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Nakamura had noticed out of the corner of his eye how Hirose was pouting. He kept his face buried in his notebook but every so often would try sneaking a glance. Sometimes Hirose was looking right back at him and Nakamura had to quickly turn away and pretend he hadn't been checking him out.
And that was Hirose's problem.
He had realized quite recently that Nakamura was a nice looking boy. The sort of boy he wanted to date. And Hirose had reason to believe that Nakamura felt the same about him. And when he looked at all the signs, Hirose came to the conclusion that his friend had harbored those feelings for a very long time.
Yet no moved had been made on Nakamura's part.
Hirose didn't blame him. He hadn't exactly been head over heels for Nakamura until a few weeks ago. And asking another boy out could be scary. But Hirose thought he'd been sending good signals since then.
He told Nakamura that his family would be out of town and Nakamura had just said "Hope you don't get too lonely."
Hirose always told him when he was free for the weekend and Nakamura had only just nodded without saying anything.
At this point, Hirose might just have to grab his face and point to a neon sign. Despite his frustrations, Hirose wasn't going to be that forward. He wouldn't admit it, but he was nervous too. So he asked his friends for advice without really asking for it. He knew better than to do the whole "just asking for a friend" bit.
"How do you know when a girl likes you?", he asked when he had a couple of them over to play video games one day.
"Don't girls give out love letters?", one said.
"That's so old fashioned", the other replied. "No one does that anymore."
"Then what do they do genius?"
"Girls that like you act like you're already dating."
It was like an epiphany. Of course! Hirose had seen it in action. Girls always treated guys they like much nicer than guys they didn't. Making them lunches, giving them chocolates on Valentine's, specifically cheering them on during sports.
So that was Hirose's plan. To act as if Nakamura was his boyfriend. Surely then, the other would notice his feelings.
"Good morning, Nakamura-kun!", Hirose greeted that morning by the lockers.
Nakamura opened his mouth to reply but only let out a choking noise when Hirose hugged his arm. He was met with a smile whose brilliance rivaled the sun.
But that was only the beginning of Hirose's plan.
"Nakamura-kun, I hope you don't mind, but I made you lunch", Hirose said as everyone began to get up. They either left the classroom or moved their tables.
Nakamura looked to the sandwiches Hirose had presented. They looked good. Like the kind of thing you'd find in a high end cafe. He couldn't believe someone had made this for him. Much less the boy he was in love with.
"For...for me?"
Hirose nodded and smiled as he watched Nakamura eat and enjoy. But the plan didn't end there. The next day, he made sure they were eating outside where there were less people, because he knew Nakamura could be a little shy. And also because Hirose was a little embarrassed about what he was going to do next.
"Say 'ah'~", Hirose held up a meatball to Nakamura.
"A-aah?", Nakamura opened his mouth and accepted the food.
"You got a little sauce here. You're so messy, Nakamura-kun", Hirose giggled while wiping the other's mouth with a napkin.
While there weren't a lot of people out where they were, there was the occasional student and a couple just happened to pass by and see them. They said nothing to the two guys lost in their own world.
Hirose figured his plan was working. Nakamura got more used to his affections anyway. The only problem was that neither of them ever actually spoke about their feelings and it took until near the end of their third year for anyone to mention anything.
The group of friends were sitting under a large tree outside the school. Nakamura's back was to the tree. And Hirose's back was to Nakamura's chest, as he was sitting in his boyfriend's lap.
The other two friends made no comment on this, used to their closeness by now. They were talking about plans for after high school, and what they were going to do in college. Nakamura had been studying hard for his own entrance exams and was resting his head against Hirose's shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around him.
"So...are you guys going to keep dating after graduation? You'll be going to different universities, aren't you?"
"Of course we are", Hirose said at the same time that Nakamura's head shot up and he shouted, "WE'RE DATING?!"
Hirose frowned at that. "Since last year! What are you talking about?!"
"This-! This is the first I'm hearing of it!", Nakamura exclaimed.
"You guys are always holding hands and touching each other", one of the friends said, giving their current position a meaningful look.
"I thought...that was just him being friendly."
"We're on a first name basis now!", Hirose said. "And we kiss!"
"Friend...kisses?", Nakamura said.
Hirose pouted. "You're hopeless."
"I didn't want to get my hopes up", Nakamura said. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"Because you should've realized. I don't do things like this with just anyone", Hirose said, shifting a little in Nakamura's lap.
The other young man blushed and buried his face in his friend (his boyfriend's) back. Nothing would ever let him live down this level of embarrassment.
"I guess... we're dating?"
"Yes."
"And we have been for over a year."
"Yes."
Nakamura smiled and looked up, then kissed Hirose's cheek as he had done several times by now. "I'm glad."