Chapter Text
"How many confessions do you think Mihawk gets a week? A day?" Shanks leaned heavily on the roof railing, watching the teen with the perfectly coiffed, inky black hair stare stoically at the stuttering, eager girl in front of him down in the courtyard. They were both dressed in the Grand Line High's school uniform, so Shanks knew that this girl at least went to their school. The girl from yesterday wore a uniform from a neighboring school. Shanks elbowed the blond next to him and bumped his shoulder against his friend's arm, staying pressed shoulder to shoulder as he leaned toward him. "What do you think, Rosi? Has to be at least a dozen a week. I mean, look at him, he's perfect."
Rosinante rolled his eyes and puffed on the cigarette that he was certain Principal Garp would kick his ass for having. "You just think he's perfect, Shanks."
Shanks gave a shocked gasp that was all drama, slumping over the railing like Rosinante had offended him greatly. "Rosi! How dare you? He's smart and he's tall and he has those piercing eyes..." He sighed, grinning. "And that ass... and he has abs! Abs, Rosi!" He stared dreamily down at the other teen, watching him speak to the girl in front of him. The girl was flushing red, her shoulders drooping.
"He's not perfect, Shanks. And you have abs too." Rosinante watched the girl hurry away from Mihawk, the teen undoubtedly rejecting her just like he'd done to others over the past couple days. There was a festival coming up next weekend and many students were hoping to have dates for the event, Rosinante included. "He runs in the same circles that my brother does." The blonde grimaced and ashed his cigarette.
"It's not like he's friends with Doffy, though," Shanks whined, watching Mihawk walk back across the courtyard to where Crocodile and Kuma were waiting. They were Mihawk's friends, Shanks knew, not Doffy and his merry band of assholes.
"No, but he spends time in the same space as him. Pretty sure his best friend and Doffy dated for awhile. Besides, Doffy is a piece of shit."
"You spend time with Doffy!" Shanks glared at his friend.
Rosinante glared right back. "Not by choice! He's my brother and Dad wouldn't let him go to Mary Geoise because he wanted us to have a 'normal' education." He rolled his eyes and sighed before taking another drag on his cigarette. "Look, I've never seen him actually speak to Doffy, so maybe he has that going for him. But, I also haven't seen you speak to him."
Shanks sputtered, throwing his hands up. "I have too!"
"Saying excuse me in the hallway isn't speaking to him."
"I asked to borrow a pencil once in the library," Shanks mumbled.
"And how did that go?"
Shanks sighed and tilted his head back. "He said no and I ended up borrowing one from Roux. It had teeth marks on the eraser."
Rosinante snickered. "And yet, he's still perfect."
Shanks ran his hands through his hair, pushing the red strands back from his face and tugging on them. He stared up the at sky. "Of course he is, Rosi." And then softly, "he doesn't have to be perfect for anyone else but me."
Rosinante sighed and put out his cigarette. He set the butt down on the railing before pulling his friend into a hug, holding him until Shanks hugged him back. After a few moments, he let his friend go with a pat on his shoulder and went to pick up his cigarette butt to stash it back in the pack so he could throw it away later. "If you insist he is perfect for you, you are going to have to talk to him."
"I know..." Shanks turned back to the railing, looking over to see Mihawk following Crocodile and Kuma into the building. The other teen stopped and turned to look up at the roof and Shanks swore their eyes met. He felt his heart beat faster in his chest, savoring the sharp features of the beautiful teen. He grinned down at Mihawk before pushing off from the railing, sliding his arm through Rosinante's as he steered them back to the door."I'm going to get Mihawk to go to the festival with me."
=-=-=-=-=
"You know if you just picked one of them to say yes to, the rest would stop asking. How many has it been since last week?" Crocodile adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, following Kuma's large frame down the hallway. The other students all moved out of Kuma's way, most of them just afraid of his size. In truth, Kuma was one of the nicest students in school, he just didn't talk much.
Next to Crocodile, Mihawk shoved his hands into the pockets of his uniform trousers. "Four last week and two so far this week. One on Saturday." He sighed. "If I say yes to one of them, I will have to actually spend time with them at the festival."
Crocodile grunted, knowing his friend was telling the truth. He'd spend the entire festival with whomever he said yes to, regardless of if he liked the person or not. "Then ask someone yourself. You're Dracule Mihawk, champion swordsman, smartest fucker in this school, too pretty to be alone."
Mihawk raised an eyebrow and glanced as his friend. "Be careful, Cro, someone else would think you were flirting." Kuma snorted a laugh in front of them before he turned to go into a classroom.
"You would love it if I flirted with you," Crocodile snorted, letting his eyes lazily wander over his friend's body. "Too bad goth fuckboy isn't my type." He stepped quickly out of Mihawk's range and into the classroom Kuma disappeared into, laughing the entire time.
"Idiot," Mihawk huffed and continued down the hallway, avoiding eye contact with the other students. He was getting tired of saying no. But, that didn't mean that he wanted to say yes to any of the people that confessed to him. What he wanted was for them to stop asking. What he truly wanted was to know if the person he actually wanted to go with, wanted to go with him. But, he would have to talk to them to find out and as brave as Mihawk was with sword in his hand, feelings were terrifying to deal with. It was hard enough for him to reconcile that maybe he liked more than just looking at the handsome, almost pretty boy he'd fallen for.
Laughter came from the end of the hallway and Mihawk's eyes immediately darted to the red haired teen as he slung an arm around the lanky blonde next to him. Rosinante grinned back at Shanks and the two headed down the hallway towards Mihawk, who froze next to the door of his next class.
Shanks lit up every room he entered and drew attention like he was a magnet. Mihawk found himself to not be an exception to the pull of the other teen. Everyone wanted to be Shanks's friend and the red head was also kind to everyone he interacted with. He'd rarely seen him without a smile on his face. Mihawk always found himself aware of the other teen when they were near, like Shanks was true north and Mihawk the needle on a compass.
He'd seen Shanks on the roof earlier that day, almost embarrassed that Shanks had seen him reject yet another confession, but unable to look away when their eyes met over the distance. They were too far to say anything, but then again, Mihawk had trouble getting words out when the red head was near anyway. He remembered the day Shanks had spoken to him in the library, Mihawk was so flustered all he could say was no in reply to Shanks. It was not one of his bravest moments.
Brown met gold when Shanks made eye contact with Mihawk in the hallway, his arm still around Rosinante's neck. He smiled at the dark haired teen, their eyes locking. Shanks and Rosinante walked past Mihawk, the red head turning to keep eye contact with Mihawk as he continued walking towards his classroom, his arm slipping from around his friend's neck. His smile grew as he held Mihawk's gaze for as long as he could. Mihawk found the corners of his lips turning up and he started to smile back at the red head, as his world narrowed to just himself and Shanks.
Shanks, who was smiling so brightly as he turned his body to keep facing Mihawk, his backpack hanging over one shoulder, his uniform jacket open, his tie loose, his shirt unbuttoned. The whole world felt like it was slowing down, Mihawk's heart pounding in his chest. He watched as Shanks took one step backward, and then another, not looking away from Mihawk. Then, Shanks tripped, his eyes widening in surprise as he stumbled.
Mihawk's smile burst into a laugh as Rosinante quickly caught Shanks before he fell to the ground. He felt light and buzzing with an electric energy, Mihawk's whole mood lifting from the red head's antics.
Shanks recovered quickly, him and Mihawk standing in the hallway, just smiling at each other as Mihawk's laughter quieted. Rosinante tugged at Shanks's arm, pulling him towards their classroom. Mihawk watched him go, feeling his chest full of an emotion he wasn't ready to examine and his cheeks slightly sore from smiling.
=-=-=-=-=
Rosinante followed Shanks to their usual table in the courtyard, sliding his tray onto the table next to Yasopp who was currently have a rather animated argument with Roux. "Did you not watch the last episode?" Yasopp practically yelled.
Roux rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't think Buffy is going to end up with Angel. I just don't think they are end game." Roux chewed loudly on his sandwich, watching the steam practically come out of Yasopp's ears.
"What do you mean, 'they're not end game'?" Yasopp shouted.
Rosinante rolled his eyes and elbowed Yasopp. "You're loud. Cut it out before the entire school knows you are Angel's biggest fanboy." Yasopp grumbled and picked up his sandwich, glaring at Roux across the table. Rosinante looked up at Shanks, who'd stopped to glance around the courtyard, obviously looking for someone. "Did you pay any attention in any of your morning classes? Every time I looked over, you were doodling."
Shanks set his tray across from Rosinante, dropping his backpack on the ground next to him. "I took some notes." He grimaced. Not that they were any good. The sketches, not doodles, were a lot better than his notes, he thought.
"I'll lend you my notes later," Rosinante sighed and picked at his food. He frowned and picked up a french fry, staring at it.
Shanks pushed his tray to the side and leaned across the table, getting into his friend's space. "Rosi."
Looking past the french fry and ignoring Shanks, Rosinante sighed again. "Shanks."
"What's wrong?" Shanks asked. He quickly reached out and smacked Roux's wrist as he reached for Shanks's lunch. "And, Rosi, so help me, if you say nothing, I'll put every single pack of your cigarettes in Principal Garp's mailbox."
"You're an idiot," Rosinante mumbled, delaying his answer by shoving the french fry into his mouth.
"I may be an idiot, but I'm your friend and you love me." Shanks leaned further into the other teen's space. "So, tell me so I can fix it."
Rosinante looked into Shanks's eyes and rolled his own. "I-want-a-date-for-the-festival-too," he mumbled, looking down at his tray.
Shanks smiled and sat back,adjusting his lunch tray back in front of him. "Then we'll find you one." He picked up a couple of fries and put them in his mouth. "I'm sure Robin or Mak would go with you," he said with his mouth full. He swallowed his food at Rosinante's frown. "Or, was there someone you had in mind? Maybe that guy we keep running into on the roof?" Shanks grinned.
The blond turned scarlet and jerked back, his arms flailing out to grab the table so he wouldn't fall off the bench. "Maybe?" he almost squeaked after he pulled himself back into the seat. Almost every afternoon, Rosinante snuck out to the roof for a cigarette. Most days, the other student was already there, but sometimes Rosinante was there first and got to watch the other teen take that first relaxing hit off his cigarette. They'd never really talked much, except to share a lighter or cigarette on occasion, but the teen with the short gray hair was hot.
"I found out his name." Shanks continued to eat, waiting for Rosinante to ask him what it was. When Rosinante didn't move or say anything, Shanks reached across and put his hand on his friend's arm. "Hey, I'll help you. I promise. Just like you kept me from falling on my ass this morning in front of Mihawk." Yasopp perked up at that and Shanks gave his head a subtle shake. The other teen went back to pretending not to listen.
Rosinante rolled his eyes again. "Okay. What's his name?" He gripped the edge of the table. The teen from the roof wasn't in any of his classes or in any of Shanks's.
"Smoker. Mak has swim club with his friend, Tashigi."
"Wait, you told Mak about him?" Rosinante hissed.
Shanks shook his head. "No! I took Mak up to the roof and he was leaving a couple of days ago."
"Shanks, why did you take Mak up to the roof?" Rosinante asked slowly, though he was relieved that Shanks didn't tell Mak about Smoker, that his crush was still only between the two of them... and possibly Yasopp and Roux now. He glanced as his friends and they were acting like they were a little too involved in their empty food trays. Yasopp pulled out a comic book and held it upside down. Roux reached out and flipped the comic right side up. Rosinante sighed.
"She asked me to!" Shanks said too loud, like he was guilty of something. When Rosinante stared at him, he pushed his fries around some more. He and Makino had gone to the roof at her request, but the run in with Smoker had gotten Shanks distracted and he'd ended up asking her if she knew him at all. She said she thought she knew someone that hung out with him, but didn't know him herself. Shanks had kept talking about anything and everything after that, unable to stop his excitement. They didn't have long before they had to go to their next classes and he remembered Makino's disappointed look when they went through the door to go back to class. He wasn't exactly sure why she was disappointed but when he saw her the next day, she'd said it was nothing and told him about Smoker. "Anyway, what is important is that his name is Smoker and you should talk to him. Unless... you want me to talk to him first?"
"You can't even talk to Mihawk. And, earlier does not count. You have to actually say words to him not just fall all over yourself in front of him." Rosinante rolled his eyes.
Shanks looked offended. "Well, I don't have a crush on Smoker. I can talk to him." He shoved a fry in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Hey, that might be a good idea. I'll talk to Smoker and you talk to Mihawk!"
Yasopp chose that moment to groan and shake his head. "Be a chicken then, Shanks," he said and Roux snickered. "You don't shut up about the guy and then you want someone else to talk him? Chicken." Roux made a little flapping gesture and he and Yasopp burst out laughing as Shanks turned almost as red as his hair.
"Fine!" The red head pushed himself up from the table, annoyed with his friends but more determined than ever. "I will talk to Mihawk." He pointed at Yasopp and Roux. "I am not a chicken."
Roux started to make a chicken noise again and Shanks gave him a shove that barely moved the larger teen. Yasopp just laughed harder. Rosinante rolled his eyes at his friends until Yasopp reached to grab his arm, his laughter at Shanks trying to shove Roux off the table slowing to chuckles as he tried to get out what he wanted to say. "You should talk to Smoker. I'm not going to call you a chicken like that asshole because I know it won't help, but you should. You deserve someone who makes you smile."
Rosinante looked at his friend, startled and turning red. "Uh, yeah... Thanks Yasopp." He blinked at the other teen as Yasopp gave him a little grin before turning to make chicken noises at Shanks again. Rosinante smiled at them, seeing Shanks turning redder as he tried to argue with Yasopp and Roux but it only escalated things until Shanks was about to climb across the table to shove Yasopp. He laughed at them and decided that he'd try to get to know Smoker, at least, even if he came out of it with another friend and not a boyfriend.
=-=-=-=-=
"Fuck off, Doffy," Crocodile hissed, jerking his shoulder out from beneath Doflamingo's hand. "Do not touch me. Do not speak to me. Just. Fuck. Off."
Mihawk shifted his backpack on his shoulder, watching Kuma step between Doflamingo and Crocodile as the blond just grinned his broad, creepy grin at Crocodile. Despite the best efforts of Mihawk, Kuma, and Crocodile, Doflamingo refused to get the message that they didn't want him around. When Doflamingo had shown up at the school as a new student, he seemed to fit right in with them, a smooth, privileged teen that was just eager to make friends. He and Crocodile started flirting and it was a couple of months before Doflamingo started to show his true colors. By then, he and Crocodile had gone on a couple of dates. Mihawk had wanted to put Doflamingo through a wall after Crocodile had called him sobbing one night, but Cro had asked him not to.
Crocodile stood behind Kuma, letting his larger friend loom over Doffy until the blond got bored and wandered back over to his table of cronies. He took a shaky breath and put his back to his ex, sitting down as Mihawk sat at the table across from him. "Fucking prick," he mumbled.
"Are you alright?" Mihawk asked quietly as Kuma finally slid into the seat next to Crocodile.
"I hate that question," Crocodile hissed. Mihawk looked expectantly at his friend. Crocodile sighed and folded his arms on the table. "I wish he'd just go away. Be grateful he hasn't decided you are his type."
Mihawk snorted and glanced over to where Doflamingo laughed with Trebol and Diamante. He was fairly certain that Doflamingo wasn't interested in people beyond what they could do for him. Crocodile's father was the mayor of their city. Mihawk and his family were more private. "Just keep telling him to go away. Or, I could do something about it."
"We have another couple of months before we graduate. You don't need to get expelled over me." Crocodile twisted the cap on the drink he got out of the vending machine.
"I'd get him expelled," Mihawk scoffed. He pulled out his bento box from his backpack.
"Do you really want that kind of attention?" Kuma asked softly, studying his friend.
Mihawk met Kuma's eyes briefly before turning his attention to opening his lunch. He didn't want the kind of attention that would come from fighting a fellow student, even if said fellow student was an asshole. He studied the carefully prepared onigiri in front of him. "If he hurts you again, I am putting him through a wall."
Crocodile made an unhappy noise. "Not for me."
"Cro, you're my best friend." Mihawk watched the other teen. "I will protect you."
A blush formed on Crocodile's cheeks. "Ah, fuck off, Hawkeyes," he said, embarrassed.
Kuma sat quietly next to them, his lunch tray barely touched. His steady gaze moved between his friends before he picked up the cheeseburger on his tray. "I have faith Doffy is going to leave you alone, Cro."
Crocodile's blush darkened at Kuma's words. "Is it feelings day or something? You two are the worst." He grabbed a fry off of Kuma's tray. "Can we talk about something else? Any new confessions, Hawky?"
Mihawk rolled his eyes. "No." He pulled an onigiri out of his bento and started to quietly munch on it. After his interaction with Shanks in the hallway earlier, which still had a small smile appear on his face every time he thought about it, Mihawk had did his best to avoid anyone else.
"No?" Crocodile snuck another one of Kuma's fries, which the larger teen obviously saw but said nothing about. "You made it through two classes and all the way to here without someone confessing to you? Bullshit."
"You are exaggerating." Mihawk picked up the third onigiri in his lunch and held it out to Crocodile. He wasn't looking forward to the last half of the day and the walk home, knowing he'd have to have another conversation that ended in rejection. It was getting to be annoying, but the only way that people would stop asking was if they thought he was unavailable.
Crocodile took the onigiri. "Hardly. I still think you should just say yes to one of them."
Mihawk picked up the last onigiri left in his bento. "Not one of them." He chewed quietly.
"Wait. If not one of them, then who? I won't say yes and Kuma..." He looked to their friend who was quietly sipping on a bottle of water. Crocodile looked back to Mihawk. "You're going to ask someone? Since when did you talk to anyone but us?"
A blush crept over Mihawk's cheeks. "It would stop the confessions."
"And then you'd have to spend the entire festival following someone else around." Crocodile took the last couple of bites of the onigiri.
Mihawk supposed that was true. If he said yes, he would give the person his attention and try to give his best effort. "There might be someone I would not mind going with."
"Since when?"
Another eye roll. Crocodile was his best friend but they didn't really talk about crushes. Well, Mihawk didn't. Crocodile did. It was how he knew that the Doflamingo thing wasn't going to work out. He'd seen the two of them together and then Crocodile told him things. He has been starting to figure out that Doflamingo wasn't what they thought he was. In the end, Mihawk did his best to be supportive and give his friend some gentle advice, but the other teen hadn't really listened. Then, Doflamingo blew up the relationship by being a selfish shithead. Mihawk shook his head and reached for his own water bottle in his backpack. "Awhile," was his vague answer, hoping Crocodile would take it and not press.
Crocodile snorted. "Awhile? Really, Hawkeyes? That is all you are going to give me? I spill my guts to you and all I get is that?" He gestured with his drink.
Mihawk sighed at the drama and carefully put the lid back on his lunchbox. He could tell Cro now or listen to his friend bitch for the rest of the day. Though, if he told him, he'd still likely never hear the end of it. "Yes."
Crocodile glared at his friend. "You are such a prick."
"If that makes you happy." Mihawk tucked his lunchbox back into his bag. Kuma was sitting quietly, clearing his lunch tray slowly. Mihawk was sure he was listening, not that it mattered. Crocodile was keeping up with his string of insults to Mihawk, but the dark haired teen had tuned him out already. He wasn't ready to tell his friends who he had a crush on. It was bad enough they knew he liked someone. Now, he just needed to muster the courage to talk to Shanks and maybe the other teen would reciprocate his interest. If Shanks had been flirting in the hallway earlier, which Mihawk thought he had been, then Mihawk had a chance. He'd just have to get there before anyone else did.