Heroes Without Capes

Team

Kimishita leaned against the wall, pulled out his phone and typed a quick text to Kiichi. Back home. Just met with "mother." How are things on your end?

Closing his eyes, he let himself slump to the ground, sitting down on the floor as he waited for Kiichi to respond. His head was still reeling. There was so much he had learned today, so much he had understood. He felt like he could never see the world the same way ever again.

Hanae-san... Should he really have agreed to let her help? She had seemed sincere, and her story had rung true. But even if he felt like he finally understood her, his pride was still bristling. He didn't like asking someone he hated for help. And this... this was a level of hatred he had for no one else in the world, a resentment engraved too deep into the depths of his consciousness to disappear just because he knew her story. Had he really done the right thing?

Her face full of regret appeared in his mind, and he sighed. He didn't want to end up like her, lonely and frustrated and ridden with disappointment and guilt. No matter what else happened, he didn't want to follow her footsteps. Even if it meant asking the person he hated most for help.

And most of all, the relief he felt right now was so worth it.

His phone buzzed in his hand. Kimishita blinked and looked down at the screen to find a message from Kiichi popping up, obviously typed in a hurry. b threr in 5!

Kimishita had half a mind to text back and correct the typo, just to mess with him, but he didn't. If he really was as hurried as the text made it seem, Kiichi wouldn't read it before he got here anyway. Five minutes, huh.

He closed his eyes and waited. It didn't take long for a familiar set of footsteps to come storming up the street, and a second later the door flew open, a shadow falling over Kimishita's face. He looked up to find Kiichi standing in front of him, out of breath and agitated.

"What's it with you and running in here like a maniac?" he said, shaking his head. "This is turning into a habit."

Kiichi ignored the remark, hurrying over to grab him by the collar, pulling him to his feet. "How'd it go?" he asked impatiently. "The meeting."

Kimishita scowled at him, but deep down he felt almost amused. "First of all," he deadpanned, "I'm not telling anything till you put me down."

Kiichi let go of him in an instant. Kimishita sighed, leaning back against the wall, hands in his pockets. "That's better."

"So?" Kiichi asked, almost stumbling over his words. "How was it?"

Kimishita took a deep breath. "She's helping us."

Kiichi stared at him with bright sparkling eyes. Then he started grinning, beaming from ear to ear until he outshone the sun behind the window. "So that means..." His hands grasped Kimishita's with barely-contained joy. "That means you can stay, right?"

"If everything goes well." Kimishita pulled his hands away. "That's still a pretty big 'if.'"

"Smaller than before," Kiichi shot back with a pout. "Let me be happy, asshat!"

"Fine, idiot. Be happy all you want. But don't complain if it doesn't all go as planned." Kimishita scoffed, throwing an affectionate nudge to Kiichi's ribs. "How about that pro contract of yours, by the way?"

Kiichi grinned smugly. "All set."

Kimishita felt half skeptical, as if it had gone over a little too fast and too smoothly, but Kiichi's face left no doubts. This wasn't a grin of someone who was lying to him. This was the grin of someone who was irritatingly pleased with himself because everything had gone perfectly in his favor. And for once Kimishita was happy to see it.