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Shoto had a love-hate relationship with school. He hated school because of the unnecessary assignments and overbearing workload the teachers always threw at him. Even if he was in advanced classes, there was a fine line between an acceptable and ridiculous amount of workload to assign. Most of his teachers pranced on the wrong side of the line, a fact that irritated Shoto on a good day and enraged him on a bad one.
But despite this, he also loved school. He loved pursuing his hobbies; he was a member of the volleyball team, and the occult club. He attended volleyball practice everyday, and was a starting player in all of the volleyball games. He also participated in all of the occult clubs meetings when he could, and he always kept up with their activities. Similarly, he also helped out in the music club from time-to-time.
Shoto loved school because it allowed him to pursue his interests, but also because of the people he was able to meet in school. He’s met numerous people through being an active participant in his clubs, and he wouldn’t trade the relationships he’s formed with these people for anything in the world.
Shoto was, however, reconsidering his affection for his current crush at the moment.
“Uki-,” Shoto gasped out tiredly, running behind the other boy. “Uki I don’t think-”
“SHHHH,” Uki replied, quickly cutting him off. “We’re almost there and I don’t want them to hear you!”
Letting out a quiet whimper, Shoto continued to allow himself to be furiously dragged down the hallway Uki had randomly chosen. Taking another sharp corner while following behind Uki, Shoto silently wished he hadn’t agreed to walk home with the other boy after school today. Shoto didn’t have volleyball practice today, which was a rare occurrence, and he really wasn’t a fan of exercising on days he didn’t need to.
Fuck how did it come to this?
Shoto loved being Uki’s friend, he really did. Uki was a phenomenal person. He was charismatic, friendly, and he always had good advice for the people around him. He was an active participant in both the occult and music clubs, two clubs that Shoto often hung around regularly. In the occult club, Uki often provided free tarot card reading for people who wanted one, and he was well known for his voice in the music club.
Despite having a schedule just as busy as Shoto’s, Uki always made time to hang out with him regardless of how busy both of their lives could get.
Between their similar interests and Uki’s pleasant personality, it wasn’t a surprise that Shoto had managed to develop a crush on him over time. Shoto swore that at least half the school had a crush on the boy, so he didn’t feel embarrassed about his feelings.
Well he tried not to.
But after being chased around the school by Uki’s diehard fan club for almost 10 minutes now, Shoto was starting to re-evaluate his feelings for his current crush. Shoto wasn’t unfit by any means, he was one of the starters for the school’s volleyball team, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed running around aimlessly.
Especially if he was being chased by an unhinged group of fans that would definitely harass them for at least an hour before they finally left them alone.
Why does this shit always happen to him?
Despite loving his current friends, the weirdest shit had started happening to Shoto after he started hanging out with them all.
Earlier this week, he spent over an hour hiding on the rooftop with Alban after the other man pissed off one of the stricker teachers they both had. Shoto had laughed when Alban explained the prank he pulled on their history teacher, and the two of them stayed up on the rooftop talking to each other and hiding until Sonny had forced his way through the barrier they made and dragged Alban off to the teachers lounge to apologise.
Later that same day, Shoto also ended up running into trouble with Mysta after the other man had insisted they go shopping for new volleyball knee pads after practice. What was supposed to be a simple shopping trip turned into a full blown investigation to find a lost dog because Mysta insisted on finding someone’s dog after seeing a flyer hanging up by the train station. Mysta had ended up dragging Shoto around for three hours before they both realized the flyer was months old and the dog had already been found and returned to its owners.
And the day after that, Shoto ended up receiving a prank phone call from Yugo who had called him at the ass crack of dawn. Shoto had tiredly answered the phone and gotten progressively more confused as he heard Mysta replying random shit in the call despite his phone identifying Yugo as the caller. Shoto still isn’t sure what the whole thing was about, he was too tired at the time to recall everything properly , but he has a sneaking suspicion that Yugo made a new song using his high pitched confused replies.
Along with this, Shoto also ended up being dragged into an intense argument between Fulgur and Vox, after the two of them started going at each other's throats. He had tried to calm both of them down at first, but their argument had just gotten progressively louder as time went on. The only reason they stopped arguing is because Ike had walked by and threatened them both into silence.
Shoto still doesn't know what Ike said that shut the both of them up.
He also has a firm belief that some things are better left unknown. Especially after the way Vox and Fulger’s faces had both drained of color after Ike finished threatening them both.
The only partially normal interaction he had this week was when he went to the arcade with Shu and Luca the night before. But between Shu’s relaxed nature and Luca’s chaotic one, Shoto wasn’t even sure if he could count their time out as a normal occurrence. Especially since Shoto and Shu had both gone home with an insane amount of stuffed animals that Luca had somehow won them both. Shoto hadn’t seen Luca play on even one claw machine, so he isn’t sure where all the plushies came from.
He was slightly worried that he was considering Luca suddenly mannifesting all of the stuffed animals as a normal occurrence.
Maybe he needed to hang out with more people.
Shoto truly loved his friends, but he was starting to believe they were cursed. Especially since he was still running around the school with Uki.
Struggling to breath as Uki dragged him by his hand, they had been running for nearly twenty minutes now and they were both out of breath , Shoto tried once again to get the other man’s attention.
“Uki where are we-”
“HERE!”
Flinching at the abrupt noise Uki made, Shoto glanced at the objects in front of Uki. Recognizing some of the school’s old lockers located in a remote corner of the third floor, Shoto made a noise of confusion through his labored pants.
“Here?” Shoto asked in hesitation. “Uki, these are just a bunch of old lockers.”
Redirecting his gaze to Uki, Shoto blinked at him in uncertainty. Hearing noise from behind them, Shoto turned his head towards the sound of oncoming footsteps. It looks like Uki’s fanclub was about to find them.
Shit.
“Quickly!” Uki whispered harshly, “we can hide in here!”
Watching in horror as Uki opened one of the lockers and started climbing inside of it, Shoto braced himself for whatever trainwreck was about to occur.
“But that’s not big enough for-”
Glancing at the small space in worry, Shoto let out a squeal when he was viscously pulled into the locker by the shorter man. Squeezing into the space in front of Uki, Shoto tried not to panic when the other man started manhandling him into place. Watching in silence as Uki slammed the locker door shut, Shoto tried not to panic at their current situation.
Shoto hated small enclosed spaces. He wasn’t claustrophobic by any means, but he preferred to stay in areas where he could stretch out his limbs. Small spaces always made him anxious, and between his anxiety and running for so long, Shoto suddenly found it 10x times harder to breathe.
Struggling to catch his breath, Shoto lowered his arms to grab part of Uki’s sweater in front of him. Grasping the excess material hanging towards the bottom of his shirt, Uki always preferred oversized clothing and refused to tuck in his clothes , Shoto forced his shaking hands to stay still.
“Uki,” Shoto exclaimed in panic, “I don't know if I can do this. It's too small here, th-there’s not enough room.”
Feeling Uki shift under him, Shoto whimpered slightly at the movement.
“Shit,” Uki admitted, “I forgot about-”
“They went this way right?”
Freezing at the noise, Shoto forced himself to focus on his breathing in an effort to create less noise. Grabbing Uki’s sweater tighter in his hands, Shoto let out a sharp gasp when he felt one of Uki’s hands gently cup the back of his neck. Allowing the other man to quietly rearrange them in the small space, Shoto let out the breath he was holding when Uki delicalty lowered his head onto his shoulder.
“I know, I know…” Uki muttered in apology, “I’m sorry Shou, it won’t be for long. I promise.”
Leaning into Uki’s shoulder, Shoto forced himself to take in steady breaths. Recognizing the scent of marigolds coming off of the other man, Shoto forced himself to focus on that instead of the labored breaths he was trying to hide. Feeling Uki’s hand slowly run through his hair, Shoto felt the build up tension slowly leave his body.
Relaxing his grip on the other man, Shoto released his death grip on Uki’s sweater in exchange for simply holding it casually. Feeling Uki’s other hand begin running circles around his waist, Shoto closed his eyes and tried not to react to the noises outside of the locker.
“I don’t think they’re here guys…”
“Okay, but where else could they have gone?”
“This hallway leads into the school annex right? Maybe they went over there?”
“But there’s nothing in the annex…”
Hearing a loud noise, Shoto flinched when he realized someone was now leaning against the locker they were hiding in. Pressing himself into Uki further, Shoto froze when he realized just how close the two of them were.
Standing together in the locker with Shoto slightly looming over Uki, there was barely any space between the two of them. Their legs were intertwined with each other, and Shoto was almost chest to chest with Uki. Recognizing how close they were to each other, Shoto felt an oncoming gay panic about to hit him in full force.
How the hell did he not realize how close they were?
Fuck why did he have to be this close to his crush.
Feeling his heartbeat increase dramatically, Shoto closed his eyes and silently prayed that Uki wouldn’t realize his feelings for him. He also hoped Uki couldn’t hear his frantic heartbreak over the people talking outside, but with how close the two of them were he could probably feel Shoto’s heartbeat from their close proximity.
For fucks sake that’s not a reassuring thought.
Moving slightly in an attempt to put space between them, Shoto gasped when he felt Uki’s hands grip him harshly. Wincing at the pressure on his scalp and hip, Shoto stopped moving once again.
“Bitch, stop moving,” Uki murmured aggressively, “you’re gonna get us caught.”
“Do you think we missed them on a different turn? They could be at the lockers in front of the school.”
“Maybe…”
“It won’t hurt to check right? Let’s just go, there isn’t anything here.”
“I can’t believe we lost them though-”
Listening intently as the footsteps slowly fluttered away until no sound could be heard, Shoto let out a sigh of relief. The sooner Uki’s crazed fans left the sooner they could get out of this damn locker. Shoto didn’t know how much more his heart could take. Feeling Uki’s hand on his hip squeeze him softly, Shoto lifted his head so he could look at Uki.
“They’re gone now,” Uki stated gently, “I can’t see them in front of us anymore. Let’s wait a few minutes before we leave just in case.”
Groaning in acceptance, Shoto smashed his face back into Uki’s shoulder so he wouldn’t have to maintain eye contact with the other man.
“Okay,” his muffled voice replied.
Standing in silence, Shoto started playing with the ends of Uki’s sweater as he waited for the other man to decide when it would be safe to exit the locker. His heart rate had calmed down significantly, Uki pulling his hair shocked him so much that his body ended up going through a hard reset. As long as he doesn't look Uki in the face, then he shouldn’t get embarrassed again and he can avoid making a fool of himself.
Hopefully.
With his luck he’ll probably end up confessing in this damn locker.
Seriously, who chooses to hide in a locker? It’s cliche as shit.
“Hey Shou?” Uki softly whispered to him.
“Hmmm?”
“Do you like me?”
Humming in agreement, Shoto froze before pushing himself away from Uki when his mind processed the other man’s sentence.
“W-what?”
Standing in front of the other boy, Shoto blinked at Uki in bewilderment. Realizing how close his face was to Uki’s in the new position, Shoto felt his face burn in embarrassment. Averting his eyes, Shoto glanced towards the corner of the locker to avoid looking at Uki.
“I asked,” Uki repeated firmly, “If you like me.”
Feeling two hands gently cup his face, Shoto felt his face heat up even more when Uki gently moved his head to force him to make eye contact with him.
“Though I’m guessing the answer is yes based on how red your face is.”
Staring into two different colored eyes, Shoto whimpered in mortification.
“I- I mean I- well the thing is-” Shoto stuttered out, “its not that I- what I mean is I actually-”
Taking in a sharp breath, Shoto closed his eyes when he noticed Uki’s raised eyebrow. Gripping Uki’s sweater once again, Shoto groaned in uncertainty.
Fuck it.
“Iactuallyhaveacrushonyou,” Shoto quickly blurted out. Releasing Uki’s sweater, Shoto quickly raised his hands towards Uki’s to try to remove them. He may have admitted he has a crush on Uki, but that didn’t mean he wanted the other man to see his face.
Struggling to remove Uki’s hands from his face, Shoto gasped when he felt Uki raise one of his knee’s to tap Shoto’s thigh. Eyes snapping open, Shoto looked at Uki in a mixture of skepticism and embarrassment.
“That works out perfectly,” Uki admitted softly, “because I like you too.”
Blinking in surprise, Shoto didn’t have time to fully process the other man’s words before Uki was pulling him into a kiss. Gasping in surprise, Shoto quickly returned the kiss Uki was giving him. Feeling Uki finally let go of him, Shoto blinked down at the other.
“You’re so pretty,” Uki softly teased. “One kiss and you look like you’re ready to get eaten.”
Choking on air, Shoto quickly reached down to pinch Uki’s side.
“Sh-Shut up!” Shoto stuttered in reply.
Ignoring the way his face burned hotter at the giggle he received, Shoto sighed in relief when Uki finally reached over and opened the door to the locker. Letting Uki step out first, Shoto glanced down at the hand Uki offered him.
“Come on babe,” Uki said softly, “let's go grab out things and go home, okay.”
Taking the hand offered towards him, Shoto smiled softly to himself. “Okay…”
Allowing Uki to pull him out of the locker, Shoto closed the damn thing behind them as they started walking back towards their classroom to collect their bags. Listening to the song Uki was humming softly, Shoto glanced down towards their intertwined hands before smiling to himself. Squeezing Uki’s hand gently, Shoto considered everything that had happened.
Maybe agreeing to go home with Uki wasn’t a bad idea.
Wait a minute.
“Wait,” Shoto asked, stopping abruptly, “don’t we live in opposite directions?”
“We do,” Uki agreed, “but we're going to my house so it's okay.”
Tilting his head in confusion, Shoto looked at Uki’s mismatched eyes. “We are?”
“Of course we are,” Uki replied gently. Allowing Uki to pull him along once again, Shoto let out a small noise of doubt. He couldn’t remember if he agreed to go to Uki’s house earlier, or if they had agreed to just walk home together.
Damn his memory.
Hearing a chuckle from in front of him, Shoto blushed when he noticed Uki was staring at him.
“After all,” Uki said, pulling Shoto down so he could whisper in his ear, “who would be satisfied after just one kiss?”
—
Bonus: Uki POV
“I have a fan club?”
Glancing towards his now boyfriend in amusement, Uki smiled at the confused expression on the other man’s face. After arriving at Uki’s house awhile ago, Uki had promptly dragged Shoto into his room before throwing the other boy on his bed and kissing him like their lives depended on it. After a solid hour of kissing Shoto into oblivion, Uki had giggled at the state the other was in.
All Uki did was kiss him and leave a few love bites on his neck, but Shoto honestly looked like he had been ravaged by someone. He would’ve taken a picture of how lovely Shoto looked in the moment but he didn’t want to make the other man uncomfortable. He couldn’t wait till they were closer and had a more established relationship. He wanted to see all of the expressions Shoto could make.
Especially the ones that only he would be seeing.
His boyfriend always looked so lovely when he was embarrassed.
After getting up to allow Shoto some space to catch his breath, Uki went downstairs to grab them some drinks and something to snack on. They were currently sitting on the floor in Uki’s room drinking tea and eating said snacks while working on their homework. Well, Uki was working on his homework. Shoto always completed all of his work for the week on Monday, so he was currently flipping through twitter on his phone since today was friday.
And something he saw on twitter somehow led to his current statement.
“Of course you do babe,” Uki replied in amusement. “Why wouldn’t you have one?”
Watching as Shoto blushed at his comment and turned his head like a confused puppy, god Uki loved animals , Uki laughed at the other boy’s puzzled expression.
Similar to Uki, Shoto was also popular, even if the other boy didn’t realize it. While Uki was well known throughout their school for his psychic powers - he wasn’t actually a psychic but what people don’t know doesn't hurt - Shoto was known for being an incredible player on the volleyball team. Despite being a first year student, Shoto was already a permanent player in the team’s starting lineup and had just as much playing time as the permanent seniors.
Between Shoto’s phenomenal winning streak in volleyball, his sweet and kind personality, and his adorable looks, Shoto was one of the most sought out first years in the school. His popularity rivaled those in both the third-year group ‘Luxiem,’ and the first-year group ‘Noctyx.’ This led to a fanclub being established for the boy, similar to the one Uki himself has.
A fanclub that Uki found to be an annoyance rather quickly.
An annoyance that he swiftly and silently took care of.
Not that there was any proof that he did.
“But I’ve never seen anything about it!” Shoto explained. “Or met any of the members! There’s no way it's real.”
Making eye contact with Shoto, Uki smiled at the other boy.
“I promise you that your fan club is real,” Uki replied. “You just aren’t bothered by any of the members because I took care of all of them before they could get to you.”
Watching as Shoto’s expression shifted from disbelief to bewilerment, Uki stood up and walked towards the other boy.
“Took care of them? What does that even me-”
Grabbing Shoto’s face in his hands, Uki quickly pulled the boy into a slow kiss. Relishing the small sounds coming from Shoto, Uki climbed on the other boy's lap before releasing him from the kiss. Giggling at the embarrassed look on the other’s face, Uki rested his forehead against Shoto’s.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” Uki whispered softly. “Just know they won’t be a problem now, or in the future.”
Uki wouldn’t let anyone take Shoto away from him. Especially now that he can finally call Shoto his .
Smiling softly to himself, Uki giggled and hugged the boy he was sitting on.
Till death do them part.