Work Text:
When you live in a world the demands your life be in a moderate amount of danger at LEAST 4 days a week, you lose some of your sensitivities. You start ignoring the ground shaking, or the sound of glass breaking, or someone screaming a ridiculous name for a final attack. Sometimes, when a guardian drags you out of the way of a giant inky black fist, its just another Wednesday afternoon.
Sage Kukai, at only 14 years old, had lost count of how many near death experiences he'd had. At some point, you just...forget to count the next one.
"INCOMING!"
The ground shook as Mars- no, Scarlet- spiked a particularly large Void beast into the middle of the school field. The running track made a perfect arena for the two as they pummeled the living daylights out of each other. The beast, a hulking ogre of a thing, roared as Scarlet Star landed on its chest. The cocky new guardian took a minute to claim victory, standing over his- her- his conquered foe. Unfortunately for her- HIM- the beast found her lapse in concentration to be a perfect opportunity. The thing grabbed her by the leg and slammed him down into the dirt as well. It shouldn't be a fair fight, but with Scarlet's recently gained immaturity, the playing field was leveled quite a bit.
"She's not as good a fighter as she was last year" Kagni said, sipping from his water bottle.
Sage, Kagni, and Lemus all sat on the bleachers, close enough to watch the brawl without being directly in harms way. Sage and Lemus looked at Kagni, who was standing with his hands shielding his eyes from the sun.
"I mean, according to the upper classmen, at least." He continued.
"Maybe. She can be kinda clumsy in the montages i watch on youtude." Lemus added, leaning back against the hard metal seats. "Her new outfit is pretty cute though, with the big jacket. It's very punk."
"Mmm, I don't like the hat. Seems like a marketing move. Mars already has a look-alike, bet he bought it to get her attention."
Sage almost choked on his water, ending up in a coughing fit barely noticed by his Star-Guardian-Battle obsessed friends. You see, unlike them, Sage was in possession of very, very privileged information. Not long ago, Sage has put a few pieces of the puzzle together, and discovered that Scarlet Star was not, in fact, a 500 year old immortal celestial being, but was in fact their fellow grade 9 student and kinda-sorta friend Mars Hino.
"Where is he, anyway? You couldn't buy better seats to a Scarlet Star fight than this."
Sage, not one for nonchalance, mumbled something about anxiety and the bathroom.
"Whatever," Kagni, thankfully, didn't really care. "His loss."
"Speaking of losses..." Sage started, panic rising in his voice. He rose from his mostly uncomfortable seat to stand next to Kagni as their gaze went up, up, up, until...yep. Scarlet Star had just been launched into the stratosphere, a mere twinkle in the sky as if Team Rocket had blasted off again.
A gulp from behind them brough their eyes back to ground level. Lemus, perhaps wisely, had started to inch away from the group as the Void ogre's focus fell to the poor, innocent idiots that had thought to stick around.
Frozen, Sage's mind raced as he thought of what to do.
"Maybe," He said quietly, "If we don't move, it wont notice us. Like a T-Rex."
Sweat pooled at his temple and dripped down the side of his face.
"I like that idea." Kagni agreed, just barely outside Sage's range of vision. "Keep holding still."
The sudden clanging of shoes on metal whipped his head around. Kagni was off like a shot from a gun, quickly catching up to Lemus. Sage was, without putting too fine a point on it, completely fucked.
The beast stomped closer.
Its horrible club of an arm raised high above his head.
He should run. No, dodge at the last second. No, run NOW. No, wait, hide under the bleachers. No no, there's cement under the metal, he'd just get flattened into a pancake. He'd just be a pancake.
He's going to be completely crushed.
The void fist fell.
Sage shut his eyes tight, falling to the ground in an undignified pose as he braced for impact.
The horrible sounds of crunching metal filled his ears as the ogre's fist made contact.
But it wasn't with him.
As he slowly realized he wasn't dead, his head raised from its hiding place under his arms.
Above him stood Scarlet. Er, Mars. No, Scarlet. Mars? Mar-let.
Scarlet, panting ever so slightly, had caught the smashing fist, her arms straining under its weight as she looked down at her friend.
"Hey," She panted, a genuine, razor-sharp-toothed smile filling her features. "You good?"
The metal bleachers on either side of Sage were fully bent by the force of Scarlet's feet begging for support, her knees almost buckling from the effort, and for a split second Sage realized he had to keep his eyes up to avoid seeing under her skirt. Instead, he looked at her face. She was a little sweaty, kinda dirty, and, with the light shining behind her head just so, looked like a complete and total goddess. For the first time, Sage didn't see a difference between Scarlet Star and Mars Hino. When it came to saving his life, they were the same person. Something clicked, an understanding Sage didn't want to have, but one he couldn't hide from.
"Y....yeah...." His voice was meek, which could easily be explained by near death experience, but he wasn't so sure that it was just that. His heart, beating fast, scared him.
"T- thanks!"
Scarlet Star pushed against the crushing force above her, standing to her full height.
"Hey, its what I do." She gave him a knowing wink before pushing the fist- and the towering beast it was attached to- staggering away from her. The fiend took one, two steps as it reeled from the force of her launch.
"I'd better get back to it, and you should probably get to safety."
Sage gulped and nodded. Scarlet checked over her shoulder, making sure the Void wasn't preparing another strike before turning back to Sage.
"Do we have gaming club today?"
Again, Sage nodded. How she could be so calm in a situation so dangerous left him in awe.
"Cool, cool. Let me just wrap this up. Wouldn't want to miss art class, right?" She rolled her eyes, but still braced herself to leap from the bleachers. High in the air, she pulled her own blood into a thin but deadly spear. Coupled with the gravity of her fall, she forced the long instrument into the Void's brutish chest. A crisp and clear "CHINK" told her it found its mark, and the core shattered at its tip.
As the hideous inky black form crumbled into dust, Sage found his breath. Standing there, impossibly cool in the center of the field, stood Scarlet Star.
What a hero...
~~
Sage paced nervously in front of the linoleum tiles that marked the bathroom entrance. He had only, say, two minutes since the fight to collect his thoughts, and they were still a jumbled mess.
"Clear?"
Sage continued pacing, the voice of his friend falling on deaf ears as he felt the weight of his realization.
"pssssst," hissed Mars.
"Huh? Oh, yeah its clear."
And out he strolled, arms up casually holding the back of his head, like he didn't have a care in the world. Under the brim of his cap, the red streak in his hair caught Sage's eye, a mark of greatness if he'd ever seen one. It was as if the boy had been born for this role, scarlet in both name and aesthetic.
"Can we skip art? I wanna take an early lunch." He unwrapped a fresh lollipop and stuck in his mouth, playing with the extruding stick with his tongue.
"Ummm yeah, sure, why not." Why would he agree to that? Sage had never skipped a class in his life. Seemingly on the same page, Mars raised an eyebrow.
"Really? You've never skipped a class in your life."
"Yeah, well, I'm in shock, or something. Come on, before I change my mind." With that, he turned on his heel and marched off, hiding his face from Mars as he made for the main building.
He knew quite well that Hino like the roof. It was his number 1 favorite ditching spot, and for some reason, Sage had made a mental note of every time Mars had slipped away during class transitions to abscond here. For the first time, the tranquility of the location would be shared between them.
Sage picked at his lunch as Mars laid back, his energy spent from the fight.
"I'll give the Voids one thing: they make getting out of a lame class soooooo much easier."
"Yeah...totally."
Mars cracked an eyelid, looking at his best- well, maybe only- friend.
"You're acting weird."
Sigh. Subtlety was never his strong suit.
"No I'm not." Sage replied, lying terribly.
"Yes, you are." He sat up, hands on the ledge of their uncomfortable seats. He leaned forward, trying to look at Sage's face, while the meeker boy turned away. "You don't cut classes, and you definitely don't like them being cancelled. You're a nerd, remember?"
Sage huffed indignantly, his pride forcing his head to whip around. Unfortunately, this placed his face only a few inches from his friend's. His pulse was confused again.
"I'm not just a nerd. People can be more than one thing. Maybe I'm trying new things." He tried to hold Mars' gaze, but it wasn't easy. With the proximity being what it was, and the fierce stare Mars was giving him, he faltered. His eyes flicked away, looking for something else to draw both their attention. He didn't mean for it to flick down first, but it did, before he turned away.
"Sage, do you remember why I let you keep your memory of me being Scarlet? Do you remember just how much trouble I would be in if anyone found out?"
Sage mumbled a "yes", but it wasn't enough. Mars grabbed his shoulder, and their eyes locked once more.
"I needed to trust you. I needed to know that you were my friend."
Sage's cheeks were turning red, and he didn't know if it was from the confrontation or what.
"And now," Mars continued, "You're hiding something from me."
Sage swallowed guiltily. His eyes were so, so blue. Impossibly so.
"What. Is. It."
The moment held, and so did Sage's resolve, but not for long. He cracked, letting his shoulders sag as Mars released him.
"Okay, fine. Look..." Sage played with his thumb, picking at the skin next to the nail as he refused to look up.
"You like girls, right? You know how you feel when a cute one looks at you?"
Mars grinned, and he stuck an elbow into Sage's shoulder.
"Ooooooh I get it, you've got a crush!"
"Mmmm" Sage shifted uncomfortably on the cement ledge. "Maybe. I'm not sure yet."
"Well come on, who is it? No way its Rhea, she's cute but doesn't really seem like your type. Kinda....spacey...."
Sage bit his lip nervously.
"I doubt its Neri, she's a total loser, and lets be honest, you're a terrible gamer. Who else do we know..."
"Stop it, okay? You're not gonna guess it."
Mars raised an eyebrow.
"So its someone I don't know? Like someone older?"
"No, not-"
"Wait, how much older?"
"Its not-"
"Like, a teacher? Dude." Mars laughed, and Sage turned beet red. "Even for a nerd like you, that's pretty crazy."
"It's not a teacher!"
"Hey, its okay if its a teacher. One of my neighbors is tooootally hot, and shes gotta be around-"
Sage couldn't contain himself.
"ITS SCARLET, OKAY?"
The silence that followed was worse than the teasing. Sage kept his eyes shut tight, hands balled into fists, trying to remember how his legs worked so he could just run. Unfortunately, like with the Void, they were frozen.
Mars was silent.
He was silent.
They sat like that for what felt like a really, really long time.
Finally, Mars coughed, and Sage could hear him scratch the back of his neck.
"You...you, of all people, know that-"
"Its not..." He made his best attempt at a deep breath. "...It's not just Scarlet."
"...Oh."
He could feel tears welling in the corners of his eyes, but he shoved them down just like the lump in his throat.
"...Sage, look, I-"
"I know, I know." He wiped his face with the heel of his palm, clearing his vision enough to start at the trees blowing in the wind down below. "I hear how you talk to the other guys. I know that you like...people like Rhea, and not...people like me."
"Shit, Sage," Mars sighed. "Can you let me finish a sentence?"
Sage tried not to sniffle. He already felt like an idiot, he wasn't about to look pathetic took. In, and then out. Iiiiiiiin, and then out. One breath after another, right up until he felt Mars hand on his back. Then, he had no breaths left to take.
"Look, I...don't know how I feel about, uh, that." For the first time in his whole life, Mars Hino was choosing his words carefully. Sage let his eyes wander to the sky, looking for flying pigs too.
"But I do know what it's like to have weird feelings. About stuff."
Sage snorted.
"Ya'know there's a poetry club too, right? Bet they'd make you president."
Mars punched him in the arm. He probably thought it was playful, but Sage still winced.
"Hey dummy, this isn't easy. I didn't come up here for truth bombs, I wanted to chill out."
Sage let out another sad laugh.
"Sorry."
"No, i mean...ugh" Mars pulled his cap down over his face, grumbling incoherently into the darkness, before righting it with renewed determination. "What I'm trying to say is, you're my friend, right?"
Sage nodded, hopeful.
"And that means, unfortunately, that I care about you."
He raised an eyebrow. Typical Mars.
"and, well, I'm not just going to throw you to the wolves, okay?"
Sage nodded again.
"So, we're cool, right?"
"Yeah, we're cool. Thanks, Mars."
Mars groaned and turned away.
"Don't get all sappy on me. You're still a total nerd."
Sage smiled again, less burdened than he was before.
"And you're an idiot jerk with a guardian complex."
They we're smiling together now, and the breeze blew a little lighter. Mars, a champion of bravado, hopped up in indignity.
"Hey, its not a complex if I am one! And I'll still whup your butt, no matter how much I like you!"
Laughter filled the rooftop, lifting the spirits of the two friends as they joked and bantered. In time, they would revisit this conversation, but for now...
For now, this was enough.