You emerge from the woods with Junpei carrying stacks of dry wood for the campfire. You'd made sure to leave some behind should you run out later. Toji won't cook until the sun goes down anyway. He always says it's better to eat later in the evening when you sleep outside so it keeps your body warmer. You've always felt it was a cop-out so he wouldn't have to make lunch.
"So, we'll have to fight now?" Junpei asks with worry in his voice.
How far is Toji going to make the two of you go? Surely not enough to actually get hurt. He isn't thrilled about possibly being on the receiving end of a beating from you. The prospect of hurting you in any way isn't appealing to him either.
You nod, "Yeah, but don't be scared. It's always best to train with people who care about you and who don't want you to get hurt. It's much better than training with random strangers at any dojo."
Your friend blushes again, turning his face so you don't see how your pseudo-profession is affecting him. He cares about me... Junpei thinks dreamily with a secret smile.
"But that also means I'm not going easy on you. It won't help you if I'm gentle," you finish, dumping your armload beside the now complete fire pit.
"...Oh," Junpei hadn't thought of that. It scares him a little...and oddly excites him too in a way.
Toji pushes back the flap of his tent and steps outside. He's grinning from ear the ear,
"You two chuckle-heads ready to fight?"
Junpei gulps.
"It's just sparring right? Nothing real?"
His sensei has a good laugh at that.
"Yeah, don't worry. As if you'd stand a chance against my mutt anyway."
Dammit. Why's he gotta soften you up now? You wanted the aggression from being pissed at him to motivate your fighting energy.
Then Toji cracks open his cigarette case, locking eyes with you as he lights up. His chest swells immensely as he breathes in. Your nails cut into your palm when he exhales a cloud. His brow arches, taunting you, knowing that you love a cig before you work out. He holds the case open to you.
"Need one?"
Junpei busies himself, re-tying a shoelace that isn't loose, not wanting to be any part of your conversation. You cast a glance in his direction before answering.
"I'm good. Thanks."
He curls his lip in a sneer and snaps the case closed.
"Fine. Take your positions. Do what you do best, mongrel. "
That helps your motivation return. You turn back to your friend, who had spotted a butterfly flying low and was quite distracted already. He doesn't turn around as soon as you call.
"Aright, Junpei-Hey! Junpei! Come stand here in front of me."
He takes his position, looking quite nervous and fidgety.
"I want you to repeat after me, Junpei: If you touch me, I can hit you!"
He clears his throat, speaking slowly, "If...you touch me, I can-"
"Come on! Say it with force!" You shove his shoulders back to rouse his emotions and repeat your mantra once again, yelling it louder. "If you touch me, I can hit you!"
His brow creases and he barks back with annoyance at being pushed, "If you touch me, I can hit you!"
You give him a smile, "Good job. Never forget that. If someone gets away with putting their hands on you once, they'll do it again. Don't give them that one chance. Let them know they made a mistake."
Reaching for his shirt, you clutch it tightly in your fist, then pause.
"Now lock my hand in place with yours. Anytime a hand touches you, lock it down. They've just given you a point to control them."
He glances at Toji, who is observing in stoic silence, ashing his cigarette between drags. Junpei places a tentative hand over your fist on his shoulder.
"Tighter. Hold me tight," you instruct.
His heart pounds, but he obeys you, squeezing firmly. His face feels hot, but he pushes through his shyness to do what you ask.
"Great. Now it's best to twist it inward. Imagine you're switching gears on a motorcycle and rip my hand off you. Then you'll have the angle and leverage to push my face to the ground."
Junpei blinks, horrified,
"I-I don't want to do that to you!"
"Aww, you're sweet!" You giggle at his consideration. "Want me to do it to you?"
This time he hesitates much longer, but eventually nods. He'd rather let you hurt him on purpose than risk harming you in any way. He braces himself, then grabs your shoulder to mimic your hold on him.
"Okay, ready," he announces.
You smile innocently at him as you gingerly wrap your fingers around his wrist. For a brief moment, he thinks you're going to be gentle. Then a shooting pain up his arm causes his knees to immediately buckle. Next you use your grip to whip him forward, and shove his face into the dirt.
"Ahh!" he hits with a thud. It takes less than two seconds.
"How was that?" you ask while releasing your hold.
He sputters, spraying bits of grass from his mouth.
"Scary," he mutters.
"Did I hurt you?"
"No," he answers honestly. After the initial twinge of discomfort made him cry out, you'd lessened the pressure immediately. He notes that despite what you promised, you did hold back afterall.
"Good. Let's do it again a few times until you think you can do it to me," you suggest.
Junpei stands back up and prepares to repeat the motions, not bothering to dust himself off. This is going to be dirty work. Once more he reaches for your shirt collar, this time you catch his hand before.
"A reach is the same intention as a touch, and if you touch me," you leave the threat hanging, and fling him to the grass again. He barely makes a sound, now prepared for the impact.
"Are you getting it?" you ask hopefully.
"Heh, yeah. I think it's your turn though," he's finally smiling as he gets up to his feet.
He can tell you're showing restraint for now, and he's grateful for it.
He isn't the only one who notices.
"Not your usual style, mutt," Toji comments, too softly for you to hear.
He's seen you fight your friends before. You must really like this one...
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Flashback
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You retrace your steps from the night before with Toji, traveling on foot through the city sidewalks and slogging through the leftover puddles the storm left behind. You don't ask why you aren't taking a bus, knowing you took most of his money last night. That guilt is still eating away at you.
Maybe Lee hasn't sold the case yet. Or if he did, maybe he hasn't spent all the cash he got for it. You can return some of that to Toji, but you know it wouldn't be the same. He carried you a long way last night. You aren't used to trekking so far in one day, usually conserving your energy by sticking close to the restaurant where you sleep.
"So you all live together? You and those kids from the bus?" Toji inquires.
"Yeah. We met at the train station a while back. Rae would corral an audience for Lee to play, and they'd leave the case open for people to throw loose change and paltry bills."
"Sounds like an honest living," he comments. Obviously this was a dig at your thieving ways.
You make a rude noise in response.
"Begging for scraps is a shitty way of living. People give a fraction of what they could actually spare, and then feel nice and fuzzy about it. And while we're sleeping outside and eating mostly garbage, they get to go home to a warm house and a family."
You bite your tongue immediately. You hate that word. You wait for Toji to ask you about your own family, or maybe why you ran away. He doesn't inquire about either one. "Yeah. It does suck when you put it that way. That boy Lee is talented, but even if he wasn't, you kids don't deserve to be on the streets."
His understanding catches you offguard. Most adults you've ever met feel the need to force their ideals down everyone's throats, refusing to believe they could ever be wrong.
"How much farther?" Toji asks.
You point ahead. "See that church tower coming up around this block? We live across the street."
Toji scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Not to be too obvious about this question, but...why don't you stay at the church? Isn't that what they're for? Helping the poor and all that."
You heave a long winded sigh. "The thing about churches is that they tend to pick and choose who deserves their help and when they give it. They also don't like people like us."
"What do you mean? Kids?"
You're reluctant to unburden your troubles to him, but so far he seems alot different than others you've attempted to confide in. "No...Transgender kids. All of us are trans. Most churches won't help you if they think you're gay either."
"Ah. Religious hypocrisy at its best. I never bought into their dogma because of shit like that."
A butcher with a conscience. Toji Fushiguro really is a breed of his own.
"When you met me...could you tell?" you ask him, genuinely curious now.
"Tell what? That you're not a girl? Yeah, when I saw you, I didn't suspect you were an innocent little thing for a single second. I knew you were going to be fucking trouble."
You find yourself smiling with smug pride. That's exactly what image you've worked so hard on projecting. "Trouble" is a compliment to you. It's a million times better than anything you've been called before.
"Right here," you indicate the familiar restaurant with a nod of your head.
Toji instinctively goes to open the front door, jerking repeatedly with confusion when he finds it locked. Then he notices a sign in the window.
CLOSED PERMANENTLY. THANK YOU FOR 8 WONDERFUL YEARS.
"Uhh...kiddo, you live here?" He sounds quite concerned.
"Yeah, we can't use the front door. We use the fire exit. There's no power though, so the alarms don't work."
"That's entirely unsafe. Don't you smoke?" Toji ducks between the wooden slats of the property fence after you. His barrel chest just barely fits.
You huff in annoyance, "Only outside in the alley. I'm not stupid. Now keep quiet, and wait out here for me. Your scary ass will make them run away."
He snorts. "Forgive me if I don't trust you, little pickpocket boy. But, no. I'm not letting you out of my sight."
You want to argue with him, but hearing him call you "boy" gives you an unexpected feeling of trust. There's a pause before you push the fire exit open, but you hold it for Toji to follow after you. The kitchen is quiet and empty. It's not even noon yet, so the guys should be sleeping in the dining area. But when you walk through the swinging doors into the front, you're shocked to find Lee and Rae both alert and awake. By the look of the broomstick clutched in Lee's hands, they looked ready to protect their space from the sudden intrusion.
"Hey, guys! Sorry I stayed out all night."
They look relieved, though not particularly excited to see you. They meekly greet you, and Lee lowers his weapon.
"Sorry to disappoint you boys that it's just me," you spread your arms open in a confused motion.
"We just...thought you were never coming back," Lee says.
They both startle at the sight of Toji stepping through the kitchen doors behind you.
"Holy shit!" Rae slips onto his ass and frantically scrambles backwards. "Is that the guy from last night?!"
Lee brandishes his broomstick once more, as if that would do anything to Toji. Obviously doubting his possibility of success, the boy's eyes dart to you. "Did he follow you here?!"
You speak to him gently to calm him down, "I lead him here, it's okay. He's cool, guys."
From behind you Toji makes an amused grunt at having earned your clearance. You glance around the room and realize that all of your friends' belongings, which were normally spread across the tables where they slept, had been packed up into their backpacks.
"Uh...Going somewhere?" you ask, with a suspicious edge to your voice.
Rae stands back up, rejoining his older brother and cowering behind him. Once he feels adequately protected, he announces, "We're going to Tokyo. Last night we made enough to buy train tickets."
Your mouth goes dry and you stuff your hands in your pockets so they can't see them balling into fists. I made that money, you think bitterly, but force a smile instead. "Oh. That's cool! We can make a lot more money there I bet. Good call, guys. I'm glad my absence didn't affect your ability to plan ahead. Great survival instincts."
It's Lee who speaks next, knowing Rae didn't want to be the one to deliver the actual bad news to you, "We only bought two tickets."
"Ah. Any reason, boys?" You're beginning to see the big picture now.
"That's all we had enough for," he insists.
Your pulse is in your ears now. Liars! They didn't think you were coming back, or they didn't care if you were. You knew they didn't wake up early to buy those tickets either. They went straight there last night after you'd fallen behind and bought tickets out of town. No doubt with Toji's money too.
"Give me my coat back," you demand.
Lee jerks his head to the table where you normally had laid your coat over the booth. You stalk furiously over to it, immediately checking all of the pockets. Empty. You suspected they would be.
"Give me the fucking cigarette case, Lee. The gold one I picked. Give it to me."
"It's gone. We sold it already," he states.
"Liar! Real gold would have gotten you more than two tickets to Tokyo! Now give it to me!"
He shakes his head, once again raising his makeshift weapon. "You should just leave. You're not getting anything else. Now beat it!"
Toji stands motionless, unsure of what to do. He doesn't want to fight any kids, but at the same time, you're unarmed and at a disadvantage against two opponents.
"Hey, it's no big deal," he calls to you.
"Forget it, kiddo. It's not worth getting hurt over."
That does it. This stranger insisting you're valuable in any way lights your fuse, and you charge the boy who you've called your friend for months.
Lee swings hard, but your forearm blocks the broomstick with a loud crack. It hurts like hell, but you're too enraged to register the injury. You circle your wrist and catch his weapon, jerking it easily away from him, then fling it across the room. With that out of the way, the odds are more in your favor. You punch him hard, and he goes down. He hadn't eaten yet today, so he's now the one with the disadvantage.
"Where is it?!" you demand, raising your fist and striking again. "Give it to me!"
Lee's lip is busted open and bleeding. Rae is screaming for you to stop. Toji is too. But Lee is louder than both of them.
"We need it!" He punches up weakly from the floor, but can't generate any real force from there. It lands pathetically beneath your eye, barely blurring your vision.
"FUCK YOU! TOJI NEEDS IT!" You grab the front of his shirt and punch him again. This time he cries out in agony when you bury your fist in his face.
Rae springs into action now, unable to watch his brother being beat so badly any longer. He's smaller than the two of you, but manages to lock his arms around your neck. He peels you off of his brother, but not before you slam your heel down hard on Lee's gut, just to make sure he doesn't hop back up to dogpile onto you.
Your breath is running out with Rae's grip, but you're stronger than he is. You manage to stumble upright, then tilt and fall with force directly onto the boy. He wheezes and releases his grip. You roll to your feet and step back immediately, appraising your former friends with a wary eye.
Lee is still winded, but glaring at you with pure hate. Rae looks terrified, like he's about to cry.
"Fuck you both! I never needed you! I only stuck around because you'd starve without me!" you screech.
You realize your face is wet with angry tears, and turn to run out the back door. You shove past Toji, who had been too stunned to react the entire time.
"Hey!" he calls after you, but you don't turn around.
You hear his footfalls behind you in the alley. "Kiddo! Wait up!"
You don't stop until you step through the loose boards of the fence. Toji grunts with effort as he stumbles through the gap to join you on the public sidewalk. A few pedestrians give the two of you shocked glances and side stares, but politely ignore you. Immediately you begin putting distance between you and the restaurant.
"Are you alright?" Toji asks you in a quiet voice. Saw He gingerly touches your arm where Lee struck you. It's swelling and turning an ugly color already.
You sniffle hard, yanking out of his grasp. Toji looks offended until you reach into your pocket and pull out his gold cigarette case. "I knew Rae was holding it. He's the fastest runner, so he keeps the valuables," you explain.
"I had to hurt Lee to make them both attack me. His big brother wouldn't have let me touch him first."
Toji's hands cup over yours in amazement. He can't believe all of that chaos had been planned. His mouth fairly hangs open in shock.
"To make it believable, I had to cry to make them think I was upset about losing them. I had to really sell it," your voice breaks as you continue. You don't meet his gaze. "Like I'd care about dickheads like them. They can go to hell."
Toji takes his case and lovingly strokes over the engraving on the corner with his thumb. He caresses her name, etched next to his own, as softly as a kiss. "Thank you," he whispers finally.
"No big deal, don't fucking cry about it, alright?" you grumble, wiping your eyes with your sleeve.
The two of you continue walking in silence to nowhere in particular.
Eventually he addresses what you are both thinking. "It sounds like you need a place to stay, son."
"So? Lots of people do. What's your point?"
"You don't have to be such a hardass, you can drop that act. What I mean is... You should stay with me," he offers.
"Why? Why would you help me? I robbed you, remember? I'm a thief. Plus I can tell I annoy you. You'll only hate me," you insist.
He shakes his head, tsking his tongue in disagreement. This whole encounter with you had honestly been the most interesting thing to happen to him in years. And watching you fight like that had given him plenty of other ideas as well.
"No, kid. You've got alot of potential. And I don't hate you. Sorry if I made it seem that way. I can tell you're a good boy."
The threat of tears once again builds up but you swallow it back. "Thanks."
Inevitably, your eyes drift to the cigarette case again.
"Can I have a smoke?" you ask.
He hesitates, glancing around to check if anyone might see him. He definitely feels you've more than earned it by now. "Sure, kid. Here," he opens the case expectantly. It's empty.
Now his face resumes the annoyed expression you're quickly growing used to.
You laugh nervously.
"Kids. Am I right?"
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end of flashback
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After several attempts, Junpei eventually learns the proper holds and pressure points for disarming your attempts at grabbing him. He catches on quickly once conquering his initial anxiety of touching you and then throwing you down on purpose. That took some getting used to, especially with Toji leering the whole time and occasionally shouting helpful tips. Luckily you know how to take a fall with the least amount of impact. Toji has made sure to ragdoll you enough times for it to be second nature.
"Leave your feet flat on the ground, don't move on your toes. And go limp when you fall," Toji states.
Junpei tries to listen at the same time, but it's impossible when he's being manhandled by you currently. As he becomes more confident with his movements and stances, so too do you grew bolder with how rough you're willing to get with him. In his last attempt to roll you to the ground, you caught his wrist and yanked him down too. He yelps with shock as you pin him face down, your knees on either side of him.
"Listen carefully," you instruct.
"You only get one chance to get out of this position. You're right-handed, so bend your left knee up. More. That's it. Bring both your hands beneath your left shoulder, flat on the ground. Now use all of your speed and strength to roll me off. Press with your knee into the ground too, your hip movements are what will dislodge your assailant."
Junpei's breathing is heavy with your weight pressing on him, but he positions himself according to your advice. When he pushes up, rather than easily falling over, you brace yourself harder against him. It was meant to be a playful challenge, nothing more, but the motion of his hips pushing back into yours forces a very odd sound from the boy's throat.
"Harder, Junpei," you whisper into his ear and plant your hands on his shoulders. "You have to push back harder."
Incredibly self conscious now, he freezes, making small whimpers into the grass. His body is betraying him. With your body pressing down, combined with the heat of your breath on his neck, there is an impending pulse between his legs that demands attention. Now he definitely can't turn over. If he does, you'll see exactly how you're affecting him. Not to mention Toji!
The latter is studying Junpei's sudden lack of energy with interest. Thankfully he already suspects what's happening. "Hey, mutt. Get off him. He's had enough."
Looking up from your opponent, you pout your lower lip. "Huh? Since when are you so full of mercy? You made me piss my pants once because you refused to let me up!"
He chuckles at the accusation. That isn't how he remembers it. "No, no. You pissed yourself because you thought that would get me off of you. You thought wrong, too. Now get off him. I promised Nagi that he wouldn't get hurt."
With an irritated huff, you stand back up. Junpei remains lying flat on the forest floor.
"Come on, quit messing around," you giggle, kicking up a few leaves playfully to scatter over his back. "Get up."
No way. No way in hell, he thinks defiantly. That would be the death of him.
"Umm... Actually I'm fairly comfortable right here. Maybe I've earned a little break?"
You arch your brow in confusion and look back to Toji for advice. He tosses an empty bucket to you which you fail to catch.
"Why don't you fetch us some water. There's a stream a little further up the pathway. We should have a full bucket nearby before I get the fire going anyway."
You scowl at him and pick it up, "Junpei? Are you taking your break lying down?"
"Yep!" he immediately chirps back, showing no effort to accompany you. Well, fine then. You stomp away from camp, following the trodden path.
Once you're out of sight, Toji busies himself with arranging his cookware and ingredients he brought from home for dinner. He ignores the boy still pressing his poorly hidden erection into the dirt. After a few minutes of pretending to not know what he's doing, it gets awkward.
"Jeez, kid. Still?" he asks.
"Umm... Yeah, just really relaxed," Junpei lies.
"Uh-huh..."
For fuck's sake, he growls with growing irritation. A little subconscious excitement was normal during physical exchanges, but the kid needs to learn how to get control of that.
Annoyed, he pops open the lid of the cooler and hefts out the cold side of pork he packed for dinner. He lifts his cleaver from it's traveling case, and begins stripping the meat into ribbons. His knife's edge is so sharp that the tendons separate in midair. He muses aloud as he works.
"You know….At the stockyards where I work, whenever a big hefty sow gets too much in her head to stand on her own, we have to drag her by her back feet. Sometimes they're too broken by the sounds and smells of death around them to even fight back. They just give up and lay down on their swollen bellies, waiting to be taken. The pigs that keep on their feet always squeal the loudest when they see me coming. The ones with life still in them get to cling to it the longest. I give them that kindness to flee from me into the back corner. Just to live another day or two perhaps … until they get too tired."
His enormous knife glints in the last rays of the setting sun. The boy's blood runs cold, his problem disappears entirely. He pops up onto his feet in a flash.
"Did that help?" Toji inquires with a laugh held back behind his teeth.
Junpei nods, "Yup. Thanks."
"Anytime. Now you're sparring with me next."
"Yes, sensei..."
By the time you return to your site, Toji and Junpei are already squared up. Your friend is making several attempts, albeit futilely, to land a hit on his opponent. You set down the water, and take a minute to sit and watch. A bubble of resentment is growing from Toji taking over your lesson.
Why'd he interrupt your training like that? He never liked to end your matches early. Usually he reveled in how much energy it took for you to actually wind yourself down and wear your body out. Toji enjoyed the outrage in your opponents faces when they realized the fight they thought would be a single round was going into double overtime.
With nothing else to occupy your hands, you think silently to yourself how badly you want a cigarette. You pull at the grass tickling your legs, tearing each blade down its middle seam. It isn't long before two neat stacks of the shreds pile up in front of you.
"Stop guarding so much, and try punching him, Junpei," you advise. He's getting better at blocking at least. Toji must've already shown him how to deflect a hit with a stiff forearm. "Straight up the middle. Go for his throat!"
Toji makes an annoyed expression without paying you any further mind. He knows how to tune out your trash talk.
Okay, so maybe coaching is going a bit to your head now. You'd absolutely cheer your heart out to see the big bastard get his shit rocked. "Please God, or whoever, if you exist, just give me this one thing," you mumble.
Completing the tradition of ignoring your prayers, no deity assists Junpei in his efforts, and he is repeatedly flung, tossed, swatted, and even flicked to the ground.
"Nice…fall. Yup, good form there, Junpei. Nice and loose," your energy staggers. It's getting hard to find anything to compliment him on.
At least he didn't give up, though he would love nothing else more. Each time Toji's massive hands capture him, fear seizes and he has to revert back to the ragdoll defense to avoid being hurt worse. But the repetitive failure is beginning to piss him off. He starts throwing swings with more anger behind them, being more direct with his steps instead of faltering off to the side. The soft grunts of his effort gradually grow louder.
Toji grins with approval. "That's it, son! Get mad at me," he goads.
"Don't call me son!" Junpei yells, blocking his opponent's fist more force than before.
"Ahh, so that's where your anger is? Daddy figures upset you?" Again the brute grabs for him, easily capturing the boy's wrist. "Well, listen up, son, if you fail to land a single hit on me," Toji leers in closer, centimeters from the boy's face. "I'm gonna fuck your mom."
"No, you're not! Shut up!" Junpei screams, swinging upward but missing his mark when the man dips back easily. Once again, he's shoved to the ground. His frustrated sounds of rage crescendo as he digs in his feet to force himself right back up, quicker than before now.
"I'm afraid so," his twisted sensei laughs, swatting Junpei's quickening punches aside with one hand. "There's nothing you can do about it. Maybe land a hit if you really want to stop me."
"Knock it off, baka! You aren't funny," you shout from the sidelines. He's taking it too far now.
"Think I'm joking? I'm not. If he doesn't sink a single punch I'm taking Nagi to a love hotel and–"
Before he can finish the sentence, an enormous dirt clod collides into the side of his head, expertly thrown by you. Temporarily blinded, he doesn't see his opponent changing directions at the last second and getting the jump on him from behind. Junpei rams his fist into the hard muscle of Toji's side, catching his floating rib and nearly winding him. It surprises him more than anything, but the startled cry he emits is music to Junpei's ears.
"YEAHH! That's the way! Great shot!" You raise both fists triumphantly into the air.
Your friend is anxiously keeping his distance from Toji now, expecting to be reprimanded for taking advantage of the opportunity to get his hit in. His eyes are incredulously large. He can't believe he just did that! Gasping for air, he swallows, refusing to make any celebratory sound out loud. He waits for his sensei to clear his eyes of the dirt missile you'd launched.
Your guardian turns slowly toward you, eyes red from physical irritation and his own fury. He's having a hard time understanding why you'd interrupt his lesson to help toughen your classmate up and save you from future grief as well. With aching slowness, he strides up to you, his eyes don't drift from yours. You're aware of how small you are in comparison from where you sit on the ground.
"Is there some special reason you're impeding your friend's training?" he asks in a frighteningly low tone. It gives you pause, but you refuse to show any sign of your spirit wavering. "You were being a dick, and you know it!"
He glances back at Junpei, who is awkwardly switching from one foot to the other, unsure of what to do. "I was making him angry. You know that's the best primal motivator."
"Yeah? Well you motivated my primal anger too, you ass!" you snap, craning your neck to look straight up at him.
There's an eternity of silence as you stare each other down with resentment growing between you. Stupid Toji. Stupid woods. Stupid—
A long drawn out growl suddenly makes you both turn, startled from your grudge by the unnatural sound.
"What the fuck was that?" Toji demands.
Junpei wraps both of his hands around his midsection. "Sorry! I missed breakfast today. And I thought we would have eaten already by now."
That gets Toji going, he cracks up into deep rumbling laughter. "Ha ha! Kid, I thought I was going to have to fight a damn bear! That was your stomach?"
You mutter under your breath that Junpei wouldn't be so hungry if Toji wasn't up his own ass and remembered most people ate three times a day, not just two. Fortunately he's switched back into his good mood.
"I suppose you've earned it. Alright, I'll get the fire going and you boys can eat."
You're amazed that he's switched gears so fast, but he did promise Nagi that Junpei would be taken care of.
He rifles through his cooking utensils and preps his wok with oil. The sliced meat from earlier will pair nicely with the carrots, onions and potatoes he brought from home. You and Junpei take advantage of the chance to relax. The imminent tension between you and Toji is already dissipating. By the time the delicious smell of stew is filling the air, the mood has softened greatly. You've always tried to swallow your pride to eat.
Your attention drifts over to Junpei throughout dinner, finding so much joy in seeing the way his green eyes light up in the soft glow of the fire. Whenever he feels your eyes alighting on him, he bravely meets your gaze and smiles back with pure happiness.
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Junpei nervously unrolls his sleeping bag, smoothing out wrinkles to busy his hands in an attempt to hide his anxiety. Sleeping next to you isn't something he thought would be in the cards for him, especially this soon after meeting one another. He's worried he may snore and keep you awake, or talk in his sleep and say something embarrassing. As he quickly changes into a clean shirt and shorts, he's now faced with the dilemma of worrying about how he smells. Spending the day in the woods under the hot sun and being beaten into the dirt repeatedly couldn't have left him smelling particularly good. Before he can spiral into his anxiety, the unzipping sound of the tent flap alerts him of your entrance.
"Hey," you greet him with a toothy grin. "Got room for one more?"
That makes him blush at once. He hugs his pillow to his chest, obscuring most of his face from you. He manages to nod and give you a shy smile. Your presence makes him feel calmer, despite his enormous fear of humiliating himself in front of you. You re-zip the tent flap, and begin rummaging through your bag for your extra clothes. "Sorry Toji is such a bully when it comes to training. He can be a bit heavy handed. Are you sore?"
"Only a little, but I'm fine. Thanks for not doing your worst." He rubs at a particular spot on his left shoulder.
"Yeah, well, you're probably gonna hurt a lot more tomorrow, so don't thank me yet," you laugh. Without a second thought you take off your shirt. Junpei instantly averts his eyes and looks away. His pulse begins to race at the idea of you trusting him this much. He already saw you before, so you don't particularly feel the need to be modest. Besides how good of a look can he possibly get in the dark?
The relief that comes after removing your binder is astonishing as always, and you sigh in relaxation when you slip your clean shirt over your head. "Much better."
When he's certain you're covered up again, Junpei turns back around, peeking to make sure first. "Umm…Does it hurt to wear that?" He points to your discarded binder.
"Sometimes. It's mostly stifling, especially in the heat. Summers are miserable. I try to wear loose fitting shirts, but I always feel most comfortable when I'm flat so I usually end up wearing it anyway. It can be hell on my shoulders and back."
Your friend, still absently rubbing his own shoulder, winces when he discovers a knot, no doubt from being pummeled all afternoon long.
"Can I help you with that?" you offer.
"Oh, really?" his voice cracking gives away his surprise. No one has offered to massage him before.
"Sure. I mean, it's the least I can do, right? Go ahead and lie down." You tuck yourself into your sleeping bag and pat the space beside you.
Junpei's pulse races. Before he loses his courage he obediently tucks himself in next to you, curling up for warmth. It's colder than he expected it to be for this time of year. There's a soft movement against his back as you unzip his sleeping bag, then he feels your fingertips nimbly working the tight muscles of his neck and shoulder. The repetitive pressure and small focused circles gradually eases the tension of the knot away. He holds back telling you, not wanting this to end.
You switch hands, slipping one arm comfortably around his middle. "How's this?" you whisper against his shoulder where his hair falls onto his neck. "Is this alright?"
It's a very good thing he's turned away from you so you can't see the way his eyes are fairly rolling back. A small unintentional sound escapes his lips. He barely manages to nod in agreement while holding his breath, too terrified to move or do something that might make you pull away. Then he softly clasps his hand over yours, locking your fingers in place. The movement comes on its own this time, like the most natural thing in the world.
You breathe in deeply, finding yourself unbelievably comfortable lying like this. Despite the cold outside your tent, Junpei's body is so warm against yours. Curling your fingers with his, you breathe in deeply.
"Mm...You smell nice, Junpei..."
His heartbeat accelerates beneath your hand.
"S-so do you," he whispers.
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To be continued…..