The Spring weather was pleasantly mild on his evening walk back to his apartment. Ken Ichijouji, a Junior at Tokyo University, had just been let out of his late Friday class.

He traversed the now empty streets to a few blocks away. After entering the tiny lobby space, he took the stairs to the second floor. The building was by no means extravagent, but it served its purpose being so near the campus.

As he pushed his key into the lock and opened the door, the sound that greeted him was not evening calm, nor relaxing quiet at the late hour.

It was the wooden squeaking of a bed and muffled moaning that floated through the apartment and assaulted his ears.

Ken rolled his eyes and grimaced in annoyance. Another one. Couldn't be the same one. They were never the same.

His roommate and childhood best friend Davis Motomiya was, as usual, with a girl in his room.

Ken couldn't decide if he had simply lost track of the frequency and number of partners Davis had had since they started college, or if he finally began repressing the numbers out of sheer horror.

He deposited his backpack and jacket in his room at the other end of the apartment before going into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. With his notebook open, he took a seat at the small table.

The water was boiling in the kettle on the stove as the sound of a door creak rang out in the now quiet space. Footsteps pattered down the hall.

From his relatively hidden position, Ken managed to catch a glimpse of the girl, Davis walking behind her, as they headed for the main door of the apartment.

Ken heard Davis' mumbled goodbye, the girl's soft giggle, then the closing of the door.

On his way back to his room, Davis passed by the kitchen again and noticed Ken seated at the table.

"Hey, buddy! Welcome home!" Davis chirped happily from the doorway.

"Busy night?" Ken mumbled sarcastically.

"Oh, y'know," he shrugged, sly grin on his face, then crossed to the counter to pour tea for them.

"Uh huh," Ken replied as sardonically as humanly possible.

Davis set their cups on the table and flopped onto the empty chair. Ken sipped his tea as he scanned through his notes.

"She didn't want to spend the night?" Ken asked, eyes squinted accusatorily. He knew the answer and only asked to drive the point home. They never spent the night.

Davis didn't miss the sarcasm. He cocked his head, brow raised. "Nope."

Ken closed his eyes, sent a beleaguered sigh out his nose and took a sip of tea. Though Davis was free to do as he pleased, and he always had, Ken found this particular penchant of his unbecoming and vulgar.

Davis was staring at him with a challenging grin as he picked up his cup. "Jealous?"

Ken only gave a cynical smile in response, turning back to his notes.

"What are your plans tomorrow? I was thinking of inviting the gang over," Davis deflected.

"I don't have any plans," Ken said, eyes giving one last glance at the paper before shutting the notebook and walking his empty cup to the sink.

Davis followed, holding onto his cup as Ken rinsed his out. "I'll order some pizza and we can just chill," Davis suggested.

Ken set his clean cup in the drying rack and grabbed Davis' from his hand. "Sounds fine."

"Sounds awesome," Davis corrected him cheekily, wrapping an arm around Ken's shoulder and giving him a small shake. "C'mon, buddy. It'll be fun!"

Ken peered at him out the corner of his eye and gave a small smile. He could never be irritated at him for long. Davis made sure of that with his lighthearted demeanor and goofy charm.

Davis, inches from his face, looked upon Ken dreamily. "There's that smile I love so much," he teased, pinching his cheek.

As quickly as it appeared, Ken's smile downturned and he swatted Davis' hand away.

" 'Kay, goodnight!" Davis laughed and trotted off to his room.

Ken sighed again in defeat and placed the cups back in the cabinet. He gathered his notebook and returned to his room.

As he lay in bed, begging for sleep to claim him, he just couldn't turn his brain off.

He thought back to the days of junior high when Davis had first assimilated him into his friend group; quiet, studious little Ken, immediately accepted by gregarious clown Davis. In turn, Davis' friends welcomed him into the fold, no questions asked.

And so Davis and Ken became the best of friends. The relationship saw them all through high school and now at college together. Though they were as close as two friends could be, not only were their personalities so opposite, but their extracurricular activities differed as well. Introvert Ken was more than happy to focus on schoolwork while Davis was never one to miss out on a party. He made friends easily and people were naturally drawn to him, especially girls. That much was evident by the constantly revolving door of them.

Davis seemed content with keeping these meetings casual. He had never kept any of them around for more than a day. Ken had never learned any of their names or been formally introduced. It would be moot anyway.

He didn't want to meet them, didn't want to hear the stories of how Davis' charmed them or how much fun they had together. He especially didn't want to hear it while they were having fun.

Ken would admit all this gladly if asked. But what he couldn't admit, barely even to himself, was the true reason why he was so bothered by Davis' proclivities. Why each time he brought another home, lavishing his attention on them, albeit briefly, chipping away at his heart piece by piece, the painful feeling that he had to disguise with annoyance or sarcasm or indifference.

Ken was in love with his best friend.