Chapter Text
After collapsing in Yoshida's arms, the boy couldn't be woken up, no matter how hard the hunter tried. In the end, he had to reluctantly carry Denji on his back from his apartment all the way to the latter's. Naturally he got plenty of questionable looks from the strangers on the streets and on the bus, but what other choice did he have?
There was no way he'd have Denji stay over at his place, he couldn't even begin to imagine the sort of problems he'd run into with Nayuta. So, before leaving, he made sure to change the boy's shirt into his own and brush the boy's teeth, thoroughly getting rid of the strong stench of alcohol intertwined with chunks of vomit. And when he dropped him off at his house, Nayuta opened the door with a look of discontent.
"Why is Denji so late!? And why is he sleeping!?"
Smoothly, Yoshida feigned a look of guilt and made sure to smile politely through his lie, "sorry, we were so busy studying and forgot to check the time," Nayuta scoffed at the two and Yoshida's flimsy apology. Then, he carried Denji to his room, listening to the relentless lecturing from Nayuta, before bidding goodbye to the little girl.
When Yoshida got back to his apartment, he headed straight to the bathroom, cleaning up the mess Denji made before they left. He then recalled Denji's half-assed, drunken confession. He's sure that if he had heard Denji say such words to him in the past, he would've been levitating, but it didn’t change the fact that; now Yoshida doesn't want any of it. The blond's got something of a midas touch, Yoshida thinks– though instead of gold, everything Denji touches turns into a problem that sends the hunter one step closer to insanity.
He's fixing his problems, keeping him out of trouble, teaching him lessons, making him his food, cleaning up the vomit he convulsed in his bathroom.
And Yoshida didn’t lose his composure, he never does. But just for that night, he stared into his pitiful reflection and let the blood on his knuckles run down the tip of his fingers. He'll clean up the wound and the shards tomorrow.
Over the next few days, Yoshida isn't entirely sure if Denji remembers all the events that took place that forsaken night, but it’s clear that he definitely listened when the hunter told him not to be a bother. No longer does he seek out for him during or after school, that's at least one relief.
With that being said, the hunter realizes quite quickly that just because Denji isn't talking to him anymore, doesn't mean he hasn't stopped trying to be part of his daily routine. Hanging out with his other classmates more, Denji has been exposed to the schemes they were constantly plotting against Yoshida.
Afraid to defy them, knowing they'd definitely start tormenting him like they used to, Denji chooses not to tell them to stop, plus it's not like they would listen anyway. So instead, the boy swears he'll do anything in his power to at least prevent them from getting to the hunter.
Denji begins to take mental notes of their plans. Cleaning up their mess after they're gone and before Yoshida would have the chance to see. Sometimes they'd plant rotten food inside his desk or shove notes in his locker with nasty words. Denji would clean out the garbage and take back the childish letters, careful not to let anyone find out that he has been the one getting in the way of their work.
Of course eventually, both Denji's friends and Yoshida began to notice something strange. They often wonder why their plans never seem to get to Yoshida, while the hunter is off put by how much less they've been tormenting him. Although, the hunter caught on that Denji had something to do with it.
During class, some of the boys decided it'd be a good idea to throw small crumpled up paper right at the back of the hunter's head. In the distance, the sounds of their light snickering is heard, but unlike Yoshida who's ronically quite unbothered, Denji couldn't stand the sight. Not one bit.
So, he takes it upon himself to rip his own piece of paper, writing the words, "Yoshida is an idiot" , then crumpling it up and discreetly throwing it right at the back of the teacher's head. The words are bad enough to come off as insensitive but nowhere near as bad as what his so-called friends intended.
Immediately, the teacher turns around with rage in his eyes, and around him, Denji could hear the boys asking who the hell had an aim so bad that they threw the paper at the teacher rather than the actual target.
The teacher picks up the paper and reads the words inside out loud. He's appalled, shocked to see that someone is willing to write anything bad about the top student of the class. He asks with much anger, who had done such a thing, but when nobody spoke up, he directly asks Yoshida if he has any idea about who could've done such a thing.
Surprised by the bold mistake himself, Yoshida turned around to take a look at the boys that had been bothering him for the past few weeks. Their bodies filled with fear, not wanting to get into any trouble, but when his gaze briefly lands on the blond, he notices a sneaky grin on his face, one that screams mischief, and the answer is so obvious that Yoshida couldn’t believe he even bothered to get surprised.
"So you did that on purpose, huh? Pretty smart."
But when the teacher asks him for the potential culprit's name, Yoshida said it isn't a big deal and that his friends were just playing around a bit too much.
Upon hearing that, the teacher hesitantly chose to listen to his words and continued the lesson by Yoshida's request. While his bullies are relieved that they didn't get ratted out, Denji couldn't believe he just let their crude actions slide. That was his chance to call them out and yet he didn't. Denji wanted so badly to tell Yoshida to take back what he said and to just put those assholes in their place, but the words were never said.
Though Yoshida obviously doesn't seem to mind, it really left the boy feeling uneasy, unable to cope with how all of the bullying was caused by his hands. Even when he apologized it wasn't enough, and when he promised to be a better friend it led to nothing. Protecting him in this way was the only method Denji could think of— but was Yoshida even aware of his actions?
Denji is slow and actively lacks basic observational skills. Despite being sloppy with his ways in the hunter’s eyes, he wasn’t sure if the hunter even knew about his efforts, and if he didn't know about his hard work, how is him “saving” the hunter going to fix their friendship?
A new idea comes to mind the next morning while he's brushing his teeth. What if he makes lunch for Yoshida instead? He used to always do it for Denji, it's about time he returns the favor.
After giving the plan some more thought, it only made Denji feel more enthusiastic.
He isn't as skilled as Yoshida, he knows that much. He isn’t able to decorate the bento as elegantly as the hunter, the color of the dish is much duller and short of any vegetables. All the boy really does is put some rice he had sitting in the rice cooker and a poorly fried egg with ketchup drizzled at the top in the shape of a smiley face. Still he's proud of himself for even putting in the effort.
As he walks to school, he thinks about how much he’d actually changed recently and it was all because of Yoshida. Denji didn’t think he’d ever find himself giddy at the thought of doing something good for another boy, yet there he is smiling optimistically, already imagining the kind of reaction he’d get when Yoshida saw his little token of peace and appreciation.
When he arrives at school, the blond makes sure to get there a lot earlier than usual so he could place the bento in the hunter’s desk without being seen. Nayuta was shocked to say the least, seeing how Denji was able to get ready and leave for school so punctually for no apparent reason— he didn’t think telling her his plans would be safe.
He sits patiently at his desk after that. Waving hello to the students that came to greet him, a gesture he still isn't very used to, while scanning the entrance for any sign of the black haired boy. Once he comes, Denji's smile drops and his lips press into a thin line. He's much too nervous to look, not wanting to be too obvious about his curious stare. Still he watches him from the corners of his eyes, noticing him strut into the classroom with his usual, cold stride, avoiding the judgment that surrounded him.
But when he sits at his desk, a mysterious box peeks out from inside, catching his attention. He pulls it out and the other students watch, teasing him relentlessly about how one of his "bitches" must've prepared his lunch for him.
"Well, well, I guess a whore like you still has a chance, huh?"
Denji almost kicks the boy and his foul mouth right there, but Yoshida isn't even listening. He opens the box and is somewhat unsettled by its contents. The rice was old, he could tell by its brownish tint and dry grains. The raw yolk is running, staining the box and the lid in a yellow and unappetizing manner. Not to mention the red tomato sauce spread everywhere, making more of a mess than it already is.
A boy slings his arm around his shoulders and takes a look at the bento, cringing at the sight. "Hah! Look at that crap. My dog can make something better than that," he mocks, adding more insult to injury. This must've been another one of those idiots' elaborate schemes to piss him off, Yoshida thinks.
Feeling vexed, he closes the bento, shoving the boy behind him off his back. He goes over to the trash can then throws it in as everyone watches with amusement in their leers. All but one that is.
Right before his hand could drop the thoughtfully made bento, Denji yells, "wait!" But it was too late and the impact of the box against the ground engulfs his heart with a very specific kind of pain. One he deems familiar.
His hard work, though not very well put he could admit, laughed at, degraded, and thrown mindlessly into the trash along with his sincerity. Down to the core of his being he feels embarrassed, he also senses his chest aching, just like that time Yoshida threw the octopus keychain Denji won for him at the arcade long ago when the hunter thought he wasn't looking.
When their eyes meet, Denji hopes it's in his imagination, but he could feel water pooling in his eyes as they stared at one another from across the room.
Upon learning that Denji was responsible for the bento, his friends cheer him on, praising him for finally joining in on messing with their favorite victim. But Yoshida knowd it wasn't any sort of joke. The sadness in the blond's face had him realizing the severity of his mistake.
Despite their respective mental turmoil, school had to go on, and as it did, the strength of Denji's fragile ego ate away at him. It swallowed him whole to the point that his shame wouldn't let him focus on anything else.
During his lunch break he doesn’t even have it in him to tell Asa why he's feeling particularly down. Besides asking him what was wrong, she doesn't bother pressing him further for more answers. All he says to her is that he's fine and that was enough for her to guess that the issue had something to do with Yoshida.
Flooded with the urge to crawl in a hole and stay there until he rots, the only thing that brings him comfort is the sound of the bell signaling the students that it's time to go home. The boy packs his things rather quickly and impatiently, only to be stopped by the watchful teacher.
"Not so fast, Denji," He said, pointing at the chalkboard. His name, alongside another student's, is written in the bottom right corner, under another set of writings, "Cleaning Duty."
Denji curses to himself, but figures it isn’t too bad so long as he isn’t stuck with the hunter. So he stays back, waiting for everyone to leave and it's just him and some other guy Denji doesn't have the energy to acknowledge. Heaving a relieved sigh as he watches Yoshida fade out of the classroom with the crowd.
Cleaning duty isn't so bad, Denji thinks. Clearing up the board, sweeping the floors, folding the chairs up onto the desk is doing some good in easing his busy mind, though that's before he realizes he had been doing at least 90% of the work while his partner dilly-dallied his way through the task. All he did was wipe the windows half-heartedly and said he'd take the trash out.
"You're doin' a good job, man!" He said, "Don't let me hold ya back! I'll throw this out and leave it to ya. See you Monday!" Then he's off with the wind, leaving no time for the boy to protest.
He's bitter when the guy leaves, throwing the broom on the ground and leaning by the opened window for some fresh air. The sun is setting and the loud bustling of teens are quieting down by the minute. His gaze wanders to the students that would go on their way in pairs. They remind him of himself and Yoshida before things between them got bad then eventually worse.
He reminisces for a bit, reeling in his wistful moment, wondering if it was all too late, only for the calm to be disrupted by the opening of the sliding door behind him.
"Just go home, dude! I don't need your help!"
The truth is, he just doesn't want some random guy seeing him in such a pathetic state.
However, when the person calls out to him, the hairs in the back of Denji's neck raise and stiffen. It seems like it has been so long since he heard him speak of his name so gently.
The hunter's eyes are soft on him, and his slow steps echo in the empty classroom as he makes his way closer to the sheepish boy. It's almost a nostalgic sight to see Yoshida looking so, for lack of a better word, kindly at him.
Standing only a meter away from each other, Yoshida finally said, "it's time to stop all this, Denji." Though there isn't even a hint of animosity in his tone, it's enough for Denji to break a sweat.
"It wasn’t a joke!" He defends, desperately not wanting to be put in the same group as those good for nothing idiots. "I was actually stopping them! I cleaned up their shit and made sure they didn't-"
"That's what I'm talking about. You need to stop helping me, Denji."
Yoshida asks him then, if he remembers what happened the night he got drunk and came to Yoshida's apartment.
Being as intoxicated as he was, Denji admits he doesn't remember much, except that he could vaguely recall the hunter telling him to go home and not bother him– that and throwing up in his bathroom.
"You remember that, but still you don't listen?"
"I left you alone though, didn't I..?" With each word his voice drifted into a hesitant whisper and all the hunter could do was bore into him.
"If you don't want me around, can't I at least do this?"
The hunter huffs, leaning over the window next to the blond, "and if you get caught? Those friends of yours will turn on you in the blink of an eye, I hope you realize that. You and I will be treated much worse than what's going on with me now,"
Denji stays quiet and Yoshisa takes the opportunity to keep going, "it's not like anything we say will make them stop. The school would have to take action. They'll put us in different classes respectively."
The blond imagines going to class without Yoshida anywhere in sight.
"Then, it's possible that Public Safety will send a different hunter to watch over you. They'll put me in a different school and on a different case-"
"That's not happening!"
"You told me you liked me, Denji. Remember that? What am I supposed to do with that? If you're going to continue this game of yours, I might as well ask to be transferred now,"
"I..did?"
"Yes, you did. Now you want to hang around me again and risk ruining what you've got now? Because of guilt? Or because you want more?"
Denji couldn't remember ever confessing such a thing, heck, he still had a hard time admitting to himself that he does in fact have feelings for the boy. Though he knows Yoshida wouldn't lie, not about this at least.
"I'll…I'll be careful, I swear!"
The boy remains as stubborn as ever. He pulls Yoshida's arm and forces him to face his way, "I'll be good this time, I swear, really!"
He promises the hunter, no more fighting, no more arguing, no more getting in his way, no more being a pain, as long as they can start over for the last time. No more of the back and forth. "Let's go back to your place after school and study together again," he begs. "Let's go hangout during the weekends," he pleads.
Yoshida isn't sure what came over him then, maybe it's the desperation in the boy’s glossy eyes and reddened cheeks that made him pity the boy so much. Or maybe he just wants to get it all over with, but he decides that complying might just be the fastest way out of it all.
What's the worst that can happen? If it goes to hell one more time, all Yoshida has to do is request for a replacement. "Fine, let's try again…" he succumbs.
Denji bites his lip in utter joy and gratefulness, crushing him in a hug that says he won't let him go.
And maybe it's the fact that deep down it feels pretty okay to know that, despite the wrath from the people around him, there's one person that remains willing to say they still want him around.