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Tendou dragged Ushijima to the edge of town -- his form of persuasion. It didn't take much to persuade him to do anything harmless, usually the promise of food or some animal related knickknack, but sometimes Tendou didn't bother to bribe Ushijima. It kept a "thrill" in the simple act of accompanying a friend.
"This new guy's moving in today, see," Tendou explained. He moved behind a bush and gestured Ushijima to follow.
"Is it supposed to be a secret?"
"No."
"Then why're we hiding?"
"Don't you want to know what he's like before you meet him? He might be a grumpy loser, or a pain in the neck, or a huge asshole. Or a cheapskate. If he's any of these things, then run."
Ushijima glanced ahead. "Some people in town say you're untrustworthy."
"And you believe those people? Pfft."
Ushijima stared at Tendou without a word.
Tendou pushed on Ushijima's head to hide them both into a crouch in the bushes. "Hey, I think I hear someone coming," he whispered.
Two cars approached from down the road. One of them was a large moving truck, and an ordinary car led in front. Neither of them looked in Tendou and Ushijima's direction. The cars drove past the gate where they hid in the bushes and continued on to town.
"I only saw them for a second," Ushijima said quietly.
"I didn't think this through," Tendou admitted in agreement. He shot to his feet and stretched with a loud groan. "C'mon, we have to chase them."
"Do you know which house they're going to?"
Tendou closed his eyes. "No."
"Tendou, I can't keep my animals waiting too long."
"Alright, alright! Let's chase after them."
"They're driving cars," Ushijima said.
"Let's run to where we think they went."
Tendou crept between lampposts and telephone poles, attempting to hide behind them, while Ushijima walked normally near him. Ushijima found the new neighbor first, in a house near his own home, and he imitated Tendou's crouch from memory and paused to shift to the ground behind more bushes.
Tendou joined him. "You found him first. Impressive. You learned from the best."
Ushijima looked at him without turning his head. "I never would've taken you for a gossip, Tendou."
"I'm a very curious person." Tendou perked up, and then hissed. "Quiet!"
Someone exited. By the look of the house, they were an ordinary citizen with no intent to own a farm: one of the main allures of moving to a rural town.
"Wow, he looks boring." Tendou squinted. "He looks like a goody two-shoes. What do you think?"
"I think he looks like a kind man sensitive to nature."
"Stop wishing for another Wakatoshi," Tendou croaked, rasping to imitate a frog. He made a wordless ribbit.
"It's not a wish."
"Stop projecting yourself, then."
Tendou cut himself off and screeched. At the same time, someone's hand fell on Ushijima's shoulder, and Ushijima jolted.
"Who are you and why are you hiding in my bushes?"
"Who're you and why're you moving into town?" Tendou asked back. For a a few moments, the only response he received was a flat quiet stare.
Instead of answering, the stranger made his way to the corner of his lawn and reached for the water hose.
Tendou yelled and took off. Ushijima stood up.
"I'm sorry for my friend, Tendou Satori. He's a gossip."
The stranger aimed his hose. "Can't you at least wait before you spy on me?"
"I didn't want to intrude. Tendou wanted to."
The hose lowered alongside a grumbling sigh. "Next time there'll be a dog instead of a hose."
"What kind of dog? I can help you choose."
"No thanks." He tossed the hose to the ground. "What's normal for this town: you or him?"
"Tendou is definitely an anomaly." Ushijima extended his hand. "My name is Ushijima Wakatoshi. I live in the farm nearby." Ushijima gestured with his other hand to the small road splitting from the current street. It led to a house surrounded by a barn, a chicken coop, and crop fields.
The stranger stretched out a low breath into a rumble. He glanced at Ushijima's hand. "My name's Shirabu Kenjirou. I don't shake hands. I'm tired from moving, so I'm going inside." He left without giving Ushijima time to speak, and he closed the door.
Ushijima returned to Tendou's house and found him sprawled over his couch, lying on his back. Despite the awkward angle of his neck, he tilted his head up to play a video game on his TV.
"What happened? You're dry, so you made nice and dodged the hose." Tendou paused the game and sat up.
"He didn't appreciate the spying."
"I was curious. He should be flattered." Tendou scooted and patted the available seat. "So who is he and what's he like?"
"Shirabu Kenjirou. He was distant, but under the circumstances, it's understandable."
"So I'm the source of his personality right off the bat. Does he even have one?" Tendou unpaused the game. "If you're gonna stay long, you should do your part." He jerked his foot to the second controller.
Ushijima picked it up and sat back down. "You know I don't play this very well."
"The fun is in watching you die." Tendou nodded. "If you get better, you get to watch me die, too."
Ushijima moved his hand and pushed Tendou's controls to drive Tendou's character off the screen and die.
Tendou held his controller further away. "Never mind."
Ushijima knocked on Shirabu's door. He carried a basket on his arm filled with baked desserts and generic household goods.
Shirabu opened and leaned in his doorway. "Did something else happen?"
Ushijima fidgeted on the basket handle and slid it down to his hand. "No. I brought you a housewarming gift."
Shirabu didn't react. "Really?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Shirabu shifted his arms and eyed the basket. "People don't usually do this for strangers."
"They don't? My friends and I do."
"You and your friends are not normal people." Shirabu sighed and hung his hand out. "Thanks."
Ushijima rested the basket handle on his wrist. "I hope this also makes up for what Tendou did to you yesterday."
"Hearing him scream was already worth it." Shirabu dug around in the basket. "Don't tell him I forgive you and all. I still don't want him around." Shirabu chose a muffin and bit into it. He held his hand over his mouth. "This is really good. Where'd you buy this from?"
"I made it."
"That should've been my first guess. You're a farmer. You look like a self-sufficient guy." Shirabu took another bite. "You don't let your cows walk all over the street, do you?"
"No. They graze on my own land."
"I know almost nothing about farms, sorry."
"Would you like to see mine?"
"I'm still busy unpacking. Maybe some other time." Shirabu waved and closed the door.
Ushijima returned home and wound around to check on the cows in the barn. Tendou was leaning on a gate and pretending to talk to one of them.
He pulled away and straightened. "Oh? Wakatoshi, where've you been?"
"I gave Shirabu a housewarming gift."
"That's a great idea. I should give him something."
"Tendou...he doesn't like you."
"So I need to give him an amazing present, then." Tendou pointed at his previous conversational partner. "What're you going to name this cow? Have you decided?"
"No, not yet." Ushijima removed a brush from a shelf and handed it to Tendou. "Would you like to brush it?"
Tendou stretched his hand out. "Please."
Ushijima accompanied Tendou on a shopping trip further into town. Tendou explained that he needed a new bike, but it was an excuse to eat out for lunch on a weekday.
"How come you never have any farm stories? I'd think you'd have some from just having animals. I always hear funny stories from people with animals, and you have a ton."
"My animals don't misbehave."
Tendou muttered, "Liar." He stuffed more rice and tofu into his mouth.
"What do you want them to do, Tendou? They're quiet and well-mannered animals. They're content to sleep and spend time with each other."
"Why do you like farming? It doesn't sound cool or fun."
Ushijima maintained a level stare.
"I'm just asking."
Shirabu stopped at their table. "Why did you send me a basket full of nothing but bread and salt?"
Tendou jumped. "Scared me! You came out of nowhere."
"Was it a joke?" Shirabu forced his hands on the table with a small thud.
"Relax. It's just food."
Ushijima leaned in. "He doesn't know how to cook well."
"You don't like my food?" Tendou asked.
"No."
Tendou opened his mouth in a soundless gasp, unable to summon an actual one. "The truth comes out even more out-of-nowhere than grumpy hose guy."
Shirabu angled to face Ushijima with tighter attention, ignoring Tendou by physical exclusion. "You like udon, right? Let me take you out sometime. I'm still unpacking, so I don't have a kitchen to cook."
"Why udon?" Ushijima asked.
Shirabu scratched his neck. "That's easy to find, and I don't really know any restaurants."
Tendou snorted. "Then why'd you ask?"
Shirabu held his hand out in front of Tendou's face without looking at him. "Well?"
"Yeah, I'd like to."
"Great. I'll pick you up for dinner. I'll be starving with no plans so dinner for today works out fine."
Tendou muffled his mouth to force himself into near-silence, snickering into his hand. When Shirabu excused himself and left, Tendou finally burst out laughing.
"What is it?" Ushijima asked.
"He asked you on a date."
The air in Ushijima's lungs drained with a choke. "What?"
"Pretty smooth. But also, he has some nerve. What if we were on a date? How could he tell?"
"Tendou, hold on." Ushijima placed a hand on the table. "How could you tell he asked me on a date? I couldn't tell. I didn't think..."
Tendou patted his hand. "So you don't have any experience with this kind of thing, huh?"
"No," Ushijima said after a hesitating moment.
"None at all?"
"No."
Tendou laughed again. "Wakatoshi, you lost soul."
Ushijima almost never gave romance any thought. He didn't consider anyone, and no one considered him. He focused purely on his animals. The looming threat of a date charged him with an uncomfortable busyness filled with the awareness of all these things.
It also filled him with warmth. Ushijima couldn't stop thinking about it. Now every time Shirabu came up, the only thing on Ushijima's mind was the slow and still in transit realization that Shirabu liked him. Not only that, but there was something about him that made Shirabu like him quickly.
Shirabu met him at his doorstep. Ushijima was still lost in his thoughts, and he jolted when Shirabu grabbed his arm.
"Were you zoning out? You haven't said a thing for a while."
Ushijima fumbled. "Sorry." He wiped his hands on his pants. He was sweating, even in the night air, worrying in his own warmth.
"What's your jerk friend's name?" Shirabu asked.
"Tendou Satori."
"He's a terrible person."
"Notoriety makes him popular, but he's still good at heart."
"I don't really want to believe you." Shirabu stopped at the corner of a busy street. "Pick someplace. I'd just choose something random."
"I know of a quality place." Ushijima led them to a large restaurant filled with people, typical for a night on the weekend.
Shirabu removed his coat and folded it over his arm. As they waited for a table while sitting down, Ushijima stared at his own hands on his knees.
"Unpacking took forever," Shirabu complained. "How long ago did you move in?"
"I never did. I was born here."
"Have you even travelled?"
"No."
Shirabu regarded him with quiet eye contact. Ushijima took the silence for mild shock. "You don't get bored?"
"No. I love my farm."
Shirabu rumbled out a breath. "I guess if I loved something that much, I'd be compelled to stay in one place, too."
A host came and greeted them, and after he guided them to a table, Shirabu resumed the conversation. "So tell me about your farm."
"I think I have a name for my nameless cow."
Tendou raised his head off his pillowed hands. They were in the barn, and he had been leaning against a wooden gate. "Oh? What is it? Turnip? Cabbage?"
Ushijima smoothed the cow's fur with his brush. He brightened and brushed its neck fondly. "Shirabu."
Tendou and accompanying friend Semi both started laughing. Tendou knocked over a bucket by accident.
"Not even hiding anything about it," Tendou rasped.
"What's wrong?" Ushijima asked. "It's a real name."
"Didn't you just meet him? That's a little quick," Semi said.
"But we went out on a date two days ago."
Semi choked. "What?"
"Yes, a date."
"He specifically said date?"
Ushijima rubbed his neck. "No, but Tendou said it was."
"Tendou also says he's psychic. I wouldn't count on him." Semi shot Tendou a glare. "You shouldn't have said anything to Wakatoshi."
"It was a date. You should've been there. It sounded like he asked Wakatoshi on a date."
"Either way," Semi said, and he swiveled to Ushijima, "don't name your cow that."
"Why not?"
"Isn't it embarrassing to you at all?"
"No. Why would it be?" Ushijima asked.
"It's... Isn't it too... What would you do if Shirabu found out you named a cow after him?"
"Hope he's flattered." Ushijima leaned closer to the cow, crouching to eye level. "I will treat you with great care and love," he said, already aware he was going to shine favoritism on it.
Shirabu mooed.