The bell rang loudly through the giant halls. Fuma walked to his class at a slow pace, while everyone else ran towards their classes. He wasn't too worried about being late. Fujigaya-sensei was pretty relaxed if he liked you, and lucky for Fuma, he was one of Fujigaya's favorites.

 

 

A frazzled young boy a couple centimeters shorter than he was rushed down the hall with an arm full of items and crashed right into him. Pain shot through Fuma's back as he landed, but he was unable to care much about that. Two large round eyes stared at him from up close. They were the prettiest big eyes he had ever seen. Fuma attempted to speak, but his heart in his throat prevented it. His mouth opened but no words could escape.

 

 

The boy finally regained control of himself and scrambled off of Fuma as fast as he could. Fuma watched as the boy gathered his things at lightning speed, repeatedly apologizing. “Sorry, I'm so sorry. I was just trying to find my class. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.”

 

 

Fuma regained his ability to speak as he pushed himself off the cold tile floor. “It's fine.” Fuma dusted his back as he peered down at his apparent attacker. Those big eyes were trained on the floor, and the boy's fingers clutched his things so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Fuma furrowed his eyebrows “Hey, it's really no big deal. You look'in for your class? Are you new here?”

 

 

The boy seemed to relax a bit and those big eyes stared directly at Fuma. “Yes, I'm Sato Shori, I just transferred here. I'm in class 2-C.” As soon as he he finished Shori stared down at the floor again, his cheeks dusting a light pink.

 

 

“I'm Kikuchi Fuma. Just call me Fuma. Here, I'll take you to your class.” Fuma his heels and began to walk. He threw a look over his shoulder and beckoned Shori forward.

 

 

Shori raced to catch up, his face turning more red as he shot shy little sideways looks at Fuma. “Aren't you late for your own class?” Shori's voice was pleasant Fuma decided as he led Shori to his class.

 

 

“Don't worry about it. My homeroom teacher is cool, yours is pretty...uh well he's interesting to say the least.” The white plaque that read 2-C appeared before them in no time at all. Fuma knocked on the door and opened.

 

 

Tamamori-sensei was talking to his plant at the front of the class, fully occupied with an apparent argument. Fuma shook his head, psychology with Tamamori-sensei was always an interesting event. Fuma caught his friend Hokuto's eye and led Shori to the back of the class.

 

 

“Skipping class with your favorite teacher now, Fuma?” Hokuto raised an eyebrow, his voice a whisper. Fuma rolled his eyes at him and motioned at Shori. Hokuto leaned over his desk to get a better look, his eyes going back and forth between Fuma and Shori for a few moments before Hokuto sat back in his seat, a grin on his lips.

 

 

“So, new kid, you have a name?” A tall boy asked. He looked like he wasn't fully Japanese.

 

 

“Sato Shori.” Shori told the small group that had surrounded him in the class room. There was the half foreign kid, a really short kid, a boy that looked like he was much more muscular than the others and Hokuto.

 

 

“Cool, I'm Jesse.” The half foreign boy grinned. He gave a victory sign at Shori, who couldn't help but grin at the pun, before he returned to doodling in his notebook together with the muscular boy in front of him.

 

 

“I'm Matsumura Sou!” said the very short boy to Shori's left. He looked very young.

 

 

“Morimoto Shintaro, at your service.” The muscular boy gave a half salute with a mischievous grin as he said his name. Shintaro returned to his doodling in Jesse's notebook.

 

 

“The guy with the funny grin on his face is Hokuto. He's supposed to be in my grade with me, but he got held back due to stupidity,” Fuma whispered to Shori. Hokuto's folder jabbed Fuma in the side in retaliation.

 

 

“Get out of here, Tamamori-sensei will notice you're here soon. Besides, wouldn't want you to miss time with your precious Fujigaya-sensei.” Hokuto waved Fuma to the door. Fuma left with a grin on his face and a wave.

 

 

“See ya later, Shori. Meet you guys at lunch.” Fuma left just as Tamamori-sensei asked him what on earth he was doing in his class. Fuma held back a chuckle as he left the room without explaining himself.

 

 

 

Once safely away from the classroom, Fuma's back hit the lockers and he closed his eyes. All he could see were those large, dark eyes staring back at him. Fuma his lips, took a deep breath and hurried down to his class.

 

 

Fuma opened to the door to his homeroom class. First period was almost through, but Fuma slipped into his seat. His friends gave him raised eyebrows. Fuma waved them off as he took out his notebook. A shadow appeared before his desk. Fuma gulped as he looked up at Fujigaya-sensei. “So glad to have you join us, Fuma-kun, now please read out loud your answers to last night's homework about the tale of Hikaru Genji.”

 

Fuma winced and stood up from his seat. His chair screeched as he stared down at his halfhearted attempt to get the answers. The snickers of his friends told him they expected as much. Fuma sighed as he prepared for what was sure to be a long remainder of class.

 

 

“Fujigaya-sensei sure was unhappy with you, Fuma.” Tanaka Juri jeered, happy that it wasn't him in trouble for a change. Fuma glared at him as they walked down the hall to the cafeteria.

 

 

Kyomoto Taiga hid a smile behind his pretty fingers as he walked beside Juri, his dainty features belying his personality.

 

 

“Why were you so late? I mean, you're generally late, but this was just ridiculous,” Nakajima Kento, Fuma's best friend asked. Kento gave Fuma a raised eyebrow as he watched Fuma's cheeks color. “Ooh something happened. Tell me.”

 

 

Fuma cleared his throat. Why was he getting so bothered by this? All he did was help a new student, nothing more. So what if the new student had huge, curious eyes that seemed to swallow you whole. Or that this new kid looked you in the eye when he was talking to you, no matter how obvious his embarrassment.

 

 

A jab in his side showed that Kento was getting more interested the longer Fuma stayed quiet. The others watched him curiously, just as interested as Kento. “I was helping a new kid find his classroom,” Fuma told them. From the disappointed looks on Juri, Taiga and Kento's faces he knew that wasn't what they wanted to hear. Kento eyed Fuma for a moment, in a clear sign that Kento knew there was more to it than that.

 

 

Thankfully the conversation was dropped for the moment as they entered into the rambunctious cafeteria. The group traveled to their usual table, the younger members already loud and playful. Fuma caught sight of Shori, who hid a smile behind his bread as he watched the others' shenanigans.

 

 

Kento caught sight of Fuma's stare and began to grin like a Cheshire cat. Taiga passed by everyone and sat next to Hokuto, who laughed while he moved closer to Taiga. The rest of the group settled down and all except Fuma looked at Shori curiously.

 

 

Aware of the stares he was receiving, Shori put his bread down and bowed in his seat. His cheeks began to turn red as he smiled. “Hello, I'm Sato Shori. It's nice to meet you.” His polite manner caused a round of chuckles from everyone. “Ah, Fuma-kun again, thank you so much for showing me to class earlier today. Also thank you for introducing me to everyone.” Shori's face was the color of a tomato as he stared Fuma in the eye.

 

 

Fuma felt himself grow red as everyone turned to stare at him. Kento, beyond amused, broke the tension. “I'm Nakajima Kento, you don't have to be so formal!” Kento's eyes had a sparkle as he spoke; Fuma cursed internally.

 

 

“This guy next to me is my boyfriend Kyomoto Taiga,” Hokuto explained from next to Shori. Hokuto leaned his body against Taiga with a content smile. Shori nodded his understanding, his face still read from his embarrassment.

 

 

“Tanaka Juri, you need to chill dude.” Juri attempted to snatch some fries from Shintaro only to have his hand swatted. Juri followed with a pout, to which Shintaro sighed and with great discomfort offered a fry for Juri to eat. The older boy grinned as he let Shintaro feed him, more than happy with the turn of events.

 

 

“Get a room you two! Don't mind them, half this group is paired off with someone,” Fuma explained with fake disgust. The group laughed as they pulled out their various lunches. Shintaro and Juri continued to shove one another or feed each other as the rest of the group laughed.

 

 

The remainder of lunch Fuma remained silent, his attention focused on Shori who occasionally looked over at him. They both would look away if they caught one another. The rest of the group continued to mess around, on occasion one or two would throw Fuma a strange look.

 

 

Shori was quiet by nature and found it difficult to adjust to how open everyone was. Sou offered part of his fried shrimp to Shori with a smile. Shori felt safe and happy with these people, something he wasn't use to. At his old school Shori had been pushed around for being so quiet and once again he found himself trying to watch Fuma, who had saved him from suffering the same fate here.

 

“So, Shori, what made you transfer here?” Kento asked, pointing his chopsticks at Shori with a flourish. The table quieted themselves down as they watched Shori.

 

“Oh, well, my family lives in the town over, and at my old school I had some...problems. So they transferred me here. This school has a better system with the college attachment so I wanted to go anyway.” Shori answered with a quick spurt. His food was gone at that point so he just stared at his fingers once he was done talking.

 

 

Fuma furrowed his eyebrows together. “Problems? Like what?” Fuma couldn't keep the harsh tone out of his voice.

 

“Oh it was nothing. Just some of my classmates didn't like how quiet I was is all. Nothing major.” Shori looked a bit frightened as he talked, as if he was afraid someone was going to hurt him if he said anything bad.

 

“Well you're here now.” Sou smiled at Shori, he was so small and friendly. He made Shori's guard slip.

 

 

Shori nodded his head, he had never been in a group before. It felt nice. Fuma caught eyes with everyone of his friends, they had all been together for so long, they didn't need words. He could tell that all of them liked Shori, and didn't like the idea of these so called 'problems' that Shori had in the past. Hokuto motioned to Shori who looked uncomfortable.

 

 

“Yep, you're part of our group now, so no worries.” Hokuto grinned as he turned to Taiga to steal some of his chocolate cake. Taiga rolled his eyes as he kissed Hokuto on the cheek, his cake stolen with ease.

 

“Ewwww stop being gross!” Jesse groaned across from Sou, but his face betrayed him as he smiled. The group laughed as they finished their food, growing boyhood taking over and their lunch was soon devoured.

 

Lunch was almost over when three boys wearing the university uniform stopped by their table. All three were short, two of them the same height. The only one shorter than the last one was Sou, Shori noted as he looked at the new additions with a curious gaze. One short boy with brown hair sat next to Kento; he looked confident despite his size. Kento's whole face lit up as he turned to hug his boyfriend. “Shori this is Yamada Ryosuke. He's a first year in the university.”

 

As the boy nodded with a smile, Shori realized that if you were friends with one of this group, you were considered a friend of the extensions as well. “Still weird that you two are together. I'm Arioka Daiki, you must be the new transfer kid.” Daiki smiled. Shori nodded with a surprised look on his face. The group laughed, obviously they knew something that Shori did not.

 

“Daiki-senpai knows pretty much everything that is going on in this school. He sometimes helps out with the admissions office,” Juri explained. Shori nodded like it all made sense. In hindsight it probably shouldn't have made sense, but Shori let it all slide.

 

“That's because he has a crush on the secretary!” The smaller university student let slip, an almost evil smile on his lips.

 

“You leave Inoo-chan out of this, Yuri!” Daiki screeched, his chubby cheeks blazing red as he glared.

 

 

“Chinen-senpai! What brings you guys here?” Sou's eyes were only on Yuri, who gave the younger male a smile.

 

 

“Ryosuke missed Kento. So we thought we'd come see how you youngin's are doing.” The term youngin's caused the group to make a collective face of distaste. Shori almost couldn't contain his smile at the interaction.

 

 

“So you're the new kid? Chinen Yuri, and yes I really am a first year in college.” His self-satisfied grin showed how proud he was of that fact.

 

 

Shori watched as most of the group rolled their eyes. “We have to go now, next class starts soon, we'll see you guys later.” Daiki said as he grabbed Ryosuke's arm and tugged. Ryosuke glared with an unhappy look but got up anyway. He leaned down and kissed Kento before they all left.

 

 

The group waved goodbye to the older ones as the bell rang, signally lunch was over. “Awww, I wish Chinen-senpai could have stayed longer,” Sou whined. The others snickered as Sou pouted at them all. “What!?”

 

 

“Your crush on Yuri gets worse everyday I swear. You are the only one who can't call him by his first name. You didn't even notice the other senpai either,” Jesse laughed. Sou's face turned fire engine red as he pushed himself out of his chair.

 

 

“Are we meeting after school for the arcade?” Taiga asked, holding Hokuto's hand as they walked back to their classes.

 

 

The group nodded, all apparently agreed. “Are you going to come too, Shori?” Kento asked, his eyes on Fuma.

 

 

“I probably shouldn't. My family will worry if I don't go straight home.” Shori sounded sad at the idea of leaving his new friends, something that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group.

 

 

“That's ok, we hang out everyday that we don't have soccer practice,” Sou informed Shori with a smile. “Maybe you can come next time?”

 

 

Shori smiled and nodded his head. They arrived at 2-C and the group parted ways. The couples separated with quick pecks to the lips. Shintaro looked grumpy giving Juri a kiss, but looked almost sad to see him go. Shori tilted his head, unsure he understood the dynamic of that relationship.

 

 

The group separated and Kento waited an approximation of one minute before he pounced on Fuma's behavior. “You like Shori. You were late because you like him!” Kento sounded excited by this revelation.

 

 

“I thought you didn't like guys though?” Taiga asked. He looked amused at the change of events.

 

 

Fuma coughed, his pace increasing as he tried to walk ahead of his friends. The remaining three looked at one another, their grins evil and excited. “So, if you like Shori, then that means you do like guys too! So when Hokuto and Taiga started to go out, and you said you couldn't understand it, you lied.” Juri chuckled. None of them were angry that Fuma had once claimed not to understand, but they all couldn't help but feel karma was smiling with them.

 

 

Arriving at their class they let it drop. Yokoo-sensei looked at them with a nod as they walked to their usual seats at the back of the class. Fuma was glad that class made the questions stop. He opened his history book and let his mind wander to Shori. Did he really like a guy? Shori was really cute, and he made Fuma feel protective. He was normally a protective guy, his friends meant a lot to him. But Shori was different, his big eyes pulled Fuma into them and made him never want to leave.

 

 

 

Yokoo's face appeared in front of him, and Fuma in his surprise nearly fell out of his chair. The class snickered at him, as his friends gave amused looks. “Since you feel it's ok to spend this class daydreaming, I assume that means you want to stay after class and clean my board?” Yokoo-sensei inquired. He was generally a very nice teacher, but when you angered him, his punishments included a lot of cleaning. Fuma nodded his head in agreement. Yokoo-sensei went back to teaching his class.

 

 

This was the second time today that Shori had caused Fuma to get into trouble in class. Ok, so maybe he did feel something when Shori was involved. That didn't mean he really liked him though, did it?

 

 

While the older members of their little group had history, the younger boys were outside with Kitayama-sensei the gym teacher. Shori watched as his new friends changed at lightning speed. He himself felt a bit embarrassed to change in front of all of them, especially after learning of their relationships. “Hurry up Shori, this is the one class you want to be early to,” Hokuto told him, already ready to leave.

 

 

Shori nodded and grabbed his clothes. He rushed to the bathroom and changed as quickly as he could. Hokuto wrinkled his brow as he watched Shori enter the bathroom with his clothes. He let it slide as the group waited for Shori to change. “So, Fuma's got a thing for Shori, and Shori doesn't seem to be comfortable around people much,” Hokuto commented. Shintaro and Jesse stopped wrestling for a moment to listen.

 

 

“Fuma having a thing for a guy is already unusual,” Jesse mentioned. Shintaro and Sou nodded in agreement.

 

 

“Well it probably surprises Fuma too,” Hokuto said with a laugh. “You like who you like, not what gender it is. It's Fuma's turn to understand that I guess.”

 

 

Shori came out all dressed in his new gym uniform. He saw the others waiting for him and hurried to put his neat pile of clothes in his locker. Once they were all ready Hokuto, Jesse and Shintaro took off at a run to the field. Sou stayed behind to laugh at Shori's surprise. “Gym is pretty much the favorite class of all of us. The teacher is the soccer coach, and all but Kento are on the team,” Sou explained as he grabbed Shori's hand and began to run himself.

 

 

Outside in the fresh air Shori himself felt happy. Sou let his hand go as all the students lined up. A short, young looking man stood before the rest of the class with a lazy air around him. He looked like he should be in college. “Don't let his looks fool you! He's actually older than most of the other teachers,” Shintaro whispered to him, as if he read Shori's thoughts.

 

 

Shori's eyes widened as he nodded. The class fell silent as Kitayama-sensei walked around and did roll call. Shori wondered what kind of magic Kitayama-sensei possessed to have all his students so well behaved for him. When his name was called Shori responded with his voice cracking.

 

The other students let out low laughs as Shori turned red. Hokuto, Shintaro, and Jesse all glared at the class in response. The sudden silence surprised Shori. Sou squeezed Shori's hand before he let go again, giving Kitayama-sensei his full attention once again.

 

 

Kitayama-sensei raised an eyebrow and walked over to stand in front of Shori. He wasn't used to being taller than his teachers, so Shori felt a bit awkward. “So, new kid, interested in joining soccer?”

 

Shori let out a small surprised noise. He had never played a sport before, but he had always wanted to. He looked at the others who gave him a smile of encouragement. “I don't know. I would like to. I can ask my parents when I get home,” Shori responded. Kitayama-sensei gave him a smile before he called for laps around the track.

 

 

“So you think that you'll join?” Shintaro asked. The group paced themselves so that the other classmates passed them with ease.

 

 

“I'd like to. I've never been on a team before, but I've been told in the past that I'm fast.” Shori gave a small smile. The story caused the group to give each other worried looks.

 

 

“Oh yeah? How bout you prove you're fast?” Hokuto grinned. The group spread out and took off at a run.

Shori took off like a shot. He sped past most of the class, the others hot on his trail. Kitayama-sensei watched as Shori sped past, the rest of the class falling behind as Shori continued to finish all the laps in record time. Kitayama-sensei stared wide eyed as Jesse, Hokuto, Sou, and Shintaro arrived minutes later. They looked just as surprised as Kitayama-sensei.

 

 

“Did you know he could do that?” Kitayama-sensei inquired. The group shook their heads. “Shori, now I am positive you should be on the team.”

 

 

Shori blushed, happy to be praised. He had grown fast over the years, he had a lot of practice running in the past. “Looks like Kitayama-sensei likes you,” Jesse told Shori with a playful punch to his arm.

 

 

 

“Alright, today's class is going to be dodge-ball.” Kitayama-sensei held a bag filled with soft balls to play with. Half of the class groaned. “Don't complain, I could have you all run laps all class!”

 

 

 

The rest of class competitive natures came to a head. Hokuto and Shintaro were made captains, and Shori had learned that friendships meant nothing if they were against one another.

 

 

Shori had never been covered with so much sweat willingly before in his life. A lot of things that day had been different from the past Shori reasoned as the class went to get changed and showered.

 

 

It was the end of school, and for once Shori didn't want to go home. He waved to his new friends as he left for his home. He couldn't believe all the things that had happened to him. It was all thanks to Fuma. Shori felt himself blush as he imagined Fuma, how tall and muscular he was. Shori shook his head, best to keep those thoughts far away.

 

 

“So where is Fuma?” Hokuto asked at the gate. Everyone but Fuma was there and ready to go.

 

 

“Yokoo-sensei caught him daydreaming,” Taiga answered. “Bet you guys can't guess what he was so distracted about.”

 

 

“Like it's hard, the guy obviously has a crush on Shori.” Hokuto rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. “Though Shori keeps mentioning past issues. I get the feeling he use to be bullied a lot. He's pretty quiet, and seems like he doesn't understand that we want to be his friends.”

 

 

“Shori is a nice person, I wonder why anyone would treat him badly,” Sou wondered aloud. The group nodded in agreement.

 

 

“Well that's in the past. Anyone who can make Fuma that distracted is good with me.” Kento grinned. He was probably the most excited about Fuma liking another guy out of everyone.

 

 

“He might join the soccer team too. He is fast.” Jesse widened his eyes for effect. The younger half of the group nodded their heads.

 

 

“Really? Sounds promising,” Juri said, though he was distracted as he tried to coax Shintaro into holding his hand.

 

 

“He would make a good addition to the team.” Shintaro nodded and he finally gave in, his hand slipping into Juri's.

 

 

“Shouldn't you be more interested in this, Juri? You are the captain of the team you know.” Taiga shook his head. Juri was a great player, but maybe not the best captain.

 

 

“Kitayama-sensei seemed pretty impressed with him,” Sou chimed in.

 

 

“Well that settles that then,” Juri responded, not that he really cared that much who was on the team so long as they all tried hard.

 

 

Fuma came out of the school building with a run. “Sorry guys, Yokoo-sensei made me clean the board twice.” He looked tired as he put his head on Kento's shoulder.

 

 

“Let's go, we're already late to meet up with Ryosuke, Daiki, and Yuri.” Taiga tugged Hokuto along with him as they set out towards their usual hang out, the arcade.

 

 

“Yeah, after today I need to let off some steam.” Fuma trudged after the group.

 

 

“Oh come on, the day wasn't that bad. So you got into trouble with the teachers a bit, at least you met Shori,” Kento told him. At Shori's name Fuma tensed. The group laughed at his expense.

 

 

Shori arrived at his home with a smile. He could not wait to tell him family about his day. He walked into the house and his mother greeted him with a smile. As Shori told his mother all about his day, her smile grew with each thing he told her.

 

 

“I'm glad you had a good day and that you made friends. As for soccer, if you want to try to be on the team I don't see any reason for you not to. I'm sure your father will agree as well. Just ask him to be sure. If you ever go out with those boys after school, just call and keep me informed.” Shori's mother smiled at her son. She nearly had tears in her eyes as she listened to how excited and happy Shori was.
 

 

“Thank you, mom, I will.” Shori smiled. He left his mother to finish dinner while he did his homework. His mind kept wandering to Fuma as he tried to do his math homework. Shori shook his head, he had to remind himself not to push it too far. He really wanted to keep these friends.

 

 

To Shori's delight, his entire first week of school went just as well. He had grown closer to everyone and was starting to feel comfortable talking with them more. Shori still couldn't bring himself to drop all the suffixes, but he knew he was making progress. The soccer team welcomed him with open arms, and he even found he had a knack for being a striker. Every school day was so much fun, he never wanted to leave the company of his new friends.

 

 

“Hey Shori, you ok? You look kinda pale” Hokuto asked as Shori sat down in his seat. Shori smiled, his face void of color.

 

 

“Yeah, just a bit dizzy. I'll be fine,” Shori tried to say.

 

 

“I don't think so. Hokku, take him to the nurse?” Jesse raised his hand and waited for Tamamori-sensei to notice. It took about five minutes, but eventually Jesse was called on. “Shori isn't feeling too well. Can Hokuto take him to the nurse?”

 

 

Tamamori-sensei took a look at Shori and nodded his consent. Hokuto smiled his thanks as he dragged Shori out of his seat. Shori's balance was weak and he nearly fell onto Sou. “Feel better, Shori.” Sou told him after making sure Shori was upright.

 

Shori nodded his head and swayed a bit. He allowed Hokuto to drag him out of the classroom and down the hall to the nurses office. “Nurse Koyama should be able to help,” Hokuto murmured mostly to himself.

 

 

From the nurses office came a rather disgruntled looking Kitayama-sensei and an equally messed up Fujigaya-sensei. They were bickering as they fixed their clothes and hair. Shori in his dizzy state couldn't keep his curiosity. “What is that about?” he asked Hokuto.

 

 

“Oh, Fujigaya-sensei and Kitayama-sensei have been together for years. They act like they hate each other, kinda like Juri and Shintaro. I guess they used nurse Koyama's office for some alone time,” Hokuto responded with a smile.

 

 

Shori blinked, he wasn't sure how to take that new information. He remembered Fuma complaining loudly the other day about a test today. So Fujigaya-sensei must have slipped away. “So, they are allowed to be together? I mean it's a school and all.”

 

 

Hokuto gave Shori a funny look. “Well at first it probably was a big deal, but from what I've heard they've been together for over seven years. So I guess the administration accepted it.” Hokuto led Shori into the room, where Koyama the nurse sat at his desk typing away at his laptop.

 

 

“Oh, hello Hokuto. Oh dear, put him on the cot to rest,” Koyama told Hokuto as he grabbed some things from his cabinet. “You can go back to class, thanks for bringing him.” Hokuto nodded and waved Shori goodbye before he returned to class.

 

 

“Lets see if you have a fever first.” Koyama held a thermometer out for Shori who opened his mouth. After a few moments Koyama checked the readings. “Well you don't have a fever, let me get you some medication and have you rest here for a little while.”

 

 

The door opened and Fuma walked in with a bored look on his face. He caught sight of Shori and walked over to him. “Are you ok? What happened? You don't look so good.”

 

 

Shori let out a laugh at Fuma's panic. “I'm fine, just a bit dizzy. What about you, Fuma-kun?” Shori accepted the paper cup and white pills from Koyama who looked at Fuma as well.

 

 

“Oh, Fujigaya-sensei sent me. He said the room was out of band-aides and I got a pretty nasty paper-cut.” Fuma held up his left hand. A drop of blood on his index finger grew by the second.

 

“Oh yes.” Koyama turned around and grabbed a few band-aides from his desk. He looked at Fuma who was watching Shori. “Fuma, I need to go grab some things from the admissions office, could you watch Shori for me?” Koyama smiled as he got up and left without an answer.

 

 

Left alone in the nurse's office, Fuma and Shori remained quiet. Shori found that his eyes kept looking towards Fuma. On occasion they would catch each others eyes and look away. Shori watched Fuma, who looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came from his mouth.

 

“Why don't you pull over a chair, it's a bit awkward to have you just standing there, Fuma-kun.” Shori felt his cheeks burn as he spoke.

 

Fuma tripped over his own feet as he grabbed a chair to bring over. He managed to not hurt himself as he got his seat set. Shori hid a smile behind his hands as he watched Fuma finally sit down. Fuma's cheeks were bright red and Shori couldn't help but find it adorable.

 

 

Fuma glared at Shori's amused gaze. “Stop laughing, it's not funny. I will make you stop laughing at me,” Fuma ranted.

 

 

“How?” Shori asked. His hand fell as he leaned closer to Fuma. He wasn't sure what made him so brave at that moment. He would generally never do such a daring act. Fuma's face was inches away from his.

 

 

Fuma felt like he had no control over his body as he leaned forward. His lips met Shori's as his eyes fluttered shut. When their lips collided, Fuma left as if his whole body was tingling. He couldn't describe the feeling of Shori's lips against his as they moved in tentative motions against each other.

 

 

Shori could not believe what was happening to him. He felt like he could fly with how happy he felt. Fuma was kissing him and he couldn't be happier. Shori felt Fuma move away from the kiss. He felt disappointed that the kiss had come to an end.

 

 

Fuma pulled away with a content smile. His face changed as he noticed what he had just done. The door opened and Koyama came back with a stack of papers in his hands. Fuma stood up and knocked over the chair. Koyama gave him an odd look.

 

 

“I should get to class. Hope you feel better, Shori.” Fuma sped out of the office as quick as he could. Koyama stared at Shori with an almost knowing look.

 

 

“Well you look like you are feeling much better. How about you wait for this period to end and join your classmates for lunch?” Koyama asked Shori with a kind smile. Shori nodded his head. He felt fuzzy all through his body and his lips still felt warm.

 

 

Lunch was almost awkward. Fuma had come back late from the nurses office to Nikaido-sensei's math class. His face both red and distressed enough that Nikaido-sensei let him just sit down. Kento watched Fuma avoid looking at Shori at all costs. Shori on the other hand kept sneaking glances at Fuma and then blushed.

 

 

Hokuto caught Kento's stare. Hokuto pulled out his phone and began to type a message. Taiga watched over Hokuto's shoulder. Soon Kento's phoned buzzed in his pocket. Kento looked at the message on his phone.

 

So something happened.

I'll see if I can get the story out of Shori.

You find out about Fuma.

 

Kento put his phone away and nodded at Hokuto's plan. “Hey Kento.” Ryosuke slid into the seat next to Kento. Ryosuke grabbed one of Kento's strawberries and began to eat. Daiki sat on the other side of Jesse. Sou made sure that Yuri sat next to him as he squashed Shori closer to Hokuto beside him.

 

 

What are you guys doing here?” Shintaro asked, fending off Juri's hands as he protected his chocolate chip cookie.

 

 

“Classes got canceled, so we thought we'd drop by,” Ryosuke told them. Kento had begun to feed Ryosuke the strawberries.

 

 

 

“Also, we wanted to ask you guys if you wanted to go to the mall tonight,” Daiki added. The rest of the group nodded, all agreed to the idea.

 

 

 

“We have all been so busy with soccer, we haven't had any time to just hang,” Jesse explained.

 

 

“Perfect then!” Ryosuke exclaimed, his arm wrapped around Kento. The lunch bell rang, disrupting the group from their fun. “We'll see you guys at the gate after school, ok?” Ryosuke kissed Kento, he had to get on his tip toes for their lips to meet.

 

 

The group separated as they rushed off to class. Hokuto and Kento shared a wink as the younger ones entered their class-room. Kento waited until they turned the corner before he pulled Fuma to the side. He waved Taiga and Juri on.

 

 

“Alright, what happened?” Kento asked. Fuma looked about to deny anything having happened. “Don't play dumb. Something happened while you went to the nurse's. That something has to do with Shori.”

 

 

Fuma winced at the mention of Shori's name. Kento gave him an unimpressed look as he waited for Fuma to give an answer. “He was at the nurse's office earlier, I guess he didn't feel well. I'm not sure how it happened but we kissed-”

 

 

“What! You two kissed? Why the hell are you acting so freaked out about it? This is good,” Kento cut in, eyes wide.

 

 

“I don't know. I ran away. I like him, but he's so skittish. He kissed me back, but he was sick,” Fuma began to ramble.

 

 

Kento held a hand up to stop Fuma's words from flowing out of him. “He kissed you back. I think he likes you. Seriously. Look, tonight while we hang out I'll arrange for you guys to be alone. Then you can talk to Shori about what happened.”

 

 

Fuma looked like he wanted to argue, but Kento was already typing away on his phone. Fuma knew from experience that there was no stopping Kento.

 

 

Meanwhile Hokuto had convinced Shori to go to the bathroom with him. “It's not just a girl thing, you know,” Hokuto joked as they walked through the halls. “So what happened with you and Fuma? You came back from the nurse all giddy and Fuma looked like he was about to die when he saw you. So what's up?”

 

 

Shori's face colored as they entered the bathroom. “Well, he came to the nurse's office because of a cut, and Nurse Koyama left. When he left he asked Fuma to stay and watch me. Somehow I felt so off I kind of forgot myself. We ended up kissing. I think Fuma kissed me first, but I really don't know. I just don't want to loose my friendships that I've made, but I really liked kissing Fuma,” Shori confessed.

 

 

Hokuto nodded as he washed his hands. A vibration in his pants told him that he had a message. Hokuto looked at his phone and saw the message plan from Kento. He grinned. Perfect. “I think you should tell Fuma how you feel. You won't loose us, I promise. I'll even help you have some time with Fuma to talk tonight.”

 

 

Shori felt like he was on pins and needles the remainder of the day. Hokuto said he would arrange everything, but Shori couldn't help but worry that something catastrophic was going to happen that night.

 

 

The mall was packed with teenagers and young adults letting off some steam after a long day at school. They walked around the mall going into shops as it pleased them. Eventually Kento whined at Ryosuke that he wanted some alone time and Ryosuke agreed with a smile. “Alright, how bout we split up for a bit. We can meet back here at 9 when the mall closes and go to karaoke,” Ryosuke suggested.

 

 

Kento winked at Fuma as he left with Ryosuke.

 

“I'm gonna call Yuki-chan and see if she wants to have a date,” Jesse said, his phone in hand already set to dial as he walked away.

 

 

“Lets go to the arcade, Shin,” Juri suggested, Shintaro looked unhappy as Juri held his hand.

 

 

Yuri must have caught on to what was happening as he poked Sou in the side. “Hey, want to go with me to find a new belt?” Sou's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he walked next to Yuri.

 

 

“Daiki? Is that you?” a boy with pretty features asked. Daiki turned around and made a surprised noise.

 

 

“Inoo-chan?” Daiki asked as he walked over to the boy. After a few moments he waved goodbye to the others as he walked with his crush.

 

 

All that was left was Fuma, Shori, Hokuto, and Taiga. “Well we are gonna go too. You guys have fun,” Hokuto told them. He gave Shori a wink as he ushered Taiga away.

 

 

“Alone again,” Shori said awkwardly. Fuma nodded his head, he refused to look at Shori directly.

 

 

“Want to walk around? I actually have something to talk to you about,” Fuma told Shori with a small smile.

 

 

The pair walked around the mall and pointed out things that they liked or were interested in. Fuma tried to gather all his courage. They stopped in front of the giant fountain in the middle of the mall.

 

 

Fuma took a deep breath and prepared himself. “About earlier, I really liked it. I think I like you.” Fuma let out his breath in shock, he wasn't the one who spoke. Shori looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

 

 

“What? I mean really?” Fuma couldn't understand what was happening. “I think I like you too. I'm not used to liking guys, and I was pretty confused at first. I would like to give it a shot. I'm game if you are?” Fuma was nervous. He wasn't sure why he was nervous when Shori just confessed, but he was.

 

 

“Yes.” Shori was shook, he had tears welling in his eyes. Fuma was so shocked he jumped. Shori laughed. He was so happy, the last month had been one of the best of his life. “I've never dated anyone, boy or girl. So let's see where this goes. Ok?”

 

 

Fuma grinned. “So you said you liked to kiss...how about another?” Fuma asked, he was already inches from Shori's face. Their lips collided once again. Both felt fuzzy and warm as they kissed.

 

 

It was short, sweet and perfect. Shori couldn't hide his ginormous smile. “You know with a smile like that, you could probably work as an idol,” Fuma joked with a smile.

 

 

“Me, nah. You however with your looks would work.” Shori laughed, the sound made Fuma's heart flutter.

 

 

“We have an hour before we meet up with everyone else, want to go on a date?” Fuma asked. He offered his hand, which Shori took with a smile. They walked around the mall and had a generally good time.

 

 

When it was time to meet up, Shori and Fuma were a little late. The rest of the group plus a few more people were waiting for them. When the main group noticed Fuma and Shori's linked fingers they cheered. Hokuto's phone buzzed in his pocket. He looked a Kento, who had his phone in hand.

 

 

Mission accomplished.

 

Hokuto looked at Fuma with a grin. Fuma gave a peace sign with his free hand. Hokuto knew that Fuma finally got what was most important. That you love someone for who they are and how they make you feel, not because of their gender.