Seven

What happened to me just now?

Ryuu thinks really hard but doesn't come up with any reasonable explanations to why he felt so desperate to leave the scene where Mika was going to confess to Hayato. The dull ache in his heart comes back once he recalls it. He can't help but place his hand onto his own chest. Hayato is a very special person for him. Even though Ryuu is really thick to his own emotions, he understands that very well. Hayato was the first friend he made when he moved into this town after his parents passed away in an accident. Hayato looks indifferent and distant but in fact he is a caring and kind person. Everyone in his class kind of goes to him when they need someone brave to handle something. And every time he wears an annoyed expression while grumbling how troublesome they are but he is still helping them to solve their problems.

To some extent, Hayato is everyone's hero.

That's what Ryuu admires and likes about him.

Perhaps it is the reason why he felt that way when he knew that Hayato might have a girlfriend very soon. He will have to care about her more than anyone. He won't have any spare time to be in the daycare room, to hang out with him during weekends or listen to his unnecessarily negative , trivial and troublesome thoughts.

Ryuu realizes that he shouldn't be such a selfish jerk if he still wants to be Hayato's friend. He should be happy for him, right?

Ryuu forces a smile on his face before he slides the door of the daycare open. 'I'm back,' he says, trying to sound as cheerful as he can.

All the children rush to him at once, grabbing his shin and glue to his sides

'Ryuu-ni you're back!'

'What happens to the big sister?'

'Let's play the monster hunter game!'

'(sniff... sniff...)let's play...'

Ryuu smiles indulgently, taking some tissue paper on the shelf and starts wiping away Kazuma's snot. His miserable mood improves a bit once he is with the kids again. However, Kotaro, who is gazing at him from the moment he enters, hugs his back and coos, 'Pain... pain...go away...'

Startled by Kotaro's comfort, his hand stops in mid-air.

'Eh? Ryuu-ni, are you hurt?'

'Where? Let Kirin take a look!'

Everyone begins to crowd around him even closer, five pairs of watery eyes stare up at him with worried looks, making Ryuu laugh. Patting each of the kid's head, he gently reassures them, 'No, I'm not hurt. Don't worry.'

'So... how did it go?' being nosy as usual, Usaida asks, 'Did Hayato make Inui's little sister cry?'

'Um...' Ryuu picks up the picture book in Takuma's hand, eyes downcast 'I don't know. I left before she started to talk to him.'

Usaida raises an eyebrow. He wants to ask more questions, but seeing the absence of the usual spark in Ryuu's eyes, he decides otherwise, 'Oh, I see.'

They continue to take care of the children without many conversations. Usaida leaves at five as he needs to attend some kind of meeting or course. He seems not willing to mention about what exactly it is about, so Ryuu just lets him go without asking.

The kids leave the daycare room one by one (other than the twins). Once again, there are only Taka, Kotaro and him left in the room. Ryuu supposes Hayato will soon come and take Taka home with him. Looking round the daycare, there isn't really anymore things he can do to keep himself busy. He was trying to distract himself by tidying up in the past hour.

Ryuu looks up at the toy shelves and finds a paper plane stuck near the top between them. It is very likely that one of the kids (probably Taka) threw it and found it too high to get back. Walking across the room and near the wooden shelves, he reaches up and attempts to take it down.

He wonders what he should say to Hayato once he arrives.

It appears that the paper plane is stuck at a place where it is too high up between the shelves, even with the average height of a high-school student, Ryuu can't reach it. He stands on tiptoe, extending his hand as much as he can. When his fingertips can almost touch it, someone picks the paper from behind.

Ryuu turns around and sees Hayato, who is looking at the ugly-folded paper plane in his hand. A few beats later, he moves his gaze to Ryuu and offers it to him.

'Um…thanks,' Ryuu says quietly, taking it, crumpling it up and put it into the bin.

The little brothers went to the washroom a while ago and they aren't back yet. Uncomfortable silence fills the room. It is the first time Ryuu doesn't want to be alone with Hayato. He still feels guilty for being selfish, for not being a good friend and be happy for Hayato to have a girlfriend.

He can't even look at him without feeling ashamed.

'I think I should go check on Taka and Kotaro...' Ryuu says while trotting towards the door, intending to break the awkward atmosphere and more importantly, to avoid talking to Hayato before he can have enough time to consider about what to say.

To his dismay, he doesn't even get half way near the exit before Hayato grabs his wrist. 'Wait,' he speaks for the first time after he entered the room 'Something's wrong.' Hayato is sure enough to phrase it as a statement. He understands very well that if he asks, he will just get "Nothing's wrong" or "I'm okay".

Inhaling deeply, Ryuu braces himself mentally before he turns to Hayato. Still can't pluck up the courage to look at him, Ryuu forces a smile on his face, 'What do you mean? Everything is fine.'

Hayato wants to tell Ryuu that he is really a lousy actor. Lying or hiding something is just against his nature. He can't remember how many times he has seen through Ryuu's "carefully-maintained brave face".

No matter how much he is tempted to yell at Ryuu and demand him to "spill it already", Hayato knows it will be wasted efforts and he doesn't...

Hayato hates to admit it but he doesn't have the heart to raise his voice at Ryuu.

Weighing his options in his mind, Hayato stares at the shorter teen. People who don't know Ryuu well think that he is a good-tempered, cheerful and carefree high school student. Adults consider him as mature, discreet and dependable. What they see is only what Ryuu shows on the surface, or to be more exact, the image he tries to create. It's not that they are completely wrong. But in Hayato's eyes...

Ryuuichi is stubborn, self-critical and worrisome.

With a defeated sigh, he tries his best to soften his voice and asks, 'Why aren't you looking at me then?'

As if startled by the question, Ryuu shivers and averts his gazes to another direction, to somewhere near Hayati's hair but definitely not his face 'Don't be silly. I'm looking at you now.'

This is the biggest lie I've ever heard.

It takes all Hayato's efforts to suppress his urge to laugh. He puts his hands on the sides of Ryuu's face and tilts his head up. Taken by surprise, Ryuu's eyes widen, obviously shocked. Finding the expression amusing, Hayato smiles a bit, 'Now you're looking at me.'

Ryuu's cheeks are turning slightly red, 'Er... I thought you're mad at me.'

Hayato scowls, still holding Ryuu's face in place, 'Why should I be?'

Instead of replying, Ryuu slightly parts his lips but he just blinks.

He blinks once

Twice

Thrice

'Hey Ryuuichi,' Hayato feels a vein on its way to appear on his forehead, ignoring that innocent look in front of him. There is no way he would be deceived by that. 'I'm still waiting for your reply.'

Removing Hayato's hands from his face, he looks down and murmurs, 'I...we...disturbed your practice this afternoon...and you looked really angry...'

'I looked angry, so I'm mad at you?' Hayato asks, can't believe Ryuu's way of thinking, 'What kind of logic is that?'

Now he has time to think about that, Ryuu also finds the flaws in that deduction, 'So... you aren't angry with me?'

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Hayato says, 'I was pissed, but not because of you,' When he sees Ryuu's puzzled expression, he adds, 'I thought that woman did something that bothered you.'

Relieved to hear what Hayato told him, he sighs and relaxed, 'I was so worried...'

But wait...That woman?

'About Mika... I mean that girl...You... you didn't...'

'Tsk, what do you think I would do to her?' Hayato glares down at him 'Beat the shit out of her?'

'Er... so...no?'

'When can you stop worrying?' poking him on his forehead, Hayato asks, 'She just threw her stupid letter on the floor and ran away.'

'She… what?' getting an unexpected answer, Ryuu opens his mouth and closes it for a few times '...Then… have you read it?' He can't help but ask, averting his gaze again at the same time. The guilty he felt minutes ago starts to crawl back to his heart.

'...'

Hayato withdraws his hand from Ryuu, walks to his schoolbag and starts to search for something inside.

Various kinds of paper, notes and stationery are tossed onto the floor. Ryuu stares at him with wide eyes, wondering what he is doing.

The taller teen finds the pink envelope at the bottom and tears it open in front of him.

'Wait... Kamitani!'

Ignoring his protest, Hayato reads it aloud with a monotone, looking bored as hell 'Dear Hayato-senpai, I love you. Please go out with me. Love, Mika.'

'Eh? That's it?' Ryuu asks but then realizes what just happened 'No! You shouldn't have done that. That's not...'

'I don't care,' he says coldly, 'I'm going to reject her if she dares to come here next time.'

What Hayato has decided can't be changed but Ryuu feels that he should say something to disagree. When he opens his mouth, Hayato waves him off, 'This is the second time I'm telling you,' he pauses, stares at Ryuu right in the eyes, 'I'm not going anywhere. Stop worrying already, you idiot.'

Ryuu remembers the day when the couch of another high school came and invited Hayato to join their baseball team, which is a pretty strong team in the area. His mum requested Ryuu to talk to him and he said something similar.

I don't have a reason to go... I like the team that I'm in now. I also like you and the kids in the daycare…

I'm not going anywhere.

The back of his eyes starts to sting. To hold back his tears, Ryuu laughs while rubbing them with his sleeve.

Hayato is right. He is being silly.

'Thanks Hayato...'

Hazel eyes widened, Hayato didn't expect Ryuu to call him by his first name. Before he can comment on it, the door is slid open. Saikawa enters graciously with Taka and Kotaro in each of his arm. 'Sorry for letting you wait, Ryuuichi-sama, Hayato-sama,' he greets and bows his head a bit, 'Since the ants outside the garden are too fascinating, we lost track of time while observing them. My deep apologies.'

Hayato and Ryuu look at him for three seconds, speechless.

'Weirdo...' Hayato says under his breath.

Ryuu laughs so hard that there are tears in his eyes.

It's good to see his genuine laughter. Hayato thinks and gets Taka back from the butler, mumbling a thank-you though he still thinks Saikawa's the oddest adult he has ever met.

'Thanks, Hayato-sama,' he says with his eyes open 'I haven't seen Ryuuichi-sama looks so happy before.'

It feels strange to be thanked by the butler of the chairman of the school, but it isn't a bad feeling. Hayato smirks and replies.

'You're welcome.'

To be continued

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