omoikiri // harumaki

two

Harua hummed softly to himself, a happy skip in his step as he hopped towards the end of the corridor. He stopped in place when he realised who was sitting at the end of the corridor on the staircase — Watanabe Haruto and his little group no-do-gooders. Harua contemplated just turning around and using a separate staircase to take the long way to his locker, but he had already been discovered.

"Oi, Harua-chan!"

Harua quickly turned around to walk away, but he had no excuse as Haruto walked towards him, an oddly playful smile on his lips. "Harua. Long time no see. Didn't you miss me? You've been avoiding me."

"I haven't been avoiding you, I've been ignoring you," Harua muttered as he fixed his backpack. Haruto stopped in front of him, pushing Harua's backpack strap so that it fell loosely before forecefully taking it off him completely. "Hey! Give that ba—!"

"What are you hiding, pretty boy?" Haruto smirked as he unzipped the bag. "There must be something, hm?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" Harua exclaimed as he tried to grab his bag, but Haruto held it up high. One of the other boys blocked him as well, laughing as Harua struggled to push past him. "Let me go! Give my stuff back!"

"At least say please, you meanie," Haruto pouted falsely, laughing as he turned the other's bag over and threw everything out onto the floor. Harua watched in horror as all his belongings spilt on the floor like water. "Not as many things as last time, it looks like."

"Haruto...!"

Harua's eyes welled up with tears as Haruto finally looked at him. The tall boy laughed as he pointed at the other. "He's gonna cry! Quick, take a picture of him! What a crybaby, jeez."

"Hey! What's going on over there?!"

"Crap, it's a teacher!"

The boys dispersed quickly, leaving Harua all alone with his scattered belongings. He squeezed his eyes shut as tears fell down his cheeks, sniffling as he wiped the warm drops of water with the sides of his hands. It wasn't the first time Haruto made fun of him — no matter how much Harua tried to run away, he always found him.

Harua sucked it up and kneeled down to pick his things up. He saw another pair of shoes across from him but couldn't look up due to his blurry vision. He wiped his eyes, eventually looking up to meet the person's eyes. "... Maki."

The boy silently knelt down, helping Harua gather his things. The other pouted as he tried to stop himself from crying again but failed in his effort. "Come on, I can't do everything on my own here."

"S-sorry."

Harua quietly put his stuff into his once empty backpack, looking up at Maki with a small smile. Maki remained unsmiling. "Do they always do this to you?"

"N-not always," Harua answered softly. "Haruto just does that when he's bored, that's all."

"Call me next time, okay?"

Harua met his eyes, nodding ever so slightly. Maki stood up after Harua zipped his backpack closed and walked away silently. As dismissive as he was, Harua appreciated the help. He could push forward a small smile as he picked up his backpack, walking down the staircase to his locker. Maki had walked ahead — perhaps to make sure Haruto didn't do anything else?

Harua'd like to think so, but it was highly unlikely.

•

Jo glanced at his sleeping friend with a frown. He had arrived at class with puffy red eyes and had immediately placed his head down as if to avoid Jo. Knowing that he had been sleepy since the morning, Jo didn't bother him — but the state of his best friend worried him. He used his finger to move Harua's hair off his face — his little pout as he slept was adorable.

Jo couldn't help but smile, but he quickly turned away when the chair beside him was pulled out. In the seat sat the class's volleyball star and one of his closest friends — Nakakita Yuma. "Asakura-san, what are you doing?"

"N-nothing—"

Yuma crossed his arms with a small smile. "I caught you already, might as well be honest."

Jo bit his lips together nervously, wringing his hands in front of him in an awfully obvious manner. "Do you think he knows...?"

"Knows w—? Oh. I see."

Jo placed his head on his desk for a second before quickly standing up, grabbing Yuma's wrist to be out of earshot from Harua. "It's so weird to me, you know? I've... I've never liked a friend before?"

"So you have a crush on Harua?" Yuma asked, crossing his arms with a smirk. Jo glanced down, ears burning red as he reluctantly nodded. "I think he'd like you back, wouldn't he? He came out as bisexual and everyone found out."

"Doesn't mean he would like me," Jo said with a sigh. "Besides, he's clearly and very obviously interested in Hirota-kun."

"Hirota? Hirota Riki? The new guy? He got here yesterday," Yuma frowned. Jo simply let out a weak nod. "Did you just decide that Shigeta doesn't like you? Or is it painfully obvious?"

"... it's not very obvious..."

"You idiot."

"But he clearly likes him! I don't want to interfere," Jo muttered. "I don't want him to know, in any case. I like him a lot, but... maybe being friends is better."

Yuma held an empathetic smile on his lips as he put a hand to Jo's shoulder. "You poor fool."

"Isn't it weird that I like a boy...?"

"You like the only boy that happened to come out — liking Shigeta is as normal as the wind flowing over grass."

"... why are you being poetic?"

"Just tell him how you feel," Yuma laughed. "I have a volleyball match on Sunday. You two can come together once you start dating."

"Weirdo — I won't date him," Jo scoffed. "Harua's my best friend — I can't ruin what we have by telling him how I feel."

"Suit yourself," Yuma shrugged. "I came to ask if you want to come to the gym. Euijoo-kun can apparently play volleyball, so we're going to do five-point sets until lunch is over. We need a middle block."

"I'll just pack my stuff and see you downstairs."