Chapter 3: Persistence

Hiroki's students were afraid of him, and he liked it that way. At the end of the day, he received positive feedback on his classes and he kept his job, so he was obviously doing something right, even if that something right was instilling fear in the hearts of every freshman who passed through his Intro to Japanese Literature class. Akihiko clearly found it amusing, even though, after only a few days, Misaki was terrified to even be in the same time zone as him.

Of course, Akihiko's upscale apartment counted as the same time zone. Akihiko just stood out on the balcony chain smoking like he always did when Hiroki looked over one of his manuscripts at his place, and it took Misaki about five minutes of vacuuming to realize that his professor was there, engrossed in Akihiko's latest manuscript.

"P-professor Kamijou!" he squeaked, dropping the handle on the vacuum with a thump.

Hiroki graced him with the shortest of glances before going back to the manuscript, his glasses sliding down his nose but him not necessarily caring. "Relax, brat, I'm here for Akihiko. Or is there a reason you should feel nervous about me knowing where you live?"

Misaki hunched his shoulders before leaning down to pick up the vacuum so he could start his work again. "Um, no, I was just surprised to see you, is all. Um, are you friends with Usagi-san?"

"You could say that." Hiroki shifted his eyes to the sliding glass doors, beyond which Akihiko had finished a cigarette and now was just leaning against the railing, staring out at the cityscape and looking contemplative. It was only after this look that Hiroki realized Misaki had called Akihiko 'Usagi-san,' and his left eye twitched as he went back to the manuscript. Usagi was Takahiro's nickname for Akihiko, and one that Hiroki had always found annoyingly affectionate.

Hiroki was no longer in the classroom, however, and it was easy to see that Misaki just wanted to go back to his housework. Considering all the work he'd done to not be a big part of Akihiko's life (it hadn't really worked, of course, but he got an A for effort) Hiroki shouldn't have felt his heart clench when he realized this kid probably shared Akihiko's bed in more ways than one. Hiroki didn't even remember Misaki from the funeral for Takahiro's parents that he'd been obliged to attend as Akihiko's best friend and the only one who knew his patterns of hiding out in case he needed to be found under some obscure tree and dragged back into the service. He did remember some fuss about Takahiro deciding to not go ahead and attend M University come spring, but he hadn't thought much of it. To tell the truth, if his parents had suddenly and unexpectedly been ripped away from him, he wouldn't have felt much up to continuing his education either. Hiroki wasn't that heartless.

It seemed, however, that when Misaki saw how docile Hiroki's attitude towards him was, the fear was lifted from his shoulders if only a little. He kept the vacuum off, gulped, and said, "I'm only here with Usagi-san because my oniichan moved away and I still wanted to go to M."

"If you say so," Hiroki muttered.

"I do! There's nothing between us!"

Hiroki actually looked up at that, pushed his glasses back up into place, and gave Misaki a hard stare. "Takahashi, Akihiko and I have known each other since we were ten. I think I can tell when he's head-over-heels for some random brat. I certainly saw it enough with your brother." Misaki yelped in surprise and Hiroki just went back to reading. He didn't have time for this crap.

"It's not like I ask him to put me in those stupid BL novels!" Misaki said, his voice gaining an octave about every five words.

There was a long pause, and then, "What the hell are you talking about." His voice was flat and so it didn't even sound like a question, just Hiroki sounding disbelieving that he'd actually heard that. Before he could react further, though, or listen to Misaki's inevitable, rambling excuses, one of the doors to the balcony opened, and Akihiko ambled in. "Akihiko, are you writing those asinine smut novels about him now?" Hiroki nodded towards Misaki, who was hunched in on himself and pushing the vacuum away in what was clearly an effort to go hide.

Akihiko, however, was not deterred. "Ah, that one hasn't been published yet," he said thoughtfully. "I would've thought you'd be glad that I didn't make you read through it before I gave the final version to Aikawa."

Just thinking about the BL novels Akihiko wrote featuring an idealized relationship between idealized versions of himself and Takahashi Takahiro made Hiroki's stomach twist. Akihiko was just as dense as the former object of his affections, and so Hiroki found himself going over the BL novels as often as he did the "regular" ones.

Akihiko took Hiroki's silence as an end to that particular conversation, and so he snuck off and took a hold of Misaki, who had gotten about as far as the closet all the cleaning supplies were kept in on the first floor. Misaki screeched in protest and demanded that Akihiko let him go, and Hiroki found that he couldn't put up with it anymore. He'd only gotten through and marked-up about half of the manuscript, but he threw it down on the coffee table, called, "I'm leaving!" and quickly put his shoes on so he wouldn't have to put up with that anymore.

The path between Hiroki's apartment and the university included Akihiko's apartment and the flower shop. Unfortunately for Hiroki, in his haste to escape Akihiko's apartment, he'd gone towards the university instead of his apartment and stopped short just as he got to the flower shop, realizing his error. He grumbled and turned around, but not before finding himself taking a quick glance through the glass wall.

Kusama Nowaki was not there, and as Hiroki picked up the pace so he could catch a train home, he was annoyed at himself for feeling disappointed, if only for a split second.

xxx

It was hard to concentrate on the last few minutes of his class when he finally noticed that Miyagi was lurking out in the hall, glancing in through the window on the door and clearly wanting to talk to Hiroki. Finally, he got fed up and put his lecture notes down. "That's all for today, now get the hell out of here."

His students were hesitant at first. Hiroki never let his classes out early, and so it was understandable that they'd just sit there at first, trying to decide whether it was a trap or not. When they all saw him packing his own bags, though, they stood up and ran for it. They nearly trampled poor Miyagi, who was still lurking there outside the door.

"I can't say I've ever seen students quite that happy to leave a class before, Kamijou-sensei," Miyagi said with a grin as he stepped into the lecture hall. Hiroki gave him a glare that was clearly meant to convey 'what do you want,' so Miyagi continued with, "There's someone who's rather insistent about seeing you."

"If it's Akihiko tell him I'm going home," Hiroki mumbled. It was five in the evening and he'd rather spend the time he needed to grade papers hauled up in his apartment, where he could strip off his shoes and socks and put on something significantly less stiff than the dress pants and slacks he wore to work. This did not deter Miyagi, however, and Hiroki found himself being followed down the hall. Hiroki had planned to leave right after his last class, so he'd already taken what he needed from the office. "What? I don't need to go back there. If it's not Akihiko, it's probably one of my students. You can answer any of their questions just as well as I could."

"Well that's the thing, he's not one of your students," Miyagi said, sounding slightly baffled. Hiroki stopped and turned around, staring at him. Miyagi scratched his cheek, clearly confused, as he said, "He said he was 'looking for Hiro-san' and has a big bouquet of flowers. Of course he insisted Hiro-san was you but I… can't say I've ever heard you called that, Kamijou." Despite his confusion, there was a slight twinkle in his eye. "It's kind of a cute nickname, Hi-ro-saaaan."

This just put a scowl on Hiroki's face, but he kept walking. The particular lecture hall he'd be in didn't require him to pass by his office on the way to the building's front doors, so if Kusama Nowaki was waiting there, he wouldn't have to see him. He did, however, say, "Professor, if you continue to follow me I'll choke you with your own tie."

Miyagi yelped and complied, clearly convinced that Hiroki would actually do such a thing, given the chance. Just as Hiroki was turning a corner, however, he said, "That guy is waiting for you at the gate, by the way!" Hiroki turned in a split second and was back down the hall. There was a fire escape door he knew of that only set off an alarm if it was open for more than ten seconds, and that was enough time to escape. When he passed by Miyagi, however, the man took him by the shoulders and turned him back around. "Go see the nice man who has flowers for you, Kamijou-sensei," he said with a grin. "Although I have to say, I had no idea you swung that way."

Hiroki didn't deny Miyagi's observation about his sexuality. He did, however, look exceedingly like he wanted to bite the hands that were still on his shoulders, guiding him towards the front doors. The grounds weren't quite as busy as they were earlier in the day, and so it was easy to spot Kusama Nowaki there at the gate, a bouquet of sunflowers even larger than the first one he'd given Hiroki in his arms and a smile on his face. Hiroki's eyes went wide, but before he could fight it, Miyagi had pushed him out the door, and he yelped as he stumbled forward. This, apparently, caught Nowaki's attention.

"Good evening," he said with a smile after he'd approached. Once Hiroki had righted himself, Nowaki held out the bouquet. "I wanted to give these to you, since the first one was ruined the other day."

Hiroki just stood there, staring at the flowers. And then he said, "Why the hell would you think I wanted these?"

"Your mother talked about you a lot when I delivered that bouquet," Nowaki admitted with a sheepish smile. "She said you live alone. I thought they might brighten your day."

If it was up to Hiroki, he would probably lurk in his apartment all day, curtains drawn and nothing but a lamp for light like some kind of agoraphobic vampire. It wasn't up to him, though, and for all the books in his apartment, it was still rather empty.

"Oh and…" Nowaki was still holding the bouquet because Hiroki was debating whether to take it or not. "My boss at the shop said you stopped by the other day but I wasn't there. Sorry."

"…what," Hiroki said.

"That is, my main job is as a kindergarten teacher. The flower shop is only part time," Nowaki said with a smile, clearly missing Hiroki's disbelief or just choosing to ignore it. He held the flowers out again, and Hiroki took them numbly. "I was just going out to eat, actually. Would you like to come, Hiro-san?"

Hiroki usually found himself eating something that was either pre-prepared or could be nuked in the microwave, and so actual food was tempting. However, he looked down at his flowers, and he found himself saying, "Why the hell do you keep calling me that?" It wasn't the most important question on his mind, but it was all he could manage to ask.

Nowaki smiled. "Your mother kept calling you Hiro-chan, but I thought that was a little too… informal."

Hiroki nodded numbly. Students were starting to gather for evening classes, though, and ones that recognized Hiroki were giving him strange looks when they observed him just standing there at the entrance, a large bouquet of flowers in his arms and talking to a strange man. So he said, "Whatever, I'm hungry."