Thank you to the guest who reminded me to post this! I've had so much at uni and I've been really stressed .

Somehow Gokudera survived the lecture. Despite his attempts at focusing, he had not heard a single word of what the professor had said, attention whizzing back and forth at the slightest noise from the other students. He remained in his seat as the others left the room, eyes fixed on his blank papers and heart in his throat. The moment the door closed he scooped up his things and showed them into his bag. With wobbly legs he dashed out of the room, down the stairs and out into the blazing heat and away from the accursed room.

He needed to get away.

Gokudera did not flee from campus. Instead he spent the lunch holed up in the library, crouched down behind some shelves and nose buried in the latest number of Paranormal Japan. His rings clinked against each other as he restlessly flicked the pages, trying to find a story that would hold his attention. There was a shuffling noise on the other side and he heard a couple of giggles. They seemed to be sitting down by one of the reading tables in the aisle. There were a few more giggles and mumbling, but Gokudera was not paying them any mind until he heard a familiar name.
"-amamoto." The magazine dropped from his hands as he pressed his back against the shelf behind him, craning his neck to hear what they were saying.
"What? No, I heard it's someone from K University." One of the girls rebutted and he could practically see the others leaning across the table to hear. "One of my friends goes there and she said that she's seen this girl with him…"

He ended up listening in on them the entire hour, neck cramping from his awkward position behind the shelf. It was not until the bell rang that he realized that he had another class. Ignoring the gnawing feeling in his stomach, Gokudera snuck past them and headed towards the lecture. He figured that he would just go and buy a yakisoba bread or something later.

Later, as Gokudera made his way through the bicycle parking, stuffing the remains of a melon bread into his mouth, he could not help but to glance wistfully at the motorcycles parked there. One day, he told himself and reluctantly turned his attention towards the lot where his bike should be parked. It was, however, occupied by what was definitely not his bike. In fact, his deathtrap was nowhere to be seen. For a brief moment the thought of someone stealing it crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Gokudera doubted anyone would judge it safe enough to steal and if someone did, well it was their problem then. It still did not solve the mystery of his disappearing bike.

Walking back and forth along the bike parking, he scanned the area for any trace of the bike. Gokudera always parked it in the same place, except for that one time he was walking with Yamamoto and ended up being far too engrossed in whatever argument they were having and… oh. Walking with Yamamoto. He ended up actually face palming himself, while cursing his stupidity. Of course he had been too distracted by his headache and the idiot's happy chattering to remember to bring his bike. This meant should start running about… he fished out his phone to check the time. Ten minutes ago. Well, shit. He was going to be late for work.

Gokudera was not exactly a skilled runner, he would probably be faster if he would just stop with those cigarettes, but he still prided himself in his speed as he skidded to a stop in front of his workplace twenty minutes later. Sure, he was gasping for breath and his hands were shaking, but he could not possibly be later than that one time his bike decided, halfway down the mountain, that it did not need its chain anymore.

"Oh, look at that! is here." The oh so lovely woman that ran the convenience store looked up from her paper, giving him a sharp glare as he tumbled through the door to the staff room. Still panting heavily from his involuntary sprint, he mustered the fiercest glare he could as he tried not to cough his lungs out. "Your shift started five minutes ago. I expect you to join Fujioka behind the counter in the next five or you won't have to show up again." Gokudera knew from their many previous disputes that she was not to be trifled with when she was in a mood like this, so he swallowed the snarky reply and shuffled over to the bathroom. After splashing himself with some cooling water, he ran his trembling hands through his hair and pulled it into a ponytail. Then he dug through his bag and hastily changed into his uniform.

Working at the convenience store was not the most exhilarating way to pass his time and this day was no different. Gokudera was just helping this tiny little lady that could not decide which type of nikuman she would prefer when the doorbell rang again. Looking up, he had to bite his lip to keep himself from swearing in front of the elderly being.

It was one of the regular customers; a girl that he recognized from school, who did not seem to realize that Gokudera cursing and practically throwing her groceries at her was not him flirting back. She would come by on all of his shifts, only buying one or two items so that she could drop by again later and pestering him to no end. No matter how harshly he had formulated his disinterest, she was relentless up to the point that he had announced to the entire shop at the top of his lungs that he "was fucking gay, so get the hell away from me you crazy bitch", upon which he had shoved her out of the store.

His boss had not been particularly impressed by that incidence and Gokudera was not keen on making it a common occurrence. He could not afford losing this job, his charming personality and people skills were not good selling points after all, so he would need something to restrain him from before she made him lose his mind. Therefore, he was pleasantly surprised to see her attached to the arm of an unfortunate male, who had probably angered the spirits in order to be stuck in such a manner.

"Gokudera! Good to see you made it home in one piece last night!" Shit. Gokudera went rigid, slowly turning his head to stare wide-eyed at the most-likely-cursed guy, taking in his appearance. He was one of Yamamoto's teammates.
"You know each other?" The girl stared at the two of them as if was the most extraordinary thing she had ever encountered.
"He's one of Yamamoto's friends." The young man, whose name Gokudera was pretty sure was Takeuchi, said to her as if it explained everything. Apparently it did, because she nodded her head, looking pleased with the answer.
"That id-" He started, undoubtedly about to deliver a witty answer, when Fujioka interrupted him, seemingly having decided that it was the perfect moment to pop out from wherever she had been hiding before. She had probably been slacking off he noted sourly.
"Yamamoto?" She began with a smirk that did not bode well. Gokudera felt a sudden sense of dread fill him. "Is that the cute guy that waits for you when the Saturday shift ends?" he opened his mouth to tell her no, to deny it in front of Takeuchi and the annoying girl, but no words came out. Instead he just kind of gaped at her, a strangled sound dying in his throat.
"Yamamoto does that?" Takeuchi sounded stunned, but Gokudera was too busy continuing mimicking a dying fish to look at him to see whether his expression matched. "Oh… uh… wow, you guys must be closer than I thought. I'd expect him to spend that time with his girlfriend."
"How should I know?" Gokudera managed to force out. Refusing to look at them, he punched the buttons on the screen in front of him and snatched out a bag from under the disk. "That idiot comes here on his own accord." He practically threw their things into the bag and put it down with a loud thud. "That'll be 451 yen."
"Oh- Yeah…" Gokudera lifted his gaze as Takeuchi dug through his pocket for the right amount. The girl was staring at him with wide eyes and he could practically see the gears turning for her. If his tongue had not felt like it was sticking in his throat he would have laughed at how painful it looked. "Here." He glanced at the outstretched hand, looking at it stupidly before realizing he was getting paid.

As if the universe had not taunted him enough, Gokudera ended up dropping the change all over the disk, after which the couple finally left with a hasty goodbye. He sagged against the cashier machine, burying his face in his hands. Fujioka guffawed at him and he glared at her as she went over to the hot food area.
"So this Yamamoto…"she started, looking back at him and wriggling her eyebrows.
"Shut it."

Sorry for the slow progress! I'll try to get the next one up sooner and hopefully I'll have more time to write during Christmas C=