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Byakuya had to wonder how he got himself into this situation.
One look at the boy shyly attempting to flirt with the idol he had been crushing on for months as they skate together immediately reminded him. Right, Makoto was to blame.
“Hey, Byakuya, are you free this Saturday?”
He looked up from his book, fixing his glare on the Ultimate Lucky Student. “What do you want?”
Makoto couldn’t meet his eyes as he nervously picked at the sleeves of his jacket. “I, um, asked Sayaka to hang out with me.”
His glare narrowed.
“I-I need someone to come with me. Y’know… as back-up….”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “And why would you need back-up?”
“I don’t want to mess this up!” Makoto was clearly desperate. “Please?”
“Why me? You have other…” he struggled to even say the next word, “friends.”
Makoto didn’t even properly answer him. He just looked at him pleadingly.
Yes, it was Makoto’s fault he was in this current predicament.
“Damn, they’re hopeless.” Beside him, Leon Kuwata leaned against the barrier around the skating rink.
Now that- that he could blame on Sayaka. Because despite the idol being one of the most confident and driven people in their class, she too had decided to bring a wing-man to this excursion. And that wing-man just so happened to be their brash and lazy classmate.
Honestly, why did she decide to bring him anyway? She had to have better options.
Then again, he could say the same about Makoto.
“What do you think?” He was pulled out of his thoughts once again by the baseball star.
“Think about what?” He replied, not even sparing the other a glance.
“You think they’re actually gonna get together?”
He scoffed. “I don’t care either way.”
He could feel the other’s eyes on him. “Then why are you here?”
“I’m asking that myself.”
He heard Leon laugh- a small, genuine laugh that sent heat unwillingly to his face.
Ah, yes, that. He had almost forgotten about that.
Leon was the type of person he hated. He was the type of person to kick back and expect life to just hand him everything he wants. He has never worked for anything, and tries too hard to be perceived as something he’s not. Leon encapsulated everything he was against.
And yet there was something about the other boy that intrigued him. Luckily, it was quite easy to ignore it- especially considering they never interact.
Well, until now.
“I think Makoto’s trying too hard.” Leon said, completely unaware of his conundrum. “I mean, she’s pretty obviously into him.”
That was ironic. He side eyed the other. “You were the same when you were trying to court her.”
“Court?” Leon snorted. “You sound like an old man.”
He noted the embarrassed blush spreading across the other’s face. Leon didn’t like it when others mentioned how he used to fawn over his now claimed “best friend.” Of course, he didn’t care much for what people liked or didn’t like.
“Why, because I don’t speak crassly?”
“Nobody says fucking court anymore, dude.” Leon rested his elbow on the barrier, laying his head against his head as he now gave him his full attention.
“Then what would you call your incessant courting of her at the beginning of our first year?”
The blush had taken over Leon’s entire face at this point. “Come on, man. We don’t need to talk about that.”
“If you’re going to pry at my wording, then you have to give me a better example to prove it.” He was getting some sort of flutter in his chest as he teased the other; he really didn’t need to think about that any further.
“Tch.” Leon looked away. “Fucking embarrassing is what it was. I don’t even like girls.”
He rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to the reason he was there in the first place. Makoto and Sayaka were laughing together- why did they even need him and Leon to come along?
“What about you and Makoto?”
He felt his entire being freeze. “What are you implying?”
“Dude, it’s kinda obvious you’re into him.” Leon tilted his head. “Isn’t that why you let him drag you here?”
He pursed his lips together as repressed thoughts suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. He had kept those pesky thoughts away; he never thought anyone would ever notice. He didn’t even think Leon could be that perceptive.
It was true that he had a hard time saying no to him. And that his curiously bright optimism was… admittedly inspiring. And he was… kind of cute.
He felt his face grow hot as he shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts he had been doing so well in avoiding.
And Leon knew of those thoughts. He knew those things he had locked away in his own mind.
“Hey, man.” Leon’s voice was surprisingly soft. “You don’t have to look so worried. I’m not gonna tell anyone.”
He scoffed, watching Makoto and Sayaka hold hands as they skated together. There was a twinge of jealousy that he thought he had squashed.
“You know,” Leon spoke up once again, “we’re kinda the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re both wing-men for our crushes. Well, ex-crush in my case.” Leon chuckled. “Kinda insane, yeah?”
“Don’t compare us to each other.” He huffed. “We’re nothing alike.”
He felt Leon’s eyes on him once again. “Right. For a second I forgot who I’m talking to.”
He narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the other. “Are you trying to insult me?”
“Not anymore than usual.” Leon laughed. “You just always think everyone is below you. Forgot I wasn’t actually talking to an actual person; I’m talking to Byakuya Togami.”
He rolled his eyes. “You really do think you’re funny, don’t you.”
“Yeah, duh.” Leon stuck out a pierced tongue teasingly. He then looked back at the skaters going around the rink.
For a while, it was just loud music and the sound of friends and couples laughing and skating. Byakuya was fine with the conversation having ended there, but Leon had spoken up yet again.
“You wanna skate?”
“Excuse me?”
“We came all the way here just to watch our current and ex crush respectively fawn over each other. We deserve to have a little fun, yeah?” Leon grinned as he held out his hand.
That smile had no right to be that charming. His teeth were cracked and some were even missing, and yet his smile only added to his renowned charisma.
He… didn’t know how to skate. He was relieved when nobody questioned why he didn’t want skates when they entered.
But there Leon was, hand outstretched and confidently smiling, expecting him to go along. He glanced at Makoto and Sayaka. They were facing each other. Makoto said something, and Sayaka laughed. Then, they leaned closer towards each other. Their lips met, and he felt that familiar jealous twinge in his chest.
It couldn’t be that hard, right?
“Fine.”
He didn’t fully understand why Leon seemed so happy to drag him along to get skates, but getting to hold his hand was oddly nice.
Leon was already skating around him as he finished tying his. The baseball star wasn’t even looking where he was going, but he was able to maneuver around the tables and seats expertly.
“Is this another thing you just so happened to be a ‘natural’ at?” He questioned, recalling exactly how Leon always phrased his talent. No matter how charming the other was, his lackadaisical nature always made sure to remind him of Leon’s faults.
“Huh?” Leon looked confused as he stopped in front of him. “Nah, it took me a while to get used to even wearing these things. But practice makes perfect, y’know?”
That was curious. “I thought you hated practice?”
Leon snorted. “Yeah, baseball practice. Why practice when you’re already good?”
He stared at the other with a confused glare. Leon always seemed too lazy for his own good, and he had assumed that was just how the other was. After all, he didn’t seem particularly interested in school, and he always spoke about music like he didn’t need to work as well.
“Dude, can you stop staring at me and get up. This date isn’t going to last forever.”
Briefly- but only briefly- he had felt himself flush at Leon’s wording.
“Don’t phrase it as if it’s our date.”
There was that dumb, charming smile again. “Why can’t it be our date, huh? Those two can’t be the only ones having a good time.”
Once again, he found himself taking the other’s hand and being dragged along. It was a tad bit easier to pretend that his stumbling was because of the other’s excitable nature and not because he was failing to figure out how those blasted skates worked.
Finally, they were on the rink, and Leon had let go of his hand.
Silently, he watched as Leon skated away from him. He glanced at his feet, pretending as though he was still fine. He wasn’t going to stumble and make a fool of himself. Especially not in front of Makoto. Especially not in front of Leon .
“Hey,” Leon was suddenly in front of him, “it’s not fun to just stand in the way of everyone.”
He huffed, ignoring the heat rising to his cheeks. Leon arched a brow playfully, a grin slowly creeping onto his features.
“You gonna skate, ‘Kuya?” His tone was teasing- as if he had figured something out.
“Of course I am.” He crossed his arms. “And don’t call me that.”
Leon laughed. “Then come on!”
He watched as Leon once again skated, trying his best to pay attention to the other’s movements.
It couldn’t be that hard.
Taking a deep breath, he started forward.
Only to stumble almost immediately. He didn’t exactly fall though, as he found himself steadied by Leon.
Leon held his bicep in a firm grip. So firm that he was sure it was going to leave a bruise.
“Shit, sorry.” He must’ve winced because Leon had let go of his arm, backing away. “Didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I’m fine.” He felt heat creep up his neck out of embarrassment, though he tried his best not to show it. He wasn’t weak; he could take a grip like that.
Wanting to keep his pride intact, he started to move once again. This time however, he was moving to leave. Why did he even let Leon drag him into this anyway?
“Whoa, hey!” Leon had grabbed him once again when he stumbled. His grip was lighter now. It was strangely thoughtful of him.
But now was not the time for him to be hung up on that. “Let go of me.”
“And let you fall?” Leon shook his head. “Dude, you’re more stubborn than I thought.”
This was demeaning. He didn’t need help.
Leon sighed. “Well, lucky for you, I’m a stubborn asshole too.”
Their arms linked together, and Leon looked quite proud of himself. He, however, was trying as hard as he could to keep his face from looking as red as the other’s hair.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m going to help you skate.” Leon replied with a grin as he started to lead them closer to the edge of the rink.
His eyes narrowed. “Why do you look so happy with yourself?”
“Teaching your date something like skating is, like, super romantic, right?”
His entire body felt hot, and he swore his legs were becoming less and less stable by the minute. Why did he have to say that?
“Why do you keep insisting this is a date?”
“I dunno,” Leon shrugged nonchalantly as he spoke, “maybe I just wanna date you.”
How could he say those things so confidently- so casually? They barely spoke and when they did, it was to argue. They were so different; there was no possible way that Leon wanted that. To say such a thing is… it’s-
“Dude, you don’t have to think so hard about it.” Leon stopped them right at the edge of the rink, face notably red. “C’mon, I’ll show you the basics. Grab onto the railing there.”
As if he never said anything at all, Leon started to teach him how to skate properly. Leon certainly wasn’t renowned for having any skills that would make for a good teacher. He was probably the least patient person in their class, and he got frustrated and angry easily. But with this,with him , Leon took his time. He never got frustrated. Sometimes he’d laugh at him when he fell, but he always helped him back up and started again. This wasn’t to say that he was good at showing him how skating works, but it was strangely nice to have someone be so patient and willing to help. He didn’t even notice the other people skating around the rink after a while, and mistakes started to feel less embarrassing.
“Not so bad, huh?” Leon spoke up as they were changing back into their regular shoes.
Trying to keep his voice level, he replied, “No, I don’t think you are.”
He didn’t even have to look to know that the other immediately became flustered. “I didn’t- I meant- what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I’m leaving.”
“Huh? What about Makoto and Sayaka?”
“They seem fine. Besides, after all of that work, I’m famished, and I’d rather die than eat anything this place is serving.” He stood, trying not to look at Leon as he spoke next, “If you wish to tag along, I’m not going to stop you.”
He finally glanced at Leon, seeing the other wide eyed and red faced. Then, he stood and excitedly held his hand. “Let’s go!”
And despite all of his subconscious concerns of the public seeing him like this, he ended up laughing with Leon as they walked out, fingers laced together.