Took You Long Enough

Four

He hadn't gotten his head right by the time the bell was ringing to let them out for the day, and Reo made the decision to rush home and think it over in the bath or in the sauna or somewhere he could be alone. But he was not so lucky. When he got to his locker, someone much more troublesome to his mental state than Miki was waiting there for him.

Nagi was sitting against his locker, his phone a few inches from his face, thumbs tapping wildly. Reo wanted to wonder if he was still playing the soccer video game, but more than that, he wanted to know why Nagi was here. His classes were largely on the lower floor, as was his locker. Climbing the stairs to the second floor seemed more effort than he'd think worth it if he didn't have an obligatory reason to. Reo wanted to think this a kind, thoughtful action, but he couldn't stop hearing Miki's words upon seeing him sitting there.

Nagi looked up at him before Reo could consider turning around and ditching his things here. Not only that, but he locked his phone and put it in his pocket, without bothering to finish up whatever he'd been playing.

"Reo?" he said. His voice was so different. Not a blade, but an olive branch. There was a softness to it, even compared to his regular tired speech.

"Nagi," Reo said back, approaching him, looking over both shoulders as he did so. He couldn't see Miki, and nobody else seemed to be paying attention to them, but still. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't show up at lunch," Nagi said. "I was worried about you."

Oh.

"I'm fine," Reo said quickly. "I just wasn't hungry."

"Oh," Nagi said, making no effort to move from in front of Reo's locker. "Okay."

So, they just stayed there, looking at each other for a few seconds.

"Are we going to practice?" Nagi asked Reo, in the same breath that the purple haired boy asked him, "Are you going to move?"

Nagi reached his arms out, waiting for Reo's help to stand him up. Reo paused, and then worse, froze. He felt like touching Nagi might burn him, or poison him, or worse. But people were filing down the halls and they were going to get more crowded before they cleared out and Reo needed to get the hell out of here. He took Nagi's hands and pulled him up, trying not to think about how it felt to touch his hands. Exhilarating and comfortable both.

Nagi leaned up against a locker a few down from Reo's and Reo kept his face strictly forward as he unlocked it, swung it open, started gathering his things. "I don't think we should practice today, Nagi."

"Why not?" Nagi asked. He didn't seem too invested either way, just curious.

"I'm not feeling well," Reo answered.

Nagi frowned. "Like sick?"

"No, not like sick," Reo said, shaking his head, hoping it would clear it. "Just, I don't know, not well."

"Hmm." Nagi thought about this for a couple seconds. "Maybe you're tired. I could just come over instead. We could watch another movie."

Reo's hands became too shaky to use to he looked up and caught Nagi's eye. he was looking at him, but there wasn't anything waiting or expectant about it. Reo hadn't meant his movie suggestion to mean a date, but Miki certainly had. What did Nagi mean? What did he think about this whole thing, their friendship? Reo wanted to know, more than he wanted to run from the fear of whatever it might be.

"Yeah," Reo said. "Okay."

Reo felt like he was shaking the entire ride back to his house. If Nagi noticed, he didn't say anything. He didn't notice. He was busy playing games the whole time. For him, nothing had changed.