Thirty Seconds

Tap, tap, tap.

He really didn't know what to do with his paper, tapping the back of his pen against it. The teacher continued to drone, on and on… even though he was repeating last lesson's information. The albino wondered for a moment if he could get away with using last lesson's notes, as well…

With a quiet sigh, Mafu turned his red gaze to stare aimlessly out the window. Sitting by it, at the back, he slumped, putting his chin on his hand as he watched students from a different class playing a mock match of soccer. His red orbs glowed with curiosity when they found a raven-haired male jogging across the field, chasing the ball with little effort.

~A split second~

Thump, thump, thump.

The rhythmic pounding of the ball against grass and feet. He was really very tired of it. He was sweaty and felt slightly disgusting. He'd left and benched himself by now if it weren't for the fact that his teammates required him.

But, even without his help, the ball flew into the goal, missing the fingers of the goalie by mere inches. He drew in a breath sharply. Soraru wasn't tempted in the slightest to join his teammates in the barbaric cheers. Instead, he felt a tingling sensation on his neck, and he turned and craned his head up to the second floor of the school building.

~is all I needed~

Sapphire and rubies collided, a warm stone dropped in Mafu's stomach. Soraru felt his heart attempt to jump out his throat. The white-haired boy's eyes widened and sparkled, before he reeled back in his chair and hastily gripped onto his desk, pretending to not notice as his classmates turned to glance at the reddening male. The black-haired boy with pale skin was snapped back to reality when a hand landed on his shoulder, a 'friend' urging him to join the celebration. Half-heartedly, he found his way over, still managing to avoid really joining in.

~to see you~

Mafu could still feel his heart skipping beats after the bell went off. He didn't quite understand why, but a part of him did. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. His head down, avoiding the smirking faces of bullies, he headed upstairs, onto the roof. You weren't supposed to go there, but it's not like the teachers ever checked. He meandered over to the railing, heaving out a sigh of relief as he leaned out. The metal was cold to the touch.

After closing his eyes for a blissful moment, he straightened a little, setting his bag down beside him, and looking over the scenery. Dark clouds were setting in from the East. There was probably a storm on the way - not that he minded the rain. His eyes wandered down from the horizon and onto the soccer pitch, where he found the very same raven-haired boy from before. He was sitting in the stands, doing something. Mafu's eyesight wasn't good enough to tell what. But he knew that the boy had seen him - because there was a flash of blue and Mafu's chest tightened and he felt his face heat up. He moved away from the railing and sat on the concrete, suddenly finding the clouds nice.

~~Thirty seconds~~

The roof wasn't a safe place to be - it was out of bounds.

But perhaps Soraru was just looking for a reason to meet the albino boy from before. Those startling red eyes - he hypothesised - had burned him on the inside. He knew that wasn't the reason, and that it was most likely improbable. Nonetheless, the raven-haired boy found himself moving through the halls, and up the stairs.

He found himself catching curious gazes from people who had seen bullying smaller kids. He gave them nothing but his usual stoic, gray-blue glare. Climbing the final flight of stairs, he stopped short, his hands in his pockets. He simply blinked at the figure lying sprawled on the ground, red eyes gazing at the sky.

~~is what I needed~~

One, two, three...

"Pretty, aren't they?"

Four, five, six...

"Yeah."

Seven, eight, nine, ten…

Eleven…

Time passed like a turtle.

~~to talk to you~~

Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen...

"What's your name?"

Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty two, twenty-three...

"Soraru."

Twenty-four, twenty-five...

The albino rolled over to the raven-haired boy's feet, a curious red gaze making his heart melt.

Twenty-six, twenty-seven…

"Er… a-and yours?"

Twenty-eight...

"U-uhh…"

Twenty-nine...

"I'm Mafumafu! You can call me Mafu though, Sora-san!"

Thirty.

"It's a pleasure, Mafu."