Archive of Our Own ^beta

By the age of 16, Draken had been in his fair share of fights. Not just kids his age, but drunks who couldn't take rejection, men who wanted services they didn't provide, men who followed their girls. Draken had knocked out several former patrons and creeps over the years, and given his size and statue, most of them leave as soon as they see him. 

But the point was that he wasn't a stranger to violence. He wasn't a stranger to creeps. He was more familiar with that kind of unsavory people than he was with stranger who would hold the door open for him. 

So, in the middle of the night, when there was some teenage punk standing in front of the massage parlor he called home, Draken figured it was just going to be one of those nights. Sure, the building had floors to other places, but at this time of the night? It was usually one thing. No one lingered in a night city like this unless they wanted something or they were an addict. 

But the kid looked up. With a black-eye almost swollen shut, he took one look at Draken, and his eyes started to flood with tears.

Draken's eyebrows furrowed. What the hell?

"Draken-kun," he said, voice breaking. He sniffled loudly, and people were starting to stare. 

Sufficiently creeped out but not a heartless asshole, Draken stared at the guy and spoke clearly. This better not be another addict. He hated fighting those, and often felt bad about it afterwards, too. It was a slippery slope to head down that path, and he didn't want to deal with it anymore than he absolutely had to. His life and his people came first. 

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked. He eyed the building. It would be annoying if he brought back unsavory business, so hopefully, no one else knew he was here. The last thing he wanted was to make a problem at the shop. He better clean this up before other people came. 

"I-" the blond sniffled loudly again, and he wiped his tears on his sleeve. His eyes, an uncanny blue that didn't fit in with the nightlights, drowned under the tears spilling out. He tried to clear his throat, a wet and gross sound echoing out. Looking up at him, he gave him a sunny smile. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Creepy didn't even start to describe how he felt. The sensation crawled up and down his spine. On reflex, Draken's hand slowly closed into a fist. Experience told him that the crazy ones were the hardest to deal with, so he knew better than to pull punches at the get-go. It was just easier to deal with an unconscious body than a manic one.

"What the hell do you want?"

The guy stared at him for the moment, and then gave a watery laugh.

"I..." he started, paused, and just stared at Draken. The way he looked at him, eyes shining in a way different from the brilliant lights of the neon lights, had Draken tensing. He had never been looked at like that. He didn't know what that meant. It wasn't quite happiness, when he didn't know who this was, and it couldn't be relief, because, again, he didn't know who this was. How could you be relieved to see someone you didn't know? How can the sight of a stranger be such a wonderful thing? "... I'm okay now," he said. "I... I just wanted to see you."

A shudder ran down Draken's spine. Draken never wanted to see him again. The girls dealt with this? All the time? The grip it had on his stomach, like it was solidifying into something heavy and cold, was almost unbearable. He felt like he didn't punch the previous issues hard enough. 

"I'm so glad you're okay."

Draken had no patience for this. He stepped in and swung his fist at him. He didn't pull anything back, and landed the first hit across his face, sending him flying into the wall. Given how he sailed through the air, he was even lighter than he looked, and Draken watched as he smashed into the wall.

"Don't ever come back here," he said, grabbing the front of his shirt and hauling him up. "Got it?"

"Augh..." he groaned, and Draken didn't care. Dragging him off the main street, he threw him into an alleyway and turned his back.

Hopefully, he would never see the guy again.

--

The second time he saw him, he learned his name, about 10 hours later.

His name was actually Hanagaki Takemichi. He would not run from a battle he could not win, because he had a damn good reason not to.

And this guy caught Mikey's eye on one uninteresting and boring summer day. He caught Mikey's attention, the way moths were enchanted by light, and Draken watched Mikey's steps slow to a stop at the side of the park. A fighting ring was on-going, some no-name running it with Toman's name, but Mikey's eyes were fully focused on the person at the center of the group. Draken watched as Mikey moved closer, making sure to keep it clean otherwise. 

To be fair, however, Draken didn't even recognize him until those creepy blue eyes landed on him. After Mikey got his name and beat Kiyomasa into nothing, the guy got up and started to cry incoherently. Unfortunately, Draken recognized him then. Babbling and sobbing in a mess of emotions and snot as he looked at Mikey and Draken, Draken reacted before he thought. He was a man of action, after all. He punched him in the face and knocked him out cold, doing what Kiyomasa could not. 

Hanagaki Takemichi, Draken would learn, was nothing if not tenacious.

"Ken-chin!" Mikey was appalled, and then he tilted his head. Something different seemed to trigger altogether in his head. Pointing at him, he laughed, "The look on your face!"

Draken scowled back, all but snarling at his long-time friend, but his heartbeat was in his ear and his hands were shaking. What the hell? Who was this? Why was he like this? 

What the hell?

Next to them, four other kids, who clearly looked out-of-depth, ran for Hanagaki. Draken arched an eyebrow at the one with a pompadour, who was staring them down.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked. The others dispersed quickly, but these guys remained here. 

"Takemichi's friends," he said. "We just... want him to be okay."

Great. Friend's of the creep. Must be a worse creep. Creeps always covered for other creeps. 

"It's okay, Akkun," Hanagaki mumbled from where he was laying down. Slowly, he sat up, and blood gushed out of his nose and swollen face. If he wasn't such a creep, Draken would have felt bad. He had his fair share of bruises, and could only imagine how bad Hanagaki's face must be throbbing. 

Where most people would be crying or screaming, Hanagaki just gave a chuckle.

"It's Draken-kun," he said, the name rolling off his tongue with great care. Draken never knew that his name could even sound like that, coming from a guy who could never win a fight but managed to win his freedom. "It's okay."

"Takemichi, you're a lot of things right now and blood loss is at the top of the list," Yamagishi hissed next to him. 

To be safe, Draken kicked him straight in the collarbone. It creaked under the hit, and this time, Mikey frowned. While the others yelled for their friends, Draken had to deal with Mikey. 

"Ken-chin, he's my pal. Lay off!"

He bared his teeth at Mikey but stood down. "Whatever."

"Well, let's hang out soon, Takemitchy!" Mikey said, a grin on his face before he left. 

And so Draken actually met Hanagaki Takemichi, the creepiest guy he ever had the misfortune of meeting. Even worse, he was going to be seeing him a lot more.

--

The third time he unfortunately met Hanagaki, it was because Mikey wanted to see him. God knew why. Draken frowned, thought about harassing Mitsuya instead, and folded when he thought about letting Mikey barge into a school unannounced. For the sake of those teachers, he should probably go and make sure that he didn't go off the handle. 

Still. 

The fucking creep looked up at him. He stared at him in a way that Draken couldn't describe. It was like standing under sunlight for too long without reprieve, and his entire skin was standing up like they wanted to rebel. He didn't hate the guy, because he knew what it was like to fight a losing battle. He wanted to respect the guy. Mikey clearly had some sort of interest in him. 

They dragged him to an arcade first. When Mikey gave others a hard time, Hanagaki caught Mikey's attention and distracted him with something else. It was a maneuver that not many could do, and Draken couldn't tell if he was so air-headed that he couldn't tell, or if he was that good at handling Mikey. The second was incredibly unlikely, since they just met.

"Don't tell me what to do," Mikey said, voice cold.

"I can't make you do anything," Hanagaki replied, "but I don't want other people to think that you're an asshole when you're not."

When Mikey frowned, his eyes were still bright, and the blond tugged him towards the racing ones.

"Come on, we're here for a good time. Don't let some shitheads take that from us."

Mikey reached to grab him by the front and then slammed him against the machine. He flinched, and his face paled, but he kept his eyes steady. He didn't look around for someone to save him, or anything like that. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed right on Mikey as the man spoke.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Mikey asked, voice low and gaze cold.

"Your pal," Hanagaki replied, afraid but still trying to hold steady.

Mikey, after a second, dropped him with a smile.

"Heh, you're so interesting, Takemichi," before he moved to the racing game. The smile on his face spoke measures.

Hanagaki placed his hand over his heart and gave a long, relieved sigh. His legs were shaking, too, like he wasn't a loser enough, and Draken almost respected him. Doing the right thing in the face of fear and possible death was not easy. There weren't a lot of people like that. It almost made Draken like him. 

Almost.

Because then, he looked at Draken like that. It was like the rest of the world completely disappeared, as he stared up at Draken. The honeyed way he looked at him as his shoulders slumped made him curl his hands into fists.

The urge to hit him came back up, but Mikey was bouncing on the balls of his feet and Draken didn't want to dampen his spirits. He turned away, and they resumed playing.

--

"Why are you always looking at Ken-chin?" Mikey asked, and Draken was in pain to think that this guy was so obvious that even Mikey picked up on it. He wasn't in the habit of eavesdropping, but he had to know. It wasn't like Hanagaki could find enough brain cells to speak when he was in front of him, after all. This might be the only time he could hear an answer. 

"Huh?" Hanagaki blinked back at him, "Am I?" 

"Yeah. It's super gross."

The creep winced, and he placed a hand over his heart like the words brought him physical pain. "Ugh," he said, "is it that obvious? Sorry," he said, dipping his head a little. "I just... Draken-kun is really cool, huh? I can't help it, I guess. He's just..." his voice trailed off for a second. "Here..."

"Do you like him or something?" Mikey's question was innocent, and Draken resisted shuddering. He didn't have anything against homos, as long as they didn't like him and bother him about it. In reality, this would be the first real homo he met that wasn't a drag queen from the bar down the street. 

"Yeah," Hanagaki didn't hesitate, and Draken tensed, eyes wide in their alarm. "I really do."

"... That's fucking gross," Mikey told him, point-blank and honest. However, Draken had spent a long time with him, and he knew when Mikey started to get curious. He hadn't seen it in a long while and wished he didn't see it now. What was so interesting about him anyway? Couldn't they just focus on fighting and riding their bikes instead?

"It really is," Hanagaki laughed back, a lifeless laugh that bubbled out of him despite sounding like he was crying, "don't worry, I won't ever tell him. Just being here is good enough for me. Draken smiling is enough for me." He rubbed his chest with his fist, and took a sigh, "I'm fine now."

"Yeah, if you made any moves on him, you'd die," Mikey said. "I'd kill you."

It was a threat, but instead, Hanagaki replied with an easy, "That's good."

Mikey tilted his head, more confused than upset. "Did you hear me? I said I'd kill you."

"Yeah," the blond nodded, "That's probably for the best though. If I did something Draken-kun didn't want," his voice was remarkably calm as he spoke frankly, "I should die."

And coming from a guy who would rather die than lose to Kiyomasa again, Draken felt like there was a weight to the words that didn't make sense. Draken didn't want it to have weight. Why did it have to be Draken anyway? Well, he supposed it was better than having a creep like this going after Emma, but it didn't make him feel better.

"...Oh, Ken-chin's back," Mikey remarked, giving Draken away. The blond pushed the door open and stepped out into the street where the other two were waiting for him. 

Hanagaki didn't hesitate. He faced Draken properly, but before Draken could think of anything respectable about him, he lost his words under the weight of his gaze. Hanagaki's stupid eyes looked at him in that stupid way, like Draken was precious even though he had four new bruises from Draken in the past two days. He was either incurably stupid or a pathetic masochist and Draken hated both options. 

"I... I'm sorry about before," Hanagaki said, bowing his head down to his waist. "I won't bother you again." When he straightened up again, Draken grimaced.

He highly doubted it, given how he still looked at Draken like that. Still, he shrugged back. Play it cool, he told himself. He couldn't give Mikey any more ammunition. 

"So, you're a homo?"

"I... I guess?" Hanagaki tilted his head, like he wasn't sure himself. Draken's eyebrows twitched. The more he talked, the less he liked him. "But like, it's not really like that either. I like you," he said, catching Draken off-guard with his blunt words. "But I'm not strong or smart or attractive or rich, and I don't think I'll ever make it big in the world either. So this is all I can do."

Draken's frown deepened, and Mikey pointed at him and started snickering.

This asshole, Draken realized, wanted to hang out with Hanagaki to make him uncomfortable. He couldn't let Mikey get away with that. Tilting his chin up, he sighed. Better rip the band-aid off. This guy was probably going to stay, and the less he showed that it bothered him, the better. 

"Well, I'm not a fucking homo," he said, "if you try anything, I'll knock you out."

At that, Hanagaki's expression brightened. He nodded his head. "That sounds like you, Draken-kun."

"If you like strong guys, I'm stronger than him," Mikey added.

"I like cool guys," Hanagaki reiterated, and Draken snorted while Mikey frowned in response. Even if Mikey would find some way to get back at him, it was nice to see Mikey get snubbed for once. "Oh, but Mikey-kun, you're super strong! Probably! And I think you're nice! Sometimes!"

"Jeez, you don't know how to compliment someone," Draken said between snorts of laughter. 

"I uh," Hanagaki's stammering came to a halt as he looked at Draken. The quiet awe on his face was disturbing, when all he was doing was looking at Draken, being himself. Quickly, the taller teen lost all the humor at the moment, and watching that, Hanagaki's expression softened. "I'm working on it."

And Draken sorta hoped he would just leave instead.

--

"So," Mitsuya took a seat in front of him as he started to eat his way through his strawberry parfait, "Mikey's new pal."

Draken immediately scowled, as he always did as soon as Hanagaki was mentioned.

"Whoa," Mitsuya said, staring at him with wide eyes. He leaned in forward, but didn't speak any quieter, "We getting rid of him?"

At least he could trust Mitsuya, Draken thought. 

"It's not like that. He's..." Draken struggled with staying impartial. He knew that he was a decent guy. Could see it in the way Mikey's eyes shined when he talked about it, and he could tell from how easily Hanagaki stood between bad decisions and Mikey. It was a good thing. Draken knew that very well. He was no longer Mikey's one and only leash. Gnashing his teeth, he finally heaved a great sigh and admitted, "He's just fucking annoying."

"Yeah?"

Mitsuya eyed him again, raising a single eyebrow, and Draken relented.

"You remember that girl that dumped Shin by throwing a bicycle at him?"

"Oh yeah, that was funny. Kairi-san, right?"

"Yeah," Draken gave a jerky nod of the head, "I'm Kairi."

Mitsuya looked puzzled for a second, and then the words slowly started to sink in. Draken knew exactly when it must have made sense, because Mitsuya was terrible at keeping a straight face. He covered his mouth, trying and failing miserably to stop laughing, and Draken's scowl deepened some more, and felt his face heat up.

All of these assholes...

"So, he uh..." Mitsuya coughed in a sad attempt to pretend he wasn't chortling, and it looked like he would start crying. Draken had many regrets. "Uh," he cleared his throat, "makes you uncomfortable?" 

Him? Draken? Vice-President of Tokyo Manji Gang? Uncomfortable because of this shithead who was only good for getting hit? He thought about Shinichiro, leaning against the wall and lifting one hand to push his hair back when he saw her. He remembered, thinking that Shinichiro was such a strange guy for taking so long to push his hair back, and flexing his arm at the girl, who responded by first throwing her coffee at him. Eventually, she threw a bicycle at him, and Draken just laughed at Shinichiro like everyone else did.

...If he could go back in time, he'd make Shinichiro stop. For his sake. 

"Fuck off," he scowled.

That did it. Mitsuya was laughing. He was slamming his hand on the table, wheezing as he laughed.

"So, Princess Draken-" he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I'll fucking kill you-"

"O-our dear maiden-"

"-so help me god, Mitsuya-"

And Mitsuya's body heaved with laughter, struggling to stay vertical, and Draken swore up and down that when Mitsuya found his special someone, he would make his life hell. 

--

"Why did you help me?" Draken finally asked, exhausted beyond words. 

The guy that caught Mikey's gaze stared up at him, slack-jawed. His face was still healing from the wreckage Kiyomasa's group left on them. Draken had been in his fair share of fights, so he knew that that kind of bruising was more painful healing than it was in the fight. His eyes fell to his hand, still bandaged, and wondered if it was going to scar. The one he had did. It itched when he stretched, and ached a little if he ran into something. The summer heat hadn't helped in that sense, making him sweat more and the bandages more itchy.

"Wow," Hanagaki said, "Draken-kun is talking to me." He spoke like he was narrating his life to an audience no one could see, pissing him off. "He's so cool." His gaze met Draken, and somehow, Draken felt like it was hard to keep his gaze. There was a weight to the way Hanagaki looked at him, and it made Draken tense, despite knowing that he could take him easy in a fight.

Of course the guy who caught Mikey's gaze would be a fucking nutjob, Draken thought. However, a guy that stood up in a fight he couldn't win because there was something he wasn't going to give up on, had his respect. Standing between a dying man and his worst bullies, Hanagaki had all rights to run away, but stood rooted. He didn't do it because he had something to prove to someone else. He stood firm, where he was, for something else. Draken wanted to respect Hanagaki, he did, but then Hanagaki would be himself instead. 

God, why was it taking Mikey so long to get out of the damn bathroom? He better not have fallen asleep in there again...

Draken's eyebrow twitched, and willed the world to spin faster. "Hey," he bit out. "I'm right here."

"Oh!" Hanagaki cleared his throat, "Sorry, Draken-kun." His shoulders slackened, as he looked at Draken, "What were we talking about?"

The urge to roll his eyes came back, but his curiosity was stronger.

"Why the hell did you help me then? You didn't have to."

"Because I like seeing you smile."

Draken's eyebrows furrowed his much that they met in the center of his face and he scowled. "What the fuck?" 

Hanagaki seemed to realize something, so he waved his hands in front of himself, "Don't worry! I don't have any ulterior motives! I just want to watch you grow up and be happy forever! Nothing to worry about! It's a super normal thing!"

A shiver ran throughout his entire body, revulsion pouring from every pore in his body. Then, the way Draken always did when something unnerved him, he balled his hand into a fist and threw it at the general problem. 

The first time he actually got to talk to Hanagaki after getting stabbed was also the first time he threw a punch since leaving the hospital, and Draken almost broke Hanagaki's jaw. He had no regrets, even as Hanagaki rolled over and slowly sat up. When Hanagaki rubbed his cheek with no indication that he was annoyed, angry, or even upset, Draken felt an uncertainty he had never faced before.

If he couldn't win a fight with his fists, then what was he supposed to do?

"Ken-chin! No in-fighting!" Mikey frowned, and Draken scowled. Figures that Mikey would come now. 

"He's not a member, yet!" he snapped back, but it was flimsy as best. Him? Afraid? How? How could he win a fight when the other person never fought? How did he win against someone who just liked to see him smile? 

"A member?" Hanagaki's voice moved up in pitch.

Mikey spoke with a wide, selfish, grin on his face, "Join my Manji!"

The blond's eyes widened dramatically, probably understanding what it meant to be asked by the Leader himself, and he gasped. 

"Me?" he pointed at himself, "but I'm weak!"

"You're strong," Mikey corrected, his voice quiet but bright. "I like that."

Hanagaki's eyebrows furrowed, like he didn't know what that meant. Surely, if Draken wasn't there, on that day, soaked in rain and hope, he would have never associated Hanagaki with strength either. As it was, he figured that he was just touched in the head. Extremely touched in the head. And unfortunately, Mikey liked that. 

"Well," Hanagaki's eyes turned to Draken, "is... it really okay?"

Oh, Draken thought. Was he actually aware of his strangeness?

"What Mikey says goes," he replied, as he always did.

Draken didn't understand Mikey, but if it'll keep the smile on his face, if it'll make him look forward, then Draken was willing to at least try it. Hanagaki wasn't a bad guy, and Draken owed him for saving his life and keeping Manji together. He knew that. Strong guys were everywhere, but a guy that was steadfast was rare. He would be a great asset. Draken knew that. 

Even if Hanagaki stared at him like that. 

It didn't matter, he supposed, because he was certain that he could at least take him on in a fight if it came down to it.

--

"...What is this?"

Hanagaki threw a smile over his shoulder as he replied, "Believe me, the okonomiyaki here is amazing!"

Mikey looked disinterested, but kept peaking at Hanagaki from the corner of his eyes. The fact that he was moving along with this at all spoke measure on either how bored Mikey was, or how interested he was. 

"How did you find this place?" he asked.

"Akkun and I stumbled here one day," Hanagaki said, "it was so good!"

"No one's bothering you anymore, Hana-chan?"

He waved at the man behind the bar, as Draken and Mikey came in.

"Nah, these guys are cool," Hanagaki replied. "Can we get the Godzilla Special?" He looked back at Mikey and Draken, "You guys are gonna love it. This is so spicy! I thought my tongue was gonna melt off." 

Draken, who liked spicy food, nodded his head. "Yeah, sounds good." 

Mikey frowned, but didn't like feeling like he was weak so he shrugged back. "It better be good."

"Oi, you haven't been seated, and you want to order?" the man laughed.

"Oh!" Hanagaki rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I can't help it. It was really good!"

The man waved at him with an exaggerated shake of his head, but his eyes were bright. He motioned at one of the empty tables, probably because it was before dinner rush, it was pretty empty. Draken supposed it wasn't good for business to have guys like them hanging around in it. They'd eat and leave, probably sooner rather than later if it didn't live up to the hype Hanagaki was painting. 

"Haha! Flattery will get you nowhere!" the man laughed back, his voice ringing. "Sit down wherever, and I'll get you your Godzilla!"

"Thank you!" Hanagaki said, and when he turned back to the other two, wasn't watching where he was walking. He ran straight into one of the chairs and almost knocked himself out. Draken's eyebrow twitched. There should be a limit to how pathetic someone could be. Hanagaki's face turned bright red as he quickly put the chair back, and Mikey picked their seats by a window in the corner. 

"If it's bad, you're paying," Mikey declared.

At that, their strange friend tilted his head. "Uh, yeah?" he said, "Of course I'm paying."

That rubbed Draken the wrong way, and he wasn't even Mikey.

"You guys can just enjoy the food!" And then, Hanagaki added, "But I'm not buying more than four."

"How generous," Draken said, unable to shake the thought that there was something else to this.

"You can't bribe Ken-chin with food," Mikey criticized, with a frown on his face. "Those are all mine."

"Try it first," Hanagaki replied, "Then we'll talk about it!"

And even though Draken didn't like Hanagaki, good okonomiyaki was good okonomiyaki. Hanagaki, face red and eyes watering, ate the Godzilla special. Instead, he pretended he didn't notice how bright Hanagaki's face looked when he ate and cleaned the plate. It wasn't the best, but it was pretty damn good. 

It would have been better if Hanagaki didn't act like himself.

--

There was something they heard Takeomi say once or twice, and it burrowed in Draken's head and drilled a hole in his heart. His heart heaved, threatening to fold in on itself whenever he thought about it, but back then, they used to laugh about it. 

Sano Shinichiro was shit in a fight, notoriously single, but a reliable friend that others followed into battle. He held a code of conduct that they all held themselves to. He practically raised them, telling them what was okay and what wasn't, when to stop and when they weren't going hard enough, when to finish the fight and when to run.

"Mikey said that Takemitchy reminded him of Shin," he told Mitsuya when he came to visit him. Maybe he spent too long thinking about it in this hospital room, but it became unbearable to carry on his chest any longer. 

His sworn brother furrowed his brows as he leaned back in the hospital chair. "Really?" he asked. 

"Yeah?" Draken prompted. "Him?" He shook his head. He didn't always understand what the hell was going on in Mikey's head, but he usually had some idea. 

If he scrubbed out every moment when Hanagaki stared at him so helplessly, he might be able to get a vague idea of what Mikey was trying to get at. However, bringing Shin into this was a completely different issue altogether.

Mitsuya seemed to consider it, and must have been thinking about the same thing, because he finally spoke. 

"Yeah, and you'll make sure he's still unlucky in love."

"Fuck you."

Mitsuya grinned at him, his teeth shiny, and Draken wanted to punch him. "You know, I wasn't the one that found you in that parking lot. He was."

"Huh?"

"I guess Kiyomasa must have slipped where he was going to corner you or something. He knew exactly where to go. He didn't even ask me to come with him. Until I saw him in that fight, I didn't realize what you meant about how weird he was." 

Draken's eyebrows furrowed, and Mitsuya shrugged back.

"Having a stalker does have some perks, huh? He took a knife for you. He even tried to carry you to the hospital on his back."

Burying his face in his hands, Draken groaned again. "Fuck off."

Mitsuya relented after that, with his stupid smug grin, but Draken started to wonder himself. 

Why would someone go so far for someone they barely knew? Even if Hanagaki heard of him, he clearly had some delusions in his head by the time they actually met. Was it just what homos did? Draken wouldn't know.

He wasn't gay.

--

"It doesn't suit you at all."

Hanagaki took a second to just stare at Draken. It was just a second longer than what was considered normal, and Draken wouldn't ever be able to scrub the sensation his gaze left off his skin. Slowly, he laughed sheepishly, his hand coming up to rub his neck.

"Right? I feel like someone dressed me up."

--

Draken stepped out of the store, already pissed that Mikey abandoned him to both pay and carry all of his snacks for the day (because Mikey ate like he was a vacuum and everyone in his way will be pulverized), and caught Hanagaki. Standing across the street with a crying child, Hanagaki tried playing peek-a-boo with him and made him cry harder. It was honestly impressive how much of a loser he was. Draken squinted at him, and Mikey spoke up.

"Takemitchy pulled him from getting hit by a car," Mikey informed him, "and now the kid won't stop crying since his ball got flattened."

Draken could see the play-by-play immediately. Hanagaki, who always managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with all that bruising on his face, sprinting to stop a kid from chasing their ball into the street. He felt like he could see without ever needing to witness it, Hanagaki's chest heaving as the kid started to cry about his deflated ball that was crushed under the car. Instead of noticing that Hanagaki saved his life, the kid would rain hell on him, especially his healing bruises. If anyone could save a child and then get beat up by them, it would be Hanagaki. 

"Heh," Mikey laughed, a glimmer in his eyes while they watched Hanagaki fail miserably to placate the child. "What a loser."

Wincing and grimacing but ultimately not fighting back, Hanagaki sat through the beat down despite being a hero. 

And Draken watched. 

--

"I mean, yeah, but he's gay."

Draken, who remembered how Hanagaki looked, standing in front of him and fighting a losing battle in the rain, frowned. He didn't know any gays, but if they were all like Hanagaki, they must all be pretty fucking cool. He heard what Pah-chin said too, that Hanagaki called the cops when him and his girl got taken from a bad, bad time. And if Pah-chin liked him, then that spoke measures for Draken.

They were simple-minded idiots like that. 

"Nothing to worry about," Hanagaki called out from behind, and the guys faltered. 

Draken frowned a little. He didn't like guys who shit-talked behind other people's backs. He was tired of them, and was more annoyed that these kinds of shit happened even in Toman. He would have done something sooner, if only because Hanagaki was personally invited into Manji through Mikey, and if they weren't going to go up against Mikey about that, then they need to keep their mouth shut. Except Hanagaki had impeccable timing. It was something else to see someone walk in during the deed and reply in kind. He wanted to know what Hanagaki, who looked at Draken like he was something so much more than a 16 year old delinquent, was seeing. 

As they whipped around, there was Hanagaki giving them a thumbs up. "I only like cool guys, so you're safe."

From behind them, where Mitsuya was walking in with Hanagaki, the newest recruit for his division, he burst out laughing.

"He got you there," he said, wide grin on his face.

"Oh," the first guy said, and then, as he started to understand what had been said, turned around with an embarrassed flush, "I'm plenty cool!"

"No way," Hanagaki shook his head. Then, he made a motion with both hands towards Draken, eyes sparkling like the night sky as he declared out, "I mean, look at Draken-kun! How could you even begin to compare?"

And Draken, not one to be brown-nosed, rolled his eyes and walked over to whack Hanagaki. He didn't hit him as hard as he normally did, evidently since Hanagaki only took two steps to the side. The young teen groaned, but when he looked up at Draken, he looked so pleased that the older teen was a little unnerved. He might not have hit him very hard, but there were seldom anyone that smiled at him so brightly, so relieved, when hit.

"Don't say dumb shit," he said, rolling his eyes and grabbing his head to ruffle his stupidly stiff hair. Shoving him to the side after a moment, he watched how Hanagaki gave a small laugh.

And it made Draken feel like there was something with a thousand legs crawling all over his chest. Reasons to like Hanagaki was like reasons to dislike Hanagaki, plentiful. 

If all gay guys were like Hanagaki, he decided, he was going to stay far away from them all.

--

"... And then Takemitchy actually walked into the door!" Mikey explained, eyes bright as he spoke about a memory like Draken wasn't also there. He snickered again, his shoulders shaking. Just the memory had him laughing, "What the hell do you think he's going to do today?"

His eyes shined brightly, and Draken smiled back. 

Despite all of his complaints and initial concerns, Hanagaki was almost like a regular guy. Sure, he couldn't throw a punch, and his face was never clean, but he liked games and bad films. He liked chasing beetles, and loved getting a ride on a motorbike. He was terrible in a fight, but he never expected them to go and fight for him. Despite so many others who would gladly throw their weight around for being Mikey's pal, Hanagaki Takemichi was actually just a dude. Mikey was Hanagaki's friend, as much as it was the other way.

Draken privately wished that they could have been friends, too. He wondered how fast it would take for someone to get over their homo crush. 

Like that, they pulled up to Hanagaki's nice home. A spacious two-story place in the suburbs, but Draken had never seen anyone there aside from Hanagaki or his middle-school friends. Photos of his childhood were in some frames, but none of them featured him after the second grade. Maybe that's why he was like this. He wasn't socialized enough as a child.

"Takemitchy!" Mikey called out voice ringing in the crisp morning air. Before this, Draken would have never guess that Mikey could get up before noon, "C'mon! Let's go!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Hanagaki rushed out of house, still trying to get his shoes on. "Quiet down, Mikey-kun! You're bothering my neighbors!"

"Then you should have hurried up," Mikey replied with a wide, unrepentant grin on his face. "Let's go!"

Hanagaki sighed fondly, closing the fence behind him, and then his eyes found Draken. 

"Hey, Draken-kun," his said, eyes shining like some jewelry that Draken had seen on TV ads and magazine. If they could make that color a jewel, Draken would understood why rocks got so astronomically expensive. Just as fast, Hanagaki turned back to Mikey with an easy smile, "Mikey-kun, where do you want to go?"

"Hm..." Mikey seemed to think about it for a second, and tilted his head. His expression softened up into something Draken had never seen until Hanagaki joined them. "What do you want to do, Takemitchy?"

Hanagaki blinked, like he wasn't sure what to think, and then came to an answer, "Curry?"

And he never looked at Draken, never called Draken, never talked to Draken, but still, somehow, knew exactly what Draken wanted.

"Ooh! I love curry!" Mikey grinned back, "That sounds great, Takemitchy! C'mon Ken-chan! You love curry, too!"

"Yeah," Draken said, and in these moments, felt like Hanagaki was a real creep, or they had a lot in common. He wasn't sure what was better. "Sounds good."

But at least Mikey was happy. He looked like he was glowing. His arms locked with Hanagaki's as he dragged him forward. Hanagaki whined about being dragged, but he was laughing in seconds as they eagerly chattered on and on about all the different types of fillings that they were going to get. 

So Draken was forgiving.

--

Hanagaki was popular, and Draken wasn't sure why he thought that was strange. There was a certain magnetism about him, and often, he was always in the center of things. It was just something that he noticed. In the sea of all the bad dye-jobs, somehow, Hanagaki stood out a little more.

"Takemitchy, we still good for the arcade tomorrow?"

"You're that excited to get your ass kicked?" Hanagaki ribbed right back, a wide grin on his face as waved at one of them and fist-bumped the other one, "Damn right, we are!"

"Fuck you! You're getting creamed and paying for soda afterwards!"

"Bring it on!" Hanagaki shouted right back as he walked by them. 

And then, for just a second, his eyes met Draken's. His features softened, and Draken didn't think that he was lying when he was laughing and smiling with the others, but then he'd get that look on his face. Eyes glimmering as he stared at Draken, he gave a curt nod before he turned and waved at someone else.

"What's up, Takemitchy?"

"It's up, alright!" Hanagaki said, and he was back to his casual laughter that Draken was used to seeing.

It wasn't that he was lying or two-faced, and Draken knew that. And it was an expression he had seen on people's faces before, too. Other people looking at other people, of course. But being the focus of that kind of look made his fingers itch, like he had to run forward and punch something until it stopped. Why did he only look at Draken like that? Why did it have to be him?

He wasn't sure what to do about it, what to feel about it.

"You're going to stare a hole into him," Mitsuya called out. 

Draken jerked, not even noticing that his sworn brother had come over and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Well, he's pretty popular," Mitsuya continued, a lazy smile on his face as he tilted his head. It was probably his conclusion now that he had him in his division for a few days. They watched someone jump on his back, how he teetered to the side, but managed to stay on his feet with a loud exclamation. They laughed, clapping and cheering when he didn't fall, and he yelled at all of them to stop jumping on him like this, "even though he's gay."

"Yeah, apparently," Draken said, and he swore that these guys, just a few weeks ago, were so cold to Hanagaki. He supposed getting stabbed for their VP changed their attitudes. Well, he supposed that Hanagaki felt much closer than Draken or Mitsuya. He had a way of making people drop their guard. It was probably his inherent stupidity. 

"He's pretty funny, too," Mitsuya added.

Draken nodded his head, a laugh building up inside of him when he remembered Hanagaki falling into a trash bin just yesterday.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "He is. Though he could work on his sense of style."

Mitsuya gave a barking laugh at that, alarming some of the other members in front of them, and Draken wondered if that was something he should be concerned about. In his memory, Mitsuya and him were always laughing and joking around, but maybe the other members didn't see it as often. Why did they look so surprised? They were pretty easy-going, all things considered.

But still, Hanagaki was the one that was surrounded by laughter and grinning faces as they all crammed themselves in to see the arcade screen. 

"You're so right," Mitsuya agreed, "I can't believe his mom lets him buy the shit he does."

Draken laughed back, and even though the sound of his laughter was quieter than Mitsuya's and under the thrum of machines and teenage boys slamming into each other as they played, Hanagaki's head suddenly snapped over to him. He wasn't sure what Hanagaki saw, but that honeyed smile of his stretched his lips before his gaze dropped to the ground. 

And Draken just didn't get him.

--

"Yo Takemitchy," Draken called out as he entered the cool hospital room, "Don't you hate coming here?"

"D-Draken-kun!?" Hanagaki spluttered, eyes widening, and Draken rolled his eyes. What a drama king. Just because Hanagaki didn't visit him when he was stabbed didn't mean that Draken wouldn't visit him.

He lifted his plastic bag, filled with some snacks and fruit, "Brought you a gift."

And then, he realized that Hanemiya and Baji were there, too. He paused for a second, staring at them. Baji nodded his head, and Hanemiya, who looked so muted since the fight, nodded his head after a second. In Hanemiya, Draken remembered Shinichiro's funeral, and pulled his gaze away. Even if the whole battle was done, Draken felt the prickle under his skin when he saw him. 

"D-Draken-kun," Hanagaki's voice climbed up higher. His cheeks turned bright red as he looked up at him, and cleared his throat. The blush stained his ears, and Draken wondered if someone could knock themselves out by blushing. At least, they were in the hospital. "I uh, w-what are you uh... here for?" he asked. His hands balled the blanket over his legs, and he pulled it closer. Immediately, he jerked because it pulled his arm a little too much, and Hanemiya gave a full-body flinch. 

"Dumbass," Draken spoke up, because he had seen enough. "What the hell are you thinking about?" he asked. "Of course, I'm here to visit our resident hero."

Hanagaki's face flooded in color just as fast, "H-huh?!" he flustered. "I-I'm not... I'm not a hero, not at all!" he shook his head, waving his good hand in front of him like he could just shove the entire thought away.

"Nah, you're a hero," Baji said, arms crossed over his arms. 

"A crybaby hero," Hanemiya added, an uncertain smile stretching his lips.

"You guys are just picking on me now!" Hanagaki shouted out, face red for a different reason.

And Draken listened to the quiet, almost strained laugh from Hanemiya, the way Baji looked from Hanemiya to Hanagaki and then closed his eyes while he grinned, and Draken-

Draken took a seat next to Hanemiya, watched him stiffen, and remembered what it was like to go riding together. He remembered the howls and laughter, just barely heard over their engines. It was a little easier than he remembered. 

"Who are you going to save next?" Draken teased. "Mitsuya? Mucho?"

"Oh, come on!" Hanagaki whined, loud and unmanly, and Draken laughed right back. The blond went back to grumbling just as fast, and Draken thought that it was fine. He watched the way those blue eyes dropped to his hands in his lap, a small smile stretching on his face. 

Baji declared loudly, "Well, you won't be thrown here next time. Since I'll be fighting next to you."

Hanemiya's hand flinched, and he looked up at Hanagaki, then Baji. Taking a deep breath, he found his words. "Well, the rooms here are big enough for you guys to be roommates."

The two gave mocking sound of offense before succumbing to laughter. It was a little stilted and jilted, nothing like they sounded before.

Just a few days ago, Draken felt like he was mourning the loss of their friendships for a second time. Instead, he exchanged a new scar on Hanagaki for a miracle. With friends that he never thought he would have again, Draken felt something heavy rest on his chest even though he felt like he was flying. Sitting through the awkward pauses, carefully finding their footing again, he felt like he received a gift that he could never repay. The unsettling feeling felt weird, especially since Hanagaki looked at him the same way he always did, all gooey gaze and beaming smile. 

And Draken looked at Hanagaki.

--

Mikey gave a long, drawn-out sigh. An absolutely soul-draining sigh as he laid flat on his back on the grass. Laying out like a starfish on the floor while the biting first winds of winter rolled over him, he flailed after a moment of being still. 

"Ken-chin!" he called out.

He ignored the first one, flipping a page in the magazine from where he was sitting on the sidewalk stairs. 

"Ken-chin!"

"What?" he answered but he already had an idea on what was going to happen.

"Ken-chin!"

"For fuck's sake, what?!"

"I'm bored!" Mikey kicked the air and rolled over. "Should we go pick Takemitchy up from school?"

"Yeah?" Draken's lips stretched into a small smile but got ready to go. Putting his magazine down, he froze at Mikey's next words.

"Kazutora and Baji, too."

Draken turned his head, and Mikey grinned up at him, unweighted, unbothered, bright, and vibrant. If this was what forgiveness looked like, Draken wanted it. He wanted it, and he wanted Mikey to never forget it. It didn't mean Shinichiro didn't matter, but it also didn't mean that Kazutora was unsalvageable trash. They could move forward in a different sense. 

"Yeah?" He sat up, "Let's call Mitsuya and Pah-chin up, too. It's been a while since all of us hung out, hasn't it?"

Draken stared at him and grinned back. "Let's do it!" he said, and wouldn't realize until later that he considered Hanagaki a part of his closest circle. 

So they got their bikes, and leisurely made their way to Hanagaki's school. Draken propped his elbows on the handlebar, leaning forward, while he biked on. After they grabbed him, they would go take Mitsuya and Pah-chin. The idea that they could call them came, but the real joy came in the spontaneous. 

"Where should we go today?" Mikey asked. "I want..." he thought about it, "...okonomiyaki!"

"Why'd you even ask?" Draken deadpanned, but he was craving that Godzilla special again. "Let's see what our truants are up to."

And when they got to the school, they saw Hanagaki. Hanemiya was holding his bag with a crooked smile on his face, and Hanagaki was otherwise surrounded by Hanagaki's middle school friends. Before Mikey even reached his arms up to call for them, Hanagaki's head turned, like he was pulled by some unseen force. 

Half a street away, Draken saw Hanagaki's face, the slight blush coloring his cheeks, the way his shoulders slumped, the growing smile on his face, and the absolute delight that lit his eyes up.

"Draken-kun," he said, too quiet for Draken to hear, but Draken heard it all the same.

Even if Draken's life was saved by this guy, and even if he returned Mikey's smile and therefore the sun to his earth, and even pieced back together a festering wound, that smile felt like he was being skinned alive. His entire body locked up under that gaze. The urge to run and hide from the gaze that promised no pain was startling. Although Draken relished a close fight, he felt like this one was something he wouldn't win. He couldn't even fight it. He didn't know how to.

Mikey cheered loudly, and Hanagaki's eyes turned to their leader. His eyes were still bright, and his gaze that was different but the same as the one that he just gave Draken. It was enough to make him think that he was the crazy one. Maybe he was just delusional. Hanagaki was weird, but not that kind of weird. 

So for the moment, because it was just easier to, he shelved it and didn't touch it again. Hanagaki didn't mention it, and he didn't either. They could just ignore it, and maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. There were more important things than this.

And for the moment, he hung out with his friends, like they used to, before Shinichiro died and life wasn't about making Toman bigger and all of that.

--

"...You know I'm dating Emma, right?" Draken blurted out.

"...Yeah?"

Draken stared at Hanagaki a moment longer, squinting at him, and Hanagaki nodded his head.

"I don't blame you. She's super pretty, smart, and cares about you as much as you care about her," he added. 

"Huh?"

Hanagaki gave him a thumbs up, "Don't worry, I'll help you out with anything. Do you need dating advice?"

"I don't want date advice from a homo," Draken said, and many years later, he'd think about how the words must have hurt. At the time, he knew it would hurt, and said it anyway. He wanted to know. Did his callous words actually hurt? He wanted to see if Hanagaki would get angry, get upset, get something else other than that hauntingly warm smile on his face. It was a brief second of surprise on his face before his gaze dropped away from Draken instead. He looked forward and rubbed his neck.

Draken immediately felt like an asshole. 

"You have a point," he said, a strained smile on his face, and turned to Draken. "But you know, everyone likes a good meal with someone they like, right? I'll distract Mikey, so uh... take her someplace nice. Bring some flowers if you really want to wow her. She loves roses and carnations, you know. The red ones and the pink ones. Well, I guess Mitsuya-kun would be better help here than me."

The older teen stared at Hanagaki for a moment longer. It didn't make sense to him, if he was being honest. Shouldn't he be angry? Bitter? Jealous? If someone was looking at Emma the way Hanagaki looked at him, then he'd want that freak far, far away from her. It didn't matter if he knew that Hanagaki would break himself trying to protect her and the things that matter to her.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.

Hanagaki stared at him, like he was the crazy one. Hands in his pockets, he looked casual even in his stupid t-shirt with weird zippers all over it. Draken hated how he was desensitized to the random shit he wore now. When had they spent so much time together? It was definitely Mikey's fault, but this was insane. 

"I mean," he looked down, his cheeks darkening a little and Draken realized that he must have spoken aloud. "Well, more than all that, I just wanna see you happy." he explained with a shrug. There was no malice, no bitter feelings, nothing like that. It was almost as though he was truly and genuinely distant from the situation, "And Emma makes you happy."

It sounded simple. It sounded obvious. When Hanagaki said it, it was clear-cut and Draken was the stupid one for asking something a question that had such an obvious answer. 

"Then, did you take the blade from Kazutora to make me happy?" 

"Uh," Hanagaki hesitated, and Draken wanted to hit himself for asking something so lame, "Well, I mean, at first, yeah. I know how important they, and Toman in general, are to you and Mikey. And you guys are important to me, too, so whatever's important to you guys is also important to me. It wasn't like I knew Kazutora was going to do that, but at that time, I couldn't... just stop. Baji was behind me." And then, he rubbed the back of his head, "But you know, I'm really glad that they're alive and okay and Mikey forgave them. It couldn't have been easy."

You did that, Draken didn't say. He couldn't tell if Hanagaki was stupid, humble, or playing him, when he had a gaze that he only gave Draken. 

"I just got super lucky," he continued. Draken wasn't sure if he had forgotten how he got the scar on his hand, and wondered why he wasn't touting that around to just demand what he wanted from Draken already. What did luck mean to him when he landed himself in the hospital several times for a guy he's known for two weeks (well, he's a creep so all Draken knew was that he decided to show himself for these two weeks)? He looked at Draken, gaze heavy and warm, and Draken hated how he felt looking at someone who did not want to hurt him. "I'm... super lucky, you know."

Hating someone should be easier.

"And you know, Kazutora sucks at soccer," he said. "Like wow, he's bad." His eyes were bright as they continued chatting, "And Baji and I like the same kind of shoujo mangas but the opposite things in action movies!" Which already spoke measures if he could get Baji to sit still for that long without a fight breaking out. "It made me think, you know? I could have lived without ever knowing that. So like, I just... wanted to see it for myself instead. Everyone laughing together." He grinned at Draken, "And then everyone can be happy."

"Huh?" he felt like they weren't talking about the same thing. 

"And I want you to smile," he said, eyes on the ground as his smile turned somber, "whatever that takes."

Draken took it all back, Hanagaki was just a fucking idiot. He was absolutely stupid. He had no idea what this guy was sprouting any day. Before he could say anything else, however, Mikey finally came out of the bathroom with Pah-chin, and they were on their way. 

Try as he might, he could not forget.

--

"...I thought about it, but Mikey," Baji's voice was firm, voice ringing in the silence of the abandoned warehouse they called their hideout, "even if you forgive me and Kazutora, we haven't earned it."

Mikey was quiet, and their resulting silence rang.

"If I gave it, do you have to earn it?" Mikey replied, a frown on his face.

"Mikey," Baji stood up, "I think we all lost sight of something. This whole thing just proves it."

And both Baji and Hanemiya gave formal bows to him. Draken's eyes widened, not expecting it, and the others were in similar state. It had been a few weeks from that fight, crispy autumn starting to get unbearably cold. They had come to terms with it, and were moving on. 

"Takemitchy has something that I don't," Hanemiya explained. He looked at Baji, who nodded before continuing, "We want to nominate Hanagaki Takemichi as the First Division Captain," he said, eyes shining with a determination that seemed to out-of-character but well-fitting. "And put me in that division. I'll work under him."

"Me too," Baji said, "since I betrayed you, anyway. I shouldn't be a captain."

"What the hell?" Mikey frowned, and instead of saying what everyone else was thinking, he shouted out, "You totally just want to monopolize him!"

"Damnit, I knew he'd see through it," Hanemiya whispered to Baji.

Scowling, Baji wasn't someone that ever bothered being sneaky. "It's fine, isn't it?!" he shouted back and Draken rolled his eyes. This was more Baji. "He's a little weakling, so I might as well keep an eye on him!"

"No, I'm sick of you guys stealing him from me!" Mikey raised his voice as he stood up defiantly, "He's mine! I found him first!" He pointed at Hanemiya, "They already go to the same school! Absolutely not!"

"God, those poor teachers," Mitsuya deadpanned.

"No," Mucho replied, and all eyes fell to him. "Poor Matsuno," he said, and at that, all the Captains broke down laughing. His lips twitched, giving him away about how he really felt. 

Draken didn't realize that Mucho and Hanagaki had gotten close enough that he could make a joke like that. He wondered if that was a part of his unique charm. 

"Nothing he can't handle," Baji said, a grin on his face, "He likes Takemitchy, too."

"Not as much as me though," Hanemiya added. 

"Not as much as me!" Mikey shouted over them, and Draken stared at him in exasperation. What about their dignity as Manji Executives? Kisaki, their newest addition, looked mildly disturbed, and he wasn't sure if it was because their reputation was already in the shit because Mikey's pal was a homo. If they were this kind of mess, what did that mean for the Manji members that looked up to them?

Still, it was a little awkward, there was a beat of pause where it didn't use to be there. Their eyes met, and Mikey gave Hanemiya a disarming smile. More than any words, any earned forgiveness, it was a powerful thing. Briefly, Draken could forget all complaints.

"As soon as you guys fuck up, I'm taking him," the tyrant they called boss decided, arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face.

"What does it matter?" Mitsuya piped up, "He only got eyes for Draken."

Draken rolled his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath. Fuck Mitsuya.

"Oh, true," Pah-chin remarked, and how bad was it that even Pah-chin had noticed? "He's got it bad for you, Draken."

All eyes turned to Draken, and he scowled. So focused on this, he missed how Kisaki's sharp gaze snapped right to him. Why him? He didn't know. The two barely talked more than twice at this point. Was he worried that there were actually two homos in Toman? He didn't need to worry about that.

"Not fair," Mikey sighed, "What's even good about Ken-chin?"

"Hey," Draken frowned.

"I'm not sure," Mitsuya piped in.

"Mitsuya." Somehow, hearing that from his sworn-brother made it worse. 

"He has good points if you look for it," Baji added.

"You bitches," Draken's eyebrow twitched.

"I don't personally care, but not everyone will say that," Mucho said. "If we really make Hanagaki a captain, is he prepared for that?"

"The guy took a knife for someone he knew for about two days," Hanemiya pointed out. "And people care more about his big gay crush on our Vice President?"

"Two knives," Baji corrected quickly, "One for Draken."

Eyebrows climbing up his face, Hanemiya said, "Wow, those rumors were real? Draken got princess-carried to the hospital?"

"Oh, fuck off," Draken groaned, but he knew Mitsuya was failing to smoother his laugh.

"Yeah, and he already said that he only likes Draken," Smiley replied. "And like, it's Draken. He'll lose interest."

"For fuck's sake..." Draken bared his teeth. Why the hell was he getting dragged for this?

Mucho shrugged back. "Well, you guys know him better than me. For what it's worth, I think he's pretty funny. And... I do respect him."

It was a heavy remark from Mucho, of all people. Smiley turned to him, a little surprised, but there was a smile on his face. Before he could say anything, however, a shoe came flying at Mucho. He narrowly dodged, and arched an eyebrow at the person who threw it. 

"Hands off, Mucho!" Mikey pointed at him, eyes sharp and baring his teeth out like a feral beast, and Mucho rolled his eyes.

"What the hell?" Smiley laughed, "He's hung out with everyone here but me?!"

"Don't even think about it," their boss's voice came out frosty. 

And somehow, their laughter seemed to echo that night. Even though this was Draken's favorite sound, he didn't like how it felt like it was at his expense.

--

Mikey laughed until he was on the ground while Hanagaki frantically tried to collect his shoes from the grate he fell through. He looked like he was on the verge of crying, but no one could hear him under the sound of Mikey's laughter.

Draken gave up all pretense to just point and laugh.

What a loser. It was somehow even funnier when his face turned bright red, and he pathetically tried to make excuses that he wasn't normally like this when he totally was.

This guy, he thought, in charge of the First Division?

"Huh?"

Their laughter slowed down, and Draken bit the bullet.

"What's up?"

"There's a wallet here," Hanagaki said, digging it out. He smelled putrid, so the other two didn't come closer.

"How much is in there?" Mikey asked, "Lucky us!"

"Oh, nice, there's an ID," the blond said, opening it up. "Aw, he got two kids," he cooed. "I'll get this to him afterwards."

"The cash, Takemitchy," Mikey whined. "We could get dorayaki."

"I'll get you some later, Mikey-kun," Hanagaki replied, pocketing the wallet. As he finally got out of the grate, he gave them an easy smile. "I'll catch up with you later. I want to take a shower."

"Yeah, you need one," Draken added, but his eyes looked from the wallet to Hanagaki, and didn't say anything more.

"We can wait for you to finish," Mikey said, "To Takemitchy's house!"

"Wait, Mikey-kun, you're just going to eat all my puddings again!"

And Draken laughed along.

--

The day Hanagaki became the First Division Captain, he cried. Draken wasn't sure what else he was expecting. However, he was surprised that he could look and smile back at him. It felt easier this time, somehow.

It was probably because Hanagaki was stuck with the other First Division members. They surrounded him with exasperation and fond smiles. Draken was smiling at the fact that Toman was coming back together stronger than they were before. Baji was right, they had definitely lost something over the months, and Hanagaki neatly returned it to them.

Hanagaki scrubbed at his eyes, making all the skin around it raw, and Draken watched.

--

"He's not that bad," Mitsuya said, "our little prince... well, your little prince charming."

"I swear to Christ, Mitsuya, I will break your arms and legs."

Mitsuya broke down in laughter. The asshole. Just wait until he fell for someone. Draken didn't normally hold grudges, but he would make an exception for this. 

"Well, he's been hanging out with Kisaki and Hanma more often," he noted.

"Huh?"

"Saw them, like yesterday," he said, slurping on his soda. "You didn't know?"

"We hung out like yesterday," Draken replied, "He met them after?" he thought about Hanemiya and Baji, "There's no way Kazutora and Baji wouldn't be there. They, like, live at his house." It was a little unnerving, but given how Baji leapt to make sure Hanagaki didn't hold anything heavy, Draken figured that he was coping. Everyone with eyes could see how Hanemiya stretched out like a cat against Hanagaki when they were sitting on the couch. Not to mention, Matsuno carried a first-aid kit in his bag now because of Hanagaki. The first division was their own league of clingy and unbearable. And when Mikey got there, all Draken got was a headache.

Mitsuya, probably remembering two days ago when they had an impromptu party at Hanagaki's, shook his head. "...Careful Draken, someone might snatch him from under you."

Draken snorted, "They can have him."

His friend shook his head, "You're awful," he said with a little laugh. "And don't do that to Takemitchy, he deserves better than Baji."

The taller teen scowled back, "There's no way," he said. What was the likelihood that they were both homos? And Baji? Draken practically grew up with the guy. He didn't think Baji even saw people as anything other than moving punching bags. He was relatively certain that he wouldn't hit a woman, but that didn't mean he'd touch a man either. 

Their food arrived, and they shelved all their worries. 

"Whoa, this is good," Mitsuya said, "Why didn't we come here sooner?"

"Takemitchy showed Mikey, but Mikey doesn't like western noodles," Draken replied. "Got a craving so I figured I'd bring you."

Mitsuya nodded, and then pointed his chopsticks at at him, "This is damn good alfredo," he said, "at a nice price. Tell me all of your gay man woes."

Draken scowled back at him, before he could say anything else, he frowned as he looked out the window.

"What's up?"

"Valhalla jackets," Draken mentioned.

Mitsuya looked over and then at Draken.

"Let's get some exercise once we're done?"

Drakne grinned back at him. "You're on."

--

"Emma, why did you come with Takemitchy?" Draken asked, a frown on his face. To the side, Matsuno was giving Hanagaki a dressing-down for not answering his phone. 

Hanagaki, cornered by Matsuno, Baji and Hanemiya, looked like he was shrinking down into nothing. As a Captain, he really needed to shape up. It was so pathetic how he looked, getting yelled at by his lieutenant like that. Well, whatever he got up to didn't really concern him, especially since he doubted that Hanagaki would really make a mess for Manji. For all the shit they called him, he was more Manji than any of them.

Draken rolled his eyes at him, and focused back on his girlfriend. 

"We went on a date!" Emma cheered back, so happy that she was absolutely radiant. She bounced on her heels, grinning widely as she peered up at him. 

"A date?" Draken frowned, and next to him, Mikey came closer. 

"I wanna go on a date with Takemitchy," Toman's President whined.

His Vice President and younger sister both shot him disgusted looks.

"And," she continued, like her brother didn't talk at all. Her eyes were sharp as she looked up at Draken, "Did you know, Ken-chin? You only ask where I've been if it's about Takemitchy."

The taller man frowned and she giggled.

"You don't deserve him, Ken-chin!" 

"Yeah, whatever," Draken replied, brushing it off. She was probably misremembering something. "When did you guys get so close anyways?"

"I went and told him that we were dating, and you know what he said? "Yeah, you guys look great together!"" Emma replied, shaking his head. "I don't get what's going on in that head of his. But," she paused while contemplating her next words, "He really does know all the best places to eat!"

"Really?" Draken deadpanned, and then he thought about it. Come to think of it, all the places that Hanagaki picked were pretty decent. Given how empty his head seemed to be most days, he was surprised to think that he could even remember things like restaurants, cafes, and their menus. 

"I'd know if I got to go with him," Mikey added, defeated in a corner and the other two ignored him. "Everyone's trying to steal him from me..."

Emma shot them both a look of pure disgust.

--

"Takemichi!"

Draken turned around as he punched the guy under his arm one more time. His eyes immediately found Matsuno running to his Captain, a wide grin on his face.

And Hanagaki, who grinned, winced at how it pulled at his split lip and swollen cheek, but managed a, "Hi, Chifuyu." He lifted his hand up to hold up a peace sign, "I think I'm getting stronger."

"Yeah?" Matsuno sounded disbelieving, but like he was playing along. 

Draken threw the guy he was holding as he made his way over. From the roar behind him, Pah-chin was wrapping up, too. 

"I took three whole hits to my face," he said, "And I didn't black out once!"

"Oh wow," Matsuno actually sounded impressed, "Good work, Captain."

"And I did that thing," he said, closing his hand into a fist, "that Baji-kun taught me? I nailed one right in the face."

"Baji-san really knows his stuff," Matsuno agreed, his lips stretching into a wide grin as he puffed his chest out in pride. 

"Yeah! I-" Hanagaki's words stopped, and his eyes turned to Draken. Standing in the focus of his eyes, Draken experienced free-fall. "Draken-kun," he whispered out, much too quiet at the end of a fight but still managing to drown out the rest of the world, "Good work!" 

Draken hesitated, but gave a shrug. 

"Aren't you tired of taking it to the face?" he asked as he finally caught his breath, too. 

"Urk," Hanagaki winced at the words, "Yeah, you're so right," he agreed. Still, like just the sight of Draken was enough to forget everything else, he smiled at him. "How are you doing?"

"Better than you," Draken replied dryly.

"Captain!" Baji came barrelling in with a wide grin on his face. He lifted up 12 belts in his hands with a near manic look in his eyes, "Look! I took 12 of their belts!"

"...Give them back," Hanagaki replied, eyes wide in their shock as he looked at Baji.

"Captain!" Hanemiya came right next to Baji, "I got 13 belts! I'm the superior fighter!"

"Why is this a competition?" Hanagaki asked.

"Fuck! I can get belts, too!" Smiley shouted out from the other side of the parking lot they were fighting in. "I'm not losing to some former captain!"

Helplessly, blue eyes turned to him, and Draken couldn't resist.

"So, what are you going to do with all these belts?"

"W-wait, Draken-kun! I-I don't know? I didn't ask for these!"

Despite himself, Draken's lips twitched into an almost smile. Watching Hanagaki panic and fluster about was always an entertaining sight. 

"Baji-kun, Kazutora-kun, please return those to their owners!"

"I'll take Kazutora's right now, and then I'll have 22!" Baji said, eyes turning to his longtime friend.

"Baji, 13+12 is 30," Kazutora snorted in return.

"Guys!" Hanagaki whined, unbefitting of a Toman Captain, but the incredulity of the situation had Draken laughing. The rush of the fight hadn't left him yet. A little competition would be a good closer. At the sight of his grin, Hanagaki clicked his jaw shut, eyes only on him as he seemed to forget all else.

"Alright," he said, cracking his knuckles as he stepped forward. The weight of Hanagaki's stare felt like his uniform, heavy until he got used to it, and focused forward, "Let's do this."

The fear in the eyes of the other gang members did nothing to deter him. 

--

Draken yawned as he stepped out into the street, and next to him, Mitsuya nudged him.

"Tired already, old man?"

"Fuck off," Draken retorted dryly. "Something about the cold always gets to me."

"The joints aren't working how they used to?" he teased back, before he yawned, too.

"Hah," Draken pointed at him, "Who's the old man now?"

"Lay off," he replied. "I-" he cut himself off as he looked forward, "Hm? Is that Takemitchy?"

Draken peered across the street where indeed, there was Hanagaki. If there was any confusion, it was blown away when they saw Matsuno's expressionless face next to him. Hanagaki's eyes looked from Matsuno, and as though called by some unseen force, turned his head.

Their eyes met across the street. Draken was certain he knew the second Hanagaki saw him, because his expression softened considerably. His smile widened, his entire expression brightening, and Draken wasn't sure what to do about the fuzzy feeling squeezing his chest. It made him feel seen and vulnerable, and he didn't like it. 

"Wow," Mitsuya whistled long and low, "He's got it bad."

Draken scoffed back. Despite the fact that everyone had the same words to describe it, he still couldn't quite say it. 

Next to Hanagaki, however, Matsuno looked at him with an expression he didn't understand before he looked across the street. He didn't look surprised to see them, and sketched a polite bow. 

Draken, however, couldn't pull his eyes away from Hanagaki.

Mitsuya waved. "You wanna meet up with them?"

Before he could answer, Hanagaki was walking into the street. Mitsuya and Draken stiffened immediately, alarmed that Hanagaki would march boldly into oncoming traffic without looking checking the road, but luckily, Matsuno grabbed him. Face pale, Matsuno took two breaths before he started to yell so loudly that Draken and Mitsuya could hear from across the street.

"... Mucho was right," Mitsuya declared.

Draken side-eyed his friend briefly before he turned back to the scene of Hanagaki sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, and how those blue eyes kept turning back to Draken. Next to him, Matsuno's shoulders slumped as he gave a long, exhausting sigh as he realized who he was looking at. 

"Matsuno has it the worst."

Draken snorted. Actually, he had it the worse since he was just another innocent bystander that caught the eyes of the biggest troublemaker in Tokyo. Which was saying something since he grew up with Mikey. He really knew how to find them, didn't he?

"Let's go before he gets here," Draken said, and with a nod to Matsuno, turned to leave.

"Avoiding your fans?" his sworn brother teased, and he rolled his eyes.

--

"Tettan?" Hanagaki said and Draken stiffened. It was one thing to talk about Kisaki, but a different thing to hear Hanagaki refer to him by some odd nickname. 

"Tettan?" Smiley added, a smile on his face as he remarked, "It really is just me he doesn't hang out with..."

"You know him?" Baji asked, voice devoid of emotion. 

"Know him? Yeah, he helped me out when I was cornered a few times," Hanagaki said, "He's super smart. I never thought we'd meet again as Toman."

And Draken, who didn't really like Kisaki, shelved his worries because Mikey brought Kisaki, and Hanagaki said it was fine. He understood the worry on Baji's face, but he thought that things were different now. Hanagaki had that effect on people. 

"What did you just call me?" Kisaki asked, incredulity and mortification clear on his normally stoic face.

"Wow, you grew so much!" Hanagaki said, the way the old grannies did, "You've been drinking your milk every day! Good job!"

Matsuno covered his mouth to try to hide his laughter while Hanma didn't bother hiding. He broke down in fits of laughter, wheezing loudly as he ran out of breath. 

"You're Toman's homo?" Kisaki bit back, and Draken felt his back straighten immediately. Even if the words weren't directed at him, and it was things he threw in Hanagaki's face all the time, but it pissed him off to hear someone call him that in such a callous way. He was more than that. He was so much more.

Hanagaki's face fell, "I'm not a homo! I'm only interested in Draken-kun!"

Draken dragged a hand over his face, and promptly took back everything he thought. He was the fool for thinking Hanagaki could salvage this.

"Draken?" Kisaki frowned, "Why Draken? What happened to Hina?"

"It's insincere to date someone when you're thinking about someone else," Hanagaki replied, "so we broke up."

Kisaki's eyebrows flew up, and Draken frowned. Who the fuck was Hina and could she take him back? Draken would literally do anything.

"And Toman is okay with having a homo as their captain?" Hanma asked, a mocking smile on his face. 

Baji took a threatening step forward, and Draken wondered if Baji's loyalties ran so deep because of the whole thing with Kazutora. Or maybe he just wanted to punch Hanma in the face. Draken felt like the second one was more likely. 

"I like cool guys," Hanagaki replied, "so it's not like anyone else compares."

At that, Hanma frowned. "I'm plenty cool."

"Yeah, but Draken-kun takes it to another level," he explained while shaking his head, like Hanma was just an ignorant child. He brought his hand up to his stomach area, "Like you're about here," he said and then lifted his hand high above his head, "And Draken is like way up here, you know? No competition."

Hanma worked his jaw, and Draken had to hand it to Hanagaki. He knew how to piss a guy off. No wonder his face was so messed up. Next to him, Baji was pushing his chest out in pride, god knew why. 

"Ah, not that there's anything wrong with you, Hanma-kun! I'm sure you can probably be a decent guy and almost okay-ish-"

Hanemiya burst out with laughter and then slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle it. He failed miserably. Eventually, he started to lean against Matsuno, who was clearly pursing his lips to keep himself from losing it. Next to him, Baji just looked smug. Their first division, Draken thought. 

"Draken doesn't like you back," Kisaki stated bluntly, the way everyone including Draken had told Hanagaki. "Your feelings will never be returned."

"I know," the reply came just as fast, and Kisaki's eyebrows furrowed like they weren't speaking the same language. "I'm not doing it for that," Hanagaki continued. "If you expect something back just because you like someone, then I don't think you really like them. It doesn't matter if it's your friends or your special someone or your friend. You don't love them because you want something back from them. You love them, so you just want them to smile."

Hanma gagged and Kisaki pushed his glasses up silently. Hanemiya tilted his head, like he didn't understand, and Baji openly stared at Hanagaki. Matsuno, for some strange reason, was only staring at Draken. 

"In all these years," Kisaki said, "I see you haven't learned anything."

Hanagaki laughed brightly. Giving him a thumbs up, he replied, "Not learning my lesson is my best redeeming quality!"

Kisaki stared at Hanagaki for a moment longer, expression unreadable. 

And again, despite every intention not to, Draken felt Hanagaki's words take root deep inside of him. Not for the first time, he wished that Hanagaki was a normal guy that he could have had a treasured and respectable lifelong friendship with. At least, it would have been fine if Hanagaki just didn't like him like a homo. Then, they could have been friends. Draken wouldn't have to feel so creeped out by a guy that so many of his friends respected.

Instead, they were like this.

--

"Wow, what's the occasion? We're on a date?"

Draken clicked his tongue, "You complain when we don't go on a date, and now you're complaining that we are?"

Emma stared at him for a moment longer and then looked down at the table. "Did Takemichi tell you to?"

Hanagaki said that he, Pah-chin, Peh-yan, and Mikey were going to a batting cage. He had no doubts that the others would somehow find out and join them. Hanagaki said that, and mentioned that Emma had no homework and was totally free because her friends had a bad cold that somehow missed her. And then repeated it, about four more times. Draken wasn't sure who told Hanagaki he was subtle, but he would go strangle them afterwards. 

"No," he said, "I wanted to be with you. Just... you."

Her eyes widened dramatically. He looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up a little. The problem with hanging out with Hanagaki was suddenly realizing what was actually socially acceptable amount of blunt truth. And while Hanagaki was their pathetic loser, Draken wasn't. Even worse was that he could hear his words echoing in his head. 

[But I'm not strong or smart or attractive or rich, and I don't think I'll ever make it big in the world either. So this is all I can do.]

The flush on Emma's face, followed closely by her warm smile, was nice to see. Draken would consider being a little nicer to Hanagaki afterwards. 

--

"So, Draken-san, when can we expect some happy news?"

Draken suddenly remembered why it was so important that the Captains didn't laugh too much with the others. They got comfortable. They got comfortable, and they thought that they were his friends. Draken would bleed for Manji, but these were not his friends. They didn't get to laugh and joke about the things that Mitsuya did. They were not the same.

"What the fuck?" he spat back, voice hard and cold as he turned to the people who spoke to him. It was Mitsuya's division, and he watched them flinch backwards and quail. 

Why did they look so surprised? Did they think that Draken was going to laugh around with them? Draken barely kept it civil when Mitsuya pulled this on him. At least Mitsuya could bite back as well as he took it. So who the hell did these guys think they were?

"Huh? O-oh, since we know that uh, well, Hanagaki is like, weirdly into you-"

And in a rare moment of frustration, because Draken just wanted these guys to shut their mouths about the nothing they know about, he scowled out. They kept bringing this up to him, like the sexuality of one guy was more important than the fact that they were having members picked off in Shinjuku. He stood up, eyes bright and scowl deep because he hated the sound of Hanagaki's name on their lips. 

"What do I care what a fucking homo thinks of me?"

The crux of the issue was that Hanagaki chose that moment to walk in.

He stared at Draken, at the center of everyone's attention, and slowly pulled the corner of his lips up. It was like seeing a dying man refuse medical services. It wasn't a smile, but a sad mockery of one. 

"As expected of Draken-kun," he said, voice warm.

The fact that he spoke so gently afterwards seemed to make it worse. Draken scowled, but before anyone can move, Mucho grabbed the kid who had been egging this on.

"You have guts talking shit about our captains," he said, voice cold in a way that was reserved for enemies.

"It's fine, Mucho-kun," Hanagaki said, "Manji is stronger than talk."

Mucho shoved the guy, letting him crash to the ground.

"When you take a blade for someone and never lord it over them," Mucho stated frankly, "then you can be bigger than your bark."

"Whoa, Mucho-kun is so cool and reliable," Hanagaki laughed back, but he wasn't into it as much as he normally was. Draken wondered, if it bothered him that much, then why didn't he just stop? Was it because he was just dumb and didn't know when to give up? His one and only redeeming quality seemed to be a double-edge sword.

At the tip of his tongue, Draken knew what he was supposed to say. He knew, but there was a rock in his throat that he couldn't speak around. Hanagaki, who seemed adept at bringing out the best in others, seemed to only bring out the worst in Draken. 

"... Don't be falling for me now," Mucho teased back, which, Draken had no idea that they were even friends. From the way Baji was frowning, it was like no one knew. When did this even happen? 

Hanagaki laughed back, "You're not that cool, Mucho-kun! But you might get there one day!"

The older teen rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face was unmistakable and even Sanzu next to him was staring at him like he grew another head. This was definitely a recent development of some sort. 

Instead, Mucho looked at Draken, and the unspoken seemed to echo between them. 

--

"I wanna give him that bike."

The simple statement had Draken feeling like he was hanging over a cliff.

Draken hated how bright Mikey got when Hanagaki was involved. There was a time when Draken worried because Mikey would stare out at the horizon like it beckoned him. There was a time when Mikey completely avoided the street where Shinichiro used to work, and where he died. 

And he saw that same Mikey, brightening from the moment he saw Hanagaki even across the street. Dead leaves blew through the streets, the crisp breeze picking up as cars rushed by them.

But Hanagaki's eyes always found Draken first. They lingered, and Draken hated how helpless he felt under that gaze.

"If I told you to never show your disgusting face in front of me, would you?" he asked when Mikey was trying to decide what to buy. 

"I..." Hanagaki stared at him for a moment, but Draken couldn't look at his face. Too busy staring at the ground, Draken felt like a chastised child. What the hell was he doing?

He wouldn't know, and couldn't bring up enough strength to lift his head. As it turned out, he was the biggest coward. The disappointment that he couldn't live up to his own expectations stung harder than anything else. Hanagaki's quiet voice was just salt in the wound. 

"Okay," Hanagaki said, and Draken snapped his head up.

"Don't agree that easily!" He snapped out. "How can you leave Manji behind so easily?" 

It didn't make sense to him, when Hanemiya always had an arm around his shoulders, and Baji actually did his homework now. How could it be so easy for Hanagaki to just abandon people like that? Mucho could joke outside a fight. Pah-chin and Peh-yan were always sharing weird chip flavors they found with him. Matsuno lectured like a mother, and those were just a small portion of all the people unfortunate enough to meet Hanagaki.

Like Mikey. Like Emma.

"Why? Because you joined Manji because you like me? So anytime, you can just leave just as easily! You don't have any autonomy because you can just blame me for all of your actions?!"

And as he was yelling, he knew that he was wrong. No one could fake caring for this long, through all these fights, and he knew that. The way Hanemiya and Mikey could laugh with each other was proof enough that scars could heal. Draken still felt some pain in his side on some days when he woke up, he knew that Hanagaki must feel it in his hand, too. 

At the end of the day, they all bled red, and Hanagaki bled for Toman. 

He stared at Hanagaki. The way his face fell, how pale he got, and how his mouth opened like he wanted to say something but couldn't figure it out.

"It's not easy," Hanagaki said in a short and punctuated way, like every word was hard to say. He cleared his throat. "But I'll do whatever it takes, because I want to be your hero. I..." he took a deep breath and looked up at Draken, "I want to see you smile."

Draken knew that. Hanagaki said that to all that would listen, but the difference between Hanagaki and everyone else was that he could do it. Still, poison spilled from his mouth.

"Fucking gross."

And that brought a bitter smile on Hanagaki's face.

"Right?"

And Draken didn't understand Hanagaki. He could throw himself into fights that didn't involve him, bicker about what to eat for dinner with them, fall asleep in the hideout, but he just rolled over when someone talked shit at him? Draken knew it wasn't because Hanagaki was scared of fighting. He knew it wasn't because he was scared of a beat down. Hanagaki championed getting hit for no reason. His words weren't empty, often outlined with his blood and bruises, and Draken knew that. He knew it very well, saw it every day they were together. Everything led up to an ugly paradox that Draken couldn't find rhyme and reason in. 

"If you know, then why don't you just stop?"

Because unlike all of them, Hanagaki lived truly and honestly for himself. If there was something he thought was important then he would put his life on the line for it. So to stand there, receiving unconditional kindness from someone that he had never done anything for, Draken felt the weight settle heavy on his shoulders. Sure, Hanagaki said that it was in the name of love or whatever, but Draken didn't feel like that at all. When Hanagaki looked at him, Draken felt vulnerable, felt small, felt weak. 

"...Even if I could, I don't want to."

And it was because Draken knew he had done nothing to deserve Hanagaki.

--

On that Holy Christmas night, Draken watched how Hanma ruffled Hanagaki's hair before shoving him with a lazy smile on his face. The ever aloof Kisaki stared at Hanagaki with a deep sigh and a matching black eye. He balled some snow up into a handkerchief and pressed it against Hanagaki's swollen face even when the young man winced and whined. He didn't like them, and he wasn't a fan of Valhalla either, but Mikey had accepted them, and Hanagaki mentioned once or twice that Hanma and Kisaki weren't that bad, just desperate in their own way.

"The guy you like is right there," Kisaki told him.

Hanagaki spluttered, and blood sprayed from his mouth. Kisaki took a step back, grimacing at the sight, but Hanagaki clearly didn't care. He turned around instead. Hanma's expression slowly turned neutral, looking oddly unlike him, and Kisaki turned his attention to wiping his glasses down, now of all times. 

"D-Dr-Draken-kun," Hanagaki said, breathless as he summoned his entire attention, and Draken was more shocked that he was still conscious when he looked so badly beat up. Or rather, he was uncertain what the knot forming in his throat was, when with that swollen mess Hanagaki called a face, he could still stare at him like that. After all that they said, he didn't know how Hanagaki could still look at him the same way he always did. He cleared his throat and then said, "W...What's up?"

"For god's sake," Kisaki covered his face with a long sigh.

"We fucked up the peace treaty," Mitsuya reported to Mikey a little further behind them. "Sorry."

Mikey was quiet for a moment, looking over Taiju and Hanagaki, before he said, "It looks like you guys went through a lot."

"Everyone's alive," Hanagaki replied. And his good eye remained stuck on Draken. He gave a wide grin, and the man closest to death said, "Thank god. Everyone's alive."

Blood oozed from his mouth, the relieved laugh spilling from his lips as he closed his eyes, and Mitsuya caught him on his back before he could fall. 

"...Good work, hero," Mitsuya said, voice warm in a way Draken hadn't heard before. Hanagaki must have really gone above and beyond to win his respect like that.

Draken had no idea what kind of fight they went through, and would listen to the reports with Mikey later, but a part of him was a little sad that he got to miss the party. Maybe they could go for round two somewhere else. 

At that time, Draken knew what he had to say.

--

"Ken-chin," Mikey gave a long mournful sigh before he continued, "why does everyone want my Takemitchy?"

"He's not yours," Draken deadpanned.

"Well, it's not like you're taking him."

Draken scowled, more than sick of people dumping this on him like he had any choice in the matter. He didn't know how to stop being cool, after all.

"Aughhh, what does he even see in you? I am so much cooler."

Draken snorted. "Obviously."

Mikey threw the bicycle that they were "borrowing" from a few people that thought they could jump them at him, and Draken kicked it right back with a scowl. It laid in a dented mess at the ground and neither cared.

"The Black Dragons," Mikey remarked when they were done trashing some random person's car with the bike, "said they want to join Toman, but only under Takemitchy."

Draken frowned.

"What?"

Mikey sighed dramatically. His shoulders collapsed as he tipped his head back and whined. 

"I shouldn't have made him a Captain. He should have just been mine..."

And despite the fact that Toman was growing bigger, Draken couldn't shake that it wasn't the way he imagined it.

--

"What are you doing after the meeting?"

Of course, at the center of a crowd of people was Hanagaki. Draken stared as former Black Dragon members (and the audacity to wear their old uniforms at the Toman meeting, augh) came to Hanagaki.

"Huh?" Hanagaki blinked back, and Matsuno came up next to him.

"First Division meeting is tomorrow," he informed curtly, eyes sharp. 

"I wasn't talking to you, Matsuno. I'm talking to our Black Dragon head." Inui's sharp eyes narrowed at Matsuno, and Draken sighed. He should have known better than to think that Hanagaki would have any amount of discipline for his group. If Baji and Matsuno kept coming to his rescue, it would only undermine Hanagaki even more. It was already bad enough that they put a weakling as the captain, but he was gay. He could not paint a bigger target on his back.

"Inui-kun, I'm free if you want to talk, but don't be rude to Chifuyu."

The blond stared at Hanagaki before he gave a soft sigh. He dipped his head towards Matsuno in a stiff, mechanical way. 

"I apologize."

Matsuno scowled, clearly not believing it. 

"Inui, why did you come join Toman?" Hanagaki asked.

"I wanted to be with you."

Hanagaki blinked back at him. His face started to color darkly and Kokonoi cooed at him.

"Aw, you're so cute, Captain," he chimed in. "Let us take you out for dinner tonight, okay?"

"Y-you can't sweet talk me," Hanagaki blurted out, "I already promised my heart and soul to Draken-kun!"

Draken felt his face burned. God.

"That's fine," Inui replied, "I don't mind being a replacement."

"Inui, we said we'd save that for after the fifth date," Kokonoi scolded. He turned back to his captain, "So, where do you want to go?"

"Nowhere with you!" Matsuno snapped back, almost hissing like a cat with their tail stepped on.

"Wow, competition is stiff," Mitsuya sighed next to Draken.

"What competition?" Draken scowled when Hanagaki tried to mediate between Inui and Matsuno. His division members smiled on peacefully, more than used to it, and Draken almost pitied them.

Hanagaki turned his pathetic eyes towards to Draken. The blond arched an eyebrow at him, and felt any possible humor he could find drain out when he saw how the younger captain's expression melt. His gaze shined, and like he didn't know what the two he was with were feeling, smiled at Draken.

Both Matsuno and Inui took one look at Hanagaki, then at who captured his attention, and Draken rolled his eyes when he saw their frowns. Fine, if they want to act like that, two could play at this game. 

"Takemichi," he called out, waving at him, "Mikey wants meat buns. You in?"

"Yes!" he said, clearly not even thinking about it, and Draken wondered if life was easier for the stupid and ignorant. He didn't even see how Matsuno stared at the ground and Inui scowl. Kokonoi clicked his tongue, and Baji turned his head away so Draken couldn't see the look on his face.

What competition? He just needed to stand there, and Hanagaki would forget the whole world like the idiot he was.

--

"Some guys have been wrecking havoc around Shibuya," Mitsuya said, nonchalantly letting them know that he also probably stomped out a couple of them himself, "They call themselves the Red Scorpions."

"No worries," Draken said, "We can take them."

"Yeah," Hanagaki said, a smile on his face as he directed that stupid gaze of his at Draken again, "I love that about you."

Draken jerked, and all conversations in their hideout slowly came to a stop. All eyes turned to Hanagaki, and Mitsuya gave this long, tired sigh.

"You said that aloud," he said, exhausted. Even though he wasn't Draken. Draken was exhausted and sick of this shit, why was Mitsuya sighing like that?

And Hanagaki paused, slowly turning his head to look around, and then, realized that the rest of them were staring at him. He blinked again, stared at Draken, and then his face started to heat up with embarrassment.

Pah-chin covered his face and sighed, "Literally what Yumi told you not to do..."

"Damn, Takemitchy," Smiley was grinning, but there was a hard edge to his voice, "You got balls confessing to our second-in-command during a meeting."

Mucho stared at Hanagaki, covering his face and shaking his head like the second-hand embarrassment was too much for him to even look at the other captain. Silently, Kisaki pushed his glasses up, and made no other remark. Meanwhile, Baji stared at the ground in silence. Mikey was frowning like a petulant child. The meeting has gone off the rails.

"I-I'm so sorry," Hanagaki gave them all a polite bow from where he was sitting, his face turning bright red. Which wasn't even fair. He was the one who said it, how could he act all bashful now? If he was going to be all embarrassed, why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? Why did he have to like Draken when he was just being himself?

"Takemitchy, I'm single," Mitsuya said, a wide grin on his face as he waved his hand. "Forget Draken and come with me!"

Draken jerked. Where the hell did that come from? In his shock, he missed how Baji bared his teeth at the Second Division Captain.

"I-I'm so sorry," Hanagaki covered his face, his face so red and spreading rapidly to his ears as he gave another bow. He got up, "I-I'll go get drinks for everyone!"

And while running out, he ran into the door frame, making some of them burst out laughing before finally running out. There was a loud yelp, letting them know that he probably ran into something else, and they broke out in louder fits of laughter, some noticeably louder than others.

Draken's eyes lingered on the door, and the things that used to make him laugh with the others didn't anymore. He covered his face with his hand, but found it difficult to brush it off as easily as he used to. His face felt like it was on fire. He missed fighting. He said something that he couldn't take back from Hanagaki, and he knew what he needed to do, but it felt impossible to take him seriously when Hanagaki pulled this on him. 

"Ken-chin," Mikey called out with a big, mournful sigh, "I don't get what he sees in you."

"Me neither," he mumbled back, his ears turning so hot that it felt like they were burning. "He's so embarrassing."

"Hurry up and reject him," Baji said, his face like stone. "And I'll take him off your hands."

"I've tried," Draken snapped back, hating that their meetings were devolving into some petty love-drama bullshit. Why the hell was Baji getting involved anyway? He sighed, "And you're welcome to take him if you can."

Baji growled at him like he was a feral dog, sitting up, and Draken lifted his chin at him. He wouldn't run from a fight, not even from a friend, but he didn't really want to fight a friend, especially about this. Damnit, Hanagaki. Why did he have to do this? Why couldn't he just be normal about one thing in his life? Then, none of this would be an issue. 

"Guys chill," Mucho said, "or you're going to make him cry."

And somehow, that was enough for Baji to sit back down, scowling all the while. Draken arched an eyebrow, and Smiley whistled.

"Wow," he said, "Baji's been domesticated."

"Fuck you!" Baji shouted right back, only proving them right. 

--

"Your ever devoted Hanagaki Takemichi has returned with drinks!" Hanagaki yelled out while Mikey all but jumped up on the park table they were at. 

Draken sighed as Hanagaki passed Mikey his pocari and handed Draken his drink. A cream soda he had never seen before stared back at him. Eyebrows creasing, he tried to understand what he was looking out. 

"What the fuck is this?" he asked, giving up.

"It's a cream soda," Hanagaki said, with his can of some dark tea that Draken normally got instead. "But I have your usual, too."

"Why the fuck wouldn't I want my usual?" Draken asked, arching an eyebrow.

Hanagaki opened his mouth, closed it, and then quietly passed him the drink.

"Yeah, why would... you ever drink this," he said quietly. His smile hadn't completely fallen off of his face yet, his eyes glued on the table, and Draken took his tea. Why not pocari? He got Mikey that.

"Let's trade! I'll take the cream soda, and you can have this," Mikey said, pushing his half-drunk pocari towards Hanagaki with a sunny grin.

"Mikey, that's not a trade," Draken immediately called out, wishing not for the first time that Hanagaki could behave like a normal person and not do this weird shit. Draken had never noticed or even cared about trying a new drink. Why would Hanagaki give this to him?

Some days, he had no idea, not even an inkling clue, how anything in that brain of his actually functioned.

"Right," Hanagaki replied, looking at the cream soda. "Yeah."

--

Draken's eyes locked with Hanma during a fight.

Hanma looked at the guy Draken defeated, then Draken, and then tilted his head. The guy he was holding in one hand was gurgling something or another, and Hanma's knuckles were coated in his blood. Draken kicked a guy without looking at it. He fell down and didn't get back up. 

"I am definitely cooler," Hanma declared, expression void like he was merely expression an observation.

And so, Draken lifted up one of the fallen members of the gang and threw him at Hanma. There was a short list of people he was willing to take shit from, and Hanma wasn't on it.

--

The last time they got caught in the rain like this, Draken and Hanagaki had been stabbed and were bleeding out. They were cornered and four breaths from death, and at the time, he felt like he was soaring. At the time, he felt like if he was going to go, it was only right that it was in a fight. 

"Wow, it's really coming down," Hanagaki whistled as he looked up. If Draken was being honest, this kind of rain felt like it would wash away the world, and hopefully, all this stupid cold with it. It should have been snow. What the hell was this freezing rain bullshit?

"I would have never guessed," the taller teen deadpanned back. Of course, Hanagaki would say something as stupid and obvious as that. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if Hanagaki didn't put any thoughts into the words he said, given how empty his head was. No filter at all, that guy. At the same time, Draken had no idea how he knew all of his favorite foods and regular orders aside from stalking and then committing that information to memory. Hanagaki Takemichi was truly a paradox.

Still, Draken knew right from wrong, and took a deep breath. The thing he needed to say needed to be said. Even if Hanagaki never acted differently, that didn't mean he do what he should have done. At the end of the day, Hanagaki defined Manji with his blood, and Draken respected that a lot.

"We might as well just wait for it to lighten up," Draken yelled over the rain. Some time ago, he would only think about the fact that he was stuck with the creepy homo. Now, he could only imagine the wailing Mikey would do because he was the one that wanted to be stuck in the rain with Hanagaki, and it was with Draken. Again. 

They stood together. Raindrops fell at such speed and fervor that it was almost impossible to have a conversation. Like that, Draken slouched to the left, and his elbow ran into Hanagaki. He pulled back, the way he did when he ran into any of his friends by accident, and when he turned, saw Hanagaki's wide eyes. 

Huh, he thought, Hanagaki had blue eyes. He wasn't sure if he knew that before, if he remembered that from an earlier observation, but he couldn't focus on anything else. 

Hanagaki's blue eyes and his bright red face, looking at Draken as he all but jumped away after their elbows touched. 

"I-I'll go!" he blurted out as he ripped his jacket off. He threw it at Draken without looking at him.

Draken caught it, more out of habit than anything. God knew how often Mikey threw his clothes at him, and how much Emma complained that Mikey was always losing his stuff. Still, there was something about a guy with eyes the color of the sky, looking at him like Draken was the one that determined when the sun rose and set, as he stepped into the downpour. It did nothing to alleviate his bright red face. 

"I'll get us an umbrella!" he shouted out, despite the fact that Draken was more than physically capable of doing all of that and more. 

Then, he watched as Hanagaki slid in a puddle and fell right into the ground. He sighed, unsure what else he was expecting, and then realized that, just a little bit, he couldn't take his eyes away. 

And he didn't know what that meant. 

--

"Takemitchy is sick," Mikey whined as he kicked his legs in the air.

Then, suddenly, he sat up.

"Oh! We can visit him!"

Emma joined them next, a frown on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. On her arm was an empty grocery bag.

"No, you're not," she scolded, "I'm going to visit him because someone needs to care about him and I know you guys aren't going to help."

"I'll nurse him!" Mikey declared, raising his hand like he was in class, and Draken figured that he would need to be there to call the ambulance. He didn't want to even imagine how insufferably Mikey would be if he was the one that killed Hanagaki.

"Absolutely not!" Emma snapped back. "And I know that Yuzuha is going to be there, anyway!" her eyes shined back. The fire in her eyes was intense and a little frightening. "My porridge is definitely better!"

Which, he had no idea she even started to hang out with Hakkai's sister. Or that they were both so involved in Hanagaki's life like he was the protagonist of a shounen manga. 

"Well, we can both go!" Mikey said, standing up. "I'm bored and Takemitchy is always fun!"

"He's not a toy, Mikey!" Emma snapped back as they slowly made their way over.

The party that amassed at Hanagaki's house was extremely telling, Draken thought. The teen was surrounded by the most violent and competitive types of love. It was honestly impressive.

And briefly, he wondered if Hanagaki's house had ever been filled to the brim with laughter and sound. It was a strange thing to think about, when he knew how popular he clearly was. Instead, his main focus became avoiding the people who stared at him like they were waiting for him to drop-dead. 

--

"Hanagaki," Hakkai said suddenly, "Draken's dating Emma."

"Yeah?" Hanagaki nodded back, like it was obvious, and Hakkai was the strange one for bringing it up.

Hakkai stared at Hanagaki, like he was looking for something, and Hanagaki, still wary of him, took a step back. "What about it?"

Matsuno hesitated, in the middle of eating his ice cream, but jumped on the opportunity that someone else brought up.

"...Doesn't that make you upset?" he asked.

"Why would it?" Hanagaki replied back, his eyebrows creasing as he tilted his head.

"I mean, you said you lo-lo-like," Hakkai cleared his throat, trying to keep the blush off his face but before anyone could pick on him, he forged on, "Draken, right? So don't you want to date him?"

"...No?" 

There was a brief silence before the door burst open and Baji ran in. Absolutely enraged and ready for a fight, Baji ran like he was the devil coming for his victims. All three of them jumped up to their feet, ready to run into a fight (Matsuno), run away from Baji (Hakkai), or freeze up in shock (Hanagaki). 

"Why the fuck not?!" he demanded back. "If you love someone, you fight for it! I watched K-Dramas! I know the truth! You're just going to go down without a fight? You, Takemitchy?!"

"Oi, Baji, calm down," Hanemiya grabbed his old friend with a frown. "He's gotta get tired so we can sweep in and take him."

"Were all of you listening in?" Matsuno asked, scandalized as Mitsuya waved at them with a sheepish smile.

"Taka-chan!" Hakkai looked ready to depart from the discussion, his attention solely stuck on his captain.

"Answer the damn question!" Baji demanded, reminding everyone why they were here. "Why aren't you doing it?! Takemitchy! Go storming in like the man I know you are!"

Hanagaki, back ramrod straight and laced with fear, replied with a fast, "Yes!" Then, the words started to sink it. "W-Well! I uh..." And as he thought about his answer, the initial fear of Baji's loud voice slowly faded. "It's just, I mean... They look happy," Hanagaki said, like it was a simple and obvious thing. "And I'm happy right now, too."

He shrugged when Baji didn't back down. The snarl on his face was terrifying, evident with how Hanagaki was not looking at him, but he still didn't back down. 

"Remember when you came after the guys in the second division got me for being gay?" Hanagaki asked and Mitsuya's head snapped up, "I couldn't believe it. I was so grateful. Like, I knew you guys would have my back because you're in my division, but that wasn't why you came. So it's okay, I'm plenty happy now. I got some good friends. I can see the guy I love being happy every day. What more do I need?"

"Hold up, I need names," Mitsuya said. "Someone from my division was giving you trouble?"

"...You're okay with it then? The person you love being with someone else?" Baji asked, ignoring Mitsuya completely with a sudden calm like the way the ocean was silent before a tsunami. 

Hanagaki looked at all of them, like he wasn't sure what they wanted. And gave a slow nod to Baji. From his face, it was clear they were the crazy ones.

Which. Coming from Hanagaki made it worse. 

"Well, I mean, yeah," he said. "I..." and his cheeks turned a darker shade of red, his gaze somehow softer, like the entire sky was ready to reach down and embrace the earth, as it always did when he had to say this aloud, "I love Draken-kun," he said, as boldly as ever and Hakkai's face went scarlet. "So I want him to be happy." He cleared his throat, "And I like you guys, too, so I want you guys to be-"

"So you're fine with your relationship now? Even if it never changes?" Mitsuya asked, strangely pushing on the subject. "Isn't that hard? Don't you want to at least move on?"

"Yeah, move on with me," Hanemiya added and Baji hissed at him.

Hanagaki scoffed and rolled his eyes like it was a joke he heard too often, "Well, if you could choose who you like, I..." Then, he tilted his head as he thought about it, "I think I'd still pick Draken-kun."

"You like liking someone that doesn't like you back?"

"Whoa, that makes me sound like a masochist," Hanagaki gaped. "And I'm not!"

No one believed him.

"I don't really know how to explain it," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "I guess... like, as long as he is happy, it's fine. I..." and like just the thought of Draken's peaceful and joyous life was enough, his shoulders relaxed and he smiled at the ground, "I'll be fine."

And crybaby Hanagaki gave them a wide grin.

"At first, I thought that I just wanted to protect what's important to Draken, but honestly, I just like everyone here. As long as everyone's happy," he said, "I think that I've lived a good life."

Baji stared at him for a long moment, his hands balled up into fists. His expression was strangely unreadable before he turned on his heel and marched away as fast as he came in.

"Damn," Matsuno whispered. He covered his mouth with one hand as he looked up at Hanagaki, "I actually thought you were cool for a second."

"I'm not cool at all!" Hanagaki laughed back, like the notion was such a funny joke, "I mean, have you met Draken-kun? He's the real cool one!"

"Pft, he has nothing on Baji-san! Baji-san is so cool!" Matsuno took this as a personal attack. 

"Shut up, Taka-chan is cool, too!" Hakkai shouted out, not one to be outdone. 

"Not cool enough," Mitsuya sighed, but no one seemed to hear him again.

"No one's going to say that I'm cool?" Hanemiya asked with a frown.

And outside of the room, Baji's eyes met Draken's. Standing still and oddly cold, Draken's hands balled up into fists at his side as he waited for Baji to throw the first punch.

"Coward," Baji spat out. 

And Draken wanted to snap back that if there was a fight, he'd go. If there was a challenge, he'd run for it. But there was nothing about Hanagaki that told him it was a fight. He tried hitting Hanagaki and that only made his gaze warmer. He tried ignoring him, but Hanagaki still smiled at him. He insulted him, and Hanagaki was still here. What was he supposed to do? There was nothing for him to run towards or against, when Hanagaki was just a distant star. He wasn't close enough for him to hit, but not far enough to say that Draken wouldn't notice when his light disappeared.

--

"You know, I just realized something," Hanagaki said as he ate his crepe, smearing cream all over his face in the process. Mitsuya gave this soft sigh, exasperated and fond, and Draken remembered a time when he was surprised that Mitsuya made that sound. Their winter coats were piled next to Draken and squished against him and the wall. Mitsuya sat next to him with leisure and calm while Hanagaki was squished between Matsuno and Hakkai. 

"Uh oh," Matsuno grunted. 

"You have a lot of muslces in your head, right? So like, can that be a cushion when you run your head against something?"

"Takemitchy, what the fuck?" Hakkai asked. And then he paused, "Does that mean we can flex it?"

"Hold on," Mitsuya lifted his head with a sharp expression, "Takemitchy, I think you're on to something."

"Taka-chan?" Hakkai turned his head like he was betrayed, before he nodded his head. "Okay, Takemitchy, keep going."

Matsuno gave a long sigh through his nose as he slurped his milkshake loudly. Draken's eyebrows furrowed.

"What would you use those for?" he asked.

"I watched a bald guy chew gum," Hanagaki said, and then placed his hands on his head, "and it was all moving!"

All eyes turned to the shine of Draken's head, and he scowled back at all of them, "Hey! Eyes down!"

Hakkai and Matsuno could be scared into submission, but Mitsuya wasn't. His longtime friend looked at him, carefully considering his head, and then nodded his head. He worked his jaw, looked away, closed his eyes, and Draken hated how well he knew this guy because Mitsuya was pretending to cover his face with his sleeve because he was laughing.

"Yeah! Draken-kun isn't balding, that's his choice!"

Draken turned to stare at Hanagaki, and wondered if he had been lying this whole time when he said that he liked him. Because who would ever say that? Why would anyone ever say that?

Everything was lost when Mitsuya burst out laughing instead. He wheezed as he wiped at his eyes, and Draken would deal with him next.

"Takemitchy," he said, a grin on his face and feeling a vein throb in his forehead, "I'll fucking kill you."

And face falling, his stupid admirer had the audacity to look confused, tilting his head slightly to the side the same way Emma did, as he pointed at himself. "Me? What did I do?" Those stupid blue eyes looked at him, clear and kind like they were anything more than a couple of delinquents being too loud in a public place. 

This guy, Draken thought, would be the end of him.

--

"I don't get why Mikey keeps him around. He's shit in a fight. Even the third division keeps trying to cover for him now. It's so embarrassing."

"Well, he's gay, right? Maybe he sucked his way up there!"

"Oh! Then, if we save him maybe he'd do us a favor-"

The first hit came from Mikey and sent one flying into another. The second hit was from Draken and knocked one of them off their feet.

"... Who the hell thinks that they can talk about my friend like that?" Mikey asked, voice cold, and Draken repressed a shudder. It had been a while since he saw Mikey so pissed.

This was the Mikey he had gotten used to seeing, he realized. He was different from the one he had been seeing more recently, bouncing on his feet and raining hell on Hanagaki's doorbell. He wasn't sure when the switch happened, and that this was no longer the Mikey he saw the most often.

He thought about Hanagaki the way he and Baji climbed on top of Matsuno for the most recent release of some manga, the way Pah-chin carried him on his shoulders so that the two of them could wrestle Peh-yan and tumble into Smiley for a bigger, louder fight, the fact that Mucho and him went with Emma to compare cafes, and how Mikey slept against him while they watched action movies and Draken and Mitsuya threw blankets over them before they caught colds. At some point, his days and nights were completely recolored by a guy who could barely throw a punch. 

"Manji is only here today because of Hanagaki," Mikey declared. "His enemies are mine."

Draken's eyebrows shot up. He was correct. Draken had no idea what their Manji would be today if it weren't for Hanagaki, but he felt like they would be missing some key people. However, the weight behind Mikey's words were heavy. They would have consequences. All their actions did, of course they did, but there was something about Mikey's declaration that felt different. 

But Draken didn't think he said the wrong thing either.

--

"Takemitchy and I are going on a date!" Emma shouted out.

"Okay," Draken deadpanned, "Have fun."

At the same time, Mikey asked, "Can I come, too?" and Emma bared her teeth at him so he wilted.

"Is that all you have to say?!" Emma snap at Draken, her boyfriend.

Draken rolled his eyes. "What do you want me to say?" he asked, but his voice was so flat it might as well have been a statement.

"Don't you care? I could be cheating on you!"

"Not with Takemitchy," Draken snorted. 

"Because he loves you?" Emma deadpanned back, even though it was a question.

Draken was about to agree, an easy smile on his face because everyone knew, but there was something about Emma's demeanor that caught him wrong-footed when he looked at her. 

"You're such a jerk. What does Takemitchy even see in you?" His girlfriend said, shaking her head. "You're so inconsiderate and stuck with your head in the clouds. Your head is so big I'm shocked you can stand up with it. Takemitchy's stupid, but you know, he's always looking at you. God knows what he sees."

Draken hesitated at that, and his eyes fell to the ground. The words dug into him a little more.

"I know."

He, and almost everyone else, mentioned it to him that he wasn't interested. Mikey loved Hanagaki, his eyes chased his figure, his face brightened at the sight of him, and he witnessed Mikey steady in a way he didn't realize he wasn't before. Draken knew. It would have been just perfect, if Hanagaki would return that gaze with Mikey, or Mitsuya, or even Baji, and Draken would be more than happy to give them his blessings. He didn't even care that Hanagaki had this magic ability to turn his friends into homos by getting beat up. Instead, they could all be happy and Draken just needed to go threaten enough politicians that gay marriage would get legalize. How perfect would that be? 

Hanagaki, who wouldn't lose even if he died, was someone that Draken wasn't going to be able to beat. He didn't even consider it. Some part of him felt like Hanagaki knew that, and that was why he also never asked anything of Draken. Maybe if Hanagaki just stopped, or at least hid it better, no one else would care and they could just pretend nothing was wrong. It would all be perfect. 

But then Emma had to look at him like that, shaking her head while leaving, and Draken felt his stomach churn like he ate spoiled milk.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do. 

--

Baji called him out. 

The two had rarely talked. If it weren't for Mikey, they probably would have never met if it weren't for a fight. They didn't have much in common outside their appreciation for a good fight and Toman. Walking by one of the beaten paths next to the rails, they moved to a place where there were rarely anyone else. Draken briefly wondered if he was walking into a trap, and if he was, what did it mean for him?

"How did you guys meet?"

Draken paused, and hated how he already knew who Baji was going to be asking about. He sighed through his nose, and decided to entertain him.

"Takemitchy?" he asked, and Baji nodded. He sighed, "He showed up at my place one day. He took one look at me and started crying so I beat the crap out of him. I thought he was fucking crazy. Following day, Mikey and I saw him at the park where Kiyomasa was running a fighting ring with Toman's name. Then, I learned he was crazy."

Baji was silent in response, and Draken suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Why were they even there? To begin with, he hated how this felt like he was talking to a mistress or something. They weren't like that, not even close.

Then, Baji took his jacket off and tied his hair up.

"I never liked you," he said. "Always had to be a good guy, even though we're just a bunch of fucking delinquents. If you wanted to be a decent guy so bad, why'd you ever join a gang?"

Draken frowned, but shrugged his jacket off. This was something he understood well. If this was how Baji wanted to do this, then they would. If anything, Draken preferred this. It was so much easier to understand than Hanagaki, who didn't have a reason to treat him so unconditionally, when Draken only liked him through his friends. Hanagaki defined unconditional, but defied reason. 

They went blow for blow. Draken had the weight and height advantage, but Baji was wild and fierce even on his bad days. On a day like this, when he was snarling and angry but unable to find any words to explain himself? It was sapping the joy out of the fight. There was a twist among sharp hits. There were jabs that carried the weight of what Baji couldn't say. His expression was contorted into something painful, and there was no physical ailment that could compare to how he felt. When Baji hit Draken, did it feel good? Did it feel like he was making a point? Draken just felt hollow. 

Draken couldn't say he specifically understood, but he had seen the way it tore other people asunder. The thing that builds was the thing that breaks. 

Slumped against the chained fence, Baji spat out a mouthful of blood and lifted his hand to wipe at his nose, smearing blood all over his face. Across the way, Draken's legs trembled as he struggled to stay on his legs. He always knew that Baji was powerful, but it was another thing altogether to feel how his skin splintered and bones creaked. There were a few seconds of ragged breathing, as they both tried to force their body forward. It wasn't about winning. To begin with, from the moment Baji called him, Draken felt like they both lost. 

"... Why is it you?" Baji asked at last. "Is it just because ..." he coughed again, and it didn't sound like pain was the reason his voice came out hoarse, "you were first?"

Draken stared at Baji. They were too far away from the working streetlights for him to see what kind of expression he had. In moments like this, he understood how little he knew about the people that he entrusted his back to during fights.

"I don't know," he said, because how could anyone ever claim that someone as sudden and as stupid as Hanagaki could be explained in neat words and clean reason?

But he couldn't tell Baji anything when he didn't know the truth either. One day, Hanagaki just showed up in front of his place. One day, Hanagaki caught Mikey's eyes. One day, Hanagaki completely rearranged Draken's life, the same way he did for Baji. 

One day, Draken's eyes were also looking for Hanagaki.

--

"Him?" Kokonoi asked, dismissive in how his eyes looked up and down Draken before frowning. "Really?"

Draken hated everyone and everything. Why couldn't people just mind their own fucking business and leave him out of this? What was the point of doing this every single time?

"Yeah," Hanagaki said, eyes filled with that disturbing honey warmth for no reason. "I know, Draken-kun is super cool."

The remains of their conversation rang in the space they didn't talk. Draken wasn't sure if he was uncomfortable because he didn't like this kind of attention, or if he hated the thought that Hanagaki accepted the terrible way he was treated. 

"Don't fall for him, okay?" Hanagaki advised, never taking his gaze off of Draken. "You won't be able to get yourself out."

Kokonoi threw him a wilting look. His eyes looked over flushed cheeks, something completely independent from the cold, and then scowled. 

"You could do better," he declared. Draken felt like he would burst a blood vessal from how hard he rolled his eyes these days. It felt like it was getting worse and worse with every gang they swallowed. 

"What are you saying?" Hanagaki frowned at him. "It's not about better."

The black-haired Black Dragon refugee flinched backwards, like the words shocked him to the core. He stared at Hanagaki before his gaze dropped like a shamed child.

Meanwhile, Draken felt his face burn. At the very least, the winter chill didn't bother him anymore, though he would rather that over Hanagaki being himself.

"He wouldn't be cool if we cut off his arms and legs," Inui declared, making direct eye-contact with Draken. The taller of the two arched an unimpressed eyebrow at him. He'd like to see Inui try. He also wished that they would stop acting like he couldn't hear them. 

"Down, Inui. You can't say that where there are witnesses," Kokonoi chided his long-term friend, like that was the only issue. 

The blond clicked his tongue in return, glare smoldering. Honestly, Draken wouldn't mind throwing down. Inui did a number on Kazutora, if he remembered the Christmas battle correctly. Kazutora was no push-over, so he only imagined how intense that must have gotten. 

Around then, Hanagaki shook his head. "I think Draken-kun would still be cool." As it turned out, he had been contemplating it. Draken wasn't sure what he was expecting at this point. "It's really hard to live without your limbs, so I'll try to help him as much as I can. It'll be hard on Emma to do it alone."

And Inui, who looked so cold and unfeeling even when Black Dragons lost on Christmas, scowled harder. It was not a face of an ally. His hand grabbed Hanagaki's shoulder, and Draken couldn't watch this anymore. It didn't matter that they were now members of Toman, there were lines that shouldn't be crossed. More than anything, he just wanted to be left alone.

And he wanted Hanagaki to also be left alone. 

"Yo, Takemitchy," he called out.

Just as predicted, Hanagaki face turned rosy red as soon as he heard his name. His face looked a lot better than before, a testament to Matsuno's hard work he supposed, but his gaze was the same. The way his expression softened, and his shoulders relaxed was the same. The bandages and bruises changed every day but those parts of him didn't, like they were stronger than any physical ailment, like they would even outlast time. 

"Draken-kun," he said, breathless and in awe when it was the same Draken he had been seeing for quite some time now. 

Even more than before, he felt small in that gaze. The piercing gazes from Inui and Kokonoi was much preferred compared to Hanagaki's. He felt like it said a lot more about him than anything else. Didn't Hanagaki get tired of this? How could he pour and pour and receive nothing but a new scars, and return to pouring? Was it something only an idiot could do?

"Ready to go?" he asked, because Mikey asked him to. And if Mikey had not asked him to, he would have. 

"R-right," Hanagaki nodded, and then, he turned to Inui and Kokonoi with that boyish charm that seemed to capture the attention of every worthwhile fighter in Tokyo. "Thursday! I'm holding you to it!"

"You trust too easily," Draken told him as they walked away.

Hanagaki looked up at Draken and gave him a wide grin, "Don't you know? I'm a great judge of character."

And Draken wondered if someone could really be a judge of character when they came soaring into their life like a comet before promptly rearranging everything that they knew in a blaze. If you made someone a better person, if you were the reason the family could talk, be the reason a feud could end, he wondered if it was that Hanagaki was a good judge of character, or something else entirely.

It made Draken feel small. 

--

"...Draken-kun, do you have a minute?"

Draken wondered if he was going to be called out by all the First Division members at this rate. He really hoped not, because he wasn't actually made out of time.

"Matsuno," he greeted. "What's up?"

Matsuno looked at him, and then at the ground. 

"Takemitchy is fucked in the head," he said, like Draken didn't know. He knew him longer than Matsuno, he was more than aware.

"No shit."

"He's a shit liar, too," he added. 

Draken's eyebrow twitched. He wasn't sure where this was going. 

"So he'll say that it doesn't bother him when people call him a homo," he continued. "And he'll say that all he needs is someone's smile. He says it, and I know he believes it, but I... I just don't want him to live like that."

And what? What the fuck was Draken supposed to do? If he could fix Hanagaki, he would have done it by now. If there was a way he could just beat some normalcy into him, he would have. Instead, the things that he respected the most in Hanagaki were also the things that he hated the most, and they lived with that paradox. 

"So stop leading him on. Break his heart and move on."

"What the fuck?" Draken spat out, "How the hell am I leading him on?"

Matsuno straightened his back, like Draken's words struck a match inside of him. Scowling, the vice-captain of the first division spat back, "Stop playing stupid?! You're making him hang out with your girlfriend! You fucking call him out knowing that he'd do it for you! He buys you all the food you eat, and all you do is sit there and let it happen-"

"How the hell am I supposed to control the shit he does?" Draken snapped back. "I have to watch how I live because he can't get himself under control?" The words sound oddly familiar, and suddenly he remembered the girls at the store, the way one of them couldn't leave the shop because of a guy that would always wait for her, and felt the anger bridle back up. "He should watch himself!"

Throwing his jacket off, Matsuno threw himself into a fight he knew he wouldn't win. He knew it. Draken knew it, too. Still, Draken didn't pull his punches because Matsuno was putting his entire life into it. This was something that meant that much to him, and Draken knew that. He didn't want to use Hanagaki as much as Matsuno didn't. There was nothing either of them could do about Hanagaki, which was why he was both so frustrating and so kind. 

They knew, and the only way they could explain was with their fists.

--

There was a loud screech that echoed, and Draken knew immediately that it was Hanagaki. Which told him that he spent too much time with him already, but this was something else altogether. Mikey bolted away from his side, running straight to the sound, and letting him know for certain that it was definitely Hanagaki. His slow steps took him to the park, where Peh-yan was stuffing snow in Hanagaki's shirt while Pah-chin held him back. 

Hanagaki's other middle school friends were laughing as they pointed, some of them preparing a daring rescue by first slowly creating many snowballs. Matsuno was taking photos, a smile on his face until he saw Draken. His face was a mess, which was saying something when it was normally just Hanagaki, and Draken nodded his head at him. He wasn't sure if he liked Matsuno in any stretch of definition, but he did respect him. 

He slowly made his way down the unclean and copious amounts of snow. 

Like how the tides stretch and bend for the moon, Hanagaki's eyes found Draken. His gaze warmed, and it was clear that, even in that kind of situation, Hanagaki could forget all and just look at Draken.

He got more snow in the face for that, and Mikey finally jumped right on him, crashing him into Pah-chin as they all tumbled to the side in sharp exclamations and bright laughter.

Draken slowly exhaled. They could just have this, he thought. It could have been enough. 

"Draken-kun," Hanagaki's exhale came, barely louder than snowfall, and Draken heard it all the same.

Shelving all thoughts, he jumped in to throw snow instead.

--

"Ken-chin!" Mikey whined.

"What?" Draken daedpanned.

"Ken-chin!" Mikey shook his phone at him.

"What?" Draken was exhausted. He stared at the phone, and tilted his head. It was barely four. There was no way Mikey was already hungry for dinner.

"Ken-chin, Takemitchy said he's busy! He can't hang out with me this week!"

Around then, the door slammed open.

"Do you know why!?" Emma shouted out. "He's not hanging out with you?!"

She scowled while Draken dropped his head. Sometimes, he had no idea who he was with anymore.

"Takemitchy owes me a new manicure," she decided.

And Draken came to a decision. 

"I'll take you," he said, getting up and putting the magazine he was leafing through on the ground.

"Huh?" Emma turned, staring at him with wide eyes. She blinked and then asked, "What?"

"I'll take you to get your damn nails done. We haven't done anything in a while anyways. Let's go."

"Uh?" Emma blinked at him, and he hated how even when she was staring at him, his own girlfriend, he was thinking about Hanagaki and that damn gaze of his. "Really? No changing your mind, okay?"

--

"This was what you were doing?"

Hanagaki looked up where Draken stood. He thought this before, but it felt even more obvious. Hanagaki didn't have a great sense of fashion, and his piss-blond hair matched terribly with the hospital decor. For the sake of all of their eyes, he really needed to stop ending up in here. He narrowed his eyes. The only reason why he even knew that their First-Division Captain was in the hospital again was because he ran into Mitsuya, Hakkai, and Yuzuha getting ready to get things for their visit (and he didn't even realize how pink Yuzuha could get at just the mention of Hanagaki). 

Hanagaki didn't answer his phone for a week and instead came back with Mikey's long-lost brother while he sat in a hospital room with a broken arm and four stitches on his head. 

"Huh?" Hanagaki turned, and seeing Draken, his expression did what it always did. Draken stared at him, and found it hard to keep his gaze. Hanagaki looked at his lap. "Uh yeah, Izana-kun helped me out-"

"After you saved my life," Izana noted. "And I've come here to protect him since it's clear that no one here can."

"What was that?" Matsuno, who had a black eye, snarled back. Draken felt like it spoke measures that he was so bitter and angry from the moment they showed up together.

"Takemitchy!" Mikey shouted out, hands deathly pale until the moment Hanagaki spoke, "Stop finding more people!" He was trying to smile and play it off, but his hands were shaking as he came to the other side of the hospital bed. 

And Hanagaki lifted his hands up in a surrendering position, "I-I didn't mean to!" he called out, "And to begin with, the only one I like is Draken!"

Draken rolled his eyes so hard he almost saw his skull. While he would never turn down a fight, the way Izana eyed him made his skin crawl. The shit he dealt with, he thought. 

"This is your lovely Draken-kun? All you had to say was his name, and I thought that you couldn't even feel pain," Izana asked, tilting his head in consideration. "Very well, Mikey, you can have Tenjiku. I just want Hanagaki. And I suppose that thing, too. I'll personally break him."

God fucking damn it, Hanagaki.

"Izana-kun," Hanagaki said quietly, almost timid as he cleared his throat, "Uh... Draken-kun is super cool. So don't fall for him too hard, okay?"

The way that Manji grew bigger and stronger was not in the way he imagined, but as everyone else seemed to laugh and move along, Draken was left feeling like he was waddling through mud. Surely, someone else thought this was strange, right?

Instead, Kakucho the Brawler met his gaze with a cold stare.

--

"... You know he doesn't like you back, if at all."

Draken cursed up and down that he always ended up eavesdropping. Why the hell was Hanma and Hanagaki chatting it up in the public restrooms of all places? Draken literally just wanted to piss. Why couldn't teenage boys have their emotional outbursts elsewhere? Hanagaki should be on bedrest for the next month anyway. Baji was extra snarly whenever Hanagaki was under Doctor's orders to stay put.

"...Huh? I think Kisaki likes me enough."

"Oh boy, you have no idea," Hanma replied, and Draken clenched his eyes shut. What the fuck was wrong with this gang? What was wrong with their recruitment? Why were homos so good at converting people?

There was a brief pause and Hanma spoke again. The smell of cigarette was reaching Draken from outside. 

"Smoking is bad for you, Hanma-kun," the quiet reply was barely audible. When he thought about the guy that stood between Mikey and Kazutora, Draken felt like there was a stranger in his body in moments like this.

"... But Draken," Hanma continued, completely ignoring his words, "fucking sucks. He's straight. Has a girl. Girl is your boss's little sister, too, so you're double fucked."

"Huh? Draken-kun?" Hanagaki said, like he was finally understanding what was going on. "Oh wait, you mean Emma? She's super cute, isn't she? You can't date her though, she's way out of your league." Every time Hanagaki opened his mouth, it felt like he was in a competition with himself to say something even dumber than before. He truly had no sense of self-preservation, by any stretch of definition. 

"It's not her I'm interested in."

"What?" And Draken hated how he could hear the confusion in his voice. They really did spend too much time together. "Oh, do you like Draken-kun, too? I don't blame you, he's super cool! And he's so considerate about the people he looks after, too! And he's handsome! But you know, Hanma-kun, he's way out of your league, too."

"... Hanagaki," Hanma said. 

"Yeah?"

There was a loud thwacking sound, and Draken was ready to run in. Dumb as he was, Hanagaki was still one of them. Draken wasn't going to just stand by and listen to someone give him a (deserving) beatdown. 

"Ow! What?" Hanagaki whined. 

"Get it through your head! He's not interested in you so get over him and give up! Move on with someone who is just as strong and big!"

"Uh?" Hanagaki groaned, "Why are you hitting me, then? You just don't like me? If you like Draken, that's between the two of you. Don't worry, Draken is really nice, so he won't treat you with any disrespect when he rejects you-"

"You're so godamn boring," Hanma cut him off, frustration coloring his words so vividly it felt like this man was a stranger. The easy-going, if always bored, Hanma seemed to fade away into the obscurity as Draken learned too much about him.

"I-I know that? Why are you being so rude to me today?"

"Stop playing dumb!" Hanma voice rattled the bathroom and Draken wondered if Hanagaki had shit-luck or if Hanma was getting a dose of karma. Which, Draken wondered again why it had to be here, now of all times. He didn't need to know. He really did not need to know. "I know you're stupid, but you can't be this stupid! Why do I spend any time with someone as fucking stupid and boring as you?" 

"I-I thought you liked spending time with Kisaki, and since he's been tutoring me-"

-Kisaki has been tutoring him? Draken's eyebrows twitched at the thought. He didn't even realize that they were all hanging out together-

"For fuck's sake!" Hanma yelled right back, and Draken didn't realize that Hanma could emote this much. He supposed that Hanagaki really had a knack for driving someone to the wit's end. Even Hanma wasn't immune. "You still don't get it? I'm not there to listen to Kisaki drone on about math! I don't care about the fucking shoguns! I know your stupid regular order, a single cheeseburger with tomatoes and lettuce but no pickles and jalepenos with a cookies and cream milkshake on the side!"

"Uh?"

"But I'm still losing to him."

Draken closed his eyes, counted backwards from ten, and came to the slow, sinking realization that he almost felt pity for Hanma. 

"Look," Hanagaki said cautiously, "I haven't confessed yet, so I don't think that Draken-kun knows that I like him like that, if that's the problem. So I can't get in your way, so you should just do what feels right for you. But still respect when Draken-kun rejects you."

There was a long pause and another yelp from Hanagaki. 

Draken jerked, but couldn't leave in time. Hanma was outside. Their eyes met, and Hanma's expression of rare frustration melted into something unreadable. For all the times they've fought, Draken felt like the fights where they don't exchange blows were the worst. 

He didn't say anything and moved on. Draken turned around and left. He did what he should have done from the start, and walk away. 

--

The girls were simple.

"Aw, you got a sweetheart following you around that much? Squeeze him dry."

"Take all his money and leave."

"If he invites you to his family house, also steal all the jewelry but one. And leave that one in his sock drawer so that when people find it, they'll think he was the one that did it."

"Holy shit, Emi, that's brutal. I like it."

Draken sighed. What was he expecting? 

--

"Takemichi," Draken couldn't hold it in anymore, "Why do you like me so much?"

"I-I-I-" his face turned scarlet red and he cleared his throat. Turning his head away, he cleared his throat and looked everywhere but Draken. "I- I uh, I... I don't like you... that much?" he said, but the way his voice rose made it sound like he was asking a question. He winced backwards when he saw the look that Draken was giving him. His eyes dropped to the ground, and the taller teen had no idea how he thought he could fool anyone. 

"Alright fine," he deadpanned, ignoring the sigh of relief Hanagaki had the audacity to give. Why the hell was he lying now? "If you liked someone, why would you?"

"Why I like you?" Hanagaki repeated, finding yet another new way to annoy Draken in the way he always did. "Uh," he frowned, but the flush slowly faded, "I mean, there's a lot about you that I like. You're so cool and nice and always looking after others and always doing what you think is right, and I really respect that."

Which is funny because Draken could say the same about him. Minus cool, of course. 

"But why I like you?" he continued, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. He was quiet for a second longer, and Draken wondered if this was the most amount of thinking he had ever done. "You're Draken-kun."

Yeah, Draken doubted that it would be so easy. This was a waste of time. 

"I just," he shrugged, "One day, I woke up, and I realized that I wanted to see your smile." He held his hands in front of his chest, a tight grip accented by how while his knuckles got, as he stared at them. "So even if we get gunned down and stabbed, and even if we end up in prison, and even if we become the worst scums in the world, I want to see you smile."

Draken stared at Hanagaki. "What the fuck?"

Truly, Draken thought. Useless. Was this Hanagaki's way of saying that he would never amount to much in life?

"Just like, in general?" Hanagaki added, more uncertain than ever. 

"But you don't care if we get together?"

"Why would we get together?" Hanagaki sounded puzzled, and Draken felt like a fool. After a second, Hanagaki cleared his throat and awkwardly looked away, "It's not like... you uh... l-like me... or something."

With a scowl, Draken shoved Hanagaki instead. Words didn't work. Blows didn't work. What the hell was he supposed to do? 

--

And something must have changed in the week and a half since they last met, because Mitsuya called him out. They were walking up the stairs to the shrine as they had been since they met back in elementary school, and as soon as they got to the top, Mitsuya spoke.

"Draken," he called out, an easy smile on his lips despite how his eyes looked as cold as the surrounding snow. "Hurry up and reject Hanagaki."

And Draken felt a vein throb in his head because he tried. He had tried and almost everyone else had tried, too. He turned around, ready to explain that again, but there was something about Mitsuya's expression that made something else come out of his mouth instead.

"...What brought this on?" he asked, because Mitsuya looked like he was ready to fight.

He stared for a moment longer, because he wouldn't ever run from a fight, but even he would hesitate before punching his best friend in the face. He'd do it with enough prompting though.

So, Draken gave a long, deep sigh and caved. "...I did," he said at last. "I've tried," he amended. 

At that, his long-time friend smiled, the kind of smile that made Draken feel like danger was encroaching. They got to the middle stairs, taking a couple steps forward when Mitsuya stopped. 

"Then it's fine, right?" the shorter of the two asked, tilting his head to the side like a cocky asshole, "If I take him instead?"

Draken furrowed his eyebrows, and the words sat on the tip of his tongue. Of course, it was fine. It's the same shit that he had been saying. He wanted Mitsuya to be happy. If that made him happy, and also get Hanagaki off his back, then he would be more than happy. It would be perfect. Hanagaki would still be around, so Mikey would be happy, too. He was sure that Emma would try to demand double dates, and then would be confused why Hakkai came along, but that was just another story for them to laugh about later. 

Everyone could just be happy, and still together. It was a perfect answer. He didn't have to deal with how Hanagaki looked at him anymore, gaze so strong it looked like it would swallow Draken whole. And he knew Mitsuya, at the very least, Hanagaki would be in better hands. Definitely better than Mikey. Or Baji for that matter.

No words came to him. He stared at the first step of the next flight of stairs. His mind was still blank, but he knew he couldn't stay quiet forever. It would look weird, like he cared. Somehow, it was important that he didn't look like that, and he didn't know what that meant.

"Good luck," he told Mitsuya. He would need it.

Mitsuya rolled his eyes. "You're such an asshole, you know that?"

And Draken gave a long sigh. They slowly started their way up. "I've tried, okay?" he said. "And he's not really," he made a vague motion with his hand, "coming onto me or anything. And he spends a lot of time with Emma."

"Is that really okay?" Mitsuya asked.

"She's happy," Draken replied, and then realized how that must have sounded.

"That's so fucked up," he said. "Stop treating him like that."

"I'm not trying to," the taller teen snapped back. "He just... does his own fucking thing. You saw."

And Mitsuya sighed. "Fuck," he said.

Which summed up exactly how Draken felt since this whole thing started. Everything would be so much more simpler if Hanagaki wasn't himself. At the same time, he knew that life was only working out so well for him, because Hanagaki was himself. 

--

"I'm back with your fucking dorayaki-"

"Sh!"

Draken wasn't sure what he was expecting when Hanagaki came flying down the hallway and to the entrance way while shushing him. He squinted at him, the wild, fearful look in his eyes, and arched his eyebrow. He couldn't remember the last time he was shushed. He was the one who had to trudge all the way through the ice and frozen snow to get their snacks from the convenience store. Why the fuck was he getting shushed?

"Mikey is sleeping," Hanagaki whispered to him quietly. Draken rolled his eyes but understood why Hanagaki was like this. The last time Mikey was rudely awakened was in a theater when they got jumped. Draken had to take a few of Mikey's hits (and Hanagaki took four to the face) before he finally calmed down enough to stop. 

In reality, Mikey slept like the dead. He was more surprised that Hanagaki could forget that when they had to go over and pick him up from time to time.

"Uh-huh," Draken mumbled back as Hanagaki took the bag from him. 

"Ooh! The good stuff!" Promptly forgetting the warning he just gave Draken, Hanagaki was leafing through the bag with childish glee. Draken shrugged his jacket off, and then realized that it was dripping some snow. Hanagaki reached his hand out, "Oh, I got it. We can hang it in the bathroom."

"Yeah, thanks," Draken replied passing it over. He got his shoes off, and stretched his shoulders as he followed Hanagaki in. 

"Why are you thanking me? You're the one that went out. Oh, we have some hot water in the kitchen if you want more tea," Hanagaki was back to whispering and Draken rolled his eyes while he shook his head.

"Sounds good," Draken replied, taking the bag of snacks with him.

Of the things he bought, he also grabbed some pudding when he saw that Hanagaki was running low. Knowing the speed they go through their snacks, it was better to be prepared. Filling up Hanagaki's fridge, he frowned when he saw the bulb went out. It was working before he left to must have just gone out. He sighed.

"Takemitchy," he called out.

There was a rush of footsteps, and Hanagaki was there. 

"Yeah?" 

"You got light-bulbs?"

"Uh... somewhere upstairs?"

"Bring one down. I'll change your fridge bulb for you."

"Really?" Hanagaki perked up, and then stopped. "It's out?"

"Looks like it just blew," Draken replied opening the fridge again to show him. Hanagaki moved to stand in front of him, careful so that they didn't touch as he nearly stuck his head into the fridge. Draken wasn't sure why. Wasn't it obvious to see and notice when the light didn't work? Maybe it wasn't that obvious to someone as dumb as him?

"Damn," Hanagaki sighed, "at least it's still cool though," he noted. "I'll get the lightbulb, Handyman-san."

The taller man paused. "What did you call me?"

Hanagaki shuffled away while bowing, "All hail the wonderful and benevolent Bulb-changer!"

"Takemitchy..."

And while giggling in whispers, Hanagaki scampered off. Draken rolled his eyes and promptly decided to eat the two puddings left and hide the ones he just bought behind the lettuce head. Matsuno would probably find it later, but the point was to make Hanagaki think he had none.

That would teach him.

--

Draken stood in the hospital, staring at Emma who had skinned her knee and broke her forearm, and held her numbly as Emma cried in his arms. Hanagaki's jacket was over her shoulders. Sobbing profusely, she held onto him, babbling on and on about how Hanagaki took her jacket and hat and told her to stay put and she was so scared and she was so sorry she didn't move.

As it turned out, Izana had a lot of enemies. When Tenjiku combined with Manji, they also came together. They wanted to hit Izana where it would hurt. The blow that came for Emma hit Hanagaki. The guys who wanted to take Emma took Hanagaki.

Draken felt the lump in his throat. Sometimes, it felt like Hanagaki knew something he didn't. It sounded crazy, but Hanagaki had a way of making even the craziest things sound normal. Did Hanagaki save Emma because he liked and cared about her well-being? Did he think that this was what would protect his smile?

Because Draken didn't feel like smiling at all.

--

He wasn't sure if he was more shocked that Rindo was the one that drove Hanagaki to the hospital on his bike, the fact that Kisaki and Izana already found the newly formed group, or the fact that Mikey hadn't launched a one-sided massacre yet. 

Yuzuha took one look at him when he arrived, and spoke sharply.

"Leave."

"...That bad?" Draken asked Hakkai's sister. 

"He," her eyes watered and her voice trembled, "He said that he's fine. And that..." her bottom lip trembled, and Draken didn't think he had ever struggled to pass on a message as much as she did. She took a deep breath in, calmed herself down, and spoke again with poorly contained rage. Looking at her, someone would think that Draken was the one that put Hanagaki in the hospital.

Actually, maybe he did.

Draken felt like there was an empty crater in his chest. He wasn't sure what that meant. He wasn't sure how something that had nothing could ache. 

"He said not to get hurt." 

Draken wasn't sure how bad the injuries were that he was still in the ICU. There were some whispers in the street, about some guys who were touting how badly they fucked over Manji's Homo, and Draken made sure all those died on the street they spewed shit on. He didn't know, and aside from the burning rage that someone dared to do this to Hanagaki, wanted to try this on Emma, and was happily living it up, he felt an abyss open up in his gut. He wasn't sure what exactly it was, just that it felt like he stood at the edge of it, and couldn't see the bottom. It wanted to consume him. It wanted to hurt. 

But Hanagaki, in a room where Draken was not allowed to visit, had asked him not to get hurt. 

Yuzuha, who argued something fierce with Emma and Mitsuya about what kind of stock to use in Hanagaki's soup, who giggled and pulled a blanket on top of Hanagaki and Hakkai when they passed out on the sofa during a movie but not Mikey, who once took a knife to a fight to save her brother, stood in front of him to stop him from going forward. He wasn't sure what that meant. However, his legs were too heavy for him to lift, and he didn't even try. 

Baji's voice echoed inside of him. [Coward.]

"...Tell him that we won't leave anything left for him. So if he wants any of the action, he better get his ass in gear."

Yuzuha looked at him in a way that he didn't want to recognize. Turning around, he got to his bike, and told himself that at the end of all of this, he'd give Hanagaki a ride anywhere.

--

The fight was in four areas. All those who were involved weren't getting out unscathed. Given how large Manji had gotten, all they needed was information. He didn't know how Kisaki and Kokonoi did it, but it was organized before midnight. 

From there, blood painted the town.

--

When Draken finally saw Hanagaki, a month after being tossed into the hospital, he would see the warm way Hanagaki stared at him and feel ill.

"Nothing happened," Hanagaki said with six new stitches on his head and a chunk of his ear missing. 

He had to turn his head more so that he could look at Draken, since one of his eyes was completely bandaged up. That wasn't counting for the rest of his injuries, when he was practically used for sport. He didn't say it, and still smiled at Draken like there was only one reason why the sun came up every morning. If he didn't hear first-hand account himself, he probably would have taken Hanagaki at face-value. 

Instead, Draken wondered if he could do the same. He wanted to say that he could, that he could do anything for the guys at his back who carried his banner, but sitting in front of Hanagaki who did, he wasn't sure anymore. 

"I'm fine, guys," he tried to smile, but it looked like it pulled painfully on the mess on his lips and jaw, but he kept it up anyway. "Shame I missed out, huh?"

Heart in his throat, Draken took the easy way out again. 

"Nah, there was no way we would have been able to keep an eye on you and take those guys out. They were slimy assholes."

He took a seat, and hated how punching them into the dirt didn't make him feel any better. 

"...Are you okay?" he asked.

Draken looked at Hanagaki. He knew the answer to the question, but he didnt' want to lie.

"I'm not the one in the hospital," he replied. 

Hanagaki winced.

--

Summer threatened to melt them all alive, so hanging out in the hospital until the nurses and security chased them away wasn't too bad.

--

"...Draken," Emma called out, "Let's break up."

He looked at her, mildly shocked, and then nodded. "Okay." 

She stared at him for a moment and then asked, "Do you... even feel anything?"

He didn't mention anything about Hanagaki, but since it didn't feel appropriate to tell his newly ex-girlfriend that he was thinking about another man, the gang, how far Hanagaki was willing to go for someone he wanted to protect, he shrugged back. What was he supposed to say? Even he knew that it was insincere to date someone when his eyes were always looking for someone else.

"If it makes you happy," he said, and didn't realize how different it would sound if he said it versus when Hanagaki did. 

"Augh," Emma shook his head, "What does Takemitchy even see in you?" she hissed. "You better treat him right."

Draken frowned. "Emma, you-"

And Emma's eyes burned and welled with tears as she said, "And I'm going to do it. I'm going to find someone that loves me as much as Takemitchy loves you. I'm going to marry him and I'm going to rub it in Takemitchy's face because he's still going to be in love with a giant turd like you."

The taller of the two blinked slowly, trying to make sense of the situation, and she shook her head.

"Ken-chin," she said, "You don't deserve Takemitchy."

And Draken knew.

--

Hanagaki was on crutches and one of his eyes were still bandaged up. The doctor said that he was on a strict stay-at-home notice for another month, and Draken sighed whenever another fight broke out about who would get to be with him during his mandated bedrest before they all went over anyway. The blond got tired fast though, so it was mainly them pretending to be quiet until Kisaki and Matsuno dictated a timetable. When Mikey agreed, they finally settled.

And Draken, who usually came with Emma and Mikey, actually arrived with Mitsuya to help bring ingredients over for hot pot.

"Hot pot in the summer, huh?" he asked as Mitsuya stared at the two different types of tofu before putting them both in. 

"Yeah," he said, "Takemitchy can't have a lot of solids yet, but he likes eating food with everyone. This is a good compromise. I just need to make sure that beef is small enough that he can eat it..." his voice trailed off as his eyes caught the vegetables on sale. To Draken's shock his friend went for the mushrooms that weren't on sale.

After a second of contemplating the choices, he put three cases in.

"When did you get so loaded?" Draken frowned. He was more than ready to split the cost, but he figured that it would still be reasonable. Regardless of personal feelings, they were still just kids. If they needed extra cash, then Draken needed to step out and find some shitheads. It wouldn't take long to get some money, but he didn't want Hanagaki to be kept waiting.

"It's from Taiju."

Draken did a double take. "What?"

"Right? I couldn't believe it either, but it was in my mailbox, addressed to me with an unsigned letter. Hakkai recognized the handwriting," he said.

The taller of the two remember the fight that almost broke out between Baji and Kokonoi when Kokonoi calmly told them that dinner for all was more than taken care of.

"What the fuck?"

"I guess," Mitsuya packed a thing of chicken too as he gave him a knowing smile, "Hanagaki's charming."

Draken scoffed back, but didn't argue it.

--

With Hanagaki on his crutches, standing to the side, Mikey looked over their assembled Manji. They've grown large, and anyone that challenged them would make them feel like they were bullying the weak.

Mikey disbanded Toman, tears in his eyes and a grin on his face, and Draken lost something precious.

Then his eyes found Hanagaki. Hanagaki was sobbing and blubbering, eyes and snot running, from the little he could see between Hanemiya and Baji, and Draken took a deep breath before making his way over with Mikey and some of the other Captains.

Draken would gain something precious.

--

At some odd hour of the morning, Draken woke up at Hanagaki's house. His lips stretched into a wide yawn as he stood up. Bathroom, then more sleep, he decided. Stepping over Mitsuya, who said that he was going to wake up, make Hanagaki breakfast, and then head home to make sure his sisters are ready for the day, he debated stepping on him for shits and giggles. Deciding against it, he made his way to the bathroom.

On the way back, he noticed that there was light on the back porch. With a frown, he headed down. If someone really thought they could burglarize his friend's place while he was in it, they were in for a rude awakening. Draken was already to fight.

Instead, he saw Hanagaki, sitting under the moonlight. The curtain was pulled back, so light could pour into the room. The floorboards creaked quietly as he walked across, but Hanagaki didn't even look up. Draken sighed quietly, feeling as though Hanagaki had no reason to be this defenseless. His eyes fell to the crutch at his side, and guilt threatened to swallow him whole.

What if he and Emma were on a date that day instead? What if Hanagaki didn't care about Draken and Emma just got snatched instead? The endless questions haunted him when he thought about what could have happened. He didn't want to think that he would rather Hanagaki get taken instead of Emma, and at the same time, he would never say that he would have rather it be Emma. Why couldn't it have been him instead? 

If it had been him instead, if he could have protected Hanagaki and Emma, would he believe that he was deserving of the way Hanagaki looked at him?

Then, Hanagaki turned around. His eyes found Draken immediately, standing in the dark like some creep, and his surprised gaze softened immediately. Who was he looking at? Even though Draken knew the answer, it had gotten harder and harder to acknowledge it. 

"Draken-kun," he greeted in a hoarse whisper, his voice carried by the wind. 

Giving in, Draken stepped out to sit next to him. He slid the mesh door behind him, the gross humidity wrapping around him in an instant. He didn't know how to refuse this creep of his.

The quiet chirps and clicks of the crickets echoed and filled the space between them. It felt unreal that the night could still be so warm when the sun wasn't here. Next to Hanagaki, there was an unopened water bottle. Looking at his hands, still bandaged up and arms in a cast, it was a wonder how he even got out here without waking anyone up.

"Here," he said, opening it for him and placing it down next to him.

"Huh?" Hanagaki blinked, surprised, and then looked down at the drink. "Oh!" He grinned back, "Thanks."

Draken nodded and placed it next to him. Hanagaki held it between his two hands and slowly drank from it. He emptied half the bottle before he placed it down. What was it like to wake up and be unable to get a sip of water? Draken didn't know. 

"Draken-kun," he said, "thanks for coming. I know you probably had more important things to do, but I'm glad you came to visit me."

Draken was quiet for a second. There were a bunch of things he wanted to yell at Hanagaki about. Now that he was here. There were a bunch of things he wanted to apologize to Hanagaki about. Still, he sat there.

"...Yeah," he said, "Well, you got your ass kicked trying to protect my girlfriend." He turned and bowed his head forward, "Thank you."

"Of course," Hanagaki replied. "I know how important she is to you."

That inkling feeling came back, like someone took a knife and cut him open, then slid the knife under his topmost layer of skin to dissemble him in pieces. 

"I..." he hesitated for another second. "Takemichi, was it worth it?" he asked in his moment of weakness. He covered his face, unable to face him as he felt pieces of himself grind down into dust. "You did all this for a guy who doesn't even like you. How can you..."

"Draken-kun," Hanagaki interrupted him, "you ever been alone?" he asked. 

Draken picked his head up. 

"I'm... constantly scared," Hanagaki admitted. "I'm scared I'll grow up, and I'll still be alone. I'd go to work, and when I get off, no one would be waiting for me. I wouldn't have any plans. Nothing for the weekend, nothing in the future. No ambition, no friends, no love. I... I'm so scared I'll live through that." 

Looking over the former First Division Captain, he couldn't imagine that at all. The proof had to be in the number of people that came out in droves to support him on his path to recovery. All of them. 

"So if there's anything I can do to prevent that," he said, "I think it will be worth it."

Staring at the ground in front of him, Draken wanted to say the same. He did, but the person that did everything he said he would do sat next to him unable to open a water bottle. 

"...I think I get what you mean," he eventually said. 

"Right?" Hanagaki gave him a wide grin, framed by moonlight, "I knew you would." He closed his eyes, looking exhausted but pleased with himself as he spoke on his exhalation, "I'm so lucky."

Surprisingly, this was the exact moment where Draken felt clarity. 

--

In the last few weeks of summer, almost after that hunt, Hanagaki was finally off his crutches. 

It was also the anniversary of the ugly scar on Draken's side, and he wondered if Hanagaki even remembered it given the patch-work mess he was in the last year.

"Festival!" Hanagaki yelled out.

"Festival!" Hakkai cheered, waving his arms in the air.

"Festival!" Peh-yan joined them, jumping up and down.

"Festival!" Matsuno roared, throwing his head back.

"Holy shit, you guys," Mitsuya sighed, "Shut up-"

"Festival!" Mikey screamed out, running past Mitsuya with Baji and Hanemiya cheering and yelling random sounds behind him. 

Mitsuya rolled his eyes, but his smile was telling.

"C'mon, don't be a wet blanket!" Smiley said, "We've more than deserve it!"

With a grin, he kicked him in the leg. "Shut up," he said, giving Smiley a headbutt next when he came smashing his head against his. 

Draken followed behind them, laughing so loudly it rang in the night. When he looked up, Hanagaki had stopped, eyes on him again. That same gaze, even a year later. Somehow, Draken couldn't stop his grin as he saw him. 

"Finally off those damn crutches," he remarked. 

"You have no idea how happy I am to finally shower on my own," Hanagaki replied.

"Fuck," Matsuno muttered next to him, "You're happy? Imagine how the rest of us feel."

"Hey, I couldn't help it!" he whined back, "And I told you that you didn't need to come over everyday!"

Matsuno rolled his eyes like he didn't care, but his eyes locked with Draken before he put his arm around Hanagaki's shoulder and started to tug him away. Draken frowned, feeling oddly snuffed. Hakkai didn't even throw a look behind him while he rushed Hanagaki from behind, arms around his friend's waist before hoisting him up in the sky and charging forward. 

"You need to try a little harder than that," Mitsuya told him, a knowing look on his face.

"It's okay, Draken," Angry scowled at him, which someone made him feel even worse.

"Get on it, Ken-chan," Mikey sighed, and then Hanemiya whispered something to him. A considering look came over him, "Or not! And I'll take Takemitchy!"

"Oh hell no," Baji scowled, "that's not happening."

"I'm the one that found him!" Mikey snapped back, stomping his foot for good measure. 

But Hanagaki came to him first, Draken thought. On that day, a little over a year ago, framed by neon lights and hundred of strangers, it was the two of them. At the time, he didn't think anything kind of him.

He kept his mouth shut.

--

Stepping out into the oppressive heat, Draken grimaced as the humidity wrapped around them immediately.

"Ew," Mikey sighed, "Summer sucks."

Draken agreed, but didn't say anything. His eyes swept across the street, and he saw Hanagaki. He stared, watched how the sunlight framed him, and wished there was a way he could take this image forever. There were cameras, but the quality wasn't exactly the same.

And then, Hanagaki turned his head and their eyes met. His cheeks started to flush, his eyes started to shine, and Draken relaxed at the sight. 

"Takemitchy!" Mikey cheered next to him, jolting him out of the moment. Right, he thought, there was the whole rest of the world. 

And when they met at the streetlight, Draken's face twisted into a scowl. It was mirrored by Inui, who was wearing a matching belt and sneakers with Hanagaki, while Kokonoi had an arm around Hanagaki's shoulders and a few designer bags on his arm. 

"Oh," Kokonoi said, "Our President and VP." He gave a proper bow, but immediately put his arm around Hanagaki again.

"Hi Mikey-kun," Hanagaki said, and then looked up at Draken like he always did. "Draken-kun."

And Draken rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah," he said. 

"Takemitchy! Let's go bowling!" Mikey shouted back, uncaring about all else. 

"Huh? Right now?"

"Let's go," Inui said.

"We have uneven numbers, let's invite someone so the team is even," Hanagaki said, "How about Hakkai? He's about as good as me."

"I wanna be on your team!" Mikey cheered. 

"Sounds good!" Hanagaki said.

"I don't want Hakkai," Inui frowned back. "And definitely not Draken."

"Really, but Draken is so cool," Hanagaki said, never once saying anything about Hakkai.

"Hm, then let's call up everyone," their leader decided for them all. "And we'll draw straws after Takemitchy is on my team!"

As their former Vice President pulled his phone out, and his eyes met with Hanagaki's briefly before Mikey all but tore him out of Kokonoi's grip. Kokonoi bared his teeth, but stopped himself as Hanagaki laughed. 

It'd be nice to be on the same team, Draken concluded.

--

Draken came around the corner, stack of plates in his hands, when he saw Hanagaki. Blue eyes met his, and Draken tilted his head. 

"Give me a hand. The top few are slipping." Courtesy of Peh-yan and his sloppy placing of plates so he could get back to wrestling Hakkai, he didn't mention. Once he was done with this, he was going to slug Baji in the face for looking so smugly at him. 

"Uh?"

Hanagaki blinked at him for an extra second, and Draken frowned.

"Takemitchy?" he repeated with a little more urgency.

"Oh, oh!" Hanagaki jerked and rushed forward to help Draken with the plates. "I got these," he said, taking the precarious top few. 

"Thanks," Draken said.

"Yeah, no problem," he replied, and he stepped back. "To the kitchen, right?"

Where else would dirty dishes go? Draken wanted to ask, but it was Hanagaki's house that they were in. 

"Yeah, lead the way."

"This way," Hanagaki said, turning back around. 

Watching him, Draken couldn't shake the feeling that their conversation could have gone longer. 

"Takemitchy," he said quietly, when Matsuno's voice sounded.

"Takemichi!" Matsuno called out, "Where the hell are you? I thought you wanted more soda..." his voice trailed out as he looked from Draken, to Hanagaki, and then back to Draken. His frown deepened, and Draken wondered what the hell his problem was. "...I'll wait."

"Oh yeah, thanks Chifuyu. I'll be right there."

"Popular as always," Draken remarked as Matsuno leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was unreadable, and he stared at Draken like that. Draken wished that they could just fight this out as well.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Hanagaki asked as they entered the kitchen. "You're the popular one," he said, a wide grin on his face. "Our reliable, cool, and handsome Draken-kun."

Mitsuya, who was stuck on dish duty again, snorted loudly as they entered the kitchen. Draken normally would have glared at his back, but there was something about Hanagaki's earnest words that made his face start to heat instead. When did he become someone that was so easily carried away by some compliments? 

"How can you say that with a straight face?" he asked him as he placed the plates next to Mitsuya. His sword brother sighed at the sight of them, and Hanagaki stood there for a moment longer.

His eyes were on Draken's face again, his expression as gentle as always.

"I just wanted you to know."

"Anyway," Mitsuya chirped in, uncaring about the way the other two were talking, "Hanagaki, I found a jacket in the dishwasher. Whose is it? It's way too big to be yours. I left it on the chair, but Hakkai was eyeing it a lot."

"Huh?" Hanagaki turned around to stare at the said article of clothing. He picked it up, opened it up and then realized something. "Oh, this is Ran's!"

"Huh?!" the three Toman members whipped around in their shock.

Hanagaki grinned at them, like he didn't realize how surprised they were. "Kakucho told me that Ran lost it, I guess this was where Shion hid it. Don't worry, I'll let them know."

"Wait," Mitsuya wiped his hands dry, "Hold up-"

"-explain this, partner-"

"Haitani? Haitani Ran?" 

And Hanagaki backed up until his back was to the wall. "Yeah?" Then, as though realizing something, spoke frankly, "Uh, it looks like this, but there's nothing going on between us," he said. "Not even a little bit. I-I only like cool guys," and he gave Draken a meaningful stare. 

Looking at him, Draken thought it was a little cute. The corner of his lips twitched upwards, and he gave a fond sigh.

"Yeah," he said, "I know."

--

"...Hey," Draken said, "Takemitchy."

And Hangaki, as always, seemed to change his entire demeanor as soon as he was called by him. Red from head to toe, he nodded shyly as he stepped forward, an entire galaxy lost in those blue eyes of his, and Draken wondered when it started to get so hard to look away from him.

"D-Draken-kun," he said, breathless and in wonder, even though Draken was just Draken, calling for Hanagaki the same way he had been since they started talking. 

Draken stared at him and felt so stupid. The answer was so obvious, pounding away in his chest, and he still hesitated.

"You got a minute?" he asked, "There's something I want to talk about."

Next to where Hanagaki was sitting, Baji frowned and Hanamiya furrowed his eyebrows. And he got it now, why they looked at him like that. He got it now. Yeah, they were right, he deserved it.

So stupid, he thought. Dumber than Hanagaki, probably. The two of them made quite a pair.

"Uh yeah," Hanagaki said. He pushed up from his seat, smashing his knee into the table and groaning. He waved at Matsuno when the young man all but leapt up to try to help him. "I'll catch up with you guys later," he said, waving at them.

"Fuck him up," Baji said, eyes glued to his cards.

"Kick him in the balls if it gets bad," Hanamiya added with a friendly smile. 

"We're on your side, Takemitchy!" Matsuno called out.

Draken looked at them and wondered when Takemitchy turned his captains against him. Well, he understood where they were coming from. Still, he flipped them off as they walked out. He would probably turn against them, too, if Hanagaki made any inclination of it. He was charming like that. 

As soon as they got outside, Draken took him to his bike. Leaves crunched under their feet. Before long, it would be too cold to drive, and they would still be driving because of Mikey. He could hardly wait. 

"Get on," he said. "There's someplace I want to take you."

"Uh... sure." Hanagaki said as he awkwardly shuffled over. "...Is it bad?" he asked, peering up at him, "Are... are you going to kill me?"

Draken paused, "Of course I'm not going to kill you," and then realizing that Hanagaki was pretty much situated behind him, realized something more important. "Don't ride behind someone you think is going to kill you!"

And Hanagaki laughed back, "I wouldn't mind if it's you, Draken-kun."

"I..." Draken's voice trailed, thinking about it. He stopped himself. Really thought about it. Desperate Hanagaki, who changed outer layers with Emma before getting into a very bad situation. Suddenly, the things he would normally say felt like sand in his mouth, and he couldn't get them out.

Getting his bike on, they started off on the road. Hanagaki, despite all his claims about his love and his crush, leaned back and held onto the seat, cheering when they took fast turns and laughing all the way. No extra touching. Just the usual. They were just two friends. Draken rarely had people behind him on his bike. Emma, once or twice, but that was really it. She held onto him, but that was mainly because she thought her life was on the line. He's rode behind Mikey a few times, and Hanagaki did things that he normally would have. 

If it was Draken, and he was sitting behind the person that he loved, he would be pressed right up against them. He would wrap his arms around their waist and hold them close. It didn't matter how slow Hanagaki drove, he would do it. Any excuse to push his face against his neck, rest his forehead on his shoulder, hold him against his chest.

And then he realized what he thought.

"We're here," he said, getting off his bike and killing the engine. They stood in the parking lot of a convenience store, not too far from Hanagaki's home.

"What's up?" the blond asked. "Is this about Emma?"

"...You knew we broke up?"

"Yeah," Hanagaki nodded. "She told me."

Draken nodded, this would speed up the process.

"Hanagaki. Date me."

The blond gave him a deep bow. "I respectfully decline."

There was a long pause. Draken squinted at the man who declared his love, loud and proud and clear for anyone and everyone to hear and never misunderstand. He didn't even think about it, didn't even stop to consider it, like he knew that Draken would come and ask him out. 

And then, he had the audacity to smile at him like that. Draken's beat people's faces in for less. Somehow, he doubted he could punch his way out of this problem. If all he needed to do was throw down, this situation wouldn't have dragged on for so long. 

"What did you say?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he stepped forward with a frown on his face. 

"I don't want to date you," Hanagaki said.

"But you said you loved me!"

He nodded, "I do."

And Draken, like everyone else, wouldn't doubt it.

"Draken-kun, I love you," Hanagaki said, despite rejecting him. "But I don't want to date you."

"Why not?" he snapped out, unable to make any sense of this, any sense of Hanagaki, since the moment he stepped into his life with his face filled with snot and tears and the willingness to put his life on the line because there was a damn good reason not to.

"Because I can't make you happy."

And Draken hated Hanagaki Takemichi.

--

"...You know, you got some gall to complain to me about your Takemitchy's problems. You know I'm trying to steal him from you, every chance I get, right?"

"I know. I'm sorry."

Mitsuya laughed, but it sounded like it was scraping the inside of his throat. He shrugged back. He gave a contemplative thought. 

"Does that mean that Takemitchy's on the market?"

"He's not!" Draken snapped back.

His old time friend paused, and slowly, turned to fully face Draken. His eyes were wide, but there was no way he was more surprised than Draken himself. 

"...You..."

Draken covered his face. "I asked him out. He rejected me."

"He... rejected you?"

"He said," and he remembered it it with startling clarity, the way shade of blue his eyes had, underneath the streetlight in an empty parking lot, the exact slope of his shoulders, how his lips moved, the angle of his smile, and still had no answer, "He said that he wanted me to be happy. That he loves me, but he doesn't want to date me."

"...Oh," Mitsuya said.

Draken, covering his face, wished that there was an answer.

"Draken," Mitsuya called out, and when the larger teen looked up, was socked straight in the face. He slid back a foot, and turned back with a scowl. "You idiot!"

"Huh?!"

This, he understood. He ran forward blocking the next hit and swinging with his other fist.

"You fucking idiot!" Mitsuya shouted back, "You coward!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

Mitsuyas swung a kick right at Draken's temple, but this time it was blocked by the taller teen's arm. He pushed back at his leg and when he swung his fist to counter, Mitsuya rolled away.

Of course, Draken didn't want to fight him, but if given a fight, he'd never run. 

"He's put his goddamn heart, his goddamn life, on the line, every time!" Mitsuya shouted. "Every day, he got up and he did it so he could see you! So he could see you and your ugly mug and your stupid smile!"

Mitsuya got another blow in, mainly because Draken was still trying to understand the situation. And Draken scowled as his head snapped from one side to the other with fast hits. When he countered, Mitsuya dodged and nailed him in the knee hard. He wasn't pulling punches.

Draken buckled, but he dropped into a roll and maintained some distance. They were both panting, matching bruises on their faces.

"And you just gave up after one try?"

Mitsuya spat out spit and blood on the melting snow next to him. His eyes were livid, every bit the dragon that Draken remembered. His eyes were bright, vivid, and any minute, looked ready to breath fire. This was Mitsuya, putting his heart out the way he could, explaining to Draken in the only way he could, and raised his fist again.

"If you know you don't deserve Takemitchy, why aren't you even trying to earn that place next to him?!"

And Draken felt like he finally got it. He straightened up, and Mitsuya sighed.

"You get it now?"

Draken wiped at the blood on his mouth, "Yeah," he said. "Thanks."

"Fuck your thanks," Mitsuya replied, flipping him off. "Go break my heart."

"Sorry, Mitsuya. And thanks."

His friend waved him off without looking at him. When he couldn't hear Zephyr anymore, Mitsuya sat down on the stairs and sighed deeply. He covered his face and gave a breathless laugh, feeling as though his heart was closing in on itself, to cover for the hole in his life that he cut out himself.

"God," Mitsuya sighed, "What the hell am I doing?"

--

How did you talk to someone who means more to you than words can articulate?

It was a weird thing, and Draken tipped his head back. He gave a long, slow breath. Focus, he told himself. He was fine. He wasn't nervous. He was fine. He wasn't jittery. He was fine. He was cool, the way he should be because apparently that's what Hanagaki liked the most about him. So he had to be cool. He had to play it cool. He was just fine.

All he needed to do was look at Hanagaki in the eye, and tell him that he wasn't as creepy as he thought. It was going to be simple and easy. All he needed to do was grab Hanagaki and declared him as his boyfriend. Just a simple, "We're dating now." And Hanagaki would probably cry, but Draken had a handkerchief in his pocket.

Fuck, he thought. He needed to get himself together.

Like that, for some unexplainable reason, he looked across the street. There was no reason to, when he could barely hear his thoughts in the center of all the traffic, but his eyes moved before he knew what he was doing.

There he was.

Hanagaki Takemichi was standing in his lame beige pants and a strange red t-shirt, the fashion disaster he always was. There was a time when Draken didn't want to even be seen with him, and now he felt the smile stretch his lips before he knew what he was doing. 

And Hanagaki's eyes found him with ease. A smile bloomed on his face, and he boldly stepped out into the street with all the other pedestrians as the lights flashed green. Draken was already on the other end of the crosswalk. He lifted his hand up, unable to stop the smile on his face. 

Him and Hanagaki and burgers, he told himself. 

"Take-"

The problem wasn't the truck that ran the red light. The problem was that the truck that ran the red light smashed into one of the streetlamps, and knocked it clean off the ground. The construction equipment of several long steel pipes came loose. In an instant, a normal day became a nightmare when the pipes came crashing down on people and rolling off. Panic settled in as people got injured.

And when one of the pipes came flying at Draken, Hanagaki shoved him backwards a couple of feet and was struck in the head. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, and Draken saw his lips move. It dropped with a clang, Hanagaki following suit.

"I love you," Hanagaki said without ever saying it.

By the time Draken dropped to the ground, his hands reaching for Hanagaki, blood soaked his hands and the ground. Without meaning to, his fingers touched where the skull was broken and felt something soft underneath.  Like that, he knew that Hanagaki did have a brain. He had a brain, and it was spilling on the asphalt. He had to be careful, or else Hanagaki would get even dumber. Though, he supposed at least he wouldn't have to worry about Hanagaki getting in the same class as Baji and Matsuno anymore.

"...Takemichi?" he called out, thinking that there would still be a response.

Holding him like this, Draken realized that Hanagaki was deceptively small for all the courage that he held.

"You know," he said, "I don't think I'm going to become super rich or famous." He took a deep breath, and remembered a talk from a long time ago, and maybe this was why he never forgot it. "I'll wake up, go to work, come home, drink some beers, count down to the next time I see my friends, and go to sleep. It won't be a lot, but I'll have a clean job I'm proud of, good food, good company, and a small house."

He took a deep breath in. Blindly, he took Hanagaki's hand, and thought it was impossible that something so small could face off all the gangs in Japan. He pressed his lips to the back of his hands, tried not to think about how cold he was getting already, and felt like the world was playing a big joke on him. Everything smelled like blood.

"I wanted you to be there to make it home."

His voice broke.

"I wanted to see you smile, too. I-" he took a heaving breath in, and it was amazing the things people could say when the right person was no longer there to listen. "I wanted to make you happy for the rest of our long, stupid lives."

Holding him closer, Draken tucked Hanagaki's head under his chin. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening. They weren't Toman anymore. They were clean citizens. How could Hanagaki get thrown in the hospital all this time, but not make it this time?

"So you have to wake up," he said, "Please, Takemichi."

Hanagaki died with a smile on his face and Draken lived.

"I love you," he said, meaning a confession but delivering a farewell.