Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ever since Shuu gave Ryouhei his number, he's been receiving all sorts of messages from him. They range from texts celebrating his kyudo accomplishments (i was able to do ashibumi in one go) to pictures of cute animals he saw in the bushes (look shuu-kun look) to questions about random subjects (if the earth gets too hot to live on, do you think we'll be able to move to space?). Shuu usually shoots off a one-word reply and continues with his evening.

But this time no reply is coming to him.

Shuu stares down at his phone in surprise, fingers frozen in midair above the keyboard. His body heats up and his heart starts racing.

The way he feels about Minato isn't exactly a secret.

He's never tried too hard to hide it. His feelings are so strong, so passionate that he can't always hide them, heart threatening to burst right out of his chest every time he sees Minato's face. He'll often get carried away in the heat of the moment, saying bold things he hadn't meant to say, reaching out and touching Minato before his brain can catch up to his body.

Part of him doesn't want to hide. Part of him wants everyone to know, wants to brag about their special bond and demonstrate his love for all the world to see. Life would be a lot less irritating if everybody accepted that Minato already has someone who loves him, someone who challenges him, someone meant to walk the same path as him forever.

But that's just how one part of him feels. At the same time, there's another, different part of him that does want to keep things secret.

His connection with Minato is his own private joy. It's the source of his inspiration, the biggest reason he trains so hard. For that reason alone, there's a part of Shuu that wants to keep his feelings close to his heart instead of sharing them with just anyone.

Then there's the matter of social norms. Shuu knows there are people who might condemn his love just because its recipient happens to be a man. Of course he isn't doing anything wrong; if he wasn't meant to fall in love with Minato, then the god of the bow wouldn't have brought them together in the first place. But other people might not understand, so he knows he should tread carefully.

Shuu has been staring at Ryouhei's message for several minutes now, but he still doesn't know how to respond.

He doesn't have to. He could just ignore it. Or he could reply with something ambiguous; Sen and Man once asked him if his feelings for his rival were love, and he'd just smiled and said, "I wonder."

But the longer Shuu stares at the screen, the more he finds himself getting a different urge: the urge to just be honest.

Maybe it's because typing is easier than talking. Maybe it's because the question is a simple yes-or-no, and he doesn't have to say who he loves. Or maybe it's just because the person who asked is Ryouhei, and Ryouhei has always been mysteriously gifted at getting him to open up about his true thoughts and feelings.

Whatever the reason, Shuu types:

Ryouhei replies quickly.

Shuu's heart thuds in his chest. Does that mean you asked Minato, too?

His fingers fly across the keyboard.

So Minato's feelings are still a mystery. Shuu realizes that's probably for the best; even if it turned out that Minato did love him back, he wouldn't want to find out through such underhanded methods.

There's that who question. It's one Shuu should have seen coming, but he doesn't feel prepared to answer it.

He spends a few moments trying to decide on what to say before settling on something vague.

It's tempting to just say it. Part of him really wants to.

But in the end he just says:

If they were talking in-person, Shuu would probably have a hard time resisting Ryouhei's puppy-dog stare. But Shuu can't see his face right now, so he feels no guilt whatsoever about setting his phone aside and ignoring it for the rest of the evening.

“Hey Shuu-kun, what's your type?" Ryouhei asks one day out of the blue.

It's a Saturday afternoon. The two of them are lounging around Shuu's room together, after Ryouhei showed up uninvited and made himself at home like usual.

Shuu shoots him a wary look. This topic again?

"What's with that question?"

“Yesterday, Nanao was talking about the different types of girls," Ryouhei explains. "He was saying which ones make the best girlfriends and stuff like that. I've never fallen in love or dated anyone, so I don't really know much about that, but it made me curious about what your type is."

So that's why he wanted to know. Ryouhei always finds the strangest things to be curious about.

"I don't have one," Shuu says.

"You don't?" Ryouhei asks. Shuu shakes his head. "Huh, that's surprising. I thought for sure you'd have a type."

"You did?"

Ryouhei nods. "You're really into kyudo, so I thought your type would be kyudo girls."

"Kyudo girls?"

"Like, the type of girl who wears hakama all day long, and never sleeps because she's always busy shooting."

"I don't think anyone like that exists," Shuu says dryly.

"Maybe not," Ryouhei admits, "but you said there's a girl you like, so even if you don't have a type, I wanna know, what kind of person is she?

"I didn't say that."

"Huh?" Ryouhei blinks at him. "Yeah you did."

"I didn't."

"You totally did, I can prove it."

Ryouhei reaches into his pocket, pulls out his phone, and starts scrolling through their LINE messages.

"See?" he says, shoving the screen in Shuu's face. "Right here, you said there's somebody who shot through your heart."

"I see that," Shuu says calmly.

"So there is a girl you like."

"There isn't."

Ryouhei frowns in bewilderment. "But you said—" he starts, and then it seems to dawn on him. "Wait," he says slowly, eyes going wide, "is it a boy?"

Shuu doesn't say anything, but his lack of denial speaks for itself.

"Huh." Ryouhei looks completely gobsmacked. "That's really unexpected…"

"You aren't bothered, are you?" Shuu asks.

"Nope, no way, not bothered at all!" Ryouhei rushes to assure him. "I just forgot that was a thing."

Shuu feels himself relax. He hadn't been expecting Ryouhei to judge him, but it's nice to know he doesn't need to hold back the truth about his feelings.

"It's not important that we're both men," he explains. "What's important is the unbreakable bond we've forged, and the fact we share the same destiny."

The look on Ryouhei's face is suitably impressed.

"Woaaah," he breathes, eyes wide and sparkling. "That sounded so cool and romantic just now."

Shuu feels himself crack a smile.

"So, what type of person is the boy you like?" Ryouhei asks, sounding just as curious as he did before.

That may just be the toughest question yet.

Shuu thinks about the many different sides of Minato's personality: his brightness and cheerfulness, his clumsiness and anxiety, his strength and resilience, his burning passion for kyudo.

"I wonder," is all he says.

Ryouhei droops his head in disappointment. "You can't answer that one either?"

"Sorry, but I don't think I can."

Minato is just Minato. That's all.

“Hey, is the person you like Motomura-san?"

They're studying for midterm exams in a quiet corner of the public library when Ryouhei pops his latest weird question.

Shuu stares at him in bewilderment from across the table. "No. Where did that come from?"

“I was just thinking about him cause I ran into him here one time when I was looking at archery books. I thought he might be the boy you like, since his shooting is really good and he gets kaichuu a lot."

“If I fell in love with every man who got kaichuu," Shuu deadpans, "I wouldn't be able to watch any competition without being shot through the heart."

Ryouhei smiles sheepishly. “I guess that’s true.”

Shuu returns to his study guide, but Ryouhei isn't done interrogating him.

“Is it one of the Sugawara twins?” he tries asking next.

“No," Shuu says, starting to feel irritated.

“Then, is it that senpai who likes idols and stuff?”

“No.” Shuu gives up on studying, warily looking up from his notes again.

Ryouhei's forehead wrinkles. “I don't think I remember those other two guys' names..."

“It’s not anyone from my team," Shuu tells him exasperatedly.

Ryouhei looks surprised. “It’s someone who didn’t make the team?”

“It’s no one from my school."

“They don’t go to Kirisaki?”

“No," Shuu says, and then because he's tired of this conversation he adds, "not anymore."

Ryouhei’s eyes bug out.

“—Minato?"

All of Shuu's irritation instantly evaporates.

Just hearing that name, the name of his most special person, is enough to dispel all his negative feelings and feel him with warmth inside.

"Surprised?" he asks, feeling a smile pull at his lips.

"Well, after you said that, it was either Minato or Seiya. But even though you and Seiya have this weird vibe sometimes, it doesn't feel like a romance vibe."

Shuu is tempted to say something like Absolutely not or Why would you think that for even one second, but he resists the urge.

"You're right about that," is all he says.

“So the person Shuu-kun loves is Minato.” Ryouhei smiles. “That’s cute. I’m glad it’s Minato."

Shuu's heart throbs in his chest. He's been aware of his feelings for some time now, but it's striking to hear someone talk about them so casually.

"You're glad?" he asks.

Ryouhei nods. “You're both my friends, so if you become a couple, that means I get to see two of my friends be happy together. Good luck! I'm rooting for you!"

Shuu is speechless.

A warm feeling spreads in his chest and envelopes his heart. He stares at Ryouhei's beaming face, utterly blown away by his friend's bright smile and kind words.

Shuu always told himself he didn't need anyone's support, that it doesn't matter what other people think of him; he'll follow his heart no matter what, even if nobody cheers him on or if the whole world stands against him.

But even though he's always thought that way, he's taken aback by how good it feels to have someone's understanding, to have someone's support, to hear the words "I'm rooting for you."

As he looks at Ryouhei, Shuu thinks: How do you always know what to say to put my heart at ease?

He's left wondering that same thing every time they talk.

"Thank you," he manages to say at last.

Ryouhei smiles kindly at him.

“So are you gonna confess soon?”

Shuu blinks. “Confess?”

“To Minato."

Oh.

Somehow, he hadn't been expecting that question.

“I wasn’t planning on it," he says, suddenly having a hard time looking Ryouhei in the eye.

"How come?" Ryouhei asks curiously. "Are you waiting for a special occasion, like Valentine’s Day?”

Shuu shakes his head. "I don't have a date in mind. It's not something I've planned out. The right moment will come eventually.”

"But didn't you say you’ve been in love for years?"

Shuu remembers Minato's smile that one sunny afternoon, "I just wanted to see you before I went home," the slow dawning at the bottom of his heart.

At the time, he hadn't recognized what he was feeling. But now that he's older he can look back on that moment and think, That's love.

"Since I was eleven," he says.

Ryouhei frowns at him in confusion. "That's a really long time. Aren't you tired of waiting by now?"

Shuu is beginning to feel defensive, but he knows Ryouhei always means well, so he tries not to lose patience.

“It’s not that I want to wait longer," he explains. "It’s just that there’s no rush. The two of us were chosen to walk the same path together. We’ll end up where we need to be.”

That's what Shuu truly believes, from the bottom of his heart.

When he looks at Ryouhei's eyes he finds them sparkling again.

“Wow, that sounded super cool."

"You think so?" Shuu asks, glad that he understood.

Ryouhei nods. "You're always so cool and confident. I wish I was more like you.”

"Instead of trying to be like me, you should just be yourself."

Ryouhei looks surprised. "You think so?"

"You're good just being Ryouhei," Shuu tells him. "I wouldn't want you to be more like anyone else. I'm sure your other friends feel the same."

A smile slowly but surely spreads across Ryouhei's face, bashful but utterly sincere.

“Thanks!"

Ryouhei has never really understood love.

In elementary school, kids would often joke about it, pointing fingers and accusing their classmates of being in love with so-and-so. Ryouhei never joined in that kind of talk, and neither did his friends, but by middle school the subject had become impossible to avoid.

Middle school was when everyone started to get serious about love. The jokes about love notes and confessions weren't jokes anymore; that sort of thing really did happen. There was less giggling and finger-pointing, more whispering and blushing. The girls started acting shy, and the boys started acting all cool and manly to try to impress the girls.

Sometimes the guys in his kendo club would try to talk about love, but whenever they asked, Ryouhei always told them the same thing: that there wasn't anyone he liked right now. Sure, there were lots of cute and nice girls at school, but there wasn't anyone he felt special about. Mostly, he just wanted to be everybody's friend.

The guys in his kendo club told him he'd change, that any day he'd meet a pretty girl who was just his type, and then he'd finally reach adulthood. But that day didn't come during his first year of middle school, or his second year, or his third year.

And although it might have been nice to fit in, Ryouhei was honestly glad not to be involved. There were all these rules about how you were supposed to talk to girls, and keeping track of them all sounded like a huge headache. Everywhere he turned, there was some drama going on about who was going out with who, who broke up over summer break, and who was going to have to break up because they got accepted to different high schools.

All things considered, Ryouhei thought being in love sounded like a pain.

High school did nothing to change that impression. On the contrary, his negative view of romance only grew stronger after he met Nanao and witnessed the Nanao Fan Club in action. It looked super annoying to have girls following you around all the time and fighting for your attention. And even though Nanao said he enjoyed his popularity, Ryouhei could tell that he got tired of his fangirls sometimes.

There was only one thing that made Ryouhei curious about love, and that was his sister's manga. His sister owned a lot of shoujo romances, and while some of them made romance seem like a pain, others made it seem fun and exciting. Hearts, sparkles and flowers danced off the page whenever the heroine saw her love interest, while the narration described warm and fuzzy feelings. Scenes with passionate love confessions got Ryouhei's heart beating faster, and lines like "I wish this moment would last forever" appeared to his sentimental side. After he reached the last volume and saw the couple live happily ever after, he'd close the book in satisfaction, feeling like he just got a happy ending, too.

But after he returned the manga to his sister's room and joined the real world again, Ryouhei's interest in romance was quick to disappear. He didn't feel like he needed a romance of his own. His life was already full of excitement; he was happy just hanging out with his friends, being with his family, trying new snacks and practicing kyudo every day. He didn't need to fall in love. And his friends seemed to feel the same way, because apart from Nanao, none of them had any romances going on, either.

Except now he knows that's not true anymore.

Now there is a romance going on, and it involves not just one of Ryouhei's friends, but two of them.

At first, he'd been impressed by Shuu's confident words when he talked about loving Minato. But the more he thinks about what Shuu said, the more confused he feels.

Shuu said there wasn't any need to confess his love because things would just work out on their own, and Ryouhei doesn't understand how. He may not know much about romance, but he's pretty sure that in order for two people to become a couple, at least one of them needs to say something.

And then there's also something about the way Shuu looked that's been bothering Ryouhei. Normally, Shuu looks at people head-on when he's speaking to them, with a cool and composed look on his face. It's one of the things Ryouhei admires about him. But when Shuu said he wasn't planning on confessing to Minato, he avoided Ryouhei's eyes, uncharacteristically looking down at the table. His words were confident, but his body language wasn't, and his voice had gone a little quiet, too.

Ryouhei knows he might be reading too much into it. Maybe Shuu is right; maybe everything really will work itself out, and he'll get his happy shoujo manga ending without anyone's help.

But then Ryouhei remembers Minato's target panic: how he'd tried to help, how it turned out his help wasn't needed, but how Minato had thanked him anyway, saying it felt nice to have someone looking out for him.

And he starts thinking that even if he doesn't need to do anything, it wouldn't hurt to try.

With that thought in mind, Ryouhei opens his messenger app and checks to see if Nanao is online. When he spots the green dot next to Nanao's frog icon, he pulls up their last chat and begins typing into the text box.

Nanao answers back right away.

Ryouhei blinks down at the screen in confusion.

Ryouhei stares at Nanao's message, trying to process it.

His heart sinks in his chest as he remembers Shuu's awkward body language and oddly quiet tone of voice.

Ryouhei doesn't know much about romance, but he would have thought confessing to a total stranger is scarier than confessing to a friend. At least he knows his friends are nice.

But Nanao explains it for him.

When Ryouhei gets done reading through Nanao's text, only one thought springs to mind:

Love is really annoying.

He's suddenly glad that he's not the one who fell in love with Minato. Having to worry about all that stuff sounds like a huge pain. At the same time, he feels bad for Shuu now.

Before he texted Nanao, Ryouhei had been undecided. He hadn't been sure whether or not it was his place to get involved. But he's not unsure anymore; now that he knows one of his friends has been feeling bad, he can't sit back and do nothing.

Ryouhei sadly droops his head.

Ryouhei perks back up again.

Once exams are over, Ryouhei doesn't waste any time.

"Hey Minato, what kind of movies do you like?"

Minato glances over his shoulder at him. "What kind of movies?"

Ryouhei nods.

"Um... I guess I like action movies, since the special effects can be really cool. Though, I also like historical dramas. Especially movies about samurai. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Ryouhei says quickly.

Minato frowns at him. Ryouhei starts to sweat. But then he remembers Nanao's advice about how to be subtle.

"What about books and TV shows?" he asks, throwing out a couple more questions so Minato won't focus on the movie thing too much.

"I mostly just watch whatever my dad's watching on TV," Minato replies. "As for books... um..."

Kaito snorts. "Let me guess, you don't read outside of school?"

"I didn't say that," Minato pouts, cheeks going red.

"Not everyone can be a bookworm like you, Kacchan~" Nanao teases.

"Don’t make fun of me for reading. When you guys flunk your entrance exams in a couple of years ‘cause you don’t know any kanji, you’ll all be sorry you didn’t read more.”

"You're thinking about exams again after we just had mid-terms? That's some dedication," Seiya remarks.

"What about your shounen manga?" Nanao asks. "Do you read those to improve your vocab, too?"

"Hmmm, he has a shounen manga collection?"

"He totally does," Nanao tells Seiya. "He's been an avid Jump reader since he was a little kid."

"That's funny. I don't recall seeing a lot of manga when I was over at your house. You didn't hide them before I came over by any chance, did you?"

Nanao grins. "Wow, Kacchan, you must really want to look cool in front of our Prez~"

"I wasn't hiding anything, shut up!" Kaito snaps, face as red as his hair. Nanao and Seiya continue to tease him until the buses arrive.

Once he gets home, Ryouhei goes through the closest movie theater's listings. Eventually he spots a samurai film and pumps his fist in the air.

Got it.

With the "movie" part of dinner-and-a-movie out of the way, he just needs to take care of the dinner part.

He tries questioning Minato again the next day at lunch.

"Minato, is your favorite food still sweet and sour pork? Or do you have a different one now?"

"You've been asking a lot of questions lately," Minato points out. Ryouhei starts to feel nervous, but thankfully Minato goes along with it. "If I had to pick a favorite food, it's probably tamagoyaki."

"Really?" Ryouhei asks, staring down at Minato's bento. "That's so simple, I'm surprised."

"That’s why I like it. It’s really easy to make every day.”

"But what if you weren't the one cooking? Like, what if you were going out to eat?"

"If I’m going out to eat…" Minato thinks about it. "I guess it's always fun to get hotpot. Or different kinds of street food. Oh, and for dessert, nothing beats fried bananas."

"Fried bananas?" Ryouhei asks. Come to think of it, he does remember Minato putting bananas on the grill at training camp. "Huh, I see."

Minato's answers were a little unexpected, but Ryouhei does his best, searching for restaurants near the movie theater that serve the kind of food Minato likes. Eventually he finds a place with cheap prices that offers fried bananas for dessert. One of the first posts in the Instagram tag is from a girl saying she went there with her boyfriend.

Perfect.

Ryouhei opens LINE and messages Shuu.

At first there's no response, but after a minute, Shuu texts back:

Ryouhei smiles triumphantly.

It's ten minutes past four. Minato is late.

Shuu takes out his phone, checking to make sure there hasn't been a last minute change of plans. But there aren't any new messages from Minato, so he continues to wait.

He's been waiting for more than just the past twenty minutes. In truth, he's been waiting all week; ever since Minato accepted his invitation, he's been unable to think about anything else besides their upcoming date.

But having to wait is no problem for him. He's always been willing to wait for Minato as long as he needs to. Even for the rest of his life, if necessary.

Thankfully the gods have mercy on him and it doesn't come to that.

"Shuu!"

Shuu whips his head around, heart thudding strongly in his chest at the sound of Minato's voice calling his name.

Shuu has never liked his name. Every possible reading is negative: sorrow, grief, nostalgia, loneliness. He tries not to let it get him down, seeing it instead as a challenge to overcome: if he's meant to be alone in life, then he'll fight that destiny every step of the way, until he's carved out a different future where he can be with the person he loves. But he still doesn't like it.

The only time Shuu likes his name is when Minato is the one speaking it. The way Minato says it, friendly and soft, makes it sound different, special; not like a lonely word at all.

When Minato calls him Shuu, he wouldn't want to be named anything else.

Minato runs up to him, wearing his red sweatshirt underneath another jacket.

"Sorry I'm late," he says, panting for breath.

"It's fine. Did something come up?"

"I was walking Kuma while Seiya was out, but he kept pulling me off to other neighborhoods," Minato explains. "It was a struggle just to keep up with him."

So that's what was holding him up. Seiya always does find a way to interfere with Shuu's plans, even when he isn't physically present.

But Shuu can't bring himself to feel irritated this time around. The mental image of Minato being dragged around by a huge fluffy dog is so endearing that it puts a smile on his face.

"I see," is all he says.

Shuu already purchased the tickets online, so he just hands them off and leads them into the lobby.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Minato asks.

"I don't need anythi-" Shuu starts to say, but then his brain conjures an image of himself sitting next to Minato with a container of popcorn between them, their fingers brushing every time they both reach for some. "Yes."

Minato blinks at him curiously. "What made you change your mind?"

"I haven't been to the movies in a long time, so I thought I should get the most out of the experience."

"Ah, that makes sense," Minato buys it. "I haven’t been in a while, either."

“You haven't?” Shuu asks as they get in line for food.

“No. It feels like there’s been no time lately. As soon as tournament season was over, it was time for exams.”

"And how did those go?"

"Studying for them is always a pain, but I think they went fine. We had a lot of group study sessions."

"You and your teammates?"

Minato nods. "Seiya is really good at helping everyone. So is Onogi, oddly enough. Ryouhei couldn't always make it though."

"That's probably because he was studying with me."

"He was with you?" Minato asks, glancing at him in surprise.

"We studied together a few times at the library."

"Oh. Ryouhei told me he had study plans, but he didn't mention who they were with... It's good that you were helping him."

For some reason, Minato's expression looks a little conflicted. Shuu doesn't know why. But before he can question him about it, they're at the front of the line and it's time to order their food.

After buying sodas and a large popcorn, they head into the theater. They walk in just as the previews are ending and find two seats together in the middle of the room.

The movie begins peacefully, showing the daily life of three swordsmen who practice at the same dojo. But about half an hour in, things take a turn for the tragic. One of the swordsmen overhears that his wife is having an affair and kills her. Her brother retaliates in kind, providing an excuse for some thrilling swordplay, and after he's killed things get even messier. Shuu alternates between paying attention to what's happening onscreen and watching Minato's face, observing the way his eyes widen and his mouth opens during the action scenes.

Every time he hears Minato reach into the popcorn, Shuu does the same thing, just to feel that brush of Minato's fingers. Thankfully Minato is far too absorbed in the movie to notice.

"What did you think?" Shuu asks as they exit the theater.

"It was interesting. All the swordfighting was really cool. There was just, uh, a lot more murder than I thought there would be.”

“I wasn’t surprised there were deaths, but I was a little surprised the childhood friends killed each other.”

“Right? At first, they kinda reminded me of you and me, since they trained at the same dojo when they were kids and learned from the same master. But you and I would never do anything like that."

Shuu stops walking, staring after Minato in surprise.

Minato glances over his shoulder. "Shuu?"

“They reminded you of us?" he asks.

“Yeah." Minato frowns. "Is that weird? I mean, like I said, we’d never kill each other….”

So you felt the same way.

Throughout the first part of the film, Shuu had been thinking the same thing: that the relationship between the three childhood friends was a lot like his own bond with Minato. A strong feeling of nostalgia had gripped his heart and he'd gotten lost in old memories. But he hadn't realized Minato was having the same feelings.

Shuu always thought it was just him; that he was the only one who looked back on the past.

“It's not weird," he says, feeling a smile pull at his lips, "I felt the same. I kept thinking about our lessons with Saionji-sensei.”

Minato smiles back at him. "You too, huh?"

Shuu starts walking again, falling back into step with Minato.

"Of course, just like the characters in the film, we also became enemies."

Minato frowns. “Does being on different teams really make us enemies? That word sounds too harsh."

"How would you describe us, then?" Shuu asks, honestly curious.

“Rivals, I guess?" Minato suggests. "If you call me an enemy, I’ll start being afraid that you're going to cut me down with your sword.”

“You did call me a samurai once," Shuu says, referring to Minato's parting words when Shuu left Kazemai High School after his week of training had ended.

“That’s because you’re all cool and dignified like one," Minato says, and Shuu's heart stutters.

Once they're outside, Shuu leads them off towards the restaurant that Ryouhei recommended.

"Where are we going?" Minato asks.

"You said you were free to get dinner afterwards, right?"

"Yeah," Minato affirms, "my dad's out this evening, so he doesn't need me to cook. You already had a place in mind?"

"Is that alright?"

"That's fine. I don't remember what's around this area very well."

It doesn't take long to reach their destination. The exterior isn't anything special, just another restaurant lining the street with the menu posted outside.

"Is this it?" Minato asks. Shuu nods, feeling a little regretful that he isn't taking Minato somewhere more impressive-looking. He doesn't know why Ryouhei recommended this restaurant in particular. But Minato cheerfully follows him inside, and after they sit down and open their menus, Minato's reaction is positive.

"It all looks really good," he says, reading through the list of entrees. Then he gets to the desserts section, and his eyes bug out. "Wow, they have fried bananas!"

Shuu blinks at him across the table. "You like fried bananas?"

Minato nods eagerly. "They're my favorite thing to get for dessert. We made grilled bananas at training camp, but they weren't the same."

"At training camp? ...I see."

Shuu tries to picture it: Minato sleeping on a futon in the same room as his teammates, getting up early in the morning to practice his shooting, spending the evenings cooking over a crackling fire.

They're good mental images. It's fun to picture Minato doing those things.

But there's an uncomfortable feeling as well: the same feeling Shuu gets every time he thinks about Minato being on another team.

"What are Kirisaki's training camps like?" Minato asks, bringing Shuu out of his thoughts. "You guys probably go somewhere fancier, right?"

"We don't have one," Shuu says.

"Eh, you don't?" Minato looks surprised.

"Kirisaki's facilities already have everything we need, so our advisor doesn't see the need to send us anywhere else," Shuu explains.

"I see," Minato says slowly. "I guess that makes sense. Kirisaki's really amazing, huh?"

"You could have gone there and seen for yourself," Shuu says before he can stop himself.

The look on Minato's face instantly tells him that was the wrong thing to say.

"That's not..." Minato trails off, squirming in his seat with an uncomfortable expression. "I don't think that would have been the right choice."

"I see," Shuu says quietly.

He can't help feeling a twinge of sadness, even though he already knew Minato felt that way. But more than anything else, he regrets saying something awkward; something that makes it sound like he still hasn't let go of the past.

Then Minato takes him by surprise.

"At least, I didn't think it was right back then," he says.

Shuu jerks his head up, staring at Minato in shock.

"You feel differently now?" he asks.

"No, that's not it." Minato shakes his head.  "I couldn't leave my team. I like it at Kazemai."

Then why did you say that just now?

Shuu really wants to question him, but he manages to resist the urge.

Instead he just says, "That's understandable. I can see why you like it there."

"You liked Kazemai too, right? When you were training there?"

"I did," Shuu confirms. "Your coach has some unusual methods. He's very impressive."

"He can be a pain sometimes," Minato says, "but he's really amazing. I'm glad you liked learning from him."

"You find him a pain?" Shuu asks.

"Back then, I was really mad at him. I was upset that he banned me from doing kyudo for a week, even though I kind of knew it was for my own good."

When he hears that explanation, Shuu smiles. He understands what it's like to feel that inexorable pull towards the dojo, that drive to keep practicing and practicing, even when you're injured. Minato was always like that, always wanting to shoot even when he got hurt during their lessons with Saionji.

Shuu likes to think he's the one who understands Minato's passion best. They both fell in love with kyudo at first sight, they both sought out lessons right away, and they both cultivated their skills underneath the same teacher. Even going to different schools can't erase that kind of connection.

"Maybe you could train under our advisor for a week," Shuu suggests on a whim.

"You mean training at Kirisaki?" Minato asks, sounding really surprised.

For a moment, Shuu is worried he said something too pushy again, but to his relief, Minato smiles.

"I wouldn't mind that," he says. "It could be a good learning experience."

Shuu smiles back. "In that case, you're welcome to train at my school anytime."

They keep talking about kyudo until their food arrives. They both enjoy their entrées, and after the waiter comes by again, Minato orders dessert. The plate arrives shortly, containing three fried bananas and a generous scoop of ice cream.

"How is it?" Shuu asks after Minato takes his first bite.

"It's really good," Minato says with his mouth full. He pushes the plate towards the center of the table. "You can try one if you want."

Shuu could cut off a piece from one of the other two bananas, or he could try a piece from the one Minato was just eating. The choice is clear to him.

"How is it?" Minato asks.

Shuu chews the piece in his mouth.

"It's good," he says, referring to both the sweet taste of their shared dessert and the indirect kiss he just enjoyed.

When the check arrives, Shuu makes a quick grab for it.

"You don't have to pay," Minato says, hastily reaching for his own wallet.

"I'll do it." Shuu is already putting down money on the table.

"You already paid for the movie tickets. At least let me pay for my food," Minato pouts, but he looks like he knows Shuu won't give in.

"I have more money than you do," Shuu reasonably points out to him.

"But you won't if you keep treating me all the time."

"Are you going to make me treat you all the time?"

"I won't make you do anything, but if you do keep treating me, I'm going to get used to it. Then I'll expect you to do it all the time."

"Is that right?" Shuu asks. That sounds like the opposite of a problem to him.

Minato nods solemnly. "Before you know it, all your money will be gone."

"I see," he says, trying to look equally serious, but he can't keep the smile off his lips. "I'll have to be careful, then."

The look in Minato's eyes is so fond that Shuu's heart almost leaps right out of his chest.

"That was really good," Minato says as they walk back out into the street. "I'm surprised you chose that kind of place, though."

"What was so surprising about it?" Shuu asks.

"Since your family and your school are really fancy, I thought you might choose somewhere fancier."

"You didn't want a fancier place, did you?" Shuu remembers when their teams went out for coffee and everyone at Kazemai was horrified by the prices, Minato included. But it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

He doesn't intend for this to be their last date, after all.

"No," Minato says, confirming Shuu's assumptions. "I wouldn't know what to order at a really fancy restaurant. Plus I would've felt even worse about letting you pay if everything was expensive."

Shuu doesn't tell Minato that he'd happily buy him anything he wants. It's true, but he'd rather not rely on his family's wealth; when he wins Minato's heart, he wants it to be through his own efforts alone.

"I'm glad you liked this place," is all he says.

"Do you and your teammates go out to restaurants like that?"

"Not really. There are a few places we like to go, but they're a bit different."

"By different you mean 'more expensive', right?" Minato asks wryly.

Shuu smiles mysteriously but doesn't deny it.

"Ryouhei's the one who suggested it," he says.

"Eh?" Minato turns his heads, looking completely surprised. "It was Ryouhei's idea to go there?"

Shuu blinks a few times, caught off-guard by that reaction. "That's right."

"...I see."

Minato keeps walking along. He doesn't look bothered, but there was definitely something strange about his voice and expression.

They reach the train station. Minato gives Shuu a smile that's so bright, it dispels all his uncertain thoughts.

"Thanks for inviting me out. I had a lot of fun today."

"I'm glad," Shuu tells him, heart hammering in his chest. "I had fun as well."

"It was good to hang out as friends again. We should do it more often."

"We should," Shuu agrees.

Minato waves goodbye, and then finally heads off for his platform. Shuu waves back even after he's turned away, watching his figure recede into the distance until it's gone from view.

The entire ride home, Shuu feels like he's floating.

Ryouhei waves to his friends from outside the school gate on Monday.

"Good morning, Minato ando Seiya."

"Morning," Minato says, stifling a yawn.

"Did you guys have a good weekend?" Ryouhei directs the question at both of them, even though it's Minato whose answer he's curious about.

"It was good," Minato replies. Seiya nods in agreement.

"Did you do anything special?"

Ryouhei peers closely at Minato's face, watching a small smile form on his lips.

"Yeah," Minato says softly. "I had a lot of fun."

"I didn't know you liked walking Kuma that much," Seiya teases him.

"Walking your dog wasn't my entire weekend, you know," Minato says, but he doesn't elaborate on what else he did that was so much fun.

Ryouhei has a pretty good feeling he was talking about his date with Shuu. But just to make sure they really went on one, he asks Shuu about it later.

A few minutes later, Shuu replies.

Ryouhei pumps his fist in the air.

Satisfied to hear that everything is going smoothly, Ryouhei lets the conversation end there.

He doesn't give any more thought to his friends' budding romance until Nanao asks him about it on Friday.

"Merha~" Nanao greets him at the vending machine.

"Hi, Nanao." Ryouhei bends down to retrieve his mango soda.

"I was wondering, how's playing cupid going?"

"It's going good. I took your advice and set them up on a date."

"And?" Nanao asks, inserting his 120 yen into the machine and punching the right buttons. "How'd that go?"

"It was a dinner-and-a-movie date. They went on it over the weekend and they both said they had fun."

"That's great!" Nanao chirps, picking up his lemon tea and twisting the cap off the bottle. "Does that mean they're an item now?"

"An item?" Ryouhei repeats, unfamiliar with the expression.

Nanao takes a swig before he answers. "You know. Are they dating yet?"

"Oh. Uh..." Ryouhei mentally reviews everything Shuu and Minato both said. "Probably not," he concludes.

Nanao raises an eyebrow. "They went on a date, but they're not dating?"

"I don't think so," Ryouhei replies, starting to feel worried.

"Hmmm," Nanao hums. But then he shrugs. "Oh well. They might as well do things at their own pace."

Ryouhei nods, perking back up again. "Right."

"I mean, since he asked her out on a date, the girl must know your friend has more than just friendship on his mind. Since she didn't turn him down, that means she must be interested, too."

Ryouhei freezes.

He remembers Shuu's text the other day: He said it was good to hang out as friends again.

"Uh, well, actually..."

Ryouhei tells Nanao what Shuu told him.

"Oooh." Nanao winces sympathetically. "Thaaat's not a good sign."

"It's not?"

"Not at all," Nanao says, emphatically shaking his head. "When a girl says that to a guy after a date, it can only mean one thing: 'Sorry, I don't see you that way.'"

"But what if it's not a girl saying it?" Ryouhei asks before he can stop himself. Then he freezes.

Whoops.

Nanao blinks at him. "Not a girl?" he repeats, eyes widening. "Ryouhei... are you playing cupid for two boy—"

Ryouhei hurriedly claps a hand over Nanao's mouth.

"Shhhh! Not so loud."

Nanao tries to talk, but it just comes out sounding like "Mmmmmph."

Ryouhei takes his hand away so he can understand.

"I said, don't worry about it. I'm not going to tell anyone," Nanao reassures him. "All your secrets are safe with me. Or your friends' secrets. Whichever."

"Sorry," Ryouhei says. "Just making sure."

"It's fine, it's fine. Anyway, the 'girl' in this scenario was totally Minato, right?"

Ryouhei stares at him in amazement. "How'd you figure it out right away?!"

"Because you said it was a dinner-and-movie date, and you were asking him all sorts of questions about what kind of food and movies he likes."

"Oh yeah..."

"I'm amazed he didn't figure out you were setting him up, but I guess he's not very bright when it comes to this kind of thing. Anyway," Nanao lowers his voice, "which one of your other friends is in love with him?"

Ryouhei glances around nervously, making sure they're still alone. "Promise you won't say anything?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Ryouhei leans down and whispers into Nanao's ear.

After hearing it, Nanao heaves a huge sigh of relief. "Oh good, it's not Seiya."

Ryouhei blinks. "How come you're glad it's not Seiya?"

"Cause I know someone who'd be reaaaally unhappy if it was him," Nanao says, but doesn't elaborate. "It was Fujiwara, huh? In that case, that changes everything."

"It does?"

Nanao nods. "Minato told him he was happy to hang out as friends, right?"

"That's right."

"If it's Fujiwara he said that to, then it might not be a rejection," Nanao explains. "Those two went to middle school together, but now they go to different schools, which means they don't see each other as much as they used to. Minato might have been hinting that he wishes they could be as close as they used to be."

"I see." Ryouhei feels relieved. "That's good, isn't it?"

"It's a good sign," Nanao agrees. "But of course, saying they were hanging out as friends means he never realized it was supposed to be a date. Hopefully Fujiwara can make that clear next time."

Ryouhei's ears perk up.

Next time?

"Are you saying I should set them up again?" he asks. "When should the next date be? Should it be dinner-and-a-movie again? Or should it be another type of date? What other dates are there, anyway?"

Instead of answering his questions, Nanao just laughs at him.

"You're really into this, aren't you?"

Ryouhei smiles sheepishly. "Am I too into it? Am I being weird?"

"Maybe a little," Nanao says with a grin, "but that's fine. Weird or not, you should just be Ryouhei."

Oh... that's kind of like what Shuu-kun said.

As he stares back into Nanao's smiling face, Ryouhei realizes that's probably the reason he hasn't had any romances yet. He already has friends who accept him for who he is; he'd rather just be himself and spend time with them, instead of trying to act all cool to impress someone into dating him.

"If you want to bring Minato and Fujiwara together again, I know of a good opportunity," Nanao says.

"Really? You do? What is it?"

"Why, the cultural festival, of course."

Ryouhei's eyes light up. "Oh yeah!"

Kazemai High School's Cultural Festival is scheduled for the weekend after next. Now that mid-terms are over, everyone's been focused on their festival preparations.

"That's right, we're allowed to invite students from other schools. Though, I don't know how much time Minato will have to see Shuu-kun," Ryouhei muses out loud. "He said they're planning on making him cook all day."

"They can't keep him chained in his classroom all day," Nanao reasonably points out. "And if they do, we'll just create a diversion so he can escape."

"Woah, good thinking! You're the best, Nanao, thanks for always being so helpful."

"You're the helpful one, always looking out for your friends," Nanao says, turning the compliment back around on him. "We should probably get back to class, though. I think our break is over by now."

After he gets home from school, Ryouhei invites Shuu to the festival.

Shuu replies swiftly.

Ryouhei smiles at the screen. He's totally got this whole cupid thing in the bag.

True to his word, Shuu arrives bright and early at Kazemai High School on the first Saturday of November.

Everything looks markedly different from how it looked the last time he was there. The grounds are crowded and colorful, with student-manned booths lining the path to the school, offering food, games, and information about the different student organizations. There are throngs of people everywhere Shuu turns, but eventually he spots a familiar face in the crowd.

“Shuu-kun!”

Instead of waiting for Shuu to come to him, Ryouhei bounds right up to Shuu and slings an arm around his shoulder.

“This way,” he says cheerfully, hauling him off towards the main building.

By now, Shuu is used to the casual way Ryouhei treats him, so he just lets himself be dragged. There's something nice about blending into the crowd at a school where people don't know him, instead of worrying about how best to represent Kirisaki and the Fujiwara family. It’s one of those rare occasions where he feels like a normal person.

Minato was the first person to teach him what that feels like: being normal.

“For some reason, there are a lot of people from the choir in my class this year, so we're doing a song,” Ryouhei explains. “I’m not going to be singing though, I’m going to be doing back-up drums. It’s at 3 o’clock in the auditorium.”

“I won’t miss it,” Shuu promises him, and Ryouhei’s smile brightens.

“Kaito's class is doing a haunted house. I’ve already seen it, it’s really spooky. They made him dress up like a monster and jump out and scare people, since he’s supposed to be the scariest guy in school.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep. I found him kinda scary too at first," Ryouhei admits, "but now I know better.”

When they reach the school, Ryouhei finally detaches from him and leads him into the building.

“You must be most curious about Minato’s class, right? I’ll show you the way.”

Having someone who knows the truth about his feelings for Minato has been an adjustment. At first, Shuu had been annoyed by Ryouhei’s persistent questioning about his love life, but by this point he can hardly complain. It was Ryouhei who encouraged him to ask Minato out that Saturday in October, a decision that worked out for the best. Shuu re-lives that evening all the time now; it’s high on his list of cherished memories.

Ryouhei stops outside Classroom 1-5.

“That’s his room. Good luck!”

And with that, Ryouhei pushes Shuu right through the doorway.

Shuu stumbles inside and immediately finds himself face-to-face with someone he doesn't hate anymore, but could still do without seeing.

Seiya looks equally surprised to see him for a moment, before he covers it up with a tight-lipped smile.

“Welcome to our café,” he says, voice full of fake cheer. “Would you like a menu?”

Shuu plasters on a smile of his own. “That would be nice."

Seiya hands him a laminated sheet of paper and explains: “If you have any special requests about your food, I can pass them along to our chef and he’ll do his best to accommodate you.”

Shuu has a feeling he knows exactly who the chef is.

“I have a question,” he says.

“Shoot.”

“Aren’t class cafés supposed to have themes?”

“Would you agree to dress up as a maid or wear animal ears?” Seiya asks.

“No," Shuu says at once.

Seiya shrugs. “There you have it. All those ideas were vetoed right away. Being class representative has its perks.”

Shuu leaves Seiya to explore the classroom. The desks have been pushed together to create tables, each with several placemats on top of them. There are a few students coming around to take people’s orders, and there's a makeshift kitchen at the back of the room, sectioned off by a couple of dividers.

That’s where Shuu finds Minato, frying pan in hand, bent over a portable stove with an apron tied over his gakuran.

It takes him a minute for him to look up from his cooking and notice there’s someone standing there, but once he does, his eyes go wide.

“Shuu?”

Shuu smiles at him. “Hello.”

“Hi. I had no idea you were coming. Don’t you have your own school festival this weekend?”

“Kirisaki holds theirs at a different time from other schools. Remember?”

“Oh yeah… Well, um, welcome.”

Shuu leans against the divider, peering into Minato’s workspace. "Is it a lot of work?"

“It hasn't been bad so far. There are a couple of girls in my class who can cook too, so we’re doing shifts."

“I see. I’m lucky I came here during your shift, then.”

Minato smiles at him. “Is there anything you want to order? Technically, you’re supposed to give your order to one of the waitresses, but since you’re already here you can just tell me.”

Shuu hasn’t looked at the menu yet, but he doesn't feel the need to. As long as it’s Minato’s cooking, he’s sure it’ll be good.

“I’ll have what you’re making right now.”

Minato nods seriously. “One order of omurice, coming right up.”

Shuu takes a seat by the window and waits for his food, periodically glancing back over his shoulder at the kitchen. He remembers the small handful of times he’s seen Minato cooking at his house. It came as a shock to him during his first year of middle school, when he found out Minato had taken over the cooking and chores at home. It was a great deal of responsibility for someone so young to shoulder, but Minato took it in stride. That was probably when Shuu first realized the extent of Minato's strength and resilience.

Getting to taste Minato’s cooking is always a privilege, and this time is no different.

“Here you go, Shuu,” Minato says, walking over to him and setting a plate down on the desk.

The omurice in front of him is appealingly light and fluffy-looking, drizzled with bright red ketchup.

Instead of going back to the kitchen, Minato stands by Shuu’s desk and waits for him to try it. Shuu has to smile at the special treatment he’s getting; he knows Minato isn’t waiting to see if other people like their food, or personally delivering the food to other people in the first place.

Shuu cuts into the omelette with his spoon and lifts the first bite to his mouth.

“Good?” Minato asks, watching him chew.

Shuu sets his fork back down. “It’s delicious,” he says sincerely.

With a satisfied smile on his face, Minato walks away.

After Shuu is done with the omurice, he puts in another order.

“Eh?” Minato looks up from the frying pan in confusion. “You just ate.”

“But I’d like to try your curry next.”

“There’s no way you have room for all that, is there?” Minato asks skeptically.

“I’ll be fine.” Shuu’s stomach is bottomless when Minato is the one cooking for him.

Minato still looks doubtful, but he gets to work on the curry.

“Did you come here just so I’d feed you all day?”

“I might have,” Shuu says with a smile.

“I’m surprised you looked up when our cultural festival is, though.”

“I didn’t have to. Ryouhei told me.”

Minato’s hands pause where they’re stirring the pot. “Ryouhei’s the one who invited you?”

“That’s right.”

“I see,” Minato says. “I’m glad you guys are friends now.”

There’s something a little off about that response, but Shuu can’t place his finger on what it is.

When Minato is done cooking he brings Shuu’s next dish to his desk.

“Here’s your chicken curry, but try not to get sick, okay?”

“I won't,” Shuu reassures him.

“So, let me get this straight," Nanao says as they're munching on festival snacks at the end of the day. "Fujiwara went to Minato’s classroom, ate everything Minato would cook for him, and went home early with a stomach ache?”

“Yep," Ryouhei confirms through a mouthful of taiyaki, "he totally did that.”

Nanao taps his chin. “I can’t tell if that’s romantic or just stupid."

“I think it’s both. But I might be biased, because I think a lot of romance is just people being stupid.”

Nanao laughs. “Can’t really argue with that.”

As they move onto the next booth, Ryouhei complains, “Shuu-kun promised he'd watch my performance, but he left before he could see it."

Nanao gives him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Sorry about that. But at least you had me there to cheer you on, right?"

“That's true." Ryouhei perks up right away. "Thanks for coming!”

“Any time," Nanao says with a fond smile.

November turns into December, and the weather gets so cold that everyone in the kyudo club starts wearing turtlenecks under their hakama. Soon Ryouhei is occupied studying for finals, even though he feels like he just had mid-terms, and then the next thing he knows, it's winter break.

The break gives him some time to come up with new cupid plans, but his first few ideas don't end up working out. He helps throw Minato a surprise party for his birthday, and Shuu comes along, but the party is too busy for the two of them to get any alone time. Then it's Christmas, which should be the perfect opportunity for romance, but Ryouhei doesn't get to plan one: Minato says he always spends Christmas with his dad, since his dad gets lonely around the holidays. No time for dates, apparently.

"I wonder when I'll get to play cupid again."

"Hmmmm, maybe on New Year's Eve?" Nanao suggests.

Ryouhei normally spends New Year's with his family, but now that he's a high school student, his parents said he was allowed to go out at midnight with his friends. The whole team has plans to visit Yata Shrine together and watch Masa-san's performance, and Shuu already confirmed for him that Kirisaki will be there as well.

"Do you think they'll get any time alone together? Both of our teams are gonna be there."

"They will if we create an opportunity."

Ryouhei's ears perk up. "How do we do that?" he asks, swinging his legs across the couch to face Nanao.

"I can take care of Seiya," Nanao volunteers.

"Just Seiya? Not Kaito?"

"If I drag Seiya off somewhere, Kacchan will follow us. I guarantee it."

"Okay, you know him best. Who am I supposed to distract, though?"

"You can distract Kirisaki."

"All of them?" Ryouhei asks skeptically. "There are six other people on that team, and some of them are really annoying."

"That's what makes it so easy," Nanao says. "Sase-san and the Sugawara twins are really spirited, right? All you need to do is get them to chase you around, and the team should erupt into chaos."

"Get them to chase me around, huh..." After racking his brain for a few minutes, Ryouhei comes up with a battle plan. "Alright," he says with a firm nod. "Let's do it."

"Operation Cupid, here we go!"

Nanao bumps his fist against Ryouhei's.

At midnight on New Year's Eve, Shuu and his teammates make their way up the crowded steps to Yata Shrine.

"Anyone got any new year's resolutions?" Yushima asks.

"Support Noririn even more!" Sase says immediately.

"That's it? Nothing about the team?" Sen sounds disappointed, but not surprised.

"And don't you have entrance exams in a couple of weeks?" Man asks. "Shouldn't you be thinking about that?"

"He does," Motomura confirms. "We're applying to the same university."

"Eh, is that so?"

"If he fails, he'll need to find another roommate who will put up with him, huh? I bet that's not going to happen, so he'd better pass."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Sase shoots the twins a threatening glare over his shoulder. "I won't accept that kind of talk from my kouhai. Show some respect!"

"Yeah, yeah," the twins say in unison.

Shuu's phone buzzes, and he takes it out of his pocket. He opens LINE and sees that Ryouhei just texted him to say his team is already there.

"Who are you hearing from?" Sen asks, trying to look over Shuu's shoulder.

"No one." Shuu slides his phone back into his pocket.

Sen looks disappointed for some reason.

"You know, Shuu—" he begins, but before he can finish whatever he's going to say, Sase loudly interrupts him.

"Wooaah, that food smells really good. I'm starving, let's go get some!"

With that, Sase starts dragging them around to the different stalls. Most of Shuu's teammates load up on food, but he restrains himself for now.

"Quit stealing my food!" Man snaps at Sase.

"Too bad, it's mine now."

"I'm the one who paid for it. This is harassment!"

While the twins bicker with Sase, Motomura squints at something up ahead.

"Is that... Kazemai High School?"

Shuu's heart quickens.

He follows Motomura's gaze and spots five familiar faces in the crowd. And though it's Ryouhei and Kaito's tall figures that catch his attention first, it's Minato Shuu's eyes ultimately settle on.

Minato's mouth is moving as he talks to his teammates about something, his expression carefree and cheerful. The sight of him, rosy-cheeked and bundled up in his winter clothes, tugs at Shuu's heartstrings.

Ryouhei is the first to notice them. "Hey, it's Kirisaki!"

Minato looks over and catches Shuu's gaze. Shuu's heart skips a beat.

Ryouhei starts bounding over to them and the rest of his team follows more slowly behind him.

Motomura tries to get the group's attention. "Everyone, let's go greet our rivals properly."

The teams meet each other in front of an empty booth. "Happy New Year," Motomura says, greeting Seiya captain-to-captain.

Seiya returns the greeting, "Happy New Year to you and your team as well."

Sen immediately notices Kaito's grumpy expression and starts harassing him. "Even on New Year's Eve, you look like there's something smelly under your nose. Aren't you worried your face will get stuck like that?"

Kaito immediately starts bristling. "What did you just say?!"

"Maybe his face is stuck like that," Man suggests, and the twins start snickering together.

"Why, you—"

Motomura heaves a sigh. "Sen, Man, please have some manners."

But before they can respond, something completely unexpected happens.

Ryouhei zooms straight for the twins at a ninja-like speed, grabbing them by the back of their jackets and lifting them clean off their feet.

"Sorry, but I'm going to borrow your teammates for a while!"

After directing that cryptic statement at Motomura, he runs off with the Sugawara brothers dangling from his arms like ragdolls.

"What the hell?"

"Hey, put me down!"

Shuu hears them complaining, but Ryouhei doesn't let them go. Within seconds, they've vanished into the crowd.

Motomura and Sase stare after them with their mouths fallen open.

"I think our kouhai just got kidnapped," Sase says.

"I... think you're right," Motomura replies, sounding torn between shock and amusement.

"I'm sorry," Seiya apologizes on Ryouhei's behalf, looking completely bewildered. "I don't know what got into him. If you want, I can go—"

"That won't be necessary, Prez," Nanao cuts in, looping his arm together with Seiya's. "Come on, there's something I wanna show you over there."

"Nanao? What are you—"

"C'mon, this way!"

Nanao starts dragging Seiya off in the complete opposite direction.

"Oi, Nanao, where are you taking Seiya all of a sudden?!" Kaito calls after their backs.

But Nanao ignores him, so Kaito just makes a "Tch" sound and follows after them.

"Well, Prez," Sase says to Motomura, "I guess we should go look for our kouhai now."

"I guess so," Motomura replies. "That would be the responsible thing to do."

Sase leans an arm on his shoulder. "Yep. We may be graduating soon, but as their senpai, we can't just let our kouhai get taken away by the enemy."

"What a strange year this is already turning out to be."

With a chuckle, the two roommates start walking away.

Kabashima and Yushima follow after them, and just like that, Shuu is left alone with Minato.

"Eh? Where'd everyone go?!" Minato keeps whipping his head back and forth, comically confused.

“They disappeared," Shuu says.

“Should we go looking, too?" Minato asks. "I’m worried about the Sugawaras. I don’t know why Ryouhei ran off with them like that.”

Shuu doesn't know for sure either, but he does have a hunch.

“As long as they’re in Ryouhei’s care, they should be fine," he says.

"I guess so," Minato says, seeming to relax. "They’re used to being carried around like that, huh?”

With everyone else gone, the two of them start walking around the shrine grounds and looking at the different booths.

“Happy New Year, Minato," Shuu says.

Minato smiles at him. “Thanks. Happy New Year to you too, Shuu. Let’s make this year a good one.”

“My year is going well so far.”

“Did something good already happen?” Minato asks curiously.

Shuu nods seriously. “I got to see you," he says.

“Eh, that’s what you meant?" Minato laughs it off, but Shuu could swear he just blushed a little. "In that case, I’m already having a good year, too.”

Feeling emboldened, Shuu says, “To be honest, I wanted to see you even earlier.”

"Earlier?" Minato asks.

“It would have been nice if you were the first person I saw in the new year.”

“You wanted me to the be the first?" Minato blinks his bright green eyes up at him. "Why's that?"

Because I love seeing your face.

Because you're the most important to me.

Because I want to spend this year and every year with you.

There are so many different ways Shuu could respond, so many ways to express his feelings.

But the second he thinks about voicing any of those thoughts out loud, his mouth dries up and the words get stuck in his throat.

“Just a feeling I had," is all he ends up saying. 

He's disappointed in himself.

"Well," Minato says slowly, "I’m the first person you saw outside your team, anyway. Um, unless that was someone in your family instead," he realizes. "I guess it probably was, huh?”

"No," Shuu shakes his head, "my sister’s asleep and my parents are at a work party right now. You are the first person I saw outside my team.”

“...I see."

A soft smile blooms on Minato's lips. It's not just wishful thinking on Shuu's part. He really does look pleased.

Shuu's heart starts hammering in his chest. He can't help getting his hopes up.

As they keep walking around, they eventually pass by a takoyaki stand.

"Look, Shuu, it’s your favorite," Minato points it out.

“It’s not really my favorite, but I’ll get some," Shuu says.

“Eh?" Minato joins him in line, but looks confused. "I thought you loved takoyaki the most. You haven't changed favorite foods recently, have you?"

"I do love takoyaki, but only your takoyaki is my favorite.”

Minato frowns at him. “My cooking can’t be that good. You don’t have to say that just to be nice.”

“I wasn't," Shuu says. "Those are my true feelings."

Minato goes quiet. Shuu had hoped that complimenting his cooking would make him smile or blush again, but instead he looks deep in thought about something.

"For a second there, I really did think you'd switched favorites," he says.

Shuu looks at him questioningly. "Would it be a problem if I had?"

"A problem? ...no, I guess it wouldn't be a problem."

But Minato's voice sounds uncertain.

Shuu really can't make sense of Minato's reaction at all. But then they're at the front of the line and it's time to order.

"You didn't want any?" Shuu asks as they leave the stall. He bought a six-piece takoyaki, but Minato bought nothing.

"If it's not your favorite, it should be no problem if I steal some of yours, right?" Minato asks.

Shuu raises his eyebrows. "So your goal was to make me pay?"

Minato pouts at him. "I wasn't trying to get you to pay for anything, I just wanted to share."

Shuu's eyes widen. "...oh."

His heart just skipped a beat again.

He feels a little flustered as he lends Minato his toothpick so he can pop one of the octopus balls in his mouth.

They eat and walk at the same time, passing by all the different booths. When he looks around, Shuu can't help but notice there are a lot of couples walking hand-in-hand, in addition to all the families and groups of friends.

Once he's made that discovery, his eyes are drawn like magnets to Minato's left hand, swinging at his side in the crisp winter air.

Minato isn't wearing gloves. His hand looks pale and cold.

Slowly, tentatively, Shuu reaches for it.

It's the perfect moment: midnight on New Year's Eve underneath a dark sky, the warm glow of paper lanterns lighting up the scenery, the air thick with excitement.

His teammates are gone. Minato's teammates are gone. Everyone in the crowd is too busy celebrating to notice if they hold hands.

The timing is right. It's perfect.

So why do I feel this way?

His heart is pounding so hard, he feels like he's having an attack. His legs have turned to jelly and his mind is all fuzzy.

His hand freezes in midair, hovering uselessly, unable to cross the distance between them, before it finally drops back to his side.

I can't do it.

He can't touch Minato. Even though he's already touched Minato so many times, brushing his bangs and tickling his side and gently feeling out his injury, he can't take Minato's hand.

There's something holding him back, an invisible barrier between them that he feels like he absolutely shouldn't cross.

Because if he does cross it...

I'll lose Minato again.

"Alright, I think I found some more food I want to try."

Minato's voice cuts through the fog clouding his mind.

"Shuu?" Minato stops walking, peering at him curiously. "Are you okay?"

Shuu's throat is dry again. It takes a moment for him to get any words out.

"I'm fine," he manages eventually. "Let's go."

"I said put us down!"

The Sugawaras keep complaining as they're carried away from Shuu and Minato.

Ryouhei can tell he's attracting lots of stares, but he doesn't stop running until he's reached the front gate. Only then does he set thet twins back down on their feet.

"Finally!"

They're both glaring daggers at him, but he kind of expected that.

"What was that about?! Just because you're bigger than us doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!" one of them says, jabbing a finger at Ryouhei.

"Yeah, only Sase-senpai is allowed to drag us away. Just because you're all cozy with Shuu now doesn't mean you're not still the enemy," the other twin adds with a scowl.

"Sorry," Ryouhei apologizes, putting his hands together and bowing his head. "But it was for a good cause, I swear."

"Huh? The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a secret, so I can't really talk about it."

One of the twins scoffs at him. "You're so weird, I can't even get mad at you. But I will next time, so you'd better not try anything again, or else!"

"I won't, I promise," Ryouhei reassures him.

The other twin—Ryouhei can never remember which one is which—doesn't look so forgiving. He's still mad.

"Who do you think you are, anyway? First you get all overly familiar with Shuu, then you grab us and run off with us... You're really annoying."

Ryouhei tilts his head. "Is it a problem that I'm friends with Shuu-kun?"

"Yeah," he grumbles, "it is a problem."

His brother sighs. "Sen-nii, don't start with this again."

"Why's it a problem?" Ryouhei asks.

The other twin, Senichi, shoots him an accusatory look. "Things were going better before you came along. Shuu was starting to open up to us, and it felt like we were a real team. But then you invite him to your school, and he ignores us for a week, and then I find out you've been to his house. He's never invited us to his house, even though we're his teammates. Wouldn't you be annoyed if one of your teammates ditched you for the enemy?"

Ryouhei blinks a few times, processing all that.

"So... you're jealous?" he asks.

"I'm not jealous, I'm pissed off."

"Sen-nii, you're definitely jealous."

"Shut up," Senichi snaps. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

The twin brothers start bickering. Ryouhei just waches them, feeling somewhat surprised by what he just learned. He'd been so focused on getting the Sugawaras out of the way, he hadn't spared any thought to how they'd feel about being separated from their teammates. But if they like Shuu that much, they were probably hoping to spend New Year's with him.

"Shuu-kun really is cool, isn't he?" Ryouhei says out loud.

The twins quit arguing and stare at him.

"Where'd that come from?" Manji asks.

"I always thought he was super cool, like an archery god," Ryouhei says. "I really wanted to learn from him, and then I wanted to be his friend, too. So I asked him to give me his LINE, and asked him where he lives so I could go visit him and stuff like that."

"What's your point?" Senichi asks, still glaring at him. "We already know Shuu's cool, he's our teammate. I'm not gonna stand here and listen to you brag about what good friends you are."

"I'm not bragging. What I'm saying is, if you want to be better friends with Shuu-kun, you should just do it."

Senichi doesn't seem to have a good rebuttal. He just lapses into silence, still glaring, but not as fiercely.

"You know, he kind of has a point," Manji says. "Maybe he's not as dumb as he looks."

Ryouhei frowns. "Hey, I don't look dumb!"

"You totally look dumb. And you're a kidnapper. You've got all kinds of bad points."

"Well, you guys were really mean to Minato," Ryouhei shoots back, "so you have bad points, too."

Manji looks at him strangely.

"...that's it? That's all you have to say for my bad points?"

"I don't know you very well, so it's the only thing I could think of."

Manji continues to look surprised for another moment before a small smile forms on his lips. "Heh."

"Come on, I don't wanna spend any more time with our kidnapper," Senichi says. "Let's head back."

"Fiiiine, fine~"

Before he leaves, Ryouhei spots Shuu again.

"Shuu-kun!"

Shuu stops walking when his name is called. Ryouhei runs up to him.

"How did it go?" he asks. "Did you get any food? How was your shrine visit? What did your omikuji say? And did anything romantic happen with Minato?"

Whoops. That was probably too many questions, but they'd all come tumbling out before he could stop them.

"Sorry," he says while Shuu stares at him. "If that was too many, you can just answer the last one."

Shuu doesn't say anything, just keeps staring at him in silence.

Ryouhei's eyebrows knit together. "Is something wrong?"

Slowly, Shuu shakes his head.

"No," he says, "but there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh yeah?" Ryouhei asks. "What is it?"

"That you shouldn't interfere so much."

Ryouhei tilts his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"With me and Minato. You don't need to go out of your way to create situations where we're alone together."

"Oh, you noticed, huh?" Ryouhei smiles sheepishly. He presses his palms together, asking Shuu's forgiveness. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't have resorted to kidnapping. But me and the Sugawaras had a really good talk, so I think it all worked out in the end. They said that—"

"Ryouhei."

Ryouhei blinks at Shuu, startled by the interruption. "Yeah?"

"I'm asking you to stop."

Shuu's tone of voice is firm.

Ryouhei blinks in surprise. "How come?"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"A bad feeling about what?"

"It's hard to explain," Shuu says, "but it feels like I'm pushing too hard."

"Pushing too hard?" Ryouhei asks, still not understanding.

"I already told you there's no rush. Remember?"

"Yeah," Ryouhei says slowly, "but I thought that—"

Shuu places a hand on his shoulder to silence him.

"I already know we'll end up where we need to be," he says. "The right moment will come eventually. But it hasn't happened yet. I can't force it to come any earlier."

Ryouhei feels totally lost. "How do you know now's not the right moment? And how are you gonna know what the right one is?"

"That's not something you need to worry about," Shuu tells him gently. "You should just focus on your own life. You don't need to do anything more for me."

He sounds like he's trying to be nice, but there's something off about the look in his eyes.

Once he's done speaking, Shuu slides his hand back into his pocket and turns away.

"Did something happen?" Ryouhei asks slowly, watching his profile.

Something to make you look so sad?

After a pause, Shuu shakes his head.

"No," he murmurs. "Nothing happened."

The New Year gets off to a slow start. Without any exams or kyudo tournaments or holidays, January passes by without anything important happening, and then comes February.

Valentine's Day has never been eventful for Ryouhei, and this year is no exception. Unlike Nanao, whose locker is overflowing by the end of the day with gifts from his fangirls, Ryouhei only receives obligation chocolate from the kyudo girls. No one asks him out on any dates, which is completely fine with him. He may be a high school boy, but he's still not in love with anyone, and after that baffling conversation with Shuu on New Year's morning, Ryouhei feels more confused about love than ever.

He really did think he was beginning to understand it. Just from watching Shuu and Minato grow closer together, he felt like he was getting the idea.

But then Shuu told him to stop playing cupid, and all he can do is wonder why.

Ryouhei obeys Shuu's wishes and doesn't set him up on any Valentine's Day dates with Minato, but he does keep an eye on Minato throughout the day, just to make sure no one else asks him out.

Then nine days later it's Ryouhei's birthday. It doesn't end up feeling very special either, since it's on a school day, but at least everyone in the kyudo club remembers and his family celebrates it at home.

Over the weekend, Shuu pays him a visit.

"Happy late birthday," he says, handing Ryouhei a couple of small wrapped boxes.

"Woah, you got me two presents? Thanks!"

Ryouhei eagerly unwraps them. One of the boxes contains new glove powder; the other is a package of chocolate cookies.

"Cookies and giriko, huh? That's an odd combo."

"Does it bother you?"

Ryouhei shakes his head. "Nope, I like it. Thanks again, Shuu-kun."

"You're welcome," Shuu says with a small smile.

Ryouhei sets the glove powder aside and opens the cookies. They sit down at the kotatsu, warming their lower bodies with the heated blanket.

"Come to think of it," he remarks through a mouthful of crunchy chocolate, "you got Minato a new shitagake for his birthday this year, didn't you?"

"That's what we get each other every year. It's our tradition."

"That's really cool. I think it's nice to have a tradition like that."

"You think so, huh..."

They lapse into a silence after that. Ryouhei flops back against the floor, resting his head on top of the blanket and staring up at the ceiling.

Hearing about Shuu and Minato's traditions just makes him curious again, and since nobody else is downstairs, he decides to ask.

“Hey, Shuu-kun..."

"What?" Shuu's voice carries over from the other side of the kotatsu.

“What does it feel like to be in love? Is it the same as it is in manga?”

“I wouldn’t know. I don't read manga."

"Well, in shoujo manga, the heroine’s heart goes crazy when she sees the one she loves, and she gets butterflies in her stomach. Is it the same in real life?”

“I don’t know about butterflies, but my heart beats faster whenever I see him or think about him.”

“So that part’s true," Ryouhei notes out loud. "There’s also a scene where the heroine will think, ‘Why can’t I get him off my mind?’ Do you ever think that?”

“I’ve had that thought before."

“So you think about Minato a lot?”

“Every day. I dream about him, too.”

“Really? What kind of dreams?”

“Sometimes I dream about the day we met, or other memories from that time. The rest is a secret.”

“Are there sparkles and bubbles and stuff?”

“What?” Shuu asks, sounding somewhere between confused and exasperated.

“Like in a shoujo manga. When the heroine sees the one she loves, the air fills with sparkles.”

“It’s more like a difference in color, or aura."

“In color?”

“When he’s around, every color shines brighter. There’s a different feeling in the air, too. It’s a heightened feeling of excitement.”

“Wow," Ryouhei murmurs up at the ceiling. "So that's what love is like."

Ryouhei has always admired Minato. Ever since they were kids, he saw Minato as a brave hero, the person who jumped to his rescue and made everything fun. That feeling of admiration only grew stronger once they got to be on the same team, and after he witnessed Minato overcome his target panic and become the star of the kyudo club.

But after listening to Shuu describe his feelings, he knows what he feels in Minato's presence isn't the same. He can't even begin to imagine how dazzling Minato must look like through Shuu's eyes.

"Shuu-kun, you’re amazing.”

“What makes you say that?” Shuu asks.

“You have all those feelings around Minato, but you’re still able to keep a clear head when you compete with him. If there was somebody who affected me that much, I don't think I could face them in a competition."

For a long moment, there's silence from the other end of the kotatsu.

And then Shuu says in a quiet tone of voice: “That isn't true."

“Huh?”

Ryouhei slowly sits up, facing Shuu across the table.

The look on Shuu's face is awkward and uncomfortable.

“During the prefectural tournament, I was too conscious of him. I was so excited to compete with him again that I couldn’t focus on anything else. My mind separated from the bow, and my feelings got the better of me." He avoids Ryouhei's eyes, lowering his voice to a murmur. "That's the reason we lost that day."

Ryouhei stares at him in surprise.

“That's why you missed?"

Shuu nods, looking regretful.

Ryouhei never would have guessed it was something like that. Shuu had always seemed like someone who was completely calm and cool-headed; not the type of person who got flustered at all.

"I just thought you missed cause of bad luck. Or because you were tired or something."

“I never get tired of shooting," Shuu tells him.

“I don’t get tired of it, either," Ryouhei says back. "It was a lot of work at first, but now I love it too much to get tired of it.”

The corners of Shuu's mouth pull up. “I’m glad you love kyudo," he says, sounding sincere. "It’s good that you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I want you to enjoy yourself, too. I don’t want you to be scared.”

“Scared?” Shuu asks.

“That’s why you won’t confess to Minato, right? Because you’re scared?”

Shuu lowers his gaze again, staring down at the table. “I’m not scared."

“You’re not afraid of losing your friendship?” Ryouhei presses him.

“No." Shuu shakes his head. "I won’t lose Minato. Not ever again.”

Ryouhei blinks at him. “What do you mean ‘again’?”

Shuu goes completely quiet.

Ryouhei racks his brain, trying to figure it out for himself.

“Are you talking about when he switched out of Kirisaki?” he asks slowly.

“And before that, when he disappeared from our lessons for a year.”

“When did he—" Ryouhei begins, but then his stomach drops as he realizes, "oh."

He just sits there after that, smacked into silence.

“Both times," Shuu says softly, "Minato came back to me in the end. That’s how I know he’ll always return.”

It's a nice and hopeful thing to say, but the look in his eyes is so sad.

“What would you do if he didn’t return?” Ryouhei asks, a little afraid to hear the answer.

“He will," Shuu says firmly.

“But what if he didn't?”

Shuu stares down at the table for a long moment.

“I’d wait for him," he says at last.

The weather suddenly gets a lot warmer when it hits March.

Ryouhei and Nanao sit at the bus stop together, muching on food from the snack stand. Minato and Seiya already went home, while Kaito is off running errands.

"So," Nanao says, "are we gonna talk about what's bothering you?"

Ryouhei is so amazed that he swallows the entire gummy in his mouth at once. "How'd you know there was something bothering me? Can you read minds?"

"I don't think anyone needs to read your mind, Ryouhei. You're like an open book."

Ryouhei frowns. "I don't really see that as a compliment."

"But I meant it as one," Nanao reassures him. "I like how open you are. It's one of your most endearing qualities."

"If you say so..."

Ryouhei leans back on the bench, peering up at the blue sky.

"Have you ever been afraid someone would disappear?" he asks.

"Eh? Ryouhei, are you worried about something like that?" Nanao suddenly grabs him by the cheeks, pinching them between his fingers. "I promise, I won't disappear!"

"It's not like that," he says, pulling Nanao's hands off him. "I'm not the one who's worried about it."

"It's one of your friends again, huh?" Nanao asks. Ryouhei nods shortly. "You're a really nice guy, worrying about other people like that. But don't forget to worry about yourself too, okay?"

"I won't forget," Ryouhei promises him.

"Good, good." Nanao sucks the remaining juice out of his juice box and tosses it into the trash. Then he leans back and says, "The answer to your question is yes. I've been afraid of that before."

"You have?" Ryouhei looks at him curiously. "Who made you worry about that?"

"Kacchan."

"Kaito? Eh, really?"

"Surprised?" Nanao asks with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm really surprised. You guys are like, super close."

"Did I ever tell you why I started kyudo?"

Ryouhei shakes his head, but he's suddenly super curious.

"It was because of Kacchan," Nanao says, his voice going a little softer. "Kacchan's always been interested in kyudo. I thought it might be fun, but there were other clubs I wanted to try out too, you know? But not Kacchan. Kacchan always knew what he wanted to do. So in the end, I chose kyudo, because I could tell Kacchan needed me."

"Needed you how?" Ryouhei asks.

"To break down the Kacchan barrier," Nanao explains. "Kacchan is awkward around himself and others. People tell him he looks scary, so he leans into it and builds up this tough guy persona. We went to different middle schools, and it was really hard for him to make friends. He mostly just yelled at everyone in the kyudo club about how they weren't taking it seriously enough. But then we went to the same high school, and I was able to help him make friends this time. Which was really great, except there was just one problem."

"What was that?"

"It felt like he didn't need me anymore." Nanao tips his head back, gazing up at the clouds. "At first, he was able to make friends because I kept teasing him and breaking down his tough guy image. You guys realized he wasn't scary and it made me really glad. But once he made new friends, it felt like he didn't need me around anymore. He already had you, and Minato, and Seiya - especially Seiya. Seiya started teasing him all the time too, so it felt like my role wasn't needed anymore. And now he hangs out with Seiya a lot, so we don't have that much time together. It felt like the more he came out of his shell, the more he was slipping away from me."

"Wow," Ryouhei says for lack of anything else to say.

Nanao grins at him. "Kinda silly, right?"

"I had no idea all that stuff was going on with you," Ryouhei admits, feeling like a lousy friend. "Do you need a hug?"

Nanao waves him off. "No thanks, I'm good now. That was just how I used to feel. It's not how I feel anymore."

"What made you stop feeling like he was going to disappear?" Ryouhei asks, tilting his head curiously.

"Two things," Nanao says. "One," he holds up a finger, "I realized he's still my family. So even though he has other people now, he isn't going anywhere. And two," he holds up two fingers, "I realized I still have other people who are important to me. People like my mom and dad, and my sister and aunties, and Minato and Seiya, and you."

"Me?" Ryouhei points to himself.

Nanao nods. "Especially you."

"Huh... I see." Ryouhei still feels bad that he didn't notice anything wrong with Nanao, but he's glad he was able to help him without realizing it.

"So, since I have all those other people too, even if I do lose Kacchan for a little bit, I'm not gonna be alone."

"Hmm." Ryouhei thinks that over. "It sounds really simple."

"It is simple. But I couldn't see it at the time. Sometimes it takes other people to make you realize what's been in front of your face all along."

"Is that right?"

Nanao nods. "It's definitely right."

The wheels in Ryouhei's head are slowly turning, allowing him to figure out what he needs to do to help his friends.

He gets up from the bench.

"I think I've got it now."

Nanao smiles. "Glad to hear it."

The next time Ryouhei gets invited to hang out at Minato's house, he makes a stop at Yata Shrine first.

He purchases two items from a priest. Thankfully, he manages to get in and out without running into Masa-san, who's busy sweeping the grounds.

When he gets to Minato's house, Seiya is also there. The three of them spend the afternoon playing games and watching movies, before they hear the sound of a dog barking outside.

"That sounds like Kuma," Minato alerts Seiya.

Seiya gets up from the sofa. "I should probably go walk him."

"Your parents aren't home today?" Ryouhei asks.

"No, they're visiting my brother. Today Kuma's my responsibility."

Normally, Ryouhei would offer to go with Seiya, but Minato has dinner in the oven, which means he has to stay inside. Ryouhei opts to stay with him.

"I'll be back soon," Seiya promises, and then exits the house.

With the movie on pause, silence fills the air.

Ryouhei turns to Minato.

"Hey, I was wondering…”

Minato faces him too. “Yeah?”

Ryouhei just goes for it: “How do you feel about Shuu-kun?”

Minato blinks at him. "About Shuu? Why?"

“Me and Shuu-kun are really good friends now, so I was just curious about what you thought of him.”

“Well..." Minato shifts on top of the sofa cushion, looking away from him. "He’s my first bow friend, and my rival.”

“Do you like him?” Ryouhei can't stop himself from blurting out.

“Of course I like him, since he’s my friend," Minato says. "And I admire him as an archer. And I’m conscious of him as a rival…" He trails off, then mutters, "Maybe too conscious.”

“Too conscious?”

Minato keeps looking away from him. When he talks again, his tone of voice sounds embarrassed.

“Before, I was too fixated on him. I was thinking too much about his kyudo and what I’d do the next time I faced him. Seiya noticed it, and Masa-san scolded me for it. I realized I needed to learn how to be more cool-headed."

"Isn't that just what having a rival is like?" Ryouhei asks, tilting his head.

"It's not the same for him," Minato says. "Before we face each other, he always tells me he’s happy to challenge me, but he doesn’t lose his head over it like I do. Shuu is really focused. I’m sure he'd never mess up because he’s too busy thinking about my kyudo."

Ryouhei's mouth falls open.

“Um, but anyway," Minato continues, not noticing Ryouhei gaping at him, "Shuu’s always been really nice to me. And we’ve been spending more time together the past few months.”

Ryouhei recovers enough to ask, “Does it make you happy?”

Minato glances at him. "Huh?"

“Are you happy to spend time with Shuu-kun?”

"Yeah," Minato says after a pause, "it makes me happy. Though... it's kind of surprising."

“What’s surprising?”

Minato curls a hand over his left side, leaning against the arm of the couch. He seems a little reluctant to share, but he comes out with it anyway.

“I guess," he says slowly, "whenever we hang out, I always wonder if things will be weird. We don't see each other as much anymore, we don't go to the same school, and we’re not on the same team, so I keep wondering if he's changed. Like, if he'll have a new favorite food the next time I see him, or a whole new group of friends. And I'll wonder if he’d rather be hanging out with other people instead, like his teammates." Minato pauses, then mutters under his breath, "Or you."

"Huh?" Ryouhei stares in disbelief. "What do you mean, me?"

"He talks about you a lot," Minato says, like he knows he's being childish but can't really help himself. "So, I wonder if maybe he'd rather be spending time with you, and stuff like that."

Ryouhei is suddenly overcome by the urge to grab his friend by the shoulders and shake him until his brain fixes itself. Somehow, he manages to resist.

"I know it's stupid," Minato sighs. "But it's just... I dunno. I think it's because I used to have target panic. And at the time, I thought Shuu didn't want to see me any more because of it. I thought I wouldn't be able to face him ever again. But he already told me he never looked down on me, so I guess I was worried for nothing."

Minato gazes off into space again, a faraway look in his eyes.

“When we’re hanging out, it’s the same thing. I always worry it’ll be awkward, but then it feels like no time has passed, and we end up having lots of fun. I always think he’ll forget about me by the next time I see him, but he never does. I know he respects me as a rival, but I guess…”

"You guess?"

“I guess… I just figure he doesn't think about me as much as I think about him."

Ryouhei's jaw drops.

Minato stares into space for another moment. Then he turns and notices the look on Ryouhei's face.

"—are you okay?" he asks.

“I'm okay!" Ryouhei says hastily. "Totally okay! Why'd you ask?"

“You looked like you really wanted to say something."

Ryouhei furiously shakes his head. “No, I won’t butt in while you’re talking."

“It’s fine, I’m done rambling now. You can say whatever you want."

He can't.

What he really wants to do is tell Minato every single sappy thing Shuu has ever said about him. He's absolutely burning to; he feels like if he keeps it in any longer, he'll explode.

But no matter what a pain it is, Ryouhei knows it's not his place. Only Shuu can talk about Shuu's feelings. All he can do here is offer his own opinion, so he does.

“I think you and Shuu-kun are good together."

Minato's eyes go wide. “Eh?"

“You always look so cool shooting next to each other as the ochi," Ryouhei tells him. "I think it’s really amazing that you’re friends and rivals, and that you inspire each other so much.”

“Thanks, I guess..." Minato says, looking a little confused. Then he seems to realize something: "Wait, were you talking to him about me?”

Ryouhei rubs the back of his neck. "Well, um..."

"You're not going to tell him everything I just said, are you?" Minato asks, cheeks slowly going red.

“I won't tell," Ryouhei assures him. "But I think you should tell Shuu-kun yourself. He’d be really happy to know you think about him so much.”

Minato goes quiet, looking away from him again.

“Maybe some day," he mutters.

Soon the timer goes off, and Ryouhei helps Minato with his cooking. Seiya comes back from walking Kuma, Minato's father returns from his errand, and the four of them eat dinner together.

Afterwards, Ryouhei heads upstairs to Minato's room. He takes out one of the items he bought at the shrine and places it on Minato's desk, tucking it between two stacks of books.

"Why were you upstairs?" Minato asks when he comes back down.

"I left something in your room," Ryouhei says, which is technically true.

Minato accepts that excuse, and the rest of the evening goes by pleasantly.

Shuu has a visitor on Sunday.

As usual, he didn't invite Ryouhei to his house. He doesn't need to. Even without him saying anything, Ryouhei seems to understand how much he values his company.

Shuu wishes it was that simple with Minato.

Toujou-san lets him into the house, and they spend a quiet afternoon playing games with Shuu's mother and sister before retreating to Shuu's room upstairs.

“Shuu-kun, here. I wanted to give this to you.”

Ryouhei takes something out of his pocket. Shuu accepts it without knowing what it is.

He blinks down at the blue cloth pouch in his hand.

“Another talisman?" he asks.

“This time, it's for good luck in love," Ryouhei tells him. "I gave the other one to Minato.”

Shuu doesn't say anything to that, just examines the omamori in silence.

“Shuu-kun," Ryouhei says, "I think you should confess to Minato. I think it’ll go way better than you’re scared it will. But even if it didn't go over well, and your heart gets broken... If that ever happens... I'll fix it."

Shuu snaps his head up, meeting Ryouhei's gaze.

“What?” he says.

“If someone breaks your heart, I’ll fix it," Ryouhei repeats. "I’ll come to your house and cheer you up every day, until you’re not sad anymore."

It's said clearly and firmly, in a tone that leaves no room for doubt.

"And I'm sure I'm not the only one, either," he continues. "The Sugawara-kuns like you a lot. They even got jealous of me cause I've been to your house before. If you were sad, they'd want to help you too. That’s why you shouldn’t be so worried about losing Minato. If he disappeared for a little while, your other friends will still be here. We wouldn't leave you alone."

Shuu says nothing. All he can do is stare into those clear unclouded eyes, shining with determination, conveying an absolute sense of trust.

He's powerless beneath a gaze like that.

"That's all I wanted to say," Ryouhei finishes.

The room fills with silence.

Shuu is too stunned to say anything. He stares at his friend for one more lingering moment before dropping his eyes back to the talisman in his palm.

The sight of it makes something resonate deep within his heart.

Slowly, he closes his fingers around it.

"How do you always..."

"Mm?"

Shuu looks up, meets Ryouhei's curious gaze.

He shakes his head. "Never mind."

But as he holds his good luck charm close to his chest, he makes a promise:

Someday I'll find a way to thank you for everything.

When Ryouhei walks into the dojo on Monday, he causes a commotion.

"Hello, everyone," Masa-san greets them, then catches sight of Ryouhei and grins mischievously. "Hello, Ryouhei."

"Why'd you single out Ryouhei?" Minato asks, tilting his head.

"No particular reason."

Masa-san walks over to him and claps him on the shoulder.

"Good luck with whichever pretty girl you have your eye on."

He lowers his voice and says it into his ear, but it's still loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Ryouhei blinks in confusion. "Eh?"

Minato and Kaito are even more confused. "Eh?!"

"Hope the good luck charm works out for you."

With that, Masa-san returns to sweeping the floor.

Everyone else in the club is staring at him now.

"Good luck charm?" Seiya asks.

"It's nothing," Ryouhei says, starting to sweat. Turns out Masa-san did know about his purchase at the shrine.

"Ryouhei, there's someone you like?" Minato asks, sounding shocked.

"Seriously? You like someone?!" Kaito turns on him as well.

Ryouhei waves his hands in front of his face. "No, I don't! Really!"

"Then why would Masa-san say you did?" Kaito asks in an accusatory tone.

"Because—" Ryouhei starts to say, but can't come up with a reason.

Luckily, Nanao comes to his rescue.

"Now now, Kacchan," he addresses his cousin, "Ryouhei's definitely telling the truth. He's still a late bloomer when it comes to love. Though," he says after a pause, "I'm sure he'd make a great boyfriend."

"Huh?" Ryouhei blinks at him curiously. "What makes you say that?"

Nanao smiles. "Because you're already a great friend."

After March comes April, and with April comes the start of a new school year.

Kirisaki holds team tryouts the same as always. Shuu, Sen and Man make the team again, while Kabashima and Yushima fill out the other two slots. Once the team is finalized, they waste no time gearing up for prelims.

"Do you think we can get the most hits this year?" Man asks during break, outside by the vending machines.

"I can't say we will for sure, but I promise to do my best," Shuu replies.

"I heard Narumiya is gonna compete in individuals this year," Sen speaks up from his spot on Shuu's other side. "Is that true?"

"It is."

"So you're going to be facing him both days, then."

It's been almost a year since their team lost at prefecturals. Shuu has had time to come to terms with the reason his final arrow missed: that his fixation on Minato had made his mind separate from the bow.

He's had less time to come to terms with what Ryouhei said at his house last month, but he's been giving that plenty of thought, too.

"The Sugawara-kuns like you a lot."

"They'd want to help you, too."

Shuu gets to his feet and addresses the twins.

"I'll be going up against a difficult opponent. Can I count on your support?"

Sen and Man nod their heads immediately.

"We'll support you," Sen says.

"Yeah, leave everything to us," Man agrees.

Shuu smiles at them.

"In that case, I'll be relying on you."

As your teammate, and your friend.

Shuu texts Ryouhei after he gets home.

Shuu doesn't want Seiya eavesdropping again, or anyone else for that matter. What he's planning on saying to Minato is for Minato's ears alone.

On the day of the individuals competition, Kirisaki passes by Kazemai outside the athletic complex.

Minato is in the process of pinning his number to his hip when he looks up and catches Shuu's eyes.

"Good luck," Shuu mouths to him.

Just like when Shuu mouthed Congratulations last year, Minato instantly understands.

After the girls' competition is over, Shuu waits in line to enter the dojo.

"Good luck," he hears Minato's voice whisper from a short distance behind him.

A smile forms on his lips.

When it's time to enter, Shuu can't help but remember all those times in middle school when it was Minato leading him into the dojo rather than vice versa. Minato, the oomae, his teammate. But he tries not to think about that for too long.

Instead of yearning for what they shared in the past, he'd rather enjoy what they have right now.

The opponent I've longed for is behind me.

Shuu gets kaichuu. Minato hits six out of eight times; an impressive comeback for someone who hasn't competed individually in over a year, and more than good enough to let him move on to prefecturals.

The team qualifiers are off to an auspicious start. Kirisaki gets 17 hits during the first match of the day, while their opponents get 12.

As they're waiting for the next match to begin, they watch Kazemai compete against Matsuyuki High School.

Normally, Shuu keeps his eyes firmly fixed on Minato until the match is over. But even though it's a challenge to tear his gaze away, he tries to watch Minato's teammates, too, this time.

Kaito is someone Shuu misjudged. His hot-headed temperament and insistence on winning made Shuu think he wasn't cut out to be an archer. But after spending a week training with him at Kazemai, Shuu has revised his opinion. It became clear that Kaito is very serious about kyudo; just as serious as Minato. He diligently follows his coach's teachings, studying hard to achieve the proper technique. This year, Kaito's seriousness pays off, and all his arrows reach the target.

Next up is Ryouhei, whose kyudo has greatly improved in the time Shuu has known him. Last year at prelims he was nervous, easily intimidated by the twins' fast shooting, losing all confidence when his bowstring snapped. This year, there isn't a single trace of anxiety in his features or his movements; he moves fluidly through the eight steps of shooting, golden-brown eyes flashing with determination every time he releases the arrow.

Seiya's kyudo was something Shuu couldn't bear to watch last year.

He hadn't been in the right state of mind. Every time he saw Seiya up there with Minato, he would burn with jealousy. It bothered him that Seiya got to continue being Minato's teammate and he didn't. He couldn't watch Seiya shoot without being consumed by hateful thoughts.

You're not fit to be on his team. You're too obsessed with him. You left him alone when he needed you the most.

Those thoughts were only partly directed at Seiya. Mostly, they were aimed at himself.

Now that he's finally let go of those ugly feelings, Shuu can watch Seiya and aknowledge that he's skilled. Seiya's kyudo is precise and calculated, without any wasted movements. His expression betrays a calm state of mind befitting of an archer. His rate of hits is high; he's the most consistent person on the team.

Shuu always knew he could count on him, back when they were teammates.

Nanao is also someone who keeps a clear head. His movements are easygoing and relaxed, like everything comes naturally to him, even though Shuu knows from observation that he trains just as hard as his teammates do. He goes into kai as soon as Seiya lets go of the arrow and moves confidently into hanare.

When Nanao's tsurune sounds off, it's Minato's turn to shoot.

Shuu has always found his form to be impossibly beautiful.

It's not just one thing, it's everything. The way his hakama flares out around his legs. The way he raises the bow so gently, like he's offering it up to the gods. The way he gracefully draws back the arrow with a feather-light touch. The look in his eyes when he lets go. The piercing sound of his tsurune.

When Minato hits, Shuu can feel it in his soul.

That's the reason he lost. It's hard to keep his eyes on the target when Minato is shooting so beautifully in front of him, hard to focus on his own shooting when he could watch Minato forever. Watching Minato shoot makes Shuu remember what he found so enchanting about kyudo in the first place.

He falls in love all over again, every last time.

But Minato has no way of knowing that unless he tells him.

So today, I'll let you know.

By now, none of them are surprised that they'll be facing each other for the second match of the day.

While their teams are hanging around the waiting area, Shuu briefly approaches Minato.

"There's something I want to talk about," he says, looking straight into his eyes. "After the results are out, could you meet me in the same place we met last year?"

Minato looks slightly surprised, but he agrees.

"Okay," he says. "I'll see you then."

Satisfied, Shuu turns away, but Minato's voice calls him back.

"Shuu."

Shuu turns around to face him again.

Minato holds out his fist.

"Let's do our best out there."

Shuu remembers the first time they did this, after his week of training at Kazemai came to a close. With a smile, he bumps their fists together again.

The results are posted.

Kirisaki High School achieved 33 hits out of 40, a step down from last year, but more than enough to let them move on to prefecturals.

Kazemai High School got 35 hits out of 40, a huge step up from last year's score of 20 hits, and enough to put them in the lead.

His teammates don't collapse with relief this year, since they already knew they made the cut, but they're still extremely happy when Ryouhei comes back with the news.

"Congratulations," Seo says as the girls join them in the honza.

"Congratulations to your team, too," Seiya replies. "I'm glad we could all compete in the team competition this year."

"Yeah, it's really lucky we got two more girls," Ryouhei agrees.

"I'd feel luckier about it if kyudo girls weren't so cold, though," Nanao says with a theatrical sigh.

Shirigaku narrows her eyes at him. "No girl who's serious about kyudo will fall for your fake prince act. If that's what you're hoping for, you should just give up."

"Ouch! So mean~"

While everyone laughs at Nanao getting rebuffed, Kaito has a question.

"Oi, where'd Narumiya go?"

Seiya just shrugs. "Don't look at me. I know you think he's my child for some reason, but I don't know what he's doing all the time."

"I never said I actually think he's your kid, just that you act like his parent."

"You have some strange ideas about what parents are like."

While Seiya and Kaito banter, Ryouhei looks around the crowd, trying to spot Shuu. He can't see him anywhere, so he assumes that Shuu must be talking privately with Minato.

I wonder if he's confessing right now.

Ryouhei's already done everything he could to help his friends. All he can do is sit back and wait to see what happens.

Except then he overhears something.

"Eh? You saw Shuu running off with Narumiya Minato?"

Ryouhei's keen ears immediately pick up on his friends' names.

That sounds like one of the Sugawaras.

Ryouhei starts to push through the crowd, moving closer to Kirisaki.

"I don't know if they were going the same place, but I saw Fujiwara walking away from the building, and Narumiya walking a little ways behind him," one of the guys on Shuu's team says.

After hearing that, the Sugawaras huddle together.

"What should we do? Should we follow him?"

"That could be considered stalking, Sen-nii."

"At this point I don't care. He said he'd consider us more, but he still never tells us anything. I wanna know what's up with him and Narumiya."

"Well... fine, I'll join you, since I'm kinda curious too. But if we get caught, it was all your idea."

Ryouhei jolts upright.

Oh no.

"Ryouhei? Oi, Ryouhei, where are you going?"

Kaito calls after him, but Ryouhei doesn't have time to respond. The Sugawara twins have already left the room and he's got to catch up with them fast.

Shuu follows the tree-lined path away from the athletic complex before stopping and waiting in the same spot he waited last time.

Last year, he'd been overjoyed to see Minato land three hits during the team competition. This year, Minato got kaichuu all day and led his team to the top.

As Minato walks up to him, all Shuu can think about is how proud he feels.

If you've already made this much progress in a year, what heights will you reach next year? Or the year after that?

He hopes he can keep watching Minato grow every year, for the rest of his life.

“Congratulations to your team," Shuu says.

Minato smiles warmly at him. "Thanks. Congrats on winning individuals, and on making it to prefecturals."

Shuu smiles back. "It was an honor to shoot with you again."

"I was honored to shoot with you too, Shuu."

Minato's smile hasn't left his lips, but the look on his face tells Shuu he's waiting to hear what he wanted to talk about, so he gets straight to the point.

“Do you remember what I said to you last year?” he asks, heart starting to race.

“Yeah," Minato says seriously. "I never forgot. I couldn’t stop wondering what you meant by ‘take responsibility.’”

“I told you that I needed you," Shuu reminds him. "This time, I wanted to tell you something else."

"What is it?" Minato asks, peering up at him curiously.

"That I want you."

Minato's eyes go huge.

"Eh?"

"I want to be with you," Shuu says, forcing the words out even though he's scared. "I don't want to be separated from you ever again. I want to walk the same path as you forever."

It's how he's always felt. Always.

He wants to keep going now that he's started, but he forces himself to wait for Minato's reaction first.

Minato is staring at him like he can't believe what he's hearing. His eyes are bulging out of their sockets and a bright red blush sweeps his whole face, from the top of his forehead down to his neck.

“That almost sounds like…” Minato trails off, like he's not sure he should say it out loud.

“Like what?” Shuu asks him.

“Like a love confession," he says, his voice nearly a whisper.

“It is a love confession."

Minato's mouth falls open.

“I love your form," Shuu says, pulse pounding wildly in his ears, "I love your shots, I love watching your back, I love the sound of your tsurune."

Minato's eyes flare wide. Shuu steps closer, helplessly drawn to them.

“I love your eyes," he keeps going, "I love your hair, I love your scar, I love touching you."

He takes another step.

“I love your voice, I love your laugh, I love your smile, I love seeing your face.”

And another.

“I love watching Souta-kun with you, I love going places with you, I love riding the bus with you, I love eating your cooking, I love shooting with you.”

One more step and they're less than a foot apart, Minato's bright red face taking up Shuu's whole field of vision.

“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me," he says firmly, gaining more confidence the longer he keeps talking. "You stole my heart shortly after we met. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since then. Even when you disappeared, I eagerly waited for you to return. Even now, when we're apart, I'm always waiting for you. Nothing makes me happier than being by your side."

Minato doesn't say anthing, just keeps staring back into his eyes.

Shuu takes a breath and speaks from his heart one last time.

“I love you, Minato. Please choose me.”

And then he's done.

For a long moment, Minato stands there slack-jawed, so red in the face that it looks like he's caught on fire. It would be cute if Shuu wasn't so nervous.

“Minato?” he asks, heart lurching in his chest.

Minato shuts his mouth. Then opens it again. Then shuts it. Then opens it.

After gaping like that for a minute, he finally manages to get some words out: “That day at the movie theater... was that a date?"

Shuu blinks at him.

Of all the things he'd been expecting Minato to say, that really wasn't one of them.

"Ah..." He's not sure how to answer.

“And on New Year’s Eve, was that a date too?"

Shuu doesn't know how to answer that either.

"And last year, when you gave me that speech in this same spot... was that another love confession?"

For a moment, Shuu can only stare at Minato's flushed, questioning face.

Then he bursts out laughing.

“Shuu!”

“Sorry," he says, but he can't help it.

He's laughing partly because Minato's reaction is funny, but also because he feels relieved. Now that everything is out in the open, it feels like an enormously heavy weight has been lifted off his chest. Even though Minato hasn't responded to his confession yet, he's just glad he could finally convey his feelings properly.

Minato pouts while he keeps laughing, but once Shuu stops, his expression grows serious.

“You really... All along? This whole time?"

Shuu nods.

The look on Minato's face is complicated. There's astonishment and embarrassment and, for some reason, guilt.

“Does it bother you?" Shuu asks, feeling some of his earlier anxiety start to come back.

"No," Minato says, shaking his head. "It's not that. It's just that I had no clue. I really couldn’t figure out your intentions at all. I wanted to get better at reading people, but I guess I still need things spelled out for me… Sorry."

Shuu isn't sure what to make of that at first. Hearing Minato apologize in a guilty tone of voice makes him feel anxious, but it doesn't sound like Minato's turning him down. He said he wasn't bothered. He's apologizing because he didn't realize sooner, not because he's rejecting him.

And if Minato's not rejecting me...

Shuu's heart starts pounding again.

“If you still don’t know how I feel about you," he says carefully, "then I don’t mind telling you over and over."

Minato holds up his hands. "No, I definitely got the message this time."

Shuu doesn't say anything else, just waits patiently for Minato like he always has.

Minato looks like he's steeling himself the way he does before he enters the dojo. He takes a deep breath, visibly gathering his strength, before facing Shuu with a serious look in his eyes.

“Last year, you asked me to take responsibility, right?"

Shuu nods.

"Well, um..." Minato swallows audibly, then comes out with it: "I like you too, so… I’ll take responsibility, I guess. For changing your life, and for making you fall in love with me.”

Now it's Shuu's turn to gape.

He feels like his heart's going to burst out of his chest.

“Shuu?” Minato asks, looking up at him nervously.

“You mean it?" Shuu asks, hardly daring to believe his fortune. "You feel the same way?”

“Yeah." Minato looks embarrassed, but he sounds sure of himself. "I don’t think I can make a speech as good as yours, though. But um, since you gave me one, I guess I'll do my best..."

Shuu blinks in confusion.

A speech?

Before he can really process that, Minato is talking again, and nothing could have possibly prepared Shuu for what's coming next.

"I love your form too," Minato says, somehow turning an even darker shade of red. "I think your form is beautiful. Whenever I see you shoot, it's hard to look away from you. I love your hair too, how it's all wavy and stuff, and your eyes are a really nice color, and..." Minato shifts his weight from one foot to the other, eyes flitting away from Shuu as his face burns brighter, "I like it when you touch me, too. When you touched me at prelims last year and whispered in my ear, it felt like we were the only two people left on Earth."

Shuu's heart thuds in his chest.

That's how it felt?

Really?

He stares at Minato in amazement, eyes growing wider as his speech goes on.

"And I love how nice you are, even when we haven't seen each other in a while, or when I haven't been shooting well lately. And I love watching Souta-kun with you, and going out to eat with you, and riding the bus with you... I thought that you slept on everyone's shoulder like that, but then Seiya said you probably only did it with me, and I didn't want to admit it in front of him, but I was really happy to hear that."

Heat rises in Shuu's body and spreads across his cheeks. His entire face feels warm; he must be blushing as hard as Minato is.

"And I love shooting with you, and being your rival," Minato goes on. "All along, since the day we met and we started learning kyudo together... the reason I train so hard is so I can keep up with you. All I have to do is think about how amazing you are, and it inspires me to do better."

Shuu says nothing. He feels like he's dreaming, like his consciousness if floating outside his body. This is everything, everything, he's always wanted to hear.

And the most unbelievable thing of all might be that Minato just keeps going.

“That's why I don’t want to be separated again, either," he says in a firm tone of voice. "Even though we’re not at the same school anymore, even though we’re not on the same team, even though we have different coaches now, I still want to be with you. Even if you went to a different city, or a different country, or a different planet, I’d still want to see you again."

Shuu's jaw drops.

"Even if we were enemies on opposite sides of a war," Minato keeps inventing wildly, "or even if one of us went to jail, or even if the whole world was ending, I still wouldn’t give up on you. I’d want to be with you anyway, no matter what. So, um, from now on, let's—"

Minato doesn't get to finish that sentence.

Before he can utter one more word Shuu is flinging himself into his arms, holding him by the waist and crushing their lips together.

Minato goes stiff at first, but then responds, clutching his fingers in Shuu's kyudogi and opening his mouth to deepen the kiss.

It's the single best moment of Shuu's life, bar none.

"Shuu," Minato says against his lips, and Shuu chases that sound with his mouth, holding onto him even tighter.

Minato pushes against Shuu's chest until he can pry himself away.

“Shuu, we’re in public!"

Shuu just stares at him for a minute, unsure why the kissing had to stop, but mesmerized by Minato's flushed face.

Then it sinks in.

“Ah," he realizes. "We are.”

Minato looks at him incredulously. “Don’t tell me you actually forgot."

Shuu did forget, and he's a little embarrassed about it. He thought he had more self-control than that.

But maybe he can still save some face here.

“I can’t help it," he says, trying to sound romantic. "When I look at you, I forget my surroundings. Everything else disappears.”

Amazingly enough, it works. Minato stops looking annoyed with him, eyes going softer and the blush on his cheeks darkening.

“Shuu…” he murmurs.

“For crying out loud, don’t you guys get tired of being completely embarrassing?”

Both of them freeze.

“What was that?" Minato asks, looking around for the sound of that voice.

He gets his answer when Sugawara Manji steps out of the trees.

Minato leaps away from Shuu and gapes at him in horrified embarrassment.

“Eh?! You were there the whole time?!”

Then two more people exit the woods: a red-faced Sugawara Senichi, and an apologetic-looking Ryouhei.

Minato flips out some more. "Ryouhei too?!"

"Sorry!" Ryouhei bows his head at once. “I saw them following you, so I tried to drag them away, but then you guys started talking and I didn’t want to interrupt. Sorry, Minato, Shuu-kun!” He presses his palms together and holds them out in front of him, like he's begging their forgiveness.

Shuu is stunned too, but once he gets over his initial shock, he realizes Ryouhei was just doing what he asked him to do.

“You don’t need to apologize," he says. "You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ryouhei lifts his head, looking relieved that Shuu isn't mad.

“Shuu," Man butts in, "what was up with that love confession? ‘I love your scar’? 'I love riding the bus with you'? Seriously?"

Shuu sends him a glare.

"And you," Man turns on Minato now, "what’s up with you? What kind of weird speech was that? Where do you get all those doomsday scenarios from, anyway?”

“That wasn’t meant for you to hear, so don’t ask!” Minato snaps, blushing furiously.

“You two are seriously, seriously weird. I guess you do belong together.”

"I already know we do, I don't need you to tell me that." Minato is red-faced and annoyed-looking, but he sounds like he means it. Shuu's heart does a little flip.

While Man doesn't look the least bit ashamed about his spying, his brother is a different story. Sen is avoiding their eyes, a red blush on his face and a grimace on his lips.

“Sorry we interrupted," he mutters.

Shuu and Minato glance at each other. Even after having his confession insulted, Shuu is in a pretty forgiving mood; nothing can take away from the high of having his feelings reciprocated. And judging from the look on his face, Minato feels the same way.

Shuu turns back to Sen. “Apology accepted," he says.

“Yeah, it’s okay," Minato agrees. "Just don’t tell anyone, alright? Um, not that I’m trying to hide you or anything," he says quickly, looking at Shuu, "but I don’t think I'm ready to tell everyone yet..."

“I feel the same," Shuu reassures him. Minato looks relieved.

“Ryouhei, you too," Minato says, facing his teammate now. "Please don’t tell, alright?”

Ryouhei gives Minato a thumbs up. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Minato squints at him. “You don’t look very surprised.”

“Surprised?” Ryouhei asks.

“Yeah. I would’ve thought you’d be more weirded out.”

For a moment Shuu wonders if Ryouhei is about to spill the whole cupid thing, but instead he just smiles and says, "It's hard to be weirded out since you guys were so obvious."

“Eh? You knew?!" Minato stares at him in amazement. "I mean, I guess I kind of told you how I felt about him, but…”

Shuu's ears perk up. You did?

He's almost unbearably curious. He'll have to ask Ryouhei for the details later.

“You’ve been underestimating me," Ryouhei says. "I’m actually way smarter than you think.”

“I can see that now," Minato says.

Shuu turns away from Minato to address the twins.

“Sen, Man, you don’t need to eavesdrop. If there’s something you want to know, you can just ask me, alright?”

He hasn't forgotten what Ryouhei said about how they want to be better friends with him. He'll make sure to pay them more attention in the future.

“Riiiight," Sen and Man say in unison.

Satisfied with that response, Shuu turns to his other friend.

“Ryouhei," he says.

“Yeah?” Ryouhei asks.

Shuu smiles at him. “Thank you.”

Ryouhei smiles back.

He runs up to them, draping one arm around Shuu's shoulders and the other around Minato's.

"No problem!"

Beneath the setting sun, the five of them start to make their way home.

Two weeks later, Minato is in Shuu's bedroom, examining something on the top shelf of his desk.

"Wait, you have one of these too?"

Shuu gets up from the bed and embraces Minato from behind.

"Shuu," Minato laughs, squirming as Shuu's hands tickle his sides.

Shuu nuzzles the top of his head. "One of what?"

"One of these."

He looks at the item Minato is pointing to and sees that it's the omamori Ryouhei gave him.

"Where'd you get it from?" Minato asks.

Shuu pauses, unsure if he should reveal that Ryouhei was playing cupid for them. He and Ryouhei have both kept it a secret.

In the end he just says, "It's from Yata Mori."

"For good luck in love, right? I have one like it at home, but I never bought it. I found it when I was cleaning my desk, but I still have no clue how it got there."

Shuu smiles into Minato's hair. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," Minato affirms. "It was the day before prelims when I found it. And then right after that, you confessed to me... It seemed like an amazing coincidence. I thought maybe a spirit put it there. Like the god of the bow, or the god of romance — hey, what's so funny?"

"Nothing," Shuu replies, shoulders shaking with laughter.

Minato twists around in his arms to frown at him. “Aren’t you usually the one who believes in that kind of thing?"

“Not this time."

Minato looks up at him questioningly. Shuu just smiles.

"I don’t think this was the doing of any god, but there's definitely someone watching over us."