*:･ﾟHard To Love ･ﾟ:*

CHAPTER 25 - take a bite

SOUSUKE
—❁—

"Where the crap are we going again?" Kou looks at me as he pulls his shirt over his head.

I smile over at him from the bathroom before looking back in the mirror. "I've told you a thousand times already, I have to go get my nails done before our afternoon classes."
"Oh yeah.. I forgot we had afternoon classes today. What would I ever do without your reminders?"
"Become a failure probably.. and possibly die a little shortly down the road."
"Oh ha ha. Now remind me, how far did we go last night?"
"We only kissed." I look up at him as he walks over to me and looks in the mirror, messing up his hair as a way to style it. Once I felt that my earring was in my ear I looked back in the mirror and caught sight of him looking at me. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason.. it's just that I was so dazed and out of it that I sorta forgot."
"You weren't a perv, don't worry."
"But we're dating?"
I softly smile off to the side before looking back at my reflection in the mirror as I try my best to fix my hair up into a tolerable style. "I guess we are, yeah."
"Hey, you're the one who asked me—you're basically the one who wanted it."
"Oh whatever! I only did it because your sorry ass was too scared to ask me."
"I wasn't scared.. I just wanted to hear you say it for once."
"You are so pathetic."
"Hey man.. you're a great kisser, so don't mistake my questioning for complaining."
"Alright, now you're really starting to sound like a perv."
"Right—sorry, just ignore me.." He softly smiles then gives me a kiss on the head. "Anyways, I'll be in here watching the tv while you finish up." I nod a bit and watch him leave, quickly looking back in the mirror as I continue on my hair.

Once I finished up in the bathroom I went and retrieved Kou so that we could leave. While we were leaving the dorm, I glanced at Kou's hands as he locked the door up.
"Y'know, as surprising as it may sound, I've never been with anyone to a nail salon or anything."
"Your sister doesn't do this sort of thing?"
"Nah, I'm sure she does.. but I'm just never around to take her. My older brother is the one who's raising her right now so he's probably a local at salons and crap."
"Oh, right. Was he ever able to go to college?"
Kou shakes his head and puts his hands in his pockets, relying on me to press the call button once we made it to the elevator on our floor.
"He was meant to, but he never actually figured out what he wanted to do. He's also pretty wrapped up in being an exorcist so he hasn't really had much of a chance to think about what comes next for himself."
"Why were you able to skip out on being an exorcist?"
"To put it simply.. my family's clan just didn't see me being a practical and useful fit in its future. My younger sister is already way stronger than both me and Teru combined, so she was basically my replacement."
"Do you miss it?" I look up at Kou as we walk into the elevator, pressing the button for the lobby.
"Sometimes, but a majority of the time, no. When I was younger I was way too ambitious for my own good.. and it eventually caught up with me."I softly nod as a way to show him that I'm listening, keeping my eyes up on him as he continues. "I never felt like I belonged anyway."
"Well, for the record I think that you must have been decently good at being an exorcist.. especially if you've managed to keep that Tsukasa ghost guy away from me for as long as you have."
"A decently good job?" Kou raises an eyebrow and glances down at me.
"Alright.. somewhat decently." I softly smile once I see Kou get a soft smile of his own. "We're taking my car by the way. You deserve to be driven around after being my carpool for a week."
"Your car smells good so I can't complain."
"That's because I don't have a gross and disgusting car." I step out of the elevator and lead Kou out of the building and to my car while he walks beside me.
"How do you keep your car from getting gross anyway? I could use some pointers."
"I don't go to places like gym's, that's how." I exclaim to Kou from across the top of my car as I unlock it and get in.

I could tell that Kou knew I was mentioning his gym bag in the back of his car, as he was quick to get back to me on it.

"You're right, I guess you don't have a gross gym bag or anything like that in here."
"The day that ever happens is the day that I'll no longer be on this earth. Gym's are a nightmare."
"They aren't that bad.. you just go there and mind your business and maybe lift a weight or two."
"That's what I'm afraid of—actually working out. I can't gain muscle."
"If I'm being honest, I'm actually thankful that you can't. Can you imagine you walking around with like.. 3 or 4 hundred pound of pure muscle on you? With the big giant biceps and veins popping out everywhere? The whole entire 9?"
I softly laugh. "No way! That's actually disgusting."
"I think it would be pretty badass come to think of it."
"You're delusional."
"Yeah whatever.. hey wait a minute.. since I'm the passenger do I get to be dj?" Kou excitedly looks at me and buckles his seatbelt.
"I don't know if I can trust you to play cool stuff.."
"No way Sousuke, I'm offended."
I smile and start the engine, getting some directions up on my phone before leaving the parking lot.
"Please dude, you gotta let me play at least one song."
"If you're gonna end up beating yourself up about it then go ahead." I smile and hand him the aux cord.
"Thanks—y'know, I still can't get over how nice it smells in here. Do you ever get any other passengers or what?"
"Not really.. it's usually only my mom who gets rides from me. One of my other friends from Kamome also gets some rides as well but only when he's totally desperate."
"Is it that guy that brought you to the dorm when you were moving in?"
"Yeah, I haven't talked to him in a bit though actually."
"Hm.. where's this from?" Kou points at the vintage Hello Kitty charm thingy hanging from my rear view mirror.
"I'm not sure, my mom got it someplace a really long time ago."
"It's silly.. but I dig the vintage. And what about your friend?"
"What about him?"
"Were you guys ever.. y'know—"
I raise an eyebrow and glance over at him for a moment before looking back out the windshield. "Involved?"
Kou's eyebrows raise. "Yeah.. that."
"I feel like we've talked about this before."
"We have.. but not like this, no."
"We never did anything like that. I'm 100% sure that you're actually speaking out of jealousy now."
"Nah.." Kou mutters, setting his phone down in his lap.
"You are, and there's no point in lying about it. If it eases your nerves at all.. you're the only guy that I've ever kissed seriously."
"Kissed seriously? You mean you've kissed other people.. not so seriously?"
"You know what I mean.." I smile.
"Yeah yeah I got it." He softly smiles back before looking down at his phone.
"Why are you so scared of that crap happening anyway. Is it because you know that I'm out of your league or what?"
"That is actually so funny." Kou looks at me with a straight face, and I can't help but almost smile wider  as I conceal a laugh.
"What? It's just the truth."
"For someone who is out of my league, you sure were consistent about being my boyfriend last night."
"..right, well—" I softly tap my steering wheel with my fingers once we hit a red light, clearing my throat. "—you just looked attractive at the time, so I needed to purge my urges somehow."
"At the time?" He raises an eyebrow and looks over to me, noticing that I was already looking at him.
"Yeah.. I was lonely, and I was thinking about you.. so when I saw you I was sort of, I guess, overwhelmed."