Surprises

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- ᴋɪʏᴏᴍɪᴢᴜ ʜɪɢʜ -
Your average high school. It's a fine educational institution.
Here you'll find all manner of students, but you should focus on two in particular.
They're not very alike, but life's going to do them a favor and slap them together
because what would life be without some sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇs?


..1x1 between growl and toast..
 
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(as per your request)

Aito dutifully scribbled down the teacher's notes in his math work book. He looked around the class room and saw that he was the only one doing so. He was kind of annoyed. Just because it wasn't going to be on the test, didn't mean that it wasn't important. 'What if it's on the next test?' He thought. He was filled with slight satisfaction at the thought of being the only one to pass.

The person to his right, was hunched over, and grumpy. No change there. Aito looked at the other boy's note book, and saw nothing but smudges and crumpled paper. Maybe he just didn't understand the assignment. He felt bad for the poor guy. He reached across the isle and tapped the grumpy Gus on the arm. "If you need help, I don't mind." He smiled. "Here, you can even barrow my notes."
 
xxxxKawasaki Hisoka was having an awful day. First, he had woken up late and had missed the train. His mom had to call her work to tell them she would be late due to her son's "irresponsibility and incompetence." He got an earful the whole way to school. And school itself had slowly drained his spirit until he felt like one of the condiment bottles at the Otani diner. The History teacher had started his day off with a lecture, and the English teacher had assigned him an extra worksheet for not looking interested enough. Seriously, who gets onto someone else for not looking interested in adverb conjugations? He hoped he could get a break in Math, but come on, it's Math. His soul all but left his body when the math teacher, Mr. Odashima, launched into oh so wonderful world of the workbook as soon as the bell rang.

xxxxIf only he hadn't stayed up so late last night reading. One thing to know about Hisoka: he's not stupid. Studying just isn't his forte. He'd much rather do things that are more worth his time. He has pretty high marks in Japanese and History, but not in English, Chemistry, or Math. It's only the second day of school, and he already has to worry about a quiz and a test at the end of the week. He slumped down in his seat, staring sullenly at the smudged doodles he had spent much of the class working on. From the looks of it, most of the other students in the classroom had Hisoka's mindset, apart the guy on his left. He considered the pros and cons of taking a nap. It wouldn't be that hard since he was seated in the back of the classroom, but he doubted the bell would wake him up.

xxxxHisoka startled in his chair when he felt someone tap his arm. His eyes landed on a brown-haired boy who was smiling brightly at him. "If you need help, I don't mind," the other boy said. "Here, you can even borrow my notes!" Had this guy had a hit of some teacher's coffee?
xxxx"I don't need help," Hisoka's bad mood snapped back. He still took the proffered notes, looking them over. Ughh, he was too tired to take in any formulas. Hisoka tossed the papers back onto the guy's desk. "No thanks," he muttered, resting his head on one hand.
 
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He was just glad that the guy had looked at it. He neatly put his notes away into his bag, and listened to his teacher talk. "Well, if you change your mind." Aito smiled at him, always wanting to help.

The class was over soon enough, much to the relief of everyone in it. Aito went off to go find his friends, in his next class room. He sat by the window and waved them over. "Are you two ready for the history test today?" He asked, already pulling out what he needed to study.

They both shook their heads. No one was ever ready, except for Aito. But he was a gracious person, and always did what he could to help. He kept extra notes for all his classes, an extra pair of shoes, and gym clothes in his locker. Extra pens, pencils, notebooks. He was a one man school supply shop that gave everything away for free.

He was half surprised to see the boy from math class was also in his history class. He smiled when he caught his eye and waved. "Come sit over here with us!" He called across the room, causing the other students to look at him strangely.

"What the hell are you doing Aito?! That's Kawasaki Hisoka!" His friend, Rin hissed at him. "That guy'll kick your ass if you even look at him funny!"

Aito was surprised. "No way! He's really nice, he's in my math class." He raised his hand and waved it back and forth. "Kawasaki! Over here, come sit with us!"
 
xxxxHe ignored the guy for the rest of the class.

xxxxThen the bell rang, and Hisoka dragged himself to History. Mrs. Chihara gave him a stern look as he walked by, like he was some kind of delinquent. He had a 94 average in her class! Just because I hang out with the delinquents, that doesn't make me one, although Hisoka has had that thought before and he should know better by now. He sat down near the front of the classroom to give himself motivation to stay awake during the period. As he got up to sharpen his pencil, he glanced towards the back of the room. His blue eyes met yellow ones. It was that weirdly nice guy from math. Huh. His hair must've covered up his eyes because Hisoka should have noticed their strange color. He tore his gaze away and stopped in front of the pencil sharpener. Even the electronic whir of his pencil being eaten could not drown out the other boy's invitation to sit with him and his friends.

xxxxHisoka forced himself to not react. He could feel the other students get a little quiet and look at the other boy, and he knew they all thought he was crazy. Hisoka agreed with them. Who the hell does that? Just pick friends like they're flowers? Then the chatter started up again, and he kept his pencil shoved into the sharpener even though nearly half of it was gone because he didn't want to hear the inevitable hisses and whispers. It wouldn't be anything new, but nobody likes it when people talk about them. Why was gossip never original?

xxxxFinally, Hisoka withdrew his poor pencil and sat back down. Hopefully that kid had learned from someone else that he would beat him up if he messed with him or steal everything he had and burn it or whatever other BS the gossips were whispering nowadays. Hisoka was always a little surprised whenever they came up with something new. It wasn't like he walked around punching people for fun… okay, that was one time. And the guy had pissed him off! Arson may not be a big deal for his friends, but it was for him. He was just easily irritated, that was all. And moody. And sleep-deprived. Moody because he was sleep-deprived.

xxxxHisoka slumped down in his chair, pushing a hand anxiously into his reddish brown bangs. Mrs. Chihara was still cleaning up from her last class which just left Hisoka with more time to worry about the upcoming test. He had listened in class, of course, but he hadn't exactly studied and -- oh god there it was again.

xxxx"Kawasaki! Over here, come sit with us!" that voice beckoned once more. Hisoka froze. He looked over his shoulder slowly. That kid was waving like an idiot while the guy sitting next to him was rubbing his temples like his friend was stressing him out majorly. His friend was stressing Hisoka out. Why was he so persistent? He was probably some pity worker and wanted to help out a delinquent to earn points with the teachers or some stupid shit like that. The thought made Hisoka mad. He wasn't a charity case! The boy tched and turned back around, not bothering with a "no thank you."
 
There were three things that made Aito flustered. One, tests he scored lower then an 85% on. Two, when people were mean for no reason. Three, being ignored. He grit his teeth when he saw that Hisoka had flat out turned his nose up at the invitation. But he didn't get angry, no, Fukui, Aito never got angry. Instead he took in a deep breath, in and then out, gathered up his things, and walked over to the desk next to Hisoka's.

There was already a person sitting there though. He tapped on the boy's shoulder and smiled nicely at him. "Excuse me? May I please sit there, just for today?" He asked, his hands clasped together, like he was begging. The other boy shrugged and moved, going to sit with a few of his friends in the back. Aito flopped down into the now empty seat and smiled at Hisoka, like he was extremely proud of himself.

He leaned over, closer to him. "It's alright, if you're embarrassed, I'll just sit here with you." He reached into his bag and pulled out a spare set of notes. He made sure that all of his pencils were in a neat little row at the top of his desk and that there wasn't any dust anywhere to be seen. When he thought that everything was perfect, he smiled and folded his hands in front of him. "So, are you ready for the test?" Aito asked politely, turning his head slightly.

He looked over at his friends who were staring at him with wide, horrified eyes from the safety of their seats on the other side of the room. They were worried that Hisoka would lay Aito out right there, with one punch, right in front of the teacher. Rin was shaking his head back and forth rapidly, trying to convince his friend to come back to them. But Aito thought they were just being weird, so he fixed them with his 'no nonsense' look of disapproval, and pointed to their teacher.

"Those are my friends from chess club, they're a bit weird, but trust me they're really fun to be around." He turned back to his reluctant table partner. "I'm sure you'd like them too if you got to know them better,"
 
xxxxHisoka was a little frantic now. The thought of the one-man pity party waiting for the next opportunity to strike nagged at him, but he was more concerned about the test. You can say a lot of things about Hisoka Kawasaki, but he doesn't actually want to disappoint his parents. If he fails this test, then that's one more subject mom and dad won't be able to brag to their friends about when they talk about their son.

xxxxThe boy cursed himself for not taking notes when he had the chance. He raised the top of his desk and pulled out the textbook, resigned to skimming the entirety of the chapter they were on if it would only allow him to retain bits of random information that might be on the test. He imagined he was a dry sponge soaking up all the words from the textbook. Lame, yes, but it would be worth it if it helped. Hisoka was hunched over his textbook, arms caged around it to portect his only source of study material, when-- "It's alright, if you're embarrassed, I'll just sit here with you."

xxxx"Gah!" Hisoka jumped. He was startled by the sudden appearance of aforementioned one-man pity party, but he could also feel his face heating up. There was something... unsettling about the way the other boy's breath had ghosted over Hisoka's ear. Returning to his senses, he tried to change his expression to one of murderous intent. It appeared that if he wouldn't attend the pity party, then the pity party would come to him. His eyes flitted to the boy's desk. It was so tidy that there may as well have been sparkles drawn around it, sound effects and all. There may as well have been sparkles drawn around the boy too, though with that smile of his, he wouldn't need them.

xxxx"So, are you ready for the test?" the boy asked. Hisoka was still observing the boy's meticulously perfect pencil placement. And his notes. Good god, those notes were beautiful in all of their color-coded, bullet-pointed glory. He might be able to pass if he had those to study instead of having to resort to huddling over the textbook. Maybe he could strike a deal with the boy? Lend me your notes, and I'll act all grateful so you get creds with Mrs. Chihara? Wanna have a symbiotic relationship for today?

xxxx"Not really..." Hisoka answered, still sounding sulky. He looked up at the boy and found that he wasn't looking back at him, but at a group of people who he assumed was the boy's friends. One of them, the one who'd been rubbing his temples, was shaking his head vigorously.

xxxx"Those are my friends from chess club. They're a bit weird, but trust me, they're fun to be around. I'm sure you'd like them too if you got to know them better." Huh. Hisoka doubted that, but it wasn't like he'd be talking to them anytime soon. Unless this was some kind of subtle invitation for Hisoka to join the chess club, to which he replied,

xxxx"Uh, chess club doesn't really sound like my kind of crowd."
 
"Well, I know you've never been to the club house, so you don't know. Maybe you'd love it." He shrugged, he thought people should be trying new things. He turned back around and gave a little wave to his traumatized friends.

"I think they think you're going to murder me or something." He said with a little chuckle. "They always over exaggerate." He looked at his desk buddy with a sly smile, and pulled his notes out. He ran his slim pointer finger running along the spine of the notebook. "You know...all you have to do is ask, and then no one will ever have to know."

Aito wasn't going to wait for an answer to help. He looked around him and made sure that no one was looking before slipping the book over to him. Aito gave a thumbs up and a little wink. He covered his mouth so no one could see his wide dumb smile. He felt a little like a spy, doing something so secretive, like he was slipping information on an enemy over the border of his country and into another.

He perked up when the teacher started bringing test papers around. He sat with his hands in front of him, and a pen at the ready. He turned it over the second he got it and danced through it flawlessly. He loved history, so he always paid special attention to details. The whole this must have only taken his fifteen minutes. When he was finished he put it on the right corner of his desk, turned over so the blank side was showing.

He looked and saw that Hisoka was still working, but then again so were Rin and Riku. Everyone was. He suddenly felt self-conscious for finishing so quickly. He pulled the paper back to him and looked down. He picked up his pen, but knew he had nothing else to write. But...he still wanted to look normal.

Where the teacher came to collect the tests, he had doodled on every blank space the once clean white paper had to offer. The back was covered in an intricate design like water or storm clouds and the margins on the front were covered in cute animals.
 
xxxxYeah, right. His friends would give him so much shit if he joined chess club. He didn't even know how to play. Not that he was actually considering this boy's offer. He glanced back at the boy's chess friends, who were wide-eyed. Their fear amused him more than anything. Hisoka turned to the boy and was about to reply with 'Maybe they're right,' to the murder comment, but then the boy pulled out some more notes and Hisoka swallowed down the words because he needed to maintain his A in History, goddammit.

xxxxHisoka bit his lip. He was sure he could steel himself to ask for the notes, if it really came down to that, but asking for help was one of his pet peeves. Honestly, showing weakness at all pissed him off. It was a little weird, and he knew it made him difficult to deal with. Before he could clench his teeth and squeeze the question out between them, the notebook was in his hands. He looked up in surprise, knowing that now he was probably the wide-eyed one. The other boy gave him a thumbs up and winked. The boy put a hand over his mouth, but Hisoka could see the way his eyes narrowed and knew that he was grinning. He looked down at the notes, feeling stupid because he knew he was blushing (which was really fucking stupid).

xxxxHe tried not to look at the boy for the next five minutes as he flipped through the pages that were filled with neat notes, poring over the maps and the bits in the margins, which were written in red pen. Mrs. Chihara called everyone to attention, and Hisoka carefully placed the notebook in his desk before rummaging through his bag for a pencil. He sat up with one in hand just as she passed by and tossed a packet onto his desk. A packet. He stared at it for a second, and then flipped through it (despite her warning) to discover four pages of diagrams, passages, and short answer questions. AUUUGH.

xxxxHisoka wrote his name at the top, and then tackled the first section (it was vocabulary, which he was usually pretty good at) with the ferocity of a, well, of a high school student desperate to survive. He was floundering through one of the map labeling sections when he noticed the sound of paper rustling next to him. He glanced over and saw that the boy was done. He looked at the clock, and then back at the boy. It had been roughly fifteen minutes since the test had been passed out. Shaking his head and feeling just a little crummier about himself, Hisoka bent his head over the test and continued working. He finished with about five minutes to spare, and decided to take a cue from the boy and doodle on the back (not... that he was glancing at him out of the corner of his eye or anything). The boy had drawn some cute animals on the front with oversized eyes. Hisoka decided to stick with the simple human figure, sketching out a featureless girl's silhouette and a decently barren tree before Mrs. Chihara came back around to gather the tests.

xxxx"Here are your notes back," Hisoka muttered as other students began packing up for lunch, which was after this class. He dropped the notebook onto the boy's desk and tossed his pencil back into his bag, tapping his feet against the tiled floor as he waited for the bell to sound.
 
(Sorry this one is going to be kind of short)

"Keep them." He said, slipping them back into the other's hands. "They're a gift." He really didn't understand why people didn't ask for help more often. It's not like it was bad to not know something. So, Aito, decided that he was going to take matters into his own hands and help Hisoka, whether he liked it or not.

"If you want to, you can eat lunch with my friends and I, we always have room at our table." He slipped his bag over his shoulder and waved goodbye, the skipped over to his friends who instantly fell on him like a pack of rabid animals, demanding every detail of what he had said to Hisoka.

"So...did you threaten you or something?" Rin asked him, looking at Hisoka's friends, who were less then kind people.

"No, I just like to help others, you know that." Aito said, wrapping his hoodie tighter around his small frame. He hated it that people, even his own friends, just assumed that someone was bad, just because of their grades, how they acted at school, or who they hung out with. Other people didn't know what was happening in that person's life.
 
xxxxA quiet oh escaped Hisoka in a puff of breath when the boy gave the notebook back to him. He stared at it for a moment, and decided to just accept it and not make a big fuss. The kid probably had a whole bunch of spares anyway. He slid the notebook into his bag and hefted it onto his shoulder as the bell rang. Hisoka simply shook his head at the boy's invitation to eat with him and his friends at lunch. That would be unbelievably awkward and besides, he didn't want to give anyone a heart attack. He went over to the table where he usually sat. "Hey Sumida-kun," he greeted the black-haired boy.

xxxxSumida looked up. He had heavily lidded eyes, so he always looked sleepy or bored, but his lips curled into a smile at the sight of Hisoka. He scooted over so that Hisoka had room to sit next to him. "Who was that guy you were talking to in History?" Sumida asked right off the bat. Hisoka narrowed his eyes at his friend.
xxxx"...What do you mean?"
xxxx"Don't give me that shit, Hisoka, I saw you and Fukui Aito flirting with each other last class. I was sitting right behind you two in case you didn't notice, you li'l punkass."
xxxxReally? How had he not noticed his best friend sitting so close? This Fukui guy flustered him too much for his liking. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on talking to him anymore," Hisoka said. Sumida punched his arm, and Hisoka's ensuing yelp was more surprised than pained.
xxxx"I wasn't kidding about the whole flirting thing," Sumida said with a glint in his dark eyes. "At least ask him to tutor you or something. He's one of the smartest guys in our year."
xxxxHisoka clenched and unclenched his hands in his lap. "You know how I feel about stuff like that."
xxxx"Yes I do, and I think you're an idiot. He's not going to bite you. Unless you're into that kind of stuff." It was Hisoka's turn to punch Sumida's shoulder. At that moment some guy named Hirose offered them "a smoke," and both of them scowled at him until he went away. Sumida's scowl made him look like the kind of guy who robbed gas stations for fun, and Hisoka had little doubt he could look the same way (whether or not he wanted to). Hisoka took a bite of his sandwich.
xxxx"I don't want to be anyone's charity case," he muttered after a while. Sumida patted his shoulder sympathetically.
xxxx"I know you're weird about other people helping you," he repeated. "But I don't think Fukui-san is like that. He lets me borrow his stuff all the time, and he doesn't even complain when I don't give it back. Maybe he's just weirdly nice. Would you feel better about it if you thought of it as you taking advantage of him rather than you needing his help?"
xxxxHisoka shrugged. "It's not important." He checked the clock hanging above the doors. "I'll see you in Chemistry?"
xxxxSumida sighed. "Yeah, see you then. Talk to Fukui if you have English with him!" Brushing wavy strands of hair out of his face, Sumida jumped up and waved to Hisoka as he left. Hisoka made a face at him but waved back. He stood as well and threw the remains of his lunch into the trash. Knowing his luck, he probably did have English with Fukui. Oh gods, what if he had every class with Fukui? The thought made him feel simultaneously anxious and giddy (What the hell? Not giddy. Fluttery? Hot? These adjectives weren't getting any better) as he entered Mr. Yoshinaga's English classroom and took his usual seat by the window.
 
He put his try next to Rin's and dug into the large amount of food that he was given. "I don't understand what your problem is with him, Hisoka-san is actually very nice." Aito said, giving his best friend a frustrated sigh.

"Since where are you two using first names?" Rin asked, sliding his food away from him, and glaring at the 'thug' across the room. He turned back to his friend, with narrowed eyes. "He's only taking advantage of you, it's not like the two of you are friends or anything!"

Dachi, the more level headed of the three, snapped at Rin to stop yelling. "Rin, whoever Aito has a crush on is none of your bees wax."

"What?!" Aito cried standing up, almost knocking over the wooden table. "I do not have a crush on Hisoka-san!" He felt a blush creeping up his neck, when he realized that everyone was looking at him. He sat back down, with his hands on his lap, glaring at his friend.

"That's what it is, isn't it?" Rin asked, clenching his hands under the table.

"No!" Aito hissed in a whisper. He grabbed the sides of his friends face and forced him to meet Aito's eyes. "Look at me Rin. I am not romantically interested in Hisoka, and he's not interested in me either. I promise." Rin only seemed slightly appeased.

The rest of lunch went smoothly, no more tiffs with his friends. He said goodbye to them, and made his way to English. As he walked, he became more and more...anxious. That class was always really stressful for him. That's the class where Eiji and his group of friends hung around and harassed the whole class.

As Aito was considered at least a friendly acquaintance to everyone else in the school, those six seemed to really hate him, and he wasn't sure why. He silently made his way to his desk, and lowered his head, so not to draw attention. But it was no use, as always.

"Hey, Aito-kun, funny seeing you here." Eiji said, sitting on the brown haired boy's desk. "So...did you do my homework like I told you too?"

"I-I'm sorry, but, I...um....didn't have enough time." He said. It all happened so fast, like lightning Eiji slapped him across the face, sending Aito to the floor. He grabbed his inflamed cheek and his eyes watered. Everyone had stopped talking, and turned to look at them, some with horror in their eyes, others with anger, or confusion. Aito, didn't cry very loudly, but there was no mistaking the tell tail sign of his shoulders shaking or the tears running down his cheeks, and onto the floor.

"You dumb piece of carp!" Eiji yelled, grabbing him by the hair.
 
xxxxHisoka watched the gym kids as they ran around the track, leaning his head against the window. Can't wait to be doing that next class, he thought sarcastically.

xxxxA pen hit the glass right above his head, and he jumped. He whipped around and glared at the obvious culprits-- Eiji and his gang. "Sorry Kawasaki! I was aiming for someone else," Eiji shouted. There was no one sitting within two seats of Hisoka. He didn't reply, just glowered some more and threw the pen back. He had left lunch a little early, and the classroom was slowly filling up. Hisoka noticed when a familiar head of brown hair walked in, but Fukui seemed distracted. In any case, he didn't sit next to him. Hisoka hmphed quietly and returned to looking out the window, telling himself that he was an idiot for taking note of something so trivial.

xxxxQuite suddenly, the chatter ceased. It was enough to bring Hisoka out of his apathy. He turned his head a little later than everyone else, but what he saw made his fingers spasmodically grip the edges of his desk. Fukui was on the floor. Eiji was towering over him. Fukui was crying. Eiji might have been able to get away unscathed too, if he hadn't reached out and seized Fukui's hair with a meaty hand. "You dump piece of crap!" he shouted. Hisoka was sliding out of his chair before he'd made a conscious decision to do so. Mr. Yoshinaga wasn't here yet, but Hisoka couldn't give less of a damn who was watching. There was something artful to the way he moved, his walk leisurely and languid. It was upon catching the hard gleam in his cobalt eyes that the other students shied away.
xxxx"Hey, Eiji-kun," Hisoka called.
xxxx"...Yes?" the other replied, his grip on Fukui's hair loosening a bit. Eiji's tone was carefully neutral. Like the rest of the class, he wasn't sure what Hisoka's intentions were, and he hadn't yet noticed the gleam in his eyes. His friends, however, had, and some of them took a few steps back.
xxxxHisoka kept on walking at his unhurried pace until he was mere inches from Eiji. When he spoke, his eyes flashed, and his voice was quiet enough that the other students leaned forward to hear. "You want to let go of Fukui-san there?"
xxxxEiji's brows furrowed. Kawasaki had never given him grief for his bullying before; why would he start now? Nevertheless, Eiji was not one to back down, and he jutted his chin out and said, "I don't think I will. Back off, bitchsquealer."


xxxxHisoka's fist flashed out, but Eiji had been expecting it and staggered back so that it only skimmed his jaw, releasing Fukui in the process. Hisoka gave Fukui a quick once-over, and the boy's swollen cheek registered. He turned back to Eiji just as he tackled him. Some girls screamed as the two of them hit the wall. Hisoka felt his breath leave his chest from the impact, and Eiji's fist connected with his face. Hard. He growled, shoving the boy off of him and landing a kick in Eiji's stomach. Eiji doubled over, and fell to the ground when Hisoka viciously jabbed an elbow into his back. He kicked Eiji's side when the latter tried to stand. Two of Eiji's friends jumped forward at that moment when it became clear that there would be no glory for their leader. "What, you bastards want a beating too?" Hisoka snarled.

xxxxEverything was blurred at the edges after that. Hisoka punched and kicked and was punched and kicked in return, spitting profanity at his opponents all the while. "You guys really are dumbasses if you can't even do your own work with those piece of shit excuses for brains you've got!" It was about Fukui, but it wasn't really about Fukui anymore. He felt like he was letting go of all the anger he had felt towards these people who had shaped his reputation for him, and in some twisted way he was making up for all the times in the past when he had simply walked past or looked on with the rest of them. "You just take and take and take, don't you?" he spat. He was kicking someone else now. They dropped to the floor, but he kept on kicking them because no one else interrupted. "You fuckers just step all over people and expect them to take it. Well, I'm not going to take it!"

xxxxSomeone forcibly dragged him away. Hisoka struggled, but he recognized Mr. Yoshinaga's voice telling him to calm down, calm down, and there were students clamoring around them shouting "Kawasaki was outnumbered!" "Eiji started it!" "He was just trying to help Aito!" "Omigosh are they okay?!"

xxxxThe next thing Hisoka was aware of was that he was in the nurse's office. He throbbed all over and he was pretty sure he couldn't see out of one eye. There were low voices speaking urgently not far from where he was sitting, but they eventually left, and the elderly nurse called his name a few times. He didn't really want to respond, so she sighed and stood and helped him to one of the beds in the back of the room. He lay down obediently, though the motion made his chest ache and he had to grit his teeth together to keep from groaning. He stayed awake just long enough to notice that the other beds were all occupied before drifting into a heavy sleep.
 
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At first, he wasn't sure what was happening. There was silence, then Eiji let go of his hair, and then Eiji was walking back a few steps. Then there were growls as fists went flying, legs slammed into faces and stomachs. It got worse when two of Eiji's friends had jumped into to try and help him, but Hisoka made quick work of them, and soon all seven of their little gang were rolling around on the floor in pain.

Their teacher walked in the room, right when the last punch was given. At first he looked at his class in horror, when he put together that no one had tried to stop the fight, but instantly they all jumped to Hisoka's defense. There was no way anyone was going to let the one time hero go down like that.

"Um, excuse me...sir?" Aito approached his teacher who was ordering the nurses to come and take the eight high schoolers to the infirmary. "Please...it really wasn't Hisoka-san's fault. He was only trying to help defend me from Eiji." But even when he pleaded he knew that it was no use. Hisoka was in a world of trouble, and would be lucky not to be suspended....but maybe with a good word from one of the schools top, he might not be.

During their passing period, Aito made his way to the nurse's office. At first they thought that he was here because of the slap to his cheek, but he quickly informed them that he was visiting someone. He approached the bed slowly, then sat down in the chair next to it. He looked and saw that Hisoka was still asleep.

"Why did you do that?" Aito asked the sleeping boy. "We've only known each other for a day...and yet." He chuckled softly. "You really are a good person, aren't you?" He left his 'get well soon' card and a few apple slices on a plate. "I hope you like them, Hisoka-kun."
 
xxxxWhen Hisoka blinked his eyes open, the sunlight filtering in through the window blinds was pale orange. He sat up slowly, aware of the throbbing ache in his ribs. The nurse pattered over and frowned at him in concern. "You're practically covered in nasty bruises, but I've cleaned up your cuts. You aren't as bad as that Eiji boy, at least." She gave him a pointed look. "I've called your mother-- bless her soul-- and she said it's fine for you to walk home. I've also told her that the principal would like to see her with you first thing tomorrow morning." She turned around, and then turned back around like she had forgotten something. "Oh, and you had a visitor. Well, you had multiple visitors, but one left you something." The nurse waved a hand at the little table by the bed. Hisoka looked down. There were some apple slices on a small plate, and a tiny 'Get Well Soon' card sitting next to them.

xxxxIt didn't take very long for him to figure out who could have left them there; Sumida wasn't a "Get Well Soon" card type of guy, and neither were the rest of Hisoka's friends. There was the possibility that one of the witnesses to the fight had taken pity on him, but Fukui was a much more likely candidate. The thought that he had sat in the folding chair next to the bed and seen Hisoka's sleeping face, open and vulnerable, sent a slight shiver through Hisoka.

xxxxHe swung his legs over the edge of the bed and glanced around the room as he bit into an apple slice. The previously occupied beds around his own were now vacant. Eiji's friends had probably either gone home or been moved to the infirmary. For the first time since the fight, Hisoka felt a bite of guilt. It wasn't like they'd ganged up on him at first; he had been the one to throw himself at the rest of them after taking down Eiji and the other two challengers. Judging by the orange light, it would be dark soon. He should hurry. Hisoka stood with a small hiss of pain and picked up the plate of apples, waving to the nurse as he left. She just tutted at him.

xxxxThere was something surreal about the deserted halls and the flame-colored squares of light filtering through the large windows. His footsteps echoed loudly as he made his way down the stairs and towards the front of the school, where the shoe lockers were located. Every step hurt some part of his body, but Hisoka had resolved not to inspect the full extent of the damage until he was home. Since they were letting him go home at all, it shouldn't be that bad. Someone, probably a teacher, had left his bag in his locker for him. He swallowed the last of the apple slices, switched shoes, hefted his bag onto his shoulder (which made him wince), and left the plate on top of his indoor shoes. Hisoka closed his locker and stepped out onto the front steps. The lawn was bathed in an orange glow. Without pausing too long to take it in, Hisoka hurried onto the street.
 
He peddled on his bike as fast as he could down the long and twisting road. He didn't mind the wind in his face or the cold bite it caused. He was a bit of a speed demon, but it wasn't that unsafe. He came to a sudden stop outside of his house, where he could smell his mother's cooking, and hear his brother's loud laughter at something his father had said.

Aito opened the door and took off his shoes, making sure to line them up neatly. "I'm home!" He called out through into the hallway. Very suddenly his brother slid towards him in socks, a very disturbed look on his face. "I heard you got into a fight at school today?"

"You're a doctor, Haku, you should act more serious." Aito said in a monotone voice, not answering his brother. He walked past him and into the kitchen, where his mother greeted him with a happy smile, but his brother fallowed quickly behind, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him around.

"Ai-can. You got in a fight at school today!" His older brother said, shacking him. "Why? If someone was bullying you, then you should have gone to a teacher, or come to us. We would have helped you!"

"I didn't even fight!" He snapped, shoving his brother's hands away from his shoulders. "Hisoka-kun fought, it was just...about me." He tried to explain.

"What? Who's Hisoka? Is he a friend? Why haven't you brought him over to meet your family?" His mother asked, causing both boys to look at her. She tapped her foot on the floor, clearly expecting an answer. "Well?!"

"Well, we only started talking today. I'm not even sure if Hisoka-kun considers me a friend." Aito said as he shuffled from foot to foot, not quite able to meet anyone's eyes.

"Yet you talk about him so informally? That's it! Go call that boy right now and invite him and his family over for dinner on Saturday." His mother demanded. She leaned toward the door. "Did you hear that sweetheart?" She called to his father who answered simply 'yeah.'

It was a lost cause, so he just sighed and looked for a phone book. "This has got to be the weirdest thing I have ever done." He said to himself when he found said number. It rang four or five times, before a frustrated sounding woman answered.

"Hello?!" She snapped.

"Oh, um yes. Hello ma'am. My name is Fukui, Aito. I'm calling about Hisoka-kun?"

"What has that boy done now?"

"N-nothing. But, um, see my mother wanted to invite him and his family over to our house for dinner tomorrow. Would that...be okay?"

There was a pause, and Aito thought that he might have been disconnected for a second. "Who are you to him?" She asked slowly.

"Oh! A friend."

"Hmmm, alright Aito-san, you can expect to see us, at four o'clock sharp. What's your address?" She waited just long enough for Aito to tell her where he lived before she hung up the phone on him.
 
xxxx"Mom?" Hisoka padded into the kitchen. His hair was even messier than it usually was, one side of it sticking up. He was wearing a freshly laundered T-shirt, pajama pants, and a pair of ridiculously fluffy yellow socks. "Who was that?"

xxxxHis mother set down her phone and rubbed her temples. It was only 7, but most of the lights in the house were off. The light from her laptop screen cast the shadows and lines of her face into sharp relief and made her look white and pallid. He had inherited her dark blue eyes, her pale skin, even her pouty lips. Just not her long ebony hair, though he wished he had. His mahogany locks were just another reminder of his good-for-nothing father. Hisoka's mother had once been very beautiful, and she still was when she smiled. But that seemed to be less and less nowadays.

xxxx"Sorry hun. I'm just so tired from work." Hisoka walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind until she removed her hands from her face and chuckled weakly. "I thought it was going to be my boss, but it was actually a friend of yours! I'm afraid I was a little sharp with him. I'm still in the workplace state of mind."
xxxx"Sumida called?"
xxxx"No, it wasn't Sumi-chan. It was a boy named Aito, if I recall correctly. He invited us over for dinner tomorrow! I haven't been invited to have dinner with one of your friend's families since you were in grade school, so I was a bit surprised." She laughed her tinkling laugh again, but Hisoka was staring at her in dismay. "Hisoka? What is it?"
xxxxHe furrowed his brow and tapped his foot. "...Do you think we could cancel?"
xxxx"What?!" His mother put a scandalized hand over her heart. "Of course not! I wanna get a glimpse into your personal life, you hardly tell me anything anymore." She pouted, and she was obviously teasing, but Hisoka knew there was truth behind her words and felt bad for it.
xxxx"It's just... Fukui-san was involved in the fight today." He had barely gotten the words out before his mother interrupted indignantly.
xxxx"Wait, was he one of the boys who hurt you? What kind of game is he playing?"
xxxx"No! He was the one I was defending."
xxxxHis mother's face took on the tired look it so often had now. "I know I haven't asked you what happened yet, but that's only because I need to catch up on some things." She pointed a stern finger at him. "Now get back to bed. I don't want to see you walking around anymore tonight. I'll come later and we can talk then."


xxxxHisoka nodded obediently and scurried out of the room before she could scold him more. When he had come home that evening, his mother had descended upon him with the spirit of the first mother bear within her. She had all but carried him into his bedroom and had spent nearly half an hour making sure there was nothing broken or bleeding. She had brought out the frozen peas and the painkillers and had even volunteered time to make soup for him, time that she could have spent working. It was a struggle convincing her not to waste money on getting a doctor to take a look at him. The extent of his injuries were bruises like purplish-reddish-bluish stars swathing his body. He was a human galaxy. He also had a black left eye from when Eiji had punched him in the face, scraped elbows, and a few mysterious, shallow cuts on his forearms and cheeks.

xxxxHisoka retreated to his dark bedroom. He lay down as gently as possible and stared at the wall for ten minutes. He gave up and stood to get the book he was reading now. Almost an hour later, Hisoka finally set the book down and closed his eyes. He didn't wake until late in the morning. His mom left a long note on the fridge as usual, telling him I didn't want to wake you up, so we'll talk when I get home early today. We're still going to that dinner. Lunch is on the top shelf. I called Mrs. and Mr. Fukui back and gave them your phone number since I can't take calls at work and they might need to call. Love you. And then her signature looping heart. He sighed and yawned as he pulled out his phone.
 
His mother raced around the house like a chicken with it's head cut off making sure that everything was perfect for their guests. She even made her sons and husband dress in their best clothes, like Hisoka and his mother were royalty or something.

He inhaled deeply when his mothers cooking drifted up the steps to his room. She was making something sweet for after dinner, and it made him excited. It had been awhile since his mom had made dump cake.

His brother had come to bother his sometime during the afternoon. IT was hard to ignore him, when he sat right on Aito's bed, just to tell him how 'proud he was that his little brother was making new friends.' Aito rushed him out of the room, demanding his privet space back.

He looked at himself in the mirror and straightened the locks of hair that had fallen slightly out of place. "If mom sees it, she'll kill me." He said quietly, checking himself over one last time, just to make sure that he was 'mother approved.' He nodded a few times, before he turned to wonder into the living room.

The T.V. was buzzing softly, his father was watching the news, something about a car chase on the other side of the country. Aito sat down next to him, so his mother wouldn't tell him to mop the floors or something.

"So...tell me about this new friend of yours, son." His father said, after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"Well he's.....strong." He said lamely. "I mean, he's also really brave, and kinda scatter brained, but I can tell he's smart, and he's really friendly too, but I don't think many people want to see that side of him." Aito sighed. "I feel like, they want him to be one way, and they decided that he is that way, so there's no other way for them to see him, even if he really isn't the monster they say he is....if that makes any sense."

His father raised an eyebrow and smiled at him. "Your friend sounds like an interesting guy."

Aito looked up when the door bell rang, and raced his brother to open it. In the end he was shoved to the side, and Haku answered it, with a charming smile on his face. "Hello, welcome to our home."
 
xxxxThe ride to the Fukui's was quiet.

xxxxMom had come home even earlier than Hisoka had anticipated, and he'd grievously explained what had happened. He was grounded for two weeks. Hisoka had been under the impression that this would be a casual dinner, so when he emerged from his room in a logo sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, Mom went off on him. She was dressed in an elegant, knee-length white dress, her black hair pulled into a graceful chignon and a pretty silver pendant around her neck. She looked like she was going to one of her fancy business dinners, not to have dinner with one of her son's friend's family. In the end, they compromised. Hisoka traded the sweatshirt for a more formal black button-down but refused to wear dress pants and just opted for nicer-looking jeans that weren't so baggy. They actually fit him rather well despite the fact that he hadn't worn them since the beginning of high school. He also kept the brown sneakers, since they matched. All of this took over thirty minutes, and by the time they left, they were running late.

xxxx"Is there anything I need to know about the Fukui's?" Mom asked when they were stopped at a red light.
xxxx"Um... I don't know much about him or his family. I mean, I just met him yesterday."
xxxxHis mother looked startled. "Really? You didn't tell me that." They drove in silence for a while. Hisoka looked at his reflection in the side mirror. The swelling in his black left eye had gone down, but it was still quite purple. And there was really nothing he could do about the scratches on his cheeks. Hopefully the Fukui's had the grace to not comment on his injuries. It would really be awkward if this dinner was a cristicsm in disguise, especially since Mom was the type of person who would storm out if it was.

xxxxThey pulled into the driveway of an ordinary-looking house. It was nothing intimidating, a little bigger than the Kawasaki residence, but that was to be expected since it was just Hisoka and his mother. Hisoka trailed behind his mother as they walked up the path to the front door. She rang the doorbell. Hisoka could hear the sound of pounding footsteps, like someone was running, before the door opened and a man who looked liked the older version of Aito appeared. "Ah, hello!" Mom said, putting on the polite smile she used with clients and coworkers. She held out a hand to shake before stepping inside (tugging Hisoka with her). She greeted Mr. and Mrs. Fukui. "My name is Kawasaki Miri. This is my son, Hisoka." Hisoka tried to smile without making it seem too forced. His eyes found Aito easily, and he raised his eyebrows at the other boy as if to communicate, was this your idea?
 
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