Kiyotaka, Part 2

"Taka-kun! Taka-kun! We're here, open the door!"

Kiyotaka sprang back to life. He'd been slumped over on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. He ran to the door and threw it open, and Aoi Asahina fell forward onto him, nearly knocking him over.

"Taka-kun, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay!"

Asahina had grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him a bit harder than she'd probably intended to, and Kiyotaka felt his panic rise further.

"I appreciate your attempt to help, Asahina-chan, but you're stressing me out more than anything else right now!"

Asahina's companion squeezed her way into the room and put a hand on the swimmer's shoulder.

"He is correct, Aoi. You must settle down if you want to help him."

Aoi looked at her friend, and then frowned and backed away from Kiyotaka. She did a sort of apologetic bow.

"Y-you're right, Sakura. I'm sorry for scaring you, Taka-kun, I'm just really excited and I guess I sort of mimicked the energy I was getting from you!"

The prefect took a moment to blink at that, and then looked properly at Sakura. She towered over the two of them, and the room's harsh light caused her to cast a dramatic shadow over her smaller friend.

Asahina and Sakura were an inseparable duo. They balanced one another out quite well. Sakura had been central in making everyone realize that while she could be a bit air-headed from time to time, Asahina was not stupid. Asahina had convinced everyone that Sakura was no one to be feared, that she was as kind and tender as any teenage girl could be. Kiyotaka held an immense amount of respect for them both. They were the first ones he went to when he had any questions about his friendship with Mondo, as they were such a stellar example of what a friendship should be.

"Ishimaru-san. We were sent by Kirigiri-san, who informed us of what has taken place. We were told you needed comfort and advice. May I see this note I have heard so much about?" Sakura asked.

For someone so beefy, Sakura was always shockingly well-mannered. Kiyotaka had always gotten a chuckle out of that. People liked to call her offensive names because of her relatively masculine appearance, but she was more ladylike than just about any other girl he knew.

"Of course you may, it's right here." He handed her the note, and she hummed a low note and nodded her head as she read it.

"How childish. That's... Actually quite cute. Not exactly what I would have expected from someone like him, but I of all people should know not to judge others by their appearances."

After she had placed the note back on the nightstand, Sakura placed a hand on Kiyotaka's back and guided him to his bed, where he sat down with one of the girls on either side of him. Sakura weighed significantly more than Aoi did, so the bed tilted in such a way that he was nearly falling onto Sakura, but he paid it no mind. She always seemed to adjust her weight so that she was only half-sitting to remedy this sort of problem, anyway, and she did so after a couple moments of awkward shuffling.

"So why are you upset, Taka-kun? Talk to us!"

"I-I'm not upset, merely overwhelmed. I just couldn't believe it at first. It didn't seem real, so I had Kirigiri-chan clarify things for me as best she could. Now I know it's the truth," he explained. He clutched his pillow to his chest and felt tears welling up in his eyes already.

He wasn't upset. He had no reason to be. He would not, could not deny that his heart raced whenever he saw his kyoudai approaching him, or that whenever he dreamed about the future Mondo was always by his side through it all. Mondo was his first friend, and he had become his first love. There was no denying this.

Every time Mondo laughed, Kiyotaka wanted to hug him, or to hold his hand, or to maybe tickle him or something so he would keep on laughing (but the prefect was sure the biker wouldn't appreciate the latter). Every time he smiled, smiled that strangely devious smirk directly at him, he felt like his stomach twisted. Butterflies, people called it, which made the sensation sound much more pleasant than it was.

"Allow me to be blunt for a moment, Ishimaru-san. We are all aware of your feelings for Oowada-san. In fact, we are amazed that Oowada-san himself has not yet realized," Sakura said. Kiyotaka shook his head to refocus on what was happening, as his thoughts were quickly getting disorganized. That always happened when he thought too long about his biker friend.

Kiyotaka felt a pang of regret once he processed what Sakura had said. He thought he'd been subtle, but he always had expressed himself too plainly. Normally, he considered this a boon. No one had ever accused him of being dishonest or manipulative. But it could sometimes hurt to wear one's heart on one's sleeve.

"And vice-versa," Asahina added to Sakura's point. Sakura nodded. "But y'know, I guess it makes sense in the end. You guys are both so crazy about each other that you both think the other is, like, the greatest guy on the face of the earth. I'm sure both of you have thought things like I'm not good enough for him, or There's no way he would like someone like me, he could have someone better! Am I right, or am I right?"

Besides her having missed the fact that Kiyotaka had never even suspected that Mondo could like another boy, she was, in fact, right, and he blushed.

He had spent months pining after his friend. Months of avoiding glances for fear of blushing, months of having to build up his courage to touch or to hug him for fear that his racing heart would give him away or that he wouldn't have the strength of will to let go. He knew the ache in his heart like the back of his hand by now. It had become a regular part of his routine, something he had become accustomed to ignoring in an effort to continue being a good friend to Mondo.

To be faced with the knowledge that Mondo had felt the same way the entire time was shocking to say the least, and even as he said it to himself again and knew it to be a fact, he still could not believe it.

"It's literally incomprehensible to me that kyoudai had been feeling the same way," he mumbled. Asahina giggled.

"So you're admitting it, then?" Sakura asked, and Kiyotaka felt his face flush further.

"I-Is there any point in denying it? Of course I love him. He means the world to me. I love him more than anything." He glared as he said this, almost like he was arguing against someone who was trying to tell him that his feelings were just a passing crush. It was like being forced to admit it made him that much more sure.

Asahina cooed in happiness and excitement and threw an arm around his shoulder. Sakura smiled, sweetly and genuinely, and placed a hand over her heart. Girls always made the strangest screeching sounds when they were excited about the potential of romance, Kiyotaka noticed.

"So then why are you sitting here and crying about it? Check off the yes box and get yourself the man you've rightfully earned!" Asahina encouraged, making a gesture that was something like finger guns. Kiyotaka gulped.

"I would like to, trust me. More than anything else in the world. But I..." He trailed off, losing himself to his thoughts once again.

Sakura reached forward to squeeze one of his hands, and she gave him a strangely knowing smile.

"To love someone is a very frightening thing, and to have them feel the same way is perhaps scarier still. As soon as you have that love you admit that you have a great deal to lose," she said. Kiyotaka could no longer hold back his tears at that remark.

"I'm afraid, Oogami-chan. So very afraid. I don't want to ruin everything— I don't know the first thing about being a good boyfriend! I hardly even know how to have friends," Kiyotaka squeaked.

"It probably would have been best for Mondo-kun to confront you more directly, huh? You always overthink these things," Asahina wondered aloud.

"It is not true that you don't know how to have friends. You make a most wonderful companion," Sakura insisted, squeezing his hand. Since she didn't know her own strength, this always hurt a bit, but it was reassuring nonetheless. Kiyotaka guessed it was because he could tell she meant it, at least.

"I second that," another voice interjected. This voice was smaller, quieter. Kiyotaka felt his head snap up and his eyes widen.

"Chi," he breathed through a sob as the tiny girl ran up to embrace him.

"I'm sorry I'm a little late to the party, but I won't stand for you beating yourself up! You may not understand all of the arbitrary social cues people follow, but what's really important comes easily to you. You make it look so easy to care about people, Taka."

Chihiro pulled him into another hug, a bit more firmly this time, and patted his back. She looked like she was about to cry herself.

Chihiro was a wonderful friend indeed. At the beginning of the previous year, she had been quiet as a mouse, completely isolated from the others. It was Mondo who had befriended her first. He felt a need to protect people like her, and he'd insisted on doing so when he found a group of older boys trying to steal her laptop from her. After that she'd started to trail after Mondo, and Kiyotaka got to know her then.

To their surprise, Chihiro had sat the two of them down one day to scold them. "I don't need you to protect me," she had said. "I want to learn to protect myself, and all I want from you two is love and support." Kiyotaka had thought that was the bravest thing he'd ever heard anyone say.

Chihiro was kind. Too kind for this world, even. She was smart, too, and could be quite firm when she needed to be. All it had taken for her to come into her real self was a bit of support, and after a year of friendship, she'd shed most of her exterior anxiety and grown to like who she was. She was still a bit too timid from time to time, but she no longer needed to be shielded.

Now, she was here to give reassurance, as she always did when it was needed. She always insisted that Mondo and Kiyotaka owed her nothing in return, as she was merely repaying their initial kindness.

"So anyways, what are you still hiding away for? Go on and say yes!" She chirped. She had her hands curled into fists by her chest, and her eyebrows were slanted down like she was angry, but tears threatened to fall from her big hazel eyes.

"But I'm scared, Chi! What we have is so important to me— I do not know that I could bear to lose it. I don't want to ruin our friendship," Kiyotaka explained, clutching his pillow tighter. Chihiro groaned and put her hands on her hips, suddenly much less emotional and a lot more annoyed.

"You don't have to! You know what my parents are always saying, why they're so happy together? They're each other's best friends. That's really important in a relationship— that you can just enjoy each other's company and laugh together. You two already have that part down," Chihiro argued. "I can understand why you're scared, but there has to be something else. What's really bothering you? Deep down inside?"

Kiyotaka flinched like someone had hit him and looked away. He consciously chose to focus only on the first half of what Chihiro had said, and it did not go unnoticed, but it was allowed for the moment. Sakura exchanged a glance with Asahina, who nodded, and they both kept their mouths shut.

"...Do you think we could still be friends even if I messed things up? If we were to break up?"

"Hey, maybe Mondo-kun would be the one to mess it up. You never know," Asahina teased. The joke was not appreciated.

"Just don't break up, then," Chihiro said through a shrug, and Kiyotaka threw up his hands.

"If it were that simple, I would surely choose not to do so, but things happen! Relationships... They're complicated!"

"Yours isn't! And, hey, love is more than just a mushy feeling or a physical attraction. It's also a decision. It's two people deciding they'll continue to love each other even when they fight and they don't like each other very much. You're both stubborn. Really stubborn! I know you can fight through the hard stuff!"

When did you get to be so mature? Kiyotaka wondered. When they'd first met, she'd been too embarrassed to even breach the subject of romance. Now, she sounded like a marriage counselor.

Kiyotaka considered everything she had said, but more than that he considered the certainty behind her words, hers and everyone else's. Everyone truly believed that Mondo loved him, and that they should be together, and that they could make it as a couple. And if they all believed this so strongly, there had to be some merit to it, right?

It was at least worth trying.

"Okay," Kiyotaka choked out, releasing his pillow and allowing it to fall to the floor. Everyone perked up, waiting for him to continue. "Okay, I'll do it. ...I'll say yes."

A sudden chorus of high-pitched, girlish screams pierced the still air, even from Sakura. Another thing Kiyotaka had noticed about girls was that when they were happy, they liked to hold your hands in their own and jump up and down. He'd found this ritual dance strange at first, but had grown to like it over time. It was an effective way to celebrate while burning off some reckless energy, and all while maintaining excitement. He allowed Asahina to take his hands and dance about the room with him.

He had to admit that he kind of liked being treated like "one of the girls", even if it was only for brief moments like this one. It made him feel incredibly loved.