It was after their big fight with some gang whose name he couldn't bother to remember, when Murayama approached Sannoh and “jokingly” asked Cobra if he could join them once he'd left Oya High, that he noticed it.
Hyuga wasn't one to care about what's going on outside Daruma Temple. As long as they didn't touch his people and their territory, he wouldn't bat an eyelid to whatever feud the other gangs currently had with each other. He'd rather lie on the floor of his room and sleep the day away, waking up when he's hungry or the world's burning, than waste his time and energy dealing with the world's endless problems.
Despite locking himself up in the temple most of the days, Hyuga still managed to get his daily dose of the town's happenings, thanks to Kato and the Toutetsu brothers. The trio enjoyed gossips as much as they enjoyed fighting, much to his annoyance. Luckily their fists were as fast as their mouths, so Hyuga simply let them be.
And because it's through them that he'd learned more about the SWORD leaders that wasn't Cobra, actually. Rocky, Smokey, Murayama...
He'd known Murayama for his durability and resilience. Sakyo had once talked about the boy being able to withstand hundred punches and then dealt them back afterward. Apparently that's how Murayama climbed his way to the top as Oya High's head. Such a young person, Hyuga found it amusing how easy it was for him to forget that one fact when they fought, both together and against each other. An amazing feat, too, he would say, being able to stand among the SWORD leaders at such age.
However.
Now that he remembered how young Murayama was, he also remembered his hatred for the annoying traits that came from being a teenager, with their stupid hormones and bad life decisions, and Hyuga grimaced.
And he grimaced even more when Murayama asked Cobra the question that night and then waved it off as a joke when he got rejected by some kid before he (dejectedly like a sad abandoned dog) walked away from Sannoh, though not without sparing one last look at Cobra. How Hyuga didn't miss that was beyond him.
It took a while for him to figure it out, but once realization hit him, it hit brutally hard, and then everything became clear, too clear and obvious for him to ignore.
Murayama had a crush on Cobra.
Huh.
It could've been pure admiration, Hyuga debated with himself. Murayama was young, after all. It's normal for people his age to find someone they thought were cool and look up to that person as though they're of higher beings. Hyuga had been young once, too, so he knew (begrudgingly though). There's also that story he heard from Kato about Murayama's match with Cobra over some kid at Oya High School, the one where the boy unsurprisingly lost. When such scenario occured, there would usually be two outcomes to it. One being that Murayama would resent Cobra for winning over him and the humiliation, then fight Cobra again in the future for revenge. Or two, his lose would send him into a session of deep self-reflection before he'd demand Cobra for another match, though for entirely different reason.
Seeing how Murayama acted around Cobra during the very little chances Hyuga got to see them together, though, it seemed to be the later.
But then again...
Did Cobra know? Was he aware of Murayama's feelings toward him? Surely he's not that stupid to not notice it, right? Hyuga had to admit it was kind of hard to read the Sannoh's leader's mind. Their eyes had met briefly that night, yet Hyuga couldn't fathom out what his expression had meant then. And in all seriousness, this should not be his concern in the very least.
What should be his concern was why he even bothered losing hours of his precious naps seriously contemplating all this in the first place. Who the hell would care if Murayama's feeling for Cobra was love or not? And who on earth would care if Cobra's aware of it or not?
Certainly not him.
But when Murayama came barging through the door of his place, looking all ready to fight him to death just to get him to agree to Cobra's SWORD treaty, Hyuga could only sigh heavily. Others would've been confused by Murayama's action, but one look at him and Hyuga knew right then and there just how deep the boy's in.
Ah, to be young and in love, Hyuga thought. Not that he's jealous, no. Not even in thousand years. Such useless stuff wasn't worth his time and energy.
Sighing again, Hyuga rose to his feet, stepped down from the aisle, and faced Murayama. Whatever the outcome, whether he won or not, he's already decided.
Well, sort of.
Ah, fuck.