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“So I was thinking about heading out to see that film with Shimazaki. He’s got a pretty sharp sense of humor when you get to know him. Though I don’t think he really fully realizes that he’s funny,” Yuzuru was saying, looking amused as he sipped some grape juice from one of the many vending machines that were nearby.
“Mhm. Yeah,” Shuumei muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. “So like, are you into-into Shimazaki?”
Yuzuru blinked, before holding his hands up with an almost shy, yet still carefree smile. “What? Nah, not me, no. You’ll always be my number one.”
“Weirdo…it’s okay to date someone else, you know?” Shuumei huffed, albeit slightly awkwardly.
“I never said it wasn’t?” Yuzuru let go of his juice box, letting it float in the air, only held up by him biting down on his straw. “Don’t get a big head. I’m not into you like that either.”
“I didn’t say that-!” Shuumei squawked indignantly.
Yuzuru grinned at him lazily, before blinking and taking his phone out of his pocket. “Oh. It’s Shimazaki. Gotta go. You’re visiting Hana soon, aren’t you?” He looked wickedly amused, his lips pressed into a tight line that all but told Shuumei that he was trying not to laugh at him.
“We’re going to be meeting up tomorrow,” Shuumei grumbled, “she said that she had something big to do today and absolutely couldn’t make it but promised to meet up with me tomorrow.”
Yuzuru stared at him with that same damn look on his face, shrugging. “Okay. Let me know how it goes before you blow your brains out, kay?”
“The hell’s that s’posed to mean, dumbass?!” Shuumei all but shrieked, watching in disbelief as Yuzuru simply laughed at him- actually had the gall to laugh at him and his misery of not seeing his precious, angelic Hana-chan for another thirteen hours, forty two minutes, and eleven seconds!
That was like, a year in dog years, wasn’t it? Or whatever?
Aw, to hell with it!
Shuumei grumbled under his breath as he stomped home in annoyance and frustration. He just wanted to see Hana and have Yuzuru stop looking at him like he’s torn between laughing, crying, and banging his head against the wall whenever he talks about her.
What does that bastard know that I don’t..?
He sighed. It was probably him just reacting to Shuumei finally finding someone he loved. After all, before Hana, he’d never felt love for anyone before. Well, except his family and friends, but that was different.
Oh sure, there had been some girls that he’d found cute over the years, but none he’d really fallen for. Besides, he was friends with Hana, and she was the sweetest thing in the world.
…Okay, that was a half lie. Hana wasn’t friends with him- she was friends with Mei.
Still, it counted…right?
“Man…this sucks…” Shuumei mumbled, feeling a bit gloomy now.
Though…she said that…I mattered to her…she told Mei that…and she can’t bear to see me in trouble.
A small blush crossed his face, and a gentle smile made its way there as well. Hana was too perfect for words.
However, his good mood vanished when he heard a commotion from an alley nearby. He blinked, looking up as his smile and blush faded fast. It sounded like…a fight? Or…no, a beat-down.
Well, damn. He wasn’t going to interfere. It would just worry Hana. Besides, if it was between other delinquents, then it was probably personal. He fully intended on walking by the alley, facing forward and not bothering to look at the idiot who picked a fight and couldn’t win, but a curious sense of foreboding hit his gut full force, and a small voice choked out a soft, desperate “help…” hit his ears.
It…sounded eerily similar to Hana.
He whipped his head around, but didn’t see any blonde hair anywhere.
Instead, he saw a familiar gloomy otaku with unkempt black hair on the ground curled up, his arm around his midsection. He coughed, his body shaking so hard that even from this distance, Shuumei could see it. It was almost as though his whole body was just vibrating. Like he was getting electrocuted.
The part that absolutely despised the guy- his guttural instinct, wanted to revolt and continue walking. But…his conscious could never allow someone to just get picked on. Especially because he knew damn well that Hanae kept to himself and didn’t go around picking fights. In fact, even when Shuumei spoke to him, when he’s yet to ever lay a hand on him, he looked downright terrified to the point of actual tears.
And…well…
He…isn’t that bad, really…
He remembered when Hanae had lent him his umbrella despite the rain pouring on him, making him look like a wet cat. He remembered how he helped him look for the hairpin that Hana had given him. He remembered…
How his face looks way too much like Hana’s and now he can’t stop imagining Hana in his place.
Sighing in annoyance, Shuumei walked towards where the three delinquents were kicking him.
“C’mon, buddy! All we want is to share!” One of them cackled, holding his bag up and digging through it. “Ha? The hell’s this? You play with girly toys?” He held up some plushie of some anime merch.
“S-stop..!” Hanae begged, pushing himself up onto his hands.
One of the delinquents delivered a swift kick to his face, causing him to fall back to the ground. The third pressed his foot onto Hanae’s ribs.
“Who the hell d’you think you are, talking to us like that?” He sneered.
The guy who held the weird plushie gripped the plushie’s head and the feet of the tiny body and he began to pull. “Let’s see how easy this tears.”
“S-stop..! Stop it! That was a limited editi-!” Hanae began to shout hoarsely.
The one who had kicked his face moved to step on Hanae’s neck. “Shut the hell up. If you don’t-”
They never got to finish their threat. Shuumei had sped up and kicked the guy stepping on Hanae’s neck off of him. He was the most dangerous. That was his neck, for gods sake. One wrong move and Hanae would…
“Who the hell are you?!” The third guy pulled back. Shuumei spun towards him and delivered a mighty punch, causing blood to gush from the guy’s nose and a tooth to pop loose.
He spun towards the guy holding the visibly tearing plushie. He paled a bit.
“S-Satogiri..! I didn’t know this emo was your friend!” He dropped the plushie into the mud, letting it bounce a meter or two away.
“You assholes make me sick,” Shuumei seethed, “picking on innocent people minding their own business, and ganging up on him? Scum like you don’t deserve to live.”
“H-hey, no harm done! He’s fine!” The plushie torturer insisted.
“He’s bleeding,” Shuumei spat, “and you will be too.”
“Wh-”
Before he could finish, Shuumei lurched forward and punched him in the gut, before kneeing him in the face roughly when he keeled over.
The three guys got up, looking terrified. Shuumei shot them a vicious glare, and they all three ran away as fast as they could. One of them was screaming.
Wusses. Can’t even fight me on my own when there’s three of them…
“Tch…how pathetic,” Shuumei muttered, before glancing over and spotting Hanae sitting up, propped up against the wall and shaking, his eyes squeezed shut as he hugged himself, tears streaming down his face.
It was a pathetic sight. He’d done his job and gotten rid of those assholes. Shuumei should just leave.
But…for some reason, he just…couldn’t.
Was it because he saw Hana’s face in him..? That had to be it.
Sighing, Shuumei looked to the side, taking a few steps forward and picking up the dirtied, torn plushie. He walked towards Hanae and knelt down in front of him, holding the plushie out to him with one hand.
“Hey. This is yours, isn’t it?”
Slowly, Hanae opened his eyes. Instantly, those gray-green eyes that were filled with terror dropped to complete despair. The small trickles of tears that were dripping down his face sped up and got larger. His mouth opened, then shut.
Shuumei felt a tiny prickle of annoyance for his lack of response, but…that face…
He sighed. “Look. How about I hold onto this. I’ll give it to my brother and let him clean it and fix it. I’ll bring it back to you on Monday.”
Hanae’s eyes went huge.
“...You’d…do that..?” He asked, his voice barely over a whisper.
“It’s important to you, isn’t it? Don’t think this means I give a shit about you or whatever! You paid for it, so it’s yours. It’s fucked that someone tore it. That’s all,” Shuumei glared at him.
It has nothing to do with the fact that my heart’s racing near you and I’m getting uneasy seeing you cry.
“So stop crying, dammit..!” He said out loud, causing Hanae to jump and flinch. He then winced and hissed in pain, his eyebrows scrunching.
Oh, right…his injuries…
Shuumei shoved the plushie in his pocket and gently grabbed Hanae’s face, tilting his head up to look him over.
He had a black eye, his lip was split, and he had bruises littering his face. No doubt he’d have bruises covering his torso as well too.
“...Can you walk?”
“H-huh? Oh…um…yeah…” Hanae mumbled.
“Then stand up. I’ll walk you home.” Shuumei stood up, watching as Hanae slowly started to get to his feet. He winced, and clutched his ribs, sinking back down.
“...Sorry,” Hanae muttered, “just…go home. You’re doing enough just fixing my new Yumeko merch…I’ll make it back home.”
The ‘probably’ went unsaid, but Shuumei definitely heard it.
And oh, it would have been so easy to do what Hanae said. To walk away and give his brother this cringey plushie and ask him to fix it. To text Hana and complain about his day.
But…annoyingly enough…he truly couldn’t bring himself to do that.
He sighed heavily and stepped forward. Without so much as a grunt, he swooped Hanae up into his arms in a princess carry.
Huh. He’s surprisingly light.
“What’s your address? You can point the way to me,” Shuumei said.
Hanae’s eyes practically popped out of their skull and his jaw fell open. It was almost…cute.
N-not that it’s cuter than Hana! Stupid Hanae, get that look off your face!
“I- I don’t need you to carry me..!” Hanae protested.
“Ah, shaddup before I throw you and your plush in the garbage!” Shuumei snapped. He wouldn’t do that to Hanae while he was hurt, but it quickly shut Hanae up anyway.
Good, he thought angrily, let him take responsibility for whatever the hell I’m feeling right now. Stupid, emo otaku! His cute face pisses me the hell off!!
He didn’t dare think about how he’d called Hanae’s gloomy face cute in his mind. Nope. Not going there at all.
“Hello? Hanae? Address? Sometime today, maybe?” Shuumei drawled loudly.
“O-oh…um…it’s…” Hanae mumbled out his address to him. Thankfully, Shuumei actually knew that area and began walking to it briskly, Hanae’s bag slung over his shoulder and Hanae himself in his arms.
It wasn’t a terribly long walk, really. It was maybe only ten minutes. But those ten minutes of silence felt like an eternity to Shuumei, who could feel Hanae’s eyes on him the whole time, staring at him with a look he just couldn’t decipher.
When he reached Hanae’s quaint little home, he set him down in front of his house and stepped back.
“...I’ll bring the plush to you on Monday,” Shuumei muttered, “so just rest up over the weekend.”
Hanae didn’t say anything, only staring at him with his wide eyes.
Jeez…weirdo…
Shuumei sighed and turned around, walking away from him. He couldn’t wait to text Hana and relax.
He’d only taken maybe five steps, when a cold hand grabbed his wrist. He turned in surprise, blinking as Hanae continued to stare at him.
“...Thank you, Satogiri.” Hanae said in a soft tone, the wind blowing gently and making him look almost…
Nope. Not. Going. There.
“...Whatever. Just get some rest. Ice’ll help the swelling,” Shuumei grumbled, gingerly pulling his wrist free and walking away.
He really wanted to talk to Hana. She’ll cleanse his mind of these weird thoughts in his mind around Hanae.
When he was out of sight of Hanae’s home, Shuumei began to run.
_____
“Haaa?! Who the hell beats up a cute girl?!” Shuumei, dressed as Mei, shouted, slamming his hands down as Hana stood in front of him. She had a black eye she tried to hide with makeup, and a split lip. He didn’t doubt there might be more under her makeup, but he couldn’t see any. She was probably too good with the foundation.
“It was scary…” Hana mumbled, looking down, tears pricking her eyes. “Th-the worst of it wasn’t me getting hurt, though. My friend got hurt too…”
Hana…you’re too sweet..! Worrying about others above yourself..! I’ll take care of you!
“Give me their names and faces. Now. I’ll make sure they swallow their own feces,” Shuumei said flatly, cracking his knuckles. “How bad was your friend hurt?”
“She’s…gotten cleaned up by now and is in surgery…” Hana whispered, looking absolutely devastated. “She was…practically torn apart. I wish it had been me instead!”
Shuumei’s heart shattered.
He stepped forward, grasping onto Hana’s hands. “No! I’m glad it wasn’t you! It’s awful about your friend, but if you’d gotten that hurt…I don’t know how I’d live with myself knowing you got hurt and I couldn’t protect you…”
Hana stared at him with wide eyes, her jaw dropping a bit as a tiny blush spread across her cheeks.
“Mei-chan…you’re really the best…” Hana said softly.
And if at that moment, Hana made Shuumei think about how Hanae had similar injuries and had the same soft tone…well…it made everything become clear.
The same assholes who hurt Hanae probably went after Hana afterwards..! I’ll kill them!!
He silently vowed to track them down again when he and Hana separated for the evening.