A/N: In my mind, this fic takes place semi-parallel to canon, but also kind of in its own "pocket" of existence. That's because this fic does not fit into the canon timeline very well (seriously, Matsui? 4 months left to kill Korosensei at the moment when Yuuji attends the school festival? I have romantic development to shove in there, man.) Anyway, just roll with it. :D

'…And then he told me, like, the Seibu Lions would totally beat the Giants in a match so I told him to…'

The walls here were glaringly white. Pristine. Silver lining traced around the sides of desks. The metal edging continued around the ceiling, the door, the teacher's table. At the front of the room, a SmartBoard from America hung for all to see. The entire space was flooded with light, courtesy of a row of large windows along one wall. Every inch of the room looked professional. Polished.

It was the people who were insufferable.

'Hey, Yuuji.'

Behind him, the chattering of the class slowly came back into focus. At a glance, it was obvious that the people here were split between students who wanted—no, needed—to be lawyers like their parents, and those who just wanted to party. The boys were in their winter uniforms. The girls all wore black jackets with red lining, along with plaid skirts that they all sneered at as "ugly" but wore anyway. Why not? It showed what school they went to.

Scattered conversation filled the air. Most of it seemed to be related to the new tech-gadget coming out soon, with a few of the students waving around advance copies. Some students sat on top of their desks to talk with friends. A small group of girls huddled to the side, snickering and whispering, acid lacing their every word. A few boys stood over by the windows. Two of them apparently had the same model watch, and from their corner the high sound of one whining over how the other was 'copying' him could be heard. Beyond all that, someone was complaining about how his parents were dragging him on a European vacation for some forced "family time". Ugh. How annoying.

"Yuuji!"

Yuuji jolted to attention, one knee hitting painfully against the bottom of his desk.

To his left, one guy was sitting backwards in a chair to face him. Another boy stood beside the first, his brown hair a tousled mess. Yuuji frowned. Eiji and Akihiro—two of his friends.

"Geez, man. Somethin' on your mind?" Eiji said.

Yuuji muttered a non-committal response. "I guess you could say that." He slumped back against the desk, resting his cheek on one hand.

"Aw, cheer up dude," said Akihiro. "I know! You're probably thinking about Yukiko, aren'tcha?" he grinned, referring to the most popular girl in class. "Man, you know it doesn't matter how much you swoon over her, she's not even gonna look at any of us. Too good for anyone, that little miss priss."

Eiji brought one arm up to elbow Akihiro in the stomach. The other boy shoved back, leading to a quick cycle of revenge between them. They continued on for a bit, adding in bits of bragging over accomplishments which may or may not have been made up.

Yuuji felt a flash of irritation. Usually, he would have joined in on the shoving. But now all he could think of was how asinine their behavior looked.

It was currently after-school cleaning time. Students were supposed to help by sweeping the classroom and wiping down the desks, but honestly no one here could be bothered.

Some of the lowest-tier members of the class were being forced to clean in everyone's stead. Those few students rushed around with their heads lowered, doing the chores quickly in an effort to just get it over with. Their job was made harder by some people purposefully undoing their work—brushing new eraser shavings onto the floor, or, like a few girls, tossing used gum into their hair.

Yuuji watched all of this pass with dead eyes.

Finally, the sound of the bell signaled the end of another school day. Yuuji had jumped out of his seat and was grabbing his stuff to go before the final chime had finished ringing.

Akihiro made a noise that sounded like 'woah'. Eiji called out, "Hey Yuuji, where you going?"

"I'm meeting someone today," Yuuji said, hoisting his bag over one shoulder.

His friends looked at each other for a moment, confused. "But don't we usually hit up the karaoke bar on the way home-"

"Sorry," Yuuji called, already half-way out the door. "I meant to tell you earlier."

After a short pause, he poked his head back inside. "And don't follow me."

Leaving his friends behind, Yuuji stepped down the school corridor. It was amazing how much everything changed; with that room closed off, suddenly he felt like he could breathe again. A tidal wave of students started to form behind him, spilling out from every classroom and staircase, but Yuuji was still ahead of the main flood.

He half-jogged down the hallway, following the light feeling in his chest.

After walking for a bit, Yuuji finally found himself away from the crowd. The kids from his school began to file away, their numbers growing thinner and thinner as they dispersed down side streets. Not many went down the same route that he took.

After a couple of twists and turns, drifting away from the main roads, a flash of blue told him that he had reached his destination. There under a far-away lamppost was Nagisa.

They greeted each other. Such pleasantries were familiar things between them by now. Yuuji took the chance to catch his breath, trying to hide from Nagisa how out-of-breath he had become. Dammit, why had he run so fast?

For a moment, Nagisa's eyes flicked over Yuuji. The boy smiled. "I think this is the first time I've seen you in your school uniform." He stifled what might have been a laugh. "So you really do go to that uber-rich academy."

Yuuji squirmed. He hated his school's clothes. The stereotypical straight, black button-down outfit that most secondary-schools used—how boring. But it was traditional. "Oh, hush," he huffed. "Your school's not so bad itself, you know."

He straightened his back. "Shall we go?"

Nagisa nodded.

The two of them set off. They walked a few blocks together, Nagisa falling into step beside Yuuji. The sound of their footsteps overlapped. A brick wall passed by endlessly on their left. The afternoon air hung crisp and clear. At no point did they meet each other's eyes. Against Yuuji's will, he began to sense an awkward silence growing.

Suddenly, Nagisa spoke. "Thanks for being willing to hang out again."

"Yeah, sure, of course," Yuuji said on automatic. "Why would I not-" Then his words stopped. He remembered the last time they had hung out. At Nagisa's house. His mother. Shoot.

The swing of Nagisa's arms caught Yuuji's eye, drawing his gaze down to the extra hairbands on the boy's wrists. Had those always been there? With a start, Yuuji realized that they probably had. He just never really noticed them before. Two in total, like perfect replacements in case the ones in Nagisa's hair snapped-

His stomach did a flip-flop.

Yuuji concentrated on the pavement in front of him. He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to think about it. If he didn't acknowledge what he was remembering, it was almost as if it didn't exist.

What he thought had happened couldn't possibly have happened. It was just a dream, a misunderstanding, as he repeated to himself over and over. Everything already seemed farther away today than it had that night, and Yuuji had the sneaking suspicion that if it continued unacknowledged, pretty soon it would fade away completely. Yeah. That was a comfortable idea.

All he needed to do was pretend.

Beside him, Nagisa kept up with the pace. The boy walked with his head tilted up towards the sky, gazing at a flock of birds flying by overhead. Their black shapes fluttered and wheeled in the distance. Sensing Yuuji's gaze on him, he turned and gave a smile, and in that moment Yuuji saw.

Nagisa was just as young and innocent as ever. The light in his eyes was still there, sparkling for those who knew where to look. Whatever nightmare lay in that house, Nagisa was something different from it. It was a part of his life, but it did not define him.

Yuuji couldn't quite explain how he knew. But he had always been good at judging people's faces.

Yuuji let go of some of the tension in his shoulders. In silence, he looked up to watch the birds fly overhead as well.

A few minutes passed before the boy spoke again.

"Hey. Do you mind if I ask you something?" said Nagisa.

"Huh?"

Yuuji had started to relax, as per usual, the further away he got from school. He had unbuttoned his jacket and was now placing a baseball cap on his head after retrieving it from the depths of his school bag.

"What's with that hat? I always see you wearing it." Nagisa squinted at the label. "Those letters mean…New York? New Jersey? No, definitely New York, what am I saying?"

Yuuji glanced up at the brim, feeling the worn red fabric between his fingers. "Oh, yeah. Well…I guess you could say that it's important to me. I got it from my dad. Or, well, with my dad at least," he started to explain.

Nagisa nodded. "The TV show host."

"That's him. Anyway, every once in a while my parents will take me overseas. Sometimes both of my parents go, but usually just my dad. We've traveled to a lot of places. Mostly just America, though. New York is the capital of entertainment and culture, after all."

"I've got a bunch of stuff from New York—shirts, socks, armbands, you name it. All in different colors, too." Yuuji shrugged. "One time while we were in the city, I bought this off of some street vendor. Not the classiest, but hey."

He tapped the brim of the hat. "People ask about it. It lets them know where I've been." And it used to be good for picking up chicks, too, he thought silently. Foreign allure and all that.

"Anyway, my dad was there on business, but I was always his little tourist son. Last time we were there, I remember us going to places and waiting in filming lobbies, eating the strangest foods, and him showing me around news-stations, teaching me a bit about how it all worked. I even got to sit in on a real studio while we were there!" Yuuji said. He hardly noticed his voice picking up speed, the memories threatening to sweep him away. It felt almost like the images were passing in front of his eyes as he spoke of them.

"I saw the cameras in action, the lights all set up and everything, and the American reporters reading off of their scripts. It was awesome." Yuuji fell quiet for a second. "It's one of the few times I can remember actually having fun with the old man."

After another moment, he scoffed. "Parents. Even when they don't deserve it, you still want their approval, right?"

Nagisa was quiet by his side.

"I mean, I guess it's all you can really do as a kid," Yuuji muttered.

Then, a thought struck him. He turned to Nagisa and grinned. "Hey. Wanna switch parents?"

That got a reaction from the boy. "…What?" Nagisa said, eyes wide.

"I'm serious," Yuuji joked. "You can have a break from your mom, and I can get rid of that old fart for a while. It's a win-win."

"You really think that would work?"

Despite Nagisa's tone, Yuuji could see the boy trying to hide a grin. "Totally," he said. "Just picture it: parent swap, Tokyo edition. If reality-TV can do it, why can't we?"

Nagisa shook his head. "You wouldn't want my mom. She can be hard to get along with if you don't know her well enough-"

"I'd be happy to trade," Yuuji said all–too-quickly. "Er, just so I could get rid of my dad! Yeah."

He cleared his throat. "So," Yuuji spoke, "I'll take your mom. You can have my mother instead...she's pretty nice, I guess."

"Hmm... I don't know how she'd react to our house. We don't have much space, or a housekeeper to do any of the work. Does your mom cook?"

"Never cooked a day in her life."

Laughter from Nagisa. "Perfect."

Yuuji grinned in response. He formed a phone-shape with his hand and held it up to one ear, twirling another finger around in space to mean 'crazy'. "Hope you can manage the phone bill, too. She's a talker."

Nagisa nodded sagely, pretending to take notes. "I see, I see."

The boy tapped his chin in thought. "So you get my mom, and I get your dad. That doesn't sound too bad."

"You have no idea."

Nagisa shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it. Honestly, it might be fun to have a celebrity for a parent."

Yuuji made a face. "Ugh."

"Alright, alright!" Nagisa chuckled. "I get it. So, what should I look out for as the new heir to the Norita business?"

"Hey, I'm still the heir! You can just be, like, our houseguest. In another house."

"Makes total sense."

"Shush. Anyway, you don't have to do much. He'll come home when he comes home and that's it. He just sleeps in the house, that's all." Yuuji wiggled his eyebrows. "Just keep a fresh supply of coffee around the place and your new dad-machine will go out and putter around to his job automatically."

Nagisa laughed. "Sounds good. What happens when the coffee's gone?"

"I don't know and you don't wanna find out."

The conversation dissolved into laughter. It was hilarious to imagine their parents walking around each other's house with wide, confused eyes, like misplaced hamsters. Think of the amount of laundry that would get mixed-up. The kinds of foods they would scream about not being in the fridge. The adults smacking their foreheads against doorframes that they hadn't yet learned the heights of.

"Hmm." Yuuji frowned, once they had a moment. "I'm not sure if I wanna give you both my parents at once, though. That might be tough."

"I'm pretty sure your dad and my mom would get along well, actually," said Nagisa. "She'd love his status."

"Oh my god, they'd be two peas in a pod," Yuuji gasped.

"I know! Can you imagine?" Nagisa hid another burst of laughter behind one hand. "Him buying up a whole bunch of wine or something to impress her while she tries on all of the clothes in your family's closet."

"Maybe we should have them meet."

"No!"

The two of them passed the time this way, imagining how their parents would react to the swap and exchanging ideas on how best to handle them. Yuuji smiled at the sight of Nagisa's face looking open and free of worries. At least he had managed to take that woman away from Nagisa, even for a little bit. Even just as pretend.

Before they knew it, a major cross-street came into view ahead. Yuuji's heart sunk. That was where they had agreed to separate. For some reason, he hadn't wanted Nagisa to walk with him all the way to his house. Now he was regretting that choice.

They reached the edge of the street and stopped. Silence fell between them. Yuuji fidgeted for a second, not knowing what to do or say. This was it. Time to say g-

"You know, if you really want to help, you could get me out of the house more," Nagisa said. He gave a small smile when Yuuji looked at him, confused. He explained in a quiet voice, "She can't do anything if I say I'm only hanging out with friends."

Without another word, Nagisa nodded at Yuuji and turned away in farewell. The boy was halfway down the street before Yuuji could even blink, the blue tint of his hair slowly fading into the distance.

Yuuji spent a few seconds staring after where he had gone.

Then Yuuji gathered his belongings about himself and continued on down the road. He would walk the rest of the way alone. As he went, he sighed and looked up at the sky. There, framed by the thin red line of his baseball cap, was the flock of birds slowly fading from view. 'Get me out of the house', huh?

Hmm. That gave him an idea…

Afterword: (Nagisa's throwaway line about 'New York? New Jersey?' is a reference to the anime, where the label on Yuuji's hat was tragically changed to 'NJ' instead of 'NY'. Seriously, what the hell, animators. Edit: Why did they change his hat color to blue during the school festival too? Just why?)

Ahh yes, this is more like what I wanted to do with this story—simple, fun episodes about little moments between these two.

I've always wondered about Yuuji's hat. It gives him so much character, but we never get any background for it. This is the headcanon that I came up with, but of course I'm interested in hearing any other interpretations.