Chapter Text
‘I knew that guy was suspicious’ Hayato muttered under his breath as he walked towards the gym when all of a sudden he heard his classmates ask Haruto about something.
“Why do you have a scrape? Did you fall yesterday?”
Hayato immediately hid the wound and chuckled, “Yeah I wasn’t looking where I was going and slipped on the floor.”
“That’s so stupid bro!” His classmates laughed as they began getting into position.
“I heard we’re going against class C, isn’t that the one where that cool looking baseball guy is in?” someone muttered.
“Oh yeah. Damn and I wanted to look cool in front of the girls too.” he sighed, “Being good looking sure has its perks.”
“Quit your chatting and get running!” their coach shouted. Everyone jolted and started to make laps around the court.
With the scene that Hayato heard and witnessed just awhile ago, it wasn’t hard for him to figure out what Haruto did as he caught up to his speed and asked, “Were you the one who cushioned Taka’s fall?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Haruto replied as he continued to stare ahead. “I just slipped while going to the bathroom.”
Hayato frowned at this and didn’t say anything for a while before muttering under his breath, “Thanks”.
Haruto’s eyes slightly widened as he turned his head to look at him but he was already running faster than him in an attempt to outrun him. Unbeknownst to Hayato, Haruto smiled a little.
“So he does know how to thank someone.”
After PE Class
In the afternoon, Hayato carried his annoying brother all the way home despite Taka’s refusals since he wanted to walk but he knew that this kid wouldn’t last 5 mins. before getting tired and asking him to carry him again so he didn’t give in to his request.
“Ah! Haruto nii-chan!”
Haruto recognized the voice and turned around. A smile beamed on his face as he walked closer to the brothers.
“Taka! Are you guys going home?”
“Yeah!” Taka immediately replied with a nod.
“Oh well that’s a pity. I wanted to invite you guys to a Red Ranger Convention. Although it’s a little embarrassing for a school mate of mine to see me work, I figured you wouldn’t want to miss out on it.” Haruto said shyly to Taka but he was actually hinting at Hayato.
Taka’s eyes immediately lit up as he annoyed his brother to let him go. To his surprise, Hayato agreed and they went to the location together.
The whole day passed with Haruto entertaining kids, Taka playing with other toddlers that had the same hobby as him while Hayato sat and watched from the sides.
“I’m exhausted!” Haruto stretched as he walked towards the train station. Hayato didn’t reply while carrying a sleeping Taka. When Haruto saw this, he smiled slightly. “I see you’re being fonder with your brother now. That’s good.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you do it?”
“Like I said–”
“Stop lying and just tell me the truth.”
Knowing he can’t lie out of this one, Haruto decided to tell him the truth.
“I was on the way from work when I saw him climbing a tree. I panicked and when he fell, I just ran,” He paused briefly before continuing “I guess I just see my past self in him.”
Seeing that Haruto now wore a sense of nostalgia, Hayato didn’t say anything further. They continued their walk all the way to the station in silence.
The Next Day
After dropping Taka off in the babysitter club, he continued his way to the classroom when something suddenly caught his eye from the school window. Somewhere in the corner of the school building were Hayato and a burly student. Seeing as his face was getting obscured by the tree, he decided to walk to the other side to get a better angle when his pupils suddenly constricted. It was the guy who punched Taka! But why was he talking to Haruto?
Realizing that Haruto may have been the mastermind all along, fury washed over him as his eyes held a dangerous glint.
“Yo Hayato what’re you–” His classmate asked in a cheerful tone when he suddenly jolted when his gaze landed on him. He chuckled lightly, “Uh..nevermind” and immediately retreated.
At this moment, Hayato decided. He was going to beat the shit out of this guy.
After School
Hayato was grateful that he didn’t run into Haruto during class time and lunch breaks as he feared that he wouldn’t be able to hold back his punch when he saw him. However, now he was seeking him out like a predator to his prey. He wasn’t going to let him out of his sight.
Just as he was thinking this, a familiar back appeared. Not wanting an opportunity to go to waste, he immediately sprinted forward, turned him around by his shirt and raised his fist.
“Woah wait!” Haruto shouted in shock, both of his hands raised as a sign of surrender, “What did I do?”
Hayato glared, “You know what you did.” But just as he was about to land his punch, Haruto panicked and said “I really don’t!”
“The one who punched Taka” Hayato said with an eerie calmness to his voice, “You were the mastermind, weren’t you?”
Haruto was taken aback before he chuckled, guilt and exasperation mixed in his tone.
“Look it wasn’t–” but just before he got to finish his sentence, Hayato’s fist collided with his cheeks as his head whipped sideways and landed on the floor.
Haruto’s shock was evident in his eyes as he could taste the iron bleeding from the cut from his lips. To Hayato’s surprise, he just chuckled and whispered, “Always the one with the temper.” Hayato didn’t care about what he said as he pulled him by his collar again, forcing him to stand and allowing him to land another blow to his face. When Haruto saw this, he finally surrendered and confessed, “Fine it was me! But hurting Taka was never in my plans!”
Hayato stopped his action but his fist was still raised, his silence urging Haruto to say more.
“I…” Haruto looked like he was holding something back as he looked sideways, embarrassment and hurt evident on his facial features. “I wanted to spread the rumors that I beat up a guy as a form of self defense. I knew you studied at this school and wanted to prove myself to you that the boy you saved back then wasn’t weak anymore.”
Hayato didn’t know he already had his fist lowered as his face now wore a look of confusion. Haruto however didn’t notice this as he chuckled in a self-deprecating way, “Little did I know you didn’t even remember me until I told you. Stupid right?” He now turned his gaze to Hayato’s as he let go of his collar.
“But why drag Taka into all of this? You could’ve just ended it right when he got punched and let the others handle it.”
“Well,” Haruto paused, smoothing the wrinkles on his uniform and patting the dust from it, “He reminded me of my weak self. Back when I was still following you around…I also felt bad that he got injured because of me so I wanted to think of ways on how to repay both of you. That’s when I found out about your brotherly dynamic and decided to help out.”
Hayato was at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to say and immediately felt guilty that he let feelings drive his actions instead of words. He didn’t know why Taka and this guy idolized him so much when he was just a flawed character. He felt like he didn’t deserve it.
“I won’t bother you guys anymore. I’ll even stay out of Taka’s life but,” Haruto paused as he gave him a slight smile, “Make sure to treat him better. He’s a good kid and he just wants to spend time with the brother he admires the most. Even back when I took him to the Red Ranger event, you were all he was talking about.” He chuckled.
Hayato was silent for a while before he took something out of his pocket and walked towards him. Haruto was confused before being handed a bandage.
“Sorry for that. That was very childish of me.” his voice heavy with guilt before adding, “You’ve become stronger than me. Be proud of that.” He walked away leaving Haruto as he stood there, seemingly in a daze as he silently watched Hayato’s back disappear from his blurry vision.
A sheen of moisture covered his eyes.