A/N: Heyo! Here's a thing I'm working on to make sure my muse doesn't burn out while working on Forget Me Not. It's a three parter which means it's not too short but it's not too long either. I think working on two things instead of just focusing on one thing will help bring more updates. That's what I was doing in the past and I updated almost weekly then. Here's to update luck! Enjoy this short chapter. The next one might be as short but I know the last chapter will be longer for sure.

Whispers. There's been a lot of that today. He was only able to hear bits and pieces as he walked to his locker, but Kiku frowned nonetheless. A lot of people were talking about a fight. Some suggested a lover's quarrel, though it wasn't proven that the two were together. There was talk on how the two would stumble over their words as they talked. Some even claimed that they would avoid each other's gaze and stand in silence before one of them excused themselves.

Kiku bit his lip as he passed by another group of students, hearing the names Ludwig and Feliciano floating around their conversation. He didn't like hearing all of these people talk behind his two friends' backs, but he had to admit that he was curious. Ludwig and Feliciano were known to be close to one another. If you saw one of them, the other usually wasn't too far off. Kiku hadn't been around them for the whole day, but the Japanese man was able to see something was off.

Ludwig had been very deliberate in making sure Kiku was between Feliciano and himself when they first entered school. Feliciano himself seemed to be quieter and kept his gaze to the floor when the German was around. He could just feel the tension between them and every time the darker haired man tried to speak about it, either Feliciano or Ludwig would talk about something else. Though, they weren't talking to each other like they usually did. They only shared a few sentences with each other before becoming silent and it became Kiku's job to break it. Between the three of them, Kiku was the one they conversed with the most, causing the Japanese man to have two separate conversations on one subject because they refused to build upon each other.

He just couldn't understand it. Everything had been fine on Friday. What happened the past two days to make the inseparable friends so distant all of a sudden? The Japanese man gave into a frustrated sigh as he gathered his homemade lunch. He was going to get them to talk about what happened. Kiku didn't think he could handle being the wall between his two friends for much longer. He was close enough to the two of them to know that they weren't happy. He saw that they would sneak glances at each other when they knew the other wasn't looking. This tension had to be relieved as soon as possible.

Kiku headed outside after relieving himself of unnecessary baggage from his backpack. The three of them shared lunch and with how nice it was outside; the Japanese man knew the other two would be eating out in the courtyard. There was a specific tree near a pond that had been their designated lunch spot for two years now. As Kiku approached their spot, he was disappointed to only see Feliciano. The Italian had his sketch book out beside him, a fish outlined on an open page. It looked that the brunet had abandoned his usual afternoon sketching in favor of eating…or rather, picking at his food. Feliciano looked distracted and upset. Did he and Ludwig have a fight or did Feliciano come alone?

Feliciano's mood perked up once he was close enough, "Hey Kiku! What took you so long?"

The darker haired man settled himself under the shade of the tree as he took his lunch out, "Had to swap books for next period. Where's Ludwig?"

"Talking to a teacher about some extra credit. Said it might take a while." Kiku hummed, hiding his disappointment. He guessed it wasn't the full truth with how much these two were avoiding each other. "So how was your weekend?"

"Relaxing. Yao took the family out of the city to camp and look at the stars. How about you?"

"Really? He finally got all of you guys together for a family outing? It must have been fun to see everyone again!" Feliciano continued on in his usual babble, suspiciously avoiding the question.

Kiku frowned. So it happened over the weekend? Feliciano was about to start talking about good star gazing spots he read about when the other decided to interrupt, "Is everything alright? You're not acting like yourself."

The Italian froze, staring at Kiku like he was going to spill the beans on some great secret he promised to keep. It took Feliciano a moment to compose himself as he moved his gaze down to the grass. "I-It's really nothing. I'm just having some trouble with Chemistry. There's supposed to be a really big test on Thursday and… I-I don't feel ready. I'm not doing too well in that class."

"I understand." The Japanese man offered him a reassuring smile, "Mr. Aden isn't exactly the easiest teacher to have. Ludwig has that class with you right? He could help tutor you." Feliciano only nodded in agreement but sadness overcame him. Kiku watched him, feeling pity for his friend. "Did you and Ludwig get into a fight?"

Feliciano jumped in surprise and shook his head wildly, "No! Nothing like that happened."

"Then what happened? It's obvious something happened between the two of you."

"Nothing happened. Everything's going well between the two of us!"

"Then why aren't you two talking as much as you used to?" Kiku asked, sounding more forceful than he intended, "Since this morning, you guys have exchanged only ten sentences with each other in my presence. The two of you only talked to me and you both avoided each other's gazes between classes. Even now it looks like the two of you seem to be avoiding each other. Ludwig and you are always the first people here yet I'm here while he's still gone." Feliciano was quiet, looking like he was ready to start crying. "Please Feli." He continued, his voice soft as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Tell me what happened. I don't like seeing you two so tense around each other."

"We-I…" the brunet sighed, pulling his legs to his chest. Golden eyes were still focused on the ground, welling up as he sighed with defeat, "It's…my fault."

"So it was a fight?"

"No. It…" Feliciano's gaze moved up slightly, looking around with suspicion. They only looked back down when Kiku moved closer so his friend could speak softer, "It happened Sunday. Ludwig came over to help me study for the Chemistry exam. You know better than I do that he knows how to word the most difficult problem in a way I could understand. Kiku…everything was going so well! I was able to understand the work. If I didn't zone out, we wouldn't have…" The brunet hid his face behind his knees, a muffled groan coming from his lips. "I have to confess something. Promise you won't laugh at me?"

Kiku blinked in confusion and could have sworn that his friend's ears were becoming red, "I promise."

The Italian was quiet for a moment before continuing in a softer voice, "I… I like Ludwig. M-More than what a friend should."

Feliciano refused to look up at the Japanese man while Kiku remained silent. In a moment of fear, the Italian peered up to see his friend looking amused.

"Is that all?"

"You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"I'm not." Kiku stated, patting Feliciano's shoulder when he hid his flushed face behind his knees once again, "This isn't something you should be embarrassed about. It's natural to gain strong feelings for those close to you."

"Yeah, well I know for a fact that Ludwig doesn't feel the same way." The other mumbled, lifting his face to rub his eye, "He ran away when we accidentally kissed."

"You what?" Kiku's voice was louder than what Feliciano was comfortable with and the Italian quickly clamped a hand over his friend's mouth.

"You heard me." The other stated, giving the Japanese man a glare before releasing him. Feliciano resumed his previous position, not even looking at Kiku as his face brightened with more embarrassment. "It happened while I was zoning out. We were sitting closer than usual and I think I was staring a bit too long. It just happened and we both seemed to realize what was going on at the same time because we both shot away from each other. Ludwig then said he just remembered he had to do something for his brother before rushing out."

Feliciano once again hid his face, this time to hide the tears that started to roll down his cheeks. Kiku didn't know how to respond, taking in the information. If what the Italian said was true, then his friends' behavior was understandable. But how long will they act like this? Kiku thought as the brunet beside him composed himself. They have to eventually talk about it or else they'll just push each other away for good.

"I ruined our friendship, didn't I?" Feliciano asked, sadness evident in his voice.

"No. You just need to talk things out with him."

"How? It's awkward being around each other! I don't know how I'm going to bring this up without him running away again or without bailing last minute. It's better to just pretend it never happened."

"That won't help." Kiku shook his head, "It'll just make things worse. Look, I'll help you figure out how to talk to Ludwig about this. I don't like seeing you guys like this."

Feliciano smiled, giving his friend a quick hug, "Thank you."

The bell rang and the two of them gathered their things as fast as they could. As the two of them entered the crowded hallways, the Italian stopped Kiku. "Hey, you had Mr. Aden last year right? Can you help me study?"

The smaller man smiled and nodded, "I'll text you when I'm able to."