Okay. A few firsts in a while: First time writing a chapter and updating in less than a month in a good, long while. First out of episode context since chapter 2. First time writing without looking at the word count in a while, resulting in a much longer chapter than my usually strict 1,800 words, which is a good thing, I suspect. This chapter kept getting out of hand when I was writing it. I was dead set on what would happen in this chapter, but as I kept writing... a lot of stuff got added and changed. So the opening scene of gold I promised last update? Nowhere to be found. I'm pretty pleased with the end result though.

Chapter Summary: Takeda gets a clue. Ryu gets fed up.

The Protector

Takeda slipped on his baseball glove, heading out to the grassier parts of the park where they were going to play catch when Hayato caught up to him. "Are you ready for your big date tonight?" he asked, throwing one arm around Takeda's neck.

"It's just a late White Day date," Takeda protested, squirming under Hayato's arm. "It's not a big deal or anything."

"Not a big deal? Hyuuga and I walked in on your mom fussing over your pinky ring," Tsuchiya chimed in.

"Giving it to Maki-chan to show how serious you are about her," Hyuuga gushed in his silly impression of his mother, "How romantic!"

"And Take's gonna get his first kiss!" Tsuchiya teased, messing Takeda's pinned hair.

"I told you, it's not a big deal!" Takeda exclaimed, flailing his arms as he tried to get out of Hayato's head lock. "Hayato, you can let go of me now."

"No waaay," Hayato grinned. "Our little Take's all grown up and spreading his wings. This means you're the monkey in the middle, okay? Let's play some catch!"

. o . o .

Ryu would miss this, he mused with an inward chuckle as he watched the others tease Takeda into playing Monkey in the Middle. Ryu had opted to lounge on the grass a fair distance away, content to watch his friends fool around. It was one of those lazy afternoons made for fooling around, so Hayato had suggested the park after school let out, despite Yankumi's lecture about studying for final exams that very morning.

Yankumi would kill them if she found out, Ryu decided as the catch game dissolved into Hayato chasing Tsuchiya around the park. Tsuchiya had thrown a particularly foul ball, smacking Hayato in the face rather than Hyuuga's glove, and Hayato was steamed. Hyuuga, ever the mediator, kept trying to get in between the two, but only managed to get involved in a three-way play fight. Takeda, already fed up with never getting the ball, stayed out of their way.

"Hey Ryu. Can I sit with you?"

Ryu shook his head slightly. "Of course you can. Go ahead, Take."

The smaller boy sat down beside Ryu with a ginger grin. Takeda mimicked Ryu's watching, the smile on his lips more visible than on Ryu's. Ryu turned back to the others as well, his heart pounding in his chest.

It had been a day since he left the present in Takeda's locker. After that, he had been keeping a safe distance from Takeda, wondering if the blond had figured him out. Takeda wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but he wasn't stupid either. Surely Takeda would work out who his secret admirer was, and Ryu had a feeling that Takeda already knew. He could tell by the hard line of Takeda's back, how he leaned forward apprehensively instead of back onto the grass.

"Ne, Ryu," Takeda said after a long silence. Ryu looked, watching the small changes in Takeda's face. Takeda continued to watch their friends play, his grip tightening on the grass below his fingertips. "Hayato's been acting weird lately."

Ryu deflated when he realized that Takeda wasn't talking about the gift. But of course, Takeda was worried about his friends above all else. And of course Takeda would talk to him about it; Ryu had kind of become Takeda's confidant since that Ara High incident.

It was true, Hayato had been acting oddly. As the date of graduation approached, the boy was steadily becoming more and more clingy, using whatever opportunity he could to clap his hand on a friend's shoulder or to wrestle him to the ground. It seemed rational enough to Ryu, you know, separation anxiety and all that.

"He's been. . . more hyper, I guess, and I didn't think that was possible," Takeda elaborated, looking at Ryu earnestly and making hand gestures now. "He's been more touchy feely too. He's been hugging me more, if you didn't notice," which Ryu had, "and sometimes he looks at me like there's something that he knows that I don't, and I can't even imagine what that is." Ryu swallowed, knowing full well what kind of look Hayato would be giving Takeda. Ryu saw it all the time, when Hayato would just look deeply into Takeda's eye, then look over his shoulder at Ryu and wink with a stupid all-knowing smirk. "And I got another White Day gift yesterday, and from Hayato's expression when he saw it—

"Ryu, I think he likes me."

"What?" Ryu looked quickly at Hayato (busy wrestling his way out of Tsuchiya's grip) and back to Takeda. "I think you've got it wrong."

"No, seriously!" Takeda insisted. "Think about it: he's been super clingy, right? Even though a lot of girls like him, he doesn't have a girlfriend. He gets weird whenever I mention Maki. And the White Day gift came with this good luck charm just like the ones we got when we were applying to Kurogin. Remember the little paper ones? I mean, Hayato leaves it on his desk where he can see it every day."

Ryu exhaled roughly. Against his better judgement, he asked, "And why couldn't it be me?"

Takeda blinked, leaning back on his palms as if trying to see Ryu better. "Because. . . you're Ryu. You're so cool, I never thought of you wanting anyone, let alone a boy. Let alone me. . ." Takeda trailed off. "I mean, it isn't you, right?"

Ryu's temper snapped, and he grabbed Takeda by the collar of his shirt. "Of course it isn't," Ryu snarled, leaning heavily on sarcasm. "It's never me, is it? Never me who worries for you more than anything, never me who willingly outcasts himself on your behalf. I've never stayed up all night to answer your call when you can't sleep or took care of your wounds or cheered your thing with Maki on even when I clearly am the better choice."

Every time Takeda tried to back away or loosen Ryu's grip on his shirt, Ryu pushed forward. The second time, Ryu ended up pushing Takeda back onto the grass, straddling the smaller boy so he could see Takeda eye to eye, the knuckles of his fist digging into Takeda's breast bone. He knew he was hurting Takeda—he felt Takeda's wince in his core—but he wanted Takeda to know this one thing. He needed Takeda to know.

"I'd never do any of that." Ryu dipped his face closer to Takeda's, watching Takeda's eyes as they widened in realization. "And of course I'd never, ever spend weeks picking a silly gift for a holiday, because I'd never want anyone, least of all you."

Ryu waited for his blond friend to say something, but Takeda had frozen. Even as frustrated as he was, Ryu couldn't help but admire the boy's small face, framed by the blond hair, with his big eyes wide and cute lips parted in surprise. And those lips. . . Ryu found his eyes lingering before he glanced back up.

Takeda let out a shaky breath, his exhale washing over Ryu's face. Ryu inhaled deeply, savoring this moment—this was the closest he could ever get. After that, Ryu sat up and straightened his back, composing himself as he loosened his grip on Takeda's shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles he'd made.

"Sorry for going off on you Take," he said, standing up and brushing the grass from his knees. "I gotta go. English tutor's going to be waiting at home." He smiled weakly and fled.

. o . o .

Takeda found it hard to breathe. Even though Ryu was no longer crushing his chest, Takeda felt as if his heart remained trapped in a painful grip. How could he have guessed that Ryu felt that way when the boy never showed a sign of his feelings? How could Ryu have expected not to get hurt?

Ryu's confession had taken less than a minute, but with Ryu's face so close, rare emotion raw in his eyes, Takeda had forgotten everything else. He had even forgotten to assure Ryu that—that what? Takeda didn't like Ryu in that way. But the part of him that had not been shocked by Ryu's ferocity had been a little bit happy to see Ryu so emotional. It was the same part of him that had been happy when Ryu said he wanted to graduate with them, when Ryu came to school and befriended them again, when Ryu had let Takeda into his life just a little bit in the first horrible weeks he had been banned from school. The same part of him stopped breathing whenever Ryu smiled.

Hayato and the others approached Takeda moments after Ryu left. "That was some tussle," Tsuchiya commented worriedly.

"What did you say?" Hyuuga asked as he knelt beside Takeda and offered his hand to help the smaller boy stand.

"Nothing," Takeda stated, his eyes sliding to Hayato. "What?" he snapped, irritated at Tsuchiya and Hyuuga's insinuating looks. "I said nothing."

"Which is the problem, isn't it," Hayato said. Takeda huffed indignantly, refusing to look in anyone's eyes as Hyuuga helped him stand. "Listen, Take," Hayato said. "I left my laundry with your mom, so I gotta go pick it up. Come on, I'll help you get ready for that date while I'm at it."

. o . o .

Hayato flipped through the pages of that week's Jump magazine as he lounged on Takeda's bed, twirling the bookmark in his fingers. "You're wearing that?" Hayato asked when he glanced up.

"Yeah," Takeda said as he finished buttoning his shirt and smoothed it out. It was the one Ryu let him keep that one time, though after a couple runs through the wash it still smelled of Ryu and Ryu's cologne. It was the only dress shirt he had. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, nothing," Hayato said, "Just that you look like a little boy playing dress up is all." Takeda, who had moved on to taming his gnarly dyed hair, threw his hair brush at the cackling teenager. "In all seriousness," Hayato started once he was done laughing and Takeda had returned to fixing his hair, "what are you going to say to Ryu?"

Takeda's fingers stilled in his hair. He turned around to look in Hayato's general direction, but couldn't look him in the eye. "I don't want to hurt him," Takeda said regretfully, "but is there anyway of avoiding that?"

"Telling him the truth is the best you can do," said Hayato. "Don't leave him hanging." He flung charm card he had been using for a bookmark, spinning it with his dart throwing accuracy. It hit Takeda's forehead and fell to the floor, dedication side up. Hayato gathered his laundry basket and left, saluting Takeda with his crooked peace sign as he closed the door.

Takeda glanced down and picked up the paper charm to sit it on his bookshelf next to the other one. In neat script, the charm read, "For Takeda Keita's happiness, good fortune, and graduation." Even though he wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with the implication behind it, Takeda still smiled knowing that it was from Ryu.

. o . o .

"You seem distracted," Maki said.

"What? Oh." Takeda grinned sheepishly at Maki, taking his hand from his pocket and offering it to her.

"There you go," Maki laughed, reaching and grasping it. "Where are we going?"

"Just walking," Takeda said. "I wanted to take you somewhere special."

"And you're going to give me my White Day gift, right?" she teased, bumping his shoulder with hers.

"That too," Takeda grinned.

When they reached the neighborhood park, Maki gasped in excitement. "It's been so long since I've been to one of these!" Maki gushed, kicking of her shoes and pulling Takeda across the sandbox. She let go of his hand as she ran to the swing set. Takeda smiled at the girl in a cute dress getting excited over a play yard swing. He had fallen for the tough girl he saw on the bus, but he liked this childish side to her as well.

"I'm glad you like it," Takeda said, sauntering over and gently pushing the swing for her from the front so that he could see her look up at him as she teased.

"Big bad delinquent boys playing in he park?" Maki grinned. "What tough guys."

"Oh, you know you like us tough guys," Takeda shot back.

"But of course," Maki replied, batting her eyes.

A lull in conversation followed, but it was nice. The night was young, the store fronts across the way spilling light into the street. The street lamps shone on them, casting few shadows but giving Maki a soft yellow glow. "Maki-chan," he said, looking into her eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

After a long, heart-pounding moment, she said, "Okay."

Takeda drew a shaky and bent down, taller for once because Maki sat in her swing. He closed his eyes and leaned in slowly, relishing the feel of her breath on his lips. Then their foreheads met with a painful crack.

"Shit," he said, rubbing his aching forehead. "Sorry."

Maki winced as well, standing up from her swing. "Here, let's try again," she said, putting her hands on his neck. Takeda moved the hair from her eyes with a gentle sweep of his hand before leaning in. Her breath on his face reminded him of the rather one-sided fight with Ryu earlier, and he paused before Maki closed the gap.

When their lips touched, it was sweet and sticky with gloss. Absently, Takeda wondered if Ryu would kiss like this. Ryu's lips were thinner than Maki's and wouldn't taste like strawberries like she did. When Maki tilted her head and deepened the kiss, Takeda thought about if Ryu would be as experienced as Maki was at this kissing thing. Not that Takeda would know, because he had no reference. He did like the feel of her lips, though, moving soft and supple against his—

Maki pulled away abruptly. "Takeda-kun, what's up? You've been thinking about something else all night."

"Uh, nothing," Takeda stammered. At Maki's narrowed eyes, he corrected himself. "My friend Ryu has been having some home problems lately, and—"

"While we kiss?" Maki asked, voice rising in irritation.

Takeda staggered back, wide eyed. She was right; something was wrong with him if he was on a great date with the girl of his dreams and couldn't stop thinking about Ryu, and not just when they kissed. "I. . ." He sank into a swing in shock. "I think I might like a boy."

"Oh," Maki murmured, wrapping her arms around Takeda from the side. "Takeda-kun. It's okay."

"You're not upset?" Takeda asked, surprised.

"Of course not. It's not as if we're really serious, is it?" she responded. Takeda chuckled darkly when he thought of his reason for setting this date in the first place. "It's a shame though," Maki continued. "I was just starting to fall for you. At least I know that you really liked me when this started. After what you did for me back then, we can still be great friends, right?"

Takeda blew out a deep breath. He wanted to laugh really hard at the irony of the situation. He wanted to cry. "Stupid Ryu," he sighed quietly. "Happiness and good fortune my ass."