WEEK ONE: Tuesday (Touji)

I was sweating under two jackets, but I wasn't about to take Yuzuru's off. It smelled like him, and every time I closed my eyes I imagined he was sitting behind me, that the weight of his jacket was his arms around me, that I could feel his thighs on either side of my hips and the pressure of his chin resting playfully over my shoulder. The fact that it was an entirely inappropriate daydream to indulge in during school only made it all the more thrilling.

My imagination was fueled by the memory of his warmth at my back on that balcony. At first when he'd yanked me in front of him and pressed into me like that I'd been pretty shocked... Yuzuru might be impulsive, but he seemed too naïve for such a racy move. Then I'd realized his mind wasn't in the gutter like mine. He'd been worried that I was cold, and in typical Yuzuru-fashion he'd done the first thing that came to mind to help, oblivious to the suggestive undertones of his actions.

I'd come really close to losing it, though. The feel of his body against me was mind blowing. The more he touched me, the closer he got, the closer I needed him to be. I'd turned around and pulled him in and was this close to attacking his mouth with a mortifying lack of self-control. But he'd pulled me indoors instead. Now, the more I thought about it the more embarrassed I was. The way he gave me his jacket was so sweet. Usually that was my thing in a dating relationship. I was supposed to be the chivalrous one, but I stood there preoccupied like the horny teenaged Casanova everyone assumed I was, while Yuzuru was being his usual genuine self. I was sure he hadn't done it with the intention of being romantic, either. He'd just realized I was uncomfortable and tried to make it better.

Was that a good thing? I mean, he probably would have done it for anybody, especially an underclassman. He was really protective of his juniors—another of the things about him I found so charming.

Still, it made the fact that I'd been ready to molest him all the more shameful. When it came to Yuzuru my confidence came and went at random. Often I felt the same submissive shyness that Shino always brought out in me, especially when he said or did something flirty. But then he was also so wonderfully innocent that my longing for him turned kind of... predatory. 

I rubbed the back of my neck and dragged my focus back to class as the teacher called my name.

The breaks after second and third periods were far too short. I made sure to give Yuzuru his jacket back, and in exchange he walked me to my third period English class. I found myself glancing at my watch hundreds of times, counting down the minutes until I could see his face again.

Finally it was lunch time, and I was almost out the door of my classroom when someone grabbed my sleeve and pulled me back.

"Seryou-kun, did you forget? We have to practice our song for the festival."

I winced. Yeah, I'd forgotten we were supposed to rehearse today. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to, but I'd been looking forward to spending lunch with Yuzuru. I tried not to let the disappointment show as I turned to my classmate, who was beaming excitedly at me. "Sorry, Nakamura-chan, I did forget. Give me a sec to grab my phone and I'll meet you in the assembly hall." She trotted off, and I went to get my phone from my locker at the back of the classroom.

I have festival practice at lunch. See you after fifth period? I hit send on the message, hoping Yuzuru would think to check his phone when I didn't show up in his classroom. Of course he might not even notice. He would probably be busy painting posters again.

I headed for the assembly hall across the courtyard. Our high school had a strong performing arts curriculum, and a budget higher than most. Typical high schools tended to use their gymnasium or cafeteria for assemblies and class performances and the like. But Houka Prep had a full-blown theater complete with rows of tiered, velvet-upholstered fold-down seats, a curved front stage with heavy curtains, and some pretty nice lighting and sound equipment. My pocket vibrated as I came through the big double doors and I pulled my phone out, the screen extra bright in the darkness of the room. Yuzuru's name at the top brought a smile to my face.

Where's practice?

Assembly hall, I typed back quickly, then stuffed the phone back into my pocket and waved at the girls beckoning to me from the stage.

The chirpy beat of Magic of Love blared over the loudspeakers, and I dutifully took my spot at the center of the stage. It was good that my classmates didn't expect much of me for this performance, because I couldn't really dance. My job was mostly to stand there while they whirled around me, fanning their fingers around my face and shoulders. Occasionally I was supposed to catch one of them around the waist and spin them or dip them or whatever, and the rest of the time I was, as Nakamura put it, "eye candy." I was supposed to look sexy and aloof, deliver lingering glares to no one in particular, swipe my hair dramatically out of my face, et cetera. It was kind of cheesy but made them happy, so I went along with it.

The girls by far had the hardest work to do. Six of them had decided to do a special number for the festival entertainment schedule, and they'd kind of roped me into it with a bunch of pleading and batting eyelashes. But only two were in dance club, and they had to repeat the steps for the other four until they could execute them mostly in unison. I went where I was told, copied their arm movements when they asked me to, and let them drag me back and forth across the stage while they argued about choreography.

"Okay," Nakamura pronounced after we'd been at it for a good thirty minutes, "let's run through it one more time from the top and then we'll eat. Don't forget we have practice this weekend, guys."

We got into position, the music started, and it was kind of impressive how much progress we'd made. We made it all the way through without anyone falling down or forgetting the steps. Sure, we wouldn't be winning any competitions, but hopefully we wouldn't get booed off the stage either.

We struck the final group pose as the music ended, two girls on either side of me hanging on my arms, and two on their knees at my feet. They were panting and leaning on me kind of hard, but I didn't mind since they had to be a lot more tired than I was.

From the back of the hall came the sound of clapping, and we all squinted into the dark in surprise. Someone was approaching the stage, and suddenly my classmates were trilling in delight.

"Shino-senpai! Is that you?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Did you come to cheer us on?"

Yuzuru stepped into the light at the base of the stage and a couple of the girls ran to him. He held up two big paper sacks, one in each hand, and the smell of food wafted across the stage. "I heard you guys were working hard for our school festival and thought you deserved to be treated."

My heart fluttered just looking at him. He had moments of such pure thoughtfulness and... senpai-ness, that it took my breath away. The girls cheered and dove for the bags, setting them down on the edge of the stage. They started pulling out styrofoam boxes from the school cafeteria. Yuzuru picked one up and held it out to me.

"Come eat, Seryou." His warm chocolate-colored eyes twinkled, and that funny, shy feeling welled up in my chest. I moved to the edge of the stage and dropped down to where he was standing. He put the box of food in my hands. "Curry's okay, right?"

"Mm." I would have eaten literally anything he gave me, but curry was something I really did like. I accepted the box and went to sit in one of the folding seats in the front row. He picked a seat next to me and handed me a set of wooden chopsticks. I felt a little self-conscious as I opened the lid. The scent of food filled my senses, but couldn't overpower the extreme awareness of his eyes on me.

"I didn't know you dance," he said.

I scoffed a little, feeling my cheeks warm. "You were watching?"

"A little."

God, I must have looked so ridiculous. I ducked my head so that my hair would help hide my embarrassment, and took a bite of the curry. "It's not really dancing," I said after swallowing. "I'm pretty much standing around the whole time."

"Yeah, I don't think that matters."

"Eh?"

He shrugged, leaning back in the seat. "You look really cool up there. After the festival, every girl in school is gonna want to date you even more than they already do." He puffed out his lower lip.

Oh sure, because a skinny freshman pretending to be some beefy boy band idol is just sooo hot. I grinned through a mouthful of rice. "Jealous?"

I expected him to tease back, but instead he fixed me with that big-eyed, completely unguarded look that never failed to render me speechless. "Yeah."

I froze, chopsticks halfway to my mouth, and my pulse started flailing. I had meant, did he want the girls' attention for himself? But that was most definitely not what the look on his face said. He was watching me so possessively that my stomach was tightening into a knot.

A second later he dissolved into laughter. "Dude, you're dripping curry everywhere."

I quickly moved the chopsticks back over the rice, and he handed me a napkin. While I was mopping sauce from my pant leg, Nakamura approached Yuzuru and bowed.

"Thank you for the meal, Senpai. It was really kind of you."

"No problem."

She moved as if to leave, then turned back again. "Do you have a girlfriend, Senpai?"

Oh no. I didn't dare look up, busying myself a little more intently with the napkin. 

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I... I was wondering if..."

I watched her twist her fingers in front of her, and gritted my teeth.

"Do you want to go on a date with me after school?"

Wow, she was brave. Even I hadn't had the courage to ask him out like that. But then, I think she and I had dated, hadn't we? One week toward the beginning of the school year. Now that I thought about it, she'd done the finger-twisting thing when she'd asked me, too. I fought to look disinterested as I wadded the napkin in my fist.

"I'm sorry," he replied, and a sigh of relief escaped my throat louder than I wanted it to.  "I have a date with Seryou tonight."

My head snapped up, relief displaced by shock. "What?" God, you can't just go around telling people...

He raised an eyebrow at me. "It's true, isn't it?"

He really had no clue how dangerous this was. To him there was no difference in talking about our relationship versus saying he was dating a girl. I was enchanted and terrified at the same time, and could only gape as Nakamura shrieked in delight.

"Oh my god!" She actually shouted the words in English. "Are you serious? Ahh! Kobayashi-chan! Sato-chan! Get over here quick!"

Yuzuru and I barely had time to exchange looks as the other girls came bounding over, and I felt a sinking in my stomach. This was going to be bad.

Nakamura thrust her finger in our direction. "You guys, I totally have a new 'ship. Shino-senpai and Seryou-kun. Aren't they just perfect?" She made a heart shape with her hands and swayed back and forth like she was hugging it.

The other two squealed and grabbed each others arms in excitement. "You guys are together? Really?"

Nanamura flashed them the V sign with her fingers. "Shino-senpai just said it himself. They're going on a date tonight!"

"Ahh! Is that true, Senpai?"

I'd turned down plenty of girls, but never once seen a reaction like this. What on earth?

"This is so sweet!"

"So romantic I could just dieeee!"

"Do you guys have an IG? Can we add you? Pleeease?"

"Selfie!  You guys, we have to take a selfie, yeah?"

Suddenly Yuzuru and I were being pulled to our feet and shoved together, the three of them crowding around us with their cell phone cameras held out. There were electronic snapping noises, and then the girls were squeaking some more and comparing phone screens.

"Oh my god you guys, look how cuuute!"

Cute isn't exactly the word I'd use, I thought as they waved the pictures in front of my nose. I looked like a startled rabbit about to get hit by a car. Yuzuru, though... he was grinning from ear to ear and posing for the camera like this was a perfectly normal thing. I looked over at him in bewilderment, and he just smirked.

"Senpai, Seryou-kun..." The three girls had lined up in front of us, and gave us deep, fast bows. "We support you!"

The sound of the bell filled the assembly hall, and suddenly the girls were grabbing their bags and running down the aisle, still giggling hysterically and snapping photos of us over their shoulders. When the hall doors closed behind them, my ears were ringing in the abrupt quiet.

"What was that?" I breathed.

Yuzuru shrugged. "Girls," he said, as if that one word explained the situation perfectly. "You have P.E. next period, right? I'll walk you to the gym."

I gathered my stuff and we headed across campus to the gym, which was attached to the archery dojo.

"Yuzuru-san..."

"Hm?"

You've got to be more careful, I wanted to say. Sooner or later someone's going to take the things you say seriously, and we'll be in trouble. But now really wasn't the time to get into it. Maybe I could find a way to broach the subject after school, when we were alone.