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Chapter Text

4:45 PM, after school hours - Ver Vermillion; Student Council President, is sitting at a desk in the printing room. His brow is furrowed as he stares at a mountain of paperwork. With a heavy sigh, he takes the very top sheet from the stack and starts filling it in. "Why do I have to start making all these decisions now? The first term has only just started, and I have to plan all this stuff months in advance... if I had've known that this is what it was gonna be like, I never would've signed up for this. I thought it would look good on my resume later on, but to dump all this work on one singular student? This is too much. I guess it wouldn't be as bad if Torahime actually took her Vice Presidency seriously. Maybe then I wouldn't have to stay back every day." Ver continues complaining to himself as he finishes filling out one stack of paper. Once he's finished with that, he makes his way over to the printer and starts printing out some worksheets for home-room the next day. He quickly finishes printing out twenty copies, and makes his way over to his home-room classroom. As he is walking, his mind is busy thinking about how much work he still has left to do. As he rounds a corner, he bumps into someone, making them both fall backwards and scattering the worksheets.

"Ah- I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you, are you okay?" A tall, magenta-haired boy asks.

"No, no, it was my fault, I wasn't paying attention. Wait... do I know you? You're not a third-year are you?" Ver questions as he looks the boy up and down.

"Nope, I'm a first-year." He grins.

"But you're so tall?!"

"Hehe~ That's right, I'm the tallest in my class by a landslide!"

[He'll probably get even taller later on if he's only a first-year... man, he's lucky.] "What are you doing in the third-year building? Shouldn't you have gone home by now?"

"Oh, well I actually just came down from the roof. I was flying a paper aeroplane and I was just on my way down to go get it. I guess I was having so much fun I didn't realise what time it was!" The boy laughs to himself as he stands up and dusts himself off.

[This guy is so carefree, he has the energy of a little kid. I wish I could be stress-free like this guy.] Ver starts gathering the worksheets off the ground. 

"Oh, let me help you." The boy leans down to pick up a piece of paper in front of Ver, but Ver was also about to reach for it, which makes them bump their heads.

"Ah- sorry." Ver rubs his head.

"Ah, no, that was my fault... again. Sorry." The boy turns around and picks up the other papers around him. "There, all done. Here you go!" He smiles with a bright innocence.

"Thanks." Ver straightens out the paper and stands up. "Hey, what's your name, kid?"

"I'm Doppio! Doppio Dropscythe!" He smiles pridefully. 

"Wow, that's a cool name~" 

"Yeah, my parents thought of it, pretty cool, right?"

"Uh- yeah..." [Who else would've thought of it? This guy is kinda weird.] "I'm Ver. Ver Vermillion."

"Nice to meet you Verr-senpai!"

Ver narrows his eyes in annoyance. [Verr...] "Ah, no, that's not... tch, just call me Ver. Ver like bear."

"Okay, Ver like bear-senpai!"

"Ah... never mind. Call me whatever you want." [Is he making fun of me, or is he just dense?]

"Okie dokie! Hey, what is all that paper you got there anyway?" He moves uncomfortably close to Ver to peek at the papers.

"Ah- j-just worksheets. It's nothing interesting. A-anyway, if you don't mind, I'm very busy."

"Haha! Nice pun!"

"Huh?"

"Ver-y."

"Right..." [Like I haven't heard that a million times.] "Anyway, sorry again for bumping into you. Have a nice day." Ver quickly starts walking away, not looking back at Doppio. [I can't believe he got so close to me just then, talk about annoying. I better not talk to this guy again, I have a feeling he wouldn't leave me alone.]

"O-okay! Bye bye, Ver-senpai!" [Hey that rhymed!] Doppio smiles to himself as he runs off down the hallways.

A week had past since Ver bumped into Doppio, and like he had predicted, the kid wouldn't leave him alone. If he wasn't talking Ver's ear off whilst he was walking across the campus, he was silently watching from afar wherever he went. If Ver was studying in the library, Doppio was staring at him from behind a bookshelf. If Ver was talking to his classmates in the hallway, Doppio was observing from around a corner. If Ver went to the vending machine to buy some strawberry milk...

[I know you're there. Jeez, what's with this kid? He's seriously been stalking me non-stop. He's starting to creep me out.] Ver pokes the straw in his strawberry milk and takes a long sip before walking away from the vending machine.

As soon as Ver was out of sight, Doppio approached the vending machine. "Ver-senpai likes strawberry milk? I thought all the senpais were grown-up and drank black coffee or green tea. Well, if Ver-senpai drinks strawberry milk, then I'm gonna drink it too!" He takes some coins out of his pocket and goes to press the button for strawberry milk. The carton of milk drops down, and Doppio picks it up from the compartment. He stabs the straw into the carton and takes a big gulp and smiles. "Hehe~ Strawberry milk is my favourite too~"

Later on, as Ver is in the printing room yet again after school. He picks up a completed stack of paperwork and moves towards the door. Struggling with the weight of it, he awkwardly stretches out his fingers to slide open the door. When he opens the door, he is startled to see Doppio on the other side. 

"Ahh!" Ver falls backwards and drops the stack of paper, scattering the sheets all over the floor, just like what happened when they first met.

"Ah- Ver-senpai, are you okay? Oh man... I did it again..." 

"Jesus Christ, Doppio! You scared the shit out of me!" Ver clutches his heart from the fright. "Listen, I don't know what you're trying to do, but would you stop stalking me?! It's getting really creepy you know."

"Stalking you? You knew I was there?"

"Of course I knew you were there! You couldn't have been more obvious!"

"Aw man, I thought I was pretty well hidden..."

"Why were you doing that anyway?"

"I just think you're a really cool senpai, and I wanted to know more about you, but you seemed so busy, so I didn't want to bother you."

"I appreciate it, but you're right. I am busy. Too busy to deal with your nonsense. Now, if you don't mind, I have to pick up all this paper."

"Let me help-"

"No. Just leave me alone, will you?" Ver turns his back to Doppio and starts sorting through the paper.

"Right... okay... I'll leave you alone then." Doppio lowers his head and slowly shuffles away, completely deflated.

Ver sighs deeply. [Was I too harsh? Maybe. But the kid's gotta learn that some people just don't have time to goof around and play games.] Ver looks at the mess in front of him. [This is gonna put me behind... I guess I'll just have stay back even later.]

As Ver finishes up his work and locks the door to the printing room, he notices a breeze coming from the stairway to the roof. 

[Hm? Did someone leave the door to the roof open?] He ponders as he starts making his way up the stairs. As he arrives at the entrance to the roof, he hears the sound of someone crying. He follows the sound and sees that Doppio is sitting cross-legged near the edge of the roof. [What the? He's still here? What is he doing?] Ver watches on as Doppio takes a sip from a can of black iced-coffee. 

"Pfft-" Ver lets out a laugh but quickly covers his mouth and crouches down, out of sight from Doppio.

"Huh? Is someone there?" Doppio waits for an answer, but there's no response. 

[Sorry Doppio, but bitter black coffee really doesn't suit your personality.] Ver struggles to hold his laughter. [But man, I feel really bad. I hope he's not sad because of me. Maybe I should go and talk to him.]

Suddenly Doppio lets out a loud, raspy sigh. "I shouldn't cry. I mean it's okay to be sad sometimes but this isn't one of those times. It's okay to cry but not for this guy. You shouldn't cry over something so stupid, Doppio! That's right! The D in Doppio stands for 'Don't cry!' You just gotta, you just gotta... y'know, you just gotta hold your head up high! This guy's not gonna cry, this guy's gonna hold his head up high! Yeah!"  

As Doppio continued his pep-talk in third-person, Ver could barely contain his laughter. [What the fuck, he's so cute! Is this what he's really like? I thought he was just being creepy before, but I guess he's just lonely.] Ver stands up and quietly walks towards Doppio, but he stops halfway. [Hm, probably better just to leave him alone. He'll probably feel worse if he knows I was watching him. It's pretty late anyway, I'll talk to him tomorrow.] 

During lunch break the next day, Ver is standing by the vending machine. He purchases his usual strawberry milk, but then he glances over at the iced coffee. He smiles to himself as he takes out some coins and purchases one. With two drinks in hand, he looks around the courtyard until he sees Doppio, sitting alone on a bench. Quietly, Ver approaches him from behind. He looks at the can of coffee, condensation forming on the surface. He takes the cold can and gently presses it against Doppio's cheek, making him freak out from the sudden chill.

"Uwah! What the heck was that?!" Doppio shouts, almost falling off the bench.

"Haha, it's only me." Ver sits down next to Doppio. "Here." He offers the can to Doppio.

"Oh, for me? Thank you, Ver-senpai!" Doppio takes the can and opens it, taking a sip. He squints his eyes and makes a face. [Bitter...]

Ver was about to take a sip of his own strawberry milk, but then he notices Doppio grimacing. "Hm? What's up with your face?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing. It's... really good." He takes another sip and stomps his feet in reaction to the bitterness.

"Don't you like coffee?"

"Well... I didn't want to say, but it's too bitter for me."

"Then why were you drinking it yesterday?"

"Well, that was because... wait, how did you know that?"

"Oh... well, um-" [Shit.]

"Were you there yesterday? Up on the roof?"

"Well..."

"I knew someone was there, I just knew it! I knew I definitely heard someone! That was you, senpai?" 

"I noticed the door was open... I just thought someone forgot to close it. But then I heard you up there and I got curious. Sorry, I should've said something."

"Ah, that's so embarrassing! How much of that did you hear?"

"Nothing much..." [I heard all of it.]

Doppio leans forward with his head in his hands. Dying of embarrassment.

"Hey, it's alright. I talk to myself a lot too."

"Really?" Doppio lifts his head up.

"Yeah, it's pretty normal. Lots of people do it. I talk to myself constantly whenever I'm at the shops or when I'm doing stuff around the house."

"Oh, okay then. That makes me feel better." He smiles widely.

[Granted, I don't often talk to myself in the third-person, but as long as he feels better.] "Hey, wanna swap?" He holds out the strawberry milk.

"Oh no, that's fine. I mean you already paid for this coffee for me, I wouldn't want to take your favourite drink."

"I don't mind. Look, it's not opened yet, in case you were worried about an indirect kiss." 

"Ah- I wasn't worried about that!" Doppio suddenly gets flustered.

"Haha, I'm joking, I'm joking. But seriously, I don't mind. Here." He swaps the drinks, so he has the coffee and Doppio has the strawberry milk.

"If you're sure?"

"It's fine. It's still my treat, I wouldn't want you to pretend to like something for my sake." 

"Okay~" Doppio stabs the straw in, taking a big gulp and smiling with his eyes closed.

[Cute.] Ver looks off into the distance, taking a sip of the coffee, narrowing his eyes. [This really isn't sweet at all.]

End of Chapter One.

Chapter Text

Ver finally returns home after a long day of school. He briefly greets his parents before immediately heading up to his room and flopping face down on his bed. He let out a very long raspy sigh before lifting his head up and staring at this desk, dreading the fact that he still had studying to do. Reluctantly, he gets up and moves over to his desk. He turns on the desk light and pulls out the chair, sitting down. He gets out an exercise book and a mechanical pencil, as well as a Mathematics textbook. As he begins writing down and solving his assigned questions, his mind starts to wander as he recalls what happened earlier in the day. [Wait. I hope he didn't get the wrong impression. I only meant to buy him a drink as an apology for being rude to him earlier. I mean, he's nice, but it's not like I wanna start hanging out with him or anything. I wouldn't exactly have time, anyway.] He stops for a minute, putting his pencil down and leaning back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. [How do I tell him that, though? If he starts following me around again, and I turn around and say I don't want to be friends, that'll just hurt his feelings. I mean, I wouldn't be completely avoiding him, I'd still say hello whenever I see him, but... I don't know. I'm two years his senior, it would be weird for us to be friends, right?] He picks up his pencil again, and tries to concentrate on his homework. [I'm sure he has other friends. They must have just been doing something else whilst he was following me, right? Yeah. An outgoing guy like that is sure to be popular. Not like me...] 

After Ver finishes his homework, he starts getting ready for bed. He moves into the bathroom, has a quick shower, gets dressed and brushes his teeth. He also does a simple skincare routine. Despite not having much free time at all, he still manages to keep a steady routine. Once he turns out the lights and gets into bed, he closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep. He tries, because his body is incredibly tired, but his mind is wide awake. [Hold on... what did I say to him?] He thinks back to what happened earlier,

{Look, it's not opened yet, in case you were worried about an indirect kiss.} 

Ver's eyes widen. [Oh my God, why did I say that?! What was I thinking?! 'Indirect kiss'?! He's gonna think I'm gay! Which is totally fine like it's not a bad thing to be gay or anything but God damn now he's gonna think I have a thing for him but like I was joking, I was clearly joking, but would he have picked up on that? I mean, I actually said that I was joking, but what if he only remembered the first part and not what I said afterwards? What if he thinks I'm some weird third-year that's trying to hit on the first-years like some kind of creep! What if he thinks that I bought him that drink as a means of getting closer to him so I can win him over? Oh my god what if he's gay? What if he's gay and that's why he's been following me around because he likes me? And I've just gone and said that and he thinks that I like him too and then he starts coming onto me? Like what if he confesses to me, and he thinks I'm gonna say yes but then I turn him down? I don't want to hurt his feelings. What if he's super aggressive about it, I'm not good with confrontation, I wouldn't be able to say no in that situation! Ah, calm down, this is all just hypothetical. There's no way he actually likes me, right? There's no way.] Ver closes his eyes, trying not to think about it. [............What if he tries to- AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH shut-up, shut-up, shut-up! Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep! Don't even think about it! It's not real! It's all in your head! There's no way! You're overthinking it! Just sleep!] Ver didn't get any sleep that night.

The next day, Ver was completely on edge, not knowing where or when he would run into Doppio. He was desperate to clear up the misunderstanding, but at the same time... he just wanted to forget it ever happened. After barely being able to concentrate in his morning classes, lunchtime had arrived. Ver was on his way to the courtyard after purchasing some melonpan, when he saw Doppio sitting on the ground by himself, with his back facing Ver. [Shit, there he is. I should go somewhere else. I'm not mentally prepared to deal with this now.] He starts to quickly walk away.

"HA! Take this! BAA!"

Ver stops in his tracks. [What the? What is he doing...?] Ver walks back towards Doppio, moving to a different angle so he can see what Doppio is up to. 

"Is that all you got? You're so weak! You're terrible! Get a load of this guy, he's the worst knight I've ever seen in my life!" Doppio pitches up his voice. "No! No! Don't talk about him like that! He's my husband!" He switches back to a gruff villain voice. "Your husband? This guy?! But he's so bad! You don't need this guy, I can be your one and only. I'm so much stronger than him!" 

[Is he roleplaying by himself...? And what has he got there? A stick, a rock, and a... hairclip?]

"That's not for you to decide! I don't care who's the strongest, I love him!" Doppio changes to a hero voice. "Don't worry, honey! I have strength enough to defeat this guy, I have the power of love on my side. In this fated battle between men, there can only be one victor, and it shall be me!!!" He tries to pitch his voice up again. "But thAA-" His voice cracked.

"Pfffffft!" Ver screws up his face and starts laughing.

"Ah! Senpai?" Doppio turns around with the most embarrassed look on his face. "Where you watching me?"

[Oh shit.] "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just passing by and I overheard you, but then I got invested in the story." [Based on that story, I was probably worrying over nothing, that's a relief. I'll just try to act like nothing happened.]

"Ah man, this is so embarrassing..." Doppio puts down what he's holding and scooches them away, trying to hide them.

"It's okay. As long as you're having fun, who cares, right?"

"Yeah but... you probably think I'm really childish now." Doppio holds his arms around his legs and rests his head on his knees.

Ver sits down next to Doppio, one leg outstretched and the other bent with his arm resting atop his knee. "I don't know, I just figure you're bored, right? Besides, we're still in high school, there's no need to be in a hurry to grow up. If anything, I think it's kinda refreshing seeing you playing around like that. I'm the Student Council President for my year level, so I'm super busy with paperwork and other duties, so to be honest... I don't really get the free time to do anything I like."

"Really? So, what do you do when you're not doing student councelly stuff?"

"I study. I do my homework, I do the chores at home. That's pretty much the extent of my daily life."

"What about hanging out with friends?"

"Well... I don't really have any. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm super unpopular or anything, I'm just so busy that no one ever bothers me. At the start of the year, people invited me to karaoke or arcades, and other activities, but I had to keep saying no, so they never asked again. I mean, I'm pretty good with my grades, so people do come to me for advice or for studying tips, but that's about it. Everyone only talks to me because I'm the Student Council President, and not because they want to talk to me as me. Ah- sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on like that. It's not like I'm super lonely or anything, I chose this pathway, so I suppose I shouldn't complain about it. But anyway, what about you? You seem like you'd be the popular type?"

"I don't have any friends either."

"Really?" [But he's so entertaining, I thought he'd be the class clown or something.]

"Yeah, people think I'm weird. Every time I try to go up to people and talk to them, they act friendly, but I can tell that they just want me to go away. I guess people find me annoying. Every time I try to make a friend, it seems good at first, but I tend to get too excited and people just try to avoid me after that. It was like that when I was growing up too. I had these two childhood friends, and we were super close when we were younger, but then when we got to middle school, they kept ignoring me and I found out they kept hanging out together and talking about me behind my back. I thought they were just being rude, but then stuff like that kept happening to me, so I figured that I was the problem." Doppio looks away from Ver and buries his head under his arms.

"Hey... Doppio. Do you think, we could be friends?"

"What?" Doppio looks towards Ver, completely shocked. "R-really? You want to be friends... with me?"

"I mean, I don't see why not. I think people haven't been giving you a fair chance, because from what I've seen already, you're a really great guy. Doppio."

"Y-you really mean it? We can be friends?" Doppio's eyes sparkle.

Ver reaches over and ruffles Doppio's hair. "Yeah, we can be friends."

End of Chapter Two.

Chapter Text

It has only been 24 hours since Ver and Doppio officially became friends, and already Doppio was trailing after Ver like a puppy-dog. Only this time, instead of lurking from behind a corner, he was walking backwards in front of Ver, talking his ear off as Ver was trying to get his important tasks done. 

"So my favourite game in the whole entire world is Bug Fables! Have you played it, senpai?" 

"Hm? Is that a board game or something?"

"A board game? No, no, no, you couldn't be more wrong! It's a video game! You can play it on PC, Switch, PS4-"

"I don't have any consoles or a PC so..."

"What?! Really?! How do you play games, on your phone?"

"Well, first of all, my parents won't let me get a console or a PC unless it can help with my studies, and secondly, even if I wanted to play games I just don't have the time. Honestly, I don't even have time for this conversation right now, I have a bunch of stuff that needs finalising by the end of the day."

"Man, why do you have to be so busy~"

"That's just the way it is, I can't help it."

As they are walking, they arrive at the Printing room. When Ver slides open the door, his nostrils are assaulted with a fowl stench.

"Ah! Jesus Christ, Kotoka. How many times have I told you not to eat that stinky ramen in here! Technically you're not even supposed to be eating in this room."

"Well, the stinkier it is, the better it tastes! And anyway, I showed up this time, so you can just put up with it."

"That's not how you win an argument, but ok." He sighs heavily as he pulls out a chair and sits down. "You only show up when something interests you, and I'm left to deal with all the mundane crap in between."

Kotoka gets up and throws her arms around Ver. "And I appreciate all your hard work!"

"Eugh, get off." He pushes her away slightly.

"Oh, who's your friend, Ver?" She looks up and sees Doppio silently standing at the entrance.

"Hm?" Ver turns around. "Oh, Doppio I thought you'd left. Sorry. As I said I'm super busy at the moment, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Wait, don't just turn him away, introduce me at least." She walks up to Doppio. "Are you a transfer student or somethin'? I haven't seen you around the third-year building."

"He's a first-year." 

"Ehh?! Takai! You're so tall!"

"Yeah! I'm the tallest first-year!"

"What was your name again?"

"I'm Doppio! Doppio Dropscythe!" He says with pride.

"Wah that's so cool~ My name is Kotoka, but just call me Koto."

"Okay, nice to meet you Koto-senpai. But isn't that a first name?"

"Yeah, my last name is Torahime, but it sounds so formal when people call me Torahime-senpai."

"I think it's cool. It's like you're a tiger princess!"

"Whoa~ This guy knows how to rizz!"

"Eugh, can we please get to work? We haven't got much time you know." Ver interjects.

"Ah, sorry. Do you want me to leave?" Doppio noticed that Ver was starting to seem stressed.

"If you don't mind we've got a lot to-"

"No, no, no, you can stay! I don't mind at all. Come on, sit down, you can help us out!" Kotoka takes Doppio's arm and pulls him over to the table and pulls out a chair for him.

"Kotoka." Ver stands from his seat and places his hands on the table, glaring at her. "This isn't the time, we've got a lot of work to do."

"I know. But this Sport's Festival is for everyone, not just the third-years. It would be good to get his opinion."

"If I'm gonna be in the way, I really don't have to stay-"

"Nonsense!" She pulls out some paperwork. "We've got 7 events already decided, but what do you think we should do for the recreational activity?"

"Recreational activity?"

"Y'know, like the event in between that isn't competitive. Something just for fun!"

"Something for fun..."

"Like an egg and spoon race, 52 card pick-up, or find the random object..."

"Ooh! I like that one, the one where you have to run around and find stuff, like a treasure hunt!"

"Okay, awesome, that's decided!"

"Kotoka... I told you to survey the other classes, not get just one person's opinion."

"It's fine~ Lots of people like that game anyway." 

Ver sighs heavily. [I guess she won't listen to me no matter what I say.] "Fine, as long as you're working on it, I guess it doesn't matter. Just check it with me before you finalise anything."

"Okay~" Kotoka salutes Ver with a smile. "So, Doppi-chan. What should we include in the relay race? We could have something where you have to find an object in some flour, or you have to turn around and make yourself dizzy and hula hoop 10 times..."

[Oh God, she's gonna make the relay race a nightmare isn't she...] Ver exhales sharply as he gets up, making his way to the printer to make several copies of Event Sign-Up sheets.

"Ooh! What about that one with the donuts on a string? Y'know, where you gotta jump up and take a bite without using your hands."

Ver perks his head up. [Donuts?]

"Great idea~ Thanks Doppi-chan!"

[Maybe I'll sign myself up for that event.] "Okay, these are done, just gotta get some folders for each class." Ver places the freshly made copies on the table and walks over to a cupboard, and opens it. "Ah- why is it such a mess in here? Kotoka..."

"Why do you always assume it's me?! Other people use this room too y'know!" She huffs, taking some of her noodles and slurping them loudly. 

"I guess I have no proof it was you..." Ver grabs some folders out of the cupboard and closes it, making his way back over to the table and sitting down. 

"Exactly." She takes another slurp of her noodles.

"Ugh, don't do that! You splashed it all the way over here." He gestures to a small amount of noodle broth just in front of the papers he just printed out.

"Sorry, let me get that." She rolls her sleeve over her hand and leans over the table to try and clean the spill.

"Hey, be careful! You're gonna knock over-"

*Splash*

Kotoka knocked over her cup of ramen, and in no time at all, the pungent liquid had completely seeped into the sign-up sheets, turning it into a sopping wet mess.

"Uh oh..." Kotaka freezes, not daring to look Ver in the eyes.

"Whoopsie, do you want me to get some paper towel?" Doppio asks Ver.

"Doppi-chan, you should probably get out of here..."

"Hm? Why's that?"

"You don't want to see Ver when he's angry."

Doppio looks over at Ver, who has slowly stood up, revealing a wet patch on his pants and a few stray noodles.

"Pfft-" Doppio snickers.

"Doppi-chan, please, don't make me laugh-"

Ver clenched his fists, practically seething with rage. After a moment of silence, he lifted his head with hellfire in his eyes. "KO-TO-KAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

"Ahh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I-I'll clean it up! And I'll print more copies!"

"Get out."

"Ahh, no, I'm sorry, please just be calm. Deep breaths okay Ver? In... and out-"

"GET OUT!" 

"Fine. Come on Doppi-chan, leave the stupid grumpy old man alone." She takes Doppio and drags him towards the door.

"Is there anything I can do to-"

"No! Just get out, both of you!" Ver snaps at Doppio.

"Hey, don't yell at Doppi-chan, he did nothing wrong!" 

Ver turns his head sharply and glares at Kotoka.

"Whatever!" She ushers Doppio out the door and slams it shut. "BAKA YARO!"

As Ver hears their footsteps fading down the hallway, he slumps back down in his chair with his head in his hands. He had no thoughts, only listening to the sound of his own shaking breath. He rubbed his watery eyes and pinched his brow bone, taking a moment to calm himself. After a good thirty seconds of sitting still, he got up, cleaned himself off, and continued to work by himself. 

5:19 PM. Ver is almost finished with his work, he just has to re-print all the copies that got damaged from earlier. [Damnit, it's out of paper.] Ver walks over to the cupboard and looks for some new paper, but there isn't any. He searches the next cupboard, and the next. He looks all over the room, but there's nothing. [What the fuck?! It's a Printing room! How could there be no more paper! God, could this day get any worse?!] He stomps over to the door and angrily slides it open. He makes his way over to his classroom, mumbling curses under his breath and taking out his keys. Once he has a stack of paper in hand, he makes his way back to the Printing room. As soon as he walks back in the room, he is surprised to see something on the table in front of where he was working. [Huh? Who put this donut here? Is this... for me?] Confused, he puts down the paper and goes out into the hallway, looking around.

"Hello? Did someone... leave a donut here?" 

No one answers. [Huh. That's, really weird.] He walks back into the room, staring at the donut. [Maybe Koto left it here to say sorry. But why would she still be here so late? She must have really felt guilty. Or she's scared of me when I'm angry and this is her peace offering. Either way, cool, I get a donut.] As soon as he takes a bite of the donut, he smiles. Eating sweets always gives Ver an instant mood-boost. Once he finished, he took the napkin from the plate to wipe his hands, but he was surprised to see a message written on the plate in permanent marker. [Hm? What's this?]

'The D stands for: Don't worry about it! You got this Ver-senpai! :D

- DD'

[Aww, what the hell? Doppio... why is he so sweet?] Ver was so touched by Doppio's thoughtfulness, he actually started to well up with tears. [Man, and after I yelled at him too... shit. Now I feel terrible. Once again, I'm gonna have to make it up to him. Seriously, how can he be so damn adorable?]

End of Chapter Three.

Chapter Text

On the other side of the door:

"BAKA YARO!"

Doppio flinches as Kotoka slams the door.

"Ah- Where are you going, Koto-senpai?" Doppio struggles to keep up as Kotoka starts speed-walking down the hallway, fists clenched tight and a pout on her lips.

"Far away from him!" 

"Wait up! I'm sure he didn't mean to yell at you!"

"Tch, what do you know. This isn't the first time he's been rude to me!"

"Maybe so, but... his face. I'm pretty sure he regretted shouting at you the moment he did."

"Nani ga sore?! How can you know that, huh? Are you really gonna take his side when he's the one that started it?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side. It's true, he shouldn't have yelled at you. But, I think he's just frustrated."

"He shouldn't take that out on me, though!"

"Again, true. But, you're the Vice-President, right?"

"What's that go to do with anything?"

"Well, I've known Ver-senpai for only a little while. But even so, he's always working on something. He's always carrying a heavy stack of papers, or he's running around between classrooms. He has this look on his face, like he's always worried about something. Even from the way he speaks, it's like he can't think of anything else but schoolwork. The thing is though, I only ever see him alone. I knew there was supposed to be a Vice-President, but I never saw him with anyone. I'm sorry if I'm just saying what I'm thinking, but I feel like I have to ask. You've known him for longer than me. Does he always look this stressed?"

"...Now that I think about it... he does always look like that. I mean, he's always so serious and straight-faced. I just thought he really cared about his grades and wanted to be a model student or whatever. But, maybe he feels pressured to act like that, I don't really know. A lot of the time I just hang out with my friends and I don't do the work I'm supposed to do. It's not like I wanted to be Vice-President in the first place. It's put to a student vote, and I just got votes because I'm popular, and Ver got votes because he's smart. I thought, since he was at the top of the class, and he was good at organising stuff, I thought he'd like being the President. I knew I'd just get in his way, because I'm not really good at that sort of thing. I'm more of a visual-learner, so when it comes to reading and filling out a bunch of stuff, I just get bored and loose concentration. So, I thought he'd be better off without me around to distract him. I guess I never thought he'd be the type to get overwhelmed, I just thought that was his personality, that he was uptight, but I guess all this time he's just been really stressed. Now that I'm thinking back, whenever I see him, he looks kind of fatigued. Since I'm not really around him that much, I guess I never really knew how hard he'd been working himself."

"Even when I first met him, he looked kinda tired. I guess it's because he keeps staying back so late."

"Wait, he's been working after school, as well?"

"I don't know how late he stays, but the day I first met him, it was almost 5 o'clock and he seemed like the still had work do to."

"You're kidding... is that because of me? He's had to do double the workload. Shit, I'm a terrible Vice-President..."

"No you're not, you just didn't understand him, that's all. You're not completely to blame, he should have asked for help if he needed it."

"I guess... but it'll be different from now on, I'll make sure of it. I'll do my work so he has less stuff to worry about. Even though I'm not good at it, I'll try my best!"

"Do you think there's anything I could do for him?"

"Well, I don't really know him too well. But, I think he has a sweet-tooth."

"Really? Somehow that's hard to picture."

"I've never really seen him smile too often. That's why this one time, when I saw him eating a cream bun and he looked really happy, it was so weird! I'd never seen him make that face before!"

"Really? Man, I wanna see that~"

The next day, Ver is on his way to school. He usually gets there early with plenty of time to spare, so he's walking at a leisurely pace.

"Hm? Doppio...?" Ver spots someone walking in the distance. "Hey! Doppio!"

"Hm?" Doppio turns around and sees Ver trying to catch up to him. "Ver-senpai?"

"Do...ppio..." Ver reaches Doppio but stops, out of breath.

"Good morning, senpai. How are you?"

"I'm g-..... I'm good. You?"

"I'm good. But why are you in such a rush?"

"I wanted to... talk to you."

"Oh? Okay. What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to say sorry. For yesterday... I'm sure that was scary... when I yelled."

"It's okay, it's okay, don't even worry about it!"

"No. What I did was wrong, and I want to make it up to you."

"Senpai, you don't have to. Really, I know you didn't mean it. Besides, I think it's Koto-senpai that you should talk to."

"You're right about that, and I'm going to. But, I wanted to make it up to you because you didn't do anything wrong. I got frustrated, and I lashed out, and you didn't deserve that. On top of that... you did something nice for me, I wanted to thank you for that. That message, it really helped me. That was really kind of you to do that, even though I don't deserve it."

"What are you talking about, of course you deserve it. You work really hard, you should get something in return."

"...Why are you so nice to me?"

"Because we're friends, and I care about you."

*Ba-thump*

With those words, it felt like an arrow had pierced through Ver's heart. No one had ever said that to him before. He looked up at the sky and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you okay? You're not crying are you?"

"No... the wind just blew some dirt in my eyes. I'm fine...''

"Do you need some water to wash it out?"

"No, no, I'm good, I'm good." [Damnit, stop crying.] He grabs his shirt collar and uses it to wipe his eyes. "A-anyway, since we're both here, you wanna walk to school together?"

"I was gonna say the same thing! I guess great minds think alike." Doppio gives Ver a big smile.

"Ha ha, I guess so." [Cute.]

"So, senpai... do you live around here?"

"Yeah, just down the street with the big ginko tree on the corner."

"Oh really? I'm the street over from that one."

"Huh, didn't realise we lived so close to each other."

"Do you think we could walk to school together more often?"

"Yeah, sure. But how come I haven't seen you walking to school before?"

"I normally leave later, but my Dad says I gotta start getting to school early after my home-room teacher sent them a notice that I'd been late too often..."

"Are your parents strict?"

"They're not super strict, but still, they don't want me to get suspended or anything. How about yours?"

"Uhh.... well. N-not too bad." [If I got suspended I'd probably be disowned.]

"By the way, what events are you doing for the Sport's Festival?"

"Well, it's mandatory to participate in at least two events, so I'm gonna do the ones that require the least amount of effort. So probably the bean-bag toss and the ball rolling event."

"You're not gonna do the relay? You seemed a little excited when Koto-senpai brought it up."

"That's only because she said she was going to include donuts as part of it, but I don't know... people can get really passionate about the Sport's Festival. I wouldn't want to do an event that involves a lot of physical exercise. I'm not really good at sports and I don't want to let anyone down. Especially since it's our last one as third-years."

"I could help you train, if you want? I like exercising."

"Well... I don't wanna trouble you, besides, I owe you for yesterday, I don't want you to have to do something like that for me."

"What if I said that that's how I want you to make it up to me?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Like you said, it's your last Sport's Festival. Wouldn't you rather give everything you've got and win the prize for your class? Wouldn't that be cool?"

"I don't know about this..."

"Trust me. With me as your coach, you're gonna be amazing, you're gonna be fantastic! Please, let me help you. I'm not good with organising or all that smart stuff you do, but I can help you with this. I really wanna to do it."

[He looks so excited... ugh, how can I say no?] "I guess, if that's what you want to do. But are you sure you wouldn't rather I take you to get some ramen or something?"

"I am determined, I'm gonna make sure you win, senpai. It's gonna be awesome!"

[His eyes are practically sparkling.] "Okay... I'll do it. Wait, but I don't think I'm gonna have time to, not with all the work I-"

"Senpai." Doppio grabs onto Ver's shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "Don't worry about that. Trust me, it'll all work out. From now on, you're gonna have some time on your hands, I just know it."

*Ba-thump*

"Okay..." [Whoa~ His eyes are so interesting, there's like three different colours in them. I never noticed before... they're pretty.]

"Y'know, if we really want to go all out... as your personal trainer I could even make up a meal-plan for you. My Dad is a dietitian you know."

"Uh, no. We're not doing that. There's no way I'm gonna let you take sugar away from me."

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe you can have something sweet when you've completed your training~" He grins.

"Oh God, what have I signed up for..."

End of Chapter Four.

Chapter Text

3:29 PM, after school, Doppio is waiting by the entrance of the school's oval. After a few minutes of waiting around, Ver shows up and greets Doppio with a wave as he makes his way over to him. 

"Hey Doppio, I hope you weren't waiting long."

"Nah, I just got here. I take it you talked with Koto-senpai?"

"Yeah. It's so weird, all of a sudden she wants to start taking her Vice-Presidency seriously. She kept apologising and said she'd get to work right away. I've never seen her so determined. I'm definitely not complaining though, but, did you have anything to do with that? You seemed to know that I'd suddenly have more time on my hands. Did you talk to her or something?"

"Yeah, we had a chat a couple of days ago, after she stormed off. I might have shared a bit too many of my personal thoughts, but she seemed to agree with me. I think she feels pretty bad for all the work you had to do on her behalf, and she wants to make it up to you. And that works out good for us, cause that means we can hang out and get ready for the Sport's Festival!"

"Well, I'm glad she's happy to share the workload, and I've definitely felt a bit of weight lift off my shoulders." 

"I'm glad to hear it. Now, for training. We've only got two weeks to build up your stamina before the relay."

"Yay..." [I'm only doing this because I owe him for the other day. Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead exercising. This is gonna be hell...]

"First things first is stretches. This is very important, especially if you haven't done any exercise in a while. You wouldn't want to pull a muscle."

"Okay, what do I do?"

"Just watch what I do, okay?"

"Alright."

Doppio starts by stretching his arms, and Ver follows along. Doppio then bends down and touches his toes.

"Um... Ver-senpai?"

"Hm?"

"You're not supposed to bend your knees."

"Oh, sorry."

Ver straightens his legs, but in doing so he is now nowhere close to touching his toes.

"Ack-"

"Do you feel that stretch in your...? Wow, you're not even close!"

"Shut-up~ I don't exactly do this often."

After ten minutes of stretches, Ver was completely exhausted, feeling all kinds of aches in his muscles.

"Okay, now that the warm-up is over, let's get to running."

"Ughhhhhhhhh, do we have to?"

"Yes, you agreed to this, remember?"

Ver sighs. "Fine."

"Okay, let's do five laps around the oval."

"Five?!"

"Okay, three then. We'll start off easy today."

[At least he's considerate... for now. Something tells me this is going to get a lot worse.]

"Ready? Let's see if you can keep up with me, senpai."

"Okay..."

"Ready... set... go!"

Doppio starts running with a good pace. He lifts his knees up high and takes long strides, pumping his arms as he goes along. He briefly looks behind him and sees Ver, already looking exhausted."

"Come on, senpai! There's no way you can be that slow! You're not even running, that's jogging! Come on, pick up the pace!"

"Ughhhhh~ I hate this~"

"Just think about winning first place and getting the prize!"

"I don't even know what the prizes are yet! It's undecided!"

"I'm sure Koto-senpai will think of something good, now come on!"

"Are we seriously doing three laps of this?!"

"Yep! Better get moving!"

"Ah silheo~ Apayo!"

"I don't know what you're saying, but it sounds like you're saying I'm the best coach ever!"

"Ah- jamkkanman!"

"Yep, you're definitely saying I'm amazing!"

"Ya!" Ver starts trying to catch up to Doppio. 

"Whoa! Look at you go! I guess teasing you works!"

"Ya! Gamanhi iss-eo!" Ver speeds up, but Doppio puts even more distance between them. "Come back here! I'm your senpai, damnit!"

"No, no, no! You have to catch up to me first~"

"Damnit, Doppio!"

"Heh heh heh, that's it, keep going, you're doing great senpai!"

"Ahhhh I hate this!!!"

Ver gets home from school after a hard work-out with Doppio. He flops face down on his bed, unable to move. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............................." He groans. [I can't do this, there's no way I can do this any more. Why the hell do people exercise? This is torture! I'm gonna drop out of the relay and pick something else. Ah... but I don't want to disappoint Doppio. Why is he so invested in this? He should just focus on his own events. Why does he care about mine so much? It doesn't make any sense.]

The next day, Ver meets Doppio at the oval once again.

"Come on, senpai, don't drag your feet, we've got a lot to do today!" Doppio flashes Ver a cheeky grin.

"Listen, Doppio. Not that I don't appreciate all this effort you're going to... but, I'm really not cut out for this sort of thing."

"What are you saying... you don't want to do it anymore?" Doppio's smile fades.

"I only agreed to it because you really wanted to do it, and I didn't want to let you down. But, I think I'm gonna drop out of the relay. It's not just about me, I don't want to let my class down either. As you said, this is the last one, I don't want everyone to feel bad because I made us lose."

"But that's what I'm saying, if you keep at it, then you'll win!"

"I just don't have the same passion and motivation like you do. It's better to quit now before I end up humiliating myself."

"You just need some confidence, don't even worry about it!"

Ver sighs. "Why are you so adamant about doing this? I don't get it."

"Well... to tell you the truth, I just wanted to distract you."

"Distract me, from what?"

"Being the Student Council President. I thought if I helped you win the relay, then everyone would cheer for you, and then you could just enjoy being a third-year. It's the very last Sport's Festival for you, and I wanted to give you something good to look back on. Sorry if I've been so pushy..."

[He... just wanted me to feel like a regular student? Damn... I keep thinking he's just some passionate kid, but he's actually really thoughtful. What the hell... how can he be so wholesome?] "Even if I did want to win, and celebrate with my class... you saw me yesterday. I'd just be making a fool out of myself."

"That's not true. You just need the right kind of motivation."

"Like I said, I don't think I-" Ver stops as Doppio opens up his bag and pulls out a plastic bag with a double creme eclair in it.

"You like sweets... don't you, Ver-senpai?" He grins.

"Are you trying to bribe me? Cause it's not gonna work...... that does look really good though..."

"I'll tell you what..." Doppio runs about 50m away from Ver. "If you can run to me, I'll give you a bite!"

"...Tch." [Kotoka told him about my sweet-tooth, didn't she?] "You think I can't buy my own sweets! I don't need to run over there just for a bite!" [Truthfully, I don't have time for a job and I don't get much allowance, so I can't afford to buy sweets very often. So, him tempting me like this...]

"Well... that's too bad. I guess it's just gonna go to waste."

"What? No! You wouldn't!"

"This doesn't have any nutritional value whatsoever, so I don't want to eat it. I guess if you don't want it, I'll just throw it away..."

"You can't do that! Sweets are too good to go to waste!"

"Then, come over here and get it!" Doppio narrows his eyes with a sinister grin.

"You're evil! You know that!" Ver sprints over to Doppio. "Hah... hah... ha... okay... now... gimme a bite..."

"Sure thing~" Doppio holds out the eclair for Ver, but just as Ver was about to take it, Doppio pulls back his hand and starts running away.

"Ah- hey! Get back here! What the hell?!"

"If you want it, you gotta be quicker than that!"

"That's not... fair! You said I could have a bite... if I ran over to you!"

"I never said how far~~" Doppio laughs as he speeds up.

"Ya!!!" Ver starts barrelling after Doppio.

"Oh! You're pretty fast! Not bad, senpai!"

"Gamanhi iss-seo! Gamanhi iss-eo!" Ver tries to catch up to Doppio and grab onto his jacket, but his hand just misses.

"Ooh~ So close!"

"YA!!! Gaesaekkiya!!!"

With one last burst of speed, Ver threw his arms out and clung onto Doppio's jacket, pulling him backwards and stopping him in his tracks.

"Ah- looks like you caught me! Good job, senpai!"

"You... little shit. You... tricked me!"

"Haha, sorry, sorry. But you ran pretty fast, huh? Aren't you proud of yourself?"

"Just... gimme the damn pastry."

"What's the magic word~"

"I'm your senpai!"

"Close enough, here you go~" Doppio holds out the eclair, as if to feed Ver.

"Eh?" [Wait, is he trying to feed it to me?]

"Hm? Don't you want it?"

"J-just give it to me!" Ver snatches it from Doppio's hand.

"Oh, okay. Enjoy~" Doppio watches on as Ver unwraps the plastic and takes a well-deserved bite of the eclair.

"Mmm~" Ver closes his eyes and smiles sweetly as he savours the taste. [Ah~ This is so good~]

Doppio softly laughs to himself as he studies Ver's expression.

"Hm? What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing. I've just never seen you make that face before."

"Ah. Sh-shut-up! Don't look at me like that!"

"Alright, alright. We should probably call it a day, anyway. Say, do you want to walk home toget- oh, wait." Doppio suddenly moves closer to Ver. 

"Hm?" [Ah- wait! Why is he so close?!]

"You've got some cream on your nose." Doppio takes his thumb and gingerly wipes away the cream from Ver's nose. He then brings his thumb to his lips and licks it off. "Hey, that's pretty good~"

[Eh? Ehh? EHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! W-wh-why'd he do that?! What the hell?! H-h-huh?!] "U-um, Doppio?"

"Hm? What?" Doppio looked at Ver with the most oblivious expression.

"N-n-never mind! Don't worry about it!" [How did he just do that so nonchalantly?!]

"Wow~ Look at your face, it's like a tomato! Are you really that tired, senpai?"

"U-um, no, no, I'm good. L-let's just go home!" 

That night, as Ver was trying to go to sleep, his mind wouldn't stop racing.

[Why'd he do that?! Why'd he do that?! WHY DID HE DO THAT?! Does he like me? Was he flirting with me? He seemed like he genuinely didn't realise the implications of what he did, or was he just messing with me? Ah! I don't know! Maybe he just thought nothing of it? Or what if he really was flirting with me and he was just trying to play it cool? But, I swear the other day... I was certain he was straight? What if he actually is gay? But it doesn't seem like it. Maybe I'm just perceiving his actions as flirtatious, but maybe it's not like that. I mean, the way he looked at me before seemed kinda... AH! I DON'T KNOW!!! Why is he making me question his sexuality?! I don't normally think that about other people?! What is it about him?  Ah!!! Just ignore it! Ignore it! Ignore it and go to sleep!]

Once again, Ver didn't get much sleep that night.

End of Chapter Five.

Chapter Text

There are just two days left before the Sport's Festival, and Doppio has been working hard to boost Ver's stamina before he has to participate in the relay race. Also, in the interest of curiousity, Doppio has signed up for the tug-of-war event, and the cavalry battle. He's also going to take part in the recreational activities. The prizes have been decided by the teachers, and they have agreed to treat the first-place winners to a meal, within a reasonable budget. Second place gets to use the school's pool for a set amount of time, and third place gets some assorted snacks. All the other participants get some school merchandise, though there are only so many times you can get excited by the same water bottles and rubber wristbands. Ver and his class are hoping to win the grand prize, and Ver is secretly wishing that the class will favour being treated to dessert over meat or ramen, though the odds are very unlikely. Now, with those two days left until the big event, Doppio is starting to get really excited, and as a result, they are training a lot harder than usual.

"Come on, Ver-senpai! Just a bit further! You're doing great! You've improved so much since the start of last week!"

"Hah... hah... that's only... because... you keep... tempting me... hah... with... better sweets... each time!"

"That's right! And look what I have today~ Strawberry mochi~"

"Ah.... fuck that sounds good~"

"But if you don't hurry up~ I'm gonna eat them all~"

"NOOOO!!!" Ver quickens his pace as he runs towards Doppio.

"Come on, come on, move those feet!" Doppio yells to Ver, without looking back at him.

"Ah- why do you have to be so fast! Slow down, damnit!"

"I can hear your voice getting further away~ You have to go faster if you wanna keep up with this personal training master!"

"Ahhh! I still hate this!"

"The 'V' in 'Ver' stands for: 'Ver-y slow!' Because you can't catch up to how far I go!"

"Stop rhyming, damnit! You're enjoying my suffering, aren't you?!"

"I won't lie, you're an amusing guy! So move those legs like you're tryin' to fly, or else I gotta say, 'bye' because I'm leavin' you behind to cry!"

"Shut-up, Doppio!"

"Don't you know me by now? I never shut-up! It's impossible! It's absolutely impossible!"

[Ugh, he's so annoying~ At first I was only motivated by the food, but now... his taunts are so God damn infuriating! It makes me wanna catch him and beat his ass!] Ver starts putting more power behind his strides, and pumping his arms, cutting through the air with a fire behind his eyes.

Doppio glances back at Ver, but quickly turns back around after seeing the determination in his gaze. Doppio starts running at full speed, not because he was trying to push Ver even harder, but because he was genuinely scared that Ver would catch him. 

[Ah- why is he going so much faster than normal? I can't keep up at this pace. My muscles are aching like crazy, and my chest... it's starting to hurt. I guess this is what it's supposed to feel like when you do proper cardio.]

"Slow... down... Doppio! I can't... go that... fast!"

"No way, no way, no way! I don't like that look in your eyes!"

"Come... back here... damnit!" [My head... is starting to throb. Is this normal? I'm kinda getting dizzy too, and my stomach doesn't feel quite right, either. I haven't eaten much today, maybe that's it? It's not like I meant to skip lunch, I was just pre-occupied with all the organisation I have to do before the Festival.]

"We'll just do one last lap, okay!"

[Something definitely doesn't feel right... I know I don't exercise all that much, but this is different from all the other times that we've done this. It's not just pain from working-out, my legs feel really weird. It's like I'm all wobbly all of a sudden? And is it just me, or is everything starting to get a little muffled? And... kinda... blurry...]

"Did you hear me, senpai? Or are you just ignoring me! Come on, senpai! Don't be mad! It'll all be worth it when you win the relay!"

[Ah... is he.... saying something? I... can't tell... everything's..... weird.... getting... dark.... what's... happening.... to me?] "...Do...ppi-"

*THUMP*

"Come on, senpai! Don't give me the silent treatment! That's not very nice to your kouhai!" Doppio waits for Ver to retaliate, but there's silence. "Senpai?" Doppio stops and turns around. "Huh? Ver-senpai? Did you fall over?" Doppio starts walking over to Ver. "What's wrong? Why aren't you getting up? Did you hurt yourself?" Ver doesn't move. "Hey, you're starting to scare me... senpai? What's the matter? You're just joking, right?" Doppio quickens his pace. "Hey! Can you hear me?! Ver-senpai!" Doppio starts sprinting until he reaches Ver. Upon a closer look, Ver is lying face-down on the running track, his eyes are closed and his arms are outstretched, as if reaching out. "Sen-pai...? Ver-senpai! Hey... cut it out, okay?!" Doppio nudges Ver's arm. "You're just faking it, right?" He pushes on Ver's shoulder, the force turning him over. "Senpai!" He shakes him by the shoulders. "Ver-senpai!!!" There's no response. "Oh no, oh no... what do I do? What do I do?! Senpai! Wake up! Wake up! Ver-senpai!!! Please! You can't do this to me, you just can't do this! You have to be pretending, you just have to be! There's no way you fainted, right? There's no way! I didn't work you that hard... did I? Tell me I didn't! Oh no... what have I done?! I was just trying to distract you so you wouldn't overwork yourself, and now look what I've done! I hurt you..." Doppio lowers his head in shame. "Think, Doppio, think!" He cups his hand over his mouth. "I should try and get help! But... the teachers would've all gone home... I know! I'll call an ambulance!" Doppio takes his phone out of his pocket and presses the power button... but nothing happens. "It died?! When did it die?! Shoot, this is the worst possible situation! What do I do now?!" After a moment of thinking. "Oh! I'll use his phone!" He looks down at Ver. "Sorry, senpai. I'm going to have to search your pockets." Doppio looks all over for Ver's phone, but he can't find one. "Ah! Come on!!! Why don't you have your phone on you?!" Doppio shakes Ver's shoulders in frustration. Ver wrinkles his brow slightly, and his eyes move behind closed lids. "Ah- Ver-senpai? C-can you hear me?!" Ver moves a little, and his eyelids flutter open briefly, but he can't seem to regain full consciousness. "Senpai! Don't worry! Everything is gonna be okay! I'm gonna help you outta this..." Doppio takes Ver's arm and drapes it around his neck, he scoops under his legs, picking him up in a princess carry. "Just leave it to me!" Ver's other arm flops down by his side, Doppio pulls Ver in close to his chest. "I've got you senpai... it'll be alright."

With closed eyes, Ver flinches as the sounds of a hospital fill his ears. He stirs as the bright burn of white light shines through his eyelids. He turns his head slightly and his eyes flutter open. Confused by his surroundings, he looks around in a slight panic. It is then that his eyes settle on someone familiar, sitting beside him with his head down, holding Ver's hand.

"Ngh... Doppio?" Ver is surprised to see him, but hasn't yet registered that they were holding hands. As he studied Doppio's soft multi-coloured hair, for some reason, he couldn't help wanting to reach over and stroke it. 

"Hm? Senpai...?"

"Ah- S-sorry! I thought you were asleep!" [Why would that justify giving him a headpat?! Why the hell did I do that anyway?]

"No, no, I was just thinking. But anyway, I'm glad you're awake! How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you want me to get the doctor?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Really. It's okay, Doppio. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"If you say so... but I just really, really, really want to make sure you're alright. After all... it was my fault for pushing you too hard. I'm such an idiot..."

"No, no, it wasn't your fault! It was mine. I hadn't eaten much, and I was the one that pushed myself too far. I should have known my own limits."

"But, I kept telling you to go faster! And I wasn't even checking to see if you could handle it. I'm a terrible personal trainer, I should've realised that something wasn't right."

"Yeah, but I kept going, even though I knew something was wrong. That's on me, not you. Okay? You were just trying to be encouraging. I should have stopped. I should have said something to you. You couldn't have known if I didn't say anything. Really, it was my fault. You don't have to feel guilty, Doppio."

"I guess... but, I won't ever let this happen again! You're gonna take it easy, and I'm gonna make sure you're okay! Don't worry, I'll look after you, Ver-senpai." Doppio squeezes Ver's hand tightly.

"Ah- wait... since when have you been holding my hand?" [It's weird, our hands fit together so perfectly, it felt so natural I didn't even notice...]

"Oh, sorry." Doppio lets go, and Ver softly closes his hand. "My Mum watches a lot of dramas, and I see the main characters do this all the time, so I thought it's supposed to make you feel safe or something."

"A-ah, it's okay... I-I didn't mind." [Why am I stuttering?] "Thanks for making me feel safe."

"Hehe~ I'm just super glad you're okay now!" 

Ver smiles as the warmth of Doppio's hand lingers on his palm. [Man, he really is so sweet. Oblivious but sweet.]

End of Chapter Six.

Chapter Text

The Sport's Festival is finally here! Every year level is gathered together around the oval, everyone is wearing a white shirt, and black shorts or skirts. Some have headbands tied around their head, and some have various noise-makers and pompoms to celebrate the spirit of the festival. As the teachers and Student Council are setting up the final touches before the events, Doppio walks over to greet Ver; who is checking over various boxes of equipment. 

"Good morning, senpai! Are you excited for today?"

Ver briefly glances in Doppio's direction, before continuing to check items off on a clipboard. "Hi Doppio, I'm kinda busy right now, sorry..." 

"Oh, do you need any help?" 

"Ah, yes actually... could you go run this box down to Kotoka?" Ver picks up a box of various wires with a microphone sitting on top. "She's just over there, at the stage."

Doppio holds out his hands, and Ver gives him the box. "Wait, where?"

"Just there... where the podium is." Ver points towards Kotoka; who seems to be checking the speakers surrounding the stage.

"Ah, okie dokie. You can count on me, senpai!" Doppio takes one hand off of the box to salute Ver, but he fumbles the box and almost drops it, though he saves it before it falls. "Hehe... I'll be careful, don't worry!" Doppio flashes him a bright smile before running off towards Kotoka.

Ver sighs. "Where does he get all that energy first thing in the morning?"

"Koto-senpai, Koto-senpai! I have a delivery for you!" Doppio runs up to Kotoka and shows her the box.

"Ah, Doppi-chan~ Thank you! That's just what I needed!" She takes the box off of him and starts setting up the microphone.

"Need any help, senpai?"

"Um, yeah. Could you just stand up here for a sec and talk into the mic?" She places a hand on his shoulder and points to the podium.

"Absolutely, you can count on me!" Doppio approaches the podium and adjusts the mic so it's pointing towards him. "What should I say?"

"Anything is fine, I just need to check the sound."

"Okie dokie~" 

"Ok, just flip the switch to 'on', and start talking."

Doppio turns on the mic. "Hello! It is I, Doppio Dropscy-"

*KkkkKKKKKCHHHHHttttt*

"Ahh! My ears! Why is it doing that?!" Doppio clasps his hands over his ears as the mic peaks and screeches.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! This is why we do a mic test!" Kotoka adjusts the levels. "Try it now, try it now!"

"The 'D' in Doppio Dropscythe stands for, 'Don't hurt my ears please!'"

"Okay, awesome! That's way better! But keep talking, I just need to adjust the speakers now."

"Hey Ver-senpai! Can you hear me? Look! I'm up on the stage!" Doppio starts waving his arms in the air to get Ver's attention.

"Hm? Oh my God what is he doing...?"

"Koto-senpai let me do a mic test! Isn't this cool?! You can hear my voice coming from everywhere!"

Ver covers his face with his hand and gives a small, embarrassed wave back to Doppio. "Ah... I hope no one is paying him any attention. At least it looks like he's having fun."

"All good! Thanks, Doppi-chan~"

"I'm happy to help! Need me to do anything else?"

"Nope, we're all set. You should just join back up with your class for now. They'll be a speech first and then the first-year events will be up next."

"Okay, see you later, Koto-senpai!"

"Bye bye! I'll be cheering you on!"

Doppio starts jogging back to his class. "Yeah! I'll cheer you both on, too!" He shouts back to her. 

After a long and boring speech from the Principal, everyone was made to get up and stretch before the events could begin. Music played and Ver groaned as all the classes did the Radio Taiso exercises in sync, something his back definitely didn't agree with. Doppio however, was having a great time doing all the movements to the best of his ability. Once that was done, the President of the Broadcasting Club made their way up to the podium to announce the first event.

"Alright everyone! The highly anticipated Sport's Festival is about to commence! Is everyone hyped up?!"

[Eugh, I hate it when they do a call and response. There's nothing worse than having to feign enthusiasm for sports...] Ver rolls his eyes.

"WOOOOOO!!!! LET'S GOOOO!!!" One particular voice can be heard roaring over the rest of the crowd. It was Doppio of course.

"This guy get's it! Love the enthusiasm from the first-years! Speaking of which, the first-year events are about to get started!!! The first event is........... TUG-OF-WAR! Participants from classes A to F will battle each other in a class-on-class tug-of-war! We have two boxes here at the front, they've been divided into red team and blue team! We'll have Student Council Vice-President: Kotoka Torahime draw the teams for the first battle of the event! Can we get a round of applause as we welcome Kotoka Torahime to the stage!"

*Clapping*

[I'm glad Kotoka ended up volunteering for this part. I would have been so drained if I had to do that, AND participate in the relay.]

"And the first to battle each other are... Class 1-A! VS! Class 1-D!"

[Which class is Doppio in again?] Ver tries to look for Doppio in the crowd of first-years.

"Alright folks! Please make your way onto the field!"

Ver spots Doppio's familiar magenta hair in the sea of students. [Oh, it looks like Doppio is walking over. I guess he's up first.]

After the two teams made their way over to the field, each member put on a coloured sash to represent which team they were on. Class A is the Blue Team, and Class D is the Red Team. 

[It's hard to see from here, but I think he's on the Red Team.] 

"Okay, we'll have a brief explanation of the rules! Each team has a flag marked on their side of the rope, the aim of the game is to pull the rope until your opponent's flag crosses over the centre line. There are eight team members on each side, sixteen players in total. Each player must only use an underarm grip to pull the rope, and your elbows must not fall below your knee, otherwise it's an immediate foul! If no one can pull their opponents over the line in under three minutes, whichever team is furthest away from the centre will win, and the closest will lose! There will be three rounds in total. The team that wins two rounds will win the tug-of-war! Now that you understand the rules, LET'S GET STARTED!!!"

Ver exhales. [It's going to be a very long day.]

"Teams! Please assume your positions and pick up the rope!" Everyone picks up the rope and assumes various stances. "Ready? Set... PULL!"

Doppio smirks as he takes on a powerfully wide stance at the back end of the rope. "It's time to show everyone what Doppio can do!" He tightens his grip on the rope. "TAKE THIS!!!" Doppio gives a mighty pull.

"And... Red Team snags the win from the Blue Team! That's Round 1 done! Could the strategy be to overwhelm the opponents in the early game? Or will the Blue Team turn it around and hope to tire out the energetic Red Team? Let's find out in Round 2!"

Ver smiles as he sees Doppio hyping up his team from a distance. [He gets so into this, its so cute. That pose though, he looks a bit ridiculous...]

"Please reassume your positions for Round 2! Ready? Set... PULL!" 

As Doppio beams with confidence, one shocking tug from the Blue Team jerks him forwards.

"Ooh~ It seems like the Blue Team are fired up! The Red Team seems to be struggling a little, but can they turn it around?"

Doppio's confidence is shaken, but he rouses a burst of strength from within himself. "The 'D' in Doppio stands for... DETERMINATION!" 

"Red Team has done it again! Bad luck to Blue Team, sorry folks, it was a good effort. But Red Team's Class D wins Round 2, taking the overall win for Tug-of-War!

After the Tug-of-War event concluded, the Cavalry Battle was up next. It was lucky for Doppio that his class went first earlier, because it meant he could rest whilst the rest of the first event played out. 

"Alright everyone! It's time for the next event, the Cavalry Battle! This time, representatives from each class will all be on the field at the same time! There will be four players from each of the six classes. You can decide whether or not to be a team of two or four! But you can't be in a team by yourself! Each team member has two coloured tags attached to a waistband, and each tag is worth one point. Travel as a group with your team and steal as many tags as you can, and try to protect your teammates from getting their tags stolen! Whoever has the most points at the end of the fifteen minute time-limit, WINS! Now, everyone... form your teams!"

[Wow, it looks like everyone's making teams pretty quickly. I guess lots of people would just go with their friends. But, Doppio is...] Ver watches as the three other members from Doppio's class seem to be arguing. [It's hard to tell... but, from the way Doppio is standing off to the side... don't tell me they're arguing about him?] Ver tries to squint to see what's going on, and he can only just make out their movements. [It looks like they're playing rock-paper-scissors... are they trying to decide the teams? But why wouldn't they just be a team of 4? I hope they're not trying to exclude Doppio... he did say that he didn't have any friends...] Ver watched on as one of Doppio's classmates lost the rock-paper-scissors match. They seemed annoyed and proceeded to push past Doppio and walk off somewhere in a huff, with Doppio awkwardly trailing behind them. [What the hell? That was so rude! Tch, what an asshole. I'm gonna remember their face so I can glare at them later.]

"Alright! Looks like all the teams have been chosen! Please make your way to the edges of the field and space yourselves out, we don't want anyone having any advantages. We'll quickly pass around the coloured tags and then we can get started!"

[Jeez, the person Doppio is with seems like a real piece of work.] Ver stares at them as Doppio attempts to make small talk, but his teammate just shuts him down and snaps at him. 

"Okay! Looks like everyone has their tags and we're ready to go! Remember, you have to protect your teammates as well as yourself, and steal as many tags as you can! However, if anyone tries to get physical, it will be an immediate disqualification, so play nice everyone! Now... ARE YOU READY?!"

[Come on, Doppio...]

"3... 2... 1... START!!!"

Doppio's partner starts running ahead, and Doppio follows closely behind. 

"Oi, freak! What are you following me for?! Go the other way so we can get more tags!"

"But isn't it better to stick together? They said we gotta protect our teammates..."

"Just shut-up and run the other way! We'll get more points if we split up!"

"Hey, watch out!" Doppio runs in front of them as another team swoops in and tries to take their tags, but they quickly change their target and manage to get one off of Doppio. 

"Tch, idiot! What did I tell you?!" They push past Doppio and manage to take two tags off of that same team. "Just go somewhere else! You're just gonna slow me down!"

"I was just trying to-"

His partner starts chasing another team before Doppio could finish talking.

"I was just trying to stop them from taking your tags..." Doppio stands by himself in the middle of the chaos, staring at his teammate as they keep going without him. He looked down, dejected, and it was then that he noticed his other tag was missing. Someone must have taken it whilst he was distracted. 

[Shit. Poor Doppio...] 

Doppio could start to feel an ache in his throat, and his eyes suddenly got teary. "No, no, no. Don't be pathetic, Doppio. Don't cry over something like this! Come on, Ver-senpai is watching." Doppio rubbed his eyes and used his shirt to dry his tears. When he looked up and saw the crowd, his eyes fixed on one particular spot. He saw Ver, and it was if time had slowed down. Ver looked at him, and he formed two little fists with his hands, he pumped them to his chest and gave Doppio a small nod as he mouthed the words, 'You can do it!' Doppio stood for a moment, and he raised his head up high. He gave Ver the biggest smile ever, and he threw his hand in the air before pulling it back down in a triumphant fist accompanied by a nod of his head. With that he started running as fast as he could, and as he past by several teams he stretched out his long arms and swiped up two tags in one movement.

"Yes! Go Doppio!" Ver jumped in place and waved his little flag.

"FIVE MINUTES LEFT!!!"

Doppio's belt was starting to fill with tags of all different colours. As he kept weaving in between teams running around, he snagged several in his hand and dashed away before anyone had a chance to retaliate. Doppio was so good, it was getting to the point where he was running out of room to put everything. 

"ONE MINUTE LEFT!!!" 

Doppio stopped in the middle of the field for a moment to catch his breath, but as he did, several teams also stopped when they realised most of their tags were gone, and they turned to one person. Doppio froze as he now realised he was like a small fish surrounded by a school of ravenous sharks, all eyes were on him. At this moment, he clearly had enough points to win for his team, he just had to play keep-away until the time was up, but with 6 classes on the field that was going to prove quite the challenge.

"Come on, Doppio. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this. Ver-senpai is watching you, you can't make a fool out of yourself. We've got this, we've got his. Just focus. You've got legs of steel, not even steel, you've got legs of titanium! You've got legs for days! I have the longest legs out of everyone and therefore I. Am. The fastest. Most speedy first-year in the whole school! I am the wind! I am... VICTORY!"

Doppio continued to monologue to himself as he ran away from everyone, only losing a few tags here in there as desperate hands reached out trying to catch him. But if there was one thing Doppio was good at, it was running so fast that no one could stand to keep up with him for more than a few seconds.

"TEN SECONDS LEFT!!! 9... 8... 7..."

Doppio reached one end of the field and he smiled to himself as the countdown continued.

"3... 2..."

Doppio looked over to Ver and raised both his fists in the air.

"...1! TIMES UP!!!" 

Doppio smirked as everyone in front of him reacted with varying levels of frustration in the face of utter defeat. It was then that two of his classmates from before rushed over to him.

"Yo! You're cracked, man!" They lightly punch him in the arm.

"You shoulda told us you could run that fast, we shoulda just stayed as a team of four."

"Yeah, sorry we were kinda rude earlier. We sporty guys kinda get a bit too into it, y'know?" 

"Ah, it's okay!" Doppio rubs the back of his head, embarrassed. 

"Oh, hey, Tanaka! Get over here! Wasn't Doppio awesome?!" They see the guy that was rude to Doppio and wave him over, but he turns away and scoffs. "What the hell is his problem?"

Doppio makes a concerned face. "Hey, d'you mind hanging onto my tags for a second? I'm gonna see if he's okay." He hands his tags over to his two classmates before running off after Tanaka.

"Hey, Tanaka-kun, right? Are you okay?"

"Eugh, what do you want, freak?" 

"Oh well um... good work out there. Sorry I slowed you down at the start, but hey, it looks like we won! I mean they haven't officially counted up all the points yet but-"

"Why are you telling me all this? You tryin' to rub it in my face?"

"What no-"

"Listen. You might'a been lucky, but don't go around boasting like some bigshot all of a sudden! Don't forget you're still a freak with no friends!" He walks off without giving Doppio a chance to say anything.

"Hm... I guess he's having a bad day." Doppio shrugs before he walks back and regroups with the other two people from his class.

"It looks like we have a winner by a huge landslide! They weren't looking too good in the beginning, but boy did they turn it around in the end! The winner for the first-year cavalry battle is... Class 1-D!!!" 

Cheers filled the crowd and the rest of Doppio's class joined up with him and celebrated him, giving him pats on the back and ruffling his hair. Doppio looked over to where Ver was in the crowd and gave him a peace sign with a closed-eye smile.

[Aww, look at him, he's so cute! I'm so happy he's getting some recognition~] Ver gave Doppio a big wave of his flag as he smiled back at him.

Doppio was finished with both of his events, so he was able to relax whilst the rest of the first-year events were being carried out. He cheered for his class in the meantime, and got to small-talking with a few of his classmates. Despite still being a bit awkward, he managed to have a decent conversation with them, although he might have been a bit too enthusiastic at times, no one really thought anything of it given the Sport's Festival had most people pretty hyped up. As the first-year events concluded, everyone was eagerly anticipating the results, and although no official result were to be announced until the festival concluded, it was fairly obvious that Doppio's class had won for the first-years, which made Doppio very happy.

End of Chapter Seven.

Chapter Text

With the first-year events concluded and the second-year events underway, Doppio decided to go and look for Ver. He smiles to himself as he makes his way through the crowd, and over to the group of third-years. Given his height, you'd think it would be easy to spot Ver in amongst the crowd, but even as he stood on eager tippy-toes, he couldn't find his senpai. It was then that a familiar voice called out to him from underneath a nearby tree.

"Hey Doppio!" Ver gives him a small wave.

"Ver-senpai!" Doppio comes running up to him with a bounce in his step. "There you are! I was looking for you!"

"I know, I was watching." Ver chuckles to himself.

"So you could see me the whole time?! Why didn't you say anything?" Doppio's voice went a higher pitch as he whinged.

"Haha, sorry. I was just having a little fun~" Ver patted the ground next to him. "You must be tired, you wanna sit?"

Doppio sits down, his long legs out-stretched. "I'm okay, I've still got tons of energy!" 

"How? You were pretty energetic this morning, too. Where do you keep it all?"

"Well maybe the taller someone is the more energetic they are. That's why you're so drained all the time, cause you're so short~" Doppio ruffles Ver's hair.

"Hey! Don't mess up my hair~ I still gotta do my events later! I don't wanna look weird. And who are you calling, 'short!' I'm still you're senpai, y'know."

"I know, I know, I know. But how can someone be so short? I mean you're two years older than me and you're so tiny!"

"Okay, 'tiny' is a stretch. I'm average height, you're just weirdly tall for a first-year. Besides, I'm still young, I can still have a growth spurt!"

"Okay, Chibi-senpai~"

"Ya-" Ver lightly hits Doppio in the arm.

"Hey~ Don't hit me~" Doppio lightly pushes on Ver's shoulder.

"I didn't hit you, I lightly tapped you." Ver pokes Doppio's cheek and pushes his face away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, now you're poking me? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this man right here has committed a heinous crime! His charges are assault, and being too short! He will be imprisoned for up to 20 years. We will accept no bail." Doppio hits his fist against his hand like a judge's hammer.

"What the hell are you talking about? Dork~" Ver starts laughing so hard that tears are forming in his eyes.

"No way that's how you laugh?! You sound like a windshield wiper!"

"Stop~ Don't make fun of the way I laugh, that's mean~"

"I wasn't making fun of you, I like it! In fact you should laugh even more!" Doppio suddenly lunges himself onto Ver and starts tickling him.

"Ah! What are you doing?! Haha! Stop! Haha ha- Don't! I'm super ticklish!" Ver tried to slap his hands away, but then Doppio went after his neck.

"Take my tickle attack!" Doppio laughed maniacly.

"Staaap! I can't- I can't take it!" Ver kicked his legs around and scrunched up his face. "Doppio! Doppio, stop! I'm serious!" Ver could barely get a word out through his laughing. "You're gonna make me pee!" 

"Okay, okay, okay, okay. I'll stop, I'll stop." Doppio stops and Ver lays on his back as he winds down and catches his breath.

"What the hell is with you... don't do that~ I'm seriously ticklish."

"Hehe~ Sorry. I just wanted to hear you laugh."

"You say that like it's a rare occurrence."

"Well, it kinda is. I mean, I have heard you laugh before, just not this much. It's nice to hear." Doppio gives him a sweet smile.

Ver touches his ear as he looks away from Doppio, his face a little flushed. "I like seeing you laugh and having fun, too."

Doppio lays down next to Ver, skootching in close to him so their shoulders are touching.

"Hm?" [Whoa, why is he getting so close?]

Doppio looks up at the sky. "This is pretty relaxing, isn't it?"

"O-oh, yeah I guess." [I mean, it's pretty loud, I can't really say I can relax with all this noise.]

"How are you feeling by the way? About your events."

"Oh um, fine I guess. I'm a little nervous though. The other third-years seem really excited, and most of them are eager to win. Hopefully I can count on everyone else to do well in the other events, just in case I fail."

"Hey, you're not gonna fail! Not after all that training we did. Besides, even if you don't win. I wouldn't call that failing. Just think of it as having a good time with everyone, and if you put it like that, you're winning anyway, right?"

"I guess... but, I just don't want to let anyone down."

"At the very least, you wouldn't be letting me down. Because I'd be proud of you either way." Doppio half sits up and looks Ver in the eyes. "And anyway, I'd rather you just do your best than push yourself too hard..."

"..." [Wait, he's not still worried about me is he?]

"Remember what happened last time, senpai?" Doppio's voice became a little more serious. "I... don't want that to happen again. I mean, that was clearly entirely all my fault-"

"Hey, I told you not to blame yourself for that." [He still feels guilty...]

"I know, but-"

"Doppio." Ver sits up. "If you can promise me that you'll stop blaming yourself and feeling guilty... I'll promise that I'll do my best and I'll look after myself. Deal?"

Doppio sits up fully. "Pinky promise?" He holds out his little finger.

Ver smiles fondly and curls his little finger around Doppio's. "Pinky promise."

The second-year events had concluded and it was now time for all the year-levels to take a lunchbreak. Although there would also be a few recreational activities that anyone could participate in if they wanted to. Doppio of course was eager to take part in them all, whereas Ver was content eating his lunch and watching him from afar. The recreational activities were only for fun, and there weren't any prizes to be won, Doppio was still enjoying himself nonetheless. 

[He looks like a kid, running around all happy. I'm exhausted just watching him.] Ver smiles as he eats some egg and green onion gimbab. 

Doppio is holding up a small piece of paper and running around frantically in search of something. 

[Hm? Is he okay? He looks like he's panicking?] Ver sets his lunch down and closes the container, getting up and trying to get a closer look at Doppio. [Ohhh, he has to find something. Okay. For a second I thought something happened.]

Doppio sees Ver and locks onto him, running full-speed towards him.

"Ahh!" [Jesus Christ what's he doing?! Why is he running at me???]

"Ver-senpai!!!!!" Doppio shouts as he reaches him. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" Ver puts his hands out instinctively, baffled by the sudden jumpscare of Doppio barrelling towards him.

"I need to borrow you." He finally blurts out.

"Borrow me? You mean borrow 'something' from me?"

"No. I need to borrow 'you'." 

"Huh?"

Doppio crouches down and picks Ver up by his legs, lifting him up and over his shoulder.

"Whoa! What the hell?! What are you doing?! Put me down!"

"Sorry, no time to explain!" Doppio starts running with Ver, making his way over to a table of teachers.

"Doppio-o-o-o! Put me do-ow-n!" The sheer force of Doppio's legs was making Ver bounce around, to the point where he was almost slipping off Doppio's shoulder. "I'm gonna fall!"

"No you're not! I would never drop you! I may be Dropscythe, but these hands can... hold you tight! That's right!"

"Doppio this is embarrassing, everyone's looking at us!"

"That's the point!"

"What do you mean, 'that's the point?!' Why do you insist on humiliating me all the time!"

"I know, I know, but I need you to be embarrassed! It's part of the game!"

"Huh?! You're not making any sense! Just put me down!"

Ver grips onto Doppio's shirt as he feels himself falling forwards. 

"Don't worry, I gotcha!" Doppio bounces Ver back upwards and places his hand further down to get a better hold on him.

[Ah. His hand...] "Doppio! Get your hand off my butt!"

"Whoopsie-daisy, sorry about that~" Doppio moves his hand down to the back of Ver's thighs. 

Ver tries to cover his face with his hands as he feels himself getting red. [Someone, please kill me and end my suffering...]

Doppio reaches the table and puts Ver down in front of the teachers. He chuckles to himself before he shows them his piece of paper. "Behold! I, Doppio Dropscythe, have found my item!"

The teachers look at him with confused expressions.

Doppio looks over at Ver. "Oh wait, hold on. It's not working." Doppio lifts Ver up, this time by his waist. 

"Ah, D-Doppio?!" 

"Look, look, look! There it is, there it is! You get it, right?" Doppio smiles proudly.

"I'm sorry, what are we supposed to be looking at?" One of the teacher's pipes up.

"His face! Look at his face! It's all red!" Doppio puts Ver back down and points to his face which was turning several shades redder than normal.

"Doppio-" Ver starts.

"Whaaat? I did it didn't I? I got the right thing."

"What thing? Show me what you were supposed to get." Ver takes the piece of paper off of Doppio and turns it around to look at the item. "Wh- Doppio..."

"See! See! It's a red circle! Just look properly." Doppio traces his finger in the air around Ver's head. "It's a red circle!"

"Doppio! It's a ball! You were supposed to get a red ball! And even if it was just a red circle that's mean! Don't call my head a circle!"

"Ah, now, now, boys, it's just a game!" One of the teachers attempts to quiet their argument. "But sorry, we can't really count this. Anyway, there are no winners and losers in this, as long as you had fun." The teacher reassures them.

"If that's true then why does it feel like I'm always losing..." Ver pouts.

"Aw man, I thought I was a genius with that one..." Doppio frowns.

Ver sighs. "Come on, just come back and have some lunch. I'll let you try some of my gimbap?" Ver tries to cheer him up.

"Does it have sesame in it?"

"Uh, it has sesame oil. Why?"

"I'm allergic..." Doppio sulks.

"Oh." Ver pauses. "Ah, come on, I'll buy you a drink instead." He pats Doppio on the back.

"Strawberry milk?" Doppio lifts his head up.

"Sure thing~"

"Alrighty! Lunch time if over folks! Next up is the third-year events! Now I wanna see everyone giving their absolute best out there! This is the last chance you'll have to compete in the Sport's Festival, so don't hold anything back! And just to remind you what you're competing for... whichever class wins at the end of the day will be treated to a meal of your choosing, within reason of course! Second place will get to use the school's pool for a day in an epic pool party! And third place will get a box of assorted snacks! And don't worry, everyone else will get a little souvenir for participation. All good prizes, but I know what I'd be hoping for! Now, let's get started! Make sure to cheer extra loud for the third-years, audience! Let's get everyone out onto the field!"

Whilst the third-years started making their way onto the field, Doppio was giving Ver one last pep-talk before his events.

"Make sure you stretch properly, okay? Earlier today doesn't count, you gotta warm-up your legs and-"

"Doppio, I'll be fine~ You don't need to worry so much." Ver tousles Doppio's hair.

"Hmm, I guess. But I just really, really, really wanna make sure you don't hurt yourself."

"I know you do." Ver turns and notices most of the other third-years are already gathering on the field. "Ah, I better go. Make sure to cheer me on, okay!" Ver starts jogging ahead.

"Yeah! I'll cheer as loud as I can! Just do your best, senpai!!!" Doppio grins as he gives Ver a double thumbs up. [Just please... don't try too hard.] Doppio's eyes linger on Ver's back as he joins with his classmates. He smiles as he sees Ver greet them awkwardly, his previous concern morphing into a look of fondness. 

Whilst Ver prepares for his first event; the bean bag toss, Doppio adorns himself with flags and various noise-makers in support of his senpai. 

"WOOO!!! GO VER-SENPAI!!!" Doppio shouts, despite the event not starting yet.

[Gah, he's so over-the-top sometimes, please no one look at me...] Ver avoids looking towards his overeager kouhai.

"Okay! It's time for the third event! The Bean Bag Toss! In groups of six you have to work together to throw beanbags into these baskets." They gesture to six portable basketball hoops with baskets affixed to them. "You'll have a time-limit of 3 minutes to throw in as many as possible! However, you can only throw one at a time! Sounds easy enough, right? Well, we've added an extra challenging element! The challenge is that you can only hold onto a beanbag for 5 seconds! Take any longer and you're out! We'll all be watching, so don't even think about cheating! Now, get ready to start the game! 3... 2... 1... THROW!!!"

Ver exhales sharply in an attempt to calm his nerves. [Okay, I'm not the best at throwing things, and granted I may have focused too much on preparing for the last event, but I've just gotta do it! Doppio is watching, I don't wanna look stupid.] Ver picks up a beanbag and tries to calculate the best angle to throw it. [Okay, here goes!] "Huuuuraghhhh!!!" Ver throws the beanbag but it curves way off to the side. [Shit.]

"It's okay senpai!!! That was a fluke! You'll get the next one! It's like when you make pancakes, the first one is always the worst one! Don't even worry about it!" 

[What? Pancakes? I can barely hear him over the crowd. But I guess he's trying to motivate me?] Ver quickly runs over to where his beanbag landed and picks it up.

"Ver-kun! Come back, don't worry about the ones you miss, just use up this pile first!" One of Ver's classmates shouts over at him.

"Oh, right!" [Damnit, I wasted time. I gotta start getting these in, fast!] Ver makes his way back over to them and once again tries to line up his throw. [Come on, Ver. You can do this, just think like Doppio does. I, Ver Vermillion, am the best! There's no way I can possibly miss this shot! I'm gonna gather all my energy and bring forth my special move! To infinity... and BEYOND!] Ver hits the rim of the basket but it falls to the ground. "Tch-"

"Don't mind that one either, senpai! You'll get it this time, I'm positive there's no way you'll miss the next one! Show those beanbags who's boss!"

Ver sighs. [Thanks, Doppio.]

He continued to hype himself up in his head, only to keep on missing his shot, again and again. Each time Doppio shouting words of encouragement from afar, albeit somewhat futile, as Ver couldn't hear him over his own thoughts. He could only think of how lame he looked in front of not only his classmates, but Doppio as well. Though it seemed like Doppio never lost hope in Ver's ability. Although Ver did wonder how pathetic he must have looked from Doppio's point of view.

[Come on, Ver-senpai! You can do it! He just needs to slow down, he's throwing them too fast! Come on... I know what you're thinking, but just don't think about it! Who cares about how you look! You can do it! I believe in you! Go, senpai! Go, Ver-senpai! Just believe in yourself!]

As the timer was nearly up, Ver took a deep breath to calm himself. He adjusted his stance and shifted his weight as he lined up his next throw. Using every second to think before he reeled back his arm. [I can do this! Just once! Let me get it in just once!] As he stepped forward and flicked his wrist, releasing the beanbag, he watched with sharp eyes as it flew across the air, right into the basket.

"YESSSSS!!!!! HE DID IT!!! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, SENPAI!!!" Doppio's voice roared with excitement as he jumped up and down in celebration.

[Yes! Finally! One down...] His eyes flicked over to the pile of beanbags still yet to be tossed. [Ah. Still so many to go...]

"TIME'S UP!!!"

"What?!" Ver froze. [Already? That was three minutes?! No way... no way I only got one? Really...? Only one?] Ver dropped his arms down in defeat.

[Ver-senpai...] Doppio could feel Ver's frustration burning. 

"Everyone just sit tight while we count up all the beanbags and confirm the winners!" 

Whilst the teachers and the announcer start counting everything up, Ver stands around awkwardly as his fellow teammates talk amongst themselves. 

"Hey, I just wanted to say sorry." Ver approached them, his hand behind his head with a guilty expression.

"Huh? What for?" One of them asked.

"Well, I know how much our class wants to win, but I didn't practice for this event as much as I should've. You guys tried so hard and I only managed to get one in..."

"Oh, that's okay! It seems like an easy event, but it was actually pretty hard, huh?" 

"Yeah, then they had to go and give us a time-limit too. Talk about unfair..." Another one chimed in.

"They just wanna spice things up for us third-years cause it's the last one. Don't even worry about it!"

Ver gives a small smile. "I guess..." 

"Besides, we know how hard you've been training for the relay!"

"Huh? You do?" Ver looked at them, baffled.

"Yeah! Everyone's been talking about how you've been running after school with that other boy."

"O-oh, really?" [People saw that? And they've been talking about me? Ah this is so embarrassing, I hope they didn't see how weak and whiny I was in the beginning...]

"Isn't that him over there? The one that keeps shouting?" They point towards Doppio who is banging his noise maker and waving his flags.

"Ah, yeah... that's him." [I had hoped people wouldn't notice but I guess he does stick out.]

"Who is he? A second-year?"

"First-year. I know, he's tall isn't he?" Ver smiles a little wider as he looks towards Doppio.

"Is he your friend?"

"My friend?" Ver blushes slightly. "Yeah. I mean, he's kinda goofy and he says the weirdest things sometimes... but yeah, we're friends." Ver felt a warm sensation bloom in his chest as he told them about Doppio. He wasn't really sure what this feeling was, but he just shrugged it off as fondness for his cute kouhai.

End of Chapter Eight.

Chapter Text

*Ba-thump*

[This is it.]

*Ba-thump*

[Everything I've been training for.]

*Ba-thump*

[I can't make a fool outta myself.]

*Ba-thump*

[This is for you, Doppio!]

"Are you ready, racers?! On your marks! Get set.....GO!!!"

*KA-BOOM!*

With the sound of the starting pistol being fired, Ver was off - charging down the running track with swift strides of his legs, a strong air of determination radiating about him. 

[Yes! He's off to a good start! Look at him go! Aww I feel so proud of him~] Doppio jumps up and down from the sidelines, watching on as Ver makes his way towards the first task. 

For this event, there are four racers from each class. Ver was chosen to be the first runner in the line-up, although he disapproved of this. He argued that he would have been better off going second or third, so he wouldn't have so much riding on his shoulders, but his classmates insisted that he either go first or last, since they'd heard the rumours of him practising. Each racer has to complete one lap of the field before handing a baton over to the next person, and each racer has to complete a total of four tasks in order to move forward. These tasks include: hula hooping for a certain distance, trying to complete a 9-piece puzzle in a container of flour, balancing an egg on a spoon without dropping it, and lastly, taking a bite out of a donut suspended on a rope. (The main reason Ver signed up for the relay.) It seems like quite a lot, but that's what happens when you leave the decision-making up to Kotoka, (with a lot of help from Doppio, too.) 

[Ah, I guess all this training has paid off, I'm not nearly as tired as I normally am when I start running. I just gotta keep a good pace, I'm not in first at the moment, but I think it'll be better to save some stamina for when I have to hand over the baton.]

Ver keeps at a steady pace and hovers between second and third place, approaching the first task.

[Hm, I haven't used a hula hoop since I was a little kid. I don't know if I have the hips for this, but I'll give it my best shot!] 

Ver reaches a coloured cone and picks up the hula hoop, quickly threading it over his body and resting it on his hip bone. He winds it around to the side and gives it a forceful fling as he attempts to move forward towards the coloured cone that is placed about ten metres away. 

[Shit.] The hula hoop shimmies down his legs and falls to the ground, almost making him trip over his own feet. [This is a lot harder than it looks.] Ver glances around and sees the other racers are also struggling. [At least I'm not the only one who's bad at this.] 

Doppio leans forward in his place, gripping the wire fence that separates him from the field. He looks on with a bit of a squint. [Shoot, it looks like he's having trouble. He's so far away I can barely see what's happening.]

[Okay, let's try this again.] Ver rests the hula hoop on his hips once more, drawing it back and flinging it, trying to move forward and rotate his hips with a good rhythm. [Shit. It's no use, I can't get it to stay in one place!]

[No, no, no, not like that! What is he doing? That's never gonna work! You can't just fling it with all your strength! You gotta, you gotta, y'know, just give it a little bit! Just a little bit, senpai! And he's trying to move his hips way too much, he's all over the place! He looks ridiculous! You can't do it like that, senpai! That's never gonna work! Come on, Doppio... you gotta show him how to do it!]

Doppio starts waving his arms around and calling Ver's name, trying to get his attention. 

[Shit, I'm not getting anywhere, this is way too difficult and it's just the first task.] Ver huffs in frustration. It was just then that he happened to glance in Doppio's direction.

[Yes! Yes, yes! He's looking at me! Come on, senpai! Like this! Like this!] Doppio dramatically points at his hips and moves them from side to side, instead of in a circle like Ver was doing.

Ver tries to hold back his laughter. [What the hell is he doing? He looks so stupid~ Is he trying to help me? That's so cute, but I can't see a thing from over here.] Ver looks around and see that some of the other racers are starting to make progress. [Shit, this isn't good.] Ver quickly picks his hula hoop up again and makes his way back to the starting cone. [I'm not gonna get anywhere if I keep going like this...] Ver watches the other racers closely, trying to figure out their strategy. [Ohhhh... maybe I should try that!] Ver winds his hula hoop back, but this time he only gives it a little bit of a flick. 

[Yes! He got it, he got it, he got it! That's it, senpai! That's it!] Doppio jumps excitedly. [Yay! I helped him out!]

Ver moved his hips from side to side with rhythmic sways, being careful not to move with too much force. [Yes! This is it! I finally got it! I just gotta keep this up and make it to the other side.] Ver focuses in on the cone ahead of him, not bothered by the other racers that were moving ahead in his peripheral vision. 

[Yippee! He made it, he made it! Nice one, senpai! Now you just gotta run until the next one! You've got this, senpai, I believe in you!] Doppio did little claps of his hands as Ver finished the first task.

Ver quickly flung the hula hoop off his hips and down his legs, stepping out of it and being careful not to trip over himself. However, he had no time to celebrate, as he had fallen into last place!

[Shit, I gotta make up for lost time, and fast!] Ver sprints towards the next task, making good ground. [Heh. It's a good thing I can run fast now. If I do fall behind, I can still rely on Doppio's training to bring me back up to the top!] 

[Gah! Look at him go! I'm so proud of him~] Doppio smiles fondly from the sidelines.

[Okay, next task.] Ver reaches the container of flour. [This one should be easier.] He briefly looks over at the others beside him. [What?! They're almost finished already?! Shit! Gotta hurry!] Ver frantically searches the flour and finds a corner piece. [Got one! But it's so dusty with flour I can't see what it's supposed to be!] He places it on a table in front of the container and keeps searching. [Actually, if it's only nine pieces, I don't really need to see what it is, I just need to find all of them and see if they fit together.] He finds the middle piece and places it down on the table. He then rifles through the corners of the container and finds yet another middle piece. [Wait, huh? Why are there two of them? There should only be one middle bit...? Don't tell me they put in fake pieces as well! So you actually have to dust off the flour and see if the pictures all match up?! That's so annoying!] He starts trying to rub the flour off of all the pieces he's already found. [Ah! I was right, some of these are completely different! I bet this was Kotoka's doing!] 

*Achoo!*

Kotoka shivers after letting out a particularly powerful sneeze.

"Yaba- I hope I'm not getting a cold..." She pulls her jacket closer around her chest.

Ver starts to panic slightly as he sees two of the other racers complete their puzzles and move on ahead. [Damnit, it's so hard to pick them up once they're stuck in the corners!] He struggles with what is seemingly the last piece he needs. [What a waste of flour anyway! They could've used all this to make cake!] 

(Actually, the art department is re-purposing all the flour for paper mache, so no food is being wasted. Remember to reduce, re-use, recycle, everyone!)

[Okay! Got it!] Ver slams the last piece of the puzzle into the centre and tries to catch up with the others. As he looks up and sees several of them slowly inching their way through the egg and spoon task, he smirks to himself. [This is where I'll make it all back. Little do they know, I'm really good at egg and spoon races!] An odd skill that you would almost never get to show off, but this was Ver's time to shine! He reaches the coloured cone where a single egg lies on the ground next to a small spoon. [Only one egg? What if it breaks? Do we only get one chance? What gives?!] He picks it up as well as the spoon. [Oh. It's wooden. Never mind. That's actually way better than wasting a bunch of eggs.] As soon as Ver places his egg on the spoon, he makes his way to the other side with ease, not even wobbling once.

[Whoa! That was so fast?! How'd he do that?! Is he some kind of wizard?] Ver runs off, radiating confidence, leaving Doppio completely perplexed. 

[This is it, the last task. And I'm the first one here!] Ver looks up at the donuts suspended on a rope above him. [This one should be easy. I wish I could eat them all~]

Suddenly two people from the field approach him with a thick black ribbon and a blindfold. 

"Wha- hey?! What are you doing?!" Ver shouts as they start to tie his hands behind his back and put the blindfold over his eyes. "Are you kidding me?!" Ver clicks his tongue. "Wait- You're not going to spin me are you?" They place their hands on his shoulders. "No, no, please I get really motion sick-" They spin him around five times before positioning him under his donut and leaving him without a word. "What the fuck?! You guys are so mean!" [Kotoka, I swear, imma kill you after this!] With his head slightly aching from dizziness, he opens his mouth wide and tries to feel for the donut. He stretches his head up and jumps in place, but no matter where he jumps he just can't find it. [What the hell! This isn't fair, I'm short!!!]

[Oh no.... pfft- Don't laugh, Doppio. He's trying his best... but... pfft- He's so cute. He looks like a little bunny hopping around like that!] Doppio scrunches up his eyes and covers his mouth with his hand, peeking behind outstretched fingers. [Shoot... where's my phone, I have to record this... it's too adorable~]

[This is so stupid! Why couldn't they make it more about the running! I trained so hard for this and I'm getting tripped up because I'm not tall enough! What is this?!] 

[Damnit, all the others have almost got it, but Ver-senpai isn't even close! They should have adjusted the height of the string for each person! This just isn't fair... I feel bad for him. After all we went through together, I can't believe they didn't even think about his height!] Doppio watches as the other players move ahead of Ver, one by one. [Damn, I bet he doesn't even know that he's last.]

After the other players had started running off towards the baton hand-over point, the two people that had bound and blindfolded Ver stepped up to the rope. They exchanged pitiful looks as one of them reached a hand up to the rope and gently lowered it slightly, so that Ver's donut was a little more reachable.

Just as Ver was starting to become desperate, he feels something sugary brush past his cheek. [Ah! Wait, I felt it, I felt it! No way! Was I just completely off this whole time? It felt like there was nothing there for so long!] Ver positions himself under the donut and bends his knees, wiggling his hips slightly as he's about to jump. 

Doppio hides his face in his hand as he uses the other to record Ver with his phone. [Cute... I better not show this to Ver-senpai though, I think he'd feel bad if he knew he got help. I'm glad they're doing this though... hopefully he can catch up quickly.] Doppio feels his heart squeeze as he notices Ver's little hip wiggle. [On the other hand... if I showed this to senpai he'd turn red again for sure... it's so funny when he's embarrassed~]

Ver opens his mouth wide as he jumps up, closing his mouth around the donut and rejoicing as the sweetness spread across his tongue. He smiled as he licked crystals of sugar from his lip. It was then that he frantically looked around, despite still being blindfolded. 

"I got it! I got it! Someone, untie me!" He pleaded.

The two from before quickly released his hands and whipped the blindfold off his head, turning him around and giving him a supportive push on the back and Ver tore off towards the others. 

[Shit! They're that far ahead?! Damnit, some of them are already onto the next person. Come on, I've saved up all my stamina for this last burst. I gotta make it count!] Ver narrowed his eyes as he sprinted with all his might! His arms cutting through the air with a whoosh, and his legs springing off the track, propelling him forwards. Just when he was gaining on two other racers, he felt a sharp ache in his hip, stunting his speed. [Ah! Fuck...] Ver held one hand over his hip, the other clenching the baton tightly. 

[Oh no... what's happening? He slowed down! Shoot, he looks hurt! Oh no... oh no... is it happening again?! Ver-senpai! Please tell me you're okay! Don't push yourself, it's not worth it! Just let the others make up for lost time! You were doing so well, you don't need to do anymore! It's okay! It's okay! Just go slow! Just walk! It's okay to walk! Come on, look at me! Look at me so I can tell you it's okay! Come on senpai, please...]

Ver flicks his eyes over to Doppio. [Huh? Is he okay? Why does he look so worried? Is he... disappointed in me? Ah... I'm sorry Doppio... I let you down. That stupid hula hoop task has given me a stitch in my stomach. I'm sorry I couldn't make you proud of me.] Ver looks away from Doppio in anguish.

[Please Ver, I'm so proud of how far you've come already. You don't have anything else to prove! You're not the only one in this race. Not all of it is up to you. Even if your team doesn't win, you still gave it your best shot. Some of those tasks were so unfair... it's not your fault.]

[This is all my fault. I spent way too long focusing on the running and didn't even think to practice the most important parts of the relay. I'm so far behind. Everyone else is already onto the next person, and they're still waiting for me. I'm sorry for being such a f-]

"VER-SENPAI!!!"

*BA-THUMP!*

"Ah!" Ver looks back at Doppio.

"JUST DO YOUR BEST!!!" 

Ver's heart gets caught in his throat, and his eyes shoot wide open. 

Doppio gives Ver a nod of encouragement as he stares him down, gleaming with pure support for his senpai.

[Doppi...] Ver gives him a confident nod in return as his eyes turn back to the running track. With confidence burning in his core, he lets out a yell as he barrels towards his teammate; awaiting the baton.

"Uwah! Why is he coming at me like that?! He's scary!" Ver's teammate hesitantly readies their hand.

With one last burst of speed, Ver slams the baton in his teammates' hand. As they tear off on their own, he slows down and makes his way off the track and onto the field. His hands glued to his thighs as he huffs and puffs. He briefly turns towards Doppio, sweat glinting from his temple and an exhausted smile spread across his face - he raises his fist towards Doppio in triumph. 

*Ba-dump!*

Doppio placed a hand over his heart and scrunched up his shirt. [What was that? That was a weird feeling... anyway, I'm so glad he made it! Look at him~ I'm so proud of you~]

"That's it folks! The Sport's Festival if officially over! We've tallied up all the winners for each of the year levels and we will now present the prizes! This is what you've been waiting for everyone! Now, for the first-year events, first place goes to... CLASS 1-D!!! Congratulations everyone! Your class will be rewarded with a meal of your choosing! Second place goes to..."

As the announcer continues, Ver peels away from the stage and looks towards Doppio; who is celebrating with his class. Several people are talking to him as he jumps up and down with excitement, and a few of them are ruffling his hair. He can't quite make out what they're saying, but he can tell that they thought he did a good job on his events. Ver smiles fondly before looking off to the side, disappointed by his own performance. 

"And finally... it's time to announce the winners for the third-year events." 

Ver perked up, biting his lower lip as he awaited the results.

"First place goes to... class 3-F!!!"

[Ah. I guess that's to be expected. They've got a bunch of people from all the sport's clubs. Still, I really thought we might have had a chance. I know we came in fifth for the relay, but... I thought we did a good enough job in the other events that we might've won.] Ver sighs. [I let everyone down.]

"Second place goes to... class 3-C!!!" 

[Damn... not even second? Maybe we won't even make the top 3...]

"And... third place goes to... class 3-B!!!" 

[Oh! What? Really? We got third? That's not too bad, I guess. It just would've been nice to get first. Even the second place prize is pretty good, if you like that sort of thing. I mean, I like snacks as well, if they're sweet. At least we didn't get fourth or worse.] Ver sighs. [Man, I'm trying to see the positives, but I just can't help but think I could've done so much better. Doppio spent all this time training me to be better, and I thought I actually made really good progress... but I guess I'm just not good enough. I wonder what he'll say... I kind of don't want to face him right now. I know he was being supportive at the end there. It was kind of cool... him shouting out like that. Well... I guess I should go and find him.]

"Hey, Ver!" Kotoka came running up to him. 

"Oh, hey Koto." 

"You got third place! Congrats!" She lightly hits him on the shoulder.

"Yeah... but everyone in my class was gunning for first place. I feel like I let them down..." 

"Hey, don't even sweat it, you did your best!" 

"I guess..." Ver looks dejected.

"Hey, don't worry about helping me clean up today, I'll do it myself so you can just go on home if you like. I'm sure you're tired."

[Hm? That's a surprise, coming from her.] "Ah, it's okay. I should help out, we're both supposed to be in charge of this event, so it's only fair we both help out. Besides, you competed today as well too."

"Yeah, but I only did the ball roll and the three-legged race. I didn't exactly tire myself out like you did."

"But, you've been helping me out so much by doing some of my paperwork too. I... I know you're just trying to take on more responsibility to help me, but... it's not like I want you to overwork yourself in my place. We should share our duties... right?"

"Aw, I didn't know you cared about me~" She throws her arm around him and pulls him in close, shaking his shoulders.

"Bleh, get off me!" He peels her arms off of him. "Don't get carried away, I'm just talking about fairness, that's all." [I mean... she's probably not the type to keep silent if she actually felt overworked, but still... I don't want her ending up like I did.]

"Ver-senpai!!!" Doppio runs up from behind Ver and threads his arms through Ver's, wrapping around his chest and lifting him up.

"Bwahh!!!" Ver's heart did a somersault from the sudden shock. "Doppio! You scared the hell outta me!"

"Whoops, sorry!" He puts Ver down. "But I'm just so proud of you~" Doppio puts his arms around Ver's shoulders and sways from side to side, his chin rested on the base of Ver's neck.

[Oh my God, why is he so close? I can practically feel his breath on my neck. Is it weird that this feels kinda nice?] Ver shook his head. "You've got nothing to be proud of... I lost. I let you down." Ver looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet.

"Don't say that~" Doppio turned Ver around and grasped his shoulders with his hands, bending down ever-so-slightly to meet Ver's eyes. 

Ver gulped.

"You didn't let me down. You did wonderfully. Those tasks were unfair, but even so, you kept going and you tried really, really, really hard." 

Ver could feel the weight of Doppio's words. He could tell he meant everything.

"But more importantly..." Doppio moved his hands to cup Ver's face. "Are you okay?"

*DO-KYUN!*

"Ah- wh- a- h-huh? D-Doppio? What are you-"

"You looked like you were hurt earlier. You're not feeling dizzy are you?"

"A- n-no..." Ver stammered. 

"Do you feel sick at all?"

Ver shook his head. He found himself utterly incapable of speaking whilst Doppio cupped his face and stared at him with such concern.

"You don't feel faint?" Doppio's eyebrows turned up with worry.

[Ah, so that's it... that's why he looked like that earlier.] Ver cleared his throat. "I- If you're worried a-about me... you d-don't need to. I j-just got a s-stitch from the hula hooping." He finally managed to get a sentence out.

"Oh thank goodness!" Doppio lowered his hands back down to Ver's shoulders. "I mean... not good that you got a stitch, but I'm glad that's all it was! Do you still feel it though? You wanna sit down somewhere and get something to drink?"

"A-ah, y-yeah. Yeah let's do that." Ver was about to walk off with Doppio when he remembered that Kotoka was still there. "Ah, wait. Koto it's not what you-"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeh? Chotto matte ne-" She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow.

"Koto, h-how about we head over and start packing up? Right, it's already late afternoon, I'm sure everyone wants to hurry up and head home-"

"Hmmmmm. Ayashii ne-"

"Shut- just, don't... you! Tch- I-it didn't mean anything-"

"Ayashii ne!"

"Sh-shut-up!"

"Hmmmmmmm." Kotoka narrows her eyes.

"Koto..."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm." She narrows her eyes even more.

"What is going on here?" Doppio finally pipes up.

"N-nothing." Ver looks away, embarrassed.

"Do you two have some sort of secret code or something?" [I wanna know the secret code...]

"D-don't worry about it." Ver places his hands on his cheeks as he can feel heat radiating from his face.

Doppio pouts. "But I wanna know~"

"Don't worry, Doppi-chan~ I'll just give you and Ver some alone time." She walks past Ver and places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't bother coming to help pack up, I gotchu." She gives him a wink and a thumbs up before skipping away, smiling to herself.

Ver crouches down as he wraps his face in his hands. Letting out a long groan. 

"You sure you're okay? You're acting kinda weird." Doppio bends down, trying to look Ver in the eyes.

Ver sighs. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just gonna have to clear up a misunderstanding with Koto... and I'm not looking forward to that conversation."

"What misunderstanding?" Doppio blinks innocently.

Ver looks up at Doppio through his eyelashes. "You... don't worry about it."

"Well, I don't understand any of what was going on. All I know is that I'm proud of you for what you did today, and I'm glad you kept your promise to look after yourself!" He grins.

Ver shows a fatigued smile. "How about we go get something to drink?"

"Sure. You wanna walk home together, too?"

Ver stands up. "...Sure."

"You can come over to my house and play Bug Fables if you like."

Ver laughs softly. "How do you still have so much energy?"

Later on that night, Doppio was sitting atop his bed, lying on his stomach, propping himself up by his elbows. He leans one hand on his cheek as the other is holding his phone. He kicks his feet with a gentle sway as he watches a video on loop. 

[This is adorable... absolutely adorable~ I can't stop watching it!] Doppio scrunches up his face as his heart leaps in his chest. [He's just so cute. How can someone be so cute? He really does look just like a little bunny.] As Doppio continues to re-watch Ver jumping around, over and over again, he kicks his feet frantically and rolls around on his bed, messing up his covers. 

"Seriously... how can he be so cute?"

End of Chapter Nine.

Chapter Text

"Knock, knock!" Doppio knocks on the doorframe of the printing room, gazing at Ver who has one hand pressed to his forehead, and the other holding a sheet of paper as he reads. 

"Hm?" Ver looks up, rolling his shoulders back. Eyes slightly watery from a long day of note-taking and surprise tests. 

"You okay, senpai?" Doppio questions as he inspects the bags under Ver's eyes.

"Eh, I'm alright." Ver sighs. 

"You sure? You're slouching a lot. You must be really tired..." Doppio moves over to Ver.

"Sorry I don't have good posture." Ver's attitude was starting to leak through a little more than usual today. "I've just had a long day, that's all. You don't need to worry about me." 

Doppio made a concerned face.

Ver glances up at Doppio and notices his expression. [Shit. Don't make that face. It makes me sad when you worry about me.]

[Shoot. Looks like he's in a bad mood today. And after all that good stuff happened with the Sport's Festival too. Maybe I should change the subject.] Doppio clears his throat. "So... how was it with your class? After winning third in the Festival? Did you guys have a snack party with the prize you won?"

Ver exhales.

[Damnit. Wrong dialogue option. Gotta think of something else, quick.] Doppio walks behind Ver; who is still seated, staring at the words on his paper but not really reading it. 

"It was okay. I mean, they did give us a box of snacks, but it was kind of hard to share it amongst twenty people. It was a bit disappointing actually. I feel like it would've been better if we all brought other stuff as well, and had a bit of a picnic, y'know?" Ver appears somewhat deflated.

"That's a good idea~ maybe you should suggest that for another time?" Doppio placed his hands on Ver's shoulders.

"Maybe..."

Doppio starts giving Ver a gentle massage, and Ver was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even realise.

"Well, apart from that, was it still good? Like, did you talk to people much? I'm sure they had lots to say about you!" Doppio smiled.

"Not really." He paused. "Well... I guess I talked to people, but... it's all just out of politeness. I could tell that everyone had their hearts set on first, and I felt like they were subtly blaming me for the outcome. I'm sure it would've turned out better if someone else had've gone first..." Ver's eyelids started to droop as Doppio massaged the base of his neck.

Doppio stops for a moment. "Well, I think you did a super amazing job, senpai! Even if someone else ran instead of you, there's no way you could ever know what would've happened. Sure, you could've gotten first, but you also could've gotten last. Someone could be really fast and still trip over themselves. Or someone could be really tall and get the donut straight away, but not be fast enough to keep up with everyone else. Do you get what I'm saying? There's absolutely no reason at all to feel bad about it. You did the best you could do, and I'm going to keep saying it until you understand it too. You got that, senpai?" Doppio leans over to look Ver in the eyes. "Senpai?"

Ver had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily, giving in to his tiredness.

"Senpai?" Doppio leaned in closer.

"Hm?" Ver opened one eye partially. "Ahh!" Ver flinched backwards as his eyes met with Doppio, who was a little too close for comfort. "Jesus Christ! You scared me!"

"Sorry, senpai. I didn't mean to..." Doppio moves back a bit and looks away, unconsciously continuing to massage Ver with his thumbs.

"Wait. Are you giving me a massage? How come I only just noticed now?" [Seriously, how did I not realise? He did that so normally I didn't even question it.]

"Oh." Doppio lets go. "Sorry, I'll stop. It's just, when I came in here you were rolling your shoulders back, so I thought they might have been a bit stiff or something..." He trails off.

"N-no..." Ver looks to the side. "You're really good at it." Ver seemed embarrassed to admit it, his cheeks dusted pink. "I was so relaxed I almost fell asleep." [It... actually felt really nice.]

"Really?" Doppio perks up. "Well y'know, my Mum is a masseuse! She taught me how to give really good massages!" He grins.

"Wait. You Mum is a masseuse... and your Dad is a dietician... and you're Doppio Dropscythe?" 

"Yeah? What are you confused about?" Doppio tilts his head.

"Nothing, it's just... interesting." [His family must really love alliteration.]

"Well anyway, it's good that you like my massages, because that means if you're ever tired or you're not feeling too good, I can just give you a massage to help you out!" Doppio beams happily.

"Ah, you don't have to do that. I'm sure that would be annoying after a while." [Damn, he's so sweet for wanting to do that for me. It never ceases to amaze me how attentive he can be. I wonder if he can always tell how I'm feeling...]

"No, no, no! It's really no problem at all! In fact, I'm sure you could use a back massage, too. Just look at this chair! It has absolutely no lumbar support whatsoever! They can't do this to you, this is not good for your posture! I should put in a formal complaint and request that all the chairs in the school should have good lumbar support! I mean, we're students with growing bodies! They need to set a better example so we get into good habits earlier on! But it's not just about the teachers setting an example, it's about your too, Ver-senpai!"

"What about me?" Ver chuckles.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to call you, 'so short' so often if you had PP!"

"If I had what?!"

"PP! Proper posture!" Doppio exclaims.

Ver leans his head on his hands and smiles through his fingers. "What the hell?" [He's so goofy sometimes...]

"If you wanna be as tall as a tree, like me, then you just gotta remember... PP!"

"Pfft-" Ver lets out his signature windshield wiper laugh. "You're so stupid~" 

Ver looks back at Doppio with tears forming in his eyes from laughing too hard.

"Hehe~" [Yippee! I made him laugh~] "Now, how about that back massage?"

"I mean, if you really insist. But, isn't it a little awkward with the chair in the way?" 

Doppio moves to the side of the table in front of them. "Hm, you're right. Well, how about you just hop up on here?" He pats the table. 

"Huh?" [On the table?!]

"Yeah, come up here and lie down on your stomach." Doppio briefly looks around the room, then he settles on an empty laptop bag that someone left behind. "Here." He takes it and places it on the table. "So you can rest your head on it." Doppio smiles sweetly.

"Uh... I don't know..."

"Come on~ You'll feel so much better, trust me!"

"I do kind of need to finish up my work soon. I mean, there's not too much but still..." 

"Please? It won't take too long! I, just want to help you." Doppio gave Ver his biggest puppy-dog eyes.

"Gh!" [Fuck... that face... how can I say no?]

"Pleaaaaase?" Doppio bated his eyelashes.

"Tch. Just- don't use this as an opportunity to tickle me, okay?"

"No, no, no, I won't do that~" He gave Ver a cheeky grin.

"So... I just, get up on the table?" [This is so weird.]

"Yeah, and lay your head down here." Doppio pushes the laptop bag closer to Ver.

"Alright..." Ver sighs as he climbs on the table, shifting around, trying to get comfortable on the hard surface. He lays his head down and exhales, unsure whether to close his eyes or not.

Doppio moves to the left of Ver, rolling up his sleeves. "Just relax. You look so tense!"

"Well, I never thought I'd be getting a massage in the middle of the table in the printing room at school, but here we are I guess." 

Doppio begins at the base of Ver's neck, moving his thumbs in circles with a gentle firmness. 

Ver instinctively closes his eyes. His eyebrows quickly turning up from Doppio's touch. Instantly melting into deep relaxation. 

"Is that okay?" Doppio questioned, unsure of what Ver's expression meant.

"This feels amazing, Doppio~" His voice was slightly muffled as his cheek was slightly squished against the makeshift pillow.

"That's good~" Doppio hummed, moving down to Ver's shoulder blades, adding a little more pressure to work out the knots. 

Ver let out a low sigh. He could feel his breath slowing, and his eyelids becoming heavy. "I could just about fall asleep..."

"You can take a nap if you want, I don't mind~"

"Mm... nah... I can stay awake..." Ver was starting to drift off.

Doppio laughed softly to himself. "You're so cute." He muttered.

"Hm? You say somethin?" Ver opened his eyes slightly.

"I'm just gonna get a better angle." 

"Oh... okay~" Ver closed his eyes again. Seemingly half-asleep already.

Doppio moved to the back of the table, climbing on and making his way up to Ver. He straddled the back of Ver's legs so he could get into a better position, then he spread his hands out over Ver's lower back and kneaded him like a soft loaf of bread. Ver's breathing was becoming a lot heavier and every so often he would twitch, as if he were deep in a dream. Doppio gazed at Ver in amusement, smiling to himself as he made his way up and down Ver's back. 

[He looks so peaceful~ If I had've known he'd look like this when he's getting massaged, I would have given him one a lot sooner. I just love it when he shows me different sides of himself~]

*FWOOSH*

"Hey Ver, I've got the..." Kotoka slid open the door to the printing room, eyes completely wide as she takes in the sight of Doppio, straddling Ver's lower half.

"Hm?" Ver perks his head up and opens his eyes slightly.

"Eh?" Kotoka stands frozen.

"What?" Ver questions, unaware of what the scene looks like from Kotoka's point of view.

"Ehhhhhhhh?! Ah! AH! U-UM! G-GOMENASAI!!!!!!!!" Kotoka slams the door shut and quickly runs off down the hall.

The sound of the door slamming jolted Ver wide awake. "What was that about?"

"Beats me." 

Ver quickly turned around as he finally realised he felt an unusual weight on the back of his legs. "Wait, Doppio?! Why are you- th-there?!"

"Oh, I couldn't reach from the side, so I got into a better position. Sorry, is this uncomfortable?"

"A- a- u- um..." Ver's face went the brightest shade of red it's ever been.

"Hm? You're embarrassed? Why? I promise I didn't try to tickle you if that's what you're wondering."

"Wait, u- uh, h-hold on! I gotta, I gotta, I gotta... I GOTTA GO FIND KOTOKA!" Ver jumps up from the table and quickly heads for the door, flinging it open and tearing off in the direction that Kotoka went. 

"Hm. He really is acting strange today." Doppio raised an eyebrow. [Maybe I'll suggest that thing I wanted to do. That'll cheer him up for sure!]

Ver rounded a corner, out of breath. His eyes lit up when he saw the familiar sight of Kotoka's cotton candy hair. "Koto! Wait up!"

Kotoka whipped her head around to meet Ver's eyes, but quickly turned her head back around and started speed-walking away from him. Her head down and eyes fixed to the floor. "Yabai, yabai, yabai, yabai-" She muttered under her breath.

"It wasn't what it looked like! He was just giving me a massage!" Ver yelled, desperate for her to stop and hear him out.

"Ohhh, okayyy, yep, a 'massage'. Sure! That's great, Ver! I'll just be going now-"

"It's really not what you think! When he came into the room, he said I looked stiff and-"

Kotoka pressed her hands to her ears. "Yamete! Kimoi!"

"NO! Not like that!!! You dirty-minded-"

"Yamero! Hentai yaro!"

"Pervert! Are you serious?! You're the one that's making it out to be something it isn't! If you would just let me explain!"

"HENTAI!!!"

"KOTOKA! Stop saying that! You want the whole school to hear you?!"

"YES! So they know to stay away from you! You're gross! How could you do that to poor Doppi-chan!"

"YA! What the HELL! He's the one that climbed on top of ME!"

"AHHHH I don't wanna hear it!!!"

"Fuck! I don't mean it like that!" Ver sped up and ran in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders and ushering her around a corner.

"YAMETE! Don't touch me you perv-"

"Kotoka!" He shakes her shoulders. "Just listen to me and stop assuming things!"

"If you really want me to keep quiet then I will. But seriously, Ver! Don't do that stuff at school! The door wasn't even locked!"

"For fucks- Just listen to me will you!"

Ver's ferosity made Kotoka's voice get caught in her throat.

"Just-" He breathed a heavy sigh. "I was working, just reading over some worksheets, and Doppio entered the room."

"Don't tell me, I really don't need to know-"

"Koto. You've known me for what? Almost three years? Just listen to me."

She sighs. Looking up at him with attention. 

"He came in and noticed I looked tired. He said I was rolling my shoulders back or something. I didn't notice, I guess I did it unconsciously. Anyway, he walked over to me and massaged my shoulders. I didn't realise straight away, but later I told him he was really good at it, and he insisted he give me a back massage. I only said yes because he was really persistent about it. I think he just likes to feel useful, I don't really know why else he tries to do so much for me. But anyway, I agreed, and I laid down on the table, because there was really no other way. I thought it was a bit weird, but I humoured him, and at first he was just standing beside me, it was so relaxing that I closed my eyes, and I didn't even realise he had moved. So, when you came in, and it looked... how it looked. Well, you can't blame him, he just doesn't think about the implications of things. I genuinely think he's completely clueless about that stuff. So, now you know it was just a misunderstanding, okay?"

"Oh. Shoot. I'm sorry, Ver." She lowers her head. "I shouldn't have called you a pervert..."

"Just... don't jump to conclusions. I know it must have looked pretty sus, but we don't have that kind of relationship. He's just my friend. A friend that's a bit of an airhead at times, but it's part of his charm, I guess."

"I should probably go appologise to Doppi-chan as well..."

"Ah- maybe not. I don't know if he knows about any of that stuff, I don't want to crush his innocence."

"True." She pauses for a moment. "We'll just forget about this, okay?"

"Thank you." 

"Well, if you do ever end up falling for him, I'll be routing for you two!"

"What."

"Ah, never mind! I gotta go!" She starts running off again.

"KOTOKA!!!"

Ver heads back to the printing room, deep in thought. He gathers his things and gets ready to go home. [I guess Doppio already went home. It must have shocked him when I suddenly ran off like that. I half-expected him to still be here and ask me what that was all about. Normally he'd stay back so we can walk home together, but I guess he must've had somewhere to be.]

As Ver makes his way through the front gate, he's startled when Doppio suddenly jumps out from behind a wall.

"Boo!" Doppio yells.

"AHH!!!" Ver clutches his chest where his heart is.

"Did I scare ya?" Doppio grins.

"What the hell! Don't do that! You know I get scared easily!"

"I know. That's why it's fun~"

"Oi." Ver motions as if he's going to hit Doppio, but he only teases him.

"Sorry~" Doppio chuckles. "What was that about earlier by the way? You suddenly ran off?"

"Oh, u-um. D-don't worry about it. Just something I needed to tell Kotoka. Nothing important."

"Really, because you went really, really, red. Like you do when you're embarrassed."

"She just misunderstood something... that's all."

"What did she misunderstand?"

"Uh, well, it's, um, it's private. Just between me and Kotoka."

"Private? Like a secret?"

"Yeah... like a secret."

"Well, if it's a secret, then you better not tell me. Because breaking a secret is like breaking a promise, and breaking a promise is the worst possible thing you could ever do."

Ver laughs softly. 

"What?" Doppio looks at Ver with confusion.

"Nothing." Ver smiles fondly.

Doppio pauses for a moment. "Well, anyway. I was waiting for you because I wanted to ask if you were free on the weekend?"

"Oh. Um, that would depend. Why?"

"Well, I wanted to take you somewhere."

"Take me somewhere? What did you have in mind?"

"Well, that's a surprise!"

"A surprise?"

"Yeah! It's a new place that opened recently, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to take you there, but you've been busy as usual..."

"Well, I have some time in the afternoon on Saturday. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect!"

"I know it's a surprise but... if it involves spending money, I don't really have a lot at the moment, just letting you know."

"Don't worry, it's free!"

"Oh, well that's good."

"Hey, just so we can organise stuff, could you give me your phone number? I've been meaning to get it off you actually, but I kept forgetting."

"Oh. Well... I don't actually own a phone."

"What?! You don't have a phone!" [No wonder I couldn't find a phone on him that day he collapsed...] 

"Yeah... my parents wouldn't let me get a phone because they think it's a distraction."

"A distraction? Well that's no good! What if there's an emergency and you need to call them?"

"They told me the school has a phone for a reason..."

"That's so stupid! How are you supposed to message your friends anyway!"

"Well, I didn't have any friends before..."

"What about Koto-senpai? How do you contact her about student councilly stuff?"

"I use the home computer to email her. She barely ever reads it though. So most of the time I just have to wait to tell her stuff at school."

"But that's so inconvenient!"

"I know..."

"Well, what would it take for them to let you have a phone? Even an old flip-phone if they're that worried about it distracting you."

"Hm, I guess I could argue that there are instances where I would need one in an emergency. And it would be easier to contact Kotoka if I could just text her..."

"Exactly!"

"I'll ask them about it."

"If they say no, then I'll personally go over there and change their minds!"

"I don't know about that, but thanks anyways." 

"Well, I guess I'll just walk over to your house around 12:30 on Saturday?"

"Yeah, that sounds good~"

It's Saturday, and Ver's outing with Doppio is fast approaching. Ver stands in front of his wardrobe, hair dishevelled and somewhat worn-out. Several piles of clothes lay strewn across the floor. It seems like he's having trouble deciding what to wear. 

[Damnit, I wish I had the money to update my wardrobe... everything I have just looks so depressing.] Ver throws on a black long-sleeve and tries to smooth his hair down. He looks in a mirror attached to his wardrobe door. [Are my shoulders really that small? And my waist...] Ver's eyes lock onto the slender curve of his waist. [Did I loose weight?] 

*Ding-dong!*

[Oh God he's here!] Ver quickly throws on a grey cardigan and a blue checkered scarf, checking himself over in the mirror one last time before making his way to the front door. He takes a breath and opens the door. As his eyes meet with Doppio's, Ver couldn't help but be taken aback by Doppio's attire. He was wearing a knit cream turtleneck, a light brown jacket over the top, a slightly darker shade of brown slacks and nice black shoes. As if Doppio's somewhat cute outfit wasn't enough, he was also wearing a pair of rectangular black glasses, which accentuated his facial features in all the right ways. 

"W-wow." Ver exhaled a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"Do I look weird?" Doppio fiddles with the side of his glasses.

"No you look..." [Hot.] "Really nice... I didn't know you wore glasses, th-they suit you well." [Why does my chest feel so tight...]

"Thank you! I normally wear contacts but I couldn't find them. But anyway, you look pretty handsome yourself!" Doppio exclaims loudly.

[H-handsome?] "Uh... th-thanks. Um... shall we go?"

"Yeah, come on!" Doppio takes Ver by the wrist and leads him out the door.

"Ah! W-wait, I- I- I gotta, sh-shut the door first!" [Why'd he grab me like that?!] Ver gulps.

"Oh right. Sorry about that~ I guess I'm just excited for our date!"

Ver walks back over to the door and locks it, shutting it and walking up to Doppio. "Wait... our what?!"

"Our date!"

"Wait... this is a d-date?! Huh?!" 

"Yeah, that's what it's called when you ask someone else to go somewhere, right?"

"I mean, I guess you're not completely wrong."

"Well, I wouldn't really know because no one ever asks me to go anywhere."

"Oh, well I'm happy to go to where ever you wanna take me. As long as it isn't something scary."

"It's not, trust me. You're gonna love it!"

[How could he not know what a date means? Didn't he say his Mum watches dramas? Wait, what if he's trying to seem like he's ignorant but he's actually-]

"Come on Ver-senpai, let's go!" Doppio grabs Ver's hand again and starts pulling him down the street.

"Ah! Doppio, not so fast!"

"Come on, come on, I wanna go already~" Doppio turns around so he's walking backwards, swinging Ver's arm with his. "Senpai~ Senpai~ Come on, let's go~"

"You're such a kid sometimes~"

"Hehe~"

Doppio and Ver arrive at a busy street surrounded by shops. The pathway was inaccessible to any traffic, so it made for a nice little area where people could walk through leisurely, talking and eating as the leaves of trees rustled and a gentle wind blew past. 

"Okay, close your eyes!" Doppio cooed.

"What, why?" 

"So I can take you to... your surprise!"

Ver exhales. "Okay... they're closed."

Doppio gently takes Ver's hand, the warmth of Doppio's skin slightly startling Ver, and without really meaning to, he closed his own hand around Doppio's as he let the younger boy lead him into an unknown building. 

"Okay, we're here. You can open your eyes now~" Doppio spoke with a sing-song voice.

Ver slowly opened his eyes, and when he did, they lit up with joy. "Is this... a dessert cafe?" Instantly he felt his mouth starting to water as he took in the sights and smells of delicious sweets.

"I know you wanted to win first in the Festival so you could go out to eat sweets, so... ta-da!"

"But, I thought you said it wouldn't cost any money? A place like this is surely going to be a little expensive, and I didn't take any cash with me..."

"As I said, it's free... for you. I wanted to treat you to a treat~" Doppio smiles with his eyes closed.

"Doppio... I can't ask my kouhai to treat me, I'd feel terrible."

"You didn't ask me, I want to treat you!"

"Why? Why do you want to keep doing all these nice things for me?" [When I haven't even paid you back for all those times you helped me for the Festival.]

"Why? Because... well because I just like doing it. I like seeing you happy, so, of course I wanna see you happy as much as I can!"

"Doppio..." [God, he's gonna make me cry if he keeps saying stuff like that.]

"What? I'm your friend. Why wouldn't I wanna see my friend happy?"

Ver sniffed as he looked up towards the ceiling, tears forming in his eyes.

"Are you okay senpai? You look upset? Is it something I said? Do you not want to eat here? We can go somewhere else-"

"Doppio. Sometimes you're so nice to me... I don't know what to say."

"Then just say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

"Pffft! What?" Ver burst out laughing, which made a few heads turn their way.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! A word to say when you don't know what to say!"

"I know, I just wasn't expecting you to say that!" [After I was just about to get emotional, he snaps me right out of it with his ridiculousness as always.]

"That's me! Doppio Dropscythe, the man of mystery!"

"The man of mischief is more like it, you're so weird~"

"In a good way, right?"

"In the best way~"

"Hehe~ Now, come on, let's see if we can get a booth seat!"

End of Chapter Ten.

Chapter Text

As Doppio began to walk further into the café in an attempt to find a booth seat for himself and Ver, he was stopped by one of the staff members. 

"Hi, do you have a reservation for today?" They said with a very sweet smile.

"A reservation?" Doppio stood to think. "I didn't know I needed one? I thought we could just walk in?"

"I'm very sorry, but we are quite a new business and we've been very popular recently. We do accept walk-ins, but as you can see we unfortunately don't have any tables available. My apologies for the inconvenience."

Doppio sighed. "No, it's okay. I should have checked ahead of time." Doppio turns to Ver. "I'm sorry, senpai... I got so excited about today that I didn't even think to make a reservation." He turns towards the door. "I guess we'll just have to come back another time..." He let out yet another sigh, placing his hands in his pockets, appearing utterly deflated.

"It's okay, Doppio. I'm sure there are plenty of other places around here we could try?"

"Yeah... I guess... but I really wanted to take you here..." He sulked.

Ver paused for a moment to think. "Wait." He turns to the staff member. "Do you do take-away?"

"Um... I'm not too sure. Please wait here for a moment, I'll go and ask." They walked off towards the kitchen in the back.

Ver looked over at Doppio, who was still sulking. "Hey, it's okay. We can just get a few things and eat it at a bench or something?"

"Mm... okay. But... I just really wanted to do something special for you." 

"It's still special." Ver places a hand on Doppio's shoulder. "Any moment we spend together can be special. As long as we're having a good time, it doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing. As long as we're having fun and enjoying each other's company... it doesn't really matter, right?" 

*Do-kyun!*

Doppio lifts his head up, locking eyes with Ver. [Whoa. That was... kinda cool.]

"Thank you for waiting~" The staff member returns. [Oh? Were they having a moment?] "Unfortunately we're still waiting on a shipment of take-away containers..." They begin to trail off as they notice a couple leaving the café. They turn around and see that a table in the middle of the café is now free. "Oh! It looks like you're in luck, a table has just opened up. I'll just clear it for you, and I'll bring over a menu~" They smiled brightly. 

"Did you hear that Doppio?" Ver beams happily.

Doppio laughs to himself. [And he's right back to being cute again.] "Yeah~ I guess the 'V' in 'Ver' stands for 'Ver-y good luck!'"

Ver exhales a laugh. "You need some new material, you've used that pun before~" He teases.

"That's not fair~ you can do so much with the letter 'D', but what can you do with the letter 'V'?"

"Oh come on, don't you think it's pretty... 'Ver-satile?'" [Damnit, he's got me doing lame puns now...]

"Hm, not really. I still think 'Ver-y' is better. But there really isn't that many... maybe I should think of rhymes instead."

"No, please, not the rhyming, it's so cringe." Ver screws up his face.

"Just because you said that I'm going to think of as many rhymes as possible!"

Ver covers his face with his hand. [He just loves embarrassing me, doesn't he?]

The staff member comes back with a smile. "Thank you for your patience, your table is ready. Please let us know when you would like to order." They move to guide them to their seats.

"Thank you~" They both say in unison. 

Ver moves behind a seat and is about to pull it out, but Doppio grabs it. "Hm? Oh, did you want to sit here?"

"No, no, no... allow me to pull out your 'chair' for you... 'Ver'!" Doppio smiles smugly. "...A-! S-senpai!" He adds, his smile slightly wonky after realising he forgot to use honorifics.

"Oh my God..." [This is gonna be the whole afternoon, isn't it? He's so silly~]

"Hehehe, there's more where that came from~" 

"I bet there is..." Ver sits down as Doppio pulls out his chair for him.

As Doppio sits down and the staff-member hands them their menus, Ver looks around the café, taking in the décor. It was then that he realised something. 

"So, senpai? Anything you want to drink?"

"Uh, Doppio..."

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed that... everyone here seems..." 

"What?"

Ver leans in and takes his voice down to a whisper. "Is it just me, or is this place filled with couples?"

"Oh." Doppio looks around. "I hadn't noticed." 

"You don't think people will think we're... y'know?" 

"Hm?" Doppio tilts his head.

"Uh, never mind." [Why did it have to be the table right in the middle? I feel like everyone is gonna be looking at us. We're the only table with two guys...]

"Well, I don't know about everyone else. I've just been looking at you this whole time." 

"O-oh, you have?" [Is it just me, or did that sound like a pick-up line?]

"Yeah, I can't stop looking at that little curl in your hair." [It's adorable~]

"What?" Ver runs a hand through his hair, trying to smooth it down. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What's wrong? I like it~"

"I hate it when my hair does that... it looks weird."

"No it doesn't, it's cute!"

"Doppio..." Ver whispers. "Don't call me cute out in public." Ver's eyes shift around, scanning the other tables.

"Why not? Would you prefer I only call you cute in private?" 

"Eh? N-no, just- don't call me cute at all. I'm your senpai, I'm supposed to be cool." Ver hides behind his menu. 

Doppio takes his index finger and curls it around Ver's menu, pulling it down so he can see Ver's reddened face. "Maybe if you stop acting like that, then I'll call you cool~" He laughs.

[Ah, stop. This is too much. Why does this feel like it's an actual date? And he keeps teasing me... more than normal. I don't know if it's because of what he's wearing, but he's seems bolder or something. Maybe it's the glasses but, I can barely look at him right now.] Ver ignores Doppio and looks over at the drinks section. 

"I- I might just get a strawberry milkshake... what about you?" Ver was trying his hardest not to look at Doppio, who was clearing staring at him. 

"Yeah? I might get one too~" Doppio signals a nearby waiter. "Two strawberry milkshakes, please."

"Two strawberry milkshakes..." They write on a little notepad. "Would you like to order anything to eat or are you still deciding?"

Doppio looks over at Ver, who is still avoiding his gaze by studying the menu. "Uh, we're still deciding."

"No problem, just let us know when you're ready~" They walk over to the kitchen and start preparing the milkshakes.

"E-everything sounds really good, I don't know what to get..." Ver chuckles nervously.

"Hmm... how about an eclair?"

"Hm? It doesn't look like they have any-"

"An 'éclair' for 'Ver!'" Doppio chuckles mischievously.

Ver looks up at Doppio, unimpressed. "How did I not see that coming?"

"Come on, it's pretty rude to 'glare', y'know?"

Ver lets out a raspy sigh, before the corners of his mouth turn up in a smirk. "It's also pretty rude not to use honorifics with your senpai~"

"A-" Doppio freezes. "Shoot. I can't believe I did it again!" Doppio places his hands on his head and shakes it, ashamed of himself.

"That's twice today y'know~" Ver teases.

"I know, I know, I know. Sorry, senpai. I guess it's because you're wearing different clothes or something... I don't know why I keep forgetting."

"You don't have to worry about it. I'm only teasing you~ Besides, I don't really mind if you just want to call me Ver."

"B-but I have to call you senpai, because you're my senpai... senpai." 

"I'm telling you it's fine. Either way I don't mind. If you want to call me senpai, you can. But don't beat yourself up if you forget to sometimes. I mean, it's not like I call you Doppi-chan."

"Well, y-you can call me Doppi... if you want to." Doppio looks away, his cheeks showing a slight tinge of pink. 

"Oh, that wasn't what I was saying, but if you want me to?" [Is he... getting shy?]

"I- wouldn't mind that..." [I kinda wanna hear him say it.]

"Well then... Doppi-ch-" Ver clears his throat. "I... don't know if I can. I know Kotoka does it will all her kouhais... but it's too embarrassing for me. Do you mind if I just call you Doppio?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine, that's fine!" Doppio quickly picks up his menu and starts reading it like nothing happened.

[Why is he acting weird all of a sudden? Has he been wanting me to call him Doppi?] Ver goes back to reading his own menu.

[I shouldn't have said anything. But I won't lie... I really want him to give me a cute nickname, just so I can hear him say it.] Doppio's eyes hover over one particular dessert. "Hey, how about some pancakes?"

"Hm, that sounds good. But the cheesecake looks nice as well." [I feel bad about him paying, but I guess I can just shout him next time.]

"Well, I don't really like sweets that much. So, if you want, you could get what you like, and then I can get something else you want to try, and then we can try them both!"

"If you're sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine with me~"

"Ok, we could get the pancakes, and then... oh wait, you have allergies don't you? Is there anything on here you can't eat?"

"Well... as long as it doesn't have apples, peaches, lemon, nuts, coconut, soy or sesame, then I'm good."

"Damn."

"Well, I'm also allergic to trees, dogs, cats, cockroaches, dust, pollen-"

"I... don't think you'll have to worry about that." Ver chuckles. 

"Right..." Doppio laughs.

"Are you ready to order?" A waiter approaches them with their notepad ready.

"Yes, I think so?" Doppio looks over at Ver.

"Yeah, we're ready. Could I just ask, does the cheesecake have any lemon, or nuts in it?"

"Oh, it's a vanilla bean cheesecake, so there's no lemon, and we strive to be a nut-free establishment." 

"Does that include coconut as well?" Ver briefly looks at the allergen information at the bottom of the menu, but can't see anything about coconut.

"Ah, would you like me to check with the chef?"

"If you could, that would be appreciated." Ver smiles.

"Just one moment." The waiter leaves to check.

"You don't have to do that, y'know. Normally I'm the one to ask all that stuff." Doppio scratches the back of his head.

"Well, you're the one treating me, the least I can do is make sure that you're able to eat with me."

[There he goes being all cool again...] "Thanks, Ver-senpai." 

"There's no coconut in the cheesecake." The waiter comes back with a smile. 

"Does it come with fruit? Like peaches or-"

"Don't worry about me, Ver. You can just get that one for yourself, and I'll just get some pancakes, and if you want any extra toppings we can just get it on the side. Sound good?"

"Ah- okay..." Ver seems a little shy after Doppio interjects. [Ah, maybe I'm being annoying... I'll just let him handle it.]

With that, Doppio orders for the both of them, and everything goes smoothly. 

Ver is quiet for a moment after the waiter leaves to complete their order. "Sorry about that... Doppio. If I was being annoying, that is..."

"Don't worry about it, I appreciate you trying to look after me. But you don't have to go to all the trouble, I'm used to doing that stuff myself, so I've got a pretty good grasp on what to look out for, y'know?"

"Yeah, okay." He pauses. "I don't know why I'm being so weird today..." Ver stares down at the table.

"Well, it's kinda natural to be nervous if we've never been out like this before." Doppio reassures Ver.

"Yeah..." [God, this sounds so much like a first date it's killing me!]

"I mean, I was pretty nervous this morning. I didn't know what to wear, and I thought you might tease me about my glasses..." 

"Why would I tease you about you're glasses? They look-" Ver looks up at Doppio. "They look..." Ver gulps. "...Good on you."

"Why'd you pause?"

"N-no reason."

"I was right, they do look silly, don't they?"

"No. You look..." Ver's eyes dart around. "...Mature." 

"Mature?"

"Yeah, they make you look..." [Sexy] "...Older. In a good way though!"

"Do I look like Steve Jobs?"

"Pfft!" [Steve Jobs?!]

"Y'know, I got the turtleneck and-"

"Yeah but normally it's a black turtleneck, and besides... I don't think Steve Jobs would ever have hair that looks like blackberry ice-cream~" Ver laughs hard.

"You think my hair looks like blackberry ice-cream?"

"Kinda."

"Well... your hair looks practically the same, just a bit more red."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! It's like, together we're mixed berries or something." 

"Haha, I like that~"

"How about our team name is... Boysenberry! Yeah! Boysenberry! That sounds cool!"

[Sounds more like a couple name.] Ver laughs softly.

"Here you are, one vanilla bean cheesecake and one plate of pancakes with whipped cream and fruit on the side. There's also maple syrup on the table. Will you be needing anything else?" The waiter comes back and places their food on the table in front of them.

"No thank you, we're good~" Doppio sings.

"Thank you." Ver says as they're leaving. "Damn, it looks so good~" Ver's mouth was starting to water.

[I'm just glad to see you so happy~] "Let's dig in!" 

"That was good~" Ver hums with a full belly.

"Haha, it was a bit sweet for me, but you cleaned up those plates with no problem!" 

"Well, I don't wanna let any of it go to waste..." Ver closes his eyes slightly, starting to get sleepy as his stomach works hard to digest all that food.

"Yeah, I know how you feel about- oh. You've got something on the corner of your mouth."

"Oh? Where?" Ver tries to lick it with his tongue.

"No, not there." Doppio leans over the table, taking his thumb and wiping away a smudge of cheesecake from Ver's face. Doppio brings his thumb up to his lips, and licks it away, without a single word. 

*Ba-thump*

"Hm?" Doppio flicked his eyes up at Ver, still pressing his thumb to his bottom lip. "Something wrong?"

Ver blinked rapidly as he felt the linger of Doppio's delicate touch. His mind grew blank as his heartrate skyrocketed. His breathing became somewhat hastened, and he looked around with desperate eyes. [Again? H-he did it again?! D-did anyone see that?]

"Senpai...? Are you okay?"

[Please tell me no one saw that!] Ver drops his head down and wipes his hands on his jeans as sweat starts to shimmer on his palms. "I- I'm fine, I j-just..." He swallows, his throat dry. 

"You seem a bit-"

"I'm okay. I- just need to go to the bathroom." Ver quickly gets up, speed-walking to the bathroom, avoiding eye-contact with anyone he passes. He makes a beeline for one of the stalls, walking in and quickly shutting the door behind him. He sits on top of the toilet, head down in his hands. [What's going on? Why am I feeling all panicked all of a sudden?] Ver looks up through his fingers. [I'm not feeling faint again am I?] He looks around, checking his eyesight. [Nothing's blurry, and I don't feel like I'm gonna pass out. Is this something else?] He shakes his leg nervously. [Why did he do that? Again. He's done this before? Is that just normal for him? Does he just think nothing of it? He's not trying to fluster me on purpose, right? This wasn't actually supposed to be a date, right? But... he's been flirting with me... hasn't he? Or... is that just him teasing me as a kouhai? Ah! I don't know!] Ver ruffles his hair in confusion. [And what's with this weird feeling? Am I actually feeling nervous around him because... no, no, it's gotta be because I'm embarrassed. That's it. It just feels like everyone's watching us. This whole place is filled with couples. To anyone else, it probably looks like we're on a date. But it's not like that! We're just friends! He's just my kouhai! So... why won't my heart shut-up! Stop pounding so hard. I can hear it beating in my ears.] 

"Ver-senpai? Are you sure you're okay?" Doppio's voice could be heard near the entrance of the bathroom. 

[Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Don't come here! Don't come over here! Not when I'm like this!] Ver's breathing becomes a little more strained.

"You don't have a stomach ache do you?" Doppio called out.

Ver stood up, taking in a breath. 

"Ver-sen-"

Ver opened the door and was met with Doppio on the other side.

"-pai."

Ver's eyes dart around as Doppio's concerned face lingers over him. Without saying anything, Ver quickly ducks around Doppio and moves to the sink to wash his hands. 

Ver tries to quietly get his breathing under control. "I'm fine, I just, n-needed the toilet..." He manages to say.

"Really? Because you seem a bit-"

Ver finishes at the sink and turns around, Doppio now standing in front of him, a little too close for comfort.

"I- I seem a bit... what?" Ver backs up against the bathroom bench.

Doppio takes a step forward, making Ver move his hands back, against the sink, activating the motion-sensor on the tap. 

"Ah-" Ver lets out a startled gasp as he feels water seeping down his sleeve. He brings his arm around in front of him, inspecting the damp patch that darkened his cardigan.

"Oh no, you're all wet..." Doppio reaches for Ver's arm but Ver whips it behind his back.

"It's okay! I-it'll dry!" Ver tries to push past Doppio, but Doppio grabs onto Ver's wrist.

"Ver-senpai... please tell me if something is wrong. You're acting really differently."

"W-w-what do you mean?" Ver laughs.

Doppio tightens his grip ever so slightly. "You seem a bit... panicked. Like you're having a-"

"Go." Ver blurts out.

"What?"

"G-go, I- I've g-gotta go..." Ver twists his wrist free from Doppio. 

"What do you mean?"

"I- I just..." Ver looks deep into Doppio's eyes which seem to be a little hurt. "I'm sorry... I c- I can't, I can't do this right now." Ver backs away, towards the door.

"Senpai?"

"Sorry, Doppio." Ver quickly runs out of the bathroom, making his way towards the exit.

"Ver-senpai! Wait!" Doppio tears off after him. He exits the bathroom and sees that Ver had just run off and out of the café. He was about to run out after him but he was stopped by the staff member that greeted them earlier.

"Excuse me, but have you paid you're bill yet?" 

"Oh, shoot." He quickly rummages his pockets for his wallet. "Just, here." He takes out a card and hands it to her, backing away towards the exit and trying to see where Ver went. "Just- um- I'll, I'll be back! I'll come back to get it! I've just-" Doppio opens the door, holding it whilst looking away. "I've gotta go after him!" He lets go of the door and runs off towards the direction he saw Ver running.

Doppio runs all over the place trying to look for Ver. He presses his face into each shop window, he asks the people walking past if they saw him, but no such luck. He was starting to become distraught when he felt a droplet of water hit the top of his head. He looked up towards the sky as rain started to fall, soaking his hair and staining his glasses. 

"Senpai! Ver-senpai! Where are you?!" [What's going on? Everything was going so well? What happened? Did I do something to upset him? He seemed really different. I've never seen him like that before. I hope I find him soon. He'll catch a cold if he's out alone in the rain.] "Ver-senpai!!!"

"Huh?" Ver hears Doppio's voice in the distance. [Oh no, is he looking for me?]

"Ver-senpai!!! Where are you!!!"

[Please, Doppio, just leave me alone. I can't see you right now. I can't look at you. Not when you look like that. Please, I don't want anyone to notice me right now. Just let me become invisible.]

"Ver!!!" 

Ver heard footsteps fast approaching, making his shoulders tense up. 

"Ver-senpai. I- found you..." Doppio stops behind him, panting with his hands on his thighs.

"Doppio... please. I- I can't look at you."

"What... what you mean? Have I done something wrong?"

Ver stops walking. His head hanging down. "No."

"Then what's wrong? Let me help you-"

"You can't."

"Why?"

"You just can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't wanna tell you."

"W-why? Don't you trust me?"

Ver looks up towards the rain, blinking as tears quickly form and fall.

"I... do trust you. I just- can't say the words..."

"Look at me."

"I can't-"

"Just... look at me. Please?" 

Ver slowly turns around, looking at the ground.

"Ver." 

"I can't."

"Then... just stay still."

"What?"

Before Ver could look up, Doppio had wrapped his arms around Ver, in an embrace. 

"D-Doppio?" Ver held out his arms, keeping them still, not knowing what to do with them.

"I... can't read your mind."

"What?" Ver gulps. His throat aching with emotion.

"I don't know what you're thinking. And... I can't help you if I don't know." Doppio inhales sharply, his voice taking on a slight quiver. "You don't have to say exactly what you're feeling... but, if you get overwhelmed, you can just look at me. Look at me and tell me with your eyes." Doppio pulls out of the hug, keeping his hands on Ver's shoulders. 

Ver looks around nervously, trying to study the faces of the people walking by, to see if they're staring. 

"Don't worry about them, and what they think. Worry about yourself." Doppio directs Ver's attention back to him.

Ver looks into Doppio's eyes, which were serious, but gentle. 

"I'm sorry if I took you somewhere you weren't comfortable with. I should've just told you where we were going. And-"

"Doppio."

"Yes?"

"It wasn't because of the café"

"Then? Was it me?"

"...Yeah."

"I knew it, I'm so-"

"Not in the way that you think!"

"What? What do you mean?"

Ver flicks his eyes away. "Sometimes... you do things. These things that might seem normal to you but... to others..."

Doppio leans down slightly, looking right at Ver. 

"Don't look at me like that..." Ver moves his face away, his cheeks becoming hot.

"You... don't like when I look at you?"

"No... I just-" Ver's tears could be heard in his voice. "You... make me... f-flustered." Ver scrunches up his face, cringing at his words.

"Flustered?"

"Don't make me say it again." Ver looks back at Doppio.

"You mean you... like-"

"I! No, I just mean. People are going to get the wrong impression if you keep doing stuff like that. Like... doing that thing... when you wipe my face and... y'know what I mean? A-and that whole place was full of couples, and I felt like everyone was looking at us and, I don't know! But, they probably thought we were... dating, or something."

"Dating?"

"Ah- never mind! Forget I said anything!" Ver pulls away from Doppio and starts running off again.

"What- V-Ver! Come back! At least let me walk you home!" Doppio stands still, letting the rain soak his clothes. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out in the rain."

End of Chapter Eleven.

Chapter Text

Ver has balled himself into a corner atop his bed, his face is buried in the sheets, his heart heavy with shame. He can't bring himself to do anything but sigh every now and again. Over and over, he replays what happened in his mind. The face Doppio made when he left for the bathroom. The face he made when Ver backed away from him. The face he made when he caught up to him... but nothing could compare to the face he imagined on Doppio's face when he ran away from him, after Doppio hugged him and tried to reassure him that everything was okay. He felt like an idiot. Not just an idiot, but a complete and utter fool. How could he just run away like that? Not once, but twice, and not offer any explanation as to why? Not that he could if he tried, since he didn't even know, himself. It was as if his legs just moved on their own. Trying to take him far away from all the watchful eyes. He curled tighter into himself as he recalled all the couples surrounding them. Judging him, mocking him, gossiping. The whispers that seemed to follow him, even as he turned away and ran. Their eyes burned him, hurt him. Stole his breath, and pulled his heartstrings. They made him want to stew in darkness, contract into something so small that he could no longer be seen. Wander in an abyss, where no one knew him. His rational and irrational thoughts were at war. Part of him thought he was merely being dramatic, stupid, and he had nothing to worry about. But the other part of him was making him spiral further into dread. What if someone he knew had seen him? What if someone from school was there? Words could travel and distort... leaving him with a target on his back, and a chill at his neck. He feared he had put himself in danger, not just him but Doppio as well. Ver knew who he was, and what he was, but others wouldn't be so easily convinced. Once word gets out, and he is branded with a false identity, there would be no escaping it. No way to shake it from reality. He would constantly have to hold his breath. Wonder when someone would curse at him. Call him a slur. Punch him. Spit on him. Push him aside. Make him lower his eyes as he passed by everyone that would look upon him with disgust. If he were kicked down, left in the dirt... would anyone reach out their hand? Or would they turn away? In fear that they could be next. Would he be banished from the student council? Would Kotoka pretend he didn't exist? If Doppio really wasn't flirting with him... would he leave him too? Would he be disowned? Kicked out of home? Made to live on the streets? Would he-

Monday morning. Ver groans as he is woken up by his alarm clock. He sits up and rubs his eyes, frowning as he thinks about the day ahead. He had barely been able to finish all his studying the day before. He was distracted by his thoughts, contemplating his actions and wondering how Doppio must feel. He dreaded meeting face to face after what he had done. But worse than that, he feared if rumours had started to spread. With that one thought lingering in his mind, he quickly got ready and left immediately for school - wanting to get there early to avoid the hustle and bustle. As he walked to school he looked around nervously. Anxious, as if someone were following him. Once he arrived at school and approached his locker, his shoulders tensed as a few students walked by. He couldn't help but feel like they were staring directly into his back. He changed his shoes and made his way down the halls, towards the Library where he hoped he could find solitude to kill time before his homeroom class. He knew he would eventually have to face everyone to take the roll, but still he sought just a moment to himself, in order to prepare for the burning eyes all glaring towards him. He found a corner in the Library, a dark little nook in amongst the many shelves lined with thick textbooks. He sat down on a beanbag, letting himself sink in and be swallowed up by it's comfort. He let out a long strained sigh. Lowering his head in his hands and looking up through his fingers, slightly pulling at his skin. 

"Hey... are you okay?" A low gravelly voice slips out from behind the bookshelves in front of Ver.

Startled, Ver sits bolt upright, flinging his hands away from his face in fright. "Wh-who's there?!"

"No one in particular." They pause for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." They pause again. "I tend to do that a lot..."

Ver squints at the bookshelf, trying to make out a shadow of a person, but it just seems like he's speaking to a formless entity. Almost like a ghost. 

"Did someone hurt you?" They ask in a soft tone.

"Ah... n-no. More like I hurt them..." Ver lowers his head.

Ver can hear some shuffling coming from behind the shelf, as if they sat down. "Can I ask what happened?"

"Um..." Ver pauses.

"I won't judge you." They reassure him.

"...You sure?" [I don't even know this person. So, why do I kinda wanna tell them?]

"I promise." 

Ver takes a breath. "So, there's this guy..." [Wait, did that sound like I have a crush on him? Hold on-] "Uh- um, j-just a kouhai of mine." [Wait that sounds worst-] "Um... no, I mean-"

"Just relax. You can speak your mind. I don't want to form any opinions of you until I hear your whole story. Even then, you have nothing to worry about."

Ver exhales. [What's with this person? It's kinda like... I feel... safe?] Ver gulps. "I have this kouhai. He's a first year, and I'm a third year. He's always full of energy and he barely leaves me alone, in a good way though. At first I found him a little annoying, and weird. But, as I started to see who he really was, I grew attached to him, and... well he's helped me a lot. Far more than I deserve. For the first time in a while I felt like I could relax. I'm the Student Council President, and I've got a heavy workload, mainly because the first and second-year members of the Council barely do anything. And if it weren't for my kouhai, I think I would have been beyond burnt-out by now."

Just as promised, the person behind the shelves didn't offer any opinions. They simply sat and listened to everything Ver wanted to say.

"He's been doing so much for me. Making sure I don't work too hard. He helps me with Council work where he can. He helped motivate my Vice-President to help out more too. He never told me what he said to her, but all of a sudden she's been working really hard to share the workload, so I'm really grateful to the both of them. I probably don't say it enough... or at all. I have a lot of trouble telling people what they mean to me, and I think that's what led to me doing something really stupid..." Ver exhales sharply before continuing. "So, this kouhai. He's super sweet. He helped train me for my events in the Sport's Festival, and without him I probably would have been dead last. Although I didn't win first like I wanted... and I felt like I let my class down, because this was the last Sport's Festival for the third years, and they were kind of counting on me. But anyway, I was kind of down and I think he could tell... he's really good with that actually. He seems to always know what I'm thinking... it kind of freaks me out sometimes. But yeah, he could tell I was upset about it, and he took me out to a dessert cafe as a surprise. He even paid for everything. I know, I'm the senpai and that should be my job, but I can't really afford to treat him at the moment, so I feel bad about that too. He keeps giving me a bunch of sweets because he knows it makes me happy." Ver smiles fondly as he thinks about Doppio. "He really is sweet... but. I don't know what to do. He keeps doing all these nice things for me, and I don't know how to repay him. I want to make things up to him... especially after what I did." He sighs heavily. "So, there's this thing that he does... I don't know if he's doing it on purpose, or if he just has no idea and thinks it's completely normal, but. He... flirts with me." Ver screws up his face, expecting a negative response from the mysterious person.

 "Go on. I'm still listening." Ver heard after a long pause.

"Well, when he took me to the cafe... there were all these couples around, and groups of girls, but... we were the only table with just two guys. We were right in the centre of the cafe too. I know that I shouldn't think like this, but I can't help but think that everyone around me thought we were on a date. Like... even the way he was dressed too... he was a lot more dressed up than I thought he would be. And that was really distracting me... I don't know why. It looked like he was trying to impress me, or maybe that's just how he dresses outside of his uniform, I have no idea. But- he does th- these things... like-" Ver hesitates. "...he's kind of, invasive? I don't know... he's done it before too. Like, he's sort of clingy? And he teases me a lot. It's like he really enjoys embarrassing me, and that just makes me really flustered. He likes to point out whenever my face turns red and it's really humiliating. But more than anything else, it's when he does things like... like-" Ver hesitates. "...More than once I've had something on my face, like a bit of cake or cream or something, and what he does is he takes his thumb and wipes it off. He gets really close when he does it, too. Then! And this is what's really weird. Whatever it is, he'll lick it off like it's completely normal! Like, I'd understand if he was the one eating something and he licks his fingers, like, whatever. But! H-he could just tell me if I've got something on my face, I don't know why he feels the need to do it for me, and then... do that?!" Ver pants a bit, trying not to get flustered just from recalling the details. "I don't get it! Why does he have to get so up close and personal? He could at least just use a napkin? Like, surely he's doing it on purpose? And, is he doing it to flirt? Or does he just want to embarrass me?" Ver sighs, deflated. "Why is he like this?" 

"Have you spoken to him about it?"

"That's just it. I tried, but I panicked. I got this weird feeling in my stomach, and I felt like everyone was staring at me. I tried to hide in the bathroom and calm down, but he followed me. I don't mean to make him worried about me, but that's just how he is. He gets concerned about me, and that makes it even worse. When I felt like that... I just wanted to run away from him. I felt like I couldn't look him in the eyes. I had to get out of there, and I did. I ran out of the cafe and ran away as fast as I could. I didn't even tell him why. I just left. I can't even imagine what he must be thinking. I tried to calm down as I kept walking away, but he followed me. He grabbed me and hugged me, and tried to reassure me that everything was alright, that he was there for me. I tried to tell him then, but I just couldn't. The words wouldn't come out, it was like I couldn't breathe. My chest felt really tight, like my heart was in my throat. So I ran. Again. I ran away from him a second time. And I haven't spoken to him since. That's why I got to school so early, because I just don't know if I can face him. But it's not just that, I kept thinking what if someone saw us? What if someone gets the wrong idea and rumours spread about us. I'm the Student Council President, I can't have something like this happen... and I don't want him to get hurt either. He's already a bit of an outcast, I don't want him to get bullied on top of that. He must hate me. I can't believe I just left him there. Out in the r-" Ver stopped. His eyes widened as if he just realised something. "-the rain." Ver stood up quickly. "Shit. That's right... it was raining." Ver cupped a hand over his mouth. "I... left him in the rain." Ver suddenly looked towards the entrance of the Library. "Ah- I'm sorry. I've gotta go!" Ver starts quickly walking away, still facing the bookshelf as he walks backwards. "I'm sorry I wasted your time, but it's just- I gotta find him. I gotta make this right!" Ver turns around and makes his way towards the front of the Library, before stopping and turning back towards them. "Thank you!" He shouts with desperate eyes.

"Shhh!!!" 

Ver turned and locked eyes with the Librarian. "...Sorry." He whispered before quickly running out the Library.

The person behind the bookshelf let out a soft breath, as if smiling. They stand up, looking over some horror novels on the shelf in front of them, before looking up to the direction Ver ran off. "Good luck." 

End of Chapter Twelve.

Chapter Text

"Not here...?" Ver puffed. "He's not here today?"

"Yeah, he never showed up." A first-year student answers Ver. A little frightened by his distressed appearance.

"Do you know why?" Ver tried to catch his breath. He had been looking everywhere for Doppio, but with no luck. It wasn't until he remembered that Doppio was in class 1-D that he found out he hadn't come to school. 

"Sorry, I don't know." 

"What about his friends? He got close to some people after the Sport's Festival, didn't he?"

"Ah- well, a few of us did talk to him..." They seem to hesitate. "But to be honest, he's a bit full on." The pause for a moment. "Ah! Not that we don't like him or anything! H-he's a cool guy..." They laugh nervously.

Ver appeared disappointed. "So. You all think he's annoying. Right?" He grits his teeth.

"Ah- I d-didn't say-"

"If any of you actually bothered to get to know him..." Ver balls up his fists, lowering his head.

A few heads turn Ver's way, and whispers start to travel.

"...You'd realise what an amazing guy he is!" Ver shouts, still looking at the ground.

By this point the entire classroom of first-years were staring at Ver. 

"He's the kindest person I've ever met. He cares about people, far more than they deserve! He'll be there for you when you're vulnerable, and he'll make damn sure that you know you're own self-worth! He'll never give up on you and before you know it... you'll depend on him more than anyone else!" Ver looks up at them through tears. "All he wants to do is be helpful, and make friends. But have any of you ever given him the chance?!" Ver pants heavily, pulling his sleeves over his hands and wiping his tears. "Do me a favour... this comes from your senpai, the Student Council President. Don't be like me. Don't be selfish. Don't dismiss his kindness. That doesn't just go for him, but everyone else in this school, and not just them... everyone in your life. Treat people how you would want to be treated. I won't force you to make friends... but at the very least. Just be kind." Ver exhales, taking a shaky step backwards, a little taken aback by his own outburst.

He turned away from them, feeling guilty that he lectured them, despite his own actions, but also proud that he managed to get his point across. He was about to leave, when he stopped. "...Sorry I shouted. But if you don't stick by your values, and stand up for what you think is right, nothing will ever change." And with that he left, leaving the classroom completely silent as they starred after him.

Lunch break. Ver is sitting outside with his lunchbox on his lap, unopened. He sighs, starring down at it, no appetite whatsoever. [Why would he not come to school today?] Ver looks up at the trees swaying in the wind. [He's probably avoiding me. I wouldn't blame him.] He looks across the courtyard, smiling to himself as he recalls when Doppio was playing there just a few weeks ago. [...I miss him. He'd normally be telling me something ridiculous right about now.] Ver opens his lunchbox and looks inside, his eyes not really focusing on anything in particular. [I should have spent more time with him. If I didn't care about deadlines so much, I probably could have gone over to his house and played video games, just like he wanted...] He turned his head away from his lunch and closed the lid, not interested in eating. [If I said sorry to him... would he except it? Would he even understand if I told him? He seems to understand me so well, but would I really be able to tell him how I feel? I don't even understand it myself. Why did I get so anxious and run away? I don't think I'll ever figure it out.] Ver lets out a sharp breath. [I don't think I can wait any longer. I wanted to disappear this morning, but now all I can think about is trying to get things back to the way they were. If that's even possible.] Ver stands up, an air of determination surrounds him. [Screw it. I'm gonna go and apologise to him! Even if he doesn't want to see me! Even if he doesn't want to be friends anymore... the best I can do is try. That's something he taught me.]

A few hours later, after school, Ver is quickly gathering his things before setting off to find Doppio. 

"Ah! Ver! There you are! I've been looking all over for you~" Kotoka starts jogging towards Ver from down the hallway.

"Sorry Koto, not now. I've really gotta go-" Ver didn't even look her way, he just continued packing his bag.

"Oh, but weren't you saying the other week that you wanted to talk to the principal about the Council members? It looks like she's finally available to-"

"I know, I know! But there's something that's more important than that." Ver shuts his locker, looking towards Kotoka with a serious expression, making her stop in her tracks. "There's someone else I need to talk to, more than anyone else." 

Kotoka seemed surprised by the determination in his gaze, but she gave him a sweet smile. "Okie dokie, I understand. Do whatever you need to do~"

"...Thanks, Koto." He starts walking towards the entrance. "Um..." He stops. "I- really appreciate everything you do. Not just with the Council, but... I like how light-hearted and positive you are. I may dismiss you a bit too much, and shout at you sometimes - but I never mean it. You're a good Vice-President, Kotoka." The tips of Ver's ears were turning red as he let his feelings out. His shoulders stiffened and he quickly walked away before Kotoka could give him a response. 

"Awww~ Ver~" Kotoka smiled as she clasped her heart. "He's such a tsundere~"

[Now which house was his...?] Ver walks anxiously along the streets. [So... here's the ginko tree on my street...] Ver looks around to the surrounding streets. [He said his was one over from mine. But did he mean forwards or backwards?] Ver turns, looking around. [Or opposite?] Ver starts walking towards the street opposite his. [Wait, if his was the street opposite mine, then he would have said 'opposite', not 'one over'.] Ver scratches his head, wracking his brain. [Damnit! I don't know! Think Ver, what direction does he come from when we walk together?] Ver concentrates as he tries to recall their mornings together. [Tch, it's been a while since we walked together. He's usually ahead of me and I'm the one that catches up to him. Shoot.] Ver lets out a frustrated sigh. [I guess I'll just have to try them all until I land on the right one...] 

Ver starts jogging up and down the streets, checking all the nameplates on the front of the houses. [Nakamura, Kim, Tanaka, Adams... Aoi, Shimizu, Jeon, Chen, Lee... Garfield?] Ver appears a little dumbfounded. [Huh, you don't hear that one often. Then again... Dropscythe is probably the most unique last name I've ever heard.] Ver frowns. [But Vermillion isn't exactly common either.]

A little over an hour had passed and Ver was getting tired. [Ah... it's gonna get cold soon, I hope I find him. My studying is going to have to wait, because I have to do this right now! The longer I leave it... the further away he gets.] Ver tries to pick up his pace. [Suoh, Zhou, Natsuki, Hitachin, Yamaguchi... Watanabe, Green, another Kim, Sato... Ito... Saito... so many with 'to'... Hayashi... Min... Rene... Ritsuka... eugh how many more?!] Ver shuffles along and stops in front of a house with strangely shaped plants along the fenceline. [Huh, those are funny-looking...] Ver looks up at the name plate. [D... Dropscythe!!!] Ver lights up, pumping his fist in the air and letting out a big sigh of relief. [Finally! I found him!] Suddenly Ver freezes. [Wait... what do I say to him? Do I look okay? I did come directly from school... I probably should have changed. No, I did the right thing coming straight here. Although it did take me more than an hour to find him. Well, at least now I know where he lives. Bit hard to miss honestly. Anyway, I gotta think about what to say. It has to be perfect. I have to just... take a deep breath and let everything out. No holding back.] Ver approaches the front door. [Ah- what if his parents answer the door? What if Doppio has told them what a bad person I am and they're going to yell at me? I don't know if I'm mentally prepared to deal with that. Shit, I guess, I'll just ask to speak with him and see what happens.] Ver hesitantly knocks on the door, staring at it intently. [Come on, come on, come on. You can do this Ver. You've got this. It'll be okay. It'll be fine. I'll talk to him, and we'll sort this all out. It's just a big misunderstanding... what if he doesn't forgive me? What if he- NO! Shut-up! Shut-up! Stop thinking 'what if?' You said it yourself. You're aware that you're doing it, and yet you still keep doing it! Stop it! Just don't overthink it. Just relax. Breathe and... what is taking so long?] Ver looks around. [Now that I think about it, there aren't any cars or bikes here, and the lights are off. Are they even home?] Ver tries to peer in through the foggy window on the door. [Damnit, I can't see... they've got that kind of frosted glass or something.] Ver hears the faint shuffling of footsteps. [Oh God, they're coming. Okay, okay, okay, calm down. Just breathe. You've got this Ver.] He inhales deeply. "I can do this." Ver exhales as the door handle starts to fidget. [Brace yourself.] The door slowly opens no more than a crack. 

"Do...ppio?" Ver questions, tilting his head to get a better look.

"...Ngh... sen...pai?" A very pale and groggy Doppio pushes the door open a little wider, almost leaning his weight on it. 

"Ah- D-Doppio..." [Come on, say it.] "I wanted to talk to you about- wh-wh-wh-whoa?! WHOA! Shit! SHIT! D-Doppio?!" Ver was completely shocked when Doppio suddenly lost his balance and fell forward, right into Ver's arms. "D-Doppio? A-Are you alright?!" 

"...N... ah... Ver...?" He barely managed to get any words out, leaning his head on Ver's shoulder. He placed his hands up to Ver's lower back, trying to find his balance, but he was fighting hard against a pummeling wave of drowsiness. 

"Doppi- Ah! Shit!" Doppio started slipping from Ver's hold, falling to his knees. Ver tried his best to gently guide Doppio to the ground, kneeling in front of him and placing a hand on the back of Doppio's head to stop him from keeling over. "Doppio, what's going on? What's wrong?" 

Doppio shivered as a gust of wind blew by. He sniffed as he closed his eyes and nuzzled his head into Ver's shoulder, weakly bringing his hands up to Ver's arms and holding onto him to support himself. Ver's face grew with concern as he felt Doppio shivering against him. Ver took his hand away from Doppio's head and propped him up slightly, slowly brushing his bangs aside and placing a palm against his forehead. "...Shit." Ver gasped. [So that's why he wasn't at school... he has a fever!] Ver quickly took Doppio by the arm and wrapped it around his neck, holding onto Doppio's wrist. With Ver's other arm he curled it around Doppio's waist, lifting him up and guiding him to a sort of half-standing position. "Come on, let's get you inside."

As Ver slowly guided Doppio inside, Ver felt a tug as Doppio tried to bend around and close the door behind them. "No- No, Doppi- Just leave it. I'll close it later. Let's just focus on getting you to your room." Ver awkwardly slides his shoes off by stepping on his heels and pulling them off with his feet. [I feel bad for just walking straight into the house unannounced, but what else am I supposed to to with this guy? He's so heavy...]

"...S-...cold..." Doppio rolled his head around like it was made of lead, making it pretty impossible for Ver to walk in a straight line. 

"Come on, Doppio." Ver pulled Doppio forward, inching him further into the house. "Is there anybody else home, or are you alone?"

"...Sss...mur....sch.......yeah." Doppio was clearly trying to say something, but none of it was intelligible. 

"Right. That doesn't answer my question, but clearly I won't be getting anything out of you." Ver pressed forward into the hallway, looking around. It was then that he spotted a room at the very end of the hallway, with the name 'Doppio' on the door with big blocky letters. 

"...Ver~" Doppio swung his head towards Ver, looking at him through squinted eyes. "Have you come to play Bug Fables with me?" He said in a sort of whiny voice.

"No, Doppi. We've gotta get you to bed. You have a fever."

"No~" Doppio leaned his weight on Ver in protest. "I'm not tired~"

Ver sighed. "I don't care. You need to rest."

"Says who~" Doppio leans all of his weight on Ver.

"Tch, Doppio! Don't be childish!" Ver pushes against Doppio's back, trying to walk him forwards and over to his room.

"I'm not childish... you're childish!" Doppio turns around and flings his arms over Ver's shoulders and leans his head into Ver's neck, practically draping himself onto Ver.

"Doppio. I'm your senpai, that means do what I say and go to bed!" Ver tries to push him off, but struggles against his strength.

"No!" Doppio grabs onto Ver so he can't move.

[God damnit! What the hell am I supposed to do with this big idiot?! Maybe I should try another approach...] "Hey Doppi~"

"...What?" Doppio huffs.

"If you be good and go to your room, I'll play a game with you~" 

"Really?!" Doppio suddenly flings himself off of Ver and spins around, stumbling over his own feet.

"Doppi, Doppi, Doppi! Watch out!" Ver grabs onto his arm and pulls him before he can fall flat on his butt. 

"Hehe~ I'll race you to my room!" Doppio starts barreling down the hallway, whilst Ver tries to pull him back with all his strength, but with to no avail.

"Do-ppio! Stop!" 

"No way, no way! You can't catch me!"

"Technically I've already caught you, you just won't stay still!"

"Hehehehehe~" Doppio chuckles before he practically crashes into the door of his room. "I win~" Doppio presses his face against the door, turning to face Ver with his cheek squished into the wood. "I'm so faaaaast..." 

"Yes you are Doppi, just don't do that again. Now come on, let's get inside."

"Wait till you see my room... it'sss so cool. You're not even ready..."

"I'm sure it is." Ver drapes Doppio's arm around his neck once again and pulls him in close. He then opens the door and walks inside, pulling Doppio along with him. Ver blinks rapidly as if stunned by the sheer chaos that was Doppio's room. Not that it was messy, it was simply overloaded with things to look at. Posters of Bug Fables, action figures, toy dinosaurs, Beyblades, an ant farm, almost a whole galaxy of glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. It was truly a bedroom that screamed 'Doppio'. 

Doppio rolled his head over to Ver, grinning at him smugly. "See? Told you it was awesome."

"It is... definitely your room. I'll say that much." 

"Come on... let's play with my Beyblades!" Doppio started pulling Ver over to the right side of the room.

"No, no, no." Ver quickly pulled him over to the left, towards the bed. "You're going to bed, Mister."

"Whaaaaat? You said you'd play with me~" Doppio sulks.

"I am, I am. We're gonna play a game where you lay down in bed, and try to fall asleep as fast as you can."

"That's not a game~" Doppio started to slide down against Ver, trying to escape his grasp.

"Oh really? I guess you're just not up to the challenge then." Ver looks away from Doppio, not giving him any attention.

"...Huh? Challenge?" Doppio blinks.

"No, no. I was just going to suggest we have a competition to see who can fall asleep the fastest. Since you clearly think you're 'so fast'." Ver rolls his eyes. "But... I guess, you're just too sick to play a game with me..." Ver sighs very purposefully, as if pretending to be sad.

"Now hold on, hold on, hold on! I- I bet I could fall asleep faster than you! Of course I can! I'm Doppio Dropscythe! I can do anything..." Doppio starts walking over to his bed and bumps into it, almost flopping down onto it. "You're gonna time me, right?" Doppio looks directly at Ver.

Ver walks over to him and pulls back the covers. "Oh of course, of course..." Ver guides Doppio into bed. "I'll even take your temperature as well."

"My temperature?" Doppio pushes Ver's arms away and sits back up after Ver put him in a lying down position. "What does that do?"

Ver gently pushes Doppio back down. "Well to compare of course! You wanna win don't you?"

"Oh right, right, right... how could I be so stupid." Doppio snuggles down as Ver pulls the sheets over his chest.

"Pfft-" [No, shut-up. Don't laugh.] "Now you have to sleep for as long as possible as well, otherwise it doesn't count." [I feel bad for gaslighting him, but as long as it's working and he gets some rest. But god damn, he's so cute it's hard not to laugh.]

"Okay..." Doppio starts to close his eyes. "Hey... can I tell you something? But you gotta promise not to tell Ver-senpai."

[Pfft, what? Is he really this delirious?] "Uhh... sure."

"I feel really bad..." Doppio is talking behind closed eyes. His voice starting to become a little softer. "I think Ver-senpai hates me."

"...What? No. He doesn't hate you. Why would you think that?"

"Because... I left him out in the rain." Doppio lets out a comfortable sigh. "...I'm worried that he caught a cold."

"...You're the one with the fever." Ver whispers.

"...I hope he's okay." Doppio lets out another sigh. "...I wanted to talk to him at school, but I kept falling over before I could get there... so I went back home."

"So that's why you're in your uniform." [Poor guy, he tried to go to school even though he was sick.] "Do your parents know you're staying home?"

"...They're at work." 

"So, you're by yourself..." [If his parents get home late, he could be stuck here by himself with no one to look after him.]

"...You're so cute." Doppio mumbles as he drifts off to sleep.

[Good. Looks like he's... wait-] Ver stands upright and backs away from the bed. "...What did you just say?"

End of Chapter Thirteen.

Chapter Text

Doppio is softly snoring.

[He didn't say what I think he said... right?] "...Doppio?" Ver approaches slowly, inspecting Doppio's sleeping face, as if he would somehow find an answer to his question.

"....Little bunny..." Doppio smiled slightly, before continuing to snore away.

"...Oh." [He's dreaming.] Ver looks down at Doppio with a smile. [Of course he talks in his sleep. Cute~] Ver lingers for a moment before turning on his heel and making his way out of Doppio's room, turning off the light and gently shutting the door behind him. "Right..." Ver looks towards the end of the hallway, puzzled as he feels a slight breeze coming from somewhere. "Oh right, the door." Ver shuffled off towards the front door, remembering he had left it open. He looks out into the street, thinking for a moment. [I wonder when his parents will get home? He said they were at work...] Ver closes the door and organises his shoes on a shoe rack and borrows a pair of house slippers. [Do they even know he's sick? If he was in his uniform and he tried to go to school, they might not know that anything happened. But surely the school would have called them? If that's the case... did they really leave him all by himself?] 

*Ring ring, ring ring*

[Hm?] Ver hears the sound of a phone ringing. He follows the sound into the kitchen. 

*Ring ring, ring ring*

[Could that be his parents?]

"Hi! You've called Dean, Donna, and DOPPIO!!! Please leave a message after the beep!"

*Beep*

"Pfft-" Ver snickers. [Yep, they're definitely related. What a cheerful family.]

"Doppio, this is your mother! I'm calling again to tell you to pick up the phone! The school has been calling your father and I, and we're worried-"

[Shoot. I guess they really don't know he's sick. Should I answer it? I don't really want this to be the first time I speak to them... but if they're worried I should at least tell them what happened. But what if they're mad at me for just waltzing in their house without asking them? What if-"

"-if you don't pick up this phone right now!"

"Ah!" Ver was startled by the sudden raise in her tone, so he quickly scrambled over to the phone and answered it. Screwing his face up tight, as if he already regretted it. 

"I swear I'll-"

"...H-hello?" Ver speaks nervously into the phone.

"Oh? Have you finally decided to pick up the phone?"

"Um- no- I..."

"Wait... who is this? Where's my son?! Are you a burglar?!"

"No! No! No! I'm not a robber!"

"Then a kid-napper?!"

"Please just calm down ma'am, I'm his friend! I'm his friend!"

"...His friend?" She paused.

"Yes! I- I was worried when he didn't come to school! So I went to find him! It... took me a while to find your house, but when I did and I knocked on the door, Doppio came out and... well he's sick."

"...Oh dear. I knew something wasn't right. Is he okay?" Her tone quickly shifted to that of concern.

"I- I think so. I'm sorry for just coming into your house without asking, but I didn't want to just leave him like this, so I managed to get him to bed. I'm sorry if that was the wrong thing to do, we haven't met yet and-"

"...You're Ver? Aren't you?"

"Huh? Oh- how did you know my name?"

"You're all he's been talking about~" Ver could hear her smiling through the phone.

"R-really?" [Oh God, what has he said about me?]

"He really looks up to you."

"Y-yeah... I guess he does." [He shouldn't though, I've been a terrible senpai to him...]

"Well Ver, would you be able to do me a little favour?" 

"...Oh? S-sure, what is it?" Ver held the phone closer to his ear, paying attention to her words.

"Would you be able to stay and look after him for a little bit? I can come home on the next train, but it'll take me at least an hour. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Oh! R-really? If you're okay with me looking after him, then I'd be more than happy to!"

"Yes of course, dearie. From everything he's told me about you, it sounds like you're a really good friend to my son." She hums.

"Oh, I don't know about that... he's been way nicer to me. I really don't deserve-"

"Thank you."

"Hm? Ah- wh-what for?"

"For being his friend." She pauses. "I've been kind of worried that he'd have trouble making friends in high school. He's always been picked on by others ever since he was little. Even when he did have friends before, it seemed like all they would do is tease him and take advantage of how kind he is. But this is the first time I've seen him so happy that he's finally gotten close to someone. I know he can be a bit of a handful, but please keep being his friend? This has been really good for him, and I can't bare seeing him so lonely again. You're welcome to come over anytime, you don't have to ask. I've heard you have a busy school life, but if you can make time for him, I would really appreciate it. Of course I'll understand if-"

"I promise." Ver sounded somewhat choked up. "...I'll take care of him. Now and going forward. It's the least I can do for him, after all he's done for me. So, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere, not this time. I don't know what he's told you about me, but... I want to be better for him. Be the senpai he deserves, as well as his friend."

"Thank you, Ver. Nice young men like you are hard to come by these days." She beams.

"A-ah th-thank you...?" [Man, I really wasn't expecting his parents to like me, or even want me as his friend. But this is... so wholesome?! What the hell?] Ver rubs his eyes.

"Oh, are you sure it's okay with your parents if you stay? I'm so sorry, I didn't even think of it earlier!" 

"It's okay, they'll probably just think I've gone to cram school. They normally don't get home until really late anyway. They probably won't even realise that I didn't come straight home."

"Oh... well, alright. I'll try and get there quick as I can so you can go on home, but help yourself to anything in the fridge if you're hungry, dearie~" 

"Th-thanks. And, there's no need to rush. I really don't mind looking after him. He'll probably just sleep for a while anyway." 

"Okay, I'll leave you to it then. Thank you so much again! Oh and just a bit of a warning, he can get a bit... well, he's not himself when he's under the weather." She laughs nervously.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a trouble-maker, isn't he?" Ver chuckles.

"I hope he doesn't give you too much trouble..."

"It'll be okay." Ver smiles, despite her not being able to see him.

"Thank you, Ver! I guess I'll finally get to meet you when I get home~"

"Y-yeah, I look forward to meeting you!"

"Bye-bye!"

"Bye..." 

*Click*

She hangs up the phone and Ver places it back down where he found it, exhaling. "That was... wow." He shakes his head, dumbfounded. "I can see why Doppio is so nice. He has such a good mother. I feel kind of nervous meeting her later. But I guess I shouldn't worry about that now." Ver looks around the kitchen, opening cupboards in search of something. [Shoot. I guess I should have asked her where they keep their thermometer, or if they have any medicine.] Ver opens a cupboard above the oven. When he looks inside he sees rolls of paper towel, various bottles of vitamins and a clear plastic box that he wasn't quite tall enough to see inside. He ponders for a moment before taking it down to look at it, and as he does, he spots a bottle of medicine in the corner. [Yes!] He places the box down on the bench to get a better look of what was inside. He takes out the bottle of medicine and sets it aside, digging through the miscellaneous mish-mash of pain relief tablets, lozenges and bandages. Once he got to the bottom of it, he found a thermometer in a plastic bag. [Nice. Let's just hope the batteries work.]  

After checking and sterilising the thermometer, Ver enters Doppio's room quietly, with both the thermometer and a bottle of medicine in hand. He approaches the side of Doppio's bed and kneels down next to him. Ver checks the directions on the bottle of medicine and measures out the correct amount, setting it down on Doppio's side table. Ver then gets up and sits on the edge of the bed, turned towards Doppio. Gently, Ver strokes Doppio's hair as he quietly calls out to him. 

"Doppi~" 

Doppio's eyebrows furrow slightly.

"Doppio~" Ver calls out again, softly.

"...Nh...?" Doppio opens one eye, ever so slightly.

"Can you sit up for me? I need to take your temperature." 

"Ngh..." Doppio grumbles and tries to sink back down into the covers.

"Doppi~ please~ do it for your senpai?" Ver whines. [Eugh, cringe.]

"...Hmgh..." Doppio grunts as he slinks up into a half sitting position.

"Thank you~" Ver tilts his head with a sweet smile. "Now, open your mouth." [It feels weird babying him like this, but from the way he's acting... this seems to be the only way to get across to him.]

Doppio looks away from Ver, making his mouth small in protest.

"Doppi..." Ver's tone was slightly stern. [Are you serious?]

Without looking back at Ver, Doppio opens his mouth. 

Ver places the tip of the thermometer in carefully, Doppio closing his lips around it. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" [You could at least look at me.]

Doppio moves it around to the side of his mouth, as if pouting.

Ver exhales a laugh through his nose. "Now, we'll leave that in for three minutes. Hopefully you only have a little fever."

"Hmee hmin hmmn?!" Doppio appeared to be trying to say, 'Three minutes?!' 

And as if Ver understood him perfectly, "Yes. Three minutes. You can wait that long." [Heh. That's one way to get you to shut up~]

"Agh mnnn!" [Aw man!]

Ver laughed his signature windshield wiper laugh, amused by Doppio's cute antics. Doppio smiled as he watched Ver laugh. He loved seeing Ver look so happy, so in order to make Ver laugh even more, he started making weird faces at him.

"Hahahahaha! Doppi~ Stop it! It'll take even longer if you keep moving the thermometer around, you gotta keep it in one place!" [He's such a dork~]

Doppio slowly tilted his head and crossed his eyes with a goofy expression.

"Stap~ You're gonna give me hiccups-" 

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmhm!" Doppio laughed behind closed lips.

"HA! That sounds so weird!"

"HMHMHMHMHMMMM!!!" Doppio laughed harder.

"Stop it. You're gonna make yourself cough!" [Idiot~]

"Hmiiinnnn~" [Fiiiiiine~]

*Beep beep*

"Oh, it's done." Ver reaches his hand towards Doppio. "Let me have a look."

Doppio moved his head away from Ver.

"Ya. So you want it now do you?" [This guy...]

"Hmhmhm!" Doppio jerks his head around like he's trying to play keep-away.

Ver sighs roughly. "Tch." He grabs the end of the thermometer between two fingers, looking Doppio dead in the eyes with a smirk on his lips. "Gotcha." 

Doppio lets go as Ver takes the thermometer from his mouth. "Hmph!" Doppio pouts.

Ver chuckles. "You're impossible~" Ver turns towards the digital screen and looks over the number. "39.04" [Shit. He's got a fever alright. That's quite high though... hopefully it'll go down in a few hours. Once he takes some medicine and has something to eat and drink it should go down. He already seems less shivery than before.] 

"Seeee? I'm fiiine~" Doppio leans his head back and bumps it on the wall behind him. "Ow."

"You're so not fine." Ver shakes his head. "Now, are you going to take your medicine?" Ver holds up a little measuring cup that he prepared before. 

"Blehhh..." Doppio grimaces just thinking about it.

"It's strawberry flavoured~" [Really? I guess he has a habit of being difficult when he takes medicine. Lucky. He doesn't have to endure bitter red ginseng every time he's sick...] "Come on, Doppi. There's no use stalling."

"Stalling? I'm not stalling?"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not~"

"Yes you are. You're doing it right now."

"Stalling...? Stalling..." Doppio chuckles slightly. "So you think... I'm... stalling?"

Ver stares at Doppio, unimpressed. "You really hitting me with the Spongebob reference right now?" 

"Heh heh. Maybe~" Doppio gives Ver a cheeky smile.

Ver sighs. "Just take the damn medicine, Doppio."

"Fine." Doppio takes the little cup off of Ver and downs it in one gulp, licking his lips and smiling. "Mm~ Strawberry~"

"So you like it then?!" [What the hell was he carrying on for?!]

"I forgoooot~" 

Ver exhales. "Whatever." Ver gets up.

"Wh- where are you going?" Doppio grabs onto Ver's wrist and tries to pull him back.

"I'm gonna make you something to eat, so just wait here okay?" 

"But I'm not hungry~ I wanna play games~" Doppio swings Ver's arm back and forth.

"Too bad. You gotta eat something. Now let go."

"No!" Doppio turns over in bed, still holding onto Ver's arm, making Ver jerk forwards.

"Ah! Doppio! God damnit." [Remember, different approach.] "...Hey, what's your favourite show to watch?"

"SPACE DANDY!!!"

"Don't... hurt your throat. But okay! How about I put on Space... um..."

"Space Dandy!"

"...Space Dandy. So you can watch it while I make you something to eat? Sound good?" [Please work.]

"Yeah! And you can watch it with me! It's the best show ever! Have you seen it Ver? Have you?"

"Calm down. But no I haven-"

"You haven't seen it?! You have to watch it! You have to, you have to! It's the greatest show ever!"

"How about this, I'll put it on for you in the living room and I can watch it from the kitchen?"

"I guess... but if a good part comes up you gotta come and watch it properly!"

"Deal." 

With what Ver was able to find around the kitchen, and also keeping Doppio's allergies in mind; which had conveniently been listed on the fridge - Ver made a comforting pot of Dakjuk. 

[I've watched Mum make this hundreds of times, but mine is... nowhere close to hers. Well, I guess it wouldn't be the same if I can't add sesame, but still... maybe for instances like this I should get her to teach me a thing or two.] "Doppi~ it's ready! Come sit up at the table!"

"But we're almost at the best part~" Doppio whined as he leaned his head over the couch to look back at Ver.

"Well I'm not gonna watch it with you until you eat with me." Ver placed two bowls down at the table and sat down, waiting for Doppio.

Doppio looks at the TV screen, then back at Ver. After a few seconds of contemplating, Doppio eventually pauses his show and comes up to the dining table with Ver. 

"I... hope it's okay. It might be a little plain." [I'm not really sure how much he's able to taste at the moment, maybe I should have adjusted the seasoning?]

"Hehe~ I get to try Senpai's cooking~" Doppio sits down eagerly. 

"Careful, it's still a bit hot. I don't want you to burn your tongue..."

"So, what is this anyway?"

"Dakjuk. It's Korean. I don't know if you'll like it, but it should help you feel a bit better. Juk is basically a savoury rice porridge, and it's nice and soft so it's easy to digest. I hope it's alright, but I noticed you guys had chicken breast, so I used some of that, which is why it's Dakjuk. Your Mum did say I could help myself, but I can go to the shops later and replace some ingredients if you want me to. And don't worry, there's nothing in here you can't eat, I made sure~" 

Doppio sniffs. "You're so nice to me..." He looks at Ver with appreciation.

Ver's ears started to tint with red. "I- guess." Ver looks down into his bowl, avoiding eye-contact with Doppio.

"You are through~" Doppio sniffs as he looks down at the bowl. Despite it being something Ver whipped up from whatever was around the house, the careful presentation and care that went into it was starting to make Doppio well up a bit. "You didn't have to go to so much trouble..." He takes a spoonful and brings it up to his mouth.

"It wasn't that much trouble, all I did was put everything in a pot and simmer it. Ah- make sure to blow on it..." 

"There you go again... looking out for me~" Doppio blows on his spoon before slurping up the porridge. "Mnnnn~" Tears start falling down Doppio's cheeks.

"Whoa, why are you crying? Is it bad...?"

"Uuuuueee~ it's sho goooood~" Doppio lets his tears fall, spoon still in his mouth.

"Really?" Ver's eyes light up. "It's okay?"

"Mn hm~" Doppio nods, taking another spoonful and savouring it.

"I'm glad I was able to make something edible." Ver laughs, looking down at his own bowl and pushing the porridge around with his spoon. 

"Aren't you going to eat any?"

"..." Ver's smile fades. 

"Whass wrong?" Doppio asks with a mouthful of food.

"How are you able to look at me right now?"

Doppio swallows. "What do you mean?"

"...I haven't been able to stop thinking about what I did to you. And yet... we're talking and laughing just like normal. You've even been complimenting me. Don't you hate me right now?"

"What are you talking about~" Doppio giggled.

"I'm serious." Ver gulped. "I know you said you felt bad earlier... for leaving me in the rain. But, that's not how I remember it. You didn't leave me... I left you."

"But-"

"Please- I need to get this out." Ver's hands were starting to shake. 

Doppio put down his spoon, making sure to look at Ver and pay attention. 

"This is all my fault. You got sick because I was selfish. You took me out, even paid for me. Not just that, but everything beforehand. You've helped me so much. With my workload, the festival, with Kotoka. And how do I repay you? I run away, leaving you standing in the rain, wondering what the hell is wrong, and don't even have the decency to tell you why."

"You don't have to tell me." 

"But I feel guilty if I don't? You thought I hated you but that's not true! How could I ever hate someone who's been nothing but sweet to me?"

"Then... it's not something I did?" 

"Yes and no..."

"Then what is-" Doppio stops. "Can I do anything to help?"

"I don't know..." Ver kneads the skin of his hands, trying to get them to stop shaking, before looking up at Doppio. "Look at me, I'm doing it again. Making everything about me when you're the one who's sick." Ver looks back down, dejected. "I'm a bad senpai... I shouldn't call myself your friend. I don't deserve-"

"Bullshit."

"What?" Ver looks up in surprise. "Doppio?"

"Of course you deserve to be my friend! Of course you deserve to be treated to nice things, or complimented or whatever it is! You work so hard but you always put yourself down! Everyone deserves to be rewarded for their efforts and you're no exception! What hurts me isn't that you ran away or won't tell me why. What hurts me is you think you're not as special as you are! You're my best friend you dummy! So stop acting like you're below me!" 

The whole time Doppio was talking, Ver simply stared at him, stunned. He didn't even realise that Doppio's words had made his own tears fall. 

"Ah- wait, don't cry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to shout at you. I-"

"We- we're best friends?" Ver chokes out through sniffles. 

Doppio moves over to Ver, crouching beside him. "Of course we are..." Doppio reaches up and wipes Ver's tears with his sleeve. "...Do you not think we're best friends?" Doppio searched Ver's face for an answer.

"I... I've never had a best friend before..." Ver admits, tears still streaming down.

"Oh, Ver..." Doppio pulls Ver's head into his shoulder as he wraps his arms around him. "...I've, never had one either. Technically. I used to think I did, a long time ago. But this time... this time it's real."

"Do-ppi-o..." Ver returns Doppio's embrace and cries into his shoulder. "...I wish I had have met you sooner. You're so nice to me..."

"And you're nice to me. You care about me. Just like I care about you. That makes us equals, right?"

"...Mm." Ver nods into Doppio's shoulder. 

"You gonna promise me not to put yourself down anymore?"

"...O-kay..." 

"I don't wanna hear you say, 'I don't deserve you or this or that'. And if you do say it, I'm gonna pinch you."

"Haha~ okay~" Ver smiles. 

Doppio rubs Ver's back slightly. "We'll take care of each other, and we'll have each other's backs. If you're hurting, I'll help in anyway I can. Any time you try to say you're not good enough, I'm gonna remind you that you are. I'll shout it from the top of the school if I have to!"

"Please don't do that, but thank you. That means a lot." Ver breaks out of the embrace, wiping his eyes and looking into Doppio's. "And if you ever need help. I'll do everything I can, too." 

Doppio smiles up at Ver. 

"Ah-" Ver calms down after crying. "I was supposed to be taking care of you..."

"And you were. Even though I was being so annoying..."

"At any point were you acting like that on purpose?" Ver raises an eyebrow.

"Maybe~ not all of it though. I was genuinely a bit delirious a while ago, but now I'm a bit better. I can actually think straight, because of you~"

"I didn't do that m-" Ver stops. "Thanks. And you cheered me up too. I've been in my own head too much, so thanks for making me laugh." Ver pauses. "And... I'll tell you. Eventually. The reason I ran. Just not today, if that's okay. You still need to rest."

"That shouldn't get in the way of what you're feeling. But I understand if you don't really wanna get into it right now."

"Yeah. I'm sure we've both had an emotional couple of days. Let's just end the day on a high note shall we?"

"In that case, you wanna keep watching Space Dandy with me?" 

Ver laughs softly. "Sure~"

End of Chapter Fourteen.

Chapter Text

"Hm?" Ver opened his eyes, somewhat groggy and confused. "Wait, did I fall asleep?" He rolled his head around, a stiffness in his neck. He looked over at Doppio; who was sound asleep, cuddled up next to him. Ver froze, a blush quickly spreading across his face. [Oh my god, his face! He's so close! He's... so adorable! What the heck?! When did this happen?!] Ver shook his head as he tried to comprehend the scene in front of him. He could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest, his face getting hot. [Should I move?] He looked over at Doppio once again. [Shit, my heart is going crazy, but... it's not like before. It's weird. I don't feel like running away this time. Is it because he's asleep?] Ver gazes at Doppio's sleeping face. [Why does this feel... kinda nice?] 

"Mm...?" Doppio shifted around.

[Oh shit.] Ver tensed up. [I should move before he wakes up and realises. It's not like we were cuddling to start with. He probably just got drowsy after eating and fell asleep on my shoulder or something. I... don't actually remember. I must have fallen asleep at the same time?] Ver slowly tries to scooch away from Doppio.

"...No." Doppio softly whines as he wraps himself around Ver's arm.

"Doppi-" [Shh, don't say anything! Don't wake him up! Damnit! What the hell do I do?!] Ver screws up his face as he tries to stay perfectly still. [God, this is too much! I know I said it was nice, but this is just...] His thoughts were racing, he didn't know what to do with himself. Attempt to move and risk waking him up? Or stay still and hope he'll move on his own? [Wait, what if his Mum comes home and sees us?! She's gonna think we're...] Ver started to feel his stomach lurch. What was once a warm and comforting feeling only moments ago, quickly shifted to the familiar bubbles of anxiety beginning to rise. [Hold on...] Ver's eyes widen with a sudden realisation. [Didn't we leave the TV on...?] He looks at the black screen in front of them. [And, weren't the lights on as well?] The darkened room around them only made the situation feel that much more intimate. [And...] Ver looks down. [Where did this blanket come from?!] Ver's eyes darted around in a panic. [She's already home! She came home while we were asleep! She turned the lights off, and the TV, and put a blanket on us. She saw everything! She saw us! And... put a blanket on us? What does that mean? Does she us as a couple and she's okay with the idea of that? Or does she just see us as two friends that were having fun and fell asleep together? Did she even see us when Doppio was this close to me? Maybe he moved after she had seen us?] As Ver felt his throat becoming tight, he tried to calm his mind. [Stop. Stop over-thinking everything. Just calm down you idiot. Calm down and think properly. What should I do? It's probably really late. Should I just try and sneak away? That would be rude, wouldn't it? I did say that I was going to introduce myself... but, I really don't think I'm in the right frame of mind for that.] Ver had calmed down slightly, but as his focus drifted back Doppio, he felt the heat from his body radiating onto his arm, and he felt himself become flustered all over again. [Nope. No. Can't do this. Gotta go!] Ver looks around the room before his eyes land on a cushion positioned on the couch, just to the other side of Doppio. Hesitantly, Ver moved in closer, stretching his free arm behind Doppio's head in order to reach it. As he stretched with all his might, he closed his fingertips around the corner of it, gripping it tight and pulling it over to himself. It was then that Doppio started to shift around, tugging on Ver's arm, making him lose balance. "Oh sh-" [-it! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!] Doppio had drifted onto his side, pulling Ver along with him. With one arm trapped in Doppio's grasp, and the other holding the cushion against the couch in order to keep himself up, Ver was suspended above Doppio. Ver's eyes shot open wide, unable to process a single thought as he used all his strength and concentration not to fall on top of Doppio. As he took in a sharp inhale, slowly and awkwardly he shifted his weight into his knees and the balls of his feet, leaning against the couch with his shoulder as he carefully moved his free hand. Now leaning his entire weight into the couch, he exhaled a shaky breath as he wiggled his trapped arm free, quickly replacing the empty space with the cushion. As Doppio's eyebrows knitted together, Ver thought for a moment that he had woken him up with his sudden movement, but as Doppio happily squeezed the cushion and accepted it as a replacement, Ver rocked back onto his heels and shuffled a good distance away from Doppio. Sighing with relief. [Holy shit that was scary!] Ver sat for a moment before standing up and looking over Doppio. [I've stayed long enough. You have your Mum to look after you now, you don't need me.] Ver turns on his heel, making his way over to the front door, but he stops, turning around and walking back to where he was. He leans down and grabs the deshevelled blanket and straightens it out, draping it over Doppio and pulling it up to his shoulders. Ver lingers for a moment, smiling subtly. [Good night, Doppio.] Ver rubs his shoulder gently before leaving the scene. He walks back to the front door, slipping his shoes back on and carefully opening the door. He holds onto the frame as he looks back at the corridor of Doppio's house. [Sorry I can't meet your Mum just yet. She seems like such a nice person. But I'm not the person you think I am. I do care for you, and I try my best... but. I'm still a coward...] Ver smiles weakly before leaving the house, gently closing the door behind him. [...For now.]

Ver opens his locker, putting his bag and shoes away. As he stares at his books he thinks back to the night before, recalling himself looming over Doppio. He bites his lower lip for a second before vigorously shaking the thought out of his head, and shutting his locker. 

"Hm? Deep in thought were you?" Kotoka's voice could be heard from behind.

"Oh. No, not really, just... never mind." Ver looked off to the side suspiciously.

"Hmmm?" Kotoka put her hands on her hips and leaned in closer to Ver, inspecting his face.

"...Could you back up a bit?" Ver's expression quickly shifted to a blank stone-face.

"Why do you seem so suspicious lately, hm?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not being suspicious." Ver said a little too quickly.

"Hmmmmm." Kotoka squinted her eyes. "Ayashi n-"

"I'm not sus."

"If you say so!" Kotoka turned on her heel with a cheerful tone. "Anyway- you're not busy anymore, right?"

"Well, we're about to go to home-room so-"

"I didn't mean now, silly~ I meant later today. After school?"

"Depends, but go on."

"I arranged a meeting with the principal! She's free today too. I was going to ask you yesterday, but it seemed like you had something important to do. What did you have to do anyway?"

"Oh uh-" [I don't want her getting any ideas again...] "I just... had to... help my Mum with something..." [Shit, that sounds so fake.]

"Oh okay, I getcha. But you're fine to meet with the principal today, right?"

[She bought that?] "Yeah, just remind me after class."

"Awesome!" Kotoka smiles brightly.

Ver starts walking towards the hallway. "I'll see you in home-room, I just gotta pick up some hand-outs first."

"Okie dokie! See you in a bit!" She waves him off as he disappears. As soon as he's around the corner, Kotoka's smile turns to worry. "Something is definitely up. I just hope he's okay..."

Later on, after class, Kotoka and Ver meet up outside the principal's office. 

"You ready?" Kotoka turns to Ver.

"Yeah. I mean, I won't lie, it is a little daunting, but it needs to be brought to attention. Plus, I'm sure it'll be better in the long-run."

"Yeah, and then you won't have such a big workload!" 

[She's still worried about that?] "Not just that, I want to make sure this is better for both of us. We're a team, it's not just about me y'know."

"I know~"

"So... should we knock or-"

Suddenly the door opens. "Come in~" The principal holds the door open for them.

"Oh, okay. Wait, how did you know we were here?" Ver questions.

"I could hear you talking outside my door. My apologies, I didn't mean to listen in, but there's nothing to worry about. Any concerns you have I will gladly listen and hopefully, whatever it is, we will be able to come to a solution." She smiles kindly. 

"Y-yeah. Hopefully..." Ver nods in nervous agreement.

"Well, come on in and have a seat so we can discuss." She opens the door wider, and gestures for them to come in.

"Thank you." Kotoka and Ver say in unison. 

Once the principal takes a seat at her desk, both Kotoka and Ver sit down at the two seats conveniently placed in front of her. 

"So, what seems to be the problem?" She folds her hands.

"Well... um... you see..." Ver wasn't quite sure how to bring it up.

"-It's about the other members of the council." Kotoka blurts out quickly.

"The thing is..." Ver kneads his hands as he tries to make eye contact with her, though her unwavering attention made it a little difficult. 

"Just relax, don't feel like you're under any pressure. We have plenty of time to talk." She tries to reassure them.

Kotoka looks over at Ver, "Well... as I said... the other members of the council. Besides Ver and I." Kotoka motions for Ver to speak as well.

"Um... there's a sort of issue, regarding the attendance of the other members, or shall I say a lack there of." Ver pauses for a moment to find his train of thought. "We've... tried resolving this within the council, but it seems like we're just not getting through to them."

"I see... so, are you saying that the other members besides yourselves aren't participating as much as you would like them to?" The principal tries to ascertain the full scope of the matter.

Kotoka sighs. "More like, they don't show up at all." She pauses. "I'll admit, I was also guilty of not living up to my responsibilities as Vice-President. It's a little embarrassing, but it seems like I haven't been setting a good example for the younger students. I didn't have the mind to realise that because I was ignoring my duties, and I was being a burden to Ver." Kotoka grimaced, thinking about her past actions.

"Koto, you don't have to be so harsh on yourself..." Ver looks over, surprised to see her slightly pained expression.

"It's true though. I wasn't very supportive, I know that now. But, I've been trying to do better, and part of that is acknowledging where I went wrong, and making sure that I help you as much as I can. Part of that means we need to take action. We've told the others that they need to step up, but they're just not taking us seriously, and the reason why we're here is because we don't know how to get through to them. Is there some way you would be able to help us?" Kotoka looks towards the principal.

"So, you've already tried talking to them directly have you?"

"Multiple times." Ver adds.

"I see. So, do you believe that they don't have any interest in trying to work together as a team?"

"I would seem so." Ver sighs.

"I don't mean to be blunt, but from how our interactions usually go down. They want the benefits of being in the council, without doing any of the work. I just don't see how we can move forward as a team from here..." Kotoka looks down.

"Have you considered seeking out new members for the council?" 

"Like... replacing the old members?" Kotoka and Ver looked at each other, then back to the principal.

"Not necessarily." She begins. "You don't strictly have to have two members from each year level. That's just the minimum required so that decision-making and planning are fair for all the students. You can have more than six members."

"So, are you suggesting...?"

"Perhaps you could print out some sign-up sheets, or ask anyone directly if they wish to be apart of the council. Once you've found some new members, you could have a chat to the others and see how they feel. If they want to quit, then you'll have some new members ready to step up and help out. If not, this change might spur them to take on some responsibility, and you'll have plenty of hands on deck. Or, if they still desire to remain in the council, despite not fulfilling their duties, then I shall speak to them personally and have them removed. Does that sound like a good plan?"

"Ah- yeah. Actually, I'm surprised we never thought of that ourselves." Ver feels as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Hm, I can already think of one person that would be glad to join. Right, Ver?" Kotoka smiles fondly.

"Huh? Who?" Ver crosses his arms and tilts his head.

"Doppi-chan, of course!" She lightly hits his shoulder.

"Oh, really? You really think he'd wanna join?"

"He's practically a member already! I'm sure he'd say yes if you asked him." Kotoka beams with excitement.

"Well, it seems like you two have a good grasp on where to go from here. Was there anything else you wished to discuss?"

"Ah, no, not really. How about you, Koto?"

"Nope! I think we're all good now~" 

"In that case, thank you very much for bringing this matter to my attention. I know it can be challenging to speak up at times, so just know that my door is always open in case you need to talk about anything else. And if you need help later down the track, I can have a talk with the current council members if you believe it's necessary." 

"Thank you very much for your time, and for all your help." 

"Yeah! That was super helpful! I seriously thought it would take us ages to come up with a solution, so thank you!"

"Anytime." The principal smiles.

It had been a little over a week since the principal offered her suggestion, and so far, not one single person wanted to sign up for the student council. Well, apart from Doppio that is. 

Kotoka sighs. "This is ridiculous! We're going to have to bribe people to join at this rate..." She folds her arms. 

"We can't do that Koto, then there would be no point in us doing this in the first place. We're doing this to get council members that actually want to participate. If we bribe them, they're just gonna end up being the same type of people that we've already got." 

"Ugh... true." Kotoka inspects the sign-up sheets she's holding. "But us doing this every day at recess and lunch isn't getting us anywhere! All it does is waste our time!"

"Well! I don't know what to say, Kotoka. I don't have any ideas either."

"You got any ideas, Doppi-chan?" 

"Nope. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Not one single idea. Not one single idea whatsoever!" Doppio groans.

"That was a very long way to say none." Ver pinches his brow bone in frustration.

"Don't talk to Doppi-chan with that tone! We're all doing our best here, Ver!"

"Sorry, I know. I'm just tired. I'm sure you're both tired too. Why don't you two just go and have lunch? I'm gonna go clear my head and see if I can come up with some other alternative. Again..." 

"Wait, Ver-" [Damn, he's already gone. I was gonna ask him if he wanted to eat lunch with me.] Doppio's gaze lingers in Ver's direction.

"It's okay, Doppi-chan. Why don't you come and have lunch with me and my girls?" 

"Really? I get to sit at the cool kid's table?" Doppio instantly perked up.

"Yeah! I wanna introduce my friends to my cute kouhai!" She loops her arm around his and leads him away.

After aimlessly wandering around the corridors, Ver finds himself at the Library. Almost instinctively, he drifts over to the darkened corner where he had previously conversed with a mysterious voice, just a little over a week ago. Thinking back to that time, he realised just how much talking to that person had helped him. 

[Hm. Y'know what. Having someone like that on the council would actually be a really good idea. I mean, we do have teacher's that offer student counselling, but... something about that just seems too awkward or daunting... but a student? Someone closer to our age-range. Someone that just listens and doesn't interject their opinion until they feel that it's needed. Someone easy to open up to. I wonder if they'd be interested.] Ver ponders whilst walking up to that particular section of the bookshelf that he heard the voice emanating from. "Hello? Are you there?" Ver waits for a response. [I guess it would be pretty hopeful to think that they'd coincidentally be in the exact same spot as last time. Damnit. I never got their name either. I don't even know what year level they're in. Although, someone with a voice like that, surely I'd know them if they were a third year. Then again, it's not like I've spoken to every single third year. They could be someone shy that I've never spoken to.] Just as Ver was getting lost in his thoughts...

"Hello again." The voice slipped out from behind the bookshelf.

"Ah!" Ver jumps. "Kkamjjagiya..." He holds his hand over his heart and tries to calm down from the fright.

"Sorry." They pause. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

There's a beat of silence. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, actually I was looking for you."

"Need to get something else off your chest?"

"Oh, no. Not quite. I was actually going to ask you something."

"Oh?"

"I was thinking... what you said the other day really helped me."

"That's good to hear." They exhale softly. "Did you sort things out, with that boy?"

"Ah... mm. Well... not quite. I mean, we're okay for now..."

"But?"

"I still need a bit of time to figure things out. But anyway, that's not why I came here." Ver tries to change the subject. "I wanted to ask you if... maybe, you'd like to join the student council?" Ver waits for their response, but there is none. "It's just, well... not that I'm asking you to be like some sort of student therapist or anything like that. But, it would be good if students felt like they could approach the council for anything that's troubling them. I feel like especially for the younger students, it might be hard for them to ask for help from a teacher or an adult, but it would be good if they could feel safe talking to someone their age. I... know that's probably a lot to ask of you, and I don't want to put any pressure on you to say yes. I just thought it might be a good idea, since you helped me a lot. But, even if you could give me some advice on how I can be more approachable or...?" The long stretch of silence made Ver wonder if they were still there.

"...I'll think about it." They finally spoke, although their voice seemed a little different. 

"Really? Thank you!" Ver smiles. "Ah- I know that's not a definite yes or anything, but I'm just happy that you're gonna consider it. To tell the truth we're kind of desperate. We've tried to get others to sign up, but, if it's not a flat out 'no' then it's just us getting completely ignored. No one even wants to look at us. We've only got three members that are actually actively trying to make this student council work. We do technically have seven members, but those other four never show up and they only want to be on the council so it looks good on their record. I just... would really like someone that actually wanted to be on the council to help other students."

"...I'm not sure. But, I will think about it. I can promise you that." They shuffle around behind the bookshelf. "I'll... come and find you once I have an answer."

"Okay. Thank you again just for hearing me out." Ver smiles before turning to walk away. "Oh! I never got your name?" Ver stands, waiting for them to speak. "Hello?" Ver waits a little longer. "Hello?" [Did they leave?] "Are you... still there?" [Huh. They must have left.] With one last look at the bookshelf, he leaves the library.

The mysterious person sighs as they slink down against the bookshelf. They cup their trembling hands, fiddling with several rings on their fingers. "I'm... Hex."

At the end of the day, Ver meets back up with Doppio by the entrance of the school gate, ready to walk home together. 

"Hey Doppi, did you manage to find anyone to join?" Ver gives him a wave as he approaches.

"No..." He sulks. "No matter how awesome I told them it was, everyone just said 'no' and walked away. Even though I followed them and tried to tell them how cool you were, they just kept walking..."

"Somehow I think that would drive them away more than get them to want to join, but thanks for trying anyway." He pats Doppio on the shoulder. 

"What about you? Did you find anyone?" 

"I think so... but I'm not too sure if they'll end up joining."

"Wait, really?! You found someone! You really found someone?!" Doppio grabs onto Ver's shoulders and shakes them.

"Haha, calm down. But yeah. I actually had this person in mind, but I didn't know how to find them. I only met them once in the Library. I was upset and they gave me some good advice. I thought they'd be good at helping the other students out, since they helped me out. So, hopefully they'll say yes. But, they did seem a bit hesitant, so I won't get my hopes up." 

"You, talked to them when you were upset?" Doppio's smile faded. 

"Yeah, and they were super helpful. Why?"

"Oh. No reason. Who is this person anyway?" Doppio gritted his teeth slightly.

"I don't really know. Both times I've spoken to them I haven't been able to get a name. They're kind of mysterious. I don't even know what they look like. I've only spoken to them from behind a bookshelf."

"So, you don't know their name, and you don't know their face." Doppio turns his head away. "And yet you talked to them about your problems...?" He whispers.

"Hm? What did you say? I couldn't quite hear that last part?"

"Nothing, nothing, nothing. Don't even worry about it! Let's just walk home, okay?" Doppio grabs Ver's arm and starts speedwalking away from the school. 

"Ah- Doppi! Not so fast~" Ver whines.

"Nn?" A mysterious purple and black-haired girl peeks around the corner of the school gate. "BL?"

End of Chapter fifteen. 

Chapter Text

Monday morning, Ver gives a teary-eyed yawn as he approaches the school gate. [Man, I'm so tired. This whole council business is stressing me out, I haven't been able to sleep well lately. Hopefully we can get everything sorted out soon. I know it's a shot in the dark, but I really hope that student from the library ends up joining. Though, it has been a few days already, and still no word from them.] "Hm?" Ver whips his head around as he hears the sound of someone running towards him, huffing and puffing. 

"M-" Doppio stops, gripping his thighs with his head down in an attempt to catch his breath. 

"Doppi? You okay...?" [How fast was he running for him to be out of breath? I thought he had an endless supply of energy?]

"Morning!" He puffs. "Ver-senpai!" He gives him a big grin. 

"Why are you so out of breath?" Ver gives him a fond smile.

"I over-slept..." He leans forward letting his arms flop, a slight tinge of shame in his voice. 

"Couldn't sleep last night or something?" [You too?]

"I accidentally stayed up too late last night watching anime..." 

Ver's expression shifted to that of a disappointed parent. "How late?"

"Uhhh... not too late." Doppio straightened his posture, avoiding eye-contact.

"How late is 'not too late'...?" He narrows his eyes, jutting his hip as he crosses his arms.

After a long pause. "...2am."

"DOPPI!" Ver lighly smacks him on the shoulder.

"I COULDN'T HELP IT!" 

"I'm sure you could! You shouldn't stay up so late on a school night! You'll be falling asleep by mid-day!" [You shouldn't be staying up that late any night, actually.]

"But- but- but- they were so cute! Ver you don't even understand I had to keep watching!"

[Cute?] "Who was?"

"The couple! They just like each other so much but they're both completely clueless and one of them was about to confess but then some stupid mob character interrupted them so there was a misunderstanding and now they're fighting, but- but- I had to keep watching otherwise I wouldn't know if they worked things out or not!" Doppio blurted out, somehow all in one breath. 

"What the heck were you watching?" [Sounds generic as hell.]

"I was watching 'Kiss Kiss Fall in Love!' It's a classic, I've watched it four times already!"

"IF YOU'VE WATCHED IT THAT MANY TIMES WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ALREADY KNOW?! What are you, a goldfish?! Do you somehow have the ability to forget a show after you've already seen it?" 

"Of course not! I just- really like cute romance stories..." His voice trails off as he touches his fingers together, somewhat embarrassed.

"Well..." Ver turns his head away, a little flushed in the face. "Regardless. Don't stay up that late." Ver gives Doppio a light karate chop on the head. "Pabo." 

"Did you just call me an idiot?! Hey! What the heck, that's mean!" 

"Wait, how do you know what that means?!" 

"I told you, my Mum watches dramas! I can't believe you would say that to me!" Doppio raises his voice. "Did you hear that everyone! Ver is being mean to his kouhai! Get a load of this guy! He's such a-"

"Ya! Don't be so loud so early in the morning. Besides, I... meant it in an endearing way." [What's he making me say, god damnit.] Ver's ears were dusted red.

Doppio smiles smugly. "Heh heh, tomato-senpai." 

"Shut up..." Ver attempts to hide his face. 

"Hey, Ver."

"...What?" He looks at Doppio through the gap of his fingers.

"I've noticed something about you recently." He moves in closer.

"......What?"  Ver braces himself.

Doppio leans in close to Ver's ear, almost brushing his lips against the tip. He lowers his voice to a whisper. "I know you said It'd be too embarassing, but... for a while now-" He pauses, his voice raspy, almost sensual. "-You've been calling me 'Doppi'. Haven't you?"

Ver freezes. His shoulders tensing, heat rising in his face turning him a shade true to his namesake. "Uh- uhm, a-about that." He gulps. Eyes blinking rapidly in his stunned silence. [What is this?! Why is he doing this to me?! It's too early in the morning for this! What if people see! What the fuck is happening?!] 

"Heh heh, I'm just teasing! You can call me whatever you want~" Doppio backs away quickly, walking through the school gate with a skip in his step and a smirk on his lips. [His reactions are always the best~]

Ver stood for a moment, dumbfounded. "H-hey! Come back here! What the hell was that?!" He chases after him.

A girl moves from around a corner and stands at the gate entrance. "Eh? Mata?" [Again? Should I follow them? Oh my god, if they are real this is gonna be so delicious~]

After wearily making his way through his morning classes, Doppio met up with Ver in the courtyard for recess. Ver looked at Doppio with a knowing expression, "I told you you'd be tired." 

Doppio yawns, leaning his chin on Ver's shoulder, closing his eyes slightly. "Yeah, yeah... whatever." He pouts.

"Wanna get something to drink?" [I know I could definitely use an energy boost.]

"Sure~" 

"And hey, I'm buying okay?" They start walking towards the school vending machines.

"You don't have to do that, I've got my own m-" Doppio starts reaching in his pocket, but Ver grabs his wrist, stopping him.

"You keep calling me 'senpai' and yet you won't let me act like one. You're no fair~" Ver exhales a laugh.

"Fiiine! I guess I can let you pay..." Doppio trudges on ahead of Ver.

"Tch, why do you make it sound like a bad thing." Ver does a little jog to catch up to Doppio. 

"Heh, I'm just messing with you." Doppio reaches to ruffle Ver's hair, but Ver ducks under this arm. 

"Aw man, it looks like they haven't stocked up the vending machine. There's barely anything left..."

Doppio makes a slightly annoyed expression. [He dodged it.] "There's one strawberry milk left?"

"Yeah. Only one. There's really nothing else that's sweet, huh?" 

"I think the green tea has honey in it?"

"I don't care what they put in it, there's nothing they can do to disguise the fact that it's bitter as hell!" Ver folds his arms. 

"Well, if that's the case, you can just have it. I don't need anything." He smiles brightly.

"No, no. I said I was buying okay. You have it, I'll just get something after school." 

"But you're the one that suggested we get something, you should have it! I don't mind!"

Ver started to get a little irritated. "Just have it. I wanna buy it for you."

"But it's your favourite!"

"It's YOUR favourite too, isn't it?!" 

"..." Doppio looks over at the lonely carton of milk, shuffling his feet. "...Y-yeah. It's my favourite, too..." He said, almost ashamed.

Ver puts some coins in the vending machine and purchases the strawberry milk. Taking it out of the compartment, he holds it in his hand, offering it to Doppio.

"Well..." He hesitates for a moment, gulping slightly. "I suppose it would be rude not to take it~" He accepts it and gives Ver one last glance, as if to ask if Ver was really okay giving his favourite drink away. As Ver gives him a smile and a nod, Doppio stabs the straw in the top and take three big gulps, licking his lips. He then shakes the carton close to his ear. "That's about half."

"Hm?" Ver tilts his head.

"Here!" Doppio hands it back to Ver. "You can have the rest~" He grins.

"What? Oh. No you can have it all, I really don't want any."

"That's not how it seemed before! Just have it, I like sharing with you anyway~"

"Well..." Ver takes it back. [Indirect kiss...] Hestiantly, he closes his lips around the straw, though as soon as the sweetness fills his mouth he shakes all prior thoughts from his mind. Blissfully enjoying his drink. 

[Eh. Ehh? EHHHHHHHHH?!!! KANSETSU KISU????? Oh my God, no fucking way this is actually happening right now. I'm seeing fricking BL right in front of me!] 

"Mm?" Ver whips his head around, staring at a nearby bush. 

"Hm? What's wrong?" Doppio looks over at the bush as well. "Did you see a dancing tanuki or something?"

"Pfft- what? No. Just thought I saw someone looking at us." [Actually, I've kind been getting the feeling that someone's been watching us for a while now. I hope it's just my imagination.]

"I don't see anybody. Not one body. Not one single body whatsoever. Unless you count the birds up on the roof over there." 

"Meh, probably just my imagination." Ver shrugs it off. 

*Ding dong Ding dong*

"Oh shoot, that went quick. We better head off back to class." Ver tosses the empty milk carton in a nearby recycling bin.

"Okie dokie, I'll see you at lunch then!" Doppio grins as he starts to jog away.

"Ah- I'll probably be in the Council room!" Ver shouts as Doppio gets further away.

"Alright! I'll be there~" Doppio jogs backwards for a moment to face Ver, before heading towards his classroom.

Ver chuckles to himself before heading to his own classroom.

After the boys have both faded from view. "Bleh! Pleh! Eugh-" A girl emerges from the bushes that Ver was staring at earlier. "Fucking leaves in my mouth!" She brushes herself off. "Hori shiet my heart is going fucking crazy right now, I thought they saw me for sure! I need to be more stealthy. But, mm? Are they couple or is it just a bromance? Either way they are fucking cute! Ah~ I LOVE YAOI!!!" [They said they will be in the Council later? They were looking for more people, right? Maybe I should join the Council?]

Later on, outside of the Student Council Room; Doppio swiftly slides the door open, bursting into the room. "Ver! You'll never guess wha-" He stops in his tracks upon seeing Ver, fast asleep in his chair, his body slumped over the table, his head resting on a pile of papers. "-Oh! Shoot!" He cups a hand over his mouth and lowers his voice to a whisper. "I mean... oh shoot. Sorry. I'll be more quiet." Carefully, he tip-toes up to Ver, stopping in front of him. [Hm. That doesn't look comfortable at all. He'll hurt his back if he sleeps like that.] Doppio walks around to the other side of Ver, then back to where he stood before, thinking deeply as he studies Ver's positon. [Should I try to move him? But how do I do that without waking him up?] 

As Doppio continues to ponder, he is unaware that someone is now lurking by the enterance of the room. They had closed the door leaving just a crack to peer through, so as to not be discovered. [Nn? Why is he looking at him so intensely? Is he thinking something sussy?] 

Doppio's thoughts are suddenly broken as Ver shifts around, his mouth moving slightly, as though he was talking to someone in his dream. Doppio's gaze was now fixed on Ver's face. Unconsciously, he reaches his hand out, brushing against Ver's cheek. "Soft." 

"Mm?" Ver's brow furrowed as he reacted to Doppio's touch.

[Uh oh!] Doppio quickly retracts his hand, and backs a few steps away from Ver.

[Omg! I was fucking right! He touched his cheek! But he did it in a secret way? Is this a one-sided love? I thought they were already couple but I guess not if he took his hand away? Is the senpai gay though? Maybe only the kouhai has a crush on him and the other guy doesn't know?] 

[Whoa! That was close! I almost woke him up.] Doppio's eyes remain lingering on Ver. His focus now resting on the subtle pout of his lips. Doppio moves in closer, crouching down. With no thoughts in his mind, moving purely on impulse, he reaches out yet again. His index finger just barely hovering above Ver's bottom lip. A second of hesitation passes, before he lightly presses his fingertip against Ver's lip, pulling it down ever so slightly. Doppio's eyes were now somewhat narrowed, a subtle smile on his face as he breathed a slow and longing breath. He could feel his face heating up. A bubbling electricty brewed in the pit of his stomach, before spreading all the way to his fingertips, like the flapping wings of a butterfly. As he let go of Ver's lip and watched his pout become a little scrunched, he closed his eyes with a fond smile. [Cute~]

The person peeking from the doorway looked on with complete and utter shock. [BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL!!!!!!!!!!]

Doppio exhaled a small laugh before sitting on the ground with a slight thump, backed away from Ver. He moves a hand over his eyes, bringing his knees to his chest. [Why did I do that...? What if he woke up? That was such a weird thing to do... wasn't it? But I couldn't help it! His hair is soft, his skin is soft... and his lips are SUPER soft. It's his fault for dodging my attack earlier though! Yeah. That's probably what made me wanna touch him. But, if he dodged me? That means... he doesn't want me to touch him. Right? But. Ever since I watched that anime last night. Even though I've seen it a BUNCH of times, I feel like this time it was way different. Like, I never got why it was such a big deal about them wanting to hold hands or any of that stuff. But, I kinda wanna try doing that stuff to Ver because I know it'll embarass him~ Though... for some reason, it's making me really really really nervous! I mean, I've had this weird fluttery feeling in my stomach around him lately, but I'm sure that's just the feeling you have around your best friends, I guess. It doesn't happen with Kotoka though. Maybe I don't know her well enough yet to activate it? Maybe it's like some kind of friendship points system that you have to level up?] 

As Doppio continues to sit back and contemplate, the person on the other side of the door is having an inner monologue of her own. [That's it?! Come on I need more! Please I need BL so fricking bad! I've already read all the manga I bought! I have no fucking money to buy more, I gotta wait till the next month!]

"Bwah! Omg! You scared me!" Kotoka rounded a corner and almost bumped into the girl peering into the Council Room. 

"AHHH! Baka omae!" [Oh my god where did she come from? I nearly shit my fucking pants right now.] "Oh, I'm sorry- I didn't mean to shout at you." [Shit. She caught me looking in there, is she gonna think I'm a stalker? She's the Vice-President right?] The girl started to get nervous and backed herself up against the door.

Kotoka slaps a hand on the girl's shoulder. "No, no! Don't worry about it, it was totally my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going! Sorry if I scared you!" She holds a hand up in front of her face, motioning an apology with an embarassed smile. 

"Ah, it's okay." [Damn, that slap was strong. That felt nice.] "I scared you too, sorry!" She bows her head a little. 

"It's okay! At least neither of us got hurt, that's the main thing!"

"Y-yeah." [Shit. I need to get out of here before she asks what the heck am I doing here.] 

"Wait, mm? So, why are you outside the Council Room? Did you need something?"

[Shiet. Fuck what do I say?!] "Eto... um." She looks around nervously. 

"Did you need help with something? It's okay, you can talk to me! The Council is always open to anyone who needs help." She smiles brightly.

"Um, I don't really need help..." She avoids Kotoka's eyes, though it was difficult since Kotoka was giving her undivided attention. 

"If you don't need help..." Kotoka's expression changes to something a little more serious.

[Shit! I should have lied! She's gonna think I'm a weird stalker...] The girl held her breath. 

After pondering for a moment, Kotoka lifts her head up and slaps her fist against her hand with an epiphany. "You must be here to join the Council! Right?!" Kotoka beams with excitement. 

The girl stood in shock for a moment, before immeditely trying to fill the dead air. "Ah- y-yes! That's definitely why I came here! Yeah! I- I wanna join the Council." [Shit, I am so bad at lying! I mean, I did think about joining the Council, but I wasn't being for real! It sounds like a lot of work-]

"REALLY?!" Kotoka clasps the girl's hands and shakes them with excitement. "Omg! You have no idea how hard it's been to find new members. Thank you so much!" Kotoka was practically bouncing with joy. "Come on! Come in, come in! Let's get you signed on as an official member right now!" Kotoka loops her arm around hers and practically drags her inside the Council Room.

"R-right now?! O-oh, o-kay?" [Fuck. I guess I'm gonna be on the Council now.]

"Oh look! The other members are already here! I'll introduce you!" She drags the girl over to Ver; who was now sitting up, though still somewhat half-asleep. (He had been startled awake from the commotion outside, much to his annoyance.) 

"Ah, Koto not so loud..." He pinches his brow bone. 

Kotoka claps her hands in front of his face. "Come on Ver! Get yourself together! I've got someone to introduce to you~" She sings with a grin.

"Bro, what the heck was that for? You didn't need to clap in my face, I'm awake." He groans.

"Yeah! That wasn't very nice, and you woke him up with all that screaming outside!" Doppio folds his arms, a little irritated. 

"That's not my fault! Why were you asleep at school anyway!" She huffs. 

"Like you don't fall asleep in class practically every home-room." Ver rolls his eyes. 

"Hey. Home-room doesn't count as a proper class, I can sleep all I want!" 

"It does. And it'll go on your report card but you should know that already-"

"Whatever! Just, stop arguing and pay attention!"

"Don't be rude to me, I was just-"

"Hey Koto-senpai, who's your friend?" Doppio pipes up, somewhat trying to difuse the situation.

"Hm?" Ver looks to the left of Kotoka, a little startled. [Oh shoot, was she standing there the whole time? How did that not register? I must still be half-asleep.]

"Thank you, Doppi-chan. I was trying to get to that, but someone wouldn't stop bickering with me."

"Tch. Whatever." [Oh shit, I don't wanna seem rude. I should probably introduce myself properly.] "Ah, so sorry. Where are my manners." Ver stands up and approaches them. "I'm Ver, the president of the Student Council. It's nice to meet you." He smiles.

"He may seem grumpy a lot of the time, but he's actually really nice. So don't worry!" Kotoka reassures her. "Anyway, I'm Kotoka! Me and Ver and third-years. Oh, I'm the Vice-Pres by the way, but if you have any questions or anything, Ver's probably the one to ask. But I mean, you can come to me too, and I'll try my best to help!" She smiles. 

"And I'm... DOPPIO DROPSCYTHE!!! I'm 181cm tall AND I'm only a first-year, so that means I'm going to get EVEN taller!!! HAHAHAHA!!!" 

"Doppi-chan is super helpful and full of energy, so he definitely brings the best vibes to the Council!" She points at him with finger guns. 

"Yeah! I'm the MASTER of the best vibes possible. You won't ever see any gloom from this guy... no! I only bring... um- what's a cool 'd' word? Uh.... DELIGHT!!!" 

"Doppi-chan can be a bit intense, but he's lovely to be around, so don't be too startled if he gets a bit loud sometimes." [I hope he doesn't scare her, she seems a bit shy.] "Oh, I'm sorry I never asked for your name!" 

The girl blinked with a blank expression, a little taken aback from their diverse array of personalities. "Uh- I-I'm Meloco Kyoran. It's a pleasure to meet you." She fidgets with the long plaits in her hair, still displaying a nervous energy. 

"Are you a first-year?" Ver questions.

"Second-year." She answers meekly. 

"Oh awesome! Now we have someone from every year level!" Kotoka claps her hands together.

"You didn't before?" Meloco tilts her head, a little confused.

"Well, technically we still do. But they're never around. That's why we're looking for new members, so we can hopefully build a better Council with people who are actually serious about their duties and wanting to improve the school. Sorry to be blunt, but is that something you think you'll be able to do?" Ver shifts to a more serious tone. 

"Ah-" [I can't tell them I only wanna join so I can fantasise about BL...] "A-absolutely. Yes. I am totally serious, I cannot wait to, uh, join and help you guys out. All this hard work? Yeah, I love it!" She put on a slight air of confidence, despite her ulterior motives.

"Excellent. Glad to have you as part of our little team, Meloco-san." Ver offers her a warm smile.

[Oh shit, these people are actually super nice. I mean, they're also a little weird, maybe I can just be myself around them?] "Just Meloco, or Melo is fine. But, I don't mind too much what you wanna call me." 

"How about Marsh-Melo?!" Doppio shouts out of the blue. 

"Eh? M-Marshmallow? Huh?" [Oh my god, these people keep fucking jumpscaring me what the heck?!]

"Not Marshmallow, Marsh-MELO!!! Isn't that a super awesome nickname?!"

"Uh, I- I guess?" She steps back a bit as Doppio approaches her with a beaming enthusiasm.

"What?! Do you not think so? But it's so perfect! Don't you think so, Koto-senpai?" 

"I-it's super cute, but why don't you just call her by her normal name?" [He's gonna scare her away at this rate...]

"Eh? But nicknames are cool! I bet no one else calls you Marsh-Melo!" He grins.

"Th-that's true, I can't say anyone has ever called me as a food before..." She laughs nervously.

"What do you think, Ver? Isn't it a super awesome nickname?" Doppio looks towards Ver; who is staring off into space. "Ver? Ver! Man, he's not even listening!"

A slight smile spreads across Ver's face. Kotoka gives a knowing sigh. "He's thinking about marshmallows, isn't he?" 

[Mm, roasted marshmallows. Oh my god I could go for some s'mores right now, I haven't had those in so long~]

"Okay. That's the last bit of paperwork done. You're officially a member of the Council now. Sorry that took so long." Ver stifles a yawn as he fights off his fatigue. 

"Oh okay, thank you for staying back after school to explain everything to me. You didn't have to." Meloco's expression showed a slight glint of worry as she inspected the bags under Ver's eyes. [Damn, this guy looks soooo tired. I shouldn't stay here any longer, he seems like he works super hard. I kinda feel bad for them if they've been doing so much work and no one else is helping them...] 

"Ah, it's fine. I'm used to it. It's kind of a daily occurance." Ver gives her an exasperated laugh. "Ah- not that I'd expect everyone else to stay back after school everyday. No, I just like to be thorough and get things done properly. I don't want you to worry, the workload isn't too bad, especially since now we'll be sharing it around a bit more equally. But anyway, I wanted to thank you for joining, and being sincerely interested in wanting to help us out. It's rare to find such willingness to help."

"Ah, that's okay. I'm glad I joined, you guys are super nice and you make me feel welcome so, I look forward to getting to know you guys and working together." 

"I'm glad to hear that. And definitely let us know if you have any concerns or any questions. We're not just here to help the other students, we're hear to help each other as well." 

"I will, thank you." She smiles. "Anyway, if that's all I need to do I won't keep you here any longer, I'm sure you just wanna go home."

"Ah, please, don't worry about me, I'm fine. But no, we're all done here so you can head home."

"Okay, thank you, Ver-senpai." She picks up her school bag and slings it over her shoulder, heading for the door.

"No worries. Oh before I forget, we'll be having a meeting on Wednesday, so feel free to join. It'll be in this room at lunchtime." 

"Wednesday? Okay, I'll see you then!" She gives a wave. 

"See you, Meloco." He waves back as she exits from view. He stretches his arms over his head as he yawns. "Ah, my back hurts, I wish I could get another one of Doppi's massages... Aigoo what am I thinking? Tch, If I make him keep doing that then there's really going to be rumours going around school." Ver gathers his things and turns off the light to the Council Room as he closes the door and locks it behind him.

"Ver! I've been waiting for you-"

"Ahh! Shiba-" Ver clears his throat. "Doppio, Jesus Christ! You keep scaring me lately!" Ver holds a hand over his heart.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. But I was waiting for you to finish talking to Meloco so I could tell you something really cool that happened today!" 

"Can you tell me tomorrow? Sorry but I'm really tired..." Ver unconsciously touches a hand to his lower back.

"Tch." [I knew he'd hurt his back.]

"Did you just click your tongue at me? Rude."

"Ah no, that wasn't because of what you said! I promise, I promise! Don't worry about it!" 

Ver raises an eyebrow. "I don't know if I believe you, but okay." 

"Trust me! It was completely unrelated. But anyway, what I want to tell you can wait. You should just go home and get some rest!" [Man, I'm getting worried about him again. I hope he sleeps better tonight.]

"You too. Don't stay up and watch any more of that anime, okay?"

"But-"

"Doppio. You're going to get at least eight hours of sleep, right?"

"EIGHT WHOLE HOURS?!" 

"..."

"Yes, Ver..."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" 

"You don't wanna walk home together?" 

"I've gotta stop by the supermarket first. We're out of rice at home and I don't want my mum to beat me with a wooden spoon, so."

Doppio's expression quickly changed to shock. "Y-you're joking, right?" He clasps onto Ver's shoulders. "Please tell me you're joking?!"

"Doppi, Doppi, Doppi! I- I'm exaggerating. Calm down~" [Though I won't lie, she has definitely smacked me a couple of times...]

"Oh. Okay. Phew! You had me super worried there!" 

"Heh, sorry. But yeah, I better get going. See you tomorrow!" He leaves with a wave.

"See you tomorrow, Ver!" Doppio jogs off in the other direction. "Man. I wanted to tell him that all of a sudden lots of people in class have started talking to me! I don't know why... maybe after the Sport's Festival everyone thinks I'm cool now! But, that's just because I'm fast. Not because I'm Doppio. Then again, Ver and Kotoka seem to genuinely like me! So, maybe some other people are finally giving me a chance! I hope so. I do love Ver and Kotoka, but... it would be nice to at least make one friend in class." As Doppio looked at the sky and talked out loud, he suddenly felt someone grab onto the back of his shirt and forcefully pull him behind the school, throwing him to the ground. "Aghh- what the heck?!" Doppio whinced, clasping his now scraped elbow. "Huh?" He looks up. "T-Tanaka?"

"Hey, freak."

End of Chapter sixteen.

Chapter Text

It's Lunchtime on a Tuesday afternoon, Doppio and Ver had already eaten together and were now making their way over to the Library to study. 

"I told you, you don't have to come with me everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love your company, but I've got a test on Friday and I want a quiet place to study. That means no distractions." Ver exhales, feeling a little mean, but since he'd been so busy with the Council lately, he had been neglecting his studies too much. Well, too much by his standards at least.

"I promise I won't distract you! I just wanna hang out more~" Doppio whines.

"Even if I let you tag along, it's not 'hanging out' it's studying together. Quietly at a table, no talking." 

"I can do that!" 

Ver stops in his tracks and gives Doppio a look. "You sure?"

"I give you my mega, super duper, ultra-unbreakable pinky promise!" He holds out his pinky to Ver.

Ver looks around quickly at the people nearby. "I'll take your word for it then." He then turns around and continues heading towards the Library.

Doppio stands back for a moment. [Why didn't he take my pinky promise?] 

"You coming?" Ver stops, waiting for Doppio.

"Coming~" Doppio skips up to Ver and walks with him. 

Once inside, they find a table near the back of the Library. Ver looks around, seemingly wary of everyone in the room. 

[He looks stressed out again today. How can I help him relax?] Doppio sits down, watching over Ver.

As Ver sits down and shuffles his chair to the table, he struggles to get comfortable against the hard plastic. 

"You okay, Ver?" 

"Hm?" He notices Doppio's slightly concerned gaze. "Ah, it's just my back. I don't know what I've done but it's been hurting a bit since yesterday." 

[Shoot, I knew he would hurt his back sleeping like that! I should have just woken him up yesterday...] "You wanna move somewhere else? How about the bean bags over there?" 

"No, over there looks a bit crowded. I'm fine. I'll manage." 

"You want me to give you another back massage later o-"

"No."

Doppio was taken aback by Ver's sharp decline. "Oh o-okay. Let me know if you change your mind though." He looked down, a little dejected.

"S-sure. Anyway. If you don't mind..." Ver gestures to his now opened textbooks. 

"Oh! Yeah. Right. I'll be quiet now." Doppio sits back in his chair, looking down. [Why doesn't he want me to help him? Do I... not give good massages? Was he just pretending to like it so he wouldn't hurt my feelings? Is that it? Is that why he's avoiding me a bit? Did I do it too hard? Did I do it too hard and actually hurt him?! Wait but, he was almost falling asleep. He wouldn't pretend, right? There's no way! There's absolutely no way! No, no, no, I won't believe this for one single second. It's impossible! It's absolutely impossible for me to give bad massages!]

"Doppio. Could you stop moving around so much? Sorry, but I can't concentrate." 

"Oh, I was moving too much? I didn't realise, sorry Ver." 

[Even when he's being quiet, he still moves like he's having a full-on conversation with himself. That's adorable, but I really don't know if I'll be able to get anything done if he doesn't sit still.] "Aren't you going to study?"

"Oh. Well, I didn't bring anything with me. So I'm fine just sitting here and keeping you company~" He grins.

"...Why don't you go and pick a book to read? I'd feel bad if you just sat here the whole time doing nothing." 

"Oh, okay then. If that wouldn't distract you?" 

"I mean, as long as you don't read out loud." 

"Don't worry about that! I know how to read in my head!" Doppio points a thumb to his chest with pride.

"Shhhh!" 

Ver and Doppio flinched in unison as the Librarian pressed a finger to her pursed lips, giving them an irritated shushing. 

"Sorry..." They both whisper. 

She narrows her eyes before walking away. 

"Sorry Ver, I don't want to get you in trouble. I'll go and look at the books." Doppio trots off to the fiction section and tries to find a good book to read.

Ver sighs. [I knew this would be a bad idea.] It was then that Ver felt a slight gust of wind blow past him. "Hm?" [Is there a draft in here?] Upon looking back down at his textbooks, there was now a folded note placed in front of him. "Huh?" [Where did this come from? Did someone drop it? How did I not see them?] He shrugs, opening it up to see what was written. 

'Meet me in the back of the Library, after school. Come alone.' 

"What the heck?" [What does that mean? Is someone trying to threaten me? Or... could someone... have a crush on me and want to confess?! Yeah, right. There's no way that's it. But who could have left this here? There's no name at the bottom. OH! Wait. It's probably from the bookshelf person! They did say that they would come and find me when they had an answer. I wonder why they wouldn't just approach me now though? Maybe they're shy? Come to think of it, they never stepped out from behind the shelf to show themselves. I guess I'm finally going to get to see them and introduce myself properly. Damn, now I'm kinda nervous.]

"I'm back~ I found some manga on the shelves over there!" Doppio appears behind Ver. "Hm? What'cha got there?" Doppio glances over Ver's shoulder to try and see what he is holding.

Before Doppio could get a proper look at what was written, Ver quickly shoved the note into his pocket. "Ah, i-it's nothing! Just a random piece of paper I don't need anymore." Ver looks off to the side with a guilty expression. [What the- why did I feel the need to hide it like that? It's not like it's a love-letter or anything.] 

"Oh, okay then. Well, I'll let you get back to your work. I'll just sit over here and read quietly~" Doppio sat opposite Ver, opening his manga and reading in silence. [I wonder what that was about? He seemed really suspicious just now...]

[Huh. I thought he'd question me a little more. I guess he didn't see what was written on the note.] Ver shrugs it off and continues studying. Though it wasn't long before his focus was broken yet again.

[I can't believe I've never heard of this manga before! It's so adorable! The way her entire face turns red is just like Ver! She gets so embarassed over the smallest things too. I wanna see Ver's embarassed face again...]

[He's smiling like a giddy idiot. Does he really like romance that much? I'd peg him as the action or fantasy type...] "You enjoying that?" Ver laughs through his nose slightly.

"Hehe, yeah~" Doppio looks towards Ver, like he was about to explain the entire plot to him, then he sighs as he realises he would only be disturbing him again. 

Ver lets out a sigh of his own. "You wanna tell me about it, don't you?" 

"Well... I did. But I don't want to bother you, so..." Doppio looked back down at his manga. Clearly wanting to share his passion, but holding back for Ver's sake.

"To be honest. I really don't think I'm going to get anything done today anyway. I can't concentrate at all." [That and my back is seriously killing me. I wanna get out of this chair.]

"Is that... because of me?" Doppio's brow furrowed.

"No, no not at all. Some days are just harder to concentrate then others. I think I'll just study when I get home." 

"Well, in that case!" Doppio gets up and drags his chair over to Ver, skooching in close. "Look, look, look. Isn't the art style really beautiful? They draw the hair super fluffy, it looks so soft! Kinda like yours." He reaches up to ruffle Ver's hair, but Ver leans to the side a little, backing away from Doppio's hand. 

"Ah-" Doppio quickly changes his trajectory. "You had a piece of thread on your shoulder." Doppio pretends to brush something off Ver's shirt. 

"Oh. Thanks." [I thought he was going to try and stroke my head or something. He's already so close, if this keeps up...]

"N-no problem." [He avoided me again! That's it then, he really doesn't like it, huh? But. I can't help it! Every time I see him, I just wanna get closer to him. I thought we could be best buddies like everyone else at school... I guess it's a lot harder than it looks.] "A-anyway! Y'see the main guy is super duper dumb! Like, I can't believe how stupid this guy is! This guy seriously has a head full of rocks because he thinks that the girl hates him, but she loves him more than anything in the entire world! She does everything for him but he doesn't have a clue! He doesn't deserve someone as cute as her!" Doppio's voice rose a little too high, which caused a few irritated looks.

"Haha~ Doppi, keep your voice down. We're still in the Library, remember?" 

"Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot again, heh heh." Doppio rubbed the back of his head.

"So..." [Judging from that, maybe he does just like girls then?] "You think she's cute?" There was something slightly off in Ver's tone.

"She's the absolute cutest! She's adorable, this whole manga is a adorable!" Doppio sways in his seat a little, his cheeks rising up to his eyes as he smiles.

[Do you think I'm cute?] "Yeah. She does seem cute." [What the hell? Why did I just think to ask him that? What the hell is wrong with me?]

"You're cute too, Ver." 

*Ding dong ding dong*

"Sorry? What did you say? I couldn't hear you?" 

"Oh, nothing." Doppio paused, with a sort of sad smile. "I guess we should head back to class? Sorry you couldn't get any studying done. Maybe next time I should just let you study alone. Since I distract you too much."

"Really, it's okay. It's not you. I just can't focus because of everything that's been happening lately." Ver touches the base of his back. 

[Could he not concentrate because he's in pain?] "Okay. But, if I'm ever annoying you too much, you'd tell me wouldn't you?" 

[Shit. Is that what he thinks?] "You're not annoying Doppi. You're-" 

"Ver-kun! We've got P.E. next. You should hurry!" One of Ver's classmates taps him on the shoulder. 

"Ah- Higuchi-san. R-right, thank you!" Ver quickly gets up and organises his things. "Sorry to cut this short Doppio. You should hurry to class too." 

"Shoot I got History next..." Doppio slumps his shoulders. "Alrighty, well I'll see you later!"

"Ah- don't wait for me after school. I can't walk home with you today. I've got to meet with someone after school."

"Oh, who are you meeting with?" [If it was with Kotoka or Melcoco, he wouldn't say 'someone'? Who is he meeting...?]

"Just... someone." Ver looks away. 

"Right..." [Something weird is going on here...] "Well. Bye Ver!" Doppio quickly heads off to class.

"Bye." [I feel bad hiding things from him. But, given the mysterious way this person has tried to contact me, they seem to like their privacy. I feel like if I told Doppio, he would just want to tag along and meet them with me. Given how hyper Doppio can be, that would probably just scare them off.]

Just as the note from earlier had specified, Ver was waiting to meet someone in the back of the Library. Though despite the fact that the note had told him to come alone, what he hadn't realised is that he had in fact been followed. 

[I feel really bad for secretly spying on him, but what if that note was some kind of trap?] Doppio was hiding behind one of the nearby bookshelves, looking on at Ver who was patiently waiting. Despite how quickly Ver had shoved the note in his pocket, Doppio caught a glimpse of what was written on it, and decided not to let Ver go alone. Although Doppio appeared to be hiding, there was someone else that was watching on, who could see him as plain as day. 

[Oh my God, I have no idea what is going on, but this seems kind of sussy. I guess he is waiting for someone? And, Doppio? I think he's first-year? He's really looking at him. Maybe I was right about it being a one-sided love. Maybe Ver is gonna confess to someone and Doppio is jealous or something?] Meloco is hiding behind a pillar and watching both of them. 

[Hm. They said after school, but they didn't really specify a time. I hope I'm not too late. I had a bit of work to finish, but I got it done in fifteen minutes. I hope they didn't decide to leave.] Ver stood, shifting his weight from foot to foot every now and again. [Should I find a place to sit down? I feel like I can't stand here for much longer. I wanna get home and lie down, my back hurts so bad... oh wait, I've still got studying to do. God damnit.]

"Hey there." The mysterious voice slipped out from behind a nearby bookshelf. 

"Fucking! Oh my- Jesus..." Ver clasped his heart, nearly falling to his knees from the fright. 

[Whoa. That scared me too, what the heck?] Doppio flinched. 

[Lmao.] Meloco snickered.

"Sorry. I've really gotta stop scaring you, huh?" The voice sounded like they were smiling slightly. 

Ver exhaled the fright from his breath. "It's fine. So, I guess you were the one that left me this note?" Ver took the note from his pocket and held it in front of the bookshelf. [Wait, can they even see me through there?]

"That is correct." 

"I thought so." Ver paused for a moment. "Well actually, I also thought it could be someone trying to confess to me, or someone wanting to beat me up. But then I realised it was probably from you." Ver lets out a nervous laugh. 

"A bit too cryptic was it? Sorry." 

"Just a little." Ver smiles. "So... was there something you wanted to discuss. Have you thought about what I said before?"

Ver could hear them figet a little from behind the shelf. "That is the reason I called you here..." They exhale a nervous breath. 

[What's going on here? Why don't they just talk to each other face-to-face? What's with all this weird tension?] Doppio grips onto the shelf in front of him.

Meloco watches with a wide smile. [Is this a love triangle? This guy looks like uke, but could be seme? He looks kind of goth, maybe he has a secret dark side? Like bdsm. Maybe He wants tie Ver up in chains and-]

"...Hello? Are you still there?" Ver felt the need to ask after there was a very long swath of silence. As Ver waited for a response, the person from behind the shelves started to take a few books down, making a gap in one of the shelves in front of Ver. Slowly, and hesitantly, they inched their head into view. Ver blinked for a few seconds, taking in the sight of a boy with very curly blue-grey hair. Hair that covered his eyes, so Ver could really only see a nose and a mouth; which was etched into a wonky frown. Ver sensed a bit of an awkward air about him. 

"...H-hi." He spoke with an unsure smile. 

"Ah- hi? Sorry, um, I wasn't expecting you to appear like that." Ver chuckles nervously. 

"Is this... weird?"

"No, no. If you're more comfortable talking like this then by all means." 

"This is a bit ridiculous. I'll just- I'll just come over to you properly..." He disapears from the gap in the shelves. 

Ver looked to the sides of the bookshelf, not sure where the boy was going to appear from. It was then that he saw a ring-filled hand come out from the left side, followed by the boy's leg, then slowly but surely, he stepped out in full view. "Oh damn, you're taller than I expected." 

The boy was fiddling with his rings, seemingly a bit uncomfortable being out in the open. "...I thought this would be easier, but I feel a bit exposed like this." 

"You don't have to force yourself to talk to me face-to-face if it's making you anxious. I don't mind if you feel like you need to go back behind the shelf." 

"...If I can't do this much, then how am I going to be on the Council?" 

"I suppose that's true." [Wait.] "Oh, does that mean you do want to join?"

"...Despite how much I avoid everyone, I do want to be able to help others. But..."

"It's alright if you don't think you can do it. If it would be too overwhelming for you then I completely understand. You don't have to-"

"I want to." He cut Ver off, looking him right in the eyes. At least, that's what it seemed like. It was hard to tell with his hair in front of his face. "But... if it's possible... could I remain... anonymous?"

"Anonymous? Like... sorry. Could you explain?" [Like a secret Council member? How would that work?]

"Like... any work that I'd need to do. If I could do it separately?" He grabs the bottom of his shirt. "At least... for the time being. A group setting would be too much to handle." He grips his shirt a little tighter. "One on one, I can do. I have to work myself up to it, but, I can do it if I try." 

"Oh, okay... that should be doable. Any information from meetings I could just either meet with you privately or summarise our discussions. It would be a little difficult for any decisions that need to be made. But we can work that out when it comes to it. I guess for now, introductions to the rest of the members is a no?"

"..." He opens his mouth for a second, before closing it and looking off to the side.

"That's okay. That's completely fine. I'll just explain everything to the other members. Everyone's really nice and understanding, so I'm sure everything will work out okay. And, I won't start you off with anything too complex. I'll just show you the ropes whenever you're free next and make sure no one else can disturb us. We'll take things slow. And if at any point you feel like it's not for you, then just let me know. I would really apprecitate help from anyone of course, but if that's at the detriment of your wellbeing, then of course don't feel like you have to stay. We can just start you off with a trial, and then you can tell me if you like it or not before I tell everyone there's officially a new member." 

"...Thank you for being so considerate... Ver-s-senpai." He looks back up at Ver with a sincere smile.

"Ah, well, you've been very considerate and patient with all my ramblings before. Only right I should help you as best I can." Ver smiles back. "Wait, did I ever tell you my name? How did you know?"

"That tall boy is very loud." He exhales a deep laugh. 

"Ah- Doppi? Yeah. He's a member of the Council too. You might want to avoid him for the time being. He's very... uh... I think hyper would be an understatement." Ver smiles fondly. 

"Is he the boy you mentioned before?" He smirks slightly. 

Ver's face flushes beet red. "Y-yeah..." Ver touches his ear lobe, looking off to the side. 

The boy smiles, a slight glint of amusement on his lips. "You two looked like you were having fun before." 

"Ah- w-were you watching the whole time?!" Ver's eyes dart back and forth as his anxiety starts to bubble up. 

"No. I only saw him showing you a book. That was all." [I was watching the whole time, but he clearly doesn't like the thought of being observed too closely. I guess we're more alike than I thought.]

"Oh. G-good. Anyway. You probably don't want to be getting home too late. I don't want to talk your ear off. So, is there anything else you want to say? Like I said, we can take things slow and work out the details as we go."

[Oh my God this is so fricking good holy shiet! They look so nervous with each other. Mm? But I don't know, I like the other two better I think. This guy is like, kinda sexy but he's mysterious, and the young one is like a puppy. It's like cute BL vs sexy BL. Both are really good, but maybe- Frick I don't know! But I feel bad for the young guy he looks SUPER jealous right now~ I hope he runs in and grabs him or confronts the other guy~]

"I should probably tell you my name."

"Oh! Pfft- right. I'm so sorry, how rude of me. Let's start over. I'm Ver, it's nice to meet you, and you are?"

He takes in a sharp breath. "Hello, Ver-senpai. It's a pleasure to meet you, too. I'm... H-Hex." He smiles. "I'm a second-year by the way." 

"Oh cool! Hex, huh? That's super cool, sounds like something out of a video game." 

[Pfft, whatever. Not as cool as Doppio Dropscythe!] Doppio rolls his eyes. 

"Thanks. It's a bit edgy sounding, but I kinda lean into it if you can't tell." He shows off his rings a bit. 

"Yeah, it definitely suits you. I like your rings, too." 

"Yeah~ I'm hoping to get some cooler ones soon. I've got my eye on a ouroboros one I saw recently, I hope it stays in stock by the time I save up for it."

[I can't believe they've been talking alone for so long! Why did they have to meet together so secretly like this?! Why was Ver trying to hide this from me? This is the guy he went to for advice, right? What makes this guy so easy to open up to? He didn't even know his name until a couple of seconds ago! So why hasn't he told me anything important. I'm supposed to be his best friend, aren't I? Then apart from him liking sweet stuff and not liking exercise, I know pretty much nothing about him! He hasn't told this guy his deepest, darkest, most secretive secrets, has he? They don't meet each other regularly do they? I mean, sure it's fine for Ver to have other friends. But I've gotta be his most important, most awesome friend! It would only make sense that he would talk to me the most and tell me the most stuff about him. So, what the heck, Ver?!] Doppio shook the shelves in front of him, making a few books fall in his slight tantrum. 

"What was that?!" Hex whipped his head around quickly. 

"Hm? I don't know. Sounded like some books falling."

"I-Is someone there?" Hex called out with a small voice.

Meloco's smile turned slightly sadistic. [Heh. They're gonna confront each other~]

"Heh heh, sorry." Doppio came out from behind a bookshelf. "I um- I promise I wasn't evesdropping..." 

"Doppi? Did you... follow me? I thought I told you to go home by yourself." [Shit. This isn't good. Hex only just worked up the courage to talk to me. There's no way he's ready to face Doppi, he's like the final Boss.] As Ver looked towards where Hex had been standing, he now saw an empty space. "Eh?" Ver felt a tug on his shirt from behind. He craned his neck to look behind him, where he saw Hex hiding behind him. 

Doppio gritted his teeth. [What's that guy doing? And what's Ver doing? Is he not bothered with that guy grabbing his shirt like that? I thought Ver didn't like stuff like that, why is he not saying anything?] "I was worried about you. You seemed nervous about meeting someone, so I thought it might have been something bad. But, I guess you were just meeting this guy, right?" 

Hex flinched as Doppio's intense gaze shifted onto him. He felt like running away, but he couldn't move from where he stood. He could only cower behind Ver. 

"How come you were meeting alone in the Library like this?" [What am I doing? Why do I feel... so, hostile?] Doppio could feel a strange heat rising in his body.

[AH~ He's so jealous~ This is so good! Yay~] Meloco licked her lips. 

"Nevermind that. I'll tell you another time. And, thanks for the concern, but you shouldn't have followed me. Some conversations need to be private."

A slight scowl spread across Doppio's face. "Why can't you just tell me now?" Doppio could start to feel an ache in his throat. "And what did you mean earlier when you said I'm too 'hyper'?! What? Do I embarass you? Is that it? Is that why you didn't want to study together? Is that, why you didn't want to stay in the cafe with me...? Is that why you keep looking around at everyone? Just say it, you think I'm weird, right? I embarass you, right?!" [What the hell am I doing? Why am I getting so upset? This isn't what I want to say at all! I don't want to fight with Ver!] Doppio's eyes started to well up with tears. He stepped back a bit, his mouth agape. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that. None of that at all. Sorry. Forget what I said. Forget all of it. I- don't know why I said that?" Doppio looks at Hex. "Sorry. Wh-whoever you are. I'll go now. Sorry if I scared you. I'm normally not so mean." Doppio starts walking off, but he stops for a moment, his back facing away, but he turns his head slightly. "Thank you for taking care of Ver. Clearly you can help him better than I can." There was a quiver in his voice, like he was trying to stifle his sadness. With that he quickly made his way out of the Library. 

Meloco was gripping the pillar she was hiding behind with all her strength, her eyes were shot open. [BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL. BL~~~]

"Doppi, wait-" Ver reached out a hand to the air, and was about to run out after him, but Hex grabbed onto his wrist. [Huh?] Ver looked back at Hex, who had dropped to his knees and was breathing heavily. [Oh shit.] Ver stole a quick glance in Doppio's direction, before moving closer to Hex and crouching next to him, rubbing his back in silence. [Shit. This is all my fault. I just hope Doppi is okay.]

Just outside of the school, Doppio had stopped in front of a nearby vending machine. He stared at it, not really looking at the contents. The same scowl from earlier quickly resurged. Though this time, it had a different meaning. "AGHHHHH!!! What the hell is wrong with me?!" He headbutted the vending machine. "What did I do that for?! Now he's gonna hate me!" He lightly punches the machine. "What happened to giving him time to work out his feelings, huh? What happened to being supportive and understanding that he doesn't have to tell me how he feels if he doesn't want to!" He punches it again, harder this time. "Why are you such an idiot, huh? God, Doppio! Why are you such an asshole! WHY ARE YOU SO SELFISH!!!" Doppio punched the vending machine as hard as he could.

*SHATTER*

"ARRRRGHHHKKK!!! Hah.... hah... sh-shit." Doppio clutched his hand in pain. Blood dripping down as broken glass had cut his skin in several places. Nothing too deep, but still enough to hurt like hell. "Ah. I deserved that." He slinks down against the curb. "Thhhhh- that really hurts though." [Crap. I should go find somewhere to wash this off. Man, I wish I had superpowers so I could go back in time and not be such an idiot.] He finds a drinking tap and starts washing the blood from his hand, wincing as the water flowed over his wounds. 

"Oi. Move. I'm thirsty."

Someone shoves Doppio out of the way, making him fall to the concrete, dirt blowing into his injured hand. "Ack- shit. Ow..." 

"Tch. Baby. I didn't shove you that hard. You made of paper of somethin'?" 

"Agh-" Doppio clutches his hand, before looking up at who had shoved him. "You again!? What the heck is your deal?!" 

Tanaka takes a drink of water, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand and moving towards Doppio. He grabs him by his shirt collar. "My deal... is I don't like you." He makes a fist and reels back his arm. "Didn't think you had the guts to hang around here again after yesterday. Wanna pick up where we left off?"

End of Chapter seventeen.

Chapter Text

Wednesday, the day the first four-member Council meeting was supposed to be taking place, only; the President seemed to be running fashionably late. Meloco had taken a seat on a couch, waiting nervously with her legs together and hands folded politely. Kotoka was pacing slowly in front of the closed door, stopping every once and a while to tap her foot or glance at the clock on the wall. Doppio was sat in a corner, his back to the room, cringing at his actions from yesterday. He pondered how he would face Ver, what kind of expression should he make? What should he say to explain his behaviour? But, how would he explain it if he didn't even know why he acted like that? He was becoming consumed with negative thoughts, normally he would hold his head up high and not worry about what had previously unfolded, but his hand was in so much pain that he couldn't focus on anything else. 

"Sorry-sorry-sorry! I got caught up talking to a teacher." Ver hurriedly enters the room and closes the door behind him. 

Kotoka lets out a purposeful sigh. "It's been twenty minutes since we were supposed to start!" She huffs.

"Well, I'm sorry! He started going on about troubles in his personal life and I couldn't get away from him..."

"You really need to assert yourself more, you're too much of a pushover, Ver!" She sits down on the couch, next to Meloco. 

"The guy's going through a bad divorce, what was I supposed to do?" Ver places his bag next to the couch opposite the girls and sits down, crossing one leg over the other. 

"Tell him to go to a therapist and not trauma dump on every student he comes across!" She folds her arms. 

"Come on, that's an exaggeration." Ver exhales. 

"No it's not. You're talking about Takeda-sensei, right? He's been moping around like that for weeks." 

"Oh. Well how was I supposed to know that?" 

"Maybe if you had the time to hang out with me, you'd be more in the loop." He flicks her hair behind her ear. 

"Believe me, if I had more time I would not spend it trying to dig up needless gossip." 

"Hey! It's not 'needless gossip', it's key information! How are we supposed to build a functioning council without being aware of what's going on in our own school." She raises an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't categorise a teacher's personal matters as 'key information', but you have a point about being more aware of what's going on around here."

"Exactly." She nods with a prideful expression.

Ver sighs. "Anyway. May we start the meeting now?" He glares at her slightly.

"Don't glare at me like that..." She whispers through a pout. [Yeah. Like we weren't all waiting for you to start this damn meeting!]

Ver's eyes pan to Meloco, who was looking down, clearly feeling anxious through the tense atmosphere. "Ah. Sorry Meloco. One thing I will warn you about is Kotoka and I... tend to have quite a few, um, disagreements from time to time. But don't worry, it's just harmless banter between friends." He smiles.

"Yeah yeah~ He may be a bit of an uptight old man, but I love this guy!" She points at him with finger guns. 

Ver shakes his head. "I'm not an old man, I'm 17." He speaks with a deadpan tone.

"Then how come every time you get up your knees crack?"

"..."

"Or you hold you back and say, 'aigooo~' like an old korean grandpa." She lets out a hearty cackle. 

"Tch." [Well shit, I guess I can't deny the old man allegations when my back has literally been aching for days...] Ver clears his throat. "Like I said, it's completely harmless banter." He says with a bit of a fake smile, his teeth slightly gritted. 

"U-um it's okay, I don't really mind. I know that good friends probably argue a lot. [I wouldn't really know since I don't have friends...] Meloco lets out a nervous laugh.

"I mean, there have been times when we've gone a bit too far, but not lately. We've been working together super well, right Ver?" Kotoka grins.

"Actually yeah. A little while ago, it used to feel like it was just me trying to keep the whole council from falling apart, and the workload was so intense. But now it's a lot more managable. Still stressful at times, but I've definitely been having more fun. And that's thanks to Kotoka, and especially Doppi-" Ver stops. "Wait. Where is Doppio? It's been quiet for a while, are we still waiting for him to come in?"

"Huh? What do you mean? He's right over there." Kotoka points to Doppio, who is still in the corner, sitting down with his knees tucked to his chest, facing away. 

"What? What's he doing over there?" Ver stands up, confused. 

"He's been like that for a while now. I just left him alone because it looked like he was in a bad mood." 

[In a bad mood. Doppio? Has he ever been in a bad mood? Well, I guess after yesterday...] Ver walks up to Doppio. "Doppi, you okay?" Ver asks in a casual, but slightly soft voice. 

"..." He doesn't answer.

[He's not sulking is he? Is he actually mad at me for confiding in Hex and not him? Because, it's not like I meant to tell Hex my troubles. I just somehow found myself opening up to him. Probably because he was a stranger and there weren't really any consequences.] "Doppio?" Ver walks around to his left, trying to get a look his his expression, but as Ver leans in, Doppio swiftly turns his head to the right. "Tch. Doppi don't be childish. I know you're upset but we can talk properly later. If you don't want to be here at the moment, then that's fine. But this is Melcoco's first council meeting and I want it to go well." Ver was starting to get a bit annoyed. [Why is he acting like such a brat all of a sudden?]

[No~ Don't fight each other! You secretly love each other, right? It's gonna be SO disappointing if they just ended it here. I would have joined the council for nothing...] Meloco watches on, holding her breath.

"Come on Doppi-chan~ Let's get up and go sit on the couch so we can all have a proper meeting?" Kotoka approaches Doppio on the right loops her arm around his elbow. As she tries to pull him up-

"Arrgkk!" Doppio cries out in pain, clutching his right hand. He had been hiding his injured hand in his pocket, and as Kotoka pulled him, his skin was dragged against the fabric — causing an intense pain that he could no longer hide. 

"Hm? Doppi-chan? What is it, what happened?" Kotoka steps forward, trying to have a look. 

"Doppi...?" Ver crouches down. "What's wrong with your hand?" 

"N-nothing. Just a mosquito bite..." Doppio closes his eyes, screwing up his face.

"Turn around, let me see." Ver put a hand on his shoulder, but Doppio skootched away slightly. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry about it!" 

"You can't just tell me not to worry when you sound like you're in pain! Now show me your hand!" Ver's voice was worried, but firm. 

Meloco was watching the scene unfold with an unblinking stare. [Yes! This is what I joined for~ the secret BL that no one else can see. I am eating this up right now~ Ver sounds so concerned for him I love it!!!!!!] 

Reluctantly, Doppio shimmies backwards, allowing Ver to move around him to face him. Doppio still had his head down, and his left hand covering the right. Slowly, Ver held his hand in front of Doppio, his palm facing up, waiting for him. After a moment of contemplating, Doppio revealed his injury, and placed his hand delicately in Ver's. 

"...Doppi... what happened?" Ver's voice was small, like his breath had been taken away. He gently glides his thumb around the edge of Doppio's bright red knuckles. There were faint purple bruises, and though it seemed like Doppio attempted to clean his wounds, there were still traces of dried blood here and there. 

Doppio gulped. "I- um..." [There's absolutely no way I can tell him what happened. It's too embarassing.] "I fell over..." 

"You fell over... how?" [How do you scrape your hand that badly from falling over?]

"Well-" [How do I make this sound believable...] "Not exactly over, more like I ran so fast I accidentally punched a wall in my house."

"You- what?" Ver blinked blankly. "You punched a wall?!"

"Yeah! I was so excited because my favourite manga is getting an anime adaptation! I saw it on my phone and I ran to show my parents because I wanted to show them how cool the trailer looked, but then I... stumbled and punched the wall. Heh heh." Doppio let out an embarassed laugh. [That actually did happen. Like a week ago. I did hurt my hand, but I didn't punch the wall...]

"Pfft-" [Don't laugh. But of course that's how it happened. That's such a Doppio thing to do...] "Well, regardless of how it happened. Why didn't you tell us, or go to the Nurse's Office? Why did you hide it?"

"I was embarassed..." 

"How many times have you told me to look after myself, huh? You should take your own advice." Ver ruffles his hair with a slight smile. 

"Sorry..." 

Ver lingers over Doppio's hand. "That really hurts, doesn't it?" 

"...Yeah." 

"Come on then." Ver grabs Doppio's left hand and pulls him up. "Let me take you to the Nurse's Office." 

Doppio brings his injured hand to his chest as Ver holds onto his other wrist, pulling him towards the door. "But- what about the meeting?"

"Forget the meeting. You're more important." Ver guides him out of the room, not even looking back at the girls. 

"Uh- b-bye guys!" Doppio quickly stammers as he's pulled out of the room. 

Kotoka and Meloco look at each other in silence for a moment. 

"Well. Um. It looks like we'll have to reschedule the meeting. Sorry Melo-chan." Kotoka clasps her hands together in an appology. [Man, I feel so bad I didn't notice he was in pain this whole time. I feel like a terrible senpai...]

"Uh- no it's okay! I don't mind!" [Shit. I kinda wanna follow them or I'm gonna miss the best part!]

"Well, we've still got time. Unless you want to go, we could hang out together if you'd like?" Kotoka smiles excitedly. [I wonder what kind of person she is?]

[Shiet. If I say yes I'm gonna miss some really good BL. But if I say no will that be rude? If I wanna stay in the Council, I need to prove that I can be a good member. I'll hang out with her so I can stay here and see more BL moments, even if it means missing out on one right now!] 

"Shit. The nurse isn't here." Ver walks around the Nurse's Office anxiously as Doppio sits on the bed, clutching his hand. 

"Maybe he's in the bathroom or something?" 

"How bad is the pain? I don't really want to wait if I can help you now." 

"It's... not too bad." [It hurts like hell!]

Ver noticed that Doppio's hands were trembling a little. "Hold on a minute, let me see if I can find some supplies."

"Wait, Ver. I don't really think you should go looking through all the Nurse's stuff. Would you even know how to use any of it?" 

"Heh, I'll have you know that my Dad is a surgeon. He's taught me a thing or two about first-aid over the years." 

"Wait really?! Your Dad is a doctor! That's so cool!" 

"Yeah..." [Not like I ever get to see him anymore though. Now that he's constantly going abroad.] "Oh! I found a little basket, it's got everything we need! Let me just wash my hands first. Actually, come over here so we can clean it properly." 

Doppio gets off the bed and trots over to Ver; who's standing by the sink. "Even if you know what you're doing. It still feels wrong to just help ourselves to the supplies..."

"Well, the nurse isn't here to help us and you need to take care of this properly otherwise it won't heal. The fact that you haven't even covered it with anything is already bad, it could get worse if you just left it like that." 

"What?! But it already hurts so bad! How could it get any worse!" Doppio shouts.

"Calm down." Ver gestures for Doppio to give him his hand, and he obliges. "It's not too bad. It's mostly grazes, but you've got a couple of small lacerations on your knuckles. They're not too deep, so you definitely wouldn't need stitches. Still, you should see a doctor later today in case you've fractured any bones. I'm just going to do as best I can for now." Ver turns on the tap and holds Doppio's hand under the running water.

"Agh-" Doppio winces.

"Also. You told me it didn't hurt that much." Ver gave him the side-eye. "Why did you lie?"

"I don't know... I don't like you seeing me like this." 

"If you're afraid you're causing me concern, then don't be. When you're in pain, my feelings don't matter in the slightest. You hiding that you're hurt would cause me more pain than anything. So... don't ever do that again. Okay?"

*DOKYUN!*

"O-okay..." [Man. Ver is so cool. Him taking care of me like this- I don't know, it's making me feel all warm or something. It's hard to describe. I guess this is what it's like to have a best friend really care about you?]

"Now, come over to the bed so I can dress it." Ver dries Doppio's hand with a clean cloth, taking care not to press too hard. He then ushers Doppio back over to the bed. 

"Thank you, Ver. I really don't know what I'd ever do without you." 

Ver smiles fondly. "This is what friends are for~" [Though. I'm not gonna lie, me doing all this seems like it's straight out of some romance drama. I can barely keep it together. At least he doesn't really seem bothered by it.]

Doppio exhales a small laugh. [I love that look he gets when he's really concentrating on something.] 

"Hm?" Ver looks up. "What? Why did you laugh?" [Maybe he does think this is weird afterall.]

"Nothing, just-" Doppio's eyes narrow as he smiles. "No, it's nothing. It doesn't matter." Doppio giggles.

"What?" 

[He's so cute~] "Y'know. No one's ever really held my hand for this long." [Wait for it...]

"Eh." [WHAT?! Why the fuck did he say that out of nowhere, what the fuck! Ahhhhhh! Why?! Ehhhhhh?!] Immediately, Ver's face flushed red. Heat spreading all the way to his ears. 

"Haha, Tomato-senpai!" [Now I feel better~]

"You- sh- stop! Don't call me that! What the heck is wrong with-" Ver sighs. "Why do you do this to me?!" 

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. I just really love it when your face turns red. It's like you're a real-life anime character~" 

"HUH?!" [What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Is he making fun of me?! Is he flirting?! What is this?!]

Doppio simply chuckles to himself as he gazes into Ver's eyes. 

[AGHHHHH!!!! Silheo! Get me out of here!] Ver clears his throat. "Th-there you go. A-all done. Let me just- let me just put this stuff back and then we can hopefully go back to-"

"Wait-" Doppio grabs Ver's hand before he can walk away.

"Ah!" 

*DO-KYUN!*

"H-hey! Wh-why'd you grab me?!" [Shit-shit-shit-shit! What's happening right now?!]

"I- need to talk to you about something..."

[OMG OMG OMG OMG! IS HE GONNA FRICKEN CONFESS TO ME?!!!!]

"...About yesterday."

"Y-yeah?" Ver braces himself.

"I'm really sorry... I acted like a complete and total jerk. What I said was absolutely awful. And... not something a best friend should have said."

[Shit. He looks so sad. From his perspective... this is like his first proper friendship, right? No wonder he felt betrayed...] "Doppi... you've got nothing to apologise for. I should have considered how you felt more-"

"Don't say that! I let my thoughts come right out of my mouth without second-guessing myself at all! I'm a terrible friend..."

"You're not. You're an amazing friend~" Ver moves back to the bed and sits down alongside Doppio, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"But I yelled at you..." He sniffed with watery eyes.

"You were hurt, of course you yelled at me..." 

"Hurt...?" Doppio looks right into Ver's eyes.

"I hurt you... didn't I?" 

Doppio paused for a moment, looking down at the ground. "N-no. Y-you didn't." A few tears started to fall from Doppio's cheeks.

Ver sniffled. "You're lying again." [Please don't cry- if you cry, I'm gonna bawl my eyes out!]

Doppio looked towards the ceiling, blinking away his tears. "Okay, yeah." He let out a strained breath. "It does hurt."

"..." Ver started crying softly.

"It hurts a whole bunch! But..." Doppio stopped himself.

Ver looked at Doppio. "You can say what you want to say. I don't want you to hold anything back for my sake."

Doppio turned towards Ver. "Then why won't you tell me anything! Why did you go to that guy for help and not me? What made you run away from me? Please... won't you tell me?"

"I-" [Can't.] Ver looked away.

"See? Why did you make me say that?! I don't want to force you to tell me anything if you don't want me to know. I want to do what's best for you. I want to take good care of you. I want to be the best best-friend to you! But- then I just get so frustrated! Because I know all this! I know all this and I keep making you feel worse! I do bad things like this even though I don't want to!" Doppio leans his head into Ver's shoulder. "I don't wanna hurt you. But... I don't wanna be left in the dark either."

"Doppi..." Ver places his hand on the back of Doppio's head, burrying his fingers in his magenta hair. "I'm sorry I've been so cruel to you." [I can't say it.] "I really don't want to tell you to wait a little longer-" [It's too much.] "But I-"

*Ding dong ding dong*

[No! Not now! I need to fix this!] "Doppio I-"

"W-well. I guess we should get back to class." Doppio pulls himself away from Ver, standing up with a pained expression. 

"Wait- no I really-"

"It's okay. I understand. You don't trust me." Doppio grit his teeth.

"I do trust y-"

Doppio snaps his head towards Ver, tears streaming down his reddened face. "No... you don't." 

Before Ver could say another word, Doppio had left. Leaving Ver all alone with the image of Doppio's crying face burnt into his head. He stood for a moment. Eyes shaking. His hands, trembling. He dropped to his knees, hands out in front of him. He let his bangs drop in front of his eyes, as tears pooled into the corner of his mouth before running down his neck. He couldn't think. He couldn't breath. He just simply sat, and sobbed as the pain in his heart filled the room. 

End of Chapter Eighteen. 

Chapter Text

{"You don't trust me."}

"Ver...?"

{"I do trust y-"}

"Ver..."

{No... you don't."}

"Ver!"

"...Huh?" Ver looked up from his desk to see Kotoka standing in front of him with her arms folded. "What?"

"Class is over! Everyone's gone home! Seriously Ver, what the heck is the matter with you today?!" She puffs up one side of her cheek in a pout. "You've been spacing out so much..."

"Sorry." 

"That's it? No back-handed jab? No complaints?" She pauses for a moment. "Are you feeling okay? You're not getting sick are you?"

Ver straightens his back. "No. Nothing like that..."

"So, there is something wrong then?" She pulls up a chair next to him. 

Ver looks away awkwardly after seeing that she was intent to listen to him. "Ah- I-I'm fine. Really..."

"Come on, you can tell me~" She smiles brightly.

"..." [Sorry Koto. I know you mean well, but.] Ver stands up, gathering his things in silence.

"Ver...?" Kotoka's smile faded to worry. 

Once he had put his chair upside down on his desk, he made his way towards the classroom door. He stopped for a moment, his fist slightly clenched; like he was hesitating. "...Sorry." He muttered, before quickly leaving the room. 

Kotoka stood up as her gaze lingered after him. [Something happened, didn't it?] She sighed. [It must have had something to do with Doppi-chan. I haven't seen them together today. I just hope whatever happened, he's not being too harsh with himself...]

Later that evening, Ver was at home in his room, lying face down on his bed in complete darkness; despite the fact that the sun had only just set. Normally upon returning home, he would go straight to his desk to study, but this time, all he could do was hold the same guilty expression and sigh every now and then. He didn't even bother to eat the dinner that his mum had left for him in the fridge, he just laid there, no appetite whatsoever. Finally, he turned his head to the side, looking at something clutched in his right hand. "...I guess I finally got through to them. All it took was to convince them it was purely for school purposes. Figures. I mean, I'm thankful, but did it really have to be this cutesy-looking?" Ver unfurled his closed hand to reveal a red flip-phone. Attached were a few charms that had hearts and the like, something he tried to remove but couldn't figure out how. His mother had left it on his desk for him along with a note, that basically said if he was to misuse it or get into trouble in any way, it would immediately be taken off of him. This was something he had wanted for so long, and somehow excepted he would never have during his time at school, and yet... "I can't even get excited about it. The one person I wanted to show this off to probably hates me right now." Ver closed his eyes. "What do I do now? I feel like I need someone to tell me what to do, but it's not like I have anyone to talk to now. If I go to Hex again, I'd just be hurting Doppi even more. If I go to Kotoka... there's no way I'd be able to tell her anything. It's too embarassing, and I feel like she'd just worry about me. Dad's never around, even if I felt close enough to talk to him about that sort of thing. And Mum, well, I'm sure she'd misunderstand and yell at me somehow. So that leaves... no one. Just my own thoughts as my comfort. Great." Ver rolls onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "Hm. Actually..." Ver sits up, looking at his new phone. "What if I just talked to Hex with this? That way there'd be no risk of Doppi following us." Ver exhales. "I make this sound so sus. Like I'm sneaking around behind his back. Well, I guess I am. I mean, it should be fine to have his number, he is a member of the Council and it would be more convenient to communicate with him this way. Plus, he'd probably feel more comfortable talking online. Especially after Doppi scared him like that... poor guy. I guess he's even more terrified of confrontation than I am." Ver stands up. "Okay. I've made up my mind. I'm gonna get Hex's number tomorrow, as soon as I can. Then I can ask him to help me fix everything with Doppio. I can't stand this guilty feeling. I need to make things right, and show him that I can be a good friend if I try!" 

*Growl* *Gurgle*

"Ah. I guess my stomach has made up it's mind too! It would be a shame to let that japchae go to waste. I really should ask mum to teach me how to cook it sometime, it would be nice to take more home-cooked lunches to school instead getting the cafeteria food all the time. And it would be nice to share some with Doppi. I wonder if he's tried much Korean food. Then again. Sesame and soy sauce... how the heck would I be able to make anything good without those?"

Early morning, the next day. [I came here early to avoid running into Doppio, but... would Hex even be here yet?] Ver looks around the courtyard. "I wonder if he'd be in the Library again...?"

"You looking for me?" Hex whispered to Ver from behind a nearby tree. 

"UWAH! Fucking-" Ver clutched his heart. "I thought you said you were gonna stop doing that?"

Hex lets out a deep chuckle. "Okay, I'll admit this time it was on purpose. But the opportunity was too good to pass up."

"What are you doing out here though? Isn't this too out in the open to talk?"

"Mm, not really. There's hardly anyone here. It's only when it gets crowded that I prefer to escape into the shadows."

"Pfft-" [That sounded chuuni as hell.] "You're right, I was actually looking for you." 

"Got some Council business to talk about?" 

"Uh- not at the moment. We didn't really get to discuss anything at the meeting the other day... which is partly why I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away."

Ver took out his phone from his pocket. "Would it be okay if we exchanged numbers?"

"Aw~ I like the cute charms you put on it."

"Ah- that's! N-no! I didn't put those there! This is a hand-me-down. I just... can't get them off." Ver quickly blabbered out, like he was trying to defend himself.

"I see. Well, it's nothing to be embarassed about. I still use my Dad's old Nokia."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah." He takes his phone out of his pocket as well. "I'm not particularly against newer technology, but I also like the aesthetics of this sort of thing."

"Oh cool~ I love the sound of the ringtone on those! It's way less annoying then some of the obnoxious modern ones."

"Mm, I feel you on that. Some of those kind of stress me out a bit. But yeah, you can have my number. Then you can just text me whenever you need to." Hex extends his hand. "Here, let me put it in your phone." 

"Oh, sure." Ver gives Hex his phone and waits as he puts in his contact details. 

"I will tell you... I kinda don't like phone calls. Well, I could get used to answering them I guess. If you really needed to tell me something. But, I don't like making calls, it makes me anxious. Anyway, here you go." Hex hands Ver's phone back to him.

"Thanks. And I agree, phone calls are stressful." Ver looks at Hex's contact information. "Hex 'Haywire'."

"...Yeah. It's a bit weird, isn't it?"

"Dude. My last name is 'Vermillion'. At least your name means something cool, I'm just a fricking colour!"

"Sounds like a vampire's name. You're not secretly out to suck my blood are you?"

"I may be pale, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a vampire." Ver laughs. 

"Pretty sure? I don't know if I trust that..." Hex lets out a low chuckle. 

"Hm? What was that?" Ver saw something move from the side of one of the school buildings. 

"Hm? What was what?"

"Just now... I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye?" 

"Hm. Might have been a bird or something."

"Mm... it seemed bigger than that."

"Maybe a cat?"

"...Maybe." Ver's eyes linger for a moment, before he turns back to Hex. "Anyway, I've gotta get going soon. I need to grab some things for home-room, but thanks for agreeing to give me your number. I'll send you a message later tonight to check it's working, and I'll send you a few things for you to look over."

"Sounds good. I'll wait to hear from you then."

"Okay, bye then, Hex." Ver gives him a little wave as he heads off towards his home-room class.

"Bye, Ver-senpai." Hex waves back as he watches Ver leave, before making his way off somewhere else. 

Ver rolls his neck as he makes his way out of a classroom. "Eugh..." [My neck is killing me after that practice test. Sitting in the same position for forty five minutes is hard enough, what's gonna happen when we have a whole day of tests next week...] As Ver is walking down the hallway between classes, he rounds a corner and stops quickly as he was about to run into someone. "Oh, sorry I- wait. Doppi?" 

Doppio quickly flicks his eyes to the floor, lowering his head and turning around to walk the other way. 

"Hey! Wait, Doppi!" Ver reaches out to grab Doppio's right hand, but quickly switches to grab his left. "Hold on a second!"

Doppio stops, but doesn't turn around.

"Um. Uh..." [Come on Ver, say something!] "H-how's your hand...?" [No! Idiot! Say something else! I mean I hope he's okay but that's not what you should be talking about right now!]

"...Fine." His voice was flat, devoid of his usual bright personality. 

"Did you... go to the Doctor's? It's not fractured or anything, right?"

"It's fine." His shoulders tense and his eyes narrow. "I see you have a phone now..." Doppio mutters through clenched teeth. [It should have been me.]

"What was that? I couldn't hear you?"

"...Nothing."

Ver slowly lets go of Doppio's hand. "Doppi... can you please turn around? I want to look at you properly." [I need to talk to him face-to-face...]

Doppio clenches his fist slightly. Hesitating. 

"Please?" 

Doppio sighs, and turns around. 

"Thank you, now I wanted to- wait. What happened to your face?!" [His lip is cut, and he looks kind of swollen in some places.]

"...Tripped." 

"Again?" Ver exhales softly. "You really are clumbsy, huh?" He laughs fondly. 

Doppio makes an expression that was a mix of guilt, anger and a bit of sadness. 

Ver's smile quickly disappeared. "...Sorry. I wasn't making fun of you-"

"No. I get it." Doppio bites his bottom lip, trying to supress his emotions, when suddenly an image flashed in his head. The smug smiles of his two supposed best friends in middle school. Their laughter rang, echoing in his ears as he recalled how they belittled him behind his back. "You're just like everyone else, aren't you?" [No. You know that isn't true!] "Everyone always laughs at Doppio. He's so stupid and clueless! He hasn't got a care in the world! He's just completely oblivious to everything that goes on around him! That's why it's so easy to take advantage of him! And he's so positive, it's not like he actually cares or has feelings! So let's all go behind his back and laugh about him!" [Ver doesn't do that. You know he would never do that!] "Let's manipulate him to do a bunch of stuff for us! After all, he thinks we're best-friends! Even though it's clearly all in his head, and we're not actually close at all! Why would he ever think that anyway? Why would anyone ever like Doppio?! He's so childish and weird! And he's so clingy! Not to mention way too loud!" [Stop! This has nothing to do with him! Why are years worth of emotions all coming out now? Why to him? Why am I taking it out on him?!] "Let's just all ignore him and hope he goes away eventually! But don't feel sorry for him, he talks about himself so much, he must be his own best-friend, so there's no way he'd ever be lonely!" [I'm so lonely.] "It's not like... he just wants to be trusted." [Just trust me.] "And treated as someone you can rely on... someone who's always got your back." [I don't want to hurt you.] "Someone that just wants to be your closest friend, more than anything else in the world." [Let me be by your side.] "Nope. Couldn't be... Doppio." Once again, he found himself crying his eyes out in front of Ver, blurting out whatever came to his mind before he had a chance to stop himself.

Ver's eyes were wide with shock. "Doppi... please don't tell me you really think all of that is true?" Ver began to instinctively reach a hand to Doppio's face, but he was quickly met with thin air. 

Doppio backed away a little, his head hanging low as he breathed heavily. "It is true. It has been true. For all my life... no one has ever actually liked me. These are all words I've heard from the people I thought I could trust." Doppio bit his bottom lip once more, harder this time. "And... I really thought you were different? I thought I had finally found someone who really truly likes me. But, when I heard you talking to that guy in the Library. And I heard you tell him to avoid me, and you told him I was 'hyper' but I knew you were just trying to be nice. I know that a million other words ran through your head in that moment. All the words that have been said before, behind my back. I used to convince myself not to worry, because my parents always told me they were wrong, or jealous. But they were right, weren't they? Clearly I'm not meant to be anyone's friend because I just don't know how to act!" He steps back further, almost out of breath. [What am I... doing?] "I give up. It hurts Ver. It really, really hurts." He wiped his tears with the collar of his shirt, before turning and walking away.

Ver opened his mouth to call out to him, but no words would form. After Doppio poured his heart out, he couldn't say a damn thing. 

Later, after the final school bell rang and all the students were getting ready to leave, Doppio was hanging around outside the gate. He lets out a strained, raspy sigh. He forms a fist with his right hand and moves to strike a wall in front of him, but stops short. He crouches down, head in his hands. [Why did I do that? I didn't mean to say all of that! Most of that wasn't even about him! He only said one little thing that wasn't even that bad, but it just reminded me of all the people in the past that let me down, it just all came out! I'm so STUPID! If he really didn't care about me. He wouldn't have made a face like... that.] After a moment, he stands back up. 

"Hey. You there."

"Hm? M-me? Are you talking to me?" A confused girl approaches Doppio.

"Are you a first-year, too?"

"Ah- y-yes. Why?" [This guy is so tall! He looks kinda scary...]

"Do you know where Tanaka is? He's normally around here by now."

[He knows Tanaka? Is he friends with that guy? This guy really is scary then.] "Um. I- I think I saw him at the back of the school. B-but you shouldn't go there! He looks really pissed off today!"

"...Good." 

"G-good?! Eh? E-Eh?!" The girl is left dumbfounded as Doppio wanders off in Tanaka's direction.

[Shit! What do I do now?! How did things get so much worse so quickly?! He really hates me now! I need to clear up this misunderstanding, fast! I don't want everything to end like this! But how the hell am I going to fix this?!" Ver paces around the locker area, not sure whether to stay or leave. His schoolwork at the back of his mind but Doppio at the forefront of his immediate priority. [I should find him. But what the hell do I even say at this point?! What if I just upset him again and he won't even listen to me? I guess I could, write him a letter? But that's — probably just as embarassing and confronting.] Ver scratches his head. He sighs as he turns his back to the lockers, pressing his head into the cold metal before slinking down. [This is hopeless. I have no idea what I'm doing...] 

*Tmp tmp tmp tmp*

[Uh oh. That sounds like the high heels of a teacher. If I'm gonna wallow in self pity, I better do it where no one can see me.] Ver quickly gets up and makes his way outside. [I should just go home. I need to properly think about what I want to say to him. If I just rush into this and blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind, he might just jump to conclusions before I can tell him the truth.] 

*BA-DOOMF!*

"Ack!"

*K-TAK! WHOMPH! WHAP! SMACK!*

"N... eugh... a-ack."

[What the hell was that?] Ver heard strange sounds coming from the back of the building. 

"HAD ENOUGH YET, FREAK?!"

Ver flinched. [Oh shit. It sounds like a fight or something. Should I go and get a teacher? Surely there's someone still here at this time.] 

"Hrk- ngh... hah... hah.... hah..."

[Wait.] Ver gets a little closer to the side of the building, carefully creeping up to the corner, about to peek around. [Why does that breathing... sound so familiar? It... couldn't be. Could it?] Time slowed, the air around him seemed to stop. He gulped before he peered around the side of the building with the slightest corner of his eye. [That injury to his hand. The cut on his lip. The swelling on his face. And we haven't been walking home together recently. That's not it. Right? He's just clumbsy, right? There's no way, I'd be that blind, right...? These sounds right now...! That's not him, r-] 

*Shff-plop*

Ver stood completely still with his mouth agape. His school bag had slipped off his shoulder and fallen to the ground, but he didn't even flinch. He just stood. Out in the open. His eyes wide with shock as he took in the sight of his beloved kouhai. His best friend. Slumpped against the back wall of the building, beaten and bloodied. 

"Gae-sae-kkiya!!! Neo... mwohanya?!"

End of Chapter Nineteen. 

Chapter Text

"Hah?" Tanaka sniffs, scratching his nose with a bored expression. "Who the hell are you?"

Ver's eyes laser focus on Tanaka's reddened knuckles. His breathing growing loud as he seethed with rage. "NEO!!! MWOHANYAGO?!" Ver's fists were clenched so tight they were turning white. 

"Eh?" Tanaka narrows his eyes. "Stop talkin' gibberish. Can't you see I'm in the middle of something? Get lost, or I'll pummel you too." Tanaka ignores Ver and moves towards Doppio. 

*BAM!*

Ver slams his fist against the wall, as hard as he could. 

"What the hell is your de-"

"Sagwahae!" 

Tanaka rolls his eyes, turning to Doppio. "Can you understand this idiot?"

"Pabo? P-PABO? N-Naega?! M-m-m-mworago?! Uh? Nega mwonde! Uh?! IB JOSHIMHAE!!!" Ver was almost hyperventilating, his voice turning shrill.

"Heh, that's cute. You're trying to stand up for your little friend here, but you're so scared you're stuttering! You gonna piss your pants next?" Tanaka looked Ver up and down. "Tch. Pathetic." He grabs Doppio by the chin and forcfully turns his head to look in Ver's direction. "Look, freak. You're little buddy has come to save you~"

"Geumanhae..." Ver lifted his head, jutting his chin as his eyes shot wide open. His breathing slowed, each breathe was audibly pushed out through his teeth as he scowled. He slid his right leg behind him, scraping his shoe against the rough dirt path he stood upon. His knuckles cracked as he balled his fists as tight as he could. 

"Come on man, I'm only playing around. No need to look so damn serious!" Tanaka slaps his hand on Doppio's head, russeling his hair roughly before grabbing a fistful and pulling it tight. "Isn't that right, freak?"

"Ngh... eugh..." Doppio could barely open his eyes through his swollen face. 

"GEU-MAN-HAE!!!!!!" Ver suddenly charged at Tanaka, nearly knocking him over as he grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him violently. "YA! JUGEULLAE?!"

"Oi! Back off! Let go of me you little shit!" [Jesus Christ! This guy is nuts! What if he's actually strong?! I have no idea what the fuck he's saying, but that look in his eyes is insane!]

Ver started pushing him away with all his strength, which had conveniently been granted to him through a rush of adrenhaline. "HAJIMA!!!" 

With one big push, Tanaka stumbled against the uneven ground, losing his footing and almost falling over. [Shit. I could be in trouble! Maybe I should use the freak as a shield?] He tries to run over to Doppio but Ver grabs him by the collar.

"HAJIMALLAGO!!!!!!" Ver shouts in Tanaka's face, practically spitting on him. 

"...Ver... don't... you'll get hurt." Doppio barely manages to speak, but his voice was too weak for Ver to hear. Doppio propped himself up slightly, breathing carefully for a moment before gathering what remaining strength he had. "VER!!!"

As soon as Ver heard Doppio's voice, he turned his head to his direction, breaking his trance of rage. It was then that Tanaka took the chance to headbutt Ver in his moment of distraction. "Ack!" Ver's grip on Tanaka loosened slightly, giving his opponent the opportunity to push him away and punch him hard in the gut. "Ah- eugh..." Ver immediately fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. 

"What the fuck? So you were just a weakling? Tch, I guess you were all talk." He balls up his fist.

"No... Ver..." Doppio tries to inch forward but only ends up falling on his face. 

Tanaka grabs Ver's shoulder with one hand and pulls him in close as he punches him in the gut for a second time. 

"NGH! Ughhhh...." Ver keels over onto his side, curling into himself as intense pain spreads through his abdomen. 

"HAH! This is hilarious! Both of you are so damn weak! Look at me! I don't have a damn scratch on me!" He claps as if he's proud of himself. "Man! This is so much fun! Ah, this just made a shitty day so much better~" He breathes a blissful sigh, almost like beating the two of them up had given him some sort of high. 

"Ngh... you jerk! What the hell did Doppi even do you anyway?" Ver looks up at Tanaka, pain in his eyes. 

"So you could speak english this whole time? Heh. I guess your little intimidation act didn't work." He smiles smugly. [Shit. He almost got me. Thought he was some kind of crazy foreign student or something. Guess he was just tryin' to cover up his weakness.] 

[Maybe I should've listened to Dad and taken taekwondo as a kid... because man, this shit is killing me. How is Doppio even still conscious? He must be in so much more pain than me. But this is already unbearable!] "Answer me! Why were you hurting him?!"

Tanaka grabs Ver by his shirt. "Stop talkin'." He balls up his fist yet again. "Or better yet... I'll make you stop talkin'." Tanaka smiles sadistically. 

"YAMERO KORRRRRRA!!!" 

"Huh?! What the fuck?!" Tanaka stumbles backwards. 

"Nani yatte n darrrrou ORRRRA!" Before anyone could blink, Meloco had come running full-charge up to Tanaka, swinging her arms wildly. 

"What the hell?! Where did this crazy bitch come from?!" Tanaka scrambled to get up. [Is she not gonna stop?! She's gonna full-on run into me!] 

"DAMARRRRE KONOYARRROU!!!" [DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME YOU SHIT! I WILL PROTECT MY BL WITH EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!!!]

"AHH!!!" [She's fucking crazy!!!] Tanaka freezes for a moment, scared of the hellbent look in Meloco's eyes.

"FUZAKERRRRU NA!!! DOKE! KONNO GOMIKASU!!!" Meloco speeds up. [HOW DARE YOU BEAT UP MY GAY BOYS!!!]

"Sh-shut-up! I-I'll hit you too!" Tanaka shouts while running. 

"TEMEE!!! NANI-SAMA NO TSUMORI DA!!! KORRRA!!!"

"AHHH!!!!!" [She's not slowing down at all! She's fuckin' terrifying!]

[Fucking shiet! My boobs are bouncing so much, oh my god! I fucking hate running...] Meloco sprints as fast as she can to drive Tanaka away from the boys. 

"Ah... Doppi?" As soon as Meloco and Tanaka are out of sight, Ver rolls over to look at Doppio; who was lying flat on the ground, practically motionless. "Doppi? You okay?!" Still clutching his stomach, Ver inches closer to Doppio to get a better look at him. "Oh... Jesus. Look at what he's done to you..." Ver reaches out his hand, cupping Doppio's cheek and lifting his head from the ground. [God. There's dirt and blood all over him...] "Doppi? Can you hear me?" [He's breathing at least. But I need to get him to a hospital, quick. Who knows how many times that jerk hit him.] Ver reaches into his pocket. "Hm?" [Where's my phone?] Ver checks his other pocket. [It's not here!] Ver looks over at his bag, which was several metres away. [Oh crap. I put it back in my bag! But it's all the way over there!] Ver sits up. "Ah! Ow... shit." Carefully, he takes off his jacket, gritting his teeth through the pain. He then folds it into a neat pile and places it gently under Doppio's head. He flicks his eyes back over to his bag. [Okay. That's not too far. Just carefully-] "OW! Fuck!" As Ver tried to get up he was quickly met with a shooting pain in his gut. He dropped to his knees, falling onto his back as he breathed heavily. [It's no use. There's no way I can move like this...] Ver rolled onto his side once more, looking at Doppio with sadness and guilt in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Doppi. I'm such a failure of a senpai. I can't even protect you..." He reaches over again, this time grabbing Doppio's hand loosely between his fingers. "Just hold on okay? I'm sure Meloco will be back soon with help. Hah... hah... I'll have to thank her later. Ngh..." Unconsciously, Ver starts rubbing Doppio's hand with his thumb. "I'm so sorry for everything. You didn't deserve any of this. I can't believe how blind I've been. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, was it? Hah... how could I not notice? I'm sorry. I'm the worst friend in the world. Not just because of this... because of everything. You've been the most amazing best friend I could ever ask for... and yet I've been terrible to you. Selfish, just plain selfish." Ver shook his head, looking up at the sky. "I never meant to hurt you, I just kept getting scared and running away. Not just physically but mentally. Just avoiding everything that needs to be said. I'm doing it now. Telling you now when you can't even hear me. Truth is... I've just been so anxious around you lately. You make me feel... I don't even know how to describe it? I've thought about telling you so many times. But every time I try, it scares the shit out of me. Because it's just so hard to say. Even now, I'm still avoiding admitting it. You just... you make me..." Ver takes a long painful breath in. "...You make me so flustered I can't even breathe. It's this sort of, bubbling anxiety that takes over me. Making me want to run away. Every time you embarass me, on purpose or not — I can't handle it. I turn red, I get all hot and I can't think properly. I say things I don't mean to say, and do things I don't want to do. I don't want to hurt you but in those moments, I can't control myself at all. It's scary. It really is. And I know you don't mean anything by it. But every time it happens, I look around, and I think everyone is staring at me. I think everyone is judging my every move. And that's what happened that day at the café. Everything that happened that day... the fact that we were too guys in a place full of couples, and we were in the centre where everyone could see. You were dressed... like that. Not to mention...... ah God... every time you- touch me. Or my face... when you wipe the food off my face and lick it, acting like that's completely normal! That just drives my heart insane. It beats so fast. So fast that I start to have a panic attack. And that's what that was. That's why I ran. I was so scared I had to get away. It triggers your fight or flight I guess? I'm so sorry for doing that. Not once, but twice. Leaving you behind..." Ver sighs. "I'm so pathetic, aren't I?" 

"...No. That's not pathetic at all."

"Eh?" Ver looks back towards Doppio, who was facing Ver, one eye slightly open. "Wh-wha-wh-were y-you a-awake th-this whole time?!" [Oh God. He heard everything.] Ver's face blushes violently. 

"Hm~" Doppio smiles. "Ah- ow..." [Crap. It hurts to move my mouth.] "Y-yeah... I heard you. Well, bit and pieces... my head hurts... so it's hard to process everything. But I was trying to concentrate... as hard as I... could. Agh... ah... hah.... shit."

"Don't try to talk..." 

"I'm sorry... I didn't realise... what I was doing. I'm kind of... a bit dense."

"No. No you're not!" Ver gives Doppios hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I am. I feel like such an idiot... I've been embarassing you on purpose... and teasing you. Like it was... some fun game. I'm really... sorry. I didn't mean... ah... to cause you so much... pain."

"I'm the idiot. Keeping all of this from you."

"You tried to... tell me. But... that hurt too... didn't it? Just like... I couldn't tell you... about Tanaka."

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help you. I wish I was stronger, so I could protect you."

"I don't need... protecting. I could defend myself... if I wanted to."

"You don't need to appear strong for me. If he ever comes at you again, it's okay to run away if you can't defend yourself. You can-"

"I... let him... hit me."

"...What?" 

"It's not that... I can't... defend myself... I chose not... to."

"...Wh- why? If he attacked you, you should use self-defense if you desperately need to."

"Because... I deserve it."

"Doppi...?" [Don't tell me...]

"I do. I've been so mean... to you. I knew... you were scared... and suffering. But I got emotional... and rushed you to talk to me... I pushed you... when I knew you needed time. I was mean to that guy... too. I was jealous... that you talked to him instead of me. Then I felt stupid... for being jealous. So I... punched a vending machine."

"You... is that what happened to your hand?!" [So that wasn't from fighting that guy? So... did he really never hit him back? He just let himself get beaten up... all to punish himself?!] "What about the rest? Was that you or...?"

"That was Tanaka. I don't know why... he doesn't like me. I'm sure he's got... problems or something. And he's choosing... to take them out on me. At first... I was confused. Why he was bullying... me. And... I stopped walking home with you... in case he saw us... and wanted to hurt you too. That's... also why I didn't... tell you. But... I also... kept saying stupid things to you... and hating myself... so today... I went to find him. So he could... punch me. But... I thought... he was only gonna hit me once or twice. Since... that's what he did before. I... didn't know he was... gonna go this far." 

"Doppi... you idiot." Ver looks over Doppio's injured face. "Why would you do that? Why would you punish yourself like that? You don't ever need to do that, okay?" Ver starts getting emotional, a few tears pooling in his eyes. 

"I'm sorry..." Doppio sees Ver's tears start to fall, and breaks down crying. 

"Oh, Doppi..." Ver comes closer and pulls Doppio's head into the nape of his neck. He brings an arm over and rubs his back in slow circles. "You're gonna be okay, now. Nothing bad is ever gonna happen between us again. Okay? You're my best friend. That's not going to change. We're going to look out for each other. For real this time. So I don't ever want to see you hurt yourself like this again. Okay?"

Doppio nods into Ver's shoulder. "Mm-hm..."

"Over there! They're over there! Please come quickly!" Meloco could be heard in the distance, as well as the footsteps of several others. 

"You hear that, Doppi? You're gonna be okay~ There's people coming to help."

Doppio grips onto Ver's shirt. "Ver?"

"Yeah...?"

"I'm not gonna let... anything ever happen to you either." [I know he doesn't like being this close. But just for this moment... I'm gonna hold on as tight as I can.]

"Thanks, Doppi~" Ver smiles as he pats him slowly on the back. 

"Right there, right there!" Meloco guides two paramedics over to the boys. [Nn? OH MY GOD THEY'RE HUGGING EACH OTHER WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED WHILE I WAS GONE?! Fucking shit! I missed all the good part! Did they confess?! Did I miss something really big?! Oh fuck, now I really wanna know~] 

Ver's eyes dart around. "Ah, um. Could you maybe, let go of my shirt now? L-let's let the paramedics take care of you." He gives Doppio one last quick pat on the back before letting go of him. 

"Oh... right, right, right. Sure." [Man. I wanted to stay like that for longer... that was nice.]

After a tiring journey in an ambulance and a non-desirable amount of time waiting in the waiting-room of a hospital, Ver was finally able to see a Doctor. Doppio had gone on way ahead of him since he sustained quite a few injuries, though nothing life-threatening. Ver was attended to and swiftly treated. Luckily he had only received some light bruising, though hew would argue that it felt a lot worse than 'light'. After he was dismissed, he quickly made his way to the reception, obtained Doppio's room number and got there as fast as he could. Which of course was nothing more than a strong power-walk, it was still a hospital after all. 

"Doppi! Are you okay?" Ver's eyebrows turned upwards as he saw the IV in Doppio's arm as well as several bandages and plasters here and there. 

"VER! There you are~ C'mere, c'mere, c'mere! I've got something REALLYYY important to tell you!" Doppio waves his arms around as he greets Ver.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, be careful! You're hurt remember!" Ver walks up to Doppio, stopping at his side. "What do you need to tell me? Is it something bad?! Did you get really hurt?! Anything fractured?! Broken?!" Ver's eyes quickly scan Doppio's body, as if he could somehow see his internal injuries. 

"Ver... I love you~" 

"..." Ver freezes. His breath stopped. Eyes wide open and his face burning a hot red heat. "E- wh- h- a- wh- wh- wh- WHAT?!" He blinked rapidly, hands shaking.

"I~ love~ YOUUUUUUUUU~~~~~" 

"Doppi shh, shhh, shhhh! Wha- wh- what are you saying?! I mean- why are you? WHAT?!" [WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAAAAAAAAAT?!]

End of Chapter Twenty. 

Chapter Text

[What the heck, what the heck, what the heck?! What the hell is he saying all of a sudden?! He... l-loves me?! HE LOVES ME??? He means as a friend, right? RIGHT?! Did he seriously just confess??? To me?! WHY??? I thought he just liked me as a friend, or like, looked up to me because I'm his senpai. I mean, I've thought at times that he might be gay, but I thought for sure I was wrong and I've just been seeing him as straight? Like, in the beginning I thought he was, but then I just thought he was innocent and wasn't aware of his actions. But does this mean, he's been doing everything intentionally? Has he felt this way this whole time? Has he been actively trying to persue me?! Was he hiding it from me? He usually just blurts out whatever he's thinking most of the time. Surely if he actually had a crush on me he would have told me by now. Or, was it because we were in a dangerous sitation and that spurred him to say something? Was he waiting for a moment like this to tell me? Waittttt. Is that why he's been so weird about Hex?! When he said he was jealous... I thought he just meant that like he thought I was trying to replace him as friend or something. Which wasn't the case at all. But could it actually be... he thought Hex and I were a couple or something?! IS THAT IT?! Did I get it wrong? Was he angry with me because he thought I had some lover that I was keeping a secret?! So... was I right from the beginning? He actually is gay? And he... IS IN LOVE WITH ME?!!!!!] Ver's face blushed furiously as his mind raced a million miles a minute. 

"I love youuuuuu... AND I love my Mum... and my Daddddd.... and I love Bug Fablessss... and I love ALLLL the ants in my ant farm... and I love my roommmm! Wait- where is my room? Why aren't I in my room?! Verrrrr~ What have you done with my room?! You took it didn't you? Where did you put it!" Doppio rolls his head around, barely keeping his eyes open.

[Oh. He's just whacked out on pain killers, isn't he?] Ver sighs, letting his shoulders drop as he relaxes. [Wait- did I feel disappointed just now?! What! WHY?! Why would I be disappointed!!! I don't want that! I'm straight! I... like women! I don't like Doppio! Well of course I like him but I don't like him! I mean he can be really cute a lot of the time and occasionally he can look... sexy? No! Not that! Definitely not that! Shut-up, stupid brain! He can look handsome! He's a good-looking guy! That's what I meant! What was my point anyway? He's attractive, but he's a guy. I don't date guys. If he was a girl... WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, what the hell am I thinking?! I don't want to picture him like that! That didn't look like a girl at all! That was just him in a skirt! W-with fishnets... a-and a crop top, smokey eye shadow... and his hair all- STOP! WHAT THE FUCK?!] Ver shook his head violently. [Shut-up. Get your head on straight! This isn't the time to be thinking about shit like this. He's still hurt. And he's probably gonna be as delirious as when he was sick. I gotta make sure he doesn't give the hospital workers any trouble.]

"Where's my room Verrrrr~ Why did you steal it?!" Doppio whines.

Ver chuckles. "It's in your house, Doppi~" 

"Oh. Okay." Doppio closes his eyes for a moment, plopping his head on the pillow behind him. "Wait. But where's my house?! This isn't my house! What have you done with my house, Ver? Mannnn... I can't believe you just took my house! Why would you do that Verrrr...?" 

"I didn't take it. You're in the hospital." [Damn. Was he this bad when he was sick?]

"Oh. Okay." After a beat of silence. "Why am I in the hospital?!"

"You got hurt."

"Oh... yeah." He flopped his head on the pillow again, before immediately raising it back up. "How did I get hurt?!"

"A jerk in your year level beat you up. But don't worry, he won't do it again." [I'll make sure of it.]

"Did you get hurt?"

"Just a little." [Feels like a lot though.]

"NOOOOOOOOO!!! WHY?! Why did you get hurt, too?! Are you okay?! Do you need me to kiss it better?" Doppio blinked innocently.

"WHAT!" [Kiss? KISS?! K-KISS?! Is he for real...?]

"That's what my Mum used to do when I was little... now show me where you got hurt! I gotta make you better!" Doppio gestures for Ver to come closer.

"What? No! You're not doing that!" [H-he wants to try and kiss... my stomach?!] Ver could feel his whole body starting to heat up.

"Come onnnnn... let me kiss you betterrrrr~"

"Stop... you're not ki-" Ver screws up his face. "I won't let you!"

"Whyyyyy not?" Doppio pouts.

"Because, I don't want to!"

"Please?" Doppio pleads, batting his eyelashes.

"No. That wouldn't make me feel better!" [Someone please... this is unbearable!]

"But it works in mangaaaa~"

"That's because that's fictional! And even then, it doesn't actually work! That's just a romance trope!" [Get me outta here!]

"Aww mannnn... I thought it would work. Can I try anyway?"

"No."

"But-"

"NO."

"But I really wanna-"

*Knock knock*

"Doppio-kun? I'm here to change your dressings. Oh? Sorry, was I interrupting you two?" A nurse came in, not realising that Doppio had a visitor. 

[Oh thank God.] "N-no. It's alright, I was just leaving anyway."

"Whaaaaat?! No... you can't go Ver! You only just got hereeeee~"

"I don't want to get in the way of the nurses. And you need to rest, so-"

"But I'm not tiredddddd~"

Ver exhaled sharply. "Doppio."

"...Fine. You can go... I guess. You need to take care of yourself too..." He looks off to the side, avoiding eye-contact.

"Don't cause too much trouble for the nurse... okay?" [Although he does act like a kid when he's sick, he definitely doesn't have the strength of one. I hope he doesn't cause too them much grief.]

"Roger that, Admiral Ver!" Doppio salutes him.

"Pfft-" Ver shakes his head. "See you later, Doppi~" Ver waves as he starts to leave. 

"Bye-bye Verrr! I love youuuu~" Doppio shouts after him.

Ver freezes in place for two seconds, before continuing to leave. His ears turning a bright red. 

The moment Ver left, the nurse chuckled. "You two seem close?" 

"He's my bestest friend in the whole world!"

"Oh really? That's nice..." They smile. "Will you let me change your dressings? It might sting just a little bit, but you'll feel better afterwards."

"Wait! No! I don't wanna!" Doppio whines. "Ver! Ver come backkkkk!"

Ver made his way back to the reception and let out a shaky breath. [God damn, any longer and I would have suffocated in there. He can get real clingy when he's like that. I know he doesn't mean any of it, but that was still really unexpected. I'm glad I didn't get any closer, or he really would have tried to... kiss-]

"Where is he? Where is my son?!"

"Calm down, madam. Please tell me your son's name."

"Doppio! His name is Doppio!"

"Hm?" Ver looks over at the reception desk and sees who he assumes to be Doppio's parents; his mother particularly panicked. "Ah, if you're looking for Doppi, he's just in that room over there." Ver interjects, pointing to the room behind him.

"Oh, is he? Thank you! I-is he alright?" Doppio's mother places a worried hand over her heart.

"He looks a lot better than he did before we got here, and they've given him some strong painkillers, so they're taking care of him well. The way he's acting, you even wouldn't think he was hurt at all. I don't know the full extent of his injuries, I was being treated myself earlier, so I didn't find anything out from his doctor — but for now he seems okay. He's pretty much his usual energetic self... though I imagine he's being a bit difficult right about now." Ver laughs softly as he looks off to the side, fiddling with his earlobe.

Doppio's parents exchange glances and breathe a sigh of relief. "I just feel so terrible that this has happened to the both of you. You're such kind young boys..." Doppios mother shakes her head.

Doppio's father sighs roughly. "Stupid kids think they can get away with anything because they're young. I hope they don't let him off easy. There's too much violence going on around here lately. It's horrible, just horrible..."

"I'm sorry that I didn't get there sooner. If I had've known..." [Even if I did. I'm so damn weak...]

"No, no. It's our fault for not notcing something was wrong! He's our son... it's our job to look after him." She looks down with a guilt-stricken expression.

"He hid it from all of us." [They shouldn't blame themselves... and I guess I shouldn't either. I know he hates that.] "I don't know why he felt like he couldn't tell any of us, but I'll make sure nothing like this happens again. I'll watch over him. Although it hurts my pride to say that I'm not strong enough to protect him, I can make it easier for him to open up, and tell me when something is wrong." [I owe him at least that much.] Ver looks over them with a serious determination. 

"Thank you, Ver. For caring about Doppio so much. We're so glad he has a friend like you~" Doppio's mother smiles.

Ver blushes. "Ah, n-no need to thank me. Honestly he's been the one that's cared about me a lot more than I deserve. Your son really is such a wonderfully kind person, I'm sure he gets that from being apart of such a caring family." [He's lucky, being surrounded by so much love.] "Ah, but anyway. I'm sure you want to see him. I won't keep you. It was lovely getting to meet the both of you." He smiles awkwardly. 

"Yes, it was lovely to finally meet you too! Please do come around any time you'd like. I'm sure Doppio would love that very much as well~" 

"Do ya like meat? I make some pretty good BBQ if I do say so myself! You should come around for dinner some time!" Doppio's father beams cheerfully.

[Whoa, what? Dinner with him and his parents?! Isn't that a bit weird...? Well, I suppose that's probably what normal friends do? I feel like I can't really say no...] "Ah, th-thank you. I'd love to, when Doppio is better of course." 

"Oh sure, just let him know when you're free to come around. We know you're quite busy with all your school work~"

[They do? Just how much does he talk about me?] "I will. Thank you, again. I-I'll let you go so you can see him. I look foward to seeing you sometime soon." He bows slightly.

"And you, too!" Doppio's mother smiles sweetly.

"Yeah, good to meet you!" Doppio's Dad grins. 

As Ver starts making his way to the exit. "Will you be alright? Are your parents picking you up, or...?" Doppio's mother questions with slight concern.

"Ah- I-i'm okay. I'm getting picked up by my Dad." [That's a lie. But I don't want them to worry about me. It'd be too pitiful to say that they don't even know I'm here.]

"Oh, alright then. See you later, Ver~" 

"Goodbye." He smiles with a small wave. His smile fades as soon as his back is turned. [Unlike Doppio who arrived unconscious, I had a say in my emergency contacts being called or not. If they knew I was involved in a fight, they'd take my phone away on the spot. If I had've needed surgery though, this would've turned out entirely differently. I am still a minor afterall. I hate that despite the fact I mostly live alone, I still don't feel independant at all. I still gotta do what I'm told, and live with restrictions. If I told them I got hurt, they would probably just yell at me. Or worse... they might think Doppi is a bad influence and tell me to cut him out of my life. I know they think they're doing what's best for me, but seeing Doppio's family...] He sighs. [Anyway. I shouldn't feel too bad. It could be a lot worse.] He looks around for a moment. [Now then, how the hell am I gonna get home?]

After about an hour spent waiting at a bus stop and a twenty minute journey, Ver was finally home. He unlocked the door to an empty house, sighing as his eyes adjusted to the dark. As he wandered through the house and turned on the lights, he made his way over to the fridge, opening the door and having a peruse. [I guess she hasn't come back today either. Maybe I should send her a message?] He closes the fridge and takes out his phone. 

(Hi Mum, are you coming back home soon?)>

[She might end up staying overnight in the city again. Normally she comes home around this time and prepares food for the next day, though I'm usually asleep by then. Even if she did come back before I went to bed, should I say something? I feel bad hiding what happened. I'm sure she'd want to know. But at the same time, I don't want to worry her.] He touches a hand to his stomach, grimacing at the pain. [Well, it's not too bad. They said over-the-counter pain meds will do, other than that I guess I just try to take it easy and wait for it to heal. I hope Doppi's able to get some sleep. From the looks of it, he'll probably stay overnight. I imagine he's gonna be off school for a while...] 

*Puru-riring*

[Hm? Oh, I guess she texted back.]

<(Staying overnight. If you need money for shopping

there is some in my bottom drawer. Make food for

yourself okay? Don't buy crap instant food.)

(Ok.)>

<(And go to bed. It's late.)

(I will, have a good night.)>

Ver turns off his phone. [I didn't get to eat anything for dinner, but even though I'm kinda hungry, I feel like it would hurt more to have anything in my stomach. Maybe I'll just go to bed.]

After lazily making his way through his nightly routine before bed, Ver finally lays down, pulling his bedsheets up to his chin. [Man. I usually sleep on my stomach, I don't wanna have to sleep on my back~ It doesn't feel right. Maybe I could just try...] Ver turns over onto his stomach. "Ah! Shit-" After the slightest amount of pressure sent a shooting pain through his stomach, he immediately flipped back over. [Nope, nope, nope. Not even gonna attempt that. These next few nights are gonna be hellish aren't they? At least Doppi probably has meds to help him get to sleep. I just gotta close my eyes and hope I fall asleep.] He closes his eyes, trying to relax. His brow furrows, and his mouth forms an irritated frown. [I'm so uncomfortable... I need to think about something else.] 

{Do you need me to kiss it better?}

"AH!" Ver's eyes shot wide open. [NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT! Quick, think of something else! Sheep! Fields! Blue sky and flowers. Daisies. Buttercups. Tulips... lips. Doppio's lips... FUCK! I don't want to think about Doppio's... soft... red. STOP IT! Kissing my stomach... STOP! Down to my pelvis... WHAT THE FUCK?! NO! No, no, no! Don't go there! Do not. Go there! He's your friend! He's your kouhai! Save that imagery for your future girlfriend and sleep godamnit!] 

He did not sleep that night.

End of Chapter Twenty One.

Chapter Text

"Ughhhhh..." Ver rolls his head around, trying to relieve a stiffness in his neck. With eyes half closed, he opens his locker and puts his shoes away and grabs his school books for the morning. 

"Yo!" Kotoka comes up behind Ver and grabs onto his shoulders. "Good morning, Ver! Hehe, did I scare ya?"

Ver groans, too tired to snap at her for trying to startle him. "Morning..."

Kotoka lets go of him and moves to his side, leaning in to look at his face. "You good, Ver?"

"...Tired." He turns to face her, rubbing his eyes.

"Yaba- you've got some serious circles under your eyes! You not sleeping well?" 

"Not really. I had a terrible day yesterday." 

"You did? That sucks. Oh speaking of terrible things that happened yesterday! Did'ya hear there was a fight after school? Some first year got beaten up pretty bad apparently. And they say some other guy ran up to them and started going crazy! I don't know if he was trying to escalate it, or trying to stop them though. I don't really know everything that went down, but I think the bully got chased away and then the police got involved. He must have been a really violent guy or something because I heard he was expelled this morning."

[He was expelled? That's good. That means he'll be far away from Doppi, right?] "About that..." [Man, news really travells fast though. Did Meloco say something, or did someone else see us?]

"Hm? Do you know about it?"

"I was there."

"Whoa, really?! You mean you saw it happen?" 

"More like, I experienced it." Ver looked off to the side, a little ashamed.

"WHAT?!" 

"Hey! Keep your voice down."

"Y-you mean? Wait, huh? I'm confused."

"Doppi was the one that got hurt."

Kotoka's eyes immediately filled with worry. "What...? No way..."

"Yeah. I was on my way home when I heard someone in pain. I went to look and I saw him-" He grimaced just recalling the details. "-I saw him all beaten up. I think I went into some kind of shock, I just saw the guy that hurt him and I started shouting. I don't even remember what I said. I think I was so angry I was speaking Korean, I couldn't even form words in English I was so pissed at him!" Ver chuckles, imagining what he must have looked like. "I think I was just trying to scare him. I knew I couldn't beat him in a physical fight, so I thought if I acted like a lunatic he would just back off. But, as soon as he started punching me that gave me a bit of a reality check, haha..." Ver touched a hand to his stomach. [Ah- I shouldn't laugh. It still hurts.]

"You got hurt too, huh? Is it bad?" She looked at his face, then the rest of his body, trying to see where he was hit.

"He got me in the gut. He only hit me twice, but still, he was pretty strong. It's not unbearable, but it hurts a bit to breathe and laugh." 

"Damn. You sure you should be at school? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to stay home." [Man. I take the day off if I get a bad headache, I thought he'd be the type to complain and wanna rest?]

"If I did that my mum would find out, and I don't want my parents knowing I was in a fight. Besides, we've got a bunch of tests soon. Even if I wanted to stay at home, I don't want my grades to slip."

[He's still prioritising schoolwork over everything else...] "Things are pretty strict for you, huh?"

"Mm. But I kinda choose to put a bunch of pressure on myself, so I can't really complain." They continue talking as they start walking to home-room together.

"True, but still. You gotta take it easy sometimes, otherwise you'll just get burnt out again." 

"Yeah. You're right about that." [She's worried. Maybe I shouldn't have told her about the fight.]

"What happened after that by the way? Like, after he hit you, did you get up and chase him away?" 

"Actually, it was Meloco." 

"Ehhh! Melo-chan!? Maji?"

"Yeah. If she hadn't chased him away, I probably would've been beaten as badly as Doppi, if not worse." [I should find her and say thanks. Should I get her a gift? I wonder if she likes sweets.]

"I wouldn't have expected that. She's pretty quiet, even when we were hanging out the other day, she barely said a word." 

"Are you sure you didn't just talk so much she didn't have an opportunity to say anything?"

"Hey! I asked her plenty of questions! I was trying to get to know her!" 

"Hm, maybe you were too invasive and scared her?"

"That's rude! Why do you assume it was because of something I did?!"

"Because I know you." He smiles smugly.

"Omae-" She moves to hit him but stops short. "Hmph, you're lucky you're already hurt." She flicks her hair over her shoulder, walking into the classroom ahead of him.

"Pleh- pff! Bleh! Don't flick your hair in my face!" He follows in after her.

"Waru katta na—" She pulls on her lower eyelid and sticks out her tongue, mocking him. She then sits down at her desk, slouching and extending her legs. 

"Tch." [Child.] 

As class commences, for once Ver isn't paying full attention, and is busy looking out a nearby window. [It was so quiet without him this morning. I mean, we haven't walked to or from school in a while because he was avoiding me, but today especially... I guess I'll have to get used to being alone for the next, I don't even know how long. It'll be like how things were before I met him. Before I met Doppio... all those days just sort of blend together. I was so lonely. Well, I did have Kotoka, but... she has so many other friends. Though I suppose I didn't really spare much time to hang out with her. She did invite me to join her plenty of times. But I was always busy. Two years of being 'too busy', I'm sure I could have spared the time if I really tried. This is why I need someone like Doppi, he'll just guilt me into doing whatever with him. Everyone else would just give up and stop asking. I should make time to hang out with Koto more. Though, she normally likes to hang out in big groups. The thought of doing karaoke or something with a bunch of girls is kinda terrifying. But I am in my last year of high school, I should probably try to get out a bit more. Maybe if I had Doppi with me it wouldn't be so bad. I feel like he'd steal everyone's attention and I could just chill. Either that or he'd force me to join in and embarass the crap outta me.] He shakes his head at the thought. 

"Ver."

[I suppose it doesn't have to be karaoke. I don't know many songs after all. Well, at least not ones anyone else would know. Not to mention I'd probably die if they forced me to do a solo.]

"Ver."

[I wonder what Doppi's singing voice sounds like? I can imagine him singing a bunch of anime songs for sure.] He laughs to himself softly. [Wait, he likes romance anime... does that mean he would know a bunch of love songs...? Doppio singing a passionate love song. If we locked eyes-]

"Ver!"

"Huh? Wha-" He turns towards Kotoka, who looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

The class laughs at him.

"You gotta take attendance. Sensei is waiting for you." She laughs.

"Oh, ah, right. Sorry." He laughs at himself.

"You gotta stop spacing out like that~" Kotoka teases him.

"Shut-up, Koto." 

Right up until lunchtime, Ver spent the next few classes distracted by his various thoughts. [I can't get him out of my head. It's only been a day. Though, it's not like we've been normal lately. I miss him just being himself and having fun together. When he comes back, I should make time to do something together. Maybe I'll ask him if there's anything he wants to do? Although... after the café, I don't know if I can trust him to pick where to go.] 

"Hm? Oh! Ver! Come over here!" Kotoka waves to Ver, ushering him to join her and her friend group at a table in the courtyard. 

"Hm?" He looks over at Kotoka and her friends. "What's up?" He makes his way over. 

"You wanna sit with us?" [He looks so lonely by himself.]

"Uh..." [Six girls... shit. What do I do? I should just say yes, it's probably rude to keep avoiding them.] "S-sure. If that's alright with everyone?" 

"Oh yeah, yeah! It's fine, right girls?" She turns to her friends with a big smile. 

"Y-yeah." [He's the council prez, right? Isn't he like, super serious and gloomy? No way he wants to hang with us.]

"Sure, that's totally fine with us~" [Hm, not my type. He seems boring.] 

"Melo-chan? You're fine with it too, right?"

"Oh yeah, of course..." [Thank goodness, they were grilling me so hard getting to know me. It's so difficult to act normal and not like a fujoshi.]

"See! Everyone's all good, you don't have to be so awkward!" Kotoka cackles. 

[You're not really allowing them to disagree though.] "Alright, then." Ver reluctantly sits down. 

Kotoka introduces all of her friends names and a bit about them, "And you've met Melo-chan of course, so how about you introduce yourself?" She smiles

[Oh crap.] "Um... so I'm the Student Council President-"

"They already know that, haha~ How do you introduce yourself to people outside of school?" Kotoka laughs.

[Who do you think I talk to outside of school? Apart from distant relatives and maybe my hairdresser when they force me to chat.] "Right... uh." [What do I say? I've got no hobbies or anything interesting so say about myself.] 

"Man, you suck at this! I'll introduce you, then!"

"Hey! Wait, what are you gonna say-"

"Okay so Ver is like, super hard-working. And super smart too. Like he's top of the class. He can get a little moody sometimes, and he's kinda got the humour of an old grandpa, and the joints of one, you really need to exercise more~"

"What the hell! I'm not an old man!"

"More like an old uncle then." 

"Ya! I'm not an uncle either! Stop calling me old, I'm 17!" 

"A-jeo-ssi~" Kotoka points at him mockingly. 

"So like, 'Ver', was it? I'm so curious, what's your skincare routine? Your skin looks so smooth~" 

"Oh shit, you're right~ Now that I look at him properly, damn, you're almost as pretty as a girl!"

Two of Kotoka's friends lean forward, suddenly interested in Ver. 

"Oh um, nothing too special. Just like, cleanser and moisturiser before bed. I do use some nice korean brands though. One of my aunties has her own korean beauty shop and she always gives me stuff whenever she visits. I'm not really too interested in that sort of stuff, but if she gave it to me I thought I might as well use it."

"Oh wow, really? So you don't wear make-up or anything do you? How are you so pale?"

"I don't go outside." Ver laughs awkwardly. 

"Haha~ so that's the secret to porcelain skin huh? You're funny~" 

[What? They think I'm funny? No girl has ever found me funny?] "Ah, thanks. So..." [Shit, what do I talk about, I should probably ask about them right?] "Um, what do you guys- I mean, girls, uh, t-tell me about yourselves." [What is this a job interiew?! God I suck at this.]

"Aw, are you shy? That's so cute~"

"A-ah th-that's, um..." [Fuck, fuck, fuck, this is brutal. I knew this was a bad idea.]

"WHAT KIND OF GIRLS DO YOU LIKE?!"

"W-wait, wh-what?!" [Where did that come from?!]

"Omg yes! Do you like long hair? Short?"

"Uh, uhm..."

"Do you like cute girls, or someone mature and sexy?"

"Uh... e-either?"

"Are you an S or M?"

"WHAT?!"

Meloco suddenly shifted her posture and started paying attention. [S&M? I wanna know too? Which one is it? Does he wanna spank or be spanked by-]

"C-can we please change the conversation?" Ver started sweating nervously. [Why did I come over here, I knew they would do this...]

"Were you the one that got into the fight last night?! Are you some kind of bad boy~"

[Oh God. Make them stop.] 

Later on, as school is ending, Ver was alone in the council room preparing information booklets for Hex and Meloco. "I'm glad I put those rumours to rest. To think some people thought I was the one that caused it. Hopefully that shouldn't be a problem, I assume those girls are gonna gossip about it to practically everyone they come across. Which... doesn't really sit well in my stomach, but at least people won't think I'm a secret delinquent or something." Ver sighs roughly. "I thought for once some girls were genuinely interested..." 

*Knock knock*

"Hm? Oh, Meloco. Good timing, I've got something to give you." Ver arranges a stack of papers and staples the corners together, he then slips it into a plastic sleeve and makes his way over to Meloco.

"Um, I was just wondering..." 

"Hm? Oh, sorry. You probably came here for another reason? OH! Actually, I'm so sorry. I almost forgot, I really wanted to say thank you for saving us the other day! I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there to stop that guy."

"That's what I came here for actually. I didn't get a chance to talk because those girls were on your ass so hard asking you so many questions. Was it super bad? Is Doppio okay? I didn't see him with you today so I was kind of worried."

"...He'll be alright. After I got treated at the hospital, I went straight to his room to check on him, and he was more or less his usual self. I'm not sure when he's allowed to come home, or if he has already." [I wish I had have gotten his phone number so I could message him. Though if he's still in the hospital I guess he wouldn't be able to reply.] "But don't worry too much, he looked a lot better after they cleaned him up. It was pretty shocking seeing him covered in blood..." 

"I feel really bad. I was there longer than you were, just sort of hiding because I was so scared. I called police but they were taking so long, and I saw you and you started screaming, so I thought 'maybe it's okay? Maybe he can help on his own?' I wanted to help earlier but my legs wouldn't move. But after he punched you I was able to run out, because I thought 'shit, no one else is around but me.' But I'm glad you're okay and Doppio is being taken care of. But yeah, I wanted to know if you guys were okay, and sorry I couldn't help sooner!" Meloco bows her head with slight shame in her eyes. 

"Oh man, Meloco. You really don't have to apologise at all. I mean, as your senpai I should be saying that what you did was extremely dangerous and you could have easily gotten hurt as well. But, just, seriously, thank you so much. If anything I should be apologising for being so useless. I feel terrible that I rushed in and wasn't able to handle it myself. Doppio would probably kill me for being self-depricative, but I've seriously got no strength at all. I'm sorry that I was weak and you felt like you had to do something. I'm sorry I put you in that position..."

"Ah, no it's not your fault! That guy was just a shithead."

"Regardless, is there anything I can do for you? Or anything you would like?"

"Oh, no it's okay. I don't need anything."

"Are you sure? I'd feel bad if I didn't repay you in some way."

"No, it's fine. I don't want you to feel like you're in debt to me."

"If you're sure... oh, wait. I haven't given you a role in the council yet. Is there anything you want to do? Apart from president and vice-president... and I technically have Doppio down as 'disciplinary', which does not suit him at all but he wanted it because it started with the letter 'D'. Because we only have you and one other member at the moment, and I haven't given him a role yet either, Kotoka and I have been handling the other jobs. There's the treasurer, who is in charge of the budget for all the clubs, there's a role called secretary, but I don't really like calling it that. Basically you note down all the content discussed in meetings and make sure everything is running smoothly etc. There's also event-organiser which is-"

"THAT ONE!"

*KIRA-KIRA*

"What- ah- oh, okay? Which one?"

"The event one! I would love to organise the events~" [So... I can organise a dance? Or culture festival with maid cafe and get Ver-senpai and Doppio to-]

"Just so you're aware there is quite a bit of work involved with that one. Depending on the type of events you'll want to arrange, you'll need permission from faculty, the council needs to agree by majority vote, you might need parental permission for some things or even off-site permissions if you need a venue for something. And keep in mind the Council has a bit of a limited budget at the moment..." Ver gives a slightly worried smile. 

"That's all good! I'll take it! I'm gonna work super hard so we can have fun!" Her eyes sparkle as she gives him an intense thumbs up. [I've gotta start planning, I have so many good ideas...]

[I don't like that look in her eyes...]

Later that night, Ver was at his desk studying, or rather he was staring at a blank notebook. He was completely absorbed in his own thoughts, a common occurance at this point. It was then that he glanced over at his phone, which was folded and perfectly placed at the corner of his desk. "I should have just asked his parents to give me his number. I just want to know if he's alright. What if he was playing it up again? He did say that when he was sick he was joking around a bit. Could he have done the same again? Was he just trying not to worry me? I want to see him, but... I should just let him rest. Wait... what if...? What if he really was trying to confess? He said he loves me... but he saw my reaction, what if he quickly tried to conceal it after what I said?" Ver sways in his desk chair from side to side, pouring over his thoughts. "Ehhh? No, I don't think that's it. It didn't seem that way. He was probably just genuinely delirious. Either that or he was just trying to embarass me again. I really have to stop overreactong to everything, otherwise he's just going to keep testing my limits." Ver rubbed his eye before nestling his forehead into his palm, closing his eyes for a moment before looking out through the gap in his fingers. "Oh shit!" He lifted his head up as a sudden thought popped into his head. "I said I was going to message Hex last night didn't I?!"

{I'll wait to hear from you.}

"Shit. He probably thinks I've been ignoring him or something. Crap. And I said I was going to give him some introductory stuff about the council. I still need to give him a role as well... though maybe I should hold off on that. He's not really a formal member yet, I shouldn't give him too much responcibility until he's comfortable." Ver grabs his phone, turning it on and navigating to his contacts. He selects 'Hex Haywire' and begins typing. 

(Hi Hex, It's Ver. Sorry I didn't message you yesterday.

I had a lot going on. Just checking if this works?)>

*Pururi-ring!*

"Damn, that was fast."

<(yeah it works this is hex)

<(more importantly are u alright? i heard abt

what happened yesterday...)

(What the heck? Does the whole school know???)>

(Also, yes I'm fine. Thank you for asking.)>

<(are you actually fine? i thought you got hurt?)

(I did. But not badly. It's mangageable.)>

<(ur not downplaying it are u? 𖹭 )

(I promise I'm not. I was cleared to be sent home and I

was at school today.)>

<(well that's good to hear)

<(hows ur friend?)

(I don't know. He seemed fine, but I'm worried he was just trying not to

freak me out. He did hide the fact that he was getting bullied afterall...)>

<(have you been able to talk to him after that day u fought?)

(Yeah. After Meloco chased that guy away, we talked a bit before

the paramedics got there)>

(I basically told him everything I had been feeling.)>

<(oh wow that must have taken quite a bit of courage to admit)

(Well. I thought he had passed out, so I was just kind of talking out loud

turns out he was awake the whole time. Though I'm not actually sure how

much he heard me say.)>

<(nevertheless that was probably quite big for u no?)

(Yeah. I guess I am proud of myself for that at least.)>

<(as u should be)

(Thanls)>

(*Thanks)>

<( 𖹭 )

(What is that? You sent one earlier.)>

<(𖹭𖹭𖹭 these?)

(Yeah.)>

<(u dont know emojis?)

(Oh. I see...)>

<(oh rite)

<(flip-phone)

(Yeah I can't see shit, it's just boxes.)>

<(allow me to get on ur level)

( ? )>

<( XD )

<( i was laughing at ur typo)

( ... )>

<( :D )

(Anyway. It's getting late. I'll send you some council

stuff over the weekend. )>

<(late? what time do u go to bed?)

(Like, 9? Why?)>

<(brother. it's not even a school night?)

(Shut-up.)>

<( ;P )

<(gn)

( ? )>

<(goodnight grandpa 𖹭)

(Hey! I'm not old! And don't send me stuff

I can't see you little shit!)>

<(𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭𖹭)

(I'm turning off my phogne.)>

<(PHOGNE)

(Alright. Whatever. Good night!)>

"God damnit. Is it actually possible for me to have a friend that doesn't make fun of me?" He turns off his phone, attempting to return to his studies. That night he somehow managed to finish his school work, though he was continuously distracted, and ended up going to bed two hours later than he meant to. Then as he got into bed, almost like his fate was already doomed, he spent another sleepless night, worrying about every little thing. Was Doppio serious? Or was he truly delirious? If rumours of their fight spread within the timespan of just one singular night, how quickly could other things spread? Had they already? What goes on behind turned backs and closed doors? Who was uttering his name? What sort of impression does he give? Is he studious? Or do people think he has a secret dark side? Do they find him cold? Unapproachable? Unattractive? Why were those girls so eager to ask him questions? Were they feigning interest... or not? So many questions were floating around in his head. But the one question that he constantly went back to. The one thing he couldn't shake from his mind. The one thing that was causing such a pain in his chest, more so than the real pain that was previously inflicted upon him...

"Is he okay...?" 

End of Chapter Twenty Two. 

Chapter Text

It is midday on a Saturday, and Ver is aimlessly wandering down a long strip of shops. [I know she said she didn't want anything, but I really should get her a 'thank you' present.] Ver stops and looks in the window of a cake shop. His eyes sparkling as he scans over the various displays. [How can they make fake food look just as appealing as the real thing? Some people are seriously so talented. There's so many nice things to choose from. But, does she even like sweet stuff? That's the thing, I don't really know anything about her. I feel like a safe bet would be strawberry shortcake. It's not too sweet, and it looks pretty.] Ver takes a step forward, as if he's about to enter the shop. [Wait a minute. No, that's no good. How would I get it to her? First of all it's a Saturday. I'd have to wait until I get to school to give her anything. Even then, it's not like I can just keep food in my locker until I can give it to her. In which case... that really limits what I could give her in terms of sweets that is. Even though it's nowhere near Valentine's Day, I feel like cookies or chocolate might just send the wrong message. Also, it's got to be something really good. Think about it. It's a thank you for saving our lives. I can't get something half-hearted. But... what the hell would be the equivalent? Then again, she said she didn't want me to feel like I'm indebted to her. Would getting her a really nice present just make her uncomfortable? If I got her something more practical...? But, I don't know what she already has.]

"No way! That's the ultra rare Pio-tama keychain! How did you get it?!" 

[Hm?] Ver turns around to see a group of little kids gawking over a plushie keychain. 

"Heh heh~ my big bro got it for me from the arcade! He's super awesome at crane games, he got it in one try!" 

"Man, I'm so jealous~"

[Oh right. There's an arcade at the end corner of the street. Maybe I could look for something in there? If I tried to get her something from the crane games, that would seem like a nice gesture, right? The present itself wouldn't be too extravagant that she'd feel bad, and it would probably take a bit of time and effort to win something. Yeah, okay. I think I'll just do that. Also, it's a good chance to look around. I've never been there, so maybe if it's cool I can take Doppi there once he's better.] Ver makes his way down the street and arrives at the Arcade, which is packed with teenagers and little kids. [Ah. It's a bit crowded in here. I might have to wait a bit to even be able to play one of the machines. I guess for now I'll just try to look around.] Ver slowly makes his way around the arcade, peering into the various gatcha machines and crane games. [Nothing is really jumping out at me. Most of it is pretty juvenile...] Ver walks past a particular machine that is filled with anime girl figures in short skirts and sailor uniforms. [Or too... that.] Ver then walks past a machine that has a singular prize in between two plastic bars. [Hey. This was the thing those kids were raving about earlier. 'Pio-tama'. It's actually pretty cute. But, I don't know if that's something Meloco would like. It looks more like something Doppi would have somewhere in his room. Hm? 'Pio'-tama. Dop'pio'. Wait, that's cute. Should I try and get it for him? I should probably get something for him as well. It would be nice as a 'get well' gift. That and he's been giving me sweets all the time. I should give something to him~] Ver looks down at the machine. [Oh. I guess you can't put money into it. Looks like I need a game card.] Ver looks around the room for a moment. [Where do you get that? Maybe by that counter over there?] Ver makes his way across the room and approaches a staff member behind the counter. 

"Um, hello?" Ver waits, fiddling with his fingers. [Did they not hear me?] "H-hello? Excuse me?" He puts up his hand slightly, though before he could try to speak again, someone else approached and got their attention. "Ah- m- oh, o-okay." [Dude. They just freaking cut in front of me! Hello?! Am I invisible?!] He stares into their back, biting the inside of his cheeks as he waits impatiently. Once the staff member was finally free to talk, he made sure to walk right up and stand directly in front of them. 

"Hello. How can I help you?"

[Finally.] "Uh, um- i-is this where I can get a card to play games? Ah, specifically the crane games. Is it the same card for every machine?" 

"Yes, it is the same card for every machine, and you can purchase one here."

"Oh, okay great. How does that work, do I just put like ¥1000 on a card and then I get a certain amount of tries?"

"Ah, no. Sorry but the minimum spend on the cards is ¥3000. That will give you 100 points, and that will give you a certain amount of tries depending on the machine. Some cost more points for bigger prizes."

[¥3000 as the MINIMUM? Aren't these places catered to like, teens and kids?! What the hell?!] "Ah, okay. Um..."

"By the way, is this your first time here?"

"Ah, yes."

"In that case if you choose to purchase a card I can give you a 10% discount."

[Hm. That's only a slight difference. That game didn't look completely impossible. It should be doable in a few tries. But I gotta think about Meloco's gift as well.] "What's the next card worth?"

"The next card is ¥5000 yen for 250 points."

[Mm. That's expensive. So if I get the small one, it's ¥2,700 for 100 points, or ¥4,500 for 250 points. Bearing in mind if I got the smaller one and needed more later, it would be ¥3000. So the bigger one is a better deal, assuming I might suck at the game.] "I'll have the one for ¥5000."

"Sure thing, I'll just apply the discount... that comes to ¥4,500. Will that be cash or card?"

"Cash." Ver opens his wallet and hands over a five thousand yen note.

"Thank you very much." The staff member opens a till and places ¥500 yen in a small tray and pushes it closer to Ver. "Here's your change, ¥500."

"Thank you."

"Please enjoy the arcade." They smile brightly.

Ver nods before making his way back to the crane games. "Tch." [It's a lot, but on the off-chance I'm good at it, I can always come back with Doppi later and we can use the rest of the points then.] "Okay. Let's do this." Ver arrives at the machine from before. "Hm?" Ver notices a little label on the machine. "It costs 50 points to play?! What?! WHY???" 

{That's the 'ultra rare' Pio-tama keychain!}

"Because it's rare?! It's just a plushie of a baby chicken wearing sunglasses? There's no way I'm playing this if I only get 5 tries for nearly ¥5000! I should just find something for Meloco and spend the points on that." 

After searching every machine in the entire arcade, Ver finally settled on a gatcha vending machine. Inside were many different types of palm-sized cat figurines. This way he was guaranteed to win something, despite the prize being a mystery. He was aiming for a black cat, since he thought it looked the most like Meloco. However, despite the fact that there were so many different cats, he somehow managed to pull the same orange cat three times in a row. It was only after his fourth try that he was able to get a white cat. Each time he tried it cost him thirty five points, so he only had one hundred and ten points remaining. "I could either try a couple more times on this one, or I could go back to the chicken one and try and win it in two tries." Ver looks down at the little pile of cats in his hand. "But I really want to get her the black one..." Ver screws up his face as he weighs up his options. "Mm... one more try. Just one more time, and then I'll try the chicken one just for the sake of it." Ver swipes his card on the gatcha machine one more time. "Come on, come on, come on... black cat, black cat, black cat!" Ver lifts up the flap of the machine and pulls out a plastic capsule, which was a solid yellow, so he was unable to see inside just yet. He holds it between his hands, closing one eye in anticipation. "Come onnnn..." 

*Pop*

He cracks it open, taking a peek. "Oh shit! No way! I got it! I got it! Yes!!! I was gonna lose my shit if it was another stupid orange one!" He smiles smugly. "Heh. Now I have three types. I don't know what I'll do with those extras, but now she can pick which one she likes. Or I could just give her all three? I... hope she likes cats. But come on, that's a pretty safe choice, right? Anyway, I've got just enough points left to give that other machine one try!"

Ver makes his way back over to the chicken plushie machine. "No way! Look at that, it's in the perfect position! Someone must have played it whilst I was doing the gatcha and got it in a really good spot! Yes! Now I really might be able to get it in one go!" Ver quickly walks up to it and swipes his card. "Alright. Let's just ease into a good spot with the joycon, okay, just a little bit more to the left... a tiny bit back... perfect! Yes! That's gotta be the best spot! Just press the button and..."

*Zzzzt, zzzzzzzzzzzt, bwowawawawawa*

"Come on, come on... yes! Right there! That's it, that's it! That's the spot! Right there..."

*Tink! Bwowawawawawa*

"What?! NO!!!"

*Wa-wa-wa-wa↘*

"There's no fricken way! What was that?! It touched it! I saw it! It should have fallen?! What's with this flimsy-ass plastic crane anyway? Does it not have enough pressure to actually push it down? Do you have to just... what? Nudge it in every direction until it eventually falls down?! What a rip-off." Ver turns away from the machine, walking away but after a moment, he stops in his tracks. "But then again..." ["Oh hey, Ver! I'm feeling a lot better now~" "That's so good to hear, I'm glad you're back to your normal self again~" "Yeah, yeah! Wait... hm? Are you hiding something behind your back?" "Oh, you mean this? It's just a little something I got for you as a present, I hope you like it~" "REALLY?! For me?! You got this for me?! Isn't that the super duper ultra-rare keychain?! And you got it for me?!" "Yeah, it was nothin'." "Thank you so much, Ver! I love it so, so much~"] "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try a few more times..." Ver smiles with a slight blush on his cheeks.

After just twenty minutes...

"...Shit. It's gone. All my allowance. The money I was supposed to spend on food for the next week. SHIT. How did I let this happennnn...? BUT I WAS SO CLOSE!!! It's there, it's right there. I know I could have gotten it on the next try! But... I just... I ran out of money..." Ver was on his hands and knees, devastated as the picture of the chicken on the side of the machine stared at him, mocking him. "At least I have some savings stashed away. I know one thing, I am definitely eating chicken tonight, you son of a bitch!"

"Ah! Ver? What are you doing here?" Kotoka and her friends stop in front of Ver.

"Koto..." He looks up at her with a pitiful expression.

"Bwahaha! Did you blow all your money?"

Ver simply nodded with the corners of his mouth firmly affixed in a frown. After a second or two, he stood up, ashamed at how lame he appeared, especially in front of Kotoka's friends. "I was just trying to win this stupid keychain as a present for someone..." 

"Aww~ That's so cute~" [Was he trying to win this for someone special?] One of Kotoka's friends giggled to herself.

"How much money did you spend?" Kotoka grinned, amused by it all.

"...I'd rather not say."

"HAHAHA!" Kotoka walks up to him and slaps him on the back. "Want me to get it for you?" She smiles smugly.

Ver narrows his eyes. "As if you could get it after I spent like half an hour on this thing." 

"Hmmm? You think I can't?" She raises an eyebrow. 

Ver folds his arms. "By all means, try it out if you want to." He gestures for her to go ahead. [This should be good.] 

"Alrighty. I will. But if I win it for you in one try, you gotta say I'm awesome!"

"Pfft, sure." [There's no way.]

"You'll eat those words..." She turns around, swiping her card on the machine. She grips the joystick, and hovers her other hand over the button on the other side, her fingers poised. She narrows her eyes, sticking her tongue out one side of her mouth as she searches for the perfect spot. "Kore da!" Her eyes shoot wide open as she glides the joystick, pressing the button simultaneously. 

*Zzzzzzt, zzzzzzzzzt, bwowawawawawa*

[There's no way...] Ver's eyes were glued to the keychain. [It won't fall. It won't.]

*Ptak! Bwawawawawawa*

"No... way. You've gotta be fricking kidding me?!"

*Bi-bidi-bi-bii-bii-bi-biibii!*

"YATTA!" Kotoka celebrates as the plushie falls through the machine and into the compartment. She takes it out, her bright red acrylic nails contrasting against the yellow chicken. She gives Ver a super wide grin as she waves it in his face. "Heh heh heh! First try! First try, Ver~~~ Atashi wa tensai da ne? Ne???"

"How the fuck? How did you...?"

"Koto is the queen of crane games!" One of her friends exclaims.

"Mm-hm! She's unbeatable!" Another one adds. 

[Shit. Now that I think back I think she has bragged about being really good at games before...] "W-well, well done! Thank you so much Koto! I guess I'll just be taking this and-" As Ver reached out for the plushie, Kotoka quickly held it from his reach.

"Uh-uh. Not yet. I'll give it to you once you admit I'm awesome." 

"Okay, fine. You're 'awesome'. Whatever. Can I have it now... please?" Ver tries to grab it but she spins around and takes out her phone, giving it to her friends. 

"No, no, no. You gotta do it properly." She pauses with a sadistic smile. "...On camera."

"What?! You didn't say anything about that before???"

"Well, I guess that's just too bad. I'll just keep this then." Kotoka turns away, stroking the plushie to tease him.

"Wait, wait, wait! No! I need it!" Ver pleads.

"Aw, you really want it?" Kotoka pouts. "But I think it's cute, I kinda wanna keep it." 

"Koto. Please...? It's for..." Ver's face grows hot, his ears and face tinted. "I just, I really need it." 

*KYA!!!* 

[It has to be for a girl! OMG his face is so cute! He looks so embarrassed right now!] Kotoka's friends were squealing internally. 

Kotoka looks down at the plushie, still reluctant to hand it over. It was then that she noticed a very small detail. The word 'Pio' was written on the side of the character's sunglasses. Kotoka let out a soft laugh. "Here~" She chucks it at Ver.

"Wait... really?" Ver looks at her, dumbfounded. 

"Yeah. I was just kidding. I wasn't really gonna keep it after you tried so hard to get it." [Okay I would have held onto it for a bit and teased him way more, but... I think I know who it's for~]

"...Thank you. Genuinely, thank you for getting this for me. It means a lot." 

"Don't worry about it~ I gotchu!" She gives him a thumbs up with a wink. [He's gonna love it~]

"Ah-" [Wait. Does she know I'm gonna give it to Doppi?!] "Wait, no- it's not- I mean- It's not for the reason you think- I'm just- it doesn't mean anything- I- um..." Ver started blushing harder.

*KYAAA!!!*

Kotoka's friends exchange whispers. 

"Suuuuuure~" Kotoka giggles. 

"Ah- a-anyway. I- I should get going. I've got, like, a heap of studying to do. And... laundry. So, yeah, um. Thank you for getting the keychain for me, I really appreciate it, I'll have to make it up to you at some point but ah... yeah gotta go, bye!" With that, Ver quickly dashed out of the arcade, holding a hand over his mouth as he felt a rising heat from his face. "Hah... hah..." Ver breathed heavily as he tried to calm his heartbeat. "It's not like that... it's really not. It's just a 'get well' present." Ver looked up to the sky. [Right?]

Monday morning, Ver is walking to school on his own, his gaze fixed on the concrete as he trudges along tiredly. [Man, yesterday went by like a blur. I barely got any chores done. I don't know what's got me so distracted lately. I feel like I can't focus on anything. Which is just great because we've got tests this week. What was I even doing going out on Saturday? I should have had my head down studying all weekend. Well, at least I was able to get what I was after, even if I wasted a bunch of time and money. Thank goodness I had the mind to put some money aside earlier. After paying for my hospital fees and blowing the rest of my allowance on the arcade, I've barely got enough left for this week. I guess that means sweets are completely out of the question. I'm gonna have to think smart about this... maybe I should make something in bulk and just eat it throughout the week. It's about time I learnt to cook more besides the basics huh? I'm sure Mum has some recipe books somewhere. Oh yeah, I was going to learn some recipes for Doppi. Ones that he could actually eat that he's not allergic to. I wonder if the keychain is kinda lame on its own? Maybe I could make him a bento as well. It'd be nice if we could eat a home-made lunch together. I mean, we do eat together occasionally, but I mostly just get the cafeteria food. He mostly just eats the same chicken, broccoli and rice. Which is surprising given his personality. You'd think he'd want fried chicken at least. Maybe there's just not a lot he can eat, given lots of things probably have traces of soy or whatever. I wonder how bad it is if he actually does have an allergic reaction? I should probably ask him in case it ever happens and he needs my help. I wonder if he's gonna be here today? I brought the keychain with me. Should I just put it in his locker? Or should I give it to him in person? I could probably find out where his locker is from some first-years... but if anyone sees me putting it in there. No. I should give it to him in private. Don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. Oh right, same with Meloco. It's probably better to just give it to her. Giving a present to a girl... now I'm getting kinda nervous. Well. I'll just give it to her after the council meeting on Wednesday. So I can worry about it then. For now, I gotta focus on studying.]

After Ver puts his belongings in his locker and changes his shoes, he makes his way over to the Library. On the way, he passes by a vending machine. [It's been a while.] Ver let's out an amused breath. [Not that I could afford strawberry milk right now anyway.] Ver sighs. [That brings back memories. I'm acting like it's been such a long time. We've only known each other for... what is it? Maybe two months? Damn. Time goes by fast~] As Ver arrives at the Library, he sits down at the same table that he and Doppio sat at the previous time. He was hoping to get some quick studying in for twenty minutes before home-room. [He was so cute when he was reading that manga. He must have really been enjoying it if he didn't even realise he was physically reacting to it. We should come here together again. I kinda wanna know what that book was about. It was so much fun when we were watching that show together. I bet he'd be just as excited if he was showing me his favourite book series.] Ver shook his head. [Concentrate, Ver, concentrate. I have to memorise everything before my morning classes. It's probably better if he's not here today. I've got a busy week ahead. Once again, we wouldn't have much time to hang out, because of me.]

[Oh God. Why is my mind going blank? Shit. Come on. What is it? I studied this part this morning, didn't I? Shit, who the fuck was before Tokugawa? Before... oh shit what year was it? Come on, think! Think! {I~ love~ You~} Shut-up! Not now! {Ver. I love you~} Stop thinking about it! He didn't even say it like that! It didn't mean anything! {Ver~ Do you love me back?} Stop it. The guy before Tokugawa... he never even said that, you're just making stuff up now anyway. Stop, focus, focus. {Verrr~ Let me kiss you better~} Stop it! Stop thinking about him! I'm supposed to be doing a test! Don't do it! Don't go there... stupid brain. {Let me kiss you.} His soft lips against mine...]

"Time's up! Pencils down!"

[No. No! I didn't finish! I... didn't finish a test! Me? I always finish! Ahead of time! I always just stare out the window for the last five or ten minutes. Why? Just why the hell was I thinking about all that at a time like this? That's so stupid. I need to focus for the rest of the week otherwise I'm gonna be doomed. I've got another test in the afternoon. What the hell am I gonna do?]

As the bell for commencing recess rings, Ver heads up a flight of stairs and arrives at a door. He takes out his keys and unlocks it, accessing the rooftop. He walks to the edge, leaning his arms on the railing, looking out with a sigh. He does nothing but listen to the sounds of the birds, the trees rusting. He tries to clear his mind as he feels a gentle breeze blow past. 

"Hey there." Someone taps him on the shoulder.

"AH! Fucking Jesus-" Ver turns around and sees Hex standing in front of him with a smirk on his face. "-Christ, Hex. Would you stop doing that?!"

Hex just smiles in response. "What are you doing up here?"

"Just clearing my head."

"From?"

Ver exhales. "Everything."

"I feel that." Hex stands beside him, leaning his arms on the rails. "You got tests today, too?"

"Yeah." Ver moves back to how he was positioned before, so the two are now in the same pose. 

"Do you think you went well?"

"In the first half... but towards the end." Ver hesitates.

"Did you get stuck?"

"No. Well, yes and no. I know I knew the material. I knew I could figure it out eventually, but I just couldn't focus on anything but... ah. Never mind."

"Something happen to make you lose your train of thought?"

"Not really. Nothing new at least. It's just my stupid thoughts going over the same thing, again and again." [I don't want to get into it right now. I appreciate that he's always so open to talking. He's such a good listener. But, now's not the time.]

"You can talk to me about it, if you like."

"Thanks. But I really should just focus on studying. I've got another test after this. I don't even know why I came up here. I might just go to the Library."

"Want me to come with?"

"That's okay. I'd rather be alone if that's alright?"

"Of course, of course. I understand." Hex's reassuring smile could be heard in his voice. "But if you do want to talk, just let me know okay?"

"Thank you. I will." Ver starts walking towards the door to the roof, but stops. "And, same to you. If you ever need to talk to me about anything. I'd be happy to listen." Ver smiles.

"I'm more of a listener than a talker, but I appreciate it nonetheless." 

"Even so, you gotta have things you want to get off your chest sometimes, right? I mean, you don't have to tell them to me. If you don't want to. I'm sure you've got other people you could confide in, I guess I don't really seem like much of a senpai, or maybe I don't give off the vibe of someone trustworthy enough to-"

"Senpai. You're plenty trustworthy. I just don't often have much to say. That's all." He gives Ver a half-smile.

"Oh, okay. Well. Anyways, the offer is out there." Ver starts walking again. "Uh, are you coming down or...? I have the key so-"

"I'll stay up here for a bit."

"Okay, just lock the door when you're done." Ver smiles. 

Hex nods. 

"Okay, bye Hex. I'll see you later." He waves.

"Bye." He gives him a small wave back as Ver shuts the door. Hex lets out a small sigh. "...I don't wanna be a burden. You have your own troubles. These demons are mine to bare alone."

[It happened again. The same thing. I couldn't stop thinking about stupid shit the whole time. Thank God these tests are just a practice before exams. Otherwise my parents would disown me if they saw how badly I did on that one. And it was Math. If they saw I did badly on Math. I don't even want to think about it.] Ver shook his head. [At least today is over and done with. Granted, I have more tomorrow, but at least I can just eat my lunch in peace and not worry about anything else for the rest of the day.] Ver sits down in the courtyard with his lunch box. Unconsciously, his eyes drift over to the spot where Doppio had been playing the week that they first met. Ver chuckles to himself. [It would be nice if I had the time to just goof around with him. If I had no worries at all. No commitments. It'd be nice to just go for a walk somewhere. Somewhere pretty, with not too many people. I wonder if he's ever travelled?] Ver closes his eyes, thinking of the beautiful scenery in Korea. [He'd love it there. The city and the food. Or, maybe he'd like the countryside better? I could take him to my aunt and uncle's strawberry farm. They're always trying to drag me to Korea to help them with the farm, I bet he'd have tonnes of stamina. He'd say something like, "I'm gonna pick way, way, way more strawberries than you, Ver! Just you wait!"] Ver laughs fondly, before his smile fades. [Shit. Is it normal to miss him this much? He's my best friend, but do people ordinarily miss people this much after just a few days? I hope he's okay. I'm probably just worried. Yeah. That's it. It's because he got hurt, and we haven't properly hung out in a while. But man, I guess I never realised how lonely I feel without him. I swear I never used to feel like this before I met him? Probably because all I thought about was schoolwork, and I never did anything different. But after meeting him. I've made a new friend. I exercised. I got a feeling Kotoka and I are better off than before. I'm taking care of myself better. Well. Somewhat. Fuck, I miss him so much. Something doesn't feel right? I shouldn't feel this awful just because he isn't here. Maybe I should go and talk to Hex?]

Ver gets up from his seat and starts looking around the courtyard in search of Hex. [I guess he wouldn't really eat his lunch around too many people... should I just text him and ask where he is? My phone is in my locker, I don't really want to walk all the way there. Then again, searching for him could take even longer. Yeah I'll just text him.] On his way to his locker, he brushes past someone in a hurry. "Oh, sorry!" Ver turns around. "Oh! Hex, I was looking for you." Ver turns around and catches up to him.

"Huh?" Hex stops, although he seems somewhat stressed and a bit out of breath. "Oh, Ver-senpai. Um, did you need something?" He looks off in the direction he was heading, before quickly fixing his gaze back to Ver.

"Oh, I uh- was gonna ask if you were free to chat, but if you're busy..."

"Oh. Shit, um- I am kind of busy..." [No. What if it's important?] "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm good. It can wait. Don't worry." 

Hex hesitates, glancing behind him. [I don't want to leave him, but.] "It's just, I'm late for my club meeting." 

"Oh, sure. Yeah, no worries. Wait, you're in a club? Which one?"

"Photography. I usually don't go to meetings because they normally just let us be independent, but someone broke a camera and we're all getting punished for it, so yeah..."

"Oh shoot, that sucks. But yeah, it wasn't anything important so don't worry about me. I don't want you to be late."

"Sorry, and... thanks." Hex starts heading off. "I- I'll text you later. Just- sorry! I'll make sure to text you!" Hex jogs off to his meeting.

[Damn. I've never heard him raise his voice. I mean, that wasn't that loud or anything. But still, that's the loudest I've heard him. I've also never seen him jog. So that was... interesting. Not gonna lie I probably look the same when I jog...] Ver starts making his way back to the courtyard. [Oh, there's Kotoka and her friends. I wonder if they'd let me sit with them again? I mean, last time was a nightmare, but at least it would distract me from thinking about Doppio too much.] Ver starts walking closer to them. [Wait. Oh, this... this looks like a bad time. One of them is crying. Ah, they look like they're in the middle of some drama or something. I won't intrude.] Ver turns around and walks back to where he was sitting originally. [Maybe I could find Meloco and give her the cat figures I got. It'd be a good chance to get to know her better, and see how she's doing with the workload from the Council. I guess she would be in a club too since it's mandatory. Though it isn't mandatory for Council students, she and Hex both joined later in the year, so they would have had to join a club. I wonder where she- oh. She's over there with Kotoka's group. Damn. So I guess I'm just gonna be by myself. That's okay. I can deal with that.] Ver sits back down and finally opens his lunchbox to eat. [Mm-mm, plain tuna and white rice. I look forward to eating this every day for the next week.] He sighs as images of sweets float around in his head. [I wish I had have had a sweets stash instead of a money stash.] He sniffs with a sad face. [I should have gone to a shopping centre on the weekend and stocked up on free samples.] 

As Ver was walking home form school, absent-mindedly, he somehow found himself outside of Doppio's home, without any knowledge as to how he got there. "What? Doppi's house? Why did I?" [Was I really that distracted that I accidentally walked here? Shit.] Ver notices that the lights are on. [They're home. So I guess he's back from the hospital. Well, it has been a few days, so that makes sense. I guess that means he's probably doing okay if they sent him home. Should I... do a quick visit? Would he like that? I do really want to see him. Would now be a bad time?] Ver takes out his phone and looks at the time. [Oh shit. Did I really stay at school till this late? It's right on dinner time. I shouldn't disturb them.] Ver turns and starts walking away, but quickly turns on his heel. [Wait, but they did invite me to dinner?] He turns around again. [No, no, no. That's rude. To show up unannounced and just expect that it would be a good time and that I'd be welcome to dinner. That's stupid, no. I'm not doing that.] He starts walking away again, but again, turns around. [I could at least say a quick hello, like I just happened to be here, I'd like to see how you're doing? No, no, forget it. I'll just go home. I'll see him at school soon. He's probably still in pain. Mine has gone away, but he was pretty bad, and plus he probably didn't sleep very well in the hospital. Yeah, no he needs the rest. I'll see him soon. Just wait. Should... I give him the keychain though? I have it in my bag still. I could just leave it in the letterbox as a nice surprise? No, I want to see his reaction. But would it be too embarassing to give it to him in person? No, it shouldn't be? Why would giving him a gift be embarassing? What if he doesn't like it? What if he hates it? Is it stupid? Is it too juvenile? Will he be annoyed if I give it to him? It's more like something a kid would have... but he did have plenty of similar stuff in his room. What if he already has it? Ah, frick. I'll just go home. I'm over-thinking it. Just go home and wait till you see him next.]

The next day at school, Ver was even more distracted than the previous day. His mind kept pouring over the same thoughts, to the point where he was getting increasingly unaware of his surroundings. At first he was merely bumping into inanimate objects, and then he was bumping into people. He walked into a second-year classroom by mistake. He got hit in the head with a soccer ball as he was walking around at lunchtime. To top it all off, as he was heading to what he thought was the Library to study, he entered the building to the schools' indoor swimming pool instead. [He wasn't here again today. Once again no one else was free to hang out with me, so I'm forced to wander around by myself. I guess the only thing I can do is try to study. Though every time I try I just end up thinking way too much...]

"Hm? Isn't that the Council President? What's he doing here?"

[I want to see him so bad. I just want him here and smiling again. I want things to go back to the way they were. I don't like this. I don't like being by myself any more, it's too damn lonely without him. Just come back. I want him to come back, but I want him to rest too. Should I go and see him after school? I could try and finish early and just say hello?]

"Oi! What are you doing?! Dude! Look where you're going!!!"

[But if he hasn't come to school, that means he isn't ready to come back, so he's probably not ready to see anyone either. What if he's bedridden? He might not even be able to get up. What if he broke a bone? God I'm so worried. I just hope he's alright. Please, just be alr-]

"Oi!!!" Someone grabs onto the back of Ver's shirt and pulls him backwards, full force. 

"Wahhhh!!!" Ver falls on his butt. "Ow! What the?!" Ver looks around, stunned. "Where...?"

"Dude! What the hell do you think you're doing?! You were about to fall in!" Some tall, shirtless boy in speedos stood behind him with his arms crossed, looking down at Ver.

"Ah!" Ver quickly stood up. "Sorry! I ah-" [I don't even have a good excuse. What the fuck was I doing?! How did I get here?!] 

"Listen kid..." [Ah, wait. His tie, he's a third-year? Shit, he's my senpai.] "Ahem, uh. Listen. It's not worth it to pull all-nighters to study, okay? You gotta be alert. You could have hit your head if you slipped. It's dangerous to wander around here in a daze like that. Be more careful, alright?" 

"Ah, s-sure. Sorry." [Man. I feel like an idiot, everyone is looking at me.]

"O-M-G, girl did you see that?" One of Kotoka's friends was peering into the building from outside a window. "He was totally just about to fall in the pool!"

"I saw! I saw! Did you see that look on his face? You were so right, he is absolutely in love with someone!" Another girl clasped her hands together as she looked on at Ver.

"Ah! I wonder who it is?! Do you think we know her?"

"Dunno. He could be after someone smart?"

"Mm, yeah but he could be more like, opposites attract y'know?"

"True, true!"

"Hey, why don't we follow him around to see who it is?"

"No way, what if he caught us though?"

"Girl, he nearly walked into a pool, he's not gonna notice us."

"Omg true! Let's do it! Let's see who it is!"

End of Chapter Twenty Three.