The Depth of Green

Chapter 16

Chapter 15 recap: The friend group has a few cute moments before I torture Yuri further with anxiety! Fun! Otabek makes some disconcerting allusions to December 24th which Yuri doesn't understand, but he catches on to the romantic undertones. Hana is a bitch and steals Yuri's cake; many commenters have threatened her with violence, and I concur. xD Finally, Otabek's mother shows her exasperation at Otabek's constant presence at the showings, calling after him that for all this time he won't spend with her, she better get grandkids! Otabek plans on it. xD

So, I would appreciate no death threats, but I welcome screaming and anger. Keep that in mind at the end of this chapter. ;)

~~~

Monday dawned, cold and grey, and Yuri spent a less pleasurable day than most in Otabek's company. To be fair, the less-than-enjoyable moments were only felt on his part; he doubted Otabek had noticed at all. Nothing strange had happened, no ground-breaking pieces of information had been dropped, but... maybe Yuri was just crazy and reading too much into things. Probably, that was the case. But whatever the specific reason, Yuri hadn't been able to help but notice during their time together that Otabek said a few things, made a few allusions-- allusions that, in all likelihood, could be passed off as friendly remarks, but maybe, just maybe, could have been... Not that.

The day grew marginally worse, though, when the end of it came. Yuri had been on the point of stripping out of his yukata and pulling on his pajamas, bed covers preemptively folded back for maximum-efficiency in escaping the cold exposure to the air, when the door to the dormitory had opened. Minami stood there, frozen for a moment with a bundle of clothing clutched to his chest, before he was ushered through, a guard at his back pushing him heavy-handedly over the threshold. The door snapped shut behind him, the lock clicked, and Minami looked upon the dormitory with anxious eyes, so small as he stood there, all alone, and flushing a light pink when he realized that every face was turned to his.

"Baby?" Someone asked eventually. He nodded tremulously. "Over here," they sighed, gesturing him over to the vacant beds by the window. "Take one of these. There are blankets in the chest for the bed, and you need to fold your stuff and put it inside when you're changed. Shoes should be lined up on the floor, and your blockers go on the table beside you. Don't wake anyone up, don't attract the guards, and don't get in the way, and you'll be fine." Minami nodded, an overwhelmed child being handed a math test, and, as the other left him, made to take the bed across from Yuri's.

At a quick shake of Yuri's head, though, looking hurt and shocked, Minami changed course and instead occupied one a little farther away. He stared at Yuri as he sank onto it, reproachful and slighted, but the expression vanished when he remembered his instructions and jumped up again, hurrying to deposit his things on the bare cotton of the mattress and open the trunk at the foot of the bed.

Yuri sighed internally, continuing in his undressing and grimacing as his allotted nightclothes caught on his abdomen, prompting him to yank on the cloth and force it, unwieldy, over his bump. There were a few sniggers from around the room, but nothing too egregious; Yuri got into bed, ignoring them, and buried himself at the bottom of the threadbare pile of blankets.

He'd explain his reaction to Minami the following morning, he decided. It had been for the kid's own sake: if he was seen fraternizing with Yuri, even so much as whispering to him across the gap between their beds or picking one deliberately near his, his life in the house would become infinitely harder. Yuri, if possible, wanted to shield him from that.

It was bad enough that he had been placed in the fifth rank right off the bat. Evidently, though Yuri hadn't realized before Minami's appearance in the dormitory, the "babies" (he still hated the term) had completed their perfunctory education at the house, allowing them to, for the first time, integrate into the normal ranks and dormitories-- even, once January hit, attending the showings. Their proficiencies in their studies, along with the matchmakers' impressions of their aptitudes, had determined where they'd been placed; for other ranks (mostly the second and third) advancement to a higher position in the procession was possible. But when one was delegated to the fifth rank, the lowest of the slovenly rejects, one would remain there, the option to rise in respect all but removed.