I'm right next to you (w/ Sen-san)

[Isho13]

In a highschool, there are three kinds of people when starting a new school year. First there are the freshmen, anxious about every aspect of going to a new school. Then, there are the people who are kind of happy about going back to school. They get to see their friends, they get to go back to the clubs they like so much, or have the chance to see that teacher who sends their hearts racing every time he goes into the classroom.

Takumi was part of the third group: the depressed ones. Even if he was happy to see his friends again and to be able to go back to the art club, he didn't like to have to use a uniform, in the heat of summer classrooms got smelly, and he preferred to stay at home spending time on his hobbies, rather than studying.

His bag was hanging loosely from his shoulder as he walked slowly through the hallways. His gaze was fixated on the ground. Only when he got to the general area where the lockers were, he looked up. Then his mood turned around instantly. There he was. Honjoy Tsukai. Takumi's mother told him it was just infatuation, but Takumi had been crazy about the guy for years. Yet, he was too shy to come up to him out of nowhere and introduce himself, and their agendas hardly ever overlapped, so most of the time Takumi could see Tsukai, was from a hiding spot during his every day life.

He went to hid around a corner, to stare at Tsukai in peace. He doubted there would ever be anything between them, but at least he could be happy watching from afar. He looked a bit to his right, and was half euphoric and half terrified to find out their lockers were next to each other.

Being a trembling mess, he walked up to his own locker, and opened it to start organizing his stuff in there, pretending he didn't even know Tsukai, trying to not even get him inside his field of view.

 

[OtomeLove]

It was another day...just another day of school. The hallways were filled with the noisy chatter of students who were rushing up to greet every familiar face they could find, and Tsukai just so happened to be on their list. Every now and then, the raven-haired teen found himself getting stopped practically every second by another different individual, and out of sheer politeness, he stood around just chatting when in reality he didn't care much to speak with them at all. Although the boy was relatively well-liked in school, he always tried to maintain a distance from others by quickly excusing himself from certain situations or ending a conversation before the other party got too into it.

Honestly, even though he always wore a smile on his face and tried his best to remain friendly and social, there was only one person that he fully enjoyed to be around. That 'one person' was a certain blond who always tried to blend into the scenery and never get noticed. It was too bad Tsukai had yet to run into him...but oh well, he figured there would be plenty of opportunities later. After all, the school year was only just beginning!

Again, always usual, he had a newly assigned locker for the new school year, which Tsukai didn't mind at all. In fact, he was pretty much used to it by now. He was luckily able to adapt to new changes fairly easily in his life, and as he headed over to his destination, he noticed that there was another person standing right beside it. While the other boy did look somewhat little familiar, Tsukai sadly couldn't put a name to his face - at least not at the moment. But he wouldn't dwell on that for long.

Opening up his locker - which was completely empty at the moment - he got to work on stuffing his belongings into the open space one after another, and as he did, one of his books ended up falling from his locker and onto the floor, but he was too busy trying to fit the rest of his books in there that he hardly even noticed.

 

[Isho13]

Takumi was trying hard to focus his full attention on the locker in front of him. His priorities in reverse of those who were always at the top of their classes, instead of placing his books, he was sticking pictures on the locker's walls; small prints of his favourite drawings by his favourite artists. It all belonged in fantasy, and a good portion of it was more on the horror and macabre spectrum. He never had trouble with it. After all, art was art, and people hardly ever noticed the pictures in his locker. Of course, he couldn't bring himself to stick a picture of Tsukai in there.

He was almost finished with his arrangement, when he felt something hitting him on the foot. He swore under his breath, and looking down, he noticed Tsukai had dropped a book on his foot without noticing. It was a bit heartbreaking, to have shoved on his face how invisible he was for the guy he loved, but then again, it wasn't like he ever did anything to get noticed. He picked up the book, and timidly poked Tsukai on the shoulder to call for his attention.

He held the book up in front of him. 'U-Uhm, y-you dropped this... On my foot...' he said shyly, not trying to sound like he was mad at Tsukai for it. But no matter how much one sided love there was, it would still be nice to get an apology for that.

 

[OtomeLove]

He continued to simply mind his own business, neatly assembling his locker to the way he liked it. Important books he'll need or his next class went in the front, while the less important stuff went in the back. Unlike most people, he enjoyed keeping his locker relatively plain, and didn't bother with any types of decorations -- not because he didn't enjoy it, but more because he didn't exactly have anything to add inside. While he could put various pictures of his crush inside, he knew that might've been considered weird by most people, so he deemed it best to refrain.

As his thoughts wandered, a light poke on his shoulder brought his focus back to reality, and Tsukai turned his head to see the same boy that had been standing there before. From the second the boy began speaking, Tsukai could instantly tell that he was obviously shy, and it wasn't long until emerald colored hues darted down to the book the other held in his hand. "Huh? Oh--!" Whoops...did he really drop that on the stranger's foot? It wasn't often that he'd make such a mistake. "Oh geez, I'm really sorry...!" Tsukai's tone was one of surprise, indicating he was too deep in thought to notice that he had dropped something to begin with. He offered an apologetic smile as he extended his hand out to retrieve the book, "I should've been more careful. Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" He asked with what sounded like pure concern in his tone. The book that had dropped was a relatively heavy textbook, and even though it shouldn't have hurt all that much if it dropped on someone's shoes, the other student standing before him seemed to be on the fragile side.

"If you want, you could hit me once to call things even~" He suggested playfully, chuckling as he did. Luckily, Tsukai was pretty much done organizing his locker, so all he had to do was put the book he was holding inside. Instead of doing that right away though, he decided to keep his attention on the other male until he was done talking. After all, looking away would have been considered rude, and getting on a stranger's bad side was the last way he wanted to start off a new school year.

 

[Isho13]

It took all of Takumi's willpower to not turn into a trembling mess when Tsukai spoke to him. That was the first time he heard the guy's voice directed at him, or that they were face to face... Or face to forehead, since Takumi couldn't force his gaze up from the ground. He couldn't bring himself to look into Tsukai's eyes, and he could feel his face starting to heat up a little bit.

'Uhm, it's okay... It didn't hurt or anything, but... If you don't realize when your book falls... You might lost it...' He spoke in a quiet voice. At least anybody who knew him could tell that he was that shy around any new people, so at least his behaviour wasn't that out of place.

He shook his head when Tsukai jokingly suggested he punched him to call things even, and was about to settle this conversation as finished, when he heard a familiar voice behind of him. 'You don't want him hitting you, unless you want to go straight to the hospital~'

Takumi braced himself, knowing what was about to come. A mere second after, he had his best friend jumping on him from behind, forcing him to give him a piggyback ride. His friend, Kouki, was significantly taller than him, and had a rather big build, but Takumi barely stumbled to the side when Kouki jumped on him, and after that, he was able to carry him without problems. Kouki knew Tsukai from sight not only as his friend's crush, but also because he was rather popular in the school overall. Kouki was a well known student too, as the captain and founder of the Aikido team.

'So what's this, Takumi? Already recruiting people for the Aikido team? You're so dedicated~' Kouki was way louder and more social than Takumi, and he always seemed to have an aura of happiness surrounding him.

'I said I'm not joining the team this year, leave me alone...' Takumi said in a low voice, his blush deepening. He was embarrassed for his friend making such a spectacle in front of his crush.

 

[OtomeLove]

The entire time, Tsukai's gaze remained on the other male, noticing the way he refused to even as so much glance at him. Could it be that the kid was really that shy, to the point where he would blush just from a little social interaction? Honestly, his mannerisms and demeanor in general reminded Tsukai of a certain someone, and a tiny laugh escaped the Raven's lips. "Oh man, that's so true. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost my books..." Despite his words, he didn't sound concerned in the least. "I definitely have to be more careful from now on. Thanks for letting me know though...I'll definitely be sure to make it up to you someday, alright?" He cheerfully stated, and with that he was just about to turn away to indicate that the conversation was over with. Or that was supposed to be the plan at least.

Before he could direct his attention anywhere else, the teen was caught of guard when he heard the sound of another voice, along with the confusing words that reached his ears. It didn't take him long to discover the source of the voice either. The well-known captain of the Aikido team had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped on the smaller boy, causing Tsukai to automatically take a step back. If he was surprised before, he was even more surprised to see that the boy who he thought was so fragile actually managed to hold the other guy up with what appeared to be relative ease. Not even Tsukai thought he'd be able to do such a thing, or at least he'd have a bit more trouble. After all, Kouki couldn't be all that light, especially if the majority of his weight consisted of nothing but pure muscle. "Uh...ah..." For a moment, the popular student was dumbfounded and rendered speechless, and suddenly those words spoken by the captain made much more sense. "Wow, he's-- ...I mean, you're...pretty strong..." Those were the first words that left his lips, his shock evident in his tone.

Luckily he was able to quickly regain his composure and he just rubbed the back of his neck to shake off whatever awkward attitude he had shown before. "So, your name's Takumi?" As soon as that question left his lips, another one replaced it, "And you were really on the Aikido team before? Kouki-san here seems to hold a lot of respect for you. Are you guys friends?" Talk about one surprise after another!

 

[Isho13]

Takumi finally dared to look up when he heard Tsukai stumbling over his words. He had never seen him like that, and could himself falling for him a little bit more, if that was even possible. He was soooo cute! He was dragged out of his thoughts when Tsukai commented on his strength. Only then he realized that he looked like a weakling, at least with his clothes on, so yes, him being able to carry his friend without much effort was surprising. He shrugged his shoulders. 'I work out.' He said simply, which was true. He did it at home, and his mother called it "training" instead of "working out", but it essentially was the same.

He nodded when Tsukai asked if Takumi was his name, not needing more words for answering that. He glanced to his side when Tsukai asked more questions, suspecting Kouki would answer for him. Ah, the fucker stayed silent. He knew Kouki did it on purpose, forcing him to finally speak to his crush. This time he looked at Tsukai straight in the eye. His own eyes weren't too attention-grabbing, but if one looked at them carefully, one could see his eyes were an intense, dark green, instead of brown like they seemed at the distance.

'I-I'm a co-founder of the t-team. W-We decided Kouki was m-more fit to be the c-captain, b-because he's better with p-people than me.' His furious blush refused to go away from his cheeks. The way his heart was beating hard inside his chest was almost painful. It was taking all of his effort to work up the courage to keep talking to Tsukai. 'W-We're childhood friends.'

'We knew each other when his family moved next to my house.' Kouki butted in, considering it was time to give his friend a break from talking. He knew him so well, he was able to tell when Takumi hit his limit in situations like these. 'I was a bully back then, and when I saw how little and meek this one looked... Man! It made me so angry! I wanted to kick him and make him cry! So I approached him one afternoon, ready to beat him up. He punched me on the face instead. That's how I lost my first milk tooth. We've been friends from ever since.' He explained with a huge smile.

'I-I swear I'm not a bad person.' Takumi added after a whine. He was afraid Kouki's story would make Tsukai scared of him.

 

[OtomeLove]

That was such a painfully simple answer...yet it was nonetheless shocking as usual. The kid worked out? Seriously? It didn't really look it, but then again, maybe this was where the saying 'don't judge a book by its covers' came in. "Wow, that's neat. And you've got a nice name...it's great to meet'cha, Takumi-kun." He grinned and held his free hand out for a handshake, doing a better job of managing to hide his actual emotions this time around. He had also half-expected the captain to answer the questions that'd been asked, but he was proven wrong when the guy remained silent. Was there a certain reason for that or what? As far as Tsukai knew, the Aikido team captain was supposed to be rather outgoing and even talkative. Did he not like him or something?

Before he was able to get too far into his thoughts, that's when the more timid of the two spoke up again, snapping him back to reality. This time their gaze finally met, and Tsukai held his gaze, emerald green eyes meeting strong dark green - nearly brown ones. Soon enough, he felt the other would be all out of surprises, and there would soon be nothing that could get to the popular student anymore. But if nothing else, Takumi was rather interesting, he had to admit...and a part of him wanted to get to know him more, just as friends and whatnot. If anyone truly knew him, they would have considered that to be an actual blessing, considering the fact that Tsukai didn't actually enjoy being around many people.

"Ahaaa, so that's how it went?" He questioned with a nod, showing he understood. "That's kinda sweet~ You two make a pretty cute pair." His tone was playful and his sentence was vague, exactly how he liked it. The entire explanation was all sorts of amazing, and it took a moment for his mind to process what was just said. Maybe Takumi was someone he shouldn't mess with after all...? But the kid was so shy and sweet, and Tsukai doubted he would actually hurt someone if he had no reason to. That notion was further increased when he heard how much the poor boy stuttered, and how tense he appeared. Plus his face was still red, so was it normal for him to be blushing that much, or was there something more to it? "Hey, you okay?" With a concerned glance, Tsukai leaned in a bit, as if to take a better look at face and just as he was about to raise a hand to press against the other's forehead, Kouki's voice allowed him to divert his attention over to him.

"Huh? Pffft...haha, no way, that really happened? Was Takumi-kun always so shy?" And then he looked back over to Takumi. "I know you're not a bad person. You don't look like you're feeling too well though... sorry, am I making you nervous? If you're feeling sick, Kouki-san or I could maybe take you to the infirmary." He offered with some uncertainty.

 

[Isho13]

Takumi's eyes went down to his hand timidly. He extended his own arm so he could give Tsukai a handshake, whispering a soft "Nice to meet you."

'Can I just not wash my hand for the next couple of decades?' the silly thought popped up in his mind, the dreamlike state his mind was in not showing on his face. He was well practised on keeping a straight face under any circumstances, and there was no way he could give Tsukai such a deplorable show.

He let a frown appear on his face when Tsukai pointed out how cute his friend and him were together. Well, they were very close. He didn't call enough attention for people to notice him always near Kouki, but his mother had once approached him to ask him, with a lot of tact and comprehension, if he was gay, thinking Kouki and him were a couple. He calmly explained there was a boy who caught his eye, but it wasn't Kouki, and he didn't know if he was strictly gay. At some point, their close group of friends had suspected the same, and each time they had to explain their relationship wasn't that way. He looked up, searching for Kouki's eyes. The big guy was looking down at him, and they crossed gazes.

"If Tsukai thinks I'm in a relationship with you, I'll fucking kill you." Kouki could almost hear Takumi's thoughts in his own mind. He just smiled and nodded nervously.

He looked down at Tsukai when he heard him asking if he was okay. The panic sent a rush of adrenaline through his body, when he noticed the other leaning towards him, appearing like he was about to check his temperature. HE WAS ABOUT TO TOUCH HIS FOREHEAD. He blabbered some nonsensical sounds and took a step back, now visibly trembling. There his training went out of the window. This guy simply overloaded his brain in a way no simulation or other stressing situation could.

Deciding to step in, since Takumi looked like he'd start to hyperventilate at any given second, Kaouki decided he'd have to take the matters into his own hands, or let his friend be alone forever. With a small jump, he had his feet on the ground again. He put his hands on Takumi's shoulders, and made him take a step towards Tsukai. 'I just remembered I have something urgent to attend to. Take him to the infirmary for me, please." he said with a smile, before turning around and walking away at a fast pace.

Takumi looked at his friend go, seeming a bit desperate. He heard Kouki yelling 'I owe you!' at the distance. He tried to turn to look at Tsukai again, not wanting to seem rude, but this was too much. How dared Kouki leave him alone with his crush, TALKING, like this? It was too much! He felt the adrenaline taking its toll on him, his legs weakening. He fell to his knees, not even near fainting, but unable to keep himself on his feet. 'Ah, I'm sorry! T-This is s-so embarrassing...' He said with tears starting to form in his eyes, about to start crying. He swore, whether he came out of this with dignity or not, he'd gave Kouki a beating he wouldn't forget after this.

 

[OtomeLove]

Tsukai simply smiled when he felt how meek the handshake had been, while his own was firm yet gentle both at the same time. Even though he already established that Takumi was stronger than he looked, he still couldn't help but not want to be too rough or forceful...especially when he took the other's timid personality into the mix. While Tsukai had noticed the frown that made its way onto Takumi's face, he couldn't help but silently wonder if he had said something wrong. His tone was playful enough for people to know - or at least think he was joking - but maybe the guy didn't know how to take a joke too well? Or maybe he wasn't too pleased at the prospect of looking cute with another male?

He wouldn't ask about it though, and instead laughed it off when he saw the way that Takumi had eyed his childhood friend, who in turn had nodded nervously. Tsukai wasn't too sure what that was about, but he'd simply brush it off, not wanting to think too deeply into it. The way the other boy had stepped back when the raven-haired boy leaned forward didn't go unnoticed either, and it caused Tsukai to regain his posture while making a mental note that he should probably keep his distance. He should've known that getting too close could be seen as an invasion of personal space, and not everyone liked it when others were too overly friendly. He took that opportunity to place the textbook he was carrying in his arm back into his locker and closed it before directing his attention back over to the two.

"Well, anyway!"

Just as his mouth opened to say something, or more like ask a question, the captain of the Aikido team finally hopped off of the smaller male and it was then that Tsukai found himself wondering how the heck the kid was able to carry him for so long. Didn't the weight add up after a while? Or maybe that's what the trembling from earlier was? Huh...that didn't seem too likely though, and the next thing Tsukai knew, Kouki was excusing himself after pushing the other boy toward him. "Wha-- Hey, wait...!" But Kouki just continued to walk away at a hasty pace, which made one of Tsukai's eye inwardly twitch. It wasn't often many people ignored him when he told them to wait, and it wasn't so much he wanted the guy's company, because honestly didn't care much for it, but he was under the impression that Takumi didn't like being around him much.

He gave chase to him; or rather, he wanted to...but he only managed to take a few steps forward before before he saw - out of his peripheral vision - the other collapsing to the ground, causing Tsukai to stop in his tracks while turning his head back over to look. A silent gasp escaped his lips as he found himself rushing over to the boy's side. "Whoa! H-Hey, what happened? You okay?" He asked in pure concern, his tone bordering panic. Luckily there weren't many other students -- He leaned forward slightly as he instinctively placed a hand on Takumi's shoulder. The second he did, though, he ended up quickly pulling his hand back as if he had just been burned, remembering that Takumi didn't seem like one to enjoy being touched by him.

More than ever, Tsukai wanted to run after Kouki and tell him off for not watching over his friend, but it's not like he could leave Takumi like this either. Still, what was he supposed to do in such a situation? "Can you walk? Or if you don't mind, I can...uh...lend you some help, maybe?" As he asked his question, almost nervously, he extended a hand out toward him just in case he wanted to take a hold of it so Tsukai could help him up. Maybe he could help carry him or something...or if not, the least he should be able to do was lend a shoulder for support by wrapping Takumi's arm around his neck so it would be easier for the other to walk to the infirmary. Either way, he didn't plan on leaving him just like that.

 

[Isho13]

Takumi looked away when the guy next to him retreated his hand immediately after touching him. His reaction was almost as if he just had his hand bitten by a dog. The worst part of him inside of his mind was set to action. This part started reminding him of how repulsive he was to the touch. No wonder Tsukai didn't want to touch him, or even be associated with someone like him. His own eyes started to get more covered by tears, as his mind punished him just for existing and having a crush.

'Huh... Yes... Please...' Takumi replied in a very faint voice, before accepting Tsukai's help and taking his hand, to help him have some balance when pushing himself to stand up. He felt sorry for making Tsukai go through the horrible experience of touching him again. "If I cut his hand and take it home with me, I'll be able to live with the touch of his hand, without him ever having to touch me again. It's a win-win" He thought bitterly. Those kind of thoughts didn't seem abnormal in his mind.

He struggled to walk on his own, but in the end his knees felt so weak, he had to lean on Tsukai in order to walk. All the way during the infirmary, Takumi kept apologizing to Tsukai for the trouble in a timid voice. When they got to the infirmary, the nurse wasn't there, but on one of the medical beds, was lying a certain girl who always was picked on as a child, for being so tall and having a big built frame. Takumi knew her, and knew for sure that she was there due to the anxiety of the first day of school. The girl sat on the bed, and when she recognized him, without even saying hi she walked up to him and started complaining about being almost completely separated of their group of friends. She handed him her cellphone, with a photo of the posters where the students of every class were listed.

Takumi started scrolling the photos. His friend was in the distressing situation she had explained, yes, but also... 'I don't know anyone from my class.' He said in a whisper, and then again more loudly. 'I don't know anyone from my class!' His hands started trembling again. Then, in the list of his class, he reached the name of his crush. He turned to look at Tsukai, a nervous look on his face. 'You and me are in the same class.'

 

[OtomeLove]

Tsukai was just slightly surprised when the other actually took a hold of his hand, but once again he didn't think too much into it. After he had hoisted him up, he noticed how he had tears in his eyes...but aside from that...man, did he look like a wreck or what? Was he nervous? Or did he hate his current situation? Right when the raven-haired teen was about to let go of the other's hand, he realized how weak Takumi seemed to be, and thus he quickly found his hands on him again to prevent him from falling. He wrapped one arm around Takumi's side, and used his other arm to ensure that the boy would be kept up on his two feet as the two headed for the infirmary.

Their close proximity didn't seem to bother Tsukai much, though he could only imagine how uncomfortable Takumi must've felt. He wouldn't get a chance to ask about it, however, or make small talk to lighten up the mood, because the poor kid kept apologizing over and over again, and Tsukai had to constantly reassure him it was fine. The walk to their destination wasn't a long one, and thankfully no one saw them during their trip there. Upon arriving, Tsukai instantly noticed that the nurse wasn't in, though there was a certain girl he was wasn't too familiar with. When he made it one of the several beds that were in the office, the girl seemed to instantly notice the shyer of the two and walked up to him without saying a word. Tsukai - who had released the other boy in hopes of tying to gently settle him on the edge of the bed - would then back away a little. For someone so meek, he did seem to have quite a few friends or acquaintances or...whatever they were.

He was contemplating on whether or not he should leave the two be, since they were clearly on good terms with one another, but he didn't want to come across as unmannerly...so he just stood back, silently keeping his emerald eyes on the duo, not wanting to say anything out of place. And even when he heard the other boy's distressed voice, he couldn't bring himself to comment. It was only when Takumi addressed him again that he blinked and replied, "Huh, we are?" The corners of his lips soon tugged up into a wide, friendly smile. "Awesome, how neat is that? I'm definitely happy about it!" Despite the excitement in his words, in reality it wouldn't have made much of a difference to him. There was only one person he cared to know about. "By any chance is the name--" Just as if he was about to ask if the name 'Yuuki Kamiya' was on the list, he paused and decided that he could find out by himself later on.

"Actually, you know what...never mind~" He managed to brush it off in a rather carefree way before turning his attention over to the girl, who was rather large in stature. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement and a simple friendly greeting. "This morning's kinda hectic, isn't it..." And also made a small comment as if to 'break the ice' between them so the air wouldn't be as awkward, but he was quick to return his gaze to Takumi. "How're you feeling now?" He'd then question curiously. "You should probably lie down and get some rest. Do you have a headache or anything, or are you just feeling unwell? Since the nurse isn't here, maybe I could find some medicine for you here that you can take..." As if to make a point, Tsukai walked over to two large cabinets and peered into the glass to see if he could find something that might work, depending on how Takumi was feeling.

 

[Isho13]

Takumi heard Tsukai clearly when he was about to ask about another person, but retracted at the last second. At first he guessed he shouldn't think to deeply into it, but then he found his mind racing. One wouldn't be so reluctant when asking about one's friends, right? Who was Tsukai about to ask about? He squinted his eyes, suddenly feeling a slight pain of nervousness in the pit of his stomach. Could it be? That Tsukai had finally found someone he loved?

The girl shyly replied to Tsukai's comment, allowing him to break the ice as desired. She was timid, but not unfriendly. She turned to look at her friend, and tilted her head when she saw Takumi's serious expression. "There's no way he's actually excited about being in the same class as me. He's known me for only a couple of minutes. We barely talked. Why do you lie to me Tsukai? Who's the actual object of your affection?" Takumi was lost in his thoughts, and the girl had to snap her fingers in front of him in order to drag him back to reality.

Takumi glanced at Tsukai, who was already looking for some medicines for him. He looked at his friend with a questioning look, and the girl repeated in silent whispers what Tsukai had said. After reading her lips, Takumi replied 'I-I don't need a-anything. I-It'll pass on its own. Thanks.'

What always made him feel better was a tiny bit of bitter chocolate. He had some in the pocket of his shirt. He took it out, and broke it into pieces. After putting one in his mouth, he offered a piece to the girl.

"I don't want any of those nasty sugary treats." She replied harshly. She was on a strict diet, because of sport issues.

'B-but it's bitter...' Takumi sighed, and turned towards Tsukai, offering him two pieces of bitter chocolate. 'W-Want some?'