Winter Calls

2. Theme

The following day, Kusuo was sitting down and jotting notes for his morning lecture. The room had been quiet, aside from the professor who spoke loudly. It wasn't an interesting topic, so it bored everyone out of their mind. Regardless, Kusuo listened to his professor's seemingly never-ending lesson in hopes of keeping his coach, the event, and that weird, extroverted hockey player out of his head.

Around the room, the students were busy daydreaming and doodling in their notebooks, and others had been glancing at their phones and watches to see how much time they had until they were dismissed. Kusuo had never been one to falter though, carefully writing down significant parts of what his teacher said.

Now usually, most students would pay attention to the professor. After all, they paid to be here. But as the minutes drew on, they found themselves caring less about the topic at hand, having already understood their given assignment. One guy in particular, Nendou Riki, had found an interest in distracting Kusuo. He had been prodding at Kusuo's side for the last few minutes, trying to get his attention.

He thinks we're friends, but that's not actually the case, Kusuo thought as he clicked his pen to take down another line of notes.

"Psst, hey! Pal!" Riki whispered, slightly leaning in towards Kusuo. Kusuo kept his gaze locked onto his papers, determined to not be affected by the idiot. He was finishing another sentence with Riki's pestering growing louder in volume. "Pal! Hey... Guess what I found out!"

Trying to get his attention, Riki annoyingly pressed into Kusuo's space. Very quickly, Kusuo's focus diminished, and it was now replaced with irritation. He shrunk back into his seat when students began turning their heads.

Please just leave me alone. I'm not your friend, or your pal.

"Don't ignore me, buddy!" Riki practically screamed as a last resort.

Finally, the professor snapped, "Be quiet, Nendou!"

"Oops. My bad, teach!" Sheepishly, Riki chuckled, — giggled? — finally removing himself from Kusuo's space. Kusuo sighed in relief, his annoyance subsiding as he mentally thanked his teacher. He was surprised that a simple 'be quiet' was enough to get someone like Riki to shut the hell up.

The lesson dragged on for another few minutes. When it became understood that the lesson would be ending soon, the students began picking up their heads and actually paying attention. Their professor had been nice enough to save the most important parts for last, which was helpful to most, especially with a morning class. For the most part, Kusuo had been able to write some decent notes. It would help him out for the assignment he would have later.

Moments like these made Kusuo feel normal. He was an ordinary boy in college with a hobby of figure skating, sitting down in a lecture and taking notes.

Yes. He enjoyed this quietness. Kusuo liked the little moments where the professor would take a break from speaking to allow everyone to catch up on writing the notes. The silence had acted as a subtle reminder of the ice rink, the only thing missing being the comfortable chill it would always bring.

Too bad his peacefulness would be interrupted again. He had felt a sense of foreboding just a few seconds ago.

"Excuse me," a meek voice spoke.

Right on cue.

Kusuo looked up from his paper, turning to see a light blue-haired boy. The guy's hair was messy, and he had big, red eyes. Kusuo's not sure if he had ever met anyone with such a distinctive eye color.

"Do you have a pencil I could borrow? Mine just broke..." Shun said with a slight tilt of his head.

Kusuo gave him an incredulous look, his eyes dropping down to the worn out bandages wrapped around the guy's arms. Kusuo's x-ray vision didn't show any sign of injury, so there was no need for them. If he remembered correctly, the kid's name was Shun.