Hands All Over [R18; cazuki x ukeme]

[ukemextreme]

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X and Y live in two different worlds -- X is the binbou (poor) prince of a prestigious all-boys school while Y is simply the 'prince'. One circumstance leads to another and Y finds himself dancing at the palm of X's hand.

 

Love is a game for X but will it be for Y?

 

 

 

 

[ X ]

 

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[td]Name: Mugen Muritaka[/td]

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[td]Age/Year: 19 - 2nd Year[/td]

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[td]Personality: A little bit of a loner, Mugen prefers to stay alone or with one or two other people, mostly because of an introverted nature. He is not shy and actually quite brash and dull when needs be. But, he is also cunning and has a strange interest in the working of human psyches.[/td]

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[td]Likes: Learning about a person's psyche, sitting alone and thinking or napping, people who know when to shut up, reading, wordplay, (occasionally) physical activities[/td]

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[td]Dislikes: Loud and annoying people, large crowds, storms, people he cannot understand[/td]

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[td]Background: A binbou prince of the prestigious all-boys school, Mugen is one of the few who gained access to the school not through favors or money, but through scholarship. Because of this, he is marked among the students and under constant scrutiny of teachers and students alike. Unlike many though, who would take up an enmity with those who act better than him, Mugen has resolved that status means little to nothing. Due to this, his life in school has had very few bumps, but also has had very few exciting stories to tell. Mugen is, however, keen to rectify such an error.[/td]

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[ Y ]

 

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[td]Name: Haruto Ushuzima[/td]

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[td]Age/Year: 18 - 2nd Year[/td]

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[td]Personality:Haruto likes to be in the spotlight. He's loud and childish when with friends but he would occasionally have an alone time with himself. He has a tendency to want attention and would do everything just to have you lay your eyes on him.[/td]

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[td]Likes: good music, good company, sweets, furry stuff, attention[/td]

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[td]Dislikes: people ignoring him[/td]

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[td]Background: Haruto is considered to be one of the richest and smartest among the students of his school. However, no one knows that his tendency to not like the lack of attention was due to his parents' upbringing. His father is a well-known politician and his mother is a renown social butterfly thus Haruto rarely sees them both. He doesn't even remember the last time that they ate together on the dinner table. Due to this, Haruto Ushuzima lives his entire life pleasing himself by hearing praises.[/td]

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WARNING:

 

BDSM may not be off the table

as the story progresses

[Cazuki101]

For Mugen Muritaka, it was a good day. Or, at least, something he would class as good. It was lunch-time at the academy and the sun’s rays fell lazily down onto where Mugen was sprawled on a bench, packed lunch empty and abandoned on the vibrant green floor. He liked the summer, to some extent. The excess heat was sometimes trying and the aura of excitement and bustle among the students annoying, but he had to admit, the sky not being black and dull and bleak did lift his spirits. The bench he lay on stood in one of the few grassy areas of the Academy campus, with a few trees staggered about including a large and particularly green one above him, which caused the sun’s rays to come down in beautiful shimmers on his white shirt and black jacket, which hung loosely on his slim frame. The area was fairly quiet, as many preferred to congregate within the many common rooms of the school or more central areas where access to any one of it's large number of facilities was easy.

 

It was peaceful and Mugen smiled as he dozed on the bench. Yes, it seemed like nothing could distract from his good mood right now. He hadn’t had to deal with any unsavoury people. In fact, besides a few ‘hello’s and ‘how are you today’s he hadn’t really spoken to anyone, which suited him just fine. Maybe he’d go and talk to an acquaintance later today, but, for now, before the next few lessons started, he decided he wanted a quick nap.

 

(Sorry if it's a bit short.)

[ukemextreme]

18-year old Haruto Ushuzima arrived late as per usual.

 

He did not bother running up the steps to his classroom nor did he even so much thought about hurrying to, at least, come in before the teacher does. No one payed attention to his tardiness anyway. I'm this school's pride after all, he thought. When he reached the 2nd floor, he took off his earphones and went in to his classroom with a smile. He bowed to his homeroom teacher and immediately went to his own seat by the wall. His friends, who all opted to sit around him like pawns and knights on a chessboard, greeted him with nods and 'hey's. He returned them all with cheery greetings.

 

Break time came and Haruto was bombarded with the latest news and gossips (well, boys gossiped too but not so excessively as to deem them unmanly) but he only listened to them halfheartedly. He sighed and wished for something interesting to happen...something that could challenge his popularity or what-else.

 

It was when his eyes wandered to a napping boy on a bench -- one that was somehow hidden when viewed from the faculty room. Muritaka was it? This boy was in his year but he never saw him look at him once. Not once. Like never. It intrigued him and he thought if that Muritaka boy hated him or something.

 

The thought had always lingered in his mind and then forgotten. Right now, however, Haruto thought that he would be thinking about that boy more often.

[Cazuki101]

Mugen felt himself floating, as if on a cloud, in his dozing state. The world seemed to fall away under the power of sleep and he would have loved to continue to float in that peaceful world where no-one could annoy him. However, he felt a tingling sensation run through his body. He’d felt that before and he knew what it was. Someone was staring at him. His brows furrowed while his eyes were still closed and he grunted. Why couldn’t people mind their own business? He waited and hoped for the presence to go away. Sadly, yet predictably, it didn’t.

He moved slowly at first, shifting to his side and swinging his long legs onto the ground with a small thump. He stretched for a brief moment before suddenly moving his head like a snake and glaring in the direction where he felt the stare coming from. Golden-brown eyes scoured the green landscape and then looked slightly up into a room. He saw the person who was the likely culprit.

 

Staring at him from his perch on high was another boy (since this was an all-male school). From a distance, Mugen couldn’t distinguish much, but he could tell some things. The boy’s hair was blond, probably of the strawberry shade. His skin wasn’t pale, but not dark either, but a happy medium of the two that some would describe as angelic or princely. He seemed well-built too, from his broad shoulders and the way he filled out his white school shirt with well-done tie.

A prince… Mugen surmised in thought. He didn’t remember the man’s name, but decided that didn't matter as he looked away again, grabbing his fallen plain lunch-box and walking away, seeing as his haven had been breached and that lunch was nearly over.

As he walked away, the thoughts of the boy were cast from his mind and he walked to next class. Biology.

[ukemextreme]

"Hey hey," Haruto nudged his seatmate and tilted his head to the direction of the boy, "he's Muritaka, isn't he?" His friends leaned out of the window and nodded and murmured things like, 'not your biggest fan' and 'he's the poor prince' and such. The boy flinched slightly; he couldn't believe that the words 'not' and 'fan' went together in a sentence that involved him.

 

Unacceptable, he thought but it was slightly pushed to the back of his mind when the bell rang. Haruto stood up and headed for gym class.

 

The day ended more quickly than he had imagined. He soon found himself walking to the football field with a bunch of guys from his class. They were all hoping to have a game of football/soccer before the sun sets. Haruto spotted the bench where Muritaka laid on during lunch and thoughts of him not being his fan recurred in his mind. He pouted a bit, mindlessly looking down at the ball he was holding. One of his friends tapped his shoulder and asked if he was okay. He distractedly nodded, letting out a small smile. The boy nodded, grinned and told everyone a joke to which they all laughed at so boisterously. Haruto, now fully distracted from his previous thoughts, laughed rather loudly, his eyes closing in to form little crescents on his face.

 

With that, he bumped into someone taller than him, his nose hitting the other's jaw, when he turned around.

[Cazuki101]

Biology was boring, as usual. Mugen felt like falling asleep as the teacher, Dr. Jenfield, walked around the classroom, seemly dictating the entire textbook to the class. Mugen knew most of the subject matter anyway, which made the class even more pointless in his opinion. If asked, Mugen wouldn’t say he was a smart kid, just an observant one. Still, he had to have some degree of natural skill, considering he won a coveted scholarship to one of, if not the most, prestigious all-male high school in the country. Normally, under such exceptional circumstances, most would expect him to have at least some excitement in school. They’d expect it to be like a manga, where the under-dog binbou rises above the rich or is beaten down and saved by an unlikely person. However, real life was not a manga and even if they were, he wasn’t the type of man who believed in status or authority. In his opinion, everyone was the same; human. Of course, this philosophy had led to a very boring life and as Mugen closed his eyes, finally giving into his urges, he kept thinking that he was walking deeper and deeper into a rut.

And at only 19, a record. Isn’t this supposed to be the age of adventure?

A cough brought him back to life as he saw Dr. Jenfield looming above him.

“Do we have a problem, Mr. Muritaka?”

Mugen shook his head from side to side. Dr. Jenfield sighed and then turned away, continuing his lecture. There were a few sniggers, but nothing big. Mugen sighed inwardly. Yep, definitely not like a manga.

 

The day sailed past quite quickly after that, much to Mugen’s delight. He was the first to leave his last class and speed down the hallway, rushing to avoid the rush that came with the end of a school day. He’d always hated large crowds. They had no sense of order or direction and he felt trapped if he was within the confines of one. In record time, he burst out of the school, a huge battalion of students behind him.

 

Mugen practically ran across the campus until he reached the school fields. He finally stopped and gave a sigh of relief. Safe. Suddenly, he felt someone tap his back and he jumped, giving a small yelp of surprise as he turned around to see who it was.

“Muritaka-kun!~”

In front of Mugen stood a fair-headed man with bright blue eyes. He was a bit on the short side, but Mugen knew from experience he made up for it with his emotions. It was Kenchi Iwata, a ‘friend’ of his.

“What are you doing here Iwata?” he asked.

“Oh, come on, a friend can’t greet his friend?”

“We’re aqquanticies, not friends.”

“Whatever you say.”

Iwata had been stuck to Mugen since he had first entered the school. He supposed that Iwata felt a kinship with him, considering he didn’t exactly fit in either. His father was a wealthy Japanese business man, but his mother was American, leading to his strange eyes and hair colours which made him stick out like a torch. Despite every effort to shake the man off, Mugen had been unsuccessful and in the end had accepted Iwata, though he’d never tell him that and still acted cold.

 

“What do you want, Iwata? I’m busy.”

“Oh yes, busy going out with your abundance of friends.” Iwata said sarcastically.

“Shut up. What is it?”

“Can’t a friend want to walk home with a friend sometimes?”

“Not if that friend keeps smart-mouthing.”

“Aw, come on, smart-mouthing is my talent. You love me for it.”

In a way, that was true. While Iwata may have been annoying, he was entertaining and Mugen gained enjoyment from arguing with him. Not like he’d tell him that.

“Shut up… let’s go.” Mugen said, starting to walk in the direction of home. Suddenly, he felt someone's nose hit his jaw. His hand instantly reached for his jaw as he looked down on the person who had collided with him.

"Hey, look where you're goi..."

He stopped when he saw who it was. It the boy who had been staring at him at lunch-time.

"Who are you?" he asked.

[ukemextreme]

Haruto winced and rubbed his nose. The impact was quite painful especially if his nose was as fragile as the other parts of his face. He looked up, about to retort, but was stopped short when the other boy asked, "Who are you?"

 

It came as both a shock and an expectation. Or anything between the two. Either way, it made Haruto furrow his eyebrows. He gave the taller boy a hard look and said, "You don't know me? Hah. It's okay. I can't imagine someone like you to be my acquaintance anyway."

 

What he said came out as an insult and it was something he had done unintentionally (just because he was pissed mostly). Haruto studied Muritaka's face for any sign of quivering or cowering or whatever of the same sort. It was then that he realized how fragile-looking the other boy was. But despite all that, his face had an edge to it, an edge that Haruto couldn't place. His skin was pale and it highly contrasted his hair that was as black as night. His eyes were as black too but darker and fiercer, like a black hole about to suck you in.

 

And for the first time since he had let those words out of his mouth, Haruto felt something tighten in his chest that made him want to take it all back.

 

But there was no use crying over spilled milk; the only thing he could do now was to take responsibility for what he did and go on. So he continued, "I'm going to tell you this," he poked the other's chest, "I. Am. Haruto. Ushuzima. Please don't forget that name." His voice was shaky and low but he tried so hard to put in as much conviction as he could. He did not care now if the boy hated him as long as he got his attention.

 

Any kind of attention is good anyway, right?

[Cazuki101]

Mugen hadn’t asked the man his name to insult him, he honestly didn’t know. He didn’t know that many names, besides Iwata and a few of his other friends. This boy was a mystery to him. That was why he cocked a brow up when the boy looked positively scandalized by the incident. Why was the man giving him a hard look?

"You don't know me? Hah. It's okay. I can't imagine someone like you to be my acquaintance anyway."

It was phrased as insult. Iwata jumped in,

“Hey, lay off Mugen, Haruto. Just ‘cause he doesn’t know you, you don’t have to be an ass.”

“Iwata, shut it.” Mugen said, his voice oddly commanding. Iwata sensed the tone and for once obeyed, backing off.

Mugen saw that the other boy, who apparently was named Haruto, was studying him. Then he did something unusual. He smiled. It looked innocent.

“Like what you see?” he said jokingly, taking the advantage to study the other without being noticed. He was well-built, just as Mugen remembered from seeing him earlier, but it was funny considering he was actually shorter than him by a good half-a-head. His eyes were sky blue and had an ignorant quality to them that made Mugen smile. As he continued to observe, he felt something black bubble inside him. It was a familiar sensation. He was stopped as Haruto continued to speak.

"I'm going to tell you this," Mugen felt Haruto poke him on the chest, though he didn’t react, still smiling, "I. Am. Haruto. Ushuzima. Please don't forget that name." He had made three fatal errors in that statement. Firstly, he had told him his full name. It meant he wanted to be noticed by everyone and anyone, including Mugen. Secondly, he had said ‘please’, meaning he was desperate for such a thing and was possibly scared of Mugen. Thirdly, his voice was shaking, despite trying to sound like it had conviction, meaning he was nervous or scared.

You have made yourself too interesting, Haruto… Mugen thought. The black feeling seemed to be boiling now. It was the side of him that was interested in the workings of a human psyche, the side that loves to control another’s thoughts. He hadn’t it felt for a while, seeing as he had found no-one interesting enough in this school. Maybe life was like a manga sometimes.

Iwata, meanwhile, had jumped back in.

“Haruto, you don’t have to be such a d-“

“Iwata.” A single word, softly spoken, but with all the power of a battle cry behind it. Iwata suddenly tensed. He hadn’t heard Mugen talk like that before. He shifted back behind him.

 

Then, Mugen turned to Haruto. His finger was still on his chest, which was another mistake.

Haruto, you are an interesting man. That will be to your detriment, I’m afraid.

He grabbed the hand with the finger that was poking him and slowly brought it up to his mouth, still thinking.

Maybe I should play with you for a little while? It has been so boring…

He bent down slightly and brought his lips to the knuckles of Haruto’s hands.

Yes, let us start, shall we?

He kissed Haruto’s hand, like a prince in a movie.

Game start.

“I am so sorry for the mistaken identity,” As soon as the action had started, it ended and Mugen dropped Haruto’s hand. “I hope we see each other again, Haruto-chan.”

With that, he left. Iwata, completely shocked by the events unfolding, took a while to follow him.

 

When he caught up, he saw Mugen still smiling.

“Dude, what the hell was that, you’ve never been interested in guys before.”

“Iwata…” Mugen began, not even looking at him as he continued on “I think I’m in love.”

“What!?” Iwata shouted, utterly shocked, though he still ran with Mugen.

Yes, I am in love… with the game. Be wary, Haruto. I will make you scream for me to put my hands all over you!

 

(Title plug~)

[ukemextreme]

Haruto was dumbstruck. His eyes practically bulged from its sockets, as if someone wanted to gouge them out. Well that is if anyone could because even the gods can testify to how small his eyes were. Anyhow, Haruto was rendered speechless when Mugen took his hand and brought it to his lips, softly kissing his knuckles as if they were as fragile as glass. As if he was a princess. Or a prince who fell into the hands of a perverted prince from another kingdom. Or maybe yet, just an invalid.

 

Despite all these thoughts that raced through his head, he does not know why he could not make a comeback or do so much as slap the other boy's hand. Haruto only stared at him in disbelief, stuttering. "H-h-hey...wh-wha---?" He looked up at Mugen's face. His eyes looked as if he was enjoying what he was doing. Haruto's breath hitched.

 

Jesus, was he making fun of him?

 

Mugen lowered his hand a few moments later and said, "I am so sorry for the mistaken identity. I hope we see each other again, Haruto-chan." He walked away, leaving Haruto still processing everything that has happened. Did Mugen call him Haruto-chan? Did he just say that he hoped to see him again?

 

What the actual f---

 

"Fucking shit. How dare he...just...how dare he do that."

 

"The binbou prince, huh. I heard that he does have the nerve to do such stuff."

 

"Well, what a shitty guy. Doesn't he know who Haruto really is?"

 

All his friends rambled on. It irritated him -- a bit because worrying meant that they care for him. The 18-year old boy closed his eyes, took a deep breath and muttered, "Quit it you guys." He turned around and tossed the ball to one of them. "I guess I'll just go home for the day."

 

One of his friends patted his shoulder. "Will you be okay?"

 

Haruto smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Yeah! It was weird but hey, at least he knows me now. Right?" All the boys shrugged, taking his childish optimism as a sign of him being not wary.

 

For a moment, he also thought that this childish optimism of his will save him from further overthinking things.

 

However, Haruto came home that night with a creased forehead; even his butler was a tad bit worried about him. He had not touched his food and one of the maids even had to remind him that he had to take a bath before slipping into his pyjamas. Haruto had not studied that night. He laid down and stared at the ceiling, all the while thinking about what had happened.

 

The kiss...

 

The look in Mugen's eyes...

 

"AAAARRRGHHH!" he groaned, shaking his head from side to side, "Forget what happened. Just forget what happened. Ugh." When he got dizzy and stopped, he realized how hard his heart was pounding. Haruto clutched at his chest.

 

Why does my kokoro pound so much?

 

It hurt. He clutched on to it tighter. He thought that the other boy was trying to give him a heart attack...

 

"Wait. Shit. What if he really was?"

 

Haruto, once again, knitted his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. He fell asleep that night thinking how much he hated Mugen Muritaka for giving him a bad first meeting.

 

 

(lol~ the "game" begins)

[Cazuki101]

After the event at school, Mugen and Iwata had walked home. Mugen smiled to himself as he remembered Iwata’s frantic expression at having been told that Mugen was in love.

“You cannot be serious!? Dude, you just met him!”

“And? Your point? ‘Love has no bounds’, isn’t that a phrase you use?”

“Yeah…” Iwata paused, he had indeed said that phrase many, many times in the past. He was a cassa nova, except, well, he rarely had any girlfriends. “But not with someone you just met and anyway, I thought you were asexual dude.”

Mugen had to try hard not to spit a biting retort at that, instead continuing to look nonplussed.

“I just didn’t find anyone good enough until now. Besides, can’t man fall in love at first sight with another man?”

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around, expecting to be told off or something. Instead, Iwata seemed to be crying.

“Wha-“

“You’re right Muritaka, how could I be so blind? It is a beautiful thing, love at first sight. You have my blessing and support.”

Mugen had to hide his face so Iwata couldn’t see the grin splitting across it. Oh god, this was hilarious. Maybe he should have more earnest friends.

“T-thank you.” He stuttered from behind the arm that covered his face. It wasn’t due to embarrassment, but laughter that he stuttered.

 

The rest of the walk home had been in companionable silence, thankfully. Iwata seemed to be thinking about something, most likely how he was going to get Haruto to notice Mugen. Mugen, on the other hand, was thinking strategies.

 

First step of a capture: Make an impression upon your target, whether it be good or bad.

Mugen recounted the look on Haruto’s face when he had kissed his hand. He smirked, he’d definitely made an impression upon the boy.

 

They reached Mugen’s home first. It was a standard place. The roof tiles were sparse in some places and the paint, once a mild cream, was now a dirty grey and peeling in some places. The windows were dirty, but not broken. Not the best home in the world, but the best the Muritaka family could afford.

“See ya, Muritaka-kun.” Iwata said as he left Mugen behind to continue on to his own place about half-a-block away. “Oh!” he suddenly exclaimed, turning around and then jabbing a finger at Mugen “This might help you out at some point. I heard that Haruto loves sweets.” With that he sped off, waving behind him.

Mugen chuckled. Sometimes, he was really glad he had Iwata around, especially when he helped him out like that.

Sweets, huh? Surprisingly, you are quite feminine aren’t you, Haruto-chan.

 

Mugen opened the front door to his house and heard a meow as he passed the threshold. He looked down and saw another of his few companions. Fionna the cat.

“Hello Fionna, were you waiting for me again?”

Mugen bent down and petted her on the forehead. She leaned into his touch and purred, smiling (or at least if cats could smile). Fionna was probably Mugen’s closest companion and one of the only females in his life, seeing as his mother had died in child birth when about two years ago. She was a mog with a short coat which had a mix of white, brown and cream in splotches on it. Mugen walked past her and father into the house to find his father sleeping on the couch, again. By his side, watching the flickering screen of the TV was one of the other females in Mugen’s life. His two-year old sister, Sakura Muritaka. She turned, hearing Mugen’s footsteps and laughed, clapping her hands together in a bid to be picked up. Mugen felt a warmth in his chest. Despite the fact it had been partially Sakura’s fault his mother had passed away two years ago, he had never held it against her and protected her. His father worked from home to look after her, but obviously, it was a tiring job.

He walked over and picked her up, swinging her around before holding her properly. She laughed and then spoke.

“Moo-Moo! Moo-Moo!” She couldn’t say all of Mugen’s name, so instead she used the first two letter of his name, but she couldn’t say them right, so it was less like ‘Mu-Mu’ and more like ‘Moo-Moo’.

“Yes, I’m back, Sakura.”

“Moo-Moo…”

Mugen understood and took her up to his dad’s bedroom, where he placed her in her small cot-bed. She smiled and then fell asleep peacefully.

 

As Mugen walked out, his mind went back to strategy again. He’d done the first step, so what next?

Second part of the game: Scope the target, find out what they like and dislike and start drawing them in.

He went downstairs and prepared his lunch for the next day and put a blanket on his father before turning off the TV and going up to bed, chomping a sandwich for his supper. As he walked into his own plain room, he saw Fionna already on the bed, waiting for him. He chuckled and pet her head again.

“Things are going to be interesting for a while Fionna.” She meowed in response.

Mugen stripped and got into bed, Fionna curling into his side. Tomorrow was a new day and the day when the game truly began.

I hope you are a good opponent, Haruto. For both our sakes.

[ukemextreme]

Haruto woke up with high spirits, seemingly forgetting what happened yesterday. It was usually like that. He'd really forget about anything bad that has happened to him the day before as if his brain has completely shut down and reformatted itself. His father left him a note saying he'd leave first and that he'd fetch him today from school. Alone again, huh? Haruto shrugged, scarfing down his refill for the day. He had coaxed his butler into eating with him but for the nth time since he was a child, the man refused. "I'm very honored, Bocchan. However, I am but a mere butler," he had told him. The boy only playfully rolled his eyes at him.

 

After he finished eating, Haruto hurried to the car, surprising his driver for he never left the house an hour before his first class starts.

 

It was the first time that the Haruto Ushuzima arrived at school minutes before the bell rang. So when he sat down on his seat with his usual smiling face and cheerful demeanor, his friends had gathered around him and asked questions.

 

"Dude, this is so not like you."

 

"You sure you didn't catch the yellow fever or something of that sort?"

 

"Hey hey guys. Calm down. I just woke up kinda feeling good, okay? Even though I didn't get much sleep but...nevermind that. Besides, my dad says he'd pick me up so I guess I should be happy today," Haruto had told them. The guys nodded in understanding. One, however, had to interject and pat his shoulder.

 

"I'm so happy for you, Haruto. But it's really weird...aren't you bothered by what happened yesterday?"

 

Haruto blinked. Yesterday...he...

 

"Uhm, Mugen? Hand? Anything ring a bell?"

 

The boy flinched. Fuck, how could he even forget that? How could he even forget the guy who had - possibly - wanted to give him a heart attack? Haruto narrowed his eyes (if it could get narrower) and stared at his friend. He contemplated on what to do, to either explode because he was pissed or to just give his friends the benefit of the doubt and would shrug it off, feeling optimistic. Even though he entirely didn't feel like being optimistic today because of the reminder. Setting that aside though, Haruto chose the latter.

 

"Shit, Sato. You don't have to remind me that," he chuckled, " 'course I remembered. I just chose to forget the incident." His homeroom teacher came in and checked the attendance. Hearing him say 'present' when his name was called made the old man look like he had seen a ghost.

 

I won't get him to see him again, anyway.

 

 

(it's okay. i like my posts long ;] )

[Cazuki101]

“M….!”

Mugen grumbled and rolled over, sighing as he tried to get back to sleep.

“Mu…n!”

“I’m sleeping.” He growled to the voice and rolled over again.

“Mugen! Wake up!”

Mugen decided to ignore the voice this time. He knew who it was. It was his dad, trying to wake him up. On all accounts, Mugen had never been a morning person, preferring the sleep ‘till noon if at all possible. His family, especially his father, knew this well. So, they also knew how to deal with it.

“3, 2, 1!”

Suddenly, Mugen felt the mattress rise to his left. He didn’t have time to react before he tumbled to the floor, face-down. He heard raucous laughter above him and glared upwards to meet the brown eyes of his father. His name was Makoto Muritaka, though to Mugen he had always been ‘Dad’ or occasionally ‘Father’ to piss him off. He was a man approaching middle age, but he seemed to be younger than most his age. His hair was a satin black and was cut short. Any grey was hidden by dye. His eyes were lively and he always seemed to be smiling or laughing, as he was right now. He was also fairly muscular, in contrast to Mugen’s lean build.

“Thanks for waking me up, Dad.” Mugen growled sarcastically.

“Hey, don’t blame me son, blame Sakura, she was the one who gave me the idea.”

As if on cue, Sakura appeared behind Makoto’s foot. She took one look at Mugen and laughed, which sounded really cute.

“Oh yes, blame the baby, real mature Father.”

“Now, how many times have I told you to call me Makoto or Dad? Father makes me feel old.”

“Might I add, you are 40 this year?”

“You got too much of your mother in you. Now get up and get ready for school.”

 

With that he walked out, hefting Sakura off the ground and carrying her out, making silly ‘goo-goo’ noises at her. At the same time they left, Fionna padded in, looking at Mugen before meowing.

“Don’t you laugh too, Fionna.”

The cat meowed again, but seemed to be smiling.

 

Eventually, Mugen managed to get himself off the floor and dressed. Going downstairs, he picked a piece of toast conveniently laid upon the counter-top and his lunch box.

“See you tonight, Mugen!”

“Moo-Moo!”

“Yeah, yeah, see you too.”

With that, he left the house and walked out into the street. Iwata wasn’t there to greet him today, which was normal considering he rarely ever left for school earlier than ten minutes before class started.

As he walked, Mugen started to go over his game plan for today.

Okay, so I need to scope him out. Iwata told me he likes sweets, so that’s fine. He must like something else though? And what about dislikes?

Despite all these questions, Mugen didn’t feel nervous or pressured at all, in fact, he felt a bit excited. It had been a while since he had played this game, the last time being in middle school with some girl who he quickly forgot after she said she had a crush on him. It’d been (pardon the pun) child’s play back then. Now, it was the big leagues. And he was absolutely loving it.

 

On his way to school, he walked into a nearby candy store and bought a selection of different candies, as he didn’t know what kind Haruto liked. As he walked out, he started to think about how he would pace this out.

Today, he decided, he would try and find out some things the other liked. Then, tomorrow, he would try and find out something he disliked. That posed a question though. How was he going to get these sweets to Haruto? Obviously, he could just walk up to him and give them to him. Sadly, with his pawn army, there was a nil chance they would reach him.

 

That was when he had an idea.

 

He practically ran the rest of the way to school and when he got there it was just before the first bell, seeing as he had taken the detour with the sweets. As he entered his home-room class, he found Iwata sitting in his usual position near the back of the class. He sat next to him and as the home teacher went through the day’s announcements, Mugen poked Iwata’s side with his shoulder.

“Iwata.”

“Oh, hello Mr. Cassa Nova.” Iwata whispered, trying to add as much dirty meaning to the words as possible. He’d now gone from shocked to smug.

Oh well… Mugen thought it’ll be easier if he believes it.

“Iwata, I was wondering if you could help me out.”

“Help you out? With what?” Iwata said, almost too loudly. Mugen never asked him for help, never.

“Shut up, you fool!” Mugen whispered. He waited for Iwata to quieten down before moving the bag of sweets out of his pocket. Iwata whistled.

“You move fast Muritaka.”

“Whatever. I wanted to give these to Haruto, but I wouldn’t be able to get past his goons. Could you slip him these and tell me which ones he likes?”

Iwata gave him a suspicious look for a moment.

“These don’t contain-“he paused for dramatic affect “aphro-“

“No, they don’t. Just do as I say, you said you’d support me, right?”

Iwata took the bag out of his hand and smiled.

“Indeed I did. Anything for love.”

Mugen sighed in relief as Iwata shoved the bag in his pocket. First part done, now he just needed to wait for the results.

[ukemextreme]

When recess came, Haruto was relieved to be free of any more Math that day. He stretched and jumped from his seat. "Let's go rush to the cafeteria before the the tarts are all bought!" He tugged unto each of his friends' arms but they won't seem to budge. They all looked like zombies.

 

Sato looked at him with droopy eyes. "Haruto, can you give us a piece of your brain?" Haruto pretended to look horrified. Akira, another one of his friends, smacked Sato on the head. "Haruto actually works hard, you dumbass. He heads out to the library during finals week remember? He must have studied hard last night as well."

 

Well, actually, I relied too much on my listening skills because I completely forgot that there was an exam, Haruto thought but did not have the heart to tell them. His precious little pawns believed in him too much. Akira, who now stood, put an arm around Haruto's shoulder (because Haruto seemed shorter than everybody else except for the other boys in campus) and pulled him out of the room. "Now now, let me accompany you, our precious friend, to the cafeteria." And with that, both boys left the others in their misery.

 

The walk was not as loud as it usually is when Haruto was around his friends. Akira, to be quite honest, wasn't one of those closest to him and he assumed that he only stuck to him like glue because Sato did. Akira and Sato were inseparable, having grown up in the same house because both boys' mothers were friends and were divorcees. Haruto sighed. Akira took a side glance at him and asked, "How can I ever lift this gloomy atmosphere between us?"

 

Haruto shrugged. Akira was probably thinking about him all along. Maybe he was just only the silent type after all. "Nah, it's okay. I need this kind of company sometimes." He smiled softly.

 

Akira smiled as well and was about to respond when Mugen's friend suddenly jumped in front of them, arm outstretched in front of Haruto's face. A small pouch with little doodles dangled from the boy's hand. Haruto took a whiff. The bag was sweet-smelling. Candies? Tarts? Sweets?

 

"What now, Iwata?" Akira glared at the shorter boy, an arm unconsciously up and pushing Haruto backward. Iwata smirked. "Ho ho ho. Is Akira Kanzaki your knight? Or perhaps, the bishop...?" Akira growled softly and took a step closer when Haruto raised his hand and held his shoulder back.

 

"Calm down, Akira." He turned to Iwata and blankly stared at him which meant business. "What ever is in the pouch? Poison?" He knew well enough that it wasn't poison. But he had to make sure. It was probably one of those chemicals that contained aromatic compounds. The hell they smelled nice, too. And he knew Iwata wasn't doing this on his own accord. He saw him yesterday with the bastard. What if the bastard was trying to kill him without getting caught? Heck, he was smart.

 

Iwata knitted his eyebrows and sneered. "Look. If Mugen wasn't my friend, I won't deal with such an ass like you." Akira reacted at the word 'ass' but Haruto still held him back. "Just take the pouch and pick whatever you like. Mugen wants to know."

 

"Why the fuck does Muritaka want to know?" Haruto quickly replied. A reflex. His response surprised himself. He usually thought before speaking up...

 

"Just take the pouch, damn it!" Iwata shoved the pouch into his hands. Haruto blinked and slowly opened them. Sweet Jesus. I knew it. His eyes lightened up like a little kid. Completely forgetting that it was Mugen who gave him these, he rummaged through everything and took out the tarts, the chewies, the chocolates with caramel, and the gums. Haruto, then, bit unto one of the lollipops (the strawberry flavored one), and shoved all the other sweets into his pockets. He tossed the pouch to Iwata who was dumbstruck for he practically took about 75% of its contents. "I did know you liked sweets...but I did not expect for you to like them this much."

 

Haruto grinned and tossed Akira one of the lollipops. "Thanks for the treat. Tell your boss too." He went ahead but stopped short, looking over his shoulder. "But that doesn't mean that I won't hate him anymore."

 

With that, Haruto pulled Akira to the cafeteria, telling him that he'd treat him with a can of oolong tea.

 

 

(uh-oh, Haruto swears too much lol)

[Cazuki101]

During the first two lessons, Mugen had been completely focused on something else. It didn’t matter much, he knew most of the content anyway and he only had tests in the fourth and final periods. Thus, was why he was holding a Physics text book in front of him as he sat out on the bench underneath the tree. The weather wasn’t nearly as nice today, which was slightly depressing, but it was still warm enough to make him want to nap instead of revise. He had force of will however and continued on.

As he revised the theory of moments, he took short breaks to go over the plans in his head, the multiple routes he could take to capture Haruto.

Could he try and be his Prince Charming and win him over with things he liked? No, too boring and most likely ineffective. If he did that for too long, he would be but a pawn among pawns.

Could he be his bad boy and capture him that way? It would be interesting, sure, but he wasn’t entirely sure that would work either because of Haruto’s pawn army.

For such a feminine guy, you do sure act like a prince, Haruto.

In the end, he decided he didn’t have enough information right now. Besides, if his plan for the next few days worked, he wouldn’t have to go to Haruto, Haruto would have to come to him.

 

About five minutes into break, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He instantly assumed it was Iwata, back from a successful mission.

“Ah, good, I thought you hadn’t done it for a moment there.”

“Done what?” the voice wasn’t high and cherry or snarky. Instead it was low, powerful and bordering on monotone. Mugen turned and instead of being met with a shock of blond hair and piercing blue eyes, he was met with venom green one and medium length black hair.

 

It was his other friend besides Iwata, Tsunayoshi Hawada, or Tsuna for Iwata and Mugen. Tsuna had come along slightly after Mugen had first entered the school and had Iwata stuck to him. Unlike Iwata, Tsuna fit most of the conventions of Japanese life. Both of his parents were investment bankers and quite well off. What separated him out from the rest though was his silence. Tsuna had a tendency to think instead of speak, like Mugen. Most wouldn’t have minded and just called him anti-social, except for one factor. His short temper.

There had been stories and rumours flying everywhere that Tsuna had once been a major gang follower, but had left before high-school because he was kicked out by their leader due to being too unstable. More likely, however, he had just hit some kids who’d said too much and it had gone from there. Iwata had been the one to find him first and had dragged Mugen to him, saying he needed more friends than just him, despite the fact Mugen – At that point- didn’t consider Iwata a friend. Despite the sudden meeting though, and the fact they were in some ways complete opposites, Mugen had found he enjoyed Tsuna’s company. Tsuna must have felt the same because, before long, he was tagging along as well.

This completed their little group.

 

“Oh, Tsuna. I was wondering where you were.”

“Sick. Done what?” Tsuna didn’t talk much, but when he did, the combination of his eyes and his tone made it hard not to talk to him, even if he didn’t talk much back.

“Well…” It’s not Mugen wanted to hide the capture from his friend, he wasn’t considerate enough for that. It was, however, a risk. The more people that knew he was doing this, the more chance there was they would figure out it was a farce.

Suddenly, to break the silence, Iwata ran up to the two of them, shouting with a big grin on his face. In his hand, he held the pouch that had once been full of sweets. It was considerably less full now.

“Mission for love completed Mugen!”

“Love?” Tsuna questioned, looking quizzically at Mugen.

Mugen blushed, which was extremely rare. He was embarrassed that Iwata had told Tsuna instead of Mugen telling him. It made him look incapable. Iwata reached the bench and looked at Tsuna, smiling,

“Yeah, guess what? While you were off sick, Mugen experienced his very own ‘love at first sight’ last night.”

Tsuna paused. He looked confused, more than anything.

“With who?” he eventually asked.

“You won’t believe this. You know that high-and-mighty ass who’s in your class, Haruto?”

“The prince?”

“Yeah, the ass. Well, that’s him.”

Tsuna turned to Mugen, who was still blushing.

“Him?”

“I was about to tell you.” Mugen said in return, trying to straighten himself out.

“It’s fine.” Tsuna said, giving Mugen a faint smile which calmed him down immediately. While Tsuna was scary, his smile was undoubtedly the most calming. Probably because it was the most rare.

“Aaaannnyyyway!” Iwata said, dragging out the word. “He absolutely loved them, took out 75% of it too.”

“What did he take?”

Iwata made a list of the items, which Mugen wrote down on a small piece of paper.

“Thank you for your service.”

“Anything for love!” Iwata said. “Anyway, you guys seen that new band everyone’s been talking about?”

From there, the conversation drifted into meaningless things.

 

As the bell for end of break went, the three started walking back. As they walked, Iwata suddenly made a noise of remembrance.

“Oh yeah, he said 'thanks for treat'. He also said that he still hates you.”

Mugen’s eyes widened slightly at that. Haruto didn’t like him?

Tsuna must have seen the look on Mugen’s face,

“It’s alright.”

“I know.” Mugen said in response, sounding slightly down-trodden while inside he was dancing. Haruto didn’t like him, in fact he hated him. This made the game twice as fun as before. He now had something to overcome.

“I will support you.” Tsuna said slowly.

“Would you?”

“I'm in his class. I could tell you what he likes?”

Mugen turned to Tsuna and smiled at him. Tsuna seemed confused, he wasn’t used to Mugen smiling. He turned away.

“Thank you.” Mugen said. By god he loved his friends, even if they were sometimes quite gullible. He reminded himself to buy them something when he ended this farce in apology. He, however, also needed to be wary of Tsuna. He wasn’t nearly as gullible as Iwata.

 

(Long posts~ also, new character! And, heh, I wonder how Akira is going to affect the plot. Also, using your highlighting idea.)

[ukemextreme]

Haruto practically skipped his way back to the classroom with Akira closely trailing behind him. The boy had now finished almost half of the sweets he had taken from Iwata -- specifically from Mugen -- but his teeth never ached and his tongue only itched to taste some more. Falling to his seat and popping another caramel ball into his mouth, he cheekily smiled at his other friends. The other two, Sato and Takashi, dumbly looked at him then turned to Akira. "What?" the tallest of them all asked as he sat down on his own seat behind the prince. Both boys slowly pointed at Haruto and then cocked their heads to the side. Akira merely shrugged. Frowning, they turned to pester the boy in question instead.

 

"Hey dude. Did anything happen back at the cafeteria?" Sato asked. Haruto looked at him then shook his head as he chewed hard. The ball was so sticky anyway.

 

"Then, why are you smiling like that? Pardon my words but to be honest, you look stu---OW." Takashi did not get to finish his sentence because Akira had thrown him a paper ball.

 

Haruto blinked. "You were about to say 'stupid,' right?" Takashi nodded as he scooted away for fear of being hit by Akira again -- and well, who knew what Haruto would do to him because he had called him 'stupid.' But the younger boy merely winked much to his friends' surprise. "It's fine. I know I do because hah," he stuck his tongue out, "if you only knew why."

 

The two boys looked at each other then tried to coax him to tell them everything. Haruto, of course, refused at first but gave in by the time study period began. He had told them about their encounter with Iwata and how Mugen had given him sweets. "I don't know what he was trying to do but I took them anyway." His two friends teased him for a bit, much to his irritation, and then proceeded to ask him for candies. Haruto rolled his eyes. I think they missed the whole fucking point. He had expected them to badmouth Mugen and his goon but instead, both were enticed by the sweets as well. What friends.

 

It was when after the study period that Haruto realized something. "Hey Akira. How come Iwata knows you?" Both of them were now taking out their shoes from their shoe lockers.

 

"Huh?" Akira was tying his shoelaces. "Their other friend is in our class you know."

 

The shorter of the two blinked. Mugen had another accomplice and he was actually classmates with him? Well, fuck. What more surprises can life bring him?

 

When Akira heard no response from Haruto, he looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. "Seriously? You haven't heard that Hawada was hanging out with him?"

 

Hawada? That scary guy who never talked but just stared at you as if looking through you?

 

"Well, I've never talked to him before because he doesn't seem to want to hang out with us or the rest of the class."

 

"Now you know."

 

"Yeah..." Haruto then realized that if there was any suspicious boy that could be Mugen's accomplice, Hawada was the perfect suspect. Closing his eyes, he massaged his temples before pushing himself up. Alot has happened today and he needed some rest. He pat Akira's back and walked away.

 

"Gonna go wait for my dad by the Void."

 

"Hmm...okay. But wait." Haruto stopped and looked back at the taller boy. "Aren't you afraid that there might be something in those sweets you ate?"

 

He laughed softly. "You ate one right?" Akira nodded. "And did you feel anything weird anywhere?" The boy blinked and then shook his head slowly. "Well then, there's your answer. See ya."

 

With that, Haruto smiled at Akira and then ran off to the Void, the treehouse by the gate. When he got there, he sat on the edge, took out his earphones and iPod and listened to some songs of his favorite band. He swung his legs to the beat. His thoughts trailed to this day's events and he sighed gratefully at the thought of Akira worrying about him all day long.

 

Maybe he isn't who I thought he was after all.

 

 

(long post as well? lol ain't sure. i'm also curious about tsuna's future contributions.)

[Cazuki101]

After break, it had been Biology and then Physics. The physics test had been short and sweet, which was good for Mugen as he could spend the rest of the test time sketching out some ideas. He took a blank lined sheet of paper, and with a pencil began drawing diagrams of possible capture routes. He knew now that from Iwata that Haruto hated him, or at least was suspicious. Most likely, he would be asking the question of why Mugen had done such a thing. Now Mugen was posed with a question? Direct or indirect?

Should he work on shock value and tell him he loved him? Or, should he be sneakier and let Haruto be the one to confess? As physics ended and lunch started, Mugen decided for now it was more worth it to keep triggering events and make himself more noticeable to Haruto. For now, that seemed to be easy, but only time – and intel- would tell.

 

As he went outside to go and sit on the bench for his lunch, he found that Tsuna was already there, tearing into a ham and cheese sandwich as he stared into the distance, thinking about something Mugen wasn’t quite sure about. Unlike Iwata, Tsuna was hard to read and could be thinking about anything from fluffy kittens snuggling in his lap to a massive swirling cloud of death swallowing the school.

Mugen decided to initiate conversation as he approached, seeing as Tsuna was unlikely to himself. Normally, he would have been fine with silence, but Tsuna had offered him help, so he needed to get some information out of him.

“Tsuna! How was class?”

“Fine.”

“And how was Haruto?”

“Fine.”

The conversation was going no-where fast. Mugen sat next to Tsuna. He took out a sandwich from his own bag and ate as he talked.

“Did you find anything out about him?"

“They were arguing.”

“Arguing? Who was arguing?"

“The Prince and his friends.”

“Arguing over what?" This was getting tedious.

“Sweets.”

“Sweets? Oh, right. Anything else?"

“No.”

Mugen sighed and actually look down-trodden now. So much for that.

“Akira Tanzaki.” Tsuna stated.

“Huh?"

“Akira is friends with Haruto. Very protective. I would suggest caution.”

Mugen didn’t respond and the conversation seemed to end there. Later, Iwata joined them, seeing as he had a school lunch instead of packed. Iwata talked at them for the entire lunch period, occasionally with Tsuna or Mugen giving short responses. It was peaceful and the way their group operated. Iwata was the kind one, Mugen the cunning one and Tsuna the scary one.

 

The end of the day seemed to rush by and the next thing Mugen knew, he was outside the school and walking home. Iwata had a club today and Tsuna lived in the opposite direction, so no-one was walking with him today. As he walked to the gate, he thought he could hearing something and looked up. Up above, he saw Haruto sitting in ‘The Void’, swinging his legs. He looked like he was probably listening to something. Mugen smiled to himself. Now was a good time to talk to Haruto personally, seeing as all his pawns, including the knight Akira, were gone.

 

He slowly walked over to where people climbed up to the tree-house. He reached the top in good time, deciding to make his presence known if Haruto hadn’t seen or heard him already.

“Haruto-chan!~ Did you like the sweets?”

[ukemextreme]

Haruto was lost in the sea of notes words of The Script's songs that he did not notice Mugen climb up the treehouse. He kept swinging his legs in mid-air, eyes having that faraway look. He intended to wait for his father like that, peaceful. Until he heard a rather cheerful voice from behind him.

 

"Haruto-chan!~ Did you like the sweets?"

 

The voice gave him the shock that he jerked and immediately swung his legs around before he can even process who it was. "DON'T KILL M-- oh." Haruto's face instantly turned from being slightly horrified to mild disgust. What was Mugen doing here? Did he come up here on purpose?

 

Ugh. In just two days, you managed to 'cause a ruckus to my rather attention-filled mundane life.

 

His heart skipped a bit when he got frightened for a moment and thoughts of Mugen killing him ran across his mind again.

 

Shit. You and your myocardial infarction schemes.

 

"Why are you here?"

 

Haruto took off his earphones and stuffed them hastily into his bag. If Mugen would do something funny, he could just easily swing his bag at him and then take off. He felt his pockets for more sweets and that's when he remembered.

 

"More importantly," he held a chocolate ball between his fingers and rolled them in front of Mugen, "What are you trying to do, Mugen Muritaka?"

[Cazuki101]

As soon as Mugen finished his entrance, Haruto suddenly swung his legs around to look at him. If not for two factors, Mugen would have thought that Haruto was acting like one of those villins in spy movies at the moment when they turned around and said they were expecting you. However, the fact that he had jerked upwards, meaning he was shocked, and the fact he had shouted meant he hadn't noticed Mugen climbing up here.

As Iwata would say, 'Like a ninja'.

"DON'T KILL M-- oh."

Mugen grinned as he saw Haruto's shocked face turn into a mildly disgusted one as soon as his brain processed who had greeted him. It was cute, like out of some bl novel (which, by the way, he had read one or two of them, simply because Iwata dared him. They weren't that bad.).

 

For a moment, neither of them spoke and just observed each other. Then, Haruto broke the silence with a question.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, that should be obvious, Haruto-chan. I'm here to see you and ask what you thought of the sweets. Plus, it is rare i get to see you without your 'friends' around." The way Mugen said 'friends' was in a slightly incredulous way.

Haruto took off the earphones he had been wearing and stuffed them in his school-bag. Mugen looked at the bag and assessed by the way Haruto was holding it in a mildly threatening way that he should hold back for a while, or at least until he dropped his guard.

"You probably shouldn't be sitting so close to the edge, eh? You might fall and break something. I only want to be responsible for injuries you consent to, Haruto-chan." The last bit was meant very much as flirting. Mugen had no idea as to Haruto's sexual tastes. Heck, he didn't even know if he went for guys. It didn't matter anyway, he wouldn't go that far.

 

"More importantly. What are you trying to do, Mugen Muritaka?"

Haruto took out a chocolate ball from his pocket and rolled it around, fiddling with it. This was an avenue Mugen had planned for. The unsure crush route.

 

"Well..."

First, lower head and look down. Make yourself look submissive.

"You see, yesterday i was told you like sweets. So i thought i would get you some, considering-"

Pause, for dramatic affect.

"Considering..."

Longer pause. Then blush slightly. Show it to him just enough so he can see.

"Never mind."

And, break.

 

"Anyway, Haruto-chan," Mugen instantly pulled his head back up and ceased his blush, going back to his normal tone. "What are you waiting for up here? Shouldn't you be going home about now?" That was a genuine question. Mugen, of course, didn't know of Haruto's family situation, nor did Haruto know Mugen's. Any information he could get on that side could help, as it could provide the opportunity of a different venue if his parents were out often.

[ukemextreme]

Was Mugen Muritaka damn gay? If he was, Haruto never expected that. Not the kind of expectation that made him irk or something because he was going to an all-boys' school and most students have probably confessed to him -- even his former upperclassmen took chances with him before they graduated. Of course, they had turned them all down considering that Haruto never liked anyone genuinely (like like like) and the only like he knew was appreciating their attentiveness when it came to him. So, if Muritaka would come to like him, he'd probably end up like those who had their hearts broken.

 

But he never thought of Mugen liking him. That was probably the one reason that he never thought of while evaluating the other boy's actions towards him because first of all, Mugen Muritaka does not look like one who'd fall for men. Usually, these boys had dreamy, faraway looks in their eyes. This boy, on the other hand, normally looked like he wanted to do lewd things with just anyone; he looked like a perverted bisexual. Or an asexual nymphomaniac...

 

But he had kissed my hand and given me sweets. It's what guys do to girls they really like...well, according to the movies.

 

The thought made Haruto want to gag because he definitely had no female parts.

 

He looked up and Mugen's once hard face looked like a once-dejected rabbit's face in the pet store: shy and utterly submissive. He was blushing but it ceased just right after he said the words, "nevermind." Haruto sighed in relief because the shy look never really got into him if Mugen wanted to win him over; the boy's strong facial features weren't convincing right now.

 

He'd look more convincing if he'd act like a prince...

 

Haruto blushed then shook his head, narrowing his eyes.

 

Damn shit, dude. Why are you thinking of such things?

 

"Anyway, Haruto-chan," Haruto looked up again when his name was called, "What are you waiting for up here? Shouldn't you be going home by now?" He furrowed his eyebrows. This guy was all over him lately, wanting to know such stuff even though they've never talked before. Haruto wanted to be mean and tell him to just fuck off or ask him why the heck does he even care and tell him that it's his no damn business but it would make him an ass. As much as he hated him, Haruto didn't want Mugen to not look at him; he only wants the other boy's attention and nothing else.

 

"Just thought I could kill time before someone fetches me," was all he said before turning around to his natural position, swinging his legs again.

 

Even though it's almost dark outside.

 

He looked at his watch and then sighed, shoulders falling to a slump. His face fell as well, lips curving into a pout.

 

His dad was late. What a disappointment.

[Cazuki101]

When Mugen asked his question, he noticed Haruto’s eyebrows furrow, he’d expected this to happen, somewhat. Anyone would be suspicious if they were suddenly asked such personal things by a person they had rarely seen before, let alone talked to. That and the fact that Haruto didn’t like Mugen made it more understandable. Mugen would have been fine if the boy had told him to leave or mind his own business. Instead, however, he answered.

"Just thought I could kill time before someone fetches me,"

Haruto then turned around again, successfully lowering his guard.

Now, why did you do that?

Most people would have told Mugen to leave, however Haruto hadn’t. Some would take this as a sign of the person liking them, but Mugen didn’t get that from him either. He noted that the shy route didn’t work with Haruto, which made sense based on his facial features. Maybe he should keep being like the prince from the night before? He decided to leave that for now and get back to the original question. Why had he not told him to leave?

 

Meanwhile, Mugen decided he would get nowhere by sitting in the back of the tree house. He moved forward and slowly sat by Haruto’s side, an arm’s length between them.

“Someone is fetching you? They must be a distance away from here then. The sky’s almost dark. ”

Mugen saw Haruto raise his watch and sigh in disappointment. His shoulders slumped as well and he pouted.

“They must be someone very important.” Mugen said, eyes widening fractionally after he had said it. He meant to think that, not say it.

 

To get his mind off his mistake he looked out over the area, which was steadily turning darker and darker as the night rolled in, he decided to try and decode some of what Haruto did. So, what did he know?

His name was Haruto Ushizuma. By what Iwata had said, Haruto was the ‘prince’ of the school, the opposite to him who was the ‘binbou’ of the school. Could he possibly not like him due to status? No, he wouldn’t be with most of his friends if that were the case. That moved onto the next subject. His friends, or pawns interchangeably. Why was he with them? Were they just stuck to him like Haruto was to iwata and Tsuna? Haruto must have gained something out of it, because, by what Iwata had told him about giving him the sweets, Haruto had quite a bad temper and was very rude to people. Maybe he liked the attention? That would make sense. A prince needs followers, but, more importantly, there may be a family issue. Haruto was waiting for someone, someone important (they must be because he was disappointed they weren’t here). His mother? Father? A sibling maybe?

 

From his review, Mugen decided to add the idea that Haruto loved attention, into his fact pile. And, if he loved attention, he would hate not getting any at all. Mugen decided that would be a major way to draw him closer and separate Mugen from the crowd. He had to be the mean prince. For now, though, he’d leave it. He was too tired right now to start such a thing and, besides, if he did that right now, he’d risk losing the plot altogether. He didn’t want his work to be for nothing.

 

In the world outside of Mugen’s thoughts, he began humming something lightly. It was some old song he didn’t quite remember the title to, but it was nice and calm, like a jazz song. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t trying to speak to Haruto at all.

Silence reigned as the two boys sat in the treehouse, waiting.

[ukemextreme]

"They must be someone very important."

 

Mugen's words kinda hit him hard. Spot-on. It drew out an emotion Haruto had pushed to the back of his mind: loneliness. It even surpassed his feeling of hate for the other guy. I guess things that you tried to forget would resurface and hurt you twice as much, he thought as he looked up, balling his fists so as not to feel any more pain. He would not cry, he was past that stage already, but the thought of his parents not always by his side clenched his heart so bad he wanted to hate them. He could not hate anyone though when it came to this matter; his parents were busy bodies and they provided him with everything. He couldn't even hate Mugen for reminding him such a thing. Heck, the boy doesn't even know him that much, let alone knowing his family background. Unless he'd already did some research on him...

 

Biting his lip, Haruto did a side glance and was taken aback for a bit. Apparently Mugen had moved to sit beside him by an arm's length. He did not tell him to move away though because the boy was just sitting in silence, never to add to his last statement. All of a sudden, however, Mugen had hummed an old song. Jazz, huh? He remembered his mother listening to these types of songs before she up and left, travelling around the world and never to stay home for more than a week or two. This song, in particular, was one of her favorites; Haruto remembered her playfully swinging him around as she pranced around the room to the tune of it.

 

Looking ahead, he suddenly said, "Nice taste in music." He sadly smiled. "My mother used to play these songs for me. Used to." Haruto completely forgot who he was talking to and just hummed along. By the time he finished the song, the guards were done doing their rounds. His fetch wasn't there yet. Dejectedly, he stood up and stretched, swinging his school bag above his shoulder. He quietly went down the treehouse without saying goodbye and walked ahead before the guards saw him and asked him why he was still at school.

 

Haruto could have called his driver to fetch him up but he did not want them all to pity him.

 

Pity.

 

He hated it.

[Cazuki101]

Mugen didn’t notice Haruto balling his fists. He didn’t notice that what he said had been spot on. That was because his eyes were closed. His whizzing thoughts had slowed and he just listening to the song in his head, as he hummed it to himself, barely noticing what he did. Mugen had always been of the opinion that no-one could say they had a favourite thing until they had experienced every single variant of that things. Jazz, however, had always been something he was partial to. Maybe it was the way it didn’t preach to you like modern pop songs all seemed to do, or maybe it was its sultry sweet tones, unlike rock. Either way, it was a good genre to him.

 

Suddenly, out of the silence, Haruto said something.

"Nice taste in music."

He hadn’t expected that. For once, Haruto was initiating conversation and he was even complimenting him. He, however, didn’t say anything or even stop with his humming, keeping his eyes closed. He’d expected it to end there, until Haruto spoke again.

"My mother used to play these songs for me. Used to."

Thatcaused Mugen to open his eyes and look in Haruto’s direction. ‘Used to’? Was his mother no longer around? Was she like Mugen’s mom? These questions remained unanswered, however, as now Haruto joined in the humming. Mugen probably should have stopped there and aborted. This had nothing to do with the capture. However, he simply stayed and the two boys hummed into the cool, night air.

For an instance, Mugen felt completely confused. He realized then that he had no idea who Haruto was, what he stood for, why he’d even gone after him in the first place. It was odd. Like suddenly a cloth had been drawn from over his eyes and showed him something he had never seen before.

 

The song ended and when it did, the moment was broken and they were just two boys again on opposing sides, sitting in a tree-house on a school campus. Surprisingly, Mugen felt dejected. The feeling was ignored though as Haruto suddenly got up and climbed down from the tree-house. Obviously, he wasn’t going to wait anymore for his collection.

Mugen followed after him, deciding he no longer had a reason to be there. They both walked out of the gates, Mugen slightly behind Haruto.

Haruto was trying to flick through the ideas in his head. What should he do now? Should he escort Haruto home? Should he leave him? What should he do?

However, his plans seemed to fall away from him. He realized that they were all stupid. He was playing this like it was a dating sim. He was doing it wrong.

“Haruto.” He called.

Time to improvise.

“What would it take for you to see me as more than just another pawn?”

 

He paused, to give the boy time to respond. He was opening himself up, putting down his guard. If Haruto looked closely enough and thought, he’d see through Mugen’s actions. However, Mugen didn’t care right now. The giddiness of finding a target was falling away. The schemes and cliques were falling away and in their place came a resolve that Mugen hadn’t felt before. Mugen may not have known it yet, but only now was he truly playing the game of capture. He could progress to success now, but he could also progress to failure. This moment was the knife-edge. Game start.

[ukemextreme]

Haruto knew Mugen was following him. He could practically hear the boy's footsteps. He didn't bother trying to put up a fight and turn around and glare at him and ask him why he was following him. He was tired and he thought that it would be stupid to ask; Mugen probably passed by this way everyday. Haruto continued to walk ahead without looking back at him.

 

"Haruto," Mugen had called out to him when he was about to cross the street. "What would it take for you to see me as more than just another pawn?"

 

Haruto was confused. What did he mean by that? He turned around and saw that Mugen had stopped a few meters away from him. Despite him sounding helpless, his face looked oddly calm. But how would he reply to that question? Mugen initially had acted rash by invading his personal space during their first meeting but now...now he acted...strange. That kind of strange which is cautious and caring and careful and what-else altogether. His actions in the treehouse were like that kind. He couldn't entirely describe it into a mere two words. He couldn't. He...

 

Why Mugen?

 

Unconsciously, Haruto dropped his defenses even lower than before, his face loosening up a bit.

 

I don't get you. I don't get this.

 

"I don't understand, Mugen."

 

What do you mean by 'more than just a pawn'?

 

"Are you asking me this because..."

 

Haruto paused. Does Mugen really like him that's why he was asking such a thing? Or is it because he wanted to be closer to him more than anybody else? Either way, he had to choose his words carefully.

 

"...because I seem like someone who uses people for my benefit..."

 

I should find a way to leech out an answer from you.

 

"...or is it because of something entirely different from what I've said?"

 

Haruto mentally let out a breath. His eyebrows unconsciously furrowed as he contemplated things. He looked directly into Mugen's eyes. Whatever he has to answer, Haruto would not trust it so much. After all, Mugen Muritaka was like a flickering fluorescent lamp, confusing Haruto of who he really is. Until he knows what type of guy the binbou prince is, his trust would just be bordering 50%.

[Cazuki101]

As Mugen stood there in the street, he started to wonder if he would ever get a response.

 

Why did I even ask him that? I should have tried to play it cool. I should ha-

 

"I don't understand, Mugen."

 

Mugen’s full attention was focused on Haruto then. He dimly noticed that it was the first time that Haruto had called him by his first name, just as it had been the first time that Mugen had called Haruto his without using ‘-chan’. He was mostly concerned however with the actual words Haruto was saying. He didn’t understand? Had Haruto been thrown off-balance?

Haruto continued.

 

"Are you asking me this because..."

 

Haruto paused then. Mugen didn’t know why specifically, but he could almost tangibly feel that Haruto was looking for the right words to say.

 

"...because I seem like someone who uses people for my benefit..."

 

You look like you do… I mean, if I’m right and you’re starved of attention from your family, it’s natural that you’d use others to fill that gap.

But was that full reason why he’d asked the question? He knew in a moment it wasn’t. Mugen knew that if he stayed like this, someone who Haruto didn’t recognize, he was doomed to fail. However, he felt like there was something else, some other reason besides the capture.

 

"...or is it because of something entirely different from what I've said?"

 

Haruto stopped then and Mugen realized it was his move. He couldn’t be careless here, otherwise this would have all been for nothing. Haruto looked straight into his eyes and he looked back, brown meeting blue. He started to think of something, but as he started thinking, his mouth started moving on its own.

 

“Because I find you interesting.”

 

Wait, what? No! You’ll give it away!

 

“Because sometimes you look like the world doesn’t touch you, like you’re sitting in an ivory tower where no-one can bother you. But then, you sit up in a treehouse and wait for someone important to pick you up. Because you are surrounded by people and yet you look lonely.”

 

Mugen paused. He had absolutely no idea where these words were coming from. He didn’t even know if Haruto was lonely.

 

“Because…”

 

Mugen trailed off. It looked like whatever force had processed him had left. He filled in the rest himself.

 

“I want to understand you.”

 

Mugen shut up and looked Haruto dead in the eye. His eyes were a strange mix of earnest, confused and maybe even slightly unsure. It was Haruto’s turn now. Would he choose to re-erect his walls of steel, or would he try and make a bridge to cross the chasm between them?

[ukemextreme]

He looked confused. Mugen looked confused at himself, as if he couldn't believe that these words were coming from him so earnestly. He said he found Haruto interesting. What part of Haruto made him so interesting? He was just the typical politician's son who was so good at everything he seemed like he came out from one of the mangas his friends read. Cliché but Haruto was really trying so hard to be good at everything.

 

"Because sometimes you look like the world doesn’t touch you, like you’re sitting in an ivory tower where no-one can bother you..."

 

Now, Haruto looked surprised. Was this what normal people think of him? His jaw dropped a bit but he kept listening.

 

"...But then, you sit up in a treehouse and wait for someone important to pick you up. Because you are surrounded by people and yet you look lonely."

 

Lonely, Mugen said. Did he...really looked that lonely when he was up in the Void? Haruto felt lonely, yes, but he never knew that someone would notice. He usually acted optimistic, evading questions when it got too emotional. Even his facial expressions, he had already mastered them all. But then here came Mugen, a guy whom he just met a day before, telling him how lonely he'd looked. Had Haruto lowered his guard that a guy like him could see him through? Why had he? There were so many questions popping up in his brain it made him dizzy and doubtful of himself.

 

"Because," Mugen continued, drawing his attention away from his former thoughts, "I want to understand you."

 

Haruto, tired, just smiled. Bitterly. "Maybe...maybe you're right. Maybe I unconsciously act all high and mighty. Maybe I'm someone who can be and wants to be friends with everybody just because I don't want anyone to see that I'm actually lonely inside. Maybe I'm someone who tries so hard to be good at everything just so that nobody would get into my head and analyze what really is going in there."

 

Mugen had looked at him dead in the eye. He looked right back at him in the same way, too. Mugen looked earnest and confused at the same time. Haruto, however, won't let it get to him.

 

"But right now, you don't have to understand anything about me."

 

His heart picked up its pace and quickened.

 

"Heck, you don't actually need to understand me."

 

Haruto paused and thought his words over. He already knew what to say but everytime he tried to mentally say them over and over, his chest hurt that he almost wheezed. He does not know why. He thought of giving it all up and just leave Mugen hanging but...

 

"I don't need you worrying about me...I don't need..."

 

He trailed off, closing his eyes. His chest hurt more. He inhaled sharply.

 

"...I don't need your pity."

 

Opening his eyes once again, Haruto stared into Mugen's eyes. His face immediately broke into a tight-lipped smile, one so forceful that his eyes were drawn to an almost thin line. He completely shut out another person, again (the first one being his nanny who fussed so much over him like a psychiatrist; he asked his father's secretary to fire her). He did not wait for Mugen's reply. Haruto immediately crossed the street when the streetlight turned green and quickly got in a taxi.

 

That night, Haruto focused on studying. He had also went to bed earlier that night.