[FIC] Moving on - Prologue & Part One
Title: Moving On [1/3]
Pairing: Yabuki Hayato/Hatanaka Kousaku, Yabuki Hayato+Odagiri Ryu
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Losing the will to live after losing his best friend and long-time crush Odagiri Ryu to a fatal motorcycle accident, Yabuki Hayato learns through a chance encounter with professional boxer, Hatanaka Kousaku, that moving on is not about forgetting but cherishing the memories in his heart. All while finding new love.
Author's Note: Not beta-ed... expect random transitions, bad grammar, and a random storyline. (^-^;;; I have all three parts written so I'll post the chapters every few days. If anyone doesn't mind betaing this fic, please let me know! <--- I seriously hate posting without having someone pre-read.
Handshake (Prologue)
Along with the loud chime of the bells, the heavy door opened quietly dragging on the wooden floor. Cold wind blew fiercely into the designated hangout, making the door hard to close. Trembling at the freezing temperature outside, Hyuuga Kousuke somehow managed to slam the door shut. He threw his umbrella into the empty metal stand and joined his friends in the usual corner.
“Hyuuga! Long time no see!” Tsuchiya Hikaru stood up, waving his hand in the air.
“Yeah, no kidding!” he replied with a forced smile. “How was winter vacation?”
Hikaru shrugged, “Nothing special…”
“Was it raining outside?” Takeda Keita interrupted, curiously eyeing the umbrella Kousuke had had.
“Nah, my mom was worried because it was cloudy outside,” he replied sheepishly.
“Hmm… Where’s Hayato?” Kousuke asked with a frown on his face, realizing that their leader was not around.
“He’s… not coming,” Keita uttered softly.
The three suddenly fell silent, and a heavy atmosphere lingered over them.
“Hayato… still hasn’t gotten over him, has he?” Hikaru mumbled, breaking the silence.
“It probably came as a shock… that Ryu….” Keita stopped, tears forming in his eyes. It was still a shock to all four of them.
Exactly one year ago, their close friend, Odagiri Ryu, had gotten involved in a fatal motorcycle accident. Ryu had been taking a lone walk outside, as he loved to do at times, when a motorcycle lost control over the patch of ice on the asphalt and swerved right into him. His mother had called Hayato hysterically from the hospital, but by the time they had arrived, Ryu was no longer with them. Ever since, a rift developed between Hayato and the rest of the gang, but none of them dared to say anything knowing how special Ryu was to him.
“Do you guys… want to get going?” Kousuke asked with a sad smile on his lips.
Without another word, Hikaru and Keita threw money on the table to pay for their hot chocolate and stood up. Taking his umbrella back into his hand, Kousuke followed the others into the deathly cold of the winter.
-
For two o’clock in the afternoon, Tokyo was dark and dreary because of the gray clouds hanging over the city. The trio stopped in front of the black stone monument engraved with the family name ‘Odagiri.’ Kousuke placed the small arrangement of flowers they had bought into the vase next to the bouquet of lilies, which Ryu’s parents had probably placed early that morning. Keita arrived with a small wooden bucket filled with water that he had borrowed from the priest, and placed the bucket down on the ground.
“Shit…” Hikaru cursed out of nowhere.
The two looked over at him in surprise.
“The incense broke…”
“How did you manage to do that?” Keita asked incredulously, wondering how Hikaru managed to break a bundle of incense sticks within ten minutes of buying them.
“Let’s just light both halves…” Kousuke suggested in exasperation.
“Don’t worry, Ryu will understand! He’s probably snickering at you,” Keita chirped in helpfully.
“He’s probably thinking, ‘that idiot never changes,’ right about now,” Kousuke nodded in agreement.
Lighting the two short bundle of incense held out to him, Hikaru watched as the two placed it in the ashes. They all placed their hands together, and closed their eyes.
“Ryu, please watch over Hayato,” Keita prayed to Ryu out loud.
Hikaru smiled, “Yeah, you know how much that idiot loves you…”
“Though he never found the courage to confess to you,” Kousuke added on.
“For someone so tough, he’s such a chicken,” Hikaru laughed, finally opening his eyes. Taking the ladle in his hand, he poured a ladle worth of water and poured it over the headstone. “Ryu, we miss you…”
“Things aren’t the same without you…” Keita agreed, following Hikaru’s example. Small drops of rain started falling, collecting in the half-empty bucket. Kousuke hurriedly poured his share of water on the headstone.
The light shower started turning from soft drizzles to heavy rain, falling harder and harder by the minute.
“We better get going,” Hikaru called out, hastily grabbing the bucket and ladle. Kousuke quickly followed, struggling to open up his umbrella.
Keita was about to follow, but suddenly stopped in his path to look up at the falling rain. A small frown formed on his face. Ryu was probably crying for Hayato.
“Oi, what are you doing? Let’s go!” Hikaru yelled from across the grave, waving his hand furiously.
“Coming!” he shouted back and ran after his friends, but not before giving a final smile to Ryu. ‘Don’t worry, Ryu… Hayato is a lot stronger than he seems. You know that the best… He just needs to find a reason to suck it up first,’ he assured in his heart.
Round One
Wondering how the stars could shine so brightly when it was pouring just hours ago, Yabuki Hayato headed home with his body operating on autopilot. He waited until the others left Ryu’s grave, and stayed with Ryu until late at night. He didn’t talk to Ryu. Instead, he just sat there in the comfortable silence he was used to with the other, whom he thought he would be spending the rest of his life with.
Hayato did not fool himself into believing that Ryu would have reciprocated his feelings, but no matter what obstacles came in their way, whether they each went their separate ways in life, married and had kids, Hayato knew they would always be each other’s number one. The person they can’t live without. That was how strong their bond was. Yet, here he was all alone. Never would he have suspected Ryu to leave him like this and he couldn’t get over the feeling of sadness, loneliness, betrayal, and hurt that he was left with.
Dragging his feet one step after another, Hayato staggered through the empty streets lifelessly. His shoulder bumped into something and he stumbled back a step. On a normal day, there would be hell to pay for even crashing into him. But not having the energy to care, he continued walking as if nothing happened.
“Watch where the hell you’re going, punk!” someone shouted angrily at him from behind. Hayato completely ignored the screaming until he was pulled back by the shoulder. He shot the offender a deathly glare, not in the best of moods today.
“Well, well… If it isn’t Yabuki,” the other, who he vaguely remembered as the leader of Ara High School, sneered. A smug smile played on his lips. “I heard about what happened to Odagiri… What a pity,” he spat in his face.
“Shut the hell up, bastard!” Hayato growled threateningly, grabbing the other by the collar. His blood boiled with pure rage, wanting nothing more than to tear the guy into shreds and wipe that annoying smirk off his face. He couldn’t stand Ryu’s name coming out of anyone’s mouths, let alone an enemy.
“Or else what?” the Ara leader, whose name he finally remembered as Shibuya, mocked.
“I’ll kill you!” Hayato replied callously, in spite of the anger bubbling through his veins.
Bursting out in a fit of laughter, Shibuya grinned confidently. “I’d like to see you try,” he challenged.
Hayato swung his right fist heatedly but instead of colliding Shibuya’s face, he merely hit cold air. An annoyed scowl formed on his face as he lunged blindly at Shibuya, not noticing that there was another guy behind him until he was grabbed from behind. Laughing maniacally, Shibuya kicked him straight in the stomach. His head was pulled back forcefully by Shibuya’s minion and another blow was dealt, this time to his face. More underlings gathered in front of Hayato, looking down at him sneeringly.
“You’re weak without Odagiri,” the words sunk in along with another blow to his stomach, which landed him on his arms and knees, and left him coughing. He balled his fists, upset with himself for becoming so weak. If only Ryu was here, he would never lose to such a pathetic lot.
“What’s this? Picking on one person with a crowd?” Through his hazed consciousness, Hayato could hear an unfamiliar voice. He tried to focus his blurring vision, and rubbed his eyes to clear his sight. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw. “Ryu…?” he whispered in a state of shock.
“O…Odagiri!” Shibuya paled in disbelief at the young man standing in front of him.
“Odagiri?” the stranger repeated in confusion.
Taking this chance, Hayato gathered all of his remaining strength to lunge at the nearest guy and knock him down by surprise. Breathing roughly, he punched the guy under him in the face before being wrestled back down. But he somehow managed to break free and stumble backwards onto his feet.
“Get them!” Shibuya ordered in annoyance and the seven guys lunged towards them all at once. Hayato dodged the punch coming towards him and pulled the guy forward, kneeing him in the stomach. Noticing the presence behind him, he readied himself for a blow but instead he heard a groan of pain. His assailant crumbled to the ground behind him with a soft thud.
“I get saved by Ryu even after his death,” Hayato laughed under his breath, suddenly feeling energized. He charged at one of the guys going at his ally, and caught him in a hold by the neck while kicking another one down. In the corner of his eyes, Hayato could see his companion dodging the punches flying towards him with ease, lunging forward, and knocking his opponent down with one swift punch to the stomach. Before he knew it, no one was left standing but the two of them.
“That felt good! I was kind of frustrated,” the Ryu doppelganger grinned accomplishedly, stretching his arms in the air. “Ah,” he mumbled in realization upon seeing the dark sky above them. “Kaichou’s gonna kill me,” he panicked all of a sudden.
“Oi!” Hayato shouted, stopping the doppelganger that had already started dashing away.
“Huh?” the young man stopped abruptly, turning back at him.
“Your name…” Hayato mumbled awkwardly.
“My name?” he smiled ear to ear at the question. “My name is Hatanaka Kousaku,” he declared proudly, before running off into the darkness. Leaving Hayato standing alone in the middle of the alleyway with a hidden smile.
-
Mumbling a string of curses sleepily, Hayato violently swatted the surface of his side table to stop the annoying ringing of his alarm clock. Groaning inwardly, he laid on the bed with his face buried in his pillow. After a few minutes, Hayato sighed in frustration and got out of bed. He froze on the spot, realizing that his body ached all over the place. Memories of last night came flooding back, and he didn’t know whether to be happy about running into Ryu’s doppelganger or to be upset that he was hurting all over the place.
Scratching at his hair, Hayato carefully stepped out of the bedroom to wash his face. The smell of toast and eggs wafted in the apartment. He rubbed his stomach, suddenly realizing that he was hungry. His younger brother, Taku, turned around with a frying pan in his hands. “Are you eat- ” he stopped abruptly, noticing the bruises on his older brother’s face.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with bruises.”
Instead of asking Hayato whether he was going to eat breakfast, Taku wordlessly broke open an additional two eggs into the frying pan, knowing best that Hayato ate a lot more after a fight. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, feeling that his brother was starting to act more like the older brother he knew.
Shrugging, Hayato continued his way to the bathroom. Not fully awake yet. Maybe a warm shower would wake him up completely and soothe his sore body, he reasoned. Hoping that he wouldn’t be too late to school.
Walking through the graffiti-filled corridors of the abandoned building, Hayato yawned tiredly. He probably used up what strength had left in his sleep-deprived body, thanks to his family who acted kind of strange today. First Taku starts humming out of the blue after seeing his bruised face and cut lips, which was weird because Taku usually hated when he got into fights. Then Hayato cursed at his old man for taking so long in the bathroom when he was near ancient and no one cared what he looked like, and his old man came out with a creepy smile on his face instead of yelling back at him like he usually did.
“Hayato!” Keita shouted in shock upon seeing their leader’s bruised face. When Ryu had passed away, he worried that Hayato would get restless and get into reckless fights but Hayato became so depressed that he had stopped fighting altogether.
“What the hell happened? Who got you?” Hikaru demanded. Taking into account that it was Ryu’s Memorial Day yesterday, it wasn’t that hard to figure out what had happened. Hayato had been attacked on his way home from visiting Ryu’s grave. The thought of another school getting to Hayato during his weakest times, and how they weren’t there to have his back fueled his anger further.
“It’s nothing, I took care of it,” Hayato assured.
“You sure? It doesn’t look like nothing,” Hikaru pressed on.
“I said its fine!” Hayato snarled.
Exchanging glances with one another, the three shook their heads, knowing that the only person who could get through to Hayato when he got like this was Ryu. Though he never said much, the three of them knew that Ryu was the most influential in the group. Partly because Hayato had a soft spot for the cool beauty, and also because Ryu picked words that left a sting.
“You look as messed up as the boxers in Tsucchi’s magazines,” Kousuke muttered offhandedly.
“Boxer?” Hayato repeated, quirking an eyebrow. For a second, the Ryu doppelganger crossed his mind. Yesterday, he couldn’t put his finger on what was so unique about his fighting style. Now that he thought about it, the way Kousaku fought resembled the style of a boxer.
“Tsucchi’s gotten into boxing,” Keita explained, catching the lost look on their leader’s face. Since Hikaru’s obsession with the sport had started right as they were entering winter break, he was sure Hayato did not know about it.
“What? You’re too tall for boxing! Why didn’t you try for basketball?” Hayato scolded, but Keita quickly explained to him that Hikaru enjoyed watching boxing matches not actually boxing. “But why boxing?” the leader of 3-D questioned.
“Yeah, it’s not like you don’t do enough fighting as it is,” Kousuke added on. One would think that after fighting day in and day out like Hikaru did, that he wouldn’t spend his spare time watching other beating each other up. Not to say he didn’t watch boxing occasionally himself.
Hikaru sighed exaggeratedly, “And here I got us tickets to go see the next match. What a waste!”
“Seriously?” Kousuke asked with a hint of excitement in his voice. He stared into Hikaru’s eyes expectantly.
“Wanna go?” Hikaru teased playfully.
Kousuke eagerly nodded his head. Keita shrugged, smiling in amusement at their antics, “Beats hitting the arcade again.”
“Hayato, what about you?” Hikaru invited hopefully. With any bit of luck, Hayato would join them instead of holing himself up in his room again. It couldn’t be healthy to stare at walls for a whole day, in mourning or not.
The leader shook his hand in front of his face, “I’ll pass.”
“That’s too bad. I heard this Hatanaka guy is pretty good,” Hikaru said disappointedly. The featured boxer Hatanaka Kousaku was famous for being a glutton, which was a fatal flaw in boxing, but according to a former champion who watched a couple of his matches, he had quite a potential. He had been looking forward to finally see one of his matches.
“Hatanaka…” Hayato repeated, stunned to hear a familiar name so unexpectedly.
Keita tilted his head worriedly. “Something the matter?” he asked their leader, who seemed to be deep in thoughts.
“No… I’ll go after all,” Hayato replied, changing his mind after carefully thinking it through. Hikaru and Keita shot questioning glances to one another but decided not to ask. At this point, they were just happy to know that Hayato was coming with them. This being the first time in almost a year that Hayato would be hanging out with them out of school.
-
Out of breath from all of the excessive running, the four managed to make it to Colosseum Japad only a half an hour late. Luckily, Hikaru realized that he had forgotten the tickets when they were still close enough to run back to his house and retrieve them. The lights were dimmed when they entered the arena, and the fight had already started between Kousaku and his opponent whose name he didn’t care to remember. Rowdy spectators shouted heatedly at the ring as they walked towards the center, but the arena itself was pretty empty. The three wordlessly followed Hayato who lead them to the very front, where they grabbed a seat behind Kousaku’s corner. Settling into into their seats, the trio hastily turned their attention to the match to figure out what they had missed. Their mouths nearly dropped open when they saw a splitting image of Ryu fighting in the center of the ring.
“Damn it, he’s losing…” Hayato mumbled under his breath.
Directly in front of them, a crew dressed in white from head to toe with the words, ‘Mukaida Gym’ written on their backs, was yelling angrily at their boxer. “Kousaku, go forward! Attack more!” a guy, who he assumed was the boxing coach, directed.
A frown made way on his lips, seeing Kousaku punching so weakly. He looked like he was testing waters with his opponent while keeping a safe distance. A total one-eighty from the semi-aggressive fighting style he had seen from Kousaku before. Hayato winced as Kousaku lifted his guard too high and his opponent made a body punch on Kousaku. Judging from the bruising on his lip, Hayato guessed Kousaku was punched in the face as well before they had arrived. Kousaku managed to block a few straights and hooks, but he was dealt with another body punch and an upper cut, which rendered him to the ground. Everyone on his crew was yelling at him to stand up from the corner, but the boxer didn’t budge from the ground.
Gripping his hands into fists, Hayato stood up from his seat unable to stand watching the fight any longer. Before his friends could stop him, he stomped irately to Kousaku’s corner where the boxer laid. In the background, the referee was starting to count down. “Stand up! You’re not that much of a weakling!” he yelled at him in frustration.
The boxer looked at him in a daze, “My stomach…”
“Ha?” he let out. Stomach? “You weren’t hit in the stomach.”
“I’m hungry…” the boxer managed between broken breaths.
Hayato gaped at the boxer dumbfounded. His first instinct was to jump into the ring, and punch Kousaku himself for thinking of food at a time like this. “I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat, so stand damn it!” he settled for shouting at him instead, knowing he could never bring himself to punch a guy that resembles Ryu so much.
Grinning goofily at the prospect of food, Kousaku stood up in the ring with a fighting shout and jumped into the air with renewed strength. Hayato sighed deeply. “If you had so much strength, don’t worry me in the first place, idiot,” he grumbled.
The lady in Kousaku’s crew with the short bob-cut leaned into him secretively, “Are you sure you want to say that? Kousaku is a glutton without help!”
“How much could he possibly eat?” Hayato shrugged nonchalantly, staring the fly-class boxer’s figure. According to Hikaru, fly-class boxers needed to weigh in below 112 pounds. Kousaku couldn’t possibly eat more than him with his thin body.
“Be prepared,” the lady warned before turning her attention back to the match.
Dodging a right upper cut, Kousaku stepped forward to deliver a combined straight and upper cut to knock the opponent down for the count. The referee started taking count: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one. The final bell rang, signaling the official end of the match. Kousaku’s crew screamed ecstatically and joined their boxer in the ring, jumping up and down in joy. Simultaneously, Keita, Hikaru, and Kousuke jumped up from their seat with an elated shout, thrilled that the boxer they were rooting for had come around and won the match.
-
As the joyfulness of the win began to settle down, Kousaku was escorted by his crew to the back. Instead of following the boxer and his fellow gym buddies to the locker room, Hayato decided to stay at his seat and watch what he could of the next match while he waited for Kousaku to wrap up his victory and come back out to pull him out of the crowd. Right as the bell rang to signal the end of the fourth round, Kousaku walked up to him with a sheepish grin on his face. Hitting Hikaru on the arm and pointing at the exit to tell him he was leaving, Hayato quietly followed the boxer out of the arena.
“So… What did you want to eat?” Hayato inquired, once they stepped out of the noisy arena.
“I want Katsutamagyu!” Kousaku replied instantly, and Hayato swore he could see sparkles coming out of the boxer’s eyes at the mention of the food.
Wordlessly following the young boxer who started singing “Katsutamagyu, katsutamagyu~♪” excitedly, the two arrived at an old-fashioned cafeteria-type establishment where Kousaku explained that he worked part-time. At first, Hayato couldn’t understand why Kousaku chose to eat at a place where he worked at because victory celebrations usually took place at a fancy restaurant you could not afford to eat at without a special occasion. Eventually Kousaku explained that boxers were forced to be on a strict-diet and he was forbidden from eating at all, so eating the katsutamagyu, which was loaded with calories, was a treat for him.
“What would you like to order?” a young girl came to take their order.
“Noriko-chan, I want a katsutamagyu!” Kousaku ordered excitedly and Hayato ordered the same, wanting to taste the dish that Kousaku had been singing about for the last half an hour. When their food arrived, the bowls were so enormous that Hayato questioned whether he could finish the whole dish. The waitress by the name of Noriko mentioned that they upgraded their plates to the biggest one available for winning the match, and smiled admiringly at Kousaku. Breaking his chopsticks, Hayato started on the rice bowl, which he found to be really delicious. Halfway through, Hayato started feeling full but decided to be a man and at least finish off one plate.
“You need to eat more!” Kousaku lectured after happily finishing off the second bowl of his favorite food in the entire world, patting on his stomach accomplishedly.
“I need to eat more?” Hayato glared at the boxer in disbelief. He was stuffed from just one bowl! Where did all the food go on that thin body of his? No wonder Ryu always became upset when he scolded him for eating so little. Ryu probably ate as much as he could, trying to keep up with him and he unknowingly criticized him for it.
“Thirds, please!” Kousaku shouted his order out to the owner who immediately replied, “Coming right up!”
“Thirds!?” Hayato sighed inwardly, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He quietly observed the other scarf down his third bowl of food. His face was so similar to Ryu’s that they could pass for twin brothers, but Kousaku seemed more mature because of his dark hair. If Ryu was still alive today, this was probably how he would’ve looked in a few years although Ryu wouldn’t act anywhere near as childish as Kousaku did. Ryu and Kousaku couldn’t be more different from each other personality-wise.
“Thank goodness he just wanted a beef bowl,” Hayato grumbled, looking through his now empty wallet. He unconsciously expected Kousaku to eat as little as Ryu did, not three gigantic bowls worth of pork cutlet, sukiyaki, and rice, which were all filler food. Hayato could only imagine how much money he would have needed if Kousaku had asked for yakiniku or sushi. He probably would have needed to call Keita and borrow money from him.
“Ah! I forgot to ask for your name!” Kousaku remembered suddenly. He stopped in his tracks, and looked at the man he was walking with so naturally.
“You ask now?” Hayato teased, laughing softly at the pouting face Kousaku made. He noticed that Kousaku was fairly easy to read, everything he felt reflected on his features.
“Name!” he repeated, staring at him accusingly.
“Yabuki Hayato.”
“Hayato…” Kousaku gave his trademark smile, “You’re a quite a delinquent, huh?”
“I’m the leader of 3-D, yes,” Hayato agreed wholeheartedly. He was certainly no straight-A student preparing for the college entrance exam, and had no intention of being one.
“Thought so, you have a scary face,” Kousaku commented, holding the end of his eyes up to make the scary face he spoke of.
Hayato raised an eyebrow, “Who the hell is that supposed be?”
-
Basking in the warmth of the gentle sun, Hayato gradually closed his eyes. His hands were tucked under his head as a pillow, and the tough grass grazed against them but it wasn’t enough to make him want to get up and move. The cold breeze hit his numbing cheeks and constantly poked at him. Wait, poke? Hayato snapped his eyes open in surprise.
“Someone’s ditching class,” Kousaku grinned cheekily.
Rolling his eyes, Hayato pointed at the bright red running suit that Kousaku wore, “You’re one to talk… You’re in the middle ditching jogging.”
“I’m trying to help today’s troubled youth!” Kousaku declared, frowning at Hayato who proceeded to close his eyes. He poked at his cheeks again with a small pout forming on his lips.
“And I’m trying to sleep…” Hayato growled under his breath.
“Oi, Hayato!” a familiar voice shouted out in the distance.
“Looks like you’re not getting any sleep,” Kousaku chuckled, pointing at Keita, Hikaru, and Kousuke running at full speed towards him. Groaning grumpily, Hayato sighed in resignation and sat up. He glared irritably at the three as if it were their fault he could not fall asleep.
“Seeing you guys together remind me of seeing Hayato and Ryu together,” Hikaru said, a nostalgic smile playing on his lips.
“Except Ryu would be sleeping next to Hayato, not poking at him,” Kousuke pointed out with a laugh.
A small frown formed on Hayato’s lips, “Stop…”
Realizing that they had started speaking of Ryu, Keita quickly changed the subject knowing that Hayato was still sensitive about Ryu. Hanging out with Kousaku who looked like he could pass for Ryu’s twin brother made them forget sometimes. “You guys want to play pool with us?” he invited.
“I’ll go!” Kousaku raised his hand enthusiastically.
“You just want an excuse to ditch!” Hayato scolded, dusting off his pants as he got up. “Do you even know how to play?” he questioned, too busy lecturing Kousaku to notice that his buddies were shooting each other meaningful smiles.
-
Gathering around their usual spot at the billiard tables, the group decided to pick their teams through a friendly game of rock, paper, and scissors. In the end, it was decided that Hayato and Keita would be playing on one team, Hikaru and Kousaku would be playing on the other team, while Kousuke, the last one left, would act as the judge. Immediately after the teams were decided, Hikaru had started coaching Kousaku on the fundamentals of the game while the others chatted about the stupid things they found funny. Occasionally Hayato would look over at the practice session, wince at how horrible Kousaku was, and returned to the conversation about poodles with a mohawk.
“You guys ready?” the three finally asked, returning to the end of the table where Hikaru and Kousaku were practicing. In actuality, they knew the answer to their own question but at this point, they figured that Kousaku was not likely to improve, practice or not.
“Yeah, about that… Hatanaka, why don’t you play on Hayato’s team?” Hikaru suggested reluctantly, rubbing at his sore side from where he was hit with the cue. He was guiding the cue for the older one, and couldn’t figure out how it happened but it hurt like hell. Hikaru wasn’t sure how much more abuse his body could take from teaching Kousaku pool.
“Ha? Why me?” the leader in question retorted.
“You two are the golden combination!” Keita reasoned. He liked seeing Kousaku together with Hayato. Their leader seemed to be opening up to the boxer from what Keita could see. Maybe it was easier for Hayato to grow closer to someone that looked like Ryu. It was Ryu power.
“Yeah, what he said,” Hikaru agreed. Anything to get Kousaku to switch sides.
“If he hits you in the face with a ball, I’m not taking any penalties,” Hayato warned, grabbing Kousaku by the arm and pulling him towards his side.
Kousuke could only laugh half-heartedly at Hayato’s sarcasm, nearly being nailed by the cue ball mere minutes ago. Not only was Kousaku an amateur when it came to billiard, but he was a downright health hazard too. He wasn’t sure if Kousaku put too much strength into the cue or if he was just clumsy. Whatever the case, he was glad they went with billiard rather than darts.
“You’re holding the cue crooked,” Hayato corrected, smacking the boxer lightly on the side of the head with his cue. He knew better than to hold the cue and show Kousaku himself, having seen how that went when Hikaru had attempted it.
“Is this better?” Kousaku asked, looking back at Hayato for technical support.
“Good enough. Now hit the cue ball and-” Hayato instructed, but Kousaku made his shot before he could tell him not to hit too hard. The cue ball hit the eight ball so hard that it hit the side and flew to the next table over.
Sighing inwardly, Hayato shook his head. It was obvious they were going to lose this game. “You’re hopeless,” he muttered, walking up to the table to recover what he could of Kousaku’s mistakes.
The young boxer laughed sheepishly, “I’m guessing there are no points for landing the ball in the pocket of another table?”
Pairing: Yabuki Hayato/Hatanaka Kousaku, Yabuki Hayato+Odagiri Ryu
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Losing the will to live after losing his best friend and long-time crush Odagiri Ryu to a fatal motorcycle accident, Yabuki Hayato learns through a chance encounter with professional boxer, Hatanaka Kousaku, that moving on is not about forgetting but cherishing the memories in his heart. All while finding new love.
Author's Note: Not beta-ed... expect random transitions, bad grammar, and a random storyline. (^-^;;; I have all three parts written so I'll post the chapters every few days. If anyone doesn't mind betaing this fic, please let me know! <--- I seriously hate posting without having someone pre-read.
Handshake (Prologue)
Along with the loud chime of the bells, the heavy door opened quietly dragging on the wooden floor. Cold wind blew fiercely into the designated hangout, making the door hard to close. Trembling at the freezing temperature outside, Hyuuga Kousuke somehow managed to slam the door shut. He threw his umbrella into the empty metal stand and joined his friends in the usual corner.
“Hyuuga! Long time no see!” Tsuchiya Hikaru stood up, waving his hand in the air.
“Yeah, no kidding!” he replied with a forced smile. “How was winter vacation?”
Hikaru shrugged, “Nothing special…”
“Was it raining outside?” Takeda Keita interrupted, curiously eyeing the umbrella Kousuke had had.
“Nah, my mom was worried because it was cloudy outside,” he replied sheepishly.
“Hmm… Where’s Hayato?” Kousuke asked with a frown on his face, realizing that their leader was not around.
“He’s… not coming,” Keita uttered softly.
The three suddenly fell silent, and a heavy atmosphere lingered over them.
“Hayato… still hasn’t gotten over him, has he?” Hikaru mumbled, breaking the silence.
“It probably came as a shock… that Ryu….” Keita stopped, tears forming in his eyes. It was still a shock to all four of them.
Exactly one year ago, their close friend, Odagiri Ryu, had gotten involved in a fatal motorcycle accident. Ryu had been taking a lone walk outside, as he loved to do at times, when a motorcycle lost control over the patch of ice on the asphalt and swerved right into him. His mother had called Hayato hysterically from the hospital, but by the time they had arrived, Ryu was no longer with them. Ever since, a rift developed between Hayato and the rest of the gang, but none of them dared to say anything knowing how special Ryu was to him.
“Do you guys… want to get going?” Kousuke asked with a sad smile on his lips.
Without another word, Hikaru and Keita threw money on the table to pay for their hot chocolate and stood up. Taking his umbrella back into his hand, Kousuke followed the others into the deathly cold of the winter.
-
For two o’clock in the afternoon, Tokyo was dark and dreary because of the gray clouds hanging over the city. The trio stopped in front of the black stone monument engraved with the family name ‘Odagiri.’ Kousuke placed the small arrangement of flowers they had bought into the vase next to the bouquet of lilies, which Ryu’s parents had probably placed early that morning. Keita arrived with a small wooden bucket filled with water that he had borrowed from the priest, and placed the bucket down on the ground.
“Shit…” Hikaru cursed out of nowhere.
The two looked over at him in surprise.
“The incense broke…”
“How did you manage to do that?” Keita asked incredulously, wondering how Hikaru managed to break a bundle of incense sticks within ten minutes of buying them.
“Let’s just light both halves…” Kousuke suggested in exasperation.
“Don’t worry, Ryu will understand! He’s probably snickering at you,” Keita chirped in helpfully.
“He’s probably thinking, ‘that idiot never changes,’ right about now,” Kousuke nodded in agreement.
Lighting the two short bundle of incense held out to him, Hikaru watched as the two placed it in the ashes. They all placed their hands together, and closed their eyes.
“Ryu, please watch over Hayato,” Keita prayed to Ryu out loud.
Hikaru smiled, “Yeah, you know how much that idiot loves you…”
“Though he never found the courage to confess to you,” Kousuke added on.
“For someone so tough, he’s such a chicken,” Hikaru laughed, finally opening his eyes. Taking the ladle in his hand, he poured a ladle worth of water and poured it over the headstone. “Ryu, we miss you…”
“Things aren’t the same without you…” Keita agreed, following Hikaru’s example. Small drops of rain started falling, collecting in the half-empty bucket. Kousuke hurriedly poured his share of water on the headstone.
The light shower started turning from soft drizzles to heavy rain, falling harder and harder by the minute.
“We better get going,” Hikaru called out, hastily grabbing the bucket and ladle. Kousuke quickly followed, struggling to open up his umbrella.
Keita was about to follow, but suddenly stopped in his path to look up at the falling rain. A small frown formed on his face. Ryu was probably crying for Hayato.
“Oi, what are you doing? Let’s go!” Hikaru yelled from across the grave, waving his hand furiously.
“Coming!” he shouted back and ran after his friends, but not before giving a final smile to Ryu. ‘Don’t worry, Ryu… Hayato is a lot stronger than he seems. You know that the best… He just needs to find a reason to suck it up first,’ he assured in his heart.
Round One
Wondering how the stars could shine so brightly when it was pouring just hours ago, Yabuki Hayato headed home with his body operating on autopilot. He waited until the others left Ryu’s grave, and stayed with Ryu until late at night. He didn’t talk to Ryu. Instead, he just sat there in the comfortable silence he was used to with the other, whom he thought he would be spending the rest of his life with.
Hayato did not fool himself into believing that Ryu would have reciprocated his feelings, but no matter what obstacles came in their way, whether they each went their separate ways in life, married and had kids, Hayato knew they would always be each other’s number one. The person they can’t live without. That was how strong their bond was. Yet, here he was all alone. Never would he have suspected Ryu to leave him like this and he couldn’t get over the feeling of sadness, loneliness, betrayal, and hurt that he was left with.
Dragging his feet one step after another, Hayato staggered through the empty streets lifelessly. His shoulder bumped into something and he stumbled back a step. On a normal day, there would be hell to pay for even crashing into him. But not having the energy to care, he continued walking as if nothing happened.
“Watch where the hell you’re going, punk!” someone shouted angrily at him from behind. Hayato completely ignored the screaming until he was pulled back by the shoulder. He shot the offender a deathly glare, not in the best of moods today.
“Well, well… If it isn’t Yabuki,” the other, who he vaguely remembered as the leader of Ara High School, sneered. A smug smile played on his lips. “I heard about what happened to Odagiri… What a pity,” he spat in his face.
“Shut the hell up, bastard!” Hayato growled threateningly, grabbing the other by the collar. His blood boiled with pure rage, wanting nothing more than to tear the guy into shreds and wipe that annoying smirk off his face. He couldn’t stand Ryu’s name coming out of anyone’s mouths, let alone an enemy.
“Or else what?” the Ara leader, whose name he finally remembered as Shibuya, mocked.
“I’ll kill you!” Hayato replied callously, in spite of the anger bubbling through his veins.
Bursting out in a fit of laughter, Shibuya grinned confidently. “I’d like to see you try,” he challenged.
Hayato swung his right fist heatedly but instead of colliding Shibuya’s face, he merely hit cold air. An annoyed scowl formed on his face as he lunged blindly at Shibuya, not noticing that there was another guy behind him until he was grabbed from behind. Laughing maniacally, Shibuya kicked him straight in the stomach. His head was pulled back forcefully by Shibuya’s minion and another blow was dealt, this time to his face. More underlings gathered in front of Hayato, looking down at him sneeringly.
“You’re weak without Odagiri,” the words sunk in along with another blow to his stomach, which landed him on his arms and knees, and left him coughing. He balled his fists, upset with himself for becoming so weak. If only Ryu was here, he would never lose to such a pathetic lot.
“What’s this? Picking on one person with a crowd?” Through his hazed consciousness, Hayato could hear an unfamiliar voice. He tried to focus his blurring vision, and rubbed his eyes to clear his sight. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw. “Ryu…?” he whispered in a state of shock.
“O…Odagiri!” Shibuya paled in disbelief at the young man standing in front of him.
“Odagiri?” the stranger repeated in confusion.
Taking this chance, Hayato gathered all of his remaining strength to lunge at the nearest guy and knock him down by surprise. Breathing roughly, he punched the guy under him in the face before being wrestled back down. But he somehow managed to break free and stumble backwards onto his feet.
“Get them!” Shibuya ordered in annoyance and the seven guys lunged towards them all at once. Hayato dodged the punch coming towards him and pulled the guy forward, kneeing him in the stomach. Noticing the presence behind him, he readied himself for a blow but instead he heard a groan of pain. His assailant crumbled to the ground behind him with a soft thud.
“I get saved by Ryu even after his death,” Hayato laughed under his breath, suddenly feeling energized. He charged at one of the guys going at his ally, and caught him in a hold by the neck while kicking another one down. In the corner of his eyes, Hayato could see his companion dodging the punches flying towards him with ease, lunging forward, and knocking his opponent down with one swift punch to the stomach. Before he knew it, no one was left standing but the two of them.
“That felt good! I was kind of frustrated,” the Ryu doppelganger grinned accomplishedly, stretching his arms in the air. “Ah,” he mumbled in realization upon seeing the dark sky above them. “Kaichou’s gonna kill me,” he panicked all of a sudden.
“Oi!” Hayato shouted, stopping the doppelganger that had already started dashing away.
“Huh?” the young man stopped abruptly, turning back at him.
“Your name…” Hayato mumbled awkwardly.
“My name?” he smiled ear to ear at the question. “My name is Hatanaka Kousaku,” he declared proudly, before running off into the darkness. Leaving Hayato standing alone in the middle of the alleyway with a hidden smile.
-
Mumbling a string of curses sleepily, Hayato violently swatted the surface of his side table to stop the annoying ringing of his alarm clock. Groaning inwardly, he laid on the bed with his face buried in his pillow. After a few minutes, Hayato sighed in frustration and got out of bed. He froze on the spot, realizing that his body ached all over the place. Memories of last night came flooding back, and he didn’t know whether to be happy about running into Ryu’s doppelganger or to be upset that he was hurting all over the place.
Scratching at his hair, Hayato carefully stepped out of the bedroom to wash his face. The smell of toast and eggs wafted in the apartment. He rubbed his stomach, suddenly realizing that he was hungry. His younger brother, Taku, turned around with a frying pan in his hands. “Are you eat- ” he stopped abruptly, noticing the bruises on his older brother’s face.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with bruises.”
Instead of asking Hayato whether he was going to eat breakfast, Taku wordlessly broke open an additional two eggs into the frying pan, knowing best that Hayato ate a lot more after a fight. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, feeling that his brother was starting to act more like the older brother he knew.
Shrugging, Hayato continued his way to the bathroom. Not fully awake yet. Maybe a warm shower would wake him up completely and soothe his sore body, he reasoned. Hoping that he wouldn’t be too late to school.
Walking through the graffiti-filled corridors of the abandoned building, Hayato yawned tiredly. He probably used up what strength had left in his sleep-deprived body, thanks to his family who acted kind of strange today. First Taku starts humming out of the blue after seeing his bruised face and cut lips, which was weird because Taku usually hated when he got into fights. Then Hayato cursed at his old man for taking so long in the bathroom when he was near ancient and no one cared what he looked like, and his old man came out with a creepy smile on his face instead of yelling back at him like he usually did.
“Hayato!” Keita shouted in shock upon seeing their leader’s bruised face. When Ryu had passed away, he worried that Hayato would get restless and get into reckless fights but Hayato became so depressed that he had stopped fighting altogether.
“What the hell happened? Who got you?” Hikaru demanded. Taking into account that it was Ryu’s Memorial Day yesterday, it wasn’t that hard to figure out what had happened. Hayato had been attacked on his way home from visiting Ryu’s grave. The thought of another school getting to Hayato during his weakest times, and how they weren’t there to have his back fueled his anger further.
“It’s nothing, I took care of it,” Hayato assured.
“You sure? It doesn’t look like nothing,” Hikaru pressed on.
“I said its fine!” Hayato snarled.
Exchanging glances with one another, the three shook their heads, knowing that the only person who could get through to Hayato when he got like this was Ryu. Though he never said much, the three of them knew that Ryu was the most influential in the group. Partly because Hayato had a soft spot for the cool beauty, and also because Ryu picked words that left a sting.
“You look as messed up as the boxers in Tsucchi’s magazines,” Kousuke muttered offhandedly.
“Boxer?” Hayato repeated, quirking an eyebrow. For a second, the Ryu doppelganger crossed his mind. Yesterday, he couldn’t put his finger on what was so unique about his fighting style. Now that he thought about it, the way Kousaku fought resembled the style of a boxer.
“Tsucchi’s gotten into boxing,” Keita explained, catching the lost look on their leader’s face. Since Hikaru’s obsession with the sport had started right as they were entering winter break, he was sure Hayato did not know about it.
“What? You’re too tall for boxing! Why didn’t you try for basketball?” Hayato scolded, but Keita quickly explained to him that Hikaru enjoyed watching boxing matches not actually boxing. “But why boxing?” the leader of 3-D questioned.
“Yeah, it’s not like you don’t do enough fighting as it is,” Kousuke added on. One would think that after fighting day in and day out like Hikaru did, that he wouldn’t spend his spare time watching other beating each other up. Not to say he didn’t watch boxing occasionally himself.
Hikaru sighed exaggeratedly, “And here I got us tickets to go see the next match. What a waste!”
“Seriously?” Kousuke asked with a hint of excitement in his voice. He stared into Hikaru’s eyes expectantly.
“Wanna go?” Hikaru teased playfully.
Kousuke eagerly nodded his head. Keita shrugged, smiling in amusement at their antics, “Beats hitting the arcade again.”
“Hayato, what about you?” Hikaru invited hopefully. With any bit of luck, Hayato would join them instead of holing himself up in his room again. It couldn’t be healthy to stare at walls for a whole day, in mourning or not.
The leader shook his hand in front of his face, “I’ll pass.”
“That’s too bad. I heard this Hatanaka guy is pretty good,” Hikaru said disappointedly. The featured boxer Hatanaka Kousaku was famous for being a glutton, which was a fatal flaw in boxing, but according to a former champion who watched a couple of his matches, he had quite a potential. He had been looking forward to finally see one of his matches.
“Hatanaka…” Hayato repeated, stunned to hear a familiar name so unexpectedly.
Keita tilted his head worriedly. “Something the matter?” he asked their leader, who seemed to be deep in thoughts.
“No… I’ll go after all,” Hayato replied, changing his mind after carefully thinking it through. Hikaru and Keita shot questioning glances to one another but decided not to ask. At this point, they were just happy to know that Hayato was coming with them. This being the first time in almost a year that Hayato would be hanging out with them out of school.
-
Out of breath from all of the excessive running, the four managed to make it to Colosseum Japad only a half an hour late. Luckily, Hikaru realized that he had forgotten the tickets when they were still close enough to run back to his house and retrieve them. The lights were dimmed when they entered the arena, and the fight had already started between Kousaku and his opponent whose name he didn’t care to remember. Rowdy spectators shouted heatedly at the ring as they walked towards the center, but the arena itself was pretty empty. The three wordlessly followed Hayato who lead them to the very front, where they grabbed a seat behind Kousaku’s corner. Settling into into their seats, the trio hastily turned their attention to the match to figure out what they had missed. Their mouths nearly dropped open when they saw a splitting image of Ryu fighting in the center of the ring.
“Damn it, he’s losing…” Hayato mumbled under his breath.
Directly in front of them, a crew dressed in white from head to toe with the words, ‘Mukaida Gym’ written on their backs, was yelling angrily at their boxer. “Kousaku, go forward! Attack more!” a guy, who he assumed was the boxing coach, directed.
A frown made way on his lips, seeing Kousaku punching so weakly. He looked like he was testing waters with his opponent while keeping a safe distance. A total one-eighty from the semi-aggressive fighting style he had seen from Kousaku before. Hayato winced as Kousaku lifted his guard too high and his opponent made a body punch on Kousaku. Judging from the bruising on his lip, Hayato guessed Kousaku was punched in the face as well before they had arrived. Kousaku managed to block a few straights and hooks, but he was dealt with another body punch and an upper cut, which rendered him to the ground. Everyone on his crew was yelling at him to stand up from the corner, but the boxer didn’t budge from the ground.
Gripping his hands into fists, Hayato stood up from his seat unable to stand watching the fight any longer. Before his friends could stop him, he stomped irately to Kousaku’s corner where the boxer laid. In the background, the referee was starting to count down. “Stand up! You’re not that much of a weakling!” he yelled at him in frustration.
The boxer looked at him in a daze, “My stomach…”
“Ha?” he let out. Stomach? “You weren’t hit in the stomach.”
“I’m hungry…” the boxer managed between broken breaths.
Hayato gaped at the boxer dumbfounded. His first instinct was to jump into the ring, and punch Kousaku himself for thinking of food at a time like this. “I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat, so stand damn it!” he settled for shouting at him instead, knowing he could never bring himself to punch a guy that resembles Ryu so much.
Grinning goofily at the prospect of food, Kousaku stood up in the ring with a fighting shout and jumped into the air with renewed strength. Hayato sighed deeply. “If you had so much strength, don’t worry me in the first place, idiot,” he grumbled.
The lady in Kousaku’s crew with the short bob-cut leaned into him secretively, “Are you sure you want to say that? Kousaku is a glutton without help!”
“How much could he possibly eat?” Hayato shrugged nonchalantly, staring the fly-class boxer’s figure. According to Hikaru, fly-class boxers needed to weigh in below 112 pounds. Kousaku couldn’t possibly eat more than him with his thin body.
“Be prepared,” the lady warned before turning her attention back to the match.
Dodging a right upper cut, Kousaku stepped forward to deliver a combined straight and upper cut to knock the opponent down for the count. The referee started taking count: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one. The final bell rang, signaling the official end of the match. Kousaku’s crew screamed ecstatically and joined their boxer in the ring, jumping up and down in joy. Simultaneously, Keita, Hikaru, and Kousuke jumped up from their seat with an elated shout, thrilled that the boxer they were rooting for had come around and won the match.
-
As the joyfulness of the win began to settle down, Kousaku was escorted by his crew to the back. Instead of following the boxer and his fellow gym buddies to the locker room, Hayato decided to stay at his seat and watch what he could of the next match while he waited for Kousaku to wrap up his victory and come back out to pull him out of the crowd. Right as the bell rang to signal the end of the fourth round, Kousaku walked up to him with a sheepish grin on his face. Hitting Hikaru on the arm and pointing at the exit to tell him he was leaving, Hayato quietly followed the boxer out of the arena.
“So… What did you want to eat?” Hayato inquired, once they stepped out of the noisy arena.
“I want Katsutamagyu!” Kousaku replied instantly, and Hayato swore he could see sparkles coming out of the boxer’s eyes at the mention of the food.
Wordlessly following the young boxer who started singing “Katsutamagyu, katsutamagyu~♪” excitedly, the two arrived at an old-fashioned cafeteria-type establishment where Kousaku explained that he worked part-time. At first, Hayato couldn’t understand why Kousaku chose to eat at a place where he worked at because victory celebrations usually took place at a fancy restaurant you could not afford to eat at without a special occasion. Eventually Kousaku explained that boxers were forced to be on a strict-diet and he was forbidden from eating at all, so eating the katsutamagyu, which was loaded with calories, was a treat for him.
“What would you like to order?” a young girl came to take their order.
“Noriko-chan, I want a katsutamagyu!” Kousaku ordered excitedly and Hayato ordered the same, wanting to taste the dish that Kousaku had been singing about for the last half an hour. When their food arrived, the bowls were so enormous that Hayato questioned whether he could finish the whole dish. The waitress by the name of Noriko mentioned that they upgraded their plates to the biggest one available for winning the match, and smiled admiringly at Kousaku. Breaking his chopsticks, Hayato started on the rice bowl, which he found to be really delicious. Halfway through, Hayato started feeling full but decided to be a man and at least finish off one plate.
“You need to eat more!” Kousaku lectured after happily finishing off the second bowl of his favorite food in the entire world, patting on his stomach accomplishedly.
“I need to eat more?” Hayato glared at the boxer in disbelief. He was stuffed from just one bowl! Where did all the food go on that thin body of his? No wonder Ryu always became upset when he scolded him for eating so little. Ryu probably ate as much as he could, trying to keep up with him and he unknowingly criticized him for it.
“Thirds, please!” Kousaku shouted his order out to the owner who immediately replied, “Coming right up!”
“Thirds!?” Hayato sighed inwardly, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He quietly observed the other scarf down his third bowl of food. His face was so similar to Ryu’s that they could pass for twin brothers, but Kousaku seemed more mature because of his dark hair. If Ryu was still alive today, this was probably how he would’ve looked in a few years although Ryu wouldn’t act anywhere near as childish as Kousaku did. Ryu and Kousaku couldn’t be more different from each other personality-wise.
“Thank goodness he just wanted a beef bowl,” Hayato grumbled, looking through his now empty wallet. He unconsciously expected Kousaku to eat as little as Ryu did, not three gigantic bowls worth of pork cutlet, sukiyaki, and rice, which were all filler food. Hayato could only imagine how much money he would have needed if Kousaku had asked for yakiniku or sushi. He probably would have needed to call Keita and borrow money from him.
“Ah! I forgot to ask for your name!” Kousaku remembered suddenly. He stopped in his tracks, and looked at the man he was walking with so naturally.
“You ask now?” Hayato teased, laughing softly at the pouting face Kousaku made. He noticed that Kousaku was fairly easy to read, everything he felt reflected on his features.
“Name!” he repeated, staring at him accusingly.
“Yabuki Hayato.”
“Hayato…” Kousaku gave his trademark smile, “You’re a quite a delinquent, huh?”
“I’m the leader of 3-D, yes,” Hayato agreed wholeheartedly. He was certainly no straight-A student preparing for the college entrance exam, and had no intention of being one.
“Thought so, you have a scary face,” Kousaku commented, holding the end of his eyes up to make the scary face he spoke of.
Hayato raised an eyebrow, “Who the hell is that supposed be?”
-
Basking in the warmth of the gentle sun, Hayato gradually closed his eyes. His hands were tucked under his head as a pillow, and the tough grass grazed against them but it wasn’t enough to make him want to get up and move. The cold breeze hit his numbing cheeks and constantly poked at him. Wait, poke? Hayato snapped his eyes open in surprise.
“Someone’s ditching class,” Kousaku grinned cheekily.
Rolling his eyes, Hayato pointed at the bright red running suit that Kousaku wore, “You’re one to talk… You’re in the middle ditching jogging.”
“I’m trying to help today’s troubled youth!” Kousaku declared, frowning at Hayato who proceeded to close his eyes. He poked at his cheeks again with a small pout forming on his lips.
“And I’m trying to sleep…” Hayato growled under his breath.
“Oi, Hayato!” a familiar voice shouted out in the distance.
“Looks like you’re not getting any sleep,” Kousaku chuckled, pointing at Keita, Hikaru, and Kousuke running at full speed towards him. Groaning grumpily, Hayato sighed in resignation and sat up. He glared irritably at the three as if it were their fault he could not fall asleep.
“Seeing you guys together remind me of seeing Hayato and Ryu together,” Hikaru said, a nostalgic smile playing on his lips.
“Except Ryu would be sleeping next to Hayato, not poking at him,” Kousuke pointed out with a laugh.
A small frown formed on Hayato’s lips, “Stop…”
Realizing that they had started speaking of Ryu, Keita quickly changed the subject knowing that Hayato was still sensitive about Ryu. Hanging out with Kousaku who looked like he could pass for Ryu’s twin brother made them forget sometimes. “You guys want to play pool with us?” he invited.
“I’ll go!” Kousaku raised his hand enthusiastically.
“You just want an excuse to ditch!” Hayato scolded, dusting off his pants as he got up. “Do you even know how to play?” he questioned, too busy lecturing Kousaku to notice that his buddies were shooting each other meaningful smiles.
-
Gathering around their usual spot at the billiard tables, the group decided to pick their teams through a friendly game of rock, paper, and scissors. In the end, it was decided that Hayato and Keita would be playing on one team, Hikaru and Kousaku would be playing on the other team, while Kousuke, the last one left, would act as the judge. Immediately after the teams were decided, Hikaru had started coaching Kousaku on the fundamentals of the game while the others chatted about the stupid things they found funny. Occasionally Hayato would look over at the practice session, wince at how horrible Kousaku was, and returned to the conversation about poodles with a mohawk.
“You guys ready?” the three finally asked, returning to the end of the table where Hikaru and Kousaku were practicing. In actuality, they knew the answer to their own question but at this point, they figured that Kousaku was not likely to improve, practice or not.
“Yeah, about that… Hatanaka, why don’t you play on Hayato’s team?” Hikaru suggested reluctantly, rubbing at his sore side from where he was hit with the cue. He was guiding the cue for the older one, and couldn’t figure out how it happened but it hurt like hell. Hikaru wasn’t sure how much more abuse his body could take from teaching Kousaku pool.
“Ha? Why me?” the leader in question retorted.
“You two are the golden combination!” Keita reasoned. He liked seeing Kousaku together with Hayato. Their leader seemed to be opening up to the boxer from what Keita could see. Maybe it was easier for Hayato to grow closer to someone that looked like Ryu. It was Ryu power.
“Yeah, what he said,” Hikaru agreed. Anything to get Kousaku to switch sides.
“If he hits you in the face with a ball, I’m not taking any penalties,” Hayato warned, grabbing Kousaku by the arm and pulling him towards his side.
Kousuke could only laugh half-heartedly at Hayato’s sarcasm, nearly being nailed by the cue ball mere minutes ago. Not only was Kousaku an amateur when it came to billiard, but he was a downright health hazard too. He wasn’t sure if Kousaku put too much strength into the cue or if he was just clumsy. Whatever the case, he was glad they went with billiard rather than darts.
“You’re holding the cue crooked,” Hayato corrected, smacking the boxer lightly on the side of the head with his cue. He knew better than to hold the cue and show Kousaku himself, having seen how that went when Hikaru had attempted it.
“Is this better?” Kousaku asked, looking back at Hayato for technical support.
“Good enough. Now hit the cue ball and-” Hayato instructed, but Kousaku made his shot before he could tell him not to hit too hard. The cue ball hit the eight ball so hard that it hit the side and flew to the next table over.
Sighing inwardly, Hayato shook his head. It was obvious they were going to lose this game. “You’re hopeless,” he muttered, walking up to the table to recover what he could of Kousaku’s mistakes.
The young boxer laughed sheepishly, “I’m guessing there are no points for landing the ball in the pocket of another table?”