Sano was frowning when he left Kaoru to go to his own motorbike and place on his helmet (safety, kids!). He jumped on and turned the key as it came to life. He sped home, running all three stop lights and speeding over every speed limit he came across (bad Sano, bad). He tossed the keys on the table next to the door and plopped on the couch, noting his roommate Katsu wasn't in, but shrugged it off, playing some music.

There are just too many times that people have tried to look inside of me
Wondering what I think of you and I protect you out of courtesy
Too many times that I've held on when I needed to push away
Afraid to say what was on my mind, afraid to say what I need to say

Sano frowned, thinking back on what happened today. Seeing Cho there brought back several nasty memories of childhood years with Kaoru and him. He relived all the fights, all the yelling, all the broken bones, bruised egos, and ultimately…all the laughs.

He grabbed his guitar and strummed along to the stereo, murmuring the words under his breath.

Too many things that you've said about me when I'm not around
You think having the upper hand means you gotta keep putting me down
But I've had too many standoffs with you it's about as much as I can stand
And I'm waiting until the upper hand is mine

Five-year-old Sano jumped a blonde boy of the same age and gravity-defying hair, tackling him to the floor. The Blondie fought back, but Sano still rose victorious.

"Sano, you're MEAN!" the boy whined, pushing the taller, bigger boy off of him.

Sano grinned sheepishly. "You just like complaining, Cho-chan!"

"OI!"

Kaoru joined in the mini brawl later on, and both boys ended up pinning Kaoru down and attacking her sides as she shrieked with laughter, and boys hi-fiving their victory over the girl.

One minute you're on top
the next you're not, watch it drop
making your heart stop
just before you hit the floor
One minute you're on top

Years passed, and the trio was in Junior High. Cho grabbed Sano in a headlock and gave the head banded-head (….) a noogie, laughing as the victim's arms flailed about.

"Damn broom head…"

"Rooster head…"

They continued their name-calling before it got more and more intense.

"Asshole!"

"Fucktard!"

"Mama's Boy!"

Soon they were after each others' heads, all joking aside and each desperate to get more hits in and to injure the other as much as possible.

Next you're not, missed your shot
Making you're heart stop
you think you've won
and then it's all gone

The intensity of the fights between the two only increased day-by-day, and after a few years, the casualties involved hospital visits and much scolding from both parents.

Kaoru had been caught in between, not understanding what was it between the two that made them hate each other so much.

They had once been good friends…then came the backstabbing, followed by all the fights and arguments and serious brawls, up to the point they couldn't even mention the other without becoming mad. Then Kaoru had to choose between her cousin and one of her childhood friends.

As you all know, she chose her cousin, and her "friend" turned his back on her and left her alone.

So many people like me put so much trust in all your lies
So concerned with what you think to just say what we feel inside
So many people like me walk on eggshells all day long
All I know is that all I want is to feel like I'm not stepped on

Sano's thoughts and flashbacks weren't under his control, as from one second he remembered the childhood fond memories, the next he was thinking of how much of an asshole and a hothead Cho was. The next was the last time he saw Cho before the Takani Clinic.

There are so many things you say that make me feel you've crossed the line
What goes up will surely fall and I'm counting down the time
Cause I've had so many standoffs with you it's about as much as I can stand
And I'm waiting until the upper hand is mine

Cho hobbled over to the next hospital room as fast as he could, as fast as his broken leg would let him as he burst in and found Sano lying in bed, covered in bandages.

"…You son of a bitch…" Cho grumbled, seating himself beside the conscious Sano, as he stared at the ceiling. Chou hissed in pain as he sat, making sure to prop his leg on the coffee table nearby.

"What the hell did I do this time?" he snapped, clearly not in the mood to fight in his injured state.

"I told you not to fight Makoto, I told you he was too good, and you would be creamed. But hell when did you ever listen to me? Hell, you never listen to anyone but your Mama, don't you. Oh yeah and that brat Kaoru."

"Leave Kaoru out of this!" Sano argued back, sitting up, but gasped in pain and flopped back into bed, chest heaving as he breathed in pain and squeezed his eyes shut, missing Cho's look of concern. "If you came here to gloat, wait for me to have some ego for you to shatter, I'm really not in the mood right now, Cho…"

Cho said nothing but he did stand up and walk out of the room without another word. Sano relaxed and stared up at the ceiling again in his own thoughts.

One minute you're on top
the next you're not, watch it drop
making your heart stop
just before you hit the floor

The next morning, Sano woke up to find the bed next to him had another patient in it. Someone he knew.

"Cho, what the hell happened to you?" Sano blurted, realized his state was much like his own; bandaged up and bruised, several casts on and hung on slings.

Cho simply turned his head slightly and gave a small smirk.

"I got my ass kicked by Makoto…but at least I managed to land a punch on his eye…he now has a black eye thanks to me! You didn't do anything!"

Sano blinked in shock. He fought Makoto as well? But he smirked.

"Well thanks to me, he and Yumi might not have kids…"

Cho's eyes widened as he stared at Sano in disbelief. "You didn't…"

"Oh yes I did," Sano laughed.

Cho groaned and relaxed, allowing his eyes to close. "Damn rooster…"

One minute you're on top
Next you're not, missed your shot
Making you're heart stop
you think you've won
And then it's all gone

It was somewhat safe to say they were on a temporary truce. Months later when all were healed, Cho invited Sano to his new house for his housewarming party. Sano groaned and whined, trying to get out of it until Cho mentioned he was inviting a couple of his female friends.

There Sano found himself in front of Cho's new house, and knocked on the door to be welcomed by a very pretty girl.

"Hi, is this Cho's new house?" he asked, puzzled, wondering why one of the guests would be opening the door for the host.

"Yeah, hi, I'm Kamatari, Cho's new roommate! Are you a friend of Cho's?"

Sano laughed. "I guess you could say that…"

"This guy is anything but my friend, but I invited him anyway," retorted someone from behind the door, and Cho popped out, one arm placing itself around Kamatari's shoulders. "Rooster, I knew you'd come at the prospect of hot girls…"

"Che, shut up broomhead. You didn't tell me your new roommate was one of these hot girls."

At this, Kamatari laughed, and Cho gave an uncomfortable smile.

"Oh there's a bit of a mistake…I'm a guy!"

And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
Now it's all gone

Who would have thunk that was the last time Sano saw Cho…till today. He frowned and got up, placing his guitar on the floor and grabbing a beer from the fridge; correction, the LAST beer from the fridge. Correction: The last ITEM in the fridge.

He made a mental note to go grocery shopping, but sat down in front of the phone book and found the number he was looking for.

I know I'll never trust a single thing you say
You knew your lies would divide us but you lied anyway
And all the lies have got you floating up above us all
But what goes up has got to fall

"Hi, you've reached Kamatari! Leave me a message after the beep!" +BEEP+

"Hey Kamatari? This is Sano, Cho's kinda-sort-friend? You might actually remember me as…Rooster head from Cho? Well I was just wondering something about him, I saw him today and wanna ask you some questions, just call me back when you get this message. My number is 123-4567" (how original…)

One minute you're on top
The next you're not, watch it drop
Making your heart stop
Just before you hit the floor

Right after he hung up, he got a call. He jumped in surprise, and picked up.

"Kamatari?" he asked when he answered.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but its Takani," replied the somewhat jealous voice of the female doctor.

"Hey, it's the Fox! How you doing, Meg?" he teased, taking a long drink from the can in his hand.

"Shut up. Come to the Clinic tomorrow morning at 8:30, ok?"

"Got it, see ya then, Fox."

He hung up, cutting in between her cry of protest and got up to put the phone book away.

One minute you're on top
Next you're not, missed your shot
Making you're heart stop
you think you've won
And then it's all gone

Katsu then walked in the messy apartment.

"Battle of the Bands next week, up for it?"

Sano thought about it then grinned. "Sure, why not?"

His roommate grinned and walked into the kitchen before coming back out after only one second.

"Sagara Sanosuke…did you take my beer?"

Sano glanced down at the can in his hand and gave a sheepish grin before running for his life.

And then it's all gone
and then it's all gone
and then it's all gone
now it's all gone

-X-

Sano got quite a workout that night being chased around the apartment so many times by his alcohol-deprived roommate. At least he tired Katsu out. After a few laps, Katsu panted and fell into bed, snoring right when his head hit the pillow.

Sano fell asleep minutes later but was awakened by the sound of the phone ringing. He groaned and got up, reaching for the phone.

"Mmph…" he grumbled as he answered.

"SANO-BABEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" squealed the voice on the other line that surprised Sano so bad he fell out of bed with an 'OOF', which led to Katsu, too, falling out of bed.

However, he continued snoring.

"Hey there Kamatari…" Sano groaned, gingerly picking himself off the floor and back to the warmth and comfort of his bed.

Kamatari somewhat quieted down as he answered any questions Sano had, once Sano had properly woken up and was very pleased with the answers he got, and was just about ready to go meet Cho the next day.

"Thanks man, you're the best, I'll see you then?" Sano was giddy by now, and wide awake. He even jumped on Katsu's bed in excitement.

"Of course! It's really the least I could do…I feel so bad about it all…"

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault. See you tomorrow!"

-X-

"What's got you so giddy today Mr. Happy Ass?" (NEEKOL xD) grumbled Megumi as they walked together down the hall to meet with Cho.

Sano had the biggest grin on his face since the night before even though he wasn't able to sleep a wink after the phone call with Kamatari.

"Am I giddy? O well, today's such a BEAUTIFUL DAY!" he danced, while thunder stormed outside.

Megumi started backing away slowly, hand on the pager on her waist in case she would have to call Security to take him to his own separate room.

Sano stopped outside the door and turned to Megumi, and gave only a small smile.

"Takani-san, would you mind staying outside for a while, I would like to talk to him alone for a while. I'll page you when you can come back in?"

She blinked, but nodded dumbly and inserted the key in the slot, letting the door open.

"See ya in a bit…" he waved, and walked in.

He found Cho sitting at the table with an annoyed look on his face, which only increased when he saw Sano walk in.

"Oh goodie…" he grumbled, straightening in his seat, about to fire a retort but Sano beat him to it.

"You know, I had the most…interesting conversation with Kamatari-san last night…" he started, brushing his fingernails against his shirt, smirk directed at Cho.

As expected, Cho's ears pricked at the mention of the guy's name, as he feigned indifference.

"He told me some rather intriguing facts, and the whole time I couldn't help but think 'Wow', care to venture a guess what he told me?"

Sano smiled seeing Cho's fist clench as he directed these comments at him, teasing him, sneering at him. However, he still acted like he didn't care. It would be much more convincing if his nails hadn't dug holes in his palm.

"About…two weeks before you came here? One night with Kamatari, a certain little confession? With your family, and then with him?"

"Shut. Up." He grit out, jaw tightening and relaxing, anger evident in his eyes.

"Oh wait, there's more, none of those people seemed to take you seriously…and none of those people seemed to accept you after you told them. Who could blame them? After all, you are a-"

He was cut off as Cho pushed the table aside and reached Sano in two steps.

"What? A freak? A fag? The Anti-Christ? 'Oh my God I've broken a taboo'! Yes, I'm gay, damnit! You wouldn't fucking understand! Nobody did, why the hell would you? 'Hey guys, let's all gloat and attack the gay guy! Not like he has feelings!'" Cho was shaking with anger, fury in his eyes.

"I just happened to have homophobes everywhere around me, I was fucking SHUNNED! As if I wasn't a real person like them, I was treated as some sort of FREAK just cuz I like guys!"

He was taking out all his anger now on Sano, punching his face, kicking him in the gut, all the while yelling.

"The one person I thought would understand, the one person I thought would stay with me…the one man I loved…he shunned me too!" he threw Sano aside, into the wall.

"He still fucking moved out, and you know what? He started seeing that fucking Makoto! You know what Makoto did? He came to my house to RUB IT IN MY FACE!"

He dropped to his knees, hugging himself as tears streamed down his face as he let out a strangled sob.

Sano ignored the pain he felt all over and blinked the blood out of his eyes as he stared at Cho, a grown man, crying his heart out.

Sure, he didn't understand, but the one thing Cho forgot about his old friend: he would try with every fiber in his body to relate and understand his friends' troubles and problems.

"…Cho" he groaned out, wincing as he felt the sharp sting in his side.

Cho's head shot up and it was as if he just realized Sano was there, all beaten to a bloody pulp.

They stared at each other, both pairs of eyes expressing how much pain both felt inside. Cho's being mental and emotional, Sano's being physical.

All the sudden, Cho launched at Sano and grabbed him in a fierce hug. Sano was in too much pain to try and push him off for being too emotional, and when he felt Cho's tears drop on his shoulder, he said nothing and just let Cho cry.

The door opened, but Cho was too occupied to notice, and Sano was in too much pain to move.

"…Cho?"

He froze and turned his head at the familiar voice and stared at the familiar face, eyes widening in recognition.

"…Kamatari…"

TBC

So this chapter was somewhat dedicated to my friend Freddy, whose parents really suck. I'm going back to California TOMORROW +YES+