Chapter Text
The class was silent, only the sound of paper passing filled the air. “Anybody who hasn't submitted their club preference, do it soon.” Hirose snapped back into reality as he heard the sound of paper rustling, he softly smiled and passed the paper to the person behind him. “Here, do you cook?” He softly said.
My name is Hirose Aiki. I'm 15, and I just entered Hoshimi High. I'm a freshman, and I'm head over heels in love…
His eyes subtly move somewhere else, a beautiful girl with brown hair laughs, but his eyes don't focus on her.
With my classmate…
He manages to catch a glance of a solemn looking boy, his messy black hair reflected the harsh light from above, and his earnest eyes were covered by his bangs and the dark undereyes really made them stand out.
Nakamura Okuto!
—————————————
The first time I saw Nakamura was at the opening day ceremony.
“Wahh-! We're in the same class again!” A girl smiled at her friend, they held hands and hopped excitedly. “Hirose-kun? You're here too? Nice seeing you again!” Hirose smiles and waves back, he looks at the class lists and sighs in relief when he manages to recognize a few people from his old school.
Without wasting another second, he walks to the gym.
“Welcome to our school, new students.” The headmaster spoke. “We're very glad to have you joining us here at Hoshimi High.” Hirose subtly yawns and rubs his eyes, it was a tad bit too early.. “This is so boring” A student complains beside him. “Is he just going to go on about how life is gonna be here?” Hirose looks at the boy beside him and smiles. “That's how it works, right?” His eyes narrow teasingly and his smile turns into a smirk before giggling.
Suddenly, a cold chill went down his spine, it felt like someone was staring at him. The hell is that feeling? Hirose thought to himself, he slowly looks and that's when he sees him.
Dark, straight, raven hair
Small, narrow, sharp eyes
Ghostly pale skin
A mysterious face you can barely read
And most importantly… That wonderful shy expression!
Hirose's world slows down as the ground consumes it, he could barely keep a straight face, butterflies swam in his stomach, and he felt weightless. Who was that beautiful boy staring right at me?!
It was like a shock he'd never had before, love at first sight. In a panic, Hirose's eyes darted around and immediately landed on the big muscular man behind him. There he is! My grade school classmate! Hirose immediately raises his hand and waves, luckily, he sees him and waves back. Phew, crisis averted.
—————————————
It's been a month since then, no progress has been made—heck, we're not even friends yet!
“Make sure you hand them in.” Otogiri-sensei's voice snaps Hirose out of his daze. “Okay!” He and the rest of his classmates said in unison.
Forget about friends, we haven't even spoken yet! I've been waiting for a chance to talk to him since that day, but he always seems so preoccupied with himself.
“That's all for today, who's on day duty?”
“Stand.” Hirose snaps back out again and slowly stands. Today, I'll definitely talk to Nakamura! “Bow” They all bow down, when a sudden memory crosses his mind. I have't done my homework yet!
As everyone grabs their bags to leave, Hirose grabs his to take the assignment he forgot to do. Welp, there goes my plan to talk to Nakamura. Suddenly, Mukai walks up to him. “Hirose, let's go home” Hirose smiles, an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry, one second!” The other boy's expression turns dejected. “You're stuck after again?”
“I forgot yesterday’s homework!” How stupid of me, now I'll never get the chance to talk to Nakamura.
“You do your homework?” Hirose scrunches his nose in offense. “Of course I do!” Mukai sighs and walks to the door, crossing his arms as he starts talking to Takeuchi while waiting for him. Hirose sighs and continues doing his homework. I wonder what Nakamura is doing now, did he leave? I think I'll just take a look…
Hirose slowly turns around to see Nakamura staring at him, his heart almost jumping out of his mouth before quickly turning around back to his notebook. He's still here?! But why? Maybe he's waiting for someone… But why was he staring at me?!
Hirose could barely think let alone write, his hand writing turned messy. He was shaking so much that he accidentally knocked his eraser off of his desk, he froze for a bit. My eraser… This is the perfect set up for an accidental hand brush with Nakamura! Oh- seriously Hirose, stop being ridiculous! He slaps himself back to reality and bends down to pick it up. It's not like he'll pick it up anyway…
Hirose continues writing and finally reaches the last question. “Hey, we're leaving without you!” Takeuchi yells out, Hirose sighs. “Sorry, just a little longer” Sighhh… I couldn't even get the chance to talk to Nakamura. “I mean it! It won't be long!” Hirose quickly adds. “Okay, we'll wait outside." “Okay, thanks!” Hirose sighs once more and continues writing. Maybe if I’m lucky enough, Nakamura would still be there. He must've left by now, right?
Hirose closes his notebook shut and abruptly stands up. “Done!” He hears a silent gasp behind him and turns to look while humming in curiosity. Nakamura. Hirose internally panics, his heart's speed went up rapidly as those handsome eyes quite literally bore into his soul. But…Something's off, Nakamura wasn't moving.
“Hm?” Hirose tilts his head and his heart drops. What if Nakamura was just passing by and I scared him? Suddenly, Nakamura basically runs away, screaming. Hirose's heart just shatters right then and there. He hates me! Hirose couldn't stand another second and grabbed his bag to leave. Why didn't I say anything?! Whenever I see his face my mind just goes blank!... But… We finally met face to face, he was so mysterious.
As Hirose walks out the door, heart broken but oddly giddy at the same time. He hears a girl call out his name. “Your handkerchief” He stops walking and turns around. I must've dropped it… I wish Nakamura- Before he could finish that thought, someone STEPS on his handkerchief—wait, no, not step—SMASHES his handkerchief with their foot. It was so fast that Hirose could barely register who did it, but when he did. His heart only broke even more, it was Nakamura.
Nakamura stepped on his handkerchief. What's his problem? Is he mad at me? He stared at Nakamura as he picked his hanky up and gave it to Hirose, the footprint still visible on the fabric. Nakamura looked scary, his eyes looked menacingly dark underneath those thick bangs. “You dropped it, Hirose.” Hirose freezes from shock. Nakamura knew his name… But he also stepped on his hanky, he was getting extremely mixed signals from this. “Wh- why did you step on it?” The girl stammered.
——————————————
Hirose waves goodbye to Mukai and Takeuchi. “Bye! See you tomorrow!” The moment the door to his house closes behind him. Mio Hirose, Aiki's sister, looks up from her phone. “Welcome back-” Hirose doesn't even look at her once before running upstairs to his room. “... What's his problem?”
Hirose slams his bedroom door shut, throwing his bag away and tossing himself into his bed. He was silent for a while, reflecting on everything that happened today before his shoulders started trembling. “Does he hate me?” He mutters into the pillow, he sniffles and wipes his tears away using it. “I never felt like this for anyone before- and now that I do…” He tenses up and cries out loud. “Everything goes wrong!” He kicks his feet down on the bed.
He drapes an arm over his face, quietly sobbing. What would Otogiri-sensei say?.. He wipes his tears away. “That it'd be too soon to give up… High school just started and I haven't even proven myself to be his friend! Okay…” He sits up, a new determined expression replaces his formerly sad one, tears staining his cheeks as he smiled. “Just you watch, universe! I'll become friends with him!”