Mikoshiba couldn't stand this anymore. Why was he running away? Why was he avoiding his own feelings?

He decided to text Mayumayu.

[To: Mayumayu]

I'm such a loser

I can't face my friend. I can't

[From: Mayumayu]

Why?

Did you get shy again?

[To: Mayumayu]

Yea

Everything's so awkward

I just wish things went to the way they were before

[From: Mayumayu]

Can't they be?

I'm sure ur friend understands that u don't feel the same way

Let them know you want to keep on with the friendship

Mikoshiba began typing: That's the thing! I may or may not--

The phone turned off.

"WHAT?!? Didn't I charge it? Ughh" Mikoshiba groaned, plugged the phone and went to bed. Maybe Mayumayu wasn't meant to know.

'I just need some sleep. That's probably it'

_

"Mikoto, it looks like it's going to rain. Why don't you take an umbrella to school?" His mother asked.

"I don't know, Mom. 'Woohoo! Weather' said otherwise"

"Well, okay. Be careful. Have a great day!"

He should've just followed his mother's instincts. Now he was stuck in the school entrance, with only a backpack to cover him.

This sucked. It had been the worst week of his life. Everyone had left school already and the rain didn't seem to stop.

He sighed. Guess he had no other choice but to make a run for it.

_

Mayu was determined. He was not gonna let Mikoshiba run away this time. Not away from his own house at least, especially since it was raining.

On his way, he walked past a grocery store and saw a familiar woman outside, waiting for the rain to cease.

"Oh, Mikoshiba-san" Mayu bowed to Mikoto's mother, who seemed to not have an umbrella with her.

"Mayu-kun. How have you been? It's been a while since you've come to our house"

"I've been busy lately" Mayu answered. "I should drop you by your home"

"If it's not a bother. I gave the umbrella to my husband"

They walked under the umbrella and he helped her with the bags.

"Were you planning on staying today? I've been told that you're a fan of my pork curry" she asked and giggled a little embarrassed.

Mayu nodded and thanked her, going inside the house.

He sat on the couch and Noa welcomed him by sitting on his lap. The feline and him had a complicated relationship. Sometime's she liked him, sometimes she'd scratch him. Since he was too lazy to get her off of him, Mikoshiba would usually help him.

"Oh, looks like Mikoto's not home yet. I'm a little worried. He wasn't carrying an umbrella either"

"I can look for him" Mayu suggested, already grabbing his umbrella and opening the door, only to see a drenched Mikoshiba outside.

"Mayu?"

"Mikoto! Hurry inside, you're gonna get sick" his mother came to him with a towel and dry clothes. "Take a hot bath. I'll go make dinner"

Mayu just looked at him. Mikoshiba's shirt was glued to his skin.

"You can wait in my room" Mikoshiba said, quickly leaving to the bathroom.

_

Mayu looked around the room. So Mikoshiba bought new figurines? He never stopped.

The door opened and closed. Mikoshiba's hair was damp and he was drying it with a towel.

"That one's new" Mayu said, pointing at the girl with short, green hair and a very thin bikini.

"You noticed, huh? I bought it in Hokkaido" Mikoshiba replied.

They just stared at each other until Mayu decided to take out a file folder from his backpack and handed it to Mikoshiba.

"What's this?" Mikoshiba asked, opening the folder, to see a lot of drawings of women. These seemed familiar.

"It's what I wanted to talk to you about"

The more he went through the pages, the more scared he got. "You print Mayumayu's art? Isn't that copyright?"

"I drew them"

"That's impossible" Mikoshiba's voice was shaking.

Mayu sighed and took a paper and pencil from Mikoshiba's desk. Looking quickly at one of the dolls for reference. Once he finished, he handed it to Mikoshiba.

"You can draw? This looks creepily like Mayumayu's art" he awkwardly laughed. He refused to believe it. "A-and your signature is the same"

Mayu took out his phone, opened Mayumayu's blog and went to the messenger app. He gave it to Mikoshiba.

His eyes grew wide. "Nononononono" he cringed, rubbing his forhead with his fingers. "Why?"

"It was so my team would be willing to learn judo techniques..."

"Did you know this whole time? A-about me being Mamiko?"

"Only since Osaka"

"AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME? How could you?"

Mikoshiba was sure angry. His eyes were puffy and guilt spread through Mayu's stomach.

"I'm sorry"

"You're sorry?! You're sorry that you were pretending to be a girl?"

"You were too" Mayu replied.

"B-but you knew. And I told you so many of my secrets. Of course, some of the ones I told Mayumayu were the same ones as I told you but..." Mikoshiba couldn't believe this. "All those things you told me. The compliments, the advices..."

"I meant all of them"

"WHY?" Mikoshiba asked again.

"I wanted to tell you"

"But you didn't"

"I did now"

"BUT BEFORE THIS WHOLE MESS!"

"YOU WERE IN LOVE!" Mayu yelled.

Mikoshiba might have gone crazy, but he had never heard him act like this before. He fell back into his bed. Mayu continued.

"You were in love with Mayumayu... you were happy" he looked downwards for a minute before facing Mikoshiba again, gaining his composture.

"I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU, DUMBASS" Mikoshiba cried. "What do you think I've been trying to tell you this whole damn time?"

He sighed. He finally said it. He wasn't fully sure of what he felt until his own mouth put words into it.

'I... love him' this was too much for Mikoshiba to process. And now he was embarrassed and fully red.

Mayu went blank. Did he hear right?

He figured he heard correctly when Mikoshiba became a ball and hid his face from the world.

"I wasn't trying to reject you twice. I just wanted to sort out my feelings first" Mikoshiba finished. He couldn't look at him yet. He felt so naked and exposed whenever Mayu looked through his eyes.

He suddenly felt strongs arms envelop him. The faint scent of summer breeze creeping through his nostrils as the taller guy hugged him.

Mikoshiba slowly gave in and turned around to hug him back, snuggling himself against Mayu's chest.

"I'm still mad at you" he told him, not escaping the hug yet.

Mayu nodded above Mikoshiba's head. He released.

"It stopped raining" Mayu said.

"Let's go out for ice cream after dinner" Mikoshiba said too lowly. Mayu heard him, though.

"So, it's a date"

"DON'T PUT IT LIKE THAT!"

_

This was a terrible idea.

Mikoshiba had never gone on a real date before. He was scared of being left alone with Mayu now? How was he so calm about this?

Oh, right. They had been alone together many times before.

But it was different now. Why couldn't he just act normal?

Mayu held Mikoshiba's hand on the way, but the latter would release whenever too many people walked by.

It's not that he didn't want to hold his hand. The total opposite, in fact. His embarrassment and shyness would takeover.

Mayu had to accept that Mikoshiba wasn't ready to come out so suddenly like this, but he didn't mind. He would wait for him.

Just when they were about to go inside, Sakura and Nozaki walked out.

"Oh, Mikorin, Mayu-kun" Sakura greeted.

"You two on a date?" Mikoshiba teased, which made Nozaki and Sakura blush.

"You too?" Nozaki teased back.

Mikoshiba stammered. "W-what things are you... shut up!"

"We were just about to go to the karaoke with Wakamatsu-kun, Yuzuki, Kashima and Hori-senpai. Wanna come?" Sakura asked.

Mikoshiba shone at the mention of 'karaoke' and looked at Mayu with stars in his eyes. "Pweeasee" he begged.

So much for some time alone with him. Mayu sighed and smiled at him. He couldn't say 'no' when he looked so enthusiastic.

The small karaoke room they were at was too crowded for Mayu's liking, but all around him were his friends, and they seemed excited.

Sakura and Nozaki sang a duet. It wasn't really off-key, but it was out of time. Umetarou tended to change happy songs into sad love songs.

Hori was a really good singer, he tried to convince Kashima to sing with him, but she really didn't want to.

A random girl persuaded her into doing so, and well, Kashima was Kashima.

Everyone covered their ears, or what was left of them, as she sang. Everyone except for Hori, who cheered happily and even danced to the song.

"He's got earplugs, right? He's definitely got earplugs" Seo commented.

Wakamatsu was puzzled. This was the same horrible voice he heard when Seo went into the Glee Club classroom that day. So, it wasn't hers?

'What does her voice sound like, then?'

Nozaki instantly got up, wanting to take the mic from her.

"Not this time" Sakura pulled Nozaki out of the room. Or tried. Hori had to help her. He agreed that it was time Wakamatsu learned the truth.

The world fell to its knees once Seo began singing. The song was in Italian. It was a graceful soprano.

Wakamatsu was slowly falling asleep, not before concluding that the owner of the voice was who he least wanted it to be. He fell, hoping that it was all a nightmare.

It was Mikoshiba's turn. He sure was a different person when he sang.

Mayu knew this song. It was from an anime Mikoshiba loved. He wasn't a bad singer at all. He knew how to hit the right notes. Sad part was when he made eye contact with the crowd, he would get a minor stage fright and his voice would croak.

Once he finished, he got a lot of claps from a small female group in the corner.

"That was amazing. Mikoshiba was it?" A girl clung to his right arm.

"Yeah, you were like a total celebrity" another girl clung to his left arm.

"~Oh really? Well, I'd be happy to sign an autograph wherever and whenever you want~" Not now.

The girls beggan to giggle and Mikoshiba slowly turned blue in humiliation.

Everyone else turned pale and looked at Mayu, who seemed to not care and continued drinking his soda.

"Oh no" Mikoshiba cursed. He just had to do that in front of his... what is he? On the first day of being together, didn't he?

Mayu didn't seem to move away from his seat, but he threw a glare at the girls around Mikoshiba, which scared them away.

Mikoshiba had enough. He couldn't stand it if Mayu broke up with him. He'd understand it, but he didn't want it to happen.

He pushed the girls aside and grabbed Mayu's hand, taking him away from the building.

Once they were outside on an empty alley, Mikoshiba had a hard time facing Mayu.

"I'm sorry. I mean, I know it's hard to believe, and it'll be hard to forgive me but--"

"It's fine"

Mikoshiba looked at him as if he were disoriented. "What? No, it's not! I--"

"It's a habit of yours. I understand"

"But, I like you. And I can't do that in front of you. No, wait. I can't do that at all!"

"If it helps improve your self-confidence, I won't stop you" Mayu said. He just shrugged. Was that really how he was feeling?

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP! I KNOW IT BOTHERS YOU. YOU EVEN GLARED AT THEM"

Mayu just shrugged.

"I've been treating you terribly today" Mikoshiba admitted. "I don't want my pride and reputation to win. I don't want to care what others think. But I'm even too scared to hold your hand. I avoided our first date by going to a crowded place. I start hitting on girls and telling them cheesy lines..." he groaned.

"Don't worry. I don't ever want you to throw those pickup lines at me"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"Mikoto-san, you're nervous. I'll just wait until you get used to all of this. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or rushed in--"

Mikoshiba just couldn't have it. He had to shut him up. He kissed him tenderly, wrapping his arms around his neck.

Mayu was surprised. He always thought he'd be the one to kiss first. Nevertheless, he kissed back, putting his arms behing Mikoshiba's back.

Mikoshiba released and they both began blushing madly. He wanted to hide. He wanted to run away, but his heart knew he couldn't.

"You're unbelievable" Mikoshiba said and hugged him. "I could say 'you're the best', but seriously. If I ever get carried away by girls, just pull another 'he's mine'. I'll do my best"

Mayu nodded and began to yawn.

Mikoshiba smiled. He found it odd that Mayu wasn't looking for an excuse to sleep. He must have been trying really hard to keep awake to be with him. "It's past eleven. I'll walk you to your house. Your brother doesn't seem like he'll be leaving anytime soon"

"Your house is closer" Mayu said.

There was no malice in his voice. The dirty thoughts that plagued Mikoshiba never once crossed Mayu's mind.

"W-what are you... fine. But you're sleeping in the guest room"

"You mean as I've always done whenever I stay over..." Mayu was unsure why Mikoshiba was acting weird.

"Just a reminder" Mikoshiba defended.

They started walking side to side. Before Mayu could think, Mikoshiba reached out for his hand.

And so, they walked like that till they got to the house.

--T H E E N D--