. . .
MONDAY
If Jumonji were asked, he'd say that Sena probably never skipped a single class in his entire schooling career. Jumonji didn't keep a strict time table of shorty's daily whereabouts, and he only knew this information because their names were so close in the alphabet, and because they'd walk to class (Kuroki and Togano included) now that they were cool with each other. Sena sat behind him, and they'd share a look whenever Jumonji would pass back a stack of handouts or exams. (Unless shorty was asleep on a textbook, drool smudging the text, eyelashes fluttering, the whole deal.) Anyway, Jumonji didn't keep tabs on shorty (regardless of Kuroki or Togano said, those fucking losers, he did not) but he did notice if the kid went out to use the restroom or whatever. And, if Jumonji were asked what else he knew about him, he'd have to say that Sena really did have the worst luck of anyone he knew. Though maybe his own luck rivaled it.
"Okay class, I have some exciting news," the homeroom teacher said. She was pushing in a cart full of plastic bins. "As part of an experimental new curriculum, we will be trying out the miracle of parenthood! You will be split up into pairs, and each pair will receive your very own simulation infant!"
"Ehh?"
"You're kidding…"
"Are our tax dollars really going towards this?"
"Class, please settle down. With the declining birth rate, it is imperative that we impart a sense of awe and wonder at starting a family, but also inform about the difficulty." The teacher pulled out a realistic baby from one of the bins. "These will be your very own bundles of joy for the next three weeks. Now please form pairs."
Before Jumonji could even share a look of contempt with his friends, the class erupted into absolute chaos. Friend groups split up immediately, going on the hunt for a suitable partner. He grumbled at sitting all the way in the back and having his seat mates all be guys. He saw Kanna, one of the cutest girls in class, eyeing him up with a determined look on her face.
"Yo," Jumonji said, casual. "Do you-"
Instead she redirected her line of sight to her friend Hana. They linked their fingertips and started whispering.
'Man, what the hell? I didn't think she was that standoffish,' Jumonji thought to himself. Then, with a slow realization, he noticed that everyone else had paired up already.
"Okay, now raise your hand if you haven't found a partner yet," the teacher said, looking around the classroom. Jumonji raised his hand, solitary. He heard Kuroki snicker next to his partner, who looked at Jumonji with pity. "Ah, Jumonji, let's see… well, you could do be a single dad or join a group, but that wouldn't really fulfill the curriculum… I was certain that we had an even number of students…"
Just then, the door opened and Sena stepped inside. For the first time, Sena was the last person Jumonji wanted to see.
"Eh…" Sena said with that same dumb look on his face that he always made when he knew something unfavorable had happened. Jumonji made eye contact with Sena, and he swore that in that fraction of a second, Sena understood exactly what happened and went through the whole five stages of grief.
. . .
Jumonji didn't mean to be scary. He couldn't help the scar on his cheek or his intimidatingly masculine (and in his opinion, handsome) bone structure (though maybe he could lose the scowl), except life made it difficult for him. And Sena cowering in fear as they went over the baby manual really wasn't helping him relax.
"Need to feed and burp it, change its diaper; it records how many times we fuck up touching it, car seat times… Jesus, it even records the temperature it's at." Jumonji scowled harder as he continued to list all the ways the baby could rat them out. They were on the school's rooftop, using their lunchbreak to formulate a game plan. Jumonji had good grades, the one thing his old man didn't berate him about, and the last thing he wanted was robot-chibi snitching on him and having him fail health class.
"Her."
"What?"
"Um, she's a girl," Sena said, pointing to the baby... their baby… laying on a light purple blanket.
"It's a doll."
"Ah right," Sena was sitting all demure-like over robot-chibi. He had the diaper bag and baby carrier next to him. So far robot-chibi hadn't cried. Looked like they got a happy baby, Jumonji thought. "I was just thinking, that, maybe, it could be easier if we treated her as, ah, real… to help picture everything better… but never mind! It was stupid of me to think that-"
"Well," Jumonji barely controlled himself from rolling his eyes. "What do you want to call her?"
"Hm," Sena said. Jumonji did not notice that gentle look in shorty's eyes at all. "What about Yuko?"
"Huh? We're not raising a wimp, dude. You didn't go through nine months of pregnancy and fourteen hours of labor to raise a doormat." Sena smiled and let out a surprised laugh.
"We adopted her. She doesn't really look like either of us after all." Sena gently stroked the baby's cheek with his thumb; robot-chibi cooed softly, completely at ease. Jumonji blinked.
"Yeah…" he said, still staring.
"Yuko, then. Yuko Kobayakawa-Jumonji?"
"Uh, yeah. Whatever you say."
(Regardless of what anyone would say, Jumonji would deny blushing at that until his dying breath.)
. . .
"Get the fuck back to practice!" Hiruma yelled, guns blazing. Literally guns blazing. They were flamethrowers… aimed directly at robot-chibi… er, aimed directly at Yuko. If it wasn't for Sena's speed, Jumonji was pretty sure Yuko would have melted into her carrier. Kuroki and Togano were lucky enough that their partners had taken the doll home with them.
"Farther away," Jumonji called out to Sena, "She'll rat us out if the temperature is too high." Flamethrowers couldn't be good for babies.
"Hiruma stop it!" That would be Mamori once again interfering. Jumonji, even at the height of his delinquency might, would never attempt to say such a thing or even face off the demon with nothing but a broom. "Those are very expensive pieces of school property. I will not have you ruin such a unique learning experience for Sena."
"If you two fall behind on your training even once to look at that thing, death penalty for Papa 1 and Papa 2." Hiruma aimed a series of bullets (bullets that were on fire) in everyone's direction.
"Her name's Yuko," Sena said weakly, artfully dodging the shells.
"I don't give a singular shit."
In Jumonji's distraction, Komosubi absolutely decked him to the ground. There was that look of contempt again. Jumonji cracked his neck and got back up, fired up and ready to go back to practice. He was facing off against both Togano and Kuroki in a pushing match. He snuck another look at Sena over their shoulders. Sena was prepping some formula for their baby while doing ladder footwork. Sena then cradled Yuko to his shoulder plate and started sprinting around. Except…
"Huuuh? Stop holding her like that!" Jumonji bulldozed past Togano and Kuroki. Sena must have not heard him over the gunfire and his helmet, because he continued holding Yuko in the absolute worst way. Her arms dangled and her head was completely unsupported. Jumonji closed the distance just as Sena turned around. Sena's eyes widened behind his green eye shield, and he gracefully dodged Jumonji's tackle. Jumonji face planted.
"What did I do?" Sena asked. He clutched Yuko to his chest, almost tripping over himself as he backed up.
"Have you ever even held a baby, dumbass?" Jumonji asked the dirt.
"I'm – I'm an only child. Am I hurting Yuko?"
Jumonji stood up and (gently) snatched the baby from Sena's hands. "Look, you hold her head like this. And you put her arms here. And you put your arms like so. She's not a football you can just grope around."
Jumonji handed Yuko over. He let Sena struggle with her for a few moments more before helping adjust Yuko. He kept his corrections gentle, partly because he didn't want Yuko to tell on them, and partly because… he refused to even entertain the idea that he was doing this to show off to Sena because that assumption was fucking wrong and ridiculous. Ahem.
"Tell me how that feels now."
"Amazing," Sena said, marveling at Yuko in arms. "This is so much more secure. Thanks, Jumonji!"
"Don't mention it. We can't have our baby flopping all over the place."
Jumonji was about to say more, except that Kuroki and Togano took their cue to start making kissing noises.
"I gotta g – go. I gotta go."
"Oh, uh, okay."
. . .
Jumonji and Sena took turns looking after the baby as she started crying throughout practice. Jumonji couldn't exactly do linemen drills and hold robot-chibi, so during his turns with her, he dragged a tractor tire behind him for 40 yards. His quads and glutes were screaming at him, and so was Yuko. Thank god she wasn't programmed to spit up on them. Jumonji kept his intensity up since he felt the devil's eyes on his back whenever he so much as slowed down. If he took a bullet in the butt because he was taking care of a fake baby, his ghost ass would come back to haunt this fucking school.
. . .
After practice, Jumonji and Sena were kind of at an impasse. Jumonji didn't particularly want to take care of the baby at his house, but he wasn't so sure that Sena would do everything correctly. And, once again, he refused to fail health class. But he had shit to do, like hang around a convenience store with Kuroki and Togano until 3 am.
"So… I guess I'll take her for tonight?" Sena asked with that submissive quality he had about things he thought were out of his control. His eyebrows had a little crease between them, and Jumonji was pretty tempted to ease it out with his thumb.
"Yeah, okay. I can take her the next night, and we'll just keep trading off," Jumonji appeased, off-hand. "Kuroki and Togano are gonna pissed off that I'm gonna ditch though."
"Oh," Sena said, the crease between his eyebrows deepening. He bit his lip momentarily, and Jumonji's heart sort of… clenched. "I can… I can just take her home, then. Until the assignment's over… if that's easier for you."
"Nah, dude, you don't have to," Jumonji rubbed the back of his neck. The little crease between shorty's eyebrows lessened to some degree but was still there. Jumonji's thumb twitched. "Trading off, like, it's fine, they'll deal."
"Are you sure –?"
"Yes, Jesus, let me do my fucking part of the project." His voice was rougher than intended, and Sena flinched back. Fuck. "Sorry – sorry for yelling, my bad, I'm just. Parenthood has my nerves on end, huh?"
Sena gave him a watery smile, and fucking rest in peace Jumonji's heart, he felt like he yelled at a newly whelped puppy, he was going soft. Was this really the same guy who got tackled by goons a hundred pounds heavier than him?
"… number?" Jumonji just barely made the last part of Sena's question out, blinking back into the conversation. Shorty was holding his phone out. Jumonji took it dumbly, stared at it. Stared back at Sena. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kuroki and Togano snickering behind some bushes.
"How's that?"
"For the project? I was – I was asking, for your number, um, in case anything comes up?"
"Oh, yeah!" Jumonji shouted. His excitement was a bit too much, he thought, judging by how red Kuroki's face was as he tried to stifle his laughter. Togano had a notepad out, jotting down notes. "Lemme just," he said, feeling his face starting to heat up as he registered himself in Sena's phone. "C-Call me if you have questions. I have a lot of little cousins so I kinda know how to, uh, y'know?"
"Sounds good," Sena said, his face clear as day, no worry in his eyes. He looked downright jovial that he had Jumonji's number now.
"Well, I'm leaving," Jumonji strode past his partner abruptly, heading to where Kuroki was all but choking with laughter. He had his back to Sena until he was sure shorty was out of sight. "Stop fucking laughing," he smacked the back of Kuroki's head.
"'C-C-C-Call me'," Kuroki imitated, putting his hands up to his cheeks in mock embarrassment. "Bro that was some grade-A shoujo material. You got all that Togano?"
"Hell yeah I did," Togano flipped through his notes. Jumonji walked ahead of them, shoulders tense, face red. "Nice trope subversion, Jumonji. You blush like a school girl."
"I thought you were gonna bust when he gave you his phone," Kuroki said. He only barely avoided a book bag to the head.
. . .
Jumonji had a quiet dinner with his dad. He set his phone next to his plate, ignoring his dad's pointed look, and glanced at it throughout the entire time. He went up to his room. He stared down at his phone, pacing around his room. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and ran out the door. He knew where Sena lived (through… rather unsavory means), and made up his mind to walk over. He was crossing over a bridge when he saw Sena.
'Huh.'
Running along with the stroller.
'Huh?'
Next to Oujou's Shin.
"Huh?!" His shout echoed across the river banks, and Sena stumbled over his feet. The stroller lilted to the side, but Shin mechanically corrected it with one hand and snagged Sena with the other.
"I didn't expect to see you out here," Sena said as he dusted himself off.
"Yeah, well." Jumonji had apparently sprinted all the way across the bridge and down the sidewalk to where Shin and Sena were because apparently he didn't like the way that Shin was still holding on to Sena's shoulder. "I was in the area. Wanted to check on Yuko. Yo, Shin."
"Hello," Shin said, nodding in return. He was still holding on toSena. If anything, his grip seemed to tighten slightly, possessive. Jumonji tore his eyes away to meet Shin's eyes, and he seemed almost amused behind that stoic robotic façade.
"Oh my god, did you call? Did I miss your call? I swear I was checking!" Sena got his phone out, frantically looking for a missed call or text to prove his innocence.
Jumonji ignored Sena, feigning interest in checking robot-chibi. He looked into the stroller, though admittedly, he had no idea what he was looking for.
"She seems like she's doing okay," Jumonji said, back to glaring at Shin's hand that was. Still. On. Sena's. Shoulder. Didn't he know anything about personal space? "What are you both doing out here together?"
"Training," Shin said, finally removing his hand.
'Stoic bastard,' Jumonji thought. Unbeknownst to him, he had reverted back to his slumped delinquent pose. He glared at Shin, and Shin stared back, almost impassive but somehow looking infuriatingly smug.
"I told Shin that I had to keep Yuko with me for school, but he said he didn't mind if I brought her along. And they did give us a stroller, so I thought, why not use it?"
"Oh yeah? Well, y'know, I didn't get that good of a workout in during practice with the baby in the way. Care if I join?" Jumonji cracked his neck in preparation.
"Um, Jumonji, you're wearing jeans," Sena whispered. He pointed to Jumonji's pants, as if the other hadn't realized. (Which was true, Jumonji had forgotten he was wearing his nice pair of slim fit jeans – which he hadn't put on to try and impress Sena if Sena were to have called him asking for help. Baseless accusation.)
"These are actually," Jumonji saw that Shin had now turned around, presumably to laugh at Jumonji and his misguided attempts to hang out with his partner, "a new class of fiber-tech athletic pants. Breathable and shit. Anyway, are we going or what?"
"R-Right!" Sena said. He checked on Yuko one last time and they continued their run.
Jumonji, who had not warmed up, and was wearing jeans and converse, should have known better, but goddammit, his manly pride was on the line, and he would die before he let someone else replace his spot in his own damn family.
(He came home two hours later, dehydrated, exhausted, and blistered. He supposed Sena's "Thanks for joining, it was fun running with you" made up for it.)
TUESDAY
It was the second lunch that Jumonji and Sena had ever spent together (on friendly terms at least). Sena had a full bento courtesy of his second mom, Mamori, and Jumonji had bread and a bottle for the baby. They sat next to each on the rooftop alone. Kuroki and Togano were with their partners, probably getting guilted into helping out with their respective robot-chibis.
"My parents were pretty interested in Yuko," Sena said through a yawn. "I let my mom take care of her for a bit while I did homework and got ready for bed. She really likes kids. It was kind of sweet."
"Hm," Jumonji grunted, arranging Yuko in his arms to feed her more easily.
"How are you feeling after that run?"
Jumonji had gotten up that morning thinking he'd lost use of his legs since he hadn't been able to move them for a solid minute until he'd massaged them awake. And upon awakening his legs, he'd realized what true pain was. "Fine," Jumonji lied. "Fresh as a daisy."
"That's great! You should join us more often then," Sena said. He yawned again, his stupid lips parting gracefully.
"Yeah, maybe after the project's over," Jumonji said, noncommittally enough, while on the inside he was already planning his next workout outfit. He'd be damned if he got caught running in jeans again like a complete idiot. "Long night?"
"Hm? Yeah, I got woken up five times… I counted…" His stupid long lashes drooped with each word.
Jumonji thought he knew what to expect. He'd seen it in movies enough times, but when Sena laid his head down against Jumonji's shoulder and fell asleep, he knew that nothing could have prepared him for it. It was such a stupid, innocent thing to do, completely benign even! Yet, the soft press of Sena's head and warm body against Jumonji's arm did something to him.
He gulped. He started sweating. His face felt warm. He wanted to wake Sena up. He never wanted to move. Finally, he stared robot-chibi down. 'Don't you dare ruin this for me and start screaming,' he threatened.
Yuko, for her part, merely gurgled quietly while Jumonji accepted that he was totally and completely smitten.
. . .
"What's that," Jumonji's father asked him when he got home from work.
"School project for health class," Jumonji had been walking around with the baby for thirty minutes already trying to get it to stop crying. He was at his wits' end. "It's supposed to prevent me from getting a baby."
"Well, I see that you're taking it seriously," his father said, walking into the kitchen and starting dinner. "Can you lower its volume settings?"
"I would have done that long ago," Jumonji gritted out as the baby screeched into his ear while he tried to burp her, "if it were possible."
"Hm. Aren't you supposed to have a partner with those simulation babies?"
"It's my turn tonight."
His father chuckled over the sound of crinkling wrappers and sizzling meat. "Glad to hear that you let the poor girl rest for a night."
Jumonji mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?"
Jumonji mumbled again, incomprehensible.
"What?"
"My partner's a dude."
His father absolutely cackled.
. . .
WEDNESDAY
Jumonji and Sena had lunch at the rooftop by themselves again. Jumonji felt drained – physically, his legs were on Day Two of soreness (which is the worst day), and mentally, his nerves were fried from having gotten up to try and get Yuko back to sleep at odd hours of the night. He glared at his bread. He should have packed leftovers.
"Here," Sena offered up a blue bento. Omelet, rice, mixed fruit, sausage patties. He was rocking Yuko in the crook of his arm, trying to get her to take a nap. It was… very domestic. (Heart clench.)
"Huh?"
"I just thought – you know, after a rough night – I mean, it was really tough for me to get through the day yesterday, and I did have a full lunch, so I thought, you know? I didn't mean to be presumptuous –"
"No! Dude, no, that's really nice of you. I'm fucking starving," Jumonji took the bento. He'd always been curious if Mamori was really that good of a cook. "Thanks," Jumonji said around a mouthful of egg and rice. "Tell Mamori it's good."
Sena sort of stilled. He turned his head down to face Yuko, really concentrating on bundling her up tight as he said, "I made it."
A chunk of rice fell out of Jumonji's mouth and fell back into his food. Sena was still looking down so he hoped the other hadn't seen him be so uncool. "It's good."
"Glad you liked it," Sena said, still intently peering at Yuko.
Sena wasn't naturally talkative which suited him just fine. Jumonji finished eating in companionable quiet and spent the rest of the time looking up at the clouds, and if he happened to fall asleep against (someone) during that time, so what? That was between him, Sena, and Yuko.
. . .
Practice brutalized Jumonji. He lost count how many times Komosubi knocked him sky high. He blamed robot-chibi being a bottomless pit that screamed to be fed five times the previous night. How had Sena managed last practice?
"Get it together, Scarface," Hiruma yelled from across the field. His eyes narrowed, and Jumonji was pretty sure he had just risen up Hiruma's shit list.
"You got it Jumonji," Sena said as he passed by with Yuko in her stroller.
"Damn right I do," Jumonji said, a bold faced lie. He was about three blinks away from succumbing to a coma, but it'd be a cold day in hell for him to show it.
. . .
Even with the baby carrier clasping into place on the stroller, it was still a pain and a half to carry everything home. Sena was a pretty small guy, too. Jumonji felt a pang as he saw shorty looping the diaper bag around him and hanging his school bag off one of the handles. It was… kind of cute…
"You're staring," Kuroki said unhelpfully by his side.
"You're blushing," Togano said, jotting down notes, "like a school girl."
"Fuck you two," Jumonji said. "I'll see you guys later. Gonna help him out."
Kuroki and Togano made kissing noises, and it was embarrassing for different reasons now.
"Do you want some help?" Jumonji asked Sena.
"Uh," Sena blinked, and he got a look in his eyes for a small moment. Not that lenient look of passiveness, but a speculative look. A considering look. Jumonji felt goosebumps on the back of his neck. His palms were sweating. Sena smiled then, soft and small. Cute. "Sure."
"Cool, I'll just walk you home," Jumonji said. His voice cracked. He winced, but Sena didn't seem affected by it as they walked out of the school grounds together. Jumonji held the giant diaper bag at his side while Sena pushed the stroller.
There were people going home from work already and Jumonji thought to how they looked from a stranger's point of view. Like brothers probably. If one of them was a girl, they would have surely looked like a young couple out on an early evening walk. Kind of a shame, then, that no one would think that now. He could see Sena fitting a more maternal role in terms of looks, though realistically Jumonji would probably be the one doing the traditionally feminine tasks. After all, him and his dad took turns cleaning and cooking at home since his mom was… not around. But he and Sena would share responsibilities if they were together. Obviously. If they were together…
(Do the shopping together. Cook together. Share the same bed.)
"You're looking kind of ill," Sena said. He looked up at Jumonji with those stupid big dark eyes of his like a doe caught in headlights. "Did you catch a fever?"
"Dumbass," Jumonji stuttered out. He lightly punched Sena in the arm. "Get outta here with that, I'm a medical marvel."
Sena smiled at him again, and Jumonji's knees almost gave out.
. . .
THURSDAY
"Okay class, I have some news," the homeroom teacher said with a forced smile. She was pushing in a cart full of empty plastic bins. "It turns out we will actually be cutting the parenthood curriculum short due to… unforeseen circumstances."
"Ehh?"
"You're kidding…"
"Can't we keep our kid if we liked them?"
"Class, p-please settle down," she said while looking around nervously. "Please line up to return the simulation infants as quickly as possible." Jumonji could see her sweating bullets. "I'll print out the reports, so you'll still get some results back by the end of the week."
Kuroki and Togano looked pretty pleased with the recent development. He turned around to Sena's desk.
"At least Yuko won't be bothering us during practice," Sena said softly. He looked… vulnerable with his big eyes all liquid and his cheeks and nose and ears starting to turn red. Jumonji felt a sort of panic creep into him. (Togano was already jotting down notes. Kuroki raised his eyebrows suggestively.)
"Are you going to cry?" He was genuinely taken aback, helpless. Jumonji would rather take care of a baby all night than see Sena cry.
"N-No!" Sniff. Sena valiantly attempted to keep himself calm. Tears welled up in his eyes. Jumonji didn't know if he could control himself if tears started rolling down Sena's cheeks. "I think I got attached."
Jumonji felt a word on the tip of his tongue, wanted to say something soft and sweet and comforting. (He truly had it bad.) He wanted to say Baby, "It's okay."
"Can you take her up? I don't know if I can…" sniff, "um, keep it together."
"Yeah," baby, "it's no problem. Here, let me just…" Jumonji took Yuko and the carrier, diaper bag, and stroller up. Yuko gurgled up sweetly. He felt a little guilty while the teacher took out Yuko's batteries and stuffed her in the plastic bin.
Jumonji sat back down in his seat and glanced at Sena. He looked composed enough. His eyes were still a little watery and puffy but overall he looked (cute) fine. Their homeroom teacher signaled for the lesson to begin once all the simulation dolls had been packed up. Jumonji opened his notebook, feeling as blank as the page in front of him.
. . .
Lunch arrived before Jumonji knew it. Monta appeared at the door and suckered Sena to eat with him in the club house. Meanwhile, Togano and Kuroki grouped their desks with his and started eating. Jumonji took out his lunch. Cellophane wrapped bread. One for him and one for, well… Through the window he can see Sena being dragged through the campus.
"Bro, you're really starting to make me depressed," Kuroki said. "Sena hasn't been your husband for all of four hours and you're already a huge drag."
"Huh?"
"I always hate this part in shoujo romance," Togano said over his latest volume of Jump. "It's so unnecessary."
"Huh?"
"Togano, tell him."
"Dude, you know you and Sena didn't actually break up, right? Like nothing's stopping you from asking him out in the first place. There's not even some ham-fisted misunderstanding or anything."
"Just your pride," Kuroki added. "You got pride the size of Kurita."
"No offense."
"Lay off," Jumonji mumbled, looking out the window.
Togano and Kuroki rolled their eyes.
"Stop being an absolute fool," Kuroki said. "Makes you fuckin' lame."
"Lame," Togano agreed.
Jumonji grit his teeth. He was loathe to admit it, but his friends were right. He usually took action in a calm and collected manner. Fuck it, he'd do that now, then.
"Damn, you're right," Jumonji rubbed his face. "I'm gonna do it!"
Jumonji hyped himself up for when Sena returned to class. He didn't do anything.
("Lame!" Kuroki and Togano chorused.)
Jumonji hyped himself up while he changed for practice. He didn't do anything except avert eye contact with Sena.
("Lame!" his friends said.)
Jumonji hyped himself all throughout practice, using the adrenaline pumping in his system to work up the courage. He'd catch Sena at the school's entrance and confess – a classic scene. Togano told him it was clichéd but encouraged him nonetheless.
"No balls if you don't," Kuroki said.
Jumonji gave him the finger and ran after Sena. The other boy was already about to leave.
"Hey, Sena?" Jumonji said.
Sena turned around. His face did a small twitch from apprehension to excitement. "What's up?"
"I was just thinking…"
("No balls," one of his friends said in the far distance.)
"It was kinda cool working with you on the project."
"Yeah, we, um, worked together well, hm?"
"Yeah," Jumonji nodded for a moment while Sena waited for him to say more. "Well see ya," Jumonji tucked tail, leaving Sena opened mouthed and confused behind him. He walked around the corner where Kuroki had his face in his hands.
"No balls," Togano said.
. . .
FRIDAY
Jumonji decided to bite the bullet and stop being an absolute coward. He'd done a lot of soul searching the night before (which mainly consisted in him practicing his words in front of his friends outside of their favorite convenience store).
"Yo," Jumonji said before class started. He towered over Sena's desk and did his best not to look intimidating. "Do you want to have lunch with me on the rooftop?" He barely even stuttered.
"Sure," Sena said.
Fucking relief. Sena smiled easily all the time, but Jumonji chose to believe that the smile Sena was currently fighting back was more eager than usual.
Monta, Togano, and Kuroki ended up joining them on the rooftop because they were all absolute idiots at reading social cues. Jumonji sat next to Sena and handed over an extra melonpan, the wrapper crinkling. Their fingertips brushed against one another's softly, and Sena didn't flinch away. It was a start, Jumonji thought, feeling his heartbeat start to race. And Jumonji was a lucky guy after all.