A/N: Blah... I make such unreleastive promises. "I'll finish this by March..." god I'm an idiot. Oh well, CHAPTER 23! This was going to be so different from what I originally planned... but I like this better. Get to engage with Katsurou this time round : D I neglected him so bad... he was meant to be a potential love interest... but I forgot about him : ( Sorry Katsurou... I remember you now : D ENJOY!
ps... Every time I right Katsurou, my computer wants to change it to Rapturous! xDDDDD Interesting still, Ryunnosuke becomes Cynosure; Hibiki becomes Bikini and Kaito becomes Waikato... sorry, I just had to say this. I'm amused by so many little things... but it is kinda 1 in the morning... xDDDDDDDDDD
Chapter Twenty-Three
Suffocating… he was suffocating. The pain was so bad, but he continued to grit his teeth. He needed to be strong, even just for a little longer. He just needed to.
"Finally finished!" Hibiki screamed as they walked towards the hotel. The huge group seemed more excited than anything, but the swim team looked ready to fall over. Kaito held Katsurou up, who looked ready to fall asleep on the spot. Sadly, Katsurou didn't make it into the final, and looked horribly dejected, though Akihiro-senpai looked please as he'd just squeezed into the finals. There were still a few more days to go however. Didn't matter now, suppose, they were all tired and ready for bed.
Unfortunately, Katsurou, Hibiki and Ryunnosuke were sharing a room with Kaito and Len. The rest of the swim team with in another, and the other groups have been divided up as well. Five rooms had been booked for all over them. The hotel surprisingly had large rooms for big groups, which most had three king sized beds. Though Hibiki refused to share his bed since he had a girlfriend and didn't want to be in bed with a "potential" rival. So, Katsurou and Ryunnosuke were sharing one bed, Kaito and Len were sharing the other. How this was going to work was going to be interesting.
Len didn't know what to do. Kaito and Hibiki knew Len was trans… but Ryunnosuke didn't… and Katsurou…
"Then, if Len doesn't, that means I have a chance."
It was something Katsurou said a long time ago. However, he never seemed to forwardly express himself in such a way. Maybe it was a joke? Regardless… would he be the same after he found out too?
"I'm going to get drinks," Len said, standing up from the bed. They'd huddled around on Hibiki's bed talking for a while. Before it got too late, Len decided to grab something to drink. "What do you all want?" he asked, look at each of them.
Kaito didn't answer since he had somehow fallen asleep sitting upwards. Hibiki wanted coke, Ryu just wanted juice and Katsurou… "I'll come with you. I don't know what I want," he said, sitting up. He still looked worn, but he got to his feet anyways. "I've got some spare change if that helps as well."
Len nodded, accepting Katsurou's help. The left the room quietly, not wanting to wake Kaito and wandered down the hall. For a moment, Len didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry…"
"Huh?"
"About… about the race. You practiced so hard and…" Len bit his lip. The drink machine was down by the lifts, and had only taken a few minutes to walk there. "You just seemed so… dejected."
"Don't worry about," Katsurou laughed heartily. "I still have four more races over the next two days, so there's plenty of time. Plus, it was my fault. I should have stretched my leg more before I joined the race. Fourth place wasn't bad either, considering I was swimming with a cramp."
"But… the breaststroke was…is your best swim."
"Just because I lost the 100 breaststroke doesn't me anything, Len," Katsurou pointed out. "There's the 400 breaststroke tomorrow that I'm in. I'm also in the 300 hundred freestyle tomorrow as well. It'll work out. After all, this is Akihiro-senpai's ad Hotaka-senpai's race. They won't get this chance next year. I've got three years, Len. Plenty of time to improve."
Len gave it a moment's thought. "Ok… I'll still cheer you on tomorrow."
Katsurou smiled. "I know you will," then he went quiet for a moment. Len decided to find his change so they could get their drinks and return. "Kaito…" he started then hesitated. "Kaito seemed adamant about sleeping arrangements," he said, giving Len a strange look. "So… you two sharing seems a little suspicious."
"R-Really?" Len asked, looking down at his feet so Katsurou couldn't see the embarrassment.
"Yeah… It seems… weird. I mean, Hibiki being pretty determined to have his own bed I understandable, but Kaito being so damn adamant about sharing with you sparks more questions."
Len bit his lip. "Well…" he began. "I suppose that's just Kaito, right?"
"Hmm…" Katsurou was silent for the longest time before he grinned. "So… how far?"
Len began to choke, looking up at him with shock horror. "P-Pardon?"
"How far?" Katsurou pushed. "Come on, let's not pretend nothing is going on. I'm not that stupid."
"W-Why are you asking such a bold question?!" Len countered, stepping back. "W-What makes you think anything is going on?"
"So, you two aren't dating then?" Katsurou asked quietly. "So then I can get away with this right?"
"Get away with what-?" Len began, but the next thing Katsurou was suddenly right in front of him and…
…kissing him…
Suddenly, the distance between them was great as Len jumped as far away as he could, somewhat startled by the whole thing. A sudden cold sweat ran down his spine. Oh god, how was he going to explain this?! "K-Katsurou-san…"
"Don't worry, I'm not as dense as you think," Katsurou gave him a satisfied smile. "I already know what's going on between you and Kaito."
"T-Then why?"
"I kinda wanted to see how you would react," Katsurou said, flipping a coin in his hands. Where ever that coin came from, Len had no idea, but regardless, there was something almost smug about Katsurou's smile. Only just though.
"B-But…"
"I won't tell if you don't," Katsurou said, slipping the coin into the machine and punching a button. A grumble, a clunk and Katsurou fished out the can of soda and chucked it towards Len, who nearly dropped it. "Really, I won't try anything else. I'm not that much of an asshole, only a little bit of an asshole," he said. "Besides, the girls keep saying you two look cute together, so I'm pretty sure everyone in class has picked up on yours and Kaito's relationship."
"T-The whole class?"
"The whole class."
Len felt another drop of sweat run down his spine. Oh great, the next thing they were going to find out… he gulped. He should be up front with Katsurou… he should be! "Katsurou-san…"
"Why so formal?" he asked, now looking a little concern. "D-Did I upset you that much? I promise, I won't-"
"I…I need to tell you and Ryu something but…" Len bit his lip. "I should be honest with you both… since you're my important friends."
"You can tell me anything," Katsurou smiled softly. "I won't judge you over anything."
How can you say that when you don't know what it is…? "I… hope you mean that."
"Huh?"
When they stepped through the door, Kaito was still asleep, though now he'd fallen down on the bed, snoring (could you call it snoring? It wasn't that loud to be honest) his head off. Hibiki looked ready to sleep himself, but perked up at the sight of the soda in Len's hands. Jumping onto the bed, Len realised Kaito bolted straight up, and felt sorry for waking him up. He apologized, though Kaito brushed it off and fell back to sleep.
They sat up and talked for a while before Len took a deep sigh. He had to say something. How much longer was he going to continue lying to them.
"Oh right!" Katsurou spoke out, looking straight at Len. "Did you have something you wanted to tell Ryu and I?"
Maybe he wasn't ready to talk about- NO! He had to say something! Len nodded, suddenly feeling really meek, prepared to crawl under the covers and never surface again.
Hibiki was blanked face for a moment before it clicked. "W-Wait… are you sure Len?"
"Wait, what do you know that we don't?" Katsurou challenged. "Wait, why are we out of the loop?"
"Because…" Len began but felt his voice disappear into silence.
"Because Len wasn't ready to talk about it," Kaito's sleepy voice filled the dead silence the Len had started. He gave Katsurou a tired look. "How we know wasn't because Len said anything, we found out."
"If it's what I'm assuring," Ryunnosuke began, looking Len dead in the face, "Miku and I already know. We found out in middle school."
Len stared at Ryunnosuke, feeling unsure. "I don't think you do."
"No, we do," Ryunnosuke replied. "I never said anything because you never touched on it. However, I know what you are about to say."
"So… only I'm out the loop," Katsurou grumbled. "I thought we were friends you guys, but no one tells me anything."
"That's not fair," Len replied. "It's not easy to talk about stuff like this…"
"Like what?"
"Len, if you don't wanna talk about it, don't," Kaito replied as Hibiki said "Don't pressure him, Katsurou. This shit takes courage."
"Well, if this is about coming out as gay, we've pretty much established it," Katsurou commented. "Or… is this bigger than being gay?"
"Bigger," Len said with a soft sigh. He'd give Ryunnosuke the benefit of the doubt, and talked directly to Katsurou. "Do… transgender people… bother you?"
Katsurou gave him a weird, if not a somewhat awkward look. "I wouldn't know; I don't know any…"
"Well…" Len began when Katsurou went quiet. "Now you do."
"Wait, wait wait wait, wait!" Katsurou jumped up, looking startled. "What do you mean, 'now I do'?"
A/N: EEEEEEEPPPPP, LEN! WHAT'S KATSUROU GONNA THINK?!