I frowned, glaring at the washed out green wall. It was fifth period and I still hadn’t been back to class – I told the nurse I was sick and she let me have one of the dirty white beds, even leaving me alone while she ran errands; not the best nurse, but I wasn’t about to complain right now. I bit the inside of my lip and let my gaze drift south as I sank into my thoughts; I needed to do something about Ueda – something vicious… involving murder. Well, ending in murder, but that’s more of an etiquette in this kind of situation, you know – the done thing. When I felt something nudge my side I jumped and rolled over, ignoring the pain that shot through my backside. I looked up questioningly into mint green eyes; my stomach churned and I felt like I had eaten a million polo mints. I screwed up my face, I couldn’t help it, my tears were threatening to spill down my flushed cheeks. Ace instantly lost his bad boy smirk and his eyes widened, revealing the worry that they could posses.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked fiercely.

‘I…’ my voice trailed off as liquid heat washed over my blanched features. I hiccupped and Ace grabbed my shoulders firmly, looking panicked. I didn’t want to talk; I couldn’t anymore because pain was clogging my airways. I shook my head and sat up, blubbering on the bed. Ace’s arms wrapped themselves around my quivering shoulders and I relished the cool warmth that radiated from his placating form. He sat there holding me until my sobs turned into little sniffles.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked again.

I hiccupped, ‘Ueda… he… he…’ I felt my words trail off again as twin droplets of tears found their way silently down my stained face.

Ace sat for a minute looking at me, pondering, as he tried to piece together the situation; he stood up sharply, his eyes sparking with a fierce anger, and marched out of the room. The only thing that made me happy at this moment is that Ace obviously never knew. I sniffled and wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt.

‘Jin?’ a small voice asked.

I grunted softly and lowered my arm to look at my new visitor. I let my lips twitch upwards in a small smile for him when he looked like he might bawl and opened my arms wide in invitation. He sprang into them and I had to quickly shift to regain my balance. He wrapped his slender arms around my neck and cuddled his face into the crook; I petted his hair lightly and I swear to god he almost purred.

‘Hey, it’s okay, I’m just not feeling very well is all.’ I tried to soothe him.

His big green eyes filled as he looked up at me and, unexpectedly, I felt my heart twist; Umi should never look so sad.

He gulped, ‘No, Jin, I…’ he stopped, a pained expression flitting across his small face, ‘…Jin, why don’t you like me?’

My mouth fell open in shock and I searched desperately for the right words to say, ‘I do like you.’

‘That’s not what you told Kazu-chan,’ Umi frowned, looking utterly miserable.

Once again, I floundered. Unsure of what to say, I looked away from his pleading face and chewed my lip.

‘Is it that you think me immature – because I don’t have to be. I can be mature; I just prefer not to be.’ Umi said quietly.

Suddenly, Umi seemed unfathomably tall. His gentle voice sounded older and with less of a childish lilt. Umi’s features looked long and hard; his eyes turned intoxicatingly dark and serious; Umi looked incredibly beautiful and I felt like a hollowed shell in comparison.

His long lashes brushed gracefully over his cheeks and when he spoke it was low and ran over me like cool silk. Umi caught my eyes and held them – my kitten was gone and a tiger sat in his place. I don’t know how long I gazed into the maze of Umi’s eyes but it didn’t seem long enough.

‘Jin, can I kiss you?’ he asked softly.

I tried to form words but found it too difficult and settled for grunting my consent instead. As Umi’s velveteen lips brushed mine I let my eyes flutter to a close and sighed contently into the chaste kiss.

‘Jin, are you feeling-’ Kazuya halted abruptly, spotting Umi and I on the bed.

My eyes flew open and I jerked my head back to stare at Kazuya in horror. Kazuya’s eyes were wide as saucers and he stood with his mouth open, apparently suffering from the same affliction I had earlier. Umi, oblivious to Kazuya’s feelings, looked at him curiously. Spotting Umi’s gaze, Kazuya unfroze and bolted out of the room, looking like he might cry.

‘Ah, .’ I cursed under my breath and scrambled to my feet to chase after Kazuya. I saw him disappear around a corridor on my left and lurched towards it, rounding it just in time to see him disappear again. I urged my body to give me a burst of energy and as it complied I heard Kazuya’s heavy footsteps stop. I rounded the final corner and would have run right past him if he hadn’t let out a little sniffle before he could stop it.

‘Kazuya,’ I said, placing a hand on his arm.

He threw it off almost immediately and said, ‘You’re such a , d’you know that?’ he paused, ‘First it was Rakuto, then Ace, then you tell me that you love me – and the next day I find you kissing my crush, which you know about!’

I stumbled backwards as he took three angry steps forward and could almost feel the wall’s laboured breathing behind my back.

‘Um… I-’ I started.

‘I don’t want to hear it!’ Kazuya screamed, ‘Leave me alone.’ He warned, and with that, he left.

I stood rooted to the spot, my mouth slightly ajar, and begged my brain to tell me that this was all a dream. But it wasn’t. I was ed.