NOVEL NEXT Arc 2, Ch.2: The start of three weeks
“Ah, I get it. Your crush is Taizou, who’s suddenly around you all the time, the rival should be Prez for obvious reasons, the reason why you never participated in our talk about girlfriends was cause you’re gay and Mama Yuji somehow found out and was protecting you cause you’re prone to freaking out at the thought that people might disdain you?”
My jaw dropped and I think Tarou’s did, too.
“Wha-... Kaoru, how exactly did you come to that conclusion?”
“Eh? I mean, I had a feeling Yuji’s behaviour was kinda selective. If you remember at which times he scolded you and Riku never showing a large interest in girls, then you’ve got hints already. I’m just certain now cause the situation he just described fits perfectly to Taizou and Prez. Or did you see any girl stick to Riku? And it’s just a theory, even if it was wrong, nothing would happen.”
I heard the sound of Tarou’s elbows on his table, then his muffled voice (probably from leaning onto his hands).
“Hmmmmmm Iiiii gueeess that would make sense…”
“So? Was I correct?”
Blergh. Of course I could tell by their relaxed tones that they didn’t mind the thought at all, so they were fine with me being gay but my stomach lurched anyway. I pulled a face as I tried to press down the spontaneous nausea at being confronted with the situation.
We often had those jokes where, when someone mentioned homosexuality, they’d do the ‘Oh noes, what if they fall for me?’ thing, acting like a maiden. They were never serious about them and I never felt offended because I knew those guys and was aware they meant no harm.
In all those years of our friendship, we had never broached the topic of homosexual people directly, though. Not their opinions on it.
They never said whether they thought it was weird or not and that had made me nervous. We were close - I didn’t have second thoughts about changing my clothes in a room with them or sharing a bed if there was no other choice, but would they think the same?
My silence was a wordless agreement.
Their reaction, to be honest, stunned me a bit.
Tarou cleared his throat.
“Oh. Alright. Back on topic then. How dare Prez touch Taizou!! Doesn’t he know he’s intruding! What the fuck is up with that! You’ve gotta ask Taizou about it right away, okay?!”
I heard Kaoru laughing before he joined in.
“Yeah! If one of us has the chance to have a beautiful, eh, lover, then we can’t let some other guy steal it away! We’ll march to war!”
I broke out into a burst of snorting laughter despite myself. They rambled on, their story beginning to sound like Prez being the villain who took away the protagonist’s love interest.
They only slowed down when they heard me laugh.
“Well, I’m awkward, but okay with this.”
“That’s an honest answer at least.”
“At least we’re definitely not your type if you’ve got your eye on Taizou. Uh, please don’t be offended if I’m not gonna joke around in certain ways anymore, kay?”
“God, you guys would be out even if you were my type. You’re pretty much my brothers. And no, I won’t be.”
After all, what he was talking about were the cases where they tried to jokingly strip me whenever I didn’t want to go swimming. The plan was to make me change against my will, which always had me screaming in panic and them bellowing in laughter. I really wouldn’t mind them stopping that.
“I’m surprised over the overly supportive people around me”, I muttered awkwardly. “I mean, my family is all pro-me, and now I managed a three out of three for friends that are fine with it, too? Suspicious.”
“Nah, you just wouldn’t get along with someone who discriminates people. Though I gotta say, you are pretty lucky with your family.”
“Wait, there’s a gay guy living with two fujoshis? Fuck, I’d cry if I was you.”
“I’m scared of cameras appearing in my room.”
Since I was back to joking, they relaxed as well. My stomach settled - thankfully - quite quick.
“What are you gonna do about that thing with Prez? Eh, how’s your current relationship with Taizou anyway? We know that you’re at least friends, but…”
“Truth be told? No idea. Kinda in the middle of who-knows-what.”
“But close enough that we can be mad at Prez?”
I huffed angrily. “Mizuki told me himself he doesn’t even consider Prez a friend. If he really tried to force himself onto Mizuki, then I’ve got all right to intervene.”
Not the bravery to, but at least the right. Which was something.
“The best would be to ask Taizou about what happened? Why don’t you do that?”
Because I don’t even dare to write him literally any message right now, let alone asking him like a suspicious boyfriend!
“I… I thought I’d probably wait for a while… Since we’re all in a group starting Monday.”
“Oh shit.” “Oh shit. We are.” “Welp, that’s awkward.” “So we are, like, three third-wheels and one love rival?” “Great combination.” “Okay, we’ll try to keep Prez away from you.”
“Don’t! I don’t wanna be ungrateful, but you guys are anything but subtle!”
“We are?” “Probably.” “Well, fuck. Maybe let Yuji do it then.” “The group work would be a great chance for you two to spend some time together, right? Maybe you can find out about what happened without being too obvious.”
“Yeah… I hope so.”
Aah… Weekend can’t stay forever.
I was unwell with nervosity, about literally everything. The event, my grades, the kiss, the other possibly-a-kiss.
Couldn’t things just sort themselves out…?
My friends supportively smiled at me when we met up, trying to take my mind off things. That would be for the best; I couldn’t solve everything at once and that system of mine was obstinately quiet.
Our Monday started with an introduction to the event. It was common for people to form groups beforehand, so after that meeting was over, those of us that had a group could meet up together and find a free corner in the large gymnasium while the rest had two hours to form a group and submit their sheets.
I and my friends went to a corner first, since finding Mizuki and Prez would be nearly impossible in the moving crowd. The two of them came over soon enough, though we could tell something wasn’t right.
Prez was smiling and looking friendly as usual but Mizuki’s face was dark. He looked like he’d bite anyone who’d approach him, his dark eyes freezing over.
“Welp”, whispered Tarou, taking half a step behind me.
Ha, ha. Like I’m the safest place here.
“Hi”, Akihito greeted us amiably and we greeted back, I alone did another turn to Mizuki.
My smile was definitely crooked and quivering because I was nervous. I wasn’t even certain that Mizuki wasn’t furious at me for whatever reaction he had maybe expected out of kissing me.
It turned out my worries were unfounded - the moment he heard me talk, the clouds lifted for a few seconds, revealing an almost soft expression on his face. “Hi.”
I fiddled with my hands, turning my face away. Mizuki turned back to displaying his irritable mood, causing all of us to raise their eyebrows. Prez chuckled awkwardly.
“Ah, ever since he arrived, there’s been dozens of people coming over begging to be in a group with him. Also, there’s…”
He pointed his thumb over his shoulder and we looked past him. More than just a few people were glancing over every few seconds, some even taking photos. I had no doubt they were taking photos of Prez and Mizuki, not the rest of us, but I could imagine it being annoying.
Mizuki had probably never really noticed their intent before, but he knew the rumors so he was likely to think of it differently now.
At least I hoped it was still bothering him.
...Eh? Why was I even thinking that the kiss was a positive thing? What if his reaction had been disgust, so he went to try and kiss the president?
My eyes turned blank as I stared on the ground. Kaoru poked me into the back so I blinked myself out of the daze, hurriedly listening to what Prez had started to say.
No time for that right now.
“Anyway, we already planned out a lot, so shall we take a break for now? We’re just past the exams, we deserve to take it slow.”
Prez’s charming chuckle sounded. Of course none of us disagreed.
Tsk, there he goes again. I would really like to not randomly hate a guy who is doing absolutely nothing hateful (yet) but I couldn’t control the feeling.
We sat down so that we could lean against the wall and Prez took out our previous notes and a pen as an alibi for being busy.
Mizuki sat down to my right, Yuji to my left. I harshly tugged my friend’s clothes in a corner where it wasn’t visible.
Hey, I’m really nervous here! He’s sitting too close!
Yuji glanced over to me, turning his movement of dusting off his pants into a curt pat on my leg.
‘Is fine, is fine’, he was telling me. I calmed down a tiny bit.
Farther to my left, Tarou was engaging Prez in a discussion. He wasn’t doing it on purpose, that was just his talent. He could talk so much bullshit that you’d find yourself in a deep discussion with him before even noticing it and judging by the slightly confused frown on Prez’s face, that was happening right now.
