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"A little birdy told me that you're dating South."
Hanagaki thought his heart was going to stop when the bathroom was kicked open and Hanma walked in. Crying quietly to himself, he quickly tried to zip himself up and hide in a stall. Maybe he wouldn't see him.
"C'mon Takemitchy," he was smiling, but there was something unrestrained and dangerous about it that made Hanagaki want to scurry away.
But he also wanted to wash his hands.
"C-Can this wait?" he asked. His bladder wasn't fully empty either, and he would really prefer it if he didn't empty it on himself, while he was in the bathroom.
"You're dating South?" Hanma asked, but it did not sound like a question from him.
"D-Does this matter? This can wait, can't it?"
Hanma tipped his head to the side, a mocking attempt to look contemplative. There was a time in Hanagaki's life where he, in theory, out-ranked Hanma and could boss him around. He never did, of course, Hanma was not the type to listen, and Hanagaki didn't want confirmation that Hanma wouldn't listen.
It was a strange to remember, when he was struggling to buckle his pants up and trying not to cry when Hanma stepped closer to him. He looked as bored and nonchalant as ever, and somehow, that scared Hanagaki even more. Shuffling backwards a little, Hanagaki wished that he could have died in a place with a little bit more dignity.
With his back pressed against the wall (it was sticky and gross), cold sweat breaking out profusely from his brow and neck, Hanma stepped closer still. His hands came, and Hanagaki flinched when cold fingers grabbed his hands.
Slowly, easily, Hanma grabbed Hanagaki's belt, and the younger man barely suppressed a whimper. Was he going to take it and beat him with it? To death? In the bathroom? With his unwashed hands?
"You had your pick of the litter. So why South?" he asked.
"Uh?" Hanagaki's brain was working double-time. Why did people need answers when they were going to execute him anyways? "W-What do you mean?"
Belt now buckled, Hanma's hands came to zip his pants up. It was a terrifying experience that lodged Hanagaki's heart into his throat.
"Just that," Hanma said, his face dangerously close to his. Without any expression on his face, it didn't feel like Hanma at all. "If you wanted a guy that can snap you in half, tower over you, and beat you to death, you just needed to ask, you know?" He slammed his fist next to Hanagaki's head, and the tile shattered immediately. It fell in a few pieces, and Hanagaki, who had taken a hit from Hanma once, sympathized with the bathroom tile. For as thin as he was, Hanma packed a nasty punch.
"H-Hanma-kun?" he tried again.
"Ah, don't you know how upset Kisaki is? He's like inconsolable."
Fear flushed out of Hanagaki immediately. "Tetta?" he asked, just for confirmation, and didn't understand why Hanma was staring at him like that. "Why's he upset?" he asked. "Is he okay? South-kun told me he wasn't going to expand out towards him. Is someone else coming in?"
It would explain why Hanma was so upset. If he thought that Hanagaki was teaming up with South and going on a hunt for former Toman members, then he understood why he was so upset. Suddenly, there was something else to this and Hanagaki felt the fear ebb away and something else take his heart.
Hanma stared at him for a moment longer and gave a long sigh. His other hand came up to ruffled his hair.
"W-Whoa? What are you-"
"You know, that stupid-brave act gets pretty dull," Hanma said, his usual smile absent and briefly, Hanagaki wondered if maybe this was just a different guy who looked like Hanma but wasn't him. Just as suddenly as he came, he turned on his heel and walked out of the bathroom.
Hanagaki blinked at him, the broken tile on the ground, and wondered if it was safe to finish using the bathroom. He'd have to call South.
Before other unsavory rumors began, he needed to be the ones to tell his friends. He was, from before to the day he died, Toman.
--
"You're dating South."
"Y-yes."
The normal diner they went to was packed with former Toman members. The owner winced when he saw them, and Hanagaki wondered if they made a strong impression.
"But uh," Hanagaki cleared his throat. "I'm not, I'm not expecting anything from you guys or anything. I just wanted you guys to hear it from me."
"Are you going to join Rokuhara?" Izana asked, eyes lit with an eagerness Hanagaki didn't know how to pinpoint..
Hanagaki quickly, frantically shook his head, "No way. I would just die. I'm not-" he took a deep breath, "I am and always will be a member of Tokyo Manji."
"You're just going to date their boss?" Mitsuya asked.
Hanagaki, upon hearing the word "date," felt his face burn. He gave a small smile, and rubbed the back of his head.
"Uh... yeah," he said. "But uhm, it shouldn't bother you guys or anything-"
But before he could say anything, Hanemiya's head dropped to the table with a loud 'thunk.'
And Hanagaki, who figured that his friends were upset that he was a dude who looked at other dudes like that, pursed his lips. He had hoped that they would be okay with this, but he guessed that this was a little heavy to suddenly drop.
"I-I'm sorry," he said, because he felt the weight of his actions were hurting them in ways he had never imagined possible. "I ... uh... I uh won't bother you guys about it or hang out with you guys if you're uncomfortable with it. I-I guess it's a lot to sudden drop. And uh, South already promised me that he won't involve former Toman members either, so you guys don't have to worry about that-"
Draken's fist slammed on the table and Hanagaki bit his tongue in an effort to close his mouth as fast as physically possible. He pursed his lips, bracing himself for the yelling, but there was no sound.
Slowly, he looked around at the quiet, almost solemn way everyone sat around them. The look on Draken's face was something he only saw after someone was carted into the hospital. Did Hanagaki overlap someone else's news with his dating update?
"Takemitchy," Mikey spoke at at last, a sad smile on his face that didn't suit him. "We can still keep hanging out, right?"
"Of course!" he blurted out, but then remembered that the others might not like that, "Uh... if you want to. But uh, don't worry. Even if I'm gay, I am absolutely not interested in anyone other than uh..." his cheeks darkened a little, "South-kun." He cleared his throat, and barreled on, "so you don't have to worry about me uh... gay-ing the place up or something."
Mitsuya spoke frankly.
"Takemichi, why South?"
Hanagaki's turned a cherry red, his eyes shining at just the mention of the older boy, gave them a helpless smile.
"Uh..." he hesitated, and then gave a little giggle, "It just happened?"
His friends' faces were unreadable. He cleared his throat and quickly told himself to snap out of it.
"I promise you guys, I never, ever thought of any of you guys like that. It really is just South-kun that I uh..." his cheeks darkened, "that I uh... really like."
"Great," Baji deadpanned.
But Hanagaki didn't know how to make the situation any better.
--
The first date ended with Hanagaki's left arm broken. Sendo was quiet, eyebrows pinched together and went out of his way to grab his bag whenever they were going somewhere together. Their other idiots were there too, more than prepared to say hello and play games on Hanagaki's hospital bed, the same way they always did.
Still, if Sendo had a choice, he would always rather they do it anywhere other than Hanagaki's hospital room. The only thing good that came out of Toman's disbandment was supposed to be that they didn't have to come here so often anymore.
"Takemichi," he said quietly, underneath the sound of Suzuki and Yamagishi bickering about who just cheated and Yamamoto quietly taking the earnings while they were distracted, "Are you sure?"
And even though Hanagaki was nervous, especially after the yelling, cursing storm Baji left his hospital room (dragged out by Draken and Mitsuya), he still met Sendo's gaze evenly.
"Yeah?" he replied, like he didn't understand why Sendo would ask this question.
He wanted to hit Hanagaki, grab him and shake him hard, find him a mirror so that he'd see the same person he did. If he did, would Hanagaki understand why he was so worried? The rumors of Legendary Toman's former Deputy President Hanagaki Takemichi being caught up in a fight was ringing all over Kanto. Coming after Hanagaki was definitely a power move. The fact that he was involved with Rokuhara's Unrivaled South was even worse.
Sendo just wished it wasn't Hanagaki. Hanagaki, who would only fight if someone else's life was on the line, who had the audacity to still looked surprised when someone came to visit, didn't deserve this.
"I'll see this through with you," Sendo told him. "Just give me a call before you get tossed into the hospital, okay?"
"I-I didn't want to end up here," Hanagaki spluttered back, but it was clear to Sendo that his words still didn't reach him.
So Sendo dug his fingernails into his palm and endured this awful feeling clawing the inside of his throat.
"I'm just saying," Sendo said, a little harder, a little louder than he meant to. "We're friends."
Hanagaki's smile, after the cold sweat Sendo felt when he heard that he was dating South, when he heard that they got jumped while getting ice cream, when he came to the hospital and saw Kakucho sitting in the hospital waiting room with a cold expression on his face, failed to bring him any level of comfort.
"Thanks, Akkun!"
--
"Uh," Hanagaki hesitated, and then pursed his lips. He took a deep breath and summoned his courage. "K-Kazutora-kun," he said.
Hanemiya, sitting on Hanagaki's left, gave a quiet, "Hm?"
"Baji-kun," Hanagaki tried, where Baji was sitting on his right.
"What?"
Hanagaki licked his lips, like he knew he was about to jump into a fire but took a deep breath and dove right in. It was what Matsuno respected so much about it. It was what Matsuno was most scared about.
"A-aren't you guys a little close?"
Baji, who was sitting until Hanagaki was pretty much squished against Hanemiya, arched an eyebrow at him. Their legs and sides were flust against each other, and Hanemiya liked to hook his leg around Hanagaki's leg, as though ready to pin Hanagaki down and snap his legs in a moment's notice.
Hanemiya leaned his head down and onto Hanagaki's shoulder.
"I missed you," he said quietly.
Like always, Hanagaki folded like a wet napkin. He sighed deeply, and then took a spoonful of his ice cream.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied, clearly not believing him but too endeared to fight it. "Here, have some more ice cream."
"I'll feed ya," Baji replied on the other side of Hanagaki, "You should be resting your arm."
"I'm fine," Hanagaki replied, "It's not the first time I broke it. I promise you, I can eat my own ice cream-"
The look on Baji's face stopped his sentence. Instead, he opened his mouth and Baji fed him.
"It's delicious," he said, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Yeah?" Baji said.
Matsuno covered his face and cursed the retarded way a teenage boy develops their emotions. Next to him, Sato slurped his milkshake loudly, eyes unblinking as he stared at the scene in front of him. Under the table, however, he could see how tightly his hands were gripped into fists. Matsuno didn't blame them. They've all wanted to see South's blood paint the town.
"Then break up with South. And we can do this more often," Baji told him.
"Without you in the cast," Hanemiya added.
And at that, Hanagaki gave pause. He looked vulnerable and weak, caught in Hanemiya's octopus-like hold, swimming in what was probably Hakkai's jacket and shoved into the cushy boothseat sandwiched by teens on the cusp of adulthood. With his arm in a cast, a bit of smudged chocolate next to his lip, Hanagaki looked the opposite of the terrifying rumors that followed him.
But there was something about the way that he met Baji's gaze. Certain only in these moments, and he spoke simply.
"South-kun is good to me," he said.
And that was it.
Baji's hand balled into a tight fist, as though the parfait he ordered was actually expired, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that it looked painful.
"I still think we should beat the shit out of him," Hanemiya pitched in.
"Don't," Hanagaki said, "Geez, you guys are so hostile. You guys haven't even met."
"Are you going to introduce us?" Matsuno asked.
"Huh?" Hanagaki blinked, "Really?" he said. His face brightened a little, "You want to meet him?"
The inkling feeling that he was stepping on Hanagaki's joy pinched his heart.
"He's a little shy," Hanagaki said, and Baji choked, "but I'll try to set that up."
"Shy, huh?"
"Yeah," and Hanagaki's cheeks darkened a little. Absolutely glowing, he gave them a wide grin, "He's pretty cute."
And the only reason why they hadn't started a war, a bloodbath, a massacre, was because of that look on his face.
--
The second date ended with Hanagaki fracturing two ribs, among other injuries.
"Takemitchy! There are better ways for us to hang out, you know?"
"Takemitchy, we came as fast as we could when we heard you woke up. Are you okay?"
Angry and Smiley came in a flurry of carefully concealed concern and rage. Behind them, Hayashida and Hayashi came with manga and snacks, not doing much better.
"Ah, I can't eat anything now," Hanagaki told them, his eyes spelling out his longing for the potato chips in Hayashi's hands. "It messed up my ..." he tried to remember the organ, and instead made a vague motion to his side, "...something. Well, anyways, the Doc said I can only have water and drinks right now." He stared at the potato chips, "Can you save it for me when I get out?"
"Takemitchy, I'll buy you enough snacks until we make you the next Pah-chin," Smiley said, bright grin on his face, "So stop ending up in the hospital, okay?"
"Lay off," Hayashida muttered. "Yumi said it's just fine."
Hanagaki made an affronted noise, before he spluttered. "I'm not here because I want to," he said, drowning out the muttering from his other friend.
"Coulda fooled me," Smiley retorted, too sharp to be friendly, and Angry nudged him a little.
There was a brief second and Hayashi spoke again, "Takemichi," he said, reaching over and taking his hand, "You know we're here for you, right? Whatever you want, need, whatever, you can talk to us."
"I know," Hanagaki nodded his head slowly, like he had no idea why they were bringing it back up. And when he caught the way they were looking at him, waved his hands in front of him, "I-I know it looks bad, but I promise I have it under control."
A longer silence filled the space between them.
"This is "under control"?" Hayashida asked.
Hanagaki rubbed the back of his neck, "Haha," he laughed weakly. "I guess it looks pretty bad, doesn't it?" He slowly leaned back against the pillows, wincing a little but fighting through it. He didn't seem to notice how his friends jerked when his hand came up to his side. "Really, it was just bad timing. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
And when they walked out of the hospital, Smiley turned to Hayashida.
"Nothing?" he asked. "Mikey... just said nothing?"
Hayashida shook his head, and a rare, frustrated sigh came from Smiley before he stalked off.
--
"... Is this about Hakkai's birthday?" he whispered out.
Sitting in his high school uniform, Hanagaki looked as uncomfortable as ever as he shifted on sleek leather seat that looked more expensive than anything he could afford in a lifetime.
"You can talk normally," Taiju replied, "It's my restaurant. We're planning on opening in a few days. There should be no other customers except us."
"Oh god, why did you bring me then?" Hanagaki hissed back. "Why not Yuzuha-chan? Hakkai-kun? Mitsuya-kun? Or all of them like usual? Why is it just us?"
"Why do you think?" Taiju replied back.
Hanagaki seemed to pause at that, and then groaned, "Look, just because I'm apart of the going-home committee doesn't mean I'm not a busy guy."
Taijju arched an eyebrow at him, and Hanagaki covered his face to avoid making eye contact with him.
"I'm just saying. I got things I have to be doing, too."
"Like seeing South?"
Hanagaki blinked back at him, startled. He stared at Taiju, and Taiju's gaze locked with his.
"He's dangerous."
"You are too."
"Not to you."
This time, Hanagaki's jaw dropped and the appetizer arrived. Normally, when Taiju brought Hanagaki out to eat at one of his restaurants (and normally meant that Hakkai begged and pleaded Hanagaki to come with them), this was the part where Hanagaki forgot all about the fact that he was an uncultured peasant eating at a place he'd never be able to afford so that he could stuff his face. The food was no less mouth-watering delectable, the aroma tickling his nose and making his stomach gurgle, but Hanagaki could not pull his eyes from Taiju, who took a drink of his water.
"Eat," Taiju said. It was as much of an order as ever.
"...Taiju, did something happen?" Hanagaki asked quietly. keeping his focus on the older teen. "I uh... don't know if I'll be any help, but I-"
"Are you going to break up with South?" he asked.
"No."
"Then just eat."
Hanagaki frowned.
"Do you guys know each other?" he prodded.
"No," Taiju replied, starting to dig in himself. He stabbed one and moved it to Hanagaki's plate without dripping the sauce anywhere but the plate. "Oysters. You'll like them."
It was sort of a threat, the way Taiju told him that he will enjoy the food, that he will eat well, that he'll come and entertain Taiju at this dinner where Hanagaki watched a shark swim past him.
Slowly, he did as he was told. His eyebrows hiked up his face as the food touched his tongue. He had just enough sense to chew and swallow before he turned to Taiju.
"Wow!" he said, "It's delicious!"
Taiju's grin was wide, pride and smug just another suit that was tailored to him.
Eventually, Hanagaki asked his next question. "So, if you don't know South, are you just worried about me?" he asked.
Taiju's eyebrow twitched, a vein appearing as his face fell and Hanagaki winced. Hopefully, this wouldn't lead to him getting tossed back to the hospital.
"Right," he said, answer his own question, "Well uh, it shouldn't bother your reputation. And I think it's been enough time that it won't reflect on Toman either. And besides, South's a good guy. He rough around the edges, but he's not a bad guy."
He gave him a lopsided grin.
"So you don't have to worry, Taiju-kun."
Taiju was silent as he ate. He swallowed, took a sip of water, and then spoke.
"Don't be stupid. I just didn't want to deal with Hakkai moping anymore."
Hanagaki winced, but he supposed that made more sense. And then he really thought about it. The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. A frown stretched his lips.
"Why?" Hanagaki frowned, looking at Taiju. "Is Yuzuha sick or something?" He didn't hear anything about a fight, and he felt like someone would have told him by now if Yuzuha was injured in any sense.
"No," Taiju replied, taking another one of the oysters from his dish and onto Hanagaki's.
"...Then, is Mitsuya sick?" Hanagaki asked, not touching the delicious food until he got an answer.
"No."
He frowned, and wished that Taiju would stop jerking him around. "Can you just get to the point already then?"
"He's worried about you," Taiju said, like he was independent of the same worries.
Hanagaki rolled his eyes at that.
"You're so funny, Taiju-kun. I didn't think that opening restaurants would help your sense of humor." Taking another oyster from Taiju's plate and stuffing it into his mouth. "Hakkai's not really a worry-wart." He took a moment to hum, "This is so good!"
And missed the long, suffering sigh Taiju gave in reply, covering his face with one of his hands.
--
Mitsuya took one look at Hanagaki's face before his hand came up and pinched the bruised cheek in front of him.
"O-Ouch!" Hanagaki squawked as he flinched. "W-Wha?" His eyes, predictably, welled with tears and Mitsuya had no idea how someone could withstand Kakucho's punch, punch after punch, still cried so easily when a bruise was touched. "M-Mitsuya-kun?"
Mitsuya tried to get a smile on his face. He tried to find the joy in his heart, the same kind of joy that he always felt when he saw Hanagaki, and instead, could only focus on the swelling mess on Hanagaki's face.
"T-that hurts, you know?" he said, a hand over the bruise.
"What happened?" he asked, and failed to keep his tone light.
As a result, Hanagaki paused a little, and then looked at Mitsuya, all liquid concern even though Mitsuya hadn't been in a fight since he took off his Toman uniform. The callouses on his hands were from fabric and sowing, and the blisters on his knuckles had long-since healed.
"Uh, this?" Hanagaki pointed at his face, "I uh..." he hesitated, and then shrugged, "tripped?"
Mitsuya stared at him, and wondered when Hanagaki thought that he was a convincing liar, when Hanagaki started to lie to him, and then gave a long sigh.
He grabbed the back of Hanagaki's neck.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way..."
The threat was there, not one that Mitsuya would ever follow through, but it was a good check for him. Would Hanagaki let himself be pushed around like they frequently did to him or was this-
"I-It's not that big of an issue. It just looks that bad. I-I promise!"
-this.
The worst of Mitsuya's suspicions were confirmed. If Hanagaki didn't want to say it, then it was something he was going to put his life on the line for. It annoyed him to no end, when Hanagaki acted like Mitsuya wouldn't put his life down for the same things Hanagaki would, when he never failed to do it for him. Hanagaki, who came to his fashion shows and cheered so loudly that his face flushed with embarrassment, was the same Hanagaki that would run to Mitsuya's side no matter the odds.
"Did South do it?" he asked, voice cold.
"Huh?" Hanagaki blinked, and then shook his head, "Oh, no, no, no! South-kun's," and his face started to darken a little more, his gaze turning gentle in a way that made Mitsuya's stomach churn, "South-kun didn't do it."
Mitsuya squinted at him.
"It was uh... something else," Hanagaki said. "Just... people don't like South-kun, you know?"
Yeah, Mitsuya's name should be at the top of the list.
"Did you take the hit for him?"
Hanagaki shrugged back, "I-I mean, not really. To be honest, I don't think that it would have hurt him if they had made contact."
"Yeah? And you still jumped in?" As he said it, he knew the truth.
"Well, yeah?" Hanagaki replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I just... don't want to lose anyone again. If I can do it, and make a difference, isn't that worth the risk?"
Hanagaki's words ran true. Hanagaki's words, as they always did, rang inside of Mitsuya. He knew, and he followed Hanagaki, battle after battle, with worry and determination because there was something so magnetic about someone who would put his life on the line for something important to him. Mitsuya always respected that about Hanagaki. A whole lifetime with him made the world so easy to digest and understand. If Hanagaki was going to put his life on the line for it, then Mitsuya would too. If it was Hanagaki, there was a good reason for it. If it was Hanagaki, he just wanted everyone to be happy.
But in moments like this, it left Mitsuya wondering where he was supposed to send all of this unbridled anger towards when Hanagaki's swelling face shined at the mention of South.
"You know, you can ask me for anything," he said, reminded him, and wondered why Hanagaki was so stupid that he always seemed to forget this.
"I know," Hanagaki nodded his head, and with that much certainty, Mitsuya lost his footing. "Mitsuya-kun is reliable and strong! Trust-worthy with a good head on his shoulders."
It boiled under his skin, and made him feel like he wasn't living up to the expectation that Hanagaki had of him.
"... Takemitchy," Mitsuya started, just barely managing to reign his temper in, "You want some meat buns?"
"Oh? Are you paying?"
"You shitty mooch," Mitsuya retorted back, but didn't deny him. Motioning at the stand, the two made their ways over and not for the first time, Mitsuya wished for a fairy tale.
--
"Does South say anything about your choice of attire?"
Hanagaki winced. "Hello, Ran-kun, Rindo-kun."
"Hi," Rindo waved at him while Ran sauntered to the other side of Hanagaki.
In an instant, he was surrounded with no way to run.
"Well?" Ran prodded, eyeing Hanagaki's simple t-shirt with the words "sweater" written on it.
"I uh," Hanagaki cleared his throat, "I don't think so? He's never said anything at least."
"Hm," Ran tilted his head, "He's the wild type, isn't he?"
"I can be wild, too," Rindo mumbled, but Hanagaki was more focused on answering Ran's question.
"I guess? He usually just plays the piano."
"Piano?"
The two of them paused, and Hanagaki nodded.
"I don't really know anything about piano," he admitted, "but South-kun plays a lot. It's nice to listen to."
Ran's expression was cold, "Is it?"
"Y-yeah," feeling like he had overstepped his boundary, Hanagaki cleared his throat and inched away from the arm around his shoulders. "I uh... I should go-"
"But we haven't hung out in a while," Rindo said, his arm snaking around his waist. "C'mon, you don't have the excuse that you're going to some Deputy President work."
"Ah... haha..."
Ran's smile was not calming or soothing, despite how polite it might look. Hanagaki had been fooled by it, many, many times. Just to prove his point, he tapped Hanagaki on the swollen bruise on his cheek. His smile widened when he saw Hanagaki wince.
"This way," he said, taking Hanagaki straight to their bikes for another Roppongi shopping spree. "Don't worry, it's on us."
"That... doesn't make me feel better."
"Alright, you'll pay it back for every hour you spend with us," Rindo replied.
"That doesn't sound any better." Hanagaki pursed his lips and then cautiously said, "You guys should be saving for the future."
Ran and Rindo laughed outright at that, both of them taking turns reaching over to ruffle his hair before getting on their bikes.
"Takemitchy," Ran's voice was immediately drowned out when their bikes roared to life.
"What? S-Sorry, I didn't hear you," Hanagaki yelled over the bike.
But Ran wouldn't repeat his desperate and un-Ranlike sentiment, the same way Rindo didn't even bother with his.
"Well, if we don't dress you, you'll definitely be single in a week," Ran declared.
"Don't worry," Rindo yelled out, "We'll take good care of you until you're old and balding."
"I'll bald after you!" Hanagaki shouted back, holding his hand to his hair defensively.
Rindo snorted, and uncaring if Hanagaki was holding onto his bike or not, shot forward. As expected, the former Deputy President of a motorcycle gang did nothing but cheer loudly when his bike ripped through the street.
--
The fourth date ended with a new gunshot wound in his chest.
Draken stood outside of the hospital room. He didn't understand it. What was he doing? Why was he here? How did he get here?
He didn't know. He stood there felt the world spin underneath his feet, and could not find an answer.
"A gunshot, Takemitchy! This isn't a fucking joke!"
Hanagaki winced backwards, and Draken, who thought that he was wincing because it hurt, clicked his jaw shut like he had been the one burned instead. All the muscles in his neck jumped, and Hanagaki curled up a little more. He couldn't apologize, but he couldn't keep going either.
"What..." and it was exhausting. Draken felt like he was put under a test that he had no idea what the criteria was, but it was dangling Hanagaki's life in front of him with sadistic glee. "What happened?"
Mikey and Izana were silent, staring at Hanagaki with unblinking eyes, and the teenager gave a weak shrug.
"Uh, we were on a date," Hanagaki said, his cheeks coloring just the slightest bit, and it felt so inappropriate that he could give that small smile then and there, but Hanagaki at least seemed to quickly remember the other sin the room. "And uh, South-kun sorta... has people that don't really like him. And one of them came to the place and opened fire."
"I wouldn't have missed," Izana muttered darkly under his breath.
"But it's all okay," Hanagaki said, "The doctor said it missed anything vital and it was just a graze anyways-"
"But why were you shot instead of him?" Draken asked, his voice coming out raw and unlike himself.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
There was another pause as Hanagaki tilted his head, like he didn't understand the question.
"If they came for South, why were you shot?" Izana asked, deceivingly calm.
Hanagaki blinked and then nodded his head, "I sorta... got in the way?" he asked, like they didn't know, and the entire streets were packed with rumors that Toman turned their back on their Deputy President, and that he was just being used by Rokuhara. "I don't really know," he said, "I just... didn't want him to die."
Somewhere behind him, Kakucho took a sharp inhale.
"Takemitchy," Mikey finally spoke. "I'm going to get involved now," he said.
"Ah, Mikey-kun, it's really not that bad." He lied, like they weren't in the hallway for the past few hours, some of the lining up to donate blood and the rest of them staring at the wall with bated breath. "The doctor said that I'll be out-"
"That was my condition," Mikey's tone was firm, but quiet.
There was a long pause, and Hanagaki lost that timidness, it faded away, and he squared his shoulders.
"Mikey-kun, it's not South-kun's fault. Don't beat him up, okay?"
And why else if not for someone else. The only time Draken ever saw Hanagaki develop anything resembling a backbone was for someone else.
"Mikey-kun," Hanagaki called out, "And don't beat yourself over it either, okay? It's my fault, so don't get any at anyone else. I'm okay. I'm still here."
Mikey moved to sit next to Hanagaki instead. A tender smile, a Hanagaki-only smile as many had referred to it before, stretched his lips.
"I can't do that," Mikey said, taking Hanagaki's hand in his and squeezing tightly. "You're precious to me too, you know that?"
"Mikey-kun," Hanagaki's voice caught in his throat, and he sniffled.
"Ever the crybaby," Mikey replied, tone fond. "Just get some rest, okay?"
And after some more friendly chatter, they stepped out so Hanagaki could actually rest. Kokonoi and Mucho waved at them from where they were sitting with a laptop and a calculator between them. Mikey nodded at them. He would leave Hanagaki's bedrest in their capable hands.
"Did Kisaki find the shooter?" Mikey asked.
"Inui's got him at the hideout," Draken replied. If anything, the amazing thing would be if the guy was still breathing after Baji was done with him.
Mikey gave a small "hm."
"Takemitchy didn't say anything about him," he said, confirming the same thing that Draken was thinking. "Then, we'll go give South-kun our greetings."
Izana, excitedly, pulled his phone out. A grin had finally returned to Kakucho's lips as he walked out with a straighter back than before.
"We have until Takemitchy gets better," Mikey said, "Let's go."