Chapter 3: K.O.

"Guren please let me take classes!" Yuu begs, throwing himself across the kitchen table.

"Sure go ahead."

"Seriously?" Yuu sits up in excitement, then narrows his eyes at the older male, "You're paying, right?"

"What? They aren't free?"

"Guren!"

"You asked for permission and I gave it."

Yuu sighs, "Can you please pay for judo classes?"

"Huh….no," he responds, turning back to the stove.

"Why not?"

"Because you don't stick with anything. What happened to kendo?"

"Well," Yuu chuckles bashfully, pulling out a chair, "No one else had a sword so what fun was that? Everyone has a body."

"Archery."

"Yoichi made that look a lot easier than it was."

"Drums?"

"It got boring, but anyway that's all in the past when I was younger!"

"Hah!"

"It is," he insists. "I'll really stick with this. I went to the tournament last weekend and I think I'd be really good at it."

Guren places a plate of fried eggs and sausage next to a small bowl of white rice in front of Yuu. "Get the tea."

Yuu obeys and takes his seat opposite, staring him down with a pleading look. Guren starts on his breakfast, steadfastly ignoring him. "Guren."

"Eat." Yuu sighs and picks up his fork, realizing his guardian won't answer until he feels like it and badgering him will almost guarantee the answer being no. He knows he could stick with this though, despite what his friends think, he's not unrealistic. He gets he won't start off immediately being able to perform flying kicks and all those advanced skills, but he's willing to work.

Everyone at the dojo seemed really skilled and friendly, his mind flashes to blonde hair. Well, almost everyone, but Mikaela doesn't count since he's only there to support his purple haired friend. He makes a weird noise in his throat, remembering how close he was to the blonde male yesterday and the way he couldn't hold eye contact any time those blue eyes looked at him. It was annoying to say the least, how right Shinoa was. He'd rather go back to not noticing Mikaela's looks rather than getting flustered like some teenage girl. Someone, namely Mikaela, might get the wrong idea.

And even if he did think he was attractive, that doesn't mean he's interested. He just can't help but notice looks when someone is constantly picking on him, that's all. He definitely didn't wonder what Mikaela's hair would feel like under his fingers or how it would feel if he had pulled him a little bit closer yesterday, absolutely not.

"Ask me again in three months."

"Huh?" Yuu blinks at his guardian blankly, confused at being pulled from his thoughts.

"Ask me again in three months for judo lessons."

Yuu continues to stare blankly until he finally comprehends what Guren is saying, then he's full of aggravation. "Three months? That's way too long!"

"Too long for what? You'll still like judo then, right?"

"Yeah, but think how many skills I could develop in those three months!"

"Three months to prove you'll stick with it. You must not care too much, you'd already forgotten what we were talking about."

"I was thinking!"

"About?"

Yuu opens his mouth and pauses, rapidly trying to come up with a believable lie, "Food?"

Guren looks at him skeptically, "Food? You're eating right now."

"Y-yeah, I was thinking about how good it was."

He shakes his head in disbelief, "I know you don't expect me to believe that."

"Why not?"

"How much are the classes?"

"I don't know."

"Yep three months is just long enough." Guren stands up from the table, "You've got clean up, I'll see you this evening."

"Yeah..."

Yuu gathers the breakfast dishes to put away and grabs his bag before heading to school which doesn't turn out to be much of a distraction either. His mind revolves around three things the whole day: getting Guren to shorten the three month wait, Mikaela, and keeping anyone from knowing he's thinking about Mikaela which isn't an easy task. Every time he starts to drift off, his mind conjures up the blonde and 50% of him wants to punch his lights out and the other 50% wants to get close to him. That part he has to continuously shut down because if Mikaela treats him like a kid, most likely he's over 18 and there's not much chance he'll be interested in him. It's easier to avoid going down that unfamiliar path altogether and to focus on what he knows, namely showing him who's stronger. If nothing else, he'll get respect.

Lunch comes and he manages to keep Shinoa from questioning him too deeply by directing all his responses back towards her to keep her talking. Shinoa doesn't seem to notice his evasion, but the other three catch on fairly quickly, though they leave it alone. Even Kimizuki, likely because he doesn't want the subject of his own crush brought up which Yuu still has no clue who it is, but he's going to find out.

By the time the bell rings signaling the end of the day, he''s relieved he can finally stop by the dojo to get prices, then head home. It's exhausting trying to keep his face clear of the stupid look that Kimizuki says he gets when he's daydreaming. He's also thought a little too much about Mikaela and it's making him antsy to say the least. The sooner he gets home, the better.

~~~~~
Mikaela easily deflects Lacus' attempts to hit him and continues defending as the other boy grunts with the effort of trying to land a hit. "Mika," he complains, "You're not even trying!"

"I'm still giving you a challenge, aren't I?"

"It's insulting when you just stand there with that blank look on your face like this isn't even worth your time."

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About your newfound interest in jailbait?"

"It's funny you should talk, don't you have a thing for little boys?"

"Not for fucking, Mika!"

"Ah, that's right. It's so much more noble just to enjoy making them cry, huh?"

Lacus gives him a shove into Rene who's walking by, "Don't judge. I can't help myself."

"I'm not judging you, so don't assume I'm trying to fuck Yuu."

"Oh come on! We all know where it's going to lead. You're going to be friends with him?"

"Maybe."

Rene lets go of him and raises an eyebrow, "You forget we've been there every time you've talked to him. We see the way you look at him. If you get him alone, there's no way it won't eventually lead to sex."

"Unless he turns out to be less feisty and more obnoxious.," Lacus adds and Rene concedes.

"We're having a class, can you three at least try to practice?" A smooth voice cuts into their conversation. They bow quickly and murmur apologies. "It's fine, but split up so actual practice takes place. Lacus and Rene, you two together. Mikaela, you're with me."

Mikaela wrinkles his nose, but follows their instructor's swinging silver ponytail to a separate area of the mat. He already knows how this is going to end, but politeness dictates he obey his superior especially when surrounded by other people. Ferid's harmless for the most part and he can take care of himself, but that doesn't mean he enjoys being on the receiving end of his subtle flirtations.

He faces Ferid who's giving him that grin again and braces for the onslaught. His instructor doesn't disappoint, Ferid comes after him fast with an uninterrupted flurry of jabs and punches that he has no choice but to block until his instructor exhausts himself. His movements are fluid and instinctual and Mikaela is so focused on defending that he can't go on the offensive. It's relentless until he trips on the edge of the mat and goes down.

Ferid doesn't waste a second, pouncing on him and immediately pinning his arms above his head, smirking as he accomplishes his goal. Mikaela glares up at him through his bangs, "You just love to get me under you, don't you?"

His smirks widens, "I have to take any opportunity I can get since you're so adamant about it not happening again."

"You're supposed to be a professional."

"Mikaela, we're both adults, there's nothing wrong here," he replies, squeezing Mikaela's hips a little tighter with his knees.

His eyes narrow and he brings up a knee to place a foot on the older male's chest and aggressively kicks him aside, "Alright, class is over." Mikaela stands up and brings them all together to end the class, ignoring Narumi's scowl. "Everyone did great. Lacus, you could use some work."

"Hey!"

"But, overall everyone seems to be improving, I'm sure we'll all place even higher at the next tournament."

"Yes, see you all next week," Ferid adds, finally pulling himself off the ground to place a hand on Mikaela's shoulder.

He shrugs him off and with a slight bow of his head, dismisses the class.

"If you keep doing my job, they'll start to respect you more than me," Ferid pouts.

"As they should. Goodbye," he says with a pointed look in his direction.

"So cold!"

Mikaela ignores him and catches up to Lacus and Rene. "Well if that kid doesn't work out, you'll always have Ferid," Lacus comments.

"Not interested."

"Really?"

"Wouldn't even consider it."

"Mmm...Ferid...more…" Lacus mimics and Mikaela's eyes widen before he roundhouse kicks him off the training mat, immediately jumping on Lacus and pummeling him with his fists.

"You shouldn't have let him suck your dick, Mika. You only have yourself to blame," Rene states, watching them calmly.

"Lacus needs to stop bringing up the past! It was one time and I was drunk!"

"Yeah, uh huh, so drunk you let him lead you right to the backroom and pull your pants down without resisting in the slightest."

"It was a lot of alcohol," he protests.

"Fortunately for you," he gestures at Rene and himself. "You have amazing friends who dragged you out of there before you did something really stupid."

"That wouldn't have happened."

"In any case you owe us, now get up."

Mikaela frowns before standing up and offering a hand down to Lacus who gladly takes it. "I can't wait until you fuck up, then I'll drag you through the dirt every time you open your mouth."

Rene snorts, "Good luck with that. I haven't even caught him yet."

"And there's a good reason for that," Lacus winks. "See ya Mika!" They wave and leave as he heads to the changing room to grab his stuff. Lacus has a point, he really does need to be more careful. It was careless of him to almost bed his instructor, he's had some close calls with alcohol before too. Maybe he should pay more attention to who's around when he drinks… Not that he's had much time for it anyway, classes have been keeping him pretty busy.

In fact he should probably get to bed on time tonight, he's got an early start tomorrow. He's careful to avoid Ferid's office as he leaves the building, not that he doesn't trust himself, but he'd rather not deal with the man with no one around.

"Why are you here?!"

Mikaela glances around in confusion when he hears someone yelling and his eyes fall on Yuu, eyes narrowed in resentment. If anyone, he should be questioning why Yuu's always around here, he doesn't even attend. "Me? Why are you here, you don't take classes or know anyone here."

"Yet!"

"Yes, yet and it doesn't look like that's changing anytime soon," Mikaela mocks.

"I don't need classes to kick your ass!"

Yuu braces himself and Mikaela gives him a look of confusion, "I'm not going to fight you."

"Then I guess you'll just kick your ass kicked even worse." Yuu puts his head down and charges towards Mikaela who sidesteps him in bewilderment.

"Yuu-chan…?"

"Don't call me that!" He jumps on Mikaela and sends them both tumbling to the ground where Yuu attempts to get him in a headlock.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Mikaela exclaims, struggling to get from under Yuu without hurting him, settling for flipping him over his shoulder to the ground before hastily standing up and backing away.

It seems he's finally set the younger boy off because Yuu gets up with fire in his eyes, starting back towards him and….Mikaela punches him in the stomach, delivering a solid hit to his solar plexus. He watches curiously as emerald eyes fill with pain and Yuu hunches in on himself, gasping for breath. He falls to his knees, still trying to say something until his eyes cross and he hits the ground. Mikaela looks down at him in surprise, he didn't expect the younger boy to take the punch that badly. He glances around and debates on leaving Yuu there, but in the end his conscience wins out and he hefts Yuu up to take him home.