Random Fic Post 2~ Interest

[vioni_girl16]

 

Fandom: Samurai Warriors

Characters: Sakon, Mitsunari and appearances of others.

Pairings: SakoMitsu (and others hinted)

Warnings: High School AU, M/M pairing, and that's about it.

NOTES: I'm really not too crazy about high school fics myself, but this idea was swimming around and I figured, hey, why not? I also tweaked things a bit. I don't really enjoy the idea of Sakon being a teacher to Mitsunari the student. That makes me vastly uncomfortable. So instead, they're both students.

Interest


The school day was coming to an end. As the final period wrapped up, a small group of seniors, whom had gathered on the school rooftop, flocked together ~ enjoying their leisure time.

Among these students was Shima Sakon. Everything but ordinary, he wasn't a jock, although he was great at sports, nor was he one of the bad boys, despite his tendency to exercise levity. He often got into trouble for his tomfoolery but nothing involving crime or violence was ever connected to his name. Sakon was all about harmless fun.

The most important quality to Sakon, however, was that he was brilliant.

One of the top students in his class, Sakon's only set back was that he lacked passion. The guy just didn't have much enthusiasm for anything, except History, but even that was a fleeting interest.

How fleeting was his interest? It's worth mentioning he was currently skipping the class.

While his friends were mingling away, Sakon was too busy hanging around the fenced border of the roof, occasionally sparing glances at his wristwatch. With freedom within his grasp, he also dreaded that it came with an extra price on account of his ditching...

At last, the bell rang, and Sakon quickly flinched away from the fence.

Saying farewell to his friends, Sakon remained behind. He would wait here until most of the teachers had departed and narrowed his chances of being caught. The guy had learned his lesson before, trying to rush and get away from his mentor would only prove fruitless. He had to exercise patience, or he would never succeed.

After realizing the extent of his delay, Sakon decided to stretch out on the bleachers to wait it out. Soon, he was comfortably resting with his backpack acting as a pillow, content to watch the clouds go by.

"What is the esteemed Sakon Shima doing up here?"

Sakon's gaze drift to the source, but was quite surprised by who it belonged to.

"Surely he has better things to do than to waste his time entertaining fools?"

Ishida Mitsunari. One of the most gifted minds in the entire school. The boy worked tirelessly from what Sakon had heard of him, evident by his promotion from being a sophomore to senior earlier in the year.

Sakon's spot at the top of the class was frequently at risk due to his carelessness, but Mitsunari was consistently getting the highest scores across the boards. This didn't however apply to his P.E class grades. Mitsunari was quite delicate to the eye, slender and with fair skin. He moved gracefully and wasn't weak, but he definitely was not on par with guys like himself. He was... compromising, for lack of better word.

To say he was piqued by this kid's company would be an understatement. It was sudden, and yet he was brash and quite rude considering they'd never actually interacted before.

"I suppose it takes a fool to know a fool, eh?" Sakon scoffed, turning his attention back to the skies.

"Hmph."

A short pause followed, yet the boy didn't leave and Sakon was quickly growing agitated. Whatever the kid wanted, Sakon was ready for him to just get it over with.

Sitting up, he boredly provided Mitsunari with his undivided attention and was nearly stirred by the boy's composure. Even his face was a mask of indifference.

"What do you want?"

"There's an academic competition coming up, and I --"

"Take the win, I'm not interested." Sakon intercepted, rising to his feet and starting past the boy rather hastily.

"W-Wait!"

He stopped to regard him curiously, "What?"

Another short but staggering pause. Sakon could see the kid was pretty awkward, this must be hard for him...

Also, he wasn't really in a rush. He needed something to stall him, anything would help him avoid Shingen.

Takeda Shingen was his history teacher, as well as mentor. Sakon couldn't say he really felt suffocated by the man, Shingen was actually quite a mellow man... but like every teacher to their apprentice, he wanted the best for Sakon. There was no way in hell he would be pleased that his star pupil was slacking off, purposefully ~ let alone skipping his class.

"It's a... team competition."

"And what's this gotta do with me?"

Mitsunari dropped his head, "I... was wondering..."

Finally catching the implication, Sakon shook his head. "Not interested."

And with that, he took his leave.

*~*~*

Fate was a cruel mistress.

It seemed after that day Sakon was no longer under the heaven's good graces. Somehow Shingen got wind of his hideout on the roof and requested the janitor keep it locked from there on after. This left him with nowhere to go, except to class.

He often thought that Mitsunari was responsible, but he had no proof. Any of his buddies could've run their mouth to the wrong person...

Unfortunately, getting caught also reserved him a nice spot in detention after school for an entire week. Worst of all, his instructor was, of course, Shingen.

It was near sunset by the time Sakon had freedom once again. He felt refreshed taking in the cool, clean air and started home fully intent on watching some TV and chowing down on some pizza rolls.

Instead, he walked in on a peculiar scene.

A familiar redhead was in the midst of a standoff with with two other kids. Sakon immediately identified the small frame that was Mitsunari's, and the two taller boys were his brother's, Kiyomasa and Masanori. It was well-known that despite the fact they were family, Mitsunari often quarreled with his brothers and after Sakon's brief encounter with Mitsunari a week ago, he was drastically more than ever aware of the boys shortcomings.

He was frequently the target of their classmates hatred. They envied his talents, among other things, but Mitsunari certainly wasn't some docile wallflower either. He was quite rude, and Sakon experienced that first hand.

But these were his brothers. What could he possibly have done this time?

Masanori, the biggest of the three and clearly the loudest (and more hot-headed), was just shouting madly to the extent Sakon no longer could decipher if he was actually saying words. To his relief, the other brother managed to get him calm and he finally piped down.

Mitsunari appeared to be speechless the entirety of the conversation, but he was flustered ~ Sakon could see he was gripping his books excessively tight to his chest.

"You know, I'm tired of always defending you." he heard Kiyomasa say. "I have a reputation and if you're gonna keep being a stain on my good name, I'm --" he looked up and Sakon realized he was finally acknowledged. "Sakon?"

Sakon's eyes traveled from Mitsunari to the brothers shortly, and then he replied, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, this bighead just screwing things up, the usual."

Kiyomasa was always putting up a image as the cooler, and more sensible of the brothers, whereas Masanori was irrational and Mitsunari was rather snobbish. Sakon and Kiyomasa had no issues, but they weren't friends either.

"I'm not 'screwing things up'." Mitsunari contended, "I have no desire to pretend I'm something I'm not. I will not befriend idiots and I don't have to."

Sakon could feel the tension thickening by the minute. If he didn't get these three separated, they may go to blows and he frankly wasn't in the mood to be caught in the middle of a family feud.

"Alright boys, take it easy." he said with a grin, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"That idiot is always acting like he's better than everyone!" Masanori retorted indignantly, turning his nose up at his brother. "He needs to be knocked off his high horse!"

"And who's going to do it? A fool like you?"

And instant later, Sakon and Kiyomasa were holding Masanori back from the smaller boy. Undeterred by his brother's rage, Mitsunari never lost his poise or cool.

Sakon sighed, Oh yeah, he's a sassy one. And he just said the wrong thing to the wrong guy... great. he thought.

Mitsunari's demeanor quickly lost him favor with Kiyomasa as well. Once Sakon released Masanori into his grasp, Kiyomasa pulled him away and directed his own frustrations at Mitsunari.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! You're always so --"

Sakon, as well as Kiyomasa and Masanori were dumbfounded as Mitsunari abruptly stormed off on his brother mid-sentence. This certainly didn't sit well with the boys at all, but Kiyomasa merely apologized to Sakon before striding off with Masanori in the opposite direction of Mitsunari.

With a sigh, Sakon decided to go after Mitsunari.

He certainly was a feisty one, that was for sure.

*~*~*

"You always storm off like that?" Sakon asked once he caught up him.

Mitsunari never ceased his progress, in fact, he began to walk faster. "I could've handled that myself."

Sakon rolled his eyes, "Tch, is that your way of saying 'thanks'? You're doing yourself no favors walking around with a chip on your shoulder."

"Hmph!" with his nose turned up, Mitsunari picked up his pace again.

Unfortunately for him, he lost his footing, and quickly stumbled, falling into the hard ground but luckily catching himself enough not to crash face first.

Sakon was at his side immediately, actually shocked by his own concern for the kid. Mitsunari tried to pick himself up, but dropped his books in the process.

"Dammit!"

He looked a nervous wreck. 

Sakon kneeled beside him, "Here, let me help you."

"I'm fine, dammit." he growled, swatting away his hand.

The older boy ignored him, and went to retrieve the scattered books, only to be stopped once Mitsunari's hands clasped his own firmly.

It was like being struck by lightning, but this bolt sent shudders through every nerve in his body. They had both instinctively snatched away from each other upon contact, but the titillation stayed behind. Sakon's hands were tingling from the sensation.

He could still feel his hands on his own... trembling.

His gaze traveled from his open palms to Mitsunari. He reacted quickly upon noticing the boy's palms were scrubbed, no doubt from breaking his fall. He was wincing, and doubly so once he tried to gather his books again.

"Your hands."

"I'm fine."

"Let me see."

"Stop it, don't touch me."

Sakon frowned, conflicted by the strange urge he felt building within and his growing frustration with Mitsunari's stubbornness. The urge took over, and he snatched his hands into his own, palms up to be careful with his injury.

It wasn't too bad, but he could see why it might sting to ball his fists or anything.

Clearing his throat, Sakon chuckled, "Uh..." and then upon registering his firm hold upon the boy's hands had not wavered, he quickly released him and turned his attention to the books on the ground, gathering them all up. "Look, I'll carry your books for you."

"I can handle it." his tone was drastically softer than before. Perhaps he was mellowing out a bit?

"I insist." Sakon said, helping him stand.

Despite the waves of emotions overwhelming Sakon, when their eyes met, however, it wasn't at all like those cheesy romance movies. No, Mitsunari looked more ready to set him on fire than to fall head over heels in love...

"So, you're going to walk me home?" Sakon nodded with a smile, Mitsunari sighed and put a hand on his hip, "Hmph, that's very chivalrous of you, I suppose."

"I'm a pretty decent guy, I think." Sakon said.

"Have you considered my proposal yet?"

Well, that was straight to the point.

"Eh? Proposal?"

Mitsunari nodded, giving off an air of superiority, but Sakon rather liked it this time. I think I'm coming down with something, I've gotta be.

"Yes, the one from last week."

That felt like a kick to the nuts. "You mean... the competition?"

"What else?" Mitsunari asked with a huff.

Sakon didn't dare share what he thought he meant. And definitely not how disappointed he was that it wasn't it... "I already told you, I'm not interested."

"You're brilliant, you should endorse your talents, and nourish them."

"You mean like you do."

After a pause, he nodded, "Yes."

Sakon smirked, "So, it was you that told Shingen about my hideout, wasn't it?"

*~*~*

Sakon hadn't the slightest clue what it was that drew Mitsunari to him. Sure, he was above most of the other students in intellect, but this wasn't something reserved solely to his person. Mitsunari had many friends who were more than suitable for this competition, why not ask them instead?

There was Naoe Kanetsugu, an odd loud mouth among his peers but nonetheless, a protege of their Mythology class teacher, Uesugi Kenshin. He also excelled in literature and music from what he'd gathered of the kid. Unfortunately, he wasn't bright enough to consider wearing different head gear... His hats were quite eccentric, to say the least.

Sanada Yukimura was a mutual friend of both Sakon and Mitsunari. He and Sakon both were often kidnapped by Shingen to listen in on his lectures. Yukimura was a fairly bright young man. He studied as hard, if not more than Mitsunari did, and unlike said redhead, Yukimura actually was great in Phys. Ed class too.

Sakon had thought to ask Yukimura if Mitsunari had requested he participate in the competition, but the boy was far too distracted trying to come up with ways to attract a new girl in his Art class. If there's one thing Sakon knew about Yukimura, it was that he was a passionate kid, and once he had his mind set on something, he saw it through. He probably wasn't gonna rest until he had that new girl...

He once broke down the girl's name to him in an attempt to form poetry, asking for Sakon's advice. While Sakon had his fair share of luck with women, that was something he wasn't going to touch...

If Mitsunari did consider Yukimura an option, he certainly would have been disappointed.

But then there was Otani Yoshitsugu, Mitsunari's equally delicate (although notably more fragile) and becoming best friend. Yoshitsugu was also at the top of the class, but unlike Mitsunari, was quite easy-going~ possibly too much so.

He was comfortable going to Yoshitsugu for answers, but that didn't pan out. Yoshitsugu had been out sick all week.

So, naturally, Sakon turned to their mutual friend, Todo Takatora. He assumed that if Yoshitsugu would share something like this with anyone, it would be him. Unfortunately, Yoshitsugu must have saw this coming, as he'd already threatened to curse Takatora with 3 years of no... something. Takatora didn't say what exactly it was...

I see I'll have to get an answer straight from Mitsunari then. Sakon surmised.

*~*~*

"Ne, Sakon?"

He was more than a little surprised by his classmate, Hanbei, especially given the exaggerated body language. Hanbei made it perfectly clear he was both bored and exhausted as he slumped his entire upper body over the side of his desk (ruining the paper Sakon was finishing up), and then laid his head on the surface, sighing loudly.

"Uhh, Hanbei?"

"Are you gonna compete? If more smart folks sign up, I'll have to work harder..."

Sakon chuckled, patting his short messy hair. "Nah, I'm not in it. Don't sweat it!"

"Eh? To be honest, I'm happy because you're just as much of a big brain as Kanbei-dono, Takakage-san, and myself. But if all the brainiacs don't enter, it's not much of a challenge..." he groaned.

"You're partnered with Kanbei, I take?"

"Yep. I wasn't gonna partake, but I'm not gonna let Takakage-san steal him away. Kanbei and I are like this." he wound his index and middle fingers together tightly. "Nobody's gonna tear us apart."

Sakon caught the implication, but it wasn't as if it were some puzzle to begin with. They were pretty obvious, after all. "Well, anyway, you got Kanbei as your partner so, this should be a breeze then, eh?"

"Maybe... by the way, why don't you team up with Takakage-san? He could use a partner."

"Nah, I'm not interested in competing. Too much pressure." he joked.

"Tell me about it." he finally slid off the desk and stood upright to stretch out his arms with a yawn, "Okay, let me know if you change your mind though."

Sakon gathered the rest of his things, including the wrinkled paper he was working on, and strode out of the class. Lunch time. The best time of the day. Sakon fully intended to chill on the rooftop again with a can of soda and some chips, but fate had other plans for him.

"Sakon!"

He stopped in his tracks, cringing against his better judgement.

"Shingen..."

*~*~*

"Shingen's trying to convince me to compete now... Is this your doing?"

"Hmph."

Sakon sighed, gaze traveling to the sky, his eyes danced over the sun-kissed clouds tiredly, "It's autumn now. It'll be getting dark early pretty soon."

"The competition is in December."

"Ah..."

Sakon had taken it upon himself to walk Mitsunari home since that last encounter. At first, he was leisurely waiting after class for him, but as Sakon soon got charged with staying after to review material (thanks to Shingen), Mitsunari made it into a mutual effort. He purposefully waited for him outside after school and if Sakon had the misfortune to get detention; like he had today for attempting to ditch class again (he'd seen Shingen earlier in the day and took it upon himself to consider that a free pass to avoid him later), Mitsunari would sit beside him in detention, reading to pass the time.

Today, the walk home was slower paced than before. Sakon was savoring the moment, and he liked to think Mitsunari was too.

That urge had never truly gone away, after all.

"Is Kobayakawa a better candidate than myself?"

Sakon was caught off guard by the abrupt questioning. He stopped to look at Mitsunari, and noticed the frown on his lovely face. "Wha?"

"If you don't like me, just say it."

"Mitsunari, I haven't agreed to be anyone's partner. What gave you the impression that I did?"

"I..."

Sakon stepped up to him, and placed a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder, "I haven't expressed interest in competing, none whatsoever. Not towards anyone, okay?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Uh... I can't be bribed, you know..."

In that moment, Sakon saw another rare instance of Mitsunari's vulnerabilities. As his emotions got the better of him, his typical mask of coolness and control faltered. A slight rosy hue drift over his cheeks, and for an instant, that tingling sensation from before returned, spreading through Sakon's body like a thousand bolts of lightning. But this time, he felt the tremors come together in his chest and ultimately strike through his heart.

"Sakon, I..."

This was a heartfelt plea...

"Why me?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"I know a fool when I see one, and you're no fool, Sakon Shima." he spoke softly, and Sakon found himself leaning in, "You lack motivation, but I'm willing to light a fire under you to get you going."

"Why me?" he asked again.

"I recognize your talent, Sakon... and I... want to win."

His breath caught in his throat after realizing just how close they were. He could see the tiny beads of perspiration forming on the fair skin of Mitsunari's forehead; he was nervous... but so was he.

Sakon hesitated, as he tried to sort this out. He wondered if Mitsunari was trying to use him, but relinquished the thought, knowing Mitsunari was a go-getter. He did everything himself if he could, never bothering to ever ask for assistance unless absolutely necessary.

There was more to this plea than he was willing to imagine, but...

He admired Mitsunari's passion.

"Alright already... I'll be your partner."


----



Okay, well, that's part one! I'll be finishing up part two and should have it posted in the future. This is different from what I usually try. Clumsy even, but I'll straighten it out some other day. I'll admit, I'm not very confident in this one... but I feel better when I get these scenario's out of my head so I can move on to the next. I hope it was a good read anyway... I like this story but I'm nervous about pulling this off. It's the perfectionist in me. Ugh.

I'm gonna work on proofreading something I've been working on for a long time now. Should have that done in a bit too. Anyway, toodles! 

~Vio