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“Sorry again I couldn’t make it yesterday,” Miyano apologized. He placed his bento atop the desk, taking extra care as he unclasped the lid and set it underneath the container. It’d be pretty bad if he spilled anything on this desk that wasn’t his, especially since it was in a classroom that wasn’t his either.
“It’s okay,” Kagiura replied after taking a second to swallow down the piece of karaage he’d been eating. Miyano hadn’t even started yet and it looked like Kagiura had already inhaled half of his lunch. Such was the appetite of an athlete. “What came up?”
Miyano blinked, not expecting to actually be asked for a reason. “W-well—” he cut himself off, keeping his eyes down to where his food was. His cheeks were tinged with a noticeable hint of pink. “Um, Sasaki-senpai came by and wanted to hang out.”
Niibashi let out a small huff, though it quite obviously wasn’t due to him being disappointed that Miyano ditched their plans just on his boyfriend’s whim. It was a huff of defeat, knowing where this conversation was headed. He continued to sit and eat.
“Ehhh?! He just showed up?” Kagiura pressed.
“He picks me up after school sometimes,” Miyano shared, trying and failing to seem less embarrassed by taking the first bite of his lunch to distract himself. Having to mention his boyfriend always made little butterflies tickle the insides of his stomach so he couldn’t help but react this way.
“Ehhh?” Kagiura reacted and sighed. “I’m jealous. Hirano-san’s always exhausted after class. College really is doing a number on him.”
And just like that, all traces of bashfulness from Miyano’s face disappeared. He perked up, looking up at Kagiura with wide, sparkling eyes. “M-maybe you should go pick him up instead!” he suggested enthusiastically.
“Eh? But his school’s all the way in Tokyo,” Kagiura replied, confused.
“Exactly! It’ll be unexpected! Like a grand gesture,” Miyano gushed, already getting lost in his own BL-addled head. “You should go to his campus and surprise him. Find out his schedule and what time he gets out of class, wait for him at the—”
“Alright, enough of that!” Niibashi cut off the incoming rant. “God. Can we go one lunch without talking about your love lives?!”
“I didn’t mean to, it’s just—he asked!” Miyano defended.
“Come to think of it…” Kagiura started curiously. “Why aren’t you dating anyone, Niibashi?”
Miyano had been wondering the same for a while. They hadn’t been hanging out very long, but Niibashi hadn’t really revealed anything about that part of his life.
“It’s hard to find anyone cuter than me,” Niibashi answered in a way where it was hard to tell if he was joking or not. Knowing him, however, Miyano wouldn’t be surprised if he were serious.
“Maybe you should lower your standards a little,” Kagiura replied as he started putting away his bento, first to finish among the three of them, as was usual.
“Why not try and talk to people who have things in common with you?” Miyano suggested. “I know a girl from middle school—“
Niibashi made a face upon hearing the word ‘girl’ and Miyano paused.
“I-I didn’t want to assume!” Miyano threw his palms up in defense. It was important for him not to just deduce that every guy with a slight build and feminine face preferred men. Because after all, that just wasn’t true. And on a more personal note, he had experience with other people thinking that of him, so he knew how it felt.
It had turned out their assumptions were correct, but that was beside the point.
“I know someone on my team who keeps complaining about wanting to date someone,” Kagiura mentioned.
“Oh! You’re talking about Shirahama, aren’t you?” Miyano asked, immediately picking up on the brief but recognizable description. “He’s looking for a girlfriend, though.”
“Hmm…you’re right about that. But with how much he complains, I think he’s desperate enough to take a boyfriend,” Kagiura theorized.
“What on earth makes you think I want to date someone desperate?!” Niibashi glared.
“Well, that’s not all there is to him. He’s pretty good at basketball too!” Kagiura vouched.
“If that’s all there is, then I’ll pass,” Niibashi said with a wave of his hand.
“No, there’s more!” Miyano spoke up. “He’s, uh….um…uhh…”
Kagiura and Niibashi waited patiently for about a minute.
“…He’s a nice guy?” Miyano finally decided.
“Great,” Niibashi replied dryly. “I may as well have just dated Kagiura.”
“Hey!” Kagiura exclaimed, pouting. “Would that be so bad?!”
“Yes,” Niibashi answered, popping a piece of carrot in his mouth.
“Why don’t we introduce him and we can see how you feel?” Miyano suggested.
Niibashi looked at him warily. “Ohhhh no, I know what this is. You’re trying to find a new couple you can push all your weird BL fantasies onto!”
“N-no! That’s not it at all!” Miyano loudly denied. A couple of guys from their class looked his way, and he reminded himself to reign it in. At a normal volume this time, he continued. “But if you’re not interested in Shirahama, I have another friend who…might…be okay with dating a guy too.”
“Why do you know so many desperate guys?” Niibashi asked.
“I only know two,” Miyano corrected. He paused in thought. “Er…well, three.” If he were to really think about it, he was sure there were others. But he’d leave it at that.
“I was expecting a higher number if they’re all from Class B,” Niibashi commented.
There was a lull in the conversation for a moment as they ate. Once he was finished, Niibashi spoke up again, tone less antagonistic this time. “...But really, it’s fine. It’s hard enough to find anyone willing to date a guy, much less one who wants to start dating while we’re all a few months away from graduation.”
And Miyano supposed there was some truth to that.
Everyone was going their separate ways for the most part. Most guys would likely want to wait for college and date someone in the same school as them instead of starting to date someone right at the end of high school. That way, distance and finding time to see each other wouldn’t be much of a problem. It was the reason he decided on going to Sasaki’s college, after all.
…Not the whole reason, of course!
But, part of it.
“Miyano and Sasaki-senpai started dating just a couple of months before Sasaki-senpai graduated,” Kagiura pointed out. “It could happen to you too.”
“It’s not like I’m in any hurry,” Niibashi countered. “Besides, you’re talking about someone who willingly waited six months to date Miyano. I’d consider him an outlier.”
Face flushed with embarrassment, Miyano exclaimed, “I—I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about Senpai!”
Niibashi stopped and grimaced, resting his forehead on his palm. “Ugh. I didn’t, but the conversation ended up going back to that anyway.”
“We can’t help it,” Kagiura shrugged.
“You were the one who brought him up,” Miyano retorted, the residuals of a blush still warm on his cheeks.
“You’re not exactly innocent either. You bring up Hirano-san every chance you get,” Niibashi rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard enough about him to last a lifetime.”
Miyano groaned. Niibashi didn’t even know how lucky he was. “I really wish I were there for everything…”
Kagiura chuckled. “It’s okay, Miyano! We’re friends now!”
“...I guess, but…the most exciting parts of the story always come before they get together,” Miyano muttered.
“Try 'exhausting' instead,” Niibashi corrected.
“Why not give Shirahama a chance?” Kagiura asked, putting them all back on the rail. He sure wasn’t giving up that easy. “You might come to like him if you just talked to him.”
“You’re not setting me up with some random friend of yours,” Niibashi asserted. “Which one is he anyway?”
“Shirahama,” Kagiura answered as if that would give him any clues. “Let’s see…he’s got gray hair, he’s a little shorter than me.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Niibashi said, as if to prove a point. “Must not be very memorable.”
“We should all hang out,” Kagiura insisted before excitedly declaring, “We can go to a basketball game!”
Miyano and Niibashi’s faces fell. They exchanged a knowing look.
Miyano turned back to Kagiura. “I…think that’s more you and Shirahama’s thing,” he let him down gently.
“Oh…I guess so,” Kagiura said, brought back to the reality that these two didn’t exactly share his favorite interest. “But it doesn’t have to be a basketball game. We can do anything you want!”
Niibashi sighed, not having anything to say to that, and faced Miyano. “...Hey, isn’t it time for you to head back?”
“Eh?” he uttered. He reached into his pocket to take out his phone and flipped the screen up, checking the time. His brows shot up. “Uwah! It’s been that long already?! I’ve got to go!”
He got up from the seat that Kagiura kindly lent him and hurriedly began packing up his empty bento.
Just then, a teacher walked in, probably the one in charge of Class A’s next class. He hurried even faster as everyone around him started arranging their desks back to their rightful positions. He felt so foreign going to lunch in a classroom that wasn’t his own, where everyone knew each other but not him. He was hesitant on doing it at first until Kagiura and Niibashi insisted it was alright. Eventually, he learned to push the weird feeling away, but it remained in the back of his mind. Did Sasaki feel this way whenever he’d come to return and discuss BL manga with him? There was also the added layer of him being an upperclassman, which made him stand out even more.
Once he finished packing up, he quickly scurried out of the room. However, upon reaching the door, he heard someone calling his name in a loud whisper.
He craned his neck to look back at the classroom and found Kagiura looking right at him, holding up his phone. He pointed at it with his other hand, indicating that he wanted him to check his messages.
Miyano nodded quickly, not wanting to dawdle any longer, and headed out.
After a brisk walk down the hall back to his own classroom, he was relieved to see that their next teacher was nowhere to be found just yet. The room was still in lunch mode, his classmates chatting with each other or frantically doing last minute homework as he made his way back to his seat.
“Ah, Miyano!” Tashiro called out when he noticed him, pointing an accusatory finger. “You’re back from being a traitor!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Miyano said, seeking for Tashiro to give it a rest rather than actually apologize. “I know I said I’d have lunch with you guys and Kuresawa this time, but I wanted to make it up to them for ditching some plans we had yesterday.”
“You sure are popular now, huh?” Tashiro observed.
Shirahama sighed from where he was seated next to him, his own phone in hand as he played one of his beloved gacha games. “Plus, you’re dating someone. God. Some of us have all the luck.”
With no idea how to respond to their teasing, he instead remembered Kagiura’s parting ask from him. He took his phone out and flicked the screen up with his thumb. The little white mail icon on the screen told him he’d received two messages. He opened up his inbox, Kagiura’s name flashing at him before he began to read.
‘Can you ask Shirahama if he’d date a guy?’
‘For Niibashi!’
Followed by a little sticker of an adorable dog with sparkling, pleading eyes.
A bolt of electricity shot straight up Miyano’s spine, almost making him jump. He wanted him to ask that?! Now?!
Miyano continued to bore holes through his phone.
…He supposed it wouldn’t hurt.
“Um, that reminds me,” Miyano said, turning his gaze towards Shirahama. “Would you ever date a guy?”
Shirahama blinked.
“...Does this mean…you and Sasaki-senpai are…?”
Miyano’s eyes went round. “Wha—n-n-not me! I wasn’t—that’s not what I meant!” he waved his hands in front of him. “I’m just curious, that’s all!”
…Which was only half of the truth, but whatever worked.
“Oh,” Shirahama said. “Um…” he hummed, resting his lips against the side of his fist as he pondered, deep in thought.
The silence that stretched on between the three of them seemed to go on forever. Miyano sat in bated breath with all the tense energy of waiting for a doctor’s diagnosis.
“...No,” Shirahama decided.
The single, sharp word stabbed into him like a balloon, quickly deflating him in his place.
“I…see…” he uttered. “...Never?”
“Maybe if…but I don’t—hm…” Shirahama trailed off. Another eternity passed. “...I think so.”
Miyano sighed. “Right. Okay.”
“Settle down now, everyone!” bellowed a familiar voice from the front of the room. It looked like their teacher had finally arrived, carrying with him a stack of what he assumed were their graded test papers.
As everyone else scrambled to move their desks back into place, he shot a quick text back at Kagiura before class could properly start.
‘He said no.’
And to Miyano’s surprise, he got a reply back in just seconds.
Idly, he thought that Hirano probably wouldn’t like Kagiura texting in the middle of class. He made a mental note to tell Hirano about this whenever he happened to see him next, in hopes it might lead to something juicy like a scolding or fight that Kagiura may tell him about. It could be another BL-ish thing to look forward to.
He opened the text.
‘Then let’s do our best!’
Miyano stared at it.
He hastily stashed his phone back away in his bag when he came back to his senses, fearing he’d get called out and his phone confiscated.
But what on earth did Kagiura mean by that? Did he still want to keep trying with Shirahama regardless? Or did he mean they’d have to do their best trying to find someone else?
He sure seemed fired up to find Niibashi a boyfriend. It made sense, he supposed. Since Niibashi had helped him out a lot with Hirano, he wanted to return the favor. Honestly, it made Miyano’s mind race with the possibilities and had him almost vibrating in excitement where he sat. Sure, he wasn’t present for Hirano and Kagiura getting together, but he was here for this! Of course, Niibashi wasn’t really the type of uke he preferred, but—
What was he thinking?!
He had to think of Niibashi, his friend, as a friend.
And as a friend, well…
He didn’t really know all that much about his romantic life or his serious thoughts on it. And he suspected that Kagiura didn’t know much either, despite all of his enthusiasm to find Niibashi love.
Truthfully, Miyano originally had little commitment to seriously making something happen. What little encouragement he did provide during the conversation wasn’t with any expectation that Niibashi would actually agree. He thought they’d all leave the topic of getting him a boyfriend where they left it. But now that it looked like Kagiura actually wanted to try, he had to consider it seriously.
He had no idea how they’d even go about this, but he would hate to push Niibashi into something he wasn’t comfortable with, all because he or Kagiura assumed it was alright.
What if the difficulty of finding someone wasn’t the only thing keeping Niibashi from dating? He recalled him talking about how there were too many guys putting off dating till college rolls around. Perhaps he was one of those people. Or what if he just wasn’t interested in dating for whatever reason? Or…what if he already had someone he liked?
Personally, he liked the sound of that one. He’d be endlessly curious about the type of guy someone like Niibashi would pine over, or how long he’d been pining. After all, he was a big fan of the slow burn trope, no matter what the—
There he was again!
He had to pull himself together.
The point was: there was a lot to consider. It was best to put the brakes on whatever Kagiura had planned for the time being. They had to know more first, no matter how excited they were.
But one thing was for sure…
He couldn’t wait to tell Sasaki about all of this!