As Atsushi sat with his back pressed against a tall oak facing the river, he wondered what Akutagawa had wanted to meet with him in private about. Their last run in hadn't exactly been pleasant, and he didn't seem the type for comradery. He let his mind wander as he ran his hands over the blades of grass, tossing pebbles into the water as he found them.

Akutagawa made a sharp turn, off the path and started down through the small patch of wood. "What am I thinking?" He thought aloud. Many times, he had considered turning around and not going at all. Why he wanted to do this now, he couldn't understand himself. What would happen? All Akutagawa knew was that he had to keep going, if he turned back now, his mind would never be at peace.

About 5 minutes later, he could hear the river up ahead. He trudged up the tiny slope to the oak tree, and glanced around. He didn't notice Atsushi at first, who had fallen asleep leaning against the base of the tree. The gentle breeze in the air caught his breath, his hair tickled his face as he closed his eyes for just a second- but noticed a white lock gently blow through the wind, just peeking out far enough to see. He smiled. He couldn't stop it, but he gathered his stoic demeanor, and nudged Atsushi's shoulder with the toe of his boot. Atsushi stirred. He scrambled to his feet, wiping his pants off as he felt his heart race.

"Jeez, you could have been on time, you're the one who asked to meet here."

"Shut up." All Akutagawa could think about was why he wanted to come at all. Momentarily, he felt rage boil up inside himself. This was a stupid idea. He'd never needed approval from anyone before, he could handle being alone.

"I'm only joking" Atsushi noticed that he had upset Akutagawa. What had made him so angry?

"Listen.." said Akutagawa "I haven't been sleeping very well..I thought if I could just get this out in the open, I could be myself again, but now I'm not sure why I..." He was still slightly annoyed, and was starting to stumble over his words.

This is bad, I can't even keep my thoughts together.

He thrust his hands into his jacket pockets and pretended to take notice of a bird who was hopping through the tall blades, searching for a meal. Atsushi nervously ran his hand through his hair, and darted his attention back to the river.

"Listen, I just wanted to tell you--

But it had happened before he knew how to stop it. Simultaneously, he had taken one step forward, while Atsushi turned his head back to acknowledge him speaking, and it just happened. Akutagawa had grabbed Atsushi's cheeks, pulled his face towards his, and had kissed him. Akutagawa forced his eyes closed, and turned almost immediately on one foot and started walking away down the slope again.

Atsushi's eyes had thrust open widely. To say he was not expecting this would be an understatement. His mind raced for what felt like hours, but was obviously barely a second. He had just enough time to grab the tail of Akutagawa's jacket.

"I know you're not interested, and I swear to God if you tell anyone, especially Dazai, I will kill you myself." Akutagawa didn't exactly know why, but hot tears had welled up in his eyes. He didn't dare look at Atsushi now. He must be disgusted.

Atsushi just smiled and said "You're right, what will everyone say about two orphans being together"