WtLB
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"Bold" English for dialog
"Normal" Japanese when used for dialog
"Italics" Flashback, Important Stuff, Locations, etc
Recap
Ryoma turned and squinted his eyes at the dark to look deeper into the alley.
Nothing.
Suddenly, something, or rather, someone, jumped out at him.
Ryoma saw the moonlight reflecting off a silver object before he was attacked.
When the Line Breaks
By Sweet Obsidian Rain
Chapter Eight: Wounds
"When the line breaks, everything becomes forbidden;
Just as it is forbidden to break the line."Second Alleyway, 1:50 A.M.
The whoosh of a knife cut through the air sharply; Ryoma could hear the object barely missing his ear. Luckily, the boy had jumped out of the way in time. However, that didn't mean he escaped without a scratch on him. On his right cheek was a small cut. It was bleeding, but it wasn't really severe.
Instead of worrying for the little sting on his face, Ryoma focused on dodging his attacker's advances. It was quite a challenge though. While his cat-like eyes had already adjusted to the dark, the alley was completely dark save for the little light the moon provided.
His attacker- although his face was masked, you could obviously tell that it was a male in his twenties- was very skilled. Perhaps on par with his level, but the boy would have to test the man first out first to be sure.
The man lunged forward and slashed at Ryoma's stomach before jumping back and landing lightly. The boy winced as he felt the tear of his skin and a familiar sting. His attacker continued to lash out- kicking, punching, and trying to cut the boy up into pieces with his knife- at Ryoma until the boy had enough of dodging his opponent's swipes and kicked out at the man's stomach when he saw an opening.
The attacker skidded back, clutching his stomach. Recovering almost instantly, he was about to finish the boy off when he found himself unable to move. "What the…?!"
Ryoma smirked and answered the man's silent question snarkily, "It's what you get for kicking at my bracelets filled with super glue inside them."
The dark haired boy had glued his opponent's feet to the solid cement.
It was a simple process, really. While dodging and blocking the man's attacks, he had noticed that his attacker had a habit of kicking at his chest and face.
So Ryoma had activated his super glue-filled bracelets when his opponent wasn't looking and brought his arms up to block the kicks aimed at the upper region of his body. Every time the man had hit his arms instead, the glue squirted out and got all over the bottom of the man's boots. Of course, it didn't take effect until after five seconds of keeping the object in the same place.
The attacker glared and struggled to get out of his boots. It wasn't very effective though, seeing as he had tied on his boots very tightly.
The boy's keen ears twitched at the sound of very quiet footsteps behind him. Suddenly, he felt someone deal a blow to the back of his neck, knocking the boy out cold before he could defend himself.
Fuji caught Ryoma as his roommate's body slumped and went limp. He stared at Ryoma's cut on his cheek for a few seconds before glancing at the man who was still struggling to escape. "That's enough, Niou. You can stop faking it; I know you can get out of that easily."
The man stopped with his fake struggle and removed his mask, revealing the grinning face of Niou Masaharu. "Aww... Syu-chan, you ruined my fun. I wanted to see his reaction when I suddenly jump out at him while he tries to remove my mask or something."
Fuji only gave Niou a smile that could scare the crap out of everyone. "Haru-chan, if you don't stop calling me that, then I promise you that you won't be having a decent breakfast for a month."
Although Niou was not 'everyone', he was intimidated enough to back off. He wasn't going to risk having wasabi and goodness knows what for breakfast for an entire month. Provided and probably made by Fuji in his sadistic tensai mode.
Slowly, he ejected the bottom layer of his boots off with a click of a button on his watch. Stepping forward, he bowed to Fuji and apologized, "I'm very sorry, Fuji-sama." He made a point to stress out the honorific he added to the end of the young leader's name.
Fuji could tell that Niou was just mocking him and that he wasn't exactly sorry. But he let it off and instead, gently settled Ryoma against the brick wall. Taking out a handkerchief from his pocket, he carefully wiped off the dripping blood on Ryoma's cheek and his stomach. Eyes opened, they were calculating as he stared at Ryoma's wounds.
He needed to get his roommate back to the school's territory so that the boy would be safe. However, the boy's wounds needed to be treated and he needed to think of an excuse in the morning when Ryoma woke up. If the boy had not been cut at all, then all Fuji had to do was place Ryoma back in bed, and let his roommate assume that it was all a dream. But the boy did get cut, and while Fuji was pretty sure he could think up of something to avoid being caught, he knew that he would have to stay with Ryoma in order to make him seem less suspicious.
Which wasn't a choice at the moment. He had to meet up with that man tonight, and if he didn't show, he would be in big trouble.
In the mist of weighing the consequences and debating on what to do, Fuji had nearly forgotten about the other presence in the alley aside from his and Ryoma's. "Clean his wounds and take him back. Bring him to that nurse. I'll try to hold things up with the boss."
Fuji turned to flash Niou a grateful look. “Thank you, Niou. I don’t know what I would do without you and the others…” Fuji’s still opened eyes held a painful and sad glint in them, but he closed them in an instant. It was open long enough for Niou to see though.
The man known as the Trickster in the Midoriyama Organization gave Fuji a small yet encouraging smile and waved off Fuji’s comment. “We all get our benefits. Go now. Otherwise the boss might come out to look for you, himself.”
Nodding, Fuji lifted Ryoma up in his arms and disappeared into the night. Thank you anyways…
Niou grinned to himself and shook his head. “The Night Phantom, indeed.”
Dormitory A: Room 411 3:15 A.M.
Fuji sighed quietly as he took out his own hidden first aid kit. Using the one that was provided by the school would be giving him away if Ryoma ever checked.
Opening up the box, the tensai took out a few cotton balls and the cleaning alcohol. Dowsing the cotton balls in the liquid, Fuji gingerly pressed them against Ryoma’s stomach wound. The older boy prayed for his roommate to stay unconscious as he started to clean the blood and disinfect the gash.
Throwing the used and bloody cotton balls into a plastic bag, Fuji took out the roll of bandage and was about to wrap up Ryoma’s wound when the boy stirred.
The honey haired boy froze and stared almost pleadingly at Ryoma, as if willing the boy to fall back asleep.
It worked.
The dark haired boy only attempted to turn his body to the side while mumbling something. “No… Don’t give Karupin canned food… damn maids…” He was about to fall off the bed, but luckily, Fuji was there and tuned the boy back to his former position.
Ryoma started to snore lightly and Fuji wrinkled his nose without realizing that he was smiling faintly.
Well, at least now he knew that his roommate was sound asleep. Now he could wrap the bandage around the boy without waking the sleepy teen up.
Sticking the blue band-aid on Ryoma’s cheek, Fuji stood up proudly, a sense of accomplishment filling him.
“Take him to that nurse.”
The bright smile turned into a frown and Fuji wondered if he should follow the trickster’s advice. No doubt Atobe would demand to know what happened. And the nurse probably wouldn’t believe even one word that Fuji said.
Sighing again, the tensai decided to leave the nurse alone. He could handle Ryoma in the morning when the smaller boy awoke.
After dressing Ryoma up in a pair of blue gym shorts and a T-shirt that he found in the boy’s closet, Fuji slipped his arms under Ryoma and picked him up to put the boy on the top bunk. Untangling himself from his roommate’s arms and legs, he made a move to pull the covers over the boy when Ryoma suddenly bit his hand.
Hissing in pain, Fuji swore under his breath. Damn, the brat had strong and sharp teeth… It was going to leave a mark in the morning.
Prying Ryoma’s jaws open, Fuji quickly retracted his hand and stared at the red teeth marks. “Hmmm… grilled fish…” Ryoma flopped over on his stomach and mumbled into his pillow.
Fuji looked at his hand and then looked up at Ryoma’s sleeping form. “I don’t even want to know…” Hurriedly, the tensai entered the bathroom to wash his hands (and change), should Ryoma suddenly jump up and try to eat him.
Returning, Fuji climbed tiredly into his bed, and fell asleep, not even bothering to even cover himself with the blankets.
He didn’t even notice when Karupin sniffed and pawed at the forgotten plastic bag filled with stained cotton balls.
Japan MO Headquarters
Niou’s hands turned clammy as he stared into cold amber eyes.
“…Where did you say he was?” The voice was calm. Too calm. The trickster swallowed and prepared for what was to come.
“His friends dragged him off to a party and he couldn’t come without bringing too much attention to himself.”
“…I see.” The man smiled and stood up. He walked across the room, every stride demanding fear.
Niou held up his head and tried not to show any emotions. He had promised Fuji that he would help him, and he was going to keep his word.
Slap.
His vision bleared before coming back into focus. He could feel his cheek stinging before going numb.
He felt something long and slick hit him behind his knees, making them collide hard into the floor. He flinched slightly, but kept on his poker face.
“Look at me!”
Slowly, he looked up, and was meant with the sight of the man holding up a stick above his head, ready to swing it down.
He closed his eyes and prepared for the blow.
Math, Room 241, 7:45 A.M.
Three certain individuals dragged themselves into the room, heavy bags under their eyes. The tallest one barely made it to his seat before collapsing altogether.
“Fshhhhuuuu…. Get up, you stupid peach butt.” Kaidoh nudged Momo with his foot, expecting the boy to jump up and take his bait.
Except he didn’t.
The boy just lied there, seeming lifeless. Of course, he wasn’t dead. Dead people don’t snore, and Momo was snoring very loudly.
Fuji and Ryoma, however, did make it into their seats. But the latter fell asleep as soon as his head hit the desk, creating a painful thud. What had people staring though, was the band-aid across the boy’s right cheek. The boy was moving quite stiffly this morning as well.
The former, being the ever-graceful tensai he was, still managed to maintain half of the poise he had left. He slowly sat down in his seat and smiled pleasantly at anyone that turned to look his way. The straying eyes either found their way back to staring at Ryoma or Momo, or at their owners’ hands.
Finally giving in, even Fuji Syusuke fell asleep.
The non-sleeping students in the room wondered how their timid Tatsuya-sensei was going to handle the three napping kittens this time.
This Morning… (6:30 A.M.)
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Groans.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Fuji slowly sat up, holding his head.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Blinking, the tensai slammed his alarm’s snooze button and went back to his peaceful slumber.
30 minutes later…
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Fuji cracked open an eye and looked at the time.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
7… 7:21…
7:21?! Fuji bolted out of bed and scurried into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. A few minutes later, he door opened again and a changed and readied Fuji backtracked to see Ryoma still snuggled up against his pillow.
Sweat-dropping slightly, Fuji went to wake his roommate up.
At first, he shook Ryoma gently; not wanting to reopen the boy’s wound. “Echizen-kun… wake up.” But the boy didn’t budge an inch. He shook a bit harder then. This time, Ryoma snuggled up against his pillow even more. “Echizen-kun…”
“Hnn…”
Ring. Ring. Ring
The alarm clock was still ringing. He reached out with his foot and tried to turn the alarm off. He failed though, and the clock ended up on the floor in pieces. At least he stopped ringing now.
He tried to make the boy sit up, but his attempt failed when Ryoma suddenly latched onto his arm and started rubbing his cheek against it. It was a good thing that it was his left cheek instead of his right. The little cut would hurt if it reopened. “Karu…pin…”
“Meorw?” The cat responded to his master’s call, cocking his head to the side in confusion.
Fuji looked at the cat and his eyes traced from Karupin’s tail to the plastic bag he was sitting on. Fuji cursed under his breath. He was so tired that he forgot to throw those out somewhere his roommate wouldn’t find.
He glanced at the clock. 7:28.
Huffing inwardly, Fuji shook Ryoma’s arm off and marched over to the bag, picked it up, and disappeared out the door. He came back two minutes later and flung the covers off his roommate. “Echizen-kun, I would wake up now if I were you.”
“Mhhhmmm…”
Fuji’s eyes narrowed. The tensai wasn’t in the mood to do anything big; he was too tired anyway. Reaching over Ryoma’s body, he pinched the boy’s nose and mouth shut to keep him from breathing.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Ryoma started struggling for his much needed oxygen. Fuji quickly let go and literally pulled the boy off the top bunk, almost dropping him.
“Go. Get ready. Now.”
Ryoma, still half-asleep turned to snuggle up against something, but was held back by strong arms. “Echizen-kun. I mean it.”
Feeling a heated glare on him, Ryoma snapped awake and backed away from Fuji. Not wanting to get into any more trouble with his senpai, the boy hurried into the bathroom.
Suddenly, Fuji realized that he was going to have to explain to Ryoma how he got the wounds or what happened, depending on what the boy remembered.
“AHHH! FUJI-SENPAI!” the exclamation was followed by very detailed and pissed off words.
The tensai of Seishun Academy found himself getting something he hadn’t had for a long time.
A headache.
“FUJI-SENPAI! GET IN HERE NOW!”
Twitch. “Saa… are you sure, Echizen-kun?”
T.B.C.
First Unrevised Version 9.28.07
First Revised Version 9.20.07
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