Pretty

Bow

Hani frowned as he watched Kyo-chan collecting up the tea sets from the day's activities, struggling with the box he used to pick up with ease. He couldn't see Kyo-chan's arms underneath the bulky wool, but he could see the tendons in his hands bulging against the boy's skin, and the pinched expression on his pale, gaunt face. Kyo-chan was never the most athletic person by nature, but it seemed all of his strength and stamina had just melted away with the weight he shed.

Hani acted young, but he wasn't actually an idiot. He knew he could act selfishly, how he could hurt the people he cared about. They all remembered Takeshi pushing him until he threw him, needing that physical confirmation of "I've done wrong" and dispelling it with pain. It wasn't the last time, either; they all remember the cast the boy wore when he got so frustrated, so guilty, and he couldn't get Hani to hurt him. He'd slammed his hand in the door so, so hard. He cracked his bones and did it with an almost satisfied expression behind the tears and gritted teeth.

Despite appearances, and actions, Hani did care for people.

He supposed Kyo-chan was similar to his cousin, making a crutch out of something painful and convincing himself that he didn't need anything else. There was nothing wrong with a coping mechanism. It was all okay because, deep down, people who hurt themselves think they deserve it.

Or, that's what Hani thought. He didn't talk to Takeshi about his self-harm, and he wouldn't talk to Kyo-chan about "forgotten" lunches and his constant nausea. Despite his childishness, he was painfully observant; but he wouldn't intervene. He couldn't step up for Takeshi, only plugging leaks whenever they appeared, and so he couldn't talk to Kyo-chan.

Besides, they weren't close enough for that. Kyo-chan didn't hang around him - and that was okay! It just wasn't his place. He knew he could only sit back and watch, waiting for someone else to say something. But no one did.

Kao-chan was so close to Kyo-chan. They'd sit together, toned thighs brushing bone-thin ones, and they'd smile and laugh. They'd pause, eyes flicking down to lips, and they'd almost brush them together before the real world came back into focus and they'd put the distance back between their faces once more. The girls would scream and coo, the will-they-won't-they a source of high tension for everyone, and Kyoya would have another mug of coffee or tea and continue his paperwork.

Still, when Kyo-chan wasn't looking, Kao-chan always looked as if he was ready to run over and catch the boy if he fell. Quite literally. Although Kyo-chan tried to hide it, he got dizzy spells fairly frequently, but that wasn't surprising. You can't be that thin and be healthy, after all.

Tama-chan just seemed to watch from the side-lines with a sad acceptance of this. He knew that he couldn't magically fix Kyo-chan, despite having tried in the past. But he'd learned. Kyoya was happy, but then something cracked, and his weight got lower and lower. Hani, despite being observant, couldn't say why. He didn't know why anyone would do what he did and didn't want to know. It was some balance of care and selfishness. He didn't want to know what went through Kyo-chan's head with every pound he lost, with every bone that emerged from his skin.

Kyo-chan had never expressed an interest in archaeology, but Hani bitterly thought that he'd be an expert. After all, he was so good at uncovering bones, it'd be child's play for him.

He shook his head, shook the thought away, gaze lingering on Kyo-chan's shaking knees and the disgustingly prominent thigh gap. The jumper made him look almost normal, despite how his thin waist was drowned by the wool, but the exposed skin of his legs just showed off his condition. It made Hani feel... a little sick, to see a body so thin it was almost collapsing in on itself.

He hopped off his chair, trotting over to Kyo-chan and clasping his hands behind his back, looking up at his kohai with that coveted adorable expression of his. It had to be phrased like he was doing something nice. If that didn't work, he'd angle it as if he were trying to get more cake by helping, rather than just wanting Kyo-chan to sit down and rest. He didn't want him to hurt himself more than he already was.

"I'll take it, Kyo-chan!" He pipped, the other boy wincing at the words.

"Thank you senpai, but I can manage," Kyo-chan assured, continuing to take unsteady steps towards the messy back room, "I've done this a million times before."

He had, but each time became more and more unsteady. His legs almost seemed to bow, curving outwards, but it might just be some sort of optical illusion. He hoped so, at least. Still, the way that Kyo-chan's smile barely seemed to fit his thin face was all too distracting, he couldn't help it. Kyo-chan had always had soft features and slightly chubby cheeks for as long as he'd known him, so the contrast was stark.

"Yeah, Kyo-chan, but Takeshi promised I could have more cake if I helped!" He tried once again, batting his eyelashes and putting on his most adorable puppy dog eyes. He wasn't sure how much more he could do, honestly; it wasn't something you automatically know how to handle, after all, "Please?"

Kyoya just declined once more, taking the box to the back room with shaking arms and bowed knees, chapped lip between his teeth as he tried to pretend that he wasn't over-exerting himself. Hani just watched sadly, trying to decide what course of action to take, when he realised that the decision wasn't like a fork in the road, but a clearing with no visible path. He'd have to make a completely baseless decision, and he didn't even have a compass to check the way – let alone a map.

He wished there was one, though. Someone can only go so long on just green tea and coffee, and he didn't want to see Kyo-chan crumble in on himself. Not now, not ever. The guilt of staying silent would swallow him whole.

A/N: I am never, ever doing Hani's POV again. I'm sorry guys, I just don't like the little brat, and I was focusing too much on making him decent to enjoy writing this one.

Still, I think it turned out alright, and I put something that no one ever seems to talk about, in regards to Mori. Considering the poor boy self harms on-screen (by-proxy, but the feelings are there), it's never talked about like that, which I actually think is a shame. I'll probably write something with our strong, silent type soon, but we'll see ;)