my saving grace ~ terukane

a haunting face?

3. Kou

~

It's not often that Akane wishes to curl up into a ball like this.

There are times, sure. Like when Yamabuki accused him of having a type (which he does not, no), or when the student body president himself ties him to the ceiling.

Speaking of, Akane is regretfully reminded of a bet they had made in the past. As a result of scoring lower on the finals- which was utter nonsense, by the way. Full marks in every subject, and he still lost. But Teru's request, for winning the bet…

He had gotten down on one knee, offering a hand over to Akane, who had collapsed after Teru decided to electrocute him. Akane had stared blankly at the student body president as he requested him to use every resource in his power to protect his younger brother.

That moment plays in repeat in his mind as Akane balks at Kou, who's currently talking to someone who is clearly picking on him.

When Teru asked Akane to protect his younger brother, he doubts that this is what he meant.

"Oi!"

And yet his body is walking over anyways, Kou’s head snapping over as the offender looks up.

"And who are you supposed to be?"

Akane stands tall, doing his best to radiate 'authority'. "The vice president, and I'd appreciate it if you stopped harassing my kouhai."

Kou looks shocked, as if he hadn't realized he was being bullied, while Akane stares down this student.

In an instant, Akane can feel his glasses shatter, and a fist colliding into his face.

Oh, that's how this is playing out.

Kou’s yelp of surprise can be heard, and Akane stumbles backwards as the kid frowns.

"And why the hell would I listen to you?"

"My, what's going on here?"

Great.

If Akane's day wasn't already going downhill rapidly, he would say Teru soured his whole mood. Not only is he dealing with this, but now he has to grapple with his potential, maybe crush on Teru.

Kou looks like a fish out of water, eyes rapidly flickering between the three- his bully, Akane, and Teru.

"Teru-nii-?!"

Akane groans as he feels glass prick his skin, a sticky red starting to softly cloud his vision. "He was bullying Minamoto-kouhai, and as vice president, I found it suitable to step in..."

Teru's eyes narrow, and he's looking at the offender with a certain amount of vicious anger. "I see."

In an instant, Kou is at Akane's side, dutifully playing seeing-eye dog. "Could you please take care of him, Teru-nii? I'll help Aoi-senpai to the nurses office."

"That would be ideal, thank you."

Kou guides Akane off, Akane struggling to see due to the blood leaking out of his face. It's a good thing it's class time, meaning only a minimal amount of people were out in the halls.

Especially with how long it took to actually get to the office- despite Kou hanging out with Nene so often, he doesn't quite have the layout memorized.

"I'm sorry you had to get involved, Aoi-senpai..."

Kou’s currently being an angel, picking the glass shards out of his face whilst disinfecting the ones that cut deep enough to bleed. Akane hums, flinching occasionally at the feeling.

"It's my job, kouhai." Akane can feel his face being wiped down, and he can finally open his eyes again.

The blonde huffs, anger and frustration evident in his tone. "I should have known! He kept asking insensitive questions, and now someone I know is hurt because of my obliviousness."

"Really, it's fine." Akane insists softly, frowning at the broken frames. "People are stupid for no reason, I think we should both know this by now."

The younger Minamoto still looks apologetic, staring at Akane with a hint of something unrecognizable in his eyes. "I know, I just..."

Pocketing the broken glasses, Akane stands up and offers a small smile.

"It's okay. I get it."

It's a bit awkward, to say the least. Akane does talk to Kou on the occasion, mainly about Ao-chan, but without Akane's incessant rambling and the occasional chime-in, they don't really have anything to talk about.

"Say- wait, I have a question, and I need an outsiders perspective." Akane's had a lot on his mind lately. Whenever he stews in something for too long, he gets a completely unbiased opinion. "Consider it you paying me back."

"Ah? Okay? What is it?" Kou immediately perks up, eyes wide at the idea of being able to repay Akane.

"Do you think it's possible to be in love with two people at the same time?"

For the longest time, Akane's been pining over his childhood best friend, Aoi. He's fawned over her adorable smile, adorable habits, adorable everything- and even though Akane knows damn well Aoi would never feel the same, he kept trying and trying in the hopes she would magically change her mind. Even going as far as protecting her from unwanted creeps and stalkers, but that might have been the ugly jealousy laced into his soul.

He knew Aoi would never look his way.

And then there's Teru Minamoto.

Akane would have never even considered him as an option, to be completely honest. He was attractive, sure. But his personality was absolutely awful, hidden behind smiles and polite words.

However, Lemon's words might have influenced his train of thought a bit. Teru could never compare to Aoi, of course not- but taking a step back, Akane's finally trying to take in the full picture.

In a sense, Akane kind of considered Aoi to be everything Teru wasn't.

And that's what tipped Akane off- because in the end, Akane unfortunately knows Aoi.

They've been friends ever since they were children, and Akane got to witness first-hand how mean she could be. It's only when his crush developed did she begin masking it away, hiding behind some kind of persona of perfection.

Akane had eaten it up- adored it, worshipped it, but in the end? That's not what he fell in love with originally.

Because in the end, Teru was the one who acts like a normal human around him. Who let his fake personality fall, who banters with Akane in a crude way.

"In love with two people at once..?" Kou hums, thinking intensely.

Eventually, he comes to the conclusion.

"I mean, yes? Technically, you could. Why do you ask?"

Akane stays silent, thinking of golden hair, sky-blue eyes, and an annoyingly vicious smile.

"No reason."