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Hanto's head pounded as he opened his eyes. He wasn't sure where he was, but he knew one thing for sure: he was cold. Extremely cold. The kind of cold you feel after falling in a pool in winter when you come out of the water.
As he opened his eyes a little more, he started to take in his surroundings and realized he was in a warehouse. As he looked down, he realized his torso was tied by a rope that went around a pillar behind his back. As his vision cleared even more, he noticed in front of him a bunch of medical equipment like syringes and gauzes.
Well, that couldn't be good…
That's when he heard a door creak as it opened, snapping his head up towards it. As it closed, Suga came into view. He walked in Hanto's direction, his hands in his pockets and his posture relaxed, making the younger shudder slightly.
Why was he so cold?
Hanto wasn't sure what to think. The man was always a bit shady and the chocolate rider knew very well not to trust him. His late boss had advised him on it, but Hanto himself knew better than to ask anything from the shady doctor. But until now, he never did anything that could deem him as a threatening entity.
As the thoughts in his mind made his head spin, Hanto didn't realize that Suga was basically standing in front of him, as he had sat down, his face so close he could hear his breathing. Hanto weakly lifted his head and tried to look at the doctor's expression, looking for some kind of answer to his current state.
All he got as an answer was a smirk by the other as he stood up again and started walking towards an old, worn out desk that stood right in the middle of the room where Hanto was tied up.
“Oi, Suga…” He tried yelling, only to realize that his voice was as weak as the rest of his body. He lowered his head, letting it fall on his shoulder as he grunted, his head starting to spin again.The doctor slowly turned around before answering with a sinister smile.
“Oh, sorry Hanto-kun. I just thought you were still unable to speak because of the anestesia.” He said, turning towards the desk again and starting to collect a few papers that were on top of it. He went silent again, probably because he was reading said papers. Hanto cursed mentally at the idea of having to talk again just to have an answer to this situation.
“Anesthesia? What the…hell did you…do to me?” He managed to get out as he tried to get in a more comfortable position, only to hiss as soon as he tried to move his body. His muscles suddenly started to convulse all at the same time as he let out a yelp.
It hurt so bad, but he felt so weak that even a scream was too much of a chore right now. But he could basically feel his muscles get warmer and warmer, almost as if they were going to explode.
As his eyes started to well up with tears and drool came out of his mouth, Suga walked towards him again, grabbing one of the syringes that Hanto had seen on the ground earlier.
Hanto thought that such a method to keep medical tools couldn't be very legal. At the same time, that would've been the last of his thoughts considering the condition he was in, so that should've been enough proof of how much fried his brain was.
The doctor opened one of Hanto’s buttons on his chest to get easier access to his neck. The contact with the cold airbag, made his already shivering body hurt more. The younger one flinched away, but the pain stopped him, this time making him actually shriek as his head fell down, his breathing ragged.
Suga simply injected some weird green liquid in his body and after what seemed like an eternity of tears, drool and whimpers, the pain finally disappeared. Hanto slowly lifted his head again, his hair messy, with some of the strands falling in front of his sweaty forehead.
Suga was still kneeling in front of him and was now wiping away the tears and drool from his face as Hanto's panting filled the room. After cleaning him up, although very sloppily, the doctor took a paper and a pen, which Hanto didn't even know where they came from, and wrote something on it.
“Ten minutes for the injection to start taking effect…” He heard him mumble as he wrote. Hanto tried once again to stand up straighter, still in pain, but this time his muscles didn't feel like they were going to explode any time he moved. The pain actually felt similar to a bunch of cramps here and there which made his limbs jolt ever once in a while.
It’s not like it was painless, but at least moving was now a lot easier, even if such cramps would make a normal human cry in pain. He still took this as a chance to try and stand straighter now that he had more freedom of movement.
Still, that didn't mean he successfully did it. The ropes which tied his body didn't allow much movement and his arms and legs felt completely useless, after a while he couldn't even move them anymore. He hissed slightly as he tried to get up again, only to be interrupted by Suga's voice and a hand on his shoulder which made him tremble again.
“I wouldn't struggle so much. You already saw, or to better put it, felt what happens when you try to force your body to move” The doctor said, going back to not looking at him and writing on the paper as he adjusted his glasses.
“What did you do to me, asshole…? Where are we…” Hanto whispered as tiredness finally took over his senses, his mind still foggy while his eyes fought to stay open. Suga didn't answer him, he simply stood up and went back to his desk.
Hanto tried to scream at him, only to fail again and close his eyes when another pang of pain shot through his limbs. When he opened them again, Suga was again in front of him. Hanto would've jumped up from the scare if he wasn't in this situation, but he felt so tired that everything seemed to move in slow motion and looked so distorted.
What caught his sleepy eyes was a little shine coming from Suga's hand. As Hanto looked down, he noticed the doctor was holding a scalpel. In any other situation, he would have kicked him or screamed, asking for an explanation. But at this point, Hanto didn't know what was happening anymore.
He felt a sharp pain on his cheek and his head shot up from the pain. As his eyes watered again, he looked at Suga who held the scalpel in his hand and looked at it with curiosity and amusement. As Hanto concentrated more on the instrument, he noticed it wasn't covered in red, but a blue liquid dripped down from it instead.
Was that his blood?
“Very interesting indeed. You know, Nyelev never allowed me to take a sample of his blood and I never got close enough to a Granute to test out my theory-” He explained while putting the liquid inside of a glass container.
Hanto didn’t know what to think or feel anymore. He should have had more questions in his head honestly, but all he could think about was how much he wanted to escape from that hellish place and just rest.
And what made it worse wasnt that something had be3n done to him. Suga hasn't done anything too crazy by his standards. This didnt hurt more than the surgery he did on Hanto. But the feeling of the cold and his limbs hurting was enough to make Hanto gasp from the pain as he saw his breathing condense in front of him.
As Suga said something about being happy that Hanto had finally reached such an advanced level in his modification, the chocolate rider turned his head to the other side of the room, trying to better understand his surroundings.
That’s when he noticed his Valen buster was on the floor right next to his body. Without thinking about why Suga would leave it so close to him, a shot of adrenaline went through his body and Hanto used every bit of energy in him to grab the weapon and shoot at Suga.
The man flew a few feet away, while Hanto's body fell to the ground. As looked behind him, he realized that the ropes were untied and his body was free. How did he break the ropes so easily? How did he even manage to get to the Valen buster, which he only now realized had actually been on top of the desk where Suga kept his papers?
“Huh, wasn't…it right next…to me?” Hanto wondered aloud as he staggered, realizing only now that he had stood up again, that he wasn't able to walk correctly . He tried to take a few steps, but fell again before even reaching the door, the Valen buster falling out of his hand and sliding away from his body.
As he tried to crawl towards the exit though, he didn't notice that Suga was behind him. The man held a syringe as he lazily walked towards Hanto. The younger one was so tired that he didn't even notice the danger as the doctor crouched down and grabbed a handful of Hanto's hair, tugging it back and making Hanto grunt in response.
“You know, it would've been quicker and less painful if you stopped struggling so much…” He whispered close to Hanto's ear as he injected him with yet another liquid. This time the feeling was different. In a matter of seconds his body had gone limp and his already fuzzy mind was even fuzzier now.
Suga simply sighed before letting go of the other's hair and walking away from Hanto, who couldn't even see what he was doing because of the position his body was paralyzed. As the sound of steps rang again inside of that cold warehouse, the doctor was now next to Hanto again.
He turned the chocolate rider around, but as much as Hanto wanted to scream and hit him, his body did not answer to his silent pleas. Suga put a hand on his back and another one under his knees before getting up and lifting him off the floor with surprisingly very little difficulty. Once again the focus of Hanto's thoughts made him realize how fried his brain was in that moment.
The doctor put Hanto back against the wall where he was sitting against earlier, this time not bothering to tie him up. As Hanto looked at Suga rummaging through his utensils, he finally noticed the scratches and slight blood on the doctor's face. Some of his clothes were also dirty because he fell on the old floor which was full of dust when he had shot him.
Hanto suddenly felt colder than before. He noticed that his jacket was being taken off and his shirt's sleeve was lifted up to his shoulder by the shady doctor. As Suga took out yet another scalpel, he started to speak again.
“I would tie you up again to make sure you don't pull any more pranks on me, but I also don't have the time, so we'll do this quickly, okay?” He finished his sentence with a creepy smile, before cutting Hanto's arm.
This time Hanto was so tired that he didn't even whimper or cry. He simply looked at the blue liquid seeping out of the cut as it slid down his arm. The cut must've been pretty deep for it to make so much blood come out.
As Hanto's head fell on his shoulder, he completely lost consciousness. The last thing he saw was Suga putting a tube inside of his arm and connecting it to some kind of device.
That couldn't be good…
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Lakia and Shouma ran around the bay, looking for Hanto and calling his name. Lakia didn't actually care that much, but he knew he couldn't let Shouma go on his own, so he decided to reluctantly follow the other rider.
He knew Shouma was able to take care of himself, but something in him never allowed him to leave the half-granute on his own anyway. Damn his older brother instinct.
“What even makes you think Valen is here?” The pudding rider asked as he started to get tired of running around. He knew Shouma cared for Hanto, but that didn't mean he didn't find Valen any less annoying than he did when they first met.
He was not only so dumb that he didn't realize Shouma's clone wasn't the real deal, but he wasn't even strong enough to fight alongside the other two riders. Albeit, he would reluctantly admit that he was very strong for a human.
“This Gochizo was with Hanto when he was kidnapped, he has to be here.” Said Shouma as he started to run again, desperately looking for some kind of clue and trying to look for an entrance to the many warehouses in front of them.
Lakia sighed as he ran behind the gummy rider. That morning had started so calmly and peacefully as he, Sachika and Shouma ate breakfast, the Granute enjoying the company of the other two.
He should have known it wouldn't have lasted long…
As Shouma cleaned the plates in the sink, a Gochizo basically flew inside of Hapipare, almost as if it was throwing itself through the window. It moved around frantically and cried as Sachika tried to grab it, almost falling in the process if not for Lakia grabbing her waist at the last second.
The position was very uncomfortable, as he had been sitting and was now holding with one hand the woman's body as she was basically in a mid-falling position. Her expression of surprise almost made him gasp.
They weren't that close yet, especially since Lakia had no intention to. But even if he didn't care about humans, he didn’t mind her specifically. Mostly because she showcased more common sense than Valen and because Shouma was fond of her.
Still it was hard to hold her as the Gochizo in her hands started to move around again and flaid its arms like a madman. The little thing actually managed to escape the blonde's grasp making both her and Lakia fall on the ground.
Shouma came out of the kitchen asking what had happened, but stopped mid-sentence, trying to take in the scene in front of him. Lakia was on the ground, hugging Sachika to make sure she fell on top of him and didn't hit her head while a chocolate Gochizo jumped up and down on top of them
When the Gochizo saw him, he started crying even harder than before as he headed towards Shouma. Other Gochizoes came to his feet while holding his phone and jumping up and down.
Everything after he had put the chocolate Gochizo in his phone and saw it's memories was a blur. All that Shouma knew was that he was running out of Hapipare, Sachika's voice screaming his name already far away.
Only when he had reached the bay by following the Gochizo, did he stop to realize that Lakia had followed him as the other had grabbed his arm, telling him to stop and explain what had happened. The other panted lightly as Shouma looked at him, only to realize he himself was breathing very harshly because of how fast he had run.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm his hammering heart and after telling the granute what had happened, they started to look for Hanto. The Gochizo seemed so confused and scared that even Shouma couldn't understand what it was saying.
So they were left on their own devices to look for the human. As Shouma looked around, the Gochizo made a yelp, immediately getting his attention. It was trembling as it looked for a very small and old warehouse at the end of the road.
Shouma called for Lakia and soon the two were at the door of the building which was locked by a giant lock and many heavy chains. Shouma's patience started to run out as he tried to break them, before being stopped by Lakia.
“If Suga really captured Hanto, he might hear us if we break down the entrance. We would have a better chance at rescuing him if we tried going in through a backdoor.” He whispered at the other who nodded as he carefully let go of the chains.
They both went around different sides of the werehouse before finally finding a backdoor that wasn't locked. As they entered inside, they made sure not to make any noise.
They looked around as they walked, only seeing dust and old furniture all around them. The corridor was divided by an old and half destroyed wall. On the other side they could hear the sound of wind. Assuming that it was an older part of the building that was open towards the sea, the two looked at each other before deciding to crouch down near the most broken parts of the wall in hope to be able to see what was happening on the other side.
Shouma's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Hanto was sitting against a pillar as Suga held a dozen vials full of a blue liquid. Hanto looked unconscious as his head rested on his shoulders and his limbs looked totally relaxed.
Honestly Shouma was ready to break through the wall and jump at the doctor. And he would've done that if Lakia hadn't held him back, putting one hand on his mouth and grabbing his hand with the other to stop him from moving.
“We need to take advantage of the situation…” The granute whispered and after taking a deep breath Shouma nodded at him. Lakia went towards the door, before sending a look of affirmation to Shouma. He then broke the door down, making Suga jump at his sudden appearance.
In a heartbeat Lakia was already in front of him and had kicked him away, making some of the vials fall on the floor. Lakia didn't pay them much mind as he ran towards the doctor again while Shouma entered the room and ran towards Hanto.
The gummy rider crouched in front of Hanto and held both sides of his face with his hands, shaking him in an attempt to wake the other up. Still Hanto didn't answer. His complexion was pale, his lips basically blue as his hair messily fell on his face.
“Hanto! Hanto, come on, wake up! I'm here, you're safe now!” Shouma said, but the other still didn't answer. Noticing how cold the other's body was, he decided to take off his jacket and put it on the other before bringing Hanto’s head to his chest in an attempt to warm him a little.
As he hugged the chocolate rider, Shouma took a look at behind the pillar where he saw Lakia fighting against a few of Nyelev's minions. On the other side of the room he could see Suga entering a black door that disappeared after he had entered it.
As much as Shouma had wanted to punch the man and ask him what had he done to Hanto, he knew he had to focus on getting all three of them out of there. He let go of Hanto's body and put the other rider against the wall he was leaning against before.
He then ran towards one of the minions as it tried to hit Lakia’s back with a knife. Lakia was turning around and his eyes widened at the sight, before closing them, getting ready for the pain that was going to come.
He opened them again when he realized nothing had stabbed him yet. To his surprise he saw Shouma, who was holding the knife in his hand. For a few seconds the only sound that filled the room was the one of the gummy's rider's red blood drip on the floor.
Shouma held the knife tightly before kicking the minion, throwing it a few meters away. As two other minions walked towards him, he transformed and activated his Caking form. Gavv ran towards the minions and created his own cream soldiers as he fought them.
“Lakia, grab Hanto and take him away from here!” Lakia wanted to object, but at that point he knew things weren't going to go his way, whether he liked it or not. He wanted to transform and help Shouma especially after he had gotten hurt protecting him.
But he also knew that Shouma was focused on saving Valen and rescuing him was the best way he could repay the gummy rider. So he grunted as he ran towards the chocolate rider, noticing only now that Shouma had left his jacket on him.
As he scooped him up, Lakia noticed the few vials he had broken earlier on the ground when he had kicked Suga. His eyes widened at the color before noticing that the same blue liquid was on Hanto's clothes.
That was granute blood…But why was it on Hanto? Did Suga do some kind of weird experiment on the human and inject him with granute blood? That's when Lakia looked at the other's arm against his chest.
There was a slight gash that was in the process of healing on his arm. It was healing so fast that the pudding rider wondered if Valen really wasn't a granute. He remembered seeing Sachika cut her finger with a knife and make a whole scene about it.
Initially he thought she was being dramatic, but when Shouma told him they had to bring her to the doctor because of how deep the cut was, he realized how actually hurt she was.
She actually teared up as the nurse stitched the finger and they exited the hospital. It was the first time he actually realized how fragile these creatures are. Still, it seemed that whatever modification had Hanto undergone made him more similar to a granute than a human.
Still, that didn't explain why the blood coming out of the gash itself as it healed was blue.
Just like granutes.
Did Shouma know this? The two hadn't been fighting together lately about a fall off. Shouma had not very clearly explained that whole ordeal but still, he probably didn't even know granute's blood is blue, considering the red of the gummy rider's own.
Lakia’s trance was stopped by the sound of Shouma's gavv as he delivered the final hit on the minions. The pudding rider complained as he ran outside of the warehouse, not wanting the debris from the attack hitting him or the man in his arms. He waited for a few minutes, staring at Hanto before seeing Shouma come out of the building, fortunately unscathed.
“Thanks for taking him away Lakia…” He said, still looking very shaken up by the whole ordeal as he fondly looked at Hanto's sleeping form in Lakia's arms. His hand was still dripping blood, but his expression finally looked relaxed after that horrible morning.
The pudding rider hated how much Shouma's puppy eyes were able to tug at his heartstrings.
“Ugh, this sucks…”
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After everything that had happened that morning, all Sachika wanted to do, honestly, was sleep. She was starting to understand Lakia's laid back, uncaring attitude a little. It probably made it easier to be calm in these kinds of situations.
But who could blame her? After Shouma had run out of Hapipare she and Lakia had quickly followed behind him, asking for questions. Clearly, though, the other two's alien genes made it impossible for her to catch up.
So she not only didn't know what had happened to get such a reaction out of her part-timer, but all she could do was just wait and hope he would come back unharmed. But after seeing Shouma's expression when he watched the gochizo’s memory, she couldn't really relax all that much, could she?
And apparently she was right as, after a few hours, when she got tired of waiting and tried to call Shouma, the door to Hapipare opened. Lakia came inside, holding Hanto in his arms who had Shouma's jacket on top of him and some weird blue liquid on his clothes.
The blonde ran towards them, putting a hand on Hanto's cheek and removing it immediately when she felt how cold he was. His face looked sick and emotionless, making Sachika widen her eyes because of the unusual look of her usual customer.
“What happened? Where's Umasho?!” She asked, trying to stay calm. Unfortunately failing with the second question as she realized Shouma wasn't with Lakia. As she looked at the men in front of her with worry in her eyes, she heard the sound of the door closing, noticing her part-timer coming inside, a bloodied handkerchief tied on his hand.
She ran towards him and held his hand up to look at it more closely as the other tried to reassure her. It looked like it was already healing. It felt like it was the only moment where she was allowed to let out a sigh of relief during that entire morning.
“I'm really jazzed about this moment you two are sharing, but where can I throw this guy?” Asked Lakia with a numb expression that hid the disdain he was feeling as he still held Hanto in his arms.
Shouma brought him up to the loft where he usually slept. He pointed at the small bed and asked the pudding rider to put Hanto down as gently as he could. Honestly Lakia was ready to throw him on it, but he opted to restrain this one time.
As Shouma took off Hanto's shoes and covered his body with a blanket, Sachika also reached them. She had gone off to raise the temperature in the room, hoping it would make the chocolate rider more comfortable.
“Okay, now explain to me what happened. Is Hanto…okay?” She didn't know how to ask. The man looked basically dead, but he was also clearly breathing which was the only reassuring thing about this whole situation for her.
Still, Shouma explained to her what had happened. About how the gochizo's memories showed Hanto going out of his work office last night and into an allway, before suddenly falling to the ground. As the gochizo came out of his jacket and looked around, the video showed Suga armed with a bat, which he used to hit the chocolate rider many other times.
He then called over two of Nyelev's minions, one of whom grabbed Hanto and threw him over his shoulder, before starting to walk away. The gochizo had followed them and filmed everything up until Suga had started to inject Hanto's unconscious body with various substances.
At that point it had seen enough and it stopped filming, running back to Shouma in order to get him. Sachika listened to this in silence, her eyes widening at hearing Hanto's condition when they had found him.
She looked at the sleeping man, his pale complexion contrasting starkly against the colorful walls and blanket draped around him. She sighed shakily, trying to take in everything her part-timer had told her as she turned her back at him and took a few wobbly steps.
“You guys, really can't catch a break, can’t you?” She said sarcastically as she folded her arms in front of her chest, hugging herself as she felt a shiver run down her back. That's when she felt a little warmth on the arm as Lakia had grabbed her, afraid she would fall down without support.
She looked at her arm and then at Lakia who greeted her with her same expression. It was kind of funny to look at them both staring at each other with confusion and a slight blush on their faces as Lakia let go of her while she adjusted a strand of hair behind her ear.
Meanwhile Shouma was sitting on the bed next to Hanto, holding his hand in his own as he stared at the scene in front of him. Before he could comment on his two friends' weird behaviour, he felt Hanto's finger twitch.
“Hanto?” He asked gently, getting closer to the still sleeping man who had now started to squirm and move slightly. Lakia and Sachika also turned back to look at the other two. The woman in particular had hurriedly walked back, sitting next to the end of the bed, putting her hand on the blanket.
Lakia only stared at her, still feeling the warmth of his hand in contact with her arm, before getting startled as Hanto suddenly woke up, lifting himself off the bed, screaming. Shouma was immediately by his side while Sachika had slightly fallen back from the scare.
“Hanto, it's okay, you're at Hapipare! You're saf-” Hanto gave him only one look as he panted before throwing himself at the gummy rider, hugging him hard as he tried to feel some kind of sense of security and safety.
Shuma himself was surprised as the other never showed such physical closeness towards him. Like yeah, he did grab him by the collar and put him against a table while towering over him, but it wasn't like Hanto wanted to get physical with him at the time, it was just his way of expressing his feelings.
Still, after a few minutes of panting, Hanto's breathing had finally calmed down. He was still clutching on to Shouma for dear life, but his grasp started to lessen as time went on until he finally let go.
Shouma helped him lie down on the bed again and as he did that, the chocolate rider noticed the hand which Nyelev's minion had stabbed.
“Wh-What-” He couldn't even manage to get a sentence out as he started to gasp for air again. He coughed a few times, Sachika coming back after leaving a few seconds ago to get him a glass of water.
“Y-you're hurt…Did…did Suga…” He tried getting out as many words as his dry throat could allow him, not even looking at Sachika who was handing him the glass with a pained and worried look on her face.
“No, it's okay, really.” Shouma finally said, untying the handkerchief Lakia had given him earlier and showing the chocolate rider his hand. There weren't any scars or wounds. Hanto sighed and relaxed his head on Shouma's chest as the other still held him up.
That's when he looked at the red blood on the handkerchief, his own blood running cold at that moment. He suddenly stood straight, albeit clumsily. As he moved the blankets away from his body and tried to get off the bed, Shouma and Sachika both tried to stop him.
“Woah, Hunty what's wrong? You should rest a littl-” But her words were cut off by the other as he moved her hands away and stood up, only to fall as soon as he did. Luckily Shouma catched him immediately.
“I-I need a mirror…Is there one here?” Hanto asked, his voice still sounding a little hoarse. Honestly Sachika was starting to get offended by the stupidity of the journalist. Why didn't he just drink the water and then check himself out in the mirror?
Still, the way he had said it made Sachika wonder why he even needed one in the first place. As much as she teased him, Hanto never cared about his looks nor was he a narcissist, the contrary was true instead.
He was actually a really handsome man, even if not her type. But he never seemed to care about his appearance, neither did he actually take care of it. So his request sounded even stranger at a time like this.
She put down the glass again, getting ready to head towards the kitchen where she had a small hand-held mirror. But before she did, Shouma had grabbed Hanto and lifted him off the floor with ease.
Hanto closed his eyes from the dizziness as he hugged Shouma by the shoulders. The part- timer started heading for a bigger mirror that was attached to one of their walls, while Sachika looked at them with a confused expression.
Not only did the scene seem like it came straight out of a romance movie, but Shouma probably didn't realize he could've just brought the smaller mirror there or simply made Hanto look at himself on his phone camera.
Still, she got up and headed down the loft, noticing Lakia was following behind her. She honestly wondered if he had let her come down first purposefully. She then looked back at Shouma who was still holding Hanto in front of the mirror.
“Hanto, we're here. What did you want to see?”Hanto slowly opened his eyes and looked at his face's reflection, checking for any scars or blood. He sighed in relief when he noticed there wasn't anything.
“Well at least there aren't any scars…” He said absentmindedly as he touched his cheek, while Shouma asked him if he had gotten stabbed or hurt on his face. Lakia narrowed his eyes at the human's words.
Had Suga hurt Hanto on the face? Did he know about his own blood's color change?
“Hanto?” Asked Shouma, grabbing the other's attention again as he noticed the way the gummy rider was holding him. He blushed slightly, realizing Shouma had basically carried him to the mirror making him embarrassed at his childish request.
He didn't want to explain the whole ordeal, especially since he didn't remember much of it other than the pain and the agony his muscles were in right now after all that. Still, he knew he had to say something to Shouma, at least to reassure him.
“No, I…I just thought he had cut my face, but maybe he just touched it…” Shouma's hold on his body got firmer, making him jump slightly and hold onto him tighter. Sachika and Lakia looked at them with questioning gazes as Shouma simply sat Hanto on top of one of the tables in the lunge area of Hapipare.
Hanto looked at him with confusion as the gummy rider knelt down and put his hands on his cheeks, moving his eyes, almost as if looking for something. Everyone in the room felt the tension, but weren't sure what Shouma was doing.
“Shou-”
“How dare he….” Was the only thing the half-granute said before standing up and walking towards the kitchen. After a few seconds he came back, holding a packet of wet wipes in his hands as he came back to where Hanto was seated.
Sachika wanted to complain about Hanto sitting on one of the tables where they ate, but at this point she just wanted to see where this whole thing was going to go. Shouma simply grabbed one of the wet wipes and possessively held Hanto's face by the chin, moving him gently to the side as he started to wipe him.
Hanto didn't know what to say or do. He tried to grab Shouma's hands and tell him there was no need for him to do this, trying to explain that maybe he just imagined it. But Shouma kept on wiping his face gently while his eyes burned with rage.
Even with such strong feelings in his eyes, Shouma would never think of hurting Hanto and the chocolate rider knew this well. So he simply let go of the other's hands, waiting for when he would stop by himself.
Hanto himself kind of felt his body relax at the other's gentle care, so he simply put his hands on the table and leaned forward towards Shouma. They weren't any closer than how much they were when they normally talked, but something about the situation made it different compared to all of those other times.
Maybe it was Hanto's fond expression as he looked at Shouma. Maybe it was Shouma’s determined and angry eyes, contrasting the gentle care with which he wiped Hanto's cheeks. Maybe it was the fact that Sachika felt ashamed by the unaware boldness of her two friends right in front of her and the blond next to her.
Lakia tugged at Sachika's sleeve and when she looked back at him he pointed to the door with his hand. His expression was basically saying “I'm done with this”. She knew what he wanted to say and she also knew he was right, but she was slightly disappointed that they couldn't stay and enjoy the show a little longer.
So she simply grabbed her keys and a jacket as her and Lakia left Hapipare silently. Hanto saw them and shouted at them to come back with red ears. The last thing they heard was his voice sounding strained as he said that they were misunderstanding the situation.
“Yeah, sure…” Thought both Lakia and Sachika as they walked away.
Silence fell at Hapipare. Hanto still had his hand outstretched towards the door that just closed and his mouth slightly open. Meanwhile Shouma simply stared at him for a second before grabbing his cheeks with his thumb and index and turning his face to him again. Hanto was kind of shocked and yelped at the sudden gesture.
He thought the gummy rider was going to start wiping his face again, instead he was just staring at him, an unreadable expression on his face. Hanto didn't know what to do, but any of the uncomfortable coldness he had felt until now had disappeared.
He could basically feel his body heat up because of Shouma's staring. After a few minutes like this, Hanto sighed. He wasn't some princess that got all flustered when someone showed her attention for goodness’ sake!
“Shouma…” He tried starting to talk, hoping the other would get the hint. And in fact, in a matter of a few seconds, Shouma went from looking determined, to confused, to surprised, to flustered.
He immediately let go of Hanto's face and retracted his hand as if he had just gotten burned. He stood up, grabbing the packet of wet wipes and walking towards the kitchen as he laughed awkwardly.
“D-don't worry, your face looks okay…sorry for grabbing you like that.” Hanto must admit that he actually didn't mind it. Although he was surprised, Shouma had held him with so much care that contrasted with the way Suga had manhandled him earlier that day that it actually felt really nice.
But he would never admit it aloud.
Things had been weird between them after their last break up, but Hanto would be lying if he said he didn't miss Shouma. And although things were tense, he still wanted to savor every second he could spend with the half-granute.
“Don't worry about it-” He said as he tried to get down from the table, smirking when he noticed Shouma's red cheeks as he was still giving his back to the chocolate rider. When he put his feet on the floor though, his whole body felt like it had gotten electrocuted.
He suddenly felt weightless and unable to keep on standing. He fell down first against the table, which he held tightly as he tried to keep himself up, only to completely fall on the ground with a loud thud. Shouma immediately turned around and called for Hanto as he ran towards him.
Shouma helped Hanto turn his body so that he could look at him in the face. The chocolate rider panted slowly as his eyes looked tired. A pained noise escaped him as Shouma wondered what he should do.
“Don't worry…I'm just a little tired still” The journalist said, probably noticing the worry in the other's eyes. Shouma bit his lip , before putting his hands under Hanto and standing up, bringing his body back to the bed.
As he put him down gently, he explained how he was going to make him something to eat since Hanto was kidnapped last night and was probably hungry. The chocolate rider wanted to complain, but he didn't find the strength in him to do it, so he simply nodded as the other exited the loft once again.
Hanto stared at the ceiling, wondering about his hallucinations, his blue blood, Suga's words and everything else. Even if he didn't understand what was happening, he still wanted to savor the little time this whole ordeal had given him with Shouma.
That's why he tried to stay awake as long as possible, at least until Shouma was done cooking. Unfortunately for him, his body betrayed him, sending him to a much needed rest.
What he didn't know was that Shouma was still beside him the whole time, holding his hand and caressing his cheek.