Archive of Our Own ^beta

Izumi frowns, not bothering to hide his distaste at the girls obviously gossiping about him only a few tables away. They shield their whispers behind a magazine and cupped hands but he knows, as he usually does, because these girls are never as secretive as they like to think, and he's not as stupid as they accidentally imply.

He's not as discreet as he thinks he is either, apparently, since it only takes one laugh poorly disguised as a cough for him to know that Ritsu's noticed, too. It's only by chance that he ended up somewhere with Ritsu ("It'll be a bonding experience," Arashi had insisted), but he knows that this'll be the last time he takes any chances if his presence causes Izumi to get annoyed so easily.

He glares for a good minute, just trying to get the point across that, no, this isn't funny, and who is Kuma-kun to make fun of anything involving Izumi when he can hardly stay awake half the time anyway?

"What are you laughing about," Izumi deadpans, clearly not as amused at whatever joke Ritsu's entertained by. "No, seriously, I'm curious. What's so funny, Kuma-kun?"

"You," Ritsu says, causing Izumi to wonder why he even expected anything else.

Ritsu Sakuma has never been the type to consider how other people feel—no, that's not true. He's the type to consider how they feel, only to do the opposite of what he knows they would want just for the sake of irritating them. He's the kind of person Izumi hates the most, at least for today, because there's so many people he dislikes and not enough time to give a permanent title to the worst.

"Oh, really. Really, I'm funny?"

"Yeah—no. No, not you, just... that." And Ritsu doesn't even acknowledge what he's talking about, but Izumi knows. He knows he's talking about the giggling girls, taking turns trying to convince one another to approach their table first before ultimately deciding on doing it together (after all, teamwork is key). "I wonder if they know anything about your personality, Secchan. Maybe you should speak to them first so they change their minds."

"My personality.. There's nothing wrong with my personality!" Izumi's a practiced specialist at keeping a tone that's safe for public while completely conveying his irritation all the same. "Kuma-kun, as if you could entertain anyone, let alone a date, better than I could. You'd bore them before they even asked for your name, so—hah —you can't comment on me!"

"Okay," is all Ritsu says in response to the insult, and for some reason that bothers Izumi more than if he had fought back. “Not like it matters.”

“What do you mean, ‘not like it matters’? Of course it does! You’re the one who brought the insult up in the first place, so..” Izumi scowls, knowing inside that he should let this go, but Ritsu’s smug face and annoying voice make it hard for him to listen to reason.

“So,” Ritsu prompts, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he waits patiently (irritatingly) for Izumi to finish.

“So… never mind! Just—never mind. I’m glad we can agree that you would suck as a date. That’s all.” Of course that’s not really all it is, though. Izumi can’t understand why he gets so especially annoyed at Ritsu and his calm way of dealing with things, but he does. Part of him just wishes he could make Kuma-kun feel the same irritance he suffers from, if only once.

“I didn’t say that.” Izumi bites back his instant urge to argue that yes, he so totally did! “I just said that it doesn’t matter what you think of me as a date. Secchan isn’t really the only person from Knights that attracts attention, you know, even though you might think so. I mean—it’s not that hard to compete. Some of us can actually talk to people without yelling at them.”

“I—” He stops short. Izumi can totally talk to people without snapping! Ritsu just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he voices. “Look, even if you attract attention, all I’m saying is that you’d be the worst boyfriend, date, whatever, in the history of relationships. At least I know how to attract attention and keep them satisfied.”

“Really? You think so? ” Ritsu’s kind not to bring up Makoto; it’s all too obvious that Izumi isn’t actually as good as he thinks at keeping anyone satisfied. "Hmm.. Let's see about that. I’m always up for a good challenge, or at least a chance to show someone up. I'll prove to you that I can be a better date than you are. All you have to do is date me for a month—no big deal, right? Since you’re so tolerant.."

"What? No." Izumi's eyes narrow, perfectly laid out disgust lining his features. "As if I'd even give you the chance—if I wanted to gag myself to death, I'd just hang around when Naru-kun's spraying her perfume. It's too strong."

Ritsu ignores Izumi's attempt at a topic change, instead leveling his gaze to look him in the eye. "Fine, Secchan. If you're so convinced you'll lose, I'll let it go. It's not a big deal. I mean, you might not want to risk your ego again after you lost to me once already."

Ugh! He's not wrong about that having stung his ego (seriously, did anyone even see the plate Ritsu made? It looked like death and somehow that biased producer still picked it), but he can't be talked into something that easily.

"What a joke. You're right, it's too bad we're not doing this. I'd love to crush your immature pride, but I also like saving myself the disgust, so—"

"It's a shame, though. I mean, imagine how jealous that... guy, the one from Trickstar, would be." Ritsu lets the concept hang in the air between them, and silence follows, only interrupted by the sound of nervous laughter approaching their table.

"First, you know his name, and you did that on purpose." Izumi grits his teeth, fingers curling into his palm to form fists pressed against the table. "Second, I don't need your help for that, but your attitude is annoying, so third," and he can't believe he's saying this, "fine. Let's do this, Kuma-kun."

The words leave his mouth just in time for the first girl to approach them, her two friends smiling sheepishly behind her. "Um, are you Izumi Sena? The model? My friends and I were wondering if you’d like to -"

Ritsu's chair makes a gritty noise against the pavement as he scoots it closer to Izumi's, slinging an arm around his shoulders obnoxiously. He can feel years of his life getting shaved off with Ritsu's next words; Izumi internally promises himself he’ll use extra moisturizer tonight.

"Ah, sorry.. Secchan's busy with me for a while, okay?"

It doesn’t feel like a competition for the first few days; in fact, it doesn’t even feel like they made the deal at all, with the way Ritsu doesn’t acknowledge him anymore than usual (not that he can—he sleeps so often that it’s a surprise he can acknowledge anyone who isn’t Yuu-kun’s teammate), and Izumi briefly wonders if it actually meant anything or if it’s just something that’s going to gradually fade away without any moves being made.

It bothers him, though, the fact that he’s unwillingly thinking so hard on this while Ritsu’s probably forgotten about it already. Izumi stretches his legs out in front of him, studying the ground between them with unintentional seriousness, and he doesn’t snap out of it until Arashi’s voice interrupts his thoughts, shortly followed by arms wrapping around his shoulders from behind.

“Izumi-chaaan, you’ve been so distracted the whole practice, even now that it’s over. A girl can’t help but to be curious, you know! You can tell your big sister about anything that’s bothering you, okay?” she reminds him, as if he hasn’t heard this talk a million times already, and he groans in response, shrugging out of her grasp.

At first he doesn’t answer, but then he realizes she might think she’s right about something bothering him, and Izumi doesn’t want anyone to think there’s something on his mind, especially not when Ritsu’s in the same room, and especially not when he’ll have to deal with the rest of Knights bothering him about it, too. “Nothing’s wrong! Even if there was something wrong, why would I tell any of you? Have some common sense for once—it won’t hurt you.”

Even though he intended for it to be just as rude as it sounded, Arashi simply sighs, bringing a hand to her forehead overdramatically. “Men are always like this—they think talking about their feelings is a crime, even though it’d totally make them feel better. It’s okay, though. I’ll wait until you’re ready, Izumi-chan!”

“I won’t be ready to...” He trails off, stumbling over his words for a moment (honestly, her mind games are so stupid) as he shifts in his seat to properly see her. “I don’t have anything to talk about, I mean. I don’t know why you happen to think you know everything, but you don’t, and you need to remember that, because it’s annoying for me to have to remind you every single time, and—”

“Secchan, your voice is what’s annoying,” Ritsu states, as if it’s not an insult, but instead a fact. “I’m trying to sleep, which is hard enough already, because practice interfered with my sleeping schedule, but now you’re talking loud enough that I can’t even do that. Compensate.”

Izumi turns his glare on Ritsu, who moved in front of him sometime while he was arguing at Arashi, and he has to force down the urge to kick him now that he’s within reach (because as tempting as it is, he just doesn’t think it’s worth the whining he’ll have to face). “Compensate? Why would I do that—actually, how would I do that? I don’t care if you can sleep or not, but it’s not like I have anything to help you with that anyway. Go bother that producer of ours if you need someone to comfort you. I’m not helping you, so…”

It’s annoying how Ritsu just smiles in response, as if he knows he’s going to get his way anyway, and Izumi briefly wonders how he’s always so sure of himself. Sure, Knights might be full of overbearing people with annoying personalities, but at least the others (mostly) know how to give up when they can tell it’s hopeless. Ritsu, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. If something’s difficult, he has to try even harder, and if something’s easy, he’s too lazy to even attempt. It’s an irritating, backwards way of thinking that Izumi hates.

It’s obvious that Ritsu doesn’t care about Izumi’s irritation. He steps closer, keeping his gaze on Izumi, who furrows his eyebrows as if he can’t understand what’s going on (which, okay, he can’t, but can anyone really understand Ritsu?) and only breaks eye contact in order to position himself on Izumi’s lap. Izumi naturally jumps at the chance to protest, reaching quickly to attempt pushing Ritsu off, but he doesn’t let himself be removed, instead burying his face in the crook of Izumi’s neck with an accompanying whisper, “A good boyfriend would be okay with this, you know. I’m going to sleep now, so let me, Secchan.”

Izumi’s comeback dissolves into a frustrated huff, unsure of how to react. On one hand, he wants to push him off and be done with it, claiming he doesn’t care about the contest anymore, but on the other hand, he still totally cares, and his ego can’t handle another loss to Kuma-kun, even if it’s a self driven competition.

“Ah, of course,” he finally says in a voice too sweet to be genuine, proceeding to busy himself with deflecting all of Arashi’s annoying comments about how right she was to tell them they should bond more and about how she needs to get a camera.

After that, everything happens quickly.

Izumi’s a born perfectionist; he knows when things are imperfect, but normally these things don’t involve him—he makes sure of that.

Extra practice makes perfect, leading him to smooth movements and footsteps that never land even an inch in the wrong direction, and although Knights is full of sporadic practices and awareness of their own abilities, he sometimes takes the time to make sure he’s still in top shape without them. Izumi isn't just an idol in a randomly formed group of teenagers; he's a model, someone people fawn over, and he's not one to disappoint.

(At least not for appearance's sake. Everyone knows personality's a separate story.)

He's just about to pack up, the over-analyzing of his own movements almost complete, when he hears someone speak up, someone he hadn't even known was in the room.

"Secchan," Ritsu calls, leaning against the doorway in a fashion that is decidedly very not Ritsu of him (or maybe Izumi’s perception of him lately is decidedly not very Izumi of him). "You're doing everything wrong."

Izumi's immediate instinct is to snap. He raises his gaze, trying to glare down at Ritsu despite their difference and similarity in height. "What are you talking about?" He doesn't actually want to know the answer. It's obviously bullshit, but he doesn't stop Ritsu from speaking due to a buried curiosity he didn't even know he had.

"I'm saying you're not doing the movements right." Izumi sets his bag down, watching Ritsu take slow steps toward him, every inch edging him closer to full on irritation. He should just leave now. After all, he knows the full extent of his ability, and even if he didn't, Kuma-kun's opinion would be the last one he'd ever ask for. "Look."

Izumi doesn't look.

Instead he nudges his bag away from them with his foot as Ritsu settles behind him, hands finding a temporary place just below Izumi's shoulders, gripping them with intent to teach. He keeps his eyes straight, vision burning a hole into the mirrors in front of them, glaring at Ritsu's reflection instead of paying attention to his hands.

They slide down his arms, brushing the underside of his forearms before pulling them up, returning them to a position suited for their newest dance routine. "It's like this," Ritsu says, and even though he's pretending to be nice, Izumi can detect the condescending tone that would go unnoticed by anyone else, "which... you should know by now. Ah, Secchan, I thought you were supposed to be the professional."

Izumi jerks one of his arms away, looking over his shoulder to face Ritsu properly, but before he knows it he's facing him too closely and suddenly Ritsu's breath near his ear is something he's way too conscious of. His hand moves down to rest on Izumi's waist when it's former position is ripped away from him, and if it wasn't for the fact that Izumi's own thoughts had stopped dead in their tracks, he'd definitely complain.

He isn't given any mercy for this mistake; a lazy smile plays on Ritsu's lips, recharging Izumi's thoughts but sending them in a direction he never wanted them to go. The fans must like this side of him, he thinks absentmindedly, his own mouth opening slightly—unconsciously—until he realizes that, shit, Ritsu knows he's staring and it's already too late.

"What, enjoying something, Secchan?"

His touches become feather-light, brushing upwards along his arm and waist, stopping just before his shoulder and chest. He pulls away altogether at this point, leaving Izumi dazed for a moment until he regains himself, his own hands taking defensive refugee on his hips, but it's not the same—it's not the same, and he wishes he'd never noticed that.

"What's—" Izumi runs his tongue over his bottom lip, feeling suddenly dry mouthed for reasons he doesn't even want to consider—so he doesn't, instead pushing them away for another time—preferably never. "What's to enjoy? God, your pores are terrible, Kuma-kun. I couldn't help but to stare in disgust."

Ritsu isn't fazed. He's not laughing outwardly, but Izumi can tell he's mocking him on the inside, and that's what matters—that's what pushes him to take strides away from Ritsu, grabbing the strap of his bag off the floor to sling it over his shoulder. "Ugh, just shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"Didn't I say shut up?" As an afterthought, he adds, "Shouldn't you be asleep, anyway? What happened to your nocturnal schedule?" As much as he thinks the vampire thing is stupid, Izumi's become used to Ritsu's weird habits by now, and seeing him fully awake at a time like this is… weird.

Suspicious, even.

He doesn’t get an answer.

He was right to think Ritsu was being suspicious; Izumi should have realized this without it taking him being pulled into a broom closet.

His reluctance is to be expected. Izumi pushes at the face of his so-called kidnapper, receiving a bite between his finger and thumb as punishment. He gasps, pulling his hand away quickly to cradle it against himself, and by this point he already knows who the culprit of this crime is. The only person with the audacity to bite him is Ritsu, as this isn't the first time and surely won't be the last, and even though he's still mad, he finds himself relaxing more than he would if it was anyone else. At least he's used to these sort of tricks being pulled by him. This isn't something new.

What is new, however, is the location. Ritsu's been annoying in a lot of places, but a dusty school closet is a new one, and Izumi coughs over-dramatically, trying to emphasize that, yeah, this room is really gross. "What the hell do you think you're even doing?" he demands, blinking a few times until he can fully recognize Ritsu's face.

"Avoiding class," Ritsu answers simply, as if that's a reasonable solution for dragging Izumi into this mess. He seems to read his thoughts, adding, "But it was boring alone. So I decided I should bring Secchan."

Izumi sighs loudly, pulling the door shut behind him. It isn't a promise that he'll say, but being caught in the broom closet isn't actually his idea of flattering, so he pushes away any possibilities of that. "You didn't just bring me! You snatched me against my will. What, were you waiting here for me like it was no big deal? Are you a stalker?"

Luckily, Ritsu doesn't comment on that.

"I wasn't waiting. You walked by. I decided that it'd be a good idea at that point."

Okay, that sounds more like him. (It kinda bothers Izumi to be downgraded to an afterthought, though, even if it's petty.)

"This closet isn't even that bad. I use it all the time. No one's actually smart enough to check here." Izumi doubts that—it's more likely that any teacher who isn't Akiomi avoids this place full of wild boys like the plague and Akiomi himself is busy with paperwork (he's thankful for that. Being caught by him would be the worst).

"Anyway, you should stay with me." Ritsu doesn't give Izumi time to question him, speaking once again as if he knows what Izumi's thinking, "Why? Because we're dating and you want to spend time with me. Obviously."

Izumi could think of other places he’d much rather be—in class, not looking like a total delinquent, or skipping with Yuu-kun instead, or even just lazing around in the practice room if he really has to stray from the rules—but he doesn’t say that. “Whatever,” he says instead, positioning himself on the floor in front of Ritsu (only after making sure it’s not too dirty—luckily Yumenosaki has high standards for cleanliness).

By now he isn’t surprised when Ritsu leans forward, searching for a resting place between Izumi’s legs and finding it easily. It’s almost strange how accustomed they’ve become to each other in such a short amount of time (what had it been, a week and a half?), but at the same time, they’ve always clicked in a way that doesn’t go undetected by those around them. With dancing, with singing, with dealing with each other in general, it’s always been more simple than it should be, and if Izumi’s being completely honest, his only competition when it comes to understanding Ritsu is his childhood friend.

“You’re so nice, Secchan.” Izumi doesn’t pay the compliment any mind; he knows Ritsu’s only saying it because he got what he want, but he doesn’t feel like protesting, instead stretching out his legs to properly give each other space despite the small area. “No, really. What would I do without you?” And now he’s just making fun of him.

Izumi huffs, tilting his head away from Ritsu to shove at least a little bit of distance between them with minimal effort. “You can stop talking,” he says, “since I know you only wanted me as someone to sleep on. I gave in already, so there’s no need for you to say stupid things. Just know that you owe me later.”

Ritsu’s voice is low enough to be a whisper, breath familiar on Izumi’s neck. “Yeah?” It’s more of an absent minded acknowledgment than an actual statement, which signals to Izumi that he’s about to fall asleep—again. He honestly doesn’t know how he’ll cope with sitting around with dead weight leaning against him for the next thirty minutes, but he decides to make the best of the moment, fishing around in his uniform’s jacket pocket until it produces his cell phone. He reaches around Ritsu’s still body, gazing at the lit up screen with his chin resting on Ritsu’s head momentarily, but as soon as he gets around to looking over his various Yuu-kun memorial pictures, there’s a shift and a sudden jolt of pain in his neck, followed by a pleased hum from below.

His phone clatters to the floor, out of reach due to the body preventing him from leaning over to grab it, and Izumi groans as softly as he can, if only to prevent outsiders from hearing him. As much as Knights is used to Ritsu taking advantage of any sleeping position he can, whether whatever assists him is a person or not, their situation is still incriminating, and Izumi would rather be spared the questions.

“What do you think you’re doing?” His free hand reaches up to clasp where his neck was bitten—there’s no blood, only saliva, and he’s happy about that, but the temporary relief isn’t enough to soothe his anger. “I thought you were going to sleep—God, Kuma-kun! Don’t just bite people whenever you feel like it! What do you think this is, anyway?!”

His intentions must have been made obvious by his facial expression. Of course Ritsu would be the type to ruin his only sanctuary when he’s selflessly helping him out—Izumi should have known that by now.

“Why?” Izumi wants to ask him why instead, as in, why is that even a question?! but he doesn’t get the opportunity. Ritsu pushes Izumi’s hand away from his neck, scanning the previously bitten spot with an interest Izumi will never understand. “I got curious. I wanted to know what Secchan’s blood tasted like—besides, I figured you were so busy looking at Maa-kun’s friend that you wouldn’t even notice.”

“As if!” That logic’s stupid. He knows it and he knows Ritsu knows it too, but judging from the way he’s not even listening, Izumi isn’t going to get that sort of honesty from him. “I don’t care what you do regarding your stupid vampire act, but if you want to bite someone, go find that producer of ours or that friend of yours! I’m not someone you can do whatever you want with!”

“Why not?” His talent with acting innocent would be almost admirable if it didn’t make Izumi want to scream instead. “We’re dating, aren’t we?”

“You—,” Izumi stops himself short, just barely scraping by without throwing away their entire bet. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re dating. You know that already.” He tries to smile, to force his own fake act to mirror Ritsu’s perfectly, but it’s hard when his more laid back attitude toward Ritsu is constantly becoming less of an act and more of a habit. Izumi finds himself failing halfway, voice not portraying nearly as much mock sweetness as he wants it to. “We’re dating, but I’m a model, you know. Besides that, we’re both idols—bite marks don’t make for good publicity.”

There’s another layer under that sentence, carefully buried to hide the reality of his frustration, but Ritsu’s not stupid (as much as Izumi hates to admit it) and for the first time in a while he digs up what Izumi’s trying to avoid mercilessly, not nearly as amused as he was before. “Modeling? You just don’t want that Yuu-kun of yours to see it. Isn’t that it?”

Well. He’s not wrong.

“You’re not wrong,” Izumi says, out loud, suddenly becoming very interested in the bucket hanging on the nearby shelf and anything, well, not Ritsu. “But I’m not wrong to do that, either. It’d give him a bad idea if he saw me with—you know—bites. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, but something that Yuu-kun would notice is pushing it. Besides, it’s not like we’re seriously—”

“We are.” Ritsu’s stare is unblinking, expression only as serious as someone who’s always on the verge of sleep can make it. “We are dating. That was the point—I asked you out, remember?” For the record, Izumi doesn’t remember it being quite like that. Nothing about Ritsu’s original proposition had been a proper confession, but if that’s what he wants to call it, Izumi won’t argue—for now. “It’s weird that Secchan’s dating me but still stuck on another guy…”

“Oh, come on.” Izumi can’t humor this much. He might have been much nicer than usual, but he has to draw a line somewhere and this is it—pretending to date is one thing, but bringing Yuu-kun into it is another. “It’s not funny anymore, Kuma-kun. Drop the act, at least here. It’s annoying if you get so serious about it!”

“But I am serious.” Izumi wants to wipe the look off his face with his own hands, which is apparently obvious to Ritsu, because there’s laughter below him as Ritsu lowers his head again. “I’m not sleepy anymore.” What? What, since when was that possible? “So, Secchan, pay attention to only me when it’s just the two of us.”

It doesn’t process… or, more likely, Izumi simply doesn’t want it to process. He presses his lips together, mouth forming a flat line as he tries to avoid snapping in a closet that anyone could find them in at any given time, but ultimately fails, voice barely above a whisper when he speaks. “I am paying attention to you! You didn’t let me do anything else.” What an unreasonable request..

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, so—,” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, or maybe he does, but it becomes so muffled by the mouth against his that he just gives up. His eyes are still wide open, shocked by Ritsu’s sudden movement without the actual motivation to push him away, but when he’s able to breath again, Izumi gapes at him. “...What the hell are you doing, Kuma-kun? Seriously, I just don’t get you at all…”

“That’s okay,” Ritsu says casually, even though it isn’t and Izumi wants an explanation, but he doesn’t stop him, not when he’s leaning back in for another kiss. This time he closes his eyes, letting Ritsu do what he wants without protest because—because, all things considered, it feels good to be kissing Ritsu, and it doesn’t mean anything anyway so there’s no downside, he thinks.

His hand that was just barely grazing Ritsu’s back slides up to grasp dark hair instead, knees rising to make the area feel more confined, more just the two of them and less making out in a broom closet , which Izumi doesn’t really want to think about.

Instead he thinks, Kuma-kun’s a good kisser , without consequence, planning to forget the thought later when everything’s said and done and the bet’s over.

Izumi doesn't know how they went three days without any more contact (at least in the dating sense, or the 'we totally made out in a broom closet' sense). What he does know is that one moment he’s standing in the doorway of his classroom, and the next second Ritsu is clinging to his arm, gently persuading him without words to help him skip class because he hasn’t slept well and Izumi’s his boyfriend, so shouldn’t he want to help him?

But Ritsu's wrong.

Izumi shouldn't want to help him, not after being given the cold shoulder for days and not even a single explanation as to why they made out in the first place. He does do it anyway, yeah—but the point still stands that Ritsu's wrong, and he's going to make sure he knows that.

They push inside the nurse's office, which Ritsu promises will stay empty because it's after lunch and Sagami-senpai's always off somewhere after lunch. Izumi guesses he's dealing with Akiomi-senpai, which causes Ritsu to snort at the use of 'dealing,' and Izumi snaps at him, telling him he doesn't want to hear that kind of thing.

Ritsu sits down on one of the spare beds as if it's no big deal, and Izumi stands beside it, suddenly wondering why he's even here. Ritsu doesn't need help hiding from teachers if that nurse of theirs isn't even around this time of day, and even if he did, he could always just get his childhood friend to help instead. Izumi bites back the thought that he should have said that instead of coming along so easily, but he remembers he's here to prove a point, even as Ritsu pats the bed expectantly, wanting Izumi to sit down next to him.

"Um, no," Izumi says, keeping his tone defensive as if he'd be bullying one of his underclassmen—Ritsu is one of his underclassmen after all, isn't he?  "I'm not here to nap with you, you know. The only reason I came here is to ask why you've been acting so stupid." Too vague. "I mean, you're practically avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you, Secchan."

"You are!"

"I'm not ," Ritsu insists, not firm about it in tone but obviously unwilling to discuss it anymore. "I think maybe you just miss me too easily and you're getting paranoid. Is that it? I'm pretty flattered then, ehe.. It's an honor that Secchan cares so much when it doesn't even involve the glasses guy."

He's totally avoiding everything Izumi’s trying to say, isn't he? He glares down at him without even thinking about it, trying to fight down the urge to yell back at Ritsu, but it's hard when he's pushing these accusations on him and he totally didn't miss Ritsu at all—did he? No, it's just that Ritsu's flakiness is annoying, that's all, especially when he's supposedly trying to act like they're seriously dating. This has nothing to do with how Izumi actually feels.  

"I don't care that much! I just.." His mind goes blank as he's unable to find a proper excuse as to why he's so bothered. “It’s annoying,” he finally finishes, but it’s half-hearted and Ritsu knows it, humming to himself as he reaches for Izumi’s arm. He doesn’t know why he lets himself get tugged down, suddenly sitting awkwardly to the side on the bed, but here he is, in the way. “How are you going to sleep like this?”

“I don’t need to sleep.” Izumi tilts his head to face him, eyebrow raising skeptically. Seriously? Ritsu doesn’t need to sleep? Something’s definitely up. “I just need to rest a little, that’s all. Sitting is resting.” Izumi wants to point out that he could just ‘sit’ in class to rest, if that’s the case, but he knows Ritsu won’t accept that. “You don’t have to look so suspicious about it, Secchan. Shouldn’t you just be happy to be spending time with me?”

He opens his mouth to reply, then shuts it, closing his eyes with the shake of his head. Izumi pulls his legs up onto the bed to face Ritsu properly, but he ends up getting them knocked down again when Ritsu moves closer, placing his now outstretched legs over Izumi’s that hang off again. Okay . “What do you think I am, a bench?” Izumi doesn’t make him move, though, deciding it’d be more trouble to do so. Besides, it’s not so bad, sitting like this—no, it’s bad, it’s really bad.

“You’re too loud to be a bench.” Izumi doesn’t know why he bothers being nicer at all. He frowns, obviously displeased. Ritsu laughs, soft and short. “It’s true. I don’t lie, Secchan, even for your feelings. You should know that by now.” He says it like it’s generous of him to point that out and it bothers Izumi; he doesn’t stop scowling, instead grabbing onto one of Ritsu’s legs around his calf. “Ah, don’t get rough with me, please.”

“I’m not getting rough ,” Izumi says, like the word is dirt coming out of his mouth, and he pulls on his leg, trying to imply he should move closer. Luckily Ritsu isn’t as stupid as Izumi would like to think and catches the hint, shifting closer until their thighs are pressing against each other through their school uniform pants. Maybe they shouldn’t be in here. “You’re annoying, you know. If it weren’t for winning this bet, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Where as he was smirking before, Ritsu’s expression suddenly goes mock serious, as if he’s shocked by Izumi’s words. “Really? I thought we actually had something. Finding this out hurts me..” He turns his gaze away to the curtained window next to them. Izumi sighs, exasperated. “Secchan’s so mean all the time. Can’t he just be honest with his feelings?”

He ignores the blatant Arashi expression, lurching forward to forcefully cradle Ritsu’s cheeks with both hands, forcing him to face Izumi again. “ This is why you’re annoying.” He uses a little more pressure than necessary with his grasp, but Ritsu doesn’t seem to mind, letting him do whatever he wants. Part of Izumi wishes he would protest. “Do you say this sort of stuff to everyone? What about that—,” he pauses. He knows Ritsu’s friend’s name—Isara Mao—since he knows every underclassman’s name, but he doesn’t want to seem so interested. (Because he isn’t. Obviously.) “Your.. friend. The one with the red hair from Trickstar. How did he even live with you this long?”

“Maa-kun?” This time, Ritsu seems actually surprised by the accusation, as if he’s never thought about it before. This is ridiculous, Izumi thinks, because if Ritsu’s personality is so disrespectful to the boundaries of others by default, he should know by now whether or not he acts this way toward everyone. He apparently doesn’t. “No, that’s stupid. Maa-kun is Maa-kun—what? Are you actually jealous ?”

Izumi gives his cheek a good pinch before letting go, leaving Ritsu to deal with it himself. “I’m not jealous of anyone.” He isn’t. He isn’t jealous of the time they spent without talking to each other that was probably full of ‘Maa-kun.’

His time was also full of other people, anyway, like the rest of Knights, the tennis club, and at least, well, more people that aren’t Ritsu. He didn’t think about him at all, except for when he was alone in the practice room, or when he was passing by that broom closet, or stepping over the blankets Ritsu had littered around the room for himself to spontaneously rest on, but any normal person would think of someone then, anyway. That’s not weird—Ritsu was practically the last thing on his mind.

“God, you’re so ,” Izumi groans, screwing his eyes shut as he tries not to think anymore on it, frustration seeping in so easily when he’d been so relaxed before. He doesn’t know why he’s so bothered; he doesn’t know why Ritsu gets to him so easily nowadays. He doesn’t know why he wants to be the only person Ritsu treats this way, because all things considered it’s irritating, forceful, and stupid—nothing anyone should ever desire—and yet he does, unable to push the feeling away. “You’re so. Annoying.” He feels like he’s repeated the same words over and over a thousand times, but they’re all he can say—it’s all that can convince himself that, yes, Ritsu’s immature and undesirable and did he seriously just think the word ‘desirable’ about him?

“You only say that all the time, at least five times a day. It’s starting to not bother me anymore.” Izumi finds it hard to believe that it could have bothered Ritsu in the first place, but then again, they met as first years and it was a different time (every fifteen year old is overly sensitive, anyway—just look at Kasa-kun). “Or maybe I’ll take it to heart,” and now he’s pressing his forehead against Izumi’s shoulder, invading personal boundaries Izumi should have set back up earlier, “and just not talk to Secchan anymore. How do you feel about that?”

Don’t say that, he thinks, because he doesn’t even want to consider it. They’re a part of Knights, yeah, but it’s not just that. Ritsu’s been in his life for almost three years now and despite the metaphorical wrinkles he causes, Izumi wouldn’t want to remove him from his daily life, even if it only meant they just worked professionally. Besides, lately he’s been feeling more attached to Ritsu for reasons he doesn’t want to think about and—never mind. Everyone else’s stupidity must be rubbing off on him; he makes a mental note to spend some time alone.

“I don’t care,” he lies, even when the truth is on the tip of his tongue, slowly turning his head to glance down at Ritsu properly. “You know, you sound pretty stupid and arrogan—,” Izumi stops mid-sentence when Ritsu lifts his head just in time to face him, noses barely touching. God, he thinks. When did he start caring about the colour of Ritsu’s eyes?

“Yeah,” Ritsu says, not making any movements to break eye contact. Izumi’s pretty sure they stay put for different reasons entirely. He doesn’t move because he’s practically frozen, breath even catching in his throat at the thought of being so close to Ritsu—why? Ritsu doesn’t move because he’s Ritsu, and if there’s anything he loves to do, it’s bothering Izumi, and luckily for him, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Izumi thinks briefly that part of him wants to move away, to escape these suffocating feelings while he can, but that part is easily drowned out by the atmosphere around him that’s full of Ritsu and only Ritsu. It doesn’t feel like a nurse’s office anymore, just as it stopped feeling like a broom closet before, and suddenly Izumi’s leaning in, tilting his head just right to get the perfect angle—

—and Ritsu pulls away, a loud sound piercing Izumi’s thoughts, consequently ruining what he thought would be a perfect moment, if only for the five seconds before he realized he’s an idiot for wanting to kiss Ritsu , of all people.

Ritsu, who’s leaving as if nothing happened, waving lazily as he passes through the doorway and out of the nurse’s office. “See you at practice, Secchan.”

They don’t speak at practice—they see each other, sure, but there’s a clear difference between working together as a unit and acknowledging the fact that Ritsu left Izumi to die (and okay, that’s an exaggeration, but since when has Ritsu ever cared about being late before? He did that on purpose).

It annoys Izumi, to be working so closely with him yet to be so ignored, but there’s nothing he can do about it. He isn’t about to be the one to admit he misses Ritsu, because he doesn’t. He’s here, after all, isn’t he? Izumi doesn’t need anything else than that.

He doesn’t need the closeness from before. He definitely doesn’t need to kiss him again to make up for last time. These are things that Ritsu should want, not him, and Izumi won’t crack, even when he sees Ritsu bugging that shitty brat for someone to lean against because he’s tired and Kasa-kun’s the youngest child so he owes them.

No, he’s not going to say anything, that’s for Ritsu to do when he’s the one who cracks, just like last time. And Izumi subtly urging their stupid king of a leader to pull their shitty brat of a leader away from Kuma-kun isn’t breaking, either, just to be clear; if Ritsu wants to play these sort of games, Izumi won’t sit on the sidelines. He’s stronger than this, better than this even—

God, he seriously hopes Ritsu cracks soon.

He doesn’t.

(Neither does Izumi, for the record, but that doesn’t need to be said. It’s obvious he’s not the one who’ll give in—isn’t it ?)

Anyway, Ritsu seriously needs to give up soon because, again, even though Izumi’s course of action doesn’t actually count as breaking, “unconsciously” finding out where Ritsu is this time of day is just sad. He knows it, admits it even, but there’s no way he’s going to be ignored anymore, even if it takes him positioning himself in convenient places at the same time to be noticed.

Except he isn’t—noticed, that is. Izumi’s quaint position leaning against the wall near the courtyard, checking his phone and being all around totally unaware of Ritsu, apparently isn’t good enough, and he’s about to give up for another day—fine, if Ritsu doesn’t want to notice him, then whatever. He’s a model! He can find other people to hang out with!—when he shoots Kuma-kun one last look for good measure, only to stop dead in his metaphorical tracks.

No wonder Ritsu hasn’t noticed him or otherwise made any moves to acknowledge him; he’s too busy being spoon fed by that childhood friend of his! Okay, maybe ‘spoonfed’ isn’t the right word, but Ritsu grasping Mao’s wrist in order to keep the chopsticks close enough to his face to take a bite isn’t exactly—well—not flirting, right? It totally is, isn’t it? Especially with how that second year’s face is red which, Izumi admits could be from annoyance, but it most likely, totally isn’t, right?

Right?

With no one to call him stupid except for himself, Izumi validates his assumptuous thoughts, scoffing louder than he meant to, only realizing afterward that, wait, he totally brought attention to himself and needs to leave, now. He turns the corner, almost certain that it’s fine because Ritsu’s too busy to follow him anyway, but of course he’s wrong, and as soon as he feels the fingers wrap around his wrist, he knows he’s screwed.

Izumi lets himself be backed against the wall, running a hand through his hair in the most elitist, I’m-a-model-who-doesn’t-have-time-for-you way he can manage and sighing, not giving Ritsu any direct looks. “Oh, Kuma-kun. What do you want? I’m busy, you know—too busy for talking right now! Make it quick so I can go…”

He tries to pull his wrist away from Ritsu, but Ritsu doesn’t budge, staring straight at him instead. Izumi really hates how he does that, like he can see right through Izumi, because they’re not that close—Ritsu doesn’t know him that well—does he?

“Secchan.”

This time Izumi does pull his wrist away, not giving Ritsu the leverage of keeping it there. It makes him nervous being so close, like he can’t keep a hold on his feelings, and being called like that doesn’t really help at all. He wonders if Ritsu knows he’s pinning him down like this; he probably does. It’s probably intentional. Ugh, he knows too much.

“What?” he snaps, glaring down at him now. He won’t let himself be pushed around like this, he can’t, and he decides to change the subject so that it’s not all on him even without anything being said. “Weren’t you busy with that guy? Mao. Why don’t you go back to him? He’s probably waiting.”

Ritsu shouldn’t smile—why does he smile? The sight makes Izumi’s face burn, though whether it’s with embarrassment of being so apparent or with annoyance that Ritsu is taking this so lightly, he doesn’t want to know.

“I’m not jealous,” he continues, trying to keep his voice level, “so don’t even imply that. You’re just a liar. That’s all. I hate being lied to. You should know this by now.” He uses Ritsu’s words against him, unsure of why he does it, but before he gets to dismiss it, he’s interrupted.

“What are you talking about? What did I lie about?” Ritsu takes a step closer, keep eye contact with Izumi and for some reason Izumi can’t seem to make himself break it. It’s not like he likes looking into Ritsu’s eyes (he does), it’s just that there’s something about it that makes him stay, and he doesn’t like that—doesn’t like feeling so compelled to stay near Ritsu, to look at him. “Secchan, speak up.”

“What?” Izumi blinks, then clears his throat, remembering that he was mad at him just two seconds ago. How did he forget so easily with just a smile and a look into his eyes? He’s not into Ritsu, not really, so that doesn’t make sense, and… wait a second. He is, isn’t he? He’s completely into Ritsu and, oh my god, he can’t deal with this. “You know what you did! You said you didn’t do that with anyone else, but then— then I saw you flirting with your childhood friend. God, if you don’t care that much then don’t act like it! I don’t have time for that!”

“Maa-kun?” he says it the same way he did before, as if that’s an outrageous situation, and that bites. Izumi scowls, unable to ignore how it’s eating at him, and sidesteps away from Ritsu, only to have a hand now placed on the wall block his exit. “I wasn’t flirting with Maa-kun. We’re friends—no, Maa-kun is my only family. That wasn’t flirting with him. Secchan, you’re really… You’re jealous again, aren’t you?”

Jealous? Jealous. Izumi points out what he’s done wrong and that’s all Ritsu can take from it—he grinds his teeth, reaching up to grab Ritsu’s wrist this time to pry it out of the way. “I don’t get you. You’re obviously acting so oblivious on purpose. You know what you’re doing—”

“No, what am I doing, Secchan? I don’t know what—”

“You do know! I don’t know if you’re trying to string me along for fun because you have nothing better to do with your joke of a life, but I’m tired of it and I don’t understand what you’re trying to do. This bet was just supposed to be a game; you didn’t have to do everything you did and yet you still did—for what? To bother me? Fine! You bothered me. Happy ?”

Izumi quiets down after that. He hadn’t meant to say all of it—he hadn’t meant to have this conversation at all. These were private thoughts, things he didn’t want Ritsu to know, and now here they all were, spilled everywhere for him to collect and absorb. Izumi releases Ritsu’s wrist, pushing his arm out of the way so he can step away. He should have expected his hand being grabbed again, but he doesn’t want to think about it—he’s done with this conversation. He’s said too much, and now he wants to leave.

“What are you talking about?” If Ritsu doesn’t understand, then why doesn’t he just let him go? There’s no point in explaining something he won’t get over and over again. “Secchan, are you stupid? Really?”

Izumi turns around at that, immediately opening his mouth to argue, but Ritsu doesn’t let him speak. “You seriously think I started all of this because I wanted to mess with you? I asked you to ‘fake’ date me just so I could make you confused? You really must think I have that much time on my hands, but let me make this clear: I don’t.”

He closes his mouth, staring at Ritsu with eyebrows knitting in confusion, unable to process what he’s saying—there’s no way Izumi had been wrong about this. There’s no way this could have been anything but a joke to Ritsu, right?

“You’re an idiot who only thinks what he wants to. Everything’s been so obvious, but you… Secchan, you really are stupid. Even if I did try to mess with you by pulling away a little bit, why do you think I did that? Did you even think about that?”

He didn’t. Izumi had come to the conclusion that it was all a big prank to Ritsu, but he hadn’t thought any deeper than that because, well, he’s not letting himself be made a fool of. He knows what Ritsu’s saying isn’t right. He knows that he’s saying this to cover his ass because there’s no other way; there’s no way that Izumi could have been wrong about this because if he had, god, then he seriously was an idiot and—

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear this! Not from anyone, but especially not from you!” This time he pulls his hand away for good, walking away without giving any room to be pursued. “Just.. shut up. Don’t talk to me for a while, Sakuma.”

“Where’s Ritsu-chan?”

The question doesn’t process; Izumi isn’t the only one in the room. He’s not the only person who’s being asked, he thinks, until the question is rephrased, and he’s forced to speak, even when he doesn’t want to.

“Izumi-chan, where’s Ritsu-chan?”

“How should I know?” It’s not his responsibility to watch him. Everyone else in the room sees him just as much as Izumi does, don’t they? Maybe not so much as of recent, but the point stands: it’s not his responsibility. “He could be anywhere.”

“Well,” Arashi starts, clearly not fazed by his attitude, “you’ve spent the most time with him lately, so I figured you would know. I mean, you’re usually clinging to each other nowadays, at least most of the time. I’d say it’s jealous making if it weren’t for the fact I have someone else to pay attention to, but… you know what I mean.”

No. No, he really doesn’t, and Izumi doesn’t care about her vague mentions of her boyfriend, either—actually, thinking about UNDEAD only somehow manages to make him roundabout think of Ritsu, and he doesn’t want that right now. He crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair to make himself seem more disinterested, and speaks in the same way he always does when he wants to dismiss someone, “I told you, I don’t know! I’m not his babysitter. If you want him here, go find him yourself!”

This way of speaking doesn’t faze her, of course. It never does. She even smiles a little, turning to go check on the radio they use for practice. It’s only the two of them here, although it’s usually protocol for Ritsu to be asleep in here already, so he knows why she thinks it’s strange, but.. it has nothing to do with Izumi.

Totally nothing.

“Izumi-chan, you know you don’t have to lie to me about things. I know you don’t think you’re all that obvious, but girls have great intuition naturally, so I—,” She doesn’t get to finish her sentence. Thank God. Izumi’d rather die than listen to her preach to him right now, even if she means well, but maybe he shouldn’t consider himself lucky just yet, because a shitty brat being loud isn’t any better than a nosy girl being annoying.

“I never …!” Tsukasa pushes the door open roughly, which Izumi would have considered strange if it wasn’t for the fact that his overall demeanor had changed so much since that shitty king came back. He raises his eyebrows, sitting up now to get a good look at Tsukasa’s face and, wow, yes, that’s definitely marker scribbled all over it. “The audacity! Who is he, anyway, to think this is okay? I never should have trusted him when he said I could sleep around him! That—that irresponsible Leader !”

“Calm down, Tsukasa-chan.” Arashi’s already taking steps to find what seems to be a box of wipes, placed in the room for preparation of this and other things ever since Leo showed up. Maybe this is a routine thing; he wouldn’t know since he always arrives after the two of them. Ritsu would know—wait, what? That doesn’t matter. “Look, you really should have known better by now. You keep saying you don’t trust him, but then you keep putting yourself in positions where he can do this, so it’s your fault, isn’t it, for doing it over and over in the first place?”

Tsukasa’s not satisfied with that answer. He doesn’t calm down, even as Arashi’s scrubbing at his face with the disposable wipes, and even crosses his arms—Izumi notices briefly that he’s doing the same thing, acting the same way that Tsukasa is and… actually, no. There’s no way he’s like that shitty brat!

“Is it my fault for being so accommodating? No. Isn’t he my senior ? Can I be blamed for trusting someone who should be setting a good example for people like me? No!” Arashi’s not buying this. Izumi can tell that by only looking at her side profile, but she keeps her strained smile, trying to be the actually accommodating one here.

“Tsukasa-chan… You’re just going to tire yourself out if you keep letting yourself get stressed like this every time. Besides, you know what he’s like. He’s not going to change simply because you decide to pitch a few fits about it.” She’s being lenient—a ‘ few ’ is definitely an understatement.

“But he—”

“Anyway!” Arashi glances back at Izumi briefly, otherwise keeping her gaze on Tsukasa as she finishes cleaning up his face. “We were just talking about boys who can’t be honest with themselves, you know. Have you seen Ritsu-chan?”

“...No.” That seems to distract him. Tsukasa drops his hands back down to his side, trying to trace back his steps. “I haven’t seen him. He isn’t here already? He usually is..” And then, as if to prove Arashi’s point, he leans around her to look at Izumi. “Sena-senpai, you haven’t seen him? Isn’t he usually with you nowadays? You guys have gotten more close recently, haven’t you? It was pretty spontaneous , if you ask me.”

This brat…! This annoying kid with his big words..! Izumi focuses his annoyance on him, because God knows if he speaks to Arashi, she’s only going to give him that knowing look about how she was right and, okay , maybe she was, but he doesn’t want to hear about it!

“I don’t know where he is!” Tsukasa seems taken aback by his tone of voice, though really he shouldn’t be. This just proves to irritate Izumi more. “Okay, just because we’ve been around each other more doesn’t mean anything! Don’t just assume things like that. I haven’t talked to him since…” he trails off.

“Since..?” Arashi prompts, using a tone that says she’s not that interested, even though he knows it’s the opposite. She always sounds like that when she’s trying to trick him into speaking about something he doesn’t want to.

It works.

“Since we argued, okay? Are you happy?” They don’t ask what they argued about, but Izumi continues anyway. He’s already started. He can’t stop talking about it now. “You wouldn’t know, but we were kind of… dating. Fakely. It wasn’t real dating—just for a bet. But he wouldn’t stop acting like it was real to mess with me, and..”

“Fake dating.” Arashi almost laughs, but she doesn’t, and that’s a good thing, because the last thing Izumi needs is to be laughed at. “Really, Ritsu-chan. Messing with you about dating? Acting like it’s real? And you didn’t stop for a second to think he wasn’t messing with you. At all.”

“No, I didn’t, but that’s because he was messing with me! There’s no other way!” Izumi scoots forward a little in his chair without thinking about it, on the edge now both mentally and physically.

“I don’t mean to be assumptuous , so correct me if I am, but… Ritsu-senpai doesn’t really seem like the type to put so much energy into pretending he likes you. Right?” Tsukasa looks to Arashi for confirmation and, stupidly enough, she nods with a hum, agreeing with him.

“He’s right, you know, Izumi-chan.” She finally tosses the used wipes into the nearby trash bin, giving Tsukasa a thumbs up about his now clean face, and takes a seat of her own. “But that doesn’t tell us what he said when you brought it up with him. So go ahead. I can tell you want to talk about it.”

If he was in a better state, something like that would make Izumi want to shut up immediately, but since he isn’t, he rolls his eyes and continues, “He said I was stupid. After all of what I said about how he shouldn’t be messing around like that if he wasn’t serious, he just called me stupid, and said I didn’t think seriously about why he was doing these things. But what’s there to think about? Obviously he’s just messing with me, so I.. I don’t know!” He groans in frustration, throwing his hands up because, all things considered, he just wants to give up and not deal with this anymore. That’s not possible, though, so instead he waits for Arashi to finish pondering to give her response.

“Hmm… Izumi-chan.. Have you ever considered… that… you actually are stupid?”

All his hopes for good advice plummet with those words, but she holds her hand up, not allowing him to interrupt just yet.

“I mean, you’re mad, I get that! But have you actually thought about it like he said? About why he was trying to make you feel this way?” And, okay, he had, but only in the way that made him feel justified, so her bringing it back up bothers him because it suggests he could be in the wrong… which he isn’t, right? “I’m just saying.. What Tsukasa-chan said earlier was right. Ritsu-chan’s not one to act that way just for fun because, as weird as he can be, he’s not going to go out of his way to avoid sleep just to mess with you. Don’t you think so?”

Tsukasa seems proud of himself for being right. If he didn’t already have to deal with Leo on a day-to-day basis, Izumi would add him to his list of underclassmen to bully. Instead he sighs, trying his best to consider what Arashi said seriously. She’s right, in a way, that it is strange for Ritsu to put so much effort into something that’s a joke, but…

But…

There has to be another answer. Losing sleep might be something unrealistic of him, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do it just for Izumi—no, correction, just to mess with Izumi. It doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t avoid sleep to spend time with Izumi, to kiss him, to pull him into places he’d normally only go himself when he wants to be alone to sleep, does it? That’s not out of the ordinary, that’s just…

Oh.

Oh, who is he kidding?

He is stupid. He doesn’t know why it took him a conversation with one of the most annoying people in his life and a brat of a rich boy to realize it, but he was wrong for the first time in his life. Ritsu wouldn’t just say or do those things just because he thought it’d be funny to prove Izumi wrong; maybe for a few days, or even for a week, but a whole month?

People don’t totally change their character for a whole month just to make him feel bad about himself.

He stands up suddenly, then tries to recover by making it seem like he didn’t just have the most embarrassing realization of his life: he likes Ritsu, yeah, and this whole time Ritsu was trying to make sure Izumi acknowledged his feelings, but he’d gone in the whole other direction even though all of this was so.. was so elementary , as Tsukasa would put it.

“I… have to go. I forgot something I have to do.” He pauses. “I’ll be back for practice, though. I’ll… bring Kuma-kun with me.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer because he knows if he does, he’ll just get annoyed and lose momentum. Instead he exits, stopping only when he meets Leo on the way out, who shoots him a grin and immediately starts speaking, “Ah, Sena! What are you doing leaving now when practice is going to start? Not going off to join another unit, are you? Wahaha… as if I’d believe that, actually! It was all a joke—don’t go thinking you can actually do tha—”

Izumi places his hand on Leo’s shoulder, stopping him mid sentence as he remembers who waiting for him inside the practice room. “Good luck,” is all he says, and silently wishes some on himself as he walks past.

He finds Ritsu.

It isn’t something that was hard to do, not with how many connections Izumi has within the academy (for, okay, less than morally right reasons, but that’s irrelevant), so it only takes him about ten minutes to locate Ritsu hiding out in the Tea Club’s room.

He’s not even sleeping, which is.. weird, but Izumi doesn’t take the time to consider it, immediately shutting the door behind him as soon as he spots him in the corner.

“Kuma-kun,” he says, then stops short, prepared words suddenly abandoning him in favor of making him look like an idiot, standing in front of Ritsu without anything good to say.

Ritsu doesn’t exactly make matters easier, either, not with the way he stands there giving Izumi a look that says he’s not interested, and in a way that hurts, but he understands. He wasn’t exactly nice before either and, as much as he loves to play the hypocrite, now is probably not the time.

“Uh.” Nice one, Izumi. Totally pulling yourself out of the waste-of-space, temporarily-an-idiot hole. He coughs, deciding he needs to start over, and once he does, he puts himself in the way of Ritsu and the door, because he doesn’t exactly think Ritsu would walk out on him, but he doesn’t want to take those chances. “I… get it now.”

It’s clear that he needs to be more specific. Izumi sighs, trying to stay reasonable, but all things considered he’s never been a reasonable person, and this is trying his patience.

“I get what you meant before. About why I’m stupid.” He shouldn’t be surprised that Ritsu smiles slightly at that, in the way that someone could miss if they weren’t Izumi, who’s practically overanalyzed everything about him by now. He wishes he never said it—he doesn’t want to see Ritsu like that, not when he can’t pretend they aren’t supposed to be mad at each other. “I understand what you meant. I… made a mistake.”

“Really, Secchan? You think so?” Ritsu’s mock-surprise bothers him, but he pushes away the urge to insult him for it, because it’s sort of deserved, anyway (but only sort of, because Ritsu can’t be praised for beating around the bush so much, either).

“Yeah, I think so. Why would I say it if I don’t?” This isn’t getting anywhere. He grits his teeth, drops his gaze, and tries to reason with himself that, no matter how embarrassing, his words are necessary. “I’m not saying it because I want you to feel justified. I’m just saying it because… I don’t want to keep making a mistake. I don’t want you to leave me alone, or to shut up, or whatever. I, uh.” This is where he gets choked up, not with tears or anything, but for someone like him who hasn’t exactly taken Talking About Your Feelings 101, things like this are difficult. “I like you, I guess. Whatever that means.”

There’s silence and even though it only lasts about thirty seconds, a lot of things happen at once: Izumi feels so embarrassed he could die, he briefly considers leaving, hand on the door, but then Ritsu closes the space between them, grabbing his hand away from the knob to hold it firmly in his own, not giving him any way to escape, and yeah, Izumi really, really considers dying right there, on the spot, just so Kuma-kun can’t see his reddening face or call him “Secchan,” in a voice that in any other situation would be too affectionate to be genuine.

A lot of stuff—really embarrassing stuff—happens within those thirty seconds, but in the latter half of the minute, the embarrassment falls away because suddenly he’s kissing Ritsu, one hand still on his and the other knitting through his hair, not letting him step away because, well, he doesn’t want him to, and for once he’s going to be honest about that, even if it kills him.

It takes a bite to his bottom lip to get him to pull away with an “Ouch!” and when he does, he stares at Ritsu, unable to process for a moment what exactly happened until Ritsu’s slowly, slowly beginning to smirk and—God, Izumi doesn’t want to think about it anymore. He doesn’t get that courtesy, though, especially not when Ritsu begins to speak.

“Do you really like me that much, Secchan? I was waiting for you to realize it. I sort of thought it’d be easier than this.”

His words make Izumi feel stiff. He drops his hand from Ritsu’s hair and Ritsu grabs it before it falls back down to his side, suddenly holding both of Izumi’s hands and… this is a lot more embarrassing than they make it seem in the movies. He frowns, looking away. “Well, sorry.”

“Don’t be. I kind of like challenges anyway and… I guess you wouldn’t be Secchan if you made this the most difficult thing in the world.” Izumi isn’t sure whether he should take that as an insult or not. Ritsu doesn’t give him the time to consider it seriously. “That’s not all you wanted to say, was it?”

It’s hard for Izumi to get back on track after kissing him and everything else, but he swallows hard, looking at him again even though he doesn’t want to just yet. “I guess. But don’t expect me to repeat any of this ever again, okay? You’re lucky I’m saying it once.” He ignores the “yeah, whatever,” he gets from him. “I can’t… fake date you anymore. Because… what I feel about you isn’t really ‘fake.’”

“So…?” Ritsu prompts. Izumi doesn’t know why; he obviously can tell what Izumi means, but he always has to make things difficult, and… well, he guesses he’s kind of okay with that. Maybe he needs a little pressure every now and then, anyway.

“So. I. Want to actually date you. I guess. If you want to.” He hesitates. “.... Do you want to?”

Ritsu laughs at him and Izumi pinches the skin of his hand in return, feeling that now is probably the least funny situation ever. Well, almost, anyway. “Yeah. Yeah, if that’s what Secchan wants. I can let him stay spoiled for now.”

Izumi doesn’t think he’s spoiled. He thinks he’s cursed for having to deal with such an annoying person, but he doesn’t say that. Instead he kisses him once more, briefly, and when Ritsu pulls away to say something stupid, he doesn’t even feel irritated this time.

“So… I won the bet then, Secchan?”

“Shut up,” he says, and laughs, just a little bit.