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satsuki2406 · 4 years

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OPEN SKY Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

"...And never, ever forget that, your dreams are the wings that'll help you fly."

(L/N)(Y/N) has always been forced to live according to others' expectations. As a member of the powerful and influential (L/N) Family, she has had to live with the heavy weight of seeing others write her destiny with no choice but just obey. But when (Y/N) finally decides to risk it all to take the only opportunity to regain the control of her own life, everything ends up going horribly wrong. Surrendered and disappointed, she receives one last chance to prove to herself and to U.A, along with some unexpected help that this was not a crazy and meaningless waste of time.

Maybe this plan could work after all...

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Mentions of sex, My poor attempt of comedy, family dysfunctionality, Strong language (Courtesy of Lord Explosion Murder 💥), Manga Spoilers.

STATUS: On going

Chapter 1: Failure

Chapter 2: Sometimes the Greatest Hero of All is a Good Friend

Masterlist \(￣︶￣*\))

3-Her Start

The weekend you spent with your best friend was full of good memories and laughter. You recovered your self-trust and conviction to keep going. But as blissful as it was it quickly came to an end. Before you knew it, it was Monday again, which means school, fortunately, this was the last week before graduation, even if you mom forced you to go to that insipid private academy in Tokyo, you'll keep chasing your aspirations no matter what. It was still I little bit cold but the weather was slowly changing as the spring got closer. Over your school uniform, you were wearing the school uniform’s coat that had their logo embroidered and your fluffy (f/c) scarf to keep you warm on your way to the school door.

In the blink of an eye, you and Momo already got to the shoe lockers to change into your respective uwabaki.* While changing your shoes a thought came to your mind, you wanted to touch the matter but didn't know how without making things awkward. "Hey Momo, your test, for the recommended students, you already had it right?"

A little taken aback by your comment Momo hesitated a little before answering unsure. "Y-Yeah, that's correct, I wasn't sure if I could tell you, you know..."

"Please don't feel bad about sharing your successes with me, I would be more than happy to hear how it went for you, you're my friend and I feel happy that you're one step closer to your dream, after all, you also want to be a hero, just like me. You were nice enough to spend the last weekend with me to make me feel better I didn't even ask you once how was it for you, I'm a pampered brat, aren’t I?"

Momo smiled sweetly at you in understanding. "What about if I fill you out on the details of my day at U.A during lunch?"

"Sounds like a plan."

🍱🍱🍱

"Alright ladies this is all for today, there are another 5 minutes before the bell rings. So, you're allowed to socialize in the meantime, please let's keep things calm and low volume please."

"Hey, Momo!~ I've got an idea! They are showing a really good movie right now! Do you want to see it with me?"

"I'll love to, but my mother requested my presence at home as soon as school is finished, my chauffeur is already waiting for me outside, so, unfortunately, I see myself unable to go. But aren't you still grounded?"

"Oh, right, I forgot it..." You puffed off your cheeks in annoyance.

Just in cue, a small vibration came from your skirt pocket adverting you of an incoming message.

'Oh, is Nobu-san, I wonder what happened?'

Good afternoon (Y/N)-sama, I wanted to notify you beforehand that this morning you received two letters; one of them is from the Tokyo's Science Academy, probably respecting your upcoming enrollment.

'Ugh, of course...'

Regarding the second letter, the U.A’s crew is way competent and faster than we thought, I made sure to put the envelope under one of your bed pillows, please make sure to check it out as soon as you arrive home so Xiù-sama won't notice it. I already sent the chauffeur to pick you up as soon as possible.

"."

".."

"..."

"...."

"....."

"WhAaAt?!"

"(L/N)-san! I strongly urge you to refrain from shouting in class!"

"S-sorry, Tanaka-sensei" The slight giggles of your classmates could be heard, but it was short-lived thanks to the shrill sound of the school bell announcing the end of the school day.

"(Y/N) are you ok? You look a bit pale. Something happened at home?" Momo asked, but unfortunately for your friend the last of your worries was explain yourself. Without giving it too much of a thought you took your school bag and burst out the class."SorryMomonotimetoexplainseeyoutomorrowbyeeee!!"

Before she could even understand what you just said, Momo couldn't do anything more than see you disappear among the crowd flooding the halls.

"What in heaven just happened?"

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️💨

After sprinting to the school gate, you could spot in the distance a black limo, Sasaki-san, the same chauffeur that brought your mom to U.A that fateful afternoon one week ago, was waiting outside the car, straight as a lamppost with a serious almost bored look on his face. After you finally approached him, he lightly bowed his head and greeted you. "Good afternoon, (Y/N)-sama, I hope you had a pleasant day" His tome was monotone and robotic, almost like he just repeated a script that had learned out of habit at this point. "Good afternoon Sasaki-san, I did thank you, and yourself?"

“Lovely indeed” he said almost sarcastically and opened the car's door for you. You quickly made your way in and he closed the door behind you.

Lost in your thoughts time passed faster than you imagined. Before you could notice a glimpse of your house appeared among the trees. The imposing structure made its way through the vast gardens that adorned its surroundings.

You wanted to just get there and finally get the closure you needed about this whole situation, leave your guilt and disappointment behind so you could start over again and move forward to your goal in a more positive note. Up to your room was a blur, you think that maybe a couple of maids greeted you on your way but you were too busy to notice or care, did you even take your shoes off at the genkan*? Who knows, who cares.

You opened your door desperately, closing and locking it to avoid being interrupted. Fixing your eyes on the exact place your fate laid made your heart race like never before, you started walking there slowly, almost cautiously, to sprint with all your might, throwing yourself at the bed and tossing the soft obstacles in your way to find in the middle, a crisp white envelope with a red wax seal, with the iconic logo printed on it. Dread and uncertainty invaded you, were you ready for this? What if they think you were not hero material after all? ‘No! let's just rip the bandit off at once and get over this already’. With a surge of newfound courage, you opened the envelope, tearing the seal apart in the process. Once it was open you could find a letter and a round metal object inside, you took it in your hand to analyze it closer but suddenly a bright light was shooted from its center, startling you and letting it fall obstreperously on the floor.

"Ahhh!"

The light then elongated and shaped itself into some kind of screen, showing what looks to be some kind of small white animal. "Greetings, young lady! My name is Nezu, the one who could be a mouse or a dog or a bear but the only important thing is...I'm the Principal!"

"T-The Principal?!"

"Very well then, I assume that you would prefer me to go right to the point, you must be anxious right now" You gulped nervously and nodded your head as he could see you. "In your written exam you got an outstanding score of 87! Well done!"

'At least I did something right' You thought melancholically.

"But..."

'Here it comes'

"...Unfortunately, you weren't that successful during your practical exam, in the end, you only earned 31 points, that, as you must know, is not enough to approve this test, since the minimal score is 45"

'I knew it...'

Your vision started to get blurred due to the fat tears that started to accumulate in your eyes. You knew this would happen, but that didn't make it less frustrating.

“However, there’s something that especially caught my attention, and although I’m not a doctor or any medicine specialist by any means I noticed you looked a little off, sick perhaps.Your movements looked sluggish, your breathing seem even more labored than it would have been in the situation you were in not to mention you passed out in the middle of the exam.”

“You’ll see, here at U.A we take special care of the whole process involved in our admission trials, not only to make sure that every single step is performed correctly, the rules are followed and the safety measures compiled but also to prevent the usual improper practices like fraud and cheating, reason why we had installed thousands of cameras with the propose to keep a close eye on all of you.”

'Wow, U.A really goes over the top about everything' You sweatdropped.

"That's the reason why after analyzing your performance carefully, the teaching staff and myself were awed when we notice that indeed you were straining yourself and even managed to save one of the applicants of the attack of a three-pointer, with the last of your strength you pushed him far away from danger knowing the little time you had and your deteriorated condition, you sacrificed yourself for the wellbeing of a stranger, without hesitation"

"Save? But I thought I could do anything at all!-"

"There's a phrase that says that we rise by lifting others, thanks to your selfless help, this young man you saved could complete his test and also had the time and strength enough to get your back after you blacked out. He was also nice enough to handle you to Recovery Girl's capable hands. As you could see, you received some extra points in your final score, these were Rescue Points, a panel of judges conformed by the teachers watch closely these battles and award this kind of heroic gestures, which boosted your original score of 14 points."

"And is because of your heroic spirit that I'm here, in front of you, to make you an offer.” Your breathing hitched, your eyes opened like saucers and you could swear that your heart stopped for a second.

“We of course never do this kind of exceptions, a once in a lifetime opportunity per se, but I, the Principal, had decided to give you a chance to start again, it may be more competitive than the first test you took but, what is the life of a hero without a good challenge?"

"A-A second chance?!" Your teary eyes widened at this revelation. Was U.A, the U.A High School, not only seeing the potential in you but also wanting to give you another chance?!

'This is so crazy!' You thought tearing up.

"Usually some students, as a precautionary measure apply for both the Hero Course and the General Studies Course, in case they fail to get in the first one, if they meet the necessary requirements could hit a spot in the latter one, with the hopes of competing internally for one of the coveted positions in our prestigious Heroism Department...."

"God! What I didn't think of that?! Like a security net that will catch you in case you fall, clever..." You pondered

"As you well know you did not opt for this, but we had decided unanimously to make a space for you in the General Studies Course as your second chance and a fresh start here, at U.A."

"As I mentioned before, the competition is more ferocious internally because of the really small quantity positions, sometimes there's only one transferred student or not transfers at all, so you must work hard because you need at least 85% of approval from the teachers to get into the Hero course."

"So, I need to make merits to get in, I wonder how though-"

"You must be wondering, how to get that approval and enter the world of your dreamed career?! Let me enlighten you then! There are several ways to do this but the most common and effective is..."

"...Is?!"

"Is...!"

"The U.A Sports Festival! The annual competition that Japan is so crazy about that forgot about the Olympic Games and where everybody can take a look at the future and witness the rising of their future heroes! And of course the perfect place for you to show what you're made of! The U.A Sports Festival not only is a great chance for the Hero Course pupils to show their abilities, but for the ones who were left behind, that they also have a lot to offer, and a chance that I'm sure you won't waste at all."

"I won't!"

"So please, let us know what you think, We already see inmense potential on you, we think-no, we believe that you will not disappoint. All the important information, forms and consent letters are attached and listed inside the envelope, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us at our website www.uahigh.com.jp/newstudentexperience to chat live with one of our representatives or call us at 1-800-UAHIGHJ (1-800-824-4445) or drop by at our headquarters in U.A. Remember that the due date to send the forms with your parents' authorization and uniform measurements and specifications is March 25th!"

"Oh my God, I got in... I GOT IN!!! Yes, I did it!" You then started to jump on your bed carried by the excitement, then a little detail crossed your mind. "Crap! My mom would never sign the authorization form! She'll rather take off her own eyes than do that! I don't want to involve dad in this, he's been receiving mom's colder shoulder lately and he looks kinda depressed, just remember the fight hey had that night give me the hives. What can I do? How can I-"

"This device will self-destruct in 10 seconds!"

"...What."

"10!"

"9!"

"Oh God, Oh God No! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!!"

"8!"

As best as you could you quickly jumped off your bed and hid inside your walk-in closet closing and locking the door behind you. "Was it that necessary to make it explode?!" You closed your eyes and covered your ears as waiting for some kind of impact.

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"..."

"Just kidding! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"..."

"WHAAAAT?!"

"Excuse me (Y/N)-sama? Are you ok?" One of the maids asked while knocking your door. You ran out of the closet and threw all evidence of your recent conversation with the fury Principal under your bed.

"Y-Yes! I'm fine! P-Perfectly fine!"

"I heard some screams and voices inside; do you have any guest? Do you want me to bring some refreshments?" Immediately you opened the door and were faced with the maid that you liked the least, she was a middle-aged woman who always drove herself in a hypocritical and double-face kind of way.

You could see from pretty far away that she didn't like you the least, looking her in the eyes was enough to know, the resentment and indifference were palpable. For her, you were nothing more than a spoiled filthy rich brat and that was more than enough to hate you. She also was a notable gossipmonger and was of general knowledge among the service crew that she could not keep a secret for dear life, which your mother took advantage of to monitor you and the house in general when she was absent. All in exchange of a juicy bonus in her weekly check.

"There's nobody with me Uwasaki-san, I was watching some YouTube videos, and an ad came out, a really loud one." You opened your door a little more to show her, she peeked into your room a little to look closer, everything was in order, except for the dropped pillows and a panda plush, it was just like you said, all she could find was a flat screen with a paused video showing in it.

She gave you a skeptical look first before convincing herself you were saying the truth and gave you one of her infamous fake smiles. "I see, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know, I'll be close by fixing one of the guest's rooms."

"Oh, who's coming?" You asked, half trying to diffuse the awkwardness, half out of truly curiosity.

"Kaguya-sama, she asked Xiù-sama for advice in one of her university projects, Chemistry I think"

'It makes sense, with the kind of quirk she has, chemistry was always one of her strengths'

"I see."

"Alright, if you excuse me, I'll be taking my leaving."

After this, she turned and walk in the direction of the guest's rooms mumbling complains about how slow this day has been so far, with nothing interesting to report, not juicy scandal to uncover and how she hoped that the rest of the week could deliver something better. As you heard her steps get lost in the immensity of the hallway, checking she was gone for sure, you closed your door leaning your back on it while you slowly slide to the floor.

'That was close!, I've never been happier to forget to turn the tv off before going to school, I must be careful, I have to find a way to convince them to let me go, after the second chance I received, I can't back up, I don't want to. It's decided then! I’ll go to U.A no matter what.'

"Hmm... So, U.A? Maybe get you out of my way would be easier than I thought, dear cousin."

*Uwabaki (上履き): They are a type of Japanese shoes worn indoors at home, school or certain companies and public buildings where street shoes are prohibited.

*Genkan (玄関): are traditional areas for houses, apartments or buildings. It is usually located inside the building directly in front of the door. The primary function of the genkan is to leave your shoes before entering the main part of a house or building.

-The word 'Uwasa' (噂) means gossip combined with the kanji 'Ki' (機) or machine forms the word Rumor or Gossip Machine (噂機) Uwasaki.

-I'm learning Japanese on my own, so I thought it could be interesting and fun to try to construct some (Last)names inspired in the oc’s quirks and personality just like Horikoshi does. As I said I'm a beginner and all the feedback is welcome! If you have suggestions or corrections let me know! I'm open to learning! 😊

🏷Taglist

@alex-sulli Hope you like it ~\(≧▽≦)/~

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alchemist-shizun · 5 years

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To tend thee is my care

ACT I

ACT II - Read on Ao3!

See the awesome fanart!

Word count: 13,679

Taglist: @lesbianturtle @len-art-trash @i-need-you-buddy @jeevashun @quietlypondering @creativity-killed-thekitten @bookwyrminspiration @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @softanxiouspatton @be-more-chaotic @pheonix-inside-reblogs @www-dot-ohshit-dot-com @datfearlessfangirl @alltimevirgilant @royalnerd829 @just-fic-me-up @theblankest123 @theotherella @thesleepyraziel @gaylotusthatexists @sendingcookiesfromhell @mijako98 @logicalberry @maybe-i-like-the-misery @orderly-opaline @purpledemond

(Please tell me if you want to be added too for Act II!)

Characters: Virgil, Nonbinary!Roman

Summary: You’ve heard of enemies to lovers now get ready for acquaintances to friends to now we’re fighting because I’m scared of your rejection so I’m pretending it’s your fault when it clearly is mine to friends again, even though you’re an idiot, but I still love you to lovers.

Roman and Virgil are both part of the theater group of their school, Roman is one of the actors, while Virgil is the head of the stage design group. Despite being in the same year and having lessons in the same building, they hadn’t really ever talked to each other, but everything was about to change when the teachers, heads of the whole theater group, announced that they were going to challenge themselves by presenting one of Euipides’ last plays: The Bacchantes. Follow our two main characters helping each other out as one is forced to learn how to act in a matter of months and the other goes through a journey of self-discovery as he studies his role.

Pairing(s): Prinxiety (I’m unpredictable)

Warning(s): Mild swearing, Death mention (mostly when talking about the tragedy), Blood mention (once), Negative thinking, Implied toxic parenting (once), [Me projecting heavily onto Virgil (also Ro at some point)]

A/n: I’ve been writing this for months and I can’t explain how proud I am to show you guys this! Before you start reading, I want to inform you that the school system I write about here is not the American one since I know little to nothing about it. Instead I’ll be using the one of my country for reasons of simplicity. (All names I use here are invented, so you can place the events wherever you’d like.) I thought about doing a long for this plot but I chose to write a one shot instead, since it’s pretty long I decided to divide it into two acts, the second one is coming very soon. I studied and read the whole play translated in my original language, that’s where the inspiration for my au came from. All the English translations I used for the play are from here, here and here. The song mentioned is So Contagious by Acceptance. That being said, hope you enjoy!

✾✾✾✾

What now?

It was during an October’s Tuesday that Virgil had started panicking due to school stress.

It wasn’t like his teachers hadn’t been pressuring his class ever since they entered their first fifth year lesson: partly because of the final exams, the rest of the time they asked about their university choices.

This year’s archaeological excavation, an experience reserved only to the students of his course, was also placed exactly in those three weeks of October were the theater group had started.

Tuesday in October for Virgil meant lessons until half past midday, research for the upcoming excavation exhibition until two p.m., theater club for an hour, then back to doing research with one of his teachers and half of his classmates until 17:00.

In all honesty, he wouldn’t have minded being buried alive when they’d have to cover back up the site.

Virgil had tried convincing himself that it wasn’t really that hard, besides the club had just started and the first few days were mostly focused on helping the first years settle, be comfortable with the teachers and also test out their abilities. And this one was only the second meeting.

But, of course, his day had to get worse. Life was trying him, and boy, did he hate sudden drastic changes.

It was when he noticed all the odd attention he was getting by the teachers that he realized something was definitely going to go wrong.

Everyone took a seat on the wooden bleachers of the old gym, they were basically attached to the pavement and the obnoxious yellow-painted walls of the large room. A quick glance around and you had the feeling that everything was going to collapse at any moment.

Virgil saw some familiar faces, some new ones, but he definitely couldn’t forget about the regulars: his beloved stage deseign group, which were a bunch of students that the teacher trusted him enough to take care of and teach them what they had to do during shows and how to prepare the stage. And next to them some actors from the last three years, Dave, Bonnie, Lukas and Roman.

He and Roman were the only ones brave enough to stick around even during the toughest year of that hellhole, so everyone silently respected them. And just as much as Virgil helped the newcomers in his group, Roman was happy to lend a hand in acting along side the most talented fourth and third years above mentioned.

« Well hello and welcome back here, guys! » Mrs. Michaelis had started, clasping her hands together, she was an English grammar and literature teacher.

After making sure everybody had arrived, they explained that since the week after they were going to see the first years’ “auditions” as they liked to call them, but they were really simply methods to check how promising someone could be at acting.

« I know this may sound shocking, we still can’t believe it- »

« Mostly because normally it takes us a couple of months before choosing a script. » Mrs. Eagan, an ancient Greek and Latin teacher, had interrupted, causing multiple chuckles from the students.

« … As I was saying, yes. We already know the play that we’ll be covering this year, we also have scripts ready for almost everybody. But there’s some news! »

« This year we decided to sign up our group and participate to some kind of challenge! » murmurs began to fill the room, as uneasiness set in Virgil’s stomach. Why make things harder for everybody? Wasn’t it just as good doing a simple show one night and one morning?

« Some, let’s say, “judges” are going to attend our play and afterwards, if they’re satisfied enough, they will let us take our production to the biggest local theater! »

The murmurs transformed into gasps, that theater was placed in the city of their province, getting an invitation was a huge challenge.

« And our play is going to be … » Mrs. Eagan’s eyes met Virgil’s and fixated on them. That’s when he began overthinking. Why was she looking directly at him? That never meant good news. « … Euripides’ tragedy, The Bacchantes. »

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

Only his eyes widened among the confused looks of most of the students. He had studied that play, along side many other ones, in his fourth year. He did truly love them, but damn him if they weren’t already a challenge to portray.

« That’s right Virgil, you know it. » why was also the English teacher giving him his attention? What were they planning, did he have to explain the play to everybody?

All the students turned to face him, some quietly asking what was the plot, some fourth years of his same course demanded to know if it was a difficult topic.

« Easy now, everybody, he’s already been tested last year by Mr. Richardson. » one of the teachers interrupted, walking closer to the spot where Virgil sat, for some reason he had found himself next to the “talented actors group”.

They explained the plot for everybody after that.

« We know it might be real tough, so this year we already agreed on the roles beforehand. Don’t worry, if you didn’t get your time to shine this year, in the next ones you totally will. »

Wait, he wasn’t part of the actors group, why did this have anything to do with him? Why were they still staring at him?

To his relief, the teachers addressed the newcomers first. « We were thinking about giving the role of the chorus to the first and second years, they have long bits, but we can split them instead of making you all recite them, so that you don’t feel too burdened and the role becomes easy for all of you. »

« The roles of the messengers will be given to our third years, messengers are used to explain everything that happens that does not happen on scene. One of the rules for tragedies was that the scene had to take place in the same time and place. Also, they didn’t show blood and/or murders/suicides on scene. They were all narrated. »

« As for our three fourth years. » they looked over Virgil’s shoulder to Dave, Lukas and Bonnie. « Your roles will be Cadmus, Tiresias and Agave. They play a very important part in the whole story, we trust you’ll do a great job. »

« As for our main characters, Pentheus and Dionysus … » they set their eyes on Roman, who looked more expectant than ever.

But then they also shifted their glances to Virgil.

« We were thinking our only fifth years could have their roles as a good way of saying goodbye to them, since this will be their last play. » everybody else was nodding in agreement, Roman was beaming but slightly confused. Wasn’t Virgil part of the stage design group?

In fact, our little emo kid could only look back in disbelief.

« Roman, Virgil, would you like to become a king and a god, respectively? »

What now?

As the beloved actor was about to answer, Virgil interrupted with a shy apology. « I’m sorry, but there must be a mistake, I’m not part of the actors group, I’ve never acted in the past four years, actually. »

« We know Virgil, but we really thought it might be such a nice way of thanking you guys for your contributions all these years. »

Oh yes, you’re right, putting me in a stress condition by making me do something I have no idea about for a big project that could take us to one of the largest theaters of the country is definitely the best choice you could have made.

All he was able to say was a stuttering noise, as they continued with their little speech. « And Roman is such a good actor, he’s going to help you for sure, aren’t you? »

The mentioned boy nodded vigorously, then proceeded to show one of his brightest smiles. « I always come to the rescue of my fellow actors in need. »

Yeah. Amazing. He was stuck with their decision.

« Besides you already probably know each other pretty well by now, so it won’t be a problem! »

The two students looked at each other. The recognizable expressions of two teens that, despite being in the same year and club, had never said a single word to each other apart from when needed during rehearsals.

« … Right. »

« But what about my group then? » Virgil questioned, he was definitely not going to leave them behind just like that.

« You don’t have to worry about them. This year your History of Art teacher will be lending a hand with the stage and volunteered to be the head of the group. »

Right. Mr. Williams, one of the only teachers that were pretty tolerable in his class.

« And look at them. » he did so, and he was met with happy smiles and encouraging faces. « I’m sure they’ll do a good job after four years with you by their side. Right, Anastasia? »

Anastasia was one of the oldest of the bunch, if not one of the wisest and most skilled, sometimes they wondered if she could just do anything that crossed her mind. « You got it! » she leaned in as if to get closer to the older boy. « We’ll be cheering for you Virge! » she concluded, followed by a couple of “Yeah!“s.

Everybody was so joyful and expectant that he couldn’t help but comply, so he decided to simply sigh and reply with nothing.

As the teachers continued with their topics for the meeting, Virgil couldn’t help but have a single thought in his mind.

This is going to be the most awkward thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.

✾✾✾✾

As soon as the meeting came to an end, Virgil was fast to get up and rush towards the dungeon’s stairs that would lead again to the surface. Basically there were two buildings, the school and the gym, linked by a little dungeon were there were all the labs and computer rooms.

He had to get back to the library as soon as he could, or god knows what “you’re late” speech his teacher would have given him. He was always literally on the verge of marking his students as absent if they didn’t show up to the lesson in the exact minute before the bell rang.

Virgil decided to panic about the dumpster fire that had come his way during the meeting after that. One issue at a time. First of all, he had to reach the stairs’ gate and push-

« Hey! Wait for me. »

God, he didn’t have time for this. He kept walking, ignoring the voice behind him and hoping for it to give up and leave him to his well-deserved peace and quiet. At least for three minutes.

As he walked, he found none but Roman himself matching his pace and walking by his side with a curious look. Who could blame him for wanting to be nice?

« You forgot your stuff in your classroom too? » he tried, not a brilliant starter for a conversation, but he had to get something out of the boy.

« No. » cut and dry, that was the only thing that Virgil dared to let escape his mouth.

« Where to, then? »

« The library. »

« Oh, are you waiting for a bus? Maybe I could keep you company. »

« Listen. » they made to a stop as they reached the last floor, not that far off from Virgil’s destination. « Today’s already been as stressful as it is, could you just … go straight to the point? I don’t have much time here. »

It was not like he had meant to sound rude, it wasn’t like it was his purpose either to brush off someone just like that or to see the other boy’s hurt expression. But he had reached a limit in which he didn’t really care-

« Oh, my apologies, then. »

And there was the guilt.

« I was just wondering if we could exchange numbers, if it isn’t uncomfortable for you. I guess we’ll need to hang out in the future. » he tried to sound as confident as he could, but it was as if “awkward” was scribbled all over his face.

« Sure, are you asking me on a date next? » with all the sarcasm injected in his words, he sure as hell wasn’t expecting Roman’s remark.

« Well, if you wouldn’t mind. » a sly smile made its way through the actor’s face, but was soon replaced by a troubled expression when he saw Virgil’s eye roll and sigh.

« Was I … was I too straightforward? I didn’t- »

« You’re fine, calm down. » Virgil quickly took out his phone and unlocked it before passing it to the other student. As he quietly typed after a murmured “alright”, Virgil couldn’t help but wonder if he had ever upset anyone with his bold statements. It wasn’t like this town was open minded, while he seemed … particularly flamboyant.

Before he could finish his thoughts, he had his phone back in his hands and the not-so-much-stranger-anymore was already heading towards his classroom to get his backpack.

« I sent myself a message. » he warned, then he disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds, marched down the hall and flashed him a toothy smile while waving his hand.

« Don’t be a stranger, I’ll see you tomorrow! »

Virgil only nodded and found it impossible to take his eyes off of him until the last lock of hair had vanished down the stairs, wondering what had just happened. Maybe that was the magic that worked on his public every year.

He gave a rapid look at the screen of his phone, noticing that the boy had saved himself as “Princey” with a star emoji right next to it.

This time, he entered the library with an amused expression.

✾✾✾✾

Roman kept repeating in his mind that it wasn’t his fault.

Yes, it was Firday. Yes, he had gone the rest of the days without a single word to Virgil, not even when he noticed him in the halls during break or when they either entered or left school. Some days he didn’t even see him.

Yes, he could have texted him. But it felt too weird, yet, they didn’t know each other at all! Plus they didn’t even have the script ready.

Yes, he felt like he had the weight of this play’s success completely on his shoulders and depending on him and still shied away from acknowledging it.

But Virgil kept avoiding him! He couldn’t do much without him.

If he saw him during the ten minutes break, Virgil would walk past him without a second thought as if he didn’t think he needed to talk to him.

Some other times he pretended he didn’t even see him. It was getting tough to even have his attention anymore, as if he had to be added to the mean girls table. He needed a miracle.

And maybe the deities were in his favor that day.

As Roman walked down the path that was made next to the plaza, he noticed a familiar little figure sitting on a bench with a backpack next to him and earbuds in his ears. He was watching in front of him as life flew by and didn’t notice Roman approaching at all.

« Virgil? »

The boy in front of him jerked his head up and took out both of his earbuds; his clothes looked much more worn and randomly put together, as if he had dressed himself in the dark. What got Roman the most was the quantity of dirt that was on them and … was that blood under some of his nails?

Roman dropped his bag on the bench, worry expanding in his chest. « Oh my goodness are you okay? » he made to reach for his hand, only to stop himself just in time to remind him of personal space.

Virgil gave him a confused look and brought his fingers to his eyes, close enough to examine them. « Not again. » he groaned, a huff coming out of his lips.

« Wait, I should have something. »

« You don’t have to, it’s noth- »

« Here! » Roman grabbed a box from his bag triumphantly, he took a couple of plasters and waved them in front of the other.

« Why do you even have so many? »

« What can I say, I’m a clumsy person. »

« Mh. Charming. »

« At least I rescued you! Now, show me your hands. » he ordered, but as soon as he saw Virgil’s mouth open to argue, he was ready to remark « I don’t care if you can do this by yourself, you have literally injured fingers, let me help. »

Seeing that there was no other way out of it, he complied.

As soon as he placed his hands over his fingers, Roman couldn’t help but notice how different their skin tones really were compared to one another, sure the difference was obvious at first glance, but seeing it this close was completely something else. He gently dabbed the fresh blood away with a tissue he had taken out with the box a few instants earlier.

Three plasters and a thank you later, the concerned face came back again and Virgil wanted nothing more than the sweet liberation of death. What was his deal, did he never dig on dirt as a child?

« How did you get hurt? »

Virgil simply pointed behind his shoulders, where Roman could only see a huge pile of dirt resting against a tree. He tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy, a sight the other would have found endearing if only he wasn’t so exasperated and tired.

« I’ve been working all day, Princey. »

Roman smiled at the familiar nickname, but still found confusion in his thoughts. « Aren’t you supposed to be at school? »

« It’s linked to school. Haven’t you heard of the excavations that our school is doing? »

Now that he mentioned that, he had heard a bunch of things, but never really paid attention since it was something that wasn’t related to his course.

Roman attended the Languages course, in which he could learn Spanish and French, other than his mother language, with literature comprehended, and all the experiences linked to it were the cultural exchanges during the third and fourth years.

Virgil, otherwise, was part of the Classical course, meaning that he had signed his death certificate by committing to five years of learning ancient Greek and Latin plus the respective literature as main subjects. But other than that and the famous one week school trip to Greece every three years, Roman had no clue what they did other than study until they couldn’t remember their own names, just like any other student.

Yeah, they couldn’t say their school system was perfect.

« I don’t exactly know every detail. Are you guys doing this? »

« Kind of. What we’re doing is carry on with the work we did the past two years, where we had opened other excavations. Let’s say we’re looking for clues. We’re supervised by an actual archaeologist though. »

« That’s so cool! Did you find any gold? » Virgil wasn’t really expecting such excitement coming from Roman. Apart from the all too familiar question, he often found his interlocutors to be pretty uninterested by the topic.

« No gold, but … remember last Tuesday? » Roman nodded attentively.

« On that morning, during one of Mr. Richardson’s lessons, one of our classmates video-called us saying there was an urgent matter to show us. They had found possibly a Roman coin. » he tried to bite back the smile that threatened to form on his lips at the joyful memory, but nothing could take away that particular twinkle in his eyes.

« Are you serious?! That’s wonderful, what if you find a hidden treasure? »

« Unlikely, but it would be nice. »

« Wow. » Roman breathed out, staring at the scene beside his … new acquaintance? « How did you hurt yourself, anyway? »

« See that pile of dirt? I’ve been scanning every bucket full of soil that was thrown in there. My job was searching in the dirt for possible relics that were missed out while others did the digging. We installed a little assembly line. And running your fingers through that for hours makes you sore I guess. »

« That doesn’t seem very fun, though. »

Virgil shrugged. « I didn’t mind. I like working by myself, especially when the job is as simple as it is important. » And it was true, it wasn’t like the archaeologist put him there because he was just hopeless with the other instruments, every little clue was important and looking for them was a crucial point that can be easily taken care of if you’re a perfectionist.

Plus, the archaeologist seemed to have taken a liking into Virgil, so that didn’t make him feel left out at all.

« Even though, today one of my classmates came to help me. » the boy turned to see that Roman was still listening to him, with no intention of changing the subject. That was new, too.

« You know those terribly annoying ones? He slowed down our chain to the point that he had to argue with this girl that was in dire need of empty buckets while we still had all of them full because he wanted to look through every inch of dirt before handing it out. » he let out a deep sigh, as if he had just been venting for hours.

« That was pretty idiotic, what happened then? »

« Uh, well, we went back to working, just as I was doing before he came to help. »

Roman snorted, imagining the scene in front of his eyes. « So he made a fuss only for it to go back as before and prove him wrong. I’d say he’s pretty amazing. »

« Yeah. » Virgil agreed, « Anyway, sorry for rambling. » he added in a lower tone, while checking his phone for notification, before putting it away quickly.

Roman arched his eyebrow at his words. « As someone who whines constantly, I don’t really think you should worry. »

At least, that succeeded to steal a chuckle from the tired one.

« Did you find anything? » Virgil was really starting to believe this guy couldn’t have a minute of pure silence.

« Well, there’s always a couple of bones, some weird ferric objects, teeth and … » he stopped, remembering the event of the week before.

This time, a wide smile appeared before he could stop it as he searched through his phone’s camera gallery; it was the one thing he was real proud of, possibly the prettiest of his findings.

He handed the phone over to Roman, whose eyes widened at the sight, in front of him he could see a pic of a piece of ceramic with white, brown, yellow and blue decorations, dirt was still covering it, but you could already make out how beautiful it was.

« You found this in here? »

« Yes, it was amazing. I was standing there, » he pointed to a vague direction in front of the dirt pile, excitement rising in his chest as he remembered. « and someone was throwing the dirt on the pile and I recognized the bottom of the piece. We had already found other ceramics and I was hoping it was one too. So I picked it up as soon as I spotted it and there were at least three inches of dirt on top. I moved it away with my thumb and I was met with that decoration. I think I might have yelled. » he leaned in to take another look at the pic, as if never satisfied with it.

Roman certainly didn’t miss how bright he appeared when he was talking about the excavation, all the tiredness was gone and the pain in his whole body caused by eight hours of work was long forgotten. He looked genuinely happy, a contrast to his unusual dark and broody persona.

« Did you choose you university yet? » he had a thought, while handing the phone back, which could have maybe helped the injured boy.

« Jumping a bit? Uh, no, honestly I have no idea. »

« Ever thought of doing something with archaeology? »

« Uhm … » Virgil tapped his fingers on his palm. It wasn’t like he hadn’t considered the possibility in the past, but he had been told that it was probably too hard and maybe too boring from his point of view. On the other hand he truly enjoyed working in the site …

« You still with me, buddy? You don’t have to choose in the next five minutes. »

« Shut up, I was thinking. »

« Your thinking is too loud. »

« And here I was considering you as actually not that bad. »

« I know you secretly admire me. »

« The important thing is you believe that. »

Their wise and profound conversation was interrupted by Virgil’s ringtone going off, he picked up, had a brief talk and tucked the phone away in his pocket.

« My mother’s arrived to pick me up. » he informed, pointing at a car parked a few feet away from them.

They both stood up, but none of them made to move at all.

« Uh, I was thinking … » Roman struggled to find the right words, as if anything he said might offend Virgil at any given moment. « I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but maybe we could meet up sometimes to talk about the play? Or I could start helping you as soon as we get the scripts. »

Virgil made a face, as if he had been trying to forget a bad nightmare and had just been reminded of it. Still, he had no right to escape that any further, and he was already anxious about not being able to make it in time, even before he could start learning his lines. So maybe starting to work on it sooner wasn’t that bad of an idea.

« Sounds good. » he hesitated, not sure how to continue, when an idea sparked in his mind. « Maybe I could give you some insight on the tragedy. »

« That’d be awesome! When are you free? »

Hah. « During week-days I’m busy until five p.m. everyday. At least for another week, when this project will be over. »

That explained why he was still in town at almost six p.m.

« You guys dig everyday? »

« Something like that. We’re divided into two groups and we dig every other day. When we don’t we still have to stay at school and do researches for the final exhibition. »

Roman’s eyes lit up at the last words, he was going to ask him about it the next time the occasion presented itself.

« That sucks. Okay, look, I don’t wanna steal anymore time from your beloved mother, so I’ll text about it to you later, okay? »

« Cool. » Virgil raised his hand and waved it ever so slightly.

Roman returned the good-bye and got back to his task, marching down the sidewalk, but as Virgil had just opened the door of his mother’s car, he remembered to yell “And don’t forget to get some rest, I’m starting to confuse your makeup with your dark circles!”.

Virgil got into the car with an exasperated sigh and found his mother giggling to herself while she looked at him.

« Was that a friend? »

« God I hope not. »

✾✾✾✾

Tuesday came back in a hurry, along with the theater club, some worried and some bored students. Virgil stood in the middle of “time to panic and/or cry” and “if I don’t fall into eternal slumber right now I will burn this building to the ground”.

If he could name some of the most atrocious backstabbers he had ever met, he’d instantly name his teachers: at first they told his class they’d make it easy for them since they were so busy with the project, now they pretended the students had to be more organized with their studying and homework. Tests and interrogations had been made despite them being at least nine hours at school instead of five, some even coming home later than that.

In a word, they didn’t care, it was the students’ fault.

Virgil had his back against the wall, sitting on the top step of the bleacher with his legs close to his chest, the meeting had been starting for a couple of minutes and, of course, he didn’t have anything to do except hating himself and wait for another uneventful hour to pass.

« Hey Gerard Way Too Dark, look what they gave me. »

Or maybe not.

Virgil looked up to be met with Roman standing in front of him with two binders in his hand: the two of them had agreed on meeting up only when school would let them breathe enough to find a single day where they were both free from studying. Which was yet to be a thing.

The beloved actor handed him one of the binders, it read the title of the play, the author and the characters. He didn’t like how his role was the very first one on the list.

« At last. » he dryly commented, flipping the pages quick enough to not read a single actual word out of it.

Roman sat down next to him and examined the first page, as if looking for some kind of unspoken treasure, then he turned to take out a stash of highlighters Virgil had no clue where he kept. He showed them to him, waiting for him to pick a color.

By the looks of them, they seemed brand new and neatly arranged in the colors of the rainbow. Virgil picked out the lilac one, he had always preferred the gentler colors, it made it easier to study with the lights on.

His colleague chose the red one and began going through the pages and highlighting all the lines he had to learn as Pentheus.

Silently, Virgil did the same with the lines Dionysus said, recalling the scenes as he went through them. Though … he noticed there were far too many. He never realized how impossible it looked in his eyes until he had it plainly laid out in front of him.

Great, you’re going to mess this up, you won’t ever be able to do this in time. Plus you’re probably going to forget everything the moment right before going on stage. Who thought this was going to be a good id-

« Are you okay down there? »

He didn’t realize he was rubbing at his face with his hands, while trying to shake off the storm forming in his mind. In doing so, he had also let the marker fall to the wooden step with a clatter, which caught the other’s attention.

« Yeah, ’m just tired. » he managed to let out through his fingers in a muffled sound.

Roman made a humming noise, then proceeded to cast aside all his stuff and let himself relax against the wall. « Then I’d say we call it a day and sleep until it’s time to part ways. »

Virgil looked at him, surprise written all over his face, wasn’t he supposed to work even harder than normal because of the occasion? Either way, he mirrored the boy, pulling up his hood so that he could find some comfort.

« I think I’m too worried about all this mess, » he retorted, gesturing at his script. « to be able to even close my eyes. »

« Then tell me about it. »

He considered the option, he did actually promise him he’d do it before, besides he’d be distracting himself from the impending doom, be actually productive and explaining the tragedy to the actor. A double win for both parties.

« The story is centered around this group of Bacchantes that came from Asia and want to enter Thebes and spread their cult, they’re also guided by a lone nomad that none knows is actually Dionysus, the founder of the cult itself. » he turned to face Roman, in a silent “tell me where I lose you” manner.

« They are stopped by Pentheus, now king of the city, son of Agave and nephew of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes. Tiresias is a famous seer that understands the potential of the cult and invites Cadmus to preach the god with him. They try to reason with Pentheus, but it’s all in vain. In the meantime, while this king is busy insulting the cult, Dionysus makes all the women of the city go mad and follow the Maenads. »

« Payback? »

« More like first warning. » Virgil counted to one on his right hand for emphasis. « After that, Pentheus sent his soldiers to capture him. And they succeeded, he didn’t resist and kept up his act, only to free himself of the chains thanks to his magic. When Pentheus found him, Dionysus pretended he was helped by the god and began charming him until the king gave in. »

« You mean, how he made him dress up as a Maenad? »

« Yes, but not only he did that, he drove him crazy, too. » did anyone else ever notice the slight green spots in Roman’s brown eyes or was it just the trick of the light? Virgil couldn’t tell, so he decided to explain further. « Pentheus claimed to be seeing double and having hallucinations. He was also very careful of his clothes, hair and posture, he wanted to be the perfect Maenad. He tried to convince himself it was for disguise purposes, but in my opinion he was rather enjoying that dress-up. »

« Really? » Roman questioned, he still had to look into his character, the more he knew about him, the better he could portray him. He always took every bit of information he could find, to the point in which he could somehow relate to them or at least be able to link him and the role. That way, he was able to love acting as every single one of them.

« You need to read their last conversation. Even you would say that at first glance. Anyway, the play ends with the Bacchantes shredding to pieces the body of Pentheus. The practice is called “sparagmòs”. After that Agave and Cadmus have a touching scene and it ends there. A bit shocking for her since she just killed her son, but the god made sure the women all saw a beast instead. »

« That’s cruel, though. »

« Princey, he disrespected a fucking god, dying is the least that could happen to him. »

There was the nickname again. And, as if on cue, Roman’s lips twitched into a small smile that disappeared right after. He wasn’t aware of the reason why he didn’t want to get caught, but … did Virgil really not remember?

« He didn’t give him a chance to apologize! »

« Then again, the cult of the Bacchantes includes a ritual where a human needs to be sacrificed. If he had ever been sorry, Dionysus would have probably ordered him to sacrifice himself so that he could be satisfied and purified by his action. »

« Okay, okay. » Roman put his hands up in surrender. « I recognize I’m talking to a smart one over here, I give up. » he pretended he was waving a white flag to his side.

Virgil chuckled at his words. « I’m actually just average, but I can be passionate about some things, too. »

« Just average? I doubt all of your classmates still remember the entire plot of a tragedy and also can provide conspiracy theories. »

« Conspiracy- what are you talking about? »

« You know I’m right, you were totally on the verge of geeking out about this one. C'mon who’s your favorite character? » the actor mocked resting his face on his palms while a sly expression surrounded him.

« I will throw you off the stairs the next chance I have. »

« Good luck with that since you can’t even reach. »

Oh that was the last fucking straw.

Virgil turned his head to look at him in the eyes so rapidly that Roman feared his neck would give in and break right then and there. But the most disturbing image was the rage that was forming around the boy’s aura.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the wisest thing to-

Virgil surged forward in a sudden movement and the actor jumped away pleading for salvation, it was only when he heard a foreign laugh that he turned around only to be met with the same dark and stormy guy, doubled over himself with laughter, teasing Roman.

« Did you seriously think I was going to attack you? »

« You can be scary sometimes, shut up! » heat began running in Roman’s cheeks out of embarrassment and he pretended nothing happened while Virgil quieted down next to him.

It was exactly in that moment that the meeting was called off.

As Roman followed him to the library, he wondered if that was going to be a regular thing after-

You idiot, this is the last week of your project.

« Oh, by the way. » Virgil stopped at the top of the stairs. « Don’t take it personally if I brush you off or disappear for the next few days, but the exhibition’s coming and I still have no idea what to say. »

« Talking about efficiency. » the actor rolled his eyes, recalling a few other examples he could give on the marvelous organization of teachers.

« Yeah, our teacher gave us tons of useful information. » he dead-panned, approaching the library’s doors.

« I will forever respect you for putting up with Mr. Richardson. »

That was able to get a chuckle out of Virgil.

« See you around, Pentheus. »

And with that, Roman was left walking home by himself with the warm feeling of having made a new possible friend spreading in his chest.

✾✾✾✾

It was Saturday morning when he noticed the fliers hanging around school. They showed a bunch of excavation pics and the subject of an archaeological exhibition centered around the school’s town. Roman took note of the date: it was exactly that same day!

So that was how he found himself during afternoon pacing around the plaza and stepping into an old tower, where a little crowd of at least fifteen people of all ages were standing and listening attentively to a student. There was only a little group of them, which he figured was because the exhibition took place multiple times during the week.

He just wondered if he had been lucky enough to find …

As he made his way through the front, so that he could see all the materials and boards exposed he heard the female voice say « Now I will turn it over to my classmate, Virgil! »

As soon as he heard his name, he followed her gaze and finally met an unusual sight: instead of the usual hoodie, he wore a black button up shirt and skinny dark blue jeans that might as well have been mistaken for the same other color. So he did know how to be fancy if he wanted.

Before he began explaining, he noticed Roman standing right next to their theater teachers and bit back a smile. He didn’t recall inviting him, actually he hadn’t wanted anyone he knew to witness him mess everything up as he was used to do. So what was he doing there?

Virgil welcomed everybody once again, then turned over to all the materials exposed.

And when he started talking, Roman was enthralled.

He didn’t know if it was the way the words rolled down his tongue, how he brushed the objects as if they were sacred treasures that would turn into dust at the slightest touch, or the sparkle in his eyes when he took in everybody’s attention and curiosity.

But there was a thing he did recognize: it was passion, that was definitely what he was radiating, the one emotion he knew all too well which helped him getting his public hanging at the edge of their seats.

And this time, he was the hooked one.

The two locked eyes multiple times, Virgil was surprised enough to find comfort in having someone to constantly smile at him, or in Mrs. Eagan’s nodding, in all those mouthed “you’re doing great”. He couldn’t stop going back at them everytime he looked up.

Before anyone knew it, his time was over and the group moved onto the last part of the exhibition, which was outside; the crowd followed the last student to the site that was still open and the remaining students in the room sighed with relief as Mr. Richardson followed them too for the final thanks.

Some minutes and a standing ovation later, Roman was already back into the small room as bright as ever, walking toward his favorite little archaeologist.

Virgil paced towards him at the same time, hissing a “what are you doing here?” while a small grin let itself spread on his face.

With no warning and an abrupt move, Roman’s arms had already wrapped themselves around the other boy’s upper chest, lifting him a little in the process.

Well, that was definitely new.

Not being used to such excitement, Virgil was only able to awkwardly return the hug after an initial moment of vacillation. Seeing his energy on stage was a thing, experiencing it like that was completely something else, but deep in his heart he knew it wasn’t a habit he wouldn’t have liked to adapt to.

Wait, what was that thought coming from? Why would he have to adapt to anything, he was just going to help him through acting and that was it.

Still, a new friend wasn’t a bad idea either …

« You did amazing! » was what Virgil heard after being released from the embrace, but not quite completely as Roman was still holding onto his arms.

He blinked a few times. « What are you talking about, I messed up and started stuttering at one point- »

« Oh shut up and let me compliment you, I didn’t even remember you did, king of modesty. »

« More like king of self-deprecation. »

« Can you stop for once in your life? »

Right in the short amount of time they weren’t talking, a single line caught their attention.

« Look at all this trash. »

What?

« Yeah, these are all so obviously fake. »

Thunderstorms.

Thunderstorms and lightning, howls of rage formed in Virgil’s chest, burning in a bonfire which heat traveled through his blood and reached his eyes only to darken them with fury.

His body stiffened, he wanted to scowl at them and tell them how wrong they were, just how dare them invalidate all the hard work of three weeks?

« Oh, Virgil! » Roman seemed to distract him, but he had a plan in mind as he moved both of them close to the materials table. « Remember that day I visited you while you guys were digging? »

But there wasn’t any- was he onto something? « Oh, yeah, you were walking home from school and you decided to stop. » he played along, as his friend nodded, making sure to be heard by the rude couple.

In the meantime, one of the students had gone out to update their teacher on the situation.

« Yeah, when you found that beautiful ceramic piece! » Roman turned to recognize the piece he had seen in the pic he had been shown, then pointed it. « Is it that one? »

« Yes, I can pick it up for you. » Virgil did so as he spoke.

« Wow, it’s even more gorgeous. »

« We had a hard time cleaning everything, so we tried to do the best job we could. Getting dirt out of bones is also … not super easy. »

« You guys are awesome. » Roman kept glancing around the room arranged for the exhibition, while the now embarrassed couple decided to leave under the incinerating stare of Mr. Richardson who had just came in to witness the situation.

Everybody in the room went to either grin or laugh inside, while the two boys shared a high five.

After making sure everything was under control, the teacher decided to begin cleaning up the place, so all the guests that stayed to chatter were dismissed.

« Hey, uh … » Virgil struggled to get out his voice, a little for being tired, a little because in moments of shyness his tone would go out as nothing more than a simple mutter. « Thank you for earlier and … also for coming, I guess. »

« Both of them were my utter pleasure. » Roman had a thing for being extra, and if he chose that aesthetic, he better had to stick to it by doing a theatrical bow at his friend.

« You are a nerd. »

« With style! »

« Whatever helps you sleep at night. » Virgil turned around to face the tower and began walking away. « See you around, Princey. »

There went another one.

Roman had to giggle quietly to himself, every single time his mind traveled to that one particular moment back in the first year when-

« You know, this is what I was talking about. »

He felt a presence walking by his side, suddenly, and found Mr. Eagan glaring at him with an almost nostalgic look.

« I’ve been telling him for years that he has the acting potential. » she sighed while Roman simply nodded along. « He’s been getting better, you see this isn’t the first exhibition they do, I’ve seen them all. »

« Oh, really? »

« Yes. And you can totally sense how much emotion he’s putting, you can tell he’s invested. »

« I agree, I’ve had the occasion to see that. »

« And honestly I feel bad for forcing him into this play thing … but I’m sure he’s going to shine. I’m so proud of him. » she smiled at herself, then stopped in her tracks and looked up at her student. « And I’m also sure you’ll do a good job. Bring out his talent, Roman. In your own special way. »

He remained speechless for a moment, just how much trust did these teachers actually have in both of them? He found it endearing, he felt almost as if they had some kind of motherly appreciation towards them.

« Thank you. We’ll work very hard on this one, you’ll see! »

They exchanged their farewells and Roman headed home, this time by himself, having all kinds of thoughts in his mind.

But most of all, he felt worried.

All of a sudden, it seemed like a blank page was being replaced in his head instead of all the knowledge apprehended through his life.

He had no idea how to start helping Virgil.

✾✾✾✾

Despite the initial awkwardness, things had begun to go way better than both of them had imagined. The occasional staying late after the theater meetings had allowed them to grow closer, so much that they at least shared a few words during break every day at school. And that was a huge effort for Virgil as he preferred to stay in class where almost none hanged around and simply scroll through his phone, waiting for the last two dreadful hours of lessons.

And, well, random texts weren’t late to arrive to the party, too.

Princey: okay but can we talk about what an idiot Pentheus is?

Vee: this is a weird midnight text to get, but go off I guess

Princey: I’m serious! Come on, like why don’t you just let people do their thingsss

Vee: Oh you’re taking this to heart, alright

Princey: Yeah?? Am I not supposed to be emotionally invested in my own play?

Vee: You’re talking as if you’ve written it

Princey: Maybe I did

Vee: gasp are you Euripides reincarnated

Princey: The one and only

Vee: My apologies sir, you have all the rights to whine about your own plot

Vee: I also have no clue how you know english

Princey: It’s the muses’ power!

Vee: Melpomene?

Princey: Bless you

Vee: Wow okay, go to sleep

Princey: Sleep is for the weak

Vee: And you’re gonna be weak in the morning so it really doesn’t matter

Princey: Alright, mum, why would you stay up then?

Vee: Reasons

Princey: Are you still scrolling through Tumblr and sticking to your natural emo kid persona?

Vee: ouch

Vee: no, but I’d love to

Princey: mhh then you forgot to do homework or study?

Vee: You know me, I’m too anxious about my parents’ judgment to do that

Princey: demanding parents?

Vee: sorta.

Princey: sore topic?

Vee: Yup.

Princey: Alright then, you’re watching a movie? An anime?

Vee: No, I’m just talking to an idiot who won’t go to sleep

Princey: Oh I see, sounds like a total badass guy fighting the system

Vee: Yeah, fighting his body’s shut down system if he doesn’t get enough sleep.

Princey: bold of you to say that when we’re in the same situation

Vee: listen we’re talking about you stay focused

Princey: you know I’m right

Princey: C'mon why are you still up

Vee: no reason tbh

Vee: I just can’t seem to fall asleep so I’m tyring myself out until I can pass out on my bed

Princey: thaaat doesn’t seem very healthy

Vee: I never said I wanted to take care of myself

Princey: LOVE YOURSELF BITCH

Vee: HAH

Vee: no.

Princey: i will make you!!

Princey: one day we’ll have a big relaxation day and you will be able to see the beauty in yourself!!

Vee: sounds unrealistic i’m in

Princey: come on work with me emo nightmare

Vee: i’m too lazy to live i’m sorry

Princey: then why don’t you just s l e e p

Vee: bc my sleep schedule is a mess and i cant seem to even shut my eyes everything in my life is going straight in the trash can and uhhhhhh yeah everything sucks

Princey: woah slow down

Princey: okay look you’re having me a bit concerned here

Vee: haha no it’s the usual daily stuff for me

Princey: ……….. it shouldn’t be????

Vee: eh

Princey: hey, would you answer if I called you?

Vee: if this is because of what i’ve just said, you’re worrying too much

Princey: nah it’s just for a distraction

Princey: and maybe you’ll be able to fall asleep

Vee: are you implying your voice is boring or you want to sing me a lullaby?

Princey: i’ll pretend i didn’t read the first part but i’ll have you know i have a very beautiful singing voice

Vee: pf alright i’m not entirely convinced

Princey: i’ll buy both of us coffee at the vending machine tomorrow morning before the first lesson starts

Vee: okay i’m sold, hit me up

✾✾✾✾

« This is unacceptable! I’m sorry, our friendship has to end here, I’m leaving. »

« I’m telling you, I have my reasons. »

« You can’t just simply dislike Hercules! »

Virgil sighed in defeat and resigned in his plastic seat; Christmas holidays had been around for a week, new year’s was already approaching and two youngsters had decided to spend an afternoon together with the excuse of reading some lines out of their scripts and helping each other out.

It wasn’t really the first time they did that, plus with the arrival of winter it was a nice excuse to be comforted by a warm cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream.

Just like they were doing in that moment, only that it seemed that they had completely forgotten about the play because of how much they were invested in other topics. Such as, obviously, Disney movies.

« It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just … so wrong. »

« Oh my- it’s not Percy Jackson, it’s Disney, they’re allowed to take some creative liberties. »

« I know, but I didn’t watch it as a child, I saw it recently- »

« How dare you. »

« -shut up. What I mean is: my studies have ruined its likability. »

Roman closed his eyes and put his hands together in front of his face in an exasperated manner. « Then let’s hear these freaking reasons, enlighten my blindness, o wise one! »

Virgil couldn’t help but smirk as the other one huffed. « First of all, thank you for the compliment. »

« But, see, the first thing that got me was the character of Phil. The actual Philoctetes wasn’t a satyr, he was a hero that fought in the Trojan war who also happened to be Hercules’ friend at some point. »

« Well, they were linked in the end! »

« Let me finish. All the deeds that Phil claimed to have made? All those heroes he trained? Bullshit. Everything was done by Chiron, the only wise and composed centaur of greek mythology. And like centaurs were thought as savage beasts, satyrs were always linked to Dionysus and described as libidinal creatures. Philoctetes would have probably felt insulted. »

« Your studies may have ruined your view but you’re ruining my childhood right now. » Roman muttered the words as a childish pout formed on his lips.

« Ah, also Megara was a city, not a person. » said Virgil with nonchalance.

« WHAT. » the wide-eyed actor jumped in his seat and surged forward a little, blinking a few times.

Without expecting it, Virgil’s composed face contorted with a snort, which then grew into giggles and then again transformed into a genuine and amused laughter that couldn’t stop.

He tried to breathe in. « Princey, you- » he cut himself off as another wave of giggles hit him, so he held one hand up as if to tell him to wait until he could properly compose himself.

And Roman knew he otherwise would have felt offended, or at least in a playful way, he knew normally he would have instantly asked what was the matter. But he couldn’t really shake off the feeling of wanting to protect and carve this picture into his memory until it was the only thing he could remember.

And he truly wanted to share that angelic laughter, participate to the mirthful moment, yet he found himself solely staring at the unusual sight in pleasant disbelief at how stunning that scene was.

He could merely twitch his lips upwards and consider how much he adored hearing the nickname in such an entertained voice.

Something inside Roman clicked as Virgil finally gained enough breath, and he knew he was done for.

« Sorry, uh, » he was finally able to breathe out. « I was actually messing with you. She did exist. »

He looked him in the eyes and all Roman could think was “finally”.

After a beat, noticing the other didn’t respond and assuming he was upset or something, he continued. « Though she and their children were afterwards killed by Hercules according to some. Others think he killed his children and Megara compelled him to commit suicide. Awful stories for great heroes, I guess. »

Roman, who was still starstruck, was only able to comment. « Breathtaking. »

Virgil made a face and lowered the cup he was raising to his lips. « What? »

« Uh … what? No I was just- the TV! Behind you, yes. I was commenting that. »

The confused one turned ever so slightly to quickly glance at the old black screen facing his back. « Alright, I won’t question your weird obsession with old style televisions. »

Nailed it.

Their discourse went on escalating to different topics, but never once brushing the fact that they met to keep up their theater practice, like good procrastinating students. It wasn’t like they were avoiding it on purpose, for the first time they felt like spending quality time with each other was their main priority.

« Okay, listen, Tripping in the Darkness. I went on a cruise once and even there I was able to reveal my beautiful voice. »

« So sorry for the passengers. »

« I should have left you outside freezing in the cold. » Roman scoffed after a beat.

« But you didn’t. »

« I’m starting to reconsider. »

« We both know you would never do it. »

« I forgive you only because you’re cute. » oh wait, oh wha- Roman immediately hid behind his cup, drinking the last remaining of his warm beverage. He hoped that the heat would rush off of his cheeks by the time he had finished.

« Wow, I’m flattered. » Virgil didn’t leave his sarcastic tone and didn’t seem to have noticed anything different, until he snorted out loud when he was met with Roman’s face after he lowered the cup.

Roman’s heart sank, was he still blushing? Was he already onto him? That was bad, that was-

« You got … » Virgil’s voice got back to being amused and he gestured towards his face. Oh, great, he had a chocolate-stained face now. Just what he needed.

« Where? Is it gone? » he frantically kept on asking as he wiped around his mouth and cheeks with his bare hand.

His friend shook his head. « Not even close. »

On a scale on one to Roman’s worst embarrassing moments compilation, he would have probably found himself on top of that very ranking, because after that Virgil simply reached for the container on the little table.

« For starters, you take a tissue. » while he did so, Roman could only watch as his friend gently rubbed away the spot on the bridge of his nose. Oh. The cup did touch it earlier.

Alright that was awkward and I’m stupid, let’s move on.

But no, his brain had decided to short circuit and leave him to his impulsiveness; out of the blue, he grabbed Virgil’s wrist before he pulled away completely.

Virgil blinked, confused once again by his behavior. « Uh, what’s up? »

That’s when Roman’s mind finally snapped to reality and, of course, he panicked to find the best excuse he could permit, so he slid both of his hands to cage Virgil’s own. « You’re super cold! » he noticed, lowering their hands to rest on the table.

« Yeah? It’s minus degrees outside? And I’m often anxious? »

« Oh, right. » why was he feeling more sympathetic than usual? « Then, I shall protect you from both! »

« By holding my hand? »

« By making sure your heat level is within the parameters! »

« Alright, Doc. I’ll trust you. »

That was how they ended up holding hands for the rest of the day without even realizing until they had to part.

« You sure you don’t want me to accompany you to the parking lot? »

« I’m fine, don’t mind. »

They were standing out of the cafe to exchange their goodbyes, about to head for different streets and eventually go home.

« You know, you didn’t really have to pay for me, I’m not broke. » Virgil talked in little puffs of condensed air, hands in his pockets and trying to shake off the cold stinging sensation that pierced his skin.

« Oh, soft you now, »

« Is that a fucking Hamlet quote? »

« -it is my duty to ensure your well-being. Plus I know you hate talking to cashiers, so. »

« You’re the worst, but thank you. » Virgil rolled his eyes. « I still feel like I owe you one now, though. »

Well you could just kiss me whenever you feel like, a part of Roman’s brain noted. Uhm, what the fuck is your problem? Responded the other.

« Nah, I’ll probably forget it by the next time we talk. » he admitted, ignoring the weird thoughts that were happening in his mind, a mind that needed to shut up for at least a single second.

Virgil muttered an “alright” and was about to turn around and wave him off, like he always did, when he was confronted by a simple demand.

« Uh, can I, like, hug you? »

He stopped in his tracks, considering for a moment, before a “sure” escaped his lips and he started nodding.

Roman stepped closer and wrapped his arms around his chest, content and making a little pleased sound as the other returned the hug. He wasn’t sure why he was being so uncertain that day.

« Bye, Virge! » he called out as he stepped away from his friend and began walking home.

Virgil waved in return and immediately took out his phone and earbuds: after hitting shuffle he was fast to recognize the song by the first chords.

Acceptance, huh? He had discovered their song back in middle school. Boy, did he try so hard to be edgy. Still, certain songs weren’t really that bad.

Oh no, this couldn’t be more unexpected.

He had just made to turn the corner of a mansion’s fence when a realization struck him. And he was still subtly smiling because of it.

He somehow hadn’t been aware of it in the moment, probably because of their distracting conversation.

The lyrics went by in his ears and he almost didn’t even notice the words flowing in his head as that little memory of their afternoon occupied his mind.

Could this be out of line? To say you’re the only one breaking me down like this.

Roman had been brushing his thumb against his skin for almost all the time he had been holding onto his hand earlier.

He also had hugged him a little bit tighter than how he remembered back in October. And he was very excited too, that day.

And yeah, the majority of sane people would have found the situation simply nice or just a normal friendly action. But Virgil?

Come to think of it, I’m aching.

Yeah, he was already burying his face in his hoodie. God, was that heat rushing at his cheeks? Did his body really want to make it any more obvious?

On account of my transgression, will you welcome this confession?

Oh god, oh fu-

Virgil exhaled deeply and rubbed at his face with his hands, an unwelcome warm feeling spreading in his chest, it felt like as if someone was lighting a fire in there, not caring for the emotional damage that they were about to cause. Like a firework sent up in the middle of the night only to startle you enough to wake you up in a cold sweat and thumping heart.

Keep me hanging on so contagiously.

Virgil abruptly ripped the earbuds away from his ears and stuffed everything in his pockets as he leaned on his school’s gate, staring at the parking lot in front of him. His parents had yet to arrive to pick him up.

He had enough time to calm down.

« Well, I’m fucked. »

Maybe.

✾✾✾✾

Princey: HAPPY NEW YEAR V!!

Vee: yeee here’s to another shitty one

Princey: AW COME ON try to be a bit more upbeat

Vee: YEEE HERE’S TO ANOTHER SHITTY ONE!!!!

Princey: THAT’S MORE LIKE IT COMRADE

Vee: wtf okay

Princey sent a pic

Vee: are those streamers in your hair?

Vee: and … glitter?

Princey: don’t question it it’s your turn now send me something

Vee: i don’t think that’s how it works

Princey: do iiiiiit scaredy cat

Vee: fine

Vee sent a pic

Princey: .. wait

Princey: Are you in bed?

Vee: On the couch, actually

Vee: if that’s what you’re asking yes, i’m at home

Princey: and you’re not having fun? Are you okay??

Vee: yes don’t worry

Vee: i’m by myself

Princey: WHAT

Vee: gee it’s not that weird

Princey: no it’s just i thought you were out with friends

Vee: were all busy

Vee: but it’s fine, i don’t really appreciate big and loud parties

Vee: and i jump at every single loud noise so fireworks are a big no for me

Princey: you should have told me!! i would have managed something, we could have even just chilled alone

Vee: no it’s fine really, thank you

Vee: sorry to bring you down with that

Princey: oh shush

Princey: can i call you?

Vee: that’s sweet and all but i’d feel like i’m bothering you so

Princey: what are you talking about, plus there are so many people here they won’t even realize i’m gone for a while

Vee: i don’t wanna waste your time, it’s ok

Princey: but you’re not doing that!

Princey: idk can I at least visit you for some time? I don’t want you being all alone like that

Vee: no

Vee: i mean not that i don’t want you here but i’d feel guilty, i told you

Princey: you don’t have to!!

Princey: i lo kdjsdsdjk

Vee: what-

Princey: look i care about you, you’re one of my closest friends already and i love spending time with you, so if there’s a way for me to cheer you up i will gladly accept it

Vee: that is …

Vee: the gayest thing i’ve ever read

Vee: you’re a dork

Princey: i will take all that as a compliment

Vee: okay let me just

Vee: get my dog off of me

Princey: ADORABLE DOG

Vee: yeah i love her

Vee: and afterwards you can call me alright

Princey: SCORE!!

Princey: okay

Vee: one thing though

Princey: mirror mirror on the wall what’s the question botherin y'all

Vee: … i’ll pretend i’ve never read that

Vee: are you still getting me coffee tomorrow morning like that one time

Princey: if this is a subtle “do you wanna hang out here” i’m all for it, tho expect me to come up at like 11

Vee: wow you know exactly how to make things awkward everytime

Vee: okay dog’s off, you can call

Princey: on it!

✾✾✾✾

It is widely known and said that time flies by quickly when you’re either having fun, doing nothing or during the holidays. Students had reluctantly returned to their daily routines of lessons, homework and studying, trying to frame everything in the best way, so that they had at least some time to breathe between their tasks.

January, sadly, meant that the end of the first term was approaching inexorably and the teachers suddenly realized they needed more marks than they actually had from every student in a matter of two weeks. Everything for the initial report cards that, in the end, didn’t matter at all compared to the final one.

Thanks to February, students would have some time to breathe and re-gain strength until March, which was another wave of tests in preparation for the real monster: May.

For the last years, though, February also meant that they were going to get more information about which subjects they had to focus on the most for their final exams, which could only be linked to chaos, panic and that anxious but subtle feeling that the big moment was coming.

Thankfully, the weekend existed and with it also places for poor unfortunate souls to release stress and distract themselves from the imminent danger.

And that is how we follow two fellow individuals in distress who had decided upon spending their first free time in weeks walking around town and having a nice chat during night. At least before they ended up in a little desolated playground, their scripts in front of their faces, definitely acting more dramatically than needed.

« Do you perform the rites by night or by day? » Roman leaned on one of the street lamps, permitting him to read his line and, at the same time, he widely gestured with his free hand.

« Mostly by night; darkness conveys awe. » Virgil emphasized his second line with such an ominous tone that made his friend giggle lightly.

« Oh my, I’m thrilled. »

« Okay but you’ve got to admit it’s actually a cool phrase to say. »

« Maybe if we were serious enough, my darkling. »

After Virgil’s usual “shut up and keep reading” (which he had been using for the past fifteen minutes, mind you), Roman complied. « This is treacherous towards women, and unsound. » his voice sounded almost offended, his hand trailed over his heart in a fist.

Virgil bit back a grin at the sight. « Even during the day someone may devise what is shameful. »

« This vile quibbling settles your punishment. » the taller one took a few steps forward, pointing his finger on his friend, accusatory.

« Your ignorance and impiety toward the god will settle yours. » Virgil snarled, imitating the other in pointing fingers.

Roman gasped way more dramatically than needed and placed a hand on his chest, eyes wide with disbelief. « How bold the Bacchant is, and not unpracticed in speaking! »

His acting partner intook some breath, before stopping, narrow eyed, while he read his words.

« What, is something wrong? » Roman demanded, eyes scanning the next lines before looking up.

« This is so fucking gay. » he admitted, a smile playing on his lips as he contemplated the possibility of a different turn of events in the plot.

« Dionysus and Pentheus, but make it gayer. »

« Than it already is? That’s a challenge. »

« I have something in mind. » Virgil didn’t like the mischievous look on Roman’s face. « Keep going. »

« Tell me what I must suffer; what grievous harm will you do to me? » he hadn’t noticed how fast the other was to reach him, the previous grin was still imprinted on his lips. His pace faltered only a bit, but didn’t stop when he was a few steps from his Dionysus.

« First, I will cut off your delicate curls. » how Roman could change his tone from a mocking one to a warm and clear one, would forever be an unsolved mystery to the world. He proceeded to raise a hand to Virgil’s hair and slowly moved his bangs to the side, a knuckle brushing his cheek afterwards.

« My locks are sacred; I am growing them for the god. » Virgil played along and started to remember the lines, a result of their persistent reading every week. Not that he could really tear off his eyes from the looming figure in front of him.

« Next, give me this thyrsos from your hands. » other steps forward and Roman had trapped him against some metal bars he wasn’t aware of.

« Take it from me yourself; this is the wand of Dionysus I am bearing. » with no warning, Roman pressed his right hand, where the actual thyrsos would have been, to the bars and locked their fingers together. He leaned in even further, making sure Virgil could notice the sly sparkle in his half-lidded eyes.

« Last, I will guard your body deep in the dungeons. » his other hand gripped the bars right next to the boy’s head, literally trapping him. He had to stay in character, after all.

The leaning was slow this time, but didn’t seem to be stopping at any moment and Virgil could swear he felt his body move without his consent.

Inches apart, and Roman’s lips twitched upward. He stopped.

Virgil snorted.

Next thing they knew they were both bursting out laughing like they had just heard the best joke their favorite comedian had ever made.

« That was- » Virgil tried, after they both collapsed to the ground, weak in their knees for too much hilarity. « That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. »

« When Pentheus and Dionysus couldn’t get any gayer. » Roman commented through an almost hysterical laughter, while part of his brain began to shut down in a ohgodwhathasjusthappenediwasabouttobutthenididntandisthisthereallife state. An everyday situation to which he was used to, of course.

« Actually, » his friend began, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. « Greek gods are very open about their sexuality. »

« Oh, yeah. Wasn’t it Zeus himself that tried to f- » Roman was instantly shushed to silence, while a pained expression grew on the other’s face.

« We don’t talk about him. »

Fair enough. They had been in comfortable silence for quite a while, sitting on the ground and enjoying the void of the night as the only sources of light showed them only certain features and details of the objects around them.

« Hey, Virge? »

The mentioned boy almost jumped at the sudden sound. « Yeah? »

Roman’s expression, fixated on something ahead of him, was somewhat between focused and in a daze.

« Did you know the teachers wanted to keep your hair growing for the play? »

« What. »

« They decided against it when they realized I actually had to cut them away during the show. »

« Why are you telling me this right now? »

« I was just thinking about … » Roman’s words lingered, as if he thought about whether or not he could disclose a secret.

About me, please say about me. Virgil shook off the bizarre thought while he waited for a response. Are you fucking kidding me? Part of his mind answered. Didn’t all those past experiences teach you anything? Virgil found it harder to concentrate on Roman’s words now, he creased his eyebrows as if he were having a headache.

Those were in elementary school and middle school, you idiot. The other side responded. They were still valid experiences!

« Ohi. » Roman waved his hand in front of the other’s face. « Are you on this planet, sir? »

« Sadly, I still am. »

Roman rolled his eyes at that. « Dang, here I thought the aliens had gotten you. »

« You wish. »

« Anyway, I was about to get going since it’s getting pretty late even for a Saturday night. » he pulled himself on his feet, then smiled brightly and turned to his friend. « Lift home? »

« Thank god you exist. »

And Roman did really try hard to act cool and all, but he found out he couldn’t prevent his face from turning at least the weakest tint of red.

✾✾✾✾

They didn’t know how it was possible, but they made it through until April.

The last two months were a train wreck of multiple meetings between Roman’s wonderful school trip abroad, additional tests, the first exams simulations, and things getting very serious at theater club. The designs, scenes, props and costumes were all coming along neatly and, with everybody giving their all, the excitement for the play could be felt through thin air. Roman was thrilled and he thought that there wasn’t nothing else that could possibly be better than that kind of feeling.

Virgil begged to differ.

He was standing in the middle of the external part of the front of the school with a couple of other classes of his same course; they all had backpacks on their backs and a luggage held close.

Virgil was almost bouncing, unable to stay still, he started tapping his fingers on the handle of his own luggage. The anticipation was killing him, how could everybody else be so calm and casual? They were about to leave for a trip to Greece!

It was the most wanted and awaited of school trips for their course, it happened every three years and not only students were given the opportunity to confront and visit places and subjects they had studied, but also thanks to certain lovable teachers the weirdest and funniest things occurred in those trips. It was a dream come true, finally at their fingertips.

He really didn’t want to seem mean, but Virgil couldn’t stop looking at the time on his phone while one of his closest classmates trailed off talking about how energetic they felt for the trip ahead.

Until …

« Wine god! » what the f-

Virgil and his friend looked up simultaneously to be met with the vision of Roman waving one arm from the top of the external stairs and afterwards quickly running down towards them.

« I didn’t see you anywhere this morning! » he was still half-running when he spoke those words, as he reached them. He put his hands on Virgil’s shoulders.

« We didn’t really leave until now, we had a test. »

His eyes widened « What the heck? Right before a trip? »

Virgil shrugged. They had chosen it was better to do it before than afterwards.

« Well, anyway, I wanted to properly say goodbye and wish you a good travel! »

« Thank you, buddy. You really didn’t have to, aren’t you having a lesson right now? » Virgil raised one eyebrow, uncertain.

Roman showed him one of his stupidly charming grins and put his hands on his hips. « I simply asked to go to the bathroom. »

« I hate to break it to you, Roman, but this isn’t exactly the right way. »

« Oh, shut up. You know I wanted to see you before you headed off for the seven seas! »

« We’re literally traveling through the same sea, what are you tal- »

« It’s been a long day, let me have this. »

Virgil tilted his head to the side, they had been in school for only three hours, what exactly did that make it a long day?

His thoughts were broken by the thundering of one of his teachers who announced that everybody had to get ready since they were going to leave in a matter of minutes.

« Alright then. » Roman murmured with a slightly sad sigh, he quickly replaced his defeated expression with a smile, careful not to be discovered. « I’ll have to leave now. »

C'mon say something. His heart begged for mercy as Virgil looked back up at him and he saw two bright gray irises, the sun’s rays hitting them from the side just enough to make them look like literal crystals.

Anything would do, take your chance, tell him!

His eyes fell to the figure right next to them, still standing there and witnessing every one of their interactions. Well, maybe next time.

Roman leaned forwards and wrapped his arms around his friend’s shoulders in a tight embrace that was soon returned a bit more weakly around his waist. He felt like he was holding on him for dear life more than anything.

His hand trailed at the nape of his neck and stroked his hair for some instants, in which Virgil tightened his own hug and laughed silently on his shoulder.

« I’m not leaving forever, you know? The time zone is not even that different. »

« I know but I’ll be lonely! »

« We both know that’s not true. » Virgil released the other and patted his shoulder. « You’ll be fine and you can text me whenever you want when I’m not in the ferry. »

Roman let out a fake annoyed huff, but smiled anyway. « Have a safe trip, Virge. » he backed away, still facing him while waving a hand.

Then he turned to the other boy.

« Keep an eye on him for me, okay? »

« Will do! »

At this, Roman sprinted away towards his class and could only smirk wider when Virgil called him out with a “Oh shut up, Princey.”

Virgil met his friend’s all-knowing look as he turned away from the spot where he saw Roman disappear, not realizing he had a soft expression written over all of his face.

« Why are you- no. Listen, it’s not what you- »

His friend ignored him, dancing around him. « You’re doing flips, read my lips, you’re in love! » he sang, while Virgil buried his face in his hands since for some godforsaken reason when he was embarrassed he tended to have a weird smile on his face that made him completely implausible. He hated that, it only made people tease him even further.

Which was exactly what happened in this situation, even after Virgil had smacked him behind the head lightly and started to get going towards the bus station as their teachers had instructed.

#prinxiety #roman sanders #virgil sanders #ts roman #sanders sides roman #ts virgil #sanders sides virgil #sanders sides au #fanfiction #prinxiety fic #sanders sides fic #ts fic #to tend thee is my care #purp's writings

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youremeimyou · 5 years

Text

The Bet (pt.2)

Part 1 - Part 2

pairing: Kim Taehyung x Reader genre: fluff, a little more angst than the first part word count: 4k warnings: none other than stressful college life

Description: Taehyung and Y/N have managed to form a strong bond over their years of college. According to their friends, the chemistry between the two is undeniable. But the duo would rather not risk the close friendship. The very friendship that’ll be put to test by the boldest of bets, it seems.

A/N: This part turned out to be more like on the “college au” side of things. I enjoyed writing it so much. The ending parts killed me everytime I read it :’) So I really hope you guys like it. I’d love it if you guys let me know what you think of it. Enjoy!

When Y/N woke up next morning, she didn't feel the least bit rested. Considering it was already next morning when she finally came home and went to sleep, it wasn't that surprising. She grabbed her phone to see if there were any texts from.. well, someone she wouldn't admit to be expecting texts from. Instead, a long list of missed calls from both her parents greeted her on the screen. Do I have to meet them? Do I have to get up and shower right now? Her brain answered yes to both. She quickly got ready and rushed to the little café they always met up at.

"So, how was finals week?"

"Do you have to shout mom?" Her mom wasn't shouting but boy was Y/N hungover. Her parents were confused. Both because she was being a prat and because she was wearing sunglasses inside.

"Sorry. I just have a migraine."

"Oh sweety, didn't you take your medicine. You probably ran out on finals week didn't you?" And bingo. Somehow her mom knew how her daughter struggled with exams and still wanted her to do the best.

"Let's buy you some new ones from the pharmacy down the block."

"It's okay, dad. I'll take care of it. How are you guys doing?"

"We're doing just fine sweety. Your mom made-"

"Let's tell her! I can't wait any longer." Her mom cut in. Then she continued with a wide smile.

"Remember the lab you were talking about last mounth? The one you said you loved the work they did."

"Yeah, BioGrid. Why?"

"You know your dad's friend Ryu used to be the driver of the CEO. And turns out, once he drove his wife to the hospital when she went into early labor and saved her life. Anyway, I saw on the newspaper that they were opening a new lab here in our city. So I had Ryu send them your CV. And they want to have you start as an intern."

"What? Mom when did you- and how did you-" Y/N was confused to say the least with all the information she was fed in just a few seconds. "But, I have school."

"I know, dear. They also know you're still a student. They agreed on making the schedule in a way you can do both. I mean with how well you're doing, damn right they should."

Both her parents had proud looks on their faces. It was endearing. But the fact that no one even thought to ask for her opinion beforehand, frustrated her. She was -like always- just suppossed to find a way to handle both. Always had to exceed expectations let alone meeting them. And yes, she'd really love to work there one day. Not this day though. She already had enough migraines regarding school. But, she wasn't gonna argue. This was a topic she could never be found right about. So she just expressed her gratitude and everyone went on with their brunch.

.........

Y/N's phone screen lit up with back to back messages. She rolled to the other side of her bed to reach it.

Tae: Sorry, I was out at the backyard shooting hoops.

Tae: Didn't hear you call.

Tae: Whassup?

She was relieved he got back to her. Hoping it would mean he wasn't avoiding her.

Y/N: No problem. And nothing's up. I mean something is but I'd rather not text about that right now.

Her phone started ringing a few seconds after she sent the text.

-‘Taetae’ calling...-

"Hey, Tae-"

"What happened?"

"I just wrote that-"

"You said you didn't wanna text about it. So I called. Now, tell me."

Y/N smiled. He always just knew how to make it better. So Y/N told him everything that went down and how she felt about it.

"Sounds to me like a great opportunity. Yet, also a great deal of work, huh?"

"Yeah."

"What're you gonna do?"

"What can I do but comply?"

"You can try to talk to your parents-"

"When has that ever been an option? And I already contacted the lab. They said I start Monday. Monday's like tomorrow!" He could tell she was frowning and scrunching her cute little nose, through the phone. "Anyways, what're you up to?"

"Gotta hit the library from now on. Full-on study week awaits. I've to take the make up test next week for plant bio. After I handed my paper to the teacher after the exam and saw the look on her face, I knew I should've given an empty paper instead of writing any kind of answers."

They both chuckled to that.

"Can't be that bad.." after Taehyung didn't reply for like five seconds, she continued, "can it?"

"Oh, it is." Both giggled again. "I was actually gonna ask you to tutor me this week. But you’re starting the internship. I gotta pull it off by myself somehow."

"No way am I letting you suffer plant bio alone. Of course I'll help you."

"You don't have to really. You already have that nanobiotech article review thing Professor Ling assigned you. When's that due again?"

"Shiiiittt. I forgot about that. That's next week.."

"You should get started on it."

"I will. I mean.. first I gotta find an article to review but I got this. And I'm definetly helping you out." She laughed. It was a nervous laugh but a laugh nonetheless.

"Just get started on your stuff. We'll talk later."

"Okay. Text me when you're headed to the library. Bye."

It turned out the next day was indeed Monday. So Y/N started the internship. BioGrid was really nice. She felt happy to be there, witnessing the new frontiers of her field. First they discussed the schedule, then they started working. She never imagined her first day to be this tiring.

After the busy first experience, Y/N finally got on the bus home. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was a set of links sent from Taehyung. All the links were of articles related to nanobiotechnology. She felt her heart flutter.

It was Friday and the week went by in a blink of an eye for Y/N. She was so busy all the time. She mostly went to sleep with headaches and woke up with them still there. Only could drop by the school for a few classes. Oh yes, she was also taking summer school for extra credit. It was easily the most worn out she had ever been. But she was glad she made it to the 9.15 class today, In hopes to finally see Taehyung who she hadn't seen whole week. So naturally, it was dissappointing when he didn't show. As she was walking out of the class she saw the announcement paper hanging on the notice board.

'Classrooms determined for Saturday's Plant Biology make up test'

Holy shit. Y/N completely forgot about tutoring Taehyung. She quickly called him but no response. Again and again she called as she practically ran to his apartment but he never picked up. Once she knocked on his door, she heard someone else alongside Taehyung's familiar voice through it. Then, there was the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer until the door opened.

"Y/N? Hey-"

"I know we only have one day, well even less than a day till the test but we can do this." Y/N brushed past Taehyung and let herself in. "Now step aside and let me force every single bit of knowledge I have upon you abou-"

She swallowed the rest of her sentence when her gaze met Jessie's who was sitting comfortably on Taehyung’s couch.

"Oh, see Taetae? And you thought smartypants forgot about you."

Jessie was being her usual irritating ass self towards Y/N. Y/N didn't have any beef with her, though. She was just another chick who’s sore about the fact Taehyung spent more time with Y/N more than any of the girls in school. Y/N knew being hated by most girls on campus came with the Taehyung friendship package.

"I never said that. And don't be annoying, Jess."

Jess? Really? What happened to Jessica or even Jessie at this point?

"What are you guys-"

“I’m teaching Taehyung stuff.” No one spoke for a brief moment. Because this was definetely not something anyone would consider normal. So, Y/N was kinda right to be baffled.

“Yeah well, who knew? Jess knows school stuff and she can share it with others. Wow, right?”

Jess. Tch….

Jessie just glared at him. “I guess you know all you can fathom at this point. I’m done here.” She started walking towards the exit. She stopped suddenly and turned back to say something she forgot to. “Breathe a word of this me tutoring thing to anyone and you can probably guess that it’ll be ugly.” And with that being said, she walked out.

“So.. are you really ready for the test?”

“As ready as I can be, I guess. I almost peed my pants when Jessie said she could help. But she really knows her stuff, I gotta say. Guess plants are just her thing.”

“I did see her trying to hide her results paper in plant bio once.”

“Yeah, that sounds like her. Hiding good grades to keep from ruining her reputation.” Taehyung smiled. And Y/N couldn’t believe how much that annoyed her. It was just a simple comment about the girl and a simple smile. And Y/N didn’t understand why but she was openly hurt.

“Why didn’t you call me Tae?” she asked with a frown.

“I knew you were busy.”

“I can unbusy myself for you. You know that. Instead you go to Jessica. No wait, what was it? Oh right, Jess.”

Her voice contained anger and dissappointment. And it was coming on much too stronger than she intented to.

“I told you she was the one who offered to help-“

“Yeah, because you confided in her. Not me, not any of our other friends but your Jess.” She practically yelled this part. And as soon as the words came out, she regretted every single one. Y/N knew it was her that messed up, not Taehyung. She supposedly came here to apologize but what greeted her when she came in made her see red. And the rest was history.

“She’s not my Jess. That’s not and will never be a thing.” Taehyung on the other hand remained calm. Even through the bitchy exterior, he knew Y/N was just stressed. He couldn’t bring himself to be angry with her when she had dark circles around her eyes like that.

“And speaking of our other friends, hyungs were asking about you the whole week. So was Chungha. I thought you would’ve at least talked to her at some point.”

Y/N couldn’t speak to anyone lately. Not even her best friend as Taehyung pointed out.

“Anyways, they figured out we hung out last Saturday. The hyungs gave me a ton of crap cuz they didn’t see you since like last month or something and I didn’t take ‘em with us to the party.”

Y/N knew she had a lot to make up for. It was true that she didn’t really hang out with her friends for almost a month. First it was the finals week, now she had the internship. It was starting to get really lonely.

“How are you doing with the article review? I hoped I could take some of the weight of your shoulders but I doubt the ones I sent were helpful.”

Taehyung continued the conversation like the arguement never happened. He wasn’t making eye contact with Y/N though. He went to sit on the table and looked out the window. The way sunshine landed on his face and made the brown locks of his hair seem blonde was perfect. The way his long eyelashes brushed his cheekbones as he blinked was perfect. There he was being all beautiful in front of her. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way.

“Once again, I forgot about that assignment. But the second one you sent was perfect, actually. I’ll go on from that. I only have to clean two labs and write reports on the devices in those labs before, that’s all.”

“Wow. I hope you get paid for that shit.” He smiled a beautiful smile and their eyes met.

“Not enough, if you ask me.” She returned it with a grin.

“Try not to forget about the artice again.” His smile became a part frown to show his worry for a quick moment. Then he broke the eye contact again and continued looking out the window. Y/N felt like it was time to go.

“I’ll see you after your test. We should gather everyone to hang.”

He replied with a nod.

“Good luck.”

She went home after that. And announced a gathering in the group chat as promised.

-‘Chungha monster’ calling…-

“Before you yell, I’m sorry I didn’t check in with you since forever Chungs.”

“You think I’ll yell about that when there’re more important things? You went out on a date with Taehyung!”

“It wasn’t a date! This is why we don’t invite you guys anymore-“

“Yeah yeah, sure. I heard from Cho that he was all over you, so spill.”

“And he said there wouldn’t be anyone there who knew us.”

“Why? So you could do piravate stuf-“

“Chungs stop!” Y/N felt flustered.as.fuck.

“Fine, I’ll force the details out Monday when we meet. I missed our gatherings. Good thing you planned it.”

“I know, me too. See you then!”

Swiftly, the weekend went by with Y/N cramped up in a ton of work again. On her mind was Taehyung. How’d he do for the test? Why hasn’t he called since last time? And why do I miss him like this? She decided to give him space after going kinda crazy on him last time. She just had to wait till Monday. And Monday came but Y/N didn’t know cuz she was still stuck at the lab. In fact she couldn’t go home Sunday night, watching over some plants crucial to an experiment.

This internship had a way of making her lose track of time. Until she saw the 38 missed calls from Chungha. Then she asked for the rest of the day off and ran to her best friend’s aparment.

“Sorry I’m late you guys. I missed you sooo much.” As soon as she walked in, the gang gave her a collective hug. Then each of them scolded her for being absent for such a long time. Especially Jin, he gave like a whole lecture on it.

Jungkook, Jimin and Hoseok trapped her between their bodies and took a bunch of selfies, calling it her punishment. Y/N was giggling as she tried to free herself from three koala bears. Once she finally managed to do so, she gave them a questioning frown.

“Where’s Taetae?”

Jungkook and Jimin immediately looked at each other, then on the ground. Hoseok just shrugged.

“He cancelled last minute. Family thing I guess. We were gonna celebrate him passing plant bio but sadly he can’t make it.” Chungha answered. Y/N’s heart sank. She waited all weekend to give him space. But now it felt like he was out of reach. Even though he was calm and collected last time they saw each other, she felt like he was distant. After what happened at the party, Y/N was more drawn to him then ever before. Like a switch was flipped and she wasn’t able to put away the attaction she felt like she used to be. But he was acting like it didn’t even happen. Like nothing changed for him. It drove her crazy.

“Oh, Y/N. Proffesor Ling told me she loved the review you sent her. She just couldn’t put in the marks due to a problem in the system. She says grades will be up there in a few days.”

“What? I didn- I mean I forgot about that again and I- but how-“

“Girl, you’re blabbering. Let’s start the movie guys.”

Y/N didn’t even focus for a moment during the movie. She checked her mail and saw that the article review was indeed sent. But it wasn’t her who did that. Apperently it wasn’t Chungha either so that left only one person. The one guy that wasn’t here right now. The guy who made Y/N’s heart beat out of her chest.

After the movie everyone went their own way. It was already dark outside. Despite being tired Y/N didn’t want to go home. Ever since she started as an intern, it felt like she had no time to do stuff. She decided to take a stroll down the riverside. Tonight was also too breezy to be a summer night and Y/N didn’t have a coat, again. The river happened to be really close to Taehyung’s place. Would you look at that coincidence! There was nothing more Y/N wanted than to see him at that moment. So she went to his place and knocked his door, waiting anxiously.

A messy haired, puffy faced, confused looking Taehyung opened the door. Great, now I wanna snuggle up to him.

“Were you sleeping? Sorry-“

“Hey, no it’s okay.” His voice deep and raspy, its affect on Y/N indescribable. “What’re you doing here?”

“Umm.. I was just by the river and it got kinda chilly but I couldn’t find a cab and I thought you might be up but you must be tired I should’ve just-“

“Breath Y/N. Come in.”

Taehyung plumped down on the couch. Y/N sat next to him a second later. But like really next to him. No space kinda next to him. Taehyung’s gaze was fixated on the floor. Until he jumped up suddenly. “I’ll make some coffee or something.”

“Did you do my assignment and send it to Professor Ling?”

Taehyung paused for a moment. “You remember how you logged in to your account on my phone? Well, it kinda stayed there. And I just wanted to check if you sent anything and saw you didn’t. So you know, I mean you already said you liked the second article I sent y-“

“Breath Tae.” they laughed after that and the mood lifted up thanks to it. But Taehyung kept busying himself on the counter and not making eye contact with Y/N still.

“I can’t thank you enough. I wish you would’ve called me and reminded me instead of going through all that trouble.”

“You already had a lot to do. And you had already forgotten about it despite me reminding you like 8 times. I just scrabbled some stuff, it wasn’t like any trouble. Let’s hope you actually get a good mark.”

“Professor Ling loved it. And she never gives compliments to me. It must’ve been more than a scrabble.”

Taehyung actually made a lot of effort. More effort than he ever made for his own work. Not that he’d admit it to her face right now.

“So how was your day?”

“Oh, I didn’t do much. In fact I don’t think I even got out today. Kinda feeling under the weather a little.”

“Wait. Didn’t you have a family thing?”

Shit. He just exposed himself. He dropped the porcelain mug and cut his hand on the broken pieces.

“Tae, are you okay?” Y/N ran to him in worry. “Let me see.”

She saw it was bleeding and cleaned the wound for him. Taehyung pointed to the cupboard where first-aid stuff were. She wrapped bandages around his hand. She didn’t let go of his hand when she was done though. She stood there, really close to him and looked him in the eyes. Like trying to transmit a message from her eyes to his. It was just like their many moments back at the party. Full of tension, suspense and longing. Taehyung panicked and stepped away.

“Thanks for the-“

“What’s going on Taehyung? Cuz it seems to me like you’re trying to avoid me. I mean you won’t even make eye contact. And I don’t get it because you’re also looking out for me, doing my assignments for me without even making it known. You’re making me confused. And driving me crazy!”

“I’m driving you crazy? That’s rich.”

“What do you mean-“

“Friends look out for each other don’t they? And since I’m your friend I try to do my part. You know.. as a friend!”

“Taehyung I-“

“And yeah I’m avoiding you. I’m trying to stay the hell away from you because I can’t-“ he paused and lowered his loud volume before he continued. “After the party I just can’t stop thinking about you.”

Y/N felt like her voice was ripped out of her. She wanted to say something, that she also had him on her mind. How she felt so grateful for his help, how she was so sorry for not being around. But she just couldn’t utter a word.

“Look I- it wasn’t just impulses that night. It was a long time coming for me. Because you drive me crazy. But you were right. We’re close friends. You’re practically my best friend. And I can’t lose you. I just have to pull it together.”

“Tae-“

“Don’t feel awkward. Please don’t feel awkward okay?”

“Let me speak dumbass.”

Taehyung couldn’t even look at her. It was unbareable to wait for what was about to come. He, who was a known campus fuckboy -which he may or may not have taken pride in- never developed these kind of feelings for another girl. Well since they met freshman year, he didn’t really have much emotional availability for other girls. Not like this girl right here. The girl he bought a blue jacket for.

Once again Y/N walked to him but slowly this time. He was standing next to the kitchen counter. She went next to him, leaned back on the counter, then looked at him.

“You won.”

“Wha-“

“You won the bet.”

She could swear she saw Taehyung’s eyes sparkle for a second.

“I did?”

Feeling embarrassed, Y/N lowered her gaze to Taehyung’s chest who was now standing in front of her.

“In a way, you didn’t. Because c’mon, how could I not have developed feelings for you this whole time? It’s just, after the party I couldn’t keep it in anymore. But I thought you were being distant because you thought of it as a mistake or something.” Her voice got smaller towards the end of her sentence.

Taehyung lightly grabbed her chin and made her look up to him. Okay, his eyes are definetely shooting stars. Then, he put his hands on the counter behind her, his arms softly trapping her on both sides.

“You’re looking at me like you’re about to kiss me.”

“What makes you say that?” Taehyung said as he started getting closer.

“Cause last time you were looking at me like that, you almost did.”

He paused. But this time he gave a little chuckle and closed his eyes. Then, their lips met. Y/N melted into the soft, warm and wistful kiss. Taehyung’s lips were honey, they hugged hers perfectly. Y/N moved her hands up from his chest to the back of his head, pulling a little on the tips of his hair. It made Taehyung hum lowly into the kiss and deepen it, pulling Y/N even closer by her waist. Until they finally broke apart to breathe. Taehyung leaned his forehead against hers.

“Wait. This means I have the right to brag about how I made you fall for me for the rest of eternity.”

“But what about the part I romantically declared that I was already in love with you?”

“I’m still telling everyone that I made you fall for me on the dancefloor with my smooth moves, babe.”

Y/N pulled him in for another quick kiss. Taehyung smiled against her mouth.

“I don’t know why we ever worried about ruining our friendship. We get to be best friends who can also make out! How amazing is that?”

“It’s the best idea your smart little brain full of IQ points have ever produced, love.”

Taehyung knew there was no way he’d let her go anywhere tonight after all that.

“So, how ‘bout I get started on that coffee again and you pick an anime for us to binge on my bed till we fall asleep?”

“I wanted to snuggle up to you since I saw you when you opened the door.”

He quickly brushed his nose against hers and then took two mugs from the cupboard.

“Here, you have the blue mug.”

“Yay! I love blue.”

“I know.”

...

Author’s note: I can’t believe I just finished my first fic aAgghhH. If you guys bared with me and read that whole ass thing, thank you so so much I hope you liked it. Once again I”m sorry if there are any mistakes. I wish you all a beautiful dayyyyy :)))

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gb-fics · 5 years

Text

GB Academy (Act 1)

Golden Bomber Fanfiction.

Note: Please read beforehand!

This story is somewhat different from what I usually write and it's moreover something I swore myself to never do - set at a highschool xD Anyway, some of you might know about the Glamorous Butterfly campaign Golden Bomber is doing with Jex. It's more or less promoting sexual health and using condoms, whatever :D Now, during the last years the members of GB appeared at those events as their female alter-ego highschool students. This year, it was changed and they appear as their male alter ego highschool students.

I will put the link to the official website here, so you can check out their current versions, if you scroll down the page, you will also find some of photos of their female versions. If you don't know what I'm even talking about, just take a look at the website first, please xD

http://gb-lovekatsu.com/

Now, I saw some very cute fanarts and comic strips done by Japanese fans with the pairings used in this fanfic and I felt the need to write about it. I'm not sure if people even want to read about female characters and straight romance, but technically, all the characters are still Golden Bomber, so whatever. Just so you know beforehand and don't feel cheated xD

I think it should be obvious, but I'm putting down a list again, so you have an overview over the who's who :D Kiryuuin Shou - also: Shoko Kyan Yutaka - also: Yutako Utahiroba Jun - also: Junko sensei (school nurse) Darvish Kenji - also: Tarumi (It makes more sense in Japanese, haha)

I divided the story into 4 chapters and will post them all at once, I hope you will manage to navigate through it :D Each character gets 4 point-of-view parts; some of you might notice that I used the structure of Gay Drama as orientation.

If you are still up for reading this stupid stuff, go ahead and enjoy :D Otherwise, stay with me anyway, there will also be regular stories ... soon (^-^)

* * *

Her name was Shoko. She was 17 years old. Today, she was nervous to go to class, because of the text message she had received last night.

“So, what did it say?”, Yutako insisted. She was standing in front of her with her legs apart and arms akimbo.

Shoko had the feeling that her best friend never just asked for things. She insisted to know them. Everything about her voice and body posture was frightening. Shoko wished she had that kind of confidence.

Avoiding Yutako’s gaze, she looked down on her feet, dangling them in the air while sitting on the daybed. Actually, they weren’t supposed to stay at the infirmary, but the nurse had taken a likening to them and allowed them to keep her company before class or during lunch breaks.

“Nothing, really. He just wanted to know what we had to do for math class today.”

“Mmh.” Yutako gave a thoughtful hum. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t content with the answer, but then Yutako never seemed content with anything. Least of all, if it had been said or done by a man.

“Couldn’t he have asked one of his friends from the baseball team or something? Why message you?”

Shoko shrugged and felt her cheeks heating up. She knew what Yutako was implying, although she had tried hard not to think about it all night.

“He just seems to like our cute Shoko”, Tarumi chimed in and jumped onto the daybed next to Shoko. The bed gave a protesting squeak. Tarumi was always like that. Making fun of everything and joking about things that Shoko did not even dare to say out loud. Sometimes she got annoyed with her friend for that. Sometimes, Shoko wished she could be a little sillier herself. Life seemed easier that way.

“I don’t trust that guy!”, Yutako said.

Next to her, Tarumi suppressed a yawn. Shoko was tired, too. She had hardly slept at night. The handsomest guy in class had messaged her. Her, of all people.

“Don’t listen to her”, Tarumi said. “Yutako trusts no one. I think he seems to be a nice guy.”

“Don’t listen to her”, Yutako corrected. “Tarumi likes everyone. That guy is a troublemaker.”

“Aren’t you friends with him?”, Shoko asked, now looking up to scan for her friend’s expression.

Yutako let her arms drop to her side. She seemed softer as she turned her face away now.

“We’re not friends”, she said in a normal tone of voice. Compared to her usual way of speaking, she was almost whispering. “We just talk sometimes. I’m just annoyed with the way you act around him. You just blush and stammer >Kyan< and then you don’t get out another word. It’s embarrassing to watch.”

She was speaking harsher again.

Shoko felt herself blush once again. She hated how fast her cheeks coloured and how hot and uncomfortable she felt. It was true that she was making a fool of herself whenever Yutaka was around. But he was handsome and kind and charming and funny and she wasn’t used to get attention from a guy like him. Sure, for Yutako it was all different. She was self-confident and just approached the guys she liked. She had had many boyfriends already, although most of them had probably been scared into dating her. For Shoko, it was new and unfamiliar and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“I can’t help it”, Shoko defended herself weakly.

The clicking of heels announced Junko sensei coming over. She pulled the white curtain aside to give them a stern look.

“Strong, independent women like you shouldn’t chat about boys all the time. Your life doesn’t resolve around male attention”, she scolded them. She usually did it in a joking tone, but like she really meant it anyway.

Her hair was always on point, her skirt always a little too short and her heels always a little too high. She believed in hard work, good education and female independency – in mind and body. Shoko admired her immensely.

“She is right”, Shoko agreed, mostly to drive Yutako’s attention to something else. “Are you prepared for exams already?”

Tarumi gave a loud groan.

“I’m going to fail English class for sure. All those vocabularies and all the reading. Who has time to read that much?” She threw up her hands in despair.

Shoko chuckled. She had read the books on the table, but she didn’t feel confident enough to offer her help. With most text, she had not even understood half of it.

“You could ask Jun for help”, she suggested. “He’s the class representative and seems very reliable. Also, he’s pretty smart and reads a lot, right?”

“Ah, he’s cute, isn’t he?”, Tarumi sighed and picked up one of her long pigtails to play with it.

“See!”, Yutako shouted and pointed at Tarumi as if she was accusing her of a crime. “She likes everyone! You can’t trust her judgement at all!”

Shoko laughed. She couldn’t deny that Yutako was right. Tarumi changed her crushes quickly.

“Wouldn’t that be fun?”, Tarumi asked and put her arm around Shoko’s shoulder. “We could go on a double date, you, me, Jun and Yutaka. We’d go to karaoke and have dinner afterwards.”

“Oi, what about me?!”, Yutako shouted, shoving against Tarumi’s shoulder.

“Ah, I thought there is no one you like”, Shoko teased her friend. “Or is there?”

Yutako crossed the arms in front of her chest.

“The boys in our class are all stupid. They only care about baseball and touching your boobs. I don’t want to go out with any of them.”

“What about Kenji?”, Tarumi suggested. “The three of them are always together. It would be perfect, three of them, three of us. And Kenji is really handsome. Also, he seems very nice.”

“Tarumi!”, Yutako and Shoko exclaimed simultaneously.

Shoko burst out laughing while Yutako shook her head in annoyance.

Tarumi pulled her arm back from Shoko’s shoulder and shrugged.

“We’ll just hook them up once while we are dating Yutaka and Jun. I should really ask him to help me with English lessons.”

“You won’t be learning anything, if you are just swooning over him”, Shoko teased.

“Right?”, Tarumi agreed. “Maybe I should ask the little nerd instead. He looks smart.”

“It’s probably just the glasses”, Yutako said.

Shoko wanted to protest, but had to laugh instead.

“True, he can’t be that smart. I’m sure he doesn’t even know the differences between men and women”, Tarumi joked.

“You are being mean”, Shoko interrupted them half-heartedly. She didn’t like that mean streak in her friends. Their comments always made her laugh anyway, though. “I’m sure he knows the difference.”

“Yeah, he looks like he watches lot of porn”, Yutako said and gained another round of laughter with it.

“There is nothing wrong with young people watching porn to educate themselves”, Junko sensei interrupted them. Over the laughter, they hadn’t heard her heels this time.

“Sensei, I don’t think he is watching it for the educational effect”, Tarumi said and Shoko punched lightly against her arm to make her shut up. Her silliness sometimes resulted in not knowing when to better stay silent.

“You should be on your way to class anyway”, Junko sensei said.

Shoko checked her watch. She was right. Class was about to start in four minutes. But once she entered the classroom, she would have to see Yutaka. She didn’t know how to act around him. Was it any different, after they had chatted last night? Of course, it had only been a few messages about class, but still. Would he say something to her? Would she manage to reply?

Shoko winced.

“Come on”, Yutako said sternly and took hold of her hand to pull Shoko from the daybed. “No excuses. Just try not to faint when he looks at you, okay?”

Shoko allowed her friend to pull her towards the door. Her hand felt warm and soothing. Yutako wasn’t frightened of anything. By her side, Shoko usually felt a little bit braver. But when she thought of Yutaka’s face, her heart still picked up pace.

* * *

His name was Kyan Yutaka. He was 16 years old. Today, he didn’t feel like himself, because he couldn’t stop thinking of a girl at all.

Usually, the girls came and went for him. It was easy to charm and even easier to disappoint them. But this time, he felt like maybe he didn’t want to be a disappointment for once.

“You coming for baseball training today?”, Kenji asked.

“Sure”, Yutaka mumbled, his eyes still fixed on the door to the classroom.

She was late today. Four minutes, until class was supposed to start.

“I might be a little late today”, Kenji announced. “I had a pain in my ankle lately and wanted to drop by at the infirmary to have it checked.”

Now Yutaka did turn his gaze to look at Kenji shortly. Underneath the white paint he wore his usual, innocent smile.

“You should be careful not to hurt yourself too often”, he warned.

His best friend’s behaviour had started to worry him lately. Still, he couldn’t blame him for constantly making up excuses to go to the infirmary. The nurse was hot, especially in her short, black skirts. But sooner or later someone would notice and it would lead Kenji into trouble. Unfortunately, Yutaka was too busy with his own worries to really bother at the moment.

The door to the classroom swung open and there she was. Right behind her best friend, clinging to her hand tightly. She had the habit of hiding behind Yutako as if she was scared of the world. Or maybe it was Yutako, drowning out everything else. She was loud and pretty and very straight-forward. For a long time, Yutaka had only seen her, when he looked at the group.

But then he had noticed Shoko and he wondered how he could have overlooked her for so long. She was sweet and shy and a little clumsy. Her short black hair was cute and the way she blushed, the way she laughed when Tarumi was fooling around again noisily and the way she looked to the ground when she was feeling awkward. Yutaka wanted her to look at him and he wanted to hear what she had to say when no one else was around to interrupt her and he wanted to put his arm around her, so she would feel safe and look less scared.

Shoko looked up and noticed him staring. Instead of feeling caught, Yutaka took his change and gave her a wide grin.

Hesitantly, she smiled back, before she blushed again and walked over to her table.

“You are still chasing after Shoko?”, teased Jun, who had obviously caught Yutaka staring as well. “How come you haven’t asked her out yet? You usually don’t waste that much time.”

Yutaka shrugged, trying to look indifferent.

“You know it’s impossible to get her away from Yutako. That woman is scaring me to death. She’ll never let Shoko go out with me alone.”

Kenji snorted.

“Yeah, your only chance is a double date.”

“Why don’t you ask her out then? We could go together”, Yutaka suggested, trying not to sound too eager.

He wasn’t desperately in love with Shoko. He was Kyan Yutaka. Women were desperately in love with him. He was just curious, because Shoko was different from the girls he had dated so far. She didn’t open up to people easily. Getting her to like him was a real challenge.

“No way.” Kenji shook his head. “I’m scared of Yutako. Also, she would never agree to go out with me.”

“Yes, it’s a kind of Taming of The Screw situation”, Jun agreed.

“A what?”, Kenji asked, furrowing his brow. Yutaka didn’t have a clue either.

“Taming of The … We had to … for English class … never mind.” Jun sighed and shook his head.

“Then you ask her”, Yutaka suggested.

“She’d eat me alive before I could even ask”, Jun protested.

Yutaka looked over to the group again. This time, it was him who caught Shoko staring. A warm feeling drippled through his chest. She had been watching him. Obviously, his message last night had been a good idea.

He winked at her.

This time, Shoko gave an embarrassed grin, showing her uneven teeth. Even those were cute, Yutaka thought. She turned her head away again.

“Isn’t there any guy whom Yutako doesn’t hate?”, Yutaka asked, scanning the classroom again.

His eyes fell onto his direct neighbour. As always, he was sitting hunched over, a book in hands. Yutaka wasn’t sure if he was actually reading in those, or if he just carried them around to hide behind them, so he didn’t have to interact with the world.

“Hey, Shou”, he said and clapped him on the shoulder.

In spite of the warning, Shou flinched when Yutaka touched him. He turned around and straightened his glasses in a nervous gesture.

“What?”, he asked.

Yutaka didn’t understand why he sounded so suspicious. They weren’t close friends, but he sometimes hung out with them anyway. Although he usually seemed to prefer the company of books and video games to actual human begins, group projects didn’t do themselves and two or three times he had actually joined Yutaka, Kenji and Jun at karaoke. He was a surprisingly good singer.

“You and Yutako get along well, don’t you? I really want to go out with Shoko, but Yutako will never leave her alone with me, so I’m looking for someone to join us on a double date. She has a weakness for you, doesn’t she?”

Shou looked at him irritated.

“She doesn’t”, he said.

“Ah, but wasn’t there this thing in middle school?” Yutaka looked back to Kenji and Jun for support, who both nodded eagerly. “Yutako beat up those older kids who were bullying you, didn’t she?”

Shou shrugged. His whole body moved awkwardly with the simple motion. It seemed as if he didn’t have a single grain of grace inside of him. Yutaka pitied him somehow, but he could also understand why he had been bullied. Something in him seemed to call out for it, although it had grown better during the last years.

“She didn’t beat them up. She just punched that one guy. But not because she likes me. It was simply kindness.”

Yutaka gave a low hum and studied Shou again closely. The thought that pretty, lively Yutako would favour him, seemed not very likely indeed.

“Still, if you asked her out, she would probably say yes. Just out of pity.”

Shou furrowed his brow.

Yutaka wondered if he had said anything wrong. He hadn’t meant it in a hurtful way. He had just stated the obvious. Yutako was proud enough to turn down the captain of the baseball team and the class representative without batting an eye. But she wouldn’t be cruel enough to crush poor Shou’s already lacking self-confidence.

“I don’t want her to go out with me, because she pities me”, Shou said. “Anyway, what is this about, that you need someone for a double date? You should just ask Shoko to go out with you, instead of scheming something. She is an independent human being who can make her own decisions. To go out with her, you need no one’s approval but hers.”

For a moment, no one said a word. Then Yutaka, Kenji and Jun burst out laughing at once.

“Man”, Yutaka said, clapping Shou’s shoulder once more. “You really have no clue about women.”

* * *

Her name was Yutako. She was 16 years old. Today, she needed a smoke badly. She had been trying to quit lately, but she felt stressed and like she needed the relieve of nicotine urgently.

The door to the roof of the school stood ajar, although students weren’t supposed to come up here.

Shoko and Tarumi would be waiting for her at the infirmary, but she would be with them after just one cigarette.

She pulled the package out from the pocket of the grey sweater she wore over her school uniform. It was crumpled and only contained three last cigarettes.

“Fuck”, she swore, realizing she had forgotten her lighter.

“Need fire?”, a voice interrupted her.

Yutako turned around, not surprised to find her classmate leaning against the railing of the roof. Since the door had been open, she had assumed he would be up here. For a long time, it had been their secret meeting spot.

“Yeah”, she confirmed, trotting over.

She had to admit that she could understand Shoko’s crush on him all too well. Yutaka was handsome with his dark hair usually worn in a bun, so his pierced ears were exposed. He had a charming smile and radiated just the right mixture of danger and good humour. She hadn’t been indifferent to it herself, for a while.

“Haven’t seen you around here lately, sweetie”, Yutaka observed, holding up a green lighter with the picture of a cartoon character on it.

“Oi, gimme that, jerk”, Yutako said, extending her hand for the lighter.

Yutaka shook his head with a grin and waved her closer. She sighed, pretending to be annoyed, though she had to admit she missed flirting with him sometimes. Putting the cigarette between her lips, she leaned forward, allowing Yutaka to light it for her. He was standing very close and she was glad when she could finally step away again.

“So, what’s up? Have you been avoiding me?”, Yutaka joked.

“Nah”, Yutako said and inhaled gravely. “Shoko is being a pain in the ass, because she wants me to quit, so I thought I’d give it a try.” She blew out the smoke through her mouth.

“Well, if it was Shoko who asked me, I’d consider quitting, too”, Yutaka said. His front teeth were slightly crooked, but somehow that made his open smile even more charming.

“You should leave her alone”, Yutako scolded. Suddenly, Yutaka’s smile didn’t seem charming any longer. She was just annoyed with it.

“Be careful, cutie. People might think you are jealous”, Yutaka said.

Yutako snorted, looking out onto the schoolyard beneath them. It was a sunny day, but still kind of chilly. She liked the feeling of the sun on her face, though.

“She is just very shy and inexperienced. Someone needs to watch out for her”, she said.

She thought of Shoko. Of sweet, innocent Shoko, who had blushed this morning at the sheer mention of the word porn. A wave of affection rushed through her. She would not allow the world to break Shoko. She would not allow a lightheaded guy like Yutaka to hurt her. She would keep her save from reality. Yutako would stand between Shoko and the world forever.

“I still think I will ask her out on a date today”, Yutaka said, stubbing out his cigarette on top of the metal railing. The ashes remained, leaving a dirty stain.

Yutako felt angry. She didn’t understand why he had to provoke her like that. And she didn’t understand why the thought of Shoko going out with him upset her so much. It was impossible she was feeling jealous. She didn’t care for Yutaka at all, like she didn’t care for any guy lately. He was nice and funny, but in a way that was boring and predictable. It felt as if anything he had to say to her, she had heard a million times before already. Since a while, all the conversations with guys felt like that. They had nothing new to tell her, nothing was ever surprising or interesting about them.

“I’m not allowing that”, she said.

Yutaka threw back his head and laughed. His laughter sounded rehearsed.

“What are you laughing at?”, she inquired loudly.

Yutaka shook his head.

“You make it sound as if I was pure evil trying to spoil your dear friend.”

Yutako shrugged, slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden. She had nothing to justify her objections.

“Shoko is a good girl. She shouldn’t hang out with troublemakers like you.”

“A troublemaker?”, Yutaka repeated teasingly. “Some people say that about you, too, you know? Sneaking up to the roof to smoke, skipping classes.”

Yutako flicked her tongue. They had skipped classes together a couple of times. Everyone had gossiped how it was only a matter of time until they would hook up. For a while, Yutako had believed it was only a matter of time, too.

Maybe it was that. Even if she didn’t like Yutaka, they had a lot in common. Their temper was the same. It would make sense if he liked Yutako. But Shoko? What did he see in a shy girl like her? Was it that what guys wanted, in the end? Something Yutako could never live up to? A quiet, blushing girl who looked up to them like Shoko looked up to Yutaka?

She was jealous, Yutako realized, but it had nothing to do with Yutaka. It was a more general jealousy and the fear of being left behind. She liked the way it was. Her not being interested in anyone and Shoko by her side, looking up to her, holding her hand, not replacing her with some dude with a handsome smile. She didn’t want Shoko to become popular, because she didn’t know where that would leave her. She wouldn’t know which direction to head into, if Shoko wasn’t there to follow.

“Just leave her alone”, she repeated and stubbed out her cigarette on the railing just like Yutaka had done before.

“I will just ask her anyway”, Yutaka insisted. “Shoko is an independent human being who can make her own decisions. To go out with her, I need no one’s approval but hers.”

Surprised Yutako looked up. It wasn’t what she had expected him to say. It sounded more mature than something a guy from her class would say. It sounded like something Junko sensei would tell them, in one of her raging fits.

“Who said that?”, she asked.

“I say that”, Yutaka replied.

Yutako scanned him throughout. For the first time in a long while, she felt something like a spark of interest. Maybe she hadn’t given him enough credit. Maybe he wasn’t just a stupid, boring guy like all the others.

“I …”, she started, but was interrupted, when the door to the roof banged against the wall loudly.

“Yutako, I have been looking for you everywhere!”, Shoko shouted. “You promised to quit smoking. If Junko sensei finds out, she is going to be so mad.”

“Nah.” Yutako gave a dismissive wave with her entire arm. “I’ll just tell her it is my decision what to do with my body and then she’ll start lecturing us about a woman’s right in modern society until she has completely forgotten what we were talking about to begin with.”

Only now did Shoko’s eyes fall onto Yutaka standing next to her. It happened what was supposed to happen. Her eyes widened and her cheeks changed colour.

“Oh, hi, Ky … Kyan “, she stammered and turned her eyes to the ground.

Yutako groaned.

“Shoko”, Yutaka said, brushing back a lock of dark hair from his face. The gesture looked rehearsed, too. “Thanks again for helping me out yesterday. I would have been lost without you.”

“Sure.” Shoko nodded violently, addressing her answer to the ground instead of speaking to Yutaka’s face.

Yutako felt uncomfortable just watching her. She wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her. She wanted to tell her not to make it so easy for Yutaka. She wanted her best friend back, who seemed to vanish in Yutaka’s presence entirely and left behind only a hesitant smile and silence.

“I’m sure you would have survived. You never do math homework anyway”, Yutako said harshly.

It had been meant to discredit Yutaka, but he just laughed it off.

“That’s true, unfortunately”, he admitted. “But I’m trying to better myself, now that exams are drawing near.”

His eyes were fixed on Shoko.

Yutako wanted to jump in front of her and expend her arms to shield her. She wasn’t sure, though, if it was to protect Shoko from his gaze, or so that all eyes would be on herself.

“We should look for Tarumi, come on”, she said instead and took hold of Shoko’s arm.

She didn’t protest as Yutako led her over to the door.

“See you at class”, Yutaka shouted after them as if he needed to remind them that there was absolutely no way of avoiding him.

Yutako felt angry at his impudence and she felt angry at Shoko’s sheepishness. She was angry at herself, too, for letting it get to her so much. Nowadays, no one seemed to make any sense anymore.

* * *

His name was Darvish Kenji. He was 19 years old. Today, it was his ankle that troubled him.

“Sensei”, he called out from the door. “Do you have a moment?”

Junko swung around in her swivel chair. She sat with her long legs in the nylon tights crossed, giving him an intriguing look over her glasses. Kenji loved that look of hers. It was supposed to seem stern, but she could never hide the spark of humour behind her eyes, that told all too clearly, she was just making fun of him.

“So, Kenji, what is it today? Caught a cold? Broke a bone? A strange birthmark you need me to check?”

Kenji cursed himself inwardly for not having come up with the birthmark-trope himself. It would have given him the opportunity to show off the best parts of his body. Surely, Junko couldn’t remain indifferent to those.

“It’s my ankle”, he said and made a big show of limping over to the daybed. “It hurts when I tread.”

“Is that so”, Junko mused and pointed the black pen she was holding over to the bed. “Sit down and I’ll have a look at it.”

Kenji sat down, dangling his legs from the daybed and stripping off his shoes.

Junko got up from her desk and walked over to him.

Kenji couldn’t keep his eyes of her legs, when she moved. Everything about her motions was smooth. He loved the clicking of her heels, which made her legs look even better and the long strand of fair hair falling over her shoulder onto her white coat. He adored her full lips that always seemed to hold back a smirk and the smell of her sweet perfume.

Junko was different from the girls in his class. She was a woman.

Kenji couldn’t understand Yutaka’s excitement over shy Shoko, who seemed so uncomfortable with her own body. Even Yutako’s stubbornness reminded him only of a child stamping their foot.

What he was looking for was a mature woman, with a strong mind and the ability to use her body just the way she wanted to use it.

Every movement of Junko and every click of her heels hit the target like a deathly blow.

She pulled up another chair and sat down in front of Kenji. Almost playfully, she padded her knee. Kenji followed her silent request and put his foot onto it. He had decided, that it would be his right ankle hurting.

“What kind of pain is it?”, Junko asked, rolling up Kenji’s pants with practiced motions. His whole body turned hot when her fingers brushed against his bare calf. It was exciting to be this close to her.

“The horrible kind”, Kenji said. “Almost unbearable.”

Junko’s fingers felt his ankle now. Her grip was firm and sure. Kenji tried not to think of all the other things these hands could do to him.

“Is it sharp? Dull? More of a stinging? Or a nagging?” She was looking down on Kenji’s foot, not into his face.

“Sharp”, Kenji lied. “Piercing.”

“I see”, Junko said and looked up to him. Her gaze behind the glasses was less amused than usual. “Kenji? You are going to die.”

Kenji pulled back his foot from her grip and pressed his hand to his heart.

“Really, sensei?”, he asked. “Is it that severe?”

Junko pushed back her chair and nodded gravely.

“I’m sorry you to tell you this. It’s a very serious case of simulating. The chances for survival are zero.”

Kenji let his shoulders drop and watched Junko walk over to her desk again. From behind, he loved to see her walk even more. She bent over to note down something in his record. She kept it on her desk at all times. Kenji loved to see her bending over, too.

“I have to file in that you were here to have your ankle checked”, she said without turning around. Her voice was always even, a little sing-songing. “You’ve been here eleven times already this month. You should take care or there will be someone asking questions soon.”

“I just want to see you”, Kenji said. He cleared his throat, because he sounded hoarse all of a sudden. Junko knew how he felt about her. He had expressed it clearly time and time again.

Now she did turn around to him. She was smiling, but it was a distant smile.

“As much as I appreciate your company, Kenji, we should both know our place.”

“Sensei”, Kenji said, getting up and hastily slipping into his shoes again. “Junko”, he added.

“Ah”, Junko sighed and brushed back the single lock of hair over her shoulder.

Kenji stepped towards her, putting his hand onto her shoulder. Junko did not back off, but met his gaze evenly.

“I adore you, Junko”, he said. “I want you. I know you feel attracted to me, too. I can tell.”

Junko lowered her eyes now, but not to avoid his. She let them trail over his body throughout, before returning to his face again.

“You might be handsome”, she said. “But not irresistible. You are still a boy, Kenji.”

He pulled back his hand, suddenly feeling frustrated. It was true, that he loved that maturity about her, but it also meant he would never win an argument with her. It was impossible to surprise or trick her into a concession. She knew her stand all too well.

“Is that what you tell those girls constantly hanging out around you? I thought you teach them to be self-confident about the things they want. I want you.”

Junko turned her back towards him, sorting through the records on her desk. The gesture was entirely dismissive. She didn’t care about his arguments enough to even look at him. Kenji’s chest felt tight and painful.

“Of course, I support a mature approach to love and sexuality. But this is different.”

“How?”, Kenji asked. His voice sounded high and begging. He sounded like the boy Junko still saw in him. It made it all the more frustrating to know that she was partly right.

“If one of the girls told me they wanted to enter a healthy, sexual relationship with a boy their age, I would fully support them and tell them to stay safe. If they considered entering the same relationship with a 34-year-old man, I would find the guy and chop off his balls personally. That’s how it’s different.”

Kenji exhaled gravely.

“I know what I want”, he repeated.

Junko turned around again and waved at the door. Even the movement of her hands seemed elegant somehow.

“Right now, you should want to be at baseball training”, she said.

Kenji knew he had lost the argument. Once again.

* * *

His name was Utahiroba Jun. He was 16 years old. Today, he wanted to prove that he was a good class representative.

“Tarumi!”, he called out, hurrying through the corridor. He would be late for baseball training, but he was usually just spending it on the substitute’s bench anyway. Kenji and Yutaka were the stars of the team. Jun was just there.

The girl with the long, black pigtails turned around.

“Eh, Jun!”, she exclaimed, beaming at him. She had a cute smile, Jun thought. “What is it?”

“I heard that you have problems with the upcoming English exam”, he said, slightly out of breath from running after her.

Tarumi pulled at the retaining strap of her backpack. She made a face as if she wanted to break down in tears.

“Yes!”, she whined, still keeping on her silly expression. “I don’t understand a thing!”

“I could help you with learning, if you want to”, Jun offered. “I’m used to it. Kenji failed class two times already and he is still not doing his homework, so I’m used to helping out in the last minute.”

“That is so kind of you, Jun!” Tarumi was beaming again. She clapped her hands. Happiness seemed to radiate out from her. Jun wondered where that change had come from so suddenly.

“It’s not a problem, really”, he said. “I’m the class representative after all. It’s my duty to help everyone as best as I can.”

“You are so responsible, it’s amazing”, Tarumi mused cheerfully. “I wish I was more like that. I wouldn’t have troubles studying last minute so much then.”

Jun smiled at her. He didn’t really know how to act around her. Tarumi was cute and so full of energy. He wasn’t good with women like Yutaka was good with women. He never found the right words.

“So, just write to me, when you are free. We can meet on the weekend to study together”, he offered.

“Yes”, Tarumi said and flexed her knees a little, so that Jun was afraid she would just jump of the floor any moment.

“But”, she added as if on second thought. “Who told you I needed help anyway?”

“It was Shoko”, Jun said. “She suggested I’d offer my help.”

Suggesting was a nice word of putting it. If Jun was being honest, he didn’t just offer his help, because it was his duty as a class representative. In fact, it wasn’t his duty at all.

He himself would probably have been too hesitant to approach Tarumi like this, but Shoko had not given him much of a choice. She had just told him in this calm voice of hers and then smiled at him.

Jun seriously wondered why his friends called Yutako scary and Shoko sweet. Shoko had a calm aura around her, that didn’t come from being shy, but from absolute determination. She knew what she wanted and she would not change her mind about it. Sure, if you crossed Yutako, she would scream at you no matter who was watching. But an hour later she would joke around with you again as if nothing had happened. If you crossed Shoko, she would smile at you innocently and tell you it was fine. But at night, she would creep in through your window and cut your throat. Jun was sure of that.

Neither of them was anything like Tarumi, who switched from utter despair to bright happiness like a hyperactive bouncy ball. Everything she felt, she carried directly to the outside without any filtering. There was nothing dishonest or insincere about her. Jun thought, it was a great quality in a person.

“That was very nice of her. She’s such a good friend”, Tarumi said.

“Apparently”, Jun replied warily. He didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

“You have baseball training now, don’t you?”, Tarumi went on.

She still sounded happy and cheerful. Obviously, she hadn’t noticed the short pause in their conversation. Other than Jun, she didn’t seem anxious at all. Jun was good at feeling anxious. Tarumi had called him responsible, but truth was rather, that Jun was pretty tense. He didn’t know how to play baseball or how to chat with pretty girls. But he knew how to organize schedules and read books. He usually stuck to the things he was good at.

“Yes, I’m running late already.”

“I can walk you to the court”, Tarumi offered.

“Thank you”, Jun mumbled, because once again he didn’t know what else to say. He directed his steps towards the staircase, Tarumi walking next to him. Her steps were bouncing indeed.

“So, you really like books and things, don’t you?”, she asked.

Jun wasn’t sure what other things she might be referring to, but then probably Tarumi didn’t know either.

“Yeah”, he just said and after a short pause added. “And you don’t?” It was a stupid question and a stupid way to keep the conversation going – Jun was painfully aware of that. Luckily, Tarumi seemed indifferent to it.

“No, I absolutely don’t. But I do like baseball”, she said.

Jun pushed open the doors that led them out onto the schoolyard with a sigh.

“Then there are already two things we don’t have in common.”

Tarumi laughed out loud.

“But you are on the baseball team!”, she protested.

“Only because Kenji and Yutaka made me join them. Kenji is the captain, so he let me in on the team without any qualification.”

“I’m sure that is not true”, Tarumi said, playing with one of her pigtails as they walked over to the court. “You are qualified for sure.”

“Yes”, Jun said dryly. “No one sits at the side-lines like I do.”

Tarumi laughed again. Jun was surprised at how easy it was to make her laugh. He had never managed to make girls laugh – at least not on purpose.

“I still think you look pretty cool, sitting at the side-lines”, Tarumi said lightly.

Jun’s throat felt dry. He didn’t know what to say. Tarumi thought he was cool? Really? It seemed like a mistake to him.

“Anyway, I have to go now. Yutako and Shoko are waiting for me, we wanted to do our homework together today. But I guess Shoko just wants to make sure we really do it. I’m looking forward to the weekend!”

With that Tarumi turned around and just dashed off. She seemed like a very happy tornado to him. Jun was looking forward to the weekend, too.

* * *

“Mmh, I don’t know”, Shoko said. She was lying on Yutako’s bed, hanging her head down the side, so she felt the blood rushing into it. “Gackt, maybe?”

“Ew”, Yutako protested, throwing a pillow at her from the other end of the bed. “You are gross.”

Shoko shrugged. It felt weird, upside down like that.

“I really like him”, she defended herself. “I’ll become friends with him, once I’m a celebrity myself.”

“And what do you want to become famous as?”, Yutako asked. Shoko couldn’t see her face, but she used her joking tone of voice. “Idol in a girl group? Top model? Porn actress?”

Shoko shot up into a sitting position. There was still too much blood in her head and she felt dizzy.

“Comedian!”, she exclaimed and made a face at Yutako that made her friend burst out laughing indeed. “See, I’m funny.”

“You are stupid”, Yutako correct her. “I myself will become a famous baseball star. Or join a rock band. Or become an astronaut. I haven’t decided yet.”

Shoko laughed.

“Very feminine jobs, as expected of you”, she pointed out.

Yutako waved it off.

“Gender norms won’t be a problem for us. Until then, Junko sensei will have torn down the patriarchy with her own two hands.”

Shoko chuckled and laid down on her back in a more relaxed position.

“I really admire her a lot”, she said. “Being a nurse like her would be amazing, too.”

“Yeah, she really changed my opinion on a lot of things”, Yutako admitted. She sounded more serious than she usually did. “I’m not saying that I thought guys were awesome before, but … Suddenly it feels like it’s not enough.”

Her tone of voice told Shoko that her friend was telling her something important, something that had been on her mind for a long time already. But Shoko didn’t really understand it nonetheless. When she thought of Yutaka, his smile was more than enough to her.

“You don’t have to be content”, she said vaguely. “That is what Junko sensei is telling us. Don’t just settle for something, but figure out what you really want.”

“I’m still figuring”, Yutako sighed.

“Junko sensei also said it’s okay to try out new things, if the old ones don’t make you happy”, Shoko said.

“Oi!”, Yutako shouted. “Are you flirting with me, Shoko?”

Shoko raised her head to wink at her best friend meaningful, before dropping back into the sheets.

“You little slut”, Yutako said and laughed. With her the jokes were always easy. Shoko wished she could be like that when talking to Yutaka. That she wouldn’t blush and stutter. That her chest wouldn’t feel so tight and her knees not so weak. That she could be herself around him, too.

Yutako shuffled over to lay down next to Shoko. Her body so close was warm and familiar. Shoko could smell the sweet chemistry of her hair-products.

“Are you judging me for liking Yutaka?”, Shoko asked. “Do you think I should be more independent and not fall for him, because he is just another one of those immature idiots?”

Yutako sighed. She was smelling a little of smoke, too. A sharp pain went to Shoko’s chest. She had been up on the roof with Yutaka today. She didn’t want to feel jealous, but she did. She felt jealous it was so easy for Yutako to talk to him. She had heard the rumours about them, too, although her friend had always denied the gossip.

“I’m not judging you”, Yutako said surprisingly gentle. She reached out and pushed back Shoko’s hair, playing with one of the short strands. Although she couldn’t really feel the touch, Shoko liked the intimacy of it. “I’m just scared you’ll leave me behind. You’ll be lovey-dovey with him and I’ll be all alone.”

“You’ll still have Tarumi”, Shoko offered and Yutako let go of her hair. She groaned.

“I will go crazy. Let’s be real, Tarumi is not the brightest one. And when she just keeps on chatting about her crushes that change every other week, I’ll choke her to death. And you won’t even be there to visit me in prison.”

Shoko chuckled and picked up one of Yutako’s hair-strands herself now, swirling it around between her fingers.

“I will visit you”, she promised. “I mean, at least on the days when Yutaka is busy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”, Yutako exclaimed and pinched Shoko’s upper arm.

In reflex Shoko reached up to cover the place with her hand.

“Ouch!”, she said. Yutako looked at least slightly sorry.

Shoko lowered her hand again, placing it over Yutako’s breastbone instead.

“I promise, you will always be my second choice”, she whispered.

Yutako burst out laughing and rolled over to get on top of Shoko.

“Hey, stop that”, Shoko protested with a squeal, buried beneath her friend. She floundered with her legs to free herself, but Yutako had her arms around her, pressing Shoko to the bed with her full weight. Against her will, Shoko sensed her cheeks heating up again.

“Oh, you are so cute”, Yutako called out, noticing the blush. “I can see now what Yutaka likes in you.”

She pressed down her lips on Shoko’s for a short kiss.

“Don’t just do that”, Shoko complained as she pulled back. Licking her lips, she could taste Yutako’s lip gloss on them.

“Ah, I’m sure Yutaka would do even more to you. He’s a devil”, Yutako joked and placed more kisses on Shoko’s cheek.

Shoko hated it when her friend attacked her like that, but at the same time it was those random outbursts that she loved Yutako for. She felt embarrassed, but in a happy way. She still felt awkward, not being able to express her feelings as openly as Yutako did, not feeling as self-confident as her. But with Yutako, it also felt like it was alright to be that way, like it was safe with her. Sometimes Shoko wondered if that wasn’t what it was supposed to feel like and that thought was pretty confusing and made her blush even harder in her friend’s embrace.

Finally, Yutako stopped her attack, burying her face against Shoko’s neck instead. Shoko reached up and wrapped her arms around Yutako’s waist. Even through the thick sweater she could feel the outlines of her thin body clearly that way. She felt warm and soft and smelled very sweet.

Hugging her like that, Shoko felt protected and fearless. With Yutako’s arms around her, the world wasn’t frightening at all.

“I will never leave you behind”, she said quietly, because it was always easier when she couldn’t see her face. “I need you.”

“I need you, too, Shoko”, Yutako whispered back somewhere against her neck. Her breath tingled against Shoko’s skin.

“Will you let go of me now, though?”, Shoko asked after a short pause.

“No, I’ll stay here forever”, Yutako said. “I’m the ultimate cock-blocker. Get past this, Yutaka!”

Shoko laughed. The heaving of her chest was muffled by Yutako’s weight.

“Okay, but …”

The door flew open. A cold rush of air flooded in.

“You will never believe what just happened! Jun asked me out on a date!”, Tarumi shouted and Yutako sat up, rolling her eyes at Shoko before she climbed down from her.

Shoko tried not to grin at her annoyance.

“Oh, did he?”, she asked innocently.

“Yes”, Tarumi confirmed, closing the door behind herself again and sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of the bed. “He offered to study with me for the English exam.”

“That is not a date then”, Yutako said dryly. She didn’t seem happy about the interruption at all. “That’s a lost cause.”

Shoko shoved against her shoulder to stop her sarcasm.

“That’s so exciting”, she said. She wasn’t happy about the interruption either. Lately, things between her and Yutako had been difficult at times. They had needed a moment of truth to clear the air. She was glad about the interruption as well, though. So clear, the air had felt almost strange.

* * *

Her name was Tarumi. She was 17 years old. Today, she had decided that she was in love, probably.

From her seat she eyed Jun. She liked his purple hair a lot. He was sitting with Kenji and Yutaka, chatting away. Lunch break had already started, but no one had bothered to leave the classroom yet. Kenji and Yutaka were handsome, too. Tarumi had liked both of them for a while, like she had liked pretty much every guy in class for a while. But Jun was different. He was a little tense around her. Somehow, that was nice. And he wanted to meet her on the weekend. For studying, but nonetheless. They would see about how much studying they would get done.

“I told you he messaged me. After class”, Shoko said.

Tarumi returned her attention to her friends, after she hadn’t been listening to them for a while. She had expected they would head straight to the infirmary once the bell rung for the break. Tarumi was glad Junko sensei allowed them to spend their time there. She was the most impressive woman Tarumi had ever met.

But today, Shoko and Yutako made no move to leave the classroom. They were arguing.

“And you just agreed?”, Yutako asked.

There was always something frightening about her inquiries. Her voice usually sounded angry. The tone she used now was different, though. There was always humour behind her anger; a hidden laugh that might break through her shouts any time. Now, she sounded different, like she was fighting down something with her anger that wasn’t laughter for a change.

“It’s just a date”, Shoko replied. “There is nothing wrong with it.”

Hearing her talk that determined was rare, too. Tarumi had the feeling there was something going on between her friends, that she couldn’t quite grasp.

She looked over to the boys again.

Thinking about Jun seemed a lot easier than understanding Shoko and Yutako. Beneath Shoko’s shy smile and Yutako’s loud voice there always seemed to lurk something else. Feelings that weren’t voiced but that still controlled their actions. Tarumi had never been like that. She usually spoke her mind freely. It made things a lot easier.

Right now, she was pretty sure that Shoko and Yutako weren’t really arguing about the date with Yutaka on the weekend.

“I think it’s nice he asked her out. He’s cute”, she jumped in to help Shoko.

Both of them gave her a stern look that signalled clearly for her to stay out of it.

“I can’t believe you are so easy. The first handsome guy who asks you out and you are head over heels for him already”, Yutako said.

Shoko crossed the arms in front of her chest. She was still calm, but knowing her, Tarumi could tell she was angry. Yutako had hit her below the belt. Tarumi could feel her all too well. Yutako was used to the attention from guys. She didn’t understand how nice a little attention could feel sometimes. Tarumi had been able to tell by her facial expression when she talked about Jun. She was reminding Shoko of the fact that she wasn’t popular.

“I liked Yutaka before already”, Shoko confessed, her voice still quiet and even. “I’m happy he finally noticed me.”

Yutako snorted, slapping her hand flatly onto the table.

“You never even told me you liked him.”

“I couldn’t tell you”, Shoko said. Tarumi hoped she would shut up, but she could tell by the look in her eyes that she wouldn’t. She was furious. Tarumi knew what she was going to say. “Not with the way it was between you and Yutaka.”

For the first time in her life did Tarumi see Yutako speechless. There was no anger on her face and no smile. For a moment, her face was entirely expressionless as if she was so baffled, she couldn’t even decide what to feel.

“There was nothing between me and Yutaka. I told you time and time again”, she finally said.

Tarumi knew that Shoko hadn’t believed her, because she hadn’t, either.

Shoko leaned back on her chair. Tarumi wanted to say something, but she had no words to mediate.

She looked at Yutako’s face and the expression on it worried her. If she looked really closely, she could see Yutako’s lower lip trembling slightly.

“I thought at least you believed me”, Yutako said. She looked small all of her sudden.

“I know how you are with guys”, Shoko said coldly.

Yutako pushed back her chair and jumped up. She was staring down on Shoko, but it was hard to tell if she was angry or shocked.

Shoko had crossed a line. She had done the one thing a friend was not allowed to do. She had judged her.

Tarumi expected her to say something, to deliver a last blow. Yutako always had plenty of words to fire. But instead she just turned around and stormed out of the classroom. Tarumi knew why she had wanted to get away so fast. She had seen the glistening in her eyes.

“That wasn’t very nice of you”, Tarumi said.

Shoko looked straight ahead to the empty seat where Yutako had been sitting just now. Her arms were still crossed in front of her chest. She was still angry.

“She wasn’t very nice, either”, she said.

Tarumi looked over to the door. She wondered if they should go after Yutako. But then she probably needed time to calm down. Shoko needed time, too.

“You should apologize”, she added.

Shoko nodded.

Yutako didn’t understand what it meant to long for someone. She never took the time to find out. But it wasn’t her fault. Lately, she didn’t seem very happy, either.

“Maybe it was a mistake to agree to the date”, Shoko said.

“It wasn’t”, Tarumi said. Maybe Shoko felt guilty towards Yutako, or maybe she thought her friend was right and Yutaka was a bad choice. But Tarumi was certain that Shoko had a right to make her own decision on that.

“We should go look for her”, Shoko finally said with a deep breath. “You check the roof. I go to the infirmary.”

“Alright”, Tarumi agreed.

She looked over to the table where Jun had sat with his friends before. They had left the classroom already.

She hated it when her friends fought.

* * *

His name was Kiryuuin Shou. He was 17 years old. Today – like any other day – he was hiding in the library.

He didn’t hide from his classmates, because he wasn’t able to deal with them. He just preferred not to. With some good friends, life might have been easier for him. But he was fine with just getting along well with everyone without any deeper involvement. The daily conversations wore him out and nothing the others guys had to say seemed interesting enough to redeem the effort.

His female classmates wouldn’t have paid attention to him, even if he tried.

Shou stared at the letters in front of him. It was always silent in the library, even during the lunch breaks. Usually, no one else bothered to come here.

Today, something was different, though. Someone had bothered.

Shou could hear their steps somewhere behind the next shelf. He heard sniffling, too. Someone disturbed his peace with their crying. Shou didn’t like that development at all. Dealing with people’s emotions wasn’t his strong point. Crying usually meant a lot of emotions. Shou didn’t want any of those near him.

The steps came closer.

He looked up.

A female individual had stepped into his aisle.

That wasn’t good.

Shou didn’t know how to talk to women. Least of all when they were crying.

Moreover, it was a certain woman this time.

He would have known the long hair everywhere, the grey sweater and the skirt that for some reason was the shortest in class. Shou did his best not to stare at Yutako’s legs, covered by white leg warmers mostly – but not entirely. Just looking at her bare thighs made Shou’s face change colour.

He didn’t have a crush on Yutako, because he didn’t allow himself to have crushes on anyone. Crushes were for guys who were playing baseball – those guys who actually had dates. Shou wasn’t allowed to even get his hopes up.

If he had gotten his hopes up for anyone, it would have been Yutako, though.

She hadn’t turned her head, so she had not spotted Shou yet.

As quietly as possible, he grabbed for his bag on the floor.

She would never forgive him, if she realized he had seen her crying. Yutako wasn’t the kind of person who allowed others to see her being weak.

She turned her head.

Shou tried to make himself as small as possible behind the table.

It did not help.

She had seen him.

Whipping her face with the end of her sleeve, she came towards him, grabbing a chair and sitting down in front of him without any introduction.

Shou stared at her.

He couldn’t recall the last time he had been this close to her. Up close, her face was even more beautiful. She had large eyes and gorgeous lips.

Shou remembered the time she had punched that guy in middle school. Yutaka had thought it had something to do with her liking Shou, but he himself had never had any illusion about that incident. She just had a lot of passion in her and strong opinions. She would not stand by when someone was being bullied, no matter who that was. Shou liked her for saving him back then. Not because she had helped him personally, but because she was the kind of person who did stand up for others. Shou wished he would be able to even stand up for himself.

“I wasn’t crying”, Yutako said harshly. “I had something in my eye.”

Shou nodded, as if that was a perfectly normal way to start a conversation.

“It happens to me, too”, he said. “It’s dusty in here.”

Yutako stared at the book in his hands as if it had personally offended her.

“Why do you always sit here alone?”, she asked.

Her voice suggested that it wasn’t a question but an inquisition.

“I don’t really like talking to people much”, Shou said honestly.

Yutako sighed and leaned back on her chair. There wasn’t a hint on her face or in her posture that showed how vulnerable she had been only moments ago.

“I don’t like that much, either”, she admitted.

Shou snorted. He just couldn’t help it.

Yutako raised her eyebrows at him. She seemed annoyed with his reaction.

“What? You don’t believe me?”, she inquired.

Apologetic Shou shrugged. He hadn’t meant to offend her. The thought of Yutako understanding how he felt just seemed absurd to him. Yutako, of all the people.

“It’s just that you are popular. Everyone likes you.”

Yutako shook her head violently. The braids on top of her hair bounced up and down.

“Everyone calls me scary. That’s not the same as being popular”, she said.

Shou looked at his book and then into her face again. It wasn’t easy to do that. Being that close to her was still frightening and her challenging look did not help to make him feel at ease.

When they were still younger, they used to chat more often. But as they grew older and everything was about dating suddenly, Yutako had just turned to the popular guys. She had been close with Yutaka for a while. Shou wondered if that idiot even had anything interesting to say to her. But it didn’t matter. He had a handsome face and Shou did not.

“You are scary”, he said. “I mean, I’m scared of you. I’m scared to death right now. But that doesn’t mean much. I’m scared of all pretty women.”

Yutako’s gaze went from slightly annoyed to furiously piercing immediately. Shou realized what he had done wrong instantly.

“Also, women who are not pretty”, he corrected himself. “All sorts of women, basically. It wasn’t a compliment, I swear.”

The scorn vanished from Yutako’s face. She was smiling even.

“No compliment taken”, she said and nodded towards the book. Her voice was softer now than usual, less aggressive. “So, you are really reading all those books?”

“Nah, I just use them to hide my porn magazines in them”, Shou said.

Yutako chuckled. It was such a sweet sound, Shou couldn’t believe he was the one who had caused it.

She was looking at him more curiously now, as if suddenly she saw something she had overlooked so far. Shou felt uncomfortable, because he was all too aware that he had nothing interesting to offer for her to notice.

“You are funny”, Yutako finally observed.

Shou bit his lower lip.

“I had the choice between becoming very handsome or incredible funny. And I thought: Let’s go for funny, that will surely get you the girls”, he said sarcastically.

This time, Yutako laughed out for real. Her face lit up when she laughed like that, with those eyes and that smile and teeth. Shou stared at her in awe.

“Here”, he added hastily, hoping she would stay with him a little longer. He pushed the book over to her, exposing the manga that he was hiding inside.

Yutako bend forward to look at it and then raised her eyes at him in surprise. She really did look curious, now.

“You are not reading books!”, she exclaimed. “You are just reading manga the whole time?”

“Yeah”, Shou admitted with a weak grin. “Books are so long and there is so much text in them. But it makes you look smart and people are less likely to disturb you. They are scared you might talk to them intellectually.”

Yutako laughed once more.

“I love reading manga, too”, she said.

Shou eyed her critically. He didn’t want to come off as rude, but he didn’t think much of woman who just read stupid romance manga all the time. In the end, it was all about handsome guys again as if that was all they could think about.

“I have a huge collection of comedy manga. I know most people think those are for children, but I swear, I just can’t stop buying them!”

“Really?” Now it was Shou who looked at Yutako with new curiosity. He had thought her to be like everyone else, but then again there probably wasn’t such a thing as everyone.

“Absolutely”, she confirmed. “I can borrow you some. Better than talking to people, right?”

Shou nodded hesitantly. He couldn’t quite believe that she would ever talk to him again after today, but it was nice she was trying. It wasn’t her fault she would probably forget about his existence as soon as he was out of her sight. They just lived in different worlds entirely.

“Right”, he said. There was a small pause.

“Can I … What were you so upset about, when you came in?”, he finally asked. He wasn’t sure if it was alright to ask, but he assumed she needed someone to talk to. Probably, she would not tell him anyway.

Yutako shrugged. It looked funny in her big sweater, he noted.

“I had a fight with Shoko, that’s all.”

Shou felt his spirits sinking instantly. Of course, it was probably about that guy Yutaka. He had had his eyes on Shoko lately and everyone knew the rumours about him and Yutako. Naturally, he was the type she would like. He was the type that all the girls liked.

“What do you think of Yutaka?”, Yutako asked as if she had read his thoughts.

“He’s an idiot”, Shou said, before he could think better of it. He was an idiot for stealing Yutako’s attention away, although he was boring and immature and probably didn’t care for her favourite sort of manga at all.

“Right?”, Yutako said. She blew out a strand of hair from her face. “I’ve been telling Shoko again and again, but she won’t listen.”

Shou realized he had misinterpreted the situation.

“He’s not a bad guy, though”, he added.

Even if personally, he didn’t like Yutaka much, he had never been unfriendly towards him and it was obvious that his intentions with Shoko were sincere.

Yutako sighed, putting her elbow on the table and her chin onto her closed fist.

“I know”, she admitted.

Shou studied her face closely. It wasn’t easy to find the right words, not knowing the full situation. But he knew he was supposed to say something.

“Just because you feel that way, doesn’t mean it must be the same for Shoko”, he said carefully, waiting for Yutako to explode on him. Instead she looked at him attentively as if she really cared for what he had to say.

“You always seem to be very sure of your opinions. That can make it frightening to admit insecurities to you”, he carried on.

He didn’t know Shoko all that well, but he was sure that in her position, he would have been scared to speak to Yutako openly about liking someone she did not approve of. He almost pitied Shoko. Having a best friend like that couldn’t be easy. There was always a lot of pressure about everything.

“You think I should apologize?”, Yutako made sure.

Shou turned down his eyes, because meeting her gaze for too long was irritating and he felt himself starting to blush.

“Not everyone is as self-confident as you”, he said. “She probably needs your support, even if you don’t approve of her decisions.”

Yutako sighed heavily and sat up straight again.

“You are pretty smart, Shou”, she admitted. “Even if you don’t read books.”

Shou chuckled. He realized she would leave now. It was startling they had had such a long conversation to begin with.

She pushed back her chair and squinted her eyes at him as if considering something.

“Do you like me?”, she asked out of the blue.

Now, Shou was blushing for sure. His cheeks felt hot. There didn’t seem to be a correct answer to that.

“I think you are amazing”, he said. It sounded almost like a question.

“Okay.” Yutako nodded. Her voice was louder again. She wasn’t thoughtful or hesitant anymore. She was back to being absolutely sure of herself.

Shou had no idea what she meant with “okay”.

“What?”, he asked.

“I’m free on the weekend”, she said. “Saturday. I’ll come to your place to hang out. Your parents don’t mind you having girls over, do they?”

Shou stared at her. He felt paralyzed. Yutako, at his place? Wanting to spend time with him? Talking to him? Being close to him over a long period of time? He would probably die of a heart-attack.

“My parents wouldn’t believe me having a woman over to begin with”, he replied. “Even if they heard us talk, they’d probably assume I’m talking to myself in disguised voices. They think I’m a little weird in the head anyway.”

Yutako laughed. Her teeth were showing again.

“Alright then”, she announced. “You are different from the other guys. I’ll give it a try. I’ll come over and you can talk about baseball and touch my boobs or whatever.”

Things were happening too fast. In the morning, Shou had still deemed it impossible Yutako would even talk to him voluntary.

“I don’t like baseball”, he said weakly.

Yutako tilted her head.

“Actually, I like baseball”, she said thoughtfully. Then she shrugged and got up. “But you know, we can also just skip that part.”

Since Shou couldn’t think of an intelligent reply anyway, Yutako just turned around and walked out of the library, her back straight, her step confident.

Shou wondered what had just happened to him. He also wondered if Yutako really meant what she had just told him. Knowing her – she probably did.

#Golden bomber #Kiryuuin Shou #Kyan Yutaka #utahiroba jun #Darvish Kenji #fanfiction #fanfic #GB Academy

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