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The hallways were littered with students hustling through the corridors, chattering amongst each other as they made their way to the next class. Shouta usually didn't care about the commotion between classes, but it was Valentine's Day, and his classmates were in full celebration mode.
Couples walked hand in hand from one class to the next, and others flirted in front of each other's lockers, taking up space and dominating the walkways. At the same time, they were busy being completely enthralled by one another and overtaken by the overpowering feelings of a first love.
Shouta strolled side by side with his best friend, Hizashi. They slowed down before stopping by their lockers to swap out their supplies for the next class.
“You think if I ask Nem out, she’d say yes?” Hizashi said as he dug through his locker.
“Nemuri is out of your league you know that right? Why would she say yes?”
“I mean.. it’s Valentine’s day—and girls love valentine’s day. Also you should’ve seen how she was looking at me the other night when all of us were on the roof top. I just gotta give her some chocolate and flowers and i’m in there.”
Shouta rolled his eyes. “Don’t come crying to me when she says no.” Shouta closed his locker and sighed before asking, “You haven't seen Shirakumo today, have you?"
"I haven't," Hizashi replied. He closed his locker, revealing the goofy grin plastered on his face.
Shouta lifted his brow at the gesture. "What?" he uttered.
"Nothing… just interesting that you seem so curious about Oboro's whereabouts today," Hizashi teased.
Shouta felt his face and ears get hot at the observation. "Maybe I was just checking on him. It's not like him to be radio silent all day."
"Mhm, sure," Hizashi snickered. "You sure you're not just worried about where your valentine is today?”
Shouta rolled his eyes at his friend. “Do you always have to be annoying?” Shouta grumbled.
“I wouldn’t be your best friend if I wasn’t”
Shouta didn't want to admit it, but he was looking for Oboro today.
A little over a week ago, Oboro asked him a question that he couldn't seem to get out of his head. They were walking together home from school, and on their way back, they passed a shop with advertisements for Valentine's Day specials.
They stopped in front of the shop and peered around at the goods on display: good bags full of candies and treats, flowers of all kinds, greeting cards to accompany them, and soft and plush stuffed animals with hearts sewn to their hands and cheesy messages stamped onto the red velvet.
"I can't believe people really like all this stuff," Shouta muttered, glancing at all the bits and bobs set out on display.
"You don't like Valentine's Day?"
"Not really," Shouta said as he met Oboro's curious gaze. Well… it's more like I've never really had a reason to."
Oboro’s brow furrowed at the response. "Never had a reason to?" He repeated.
Shouta shook his head.
"Most places don't sell the candy I like, and I've never had a need for flowers or stuffed animals since I'll never get any practical use out of them." Shouta cleared his throat and averted his gaze as he mumbled, "I've also never had a valentine either."
Oboro's mouth dropped at the confession. "You've never had a valentine? No way!"
Shouta swatted Oboro's arm as he shushed him.
"You don't have to be so loud about it, you know."
"Sorry," Oboro said, smiling back at Shouta. "I'm just shocked you've never had one."
"I don't know why… I don't think anyone really looks at me and thinks, 'Valentine Material'. '" Shouta glanced at Oboro, and after a pause, he asked, "Have you ever had a Valentine?"
Oboro smiled a little as he replied, "Well, I've definitely gotten Vday gifts for my mom and my sisters. But I've never had an actual Valentine myself."
Shouta scoffed at him.
"You don't have to lie to make me feel better, you know."
"I'm not lying! Why would I be lying?"
Shouta came to a stop and gave Oboro a look.
"Because you're you."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
Shouta crossed his arms and gave a small huff before responding.
"I mean, come on, Oboro, it's obvious; you're friendly and fun and one of the tallest guys at school. I'm positive you've had a Valentine before."
"I mean.. sure, people have crushes on me and all that stuff, but I've just never felt that way back about them."
"Hm. Well, I guess it sounds like we're both dorks who’ve never had a valentine then," Shouta said, half jokingly.
"I guess so," Oboro answered back with a smile to match."
They walked the rest of their way in comfortable silence. Shouta's house was first on their route, so Oboro usually walked there with him before taking one of his clouds to finish his route to his own house.
They approached Shouta's house and said their usual goodbyes. Shouta walked down the cobblestone pathway to the front door, but before he could open it, Oboro piped up.
"Hey, Shouta!"
Shouta's head turned back in Oboro's direction and he waited to hear whatever he was going to say.
Oboro looked away for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
"Um, what if next week—we could be each other's Valentine? We don't have to, but maybe it'd be fun to both be able to say we have one this year."
Be each other's Valentines?
While Shouta truly didn't care much for Valentine's Day or the performance of it all either way, he couldn't deny that Oboro asking him that question made it feel like butterflies were swarming throughout his stomach.
Sure, he had a bit of a crush on Oboro—Okay maybe a lot of a crush on Oboro. And as much as this made his heart flutter to hear, Oboro was his best friend, and he was positive he was only asking to be nice.
Though…even if his intentions were only friendly and nothing more, would it be so wrong to humor Oboro's proposal anyway?
He stood quietly for a moment as he thought on it, before finally responding, "Yeah, sure…. that'd be cool."
The nervous look on Oboro's face shifted into a broad grin. "Awesome," Oboro said. "Well, I don't want to keep you from going inside any longer, so I'll see you later then, Valentine."
"Bye Oboro," Shouta said with a shy wave."
Oboro formed a large cloud behind himself and hopped into it, shooting Shouta a final wave before floating off in the direction of his house.
In that memory and all the other memories they had together from that day onward, Oboro seemed to be really looking forward to them being each other's Valentines, so Shouta couldn't understand why, on the day of, Oboro was nowhere to be found.
Besides them walking to school together that morning, Shouta hadn't seen the blue-haired boy anywhere. Not in homeroom, not at their lockers. Not even during lunch—and Oboro never skipped out on lunch.
And the annoying part of it all wasn't necessarily even Oboro being MIA all day, but him mentioning to their friends that they'd be each other's Valentine during the days prior, and now that he wasn’t there—Shouta was left all alone with Nemuri and Hizashi’s relentless teasing.
Shouta made his way toward his final class for the day, and by now the thought of him and Oboro being valentines had completely slipped his mind. He stayed behind to help with a few things for his last class, so the halls were mostly empty except for a few students straggling behind to their classes as well.
As Shouta turned the corner, he felt someone grab his wrist. Glancing over, he saw an out-of-breath Oboro staring back at him.
"Come with me," Oboro muttered as he led Shouta down the hallway.
"Oboro, this is in the opposite direction of my class. Where in the world are we going?"
"Just follow me," Oboro said with a smirk.He led them down several hallways until they approached the door leading to the school courtyard.
Even though it was still cool out, the courtyard was still a sight for sore eyes.
The leaves were slowly returning to their usual look, as the budding cherry blossom trees were waiting for the right time to bloom. The winding pathways led past a few small ponds and tables where students and staff alike could lounge and enjoy the view we scattered about. Oboro led him further into the courtyard past the ponds most most of the decorations until they approached a bench under one of the budding trees.
Thankfully for Shouta, from where they were sitting, most people passing by wouldn't notice them, as it was slightly out of view. Still, though, he couldn't understand why Oboro would drag him out here right in the middle of their class period.
"Why are we out here? What if a teacher sees us and thinks we're skipping?" Shouta asked in a hushed tone.
"I promise we'll be okay," Oboro whispered back as he still struggled to catch his breath.
"Why are you out of breath, and where have you been all day, and why are we—"
"Shouta," Oboro calmly said. He reached into his knapsack, pulled out a small kitten plush, and handed it to Shouta. He then went back into the pouch and pulled out a bag full of candies and a single red rose, which he also gave to Shouta.
Shouta took a moment to inspect all of the items fully. The kitten plush had a heart sewn between its paws with the words 'Smitten as a kitten' sewn into the red velvet. The candies were also none other but Shouta's absolute favorites—salty licorice—a treat that isn't easy to find in a place like Tokyo.
“Salmiak? Where did you even find this?”
“Oh the candy? Nem told me it was your favorite so last weekend I checked all the candy shops in the area until I found it! Would you believe that that one shop in Shibuya has the most—“
A bright red blush colored his cheeks, and he couldn't help but want to hide his face in his hands as he glanced over and met Oboro's gaze.
"I thought you said we didn't have to do gifts! I didn't get you anything!"
"You didn't have to," Oboro chuckled. "I still just wanted to get you something, though."
Shouta glanced away for a moment before looking back at Oboro, who met his flustered look with a warm smile.
"If you give me a moment to explain, I promise I can answer all your questions," Oboro said with a grin.
Shouta simply nodded and waited patiently for Oboro to explain himself.
"I'm sorry I've been missing all day. I really was looking forward to being your Valentine today, but a bunch of the teachers snatched me up before I had a chance to make it to homeroom, and they had me running all kinds of crazy errands all day today. This is the first moment all day where I haven't been running back and forth all over campus for them."
That explains him being MIA all day.
"And if I'm being honest, I ran all over campus again just so I could find you and give you your stuff before the end of the day."
Shouta could feel his face growing warm all over again at Oboro's words, and he glanced down at his feet before responding. "It really wasn't a big deal. You didn't have to worry about me," he mumbled.
"It was a big deal to me," Oboro quickly said back. "I didn't want you thinking I'm not a man of my word or that I'd just ghost you like that."
"Ghost me? Even if you didn't get me anything, or if we didn’t hang out today, I wouldn't have held it against you."
"I know it's just—" Oboro smiled shyly before speaking back up. "Shouta, I really like you, and I guess I just wanted to make the day special for you."
"You like me?" Shouta repeated, flustered and completely shocked by the confession.
Oboro scooched closer to him on the bench before replying.
"I do. I really do. And I don't know if you feel the same way, but I guess today was just my poor way of trying to show you how I feel about you."
Shouta had no idea what he would do if Oboro liked him back, but now that he was in the center of it actually happening, he had no idea what to say or do.
Oboro cleared his throat. "If you don't feel the same way though, it's okay. I'm completely fine just being your friend."
Shouta wondered if he looked as clumsy and out of place as he felt while he tried to gather his words and at least give Oboro somewhat of a coherent answer.
"I like you too, Oboro," Shouta finally said, barely meeting his eyes. Oboro lit up at the response.
"Y-You do?"
Shouta nodded gently.
"I thought you were the one who wouldn't have liked me back, so I never really felt the need to act on it. "
"Not like you back? I've had a crush on you from the moment we first met," Oboro coolly said. "There's no way I wouldn't have liked you back."
Shouta’s face felt warm again and now a lot of Oboro’s behaviors made so much more sense.
Insisting on walking him home even though Shouta’s house was completely out of the way of his own, always finding ways for the two of them to hang out alone. Shouta thought he was just reading too much into the way Oboro always acted with him but now, it’s clear the signs had been there all along.
"So now what?“ Shouta asked. “Now that everything’s out on the table, what do we do now…it’s not like we can go back to how things were.”
"Well, since it's clear that I like you, and you like me, I guess that it only makes sense for us to be boyfriends now."
"Boyfriends?!" Shouta blurted out.
"What?" Oboro asked. “You don’t want to be my boyfriend?”
"No it’s not that!,” Shouta quickly reiterated. “it's just… Are you not scared?"
"Scared of what?"
"Scared of what people would think. I mean, come on, Oboro… we're two guys. People are gonna talk."
"Okay?"
"You don't care if people will think it's weird?"
"No. I've never known you to be someone who cared about what people had to say about them either, so what's the difference now?"
"I just don't want people to make you feel bad about it."
"Why would I feel bad about it. I like you, and you like me, and you happen to be a guy—who cares. Anyone that actually means anything to me won't make me feel less than for liking who I like."
Shouta playfully nudged Oboro. “I should’ve known you’d be too cool to let that kind of stuff get to you.”
“Of course not. So now that that’s out of the way…Shouta will you be my boyfriend?”
Oboro’s gaze lingered on him, and it only made Shouta’s heart flutter even more. Those gentle blue eyes and that warm smile that always made him feel weak in the knees was working overtime in this moment to win Shouta over.
And how could he ever say no to that?
Shouta scooted closer to him, and in that moment, their faces were only inches apart—closer than they’d ever been before.
“Yes… I’d like that,” Shouta whispered in return.
Oboro’s smile grew even wider and the look in his eyes made shouta feel so lightheaded and giddy all in one.
“I really want to kiss you. Is…that okay?”
Shouta nodded wordlessly.
Carefully, Oboro inched closer, gently grabbing Shouta’s chin between his fingertips, and slowly he pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
The kiss was tender yet clumsy, passionate but at the same time cautious too.Oboro’s lips were softer than Shouta imagined, and the longer they were pressed against his, the more it felt like his heart was about to burst. It was everything Shouta could've wished for in a first kiss.
They pulled away from each other, Oboro’s broad smile stretched across his face as he met Shouta’s gaze.
“God, you’re cute,” Oboro whispered.
“Shut up,” Shouta whispered back with a soft smile of his own.
They never made it to their final class of the day, but in that moment in the courtyard, underneath the budding cherry blossom tree’s branches—it honestly didn’t even matter to them anymore.
