AU Where Everything is the Same Except...

BONDING

In this corner, standing a majestic 5'3" and sporting the latest flamingo flop, SHSL Hairdresser Akira Tachibana.
And in the other corner, high-flying ladies man extraordinare, SHSL Pilot Hiroto Inoue.

While Rin enjoyed the inner monologue of her head playing out the next big match, she knew it couldn't go on. For one, neither of them knew the proper code for a good fisticuffs, secondly neither of them would care, thirdly there could've been a killing. That would not have been good for the school, not one bit. She had already suggested splitting up and searching for clues. This could've been the point where she sorted out their conflicting egos.

Rin thought for a second and smirked. "Or, you know. All you girls can stay here and I'll take the guys out for a little manly bonding session while we're exploring..." She flashed a cheeky grin while draping her arms over Akira and Hiroto's shoulders.

Akira tensed a bit as Rin slung her arm around him, Hiroto laughed at her preposterous proposition.

"I'd actually rather have my hair fall out." Akira said flatly, glaring at Hiroto.

"Don't care. We're going. Now." The gentle flopped arms on their shoulders turned into a grip around their arms.

"But who will be here to protect the girls?!" Hiroto chirped.

"They're big enough to handle themselves." Rin started marching off with the pair in tow. "Besides, you're the one they need to be saved from..."

Akira burst out one large HA! at Hiroto before catching the glare of the boxer and cowering down. "Yeesh, your hair certainly is as fierce as you are... Where are we going anyway?"

"The meat locker."

"What?!" The boys cried in unison. No answer. Although they never would admit it, they now had something to agree on. Fujioka was scary when she was in the zone.

It felt like an hour of misery had passed before they made their way into the kitchen. While Rin looked around for a door to a meat locker, the boys hid in a corner. Unfortunately for the pair, Rin figured that they would try to escape, so she created a makeshift lock with a tightly knit rope. Somehow, despite the situation, they were perfectly content with bickering like usual.

"This is it, isn't it? We're gonna die..."

"No, you're gonna die. I've clearly got her under my spell."

"She's not interested mate, trust me."

"What, you think that because she's the one person who actually likes your hair she'll let you live? Get over yourself, man."

"No, you get over yourself!"

"When you're done ladies, I've got some fun planned for you!!" They heard her roar from the other side of the kitchen.

Then all their arguing stopped. They sat in silence, waiting. Suddenly, Hiroto looked over to the knife rack, Akira to the rope on the door. They looked at each other intensely. Their foreheards sweating, the beads mirrored against each others. Maybe... Maybe if they worked together, they could end it. They wouldn't need to tell anyone. They just needed to cut out the middle Fujioka... As they crept towards her, she started chuckling, a looming darkness under every "heh".

"Are you two really that stupid? You're not dealing with any ordinary boxer, remember? You two would just turn even harder on each other in the long run. Hell, you'd essentially be killing yourselves if you even tried it."

Akira and Hiroto looked towards each other again. They didn't want to admit it, but she had a point. Also, they didn't really want to kill her. After all, she was the only one of the group who was cool and had enough sense to like Akira's hair and Hiroto just wouldn't be able to hurt a woman, no matter how scary she was being right now. They sighed in unison.

"Great, glad we've cleared that one up!" Rin flashed a gleaming grin. "Let's beat the hell out of these cows!"

The boys slunk towards her again, accepting their defeat. It must've been about an hour and a half before another group came into the kitchen and found the trio in a heap on the floor, covered in sweat.

"So, that's where they are!" Yuuki shrieked.

"Oh my God, that is actually really disgusting..." Ayako crinkled her nose and turned to face away.

"Hey, everyone's been waiting for you!!" Yuuki came closer to the heap of bodies. "What have you guys even been doing...?" She hesitated to finish her question.

"Manly bonding. I said so earlier, didn't I?" Rin perked up almost immediately hearing their voices.

"That's some pretty interesting bonding you've got going on." Ayako folded her arms, smirking. "You even have rope here..."

"Ayako, Yuuki, my princesses! You have it all wrong!!" Hiroto sprang to his feet only to fall straight onto his knees in front of the pair.

"Leave it, mate. Let them think what they want." Akira smirked while slowly getting to his own feet.

"No way! I will not let them tarnish our names like this!" Hiroto snapped back at him.

"Seems like your little plan didn't work, Fujioka." Ayako nodded her head towards the boxer.

"Trust me, this is friendly..."

END

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NEXT: AU WHERE EVERYTHING IS THE SAME EXCEPT AYAKO SECRETLY HAS MAD GAMER SKILLS AND KEEPS GETTING COMPETITIVE WITH AYUMU DESPITE KNOWING HE'LL BEAT HER.

Masuyo spread her violet eyes open wide as she delicately applied mascara. The wand whisked her eyelashes up till they seemed long, luscious. She batted her eyelashes, smiled at her reflection, when there was a knock at the door.

    “Yes? What do you want?” she asked in a high voice, upon opening the door. Leaning against the door frame was none other than Hiroto Inoue. He grinned at her, ran a hand through his dark hair.

    “Hello, gorgeous,” he said, folding his arms. He waltzed into the room without invitation, leaving Masuyo standing at the door.

    Unlike the other girls, Masuyo wasn’t deterred by Hiroto’s constant attempts at flirting. In fact, she found it supplementary, because he was practically playing into her hands. “What do you want?” she repeated.

    “I need to talk to you,” Hiroto said. He winked. “But only if you can keep a secret.” She wasn’t aware of the nervous fluttering in the boy’s chest as he spoke, the tension in his shoulders. To her, he appeared confident and, well, normal.

    Perfect. That surely meant something she could use against him in the future. “Well?” she prompted, tacking on a smile to ensure he would confide in her.

    For the first time, Hiroto showed a sign of weakness. He shifted uncomfortably, swaying from foot to foot, clearly nervous. “Well,” he hesitated. After a moment of silence, he blurted out, “I like someone.”

    Masuyo, who had sat down on her bed, leaned forward. Her interest had been piqued. “Who is it?” she asked.

    Hiroto smiled sheepishly. “See, that’s the problem,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

    “Is it me?” Masuyo was flattered, though she couldn’t necessarily reciprocate those feelings. Though perhaps it wasn’t her…. Perhaps it was someone entirely different. She wasn’t dumb; she easily caught onto how others were feeling through the actions they took. It was a requirement of being a criminal - if she couldn’t read body language, then how could she act with accomplices?

    He chuckled. “Not exactly.” He paused, adjusted his collar. “See, it’s not even a girl at all.”

    She feigned surprise. “Really? You’re gay?” After a moment, she added, “Who is it, then?” It didn’t strike her as extraordinary that Hiroto was gay. She had figured he was, based on his interactions with the other boys. He teased them too much to be solely messing around, and the flirting with all the girls was probably a distraction, a ruse.

    The boy nodded slowly, grinned sheepishly. “I like… well, man, I don’t know. I don’t want to say.”

    “Tell me.” Masuyo had no time for fickle boys. She wanted the information now.

    “I like Akira,” he confessed, the words spilling out, one after another. He nervously shifted back and forth, watching her to gauge her reaction.

    Her eyes widened, though inside she only felt a growing advantage. This was the perfect information to use against the pilot one day.

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(I don't know how I did with Masuyo's character - she's pretty complicated. But I hope I did ok!)

AU where everything is the same except Rin and Akira are in a relationship.