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“Can we just start over, Ko-chan? Just you and me?"
Ryo's teary words played over and over in Kohei's head. He'd tried to play it cool at the time, not to cry in front of his enemies, but it'd been a close one. They had barely spoken since the day at the gym, Ryo had not turned up at school for days and refused his calls - even old man Suzaki had defied him and refused to pass a message to Ryo! It left Kohei...restless. Unsure. Apart from the short time when they'd been at different schools, Ryo had always just been there - Kohei had never questioned his presence.
Tsh. What of it. He didn't need Ryo! He was fine on his own! He was Senomon's Amagai, the one everyone feared and wouldn't dare to cross (well apart from the stupid Oya guys but he didn't want to think about that now). Ryo should be happy to have a friend like him!
Friend. Were they friends, him and Ryo? Suddenly Kohei was reminded of the words of Oya's leader Fujio "Look around you and see the friends fighting by your side" and he'd had many, an unlikely alliance of three unaffiliated schools helping Fujio fight just because they were friends. And what did Kohei have? An army of minions who couldn't tie their shoelaces if he didn't tell them how. And Ryo.
Maybe they had been friends, once - when they were just boys? But surely it was just normal to grow out of it once you were no longer a kid??? Maybe Ryo was right, they should start over - just the two of them. Rebuild and all that. But that would mean Ryo talking to him again which was not happening. What was he expecting Kohei to do, apologise? He hadn't done anything wrong? Well except maybe the knife thing was a little overboard. And maybe kidnapping Oya's Second wasn't smart either considering what it'd cost him but how else was he going to take control and be the one on top? Somehow it didn't feel quite the same without Ryo, they were supposed to be in this together and now Ryo was avoiding him? That was just not fair.
Kohei was going to go over to Ryo's house and make him come back!
With renewed determination Kohei as good as ran the half mile or so to Ryo's place. He would get this sorted once and for all and make Ryo change his mind and come back. Then they could just continue where they left off. And things would be fine again. They'd had to.
He was almost at the corner to the building when he remembered he didn't actually know the door code. Fuck. He'd have to suck it up and call Ryo down to see him and that would just ruin the whole thing cause Ryo would just ignore him as usual and all this would have been for nothing.
Kohei turned the corner ready to force some kid to let him into the building by threatening to beat them up when he saw Ryo walk towards him from across the street. He hadn't spotted him, which was good - he could just wait and say his thing and everything would be like before. But something about Ryo was...different. To be fair, it had been years since he'd spent time with Ryo outside school so he hadn't actually really seen him wearing something other than the blood-red Senomon uniform.
Also what was that in his hair, there were...braids? And it was tied in a ponytail? And he was wearing a tshirt and jeans which made his legs look even longer than they were and showed off his arms really well and...hold on. Where the fuck did these thoughts come from? Sure, he'd always known Ryo to be good looking, he'd seen the way all the girls (and boys) looked at him when they walked past. But he'd never thought of Ryo that way for himself...never realised how fucking beautiful he was.
By now Ryo had made his way to Kohei and had stopped ahead of him, close enough to talk but too far to touch. And Kohei found himself wanting to touch Ryo, put his hand on him and not to beat him up but...something else entirely.
"Okay, you're being weird. Didn't I tell you to stay away? I don't want to see you right now, I need some time to think about stuff."
Ryo did not look happy at all but also he didn't look like he was angry either? So maybe...maybe Kohei had a chance here.
"I...I don't actually know what I'm doing here. I just the stuff you said about us starting over? And like, maybe I've not been very good to you or treated you like a friend is supposed to. But I really don't know what to do when you're not here, I know you said you needed time and stuff but it's been like a week and can you just come back please? I promise I'll be better at things, we could actually really start over - just you and me like you said."
The words came out all in a rush and he couldn't really look at Ryo, there was an unfamiliar fear in the back of his mind that what if Ryo would just turn away and never come back without hearing what he had to say...that couldn't happen so he had to get it all out!
"Okay...I know what I said and I meant it but since when have you been one for all this mushy stuff? Weren't you the one always telling me to suck it up and stop talking about things like that? So what's changed your mind?"
Fuck. Now he was in trouble. How was he going to explain that he was having all these sudden feelings for Ryo and they were kinda messing up with his head but at the same time, he didn't really want those feelings to go away either...
"Ryo-chan..." the childhood nickname felt easy, familiar - good even, despite years of absence.
"No. Suzaki Ryo, please can you forgive one Amagai Kohei for not being a friend to you like you wanted and instead treating you badly and making you hurt in the process? Can you forgive someone who you've always treated like a friend though he's been an idiot and not seen how important you are? And maybe...could you possibly start again with him as friends that could maybe be more than that? Cause I think I've also been stupidly in love with you for a while now and never realised it and would really really like it if we could just start over for real."
Kohei considered kneeling down in front of Ryo to make it clear that he meant everything for real but luckily he didn't have to - Ryo closed the distance between them instead.
"You know, for a leader you can be really dumb sometimes. I've always loved you, ever since we were kids - Ko-chan was my best friend but even when Senomon's Amagai was at his most awful I still loved you. So yeah, if you really want to start over we can."
***
He'd never been this nervous, not even when he started his first gang and fought his first real opponent. He'd always been sure of winning, becoming the one on top. But here, he wasn't so sure. Fujio and Tsukasa stood in front of them, cool and relaxed - you would never believe they'd come here to fight looking at them. Ryo shifted next to him and Kohei remembered why they were here.
"My friend would like to fight you again"