This one's pretty long for a drabble. 960 words!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Although, I wish I did.
"ABEKAWA SOU!"
Sou froze as the heads in the cafeteria turned to the source of the voice.
Sou squeezed his eyes shut and hoped, against hope, that the owner of said voice would not notice him.
Of course, that was silly, since the said person had called out his name, in the loudest possible voice, only after Sou had been spotted.
Sou noticed a few of his friends, with whom he shared a few classes with, turn to him with silly grins.
Ichirou looked like he was frowning.
"Uru" Sou said, walking to where she and Ichirou were standing, "No need to yell" he said, turning red and not daring to make eye-contact.
"I just thought you'd ignore me if I didn't do that" she said, smiling, "Ichirou-kun is eating inside today, so I thought the three of us could eat together" she added, "It's rare that we'd meet here, after all" she rambled.
Sou wanted to say it wasn't by coincidence that they'd met there that day, that he and Ichirou almost always had lunch together, atleast since the start of Fall and that he'd have come up to them even if she hadn't yelled on the top of her voice.
"Ok! I'm getting Yakisoba and curry!" she said, loudly, decidedly, "What about you, Ichirou-kun?" she asked.
Sou looked up at Ichirou and noticed that the latter's eyes were on him, studying him intently.
He felt like a microbe under a microscope under the scrutiny and looked away quickly, his heart starting to race.
"Will Uru buy me an anpan?" Ichirou asked, turning his puppy-eyes to Uru. Uru smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing, what about you, Sou?" she asked. Sou looked at her for a moment, before looking away again.
"I have bento" he said. Uru nodded and went to buy the lunch.
Ichirou stood beside Sou as Uru squeezed through the queue with ease.
"Where's mine?" Ichirou asked, suddenly, making Sou turn to him with surprise.
"I thought you're eating anpan?" Sou said, catching his eyes.
Ichirou stared back, his face as expressionless as ever.
Sou wondered what the man was thinking, then giving up, sighed.
"I've got it here" he said, reaching into his bag.
Ichirou held out his hand, palm facing up, to receive the box.
Sou deposited it prompty.
"Good boy" Ichirou said, tucking the box under his arm and with the other, patting Sou on the head.
"There's no need for that!" Sou said, red in the face and his heart beating out of control.
Why must his body react that way?
That too to Ichirou?
He was a man!
An adult man!
No matter how handsome he was and how he was growing out his hair, he was still a man!
End of discussion!
How could his body do that!
Uru returned from getting the lunch and noticed Sou's red face.
Assuming the culprit was undoubtedly Ichirou, Uru smiled warmly at both men and suggested they get a table.
They got a table in the corner, because the rest were all occupied.
Uru sat down first and Ichirou took the seat beside her.
Sou went to sit across from Uru.
Uru looked up at him and smiled.
"So cool that Sou came to the same college as Ichirou and me" she said.
Sou coloured a little.
She always treated him kindly, even before she knew he liked her.
He hadn't come to the college to follow her, of course.
He'd come because his brother was there as well and it seemed easier than going somewhere else that was too far.
He didn't say any of the above as an explanation, of course, partly because he didn't want to start talking and sound like a fool in front of the person he liked, and partly because he noticed that Uru was already eating, even without him giving her an answer, if what she'd asked was a question, that is.
Sou opened his box and ate.
He noticed that Uru spoke a few times, mostly about her classes and the professors, mostly to Ichirou, because they had a lot of common classes, it seems.
Sou felt a pang in his chest and he absently wondered why he felt so.
For three years, he'd told himself he was fine.
And he had been fine, until that I in the chest just moments ago.
Sou stared at the egg-rolls in his box.
He'd become good at making them.
The seasoning was just right, the texture and the flavour, everything was perfect now.
He glanced up at Ichirou and noticed that Ichirou's gaze was on him as well.
Sou looked down again, the heat rising in his cheek.
Sitting here, in the crowded, noisy room made his heart race faster than it had ever raced when it was just the two of them, outside on the bench.
Sou stood, his bento only half-finished.
"Excuse me, I have to get to class" he mumbled, not making eye-contact, "Gomen" he mumbled, glancing up to meet Ichirou's eyes, before he closed his box and walked away.
When he reached class, he could still hear his heart pounding in his ears, his sweat on the back of his neck because he'd hurried to get away and the redness in his cheeks from when his eyes had met Ichirou's.
Why was his body reacting so dramatically?
To Ichirou, of all people?
The man was straight as a line.
Sou frowned as he thought of that.
If Ichirou was as straight as a line, what did that make him? A circle?