Iv dropped his head back with a groan of displeasure before dragging his feet towards the gates. He had spent the past twenty minutes or so standing outside of them, just staring. If there was anything that he really hated in this world, it was school. It had never been a pleasant experience for him, and since he entered high school it had only gotten worse. 

 

Almost making it through, he was suddenly jerked back by something attaching itself to his backpack. Iv stumbled back, his bag falling off his shoulders as the thing latched to it didn't let go when he turned around. The bag was yanked from his arms and thrown behind him out of convenient reach. His small body flinched when he met the smirking gaze of Ryoga, his personal sadist. Quickly he glanced to the body that came up next to him and a small blush tainted his cheeks. The tall chestnut-brunette had been Iv's crush for a long time now, but Reno was Ryoga's, everyone knew that. One thing that the small teen was grateful for though, was that the two never actually acted like a couple. He didn't know how he would handle it if they actually displayed their affection, if there really was any there. With how they were, it was hard to tell sometimes. 

 

"IBBIE-CHAN~!" Iv was sudden tackled from the side with a blond slightly larger than himself koala-hugging him. His arms immediately went around his friends waist to help hold up his weight. 

"K-Ko," Iv let out with a nervous laugh. The other beamed a smile at his smaller friend before noticing the two others standing there. In that moment, Iv could tell what Ko-Ki meant about wanting to get rid of the smile that was always worn by the other.  

"Hey Ryoga, what fruit contains cyanide?" then randomocity like that would come out of his mouth and there was no way he could hate his best friend. A smirk crossed Iv's lips as he shifted his gaze from Ko-Ki to Ryoga. 

 

The elder had a look of annoyed confusion across his face. "Apples," he spat out with barely a pause. Why was this little kid asking him something so stupid? Ko-Ki only displayed a large smile. 

"Come on Ibbie~ We should get to class," the younger chimed pulling his friend along and away from his bullies, picking up the others bag as they went. 

 

"That kid seriously weirds me out," Reno said as he watched the two younger students make their way away from him and Ryoga. Ko-Ki had always confused him, and more often than not the blond would leave him and others speechless in his wake. But there was something more important on his mind at the moment. There was something different about Iv. He could tell, but wasn't sure what it was. He would have brought it up to Ryoga, but how exactly do you tell your boyfriend that you were just checking out his punching bag? 

 

========================= 

 

"Why did you ask him that? He's going to be pissed later," Iv said walking through the school doors. 

"I don't know, its better than getting your beat right now isn't it? But what's more important is the fact that I feel like I just ran into a brick wall. Have you been working out or something?" Ko-Ki reached for the hem of Iv's sweater, pulling it up. 

"Hey!" Iv grabbed his shirt and yanked it back down over his half-bare stomach and away from Ko-Ki's fingers. He really didn't mind his friends actions, he was used to them by now, but he was known as the 'innocent' one of the two, so he just kept playing the part. The blond feigned a pout through his upturned lips. 

"Fine fine, come on. I think we have Murai-sensei again this year," he said cheerfully heading towards their classroom. 

"Are you planning on ually disturbing him again this year?" Iv chuckled following the other.  

"I was actually thinking about ual frustration this time," Ko-Ki laughed stopping in front of the doorway. The two teens looked into the classroom and saw the instructor in question standing behind the desk sorting through some papers. 

 

========================= 

 

Shin waited until Ko-Ki and his friend had departed before approaching his friends. The blond seemed to be in one of his hyper moods, and the brunette didn't really feel like getting in the way of that so early in the morning. While the others were distracted, he snuck up standing directly next to Reno for a moment before bumping him. The taller nearly jumped out of his uniform at the sudden nudge and gave a pouting glare to his now giggling friend. 

"Hey Shin," Ryoga said turning his attention to the brunette. Shin waved almost enthusiastically. He wasn't excited to be in school or anything, and it wasn't like he didn't see his friends at all over break, he just felt like being in a good mood. 

"So are you guys ready for this?" he asked starting towards the building. Both Reno and Ryoga followed in-step. Ryoga shrugged with a look of indifference. Reno calmed his panicked heartbeat and returned the smile his friend wore. 

"It's our last year, I'm definitely ready to get this over with," the tallest said catching up to walk next to Shin. 

"But you aren't in our class this year, are you sure you can handle it," Shin raised his eyebrow smiling teasingly up to his friend. Reno pursed his lips with puffed out cheeks in thought for a moment. 

"I think I'll be okay," he said nodding once as assurance. Reno looked back to Ryoga who was walking silently behind them. He was looking down at the cement, as if he was deep in thought about something. The chestnut-brunette stopped walking suddenly, forcing Ryoga to run into him. The other only responded by looking up with big eyes. 

"...What...?" he looked back and forth between his boyfriend and Shin confused. He could have missed something important, but usually Reno would be explaining that already. The other two just began laughing at his aloof behavior and walking again, this time with Reno grabbing his hand. Ryoga stared at their intertwined fingers for a moment blinking. He couldn't decide if he should pull his hand away or not. It wasn't that he was embarrassed about being with the other, people knew they were together. They just, never used PDA, so it was a little weird for it to be there so suddenly. Without thinking anymore, he detached his hand from Reno's and put it into his pocket to match his other one. He received a brief glance from the other, but there wasn't anything behind it. They just continued their walk to the classrooms, Shin and Reno talking about who knows what while he stayed silent. 

 

========================= 

 

Shin walked into the room looking around to the adjustments. The walls had changed colors to a cool gray, reminiscent of silver. The single light bulb was gone, replaced with hanging lamps in each of the corners, black plastic cylinder shades with circles cut out of them for the light to reach through. In place of the couches, a large square cushion was in the center of the room. The cover fabric was soft and had a gray and black leopard print with some sliver lining the edges. Various sized pillows lined the edge of it all silver and/or black. He was impressed. It was still simple, but much more stylish.  

He looked to the cushion again, seeing the small body of Ko-Ki lying in the center of it face down. His arms were stretched out above his head, and his legs were only parted slightly. To Shin, he looked rather comfortable. A grin slid its way across his lips as he walked over quietly. He climbed on top of it, crawling onto Ko-Ki's form and laying down pinning the smaller. The body under him began to wiggle and make whining noises muffled by the pillows surrounding it. Shin just rested his head in the center off Ko-Ki's shoulders. "Coooommmmfffyyyyyy~~~~" he smiled closing his eyes and adjusting himself to accommodate the movement of the other beneath him. 

"Get off you cow!" Ko-Ki tuned his head the best he could so that he would be heard. 

"Are you calling me fat?!" Shin pouted playfully. He stretched out his body a bit so it was easier to hold the other down. 

"Yes!" Ko-Ki laughed flailing more. "Now shoo!" 

 

========================= 

 

Shin smirked at the screen of his cellphone, not realizing the little chuckle that accompanied it. 

"Is there something funny about the lesson Shin?" the boy looked up to his teacher doe-eyed. He began shaking his head and tuned back to his textbook, a.k.a the phone laying beside it. He was lucky to have a seat where if he positioned things properly, he could freely play with his phone without being noticed. It would just look like he was taking notes. The teacher never even walked close to where his seat was either, so it was easy to get away with it. It wasn't like anyone would suspect him anyway. He was considered a good kid, and was one of the top of his class. He looked to the board briefly to make sure that he could still pass for following along with the lesson before going back to ignoring it. 

========================= 

 

Ko-Ki wiggled his up into Shin causing the other to move back creating enough room for him to get free. Turning around to face the other, Ko-Ki was pretty sure he saw a small blush across Shin's cheeks. Dismissing it, he shifted into a seating position. 

"So what do you think of the new room?" he asked leaning back on his hands. Shin looked around a bit before answering. 

"It looks pretty nice. Much better than before. But, I can't help but wonder what happened to the ferris wheel idea," the brunette smirked. 

"I don't know. This is just what I had to work with. I'm at school, so I can only use my phone. It is a little more difficult to make all of the adjustments on such a small device. You can't see what you are doing as you do it without going through a bunch of routs and page loading. Plus, all my graphics for it are saved onto my computer at home," Ko-Ki explained shrugging. Shin nodded as he listened still looking around a little bit. He grabbed a pillow from next to him and placed it into his lap, playing with the seams a little with his fingers. 

"So how is school going so far?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Ko-Ki raised his own at the question. 

"Well, about as well as it can be I guess. Classes are boring as usual. I've spent most of the time here fixing it up to make it more presentable," the blond scratched the back of his head, leaving his hair messier than it already was. 

"Thanks for that," Shin chuckled looking down for a second. "It's almost over isn't it, at least, I'm in my last class right now. Environmental Science. It has got to be the most interesting class I have this year," he said, sarcasm clear in his voice. Ko-Ki laughed in response and nodded. 

"Yeah. I think the only good thing for me this year is I have my favorite teacher twice. For homeroom in the morning, and then math right now. The lessons are kind of dull, but he's attractive enough to pay attention to half the time," Ko-Ki leaned forward again, leaning his elbows on his knees. 

"Lucky. I wish my teacher was cute. He's just some old guy with a bad temper," Shin pouted. "Wait, so...are you gay then?" he asked bluntly. 

 

========================= 

 

"Ko-Ki, please put your phone away," a voice called from the front of the classroom. Ko-Ki looked up to see Murai-sensei looking at him along with about half of the class. His already smiling lips turned into a smirk. 

"Phone? Actually sensei, it's just that, your lessons are so arousing I can't help myself," The teen shifted in his seat, moving his hand to make it look like he was groping himself. The people who were paying attention to him began laughing. Murai on the other hand became a deep shade of red. Ko-Ki was barely able to make it out before the teacher turned around quickly, clearing his throat and beginning the lesson again. Ko-Ki giggled quietly. He was glad that he was getting a reaction from the teacher, and having him twice a day would definitely be helping his efforts. He was excited to learn that his school day would both begin and end with the cute instructor. The blond flipped his phone closed and slid it into his pocket. Leaning onto his desk he sighed through his smile and looked out the window. Class would be over soon enough, then he would finally be able to go anywhere else. 

 

========================= 

 

When the final bell rang, the students immediately packed their things and began making their way out of the classroom before Murai was able to say a word. He was still a new teacher, only in his second year, so most of the students didn't really pay attention to him, he knew that, but sometimes it was a little disheartening. It even made him wonder why he became a teacher in the first place. Setting the book he was holding down on the desk, he didn't bother to remind them about the homework he had given. He talked about it enough through the class that he would be able to use that as a reason why when they whined about it the next day. And when they start ganging up on him about it, he would have Ko-Ki there to defend him with a distraction. The kid's antics could be a bit much sometimes, but he often displayed them at the most appropriate times. It could almost seem on purpose. Which reminded him...Muria looked up to see the blond still in his desk, slowing putting his books back into his bag. The teacher had noticed the previous year that despite how much the teen seemed to hate school, he was never in a hurry to leave. And right now, that was perfect for him. He needed to have a little talk with the other about earlier. He thought that maybe the kid would have changed a little over break, given up on his teasing, but it looked like he was wrong. 

"Ko-Ki, would you mind staying behind for a moment," he quickly asked as the boy stood from his desk throwing his messenger bag over his shoulder. Murai watched as the blond exchanged a look with Iv who was already at the door and waiting for his friend. With a nod, Ko-Ki started towards the front of the room as Iv departed. 

"Did you know a moment is technically only a minute and a half long?" Ko-Ki questioned cheerfully as he approached his teacher standing behind the desk. Muria furrowed his eyebrows slightly in confusion. "It's okay. I'll gladly stay here with you for more than just a moment," he giggled out, smirking and taking another step forward. The elder blinked for a moment and nodded, clearing his throat a little. 

"We aren't going to have a repeat of last year are we?" Murai asked, his voice more nervous than stern. The blond blinked for a moment before answering. 

"Repeat? No, not really. I was thinking about advancing my tactics this year," he said, the smile fixed on his lips as always. The elder let out a sigh like he had been holding his breath in, then realizing that he actually had. That wasn't what he wanted to hear come from his student. He adjusted his glasses and sat down behind the desk. 

"Ko-ki, why are you doing this? Why are you going to all of the trouble picking on me?" he looked up to Ko-Ki feeling a little exasperated. When he saw the other on his student list, he was hoping that things would go differently this time. Looking at Ko-Ki, he was sure that he saw his smile get thinner, though only briefly. 

"I don't know, but I'm not picking on you sensei. Hmm, let's see," Ko-Ki began looking away from Murai and to the board that still had the lessons notes. "Maybe, I'm trying to fill some void from not getting attention from my parents or something," he chuckled looking back at the teacher, his smile wide again. Murai tilted his head, his eyes a little wider than before at what was just said. "I read it in some psychology book," the teen laughed at the elder's reaction. 

Murai was taken back. He wasn't expecting something like that. Maybe just the normal I'm a teenager, you're a teacher, so I'm going to make your life a living hell type thing, but that...he didn't know how to respond to, so he said the first thing that seemed to slip out. "You've read psychology books?" he questioned, only realizing what he said the moment it came out. He cursed himself mentally for saying something without any thought. Ko-Ki merely shrugged dismissively, but he could feel the annoyance behind it. He had learned the year before that even though he always wore a smile, the teen did actually have other emotions aside from happy bundled up under it. Though, he noticed that most people never really looked that closely to the teen. Hell, even he wouldn't have if he wasn't always being teased by the boy. "Look, Ko-Ki," he began trying to smooth the younger's mood over. "You are obviously a smart kid, so you know you can't keep doing this," he tried. "If there is something you need to talk about, I'll be happy to listen to you. I'll help you the best I can. But this, all this teasing, needs to stop," there was more, but he had to stop himself before saying something that could make things awkward. Ko-Ki straightened his posture and took in a deep breath looking out the window.  

"I have to go find Ibbie," he said before turning around and walking out the door completely ignoring the whole speech. Murai watched him leave, half amazed. That little talk hadn't gotten anywhere, and had potential of making things even worse. And after he had spent most of the class mustering up the courage to address the boy. He whined a groan dropping his head down onto the desk. 

"Owww...." he pouted.