Chapter 2: Tournament

Yuu comes downstairs, freezing at the savory smell in the air and the unfamiliar pale blonde head bobbing through their kitchen. He's slowly backing away when Guren comes through the doorway, shoving him aside, and telling him not to block the entry.

"Guren, who is that?" Yuu questions, moving closer now that he knows it's safe.

"Shinya."

The man in question turns around and greets him with a smile, "Nice to meet you. Guren didn't mention he had a son."

"I don't have to tell you anything," he mutters in response.

"But who is he?"

"I just told you," Guren says in irritation, "Shinya."

"Yea, but like where did he come from?"

"From-"

"Well, you know when a man and a woman love each other, sometimes, the-"

"Shinya!" Guren gives the blonde man a solid smack on the back as Shinya grins at Yuu's look of disgust. "He's the new hire at the agency. I'm helping him get used to the ropes."

"I'm his new partner!"

"No he isn't. He's been there a few weeks, but now we're having an increase in cases, he hasn't gotten caught up on everything yet and I'm helping him. That's all. He's making lunch as thanks for me wasting my time on him."

Shinya nods, "And once I'm trained in the particular way this detective agency works, then we'll be partners."

"I thought you didn't do partners?"

"I don't, he's lying."

"We'll come back to that. Are you staying for lunch…?"

"It's Yuu and no I'm not. I'm meeting my friends at the martial arts tournament, I'll probably get food there."

"You train?" Shinya asks curiously.

"Not yet," Yuu answers with a pointed look at Guren.

"And not anytime soon unless you spend your allowance on it."

"My allowance doesn't cover that!"

"Tough."

"Gurennn!"

"Yuu, we have a guest, show some respect."

"Sorry Guren's guest."

"He's not my guest."

He sends Guren a look of annoyance, "Make up your mind."

"Alright," Shinya cuts in, "I'll put some back for you in case you get hungry later."

Yuu nods his thanks and slips out the door to their bickering. Even with his annoyance at the other male, he thinks it's surprising that Guren is actually tolerating Shinya's presence. He seems to have the exact personality that Guren despises, yet despite their arguing, the fact that Guren let Shinya into their home speaks volumes. If they really do end up as partners, he has a feeling Shinya will be around a lot more often.

It doesn't take him long to meet up with his friends and he hurries them along, intent on not missing a single round of the competition. They arrive shortly after the start of the tournamentl and grab a few snacks before settling into a spot with a clear view of the arena.

When the first round starts, he's riveted. The beginners aren't as good as the people in the youtube videos or the martial arts movies he watches, but he guesses everyone has to start somewhere and they're still leagues better than he is.

It's about halfway through the match when they're taking a quick break that he notices someone staring at him intently from across the circle. He turns his head slowly and when their eyes meet, he scowls. It's that blonde menace from a few days ago, what's he doing here?

"What the hell are you making that face for?" Kimizuki questions. "You wanted to come here."

"I know that! It's nothing, I'm gonna go get a drink."

"You have a drink right there."

"Well I want another, lay off."

Kimizuki shrugs and looks at him suspiciously, but moves over anyway to let him by. Yuu stomps towards the snack area, debating on if he can get his friends to move to different seats, that blonde guy is ruining his day already. What's his deal anyway? Does he get off on bullying people, Yuu wonders as he buys a melon soda, because that would make a lot of sense.

"Do you really need more sugar? Don't you have enough energy?"

Yuu starts and blinks when he realizes his soda's been taken. His fists clench reflexively and he gazes up at amused blue eyes. Okay...Shinoa was right, he is attractive, really really attractive. But, that's not the point, Yuu rips his eyes away from brilliant blue eyes and golden blonde curls, focusing instead on the hand currently holding his soda. "Hand it over."

"I really do think you have enough energy."

"Just give it here."

"I'm only looking out for your best interests."

Yuu lunges for the bottle, but doesn't see the small child waddling in front of him, he attempts to do some kind of half step dodge that he can't recover his balance from and only the other boy's arm behind his back keeps him from hitting the ground. "I'm not going to thank you."

"I didn't expect you to. I'll just keep your soda as payment." Yuu opens his mouth to make a furious retort, but he's cut off, "Are you sure you want to make a scene? It'd be a shame if you got kicked out the tournament you wanted to come to so badly."

He makes a good point and it is just a soda. Alright the other boy can win this round, Yuu thinks, abandoning his soda, there'll be plenty more. He walks away, even if the chuckles from behind him make him want to turn around and punch the blonde silent.

"Where's your drink, Yuu?"

"I lied, I just wanted to talk a quick walk." The look Kimizuki's throwing at him says he's not fooling him, but he honestly couldn't care less. He's here to enjoy the fighting.

That turns out to be easier said than done because even though the area is a good size, he runs into what he's come to think of as his stalker more times than he cares to think about. In fact, almost anytime he leaves the safety of his friends, the blonde pops up with a grin and more goading remarks. He's actually proud of his self restraint at this point.

Still, he can't help but to look around cautiously for him when he finally approaches the brown haired fighter Shinoa pestered him to talk with in order to keep up his end of the deal. There's awkward silence as they stare each other before Yuu blurts out, "Do you have any tips?"

The man's face relaxes and he sticks out a hand, "Sure kid, I'm Narumi."

"Yuuichirou."

"What level are you?"

"Uhh….beginner?"

"...Have you ever taken a class?"

"No…"

He sighs, "There's not much I can tell you if you don't know anything. My tip is to take a class to at least get some basics."

"Nothing?"

"Well...there are some beginner poses I could show you."

"Great!" Yuu starts excitedly, "Thanks!"

"No problem." Narumi moves into the first position and Yuu looks on in awe as he seamlessly switches to the second, his movements both strong and fluid. He watches in envy, that's the level of expertise he hopes to one day achieve no matter how hard he has to work.

"Hey Yuu, don't distract the fighters, they don't have time to waste on you." And just like that, everything is ruined, even Narumi seems to freeze and tense up.

Yuu flips around and scowls at the annoying blonde from earlier, "Yeah they do! He was glad to! And how do you know my name anyway?"

"Feeling insecure if people aren't worshipping you, Mikaela?" Narumi counters, now ignoring Yuu to focus on Mikaela, much to his ire.

"Not at all. I just thought you'd need all the practice you can get. I was helping you."

Narumi's glare intensifies, "Fuck off."

"Hey," he shrugs, "I wasn't talking to you anyway."

Yuu watches Narumi stalk away and flips around to glare at the interloper. That guy was actually giving him some good tips until 'Mikaela' showed up to ruin everything. He frowns at Mikaela, "You really have a way of pissing people off, don't you?"

"Nah, that guy just has a chip on his shoulder."

Yuu squints up at him skeptically, taking in the sour look on his face, "So my stalker's name is...Mikaela?"

He grins down at Yuu, mood doing a complete 180, "It is! But, you pipsqueak, can call me Mika," he says with a ruffle to Yuu's hair.

Yuu shoves his hand away and pats down his hair with furrowed eyebrows, "I'm not a pipsqueak and I'd rather not call you anything...especially not your girly name."

Mikaela takes the insult with grace and shrugs it off with a grin, "Suit yourself...Yuu-chan."

"Don't call me that! Man, I see even more why that guy hates you."

"How's flattening your friend like a pancake going?"

"Great!"

Mikaela laughs, "Yeah right. The only thing flat is your skill level." He dodges Yuu's swing easily, "Never gonna make it anywhere with that weak swing. Narumi was fighting a lost cause!"

"Get out of here! I'm trying to observe the fighters and you're distracting me!"

"I'm here enjoying the tournament, just like you."

"No, you've been bothering me!" Yuu glances around and spots his friends a bit farther away. Without a backward glance, he heads in their direction, back to safety in numbers.

"You're not even going to say bye?"

"I didn't even want to talk to you," Yuu calls back. He shuffles closer to his friends, sulking, he barely got any help before they were interrupted. Shinoa notices his approach and annoyed face with a knowing look.

"He wasn't willing to talk to a noob?"

"Yes he was...we just got interrupted by that jerk!"

Shinoa cocks her head curiously, "What jerk?"

"Mikaela!"

"Who?"

"The blonde guy from the dojo."

"Ohhh, he's still following you around?"

"I guess? He said he was here for the tournament too."

"Did you provoke him again?"

Yuu turns to Kimizuki, "No, asshole. I was minding my own business."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It's true," Yuu insists. "I was just talking to Narumi and he came over and insulted me!"

"Narumi?"

"Keep up Shinoa. That's the fighter you sent me to talk to with the brown ponytail."

"Well if nothing else, you're making a lot of friends today."

"I have enough friends. I want skills."

"Yuu, we all know you're going to give this up in a few months," Kimizuki interrupts. "Stop being so intense."

"I just can't wait to crush you."

He snorts, "The day that happens is the day I'll-"

"Confess to your crush," Shinoa finishes.

"...What?"

"Kimizuki has a crush?! Who?! That four eyes has a heart?"

"Shut up Yuu," he grits out.

"It's quite obvious who he has a crush on, unfortunately he's just wallowing in his feelings like the lonely boy he is."

"I'm not lonely."

"You could use a little love."

"I'm not talking about this."

"Well, who is it?" Yuu asks impatiently.

"It's you!" Shinoa exclaims cheerfully.

"...What? Gross!"

"There is no fucking way I would like Yuu."

"Huh? Is that true, Shinoa?" Yoichi questions with a look of trepidation.

"Shinoa's lying everyone," Mistuba answers. "Kimizuki does like someone, but it's not Yuu."

"Then-"

"And we're not going to talk about it. Kimizuki can confess when he's ready."

"Mitsuba, the voice of reason. You should learn to tease a little, get out of that tense shell."

"No, thank you. The last thing I wanna do is be like you. One of you is enough."

Yuu frowns, Shinoa calls him oblivious, but he swears he's never seen Kimizuki even show a passing amount of interest in anyone other than them. He may not recognize flirting, but he would notice if the pink haired boy was talking to someone else often. He's close to Yoichi, but Shinoa's never teased them about flirting, so he can't be him. Is he really that clueless? ….Or is Shinoa lying? But, Mitsuba said it too...

"Don't fry your brain so soon, Yuu," Shinoa teases, shoving him towards the exit. "You still have years of life left."

"Haha."

"Did you have fun, Yuu-san?"

"Yeah, it was fun. We should all go again sometime."

"Uh no."

"Minus Kimizuki."

"Fine by me."

Yuu gives an exaggerated sigh, sometimes he still has to wonder what ever possessed them to befriend Kimizuki.

~~~~~
"Mika, let's go! I don't want to miss my check in time!" Lacus yells from the doorway.

"You and I both know Ferid would let you participate anyway."

"Only because he likes you."

"Doesn't change the fact."

"You're not even going to deny it?"

"What for? He does."

"Ya know, this is one of the reasons Narumi hates you. You could at least pretend to deny it."

He shrugs, "It's not a bad thing, he just does. Why make a big deal out of it? Let's go, Rene's already at the station."

"I was waiting on you."

Mikaela nods, shoving him out the door, and locking it. They actually do have time, Lacus is just eager to show off. Although, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to it as well despite not participating. There's a certain green eyed boy that he wouldn't mind seeing again. If he really is eighteen, that'd be perfect, but if he turns out to be underage, well...he can work with that too.

They arrive and Lacus immediately bolts to the sign-in table while he and Rene wander through the stalls. They still have a little time until Lacus' match and he's on the lookout for someone anyway. It doesn't take long to spot him and he chuckles quietly when Yuu leaves his group of misfits. Is he really going to try and ignore him?

Mikaela excuses himself from Rene to follow after him, succeeding partially in provoking Yuu before meeting back with Rene for Lacus' match. "Don't think I didn't see where you went."

"What are you talking about?" Mikaela questions sweetly.

"You following after the kid that almost beat you up a few days ago."

Mikaela looked at him incredulously, "That is not what happened."

"You really think you would have been able to hit him?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you weren't picking on him, you were trying to get a feel for him which only means one thing."

"Oh yeah?"

"You're interested."

"And if I am?"

"Well, you don't have to worry about having to bottom."

Mikaela laughs, trust Rene to have the priorities. Honestly, despite their insanely different personalities, they're all really supportive of each other's quirks. Maybe the lack of judgement is why they all get along so well. "I just think he's cute."

"And loud."

"Yeah, that too. But, it's a nice loud, you know?"

"No," Rene answers in monotone.

"Whatever," Mikaela retorts with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not doing anything yet, I'm just curious." He doesn't respond and Mikaela leans back on him arms from his spot on the ground to watch as Lacus has his first competition of the day. This is one of the few times, the purple haired boy is absolutely serious. For all his talk, the tense line of his mouth and the furrow between his eyebrows screams nervousness. Although he shouldn't be, his opponent isn't too advanced and Lacus defeats him with little effort, sending a quick smile at Mikaela's enthusiastic cheering.

Throughout the day, whenever he's not with Rene or watching Lacus' fight, he makes it a point to interact with Yuu, much to the other boy's displeasure.

At one point, he saw Yuu making star struck eyes at Narumi and he had to step in even if it annoyed Yuu. He doubts Narumi is interested, but the dislike between them is mutual and seeing Yuu fawning over him was putting him in a sour mood. Narumi's always acted so self righteous ever since he began taking classes at the dojo when he started college. The fact that Narumi has yet to ever beat him coupled with Narumi technically being his senior, but his know it all attitude not inspiring any respect from Mikaela probably doesn't help their relationship. The brown haired male doesn't trust him at at all and honestly he's right not to, he would figuratively stab him in the back at the first chance if he could get away with it. But, he left Yuu and that's really all that mattered.

Lacus ends up taking fourth place and even though he's disappointed, he's not surprised. He knows he still has a ways to go. Mikaela buys him a few taiyaki with a variety of fillings to make him feel better and he accepts eagerly, practically inhaling them.

By the end of the day, the sun has started to set and he still hasn't figured out if Yuu honestly hates the attention or not. But when his eyes fall on Yuu trailing behind his friends towards the festival exit, he has one last chance to find out and Mikaela grins before grabbing his shoulder and flipping him around. "Hey Yuu-chan, you're leaving without saying anything?"

"We're not friends!" He proclaims indignantly.

"We talked all day."

"No," Yuu shakes his head slowly, "You were a jerk to me all day."

"Was I supposed to be nice to you? You did try to fight me a few days ago."

"Is that what this is about? Alright, let's go, I'll fight you right now!"

"Once again I don't want to embarrass you." Yuu narrows his eyes and throws a punch which Mikaela deflects with a movement of his arm, he then places his hands on both sides of Yuu's face and squeezes. "You missed," he states calmly, staring into irritated emerald eyes. "Are you really eighteen?" Hi's eyes sweep over Yuu's sun-kissed skin, messy black hair, and settle on the full lips of his mouth, perfect for kissing.

"Y-yeah."

"Hmm," Mikaela leans closer, fingers beginning to dig into raven locks and Yuu starts to panic, futilely trying to pull Mikaela's hands off his face.

"Hey you! Stop messing with him!" Yuu recognizes that voice and he sags in relief.

Mikaela looks up curiously, "And you are?"

"I'm his friend...for now."

"Gee thanks Kimizuki," Yuu mutters sarcastically.

"Maybe he should stop threatening me and I'd leave him alone, did you ever think of that?" Mikaela questions, tightening his grip on Yuu's head and pulling him closer, ignoring his protests.

"We're getting ready to leave, so just let him go and we'll be out of your way."

Mikaela looks down at Yuu and notes his flushed face, wondering if it's from embarrassment or from the proximity, maybe a mixture of both. Though the way Yuu's eyes flick away every time their gazes meet makes him think it's more of the latter, interesting. He glances back up at Kimizuki, "How old are you?"

"Sixteen, why?"

"I knew it!"

"Kimizuki!" Yuu hisses.

"What? You lied, that had nothing to do with me.

Mikaela releases him abruptly, "Can't hurt a kid," he answers, shoving Yuu away from him and towards Yoichi who immediately pulls him closer. "Guess you got lucky this time."

"I could take you anyday!"

"It won't be today," Yoichi murmurs, tightening his grip on Yuu.

Mikaela looks at them one last time and with a flippant 'stay safe kids' heads off to find Lacus and Rene. So he's...sixteen, but he wasn't completely unresponsive, just a little thickheaded. However if he's as serious about learning martial arts as he claims, Mikaela's pretty sure they'll run into each other again.

Sixteen isn't that young and a little experimentation never hurt anyone. Hey, if they run into each other again, clearly there's a reason, he'll just wait and let Yuu come to him.