"Good. Clean this hallway and finish before nightfall," the old man orders, making Keiuske's face turn pale.

    But...he came all this way to watch Takemichi! Is he seriously not even gonna catch a glimpse of the sunshine boy?!

   "B-But—" Keisuke's protests fall on deaf ears. The old man begins walking away with his hands behind his back, as calm as can be after nearly making a ten year piss their own pants.

    "No buts!" The old man calls out without looking back. "If the floors aren't shiny and clean then you'll end like Manjiro."

    Keisuke swallows his pride, his sadness, grief, and tightens his grip around the broom. The black haired boy looks down at Mikey, sending him a silent apology, and answers the old man with the seriousness of a soldier.

    "Y-Yes sir!"

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Keisuke lost track of time. His arms are growing numb, his feet ache, his hunched back is yelling at him to stop, but Keisuke keeps sweeping the floor, settling on listening to Takemichi learn rather than watching.

    Every once in a while, when Keisuke catches sight of a window, he's peer outside, watching the sun rise high above the trees and he wishes that, under some miracle, time would pass in the blink of an eye.

    It doesn't.

    In fact, time seems to be going by slower than usual.

    If Keisuke was sweating before he got to the dojo than he's positively dripping sweat by now. Long streams of gross sweat would trail down his face, creating another mess that Keisuke would have to clean up later with a mop.

    And where exactly is Mikey?

    He's still on the floor pretending to be unconscious to get out the damn punishment like a tricky little bastard!

    Keisuke knows this because when the boy began sweeping around the supposedly unconscious boy, Mikey sneezed upon getting a dust full of dirt up his nose. His dark eyes flew open, making eye contact with a gaping Keisuke, had the audacity to smirk, and went back to sleep. Keisuke tried waking him back up by poking his sleeping form with the wooden broom, but he got yelled at by the old man for not working.

    And now the sun is finally beginning to set, reaching the end of Keisuke's punishment. With the broom gripped tightly in his hand like a legendary sword, Keisuke inspects his hard work with an exhausted smile plastered across his face. The floor is shiny and clean,reflecting Keisuke's face off the shiny surface, and is void of any dirt, dust, sand or trash.

    Keisuke stares at the floor for a long time, panting like an exhausted dog, and spaces out. He stares and stares, in a weird kind of trance, before the sound of feet running across the floor distracts him from his staring contest with the clean floor. With the broom held tightly in his hand, Keisuke begins to follow after the pitter patter of feet, on a mission to put an end to it.

    He won't let some random ass kid ruin his hard work with their disgusting smelly feet! He's worked all day to get the floor nice and shiny and he might actually go insane if someone screws it up—

    "Kei-Chan! Is that you?"

    Ah, and there is it, the voice of an angel.

    Chasing after the sweet heavenly voice, Keisuke comes face to face with the boy he's been dying to see since this morning. Keisuke is instantly filled with serotonin the moment his eyes land on Takemichi's bright smile and his adorably flushed cheeks. Big blue eyes stare at Keisuke with pleasant surprise that sends tingles of excitement up Keisuke's spine. The curly haired boy is sweaty and panting, wearing a white uniform similar to Keisuke's with a white belt wrapped tightly around his waist.

    And Keisuke has never been happier.

    Keisuke drops the broom and flings himself onto Takemichi, embracing the small boy in his arms. Keisuke ignores the complaints spilling from the boy's lips and continues to squeeze and squeeze, relishing in the boy's presence.

    "Hey! Let go of me—you're smelly!!!" Takemichi shouts, smacking Keisuke on the top of his head, reminding the feral boy about the bruises that blossomed their hours ago from the old man's broom. Reluctantly, Keisuke lets him go and holds onto his head with a grimace.

    "OI! Watch where you're hitting me, stupid!" Keisuke reprimands, earning an adorable furrowed brow in response.

    "Huh?! You started it! I could barely breathe!!!" Takemichi shouts, pointing an accusing finger at Keisuke.

    "Oh please, it was just a little hug! Stop being so dramatic—"

    "You almost suffocated me!"

    Keisuke huffs and crosses his arms in front of his chest, his brown eyes narrowing at the smaller boy in annoyance.

    "So what? You don't want me to hug you anymore? Is that it?"

    Keisuke watches with satisfaction as Takemichi stills, his face contorting into something akin to guilt. He bites his lower lip as if he's trying to stop himself from saying something absurd (which is greatly appreciated by Keisuke).

    "I—I never said that! I'm just really tired and—"

    Keisuke heaves out a dry laugh, catching the boy off guard.

    "I'm just playin' with ya!" He laughs, flinging an arm lazily around the boy's bony shoulders. Transferring all his weight onto the boy, Keisuke sends Takemichi a cheeky smile. "Hey! I got an idea!"

    Takemichi narrows his blue eyes at Keisuke, almost surprising a laugh out of the feral boy.

    Ah, even after two years, Takemichi is still as skeptical as ever...

    "I want nothing to do with this—"

    Keisuke interrupts Takemichi by jumping onto his back, making the smaller boy yelp in surprise.

    "Show me what you learned Takemichi and carry me home!" He shouts, making his friend underneath him wobble and shake under the added weight.

    "GET OFF, KEI-CHAN!!! WE'RE GONNA FALL!!!"

    "No you're not! Use those muscles and get to marching soldier!!!"

    "YOU'RE A DICK!!!"

    "AND YOU'RE A WEAK BABY WHO NEEDS TO GET STRONGER, NOW WALK!!!"

    Takemichi yells incoherently and begins to take a few steps across the wooden tiles. Keisuke cheers the boy on, shouting encouragement and compliments with every step the boy makes. Takemichi huffs and puffs the entire way through the hallways, filling the tight spaces with his staggered breathing.

   Takemichi is about to reach the exit of the dojo when Keisuke feels someone plucking him off of Takemichi's back like a baby kitten. Keisuke whips his head around, trying to free himself from the stranger's grasp so he can go back to training Takemichi.

    "HEY!!! WE WERE ALMOST—" Keisuke cuts himself off the moment his eyes land on an amused, sly expression. Wakasa, who's hands are grasping Keisuke's sides tightly to keep him in place, is staring at Keisuke like he's a wild animal.

    "Can't you see how tired Takemichi is? Give the boy a break, yeah? Just for today At Least," Wakasa says with narrowed eyes, annoyance laced heavily in his tone as he directs it at a dangling Keisuke.

    Keisuke looks back over his shoulder, ready to refute that Takemichi is just fine, but the curly haired boy is sprawled out on the ground, snoring softly without a care in the world.

    Keisuke heaves out a groan and hangs his head in defeat. "Fine...but I get to hangout with Takemichi tomorrow!"

    Wakasa smirks at Keisuke's exclamation. "That's fine with me," Wakasa says before setting Keisuke down onto the ground. Moving around the tired boy, Wakasa reaches Takemichi and picks the boy up, placing him on his back. "Now let's get you back to Ms.Baji."

    With one last groan, Keisuke follows after Wakasa and Takemichi, his eyes staring longingly  at the boy sleeping on the man's back. His heart begins to pick up, his face begins to heat up, and he begins to think about the boy's cute face—

    And that's when it hits him.

    These feelings that Keisuke has for Takemichi and Mikey is love. A four letter word that holds so much weight and power and it makes so much sense...

    And...Keisuke finds himself smiling, easily coming to terms with this powerful feeling that threatens to burst through his rib cage.

    Staring at the back of Takemichi's head, Keisuke begins to fantasize about the blonde and the curly haired boy, a dark blush spreading across his nose and cheeks, reaching the tips of his ears.

    Keisuke is in love with Takemichi and Mikey.

    And, surprisingly, Keisuke accepts it without a single complaint.

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