Chapter Text
“So guys, what are you lookin’ forward to the most??” Leon’s voice was loud enough to pierce through the silence of the library, earning him some irritated glances from other classmates. The people in his group project were used to Leon’s abrasiveness, though, and they had stopped focusing on their work a while ago anyway. Kaito had even taken out his lunch.
“Huh?” His response was muffled by the bread in his mouth.
Leon rolled his eyes. “That summer beach trip, obviously! Seriously, bro, were you even listening??”
Kaito shrugged and continued eating his sandwich. Sure, he was pretty excited about the summer beach trip. It was a way to celebrate high school graduation, and apparently, it was all virtual, which made things an extra level of cool. He planned on hanging out with friends, chatting with Shuichi and Maki Roll, and maybe even playing some games on the beach…
All in all, he was looking forward to it. But the astronaut had the suspicion that innocent fun with friends wasn’t what had gotten Leon so hyped up.
Leon huffed, then looked for support from the others at their table. “C’mon! Who’s got somethin’ spicy planned?”
‘Spicy’…?? Seemed like Kaito wasn’t the only confused one, as Gonta scratched at his head. “What you mean ‘spicy’? You mean spicy food?”
Leon’s jaw dropped, on his last rope. “Ugh. No. Are you dudes even dudes?? I mean –wh--” He floundered for a second choked up with exasperation, “Ain’t it obvious?! I’m talkin’ about hot chicks.” Gonta choked, but Leon continued, more heated up than usual. “I’m talkin’ bikinis and sunbathing and all that good shit you usually gotta pay to see! God you guys are lame…”
Kaito felt his eyebrows furrow. Something about what Leon was saying was rubbing him the wrong way.
“Girls in bikinis are fine and all, but it’s not what everyone is looking forward to the most!” The astronaut crossed his arms and gave a self-righteous grin. “Some people just want to have fun, you know?”
“Heyyy, don’t get all uptight with me! Just sayin’ what we’re all thinking.”
Gonta frowned. “Gonta not thinking that! Gonta thinking about what bug friends will be at beach.”
“Heck yeah, Gonta, I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.” Kaito patted him on the back. At least someone had their priorities straight. Leon groaned.
“Guys, you can’t be serious. I mean, yeah, bugs and friends are cool and all, but you gotta admit, there ain’t much that can beat hot girls.” Suddenly, his eyes brightened, and Kaito felt himself tense at whatever idea had popped into Leon’s head. “Yo, Kaito, is that scary chick from your class goin’? The one with the twin tails?”
“You mean Maki Roll?”
“That’s the one. You’re friends, right?”
Kaito grinned, finally in his lane. “More than that! She’s my sidekick! Maki Roll, Shuichi and I train together every night and it’s really—”
“Uhuh, uhuh. Is she gonna wear a bikini?”
Silence. Kaito blinked. “Uhh…I guess?? Why?”
Leon closed an eye and stuck out his bottom lip in thought. “Well, haven’t you ever wondered what she’d look like in one? You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it! All guys have thought about girls like that, especially if they’re friends.”
Gonta chose this moment to intervene while Kaito stared, unresponsive. “Gonta think boys and girls can be friends without thinking about bikinis! Gonta friends with everyone and never think about that!”
“Yeah, well, you’re kinda a special case, my guy.” Leon rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to the astronaut. “Well? Are you a man or not?”
Kaito should have an answer by now. ‘There are more important things to think about’ would be a good one. Maybe even something like, ‘You gotta get your head straight. Not everything is about sexy girls!’ He could think of any number of responses. But he couldn’t say any of them.
Why was his head spinning all of a sudden? As soon as Leon mentioned Maki in a bikini, and him being a ‘man’, something strangely warm and heavy dropped in Kaito’s stomach. He couldn’t say that he hadn't…thought about her (he was a man with needs like anyone else). But looking back, he had always refused to let thoughts like those linger on Maki for too long.
As for other girls…yeah, why not? It’s not like he was obsessed with sex or anything, but thinking about girls like Kaede or Tsumugi from time to time wasn’t unheard of.
But Maki? His Maki Roll? Something about thinking about her that way felt…sacrilegious, almost. Forbidden. But with Leon’s repeated questions and jabs at his masculinity, Kaito suddenly found himself thinking about her in a less platonic light than usual.
Was Maki Roll pretty? Of course. Kaito would never disagree with that. Anyone could see the softness of her dark brown hair or the striking beauty of her crimson eyes. He surprised himself with how easy it was to list Maki’s physical attributes. Her skin was as pale as Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. And yet she herself wasn’t that big – her doll-like figure let her move with a swiftness and grace Kaito could only compare to shooting stars.
Flashes of memory went by, unbidden – Maki running in gym class, her legs pounding the ground with light yet diligent strides; Maki smirking as she flipped one of her twin tails over her shoulder; Maki stretching, her arms taut above her head, her red sailor shirt inching upwards revealing a sliver of skin--
Stop! Stop! Enough!! It was too much. A wave of guilt washed away his traitorous thoughts, leaving Kaito trembling and shocked at just how quickly he was able to sexualise his best friend.
God. He was such an asshole. Within the span of a few seconds after Leon’s question, Kaito slumped into his chair, his lunch forgotten.
“Woah, dude, what’s up?” Leon poked Kaito’s cheek. “You good there?”
That snapped Kaito back to reality. He couldn’t lose his cool, not in front of other people (especially guys like Leon). He quickly pulled himself together with a grin, giving the confused baseball player a thumbs up.
“All good! Now how about we get back to the assignment? Let’s save the guy talk for another time!”
Leon looked at him, eyes squinted. Kaito’s grin didn’t waver. So, Leon shrugged, then laid back as Kaito and Gonta got their books and laptops back out to keep studying.
Everything was back to normal.
It had to be.
...So why was the thought of Maki Roll’s eyes suddenly the only thing Kaito could think about?