A fic inspired by this post by @ultraimaginez and written with her permission! This is the part one of what I am anticipating will be a three part series.
Summary: You are nearly thirteen. The dog days of summer feel like they will last forever and there's no one you'd rather spend it with than you're best friend, Toji.
WC: 1.6k
The crunch of gravel beneath bike tires and the sounds of cicadas humming in the late July heat provide the soundtrack to the greatest heist you and Toji have managed to pull off in your nearly thirteen years of friendship.
The baskets on your bikes are filled with as many popsicles as the two of you could physically carry. It is clear from the rapid melting of the icy candies that neither of you had considered the logistics of transporting frozen goods after your escape from the Zennin compound. It hardly matters now. The sweetest part about them is the act of rebellion they represent.
Toji lets out a feral laugh that sounds almost as wild as he feels as the two of you race down a hill without ever hitting the brakes—speeding faster and faster away from the adults who expect you to be using this time to train diligently with one of the clan elders. Trees fly by in a blur and the landscape becomes nothing more than a green backdrop. The only thing that feels real in the entire world is the two of you.
Eventually, you reach the familiar lake. Your parents have been bringing the two of you here for as long as either of you can remember. Before middle school most of your summer days were spent along this shoreline—grubby hands made sticky with juicy watermelon, the smell of sunscreen hanging heavy in the humid air. Only this time there are no grown ups to yell at you.
Toji beats you to the water’s edge by the fraction of a second, loose gravel flying into a cloud of dust as he skids to a stop. It was hardly a landslide victory, but it’s enough to have him already flashing you a smug smile and narrowing his green eyes as he looks down his nose at you. “Told you I’d win. I’ve always been the fastest.”
A second cloud of dirt forms as you skid to stop beside him and allow your own bike to fall to the ground. You push him hard as you dismount and frown. “That wasn’t a fair race, asshole. You got a head start.”
He shoves you back, grinning wickedly as you stumble a little, nearly falling over from the force of it. “Sounds like an excuse to me.” He taunts in a sing-song voice. Without another word you pounce on him and the two of you begin to wrestle along the lake’s shore.
Toji hit a growth spurt a few months ago and his extra size has become a huge advantage. You’ve been sparring together since you were both old enough to throw a punch—and until recently the two of you had been evenly matched. But puberty has hit your friend like a truck.
Everything about him is starting to change and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by you (or anyone else at school, for that matter). His voice is cracking, which you tease him about endlessly, but it’s clearly starting to get deeper and deeper. His once gangly limbs are starting to add muscle definition. And he’s already grown nearly four inches since spring of this year. Sometimes when you think about all the ways Toji is growing up it makes the blood rush to your cheeks and your heart race a little faster than normal.
You try not to think about it too much…
But it’s clear that today it’s heavy on your mind. You’re distracted when Toji pile drives you into the ground with his shoulder in your stomach and arms wrapped around your knees. You wheeze as your back hits the earth hard, and the wind is knocked from your lungs. You scramble to sit up, fingernails clawing into the dirt and legs thrashing. But Toji’s got you pinned. He leers down at you from above and the sun forms a halo around his long black bangs. For a moment your breath catches in your throat.
“I win. Again.”
Without thinking, cursed energy flows naturally to you and enhances your strength. You reach up and push hard on his shoulders, knocking Toji off you with more force than you’ve ever used before. You are met with the sound of a large splash and the feeling of water washing over you before you even realize what has happened.
You rub the water out of your eyes in time to see a mop of black hair surfacing from the middle of the tiny lake and a set of angry emerald eyes glaring at you. For a beat the two of you are quiet—only the deafening buzz of the insects in the trees fill the space between you. Suddenly the silence is broken by your loud cackling. Laughter racks your body so hard you feel your abs cramp as you watch Toji silently sulk out of the water back towards you.
“You sh-should hahaha—” you wipe at the tears forming in your eyes. “You should have s-seen your f-face! Hahaha!” Hysteria has you in its grips and you can’t even keep your eyes open any more. The image of Toji glowering at you from the lake is a permanent fixture behind your eyelids as you shake with mirth.
Without warning you feel your body being lifted in the air, which causes you to laugh even harder despite the sudden instinct to escape kicking in. “Put me down, asshole!” You shriek with barely contained joy as Toji hoists you up and drags your flailing body towards the water. “No no no no no!” You fight him in between fits of giggles, but Toji’s jaw is set in a line of determination. His scowl doesn’t budge until he has determined he’s deep enough, then he flashes you an evil grin before dropping you.
The freezing cold water feels like a slap to the face after an afternoon spent nearly sweating to death in the dojo on the Zennin property. Your limbs thrash wildly as you fight to the surface, spluttering as soon as you get your head out of the water. Toji’s now laughing just as hard as you were, clearly feeling victorious.
You consider dragging him back under to continue rough housing in the water, but after a day’s worth of training and your earlier wrestling match you are exhausted. You extend your hand to Toji. “Truce?”
He studies your outstretched palm for a long moment, seeming to weigh his options, before grabbing your hand and smirking. “For now.”
Toji yanks you to your feet and the two of you make your way back to the shore. One you’re on land you begin opening the packages of the now melted popsicles—sucking down the cold sugary juices that stain your faces with a rainbow of colors. The silence between the two of you is comfortable like it always has been. Toji is your best friend. You don’t need words to understand one another and he’s never been particularly chatty anyway. So you’re somewhat shocked when Toji is the one who speaks into the quietness of the afternoon.
“The geezers are pissed.” You glance up at his preferred term for the Zennin elders. You’ve always believed Toji has more virtues than anyone gives him credit for, but respect has never been among them. “They’re finally starting to realize I’m never going to have cursed energy.” Toji doesn’t meet your eyes as he grabs for another plastic bag filled with bright red liquid that might be cherry or raspberry flavored and rips it open with his teeth.
You frown, wiping off your own multicolored mouth. “You don’t know that, Toji. Lots of people don’t start using cursed energy until—” Toji shoots you an icy look that stops you abruptly.
“I’m not delusional. If I had any I would know by now.” He doesn’t look sad or angry— but his gaze has the weight of certainty behind it. You swallow around all the words that come immediately to mind. I’m sorry… That’s awful…What are you going to do? Instead you nod wordlessly and wait for him to continue.
“They want me to do a bunch of pointless training even though we all know it’s a waste of time.” He scoffs, picking up a stone near his hand and chucking it at the water—watching it splash and then sink below the surface.
You choose your next words carefully. “Well, even if you don’t have cursed energy, you’re still the strongest person I know.” You feel the tips of your ears and the apples of your cheeks flush red as Toji levels you with an unreadable look at your admission. “What if you just got really good at your martial arts? You don’t need a cursed technique to kick ass.”
Toji studies you thoughtfully before his expression melts into a familiar smirk. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I can still kick your ass either way.”
He grins when you shove him hard and huff. “I launched your ass into the lake less than an hour ago, moron.”
There’s a twinkle in his eye as he looks from you to the bikes scattered on the ground. “Oh yeah? I’m still faster. Race you back to the compound!” Before you can even comprehend what Toji has said, he’s on his feet and running for his bike.
“No fair! You’re such a dick!” You shout angrily, scrambling to your own feet as you watch Toji kick off the ground and start pedaling as fast as he can. His laughter floats through the muggy air like a summer breeze as you race after him.
You have never been more sure that this is how you will spend all your summers for the rest of your life.
Authors Note: Jeez. I sure hope no one does anything to break these kids hearts... that would be fucked up 👀
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