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**Kinoshita POV**
“Damn, we really got lost out here,” Kinoshita sighed. He watched as his friend, Narita, sat down on a rock and kicked a few pebbles out of the way.
“I’m sorry Kino, it was MY idea to take a hike this late at night,” The boy apologized. He looked up and studied their surroundings. “At least we were both smart enough to bring jackets, we won’t be as cold during the night.”
The two boys were completely helpless. Their phones had no signal where they were and they forgot to bring a flashlight. It was impossible to try and make their way back home in the dark like that.
“Yeah,” Kinoshita studied Narita’s features. The moon above them cast dim light onto his face and illuminated his eyes. Narita's face looked softer than usual, but at the same time he looked very attractive under the moonlight.
Narita must have noticed Kinoshita staring at him because he looked right back at the boy and smiled, “Something wrong dude?” He asked.
"Eh? No, I'm alright. It's just that I'm really sensitive to the cold," Kinoshita wasn't lying. He was in fact very sensitive to the cold.
Narita looked away and sighed, "I could maybe like, hug you while we sleep? I don't want to be the reason you get sick."
Kinoshita’s heart beat faster than it already was. Man, what am I thinking? I don’t like him. Or, do I? He sighed once again and scratched the back of his head, “As long as you’re okay with it.” Of course he’s okay with it, he’s the one who suggested it.
Narita laid his jacket down on the dirt and motioned silently for Kinoshita to make his way over. Kinoshita nodded and took off his jacket. He laid down next to Narita and put the jacket over them. Kinoshita hadn’t had a chance to relax before Narita wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer.
“Sleep well Kino,” Narita mumbled and closed his eyes. Kinoshita closed his eyes too in an effort to fall asleep. Heck, who was he kidding. How could you possibly fall asleep in the arms of someone who made your heart rate increase rapidly whenever they were around you?
“Kino?” Narita said cautiously. Kinoshita had the urge to open his eyes and answer, but a part of him said that it’d be best if he pretended to sleep instead. “You’ve always been fast at falling asleep, huh?” Narita chuckled.
“Man, I’m such a selfish person,” He continued, “Getting us lost out here was an accident of course. But I didn’t have to hug you as you slept, did I? I could have simply given you my jacket.” Narita paused.
“See, I just could never bring myself to tell you this to your face. At least not while you’re awake. You’re just so beautiful and such a wonderful person too. I love how you’re so supportive of everyone on the team. I love your little sly remarks from time to time. I love everything about you Kinoshita.”
Kinoshita quite literally felt his heart leave his chest and jump into his throat. This can’t be real.
Narita sighed, “But you don’t feel the same way. I’m sure of that. So, I could never tell you this to your face. I may be a coward. No, I am a coward, but I can’t help it. I don’t want to ruin what we have now.”
I see. That’s why my heart always races when I’m near you. That’s why I always focus on you so much and sometimes get distracted during practice. No, what if this is just a joke? No, Narita isn’t the type to joke about something like this.
“Coward, I’ve always been one,” Narita began once more. “I may live to regret this someday, but you know, there’s a chance I won’t.” He went silent, but after a moment leaned slightly down to kiss Kinoshita’s forehead. “I’m sorry.”
Kinoshita’s face became hot as he continued to consider what was happening. Shit. He’s serious about this. What about me though? Am I sure that I love him too?
It was all so confusing to him. He had to ask someone about it, but who?
***
It was the next day and Kinoshita nervously knocked on the door of his little sisters’ room.
“Hisashi? What’s up?” His sister, Haya, answered the door. Hideko, Haya’s twin, peeked from behind the door to see what was happening.
Both girls had the same light brown hair as Kinoshita and large, dark grey eyes. Haya kept her hair short at her shoulders while Hideko’s was longer and braided. They were identical twins so having different hairstyles was important to them.
Haya had always been more of a wild child. She liked making sly remarks just like Kinoshita did. Hideko had always been a little calmer than her twin sister, but she was by no means an angel. Both girls were equally as mischievous and troublesome. Hideko was, as proven by their grades, the smarter of the two.
“I need your help, please?” Kinoshita begged.
His sisters, both second years in junior high, looked at him suspiciously.
“I’ll take you out to the Sakurai bakery for a treat, just please help me.”
“Hm, fine big bro. Come in,” Hideko finally said. Haya stepped out of the room to push her brother in while Hideko closed the door behind them.
“Alright, what is it?” Haya plonked down onto her bed and sat with her legs crossed. Hideko sat at her desk and moved from side to side in her chair.
Kinoshita took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally to be made fun of, “What does it feel like to be in love?”
A mischievous grin spread across the twins’ faces. They looked at each other and silently communicated something that Kinoshita couldn’t catch. Hideko giggled and looked at her big brother.
“So, Hisashi. Who’s the lucky girl?” She asked with a smirk.
“That’s the problem, it’s not a girl,” He responded.
The smile from his sisters’ faces fell really quickly and Hideko rushed to the bed that Haya sat on. They whispered between each other and finally looked at Kinoshita.
Haya tilted her head slightly, “A boy then?”
Kinoshita nodded.
“Ennoshita-kun?” Hideko questioned. Kinoshita shook his head.
“I doubt he’d like Noya-kun, he’s too chaotic,” Haya chimed in.
Hideko nodded in agreement, “Ryu-kun is with Kiyoko-san.”
“That only leaves-”
“Narita-kun?!” Both girls exclaimed simultaneously. Kinoshita looked down at his feet. He had managed not to think about the previous night before this, but now the memories were all flooding back.
“Just answer my question, please,” Kinoshita begged again.
“Fine, fine,” Haya waved her hand in a dismissive manner, “So like, when you’re around the person you love your heart goes crazy. It beats super hard”
“You get distracted from whatever you are doing when you’re around them and all of your attention goes to them,” Hideko added.
“Well, damn,” the older boy mumbled. So I do love him?
“It’s because he’s a boy too, right?” Hideko asked with a somewhat serious look on her face. She leaned forward and placed her elbows over her knees. “That’s why you’re so unsure about it. Because you think it’s not right?”
“Um,” Was that the reason that he denied it so much? “I guess so? Narita’s also a really good friend of mine and I don’t want to risk our friendship. Like, what if it doesn’t work out?”
“Just go for it big bro!” Haya exclaimed, “I asked my bestie out last year and we went out for a few months, but decided it didn’t work and broke up. Sure we aren’t as close as before, but she’s still a good friend of mine.”
Not very encouraging, but thanks sis.
“Take your time, Hisashi. Don’t rush it,” Hideko offered some slightly more convincing advice. “Katashi-kun asked me out the other day, I asked him to give me some time to think about it. I’m going to give him my answer tomorrow.”
Hideko has always been a little smarter than Haya, hasn’t she? Wait a minute-
“Hey, who said that you two were allowed to date? Hmmm?” Kinoshita crossed his arms and glared at his sisters.
“But Hisashi,” Haya pouted, “Mom and Dad won’t know! They aren’t home half of the time!”
“Well,” Kinoshita paused, “I don’t want either of you to be put into danger. You know what almost happened to our cousin last year when she started dating a guy who was a year older.”
“We’ll be careful bro,” Hideko sighed.
“Just ask Mom and Dad, please, and if you do start dating someone I want to meet them. Doesn’t matter if it’s a guy or a girl or neither. I want to meet them,” Kinoshita rarely puts his foot down with his sisters. He really only did it when he thought they could put themselves in danger.
“Fine, but you need to confess to Narita-kun then,” Haya said with a smug look on her face.
Kinoshita looked away at the mention of his friend’s name and blushed a little.
Goodness, these girls.
“Alright you big idiot, out of our room,” Hideko stood up and pushed Kinoshita towards the door. “Good luck, Hisashi. I’m sure it’ll work out between the two of you.”
“Thanks Hideko,” Kinoshita thanked his little sister as he made his way to his bedroom. Well, this doesn’t sound too hard. Does it? I’ll talk to Narita tomorrow.
**Narita POV**
Narita was on his way to the gym for afternoon practice. It had been a very exhausting day for him.
I think Kino is avoiding me. I wonder why. Kinoshita had not shown up earlier at their spot for lunch. Neither had Narita seen him during breaks. The last time he had seen his brown-haired friend was during morning practice. Even then, Kinoshita had avoided him, opting to train with Nishinoya and Yamaguchi instead.
“Narita.”
Kinoshita’s voice from behind him startled Narita. He turned around swiftly to see his beloved friend.
“Kino.”
“Can we talk? In private?” Kinoshita muttered while playing with his hands. He looked nervous.
“Ah, sure dude.”
Narita followed Kinoshita to a spot behind the second gym. Kinoshita stood with his back against the wall, facing him. Narita felt a slight breeze on his face and waited in silence for Kinoshita to talk.
It took a minute or two, but Kinoshita took a deep breath and began to speak. “Narita, on Saturday I was awake. When we got lost I mean.”
Narita chuckled, “Of course you were awake Kino, I don’t think you were sleepwalking.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
The smile on Narita’s face turned into shock. No, no. I knew I would regret it.
“Narita, I just wanted to say that-”
“April fools’! It was a funny joke right? Haha…” Narita knew it wasn’t even close to April. He knew that Kinoshita knew this too. “Sorry bud, it was just a prank. I hope it didn’t make you uncomfortable. Well, I’m gonna go get ready for practice.” With that, he ran off.
Kinoshita stood there, not knowing what to say or do.
**Kinoshita POV**
Ah, so that’s how it is. I understand now. Kinoshita felt as his lower lip began to quiver. Damn. How gullible I am. He reclined against the wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position.
“Damn.”
It felt like he was trying to swallow down a still-beating heart. He sat still for a while.
Narita, why?
His emotions soon turned to anger. Kinoshita felt something boiling up inside of him. His breathing quickened.
Why?
The noise around him became muffled. Kinoshita no longer cared what was going on around him. The boiling feeling inside of him soon turned to nausea and dizziness. He curled up into a ball and sniffled into his knees.
Why is this happening? It shouldn’t hurt this much. I should’ve known.
Kinoshita had been looking forward to practice. Now, he wanted to be far far away from the second gym. He stood up slowly and grabbed his school bag from where it was on the floor. Looking around to make sure none of the club members saw him, Kinoshita walked home.
His teammates would be confused as to why he never appeared at practice that day. Kinoshita had never skipped practice ever since he returned to the club. Why now? Tanaka even claimed to have seen him walking down the school halls towards the gym that day.
**Narita POV**
“Any news Nozomi-chan?” Narita asked his younger friend during lunch.
“Sorry Kazuhito-kun, I asked Kikuchi-san and she said that he wasn’t in class today either,” Watabe answered before taking another sip of her juice. “You really screwed up.”
“I know.”
It had been 4 days since he last saw Kinoshita on Monday. Narita probably regretted his actions on Monday more than anything in his whole life.
“Have you considered that maybe Kinoshita-kun was going to reciprocate your feelings?” Watabe looked at him, her gaze serious.
“I have, but even if I tried to make things right he probably hates me by now. What’s the point?” Narita sighed, “Ooomf! Owww, Nozomi-chan?” He clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain. The piercing feeling in his abdomen caused his eyes to water up.
Looking up at his friend, Narita saw rage in her eyes. It was certainly something that seemed too far-fetched to be real. Watabe was usually a shy and reserved girl.
“Do something about it! If he hates you it’s fine! Just try…” She cried out, “Please, Kazuhito-kun. It hurts me to see you like this. You’re like a brother to me.”
“Nozomi-chan, I’m sorry,” Narita apologized as he wiped tears away from his cheeks.
Man, this is embarrassing. Nozomi-chan had to yell at me.
Narita stood up straight and held out his arms to hug Watabe. The much smaller girl wrapped her arms around him and sniffled a bit.
“I better be in charge of flowers when you two get married,” she mumbled quietly.
“Haha, sure Nozomi-chan,” Narita chuckled as he patted her head softly, “I’ll go to his house after school, alright?”
Watabe smiled gently at him before giving him another light punch to the stomach.
“Owww-”
“How dumb are you? You didn’t even think to go to his house?” She exclaimed.
“Uh, no?”
Watabe sighed, “Just do your best to get through the last classes of the day and then you can go see Kinoshita-kun. I heard that you guys don’t have practice today.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
The smaller girl shrugged, “Just doing what I can.”
The bell rang with perfect timing and the two friends parted ways. Narita made his way to his classroom. He met up with Ennoshita, who had the same class as him, on the way there and the two boys walked into class together.
School seemed to drag on for hours. Narita couldn’t help but focus solely on the ticking clock at the front of the room.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick.
“Narita. Narita. Narita,” A soft poke brought Narita out of the trance he was in. He looked up to see Ennoshita and Watabe looking down at him.
“Ah, Nozomi-chan? Ennoshita? Is class over?”
Ennoshita nodded, “Class ended five minutes ago. Nozomi-chan tells me that you have someone to go make up with. You better hurry before it’s too late.”
Narita’s face heated up, “Nozomi-chan… why’d you have to tell him?” He whined softly while standing up and grabbing his bag.
“What else could I do? Anyways, it’s your fault,” Watabe sighed. “Come on, I better come to school on Monday and see that you have a boyfriend!”
“Haha, you really are different around us than with your team Nozomi-chan,” Ennoshita chuckled.
Watabe looked at her shoes briefly before looking back up, “I feel more at ease around you second years. I can get along just fine with the older girls on my team, but there’s this one first year girl who I feel uncomfortable around.”
“She’s just so different from the rest,” She added.
Ennoshita shook his head, “You just think she’s different from the others because she’s a foreigner. If you took some time to meet her, I’m sure you two would get along.”
“Ennoshita has a point, Nozomi-chan,” Narita said.
His friends both turned their heads to face him. Ennoshita raised an eyebrow and glared at him.
“Why are you still here? You heard Nozomi-chan, go get yourself a boyfriend,” He said in a monotone voice. Narita was surprised to say the least.
“Yeah, see you all on Monday!” Narita stuttered as he rushed out of the classroom and made his way to the school entrance. Kino, you may hate me, but I want to be truthful with you.
***
Rushing up to the Kinoshita household, Narita knocked on the door hastily. He heard some voices from inside and it took around two minutes for the door to open. At the door was Haya.
“Haya-chan,” He panted, “Is Hisashi h-”
A sudden slap to the face stopped Narita from finishing his question.
“You stupid son of a bitch! We did all we could to set the two of you up and you have to go and fucking ruin it!” She hollered.
Narita had only regained his senses when Hideko walked out, “Haya, what’s going on here...Kazuhito-kun,” she paused. “Hisashi is in his room.” Hideko pulled Haya aside to let Narita in.
“Thank you,” he hastily thanked the girl as he entered the house. He didn’t forget to take off his shoes of course.
“Hideko! Why the fuck would you let him in?” Haya cried out loud.
“Because they need to get their shit together! That’s why!”
Vulgar. Narita thought.
He rushed up the stairs to the door that he recognized as his best friend’s. Taking a deep breath, Narita slowly knocked on the door. There were some muffled noises from inside the room, but he was able to make out what was being said.
“It’s open,” Kinoshita said.
It’s now or never. Narita told himself. Holding his breath, he opened the door slowly.
“I’ll go fix up dinner in a minute Hideko,” Kinoshita mumbled.
“Kino,” Narita whispered. His voice was shaky.
Kinoshita sat up immediately, surprise washed over his face as he realized that Narita wasn’t his little sister. Using his hands, he rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right.
“Narita,” he said. Kinoshita slowly inched towards the edge of the bed and sat there.
“Kino, I’m sorry.”
Kinoshita raised the inner corners of his eyebrows and shook his head, “No, I’m sorry. I got carried away and thought that you actually liked me,” he said with a smile. “I-”
“Stop apologizing to me,” Narita knelt down on the floor in front of Kinoshita, “I hurt you, I lied to you, I rejected you, I let down your sisters.”
“What do the girls have to do with any of this?!” Kinoshita questioned, bewildered.
Narita sighed. I told myself that I'd be truthful with him.
“On Saturday, it was Haya’s idea that I should take you on a night time hike. Getting lost wasn’t part of the plan of course. But I chickened out and didn’t tell you what I wanted to say to your face. At least I thought I didn’t.”
“Wait, so…” Kinoshita’s eyebrows furrowed together.
“To make it worse I lied to you on Monday too. I hurt you and I was too much of a coward to do anything about it.”
“Narita.”
“Yeah?”
“Narita?!”
“Yeah, Kino?”
“On Monday, that was a lie?!”
“Yes.”
“Why?!”
“Hisashi, it was because I love you.”
**Hideko POV**
“Come on Haya, let’s go see what’s going on!” Hideko pulled on her sister’s arm.
Haya rolled her eyes, “They better have gotten their shit together by now. I’m tired of seeing Hisashi sulking all day,” She answered.
The two girls creeped silently up the stairs. Positioning themselves in front of the door, they pressed closer to it.
“I love you,” They heard Narita’s muffled voice saying.
“Hell yeah,” Haya whispered while raising her hand in a fist.
“Shh, don’t celebrate just yet,” Hideko shushed her twin sister.
Crash!
Haya flinched at the sudden loud noise and fell backwards. Hideko sighed and pulled her sister back up from the ground.
“I wonder what that was,” Haya finally murmured.
Nodding to each other, the girls carefully opened the bedroom door. There they saw the scene they had both wanted to witness for the last few days.
“Ah yeah!! Get it big bro!” Haya cheered happily. Hideko shook her head with a smile and chuckled.
**Kinoshita POV**
“Get it big bro!” Kinoshita watched as his sister rejoiced at seeing him and Narita together.
“Haya!?” He hollered, Kinoshita felt heat rushing to his face and quickly covered it up with his hands.
Narita chuckled softly and pulled Kinoshita closer to his chest. The two boys weren’t even in THAT compromising of a position. Haya was, as always, just being loud and excessive with her reactions.
“So, like, how’d this happen?” Hideko giggled and pointed at the two. Narita was sitting up, against the bed Kinoshita was sitting between his legs.
“Your brother lunged at me and somehow we just ended up like this,” Narita said matter of factly.
Kinoshita smiled and snuggled back, closer to Narita. He tilted his head back and leaned to the side so that he could clearly see Narita’s face. The lighting in the room shining down on his face reminded him of that Saturday night in the forest.
“Wooo! I can’t wait to be an aunt!” Haya had left the room some time ago and was jumping around in the hallway.
“HAYA!” Kinoshita’s face flushed with heat, but his stomach was filled with butterflies. Behind him, Narita was struggling to comprehend what Haya had just said.
“Haha, you two look like tomatoes. Bro, I don’t think you even blushed that much when you came to ask us about your feelings for Narita,” Hideko laughed as she leaned on the door frame.
“You had to ask them for help?” Narita raised an eyebrow and let out a hearty laugh.
“You did too, Silly,” Kinoshita remarked.
“Alright, Love Birds. Let’s go make dinner now,” Haya popped into the room. “We should totally go to the Sakurai Bakery tomorrow to celebrate!” She added.
“We?” Kinoshita questioned as he stood up. He held out a hand for Narita to stand up too.
“Duh, Kazuhito-kun, You, Hideko, and me.”
“Can we bring along Nozomi-chan and Ennoshita too?” Narita asked.
“You too, Kazu?” Kinoshita laughed. Narita shrugged and laughed too. “Hideko, you better bring along this ‘Katashi-kun’ you mentioned the other day. I want to meet him.”
“I- fine.”
“Goodness, you two took so long to get together,” Haya sighed. “I think I can say for sure that feelings are not your area of expertise.”
The four laughed together and exited the room. Kinoshita and Hideko worked together on dinner while Haya talked to Narita. Everyone was happy for the first time in almost a week. After dinner, the girls went to prepare a movie for all of them to watch. Kinoshita took some time outside for himself. Looking up at the stars, he reflected on what had happened in the last week.
“You know, Haya-chan has a point,” Narita said as he stepped out into the backyard. “We really suck at feelings.”
“Ha, you can say that again,” Kinoshita patted the ground next to him. Narita sat there and put an arm around him.
“I just wanted to say sorry again, Hisashi. Maybe we would have gotten together sooner and this wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t such a coward.”
Kinoshita shook his head, “I didn’t even fully understand my feelings for you until Saturday night. All I had felt before was my heart racing around you and the need to spend as much time with you as possible.” Looking up at the stars, Kinoshita remembered all the happy times he had shared with Narita.
“I love you Kazuhito.”
“I love you too, Hisashi.”