The work-out area reeked of sweat and floor polish. Students were lined up when Coach Tanaka shouted out the instructions to the day relay practice.
"Alright! Four teams. Run hard, no excuses. Move it!"
Suki hopped on his toes, and extended his arms. "Ryuzi, are you fast?"
Ryuzi looked down at him without being impressed. "...Fast enough."
"Good! Then we'll win."
You are supposing that we are playing on the same side.
Suki grinned. "We should be. Sunshine and ice prince--the ideal match-up.
Ryuzi groaned. "...Stop calling me that."
Suki was about to respond when a crowd of boys near by began snickering.
Poor Aoyama, as long as he is.
"Skinny arms, no muscle. Sounds like a girl than a man.
Well, I guess we should make him a part of the girls team.
The laughter was spreading all over the gym. Suki froze, blinking. His smile had dropped in the first days in a long time.
He made an effort to shake it off, with a snickering laugh. "Haha, very funny, guys."
But the teasing didn't stop.
"You sure you can even run? Watch your noodle legs, Don't fall in them.
"Careful, Ryuzi. You will break him in two bumping into him.
Suki's smile tightened. He averted his head with shame, and he laughed again. I guess I will just have to show you wrong, huh?
He was about to take a step when there was a low voice that broke through the noise.
"Shut up."
The laughter died instantly.
Ryuzi was a few steps distant, with eyes keen and cold as to freeze the room. Every step he took was weighty with silent command, as he approached the group.
"You think you're funny?" he asked softly. Too softly.
The boys moved fidgetily. One tried to laugh it off. "We're just joking--"
Ryuzi's gaze sharpened. "That wasn't a joke. That was pathetic."
Silence. The gym appeared to be holding its breath.
Ryuzi came near, to the point where the air was oppressive. "Say it again. I dare you."
No one spoke. The mocking had died away, and there was only embarrassing fidgeting.
Ryuzi, pleased, turned back, and walked back to Suki, who stood motionless.
...You are all right as you are, Ryuzi said to himself in a low voice so that only Suki could hear.
Suki looked up at him with wide eyes. He flushed all the way through, and once he could not speak.
At the relay Suki ran more than he ever had. his legs were pumping, his lungs were burning, but he could not fall. He handed Ryuzi the baton in a clean manner and he ran away like a tempest, crossing the finish line way ahead of the others.
Their classmates cheered and the mockery that had preceded it forgotten.
Suki fell on the bench later on, gasping, with a massive grin on his face. "Did you see that?! We killed it!"
Ryuzi was sitting next him, composed though the moisture on his forehead. "...Barely decent."
Suki laughed breathlessly. That is more or less praise coming out of you.
Ryuzi glanced at him. His smile was broad and bright and nearly blinding. There was a moment when the chest of Ryuzi constrained itself strangely. He looked away quickly. "...Idiot."
At school, after school, he was caught by Suki in the courtyard.
"Hey, Ryuzi."
"...What."
"Thanks. For earlier."
Ryuzi raised a brow. "For what?"
The smile of Suki faded to a smaller and gentler one. "For saying I'm fine the way I am."
Ryuzi's ears heated. His hands were shoved into his pockets. "...I only said the truth."
Suki grinned and his eyes were shining. "Then I'll hold on to it. Due to the fact that it is nice to hear sometimes.
Ryuzi didn't reply. Yet as they strolled along together the silence was no longer oppressive between them. It felt... safe.
That evening in the Aoyama house, Suki was attacked at once by his sisters.
So, they say you ran like lightning to-day, Hana, said, with a smirk.
Emi leaned in. Or was it Ryuzi who is taking you across the finish line?
Rika gasped dramatically. "Wait--did he defend you?!"
Suki nearly choked on his tea. "Wh-who told you that?!"
Kenji, they sang to one another.
Suki groaned, face red. "It wasn't like that!"
And his sisters said nothing but laughed even more, saying: Ryuzi the knight! Ryuzi the knight!"
At the same time, Ayumi was standing in the kitchen of the Takeda house when Daichi walked in.
I heard that Ryuzi won the relay today, she said softly.
Daichi grunted, folding his jacket. "He always was athletic."
Ayumi smiled faintly. Maybe he is seeking reasons to make another attempt.
Ryuzi was sitting on his bed upstairs, repeating the scene that had occurred in the gym- the laughing, his anger, and the face of Suki that he had seen shocked yet flushed when he defended him.
There was something that was warm in his chest that he could not describe.
Oh, vexed sunshine, he said, but the words were not stinging.