Kazuichi woke to the sound of his homemade alarm clock. He groaned and opened his eyes. Rubbing his face blearily, he sat up and shivered. The cold winter air was coming through a draft in the window, and he regretted wearing so little to bed the previous night. Rubbing his arms, he stood up and made his way to his closet. He pulled out his jumpsuit and undershirt along with a pair of pants and pulled them on. He walked to the bathroom and put his contacts in and combed his hair. He brushed his teeth vigorously to make up for going without the previous night. Going into the kitchen, he saw his father sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. The man looked up as his son entered the room.
        "Oh, good morning, Kazuichi. How was work last night? You look exhausted," he commented.
Kazuichi grabbed a granola bar and bit into it, his heart skipping a beat as he remembered the moment with Fuyuhiko the night before. "It was alright. Uneventful," he lied. He felt a bit uncomfortable about keeping his father from knowing about the kiss, but he thought that it would just add unnecessary complications between them.
        Kazuichi's father sighed. "A boy as young as you shouldn't be working so late into the night. I hope that what your school always says is really true."
        "What, that all students who graduate from Hope's Peak will be guaranteed success in life?" Kazuichi finished his granola bar and threw away the wrapper.
        "Yeah. I guess I'm worrying about nothing. You're a smart boy, Kazuichi. I'm sure you'll do great things." His father smiled and stood. "Well, good luck at school today. I'll be in the shop if you need me." Kazuichi's father left the room.
        Kazuichi watched his retreating form for a moment before grabbing his beanie hat and pulling it into his head. Well, time for school, he thought. I wonder what Fuyuhiko will have to say. He was a bit trepidatious about seeing the other boy. He didn't know what exactly would transpire when they saw each other. Part of him hoped that Fuyuhiko wouldn't say anything. Still a bit nervous, he opened the front door and stepped outside.
        Snow crunched under his feet as he made his way down the sidewalk. It was about three inches high, coming up to his ankles. It was still snowing a bit, the flakes catching on his hair and eyelashes. He watched his breath form clouds in front of his face and pulled his hat down further over his ears. Jeez, why'd it have to be so cold?
        Thankfully, the walk to Hope's Peak Academy was short, and he soon arrived at the front door. He looked around himself and saw a few of his classmates also arriving for school. Among them was Fuyuhiko, who was standing silently by himself. They made brief eye contact, but Fuyuhiko looked away hastily.
        Maybe he won't say anything to me, after all, Kazuichi thought, a mixture of hope and sorrow hitting him at the thought. If Fuyuhiko didn't say anything, then things would never be the same again, and it would always be tense or awkward whenever they saw each other. However, it could mean that Kazuichi could just forget about it. On the other hand, if Fuyuhiko did say something, it might ease the tension and fix things again. Still, it might just complicate things even further.
Well, no use thinking about it.     Kazuichi pushed open the door and made his way to homeroom. Yukizome-sensei was standing at the front of the classroom with a smile on her face as she watched her students file in. As the last person made their way to their seat, she announced, "Another day of perfect attendance! Good job, everyone!" She placed her attendance clipboard on her desk and stood with her hands clasped behind her back.
        "Well, good morning, class! How are you all today?"
        There were a few murmurs while Ibuki yelled, "I'M GOOD!" and strummed a guitar loudly.
        Yukizome-sensei laughed happily. "Good to hear, Ibuki. Anything exciting happen yesterday that anyone wants to share?"
Fuyuhiko glanced at Kazuichi meaningfully, his eyebrows narrowed, as if silently telling him to keep quiet. As if I need reminding, Kazuichi thought. I'm not an idiot.
Kazuichi turned back to Yukizome-sensei as she continued, "Nobody? You rotten oranges need to do more with your lives!" She laughed good-naturedly to show that she meant it jokingly. A couple of the other classmates laughed too.
        "Well," she went on, "I didn't have any lesson planned for today, but Chiaki wanted to play a game. If you guys want to do a tournament, you may, and I'll join you. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want."
        The class cheered, many running up to Chiaki and giving her a friendly punch or a thank-you. She just smiled silently and moved to set up the game console that Kazuichi had built.    Kazuichi moved to help her, but he felt a tap on his shoulder.
        "Gya!" Kazuichi jumped and turned around in surprise. The source of the tap was Fuyuhiko, unsurprising.
        "I want to talk to you," the other boy said quietly. His face was unreadable, but his eyes looked a bit angry. That could have just been his normal look, but Kazuichi still gulped nervously anyway.
        Fuyuhiko led Kazuichi out into the hallway and around the corner. Their classmates were too busy playing games to notice their absence.
For the first time since the previous night, Kazuichi got a good look at Fuyuhiko's face. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot, he looked pale and flushed, and bags under his eyes portrayed his exhaustion.
        "Um, hey, man. What is it?" Kazuichi asked anxiously. He shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, wishing that he could go back to the classroom where everything was normal and happy again.
        "I wanted to talk about last night," Fuyuhiko said simply, then stood in silence.
        "Um, what about it?" Kazuichi resisted the urge to pull his beanie hat over his face.
        "Don't tell anyone. If you do, there'll be h*** to pay." Fuyuhiko tapped his foot. Normally, the gesture would seem harmless, but at that moment, it seemed menacing to Kazuichi.
        "Uh, yeah, I won't." There was a moment of awkward silence where both boys stared at each other. Fuyuhiko's foot tapping speed increased.
        Kazuichi felt a need to change the topic. "Um, are you okay? You don't look so good."
        "The last time you asked me that I kissed you."
        Kazuichi swallowed. "True, but you really look sick. Are you sure you're okay?"
        Fuyuhiko huffed in annoyance. "I might as well tell you the reason that I went to the ice cream place. I wanted to see if I could eat ice cream. Turned out I couldn't." He rubbed the back of his neck, shame in his eyes. Kazuichi was perplexed.
        "What do you mean?" he asked, intrigued and confused.
Fuyuhiko sighed. "I'm... lactose intolerant."
        Kazuichi blinked. "Oh. Why didn't you say so? It seems, I dunno, kinda dumb to try to eat ice cream when you know you're lactose intolerant."
Fuyuhiko looked away. "I have to get over this weakness, even if it means throwing up all night."
        "I'm not sure that you can build up a tolerance to lactose. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, does it?" Kazuichi's fear had dissipated a bit, but he still felt a bit jumpy.
        Fuyuhiko growled and made a face. "It does matter." His fists were clenched by his sides. "It's why I'm so short. I can't drink milk so I never got tall like I should have."
        Kazuichi tilted his head to the side. "Look, man, I can't pretend to understand what it means to be a yakuza, but I don't think height is what makes you tough and strong. Sure, it helps, but I think you as a person matters more. I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but you're the toughest guy I know."
        Fuyuhiko gave a grudging smile, a bit of wistfulness in his eyes. "D***."
        "What?"
        "You just reminded me why I kissed you again." Fuyuhiko's eyes turned suddenly looked like how they had the previous night: soft, but steely and determined at the same time.
        He took a step closer to Kazuichi, causing Kazuichi to stumble back against the wall. "Um, Fuyu-"
He was rendered silent as Fuyuhiko stood on tiptoe and kissed the corner of Kazuichi's mouth. A shiver went up Kazuichi's spine as he stood, speechless.
        Fuyuhiko lowered himself back onto his heels and smirked. "You liked that, didn't you?"
        "Uh-" Kazuichi didn't know how to reply. He felt a bit scared and helpless, but also excited and hopeful. As he fumbled for words, however, Fuyuhiko turned and walked away form the hallway. Kazuichi watched him retreat back to the classroom, then sank to the floor with weak knees. Man, what have I gotten myself into?