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Everyone sure was lively in the cafeteria this afternoon. There was so much chatter. To Shiki, it all combined into what sounded more like the buzz of mosquitoes. He didn’t hear a single word that any of his friends said. It couldn’t be helped. His mind was elsewhere. It had been for quite some time.
He pushed his barely touched lunch away from himself and leaned his right elbow onto the table then rested his chin on the heel of his hand. He was just thinking out loud when he muttered, “I think I might be kinda gay.”
Just like that, all conversation around him came to a sudden halt. He didn't need to look around, he could feel that all eyes were upon him. Yeah, it was random. But it’d been on his mind for way longer than he’d care to admit.
Kuina put up an arm to block the tall boy next to herself as she replied, “You’d better not have your sights set on Rokuro. You can’t have him.”
“I don’t want him,” Shiki grunted. He glanced at the nervous guy then added, “No offense, man.”
“N-none taken!” Rokuro squeaked. His gaze fell downward and he mumbled, “Besides, I’d be too nervous I couldn’t meet your expectations and then I’d probably end up throwing up, anyway. Then you’d hate me for sure.”
Kuina turned towards him and asked, “Does your stomach hurt? I can get you some soup.”
Rokuro quickly shook his head back and forth. “It was just hypothetical!”
Juji adjusted his glasses then eyed Shiki curiously as he asked, “Is there some reason you felt compelled to talk about this now of all times?”
Shiki’s gaze shifted to the side then he said, “Not really.”
It wasn’t a lie. There was no rhyme or reason for this particular moment. He’d just been kind of dealing with it for a while now. It was nice to get it off his chest.
“All right, I’ll be the one to ask,” Ikari declared. He pointed a fork at the blue-haired boy and grumbled, “Just who is it you’re so into that you have that gross look in your eyes, huh?”
Homare gasped, and looked from her snarling classmate to Shiki. She shook her head then muttered, “You can’t just ask that.”
“Why not? He brought it up.” Ikari grunted.
Yeah, the guy was right about that much but Shiki didn’t care. He was far too busy watching his stupid roommate, who had just entered the cafeteria and quickly gotten his food. The blond ignored everyone as he walked past their table. Right when he was about to pass by, he stepped directly onto Shiki’s foot.
“Ouch! Watch it!” Shiki cried.
“Get out of the way, prick,” Jin spat right back without ever slowing down.
Shiki turned and waved his fist in the air as he shouted, “Asshole!”
“Fuck off.” Jin replied without so much as a glance back in his direction.
Shiki’s gaze lingered upon his back. He wanted Jin to turn around. Just look back at him for a split second. Spare a moment of that dagger-like glare. He spun back around and held his head in both hands. His face was burning so much it hurt. It was all he could do to swear softly under his breath. That stupid guy was the worst! Ughhhh.
“Gonna take a wild guess here and say it’s Jin you’re into,” Ikari said flatly.
“Who told you!” Shiki yelped.
Ikari crossed his arms then rolled his eyes and replied, “You just did.”
Juji tilted his head then chimed in, “You say you like him but you’re the first person to try and pick a fight with him whenever he’s around.”
“I can’t help it!” Shiki exclaimed. “I live with the guy, I get to see things you all couldn’t begin to imagine!”
“...do I even want to know?” Ikari sighed.
“Like his cute bedhead after he just wakes up! Gahhh!” Shiki cried. He shook his head and continued, “Also the way he lights up just enough for it to be noticeable when offered a treat! Like a cute kitty cat!”
For every stupid thing he couldn’t stand about the guy there were at least two things he found endearing. And it was driving Shiki absolutely crazy! Life would be so much simpler if he could just hate Jin the same way he hated him. Seriously, why’d he need all the extra unnecessary bullshit feelings? It was so annoying!
“A… cat?” Homare asked with a tilt of her head.
“Oh, now I get it. You’re a total idiot.” Ikari snorted. He turned his attention back to his food, seemingly done with the conversation.
“Shut up.” Shiki hissed. He crossed his arms on the table then laid his chin in them. “You just don’t understand. I can’t stand him but I also really want to be around him all the time. Its super annoying.”
“You say that yet here you are whining in our ears instead of sitting with him at lunch,” Kuina snorted.
Shiki sat upright and yelped, “What am I supposed to do? Just waltz over there and–”
“Pretty much.” Ikari.
“Yup.” Kuina.
“Y-yeah…” Homare.
“Uh huh.” Rokuro.
“I think what everyone means is that you’re a friendly and talkative person, so that kind of thing wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for you.” Juji explained. “And you can see how the conversation goes from there.”
They were right. Shiki knew he was sitting here moping for no reason and there was nothing he could think of to say that might argue otherwise. Dammit. These friends of his sucked, too. But nowhere near as much as his dumb roommate. Ugh, fine. Shiki stood, grabbed his lunch tray, and wandered off.
“Go get em, tiger!” Kuina called with a little snicker. The others chuckled as well. Shiki kind of hated those guys.
He threw out his trash and set the tray where it belonged then meandered over to the table where Jin was currently seated all by himself. Once he got there he opened his mouth to speak and instead ended up yelping in surprise when the guy flung a small saw blade made of blood in his direction. It flew into a nearby wall then liquefied.
Shiki avoided it no problem, but that really wasn’t the issue here. He stomped right up to the blond and started to scold him about how he could’ve hurt someone. On and on he lectured, while Jin completely ignored him and ate his food.
“Seriously, what if it’d been someone else standing there!” Shiki cried.
“You’re the only one stupid enough to bother me,” Jin replied flatly.
Shiki looked around them. Yeah, it was a pretty lonely section of the room where no one else seemed to be hanging out, but that was entirely Jin’s fault. He could’ve easily sat at the same table as everyone else.
Shiki sighed in defeat then pulled out a chair across from the blond and sat down. Jin glanced up from his food and blinked. Shiki crossed his arms and grumbled, “You unsociable bastard. Make a damn effort to be more approachable and maybe you’d have friends.”
Jin’s gaze returned to his lunch. He scooped up the next bite before he replied, “Don’t want any.”
Shiki held out both hands in an exaggerated shrug. He shook his head then sighed, “Guess I have no choice but to stick around, then. So you don’t look like a total loser.”
“What do you care if I do or not?” Jin snorted.
“I don’t!” Shiki hissed.
After a long pause that consisted of Jin giving him a glare that was clearly intent on causing him to implode or something, he finally rolled his eyes. Jin blew him off completely as he mumbled, “Just do whatever you want. I don’t care.”
Victory! Sort of. Shiki’s stomach was a bit queasy but at least he got to spend a little time with the guy now. Yeah, it’d likely consist of them arguing but that was just how the two of them communicated. And if he was being a hundred percent honest with himself, he kind of liked it. Not that he’d ever tell the stupid, idiot, dumbass blond with the annoyingly pretty eyes something like that.
*
It was pretty exciting that Shiki got permission to have Mikado visit the academy for the day. In fact, it was groundbreaking in the sense that it was the first time a Momotaro had ever been invited at all. The whole ordeal was so unprecedented that the principal himself was the one to give them a quick tour of the facility. With Mudano tagging along as insurance, of course.
Mikado wasn’t offended at all. He was totally understanding. Also super in awe of the place and all smiles the entire time. His joyous nature was infectious as always and Shiki couldn’t help but make stupid jokes then laugh along with him. It made for a great mood during the tour.
Once the formalities were said and done, the two of them grabbed some snacks from the cafeteria and headed to Shiki’s bedroom. It was obviously the best place to hang out since that was where all his guns and magazines were. He was met with no argument from the principal or anyone else.
What a blast. Having Mikado around like this was great! If the two of them attended the same school they’d absolutely have been the greatest, most dynamic duo around. The whole world would’ve been envious of how well they got on. Maybe they’d get challenged to fights because of it! Nah, Mikado was far too kind. He’d totally be the prince of the school.
Shiki, however… he’d likely be his hotheaded delinquent friend that no one understood how they got along. Yeah, that felt right. What did that say about him that he couldn’t even imagine himself in some princely roll in his own fantasy? He wasn’t sure he even wanted to know.
It was quite a few hours of goofing off later when Mikado glanced over at the bunk beds and asked, “So where’s your roommate?”
“No idea. That guy is really hard to figure out sometimes.” Shiki said mostly to himself. His brow furrowed as he thought about it. All the time, actually. Not a damn thing that prick did made a lick of sense.
Mikado blinked at him then tilted his head and hummed, “What’s that expression on your face right now?”
Shiki didn’t even have an ounce of self-control. Once asked, he spilled it all. From how much he liked Jin to how much the guy hated him, Shiki just kept talking. How it sucked to realize what he felt, to how great it’d be to throttle the guy. It was like he was cursed with being unable to shut the hell up once he started. In the end, though, it did feel good to say all that nonsense out loud. He let out a long, exasperated sigh when finally done.
The silence that followed made him wonder if he’d overdone it. Maybe Mikado was annoyed. He probably had his own problems to deal with. He didn’t need the unnecessary burden of a friend’s as well. Shiki opened his mouth to apologize but the blond spoke first.
Mikado offered him a kind smile then hummed with an upward inflection, “Maybe you should just tell him how you feel?”
“Are you crazy! I can’t do that!” Shiki shrieked. No, no, no. Bad idea. Pump the brakes. He shook his hands and head wildly. “He already hates my guts! I can’t just make things awkward because I feel like it!”
“Hmm, I see.” Mikado nodded and curled a finger against his chin. He caught his own fist with the other hand then chirped, “Clearly the only thing to do is to keep it all bottled up inside and take it to your grave!”
“What!” Shiki cried. Like, yeah, he knew, but man he’d hoped for anything else.
“Relax, I’m only joking,” Mikado chuckled. He put a gentle hand upon the other boy’s shoulder and smiled his most comforting smile. His voice was as smooth as warm honey when he said, “I have a feeling things will work themselves out if you just stop worrying so much.”
“How can you be so sure…” Shiki mumbled mostly to himself.
“I just am.” Mikado hummed. He clapped his hands together then chirped, “What do you say we play a few more rounds of that game? It was lots of fun.”
“Only because you had all that beginner’s luck,” Shiki snorted. A crooked smile spread across his face and he nodded. He grabbed his phone and yelled, “All right, you’re on! Prepare to cry when I kick your butt this time!”
“I look forward to it,” Mikado chuckled.
The two of them just finished up eating dinner when Mudano peeked his head into the room and informed Mikado that it was time to go if he wanted to catch the last ferry. With that, their day was finally over. Shiki and Mikado said quick goodbyes and agreed to do this kind of thing more often. It was great!
Before he left, Mikado leaned in close so that only Shiki would hear when he whispered, “Don’t worry so much, okay? Just be yourself. Someone as great as you is sure to win him over eventually.”
Shiki was left smiling awkwardly while Mudano escorted the blond back. He plopped down onto his chair and hid his face in his hands then groaned, “Be myself. That’s a lot easier said than done, man. It’s myself that he can’t stand.”
It was just under thirty minutes later when Jin wandered into their room. He stepped inside, paused, then looked around and asked, “Is your boyfriend finally gone?”
“He’s not my–!” Shiki yelped, totally caught off guard by the question. He jumped to his feet, though he wasn’t exactly sure why.
His pulse raced in his chest. His cheeks felt super warm as blush rushed to darken them. Of all the things for his stupid roommate to bring up. Although. Now that he thought about it... Yeah, he could totally see why Jin might assume such a thing. He and Mikado were super close. They got along great. Better than Shiki did with anyone else, in fact. He wouldn’t blame a single person for thinking the two of them were an item.
So that was why Jin made himself scarce all day long. He gave the two of them space because he probably assumed it was what they’d wanted. Damn. Why hadn’t Shiki realized that before? He would’ve at least invited Jin to hang out with them or something. The three of them could’ve had a decent enough time. But that wasn’t the biggest issue right now. There was one thing he needed to make perfectly clear.
“The two of us aren’t dating,” Shiki finally said loudly. It had to be loud. It had to be clear. There was no room for miscommunication about this.
“But you wish you were.” Jin completed the thought for him as he stepped further into their room.
“Hah? Why would I?” Shiki scoffed. He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He frowned at the other boy as he walked past him then added, “He’s way out of my league to begin with, not just anyone can be with the prince.” Shiki paused, realizing he’d kind of talked about his own stupid idea from earlier instead of reality. Whoops. Oh well. He ignored that and slapped both hands on his head then yelped, “Not to mention the headache it’d be with him being a Momotaro and all. I’m stressed just thinking about it. I’ll go bald any second now. Not my beautiful hair!”
“What the hell are you going on about?” Jin asked.
Shiki shook his head to clear it. He motioned wildly with both arms as he shouted, “It doesn’t matter! I’m telling you we aren’t together! And we don’t want to be!” He stomped his foot for emphasis.
As if that little outburst wasn’t enough to make him seem like an overgrown child, Shiki’s gaze fell to the floor and he grumbled, “...it’s not like any guy would think about me like that, anyway.”
“Yeah, they’d have to be a real idiot to do something like that,” Jin agreed.
Stupid jerk could’ve at least taken a breath before jumping on that bandwagon, sheesh. Shiki pouted then snapped back, “The only idiot around here is you so I dunno why you’d even phrase it like that.”
Jin blinked at him without saying a word.
“Shut the hell up.” Shiki hissed.
He was way more embarrassed than he cared to admit, and fully aware that the guy hadn’t said anything at all. Done with this nonsense on all levels, Shiki sucked his teeth then climbed the ladder up to his bunk. His teeth were gritted when he grumbled, “Just go to bed, asshole.”
Silence followed. Then there was soft shuffling before the light was finally shut. The room was still dimly lit because of that novelty clock by the door, as always. Shiki rolled onto his side facing the wall and shut his eyes. He just wanted to go to sleep. Then this stupid night would be over with. His eyes snapped open when his roommate spoke once more.
“So you’re not grossed out by the idea of another guy liking you?”
The blond’s voice felt so loud in the otherwise silent room. It echoed in Shiki’s brain, bouncing around uncontrollably. The question was just so out of nowhere that he had to wait for his mind to register it before he could even begin to consider replying. What should he say? How to respond? With the truth, obviously. He didn’t want to be burdened with a lie to keep up.
Shiki rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling when he finally said, “Of course not. I might actually be thrilled about it… if it was the right guy.”
“Who’s–”
“Goodnight!” Shiki yelled.
He pulled the covers up over his head and hid his burning face. He held his breath as he waited. Maybe it’d help. Mercifully, Jin seemed to take the hint and didn’t speak again. It sure would be awesome if he could fall asleep now, haha! Imagine having a nice, calm pulse. And a face that wasn’t on fire. Wowee.
Shiki squeaked in surprise when the blanket was yanked off him. He turned to see Jin, obviously standing on the ladder. Shiki was shocked speechless as the blond climbed all the way up and crawled onto his bed.
“What’re you doin’! There’s no room!” Shiki cried. That and like a billion other things! He struggled to scoot as close to the wall as possible so he could put some space between them. Though there really wasn’t any to be had. What the hell was happening!
Jin just laid there looking at him. Like some sort of crazy person.
“Go back to your own bed!” Shiki hissed.
“Don’t wanna.” Jin muttered.
“Fine! Stay here! I’ll go!” Shiki exclaimed.
He was desperate to get away. He didn’t care how. This was too much for his heart right now, it really might explode right out of his chest. He fumbled as he climbed over the blond, and his hand slipped. Shiki grunted as his chest landed against Jin’s.
He hadn’t realized his face could get even hotter but as soon as he found himself nose to nose with his stupid roommate, that was exactly what it did! The cry he let out sounded more like some weird animal in distress than one a human should make. He had no idea what to do with himself. So he just… rolled over. No thought, his body just acted. It was all he could do to get away, dammit!
Shiki hit the floor with a loud crack. And then there was the searing pain. His knee bent in the completely wrong direction under the weight of his whole body when he landed awkwardly. He finally recalled what a human might sound like and shouted, “Fuuuuck!”
“Shiki! What’d you do that for!” Jin yelled as he looked down from the top bunk.
As if it was on purpose! What a bastard! Shiki was too busy grunting and holding his clearly broken leg to reply. He did his best to use the good one to get up but fell immediately, which sent even more pain coursing through him. Dammit. Shit. He had no choice now. Fuck.
“My leg is broken.” Shiki grumbled through gritted teeth. “Can you just shut up and help me get to the infirmary…”
Jin climbed down the ladder without a word. He helped Shiki up and pulled his arm around his neck. The two of them walked and hobbled in silence. Good. Shiki didn’t know what he’d say otherwise. He had no idea what’d gotten into the blond and he absolutely couldn’t ask about it right now.
When they arrived at the infirmary, they were lucky enough to find that Kyoya hadn’t left for the evening yet. Though surprised to see the pair, he quickly understood the situation for what it was. He told Jin to lay Shiki on the bed as he rolled up his sleeve.
A single broken bone was an easy enough fix, and Shiki was right as rain in no time. Kyoya smiled while he removed his gloves. He eyed the pair and said, “I can only imagine what happened since neither of you will tell me, but you’re fine now. Be more careful in the future.”
“Thanks! I owe you one, doc!” Shiki shouted as he jumped to his feet. He dashed from the infirmary without another word. No longer tethered by another, he was free to speed off.
Jin turned his head to watch him leave.
“Aren’t you gonna give chase?” Kyoya had to ask.
“What’s the point? We’ll end up in the same place, anyway.” Jin replied softly. He nodded once at the redhead and then left as well.
As soon as Shiki was back in their room he zoomed up to his bed and curled into a little ball under the covers. There was a split second where he considered writing a No Vacancy note to hang on his bed, but he quickly scrapped that idea. It’d just take too much time. That was something he simply didn’t have. He bit down on his bottom lip to keep from making a weird noise when he heard Jin return.
The blond stepped over to the bed and paused. After a long moment of silence he finally said, “You really didn’t have to go so far just because you hated being that close to me.”
“I don’t! That’s not the issue!” Shiki shouted.
He threw the blanket off himself and rolled… too far! Again! Out of bed he tumbled with a pathetic yelp. Only this time his fall was cushioned. Ughh. He opened his eyes and immediately realized it was a mistake. He’d landed on Jin! Now they were nose to nose again! How did this keep happening!
“S-sorry! I didn’t mean t–!”
Shiki attempted to move but found that he couldn't. Something was holding him in place. It took his brain way too long to realize it was Jin’s hand firmly upon his lower back. Shiki felt like his brain imploded. This was it. He’d never make it out alive.
Ignoring the other boy’s silly little freakout, Jin slowly leaned up off the floor. His fingers just barely dug into Shiki’s back as he whispered into his ear.
The resulting shriek that escaped Shiki must’ve reached supersonic levels. It was the kind of yelp that’d cause the whole roof of the school to jump upwards then fall back into place again in the cartoons he used to watch as a kid.
“That felt a little unnecessary.” Jin grunted.
“You! What! You can’t just expect me not to react after you say that you lik–!”
Jin slapped his hands over Shiki’s mouth to muffle his shout then looked off to the side. This guy! He was a pain in the ass and stupid and… was that blush across the bridge of his nose? And a little pout upon his face? Oh my god? It was so stinking cute. What the fuck.
Shiki bowed his head, completely defeated. His face was burning so much that it hurt. His heart was doing the wildest dance imaginable. There weren’t words to describe just how happy he was right now. At the same time, he just could not believe that stupid Jin of all people had the stones to admit his feelings first. Dammit. Shiki couldn’t be beaten like this.
He grabbed a fistful of the other boy’s shirt, as if that’d ground him somehow. Shiki’s voice was barely above a whisper when he finally admitted, “It’s you. You’re the right guy, dammit.”
The way Jin’s eyes widened and his cheeks managed to get even rosier was so precious Shiki felt like he might just die on the spot. Seriously, where the hell did this jerk get off being the most adorable person ever? And more than that what was his probl–!
Shiki’s brain ceased all function when Jin put his hands on either side of his face and pulled him down for a kiss. Awkward as hell, it couldn’t have been more obvious that neither of them had ever done anything like that before. At the same time, it might’ve been the greatest moment of Shiki’s life. His limbs felt like they turned into goo and he just kind of collapsed.
He laid there upon Jin’s chest, listening to the blond’s racing pulse– both relatable and cute as hell by the way– and muttered, “I can’t believe this. No one else will either.”
“Good, everyone else can mind their own business,” Jin said softly. His arms wormed tightly around the other boy.
Shiki snickered at that. He lifted his head and bopped the blond on the nose then asked, “Are you being possessive right now? Who knew you had it in ya?”
Jin’s brow furrowed with his frown. He avoided eye contact with the other boy but also didn’t release his grip.
There was nothing Shiki could do to hold back his laugh. This guy had no right to be so stinking adorable all the time. And now, he could kiss him whenever he wanted! What a turn of events!