(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 46

Suo excused himself from the table once the old man's food was brought out. He picked up his empty cup and moved toward where Aoi was clearing away another table. He somehow found his resolve again, and lost it as he stood there hesitating for a second. Stalling, Aoi nearly running right into him when he turned around to take the dishes to the sink.

"What're you doing?," Aoi readjusted the dishes stacked up in his hands and addressed his friend with a somewhat harsh tone. Harsher than he meant to be, by just a little bit.

"Hm?," Suo was pulled out of his head and blinked at Aoi. He hadn't realized how hard he was just looming there and felt a little embarrassed about that. Aoi spotted the mug in his hand and reached for it, but Suo pulled his arm up just before he could get it.

"Seriously, what are you doing?," Aoi gave him a tired stare and asked again. He had been at the mercy of Suo's random teasing and taunting for the whole time he knew the taller boy, but more recently his antics had gotten even worse. More frequent, and just a little bit weirder.

"Not gonna try to get it again?," Suo teased, holding the cup over Aoi's head. He occasionally made jabs at their height difference, but could be dissuaded with a quick punch or two. Aoi unfortunately couldn't do that at the moment, as he was holding a precariously stacked array of dishes he did not want to break. Kotoha was not kind when it came to the destruction of anything related to the cafe.

"If you're gonna be like that, you can just leave it at the table," Aoi grumbled and rolled his eyes. He started like he was going to step around Suo, until a slight pressure was applied to his head. That pressure stayed there as Suo's hand lowered down and his fingers snaked through the strings of Aoi's mask, still hanging to one side.

"What..?"

Aoi felt every muscle in his body straining against his reflexes to stay still so he didn't drop anything. He very desperately felt like jumping back though, on sheer instinct, as Suo leaned down to his level and moved closer. Close enough that his breath grazed his chin as something soft and warm pressed into his lips. It was there for just a second, the smell of coffee filling Aoi's nose and lingering after Suo pulled away and stood tall again. Suo beamed brightly at Aoi, sliding the strings of the cloth mask over his ear and sending a shiver through Aoi's body when his fingertips brushed over his cheekbone.

Then he spun on his heels and left, with a passing wave to Kotoha on his way out and nothing more. The cafe was dead silent as Aoi stood there statue still and struggled to process what had just happened. His mind felt like a wheel spinning at impossible speed, all while not a single actual thought came up. Suo taunted him. Then put something on his head, what was that? Then he..something touched his face, and..?

"Pfft!," Kotoha snickered finally at the two red faces she had a perfect view of. Aoi was red from the neck up, eye twitching as he struggled to figure out what had just happened. Sakura was equally as red, having turned his gaze to the pair just as Suo had gone for the little peck. The old man, their only other customer, finished his food and rose from his seat quietly. He left payment on the table, for his meal and for Suo's coffee, and slid by Aoi. He patted the boy's shoulder lightly on his way by, suppressing his own snarky grin.

"I guess you gave him the thorns first, huh?," the man whispered that little tease and bowed on his way through the door. Aoi was practically trembling with overwhelming emotion as his brain finally restarted and caught back up.

"Wh-what?!," he shrieked. As he did so, he stumbled back and everything stacked on his body fell right to the floor with a crashing clatter.

"Aoi! That's so many dishes!," Kotoha's glee was quickly overridden by her horror as she watched everything fall and shatter on the floor. Aoi flinched, then looked down at the scattered pottery all around his feet and his shoulders fell.

"Fuck!," he cursed loudly, rushing behind the counter and returning with a broom and dustpan to clean up the mess he had made.

"What the hell! While I'm tryin' to eat an' everything?!," Sakura's mouth started working again finally, spewing a string of curses rivaling Aoi's shocked muttering.

...

Nirei shot glances at his classmate, who had been grinning like an idiot all morning and was now humming quietly to himself as he worked on the rooftop with the other class leaders. The fight between Takiishi and Umemiya had thoroughly trashed the place, thought Aoi and Sugishita managed to save a good number of the plants by quickly transplanting them into new plots. Tsubaki made his way over, having noticed the absence of his now two favorite underclassmen.

"Hey, Suo. D'you know where Aoi is?," Tsubaki got no response when he asked the first time. He made a face, then tried again. Still nothing, until the much larger boy literally blocked Suo's path and held him firmly in place.

"You know something. Where's Aoi?"

"Hm? Maybe he overslept?," Suo continued to feign ignorance, the twitching at the corner of his mouth a dead giveaway to his lie. Before Tsubaki could push him further, the door to the stairwell burst open with a loud bang. All hands stopped as everyone reacted to the sound, turning to see one of the missing students standing there fuming and red. Suo freed himself from Tsubaki's grip and tried to make himself small.

"What did you do?," Nirei flinched when Aoi's gaze passed over him. He was obviously looking for someone, and that someone was now using Nirei as a meat shield.

"Hm?," Suo kept his act up even as Aoi stomped over, still clutching the apron from Pothos in his balled up fist. He swiftly removed Suo's shield, shoving Nirei aside and holding his shirt just long enough that he didn't face plant into the concrete.

"Good morning?," Suo held his hands up, palms forward, in a last ditch defensive play. Aoi stared straight into his soul, jaw clenched tight under his mask.

"You're buying lunch, asshole," Aoi's sudden declaration threw off any who were still watching, and the one he aimed it at.

"Huh? Why?," Suo was genuinely confused but his tone fell into the same tone he used when taunting Sakura. Aoi looked close to punching him, but Nirei didn't feel like playing peacemaker this time.

"Because those fuckin' plates are comin' outta my paycheck, that's why," Aoi growled out his explanation and finally broke the hard glare. His ears went slightly pink as he said it, turning his face away.

"You dropped them?," Suo took a little too long to figure out what his counterpart was talking about. When it finally clicked, he ended up wearing a nervous grin much like Aoi tended to do.

"Of course I did! What the hell was that?!," Aoi's voice peaked and cracked as he shouted back at Suo. Nirei, having pieced together a reasonable guess at the implied situation, just looked at Suo with the most tired expression painted over his features. He was so done that he didn't even flinch when Aoi's volume suddenly skyrocketed.