Notes: *grumbles* School opens in a week. I should be really relieved cuz I don't have to die of boredom at home, but…it's school! And it's on the fifth! And we're gonna have our major subjects starting this year! *grumbles*

AAAAHHHH!!!!! What did I do?! I just added another issue to settle before tackling the actual plot. Argh…I should really stop doing this.

Okay, for the benefit of those having trouble remembering the characters (same goes for me ^_^;;) or those who just joined us, I made this quite useful table for everyone. (In order of appearance)

SEISHI

SEISHI REINCARNATIONS (last, first)

Hotohori

Migoto Hisoume

Nuriko

Seikou Youshi

Chiriko

Migawari Aiji

Tasuki

Jinsoku Hisaki

MIstukake

Shitsuren Anrui

PART THIRTEEN

"Hey, have you noticed something different with Hisaki lately?"

They—Aiji, Hisaki and Youshi—were walking out of campus that afternoon and heading to the coffee shop two block down when the topic of Hisaki came into the dicussion.

"Yeah, he seems weird. Well, weirder than usual." Youshi said, kicking the pebbles that dared to stand in his way. Although him and Hisou had almost returned to being friends again, he still didn't feel comfortable around him. This guy has feelings for him, and even though he tried to tell himself that Hisou had gotten over him already, that they really are just friends again, a part of himself told him that it wasn't that easy. Crushes don't just end like that, especially when the two parties usually spend afternoons like this in close contact with each other. Besides, another part of him told him that he wished Hisou hadn't gotten over him already.

Getting confused with his trail of thoughts, Youshi shook his head and forced himself to focus on something else. It was at this point when he realized that someone was holding his arm and talking to him. "I'm sorry, what?"

Hisou smiled, "We're here."

When they both realized that Hisou's hand was still on Youshi's arm, they both retreated slowly to avoid any unwanted attention—Aiji's especially—and blushing. Unbeknownst to them, Aiji had already noticed it. Idiots, the both of them.

They entered the establishment and went to order coffee. They were about to go to their usual table when Hisou spotted Houki waving madly at them. He smiled and signaled his companions to come with him. They sat at Houki's booth and placed their bags and books on it. Hisou did the introductions, "Youshi, this is my sister, Houki. She's a year lower than us. Houki, he's the new student from Japan."

Houki shook Youshi's hand, which, by now, he realized was the common courtesy when being introduced to someone.

"You know Aiji, he's also in the same year with me—"

"Yeah, I know you. You used to be in the same class as me in junior high." Houki said.

Aiji blushed, "Yeah. I was accelerated when on my supposedly last year. Instead of that, they made me enroll for high school."

Houki smiled in awe, "That's so cool! One year less of studying! So, whatcha guys doin' here? Hisou, where's Hisaki?"

Hisou sipped his coffee and thought for a while, "He's stillin school. Practicing basketball. What are YOU doing here?"

"No class."

Hisou raised his eyebrow, "No class? Or are you just meeting Mark?"

Houki smiled, "That, too." Seeing his look, she blushed and swatted his arm, "Not for that!"

She then started to engage in a conversation with Youshi in Japanese, with Aiji interjecting every once in a while.

Hisaki arrived thirty minutes later, sweaty, thirsty as hell and noisy as ever.

~*~

They walked out of the coffee shop, almost two hours later. Houki left earlier, when Mark—her boyfriend—picked her up. After being interrogated by Hisou for a good fifteen minutes, they left in his motorcycle. Hisou didn't like Mark. Not even an inch of him, but he can tell Houki's happy with him, and he seemed to be, as well so he just let his worries stay in the back burner. But during their small talk, he had made it impossibly clear to the almost-six-foot seventeen year-old that if he ever treated Houki wrong, Hisou wouldn't have second thoughts of beating him bloody and leaving him on a dark alley. He even said it to make sure he understood. Mark looked like he understood pretty well. But just in case, Hisaki explained it again. Only his version included something about ripping his balls out, putting it in a blender and making him drink it.

The poor guy was shuddering violently when they left.

"So, where are ya guys headin'?" Hisaki asked as he hoisted his bag on his shoulder.

Aiji gestured to the books clutched at his chest, "I'm going to get a head start on a history project."

"Hey, man. I thought yer gonna teach me Math?!" Hisaki asked. "I even have the books here with me!" he said, lifting his bag.

Aiji eyed him questioningly, "I thought Hisou was gonna teach you?"

Hisou made a face, "Yeah. But Hisaki is a very difficult student! He wouldn't know an abscissa if it hit him smack in the face."

"Ahh, so you're giving him to me! Very nice…"

"It's fuckin hard, man! I'm not as smart as you are, but I can't afford to let my grades drop, I'll be outta the team!"

Aiji sighed, seems like he lost. Well, there goes that head start. "Fine. Let's go. Where do you wanna study?"

Hisaki shrugged, "Wherever. Oh, your house. Ya have lots books there."

"Okay." Aiji said, then he turned to Hisou and Youshi, "Well, we're going this way. See ya guys, tomorrow!"

Hisaki waved and smiled knowingly at Hisou. Hisou smiled back and blushed. From the looks of the smile and the blush coloring Hisou's face, Youshi would have to be an idiot to know that Hisou still hadn't gotten over him, yet. Part of him wanted to scream and just make him forget him already, but part of him wanted to laugh and be all joyful about that realization. But, it's still best to just forget it and move on, right? That'd make it easier on both of them, right? Right?

Hisou sighed and buried his hands in his coat pockets, "So, just us, huh?"

Youshi smiled at him, albeit awkwardly, "Yep."

Hisou shifted from one foot to another. What to say, what to say. Argh, Hisou! Say something! And by that, I mean something intelligent…

"You up for ice cream?"

Youshi eyed him warily, "We just came from a coffee shop."

If he won't look stupid whacking his head on the street, he might have. But the last thing he needed was to look more idiotic in front of Youshi than he is now. Ice cream. What the hell were you thinking?! Not exactly intelligent, huh?!

"But I guess I could use one."

Hisou blinked, "Huh?"

Youshi smiled, "Ice cream. I could use one."

In a few minutes, they were walking out of a BTIC shop with ice cream cones in hand. They walked along the sidewalk for a few minutes before deciding to head for the park. Hisou winced when he saw where they were going. The swings.

Youshi felt more than saw Hisou's reaction when he saw they were heading for the swings. Frankly, he feels the same way about that exact spot, but better to do it right here than any other place. He tried ignoring it, he really did, but somehow, the feeling seemed to always rise to the top of his head when he's in close contact with Hisou. And he's afraid it might consume him sooner or later if he didn't face it now.

They sat on the swings, the exact swings they sat on that fatefully unforgettable night. Hisou felt uncomfortable all over again the moment they walked to the place. So, as he sat on the swinging contraption, all his thoughts were on what to say to ease the tension. Well, that and on not letting his ice cream drip from looking too much in Youshi's direction. However, his thoughts were cut short when Youshi cleared his throat and started to speak.

"The stars don't show much in this part of town, does it?" Youshi asked, looking up at the sky.

Hisou looked up, but was unable to see what Youshi was talking about. He grew up in this place. He looked at those stars almost as soon as he knew what the heck stars were. Sure, he had gone to different places, countries even, but this is the only sky he remembers. For him, there' really no point of comparison. "I guess so."

Youshi licked at his rocky road ice cream, "Back home in Tokyo, we don't see stars much either. We live in the city so the stars don't show much. But I have a telescope in my room and every night I look through it and see the stars that can't be seen in the night sky," he sighed dreamily, "It's beautiful."

Hisou smiled, and so are you.

Then, Youshi turned to him; his expression suddenly turned serious, "We have to talk."

Hisou was so sure the color had been drained from his face. He wasn't expecting that subject to be brought out now, and by Youshi no less. He looked at the purple-haired boy, regarding him with kind, yet hard eyes. Looks like there's no getting away with this, then…

He nodded. Youshi continued, "You…ah…you said…" he reached out for Hisou's arm, "don't run, okay?"

Hisou smiled sarcastically but nodded.

Youshi took a deep breath and continued, "I…I'm not…well, used to this…"

Tilting his head to the side, Hisou eyed Youshi questioningly, what, having someone like you? Or having a BOY like you? He thought, but said, "To what?"

"Well…this…talking to someone…about…well," Youshi said, looking down.

The wind blew past them, making them both shiver and bury themselves in their jackets. The park was almost empty at this time of the night; except for a few passers-by they were almost totally alone. Youshi looked around, not sure what to say. Hisou was no better, he looked down on the ground, closely studying his shoes.

"Can I ask you something?" Youshi's voice seemed to tear at the silence that had enveloped them for a while.

Hisou looked up to face him, "Yeah?"

"How…uhm…I mean…when you…since…"

Finally, Hisou took pity on him and came to his rescue, "How did I know? I don't know. It…wasn't exactly something that just came to me full-blown. It…it kinda progressed slowly."

Youshi nodded, not sure what else to say. Well, what the hell do you tell someone who likes you, who incidentally is a boy and is also incidentally your friend?

"You know what…it's no big deal, really. You don't have to worry about it. I…I won't mind."

He turned to Hisou as the brown-haired boy spoke it, "You…wouldn't mind, what?"

Hisou smiled, "If you're, you know…uncomfortable about this. We…can just…forget about this." Then, he looked down, "It's okay."

Youshi looked at him for a while, studying the emotions playing on the taller man's face. He's lying. How can he just forget about something like this? Slowly, he stood up and walked over stand in front of Hisou. Taking a deep breath, he took Hisou's hand that was holding onto the side of the swing between both of his. Hisou, surprised at the gesture and a bit flushed, looked up. Youshi was…smiling. His face held no trace of anger or disgust, just the smile playing on his lips. Slowly, Youshi pulled Hisou up and soon they were standing in front of each other, hands held.

Hisou felt both uneasy and excited at the same time. Here he was, standing in front of the person he just confessed feelings for, not two weeks ago, his hand held between the small, smooth hands of the boy who stood a good foot shorter than he is. Youshi, for his part, was looking deeply into Hisou's eyes, still clutching the taller man's hand in his own.

Hisou ran his hand through his hair and absently licked his lips. Uncomfortable would be an understatement to what he's feeling at that moment. Excited, nervous, frantic, and sweaty, maybe. Not uncomfortable, though. It's not even big enough to describe his emotions.

With a tug and a smile, Youshi pulled Hisou to another part of the park. Hisou blinked, surprised at this turn of events, and just let Youshi drag him to wherever he was planning to go to. Blushing, he thought, I was so sure we were gonna kiss right there…

After a few moments of running, youshi pulled them to a halt. Hisou looked around, it was a clearing somewhere in the park. He didn't even know it existed. Then, his thoughts shifted to another direction and yet again, he started blushing madly.

What…what are we doing here?! Are we…?

"Uhm…why are we here?" Hisou asked.

Youshi smiled up at him and looked at the sky. "I discovered this a week ago. I was trying to see where the other end of the park'll lead me when I found myself here. Look at that," he pointed to the sky at a cluster of stars. "I was so surprised when I saw those stars here. I sued to see them back home as well."

Hisou looked up, not completely understanding what they were doing here. One minute they were in the park, talking about his not-so-recent highly embarrassing confession, and then they were standing closely in front of each other—so close, in fact—and now they were here, in the middle of a clearing, somewhere in the park, looking at stars.

"Why? Because this is a special place, Hisou, that's why."

Hisou turned from the sky to the man standing beside him, Youshi's features illuminated by the moonlight, his face glowing with its ethereal beauty. A special place… "Then…why?"

Youshi looked at him, smiling, "Why ask why? This place is special to me. I want to share it with someone. I chose you."

"You chose…me?" Hisou asked, blinking. Honestly, he still has no clue as to why they were here or, more to the point, why is HE here.

Youshi let go of his hand and twirled around the place, laughing, "You don't get it, do you?"

Hisou followed his every move, staring at him blankly. Youshi stopped moving and just looked back at him. "Kisama…you really don't get it." It's not a question, but a statement. From looking at Hisou's expression, it seems very obvious that he truly had no idea what's the point of being here. Finally giving up, he walked over to Hisou and took his hand again, "It's getting dark. We should head home."

Hisou blinked but nodded.

They walked out of the park a few minutes later and headed to Youshi's dorm. Hisou insisted on walking the other boy home, telling him about the harms of the night and what it was like for a foreigner to walk along the dark streets. Youshi just shrugged, after all, who was he to say no to an offer?

~*~

That night, Hisou laid in his bed, thinking of the events that night. Him meeting Aiji and Youshi after their last class. Them going to the coffee shop. Him and Youshi getting ice cream. The park. The swings. His hands being held. Running to the clearing. The stars. Youshi's eyes. Youshi's peacefully awed expression. The walk home.

This place is special to me. I want to share it with someone. I chose you…

It's special. I chose you…

I chose you…

You don't get it, do you?

Laughter.

If anyone asked him to write down everything he remembered about that night, he could've written a novel.

AN: BTIC (Better Than Ice Cream) is definitely my favorite ice cream in the whole world (Uhm, it's actually yogurt, so low fat), except for Haagen Dazs of course, cuz it's too expensive.

I know this should be a tender moment between them and I made a lousy job at writing it. I still don't have a firm grasp on the language (English) that I can't find the right words to use. This is the reason why I usually use clichés to describe some things. When I tried to make a draft of this in my own language, I think I came up with a whole page of just the park scene alone. But, when I translated it here, I ended up with this. But, I'm dying to get on with this and move on to the actual plot, so…

Oh yeah, if this has any glaring (or, it doesn't have to be glaring, really) grammatical or technical problems, or any problems at all (i.e. plot holes and such) kindly tell me, kay?

People, review! It's a really good feeling when you check your account and see that the reviews increased. Besides, readers kinda owe it to the authors to just tell them what they thought of the writing…even if it sucks. But, for those who plan on writing flames, my email address is qkslvr@email.com, please just email me…I'm a very shy person…and I cry easily. ^_____^