King's Gambit (Gakuen Heaven, Nakajima/Niwa)
Title: King's Gambit
Fandom: Gakuen Heaven
Pairing/Character: Nakajima/Niwa (largely gen, though)
Author: Karanis
Recipient: ampersand
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Shadings of non-con (er, it involves Nakajima, what do you expect?) and some grevious injury. I don't think there's anything in here that would squick anyone, but what do I know?
Summary: Ambersand asked me to explore how Nakajima and Niwa got to the point where they worked so well together, after Niwa took the student council presidency in their freshman year, and so I have XD
I also want to say that I had the time of my life writing this fic. It's far longer than the others I've written so far for this challenge, but it took me maybe a day longer to write. I hope everyone enjoys reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Nakajima Hideaki, freshman at Bell Liberty academy, did not take part in 'student rallies'. But the school was so riled up about this particular one that classes had actually been cancelled, and now he had some idea why. Nearly every staff member in the school had been recruited to keep order at the rowdy gathering, and nearly every student was in attendance, anyway.
Considering that at Bell Liberty school, one could basically do what one wanted so long as the police didn't get involved and you didn't leave school grounds without a pass, this wasn't as shocking as it might have been. But Hideaki himself was quite irritated that he was being deprived of doing what he wanted - which was to learn a few things before heading to his dorm for the evening. He was, after all, at a school.
Stupid teenagers and their hormones.
He stood in the doorway of the school auditorium where the rally was being held, his arms folded and the metal doorjamb digging into his spine, and watched the rousing speech being made by the charismatic boy at the podium with no more than passing interest. He really only stayed because there was literally nothing better to do than watch and hope something really interesting happened.
Like a riot.
Annoyingly, nothing nearly so interesting occurred, and despite being loud and raucous, the gathering was quite peaceful. The old, corrupt student council was ousted with much fanfare, and the charismatic boy who'd lead the movement was installed in their place as student council president. The previous president, Sato Ryuichi, certainly wasn't pleased with the decision and nearly had to be dragged from the room by his friends as he shouted obscenities at the handsome boy on the stage. He was passingly familiar to Hideaki, who recognized the new school hero from a few of his classes.
Niwa Tetsuya, he was pretty sure was the boy's name. He was the sort of boy who always had a small crowd of admirers gathered around him, even at an all-boy's school. If he'd had girls to woo, Hideaki was quite certain he would have a different one in his bed every night.
Hideaki himself had no shortage of lovers, but he tended to 'woo' them himself. Few had the courage to approach him, at least, few he would be interested in.
He sighed faintly and rolled his eyes as the crowd began to chant 'King' over and over. Apparently their saviour now had a nickname, and he stood on the stage, revelling in the adulation and doing his best to calm the crowd down.
Then something rather odd happened. Niwa raised his eyes from the crowd and met Hideaki's watching eyes. There was no mistake about it. Even from across the length of an auditorium, their eyes met and locked, and Niwa...smiled.
Hideaki didn't smile. He gave the boy a contemptuous look and turned deliberately away. There would be no riot now. He might as well go back to the dorm and get something of worth accomplished.
He didn't rush on the way home, but it was still unexpected that somehow Niwa managed to get ahead of him. The boy stepped out of a stand of trees as Hideaki took his favourite short cut through the woods, a route that not only afforded him some privacy, but also shaved a full minute off of the trip between the school and the dorm, even if he didn't hurry.
The sight of the other boy brought Hideaki up short, his eyes widening with surprise. Niwa's arms were folded and he leaned against a nearby tree, positioned such that Hideaki would nearly have to brush past him to continue down the narrow path. The brunette wore a lazy smirk on his irritatingly attractive lips and his violet eyes were bright with intelligence and interest.
Hideaki had already stopped in surprise when Niwa revealed himself, so he stayed where he was, just outside of arm's reach. He regained his composure quickly and allowed his eyes to travel up and down the other boy's figure before landing on his face. "What do you want?" he asked frankly, not interested in ingratiating himself to the school's new 'ruler'.
Niwa's smirk widened into a smile. "I want to talk to you. You're Nakajima Hideaki, aren't you? We have chemistry class together."
"Do we?" Hideaki responded with disinterest, though he knew they not only had chemistry together, but literature and history as well. "Yes, I am Nakajima. If you want to talk, then speak, you seem good at it."
Niwa levered himself up and took a step towards Hideaki, showing no reaction to the contemptuous tone. "I saw you at the election today. What did you think?"
"I think it wasn't an election," Hideaki said. Was the man still campaigning? "But if it flatters you to think of it as such, good for you. I have no interest in school politics. Excuse me." He stepped forward, intending to push past Niwa and continue on his way.
He saw with satisfaction that his reaction unbalanced the other boy a little, as Niwa's eyes widened and he gave way slightly, his feet turning on the hard-packed dirt. "Hey wait," he exclaimed. "I'm not done--"
Niwa reached and his fingers closed around Hideaki's arm, just as Hideaki had hoped they would.
The blue-haired boy lurched slightly to one side, closer to Niwa, just as he took hold of his arm. The move forced Niwa even further off balance as he teetered at the edge of the path and slipped on the detritus that littered its edges. Hideaki twisted at just the right moment, and caught Niwa by the collar, intending to slam him up against the nearest tree and pin him.
But somehow it didn't really work out that way.
Moving so quickly it had to be reflexive, Niwa grabbed Hideaki's wrist before his fingers could quite close around his collar. Suddenly there was a foot sweeping Hideaki's out from under him and the blue-haired boy was falling heavily to the ground with Niwa on top of him, driving all of the air out of his body.
Angrier than he'd ever been in his life, Hideaki fought to regain his breath before Niwa could press his advantage, but the King still seemed to want to talk. "Okay," the brown-haired boy said, shifting to straddle Hideaki and looking down at him from inches away. "Now listen. I want you to be my vice-president. What do you say?"
Hideaki gasped for breath and managed a word. "Why?" he snarled, for now allowing Niwa to pin him.
When the time was right, he would beat the stuffing out of this upstart for putting him in such a position! But he'd have to be careful; Niwa was nearly as strong as he was, and obviously just as fast. It was surprise as much as skill that had beaten him, but he couldn't afford to underestimate the arrogant boy again.
Niwa smiled. "Because you don't give a crap about politics."
And while Hideaki was still trying to recover from the surprise of that, Niwa had the audacity to get to his feet, dust himself off, and offer Hideaki a hand up.
Hideaki took the hand, but no sooner had he gained his feet but he lowered his shoulder and drove into Niwa. The startled 'oof' was immediately satisfying, as was the follow-up gasp as Niwa's back slammed into a tree. The blue-haired boy grabbed both of Niwa's wrists in his hands and leaned hard against him, pinning him with his body as he kept his hands busy.
Their faces were inches apart, both boys gasping slightly for breath. Niwa looked a bit warped, as Hideaki's glasses were slightly askew from the fall.
"Say that again," Hideaki growled, the command almost a threat.
"I want...you...as my vice president," Niwa gasped. He drew in a breath and continued more easily. "Because you don't care about politics. I think you'll...complement me. Make up for my weaknesses."
Niwa wasn't struggling to break his hold. Disappointing.
"Has it occurred to you that I might not care to become your vice president?" Hideaki asked snidely. "That I might not have been impressed by your virtue, as the rest of the student body has?"
There was no hesitation in Niwa's gaze as violet met blue. "Yes," he said. "I was quite certain you wouldn't want to do it, and that you consider me roughly below the level of pond scum. Like I said, that's why I'm asking you. Anyone else would fawn over me, agree with me, and wouldn't dare to try to correct me when I'm wrong. You won't have any of those problems."
The boy might be annoying, but Hideaki had figured out that he was smart, and charismatic. He had to give him that, even as it galled him.
The worst part was, he was not only making sense, but he was starting to tempt Hideaki.
And he wasn't finished.
"You haven't picked a club yet, have you, Hide?" Niwa said. And dear lord, had he just had the audacity to call him by his given name? And a shortened version at that? "Come and do this with me. I promise you won't be disappointed," he urged.
"You might be," Hideaki hissed, leaning closer and allowing his lips to brush Niwa's lips. His blood was up and he wanted to punish this upstart boy for humiliating him. "Do you think perhaps the rumours about me are false? Do you think you would be safe with me policing you and 'making up for your weaknesses', Niwa-kun?"
"I can take care of myself, H-Hide," Niwa said seriously, though his voice hitched as Hideaki slid one leg between his legs. "I'm not afraid."
"I don't usually punish those of your type," Hideaki growled, shifting slightly to clasp both of Niwa's wrists in one hand behind the tree. He loosened Niwa's tie. "But for this I'll make an exception."
"My type?" Niwa echoed. His voice was annoyingly calm, almost as if he really wasn't nervous in the least, though Hideaki could feel his pulse racing where he clasped his wrists so tightly.
"Girl-crazy, sluttish jocks with more muscle than brains," Hideaki purred, his voice thick with distaste.
"You mean you prefer little boys without the muscle to take you on," Niwa replied with a snort.
"I don't hide what I am," Hideaki replied without a trace of guilt. His fingers were undoing Niwa's buttons, one by one.
Niwa squirmed a little, a frown gracing his features. "What you are?"
Ah, so the other boy didn't actually know. Hideaki assumed that the earlier comment about little boys had been meant sarcastically. "I'm a predator," he purred. His hand rested on Niwa's belt, giving it a light, but obvious tug. "I like it when they squirm and cry, especially when I make sure that they enjoy what I'm doing...whether they like it or not."
"What?" Niwa responded. His voice had gone flat and cold, and Hideaki smiled. Now he was getting it.
He pressed closer, sliding a hand under the waistband of Niwa's pants. They were a bit loose. Was he a boy giving himself some room to grow? Or a slut looking to flash a bit more of his stomach than was strictly dress code? Hideaki was betting on the latter.
"You heard me," Hideaki whispered, then closed his teeth over Niwa's earlobe. He felt a shudder run through the other boy's frame and revelled in the answering thrill it elicited in his own. "Does it shame you, Niwa-kun, that another man is giving you this pleasure? Do the reactions of your own body disgust you?" he whispered into the other boy's ear.
His fingers touched heated skin and he felt a soft laugh bubble up in his throat at the proof of Niwa’s arousal. Niwa shuddered again and pressed back a little, but there was nowhere to go. Hideaki had him pinned against that unyielding surface, and he wasn't going to let go until he tired of the game or had a reason to do so.
"What...what exactly makes you think I'm straight, Hide?" Niwa murmured suddenly, and something in his voice made Hideaki jerk back slightly and look wide-eyed at the other boy's expression. There was a self-satisfied smirk on those gorgeous lips and his violet eyes danced with amusement.
...he was laughing at him.
Hideaki drew his hand from Niwa's clothing and pulled a fist back, fully intending to drive it into Niwa's stomach for his cheek. Perhaps he'd be less cocky when he couldn't breathe.
But apparently the other boy had been waiting for that. He shifted and pushed upwards, and suddenly Hideaki felt a shoe drive hard into his groin. He didn't even try to keep hold of Niwa's caught wrists. It would have been impossible, as he was thrown back with such force that he wound up flat on his back on the ground once again, gasping for breath and staring in shock up at Niwa's smirking face.
"Well," Niwa said, dropping into a crouch with his arms resting on his thighs and his hands dangling between them. "Now that that's out of the way, what's your answer, Hide? Will you be my vice president?"
"You’re...mad..." Hideaki wheezed, shifting slightly and curling around the injury, which radiated pain through his whole body.
"Hey, if today is any indication, being your friend will be fun," Niwa replied cheerfully. "You certainly keep me on my toes. So what do you say?"
Hideaki glared up at Niwa, feeling somewhat like a trapped animal. Who was this guy?
On the other hand, he certainly couldn't run away with his tail between his legs now. If he said no, it would be because he feared he'd lose. Certainly this was the most interesting thing to happen to him since he arrived at Bell Liberty, and the task of breaking Niwa would be a challenging one.
Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to rule Bell Liberty from behind a properly obedient Niwa Tetsuya. The only trick would be gaining control, and that was something he could work on at his leisure.
"Fine," he gritted out.
Niwa's face broke into a brilliant smile. "Fantastic!" he exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. "I know it'll be great. Now, are you okay? Do I need to get the nurse?"
Suddenly Hideaki found himself glaring up into a concerned expression, and his own anger faltered slightly. He swallowed, and forced down the nauseating waves of pain radiating from his lower body. "No," he said, shifting to get to his feet. "I'm fine."
He straightened with a bit of effort, conscious of Niwa's worried look. Taking a deep breath and telling himself sharply that really the pain was going away, he smoothed his tie and fixed his glasses before glancing at the other boy again. "I'm fine," he repeated. "I'll be at the student council room tomorrow after class."
"Great," Niwa said with obvious relief. "Well, you probably want me to go away now, so I'll see you tomorrow." He raised a hand in a cheerful wave and took off down the path at a jog.
Nonplussed, and definitely revising his opinion of Niwa's intelligence upwards yet again, Hideaki watched until the other boy had disappeared from view.
...Then he slumped to the ground, his back against a tree, and curled around his throbbing testicles with a groan. He'd get up again and head back to the dorm...in a minute.
~ ~ ~
Tetsuya waited impatiently through his last class, then dodged a few knots of people who tried to swarm him on his way out of the classroom. He had always been popular and enjoyed being the centre of attention, but the dramatic election the previous day had increased his notoriety tenfold. He seemed to have a gaggle of followers everywhere he went today.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to them, but he was in a hurry. He had retrieved the key to the student council room that morning, and he wanted to get there and get organized before Hideaki showed up.
After yesterday’s encounter - and he really didn’t know what else to call it - he was sure that being well-prepared was going to be the only way to keep a handle on the other boy.
He ducked a few more admiring fans as he made his way up to the student council room, and thankfully seemed to be the first one there. The hallway was empty. He inserted the key they’d given him and it turned with a satisfying click.
Tetsuya let out a breath. He hadn’t realized it consciously, but there had been a part of him that hadn’t quite believed that they’d hand it over to him so easily, even with the support of almost the entire student body.
He opened the door and stopped dead, his jaw dropping with shock for a moment before he stepped into the room with a snarl.
The entire room was trashed. Paper was strewn all over the room and much of it was torn or crumpled. It looked like someone had swept everything off the desk and then tap-danced on it.
Not only that, but the computer desk had been pushed over, and most of the books ripped haphazardly off of the bookshelves that lined the room. The couch cushions were torn, stuffing leaking from what looked like knife slashes.
Tetsuya still hadn't recovered from the shock and anger at the sight when he heard a soft throat clearing behind him.
He turned to see Hideaki standing in the doorway, surveying the damage with an impassive expression.
"Did you expect anything less?" the blue-haired boy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"This is ridiculous!" Tetsuya exploded, gesturing angrily at the wreckage. "How could they have done this? Did they think I wouldn't know who it was? The door was locked! It's completely unprofessional!"
"Calm yourself," Hideaki said, stepping into the room and pushing his glasses up a little further on his nose. "This is just one last 'fuck you' from the old student council, and you should concede that it's better than surprising you with baseball bat-wielding goons in some dark alley."
"Goons I can handle," Tetsuya snorted, looking around. He needed to clean this up, but he was so overwhelmed he didn't know where to start.
"Precisely why they didn't send goons," Hideaki replied, walking over to the computer desk and righting it. "Did you really expect professional behaviour from the very people you ousted from power because they were abusing that power? Did you think they would retire gracefully and happily hand the reins over to you?"
He bent to pick up the computer monitor and hoisted it as if it weighed a feather, setting it on the desk and then looking it over for damage. Tetsuya opened his mouth to reply, and Hideaki suddenly looked up, fixing him with a glare. "Don't tell me that after your fiery words yesterday, you're losing heart at your first setback."
That ridiculous idea startled Tetsuya out of his frozen state and he shook his head, bending to gather up the nearest bits of paper. "Of course not! It's just a stupid mess we have to clean up. How's the computer?"
"Good, now close the door before your adoring fans catch wind of this. We don't want word to spread," Hideaki said sharply.
Blinking, Tetsuya paused in what he was doing to shove the door closed with his foot. He had to admit that Hideaki had a point. "The computer?" he prompted, still gathering papers.
Hideaki grunted, bending low to set the tower in its spot under the desk. "It may be salvageable, but it lacks the capabilities I will need. I will speak with the treasury tomorrow about whether we can obtain the funds to obtain one that is up to my standards."
"Huh?" Tetsuya's head jerked up and he stared at the other boy. "What the hell capabilities do you need? Isn't it just for like...spreadsheets and stuff?" He gestured vaguely, then straightened, carrying an armful of paper to the desk. It belatedly occurred to him that after he'd cleaned up the floor he'd have to figure out what all the papers were and put them in order.
Suddenly the whole task looked a lot more depressing again.
"If I am to work for this council, I will not work on antiquated equipment," Hideaki said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Having little understanding of what the student council's function actually is, I can make no comment about what this computer was used for. But considering that one of the functions appears to involve school security, I'd say I need something capable of tasks more complex than playing solitaire."
Tetsuya absorbed that as he worked, then shrugged. "You're the vice president, and you sound like you know more about computers than I do. I trust you to know what you need, Hide."
Hideaki's smile was a bit disturbing. "Thank you, Niwa."
Despite the odd tenor to the smile, Tetsuya nodded and smiled back. Then he turned to focus on his task, listening to Hideaki move around the room restoring books to the shelves.
It didn't take long to clean up the room, though the couch cushions could only be turned over for now. Tetsuya figured that Hideaki would requisition a new couch for them when he was talking to the treasury about the computer.
But then he settled at the desk to go through the papers and figure out what they all were, and he realized just how Herculean a task they had. Hideaki had as little idea of exactly what all the council actually did all day as he did, but they were quickly plunged into a crash course. Reports, requisitions, and other documents of all types were all mixed up together. Some of them were multiple pages and had been cast helter-skelter around the room, and now they needed to figure out what went with what, and put them in order.
Three hours later, the sun was well down and they'd scarcely made a dent. Tetsuya found himself rubbing his eyes every few seconds as he tried to force his tired brain to make sense of some legalese-strewn document just long enough to figure out what pile it went into.
Then suddenly he felt hands close over his shoulders and strong fingers dig into the muscles. Tetsuya's eyes immediately crossed and he groaned softly, lowering the page. "Hide...what are you doing?"
"We need a break," Hideaki replied. "We can continue this tomorrow. Come, let's go somewhere we can relax for a while."
Tetsuya twisted in his seat, even though that unfortunately meant that Hideaki stopped that wonderful massage. He was surprised that Hideaki, who really had seemed to hold him in such contempt the day before, was offering to go socialize with him.
But trying to read those narrow eyes was a lost cause. He couldn't tell if Hideaki really was sincere or not, so he chose to figure he was being sincere. Tetsuya smiled and nodded, rising from his chair and pressing his hands into his lower back to make his spine pop. "That sounds like a great idea. Do you have somewhere in mind?"
"I do, but it's off campus. I'll call for a taxi," Hideaki replied, reaching for the phone they'd unearthed about two hours before and which was miraculously working.
"Off campus?" Tetsuya echoed, but Hideaki was already dialling. He considered telling Hideaki he had a motorbike, but the idea of the two of them trying to share the bike changed his mind. It wasn't that big, and he doubted that Hideaki would like the idea of sitting in the bitch seat.
Hideaki spoke briefly into the phone, then hung it up, glancing at Tetsuya with a faint, enigmatic smile. "Our ride will be here shortly."
Tetsuya smiled in return and reached for another sheet of paper with a huge bootprint right in the middle of it. "So where exactly are we going, again?"
Hideaki's hands were cool as they settled on Tetsuya's shoulders again. Tetsuya tried to focus on the page in front of him, but between his fatigue and the soothing touch, it was very hard to focus.
The response to his question came, but it took a few moments. "I won't tell you that, Niwa. But I can assure you that you'll enjoy it."
Tetsuya chuckled softly and leaned back in his chair, issuing a soft groan as Hideaki's thumbs dug in deeper. "That sounds vaguely ominous, Hide."
The other boy rumbled a laugh. "You're learning, Niwa."
Tetsuya closed his eyes and luxuriated in the massage for a while. Of course, Hideaki was trying to get something from him, and he wasn't exactly sure what it was, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it until he figured it out, right? "We're friends now, Hide," he said finally. "Call me Tetsuya."
Hideaki laughed again. "We scarcely know each other. Stop being rude and call me Nakajima."
Tetsuya grinned unrepentantly. He was quite certain that if Hideaki really cared what he was called, he'd be objecting far more vociferously. "Don't be like that. We'll be working pretty closely together for quite a while."
"I'm well aware of that, Niwa," Hideaki replied blandly.
He gave Tetsuya a final squeeze and withdrew his hands. "It's time to go," he added, starting for the door. Tetsuya stretched and got to his feet before moving to follow the blue-haired boy.
They walked outside and stepped into a small waiting taxi, and Hideaki leaned over the seat to murmur directions into the driver's ear, far too quietly for Tetsuya to hear, before leaning back. The two boys squirmed to get comfortable in the narrow back seat as the taxi pulled away and headed for the bridge back to the mainland.
Finally they were both settled, though their hips rubbed together and Hideaki's arm stretched across the back of the seat behind Tetsuya, who strongly suspected that this was intentional. He distracted himself by staring out the window and trying to figure out if Hideaki just wanted to fuck him, or was working his way up to something else.
"You like to be in charge, don't you?" Tetsuya commented suddenly, gazing idly at a passing ship that wasn't quite close enough yet to cause the bridge to go up.
"I do," Hideaki acknowledged. Tetsuya could feel the other boy's eyes on the back of his head and fought not to turn and meet them.
The truth was, he was starting to see the potential for a hell of a lot of conflict between them, and it worried him. He hadn't brought Nakajima Hideaki in so they could spend all their time working out who was the alpha dog in the relationship.
But he wasn't sure how to get someone like Hideaki to show his throat, and as council president, he couldn't afford to roll over and show his just to make Hideaki feel more comfortable.
"I like to be in charge, too," he said quietly. "What are we doing to do about that, do you suppose?"
Hideaki was silent for a moment, then snorted softly. "It may take some time to work that out, Niwa. For now, I suggest we just relax and enjoy ourselves tonight."
Tetsuya finally did turn and meet Hideaki's gaze, but it told him little. Those blue eyes were like bottomless pools, even though Hideaki was smiling. It was part of what had fascinated him when he first noticed him in his classes, but it was frustrating as hell. "Yeah," he said. "That sounds like a great idea."
The taxi wound through the city for a few minutes before pulling in front of a building. The neon sign over the door declared it a jazz club and Tetsuya's eyes lit up with interest. He wasn't all that well-versed in jazz personally, but a place like that seemed like it'd actually be a good place to relax.
There was a part of him that had been expected something a lot less...vanilla.
He got out of the taxi and waited for Hideaki to join them on the sidewalk, then glanced at him with a smile. "You have good taste, Hide. I take it you've been here before?"
"Many times," Hideaki replied, his glasses reflecting the deep blue neon of the sign as he glanced up at it. "Come," he added, the words too gentle to really be considered an order as he stepped towards the door.
Sighing inwardly, Tetsuya followed Hideaki down a set of stairs into the main part of the club. The open space was littered with tables and overstuffed leather chairs, and tasted pleasantly of smoke. Hideaki led them to a table and sat, telling the waitress to give him 'the usual' and then glancing at Tetsuya for his order.
Settling into his own chair, Tetsuya considered the other boy, then glanced at the waitress with a flirtatious grin. "I'll have what he's havin', darling," he purred. She smiled and giggled at him before turning away, and he allowed his eyes to linger on her before turning back to Hideaki.
A scowl on the blue-haired boy's face was his reward.
"What?" he asked innocently, picking up his cocktail napkin and folding it into a triangle.
"You really are a slut, aren't you, Niwa?" Hideaki replied silkily, leaning a little closer.
Tetsuya had been expected something along those lines and leaned his elbow on the arm of the chair, propping up his chin on his hand. "What are you, jealous? This coming from the man who is a self-professed sexual predator at fifteen."
"I'm not ashamed of what I am, are you?" Hideaki shot back, his eyes narrowing.
Breaking into a grin, Tetsuya replied without hesitation. "Nope."
Seeing Hideaki's expression darken further, he reached out and put a hand on the other boy's arm. Hideaki was so prone to touching others... maybe he could reciprocate that and use it. "You won't get far with that, Hide. I'm a far sight more confident in myself than your average mark. But you get points for trying."
"Don't patronize me," Hideaki said, tugging his arm out from under Tetsuya's hand and then turning away as the waitress returned with two bottles of tonic water. She set them down and poured, leaving the half-empty bottles and winking at Tetsuya before turning away.
He grinned despite himself, then looked at Hideaki again. "Look, I'm just trying to tell you that this kind of game won't work on me. I get it, okay? But all I want is to get along."
"Yes, of course you do," Hideaki sneered, lifting his glass. "Because you can't possibly have any flaws, so I'm wasting my time looking for them." He watched Tetsuya narrowly over the rim of his glass as he took a sip, then lowered it. "But what you supposedly want is someone to make up for your weaknesses, so what use am I if you have none?"
Tetsuya blinked, the rather bizarre logic coming at him from left field. "Is that what this is about?" he asked.
"You thought this is some kind of power game?" Hideaki asked with a smirk. "Well, I'd be lying to say that it wasn't to some extent. That's merely in my nature. But there is merit in us getting to know one another, isn't there? If you claim that we are 'friends', that is."
Was the other boy just trying to manipulate him? Tetsuya fiddled with his folded napkin, which was slowly starting to look like a frog, and indulged in a few moments of guilt. Maybe he'd underestimated Hideaki after all. "Well, I do want to be friends," he said. "I guess I just don't let my weaknesses just hang out there for anyone to see, it's true..."
"And neither do I," Hideaki replied with a trace of understanding in his deep voice. "But given the circumstances, you can't blame me for trying to ferret out some of those weaknesses, since I doubted you'd be willing to simply show them to me."
Tetsuya glanced up, searching Hideaki's face, but it was as difficult to read as ever. "Well, that's fair enough, I guess," he said with a nod. Then he leaned closer. "But don't think I'm going to make this easy for you, Hide. I'll tell you about myself, let you ferret out my weaknesses, but you have to return the favour. Got it?"
Hideaki smiled slowly, and Tetsuya could now see the wheels turning in his brain. Oh yes, this one liked a challenge, and Tetsuya had just given him one. "Very well," he said. "But don't think I'll make it easy for you, either."
Tetsuya grinned and stuck out his hand for Hideaki to shake, as if sealing a deal. "I wouldn't dream of it."
~ ~ ~
As the two boys left the jazz club in the wee hours of the morning, Hideaki reflected with some amazement that he couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun talking to another boy.
A boy he was reluctantly coming to admit could easily be a match for him.
The two had drunk Perrier until they sloshed with it, and even shared a bottle of wine, talking mostly about themselves for the first while, and then moving on to commiserating about a variety of subjects.
Strangely, they had things in common.
Finally one of the waitresses apologetically came to tell them that the club was closing. Hideaki had quickly called another taxi and they emerged from the building to wait on the sidewalk as the doors were locked behind them.
Niwa slung his arm around Hideaki's shoulders. He looked a little worse for wear after the bottle of wine, though Hideaki was sure he was far from inebriated. "You're a lot more fun than I thought you'd be when I had to kick you in the balls, Hide," he murmured, leaning on the slightly-taller boy without restraint.
Hideaki snorted and shifted his feet to accommodate the extra weight, his hands shoved in casually into his pockets. "You didn't 'have' to do that, Niwa," he said. Then he smiled faintly. "But tonight was an enjoyable experience."
"Sure was," Niwa said with a contented sigh. "And that waitress was hot. We have to come back here sometime."
Hideaki repressed a faint pulse of jealousy. He certainly had no claim on the other boy - hell, other than Niwa's tendency to drape over things when he was buzzed and Hideaki's occasionally wandering hands, they seemed to have settled into a strictly platonic relationship. For now.
But he really didn't enjoy watching Niwa plan his next tryst in front of him. Especially with a woman, which meant he didn't find the show in the least bit appealing. Women were fine, but they were meant for other people.
"Didn't you get her phone number?" he asked. "You don't need my help to bed her."
He blinked as Niwa groaned. "No," he grumbled. "I think she's changed her mind and thinks we're gay for each other--"
He was cut off by a squeal of tires and a loud thump, and suddenly a pair of bright headlights blinded them. Hideaki could hardly see in the glare, but he could tell enough to see that a car had driven up onto the sidewalk and was bearing down on them at full speed.
Frozen in shock, Hideaki stared at oncoming death as his mind shrieked at him to get out of the way damnit! But he was off-balance and weighed down, and there was no time to get his feet moving...nowhere to run even if he could.
Suddenly he felt hands on him and he was shoved to one side. He stumbled back, his hands coming out of his pockets as he flailed for something to catch his fall, but he tripped off of the curb and fell heavily right into the street. Brakes shrieked and horns blared, but he wasn't paying attention.
All he saw was Niwa, who had shoved him out of the way of the oncoming car, get clipped by the vehicle as he then tried to save himself.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Niwa poised to run, springing forward even as the car closed with him. The car struck him and he was suddenly flying through the air, slamming into the pavement of the street and laying crumpled on the asphalt as cars swerved to avoid his body.
The car that had attacked them didn't even slow down, bumping off the sidewalk and shrieking off in a scream of tires and leaving the lingering smell of burned rubber in its wake.
Hideaki didn't even remember getting to his feet, all he knew was that one moment he was sitting on pavement, the backs of his arms scraped to hell from the fall and stinging, and the next moment he was sprinting the ten feet Niwa had been thrown. "Niwa! Tetsuya!" he cried, dropping to his knees.
Niwa was sprawled like a broken doll, his eyes closed and his body limp. From the angle of one of his legs, it was obvious that it had broken when the car had impacted. Hideaki saw with relief that he was breathing, albeit shallowly, but a line of blood was running from his open mouth.
A hand landed on Hideaki's shoulder and he looked up into the panicked face of an older man in a taxi-driver's uniform. The taxi had nearly hit Niwa when it arrived, and it was now stopped at an angle, and thankfully protecting them from the other cars on the road. They were lucky that it was two in the morning, or on such a busy Tokyo street they would surely have been struck when they fell into the street.
"Sir! My god, what happened? Is he all right?" the driver exclaimed.
Hideaki didn't even think. He lunged to his feet, grabbing the driver by the collar and slamming him back against his taxi. "Don't stand there babbling, you idiot!" he snarled into the man's face. "Call for a fucking ambulance!"
He released him, nearly stumbling back a step and the taxi driver nodded, his face pale and frightened. "Yes, yes of course." He turned and practically dove into his car to grab his radio.
Turning away, Hideaki dropped to his knees beside Niwa again, but he just stared at him helplessly. There was nothing he could do. The boy coughed and a fresh runnel of blood ran down his cheek, but he didn't open his eyes. Hideaki reached out and touched the bright red liquid, perhaps thinking to clean it off, but it just smeared under his fingers and he realized that his hands were shaking.
I'm in shock. I'm in shock and Tetsuya is dying. I need to do something, he thought, clearly and distinctly. But he had never felt so helpless in his life.
It made him angry. He wished the taxi driver would do something stupid so he could beat the shit out of him, but the man was hovering at least five feet away, leaning against his taxi with his radio in his hand.
He didn't know how long he sat there, but suddenly he became aware of sirens wailing in his ear and abruptly cutting off. He stirred himself and looked around to see people swarming towards them.
One of the paramedics grabbed him by the arm, tugging him away from Niwa as the others crowded around him. The paramedic who touched him was grabbing him by the chin, shining a light in his eyes. "Hey kid? Kid? Are you hurt? Where you hit?"
The sudden chaos made him angry all over again and he yanked his arm out of the man's grasp. "I'm fine!" he snarled. "He...he pushed me out of the way. Help him!"
"It's all right, calm down," the man replied in a maddeningly soothing voice. "We're helping your friend. You just go wait by the ambulance and follow us to the hospital when we've stabilized him."
Hideaki got to his feet. He still felt shaky, shocky, but his mind was starting to clear. "Is he going to die?" he asked, expecting some comforting platitude he could either hold onto or get angry over, but instead he received startling honesty.
"I don't know. Go and wait, kid. We'll be leaving soon."
The next hours were like a whirlwind. They put Niwa in the ambulance and he followed in the taxi. It turned out that he'd scraped the hell out of his arms when he fell, tearing his sleeves. He'd also twisted his ankle slightly, but it was just enough to give him a limp.
They'd disinfected the scrapes, wrapped gauze around his forearms and released him to pace the waiting room.
Something about his manner caused him to create an isolated island around the area where he was pacing. No one would sit anywhere close to him as they came in, few dared to meet his gaze, and those who did were subjected to a snarl.
He couldn't remember ever feeling so impotent as the minutes ticked by on the clock on the waiting room wall. It buzzed softly every time the second hand swept past the twelve and after the first hour he had to restrain himself from ripping the damn thing off the wall and smashing it into a million pieces.
Finally a woman in a nurse's uniform approached him cautiously. She was the first person to come within fifteen feet of him in two hours, so she immediately attracted his attention. He stopped, realizing suddenly that his hurt ankle wasn't just hurting now, it was screaming at him.
But he ignored it utterly and glared at her. "What's his condition?" he snapped.
She was clutching her clipboard to her breasts like a shield, her dark eyes a little wide. "Uh, he's still in surgery, sir," she said. "He's in critical condition. There's internal bleeding."
He gritted his teeth and nodded, starting to turn away to continue his pacing, but she hastily continued. "I wanted to tell you that I tried to contact his parents, but they're not answering their phone. I wondered if you might know why?"
He paused again, frowning. It was past four in the morning, not exactly a time that people would be out of the house. He thought back to that conversation the two of them had had a million years ago in the club. In all those things they'd talked about, had there been any clue?
Then he remembered an offhand remark Niwa had made, fairly early in the evening.
"They're on vacation in Hawaii," he informed the nurse. "I don't know what hotel they're staying at, though. You'll have to ask him when he wakes up."
"Oh...all right," she said, her tone a bit careful. "Yes, I'll do that."
She didn't believe he'd pull through. The bitch.
He glanced at her over his shoulder, and he saw her eyes widen again at the look on his face. "While I have you here," he said. "I'll need to talk to a police officer at some point."
She nodded, her eyes stark in her paling face. "Yes, of course. There's an officer here. I'll have him speak to you."
"Thank you," he said and turned away, dismissing her completely. He heard her scurry away on her soft shoes and resumed his pacing.
About twenty buzzes of the clock later, he heard the click of boots on tile, heading towards his little corner of the waiting room. He turned again and saw a police officer walking towards him, a report book in hand.
"Sakura-san told me that you wanted to speak to me...Hideaki-kun?" the man said.
Hideaki turned to face him, folding his arms. "Yes sir," he said. "I wanted to tell you who it was that attacked us tonight. I want you to arrest him."
The officer raised an eyebrow and gestured. "There's a private room this way, I believe. Let's sit down, and you can tell me everything."
~ ~ ~
Nothing hurt, that was the weirdest thing.
It was weird because Tetsuya had this vague idea that if that muffling blanket wrapped around his brain actually lifted completely, everything would hurt. But it didn't. He didn't really feel much at all through the layers of cotton that seemed to be surrounding him.
His eyelids fluttered open and he glanced around with vague confusion at the grey-blue walls and a dizzying array of monitors and instruments arranged around his bed.
Then his eyes landed on the sole other occupant of the room and he couldn't help but smile.
Hideaki was sitting in a chair next to his bed, but he was sprawled forward, his arms crossed on the mattress and his head laid upon them. He was sound asleep, his glasses askew on his face, and his expression drawn with weariness.
One of his hands still gently clasped Tetsuya's.
Tetsuya opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it again, reluctant to wake him up. He vaguely remembered that something had happened, just flashes of a car's headlights where they shouldn't be, and a brief impression of flying through the air. Hideaki had obviously stayed with him through it, though, and had probably not slept. Sunlight was shining through the window, so it had to be the next day already.
He hoped just the next day, at least. For all he knew, a week had passed.
He needn't have stayed silent, however, because a moment later Hideaki shifted and looked up, his eyes blinking away the fog of exhaustion as he met Tetsuya's gaze. "You're awake," he whispered, his voice rough with sleep.
Tetsuya smiled. He was already feeling those layers of cotton thickening and had a feeling he'd fall asleep soon. There was definitely morphine in the IV running into his arm.
But he struggled to stay awake, needing to get some answers. For all he knew, by the time he woke up again Hideaki would have gone back to school. "What happened?" he asked.
Hideaki straightened, but his arm still lay on the mattress, his hand still holding Tetsuya's loosely. "It was Sato," he said. "The former student council president. He tried to run us down."
Tetsuya felt his own jaw drop. "He tried to run us down?" he exclaimed. "My god, Hide, are you okay?"
Hideaki closed his eyes for a moment, his shoulders shaking with laughter as he shook his head with disbelief. "You wake up in a hospital bed after four hours of surgery, and you ask me if I'm okay?" he asked incredulously, opening his eyes and spearing Tetsuya with his gaze.
"I'm fine. You saved me, Niwa, and sacrificed yourself. I always thought you were an idiot, but now you've proven it," he said. "You broke your leg, and had internal bleeding from the impact. They didn't even know whether you would survive. You're going to be in recovery for quite a while."
Tetsuya grinned tiredly. "You're welcome," he murmured, lifting his free hand to cover a yawn.
Hideaki actually looked angry for a moment, but his expression smoothed out. "Anyway, I gave my report to the police and I anticipate they'll arrest him as soon as they're finished their investigation. The car would show damage, and there were a few other witnesses. I can't believe he was stupid enough to try to kill us with his own car."
Tetsuya shrugged faintly. "I...guess maybe he just took an opportunity," he said, settling deeper into his pillows and letting his eyes slip closed. "I'll bet he got a lot of perks working for the company like that. Are you still sure you want to work with me?"
He could feel himself being pulled down, and everything was getting very dark and far away again. But he felt a cool touch to his forehead, and Hideaki murmured his reply. "Don't be stupid. I've never seen anyone fight so hard. I'll be with you for as long as you'll have me."
Tetsuya's lips curved in a smile, but he didn't quite manage to frame a reply before a combination of morphine and exhaustion pulled him back down into oblivion.
Fandom: Gakuen Heaven
Pairing/Character: Nakajima/Niwa (largely gen, though)
Author: Karanis
Recipient: ampersand
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Shadings of non-con (er, it involves Nakajima, what do you expect?) and some grevious injury. I don't think there's anything in here that would squick anyone, but what do I know?
Summary: Ambersand asked me to explore how Nakajima and Niwa got to the point where they worked so well together, after Niwa took the student council presidency in their freshman year, and so I have XD
I also want to say that I had the time of my life writing this fic. It's far longer than the others I've written so far for this challenge, but it took me maybe a day longer to write. I hope everyone enjoys reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Nakajima Hideaki, freshman at Bell Liberty academy, did not take part in 'student rallies'. But the school was so riled up about this particular one that classes had actually been cancelled, and now he had some idea why. Nearly every staff member in the school had been recruited to keep order at the rowdy gathering, and nearly every student was in attendance, anyway.
Considering that at Bell Liberty school, one could basically do what one wanted so long as the police didn't get involved and you didn't leave school grounds without a pass, this wasn't as shocking as it might have been. But Hideaki himself was quite irritated that he was being deprived of doing what he wanted - which was to learn a few things before heading to his dorm for the evening. He was, after all, at a school.
Stupid teenagers and their hormones.
He stood in the doorway of the school auditorium where the rally was being held, his arms folded and the metal doorjamb digging into his spine, and watched the rousing speech being made by the charismatic boy at the podium with no more than passing interest. He really only stayed because there was literally nothing better to do than watch and hope something really interesting happened.
Like a riot.
Annoyingly, nothing nearly so interesting occurred, and despite being loud and raucous, the gathering was quite peaceful. The old, corrupt student council was ousted with much fanfare, and the charismatic boy who'd lead the movement was installed in their place as student council president. The previous president, Sato Ryuichi, certainly wasn't pleased with the decision and nearly had to be dragged from the room by his friends as he shouted obscenities at the handsome boy on the stage. He was passingly familiar to Hideaki, who recognized the new school hero from a few of his classes.
Niwa Tetsuya, he was pretty sure was the boy's name. He was the sort of boy who always had a small crowd of admirers gathered around him, even at an all-boy's school. If he'd had girls to woo, Hideaki was quite certain he would have a different one in his bed every night.
Hideaki himself had no shortage of lovers, but he tended to 'woo' them himself. Few had the courage to approach him, at least, few he would be interested in.
He sighed faintly and rolled his eyes as the crowd began to chant 'King' over and over. Apparently their saviour now had a nickname, and he stood on the stage, revelling in the adulation and doing his best to calm the crowd down.
Then something rather odd happened. Niwa raised his eyes from the crowd and met Hideaki's watching eyes. There was no mistake about it. Even from across the length of an auditorium, their eyes met and locked, and Niwa...smiled.
Hideaki didn't smile. He gave the boy a contemptuous look and turned deliberately away. There would be no riot now. He might as well go back to the dorm and get something of worth accomplished.
He didn't rush on the way home, but it was still unexpected that somehow Niwa managed to get ahead of him. The boy stepped out of a stand of trees as Hideaki took his favourite short cut through the woods, a route that not only afforded him some privacy, but also shaved a full minute off of the trip between the school and the dorm, even if he didn't hurry.
The sight of the other boy brought Hideaki up short, his eyes widening with surprise. Niwa's arms were folded and he leaned against a nearby tree, positioned such that Hideaki would nearly have to brush past him to continue down the narrow path. The brunette wore a lazy smirk on his irritatingly attractive lips and his violet eyes were bright with intelligence and interest.
Hideaki had already stopped in surprise when Niwa revealed himself, so he stayed where he was, just outside of arm's reach. He regained his composure quickly and allowed his eyes to travel up and down the other boy's figure before landing on his face. "What do you want?" he asked frankly, not interested in ingratiating himself to the school's new 'ruler'.
Niwa's smirk widened into a smile. "I want to talk to you. You're Nakajima Hideaki, aren't you? We have chemistry class together."
"Do we?" Hideaki responded with disinterest, though he knew they not only had chemistry together, but literature and history as well. "Yes, I am Nakajima. If you want to talk, then speak, you seem good at it."
Niwa levered himself up and took a step towards Hideaki, showing no reaction to the contemptuous tone. "I saw you at the election today. What did you think?"
"I think it wasn't an election," Hideaki said. Was the man still campaigning? "But if it flatters you to think of it as such, good for you. I have no interest in school politics. Excuse me." He stepped forward, intending to push past Niwa and continue on his way.
He saw with satisfaction that his reaction unbalanced the other boy a little, as Niwa's eyes widened and he gave way slightly, his feet turning on the hard-packed dirt. "Hey wait," he exclaimed. "I'm not done--"
Niwa reached and his fingers closed around Hideaki's arm, just as Hideaki had hoped they would.
The blue-haired boy lurched slightly to one side, closer to Niwa, just as he took hold of his arm. The move forced Niwa even further off balance as he teetered at the edge of the path and slipped on the detritus that littered its edges. Hideaki twisted at just the right moment, and caught Niwa by the collar, intending to slam him up against the nearest tree and pin him.
But somehow it didn't really work out that way.
Moving so quickly it had to be reflexive, Niwa grabbed Hideaki's wrist before his fingers could quite close around his collar. Suddenly there was a foot sweeping Hideaki's out from under him and the blue-haired boy was falling heavily to the ground with Niwa on top of him, driving all of the air out of his body.
Angrier than he'd ever been in his life, Hideaki fought to regain his breath before Niwa could press his advantage, but the King still seemed to want to talk. "Okay," the brown-haired boy said, shifting to straddle Hideaki and looking down at him from inches away. "Now listen. I want you to be my vice-president. What do you say?"
Hideaki gasped for breath and managed a word. "Why?" he snarled, for now allowing Niwa to pin him.
When the time was right, he would beat the stuffing out of this upstart for putting him in such a position! But he'd have to be careful; Niwa was nearly as strong as he was, and obviously just as fast. It was surprise as much as skill that had beaten him, but he couldn't afford to underestimate the arrogant boy again.
Niwa smiled. "Because you don't give a crap about politics."
And while Hideaki was still trying to recover from the surprise of that, Niwa had the audacity to get to his feet, dust himself off, and offer Hideaki a hand up.
Hideaki took the hand, but no sooner had he gained his feet but he lowered his shoulder and drove into Niwa. The startled 'oof' was immediately satisfying, as was the follow-up gasp as Niwa's back slammed into a tree. The blue-haired boy grabbed both of Niwa's wrists in his hands and leaned hard against him, pinning him with his body as he kept his hands busy.
Their faces were inches apart, both boys gasping slightly for breath. Niwa looked a bit warped, as Hideaki's glasses were slightly askew from the fall.
"Say that again," Hideaki growled, the command almost a threat.
"I want...you...as my vice president," Niwa gasped. He drew in a breath and continued more easily. "Because you don't care about politics. I think you'll...complement me. Make up for my weaknesses."
Niwa wasn't struggling to break his hold. Disappointing.
"Has it occurred to you that I might not care to become your vice president?" Hideaki asked snidely. "That I might not have been impressed by your virtue, as the rest of the student body has?"
There was no hesitation in Niwa's gaze as violet met blue. "Yes," he said. "I was quite certain you wouldn't want to do it, and that you consider me roughly below the level of pond scum. Like I said, that's why I'm asking you. Anyone else would fawn over me, agree with me, and wouldn't dare to try to correct me when I'm wrong. You won't have any of those problems."
The boy might be annoying, but Hideaki had figured out that he was smart, and charismatic. He had to give him that, even as it galled him.
The worst part was, he was not only making sense, but he was starting to tempt Hideaki.
And he wasn't finished.
"You haven't picked a club yet, have you, Hide?" Niwa said. And dear lord, had he just had the audacity to call him by his given name? And a shortened version at that? "Come and do this with me. I promise you won't be disappointed," he urged.
"You might be," Hideaki hissed, leaning closer and allowing his lips to brush Niwa's lips. His blood was up and he wanted to punish this upstart boy for humiliating him. "Do you think perhaps the rumours about me are false? Do you think you would be safe with me policing you and 'making up for your weaknesses', Niwa-kun?"
"I can take care of myself, H-Hide," Niwa said seriously, though his voice hitched as Hideaki slid one leg between his legs. "I'm not afraid."
"I don't usually punish those of your type," Hideaki growled, shifting slightly to clasp both of Niwa's wrists in one hand behind the tree. He loosened Niwa's tie. "But for this I'll make an exception."
"My type?" Niwa echoed. His voice was annoyingly calm, almost as if he really wasn't nervous in the least, though Hideaki could feel his pulse racing where he clasped his wrists so tightly.
"Girl-crazy, sluttish jocks with more muscle than brains," Hideaki purred, his voice thick with distaste.
"You mean you prefer little boys without the muscle to take you on," Niwa replied with a snort.
"I don't hide what I am," Hideaki replied without a trace of guilt. His fingers were undoing Niwa's buttons, one by one.
Niwa squirmed a little, a frown gracing his features. "What you are?"
Ah, so the other boy didn't actually know. Hideaki assumed that the earlier comment about little boys had been meant sarcastically. "I'm a predator," he purred. His hand rested on Niwa's belt, giving it a light, but obvious tug. "I like it when they squirm and cry, especially when I make sure that they enjoy what I'm doing...whether they like it or not."
"What?" Niwa responded. His voice had gone flat and cold, and Hideaki smiled. Now he was getting it.
He pressed closer, sliding a hand under the waistband of Niwa's pants. They were a bit loose. Was he a boy giving himself some room to grow? Or a slut looking to flash a bit more of his stomach than was strictly dress code? Hideaki was betting on the latter.
"You heard me," Hideaki whispered, then closed his teeth over Niwa's earlobe. He felt a shudder run through the other boy's frame and revelled in the answering thrill it elicited in his own. "Does it shame you, Niwa-kun, that another man is giving you this pleasure? Do the reactions of your own body disgust you?" he whispered into the other boy's ear.
His fingers touched heated skin and he felt a soft laugh bubble up in his throat at the proof of Niwa’s arousal. Niwa shuddered again and pressed back a little, but there was nowhere to go. Hideaki had him pinned against that unyielding surface, and he wasn't going to let go until he tired of the game or had a reason to do so.
"What...what exactly makes you think I'm straight, Hide?" Niwa murmured suddenly, and something in his voice made Hideaki jerk back slightly and look wide-eyed at the other boy's expression. There was a self-satisfied smirk on those gorgeous lips and his violet eyes danced with amusement.
...he was laughing at him.
Hideaki drew his hand from Niwa's clothing and pulled a fist back, fully intending to drive it into Niwa's stomach for his cheek. Perhaps he'd be less cocky when he couldn't breathe.
But apparently the other boy had been waiting for that. He shifted and pushed upwards, and suddenly Hideaki felt a shoe drive hard into his groin. He didn't even try to keep hold of Niwa's caught wrists. It would have been impossible, as he was thrown back with such force that he wound up flat on his back on the ground once again, gasping for breath and staring in shock up at Niwa's smirking face.
"Well," Niwa said, dropping into a crouch with his arms resting on his thighs and his hands dangling between them. "Now that that's out of the way, what's your answer, Hide? Will you be my vice president?"
"You’re...mad..." Hideaki wheezed, shifting slightly and curling around the injury, which radiated pain through his whole body.
"Hey, if today is any indication, being your friend will be fun," Niwa replied cheerfully. "You certainly keep me on my toes. So what do you say?"
Hideaki glared up at Niwa, feeling somewhat like a trapped animal. Who was this guy?
On the other hand, he certainly couldn't run away with his tail between his legs now. If he said no, it would be because he feared he'd lose. Certainly this was the most interesting thing to happen to him since he arrived at Bell Liberty, and the task of breaking Niwa would be a challenging one.
Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to rule Bell Liberty from behind a properly obedient Niwa Tetsuya. The only trick would be gaining control, and that was something he could work on at his leisure.
"Fine," he gritted out.
Niwa's face broke into a brilliant smile. "Fantastic!" he exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. "I know it'll be great. Now, are you okay? Do I need to get the nurse?"
Suddenly Hideaki found himself glaring up into a concerned expression, and his own anger faltered slightly. He swallowed, and forced down the nauseating waves of pain radiating from his lower body. "No," he said, shifting to get to his feet. "I'm fine."
He straightened with a bit of effort, conscious of Niwa's worried look. Taking a deep breath and telling himself sharply that really the pain was going away, he smoothed his tie and fixed his glasses before glancing at the other boy again. "I'm fine," he repeated. "I'll be at the student council room tomorrow after class."
"Great," Niwa said with obvious relief. "Well, you probably want me to go away now, so I'll see you tomorrow." He raised a hand in a cheerful wave and took off down the path at a jog.
Nonplussed, and definitely revising his opinion of Niwa's intelligence upwards yet again, Hideaki watched until the other boy had disappeared from view.
...Then he slumped to the ground, his back against a tree, and curled around his throbbing testicles with a groan. He'd get up again and head back to the dorm...in a minute.
~ ~ ~
Tetsuya waited impatiently through his last class, then dodged a few knots of people who tried to swarm him on his way out of the classroom. He had always been popular and enjoyed being the centre of attention, but the dramatic election the previous day had increased his notoriety tenfold. He seemed to have a gaggle of followers everywhere he went today.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to them, but he was in a hurry. He had retrieved the key to the student council room that morning, and he wanted to get there and get organized before Hideaki showed up.
After yesterday’s encounter - and he really didn’t know what else to call it - he was sure that being well-prepared was going to be the only way to keep a handle on the other boy.
He ducked a few more admiring fans as he made his way up to the student council room, and thankfully seemed to be the first one there. The hallway was empty. He inserted the key they’d given him and it turned with a satisfying click.
Tetsuya let out a breath. He hadn’t realized it consciously, but there had been a part of him that hadn’t quite believed that they’d hand it over to him so easily, even with the support of almost the entire student body.
He opened the door and stopped dead, his jaw dropping with shock for a moment before he stepped into the room with a snarl.
The entire room was trashed. Paper was strewn all over the room and much of it was torn or crumpled. It looked like someone had swept everything off the desk and then tap-danced on it.
Not only that, but the computer desk had been pushed over, and most of the books ripped haphazardly off of the bookshelves that lined the room. The couch cushions were torn, stuffing leaking from what looked like knife slashes.
Tetsuya still hadn't recovered from the shock and anger at the sight when he heard a soft throat clearing behind him.
He turned to see Hideaki standing in the doorway, surveying the damage with an impassive expression.
"Did you expect anything less?" the blue-haired boy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"This is ridiculous!" Tetsuya exploded, gesturing angrily at the wreckage. "How could they have done this? Did they think I wouldn't know who it was? The door was locked! It's completely unprofessional!"
"Calm yourself," Hideaki said, stepping into the room and pushing his glasses up a little further on his nose. "This is just one last 'fuck you' from the old student council, and you should concede that it's better than surprising you with baseball bat-wielding goons in some dark alley."
"Goons I can handle," Tetsuya snorted, looking around. He needed to clean this up, but he was so overwhelmed he didn't know where to start.
"Precisely why they didn't send goons," Hideaki replied, walking over to the computer desk and righting it. "Did you really expect professional behaviour from the very people you ousted from power because they were abusing that power? Did you think they would retire gracefully and happily hand the reins over to you?"
He bent to pick up the computer monitor and hoisted it as if it weighed a feather, setting it on the desk and then looking it over for damage. Tetsuya opened his mouth to reply, and Hideaki suddenly looked up, fixing him with a glare. "Don't tell me that after your fiery words yesterday, you're losing heart at your first setback."
That ridiculous idea startled Tetsuya out of his frozen state and he shook his head, bending to gather up the nearest bits of paper. "Of course not! It's just a stupid mess we have to clean up. How's the computer?"
"Good, now close the door before your adoring fans catch wind of this. We don't want word to spread," Hideaki said sharply.
Blinking, Tetsuya paused in what he was doing to shove the door closed with his foot. He had to admit that Hideaki had a point. "The computer?" he prompted, still gathering papers.
Hideaki grunted, bending low to set the tower in its spot under the desk. "It may be salvageable, but it lacks the capabilities I will need. I will speak with the treasury tomorrow about whether we can obtain the funds to obtain one that is up to my standards."
"Huh?" Tetsuya's head jerked up and he stared at the other boy. "What the hell capabilities do you need? Isn't it just for like...spreadsheets and stuff?" He gestured vaguely, then straightened, carrying an armful of paper to the desk. It belatedly occurred to him that after he'd cleaned up the floor he'd have to figure out what all the papers were and put them in order.
Suddenly the whole task looked a lot more depressing again.
"If I am to work for this council, I will not work on antiquated equipment," Hideaki said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Having little understanding of what the student council's function actually is, I can make no comment about what this computer was used for. But considering that one of the functions appears to involve school security, I'd say I need something capable of tasks more complex than playing solitaire."
Tetsuya absorbed that as he worked, then shrugged. "You're the vice president, and you sound like you know more about computers than I do. I trust you to know what you need, Hide."
Hideaki's smile was a bit disturbing. "Thank you, Niwa."
Despite the odd tenor to the smile, Tetsuya nodded and smiled back. Then he turned to focus on his task, listening to Hideaki move around the room restoring books to the shelves.
It didn't take long to clean up the room, though the couch cushions could only be turned over for now. Tetsuya figured that Hideaki would requisition a new couch for them when he was talking to the treasury about the computer.
But then he settled at the desk to go through the papers and figure out what they all were, and he realized just how Herculean a task they had. Hideaki had as little idea of exactly what all the council actually did all day as he did, but they were quickly plunged into a crash course. Reports, requisitions, and other documents of all types were all mixed up together. Some of them were multiple pages and had been cast helter-skelter around the room, and now they needed to figure out what went with what, and put them in order.
Three hours later, the sun was well down and they'd scarcely made a dent. Tetsuya found himself rubbing his eyes every few seconds as he tried to force his tired brain to make sense of some legalese-strewn document just long enough to figure out what pile it went into.
Then suddenly he felt hands close over his shoulders and strong fingers dig into the muscles. Tetsuya's eyes immediately crossed and he groaned softly, lowering the page. "Hide...what are you doing?"
"We need a break," Hideaki replied. "We can continue this tomorrow. Come, let's go somewhere we can relax for a while."
Tetsuya twisted in his seat, even though that unfortunately meant that Hideaki stopped that wonderful massage. He was surprised that Hideaki, who really had seemed to hold him in such contempt the day before, was offering to go socialize with him.
But trying to read those narrow eyes was a lost cause. He couldn't tell if Hideaki really was sincere or not, so he chose to figure he was being sincere. Tetsuya smiled and nodded, rising from his chair and pressing his hands into his lower back to make his spine pop. "That sounds like a great idea. Do you have somewhere in mind?"
"I do, but it's off campus. I'll call for a taxi," Hideaki replied, reaching for the phone they'd unearthed about two hours before and which was miraculously working.
"Off campus?" Tetsuya echoed, but Hideaki was already dialling. He considered telling Hideaki he had a motorbike, but the idea of the two of them trying to share the bike changed his mind. It wasn't that big, and he doubted that Hideaki would like the idea of sitting in the bitch seat.
Hideaki spoke briefly into the phone, then hung it up, glancing at Tetsuya with a faint, enigmatic smile. "Our ride will be here shortly."
Tetsuya smiled in return and reached for another sheet of paper with a huge bootprint right in the middle of it. "So where exactly are we going, again?"
Hideaki's hands were cool as they settled on Tetsuya's shoulders again. Tetsuya tried to focus on the page in front of him, but between his fatigue and the soothing touch, it was very hard to focus.
The response to his question came, but it took a few moments. "I won't tell you that, Niwa. But I can assure you that you'll enjoy it."
Tetsuya chuckled softly and leaned back in his chair, issuing a soft groan as Hideaki's thumbs dug in deeper. "That sounds vaguely ominous, Hide."
The other boy rumbled a laugh. "You're learning, Niwa."
Tetsuya closed his eyes and luxuriated in the massage for a while. Of course, Hideaki was trying to get something from him, and he wasn't exactly sure what it was, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it until he figured it out, right? "We're friends now, Hide," he said finally. "Call me Tetsuya."
Hideaki laughed again. "We scarcely know each other. Stop being rude and call me Nakajima."
Tetsuya grinned unrepentantly. He was quite certain that if Hideaki really cared what he was called, he'd be objecting far more vociferously. "Don't be like that. We'll be working pretty closely together for quite a while."
"I'm well aware of that, Niwa," Hideaki replied blandly.
He gave Tetsuya a final squeeze and withdrew his hands. "It's time to go," he added, starting for the door. Tetsuya stretched and got to his feet before moving to follow the blue-haired boy.
They walked outside and stepped into a small waiting taxi, and Hideaki leaned over the seat to murmur directions into the driver's ear, far too quietly for Tetsuya to hear, before leaning back. The two boys squirmed to get comfortable in the narrow back seat as the taxi pulled away and headed for the bridge back to the mainland.
Finally they were both settled, though their hips rubbed together and Hideaki's arm stretched across the back of the seat behind Tetsuya, who strongly suspected that this was intentional. He distracted himself by staring out the window and trying to figure out if Hideaki just wanted to fuck him, or was working his way up to something else.
"You like to be in charge, don't you?" Tetsuya commented suddenly, gazing idly at a passing ship that wasn't quite close enough yet to cause the bridge to go up.
"I do," Hideaki acknowledged. Tetsuya could feel the other boy's eyes on the back of his head and fought not to turn and meet them.
The truth was, he was starting to see the potential for a hell of a lot of conflict between them, and it worried him. He hadn't brought Nakajima Hideaki in so they could spend all their time working out who was the alpha dog in the relationship.
But he wasn't sure how to get someone like Hideaki to show his throat, and as council president, he couldn't afford to roll over and show his just to make Hideaki feel more comfortable.
"I like to be in charge, too," he said quietly. "What are we doing to do about that, do you suppose?"
Hideaki was silent for a moment, then snorted softly. "It may take some time to work that out, Niwa. For now, I suggest we just relax and enjoy ourselves tonight."
Tetsuya finally did turn and meet Hideaki's gaze, but it told him little. Those blue eyes were like bottomless pools, even though Hideaki was smiling. It was part of what had fascinated him when he first noticed him in his classes, but it was frustrating as hell. "Yeah," he said. "That sounds like a great idea."
The taxi wound through the city for a few minutes before pulling in front of a building. The neon sign over the door declared it a jazz club and Tetsuya's eyes lit up with interest. He wasn't all that well-versed in jazz personally, but a place like that seemed like it'd actually be a good place to relax.
There was a part of him that had been expected something a lot less...vanilla.
He got out of the taxi and waited for Hideaki to join them on the sidewalk, then glanced at him with a smile. "You have good taste, Hide. I take it you've been here before?"
"Many times," Hideaki replied, his glasses reflecting the deep blue neon of the sign as he glanced up at it. "Come," he added, the words too gentle to really be considered an order as he stepped towards the door.
Sighing inwardly, Tetsuya followed Hideaki down a set of stairs into the main part of the club. The open space was littered with tables and overstuffed leather chairs, and tasted pleasantly of smoke. Hideaki led them to a table and sat, telling the waitress to give him 'the usual' and then glancing at Tetsuya for his order.
Settling into his own chair, Tetsuya considered the other boy, then glanced at the waitress with a flirtatious grin. "I'll have what he's havin', darling," he purred. She smiled and giggled at him before turning away, and he allowed his eyes to linger on her before turning back to Hideaki.
A scowl on the blue-haired boy's face was his reward.
"What?" he asked innocently, picking up his cocktail napkin and folding it into a triangle.
"You really are a slut, aren't you, Niwa?" Hideaki replied silkily, leaning a little closer.
Tetsuya had been expected something along those lines and leaned his elbow on the arm of the chair, propping up his chin on his hand. "What are you, jealous? This coming from the man who is a self-professed sexual predator at fifteen."
"I'm not ashamed of what I am, are you?" Hideaki shot back, his eyes narrowing.
Breaking into a grin, Tetsuya replied without hesitation. "Nope."
Seeing Hideaki's expression darken further, he reached out and put a hand on the other boy's arm. Hideaki was so prone to touching others... maybe he could reciprocate that and use it. "You won't get far with that, Hide. I'm a far sight more confident in myself than your average mark. But you get points for trying."
"Don't patronize me," Hideaki said, tugging his arm out from under Tetsuya's hand and then turning away as the waitress returned with two bottles of tonic water. She set them down and poured, leaving the half-empty bottles and winking at Tetsuya before turning away.
He grinned despite himself, then looked at Hideaki again. "Look, I'm just trying to tell you that this kind of game won't work on me. I get it, okay? But all I want is to get along."
"Yes, of course you do," Hideaki sneered, lifting his glass. "Because you can't possibly have any flaws, so I'm wasting my time looking for them." He watched Tetsuya narrowly over the rim of his glass as he took a sip, then lowered it. "But what you supposedly want is someone to make up for your weaknesses, so what use am I if you have none?"
Tetsuya blinked, the rather bizarre logic coming at him from left field. "Is that what this is about?" he asked.
"You thought this is some kind of power game?" Hideaki asked with a smirk. "Well, I'd be lying to say that it wasn't to some extent. That's merely in my nature. But there is merit in us getting to know one another, isn't there? If you claim that we are 'friends', that is."
Was the other boy just trying to manipulate him? Tetsuya fiddled with his folded napkin, which was slowly starting to look like a frog, and indulged in a few moments of guilt. Maybe he'd underestimated Hideaki after all. "Well, I do want to be friends," he said. "I guess I just don't let my weaknesses just hang out there for anyone to see, it's true..."
"And neither do I," Hideaki replied with a trace of understanding in his deep voice. "But given the circumstances, you can't blame me for trying to ferret out some of those weaknesses, since I doubted you'd be willing to simply show them to me."
Tetsuya glanced up, searching Hideaki's face, but it was as difficult to read as ever. "Well, that's fair enough, I guess," he said with a nod. Then he leaned closer. "But don't think I'm going to make this easy for you, Hide. I'll tell you about myself, let you ferret out my weaknesses, but you have to return the favour. Got it?"
Hideaki smiled slowly, and Tetsuya could now see the wheels turning in his brain. Oh yes, this one liked a challenge, and Tetsuya had just given him one. "Very well," he said. "But don't think I'll make it easy for you, either."
Tetsuya grinned and stuck out his hand for Hideaki to shake, as if sealing a deal. "I wouldn't dream of it."
~ ~ ~
As the two boys left the jazz club in the wee hours of the morning, Hideaki reflected with some amazement that he couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun talking to another boy.
A boy he was reluctantly coming to admit could easily be a match for him.
The two had drunk Perrier until they sloshed with it, and even shared a bottle of wine, talking mostly about themselves for the first while, and then moving on to commiserating about a variety of subjects.
Strangely, they had things in common.
Finally one of the waitresses apologetically came to tell them that the club was closing. Hideaki had quickly called another taxi and they emerged from the building to wait on the sidewalk as the doors were locked behind them.
Niwa slung his arm around Hideaki's shoulders. He looked a little worse for wear after the bottle of wine, though Hideaki was sure he was far from inebriated. "You're a lot more fun than I thought you'd be when I had to kick you in the balls, Hide," he murmured, leaning on the slightly-taller boy without restraint.
Hideaki snorted and shifted his feet to accommodate the extra weight, his hands shoved in casually into his pockets. "You didn't 'have' to do that, Niwa," he said. Then he smiled faintly. "But tonight was an enjoyable experience."
"Sure was," Niwa said with a contented sigh. "And that waitress was hot. We have to come back here sometime."
Hideaki repressed a faint pulse of jealousy. He certainly had no claim on the other boy - hell, other than Niwa's tendency to drape over things when he was buzzed and Hideaki's occasionally wandering hands, they seemed to have settled into a strictly platonic relationship. For now.
But he really didn't enjoy watching Niwa plan his next tryst in front of him. Especially with a woman, which meant he didn't find the show in the least bit appealing. Women were fine, but they were meant for other people.
"Didn't you get her phone number?" he asked. "You don't need my help to bed her."
He blinked as Niwa groaned. "No," he grumbled. "I think she's changed her mind and thinks we're gay for each other--"
He was cut off by a squeal of tires and a loud thump, and suddenly a pair of bright headlights blinded them. Hideaki could hardly see in the glare, but he could tell enough to see that a car had driven up onto the sidewalk and was bearing down on them at full speed.
Frozen in shock, Hideaki stared at oncoming death as his mind shrieked at him to get out of the way damnit! But he was off-balance and weighed down, and there was no time to get his feet moving...nowhere to run even if he could.
Suddenly he felt hands on him and he was shoved to one side. He stumbled back, his hands coming out of his pockets as he flailed for something to catch his fall, but he tripped off of the curb and fell heavily right into the street. Brakes shrieked and horns blared, but he wasn't paying attention.
All he saw was Niwa, who had shoved him out of the way of the oncoming car, get clipped by the vehicle as he then tried to save himself.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Niwa poised to run, springing forward even as the car closed with him. The car struck him and he was suddenly flying through the air, slamming into the pavement of the street and laying crumpled on the asphalt as cars swerved to avoid his body.
The car that had attacked them didn't even slow down, bumping off the sidewalk and shrieking off in a scream of tires and leaving the lingering smell of burned rubber in its wake.
Hideaki didn't even remember getting to his feet, all he knew was that one moment he was sitting on pavement, the backs of his arms scraped to hell from the fall and stinging, and the next moment he was sprinting the ten feet Niwa had been thrown. "Niwa! Tetsuya!" he cried, dropping to his knees.
Niwa was sprawled like a broken doll, his eyes closed and his body limp. From the angle of one of his legs, it was obvious that it had broken when the car had impacted. Hideaki saw with relief that he was breathing, albeit shallowly, but a line of blood was running from his open mouth.
A hand landed on Hideaki's shoulder and he looked up into the panicked face of an older man in a taxi-driver's uniform. The taxi had nearly hit Niwa when it arrived, and it was now stopped at an angle, and thankfully protecting them from the other cars on the road. They were lucky that it was two in the morning, or on such a busy Tokyo street they would surely have been struck when they fell into the street.
"Sir! My god, what happened? Is he all right?" the driver exclaimed.
Hideaki didn't even think. He lunged to his feet, grabbing the driver by the collar and slamming him back against his taxi. "Don't stand there babbling, you idiot!" he snarled into the man's face. "Call for a fucking ambulance!"
He released him, nearly stumbling back a step and the taxi driver nodded, his face pale and frightened. "Yes, yes of course." He turned and practically dove into his car to grab his radio.
Turning away, Hideaki dropped to his knees beside Niwa again, but he just stared at him helplessly. There was nothing he could do. The boy coughed and a fresh runnel of blood ran down his cheek, but he didn't open his eyes. Hideaki reached out and touched the bright red liquid, perhaps thinking to clean it off, but it just smeared under his fingers and he realized that his hands were shaking.
I'm in shock. I'm in shock and Tetsuya is dying. I need to do something, he thought, clearly and distinctly. But he had never felt so helpless in his life.
It made him angry. He wished the taxi driver would do something stupid so he could beat the shit out of him, but the man was hovering at least five feet away, leaning against his taxi with his radio in his hand.
He didn't know how long he sat there, but suddenly he became aware of sirens wailing in his ear and abruptly cutting off. He stirred himself and looked around to see people swarming towards them.
One of the paramedics grabbed him by the arm, tugging him away from Niwa as the others crowded around him. The paramedic who touched him was grabbing him by the chin, shining a light in his eyes. "Hey kid? Kid? Are you hurt? Where you hit?"
The sudden chaos made him angry all over again and he yanked his arm out of the man's grasp. "I'm fine!" he snarled. "He...he pushed me out of the way. Help him!"
"It's all right, calm down," the man replied in a maddeningly soothing voice. "We're helping your friend. You just go wait by the ambulance and follow us to the hospital when we've stabilized him."
Hideaki got to his feet. He still felt shaky, shocky, but his mind was starting to clear. "Is he going to die?" he asked, expecting some comforting platitude he could either hold onto or get angry over, but instead he received startling honesty.
"I don't know. Go and wait, kid. We'll be leaving soon."
The next hours were like a whirlwind. They put Niwa in the ambulance and he followed in the taxi. It turned out that he'd scraped the hell out of his arms when he fell, tearing his sleeves. He'd also twisted his ankle slightly, but it was just enough to give him a limp.
They'd disinfected the scrapes, wrapped gauze around his forearms and released him to pace the waiting room.
Something about his manner caused him to create an isolated island around the area where he was pacing. No one would sit anywhere close to him as they came in, few dared to meet his gaze, and those who did were subjected to a snarl.
He couldn't remember ever feeling so impotent as the minutes ticked by on the clock on the waiting room wall. It buzzed softly every time the second hand swept past the twelve and after the first hour he had to restrain himself from ripping the damn thing off the wall and smashing it into a million pieces.
Finally a woman in a nurse's uniform approached him cautiously. She was the first person to come within fifteen feet of him in two hours, so she immediately attracted his attention. He stopped, realizing suddenly that his hurt ankle wasn't just hurting now, it was screaming at him.
But he ignored it utterly and glared at her. "What's his condition?" he snapped.
She was clutching her clipboard to her breasts like a shield, her dark eyes a little wide. "Uh, he's still in surgery, sir," she said. "He's in critical condition. There's internal bleeding."
He gritted his teeth and nodded, starting to turn away to continue his pacing, but she hastily continued. "I wanted to tell you that I tried to contact his parents, but they're not answering their phone. I wondered if you might know why?"
He paused again, frowning. It was past four in the morning, not exactly a time that people would be out of the house. He thought back to that conversation the two of them had had a million years ago in the club. In all those things they'd talked about, had there been any clue?
Then he remembered an offhand remark Niwa had made, fairly early in the evening.
"They're on vacation in Hawaii," he informed the nurse. "I don't know what hotel they're staying at, though. You'll have to ask him when he wakes up."
"Oh...all right," she said, her tone a bit careful. "Yes, I'll do that."
She didn't believe he'd pull through. The bitch.
He glanced at her over his shoulder, and he saw her eyes widen again at the look on his face. "While I have you here," he said. "I'll need to talk to a police officer at some point."
She nodded, her eyes stark in her paling face. "Yes, of course. There's an officer here. I'll have him speak to you."
"Thank you," he said and turned away, dismissing her completely. He heard her scurry away on her soft shoes and resumed his pacing.
About twenty buzzes of the clock later, he heard the click of boots on tile, heading towards his little corner of the waiting room. He turned again and saw a police officer walking towards him, a report book in hand.
"Sakura-san told me that you wanted to speak to me...Hideaki-kun?" the man said.
Hideaki turned to face him, folding his arms. "Yes sir," he said. "I wanted to tell you who it was that attacked us tonight. I want you to arrest him."
The officer raised an eyebrow and gestured. "There's a private room this way, I believe. Let's sit down, and you can tell me everything."
~ ~ ~
Nothing hurt, that was the weirdest thing.
It was weird because Tetsuya had this vague idea that if that muffling blanket wrapped around his brain actually lifted completely, everything would hurt. But it didn't. He didn't really feel much at all through the layers of cotton that seemed to be surrounding him.
His eyelids fluttered open and he glanced around with vague confusion at the grey-blue walls and a dizzying array of monitors and instruments arranged around his bed.
Then his eyes landed on the sole other occupant of the room and he couldn't help but smile.
Hideaki was sitting in a chair next to his bed, but he was sprawled forward, his arms crossed on the mattress and his head laid upon them. He was sound asleep, his glasses askew on his face, and his expression drawn with weariness.
One of his hands still gently clasped Tetsuya's.
Tetsuya opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it again, reluctant to wake him up. He vaguely remembered that something had happened, just flashes of a car's headlights where they shouldn't be, and a brief impression of flying through the air. Hideaki had obviously stayed with him through it, though, and had probably not slept. Sunlight was shining through the window, so it had to be the next day already.
He hoped just the next day, at least. For all he knew, a week had passed.
He needn't have stayed silent, however, because a moment later Hideaki shifted and looked up, his eyes blinking away the fog of exhaustion as he met Tetsuya's gaze. "You're awake," he whispered, his voice rough with sleep.
Tetsuya smiled. He was already feeling those layers of cotton thickening and had a feeling he'd fall asleep soon. There was definitely morphine in the IV running into his arm.
But he struggled to stay awake, needing to get some answers. For all he knew, by the time he woke up again Hideaki would have gone back to school. "What happened?" he asked.
Hideaki straightened, but his arm still lay on the mattress, his hand still holding Tetsuya's loosely. "It was Sato," he said. "The former student council president. He tried to run us down."
Tetsuya felt his own jaw drop. "He tried to run us down?" he exclaimed. "My god, Hide, are you okay?"
Hideaki closed his eyes for a moment, his shoulders shaking with laughter as he shook his head with disbelief. "You wake up in a hospital bed after four hours of surgery, and you ask me if I'm okay?" he asked incredulously, opening his eyes and spearing Tetsuya with his gaze.
"I'm fine. You saved me, Niwa, and sacrificed yourself. I always thought you were an idiot, but now you've proven it," he said. "You broke your leg, and had internal bleeding from the impact. They didn't even know whether you would survive. You're going to be in recovery for quite a while."
Tetsuya grinned tiredly. "You're welcome," he murmured, lifting his free hand to cover a yawn.
Hideaki actually looked angry for a moment, but his expression smoothed out. "Anyway, I gave my report to the police and I anticipate they'll arrest him as soon as they're finished their investigation. The car would show damage, and there were a few other witnesses. I can't believe he was stupid enough to try to kill us with his own car."
Tetsuya shrugged faintly. "I...guess maybe he just took an opportunity," he said, settling deeper into his pillows and letting his eyes slip closed. "I'll bet he got a lot of perks working for the company like that. Are you still sure you want to work with me?"
He could feel himself being pulled down, and everything was getting very dark and far away again. But he felt a cool touch to his forehead, and Hideaki murmured his reply. "Don't be stupid. I've never seen anyone fight so hard. I'll be with you for as long as you'll have me."
Tetsuya's lips curved in a smile, but he didn't quite manage to frame a reply before a combination of morphine and exhaustion pulled him back down into oblivion.