All You Need Is Love (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 29🌻

PAST
🌞🌻

"Okay, we're going to decide the events for the ball game exposition now."

Anticipating the end of semester ceremonies on Friday, Gulf stood in front of the blackboard at the beginning of the week. The class secretary had written down all the events on the board, basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, ping-pong and tennis.

Perhaps because their school had none of the strictness typical of an elevator school, even the people in the sports clubs had relatively good grades. Club participation wasn't compulsory, but until junior year, the membership rate was nearly seventy percent. But once the senior year exposition was over, a lot of people withdrew.

Gulf never belonged to a club. He envied the people who could dedicate themselves to something like that.

"We're going to try and respect people's preferences for games, so can I get you to raise your hands for the event you want to participate in? First up, basketball."

Gulf read all the events, the most popular being basketball and volleyball. On the opposite end of the spectrum was ping-pong. Those who lost rock-paper-scissors competitions were forced to change events. Once Gulf recorded everything, all eyes slowly turned to the back of the room.

"Don't you want to play anything, Mew?"

"No," he replied without hesitation.

"Isn't there someone else who didn't raise their hand?"

"Did you forget to count yourself, Gulf?"

Suzushima had been watching him the entire time in silence. When he pointed this out, Gulf gasped. "Oh, no! I was so caught up in making everything go smoothly, I completely forgot to vote."

The class bubbled with laughter.

"Get your head out of the clouds."

"But this is awful! I wanted to be in basketball."

"But you can't. They just finished settling it with rock-paper-scissors," a student in front row pointed out.

"So I have to do...ping-pong?"

"If we put you and Mew together, everything works out." Suzushima wrote their names on the board. "That's done, then. You can go home, everyone." With a clattering of chairs, it was decided.

"The exposition starts tomorrow morning, so don't forget to bring your workout clothes and to pack a lunch."

"All right. See you tomorrow."

The students prepared their things and started to leave the room.

"How did this happen?" Gulf still couldn't accept the reality of it, staring at the blackboard in shock.

"You must have had your mind on something else." Takaoka was standing behind him, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

"But I didn't. Man, I haven't played ping-pong since elementary school."

"How about you, Mew? Are you any good?" Takaoka asked in his characteristically loud voice, turning to look at Mew, who was still sitting at the back of the classroom. Gulf's eyes, drawn back along with his, met Mew's. But Mew looked away at once.

"Whatever."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not doing it." Standing up from his desk, Mew casually threw his bag over his shoulder and left the room. Gulf interpreted Mew turning his broad back on them as his final rejection.

Once the exposition was over, they would go straight into the closing ceremonies, and then summer break would start. And he wouldn't be able to see Mew again until the next semester started.

"That jerk..." Gulf grabbed his bag and ran into he hall before he'd even finished speaking.

"Hey, Gulf!" Takaoka shouted. But Gulf don't have time for him. He had to find Mew, who had left so abruptly. Gulf ran desperately. He leapt down the stairs and finally caught up to Mew, who was changing his shoes at the entrance.

"Mew!" Gulf shouted his name and Mew stopped. Gulf used up almost all his energy to get there and doubled over, his hands on his knees, breathing raggedly.

"God...I told you to wait. But...you didn't even slow down, did you?" He wanted to talk to him, but he was panting so hard it made it hard to speak. Sweat was starting to trickle down his body. He was shocked by his lack of endurance. Still, he finally managed to say what he wanted to say. "It may not count for attendance, but you can't just say you're not going. You have to be at the exposition."

Mew stood silently, staring down at Gulf with his bag tucked under his arm. His lips were pressed tightly shut, his shapely eyebrows knit.

"Don't just stand there. Say something." Gulf's heartbeat was slowly returning to normal. Gulf straightened and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Do you want me to participate?"

"Huh? What does that have---?"

"You don't want to do it with me, do you?" Mew's next words left Gulf speechless. "You don't want to be on a team with a guy like me, do you?" He repeated, his expression never changing.

"When did I say I didn't want to?"

"You never said it in words. But you've been ignoring me for a long time."

"T-That's different."

Heat flared into Gulf's cheeks.

"Is it because of what I did to you the day before the exams?" Mew spit out, seeing Gulf's reaction, and lowered his head. Maybe because his shoulders were hunched, Mew wasn't giving off any of the arrogance that he usually radiated. "After you went home, I was all alone and I started thinking. About why I did that to you and about why you left."

His voice was different from usual too. It was subdued.

"I only meant it as a joke at first. When you were listening to my story about my first time, your face turned red, then you got real pale, and I thought it was funny. It's something I picked up from talking to the guys at my dad's place. But---" Mew cut himself off. "But when I saw you turn all red, I don't know why, but it made me serious about it."

Gulf's spine trembled at the suffering in his voice. "What do you mean 'serious'?"

Mew looked up slowly at Gulf's question. His eyes were completely different from usual. They looked utterly powerless. "I was really happy that you were so willing to help me. I've never met anyone like you before."

Mew was feeling the same thing as Gulf.

"Everyone sees my dad's face on top of mine and hardly anyone ever talks to me for me. I don't really mind that. I'm probably going to be like my dad when I get old enough anyway. I'm used to the way things work there. But you...that thing you shouted at everyone. I can't express it very well, but it really touched me. In here."

Mew touched his chest. No, not there...his heart.

"Don't make judgments about people based on rumors and speculation before you even meet them. And you said something nice to me in the nurse's office---that as long as I wore this school's uniform, I belong here. It made me feel like I wasn't just the son of the Koryu Alliance's leader, but Mew Suppasit, the person."

Mew was revealing things that he'd kept locked away in his heart. He accepted his environment, but by hiding the darkness of it away somewhere in his heart. Gulf's words had shone a light on that darkness without ever intending to. Gulf didn't know what he could say to that. He simply stood in front of Mew.

Looking directly into Gulf's face, Mew slowly opened his mouth.

"You're probably not going to like this, but---I like you."

Gulf's heart squeezed tight at his confession.

TBC