Hiiro no Kakera- The Love Between Guardians

~Morning

Yuuichi was waiting at the usual morning meeting spot; the huge, old oak with the big, relaxing shadow that Yuuichi desperately needed on days like this- days when the others were late.

After waiting a few minutes, Takuma and Mahiro came strolling around the corner, talking and laughing without a care in the world. When Yuuichi noticed them, he let out a small sigh and approached them. "Why do they always look so happy together? What is Mahiro to Takuma?" Yuuichi thought to himself, shaking his head.

"You're late, as always," he said heaving another, heavier sigh.

Mahiro gave Yuuichi a light punch on the shoulder and said, with a sly expression, "Hey, don't be so serious! We'll make it in time! Besides, Takuma and I were having so much fun, we sort of lost track of time. Ne, Takuma?"

"Oh, yeah! Senpai cracked some really funny jokes and-"

Yuuichi interrupted Takuma with a cough and glanced at his watch.

"Well, if we're gonna make it to class, we don't really have time to stand here and talk about Mahiro and his jokes all day, do we?" he snapped. Yuuichi was more irritated than usual, and he knew exactly why.

He figured Mahiro did, too.

Shinji had been away for some time and, since he had only come back the evening before, he wasn't used to such early mornings. So, naturally, he had overslept. Shinji jumped up out of bed and got himself ready for school in a blur; he was prepared to run the whole way. He knew he didn't have much time so he decided to take a shortcut through the woods.

When he reached the forests edge, he paused for a second. He had never really liked dark places, especially when he was alone, but he took a deep breath and broke into a swift run so he could make it in time for his first class.

After a minute or two he thought he heard something and slowed.

He shook his head slightly and said, "N-no. It's just my imagination! I need to hurry or I'll really be late!" He took off in the direction of the school again.

Soon he began to hear low, echoing voices around him, which made him stop dead in his tracks. It sent chills down his spine.

"H-hello? I-is someone there?" His voice shook with fear.

He heard the voices getting closer, growing clearer with every passing moment. His mind was screaming one word: "RUN!"

He took off, running in earnest- even faster than when he thought he'd be late for his first day of school. Even with his incredible speed, the voices grew closer and closer still. Soon he was surrounded by glowing red eyes set in huge black masses.

Shinji knew immediately that he was surrounded by the drowned gods he had trained so hard to ward off. He knew how dangerous they were and though he was shocked, he wouldn't let himself feel afraid. He would show no weakness. So, he straightened himself and put on his bravest face.

"Go away, o-or else!" He had tried to sound resolute but his voice shook again. Even though he had tried his best, the fallen gods didn't back off an inch; they just continued to come closer and closer.

Shinji soon found himself with only a few centimeters of space between himself and the gods. His knees buckled; the stress and fear was too much for him. He fell to the ground in a total state of shock.

The gods converged on Shinji's crumpled form, growing louder with excitement. They would be upon him any moment. It took everything he had to close his eyes and let out a blood curdling scream.

Just then-

*SWOOSH*

A man jumped into the mass, landing in front of Shinji, protecting him. It was Kutani Ryou.

"Why don't you guys pick on someone your own size, huh?"

*Whoosh* *WHACK*

Ryou managed to fight all the drowned gods off and they soon retreated.

As he walked back to Shinji, he said, "Hey, you okay there?"

Shinji was still in shock and was unable to utter a single sound, let alone move a muscle on his own. Just as Ryou helped him to his feet, everything went black.

"H-hey!" Ryou caught Shinji as he fainted. "Oi! You alright?"

Ryou tried for several minutes to bring Shinji back to consciousness. Only after several failed attempts, he finally opened his eyes.

After a second, Shinji remembered the situation and clung to Ryou, burying his face into his chest.

"Hey, I sent them away. It wasn't easy, but they're gone. You're safe. You can relax now."

Shinji tried to remember what had happened after Ryou had gotten there. After a second, the realization came to him. He had fainted. He remembered the terror had taken over and he had collapsed under its weight.

Just as he remembered, he heard, "Uhh, kid? You can let go now, you know."

Shinji then had a second realization; not only did he faint, which was embarrassing enough; he had fallen right into Ryou's arms and had clung to him (a man) on top of that!

He quickly released his grip on Ryou and took a step back; his cheeks flushed a bright red.

"I-I'm so sorry! I mean…. Thank you… For saving me," Shinji stammered, looking away, his cheeks still a brilliant shade of red.

When he saw Shinji's expression, Ryou's own cheeks flushed slightly, without him realizing it.

"Oh, uh, no problem, kid. I heard those things and figured I had to get rid of them anyway, so…" Ryou muttered, scratching his head. "What were you doing running in the woods anyway? Shorties like you shouldn't be out here alone."

"Well," Shinji started sheepishly, "I overslept this morning and had to take this shortcut to make it to sch-"

As he said this, Shinji had glanced at his watch. He was already late!

"OH, NO!" I'm already l-" he tried to take off again, but lost his footing and started to fall. Ryou reached out instinctively to catch him and sighed.

"Listen, being late isn't the biggest deal. I always come to class late and besides-" he said as he pulled Shinji to his feet. "You just got over a fainting spell. I can't be there to catch you every time you do something reckless or stupid!" Ryou yelled a little more harshly than he had meant to. Why was he getting so worked up? He didn't understand why, but he knew he couldn't leave this kid alone.

"S-sorry!" Shinji said, flustered. Then he looked at Ryou and smiled. "Thank you, again. For everything. You really did save me."

With shocked eyes, Ryou looked away to hide the slight blush that had crept back onto his face.

"C'mon, Shorty. I'll walk with you through the woods, I guess," he muttered.

"Thanks!" Shinji exclaimed enthusiastically, running to Ryou's side

So, the two started off toward the school together. While Shinji felt a lot safer now that Ryou was with him, Ryou kept sneaking glances at Shinji. He had a goofy looking smile plastered on his boyish face the whole way.

Each time Ryou looked, he let out a sigh.

"What did I just get myself into?" Ryou's thoughts and feelings were so jumbled, it scared him.