Titolo: some call it slums, some call it nice
Fandom: Free!
Personaggi: Aiichirou Nitori, Sousuke Yamazaki
Genere: boh.
Avvertimenti: punk!AU (sort of), in inglese, pwp, >> gen <<
Parole: 1028
Note: all'inizio era una fic su Sakamichi No Apollon. Poi mi sono intimidita. E quindi l'ho trasformata in una specie di punk!AU. È per l'ultima settimana del COW-T, Call of the Descendant - Kormakr.


This time they pushed it too far. Not him, not Nitori, but those assholes.
Because see, there is very little that can really piss him the hell off like some big, buff dudes teaming up on a physically smaller, weaker one. And it does not really matter whether Aiichirou himself once huffed and told him he should not get mixed up with his business, or whether Sousuke himself wasn't really feeling like picking fights. It just cannot happen, especially because one guy against a bunch of them is not fair - even though not many people should look for trouble with him since he is dressed quite threateningly for a boy his size, but maybe he just reeks of middle class and the poor, ignorant plebs feel like he doesn't belong with them - and he's learnt to take quite a few blows on the street. Actually, Sousuke really wouldn't get this angry if it was one boy against Ai, even though he'd still probably jump in to help and would dance a little just because fist fights are fun in the end (if you win), but it's three guys playing tricks on that boy and then laughing, that makes his blood boil. It's not even that they're fighting, because heaven knows how many fights he's seen in his life, but... still. Whenever he glances over at rows in side alleys and spies on Ai getting the bejeesus beaten out of him, it makes his breath rag and his voice growl.
This time, however, Ai is cornered into a shrine. Maybe he hoped that these bullies would stop being a pain once on a sacred ground so he ran to it, but apparently it won't work as long as the place is deserted (which is not to be expected, actually) and they won't get into immediate trouble.
It doesn't take him long to intervene anyway: he cracks his knuckles and a low growl rumbles from his throat. He doesn't begin with speeches or cool lines like in movies. He just runs over to them, and takes a swing. He knows his punches can be pretty mean, but even knowing so he immediately and surprisingly makes the first punk twirl and then flop down on the ground. That's when the brats realize he's there at all, they did not hear him coming since they were probably too focused on laughing and barking.
"Yamazaki-senpai!" Aiichirou calls out, wiping some blood from his lip.
"Nitori, I told you a hundred times not to walk alone the streets with these assholes around," Sousuke snarls, but Ai just gets up punching his arm.
"I didn't ask for your help," Nitori snaps back, looking at the taller guy in his wrecked denim jacket, ruined t-shirt, big black belt and his assault boots.
"It sure looked like you needed it," Sousuke protests, with a frown.
"You bastard!" One of the bullies interrupt them, and both of them tense back into full attention, even though the younger boy sure doesn't look that manly when he gets his pants dragged down and he groans, since that's a really stupid and banal prank. He's not even mad or hurt, just annoyed, and he tries to punch the guy while at the same time taking a swing, but other than the fact that he misses the hit he looks ridiculous.
Sousuke does get hit a lot, especially since two of those kids are teaming up on him while it only takes one to make Ai drop back on the floor.
"I told you," Sousuke yells out, "I told you before, don't touch him." And then he pushes both his assailants against the concrete, only to grab the third's face into his hand. His eyes are scary. Of course, he would generally look terrifying to anyone, and not everybody knows he is actually a softie, but right now he oozes power. And he's using his power to defend his friend, so really, if those boys knew what's good for them they would just leave him alone, and that's what Sousuke spells out for them, before releasing the boy's face and looking at them run as much as they can from him.
"You okay?" He finally asks, panting as his eyes turn to Ai, and the latter just flicks a glare at him as they start walking back to a better area to be in.
"I didn't need you to do that, Yamazaki-senpai."
"Geez, stop being so thick," Sousuke whines, before patting his back hard enough to make Ai cough.
"I'm not being stupid, I just didn't need help," the other boy replies, in a wheeze.
"Yeah, I saw that you didn't need it. You were just crawling on the floor, you weren't scrambling to pick yourself back up," Sousuke snarks. "Come on, let's get some tea," he adds, sliding a strong arm around Aiichirou's shoulders. "And stop being so prideful."
Ai sighs, finally giving in to Sousuke's attentions.
"Why were you here anyway?" Ai asks, wiping some snot from under his nose with a pretty, white handkerchief.
"I was going to get some smokes," Sousuke lies with his go-to excuse, staring straight ahead even though he can feel Nitori's glare pierce through him.
"You don't smoke, Yamazaki-senpai."
Right, he's straight-edge now.
"I do now."
Aiichirou sighs, passing his fingers through his own tidy and neat bowl cut hair.
"Whatever..." He mutters.
"What were you doing all alone, anyway? You know those losers will attack any richer dude who's walking alone, that's just the kind of cowardly assholes they are," Sousuke continues, with the grip of his arm loosening around Aiichirou's neck.
"I can't even walk out of my home without you keeping tabs on me? Give me a break," Nitori pouts, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "I can defend myself."
Sousuke drops the idea of telling Nitori again about how unsuccessful he is in 'being able to defend himself', and lets out a long sigh.
"Fine. You know I do it gladly though," he mutters.
Ai glances over at him a few times, and then the corners of his lips curl up, just a little.
"Yeah, I know."