Don't Be Afraid

Version 1

"FUCK YOU!" A bark is heard along the school hallway. Students rushing over to Maku, "Ryoto and Daichi is fighting-" before they could finish, Maku and I runover to the commotion and do what we normally do; Maku tying up the misfits and I take the injured. As we find the two troublemakers, Daichi prepares his hard hitting punch and before he could punch Ryoto, Maku gets in between them and grips his hand with great strength. I pull Ryoto's shirt to take him out of the fight. "What the hell?!" Daichi growls, "Why are you getting in the way of things, pretty boy?" he adds. Maku is famously known to be beautiful; dirty blonde, slightly curly, hair with bright blue eyes and smooth skinned, symmetrically shaped face. He is also very tall, strong, has a buttery voice and mysterious, well, he seems mysterious to other people, but not for me…

Heavy steps behind me, the view from the rooftop was priceless, the wind was also calming. We were only 14 at the time. "You're brother jumped, didn't he?" I turned around to face young Maku. His eyes as empty, pained and soulless as ever, it seemed as though he had lost all emotions to pain. He ignored me and continued to walk towards the edge. I realized what was about to happen and panicked. Before he could fell, I grip his shirt and pull him away from his demise. He shook his head and looked up to me, soul came back to his eyes. "Oh sorry," he stood up, wiped his pants, "It's not nice to just talk about someone's dead relative" he called me out. "I'm sorry…" I hesitated. "It's okay," he sighed and stared outwards towards the view. We both watched the nature, quietly enjoyed the wind. He then started to cry, "It's all my fault," I stared at him, confused. "I didn't knew he was suffering so much, I should have been there for him, I shouldn't hurt people like how they hurt him" he said quickly, sobs getting louder. Maku used to be the bully of the school, beating kids up until their at their last strand of life, but after his brother got enough of the bullying he received at school, Maku realized how awful he is for not doing anything about it. He loved his brother, but his brother hid everything from him, he didn't want Maku to be a murderer…

"You're ruining peace" Maku grips Daichi's hand and drags his hand behind, tying it with zip tie, pushing him against the school wall to make him stop resisting. "He's very strong" Ryoto admires Maku. "He really is," I grin, "Rumor has it, he is as strong as a bear" emotionally and physically. "I believe it" Ryoto replies. "Don't get distracted, Kojin" Maku glares at me from the side, girls squealing for Maku's strength. "Oh yeah! I need to take you to the infirmary" I grip Ryoto's shirt and drag him.

I sit him down on to the bed and pull up a seat in front of him to treat his wounds. "Ryoto?" the nurse peeks over the curtain. Ryoto just waves at her, "Who is it now?" she sighs. "Daichi" he replies. The nurse comes over to help me. Ryoto is the stereotypical noble, rich kid who has a short temper, everything pisses him off, he is also very fancy and protective over everything he cares about, especially food. He looks like the stereotypical bad boy; messy, short, midnight dark, hair with bright, pretty brown eyes. Girls also go head over heels for him. His handsome face gets obliterated by Daichi, especially his left cheek.
"Ow!" he squeals. "Shh! Why did you guys fight?" I wonder. "He stole my cookies," Ryoto says seriously. "As idiotic as that sounds" He mumbles as I stare at him for a second and bursts out laughing. "You fight over cookies?!" I question. "OF COURSE! If you put me up against the Cookie Monster, that beast will get obliterated" he frowns at me for not taking it all seriously. "You're stupid" I say instinctively. Before he could yell at me, Maku enters. "Daichi said the fight was over some biscuits" he closes the door behind him, looking disappointed at Ryoto. "They're cookies!" Ryoto exclaims, rolling his eyes. "Stop moving" the school nurse stares at him impatiently. He obeys and sits still, eyeing Maku. "Next time," Maku's tall presence towers Ryoto, looking at him, upside down from the behind. "Don't fight over stupid things" he stares in to Ryoto's eyes, filled with anger. "I wont" Ryoto looks away. Maku goes over and leans back on to the wall next to the door, "How's the calico cat case?" Maku casually asks me. "Case? What are you guys? Detectives?" Ryoto mocks. "Yeah, we're interns, just helping out in our free time" Ryoto stares blankly then raises his eyebrow. "You serious?" his eyes light up then Maku nods as a reply, "So what's the calico cat case?" he asks eagerly. "That's restricted information-" Maku cuts me off, "Calico cat case got it's name by a mix raced group full of sassy, flexible like cats, criminals who stole from dumb rich people, police dog's can't sniff them out lately, so they come for us pups" Maku puts his hand on his chin, closing his eyes, mumbling to himself. "Last seen two weeks ago…

In one of the richest looking houses, 2 guards unconscious, blood spread across the carpet, somehow opened the safe, somehow got rid of the security cameras, somehow broke in to the building. A tall skyscraper looking building is where the treasure is placed, witnesses say a group of 6 people enter, but calico cat has only 3 colours, maybe there are only 3, the other ones are just distractions.

"Why are you connecting it to calico cats so much?" I wonder. "Those cats literally send us a threating video, calling themselves the calico cats" Maku opens his eyes. He's right though. The bell rings, "Class time," Maku stands up straight, putting his hands in his pockets. "Let's go, Kojin" he gestures me out. Ryoto and I stand up as the nurse cleans before us. "Most of your wounds are covered," Ryoto stares as Maku leaves. "Is he attached to you or something?" he jokes. "Kind of," Ryoto face palms and chuckles. "We just understand each other in a different level" I smile.

"How did you become so strong?" I wondered towards Maku while admiring his body as he pants from partially breaking the punching bag. "I realized I needed to be stronger after I saw someone bullying some kid and I thought, at the time, that I need to dominate the bully, like I own the curb" he looked down. "That was obviously wrong" he sighed. I stand on my toes and pet his head. "Stop blaming yourself Maku" I smile, he bended down so I rubbed his head properly. "Why are you so short?" he giggles. "Hey! You're making fun of me?!" I put my hands on my hips and pouted. He stood up straight, "Why don't you try to punch?" he ignored me. "I'm too weak for that" I make my hands unmovable and shake them via arm. "Then get stronger" he dragged me to face the punching bag. "Whoa! Kojin is finally trying it out?" one of Maku's gym friends looked over to us curiously. "He needs to protect himself without me some how" Maku replied. I rolled my eyes, he bended down to my level and adjusts my arms for a strong punch. "So you know I'm weak!" I exclaimed. "Shush now, it's never too late to get strong," he stood up. "Punch it with all your might" he commanded. I closed my eyes and I punched. Maku exploded with laughter. I slowly opened my eyes, Maku wiping happy tears from his eyes. "WHAT THE HECK, MAN! You're telling me to be strong, but you're making fun of me!" I heated up from embarrassment. He ignored me. How long will he be laughing?! I heard his regular gym buddies whispering to each other. Maku coughed from a long laugh. "I haven't laughed that hard since…" he stopped. "Since your brother?" I patted his shoulder as he nodded. "You want to get lunch?" he asked, wiping sweat from his neck with his towel. "Seafood?" I offered. "It's like you're reading my mind" Maku grinned brightly.
He had never grinned that bright since.

Kojin opens the police department door cheerfully, "Hello, higher ups, mentors & colleagues!" he enters, twirling dramatically. "We have arrived" Maku adds while closing the door behind them. "Hello, pups"  Tadashi, their mentor and lead investigator, waves at them. He has long, straight and silky hair that reaches his hips in length, wearing a black waistcoat over a white button up long sleeved shirt that is folded up to his elbows, a very dark blue newsboy cap and also dark blue formal pants.  "You two should get changed" he smirks weirdly. "We're going out?" Kojin questions while they slowly go to their office, waiting for Tadashi's reply. "There's another victim" Tadashi grabs his cigarette out of his pocket and gestures the pups away.
Both starts to strip in their private office, wearing their usual get up; Maku in his black with little red stripes suspenders on white button up short sleeve and black pants while Kojin wears a giant bicolour (brown & white) cat hoodie tucked in to denim overalls and a dad-joke writing on a white t-shirt over the sweater. "By victim, he means another rich man right?" Kojin asks Maku as they both go back out to the lobby. "Or maybe the death of an innocent" Maku speculates suspiciously. "It's terrifying if he says it" Kojin thinks to himself. Maku does say and do things with no emotion, it makes him seem like a cold-blooded murderer. “Pups looking as sharp as always,” Tadashi grins. “Thank you” Kojin says, spinning slowly so Tadashi can admire his outfit. “Not bad yourself, sir” Maku replies politely. Tadashi grins happily, “Let’s go, pups” he smashes his cigarette on to the ashtray and exits the department. Kojin & Maku follows him out the door and in to their company car, "Is it far?" Maku asks, Tadashi just laughs. "We have homework to do" Maku adds. Kojin rubs his head & face furiously, "Don't remind me!" Kojin groans. Tadashi orders the driver to go to their destination, "It will only take the rest of the day" Tadashi smiles knowing what will happen next. "We will do all of the homework collected from this week tonight" Maku says with determination. "FUUU-!" Kojin yells.

Their drive goes on for 30 minutes, Kojin is starting to get impatient and hungry while Maku is also getting impatient, slowly falling asleep. "We theorize that there are 6 people in this group, but we discovered that there was actually 3" Tadashi looks out to the passing view. Maku shots up, his eyes widens and turns to Kojin who is already looking annoyed. "Bingo!" he exclaims in a happy way, but . Kojin attempts to smile, but he can't hide his annoyance towards the whole situation. His smiles turns in to a Grinch looking grin. "Terrifying" Maku says quietly. "I'M HUNGRY!" Kojin barks. Tadashi laughs at the two chaotic duo. "We can go get seafood after" Maku suggests. Kojin slouches, crosses his arms and pouts. "It's not worth it" he mumbles angrily. "I'll pay for your Tai Meshi" Kojin glares at him and sighs. "May I continue now?" Tadashi asks politely. Maku nods in response, "Last place was in Kirito Mato, the famous movie director, this time it's in Botan Hiroto" Tadashi continues. "The designer from the fifth district" Kojin adds, Maku stares at him "He knows his stuff" he thinks to himself, admiring Kojin's knowledge. "They stole 7.6 million," Tadashi chuckles in disbelief. Maku & Kojin jaws drop, "Why is boss passing it down to us?!" Kojin sits up properly, interested. "She wanted to test how hard you pups can bite"
The car stops and they arrive at a big mansion that looks similarly like a Victorian era castle. They exit the car, Kojin amazed by the architecture, Maku eager to investigate, but before they could enter the gates, the owner of the house approach them with fury. "This is the police?!" he is a skinny feminine man with a memorably weird moustache, odd clothes and a squeaky like voice. "Ugh! It is not professional to bring children in to the workplace" Botan glares at Maku & Kojin annoyingly. "Your recent spring collection was the heights of fashion" Kojin compliments and smiles sweetly. "Oh my! You're no child if you know the depths of beauty," he scans Kojin from head to toe and smirks. "Not my taste" he turns away and go in to his limo. "Where will he be going?" Kojin wonders, asking Tadashi. "A safe place somewhere," Tadashi squints to see Baton's car going off to the distance. "Let's dig up bones"        

I'm so tired. And hungry. When is school over? Oh. I forgot I have volleyball club after school. "Ryoto…" Who is calling me? "Ryoto~" So irritating, is it a fly? "RYOTO!" I open my eyes and groan. "What is it?" I stare at my best friend, Kako, a weak, worrisome, nervous wreck, full of  insecurities with black and one single white strand in his short but long straight hair partially covering his face. He flinches, scared of my stare full of annoyance. "The teacher was asking you" he looks away, hesitating. I realise what he said and I slowly turn around to see the teacher crossing his arms. "Sleeping in my class again, Mr. Puyumi?" he stands there like I'm suddenly an ant. "Detention for you sir" he points to the door. What type of school just kicks you out? "Or you can help the Piranha Patrol" Kako suggests quietly. "What is that?" the teacher demands. "A new punishment for misbehaving kids" Kako nervously say. "Ah, then you can help the Piranha Patrol" the teacher ushers me away.
Tsk, what even is this Piranha Patrol? I bet it's just some stupid, old, useless-
"HEY HEY!" Kojin pops up next to me.
"WHAT THE-"
"I scared ya', didn't I?" he grins. "How long has it been since we last met?" I put my hands in my pockets. "Uhm…" he thinks adorably. "A month or two, we're in the same grade aren't we?" he holds his hands on his back. I nod in response, "Going to the Piranha Patrol, bad boy?" Kojin teases. "Bad boy, eh?" I scoff. "I may look like it, but I'm actually well mannered" I hold my head high then I glance over to Kojin. "And how did you know?" I wonder, worryingly. "Maku and I run the whole thing" he smiles in a mischievous way. "I have to warn you though, I wont have any mercy"

We arrive at the school football field, 10 other people was there, burning hot sun steaming  us. "Lookie here clowns, you got a new friend!" Kojin pushes me in to the crowd of, what I think, is the "bad" kids. "Clowns?" I question. I do not allow any living organism to call me a clown. "Clown fish, that’s what we call the students who interrupts learning for others" Maku explains. "Clowns, we're going to do police work for the rest of the day!" Kojin claps happily. "What would you be doing?" one of the clown fishes asks. "Sit down and watch of course, Maku even brought popcorn!" Kojin smiles excitedly. His smile is contagious, I can't help but stare, why is he so cute? The messy short brown hair, the common black eyes, the pale & soft skin, the cute, somewhat, high pitched voice, the short height, making me feel dominant. He would look irresistible in a cat maid outfit, I can already hear his bad cat impressions. I should stop thinking about him like this, what is wrong with me? "OI OI OI! Ryoto!" Daichi's voice floods my ear. What is this actual clown doing here? I mean it’s predictable. "They told us to pair up, I guess you're with me then" he chuckles evilly. Why is it so hot in here? My dirty thoughts aren't making things any colder too. I raise my hand. This is so annoying. "What's your question, bad boy?" He should stop calling me bad boy or not I'll loose it. "Hello?" Kojin waves his hand in front of my face. I shake my head, I need to calm down. "Uh, What if we don't want to?" I ask. "You'll be wrestling with Maku in his local gym! It'll be a much more enjoyable show for me" Kojin says the last bit sinisterly. "Now clowns," he claps twice in command. "Off you patrol~"

Each pair go to different places that surrounds the school. "Man, the sun is booming right at us" Daichi burns his eyes from the sun. "Did you bring water?" he wonders. "No" I shook my head. "Do you still hate me?" Daichi stands in front of me, stopping our patrol. "I hate your attitude" he scoffs at my answer. How dare he scoff at me? "Is that why you agree to my idea?" Daichi grins. Early in the fight, Daichi offered an idea, he said if we got caught by the student council or this Piranha Patrol, we frame it as cookies. I agreed, because what we fought about was actually my stupid sister. Teasing him by being the muscle guy that has no brains. I always need to cleanup over her. "Maybe" I answer, he chuckles then shrugs. He goes next to me and we continue. Nice shops around, though all of them look cheap. We both quietly admire the civilization around us. "Oh hey!" he exclaims, definitely thought of something foolish to talk about. "You kept staring at Kojin" Daichi teases.Was it that obvious? "I was spacing out" I reply quickly. That reason makes sense. "You were blushing and seems like you're thinking of something fun" he adds. "I was thinking about something, but it doesn't need to be him" I look towards the sky, am I that easy to read? Daichi laughs, "Are you in to guys?" he questions, I look at him, "Yes, no, maybe. Never tried before so I don't know" I answer casually. "How about you?" I ask back. "HAH! Why would you even ask that? Of course I like girls" I stare at him blankly for a bit. "What?" he looks at himself like there's something on him. "How do you know when you never tried?" I ask. He stops at his tracks suddenly. "Well, since we're alone, why don't we try?" he smiles weirdly, approaching me creepily.  Before he could touch me, Kojin finds us and sighs. "I'm getting bored, why don't you guys fight Maku?" we both stare at him, confused while he munches on popcorns. Even though he's cute, he can be really cheeky. "Can we go home now?" I groan. "You can sleep in your home when Maku knocks you out" Kojin laughs evilly.

We enter a gym with a theme of blue and black, very cliché. Kojin forces me and Maku to wear boxing gloves and enter a menacing ring. How did I got dragged in to this? I shouldn't be ordered like this so easily. Maku keeps glaring back and forth between Kojin and me, like he's nervous or something. Though, unlike me, he seems to be unreadable. "I don't want to punch anyone" Maku states to Kojin. Kojin sighs and grabs a handful of popcorns, "I'm taking over your house then, your parents love me more than you anyway" Kojin giggles then stuffs all of the popcorn in his hand in to his mouth. How sloppily disgusting. After Kojin says that, Maku looks down. Quiet. Kojin giggles devilishly, "I might have awakened something~🎶" he sings the sentence. Maku slowly looks up, blood thirsty eyes. A predator ready to consume it's prey. My feet is trembling, it never shakes like this before. This is odd. He slowly walks towards me and then he takes up speed, like a zombie, ready for a punch. AHH! I am internally screaming, but this is obviously a test to impress Kojin. I just instinctively run. "How cowardly" Kojin yawns. What is up with him? "Maku, you don't want to do this right?" I ask nervously. He just responds with growls "I haven't seen him like this ever since we were 10" Kojin squeals in excitement, "10?" I dodge more of his attacks. Is he unconscious or something? "Ignore my commentary" Kojin giggles. What did he do when he was 10? "Maku? Can you hear me?" Kojin laughs hysterically, I can see Daichi sweat nervously. Why is he not responding?! As I try to figure it out, he finally lay a blow on me.

I wake up on the infirmary bed. Maku staring at me with worries in his eyes. "Did that idiot of a human being avenged me?" I sit up slowly, my head don't feel good. Kojin just bursts out laughing like a sudden bomb. "He didn't even got close!" he points to the bed next to me where a passed out and beaten up Daichi lays. At least He looks worse than me. Kaku rushes in, sweating and gasping. Looking like a mess. "RYOTO!" he exclaims, rushing towards me. "Are you okay?!" he trembles, checking my temperature and such. "I'm fine, don't worry" I smile. A nervous freak as always. He sighs in relief and as he turns around, Maku's handsome face scares Kako and he can't hold his scream. "STOP SCARING ME!" Kako pushes Maku instinctively and he drops. He has no reaction. Kaku panics, asking Maku repeatedly if he's okay. Kojin and I laugh then he checks the time above the nurse's desk. "Oh no, it's time for us to go" Kojin grabs his bag and picks up Maku off the floor. Maku checks the time, "We have homework to do, Kojin," Maku grabs his bag and they both start to leave. "I guess I'm sleeping in your house again~" Kojin says cheerfully, skipping his way out of here with Maku. "They didn't even say goodbye" I point out.

"The sky is pretty today" I say, enjoying the soft afternoon wind. "You're right" Kako  inhales deeply. We walk home all the time ever since we were 7. "Remember that time when there was a grasshopper on your head and you started to shake both of your arms like a chicken" I laugh. Kako blush in embarrassment, "W-well, remember that time when you saw a squirrel and you wanted to have it as a pet, but it attacked you" Kako’s laugh crowds the neighborhood street. "SHUT UP! That damn squirrel tricked me" I curse. It was true. It’s face was very adorable that I couldn't help it. "Sure" he says it, rolling the r and also rolling his eyes. We both laugh, but then he stops. "I noticed you have a thing for cute things, you know?" he punches me on the arm. I sigh in my exposure and Kako just laughs. “You’re not denying it?” he teases. “What is there to deny?” I scoff as we hear people approaching. “It’s the easiest subject, why won’t you understand?” the voice comes from around the corner. “Don’t say it like I’m dumb” another adds, two people. “But it is dumb that you couldn’t understand” Their figure starts to take shape. “Everyone is different okay!” It was just Maku and Kojin. "Oh hello there!" Kojin waves and smiles cutely, Maku also waving, but with no expressions. I can sense that Maku is avoiding me in some way. Kako looks down, twiddling his fingers nervously. Is he scared of them? "Where are you guys going?" I question. "This air head of a human being got lost" Kojin slaps Maku's back aggressively until he almost falls forward. "If you keep doing that, I might throw up" Maku says emptily. "Maybe you'll throw up the address of your house!" Kojin growls angrily, hitting Maku in the back for every syllable as he tries to stay standing. "I'm sorry" Maku says like a small puppy. Kojin sighs sharply, "Anyway, we need to get going before it's night time, but honestly, I might as well head home" Kojin pinches his temples. "I'll walk you home" Maku offers. "You don't need to" Kojin smiles weakly. "What if something happens to you?" he worries. Do we really need to watch this? "Nothing will happen…" Kojin quiets as he witnesses Maku's scary face. "You're vulnerable, cute and innocent looking," I close the gaps between me and Kojin, I can see him look anxious. "I don't think you can defend yourself without Maku" I tease. He shivers then sighs, "You're right, I'm too weak to fight" he walks past me. Maku bows politely then follows Kojin. I can't help but scoff. "They didn't say goodbye again" Kako states.

The blue bird was singing beautifully. I was admiring the caterpillar when I heard a young, 6 years old Kako getting chased by a dog. "HELP!" he was crying, gasping and running. All I could think in that moment was how painful he looked. I spread my arms to hug the dog and it jumped right on me. Kako clenched his eyes to not witness a death of a fellow child, but then opened his eyes slowly to see me petting the cute white husky. Kako panted, his hands on his knees, "Thank you," he checks the time with his little skunk watch. "Oh no, I'm late!" He stood up straight and started to run again, but I stopped him by holding his hand. "We're in the same school right?" I smiled, Kako looked at me then grinned.