StarLit / Yaoi

StarLit / Chapter 5

We'd been sitting there for probably an hour before one of us finally broke the unbearable silence with an even more unbearable question. "Why are you so quiet?" I asked him. He just stared at me, then looked back at his hands. For some reason, I couldn't help but think about his uncle and that creepy vibe I got from them.

From what I can recall, his uncle had his hand wrapped around him, his eyes full of disgraceful lust. I could see the fear in Yasuma's eyes, which only added to my disbelief that this guy was anywhere near decent. He was rubbing his thumb, pressing this palms together, and sweating a lot. I felt kind of bad, but at the same time, I was kind of irritated with this silence. I wanted him to smile and joke around like he was just the other day.

"So, what does your uncle do for a living?" I asked, trying to ignore the sudden fear engulfed in his eyes.

He fidgeted a little and stuttered. "H-he works as a-an accountant"

I smiled, although I knew it wasn't appropriate I wanted him to calm down some. "Must be a boring job"

He nodded, refusing to say much of anything else. And again, we were sitting there in silence. We weren't anywhere particularly special. We were just sitting out in the courtyard again, taking in the sun. Or at least, I was, he was just sitting there because I was his safe heaven. He even told me this directly, he only feels comfortable and safe when it's just us in the courtyard. In a way, it sort of makes me wish we were in the same grade level. I feel like I can only help him part of the day, and during those times I'm usually out of commision, sleeping in exhaustion.

"U-um... Shiro?" He stuttered, but his voice became more solid and less wobbly. "Would it be okay if I went to your house after school?"

Finally, I sat up, curious as to why he'd want to go to my house of all places. It's small there with only two bedrooms and it isn't exactly in the greatest of neighbourhoods. "Why?" I felt like this had something to do with his uncle and that had me on edge.

He looked at me with surprise like I'd just discovered his darkest secret. "N-no... I was just thinking... since we're pretending to go out-"

I mentally sighed. I thought that I'd finally gotten him to open up to me, but I guess we still have a long way to go before we can talk about that stuff. I mean, I did only just meet him a few days ago under strange circumstances. I was just waiting for the day that I got bored of this and told him to fend for himself. "Sure, you can come over. Will your uncle mind?" I paid close attention to his reactions every time I mentioned his uncle. Every time his eyes filled with fear.

"H-he won't mind. It'll be fine" But somehow that sounded like a lie.

"Oh, hey," I crossed my legs, pretzel style as they say, and placed my hands in my lap. "My parents are coming back from their vacation, I guess, so I might have to talk to them while we're at the festival"

"Your parents were on vacation?" He asked, hoping to change the subject.

I nodded. My parents weren't exactly my favorite topic, but at least it was better to be bored than staring at him basically freaking out. "If you call most of my life a vacation" I grumbled bitterly without meaning to. "Anyway, I promised to say hi. But after that, I'm sure they'll just walk around with Ayase so we can go wherever you want"

He frowned. "Who's Ayase?"

"My guardian. She teaches art here at the school, actually"

"Ayase... Ayase" He thought a moment, then looked at me in shock. "You live with Boob-san?"

For some reason the moment I heard that I exploded in the most hysterical laughter ever, which was completely out of character for me, and had to lean over my stomach to stop its aching. "Boob-san? I've never heard anyone call her that!" In retrospect, it wasn't really that funny, but for some reason, it took me by complete surprise. That, combined with Yasuma's sudden burst of expression, just made it all the while. Something hilarious that I was sure never to experience again.