Control
By Icka! M. Chif

Hakuba-kun loves to be in control. He -has- to be in control. Of himself at the very least, and of his surroundings whenever possible. It's part of who he is.

Kaito loves to chip away at Hakuba-kun's control, make him laugh, or angry, or any sort of emotion. He said it was a British defect one time, what ever that means.

And as much as Hakuba-kun gets mad at Kaito for it, I think he enjoys it too. He wouldn't bait Kaito as much as he does if he didn't. There's always a sparkle in his eyes whenever he and Kaito are having one of their contests of wills that you don't at any other time, not even when Hakuba-kun's chasing the Kid.

It makes him more alive. Kaito's gotten under his skin without even knowing it.

It's showing in other ways too. The other day, I actually got him to play with me. Well, maybe that's not quite the right term.

Whenever I go after Kaito with my mop, he ducks and dodges and scampers all over the room like a trained monkey. Hakuba-kun's not much of one for dodging, he's not nearly as athletic as Kaito is.

But he did surprise everyone when I tried to hit him with the mop by grabbing his umbrella and blocking the strike when I pushed him, while lamenting the fact that he wasn't supposed to fight with ladies.

Kaito took the opportunity to flip my skirt and inform him that I wasn't a lady.

Both Hakuba-kun and I hit him over the head for that. He just laughed.

It's funny. Kaito's been my best and closest friend for years and years now. While he's cheerful and friendly, he doesn't have a lot of other friends besides me. I suppose I should feel jealous that he's paying attention to someone other than me, but I know that when they're done with their latest bout of bickering, he's going have this silly grin on his face as he sits down next to me again. Where he's always been, beside me.

I'm not the only one who watches Hakuba-kun and Kaito. Akako-chan does too, usually with this melancholy look in her eyes that Kaito gets sometimes. There's something between Kaito and Akako-chan too, something that no one talks about. He's kind of wary of her, but at the same time trusts her too. It's like they have something in common between them, some secret. It's very strange.

But I worry about her sometimes too. I think she's just like Kaito and Hakuba-kun in some ways. She's nice, but there's no one close to her. So I'm working hard to become her friend, and I think I'm beginning to understand why Kaito likes to play with Hakuba-kun so much.

It's fun to glimpse those little shards of personality peek out behind the various masks and shields. To see what lays behind their control.

... and when she's feeling up to it sometime, the two of us are going to have to turn the tables on Hakuba-kun and Kaito.

And they're not going to know what hit them.
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