There was once a time when Syo knew where he stood as far has his best friend Natsuki went. He knew he shared a dorm-room with separate beds with Natsuki. He knew every Thursday, he and Natsuki would go out for lunch, and Natsuki would order chocolate milk, and he'd offer Syo some. To which Syo would oblige, and they'd enjoy the last of it together until it was gone. He knew he loved Haruka Nanami, a brilliant composer, and competed for her with his best friend. That time was a good time. But now it's once upon a time.
Now, Syo wasn't sure where he stood as far as Natsuki went. His uncertainty started when he looked at his best friend one day, and noticed, for the first time, the cute little dimples that appeared when Natsuki smiled. Or the way his touch would shoot lightning into Syo tiny body. Or the butterflies Natsuki's presence alone would cause in Syo's stomach. Or how Syo longed for Natsuki to join him, some nights, in his bed, where they could share secrets and intimate kisses. It was almost unbearable, and strikingly foreign, this feeling with whom which Natsuki was only responsible.
It dawned on Syo one day, that maybe, just maybe, he loved Natsuki—that all those butterflies, and tingles, and longings that he caused was the blossoming of love. And Syo didn't want any of that. The 'love' that Syo felt made him irritable—snappy; and he tended to lash out toward Natsuki, and sigh whenever Natsuki would hug him, and jerk away whenever Natsuki touched him. Of course, Natsuki didn't think anything of it. Or, he didn't seem to. Natsuki remained his grabby, touchy, and all together lovey-dovey self—which didn't help Syo in the slightest.
"Syo-chan, are you alright?" Natsuki's voice blared through Syo's thought like a lighthouse on a foggy night. Natsuki's face seemed troubled, but only a little.
"Er," Syo blinked rapidly to clear his daze. He turned his gaze away from his best friends face, not realizing he had been staring at it—again. "I-it's nothing."
Natsuki smiled a bit, replying with a small 'okay'. They were waiting for their order on a fine Thursday, down at their favorite café. Natsuki had taken out his Piyo-chan figurine and was admiring it. Syo had bought it for him down at the Piyo festival they had just returned from an hour ago, and he was ever so pleased with his new tiny friend. This brought a little light into Syo's dim and confused life for, although Natsuki himself caused most of Syo's problems, Natsuki always had a knack for making them a little better.
"Your order," Their waiter appeared next to Syo, making him jump slightly. He set down their food, and drinks, and something hit Syo—Natsuki was going to offer to share his chocolate milk—which would mean, Natsuki's lips would touch the straw first, which would, in turn, mean an indirect touching of both their lips. Syo would have to keep it together, or he would be found out, and risk ruining their entire relationship altogether. As far as he knew, Natsuki didn't feel the same way he did. Although Natsuki's actions toward Syo say so, Syo would rather keep it a secret unless he knew for sure.
"Syo-chan, aren't you eating?" Natsuki asked. During his thoughts, Syo had been mindlessly playing with his food, not feeling hungry at all. That's the problem with love sickness, there was only one cure for it—and Syo's was sitting right in front of him sipping from a straw they were about to share.
"I guess I'm not that hungry." Syo said, looking at his yakisoba noodles.
"I knew it! So there is something wrong, huh, Syo-chan?" Natsuki pointed his fork at him. Syo glanced up in surprise. Does he know? The only other person aware of his situation was Nanami, and she wouldn't've told Natsuki about it.
"The first sign Syo-chan is upset—he denies it." Natsuki held a finger up, knowledgably. "Second sign Syo-chan is upset—he doesn't eat."
Crap. Was he really that easy to read?
"No, really, I'm fine!" Syo said, smiling awkwardly. He started to shovel noodles into his mouth. "See? Eating! I'm totally un-upset!"
Natsuki almost didn't seem convinced, but gave a huge smile a second later. He reached across the table and grabbed Syo, pulling him into a crushing embrace.
"Yay! I'm so glad my little Syo-chan's okay!" Natsuki cried. Syo started to get extremely flustered, yelling out 'let go's and 'stop it's left and right. Syo began to notice people staring, and giggling at them.
"What a cute couple!" Syo heard someone say. This made his entire head burn to the point that it was aching from so much blood in his cheeks.
"Natsuki! Stop!" With one final push, Syo got Natsuki off of him and back in his seat across the table. "Honestly! Y-you gotta stop doing that…"
When Syo looked up, Natsuki looked hurt. Syo's eyes widened. Had he made Natsuki feel bad?
"H-hey, I didn't—mean it like that—I just—uh…" Syo wasn't sure what to say. He never expected Natsuki to react like this. But to his surprise, Natsuki smiled, dimples Syo had grown so fond of dotting the corners of his lips.
"There's no need to apologize." He said, laying his chin down on the table next to his Piyo figure. He proceeded to poke at the figurine, saying, "I just want you to be happy, that's all. I've noticed you've been acting strangely around me, and I don't know why."
This made Syo breathe a small sigh of relief. He didn't know after all. But Natsuki was still a little upset, so that didn't go over well in the pit of Syo's stomach. He felt guilty for keeping Natsuki in the dark and always pushing him away because he was afraid. But how could he tell him without knowing for certain that Natsuki felt the same way that he did?
"Natsuki," Syo stood from the table, causing Natsuki to look up at him. "You shouldn't worry so much. Everything's fine. Listen, I'll go pay, and we can get outta here, alright?"
"Wait a second, Syo-chan!" Natsuki grabbed Syo's hand, making it burst with electric surges. Syo looked back at Natsuki, who was holding his glass of chocolate milk up. "We didn't finish this!"
"Oh," Syo cleared his throat, which had suddenly become very dry. "Yeah, sorry."
Syo sat down and took the milk. He glanced up at Natsuki, who was smiling encouragingly at him. There was no way to back out of it. Syo looked at the straw, remembering Natsuki's beautiful lips on the very tip of it. C'mon, you can do it, just pretend like it's your straw, don't be a baby.
After a few painful heartbeats, Syo moved the straw away from his face, and sipped from the glass instead. He drank half of what was left of it, then passed it to Natsuki, who looked confused.
"Be right back," Syo said quickly, wiping his lips. He proceeded to go pay for their meal, leaving Natsuki at their table outside, looking down at the cup of chocolate milk, almost melancholy. Seeing this made Syo's heart twang with a sad ache, but he was just such a chicken, he couldn't do it—he couldn't drink from Natsuki's straw.
…
Evening fell in the Master Course manor, and everyone was settling down for the night. Dinner was pretty rowdy, seeing how Cecil had spilt most of his food all over Ren and Camus, making a pretty big scene. Cecil wasn't as upset about them as much has his food that had splattered them, but they were a bit too worked up about it. They hit the showers early leading the way for everyone to follow shortly behind them, making it a short evening. Everyone said good night to Nanami pretty much all at once, leaving her flustered and a little dazed as to whom to respond to, for not everyone said the same thing. She ended up fluttering out a 'goodnight, everyone!' and bowing before leaving for the girls dorms.
Syo and Natsuki proceeded to their dorm room where their course master, Ai, would no doubt be waiting for them.
"Pretty nice day, huh?" Syo said to Natsuki, his hands behind his head as they walked.
"Yeah," Natsuki gave smile, but it didn't look sincere. Something had to be bothering him.
"Is something wrong?" Syo asked, glancing up at his best friends face. Natsuki's perfect eyebrow's furrowed, but only slightly.
"Syo-chan," There it was again, 'Syo-chan'. Natsuki once said it with such warmth and certainty, but now it seemed empty, and maddeningly sad. He had said Syo's name like that at dinner as well, but didn't finish what he wanted to say before all the commotion started. Hearing his name said like that almost always made Syo's heart leap, but now the dread of what would come after that gloomy tone was almost crushing him.
"What is it?" Syo pressed.
"I—I just want you to know that…whoa!" Natsuki's sentence was cut short by his sudden journey to the floor. He had tripped on a rug that Syo hadn't seen, and he hit the floor with a dull thud. Good thing this place was mostly carpet.
"Natsuki, are you okay?" Syo asked, looking down at his friend, who was rubbing his face. "Here, let me help you up."
Syo grabbed Natsuki's arm to assist him, but Natsuki grabbed back at him with so much force that it seemed almost intentionally rough. Without realizing it, Syo was slammed into the wall next to him, one of Natsuki's hand's pinning him to it. What the..?
Syo's eyes widened at the sight before him—looking into Natsuki's face, Syo saw that his glasses at fallen off during his tumble. Not good.
"Satsuki," Syo said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "What do you want?"
"I should ask you the same thing," Satsuki replied. Syo glanced down at the glasses left on the rug, too far away to reach. "I'm gonna tell you something right now: quit messing with Natsuki."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Syo said, trying to think of a way out of this. In one swift motion, Satsuki released Syo and slammed his fist into the wall next to Syo's head.
"Quit playing dumb," he spat, making Syo flinch. "I've seen the way you look at him, and the way you shy away at his touch—you love him, don't you?"
Syo's eyes widened.
"I'm always here, remember? I protect Natsuki from people that will hurt him," Satsuki was staring straight into Syo's eyes, boring holes. "From people like you."
Syo couldn't say anything—was he really hurting Natsuki that much? His sadness never showed in his actions, so maybe that's why Syo never noticed.
"So, if you don't say something about your feelings toward him, you're gonna regret it." Satsuki intoned.
"What if I don't, huh?" Syo said, sounding a bit more courageous than he felt.
"Then, you're gonna lose him, and I'm coming after you next chance I get." Satsuki said, leaning in closer to Syo's face. "Maybe this'll help you along, punk."
Before Syo knew it, Satsuki had pressed his lips against Syo's. For a moment, he tried to resist this gesture, but he soon realized that Satsuki shared the same lips with Natsuki—meaning he was technically kissing his best friend right now. This made him ease up a bit, and semi-kiss back. It took a second to realize Satsuki had pulled back from the kiss, and Syo blinked in a daze. Satsuki scoffed a bit, wiping his lip.
"I'll expect a confession some time soon." Satsuki stated, picking up Natsuki's glasses off the floor. "Remember, I'm always here."
With that, Satsuki closed his eyes, putting on Natsuki's glasses. When he opened them, Natsuki's innocent expression returned, and he glanced around curiously.
"What happened?" He asked, looking at the big hole Satsuki had punched.
"Uh," Syo was still trying to compose himself after what happened, and found himself staring at Natsuki's lips, unblinkingly. "It's a long story…let's just…er…let's go to bed."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "Okay…?"
Syo spun around on his heel toward their dorm room they shared with Ai, his lips still tingling from the kiss. He barely looked at Natsuki the rest of the way there, for fear he would spontaneously smash his face against Natsuki's if he so much as got a glance of him and his annoyingly cute face.
Though he longed so much to do it anyway.