Chapter Text
The sun slowly crawls from its zenith point closer to the horizon. The soft, cool shadow of the neighboring building covers the window of the school's infirmary. Shion pushes a ripe berry into his mouth while watching the loud teenagers running down the street. Students are even more rowdy in the summer. They run too fast, mockingly swear and scream until they are hoarse, trying to outshout each other. Shion twirls a cherry stem in his teeth. He prays in his head that these kids don't skin their knees or, better yet, accidentally break some bones by wildly running around the school grounds.
The recent sports festival went off without any injuries or abrasions, and it's better if it stays that way until the end of the summer.
Kaida hears heavy footsteps in the hallway and quickly throws a cherry pit into the bag. The familiar figure of a third-year student is reflected in the window glass, and the albino squints contentedly.
“I thought you wouldn't show up,” He purrs.
Ryoga walks carefully into the infirmary, looking around.
“Kei-chan isn’t here.”
“Kick him out again?" The student exhales noisily.
“Bo-o, why so mean today?”
Tosa comes closer and hits the window sill with his hand. Under his palm is a folded piece of paper. Looks like the same paper with prompts were given to the participants of the festival...
“The sports festival ended like three hours ago.”
“Such a waste of time.”
The tall student leans sideway against the wall and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Did they give you a hard prompt?”
“Stupid one.” Ryoga whispers through his teeth.
The doctor puts the berry in his mouth. Ryoga frowns so much that the vein on his forehead bulges tensely.
“Archer brought his cat. And won with it.”
“Aw, adorable.”
“Nonsense.”
“Did you want to win that much, Ryoga?”
“No.” The young man answers sharply. He clears his throat and adds a little later. “...Maybe.”
Shion picks up a couple of cherries by their stems, props up his cheek and looks into the bright eyes of his guest. The red-haired youth bites his lower lip and, after half a minute of silence, opens up.
“Suiseki-san promised free movie tickets to the winner.” As if in passing, he adds. “They show dumb rom-com.”
“I don't like rom-coms.”
“You don’t?..” Large green eyes look at the doctor in surprise. Shion shakes his head, watching with undisguised pleasure as the dark cheeks turn crimson. Ryoga curls his lips and turns away. "Not like I care."
Shion playfully raises an eyebrow and takes a step towards the student.
“If you don't care about my opinion, why did you come here?”
“B-b-because…” Ryoga grumbles.
A thin palm rests on the strong hand of Tosa. The nurse strokes the student's sculpted biceps, feeling under his fingertips how the boy trembles.
“You, am, l-l-listen, d-don’t s-shush me away a-a-and…”
A shiver runs down Ryoga's spine as the older man leaned his shoulder against his side.The bright gaze lowers, but Ryoga immediately throws it at the window frame as soon as his eyes cross with the doctor's red ones and his seductive grin of the white lips.
“...y-y-ou are kind to me.”
“So you came to beg for my praise?”
“Well… N-not only…” Ryoga clenches his teeth and huffs loudly in embarrassment.
Shion chuckles and looks down at the folded piece of paper on the windowsill. He carefully unfolds it and gasps as his breath gets caught in his throat. “Your favorite companion” - says the inscription on the paper.
Kaida didn't know all the criteria for the winner of the sports festival. But even then, standing under the canopy with the Japanese language and physical education teachers, he noticed how Tosa hesitated. It’s no wonder why Ryoga was so indignant and widely outraged in public: he wouldn't tell such personal things neither to his friends nor to a person he trusted.
“Favorite companion, hah? Pretty original confession.”
“N-n-no, it’s not!..”
Even though Ryoga is so honest that this information is written all over his face.
“S-so…”
As if enchanted, Kaida looks at the sprawling writing on the badly wrinkled piece of paper. He is distracted from the ink scribbles only when he feels the student shifting before his shoulder. Ryoga takes a deep breath and shakes off his shame, turning to face the doctor.
“Kaida-sensei, I-I-”
But before he can utter more than one word, his lips are covered by a ripe red cherry.
"Not here, my impudent boy.” Shion laughs, returning to his normal behavior.
Ryoga straightens up, discontentedly snorts and throws the berry into his mouth.
“Even if for his brother, Rokuta can't continue to rip off cooking club,” The red-haired youth mutters under his breath.
“This is from Yatonokami.”
“Yatonokami?!” Ryoga exclaims in shock, and Shion quietly laughs again.
“The elder one, yeah,” The doctor moves away from Ryoga and tucks long hair behind his shoulder. “Brought this to me and took Kei-chan before I could say anything.”
Ryoga blinks a few times, digesting the information, then clicks his tongue and raises his gaze to the ceiling.
“Miyama…”
“Quite Lovelace: School's biggest star showers him with bouquets of flowers, and a petty hooligan offers me bribes for him. I'm surprised your heart didn't fall under his charm.”
“...Not in my taste.” Tosa again draws his eyebrows together and crepitates in response.
“How interesting” The languid voice of the school nurse again makes the schoolboy's head tangled and his heart's usual rhythm is disrupted. “I would love to hear about this in a more private setting.”
Ryoga looks back at the empty infirmary, trying to prove that he was the one to whom Kaida-sensei told that. The doctor continues, simultaneously emptying the “bribe” brought by Kanata.
“I prefer to talk about personal things, when there are no prying ears, and where the acoustics are much better.”
Shion smiles innocently, although scarlet eyes sparkle with a fire full of excitement.
“Do you agree?"
Ryoga nervously swallows and nods.
“Good boy.”