You never knew him, but you're aware what he meant to Hiruma, what Hiruma meant to him as well. You've never witnessed his violence, but some of your thoughts are hard to fend off and sometimes you hurt yourself imagining what he could do, what he might do if you're not careful. But it's never really yourself you fear for.

Right after the Shinryuuji game, when Kurita came asking why Hiruma wasn't in the locker room, you went out in search, prepared to find Hiruma somewhere in the back of the stadium, pinned to a wall, or to the floor, getting violated by him just because his team lost to your team. Some perverse kind of revenge.

You were wrong then -- you’d just failed to check the showers, where Hiruma was all along -- but still, it didn't make you feel any easy.

+

"What's with the wooden face, fucking old man?" Hiruma tells you, as you step out of your hotel room for the team's first morning jog. "You're finally in fucking America!"

Yes, but so is he. You're not used to losing sleep.

+

After the match with Militaria, Hiruma's nowhere to be seen. But you think more sensibly this time and decide to check the showers first.

When you reach the end of the tunnel that leads there, you run into a couple of your teammates, all in some kind of a hurry to leave. Before you can stop to wonder, Shin Seijuuro clamps a stern hand on your shoulder. The moment you turn to meet his eyes, Shin shakes his head gravely. Warning you. Do not go there.

Someone sounds like they're groaning; you hear it, faintly, but it's Hiruma no doubt. So you pull your shoulder away from Shin's grip and head to the showers. The stalls are unoccupied except for the one near the back, just out of the harsh white light. There's water trickling from the showerhead.

Taking one step further, you finally see Hiruma, pressed back against the wall, his hand curved over the shaved head of the guy rocking against him. It doesn't hit you right away what's going on -- until you spot the pair of sunglasses on the dry sink.

You're out there in an instant.

And the last one to board the bus back to the hotel.

"Musashi-kun. Have you seen Hiruma-kun?" Mamori asks you. "I don't think Agon-kun is here yet, too."

"... Mamori."

"Yes?"

"It's been three years," you tell her, even though she won't understand, even though it crushes you. "Let them make up for lost time."

END