Fifteen Minutes

It was noon. Yukito was on serving duty that day at work, and Ishigami was in the kitchen making some sort of pastry. Yukito forgot which one.
All he did remember was how focused Ishigami looked, and how handsome he looked when focused, andー

"Yukito??"

"AAAー" Yukito jumped and spun around. It was just Quinn.
"O-oh, uh, hey Quinn! Sorry, I justー"
"No problem it's fine but like, can you help me with the croissants?" Quinn said quickly ー but also not in an annoyed tone.
"Oh yeah, sure thing!" Yukito said with a grin before taking one last glance at Ishigami.

He still didn't remember the name of that pastry.

***

After work, Ishigami ー surprisingly ー asked Yukito to go to that park they had been to before with Quinn and the others.
Only difference was that this time, it was just the two of them.

It almost seemed like a dateー

'Remember, this isn't a date or anything, we're just friends because that's what he wants and that's OK!'  Yukito thought as he walked with Ishigami.

Walked with Ishigami.

With Ishigami.

WITH ISHIGAMIー

"Yukito?" Ishigami's voice yoinked Yukito's head back out of the clouds.

"yESー I mean uh, yeah?" Yukito said, his voice almost cracking from surprise.
"Nothing, you just seemed distracted," Ishigami said.
"Oh, I did? Hehe, sorry about that; had you been talking to me?" Yukito asked sheepishly.
Ishigami shook his head. "No."

The two kept walking for a short while longer. Eventually, Yukito started talking and asking Ishigami questions and such. The two kept walking for a while before finding a bench and sitting down. As they did so, their shoulders brushed slightly.

"Ah, sorry," Ishigami said calmly as he moved over. "I didn't mean to uh... invade your space."
"Whー N-no no, it's OK!" Yukito said, waving his hands in front of his face. "I'm fineー like uh, I mean, I'm not bothered by it!!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah!" Yukito said.
Ishigami stayed quiet, then nodded.

***

"Now that I think about it," Ishigami said, leaning forward and resting his arms on his thighs. "I never asked this before: why did you want to be a chef?"
Yukito chuckled, ruffling his blond hair. "Oh, that? Well, thing is, I've just always loved cooking, and I got the chance to so, yeah. That's basically all, hehe."
Ishigami nodded. "Mm," he mused.
"What about you?" Yukito asked.

"Me?" Ishigami getsured to himself. "Well... it's uh..."
"Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" Yukito said suddenly. He looked worried, like he thought he was prying.
"No no, it's fine," Ishigami said. "I just... I guess you could say it was because I... don't want to stay stuck in the past."
"Oh," Yukito said softly. "Did something happen?"

"It's not much, just uh..." Ishigami trailed off and ran his hand through his black hair. "It's just past relations and such. Nothing important. Besides, that was about two years ago now, so I've been over it for some time."
"Oh," Yukito said. "Well, I'm glad you felt OK telling me."

Ishigami sat up straight again and nodded in response.

He even smiled; only a bit, but he did.

***

"Alright, I'm gonna go home now," Yukito said as he stood up and began to fish through his jean pockets. "First though, I think I should look at the timeー ah shiiiiit!"
Ishigami stood up as well. "What?" he asked.
"Oh uh," Yukito said awkwardly, "I- sorry about that, I just forgot my phone at home..."
"Oh," Ishigami said. "I could just show you the time with my phone."
"Oh, sure! Thanks," Yukito smiled. "Ah, it's only 5:30, I still have time to get home and stuff. Well, thanks Ishigami!"
"No problem," Ishigami said. He watched Yukito start walking away, but then, before he could stop himself, blurtedー

"Hold on, can you text me when you get home?"

Yukito turned back. He blinked. Then nodded.
"Sure!" he said.
"Thanks," Ishigami said just as Yukito started jogging to the bus stop.

When he was alone, Ishigami sat back down on the bench.
'That was weird,' he thought to himself as he folded his arms. 'I don't think I've ever asked someone who isn't family to do that since... well yeah, since him.'

Ishigami sat there. Then he furrowed his brow.

'Pfft,' he scoffed at himself internally. 'No, I'm not in love with him. We're friends. I don't date anymore.'

***
(About an hour later...)
***

Ishigami, still sitting on that same bench, had been checking his phone about every ten minutes now.

'I know he said he'd text me when he got home, the bus ride is only about fifteen minutes, what's taking him so long?' he thought.
Then he paused.
'OK maybe he forgot,' Ishigami thought, crossing his legs. 'That's a normal thing.'

'... or maybe he got hー no no no, he's probably fine.'

'Probably.'

'... damn it.'

Then he got up and stared walking around a bit. He was starting to worry, although he kept trying to give himself reasons not to, like the fact that there was a road closure on the way to Yukito's street that day, so it would probably take a bit longer than usual.

That did not help.
At all.

He sat back down.
"Alright, maybe I should just text him myself," he thought aloud to himself. 'That should... calm me down.'
But just as he pulled out his phone to do soー

A van sped by the park.

A big, black van with no windows, except the ones for the driver and front passenger.

'What...?' Ishigami thought as the van drove away.

He wasn't expecting to see an ominous black van speed past him as he was thinking about where Yukito was; in fact, it kind of scared him.

The timing was, to put it bluntly, too perfect. Too coincidental. Just off in general.

"Wait... is...?" he muttered under his aath. Thenー

He figured it out.

'Oh noー'

His eyes widened. His chest started feeling tight.

'Noー'

'YUKITO!!'

He ran after the van into a back alley.

***

Ishigami finally got to a run-down building in a back alley. Whoever was in that van had gone in there. The vehicle was parked just outside.
Unfortunately, the front door was sealed shut.
'There's gotta be a way in,' Ishigami thought. He ran around the building until he found a door.
He ran in and through a dark hall, and saw five figures standing over something. Something human sized. The figures looked like they were talking. About ransoms.

Ishigami clenched his fists. 'I don't have time to think.'

"HEY!!" he shouted at the figures.
They turned to face him. They were all tall men in dark clothes, probably leather jackets. They had bats.

And Yukito was on the ground.

"What'd'ya think you're doing here?" one of the gang members barked. "Beat it."
"Yeah, you better listen, pretty boy," another said.
"No," Ishigami said. "Give him back."
"Now."

The leader turned around, then scoffed. "The blond?" he laughed. "Alright alright, fine."
He moved forward smugly. "Alright, if you can pay our price, we'll hand 'im over to you. How 'bout it?"
Ishigami's chest got tight. "How much?"
The leader stood silently for a second. "Fifty... million."
Ishigami started breathing faster. "Just hand him over."
"Well now I don't want to," the gang leader retorted.
"Hand him over now."
"Nah."

Ishigami didn't think. He charged.

Ishigami fought with fluid grace—

— is what I would say if he knew exactly what he was doing.

Which he did not.

At all.

Tried to punch, got punched instead. Kick, fall, another kick, block, roll, get up and punch some guy's head.
Punched again, threw the guy. Gang member screamed. Loudly.

Got back up, some guy had a pocket knife. Wait is Yukito still there? Slash, nevermind. Is that blood? Does it matter? Maybe. Maybe not. Yukito matters. Oh wait that guy just fell over. Kicked down. Damn it Ishigami, kick his balls. Another loud scream. All down.

Ishigami tries to catch his breath. 'Finally, I can breathe...'

And just when Ishigami though it was over, something moved.

A shuffling sound behind him gave it away.

'But they're all down,' Ishigami thought. 'There shouldn'tー'

Then he moved slightly but fast, and a bat hit the floor from behind him right where his head had been. 

The leader.

Ishigami moved just in time and elbowed him in the head.

Gang leader screamed. Probably swore too. Ishigami was too tired to tell. He didn't care. Yukito was still there. That mattered more.

Someone shouted: "OH GOD HE'S CRAZY RUN!!"

The gang ran.

They were gone.

It's over.

Finally.

Then—

Ishigami buckled forward, grabbing his sides.
"FUUUーUUCK," he tried to scream, but it came out as a weird mix of scream and gasping noises.
'My sides hurt, my head hurts, my back hurtsー hell, my everything hurts AAAARGH!!!!' Ishigami screamed internally ー since his voice wasn't screaming properly.
Just then, he remembered something.
Something he didn't think he'd forget so easily when he first entered the building.

Yukito.

Akiyama Yukito.

Still unconscious on the ground.

"OH GOD, YUKITO!!" Ishigami screamed as he ran, stumbled and knelt next to Yukito.

"Hey, Yukito," he shook him, but there was no response.
"Come on, wake up," Ishigami shook Yukito again. He was really starting to panic now, and his hands were shaking.
Suddenly, his brain threw the worst possible thought at him.
'Is heー no that can'tー' he panicked.
And just as suddenly and unexpectedly, exactly what Ishigami needed to happen, happened.

"... Ishi..."

Ishigami stopped panicking. "Y- Yukito??"
There was no other response, but what had been said was more than enough; after all, Ishigami had a bad habit of making the worst possible outcome in his head.
What mattered in that moment was that Yukito was still alive.
Ishigami just held onto Yukito for a almost a whole two minutes, just feeling guilty but also relieved. Relieved that Yukito was OK, guilty because he had gotten there later than he should have.

And Yukito was cold.

That didn't help, either.

Just then, Ishigami heard something.

It was probably just a bird or a car, but he wasn't about to take any chances, especially after all that fighting he did.

He stumbled a bit, but he got up.

"Don't worry," Ishigami whispered. "I— I've got you, Yuki."

He ran out of the building.

Finally, they would be safe. 

Both of them.