Kintsugi: the golden repair // Hanemiya Kazutora x Reader

Chapter Six I'd like to believe this nervousness will pass

I thought life would be easier by myself. Everything is so much easier when you're alone. No one needs to share your burden, fight your battles. I don't need to take on anyone else's problems. No one can disappoint me, or replace me. I won't have to disappoint anyone. Every problem I've ever had was handled by me. I can't betray myself. But I think this time will be different. I was so scared to have friends, to be with a group. But it's not like that with those guys – they share their problems, fight each other's battles, and protect one another. That day with Mikey beating down the guys that jumped me opened my eyes. Y/n's been doing that for me this whole time. We never talked about my parents but I know she knew what was happening. She never judged me, and it never stopped her from treating me differently. She gave me a place to be, a friend to have. All I've done is make her life harder, especially in school. I'm just going to make her life easier; I'll remove myself from her all together. I'll protect her from afar because all I've done is hurt her.

Without explicitly telling Y/n, Kazutora slipped out of her life quietly. The last time he saw her he was cruel, but his own anxiousness wouldn't allow him to apologize. He debated with himself at night as to whether or not he should tell her how sorry he was. He feared that she would reject him, and accepted that it would be easier for him to leave first. It was easy in the beginning but as time passed his heart began to hurt. A loneliness and emptiness crept up in his core. Tora distracted himself, kept busy after school with his new friends. However, at school and when he was at home, he missed the friendship the two had shared. He no longer picked on Y/n but instead became an audience to her life. He'd watch her in the hallways or at lunch laughing with her friends. On the walk to and from school he would keep distance, following behind her. It kept him content just being able to admire her from the sidelines.

His bonds with his friends grew stronger, and his anxieties calmed whenever he was around them. Their little group had gained notoriety however and other groups of delinquents in the area were beginning to pay attention to the boys lead by the "Invincible Mikey." It was after detention during the walk home that Kazutora had to face those consequences. He had to stay behind afterschool because of trouble he had caused his teacher, shooting spitballs onto the chalkboard after lunch. By the time he exited the building he realized the next bus wasn't going to be around for the next fifteen minutes. If I start walking now, I'll be home before then. After about ten minutes of walking, he regretted not just waiting for the bus. He was only halfway home; I think if I cut through that neighborhood I'll end up by the other side of the complex. The neighborhood wasn't familiar but he had a decent sense of direction. He felt confident on the current path he was taking until he noticed a group of guys starting to congregate in front of him. "You lost bud?" One of the guys called out. He grinned back, "Nope." The group wouldn't let him pass and Kazutora braced himself for having to fight fifteen guys. "I recognize you," a voice behind him called out. Tora turned around to see about fifteen more guys behind him, and the one that spoke had a large grin on his face. "You're one of those shitty little brats that hangs around Mikey. You picked the wrong place to walk; this is Black Dragon territory. Name's Shion Madarame, try not to forget it." With that introduction, Kazutora's face met a fist.

He tried his best to fight back but, in the end, Kazutora was left overpowered, beaten badly and bloody. A few of the members picked him up and threw him down the street. He bounced off the pavement and heard them yelling, "Get the fuck outta here." "Don't come back." "Better not see you around here again." He scrambled to his feet and ran off, not stopping to catch his breath until he made it back to his apartment complex. Almost collapsing, looking up the flight of stairs he had to climb. Gripping the railing hard he made his way up and up and up....and realized that he had brought himself to the wrong floor. It wasn't his but instead Y/n's floor, her apartment only three doors down.

He was still functioning on autopilot, not thinking but just doing. He knocked on Y/n's door, then regained more consciousness. What am I doing here? Why would I come here? He was about to walk away when she opened the door. Her hair was pulled out of her face, she was out of her school uniform, wearing sweatpants and a tank top, pen in her hand. Y/n had been working on homework in the kitchen when she heard the knock. When she saw the state he was in, her eyes widened and mouth agape, "Tora?! What the hell happened?" Before he could answer she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the apartment. "Come on." Y/n closed the door, grabbed him again and brought him into the bathroom. 

Kazutora was in a daze, he couldn't speak. How? After all this time how? He caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror. His left eyebrow and bottom lip were split. He had bruises forming all over, and a lump starting to rise on his right cheek. The clean bathroom made him feel out of place, a real eyesore. They got me good. He went to touch his cheek but Y/n slapped his hand away. "Don't! You're a mess, you'll get it infected." She grabbed a first aid kit from behind the mirror and placed it on the sink to open it up. Grabbing the antiseptic wipes first, Y/n opened one of them and turned back to Tora. She huffed a light-hearted laugh, "You've gotten too tall." He couldn't stop the heat from rising into his cheeks and turned to look away from her.  Y/n propped herself up on the sink to make them the same height. She started with the cheek that was closest to her, his head still turned, but he slowly started melting into her touch. Despite the sting of the alcohol on the scraps and cuts, it felt good to be taken care of. When they were younger they always patched each other up after their playdates. The two of them frequently sporting new injuries. Back then the two of them would work on each other at the same time so they could quickly get back to playing. Now, Kazutora had nothing to distract him and had to look at her while she repaired the damage. There were plenty of cute girls in school but Kazutora felt as if none of them were as pretty as Y/n.

She concentrated on cleaning him, then she worked on the bigger injuries. The blood had finally slowed its flow and she was able to put a cotton gauze over his brow. Carefully securing it with medical tape. They made eye contact and Y/n slowly looked down at his lips. Is she going to kiss me? His heart stopped and his throat tightened. "I'm not going to be able to put anything on your lip but it's not bleeding anymore." She looked over her shoulder and they made eye contact in the mirror. It took him a second to pull his gaze from her face to look at himself. He still looked banged up but a lot better than when he first arrived. Y/n turned back to face him, "Let me see your knuckles."
"Huh?" It was the only sound Kazutora could manage to make at that moment. His mind still floating around the possibility of kissing Y/n. She continued carrying the conversation, "You really expect me to believe you let yourself get your ass kicked?" She brought her face up from her focus on his hand with a smile. She's so close to me, I could just, I could just do it as a thank you. As a way to say thank you.
You haven't even said sorry to her, you idiot. Oh yeah, right, we're not even friends anymore are we?

"You want to tell me what happened?" she asked as she worked on individually wrapping his torn knuckles. The skin had blown open, pulling back from the force of the punches he had managed to throw. "No." he couldn't handle the embarrassment of recreating the story for her. After finishing his dominant hand she wrapped her own fingers into his, settling her palm on top of his hand. "You don't have to tell me but just come back. If something like this happens again.... " she quietly sighed, "you know I'm always here to fix you up, right?" Kazutora lost his breath, his voice, he almost let his impulses take the driver's seat. In that moment the small bud of a crush had bloomed. Instead he coughed into his free hand, "Yeah, Y/n, I know." he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, opening it up he pretended to read a message, "I gotta go. Baji's here." She let go of his hand and jumped off the counter. The tiny bathroom not leaving much room between them. Y/n opened the door for him to walk out, looking a little disappointed. She was hoping that he would finally start talking to her again. He led the way as they walked back to her front door. Kazutora opened the door, stepping one foot out and looked over his shoulders, "Um..thank you Y/n." he spoke as awkwardly as he felt. "No problem." she just nodded and sounded robotic. He began walking away closing the door behind him when Y/n's hand shot out to stop the door.

Now she stood in the doorway and he was in the hallway.
"Are we still friends?" she asked him, her voice was full of emotion but she was blunt. Her hands across her chest, she wanted an honest answer. Kazutora breathed in and exhaled heavily, he needed the oxygen.
"Yea, Y/n, we'll always be friends." He smiled softly and walked away with his hands in his pockets. As he descended the stairs, he took his phone out and dialed Baji. "Hey, I need you to come pick me up. You ever heard of the Black Dragons?"