A/N: *cough* friday the thirteenth *cough*

Excuse the author's semi-laziness. The events in this chapter is the same as the 13th chapter of another story of mine~ But the point of views are different. XD *whispers* please reeeaaad~ *vanishes into thin air*

Sorry for the summary. I was in my writer mode. XD

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I dragged the picture into the middle of the slide, adjusting the text right after. I sensed Yuki-chan, who was currently in my apartment for the night for her weekly visit, shift in her position on the couch behind me. She stretched a little and got up, trudging lazily to my manga stack, probably in search for some shounen ai (I don’t own any yaoi, which is her favorite genre. My mom would kill me if she finds them. Besides, I don’t really like it as much as she does.). I leaned back on the couch for comfort before I returned my attention to the laptop’s screen in front of me placed on top of the small living room’s center table.

I had to finish revising the presentation today despite tomorrow being the deadline, as a way of making up for skipping school yesterday. I focused on making it presentable and appealing to our group leader’s eyes. If he doesn't like it, he could just reply through the email. Doing so, I could make sure that the final copy would indeed be passed tomorrow.

I was in the middle of rewording a paragraph when her phone's message alert tone resounded in the otherwise silent room. I only said, “You have a message…” with my eyes completely glued to the computer screen. Come to think of it, it didn't really make sense. I just kind of repeated notifying her about it. She went back to her place on the seat, now with a shounen ai manga in her hands.

I finished rewording those slides he mentioned in the email, so I went back to the browser and opened the tab where he put his instructions in. I read the next correction he mentioned and, before I was able to get back to the presentation-making program, my gaze kind of went to the sender's name: Akashi Seijuurou. Just the name made my imagination show an image of him, making my heartbeat increase its pace. 

"You drool in your sleep." His smirk earlier seemed to be engraved into my mind, and, once again, heat rushed to my cheeks and my heart felt like it was about to burst.

I grimaced at the memory, tightly closing my eyes in an effort to take it off my mind and shaking my head. Did he really see my sleeping face? Was it really him yesterday? I groaned when the questions flooded deep inside . . . synchronizing with a familiar voice.  I stopped shaking my head and immediately looked up, meeting a pair of amethyst orbs staring down at me with the same glint of surpise in them. It was Yuki-chan who groaned at the same time, right? We stared at each other for almost five seconds, and we suddenly burst out laughing.

“What was that just now?” she asked in between giggles.

“I should be asking you the same thing!” I tried my best reply an understable sentence as I laughed.

“Weren’t you focused on your report?”

“Weren’t you engrossed in your shounen ai fantasy?”

When our guffaw died down, we looked at each other with the same meaningful gazes. She shot me a look which asked what was really up with that groan, and I did the same. I raised my eyebrow and smiled lopsidedly, eyeing her to go first. She wiggled her eyebrows and smirked, nodding a little to let me go ahead. Again, our faces stayed in those what seemed to be stupid-looking expressions, before I picked up a piece of crumpled paper on the ground (probably a failed draft) and threw it to face her face and laughed at how silly the scene looked like. She joined in with the laughter a few seconds later.

We laughed again for a little while, before I waved her hands in defeat to put a halt to our weird act. “Let’s—Let’s just settle this once and for all!” I announced as I forced myself to stop laughing.

“Agreed!”

“Loser gets to share first?” I asked. She nodded with a grin.

 We stared at each other with determined look on our faces, not wanting to lose to each other. What we were about to do had so much in stake, and I didn’t want to lose. Even for the first time, I wanted to be the one who helps her with her problems. Yuki-chan has already done so much for me, and I’m thankful for that. When she heard of my condition, she immediately rushed to my side and made time for me. I wouldn’t have been able to get back to school without her support. Also, it doesn’t seem right for me to ask for more. She was always smiling and cheerful, so I thought it was rare for her to have problems. This time, I wanted to be the one who’d support her first.

I prepared myself as we locked gazes to say that we should start. I thought of my first move before I quickly raised my fist in the air and so did she.

“Jan-ken-pon!”

My hand was still in a tight fist while her fingers were spread out.

My eyebrows crumpled in disappointment as she squealed with glee.

“Well, go on ahead, A-ki-ya-ma Sa-ki~!” she sang mockingly. I sighed, shaking head in displeasure, before I set her laptop to hibernate mode. I guess Lady Luck didn’t want my side today.

“Do you want some snacks while we talk?” I asked with a voice of defeat as I set my laptop aside. I was also growing a little hungry despite the light snack I made earlier. Yuki-chan also didn’t eat anything since coming here. She just changed into her clothes and settled in.

“Hm? Did you make anything?” she asked curiously.

“Just some refrigerated cake. Graham and mango. Was craving for something sweet earlier,” I elaborated. I did get a taste of it earlier, but it would be better to eat it now since it’ll be colder as it was supposed to be.

“Sounds good!” she grinned enthusiastically. “Cold choco too, please~!” she requested with puppy-dog eyes.

I stood up, chuckling at her cutesy act. If there was something she and I had in common, it would be our love of sweets and chocolate. I went to the kitchen to prepare. I made a cold chocolate drink for her as I made some cold chocolate coffee for me. I took two small plates, put two forks on them, and prepared a knife. I heard her move from her place and stand up, most probably intending to help, so I turned to give her a sharp look. No, you’re the guest so let me do this by myself. She smiled a little then shrugged, sitting back comfortably on the couch. I took the plates with the utensils on them and the container with the food in it then placed it on the living room’s center table. I went back to the kitchen before serving our drinks. I sat beside her on the couch, crossing my legs comfortably.

I let her take a slice first then consciously watched her as she took a part of her serving to her mouth. She made a thumbs-up after chewing and swallowing it. I let out a relieved sigh then smiled.

“So what’s your dilemma, Ki-chan?” she asked casually, and I could tell purposefully did it. She’s not good with serious atmosphere. I thought of telling her of Akashi-kun, but I suddenly felt embarrassed about it. Maybe I should say a minor concern of mine? Like my ongoing song? “Please tell me what it really is now! Unlike what you did from that time…,” she suddenly added, pertaining to the time when I always evaded the reason why I quit school. She pouted then wiggled her eyebrows. She was really upset about that time. I felt guilty for considering lying.

I took my drink then took a sip, contemplating what to tell her. Maybe I should tell her about the seniors first? That was something more worth worrying about than these unsettling sensations in my chest regarding the dominant male. “Okay…,” I said after a moment or two, taking a deep breath. I looked at her; she was staring at me with much sincerity, prodding me to spill what was really going on.

“Well… I went back to school last week. It was okay, and I guess I met some acquaintances,” I said, remembering the kind Kanato-kun and the fabulous Mariya-san.

Yuki-chan nodded with a grin and made another thumbs-up. “Good job!” I smiled back.

“This week… Uh…” The bully thing has become a touchy subject between the two of us, so I tried to think of a way to open the topic properly. “We were given a group report,” I motioned to the laptop, “…and… uh…” I met her intent gaze. I took another deep breath. “…The seniors… I mentioned to you about… way back then, they… They found me.” I heard a soft gasp coming from her, so I did my best to reassure her. “Well, nothing as serious as before happened yet, so…” I glanced at her and she was making a troubled expression, “So you don’t have to worry—“

“You don’t tell people not to worry about you, Ki-chan. You can’t dictate what they should feel,” she cut me off, looking away.

“But it’s—“ I tried to argue before giving in. She has a point. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.

She shook her head. “No. It’s okay…” We stayed silent for a while; I didn’t know if I should continue or not. “Go on,” she said, finally breaking the silence.

“I… uh… found some ways to avoid them. Like a place where I’d eat and… stuff.” I thought of Kanato-kun. Though I didn’t really want to bring him into my problem, I thought about mentioning him to Yuki-chan just to reassure her that I am going to be okay. “I also kind of made friends with someone from the student council so I think they’d back away…” But I don’t think it actually worked after Kanato-kun rescued me from my first encounter with the seniors after a long while.

She nodded a little. “I see… You really don’t want to report it to some of the teachers?” she asked, the space between her eyebrows creasing a little.

I shrugged. I actually considered doing that. “They’re third years, anyway. I probably should just wait for them to graduate. I don’t want any more troubles.”

“…If you say so. But promise me to report to someone with authority in your school if they step over the line. Please.” She held my hand and squeezed it. Her voice and her face were filled with worry, and I felt guilty for making her feel that way. Though I doubt that happening, I promised her to do what she said.

When she said the word ‘authority’, Akashi-kun suddenly came to mind. We went silent for a while, and in that time, I was thinking between telling her or not. She asked me to be honest, and the real reason behind my groan earlier was him. I let out a sigh, deciding that I should actually tell her about it. It felt wrong hiding things from her. I wanted to confirm it first before telling her, but maybe I actually needed someone’s advice regarding the matter.

“You know, that’s not the only thing I worried about, actually…” She looked at me with question in her eyes. I continued, “I was debating whether to tell you or not but… here it goes…” The look Akashi-kun gave me earlier flashed back to my mind, and so did the most likely possibility that he was the one who kind of took care of me last night. And he saw my embarrassing sleeping state. Twice. The first was when I overslept. Blood rushed to my face when I realized that. I closed my eyes to calm myself down and violently shook my head to try to get him off my mind, despite him being next topic of our conversation. “T-There’s this guy at school and… I feel really…” Oh gosh. That sounds like an opening for a clichéd shoujo manga, “…uneasy and nervous and conscious of myself whenever he’s around—“

“A creepy stalker?!” she shouted, cutting me off. Wide-eyed, she looked furious and worked-up. What did I expect from a fujoshi? “Destroy his manhood! Shatter his balls! Kick him in the groin! Creepy guys with ill intentions don’t deserve to live!”

I let out a laugh due to her reaction, which was really effective in calming me down. She got it all wrong. “No, he’s not a stalker. I might be the one you could consider a stalker—“

“The Akiyama Saki is stalking someone?!” She gasped dramatically. “Who are you and what did you do to my friend?!” She took her fork with parts of the graham cake still being impaled by it then pointed it to me in a fighting stance while standing on the couch, an accusing look showing on her face.

I raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Will you please just let me explain first?”

She pouted and sat back down, eating more.

“Okay, I don’t stalk. I just…” I thought of some other way to put it, “I unconsciously look at his direction whenever I’m aware he’s around and I… kind of… search for a glimpse of him when I think he’d be around.“

Oh glob, Saki. What the heck are you saying?! my reason scolded me.

Yuki-chan kept quiet, staring at me intently with the fork stuck between her lips.

I sighed. Here it goes. “I also feel weird here,” I pointed to my chest, “whenever he’s around. Like there’s a drum or something. He makes me nervous, especially when he talks to me. There are times he’s on my mind—never mind.” I shook my head. It felt too embarrassing to say the next words. And I get this fluttery feeling.

She was now grinning, her purple eyes sparkling. “Go on, go on!”

“And when he smiles, I just—“ I remembered the times when I saw him smile or smirk, and there was suddenly a marching band in my chest. “I just—ugh. He’s beautiful. And I don’t know what to make of this… this thing. It’s driving me crazy. I don’t like it.”

Oh freaking glob, Saki. What did you just say?! my reason now screamed. Wash that mouth of yours with soap after you’re done with this sharing session!

Roger that. I am more than willing to do so.

“Well, I think I know what that is, Ki-chan,” Yuki-chan replied as she made a toothy grin, her hands making weird actions. She looked excessively thrilled and excited. I didn’t really want to know, but I didn’t want to put an end to her glee. I just looked at her questioningly.

“You found your Kazehaya, Sawako!” she squealed and I stared at her, dumbfounded. If I remember correctly, Kazehaya and Sawako are the main protagonists of the romance manga, Kimi ni Todoke. For a long time, Sawako has always liked Kazehaya and—

NOPE, NOPE, NOPITY NOPE. A THOUSAND NOPES.

My eyes were probably as big as saucers and my face was probably as red as a strawberry. I scooted away from her, glaring at her with much disbelief. “You read yaoi manga, not shoujo, Yuki!” I reminded her, gripping on the small chance that she was mistaken.

“Love in yaoi and shoujo manga isn’t that different.” A Cheshire Cat smirk made its way to her face as she leaned casually on the couch. Why do you have to mention the L-word?! “Just accept it, Ki-chan. I’m pretty sure you realized this sooner, but you’re only pushing away that large possibility. It’s the only answer,” she explained coolly, and a thousand blades with those words shot through my chest. She was right. “So who’s the lucky guy?” Her eyes twinkled.

I looked at her suspiciously, my face now as hot as the sun. “D-Don’t stalk h-him online!” I scolded her, only to pitifully stutter. Embarrassing.

“Sheesh. Trust me a little more!” she whined.

I looked at the dark sky through the window. I had to take deep breaths to calm myself down. I covered my face with both of my hands for I was sure I was going to turn redder once his name comes out of my mouth. “A-Akashi… Seijuurou…,” I muttered to myself.

“omgomgomgiknewitomgomgomgsocuteomgomgomgyaaasomgomg,” I heard her fangirl and spazz to herself. Oh gosh. I forgot she met him already! I felt even more flustered.

I had to recover. I needed to stop thinking about him and focus on other stuff, like Yuki-chan’s problem and the presentation. I knew it was a bad idea to ask Yuki-chan about it; this was what I was afraid of. I shook my head aggressively. Akashi Seijuurou, please get out of my mind this instant.

 I forced myself to act as normal as possible. I looked at her, running my fingers through my hair. Act casual. Forget, forget, forget. I made a small smile. “Well, it’s now the winner’s turn to share.”

“Eh? …Ah…” It was now her turn to become uneasy. After a moment of hesitation, she shared what was bothering her. Apparently, what happened back in middle school, when some girls spread some rumors about her, left a mark in her. She said she acted careful since she wanted some friends in high school and she didn’t want anyone to dislike her. She said it worked in a way, but she had a hard time looking for her own circle of friends. I felt bad for transferring all the way to Kyoto rather than staying in Tokyo to study in high school. Back when we were in middle school, I actually considered going to Kaijou High, her current high school. Anyway, her problem was that someone popular was befriending her, and then she said some mean things to her just to make him leave her alone. She was worried that people would see her negatively because of the popular guy. I actually found it kind of weird. She was searching for friends, and when someone willingly wants to be her friend, she pushes him away. It’s the first time I heard of her problem, and I spoke my mind about the matter. I told her she should just not care about what people would think of her and just do what would please her. That’s what’ll matter five years from now, right? Fortunately, I think she accepted my advice.

When she started teasing me because of my advice, I rolled my eyes and went back to my earlier place. I went with her little teasing. “The great and mighty Saki needs to finish her presentation now, or else Akashi-kun’s going to—“ She smirked at me then wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. I looked away, my cheeks heating up once again. “Stop that,” I scolded, pouting a little. She giggled in satisfaction. “A-Anyway... Could you just make tonight’s dinner? I need to finish this. Tomorrow’s the deadline but I might still need to revi—”

“I’d really like to be in charge of tonight’s dinner, but I might set your kitchen on fire,” she reminded me of her poor cooking skills.

I facepalmed, punishing myself for forgetting and being inconsiderate. “…Then just slice the cabbage and the onions and marinade the pork… Everything’s in the fridge,” she instructed, watching her closely as she went into the kitchen.

 “Aye, sir! I mean, ma’am! Aye, ma’am!”

I sighed, opening my laptop. The screen lit up, and I pressed enter to get back to what I was doing earlier. The screen displayed the email with his name on it. My heart raced. I buried my face in my hands in frustration due to that involuntary reaction.

Gosh, Akashi. Why?