Chapter 3
His hands where shaking and he couldn't stop his mind from rejecting his plan immediately. What was he thinking? Of course Shuji wouldn't feel the same way.
Shuji walked up the steps, looking a bit irritable bout the second meeting, though he'd seemed fine with it yesterday. He sighed, sitting down beside Akira and forcing himself to relax.
"What's wrong?" Akira asked in his usual, playful voice.
Shuji's face fell again. He leaned against the cool metal of the fence. "Anna rejected me. It's like I said, she likes you. And you like her, so why not ask her out?"
"First, I never said that. You assumed. Which is bizarre since you're usually oblivious to those things. Besides, you like her so why bother?"
"I got rejected, so it's not a problem anymore. Ask her."
Akira allowed his head to sway toward Shuji, just a few inches from his face. It tormented him to do so, but it was how Shuji knew him, so it only seemed natural. "no," he stated flatly before swinging his head away and standing to face the streets, his fingers entwined in the wiry fence.
Shuji stood and leaned on the fence beside him, facing the opposite way. "fine. I guess it would hurt me a little, but it wouldn't be because I liked her. More so that she preferred someone else, that would bother me. I guess it's my ego acting up again." His head turned to Akira, but he pretended not to notice.
Akira laughed once. "You do have a big ego." He smiled, still now facing Shuji.
"So… what did you want to tell me? It sounded important."
Akira cringed. Naturally, he'd only extended the Anna conversation to buy himself time. Now he was out, and the time for his confession had come. He put his forehead to the fence. "It's nothing." He said as he pushed his body away and took a few swaying steps toward the door.
Shuji rushed to his side. "seriously, if it's bothering you, tell me. We're," he seemed to struggle with the word. Never had he said them to Akira, "friends… right?"
Akira was shocked to hear him use the words he'd been denying for so long, but he was to troubled to cling to the words. "yea… I guess."
Shuji took a step back, arms crossed over his chest in a stern stance. "what's that mean?"
"I just… it could be more than friendship, cant it?" the words came out before his mind processed it. He cursed at himself mentally. He'd finally made his confession, though… right?
"I'm lost. More? But after friendship there's…"
Akira's eyes fell. "I know" was all he could think of. No other words would come to him.
"But… we're both…"
"I know!" he screamed. It took him a moment to compose himself. He stepped to Shuji's side, put his arm around Shuji and put his lips a few inches from Shuji's ear as he'd done so many times before. But this time it was different. Shui knew, and the tension in the air only grew stronger. "It's fine. I won't do anything."
Shuji pushed way from him, looking back at him with wide eyes before rushing back into the school. Akira went back to his place at the fence and watched somberly as Shuji rushed from the school grounds. He allowed a few tears to escape, but no more. He left the school, along with the first friend he'd ever known.