“You! Go clean the second year classes. I’ll take care of the first years.” Kame shoved a mop into Jin’s hands. Turning away immediately, Kame left Jin standing alone in the hallway.

 
“Brat,” Jin muttered under his breath. Sighing, he entered Second Year Class A. Jin let his eyes roam around the room. Looks clean enough. With a satisfied nod, he continued to Class B.

 ********

 
An excited chorus of “Ryo-chan!” greeted him as he turned the corner.

 
Three boys were sitting on the guardrail outside the school while another four lounged around. Ryo returned their excited waves with a relaxed wave of his own.

 
Barely able to keep the smile off his face, he went immediately over to the group.

 
“What took you so long today? We were getting so bored,” Yasuda Shota whined, stomping his foot for effect. His little tantrum was cut short by an efficient smack on his head.

 
“Stop acting like a girl. We’re in public here,” scolded Murakami Shingo, crossing his arms over his chest and staring pointedly at Yasu.

 
“But, Hina-cha~n. Ryo has never been this late.” Yasu rubbed his head but his pitiful look was wasted on the group.

 
“Ah, sorry. I stopped along the way to buy this for you guys,” Ryo said, holding out 3 packets of takoyaki as a peace offering.

 
Before anyone could blink, the packets were snatched up by four other members of the group, namely Yokoyama Yu, Ohkura Tadayoshi, Maruyama Ryuhei and Shibutani Subaru. The four boys proceeded to devour the food without a word of thanks.

 
“Hey! Save some for me!” hollered Uchi Hiroki, as he jumped off the guardrail to save whatever he could of the takoyaki.

 
Uchi had barely taken a step before his view was obstructed by another packet of takoyaki. “I knew they’d be on it like starved dogs. Here’s yours,” Ryo offered and he was rewarded with a smile from Uchi.

 
Ryo never expected to see his friends again.

 
”Promise you’ll never forget us!”

 
“We’ll find you, Ryo-chan!”

 
“Wait for us in Tokyo!”

 
“Come back soon!”

 
“Ah, Uchi! Are you okay? Guys, Uchi fell!”

 
9-year-old Ryo rubbed the tears from his eyes as the running forms of his dearest friends grew smaller and faded into the distance. Turning to his parents in the car, he shot them the best glare he could muster.

 
“I don’t want to move to Tokyo! I can stay here and take care of myself,” he insisted stubbornly.

 
“Nishikido Ryo, stop being such a spoiled child. We’ve explained things to you. You can’t stay alone here in Osaka. You’re too young. And there are so much more opportunities in Tokyo. You have a bright future there,” his father reprimanded the young boy.

 
It had taken a fight in elementary school with a certain Akanishi Jin over who had the tastier bento before Ryo started to make friends again. Soon, he had started a new life with his current two best friends, Jin and Yamapi.

 
As he looked at his friends bicker among themselves, Ryo was thankful for being able to meet them again.

 
Ryo sniffled. Jin had soccer practice while Yamapi was at another school for a volleyball match. Ryo had caught a cold just the other day, so he was on his way home instead of cheering his teammates on. He had tried to brush it off but Yamapi was adamant that he go home and get proper rest.

 
Deciding not to walk the rest of the way, Ryo got on a bus. In his daze, he did not realize that he had boarded a school bus instead of a public bus.

 
Flopping onto a seat, he barely registered that the bus was empty. As much as he tried, he could not fight the drowsiness that slowly overcame him as the bus rumbled forward.

 
“Well well well… Look what we have here,” a mocking voice pierced through Ryo’s sleppy haze. Cracking his eyes open, he could barely make out a shape of a person before he was roughly pulled from his seat and into the middle of a group of Arashi High students.

 
Ryo could feel his body sway uncontrollably as he was shoved from every direction. His mind could not catch up fast enough to wonder how he had boarded an Arashi High school bus.

 
“Let him go,” a black-haired young man said from the front of the bus, stepping towards the group. Six other boys also stood up and filed in behind the boy.

 
“Who’s going to make me? You?” Matsumoto Jun said, leaning his weight on a still-dazed Ryo.

 
“If I have to,” came the reply.

 
“Why are you standing up for a Kitagawa boy?” MatsuJun asked curiously.

 
“You’re bullying an innocent person. I don’t care what school he comes from,” Subaru answered, taking another step towards the group.

 
Realizing it was pointless to fight his own schoolmates, MatsuJun just shrugged and shoved Ryo towards the other group of boys. “Get him out of my sight.”

 
Subaru caught a delirious Ryo in his arms and together, the eight boys got off the bus.

 
When he lifted his heavy eyelids, he was met by the sight of seven heads crowding around his face. Groaning loudly, he made a feeble attempt to shove them away.

 
“YELLOW!” came the excited voices as they enveloped him in a group hug.

 
“Hah?” Ryo tried to shake his head but only succeeded in making the world spin more furiously around him.

 
“Yellow! Have you forgotten us?” a disappointed Yasu asked.

 
When they got no reply from Ryo, the boys started to point to themselves.

 
“I’m Red! Red! You know me, Red!” Subaru screamed in a panicked voice, shaking Ryo roughly by the shoulders.

 
“And I’m Black! You can’t forget me now, right?” Yoko said, a disbelieving expression on his face.

 
Uchi waved a hand in front of Ryo’s face. “I’m Pink. And there’s Orange, and Blue, and Green.” Uchi pointed to Maruyama, Yasu and Ohkura in turn.

 
Seeing Ryo cast a confused look at the last boy, Uchi said, “That’s Nasu.”

 
“Oi, stop calling me a vegetable,” Murakami said, smacking Uchi on the head.

 
Still getting no response, the seven boys stepped away from Ryo to pose dramatically.

 
“Eito Rangers!” they sang, turning their gaze hopefully to the boy currently sitting on the sidewalk and looking like he had just dropped into a very colourful and scary nightmare.

 
Something in his mind clicked. “Guys!” Ryo grinned, jumping up and hugging his childhood friends.

 
After catching up, Ryo had spent every waking moment with his old gang. They would meet up after school and hang out until the wee hours of the morning. Ryo would usually crash at Uchi’s rented apartment before heading off to school the next morning. His parents were only allowing him such freedom because it was his old gang.

 
Ryo knew he was pushing aside Jin and Yamapi, but for now, things never felt so right in his life. He would introduce Jin and Yamapi to the gang soon. Then they would all get along together wonderfully.

 ********

 
The sun was starting to set as Kame gave a tired huff. He had just finished mopping the floor of the final classroom. Satisfied with the condition of all the classes, he wondered briefly if Jin had cleaned the classes properly. He dreaded getting another round of detention should Johnny-san be displeased with the results of their cleaning.

 
Deciding to check on the older boy, Kame stuffed the cleaning utensils into the janitor’s closet. Turning to the stairs, he found his way blocked by a boy leaning against the railing.

 
Kame had never seen the boy before. “Can I help you?” Kame ventured.

 
“It’s all your fault.” The boy raised his eyes to stare at Kame in the eye. His bangs did little to soften the intense stare he directed at Kame.

 
Kame did not like the tone that the boy used. Probably one of those who wanted to receive chocolate from some girl on Valentine’s Day that ended up giving them to me, Kame guessed. If that was the case, he knew exactly how to handle this situation. He had more than enough experience dealing with jealous boys.

 
“Excuse me? You have me mistaken for someone else.”

 
The boy pushed himself off the railing and took a step closer to Kame. Slowly, step by step, never breaking eye contact, he advanced until he stood directly in front of Kame.

 
Kame was wary of what the boy was trying to do. Staring defiantly back up at the taller boy, Kame refused to budge an inch backwards.

 
“Coming here, turning everything upside down, acting like you own the place, do you know what you’re doing? You, a nobody. You just come strolling in here, taking what is not rightfully yours, humiliating him in front of the whole school. Do you know how much you’ve hurt him?”

 
Kame raised a confused brow at the words that was uttered to him. He was not going to let his guard down, though. Though the words were said quietly, he could not miss the underlying hate they were laced with.

 
“Him?”

 
“Don’t play dumb with me. You know who I’m talking about.”

 
“Look, I honestly don’t know what’s going on. But you’ve definitely got the wrong person. Now, I suggest you get out of my way and go find the right guy to harass.” Kame madea  move to step past the boy.

 
Without warning, Kame was grabbed by the collar and flung down the stairs.

 
Jin had finished cleaning the classes in the span of 30 minutes. Getting thirsty, he had gone down to the ground floor to get a drink from the vending machine. Wondering if Kame had finished with the classes on the first floor, he grabbed another can of Pepsi from the machine and started to head up the stairs.

 
Jin had gone up half a flight of stairs when a body came flying down towards him. Jumping to the side, he barely escaped getting hit. Looking down at the body that had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, he was shocked to see Kame lying sprawled and groaning on the ground.

 
“Kamenashi?!” Jin turned to look at the top of the stairs only to see the end of a school jacket disappear around the corner.

 
Jin rushed to Kame’s side as the younger boy struggled to get up. “Ow! I swear. One of these days I’m going to get killed by idiots like these,” Kame muttered, sitting up.

 
“Are you alright? Is anything broken? Who was that? Can you stop pissing everyone off? You have a smudge on your cheek. Why didn’t you scream for help?” Jin rattled off every question he had in his mind.

 
Kame stared at the older boy who was now babbling on and on. Placing a finger on Jin’s lips, Kame effectively silenced the older boy.

 
“I’m just a bit sore. I’ve been thrown from worse places. I don’t know who that was. I don’t care. This happens on a yearly basis. Usually Maru, Koki and Tat-chan are around to prevent it, but since I got stuck in detention with you, they’re not around. Is this explanation enough for you?”

 
Jin nodded, not daring to breathe. All he was concentrating on was the warm finger on his lips. He would have accepted it if Kame had said that he was an alien and that falling down stairs is an alien mating ritual at that moment in time.

 
“Good. Now, are you done cleaning?” Kame asked, removing his finger to push himself up.

 
“Yes. All done!” Jin said proudly.

 
Kame gave a small smile but it faltered as he fell back onto the floor with a pained grunt.

 
“Kame?! What’s wrong?” Jin asked, checking the boy for blood or other life-threatening injuries.

 
Shaking his head, Kame massaged his right ankle. “I think I twisted my ankle on the way down. This is going to be a pain going home.”

 
Kame was surprised when Jin squatted in front of him. Turning his back to Kame, Jin said, “Hop on. I’ll carry you back.”

 
“I can get home fine on my own,” Kame said, ignoring Jin’s offered back.

 
Jin turned around and frowned. “Stop being stubborn. You’ll just aggravate the injury like that. How are you going to play in next week’s game with a broken leg?”

 
Kame looked surprised. “How did you know I have a game next week?”

 
Jin absently rubbed the back of his neck. “I heard it from… someone,” he mumbled.

 
Kame did not look too convinced, but he let it slide. He had a twisted ankle to take care of first.

 
“I can walk fine. See.. ah!” Kame fell forward as he tried to stand. Luckily for him, Jin was directly in front of him.

 
Stumbling into Jin’s arms, Kame gasped as another jolt of pain coursed through his leg.

 
“No, you can’t,” a low murmur came from the boy currently supporting his weight.

 
Propping Kame up, Jin did a half turn and let the younger boy drop onto his back. Bending slightly, he hooked his arms behind Kame’s knees and lifted the boy onto his back.

 
“Put me down!” Kame said, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. He punched Jin’s shoulders lightly a few times to emphasize his point.

 
“I will. When we get you home,” Jin stated, starting to walk out of the school building.

 
An almost inaudible “Thank you” put a huge smile on Jin’s face for the rest of the week.

A/N: Hai hai!    Another chapter done! We’re getting closer to the Akame rabu!! I have a million ideas for this AU, but I’m afraid that it would make the entire thing too long. So, here’s where I need your help!

 
Would you like me to expand more on the story, the other characters, give Akame more headaches, and thus maybe make this series quite long

 
OR

 
Would you like me to wrap it up soon-ish but put the other parts in as either one-shots or side stories?

 
Please let me know! (^___^)