Seo and Wakamatsu were walking downtown. Well, Wakamatsu was dragged by Seo while he carried her shopping bags.

"I could use a little help, y'know"

"I'm already paying for everything, thank you" Seo shot.

"Hey, aren't those Mayu and Mikoshiba-senpai?" Wakamatsu asked, looking at the two figures going into the sweets shop.

Seo scrunched her eyes suspiciously. 'This ought to be fun' she chuckled evily. "Come on, Waka. I'm in the mood for sweet tea"

"You mean gossip tea" Wakamatsu corrected, disappointed.

"Pfft hehe"

"Spying is wrong"

"Shut up and hurry" Seo demanded. Wakamatsu had no other choice but to follow.

_

'You better tell him after the competition' was what Sakura's glare told him. This was the perfect chance. It was just the two of them.

"Why did your parents name you similar to your last name? Did they hate you?" Mayu asked instead. Damn, he had never being this sissy before.

Seo snorted behind the menu book. "Man, this kid is priceless"

"Seo-senpai, be quiet" Wakamatsu hushed. They were sitting behind some bookshelves the shop had for decoration, so they were pretty blocked from Mikoshiba and Mayu's sight. Only that Seo's voice could give away.

The other two didn't seem to have seen them, so they continued on their conversation.

"Well, long story short..."

Flashback

A redhaired woman was carrying a crying baby in the hospital bed. A nervous father was also crying.

"Honey, could you fill out the registration form? I'm a little busy here" the woman asked.

"S-sure"

His hand was shaking and his vision was blurry. It was just his bad luck that he had to write it in romaji, rather than kanji characters. When he wrote the first letters of the last name, he noticed that he wrote them on the first name blank. So, instead of asking for another paper, he added "-to" to "Miko-". And well, both his first and last name began alike.

End of flashback

"And so, yeah. My dad's... special" Mikoshiba finished.

"That's actually a funny story" Seo told Wakamatsu. He glared at her as if to say 'please shut up'.

"I've been meaning to ask..." Mikoshiba began, not daring to look at Mayu, so he glanced sideways. "There was a girl you rejected back there, right?"

Mikoshiba knew the answer, he just wanted to hear Mayu's point of view. Maybe the kid was as oblivious as his older brother and mistook the confession for something else.

"Yeah" Mayu answered.

"Why? She seemed pretty nice"

"There's someone I like already" Mayu was... blushing?

It was the first time Mikoshiba saw him blush. It wasn't the first time he had done so, though.

"Is that so?" Mikoshiba teased and smirked. "You sneaky brat. Who is it?"

Mayu stayed quiet for a while. It's not that he was shy to tell him. Au contraire. But he knew that two little birds were in the café as well. One of them seemed to live for drama.

"So, you're not gonna tell me..." Mikoshiba seemed sad. Mayu hated to see him like this. "It's cool. It's the first time you've liked someone, huh?"

Mayu nodded, but Mikoshiba still wasn't satisfied.

"I like you" Mayu confessed.

Wakamatsu choked on his drink and began coughing.

"Shut up, Waka! And I'm the noisy one"

"You--you what?" Mikoshiba almost fell back on his chair.

"I like you, Mikoto-san. A lot"

As much as Mikoshiba hated to admit it, he knew Mayu wasn't joking. Not when he stared at him directly like that.

Mikoshiba looked away. He didn't even know what to feel. Yeah, he was flattered. Mayu was a great person. He was clever. He listened to you when you needed it the most. He was the captain of a sports team without even being active most of the day. He was kind and very handsome, in fact.

But was Mikoshiba ready to admit to himself that he was into guys?

'No. Not guys in general. Just Mayu...' Mikoshiba thought.

"Sorry..." he said instead. He needed some time to think about it. But before he could react and look at him, Mayu had already gotten up from his seat with a plain look on his face and walked out the door.

Next thing Mikoshiba knew, he had gotten on his feet and went after him. "Wait, Mayu" he called. When he walked out the door, Mayu was nowhere to be seen.

"Seo-senpai, did you know this was gonna happen?" Wakamatsu asked.

"Not exactly how I pictured it, but I knew there was something going on" she answered, but she seemed kinda spaced out. "I gotta tell Chiyo"

"But then she'll tell Nozaki-senpai! I don't want him to hate Mikoshiba-senpai"

"Well, duh, she'll tell him. But I also know her enough to know she'll meddle and create a plan to fix this mess"

"Wow, Seo-senpai. You're actually concerned about them?"

"I'm a very nice person, I'll have you know" she bragged. "Besides, our circle of friends is so lame. We're like the only ones dating when the others are obviously hitting on each other too"

"Wait, since when are we--"

"Hush, Chiyo just answered" she interrupted his doubts and picked up the phone. "Yeah we've got some shit to tell ya"

_

Things were just going downhill. He was confused. Mayu wasn't the type to run away from things, so why didn't he let him talk?

Mikoshiba threw himself in bed and stared at the ceiling. He needed someone to talk to. He would usually go to Mayu, but that was out of the question. Then there was Sakura, who would probably tell Nozaki... who would sit Mayu down to interview him and use it for manga reference. Kashima, well, she is his best friend. She'd probably just misunderstand or get dragged away by Hori.

He had no choice but to text Mayumayu. Wouldn't she get the wrong idea, though? He doesn't want her to think he likes Mayu... does he?

He took out his phone and opened the blog. She had uploaded new drawings the other days. She was truly talented.

He went to the blog's messenger and typed.

[To: Mayumayu]

Hey

He waited a while for her to answer.

Mayu didn't feel like eating. He just wanted to get some sleep.

He should've just kissed him there and then. Maybe help him reconsider?

He was frustrated with himself. He always went for what he wanted. He would've gone for it, tackled him or confess over and over again until it got to Mikoshiba. But he wasn't ready to hear those heartbreaking words. And he still had not told him about the Mayumayu thing.

'How did I become a pussy like him?'

Someone knocked on the door and opened it.

"Mayu-kun, Mom really wants you to eat" Yumeko said.

"Not hungry"

Yumeko frowned. Something was wrong, and she was gonna get to the bottom of it.

"You did win the competition, right?" Yumeko asked, sitting on the foot of her brother's bed.

"The medal's there"

"Then what's wrong?"

"You'll understand when you're older"

"I'm only a year your junior" Yumeko stated. This wasn't getting anywhere.

"I want some time alone"

"You're always isolated" Yumeko muttered. Giving up, she stood up and headed out the door, "I'll just tell Mom you're sleeping. I'll save your food in a bento box and put it on the fridge". She looked at him sadly one last time before leaving and closing the door.

Mayu sighed. He felt bad, he really did. Yumeko had been equally affected when Umetarou moved. Mayu was the only one she could count on with teenager issues when their older brother wasn't there.

He just didn't feel like talking about his love problems to her. To anyone, really. Umetarou wasn't an option either. He'd turn it into another good-selling volume for all he knew.

His phone beeped. Of course, it was the person he wanted to see the most, but was it still fair to talk to him as Mayumayu?

[From: Mamiko-san]

Hey

Should he answer?

[To: Mamiko-san]

Hi

How are you?

And he did. Temptation was a handy. He shouldn't have asked him how he was doing. Either he'd lie about being fine, or tell him the truth about not being fine, which would lead to explaining why.

He didn't want to know.

[From: Mamiko-san]

Idk...

Someone that I consider one of my best friends confessed to me.

And there it was. Mayu sure was curious to know further, but all of this felt wrong.

[To: Mamiko-san]

How do you feel about them?

Mayu's heartbeat increased. He already heard the Mikoshiba's "Sorry". Did he want to indirectly get rejected again?

[From: Mamiko-san]

Tbh

I'm not sure myself

It's complicated

I've never been in love before

Did this mean Mayu had a slight chance?

No. Getting his hopes up would be too much work.

[To: Mamiko-san]

Give yourself some time to find out.

Who knows? They might be still waiting for you

[From: Mamiko-san]

Thanks. I knew I could count on you!

[To: Mamiko-san]

I'll always be here

And Mayu somehow felt a little better. He could finally get some sleep after so long.