Okay, so I'll just give everyone the setting of the story now.

This is an AU type of thing. There is no 'East City' or 'West City' in this fic, just a plain old city.

Kakeru – New to the school. He transferred a week ago and landed in Subaru's class (of course).

Subaru – One of the prefects in the school. He has a good reputation among the students, but has no actual friends (just like the original that we know and love).

Subaru is the heterosexual one in this fic. He is still good old antisocial Subaru who happens to be dragged into being Kakeru's best friend.

One more thing: In this fic, they are the same age. I'm going along with the assumption that Subaru is a few months or so older than Kakeru. (BTW guys, is the wikia's info correct? Because I'm quite convinced that Subaru's not a middle-schooler no matter how mature he is. But if he really is in middle school, then Kakeru has to be as well… I think. I don't really know. Ignore my nonsense. XD)

Subaru's version of the story is out as well! Please check that out if you haven't already. Thanks!

Chapter 1: First Thing that happens in the Library

"True love isn't always about two persons loving each other. Sometimes, it's just a person who loves the other."

- random anime quote that fits the story

He's so… cool…

Kakeru sat behind the librarian's counter and gazed longingly at the prefect sitting a few metres away from him. Subaru was reading a book with his ever-calm demeanour, never even stopping to blink. Kakeru admired him.

He's so focused too… I wish I could be more like him.

Kakeru sat there daydreaming about the image of perfection laid before him. He's heard enough from his fellow schoolmates to know that Subaru was no ordinary person. He was an outstanding student compared to the rest. His marks were of an all-time high and he was good at sports. That was more or less all Kakeru could hope for.

Furthermore, he was diligent and well-behaved. He took every single thing seriously, he put as much effort as possible into everything he did, and he always produced excellent results.

Add on the fact that he was a prefect. Simply amazing.

Finally realising that he still had a great deal of work to be done, he quickly got on with stamping the returned books.

4.15, eh? I might have time if I do this quickly enough…

So he set himself into a nice routine. He'd stamp two books and refill the ink on the ink pad. Stamp, stamp, press; stamp, stamp, press; stamp, stamp, press…

On and on his perfect rhythm went until a girl approached him.

"Ryugasaki-kun, may I borrow this book?" she asked.

"Sure thing," he replied and the girl handed over the book and her library card. He scanned the book's barcode and written down the return date in his neat, cute handwriting and gave the book back to her. She slipped it into her bag, but had no signs of leaving the counter.

"So Ryugasaki-kun, how 'bout it?"

"Huh? How about what?" Kakeru asked, confused.

"I invited you to a mixer with a bunch of my older friends, remember? We're going to a bar in town. The meeting is tomorrow night, after all, so I need your answer."

With that, he remembered. She had been pestering him to go out with her for a while now, this reckless senpai of his. Or, maybe she thought she could get him to be some kind of servant for the night, just like how popular kids would invite unpopular kids to their pool parties just to have them serve drinks and such.

Kakeru opened his mouth to reject, but then she pulled out a trump card on him. She winked all seductive and flirty and leaned onto the counter. Kakeru felt uncomfortable at her move because she had positioned herself in such a way that her tits were sitting on the counter, right in his face. His words of rejection suddenly escaped him, leaving his mind blank.

God, I should just reject her, shouldn't I? So why?

"Shh," came a hissing shush from one of the library's tables. Kakeru turned to see his saving grace, which of course was none other than the prefect he admired so much. The senpai turned towards Subaru and Kakeru could see the displeasure written on her face. But when the innocent librarian looked over at Subaru, he saw the most furious, irritated scowl etched onto the boy's features. And in a weird sort of way, he thought that the frown looked good and natural on the more mature boy. He meant that it suited Subaru's looks and his serious, strict personality.

The senpai tried hard to match Subaru in their little staring contest, but finally threw in the towel and left the library, stalking out as if her pride didn't just get smashed to pieces by an underclassman. Kakeru breathed a sigh of relief internally.

With the slight chaos averted, the pair went back to their own business. Kakeru worked on stamping his books while Subaru returned to the novel before him. Kakeru, while working on the mundane task, let his mind wander.

I should probably thank him later. I… I can't just let it pass as if it didn't happen, now can I? He really saved me back there after all…

Hmm… and maybe I should get to know him better? Kakeru took a closer look at Subaru. Yeah, he is one of the faces in my class.

Kakeru got himself so successfully immersed in his daydreaming that he didn't notice the time until he was done stamping all the books.

4.50 already?! I won't be able to finish shelving the books before 5 then! Ughhh, what should I…

Kakeru spotted Subaru still reading leisurely at where he sat. Gingerly, he walked over to Subaru and said, "Sorry 'bout earlier. I apologise."

Subaru looked up. Kakeru had no idea what kind of face he should've made, or what face he actually made, but Subaru didn't seem too bothered, so it must've been something okay.

"It's alright, although I'd expect the librarians to be mindful of their own rules."

Kakeru shifted uncomfortably. He was feeling fidgety with some kind of unknown pressure, and he didn't know why it was there as well.

I-I'm just talking to him! Why am I getting so worked up?! Oh damn…

He looked into Subaru's imploring eyes again, and the pressure returned tenfold.

Y-yeah… It's his eyes! His eyes are scary and they're pressuring me, that's all! Ha ha ha…

But then again, I shouldn't be this afraid of someone's eyes. And… it isn't exactly fear I'm feeling… is it?

Being pressed for time, Kakeru moved on from pondering over his emotions. He had to shelve the books, and he needed Subaru's help.

He coughed. Subaru raised his eyebrows a little, and he spoke.

"I know it's unreasonable, but would you mind helping me shelve the books?" He saw Subaru openly checking him out, scanning him from top to bottom. He suddenly felt self-conscious of his appearance, and wondered if his hair was messy from a whole day of school.

When Subaru said "Sure, why not," his heart skipped a beat.

The prefect gave up his warm seat and Kakeru moved to push the chair in for him, although he didn't know that he and Subaru shared such great timing. Their hands bumped one another's as Subaru reached to push in the chair as well, leaving both parties a little shocked.

Crap, what did I just do?

It took Kakeru a few moments to gather his bearings while Subaru seemed to be as calm and collected as usual. Clearly he thought nothing of the contact between their hands. The prefect pushed in the chair himself before Kakeru could finish rearranging his thoughts.

"Come on, we don't have all day." Kakeru looked up to see that Subaru was already by the bookshelves, and immediately fell into a sad kind of embarrassment. Subaru probably hated his wishy-washy attitude by now. His bangs dangled downwards, covering his eyes.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

Kakeru walked over to the shelves quickly, dragging along the small cart of books behind him. He picked one at random to explain to Subaru how putting them away worked.

"See, the author of this book is Usami Akihiko. So what you do is you find the 'U' section. Then, you find the…"

"I know how this library works. You don't need to explain it."

Kakeru looked up. Subaru had already picked up a book from the cart and was looking for its place among the shelves. He'd left the poor librarian alone.

Kakeru couldn't really say anything. He was feeling all uncomfortable at Subaru's iciness towards him. He hadn't expected this kind of response from the boy at all.

But then again, what was I expecting? For him to be all smiles and cheery? Now that would be weird.

Kakeru let out a humourless laugh internally, at himself. He was foolish if he thought that Subaru would treat him so differently, so nicely.

But then… why am I getting all unhappy about it?

"Hey, that book doesn't go there," a voice broke his train of depressing thoughts.

Huh? Kakeru looked at the book he was holding. His assistant was right. The book he was holding was written by an author named Mutou, and he was standing in the 'A' section. What a fool.

"Ah… I'm sorry," Kakeru said. He was about to dodge past Subaru and put the book away in the 'M' section when Subaru stopped him with a swift grab to his arm.

"I'm heading over there now. Why don't you give the book to me?" he said. Kakeru looked at Subaru's soft features, and deluded himself that Subaru was smiling at him just because he thought he saw the normally straight lips curve up a little at the sides.

"Hai," he answered, his face red from the little interaction and physical contact. A weirdly unwelcomed chill grazed his arm when Subaru let go of it. Kakeru flinched, although unnoticeably. Mere moments later, an extremely welcomed warmth enveloped his fingers as Subaru hand collided with Kakeru's while taking the book from him. However, the warmth was short-lived, as Subaru walked away towards the 'M' section.

Kakeru could only stare at Subaru's retreating figure and he lifted the hand that was warm yet chilled up a little, as if in a daze. His gaze slowly lowered and shifted to the lower right, landing at the bottom of the bookshelf to his right.

What was I hoping for?

"Something the matter?" Subaru asked. Kakeru refocused his gaze and directed it upwards again. He wasn't sure what face he was making on the outside, but inside his tears felt ready to burst. He could feel the waterworks just waiting to spring out.

And he didn't even freaking understand why!

But no matter how badly he felt on the inside, he tried his hardest to smile on the outside. He didn't want Subaru to know how he actually felt.

For the first time in his life, Kakeru found it hard to smile.

"It… It's nothing…" Kakeru replied weakly and Subaru walked over. Kakeru forced his eyes shut, unable to look into Subaru's glistening orbs. The decidedly more mature one patted Kakeru's head gently, and Kakeru once again deluded himself, this time into thinking that the prefect's gesture was one of affection and not anything else. Hell, he could be imagining Subaru's petting and the presence of his hand on his head right now.

When Kakeru opened his eyes, the hands were suddenly gone. Subaru had gone back to work too, and was standing at a faraway shelf at that. The top of his cranium felt cold and Kakeru used one of his hands to check if his hair was ruffled – if he really did imagine that whole affectionate scenario.

His hair was exactly the way it was before.

This fact alone depressed Kakeru even further, and he wasn't sure what to think anymore. Was he really this delusional? Did he really just imagine all that? Was it really fake, only true in Kakeru's mind? But even if all that was truly fake, there was still one question that remained unanswered.

Why…?

In the end, Kakeru himself didn't do much work. Most of the workload was handled by Subaru, who didn't complain at all. However, that only added on to the guilt factor, and was another thing that Kakeru would have to thank and apologise to the prefect about later on.

He locked the door on their way out. Subaru walked him to the school gates. Kakeru knew that he should've seized the opportunity to talk to Subaru, but couldn't find anything to talk about.

The sunset? The breeze? School? No, that's not really anything nice to talk about…

"What are you going to tell your senpai?" Subaru suddenly asked, jolting Kakeru from his inner thoughts.

"Huh? Senpai?"

"Yeah, that bitch who was bitching really loudly in the library. What are you going to do about it?"

Kakeru couldn't think straight for a moment. Did he really just curse? He ended up chuckling which perked Subaru's attention, and gradually those chuckles became laughs. The sad tears that he wouldn't let out just now in the library came gushing out, disguised as happy tears.

"Well, once you're done crying, I suggest thinking about it seriously. Personally, I figure you should just reject her straight to her face. Well bye now, Ryugasaki Kakeru," said the midnight-blue haired boy. It was too sudden. Kakeru stopped laughing and immediately the pain of his laughter jabbed him in the side. He managed to let out something sort of like a whimpering whisper.

"Wait! How do you know my name?" he quickly asked before Subaru could leave the gates.

"I know the names of my classmates. And it's only fair to assume that you know mine as well, right?" Subaru said back. Kakeru nodded. Of course he knew who the well-respected prefect was.

"Bye then. See you around." Subaru's silhouette disappeared round the school gates. At first, Kakeru tried to run to him, but figured that he needed to go home too. Their houses probably weren't in the same direction anyway.

He sighed. The spots that Subaru touched before – his arm, fingers, and possibly the top part of his scalp – suddenly burned. Kakeru could feel the tingling sensation within, and no matter how much he tried to subdue it himself, he was damn unsuccessful. He started his walk back home, his hands rubbing those throbbing parts the whole time, as memory after memory of the lingering touch washed over him over and over again, like waves lapping at the beach.

He couldn't comprehend it. He's high-fived people before, but no matter how painful the high-five at the moment, it would all go away in a matter of minutes. Subaru's simple touch, on the other hand…

It was a long lasting sensation. Yes, it truly was. It wouldn't go away no matter how much Kakeru wanted it to – not that he did. It was like some kind of hidden scar that bore no visible marks, yet it was engraved deep into his memory and flesh. He knew that he wouldn't forget this touch, now and forever. He would continue to bask in its glory, to continue feeling these raw emotions forever, to continue wanting to relive these memories, and to be a slave to these desires…

Forever, and ever…

Okay I turned crazy ass weird right at the ending there XD I didn't really mean to get all philosophical and whatnot, but the words just came spilling out, and I just allowed it to run free while it lasted. I have to say though, I'm really proud of the last bit.

Kakeru's parts are way longer and way more detailed than Subaru's, huh? I'm sorry, but Kakeru's viewpoint can create such perfect images that I simply can't let go of it. That's what I mean when I say that the two stories will diverge – they already are. Subaru's never going to react like Kakeru in his version, but Kakeru's not so infatuated as to do such things in Subaru's version of the story.

So in this first chapter we already have a lovey-dovey scene, but in Subaru's it is purely an intro. In general, I think Subaru's story would be shorter by default, but who knows right? Maybe I can do something Subaru-exclusive in his version, and maybe Kakeru can his own exclusive episode in this story. We'll see as the stories progress and if I can get ideas that would only work one-way from you readers.

Disclaimer: The pic used is not mine. Credit goes to its creator, whoever he/she may be. I do not know who he/she is for I found this lovely thing off the internet XD

Thank you for successfully sitting through my first chapter of this journey! My other story is on hiatus (please don't hate) but I will return one day to complete it (or at least get the next chapter done. I aim to post something before 2016). Bye for now!

~PhoenixFireBlade~