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Sixteen-year-old Furuya Rei was sitting in the gymnasium, watching a basketball game. It was his best friend, Morofushi Hiromitsu, sitting next to him and watching along. A couple of days earlier, Hiromitsu phoned to say that his family had given him two tickets to a basketball game, and asked if Rei wanted to go together. Rei agreed without a second thought.
Hiromitsu exclaimed in delight, ‘Really? That’s great! I thought you weren’t interested in basketball at all.’
Rei truly didn’t care much for basketball. But as long as he was with Hiromitsu, it didn’t matter what they were doing.
During the summer break, Hiromitsu went to visit his older brother and only returned a few days ago. It had been just around ten days, but for Hiromitsu and Rei, that already counted as a long separation. After all, they usually spent every day together, and even during school holidays, they never went more than three days without seeing each other.
When Rei heard about Hiromitsu’s travel plans, his had complicated feelings. Normally, he would hate being apart for that long. But recently, he had noticed that he was becoming increasingly attached to Hiromitsu - eager to know what he was doing at any given moment, getting anxious whenever he was out of sight. Rei felt that something about him wasn’t quite right.
Maybe it all started from that incident. One day after school, Rei was getting ready to go home with Hiromitsu, but his best friend was nowhere to be found. In the end, Rei discovered him standing alone with a girl at the turn of the stairwell, talking about something that Rei couldn’t hear. Not long after, the girl walked away with a clearly disappointed look on her face. From his hiding spot around the corner, Rei watched them, feeling as if something had jabbed straight into his chest. A strange mix of tension and worry spread through him from that moment on, refusing to fade.
He used to share everything with Hiromitsu, but now… he had a secret. And it bothered him a lot. It felt like the sudden, stiff prickling stubble that had begun sprouting on his chin recently - awkward, uncomfortable, and impossible to ignore.
Maybe, while Hiromitsu was away, he could finally sort out his thoughts.
As it turned out, the days spent alone were even harder than he had imagined. In the stifling heat of summer, Rei ate, browsed manga shops, and went fishing all by himself. It was dull, frustrating, and lonely. When someone gets bored, their mind starts wandering. As Rei sat by the river, enduring the sticky summer air while blankly waiting for a fish to bite, a sudden thought drifted into his mind:
What if Hiro is gone for the rest of his life?
Just then, the fishing line jerked. Rei hurried to reel it in, but he was too late - the fish slipped away.
Rei silently scolded himself for scaring himself like that. No… that won’t happen.
After all, he and Hiro had made a promise.
‘Someday you’ll meet someone you like, Hiro, and you’ll stay with them forever… right?’
‘Hmm… nope.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’m going to stay with you forever, Zero. Okay?’
Hiro would never lie.
It was just that… they were still little kids back then. And now, Rei wasn’t sure whether that promise still meant the same thing to both of them anymore.
After the basketball game, Rei and Hiromitsu had curry for lunch, and then decided to head to Hiromitsu’s house to check out the latest manga release.
The two of them walked side by side down the street. Suddenly, Hiromitsu spoke up:
‘Zero, you seem a little off today… You’re barely saying anything. Did something happen?’
Rei almost jumped. He hurried to answer, ‘No… it’s just that I really don’t know much about basketball.’
Hiromitsu smiled. ‘No, not that. I feel like you’ve got something on your mind…’
Rei panicked slightly and didn’t dare look up at Hiromitsu’s face. He was racking his brain, trying to think of a way to get away with it, when suddenly he felt a drop of water fall on his forehead.
It started pouring. Both of them froze for a moment, as there was still some distance to Hiromitsu’s house, but neither of them had brought an umbrella.
‘Run!’ Hiromitsu grabbed Rei’s hand and took off.
But having just eaten, they couldn’t run too fast. Their clothes quickly got soaked through, sticking to their bodies, cold and uncomfortable. Rei’s palms, however, felt hot, because Hiromitsu was holding his hand the whole time. Maybe he doesn’t need to keep holding my hand, Rei thought, but yet he allowed it, the warmth distracting him from the chill of the rain.
By the time they reached Hiromitsu’s front door, both of them were drenched head to toe.
‘Sorry to bother you…’ Rei followed Hiromitsu into the house, speaking toward the interior.
‘There’s no one home today… come on, take a shower!’ Hiromitsu said, gently nudging Rei further inside.
‘A shower… uh, together?’ Rei asked, realising that Hiromitsu had led him straight into the bathroom, with no sign of waiting for him or making him wait.
‘Of course! You can’t stay in wet clothes… don’t want you to catch a cold…’
The bathroom was not that spacious, and with both of them showering at the same time, it was a little cramped. Rei did his best to keep his eyes off Hiromitsu’s body, pretending not to notice how Hiromitsu’s shoulders had broadened, how his back had grown stronger and straighter, how his arms and legs were gradually firming up, and how certain curves of his body had become more pronounced…
Hiromitsu was still so open and unguarded, which made Rei’s furtive thoughts feel even more guilty. Rei’s face burned bright red, but thankfully he could blame it on the water being too hot.
After finishing the shower and changing into clean clothes borrowed from Hiromitsu, Rei finally felt at ease. He walked into Hiromitsu’s room, suddenly utterly exhausted. He collapsed onto Hiromitsu’s bed.
Hiromitsu entered the room as well and lay down beside Rei. ‘Ahh - yeah, I’m a bit tired too,’ he said, yawning.
Rei closed his eyes and remained still. Hiromitsu turned toward him, leaning close to his ear. ‘Want to read some manga?’
Rei kept his eyes shut. After a long pause, as if summoning all his courage, he slowly reached out, wrapping his arms around Hiromitsu and pressing himself close, burying his face in Hiromitsu’s chest.
The room fell silent. All Rei could hear was the frantic beating of his own heart.
Hiromitsu reached out as well, gently rubbing the back of Rei’s head before resting his arm across Rei’s back. Then he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to Rei’s forehead.
‘Dummy… don’t keep things bottled up from now on, okay?’
The rain had stopped. A fresh, cool breeze blew in through the window, clearing away the lingering heat and lifting the weight from Rei’s chest.
‘The promise we made… it still counts.’ Hiromitsu added.
Rei felt as if his throat had been dried out by the wind. He couldn’t say a word, and his nose tingled with emotion.
For a while, the two of them just quietly nestled together. Until Rei looked up and, just like back then, gave a simple yet steadfast reply:
‘Um-hum!’