Chapter Text
“Chifuyu, let’s go to the sea.”
Chifuyu looks up from his biology notes, confused.
“You look surprised there.” Baji leans back against his chair, smiling mischievously.
“Because I am.” Chifuyu gently pokes at Baji’s arm with his pencil. “We’re supposed to be studying. And we have our finals in two weeks.”
“Boring.” Baji pretends to yawn. “Going to the sea sounds better.”
“Yes, well, you need to study extra since you barely passed the last math test.”
“At least I passed.”
Chifuyu snickers. School always seemed too small of a world for Baji. Baji Keisuke is untempered and unpredictable, like a flame of some sort. He always looked out the windows during class, as if thinking what heights he could climb to next.
Chifuyu taps his pencil against his notebook. Perhaps going to the sea may not be a bad idea. Admittedly, he’s felt stressed about balancing schoolwork, his part-time job, and hanging out with his friends.
“How long did you want to go for?” He asks, albeit casually.
Baji’s eyes shimmer with excitement. “Really? You wanna go?”
“I didn’t say yes. Yet.”
“Well, jus’ wanted to skip school on Friday and leave for the weekend.”
“You’re lucky I’m not scheduled Friday,” Chifuyu sighs. “But I guess I’ll have to take a rain check on helping Takemicchi and Hakkai study.”
“So serious, and for what?” Baji laughs.
Chifuyu’s ears flush just the palest tint of pink.
“Shut up,” he mutters as he returns to annotating his notes.
He then glances up slightly.
“Maybe a weekend at the sea doesn’t sound bad.”
group chat: degenerates <3
4:37 P.M.
draken: jesus christ mikey stop changing the fucking chat name
draken: u know what fuck it he’s probably sleeping
takemicchi: has anyone seen chifuyu or baji-kun
mom: what do you mean were they not at school with you
my cat from hell: oh lmao we skipped
my cat from hell sent a photo
puyu-puyu: baji-san kidnapped me to the sea this morning
my cat from hell: the fuck u said u would come along
shib shib: taka-chan we should go to the sea too :D
mom: please stay in school
takemicchi: chifuyu u were supposed to help me and hakkai study today :(
puyu-puyu: i’ll bring you back a souvenir </3
draken: damn we were supposed to meet at the diner
my cat from hell: see u guys monday lmao
mom: baji you should really stop planning this kind of shit last minute
puyu-puyu: that’s just how baji-san is
shib shib: have fun u guys!
4:55 P.M.
president dorayaki: u know im funny ken-chin <3
draken: .
“Baji-san, where are we going exactly?”
“Dunno!” Baji yells back, over the wind and rumble of Goki’s engine. “I kinda just looked it up this morning!”
“Seriously?!”
Baji only laughs, revving up his bike as they continue drifting down the freeway.
Chifuyu leans back, gripping onto the seat as he stares at the puffy white clouds that lazily bob along the skies. He bites back a smile. Typical Baji. Always the last minute sort of guy. But Chifuyu doesn’t particularly mind. He’s always put his trust in Baji. And he knows that h would follow him anywhere.
He runs a hand across Goki’s sleek paint. Fondly recalling the days he’s spent rallying the First Division members as they stormed turf wars throughout Tokyo. It had been a while since he’s ridden on Goki, not to mention this is his first without donning Toman’s uniform.
It feels nice. To be riding Goki without the subconscious thought of worrying about cuts and bruises. To just sit back as Baji takes them to places new and alike. Something within him twinges with excitement, and Chifuyu tightens his grip as he thinks of the weekend that awaits them.
They stop at a cheap gas station along the way, munching on cheap convenience store snacks while the fuel tank refills.
Baji side eyes Chifuyu curiously while chewing on a musubi his mother had packed for them. “You’re not gonna keep asking where we’re going?”
“Not that it really matters,” Chifuyu replies. He smiles. “I’ve always trusted you, Baji-san. And I trust that you’re going to make this getaway worthwhile.”
Baji doesn’t reply. His lips curl upwards, revealing a toothy smile. He pokes Chifuyu’s cheek gently before returning to his meal.
Chifuyu smiles subtly and pops another gummy into his mouth, gazing at the clouds once more. He doesn’t notice the tiniest beat that his heart skips over.
A minute goes by.
Two.
Three.
“Chifuyu.”
He blinks.
Baji is sitting on his Goki, patting the back seat. “Quit stalling.” He grins. “The sea won’t always wait for you.”
Miura is a modest port city compared to the concrete jungles of Tokyo. Fishing boats line the blue waters, seagulls circle the skies, and the streets are lined with the salty breeze of the sea. Chifuyu’s visited Tsukiji Market with his mother when he was younger, but never before has he seen so much fish on display. And certainly, it is his first ever stepping into a seaside town.
Chifuyu already feels himself relaxing into the beckoning call of the sea. No schoolwork to worry about. No part time job to be on time to.
It’s just him and Baji.
The inn they check into sits quietly at the corner of a street, across from a 7-Eleven and some small local stores.
“You’re kidding,” is what Chifuyu says when they open up the door to the room.
A single bed sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by cute seashell decor.
He looks, absolutely bewildered, at Baji, who seems just as surprised.
“You didn’t check if they offered doubles?”
“I didn’t know!” Baji protests.
Chifuyu tosses his backpack on the bed, sighing deeply.
“Come on, it won’t be that bad. You never shared a bed before?”
“I’m an only child.”
“Yeah, well, me, too. But I’ve shared a bed with Mikey when I used to sleep over at his house.”
“That’s different!”
“You’re not wussing out on me, are you?”
“‘Course not,” Chifuyu scoffs. “I’ve been through worse shit.”
“Good.” Baji dumps his belongings on the floor, a sly smile curling at the corners of his mouth. “‘Cause I really wanna go to the beach right now.”
“We’re at the beach!” Baji yells as he races toward the ocean. Chifuyu snorts, then doubles over in laughter as his captain trips over air trying to get to the water.
Kind of funny, to be dumb and actually be teenagers right now. Chifuyu supposes there were times in the last few years where he did act his age with Takemichi and the others. But it does feel nice seeing Baji enjoy himself so much. Someone who’s only seen thrill in a fight, or perhaps taking him out on a ride. Baji Keisuke fascinates him in all sorts of ways. And Chifuyu think himself lucky to have been his vice captain and best friend.
“Earth to Chifuyu.” Baji’s standing before him, arms crossed and frowning slightly. Chifuyu blinks. “You’ve been in and out of it all day. Something wrong?”
“‘m fine.”
“Well, you’re just gonna leave me there like that then?”
“I-“
But Baji doesn’t give him a chance to finish. He grabs Chifuyu’s arm (cold to the touch from the seawater; Chifuyu feels a chill running down his spine) and drags him towards the ocean. And out of nowhere, Baji yanks Chifuyu forward and cackles maniacally as the latter falls face forward.
“What the fuck!” Chifuyu sputters, spitting some salty water out and rubbing his eyes. Baji only gives him a shit-eating grin. Well played. “You know, Baji-san.” Chifuyu stands up, cracking his knuckles slowly. “If you’re playing dirty, then who’s to say I can’t?” Without a warning, he sticks both hands into the water and sends as much water crashing onto his captain as he could. Baji topples into the water, momentarily stunned.
“Chifuyu.” Baji brushes some wet strands of hair away from his face. “You haven’t gone soft.”
“Hell no.” Chifuyu smirks. “I’ll never go soft, even if it’s you, Baji-san.”
Baji stands up, readying himself in an attack stance. “You’re in for a long day, Chifuyu.”
Chifuyu rests the side of his face on the cool wood of the table. He feels something ice cold prodding at his cheek. “‘m tired,” he whines. He then sees a strawberry kakigori set before him. Baji ruffles his hair fondly as he takes a seat next to him. Chifuyu spoons a mouthful of the shaved ice into his mouth, savoring the fruity juices cooling the tip of his tongue.
“Having fun?” Baji asks, taking a bite of his own shaved ice.
“Totally.” Chifuyu smiles, not noticing the faint blush that blossomed on his cheeks. “Thanks for bringing me out here, Baji-san.”
Baji twirls his spoon with his hand. “I’ve always wanted to come to the beach again. ‘s been a while since I’ve been. And I wanted to come with you.”
“Really?” Chifuyu muses. “Why so?”
“Dumbass.” Baji nudges Chifuyu gently. “You’ve been hella stressed from everything. You needed a break.”
“Anything other than skipping school would’ve been fine, you know,” Chifuyu teases. “Kidding,” he says when he sees Baji glaring at him. “So when was the last time you did go?” Chifuyu decides to ask.
“Summer, first year of middle school. Just a bit after Toman was formed. We liked to go cruising down in ‘Hama. And just spend the day being dumb kids.” Baji stops stirring the remaining bits of his kakigori . And he smiles at a particular memory. “Did ya know Mikey used to ride around on a shitty moped?”
“No way!” Chifuyu exclaims. “Our leader?”
“Yup. Honestly, what was that dumbass thinking back then, riding that thing and slowing us down. Even called it his prized CB250T. Come to think of it,” Baji pauses. “I never did go to the beach that day. Mikey ran outta gas. Made us play rock paper scissors to decide who to get gas for him. And what do you know, I had to haul ass with that thing to find the gas station.”
Chifuyu finishes the rest of his dessert quietly. He thinks of the founding members of Toman, happily speeding down the road towards the beach. He thinks of Baji, sweating bullets while hauling a cheap moped to find a gas station.
“Next thing I know, I’m getting my ass kicked ‘cause, you know, we were on enemy turf. But then Mikey comes outta nowhere, kicking his moped to shit. And then we go beat those assholes to hell and back. Fuck, I was so tired, I couldn’t even enjoy the beach afterwards,” Baji huffs. But he smiles again. “At least we were all happy back then.”
“Honestly, Baji-san. I can’t think of a moment where you haven’t beat the shit out of someone.”
“Fuck off.” Baji rolls his eyes. “They started it. Plus, I haven’t beaten someone up in…” He pauses to think momentarily. “Three weeks,” he says proudly.
Chifuyu snorts. “For you, that sure is an achievement.”
“Pfft. Whatever.”
Their elbows bump momentarily when collecting their trash, and Chifuyu fights back every little twinge of embarrassment as he bites his lip. But when he sees Baji giving him that same toothy smile, he can’t help but feel his heart beat just a bit louder. But Chifuyu also notices something amiss within Baji’s eyes.
What is it, exactly? Chifuyu can’t exactly tell.
Baji was never one to reveal his thoughts that easily. Even in the moments they’ve shared since Bloody Halloween, he still hasn’t completely opened up to Chifuyu. Sometimes, Chifuyu accepts it. This is how Baji is. Other times, he feels frustrated. He always put everything in Baji. But why couldn’t he do the same? Chifuyu knows Baji carried burdens on his shoulders. He wishes he could help carry some.
“Chifuyu.”
“Hm?”
Baji looks at him, concerned. “You good?”
“Yeah.” Chifuyu smiles, tossing his empty cup into the trash. “Let’s go swimming again.”
They spend the evening strolling through the nearby fishing port. The street bustles with life and the scent of the salty sea breeze, with fishermen hauling their catches of the day and displaying them on ice. The seagulls circle above in the skies. There are several stands offering little samples of various seafood dishes, and it's heaven for both of them to try everything out.
Though seeing so many different kinds of fish is indeed fascinating, Chifuyu has to drag Baji away from the shark stands.
“Baji-san, you can’t have a shark in your pet shop.”
“I never said that.” Baji sticks his tongue out.
“Knowing you, who knows what kind of zoo you’d be running,” Chifuyu laughs.
“But it’d be fucking awesome to have a shark!” Baji insists. “My pet shop would be the coolest one on the block!”
Chifuyu laughs. “It sure would.”
They reach the pier, only large wooden fences separating them from the depths of the sea.
“Kazutora would love it here.” Chifuyu then hears Baji say quietly. He tilts his head in a mixture of confusion and just a bit of worry. There was that bit of sadness within Baji’s voice again.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Baji leans against the wood post, the breeze gently pushing his dark locks back. “Kazutora loved going to the beach. Most of the time just to gawk at chicks walking by. But still. I’d drag his ass to the water. And we’d fuck around with the others. Kazutora…” His voice trails off.
Chifuyu has only met Kazutora as an enemy. But on those visits with Baji, he only sees a broken soul in need of love. They’ve only exchanged a few words, and Chifuyu knows Kazutora means the world to Baji. But something pokes at his chest. Is this jealousy he feels? Chifuyu can’t tell. But God, he feels stupid if it is jealousy. Jealous over what? Baji and Kazutora’s relationship? Pathetic.
Chifuyu knows he’s in love with Baji. He realized it right before their third year of middle school.
“Chifuyu, everyone and their mom knows you like him,” Draken had said to him one evening.
He blushed lightly.
“Yeah, good luck with that.” Mitsuya patted his back consolingly. “Baji’s a dumbass.”
“At least not as stupid as Pah-chin.”
“Don’t let Peh-yan hear you,” Chifuyu joked.
Among the circle of laughter, Chifuyu knew that Draken and Mitsuya were right. Part of him wished it wasn’t true. But of course, they’ve known Baji far longer than he has. And even Chifuyu was painfully aware of how unpredictable his captain is.
One day, he thought. That he’ll give it his all and pour his heart out for Baji Keisuke.
Chifuyu feels a warm touch on his shoulder.
“You’re spacing out again,” Baji says. His eyes glimmer with concern. “You sure you’re okay?” He asks quietly. “You’ve been doing it all day.”
“‘m fine.” Chifuyu gently brushes away Baji’s hand. He tries a smile. “I’m gonna get us drinks. You want anything?” He doesn’t give Baji a chance to reply before quickly walking away to find the closest vending machine.
God, what were you thinking, Chifuyu groans in his head as he thumps his head against the vending machine. He stares at the brightly lit drinks. “You rea~lly had to drop hints about your feelings like this, huh,” Chifuyu mutters. Sooner or later, he’ll have to go back. But a drink or two can solve a problem, right? Chifuyu hopes so (not really). He digs for his wallet, fishing out a couple of coins to insert. He then presses the buttons for Pocari Sweat.
“Hey! The fuck do you think you’re doing with our vending machine!”
Chifuyu whips around, eyes narrowing at the group of boys around his age circling around him.
“The hell do you want?” He scowls. “I’m buying some drinks, assholes.”
Their leader, presumably, leans his face toward Chifuyu’s in a poor attempt to appear threatening. “We own this vending machine, bastard,” he sneers.
Chifuyu rolls his eyes. “Says who?”
“You tryna fuck with me?” The stranger growls. God, his breath reeks of cheap cigarettes.
Chifuyu’s dealt with small fry like them during his days in Toman. Ironically, Chifuyu was Baji’s cool when the latter lost his temper before a scuffle. This situation, however, darkens his already horrible mood to a terrible storm.
“Oh, I’m sooooo sorry. In fact, let me bow my head to show how sorry I am.” He immediately slams his forehead into his opponent’s.
“You’re dead!” The others scream as they charge toward Chifuyu.
He cracks his knuckles.
Going two years clean without a real fight has softened him, Chifuyu thinks. Admittedly, his fists don’t quite pack the punch as they used to. But they still get the job done nonetheless. Maybe I should ask Draken to work out together some time. He lands another kick.
“You done yet?” Chifuyu yells, slamming his fist into another assailant’s face. “I’m getting bored here!”
But suddenly, he feels something hard slam into his side. Chifuyu collapses to the ground, clutching the hit area in immense pain. Yep, that’s gonna bruise. Bastards, having extra people sneak up behind him like that.
How funny this is. Getting the shit beat out of him over a stupid vending machine, Man, he just wanted a drink to share with Baji to forget something stupid.
Chifuyu awaits for the blunt force of the baseball bat to land.
But it never does.
Baji charges out from the darkness, pummeling two guys at once and then slamming his elbow into another’s chest.
“Tokyo Manji Gang. Former First Division Captain, Baji Keisuke. You've got the fuckin' nerve to fuck with my friend here,” he snarls menacingly.
Chifuyu laughs to himself. Funny, that this is playing out how he met Baji in his first year of middle school.
Only this time, he’s not someone to be coddled anymore.
“Tokyo Manji Gang. Former First Division Vice Captain, Matsuno Chifuyu.”
Baji grins.
“You pieces of shit messed with the wrong crowd here.”
Lucky for them, the inn keeps first aid kids at the front desk. And Chifuyu has to apologize profusely when the receptionist gives them an alarming look when she sees their faces covered in small cuts and scratches.
"Guess I broke that three week streak," Baji jokes as he tosses the ice pack he retrieved from the ice machine in his hand.
"Of course you did," Chifuyu laughs. "But I'll let this one slide. Just this once."
Baji beams in delight. He then pops open the first aid kit.
“Ow!” Chifuyu hisses in pain as Baji presses the ice pack against the red skin. It’s been so long since he’s needed to have his wounds cleaned.
“Jesus, stop moving.”
“It hurts like shit!”
“‘course it does.”
Chifuyu looks down, then takes a sip of his Pocari Sweat. “Sorry about earlier,” he says quietly.
Baji squeezes the ice pack. “Just went looking for you after you took so damn long to buy two drinks. But seriously. Over a fucking vending machine? Give me a break.” He rolls his eyes.
Chifuyu snorts.
“What were you thinking, running off like that?”
“It’s nothing important.”
“It is,” Baji insists. He deadpans into Chifuyu’s eyes. “You’re everything to me, ‘Fuyu,” he then whispers. “Just tell me if anything’s wrong.”
Chifuyu turns red.
God, it’d be mortifying to let out that he walked away out of jealousy . He’s in high school, goddammit. Chifuyu bites his lip in guilty conscience. He’s such a hypocrite, being frustrated with Baji for being bad with feelings. Now he’s the one being irrational. This is different (it’s not), he insists. My reasoning is far stupider than Baji-san fucking stabbing himself.
Just make up something, his mind screams.
“I think it’s just stress,” he finally lies. “I couldn’t stop thinking about finals. And work.”
Baji side eyes him. “I told you. No thinking about that shit here. We're at the beach.”
“Sorry,” Chifuyu says, rubbing the back of his nape sheepishly. He then checks under the ice pack. “I think I’m okay now.” He sticks on a patch of gauze. “I’m kinda tired today. I think I’m just gonna sleep.”
They brush their teeth in awkward silence, not even thinking once to speak to another. Chifuyu feels horrible. It felt like their weekend getaway was taking a sour turn. He almost swallows his toothpaste in his pondering. This was supposed to be a weekend where he could relax. And he never expected it to be a day of pent up frustration and confused feelings.
They settle under the covers, staring at the dark of the ceiling. Chifuyu hears the blanket rustle a bit, and he notices Baji’s eyes peering at him.
“Baji-san? Is there something wrong?”
He sees the other open his mouth briefly, as if to say something. Then nothing.
“‘s nothing. ‘Night, Chifuyu.”
“‘Night,” Chifuyu whispers, drifting off to sleep to the distant call of the waves.