(no subject)
Title: Honor System
Characters: Hajime, Jack, Ryuuta, Saito, Suzuki (XI!Verse)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Freaking nosy empaths just can't leave well enough alone, sometimes.
Notes: Just needed to get this out; there's no way this wouldn't come up, in a group like this. But whoops, Saito came out as kind of a huge jerk, sorry cyclops-bro =(
"You have the worst secret base ever," Jack noted, knees pulled up under his chin.
Hajime winced, and sent a wary glance over to his teammates, doing stretches on the riverside hill. Each had fixed the redhead with a glare of relative disapproval, and Hajime briefly wondered if Jack was actively looking to get chewed out. "It's not secret," was all he commented.
The others, though, didn't know the supposed genius well enough to ignore him. "Our base is all we need!" Ryuuta insisted, balling a fist. "Anything more is excess!"
"I don't hear you denying it's lame," Jack noted with a sneer.
"It's great!" Ryuuta snapped.
Jack leaned back on his palms in the grass. "It's like, the lousy little shed on top of the real base to throw off people from thinking there's a proper base. Because it's so pathetic."
"That would actually be pretty cool," Suzuki commented over his shoulder, earning a look from his teammates.
Saito sighed, and continued stretching. "We don't need to justify it to an outsider." Jack's expression shifted slightly, and Hajime sent the one-eyed man a warning glare, not that the elder Ouendan seemed to notice it.
Suzuki tilted his head to one side as he stretched his quads. "I can see what you're getting at, though." The blond man sent a grin at Jack, the proverbial olive branch after Saito's cool attitude. "Not really Ouendan style, is all. We're not big on flashiness. A man's spirit says all he needs."
The boy genius rolled his eyes at that, but Ryuuta gave a firm nod. "That's right! It's hardly so much a base as a starting place. Ouendan don't need walls to serve as their only home!"
Suzuki nodded. "Besides, it's really more like a locker room."
That caught Jack's attention, the redhead sitting up straight. "What, like--wait, all of you together?" He broke out into a grin. "Even the girls?"
Hajime wobbled on one leg in a hamstring stretch, resisting the urge to slap his forehead. "They keep to a separate side, Jack."
"Not a very far side, look at that thing." He leaned forward, grin growing. "How often do you get to see?"
Hajime's face grew hot, and he was near positive Jack was pressing it simply to get that reaction. "We work on an honor system." Jack continued leering, and Hajime hastily added. "Besides, it's not worth it, with the bruises Ryuuta got when he looked."
"No, it was totally worth it," Ryuuta corrected, having gotten a faint grin of his own. Suzuki started laughing.
Jack waggled his eyebrows at Hajime, who just kept flushing harder. "W-well, I wouldn't..." He cleared his throat, and muttered to his friend, "I've had enough peeking where I shouldn't look in secret bases."
It was said quiet enough so only Jack could hear, but the change in mood was quick, and the other three Ouendan instantly picked up on it, eying the other two. Jack tried to shrug it off, leaning back on the grass again, and Hajime just set his jaw and returned to stretches.
There was an awkward silence, before Saito cleared his throat. "I don't mean to intrude on your private affairs, but..." He exchanged glances with the other two men. "The two of you are clearly very close. It is obvious the two of you have been through much together."
Jack let out a groan, pressing his palms to his temples. "Oh my god, how many times--We're not gay!" He sat up again, scowling. "I have a girlfriend, come on!"
Hajime coughed. Genji had been pestering them about such things a lot lately.
The one-eyed man's mouth drew tight. "That was not what I was going to ask about."
"Actually, I was wondering," Suzuki admitted.
"Same," Ryuuta added, raising his hand. Saito, unamused pressed on.
"Regardless. I have some difficulty comprehending the depth of your relationship." Saito sent Hajime a glance. "Take no offense when I note that you tend not to connect with others well, outside of very particular circumstances."
Hajime thought to argue, before grimly accepting that he didn't have much to rebut with. "Astute of you," he finally replied, not stopping his stretch regimen, though the others had all turned towards the pair of them. "I fail to see what you are getting at, though."
With a shrug, Ryuuta crossed his arms. "Listen, Haji, we're glad you got a friend to share whatever happened this time, but you promised you'd stop hiding problems from us. The both of you should quit bottling whatever it is up."
A long pause followed that, a faint feeling of terror coming over Hajime. Truthfully, he'd feared that this would happen eventually, but he'd held out some naive hope that the others would leave it be. Alas, while he'd learned prudishness from his family, it was the Ouendan that had taught Hajime to be so nosy.
He glanced over to Jack, who was looking between his friend and the Ouendan with an expression of mild panic. Well, that was no help. The boy pushed up his glasses. "I'm afraid that's simply not possible."
Suzuki's brow furrowed. "I thought you were past this kind of attitude. We're part of your team, and you need to trust us."
"I do," Hajime snapped. "But this is--"
"If you did," Ryuuta interrupted, "you wouldn't be hiding this from us! We're here for you, dammit, let us be!"
"Hey! Hold on!" Jack had jumped up, finally putting his voice into the argument. "He said to back off, so you should use all that honor you guys are always yakking about to honor that, okay?"
Saito scowled. "Don't presume you're more important to Tanaka simply due to your having been with him at the Institute, a team is--"
"I don't care." Jack set his jaw, and stepped up alongside Hajime. "I really don't, not about your team rules or honor or whatever. You don't get to act like you're the only ones in his life, okay?"
"That's not what we meant," Suzuki said hastily, elbowing Saito hard. "It's not."
Hajime put his hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing slightly. The boy genius looked over with a scowl, before sighing and glancing off. Hajime met Saito's eye, and then the gaze of the other two. "You say that I must trust you. And I do. So I ask you to trust me when I say that this is between the two of us." Another squeeze. "We should get going."
The others clearly wanted to argue further, but Ryuuta nodded. "We'll catch you later." He scratched at his reddish mop of hair. "Both of you, yeah?"
Jack only grunted in reply, and Hajime led him away. It wasn't until they were a considerable distance from the river that Jack muttered, "You really wanted to tell them, huh."
Hajime nodded. He didn't even need to think about it. "I would trust them with my life." He pushed up his glasses. "But I wouldn't trust him with theirs."
The taller boy said nothing, but his fire burned low. Hajime eyed him. "You're thinking about what Saito said." Jack grunted. "You know he's simply being stubborn. I advise you put it out of your mind; you know you are their equal." Jack grunted, and the young Ouendan rolled his eyes. "Do you need a hug, Jack."
"No." His fire said yes, though. Ah. He'd only asked in jest, and hadn't really been thinking to back it up, but...
Hajime gave a tired grin, and slung one arm over his friend's shoulder. That was halfway there, at least. When Jack looked over in protest, the shorter boy gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Whatever. Everyone figures we're gay anyway."
Jack punched him and slipped out under the arm. "I wonder about you, sometimes," he shot back, and Hajime just smirked. That was better than the silence, at least.
Characters: Hajime, Jack, Ryuuta, Saito, Suzuki (XI!Verse)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Freaking nosy empaths just can't leave well enough alone, sometimes.
Notes: Just needed to get this out; there's no way this wouldn't come up, in a group like this. But whoops, Saito came out as kind of a huge jerk, sorry cyclops-bro =(
"You have the worst secret base ever," Jack noted, knees pulled up under his chin.
Hajime winced, and sent a wary glance over to his teammates, doing stretches on the riverside hill. Each had fixed the redhead with a glare of relative disapproval, and Hajime briefly wondered if Jack was actively looking to get chewed out. "It's not secret," was all he commented.
The others, though, didn't know the supposed genius well enough to ignore him. "Our base is all we need!" Ryuuta insisted, balling a fist. "Anything more is excess!"
"I don't hear you denying it's lame," Jack noted with a sneer.
"It's great!" Ryuuta snapped.
Jack leaned back on his palms in the grass. "It's like, the lousy little shed on top of the real base to throw off people from thinking there's a proper base. Because it's so pathetic."
"That would actually be pretty cool," Suzuki commented over his shoulder, earning a look from his teammates.
Saito sighed, and continued stretching. "We don't need to justify it to an outsider." Jack's expression shifted slightly, and Hajime sent the one-eyed man a warning glare, not that the elder Ouendan seemed to notice it.
Suzuki tilted his head to one side as he stretched his quads. "I can see what you're getting at, though." The blond man sent a grin at Jack, the proverbial olive branch after Saito's cool attitude. "Not really Ouendan style, is all. We're not big on flashiness. A man's spirit says all he needs."
The boy genius rolled his eyes at that, but Ryuuta gave a firm nod. "That's right! It's hardly so much a base as a starting place. Ouendan don't need walls to serve as their only home!"
Suzuki nodded. "Besides, it's really more like a locker room."
That caught Jack's attention, the redhead sitting up straight. "What, like--wait, all of you together?" He broke out into a grin. "Even the girls?"
Hajime wobbled on one leg in a hamstring stretch, resisting the urge to slap his forehead. "They keep to a separate side, Jack."
"Not a very far side, look at that thing." He leaned forward, grin growing. "How often do you get to see?"
Hajime's face grew hot, and he was near positive Jack was pressing it simply to get that reaction. "We work on an honor system." Jack continued leering, and Hajime hastily added. "Besides, it's not worth it, with the bruises Ryuuta got when he looked."
"No, it was totally worth it," Ryuuta corrected, having gotten a faint grin of his own. Suzuki started laughing.
Jack waggled his eyebrows at Hajime, who just kept flushing harder. "W-well, I wouldn't..." He cleared his throat, and muttered to his friend, "I've had enough peeking where I shouldn't look in secret bases."
It was said quiet enough so only Jack could hear, but the change in mood was quick, and the other three Ouendan instantly picked up on it, eying the other two. Jack tried to shrug it off, leaning back on the grass again, and Hajime just set his jaw and returned to stretches.
There was an awkward silence, before Saito cleared his throat. "I don't mean to intrude on your private affairs, but..." He exchanged glances with the other two men. "The two of you are clearly very close. It is obvious the two of you have been through much together."
Jack let out a groan, pressing his palms to his temples. "Oh my god, how many times--We're not gay!" He sat up again, scowling. "I have a girlfriend, come on!"
Hajime coughed. Genji had been pestering them about such things a lot lately.
The one-eyed man's mouth drew tight. "That was not what I was going to ask about."
"Actually, I was wondering," Suzuki admitted.
"Same," Ryuuta added, raising his hand. Saito, unamused pressed on.
"Regardless. I have some difficulty comprehending the depth of your relationship." Saito sent Hajime a glance. "Take no offense when I note that you tend not to connect with others well, outside of very particular circumstances."
Hajime thought to argue, before grimly accepting that he didn't have much to rebut with. "Astute of you," he finally replied, not stopping his stretch regimen, though the others had all turned towards the pair of them. "I fail to see what you are getting at, though."
With a shrug, Ryuuta crossed his arms. "Listen, Haji, we're glad you got a friend to share whatever happened this time, but you promised you'd stop hiding problems from us. The both of you should quit bottling whatever it is up."
A long pause followed that, a faint feeling of terror coming over Hajime. Truthfully, he'd feared that this would happen eventually, but he'd held out some naive hope that the others would leave it be. Alas, while he'd learned prudishness from his family, it was the Ouendan that had taught Hajime to be so nosy.
He glanced over to Jack, who was looking between his friend and the Ouendan with an expression of mild panic. Well, that was no help. The boy pushed up his glasses. "I'm afraid that's simply not possible."
Suzuki's brow furrowed. "I thought you were past this kind of attitude. We're part of your team, and you need to trust us."
"I do," Hajime snapped. "But this is--"
"If you did," Ryuuta interrupted, "you wouldn't be hiding this from us! We're here for you, dammit, let us be!"
"Hey! Hold on!" Jack had jumped up, finally putting his voice into the argument. "He said to back off, so you should use all that honor you guys are always yakking about to honor that, okay?"
Saito scowled. "Don't presume you're more important to Tanaka simply due to your having been with him at the Institute, a team is--"
"I don't care." Jack set his jaw, and stepped up alongside Hajime. "I really don't, not about your team rules or honor or whatever. You don't get to act like you're the only ones in his life, okay?"
"That's not what we meant," Suzuki said hastily, elbowing Saito hard. "It's not."
Hajime put his hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing slightly. The boy genius looked over with a scowl, before sighing and glancing off. Hajime met Saito's eye, and then the gaze of the other two. "You say that I must trust you. And I do. So I ask you to trust me when I say that this is between the two of us." Another squeeze. "We should get going."
The others clearly wanted to argue further, but Ryuuta nodded. "We'll catch you later." He scratched at his reddish mop of hair. "Both of you, yeah?"
Jack only grunted in reply, and Hajime led him away. It wasn't until they were a considerable distance from the river that Jack muttered, "You really wanted to tell them, huh."
Hajime nodded. He didn't even need to think about it. "I would trust them with my life." He pushed up his glasses. "But I wouldn't trust him with theirs."
The taller boy said nothing, but his fire burned low. Hajime eyed him. "You're thinking about what Saito said." Jack grunted. "You know he's simply being stubborn. I advise you put it out of your mind; you know you are their equal." Jack grunted, and the young Ouendan rolled his eyes. "Do you need a hug, Jack."
"No." His fire said yes, though. Ah. He'd only asked in jest, and hadn't really been thinking to back it up, but...
Hajime gave a tired grin, and slung one arm over his friend's shoulder. That was halfway there, at least. When Jack looked over in protest, the shorter boy gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Whatever. Everyone figures we're gay anyway."
Jack punched him and slipped out under the arm. "I wonder about you, sometimes," he shot back, and Hajime just smirked. That was better than the silence, at least.