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Toge stood from the cafeteria table, his uneaten lunch barely touched on his tray. He had a grade-defining test next period, and his stomach was too busy twisting into knots from nervousness to crave any type of food. His university cafeteria charged him monthly, not per meal, so he didn’t think much of the wasted meal despite Maki’s scolding. She continued lecturing him as he slid the untouched contents into the trash can, rolling his eyes at her motherly tone.
As soon as he placed the tray down onto the designated space on top of the trashcan, he heard quick footsteps approaching behind them. He ignored the pattering of footsteps at first, shoving down the ridiculous thought that a cafeteria monitor was approaching him to scold him about the wasted food. He couldn’t ignore, though, the sound of a hesitant voice calling out to the two. “Hey! Um, excuse me…?”
If the cafeteria had been more crowded, Toge would have suspected that the voice could have been calling out to someone else. But alas, he and Maki were the only ones in speaking distance. All the rest of the students that were currently eating were seated near the floor to ceiling windows of the cafeteria, soaking up whatever sun shone brightly through the dirty glass windows.
Toge and Maki glanced at each other curiously before they turned in unison, hesitant to see who could possibly be wanting to have a conversation with them. Maybe it was a club leader, demanding that they join? Or a professor about to scold Toge about the wasted food? He hadn’t even grabbed that much food to begin with, honestly, but --
As Toge turned, he felt his thoughts screech to a halt in his mind. Everything inside of him, his heart, the twisting nerves in his abdomen, his brain, his sanity, all seemed to freeze simultaneously.
If the boy that was approaching them was a club leader, he would join whatever damn club that he proposed.
The boy was rounding the last curved table, stepping around the hastily pushed in chairs, before stopping a few feet away from them. He was tall, easily towering a foot over Toge’s small frame. Despite his lanky appearance, though, he had huge shoulders that stretched on for miles under his black shirt with an extremely broad chest to match. His skin, a few shades darker than Toge’s, flashed beautifully under the beaming sunlight as he struggled to pull off the hoodie sleeves that were sticking to his toned arms. Toge couldn’t help but admire him as he peeled off the rest of the sweatshirt; his eyes hesitantly lifting to catch Toge’s curious gaze.
Damn, he was the most beautiful human that Toge had ever had the pleasure of seeing. All the cogs in him that had frozen suddenly kicked into overdrive, his face heating at the sight of how beautiful the boy that stood in front of him was.
The undressing boy had large, stunning blue eyes -- a color that painters probably spent countless sleepless nights attempting to recreate. Dramatic dark circles hung heavily under them, a sign of a restless sleeper, but they didn’t take away from the beauty of them at all. His face was all sharp panels, with short, messy dark hair that hung into his face despite his middle part. He was also flushed a bright crimson, the endearing blush spreading across his cheekbones and bleeding into the tips of his ears. He appeared to be just as confused as to why he was standing in front of them as Toge and Maki were.
Maki, who usually always had some witty thing to say no matter the situation, was even quiet. Why was this boy coming over to them and undressing? Toge couldn’t find it in himself to care.
“I...uh…” The boy stumbled over his words for a moment, breaking Toge’s eye contact and fiddling with the fabric of his sweatshirt that was now clutched tightly in his hands. Breaking his reverie of admiring the boy, Toge’s eyes flickered down to his hands. They were huge, intimidatingly so, with two silver rings on his left hand. The veins along his knuckles were a bright contrast against the lack of color where he was applying too much pressure due to obvious nervousness.
“What..?” Maki asked, her voice airy and coated with bewilderment. Toge had never heard her at a loss for words, and he quickly looked back up at the boy’s face.
“You have… here,” the boy muttered, his voice a perfect mixture between deep and whiny as he took a step forward to push the fabric of his pullover sweatshirt into Toge’s chest. Without thinking, Toge reached up to take hold of the fabric. As soon as the boy was sure that Toge had the material in his grasp, he took a big step backwards. He hadn’t looked up into his face again, his eyes locked onto the sweatshirt in Toge’s hands. “You...you sat on something.”
There was a moment of silence, the three standing frozen in the middle of the cafeteria. Those stunning sapphire eyes were still locked onto Toge’s hands, and Toge glanced down at the dark blue material. He sat on something?
Maki finally took a step backwards, grabbing one of Toge’s belt loops in order to yank his hips in her direction. Toge allowed her to move him, too confused to protest. She took a good look at his butt, assessing the damage. There was another moment of silence, the handsome stranger in front of them now wringing his hands together, before she spoke; “Holy shit. What the hell is that?”
Toge, curiosity overpowering his confusion, twisted at the waist in order to see what Maki was looking at. She pulled the fabric of his light jeans out more, attempting to allow an easier view of the stain. Sure enough, a dark green blob was taking up about half of his left butt cheek. It looked dry, as if it had been sitting there in plain view the entire day. The stain was so big that Toge was shocked that he hadn’t felt himself sit on whatever this gross substance was. Why hadn’t anyone told him sooner?
He twisted his body forward once more, about to thank the handsome stranger, but was shocked to see his retreating form. The boy had left as quickly as he had approached, already halfway across the cafeteria in the direction that he had appeared. He was maneuvering around the circular tables and stray chairs, his body twisting and turning with each step he took. Even at this distance, Toge couldn’t help but admire how his broad back stretched out underneath the black material of his shirt as he moved.
Toge gaped after his retreating form, unable to believe what had just happened. The boy came up to them so shyly, blushing even, and left before Toge could thank him. What the hell was that about?
He hesitantly pulled the hoodie over his head, pulling down the fabric as far as it would go. The height and size difference of the stranger definitely worked in his favor, the ends of the fabric falling well past his butt and his hands. It was more oversized than he would have expected, and the scent that washed over him had his heart slamming against his ribcage. It was definitely a boyish scent, but very clean and pleasant at the same time. Toge yearned to pull up the collar of the soft blue hoodie to inhale deeply, wishing to allow the scent of the boy to invade into every corner and crevice of his lungs.
“Fuck, what was that?! He was staring at your ass? How did he even--”
Toge toned Maki out as she began talking about the event that had just happened, his heart pattering against the inside of his throat as they quickly exited the cafeteria. They were now running late for their next class, already having dropped their bags off onto their designated seats, but Toge couldn’t help but lift one sweater-covered hand to press against his mouth in an attempt to hide his wide smile.
----
Toge ended up almost failing the test, his attention completely elsewhere. He couldn’t help his mind from wandering to the kind boy, those stunning sapphire eyes captivating his every thought. He couldn’t believe that someone that attractive would pay any mind to him, especially going out of his way to save Toge from embarrassment.
It wasn’t his proudest moment to admit that he slept with the sweater that night. The scent was so comforting, so lovely, that he couldn’t help himself. And, when he couldn’t find the handsome stranger again the next day, he slept with it again that next night. In fact, he slept with the sweater for a whole week before he caught sight of the stranger again.
He was currently running late to class, as he usually did, when he caught sight of him. The boy was sitting on the grass a few meters from his classroom, his back to Toge and two other boys sitting in front of him. He wouldn’t even have recognized him at all if it weren’t for his distinct back — large and stretching on for miles under his shirt. His hair was also slightly messy from behind, despite being short and straight, and he was lucky to have gotten a good look of this boy from behind last week.
Toge, one foot in the classroom, spun on his heel. He slung his school bag to the front of his chest, rummaging through the contents to safely yank out the pullover. He had been keeping it in his bag during school hours for this exact reason. And, as much as he wished to keep it forever, the scent of the boy was starting to fade. If it was a guaranteed forever smell, he would have been selfish and have kept the article of clothing without hesitation.
As he neared the small group of people, the two boys facing Toge glanced up in curiosity. One had bright pink hair and a dark undercut, his golden eyes lighting up in surprise at the notice of Toge's beeline towards them. The boy sitting next to him had spiky black hair, blue eyes, and a bored expression on his face. They all had notebooks in their hands, as if they were studying something while lounging under the afternoon sunshine.
“Oh, you finally talked to him?!” The pink haired boy whispered loudly in excitement, leaning into the handsome stranger's face. His eyes kept flickering up to Toge’s as he got closer, curiosity dancing behind his amber eyes. “You didn’t tell us!”
Toge felt his airways begin to contract in nervousness, his hands shaking around the dark blue material clutched tightly in his hands. What did the boy mean by “finally” talking to him? The handsome stranger had noticed Toge before the embarrassing stain incident?
The handsome boy looked up as he tilted a water bottle back to his lips, obviously unaware of the situation at hand. The spiky haired boy smacked the pink haired boy's leg in a scolding before leaning forward, whispering much more quietly than the other boy had; “Behind you, Okkotsu-Senpai.”
The boy who had leant him his sweatshirt was called Okkotsu, huh?
Okkotsu turned, water bottle still up to his lips, just as Toge reached them. He stopped next to Okkotsu, looking down at the handsome boy just as those impossibly beautiful eyes slowly raked up his body, his eyes previously knee level, before finally catching sight of Toge’s face.
Okkotsu, eyes popping comically wide, choked on the sip of water that he had been enjoying, spraying the contents back into the bottle and down his face and neck. He had a notebook and pen clutched in his other hand, and accidentally soaked those in water as well. He started coughing, red splotches blooming onto his face, and he turned to hide his face as his coughing slowly subsided.
The other two boys were staring up at him curiously as Toge patiently waited for Okkotsu’s struggling to stop, and he couldn’t help the way that his face burned in response. He had that much of an effect on this boy, despite having only one interaction? And that one interaction had been completely one sided and very quick. Could Okkotsu’s friends’ words “finally talked to him?” mean that Okkotsu had been watching him from afar even before this stain incident?
As soon as he could breathe properly, Okkotsu carefully paced the water bottle down onto the grass next to his friends before shyly turning his body to glance up at Toge. Toge admired his beautiful blue eyes, now slightly bloodshot from all the coughing, and his rosy cheeks. Okkotsu’s blushing and shyness only pushed Toge’s narrative that he had to have been watching him for a while.
Which didn’t help the shaking in his hands as he bent at the waist to push the blue sweatshirt into Okkotsu’s chest, just as he had done to him a week prior. Okkotsu took the light fabric without a word, big blue eyes peering up at Toge with bewilderment, amazement, and an equal shyness. His eyes bags were still strikingly dark against his honey skin, and Toge yearned to scold him into sleeping better...despite how attractive they were, of course.
Toge, who hated talking, who had probably spoken a total of five words this month, whispered: “Thank you,” as he bowed at the waist in a polite gesture. Okkotsu sputtered, waving his hands in the air frantically and almost hitting Toge in the face with one of the sweatshirt sleeves.
“Oh, no! No no, no need to thank me, I just didn’t...I wanted you to…” Okkotsu trailed off, glancing down at the sweatshirt in his hands. The other two boys sat in complete silence, intently watching the scene unfold in front of them as if they were watching a J-Drama.
With the blush on Okkotsu’s cheeks, the way he couldn’t seem to form a complete sentence, and the fact that his friend seemed to think this interaction was a long time coming, Toge’s confidence skyrocketed — pushing away all nervousness and shyness that had been harboring in his chest. Toge squatted next to him, relishing in the audible quick inhale that Okkotsu sucked in as he did so. He reached out for the still wet pen that was clutched in Okkotsu's other hand, snatching it out of his grasp.
Toge carefully grabbed one of Okkotsu’s large hands, attempting to ignore the warmth that seeped into his skin through the bare contact. He had been right, the other boy was a few shades darker than him, and the contract of colors left his chest aching. The pen already uncapped, Toge pulled Okkotsu’s large hand close to scribble his number onto the back of his hand, pulling the ink across the veins visible under his honey-colored skin.
Okkotsu’s hand was warm, rough from years of use, and very large. Toge’s hand was dwarfed in comparison as he held it gently, meticulously writing his phone number with as much courage as he could muster. His hand was so pretty, so masculine and strong, that it left Toge’s heart thumping wildly in his chest. He quickly finished writing, capping the pen before glancing into Okkotsu's eyes once more. Those beautiful sapphire eyes were wide and searching, staring deeply into his with intense curiosity despite his obvious shyness.
He didn't protest as Toge pushed back his dark locks to tuck the pen behind Okkotsu’s ear in a flirty action. His messy hair was much softer than it looked, and Toge yearned to run his hands through it as he straightened the pen behind the handsome boy’s ear. Toge gave him a soft smile, gaze returning to Okkotsu’s beautiful blue eyes, before standing once more. His knees popped in the silence, and he turned on his heel and walked back towards his classroom without another word.
Despite his surge of courage, Toge could feel his face and ears burning as he walked away from the group. His shoulders had bunched up into his ears at their own accord, attempting to hide the flushing of his face. He heard the boys begin to frantically speak as he ducked into his classroom, their whispering loud enough to carry across the whole damn school.
“Okkotsu-Senpai, that’s the boy that you’ve been —”
“—-he was so much cuter than what you said! You have to text him right now!”
“Okkotsu-Senpai?! Are you okay?! Don’t pass out on us, get up —!”