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The chime of his doorbell was what startled Kiyotaka awake.
His eyes snapped open and he stared up at the ceiling, listening attentively for another sound. Was someone at his door? He waited for a little longer; nothing except the faint sound of his own breathing. Maybe he misheard something. It must have been a part of his dream. His eyelids started to flutter...
Another chime, followed by a rapid knocking against the door. And this time, the sound definitely came from the entrance. He sighed, waited for a beat, then pushed himself up to squint at the clock placed by his bedside. The glowing numbers spelled out 1:37. Who could it be at this hour? They really should know better than to break curfew. But still, he needed to answer it... despite how cozy it was under the blankets. He flicked the lights on and was pulling on a shirt when the doorbell rang for a third time.
He huffed in irritation at the sound. Whoever this mysterious person was, they should really learn some patience! He strode to the door, throwing it open with a frown, fully prepared to launch into a lengthy lecture—
All his words died in his throat as he came face to face with Mondo Owada.
“I— k-kyoudai?” Kiyotaka cracked open the door a little more to stare at him in disbelief.
The biker gang leader was leaning against the doorway, illuminated by the harsh hallway lights. His pompadour was completely messed up, the bleached curls falling down to frame his face, and his usually sharp eyeliner was all smudged. The signature Crazy Diamonds coat was nowhere to be seen, either. In spite of all of this, Mondo was casually propped up on one hand with a foot kicked back, like it was just another morning and they were about to walk to breakfast. He blew a strand of hair out of his face and weakly grinned. “Hey, Taka.”
It would normally be a welcome surprise, but right now he’s too tired to think straight. “...What are you doing here?”
Mondo didn’t respond, just slowly held up his arm that was hidden from view. Kiyotaka’s eyes widened. Slashed above his elbow was a gaping scar, stained a deep red. Skin was peeling at the edges in an ugly sight. As he watched, the blood pooling at the bottom began to steadily trickle down his arm. “Oh,” He said, faintly.
Mondo rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “So, uh, mind if I—”
He couldn’t just continue standing here, now was not the time to hesitate! “Yes, you can come in!” He exclaimed, pulling Mondo inside by the wrist and kicking the door shut.
“Ah... first we need...” He snapped his fingers quickly, trying to recall the first aid training that he’d done back at Kaiseidan. “A towel! Right, follow me!” He led Mondo to the front of the bathroom sink and grabbed a spare washcloth.
“Keep this on your arm,” he instructed, tossing it Mondo’s way. It should put enough pressure on the wound to stop the blood from flowing for now. Kiyotaka busied himself by vigorously scrubbing his hands with soap, trying not to look at how the patch of red against the fabric of the towel was quickly growing.
Mondo shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as the water continued running, “Ya know.. I was just gonna ask for like, a bandaid...”
He turned to look at Mondo in dismay. A bandaid. As in, a single bandaid?! He didn’t want to even imagine how easy it would be to get an infection if he just slapped a bandaid on and was done with it... Well, Mondo was the ultimate biker gang leader; he must be used to acting so reckless. But, that just made it even more important to show him how to properly care for a wound! “Absolutely not!” Mondo shrugged his shoulders in resignation, probably expecting him to say that.
“Go take a seat while I get the first aid kit,” Kiyotaka said, shutting the faucet off. He always kept one inside the cabinet next to his bed, in case of any injuries from practicing kendo. Luckily, he hadn’t needed to use it until now.
Mondo was sitting slightly slouched with a hand in his pocket, and turned to look at Kiyotaka when he set the white box on the desk. He undid the clasps and flipped it open. A roll of gauze, bandages, antibiotic ointment, and a cold pack all sat neatly in the compartments. Now came the hard part. He hesitantly peeled off the washcloth and set it on the table... and sighed in relief. The bleeding had completely stopped by now, and it looked like a clot was already forming! He beamed at Mondo, “Alright, now all I need to do is clean and bandage it, then...”
Kiyotaka trailed off and tilted his head slightly. Was he imagining things, or was there a slice of something red right below Mondo’s winged eyeliner? He carefully leaned forward... and placed a hand on Mondo’s cheek.
Mondo made a noise in the back of his throat as he moved closer, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Wh-wh-whaaat are you...?” He stammered.
“Hold still!” Kiyotaka ordered, and gently swiped his thumb across the area; sure enough, there was a slight scar. Just a little bigger than a paper cut, but still there nonetheless. He glanced at the pad of his finger and frowned; there was a dot of blood on it. It must have been recently made.
Wait a second. How were the cuts in such drastically different places? And just what could have caused... Oh no. He had the growing suspicion that this wasn’t just a wood carving incident like he’d assumed. As if knowing what Kiyotaka was going to do next, Mondo quickly jerked his hands away and became very interested in the floor all of a sudden.
“Kyoudai,” Kiyotaka started. “Give me your hand...”
Mondo darted his eyes up to meet Kiyotaka and sighed, like a child that knew he was about to get in trouble. “Don’t freak out,” he muttered, slowly extending a hand. “‘S not a big deal, really—” Kiyotaka gingerly took it; and immediately noticed that his knuckles were bruised into an angry, blotched purple. It looked more like tenderized meat than anything else. “You got into another fight?!” He cried, and the guilty expression that flashed across Mondo’s face only confirmed it.
Honestly! When would his kyoudai learn to solve conflicts with words, and not fists? “I know what you’re gonna say,” Mondo started, holding both his hands up. “But they all fuckin’ deserved it, okay?”
“They all— multiple people?!” Oh, it just kept getting worse and worse, didn’t it?!
“A couple a’ punks, yeah! But it’s fine—”
“It’s not ‘fine’! You’re hurt!”
“Heh, this is nothing. You shoulda seen them—” Kiyotaka’s face blanched. “I mean, it was nothing life-threatening! I just taught ‘em a lesson... ow!”
“Kyoudai, you should have known better!” He insisted, emphasizing it with a swipe of antibiotic ointment against the cut. He paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to word it so that it didn’t sound rude. “You shouldn’t... resort to violence! Not when things can be resolved by a civilized conversation!”
Mondo bit his lip and looked away. “Wasn’t something that I could just... let go...”
Was it one of those territory disputes that biker gangs frequently got into? “I know you have to maintain the reputation of the Crazy Diamonds, but next time you could be seriously hurt!” With how impulsive Mondo was, it could have been so easy for a broken nose, or a concussion, or even worse... He shook his head, trying to clear away those thoughts.
“Buncha cowards, bringing knives to a fistfight... and, it wasn’t about the gang,” Mondo added in a rush. “It was... cause—”
“Because what?!”
“‘Cause they were talking crap about you!” Mondo sucked in a breath. “...Oh shit.”
Kiyotaka froze in the middle of wrapping gauze around his arm. “I— they were talking about me?!” He repeated incredulously.
“They were saying some stupid fuckin’ stuff bout how you were an uptight loser... and... it reminded me a lot about how much of an asshole I was to you at the beginning of the year.” He hung his head in shame. “I tried talking to them at first. Honest. But it didn’t work and I—” He threw his arms around Mondo, who took a sharp intake of breath in surprise.
“Thanks,” Kiyotaka mumbled. “But... you don’t have to try to help me with that. I can deal with them myself.”
Before Hope’s Peak he didn’t have any friends that would rush to his defense whenever his notebooks were ripped up or his desk was scrawled over with rude names; or, in fact, any friends at all. It caused him to get used to people looking down on him; but for Mondo to care so much that he would even get injured for him...? And to think that Kiyotaka once wrongly assumed that he was a good for nothing delinquent!
But still, he wanted to change how people viewed him by himself. He knew that part of it was because of his family name, which made it even more important to prove to how he wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as his grandfather! If he became prime minister, he would have to work on his interpersonal skills more.
He realized that his arms were still around Mondo and he quickly let go. What was he thinking?! It could open up the wounds again.
“Anyways, I should really finish this...” He continued, picking up his roll of gauze.
“Bandaging! Y-yeah, you should do that!” Mondo said loudly.
For a few minutes he worked in silence, tying the gauze into a neat bow and putting an adhesive bandage on Mondo’s cheek. He squeezed the cold pack until the contents mixed together, wrapped it with a clean towel then molded it to the bruised knuckles.
“...I think I’m done!” Kiyotaka declared, leaning back to inspect his work.
Mondo flexed his arm experimentally and whistled. “Woah. This feels good as new!”
“I’m glad! Now, listen closely okay? You’ll need to keep the cold pack on your hand for about ten more minutes,” he continued as they got up. “And don’t pick at your bandages and check for any signs of infection and of course tomorr- I mean this morning we’re heading straight to the infirmary and—“ they reached the entrance, “Did you get all of that?” He looked at Mondo anxiously.
The corners of Mondo’s mouth had turned up, “I got it.”
“Good,” he sighed in relief. “Well, we both should really go to sleep... I will see you in a few hours!”
He was about to close the door when a foot stuck out, keeping it in place.
“Hold on—! One... one more thing,” Mondo said. “Uh... thanks, kyoudai. For everything.” Their eyes met.
“Huh? I-I mean, you don’t have to thank me!” Kiyotaka cried, then dropped his voice to a whisper. “Just... knowing that you’re safe. That’s enough for me.”
Mondo’s eyes widened at the last sentence, and Kiyotaka slapped a hand over his mouth. That must have sounded so embarrassing! He’d never been particularly good with words...
“O-okay then. Goodnight!” He stammered.
“Taka, I—”
Kiyotaka slammed the door shut without thinking. Oops. Well, whatever Mondo was about to say could just wait until the morning.
The morning... half an hour must have passed already, and he still needed to wake up early in order to get some much needed studying in! He scrambled to pack up the first aid kit and turn off the lights, then hurried back into bed.
But this time, the covers weren’t needed. For some reason it suddenly became particularly hot in his room. Perhaps it was the stress causing his body temperature to rise? Yes, and that would explain why heat was collecting beneath his cheeks right now...