#the freaking one standing next to coffee aki

[meownotgood]

closeups of things!

plushies! the third plushie actually has a defect... his left ear is upsidedown.... but I think he's even cuter with this lol

all the charms!!!!! I'm running out of space....

this charm changes depending on the angle you look at it from!!

aaaaand the acrylic stands....

[harunayuuka2060]

Savanaclaw students: Wait— Is that Yuurin?

Yuurin: *running laps*

Savanaclaw student A: *shouts* HEY!!! YUURIN!!!

Savanaclaw student A: HOW MANY LAPS ARE YOU DOING?!!

Yuurin: *signals with her hand that she's doing 50 laps*

Savanaclaw student A: Oh. Okay. That's not bad.

Leona: *sips his coffee* She meant last 50 laps.

Savanaclaw students: Eh?

Ruggie: Yuurin woke up at 4AM.

Leona: Yeah. The lady already finished 100 laps.

Savanaclaw students: ...

Savanaclaw student B: HEY, YUURIN!!! TAKE SOME WATER BREAK!!!

Savanaclaw students: YUURIIIIIIN!!!

Leona: You don't feel sleepy at all after running like that?

Yuurin: No. Actually, I feel wide awake.

Leona: ...

Leona: You remind me of an Arctic tern.

Yuurin: ...

Yuurin: I don't think that animal suits me.

Leona: It does. Here. I bought you a hairpin that looks like one.

Yuurin: ...

Leona: This will look good on your hair.

Yuurin: ...

Leona: You didn't need to send a photo to your parents, did you?

Yuurin: No.

Leona: That's good. *clips the hairpin on her*

Yuurin: ...Thank you, housewarden.

Leona: You're too formal. Just call me by my name.

Yuurin: ...

Yuurin: Leona-senpai.

Leona: *ruffles her hair*

Yuurin: *her hair gets messy*

Leona: Shit— Let me fix that.

Other first-years: *staring at MC because of her bird hairpin*

Ace: *teasing smirk* That looks good on you, bro.

Yuurin: ...

Yuurin: Thanks.

Ace: ...That's not what I—

Yuurin: *ignores him and focuses on class*

Professor Trein: Yuu, can you answer this question?

Yuurin: Yes, professor. *then proceeds to answer the question correctly*

Professor Trein: *smiles in satisfaction* You didn't forget any details. Great job, Yuu.

Yuurin: Thank you, Professor.

Ace: *mutters* Nerd.

Deuce: Dude, what?

Ace: What? He reminds me of Housewarden Riddle!

Yuurin: *looking at him*

Ace: ...

Professor Trein: Yuu? Is there something wrong?

Yuurin: Nothing, professor. *sits back down*

Akihiko — You look great with your hairpin, Yuurin.​ (⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠)

Yuurin — Thanks, Aki. How's your health?

Akihiko — It's great. I haven't been sick for a week now. ​(⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)

Yuurin: *smiles*

Ace: *approaches her* Yo! *smirks* You were textin' your girlfriend?

Yuurin: *her face turned serious* No. It's my brother.

Ace: Eh? *stands next to her* You enjoy talking with your brother?

Yuurin: Yes. Is there a problem?

Ace: Whoa— You don't have to look at me like that.

Yuurin: ...

Ace: Anyway, who gave you that hairpin?

Yuurin: ...My housewarden.

Ace: ...

Ace: You're just new here and you're being bullied? *clicks his tongue*

Yuurin: ...

Yuurin: No one's bullying me.

Ace: You must be naive then.

Ace: No decent guy would think that receiving a cute hairpin is a good thing.

Ace: What you're experiencing is lowkey bullying— Hey! Where are you going?!

Yuurin: *has already walked away from him*

Ace: Hey! I'm still talking to you! Hey!!!

Jack: What? ACE SAID THAT?

Yuurin: Hm.

Jack: ...

Jack: Well, does it make you want to take off the hairpin Leona-senpai has given you?

Yuurin: ...

Yuurin: I don't want to take it off, but at the same time, I don't want anyone to think that Leona-senpai is bullying me.

Jack: ...

Jack: Well, I can wear hairpins too.

Jack: So we're matching.

Yuurin: ...

Jack: ...

Yuurin: Won't that cause an even bigger misunderstanding?

Jack: ...

Jack: You think?

Yuurin: Yes.

Leona: That's not a problem. I'll start wearing hairpins too.

Yuurin: ...

Leona: Oi, Ruggie! Buy every freaking hairpins from Sam!

Ruggie: Sure. You want the cute ones?

Leona: Yeah. The cuter the better, that little shit. (referring to Ace)

Yuurin: ...

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Akio

CW: References to the death of a friend, grief, suicide, murder 

Sequel to Found Out and this past flashback to Oliver Branch

The sound of thin, breaded pork cutlets frying in the big pan on the stove fills the air, and Akio breathes in the familiar smell where he lays on his back on his parents’ gigantic cream-colored sectional couch, stretched out across the whole length of it on one side. Not that he’s all that tall to take up all that much space, really, but what matters is that he would definitely have fallen asleep by now if it weren’t for holding his phone up over his face.

It fell on him, once, and he’s pretty sure no one noticed. Emi, his younger sister, hasn’t even looked up once from her own phone, except once to triumphantly announce that no one caught her and they all voted someone else off the ship. Then she looked back down and never looked back up.

Akio frowns, looking at his own screen, tapping his thumbs as he writes out an answer to the person messaging him. “Hey, Mom?”

“Yes?” His mother looks up from cooking, her eyes moving through the big open space right to him. They’d knocked down all the walls when they bought the house, open-concept-something-something. Akio didn’t care, but it was apparently deeply important to his parents. Something about family togetherness.

“You remember Tristan Higgs, right?”

Aimi pauses, tucks a bit of her short black hair behind one ear to get it out of her eyes as she flips the pork cutlets on by one, to get the other side nicely browned, too. The sizzling ratchets up in volume and then back down again. Next to her sits four bowls already filled with rice, and the table already has the vegetables ready to go. “Of course, honey. Oh, the anniversary’s coming up, isn’t it? I have an alarm set on my phone… did you want to go to the cemetery next week to see Ronnie and Paul?”

“Ew, no creepy graveyards for me, thanks,” Emi says, eyes still glued to her phone.

“We wouldn’t take you anyway,” Akio says, rolling his eyes. “You don’t even remember Tris or his parents.”

“I do, too. I was like seven. He was really nice. Mrs. Higgs was really nice, too. Mr. Higgs was weird.” 

“Wow, what a stellar eulogy that was, Emi. I can see why you want to be a writer when you grow up. The description there was just incredible.”

“Oh, go drive into a lake,” Emi says, without any particular rancor in her voice. 

“If you’re going to fight, I’m going to send you two upstairs so I at least don’t have to listen to it,” Aimi says, moving the cutlets to rest on a paper plate with paper towels lining it while she heats mirin, soy sauce, and… some other stuff in a different pan. Honestly, Akio has no idea exactly how katsudon happens, all he cares about is that it’s the perfect after-practice food and he is starving.

Except he keeps getting distracted by this guy on Insta. “Anyway, Mom, um, about Tris. So… yeah, I do want to go out and see his parents next week, yeah, but-... there’s this guy on Instagram who keeps asking about him. That’s… that’s weird, right?”

Aimi looks up, blinking. “Asking about Tristan? What is he asking?”

“Just like… he says he saw the video I put up on youtube, and he’s asking, like… what was his birthday, and did he like fried chicken, was he autistic, and… did he like musical soundtracks. This is weird stuff to ask a total stranger, right?”

“A little.” Aimi pauses while she watches the pan, and then pours a small bowl with beaten eggs into it, watching them spread and start to lighten to a puffy yellow as it cooked in the already-boiling liquid mixture. “Did you ask why he wants to know?”

“I did, but he just said he’s doing some research or something. But, like… research on what?” Akio taps on the guy’s little profile photo, bringing the profile itself up. “His username is benthebadmagician. Okay that’s-... that’s kind of cute.” 

Aimi’s voice turns sly. “Is this Ben cute?” 

“Ugh, gross, Mom. That’s not-... I mean he’s kind of-... that’s not important.”

“Ooooh, eyeballin’ the insta-hotties,” Emi singsongs. “Aki’s gettin’ desperate. Just get a freaking dating app like everyone else.”

“Already on it, Emi.”

“Then why exactly don’t you get any dates? Oh, right.” Emi sits forward and grins. “I forgot about your personality.”

Akio throws a throw pillow at her and the big orange poof misses by a mile. Emi laughs, getting to her feet and wandering over to the fridge, pulling a can of soda out and popping the top. “Aren’t you an athlete, how the hell did you miss that?”

“Language,” Aimi warns, waving a spoon at her daughter. She gently places the cutlets into the cooking eggs to finish up. “No swearing under my roof, young lady.”

“Aki swears all the time!”

“Aki is twenty-four years old,” Aimi says, almost primly. “And he doesn’t swear where I can hear him.”

“What, so it doesn’t count if you don’t hear him?”

“Of course it doesn’t, how do I know if I don’t hear him?”

Akio smiles, faintly, but he’s scrolling through the Ben guy’s instagram feed now. Just looking at the grid of squares, photos and videos. Lots of coffees and food, people laughing, photos of a girl with really pretty hair. Photos of Ben the Bad Magician himself. Nerd, Akio thinks, but cute nerd - definitely nose-in-a-book type. Nice brown hair, nice smile. 

“Oh look at that face,” Emi says, eyebrows raised. “Ben the Insta-Weirdo actually is cute huh?”

“Go eat slugs.” Akio keeps scrolling down and down, not sure what he’s looking for. Autism awareness banners - he checks those to learn the Ben guy’s got an autistic little brother, and his friend Christopher is autistic. There’s a couple slides, and he swipes his finger to what he assumes is a photo of the Ben guy with the little brother, who looks almost exactly like him, just a whole bunch younger and looking, unsmiling, off to one side while Ben grins at the camera.

Akio doesn’t bother checking the last slide - it’s probably just whoever the Chris guy is. He backs back out to the grid of thumbnails. Maybe he just picked up on the stuff Tris always did when he was excited, and got curious? Maybe his little brother liked the video? Akio’s gotten a couple comments from people saying they liked seeing an autistic kid just be fucking happy in public without getting shit on for it, and that used to be a big deal for Mrs. Higgs, too...

The question about musicals keeps snagging at him. Tris loved musicals, went through cycles with them. He and Akio had a whole routine done to a song in Hairspray, just for fun, when Tris was obsessed with that for a while. And then they were going to do the Time Warp as a routine once...

Akio keeps scrolling, only vaguely aware of his sister and mother talking, and Emi leaving the room to go call their dad in for dinner. 

Emi stops in the doorway and turns back. “Don’t forget to get his phone number, Aki. You can definitely trust strangers on the internet creepily interested in your dead best friend, right?”

Akio looks up, then, blinking at her. “Emi, that’s-...”

She seems to catch herself, and gives him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Aki. That got bitchy.”

“Language,” Aimi reminds her. “But I appreciate you apologizing. Does anyone even hear me say to use nice language any longer?”

“No,” Akio and Emi say in unison, and then Emi disappears down the hallway, bellowing for their father in her loudest voice even though she could easily walk up the stairs and not have to yell at all. 

Akio looks at his mother and deadpans, “Your daughter is really weird.”

Aimi matches him tone for tone. “Your sister is weirder.” 

She places the cutlets on top of the rice bowls with the egg just underneath the meat, carrying them one by one to the table, setting them each down in their place, and then grabs her glass of wine, patiently waiting for her while she cooked. She pads on bare feet across the hardwood floor over to the pale white rug, soft as down underfoot, and stands next to where Akio is laying down. “Are you looking at the profile?”

“I am, yeah. I don’t know what I’m looking for, really, just… hey, wait.” Akio stops at the thumbnail preview for a video, tapping to open it up. It starts with a blue-haired boy smiling, and his smile hits Akio all odd, makes his throat tighten and his heart start to race. The boy in the video puts up a finger and backs up, glances over his shoulder at a TV screen behind him playing the tango scene from Rent. 

Akio blinks as the boy holds out a hand and a girl with really gorgeous long wavy hair takes it, the two of them moving effortlessly into a perfect mimicry of the dance on screen. The room they’re in is mostly empty, furniture shoved to the walls to turn what looks like some kind of lobby into a dancing space.

“Wow, that kid can really dance,” Akio murmurs, but the smile catches him, tugs at the back of his mind. The blue-haired boy can’t keep the grin off his face, it has to hurt to smile so big for so long, and the last person Akio thought that about was…

“You got this, Chris!” Someone calls from offscreen, and for a second Akio hears Tris and catches his breath, but no, no, they said Chris. Someone else claps for Mari - that must be the girl, maybe. 

They continue to dance, and Akio can’t tear his eyes away. “Mom? Do you see this?”

Aimi looks up from straightening some magazines on the coffee table and leans over, sipping her wine absently. “See what, honey?”

“Look,” Akio whispers. His throat is closing up, he can’t manage anything more than that. 

The two do a spin, and then burst out laughing, and the Chris boy stands back up straight, throwing his arms up like he’s just hit a perfect landing-

“Oh my god,” Aimi says next to him, her own voice strangled and choked, and Akio feels his mother’s hand suddenly clutch onto his shoulder. “Aki, is-”

“He’s dead,” Akio whispers. “He killed himself after his parents-... he’s dead, Mom.”

The Chris boy looks right at whoever was filming the video, shoots them a brilliant, shining smile, and then starts rocking, his hands moving through the air and twisting at the wrists, bouncing up and down on his toes.

Akio’s breath is shuddering in and out, and his heart pounds, trying to break out of his chest. “He’s-... Mom, he’s dead.”

“His aunt had him cremated,” Aimi says, but her lips are barely moving and the wineglass is loos in her fingers. “After they found him. She didn’t want a funeral.”

“He’s dead,” Akio repeats, thinking of the smile, the movements, the shy way he ducks his head at the end when people clap him on the back. He backs up to the wall again, keeps scrolling, looks for more pictures of the blue hair. He opens every single one he can find, searching for something, some sign that will tell him he’s not seeing what he knows he’s seeing. “His aunt took his phone away after like three months and then he was dead a month later, wasn’t he?”

There’s a pause.

“Mom? Mom, didn’t he kill himself like four months after they died? Didn’t he?” Akio’s voice sounds weak and is getting weaker. “Mom, please-... please answer me, didn’t he-”

“He left a note,” Aimi whispers. “His aunt-... she said he left a note, that he couldn’t live without them. It’s-... I never thought-... I never thought to question her, Aki, I never-... she was Ronnie’s family...”

He clicks another video.

“You’re a fucking mess, Christopher,” The girl from the dance video says, sitting in a tank tops and shorts on the edge of a bathtub. “Letting your roots grow out like that. But don’t you worry, Madam Mari is here to help!”

“Please don’t, don’t don’t-don’t call yourself Madam. Please?” A voice says, uneasily, and the blue-haired boy moves into the screen. “For, for, for me?”

“Yeah, no problem, Chris. Why’d you let it grow out so bad, anyway?”

His hair’s not blue in this one - or it is, but only about half of it. Pale and faded, but the top of his hair has grown back in for about three inches, and it’s coppery strawberry blond. He turns to the camera and gives a sheepish smile. “I, I got distracted and for, um, forgot.”

Aimi’s wineglass slips from her fingers, hits the floor, sprays wine like blood across the pristine white rug. 

Neither of them notices.

“I… I cried for him for like a year straight,” Akio chokes out, and he finds more pictures, more videos, more more more. He opens them up and then backs out of them again, unable to stop himself. Every photo shows him some shard of the mirror reflection of a dead boy all grown up - a sparkle of green eyes, happy motions in the background of a video, more of that familiar sunny smile. “I kept-... I kept all the stuff he left in my room, I saved all h-his text messages from before he d, disappeared, I-”

“This can’t be him,” Aimi says in a fierce whisper. “It can’t be, Aki, it can’t.”

Akio taps on another video.

The boy ties his long blue hair back in it, glancing sidelong at the camera, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “And, and, and you’ll, um, you’ll buy the, the, the-the-the nachos?”

“If you can still do it? Yeah, absolutely. Seeing that’s worth a plate of nachos to me. I’ll even buy you those fucking margaritas you like.”

“Chris just likes the sugar,” Someone else says, and Chris sticks his tongue out at them.

He takes a few steps back, rolling his shoulders, shaking out his arms. 

Akio tells himself that if the Chris on the screen doesn’t nail this, it can’t be him, it can’t be him at all. 

The boy puts his hands up, then down at his sides, back bowed briefly in a motion Akio knows too, too well, knows better than he knows breathing. The boy takes off across the grass without hesitation and-

Akio and Aimi both exhale.

-he jumps forward, dips at the waist, catches himself on his hands and does a perfect set of three backflips across a big grassy lawn, stumbling the landing but his feet pop right back into final position, and he throws his arms up with his chin lifted, and someone offscreen shouts, “Perfect Ten, Stanton!”

The boy laughs, shakes his head, says, “I’d be, be, be dinged for the, um, the landing, but-... but, but good, right? I did good? Laken?”

Someone with the coolest hair Akio has seen steps into the screen and they hug, kiss briefly, and then Chris apparently can’t handle the happy emotions because he backs away to start bouncing up and down, grinning.

He looks back at the camera. “Want to see me, me, me... me do it again?”

“He’s not dead,” Aimi says, and her voice sounds like someone closed their hands around her throat. “Oh, Ronnie-”

“What the fuck happened to Tristan fucking Higgs?” Akio’s voice is barely audible over the sound of the video starting over. “He’s… he’s not dead. He’s not dead, Mom, he’s not-... he’s not dead, Mom, he’s not dead and he’s right-... that the university, right? He’s not dead, and he’s, has he-... has he been here the whole fucking time?”

His mother doesn’t chide him for language this time. Her hand tightens on Akio’s shoulder as red wine soaks the rug beneath her feet and she whispers, “Give that Ben boy your number. Tell him to call you.”

Her fingernails ache where they dig into his skin through his shirt.

“Now.”

---

Tagging: @burtlederp , @finder-of-rings , @endless-whump , @whumpfigure , @slaintetowhump , @astrobly @newandfiguringitout , @doveotions , @pretty-face-breaker , @boxboysandotherwhump , @oops-its-whump @moose-teeth , @cubeswhump , @cupcakes-and-pain @whump-tr0pes @whumpiary @orchidscript

[murazumi]

what's wrong with that? 

Akihiko talks to Uenoyama to figure out what’s going on with him. 

1.6k; this has some manga spoilers, as well as that scene from the anime!  [read on ao3] 

-

“You go take Mafuyu home, I got Ue,” Akihiko said quietly to Haruki who was putting away his bass. They ended practice abruptly because Uenoyama was oddly moody and just couldn’t concentrate. Both Akihiko and Haruki knew it was like him to be this way. Mafuyu was standing by himself in the corner with his guitar on his back when Haruki smiled at him.

“Come on Sato, I’ll drop you off,” Haruki said and Mafuyu looked up and smiled. He said bye to Akihiko and headed out. Akihiko rubbed his eyes and sighed. Haruki was turning out to be more of a big brother to Mafuyu and it seemed to be doing wonders. Granted that Sato was still reluctant to tell much about himself or his past, but he opened up a bit more to Haruki thankfully, so at least they were getting somewhere.

But lately something was up with Ue, and more so towards Mafuyu. Ue had just become moodier and was snapping at Mafuyu one moment and trying to be his friend the next. It wasn’t that Akihiko and Haruki were mad or annoyed with Uenoyama. Just frustrated really, they had to keep working because the time was getting closer to the live show, but they still weren’t getting anywhere really.

Ue still wasn’t back in the studio, and Akihiko assumed he was outside sitting probably by the vending machine. He quickly packed his things up and headed outside, and saw Uenoyama standing there, leaning against the wall. His head was down and he was staring at his beaten-up shoes and slightly kicking rocks. There wasn’t much that Akihiko could say at the moment, but he had an idea of what was up.

“Eh, Ue,” Akihiko said to get his attention. Ue looked up and Akihiko saw something in his eyes but he wasn’t sure entirely what. Uenoyama hadn’t been acting the same recently, so who knows what it was. He walked over to the vending machine and got himself a coffee and Ue a bottle of water.

“Here.” He handed it to Uenoyama who just stared at him. Akihiko rolled his eyes and shoved it towards him, accidentally hitting him in the face. “It’s on me!”

“Ahh, thanks?!” Uenoyama exclaimed and nearly fell over, but took the bottle of water reluctantly. He opened it and took a drink as Akihiko leaned back against the wall. The two of them leaned back against the wall and Uenoyama stared back towards the ground as Akihiko watched the cars pass them by.

He looked over at Ue, who still looked tired and worn down. But it was deeper than that and Akihiko knew that. He had been his age once as well and knew how hard somethings could be to balance.

“You seem pretty worn out lately,” Akihiko said and turned his look at Ue. Ue didn’t seem to look at him, but he looked up slightly. “What gives? You can’t seem to concentrate at all, and you’re in no place to be lecturing others.” He paused for a moment giving Ue a chance to say something, but he didn’t. So he continued talking. “You know, I never figured you to be the moody type.”

“Right,” Ue mumbled and Aki looked over at him. He still wasn’t focusing which Akihiko knew was bound to happen.

The two went back to sitting in silence for a moment. Akihiko playing with his lip ring and Ue now staring out at the road. He as a mysterious kid. At times he seemed defensive and almost like he didn’t want to show that he had a soft side, whereas others he just was caring and not worried about others' thoughts. There were times at practice that both Akihiko and Haruki saw this, so they knew Uenoyama wasn’t cold-hearted. But something was up and it was messing up the flow of the band and Akihiko wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I’m just gonna say it then,” Akihiko said and Uenoyama still didn’t look at him. “Did something happen between you and Mafuyu?” Aki started to laugh, “Heh, just kidding..” Until he looked over at Ue.

Uenoyama looked as if he was about to have some sort of panic right then and there. His cheeks were red and flustered and he was hardly breathing. But his eyes lit up once Akihiko said Mafuyu’s name and he just stared at Ue. A dumbfounded look crossed Akihiko’s face, and he stared at Ue, then looked away and back to Ue. When he still hadn’t come out of whatever trance he was in, Akihiko was sure he knew what it meant.

“Wait, what?!?” Akihiko all but yelled startling Uenoyama who nearly fell to the ground. “You already put your mitts on him?!”

“What?! Huh?!” Ue all but yelled back, but Akihiko was pacing around muttering to himself.

“I always thought you’d be a late bloomer but -“

“What the hell does that mean?!” Uenoyama stared at him even more panicked than moments before. What did Aki think happened? Late bloomer? Put his mitts on him? What the hell was Aki talking about? “What do you think happened?!” Ue yelled again.

Akihiko was once again pacing back and forth himself muttering something. Ue was still panic-driven and standing there with the obvious look on his face. “What I think happened doesn’t matter, do you know what your face looks like right now?!”

“Wh-what does it look like?” Ue hesitantly asked and put his hands to his cheeks. His eyes began to water and Akihiko stared at him.

“Your face practically says I’m in love with Mafuyu,” Akihiko replied calmly and cocked his brow when Uenoyama basically fell over in front of him. He heard him hit the ground and he sighed. “Come on Uesama, on your feet.” He helped him up and Uenoyama refused to look at him which was troublesome. “Get a grip it’s alright.”

Akihiko wasn’t going to admit it to anyone really, but Ue was like his younger brother at this point. Mafuyu was starting to feel like that, but since he had known Ue a lot longer, he’s seen him grow pretty much and still is watching that happen. There was a lot to be proud of Ue for, and so most times Aki just took him under his wing.

He’s never seen Ue act this way or panic really over anything. He was always calm and in a way collected. Mainly since Haruki was the one to freak out most times when things seemed to go awry. So seeing Ue this way was kind of heartbreaking.

It was quiet between them again. Akihiko wasn’t sure what to say, but also since he didn’t know entirely what was going on. Other than the obvious and that was that Uenoyama liked Mafuyu and didn’t know how to deal with it. Akihiko looked over to Ue wiping his eyes and he sighed.

“I-I…” Ue started but stuttered and stopped talking for a moment. Akihiko hummed and looked over at him. “I, uh… Is something wrong with me?!” Ue said. There was a distraught look in his eyes and worry crossed over his face. His figure was slouching more and more and it was obvious he had no idea what was going on with himself and Akihiko couldn’t help but feel slightly bad about it.

“No?” Akihiko asked him. “What would there be to be wrong with you? That you like a guy? What’s wrong with that?”

Ue just watched him and his expression slightly softened. His eyes had widened though and he tensed when Aki had told him no. What was going on in this kid’s mind?

“I’m only supposed to be into girls or something like that?” Akihiko asked him and Ue didn’t respond.

The truth was, he wasn’t sure. He thought it was okay at first, but then Yayoi said something that made him think. He was laying on the couch trying to think of something, he wasn’t sure what at the moment. Mafuyu had caused him to be late home one day with practice and he was just laying on the couch. Yayoi just knew of him as the kid with the Pomeranian. She had come in and stared at Ue for a moment and it must have been obvious to her then as well.

“You like that kid, don’t you?” She asked and stood beside the couch where Uenoyama was laying on. His eyes were shut and he was trying to relax but he just tensed up slightly and sighed.

“… Shut up.”

She stared at him. The words she said have been haunting Ue since that day and he didn’t know how to react. “It’s weird and unnatural. You’re gonna get hurt probably.”

Akihiko watched Ue as he talked. He kept his head down and didn’t make eye contact. “Don’t worry,” Aki said and Ue took a drink of his water. “That’s what I thought about myself, but I’ve been with guys, too.”

Uenoyama nearly choked on his water and spit it out. He turned to face Akihiko who was smiling at him and holding him a thumbs up. “Are you gonna say there something wrong with me?” He asked with a cocky grin. Ue just kept staring and looked down. “It was a long time ago though.”

Akihiko grabbed his things and headed towards his motorcycle, and stopped. He turned and saw Ue still standing there staring down but this time he could see visible tears in his eyes. “Uecchi,” he walked over, “Come on now.”

“I-.. y-“ he started and Akihiko watched him. “Y-you’re su- sure nothing is wr- wrong with me?”

Sighing again, Akihiko sat his things down and wrapped his arm around Uenoyama. “I promise Ue. Come on now, don’t let yourself get too worked up over this. It’s normal.”

[apex-academy]

Chapter 4: Six Chambers, One Loaded (#9)

After finishing up on the new floor, we head back to the elevator and go down. I peek into the cafeteria as we pass, but it looks empty. Good.

I come to a stop before we’ve gone far down the hall. I get the feeling the others are grateful for it.

“Time for you to rest?”

“I’m sure that’s for the best, yes...”

“Maybe I’ll grab some breakfast.”

“You already had breakfast.”

“And?”

“...”

“Just don’t hang around too long.”

“Kay den.”

Kaichi gives us a little two-fingered salute before hobbling off. I guess I could have grabbed something for him, but I also don’t want to. It’ll take a while to coax Otoya out of his room, anyway. Kaichi has plenty of time to grab some “grinds,” as he usually puts it.

Mahavir retreats to his own room, and I watch his door shut before I start down the hallway. Super convenient that Otoya’s is aaaaaall the way at the end of the hall. I’m sure he appreciates it, at least.

Did we get to choose our own dorms? I don’t see how it would pose much of a problem if they’re all identical.

“.......”

“No use. I still can’t remember.”

I could go another round of asking who has memories of move-in day. But if they couldn’t remember before, I don’t know how they could now. If this crap can jog memories, maybe I don’t want to know what happened.

Knock, knock.

“Otoya? Ready for breakfast?”

“No.”

Wish I could say I’m disappointed, but what other response could I have possibly expected?

“It’s more like brunch now, anyway. Can you just come on?”

A loud sigh. He opens the door a crack.

“Are you sure no one’s there?”

I nod.

“Get out here before that has a chance to change.”

He grumbles and shuts the door. Brief stomping, and the zip of tightening laces. He opens the door and peers past my head.

“..........”

“Thanks. Bye.”

He pushes past me.

“...”

I follow, though it’s hard to keep stride with someone his height. He gives me a look.

“What? I want something to drink.”

“Then why don’t you go to the freaking co... Tch.”

“Whatever.”

Yeah, not many thirst-quenching drinks in the ashes of the coffee shop.

He says nothing else, but he doesn’t shove me away from him. He doesn’t hold the door open for me, but he doesn’t slam it in my face, either.

Kaichi’s still sitting at a cafeteria table when we get there. I stop in front of the doors before Otoya can turn and walk out.

“Howzit?”

I have to resolve this quickly.

“...You’re supposed to be eating in the gym next door.”

“What ‘f I wanna eat here?”

“Then it sucks to be you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

And just like that, he stands and picks his tray up. It’s a little tricky juggling it with his surfboard, but he manages somehow.

“Come on, Otoya.”

I nod towards the kitchen.

“...”

He rushes past Kaichi fast enough to throw him off-balance. But Kaichi recovers before he can spill anything, and I at least hold the door open for the poor guy. 

Kind of a dirty trick to pull, but I doubt I could haul Otoya in here a second time today. That, and I kinda wanted to see if it would work. The gullibility is worrying, but I can get back to Kaichi later.

“Freaking... radiologist...”

I will never be over that.

I grab a bottled drink from the kitchen while Otoya’s busy steaming rice. After picking a table at random to sit at, I browse my student ID. Kaichi’s still down as Super High School Level ??? here. Wonder if it’s about to update. Doesn’t really matter unless I can catch the young master in the act. Good freaking luck with that.

Otoya resurfaces with a tray. He spares me a glance before starting for the other side of the room.

“You’re allowed to sit with me, you know.”

He comes to a stop, shoulders hunched. He doesn’t turn around.

“Wh-why?”

“What do you mean, why? Why wouldn’t you be?”

“I-I don’t freaking know! Geez!”

“I mean, we are friends, right?”

He almost drops his tray. He doesn’t quite react in time to keep a few carrot pieces from rolling off it.

“I—I—b-b-I-wh-what?”

“...”

“Something close to that, at least?”

“...............”

“Wh-whatever! I don’t freaking know! Wh-why would I know?!”

He paces aggressively before meandering back over here. He comes to this table, but he still sits as far away as he can. He’s not about to make eye contact. We sit in silence for a while, our attention on our trays. Only when he gets up for a refill do I speak.

“It’s not that bad, right?”

“What?”

“Being in here with another person.”

“...”

“Yeah, well, you’re... quiet.”

“So is Yuki. And Aki. And Mahavir, usually.”

“Okay, but...”

“...Forget it.”

He leaves for the kitchen. 

Wonder what makes me so special.

He comes back to the same spot, but the only conversation we manage is truncated small talk about how long we’ve been stuck here. Most of the time he just doesn’t have much to say. That’s all right. I can only wonder what’s going through his head, though.

I dump his tray for him since I’m already trashing my bottle. Somehow he isn’t already out the door when I finish.

“...”

“What’s up?”

“...”

“Do... Do you really...”

“.......”

“Forget it!”

He slams his hands into the door handle loud enough to make me jump, and then he’s gone.

“.....”

Guess I can only hope for so much. That was still... progress. Or something. I think.

Now seems like a good time to hang out with someone who wants to talk to me.

[BACK] [NEXT]

[apex-academy]

Chapter 3: Down Down Down and the Flames Went Higher (#28)

“What the hell?!”

I stand frozen for several seconds before my brain catches up with my eyes. Okay! Fire! BAD.

I have no idea where the closest extinguisher is. I try the stairwell. Nothing there. What moron designed this building? Did they not put extinguishers in the same place on every floor?

By the time I find one in the music room, shouting and wails have broken out in the hallway. Guess the concert’s over.

If I try to read the directions while I’m running, I’ll just slam into something, so I get the running out of the way first. Looks like the audience has assembled out here.

“What happened?! Is anyone in there?!”

“Don’t ask me!”

I try to push my way through.

“Move!”

A path starts to clear, but the fire’s still confined to the coffee shop. Won’t stay that way forever. My gaze falls to the extinguisher label, but then Tamiko comes crashing through.

“What in tarnation is—”

She makes it to the front.

“OH DEAR LORD—!”

“That’s...!”

I look up to see what's gotten their attention and immediately regret it.

Arthur pounds on the glass screaming before the smoke makes him too hard to see.

“...”

“¿...Quien...?”

“ARTHUR OH CHRIST—!”

“What?! I thought he was backstage?!”

“Quit yappin’ and get ‘im outta there!”

She hurries towards the far end of the room where Arthur was. Mahavir lunges for the door, hand outstretched.

“Th-the handle’s gonna be hot!”

“Well, the glass ain’t gonna be cold!”

“Then what do you suggest I do?!”

“Something!”

Before any more bright ideas spring up, a sharp snap shoots through the hall.

“What was—”

“The glass!”

“It’s cracking—!”

“MOVE IT!”

Kanagi grabs Kaichi’s elbow and hauls him towards the left wing. The rest of us flee the other way and make it to the auditorium wall before a terrible crash sends tremors up my legs. 

It suddenly seems a lot hotter.

I pull the extinguisher pin and run back over. Supposed to aim at the base of the fire. Gonna spray the man on fire first. Once I can find him.

“Arthur!”

I’m not sure how he’s still standing, but it takes Tamiko’s help to get him over the remaining bottom wall of the coffee shop. Keeping out of the way, I get to spraying. Glass crunches underfoot. Sweat has already plastered my bangs to my face, and enough smoke has gotten out to scrape my throat.

Where’s the base of the fire, anyway? The floor? Counters? Tables? Multiple levels are on fire, dammit!

The others are still talking behind me. There’s some kind of popping wheezing that may be Arthur trying to speak. I don’t know. Doesn’t sound good. Maybe he’s gesturing, too.

“What? Did he leave something behind?”

“Is... Maybe someone...”

“Is someone else in there?!”

I freeze, the extinguisher stream sputtering out as I turn towards them.

Arthur nods.

“Oh hell.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mahavir turns on his heel and charges into the room.

“AT LEAST LET ME PUT OUT THE FIRE FIRST—!”

Swearing repeatedly, I try to point the nozzle in the general direction he ran off into. Can’t see much. Fire’s too bright, smoke’s too dark. My eyes are burning, and the smell threatens to turn my coughing into gagging. If it’s this hot on this side, how is Mahavir going to... 

“...” I’m getting light-headed...

The flames nearly explode when I hit a spot on the counter, so I quickly aim elsewhere. I can’t see Mahavir. The frothy foam isn’t making the smell any more tolerable. I can’t see Mahavir.

“We gotta get outta here.”

“Somewhere we can breathe.”

I can’t disagree.

“I’ll at least empty this first.”

I squint and try to get a gauge on how much I’ve put out, but all I see is a lumbering silhouette in the smoke.

Mahavir staggers over the wall. He can’t clear the sea of glass shards before collapsing onto all fours. Something slides off his back and thuds onto the carpet next to him. 

A cheerful jingle plays overhead.

“Um, hello? Hello!! This is the prerecorded message to make sure everyone knows a body has been found!!”

Gasping, I wave away what smoke I can and try to approach.

“...”

Is he... really...?

“No...”

I give myself a second to cough before aiming the fire extinguisher at the coffee shop again. I think the fire’s almost gone. Can’t freaking tell. I need air.

The stream sputters out. I drop the empty extinguisher and flee for the left wing door. Closest place to get away from the smoke without falling down stairs. 

I’m not the first one over here. My head’s still spinning too much to try to do a roll call, so I’ll just hope for the best.

Hard to do that with a burned-up Arthur lying on the floor.

“Is he... still breathing?”

Tamiko’s struggling for breath, and I don’t know how much of it is from the fire.

“I can’t tell.”

Before we can try to say anything else, Kanagi ducks into the hallway just long enough to let a little smoke through.

“I'm taking Iggy to his room! Think he’s got some bandages in there!”

“He ‘kay?”

“Looks bad, but he's, like, walking. BRB.”

She backs into the main hall, the door slamming shut behind her.

“We already call ‘n ambulance?”

“We can’t! They can’t reach us!”

“.......Shit.”

Tamiko kneels at Arthur’s side, her chin hovering not too far above his.

“He—He definitely ain’t breathin’! What do I do?!”

“I don’t know! CPR?!”

“Y-yea! Right!”

Shaking, she crosses her palms on top of Arthur’s chest. Before she can start compressions, Kaichi throws an arm out in front of her.

“Whoawhoa, ‘s too low! You’ll break the thing!”

“The what?!”

“How about you just do it, Kaichi?”

“I—I can try?”

“Look, ‘f we can’t get ‘n ambulance...”

“I don’t care! Do it!”

Kaichi falls silent but shuffles over to give it a shot, anyway. But he’s right. We don’t have any real medical supplies, and when he’s burned this badly... Arthur’s done for. Even if Kokoro were here, I don’t think she could save him now.

“......”

Certainly nothing I can do. I’ve gotten a few clear breaths in, so I probably ought to check on the coffee shop. The bathrooms are close, so I could dump water on it if the fire’s still going.

When I finally step out, just about everyone else is assembled in the hallway. The fire’s out. Don’t know if they helped with that or not. Don’t care at this point.

Aki is the first to turn to me as I enter.

“Is he...?”

“Right now? I don’t know. We haven’t gotten another announcement.”

“And you said it was the heavy-laden one?”

“A fine lady and a fine listener.”

“Is Otoya coming back...?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll go look for him...”

She hobbles towards the stairwell. I’m guessing Otoya took one look at the carnage and left. Fair enough. It’s probably still not safe to be here.

I don’t think Yuki even has to go downstairs, because she's back in less than a minute.

“Found him.”

“Why d-do I need to be here what did you guys do?”

“We need everyone we have to investigate.”

“There aren’t many of us left to do it.”

We lapse into a silence broken only by coughing and the occasional clink of shifting glass. Still no announcement.

“You said they were over there, Aki...?” She tilts her head towards the other hallway.

“Yeah.”

“...”

Yuki steps that way, glass pieces crunching as she goes. We follow.

In the other hall, Tamiko is burying her face in her hands as Kaichi keeps up CPR. Only when a few of us step through the doorway does the four-note jingle play. 

“Um, hello? Hello!! This is the prerecorded message to make sure everyone knows a body has been found!!”

Kaichi’s arms fall to his sides, and he thuds back against the wall.

“...................”

“Wh-what th-the heck...”

At some point I must have sunk to my knees. I don’t know how long this all took, but it feels like it’s been hours. My arms are throbbing, and my eyes sting. It’s hard not to give up and go to sleep right now.

Tamiko’s voice is barely audible.

“Who..... did this...?”

“...”

“...”

“...Only one way to find out.”

[BACK] [NEXT]