This is a present for my friend Akaji Nero-kun~
It was a rainy after school day. To other students, it's just a normal and mundane occasion. However, it was different for Satoshi. It reminded him of everything that took place in that cursed school. Everything came back to him vividly in his mind. The sight of dead bodies, the death of his friends, the malicious smile of Shinozaki Sachiko…
Yoshiki, who was standing a few meters next to him, noticed his friend's melancholic look. Out of concern, he asked, "Satoshi, are you ok?"
Satoshi tried his best to smile, but failed. "Yeah. I just remembered some memories I want to forget."
'Ah. That day was very similar to this one…' Yoshiki thought.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
"Hey, Satoshi."
"Hm?"
"It's a Friday today. You wanna go play videogames at my place?"
Thinking it's a good way to distract him from the memories, Satoshi smiled. "Sure."
"Yosh! That new videogame I ordered just came in yesterday. Why don't we play that one?"
"What's it called?"
"Uhh… President Evil. Heard of it?"
"Never heard of it."
"I heard it's a good game."
"Really? Then I guess we can play that one."
They waited for a while until the rain finally stopped.
Yoshiki glanced at the window. "Oh look, the sky is starting to clear. Let's go, Satoshi!"
Yoshiki's apartment wasn't exactly the cleanest place on earth, but Satoshi managed to situate himself in a comfortable position among the various items scattered around the place.
"Ahh... sorry about the mess, Satoshi," Yoshiki said as he started up the game.
"You really should clean up, you know." Satoshi arranged the books that were sitting on his left side.
"Yes, yes. I will… later. Ah! The game is starting."
Satoshi's eyes grew wide when he saw that it was horror game.
"Satoshi? Is something wrong?" Yoshiki turned to his friend.
"N-No. Nothing is wrong."
"You sure? You look bothered."
"I-It's really nothing."
"Is that so?" Yoshiki turned back to the screen. "Alright then. Let's start! You want to do multiplayer?"
"N-No. Just play… I'll just watch. I like watching."
"Oh ok."
As Yoshiki played the game, Satoshi did his best to hide the fact that he was scared. His palms were sweating and his heartbeat was gradually getting faster. He tried to keep his eyes on the screen, but occasionally looked away when he thought something scary was going to appear.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of rain pouring.
"Ahh… it's raining again, huh?" Yoshiki glanced briefly at the window then went back to playing.
'I wonder what's wrong with Satoshi. He's awfully quiet.' Yoshiki was perplexed with his friend's behavior.
"Hey Sato—"
The moment Yoshiki turned to Satoshi to ask a question, a jump scare happened in the game.
"AAAAH!" Satoshi immediately clung to Yoshiki.
"O-O-Oi! Satoshi… Could it be that you're scared?" Yoshiki was thrown off-guard by his sudden movement.
"… yeah." Satoshi answered in a soft and trembling voice.
A moment of silence followed. They stayed in the same position as if there was someone trying to draw and use them as reference models for a shoujo manga.
'W-What do I do?! Satoshi isn't saying anything… Should I be doing something? Should I pat his head? AHHH. What choice do I make?!' Yoshiki's thoughts were in a panic.
"T-There there, S-Satoshi…" Yoshiki tried patting Satoshi's head.
"Yoshiki…" Satoshi looked at him like a scared puppy. His eyes met with Yoshiki's.
'U-Ugh… Satoshi looks cute from this angle and with that look on his face… Even cuter than Shinozaki! (Sorry Shinozaki.) Who knew he could make a face like that?!'
"A-Ah... Sorry." Yoshiki withdrew his hand.
"….."
"S-Satoshi?"
"Yoshiki… umm… I-Is it ok if you continue to do that?"
"E-Eh?"
"It calms me down."
"O-Ok then."
Yoshiki continued to pet Satoshi in silence. As time passed, the rain gradually started pouring harder. Until-
BOOM!
Lightning struck and the power immediately went out.
Satoshi immediately threw his arms around Yoshiki, who lost his balance and fell backwards.
'W-W-What's with all these manga-like situations?!' Yoshiki thought. 'Satoshi is trembling pretty bad…'
"S-Sorry, Yoshiki. I'm really bad with horror games!"
"I thought you said you were over horror games!"
"I-I lied."
"You idiot."
Suddenly, lightning flashed again. For a brief moment, Yoshiki had a clear view of Satoshi's face.
'H-He's doing it again! That cute look! I-I actually want to hug him.'
Yoshiki gave in and hugged Satoshi.
'W-What am I doing?! Am I an idiot?! Now he'll think I'm strange!'
"Y… Yoshiki?" Satoshi was surprised by his action.
"I-I'm only doing this so you'll feel calmer, ok? I-It's not like you're cute or anything…"
'Ahhhh! Why did I just say that out loud?!'
"Uhh. Ok." Satoshi smiled. "Thanks."
'Why does being in this position make me so nervous?' Yoshiki wondered as they continued to hug.
"Hey, Yoshiki…"
"Y-Yes, Satoshi?"
"Your heart is beating fast."
Yoshiki's face turned red in a matter of seconds. "I-I can explain!"
"No need…" Satoshi paused for a moment. "Actually, I have something I want to tell you…"
"What is it?"
"Actually…"
Satoshi looked sideways. He appeared hesitant. In the darkness, it was hard to tell his expressions, but Yoshiki could clearly imagine his expression through his words.
'Now he sounds like a schoolgirl who's about to confess! I'm not prepared for this!' Yoshiki screamed in his head.
"Yoshiki… You've always been around to cheer me up when I'm down. You've always been there for me. I'm really grateful for everything you did for me. So… thank you."
Yoshiki waited for Satoshi to continue, but he didn't.
'That's it? Why am I… disappointed? I should be happy that he's grateful for the things I did, right?'
"Ah… No problem! I'll always be there for you, Satoshi. So, you can keep relying on me!"
Suddenly, the power returned. The lights went back on, revealing the awkward position they were in. They both pulled away from each other, somewhat embarrassed.
"I-I'll get you something to drink." Yoshiki stood up.
"Wait, I'll help you." Satoshi followed.
"No, you don't have to—"
Satoshi tripped over a box and lost his footing. Yoshiki quickly moved forward to catch him.
"Be careful…"
Satoshi looked at him for a moment then kissed him.
'E-EH?!' Yoshiki was caught off guard.
Once Satoshi realized what he just did, his face turned red and he looked away.
"S-S-S-Sorry, Yoshiki! I've actually always wanted to do that!" Satoshi confessed. "I'm sorry for doing that so suddenly."
Yoshiki took a short while to get the words out, "It's… fine."
Satoshi couldn't believe it. "Really?"
"I-I said it's fine, right?"
Satoshi smiled. "Ok then." He gave Yoshiki another kiss.
"I-Idiot! Why are you giving me another one?" Yoshiki's face was now almost entirely red.
"You don't want it?"
"Well, it's not that I don't want another one… I'm just not prepared!"
"I'll give you time to prepare for this next one then."
"There's a next one? Just how many times are you planning to—" Yoshiki was silenced with another kiss.
When their lips parted, Yoshiki spoke, "Satoshi, you're never usually this direct."
"I guess I'm only like this when I'm with you, huh?"
"T-That makes me feel kinda special."
Satoshi looked sideways and said in a soft voice, "W-Well, you are to me."
'Ahh! This guy is unbelievably cute! Too cute!' The adorable expression on Satoshi's face was too much for Yoshiki to handle.
"So, do you want to continue?"
"O-Ok…"
Later.
'Phew. A lot of things happened tonight, huh?' Yoshiki looked up at the sky as he led Satoshi outside. 'Well, I hope Satoshi won't feel down anymore.'
"Yoshiki, thanks for today." Satoshi gave a smile.
"Y-Yeah."
"I'll get going now."
When Satoshi turned to leave, Yoshiki suddenly said, "Wait! Satoshi… umm… Next Friday, do you want to hang out again?"
He looked back at Yoshiki and gave a cute smile. "Sure!"