last chapter! i may write an epilogue, though.

Chapter 10

Akira sighed as Shuji rode his bicycle, unaffected by the previous day's events, to school. How could he take such a thing so lightly? Why was he so cheerful while Akira was panicking?

Shuji looked behind him at his close friend. "So slow. Hurry up, or we'll be late."

But Akira's feet couldn't pedal fast enough. He was too distracted. Ever since he felt Shuji warm lips on his, it'd been all that occupied his mind. He tried to force those thoughts away, but he couldn't find the strength. He did, however, manage to catch up to Shuji at last.

They joined the crowd of students entering the school, side by side, as they used to, but there was a different feeling there. That first kiss had left him breathless, and now he wanted more and more from Shuji. But he knew that to be impossible.

Anna walked beside them, and she and Shuji spoke casually, though she kept eyeing Akira. Finally, she took Shuji's arm and led him away from Akira, leaving him alone once more.

Shuji didn't talk for the rest of the morning. Rather, he just sat there, scratching his head menacingly in thought. Akira thought seriously about asking what exactly happened, but he thought it best to let him tell him himself when he was ready.

But he didn't say a word to him all morning, so when Shuji grabbed his arm desperately just before lunch, Akira was shocked.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Akira asked.

"I just do. Please."

"Okay, okay."

Shuji led Akira to their usual meeting place, but he left him at the door and walked straight to the edge staring at the ground so far below them. "Anna sked me to go out with her." He said, oddly depressed.

"Seriously?! But didn't she just reject you recently?"

"She said she thought it over a lot, and she wouldn't mind dating me. She said she'd liked you before, but you've been weird lately, so she gave up."

"That's great, Shuji!" Akira lied enthusiastically. Normally, he'd try to stop it, but he saw no point.

"yeah." He said solemnly, but his voice quickened. "But I thought about last year, and Mariko, and why I didn't date her because I saw it as a waste of time. Then I thought, why'd I even ask Anna out in the first place? I didn't think any more of her than I did Mariko. I've decided that I was right to begin with, and I don't really want a girlfriend in high school. Why waste my last year of high school on some girl I'll never see again after this year?"
Akira was confused. If he'd already made up his mind, why did he even bother asking Akira to talk with him? "So, don't date her."

"I won't."

"Alright then." Akira headed toward the door.

But Shuji's arms where around him before he could even take the two steps to the door. Akira gasped.

"What are you doing, Shuji?!"

Shuji's hot breath tickled Akira's neck. "I don't know. What did I kiss you for? Why was I at your house yesterday? Why do I feel the need to be near you constantly lately? I can't figure it out myself. But don't leave. That I know I couldn't bear."

Akira gasped dramatically, pushing away from his friend with excessively wide eyes and his jaw hanging open loosely. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeh?!"

Shuji sighed and smiled at him cheerfully. "I understand. I'll leave."

Akira stumbled for his friends arm, managing to grasp his uniform just before toppling to the ground. "Don't do that!" he pleaded.

Shuji rolled his eyes and helped him off the ground. "You are so annoying."

"Why?"

"Why?"

"W-h-y?"

"Don't ask me. You're the one that acts that way."

"What way?"

"Idiot." Shuji covered his mouth to suppress a chuckle.

"Why is that funny?" he asked, his face serious.

"It's so rare that you're so serious."

"You're strange."

"Me? I'm not the one in love with a guy."

Akira smiled. He was happy Shuji could be so easy going about the fact that another boy liked him. "That's true." He smiled cunningly at Shuji, throwing an arm over his shoulder.

Shuji eyes him cautiously. "What are you doing?" he asked, the skepticism clear in his voice.

His lips puckered at his friend, who forced his face away from himself, but Akira just laughed hysterically. "I was kidding."

Shuji sulked. "You aren't funny."

"What'd I do?" he asked, still laughing at his own foolish joke.

Shuji didn't answer, so Akira let him go and swat on the ground, staring at the blue sky overhead. Shuji knelt beside him, but didn't look at the cloud or the vast blue sheet covering the earth. He was looking at Akira.

Akira smiled. "I wonder what Nobuko is doing right now."

Shuji froze. Somehow, hearing his friend talking about Nobuko made him angry. He knew it couldn't be helped, and he knew she was far from them, but it enraged him regardless.

Again he didn't answer. They stared at the sky for some time though, sitting silently, until Akira finally stood. "Let's go inside. Class will start soon."

He turned toward the door, but something grabbed his arm. He turned quickly to see his friend staring at him with a bizarre, determined expression across his face. "Shu—"

But before the name could escape his lips, Shuji's where upon them, erasing any and all thoughts that he may have had.