03

Yukine

Lying in bed that night reading a textbook, the only thing Yukine could think of was stupid Yato Kamiya.

Honestly, for a second earlier that day, he'd feared he would be the inevitable new bully in a long chain, but now he wasn't so sure. He was snarky, inappropriate, and a total idiot, but he didn't seem particularly threatening.

Maybe his social skills were just appalling—like, apparently, his grades. Yukine really hadn't expected him to out-of-the-blue ask to be tutored, especially considering he'd only just arrived that day —and seriously, who asked a person they just met to help them study?

Whatever his deal was, Yukine's curiosity was definitely peaked, especially considering Yato looked like the mystery boy from so long ago...

Maybe he could ask him about it sometime. If he really was the same person, Yukine probably should've thanked him for saving him. And if he wasn't, no big deal, right? It couldn't hurt to ask.

Sighing, Yukine closed my textbook and threw it on his desk chair in defeat. He just couldn't seem to focus. Besides, he had plenty of time for homework tomorrow.

Tomorrow…

He flopped on my stomach and stared up at the ceiling with a slight frown. In truth, it was a little scary inviting a stranger over to his house. Not that he thought Yato would do anything, but he'd never been this sociable to anyone. Of course, he guessed that was how he was supposed to be at this new school—fresh start and all that.

Yukine still had absolutely no idea who Yato was as a person. They'd barely had a full conversation yet, although his notes during class hadn't exactly given the greatest first impression of his character. Yukine supposed he'd learn more the next day, during their study session. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too awkward—though he had a slight problem keeping his eyes off him.

No: It would all be fine. He just had to keep telling himself that. Even if Yato turned out to be a jerk, he still had his new friend, Hiyori, and a promising fresh start to look forward to.

The next morning was cloudy and gray with rain encroaching from the south, a cold gust slicing through Yukine's sweater as he ducked into the classroom. It would probably rain later in the day, though hopefully, it would end before school got out. He didn't want to have to walk home in a downpour.

"Enjoying the view, Yuki-chan?" a voice chimed from behind him, scaring him so much that he nearly tripped and face-planted on Hiyori's desk.

Yato's smug grin greeted him as he spun around and smacked him on the arm with a glare. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

He snickered and leaned his elbows against Yukine's desk, allowing a generous view of the toned arms underneath his shirt. The navy suit jacket was absent, as well as the tie. Clearly, he didn't like following the rules—or, apparently, the uniform code.

"Aw, don't be like that, snowflake! I just wanted to say good morning."

Sure, like he bought that . "I told you not to call me snowflake. And quit leaning on my desk." He smacked his arm off with a book from his bag and Yato shot him a pouty look unbefitting of a high-schooler.

"So mean." He stuck his tongue out childishly and took a seat on the surface of the desk across from his instead—probably to avoid another book smacking. "Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" He leaned forward with a sly smile. "Maybe you should come sleep with me inste— Oof!"

Hiyori calmly smacked him in the face with her bag as she passed, taking her seat with a falsely cheerful smile. "Perverts aren't supposed to be out so early in the morning," she chirped pseudo-sweetly. "Go back to your own row, Crapiya-kun."

"Dammit, Iki, that hurt!" Yato rubbed his cheek defensively but miraculously retreated back to his own seat without a comment about the 'Crapiya-kun' insult.

Surprised, Yukine turned to Hiyori with a grateful sigh. "Thanks. That idiot won't stop bothering me."

She smiled, a genuine one this time. "Yeah, no problem. That jerk's been my classmate for pretty much our whole lives." She shook her head with an irritated growl. "I still hate his stupid guts for cutting off my pigtail in elementary school."

"He really did that?" Yukine raised an eyebrow. "Did he get in trouble?"

"I beat his jerkhead face in, if that's what you mean," she responded with a huff, taking out her supplies and arranging them neatly on her desk. "He didn't mess with me much after that. If he keeps giving you trouble, just let me know."

"Thanks."

Yukine wanted to talk more, but just then, their Sensei walked in with a coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other, barking at everyone to sit down. Silence fell and the class rep stood to take attendance while Yukine snuck a glance at Yato—right in time to be smacked in the face by a balled-up paper.

let me know anytime if u wanna skip off 2 the bathroom cutie ;) - y

He rested his head on the desk with a groan. Lord, please give me the strength to get through today… so I can strangle this idiot after school.

As he'd predicted, the rain started around noon, and it didn't stop.

By the time school was over and Yukine stopped by his locker to gather his stuff, the sky was an angry black and rain poured from the sky like the world was ending. Thunder boomed so loud, it made his teeth rattle.

He really wished he didn't also have to deal with Yato, but unfortunately, he hadn't forgotten their deal. As Yukine closed my locker, he slung a heavy arm around his shoulder, a familiar lunchbox invading his line of sight. "Brought the promised goods, angel. You ready?"

With great determination, Yukine chose to ignore the new nickname. "We have to hurry. It's raining and I don't have an umbrella."

"I'd be your umbrella anytime."

"That literally doesn't even make sense."

They arrived at his house ten minutes later, shivering and dripping rain from every pore. It had turned Noah's Ark outside, so dark it almost looked like the middle of the night, the only light provided by the stark flashes of angry lightning.

Yukine kicked off his shoes at the door and instructed Yato to do the same, peeling off his wet socks with a grimace. Removing his school jacket was like tearing off a second layer of skin, and the sweater underneath was so wet, it had to have weighed at least five extra pounds. Yukine had no choice but to strip that off, too, leaving only the soaked white shirt and blue uniform pants remaining.

They'd both probably need to change, although Yato was so much taller and broader than Yukine, he doubted anything he had would fit him.

Speaking of Yato, he was struggling to squeeze the water out of his shirt, but it was doing little to no good. His shoes and socks lay beside Yukine's, leaking twin puddles of water onto the wood floor. They really needed to change or they'd probably end up with pneumonia.

"F-follow me," Yukine told him, teeth chattering as he padded through the house and towards the stairs. "We should c-c-change c-clothes. I can p-probably find something f-for you in my d-dad's closet."

They went upstairs and Yukine pointed out his room to Yato, waiting till he'd found it to slide open his parents' closet door and rummage around in his dad's clothes. After several minutes, all he could find was an old Tokyo sweatshirt and some ratty jogging pants, but it was better than nothing.

When he got back to his own room, he found Yato standing in front of his bookshelf, holding a copy of Kafka on the Shore.

"You like that book?" Yukine asked incredulously, startling him as he entered with the folded clothes.

"Oh, um, yeah. It's good." He put it back down and turned to him with a small smile. "Those for me?"

"Yep." He took them and Yukine pointed across the hallway. "Bathroom's over there on the left."

"Thanks." For once, Yato didn't make an inappropriate or sarcastic comment, and Yukine was pleasantly surprised watching him duck around the corner and out of sight.

Maybe he wasn't so bad, after all. This day was going better than he'd anticipated… Though there were still plenty of hours left in the day.

Sighing, Yukine opened up a drawer and pulled out a baggy blue sweater and some jeans, changing into them quickly. It felt great to get out of those cold, wet clothes, although his hair was still dripping.

He tried to squeeze some water out of it with an old T-shirt, but that just made it stick up all over the place, so eventually he just gave up.

By the time Yato got back, he'd emptied both their bags, set them out to dry on the desk, and put up a table for them to use. All the textbooks were a little damp, but no serious damage had been done, luckily. Though now he wasn't quite sure how to start... this .

Yato, fortunately, did. He flopped down on the floor, pulling at one of the tassels on his borrowed sweatshirt, which fit him surprisingly well. "So, what subject do we start with, Yukine?"

Hearing Yato say his full name filled Yukine with a sense of satisfaction, for some odd reason, and he tried to hide it as he dropped down beside him. "I'd say… math. That tends to be most people's worst subject. After that, we can do English and History."

Yato flashed a joking smile. "Teach away, Master Yukine."

By the time they'd finished, the rain had let up a little, but the sun had long since set.

As Yato had guessed, the curriculum was pretty close to his last school's, and Yukine picked up the subjects easily. Him, on the other hand… Not so much.

Yukine sat up and stretched while Yato packed away his books with a miserable sigh. "So much learning… I don't think my brain's worked this hard since high school entrance exams."

"Well, you're not really that terrible," Yukine told him with a light laugh. "I've seen people much worse than you before, trust me."

"So, I'm your most promising pupil?" he teased, zipping his bag with a cheeky grin. "You're definitely a good teacher."

"Thanks, but I don't do this very often… Nobody's ever asked me to before."

He looked up in surprise. "Really? Then you're even better than I thought!"

They shared a laugh, and for the first time since meeting him, Yato actually seemed like a pretty cool guy.

But, of course, as soon as Yukine thought that, he had to go and open his mouth again. "So, should I give these back to you tomorrow or strip right now?" He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Or maybe I could leave them on your bedroom floor toni—"

"Let me stop you right there," Yukine interrupted hastily, grabbing his arm and towing him toward the door. This idiot… "Just wash them and bring them tomorrow. And about our next session, what time works for you?"

He was trying his best to sound professional, but really he was just struggling not to blush.

"Hmmm." Yato paused at the doorway and started pulling on his shoes. "How about... tomorrow?"

Yukine rolled my eyes. "Two days in a row? That would be pointless. We won't learn anything new tomorrow."

"You never know." He winked, finishing tying his left shoe, and reached for the doorknob. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, snowflake. Can't wait."

Before Yukine could protest against the stupid nickname again, Yato ducked out into the rain with a wave, disappearing into the foggy darkness.

Rolling his eyes, Yukine leaned against the window pane and watched him go with an amused snort.

That guy really was something else. He must've taken classes on how to be irritating.

Still, Yukine found himself smiling as he turned around and headed back upstairs. Even though he knew deep down that Yato Kamiya would be nothing but trouble, he had the feeling his heart had already decided for him that he wouldn't be keeping his distance.

But he definitely needed to work on improving his attitude. If he called him snowflake one more time, Yukine would wipe that stupid smirk off his face with a well-placed roundhouse kick.

Alright… so maybe his attitude needed some work, too.

Back upstairs, as Yukine started picking up his books, he noticed a note scrawled in the margins of one of them.

"Oh no… What did he write this time ?" With an exasperated sigh, Yukine dropped the notebook he'd been about to put away and picked up the textbook to take a closer look.

There was a number written in scratchy handwriting—080-0919-8100—accompanied by a short note: call me anytime, snowflake ;) - y.

Yukine scoffed at the nickname, but couldn't help but chuckle a little. Even if he was an annoying bastard, Yato Kamiya—although he was technically still a stranger—had a way of making him smile.

Yukine had the most terrible feeling he was going to fall in love with him.