Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Silence. Only the soft sound of cicadas chirping and the gentle sound of the wind making its way through the school hallways. It was more like a hot breeze, but better than nothing, Shalnark thought. It was only a few more moments of peace before the whole school building would fill with noise. It was already past noon, and the blonde had lost all energy. Just the thought of pushing his way through the noisy and cramped crowds gave him a stomach ache. He would probably prefer to wait a little longer in the classroom before setting off. But he also wanted to go to the library.

With a sigh, the boy rested his head on his palm. Thin but long fingers tightened their grip on his soft cheek as he tried to keep his elbow on the table. This turned out to be quite difficult with the sweat that had built up over the last nine school lessons during the summertime, and yet Shalnark was only sitting in his lavender shirt. Well, and his black long school pants, paired with black leather shoes and knee-length socks, which by now were hanging down his ankles. How comfortable school uniforms were in the summer.

The last few minutes felt like half an eternity, but then finally, the sound everyone in the school building had been waiting for, especially in such weather, rang out. The school bell. Not long after, as expected, the hallways filled up. With noise, crowds, and smells. It is not very appealing when you go after Shalnark. The boy, however, doesn't seem to make any sign of leaving the classroom yet. The big, green eyes are still staring at the surrounding landscape. As if it would hold him, not let go and consume him. And there he was again. The introverted blond boy, lost in his thoughts, had no appearance of being interested in his surroundings. But if there was anyone who knew how to break that facade, it was Chrollo. "So our head is somewhere else again, is it?" The cold voice of the black-haired boy almost leaves an echo in Shalnark's head, although he has known this voice for an eternity.

As an answer, Chrollo only got to see two wide, open eyes that almost looked like glass in the glow of the sun. But it was the answer to be expected from him, so he was satisfied with it. The black-haired boy stretched for a moment and grabbed his backpack without further ado. "I know you don't like to push your way through the crowds, but if you still want to get to the library, you might want to hurry a little...". Shalnark sighed and finally decided to pack his stuff. "You're right..." Chrollo couldn't help but grin at his friend's whining. It was as if he could sympathize with his inner disgust. "I'll wait for you at the gate!" As quickly as Shalnark had packed his things, his friend had disappeared from the classroom. And so Shalnark did the same thing.

There were already considerably fewer students than shortly after the school bell rang, but it was still very crowded. Not only that was overwhelming, but also the strong smell of sweat and warm food. The blonde would have liked to hold his breath. However, he quickly put this out of his mind when he looked at the length of the path to the library. Then it was probably eyes closed and go. Nose closed and go, more likely.

With a struggle, Shalnark tried to fight his way through the mass of people. Most of them were younger students who still had much more energy than he did. The loud shouting of the younger ones tempted the boy to take his headphones out of his pocket and distract himself with music. So he had dodged at least one stone on his way.

After some time, he could already see the door to the library. Automatically, his pace increased, and he finally grabbed the handle of the door. With a powerful swing, he entered the room. 

It was not too huge of a library, but better than nothing, so the boy thought every time he came here. Automatically, almost as if on autopilot, he walked to the section he was looking for. Science. More precisely, biology. Shalnark had already stopped counting the number of times he went there. Choosing biology as a major course just had its downsides. 

For the size of the room, however, the shelves were very high, he had to admit. The older he got, the higher the books he needed were lined up. The blonde was not short. He had a normal height for his age; however, this did not help. His eyes wandered higher and higher until he finally spotted a book he could use. Shalnark had forgotten quite a lot of subject matter during the vacations and in the time before. Of course, this was not at all due to his lack of interest. No. He was not a stupid student. On the contrary, he was very smart, which probably led to his lack of motivation. He had actually planned to ask Chrollo to send him some work materials during the vacations, but they both knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't do that anyway. So he preferred to blame it on his future self.

And now there he was. Future self, who couldn't get the book he so desperately needed. Wow. Shalnark tried to stand on his toes and even went so far as to touch the book with his fingertips. The will was there. The height needed, though, was not. After a brief moment, he stopped. Trying to jump would probably cause more chaos than it would help him. So the boy tried again. 

Again, he stretched to just touch the book with his fingertips, but he tried to hang on. You could tell from a distance that he was visibly struggling. The last thing he wanted to think about was how he would probably look now. But he could not prevent it. As the idea flashed through his mind, he dropped back on his heels with a loud sigh. After a moment, the boy bit his lips and tried one last time. The third time's the charm, after all.

He was on the very edge. Just before touching the book with his thin fingers. I guess the saying really did have a point. The third time worked, even if it wasn't quite the way Shalnark thought it would. The book was now off the shelf, at least. Just not in Shalnark's hand, either. But in a much darker and wider hand than his. A little "Eh?!" escaped Shalnark's mouth. 

"Oh- did you want the book?" When the boy heard the deep and rough voice, he even flinched a little. Slowly, he turned his head as his heels pressed back to the floor. The only thing he could see in the large shadow that had formed above him were two hazel eyes, placed in a large and hairy face. 

"Well...'," Shalnark didn't seem amused. Now some random student had taken his book away even though he was already obviously struggling, and then he also asked stupidly if he wanted the book. Before his eyebrows had a chance to turn his face into a dried raisin, reality hit him. Hard and direct. Like a wet towel being thrown in his face. It was anything but some random student. One of the students, Shalnark, more than willingly avoided. "Uhh-" And there it was. The obligatory lump in his throat. 

The longer he stared into the face, the clearer it became who was standing before him. It was one of the rebel groups from the class above Shalnark. He knew the face. Often, he had seen this guy in some fights. Not that he looked dangerous enough as he was, but up close, it was a whole different sense of anxiety that slowly spread through the back of Shalnark's head. He felt like his veins were slowly starting to freeze. 

With a clearing of his throat, the student, roughly judged by Shalnark to be 2 meters tall, let his head fall to the side. And just raising his left eyebrow already makes Shalnark turn his mouth into a waterfall of words. "Do you need it?" "N-NO! I, well, I actually just wanted this book here...haha." While his voice was getting thinner and thinner, his shaking finger pointed at some book that was on the top shelf. Afraid of his opponent's reaction, Shalnark closed his eyes with a nervous smile. He would love to just run away now. Though he wasn't usually afraid of social interactions, he was just very disinterested in them. But with a person like this...

Despite the closed eyes, Shalnark could feel the breeze of the arm as it moved into the shelf. It was a large and hairy arm. The sweat made his dark skin look quite aesthetic, though the boy caught his thoughts. He was quickly pulled out of them, however, because he suddenly had a book in front of his nose. The student cleared his throat with a muffled, "This?" and Shalnark started nodding like crazy, yet he hadn't even seen the cover of the book. Eventually, the taller student pressed the book into his hands and turned away from the blonde.

After a few moments of silence, during which Shalnark stared at the ground, looking as if he were naively waiting to burn a hole in the ground with his eyes, he took a closer look at the book. It was not the book he needed. What a wonder! Even after blinking a few times, it was still the wrong book. "Great," the boy thought with enthusiasm. 

"That a skyscraper like this, of all people, is taking the book away from me...what's he going to do with it anyway? There's just more muscle than anything else…", Shalnark cursed to himself as he made his way to the school gate. When he saw Chrollo at the other end of the front school entrance, he was greeted with a grin. "Who's got you over a barrel?" he asked with a hint of mischievousness, but got no reply. However, the sight of a wrinkled face was already more than enough for him. "Raisin-head," another voice rang out that the blonde knew. 

Peeking out from behind the wall that separated the front schoolyard from the street was a small, black-haired boy. His face was hidden because of his long pony and his mouth and nose mask. The only things that were really visible were two deep, dark brown eyes, almost black eyes, and pale skin. 

"You be quiet, Feitan..." cursed Shalnark softly, to which he heard only a low grunt. Feitan, like Chrollo, went to his class. Unlike him, however, he didn't really have many of the same classes. They only saw each other in PE lessons and during breaks. Still, he was a very good friend to Shalnark, even if he sometimes seemed a little cold, if not mean.

As the three boys set off, Chrollo couldn't really seem to hold back his curiosity. "Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked, raising his voice a little as if trying to tease Shalnark. "Don't even get me started..." the blond grumbled to himself. Chrollo only raised his eyebrows tensely, as if waiting for a detailed explanation. Which he finally got. "I was somehow trying to get this crap book, only to have this fuckface take it away from me in front of my face and ask me so stupidly about it." Shalnark wrinkled his brow. "And what kind of book do you have in your hand then?" Chrollo asked confusedly, but the blonde didn't answer him; instead, he kept walking. "You have a... useless book?" Feitan almost sounded disappointed. Without further ado, Shalnark just gave him a grim look, only to justify himself loudly afterwards. "YOU would have already run away if you had only seen that guy!". Chrollo just looked at Shalnark with a wondering expression on his face. "It was one of those- oh look at me, I'll fight any -guy...", With a rebellious breath, the boy turned his head forward again toward the street.

It was late evening, and Shalnark was still sitting in front of his computer. While it had finally become dark outside, the glare of the screen was shining on the boy's bright blond hair. While he clearly had better things to do than just lie there with his head resting on the table, he didn't seem to show any signs of moving from his seat anytime soon. He must have been lost in his thoughts again.

It was quiet in his room. There was no music playing on the side. No show he was watching HunterFlix. Just the sound of cicadas chirping and the crashing waves of the ocean, which could be heard from afar through the open window. It was still very warm, but the boy now, at least, had no long school uniform anymore. Just a loose and way too big t-shirt with a cute little spider on it. He bought it with Chrollo, as they are both very big fans of spiders. For Shalnark, they were not scary or disgusting monsters but more like aesthetic and majestic creatures, which is why he had some in the corners of his room from time to time.

After his arm started to feel like it was falling asleep, he straightened up and stretched his thin arms towards the ceiling. His head fell back with a low groan. Only for him to lean back on his palms afterwards. Trying to reach for his mouse to close the writing program, which unfortunately, to Shalnark's regret, did not have Dark Mode, he came across the book. The book he had borrowed from the library. 

It didn't take long for the unpleasant memory to run through his mind again. Visibly annoyed, he pushed the book away so he could move his mouse. And with a click, it became much darker in his room. Despite trying not to be distracted by his schoolwork, his eyes kept falling on the book throughout the evening. He had already checked to see if there was anything useful there that he needed for his homework; however, there was nothing that spoke of essential importance.

In Shalnark's head, on the other hand, there were a lot of things. Among other thoughts was the image of the huge student. The idea of what he would have done if Shalnark had made a dumb move on him sent a shiver down his spine. And that, although it was still a good 25 degrees Celsius in the room. He didn't need to know the student personally to know that he would have probably made him a head shorter if he had been silly to him. Often enough, he'd seen him and his friends snap other students in half if they even dared to stare at them for too long. Still, he was always surprised at how Feitan could befriend one of the bullies.

Shalnark rolled his eyes toward the bed. It was a struggle for him to fall asleep every day. He couldn't just lay down in bed and rest like others. The workaholic in him was too penetrating for that. After a few minutes of procrastination, he got himself together and laid down in bed. His eyes were heavy. His breathing was low. And his head, surprisingly, was somewhat calm for the first time in a while.

It was already bright. The sun even seemed to float above the earth, while there were no clouds in the sky. It would probably become a hot day again. But Shalnark had other problems and worries at the moment. 

Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he tried not to trip over his own feet. The boy usually had no problems getting up early in the morning. Although he wasn't really talkative or enthusiastic in the morning, it could be said that he was noticeably more awake than others. The underline is usually, though. Too bad it probably wasn't that way this time, and he had fallen asleep too many times after his alarm. And now he has to run to his class. This time, though, he didn't have time to curse as usual. 

As he ran, Shalnark was able to observe the normal happenings of the morning. The usual students were down to their last cigarette in front of the building. The same jerks, smacking each other again, as the blonde liked to put it. And the same groups of friends were chatting about their crushes on the way to the locker. It was all normal. Whether you took it positively or negatively.

While he was still unintentionally colliding with some students on his way into the school building, Chrollo was already sitting in the classroom. He could already guess why his friend wasn't there yet; after all, he had read his messages in the dead of night. "I told him not to sit so late in front of his computer..." the black-haired boy sighed. But not long after that, he finally arrived as well. With a gasp and a sweaty face, Shalnark sat down next to his friend. "Have you warmed up for PE later?" Chrollo leaned on his arm with a diabolical smile. "Why don't you shut your mouth?".

It was still before noon, and yet baking hot. Not exactly pleasant, considering Shalnark was in PE class. He couldn't say exactly what he found worse about the weather. Doing his rounds in the bright sun or playing volleyball in the warm indoor gym. With his inner self, he agreed that both things were cruel. Shalnark actually liked volleyball a lot; after all, it was one of his favorite sports. With the weather, however, there was little he found enjoyable. And as if that wasn't bad enough. No, Shalnark realized why the face of what he liked to call the library giant seemed so familiar to him. It was only a few feet away from him, in the same indoor gym. 

The school that the blond visited was not small, though it didn't have too many gyms due to the lack of space. So it often happened that the gyms were used by two classes at the same time. In the younger grades, classes were often held together. But then there were two much larger halls. However, they were not really separated. So it happened that Shalnark played volleyball in one half of the hall, and his giant played basketball in the other half.

Feitan couldn't help but throw a sweaty towel in his blond friend's face when he saw how long he stared after the other students. "Watch out...or your eyes will fall out..." he called bluntly to him. Shalnark, who gave his friend a disgusted look, quickly shook the towel off of him. "Do you have anyone in your eye, Shal?" Chrollo asked him with a certain curiosity that, as always, he could not help showing. After a moment, the blonde just sighed and pointed lightly at a student from the other class. "See that giant there?" Shalnark leaned his head towards Chrollo, who did the same. "Which one of the many?". "The one with the dark long hair and dark skin..." The boy seemed to get quieter and quieter out of fear of being heard, which only made Chrollo lean even further to the side. "Oh, you mean the one who should probably braid his hair? What about him?". Even Feitan, meanwhile, had also moved behind the two to listen in on the conversation and add his own two bits. Which was nothing new for the group.

"Oh... is that fuckface... from yesterday?" Shalnark was always surprised at how Feitan managed to sound surprised and yet so disinterested. The blonde only gave a small "hmm" while Chrollo looked down at the small black-haired student, visibly surprised. "When I was...at Phinks, he was talking about.... I quote, 'a third grader'". Shalnark turned to him in such disbelief that he couldn't help but laugh. "HOW did he call me?!" The boy didn't seem too thrilled about his new nickname. Especially not considering he was of normal height. "Then what are you, Feitan, please?" he continued. "Non-existent," Chrollo added dryly, whereupon Feitan gave him a grim look.

The boys were again distracted by their teammates, which was probably a good thing. But Shalnark couldn't help glancing at the giant from time to time while playing. That night, after all, he had caught himself running the memory of the tall, broad student through his mind. Shalnark knew through experience that he also had a lot of interest in the male gender, though he didn't quite know what kind of man he could start with either. And so he now had an anxious feeling about which way he was leaning. Whether he would admit it to himself or not. But he was not really enthusiastic yet. 

After a good few minutes in which the students tried to concentrate somehow, the mood became a bit more depressing. At least in Shalnark's class. The class above him, however, seemed to be in a good mood; at least that's the impression they got from the loud shouting of the basketball players. It was impossible not to hear how they were cheering each other on to push themselves harder. 

"Shal! Servee," Chrollo said, turning to his friend with the ball in his hand. It wasn't very long anymore, though. Shalnark was visibly out of energy, yet he still wanted to practice serves with Chrollo. Which was perhaps not the best idea, as he would find out. So while the blond tried to concentrate on the punch and maybe finally make a really good serve again, it seemed like only part of him was in agreement. 

In fact, when Shalnark tried to make his serve, apparently part of him forgot that the ball should also land back inside the field. "Happens sometimes..." Shalnark thought, until he noticed how the ball flew towards the higher class. What do you think would happen if you combined yesterday's scenario with the current scenario? The answer is easy, and Shalnark probably made a huge misjudgement when he thought the awkward encounter in the library had been bad enough. Now the ball was in the air, and it wouldn't get back on the ground anytime soon. It would have to bounce off somewhere. How lucky that there was someone on the airline who was perfectly made for that.

Due to some warning shouts, one student quickly turned around, which was probably not a good idea on his part either, because it allowed him to catch the ball perfectly with his face. Shalnark's heart slipped when he realized who he just hit. It was the very same student who had taken the book from him right in front of him the day before. Some just say there was karma.

Chapter Text

There he stood. His heart in his pants. His jaw on the floor. Apparently dead like the giant, whose name was presumably Uvogin. As he could hear from his friend's shouts. Shalnark didn't know exactly what to do. He didn't have many options, but they didn't help him either. He could just go to him to get the ball and apologize. But that would be far too easy, and he definitely didn't have the calmness to do it just like that. So he remained standing there.

Only a quiet “Oh-” came from the mouths of his friends, who were just as surprised as he was. On the other side of the gym, the mood was very different. While some of Uvogin's friends laughed at him and the other looked after him, he himself seemed much more upset. One of his friends, who was almost as tall as he was, led him to the edge of the hall so that the blood coming out of his nose wouldn't spread everywhere. “Which little Motherfucker was that?” Uvogin's voice growled in his chest. He obviously seemed anything but thrilled. Understandably so. “It doesn't matter now,” his friend tried to calm him down, but it didn't really seem to do any good, he realized. “BAHA!!! I don't think you understand the rules of volleyball!” a slightly shorter student with lightly tanned skin and short blonde hair interjected into their conversation. “Phinks please... can you at least take him to the bathroom?”. After a few moments, during which the blond student was amused by the situation, he helped his friend to the locker rooms. Meanwhile, the other student picked up the lost ball, only to look around a little confused a moment later.

Shalnark could have sworn his heart skipped a few beats. He was still glued to the ground, barely able to lift a finger until he saw the high school senior notice them. “I think he saw you...” whispered Chrollo from the side. After a brief moment, Shalnark finally seemed to come to his senses and began to sweat. “CHROLLO HELP!” he turned abruptly with an amusing amount of panic and grabbed his friend by the shirt. “YOU hit the ball...” “CHROLLO!?!!” And now the older student stood in front of him. He too had a considerable height, but probably the scariest thing about him were the scars on his face. However, his broad face made a much more likeable impression than the giant's, Shalnark thought.
“I think this is your ball,” the student said, holding the ball out to the blond. “Eh-” Shalnark seemed a little surprised, after all, he had expected a completely different reaction. “Don't worry, he won't shorten you by a head. Besides, he really deserves it...” the student sighed and scratched his short black hair. Shalnark didn't know exactly how to react to this statement, so he did what he did best. He remained silent and smiled nervously. “ You better stick to one time...otherwise I can't promise you that he'll crush you,” with these words he turned away again. Now Shalnark had his ball back and was much more relaxed than before.
“Franklin is more relaxed.... than Fatty...” Feitan only gets to see two questioning faces in response. “You know him?” Chrollo raises his finger slightly and points at the student who has just turned away from them, to which the little student just nods. “He's a friend of Phinks...”, “I see...”, Chrollo looked after him a little, while Shalnark meanwhile plopped down on his butt and let out a soft sigh. “So has your soul re-entered your body?” The blond saw his best friend looking down at him with a smile. “Hmmm ... I think so.” “Keep playing...” Feitan managed to quickly snatch the ball out of Shalnark's hands and made his way back to his side of the court. “You heard him~ Get up Shal!”.

While Shalnark was so focused on his game, he didn't even notice his good library friend entering the hall again. You could see from a distance that he was in anything but a good mood. Even though half his face was covered by his huge hand because he was still holding a tissue in front of his nose more than ten minutes after entering.
"Are you in pain?" Franklin met him with an almost worried look on his face. "Shut up and tell me which motherfucker threw that damn ball...". Yep, Uvogin was not excited at all and Franklin, as well as his other friend, knew that more than well. Franklin didn't give him an answer, however, and instead waited for a response to his question himself. After a brief, awkward moment of silence, because no one really dared to upset the giant even more, the tall student answered him. "It's all right..." "You want to see the nurse now?" Franklin got a quick shake of the head from his friend, which he only commented on with a hopeless sigh, whereupon Phinks put his arm on his shoulder. "You know the stubborn one! He never changes...".
Uvogin sat down on one of the benches that were lined up along the wall on their side of the gym. Almost with a grudge, he glanced over to the other side of the hall, looking for possible students who might have thrown the ball in his face. But after a few moments, he gave up again. Instead, he tried his luck with Franklin again - after all, he had answered his question now. He turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Hey Franklin! Will you tell me which idiot that it was...?”. But after the question, he just rolled his eyes again. “Why do you want to know? So you can beat him up after class?”. Uvogin let out a low grumble and looked to the side, embarrassed. “And you're accusing ME of having an ego problem?” Phinks just looked at Franklin with raised eyebrows. Although you could hardly call them eyebrows, because he didn't have any.
After a few moments of thought, Uvogin finally got his answer. “It was the blond standing with Feitan.... He seemed very sorry, so I don't think he hit you on purpose.” The student's gaze wandered to Shalnark. “Oh him? The little one has that much strength in his arms?” Phinks seemed quite surprised, while Uvogin continued to sit quietly on the bench. He couldn't exactly recognize him, after all, he only had a glimpse of Shalnark's back, but he did look a little familiar. Only from where...
After a few minutes, he finally realized. He saw the boy's face and it seemed as if the student's eyes almost lit up. “Do you know him?” Franklin asked, confused, and sat down next to him on the bench. “That's the third grader from the library...” “I see.” Phinks also sat down with them and added as usual: “He's not that small...”. Franklin just looked at him questioningly. “Weren't you the one who just called him ‘small’?”. The blond-haired student ignored the remark and leaned against the wall of the gym with his arms folded behind his head, while Uvogin continued to watch the blond.

The torture of summer PE was finally over and the students made their way to the locker rooms. But it wasn't over for Shalnark, as he seemed to have momentarily forgotten that his class had to share the boys' locker room with the other class. So he walked into the room with a bit of a stomach ache, but also with a spark of hope that he would be there before the giant. Which was indeed the case. So he took his chance to change faster than usual, which of course did not escape his friends' notice.
“Are you on the run?” Chrollo asked him, slightly worried, as he took off his sweaty shirt. “You could say that,” the blond hissed at him. “You heard him. He's not going to rip your head off... What was his name again?” “Franklin!” a loud voice rang through the room. When Feitan turned around, he saw Phinks throwing a towel at his friend. Annoyed, the black-haired boy turned away again, but to his disappointment, Phinks was already on his way to him. “Hoy hoy! What's there to gaze at?” With a swift movement, the older student put his arm around Feitan's neck and grinned at him. “Fuck off...” Feitan cursed quietly to himself, which only made the man behind him laugh. “I guess you got up on the wrong side of the bed today~” “He always does that...” Unfortunately for Shalnark, Chrollo now had to add his own opinion, which only drew Phink's attention to him. He looked past the black haired student and caught sight of him as he changed his shirt. “OH! THE BLOND WITH THE BALL!”
Shalnark was indeed not pleased. He was not alone in this, however, as Uvogin was still in a very bad mood. And Phinks, who was now loudly drawing attention to himself, was probably not a good attribute. At least not for Shalnark's stress levels. “You have a talent... for making yourself unpopular... you know that?” muttered Feitan, pressing his hand into Phinks' face. “Besides, you yell too much...”.

Shalnark tried to ignore them and continue changing, but he quickly realized that someone was changing next to him that he probably wouldn't like to see. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before class, but he had apparently unwittingly chosen the spot on the benches that was right next to the giant. He couldn't see his face as he was standing right in the corner of the room, but he recognized the hairy, broad arms and dark skin. He couldn't help but think of the situation in the library. And again, he couldn't stop himself and risked a quick, cautious glance over at him, which proved none too wise. After all, he was now looking the angry student straight in the eye. At the moment of realization, his mouth abruptly moved down to his small chin, as if they were going to Narnia together. It was only a brief moment before Shalnark stared embarrassedly at his clothes again, but it felt much longer than it actually was. And not just for him, but for Uvogin as well. The boy returned to his clothes as well and continued to grumble to himself. To Franklin's surprise, he did so without making a big scene.

“It's because of the book, isn't it?” Shalnark heard the deep voice to his right, making him look up in confusion. “Admit it, it's because of that fucking book...” Uvogin tried to keep his tone low despite his anger so that he wouldn't attract the attention of everyone in the room, and he succeeded. The blond dared to look at him again, but this time with a much angrier expression on his face. And that was probably the moment when the dynamic between the two students changed drastically, almost as if at the push of a button. The blond didn't know exactly why, but in that moment all his fears of the giant had miraculously disappeared and he found it much easier to open his mouth to him. Perhaps it was Uvogin's stubborn nature that made Shalnark feel like a little dog who barked far too much, even if it was only at that moment. Or maybe his head had finally realized that he didn't want to crush him just yet.
“I don't know what your problem is, but I don't have such an inflated ego that I'd intentionally throw a ball in someone's face just because they took a shitty book away from me!” Shalnark tried to speak quietly, but he couldn't prevent Chrollo, who had just changed his clothes, from hearing what they were talking about. However, he made no attempt to interfere. On the contrary, he preferred to enjoy the sight of Shalnark's true face. In his opinion, it was always very amusing to watch him when he was upset about something.

It was now lunchtime and Uvogin was sitting on the roof of the school building with his friends. They often did this because it was much more relaxed there than in the huge school playground, let alone in the smoking area on the street. But he didn't really have any peace and quiet up there either, because now Uvogin's sandpit friend started laughing hysterically when Phinks had to explain to him why he had a blue nose and was walking around with a look on his face as if someone had pooped in his cereal.
“Shut your mouth already, Nobunaga...” he growled under his breath, with no real effect, if the student had heard him at all. But the loud laughter was soon interrupted by Phinks. “Hey guys! You wouldn't happen to want to come to the amusement park this weekend?” The other young men looked at him a little surprised. “Come along? Do you have a date?” Before Franklin could finish his question, Nobunaga interrupted him and put his arm around Phink's shoulders. “Does our good friend have a date~?”. The blonde-haired student looked a little embarrassed and scratched his cheek nervously, “I wouldn't call it a date...”. Uvogin looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Phinks seemed to know exactly what he was getting at. “You're not really telling me...” he began in an even deeper voice than usual, “that you have a crush on the black-haired dwarf...”.
Phinks stared at Uvogin in silence, which was probably more than obvious to the student. “That still doesn't answer my question...” the blonde-haired student looked at his friends a little embarrassed. “We'll be happy to help you if you need emotional support,” Nobunaga almost whispered in his ear, whereupon the student turned to him with red cheeks and an annoyed expression on his face. “IT’S NOT A DATE!” he shouted in the other's ear. “Why not...” Uvogin leaned on his knee and closed his eyes with an amused grin, so that Phinks turned his gaze to Franklin, who was eating his lunch leaning against a wall. After a moment, he nodded to him with a smile, and Phinks let out a relieved sigh.

It was already evening and every little light at the high school had gone out. Nevertheless, it was still pleasantly warm outside, and a gentle, equally warm wind was sweeping some fallen leaves from the paths. It wasn't dark yet, but the sky was already turning a beautiful orange with a soft pink tint. It was quiet, just a few street noises and dogs barking at each other on their walk. And if you listened carefully, you could even hear the sound of the sea.
A sigh sounded in the nearby park next to the school. It sounded exhausted and perhaps even a little hopeless. And shortly afterwards, the smell of a cigarette came up. Stress smoking, a typical behavior of Uvogin. He leaned against one of the iron poles that served as a barrier to the nearby road. Whether he was very unforgiving and still annoyed about the ball catch, or whether there was something else that had caused him to be so uncharacteristically silent. He was tired. All he wanted to do was lay down in a soft bed and sleep. Uvogin closed his eyes and instead enjoyed the warm wind blowing his shaggy hair out of its braid. His cell phone vibrated, but he received no answer. After a few more times, the student put his cell phone in his pocket without comment and took another drag on his cigarette before throwing it on the floor and extinguishing it.
Another footstep. But it came from Shalnark, who was just getting on his train. He had gone shopping after class and was now carrying a plastic bag. As the train started to move, he looked at his cell phone. He had received two messages from Feitan. Short and sweet, as always: “Are you coming to the amusement park on Saturday?” The boy thought for a moment. Since his schoolwork hardly took up any of his time and he would like to have fun in his free time anyway, there was no reason to refuse. So why not, Shalnark thought, and answered his friend without further ado. The blond leaned his head back a little and couldn't help but grin a little as his big bright green eyes stared at the surrounding city. Yes, Shalnark was really happy at that moment.

It was loud. Many people enjoyed the beautiful weather at the weekend. There was a lot going on in the city center. Many went shopping or went to similar buildings where they could get rid of their money in some way. Among all these people was Shalnark. Somehow he tried to make his way through the crowds. This time, however, he was in a much better mood than the days before, when he had to push his way through the school. After all, he had a good reason for it. He wanted to meet up with his friends at the amusement park. He was lucky enough to have free entry for one day every month with his school ID. Of course, this also applied to all other pupils, so he often took the opportunity to have fun with his friends.

After a few minutes of being pushed from all sides, he was now on his way to a much quieter place. He wanted to meet up with Chrollo and Feitan at one of the many fountains in the park. There were still quite a few people there, but they were nowhere near as close together as at the attractions or even at the entrance. The boy looked around a little to make sure he was in the right place. The park was large, so the risk of getting lost was higher. How lucky that there were large maps everywhere.
Shalnark didn't need them, however, because he heard a very familiar voice. It called his name and he was sure he was in the right place. As he turned around, he saw Chrollo and Feitan from afar, waving quickly to attract attention. And so Shalnark made his way to the two and greeted them with a broad smile.
“You seem to be doing really well!” Chrollo also greeted his friend with a delighted smile, to which Shalnark nodded enthusiastically. Feitan, on the other hand, didn't seem to show much excitement, but they knew him well enough to know that he was also happy to see his friends. In general, he was someone who didn't reveal much about himself, let alone his emotions or feelings, which could be seen in his style of dress. While Shalnark and Chrollo both walked around in a very loose shirt and shorts, Feitan wore a much too long black jacket with a giant skull painted on the back and long black denim pants.

In the meantime, the three boys had found a shady spot and Feitan seemed to be waiting for something, as he kept glancing nervously at his cell phone, only to switch it off again for a few seconds. “Is everything all right, Feitan?” Shalnark asked the black-haired boy, slightly worried. It was unusual for someone like Feitan to be nervous. Usually it was the other way around and Feitan was worried about Shalnark or Chrollo because Feitan was the one who stood like a rock.
But this time it was different. He grumbled a little at Shalnark's question and began to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. “Are you seeing someone?” Chrollo looked at him with his large, almost black eyes and set his drink aside. “Maybe...” the little black-haired boy turned his head awkwardly and his mouth formed a mixture of a nervous smile and lip biting. It was funny to watch, because you rarely got a look like that from someone like Feitan.
“You could have just asked us to help you with a date...” before Shalnark could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by his friend, who stared at him outraged. “Don't get the idea that I have a date!” he turned to the side again, embarrassed, and after a brief moment of silence he continued, “He wanted to meet....”. Shalnark had to chuckle a little and Chrollo raised his eyebrow with a slight grin. “It wouldn't happen to be that one blond guy you're meeting here, would it?” Shalnark looked at Chrollo with a questioning expression on his face. “What blond guy?” His friend looked at him with a grin. “You know, the giant's friend” Shalnark looked at Feitan with wide eyes. “EH? Him?” but Feitan just shrugged his shoulders and kept quiet, which was answer enough for the two boys.
But luckily for Feitan, he didn't have to answer the question, because someone else did it for him. Although Feitan wouldn't say he was lucky, because Phinks was now standing a few meters away from them. No, as Shalnark realized, it wasn't just Phinks standing there, but his friends as well. He recognized Franklin, who was standing behind the blond-haired young man in loose overalls and cardigan, as if he had had to shoo him towards him with his hands. Behind him stood Nobunaga, who Shalnark had only ever seen from a distance. He had always made an uncanny impression on the blond. But he stood grinning in his loose, almost baggy clothes next to the familiar giant.

Shalnark flinched a little when he saw the huge student. Probably because of the many situations he had already experienced with him. He wasn't afraid of him, not anymore, but he still didn't feel completely safe. And the fact that his sleeveless shirt and tight black spiked leather pants only emphasized his broad and powerful body didn't make the whole thing any better. And so it was that the two of them came face to face again.

Chapter Text

What had Shalnark done to run into this guy so often? Although he had to admit that Uvogin had very good taste in fashion. But that didn't make him any more likeable. Especially not with the way he stood in front of him. Shalnark didn't know if it was the large shadow he cast over him or if it was his cocky appearance that made him seem even larger. What he did notice was the band-aid on his nose, which made the blond a little nervous. He knew exactly why it was there, and he also knew exactly who was responsible for it.
But Shalnark couldn't help his little comment and almost whispered with his head turned away: “Nice band-aid... you've got there...”. When his gaze wandered to Uvogin's face, he only saw the twitch of his eyebrows. And with a jerk, the taller student leaned forward with his upper body, causing Shalnark to look to his right to ask for Chrollo. He realized he was busy watching Feitan and the rest of the group. No one really seemed interested in him and his giant. Understandably so, as Phinks was far more noticeable than him. Only Franklin, who was somewhat aware of what was going on with the two of them, gave him a quick glance and a hopeless look, followed by a shrug.
“Don't give me that stupid look like you did in the locker room again, will you?” Uvogin drew Shalnark's attention with a light flick against his pale forehead, hidden by blond hair. For Shalnark, however, it was much harder than just a light flick, as evidenced by his soft “ouch”. Uvogin obviously had a lot more strength and didn't know exactly how to apply it to weak people.
Shalnark quickly rubbed his forehead and gave the giant an annoyed look, which he returned in exactly the same way. “I was just telling you the truth! If you can't handle it, that's not my problem!” Then Uvogin let out a short snort and held his hand in front of Shalnark's forehead again, as if he wanted to give him another blow. And there it was again. Shalnark's raisin face.

But they were interrupted by Feitan: “Hey, raisin heads!” as they tried to see who could stare longer and more aggressively. And with a loud “HUHH?!” both students turn around while their faces are still as wrinkled as an old granny's armpits. “We want something to eat...but if you'd rather tease each other...., you can stay...” Feitan didn't look particularly thrilled, as usual, while Phinks was visibly amused. “Are you sure you didn't meet for a date?” he added with a grin, which obviously didn't go down well with either Shalnark or Uvogin, because both made a visibly disgusted and shocked face, whereupon Nobunaga could no longer hold back his laughter. “Congratulations, Blondie! It's been a long time since anyone has upset Uvo like that!", but Shalnark didn't take it as a compliment. “Oh yes...”. Uvogin seemed even angrier instead and stormed towards his friend, apparently to smack him. “And you Nobunaga should finally stop opening your big mouth so often!” “Which one of us is the one who was still complaining about getting hit in the face with a ball days after the accident?” the black-haired student hissed back, but didn't sound nearly as angry as his friend. “And from a little boy, too...” whispered Franklin. “Little?!” Shalnark was still not thrilled. If he had known who was coming to this event, he probably would have thought twice about coming. Now that he saw what he had let himself in for. But his friend Chrollo only gave him a quiet smile, which made the blond sigh. “It's nice that at least he hasn't given up hope yet...” he thought.

Some time passed as the group of boys stuffed their stomachs with junk food to enjoy themselves in the park. The longer Shalnark stared around, the more he had the feeling that the park was getting fuller and fuller. That was also the reason why the group split up. While Feitan and Phinks took some time to discuss certain topics, the group of Uvogin, Franklin and Nobunaga went for a walk somewhere in the park. That left only Shalnark and Chrollo, who were still sitting at the dining table, watching the many people enjoying their day.

“And what do you think?” Shalnark began as he lay on the table with his head on his arms. His face was almost completely covered by his long bangs, but you could still see his big green eyes very clearly. “You mean, will it work out between the two of them?” Chrollo thought for a moment and then shrugged calmly. “They're kind of cute...” Shalnark agreed with his friend with a short nod, “hmhm...” “But so are you and your new friend,” the black-haired boy glanced at his friend, who was now looking up at him with a disgusted expression on his face. “Are you talking about that cocky asshole?” It was more of a rhetorical question, because Shalnark knew exactly who Chrollo was talking about. “You really pick interesting nicknames for him,” Chrollo's gaze wandered into the crowd again. Shalnark turned his head away with a bow. “Friend? He's just way too much of a jerk with a much bigger ego problem!", but Shalnark's friend didn't really seem to get the point of his statement. “I wonder what his parents put in his breakfast to make him so big...”

There was silence for a moment. Shalnark thought back to the previous situation with Uvogin, and he couldn't take his mind off the way he leaned down towards him. Uvogin was much taller and more massive than Shalnark had imagined. “But...?” Shalnark was a little surprised when he noticed that Chrollo leaned down a little and looked at him with raised eyebrows. “You have to admit you enjoy playing with him a bit~” Shalnark's face was covered in a mixture of indignation and embarrassment. “WHAT?” he almost jumped up from his chair and looked at his friend open-mouthed. But he only gave him a grin. “I-” “You haven't been this provocative in a long time...” Shalnark's face turned red and Chrollo couldn't hold back his giggles. He knew his best friend well. Almost too well.
“However...” the black-haired student also stood up and turned in a direction where there appeared to be some slot machines. “We shouldn't just sit around, we should enjoy the peace and quiet.” Shalnark was silent for a moment until he turned back to his friend. “You saw the spider stuff in the machine, didn't you?” Chrollo couldn't help but nod hysterically in anticipation, to which Shalnark just sighed with a smile.

Shalnark and Chrollo enjoyed themselves at the slot machines and even won a medium-sized spider stuffed animal. The black-haired student looked like a small child who had just been given a lollipop. But they also had a great time and even bumped into their friends here and there. Or rather, Feitan, with Phinks and his friends.
It was now just after midday and the sun was burning hot, but Shalnark managed to find a shady spot opposite the entrance to an attraction Chrollo wanted to go to. Feitan was there too, so they both made their way to the entrance while Shalnark looked after their belongings.
The boy sat down on a small stone fence that bordered a large hedge of flowers. It was a beautiful and quiet part of the park, where fortunately for Shalnark there weren't that many people. However, he didn't miss the fact that Uvogin sat down a few meters away from him and also looked as if he was waiting for someone. Now he had run into him again, even though the park was so big.
It was a bit of a strange situation for Shalnark. He wasn't sure if Uvogin sat down with him to make awkward small talk or because it was one of the only shady spots in the area. Shalnark wanted to take advantage of the situation to break the awkward silence between the two.
“Are you also waiting... for the others?” His voice was a little brittle and rough at first, but it improved with a little clearing of the throat. He didn't get a real answer though, as Uvogin just raised his eyebrows and nodded too easily to be overlooked. He didn't seem particularly interested in talking, which the blond quickly realized. Nevertheless, he felt the need to get something off his chest. Even though he was aware that this could only make the whole situation even more awkward.

“By the way ... about the ball thing...” he paused briefly to see if the giant was even listening to him. He couldn't tell exactly because he was on his phone, but he didn't really seem to be paying attention to anything in particular. It looked more like he was scrolling back and forth, bored. So Shalnark decided to keep talking, hoping he would listen to him. “I hadn't even apologized to you yet... I really didn't throw the ball in your face on purpose...”. Silence once again. Shalnark looked down at his shoes, but he could see in the corner of his eye how Uvogin seemed to react. When he looked to him, he could clearly see the huge student looking up with his eyebrows furrowed. But to Shalnark's surprise, he didn't look angry. More like surprised.
“Huh?” Uvogin gave the blond a perplexed look, to which he replied directly: “Eh?”. Shalnark blinked a few times before Uvogin shook his head. “I didn't expect you to apologize,” the student took a sip of his drink and leaned his head back, “besides, I didn't assume a third grader like you would dare throw a ball at my face on purpose.” And there he was again. The idiot with the ego problem.
Shalnark sighed. He had finally lost all hope. However, he also had to admit that the giant didn't sound nearly as angry as usual. On the contrary, he seemed rather relaxed, which was why the blond didn't react to his statement. The risk of him being insulted again would have been too high. So he accepted the statement without comment.

After a few moments, Uvogin stood up and pressed his drink into Shalnark's hand. “Hold this. I'll be right back...” Shalnark looked after the student in surprise. He seemed to be on his way to the restroom. He looked back down at the cup that had just been handed to him. “Idiot,” he cursed slightly angrily. When Shalnark looked closer, it was cola, filling a third of the cup, but the smell was different. It smelled more like alcohol. Shalnark looked up at the restrooms where the giant had gone. “Did he really get alcohol?” The boy set the cup down on the fence beside him and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “How long do they even take?” he moaned quietly. It was scorching hot and waiting wasn't exactly his favorite pastime, so he tried to distract himself a little with his phone. However, he didn't notice how he was slowly gaining company.
Thinking it was Uvogin, who had just returned from the toilet, Shalnark took the cup and held it in front of him while he continued to look at his phone. “Your cola smells very interesting, by the way...” and so he realized that it wasn't Uvogin standing in front of him, but two young men who were probably only a little older than he was. “Oh...”

Shalnark didn't particularly like the whole situation. It was probably because of the dirty grins they both wore on their faces. “Is there anything I can do to help...?” Shalnark's voice was quiet, almost muffled, as the men approached him one by one. “Hey, young lady~” one of the men began in a low voice, making the blond look confused. He could already guess what he was about to be confronted with. “Don't you want to keep us company for a bit? You're so alone...", 'Exactly... and being alone as a woman can be quite dangerous...' Shalnark calmly tried to put more and more distance between himself and his opponents, but it was working worse and worse. It wasn't as if they didn't notice. But Shalnark wasn't thrilled to be called a woman either. He wore shorts and dark tights, but in his opinion he didn't look very feminine either.
“I'm not a woman...” was probably the only thing he got out. But it seemed as if the men weren't listening to him. As if the blond was talking to a wall. And by the smell coming from their mouths, he was sure that communication wasn't the answer. After all, they definitely smelled like alcohol.
Nevertheless, Shalnark tried to crawl further back, slipping with one hand and spilling the cup in his left hand. Shocked, he looked back and saw the liquid spread across his shirt and the floor. And as it turned out, this was probably a big mistake, as the men seemed to see this as an opportunity to touch Shalnark's legs and hands. It was a sickening feeling that he tried to tear himself away from, adrenaline rushing through his body. He even managed to free himself from the grips on his thigh, but that didn't really help. Hoping it was just two men, he tried to stand up and dodge backwards. Unfortunately for him, he only bumped into a large male torso. As the shock wore off, so did his hope of being left alone. Shalnark didn't know what to do now. He had the feeling that he couldn't get a single sound out of his mouth while the men in front of him continued to mutter their filthy and disgusting things.
If only Shalnark's father had mixed some of the stuff that Uvogin apparently had into his cereal back then, he probably would have gotten out of the situation better now. Shalnark wasn't weak, but fighting alone against three men bigger than him seemed rather unrealistic.
And so Shalnark noticed how the man behind him put his arm around him and placed his broad hand on his cleavage. “Now he's coming with his hand too...” Shalnark interrupted his thought process. He knew that dark skin and the far too long dark arm hair. And now that he looked ahead and saw the panicked faces of the men, who had now also released their grips from Shalnark's wrists, he was certain. It was Uvogin standing behind him, giving the men a very angry look.

And suddenly his worries and the adrenaline flowing through his body disappeared. It was as if a stone had fallen from his heart. “This is probably the first time I've ever been really happy to see this idiot...” Shalnark sighed inwardly. When he looked forward again, he could see the men backing away further and further. But they didn't really seem to want to turn away either, which didn't please Uvogin. “What are you waiting for? Get your fucking faces out of here...” his voice was rough and Shalnark could feel the vibration of his chest against his back.
It was something special to have a guy like that behind you. And so the two men finally decided to leave for good. You could still hear them both mumbling something to themselves: “Why don't you say you have a boyfriend?”, “A little girl like that deserves better than a huge muscleman...”. Or something like that. Shalnark huffed and pressed his eyebrows against his eyes. “I'm still a boy...” he muttered to himself.

It was quiet. Uvogin's hand was still on Shalnark's chest when the men turned away from them. But it stayed there afterwards too. It was warm and pressed a little, but not uncomfortably so. There was also the feeling of friction against his back when Uvogin inhaled deeply. Shalnark had to admit that it was a nice feeling. Neither of them said a word since he was still in some kind of shock.
After a few moments, however, the blond broke the silence. “Thank you...” his voice was calm and he sounded much more relaxed than before. Understandably so. He could feel the throat clearing in the other's chest as he tried to get a word out of his mouth. “Are you... so... is everything alright?” Shalnark remembered the icky feeling of hands on his legs again. He was still shaking and maybe a little scared. But it seemed to be getting better, so he nodded slowly, but Uvogin didn't quite like the answer. “Sure? I mean... .” one would have thought that the giant was a little worried after all. But the blond stuck to his previous answer. “I'm fine now... I'm just really glad that you're... are here.”
In fact, Uvogin was just as surprised to hear this from the blond's mouth. And unfortunately, he couldn't stop his cheeks from turning a little red. Shalnark started to turn to him, whereupon he turned his head to the side in panic to cover his red cheeks with his typical grim expression. But it wasn't as if the smaller student hadn't noticed, which didn't stop him from saying what he wanted to anyway. “I think that was the first time I was happy to see you...” And this time, Uvogin looked at him genuinely annoyed.

“At least get a room if you want to flirt-” Uvogin flinched when he heard this voice, and with wide eyes he looked in the direction from which this voice seemed to come “Oh shit...”. It was Nobunaga, standing a few meters away from him with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised. “HEY WAIT A MINUTE! LISTEN TO ME NOBUNAGA!” but before Uvogins could justify himself to his best friend, he was interrupted by Phinks: "It's not what it looks like, yeah yeah yeah." Unfortunately for Shalnark and Uvogin, not only had Nobunaga and Phinks noticed something, but so had everyone else in the group.
Chrollo walked over to his blond friend, who was looking down at the ground, overwhelmed and hoping his bangs would cover his red face. “Are you alright, Shal?” the black-haired student put his hand on his friend's back. “HmHm... Wait, you saw that, didn't you?” Shalnark felt a little cheated. “We were just coming out of the exit when Uvogin came to you...”. Shalnark sighed. “Idiots...” Feitan added from the side, grumbling. “As long as you're all right, everything's fine,” Chrollo gave his friend an uncharacteristically affectionate smile. “I think...” the blond looked up and could see Uvogin still being teased by his friends. “Although Feitan and Phinks should be having their day-” before he could finish his sentence, he received an uncommented kick to the shin from Feitan. “I was only joking!” and there it was again. The bright, beaming face of Shalnark when he laughed. Uvogin couldn't take his eyes off it either and couldn't deny that he was a little relieved.

It was now evening and Nobunaga, Phinks and Feitan had already left the park, while the other four boys were still standing outside the exit. Chrollo had just thrown his paper cup into a nearby garbage can and Franklin and Uvogin seemed to be having a little chitchat. It had been an exhausting, but also very interesting day. Shalnark didn't quite know what to feel. Instead, he stared absentmindedly at Chrollo's backpack, which seemed almost too small for the spider stuffed animal he had somehow tried to squeeze into it. Only the spider's head was still sticking out, which made the sight very amusing.
Chrollo came back and pulled his backpack over his shoulder. “So, if you've got everything, we can go!” “Good!”. The two boys turned to the older students and said goodbye, but before they left the park, Shalnark stopped once more, whereupon his friend looked at him in surprise. “Did you forget something?” He blinked a few times before he saw Shalnark turn around after taking a deep breath. “Uvo!” the giant turned around with a confused look on his face and saw the blond looking directly at him, “Uhhh-”. “Thanks again...”, Shalnark sounded happy and Uvogin couldn't help but scratch the back of his head with a slight grin and red cheeks, embarrassed. “Alright...” And just like that, Shalnark disappeared again. The two older students looked after him and Chrollo until they finally disappeared into the crowd.
“Did he just call you Uvo?” Franklin asked quietly, still a little surprised, whereupon Uvogin's grin disappeared and he now looked more embarrassed than confident as before. “...I'm not sure...I mean...well,” his mouth wandered down to his chin. Franklin only raised his eyebrows in response, but had to chuckle a little. “Have I ever seen you so red?” he asked teasingly. As the coloring on Uvogin's face only spread further, he gave his friend a sharp look: “SHUT UP!”

It was the night from Wednesday to Thursday. And so Uvogin was still out in the city. Almost every day he took his nightly walk in the same nearby park next to the school, as usual. This time, however, he didn't have a cigarette with him, just the lighter, which he held in his hand to play with the lid. The sound he made was probably the only one that could be heard in the area. It was quiet. Too quiet for his taste. It was already so late that all the birds had stopped singing. No dogs out and about late at night. No cars driving on the streets and no other students trying to have a good time. Well, except for the students standing in front of Uvogin. And suddenly Uvogin stopped playing with his lighter again. It became quieter, even quieter than before.

And then it got loud. A piercing beeping sounded in Shalnark's room. It was his alarm clock. The sun's rays tried to find their way through the curtains outside his window and finally landed on his face. The only sound the boy made was a loud grumble and groan. He would have preferred to stay in his bed and go back to sleep. Although almost everything was better than what was in front of him. It was exam time again. The hate of every student. “whyyyyyyy....,” the blond groaned before sitting up to turn off his alarm clock.
After he had finally managed to free his almost pale feet from the blanket, he was greeted. A loud panting and the wagging of a dark tail. “So you're awake too...” Shalnark rubbed his eyes before trying to reach for something with his other hand. But instead of soft fur, a large, wet tongue awaited him, licking over his fingers. “Hey! Hey!” Now that the boy could finally see something, he caught sight of the cheerful, broad dog's face in front of his legs. It was his good friend. A big, fluffy Bernese mountain dog. “Will you keep your fingers crossed for me today, Wbereguin?” Shalnark stood up and looked at his dog expectantly. But the dog just kept panting at him and seemed to be waiting for a few cuddles. The boy sighed and patted him on the head as he walked past him to make his way to the bathroom. “I'll just take that as a yes...”

By the afternoon, the time had come. Shalnark had finally finished his exam and his stomach was much more relaxed. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against the wall next to him. It was lunch break and the next lesson had been canceled for the day, so he could rest a little longer. He was still standing in the hallway of the school, but he would soon decide to go up to the roof of the main building. Since most of the upper school students left the school grounds most of the time and no one from the lower grades was allowed on the roof, it was very quiet there. No kids being too loud or idiots arguing loudly. So Shalnark thought and made his way to the stairs.
As he climbed the many steps, he remembered that he still had to return the biology book to the library now that the exam was over. Not that he'd used the book or anything. He hoped to remember it tomorrow and not forget about it for weeks until it started to gather dust on his desk.
Once upstairs, Shalnark opened the scrappy iron door and was greeted by bright sunlight. The door was heavy, and he had to push against it a little to fit through. But after a short effort, he arrived on the roof. It was a fairly large area, with a high fence and a few benches. Not really nice, but better than nothing. And so Shalnark thought his school could use a touch up.

There wasn't much going on on the roof. So far, he hadn't seen any other students, which meant he could choose a spot in peace. But when he took a closer look around, he realized that he wasn't quite as alone as he had first assumed. There was someone else nearby. However, the boy could only make out the typical lavender shirt and long black trousers. As Shalnark preferred to have his peace and quiet, he turned around and looked for a seat in the opposite direction. However, the blond could hear a soft panting beneath the street noise and the blowing wind. It sounded harsh. Broken and interrupted by coughing. “Doesn't sound like the person is doing well...” Shalnark was unsure. Ignoring the noises sounded easy, but it didn't really feel right either.
After a moment's hesitation, he decided to ignore it after all. “ After all, the person heard the door, so they could have said something if it was that bad...” while Shalnark was justifying himself , he heard something again. It was just a soft “Shit...” but it was as if he recognized the voice. He couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from, but he had heard it before. That deep voice. The pause in his speech. The slightly raspy clearing of the throat.

Shalnark now stood there as if he were glued to the ground. The soft breathing on the back of his neck and the wind whipping at his face from the front. Did he really want to turn around and see who was there? After all, the voice sounded so familiar. The boy was torn. “A quick look from afar... can't hurt...", he thought and finally decided to at least take a quick look at the person. And as it turned out, that was probably a very good idea.
As Shalnark quietly took a few steps to the side to see more of the person, he was shocked. Something in him knew who was standing behind him beforehand, but it was probably himself who didn't want that thought to be true. Although there were many different students at his school, he could tell this dark skin color from thousands by now. He had seen him so many times now. And for some reason, he seemed to see him much more often now.

“U-Uvo?” Shalnark's voice was shaky. One hand leaned on the outer wall of the stairwell, the other clutched his shirt. And all he saw was the student in front of him flinch. He didn't get a verbal response, but it wasn't necessary, because Uvogin slowly turned his head in his direction. The sight was anything but pretty and the large green eyes that had shone so brightly a few days ago widened.

Chapter Text

Shalnark's head, which was normally filled with thoughts, was suddenly completely empty. It was probably the sight that caused everything inside him to freeze. It was summer, and yet his hands were cold and he began to shiver slightly. But Uvogin, who was leaning against a wall just a few meters away from him, was in the same situation. It was as if his vision was gray, and all he could see was the red color of blood spread across the floor and Uvogin's face. Uvogin's brown eyes, which usually seemed so warm, were suddenly pale.
Shalnark could hear the blood dripping from his nose into his hand, which lay just below Uvogin's bruised face. The gasp as he inhaled deeply into his chest. He could see his torn shirt, now covered in blood stains, stretching around his chest. The trembling in his legs and hands. The sight made Shalnark feel more than sick.
After a few more silent moments, Shalnark's legs gave in and he almost fell forward, but as he was about to kneel down in front of the other student, it was barely noticeable. “What- uh...” Shalnark barely got a word past his lips as Uvogin still looked at him in shock. “You shouldn't be here-” Uvogin was interrupted by Shalnark, who was now searching in his backpack in panic, “Wait!" After clearing his throat a few times, the student saw Shalnark take some tissues out of his backpack and hold them under his nose. With a little tug, he was also pushed forward a little, so that his head was now tilted much further forward. And suddenly it became cool on the back of his neck. When Shalnark listened more closely, he could almost hear a rough squeak. He seemed to have fully come out of his state of shock. And Uvogin, who had been thrown back to reality by the coldness on his neck, didn't make the whole situation any better.

“What are you doing?” and there he was again. Shalnark had almost missed the 'old' Uvogin a little. But this time he sounded a little more overwhelmed than usual. One could wonder why. And just as Uvogin was now himself again, Shalnark naturally became so too. It was like a chain reaction. “What does it look like? I'm going to help you?!” While Uvogin tried to somehow push Shalnark's hand away from his nose, he grumbled a little to himself. “You shouldn't be here ... Not here at all.” He did manage to push Shalnark's hand away from him a little, but after that statement, the blond almost slapped it back. Deservedly so.
“Do you even listen to what you're saying?” With a gasp, Uvogin slapped the small hand away and turned his head away. “I know my ass is sometimes jealous of what comes out of my mouth! But now get outta here!” but Shalnark just looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Don't look at me like that now, will you? You grab your shit and go away and just forget what you saw here!”. “But you're bleeding like a fucking waterfall!” The boy tried to grab his opponent's arm in protest, but when he reached for it, Uvogin flinched violently. Of course, the boy immediately let go when he realized this. Surprised by the reaction, he took a closer look at Uvogin's arm and could see why he was visibly trying to hide his pain. “You have... Burns?”
Uvogin remained silent and bit his lip. After a brief moment of silence, the student let out a sigh and looked at Shalnark uncomfortably. “Listen to me...this is an issue that is none of your business and you should stay out of it...It looks worse than it actually is...” “Worse than it actually is? You have burns on your arm...” and just as Shalnark was about to reach for Uvogin's shoulder, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it to his face. He was close, far too close. But Uvogin didn't seem to care, instead he looked at him with his eyebrows drawn together and the corners of his mouth tucked up to his chin. “I'll only say it one more time... You should stay the hell away out of here...”
Shalnark could feel the smell of blood and sweat in his nose. In addition, there was the warm breath that Uvogin blew into his face. The atmosphere between the two was anything but pleasant. And so, after a brief hesitation, Shalnark stood up and looked down at the student in annoyance. He waited for him to finally leave, but instead a bottle of water was held in front of his face. “Huh!?” Shalnark continued to look at him without comment. After Uvogin had finally understood what the boy expected of him, he reached for the bottle of water and turned away with a snort.
“Do you really have such problems with your ego or are you just an idiot?” Shalnark couldn't help but ask this rather rhetorical question, probably hitting Uvogin's weak nerve. “”You want a bloody nose as well?”
And so the giant stood up and dragged himself forward on his legs, which were still trembling. Although he stood crouched and bent over in front of Shalnark, he was still considerably taller than the blond. Shalnark flinched, and after a while he felt frightened again when Uvogin stood in front of him. But his stubbornness also seemed to be back, because despite the great respect he had for the student's strength, he stayed in his place. And although he remembered that Franklin had told him that Uvogin would very well crush him if he made a fool of him again, he had this convincing feeling inside him. Like he was sure Uvogin wouldn't allow himself to punch him in the face. So he stood in front of him with a straight back and an annoyed expression on his face. And indeed, he was right. Uvogin stopped in front of Shalnark and only let out a short snort. He felt like he was standing in front of an angry bull whose leash was just short enough to keep him from touching him. “Why won't you let me help you?” Shalnark's expression suddenly showed a hint of concern and empathy, while Uvogin continued to stare at him with furrowed brows.

Shalnark still felt sick from the sight he had seen earlier, which is why he left school earlier than usual. He couldn't really concentrate on the class, all he had in his mind were the images of the blood. Shalnark shuddered at the thought. How can these guys just bash their heads?.... “ He walked down the stairs to the entrance of the school building, it was quiet, everyone else was in class. Only two other students were sitting on the benches that were set up in the corridor. When the blond arrived downstairs, all he saw was the usual garbage consisting of dirty paper, empty packaging and leftover food. The school was usually very scruffy this late in the afternoon.
With a yawn, Shalnark stretches and leaves the building: “It's just not my thing...”. At this point he just wanted to go home, lay in his comfy bed and ignore any responsibilities. It just wasn't his best day, not enough sleep, his biology exam and the rooftop situation. Shalnark looked at his cell phone to check the time. It was now 4:44 pm. “I'd better walk through the park...” it wasn't much of a shortcut to the stop, but at least the area was nicer and so the blond had hopes of distracting himself a little. And just as he took his headphones out of his jacket and walked around the corner of the school wall, several eyes were staring at him.

Just a few meters away from him stood five students, all a class ahead of Shalnark. He had only seen four of them from time to time, but the fifth seemed much more familiar. However, Shalnark had the feeling that he was running into Uvogin a lot more often since the library incident.
Just as Uvogin, who had his back to the wall and the other student's hand on his neck, Shalnark looked at him with wide eyes. Only without being threatened by four other boys, at least not yet. “I think this is a bad timing...” he muttered quietly until one of the older students stepped closer to him. “Hey...” He didn't look enthusiastic, and Shalnark probably had a talent for ruining other people's moods very quickly.
The boy tried to dodge, but his opponent was much faster than he was and grabbed him by the arm. Shalnark quickly realized that it was impossible to get away from him, as he had much more strength than he did, although he also looked quite beaten up. “Was that all Uvogin?” That he even had the composure to think about such a thing.

Shalnark had never really been involved in fights, but he had found that he made much better progress by staying calm than by immediately panicking. The sight of Uvogin, who by now had taken a lot of hits, made his stomach ache. He didn't quite know whether it was concern for the giant or the hopelessness that Uvogin couldn't do anything either. Shalnark had no choice but to swallow the obligatory lump in his throat.

“Hey kid... Why are you interfering here, huh?” the student in front of him raised his eyebrows and looked down at Shalnark. He wasn't even much taller than the boy... “I guess they all have serious ego problems...” he commented mentally. On the one hand, he had respect for guys like that because they were extremely mental, but on the other hand, they were just idiots in his eyes.
“How was I supposed to know you were here now...” Shalnark couldn't quite finish his sentence when he suddenly had his opponent's hand on his cheek. A loud clap and the boy was silent. Justification didn't seem to help either. The pain was still clearly written on his face after the slap. He just looked down at the ground in shock and bit his lip. The student in front of him seemed to be about to grab him by the collar, but he stopped short because of the noise behind him. Shalnark couldn't tell exactly what had just happened, but it had to be something that caused the guy in front of him to stop. When he dared to look, he saw how Uvogin had apparently freed himself from his grip and had now pushed the student next to him to the ground. He only let out loud gasps and groans.
“ Leave him out of this! He has nothing to do with it...” Uvogin was still breathing heavily and grabbed the right side of his hip. The student in front of Shalnark turned slowly and gave Uvogin an emotionless look as his grip on Shalnark's arm tightened. Until he finally pulled him next to him. The blond almost stumbled over his own feet, but just managed to keep himself upright. His gaze was far too focused on Uvogin, and he could have sworn he suddenly looked even angrier than he already was. “Was he the one who helped you on the roof?” Shalnark winced. It was obvious that Uvogin looked so messed up because of a fight, but standing next to the guys who had done this to him was something else.
Uvogin snorted and spat a little blood on the ground, “I already told you he had nothing to do with this!” The student next to Shalnark looked down at him and after a moment asked, “Is that true?” The boy quickly looked to Uvogin and then back to the other student and answered him simply. “I wouldn't call him a friend...” Uvogin snorted softly when he heard the boy's answer.

The guy still grabbing Shalnark's wrist remained quiet for a moment. “And even if…” he quickly looked at Uvogin and suddenly had a disgusting grin on his face, “you seem to be far too interested in the kid…that’s enough for me.” Shalnark looked up at him angrily and cursed mentally, “KID?! THAT GUY IS JUST THREE CENTIMETERS LARGER THAN ME!” Uvogin, on the other hand, growled and decided to take the first step forward. "You're the same idiot you were back then~" the student almost sang, pushing Shalnark against the wall next to him, his eyes still on the taller student.
"You're alone against the four of us-", he corrected himself after seeing one of his friends on the ground, "the three of us...And the kid won't be able to help you either." "I don't need anyone to beat you bastards..." Uvogin clenched his hand into a fist and let his head hang a little to the side. Shalnark, who had now been released, watched the two in silence. "Running away probably doesn't help now-" Shalnark's thought was interrupted when he saw one of the student's friends approaching Uvogin from behind, who, unaware of this, was still focused on the student in front of him.
"UVO BEHIND YOU!", Shalnark was able to draw Uvogin's attention to the student behind him before he even landed his blow on him. The older student backed away and punched him back in return. So there were only two left, but to Uvogin's surprise, the student who was just with Shalnark was now standing in front of him. And of course that wouldn't be enough, because he apparently had a pocket knife hidden in his jacket and was now pulling it against him. Uvogin was shocked and only saw the knife coming towards him.

Shalnark twitched when he saw the blood. Uvogin managed to move past the student, but his entire body shook from the pain that suddenly coursed through him. His opponent grinned at him and seemed to be looking at his hand. When he looked down, his right hand was covered in blood. "Motherfucker..." he quickly uses his left hand to press against the flesh wound between his thumb and index finger. It stopped the blood for a short time, which was better than nothing. Uvogin looked behind him a little. Shalnark still stood in shock against the wall and didn't seem to really move away. But he could also see one of the city clocks, which was placed a few meters away from him. “4:56 p.m...”
“I told you. It's no use fighting back!” Uvogin bit his lip. The pain was still running through him like adrenaline and the blood was pounding against his hand. He took a deep breath. Shalnark, meanwhile, looked at him seriously. “The way he just looked at the clock... he didn't mean to-” but at exactly that moment Uvogin suddenly turned around and started running in Shalnark's direction. “REALLY!?” Shalnark screamed briefly until the student grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him along. “HEY?!”, and so the other two students started running after the two, but she didn’t seem to be quite on the same level as Uvogin and Shalnark. “Take the shortcut through the park!”

“YOU ARE NOT SERIOUSLY GOING TO TRY TO GET THE TRAIN IN FIVE MINUTES?!” Shalnark almost screamed as he tried to cope with the pressure on his arm. "BETTER MOVE YOUR THIN LEGS AND TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING HERE NOW!" both students ran in the opposite direction of the park. “OH I’M SORRY, MY BAD! I SHOULD HAVE KNEW YOU WERE FIGHTING WITH SOME OTHER IDOT RIGHT NOW!”, even someone who was bad with sarcasm could hear it in Shalnark’s tone. “SHUT UP YOUR HUGE MOUTH! “WHO OF THE TWO OF US IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO FIGHT OTHERS TO COMPENSATE FOR HIS EGO COMPLEX?”. And so they started arguing on the way.
But they didn't really have much time to talk anymore. At least for now. They had to get to the train station in the city within a few minutes and without being surrounded by the other two students. Both were aware of what would happen to them if they got caught now. So both of them ran through the streets at considerable speed and of course got strange looks here and there. “We’re almost there, boy!” Uvogin probably shouldn’t have said it too loudly. Although they only had a few meters to go, one of the students who had been chasing them came to them from the left side alley. Shalnark could feel the cold shiver running down his spine.

Because of the narrow streets, Uvogin had no choice but to stand still for the first time, but he still held the smaller student's thin wrist in his hand. And so Shalnark could feel Uvogin's grip tightening. Whether it was on purpose or not. “As far as I’m concerned, you can let the little kid go, but there’s no way you’ll get out of here,” Uvogin was shocked when he heard the slightly panting voice behind him. They have now been caught up. "Don't say such bullshit...you wouldn't let someone go like that..." Although the student was aware of the situation he was in, he didn't dare look at the student behind him. "Well... now we would leave him alone... it's just a question of how long~" Uvogin bit his lip out of desperation.
After a brief moment of silence, he slowly released Shalnark's wrist, his gaze tilted to the floor. But it wasn't long before Shalnark reached for his hand again. At that moment the pain shot through his body. The boy had intentionally reached around his cut. However, not to annoy or tease him, but to point out the seriousness of his own safety. And so the student saw the big green eyes in front of him.
Shalnark nodded at Uvogin. And at that moment he could hear the announcement from the train station's loudspeakers from far away. “He seriously wants to...” The student took a short breath. “And what now? Do you want to let your little friend go now, or should we beat him up now?" the voice behind him sounded again. It wasn't far to the train station, just a few meters and they would be on the platform, which was full of people. If you listened closely, you could even hear the train approaching. “Son of a bitch” and so Uvogin punched the student in front of him in the stomach with his fist. It wasn't a quick blow, but it was surprising enough to leave no chance for a quick reaction. He also had enough strength to gain a small but crucial time advantage for himself and Shalnark. Because of the blow, the student crashed into the wall of the house to his right and reflexively held his arms in front of his stomach. Uvogin and Shalnark use the moment to quickly find their way onto the train, which had already arrived and was standing on the platform with the doors still open.

It was a short moment, but both of them just managed to get onto the train, although you could describe it more as falling. The student behind them tried to follow them, but halfway there he seemed to realize his failure. While Shalnark clung to one of the many poles, panting, Uvogin leaned against the glass wall next to the train doors. When Shalnark looked up, he could see the visibly exhausted and pained expression on his face. Also a slightly older lady who was sitting next to Shalnark. “My dear, are you alright? Do you want to sit down?” she seemed to be about to get up from her seat. There were also concerned looks from passengers, but Uvogin quickly shook his head. “It’s okay ma’m… It’s okay!”, and so the lady sat down again after a moment’s hesitation.
Shalnark took a step forward toward Uvogin. "The hospital is right on the route, so we can-" "No!" the boy was interrupted by the bigger student. “No...he'll know we're going there. He's not stupid... okay maybe a little, but we can't go there. Even if we're safe in the building... he'd be waiting for us outside...” Uvogin got quiet as he stared at the floor. You could still see the look of pain on his face. He definitely had to see a doctor, that much was clear to the blonde-haired boy. However, there was another option besides the hospital. “If you don’t want to go to the hospital, we’ll just go somewhere else!” The taller student looked at him in confusion.

Uvogin exhaled loudly as he walked out the door and Shalnark followed him quietly. It was already evening. They had taken a lot longer in the doctor's office than the blondie had thought. “That was your mom, right?” Uvogin looked at Shalnark from the side with his head slightly raised. Shalnark just nodded, he was too tired to give him a detailed answer. Hoping to somehow keep his eyes open, Shalnark looked desperately into the streetlight. “Tell me, aren’t you a bit tired?” Uvogin even had to laugh when he saw Shalnark’s all too familiar raisin face. "Nope" "Eh??" "But you should head home..." but at Uvogin's answer, Shalnark continued to stand where he was, as if he was waiting for something. After a moment, the taller student turned around and looked at him confused. “Are you...waiting for something? I said you should head home-" "I'm not deaf!" Shalnark sighed, "You don't really want to walk through the city center alone like that? Especially not when these idiots are still somewhere…”
Uvogin grumbled. Shalnark was right, what a surprise, but he couldn't just come home with him like that. Or could he? “You don’t want to take me home with you now, do you?” , Uvogin fell silent when he saw Shalnark's impatient expression, "Uh..." “Now come on! I'm not locking you up anywhere..." And so the boy suddenly turned around and started walking towards the beach, "There's no one at home, so it’s okay...". After a short hesitation in which Uvogin looked behind the boy, overwhelmed, he set off and began to follow him.

Chapter Text

And so both students walked next to each other on the side of the road. It was now the time when at a certain point it would get very dark very quickly, so Shalnark tried to hurry. Although he probably doesn't have to worry about his companion this time. And so Shalnark had to think about the situation at the theme park. At first the memory of the hands on his body came back to him. A brief shiver ran down his spine. But as quickly as the memories came, they disappeared again because they were replaced. Replaced by the feeling of the giant hand on Shalnark's chest that he remembered. It made the boy feel a warmth spread through his chest. Coupled with a comfortable feeling of security.
But it also confused Shalnark. He barely knew Uvogin. He wasn't one of the people he would volunteer to meet either. He was too loud for him. Too harsh. Too wild. At least that's how he seemed to be from the outside. A certain curiosity spread through the boy. What would be behind the loud and animalistic facade? Something in Shalnark wanted to know. He now had at least a little chance to have a closer conversation with Uvogin, after all he was leading him to his home. Shalnark normally didn't like having guests in the house, especially ones he barely knew. However, it was an exception, the boy justified himself. After all, Uvogin was injured and he didn't want to leave him anywhere in the city.

“Say boy...-,” Shalnark started. He was completely caught up in his thoughts again, nothing new by now. After a moment he looked to his left. Uvogin walked on the sidewalk with his arms folded behind his head and his gaze forward. “Y-yes?” Shalnark noticed how dry his throat was after all those hours. “What’s your name again?” When the boy looked closer, he could see how Uvogin’s cheeks were actually starting to get some color. “Shalnark. But...Shal is easier...", "Shalnark..." the student fell silent for a moment, "Say Shal, you like shortening names, don't you?". The blonde-haired boy flinched. He had a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the back of his neck, as if he knew exactly what the other person wanted to say with that. To avoid unnecessary eye contact, he spontaneously decided to focus on the road in front of him. But even that doesn't help to ignore Uvogin's cold stare at his side. Oh Lord...
"It was faster...okay?" Uvogin looked at him confused. "THERE ONLY TWO LETTERS MORE?!" "I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU DIDN'T LIKE THAT NICKNAME?!" The tall student stopped and looked at his little friend with raised eyebrows. "I never said I didn't like being called that... I was just wondering why you called me that-" it was clear he was trying to catch the blonde tease. This worked surprisingly well, as Shalnark now looks at him with a tomato red face. "Fuck off..." he hissed out of his mouth.

The two of them were now standing in front of Shalnark's front door. While the boy fished his keys out of the depths of his school bag, Uvogin stayed behind. The situation seemed quite unpleasant to him, which the blonde boy noticed straight away. Otherwise, the giant always gave his two cents to everything and now he stays there in the stairwell as if he got ordered and not picked up. After a moment of just looking at him in confusion, Shalnark sighed. “If it wasn’t okay, I wouldn’t have offered it to you… Since when have you been so shy??” Uvogin scratches his head. “Don’t you think it’s weird?? We barely know each other and now you want me to sleep at your place?” Shalnark thinks for a moment, but then just turns away with a huff. Before he unlocks the door, however, he turns around again. "Oh! Are you afraid of big dogs?” Uvogin looked at him perplexed. “Uhhhh... it depends-” And so the blonde boy unlocked the front door. “He’s a bit stormy and playful, but he’s actually a nice dog”
So both students went inside. They stood in a larger hallway, decorated with modern furniture and lots of plants. Uvogin almost let out a “Woah-” from his mouth. Unlike the small rental apartment his parents owned, this one was like a large villa. Shalnark frantically took off his shoes and led the way. “Feel free to take off your shoes. The bathroom is back there if you need to go to the toilet!” the boy pointed to a white door with black trim, to which the student just nodded. But before he could even take off his shoes, someone greeted him. A big, fluffy Bernese Mountain Dog who looked at Uvogin somewhat strangely but happily. “This is Wbereguin…” As quickly as the dog appeared, he also quickly stood in front of Uvogin’s legs and sniffed cautiously. The student looked down at him, somewhat overwhelmed. After a brief eye contact between the two, Wbereguin jumped up and leaned his front paws on Uvogin's legs. “Uhm-” “Wbereguin! STOP!" And so he was on all fours again and wandered relaxed back into Shalnark's room. The boy sighed. “I’m sorry…” “It’s okay-” Shalnark turned towards the room and only saw his dogs face looking out the door. “You are not allowed to jump on new guests! Be careful...he's hurt...” And there they were. The big puppy eyes and a quiet cry. “Don’t look at me like that now!” Shalnark sighed, but Uvogin actually had to giggle a little inside. “He’s really cute…” “Kinda…”

When Uvogin came out of the bathroom after freshening up a little, he saw the blonde disappear into his room with a blanket. He hastily followed him and took a look into the room. It was the normal size of a bedroom, but the furnishings were anything but “normal”. In addition to Shalnark's furniture, the room was filled with all sorts of posters, figurines, and other merchandise. Yes, Shalnark was indeed a weeb. “Woah… I didn’t think you were THAT much of a nerd-” The boy twitched and looked at his opponent. “Huh?!”. He just looked at him quite impressed. “But tell me… We have almost 12pm. Does your mom really work that long?” Shalnark looked down, somewhat depressed. “My parents are separated and my mother moved out at the time. My father is currently away on business again…”
The older student swallowed the lump in his throat. At least that's what he tried. He was visibly uncomfortable about having touched such a nerve with the boy. After all, it wasn't his intention to annoy him or even tease him. “I’m sorry…” “It’s okay. I'm used to being here alone. Plus, my grandma lives below us, so it’s not that bad…” “Oh…” Shalnark suddenly looked at Uvogin more seriously, who immediately gave him wide-open eyes in response. “What have I done again?” Shalnark sighed loudly. “You didn’t do anything! I just wanted to ask you if you happened to have your PE clothes with you!” Uvogin waited a moment, his expression full of suspicion. “Yes……” “Aren’t they covered in blood by any chance?” Uvogin remained silent, whereupon the boy sighed again and walked past him to get to his closet. He just whispered something like: "I don't know what I can stand less about you... your arrogance or being so extremely awkward..." "HEY!" Uvogin crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m happy to go again!” "No, you can't! Now shut up and try this on!".
And so the giant suddenly had a white T-shirt in his face. When he slowly pulled it out of his face and looked at it more closely, he saw the design of a black spider on the back with the number 11 on its back. It looked really cute, but should he, as a man over two meters tall, really try to fit into this T-shirt. “Uh… with all respect and shit, boy- but do you seriously think that I fit into this shirt?”, Uvogin looked at the boy very enthusiastically. So enthusiastically that even Wbereguin, who had now laid down on Shalnark's bed, started to whimper a little. However, Shalnark just looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Put it on already…” The giant sighed. So he leaned forward and held the t-shirt in front of his chest. “Shal, do I need to explain to you what happens when someone my size wears a way too small-” he stopped when he saw him Boy pointed out the size of the T-shirt with his eyes. And fact. As Uvogin looked closer, he realized that this top wasn't as small as he had thought, so it might actually fit him.

“Why do you wear bedsheets in your free time?” “It’s none of your business…AND NOW PUT THAT SHIRT ON!” And suddenly Shalnark pulled the door of his closet in front of him to change his clothes too. “You should put on your sports pants straight away. I probably won’t find pants your size…” The older student doesn’t seem to really pay attention to what the boy is saying. Rather, he looks at the T-shirt that is in his hand. Even though they hadn't known each other well or for a long time, the student had a warm feeling within him. And although the blonde boy was often very annoyed towards him, which was of course mutual, he still felt a hint of caring from him. The student also slowly opened his shirt so he could finally change his clothes. "The fact that he even lets me into his home... It's not like he doesn't know that I have far more strength than him... Isn't he afraid at all?" he asked himself internally as he did so, putting his hand on his hip. But before he had the shirt on, the little boy pulled the closet door away again. “And does it fit?” And so the two found themselves face to face in a very unpleasant situation, whereupon the little one immediately turned around again: “I-I- WELL- UHMm...” Because of his embarrassment, Uvogin quickly put his shirt on.
And after a short moment of very uncomfortable silence, only a quiet “Fits” fills the room. Shalnark dared to look again. This time, however, much more carefully. And indeed, it fit. It was a little tight, but it was better than sleeping in a t-shirt covered in blood.

By now Shalnark was lying in his bed with his arms folded behind his head. Uvogin instead leaned on his hands, which were a little further behind him on the mattress, which was right next to Shalnark's bed. The two shared the room for the night.
“I would really like to offer you my father's bed, but he always locks the room before he leaves and I don't have a key. And I didn't want to force you onto the thin couch either..." "The fact that you're even apologizing... I find it amazing that you let me in at all..." The blonde boy pushed himself off the mattress and looked down at the student next to him in surprise. "What do you mean by that? Why shouldn't I? You're exhausted! Letting you walk through the streets alone like that would only make me feel guilty!” Uvogin looked up at the boy. A mixed feeling of wonder and gratitude spread through him. “Aren’t you afraid? Don't get me wrong, you're certainly not weak. But-” “But you are by far stronger! I know…” the boy interrupted him and sighed. “To be honest with you... I probably wouldn't have offered it to you in the first place if that thing hadn't happened at the theme park...” The older student remembered. Remembers how he held the blonde. How he felt his shaking body in front of him. “I know for a fact that you have far too much strength for me to do anything. And you may also be an idiot with a lot of temper. But still, I wouldn't accuse you of doing something so disgusting...” The boy lay back on his pillow and closed his eyes. Uvogin, meanwhile, looked at him in surprise. He was speechless. He didn't know what to say to that. Was there anything that could be said in response? Instead, he looked back down at his blanket. “Now lay down. You'd better get some rest... so goodnight!" Shalnark turned on his side and no longer seemed interested in the conversation. After a moment, the giant also lay down on his pillow and exhaled deeply. “He can’t just say something like that and then expect me to get an eyeful of sleep that night…” he sighs, “…at least it’s soft…”

In the morning, Shalnark was woken up by the annoying sound of his alarm clock. Maybe it was time to use a new ringtone, he thought as he yawned and turned off his alarm clock and then stretched. But reality quickly caught up with him and he saw his two-meter friend lying on the floor next to him. “Oh yes... he was here too...” he mumbled quietly to himself, whereupon Uvogin just looked at him annoyed. “Did I snore? If you were already awake, you could have gotten up already... you don't have to stay here-" "Shalnark." “Uh yeah?” The boy couldn't tell exactly what expression the other guy was making. It was a mixture of fear and regret, or so he thought. “Did you see a ghost?” “There is someone in the house-” Uvogin’s look became more serious and worried. Shark's only response was a facepalm. “I told you, my grandma lives with me…” “That’s definitely not your grandma-” “HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?! Besides, she's probably already seen you. At least Wbereguin is no longer in the room... that means the door was open at least once...” While Shalnark is still trying to crawl out of his bed, his body seems to be quite awake, but not his head. After all, he forgot for a moment that there was no space on the floor next to him, but a mattress. He then feels this very quickly when he suddenly lays with his face on the floor. “SHAL!” Uvogin was apparently too sleepy, or too tired, depending on whether he even got a wink of sleep, to warn him in time. However, he quickly tried to lean forward to catch it. Not in time though. "Are you okay?" All the older student received in response to his question was a sigh and a shaky thumbs up.
And suddenly you hear someone running to his room. When the door opened, the boy started straight away: “I'm fine! I just fell out of bed. Everything's fine, grandma-" but when he looked up, he didn't see his grandma, as he expected, but a grown older man. Shalnark leans on his hands. "Dad?!" “Shalnark...” his father looked a little worried, but he noticed that Uvogin was also in the room. The student felt a lump forming in his throat and an uncomfortable feeling rising up his spine. The father quickly turned back to his son. “Are you really okay?” “Uh- Yeah! But...I thought you were still gone. How come you’re back home?” “I’ll explain that to you…” he looked briefly at Uvogin, “when we’re alone.” “Y-Yes…”. And so the older man disappeared from the room again and closed the door.
Uvogin looked uncomfortable at his blanket, which had now become tangled in Shalnark's feet. “I told you, it’s not your grandma…” The blonde thinks for a moment. “Actually, he shouldn’t be home yet…” “He didn’t seem that thrilled anyway…” Uvogin muttered grumpily to himself, whereupon Shalnark looked at him annoyed. “And I thought I was not a morning person…”
And so they both stared at each other annoyed again, as if they wanted to start a contest to see who had to blink the first. Spoiler, it was Shalnark who blinked first. With a sigh, the boy stands up and rubs his thin knees.

“You wanna go already?” Shalnark looked a little worried at the older student, in his school uniform stained with dried blood. However, he just nodded and was about to turn away. “Don’t you want to at least have something to drink? You just got up-” Uvogin looked at him again before setting off. “It’s okay! Thanks again boy!”, he thanks Shalnark again as he goes down the stairs. The boy stands speechless at the door. He was a bit overwhelmed. Was it a good idea to just let him go? Wbereguin stood next to his owner and looked at him with wide eyes, as if he was waiting for him to be petted. Finally the boy closed the door again and quickly ran into his room to watch Uvogin. However, all he saw was the student's large, broad back. And then he had disappeared behind the street lights and walls. Shalnark collapsed onto his bed.
“Is he a friend of yours?” a brighter voice came from behind the boy. An old lady with gray hair tied in a loose braid stands in his doorway. “It's... complicated...” the boy answers her as he continues to stare out the window. “But you seem to trust him, otherwise you wouldn’t have let him in.” After a moment, Shalnark nods. “Maybe…” he sighs, “He’s an idiot!” The older woman started giggling, “You sound like your mother!” "GRANDMA!! Do you think I have a crush? ON HIM??" Shalnark's grandmother just continues to giggle to herself. "Well, you don't normally have big and strong young men in your circle of friends. He does stand out a lot! ", Shalnark's face turned red at the statement. He didn't really know how to react. What his grandma said was true. Uvogin actually stood out from the group of people the boy was hanging out with. And It was also true that Shalnark had to admit that Uvogin's physical appearance was very attractive in his eyes. But a crush? On an arrogant idiot who had far too much temper? Shalnark remembered the night. At least he had seen a Uvogin there, who was the complete opposite of what he had otherwise seen of him. “...that you let me in at all...", he reflected internally. Maybe Uvogin doesn't think as much of himself as people always assume of him, or so the boy thought.

Chapter Text

“He said what?” Chrollo looked at his blonde-haired friend in shock and irritation. Shalnark just nods in annoyance and rests his head on his two arms, which are resting on his desk. The two of them were sitting in the classroom of their previous lesson during the break. It wasn't quite as warm as usual that day. Judging by the weather forecast, there would probably be a thunderstorm in the afternoon.
“First he's not at home for weeks or months, as usual, without telling me anything beforehand, and then he's annoying the crap out of me with his comments!” Chrollo sighs. “How long will he be home now?” “Hopefully not long...” grumbles the blonde. “Let's hope so...” Then the two boys are suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice. “Shal!” Feitan came running to the two of them. “Feitan! And how was the exam?” “Okay. Shal, I have to give you something...” the blond boy raised his head and saw that his smaller friend was holding a book in front of his face. “What's that?” “Are you blind?” “I KNOW IT'S A BOOK! But what kind? From whom? How come?” Feitan hissed. “Open your fucking eyes...” With an annoyed expression, Shalnark took the book and inspected it more closely. He winced slightly as he realized what he was holding. It wasn't just any book. It was the biology book he had originally wanted to borrow from the library, but a certain someone had snatched it from him. “ Fatty told me to give it to you...” Chrollo sighed at Feitan's nickname. “You two really like your weird nicknames, huh?” The boy only reaped two puzzled faces in response. “Just forget it...”
“AH- That reminds me, I wanted to go to this one store in town again today!” Do you want to come with me?”, Shal asked. “'This one store'... explain.” Feitan looked at the boy with raised eyebrows. “It's a clothes store. I went there once with my mom...” “I don't have any plans yet, so I'd love to come with you!”. Chrollo now looked curiously at Feitan. After a moment's thought, he nods too, although it looks more like he wants to do his friends a favor. “You don't have to...” “I know. There's nothing today anyway... It's fine.” Chrollo looks at the two of them cheerfully. “We'll go shopping later then!”

While the three boys were out and about, a few rays of sunlight still managed to find their way through the clouds. However, most of the sky was already covered in darker clouds. But despite the little sun, it was still too warm to wear the jackets. “I hope it doesn't start storming soon...” Shalnark looked a little stressed as he stared up at the sky. “If we need to, we'll find shelter somewhere... It'll be fine.” “Where's store, Shal?” Feitan looked questioningly at the blond, who then looked around. “Uh... It should be around here somewhere...” “You don't even know where the store was?” Chrollo looked at him hopelessly. “I can remember it pretty clearly! I was only there once though...”
After a few minutes, they were finally standing in front of the store. “I told you, it was around here somewhere!“ Shalnark almost jumped with excitement, while the other two boys stood behind him, sighing.

“Do you have anything in particular you want to buy?” Chrollo asked his blond friend as they walked into the house. With a nod, he also answered his question. “I told you I've been here before with my mother. She really liked a shirt back then and I was thinking of buying it for her birthday...”, "How sweet." The students went specifically to the women's section and looked around for pretty shirts. Although Shalnark did and the other two stood awkwardly by. “Don't you want to look for clothes yourself? I think they have some really cool stuff here...” the taller, black-haired student suggested as he looked around a bit. “To be honest, I wasn't planning on buying anything myself.... AH! There it is!” Delighted, Shalnark took the shirt off the rack and proudly showed it to the others. “Here!” While only an “Ohhh...” comes out of Chrollo's mouth, Feitan suddenly comes out from behind other racks of clothes. “Oh Feitan, where have you been?” Shalnark looked at him in surprise. “I didn't even realize you were gone...” the taller black-haired student scratched the back of his head. Suddenly, the smaller boy held two things out to his blond friend. “Try these on!” Shalnark looked at him, a little puzzled. “Uh...” “Oh, are those jeans shorts? “ Chrollo looked much more interested than his friend. “Come on ... It's even with an oversized shirt...” Shalnark sighs and presses the shirt for his mom into Chrollo's hand. “Alright... if you say so...”
So the three of them go into the store's changing rooms. Feitan proudly gives the boy his clothes and then pushes him into the changing room. Meanwhile, Chrollo stands a few meters away from the mirrors and watches the action from a distance. As he looks into the store, fascinated, he realizes that once again they were not alone. While it had already started to rain outside, a few people had come inside to seek shelter for a while. Among these people was the group of four that he knew so well from the high school class. “This can only get interesting,” sighed the boy.
Apparently Franklin had noticed him too and looked at him a little surprised. “Hey, isn't that the blond guy's friend?” The other boys looked in Franklin's direction at the question. “OH! That's really him!” Phinks suddenly started waving, which Chrollo returned much more calmly. And so they walked over to the black-haired student. “Hey, what are you doing here all alone?” Chrollo shook his head. “The others are here too...” “Huh?” Nobunaga suddenly looked around in confusion. “I know Feitan is small, but I actually saw him earlier...” Uvogin looked at the others, almost disappointed. When Phinks spotted the little one, a wide grin spread across his face. “I take it Blondie's in the locker room?”. Chrollo nodded in response to Franklin's question. “Feitan wanted him to try something on...” “Oh?” Nobunaga looked at him curiously. Uvogin seemed less talkative at the moment, which was probably because he was far too absorbed in his thoughts and staring at the closed changing room.

Feitan seemed to have noticed the others in the meantime. However, he didn't appear to be really happy about it. “Shal, how long you need?” “ Let me be! The pants are a bit ... well...” “Well WHAT?” Feitan looked to the changing room in disbelief. “I think the pants are a bit ... too much...” Shalnark finally came out of the changing room. Feitan looked the boy up and down. The oversized shirt wasn't as oversized as he thought. It just looked very big when Feitan had it next to him. “And what about the pants?...” Shalnark hesitated for a moment, then turned and looked ashamedly into the mirror next to him: “They're perfect, aren't they?” Feitan looked at his friend questioningly: “PERFECT? IT'S CUT FAR TOO SHORT!”
Well. The pants were actually very short at the bottom. But Feitan didn't seem to think that was so problematic. However, he wasn't the one who had to wear them. “I can't wear these...” Shalnark looked over his shoulder to give Feitan a pitying look, but he realized that Feitan wasn't the only one who saw him in those pants. After all, he was the only one who hadn't noticed that his giant friend and his homies were also in the store. If he had known that, he probably wouldn't have come out in the first place.
The situation was now quite awkward. Shalnark, who was wearing very tight shorts and showing off the length to his friend, and Uvogin, who was standing a few meters away, looked at him, visibly embarrassed. After all, he hadn't expected to see Shalnark dressed like that. And suddenly Shalnark quickly disappeared behind the curtain of the changing room, while Uvogin turned away in shame. Nobunaga looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Did you like what you saw?” “”PLEASE?!” Uvogin looked at his friend, visibly outraged. “W-WHAT DO YOU THINK?” “Well,” the young man scratched his beard, ”shorts obviously suit him. And you didn't look like you thought it was terrible...” The giant blushed noticeably and tried to turn away from the intense stares of his friends. “DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE YOU WANT AN ANSWER!” “Yes... Yes, now I want an answer! When you keep talking like that...” Phinks looked at him unimpressed. But all the student got in reply was an embarrassed clearing of the throat.

Even after the students had waited in the store for a while, it was still raining like crazy. It even seemed to have gotten heavier. “It never stops, does it?” Nobunaga looked disappointed. Even Shalnark had dared to leave the changing room by now and was standing at the exit of the store with Chrollo. “You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella with you, would you?” the black-haired student looked hopelessly at his friend. He knew he didn't have one with him, but there was no harm in asking again. “The train will be here soon. We could walk to the stop quickly...” Chrollo doesn't seem very pleased at this suggestion. The blond looks around disappointed. Deep in his thoughts. Sometimes Chrollo wondered what was going on in his head. He knew his own thoughts, in which he often lost himself. But Shalnark looked like he was somewhere completely different than Chrollo was.
That was certainly true. The blond boy was often lost in thought. But not this time, for once. Quite the opposite. He was very focused on what was happening around him.
The boy's green eyes were watching the older student, who was almost standing in the rain. They observed how a few raindrops hit his dark skin. How his shirt tightened around his muscles as he leaned against the wall of the store. How unhappy he looked while he seemed to be making a phone call. What was he talking about while he looked so unhappy? And then he suddenly put his phone back in his pocket, breathed in the cool air and walked out into the rain. He walked past the two students, not missing the intense stares of the blond boy. But apparently he didn't have time to talk to them. Let alone show any interest in them.
“Him going out in the rain like this...” Shalnark muttered to himself. “Have you been watching him the whole time?” Shalnark looked at his black-haired friend, bored, and nodded slightly. “You know... Sometimes I wonder what goes through that guy's mind...”

Shalnark sat in his room. A soft towel wrapped around his thin and still wet hair while it rained cats and dogs outside. The boy was tired. He looked at the biology book, which was now a well-known insider among the boys. The blond boy leafed through the book a little. However, it was a real shame that he only got the book now, when he couldn't do anything with it anymore. Well, apart from the fact that he could catch up on forgotten school material. As he browsed through the book, the boy came across a small piece of paper. Surprised and curious, he looked to see what it was.
'I'm sorry I took the book away from you, but you know... first come, first served. I hope the book still helps you with something...'
Shalnark looked at the note in surprise. Had Uvogin written it? In any case, it would only make sense. Shalnark actually had to smile a little and rubbed his forehead, shaking his head. “That idiot...” When Shalnark looked at the note again, he also saw a number on it.
'If you get in trouble again, which I hope you don't, because of this guy in front of the school or something, call me'
The blonde remembered. Remembered the night before and sighed. “Did you get a love letter?” a deep male voice sounded behind Shalnark, whereupon the boy turned around angrily. “What? No!” He looked ungratefully at his father, who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “Is he really a friend of yours?” Shalnark remained silent. He had no intention of explaining himself, nor of entering into a discussion with his father. “Even if, you'd still have something to complain about...” the boy hissed quietly. “I would ask my son to use a different tone!” “He didn't do anything?” Shalnark began to shout, "What's your problem anyways? I brought him here because he was so badly injured and I didn't want to let him walk home alone!" His father sighed. "You don't understand that that's exactly the point..." "That I brought him here?!" "NO! That he was hurt so badly! As your father, I'm worried! I don't want you to hang around with people who are in any way a potential danger to you!“ Shalnark felt his blood boil, but he couldn't say anything more.
“Leave me alone...” he turned away from his father quietly but firmly. "Shalnark-" "LEAVE ME ALONE! I don't want to talk to you! Leave me alone and just go back to your business trips!" he hissed. His father could almost hear the tears in his trembling voice. He hesitated for a moment, but then decided to leave his son's privacy alone again. So he left Shalnark's room without saying a word.

It was cold and still raining. And as if that wasn't enough, it also got quite stormy. Uvogin sat huddled under the roof of a bus stop. In one hand his cell phone, in the other a half-smoked cigarette. He received a message from his mother. 'Come home now! You'll get sick! I'm worried...' The student just sighed and put his cell phone away, taking another drag on his cigarette. But he didn't seem to be able to calm down, until a very familiar face stood next to him. It was the student he and the blond boy had run away from two days earlier. Uvogin looked at the student suspiciously.
“What are you doing here?” the student greeted him, but the giant didn't seem willing to give him an answer. Instead, he looked more like he was about to slap him at any moment. "Hey! Hey! Wait a minute... I don't want to fight you..." Uvogin looked at him in surprise. “At least not this time...” The student sat down on the ground next to him and took his own cigarette out of his pocket. “I'm not stupid enough to start a fight with you alone... It's clear that you would win!” He tried to light his cigarette with the lighter, but it didn't seem to work very well, so he looked at Uvogin in anticipation. The student hesitated for a moment, but then took out his own lighter and held out the flame. ”Thank you!”
“I don't understand you at all... Hisoka...” Hisoka looked at the student in surprise. ‘Do you think I understand what's going on in your head?’ Uvogin growled. ‘You're damn weird... But tell me...’ The smaller student looked curiously, ”where did you disappear that night with your little friend?”
The giant opened his eyes wide. "You weren't at the hospital or at home..." Uvogin swallowed the lump in his throat, although it was very difficult for him. "He really tried to follow me..." His thoughts were full of panic. Hisoka seemed more dangerous and crazier than he had first thought. After a somewhat longer uncomfortable pause, Uvogin cleared his throat. “That's none of your business!” The smaller student just smiled at him: "Did you go to his home?" He snorted, "leave him out of this!" Hisoka realized that he must have touched a nerve. "Oh? I thought he wasn't your friend..." ”HE'S NOT!”
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Hisoka looked quite surprised; after all, he hadn't expected such a loud scream. Uvogin, on the other hand, was also taken aback by the fact that he didn't really seem to have emotional control over himself. Besides, it didn't feel right to say it like that. Hisoka sighed and leaned against the glass wall of the bus stop. “You're really bad at lying, did anyone ever tell you that?” "Shut up..." Hisoka had to laugh at the answer. When he turned back to Uvogin, he realized that he was way too serious. When he had calmed down again, he was just waiting for the student to finally say what was obviously on his lips. “Leave him out of our conflict... He has nothing to do with this whole mess...” Hisoka raised his eyebrows. "I'm serious! Please... do me this one favor..." "And what if I don't keep my word?" Hisoka only received a very stern and warning look from the man next to him. ”I see... I can't promise you anything, but I'll do my best ~” Uvogin snorted and stood up. ‘I hope the same... for your own sake...’ Without turning back to the student, he disappeared in the rain. "He wants to go home in this weather? What an Idiot..." Hisoka thought to himself.

Despite the heavy rain, the tall student didn't seem to be in a hurry, even though he had neither a waterproof jacket nor an umbrella. But he was already wet anyway, so it probably didn't make any difference. At least that's what he thought.
After minutes of seemingly aimless wandering, he began to tremble slightly. He came to a shelter, stopped, thought for a moment, and sat down on the ground. His head hit the wooden wall and the student let out only a sad sigh, followed by a grumble. “I'm so hungry...” he murmured softly. If one could even understand what he was saying at all, it was anything but clear. However, there was no one there who could have heard him. And a short time later, he seemed to have fallen asleep.

Chapter Text

It was cold. At least for Uvogin. And that was despite the fact that he was in the middle of a sports class, while outside the sun was hidden, but it was still very warm. But it's no wonder when you consider that the boy was standing outside in the pouring rain that night. Unsurprisingly, he is now ill.
He stumbled through the hall. Tired, freezing and weak. How could he play basketball like that? He didn't know himself. However, his friends noticed his physical condition. They had already noticed in the morning that he was anything but well. They had tried to convince him to go home, but without success.
“Hey Uvo! You better stop, you can hardly stand on your feet!” Franklin was now very worried and almost angry about Uvogin's arrogant answers. ‘It's okay...’ ‘UVO!’ Phinks also came to the two of them: ”Uvo, Franklin is right! We'll take you to the locker room and then you'll go home and recover!” The older student didn't seem to hear what the other person was trying to tell him. Instead, he just swayed on his feet. And suddenly, he was overcome by a very unpleasant feeling. A loud noise filled his ears and he could hardly hear what was happening around him. His vision also grew darker and more and more unclear. And at some point, he no longer knew what was happening.

At that moment, the blond boy and his two friends were in the other half of the hall as usual. They seemed to be doing stretching exercises to prepare for the volleyball games. Chrollo helped Shalnark stretch. “Is your father still there?” he asked cautiously. “Unfortunately... Yesterday he thought it would be a good idea to give me a lecture about how he's just worried...” Chrollo sighed sympathetically. “I'll keep my fingers crossed that he's gone soon...” Shalnark paused for a moment. “I don't even care that he's here...”
The boy pulled himself together and was now ready for the sports lesson. However, Feitan seemed to be a little too fast for him and threw the ball to him full of energy, although Feitan never looked like he was full of energy. Obviously surprised by the quick throw, Shalnark was unable to catch the ball. It was as if it slipped out of his thin hands. “Feitan! Give me a little warning!” Shalnark complained loudly as he walked to the other side of the hall to retrieve the ball.

The ball rolled. It rolled until it hit a leg lying on the ground. It was much too gentle to even be called a rebound. Shalnark sighed and rolled his eyes when he saw who the ball hit again. “I don't believe in fate, but I'm beginning to think this is on purpose!” he cursed calmly. Shalnark stopped. In front of him was the ball and the giant student. He was sitting on the ground, head bowed, breathing deeply. Phinks was standing next to him, but he seemed too distracted to even notice Shalnark. Shalnark wondered why the student hadn't reacted yet, but it didn't seem to matter to him. Instead, he knelt down to finally pick up the ball. “At least it didn't hit you in the face this time...” When Shalnark looked up again, he realized why he wasn't getting a reaction. The blond boy winced when he saw the older student sitting on the floor, far too pale. He had never seen Uvogin in such a state. The situation on the school roof was one thing, but at least he had been responsive there. This time, the boy was just looking at a seemingly empty shell, sitting trembling on the ground, while tears seemed to form in his eyes.
Shalnark didn't really know what to do, let alone what to feel. He was shocked, he knew that much. But what was this uncomfortable feeling? Was it pity? Concern? Fear? Or was it just the unpleasant sight of a human who seemed to be very ill? But why? Why was Uvogin, who usually seemed so strong and unshakable, so fragile now? What had happened to make him so run down? Or was Shalnark imagining it all? Was he reading too much into a student who had perhaps just become ill and now had a circulatory collapse?
The boy was quickly torn from his thoughts when Phinks turned around and noticed him too. However, he didn't seem particularly talkative and simply waved the blond boy away. A clear gesture to signal him to leave. When Shalnark looked past him, he could see Franklin and a teacher, which made him sigh a little. Before he turned away again, he gave Phinks a slightly worried look.
He had to admit, though, that he found it a little difficult to just leave. No wonder. It wasn't as if the boy didn't worry about the older student. From his point of view, it wasn't friendship, but there was something there. He didn't know if it was because of the situation in the amusement park or the night before, but Uvogin often helped him out of trouble. He also often pushed him to his limits. But he couldn't deny that he cared about him. Whether it was because he owed him something or simply out of empathy.
Shalnark had the feeling that his thoughts were slowly driving him crazy. Too often he had lain awake at night thinking about the guy. Far too often for his liking.
“What's the matter?” Chrollo asked his friend in surprise. Shalnark just shook his head: 'Circulation or something...'2 '"Oh..." the dark-haired student looked sadly at the other students. "He'll be fine..." Chrollo looked at Feitan, slightly disappointed: 'You're always so dry..." to which the smaller boy just shrugged his shoulders.

It was just before noon. The sun was about to come out again, and not just weakly. It was getting even warmer than it already was and beamed with full courage into the classroom. The same goes for the school nurse's room. Right into Uvogin's face. Of course, this woke the student who had been sleeping soundly before. Murmuring, he rolled onto his side. Or rather, he tried. There wasn't much room for him on the bed. It was bright. Almost too bright. “Awake again, aren't we?” a bright voice greeted him. When he looked up, Phinks was standing in front of him with his arms crossed: “How are you?” Uvogin looked at his lower body. He still felt pretty shaky and tired, but he was much better than a couple of minutes ago. “Uh... better... I think.” Uvogin looked up at his friend carefully. “Was I out that long?”. However, he didn't get a real answer. Just a slightly grim expression. The young man scratched the back of his head.
“What are you even doing, Uvo?! We all told you to stay at home! Or at least take a break from gym class!” Uvogin was visibly embarrassed. "How did you even manage to get sick at this time of year?" "Let's not talk about that... okay?" Phinks shot the young man a look of outrage and fear. ”Okay, okay! If you're still out at night and don't have an umbrella with you, that's one thing... BUT AT LEAST TELL ME THAT YOU ATE SOMETHING!” Yes. The lump was back in his throat again. And so the student didn't even dare to look at his friend.
The blond student sighed. “By the way, I called my mother, she'll drive you home!” “Huh?!” Uvogin looked at him in surprise, “I don't want your mother to have any extra trouble because of me!” “It's fine! She already agreed.” The giant sighed wearily. “Don't worry and just get well again!” “Yeah...”
“Do you want to see him again?” Chrollo looked at the small black-haired student in surprise. "And? Whats the matter?" he hissed sharply, but his counterpart just shook his head. "Do you want us to come along again as emotional support?" Shalnark teased him playfully. “If anyone needs emotional support, it's probably you and your Ogre!“"I can't say he's wrong..." Shalnark looked at his friends, outraged. "You're acting like we're dating!" Feitan looked at him suspiciously, "Aren't you?" "Hello??’" Chrollo sighed and looked to the side. ”Shalnark... Look... At least Feitan admits it-" “CHROLLO, DON'T START TOO NOW!”
The blond fell on his back. It wasn't a hard impact, since he was already sitting on the soft grass. The three of them had hidden in the park across the way during the break. “But seriously, Shal...” Feitan looked at him curiously. “Is there really nothing to it?” The student just made a face, though. “I'll be honest... I always find it very amusing when you two fool around –” Chrollo had to stifle a giggle. "YOU think it's funny!" "Then at least admit that he's not as bad as you always say!" Chrollo encouraged his friend. "Okay, I get it! He's really all right..." but the blonde didn't sound particularly convincing. “But?” Feitan looked at him expectantly, as if he knew what would come next. "He's just way too full of himself! Most of what he says is ego stuff! And when he's with me, he acts like I want to rip his head off!" While Shalnark swore, he didn't notice that his friends were looking at him in shock.
When the boy stood up again, he only saw two clueless faces. “What?” “Um... What?” Chrollo looked at him with a face as if he had seen a ghost. “Shal- WHAT?” Feitan followed his example. “What's wrong with you?”, he probably hadn't yet understood what he had said himself. After all, the two of them didn't yet know about the unpleasant night with Uvogin. “You met him? ALONE?” And in that moment, the blond boy understood it. And just like that, his heart sank. It seemed like that had happened to him a lot lately. "Uhh-" “Because you don't get along with him...” Feitan practically hissed at him, and so Shalnark sensed a hint of disappointment and mistrust. "NO! LISTEN, OKAY? He needed a place to stay the night and then..." ‘"HE SLEPT AT YOUR PLACE?!" the two black-haired students shouted almost simultaneously. ”NO! Well, yes, but just let me explain!”
Feitan turned away: “No! I don't need any more explanation for that…” “FEITAN PLEASE! HE WAS INJURED AND I DIDN'T WANT TO GET HIM THROUGH THE WHOLE CITY LIKE THAT!” Chrollo looked at him with folded arms and raised eyebrows after this statement. “Did he at least sleep in a different room?”
Great. No, actually not great. The boy had no idea how he would ever talk his way out of this situation. And he was sure he would be teased about it for a very long time. “Shalnark?” Feitan looked at him again, but he still couldn't answer them. When Chrollo noticed this, he looked at his friend again with wide eyes. “He was in the same room?” "HE WASN'T IN MY BED, OKAY?" Shalnark finally shouted, looking at the two of them with his usual raised eyebrows. "I don't think that makes much of a difference anymore..." the little black-haired student picked up his bag and finally got up. "IT DOES!" But before Feitan had a chance to leave, Chrollo made another comment. “WAIT! Was that why your white, oversized spider shirt was in the laundry when I was at your place yesterday?” And so Feitan looked at Shalnark again, shocked. "NOTHING ELSE FITTED HIM! OK?" "Wait, he really fit in?" Feitan sounded surprised and much quieter than before. "YES!" “You couldn't have said that with more pride and enthusiasm, could you?..”

To Shalnark's surprise, it started to get a little cooler while he was on his way home. He had his Babymetal on his headphones as usual and got off the train. As he scrolled through his messages, he saw a number. It was Uvogin's. He hadn't written him a single message since he got the book. But what for? There was nothing he wanted to tell him. He had already told him everything there was to say to his face, or he preferred to keep it to himself. But now he stopped on his way. He tapped briefly on his keyboard and then sent his message. However, he didn't really want to wait for an answer. Instead, he quickly continued and concentrated on his way. “I hope he's feeling better...” he said to himself. And suddenly he had to think again about what Feitan had said to him. ‘Is there something going on?' The boy had to stop his own thoughts for a moment. Was there really nothing? Or was it just what he kept telling himself? He was attractive, Shalnark had to admit, even if he didn't say it out loud. But was it more than that? The boy had a lot going through his mind. All the unpleasant encounters. The changing room, the amusement park, the store, after school, on the roof... No, it wasn't as if he had enjoyed these moments. But when he thought back to the library, Shalnark had to breathe a little easier. The first time he saw him. He had to swallow. Of course, he had recognized immediately what kind of person he was. At least, he thought he had. But back then he had been surprisingly calm and the opposite of what he had expected. In retrospect, he seemed almost... pure and innocent.
A shrill bicycle bell abruptly rips Shalnark out of his thoughts. He had stopped again. As he looked back, he quickly tried to avoid the older grandpa on his bike. Fortunately for him, he managed to do so. A sigh escaped his lips. “I should finally go home... I have an exam tomorrow...”
There was a knock. And again it knocked. However, Uvogin seemed to have no interest in reacting to it. On the contrary. He tried to ignore it as much as possible and instead pulled his blanket over his head. There was a brief silence, but after a moment his door opened. And as quickly as it opened, it closed again. It was quiet. Uvogin didn't dare to make any sound or move. Was there anyone in his room at all? Did he imagine all this? He could have sworn to have heard a conversation in the hallway before.
“Come on Uvo... I brought you something!” The student was startled when he realized who was standing behind him. After a moment's hesitation, he crawled out of his covers and looked at Nobunaga, slightly grim. You could clearly see that he was snuffy and still had a fever. “I passed the pharmacy on my way anyway... so I brought you something!” ‘What do you need in return?’ Nobunaga shook his head and put the medicine next to his pillow, which already had far too many used tissues under it. "Stop it already!" the young man laughed, ”Since when do I want money from you?” “I'm serious, Nobunaga!” The black-haired student couldn't quite tell what expression Uvogin had on his face, but it seemed to be a mixture of uneasiness and seriousness. ”I'm serious too! You're sick! So let it go...”
Nobunaga sat down on the bed next to him. “But I feel so bad. After all, this shit is my fault…” “Tell me honestly, how did this happen? Phinks said you were out so late?” Uvogin sighed and nodded slightly. “I didn't have a jacket... And somehow I fell asleep outside...” The two were silent for a moment. "Was it that bad again?" the black-haired boy looked at the student seriously and worriedly. However, the student leaned against his wall without saying a word. His eyes were closed and a painful expression hid in his eyebrows. ”I don't want to talk about it...”
Nobunaga sighed and looked down at Uvogin's cell phone, which was lying next to the medicine. He noticed a message appearing on the screen and looked at his friend in surprise. “Shal?” Uvogin almost choked. “Wait, wasn't that the little blonde?” "Y-Yes-" "Ohhh-", Nobunaga took the phone and looked at the message. It was a simple ‘Do you need anything?’ "So he really texted you? Cool... I didn't think he would!" The giant looked almost disappointed, ”Me neither...”
Suddenly Nobunaga started laughing, whereupon Uvogin stared at him in confusion. “What?” “You two are really something!" Uvogin rolled his eyes. “Don't start with that now,” he whined, annoyed. His friend leaned closer to him and gave him a grin. “It's your own fault if you get sick too...” “But now, between you and me, Uvo... you thought he was really hot when he came out of the changing room!” "Changing room?" The boy thought about this for a moment, until the situation in the shopping center unavoidably came back to him. And so his previously rather pale face turned bright red. Nobunaga clapped his hands joyfully after seeing his friend's reaction. “I knew it! But I didn't know you were into boys...” "HEY!’" Uvogin pushed his hand into his face, coughing, and almost knocking him off the bed. When the black-haired student looked back, he was stared at with very grim and embarrassed eyes. “It's okay... Phinks has the little emo boyfriend and you have your blond guy.” Uvogin grumbled briefly, ”Stop it already! Even if so, I'm pretty sure it would only be one-sided!” “Yeah?” When Uvogin dared to glance at his friend, he only saw a questioning face, "He'd have to be interested in some way... otherwise he wouldn't respond to your provocation so much, nor ask you if you need anything..." Nobunaga held out the phone to him. It's true, he must have some interest or sympathy. But feelings, no?
“Now stop buttering me up!” the student waved his hands around in a hurry. "So you admit it?"”NO!”
The days passed. Shalnark wrote his exams and was glad that the stress was over. The only thing he was waiting for were the upcoming vacations. Only two weeks, but better than nothing. He was looking forward to finally being able to sleep longer again. To have more time for Chrollo and especially for Feitan. Maybe they will want to go to the amusement park again. The amusement park... Shalnark couldn't help but think of the taller student again. He hadn't seen him once in the last few days. Was he still that sick?
The boy looked down at his sports shoes. He noticed how it was gradually squeezing his toes more and more when he moved. It was probably time for new shoes again. “I haven't had them that long...” Suddenly, the boy got a hand slapped against his back and the ball inevitably fell out of his hand. When he turned around indignantly, he saw the slightly shocked face of his friend Chrollo, “Oh...”.
“Wow…” "Sorry~" Shalnark just gave him a somewhat grim look. "Is everything all right? You looked so, well-," the boy quickly shook his head. "Everything's fine! I just need new shoes…" The black-haired student looked down at his shoes. "Are they too small?" "Yes…" ”That's too bad... And they were still so new…”
After a sigh, the blond haired boy gets up to finally get the lost ball. He realized that he had surprisingly little motivation and energy today. He didn't know exactly why. Maybe it was because of all the stress that had fallen away. On the other hand, he hadn't had a discussion with Uvogin in a long time. They had always gotten him going so much. But he's not really complaining either. He also enjoyed the peace and quiet a little. Although he had to admit that he missed it. No. He didn't miss the discussions. He seemed to miss Uvogin much more. “I'm slowly losing my mind...” he murmured to himself until he saw only two more sports shoes in front of him. “Are you looking for this one?” Shalnark looked up in surprise when he heard the voice in front of him.

Chapter Text

Shalnark looked up in surprise. Speak of the devil, right? Uvogin was now standing in front of him with a slight grin and the ball tucked between his arm and hip. However, he was not wearing sports clothes like the others. Instead, he was still wearing his baggy school pants and a shirt that was much too loose. The blond didn't quite know how to interpret his feelings. On the one hand, he seemed very happy about Uvogin's presence, and it also seemed as if he was doing much better. On the other hand... He sighed. “Hello there~ Enjoyed the peace, did you?” With an anticipatory look, he gazed at the boy, who in turn only raised his eyebrows. “Looking at you... Yes. Yes, I did enjoy it...” Shalnark could see a slight twitch in Uvogin's eyebrow before he suddenly felt the ball being pushed against his head from above. “EY!” “My ass, you twink!” Uvogin laughed. He sounded much rougher and hoarser than the blond had expected. And then he realized that he had actually never heard him laugh before. Well, who knows if he even wanted to.
“Now give me the ball already!” Shalnark tried to take the ball from Uvogin, which didn't work out so well. He had to realize again that he had much more strength. He didn't call him a giant for no reason. “You really missed each other...” it echoed next to Uvogin. Franklin seemed very, well, tired. “Oh yes he has!” the way the older student underlined his statement made the blondie boil. “Bullshit!” he hissed at him, “I wish you would crawl back into your crappy bed! Then at least no one would keep the ball from me!” Franklin looked at the boy with such a lack of emotion that one could easily mistake him for Feitan. At least if one didn't pay attention to the difference in height. “So nothing has changed...” “Of course not!” Shalnark looked at the older student with raised eyebrows. “AND NOW GIVE ME THE BALL, YOU BRAINLESS MUSCLEHEAD!”
Uvogin hesitated for a moment, raised his eyebrows and threw the ball to Shalnark's friends, who were now watching as well. The blond boy was furious inside. And so he had no interest in withholding his emotions from the student. “Idiot…” he began quietly, and before Uvogin could react, he felt a hand pushing into his hip. “Hey!” he yelped in surprise. And with that, the boy said goodbye and went to his friends.
Franklin remained, giving his friend a surprised expression, and the closet, grumbling and holding his hip. “That ass! If I get my hands on him again...” “I have to give him credit for that, you really deserved that...” “HUH?” the student looked at his counterpart, outraged. “Does it really hurt that much? I didn't think the kid had that much strength…” "He hit the bull's eye... It hurts…’" After a short moment, Franklin's eyes widen drastically. "Wait- Did he hit you right there?" In response, he gets a painful smile and a nod. And so the student covered his mouth to desperately suppress his laughter. “Oh God...” "Stop laughing, you son of a bitch!" Uvogin almost laughed himself, though.
Shalnark looked back from the other side of the gym. He was almost a little sorry for the way he had hit him. But in his opinion, he had deserved it. “It wasn't that hard...” and suddenly the boy flinched. He remembered how Uvogin had spent the night with him. He had held his hip so strangely when he had unintentionally seen his naked upper body. Then he saw it correctly at the time. Shalnark held his hand in front of his mouth in shock.

It was warm. As always. The sun seemed to be shining extra hard today. But no one was complaining about it. On the contrary. The blond guy and his friends seemed to be enjoying it more. Well, and the other four chaotic guys standing around. It was somehow ironic. A month ago, Shalnark would not have imagined that he would voluntarily meet with such people in his free time. But there is always a first time, no?
“I find it kind of cute how everyone comes along when Feitan and Phinks have their date again!” Chrollo grinned to himself while looking at Feitan. "He can't do anything without us," Shalnark grunted. ”That's right. But Phinks also brought everyone else with him...,“ the boy chuckles a little. "They all got no balls..." "Don't be like that!" The two students looked at each other and laughed.
“Did you actually want to get new shoes today? After all, we're here for once-” Before Chrollo could finish his question, the blond shook his head. “Nah... I just wanted to bum around today. I don't really feel like browsing the shops...” the boy leaned backwards against the wall of the subway station. His eyes wandered through the crowds into the shopping streets. It was crowded. Shalnark didn't know whether he should find it fascinating or rather overwhelming.
“You don't have to. It was just an idea,” Chrollo sighed and pulled on his backpack, "do you want to go somewhere already?". The blond-haired boy looked at his friend in surprise, ”and just leave Feitan alone with those giants?” “He'll be fine!”, Chrollo laughed. After a short moment Shalnark nodded and set out with Chrollo, hopefully unnoticed, to find some distance from the noisy rowdies.

And it worked, at least at first. Shalnark eventually received a message from Feitan, who asked outrageously where the two were. But Shalnark just cheekily texted back that Feitan should enjoy his date.
The two students strolled through the streets, relaxed. Chrollo saw far too many things he wanted to buy, and Shalnark had to stop him from spending all his money. Although he could understand the urge; after all, he liked the things just as much.
When noon came, they were sitting on the bench of a nearby basketball court. Surprisingly, it wasn't really busy. But maybe that was because it was much too warm to play. A little tired, the blond ate his rice ball. “Do you already have plans for the holidays?” Chrollo nudged him from the side. “No…” "Good! Then let's do something exciting, yeah?" Shalnark nodded. "They're releasing a horror movie at the moment! I really want to watch it with you." "Sure," the boy scrunched up his plastic waste and threw it in the direction of the trash can. It landed close by, but still missed. “Damn!” "We'll practice throwing again…" Before he could get up, someone else had already grabbed the trash and thrown it into the bin. Shalnark merely let out an annoyed groan. ”What are you doing here now?”
Uvogin was standing opposite him. The boy was no longer surprised. “You attract each other like magnets…” Chrollo added quietly. “With that, I'm not surprised that you threw the ball in my face back then…” the older student seemed to be surprisingly ready for a fight. That was probably revenge for the hip check a few days ago. “Whatever...” Shalnark seemed to respond quite well to his provocation. Without further ado, Uvogin held out the basketball he had with him. "Can you play basketball?" he asked with a grin that grew even wider when Shalnark nodded. ”Good, then show me that you're not so bad at throwing!”
The blond didn't really feel like playing a game in this heat, but he didn't want to take the accusation being bad at sports either. And so they both stood opposite each other on the basketball court. Uvogin with his hands on his hips in front of the basket and Shalnark a few meters away from him. “The loser pays for the group!” The older student threw the ball to him and then crouched slightly. He looked at the boy almost like a beast and licked his lips. “I'll give you four tries!”
Chrollo stood nearby, holding Shalnark's cardigan. “Isn't that a bit unfair?” he wondered internally. It was obvious which of the two had more physical strength and that Uvogin's height was more than just an advantage for him, but Chrollo also knew that Shalnark, on the other hand, was more of a mind player. And he wasn't bad at basketball either. Maybe it wasn't as unfair as he first thought.

And so the blond guy leaned forward a little and started dribbling the ball. After a few moments in which he seemed to be thinking, he carefully made his way forward. He didn't want to rush into anything. He knew full well that it would be difficult to beat Uvogin in a one-on-one basketball game, but he certainly had a chance. But the sight of a student who was over two meters tall and who had clearly found more than just a liking for the game didn't exactly make it any easier. You could be blind and still recognize that the had a great love for the sport. The boy wasn't sure whether he found it exciting or rather frightening.
“Muscles and no brain,” Shalnark hissed, before quickly slipping past Uvogin and preparing to jump. For a moment, the older student was a bit surprised. He was faster than expected, but that didn't stop him from immediately turning to knock the ball away from Shalnark as he jumped.
The blond haired landed on his feet again grimly. “Only three more,” Uvogin sang, almost smirking. All he got was a stern face from his opponent. ‘Don't get any ideas…’ Shalnark took the ball back and positioned himself in front of the student again. ‘You're fast, I have to say that much.’ ”Save the nonsense! Unlike you, I don't need a compliment to get back to business…” Shalnark had apparently touched a nerve again, because suddenly he was no longer looked at by playful eyes, but by ones that were much more serious and stubborn. “You'd better not open your mouth so far.” Uvogin took a deep breath and then set off to storm at the blonde, “Otherwise you'll choke on a fly!” Shalnark managed to avoid him just in time, but it was by no means easy. He was almost cornered by his opponent, which only made him bend down further, hoping not to lose the ball. But before the boy could think any further, the ball was out of his hands again.
“Aww, my fault... I just couldn't control myself for a moment!” How Shalnark hated that passive-aggressive look on Uvogin's face. He was so provocative that it was really hard for him not to react to it. “You look so cute when you cheat, Uvo” The student turned to Shalnark with a startled face, but he was long gone. When he realized what he had fallen for, he ground his teeth and quickly turned to the basket. And just as he thought, the blond boy was already there and about to dunk the ball.
“You little rat...” it was as if Shalnark could feel Uvogin's breath on his neck. ‘How?’ he didn't understand how he could be so fast. As fast as he had passed him, the student was already hovering behind him again, squeezing the ball out of his hand. “FUCK!” Shalnark shouted in frustration as he hit the ground again. “You're getting on my damn nerves!” he hissed at the student, who was standing just a few centimeters away from him. “Tell me something new!", Uvo hissed back.
When the blonde looked over, he could see that his opponent was already much more out of breath than he was. But it was probably just because he was still a bit sick. Would it make a difference anyway? He doubted it. “Do you really call that playing?” “Huh?” The boy looked at him confused. “Bet you're think way too much! How can that be fun…”
And then it seemed to dawn on him. He hesitated for a moment before holding the ball in both hands again. He took a deep breath and looked at the floor. “Fun, you say? All right...” He looked up and directly into Uvogin's eyes. “Do you want to know what I find amusing? Suddenly, a shiver ran through the older student's body. It was a mixture of surprise and anticipation. Shalnark could see how his eyes suddenly grew larger and his gaze became more intense. It was as if they would catch fire at any moment. Even Chrollo, who was sitting further back on the bench, could see how both students were suddenly excited.
“Come on, show me! I want to see it…” Shalnark took a moment before he started dribbling the ball. He started slowly and Uvogin watched him more than carefully. He watched every little movement in his fingers. He observed whether he would move his legs at any moment. But it took a while. Instead of attacking immediately, the boy started to increase the speed with which he dribbled the ball. More and more. As if there was no limit to it.
And then suddenly he had disappeared from Uvogin's view again. Instinctively, however, he kicked to the left and was correct in his guess. But the boy did not stop. On the contrary, he was more of an encouragement. And so he began to dribble the ball between his hands and under his legs. The ball bounced between his hands with incredible speed. But just dribbling it quickly didn't help, which is why Shalnark started to make feints. That actually helped. The faster he dribbled, the more he realized that Uvogin had to concentrate much more on his own balance than on his movements. He had only one shot and he wanted to use it as well as possible. Chrollo, on the other hand, was just watching curiously and amused. He hadn't seen Shalnark so enthusiastic in a long time. “He's really having fun...”
The blond-haired boy had made up his mind. He now knew how he would win one-on-one and got ready. After a quick feint, he scurried past Uvogin's other side, throwing him off balance. So much so that he almost slipped while sprinting after him. And suddenly the boy jumped up, which the other student mimicked. However, he quickly realized that it was a big mistake, after all, Shalnark was not about to dunk the ball. No, he leaned backwards in the jump and threw the ball to the basket.

Uvogin slurped his strawberry milkshake as he plopped down on the bench. Next to him sat Chrollo, also drinking a milkshake. One meter away stood Shalnark with his typical plump face. Yeah, he lost. He wasn't quite sure how, but the ball didn't really reach the basket after the throw. And now he was in a correspondingly bad mood. “Why did I have to buy you a drink too, Chrollo?” he hissed at his friend, but the he ignored his question and continued drinking. After a short snort, the blond haired boy put his bag on the bench next to Chrollo and headed towards the toilets. “I'll be right back…” Uvogin can still easily hear his grumbling. Once he had disappeared from his field of vision, however, he turned to the black-haired student. “He's not a good loser…” “Nope. Never was…”
The older student fell silent for a moment and then let out a loud sigh. “I need your help, okay?” Chrollo turned to him in surprise. “You see... I haven't thanked Shalnark for a few things yet…” “For example, letting you wear his oversized shirt?” It took a moment for the young man to realize what the student had actually just said and then looked at him very frightened. "Wait, you know about that?!" Chrollo just nodded bluntly and slurped his milkshake almost passively aggressive, "that was my favorite shirt of his..." ”Wait a minute! Did the kid tell you everything?" It was very easy to see that Uvogin was visibly overwhelmed and panicked. But to his relief, the boy shook his head. “Not really. He didn't really want to tell it either. It just slipped out accidentally…” “That doesn't really make it any better…”
Uvogin cleared his throat and leaned back against the bench. “Anyway! I wanted to thank him somehow, but I have no idea what he likes...” Chrollo had to giggle a little after the statement, whereupon he was also given a sheepish and grim look. "Something with spiders is always good..." When he looked over at the older student next to him, he saw a rather grimaced face. ”You two are pretty damn weird...”
Suddenly, Chrollo had an idea, whereupon Uvogin looked at himwith hope “Well, he wanted to go to town again anyway, because he needs to get new gym shoes. So you could offer to come with him and then buy him the shoes or something.” And suddenly the student didn't seem so hopeful anymore. “Listen... I don't want to offend you... and I don't want to deny that you know Shalnark very well.. but I can't imagine, with the best will in the world, that he would be thrilled about it-” Chrollo sighed and collapsed against the bench. ”You two pessimists have really found each other…” If you listened closely, you could hear a soft snort from the older student on the bench. It sounded almost offended. “I have a follow-up question…” Uvogin looked at the student with folded arms. “If you think that Shal hates you so much... why would you even have that much hope to thank him in this way and not just go tell him like 'oh thank you btw'?” Uvogin remained silent. There was nothing he wanted to say about it, nor did he really know what to answer. So Chrollo took it simply as an invitation to continue speaking. “You're not stupid. If you knew that Shalnark couldn't stand you, you wouldn't even try that much. And I doubt very much that you would be sitting here right now... ”
After a moment, Chrollo stood up and threw the empty bottle into the trash can next to them. “Besides,” he scratched the back of his neck with a hopeless look, “he is a bit more special when it comes to social bonds and such. Even Feitan can show more love than Shal can…” Uvogin groaned as he leaned back. “You're giving me SO MUCH more hope!” Chrollo grunted slightly after hearing his sarcastic intonation. “Thanks anyway...”
When the dark-haired boy turned around, he saw the face of his blonde friend again. “SHALNARK!” his sudden shout ,which was far too enthusiastic to sound believeable, made Uvogin flinch. He knew exactly what was coming next and he had absolutely no mood for it. “Say, Chrollo, have you actually heard anything from Feitan again? Or has he died already from emberassment?” Shalnark asked his friend, but he didn't really hear the question. Instead, he was stared at with two huge eyes, "What?" ”Guess what, Shalnark – your big buddy had a great idea!”
When the blond-haired boy looked over at Uvogin, he only saw him sitting hunched over on the bench, pinching the bridge of his nose in shame. “Chrollo...whatever it is... it doesn't sound like it's his idea...” “He wants to go shopping with you~” The speed with which Shalnark's face changed into a confused and simultaneously disgusted state of shock was enormous. “I NEVER SAID I WANTED THIS!” it rang out loudly behind Chrollo's back. “You didn't say no either!” “BUT I DIDN'T SAY YES!”
After a moment, Uvogin looked at the blond in panic, hoping that he could explain the world to him with the help of his gaze. Of course it didn't work. Why should it? “Why would you want to go shopping with me?” Shalnark was visibly confused. “I TOLD YOU, CHROLLO!” The black-haired student sighed with a kind of disappointment that the boy knew only too well. However, he thought seriously for a moment. “I was going to buy new shoes anyway…” Uvogin's eyes widened in panic when he heard the boy mumble. “That did not just fucking work, did it?”, his thoughts tried to calm him down, but without success. "That's not such a bad idea..." Chrollo looked at Shalnark enthusiastically after his statement and nodded as if his life depended on it.
Uvogin, meanwhile, did not know whether he should be happy or become one with the bench out of shame. It was probably a mixture of both. He tried desperately to organize his thoughts until he suddenly heard the blond boy's voice.
Great. It must have been the first time that his heart had fallen into his stomach. The first 'date' of the two of them. Well, almost, there was probably no way that Chrollo wouldn't come along with them. What the hell he had gotten himself into…

The corridors of the school were full and it still smelled of sweat. Although the weather had cooled down a bit over the days, the students still managed to sweat as if they had run a marathon. It was probably due to puberty, Shalnark thought. The boy stood in front of his locker looking for some books. It was too bad that it was much too messy in the small box for him to really find anything. “Where the heck is it...” he cursed softly to himself. And suddenly a book fell towards him. When he took a closer look, he had to sigh after all. It was THE biology book. “You still have that thing?” And suddenly he no longer had the book in his hand.
But when he realized who had once again graced him with his presence, he let his shoulders drop. “Do you always have to take that from me?” the boy complained, turning around with a slightly sarcastic grin. He looked directly into the broad smile of Uvogin, who leaned against the lockers with his arm over Shalnark's head. “You should return this sometime...” Shalnark snorted, “Oh... I just haven't had time until now,” before the boy could finish his sentence, the book was already held against his mouth. “Then let us go now. Otherwise you'll never get rid of it…” "us?", the blond-haired boy looked after the student, which had already half made its way to the library. "Get moving already," the student waved his hand. ”That guy…”

In the hallway, the boy had some difficulties. On the one hand, he wanted to walk a little closer to Uvogin to not lose him in the huge crowd, but on the other hand, he didn't want to step on him either. He didn't feel like cuddling. “Uvo, I need an honest answer from you...” Shalnark began, trying to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence. “Yeah?” “Is it just me, or have we been running into each other more often since the first time?” Uvogin grunted a little. "You're worried about something like that?’" The boy paused and then looked offended to the side. The older student stretched out his arms and then placed them on the back of his head. “If you ask me…” he hesitated for a moment, "I don't know!" "Wow," the blond boy thought to himself. ”But doesn't it really matter?”
The two had now arrived at the library and Shalnark quickly went to the counter to return the book. Uvogin, on the other hand, was just leaning against one of the many tables waiting for him. “But Shalnark...,” he began quite uncharacteristically softly, “Does it bother you? Or why do you ask...”. The blond-haired boy looked at the student a bit surprised. “Do I mind?” he paused to read Uvogin's expression. At least he tried to, since Uvogin didn't really look at him and rather avoided his gaze, looking down at his backpack. "Why should I mind?" "Idk... could have been," Uvogin murmured to himself. He was obviously too insecure to speak loudly. Shalnark had to grin a little. “I've told you before that this insecure behavior doesn't suit you at all. Aren't you usually so confident?” The older student grumbled uneasily, while his hand nervously traced his neck. “I just don't understand you, okay?” Shalnark frowned expectantly, "but?" He knew that he actually wanted to say something more. Or at least had it in mind. Uvogin let out a somewhat annoyed sigh. ”...I would like to understand you more...”
There was an amazing sense of tranquility between them. Usually, Shalnark was used to both of them pulling each other's hair out, but he couldn't deny that he found this right there very pleasant. And to see the student so calm had something very soothing and even innocent about it. “You know, I had a lot of fun when we played basketball at the weekend...” the blond-haired boy put on his backpack and took a step back. “Yeah...”
“But I still have one question, Uvo!“ He looked at him with a grin that almost showed some smugness. ‘Was the ’going shoppin'g idea really yours?” Uvogin was caught off guard. “Uh-oh,” and just like that, he had a lump in his throat. “Listen to me... I had only asked Chrollo what you liked because I hadn't thanked you yet for the whole hand and overnight stay thing... And then he started talking about shopping!” Shalnark suddenly had to start laughing, whereupon the student looked at him very perplexedly. Uvogin snorted, offended. “Speaking of the hand! Did you go see my mom again because of the stitches?” "S-stitches?" the two students looked at each other in confusion. "She had to stitch the wound, didn't she...?" the blond didn't get an answer, just a rather uncertain face. "Please tell me you didn't pull them out yourself..." Yes, the silence was loud. Loud and far too uncomfortable.
Up on the school roof, the sun was still shining brightly, as if there was no tomorrow. And so many were still enjoying the beautiful weather. Among the many students were also Uvogin and the three other chaotic ones. While Franklin was somehow trying to quickly copy the homework from Nobunaga, which was probably not a very good idea, Phinks was shoving one of the much-too-sweet granola bars in his mouth. Nobunaga, on the other hand, looked curiously at Uvogin, who was playing some kind of game on his cell phone.
“You know... I'm really disappointed in you, Uvo!” he began overdramatically, and was met with a very confused and frightened expression. ”I thought we were friends who could tell each other anything!” With a sense of unease, the student groaned as he let his head fall against the hard outer wall of the stairwell. “What's your problem now, Nobunaga?” “Are you talking about what I heard yesterday from Feitan?” Phinks almost spat out his bar again. However, Nobunaga nodded at him very confidently. “YES UVO! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?”
Uvogin whined to himself. Still, he hoped that they meant something completely different. Unfortunately for him, his gut was right. “So you're really going on a date with the little one?” Franklin looked up at him in surprise, whereupon he exhaled, passive aggressively. “It's NOT a date…” "Oh yeah?~" You could tell that the blond-haired student was glad that this time he wasn't the one being teased by everyone else. "HOW DID YOU GUYS FIND OUT?" Phinks laughed proudly, “well, I have my sources!” The taller student gave his friend a very annoyed look, "You were just at Feitan and, let me guess, Chrollo called him…" Phinks laughed. "So that's why the kid wanted to make a quick phone call that day... That-", Uvogin clenched his hands together. “Are you excited?” Nobunaga looked at him curiously. He honestly didn't know if the question was meant seriously or if he just wanted to annoy him. However, Franklin looked at him just as curiously, which is why he assumed that it was meant seriously. However, he preferred to take a sip of his energy drink than to actually answer the question. “You can admit it. It's no secret that you've fallen for the boy!” Nobunaga said it, in Uvogin's opinion, way too dry. “You act like this is something new...” Franklin added from the side. "Stop it..." Uvogin whined softly to himself.

Chapter Text

The sun shined gently into Shalnark's room. But this time there was no one to wake up. Fortunately, because the boy was already late. Wbereguin just lay on his bed and watched him force himself into his clothes as quickly as possible. “Of course my cell phone's battery has to die during the night!” he cursed to himself again. It was nothing new for him, his dog or even his grandmother. She had meanwhile also cautiously started to look for her grandson. “Are you meeting Chrollo and Feitan today?” she asked curiously. “Chrollo wanted to come too, yes!” However, the boy didn't seem really interested in the conversation. No wonder, he had other priorities after all. “And? It must be something special if you're hurrying like this...” It was obvious that she had to stifle a giggle when she saw Shalnark's indignant expression. "It's not a date!" he replied dryly.
While the boy was putting on his makeup, the lady leaned against the doorframe. ”It's not your tall friend you're meeting, by any chance?” “He invited me shopping! I won't say no if he wants to buy me something!” And then he was already done. His clothes looked good and so did his face. "Good!" The boy quickly took his backpack, which he had packed the night before for his own good luck, and grabbed his cell phone. “I'm off now!” "Take care of yourself, will you?" Shalnark nodded enthusiastically at his grandmother and then hurried past her, making his way to the stairwell. Before he was completely out, however, he could still hear her calling from the door: ”Give your friend my best wishes, okay?”
When the boy arrived outside, he was still grumbling to himself. “Of course she says that!” But he didn't have much time to think about it. Instead, he concentrated on catching the train. After all, he didn't want to keep either Chrollo or Uvogin waiting. And he even managed to catch the train in time. There are certainly days like that too. When the boy sat down, he could finally take a deep breath. He decided to look at his phone to answer any messages from Chrollo. And sure enough, his gut was right. It wasn't the message he had expected, though. The blonde boiled inside as he read the message from his friend. 'I guess I overslept... Oops~ Enjoy your little date! ;3'
“Of course he won't come... I can't believe I didn't realize that before...”, Shalnark sighed annoyed. Although he caught himself thinking that it wasn't so bad after all. Chrollo wanted to give him the chance to do something alone with Uvogin. Actually, it was quite nice, wasn't it? Maybe it wouldn't go so badly after all. If the guy would actually show up sometime.
The boy looked at his feet, which stumbled back and forth. He had made himself comfortable on a small brick fence, although it wasn't really comfortable. And as he sat there, he had to think again of the encounter in the amusement park. How Uvogin leaned over him and gave him that annoyed look. But, he had to admit that the young man was very attractive. “I wonder if he'll wear those shiny pants again...” Shalnark leaned back on his hands and looked up at the blue sky. "I hope so! They looked really good on him…" When he looked back down at his own legs, he grumbled a little. At home, he hadn't really noticed that he had put a lot more effort into his outfit than he wanted to admit. “On the other hand... maybe I can get a few reactions out of him...”
And speaking of the devil. It didn't take long for the blond-haired boy to notice the loud shouting of a voice he knew very well. “SHAL!” When he looked to the side, he could see Uvogin running towards him. And indeed, he was wearing the leather pants. Deep down, the boy was much too happy for his own good. “There you are! What took you so long?” Panting, the young man stopped in front of him and leaned on his broad thighs. "Sorry! I got on the wrong train…" "Huh?" Shalnark looked at him in perplexity, and shortly after, he had to laugh out loud. ”Are you that excited? Don't you act like we're on a date too!” “TOO?” Uvogin looked up at him in shock. "I'll spare you the message Chrollo just sent me…" the older boy sighed. "Let me guess, he's not coming and leaves us alone?" A small nod was the only answer he got to his question, followed by a sigh.
The older student leaned against the wall next to him. “And what are you planning to do now? Any wishes? Shalnark was silent for a moment. "I don't really care, as long as you don't stare at me again when I come out of the changing room…" "I didn't do it on purpose!” The blond looked at his colleague in disbelief. “Don't think I didn't notice how you looked down at my ass!” Uvogin scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "It was unlucky! Besides, it's not like the pants were really-," before the young man could finish his sentence, he was pulled down. Shalnark grabbed one of his golden necklaces and pulled him down with an amazingly strong force. “Stop talking yourself out of this…” Uvogin couldn't help but feel slightly terrified when he felt Shalnark's breath on his neck. And somehow he was sure that the boy was doing this on purpose. “You asshole…” “Oh, what? Can't you handle a little nudity?”. Yes. He was quite sure that the boy was deliberately trying to drive him crazy. Nevertheless, he refused to make direct eye contact. "Maybe it was a good thing that Chrollo didn't come with us...", Uvogin started when he whispered the sentence in his ear. He had spoken his thoughts aloud.
“You're on a real roll today, aren't you?” Uvogin almost hissed at the boy. "Not before you got here…" After a moment, the older student grabbed the hand of his friend and pulled him down the wall with a tug. Naturally, the boy lost his balance and collided into the open cleavage of Uvogin's loose shirt. “Oh, my bad. I was a bit too harsh on you, wasn't I?” Shalnark looked up at the student, who merely raised his eyebrows at him, his expression grim and embarrassed. “My ass…”
After a few minutes, the two of them finally set off to explore the streets. It took a few drinks and a snack break, but eventually they found a shop that the boy wanted to check out. It was a rather dark shop full of punk-like clothes. Very modern and nerdy. Exactly what he was looking for.
“By the way, Chrollo said you need new sports shoes?” Uvogin leaned against a wall next to the changing room and looked up at the ceiling. "Oh yes! I had completely forgotten about that!" Shalnark was in the changing room trying on a new pair of pants. "I can show you a shop in a minute. They have some good ones..." ”Great!” After a moment, the boy came out of the changing room. To Uvogin's amazement, he now looked quite similar to him in terms of clothing. Accordingly, he looked at him full of expectation for an explanation. “You were already wearing those pants at the theme park. I've been meaning to get one just like you for a while...” The giant leaned back a bit and looked as if he was in thoughts. Shalnark tried to imagine what he was thinking about, but he really couldn't tell. Shortly after, he disappeared behind the clothes racks, “Something's missing!” Shalnark just watched him in confusion.
And as quickly as the student had left, he was standing in front of him again. He now held a few bracelets with spikes and earrings in his hand. He leaned forward slightly to carefully put the accessories on him. After he was done, the boy turned around and looked in surprise in the mirror. He really looked like him now. You could almost have thought that they had made a special agreement to look similar. “What ya say?” Uvogin looked at him eagerly. After a few glances to the right and left, Shalnark nodded at him in the mirror. “You have a sense of fashion…” Uvogin hesitated for a moment and then took off one of his gold chains to put it around Shalnark's neck from behind. “Perfect!” It was hard for Shalnark to keep from smiling. It was the first time he could admit that Uvogin was very sweet. And he couldn't deny that he now had a favorite outfit.

It was now shortly after noon and the two were sitting on a bench near the basketball court where they had played together a week ago. Shalnark now had a large bag filled with clothes and new sneakers next to him, while Uvogin offered him the rest of his energy drink. He accepted it without hesitation and drank the rest. “I wanted to apologize to you...” He started calmly and almost a little exhausted, but the student next to him just gave him a very confused look. "For what?" He hesitated for a moment. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to open this can of worms now, or if it wasn't better not to.
“Do you remember the time I hit your hip with my hand in the gym?” Uvogin thought about it for a moment until he realized what the boy was getting at. ”I... wouldn't have hit you there if I had known you were hurt... That wasn't okay. I'm sorry…” At first, the older student seemed to act as if he didn't know what the blond was talking about. But after Shalnark shot him a rather stern look, it was clear to him that he couldn't really talk his way out of it anymore. “So you noticed?“ Shalnark nodded at the question. 'Even when you were at my place... At first I wasn't sure, but I didn't want to ask.” Uvogin leaned back and exhaled deeply. “I had hoped you hadn't noticed the scars and cuts...”
There was another pause between them. Shalnark didn't really dare to say anything. He didn't want to ask uncomfortable questions. At the same time, Uvogin didn't want to go into it any further. And although the wounds on his hip had already healed quite well, he felt a slight pain. It went all the way up to his chest and instinctively, he put his hand back to his hip. “I can't even blame it on Hisoka anymore, can I…” Shalnark swallowed loudly. “I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable…” “It's okay…I'm not good at lying anyway…” the student laughed lightly, almost ironically. It wasn't a hearty laugh, though. It sounded almost a little pathetic. And after a slight jolt, he stood up from the bench. “Well! Thanks for the day, Sha-,” but before he could get far, he was pulled back onto the bench. Shalnark had grabbed him by the shirt and moved him remarkably close to him. “Please wait for a moment!”
Too close. Their heads were much too close. But Shalnark seemed to be concentrating on something else. “W-What?” The older student's cheeks glowed red and the intense look didn't make it any easier to keep his nerve. “If you need something, please say so!” It was the first time he had seen the boy so worried. No, when he thought about it more closely, not really. Even back then, he had given him that look. Only then Uvogin didn't want to accept the help and got angry. Would he do the same again? Would he just give him the cold shoulder, even though he was obviously worried? The student was more than just overwhelmed.
“Uvo, can you promise me one thing?” Shalnark leaned forward a little more. "Do you promise to be honest when you need help?" It didn't take long for his cheeks to warm up. Not only because of the blush, but also because of the many tears that suddenly flowed down his face. On the one hand, he felt lost, but at the same time so safe. He didn't know when the last time was he had really cried and he didn't know why he had to cry right now either. He didn't make a sound, but yet the tears kept flowing like a waterfall. At some point, he felt like he was back to himself and instinctively started to put his hand in front of his face. It was probably out of embarrassment. He was simply not used to showing his emotions so openly to someone. Especially not to someone he didn't even know that well.
But before he could wipe away the tears, Shalnark was already holding his wrist. “I...” Uvogin desperately tried to say something, but he didn't really succeed. Instead, there were only more tears flowing down his cheek. “It's okay...” Uvogin looked desperately at the boy. Inside, he felt a sharp pain. A pain that he wanted to suppress as quickly as possible. He wasn't quite sure if he was imagining it, but at the same time he had the feeling of getting closer and closer to the boy. But inside, he had a kind of need. Need for something that felt like warmth and affection. Before he could try to say something again, Shalnark pulled him close.
It was the first time he felt arms around his neck. Arms that seemed to press him closer and closer. A pressure that felt pleasant. The first time that Uvogin felt a hug. It didn't take long before a soft scream came out of him. It was anything but really audible, but it was loud enough to communicate the pain. Even Shalnark didn't know what to say to him. Perhaps the silence was just right at this moment.