Collegebound

Dating History

Yuri came into the dorm a few days later while Yuto was visiting with Shun, looking very annoyed. The moment he entered he groaned in frustration. "Ugh! I just ran into one of my ex-girlfriends at the coffee shop!"

"You have an ex-girlfriend?" Yugo asked, surprised. "Oh wow, I really misinterpreted things! I could've sworn you had a crush on Yuya! But if you like girls and not boys—"

"I never said I don't like boys," Yuri said, raising an eyebrow at Yugo. "I like girls and boys. I just happen to have two ex-girlfriends and only one ex-boyfriend. And I'm on much better terms with my ex-boyfriend than I am with my ex-girlfriends. Bit of friendly advice: NEVER date your ex's sibling."

"I... kinda wanna hear the story now..." Shun said, intrigued. Yuto nodded in agreement. Yuri glanced at Yuya and Yugo, both of whom seemed interested as well, then shrugged.

"Well, my ex-girlfriends are twin sisters," he said. "Their names are Gloria and Grace. I dated Grace for three months when I was fourteen, until I caught her kissing another boy. I broke up with her on the spot, and she begged me to take her back, claiming she was polyamorous and that she hadn't wanted to say anything cuz she'd been sure I would break up with her over it. I told her that I was 100% okay with polyamory, and if she had just told me, I would've been perfectly fine with her having other partners. But she never said anything, she just went behind my back kissing other boys, and that made it cheating, which I am NOT okay with."

"Wait... what's polyamory and polyamorous mean?" Yugo asked, confused. Yuri replied, "Polyamory is when someone has multiple partners, however all of their partners know and consent to it. If any of the partners are unaware or not okay with it, then it's cheating, not polyamory. Polyamory is 100% consensual, cheating is not."

Yugo blinked, then his face lit up in understanding. "So like an open relationship?"

"Exactly!" Yuri said, pleased that Yugo got it so quickly. "It's an open relationship, that's exactly what it is." Yugo beamed with pride at being able to understand, as Yuri continued his story.

"A few weeks after I broke up with Grace, Gloria came up to me and said she liked me and wanted to go out with me. I immediately turned her down, because I wasn't really comfortable with dating my ex's sister, especially so soon after breaking up with said ex, but she was persistent. She continued to hit on me for two months, and everyone kept telling me to give her a chance and that she really liked me, so eventually I caved in and we started a relationship."

"Peer pressure can really suck," Yuya sighed, shaking his head. Yuto nodded in agreement.

Yuri hummed, and went on, "That relationship lasted maybe one week before my friend Dennis came to me and showed me a video of Grace and Gloria talking about me. Gloria was talking about how she planned to string me along and make me really fall for her, and once I was head-over-heels in love with her she was going to break up with me. The whole relationship was all so that she could get revenge on me for breaking up with Grace."

"What the actual hell?!" Shun sounded outraged. "You had every right to break up with that cheater! Her sister was just as awful as her if she's willing to do something like that!"

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, so I decided to break things off immediately. I went straight to where Gloria was, and told her that I saw a video of her talking about her revenge plans, and that the relationship was over. And it just so happened that a lot of the school was in the area when I said that, so naturally word spread very quickly about the real reason Gloria was so persistent in asking me out."

"HA! Exposed!" Yugo crowed triumphantly. Yuri chuckled. "Yep! A lot of the people who pressured me to give her a chance felt really guilty about it. Anyways, after that, I swore I'd never date an ex's sibling ever again."

"What about your ex-boyfriend?" Yuto asked curiously. "You said you're still on good terms with him, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Yuri smiled. "Dennis and I were really good friends for most of our childhood, and we ended up dating for about a year when we were in high school, until we both realized that while we were attracted to each other physically, neither of us was attracted to the other romantically. We broke up amicably, and actually stayed friends with benefits for a few months, before Dennis started dating our other friend Sora, and Sora asked us not to sleep together anymore. We both respected Sora's wishes, and Dennis and I are still really good friends. Dennis and Sora are also still dating to this day."

"Wait, the same Dennis that shared the video with you?" Yuya asked. Yuri nodded.

"Wow, sounds like you have quite a bit of dating experience," Yugo said. "Me, I'm not even sure what my sexuality is. I thought I had a crush on my childhood best friend, Rin, for a long time, but eventually I realized that I wasn't actually attracted to her like that. I mean, she's really pretty, and I like looking at her, and I thought I was romantically attracted to her, but when I was sixteen I realized I actually wasn't romantically attracted to her. Like, the idea of kissing her or going on a date with her just doesn't really feel right to me. It doesn't disgust me or anything, I just feel really meh about it. And I never met another girl that I had romantic feelings for, and then when I started attending Ryutoshi, I met some guys that I think are really pretty too. And I think I'm romantically attracted to all of them, and I really like spending time with them, and the idea of kissing them and going on dates with them. But I still like looking at pretty girls."

"I mean, you can like the way pretty girls look without actually being attracted to them, you know?" Yuto said. "It's like appreciating a beautiful work of art. And it's perfectly fine to not know what your sexuality is, or to not label yourself. We're all still really young, there's plenty of time for you to figure yourself out."

"Well, what about you?" Shun asked Yuto. "Do you have any dating experience?"

Yuto shook his head. "There's this really cute guy I've had my eye on since I was like, eleven, but I've never made a move. I know he's gay, and I know that even if he's not attracted to me the way I am to him he'll still want us to be friends, but... I don't know, I've just never found the courage to confess my feelings to him. He's really sweet and kind, and I know I should make my move soon, because I'm pretty sure there are at least a couple guys who have their eye on him too, but..."

"You really should make your move then," Shun suggested. "You don't want one of your love rivals to steal him from you, right?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind if he dated them too," Yuto said. "Like Yuri, I'm okay with the idea of an open relationship. But I've never heard my crush say anything about how he would feel about an open relationship, so I don't know if he'd be comfortable with it."

"Talk to him the next time you see him," Shun said. "It would be better for you to shoot your shot and know how he feels than to keep it in and watch him be taken from you. Especially if you know he'll still want to be your friend even if he isn't attracted to you the way you are to him."

"Yeah, I'll try to talk to him in a little bit," Yuto said. "What about you, Shun? Do you have any dating experience?"

"I have a boyfriend, Akaba Reiji," Shun said. "We're both aroace, both of us romance-favorable aromantics. We enjoy going on dates every now and then and holding hands and kissing and sleeping in the same bed, but neither of us are interested in sleeping together, you know?"

"Wait, I thought aromantic means you don't experience any romantic attraction?" Yugo asked, confused but genuinely interested. Shun shook his head. "No, aromantic and asexual are spectrums. Aromantic means you feel little to no romantic attraction, so some aromantics can feel a little bit of romance favorable feelings, but others are neutral or even repulsed by romance. Likewise, asexual means you feel little to no sexual attraction, so some asexuals feel a little bit, while others are indifferent or repulsed by the very idea. I do have a positive view of it, while Reiji's repulsed by it, but he's supportive of my own feelings and says that if I need, ah, relief, he won't judge me for taking care of it myself."

"He sounds like a good boyfriend for you," Yugo mused. "I hope one day I have a partner who's as good for me as Reiji is for you!"

"I'm sure you will," Yuto reassured him.