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"Help me beat up my brother."
The words came suddenly, a flurry of white pushing into Samon's view.
"Uh."
"Help me get stronger so he stops treating me like a kid!" Hitoshi insisted, staring down at the man sitting on the steps.
Samon stood up, "well I guess. Seeing Hajime reacting to that would be awesome."
Hitoshi smiled, "I know, that's why I came to you."
Admittedly, Samon was mildly intimidated by the mere presence of the younger Sugoroku brother, but not because of his name. No, Hitoshi was just mildly terrifying in general, for plenty of different reasons.
The fact of the matter is, Hitoshi just doesn't give a crap about your opinion. He just exists and if you don't like that you're shit out of luck.
For someone who's career is based on being in charge of other people, that's pretty scary.
But, the common ground of being pissed at Hajime was more than enough to encourage Samon to let him work out with his building.
--
It went fairly well for the first week, surprisingly. Hitoshi wasn't exactly in perfect shape, but he was a fast learner and had his brother's natural strength.
A few weeks and he'd up his stamina to the point where he could probably start actually sparring.
One day, after a run, all the guys were sitting down on the steps of the building and making small talk.
"So Hitoshi, why were you so insistent on proving yourself to your brother?" Liang asked.
Hitoshi furrowed his brow, "well, aside from the obvious, I finally heard about what happened at New Years... I'm not happy at all."
A wave of apprehension fell over the group as he paused.
The cell 13 boys were Hitoshi's favorites; that much had always been clear. And he was theirs as well, to different degrees of course.
"I guess I'm just mad about being lied to. My brother always said he was helping people here, that he loved this job and respected everyone involved. Why wouldn't I want to work here after the way he talked about it? But then I actually come here and these poor kids are being kicked around and stuff, for things they can't control! And unless I prove that I don't need Hajime anymore, I'll never be able to stand up for those guys! As least not effectively. And now, after everything that's happened, he's just marrying the Warden and everything's happy and he totally didn't almost murder a sixteen year old kid! Anyone else would have been fired!"
Samon felt a lurch in his heart, remembering why he himself chose this life.
The longer he knew Hitoshi, the more he understood why everyone loved him so much. And the more he saw their similarities as well.
Their backgrounds were eerily similar; violent older brother who worked as a prison guard, being fed lies about said job, alone a lot as a kid, rebellious nature.
It was so strange how two people who were so similar could end up so differently.
But really, were they so different at all?
--
Samon's workload increased as the wedding drew nearer. He took up much of the Warden's duties while she rested and prepared for both the wedding and the baby, not to mention covering for Hajime while he helped with those as well.
So, he was there for less and less of the training.
But he wasn't even remotely concerned, his boys were well behaved and they liked and respected Hitoshi. Surely nothing bad would happen if he missed a few weeks. Although, he really didn't want to.
It was something he loathed to admit, but he had grown as fond of Hitoshi as any other man in the prison. It wasn't even a question, Hitoshi was simply a lovely person! It'd be almost concerning if he didn't long for the blond's presence!
Or at least that's what he told himself to deny what was clearly the truth.
--
True to form, those weeks went by without a hitch. Not one complaint was heard from either side. With the wedding growing ever closer, everyone's energy was focused on anything but trouble.
And although he'd rather be back home, Samon had nearly forgotten about Hitoshi training with his group, until Kiji brought it up at a meeting.
"How's that little project doing anyhow?"
"Hitoshi? Oh, I dunno. I haven't had time to go to the group workouts for a while. I'm going this afternoon though, to check up."
Kiji laughed, "I bet you're a little out of practice!"
"Am not!" His face grew hotter.
He left before the situation could escalate, for fear of being late. It wasn't as if there was a set starting time, but generally everyone got there around 2:00 and if he was too far off the mark, in might look like he didn't care.
Of course, the guys knew better, but would Hitoshi?
Again, he pushed the feeling down as his face heated up. He wasn't trying to impress Hitoshi, was he?
Well it hardly mattered, punctuality was important regardless of who would and wouldn't care.
The area was mostly silent on his arrival, the group stretching under the shaded area.
Hitoshi had his hair done up differently today. Instead of a series of ponytails, it was in two thick braids, accented by large pink ties instead of the usual mint ones.
"Good afternoon."
The rest looked up.
"Oh hey Samon." Liang smiled, "finally had a free moment?
He shrugged, pulling off his jacket, "I suppose you could say that."
They make casual conversation as the stretching continues, the topic eventually falling to Hitoshi's improvement.
"He's improved exponentially in fact," Upa insisted, "you'd be amazed to see it."
"Really? Perhaps I should see for myself."
Hitoshi quite nearly leapt to his feet, "yes, we really should!"
Samon had only mentioned the spar in passing, but Hitoshi seemed eager to show what the boys had taught him, and it left Samon intrigued.
They took places on either side of the large dirt circle, Hitoshi's normal smile fading to a serious look Samon had seen on his brother many times. It was almost scary.
But really, there was no way Hitoshi had improved so much so fast as to beat him. Even factoring in that he was a Sugoroku, it wasn't feasible.
But then again, his boys were honest, if they didn't believe in Hitoshi's ability, someone would have said something.
So lost in thought, he nearly missed Liang count in. He jolted like he was hot with electricity when Hitoshi came flying at him.
It all went so fast, though it must have taken a few minutes at the very least with how hard they were panting.
Samon was distracted, there was no other way to explain. Hitoshi's fluid, strong movements looked like dancing, his natural grace was enchanting. It was the sort of thing one had to be trained in, perhaps he took ballet as a child?
And his appearance, it was so startling to see him look like anything other than the princess-like figure Samon had seen about. Sure, his clothes were still hardly traditionally masculine, but seeing him in a short sleeved shirt and shorts, well Samon could hardly tire of that view.
And Hitoshi took advantage of Samon's distraction. He moved to emphasize what he had, disguise when he was going for the final tackle, sending them sliding into the wall, Samon on his back under him.
It was hardly a proper defeat, but Samon made no move to get up or keep fighting. He was shocked to say the least.
Hitoshi giggled, "so how's that for-"
"Marry me."
It was now Hitoshi's turn to be shocked.
"Yes yes a million times yes!"
Suddenly, Samon realized exactly what he just said. But Hitoshi was crying now.
Off to the side, the others shared a fearful look.
"What the fuck?" Upa whispered
"Eh I saw it coming." Qi replied, "he's still gonna fucking die, but it was predictable."