8 Chapter 7

Yaguchi P.O.V. 1st Person

'It's been thirty minutes. Why aren't they here yet?' I pace across the room, 'I told them my room number. Did they maybe get lost? Should I go look for them? No, if I leave and they show up it would be a problem.' (y/n) told me after dinner they were gonna stop by their dorm to pick up some things for studying. It had been a lot longer than I expected though. But if their room looked anything like mine, it was understandable. It's really starting to bug me though. 'I should have just waited for tomorrow or something instead of asking them. It would have been better to study during the daytime anyway. Who knows what could happen on the walk over here..'

Just as I turn away from the front of my room, there comes a knock. I quickly swing the door open. "Welcome! Did you get lost?" I burst. 'Honestly, I'm just glad to see they're okay. And maybe even that they didn't ditch out on me.'

"Not at all, my room's in the third dorm, but luckily the rooms are organized the same." I nod, but my eyes land on the (f/c) bag resting one shoulder and then trail down to their sweats. 'Did they change clothes when they picked up their stuff? I guess that makes sense.'

"You just shower?" I ask, noticing their hair was still a bit damp.

"Yeah," they reply.

I cut the chat, motioning for them to come on inside. "Come in, come in." I go and settle myself by a small table that is also covered in stuff. Luckily, I managed to clear a small pathway in my pacing. When I look back up though I find them caught in the doorway, gazing their eyes over the piles. "I assure you, there's space for you to sit. Let me just, um.." I shuffle some stuff around carelessly.

"Um, before we study, how about we clean this place up some?" (Honestly, I feel Yacchan. My room's super clean now, but that's only because my ex-gf would come over and we'd spend hours cleaning my room. I felt so bad that I got into the habit of cleaning it. Now I do it obsessively.)

*Time Skip to after cleaning*

With the two of us working it doesn't take long, at least it doesn't feel like it. Before I know it, the place is pretty much spotless. "I didn't know my room was so nice and spacious. Really, thank you!" 'I'm always dreading cleaning, but maybe if I stay on top of it it won't be so bad. And it didn't take as long as it looked. The few hours were nothing like the years I'd imagined it to take.' I glanced at the time, "I'm sorry, we ended up cleaning instead of studying. There's still a bit of time though. Want to try and study just a bit before you go?" I grinned at them, but they seemed hesitant.

"I don't know… It's getting late, maybe I should just go..." They seemed a bit conflicted on the idea, and it was more than just lost study time. I look out the window: it's pitch black out there.

"I don't know how comfortable I feel with you walking back to your room at this hour. I'd hate for anything to happen to you." It was unsettling for me to think about, you never knew who you'd run into after all. 'I've already heard stories from Toono about what it was like to be in Yari-bu. I can't even imagine what they have to deal with.' But I can't say they were any safer staying in here with me. 'I've been keeping this act up for a long time though, it won't falter so easily. What's one more night?' I send them a smile, trying to keep my usual cheerful, friendly attitude. "You can stay tonight, only if it makes you feel more comfortable though. Don't worry, I even have plenty of food for tomorrow's breakfast."

"Okay," they nod. "We'll study until we're too tired to go on, then we'll head to bed."

It's difficult to focus on studying though. "I have an idea," I tell them, digging through my newly organized room for something that will work. I hesitantly pull out a bag of candies. Some guy here who confessed to me gave them to me after hearing I liked sweets. I carefully craft the smile back on my face. "I can never get through the homework, but I find these help. I use them as rewards for getting questions right or completing parts of the assignment."

We try it for the first few problems, and since it seems to work we keep it up. I don't really like sweets anyway, so I'm not sad to see them go. But when you've eaten like twenty, you start to get even more sick of them. "See, I told you this subject's easy!" They laugh, "Guess that's another one for you!" When they reach into the bag only for their hand to come up empty, I nearly sigh in relief. "Do you have anything else that might work?" They ask, tossing the empty bag in the trash.

I shake my head, "You helped clean, you would know." They nod. "You have to admit, it's a lot more fun studying with someone else." They smile at me sweetly as we quickly go back to work. I start to feel annoyed though: like most people, they don't seem to be taking me seriously. I couldn't focus on the work at hand with them looking at me like that. 'Is it the girly and childish way I talk? Do they think I'm gay or something?' I wouldn't blame them, but it took a lot of willpower to keep my emotions from exploding out. 'Keep on focusing on studying..' I keep telling myself.

I think back to earlier, it was dinner and I had tried to greet them as a reminder for tonight, but.. "Um, earlier.. I saw you with these two second years. I think one had blue hair and the other sunglasses?" I know the blue haired one, but I don't want to let it show. And I didn't dare say anything more when I saw how they perk up at my words. They stop the work there and immediately meet my gaze. I twirl my finger through my hair awkwardly, "Are you dating one of them?"

"No!" They shout.

It seems I've hit a difficult topic, but 'They seemed pretty close. Like really close. But they say they're not. I'm relieved.' I pause, feeling a smile tug at my cheeks. "I see.. I'm glad then." My eyes trail down from their surprised gaze to their lips. They were lovely. I ran a hand through their soft, (h/c) locks, tilting their face so our eyes could meet. "Don't stress yourself out too much over it," I send them a reassuring smile before I press my lips against theirs. It's just a quick peck, but when I see their shocked expression I can't help but smile. "You still owed me for getting that problem right."

I spoke confidently, but I'm certain my face is the brightest shade of pink out there right now. They quickly laugh it off. "Are you blushing?"

"You know I always blush! I just can't stop!" I'm serious, but they can't stop laughing. 'It's true though, yet another reason why everyone thinks I'm gay.' But I'm happy right now. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

After a few more problems we're struggling to keep our eyes open. "I think it's time we get some sleep. We've still got class in the morning after all." We quickly wrap up, and I watch as they throw themself onto the futon.

"I could sleep forever," they mumble, rubbing their palm against their forehead. "I don't think I've ever studied that much in one sitting. But it was fun." They smile before noticing I'm still standing. "Do you only have the one futon?" I nod. "Leeet. Meee. Scoooooot. Oooo-veeer.." they sigh, dragging their words a bit as they make room for me.

"You sure? I mean, I can figure something else out." 'You know, like laying on the newly cleaned floor.'

"Don't worry, there's plenty of space. Besides, we're friends." They send me a grin, tugging my wrist to come sit down. "I'm not letting you sleep on the floor in your own room."

I simply agree, not wanting to argue over something so trivial. But I pull my wrist from theirs as I walk towards the door. "Okay, I'll get the lights."

Flipping them off, I carefully walk back to them over there. I'm not used to being able to walk to my bed without tripping. "We did great today," they whisper, "Goodnight." 'See, they don't even mind. Just let it go, you're just that super gay kohai.' They were right about there being plenty of space, but it definitely felt reduced knowing they were next to me. I try to sleep, but the sound of them tossing and turning is distracting.

"Can't sleep?" I ask, rolling around to face them. "Me neither." I send them a smile before flipping back around.

After a while it seems like they're asleep. 'Finally, I can slip off that annoying mask.' I run a hand through my hair, yanking out that annoying hair tie and tossing it on the ground. I sit up, burying my face in my palms as I scan across the room then back at them. 'You have to admit they were pretty nice looking. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Because in truth, I'm just as bad.'