Chapter Text
"Sorry!" Were Tachihara's first words when they met. He had accidentally bumped into another student when he was heading towards his next class and all the belongings from the other male had dropped to the floor.
"No, it's fine. It was my fault for not paying attention."
Tachihara knelt down and helped him to take the books and other papers, handing them to him. It was then when it happened. It was as if time had stopped. His golden glance observed those deep blue eyes, admiring the red-orange locks that fell near his eyes. Michizou could feel his own cheeks becoming warm, when the other spoke with a soft voice. "Thank you."
He stood up and watched the shorter guy leaving. When he looked at his watch, he realised of the time. Damn, he was going to be late! And it wouldn't be precisely the best image for the first day. Luckily, he made it just in time.
However, he noticed. /He/ was there, in his same class. The guy he had met before.
Soon enough, he got to know his name: Chuuya Nakahara. Chuuya. That name suited him. He liked it. During the break, Chuuya approached him, what truly surprised Tachihara. The other redhead sat in the chair in front of him, and gave him a warm smile. He wasn't expecting Chuuya to come over to where he was, but it was nice however.
"Tachihara, was it? I... wanted to thank you for before. I couldn't do it properly―"
"Ah, no. There's no need for that. I was the one bumping into you before. I should apologise so... I'm sorry."
Chuuya smiled, shaking his head. "Mmh. I guess we're equal now, eh?"
Before Tachihara could reply, a guy from another class came, putting an arm around Chuuya and saying words which Michizou didn't pay attention to. He was a bit weird, having bandages in arms and neck. And why did he have so much confidence with Chuuya? To the point to teasing him. Perhaps they were childhood friends or something. He heard Nakahara asking Tachihara if he wanted to go to lunch with them but he refused. Probably it wasn't the best thing to do. He felt... slightly awkward when the bandaged man came.
He grabbed his lunch and went to the roof. It was quiet there and surely no one would disturb him. Tachihara didn't have the chance of making friends yet, but he didn't mind to be alone. He could definitely draw for a bit before going back to class. Because he loved drawing and any type of pictorial art.
Perhaps Art was the only subject he was good at. He also found an interest in languages and biology. However, he was terrible at Physics or Maths.
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The time he spent with Chuuya wasn't too much. Tachihara wasn't one that would stand out much in either class or the place in general. Besides, there was this strange feeling he had whenever he looked at Chuuya, heard his voice... which got worse when he talked with him. Most of the times, it was hard to talk without stuttering or getting all nervous. This had never happened to him before. What was wrong with him? He couldn't understand anything.
So he spent his breaks sketching something in his sketch book without being bothered by anyone. His favourite place was the roof or sitting on the grass by the shadow given by the biggest trees. It was definitely the best way to relax, to evade himself from the stress of the routine.
However, one of these days where he was peacefully drawing sitting under the shadow provided by a tree, something happened. His hands started drawing Chuuya. By that time, he had already memorised his features. It couldn't be denied that the guy was so pretty. But he was interrupted when he heard a voice from behind asking, "what are you drawing?"
Tachihara almost jumped, not expecting this, immediately closing his sketchbook. When he turned his head to see who it was, it truly surprised him to see Chuuya. Just. The one who he was drawing― He felt his cheeks heating up.
"Uh? I― I wasn't drawing anything."
An amused grin formed on Chuuya's lips as he asked, "Then what are you holding?"
"N-Nothing―" Tachihara hid the sketchbook behind his back.
"Oh, come on." Nakahara chuckled, taking a seat next to Michizou. "Can I sit here?"
"S-Sure, you can. But..."
"But?"
"Are you sure you should be here? Surely there's more interesting places."
Chuuya raised his eyebrows. "Should I leave? I'm sorry if I interrupted you while you were drawing. I was curious, just that. I hope to see one of your drawings some time." He winked, preparing to stand up and go elsewhere. But Tachihara's hand stopped him from doing so.
"I-It's not that. I thought... I'm not someone interesting. Just that... You can stay, if you want." He let go of Chuuya's hand. "And I suppose I could show you my drawings. Though they aren't any good." Michizou placed his sketchbook on the grass, next to him.
"Don't say that. I think you're someone fun to be around. I'd like to get to know you more. So... when you disappear you're here, huh?"
"Y-You noticed I disappear?! But yeah... Here or on the roof. It's calm and I like drawing in quiet places."
"Of course I did. I was looking for you these past days. We barely talked since that day."
"Ah, I'm sorry. I also want to get to know you, and talk to you. You're... nice, Nakahara-san."
"That's great to hear! And call me Chuuya, please." He gave Tachihara a soft smile.
Ah, that smile― Besides, being directed at him... Once again, he felt his cheeks warmer. What was wrong with him? And why was his heart starting to beat faster? Damn it. He ignored what he was feeling to grab his sketchbook, skip the page he was using before - since he didn't need Chuuya seeing that drawing, he would think of him as someone creepy - and handed it to the other ginger. "Take... a look if you want."
Chuuya took the sketchbook in his hands. He frowned seeing the page the other had skipped first. Why had he done that? "Can't I look at the page you skipped―? What's in there?"
"Ah. Eh. Well, that page―"
With that, Chuuya's curiosity only increased. "Please?"
"Y-You can look if you want, but... You might think of me as―"
Nakahara didn't let him finish the sentence, eyeing the page curiously. It's over. Tachihara thought to himself. Now that the shorter one had seen that page... He'll surely change Chuuya's opinion of him.
However, Nakahara's reaction was quite the opposite to what Tachihara expected at first. "Whoa―! Is that me? You're so talented! This looks― really good!" The way Chuuya looked, so excited with his eyes lit up, made Tachihara smile fondly. "Why were you even hiding this..?"
"W-Well, I thought you maybe think of me as someone weird, drawing you..."
"I could never think that of you." Chuuya quickly answered, going through the other pages, admiring the drawings in there. "You're so talented! I could never do this."
"T-Thank you, Chuuya-san."
What was this warmth he was feeling right in his chest? It was... strange. But it increased when Chuuya complimented him. He wouldn't stop having confusing feelings when he was with the redhead. Was anything wrong with him?