100 Theme Challenge

Slow Down

Furuichi looked at his progress in the mirror. Still not Oga. His muscles had grown but, since his body was so lithe, it barely showed. The silvernette threw on a shirt and stomped his way downstairs. He still wasn't enough.

Oga noticed that Furuichi wasn't in a good mood when he came to school that morning. Seeing Furuichi in such a foul mood early in the morning was rare, but it was the scowl on delicate features that bothered Oga about it the most. Furuichi was starting to look more and more like the brunet. At lunch, Oga noticed that they were eating the same thing. Even Oga knew that Furuichi preferred full cooked meals over several snacks. What the hell was going on?

"Oi Annoyichi," Oga poked Furuichi with a non too gentle finger on a velvet cheek, "Where's your lunch?"

Furuichi blushed, shoved more food into his mouth, then answered, "I fwagat it a' howm."

"Right," Oga shrugged and went back into his anpan. Oga did not like where this was going. Not one bit. Oga wondered if this had anything to do with that workout video Furuichi was trying to follow the other time. The bell sounded when Oga wanted to ask if this behavior had anything to do with that day, Furuichi simply got up, left his trash, and walked off the roof for class. Furuichi was in such a bad mood, he didn't even notice the best friend he left behind with their jaw on the floor. What the hell is up with this guy? Oga grumbled about stupid people that had names that started with "F" and had silver hair and were cute just the way they used to be while picking up the trash before going to class.

...

Oga needed the bathroom, so he left Furuichi on his own by the river. Furuichi knew Oga was crass enough to simply pee in the river, but hadn't chosen to do that this time. Maybe we're switching roles, Furuichi thought with a slight grin. Imagine, the silvernette thought his head tilting toward the sky, what it would be like to be popular without having to try so hard?

"Hey!"

Furuichi jumped at the loud voice coming from his left side.

"What are you doing on our turf?"

Furuichi had spent so long trying to be like Oga, that the reaction was natural.

"I didn't know this river was stupid enough to be claimed by you."

"The hell did you just say to me with that pretty face?"

"That my face won't look so pretty after I kick your ass."

"Get him!"

The instinct to run hadn't been outgrown, but Furuichi dug his heels and readied his fists. If he was going to get the girls, demand respect, be enough, then it was time the silvernette got into a real fight. Furuichi knew that this moment determined just what kind of man Furuichi would see himself as for the rest of his life.

The first punch nearly cracked Furuichi's jaw, but the silvernette used the momentum to swing his fist at the other guys, any of them, landing a strike on one of the guys eyebrows. A vicious kick caught Furuichi's stomach, Furuichi then caught it and pulled back to take one of his attackers off balance. Furuichi couldn't move fast enough when the other two fists swiped at his rib cage and kidney. Four to one wasn't a fair fight. Furuichi managed to kick one more thug in the back before a smart kick to his own back. Furuichi's eyes stung. Something was bleeding somewhere on his face. The silvernette landed on his knees, way too vulnerable a position, then a blow to the back of the head. I'm going to die here. Furuichi closed his eyes, his strength and will gone, and braced himself for the brutal end, but it didn't come.

One of the thugs managed one last clap to Furuichi's right ear, then fell right beside him, eyes rolling upward. The pain bit into Furuichi's face, every sound muddled and fuzzy behind a constant ringing. "...das wright 'n don't you ever come back!"

The silvernette felt his body being pulled up by ginger fingers. "I leave you alone for one second, Annoyichi..." Oga couldn't help but grumble about how big of an idiot Furuichi had been trying to take a group on his own.

It pissed Furuichi off even more.

"But you do it all the time!"

"What does any of what happened right now have to do with me?"

Furuichi shoved off Oga's helping hands, but without the support, the silvernette's body was too weak and it crumpled to the ground. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Oga's helping open hands formed into fists before the brunet could stop it, but both felt lucky Oga had enough sense not to use them. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You! You're what's wrong with me!"

"What the hell are you spewing out, Idiot Furuichi!"

"You get the girls and the glory! And what do I get? A pat on the back because I can use my brain? A kick to the teeth because I actually want a girlfriend? What's up with that? I thought that if I could be more like you, I wouldn't be seen as such a weak, pathetic, and disgusting sidekick!"

Furuichi groaned when his bruised ribs buckled from his tirade. Gods everything hurts so much.

"Furuichi! Hang on..."

Furuichi's vision blurred then faded to black.

...

Furuichi woke up in a hospital bed. Everything still hurt, but he felt more refreshed. There weren't any windows near his bed or a clock, so the teen had no way of knowing what time it was. A light snore sounded to his right, "Oga?"

Oga opened his dark, sleepy eyes to see the silvernette awake, then shot up to full attention, "You're finally awake!"

Oga pinched a handful of Furuichi's soft cheek, "Do you know how worried you made me, Idiot Furuichi?"

"Owowowowowowowow! I get it, I get it!"

"Don't do that again!"

Furuichi tried to rub at his offended cheek, but found that his arms and hands were much too sore to move them. "You're not weak, ya know."

"What?"

Oga had spoken so softly, Furuichi wouldn't have known the brunet had said anything if it wasn't for lip reading. Furuichi's ear still hurt.

"You're not weak. Or pathetic. Or disgusting. Or a sidekick."

Furuichi huffed and leaned back in his hospital bed, "What am I then?"

"My best friend."

Furuichi's heart leapt straight into his mouth, stuttering as it beat.

"But you're more than that. And if you make me say this more than once, I will kill you."

Oga stared earnestly into Furuichi's eyes that the silvernette got even more tongue-tied. So, Furuichi just nodded for Oga to continue. "I liked you the way you were. I like that you're smarter than me. I like that you get out of fights, even if that means I have to fight them, because when I saw you out there..."

Oga looked down at his sweaty palms. "When I thought I was going to lose you, I nearly went back to murder all of those bastards. I like fighting, not for pride, or just for the hell of it, I fight to make sure you don't have to, so, you don't get hurt. And for girls, I don't see what's so special about them. Sure, they're cool and they understand things I don't, but I don't care about dating them. To me, you're special, and you're all that matters."

Furuichi's face burned until it turned puce. "You know that sounds like a confession, right?"

"I never thought about it like that, but now that you mention it, it makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Why I think you're so special."

Furuichi's brain melted from the blush that kept burning, he was sure of it.

"So, will you go out with me?"

Furuichi's mind struggled with remembering how to breathe, was this all he really wanted? Not for a girlfriend, but just to be loved? Furuichi felt his hand reach over the hospital bed to find Oga's. Oga's smile was brighter than the sun and the hospital lights combined.