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For as long as Jude could remember, he'd hated athletic competitions at educational institutions. If he hadn't been a rabbit hybrid, maybe people wouldn't have gotten on his case about running and everything else since grade school, and he might even have been able to tolerate it. But no, they'd always pestered him, so he'd made a point of not participating in gym class at all, and over the years he'd fallen noticeably behind some of his classmates, and later his acquaintances, in physical development. He was more interested in robotics and the hard sciences anyway.
Jude Low had managed to get into one of the most prestigious universities in the country without knowing that "team building" was practically a religion there. And so his hatred of people and of every interaction within the institution grew in direct proportion to the skills he was being taught. What irritated him most was that skipping ideological events and competitions of all kinds was punished, if not with a disapproving look from the professors, then with bad grades and nitpicking over everything and nothing. Being a "don't give a damn" type at heart, the hybrid didn't care about grades, but constant lectures and grumbling would wear down anyone.
After turning down absolutely everything he possibly could the last couple of times, Jude got an order to show up at the upcoming Sports Games, "just to show his face," and "no" was not the right answer. Sighing heavily and cursing the whole system like a martyred saint, Low trudged over to the main gym. The doors there were heavy, so as he touched the handle, he never could have imagined a scenario in which he'd be sent flying into the wall along with that very door.
"Ow! Fuck…" Jude swore without much thought about whether the person in front of him might be a professor, rubbing his bruised arm and glaring at the doorway.
"Oh, Judy," Sharpness smiled, which made Jude's head hurt more than his arm.
"All that muscle and not enough brain to open a door gently?" Low called Sharp "dumb blonde" if not every time he was mentioned, then at least several times a day.
The moment the blond reached out toward the rabbit, Jude roughly shoved his hand away and, with a contemptuous huff, walked into the gym.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" The jock following hot on his heels annoyed Low enough to make him regret ever coming to this part of the building. Damn athletes, sharing a building with them. Who even came up with the idea of putting the School of Physics and Technology next to the School of Physical Education? Humanities majors, probably.
"I've seen you maybe once in a blue moon since graduation," Sharpness said, matching his stride to Jude's and walking beside him. "And in the gym, even less. So what brings our little bunny…" He didn't get to finish, because a hand was clamped over his mouth. Talking about their school days again was the last thing Jude needed.
"Sharp, listen—"
"Oh, Sharplow!" Cutting Low off, Parker jogged up to the two of them. Sharpness's friendly smile and Jude's scorching crimson glare contrasted, as always, exactly the way Parker liked.
Not planning to listen to his "friends" any longer, Low headed for the registration desk. From Parker's drawn-out "Ooooh" behind him, the rabbit knew a full-throttle barrage of teasing was coming.
"Looks like he really got on the administration's nerves," Parker said with a chuckle, shifting a little awkwardly from foot to foot. He was only this open and easygoing around the blond when Jude was there; without him, he felt a bit awkward.
"…Why Sharplow?" After a few seconds of awkward silence, Sharpness finally decided to ask what it meant. He'd heard it often from his friend Tai, run into it now and then with Parker, and, less often, even from Flowties.
Parker was floored. He'd been teasing their duo like this for three years now, and Sharp had no clue?
"You know how people tend to want to say what they're thinking faster, so they shorten names, mash them together, that kind of thing," Parker began awkwardly, gesturing wildly and not even knowing where to look. What could be worse than explaining your own jokes? Explaining that you'd been joking about a relationship in front of the very person who didn't realize it, and then telling him about it.
"Oh, like in PvP?"
"Yes! So anyway—" Parker had barely gotten started again when a smack landed on the back of his head.
"What are you teaching the kid?" Jude hissed, having caught part of the conversation all the way from the registration desk and figured out where it was headed. So he'd sprinted back to stop his classmate, and, to his surprise, even flushed from the sudden rush of blood to his head after the run. Maybe Jude was in even worse shape than he'd thought, when it came to sports.
"I'm older than you by a couple of months, you know!" Sharpness protested, clenching his fists almost comically and flailing his arms a few times.
"Easy there, blondie. Hit one of us and instead of a sports field, you'll be looking at the inside of a holding cell," Low said, heading for the exit of this godforsaken gym. The echo in the half-empty cavernous space grated on his nerves and pressed painfully on his ears.
"He's just looking out for you, Sharp. Ow!" Parker had barely finished when he took a second smack.
"That's for talking bullshit."
While Parker followed Jude to their lecture hall, muttering, neither of them noticed the look Sharpness watched them go with. Confusion and curiosity swirled together in his head, trying to give birth to some definite thought. Too bad the process was interrupted by his professor asking whether he'd brought the equipment from the small gym or not. And right, that was why he'd stepped out, and he'd forgotten.
Every day leading up to the games was heaven for Parker, since he hadn't had this many reasons to tease Jude in ages. There was something special about following his friend around like a conjoined twin and whispering all kinds of nonsense, watching his reaction. No matter how much Low stubbornly insisted he had no friends, Parker was sure the rabbit did consider them close. Otherwise he wouldn't put up with the things Brain did.
"Seriously, is this ever going to get old for you?" Jude groaned miserably, sitting down across from his classmate in the cafeteria.
Parker had meant to answer once he'd finished chewing, but Sharp walking past and winking at Jude set off a coughing fit mixed with laughter. And a blushing Low finished him off entirely, so that part of the cafeteria ended up staring at Sharp, who was trying to help Parker, at Parker himself, who looked like he was about to die happy, and at Low, who had buried his face in his hands and covered his ears.
*Why me, of all people?* the hybrid silently begged, wondering what he must have done in a past life to catch this much hell in this one.
The Sports Games were a day away. On the first day, the results of the pre-held draw would be announced. The first stage was a 1v1 qualifier, whose winners would be entered into the overall standings, and the remaining days would consist of general competitions with points. At least, that was roughly how Jude understood it. All these years he'd dodged this fascinating event, thinking that if he showed up and pretended to try, they'd leave him alone.
[Parker Brain, please report to the first sports hall,] a voice with slight static announced over the speakers.
Jude exchanged a look with Parker.
"Did you do something without me?"
"I honestly don't know," Parker answered sincerely, getting up.
Walking through the halls of the building, Parker took out his phone. A couple of texts from Low made him smile. His friend was a tsundere through and through.
[Keep me posted on what's up]
[A guy's gotta have something to be proud of]
[Like you not being a goody two-shoes]
In the hall, it turned out there was a problem getting text to show on the big screen, and all Parker needed to do was set up the scoreboard and that screen. While trying to work out what was wrong, once the professors had stepped away, he noticed the list of matchups for tomorrow. At the very end of the list was the line [Sharpness Conexion vs Jude Low]. Thinking the professors were at least trying to speak youth slang, he changed the line to [SharPWPlow], figuring someone would notice and fix it, and that they wouldn't get the reference anyway. Once he finished the setup, he said everything was ready and went back to the lecture hall, telling Jude it was nothing serious, just the tech refusing to cooperate with fossils like the vice principal, who looked about three hundred light-years old.
Early in the morning, the sleepy students were herded into the hall. The host briefly announced which competitions awaited the participants and spectators that day, then the university anthem played, along with a whole lot of other things Jude considered simple stalling.
"And now, the draw results! The first pair are both from the School of Education." After each school and the names were called, they lit up on the board. The participants stood below, waving when they were announced.
"And finally, Sharpness Conexion from the School of Physical Education," and at this point part of the hall exploded, many people whistling and screaming. With a certain unpleasant feeling inside, Jude realized Sharpness was popular, but he didn't understand why. He was a clingy, dumb blonde, even if a good-looking one. "Versus a representative of the School of Physics and Technology, Jude Low."
The noise in the makeshift stands only grew, and, following other people's gazes, Low turned to look at the screen.
"Fuck."
The rabbit pinned his ears back against his skull, not knowing whether he was angry or genuinely scared. It was one thing to be teased by acquaintances and glared at by people you'd once wronged. It was another to be on a goddamn sports field that was being filmed, with countless gazes from people you knew and didn't know all trained on you. Up in the stands, Parker couldn't believe no one had fixed it, and, jumping up and seeing the administration doing nothing, he ran for the office. It was supposed to be a prank, one he'd later claim was foiled only by the professors, otherwise the world would have heard about Sharplow. But seeing the real-life realization of his idea was something he'd never planned on. Sharpness, meanwhile, didn't immediately realize what was happening or why, aside from the fact that the spelling of their matchup looked different somehow. Not really thinking about what he was doing, he ran up to the host and whispered that he and Jude wanted to leave, and, not really waiting for an answer, took a bewildered Low by the hand. They stepped out just as [SharPWPlow] disappeared from the screen.
Jude followed Sharpness like a rag doll. Hoping everyone would forget this quickly? There was a chance, but Conexion's involvement wrecked the statistics on how fast rumors die down. Damn popular athlete.
"Low?" The worry in the blond's voice was impossible to miss. Something inside him stirred at Jude's half-dazed gaze, and, without thinking much, Sharp hugged the rabbit. "That didn't even tickle," Sharpness said with a smirk, receiving Jude's fist against his stomach.
"Shut up, blondie," Low all but growled, hugging the guy back a second later.
The olive eyes went wide with surprise, and just as Sharp was about to pull back to check whether his acquaintance had been swapped out for someone else, Jude did everything in his power to stop him. Jude didn't want anyone to see him vulnerable. He himself wasn't ready for it either. But he owed himself this one moment of weakness, letting someone else's warmth calm his faint trembling. Sharpness was taller, stronger, so that Jude seemed to fit entirely inside the arms of his old acquaintance. Something inside the rabbit demanded he kiss the guy, give in to the moment, which only made the hybrid hold Sharp tighter, burying his face somewhere in his shoulder. He feared the consequences, and he wasn't out of his mind enough to try something like that.
A couple of minutes passed in an instant, and, first to break out of the embrace, Jude simply ran off as fast as he could so Sharp wouldn't get a glimpse of his face.
"No wonder the bunny's fast," Sharpness said under his breath with a chuckle, strolling toward the university exit. Apparently today was his day off, which meant he could take a walk over to the gym. Only the chill he felt after Low pulled out of the hug bothered him, but that wasn't something he wanted to dwell on.
"What the fuck did I just see," was all Parker could say, not believing his own eyes as he stared at the photo he'd taken a few minutes ago while searching for his friend.
The days that followed went, to Low's surprise, not just calmly but incredibly ordinarily. Except for Parker. The hybrid wasn't just upset with him but furious, and had decided he'd squeeze every last drop out of Parker before forgiving him. And even then, even if Parker did and gave everything, Jude would still think about whether to really forgive him for a stunt like that.
Correction: too ordinary for someone with Sharpness practically running up to him between nearly every class now. Too ordinary for someone doing everything he could to avoid him. Everything was… weird, and at the same time as if nothing had changed.
"Jude, do you like Sharpness?" Parker asked one evening, once the moms had taken their kids off the playground and the guys could claim the swings.
"No," came the quick, firm answer.
"Do you hate him?"
"Not that either. Parker, quit quoting early-2000s movies," Low frowned slightly. "It's not your job to dig around in my feelings. I don't like him, but fine, I'm willing to admit he's a reliable guy."
Parker giggled and, deciding the two of them would sort it out themselves, steered the conversation elsewhere. Jude was stubborn and clearly wouldn't admit to liking Sharp, and Sharp, despite treating Jude so obviously specially, wouldn't get as far as the thought of romance until Jude made the first move. But that was fine. Brain still had a year to pester his friend and drive him up the wall, or else Sharp in a white suit at the altar, whichever way it went.