[ it's not like it was with kuukou, with naughty busters, or even working with the bigger stairway to heaven at large. being with the dirty dawg--being with samatoki--doesn't' feel nearly as much like survival. the busters were one of the things ichiro did to survive, still working jobs he hated to save the money to get his brothers out of the orphanage.
the dirty dawg is... it's fun. it's challenging ichiro in a way he'd never really been challenged before, because he was a natural with the hypnosis mic from the minute one fell into his hands (enough that the s2h goons were jeering at him for kissing the boss's ass, unbelieving that someone as young as ichiro and kuukou could be as good as they were). samatoki was the first one to actually make things hard for him, and jakurai and ramuda, once they all met, were no different. it was a whole other level.
and samatoki, from enemy to friend to mentor to something else, to someone who sticks in ichiro's ribcage and makes his heart do backflips, has been there every step of the way. that hair ruffle gives him that flutter, and he ducks his head a little into the affectionate grin, not even putting up the prerequisite grumbling about being treated like a little kid, because the praise makes him light up.
for once, behaving himself, he leans down to toe out of his sneakers (he too has been victim to nemu nagging him, which was simultaneously cute and terrifying) and watches samatoki's back as he changes out of his jacket, leaning against the wall with his shoulder. ] Obviously. I still have to beat you, someday.
[ the glee softens for a minute, just enough as he watches samatoki's back in front of him, and ichiro taps into his easy confidence as he says something laced with more meaning than it first puts on, picking up on a thread of something he's ignored since the first time they met and pulling for the first time. ] ...I want to stay by your side.
packs my bags ig
the dirty dawg is... it's fun. it's challenging ichiro in a way he'd never really been challenged before, because he was a natural with the hypnosis mic from the minute one fell into his hands (enough that the s2h goons were jeering at him for kissing the boss's ass, unbelieving that someone as young as ichiro and kuukou could be as good as they were). samatoki was the first one to actually make things hard for him, and jakurai and ramuda, once they all met, were no different. it was a whole other level.
and samatoki, from enemy to friend to mentor to something else, to someone who sticks in ichiro's ribcage and makes his heart do backflips, has been there every step of the way. that hair ruffle gives him that flutter, and he ducks his head a little into the affectionate grin, not even putting up the prerequisite grumbling about being treated like a little kid, because the praise makes him light up.
for once, behaving himself, he leans down to toe out of his sneakers (he too has been victim to nemu nagging him, which was simultaneously cute and terrifying) and watches samatoki's back as he changes out of his jacket, leaning against the wall with his shoulder. ] Obviously. I still have to beat you, someday.
[ the glee softens for a minute, just enough as he watches samatoki's back in front of him, and ichiro taps into his easy confidence as he says something laced with more meaning than it first puts on, picking up on a thread of something he's ignored since the first time they met and pulling for the first time. ] ...I want to stay by your side.