CHAPTER 3
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Summary: After the fight Kaiji and Sahara begin spending more time together. But will Sahara's familiarity hamper their budding relationship?
Rating: G
Word count: 2 091
Warning: Sahara being his shameless self.
A few weeks had passed since the event that starry night. The bruises Kaiji had been given was almost completely gone much to his own relief; people were staring enough at him as it was.
Lunchbox in his hand, he wandered the halls heading for the exit to the yard. It was lunch break, and Kaiji had been looking forward to it. When outside, he suddenly spotted two members of his gang. He lifted his hand as to wave, but was answered with backs turned to him. He felt something heavy sink inside of him and sighed to ease the feeling up if just a bit. The turnout of that fight had been more devastating than what he'd feared. He was still a part of the gang, but he was being clearly alienated as well.
The little social life he had had been broken, and he could easy blame his kouhai, Sahara for all of this, only he didn't. In fact, he didn't regret anything. Ever since they parted that night, Kaiji had been thinking about a lot of things. About his gang, Sahara... Jumping into a fight for his sake was more than anyone had ever done for him before, and he couldn't just disregard that.
Finally, he reached his favorite spot on the schoolyard. It was a bit of a hidden place, behind some thick bushes and under a tree. It was perfect if you wanted to be alone. Kaiji sat down with his back against the tree, but he didn't open his lunchbox quite yet, he was hoping for someone to show up. Truth was, ever since the incident, he had only gotten to know Sahara more.
On the other side of the school Sahara was disentangling himself from some of his female classmates, making up some half-assed lie about needing to finish his homework for biology before their afternoon class. And besides, he needed to change into his tracksuit for gym-class before the lunch break was over. They hadn't really bought it, but gave him the slip anyway.
He had eaten his mother's homemade lunchbox between first and second period, so had only gotten yakisoba-bread from the cafeteria & a soft drink from the vending machine. His eyes scanned the schoolyard, hoping to catch sight of the now familiar dark-haired boy.
When he didn't, Sahara thought he had a fairly good idea of where he could be, but not chancing it and disturbing the older boy he took up his cellphone and sent Kaiji a text;
"Uissu! Kinda have something I wanna talk to you about, mind if I come eat my lunch with you?? ^A^"
Kaiji's cell vibrated three times before he could bring it out of his pocket and check his mails. "Sahara ka." He murmured, reading the text.
"Sure, I'm over at that place." He wrote as reply, and hit the "send" button.
Pumping his fist at the response Sahara headed over to Kaiji's secret spot. It had only been a little over a week since Kaiji had first shown it to him. But they had already spent most of their lunch breaks, the ones Sahara had been able to, eating and hanging out underneath the old cedar tree.
"Ossu~!" He greeted Kaiji cheerily, climbing past the bushes and flopping down next to Kaiji. Dropping his gym-bag unceremoniously next to him Sahara instantly started unwrapping the plastic of his yakisoba-bread. "Ahhh, I'm starving!! Aren't you senpai?" Sahara gave the neat lunchbox in Kaiji's hands a pointed look.
The corners of Kaiji's lips curled up slightly as Sahara scrambled over the bushes and sat down next to him. He enjoyed his company (but he wouldn't let it show too much). "Is that all you're gonna eat?" Kaiji answered Sahara's question with another, pointing at Sahara's yakisoba-bread before opening his bento box. Inside was rice, a bit of grilled salmon, some broccoli and eggs, nicely put together into something really appetizing.
Nodding mutely Sahara stared at the delicious looking food displayed before him. Just looking at Kaiji's lunch had Sahara's mouth watering. Finding his voice he explained a bit bashfully, "my mom had actually prepared lunch... but I got hungry during the first break, hayaben you know..."
Kaiji actually chuckled. "Hahaha, that's so Sahara." He teased as he started eating.
Sahara groaned at that before taking a big bite from his yakisoba-bread. "Che, if it had been one of the girls they'd at least offered to let me taste," he whined, but there was no real spite behind his words, "but senpai is so stingy~"
"Well it was your own damn fault for doing a hayaben." Kaiji answered, Sahara's whining bouncing off of him completely. "If those girls are so generous you could just go ask them for food later." Kaiji was still teasing, but there was also a hint of annoyance in his voice.
At that Sahara shook his head and he clarified around a mouthful of bread,
"Nah, I'd rather not. Since it's my birthday soon they keep pestering me about it." He wolfed down the last of his food before continuing, "Which is actually what I wanted to talk to you about..."
"About girls pestering you?" Kaiji was becoming annoyed for real.
That earned him a confused and slightly exasperated look from Sahara. "What?"
But then the look changed into a smug grin, "weeell, I was planning on saving that part for later …but if you insist!" at that he gave Kaiji a knowing wink.
Kaiji facepalmed mentally and let out a heavy sigh. "What were you going to tell me?" He asked tiredly.
This earned him a pout from the blond. But after downing half of his drink Sahara resumed what he had been intending to talk to the older boy about,
"So I was planning on having a party this weekend. Saturday." Giving Kaiji a searching look before he continued,
"Was kind of hoping you'd come!" Continuing hastily he added "I mean it's nothing big, just a couple of people from club, maybe some classmates; we'd hit some Fami-Res and maybe do karaoke afterwards." The words left him in quick succession.
Kaiji turned his head towards his kouhai and swallowed the food he'd just put in his mouth. "Oh yeah?" He said before turning to his food again. "...I'm not really the party-type." He explained before putting a broccoli in his mouth and chewing it thoroughly.
"O--Oh" was all Sahara could muster, putting on a valiant face and pretending that it didn't bother him half as much as it really did. But really, the disappointment was written all across his features.
Kaiji, being a lot more skilled than Sahara at reading subliminal messages instantly comprehended the situation, feeling bad about it too. His shoulders slumped and he put the bentobox back in his lap. "....Why don't we do something else? I mean, you'll have your party and all, but..." What Kaiji really was trying to say was that he'd like to celebrate with Sahara, just not with a bunch of strangers surrounding them. He looked at Sahara, checking if he interpreted his words correctly.
"...'Do something else'?" Sahara furrowed his brow and gave Kaiji a questioning look "like what?"
"Well," Kaiji face turned a bit smug all of a sudden, "Since you're turning into a man, I'd like to see if you can hold your liquor..." He explained.
Sahara's face lit up in a smile at this,
"Heh, 'course I can!" he asserted.
"Ooh?" Kaiji teased. "Well then, we'll just have to find out. How does this Friday sound to you?"
"Sure!" Sahara was just as quick to agree "Friday sounds perfect! But where do we get the booze from?"
"My uncle runs a bar a bit away from here; he's sold me booze before so as long as we're discreet about it it'll be fine." Kaiji was overly pleased with Sahara approving of his proposal.
Sahara grinned at that; he should have expected as much from his resourceful upperclassman. Giving Kaiji an appraising look he licked his dry lips and asked out of curiosity "how old were you the first time you got drunk?"
Kaiji finished the last of his bento and put the chopsticks together. "I think I was about ten or eleven years old..." He paused to think for a moment, "My mom had left some sake out and I tested it out of curiosity." He told Sahara.
"You?"
Sahara was silent for a moment, biting his lower lip in thought,
"About the same age?" He hesitated, "Yeah, I think I was eleven," he agreed with himself, "at a friend's house."
Kaiji did see through the lie as well, but decided to let it go. In fact, he found it pretty amusing. "So how old are you turning now, 16?" Kaiji asked, steering away from the subject.
"Yep."
There was an awkward silence. Kaiji flipped up his cell to check the time, (and randomly browse through the menu to act like he was doing something) and realized it was soon time to head to class once again.
Just as he did this the distant chime of the school bell started sounding its first warning, alerting everyone that it was now about 15 min left until they had to be back in class.
"Ah, shit!" Sahara had P.E. after the lunch break, and he had yet to change.
Scrambling on his hands and knees, which hardly stung anymore from where he'd skinned them badly weeks earlier, Sahara peered out through the undergrowth surrounding them. "I won't make it in time to change in the locker-room at this rate" he observed, and turning back towards Kaiji he started unbuttoning his school uniform pants "You don't mind right?"
Kaiji, still cell in his hand heard the gentle rustling of fabric and looked in Sahara's general direction just in time to see him pull his pants down. He jumped (even though in a sitting position) a few centimeters up in the air and dropped his cell on the ground clumsily. His eyes had locked onto Sahara's thighs, and wouldn't seem to want to look anywhere else until Kaiji forced his head to the side, trying to hide the flush of red spreading over his cheeks. "What the hell are you doing, all of a sudden?!" he squeaked.
Sahara was surprised by Kaiji's sudden outburst, and momentarily stopped what he was doing, his trainer bottoms only halfway up his legs.
"Er, I-I kinda forgot to change before coming here," Now it was Sahara's turn to blush as well, his cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment at his upperclassman's obvious discomfort, but he tried valiantly to explain himself, "And now I won't make it in time to change. You know the P.E. teacher... he hates it when you're tardy."
Suddenly Sahara burst out laughing, "Anyway, it's not like you haven't seen a guy changing before, but I'll be quick about it. Sorry!" Hoisting up his pants and shrugging out of his shirt and t-shirt he rummaged through his bag, looking for the P.E. issue one.
"Oh man! I forgot my t-shirt!" Sahara slapped his face in annoyance, but pulled out his jersey and zipped it up to his collarbone, still flashing some bare skin underneath "Teach won't be able to tell with my jersey on though, huh?" He grinned.
Kaiji was trying to keep his cool. TRYING. His heart was desperately throbbing against his ribcage, and it was affecting him. His first thoughts centered around why he'd reacted so, and then he tried to focus on calming down and keeping his cool. But damn, it was a challenge. "Just be quick about it..!" Kaiji hissed nervously in the opposite direction of where Sahara was changing.
Once the blond had zipped up his jersey, Kaiji turned his head around again, but he was looking more at the grass than Sahara. "You better hurry up, class starts in a few minutes." He murmured as he fumbled with putting together his own stuff.
As if proving his point, there was the sound of chimes again.
"Ugh! Kaiji-senpai, your classroom is on the second floor!" Sahara exclaimed and looked at him worriedly. "You better hurry, because that's the chime that classes are starting!" he explained.
Grabbing his bag Sahara ushered Kaiji out from underneath the tree, a firm hand on his lower back. As soon as they had both gotten past the bushes Sahara pushed past Kaiji though,
"Sorry~! I'll talk to you more later, senpai!" he shouted, waving over one shoulder as he dashed for the gymnasium.
Teaser next chapter: As promised Kaiji takes Sahara out drinking for his birthday, but one of them can't hold his liquor as well as expected.
.
Summary: After the fight Kaiji and Sahara begin spending more time together. But will Sahara's familiarity hamper their budding relationship?
Rating: G
Word count: 2 091
Warning: Sahara being his shameless self.
A few weeks had passed since the event that starry night. The bruises Kaiji had been given was almost completely gone much to his own relief; people were staring enough at him as it was.
Lunchbox in his hand, he wandered the halls heading for the exit to the yard. It was lunch break, and Kaiji had been looking forward to it. When outside, he suddenly spotted two members of his gang. He lifted his hand as to wave, but was answered with backs turned to him. He felt something heavy sink inside of him and sighed to ease the feeling up if just a bit. The turnout of that fight had been more devastating than what he'd feared. He was still a part of the gang, but he was being clearly alienated as well.
The little social life he had had been broken, and he could easy blame his kouhai, Sahara for all of this, only he didn't. In fact, he didn't regret anything. Ever since they parted that night, Kaiji had been thinking about a lot of things. About his gang, Sahara... Jumping into a fight for his sake was more than anyone had ever done for him before, and he couldn't just disregard that.
Finally, he reached his favorite spot on the schoolyard. It was a bit of a hidden place, behind some thick bushes and under a tree. It was perfect if you wanted to be alone. Kaiji sat down with his back against the tree, but he didn't open his lunchbox quite yet, he was hoping for someone to show up. Truth was, ever since the incident, he had only gotten to know Sahara more.
On the other side of the school Sahara was disentangling himself from some of his female classmates, making up some half-assed lie about needing to finish his homework for biology before their afternoon class. And besides, he needed to change into his tracksuit for gym-class before the lunch break was over. They hadn't really bought it, but gave him the slip anyway.
He had eaten his mother's homemade lunchbox between first and second period, so had only gotten yakisoba-bread from the cafeteria & a soft drink from the vending machine. His eyes scanned the schoolyard, hoping to catch sight of the now familiar dark-haired boy.
When he didn't, Sahara thought he had a fairly good idea of where he could be, but not chancing it and disturbing the older boy he took up his cellphone and sent Kaiji a text;
"Uissu! Kinda have something I wanna talk to you about, mind if I come eat my lunch with you?? ^A^"
Kaiji's cell vibrated three times before he could bring it out of his pocket and check his mails. "Sahara ka." He murmured, reading the text.
"Sure, I'm over at that place." He wrote as reply, and hit the "send" button.
Pumping his fist at the response Sahara headed over to Kaiji's secret spot. It had only been a little over a week since Kaiji had first shown it to him. But they had already spent most of their lunch breaks, the ones Sahara had been able to, eating and hanging out underneath the old cedar tree.
"Ossu~!" He greeted Kaiji cheerily, climbing past the bushes and flopping down next to Kaiji. Dropping his gym-bag unceremoniously next to him Sahara instantly started unwrapping the plastic of his yakisoba-bread. "Ahhh, I'm starving!! Aren't you senpai?" Sahara gave the neat lunchbox in Kaiji's hands a pointed look.
The corners of Kaiji's lips curled up slightly as Sahara scrambled over the bushes and sat down next to him. He enjoyed his company (but he wouldn't let it show too much). "Is that all you're gonna eat?" Kaiji answered Sahara's question with another, pointing at Sahara's yakisoba-bread before opening his bento box. Inside was rice, a bit of grilled salmon, some broccoli and eggs, nicely put together into something really appetizing.
Nodding mutely Sahara stared at the delicious looking food displayed before him. Just looking at Kaiji's lunch had Sahara's mouth watering. Finding his voice he explained a bit bashfully, "my mom had actually prepared lunch... but I got hungry during the first break, hayaben you know..."
Kaiji actually chuckled. "Hahaha, that's so Sahara." He teased as he started eating.
Sahara groaned at that before taking a big bite from his yakisoba-bread. "Che, if it had been one of the girls they'd at least offered to let me taste," he whined, but there was no real spite behind his words, "but senpai is so stingy~"
"Well it was your own damn fault for doing a hayaben." Kaiji answered, Sahara's whining bouncing off of him completely. "If those girls are so generous you could just go ask them for food later." Kaiji was still teasing, but there was also a hint of annoyance in his voice.
At that Sahara shook his head and he clarified around a mouthful of bread,
"Nah, I'd rather not. Since it's my birthday soon they keep pestering me about it." He wolfed down the last of his food before continuing, "Which is actually what I wanted to talk to you about..."
"About girls pestering you?" Kaiji was becoming annoyed for real.
That earned him a confused and slightly exasperated look from Sahara. "What?"
But then the look changed into a smug grin, "weeell, I was planning on saving that part for later …but if you insist!" at that he gave Kaiji a knowing wink.
Kaiji facepalmed mentally and let out a heavy sigh. "What were you going to tell me?" He asked tiredly.
This earned him a pout from the blond. But after downing half of his drink Sahara resumed what he had been intending to talk to the older boy about,
"So I was planning on having a party this weekend. Saturday." Giving Kaiji a searching look before he continued,
"Was kind of hoping you'd come!" Continuing hastily he added "I mean it's nothing big, just a couple of people from club, maybe some classmates; we'd hit some Fami-Res and maybe do karaoke afterwards." The words left him in quick succession.
Kaiji turned his head towards his kouhai and swallowed the food he'd just put in his mouth. "Oh yeah?" He said before turning to his food again. "...I'm not really the party-type." He explained before putting a broccoli in his mouth and chewing it thoroughly.
"O--Oh" was all Sahara could muster, putting on a valiant face and pretending that it didn't bother him half as much as it really did. But really, the disappointment was written all across his features.
Kaiji, being a lot more skilled than Sahara at reading subliminal messages instantly comprehended the situation, feeling bad about it too. His shoulders slumped and he put the bentobox back in his lap. "....Why don't we do something else? I mean, you'll have your party and all, but..." What Kaiji really was trying to say was that he'd like to celebrate with Sahara, just not with a bunch of strangers surrounding them. He looked at Sahara, checking if he interpreted his words correctly.
"...'Do something else'?" Sahara furrowed his brow and gave Kaiji a questioning look "like what?"
"Well," Kaiji face turned a bit smug all of a sudden, "Since you're turning into a man, I'd like to see if you can hold your liquor..." He explained.
Sahara's face lit up in a smile at this,
"Heh, 'course I can!" he asserted.
"Ooh?" Kaiji teased. "Well then, we'll just have to find out. How does this Friday sound to you?"
"Sure!" Sahara was just as quick to agree "Friday sounds perfect! But where do we get the booze from?"
"My uncle runs a bar a bit away from here; he's sold me booze before so as long as we're discreet about it it'll be fine." Kaiji was overly pleased with Sahara approving of his proposal.
Sahara grinned at that; he should have expected as much from his resourceful upperclassman. Giving Kaiji an appraising look he licked his dry lips and asked out of curiosity "how old were you the first time you got drunk?"
Kaiji finished the last of his bento and put the chopsticks together. "I think I was about ten or eleven years old..." He paused to think for a moment, "My mom had left some sake out and I tested it out of curiosity." He told Sahara.
"You?"
Sahara was silent for a moment, biting his lower lip in thought,
"About the same age?" He hesitated, "Yeah, I think I was eleven," he agreed with himself, "at a friend's house."
Kaiji did see through the lie as well, but decided to let it go. In fact, he found it pretty amusing. "So how old are you turning now, 16?" Kaiji asked, steering away from the subject.
"Yep."
There was an awkward silence. Kaiji flipped up his cell to check the time, (and randomly browse through the menu to act like he was doing something) and realized it was soon time to head to class once again.
Just as he did this the distant chime of the school bell started sounding its first warning, alerting everyone that it was now about 15 min left until they had to be back in class.
"Ah, shit!" Sahara had P.E. after the lunch break, and he had yet to change.
Scrambling on his hands and knees, which hardly stung anymore from where he'd skinned them badly weeks earlier, Sahara peered out through the undergrowth surrounding them. "I won't make it in time to change in the locker-room at this rate" he observed, and turning back towards Kaiji he started unbuttoning his school uniform pants "You don't mind right?"
Kaiji, still cell in his hand heard the gentle rustling of fabric and looked in Sahara's general direction just in time to see him pull his pants down. He jumped (even though in a sitting position) a few centimeters up in the air and dropped his cell on the ground clumsily. His eyes had locked onto Sahara's thighs, and wouldn't seem to want to look anywhere else until Kaiji forced his head to the side, trying to hide the flush of red spreading over his cheeks. "What the hell are you doing, all of a sudden?!" he squeaked.
Sahara was surprised by Kaiji's sudden outburst, and momentarily stopped what he was doing, his trainer bottoms only halfway up his legs.
"Er, I-I kinda forgot to change before coming here," Now it was Sahara's turn to blush as well, his cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment at his upperclassman's obvious discomfort, but he tried valiantly to explain himself, "And now I won't make it in time to change. You know the P.E. teacher... he hates it when you're tardy."
Suddenly Sahara burst out laughing, "Anyway, it's not like you haven't seen a guy changing before, but I'll be quick about it. Sorry!" Hoisting up his pants and shrugging out of his shirt and t-shirt he rummaged through his bag, looking for the P.E. issue one.
"Oh man! I forgot my t-shirt!" Sahara slapped his face in annoyance, but pulled out his jersey and zipped it up to his collarbone, still flashing some bare skin underneath "Teach won't be able to tell with my jersey on though, huh?" He grinned.
Kaiji was trying to keep his cool. TRYING. His heart was desperately throbbing against his ribcage, and it was affecting him. His first thoughts centered around why he'd reacted so, and then he tried to focus on calming down and keeping his cool. But damn, it was a challenge. "Just be quick about it..!" Kaiji hissed nervously in the opposite direction of where Sahara was changing.
Once the blond had zipped up his jersey, Kaiji turned his head around again, but he was looking more at the grass than Sahara. "You better hurry up, class starts in a few minutes." He murmured as he fumbled with putting together his own stuff.
As if proving his point, there was the sound of chimes again.
"Ugh! Kaiji-senpai, your classroom is on the second floor!" Sahara exclaimed and looked at him worriedly. "You better hurry, because that's the chime that classes are starting!" he explained.
Grabbing his bag Sahara ushered Kaiji out from underneath the tree, a firm hand on his lower back. As soon as they had both gotten past the bushes Sahara pushed past Kaiji though,
"Sorry~! I'll talk to you more later, senpai!" he shouted, waving over one shoulder as he dashed for the gymnasium.
Teaser next chapter: As promised Kaiji takes Sahara out drinking for his birthday, but one of them can't hold his liquor as well as expected.
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