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"Say, what do you like about Amatori?"
Yuzuru whips his head upwards, looking up at Touma. Touma looks back at him, twirling a pencil between his fingers with a rapid, dizzing ease. Yuzuru blushes a little, the tips of his ears turning red.
"I don't know what you mean," he responds, taking a sip from his soda. Glancing around the hallways of Border HQ, he relaxes when he notices no one else is paying any attention to the two of them, milling about their daily lives. Of course. Why would they? "What do I like about her?"
Touma rolls his eyes, ceasing his twirl to point a pencil at Yuzuru, brandishing the point like a the barrel of a rifle. "Yeah. What do you like about her?"
Yuzuru opens and shuts his mouth. He crosses his arms, glaring at Touma in a futile attempt to wipe that knowing look off his face that always clung to him with the arrogance you'd expect out of a number one sniper. "Why're you asking? It's none of your business."
Touma huffs, spreading his arms out to gesture at himself. A few people glance, but none of them linger. "Well, I consider myself one of Amatori's friends, and as her friend, I'm invested in making sure she's around good people. It shouldn't be a hard question to answer, right?"
It shouldn't be. But Yuzuru's mouth remains shut, his brain dredging through embarrassment and irritation in equal measure to come up with something that doesn't make his chest explode. "She's so sweet. She's even nice to you," he bites. "And she's determined. At first," he swallows, his face heating. "Why am I even telling you this? It's weird."
"Everyone's sweet and determined." Ignoring Yuzuru's question, Touma continues. "If you look at them right. I mean, I get you like her and everything, but the Away Mission is no joke. And neither is liking someone."
"I don't need your approval," Yuzuru retorts, taking a sip from his soda. "And since when did you start caring about stuff like that?"
The silence stretches for a moment, not hostile, not friendly. Yuzuru glances over at Touma, who's staring at the pencil gliding over his fingers. He curses when it slips to the floor, clattering with a loud thunk. As he picks it up, Touma says, "I don't know. Consider it the instinct of the number one sniper." Shooting a wink at Yuzuru, he grins. Yuzuru rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, whatever." He stares out at the crowd, the agents milling about in their uniforms, unbothered by the two snipers lurking in the corner. He's not sure how much time passes, but the silence feels strange, mocking. Touma's mocking seems to seep through his brain, a thousand words about he's not enough, too young, too immature, too weak. "I like her because….because she's cute." Touma opens his mouth but Yuzuru continues, barging through his words. "And because she's strong. Not because of her trion, but because she doesn't want to give up. She tries so hard. Like Hatohara. But—" but I can understand her "—but she's not Hatohara. She likes cats and she's a better runner than I am, and she smiles really wide when you give her any kind of compliment, and she's…she's Amatori," he finishes. He stares at his ground, a hot flush burning through his veins. He'd sounded stupid, hadn't he.
Touma laughs and Yuzuru's fist curls, a sudden urge to pull a move out of his captain's playbook overtaking him. "Wow, Yuzuru. You're a real lover boy, aren't you?"
"Shut up," Yuzuru grumbles. " I'm not. And I don't care if you think it's a stupid reason to go on the away mission, or if I'm being ridiculous. I want to go. I want to protect her."
"Like you didn't get to protect Hatohara?" Touma asks. Yeah, Yuzuru's going to imitate his captain. Kageura'll be real proud of him when he sees the security cam footage of him decking the number one sniper. (Though, as loath as he is to admit it, it'll probably be more of a lame kick to the shins). "She's her own person, Yuzuru."
"I know-!" Yuzuru snaps, whipping his head to glare at Touma. "But you don't understand. Hatohara wasn't your mentor. You didn't see how much it affected her. I can't let that happen again." The local hospitals and police stations had become exhausted with his calls. He still has their numbers on speedial. "And maybe at first, I approached her because I didn't want to turn out like Hatohara, but I know she's her own person. I know because—"
Because she wouldn't leave, right? Because she smiles so brightly at Yuzuru, at her friends, speaks of them in such high regard. Because she's strong, stronger than Hatohara ever was. Because she's his friend, and he hers. She wouldn't leave.
"Calm down, tiger." Touma raises a hand and Yuzuru grits his teeth. "I get it. I know." He hums, his eyes fixating on the pencil spinning between his fingers.
Yuzuru wants to slam that pencil out of his hands. "Do you? And what does it matter anyway that she's a bit like Hatohara? So what? It doesn't change a thing. I'll still go on the away mission, and I'll still protect her."
"Yeah, yeah." Touma shrugs. "I'm glad you're such a white knight, Yuzuru. Really. It's a good thing." He stops spinning that pencil, tucking it behind his ear. "And I'm sure Amatori could use all the protection she could get. But still, she's as much of a soldier as any of us are. Even more, I would say. Don't let those big, sad eyes get to you. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for someone is to let them protect themselves."
Yuzuru frowns. He knows. He knows, how could he not? The Trion Monster, the Human Cannon, the Mini Nuke. "It doesn't matter. Even if she's a good solider, she's still Amatori."
Touma snorts. He reaches out, ruffling his hair. "You know, Yuzuru, it's nice seeing this firebrand side of you. I always thought you were just some depressed kid."
Yuzuru slaps Touma's hand away, a heat prickling his skin. "Touch me again, and I'm going to tell Maki that you've been slacking off."
"Oof, that's mean, Yuzuru." Touma retracts his hand. "My own precious student acting like this?" The two stand in silence again, letting the hubub of Border pass them by.
Touma breaks the silence.
"Good luck, Yuzuru. With everything. But especially your feelings for Amatori. Having a crush isn't easy." He's not looking at Yuzuru, but at the pencil in his hand, with a contemplation far too serious for a pencil, of all things.
For a second, Yuzuru contemplates pressing further. But that'd just earn him another wave of teasing, so instead, he sighs. "Yeah. Thanks."
-
Later, when Amatori thanks him excitedly for a frog keychain he got her, and Yuzuru spots Touma waggling his eyebrows at him behind her, he severly regrets his choice to not punch him when he had the chance.