The Benchmate
The Benchmate
by Yuutan or sometimes Chibi
Yamada Ryosuke/Chinen Yuri
genre: school-life | rating: R
Disclaimers:
YamaChii owns each other <3 And most of the plot is adapted from Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun.
You know what 'adapted' means? It means it is based upon, inspired by, whatever it is.
It is not 100% my work. That being said, you should read the manga. It's recommended.
Ever since the day after the school's opening ceremony, the table beside Ryosuke's had always been, even though well-cared for, cold. It was scratch-less, scribble-less and every expected detail for an unoccupied table. The students might have forgotten who was this last member of the class. The only clue Ryosuke found was a small picture on a student card his homeroom teacher was currently giving him, as well as a file of what appeared to be notes about the past lessons.
"Yamada-kun, I might ask you too much but... could you deliver this to your benchmate? I have investigated his address and he is living near your house," said Yabu-sensei.
Ryosuke, being the class president, took the responsibility with a heavy heart. His arms were almost breaking by the weight of the file. It was surprising what this school could give in just the 2 month-frame time. "Yes, sir."
Everyone in the classroom was busy chatting animatedly. None of them seemed to recognise Ryosuke as he walked back into the class with a bit difficulty. He dropped the file on his desk carefully. At times like this he was thankful of his regular morning exercise.
Looking at the size of the notes, his curiousity took a hold of him. Who could have managed to laze around that much, anyway? What possibly made a student this lazy, even to attend a class?
Ryosuke took the student card on top of the file. He scanned the information, finding the name 'Chinen Yuri'. And almost instantaneously, a pair of impossibly dark and icy stared back at him through the picture. They belong to a boy with a mop of black hair of which the end nearly touched his shoulders. The boy had a fair skin and peach-coloured lips that brought Ryosuke back to the memory of the opening ceremony.
He remembered the time the teacher arranged the seating distribution. Ryosuke remembered a student in the front row raised his slender arm and boldly asked the teacher if he could move to the back row. The teacher tried to argue since the boy was short, but the said student merely stood from his seat and walked to the back of the class. He sent off the student who was sitting on his desired seat with his piercing glare. Ryosuke remembered the chill ran through his spine at those pools of darkness.
How could someone own such eyes?
And he was to deliver the notes to that guy.
***
After school, found Yamada Ryosuke in a department store. The brown haired guy was still in his school uniform. The school bag was hanging on his right shoulder. The file of lesson notes his homeroom teacher trusted in him was in his left arm. He was standing completely unmoving in the doorway. His wide brown eyes stared in an utter shock at the scene before him.
A young boy - he could never mistaken that black eyes, where all the lights died down - was involved in a horrifying fight against a group of muscular adults. Around them, things were scattering. Colourful juice of you-don't-want-to-know matting the floor and their clothes and fists. Grunts echoed within the walls, along with the words like "I told you not to come here again!" which surprisingly came from the little runt over there.
In all of his life, Ryosuke had never seen such a fierce fight. Or someone who battled that fiercely. But what surprised Ryosuke more than everything was the fact that Chinen Yuri seemed to win the fight. He got some good punches and kicks that would surely send Ryosuke sprawled on the floor, but not Chinen. Even if he fell, his black eyes burned in such intensity that his opponent faltered. The little boy used that tight chance to muster a counter attack. In just a few minutes, all of them were breathing hard. Yuri glared to all of his opponents, wiped the blood from the side of his lips and hissed, "Leave and never come back." Venom dripped from his words.
All of the adults clambered to their feet and ran away from the very store, without a single glance to Ryosuke and he was thankful of that. His relief was short lived, though. He was instantaneously met Chinen's still murderous gaze.
Ryosuke gulped.
They stood in silence for a while. Ryosuke nervously analysed the damage the fight caused. It was quite a mess. His eyes saw a pack of crushed strawberries. He wondered had he joined the fight, he would have been crushed like those strawberries. He shivered.
"Who are you?" the question Chinen threw at him brought his attention back to the small, slender boy. He was still having those murderous eyes, but less threatening now that he realised no harm upon Ryosuke's appearance.
Ryosuke cleared his throat before speaking, "I am called Yamada Ryosuke. I am from Horikoshi High School, your classmate to be precise. I am told to bring you your lesson notes..." He speech trailed off as he watched blood drained drastically from Chinen's face. He was alarmed when Chinen sway on his feet. But then he was gaping like a fish at the sudden speed Chinen performed while the boy turned and ran to the window... and jumped out.
Huh???
He barely registered the timid appearance of the department store owner's head from behind the counter, asking him if it was safe to come out.
The next time Ryosuke met his homeroom teacher and was asked to deliver another lesson notes, he would pointedly refused.
***
Ryosuke sighed at the result of his maths quiz. Maths had never been his strong point. Still, he thought the questions were all easy. But of course, that was how maths works. If the question looked easy, it might be a trap.
Ryosuke sighed again as he counted to ten inwardly. He needed not to complicate things. All he had to do was more study time.
He was just turning into the usual route of home when there was quite a force grabbing his left hand and hauled him away from the daylight. In mere seconds, he found himself in a narrow alley. A pair of wide, black eyes of Chinen Yuri's stared at him with a silent order to be quiet and hold his breath. As if to emphasise the point, Chinen put his index finger on top of his mouth and hissed threateningly.
Huh???
Chinen mouthed 'follow me' then started leading the way, getting further from Ryosuke's home. All to familiar nervousness settled in Ryosuke's gut. But he could not just turn his back and run. There was something in Chinen's attitude which said that he meant no harm to Ryosuke. And Ryosuke swore he saw a hint of twinkle in those dark pools of Chinen's.
In approximately twenty minutes walking, they walked down more alleys before finally Ryosuke saw an open area. Chinen had brought them to a river bank where they could see vast blue sky and smelt water.
"This way!" Chinen called from his right.
Ryosuke turned and followed the boy who was now bouncing on his heels. Ryosuke blinked. This Chinen was a complete opposite of yesterday's one. This Chinen was too lively, although Ryosuke was sure that he still had the terrifying glare. It was as if this Chinen and yesterday's one were two different people.
"See here!" Chinen shortly disappeared to the tall grass.
Ryosuke watched the tall danced widely before Chinen came out, holding a massive, dirty white rabbit. A real living rabbit. Its size was so big that Chinen's arms were trembling dangerously while he was holding the struggling animal. Behind the animal, Ryosuke could only see Chinen's head and lower legs. The rabbit's ears were slapping Chinen's face. It was so cute of a sight that Ryosuke could not help but smile.
Seeing Ryosuke smiled, Chinen's face lit up. "His name is Kokoro!" he announced in a high-pitched voice then grinned an impossibly warm grin.
Ryosuke felt his heart stopped beating. His blood rushed to his face as he greedily drank the sight of the small boy's uncharacteristic friendly interaction toward the rabbit. He watched and kept watching Chinen played a game of tag with the rabbit, fed the rabbit and got crushed under the weight of the rabbit as the latter tried to eat Chinen's hair. Chinen giggled while swatting away the beast.
And finally, both of them sat crosslegged next to each other on the grass. Kokoro was bouncing once in a while, finding his most favorite grass to digest. How in the world a rabbit could grow that huge? Ryosuke could only blame the said beast's eating habit. That thing had not yet stopped eating since then for God's sake!
"Chinen," Ryosuke called, uncertainly. He glanced at the happy face of Chinen's when the latter hummed. Ryosuke felt his heart skipped a beat. But he had to ask nonetheless. "Um, why are we here?"
Chinen blinked his enormous eyes as if he had forgotten something. He then proceed to the front of Ryosuke and clapped his hands, making Ryosuke jumped. "I am so sorry!"
"Huh???"
"Yesterday I thought you were the spy sent by the school!"
Spy??? What was that about?
"You see," Chinen looked away sheepishly -too sheepish that Ryosuke did a double take- "I don't want to come to school."
"Why?" Ryosuke frowned.
Ryosuke felt his heart broke at the crestfallen face of the young boy before him. "I'm scared," Chinen said in a low voice. Then he projected his wide black eyes to Ryosuke. They were no longer the dark eyes Ryosuke had been familiar of. They were now twinkling in so brightly, then Ryosuke realised what kind of eyes those were. "School is scary, isn't it?"
That Chinen Yuri was launching a full-fledge puppy eyes attack. And Yamada Ryosuke wondered how he should answer that question. It was unfortunate that Kokoro could not talk.
***
A week after his second encounter with Chinen Yuri, the homeroom teacher kept nagging Ryosuke. He wanted the class president to persuade Chinen so he would attend the school. But Ryosuke point blank refused. He even learnt to avoid walking in the hallway his teacher used to walk.
Ryosuke's meeting with Chinen became more frequent. Sometimes Ryosuke visited the riverbank. Sometimes Chinen dragged him to game centers or cheap family restaurants. Ryosuke realised that without Chinen fighting bad rascals, Chinen was actually a good company.
It was on the early evening when Ryosuke saw a group of young lads coming close to where Chinen and he was sitting in a family restaurant. Chinen was munching his gyouza happily. Ryosuke felt even more nervous when one of the lad halted right behind Chinen and asked for money. Chinen protested, but he gave his money anyway. With that, the lad went.
Chinen saw the look on Ryosuke's face and said, "It's not like what you're thinking."
"And do you know what am I thinking?" Ryosuke raised an eyebrow.
"They're friends," Chinen said defensively.
"That's now how it looks like," Ryosuke argued. "To me, it looks like they're leeching on you. Friends do not leech on each other. They - " He stopped talking as he felt a cold substance splashed on him.
Chinen had dumped all his drink on Ryosuke's head. His black eyes had lost their twinkle. They were reverted to the usual coldness. "Go away. I don't want to see you ever again," he growled.
Ryosuke clenched his fist then he did what Chinen just did. But instead of dumping him on top of Chinen's head, he did it right at the small boy's face. Chinen spluttered and glared with such ferocity that Ryosuke almost backed off, but he stood on his ground. Ryosuke grabbed all of his belongings. "Make it two of us," he said between his teeth and walked away as fast as his legs could bring him.
Chinen had taken his words none too lightly. Both of them stopped seeing each other since that day. And every time the name Chinen Yuri came up, Ryosuke would apply what he had learnt from Chinen's glare that even his homeroom teacher did not dare approaching him ever again.
***
Ryosuke was trying, really trying, not to visit every place Chinen had bought him to. But he could not really avoid department stores, could he? He was running out of shampoo. So he decided to act as bold as he could, entering the department store where he first seeing Chinen.
He quickly grabbed the shampoo bottle and joined the line in front of the cashier. That was when he saw the same group of lads who asked Chinen some money. They were laughing as they walked through the door. As he was standing still and practically did nothing, Ryosuke could hear snippets of conversation. Especially one that mentioned the name which ticked him off right now.
"... lucky we have Chinen."
Ryosuke strained his ears.
"Yeah he's like a money machine. Just ask him, you'll get the money."
"What do you want to do with the money now?"
"Dunno. Maybe to rent a motel..."
"Ah I see what you're going to do, Aniki."
"Hahaha..."
Ryosuke had had enough. He stepped away from the line and confronted the group of now laughing lads. He threw his shampoo bottle at one of them, effectively getting their attention. Judging by the look of they were now giving him, he was in a grave danger. But Ryosuke could careless.
"That Chinen Yuri considers you as friends!" he was breathing hard due to the emotion he was trying to keep at bay. The group of lads approached him and he refused to back off. Instead, he held his head up high. "How dare you treat him that way?! He's not your money machine whatsoever!"
The one who looked like the leader - had blonde hair and was wearing silver chain around his neck - had now stood right before Ryosuke. He was a head taller than Ryosuke, but Ryosuke's stare did not falter a bit.
"Do you have something to say, runt?"
His breath smelt awful but Ryosuke walked a step closer. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, "I am sure I have a lot."
Deafening silence fell upon them, before the owner of the department store slipped into his desk while muttering "not again". The customers had scurried away to find safe hiding spots. Some of them practically ran away before paying.
There was only one single breath taken before Ryosuke felt a damn brilliant punch against his ribs. He was thrown back several feet and was about to retaliate when something flew over his head. That thing hit the face of the one who punched Ryosuke. Hard.
Everyone froze for a moment until there was a voice coming from Ryosuke's back. "Stay away from him!"
Ryosuke turned around in the right time seeing Chinen ran at him in a full speed, eyes blazing. Ryosuke ducked down, flat on the ground, as Chinen jumped over him. Ryosuke turned his head back at the group of the incorrigible lads to find Chinen was landing punches and kicks at every one of them. For a moment, Ryosuke was frozen on his spot.
Had Chinen been here all the time? Had he heard all those ill words they were saying about him?
Looking closely at Chinen's furious face as he expressed his frustration, there was no doubt. Ryosuke felt sorry about the small boy. He had trusted them deeply, he had been loyal to them. But at the same time, he had never been a part of their friendship.
"You bastard!" Chinen got a kick which sent him sprawled to the ground. He was about to heave himself up when someone stepped on one of his foot. Chinen's scream was filled of pain which electrocuted Ryosuke right through his core.
The brown haired boy stood up, ran and blindly kicked the one who stepped on Chinen. Ryosuke scanned all of them who were having difficulties in catching their breath. Inside, his heart was pounding in fear and uncertainty. He had never fight someone fist to fist before. He had not even thought that he could kick a living being. He was scared if he lost the fight. Beside him, Chinen had pulled himself up albeit unsteadily. His face was a mess. He had a black eye and a swollen cheek. His left foot had to be stinging. However, the small boy still had his signature intimidating glare. That mere sight of his eased Ryosuke a bit.
"Stop it, all of you!" someone shouted from the door. He was quivering in fear and was shaking like a leaf. He had his phone in his hand. "I have called police! They will come here fast!"
Indeed, Ryosuke could hear a siren from afar. He turned to Chinen and met his determined look. Without words, both of them ran to the same window which Chinen used it to escape Ryosuke at their first meeting. Ryosuke jumped out first, followed by Chinen who was landing in Ryosuke's arms (his foot could not function well). Ryosuke fell on his bum under the younger's weight but Chinen quickly hauled him up to his feet. Together, they scurried away from the light. Chinen set his jaw tight as he was limping. Ryosuke saw it then offered himself to piggy back him.
"I can run!" Chinen hissed. His face was red. Whether it was of embarrassment or of running out of breath, Ryosuke could not tell.
"It's not the time for that! Come, hop on!" Ryosuke bent on his knees. After a moment of hesitation, he felt Chinen climbed onto his back so he resumed running. Never did he dare looking back.
***
As they stopped running, they realised Ryosuke had brought them to their special spot, the river bank. Kokoro was nowhere to be seen. Ryosuke assumed she was sleeping.
Ryosuke let Chinen down and sat on a step. He himself was sweating profusely. He had never been that terrified before. He swore to himself that he would not pull a stunt like that ever again. "There, I've lost my shampoo bottle," he wheezed. "At least I haven't paid for it. And I think I might wash my hair with a soap tonight." He chuckled between his breath.
His laugh was hanging in the air. He looked at Chinen and saw that the latter had a serious look. He scrunched his brows while looking at his feet.
"You okay?" Ryosuke plopped next to him. "How's your foot."
"It's fine," Chinen answered. His voice sounded off. It lacked of the usual cheer he used to wear around Ryosuke. In fact, he sounded so exhausted.
Ryosuke decided not to pry. "Okay," he said, as he looked at the darkening sky. It was a gradient of purple, orange and dark blue. Stars littered everywhere. He could hear the sound the water made. He closed his eyes as the evening wind chilled his aching muscles, wiping off his sweat.
"I forget your name," he heard Chinen said from his right side.
Ryosuke did not know whether he had to laugh or smack the small one's head. The decided to be wise and chose none of the options. Grimacing, he answered bitterly, "Yamada Ryosuke. Please remember my name properly." He looked at his right and saw Chinen's eyes were twinkling madly.
"Ryosuke, that's a cool name!"
Ryosuke felt himself blushed and looked away. "S-stupid, it's just a name. What's with it anyway!" Chinen croaked a laugh. Maybe he was not that fine to pull a joke. Knowing that you were never a part of a friendship you think you were was never alright. Ryosuke sighed. "Sure you alright, Chinen?" he asked again.
Chinen smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He then glanced at the sky. "I don't know, Ryosuke," he answered. "My foot is not hurting anymore."
"That's good," Ryosuke hummed.
"But what I am feeling now... it's hard to tell," he continued on. He pulled his knees and held them loosely. "The reason why I don't want to go to school is mainly because I am scared." Ryosuke had heard this reason, but he kept quiet. "People fake smiles often. What if they befriend with me, but then stop hanging out with me once they meet someone's better than me? They say I am their friend. But the truth is I have never been their friend."
Ryosuke was desperately holding himself from blowing up at the very childish reason. He wanted to scream that Chinen was being paranoid. But seeing the look on the small boy, his rage melted away. He remembered how Chinen dumped his cold beverage on his head for downgrading his so-called friends. He then remembered the anguish look of Chinen the moment he found he his friend had used him as a money machine. To Chinen, friendship had to be terrifyingly meaningful. Which was why fake friends hurt beyond anything.
"People said fake friends leave one day and never come back, true friends stay forever and ever," Ryosuke said. He reached the back of Chinen's head with his right hand and ruffled his - surprisingly soft - black hair.
Chinen stared at him with his wide eyes. "And you stay."
"I stay," Ryosuke smiled. "I will always do."
"Why?" Chinen tilted his head to his side. He sounded so innocent that Ryosuke's heart broke.
"Because I am your friend," Ryosuke answered huskily.
Chinen blinked once and twice. "My true friend?"
Ryosuke let a moment of silence passed, then he nodded and widened his smile. "Your true friend," he clarified.
At the very next second, he found himself an armful of Chinen Yuri. The small boy hugged him too tightly that he could hear his ribs cracked. However, hearing Chinen chanted "My true friend!" over and over, Ryosuke could only sighed and patted Chinen's back as a comfort. Somehow, his heart raced at the hug Chinen initiated. And he could not tell why. He could hear though, under all the noise everything was making, Chinen's heart was pounding against his ribcage.
***
The next day was eventful. Chinen tailed Ryosuke wherever he went: the canteen, the rooftop, the library... even the toilet. The small boy glued behind Ryosuke whenever someone approached them. It was not helpful that Ryosuke was the class president and occasionally he had to make an announcement before the class. Their homeroom teacher, Yabu-sensei, was in the verge of fainting when Chinen glared at him for being over familiar.
Well, at least Ryosuke did not have to meet an empty table every time he glanced at his right. Because the once empty table was now occupied by none other than Chinen Yuri. His benchmate.
He did not know how good did it sound.
By the way, Ryosuke was walking down the hallway. Chinen trailed behind him as if he was his shadow. They was just from the canteen, getting their lunch. And now as they were fed and watered, Ryosuke decided to pay the library a visit. They had midterm tests in the next two weeks. The could not slack off.
They passed a group of girls. Chinen was instantaneously clinging to Ryosuke. They had talked about this. Ryosuke had explained to Chinen that he had to make friends someday. But Chinen the trauma of having rejected might need time to heal. Ryosuke respected that as long as Chinen promised that time was all he needed currently.
"... my heart, it went thump-dump, thump-dump!"
"Kyaaah! Are you falling in love with him, then?"
"I don't know but... ugh, I can't stop thinking about him. I don't want to see him hurting either. I want to be close to him always. Do you think I am in love with him?"
"Hahaha... silly you. Of course you are. The signs are already there..."
Ryosuke stopped dead in his track. It was too sudden that Chinen bumped his nose to his back. "What the - Ryosuke?!" the small boy nursed his reddening nose.
But Ryosuke did not said anything at the reprimand. Instead, he was watching Chinen ever so carefully. His brown eyes calculated every single inch of Chinen's appearance. His clueless look, his slightly oversized uniform, his black eyes which no longer hold such unsettling darkness....
"W-what?" Chinen backed away awkwardly.
Ryosuke then remembered how his heart stopped beating at Chinen's smile, how he was upset when Chinen did not want to see him, how his heart ached at the pain Chinen had to endure after finding out how fake his friends were, how his heart could not stop pounding at the hug Chinen enveloped him with...
Oh.
Ryosuke turned aways quickly as he felt his face burnt.
"What?!" Chinen demanded, but Ryosuke resumed his walk to the library. It was more like stomping now, actually. And he wished Chinen would just stop calling him incessantly. The walk down to the library was full of Ryosuke's echo, "Be quiet, Yuri!" and Chinen's high-pitched nagging, "What the heck - won't you tell me what was that about?! Hey, Ryosuke! Ryo-chaaan!"
Fin.
I forgot how tiring editing a layout on livejournal can be. That was it. So... did you like that? It's good to finally be able to write something. My English as well as my writing skills might have rusted, though. I spent too much time on hiatus. But yeah, that's what going on hiatus does to writers. Nuff said, now look at my eyes. You'll feel your finger moved to the comment section. Please leave comments! I really need them now. Thank you in advance.