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Kaji could feel his body moving in a steady rhythm yet he could tell he wasn't moving on his own. It was a strange sensation.
He tried to open his eyes and look around but regretted it as he immediately took notice of the painful headache he was having. He groaned in pain and hid his face back to the warmth it was buried in before.
“Well, look who's back.” Kaji heard a familiar voice. He didn't need to look as he answered it.
“Hiragi,” he mumbled, “what happened?”
The third-year laughed gently, most likely to make sure that Kaji wasn't hurt by it. “For someone who has woken up on my back hundreds of times, do you really need me to answer that?”
Yeah, maybe it was a stupid question.
Few years back Hiragi would have bombarded him with a bunch of questions about how he was feeling, if he was hurt anywhere, and how he ended up fighting in the first place. But now, after knowing the younger for a while, he knew the answers to those questions without needing to ask them. Kaji might have grown and found a way to distract himself but underneath he was still the same kid.
“Did I go too far?” Kaji felt the need to ask. Even if in his mind the fight was justified, he never wanted to hurt anyone too badly.
“Depends,” Hiragi said after a moment of thought, “what did they do?”
“Were being assholes.”
“More specific, please.”
Kaji sighed in frustration. He hated it when Hiragi did that. Forced him to think back to the fight instead of just answering. After all, Hiragi must’ve seen the damage he’d caused, so it would be easy to tell when he went too far.
“Some wannabe gangsters,” Kaji finally said, “they said they recognized me and wanted to see if the rumors were true. They wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Don't just ignore us! You are Kaji Ren, right? Come on, show us the beast!”
Kaji continued walking and ignoring the almost comically well-dressed trio. The fancy leather jackets, the great amounts of accessories, and the ridiculous hairs told Kaji that they were nothing more than wannabes.
He might have been able to ignore them all the way to the school but they started being loud enough to be a nuisance to all the other people walking on the streets.
Kaji stopped walking, pulled down his headphones, and turned to the trio. “Shut up already. Not only are you being annoying as hell to me but you are also interrupting everyone else's peaceful day. So, be decent human beings, shut the hell up, and walk away.”
The three didn't seem to hear a word he said and only looked satisfied to finally get a reaction from him.
“So you can hear us,” the brunette leaned closer to him, ”for a second there I thought you might have just been deaf.”
“Now that we have your attention, how ‘bout you apologize for making us follow you around?”
Kaji glared at the smirking blonde. “How about you apologize for being a disgrace to every existing gang out there?”
“Ooh!” The black haired guy laughed. “He does bark, apparently, but,” he stood an inch away from Kaji, standing a good few inches taller than him and looking down with a smug face. “Does he bite?”
Kaji really wanted to knock the guy down, knowing very well that all he'd need was one good punch, but chose against it as there were people around.
“I'm good,” he said and put his headphones back on. He started walking away again but the three wouldn't let him.
“What's it gonna take for you to fight us?! Is the beast too tired?! Or do we need to get civilians involved, Mr. Town Protector?!”
The black-haired guy began walking to a nearby elderly woman who was shaking with fear, having nowhere to hide and no capability to protect herself.
“It's nothing personal, ma'am, but I need you to-,” before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly face down on the ground, knocked out by a punch given by a blinded and furious Kaji Ren.
“You were protecting the innocent. You did not go too far.”
“But how badly-”
“Doesn't matter. What matters is that the woman is okay thanks to you.”
Kaji stayed quiet. He knew the reason Hiragi didn't tell him what happened to the three guys was because they were badly hurt and he just wanted Kaji to feel better about it.
Hiiragi sighed. “I've said this every time and now I'm going to say it again; you did nothing wrong and nothing irreversible. So, just focus on the good you did.”
Hiragi pulled something from his pocket and gently tapped Kaji's forehead with it. “Here's a reminder for you.”
Kaji opened his eyes, regardless of his headache, and saw a little transparent bag with a cookie inside and a note with writing on it.
Thank you, Kaji, for always protecting us. We all hope you feel better soon. And please enjoy our thank you! - Akane Tanaka & thankful citizens of Makochi
“Mrs. Tanaka wanted me to give that to you when you woke up. She was so thankful, even if I did have to stop you at the end.”
Kaji couldn't help a little smile that escaped his lips. He wasn't usually a cookie person but he was definitely going to eat that one.
“As a smart man once said; it's okay to lose your sight sometimes, because when you can see again, you see the world brighter than before.”
Kaji snorted at the supposedly deep words. ”And which smart guy said that?”
“Why none other than Hiragi Toma himself.”
“Since when are you smart?”
“I've always been smart, thank you very much.”
“Smart enough to get stuck babysitting me all the time.”
“Smart enough to get you back from yourself.”
Damn it, Kaji thought, he did it again.
Maybe Hiragi wasn't the smartest or the most gifted with words but he definitely was the best brother.