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The tension hung in the air as Rin and Shidou walked down the hallway, their footsteps in sync for a moment that felt uncomfortably prolonged. Rin could still feel the heat of Kaiser’s words echoing in his mind—especially the one where he had mentioned his name. He glanced at Shidou from the corner of his eye, the slight stiffness in his posture still evident despite the distance between them. It was clear that Shidou was still holding onto something—some kind of irritation or unease.
The silence was thick, but Rin wasn’t the type to let it sit for too long. He leaned slightly toward Shidou, his voice casual but with a hint of curiosity that lingered beneath his words.
"So," Rin began, not looking directly at Shidou but still close enough to sense the tension in his movements, "what was that about back there? Kaiser bringing up my name like that?"
Shidou didn’t immediately respond, and Rin had to suppress the urge to repeat the question. The way Shidou had snapped earlier—trying to shake off Kaiser’s words—had been strange. It wasn’t like Shidou to be so reactive, so personal.
As they walked, Rin couldn’t help but follow up with something more direct, something he’d been wondering for a while.
"Do you... like me?"
The question hung in the air between them, casual enough to seem offhand, but Rin’s eyes flickered sideways, studying Shidou’s expression for any sign of reaction. His tone was neutral, trying to mask the curiosity behind the words, but there was a small part of him—just a tiny, gnawing piece—that needed an answer, needed to know what Shidou was really thinking. It wasn’t the first time he’d wondered, but this time, it felt different.
Shidou scoffed, that sharp sound leaving his lips with a flick of his tongue, as if the question itself was beneath him. He turned his head just enough to catch Rin’s gaze for a brief moment, his eyes narrowed in the way that always made Rin feel like he was being judged for something. But there was something else in Shidou’s expression, something that made Rin’s stomach twist with uncertainty.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Shidou grumbled, his voice rough but not entirely dismissive. He turned his gaze back ahead, as if trying to shake off the question. "You think I’d care about that?"
Rin felt a momentary spike of disappointment, though he tried to hide it behind a calm mask. "Just asking," Rin said casually, trying to brush it off, but something in his gut told him there was more to it than Shidou was letting on.
Shidou’s answer was quick, almost too quick, and his voice carried that same defensive edge that Rin had come to expect from him. Yet there was an underlying tension, something that didn’t quite add up with the usual bravado Shidou wore like armor.
"You’re the one making a big deal out of it," Shidou snapped, his voice sharper than it needed to be, but Rin noticed how his hand balled into a fist at his side—like he was holding back something. "It’s nothing. Don’t overthink it."
Rin’s heart thudded against his chest, but he kept his pace, matching Shidou step for step. He didn’t press it further, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Shidou’s words were just the surface of something deeper.
“Don’t overthink it.” Was that a lie? Or was Shidou just as good at hiding his feelings as Rin was?
But as they walked together in silence, Rin couldn’t help but think that maybe... just maybe, Shidou’s reaction had been a little too defensive for it to be nothing. The sharpness in his voice, the way his body seemed to tense, the way his gaze flickered away just a second too long—all of it felt too familiar.
Rin didn’t know for sure. But something was shifting between them. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on yet.
And as the two of them continued down the hallway, side by side, it felt like they were both dancing around an unspoken truth neither of them was ready to face. But Rin, ever so observant, could feel it—the pull. The connection that hadn’t been there before.
And maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t imagining it.
The question he’d asked—casual as it seemed—wasn’t entirely for him. It was for Shidou, too. To see how he would respond. To see if there was something more hiding beneath that prickly exterior.
And as they rounded the corner to their rooms, Rin couldn’t stop the flicker of hope that tugged at his chest.
Shidou might not have admitted it, but Rin had his suspicions.
Maybe... he liked him, too.