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This was it. This was the final straw. If Tora saw Weird Cat Kid from Classic Lit do one more strange thing, he was going to completely lose it.
His eye twitched, his lips pursed, and his fingers wouldn’t stop tapping. He was going mad. He didn’t even know why he was always looking at him, but he just couldn’t help it!
“Dude, what is your problem?” Tanaka muttered, glancing up over the book he was pretending to read.
“That kid.”
“Huh?”
“Look behind you – don’t be obvious!”
Tanaka, of course, whipped his head around and stared right at the guy.
“Cripes, Ryuu!” Tora gasped.
“Sorry, sorry,” Tanaka laughed, turning back around. “What about him?”
“He’s – he’s on a laptop!”
“Yeah, it’s finals week?”
Tora pulled at his mohawk and rubbed his hands over his face. “In front of a library computer, Ryuu! That’s – that’s weird!”
Tanaka shrugged. “I guess it’s a little unusual, but it’s not that bad. Jeez, what’s your problem, Tora?”
Tora whined and sank down. “He’s in my Classic Lit lecture.”
“Oh, this is Classic Lit guy?” Tanaka turned around again, somehow more obvious than the first time.
“Oh my god, stop doing that!” Tora smacked him in the back of the head. “He’ll see you!”
Tanaka just chuckled. “Is it the weird things, or the fact he’s cute, that’s driving you up a wall?”
Tora glared in response. It wasn’t like this was coming from nowhere, okay! It had been building up for months.
Tora never talked to anyone and hardly noticed anyone at his dreaded eight a.m. Classic Lit lecture every Monday. It was Satan’s class, truly. But one day, he’d been early. Really, it was just because Kenma kicked him out of the house early for eating their apple pie (he didn’t realize it was the last slice in the apartment!). There were only a few other students wandering in, dead on their feet.
As he took his normal seat, he noticed the kid in front of him for the first time.
Usually, he came to class last minute, so he was rarely paying any attention to anyone. But right then, the kid opened a five-hour energy and poured it into what appeared to be a cup of black coffee.
Jeez, is he okay?
He proceeded to chug it like it was nothing, and well, it was kind of a whole college mood. Tora just hid a snicker behind a cough, because he wasn’t really laughing at the guy so much as the situation, but he didn’t want to cause any offense.
Anyways, after that whole incident, the guy in front of him had sort of gained his attention. He couldn’t stop looking.
The next week, he came early on purpose, just to see if the guy made a habit of drinking coffee with energy shots. It appeared that he didn’t. However, he appeared to be having an oh-so-nutritious breakfast of uncooked ramen.
Tora wrinkled his nose in distaste, but he got it, really. Sometimes, you just had to grab something random on your way to class. It was kind of funny, really.
Me too, bud, me too.
The crunching sound was awful, but the kid seemed unbothered by it. Tora wondered if he could get away with saying hi or something. But no, it was too soon to try and think up something to say. So, he decided to just laugh to himself again and pull out his notebook.
There was always next time.
Next time came, surprisingly, late at night on that Wednesday.
Tora was walking home from a study group, when he realized he recognized the guy walking out of the coffee shop. He wasn’t totally sure it was Classic Lit guy, but he had a pretty good feeling.
He was carrying a giant cup of what appeared to be coffee.
Tora frowned and looked at his phone. 10:45 p.m. Jeez, does this guy even sleep?
Well, now, he was being unfair. Maybe it was decaf. Or maybe he had a lot of homework. But still, that’s a lot of coffee for that late.
I am…so concerned for his well-being, he thought to himself. He stared just a moment too long, though, because Classic Lit guy glanced over at him, then tilted his head in confusion.
Shit.
Tora felt his entire face get red, and he started hauling ass across campus to get home. Nope, nope, this isn’t happening to me, and oh god, why is he cute?
After that humiliating experience (that was probably not as bad as he made it out to be), nothing happened at the next class. Uh, not that he had been watching, or anything.
But the week after that, something not exactly weird so much as unusual took place.
When Tora arrived at class, Classic Lit guy wasn’t there yet. For a moment, Tora worried, and then remembered he didn’t even know the guy, so why was he worried?
He went about his business as usual, pulling out his notebook and slumping down in his seat, closing his eyes for a few. Then, he heard the chair next to him pull out, and the rustling of someone setting their stuff down.
It wasn’t like no one ever sat by him, but he knew he looked like a delinquent, so they usually kept some sort of distance. Out of curiosity, he opened his eyes and glanced to the side.
Oh my god.
Sure as sunrise, there was Classic Lit guy, opening a notebook and scanning his notes, not even glancing in Tora’s direction.
Does he know he sat in the wrong row? Next to me? The creepy guy who stares at him all the time?
An extra second of analyzing his face was enough to prove that he was the guy with the coffee. It was also enough to prove that he was so cute.
Needless to say, Tora didn’t focus very well in class that day.
For the next three weeks, sitting together became normal. Tora continued to be baffled but otherwise unbothered by the fact that this guy’s breakfasts seemed to consist solely of uncooked pasta. He also continued not to talk to him, but to notice how freaking cute he was.
Classic Lit guy looked extremely catlike, which was beyond endearing. He had this cute little pointed nose, and his lips were usually downturned, but not in like a resting sad face or resting mad face way. More like…resting surprised face? Tora wasn’t sure. He couldn’t tell what color his eyes were, because his irises were kinda small, but he was sure they were probably pretty. His eyes were always wide and focused.
Honestly, if Classic Lit guy didn’t know that Tora had spent over a month paying more attention to him than the lectures, he just didn’t know. But instead of learning about the literature they were covering, he was noticing more and more things about this guy.
For example, Tora had never once heard him speak. Like, ever. Not in class, not muttering to himself during notes, not in the hallways when he saw him with some other guys (not that he was looking for him, okay, it just happened). The kid never talked. Ever.
Because of this, Tora wasn’t sure what he’d even say to him. Like, would he have to carry their conversation alone? Would he annoy him? What would that even be like? Did he talk through text? Or did he only respond with emojis and emoticons?
Wait, Tora was getting ahead of himself there. It wasn’t like Classic Lit guy would be handing over his number any time soon. He didn’t even know his name.
The next week, the weird started back up. Instead of uncooked, raw noodles, Classic Lit guy cracked open a can of soup.
Tora tried to keep his face neutral, but he couldn’t help it. That was nasty, and he was just? Eating it? Right out of the can? At room temperature? His nose wrinkled in distaste and he averted his eyes so he wouldn’t react further.
Ew, ew, why are you so cute with such gross eating habits, I don’t–
For a second, he thought he saw the guy look at him. But no, he probably imagined it. Yeah. Definitely imagining it.
After a few weeks of raw soup, Classic Lit guy upgraded his palette to include SpaghettiOs. This was the point where Tora started texting Tanaka about it.
<ugh ryuu idk what to even do hes right nxt 2 me and thats nasty
>lmao? That’s so fuckin gross? Like soup ig I get but spaghettios is just nasty, even cooked, wtf
<like its totally rude to say smth right but im half tempted to do it anyways
>haha good fuckin luck w that tora
<im so, concerend 4 my felo students
When he set down his phone, Classic Lit guy was definitely looking at him. Even if it was a fleeting glance. No, he hadn’t imagined that one.
Things only got weirder. This time, as Tora tried to keep his eyes off the kid next to him, he heard the sound of candy being unwrapped.
Finally, he thought, something somewhat normal to be eating at this hour.
He glanced to the side and saw Classic Lit guy sleepily unwrapping a KitKat bar. Yeah, that was totally normal and un-weird. Tora could live with this.
Until he bit into it without breaking it first.
Tora was unable to contain even a fraction of his shock or horror. He openly gaped, dumbfounded, and then the guy turned to look him head on. He smiled. It was so tiny that Tora wouldn’t have seen it if he didn’t spend a creepy amount of time staring at his classmate, but he did, so he saw it.
Ah crap, say something, Taketora. Literally anything. You’ve been crushing forever, and he’s giving you the perfect chance to– Nope, turning away. And you just stared at him like a dumbass. Congratulations. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Tora snapped his eyes back to the front of the room and prayed their professor wouldn’t be late.
Next time, it was outside of class again. It was Saturday, and Tora was grabbing ice cream with Kyoutani before drowning themselves in their studies.
“Finals are next week,” Tora complained, leaning completely into Kyoutani. “Kenta, I’m going to die.”
“Get the fuck off me, freak,” Kyoutani snapped (all in good-nature; Tora had learned the difference by then). “I’m just glad Shinji agreed to help us study.”
“Yeah, he’s really hecking smart,” Tora agreed. “But this ice cream is like, a down payment on our future selves’ effort. We deserve th–” He stopped midsentence when he saw Classic Lit guy sitting across the ice cream shop in the farthest corner with what looked to be cookies n cream ice cream.
Solid choice, he commented internally.
But then, as if sensing Tora’s presence, he did something weird. He…he bit into the ice cream.
Tora stood, blinking dumbly, until Kyoutani hit him in the back of the head.
“Oi, earth to Tora?” Tora looked at him. “Let’s head out now, yeah?”
“Yeah! Yeah, sorry! Let’s go!”
Nothing on god’s great earth could have prepared Tora for class on Monday.
Classic Lit guy arrived before him, so Tora took his usual seat beside him. He wondered at what point this kind of became a friendship. Classic Lit guy loaned him a pencil once, and Tora remembered to return it, so surely that meant something, right?
But no, he was being too hopeful.
There were no weird foods involved today, only writing notes for the lecture. Everything was a little intense, what with finals coming up and all, so Classic Lit guy probably was forgetting to eat. Tora wondered if he should have brought something extra for him, just in case.
He promptly remembered how fucking weird that was. They didn’t know each other. He was surprised that Classic Lit guy even kept sitting with him after the amount of times he’d been caught obviously staring.
Unless…
Maybe he likes me too, and so he doesn’t mind that I stare? Like a total creep… Ah, who’m I kidding?
About halfway through the lecture, It™ happened.
There was a sudden inhalation beside him, and then the tiniest achoo! that Tora had ever heard. Classic Lit guy had a little kitten sneeze.
“Oh my god,” Tora muttered into his hand, turning his head to do so. That was the cutest sound he’d ever heard in his entire life. He was in love. Shit.
At first, Tora looked forward to finals week, because it meant that nothing weird could really happen. They would be taking their exam.
But then, it hit him.
They would be taking their exam. The next Monday’s class was the last class he’d have with Classic Lit guy. If he didn’t make a move, he was definitely going to lose his chance.
These thoughts started to plague him on Thursday, as he took a walk through the park to clear his head. He also may or may not have been avoiding Tanaka’s boyfriend who was very insistent about making them all study. Apparently, it was an old habit that followed him from high school. Tora didn’t love it.
So, he walked through the park and tried to sort out his thoughts. He had most of his projects done, and he was through most of his study guides. While he wasn’t the smartest or anything, he was pretty good at staying on top of his classes. He might not ace finals or anything, but he knew he was going to pass all his classes, and that was what mattered.
He sat under a tree, sighing deep as he leaned his head back. He couldn’t wait for the semester to end.
As he breathed, a shadow passed through his vision.
He opened his eyes, curious, to see Classic Lit guy. On the phone. But not like, saying anything.
What the actual, living, breathing, all-consuming fuck.
He nodded and shook his head at random intervals, and Tora blinked a few times to see if he was missing anything. It appeared that he wasn’t.
I don’t get it. I might miss him after the semester ends, but my life is about to get so much less confusing.
All this leading up to Friday night, in the library, where Classic Lit guy was sitting at the computer with a laptop pulled out.
“I have to say something,” he decided, smacking his hands on the table and standing up. “I can’t take it anymore.”
“Kay, have fun,” Tanaka monotoned, flipping a page. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Tora rolled his eyes and marched up to Classic Lit guy. This was it. This was his chance. He had to say something. He had…to say something. He had to say…something.
Once again, Tora found himself in the awkward position of staring at Classic Lit guy like an idiot.
And Classic Lit guy lifted his head and quirked a thin brow in questioning.
“Ah– I, uh…” Tora began eloquently.
And there it was. That tiny smile. And an equally tiny voice, saying: “Hi.”
How such a small word said in such a small voice made Tora blush all the way down his neck was unknown. All he knew was that it was suddenly very hot inside the library. He might have said hi back, but it was more likely that he just made a high-pitched sound.
And then, Classic Lit guy laughed. As small as the rest of his gestures, but his catlike eyes sparkled with amusement. He reached into his bag for a pad of sticky notes and wrote something down before pulling it off and sticking it to Tora’s cheek. He smiled once more, then turned to his laptop again.
Tora walked back to Tanaka in a daze. He didn’t even think to look at the sticky note until Tanaka howled in laughter at him and pulled it off his face.
“You’re a wreck, Tora,” he snickered, handing it over.
Fukunaga Shouhei
Xxx-xxx-xxxx
You’re cute. Text me sometime?
He stared in disbelief at the note before looking back up at Classic Lit guy – no, Fukunaga. He gaped awkwardly until Fukunaga met his gaze and laughed behind his hand. Tora waved like a dumbass, and Fukunaga waved back.
Tanaka laughed at him again, but Tora couldn’t care less. Classic Lit guy had a name, and he was going to get to see him do weird things more often, outside of class.