Disclaimer: Koisuru Boukun belongs to Hinako Takanaga
Chapter 2: An Inappropriate Interloper
The next day, Morinaga made sure to stay out of his senpai's way. After the disaster of last night, he thought it would be best to keep a little distance from Souichi until he cooled down.
That morning, Morinaga had merely knocked on Souichi's door and told him that it was time to get ready for school. When he saw the disarray of the beer can cluttered living room, there was no need to guess what his senpai occupied himself with until the wee hours of the morning. Morinaga tidied up the living room then ate his breakfast. He made sure to leave breakfast and pain medication for Souichi as well and he left a little post-it note for him with a simple message: 'You should eat this before going to class, Senpai. Also, take this medicine to help with any pain you may be feeling today. –Morinaga'.
Morinaga headed to school without Souichi, thinking all the while about their dysfunctional relationship.
It seemed as though he could never do anything right when it came to Senpai. No matter how hard he tried, everything he did made Souichi angry; even when his intentions were pure, Senpai never thought well of him. Granted, he didn't have the best track record with him because of his frequent ulterior motives in the past, but he was trying his best, and Souichi wouldn't give him a chance.
Morinaga was always in constant question of Senpai's feelings. There was never a straight, easy answer to whatever the kouhai asked him, and the older man continuously dodged every question the brunette threw at him and avoided every attempt Morinaga made to get closer to the man.
'What can I do to make him happy? I love him so much…' Morinaga thought as he entered the school gates.
Souichi had arrived about an hour after Morinaga. At first things were tense and awkward, but they soon got into a familiar work pace and the stressed atmosphere dissipated.
A couple hours later there was a knock on the door, and then their sensei, Professor Fukushima, walked in.
"Hn? Fukushima-sensei!," Souichi said, then both him and Morinaga did a quick bow towards the man.
"Tatsumi-san, Morinaga-san, How are you two this morning?" the man asked looking at both of them.
"We're fine, what brings you here?" asked Souichi, confused at the sudden appearance of their sensei.
"Well, I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but there has been a change in the curriculum for you upperclassmen."
"What changes?"
"Apparently, the Board of Education has decided to intensify your workload, so if you were in the process of planning out and pacing your semester experiments, you will most likely have to start over…"
As the professor kept talking, Souichi seemed to be getting increasingly aggravated, but his contained fury was only visible to Morinaga. Souichi always showed respect to his teachers, but after this new information, Morinaga's senpai seemed about ready to burst. The older man was about to object when Professor Fukushima continued.
"…Unless you take in another kouhai to help you."
Morinaga and Souichi glanced at each other with uncertainty, then Souichi asked the professor to elaborate.
"Well, there is an agricultural-science transfer student who just came here from Teiu University. He's brilliant with chemistry and is an efficient worker, I think you would like to work with him Tatsumi-san; and Morinaga-san, you don't have any problem with another kouhai in the lab do you? It means less work for you too."
Morinaga didn't really know what to say. He loved that it was only him and his senpai in the lab. Their work environment had become somewhat of a safe haven, and neutral area where Senpai and he could simply be, without relationship problems constantly hovering overhead, but at this point in time, it seemed futile to try and work without someone else aiding their experiments and he had to admit, they would barely get by with the plan they had set up now and with an even more burdensome curriculum, there was no way to get it all done without an extra pair of hands working along with them.
"No, sensei, it's no problem with me," Morinaga said.
"Well then, all I need is your agreement, Tatsumi-san," Professor Fukushima said with a smile.
Morinaga and Fukushima were both silent for a while, waiting for Souichi's response. When it seemed as though Souichi would never come to a decision, Morinaga stepped up, "One moment, Sensei," then grabbed his senpai's hand and turned both of their backs to the Professor; they hunched over to discuss the situation.
Souichi abruptly pulled his hand away, his face scarlet.
"Don't. do. That. In. front. Of. People." He viciously mumbled, making sure to enunciate every word.
Morinaga ignored Souichi's statement. "Senpai, we have to have another person here. We can barely get all the work done with just us, and with additional work, it's going to be worse."
Souichi threw an irritated glance at Morinaga, then sighed before turning to face the professor.
"It couldn't hurt to have a helping hand around here."
"I'm glad you agreed to it, Tatsumi-san. You definitely chose wisely."
"When will the new student be coming here?"
"Actually…" the professor trailed off as he walked towards the door and opened it to reveal the transfer student. "Come in Tanazaku-san."
Souichi had to keep himself from gaping as the new student walked in, having to duck his head a little to get through the door way. It was the stranger, that same stranger from last night. When the young man saw Souichi, he looked shocked for a moment, but then the emotion vanished from his face as soon as it had appeared. He put on a pleasant smile then bowed deeply.
"Good Morning, my name is Keita Tanazaku. I look forward to working with both of you." Now, in clear fluorescent lighting, his features could be made out. He had brown hair and cerulean eyes. He was a few inches taller than Morinaga and some of his features were European. He was a handsome fellow and would no doubt garner attention from the female student body.
Morinaga and Souichi both slightly bowed in acknowledgement.
"I'm sure all three of you will get along well. Morinaga-san, Tastsumi-san, I would like you to show him the ropes around this lab and the experiments that you have to get done. Let these two weeks be used for training, then I'm sure everything else will run smoothly. Well, I have to get to another meeting. Have a good day." Professor Fukushima nodded to all three of them, then made his way out of the lab.
Souichi waited until the professor was out of ear shot to yell at the new student.
"You?!" Souichi shouted, "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"I go to school here now," Keita responded calmly, inwardly smirking at his own comment.
"I know that, but, but-" Souichi was getting irritated again.
"Senpai, you know him?" Morinaga asked, ignorant to what had occurred the previous night.
When, Morinaga spoke, it seemed to be the first time that Keita truly noticed him there. He had been aware of his presence, but not fully, at least, not until now. As Souichi sputtered out an annoyed explanation of how the two met, Keita realized that he couldn't keep his eyes off the brunette; he studied the dark-haired man from the top of his head to feet. He had a kind and warm aura, kind of like a puppy…
"Oh, so that's how you know him," Morinaga said, relieved to be caught up on the information.
"Yeah, and it's your job to train him, 'cause I sure as hell aint doing it."
Morinaga seemed about ready to retort when Keita stepped in.
"Tatsumi-senpai, I know that I caused you trouble the first time we met, but could we please start over," Keita sincerely bowed yet again to Souichi, "I want this to work out. I'm sorry that I irritated you, but could we please move on?"
Souichi looked at him as though he was assessing the apology, then walked over to his work station, "Fine, whatever, just don't get in my way. It's still your job to train him, Morinaaga!"
"Alright, alright, Senpai." Morinaga said with a sigh.
Souichi was really regretting telling Morinaga to train Keita. When he heard them laughing with one another on the other side of the lab, he made a face to himself.
'Why the hell are they getting along so well? It's so fucking annoying, laughing all the time. What the hell could they be talking about that's so funny?'
It had been a few hours since Keita came to the lab, and him and Morinaga got along instantly. That was the problem. They got along too well. Something about the way he talked to Morinaga made him dislike the guy. During lunch was the worst.
Keita was in the lab for only about an hour when it was lunch time already. Within the hour, they seemed so…chummy with one another. Keita accompanied us for lunch, and this is where things got weird. When we went up to get lunch at the line, I was standing in front with Keita behind me and Morinaga behind Keita. After I put what I wanted on my tray, I waited a little while for them to get their food so we could sit down. Then, that Keita, the bastard, says, "No, Morinaga, let me…" and serves Morinaga's food before his own. Of course like any normal person, I was thinking 'What the fuck?'.
So, anyways, Keita gets his food next, then we all sit down at one of the tables. Morinaga, that dumbass, forgot to get chopsticks, so he gets up to get a pair, then Keita stops him and says, "Here, Morinaga. You can have mine," Then throws a shit-eating grin at him. He actually got up again to get another pair.
Then, through the whole lunch, they kept talking and laughing with one another as if they've known each other for years, and every time they'd stop their annoying-ass chitchatting, when Morinaga would be eating, the bastard would be staring at him...and staring at him...and staring at him! What. The. Fuck?
And here's the fucking ice cream topper of all this. At the end of lunch, Morinaga insisted on taking all of our trays to the front. Then, when he turned around and was walking away with the trays, I must've been hallucinating, but I could have sworn that Keita was looking at his ass.
Souichi scowled at the vivid remembrance of the event, but his thoughts were disrupted by yet another one of Morinaga's laughs. His laughter could have easily been mistaken for hyperventilation if one didn't know any better. What was the faint pain throbbing in Souichi's chest as he watched the two talk with one another. It seemed so wrong, as though the world was turned upside down, to see Morinaga enjoying the company of someone other than Souichi. The sudden burst of laughter was the final straw. He was getting increasingly annoyed with their giggling and whatever it was that they were talking about. This whole situation just put him in an overall bad mood.
'Are they even doing work over there?'
This thought prompted Souichi to check up on them without warning.
"So, what have you both been up to," Souichi asked suspiciously.
"Oh, Senpai," Morinaga spun around on his stool, quickly meeting his senpai's irritated gaze, "He's gotten a hang of most of the information already."
"Oh really, then Keita, I guess you won't mind helping me with a reagent over here for the time being," Souichi asked in an attempt to separate the two.
"Of course, Tatsumi-senpai," Keita decided, following Souichi back to the lab station.
Throughout the rest of the day, Keita helped Souichi with whatever he needed, but he'd constantly steal glances at Morinaga, and sometimes watched him through his bangs. It seemed as though feelings were rapidly blooming for the young man. Just like before, he found that he couldn't take his eyes off the brunette and he realized that he was mentally taking note of all his quirks, like subtle gestures and repeated phrases.
Towards the end of the school day, Keita went to the restroom and left Morinaga and Souichi alone in the lab for a while.
Morinaga warily looked over his shoulder, then made the decision to ask him. "Senpai, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?"
"What? Why?" Souichi questioned, suspicious of Morinaga's intentions again.'
"Oh, I-," Morinaga forgot that he had made a promise to himself earlier to give his senpai some space after the incident, of course after such an incident, the brunette was trying to be wary of anything that would irritate Souichi, "Um, well, if you don't want to go, it's alright, I just thought that since today's been kind of busy, you'd like to go out…to eat…"
Souichi eyed Morinaga, wary of his plans, proceeding with caution as usual, but he deduced that Morinaga wouldn't be stupid enough to try something again so soon. After what happened today, he felt that he needed to do this, to go to dinner with him. Why though, as confirmation and affirmation of Morinaga's feelings? 'Hell no.'
"…Okay, but you better not pounce me," Souichi reluctantly agreed.
Keita returned to the lab and they rapidly closed up their work and headed out for the day. As they were leaving the university campus, Keita realized that Morinaga and Souichi were about to leave in the same direction.
"Oh, do you both live close to one another?" Keita asked, a little distressed at the possible closeness between the two men.
The young man wasn't quite sure yet why he was so attracted to Morinaga so quickly. It was as though a spark ignited something in his chest when he first met the brunette. He found himself questioning and feeling jealous of the seemingly close relationship of the two.
"Hn?," Morinaga said, not clearly hearing what Keita had asked then smiled as comprehension dawned on him, "Senpai and I live together."
Senpai and I live together
Senpai and I live together
Live together
The words reverberated in Keita's head. For a while he wore a blank expression, then when the sentence finally sunk in; he felt his mood drop to zero. He didn't know if he quite understood what this implied; this could possibly mean that the two were in a relationship. The heavy thought was like a punch to the gut; he was wallowing in his sadness and disappointment until his thoughts were broken by a dull sound.
Souichi had overheard what Morinaga said and in a burst of aggravation, punched his kouhai in the head.
Morinaga's hand rose to his cheek and rubbed, "Ow! Senpai, so mean!"
"I told you not to say that to people!" Souichi yelled then turned to face Keita, "he's exaggerating! It's only a share!"
"A share?" Keita asked regaining some hope, he looked over to Morinaga for confirmation and didn't miss the sad look on his face. Keita made a wild guess that that expression wasn't from the blow he just got to the cheek.
"Yes! A share! So don't go making any wrong assumptions!" Souichi shouted.
"I wouldn't dream of it," said Keita. He looked over to Morinaga. "I'll see you both tomorrow then?"
"Whatever. Come on, Morinaga," Souichi said while marching off.
Morinaga smiled and waved goodbye to Keita then ran to catch up with his senpai. Keita watched as they walked away, thinking about what he just saw and turning it over and over in his head.
"Wait, Senpai!" Morinaga called out as he tried to get closer to Souichi. The tyrannical man ignored his request but slowed down after a while and they walked home together. They were planning on going home to finish up some homework tonight, then they would go to a restaurant for dinner.
While walking alongside Souichi, Morinaga couldn't help smiling from ear to ear.
"Why the hell are you smiling so much?" Senpai broke the silence; he was a little weirded out when Morinaga would suddenly smile so brightly for no apparent reason.
"No reason, I'm just happy," Morinaga said, turning to Souichi, his face beaming.
Souichi eyed his kouhai for a moment, then looked away, a little unsure about his kouhai's response, "Well, it's creepy,"
That simply made Morinaga smile even wider. When Souichi was insistent on telling Keita that they were not living together, his mood had dropped a little, but he cheered up as he thought of his senpai's recent behavior. He didn't expect Senpai to be so forgiving within only a day after the incident. And now he was able to walk with the older man back to the apartment. Their apartment. Whether Souichi wanted to admit or not, it was both of their homes now. Just thinking about this rose Morinaga's spirits astronomically and right now, just walking with the man made him feel euphoric…
Morinaga gave a self-loathing sigh, 'What on earth am I? I feel so happy over something so insignificant. But perhaps, since Senpai forgave me so soon, this may mean that we're making progress!'
Morinaga chuckled a little to himself.
Souichi and Morinaga reached the apartment after a few more minutes of walking, then got some homework done. Within a few hours they were at a Thai restaurant eating dinner.
Morinaga was sure to keep himself from rubbing his senpai the wrong way and provoking him in any way, when Souichi spoke up.
"So, I see you're getting along with Kairii." Souichi's voice snapped Morinaga out of his thoughts.
"Keita…" his kouhai corrected.
"Whatever." Souichi looked away for a moment, then stared at his kouhai expectantly, waiting for the response to his question.
Morinaga hesitated to answer, perplexed at the random question, "Well, he seems nice, which is a relief because it's always so hard to work with-"
He was going to say, 'It's always so hard to work with aggressive, mean people'
"So hard to work with- who?" Souichi prodded while eating his ferociously eating his chicken.
"It's so hard to work with…terrible people." Morinaga finished lamely as Souichi continued gnawing at the hot wings. Senpai didn't seem to notice his halted speech and Morinaga inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" Souichi continued, catching Morinaga of guard again.
"What?"
Souichi looked away once more, a faint blush appeared on his cheeks, "You guys seemed awfully happy, what were you talking about?"
Morinaga was confused as to why his senpai was so interested in Keita. He never really showed this much interest in anyone else…then he realized the blush on his face.
'Oh my God! Is he attracted to him? Well Keita is handsome, but he's not Senpai's type is he? Wait, wait, Tetsuhiro! Calm down! Remember what happened with Isogai? Jumping to conclusions gained you nothing! Plus Senpai said that there's only me right? Right. I just need to stop thinking about this and get Senpai as far away from this subject as possible, and I need to do that quickly!'
"Morinaga?" Morinaga looked up. He realized that he had just been intently staring into his food for over a minute. Souichi narrowed his eyes a bit, suspicion lining his features.
"Huh, Senpai?"
Souichi glared, "I asked you a question…"
"Oh, well we realized that we had grown up in the same city and took the same classes in high school. We also found out that we love same t.v. shows. We were laughing about moments we thought were funny on the late night dramas, you know, that kind of stuff. So, the weather is wonderful today isn't it!" Morinaga laughed nervously while waiting for Souichi's response.
Souichi was silent for a long while and just stared at Morinaga. Then, he suddenly blushed furiously from his neck up to his forehead and ducked his head. He continued eating his chicken in silence.
Morinaga didn't know what to make of Senpai's reaction. He decided that it was best to brush it off; he was trying his best not to irk Senpai, so it would be for the best if he just ignored it. It probably wasn't about something worth mentioning…hopefully.
Heh heh! What could Souichi have been thinking about? Stay tuned to find out!
I hope you guys don't absolutely hate Keita! I know he sounds super cheesy in this chapter, but I hope he'll be redeemed in the next. Extra information about him: He's 6'4", his personality is pretty similar to Morinaga's except he isn't self-sacrificing and self-loathing as him. He also has this really sexy side. He gets jealous easily and can be annoyingly childish and possessive.
Weekly Challenge! Try and guess what Souichi was thinking!