this group of girls. They really like you senpai, like... way more than normal. They keep following you around, I was following you because I knew they would, and I was going to tell them to back off and leave you alone."

She finished with a sigh, watching as the wheels turned in his head, his jaw loose and contemplative. He studied the thread in his sleeve, "So... what you're saying is... you were saving me, while I was saving you?"

He looked up from his sleeve just in time to catch her gaze, a wry smile tugging up the corners of his mouth in a way that had her doing the same, until they were both quietly snickering together, all tension lifted between them. It felt good to say it, get it out in the open and know that Akihiko really didn't mind. A great weight lifted itself off her shoulders, a new lease of life rushing in to fill the space.

When a bowl of thick beef ramen was placed in front of her by the chef behind the counter, the healer suddenly realized how hungry she was.

"Panic attacks burn a lot of unnecessary energy," Akihiko said, breaking apart his chopsticks, "you must be famished."

He wasn't joking, her stomach was doing flip-flops when she swallowed her first strip of beef, the steam rising from the bowl warming her cheeks and hands. The meal was simple, the sauce not so overpowering that it affected her stomach. Akihiko must have known she would be feeling weak, and that thought sent a warm feeling into her chest that had nothing to do with the hot bowl of noodles and soup in front of her.

His care was genuine and not intrusive, he didn't push her to speak, and only wanted what would be best for her right at that moment in time. It felt... special to be on the receiving end of healing when she spent all her time tending to other's wounds. Or maybe it felt special, not because of the care, but because of the person taking care of her.

Yukari had no doubt that Akihiko was kind and caring, but she never really witnessed it until then. And it came so... naturally to him, like it was just another part of his being that didn't need to be forced. She wished she had that kind of confidence in herself, that kind of calm, comforting aura. He could be terrifying when he wanted, throw his voice so it was practically booming, she thought perhaps it was his reputation that made those boys leave earlier, but she began to wonder if it was his actually his manner.

"How did you do that...?" She started, stirring the noodles in her soup around.

"Hmm?" Akihiko swallowed the food in his mouth, "Do what?"

"How did you throw your voice like that? You sounded really... I dunno, it's was pretty scary."

"Oh, um..." he placed his chopsticks against the edge of his bowl, turning slightly to face her, "it's called a Kiai. I can't really do it properly, it's a lot more terrifying when someone who's been trained can do it. It's... like a shouting art. You have to speak from below the lungs rather than just in your throat. It carries your voice, and with it, your intent do do harm. When it's done right at least."

He went on to explain how one opponent he faced in the ring effectively used a Kiai and scared the crap out of him, but as Yukari listened (and she did listen to every word because he spoke so rarely) she just couldn't get away from how attractive her senpai was. He just dressed so sharply; the deep red of his sweater clung to the broadness of his shoulders, the turtle-neck collar was loose, like it could fall down at any second and expose the smooth column of his neck-

Whoa girl, reigning herself in, she politely brought her gaze from her senpai's neck back to his face as he finished explaining, and thanked him for the short lecture.

She didn't really think he was spiritual in that way, about putting his intent on others as a scare tactic. She wouldn't have believed him had she not seen and heard it; Yukari guessed there was some sort of method to it.

"Those... those girls," he began, about half-way through his meal, "did you say they were following me around?"

Reluctance quickly built in her stomach, but she knew the cards were already on the table and there was no sense in trying to take it back, "They were, and they're probably not going to stop. Akihiko-senpai, please tell me you noticed them. They keep running up to you and asking you out, or hitting on you. One of them even asked me for your phone number – I didn't give it to them, don't worry," she added quickly, looking up to see his eyes narrow.

"I have noticed them," he began slowly, sounding unsure, "but I don't really pay much attention to it."

"So it doesn't bother you?"

Scratching his head, the boxer looked like he didn't really know what to say. It was a while before he spoke again, and when he did Yukari had to strain her ears to hear him.

"Sometimes it bothers me, but I don't really... have much experience with this kind of thing. I just ignore it."

"Don't have much experience with what...?"

"Um... talking to girls?" He laughed self-deprecatingly, his eyes widening when she shifted her chair closer to him and pointed a finger in his face.

"I'm a girl, and you're talking to me just fine,"

Author's Notes: Girls are people too, Akihiko...