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"Takemitchy!"

Hanagaki flinched so bad he ran his knees into his desk. He gave a groan, and next to him, his friends shared a worried look before they turned back to the person at the door.

"B-Baji-kun," Hanagaki said, eyebrows furrowed as he stood up. He braced himself against the desk, one of his legs throbbing. "I-Is everything okay?"

"You busy?" Baji asked, coming into the classroom and sending Hanagaki's classmates quailing away with a glare. 

Hanagaki was a little jealous. If possible, he wanted to just shrink away and disappear from the current situation too.

"I-I was going to get some curry bread," Hanagaki said slowly, shoulders hunched up to his ears as he looked up at Baji.

Baji's eyes fell to the sling and then he looked out the window. God knows why. Hangaki's back was so tense he felt like it would snap. When Baji's eyes fell back onto him, gaze so heavy that Hanagaki felt like it was pushing down on his shoulders, he did everything he could not to flinch away.

"Yo, Takemitchy!" The back door for their classroom opened, and Kazutora walked in with an easy grin and a friendly smile, totally oblivious to the sweating mess Hanagaki was. "Your arm is shit, right? I'm here to help you."

On cue, his shoulder throbbed.

"It's fine, Kazu," Baji called out, stepping in front of Hanagaki and easily blocking off Hanagaki's entire field of vision. "I got it."

"Hey, Takemitchy," and entering the classroom from the entrance that Baji used, Matsuno walked in, "They didn't have any curry bread so I got you the curry pizza bun instead. You seen Baji-san?"

"This is like the part when the new wife meets the old ones," Yamagishi whispered to Makoto, who slapped a hand over his mouth and still failed to stifle his giggles.

If Hanagaki wasn't about to have an aneurysm, he would turn around and punch them in the face.

"I.... I could have gotten it myself," Hanagaki said, pointedly ignoring his close friends. And the scary gloom starting to rise around Baji, who's face was eerily devoid of emotions as he stood unmoving and unblinking. Hanagaki suppressed the urge to burst into tears and start begging. He wasn't sure for what. "But uh... thanks, Chifuyu."

"Yeah, of course!" And for good measure, Matsuno passed Baji with a wide grin and a big thumbs up. "I got your back." He placed the bread on Hanagaki's desk, and the teen cheered.

"Man, I was really hungry, but I really didn't want to go to the cafeteria. You want me to pay you back now?"

But for some strange reason, Matsuno's gaze was locked with Baji, and without looking at Hanagaki, he replied.

"Don't worry about it. I got your back."

Baji nodded once, twice, and then turned around to sock him in the face. He stumbled backwards, crashing into a desk and their other classmates ran for the door. From the other side, Hanemiya kicked him hard in the thigh. Baji turned around, grabbing his friend and tackling him down so that they both fell.

From there, it dissolved into something Hanagaki was more familiar with.

--

By the time the bell rang, dismissing them for the day, Hanagaki had actually forgotten about everything with Baji. He gave a quiet whistle as he walked out, and as soon as he turned to walk down the hallway, met eyes with Baji.

"B-Baji-kun!" he shouted out, hand over his heart like it would stop it from leaping out of his chest.

"Yeah. Ready?"

"R-Ready? F-For what?"

The man squinted at him, and Hanagaki frantically ran through all his memories. Did he tell Sendo to clean out his porn from underneath his bed if he died? 

But Baji wasn't grinning like he would when they were going to go fight, and instead took Hanagaki's bag again. The blond didn't even fight it. Not that he could. He couldn't fight back when he had two working arms, but with just one now?

"C'mon, let's go." 

Sweating bullets, Hanagaki was walked home and Baji invited himself in. Matsuno, a wide grin on his face, and Hanemiya with a slow smile, joined them and within ten minutes, Hanagaki would forget all his confusion and fear from the morning.

--

"Morning, Takemitchy!"

"B-B-Baji-kun!"

Tilting his head to the side, Baji extended his hand out. Remembering the day before, Hanagaki slowly handed his schoolbag over and Baji carried it with ease. With his other hand, he grabbed Hanagaki by the wrist and started to make his way to school.

"H-How are you today?" Hanagaki asked, feeling like the silence between them was overbearing and suffocating.

"Fine."

Hanagaki winced back and searched his memory. "It uh... looks like it might rain later!"

Baji paused at that, and grunted back. They continued to walk forward, and Hanagaki started to think that Baji's hand was really warm.

--

Baji's stops came to a stop, and Hanagaki who was walking behind him hastily stopped before he ran into him. Baji, who was supporting a split lip from the impromptu fight a few streets down (where they coincidentally lost sight of Matsuno and Hanemiya), and Hanagaki, who was missing two buttons on his jacket but was otherwise completely unharmed, stood in front of Hanagaki's house. 

"Is..." Hanagaki hesitated, because if Baji stopped, then there had to be a fight. And if there was a fight, then Baji would be grinning. But instead, Baji was just frowning. "Is everything okay, Baji-kun?"

"Baji-san? Is Takemichi with you?"

And Hanagaki's eyes widened, "Akkun!" he cried out, his slips splitting into a grin. He walked around Baji and up to his friend standing in front of his house. "What's up? Did you miss me already?" he teased.

"You're such an ungrateful shit," Sendo replied, voice warm as he shook his head. Still, the smile on his face was unmistakable. "Dumbass, I'm here to make sure you don't fail."

Hanagaki stepped forward, eyes shining with a curious light as he came right in front of him.

"Huh?"

"Hard taking notes when you're down a hand, right?" he asked, lifting his schoolbag up.

Hanagaki's eyes turned glossy as he peered up at Sendo, "Akkun..." he said, voice wobbly. "You're the best!" He stared at his bag like it was the Holy Grail.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, and his eyes looked beyond Hanagaki as he spoke, not that his friend would know it, "I got your back, Takemichi."

And remembering that someone was behind him, Hanagaki turned around. He gave a curt nod. He didn't think that Baji would want to stick around for some boring study session. "I uh... see you tomorrow, Baji-kun!"

And Baji stared at the two of them before he looked to the side. In atypical Baji fashion, he didn't say or do anything before he turned on his heel and walked away.

Watching him leave, Hanagaki wondered why Baji did all of this, when he looked so annoyed by the whole thing. Did Draken put him up to this or something? He broke an arm, but there was no need to put Baji up to this.

Just as fast, he shelved the thought and promptly forgot about it as he turned to Sendo and invited him in. 

--

The drizzle that came painted a thick fog through the town. While walking through it at first, it didn't feel like anything was special, but the longer they walked through it, the heavier they felt. It was a gradual process, and they didn't even realize that they were dripping.

"B-Baji-kun!"

And  soaked to the bone, Hanagaki yelled out for his friend when he saw someone else come swinging at Baji with a bat.

"Shut up!"

A swing came at his head, and by the time Hanagaki realized something was coming to hit him, it slammed against his face and sent him flying. Pain exploded across his temple, and when his shoulder crashed into the ground, he gave a sharp cry. In hindsight, he supposed that he was an easy target. He was already weak and now his arm was broken too.

Did they come for Baji because they thought he would be an easy target too? They must be idiots, Hanagaki thought.

He groaned as he rolled over his casted arm. His arm was protected in the cast, but the rest of him was already throbbing.

And still, it drizzled on.

The world stopped spinning around him, and he realized that the thudding sounds was not rain or thunder, but the sound of Baji throwing one guy into another and beating the rest of them up as they came close to him. The ones next to Hanagaki were all gone, and if the blond slipped around right now, no one would have notice.

But instead, Hanagaki saw that Baji had punched the same guy in the face six times now. His left hand had a firm grip on the front of the other teen's shirt, and smashed his other fist against his face over and over again. Blood sprayed when he pulled his fist back and Hanagaki didn't think, just ran.

"I'm okay!" he shouted out, the misty drizzle making him look much further away than what he really was. "Baji-kun, I'm okay!"

When it looked like Baji wasn't going to stop, he grabbed his raised arm tightly against his chest, stopping him from hitting the other teen for the moment. There was a brief pause and Baji jerked his arm. For a brief second, he felt like Baji was going to lift him up and throw him with his punch, and Hanagaki felt like that would be an awful way to go. Baji jerked his arm again, and Hanagaki felt his shoulder throb.

But still. The guy that came to attack Hanagaki wasn't even moving. He was only being held up by Baji's grip on his shirt.

"Baji-kun, I'm okay! Stop it! You're going to kill him!"

Baji's chest heaved for every breath. His eyes were bright with an uncanny focus that made Hanagaki worry now that he was at the focus of that stare. Every last molecule inside of him demanded him to run away, hard and fast, and get out of there because he was going to die.

But there was a future he wanted to protect.

"Let's go, Baji-kun." he begged, "Let him go. I'm okay."

"They came after you," Baji replied back, his voice just a low growl in his throat. "You're not even fully healed. They came after you."

Hanagaki knew what would have happened when these guys, who came at them 7 to 2 with metal bats, would have probably done to him. He knew, and his stomach rolled because it scared him. 

Still.

"If you do anymore, they'll die, Baji-kun-"

"And?"

Hanagaki stared at him. Baji's hands had enough blood on them that it was starting to drip, and there was enough drizzle that it was starting to run down their faces. The other six abandoned their friend to Baji's fist, so Hanagaki already knew. He grabbed Hanagaki's shoulders.

"They came after you!" he shouted back, like it's the only thing he could think about and the only thing he could say. 

"But I'm fine!" Hanagaki yelled right back. "I'm fine, Baji-kun. So let's go."

Hanagaki couldn't get a read on Baji's face. His dark eyes and his firm frown. He pushed his hair back, his hair not drenched yet but getting there soon. He looked back at Hanagaki again and then took a deep, long breath. Releasing the younger man with a deep, frustrated sigh, he turned around.

"Let's go," he finally conceded. 

Hanagaki gave a short sigh of relief and stepped next to him. He looked different like this, hair down but pushed back like that. Without the usual grin either, despite the fact that they were just in a fight. 

"Baji-kun," Hanagaki said before his courage would desert him, "Thanks for coming."

"Of course I came," Baji bit back. 

He stared at Hanagaki, his hand coming up to grab the front of his shirt. For a moment, Hanagaki thought that Baji would punch him once or six times. The feeling of death encroaching, despite how often it felt like it happened, never got easier to get used to.

"Takemitchy," Baji said, and his gaze was impossible to pull away from, "Of course I came."

Hanagaki stared at him, eyes wide, and despite how much it hurt to, gave him a wide grin.

--

"...I'm more shocked that they didn't die," Draken admitted.

Hanagaki gasped, "B-Baji-kun wouldn't... kill them," and then he stopped, really thought about it, and turned back to Draken with an ashen face, "would he?"

"Well," Draken shrugged back, "Probably not actually. But pretty fucking close." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Shitsuren guys, right?"

"Yeah, I think that's what their uniform was from. Beige with the blue-stripped ties."

Draken nodded back, "Yeah, they won't bother you again."

"I hope not," Hanagaki agreed, nodding his head, "But you be careful too, Draken-kun."

The older boy stared at him for a moment, and then gave him a warm smile.

"Too bad I don't have Baji coming after me to keep me safe," he said.

"D-Draken-kun!" Hanagaki gasped back, scandalized.

Draken's laughter rang in his kitchen.

--

"I-I could carry my own stuff," Hanagaki said in a rare moment of courage.

Baji's gaze was withering.

"B-Because it's heavy."

"You think this is too heavy for me?"

And it wasn't fair, because they were in short-sleeve shirts for the summer uniform. So naturally, both of their arms were on display for easy comparison. And what an easy comparison that was. Hanagaki stared at Baji's bulging arms, how much bigger they looked compared to his thin, stick arms. 

"I... I want to be stronger too!" he shouted out instead.

"You are," Baji replied back. "You're plenty strong."

The next words died in Hangaki's mouth, and he stared up at Baji in shock.

"Huh?"

"I'm not carrying your bag because you're not strong."

Then why are you carrying it at all? Hanagaki wanted to ask, but around then, Matsuno and Hanemiya joined them on their commute to school. Baji waved at them, a lazy grin on his face while Matsuno all but jumped to them.

"Carrying his bag again?" Hanemiya asked, and yawned loudly. He gave a sleepy grin at the blond as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and leaned his head against Hanagaki's. "Takemitchy, I can do it too."

"I can carry it, Baji-san!" Matsuno added, eyes shining.

"Please don't pass my bag around," Hanagaki said quietly, but it was lost when Baji yanked Hanemiya back by the collar of his shirt and promptly, a fight started.

Worriedly, Hanagaki watched his bag.

--

"Any ideas why Baji-kun's like this?" Hanagaki asked.

Matsuno, who was eating Hanagaki's pudding, hummed back.

"You haven't figured it out?" he asked.

And Hanagaki tapped his finger to his chin as he thought hard. He ran through every interaction he ever had with Baji.

"Uh... Oh!"

His head snapped up and Matsuno's smile turned a little sad, like he was accepting something for himself. But Hanagaki's eyes shining in his new revelation, grinned at Matsuno.

"Is it because I have the newest Jump?" he asked. He tilted his head, "I didn't think that Baji-kun cared all that much."

Matsuno's smile slid off his face and he ran his hand down his face. "God," he sighed, "You're such a fucking idiot."

"W-What? Was I wrong?"

"Of course, you're wrong!"

"Then-then what is it?! If you know so well, what is it?" he demanded.

Matsuno shook his head. "Takemitchy, you're so fucking stupid," he said.

"But what else could it be?" Hanagaki whined. It took everything he had not to just stomp his feet. "I'm not a good fighter so it's not like he cares about," he placed his hand over his sling. "And no one else is hurt right now, right? We haven't had anyone picking fights with us, either."

Sitting in Hanagaki's chair, spinning so that he was facing away from Hanagaki, Matsuno sighed.

"Dumbass," he said, almost with gratitude. He stared at the walls, and hummed quietly, "You know what, Takemitchy?"

"Huh?"

"You don't need to know. It's fine right now, isn't it?" Matsuno asked.

"Chifuyu," Hanagaki suddenly came close, and grabbed the chair Matsuno was sitting in. He turned him around and stared him dead in the eye. "Baji-kun has been taking my bag and walking me to school every day. He takes me out and buys me snacks as soon as school is over. Every day."

"Is... Is that so bad?" his friend replied, a little creeped out at how Hanagaki was acting.

"Well, I mean..." Hanagaki hesitated, "It scared me at first. But like, I know Baji-kun isn't a bad guy, and he takes care of his friends and the people important to him."

"Yeah," Matsuno said, as though he was waiting for Hanagaki to reach a simple conclusion.

It was probably not the right conclusion, because Hanagaki shook his head.

"I don't want to take his time away from the people important to him."

"Maybe you are," the reply came quietly, like Matsuno was saying something that couldn't be shared again, "important to him."

"Huh?" Hanagaki shook his head, "No way."

Matsuno stared at him, expression unreadable, and then back forward. "No way, huh?"

"I mean, I guess Baji cares, since we're both Toman, but we're not like... like friends or something."

There was a long silence.

"Chifuyu?" 

"Takemitchy," he called out suddenly.

"W-What's up, Chifuyu?"

"You're weak."

"Urk," Hanagaki winced backwards, because it was true, but he felt like it was a little sudden and uncalled for. He placed his hand over his heart, like he could soothe the pain away with his hand. "W-What about it?"

"And you're stupid. You get tunnel-vision just totally forget about everything else around you. Your memory is shit and your stingy about your puzzles."

Face flushing, Hanagaki spluttered back. "W-What's your deal?" he shouted back, more than embarrassed that Matsuno was laying on him like this. "I'm injured, be nicer to me!" He pouted back.

Tilting his head to the side, Matsuno gave him a wide grin.

"So it's fine," his friend replied back, a lopsided grin on his face, "So whatever you choose, I'll stand with you, even if it's not what Baji-san wants. Takemitchy, for all the dumb and stupid shit you do, I don't think it's wrong."

And even though Hanagaki understood that Matsuno just promised something that sounded really cool, it didn't make sense to him. Why was Matsuno bringing this up now? Why did he have to say such mean things? How could he say something so cool but also make it sound like an insult.

"I don't get it," Hanagaki said, "Chifuyu... you're not making any sense." He took a step forward, eyes worried because a Matsuno who wouldn't take Baji's side didn't sound like Matsuno at all. "Are you okay?"

"Dumbass Takemitchy," Matsuno laughed, and his tone was in stark contrast to his words. Hangaki wasn't sure how to feel about the way he said that. Reaching over, he placed his arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. He took a deep breath and slowly pulled back. He squeezed his shoulder. "You're just," and his grin was blinding, "so fucking stupid."

Laughing at a joke that Hanagaki didn't get, Matsuno sounded like he was flying.

--

"Hey."

Hanagaki's eyes watered. Back to the wall, he wondered if today was finally the day. Baji was going to kill him. He wasn't sure why. Was he slow? Did he breath too loudly? Did Baji need a reason? 

"Your heart. Is it pounding?"

"Y-Yes," Hanagaki replied, weakly.

"Haa?" The way Baji dragged his vowels felt like a threat against his life.

"Y-Yes! It is! Pounding!" Hanagaki shouted back, feeling like his heart knew they were going to die and it was beating it's last bit out before it perished. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't actually want to die.

"Heh," Baji leaned back, a smug smile on his face, "Alright."

And just like that, Baji took Hanagaki's bag and slung it over his shoulder, like he had been every day of the week before this one.

"C'mon," he said, his grin so wide that he looked like he was ready to eclipse the sun, "Let's go."

"R-Right!"

And belatedly, Hanagaki wondered where. Instead of asking, however, he just walked next to Baji, the satisfied grin on his face, and kept his mouth shut. 

Imagine his shock when Matsuno and Hanemiya, with bruised cheeks and black-eyes, met them at the school gates. They both eyed how Baji's hand was around Hanagaki's wrist, and while Hanemiya gave Baji a dirty look, Matsuno gave a deep sigh. In response, Baji threw his head back and grinned so that his teeth shined under the light.

"Good morning, Baji-san!" Matsuno said, his expression morphing into a knowing smile as he turned to the other teen, "Hey, Takemitchy."

Hanemiya stared at Baji for another moment before he turned to the other blond, "Morning, Takemitchy."

"M-Morning," Hanagaki nodded his head at them curtly, but Baji didn't even stop to say anything. Since he kept walking, that nudging fear started to claw inside of Hanagaki and he hastily followed the older boy into their school.

Hanagaki wasn't sure what to make of the situation, and no amount of staring and pleading got him an answer from Matsuno, who gave him a knowing if exasperated smile, like he was looking at a particularly dumb dog.

And Baji remained there until Hanagaki was seated at his desk, and Baji placed his bag on his desk.

"See you at lunch," Baji called over his shoulder before he walked out.

"Y-Yes!" Hanagaki replied back, back ramrod straight until Baji was out the door and down the hall. He gave a long sigh. 

He didn't get it.

"So did you get a bodyguard or a prison guard?" Yamagishi asked, pulling up a chair to sit at Hanagaki's desk.

"Morning, Takemichi," Yamamoto said kindly. Hanagaki tried to smile for him, felt like it shouldn't be so hard, and gave up by dropping his head to his desk.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I really don't know. I mean... he didn't hit me."

The look they shared before they turned to him let him know it sounded as bad as he thought.

"He been carrying your bag in, right? And he's not demanding anything in return?" Sendo asked, and Hanagaki nodded. He scratched the back of his head. "I don't think that he's a bad guy."

"He's not," Hanagaki nodded back, "because he's Mikey-kun's friend."

And Sendo gave him this peculiar look that he wasn't sure how to read.

"...Takemichi, do you think he's doing this because you're Toman?"

"Huh?" 

The bell rang, and the teacher walked in to tell them all to get to their seats. Sendo squeezed Hanagaki's shoulder before he left him, and instead of paying attention to the lecture on rock compositions, Hanagaki was thinking about how his arm throbbed.

Why was everyone asking him that?

--

"Uhm... Baji-kun?"

"What?"

Hanagaki flinched backwards, quailing at the look that Baji sent him, and then took a deep breath. They were waiting outside, while Matsuno and Hanemiya stopped by the convenience store to pick something up, and Baji stood so close to Hanagaki that their arms were brushing against each other. It made Hanagaki extra conscious of how close the older teen was to his sling. He couldn't wait for the sling to come off and life to return to normal.

Before, he would only hang out with Baji, Hanemiya and Matsuno a couple times a week. And even then, it wasn't to the extent that Baji took it, walking him to and from any distance. He supposed that it was good that at the very least Baji waited for him outside of the bathroom and not inside staring at his stall anymore.

"Is... Is there a reason why you've been uh... with me today? And this week? You uh... don't look like you're having a good time." Placing his hand on top of his sling, he spoke clearly, "Is it because of this? It's okay. I'm pretty much all better!"

Baji paused for a minute, eyes boring into the younger man. He took one step closer, then another when Hanagaki took a step back.

Eventually, he had Hanagaki against the wall. Hanagaki's eyebrows climbed up so high on his face they might have fallen off, and his face started to pale. Stupid Hanagaki and his stupid mouth. He cursed himself. An incurable idiot. Everyone else was right. It was like it would literally kill him to keep his mouth shut. 

"Takemitchy," Baji said, expression unreadable as he looked down at the younger teen, "You don't wanna spend time with me?"

"N... No, I... I didn't say that."

And Baji gave him a wide, toothy grin in response. 

"Then, what are you so worried about?" he laughed. "Man, you got all serious for a minute. Thought you were going to say that you didn't want me around."

With his hand on Hanagaki's shoulder, he pulled him away from the wall and tucked him under his arm. It probably looked rough and otherwise friendly, but Hanagaki felt something else entirely. 

"Would... Would that bother you?" Hanagaki asked, incurably curious and absolutely incapable of keeping his mouth shut.

"Yeah, of course it would," Baji frowned back, his eyebrows creasing. 

"Baji-san, Takemitchy," Matsuno called out, stopping Hanagaki from saying anything dumber. "We're ready!"

"What are you guys doing?" Hanemiya asked, eyes narrowing when he saw Baji's arm around Hanagaki's shoulders.

"Waiting on your slow asses," Baji replied back, arm like a chain around Hanagaki's shoulders. "Let's go."

"Where... are we going?" the blond asked.

All three of them turned to level him this stare, and Hanagaki winced back. 

"Sorry, I..." he hesitated, unsure if he could admit that he was so concerned about Baji that he couldn't focus on anything they had said before this, "I forgot."

"The hamburger place," Hanemiya said, "by the station?"

"Oh!" Hanagaki nodded his head, "Right! Yeah, I remember now."

"But are you going to be able to eat?" Matsuno asked, eyeing his arm. "Maybe we should do next time."

"Ah, I can take it out of the sling," Hanagaki replied back. "It doesn't hurt a lot. Just gotta be careful about it."

"It's fine, I'll feed ya," Baji declared.

There was a brief silence. Hanagaki honestly thought that he died.

"...I can feed you too, Takemitchy," Hanemiya said, a smile on his face like Baji wasn't glaring at him. "Since I found the hamburger place, I'll feed you, okay?"

Matsuno frowned, "You guys just enjoy your meal, and I'll take care of Takemitchy."

"I-I can feed myself," Hanagaki said, but it was lost under the sound of Baji's growl.

"Haaa?" he dragged the sound in his mouth, tilting his head as he stepped forward, "What the fuck? Of course I'm going to feed him."

"I can feed myself!" Hanagaki yelled out, louder this time, but no one seemed to hear him. 

--

"Mitsuya-kun!"

Hanagaki must have yelled too loudly, because a sudden silence fell over their group. What had started as an impromptu get-together to eat ramen had exploded into almost all of the upper members of Toman flooding into this ramen stand. Their gazes prickled his skin and he felt uncomfortable, standing suddenly at the center of attention.

Looking a little surprised before giving an easy smile, Mitsuya replied, "What's up, Takemitchy?"

"D-Do you have a minute?" Hanagaki asked, and knowing that he shouldn't talk about this with Baji in earshot, added, "After this. I wanted to ask you something."

"You could ask me, Takemitchy!" Mikey called out from the background, and Draken shoved their leader with a shush.

"Yeah, sure," Mitsuya replied. He tilted his head, mirth shining in his eyes like he wasn't at the receiving end of some scary glares from rest of their group, "Something no one can no about?"

"Sorta," Hanagaki said, and then realizing that the twins might get to him before Baji, quickly added, "I uh...  needed some advice. On school! For," he wracked his brain for anything, "school things!"

Nailed it.

"Let's go," Mitsuya said, standing up and coming closer with a teasing grin, "Must be an important school thing."

And Hanagaki clasped his hands together in prayer because God had blessed him with Mitsuya.

"Mitsuya-kun!" he cheered out, eyes shining as he followed right behind him with a spring in his step. "You're the best!"

In the background, a faint, "What about me, Takemitchy!?! I found you first!" could be heard but a desperate Hanagaki could only pay attention to what was in front of him.

"Yeah? Flattery will get you nowhere," Mitsuya replied back, but his grin was wide as they stepped out into the quieter area in front of the store. "What's up?"

Hanagaki looked up and down the street and took a step closer to Mitsuya. The older boy raised both eyebrows, an endeared smile stretching his lips. Hanagaki leaned closer to him, and Mitsuya was kind enough to lean down so that Hanagaki's secret would wash over his ear. Slowly, he started to whisper behind his hand, hopeful to keep the conversation quiet and between the two of them.

"I uh... I'm asking for a friend," Hanagaki quickly clarified, "but uh... what if there's uh... a guy following a guy around."

"...Someone's following you around?" Mitsuya asked, leaning back. His smile was gone and his gaze turned sharp.

"Huh? No, uh, not like that. And this is about a friend!"

"Right."

"And uh..." Hanagaki tried to explain with his hands, all earlier thoughts of secrecy forgotten, "that guy that's following the friend around is like... holding their books for them and taking them to class and walking them to school and home everyday and stuff."

"Oh, it's Baji?"

"You knew?" Hanagaki whispered back, and promptly forgot that this was for a "friend." "What's going on? Is he okay? What did I do wrong? I don't get it and I don't know how to ask."

Mitsuya stared at Hanagaki. His eyes looked over Hanagaki's features and his shoulders relaxed. A smile came onto his lips and he asked.

"You really don't get it, huh?" he asked.

"Get what?" Hanagaki didn't bother to keep the whine out of his voice. His brain would melt into nothing if he kept using it. Why was it so hard for someone to just tell him what was going on? "What am I supposed to get?"

"Well, it's fine, right? Is he hurting you?" Mitsuya asked, nonchalant even though his gaze felt like they were piercing right through Hanagaki.

"What? No!"

"Then, is it annoying you? Is he scaring you?"

Hanagaki shook his head vehemently, because maybe he did at first, but a lot could happen in ten days, "No, of course not!"

"Do you want it to stop?"

"I... I don't know. I don't mind it but I... I feel like I'm not really doing anything to help him."

"Sounds like you know what you want then, right? Baji's hot-headed, but he'll listen to you if you have something to say."

Hanagaki stared forward and then slowly, nodded. "Okay," he said. "I think I get it now." He looked up and flashed Mitsuya a wide grin, "Thanks, Mitsuya-kun!"

Mitsuya stared at him, opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but instead, closed his mouth and smiled back.

"Yeah," he said. "Anytime."

Hanagaki, feeling like he was a little bit closer to the truth, marched on. He felt like he knew what he had to do now.

--

"Yo. Takemitchy."

Hanagaki lifted his arms up, almost desperately, he yelled back at Baji.

"I'm okay!" he said, "Look! Clean bill! Fully healed! Totally okay!"

"Yeah?" And Baji had this grin on his face, the kind that made Hanagaki feel like he said the wrong thing and he was going to pay the price with his flesh. "Nice. Let's get everyone together for a party."

He took a step back, wondering if it was better to get hit now or run away and get hit twice as hard later. He opened to speak. All the things that he practiced earlier.

"I-I-" Hanagaki flustered, but felt like talking was literally the only thing he would be able to do now, "I-I really uh, appreciate what you did for me. And uh... you don't have to do it anymore!"

"Yeah?" Baji's voice was low. Dangerously so.

"And uh..." Hanagaki gulped loudly, and felt his courage return to him. "I-I'll carry your bag today!"

"Huh?"

Hanagaki stared up at him. He squared his shoulders and extended his hand out. He could feel his face heat, from his ears and down to his neck, and he cleared his throat.

"S-So hand it over!"

Baji stared at him for another moment before a rich laugh started to bubble out of him. He covered his face, and Hanagaki felt the embarrassment start to burn him. He tried to yell out over Baji's laughter.

"I-I could do it!" he yelled out, flustered.

"I know," Baji said, finally calming down. He wiped a stray tear from his eye as he looked over Hanagaki. "I know." Hestared at his bag and then looked at Hanagaki, "Give your bag over," he said.

"N-No, I'm going to carry both our bags today."

Baji's eyebrow twitched, and Hanagaki wished that he would choose a better hill to die on.

"Why?"

"B-Because," Hanagaki's expression scrunched up, "Because I uh..." he thought back to the last few days, "I want to do something for you, too. I feel like you're always helping me, but I want to help you too."

"Yeah?"

"Because," Hanagaki shrugged, it was embarrassing, but he felt like he was on a roll. He couldn't stop now, so he went ahead with what he felt was right. Eyes glued to Baji's feet, he quietly admitted the truth. For all that Baji scared him, Hanagaki wasn't scared of him, "You're important to me." 

A long silence fell between the two of them. Hanagaki, unable to bear the silence anymore, finally looked up at Baji.

And Baji took two steps closer, when Hanagaki took several steps back, he followed him back. His back hit the wall and Baji's hand came up to grabbed the back of his head before it ran against the wall. Baji leaned over him, and his hair formed a curtain as it fell forward.

"Me too," he said. "You're important to me, Takemitchy."

"Uh."

Hanagaki looked up at him, and even though he knew that Baji was bigger than him, it felt different to be so close to him like this. Without meaning to, his gaze dropped to Baji's lips, and he felt parched. Licking his lips, he looked up at Baji.

"A-Are we going to go to school?" he asked quietly.

"C'mon," Baji said, taking a step back and extending a hand out to him. "Let's go."

Hanagaki blinked at him once, and took his hand. Baji's hand, he thought to himself, was bigger than his and a little bit rougher. He had a few callouses, and it was warm, so warm in fact, Hanagaki felt like Baji's warmth was spreading throughout his entire body. 

This time, when Hanagaki felt his heart pound in his chest, he felt like it wasn't fear that drove it, but something else entirely. 

He just hadn't figured out what.