Archive of Our Own

Between the chatters that echo through the hallways, where everyone is lining up for their lunch and exchanging words, lays a not-so-sneaky Narumi Gen clawing his way onto the rooftop that is prohibited to enter. No one dares to even touch the rather rusty and unsettling ladder that leads up to it, it's basically known to be the territory of the one and only named troublemaker.

That's how Narumi likes it best.

0.

Narumi Gen, the infamous legend of JAKDF high, is best known for his superb skills in every field imaginable, ranging from academics to sports, excelling in every bit with only a few that compare to him in certain angles. Despite consistently placing at top 1 with the total average of 98% along with having an extremely good portfolio in extracurricular, the image he built among his peers is the short-tempered, hot-headed delinquent who you absolutely do not want to tamper with.

His acknowledgment is something one could only pray to receive once in their high school life despite knowing you should never mess with him, as his smarts and strengths alone is something one could only wish of achieving once you've taken account of how he treats himself so much in school by slacking off and skipping classes he deemed too boring. In spite of his reputation as a delinquent, if anyone is in serious trouble, he'd be the first to step in if there isn't a student council member anywhere to be seen, giving him the charisma that people fawn over for endlessly.

Rumours have spread that it was during his first year that Narumi has gotten rejected by the student council, and ever since then, with much pettiness in his heart, Narumi has decided to one up them in every duty they have. With his bad boy persona with a heart of gold — one may call him a tsundere even — he wins over the heart of many (of which, annoyingly, does not include the student council members, specifically not the vice president's).

Hoshina Soushiro, the vice president of the student council, holds many accomplishments such as being top 3 of the whole school with an average of 92%, a star member in the volleyball club, and being a part of the school's fundraiser. Not only is he studious and athletic with great contributions for the school, he is known as someone who never truly playsby the rules like how one expects, yet still flawlessly prolong the image of being the always good and diligent student alive with a tease of slyness behind every motion, making him quite the talk of the school as well, where most would even argue that he's more of the highlight than the legend himself.

Although they're on opposite ends of every spectrum, if you found one, the chances of the other being nearby is not low. Narumi's loud and aggressive self (which becomes extra cranky when Hoshina's involved) attracts people's attention, especially with the fan group backing him up, amplifying the commotion. On the other hand, we have the ever-so-smiley Hoshina and his unbothered self, not caring for the clear disadvantage of being "ganged" up, allowing others to linger for more. So, before others knew it, they're already finding themselves too intrigued to let the banters happen without notice. It most certainly didn't help knowing their history where the all boasty Narumi was publicly humiliated by Hoshina as he didn't take up on his offer of friendship. Hoshina is also one of the people who could go on par with Narumi's skills, and perhaps even outdo him in some aspects, which makes his blood fuel with hatred that wouldn't stop him from coming at Hoshina at any chance.

While no one dares to speak it anywhere near the Narumi Gen, word did spread about his apparent crush on none other than the one who stole his crown in popularity — the vice president himself, Hoshina Soushiro of class 3-3. The same Hoshina Soushiro who also just so happened to be the one to steal his crown of popularity recently.

1.

Being popular and all — albeit his image being good or not is up to debate — Narumi is always surrounded by a group of devoted fans who follow him around like a plague. He enjoys it, the attention, as it fills up the egotistical needs he has. It's the only reason why he built a name for himself in the first place, and yet, he still finds himself on top of this damned roof all alone.

It's funny, or sad really, but the Narumi Gen doesn't dwell on "feelings". Those stupid things don't matter to him, especially not when his switch is right in front of him to erase all of those dumb emotions humans carry and instead filling up his senses with that hit of dopamine he finds himself craving.

It's better this way too — not having anybody around to see the extent of this loser behaviour, the loss of the cool and badass self as he simply just rages over his (not completely brainless, mind you!) games. No one would be willing to even touch the barely useable ladder either, especially not those goody two shoes of council members — yes, he still indeed has beef with them even after 2 years, got a problem with that? Didn't think so, so he's sure he really got the ground to claim as his own. Content with that, he starts making his way up.

When Narumi arrived at the roof with a bit of trouble — just the usual hassle that no longer bothered him as he's willing to trade the feeling of annoyance of unrelated people who won't actually look in his direction for it, he immediately made himself comfortable basking in sunlight.

Though the weather seemed rather too sunny for his liking, he paid it no mind as the breeze hits him comfortably, cooling him with the slightest tingling sensation. It's soothing, the breeze. It eases his head and mind without all that stupid thing people called being vulnerable to another, and it'll never discard him from the rest of the world for being too different.

As Narumi drowns himself in the screen, aggresively pressing every one of the buttons on his switch, the creaking sound of the rooftop door made the almighty and untouchable Narumi Gen squeak. A giggle can be heard, and hearing that laugh made Narumi jump even more and turn red from embarrassment before he started aggressively hissing at his opponent.

"What the hell?!" Narumi yelled out, in a tone more pathetic than he would have preferred.

Narumi could hear his heart pounding loud, definitely way louder than the wind ruffling through layers of his hair, and he knows that even if he hisses and come at the damn guy who dared enter his territory with zero care, the perpetrator would only howl with that sound more. That didn't stop Narumi from letting out the noises though, as something is always better than nothing, right?

And just as Narumi expected, the sound of laughter only quite disrupted up the peaceful and silent roof more, as seeing just how unguarded the known troublemaker is when he finally thinks he is alone is way too funny for a Hoshina Soushiro to handle.

"My my, what do we got here? Ya feelin' under the weather, dear captain Narumi?" Hoshina said with a smug look on his face that made Narumi want to punch him hard.

"Stop calling me that! We ain't even from the same club you damn bowlcut! Cut it out, damn it!" Narumi screeches louder. Perhaps even the students residing downstairs could hear the faint echoing sound with how loud he got.

It may not be the first time he has laughed this hard — with his hands wrapping around his stomach and slapping his knees kind of hard — but this was truly a sight to see and it'll forever be kept in the Narumi blackmail folder kept inside his head. Hoshina finds himself pondering how much is truly stored in that folder with all their bickering during these highschool years. Though those thoughts were quickly discarded as his "opponent" is coming at him with a head-on attack, still with a face flushed red. Dodging it was a breeze for Hoshina, with his swift and elegant movements along with his keen senses, not even the most feared "legend" like Narumi could truly get a brutal hit on Hoshina Soushiro.

"Come on dear captain, ya really can't keep up with my movements? And here I thought ya were the fastest in the field." Hoshina said, adding more fuel into Narumi's fire.

"Shut it you dimwit! I just haven't been serious with you!" Narumi spat out, despite being clearly mad that Hoshina's taunt is right.

"Eh? But I could feel the wind from all the missed punches, ya sure ya aren't lyin' to me to keep faces? Or are ya lyin' to have me finally look at ya like an actual rival?" Hoshina singsonged, voice echoing the last few words, knowing the effects those words have on Narumi.

"I don't need your stupid acknowledgement you little shit! You aren't worth my time to even think about!"

"Yet yer the one who keeps findin' excuses to be mad at me and even goin' out yer way to pick a fight. How cute." Hoshina said with a wide smile on his face, startling Narumi to his core, making him lose his pace for a second.

Seeing Narumi so affected by Hoshina's words, Hoshina hums in delight. The blooming cherry red face of Narumi from being both mad and flustered is a sight he can not erase from his mind — not that he would, anyway. All to make the troublesome climb up here worthwhile, Hoshina notes. He also notes that despite showing immense aggression, Narumi seems to only aim for places he knows would hurt less if he were to get a strike.

Eventually, after 5 minutes of barely damaging the still smug Hoshina in front of him, Narumi grunts and quickly moves back to his original spot, grabbing his switch up and plugs in his headset like nothing just happened. Staring at Narumi, amused, Hoshina lingered until lunch ended that day to observe Narumi in his territory, just like how rivals would to get the upper hand when they go against one another.

Narumi hoped that this was a one time thing, but knowing Hoshina, he'll just have to even more protective of his turf and not be so relaxed anymore. "Thanks a lot for a bunch of nothing, stupid bowlcut." He muttered to himself, not for anyone to hear, but perhaps if that damned guy did, he'd let this one time slide for Narumi's sake.

And Hoshina did let it slide, at least to Narumi's knowledge, as not once did people mention about the "rooftop incident" ever since that day, and he'd forever like for it to be that way. Being alone with Hoshina was already bumming enough, as he had lost and is still hung on his words. So truthfully, he's glad to be spared from the humiliation caused by those squinted eyes.

2.

It's an uneventful day for Narumi, with nothing going on in neither class and club, just the usual training and learning new basic knowledge Narumi had already caught on too long ago, as unlike what people think, Narumi spends quite the lot of time alone secretly training to get to the place where he is right now. He hides this studious and hardworking self as he finds himself being caught working is embarrassing, so here he is, on the rooftop — his sanctuary, once again.

Yawning from the easiness of the equations in front of him, Narumi decides to wake himself up with exercising instead. As he moves his body with precision, his mind wanders back to when the other guy (who Narumi will not name 'cause why the hell would he give that idiotic vice president a space in his mind) was here and how despite being the best in the field, he couldn't truly aim right at the places he wished to punch that bowlcut fucker.

With the guy in his head now, it fired up Narumi to train lots to really show those squinted eyes what it means to really get on his bad side. Believe it or not, Narumi had never gotten truly pissed off at this guy for an actual valid reason before, and that in its own makes Narumi mad. It's stupid, the reasons why he hates Hoshina (whatever, he can refer to that guy as his name somewhat as he does have some respect for that conventionally attractive guy — according to others and not him!!!), because it's all the things that he admires the guy for as well. Jealous even, but not like he'll ever admit it.

He admires Hoshina for his dedication towards the student council, especially his loyalty to Ashiro Mina — the student council president and a close classmate of Hoshina (Narumi is not keeping tabs on the guy, okay? It's just that he so happens to run the school confession account, and rumours about them are plenty.) He admires Hoshina for his hardworking self, always so willing to take others under his wing when they reach out for help — whether it's about studying or being bullied, he got them all. He admires Hoshina for his witty self, cause as much as he hates to admit it, their banters are always something he thought no one would be able to beat him at, yet Hoshina always proves him wrong. Like that time when they originally shared a class during their first year, when Hoshina was still just a mere member of the damn student council. When Narumi argued on why he should be able to keep his switch and how it abides by school rules from memory, Hoshina was able to flash back with the rules that counter his argument so easily. It's something deemed so unimportant to basically everyone, yet Hoshina still remembers it to heart like Narumi does, and if Narumi doesn't admire that, he's an idiot — which he isn't, and never will be.

With his mind wandering off into the sky, the sound of the door opening once again caught Narumi off-guard. Damn it! Why did he let that bowlcut bum take over his head anyway?! And what do you know, the one and only was here once again, greeting him with such an annoying smile.

"Captain! Ya haven't learnt from last time to be more on-guard, ha? That's so unlike ya!" Hoshina waved, all with that smile that makes Narumi want to barf.

"Shut your traps, squinty eyes." Narumi says, hoping to come off as menacing. "Why the hell are you even here again? It's my turf, haven't you heard? Also, don't you have more important duties like those damn paperwork you need to do for your precious council?"

"Dearest captain, no need to worry about such things for me, though I will say I'm flattered about yer concern. It makes me feel warm to know that the Narumi Gen cares so much about me, a mere student of JAKDF high." Hoshina said gleefully, filled with sarcasm. Narumi resisted the urge to punch him in the face then, and seeing the clutching fist, Hoshina let out a laugh before continuing.

"For that, I'll let ya in on a secret! Ya here is my problem, as ordered by the chairmaster himself. His favourite can't be found hurt on unsafe territory after all, so he offered a favour for me to catch ya outta here!" Hoshina's grin only grew bigger after slipping out those words, and Narumi punched him then, only to miss as Hoshina was able to read his mind easily. Annoying as hell. Narumi is not that open of a book for Hoshina to be able to guess where the punch is going.

Yanking his hand out of Hoshina's grip, Narumi once again goes back to his corner to process the words that bowlcut had said. As Shinomiya Isao — the headmaster — has been his guardian since his middle school years after being thrown from orphanage to orphange, Narumi expected he'd let him loose as he's the first to acknowledge Narumi for his strengths after all. He guesses it's fair enough for that old man to worry, but if he hadn't been addressing it two years ago, why would he now? Whatever the reason is, Narumi decidedly will ignore it as he quite likes his roof, thank you very much.

Besides, why should he trust the words of the guy across from him anyway? He's probably just too bored and is now thinking that engaging in fights with Narumi would do for some entertainment. If that's the case, he could have just said so and Narumi would happily do him that favour. Wait, why is he thinking he'd be okay doing favours for that bothersome vice president? Oh fuck him and his presence, Narumi needs to remove Hoshina out of both his mind and his "home" immediately.

After Narumi forcefully pushes Hoshina out of the roof (and was thankfully successful with it, it'll be embarrassing if Narumi can't even beat Hoshina when it comes to pure strength), he lays on the floor, the breeze hitting him as he tries not to hear the awfully loud sound of his stupid heart. Was pushing Hoshina out too difficult now that his heart has to start spiking now? Fuck his life, his mind needs to stop lingering back to that guy immediately. This is getting too much for the mighty Narumi. The fluttering emotions that is starting to reside in his stomach is something he ignored too, as human emotions aren't worthy enough for him to handle or even process.

3.

With exams and the basketball tournament coming up, Narumi finds himself to be more irritated at every little thing. He loses the small time he has for himself at school, and while he's left alone most of the time in the dormitory, even having his own study room as it's a privilege for the third-years provided by the school, Narumi prefers the fresh air outside that only the rooftop can provide for him to his heart's content. He'd be finding himself there during every period if only he didn't need to excessively check if he has perfected every problems within the specific timeframe he has for each of them and if he didn't have to look after and sharpen his basketball members' techniques and weaknesses.

No time alone for him to be on his switch and feeling the breeze up on the forbidden area is a huge deal for Narumi, and with that he makes it everyone's problem, specifically the problem for his poor class of 3-1 to deal with. Shinonome, one of his more devoted followers and someone who Narumi thinks he could consider an acquaintance, has been doing her best to get him on his more pleasant side and while he appreciates the gesture — seriously, he does — it just hasn't been as effective as they both would have preferred, and she caught on quick. Smart girl, Kikoru would definitely love to learn from her a lot he imagines, maybe he should really introduce Shinonome to his technically not-sister.

"Excuse me, Narumi-san, since you are distracted by what I'm presuming is Hoshina-san as you keep staring over at the class 3-3, I can't help but wonder what is it from him that catches your attention that you won't stop going out of your way to pick fights with him?" Shinonome asks bluntly.

Narumi's mouth immediately dries up as he freezes in place, causing his currently rocking chair to almost fall off. Thank fuck he got his composure back in time and undid the imbalance, though that was quite the humiliation he went through.

"Well.. well.. If you must know, Shinonome.." Shinonome beams at the acknowledgement of her name. "He is quite the exceptional one after all. We shared the same class during our first year, trapping us together more often than I'd prefer and there I noticed and got irked by his mere presence. That's all there is to it."

"That barely scratches the surface. You asked Hoshina-san to be your friend, and even while you got rejected, it still meant that he must have done something that caught your eye in order for you to reach out." Shinonome pushed slightly, testing out her waters with the now less agitated Narumi.

"Why does this matter to you anyway? I'm not interested in being related to him and his business and that's final. Get back to work. I was just spacing out from boredom, it wasn't intentional to stare out into that damning class." Narumi snaps, uncomfortable with the sudden coziness that Shinonome was sharing with him, but it now made his trainwrecks of thoughts all go back to the damned Hoshina which he had been trying to get rid of for a while now. Thanks a lot for nothing, Shinonome.

After that talk with Shinonome and the period bell rings out, instead of waiting in his chair for the teacher to come like his usual lazy self would once he's seated in class, he bolted out and got himself onto the roof to clear out his mind.

Damn him, it's not that Shinonome was really at fault for being curious about him and Hoshina, but he can't stand that just the mere question of his not-infatuation towards that bowlcut already got him shuddering. He wasn't a scaredy cat, for fuck's sake, he's the Narumi Gen — the all glorious troublemaker, the brave saviour of many, the full of confidence captain of the basketball court; so why is such a foolish question so hard for him to answer? It pisses Narumi off, and infuriatingly, he now has to sit here to deal with all these fuzzy feelings that has been heaving his chest for a while now.

"Those damn squinty eyes.. Shitty bowlcut.. Me and that maddening guy.. This is so bothersome!" Narumi mutters to himself. To vent out his frustration of going nowhere with thinking about these feelings regarding Hoshina, he starts throwing hands with the air. He probably looked stupid as hell, but it didn't matter to him, as he's currently stuck in his own head with no one else — except that guy who he doesn't want to name anymore — daring to step into his ground. He thought about it, and guesses he can look like a fool to that guy too. It doesn't matter anyway as he's always going to view the great Narumi as a blockhead (which he will always fight against, but like him, that guy is too stubborn and won't change his mind even after a beat up or two — not that Narumi would actually do that, Hoshina isn't worth it enough for all that bullshit).

Laying on the floor with his prepared mattress, he covers his eyes with his arm, going back to mumbling about his thing against (or for? whatever.) Hoshina as he can't stand not knowing something that's way too easy for other people around him. Kikoru's words of him being emotionally constipated pops into his head, and he decided maybe he should revisit the conversation in his mind, as that'll be better than mulling over nothing for the continuing hours.

"Hey idiotic brother of mine, have you ever thought about how dumb that brain of yours is?" Kikoru said, with an intensity and seriousness in her voice that made Narumi know it's not filled with ill intentions.

"Nah, too much hassle. Like you said, I'm such a dense brat, after all." Narumi snorts back playfully.

"Well thank god you know you're dense. Emotionally constipated, even. Listen up dumb brother, you ought to stop thinking about feelings as something so below you or else it'll come back to bite you tenfold one day." Kikoru warned him, and Narumi only shrugged her off with his tongue out. How he should have known she was right, and now he can't even focus on his exams as he's too busy navigating through these mundane shit that people feel everyday. The conversation didn't end there, though.

"By the way, if you ever decide to sit yourself down to have a proper session with your bum self, don't just go straight to the cause but instead go the long way around. This isn't an equation that you can find the quickest way towards, so don't try to force your way with it, ok dumbass? That's all, goodnight." Kikoru then waved Narumi off, leaving him alone in the comfort of the Shinomiyas' living room.

"Not forcing my way to the answer regarding these feelings huh.. What a waste of time.. But ughhh I can't keep ignoring the stupid churning in my body." Sighing to himself, Narumi defeatedly listened to those words that's still echoing in his head. "Fine, whatever, you win this time, Kikoru. I'll give into your advice."

What does it mean to strive for the progress instead of results? Narumi has never really learnt that, especially not with Isao's teachings when he's welcomed under his wing. So for another Shinomiya to tell him to do the opposite, that was quite funny to Narumi. He laughs to himself — an uncharacteristically light one, the one where barely any could catch, he's unsure if anyone had even caught it even. He finds himself not minding if Hoshina has heard it though, and that made Narumi jump out of the comfort of his mattress, feeling the cold breeze hitting him and making him shiver more than he already was from having such frightening thoughts.

Why does he want Hoshina to see this side of him anyway? It's pathetic, and while the bowlcut has seen him wretched from just a surprise attack on this roof before, it doesn't mean that Narumi would like for him to see it again. He does though, and that's terrifying.

Receiving a notification on his phone got him jumping, and once seeing the confession account getting a message of "Narumi's been not getting into fights with Hoshina anymore, yet he's been eyeing our class like crazy, should we be scared?" Narumi holds onto it tightly, now realizing that he has indeed been avoiding Hoshina more than anything ever since their first interaction on the place he's currently residing right now. Though something else that's worthy to note, like Shinonome, people think he's eyeing class 3-3 on purpose, sorry that he doesn't sit at the window to stare at the schoolyard now.

As that starts to rile him up, Narumi does breathing exercises to calm himself down, and before he got back to confirming his feelings for Hoshina, what do you know, the guy is back at it again, even when the sun is starting to set from how late Narumi has been here to think about that damn vice president.

"Oh? Ya finally caught me this time? Guess the rumours were right about ya sharpenin' yer eyes for me, can't say I'm not pleased." Hoshina snickers, though it seemed like it's coated with a small layer of fondness, and Narumi's heart seemed to spike at that.

"The fuck are you talking nonsense about? You make it sound like I have a thing for you. Cut it out, weirdo. Your bowlcut already makes you abnormal enough, don't encourage that with your ugly talks." Narumi says, looking anywhere but directly at Hoshina. He seemed to notice that, and Narumi knew he isn't getting away with that.

"Are ya feeling good, my dear Gen?" The way Hoshina rolled out his first name — clearly teasing, made Narumi dumbstruck, unable to move and finding himself locking eyes with Hoshina which only made him turn redder. "I came to check up on ya, like I said last time by headmaster's orders, but I can't believe yer really smitten up with me now! This troublemaker really does have a heart of gold after all, guess they weren't lying."

Narumi's fist start moving on its own again, aiming specifically at that mouth which won't stop making his body burn from tingling sensation — not like the kind that the breeze up here gives him. Alas, Narumi missed cause Hoshina can read him easily, which still pisses Narumi off, but also makes him feel nice that he has actual competition and more training to do. Wait, why is he feeling nice with this guy? Stop this, stop his stupid brain from thinking good things about the guy opposite of him right now.

"Don't call me that, shithead. I have absolutely not smitten myself with you, so don't be spouting nonsense. Did having that bowlcut with you for three years straight finally start to eat up your brain?" Narumi fights back, unsuccessfully. It was worth the bite though, he didn't want to show just how jumbled his insides are feeling right now.

"Calling ya Gen is much more adorable than Narumi, so no thanks, I think I'll stick with it." Hoshina pushes him more, clearly enjoying the redness written on Narumi's face. "Also Gen, ya have smitten up, or else ya wouldn't be lettin' me so close right now. Yer guard's real down when yer on here, ha? Or is it me that's the reason?" Hoshina whispered that last part right next to Narumi's ears, and seeing Narumi getting shivers sent to his spine cracks Hoshina up to no end, stepping back to both admire the state that Narumi is in while also avoiding the chances of being punched in the gut by the currently still and broken Narumi.

"Shut the fuck up! That isn't true at all! Don't go flattering yourself just cause I spaced out for a second! Get the hell out of my territory! Why haven't you learnt already?!" Narumi yells out, moving faster than he has ever did before with no real aim as he's too busy in his heart being stupefied by the hit of Hoshina's words.

"Yer a big softie, Gen. Ya ain't focused at all either. Is my teasin' really carryin' that much effect on ya? Seriously, how cute." Hoshina laughs, a tone too soft for Narumi's liking. Narumi doesn't want to be an open book like this, but maybe for that laugh, it's worth it. No it's not, he reminded himself, trying his best to clear out his thoughts to focus on attacking Hoshina instead of focusing on the guy.

"I just had a long day, couldn't you see that I was tryna do breathing exercises earlier? This got nothing to do with you, Soushiro." He says Hoshina's name with what he hoped was malice, and seeing Hoshina be surprised finally allowed Narumi to land a hit on him, only took him so long to get to feel the punch hitting his abdomen. "Gotcha, seems like you're the one who's gotten yourself loose around me."

"Ha? That was barely anything, ya were purposefully choosin' spots to hit so it wouldn't hurt like the first time I came up here." Hoshina said out loud. "Came up today to check up on ya and also to drag ya home since I've heard that ya haven't appeared in class after yer fuss with Shinonome and ya still haven't reached dorms even when it's curfew soon." Narumi stumbled back upon hearing those words, and realizing Hoshina lives in dormitory too, this was Hoshina's indirect way of telling him he's dragging both their asses back "home".

That didn't affect Narumi at all, and while their trip back was surprisingly quiet, Narumi could hear the sound of his heart practically ripping out from his chest, and the breeze no longer had his back from these nauseating feelings he never ever wants to process.

4.

Narumi finds himself wrapped in thoughts once again. While he thankfully still haven't given the title of top 1 scorer in school to neither Ashiro nor Hoshina, if he finds himself hopelessly trying to deduce his feelings for Hoshina instead of focusing on the materials in front of him, he'd definitely slip out of his place. It's so bothersome that despite being extremely smart, he can't for the life of him figure out these dumb feelings. Why couldn't they be the same thing for fuck's sake? Such an unintelligible thing, and yet he's stuck with figuring it out.

Called by his teammates, Narumi tries to erase those thoughts out of his mind, hoping the ball in his hands would solve his issues temporarily or else this will ruin his school's streak of winning against the other schools in the area. Not that he'd like to ruin his reputation for nothing, but he also wants to prove to the old man Isao that he's still capable of being someone who Isao is proud of and not just some guy who's an undignified freeloader. Maybe get himself some new fans on the way to feed his ego too, as the school confession account has been about anything but him for not causing that much of a ruckus yet.

Scoring a 3-point shot isn't exactly hard for Narumi, but he can't just take the spotlight from everyone as much as he'd love to. Basketball is about teamwork, and if he can't find himself syncing with his team then they'll be a lost cause. He's still struggling with syncing with everyone completely, especially with that damn annoying coach always nitpicking every time Narumi finds an easy way to steal the ball and make the show about him. It's not his fault that others don't see the things he does, damn it. Why is he getting scolded for wanting to earn the most points and win anyway? Results matter most, right?

Whatever it is, if he can work well with Kikoru as he's been her mentor, then that's all it matters. Speaking of Kikoru, he needs to talk to her about these stupid feelings, and maybe introduce her to Shinonome somehow — not sure how yet, but he'll figure it out.

Approaching her, he sees her talking to some random pink haired guy. That pisses Narumi off, as his not-sister shouldn't be talking to someone who looks as bratty as that guy — but he isn't one to talk, with his rather questionable titles in school. He just wants his idiot of a sister to be safe from guys he doesn't know. After all, the things he heard about America during the time Kikoru was there were not great and now that he's here, he'll kick ass for her.

As he got closer, he recognized him as Furuhashi — someone who also shares dorm with him, and if Narumi remembers right, there are rumours about him and Ichikawa (his 2nd year roommate) being a thing. So maybe he doesn't have to worry for his little brat Kikoru, but he's curious anyway, as any friend of Kikoru should be his too, especially one who shares his year.

"Hey! What are y'all talking about? Fill your beloved bro in, Kikoru!" Narumi says, voice filled with that fake glee that he knows for sure Kikoru finds disgusting.

"Ew, get the hell away from me, you bum. Me and Furuhashi are having a moment, don't you have eyes? And don't even get that the wrong way, or I'm gonna beat the hell out of your old ass." Kikoru aggressively says, with Furuhashi trying to step in between them to not cause too much of a scene.

"Haha… How about we all sit together? I mean, it's not that much of a secret anyway with how quickly the rumours spread." Furuhashi spoke up, with a little terror in his eyes as he's unable to look at Narumi eye to eye yet. That's fine, he likes that effect on people anyway.

"Are you sure, Iharu-senpai? I mean, you really wanna place faith in that guy? He's the world's number one egoist, he'd just make it about himself if you even tried to ask him for advice." Kikoru said plainly. Narumi doesn't even feel hurt from it, instead taking pride in those words as it proves Kikoru knows him well — therefore, loving him lots in her own way.

"Don't you worry, Furuhashi, I'm literally awesome at this thing called love. People fawn over me all the time, it's practically the same thing!" Narumi says, proud of his knowledge. Kikoru sighs and punches him in the stomach while Furuhashi tries his best not to get on either of their bad side.

"Fucking idiot, you don't even digest human emotions and you dare say that you're what? Awesome at this whole love shenanigans? Don't make me laugh, brother." Kikoru replied, with a fake venomous tone at the end.

"Okay okay, lets get back to the problem guys. I'm here to ask Kikoru-chan about my love problems about Reno, and your input would be great as well, Narumi-san." Furuhashi said, pulling off his most polite tone.

"Drop the honorific would you, Furuhashi? A friend of Kikoru is a friend of mine too!" He earned another punch after that, but it didn't matter, he's having fun with his sister and her friend who he now claimed as his own.

"This is so weird. Can't believe I'm really calling the Narumi Gen by just Narumi." Furuhashi earned a light and joking nudge by Narumi, with Kikoru glaring at him like she's gonna kill him any moment now. "Anyway, about me and Reno, while things just recently happened between us, I wanna show him just how strong my feelings for him are." Furuhashi said with full seriousness.

"And how are those feelings strong exactly? Like not to be rude, Kikoru stop looking at me like that, but to be sure that what you're feeling is love and declaring it so soon is bold even." Narumi said bluntly, voice hiding a bit of shame behind those words.

"You just said you were good at this moments ago and now you're asking such an insensitive question. I really should have never let you jump into our private conversation. Get out." Kikoru says, voice stern. Narumi was debating whether or not to listen to her, but Furuhashi pulled him back.

"I'd be willing to explain. I need as much opinions as possible, so stay." Furuhashi looked at him with determination in his eyes. Narumi can't refuse that, can he? Actually he can, but he likes the fuel that lays within those pairs, so he stays indeed. "This is going to be quite the tangent, so buckle up."

"Aye aye, captain!" Narumi teases while beaming. Good gossip is always worth it.

"Shut up, captain." Kikoru spat out, daggers more evident in her eyes than ever. Bad joke, huh?

"Alright, I'll skip the more boring parts, but the important thing is that me and Reno shared the same dorm last year, and he was the one who suggested we run over with the dorm manager about sharing this one as well. God, thinking about how he risked everything for a chance of us sharing a dorm makes me want to die, you know! In the "he's such an angel I don't deserve this I gotta go bro" kind of way, I mean." Furuhashi frantically explains. Narumi hums, finding himself latching onto those words of wanting to die when thinking of someone rather relatable, though he's sure his feelings for Hoshina is completely different from Furuhashi's for Ichikawa.

"Anyway, onto the real good stuff. I'm not sure when I developed feelings for Reno exactly, but it was easy to recognize that I did when my mind was filled with him even without any reason." Narumi's ears perked at that, suddenly getting reminded about all the times his mind lingered on Hoshina nonsensically. No fucking way does Narumi have a crush on Hoshina. "I already get thoughts about him while doing basic things, but I think the moments that calls to me more are when there's a thing that's just seriously way too him, or us, you know? Like whenever we win or score a goal, seeing people hand-clapping with one another would remind me of how Reno would clap mine if I scored well on an exam. That kinda stuff fuels me more into both winning the game and studying hard!" Furuhashi continued, beaming with enthusiasm, it does really get through Narumi's head somewhat of how people experience love.

"Yeah, I've noticed that whenever Reno-senpai is around, your aura lights up tenfold, but to think that even such a simple gesture would get you reminded and motivated like that.. He really must be special to you, Iharu-senpai." Kikoru comments thoughtfully. Seeing Furuhashi radiate from such acknowledgment, Narumi can't help but chime in as well.

"Yeah, Kikoru's right. While I don't know you guys enough, I sometimes catch glimpses of y'all together in the kitchen with you tryna be boasty about your cooking skills with Ichikawa right there, and honestly I'm guessing just hearing his laugh already makes you become more motivated than ever, yeah? Well, when I passed by, it didn't smell bad anyway." He went on a bit of a ramble himself, but seeing Furuhashi's jaw drop from being noticed was kind of fun too. He's not that heartless to not know how his fellow dorm residents are doing from time to time, especially not with people who's been there for at least a year now.

"Yeah! Just like that, Narumi, you aren't as bad at digesting emotions as Kikoru-chan said you were." Furuhashi teases, earning a light nudge from Kikoru telling him to shut up. Narumi now is the one shining from the comment, now with more confidence to think through his relationship with Hoshina now. Wait, why is he bringing it back to Hoshina? On the topic of love? Is he crazy? Pffft, there's no way he'd be into that bowlcut fucker, right? Whatever, he needs to stop thinking about that damn guy and go back to listening to Furuhashi. Thankfully, when he tuned back, Furuhashi hasn't noticed yet.

"..I forgot to mention too! I used to have a one-sided "beef" with Reno. Back then, I was jealous of his always growing self, always striving to do better with his loser of an upperclassman, Hibino Kafka. While we don't share much aligned goals, seeing his effort be paid off after the initial application for the student council makes me wonder what I've been doing wrong when it comes to my own efforts too, therefore starting this one-sided beef." Narumi hums, hearing those words briefly reminded him of Hoshina, and how on their first encounter on the rooftop together, the damn guy said that he didn't view Narumi as an actual rival, so maybe it really is one-sided on Narumi's behalf. That somehow pisses Narumi off.

"But without that one-sided beef, I'd never be able to realize my feelings for him. I'd just continue shrugging off everything I like about him as admiration or jealousy, which is honestly one of the more stupid things I've done HAHA! What a time, Furuhashi Iharu living up to his "has potential but is ridiculously dumb" name." Furuhashi said, and Narumi feels like he's been stabbed in the heart repeatedly from that comment. Why does that oddly and closely resemble him and his situation right now? Feeling his face burn up a little, he asked one question to confirm the state of his feelings.

"What specifically made you so drawn to him?" Narumi asks. Kikoru gives him a look but doesn't say anything. Furuhashi seems to take the question seriously though, and after a bit of (extremely awkward in Narumi's humble opinion) silence, he spoke up with much sincerity.

"You could say these details are stupid, but people say the smaller things attract others and I agree with it wholeheartedly after spending my time with Reno. Like I said earlier, the thing that caught my eye about Reno was his determination and ever-growing self. There are also other things, such as his friendliness, the hopes he carries for his friends, shit I sound too sappy but whatever. Anyway, and the amount of respect he carries for everyone, even if they are "lower" than him. Such an admirable guy, thank god I got to him first before anyone else." Furuhashi sighs in relief, and Narumi doesn't know how to really process that. It's not anything about Furuhashi or Ichikawa, but it's about those squinty eyes again.

What Furuhashi views as love is way too similar to what Narumi had aligned his view for Hoshina as admiration, and even Furuhashi thought it was admiration before realizing his feelings for Ichikawa. This can't just be a coincidence, fuck, is he.. in love with Hoshina? Yikes! Hell no. He can't be, besides the churning feeling now that he's been moreso avoidant towards that damn guy and that one time where he listed all of Hoshina's good qualities, there's nothing else that leads to it (he's not blatantly ignoring that one time he kinda was okay with the guy seeing his actually nice smile, what are you talking about?). He doesn't fawn over Hoshina like how others do for him, he can't imagine himself ever kissing him (he never did imagine it before but that's beside the point! He won't be imagining it anytime soon either, definitely out of character for him!) so he's definitely not in love, alright?

Before he blurts out something stupid, he excuses himself from Furuhashi and Kikoru's conversation and got himself out of his basketball attire. Coach wouldn't be able to yell at him this time as between them and coach, he was too out of range to eavesdrop on their conversation. Additionally, coach had always encouraged him to socialize and connect more with the team, so it should be no problem at all for him to slack off on his captain duties and listen to someone's feelings for a bit.

Getting out of the shower, he finds himself on top of the rooftop once more. The sun was setting, creating a beautiful gradient between the colours orange and lavender within the clouds above. The scenery reminded him of the last time Hoshina was there, dragging him back to the dorm together, and he reminisces on the not too uncomfortable silence they shared, and how Hoshina had immediately left him after they reached their destination.

He wondered if things would have been different if he picked a fight on the way then, would Hoshina continued to tease him with his first name? Whatever it is, he's just glad that the bowlcut didn't call him like that in public. That's just so not him anyway.

As Narumi lays on the cold floor of the rooftop, he scrolls more on his phone on the topic of love. It's stupid, it makes him look like some lovesick fool who is in the trenches, it makes him look like those hopeless romantics trying to see if he got a chance but he's got no choice. He's desperate to figure out what the emotions residing in his heart dedicated to Hoshina are, and more desperately, he needs to confirm it to not be love.

As he scrolls through the landmine of "how do you know if you're in love" webs, he once again got startled by the yanking of his phone, followed by an amused hum he has gotten accustomed to all too well. Fuck.

"Oh my, have someone caught the eyes of our dearest captain? And here I thought yer eyes were only looking for me. Such a pity.." Hoshina sighed exasperatedly. Narumi could feel all the heat forming on his face, with his cheeks experiencing the burning feeling the most.

"Don't you know not to snoop or sneak up on people when they're busy, vice president?!" Narumi yelped out, frantically fighting Hoshina to get his phone back.

"Awww we're back to vice president like the old times, huh? That's cute, Gen, can't believe you are revisiting old memories we shared." Hoshina says while finally handing back the phone to the extremely red Narumi. Those words Hoshina said weren't exactly true, but he did think of their walk the other day, so it made him feel called out either way.

"It's not like that, you fucker with a bowlcut! Also cut out with the damn name already! I thought that was over, why the hell are you calling me that again?!" Narumi screeches, immediately yanking the phone handed over to him with such brute force that caused Hoshina to open his eyes wide.

"Huh. This is really serious to ya then. Good luck to the gal that got ya hooked, cause yer a real mess." Hoshina says lightly with sincerity coated behind those words.

"I don't need your blessings! But thank you anyway, I suppose.. You can be a somewhat nice guy when you wanna be. Don't be going around and telling people about this though! I'd never hear the end of it by my admirers!" Narumi exclaimed, suddenly remembering how negatively this would impact him if it ever got out that he likes someone — not that he does anyway!

"Poor Gen, he doesn't know about the rumours surrounding him, ha? Maybe it's better that he's kept in the dark!" Hoshina teases, and Narumi somehow got even more flustered by the implication that everyone knows about the love life he hadn't even caught on. How did he not know this?! He literally runs the school confession account yet no one has ever mentioned it in there? Are you serious? No fucking way he'd miss out on a rumour, especially one about him!

"The hell are you talking about?! Spill it out now! Don't be pulling that bullshit on me, Soushiro!" Narumi practically growled out, and Hoshina started to burst out laughing, which almost earned him a punch from Narumi — luckily for Hoshina and unluckily for Narumi, he could easily read Narumi's movements or else that would have hurt a bunch.

"I think it's much more comedic if ya don't figure out until ya confess, so no thanks! Take yer time figurin' it out! Let me know once ya spill out yer feelings! I'll console ya then!" Hoshina exclaimed, like he knew that Narumi was going to get rejected, much less confess to someone. It's like he knew the troublemaker inside out to be so confident in it, and technically, he's not wrong.

Narumi would almost always speak out what troubles him, what annoys him — hence why he's always the one who initiates their arguments first, and what makes him feel things in general. It should be easy for someone like those squinty eyes to notice this, especially with how they still go against one another over the years, but it doesn't stop his heart from beating out loud. It's suffocating him, but it also feels nice in a way (he's not weirdly into pain, okay?!), so he guesses it shouldn't matter that much. For now, at least. He's not going to figure out these feelings with Hoshina being right here, in his personal territory once again.

"Hey captain, are ya here? Ya seem lost in thoughts for a moment there. Can't have ya spacin' out on me now! Get back to yer dorm before ya start being all lovey dovey again, ya hear me?" Hoshina said, forcing Narumi to step back to reality. Narumi slapped Hoshina's shoulders, muttering a shut up before walking home with him, this time in a much more comfortable silence in his humble opinion.

What was not uncomfortable however, is that once he got back to his dorm, he realizes that he is indeed in love with the one and only Hoshina Soushiro, his "one-sided" rival. Jesus christ, what a finding indeed. Took him only so long to figure out, and it's going to take him a much longer time to fully admit. Whatever, he needs a person to talk about this to, and Kikoru will be his victim for the night as it was her words that got him here in the first place.

Maybe it's a bit mean to force his little sister to listen to two love problems at once, but he knows she'd be willing to listen anyway, as he knows she had been dying for him to finally put these things more of a thought for once instead of shrugging it away.

A session he gave her indeed, forcing them both to stay up way past 2am just to have Narumi's thoughts sorted right and for Kikoru to drill in him that he really is in love with Hoshina in his non-traditional way of feeling things (or want to feel things for that matter, but Narumi digresses). It was more than enlightening, and Narumi can't be more thankful to have such a caring brat by his side and teaching him the ways of progress instead of just the results her father has ingrained in him mere years prior.

5.

Narumi is drained from all human interaction for the day, finding himself opting for the comfort of his sanctuary like usual. Winning the basketball competition was the most apparent, with not only Narumi there to carry the team, Kikoru and Furuhashi were a greater combo than he realized too, and of course with Kikoru complementing Narumi's selfish playstyle leading to the obvious.

The people still surrounded themselves around Narumi anyway, and it does feel good to know that many are looking at the achievements he got and giving him the praises he very much deserves, but it also gets tiring way too quickly when it's not through his phone. He just wants nothing but to get back to grinding for his rank in-game, and not hold on to these feelings reserved only for Hoshina for much longer.

Speaking of his popularity, it still surprises him sometimes, despite knowing how many times he's climbed up here, not a single soul (except Hoshina) has gotten up here with him at all — not even the most devoted of followers. It was a blessing, really, 'cause he hasn't exactly been treating it with utmost care, but as long as the breeze still hit him as cool as every other day, then that's a good sign for him!

Once again, he lays there with his thoughts — sadly still filled with Hoshina. Instead of the usual thoughts about his shitty bowlcut or how annoying he is, Narumi finds himself thinking about the good qualities of the guy instead, and maybe, just maybe how he planned to confess to them squinty eyes.

Honestly, he thinks that he's probably doing too much too early, as he has only figured out these feelings not too long ago, with a part of him still in disbelief, but another part of him can't stop screaming about already letting these feelings out before things turn to shit. He only gets to live once, you know? So after much debating with himself, he figures it doesn't hurt to just confess as soon as possible — the most Narumi outcome as possible, still always chasing for the fastest route to deal with anything even after what Kikoru has said.

With that talk with himself, Narumi got more of a confidence boost of what he was going to do, which is always expecting to one up the vice president. In that case, Narumi has got to be the one who's confessing or else he'll lose this stupid game he's gotten himself too deep in and won't leave until it's too late. He also thought about calling Kikoru up here for emotional support, but if she finds the way up (assuming that Hoshina didn't tell her the safest route yet), he'd never feel the comfort of the breeze ever again — which is the most heartbreaking part of all as he quite likes it.

So he's up here, on a bench, sulking as he's still unable to come up with a cool way to confess to the one and only Hoshina Soushiro. It's stupid to be moping about these kinds of issues, yet here he is, because he's not like ordinary people who can just confess head on. Sometimes he wished he was like that though, but looking at where his extraordinary self got him, maybe it's just self sabotage to be like others.

What does he want to gain from the confession? Hoshina, obviously. But other than that, he wants the confession to be impressive enough so that Hoshina can always remember it and think "oh wow! Narumi is cool as fuck!" everytime he revisits the memory (yes, he can and will bend Hoshina into thinking what is very much factually true). He also wants it to scream the cool arrogant Narumi that everyone sees, and maybe he also wants for it to be a loud confession, but he knows it's better to keep it lowkey for both their sakes.

Then his mind suddenly flashes back to the time where he wants Hoshina to see his bright, geniune and so not Narumi smile, and he turns red immediately. He calmed himself down quickly though, as thinking about such embarrassing things should not be in the one and only Narumi Gen's book. Maybe one day though, maybe one day he'll shed these layers out, but this day is way too soon for all that.

So here he is, squeezing out the last of his braincells into thinking about the perfect confession ever. He needs to drag Hoshina up the roof and then.. what? What does he do? Maybe be cliché like those in his shoujo mangas where he gives him a bouquet? That's so un-Narumi, and if anything, he'd like it if Hoshina likes him for who he is, thank you very much.

Maybe he could do those practice confession thing where he says he's using Hoshina to confess, but knowing Hoshina, he would definitely see through the intention and laugh at him hard. It's riling him up hard, as he's never been stuck this much on something before, not even with his "kaiju" activities that the Shinomiyas' had him go through. He's so frustrated, he might as well blurt it out loud through the roof and run out of the school as he already got a bang in the morning for winning first in basketball in the area, another bang wouldn't hurt at all.

Before he could go through with that impulsive, idiotic plan of his, the door creaked and once again, Narumi gets jumped by the one and only Hoshina — the one who stole his heart mercilessly.

"Captain, out of all the five times I've been up here, ya have only managed to not be surprised once. That's 4 to 1 with me winnin' lots. Ya sure ya really are the real Narumi Gen I'm talkin' to?" Hoshina teased with much fondness behind the tone this time, and Narumi doesn't know how or why he wanted to blurt out his feelings right then and there out loud.

"Shitty bowlcut, shut that damn mouth already! Always spouting nonsense, can't you keep that pretty mouth of yours for actual useful things?" Narumi says, fake venom spreading from those words.

"Eh? But ya like it best when I run my mouth, don't ya? That's why ya could never stop comin' to attack me with yers every chance ya got!" Hoshina quickly replied, it was as if he could read the future — definitely not a Hoshina thing, but rather Narumi's (in most case scenarios anyways).

"If that were true, I'd have asked you out already!" Narumi suddenly exclaimed, shocking both Hoshina and himself. Shit. Fuck. This is the lamest way he could have ever confessed. There's actually no way he's got a chance.

"Are ya askin' me out, dearest Gen?" Hoshina nudged further, wanting to see how Narumi would save this written all over his eyes. Narumi doesn't back down from his words.

"Why yes, Soushiro. You said you'll console me when the time comes, right? Well here it is." Is what Narumi would like to say, but sadly, life is never nice to him. Instead, his short-circuited brain decided to blabber out: "Well.. Well.. What if I am huh? What then? You'll kiss me stupid?"

"Yer imagining things, Narumi. No way am I going out with ya!" Hoshina laughed, but not the kind of mocking laugh that Narumi expects. Narumi doesn't even know what to do, does he flee from his standing point or does he just stand there in awkwardness?

Seeing the confused Narumi just standing there stupidly, Hoshina decided he can't watch this scene unfold any longer. It's way too humilitating, even for him. So, he takes the liberty of giving Narumi his first kiss, pressing their lips together for just a second before whispering next to Narumi's ears an "I win again, dearest Gen. I kissed you stupid."

Narumi just stood there. He feels his whole body heating up, and he was frozen in place for more than a minute before he truly processed what just happened. A rejection was said, and while he was loading that in, he got tangled in quite the kiss of his life (just because he had never kissed anyone before doesn't mean he doesn't know what kiss will forever change the trajectory of his life, alright?) with a "re"-confession by the damn Hoshina Soushiro after all.

Narumi isn't one who is this slow to process information usually (for fucks sake, he's the top 1 of the whole school!), but with the sly Hoshina and his absolutely charming self rewiring the brain of the "delinquent" in front of him here, his mind really does go places. It's all the fault of the damn bowlcut with those extremely attractive crimson eyes that has been driving him crazy, and without these encounters on his grounds (and the help of Shinonome, Furuhashi and Kikoru), he'd never be able to figure out the feelings he carries for the bowlcut.

As he starts thanking the ground for giving him a blessing, Hoshina attacks him again with another kiss.

"Don't ya be thinkin' about anythin' else now, I'm hurt ya know? Yer doing anythin' but focus on yer lover and that breaks my poor, fragile heart!" Hoshina declared, with fake sadness dripping all over his tone.

"Oh, you want to be focused on, Sou? Let me shower you lots with attention then!" Narumi finds himself saying, suddenly getting competitive on being more affectionate than Hoshina.

"Wait a minute, what did you just—" Hoshina got cut off with a clumsy kiss, with Narumi practically pleading for Hoshina to let him into his mouth with the licks and gentle nibs he gave. When Hoshina finally opened his mouth, he wasn't just going to let Narumi win their tongue battle so easily (ridiculous, he knows but not that he cares anyway — their "rivalry" had always been one of his favourite things about the jumble of a mess that Narumi is), he finds the upper hand by a miracle and starts kissing Narumi with his life on the line.

Only after a minute of their mouths interlocking does Hoshina let go, both panting heavily. Hoshina has always looked at Narumi as someone who's total chaos, but seeing his disheveled hair, how flustered and how quickly those eyes start to dart away as he's hit with the realization of what he's just done is such a look that Hoshina wishes he'd never forget, ever. It's a masterpiece if Hoshina would say so himself, and he's suddenly really glad that they're in a "private" area as this isn't a Narumi he'd ever want others to see, ever.

Narumi can feel the intense gaze the other is giving him, and his insides are turning upside down (in a good way, he presumes) from the high of their kiss and just how anchored he is from those pair of eyes. Suddenly feeling shy, he stumbles a bit back, and Hoshina doesn't let it slide. Instead, he opts for another kiss at the corner of his lips, giving it a lick as a tease, and Narumi's mind stopped functioning further, only able to become a tomato with how red his face had turned which earned an earnest giggle from Hoshina.

"Yer really cute, Gen. So easy to tease and while a sloppy kisser, is extremely good at it! Happy to say I do not regret givin' ya my first kiss, along with my second and third, so be proud! It's not everyday ya have the vice president to yerself now, do ya?" Hoshina exclaims, and Narumi can't help but notice the loud sound of his heart beating, overtaking every other sound with it's noises.

"You took my first kiss, and seems like you're damn proud alright. Seems like the great Narumi does live up to his name of being the best in everything after all, haha!" He says while huffing out his chest, moreso to be dramatic just like the usual Narumi. Hoshina's giggles can be heard, and suddenly Narumi starts to clutch onto his heart for dear life from just how angelic that sounded. The devil sounding angelic? Yeah he must really get his brain checked for how Hoshina has rewired it soon.

"Nah, ya couldn't even get into student council despite yer almost flawless application. Ya didn't even make the volleyball team for bein' late to catch onto the news that I'm there. Ya aren't as good as me when it comes to movement speeds either! Remember those times where ya couldn't get a single hit on me, actually in these grounds right here? And also ya couldn't even beat Mina when it came to archer—" He got shut with another kiss, and Hoshina's not really complaining. If anything, he's pleased that he could taste the desperation in Narumi's way of kissing. What a weird thing to be proud of, ha?

"Don't mention others when I'm kissing you, damn bowlcut! I thought you're supposed to be the one with more common sense out of us two!" Narumi mutters out, blushing furiously and unable to meet Hoshina's eyes. Geniunely such an adorable sight, and he supposes that Narumi is right indeed after all, so he comes at him to give a gentle apology kiss.

"Yer right, my beloved Gen. That was low of me, apologies, dear. Let me repay you more with kisses, m'kay?" And before Narumi has a chance to protest, Hoshina already went in with the lightest kiss everywhere, with those lips going from his forehead, to his cheeks and the corners of his eyes before settling on a nose kiss.

Narumi can feel himself practically exploding from the inside over and over again as Hoshina kissed him everywhere on his face. Especially with the kisses on the corners of his eyes, where Narumi had to close his eyes from embarrassment. He could feel the light, tingling sensation much more and it drives Narumi crazy. It's a lot different from the breeze he's used to, but it's such a feeling that he can't help but crave more. Damn him, that Hoshina.

"Would ya be so kind and let me lay on yer chest? I'm feelin' rather lazy now with all them kisses, baby.." Hoshina pleaded, with evil intentions, Narumi's sure, but who's he to say no when Hoshina rolls out the petname like that? Whipped as hell, he could hear the Kikoru in his head says judgementally, which he will promptly ignore. After all, he shouldn't be thinking about others when they're sharing such an intimate time.

"Alright whiny, lay on it as you wish. Don't come to me when your hair becomes much more of a mess for how cozy I am later!" Narumi manages to puff out, with a voice more confident than he actually felt. He's not stupid, he knows Hoshina is doing this to hear his irratic heartbeat to know his effects on Narumi, so he can feel it pounding even harder than before.

"Sure captain, I won't go all whiny on ya any longer. To feed yer ego a bit, ya are indeed comfortable to lay on, ha.." Hoshina exasperatedly says, the tone feeding more into the loud pounding in Narumi's heart. Hoshina hums in delight, and they laid there in comfortable silence for a bit. With how much everything has happened, he'd be more surprised that this is all real than whatnot.

Whatever, if this is all a dream, then that's okay with Narumi too.

+1.

Hoshina is no idiot. He's been eyeing Narumi's patterns for a while now, and with the alleged rumours spreading about Narumi developing a thing for him, he needed to really figure out if it were true — just for his own entertainment, as any interaction with Narumi gives him that. He's interested in Narumi, as the guy is really filled with wonders behind that brash self he likes to emphasize for others to fear and adore him.

So to say really, Hoshina only allowed himself to feel something towards Narumi after he's caught onto Narumi's underlying feelings for him — though he's sure that Narumi's dense self wouldn't notice 'til much later. It was at the start of their third year that Hoshina really found himself attracted to that two-toned haired guy, while he's caught onto Narumi's feelings since halfway through the second semester of their second year.

Embarrassing to admit, but ever since their first year — the only year where they shared the same class, when the star himself asked Hoshina to be his friend loudly in the hallway, he got very surprised. He didn't want to associate with the troublemaker in general, but that stunt makes him think otherwise as Narumi did list out some reasons why he thinks Hoshina had the potential to be his friend.

"Hey, you! You with a bowlcut, I'm talking to you!" The troublesome guy spoke out suddenly, just as Hoshina was about to leave to get some drinks. Great. Now he's got a problem to deal with.

"What do ya want?" Hoshina asked, annoyance written all over his tone.

"Why don't you be my friend? You've got talent. I've seen the way you move in volleyball and your performance in class is easy to miss if you don't look closely, but you're almost on the same level as me with just a bit more honing, so join me and be my friend." Narumi said, seriously, with a crowd suddenly forming around to see — probably some stunt to pressure Hoshina to say yes. Hoshina's better than that, he's not letting these kind of things hound him from his judgement.

"Yeah, no thanks. I think I'll reject that offer." Hoshina said plainly, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

"Huh? Hey! Wait up, you damn squinty eyes! You can't just leave without an explanation!" Narumi yelled out, running to catch him for answer. Hoshina stays unbothered though, and was luckily quick enough with his feet to get away sooner than later.

While obviously Hoshina refused cause he doesn't ever want to be a label of "potential" nor be associated with him (especially not with a title of his "sideman", thank you very much), it gave Hoshina a reason to start keeping tabs on the intriguing guy as it seems like he sees through a layer of him that not many sees. He has a keen eye, probably too keen for Hoshina's liking as he's now realized he's a target of the one and only Narumi's mischiefs.

The problem arises soon after, with Narumi actively doing his best to one up Hoshina in everything — specifically always going around to "mess" with Hoshina's work (more of making fun of him while also leaving guides on how to do things easier), trying to apply for the same things Hoshina did to "prove" that he's better than him in those things (with those things namely being joining the volleyball club and the student council) and bragging about how diligent Hoshina is while he can just easily laze around (which he doesn't know for sure if it's a real one up).

While it was quite irritating at first, Hoshina found himself being used to Narumi's antics and started to play along with him, featuring a bit of his wittiness and slyness just for more of his enjoyment. As long as it riles him up, Hoshina finds himself not minding the assertive guy as his face changes are always quite amusing. Just a bit of teasing and he'd be screaming his lungs out, and that just fuels Hoshina more.

It was a legendary moment for Hoshina when he found out that Narumi didn't make it in either the volleyball club and the student council, and he found himself being the first to engage in their little banters this time around. Not his best move, but it sure is the most interesting one as Narumi really lights up a spark in Hoshina that no one else could.

"Heya, Narumi-chan! Heard ya got into the basketball club, congrats! Too bad I won't be seein' ya in the volleyball club like you talked about.. Nor did I see you on the list of accepted members of the student council, must be really disappointing to you eh?" Hoshina starts, and how Narumi's overexaggerated self acts like that was the knife to his heart makes Hoshina laugh out loud.

"Can't you see I was moping over my very saddening losses, damn bowlcut?! Thanks for the totally needed damage! Haha, very funny!" Narumi gasped out loud, about to kick Hoshina out of balance at the same time, and while Hoshina isn't as sharp as Narumi, he knows how to move quick, earning a groan from the troublemaker.

"Well, now ya don't hafta bother with me much longer, eh? Isn't it better that I'm not rubbin' my achievements onto yer face now?" Hoshina joked, but realized maybe it was not a good one with how Narumi's eyes fueled up.

"Don't you dare try to say I can't one up you anymore, damn squinty eyes! You better watch out or else I might just steal all your duties as a member!" Narumi says, suddenly all fired up now.

"Eh? Wouldn't ya just be our unwanted guard dog if ya do that? Doesn't really sound beneficial to me, especially not with yer delinquent image ya like to enforce so much." Hoshina said, rather thoughtfully even if the first sentence was full of teasing.

"What did you say?! I'd never be your guard dog even if you beg on your knees! Don't be spouting bullshit like that, weirdo! Also, don't you know about those bad boys in mangas who are actually good people? That's me! So don't get it the wrong way! I'm still a total delinquent whose morals are not fucked!" Narumi bluffed, but Hoshina could read the way he was thinking if Hoshina's words actually hold weight, and that's rather endearing.

"Whatever helps ya sleep at night, Narumi-chan!" Hoshina snickers, before deciding he's going to leave the hissing Narumi behind.

"Hey! I'm not done with you! Stop leavin—" were the last of Narumi that Hoshina heard before plugging in his earbuds.

They only banter more from then on, with the main reason being Narumi's ability in attracting trouble anywhere and anytime — always finding reasons to get Hoshina closer and for everyone to see just how much "better" he is than the student council member.

The most common occurrence is Narumi coming up with a thousand different excuses to use his phone or switch during class (especially during classes that the guy deemed too boring) and Hoshina would have to wait 'til their break to give out his formal warning as disrupting the class mid-way is a no go. Sometimes Mina would stand up against Narumi as well, but he doesn't give out as much reaction when compared to Hoshina which is rather surprising to him as Mina should be the one Narumi has more beef with as she is the class representative and also part of the student council.

It may be because she doesn't engage with the guy that much, so he doesn't get the satisfaction of being as loud as when he's against Hoshina. Welp, lucky for him, Hoshina likes it too when he engages, as the thrill of seeing the star Narumi be so worked up by his words is always more than just worth it.

Though something else to note is their time of sharing the same class didn't last too long, as Narumi's consistency in skipping class and being loud, which disrupted the other classes, got him switched to class 2-1 and later 3-1, disciplined by the most serious teachers of them all with the head supervisor having eyes on Narumi almost every minute. Can't believe they really went through all that trouble because Narumi is just too good of a student to let go — and quite frankly, Hoshina is rather thankful of it. If his source of entertainment is gone, who else would give him the spark that only the most self-assertive guy can give?

Like the wind, rumours fly fast, especially when it's about the "tsundere" bad boy Narumi Gen. It was at the start of their second year when a girl had gotten herself the courage to confess to the one and only, and as expected, was rejected. However, the reasoning wasn't because she wasn't worthy to be his partner apparently, but instead it was "because I like somebody else" — Hoshina knew that would be false, because that damn guy is too stuck up in his own head to actually realize he has someone in his mind, but it's fun to indulge in the blatant lie anyway as everyone else is doing it too.

That caused a whole ruckus behind his back, with no one daring to spread it more than just mere whispers around the hallways and especially restrictive of this spreading online is this was supposed to be all a secret by the girl who confessed to him herself. Only through connections did some information got out, and the top candidates of Narumi's crush are either him — Hoshina Soushiro, Mina or the girl who he calls on the phone quite a lot named "Kikoru". Hoshina doesn't know how to feel to be the most voted candidate of all, especially when compared to Mina, but well, he guess it does make sense as he's the one who Narumi fights with almost daily and lets everyone see the different sides of Narumi after all.

Caught in this lovestring mess, he decides to talk to Mina about it. Actually, regarding Mina, he talks to her a lot about anything as he considers her to be his best friend. She's been the one who reached out to him first during their first year, and one of the few that saw his true potential and helped him through the troubles he faced by just giving him the confidence he needed, so he trusts her wholeheartedly and "devotes" himself into helping her by being the support that she needs to shine completely.

After hearing the story of Narumi's love candidates, Mina made such a laugh that even Hoshina got surprised.

"Soushiro, I thought you were not childish enough for this kind of thing, let alone come to me and complain about it." Mina said, calming herself more, but still smiling.

"Ya know I am, Mina, but I can still get surprised about the fact that I'm the top choice when all we do is bicker!" Hoshina exclaimed, sighing dramatically.

"You wouldn't know that if you didn't go dig information around, so you somewhat care for things related to that troublemaker!" Mina says, shocked at her own realization. Hoshina turns a little red too, realizing that she was right indeed.

"It's only fair that I pay some attention to the guy with how much he eyes me like a hawk!" Hoshina argued, but they both know that's not anything at all.

"Is that what allows you to sleep at night, Soushiro? I can't believe it!" Mina gasped loudly, making Hoshina nudge her while whispering a "Quiet, would ya?" jokingly.

He likes the comfort of being with Mina, and only with her does he slowly start to accept his feelings for Narumi. So bless her for being in his life, and bless her for always being extremely supportive and encouraging everything that he does right regarding the dummy who he calls a "crush". Without her, he wouldn't have ever let these feelings pass the just enjoyment and amusement category, even if it only deepens day by day. He too is like Narumi on that part, both stubborn and not really acknowledging these feelings without help, and lucky for Hoshina, he doesn't have to worry about that.

When Mina was given the status of student council president, Hoshina can't help but be so proud of her. She's worked hard to get the place, and now she welcomes him in as her second in command, along with a few new faces — Hibino Kafka and Shinomiya Kikoru. Mina did try her best to not be soft on Kafka's application, and thankfully Hoshina finds him funny enough to let him in, the student council needed more than just serious people anyway.

About Shinomiya Kikoru's application, it was certainly a surprise to see one so polished, almost as if she's been preparing for the life of the student council way before arriving at JAKDF high. It's no wonder that she is though, as she's the daughter of the one and only Shinomiya Isao — the headmaster of the school. Suddenly, the faint image of "Kikoru" being part of the Narumi's potential lover candidate appeared and Hoshina figured it out quickly that they have a rather special bond of siblingship instead of anything romantic.

Good riddance, Hoshina didn't have to really wonder who else would Narumi like anymore if both options are out of question. How lucky it is to not have a love rival for the arguably most popular guy at school. Thanks for always sticking around Hoshina and hissing at him like an angry cat, Narumi.

After finally accepting his feelings for the one and only troublemaker named Narumi Gen, Hoshina started to find himself be bolder and therefore, started to climb up on Narumi's territory one day after two years of knowing each other. He learned from Ichikawa-kun — an underling of his in the student council — that it's good to surprise the other sometimes as it'll get him even more accustomed to having Hoshina in his daily life (taken from Ichikawa-kun's own experiences with Furuhashi), which Hoshina hummed in acknowledgment and started taking the advice.

At first, Hoshina seriously contemplated on whether or not to actually go through with Ichikawa-kun's words, but the devil on his shoulder said it'll be funny if he caught a lazing Narumi off guard, forcing him to be more careful the next time Hoshina comes around. So Hoshina listens to it, and what do you know, it was right and Hoshina couldn't be happier.

Teasing Narumi is like second nature to him at this point, and he knew that it'd be a sight to see the unguarded Narumi, but he never expected the troubler to jump that hard and screech so funnily just by the mere sight of him being here. It's even better to know that Narumi would show both his strength and kindness now even when they're alone, not unexpected but nice anyway.

Narumi really does have the heart of gold even if that mouth is foul, and it really shows through his actions and Hoshina just couldn't help but say "how cute" to the already furiously blushing Narumi. Seems like it really was a good thing that he climbed up here then, and he had Ichikawa-kun to thank for it. Maybe he'll treat Ichikawa-kun out someday or help him decide on a gift for Furuhashi, as they haven't been as secretive as they thought they were.

Between the first time and the second time that Hoshina found himself ontop of Narumi's apparent abode, the headmaster himself called out to Hoshina for some things regarding the guy. From their talk, Hoshina has learnt quite a few things: Narumi and the Shinomiyas' close relationship (hence why he calls Shinomiya-chan by her first name), Narumi's orphan life being the Shinomiyas, the fact that Narumi blabbers about Hoshina a lot and how he's been caught on climbing up on Narumi's territory. It was quite embarrassing, that last part, but at least now he's entrusted with at least being Narumi's company when he's up there, but if possible, drag him out of that unsafe territory.

He didn't get to do much before Narumi kicked him out, but knowing that Narumi was trying to come up with valid reasons on why he should go before ultimately forcing him out already makes his heart feel more fulfilled. Also, again with the unguarded Narumi is always an added bonus in Hoshina's books.

He didn't come up to the rooftop for a while after that, as exams started rolling around. He planned on waiting until after it was over before finding himself up with the wind again, but hearing Shinonome of class 3-1 frantically saying she might have made Narumi mad a bit too loud to Hasegawa-sensei made Hoshina's chest feel a bit heavy. It really shouldn't have affected him that much, but it did and so he found himself going up there after school ended for the day where the sight of that troublesome guy is nowhere to be seen in the grounds of the school.

Getting up to the rooftop is still quite the trouble for him despite analyzing the route Narumi climbs up the most — which he presumes would be the safest as Narumi is not dumb enough to let himself get scratches here and there from climbing, but as long as Narumi is doing better up there, Hoshina doesn't mind the trip with a bit of hassle.

Before opening the door, he took a deep breath to embrace an angry Narumi, a lashing out into the void Narumi, any kind of violent Narumi really, but instead he was greeted with a more collected than ever Narumi doing breathing exercises. Guess the world is always full of surprises, and Hoshina can't say he's not relieved from seeing the state of the legend himself.

Hoshina doesn't know why he decided it'll be fun to say Narumi's first name, but he did and honestly he might just like it a little too much. The way it rolled out his tongue nicely with the bonus reaction from Narumi, it was too good to only use once. He knows better to not use it when others are around though, as it'll be way too humiliating for Narumi to handle. Also, he's just not that type of guy to be open about their relationship in general. He prefers people seeing them still at each other's throats, which he's sure Narumi prefers too.

Taking his chance while Narumi is trying to come up with a taunt, he got himself way too close to both of their own comfort, but teasing Narumi (and also subtly flirting but Hoshina's sure Narumi wouldn't catch onto it) is way more fun. It's like a little thing in Hoshina's head to see how red he could make Narumi turn while the poor guy can't even recognize his own feelings cause he's emotionally constipated (thanks Shinomiya-chan, he'll be using the phrase forever).

Regardless of Narumi's violent tantrums, Hoshina can't help but like how Narumi is so open about his feelings like that. He's easy to read, and while he doesn't like that being admitted out loud, Hoshina's sure Narumi knows that he wears his more threatening emotions on his sleeve to scare away others as defense.

Despite that, despite Narumi needing to keep up the "scary" cover to stay distant from everyone, he had maybe shed a layer or two, letting Hoshina observe the ulterior unknowingly. With the trust placed on Hoshina — even if its unintentional, he will keep this side of Narumi to himself. With just a bit of teasing when there's only two of them around, of course. Hoshina sees it as their act of intimacy — bantering their surroundings away, only able to see each other in spite of the crowd.

"Yer a big softie, Gen. Ya ain't focused at all either. Is my teasin' really carryin' that much effect on ya? Seriously, how cute." Hoshina said while laughing softly, catching Narumi off guard. It's not Hoshina to be laughing this sincerely, but if Narumi could give him a part of himself, then who is Hoshina to not repay that?

This feels way too romantic for Hoshina, so maybe even the denser than ever could catch onto it? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to have some wishful thinking anyway.

Oh, but then Narumi called him by his given name. Even with attempted venom behind the calling of it, it didn't make Hoshina feel agitated, no. Hoshina is used to that, the sound of disappointment when someone yells out his name, but it didn't feel that way when Narumi rolled it out at all. Instead, he felt alive. His heart burned more than ever before, solidifying the feelings he kept for Narumi.

Just for a moment, he let himself loose, and that was his mistake. He didn't find himself minding it though, not this time, as he had already gotten what he desired from Narumi, even if it's not something he had ever planned ahead. Knowing Narumi chose which spots to hit to not do serious damage is an added bonus, and this time he voiced out loud — along with dragging Narumi back to their "home", the dormitory.

The walk back was quiet, but Hoshina knows better than to talk to a still recently lost in thoughts Narumi who desperately needed to figure out his feelings for Hoshina soon.

As their finals ended, Hoshina finds his hands full with student council duties. Many things needed to happen behind the school in order for it to keep running, and Hoshina, as diligent as ever, will obviously help out with all his might. Working with the school has always been an honour for him, after all — it's something he had always took pride in, as it doesn't need someone with the name "Hoshina" he's sick of being related to.

As Shinomiya-chan is busy with her club's tournament along with some others, the number of available students decreases to 4: Hoshina, Mina, Hibino Kafka and Ichikawa-kun. Seems like quite the challenge this time around, but Hoshina likes that lots too.

While they start to prepare the rules and guidelines for the upcoming school events, Mina spoke up, filling the air with a sense of closeness.

"Ichikawa-kun, how's life been for you lately?" Mina asks, starting out by questioning the youngest. Ichikawa-kun got rather flustered before he starts talking.

"It's been eventful, to say the least. To give you all an update, Iharu and I are finally a thing, and I couldn't be happier." Ichikawa-kun said, face turning red from the sudden announcement.

"That's great Reno-kun! Can't believe my best kouhai finally got with his roomie!" Kafka said cheerfully. Before Mina and Hoshina got to congratulate them, Kafka chimed in with his own story. "Mina and I got together too! Only took years of pining to get to her, you know! You're lucky Iharu is very forward, Reno-kun!"

Mina gave Hibino Kafka a light punch while Reno frantically tried to stop her. Hoshina couldn't stop laughing at the sight of that. No matter what people think of the student council, he sees them as his family and he has never regretted his decision in joining once. It's moment like this that makes him feel seen, which is why he'll continue with giving his all for the student council.

"Now why haven't I heard of that from ya, Mina? I thought we were friends, bffs even!" Hoshina faked sounding hurt, and now it was his turn to earn a light punch from Mina too.

"Oh quit it, Soushiro! I was just waiting to find the right moment!" Hibino Kafka tried not to laugh in turn, but everyone could see his face turning red and they all started to laugh out loud together.

"Okay okay, with Reno and I sharing our love progression already, how are you doing? I heard from Mina that you've been eyeing the legend Narumi Gen himself, is that true?" Hibino Kafka asked, eyes shining with wonder. Ichikawa-kun gasped, and Mina looked away while giggling, earning a not so light nudge from Hoshina.

"If ya must know, why yes I am courting the one and only Narumi Gen. Technically, he's the one who's been courting yer vice president, ya know!" Hoshina puffed out, earning a more confused look from both Hibino Kafka and Ichikawa-kun.

"I thought you didn't like to meddle in those infuriating things, must less one that attracts all kinds of trouble, Hoshina-senpai?" Ichikawa-kun asks, still shocked from the newly obtained information.

"Ya would be correct about that!" Hoshina brightly said. "However, I find him worth the trouble. Like ya all, especially Mina, he doesn't see me for my "Hoshina" name, and he fights the Soushiro residin' in me instead! Intrigued me since the beginning, and only until after the rumours of him likin' me spread did I start to see my feelings for him!"

"He came to me about it last year in this very room, by the way." Mina added, causing another roar of laughter to erupt, and Hoshina didn't seem to mind it either. It's really cause they're family that he's okay with them knowing after all, huh? "It caught me by surprise, you know! Told him it was so unlike him to be caught up in these love related things, and yet he still didn't admit it until the start of this year."

"Yer uncharacteristically talkative today, president. Quiet down, will ya? I'm supposed to be the one who's the talker outta the two of us!" Hoshina commented. Mina then teased him back, with a "Well! Go on, vice president, talk for us, won't you?" and they all continued laughing.

The conversation lasted for another while, with a lot of smiling and giggling involved which is a mood brightener and now Hoshina feels rather refreshed even when the sun has started to set. A notification from Shinomiya-chan popped up on his phone though, and it was to tell him to check up on Narumi's whereabouts as he left the court a while ago. Knowing the guy, he was probably still camping on "his" territory instead of getting back to their dormitory.

This time around, Hoshina stopped caring for the hesitation he usually carries when reaching for the rooftop door. He took one breath in to fully steady himself, and then there he is, the one and only troublemaker Narumi Gen. On his phone again, probably egosurfing. Hoshina decides that it wouldn't hurt to yank it from Narumi's hand to see the comments, but oh boy was he wrong. What he saw made him gasp.

A bunch of searches carrying the variants of "am i in love with someone", along with many opened websites, Hoshina can't help but sigh exasperatedly. Did Narumi seriously not realize his feelings until now? Even now, he's still using different useless websites to navigate it, which Hoshina finds funny as hell.

They went back to their usual banters on the rooftop, with Hoshina teasing about Narumi's supposedly secret "lover" and the rumours regarding that — not that Narumi understands, and Hoshina has no plans on telling him. He even teased Narumi by saying he'll console him, knowing completely that when Narumi confesses, it'll be Hoshina who he'll confess to.

Seeing Narumi suddenly get lost in his thoughts is a no go for Hoshina, as he was still right there and Narumi should focus on that! Though he was probably lost in his thoughts because of Hoshina, so he couldn't really be all that unpleased. He got Narumi out of those thought bubbles soon after and went home in silence once again. This time, however, Narumi looked more relaxed which Hoshina found himself feeling delighted about. What a joyous day for the one and only Hoshina Soushiro, indeed.

Though his bickering with Narumi has lessened significantly compared to the past two years, Hoshina doesn't find himself minding the empty gap they currently are building. Hoshina doesn't need to initiate when it comes to Narumi, as the guy always want the spotlight anyway and Hoshina prefers it like that too. The role of support is more Hoshina anyway, he was here to let Narumi speak out his thoughts and confess (maybe also acknowledge the importance of knowing his feelings too, but he doubted that it will actually happen).

Hoshina, however, did mind the amount of waiting that he has done and no longer knows how much patience he had left before Narumi starts talking. Thankfully, he did not have much work to do that day, so he would be able to enjoy his lunch in peace. At least as peaceful as it can be, as he planned to come up to Narumi's sanctuary to see what was he up to.

Wanting to surprise the one and only resident of the rooftop, Hoshina opened the door as discreet as possible, wanting to make Narumi jump one more time. And what do you know? Hoshina's successful at his attempt of catching an unguarded Narumi once more, which pleased the vice president a ton. It's always such a sight to catch, yet this time felt more special than others, just something about the way Narumi looked gave that away. Hoshina by then knew that today was the day.

Hoshina started the conversation with a classic tease — a specialty of his since forever as Narumi's always around to help him develop his skills. This time around, it's not filled with any bite like it used to. It seemed like Narumi has caught onto it as well with how he starts to burn red on his cheeks before he goes back to attack mode.

It was just so easy to rile up Narumi that Hoshina wondered if he pushed hard enough, would Narumi just confess in the way Hoshina would have liked best? It would definitely not be in the way that Narumi would idealize, that's for sure. Hoshina would never let that guy win despite allowing him to be the one to confess, as Narumi spilling his feelings out in the classic "loser" way is way too good for Hoshina to pass up on.

He didn't have to ponder about it for too long though, as once the words "If that were true, I'd have asked you out already!" were said, Hoshina knew he had won this game they were playing in his head.

"Are ya askin' me out, dearest Gen?" Hoshina asked. Giving Narumi a false chance of saving this was a move Hoshina hadn't anticipated, but it felt too good not to do it. He locked eyes with Narumi at that moment, feeling the need to see every expression written on the two-toned haired guy's face.

It seemed that Narumi had thought of a cool phrase, but sadly, his mouth was just a second faster, blurting out a "What if I am, huh? What then? You'll kiss me stupid?". And the answer to that would be "Yes, I absolutely would." before smashing their lips together, but a devilishly genius thought appeared, and Hoshina decided to go with it instead.

"Yer imagining things, Narumi. No way am I going out with ya!" Hoshina said, emphasizing on his last name just for the fun of it. The tone, however, couldn't even be remotely mean. He even laughed out loud, which confuses the poor Narumi even more, and he was never glad to go with something so impulsive before.

After a second or two of the puzzled Narumi just standing there, doing absolutely nothing, Hoshina finally then gave him the first kiss of his life. Chapped lips belonging to Narumi touched with his own, and while it probably shouldn't feel that good, Hoshina never wanted to stop having the feel of Narumi's lips on his. It was just a brief kiss they shared, but if it's already this dizzying, then who is Hoshina to say no to more? But of course, teasing Narumi would always stand first, as their lips departed, Hoshina went mere milimeters away from Narumi's ears to whisper the words "I win again, dearest Gen. I kissed you stupid."

Hoshina was going to wait again for Narumi to initiate their second kiss, he really did, but he just couldn't wait any longer to feel those lips again. Narumi was too busy in his thoughts again, so the best way to snap him back to reality was to go a little rougher and more playfully with the kiss according to Hoshina.

"Don't ya be thinkin' about anythin' else now, I'm hurt ya know? Yer doing anythin' but focus on yer lover and that breaks my poor, fragile heart!" Hoshina said, obviously faking his sadness through his delivery.

"Oh, you want to be focused on, Sou? Let me shower you lots with attention then!" Narumi exclaimed, but Hoshina couldn't focus on that. He could only focus on the way Narumi said his name, how it made his head spin, how he needed to hear Narumi say it again and again (that's for later, he needs to question Narumi on why the hell would he go straight for his heart like this first).

"Wait a minute, what did you just—" Hoshina got cut off instead of being able to finish his sentence, which he would usually hate, but with the way Narumi is clumsily kissing him, Hoshina found himself melting to it instead. It's even better that Narumi started wordlessly pleading Hoshina to open his mouth so they could start making out properly, and feeling competitive, Hoshina fought for dominance. Which he did win by some miracle. Guess he really has a knack for this, huh?

It was after a whole minute that Hoshina did let Narumi free, with both panting heavily from the kiss. It was quite the look Narumi had on his face, and Hoshina doesn't want to forget it anytime soon. The untouchable Narumi being all disheveled, flustered and unable to eye Hoshina was too much, but Hoshina still craved for more.

Coming back for more kisses, Hoshina placed a kiss on the corner of Narumi's lips, teasing him with a lick. Narumi couldn't stop turning red, it was like he was going to explode and Hoshina gave him an earnest giggle.

"Yer really cute, Gen. So easy to tease and while a sloppy kisser, is extremely good at it! Happy to say I do not regret givin' ya my first kiss, along with my second and third, so be proud! It's not everyday ya have the vice president to yerself now, do ya?" declared Hoshina, and he could see the effect it has on Narumi. He's just way too easy to read, it was as if his emotions are on his sleeves in general, but others weren't worthy enough to unlock this side. That makes Hoshina glad as he wants this side of Narumi all to himself, actually he wants all of the 'rooftop' Narumi to be his and his alone.

"You took my first kiss, and seems like you're damn proud alright. Seems like the great Narumi does live up to his name of being the best in everything after all, haha!" Hoshina continued, imitating the usual Narumi. He wasn't done his evillish activities there though, as he felt the need to add "Nah, ya couldn't even get into student council despite yer almost flawless application. Ya didn't even make the volleyball team for bein' late to catch onto the news that I'm there. Ya aren't as good as me when it comes to movement speeds either! Remember those times where ya couldn't get a single hit on me, actually in these grounds right here? And also ya couldn't even beat Mina when it came to archer—"

Came a fierce kiss from Narumi, cutting Hoshina once again. It was a desperate, needy kiss that Hoshina could eat up all day long even.

"Don't mention others when I'm kissing you, damn bowlcut! I thought you're supposed to be the one with more common sense out of us two!" Narumi mutters, and of course, who is Hoshina to fight against this Narumi, especially when he does get why he's mad.

"Yer right, my beloved Gen. That was low of me, apologies, dear. Let me repay you more with kisses, m'kay?" As soon as Hoshina ended that, he went all in with his gentle kisses. It was all over Narumi's face, ranging from his forehead to his cheeks and the corner of his eyes before he starts to touch their foreheads together and share a nose kiss.

"Would ya be so kind and let me lay on yer chest? I'm feelin' rather lazy now with all them kisses, baby.." Hoshina started to plead after a bit, as being in Narumi's arms would be more comfortable than continuing to share their current pose (and perhaps he wants to hear the sounds of Narumi's heartbeat instead of the sound of the breeze). Narumi complied, of course, but it came along with a little nagging.

"Alright whiny, lay on it as you wish. Don't come to me when your hair becomes much more of a mess for how cozy I am later!" Narumi says, rather sure of himself. Funny, someone like him who would know Hoshina's intentions, he sure doesn't mind then, hm?

"Sure captain, I won't go whiny on ya any longer. To feed yer ego a bit, ya are indeed comfortable to lay on, ha.." Hoshina exasperatedly says. Hearing the sounds of Narumi's heartbeat, Hoshina could only hum in delight.

As Narumi starts to fall into a slumber in their position, Hoshina can't help himself from ruffling his hair. It was soft, and Hoshina finds himself admiring the sight next to him. The soft breaths Narumi lets out, the way his heart now starts to stabilize from dozing off, the way he allows himself to be this vulnerable with Hoshina; too many layers about the troublemaker did Hoshina shed today.

It might even make Narumi think this is all a dream, but Hoshina will stay here to prove him wrong.