We Were Meant To Be (Budo x Taro)

Chapter 2: In the Infirmary

Monday Class Time

It was class time, and while Budo usually enjoyed class, he was dreading this one. It was because he just wanted to talk to Taro. Budo casually glances back at Taro, and notices him looking out the window.

His gaze was so... focused. Like whatever he was looking at was the most interesting thing to observe. Budo wished he could look into Taro's thoughts. See what he's thinking about, and bond with him more.

"Masuta?!" Budo jumped at the sound of his sensei calling his name. "Wanna share what's so much more interesting than class?"

"Uh no, sensei." Budo sunk into his seat. His sensei rolled her eyes, and continued teaching.

"Great work, doofus. You just embarrassed yourself in front of Taro and your whole class." Budo cursed himself. He rested his head on his arm, and waited for time to pass by quickly.

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Monday Lunchtime

Finally, the bell for lunchtime rang, and the students quickly made their way to lunch. Taro practically ran out of the classroom. So quick that Budo couldn't callout to him before he disappeared into the corridor. Budo sighed, and made his way out of his classroom to start searching for Taro.

When he reached the rooftop, he found Taro standing by one of the benches, looking like he was waiting for someone. Probably Osana. Budo was about to walk over to him until he noticed Osana beating him to it. He casually stopped in his track, and looked at his phone, pretending to be distracted.

Taro saw Osana, and smiled.

"See, I'm here on time. Just like you asked." He jokingly said. Osana rolled her eyes at him, pretending that she was annoyed with his ornery comment.

"Here. This is for you." She held out a bento wrapped nicely in a blue cloth.

"What's this?" He raised a brow. Osana hmphed.

"It's a bento, stupid!"

"You... made me lunch?"

"D-Don't get ahead of yourself! I didn't make it FOR you! I just made too much this morning, s-so I'm giving you the extras!" Taro smiled which made Osana's heart fluster.

"Wow! Thanks, Osana." He happily took the bento from her hands, and sat down to eat it.

He took a bite out of the sushi while Osana shook as she watched him. When he was about to take another bite, his stomach started hurting. He hunched over as he grabbed his stomach in pain.

"T-Taro, what's wrong?" Osana was starting to sweat.

"Ugh... my stomach... really hurts all of a sudden. What did you put in this...?"

"I... I..."

"I'm sorry... I have to go!" Taro quickly stood up, and ran to the bathroom, leaving Osana confused.

"Taro, wait! Oh no... what did I do wrong?" Osana mumbled feeling incredibly guilty and stupid.

Taro ran past Budo, not noticing he was there. Budo was left confused on what just happened, but he followed Taro to wherever he was running to. They reached the bathroom, and when Taro entered, Budo waited outside to give him some privacy. He could hear Taro throwing up from outside, and was pitying him from how bad it sounded. He wouldn't stop throwing up.

Eventually, he did. He was catching his breath as he flushed the toilet. When Budo heard the toilet flush, he entered the bathroom. He went in to see Taro splashing water on his face. When Taro finished, he was startled by Budo's sudden presence.

"Oh, Masuta... um... you probably heard me from outside the bathroom, huh?" Taro grabbed some paper towels to dry off his face. Budo took a deep breath before answering.

"Yeah. I was passing by, and I heard you throwing up. Are you ok?" Budo felt bad for lying, but he didn't know how Taro was going to react if Budo told him he followed him after watching him.

"Well... not really. I think I need to go to the infirmary, and rest till lunch ends." Budo's eyes lit up.

"L-Let me take you there." He offered. Taro looked at him surprised.

"You don't have to, Masuta. You go and enjoy your lunch. I'll be fine." Taro rubbed the back of his neck.

"No no, I assure you it's no problem. It's the least I can do." Budo smiled. Taro sighed.

"Alright. Let's go." Taro complied. He followed Budo out of the bathroom, and the two walked to the infirmary.

On the way there, Budo was trying his best to keep his composure. However, Taro noticed his odd behavior, and raised a brow at him.

"Um... are you ok, Masuta?" He asked. Budo didn't make eye contact with him.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I mean, it's not me you should be worried about." Budo was starting to sweat nervously. Taro just chose to ignore him until they got to the infirmary.

When they got there, the nurse gave Taro some meds and led him to one of the beds. Taro relaxed on the bed, and Budo sat in a chair next to the bed he was laying on. Taro looked over at Budo.

"Thanks for walking me here, Masuta... but you don't need to stay here. I'm feeling better now." Budo felt blush tinting on his cheeks.

"Well... I wasn't really doing anything this lunch, so... I think I'll just stay here with you." He smiled. Taro smiled back, and laid down in the bed, looking at the ceiling. The two boys sat in silence until Budo decided to break the silence. "So you wanna talk about what happened? What made you throw up?"

"My friend, Osana, offered me a bento. I took a bite out of it, and all of a sudden, my stomach starting really hurting. I rushed to the bathroom, threw up badly, and... here we are." Taro chuckled slightly as he looked over at Budo.

"Sounds rough. Did she make the bento herself?"

"Yeah, she said it was her extras. What's odd is that it didn't taste bad, but it was like there was some weird substance in it that made me throw up." Budo rest his hand on his chin.

"Hm... do you think she did it on purpose?"

"No way! Osana may be a bit abrasive towards me, but she would never hurt me like that. We've been friends since childhood. I'm sure it was an accident."

"I'll take your word for it." Budo nodded.

As the two boys smiled at each other, the bell for the end of lunch rang. Budo sat up, and without thinking, he held out his hand to help Taro out of the bed. Taro felt a slight blush appear on his cheeks as he took Budo's hand, and was gently helped off the bed.

"Um... thanks." Taro smiled. Budo was starting to feel butterflies in his stomach as Taro gave him an adorable, bright smile.

"Y-Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, let's get to class." Taro nodded, and followed Budo to their classroom.

...

... Unknown to both boys, Ayano Aishi was hiding behind a wall, watching their whole interaction in the infirmary.