Today the sky was a blanket of sheer grey, with no definition between any of the clouds. Everything was overcast, and it was only mid-morning but there was a chill in the air, brought on by the unhappy weather. It looked like it was going to be a miserable day today, probably with more rain later in the afternoon. Mink didn't expect too much from it.

Mink supposed the one good thing about the weather was that he didn't break out in a sweat while he was walking to school. He hung his head slightly as he walked, not wanting to get too optimistic about things. He still had negative feelings about going to school. The second day back probably wouldn't be much better than the first.

He mentally ran over his plan for the day. He'd sit in homeroom and hopefully wouldn't be pestered by the new teacher Mr Arnby. He'd left home a few minutes earlier today to account for being a few minutes late yesterday, so he expected to arrive exactly on time. Which meant Mr Arnby would have no reason to complain. He'd probably also be forced to interact with Sei during homeroom.

But after that, the bell would ring and he'd trundle off to his first period class, which was Art History. He'd probably be scolded briefly for missing yesterday's class, but then the usual pretending to take notes would ensue. Second period would be English, where they would go over the lesson plans for this term, and briefly look at the assignment outlines, but not do much actual work. So it would be fairly easy to sit through. Then it would be time for lunch time detention, Mink's favourite part of the day. After that, French again, and then Maths, and then freedom.

Mink walked along the corridor and strolled into homeroom, casually taking his place in the seat Mr Arnby had incidentally assigned to him yesterday. The bell began to ring just as Mink's butt touched the seat and he mentally pumped his fist in the air. One small victory for the day. However, regardless of the fact that Mink was actually on time, Mr Arnby still glared at him as he shuffled the announcement papers on his desk. Mink looked around the room, noticing Sei seemed to be missing. He'd probably gotten lost on his way there, but Mink doubted he'd be punished for it since he was still new.

Interrupting Mr Arnby's reading of the announcements (nothing new since yesterday), Sei entered the room panting slightly. "I'm sorry I'm late," he apologised, taking a seat in the same row as Mink, just one seat over. "I thought I remembered the way here, but I took a wrong turn…" he started explaining. Just as Mink had thought.

Mr Arnby cut Sei off with a sharp hand gesture. "That's enough. Fair enough that you were late today. You're only new," Mr Arnby allowed, nodding his head wisely. He probably thought he was the greatest teacher on earth. It really showed on his smug little face. "However, Sei, like everyone else, you get one warning. If you're late again, you'll be punished accordingly."

"Yes, sir, I understand," Sei replied, a slight red colour rising to his cheeks. Mr Arnby returned to reading the notices and Sei looked over to Mink, smiling in greeting. "How was your afternoon yesterday, Mink? Did you manage to do those plans you said you had?" he asked in a quiet voice, leaning slightly closer to hear Mink's reply. But he must have remembered Mink's reaction yesterday, because he was careful not to lean in too far. He was careful to be wary of Mink's personal space.

"It was…" Mink paused for a second, thinking back to what he did the previous day. Absolutely nothing. "Average," he lied, playing things down. "I didn't do much at all." If this had been a normal conversation, this would have been the point where Mink would have asked Sei how his afternoon was in return. But Mink was willing to just let the conversation die again. It was too early for this much thought, this much social interaction.

"Mine was interesting," Sei said in response to the question Mink had refused to ask. Mink rolled his eyes. Why doesn't this kid know how to let a conversation die? "I got a bit lost walking home from the bus stop, and it was raining, so that was a little annoying. But I ended up making it home fine. I did all the homework I had to do, and then I revised the notes I took in Biology and Art History…"

"Wonderful," Mink grunted, staring at the clock on the wall and waiting for the first period bell to ring. He eyed the second hand on the clock, watching it tick as if watching it keenly enough would somehow make time pass faster.

"What about this afternoon?" Sei questioned. "Do you have any plans this afternoon?"

"Not really," Mink replied. "The weather's not good enough for any real plans."

The bell rang. Everyone who had things on their desks started frantically cramming them into their school bags. Most of them had been trying to rush last minute homework that was probably due in first period. Too late for that now. The bell was their doom. But for Mink, the bell was a saving grace.

"We have Art History together now, right?" Sei said cheerfully, swinging his bag onto his shoulder.

Damn it. I forgot about that. "Yep," Mink grunted in reply, picking up his own bag. They exited the room and headed to the Art History room together. While Mink had been hoping to take a break from Sei's overly cheerful prattling, unfortunately being in the same class together meant the prattling followed him.

As they walked along the outdoor bridge between buildings, there was a well timed part in the clouds. Golden rays of sunlight filtered through, gentling caressing everything in their path. Mink noticed the sunlight hit Sei's face, causing his hair to shine brilliantly and his skin to glow. The lighting and his smile were both so radiant that Mink's heart skipped a beat. Everything felt like it was in slow motion, and then the clouds sealed up again and the moment passed.

"What's wrong, Mink?" Sei asked, a slight furrow appearing between his brows. "You looked a little spaced out for a second there. Are you feeling alright?" Sei's concern for him didn't really help Mink to clear his thoughts any faster. He had a brief desire to imitate the sun and softly caress Sei's cheek with the back of his fingers, but he restrained himself.

Clearing his throat, Mink replied, "I'm fine. Eyes straight ahead. You'll walk into somebody like that." He wasn't just saying that to Sei, but to himself as well. He needed to focus and keep his eyes and thoughts off Sei as much as possible. He couldn't start letting weird thoughts like that overcome him.

Art History class went by in a blur. Mink barely paid attention to the slides they were shown, and barely remembered to pretend to take notes every now and then. Sei was sitting directly in front of him, and he ended up spending most of the class staring directly at the back of the boy's head, wondering what it would feel like to run his fingers through that soft raven hair.

The beginning of second period was signalled by the bell ringing again. Not surprisingly, Sei was in a higher level English class than Mink, but their classrooms were right next to each other in the same building block, so they walked in that direction together with Sei keeping up the joyful, mostly one-sided conversation. Mink never really looked at the faces of the students he passed in the halls. Everyone just sort of melted together and looked the same. But while he was walking with Sei, he wondered what they looked like to other people. Probably an unlikely pair.

English class was exactly as Mink had expected, which was a gigantic relief. Everything had been going wrong, straying from Mink's routines and plans, so it was a very nice feeling to experience something predictable and easy. The assignments all looked like they would be simple enough, and Mink decided he could probably do them all the night before they were due and he'd still pass, so that lightened his mood a little bit. He didn't want to have to put too much effort into these assignments since essay writing and play reviews weren't things he really enjoyed.

After English was finished, before he had a chance to bump into Sei in the hallway, Mink hurried off to the building where he had detention. He took the same seat as yesterday, by the window so he could watch the weather. Outside the sky was still a mass of swirling, depressing greys. The girl who had been tapping her pen the day before was now absent, replaced by three other students, one of whom had an irritating sniffle. But unfortunately it wasn't as if Mink could throw a ball of paper at his head and glare at him until his flu went away.

Once again, Mink waited half-slumped on his desk while the hour long detention slowly dissolved. Finally, when he was released, he headed off to French class. While the teacher went over the new vocabulary for that textbook chapter, Mink thought about whether or not Sei would be in his Maths class next period. Most likely not. Just like with English, Sei probably would have been placed in the higher level Maths class than Mink.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Having so many classes in a row without Sei... Mink pondered the question for a little while. It was relaxing without Sei. His stomach felt less tight and knotted and his entire body felt less tense. When he was around Sei, he felt a little on edge at all times, which was new to him. Nervous when there was no need to be nervous, and captivated when there was nothing to be captivated by. He didn't quite understand it. Being away from Sei meant being away from those feelings, which allowed calmness to wash over him and allowed him to be absorbed by his daydreams without much interruption. However, on the other hand, being away from Sei somehow made Mink think about him more. Well, maybe not more, but equally. It made him wonder about what Sei was doing more, at the very least. Whether he was with or without Sei, the pale boy still managed to worm his way into Mink's thoughts.

"Mink, could you read this line of dialogue?"

"He's just so beautiful," Mink mumbled.

A storm of giggles echoed around the classroom and Mink suddenly snapped to his senses. The French teacher had asked him a question and he realised he'd replied by accidentally voicing his thoughts. He grimaced, feeling his ears flush red but not being able to stop it from happening. The teacher shook her head and decided to leave well enough alone, moving on and asking a different student to read the dialogue. Mink wished he could sink through his chair and melt into a puddle on the ground. He'd never had anything that embarrassing happen to him before, not even when he'd been younger.

When the bell rang and it was time to go to Maths, Mink was determined to pay just enough attention to not be caught off guard like that again. He didn't want to waste effort learning about boring Maths formula, but if he happened to be called on he didn't want to blurt something embarrassing out again. Never again, he vowed.

As predicted, Sei was nowhere to be seen in his Maths class. That kid was too smart for him, truly a model student. He paid attention, did his homework, took notes, even revised them. And what did Mink do? He tried his hardest to avoid doing any of that. The exact opposite.

In fact, Mink supposed they were opposites in a lot of ways. While he was overwhelmingly tall, Sei was short, falling just under average height. He was very muscular, bulky and brawny, but Sei was slim and delicate. Mink had dark skin and angled features, and Sei was pale and soft. The more Mink thought about it, the more he realised they probably didn't have a single thing in common. Sei was studying things he enjoyed, but Mink only happened to be studying some of the same subjects because he was left with no better options. Mink shook his head slowly. Even if Sei did happen to like him back, it was never going to…

Wait, what?

Mink suddenly sat bolt upright, alarmed by his own thoughts. "Like me back"? What's that supposed to mean? I'd have to like him in the first place for him to "like me back" and I don't…

"Oh my god," Mink whispered under his breath.

I have a fucking crush on Sei.

How did this happen?

How?

Why?

What does this mean?

How? What?

Shit.

Mink slumped over onto his desk, defeated. There wasn't really any way around it. He definitely had a crush on the new student Sei. That would definitely explain his nervous feelings and upset stomach. But when he thought about it just a little bit more, he guessed it made sense. In just the short amount of time Mink had been around him, Sei had shown him more friendliness, kindness and concern for his wellbeing than probably any other human ever had. Sei showed a genuine interest in what Mink liked doing, and he genuinely seemed to enjoy talking to Mink. He wasn't afraid and judgemental like everyone else.

Maths class ended sooner than expected, and Mink hastily made his way down to the front gate. In the back of his mind he was hoping to beat the rain home again today, but mostly he was just hoping to get home and sort out his feelings before he ran into Sei again.

"Mink, wait up!" a familiar voice called out from behind him. Mink's heart sank in his chest, but he turned around and was wholly surprised. Instead of Sei's smiling pale face, he was greeted by a scowling tanned face.

"Mizuki?" Mink asked, frowning in confusion. The burgundy headed boy was in the grade below Mink and they'd only ever spoken maybe once before, a long time ago. Mizuki was on the school's soccer team and invited Mink to a party he'd hosted once, but Mink had never showed up and Mizuki had been really offended.

Mizuki stalked over, the scowl on his face deepening. "Look man, I saw him first," he said heatedly, leaving a threateningly small amount of distance between himself and Mink. Mizuki was in pretty good shape. He worked out a lot to stay fit for the soccer team. He was tall and lean, but he wasn't nearly as tall as Mink. It was foolish of him to think he could use scare tactics against Mink.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mink growled, stepping slightly closer still. His own face formed an intimidating glare and he looked down at Mizuki disdainfully. "You'd better back the fuck away from me before I make you regret coming over here, understand?" He just wanted to go home. He didn't want to have to deal with this bullshit.

Mizuki didn't budge. "I'm telling you, I saw him first," he repeated stonily. "So you're the one who'd better back the fuck off. Do you understand?" His jaw was set and he looked determined. Mink turned up the heat a little, trying to make his facial features look even more frightening. It had some effect. Mink was willing to bet Mizuki was more scared than he looked. It was actually impressive how well the shorter boy was keeping it together under the pressure of Mink's furious gaze.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mink said slowly. "Saw who first? What are you talking about? You're an idiot." Some of the other students making their way home had noticed the heated exchange and were whispering to each other, some in excitement and some in fear. Several students stopped walking altogether, hoping to get a glimpse if a fight broke out.

"I'm talking about Sei!" Mizuki snapped, his voice like a vicious snarl. "I saw you walking with him in the corridor today, you freak! You know he's too good for you, right? I'm telling you to step the hell back, man! I saw him first! You don't get to intrude on that!"

The word 'freak' stung Mink's pride a little bit. He shoved Mizuki's chest with open palms, forcing the boy to take an uneasy step backwards. Mizuki was just another one of those typical assholes who think they deserved the world on a silver platter. He was an entitled little prick trying to boss everyone around and piss all over everything.

"I don't give a shit about you!" Mink yelled in Mizuki's face. "I don't give a shit about what you want me to do! And it doesn't matter either way because I don't give a shit about Sei!"

The whole crowd of students around then suddenly went silent with Mink's angry explosion. Mink stood there panting for breath for a moment, and Mizuki looked genuinely afraid, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. Mink's hot breath crashed down on his cheeks but he was too paralysed with fear to take another step back. Mink turned abruptly, tearing himself away and heaving a sigh, trying to calm himself. He started to leave, to walk home like he'd originally planned, but he heard a voice from behind him.

"Mink?" the small voice questioned.

Oh no. It was Sei. How much had he heard?

Mink didn't want to turn back around. He didn't want to face what he'd done. He didn't want to see Sei's broken expression. It would haunt him, knowing he had broken that fragile boy's smile. Knowing he had breached the dam and made Sei cry. But he couldn't just walk away either. He forced himself to look coldly over his shoulder. Sei was standing a few paces back, holding a clear plastic container to his chest. His face seemed blank, almost emotionless like a carefully constructed mask. Which was much worse than if he'd been crying.

"You're mean, but you're not that mean," he said to Mink in a completely flat tone. "I made these in my cooking class, and I thought you'd like to have them." He extended his arms out, almost robotic-like in his movements, and offered the container to Mink. It was filled with sugar cookies.

Twisting his body to accept the gift, Mink felt his jaw drop slightly. How was Sei acting this composed? Why wasn't he crying? He was clearly very upset, but he was doing an impressive job of containing it. Unlike me…

"I'll see you in homeroom tomorrow," Sei said, his voice cracking slightly. He nodded once and walked away quickly, dissolving into the crowd, most likely headed towards his bus. Mink wanted to stare after him, or to call out and ask if he was really ok, but he also wanted to get away from Mizuki, who was still standing there looking dumbfounded. He wanted to get away before Mizuki or anyone else in the crowd recovered from the shock of that ordeal.

Walking in a fast pace, Mink finally headed home. The container of cookies felt unusually heavy in his hands. I don't deserve these. I'm a terrible person. He resisted the urge to throw them in the trash as soon as he got home…but that would be a waste. Sei had made these for him. He couldn't waste them like that. He dejectedly sat his butt down on the couch, sinking into the cushions. He opened the container with one hand, and raised one of the cookies to his mouth. They looked and smelled so good. He bit a chunk out of the side, and closed his eyes.

He couldn't taste anything. Logically, he knew they tasted good. If Sei had made them, they must have tasted good. But his negative mood was so suffocating that he couldn't really taste anything at all. It was a damn shame. He'd thought maybe eating one of the cookies would be the thing to lift his spirits.

Instead, Mink sighed and wandered into the kitchen. He wanted to put the cookies somewhere safe so he could save them for another time, when he was feeling better and could properly appreciate them. He hid them in the back corner of one of the pantry cupboards. What do I do now? Why do I feel so…empty? He stared at the tiled kitchen floor for a long while, just pondering today's events. I really hurt Sei. I shouldn't have said any of that. I just…Why did I say it?

I didn't think he'd hear me.

I wanted Mizuki to get off my back.

I'm in denial about my crush.

Mink slapped his cheeks with the palms of his hands, trying to snap himself out of it. Everything would probably be back to normal tomorrow. Sei seemed like a pretty resilient, cheerful kind of guy. They'd both sit near each other in homeroom in the morning, and it would be like nothing ever happened. Sei had said it himself this afternoon, he knew Mink wasn't that mean. There was nothing to worry about.

But still, Mink's worries were eating at him. Seeing Sei acting like that, trying his hardest to suppress his emotions and act calm and collected, it had really gotten under Mink's skin. That's not how that boy is supposed to be. That's not right. He should be smiling and laughing. He shouldn't have to choke down his tears and put on a brave face. Ugh! What have I done? What can I do to fix it?

Mink shook his head again, trying desperately to derail that train of thought. He'd already established there was no point in worrying. Nothing good would come from it. Worrying wasn't any kind of solution for this. The only thing he could really do now was reheat some vegetable soup for dinner, and wait to see how things were tomorrow. They'd probably be fine.