(Teikoku Academy, many, many years ago)

"Where on earth is Fudou?"

The boys in the changing room barely batted an eye when Kidou walked in, obviously irritated, clearly looking like he'd been searching the whole school for the brunette.

This was becoming a bit of a trend now.

"Who knows? Maybe he's finally made good on his promise to abandon us for being 'annoying'." Narakumi muttered over the just-audible music coming from his headphones.
"Hah, that wouldn't be such a loss, he may think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread but I for one could do without his attitude for once." Chided Henmi with crossed arms. "He acts like he runs the show."

The captain pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on.
"And where have YOU TWO been?" He asked without missing a beat as Genda and Sakuma hurried in behind him.
"Uh sorry Kidou!" The forward remarked. "We uh were just-"
"-I forgot my kit at home this morning so I had to go and get it. Jirou offered to go with me." The brunette answered, Sakuma nodding furiously.
Kidou shook his head in disbelief. "That's so unlike you Genda. You're usually so organised."
"Sorry, it won't happen again."

Kidou just sighed, waving it off "Fine" he muttered. "Ugh, well join the practice when you get dressed. I'm going to find Fudou."
The two boys nodded and headed over to their usual changing spots as the team filtered out of the room. Sakuma let out a small sigh before undoing his blazer and pulling his shirt over his head. "Nice save there Koujirou." He said with a smirk. The brunette smiled, pulling the other towards him and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "Well...that is my job."

"Naughty naughty."
Shinobu looked up with a start, scowling at the brunette who was perched on the window ledge. "Do you always sneak up on people like that? It's creepy as hell."
Fudou smirked. "Only the ones that are up to no good- and you young lady, are up to no good."
There was no point trying to deny it, the girl thought, looking up at his smirking face she brought the cigarette back to her pink lips once again. "You gonna tell on me or something?" She mumbled through the cigarette, cerulean eyes sharp.

The brunette rolled his eyes before effortlessly jumping down from the ledge. "That's not my style." He held his hand out to the girl, beckoning to her. "I ain't gonna tell, but I also don't want one of my best friends suspended either."

"Shouldn't you be at practice or something?" The pink-haired girl asked, flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette.
"Nah, they can wait for me." Fudou remarked.
"Kidou's gonna get mad at you again."
Fudou just gave his signature smirk. "Well, annoying Kidou is a hobby of mine." His voice suddenly dropped low. "But this..." he walked forwards and took the cigarette off of the girl. "This ain't you."

"Let me guess, you're gonna go on and on about how it's bad to smoke, yadda, yadda, yadda?" The girl replied sarcastically, a scowl on her features. She'd already heard it from her other friends. Fudou stuffed his hands in his pockets, a nonchalant expression on his face.
"I could, but that probably wouldn't get through to you." He stubbed the cigarette out on the wall behind the girl, taking a moment to lightly brush the small sliver of ash that landed on her blazer when he did so.

"Apart from the obvious health risks. Smoking effects other things too." He pointed to her hands. "Your fingernails will go yellow, and you'll get tobacco staining on your fingertips too." She crinkled her nose at him as he pointed to her face. "It makes your skin all uneven-looking, and it damages your collagen so you'll get wrinkles earlier too. Not to mention your teeth will be stained too." He smirked a little before continuing, coyly. "Oh yeah and not to mention everyone will always be able to smell it on you. No amount of chewing gum will be able to help you there. And that's gonna seriously mess up your chances with the boy you've been staring goo-goo eyes at for the past month; nobody wants to kiss an ashtray."

The girl blushed red, hitting the boy lightly on the arm. "Okay okay! I hear ya'!" She puffed out her cheeks before sighing deeply, furrowing her eyebrows at him. "You're no fun."
The brunette just crossed his arms. "I can be fun when I want." He smirked, holding out his hand expectantly. "Now, give them to me, you're going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble if someone catches you with these you know."
She rolled her eyes before he continued. "They'd surely call your father in, and you wouldn't want that now, would you?"

The boy laughed to himself as he watched the girl's facade quickly melt away. He knew what all of his friends' weak spots were by now: Kidou and Shinobu had their distinguished fathers, Genda's was his older sister, Narakumi's kryptonite was anything happening to his precious music collection and Sakuma...his was anyone finding out about his and Koujirou's relationship, especially Kidou Yuuto.

The cigarette packet, along with the stubbed-out one, were quickly placed into his awaiting hand. "Smart choice!" The brunette remarked as Shinobu grumbled and picked her bag up off the floor. "Whatever." She mumbled "I'm going home now, enjoy practice."
"I'll try not to."
Shinobu just chuckled to herself before lazily waving goodbye, ruffling his hair as she walked past him. "You looked cooler with the Mohawk y'know?"

Fudou brought a hand through his hair once the girl had disappeared from sight and sighed. He'd been lucky, his hair always grew back insanely fast; part of the reason he decided at fourteen to give up on the Mohawk look- the other part being that Fudou himself stopped seeing it as cool. He smiled to himself, it had seemed a cool idea when he was twelve, he followed a tutorial online. When his mum came home from work she screamed at him for hours, just screamed and screamed and screamed... His smile fell.

"There you are!" Fudou jumped at the sudden voice, whipping around to see his frenemy sporting a very pissed-off expression. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?!" He exclaimed, not giving Fudou a chance to explain himself.
"I practically searched the whole school twi-" he stopped, seeing the cigarette pack (the lit cigarette having been safely discarded moments prior), sat in the boy's palm. Kidou let out a shocked gasp. "So you were planning to smoke then? And on school property too! Dammit Fudou are you trying to get suspended?!" He exclaimed incredulously.
"Relax, it's not mine." Fudou responded cooly.
Kidou folded his arms. "Really? That's the oldest trick in the book. Honestly I'm offended you'd prefer to lie to me than to just own up to what you did."
The brunette smirked. "Me? Lie? Never."
"Really? Okay then what about last Thursday when you said you were too ill to come to the match but you were actually at your little band practice?"

Actually Fudou had been feeling a bit under the weather that day, certainly not well enough to play an entire match. And it wasn't his fault that Tsunami had called him over in a panic to help with the lyrics of a song they were supposed to have ready by Sunday. 'That reminds me, should probably tell the other guys about that soon.'

Fudou just shrugged his shoulders "What does it matter, you won didn't you?"
"We could've won a lot easier if you had been there."
"Awww I never knew you thought so highly of me Kidou-san!" The brunette smirked and placed an arm across his friend's shoulder- Kidou immediately pushed it off.
"Don't flatter yourself." 

The pair's sparring suddenly stopped, a stale air forming between the two as Kidou continued to glare at his friend.
"It's truly strange, you disappear for two years then come back, and it's like nothing's changed with you. You're exactly the same as ever." He murmured, gaze still fixed on the other behind those dark lenses he wore.
That wasn't true. Not completely. There was plenty that had changed between the two- Kidou just didn't want to acknowledge it.

Plenty of feelings that were different now. Strange, unwanted, scary. Both of the boys had noticed it, but neither said a word; simply picked up where they had left off- playing a childish game of cat and mouse.

"Well, I'm sure you're aware that as a member of the Student Council I have a duty to report all violations?" Kidou stated nonchalantly.
Fudou scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "So you'd snitch on your friend? Even though I told you it wasn't mine?"
Kidou shook his head. "Fudou come on, you already-"
The brunette put his hand up, stopping him. He let put a pained laugh. "Forget it. I knew you wouldn't believe me." He looked up, a dark glaze over his eyes. "You never have."

For a moment Kidou almost faltered, before letting out a heavy sigh. "It's not my fault you have a bad-boy reputation. I would've thought that when you came back you would've had the sense to start afresh."
"Oh?" He heard the other boy reply, and when he looked up suddenly the boy was right in front of him, uncomfortably close. So close that he could see the tint of his glasses reflected in Fudou's blue-grey eyes.
"You think I'm a bad-boy do you?"

He suddenly became hyper aware of the beating of his own heart. It had quickened in pace. The air around him suddenly felt hot despite the brisk autumn weather; the tips of his ears and the top of his cheeks suddenly feeling warm. Fudou smirked at him, taking a hand and gently taking hold of the other boy's lapel. "Do you think I'm a bad-boy, Yuuto?" He whispered.

Kidou's gaze was drawn to his friend's lips, as those strange, unwanted, scary feelings flooded into the forefront of his mind. Everything within him was screaming for him not to lose his cool, to not become putty in that boy's hands. He could not show weakness, could not bow to someone like Fudou Akio, no matter how much his heart wanted to. He would not let the brunette win.
He pushed the other away, ignoring the small look of shocked delight it elicited.
"So? You got an answer then?" Fudou asked, a Cheshire-cat grin on his face.

Kidou straightened up, smoothing down his blazer and fixing his eyes on his friend. He opened his mouth, speaking the words he knew would wipe that smug grin off his face. The words that would put him back on top again.
"Fudou...I am so incredibly disappointed in you."

(Monday, 5pm)
(Kidou)
'Take a deep breath, all you've got to do is walk inside. You two already apologised on the phone, so everything should just go back to normal now. It has to.'
"Fudou?"
It wasn't as strong as I'd feared, but the smell still hit me as soon as I opened the door. I walked into the kitchen, opening the back door before realising he'd obviously been smoking out there. 'Well at least he kept his promise to not smoke inside.'
"Kidou?" I turned around at the mention of my name, the sight broke my heart.

He looked so disheveled and worn out, his hair was messy and he was still in his pyjamas despite how late it was. There was a stubbed out cigarette in his hand, a small wisp of smoke steadily streaming off it. He followed my eye-line before flicking it into an ashtray by the door. "Sorry, didn't hear you come in."

I wanted to say something, but I just felt so awkward about it all. "Well, um, Akio I-er..." I was hardly ever lost for words, it all just sounded so stunted, robotic. Fudou just looked at me sadly before stepping into the kitchen and trapping me in a hug, I tensed up at the contact, not being able to shake the smell. He seemed to notice and let go of me, staring at the floor gloomily. "You don't have to say anything, and I don't want you apologising either. I was being an idiot, you had every right to get angry with me." He was right of course, but it still didn't sit well with me. It was awkward, neither of us knew what to say.

"I shouldn't have left." I said simply, holding out my hand when he tried to rebuke my claim. "Let's just move on from it, shall we?" I offered, not wanting to dwell any longer. He nodded slowly and moved past me, switching the kettle on and waiting impatiently for the water to boil. I watched him silently.
"You're probably tired from work right? Here." He stated flatly handing me a mug of hot tea. "There's no milk. We ran out a few days ago." He continued as I stared into the reddish-brown liquid.

He sighed. "I meant to get milk but I forgot, got sidetracked...couldn't be bothered to go out again." I nodded, seeing a fresh carton of cigarettes on the counter- 'sidetracked huh?'
I didn't say anything though, we both knew he was lying.

"You don't have to drink it, I was just trying to get rid of the awkwardness, I know it's crap." I found my voice again "No no, it's fine. I like black tea so..." I took a sip, immediately realising something was wrong- it was clearly not the darjeeling and bergamot I usually buy. "Um, what is this?" I asked as innocently as I could, trying to smile but my face made it obvious that I wasn't enjoying it.
"Uh dunno, I guess I just picked up the first one I saw."
"It's...different..."
I spluttered and heard Fudou chuckle, that made me smile-it was nice to hear him laugh again.

After a while the laughing died down and we were once again plunged into silence-but this time it wasn't awkward, it was just kind of nice. I held onto his hand, rubbing it softly- I was okay with this kind of contact, in fact I had missed it. "I want you to know that I do care about you Akio." I whispered softly, his skin was rough, calloused- the mark of a hard-worker. "In fact, I would say that I love you."
It had felt like so long since I'd said that.

I'm fact, it had felt so long since I'd said the wretched 'L-word'...and actually meant it.
I turned his hand over absentmindedly within my own, tracing the patterns of his palm. I'd had a nanny once who taught me how to read palms, but I've all but forgotten how to now. I wonder what conclusions she would draw from myself and Akio's destinies? Would she be able to tell of the passion, the pain, the endless uphill battle that was our relationship?
"Yuuto?"
"I'm trying to protect you, because I don't want to see you hurt." I stated, looking up at him, and for once he didn't sneer back with an 'I don't need protecting'- he simply nodded solemnly.

I rested my head in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent which, despite the layers of smoke that clung to his body, was still there, reminding me of the better times we'd had. He smelt like youth and freedom, all the things I'd desperately craved but could never enjoy the privilege of myself. And when he wrapped his arms around me, those rough hands clinging tightly, desperately to my clothing, I didn't pull away once.

"So uh...you said you have some news Ki?" My boyfriend stated and I gave a small smile. "Oh that. Our best friends are engaged."
He gave me one of his signature smirks, and by God I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. "Well...it's about fucking time."

(Tuesday, 9.40am)

(Sakuma)
"You seem down, what's wrong?" Chaya asked as she walked beside me, rubbing her belly like she's been doing a lot lately. I'll be honest, I don't really know why Chaya was so insistent that I come with her today, though she probably wanted to just get to know me a bit better. I've been quite close with his family for a while now, but I was least familiar with Chaya; I don't know why but I always found her a little intimidating. In reality she's actually a very sweet and kind woman.
I just sighed "To be honest, I don't know...I guess I'm just nervous is all. I mean, I never thought this would ever happen to me." It's less than a week away now and I'm absolutely petrified.

She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave me a warm smile "There's nothing to be worried about Chook, if you knew for how long Kou had his eye on you, you wouldn't believe it! He's absolutely adored you for so long now and I'm so thrilled that you two are finally going to get together. And not to mention, you'll be getting a new big sister!" She nudged me and I let out a small laugh.

She sighed wistfully "You know, I'd always known that Kou wasn't straight, it's not as though it was obvious or anything, but I think we all knew. And when he found out you were going to be at Teikoku he was so unbelievably happy, he said it was like a miracle that he'd found you again. He wouldn't stop talking about you!"
'Unbelievably happy?'
Somehow that description didn't quite fit him, it wasn't as though he was never happy but he just always seemed rather content around me those first few years-nothing more, nothing less. I never realised I had such an impact on him- to be honest when he told me he liked me I thought he was kidding; I'd always thought I was the one with the big crush and no chance...
I've never been happier to be wrong.
"It was clear he liked you, told me he thought you were cute you know?" She chuckled to herself "He used to tell me all kinds of things about you!"

My face started to go red, he talked about me that much? He thought I was 'cute'? I wonder what else he'd said about me?
"I'd always hoped it'd be you. Even without knowing what you were going through, I knew you were vulnerable, you needed someone to protect you-and that's Koujirou to a T really."
I lowered my head slightly and she instantly frowned, waving her hands frantically. "Uh! Sakuma I wasn't trying to imply that you are like weak or anything I-"
"No you don't have to apologise, I know you meant nothing by it." I replied sadly, knowing she hadn't meant to offend me...it didn't make the truth any easier to swallow though. "It's just a sore issue for me...I don't really like talking about it, or thinking about it for that matter..." I sighed and walked a little further down the aisle.

"Isn't it a bit early to be out baby shopping?" I asked, changing the subject quickly. Chaya shook her head defiantly, coming up behind me. "Have to make sure everything's perfect for when little one's born." She replied stubbornly but I just laughed "I feel kinda stupid really, I mean here's me worrying about getting married, you're having a baby!"
She smiled before picking up a box of nappies "I guess it's not really kicked in yet, it's really strange. That's why I want to get all of this stuff out of the way first so I don't have to worry about it when it's starts to get crazy! Besides today's one of the few days I've not spent the entire morning throwing up- so I gotta take advantage of that free time!"

I cringed a little at the thought and she laughed heartily "Yep. Being pregnant kinda sucks! It's really not like how they show it in the movies." She nudged me and grinned. "Though I'll spare you all the grisly details."
I think I'd definitely dodged a bullet there.
She picked up a few more things before we headed over to the infant clothing section, I have to admit, all the little shoes and clothes were pretty adorable.

"So are you going to go neutral colours then, since you don't know the gender yet?"
Chaya shook her head firmly "I wanna go for a variety, since I'm a firm believer that my kids shouldn't be constrained to any gender stereotypes, I just think the 'pink for girls, blue for boys' thing is silly, colours are colours. And it's not like the baby's going to know the difference." I nodded my head, expecting that kind of response, Koujirou's family was always very forward-thinking; a stark contrast to mine...

I saw a tiny onesie with a lion on it and handed it to her "What about this?" I asked, no idea what I was supposed to be looking for. She grinned and put it in her trolley, continuing her search.
The novelty of all the tiny clothes soon wore off however so I decided just take a little stroll around; surely Chaya didn't need me for all this? I walked out of the aisle before almost immediately being run over. "Jesus Christ!" I yelled and stepped back, staring incredulously at the person who almost mowed me down.

"Suzuno?"
He stared back at me with his icy grey-blue eyes as my own veered down to the contents of his trolley- all baby stuff. "Ah, didn't see you there." He muttered nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just been careening down the corner like he was on an episode of supermarket sweep.
I was so confused.

"Fancy seeing you here?" I asked. I mean, this was a mother and baby store. Though I probably shouldn't just jump to conclusions; I don't really know what kind of circles he runs in, I suppose one of his Sun Garden friends could be having a kid? What about Reina? No wait, she's already got children.
"I could say the same to you." Came his reply, defensive and icily, as if he was offended or something.

I pursed my lips, feeling pretty uncomfortable now. It was clear he was agitated in some way- he was pulling a hand through his hair like crazy.
"Uh...well Koujirou's older sister is having a baby so-" I tried to explain before, thankfully, she appeared right behind me. "Sakuma what do you think about- Oh hello there." She walked over to us, her trolley now completely full of clothes and toys. "You two friends?" She asked, looking between the two of us.
I looked over at him, not really sure of the answer to be honest. "Uh yeah?"
"Well, more like a friend of a friend." Suzuno corrected politely as I just gave him a kind of wtf look.

Chaya grinned. "Well isn't that nice! Okay I'll just go and pay for this lot and let the two of you catch up then!"
"It's fine really, we're not that close-" Suzuno began but she was already gone, geez for a pregnant lady she moves fast! I turned to him. "Not that close huh?"
He just shrugged his shoulders. "Did I lie? I mean I do have a lot of friends."
I smirked, crossing my arms. "Riiiight." 'That's something an insecure person would say.'

He said something I didn't quite catch before messing with his hair again, looking around nervously like he was being watched or something. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Um, you okay?"
He frowned and shook his head, looking genuinely concerned for a moment before the look faded, being replaced by a deep sigh. "Well...I wasn't planning on telling anyone, but I suppose you might as well know before you start bothering me with a bunch of questions..."
I chuckled a little "Hey, we're not that close remember?" He just rolled his eyes and carried on. "Well for the purposes of this, let's just say we're best friends okay?"

I nodded, my curiosity piquing. He took a deep breath before speaking, seeming uncharacteristically anxious. "You might've heard that Haruya and I have just adopted a child." Actually, I hadn't heard that, though I have been a little out of sorts lately so- I nodded wanting him to continue.
"The thing is...well I also want a...baby..." He looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"So what's the problem then?-"
"-The problem is that I'm sort of...'preparing' behind his back." He replied in a rushed manner, my eyes widened. "Wha-ohhhhhhhhh."
"Yeah I know! I don't really know what happened but, yeah..." We both stood in awkward silence for a while until he decided to speak up again.

"I've been hiding the stuff in the loft. But I suppose he's bound to find it eventually."
"Oh..." I'll admit. I didn't quite know how to react to his little revelation. Suzuno sighed and folded his arms "Yeah so, my disastrous life aside, what's going on with you? God please tell me you lost your favourite socks or something?" He asked, and I had half a mind to tell him about the truly awful time I'd had just a little while ago, but I thought better of it. I'm trying to be more positive lately, sucks to be him.

I simply held out my hand to him.
"Is that?"
"Yep."
He smiled, inspecting my engagement ring carefully. "When?"
I was interrupted by my phone ringing in my pocket.

"Sakuma are you done yet? I'm hungry! Oh you know what, I really could murder some gherkins right now...."
"Chaya, you don't even like-never mind. Okay I'm coming." I said goodbye to Suzuno and was about to walk off when he grabbed my hand, a panicked expression on his face. "You promise you won't tell anyone about, right?"
I just smiled. "I won't. Even if we aren't that close." I replied snarkily and he huffed "You're never gonna let me live that one down are you?"
"Nope."

((Wooo, finally got around to updating this chapter since I used to always just skip over it since I didn't like it that much. I also went ahead and added a whole-ass backstory in the beginning because you know I can't resist that shit 🤪. Also also, shout out to CityOfFragments for reminding me about the oft-forgotten Fudou-is-in-a-band AU- it's a headcannon/au that I've always loved and I HAD to mention it here at least once!!

Anyway thanks for being patient with me whilst I re-do so many chapters haha 😅))