"W-We aren't dating! Where did you even get that?"

"Me? Dating lame-earring? Haha! You're hilarious, Daikon-senpai!"

After minutes ( which honestly felt like hours ) of Kou and Mitsuba denying any false rumors about them dating, Yashiro and Amane finally gave up on interrogating them out of disbelief. Yashiro kept on apologizing for assuming while Amane was being a brat and kept on asking "are you suuuuure?" and a sarcastic "reaaaally?". Yashiro gave him a good smack on the arm, much to Kou and Mitsuba's relief.

The bell rang, almost scaring the four out of their skin. Yashiro gave them an apologetic smile and a quick bye! before running off, all the while dragging Amane by the ear, making the boy grunt in pain. He didn't fight back, though, instead, he's smiling. Amane is always smiling around Yashiro, like a lovesick puppy—if Amane had a tail, Kou was sure it would wag excitedly every time whenever Yashiro is in his vicinity.

Kou didn't understand them. They've been glued together since the very beginning and has been the sweetest yet most confusing duo. Their personalities hit it well: Amane being a cheeky flirt and Yashiro being a flustered cutie. The epitome of opposites attract, Kou would say. Kou is sort of envious.

( Lies. He's very envious. )

It's also one of the reasons why he wanted to meet his supposed admirer. If it meant he'd get to have something like that to look forward to every day then Kou will gladly do it all.

The blond whipped his head to Mitsuba and noticed how uncharacteristically quiet he became. Mitsuba had his head hung low, a frown on his face that made Kou feel bad even though he didn't know where the sudden guilt that hit him came from.

"Mitsuba?"

"U-Um I need to—" Mitsuba breathed in and stepped back— "I need to do something real quick." Kou barely had time to react. Mitsuba shot him a confused grin, "I'll . . . see you around, Minamoto-kun . . . bye."

Kou couldn't even say anything back, surprised with Mitsuba's actions.

From then on, Mitsuba hid away from Kou. He would try to spark a conversation, but Mitsuba would turn away and mutter an apology before running off. Yokoo and Satou advised he should just leave Mitsuba be because something might've happened and he needed space for it. But what's bothering Kou is exactly what happened. Was Mitsuba hiding something from him?

—

Mitsuba has been avoiding him.

And he isn't hiding it either. Even the next day, Mitsuba would meet his eyes and then promptly look away as if he never even saw Kou in the first place. Although they aren't the closest of friends ( Mitsuba was never the sociable one so Kou had a hard time encouraging him to open up ), there isn't any good excuse for his behavior. And to be frank, Kou is pissed.

"Did you two fight?" Satou had asked Kou after the class. Good to know that Mitsuba avoiding Kou as if he carried a virus around is obvious to everyone else, too. Good to know. Kou gave his friend a curt nod, not meaning to act rude, but, as mentioned, Kou is in a bad mood. "Mind telling us why?" He carefully asked.

Yokoo stood beside Satou as if to root for Satou. They always come in a pair. An inseparable pair, Kou likes to think. Wherever Satou went, Yokoo always stood beside him or is at least 5 meters away. Kou wondered if he and Mitsuba can be like that, too.

Yokoo seemed to take Kou's silence as hesitation, "You don't have to if you don't want to. We just want to know what's wrong," Yokoo told him.

Kou sighed, unusually blue for someone as bright as him, which made Yokoo and Satou's faces drop. "I don't know what happened either. I just think Mitsuba is angry at me," he said, huffing in defeat, his shoulders slumped. He wished Mitsuba isn't angry at him—even if he is, he hoped Mitsuba would tell him what he did wrong so Kou could fix it. He can take a stab in the gut but a broken friendship is a scar he could never heal.

"Mitsuba . . . mad at you?" Satou parroted, sounding shocked as if that statement alone was the biggest joke ( which is a huge surprise because Satou is usually unaffected by the world around him ). "You must've broken his camera to do that."

"You two seemed fine yesterday, though," Yokoo pointed out. Kou lifted his head and noticed Yokoo's arm is resting around Satou's shoulder.

Kou never realized how intimate his friends are together ( like Yashiro and Amane ) until he remembered Mitsuba willingly holding his hand earlier . . . of course before getting embarrassed by Amane with his claims on their suspicious friendship. Was that the reason why Mitsuba started acting weird? He might've gotten embarrassed— no, worse, uncomfortable with the rumors about them.

"Hey, do you think there's something wrong— no, uh, something going on between Mitsuba and I?" Kou asked them, staring right at their eyes. Yokoo and Satou stiffened, shooting each other an alarmed glance. Kou's brows knitted together, pouting, "Don't tell me you guys believe those stupid rumors, too! Mitsuba and I don't even talk as much— where are all of you getting these ideas from?"

Guiltily, Yokoo lowered his head and gave Kou a sheepish smile. "Well, we didn't really think it was real. We were just suspecting something was going on, in a way," he admitted. "Sorry," he said.

Satou started, "even if you and Mitsuba don't talk as much as best friends usually do—"

"He's just shy," Kou defended. "And weirdly nervous, but I don't want to force him into a friendship or anything."

Satou nodded. "Yes, we know. But don't you think it's weird that you keep on throwing him longing looks—" Kou flushed red at the accusation, ready to retort something in his defense, but no words came out— "and whenever Mitsuba talks to someone it's always you. You're always the first one. We're sorry for assuming anyway."

Kou waved it off. "It's fine, don't worry about it, guys. Besides, those rumors shouldn't be what I'm worrying about. I still have this letter and I really want to know who she is." Yokoo shot him a thumbs up and Satou gave him a nod, both of them wordlessly saying they'd support him along the way. Kou is blessed to have friends like them.

"Mitsuba shouldn't worry too much about the rumors, too," Kou sighed out. "They're stupid and they shouldn't affect how we act around each other," he muttered.

"Why not tell him that?" Yokoo suggested.

Kou nodded. "You're right. I should help him get over it." He paused. Why did they ever conclude that he and Mitsuba have something going on when they act no different from how the rest of their friends act? He eyed Yokoo and Satou. "What about you two? Is there something going on with you two?"

Weirdly enough, the thought of them being both boys never even crossed Kou's mind because it never bothered him.

Yokoo and ( surprisingly ) Satou blushed and jumped away from each other, making Kou huff on amusement. Kou didn't want to become one of the gossipers he despised so he didn't ask anything anymore. Besides, he had one goal in mind: find Mitsuba.

—

Catching Mitsuba might've been harder than Kou originally thought.

Although the boy owned bright, pink hair and clothes, he still managed to blend in so well with the crowd. Of course, with just the right amount of determination ( perhaps with even more in Kou's case ), the game of chase and hide and seek is finally over and Kou will not let Mitsuba run away any time sooner. He felt bad for forcing Mitsuba, but he needed to clarify a few things to not ruin the friendship they have and that Kou treasured.

Kou saw Mitsuba lingering by the trash bin, staring at it with lifeless eyes, cupping the lump on his pocket.

Kou gripped on Mitsuba's wrist tightly ( not tight enough to hurt him, though, but tight enough so it wouldn't be so easy to escape ) and pulled him into an area away from the busy hallway bustling with students. "Don't think of running away again," Kou sternly told Mitsuba, his eyes narrowed on him, making Mitsuba flinch.

"What are you doing!?" Mitsuba hissed, frantically looking around to see if anyone saw him get kidnapped by Kou. The blond swiveled and narrowed his eyes on Mitsuba, obviously displeased with the scowl on his usually cheery face. Mitsuba scoffed and pulled his wrist away, but Kou grabbed his sleeve instead, which caused his sweater to shift. Kou tightened his grip. Looks like he won't be letting go for a while. "What do you want?" Mitsuba sighed out, exasperated.

"Why were you avoiding me?" Kou demanded in a loud whisper, yet the hurt in his tone is obvious and he knew Mitsuba heard it.

"To get rid of the rumors, dumbass! I'm helping you out this one time and you—"

"I don't care about some stupid rumor, Mitsuba!" Kou barked, silencing Mitsuba immediately. The blond forced himself to calm down, loosening his grip on Mitsuba's sleeve, allowing the said boy to pull his sweater away. Mitsuba stared at him through watery eyes. Kou felt bad—his soft spot for Mitsuba didn't help him—he didn't mean to shout at him so suddenly, but Mitsuba will keep on running away if he doesn't get Kou's point.

"Don't say such hollow things," Mitsuba muttered to him, his nose scrunched up adorably accompanied by a faint pink flush.

Kou's shoulder slumped. "Do you think I would ever lie to you?" He asked. Mitsuba thought about it for a while, before looking away. "Look, if you don't like any of some stupid rumor that gets in the way of our friendship then I would step away. But if you think I care about something like that, you need to understand that I wouldn't let some words ruin you and I." Mitsuba flushed at his words, scowling, but it's now more of an embarrassed one rather than an angry one. "I don't care if they think bad things, at least you and I are the ones who really knows what's true and that's what matters to me."

Mitsuba lifted his chin, now staring deeply into Kou's eyes. Kou opened his mouth before he shut it tight when he noticed Mitsuba study his expression; looking for something ( Kou wasn't sure of ), searching something in Kou's blue eyes. Mitsuba stepped back, a small smile of satisfaction creeping up his face—barely visible but Kou could see it as clear as day.

Mitsuba snorted. "You cheesy dumbass."

Kou rolled his eyes and grumped, but the smile he held betrayed his words. "Nice to know, Mitsuba." They both shared laughs. His eyes softened again. "Do you still want to be friends with me?"

"You're seriously the biggest dumbass," Mitsuba blurted almost instinctively.

"Let them say what they want— you shouldn't care about something like that. We're friends!—" Mitsuba's face fell a fraction— "not even something like that should stop us! Unless you want it to stop."

"Yeah, yeah, hella-lame traffic-safety earring boy." Mitsuba snickered at Kou's blank face. He then reached out to his pocket and pulled a piece of paper out. "Oh, yeah, uh, I found a letter in your locker or something." Kou stared at Mitsuba skeptically, not missing the way Mitsuba's hand suddenly trembled, looking away. "Just take your love letter, dumbass! I don't know who made that."

And then Kou wondered, is it a possibility that Mitsuba might be behind the first love letter? It could mean that the one he's holding right now could be from his—

No, no. Kou shook off those thoughts away and snatched the letter from Mitsuba's hand, smiling. It wasn't the time to think about that. ( They just agreed to brush off the rumors anyway and even suspecting Mitsuba can ruin that ).

"I'm prettier than you and you get that love letter," Mitsuba bitterly grumbled. Kou thought he meant it light-heartedly, but the sudden change in his expression threw Kou off a bit. He glared at the letter as if it held his deepest and darkest secrets; as if a guard dog growling at anything on its territory.

Kou arched a brow. "How do you know? Did you read it?" He looked down on the envelope and didn't notice the big blush that coated Mitsuba's cheeks. The envelope still looked neat. A bit crumpled—most likely from Mitsuba's grip and small pocket—but it still looked as good as new.

The package is different, though, Kou noticed. He knew the subtle changes because he had been staring at the first letter all night with a dopey smile. The packaging left a weird smell, not like the faint vanilla scent the first letter had. Kou didn't feel like opening it at the moment so he shoved it in his pocket.

Mitsuba was still frowning. Kou didn't understand why. It didn't make sense with the possible theory that the letter could be written by Mitsuba. Maybe he shouldn't hope so much.

"Where did you get this?" Kou asked, referring to the letter.

Mitsuba huffed. "Someone told me I should give it to you," he simply said and left it at that, already talking about something different while Kou was busy pondering about something while gazing at Mitsuba. "Anyway, lame-earring, can you remind me to check the lockers before we leave? I think I, uh, forgot something on my locker."

But Kou wasn't listening because he was deeply thinking. Wasn't Mitsuba about to throw this exact letter away?