Chapter Text
Kusumi had been avoiding Keisei Street for weeks. Ever since his relationship had come to its explosive end. He couldn't shake the bits of guilt and embarrassment that clung to him for getting Kaji and his classmates involved in his personal problems. Especially not when he refused to admit to himself why it had happened in the first place. Why he would put himself through that pain at all.
He had been running from the truth as far as he could go, and once he'd gotten into the relationship it had been like a prison shutting him in. He was trapped. He felt like a coward and a fool — he could face a hundred delinquents on the street but something about the man he'd briefly called lover had truly frightened him. And perhaps escape meant admitting to himself that the other was right, that he wasn't—Stop it!
He swirled his drink idly, the glitter and silver hues reflecting under the faint light. The color reminded him of Kaji, of the younger boy's expressive eyes looking right through him, and didn't that just strike him in the gut? The one person he really didn't want to think about right now.
Kusumi took a long sip of the beverage and tried to focus back on the ongoing act on stage. He had come all this way to see this specific dancer, he shouldn't be distracted.
He was almost finished with his drink by the time the act ended, the boy clapping enthusiastically with the rest of the patrons. Or at least he tried to clap. He brought his hands together a few times but it didn't quite feel like he was moving correctly. He squinted through his bangs, realizing that his vision was far blurrier than it had any right to be and the world was spinning even though he was sitting entirely still. The drink had been notably non-alcoholic. He would've noticed…
His heart skipped a beat and he reached for his phone in one hurried movement.
Shit…
It was a lot harder to type his messages out than he expected it would be, his movements sluggish and his mind trying to fly away mid-thought. A large hand closed over the phone and his fingers, firmly wrenching the device from his grip. Kusumi snapped his head up, another skipped beat, vision fracturing as he watched two simultaneous smirks staring down at him trying to coalesce into one being.
"You don't need that…"
He tried to stumble back out of his chair and stand upright, but the boy's movements stuttered, muscles refusing to respond properly. The man wrapped a firm grip on his upper arm, offering a steady hold for him to lean into — none too voluntarily. Another hand played gently through his hair; he tried to flinch back but the movement felt too slow. Far too slow.
"Oh, Yuto…did you think I would let you go so easily?"
Kusumi's head lolled to the side, his muscles struggling more and more to hold him up. He thought he should be panicking, his heart racing in his throat, but everything just felt terribly slow and cold. He closed his eyes as the man touched his jaw, refused to look him in the eye again. He felt his breath, the hesitation of lips over his.
"Kur—da, peas…" the boy slurred out, breathlessly.
"You're not looking so good," the other whispered, the following kiss terrifyingly gentle from someone so cruel, "Let's go home, okay?"
If someone had told Kaji a year prior that he would find himself tutoring an underclassman, that someone would look to him for guidance, he would have called them crazy. And also he might've hit them. But here he was, watching the monochromatic haired boy that was taking the school by storm scrawling out math formulas under Kaji's instruction.
Kaji tapped his pencil gently on the notebook. "Mm-nh, that's wrong. Look again."
Sakura sucked in air between his teeth, "Damnit, where did—"
His eyes skimmed across the formula and calculations trying to see where he'd messed up. A steady stream of vibrations radiated through the table, but he ignored it. He'd muted his own group chats so he could focus, but Kaji was a lot more attached to his phone. Kaji grabbed for it as Sakura found his mistake and exclaimed, "Oh here! Okay…Is this right?"
Sakura lifted his gaze when Kaji didn't answer him after a few moments. The blonde's eyebrows were knit together, wrinkles furrowing the boy's forehead. He was gritting his teeth on his lollipop a little too tightly. Sakura cocked his head sideways.
"Hey Kaji, what's up?"
"Nothing…" he said, but he didn't look up. He was whittling down the last of his lollipop and he was just about to start biting straight into his cheek.
Kaji stared at the messages from Kusumi, feeling like they were a math problem to be solved themselves.
bad \̅_̅/̷̚
help
rice
Bad drink. Help. Rice?
None of it made any sense to him, but the word 'help' stood out to him, needling at him. It could mean nothing, Kusumi often sent the word as a joke, an indirect dig at himself, like he was laughing it in Kaji's ear. But…It usually had exclamation emojis. More excitement.
"Keep working," he grumbled to Sakura, feeling the other's eyes boring into him.
??? What does that mean?
He navigated away from his messages and to a little app in the corner that he'd never thought he'd download, but after everything he'd encouraged Kusumi to download it together with him. Kaji opened it, choosing the group he wanted and watched the map unfold across the phone screen. A photo of a blushing Kusumi hiding from the camera hovered over a show pub on Keisei Street.
Keisei Street?
The string of connections ran through Kaji's brain in a blur.
Bad drink. Keisei Street. Help.
Someone had messed with Kusumi's drink. He needed help.
Rice? Rice…Rice…!!! KURODA!
Kaji's phone clattered to the table with a thud that shook it. It would have startled Sakura if he had gone back to his work as the older boy had ordered, but he hadn't. Instead, he'd waited idly as Kaji wordlessly realized something and watched as something strange came over his upperclassman's features. Something dark.
"Kaji?"
The boy had stood up from the table, heading towards the door with brisk but almost rigid movements. Sakura shot up after him, snatching the boy's phone from the table and pocketing it before darting after him.
"Hey, Kaji, what's going on?"
No response. The blonde threw open the door, marching out of it. Sakura grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back. His heart thrummed nervously in his chest. It was like Kaji couldn't hear him. Kaji who could hear him even through music blasting louder than a concert. The blonde boy turned on him, fist raised and teeth bared. Sakura startled, dodging below the punch and then putting all his force to slam Kaji back against the wall of his own entryway.
"Kaji!"
The blonde gnashed his teeth at him, threatening to actually bite Sakura and the younger boy just watched in confusion and wonder. He'd seen Kaji angry before, heard rumors from the upperclassmen and Nirei, but this was different in person. It reminded him of the beginning of Umemiya's fight with Takiishi. The unbridled rage. Kaji didn't even see him.
Sakura yanked his arm away from Kaji's teeth and the blonde boy shoved past him, but Sakura dove for him. He wrapped both arms tight around his torso and latching his own hands together to lock Kaji flush against him. He tried not to remember Endo using the same move on him, but it had worked, it had broken his concentration for a second. He leaned close to Kaji's ear, grimaced, inhaled and then:
"Kaji — STOP!"
A familiar voice sliced through the static, not unlike a playful smack to the face, but a far safer play in this case than an actual smack. Kaji's ears rang as Sakura's yell faded out, but the world came back into view and he stopped struggling in the younger boy's hold.
Slowly, he took inventory of himself and his surroundings.
He was gasping, deep shuddering gulps of air like he'd been exercising or fighting, chest rising and falling in Sakura's arms. He was at his front door. Sakura was holding him, so tight, like his life depended on it. There was the faintest amount of static clouding his mind and memory, but things were slotting into place the more he breathed. He'd seen the sparks again. He'd lost control. He'd…
Kaji swallowed. This was a problem he could deal with later. Kusumi…
"What the hell, Kaji?" Sakura's voice was softer now, but no less upset.
"Not right now, Sakura. I'm —"
"Fuck your apologies, Kaji, tell me what's going on."
Sakura, sure that Kaji had regained some semblance of self, released his embrace. Kaji turned on him, teeth grit together, but there was no fist coming. The blonde boy hissed, stabbing his hand into his pocket and tearing open a fresh lollipop. He wasn't even sure where the last one had gone. He refused to meet Sakura's eyes, but from a brief look over him, he hadn't done anything too regrettable. Sakura didn't seem all that fazed actually. Like he expected that…beast. Kaji grimaced.
"Kusumi's in trouble."
"Oh. Why didn't you say so?"
Kaji dug his teeth against the hard candy in his mouth, but didn't answer. Sakura pulled something from his pocket, holding Kaji's phone out for him to take.
"Let's go help him."
Grey eyes skirted over the other's determined dual-colored gaze. Kaji opened his mouth to protest, to say something stupid about not needing help but he shut it again. Wasn't Umemiya teaching them both to rely on others? Who was he to ignore his leader's lessons? Kaji ran his free hand through his hair and exhaled slowly. Deep breaths. Focus.
"Okay. I doubt we'll need the numbers, but get a hold of your vice-captains, have them meet us at Keisei Street. Do you still have Nakamura's number?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah."
Kaji nodded. "I need it."