Chapter Text
Loop
is a skateboard trick that involves a complete 360° loop
[Source: Wikipedia]
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The corridor stretches in front of them, dark and silent at that time of night, exerting a truly irresistible charm on their rebellious young hearts.
“Adam, the floor is yours.” Kojiro declares solemnly.
“Nope! The school is yours, so it must be one of you two to start the dance!” he replies mockingly.
“But the plan is yours. I agree with Kojiro, it’s up to you to start. We're right behind you." Kaoru retorts.
A smile as charming as diabolical blooms on Adam's mouth, the only part of his face that is not covered by the hood. Not that he needs it with them, Ainosuke Shindo has already shown himself to his two special friends, his identity was revealed some time before; but for the raid in the high school that Kaoru and Kojiro attend he preferred to maintain the usual cautious reserve, in case they were intercepted or even filmed by some camera. Surely he can’t let a scandal befall the Shindo family. Not that he wouldn’t. Far from it. In his heart he has had a thousand times the temptation to reveal his identity during the small acts of vandalism that have seen him protagonist together with his friends in recent times. But in the end the fear of repercussions outweighed the desire for rebellion.
He quickly drives away the surge of anger towards his father, cannot allow the man to spoil his enjoyment simply by existing, intruding unwelcome into his thoughts.
"Agree. Follow me!"
Ainosuke's skate wheels glide silently on the shiny floor and, after exchanging a smile of agreement, Kojiro and Kaoru also follow their friend along the improvised track lined with lockers.
Their laughter bounces off the dark corridors, the sound distorted by the singular cacophony produced by the sound-absorbing ceiling tiles and the dull thud of their hands against the wall as they push around a tight turn.
Ainosuke follows a tortuous path through the corridors, he almost seems to know the school even if he has never set foot there, since his education is consumed among various tutors within the sumptuous walls of his home. But he has no hesitation in leading his friends through the different wings of the high school until they reach the gymnasiums.
Ainosuke stops before the long staircase leading to the external gym, the largest and furthest from the building, where the swimming club's Olympic swimming pool with diving boards is located.
Kaoru reaches him first and exchanges a knowing smile with Ainosuke.
“You were really brilliant in getting the pool empty. You should have seen the mess this morning, when they found the last load of soy from the canteen totally dumped in the water!”
"I would have liked to see it with my own eyes..." he murmurs, a touch of bitterness for his imprisonment which forces him into a double secret life, with nocturnal raids and the inevitable lectures he has to suffer from Tadashi every morning upon his return.
Kojiro reaches them with a sudden braking and only thanks to the extreme work of his powerful abs he avoids ruining along the staircase.
“Wow! Fantastic! I must admit, I can't imagine a better way to celebrate the end of high school!” his face is flushed and his gaze feverish, adrenaline coursing through his veins making him feel alive and powerful.
He then bolts headlong down the stairs, followed in an instant by the wheels of Kaoru and Ainosuke, and their resounding laughter.
The empty pool is irresistible, the skate wheels squeaking across the tiles and raising a sinister noise that echoes high-pitched in the great empty space.
The absence of curves makes the challenge even more interesting. Accustomed to the small swimming pool of his house with rounded and harmonious curves, Ainosuke couldn't wait to test himself with something different. The difficulty of performing a loop using only the change of slope between the part dedicated to swimming and the deeper part for diving, is a cause of friendly antagonism between the three boys.
Ainosuke succeeds on the third attempt, not that he had any doubts about it, and stops gasping to observe the vaults of his friends. Kaoru's flexibility and relative lightness collide with Kojiro's physical power, and it's really difficult to predict which of the two will be able to accomplish the feat first; the ollie is well executed, but Kaoru's backstroke isn't enough to finish the lap and he falls on the tiles.
In an instant Ainosuke and Kojiro rush to him, but Kaoru's hoarse laugh confirms that he's fine, just a light scratch that can be seen through the tear on the knee of his school uniform trousers. But there are still only a few days left until graduation, and then he can burn those boringly colored checkered trousers.
Kaoru's laughter fades as his eyes catch on something behind the heads of his friends who cluster above him.
Ainosuke is the first to notice the direction of Kaoru's gaze, and a crazy light illuminates his ruby eyes under the hood.
"Nope! Guys, let's not joke, that’s really dangerous!" Kojiro intervenes.
"Are you scared?" Ainosuke challenges him.
“Of course I'm scared. You can’t just skate off the trampoline into an empty pool!”
"Why not?" Ainosuke murmurs getting to his feet.
“Kaoru, tell him too!” Kojiro seeks support from his friend, but Kaoru's gaze is captured by Adam's face, his head turned upwards, left uncovered by the hood now slipped over his neck, and his eyes burning with expectation for what promises to be the highlight of the evening.
The thrill of danger and adrenaline are addictive to Ainosuke, and Kaoru is completely enraptured by his possessed expression. Every time he sees him hovering higher than them, contemptuous of danger, he feels as if he were enchanted by such a powerful spell that only Adam has ever been able to cast on his pragmatic and calculating soul, making him discover a new need, the fascination of skating in an instinctive and absolutely dangerous way. It's an intoxicating sensation, and Kaoru finds himself for the first time in his life to accept that charm instead of rejecting it as he has always done for any other emotion capable of undermining the control that the boy has always felt the need to exercise over everything.
The semi-darkness of the gymnasium is pierced by a flashing red and blue light through the side windows.
The three boys are roused in an instant to the awareness of having been discovered and rush out of the large empty pool.
It's a crazy run along the corridors, skateboard in hand to make as little noise as possible, but even in front of the emergency exits they can see the colored flashing lights.
"Let's split up!" proposes Ainosuke.
They flee in three different corridors, hoping that the police won't find anyone and will leave as soon as possible.
Kaoru is slowed down by the cut on his knee, he's small but he's bleeding a bit and making it difficult to run smoothly. He climbs the stairs to reach the classrooms on the first floor; there are laboratories, but his hope of finding one open to sneak inside is soon dashed. All doors are closed.
He can hear distorted voices coming from downstairs, evidently the cops have also separated and are communicating with each other using walkie talkie. One voice in particular gets louder and louder, a policeman is walking up the stairs and Kaoru turns the corner realizing he's trapped. Down the hall, just the girls' bathroom and the broom closet.
He hesitates for a moment in front of the sign with the stylized little woman and almost lets out a scream when a hand takes him by the wrist and yanks him into the closet. Kaoru finds himself pushed against the wall in total darkness, a large, rough hand over his mouth, and a massive body pressed against him.
“Shhh…” is a hiss near his ear.
"Don't yell, I'll remove my hand now, okay?" his voice is distorted in the whisper, but Kaoru would recognize it anywhere and under any conditions. It's changed from when he told him the horror stories by the campfire, and the tone is different from when he asks him to hand over his algebra results while the professor is turned away. But it is undoubtedly Kojiro's warm and reassuring voice.
Kaoru's body relaxes and he takes a deep breath as the hand leaves his lips.
The policeman's voice is closer, as he feared he is walking down the corridor. Kaoru can clearly hear the words he exchanges with his colleagues, and the relief that they haven't found Adam is only tainted by the dread that he might open the closet door and find them.
"Don't worry, he can't enter." Kojiro whispers again next to his ear. Kojiro's body is still pressed against him and he can clearly feel his heart pounding under the hand that's placed on his solid chest. Kojiro's breath is warm on his neck, while with an incredibly delicate gesture he pushes a strand of his long hair behind his ear.
A long, hot shiver runs down Kaoru's spine and he's sure he's been blushing in the dark.
A dull fumbling on the handle brings him back to reality, and he would surely have screamed if Kojiro hadn't promptly covered his mouth with his hand again. Despite his fears, however, he can hear the policeman inform his colleagues that all the doors are locked, and give them a rendezvous back at the cars.
Kojiro slowly moves his hand away from Kaoru's mouth, but doesn't move away, his body completely adhering to his and his heart beating even faster. And realizes, Kaoru, that even his own heart beats fast and messy. The adrenaline of running through the corridors, jumping into the pool, escaping from the police and kidnapping him in the broom closet; it's all tremendously exciting, and Kojiro's proximity makes him feel warm and languid. He has long since admitted to himself his feelings for Kojiro and his heart flutters at the sensation of his friend's large, warm body pressed against him, his face so close he can feel every breath that comes out of his lips. His own breath breaks at realization, the situation is so intoxicating that Kaoru is scared of what he could do, that the adrenaline that still rushes through his veins and the complete darkness could lead him to make a rash act. He can feel Kojiro swallowing, a slight shiver running through his body where it adheres to him, and perhaps he too is in the grip of confusion because he abruptly pulls away taking a loud breath.
The darkness is suddenly cut by a lighter blade, Kojiro has opened a crack in the door and Kaoru realizes that they haven't heard the policemen's voices for a few minutes now.
Kojiro retrieves his skateboard from the ground, takes Kaoru by the wrist and drags him along the deserted corridor.
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The sliver of the moon sparkles in the multifaceted reflection of the small waves on Okinawa sea. The air is warm and sweet with the scent of flowering hibiscuses, silent as it can be only in the middle of the night. The soft sound of the surf is barely distinguishable among the laughter that still echoes in the old abandoned drive-in.
"Shit, that was scary! We should do it again!" laughs Ainosuke before crumpling up the third can of beer and throwing it in the bin. It’s a perfect shot and he smiles smugly at his innumerable abilities.
"Absolutely not! I thought I was going to have a heart attack when the policeman tried to turn the handle!” Kojiro retorts.
“Yeah… Why didn't it open?” Kaoru asks. Caught up in the excitement of the moment, he had completely forgotten to ask him.
“Because that handle has a special lock, it can be closed from the inside by pressing a button while the key is needed from the outside. I found out once I skipped English class and hid there so I wouldn't get caught.” Kojiro chuckles at the memory and a small pang of nostalgia already makes itself felt in his chest even if there are still a few days left before school ends.
He drains his can empty and then crumples it and throws it in the trash, but the throw is too long and it ends up rolling on the uneven concrete. Ainosuke proved to be better than him even in that, but now Kojiro has stopped feeling in competition with him. He has full faith in Adam, his madness is fascinating and contagious, and as long as certain extreme feats are just words thrown between them as a test of courage, he has decided that he will continue to follow him on every raid.
Kaoru's head dangles conspicuously, sways sideways until it rests on his shoulder, the now-empty can slipping from his helpless hand and rolling to the ground.
“The princess can't hold the beer?” Ainosuke asks, slyly, while Kojiro rests Kaoru's head on his legs with surprisingly delicate gestures for his hands so big and powerful.
“Before meeting you, he had never drunk anything but a shot of sake on special occasions.” replies Kojiro, while he observes the pink hair scattered on his legs and opens in a warm smile.
“And to think my father claims I'm a bad influence on others!” Ainosuke chuckles.
The two boys remain silent for a moment. Ainosuke has never mentioned his father since they've known each other, it's the first time that he lets himself go to a comment about him and, even though his tone is ironic and teasing, it's clear that he's telling the truth. And he reconfirms his need to open up to his friend in the following sentences.
“My father thinks I'm good for nothing.” he adds, the grimace on his lips to underline the bitter tone with which he pronounced the sentence.
His gaze is lost towards the horizon, barely distinguishable in the dark night only thanks to the reflection of the moon on the sea. And maybe it's the fault of the three beers, the adrenaline overdose or the enchanted and wonderful panorama of the Okinawa sea, that a single solitary tear slides down his cheek.
Ainosuke does nothing to erase it from his face and starts talking again, the need to open up that he only felt with Kojiro and Kaoru, but that he had never picked up on before out of fear and shame.
“He constantly threatens me to send me to study abroad. He studied at Harvard, he says he will send me there to finish my studies, he hopes to get rid of my skateboard obsession so I can focus on the family business.”
Ainosuke's face is indecipherable as he observes the sea, that single tear as a witness of the emotions stirring in him and which he still manages to hold back almost flawlessly.
Kojiro looks away from his friend's elegant profile but can only partially agree with what his father says. Adam's is really an obsession, he is absolutely obsessed with the search for extreme ways of skating in every place and condition; and above all, he is desperately looking for someone who shares his same thirst for adrenaline, his same need to bring himself to the edge of the abyss every time, to prove to Death that it is not so easy to overwhelm him. His Eve, as he himself has declared several times to his friends, playing with the nickname he gave himself to maintain anonymity, as if to define himself as the progenitor of a new generation of extreme skaters.
Kojiro has often wondered if the confidence and friendship that Ainosuke has shown to him and Kaoru were to be considered a sort of 'audition' for the role of Eve; he showed only to them his true identity, pushing away the group of boys with whom he previously toured, and began to share with them only his crazy exploits, always at the limit of legality, and well beyond that of security.
And it's since they arrived there, at their usual place on the porch of the old disused drive-in, that Kojiro wonders what would have happened if the police hadn't interrupted them. Would Adam really jump from the trampoline, a jump of more than ten meters into the void towards an absolutely flat and hard surface? And above all, would Kaoru follow him?
He looks down at the soft pink hair spread across his legs, chest rising and falling in the even breathing of deep sleep.
Kojiro is still looking for the right words to answer Ainosuke when a sharp noise nearby leads both boys to turn towards the clearing behind them.
A tall, slender figure approaches with a cadenced step, his elegant dark suit absolutely out of place in the dilapidated structure.
“My guard dog has arrived!”
Ainosuke's tone is high and peevish, the phrase clearly pronounced that way to be heard even by Tadashi Kikuchi who is still a few feet away from them.
“Ainosuke-sama, come on, let's go home.”
“What if I say no?”
“Your father returned from the theater early and didn't find you in the room. He went on a rampage. I have to get you home as soon as possible."
Ainosuke's face is traversed by a grimace that lasts only an instant, the panic immediately tamed by his usual composed coldness.
“Wait for me in the car.”
"But..." Tadashi tries to retort but Ainosuke's gaze freezes him in place "Okay."
Tadashi hesitates a moment longer, then turns around and walks slowly back to the car.
“Maybe here we go, after all…” Ainosuke murmurs as he elegantly stands up. He shakes some traces of dust from the white trousers of his suit and retrieves the skate.
"Say hello to the princess for me..." he just murmurs, before following Tadashi to the car.
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