It had been eleven days since he came to America for the exchange. He was training as seriously as ever and he had just returned to the dorm and showered after playing his first football game against an american team.

Towel draped over his bare shoulder to keep the still slightly damp hair from touching his skin, he heard a knock on his door. Shin hung the towel on the heater to dry before he pulling on a shirt and opening the door.

"Hey." Alexon greeted. "How's it going?" Shin blinked as he waited to hear the purpose of Alexon's visit.

"Great game today. You ran so fast on the field and took down men larger than you were! No wonder the boss wanted you on the team. You fit in all his smartass plays perfectly."

"No. I have a long way to go. The team we played against was not strong. The members were insufficiently trained."

"Too modest. The team wasn't that bad, but you were fantastic and the boss was as evil as always. It was funny how the coach on the opponent's team let you play because he thought you would get creamed. Totally should have seen his face when you did your trident-spear thing on their quarterback. I'm sorry I missed being on the field with you guys." Alexon sighed. He had twisted his ankle two days before and got three earfuls from Hiruma and his gun.

It was true that the game wasn't too hard for Shin as it was against a no name team and he was following the ingenious strategies of Hiruma. But because of the replacement for Alexon was slightly less skilled and less built, Shin had to make up for one fumble and the blocks. Hiruma had easily outwitted the coach of the opposing team and fired three bullets at the pitiful tight end after the game for the fumbled ball. Needless to say, they won of course.

"I hope you recover soon." Shin said sincerely.

"Haha. Yeah, it should be fine in a few days. No big…. About the classes that you missed today, some guy called Taylor in your lecture helped to take handouts for you and the boss." Alexon handed the few sheets of paper over. "Would you mind passing the boss his? I think he's still pissed off at me for missing the game." He rubbed the back of his head while grinning sheepishly. "It would be fine for you, right? I mean you two sorta got a thing going on." Alexon winked.

"What do you mean?" Shin asked.

"Oh, come on. It's obvious that the both of you are totally attracted to each other." The bright green hair of Alexon shifted as he leaned his head to the side. "If the night at Eos wasn't enough proof, Taylor told me how close you two were in class and when we eat together, you both practically have the word 'couple' floating over your heads." Alexon teased.

Shin took in what he was hearing and went into thought. Was it true? He sits next to Hiruma everytime now, but when he's too close, Hiruma always yells at him to "give him his f*cking space". Could it be that it wasn't his imagination that each time it happened, he was allowed to sit closer than before? Even when their hands of legs occasionally brushed, Hiruma doesn't make to move away.

"You doubt his love for you?" Alexon laughed. "You should know by now. Hiruma lets you stand the closest to him, doesn't move away from you even the tinniest bit and even lets you sleep on him!"

Shin's eyes widened considerably at the last point. 'What?'

"Didn't you know? It was the night when we went out for dinner and the waiter brought you a large beer when he mistook your order. Then you being the nice guy just drank it anyway and then promptly passed out on the boss's shoulder." Shin's mouth was slightly open now. He did remember the beer but after that all he remembered was Alexon shaking awake and asking for his room key.

"Oh, it was really cute. Practically a miracle. He would have pushed you off and wouldn't even watch you flop to the floor if you had been anyone else, but no! he let you stay there! Even if he did dump you on me to carry you back. It's true that love overpowers everything! And in exchange for this info, you are going to pass this to the boss now. Thank you, you're welcome, and see you tomorrow." With a salute and a sway of his hips that was all Alexon, the man with the most swag left to his own room.

Running the story through his brain again as he filed his set of notes away, Shin couldn't deny the happy feeling bubbling inside and a small smile graced his lips. Maybe he wasnt as far away as he thought.

Crossing the short hallway seperating their rooms, Shin knocked twice on Hiruma's door. There was an audible click of the lock, but the door didn't open. The linebacker silently wondered if he had just been locked out.

"Are you going to come in or stand out there and grow flowers?"

Taking that as permission to enter, Shin opened the door quietly. "Pardon the intrusion."

Hiruma was seated at his desk, near the bed, apparently busy with something as could be heard from the rustling of paper and scratching of his pen as it whizzed over the white sheets.

"Taylor helped us to take the handouts from the class we missed today. This is yours." Walking over to where Hiruma was sitting, he offered the stack of notes.

After he finished writing and sketching a review of that day's game, Hiruma filed the loose papers away before wordlessly taking the ones Shin offered. Leaning back into the chair, his eyes skimmed over the content, taking about two minutes to go through all five pages before throwing it with micro accuracy at the recycling bin beside the door.

Shin who had taken the two minutes to drag up a spare chair and watch Hiruma flip through the notes was stunned when he immediately tossed it away after glancing over it once. The ex-blonde had already turned on his laptop and proceeded to plan out their next training.

"You don't need the handouts?" Shin asked in a low voice.

"Memorised." Hiruma replied shortly, leaving Shin to blink in amazement.

The next few minutes passed in tranquil silence as Hiruma worked. Shin had gotten over the wonder of how Hiruma's brain was able to process five pages of information and commit it to memory in a mere two minutes, and accompanied the ex-blonde as he worked.

Now that he was close, Shin could smell a clean and slightly minty scent coming from Hiruma. Their chairs were already pressed up against each other, but Shin wanted to be closer still.

Almost unconsciously, he slowly shifted to the left. And in a tingling moment, their shoulders touched.

Hiruma made no sign to indicate that he noticed Shin had moved at all. But knowing him, he would habe already predicted this scenario as a possibility from when Shin entered his room.

Sensing no resistance, Shin leaned a little closer still, getting more contact with Hiruma's side while making sure not to hinder his typing.

Feeling at ease, Shin also leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes.