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Skipping classes wasn’t something that Mikoto was a stranger to. It wasn’t his first choice of an escape since he usually just slept through classes he couldn’t be bothered to follow, but every once in a while it became too much and he just had to get out. Sometimes the classroom was too stifling, the atmosphere too restraining, and he needed to run wild so he got out. Sometimes the idiots who liked to pick on Tatara because he was an easier target (too easy of an target) than Mikoto were in the same class, so Mikoto left in order to avoid bloodshed and its consequences(even though it was a pain, he really wanted to be over and done with high school). And sometimes, sometimes like today, he just needed a smoke.
Unfortunately, the school did not endorse such behavior, so he had to find a place where he could relax freely. There was no way that smoking in the hallways would pass undetected, and restrooms were out because Mikoto didn’t want to deal with anyone who might come in (and they were too filthy to sleep in). Most of the other delinquents seemed to prefer the roof as their hangout so Mikoto had taken to staying on the ground floor when didn’t want a fight, but some time to relax.
There was a part of the building that had worn out and where a part of the construction had gone out. It had been sort of temporarily fixed, but sometimes it rained through and there was always a chance of the fix giving out and more of the building coming crashing down. For these reasons the place was taped and proclaimed off limits to students. Still, the repairs were scheduled for next summer break (by which Mikoto should be out of high school) so this made it a perfect place to escape to.
Further down the sealed off corridor was another way out of the school. It had all the characteristics of a main entrance (double doors, wide stairs, path that led to it, roof over it), but even before the collapse it had only been used as an emergency exit in fire drills that the school organized from time to time. The main reason being the school fence, which was some good ten paces away from the entrance. And lacking any door. In other words, it was just too impractical.
Still, it was outside (which was its selling point as far as Mikoto was concerned), and was for some reason never locked. Even better, nobody ever came there. Or, more accurately, nobody ever had before today.
The guy sitting on the stairs turned to face him when Mikoto opened the door. He didn’t know the guy’s name, but his face rang some kind of a bell in Mikoto’s head. He had dark blue hair with side-swept bangs and he wore glasses, so Mikoto couldn’t really determine the color of his eyes clearly. The way he looked and held himself just screamed pristine and posh, so Mikoto wasn’t really surprised to see he was wearing the armband that marked him as the member of the student council (probably where Mikoto remembered his face from).
Usually, Mikoto tended to avoid this sort of people. Rule-sticklers weren’t really his choice of a company because they tended to be as much, if not more irritating than senseless thugs looking for a fight. They tended to drone on and on about rules and future and good behavior, none of the things that Mikoto was interested in in the least. This one, however, was serenely smoking on school property. That at least made him... interesting.
Breaking the staring contest they’d engaged in, Mikoto pulled out and lit his own cigarette.
“You do know that smoking on school property is forbidden?”
His voice didn’t match his face at all. Too deep. Probably warm, too (when he talked to people he didn’t dislike).
Closing his eyes, he let the nicotine hit wash over him.
“I didn’t know it was a student council privilege.”
Posh Glasses stared at him for a long moment, before a smile spread on his face. Mikoto had a feeling that the guy got off on confusing people.
“For the order to be maintained, sometimes exceptions must be made.”
He almost snorted. What a pretentious non-answer.
“But it isn’t. A privilege.”
Posh Glasses wasn’t looking at him anymore.
Mikoto leaned back against the railing and contemplated his answer. That was almost an admission. Posh Glasses could probably twist it and present it as something less incriminating, but he’d basically admitted he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Mikoto didn’t know if Posh Glasses meant it that way, but he would take it as a peace offering, a silent agreement that as long as nobody else knew about it, he would pretend no rules were broken.
Guess he didn’t want to give this place up either, huh?
But he was done for today. And leaving. Now that he was closer and standing up, Mikoto could tell that they were about the same height. (Blue or violet, his eyes were one of those colors)
“Do go to class when you finish. It would be too bad if this place became unusable because you lingered for too long.” The glare that followed that sentence could have frozen the heavens.
Even the door didn’t make a sound when it closed behind him. Pretentious posh asshole indeed.
-
Mikoto had entertained the idea of finding another place to smoke in for about ten seconds before deciding that Posh Glasses being there didn’t really make a difference and that if he didn’t like it, he could find another place himself. And maybe he had, because for almost a month following their first encounter, every time Mikoto had gone for a smoke break the emergency exit had been blissfully void of any other people.
Of course, this meant that the one time Mikoto desperately wanted to be alone, Posh Glasses made a reappearance.
The day in itself had started well enough. He’d dozed through his first two classes and zoned out during the third. He’d met up with Tatara for lunch, and it had been fairly relaxing until some guy had thrown some stupid comment that had Tatara faltering in his steps. That was where things had started going sour.
Tatara had tried to laugh it off, and kept on insisting that he was in no trouble, but there was a nervous tilt to it that made Mikoto’s blood boil. It hadn’t helped that the guy who’d made the comment had been in his next class, so Mikoto’d had 45 minutes to seethe and reach a breaking point. He’d cornered the guy after class and found out that he and some idiots have been kicking Tatara around for a few days. Nothing really serious, in the bastard’s words, just checking how weak the kid who hung out with infamous Suoh Mikoto was. Mikoto had put the fear of God into him and was sure that they would leave Tatara alone from now on, but it wasn’t enough. There would be proper retribution later, but for now, Mikoto needed to get away before later became now and he got suspended or expelled for sending another student to the hospital.
As it was, he was in no frame of mind to deal with Posh Glasses. The fact that he was there in the first place was currently pissing him off, even if the guy was doing nothing but leaning against a railing and trying to light his cigarette.
Just for that, Mikoto sent him a glare with the force of hundred Hells behind it. Posh Glasses glared right back.
With the greetings out of the way, Mikoto made his way to the railing he’d claimed as his own. He was about to light his own relief when he became aware of the incessant noise. The persistent clicking was on its way to strip him of the last shed of control he had over his bloodlust.
He glared at Posh Glasses again; at him and his annoying lighter which was obviously not working, either broken or out of fluid.
Seeing no other way he would get some peace and quiet, Mikoto pushed himself off the railing and made his way over. Posh Glasses looked up from his lighter just in time to see Mikoto lighting both of their cigarettes. (The guy didn’t look nearly as standoffish when he was he was caught off guard)
Quiet ensured, Mikoto returned back to his own railing.
“Thank you.”
Mikoto just grunted in response. Hopefully Posh Glasses wouldn’t take this one nice (not really, he’d done it for the sake of his own sanity) thing as an incentive to try and actually talk to him.
He didn’t. He just stood there, all regal looking, and breathed in his own poison. Somehow, smoking really suited him. It gave him another dimension, made him not just a student council member (who would probably try and stop him from going after those assholes, fuck).
With his anger back full force, Mikoto ended up lighting another cigarette before Posh Glasses had even finished his first.
“That bad?”
And why would you care?
“None of your business.”
Posh Glasses smiled and Mikoto had half a mind to go over there and punch the expression off his face.
“Suit yourself.”
And that was it.
This time when he was finished, Posh Glasses left without a word.
-
An open pack of cigarettes thrust in his face greeted him three days later.
Mikoto stared at Posh Glasses’ smiling face for a moment (probably violet), before taking one and going over to his railing to light it.
“I am guessing that whatever plagued you last time has been resolved successfully?”
Mikoto grunted in response. He didn’t think those assholes would even dare to look in their direction again.
“I am going to take that to mean ‘yes’.”
Seriously, did he have to be pissed off to Hell and back for this guy to be quiet? And where did that sullen behavior from their first meeting go? Actually, what did this guy want anyway?
“Why do you keep trying to talk to me?”
Posh Glasses just sighed.
“You are the only one here, are you not?”
Somehow, that sounded both condescending and very lonely at the same time.
“You look like the type to talk to yourself.”
That got him a smile; one with a wicked undertone.
“Ah, but you don’t look like someone who could follow that conversation.”
Mikoto felt his lips stretch into a smile around the cigarette.
“How nice of you to think about me.”
Asshole.
(He was right about the voice)
-
Mikoto was already at his railing when Posh Glasses walked in, posture even more rigid than usual.
“That bad?”
Posh Glasses turned to look at him, seemingly only noticing him now, and let out a huff. He didn’t answer until his own cigarette was burning and some tension had left his shoulders.
“Bad enough that I would prefer your company.”
Mikoto shrugged, “Then quit.”
The look he got in response clearly said Posh Glasses thought that was the stupidest thing he’d said so far. Mikoto fought back another shrug. His own fault if he wanted to make things complicated.
And then Posh Glasses let out a little laugh and shook his head.
“Maybe if you stopped leaving a trail of broken bodies behind you, I could.”
Hoh?
So Posh Glasses did know who he was and still hadn’t turned him in?
“You wouldn’t.”
From the look on his face, Mikoto knew he also realized they weren’t talking just about his position anymore.
“No, I would not.”
Mikoto didn’t even bother hiding the resulting smile.
“Masochist.”
Posh Glasses chuckled.
(It suited him much better)
-
It really shouldn’t have surprised him that just after they’d started getting along, he saw Posh Glasses outside of their hideout. After all, seeing a student council member in a school hallway wasn’t a particularly uncommon sight.
However, he’d just split up with Tatara a moment ago since their classes were in different parts of the building and the only thing he’d been prepared for was sleeping in class. The sudden thought that he didn’t know what their silent agreement dictated they do in case they crossed paths in school completely blindsided him.
Thankfully, Posh Glasses seemed to be absorbed in something another student was saying and hadn’t noticed Mikoto. It was kind of surreal watching him in his natural environment. Being in a position of authority really did come naturally to him. His public face was even more calm and composed than the one Mikoto got to see during smoke breaks. (It kind of made him want to break his composure)
“Munakata-san!”
Another student entered the picture and Posh Glasses turned to talk to him.
Munakata, huh?
Now that he thought about it, Tatara had mentioned something about a Munakata Reisi holding the top spot in exam rankings since he’d entered high school. How unsurprising. If Mikoto hadn’t already known better, he would have thought him a picture perfect example of a person he couldn’t stomach.
Still, watching him follow that other student down the hallway and out of his sight made him realize that, while he’d avoided one silent agreement conundrum, he’d gotten another one in its place.
What did he do with a name he couldn’t use?
-
“Hello.”
Well, that was new.
“Haven’t seen your face in a while.”
The slight chuckle that elicited wasn’t so rare anymore.
“The school festival has entered the preparation stage so I didn’t have the time to come and entertain you.”
Mikoto turned his head to properly look at Munakata from his place at the railing. He didn’t look any different from usual, but Mikoto couldn’t help his eyebrow going up.
“Shouldn’t that mean you’d be here more often?” Even as he was saying that, his hand was reaching into his pocket and offering Munakata a cigarette of his own. Munakata took it and settled next to him on the railing.
“Ah, but not everyone can afford to live a languid life like you do.”
He couldn’t tell if it was because he’d recently found out Munakata’s, but he could almost hear his own name unspoken at the end of that sentence.
“Only stupid people put themselves through unnecessary suffering.”
Because festival preparations beginning meant that exam season was just around the corner and even Munakata wouldn’t be able to handle that without getting completely worn out in the end.
It must have struck a nerve, because suddenly the air around him felt a lot more oppressive. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone and Munakata was pushing his glasses up, a quirk to his lips. He’d obviously gotten the jab at his academic record.
“I think that in this case we will just have to disagree on what makes a person smart.”
Mikoto threw his head back and exhaled the smoke towards the sky.
“Aa”
-
Mikoto missed him by a breath next time.
He’d fallen asleep and when he’d woken up the familiar scent of smoke was still lingering. He knew it must have been Munakata because the sole reason he’d decided to have a nap in the first place was because he’d run out of cigarettes and hadn’t yet bought a new pack. And nobody except Munakata would have taken care not to wake him.
He wasn’t exactly a well-liked person; most other students held some sort of a grudge against him and would have used this opportunity to try and launch a sneak attack and get back at him. (Of course, that would mean that they had to have had enough brains to find this place in the first place)
The only other person who wouldn’t have woken him up was Tatara, and Tatara didn’t smoke.
He should have felt more surprised that Munakata had let him sleep. Instead, he just felt something like fondness spreading through his chest.
Don’t linger, huh?
-
Spending time there became more of a habit after that. Even if he didn’t have a particular need to smoke, somehow his feet would end up leading him to the emergency exit, hoping that maybe a familiar face would be there, waiting. More often than not, he didn’t hope for nothing. For all his (continuous and annoying) talks about order and responsibility, Munakata was there almost every time.
How they passed the time depended on their mood. Sometimes they traded insults almost lazily. Sometimes Mikoto put in extra effort and tried to rile him up, but Munakata had caught on to that almost instantly and was now often the first one to throw a barbed comment his way.
There were times that they spent in complete silence too. Usually when Munakata was so visibly tired that the only thing Mikoto said was some variation of “get some rest” when leaving. (That never failed to get him a tired smile in return) And sometimes things went bad for Mikoto too (be it Tatara or Izumo; Mikoto didn’t have any pressing concerns himself) and he ended up spending his time with Munakata being quiet, thoughts focused on blood and destruction and revenge.
Munakata had tried to talk him out of it only once (to this date it was probably their only real argument. If Mikoto dismissing all his logical reasoning could be considered an argument) before giving up with a resigned “just don’t leave too much of a mess for me to clean up behind.” (He had. The look Munakata had given him after that was reminiscent of the glare he’d sent him when they’d first met. His one-worded apology had been met with a sigh)
He wouldn’t really call what they had friendship because they both seemed content with staying away from any personal topics, but it was comfortable – a getaway routine they indulged in when everything else became too much.
But as suddenly as it had begun, it ended.
-
About a week from the start of exams Mikoto was lounging at the stairs when Munakata came through the door.
“Hello.”
Mikoto raised a hand in greeting and wasn’t at all surprised to see Munakata take a place on the stairs next to him. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d never complained, but Munakata seemed to completely disregard the concept of personal space. This time he even went as far as to light his cigarette on the end of Mikoto’s.
“Stingy.”
Munakata was apparently as amused by that answer as Mikoto was.
“There is no need to waste additional resources when other, more economical, are freely available.”
Mikoto snorted.
“Still takes you half a day to spit out a sentence.”
“Should I have used simpler words so that you could actually understand?”
Asshole. He knew Mikoto could understand him just fine.
“No wonder you enjoy such a stuffy position. You even spew fancy bullshit on instinct.”
That actually got him a chuckle.
Mikoto turned to face him and instead of his usual expression was greeted with a one he hadn’t seen before. There was a strange little smile playing on Munakata’s lips.
“Not for much longer, though.”
Seriously, he was getting all nostalgic on Mikoto now?
“I doubt graduating will make you finally talk like a normal person.”
“I should be saying that to you.”
Mikoto took another drag and leaned back on his elbows.
“What are you going to do after graduation?”
He looked at the sky before closing his eyes and exhaling.
“Who knows.”
The exasparation at that answer was almost physically palpable.
“You’re probably gonna go to some equally stuffy school to match the way you to talk,” he offered in an attempt to break the weird mood that was settling over them, but Munakata wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Who knows.”
He didn’t know either, huh? Not that he had much to worry about; there was no way he could be anything other than successful, no matter what he did. Happy though... He put out the cigarette on the stairs and was immediately offered a new one. He took a Blue Spark without a word and lit it.
Munakata must have decided to really test his boundaries today because his face was suddenly about an inch away from Mikoto’s. (Violet. Definitely violet) For a few moments nobody moved, and then Munakata was pulling back. Mikoto blinked and took another drag.
Huh, looked like he was gonna kiss me for a moment.
But Munakata gave no indication as to what exactly that had been. He stood up and stepped on the end of his own cigarette.
“This is probably the last time we’ll meet like this, what with the exams only a week away.”
Shouldering that much responsibility couldn’t be healthy. Not to mention the added pressure to remain number one (not that Mikoto doubted he would be anything less). But, Munakata had never stopped him from doing as he pleased so he would return the favor.
“Don’t overwork yourself to death.”
“Only if you promise not to fall asleep during exams.”
Never stopped him from nagging, though.
“Too much effort.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“And you’re overly sentimental. You’ll be at the festival, right?”
A nod.
“Then we’ll probably run into each other.”
Tatara would be overjoyed that Mikoto wanted to go of his own free will. Things Mikoto did to make people smile.
“I guess I will see you then.”
“Aa. See you then.” Munakata.
This time when the doors closed, Mikoto felt like the sound was too loud; almost as bitter as the syllables he hadn’t managed to push past his lips.
-
(They wouldn’t see each other at the festival.)
(The first time Mikoto got to use his name would be three years later in a conversation that would establish them as Kings on the opposite sides of the field.)