ᴍᴇᴛᴀɴᴏɪᴀ | ꜰᴏᴏᴅ ᴡᴀʀꜱ x ᴍᴀʟᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 27

[Y/N] woke up to something he'd rather have stayed asleep for. He sighed, sitting at the dining table with the rest of the Totsuki dorm members.

"A training camp, really?"

He woke up earliest, with Fumiyo telling him all about it. The [H/C]-ette truly wasn't amused- a training camp so early in the school year made no sense at all to him.

"Relax, boy, it's only a night." The old woman smirked, enjoying the [L/N]'s clear distaste for the upcoming training camp. "Your time won't be wasted, [Y/N]."

The boy's [E/C] eyes skeptically glancing at the woman. In no way was he believing in her words.

"...come on, you know how crazy rich this school is."

The [H/C]-haired boy would never admit it to another person, and over his dead body would he say it out loud. It was an unusual thing that he wakes up so early in the morning, and lately he'd been doing so.

He was avoiding Yukihira, that was something he could admit only to himself. The difference between limiting interaction and avoidance really wasn't too drastic.

"Yo, you done packing yet?"

[Y/N] let out a deep sigh, 'Speak of the devil...'

"Naturally," he looked over at the entrance of his room, where the redhead was leaning against the doorway. "You're bringing cards, right?"

"Yeah man, I can't wait to hang out in Zenji's room!"

The two began to talk like normal, chatting away about non-important things. During the entire conversation, the [H/C]-ette never let it slip his mind to distance himself, to take things slowly. He couldn't grow dependent on Yukihira; he wouldn't allow it.

"Why didn't you watch my food war?"

Gold eyes met frozen [E/C] ones. [Y/N]'s breath hitched. He was caught.

He seemed to freeze in place as Yukihira waited for an answer, his expression blank and unreadable. What was he to say to his childhood friend?

"I was-"

"Young [Y/N]~!"

A sigh of relief escaped the [H/C]-ette's lips; he didn't have to explain his odd behavior. He stood up to greet Isshiki, who interrupted the two's conversation.

"I need your help with something," the second year beamed at the young [L/N]. "Do you mind?"

"Um, Isshiki-senpai, we're kind of-" the redhead interjected, putting up a hand.

[Y/N] didn't let him finish. "Sure, let's go."

He was avoiding the explanation, the reasons why he didn't see his best friend's first food war. Simply put, he was trying to treat Yukihira the same way he did him.

Casting the redhead one last glance, the young [L/N] walked out of his room with the brunet second year.

"We'll talk," [Y/N] assured with a nod, giving no information to when they would.

Isshiki and [Y/N] were outside in the greenhouse, tending to the produce in silence. No words at all were exchanged in the opaque structure, nor did they face one another.

It was quiet, apart from the occasional rustling and the sound of a spray bottle being used.

"Soma asked me about you."

The [H/C]-ette paused in his movements, the water from the spray bottle no longer hitting the leaves of the plants. [E/C] eyes glazed over the brunet, intrigued by the sudden topic.

"Yeah?"

He was curious, but he wouldn't pry. [Y/N] was trying to pretend as if it didn't matter to him; trying to brush it off as nothing.

"He was wondering why you were avoiding him," the brunet brought up, side-ways glancing at the [H/C]-haired boy. "Why is that?"

[Y/N] didn't reply, his stubbornness shining through with how he only continued to mist the plants. This was not how he wanted his day to go, especially since the training camp was coming up. 

"You've been getting into a lot of trouble lately, kouhai." Isshiki pointed out, joining the [H/C]-ette's side. 

The second year placed a supporting firm hand on the first year's shoulder. The brunet then smiled, the sincerest [Y/N] had ever seen him. 

"We're all here for you, alright? Totsuki is stressful enough when you're facing it alone." 

The younger boy could only nod, refusing to face his upperclassman. He appreciated the sentiment, but he felt that his situation with Yukihira should be a private thing. [Y/N] would rather die than rope someone else into the issue. 

"Thank you," he replied quietly, gaze fixated on the veins of a kale leaf. 

He paused and then sighed, inwardly knowing he would regret his next words. But he knew, he owed it to Isshiki. 

"Thank you, senpai." 

Bonus: 

Later on in the day, long after Isshiki and [Y/N] were working in the greenhouse... 

"Little [Y/N] called me senpai!" Isshiki beamed to Fumiyo. 

The old woman rolled her eyes, believing that the seventh seat was speaking nonsense. The [L/N] was a proud boy who seemingly held no respect for this specific second year. 

"Are you sure you weren't dreamin', kid?" 

Isshiki's world came crashing down like no other. 

Upon realizing how low in regard the brunet stood in respect and credibility, he returned to his dorm room, sulking the entire way. That was where he ran into Megumi. 

Poor, poor Megumi-chan... 

"Young Megumi!" Isshiki snapped, appearing in front of her.

The blue-haired girl yelped and jumped back in surprise and fright. 

"Y-y-yes?!" 

"I'm a respectable upperclassman, right?!" 

The first year girl hesitated, her hands clasped over her frightened heart. She didn't want to lie to the brunet, but she also didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Isshiki-senpai... you strip down to your underwear every other day. It's... it's really not something I would call... respectable?" 

A/N: guys you might be surprised but this book isnt intended on being a romance... 

dont think i cant see your guys' reading list names, you weirdos. this isnt even classified as a bl or mlm 

!! my laptop got fixed so i can finally write again !!