Akito started, seemingly startled from a reverie. "Wha?" He blinked stupidly at Shuya, then followed his gaze. Spotting Yumi, he recognized her immediately; how could he not? They seemed to spend so much time around her it would be ridiculous not to. "Yeah, that's her!" he said in recognition, blinking indifferently. He paused, then added "Good thing Mi-chan skipped out today, huh?" His gaze shifted back to Shuya, who grinned.
"Yep, so now Toshio can say hello to her with no worries." A broad smirk played across his features as he placed the tip of his shoe on the ground, pushing backward to balance his chair on two legs.
Toshio glanced up, barely registering his name. His heart pounded nervously. He had been distracted, hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. I mean, it couldn't have been all that interesting. Not more interesting than Yumi. even from behind; her shiny, soft hair, as black as the raven's feathers...her small, slightly drooping shoulders and graceful neck, her slim figure...
He barely kept from blushing at the thought, gulping almost audibly as he glanced at Shuya, who merely gave a chuckle.
"Remember our secret?" He turned his full attention to Toshio, drawing a slender index finger to his lips, pursing them in the universal gesture of a secret. "Miyabi isn't here to get pissed off." In the pause, noting that Toshio was obstinately oblivious to his meaning, he continued on with a soft sigh of impatience. "So go ahead and talk to her." He crossed his arms over his chest. He watched Toshio's gaze flicker to Yumi, and noticed he was beginning to look a little nervous; something rather uncharacteristic in Toshio.
"Well, go on!" He said, raising his voice in his impatience. "Don't be shy, man!" He frowned. "You /do/ like her, don't you?" He glanced away from his friend, whose eyes were wide in panic, and smirked with satisfaction as he saw Yumi give a small twitch as she heard. She turned around, and he knew he had done his job. Hah! Go Shuya, go Shuya! He glanced up at the ceiling, one arm draped across his stomach, the other hanging limp at his side, the image of indifference.
Toshio's jaw dropped as Shuya announced his feelings for Yumi. Of course...he couldn't /deny/ that he thought maybe...maybe he did have feeligs for her. She was, after all, the only person to ever treat him as...well...as a real person. Not some mysterious entity, a celebrity, a face to reach out to. A person. And she tried to help him with his work and everything. She was nice to him, even when they first met and he never really stuck up for her. The fact that she was pretty helped a great deal, although Toshio never fancied himself to be one that cared too much about looks. He didn't want her to find out this way; oh, no, no, no...
He glanced at Yumi, his eyebrows drawing together in anxious anticipation. Did she hear? He half hoped she had; it was so much easier this way, now that he thought about it. He didn't have to tell her himself; he'd see how she reacted, and then...well, was it better that way? Either way he was going to be rejected, he just knew it. He bit his lip as he saw her turn. Everything moved so slow; why didn't she just turn her head? No, it had to be complicated. His heart beat quickly, and he felt like it was drowning out the drone of the teacher's monotonous voice. It was then that he felt his face burning; he was on fire. He had never blushed before; at least, as far as he could remember. He didn't like it at all.
With a sinking feeling, the air left his lungs in one felt swoop as he saw her expression. She was shocked; that was not quite what he had hoped for... Thoughts raced through his mind, and to his dismay, she stood up and proceeded to swiftly exit the room. He frowned, clenching his jaw shut, his teeth grating together to produce a rather satisfactory painful jarring sensation, which he then decided he didn't like in the least. That ass. How could he do that to me!
As soon as she had left, he turned a violent gaze on Shuya, who stared calmly back, blowing an increasingly large bubble from the bubblegum he had found while rummaging through his pocket as he watched the scene unfold. That made Toshio aggravated. How could Shuya act so calm, in the face of so much chaos and destruction he had wraught upon Toshio's life? Alas, alas! "Hmm...maybe it's 'that time of the month' ya think?" Shuya grinned, staring into the empty space of Yumi's vacated desk.
"Shuya, why did you do that?" He laid a firm hand on Shuya's shoulder, pulling him closer to hiss vehemently into his ear.
"The truth never woulda come out any other way." He stuck his tongue out, giving Toshio a playful wink. Toshio had never really felt like hurting someone, not often. He felt a strange urge to give Shuya's tongue a harsh tug.
Shuya smirked. "I got the ball rollin' for you two, so you should be thankful." He emphasized his words with a curt nod. "You so owe me for this!" He sat back in the chair, looking satisfied as a cat that has caught a particularly large mouse. Akito leaned forward and into Toshio's view.
"He's right, To-chan!" He exlaimed with enthusiasm.
How could they be so happy? how? His life was ruined now! And it was all Shuya's fault! Not that he really had such harsh feelings against Shuya; it wasn't his fault he was a jackass and didn't understand that not every guy has girls throwing themselves at him. And that not every guy enjoys it as much as Shuya did.
"Toshio? Hello-o!" Shuya frowned at him as he sat, staring straight ahead.
"Mmn." Toshio sighed, crossing his arms and resting his head in the dark of his arms.
For once, Akito and Shuya let him be, exchanging slightly worried glances with each other.