Chapter Text
⋆˚❀ ✿ ❀°˖
"Ah, Kaji-kun!" came the old woman's voice as she approached the second-year Furin students.
"Hm?" Kaji hummed when Kusumi tapped his shoulder. Seeing the old lady, Kaji nodded and took his headphones off, "yeah?" Kusumi and Enomoto stood right behind him, their gazes on the short woman.
"Kaji-kun, my Risa-chan ran away again..." she said, fiddling with her hands. "Again?" Kaji asked, a bit of annoyance seeping into his tone, "didn't we tell you to-"
"I know, I know" the old woman interrupted, "it just slipped my mind" she said sheepishly.
Kaji sighed — he couldn't really get mad about this, the woman's probably in her eighties by now. Wait- is that rude to think so? Ugh, he's not good at this. Feeling his vice-captains' expectant looks from behind him, Kaji parted his lips to speak, taking the lollipop out of his mouth to talk clearly.
"We'll find her.." he said in a low tone, and the woman smiled up at him. "Is she wearrrring anything in parrrrticularrrr today?" Enomoto asked, looking over Kaji's shoulder. The woman looked up at him, "ah, right. She's wearing a red ribbon today" she answered with a smile. "I thought I should switch up from the usual pink" she added, and Kusumi nodded with a small smile.
Kusumi nodded silently, pulling out his phone. "Right then, you can wait here, we'll bring her back when we find her" Kaji said, his hands reached up for his headphones.
"Kusumi" but but he didn't need to say any more since Kusumi was ready typing away. And soon, he clicked send and Kaji and Enomoto's phone pinged with a notification, probably the brunette vice-captain texting about finding the cat in the Tamon group chat — since Tamon is patrolling the town today.
He's pretty quick with that...
"Thank you, Kaji-kun" the woman said, the smile still on her face, and Kaji only nodded in response, pulling his headphones back up.
The trio watched as the woman walked back to her house, closing the door behind her.
"Well, looks like we've got a task in ourrrrr hands" Enomoto said with a smile. "Trrrry not to jump in the rrriverrrr this time, 'kay?" Enomoto said with a chuckle and Kusumi had to stifle a laugh as well, but his smile was evident.
Kaji rolled his eyes — that wasn't even that bad!
"Who do ya think it'll be this time?" Enomoto asked, looking at the both of them
Kusumi grinned, pointing towards Kaji, and Enomoto held back a laugh this time. Both of them knew that with how quiet Kaji was when listening to music and just walking around, the cat would just waltz her way towards him.
Maybe that's the reason the old lady always tries to ask Kaji in particular for help..
As they walked through the tone, Kaji spotted a local store — one he'd go to often. He reached his hand in the pocket of his hoodie, finding only one lollipop left. He furrowed his brows, still looking at the store.
"I'll be right back.." was all Kaji said before walking to the store, his vice-captains didn't need to ask — they'd been here many times before with the platinum-blonde. The two of them stood outside, glancing at their surroundings, just in case.
"Ah, you two are Furin, right?" said an old man was he walked up to the two vice-captains. "Yeah?" Enomoto said, walking to the man, "ya need anything?" he asked, and the man nodded.
"Yes, my wall, some kids vandalized it" the man explained, "I was going to do it myself or with my kids, but they're at work and my back is killing me..." he said with a sheepish smile. Kusumi nodded in understanding, smiling.
"Rrrright, we'll take carrre of it" Enomoto said, he looked over to Kusumi, "can ya tell Kaji rrreal quick?" he asked, and the brunette nodded, giving a thumbs up. Noticing the man's questioning look, Enomoto let out a chuckle before explaining, "therrre's anotherrr one with us, we'rrre just gonna tell him"
The man waved his hands, "oh, it's not that big of a deal, just two is enough- I wouldn't want to bother too many of you Furin boys" he said with a sheepish expression, "you probably have other things to do as well"
Kusumi glanced at the man, then to Enomoto, waiting. Enomoto let out a breath, feeling the brunette's expectant gaze. "Just tell him we'rrre gonna help, if he can patrol alone then let him, otherrrwise he can help us" he decided, and Kusumi nodded before walking into the store.
"Ah, thank you" the man said, "you Furin boys help us a lot, you're lifesavers"
Kaji was walking through the aisles — he always forgets where they put those damn lollipops. Suddenly, he feels his headphones get pulled down, and he almost snaps as he turns around but only sees Kusumi looking back at him, and that gets him to calm down.
Get a grip, Kaji, he just wants to get your attention..
Kaji hummed a low 'hm?' as he looked at the brunette — who quickly pulled out his phone, typing away at it before showing the screen to Kaji.
『 Enomoto and I have to help this guy with some paint, I think 』
『 Can you continue patrolling alone? 』
After the reading the text, Kaji looked back at the brunette, and nodded. "Yeah, all I have to do is find the cat, right?" he said, tilting his head slightly, and the brunette nodded with a smile. The vice-captain quickly typed something on his phone before showing it to Kaji.
『 Try not to jump into the riverbank this time (˃ᴗ˂) 』
Kaji rolled his eyes at first, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. They're never gonna let that go, huh?
"Right, right, now go on" Kaji said lightheartedly before turning away, resuming his search for the lollipops. Kusumi nodded and turned around as well, making his way out of the store, back to Enomoto and that man.
"Ya done?" Enomoto asked as he saw Kusumi approach him after coming from the store. Kusumi nodded, typing on his phone and showing it to the taller second-year.
『 He says he'll continue patrol without us ദ്ദി ( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ ) 』
Enomoto read the text and nodded, turning back to old man. "Rrright, lead the way"
The man smiled once again, "Again, thank you for your help" he said kindly, "this way.." he said, turning and walking away, with the two following after him.
Kaji walked of the store, stuffing the many lollipops in the pocket of his hoodie. At first, he looked around, trying to find his vice captains — but then he remembered. Right, he's patrolling alone for now.
It's not that bad, his music distracts him pretty easily — and he should just focus on finding that damn cat.
Why does she run away so much? She has a home already, a loving family, she's well cared for — so why the hell is she so intent on roaming in the streets?!
He was snapped out of his thoughts as he almost ran into someone, but that person quickly stopped in their tracks — dodging the contact before it even happened. Kaji recognized the uniform — the Furin uniform, of a first-year.
"Oh" Kaji blurted out, he almost muttered an apology as he took off his headphones for a moment, until he saw exactly who he almost ran into.
"Ah, Kaji-san, I wasn't expecting to see you here, not alone" Suo said, a small smile on his face. Kaji brows furrowed, "wasn't expecting ya either" he said, chewing lightly on the lollipop stick. "Where're your other friends? That Sakura"
Suo kept his smile the same, his posture perfect as he spoke "Ah, they were busy with another job, so I continued on my own" he lied. Well, it wasn't entirely a lie, those two were busy, but he wasn't supposed to continue alone.
Actually what happened was...
─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───
"Suo-san, are you sure you're okay?" Nirei asked, worry etched on the blonde's face as he looked at the eyepatch-ed boy.
Suo smiled, "I'm fine, Nirei-kun, tru—"
"LIKE HELL YOU ARE" Sakura yelled as he walked up to the vice-captains. "YOU'VE BEEN STUMBLIN' AND WOBBLIN' FOR LONG ENOUGH, WE AIN'T BLIND Y'KNOW?" he continued to yell, and Nirei gave a sheepish smile.
"Well, Sakura-san's not wrong.." the blonde said sheepishly, "you look... disoriented... you sure you aren't sick or anything?" Nirei asked again, his concern evident.
But Suo shook his head, keeping the mask the smile on his face, as always. "I'm sure" the auburn-haired boy dismissed their worries. But Sakura wasn't exactly having any of that...
"Idiot! You're gonna get yourself killed like this" he yelled as he walked up to Suo, at a small distance — standing face to face, eye-to-eye. "You're not patrolling like this, not on my watch.." he muttered.
"Hm?" Suo hummed, tilting his head slightly. Nirei also let out a confused "huh?"
"I said, you're not patrolling" Sakura repeated, his voice firm. "Go home, Suo, for your own sake"
Suo's brows furrowed. He kept his frustration hidden though. But damn you Sakura, for caring about him...
"Suo-san" Nirei said, trying to break the tension, "maybe you should just.."
Suo let out a breath, knowing he probably won't win this battle — it's a 2v1, and they have good reasons too. This dizziness is really messing with him..
"Fine, if you both insist" he said with teasing smile, trying to mask all the things troubling him — his head spinning, the weakness he feels in his limbs, the urge to just... lay on the ground, and sleep there.. if it'll get rid of this damn headache..
Sakura nodded —seeming satisfied— and Nirei let out a sigh on relief. "Do you need anyone to walk you home, Suo-san?" Nirei asked, just in case. But Suo shook his head, "oh please, I can take care of myself on the way back, but thank you anyway" he dismissed with a smile.
The trio's attention was shifted when they heard a noise, some grunts and the sound of someone hitting a wall. They turned their heads to see a few guys from that one gang — the Spaltips — fighting some teen from another school.
"Tch-" Sakura clenched his jaw, "those bastards.." he said, his hands clenching into fists, his body tensing — ready for a fight.
"You need help?" Suo asked in a neutral tone, hoping that—
"No, we'll be fine, Suo-san" Nirei said, his eyes fixed on the fight they'd approach in a few moments, "you should home though.."
Suo let out a low sigh, he's really not gonna win this.
"Go!" Sakura yelled before charging and hitting on of the smug bastards off his feet, and Nirei followed right after — he's pretty decent at fighting now.
So then, Suo watched his two friends charge into the fight, leaving him with only one option, going home — unless he wants to face the wrath of Sakura, or even worse, their upperclassmen. Because of course they'd find out about this somehow..
It's not even that bad, he can manage with this
He always has
But even Nirei will be mad at him if he does...
With a sigh, Suo turned around, hands behind his back, and began the way home..
─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───
But Kaji didn't need to know about that...
To be honest, he wasn't expecting to bump into Kaji, especially not without the second-year vice captains.
"Huh? Well ain't that a coincidence" Kaji muttered, his fingers fiddling with the lollipop stick out of boredom. Suo raised an eyebrow, "oh? So you're vices are doing the same?" he said with smile.
And for some reason, that irritated the elder. Why's this guy always smiling and grinning. Tch-
Calm down Kaji, he hasn't even done anything snarky yet.
"Basically, yeah" the second-year replied, not making eye contact with the first-year, who still smiled calmly. The first-year kept his hands behind his back, hoping to hide the trembling of his hands from the second-year.
"Well then, since we're both alone, do you mind patrolling together?" Suo offered, "everyone saw the message about Risa-chan, and it seems like no one's found her yet" he added.
Because Suo doesn't want to feel weak
He hates feeling weak
He doesn't want to feel like some fragile thing that needs to be held back, to rest, to recover
Never again..
Kaji held back a sigh — damn it, the guy hasn't even done anything yet, calm down.. "Yeah, sure" Kaji muttered, his hand leaving the lollipop stick as he shoved it in his pocket before he began walking again.
Suo nodded with a smile, before beginning to walk beside the second-year. He hopes he doesn't run into Sakura or Nirei while he's patrolling with Kaji.
Well, even so, he'll tell them that Kaji offered — which he hoped they'd believe — and in Nirei's words 'how could he say no to their upperclassmen?'
"So, what got your vice-captains caught up?" Suo asked, making small talk. Kaji, who still had his headphones down —big mistake, he thought— replied, "I think it was painting a wall or somethin'.." he said, trying to speak clearly despite the candy in his mouth.
"What about yours?" Kaji asked, since he didn't take Sakura to be the one to leave his friend behind — considering the talk they had after their spar.
"Ah, right" Suo chuckled, quickly trying to think of a lie. "They were helping one of the residents unload their things" he lied — damn it, that doesn't sound too convincing..
Kaji furrowed his brows, thinking. So why didn't eyepatch join them? But to be honest, he didn't feel like talking much about it, so he just nodded. "Right.."
The second-year stared ahead, not being able to see the slight relief on Suo's expression. Kaji didn't put his headphones back on — thinking he might look rude for doing so. Because yes, he had at least a bit of decency.
But since Suo kept quiet for a few moments, and Kaji let himself get a little lost in thought. He had some doubts, since he doesn't think Sakura would just... let him go, that doesn't really sound like him..
"I... I wanna help him.. I want him to trust me to help him.."
He's definitely worrying too much about these first-years, right?
But then again, Hiragi said that made him a 'good senpai'
That isn't entirely a bad thing, right?
─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───
Whilst they were training for the battle with Noroshi, Kaji would sometimes spar with the first-years as well — to sharpen their skills, as Hiragi said. And this time, he sparred with Sakura, who seemed very determined. Of course he was, at heart, the kid was a good guy.
After their spar, they both went to get water — they'd been going at it for a while, to the point where Hiragi had to force them to stop.
But even Kaji will admit, it was fun..
The grade-captains next to one of the tables in the gym, where everyone was getting water. Kaji was leaning his back against the table, tilting his head back as he drunk the cool water whilst Sakura —who had already finished his water— stared into his cup.
"You need to get better at thinking quietly" Kaji commented, letting out a low 'tch' as well.
"Huh?!" Sakura blurted out, looking at the second-year like he was ready to fight again — Kaji wouldn't mind..
"I mean, it's painfully obvious" the blue-eyed boy shrugged, leaving his empty cup on the table. "It's about the same as talking out loud"
"I'm not-!" Sakura tired to argue, but the words died in his throat. He clenched his fists in his frustration, looking to the side, embarrassed.
After a couple moments of silence, Sakura parted his lips to speak, but his words seemed... uncertain, unsure..
"You..." Sakura began, still not looking directly at the second-year, "how did you.. I mean-"
Kaji almost interrupted him with a 'hurry up' or a 'get on with it' but Hiragi's words —about being a 'good senpai'— flashed in his mind. Damn it, he didn't even want to be this 'senpai figure' to these kids anyway. He literally told him to deal with his problems on his own, he won't be much help anyway!
But Kaji waited, hoping to get this over with quickly though..
"Your vice-captains.. you're pretty close with them.. like good friends.." Sakura muttered, "how..?"
"Huh?" Kaji blurted out, raising an eyebrow, "whaddya mean how?"
Sakura gave him a look as well, which looked like a 'are-you-serious?' look, and had to hold back his own words at his expression. Calm down, Kaji!
"I mean.. how did you like.. get close with them?" the first-year mumbled, "how did you.. get them to trust you?" he asked, keeping eye contact this time.
"Well.." Kaji began, looking up at the ceiling now. "It wasn't that hard, they opened up pretty easily" he said with a shrug.
"Huh?" Sakura mumbled before his mind could stop it. Wait- seriously?
Kaji shrugged again, "I guess I was the troublesome one, in that regard" he said before unwrapping another lollipop and sticking it in his mouth.
Oh, that makes sense, Sakura thought. But... that also doesn't help him...
"Why're you asking?" Kaji asked, his brows furrowed slightly. He didn't know much about class 1-1, but from what he saw, it didn't seem like Sakura and his vice-captains had any arguments, or any other trouble. If anything, it seems like they clicked a little too quickly, considering how different they all were.
Sakura tensed slightly at the question, like he had been caught. Caught doing what? He doesn't know.
Sakura's two-toned gaze shifted to the ground, trying to ignore the second-year's questions look. "I... it's Suo.." he mumbled.
Kaji raised an eyebrow — shit, which one of them was Suo? He tried remembering all the things Hiragi told him about the first-years..
"That Suo, he's gonna give me another one of these damn stomachaches.." Hiragi muttered his complaints, clenching his jaw from the frustration of just thinking about the situation.
"Hm?" Kaji hummed, raising his eyebrow as he looked at his senior.
"He always acts so recklessly. Sure, the guy's strong- he can fight with a damn disability, but still.." he muttered.
Ah, disability.
Right. And he remembers the blonde guy being a little too worried about everything anyway — so that guy's not reckless.
"Eyepatch?" Kaji thought out loud. And Sakura gave him another look, looking confused this time. "Yeah.." Sakura replied, in a 'yeah, that works' tone.
"So what, did ya fight?" the second-year asked, he figured Sakura was probably blunt (and probably easily angered) like him, so he could've gotten into an argument — Kaji's done it before, in his first year.
"Wha- No!" Sakura shut down the thought immediately, "no I didn't. It's just.."
Just what? Hurry up! Kaji thought, but he bit the words back.
"He's like... he doesn't always tell us everything.." he muttered.
Kaji's brows furrowed again, "he doesn't have to" he justified. Because if he's being fair, he didn't tell his vice-captains everything about himself or his internal struggles for a while...
"It's not like that-!" Sakura argued, "well- no-.." the first-year struggled. "He just worries me.." he mumbled, "I can never tell if he's going through something, if he needs help, how I can help him"
Oh, Kaji thought, so he just.. cares about the guy..
"I... I wanna help him.. I want him to trust me to help him.." Sakura continued, his frustration and helplessness evident in his expression and voice.
Kaji doesn't really know what to say.
He never really cared to dig out that kind of stuff from people — since most people he cared about opened up kind of easily..
The second-year bit on the lollipop stick, thinking. Until he let out a sigh, unclenching his jaw around the poor candy stick.
"You can't"
"Huh?" Sakura said, maybe a little too loudly.. His eyes widened, in confusion and also.. panic. What does he mean by can't?
"No matter what you do, you can't force him to trust you" Kaji explained, looking down at the floor, his own memories flashing in his mind. "if you do that, that'll only make it worse.."
That didn't really help the confused and worried Sakura. Does that mean he just... can't help the guy?
"The best thing you can do is... give him time, give him space" the second-year mumbled, thinking that was the best advice he could give, thinking of his own experiences. "Let him know you're willing to help, but respecting his boundaries.."
Before Sakura could get a few words out, Kaji continued. "At least that's what the people around me did" he said, biting the lollipop stick again, in thought.
"But ultimately, trusting them was a decision I made"
Oh... Sakura thought, so he just... has to w—
"Whether this Suo wants to trust you to help him or not, that's his choice. Nothing you can do about that" Kaji said in a low tone, now looking at the first-year directly.
"Oh.." Sakura blurted out, his own brows furrowed in thought.
Kaji wanted to comment on all of it — saying that it was probably because Sakura's started to care for these guys — but he kept the thought in his head for now. He'll probably say it sometime later, the guy looks like he still has to process all of this.
─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───
"Kaji-san"
Suo's voice was what brought Kaji out of his thoughts, and the latter jolted a bit, quickly turning his head to look at the former. "What?" the senior said sharply, and whilst the first-year still had the calm look on his face, he gave a pointed look to the right. Kaji whipped his head around to see a few guys in front of a restaurant, arguing and yelling at the owner, an old man. A younger man, standing behind the owner, started yelling as well, and that resulted in the thugs punching the guy, right in the face...
Suo would've charged in to stop it without telling Kaji, but honestly felt too tired to do so. He could probably have Kaji charge in and take care of most of them — like he did whenever he was with Sakura — and he could just... back him up, just in case a big fight broke out.
Yeah, he could manage that, in his current pathetic state.
And Kaji did in fact, charge in — he and Sakura were so similar..
Running in, Kaji immediately grabbed the guy's collar — the guy who threw the first punch. "What do you think you're doing?" Kaji spat, his voice sending chills through the guy's spine, "ya think you can go around just punchin' anyone? Don't you-"
"What do you think you're doing?!" another one of the guys yelled as he charged towards Kaji, reeling his arm back for a punch. But his fist froze in mid-air as Suo had grabbed a hold of the guy's wrist, before he effectively spun the guy off his feet, making his head hit the ground.
Suo's arm trembled slightly from the force he had to use to do so, but he tried hiding it the best he could. He shouldn't have done that, he thought, Kaji probably could've dealt with that anyway, he scolded himself internally.
All other guys — there were about 5 or 6 of them — ran in as well, all aiming for the two Furin boys. "Don't think you can just do anything, the 'town's shield' bullshit doesn't do anything for ya!"
"Tch-" Kaji clicked his tongue as the guy who was talking too also tried getting a hit on him, but the second-year dodged, letting go of the guy's collar before punching him right in the face.
Ah, great, Suo thought
This is just what he needed...
⋆˚❀ ✿ ❀°˖