Miscellaneous: Spoilers for Chapter 86 (w/ deviations)! Getting kind of scared since this chapter is where I'll start veering away from canon. Up to this point, I've just been interweaving scenes I made up with re-purposed canon ones, lol. Really nervous 'cause my writing game hasn't been A+ for the longest time. Sorry.

Happy one year of existence to this story! haha missed its anniversary by a couple of days because of work and a bad case of the flu.

Chapter 13
His Type

*.*.*

Walking was a pain, he thought as he continued doing the motions of his everyday routine. Walking made his mind wander around, and when it did, he remembered what he was remembering just that morning, in math class; the flash of purple eyes-

He shook his head as he tried to put the memory aside. He really ought to censor himself. He was putting tremendous effort in trying to listen to whatever it was Goto was saying to him and Okegawa as they made their way to the cafeteria. He was succeeding, but fate just won't hand it to him. A voice cut through the air, and Kawauchi whipped around, expecting to see a person who was likely to be with that voice. Shibuya frantically dashed towards them. When Kawauchi saw that there was no grey-brown hair following him, he remembered that she was gone for 3 more days. He berated himself inside for expecting... something, and only then did Aki's message get across his clouded brain.

"Kyon-kyon Okegawa Banch-" Shibuya shouted, and just like clockwork, the three strongest delinquents of Midorigaoka aimed for his head. The distraction was something Kawauchi was grateful for, he thought as he roared "stop that!" with Goto and Okegawa.

.*.

Kawauchi made a promise to himself to not think at all that night. He had already spent the day wearing himself thin by finding new and novel ways of trying not to think about ******. Even roughing up Shibuya did not help him that much, since he was smiling the whole time and looking relieved like the three of them had just saved him from imminent death.

"Sure is empty without the second years," he heard Goto chimed in out of the blue. The mere mention of second years almost triggered what Kawauchi was avoiding, but he managed to control himself. He continued walking in silence together with Okegawa and Goto.

Goto continued speaking, not realizing that neither he nor Okegawa was going to respond to him. "Since the R.A. isn't here, there's no one to bother us too. Right, Okegawa?"

Okegawa absentmindedly mumbled a reply. Kawauchi was half expecting him to try and make Okegawa reply, but it never came. He looked around and saw Goto hunched over, preoccupied with something obscured from his line of vision.

When he approached where Goto was looking at, he was surprised to see a girl. Normally, he'd exclaim something like delinquents don't call things or people cute, but he couldn't, not in his state of mind. Instead he just sighed and patted her head, giving her some snacks he had saved for Okegawa. He gave her a once-over, and realized that she was just his type. Petite, dainty. And by the way she was studying him, she was the type to want to be protected.

Or so that was what he thought, when it seemed clear to him that she wanted to be brought somewhere. He decided to play along. What was there to lose, anyway? He hoisted her up his shoulders and ran after Shibuya without giving anything too much thought.

****** wasn't like the girl on his shoulders. There was nothing dainty about her. At all. She wasn't as needy, as readable - he was getting annoyed at how decidedly more often his thoughts lead back to her - or even as pretty as this girl. And he was willing to bet that he was the type to be smitten by her, and would probably be willing to do whatever she wanted, a little like what he was doing right now. But he knew that this time was different, because he was thinking of -

He charged through Shibuya's door. "I'm disappointed in you," he said absentmindedly, unsure of whom he was talking to. He put down the girl - he could see the barely concealed joy on her face when she saw Shibuya - and went outside the door. Normally, he'd linger and listen to their conversation, but today he just wanted to...

... he didn't even know what he wanted.

.*.

Why was he even thinking of her? He was in front of the door of his and Goto's room. He didn't even notice he had traveled that far. He knew that no one was waiting for him there. He turned around and started to go to the direction of Okegawa's -

Realization hit him like a ton of bricks hurling towards him at breakneck speed. He had been too absorbed with his thoughts these past few days and had forgotten something important. The reason why he started doing all of this anyway. He folded his knees and sat.

He went over his thoughts. He wanted to find out what was up with the girl Banchou was following around. He found out that she was as strong as him and followed her around. He also tried to set her up with a date with Banchou, which all backfired horribly. Yet he knew, deep inside, that he was a little relieved. At the same time, guilt and disappointment pricked at him, constantly threatening to engulf him whole, asking the same question over and over again.

Why? Why was he relieved? He repeated in his head. He should have bounced back immediately; thought of another way to bring Banchou and Mafuyu together. Why was he even thinking about his type awhile ago? Wasn't all of this for Okegawa anyway?

"This is all so confusing," he mumbled and tousled his hair. He knew that the answers to his questions were already there inside his head. He just needed to confront them. He took a deep breath, and prepared himself.

"Maybe," he stopped, trying to look for the right words.

"I like Okegawa?" he said quietly, just as Goto passed by him as he was entering their dorm room. His little confession caused Goto to stop and stare at him. He returned the stare. After a little while of staring at each other wordlessly, he abruptly stood up and grabbed the doorknob. He was just about to twist it open when he was intercepted by Goto's fast hand clamping down on his arm.

"You didn't hear anything," he seethed through gritted teeth.

"But I did," Goto replied. Kawauchi just turned his head and looked at the floor, anywhere except him. Goto just laughed lightheartedly - and Kawauchi swore he almost wanted to hit him - and loosened his grip on his arm.

"Want to talk about it?"

Miscellaneous: lol I want to write fasterrr -_-;;