Chapter Text
Kirishima had no idea what he was doing here. He had followed Asami without even thinking, and now he stood with his fingers hooked around the chain-link fence that bordered the roof, staring out at the school yard far below. Asami was reclining in the shade behind him, his head tipped back against the wall, casually working his way through his second cigarette in less than thirty minutes. They hadn’t spoken a single word since coming up here. Kirishima sighed distastefully as he watched Asami blow out a perfect set of smoke rings with his eyes closed.
Maybe it would be best for him to just go back to the classroom.
The minute the thought crossed his mind, the bell to signal the end of the lunch period rang. Through the links of the fence Kirishima could see his fellow students beginning the dash to get back to class and he lingered for a moment, watching them run. It wasn’t a great desire for education that made them scurry to class like bugs caught in the sun. Most were dull herd creatures without a drop of intuition or ambition in them. It was not drive that pushed them, it was cowardice: the fear of getting caught, being punished. Asami was right, Kirishima wasn’t like them. But he sighed with disgust as he turned to make his way back downstairs to join them.
“Leaving?”
Kirishima turned to see Asami’s eyes open and honed in on him where he stood at the door to the stairwell. Slowly, deliberately, Asami raised his cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply, his face unreadable.
“Well, I am the class rep, thanks to someone” Kirishima shot back with narrowed eyes. Asami’s lips twitched just slightly, and he flicked away the butt of his cigarette before settling back against the wall again.
“I bet you’ve never skipped a class once in your life,” Asami pulled another cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit it without even looking, focused on Kirishima instead. In the shade, Asami’s golden eyes almost seemed to glow, eerie like a predator in the night.
Kirishima knew a challenge when he heard one. He returned Asami’s glare for a full minute before taking his hand off the door handle and moving to join Asami where he sat. Smugness emanated from Asami as he reached over to offer Kirishima a cigarette.
“No, thank you,” Kirishima pushed his glasses up his nose. “They’re bad for you.”
“So is skipping class,” Asami teased.
“But that won’t kill you.”
“Exactly,” Asami laughed, and clapped Kirishima on the shoulder. “Some rules are made to be broken, Kirishima-kun. Besides, you and I both know that nobody in this school is going to complain about us missing a class. We’re Ishin’s top students,” Asami winked as he reached one hand up and tugged at the perfect knot in his tie, pulling it loose but not undone. Then he tipped his head back against the cool concrete again and closed his eyes, looking like relaxation personified.
Kirishima waited a moment for Asami to do something to make use of this time spent skipping class, but it appeared the other boy planned only to use it to take a nap. With a roll of his eyes, Kirishima decided to seize the opportunity to observe Asami without having to attempt to see past the impassive expression. With his eyes closed, and his glossy hair falling across his handsome face, Asami seemed almost… younger, somehow.
Not that he appeared young exactly; it was just that normally he gave off an aura of sophistication and success that made him feel more like an up-and-coming business man than a student. Asami wore his uniform like a literal suit of armor; it made him both charismatic and impenetrable. But now, with his jacket off and his tie loose about his neck, he looked like a teenager. A tired one, Kirishima realized as he studied Asami’s face and noted the slight purpling of the skin beneath his eyes.
“See something you like?” Asami interrupted Kirishima’s thoughts, murmuring the question without moving or opening his eyes. Kirishima winced at being caught staring, and pushed his glasses up his nose nervously to hide the embarrassment.
“I- I was just thinking that you look exhausted,” Kirishima stuttered. Then, with a controlled hint of bitterness he added, “And somehow I don’t think that it’s from staying up late to study.”
There was that smirk again as Asami shook his head. “I don’t often find the need to study.”
“Then what were you doing?” This time there was more than a hint of bitterness in Kirishima’s voice, but it was coupled with a genuine curiosity. Asami cracked an eye open and regarded Kirishima thoughtfully.
“Maybe one day I’ll show you.”
He didn’t elaborate, and not for the first time Kirishima wondered just what Asami’s interest in him was. By now it was clear that Asami was perfectly capable of being hugely successful on his own, so why drag Kirishima along with him? For the first time since meeting Asami, sitting on the roof in the shade of the afternoon sun, Kirishima decided to ask.
“Why me?”
“Hmm?” Asami asked sleepily, but having seen him truly relaxed just before, Kirishima now felt that his lazy demeanor seemed a little too deliberate. Asami knew exactly what he was asking. He just didn’t feel like answering, but Kirishima was tired of playing this game with him.
“Ishin Academy doesn’t have scholarship students, you know,” Kirishima told Asami primly, taking his glasses off and polishing them carefully with his sleeve. “I looked it up. There are none on the record; I’m the only one in the entire school. Which is strange, don’t you think? Especially when further research shows that the funding for my particular scholarship comes from a generous donation made by the Asami family… I don’t suppose you would care to explain that.”
Asami opened his eyes and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and lacing his fingers together. “Oh, I’m not sure you need me to explain. You seem to have worked it all out quite nicely for yourself.”
“You are the one who made the donation and created the scholarship,” Kirishima accused, narrowing his eyes on Asami’s calm expression. “You researched me beforehand, and for some reason took the steps to ensure that I would attend this Academy.”
“I did,” Asami agreed.
“I want to know why.”
“The answer to that is simple: it’s because I wanted you.” Asami stood up suddenly, pulling Kirishima with him. He walked over to the edge of the roof, gesturing out past the school grounds to the city beyond. “My father is the head of the Scion Group, but he’s getting old and lazy. He believes in the traditional path, and he’s content to sit on his hoard of gold without a thought towards expanding it. But I’m not. When I inherit, I’m going to branch out and expand. If you don’t keep moving forward, you’ll fall behind. It’s a viciously competitive world out there, a steep pyramid where only a few will make it to the top. And I have every intention of being one of those few.” He turned to look at Kirishima then, full of drive and passion and power. Then he smiled, and suddenly Kirishima was full of them too, making him realize that Asami’s assertion earlier had been right on the mark: Kirishima was greedy, and this was exactly the elusive more that he craved.
“Of course, the smart man knows that a pyramid is built on a firm base,” Asami continued. “And one thing I’ve learned about business is that while collecting knowledge is good, collecting knowledgeable people is better. That’s where you come in, Kirishima.”
“You’re saying… that you want me to work with you,” Kirishima spoke the words slowly as he thought it through. “You want me to be the firm base of your organization?” Asami pulled out another cigarette and took his time with lighting it before blowing out a puff of smoke with a smirk. “As I said before: I want to see what you’re capable of. But for now it’s safe to say that I expect great things from you, Kirishima.”
Kirishima felt that the same could be said of Asami himself, but still he felt the need to prod the other boy slightly as he narrowed his eyes and asked, “So what makes you think that you’ll do it?”
Asami raised a single eyebrow. “Do what?”
“Make it to the top of the pyramid.”
He expected Asami to frown, but instead the dark haired boy threw back his head and laughed.
“Let me put it this way, Kirishima: when there is something that I want, I pursue it relentlessly, until it is mine. And then I never let it go.”
Asami spoke with certainty, and Kirishima didn’t doubt that what he said was true. His golden eyes burned like a match that had just been struck to life. Gone was the blank, unreadable expression that he normally wore. And in this moment, Kirishima understood him perfectly… Asami was more than just a lit match. He was a growing flame, ready to consume anything and everything in its path. And Kirishima was burning with him.