What a Life This Is - A Collection of Short Stories

On The Day Before Valentine's, Will You Be Mine? [FLASHBACK]

Kojiro asks Karou out on the day before Valentine's Day.
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'You can do this,' Kojiro thought to himself, 'You can totally do this, just walk up to him and ask.'

The teen gulped audibly, both hands braced on the countertop as he leaned forward and stared his reflection down in the bathroom mirror, 'It's not that hard,' the logical side of his brain told him, 'It'll be fine!'

But the emotional side of his brain was a different story, filled with all kinds of ridiculous scenarios of how this whole thing could go badly, terribly, horribly, horrifyingly, devastatingly wrong, and how he'd be humiliated for the rest of his life and how he'd have to change schools- or maybe even change cities!

If the emotional side of his brain was a different story, his physical body was a whole other franchise, it felt like butterflies were hosting a rave inside his stomach, and his heart was beating like he'd just run a marathon, so loud he could hear it in his ears.

God- there was no way he could to this, not with the way he was around Karou, the way his legs turned to jelly and his brain started to melt and he forgot how to speak properly, reverting to helplessly stumbling over his words as his face got hot-

'NO!' Kojiro told himself, 'You can do this, you've been hyping yourself up for weeks now, you CAN do this!'

After taking a deep breath, he furrowed his brow at himself and put his lips into a thin line, grasping the heart-shaped box of homemade chocolates his mom had made especially for this occasion.

She'd tried to encourage him before he'd left for school, "Just be yourself, and take it slow, le parole verranno a voi," She'd told him, "You're a sweet boy, and I'm sure Karou likes you back.. plus, who can really refuse chocolate?"

So, Kojiro steeled himself, quickly turning on his heels and walking out of the bathroom. It was probably just better to get the rejection over with, so he could go dig his grave as soon as possible.

His class had been dismissed early, and he turned the corner just as the bell rang and school was over for the day, the halls suddenly flooding with other students eager to leave the building.

Kojiro stood on his toes, searching for a head of pink hair to exit one of the classrooms while being pushed around by other kids, spotting Karou and fighting his way through the crowd to try and catch up with him.

"Uh- Karou! Karou!" He said loudly, smiling a bit as the pink-haired teen turned around and his face broke into a smile, giving Kojiro a small wave back and moving to the side of the hallway to wait for him to catch up. Eventually, Kojiro did, skidding to a stop and resting his hands on his knees, leaning over as he panted for breath.

"Are you okay?" Karou asked, chuckling a bit as Kojiro shot up so fast he almost gave himself whiplash, rubbing the back of his neck and hiding the box of chocolates behind his back, "Uhh- Yeah, I'm fine.. I actually kinda wanted to ask you something.."

Karou arched an eyebrow, and Kojiro suddenly felt his stomach lurch, felt his face start to burn and heard his mind going in a million different directions at once; Had he checked his breath before leaving the bathroom?
Did his hair look weird?
Was the hallway quieter now?
Did everyone filter out that fast?
Was he alone with Karou in the hallway?!
Did Karou not want to be alone with him in the hallway!?

"Kojiro?"

Kojiro snapped out of his daze to find Karou staring at him with a slightly concerned look on his face, and he shook his head rapidly, took a deep breath, and started talking.

Or at least he tried to.

"Uhm- I- I just wanted to ask-" He stammered, struggling to look Karou in the eye as he tried to gather his thoughts and make his mushy brain work again, to help him figure out what to say, "I was just wondering if-.. maybe.. possibly-.. you might wanna-"

"Kojiro, if you've got something to say just say it," Karou sighed, folding his arms and tilting his head slightly, the expression on his face now slightly annoyed.

Kojiro was horrified, his mind screaming at him, "Your blowing it dude, your 110% completely and totally blowing it, this shouldn't be this hard, the words should juST COME TO YOU, WHAT IS WRONG-'

WAIT.

Kojiro's eyes widened, and with an urgency he'd never had in his LIFE he whipped out the box of chocolates from behind his back, thrusting it forward in Karou's direction; "WILLYOUGOONADATEWITHME?"

There was silence, and Kojiro was worried Karou had gotten fed up with him and left, or maybe he'd been disgusted by another boy asking him out on a date, or maybe-

He heard giggling. Kojiro's head snapped up to see Karou, giggling.

This was weird. Karou chuckled, and even sometimes guffawed, but ever since they'd begun communicating earlier in the school year, Karou had never giggled.

But here he was, eyes sparkling and one hand covering his mouth in a failed attempt to cover up the sound. Kojiro suddenly felt self-conscious as he stood up fully, avoiding Karou's gaze as he mumbled, "W-Why're you laughing..?"

"I'm sor- I'm sorry," Karou sighed, taking deep breaths as he came down from his giggling high, "It's just that-" he smiled softly at Kojiro, "I think that was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Kojiro blinked, then his recently normal face burst into an embarrassing shade of deep red as he stammered, "C-Cute?! I-I guess- I dunno- I-Imea- mean I-I want you to like me and all b-but-"

Suddenly a finger was put over his lips, shutting him up as he stared at a smiling Karou with wide eyes.

Karou chuckled again, reaching over and gently taking the box of chocolates from Kojiro's shaking hands as he spoke, "Thank you for the chocolates Kojiro, and to answer your question, Yes, I'll go on a date with you."

Kojiro blinked again, and then Karou's words processed in his head as his face broke into a big grin, "R-Really?!"

Karou nodded, and Kojiro cleared his throat, trying to gather the very little composure he still had and act casual as he rubbed the back of his neck again, "I-I MEAN- Uhm, yeah thats- that's cool.. Pick you up at 7?"

"Can you make it 7:30?" Karou asked, giving Kojiro a smirk that made the other boy's heart skip two beats as he nodded rapidly, "7:30, yeah, sure, I-I can do that."

Karou nodded, "7:30 it is then," he sing-soned teasingly as he turned on his heels, "See you tomorrow, Koji~"

Kojiro nodded weakly, giving a small wave to Karou's back as the other boy headed down the now empty hall, and as soon as Karou rounded the corner and disappeared, Kojiro celebrated, his face breaking into a grin as he pumped his fists and bounced a bit.
Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesssss!