Chapter Text
🪼⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
"It won't change if you keep glaring at it like this."
Ryo wasn't exactly hoping the letters would magically turn into something else. Something that wouldn't make his eyes squint like he's just stared right into the sun without meaning to. What a torture.
"This is a nightmare." He whispers to himself.
"Do you want me to slap you? Maybe, you'll wake up." Kenshin holds up his hand and pulls down the sleeve of his uniform blazer.
"Don't rub it. Fuck off." Ryo groans when Kenshin drops his hand and starts doing something like a tiny victory dance. "You'd dance on my grave if I died, admit it."
Kenshin laughs but does not explicitly deny it.
"Me? I'd rather say him." He nods towards the spreadsheet open in Ryo's laptop, and though he could be referring to any name listed there, it was clear as Ryo's irk which one he was denoting.
It makes Ryo glare daggers at the sheets again.
"I'd be the one dancing on his grave." Ryo drones. His eyes roam over the list of pairs for the biology project, curious to know if he's been the only unlucky one or if others were on the same boat as him. He couldn't exactly tell since he didn't know everyone, but Kenshin's pair was already souring his mood even more. "What the fuck? How come you got paired with Yu Haram?"
"You're too cute to be swearing, Hirose-kun~" Kenshin singsongs and pokes his cheek. Ryo pulls away too late to dodge his touch. "And huh? Is she any good? I actually don't know! Isn't she one of you smarties who sit at the front of each class and follow lessons like they've got guns to their heads?" He giggles. "Is she pretty? Oh, do you have a crush on her? Is that why you think I'm soooooooo lucky?"
Ryo sends him a dirty look.
"No." He says flatly and looks at his screen again to snoop some more. He pouts when he sees that Kyungmin has been paired with Wonhee, and Reo with Seungho. Kyungmin wasn't exactly brilliant like the other three, but he was serious enough not to exhaust you as a project partner.
Unlike a certain someone…
He was hoping Kyungmin would also be paired with someone he personally has a bone to pick with, yet it seemed like Ryo was riding out this storm alone.
Pair 6: Hirose Ryo – Fujinaga Sakuya
Ryo stares at the row until the screen becomes black and all he sees is his faint, displeased face.
"Alright, if the assignment is fully understood by everyone, the period is over and you can leave earlier. If anyone has any question, ask it now. Sakurada-kun, go back to your seat, please."
"Yessir!" Kenshin trots back to his seat, somewhere in the back where all the average and little over that students sit. Ryo watches him for a bit before turning his attention to their teacher again and raising his hand.
Their teacher, Hayashi-sensei, looks around the classroom with a soft smile before his eyes fall on Ryo. His smile widens a little, and he sighs.
"If it's complaints about the pairs, put your hand down." He says in general. "It won't change, I'm afraid."
"But, sensei—"
"I'm sorry, Hirose-kun, but no, if I keep changing the pairs according to everyone's tastes again, we will waste time." He claps a few times when the whispers get louder, students around the room already discussing the project's outline. "Quietly, everyone, quietly! I want everyone to submit their theme next session, which means on Wednesday." He announces, and the half the class approves weakly before going back to their chattering.
Ryo looks around himself; Kenshin was already noting something on his notebook while his groupmate, Yuha, read something to him from her laptop. Kyungmin, despite his usual shenanigans with Wonhee, was nodding solely with a deep frown of concentration while the girl explained something on her laptop to him. Reo and Seungho were working as well, enthusiastically, passionately, bright-eyed and fully immersed with notebooks open and pens between their fingers.
And Ryo?
He turns around, and looks directly at the row next to the windows, second seat from the back. It was empty. Ryo stares at it for a couple more seconds before slumping on his seat with a huff. Lips stretched into a tight line, he pulls the research template, project sheet, and pairs planning form closer, takes his pencil, and starts filling everything. He was supposed to do that together with his pair, but he knows that if he waits for him, he'll end up buried before the guy shows up.
At the end of the session and after everyone filters out the classroom, Ryo waves off to Kenshin and Kyungmin when they stall by the door, gesturing for them to leave without him and save him a seat for their next period. Kyungmin mouthes a 'good luck' with a grimace while Kenshin raises two thumbs up in the air with a soft 'you've got this!'.
Ryo adjusts his backpack's straps over his shoulders as he walks up to the platform.
"Sensei." Ryo approaches his teacher when the man is busy unplugging his laptop and wrapping the cable around itself.
"Ah, Hirose-kun. How is it going?"
"I don't know, you tell me since you paired me with someone who was absent today."
The teacher laughs softly at his sharp response, but as usual, does not reprimand him for his rather bold and arrogant retort. He knows Ryo gets quick-witted when displeased with something academics related.
"Oh, did I?" Hayashi-sensei frowns hard enough to make Ryo cringe. "Who's your pair again?"
"Sensei." Ryo pleads, and the man starts chuckling as he pushes his laptop inside its case. It barely fits, and he starts struggling with the zipper. "You did it deliberately, didn't you? You know I hate working with the likes of him."
"Hmhm." He hums, and then mysteriously gives up on zipping the laptop case closed to hide his pens and papers in his other bag. "I know that. But I want you to understand that I cannot always put the good ones with the even better ones and the bad ones with the even worse ones."
"That's unfair." Ryo says instantly. "This setup will sabotage my grade, sensei, you know it." He tries to reason.
"Uh… Can you try closing this for me, please?" He holds the laptop case for Ryo, and the latter grabs it without question.
"It did once, and once is enough." He continues. "You were there, you saw it." He says, quieter.
Hayashi-sensei slings his crossbody bag over his head and shoulder before grabbing the brush and starting to clean the board.
"I remember." He admits, but does not say more than that, and Ryo grows a little impatient. He wants to scream, frustration boiling in his blood and bubbling up his throat. However, he takes a deep breath, shuts his eyes for a second, then tries again.
"He's barely even there." He says slowly as he looks down at the zipper between his fingers. He sighs and tries sliding it. "He never shows up, for biology more than anything else. Sensei, I can't work with someone so unserious about their studies."
The sound of brush gliding across the chalkboard resounds across the empty classroom for a couple more seconds before Hayashi-sensei sets it down on the chalk tray, sighs, and turns around to look at Ryo with soft, apologetic eyes and a tight-lipped smile that makes Ryo's heart sink with disappointment.
"The idea was to put those who need some help with those who could provide them with it." He explains, voice dim and careful. He steps closer to Ryo, pries his hands away from the laptop case, then rests his hand on his shoulder. Ryo glances at it before looking at his teacher's kind eyes. "With Fujinaga-kun, I've tried with others, but it was hopeless. I trust he needs some guidance still. Maybe, you've got what he needs to push him up enough?"
Ryo's throat closes up at that. He recalls Yuha, Dahyun, Seonghyun, Asa and others ending up presenting their project alone after being paired with one Fujinaga Sakuya. He didn't want to experience that, no, not him. It was most embarrassing for him, supposedly the best of their year, the top student and representative of the classroom.
Push him up enough. Ryo repeats in his head, and silently curses their soccer coach.
"If already 5 of them didn't succeed, doesn't that mean that we should give up on him?"
Hayashi-sensei's brows ease into something pitying. Ryo looks away with a poorly concealed scowl of disdain. Fujinaga Sakuya deserved no pity.
"He clearly doesn't want to study. As simple as that. I don't see why I'm the one facing the consequences of his poor academic choices."
"Come now, Hirose-kun." The man tries to soothe, but Ryo keeps his eyes away. "Listen." He adds after some silent seconds. "Here's what we're gonna do. Exceptionally, your grade will be yours only, based on your work separately from Fujinaga-kun's work, and not depending on your work as a group."
Ryo looks at him again. He was quite taken aback, but tries to hide it. He composes himself again, clears his throat, and asks, trying not to sound too eager or desperate:
"Really?"
"Really, yes." Hayashi-sensei nods with a sympathetic smile. "But, if I see improvement in Fujinaga-kun's work and engagement with this project, you will both get bonuses for the upcoming examination. How's that."
This time, Ryo's eyebrows arch in pleased surprise.
"You're kidding." He whispers.
"Not at all!" The man laughs. "I promise." He whispers it like a secret and squeezes Ryo's shoulder once before letting go. "Now give me my case, come on." He extends his palm, and Ryo drops the strap over his palm.
"Thank you, sensei."
The teacher just hums in response.
He and Hayashi-sensei leave the classroom together. Then, the biology teacher asks him as he holds out the door for him:
"Oh, do you know where to find him?"
Sadly, Ryo does.
🪼⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Han Yujin was the exception to the rule, at least in Ryo's opinion. He broke the stereotype Ryo unconsciously believed and judged athletes by during their second year when he showed up as an exchange student. He wasn't a genius per se, yet he kept his grades high enough for Ryo to keep him in his more or less close circle. The only reason Ryo didn't hang out so oft with him was his closeness with other mostly unfavorable variables to his academic path.
"Yujin-kun!" Ryo waves enthusiastically across the soccer field. He even starts bouncing a little to make his rather small stature more prominent and visible. "Yujin-kun!"
He could run to him instead, but he really did not wish to make the effort, especially after classes, and more importantly, he needed to save the energy for the confrontation that awaits him.
"Yujin-kun!" He calls a third time, and as they say, three times is the charm because the boy spins around. A wide smile splits his face as soon as his eyes spot Ryo.
"Ryo-chan!" He waves back as lively. Then, he jogs towards him, leaving the soccer ball he was tossing around or whatever soccer practice exercise it was that he was busy with, and halts right in front of him. "How are you doing!" He asks, panting a little as he does.
"I'm doing great, thank you." Ryo returns his excited smile. Before Yujin can query about his presence in the soccer field, quite the exclusive sight, if we were to be honest, Ryo adds. "Actually, not so great."
"Oh." Yujin's shoulders slump slightly, his smile withering. "Is it about the biology project?"
Frankly, Ryo is not so surprised that Yujin hit the nail on the head so easily. Since the pairs list sheet was shared to everyone, most did surely discuss the repartitions, and Ryo being paired with Fujinaga Sakuya after the disaster that was their collaboration in their first year, it wouldn't take a genius to guess Ryo's sour mood.
"Yeah. Have you seen Fujinaga-san? I need to talk to him as soon as possible." He attempts a gentle smile to suggest he was not so phased by the situation, yet Yujin's pitying look was enough to guess he failed. It made want to throw up. He couldn't lose face in front of a classmate like this. Everyone must understand that he had the situation under control, and that his performance will be deserving of the top student title.
"I saw him talk with Kuroda-sensei earlier, probably about the upcoming game." Yujin looks around the field. "Hmm… I think he left for the locker-rooms though, so you might wanna try that first."
"Will do, thanks a lot." Ryo smiles politely with a tiny bow.
"You're welcome! And good luck!" He pats his shoulder twice before running off towards the center of the field again.
Ryo stares at him as he leaves, mind running in light's speed. He takes a deep breath, adjusts his tie and collar, then starts making his way to the locker-rooms. He runs a hand in his hair twice. Three times. Pulls out his phone, checks his appearance in the dark screen. Pulls down the hem of his blazer, runs a hand down his uniform's shirt.
And silently hopes Fujinaga Sakuya would have left already.
He does not fancy the locker-rooms a lot; He does not exactly have happy memories there, and the faint but constant smell of detergent, damp towels, and sweat made him nauseous. Paired with the humidity that clung in the air, Ryo would rather be anywhere else than in front of the rows of yellow and blue metal lockers. It looked eerie when it was empty, and suffocating when crowded. Lockers slamming, shoes squeaking, boys shouting over each other. Or sinisterly quiet, so quiet Ryo could hear his own breathing, footsteps so loud you would believe they slid a mic under his soles.
He approaches the wooden benches in the middle, heart thundering messily in his ears with each step he took towards the locker. Locker 21, the one Fujinaga Sakuya always hid his things in. Ryo's heartbeat quickens when he spots the slightly ajar door of said locker. A few others were also open, but those were pretty much never used, always empty, their doors always wholly slung open.
Ryo does not dare approach the locker too close. Instead, he stares at it from afar, then decides to take a seat on one of the benches. However, as soon as he sits down, he hears footsteps echoing from the tiled area in the corner of the room. The showers. Before the person shows up, Ryo springs up to his feet, fixing both his shirt and blazer's collar and tucking his overgrown strands behind his ears. He furtively clears his throat in his fist, then stands straight as a ruler, hands clasped before himself.
Sure enough, someone shows up soon.
Fujinaga Sakuya holds a white towel looped around his neck, damp, dark brown hair tousled, skin slightly flushed, wearing neither the P.E nor the school's uniforms but a simple black, short-sleeved tee with imperceptible graffiti on it as well as matching washed jeans. He pauses when he spots Ryo. The collar of his T-shirt was slightly stretched from being tugged on too fast, single pink hair tie dangling off his wrist as he lazily rubbed his locks dry.
If Ryo's heart decides to do a somersault at the sight or when their eyes lock, Ryo does not show it at all. He stays rooted in place, face neutral as he can manage, silent and patient.
Fujinaga Sakuya looks away after a 2-seconds long eye-contact. He does not acknowledge Ryo's presence more than that, does not address him or talk to him. He never looks back again after heaving a sigh and walking past him towards his duffel bag, a faint scent of soap following him as he does.
Water still dripped down his neck and nape, and he scrubs it once with the end of the towel before dropping onto the bench in front of his locker. He uses his free hand to shove gear into his duffel. The zipper snags on the corner of his jersey and he tugged it free with a quiet click of his tongue.
Ryo watches noiselessly as the boy opens his locker, grabs some random stuff, one of which being a rather cute, pink canteen with Kirby on it. He closes it and locks it, then tosses his cleats in last. They land in with a hollow clack against the side of the bag.
Ryo winces at the messy way in which his belonging were tucked inside the bag. He looks away with a quick blink. Fujinaga Sakuya had awful hygiene.
Yet you'd let him kiss you.
Fujinaga Sakuya stands frozen for a couple seconds before cursing under his breath and spinning around to unlock his locker again and take out a container that he chucks inside his bag as well.
The boy doesn't look at Ryo as he heads towards the door. The notable jingling of keychains knocking on each other fades progressively as the boy walks closer to the exit.
Ryo watches him do until the boy steps outside. He runs after him, catches up to him, then overtakes him with tiny more jogs and stops in front of him.
Fujinaga Sakuya lifts a brow but says nothing.
"We need to talk." Ryo begins. He was planning on jumping straightway to the core issue, yet brain always slows down and his mouth runs whatever words come out first when it comes to Fujinaga Sakuya.
"The fickle do we need to talk about?" Even though he sounds upset, Fujinaga Sakuya's face was completely unimpressed. "Do I know you?"
Quickly, Ryo's nice mask falls to the floor. He scowls and rolls his eyes. The latter fall on his many, colorful and cute keychains hanging off his bag. He counts them and realizes there were two new additions.
"You didn't attend biology today." He says sternly, locking eyes with his classmate.
"No shit, I didn't know. Thanks for letting me know, Pres'." He says flatly.
"I'm serious." Ryo insists. "We have a project, and Hayashi-sensei paired us for this."
Fujinaga Sakuya falls quiet as a tomb. His hand lets go of the strap of his duffel bag, and he closes his eyes, then lifts his head to the sky.
"You better be joking." He sighs. "Though that would make an awful joke since it'd make no one laugh."
Ryo's lips twist faintly.
"I'm not."
"Have you tried talking him out of his crazy idea? Unless you're in for this?"
Ryo looks at him like he's grow another head.
"Over my dead body! I don't wanna work with you!" He exclaims, then groans when reality hits him again. "You have no idea what we do in biology, who in their right mind would want that?"
Fujinaga Sakuya looks away, visibly thinking about a solution.
"You think we can convince him to swap us with another pair if we go the both of us?"
Ryo wants to scoff and tell him it won't change a thing. Sakuya was categorized in the below average students. He cannot even tell if their biology teacher remembers his name. If Sakuya went too, it would be pointless at best, and embarrassing at worst. It would look bad for Ryo, but he didn't want to tell Fujinaga that. Not exactly. It would waste time and add fire to the fuel.
"No, he already settled his mind." Ryo explains. "We have to go along with it, and you better cooperate and do your part of the work, this time."
"Right." Sakuya grins and steps closer to him. "You do the work, since you love studying so much." He whispers near his ear, one heavy hand on his shoulder, voice low, almost like a threat. "And you just add my name in it, hm?"
He leaves Ryo both mortified and confused.
"Hey!" He calls out after a dozen seconds of him just standing still, mind and heart racing from the words and proximity. "That's not how it works!"
Fujinaga keeps walking, hands in the pockets of his loose jeans, duffel bag and keychains swaying idly, hair ruffled by the late afternoon breeze. Ryo runs the few steps separating them and walks beside him.
"Shit, leave me alone." He clicks his tongue. "It's for the better."
"Absolutely not!" He retorts. He blocks Sakuya's path again. "I'm not just gonna let you chill while I do all the work, are you nuts?"
Fujinaga looks back at him, eyes bored, lower lip stretched out in that typical unruffled demeanor of his.
"Listen." He finally starts when Ryo feels like leaving him for now, and maybe just spam his DMs until he caves in. "We both know it just won't work." He leans in a touch, just enough to be eye-to-eye with Ryo. The latter stands straight as always, hands clutching the straps of his backpack, poker face on as he listens. "It ended on a bad note and detention last time, or shall I make you a drawing of that for you to remember?"
Remember what you said.
"And nothing guarantees it won't be the same this time around." He adds, makes a small pause, then ends it with, "I'm 99% sure it will be repeated history if we go along with it."
Ryo maintains their eye-contact, looking into Fujinaga Sakuya's gaze, trying to read something in his irises, finds himself noticing how the soft, honeyed, sunrays of dusk turn them lighter, kinder, warmer.
"What about the 1%?"
Fujinaga Sakuya straightens up with a solemn look on his face. He doesn't answer the question.
"I have to go." He states, too sharp and cold for the warmth his appearance radiates against the golden light. "Good luck with the project, Hirose-san." He salutes, then skirts Ryo and leaves.
This time, Ryo doesn't chase him.
🪼⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Ryo almost falls asleep on his way home. The soft humming of the engine, faint sound of foliage against the wind and turning of wheels on the rails, warm last rays of sunset kissing the side of his face, and exhausting turn of events today lulling him to sleep before he reaches his neighborhood. In these moments, as his eyes fight sleepiness, and his body sways with the gentle movement of the train, Ryo imagines a world.
A world without consequence, a world with him. And Fujinaga Sakuya.
His mind builds a vivid image of a date; him with his biology textbook, sitting on the fresh grass of the soccer field as the sun waves him goodbye, and Fujinaga Sakuya, not far from him, practicing as usual, hair damp with, and even though it was quite disgusting, his skin would shimmer with droplets of sweat, one that would glide along his temple and shin. Ryo is supposed to study, but he instead watches him, takes in the fierce, focused look on his face as he pierces the goal with one sharp look before aiming for the top corner. He scores, then smiles in that precious boyish way of his, a smile that only Ryo could witness. He looks back at Ryo, that same smile softening a little when their eyes meet.
Fujinaga Sakuya runs to him, holding his soccer ball under his arm, then asks him what he is reading. He would sit down, cross-legged on the grass, listen to him talk his heart out about Long-Term Potentiation, mirror neurons and synaptic pruning. He would listen carefully, chin propped on his soccer ball, eyes soft, his attention wholeheartedly on Ryo and Ryo only. He would ask follow-up questions, do that small shake of his head that would flick his fluffy fringe away from his eyes. He would catch Ryo off-guard by reaching out and tucking a stray hair behind his ear, fingers lingering on his jawline and cheekbone.
Then, he slowly leans in, brushes their noses together, closes his eyes, and presses his lips against Ryo's. Ryo hears the faint thud of the soccer ball hitting the grass when Sakuya lets it go in favor of holding Ryo instead. He rests his hands on his hips, leans in closer, presses longer. Pins Ryo to the grass as he kisses him harder, and Ryo loops his arms around his neck, pulls him down further until their chests are flushed against each other. He shyly parts his lips, and finally gets a taste of the boy's plush and lavish-looking lips.
Ryo snaps his eyes open. He thinks about it when studying and friends are no longer available distractions.
A realm where he wouldn't feel so guilty and angered at himself for liking someone he knows he isn't supposed to.
Where he knows Fujinaga Sakuya isn't the one for him, but doesn't care. Where he knows Fujinaga Sakuya will do him no good, would only harm him, but doesn't care because in truth, it's all in his head. Because he will soon realize that Fujinaga Sakuya is exactly how he wants him to be; kind, caring, curious and ideal. In this world, Fujinaga Sakuya is the ideal person Ryo wants him to be, one he knows he wouldn't regret choosing, and one he knows will be enough for him.
It wasn't the reality, however. Ryo rests his head against the window, watching absently as the cars, building and trees flash before his eyes, and hugs his backpack closer to his chest.
And when we have to sit with my family and everyone will be discussing studies, then what?
I deserve better than him. He will exhaust me. I need a nerd like me, someone who's intellectual.
Someone who wouldn't make me look like a fool in a gathering.
Someone who can keep up with my mind.
Yet, all he wants to see when he closes his eyes is them softly kissing in the soccer field.
🪼⋆｡𖦹°🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･