Aoba and Ren walked together through the old residential district toward home, the silence they'd awkwardly maintained since leaving Mediocrity making them both uncomfortable. Ren grabbed Aoba's hand without asking, the suddenness of the action startling the bluenette. He could feel his face heat up slightly at the action and looked away, hoping Ren wouldn't notice. Aoba felt Ren tense and looked up to see what was wrong.
"Are you okay Ren?" he asked.
"Yoshi-san and Clara." Ren whispered, stopping.
Aoba looked up and noticed Yoshie-san and Clara window shopping about fifty yards away from them. Ren pulled Aoba along into an alley, speed walking as far as he could to get away from Yoshie and Clara. They stopped after a few minutes when they were sure there was no way they had been followed by either Yoshie or Clara, leaning against the wall to catch their breath.
"That was close." Aoba sighed, finally managing to get a hold of his breathing.
He looked at Ren and noticed the other man watching him. Blushing slightly, he turned away. "Quit staring, it's weird."
"Sorry." Ren apologized, looking away.
"It's okay." Aoba replied.
'Now this is awkward….'
AN - Aaaaaand cliffhanger! I can never just find a good place to end things, can I? Please comment, I love reading responses from people~