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“If you keep this up, the second years will be your classmate next year.”
Aki’s words ring out in Shinjiro’s mind as he stares at the whiteboard, unsure what to make of whatever mathematical gibberish he’s looking at. Skipping an entire school year does wonders for one’s education.
In actuality, Shinjiro Aragaki’s current school life wasn’t that bad. He’d wake up, possibly miss the train from oversleeping, try his hardest to pay attention in class, give up, and go back to the dorms. He knows that after the battle with Nyx, he reiterated his promise with Mitsuru and Aki to graduate from school, but it seems as though that’s easier said than done.
Especially since he had underestimated how much of a dumbass he’d become. Two weeks into the school year and he’s already flunked his first test. Physics, of course. Shinjiro looked around at his classmates, wondering about their own grades.
Junpei Iori hung his head low, almost as if he was expecting this grade. Yukari Takeba was flipping through the pages, a puzzled expression written on her face. Minato Arisato looked like he didn’t care, but Shinjiro swore he saw him crack a smile…
He stared back at the blood-red marking on his paper, realising that he needed to pull himself together. Also easier said than done.
Shinjiro returned home, sat silently in his room, thinking of what to do. He couldn’t study on his own, because he tried and failed. Neither could he ask a teacher for help, as that’s plain embarrassing. Nor a tutor, because then he’d have to pay them, which is not possible. His only other option were his roommates. The most reliable, in his eyes, was Minato.
Stepping out of his room, he slowly shuffled through the dimly-lit hallway to his friend’s room. His shaking hand knocked on the door, and a familiar face answered the door. “Hey, Shinjiro. Do you need something?”
Shinjiro stared back like a wet poodle at Minato, noticing that his blue hair had grown to his shoulders. “I need your help.”, he mustered. “Studying. I failed the Physics test.”
“Ah, shit. I’m sorry”, Minato responded, tilting his head into a sympathetic frown. “Alright, I’ll help you. Let me get my things and we can start reviewing the material together. Come on in.”
The two boys did just that. Shinjiro was right, Minato did do well on the test. He was also surprisingly smart, breaking down complicated problems like they were nothing. Explaining each and every step, just for Shinjiro. Answering all his questions, calm and patient. However, he wasn’t exactly organised, as it took him around fifteen minutes to search for his notebook (it was under his bed the entire time).
“You know, you should study with the rest of the dorm too. It’ll really help”. Minato suggested, right before he finished putting away his notebook where it actually belonged.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I can’t be bothered with that”. What Shinjiro really meant was that he couldn't be bothered with taking up anyone else’s time with his own faults. He had only gathered up the courage to ask Minato after realising how disappointed Mitsuru and Aki would be if their hard work to allow him to repeat the year went to waste.
“Whatever. You did really well today, I’m proud of you. Let me know if you need anything else”.
Shinjiro then went to bed, thinking about a simple study session for much longer than he should.
The next morning, during his first-period Physics class, Shinjiro Aragaki had achieved the impossible: a genuine understanding of what was being taught to him. There was only one thing distracting him, though: his wandering mind. Wandering to thoughts such as Minato’s calm voice, replaying in his head like a record player, soft and mellow. He sounded like comfort, the type of comfort that was the holy blessing of cool air on a warm day. Shinjiro even found himself wishing that his teacher was Minato, instead.
What was he thinking? He doesn’t have any deeper feelings. No, not at all. He’s simply thinking (or perhaps, obsessing?) over last night because he needs to review the material. Yes, he is attempting to graduate, not attempting to entertain some ridiculous thoughts about a close friend’s voice. He’s heard it before, so why was it so special yesterday?
“I’m proud of you.”
Shinjiro Aragaki had also achieved another form of understanding: he liked the praise. Such a simple phrase kept following his mind after every other thought. Pushing down this, well, realisation, did nothing for him, as it would simply float up again like a plastic bottle in the ocean. There was no use—his heart was in full swing.
Throughout the next few weeks, he clinged on to slivers of motivation in the form of Minato’s voice, late at night explaining to him classwork and theorems. It wasn’t just his voice, either. Frustratingly enough, he realised that all of Minato intrigued him. The way his thin fingers flipped the pages of his textbook. The way his shittily-dyed sapphire hair would get in his face, and he wouldn’t tuck it behind his ear because he was “too lazy” to do so. He thought that was adorable, for fuck’s sake. The way his eyes would almost smile with stardust whenever Shinjiro solved a problem correctly. And then, the way his muffled voice would articulate the words “Good job” to him, unknowing that it would soothe him as he drifted to sleep that night (against his own will).
One such night, as Shinjiro was attempting to sleep, he heard a knock on the door. Lazily, he opened it, and saw the sleepy face of Minato yawning back at him.
“I haven’t seen you out of your room for a while.” Shinjiro chuckled. He knew why: Minato was attempting to apply to some universities abroad, which required him to start studying for entrance exams earlier than the typical third-year.
“Shut it. Can I stay here for a while? I’m getting tired of revising in my room.”
God, how could Shinjiro ever refuse? He let Minato in, allowing him to make himself comfortable on the floor, sprawling his books around. Shinjiro also sat with him, criss-cross style, even though he had nothing to study for. After just a few minutes of ‘studying’, Minato began to droop his head down, his face looking especially sickly. He must have been studying for a while, evident by his now-melancholy eyes.
“You look tired.” Shinjiro said, breaking the silence.
“I am tired, thank you. I can’t stop, though. I swear, I have one more chapter left. One more chapter…”, Minato mumbled to himself, attempting to sit himself upright again. He wobbled, and ended up falling over, with his head landing perfectly on Shinjiro’s lap. He did not get up, and instead curled up right beside Shinjiro, possibly going to sleep.
Alarms started blaring in Shinjiro’s head. Here was the boy he’d been admiring for the past two months, sprawled over his lap taking a nap. He dared not to make a singular sound, or even breathe too heavily in fear of waking up such an adorable, majestic creature. Of course, the normal, heterosexual thing to do was to wake him up, but he was not normal nor heterosexual. He sat there, admiring him, fighting the urge to pet him as if he were a cat.
“You know, Shinjiro,” Minato spoke, under his breath.
“Yeah?”
“I like you.”
The alarms in Shinjiro’s head had broken, and his entire vision of Minato had been flipped upside down. He had been left there, unable to move, attempting to process that another person had feelings for him. A person he also, perhaps, had feelings for. Unfathomable. Minato looked up at him, a frown forming as he waited for a response.
Instead, Shinjiro picked him up, quite swiftly, and plopped him on his bed, following suit.
“So, you do like me?” Minato asked.
Shinjiro started to stammer. “It was because we started studying together. You know, looking at you working and stuff”, Shinjiro realised how absurd he was sounding, and how rude it was of him just to have thrown on his bed like a ragdoll. “You should go.”
Minato pulled Shinjiro closer, nuzzling himself on his chest. Shinjiro wanted to fight back, but, to hell with it—he clearly enjoyed it. So they laid there, sleeping together, embracing each other, under a blanket of moonlight.