An Onigiri's Rock Collector (Bo x Masao)

Chapter 5 | Masao Will Never Accept The Truth

Ever since then, the riverbank had become a place of their own. Almost every school day, as soon as it was over, Bo would be the first one darting out the classroom as if he'd left a stove on. He would rush to their spot in an upbeat mood, his smile giving way to his true feelings. He also brought spare pencils just in case.

Masao would show up after; sometimes he would scare his friend by sneaking up behind him, which was something Bo had to keep in mind whenever he wanted to search for onigiri-like rocks. He had ditched going to cram school because he took an oath upon himself to spend more time with Masao.

Even though they were alone a lot more, Masao's talk of Ai just got more outrageous. Bo became a person who willingly put up with his infatuation for the girl. Masao would give him the details of what moments they shared, no matter how tiny. He always smiled when he talked about her.

Bo wished he could be something for Masao to smile about, too.

The other was rambling on about Ai under the bridge while drawing once again: "It's my destiny to win her over! I just have to, or else the world as we know it will be doomed!"

Bo carefully listened to his friend, just nodding whenever the time was right. "How far have you gotten with your manga?" He asked as soon as Masao had finally taken a break from speaking.

"I'm almost done with it! Just a few more panels to go and it'll be ready!" Masao smiled to himself and then lifted his to head to face the other, "This spot has been really great these past few weeks, Bo-chan. Thanks a lot. Now I know what I'm truly going to do for Ai-chan. Even if I don't win, I can at least say I tried."

"You're already a winner to me, Masao-kun." Bo muttered, but this time Masao had heard him, and he felt gratified with his praise.

"Are you going to cheer for Shin-chan at his match next week? He and Kazama-kun have been working really hard. They've been going off on their own to practice before school, during lunch, and after school. They've been at it a lot. Shin-chan's surely going to win."

Bo knew all of their hard work was Kazama's doing. Not in a million years would Shinnosuke dedicate his life to practicing something which hadn't involved Chocobi, cartoons, or women over the age of eighteen; even though he was a high schooler, after nearly a decade his mentality remained the same.

By now, Kazama was most likely a few steps away from Shinnosuke's heart. Kazama started frequently calling Bo around 7 every night, telling him how close, in a romantic way, he had gotten with the other boy.

Meanwhile, Bo hadn't made any progress with Masao. Sure, they had lots of friendly talks, but not enough intimate moments that could bring them closer together.

"Yeah." Bo replied. "I have faith in him."

"Me too!" Masao assented, "Nene-chan said she won't be able to make it because she has to preform that night for the competition she's in. She threw a fit when I told her I was going to the boxing match instead of watching her." Masao said, then he giggled to himself, "Ai-chan's gonna be there, too! She said she'll sit beside me, but keep a keen eye on Shin-chan's performance!"

"So you're going to ask her out afterwards...?"

"No, I have to do it after the judges declare the winner of the manga contest."

"I see."

Bo was against having resentment towards people, but he really started to hate Ai. Though he had no reason to, because in the end he knew exactly what she was going to tell Masao. They were never going to become a real couple, no matter how much he tried or how much time passed.

"We've been friends for a long time, Masao-kun." Bo suddenly pointed out.

"Yeah, we have."

"But..." Bo said as nicely as possible, "You've liked Ai-chan for a long time, too."

"Yes. I have! I've been dedicated to her since kindergarten and I'll never let her go-!"

He was then cut off by Bo who stated, "If she's never liked you all these years, what makes you think she will like you now?"

The pencil in his hand froze. He hadn't really thought about it. "I...I have faith in myself. She'll adore me when I show her-"

"You've been saying that for too long, Masao." Bo had completely dropped the honorific. "If Ai-chan really liked you, she would've went out with you ages ago, but the problem is you can't accept the fact that she likes Shin-chan."

Masao looked down, filled with unease. "She does like me." He said. "She just doesn't know it yet."

"Remember in junior high during summer vacation, when she invited Shin-chan to visit Paris with her? You cried so much while they were gone. If she really cared for you, you would've been in Shin-chan's place, making so many memories with her and not being treated like a pet."

Masao set his pencil beside him and hung his head low. "No. You're wrong..." his voice began to break, he didn't want to hear the truth,'"You're just trying to make me cry, aren't you?"

"Masao-kun."
Bo thought for a moment before telling him, "It's bad to keep hurting yourself like this."

"No..." Masao was going to break down into tears, but his adoration was far stronger than his sorrow.

He resurged. "I'm not hurting myself! I love feeling this way! I love Ai-chan and no one can change my mind! Bo-chan, I never give up on my dreams, and Ai Suotome is one of them!" He declared, "Speaking of which, I gotta start looking for presents to give to her!"

He gathered his things and was preparing to leave the shady area, but before that he took a folded sheet of paper out his bag, "This is what I've been drawing this whole time." He handed it to Bo. We'll meet back here tomorrow and I'll tell you all about what I decide to give her! See ya!"

He hurried off before the other could even lift his hand to wave. Bo felt extremely guilty for nearly driving him to tears. When he unfolded the paper, he could not have possibly expected what was going to be on it.

As they were talking to one another, Masao had been drawing a portrait of Bo's unbothered face the entire time.