A story based on a picture I drew some time ago (you can find it at ark7 on tumblr). Set in an AU with no Valvraves or Magius, because I don't have time for that.
Things escalate a bit towards the end, but there's nothing explicit.

There were few things Tokishima Haruto excelled at.

If one were to take a glance at him, they probably wouldn't ever guess he was athletic, but being in the track club and having a hobby of bike riding would prove otherwise. His grades weren't amazing, but they weren't terrible either. His cooking—at the very least—looked better than his childhood friend's, and tasted good enough to please, even if he didn't know a lot of recipes. He was good at talking to others and making friends, though he was easily embarrassed, making him an easy target for teasing. His looks weren't the kind that would instantly turn heads, but he had a certain cute charm if you looked closely.

One could say Tokishima Haruto was about average in all respects. Of course, there were some things he just completely failed at—like Rock, Paper, Scissors, something he already acknowledged he would never overcome; and...

Dancing.

"Ueeh..."

Haruto made a strange noise as he stared at a poster pinned to the school bulletin board.

Summer was closing in, and this year Sakimori Academy—or more specifically, the student body—decided to hold a dance to welcome the students' leap into freedom (well, somewhat, they still had summer homework).

It wasn't long before students were going around asking others to be their dates. There were also students who were content to simply go with friends or alone, or planned to not go at all.

Haruto, though? Of course he wanted to go, it would be fun! To be more specific, he definitely wanted to go with a certain someone—that is, his childhood friend, Sashinami Shoko.

So what was the problem?

Haruto stared at the one word on the poster that felt ominously larger than the rest of the neatly placed text. Dance. He scrunched his face slightly. He wouldn't lie to himself—Tokishima Haruto had never danced in his life. And that was the problem: He felt too hesitant to ask Shoko to go with him if he couldn't even do the one thing such an event was based around! A lively, outgoing girl like Shoko would definitely want to dance—hell, she's probably danced before, though Haruto couldn't help but pause and wonder what Shoko's dancing would even look like, knowing her odd nature. Haruto quickly shook his head and brushed the thought aside, the fact of the matter was: He simply did not feel good enough to ask her yet, but the date of the dance was getting closer and closer, he had been putting it off for quite a bit. Even his friends, Inuzuka Kyuuma and Rukino Saki, have already pestered him enough to just get it over with—Saki even joking he should just take her instead—wait, was she joking? Haruto pushed his off-topic thoughts aside once more.

Not all was hopeless, though! Haruto did have one possible solution in mind, but he had been hesitant to take the plan into action, mainly because he would need help from someone he felt would instantly reject his request. That, and he simply didn't want to bother the other person in question...

"I—I'm back..."

A silver haired boy looked up from the desk he was sitting at, an open book in front of him. The desk was in a two-person dorm room, more specifically, Haruto and L-elf Karlstein's room. The latter muttered a "welcome back" before turning back to his studies.

Haruto's Dorssian roommate was always like this. It didn't particularly bother him, in fact there were times they could... somewhat get along and have a conversation. But for the most part, L-elf was always quiet, serious, and kept to himself. He also had a brilliant mind and was skilled in so many areas that Haruto had long since lost count. He couldn't help but think the other boy was amazing and even... cool, but he'd never say that out loud, certainly not to L-elf's face. To be perfectly honest, Haruto had no idea what L-elf thought of him, but from a few instances here and there in their conversations, he wasn't confident L-elf thought very highly of him. This bothered him more than he wanted to admit, and it was another reason Haruto hesitated to go to him for help. Was he... scared? Scared that L-elf would look down on him further for the silly thing he was about to ask?

Haruto shook his head. He had to swallow his pride and do it.

"Um, L-elf...?" Haruto began. "D—Do you... know how to uh, d... dance?"

L-elf didn't respond right away. His gaze slowly moving from the book towards the other boy, before he finally turned his head. "Why are you asking me such a thing?"

An instant unfavorable response! Answering a question with a question? Really? Haruto had to hold back a sharp reply and instead pressed on.

"Ah—well, I just got the feeling you might know a little something... a-am I mistaken?"

L-elf stared back silently for another moment, Haruto almost felt like his gaze could pierce through rock. He was even about to glance away before L-elf finally spoke up, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"I know the steps to a few types of waltz dances, including the most basic, but I haven't put them into practice since I was younger."

The waltz. Haruto knew what kind of dance that was. That would be... perfect, wouldn't it? If he at least knew the steps to that, he could probably improvise anything else. Not to mention... it would let him get close to Shoko, as well!

"Then...! L-elf, could you—I mean, if you're okay with it! C-Could you... teach me?"

L-elf raised an eyebrow and made a curious expression, which only caused Haruto to blush slightly in embarrassment. It must be pretty uncool for a 17 year old to not even know the steps to the waltz.

"Why?" That was all L-elf said in response.

It was times like this Haruto really appreciated L-elf's no-nonsense attitude. Anyone else might have just burst out laughing at Haruto then and there.

"W—Well..." Haruto brought his hands together, fiddling his thumbs. "You know about... that dance, right? I wanted to... ask Shoko, but I don't know how to..." He paused, his lips twisting further into a frown. "H... How to dance..."

"I see."

Again, Haruto really appreciated that no-nonsense attitude sometimes. But he still felt embarrassed, even more so now that L-elf had become quiet in contemplation. It felt like forever before the Dorssian boy looked back at him.

"Very well, I see no issue in instructing you."

"R—Really!?" Haruto's face lit up. He honestly thought he'd have to negotiate a little more, so L-elf's calm agreement was reassuring. "Thank you, L-elf! I'll treat you to something good as thanks!"

"That's not really necessary." So L-elf said, but he didn't explicitly say no, either. "I still have some studying to do, so we'll begin tomorrow, since it's the weekend, as well."

Haruto had no problem with that. With the deal set, he felt like he had taken a step closer to asking Shoko to the dance. As bedtime approached, Haruto climbed into the top bunk and slid under the covers, giving L-elf a cheerful "good night." His response was just a sound of acknowledgment. As he began to drift to sleep, he tried thinking of ways he could ask Shoko to the dance, though his mind wandered and he began to wonder if he could manage to impress L-elf with his learning. Haruto has asked L-elf for help with schoolwork in the past, but most of the time he wouldn't be able to grasp what L-elf was explaining, much to the latter's frustration. But maybe... with this...

With his thoughts in a whirl, Haruto soon fell asleep.

As decided, L-elf and Haruto began their private lesson after breakfast. L-elf didn't bother to put any music on, and frankly, Haruto was kind of thankful for that. He felt it'd be too embarrassing to start off with music right away. In fact, he was already embarrassed by L-elf closing the distance in-between them, joining their hands and placing his other on Haruto's waist without hesitation.

"Put your other hand on my shoulder." L-elf said.

"Oh—all right..." Haruto did as told, his face slightly flushed.

"The steps are simple," L-elf began, looking down. "Just follow my lead. First, I'm going to step forward with my left foot. You, in response, will take a step back with your right foot."

As soon as L-elf finished explaining the first step, he lifted his left foot and moved it forward, but paused before setting it down. Haruto hadn't moved his right foot back along with L-elf.

"... Tokishima Haruto, look at our feet, not at me. I told you to follow my lead."

"Oh—! S-Sorry! Right—um," Haruto's face reddened as he took the step back. Dammit, he already messed up.

L-elf continued the explanation, carrying out the steps and waiting for Haruto to respond. Sometimes he messed up, sometimes he got it.

"That's it. Now we start over." L-elf said.

"Huh? Really, that's pretty simple..." Haruto replied in slight surprise.

"You say that, but you messed up several times."

"That—! It was the first time, so of course I'd mess up! Let's continue!"

"Very well." L-elf wasted no time in lifting his left foot, taking that step forward. Haruto responded in kind, and seemed to keep up fairly well until about halfway. He paused, realizing he forgot the next step already.

"Tokishima Haruto, follow the steps as I assigned them."

"I—I am!" Not wanting to admit he forgot, he tried to stall. "Wh—Why am I in this position, anyway?"

"I'm taller." A blunt reply.

"You're not that much taller! And I'm doing this for Shoko, so shouldn't I be in your position?"

L-elf narrowed his eyes. "Sashinami Shoko would probably lead the dance better than you."

"Ehhhhh!?"

This—this was it. It was moments like this that gave Haruto the impression his roommate looked down on him. He hated how much that possibility bothered him, he hated how much it annoyed him. He just wanted...

Haruto bit his lip. "Sorry, I forgot the next step. I'll do it right next time."

L-elf simply made a sound of acknowledgment, explaining the steps to Haruto once more. About an hour passed before they decided to take a break, pulling away from each other. Haruto glanced at his hand that had been holding L-elf's. He could still feel it.

"You're getting the hang of it." L-elf spoke up. "If we continue to practice today and tomorrow, you should be fine. We'll continue after lunch."

"Right... thanks..." Haruto glanced towards the floor. Despite L-elf's good news, he didn't feel very happy. L-elf took note of the expression on Haruto's face, but said nothing.

Once lunch had passed, the two boys continued the lesson. Haruto was able to remember all the steps by now, but still pulled them off a bit awkwardly at times. His movements began to smooth out the more they did it, until finally he had managed to pull off all the steps flawlessly. As soon as he did, L-elf spoke up.

"Don't stop, continue so you don't lose your rhythm."

"Ah, okay." Haruto replied calmly and continued, pulling off each step as well as the last. Of course, he had been looking at their feet this entire time to watch their movements, he wondered if he'd mess up once he'd have to shift his gaze.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by his dance partner. "Good, you've gotten the hang of it."

Surprised by L-elf's remark, Haruto unconsciously looked up, and what he saw surprised him even further. L-elf was still looking down, but his face didn't have the usual blank and indifferent expression he carried. Instead, his eyes looked softer, and there was a slight smile spread across his lips.

Haruto found himself staring, his face turning red. L-elf soon felt the other boy's eyes on him and looked up, his smile disappearing, but L-elf taking note of Haruto startled the latter, his foot landing awkwardly on the next beat, causing him to fumble backwards.

"Wa—wah-!" Haruto's grip on L-elf tightened, an unconscious action he took in order not to fall. He could feel himself already falling backwards, though, so he closed his eyes and braced for impact, but the impact never came.

"Eh...?" He could feel his body was at an angle, he slowly opened his eyes and gasped upon seeing L-elf's face mere inches from his. Because of their position, L-elf had managed to prevent Haruto from falling, his grip on Haruto's waist and hand tight.

Haruto could feel his face getting warmer. "A... Ah..." He felt like L-elf's gaze had frozen him, he couldn't do anything besides stare back, his face only getting more and more red. He felt like his heart was beginning to beat faster as well, a strange feeling in general seemed to consume him.

After what felt like an eternity, L-elf finally pulled the other boy upright, letting go of him. "We'll continue tomorrow." Was all he said.

"Ah—... mm..." Haruto could only agree quietly, too embarrassed to suggest otherwise.

Dinner passed and bedtime soon came. Haruto honestly couldn't think of anything else for the rest of the day besides his blunder earlier, as well as the odd feelings that came with it. He had glanced at L-elf now and then during dinner, wondering if the other boy had felt even slightly embarrassed by what had happened, but it didn't seem like it. Every time L-elf caught Haruto staring, the latter would quickly look away.

It was no different now as Haruto crawled into bed. He almost wanted to ask about earlier, maybe masking it as an apology, but he quickly tossed that thought aside thinking it would be far too strange of a thing to bring up, especially if L-elf had nothing to say about it. He even considered that perhaps he was just making too much of a big deal out of it.

He stayed quiet, not even giving L-elf his usual "good night." He was about to close his eyes when he heard something unexpected.

"Good night."

"Eh?" Haruto's eyes shot open. Did L-elf just...?

"Ah... oh, yeah, good night!" Despite just being worried, Haruto felt a smile creep onto his face. For some reason, he didn't want to leave it just at that.

"Um... L-elf, actually..." He began, sitting up a bit.

"What is it?" L-elf replied.

"Er... oh, um, are... are you going to the dance with anyone?"

There was no reply right away. Haruto couldn't see L-elf's face from the top bunk, either. He was about to peek over the edge before L-elf finally replied.

"I am not. A few girls have asked me, but I declined. I have no reason to go to such a thing."

Haruto wasn't surprised. L-elf was certainly popular even with his unsociable personality, his looks were nothing to scoff at, even Haruto could admit that.

"Heeh... how boring." Haruto teased.

"I don't really care what you think." L-elf bluntly said.

Ouch. Haruto furrowed his eyebrows. "Right..." Without another word, he muttered another "night" and turned towards the wall. His moment of pleasantness had turned into annoyance.

After breakfast the next day, they continued. Before L-elf approached Haruto, he pulled out his phone and clicked a few buttons. It wasn't long before some soft music began playing from his phone.

"Eh...?" Haruto made a nervous smile.

"We'll try doing it with music today." L-elf said, unperturbed by Haruto's expression or his own statement. He set his phone down on the desk before moving towards Haruto, holding his hand out.

Haruto hesitated before taking L-elf's hand. He wondered why. But soon enough, they were in position. L-elf wasted no time in starting the dance, expecting Haruto to follow. It the took the brown haired boy a bit at first, but he managed to catch up with L-elf's rhythm, following the steps to the beat of the music. For some reason, though, he felt nervous—much more nervous than yesterday. Was it because of the music? He tried to push back the feeling and focus on getting the steps right, staring at their feet move about.

"Tokishima Haruto, look at me."

The blunt remark took Haruto off-guard, his head flicked up and he looked at L-elf with a surprised and slightly red face. "Wh... What?"

"You need to learn to dance without staring at your feet."

… Ah. That's what he meant. Haruto sighed and nodded, his eyes darting to the side before he set his gaze on L-elf. He fumbled a bit with the steps at first, but eventually he was able to move along with L-elf smoothly. He should have been happy—happy that he was pulling off the dance without a hitch. But that wasn't how he felt at all. He felt almost kind of sick, there was a heavy sensation in his chest, and the longer he stared at L-elf, the heavier it got.

"Are you ill?"

"Huh!?" Haruto reacted with a little too much surprise to L-elf's question.

"Your face is red, and you keep furrowing your eyebrows as if in pain." L-elf moved their cupped hands closer for them to see. "And you keep shifting your hand in mine as if you were uncomfortable."

Dammit, that's L-elf for you. L-elf noticing all those things wasn't what surprised Haruto, what did was that he himself didn't even realize how he was acting.

"S... Sorry. I'm not sick or anything..." Haruto mumbled. "I guess I'm kind of... nervous."

"Are you worried about asking Sashinami Shoko? You're doing fine, there shouldn't be an issue in taking her and dancing with her."

"N-No, that's not exactly..." Haruto trailed off. What was it exactly?

"?"

"... Nothing! It's nothing, L-elf!" Haruto forced a smile as best as he could, pulling away from the other boy. "You said there's no issue, right? I'm gonna go ask Shoko now then!"

Before L-elf could say anything, Haruto bolted out of the room. While he said he was going to go ask Shoko, he wasn't running in any particular direction at first, stopping when he turned a corner at the end of the hallway and leaning against the wall. He took a deep breath to compose himself, sighing right after.

"What the hell was that..."

"Hm? Haruto?"

Haruto jolted in surprise at the familiar voice, looking up and finding none other than Shoko standing a few feet away.

"Are you okay?" Shoko asked, approaching him.

"Sh—Shoko..." He felt kind of relieved, but also conflicted. "Eh—what are you doing here? Isn't this the guys' floor?"

Shoko laughed a bit. "Yeah, I'm just returning something to someone." She held up a bag. What was in it was of little interest to Haruto. He paused for a moment before standing up straight.

"Erm... Shoko, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure thing, what is it?"

Haruto stalled again, trying to find the right way to word himself. "Ah—well, do you... y-you know about the... the dance, right? I was just..." He unconsciously looked down and to the side, avoiding eye contact with the girl. "Do you want to... go with me?" There, he said it. He finally said it. This dread will all be over soon and he can relax and stop thinking so hard about it and why wasn't she answering?

Haruto looked back at Shoko when things were too quiet. What he saw on her face was an expression that was a mix of disappointment and amusement.

"...? Shoko?"

"Ah! Sorry, I..." Shoko looked down, grabbing the hem of her skirt. "Haruto, you're so..." Her tone sounded as if she was about to scold him, but she was soon looking back up and smiling at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Haruto! A friend of mine asked me to go with her, and I really want to help her get out more, so I agreed! I-I mean, I did wonder... if you were going to ask me... but the dance is already a few days away, so I thought you had decided not to go or something... um..."

Shoko's tone sounded as if she was trying her best to not hurt Haruto's feelings. But he understood—he understood she wasn't saying no because she didn't want to, he had just taken too long, and it's not like he could make her drop her friend.

"Haruto...?"

"Eh? Oh, it's okay, Shoko! I guess I took too long, huh? Hahahah...!" Haruto tried to laugh it off, but of course he still felt disappointed. But was it... because of his own mistake, or because he couldn't go with her after all? He couldn't decide.

"Ah, yeah, that's so like you, too, Haruto!" Shoko laughed along with him. Haruto couldn't tell if she had fallen for it or was going along with it.

"You're still going to go, though, right?" Shoko asked, looking a bit hopeful.

"Oh, um... I don't see why not, I guess..." So he said, but it wasn't how he felt. If he couldn't go with Shoko, then the enjoyment of going was already halved in his mind.

"That's great! Maybe you'll even find someone else to go with!" Shoko smiled brightly at him, her words completely sincere. Haruto could only smile back, unable to refute her. With a few more words, they parted ways.

Now what... Haruto leaned against the wall once more. He thought about going back to his room, but for some reason the idea caused a nervous feeling to well up in his chest. Wait... if he tells L-elf he failed to ask Shoko to the dance, would he get mad? Would he look down on Haruto even more?

Haruto frowned.

He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and clenched his fists. As he considered all of his options, a thought came over him. His expression softened as he went over it again. After thinking about it a bit longer, he stood up and made his way back to his room.

L-elf was sitting on his bed reading. He looked up when Haruto entered the room, but neither of them said anything as they stared at each other.

L-elf finally broke the silence. "Well? Did everything go as planned?"

"Ah... about that..." Haruto reluctantly explained the situation.

"I see." L-elf put his book down. "That's unfortunate."

Haruto raised his eyebrows, looking a bit perplexed. Unfortunate? Could L-elf have been... rooting for him? No no no, he was probably just saying the bare minimum to not come off as rude.

"Mm... but um—still, L-elf, thank you for everything. I'm still going to go, so maybe I can still dance with her once."

"I suppose that's the best you can hope for. You could probably find someone else to go with, as well." L-elf was staring straight ahead as he spoke instead of looking at Haruto. He found that a bit strange, usually L-elf always stared a person down when he spoke to them.

"I don't think so." Haruto began. "Actually, I was going to ask... do you want to—er, go with me, L-elf?"

L-elf's eyes instantly widened at the question. He looked over at Haruto with an expression that clearly showed absolute bewilderment.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Ah—that might have come off wrong! I-I don't mean as my d-date or something—that's not what I meant at all!" The red on Haruto's face intensified. "L-Like, just as friends! You know, since neither of us are going with anyone! Y-You should come along even though you said you weren't going to—because... because it could be... fun..."

Haruto mentally smacked himself. He sounded like an idiot. And here he thought he could have coolly asked L-elf to come along with him to the dance. That's when it hit him, wasn't that the first time he referred to L-elf as his friend?

"Oh—uh, I didn't mean..." He tried to correct himself, not wanting to bother L-elf, but—

"All right."

"... Huh?"

"I'll go for a bit. It may prove to be interesting, at the very least."

Wait, seriously?

Once again, Haruto felt like he was going to have to negotiate a little more, but L-elf agreed right away. He was confused, but that confusion didn't take long to turn into relief, and soon—happiness?

"That's great! We'll definitely have a good time!" Haruto exclaimed.

"You don't need to force yourself, Tokishima Haruto."

"I'm not! I'm asking you, so I'll make sure you can enjoy yourself, L-elf!"

L-elf stared at Haruto, his eyes a little wider than normal. He muttered a "fine" before looking away.

Haruto asked L-elf if they could practice a bit more, at least for that day. L-elf had no problem with it, and by the end of the day, Haruto felt confident enough to say he got the dance down completely. He practiced a bit more on his own in their room, L-elf sometimes pointing out any mistakes he made, but he never got up to join Haruto personally.

A few days passed, until finally the day of the dance had come. It was late in the afternoon when students began to make their way to gymnasium where the dance was being held. There were tables set up in the back, while the floor was left clear in the front for anyone who wanted to dance, as well as a DJ set up on stage.

Still in his room, Haruto slipped on the blazer of his black suit and straightened it out. It wasn't anything too fancy, but nothing quite casual either.

"L-elf, you ready?" Haruto called towards the bathroom. As soon as he did, the door opened and L-elf stepped out, wearing a gray suit, but it was certainly not a dull kind of gray, the suit itself looked a bit expensive.

"I'm ready, I just need to put my shoes on." L-elf walked passed Haruto towards his bed, sitting down in order to do just that.

Haruto watched him walk from the bathroom towards his bed, continuing to stare at his roommate for a moment.

He... looks good...

Haruto made a small gasp as soon as that thought went through his mind. L-elf looked up at him puzzled, but Haruto just turned away and pulled his phone out, pretending he had a message to check. He stared at his phone until the screen went black, revealing his conflicted reflection. He started to feel somewhat nervous, though he couldn't pinpoint why. He said it himself, they were just going as friends, there was nothing to get riled up about. Although... did L-elf even consider him a friend? Whether or not he did, it didn't change the unpleasant feeling in Haruto's gut, though a part of him did hope... that L-elf did consider them friends, at the very least.

The two boys soon set off for the dance, running into a few friends—well, Haruto's friends—along the way. In the end, rather than arriving just with L-elf, Haruto arrived in a small group. He felt a bit relieved about that, not wanting people to get the wrong idea. Though he couldn't help but pause and wonder why he was worried about that to begin with. His thoughts were interrupted when the group parted ways, leaving him alone with L-elf once more.

"Uh... let's go find a place to sit first." Haruto pointed towards the tables. It was only a few moments later did they find a table already occupied by Inuzuka Kyuuma, Sakurai Aina, and Rukino Saki. Kyuuma waved Haruto down.

"Hey, Haruto! Over here!" The older boy exclaimed, pausing once Haruto and L-elf reached the table. "Whoa, L-elf is here, too? That's a surprise."

L-elf pulled out a chair to sit down. "Tokishima Haruto asked me to come along, I saw no reason to decline."

Haruto was about to do the same, but stopped at L-elf's words. No reason to decline? But when he told me about those girls that had asked him...

"Is that so?" Kyuuma replied. "So you guys came together? ... Eh? Wait, Haruto, what happened with Shoko?"

"Ahh..." Haruto glanced to the side nervously. "Things didn't really work out, but it's okay." He finally sat down himself.

"Huh? What happened?" Before Kyuuma could get a response, Saki spoke up.

"Haruto, like I told you, if you couldn't ask Shoko-san, you should have just asked me."

"Eh? Ah... oh, right..." Haruto looked up, as if he had just been reminded of a small task he had forgotten to do.

"That's your reaction? Honestly, and here am I being a third wheel to Inuzuka-senpai and Sakurai-san."

Aina sat up straight, waving her hands slightly. "R-Rukino-san, it's not like that at all!"

"I'm just kidding." Saki waved a hand at Aina with a smile.

Haruto laughed a bit at the exchange, though it wasn't long until Kyuuma asked about Shoko again. Haruto had no choice but to explain the situation, and how he had decided to just ask L-elf to come along since neither of them had anyone to go with. He felt his voice lower when he mentioned the last bit, as if embarrassed, but no one said anything about it to his relief.

"Well, let's just all have fun." Kyuuma said. "You can probably still nail a dance with Shoko, anyway, Haruto."

"Yeah, I thought so, too." Haruto replied with a smile.

"Haruto, you'll dance with me, too, right?" Saki said, a snarky grin on her face, clearly teasing him.

"Eh!? Um, i-if you really want...?"

"That's totally not the reaction I was looking for, but I guess that's like you." Saki sighed, though she was still smiling.

Kyuuma turned towards the person who hadn't spoken a word since arriving. "What about you, L-elf? You should go find a cute girl to dance with and have some fun, don't you think? It shouldn't be hard for you."

L-elf closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Tokishima Haruto already said he would make sure I'd enjoy myself. Going off to look for entertainment on my own seems contradictory to that plan."

Haruto's elbow slipped, almost causing his face to slam into the table.

"Hoooh..." Saki stared dead ahead at the two boys. "In that case, Haruto should ask L-elf for a dance, too, then, right?"

"W-What are you saying, Rukino-san!? Don't be silly!" Haruto laughed nervously, trying to pass off the exchange like a joke, though his face might have been somewhat red. He thanked the current low lighting of the gymnasium. He slowly looked over at L-elf to see what sort of expression he had, but the other boy was simply looking the other way, as if his attention was on something else. As the others at their table laughed as well, Haruto opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted.

"Harutooo! You came!"

Turning around, Haruto saw Shoko approaching the table while waving. She was wearing a sleeveless, pink party dress with a puffy skirt, anyone would probably think she looked incredibly cute, Haruto included.

"Wow! L-elf came, too? That's great!" Shoko beamed as she reached the table. "Who did you two come with?"

"They came with each other~." Saki spoke up before anyone else could.

"Eh? With each other?"

Haruto waved his hands. "J-Just as friends, you know! Since both of us didn't have anyone to come with!"

"Oh, I see!" Shoko quickly accepted Haruto's words with a smile. "I hope you're all having fun, they really went all out for this thing."

"Hey, Shoko," Kyuuma began. "If you're free right now, why not go dance with Haruto?"

Haruto jolted a bit. "Senpai—"

Shoko clapped her hands. "Nice idea, senpai! The person I came with disappeared on me, she's probably hiding somewhere... so we definitely can. Do you want to dance, Haruto?"

"Eh—um..." Haruto glanced up at Shoko, a bit unsure. Of course he wanted to dance with her, he practiced with L-elf for that very reason, but somehow, being the one asked, instead of him asking her like he planned, really put a dent in his mood. He thought it'd be too strange to decline and then ask her himself later, though, so he awkwardly smiled as he stood up.

Fortunately for Haruto, the song playing at the moment was fairly easy-going, so he didn't need to improvise much. He did, however, almost put himself in the same position he was in when he practiced with L-elf. He quickly corrected himself and placed his hand on Shoko's waist.

A bit into their dance, Shoko tilted her head slightly. "Haruto, are you okay?"

"Hm? What?" Was he doing it wrong? He double-checked their position and steps, but that wasn't what Shoko was referring to.

"You look kind of worried about something."

"Ah, do I...? Sorry, I'm not worried about anything, I'm having a good time, really!" Haruto smiled as best as he could, and thankfully, it seemed to have fooled Shoko enough for her to drop it.

But something is kind of bothering me. Haruto thought. He should have been happy—happy that he was finally dancing with Shoko, but for some reason, he simply didn't feel as satisfied as he thought he would be. There was nothing wrong with his steps (he hoped), so why did he feel like he had messed up somewhere along the way?

The song ended, and the two pulled away from each other.

"That was really fun, Haruto. I didn't know you knew how to dance like that!"

"Ah... ahahah, yeah."

"I should go find Akira-chan now, she's probably really nervous." Shoko gave Haruto one last smile and wave before walking off. He waved back and stood there for a moment watching her before finally heading back to his table, but upon arriving, he found L-elf sitting alone.

"Where did everyone else go?" Haruto asked.

"Inuzuka Kyuuma and Sakurai Aina went to dance. Rukino Saki deemed sitting alone with me to be too 'awkward' and 'boring,' so she left for somewhere else." L-elf reported.

"Ah... sorry..."

"For what?"

Haruto stared back at L-elf, looking for something to say, but he couldn't think of anything. He eventually settled for just sitting back down next to the other boy. Neither said anything for a while, until finally, L-elf surprisingly broke the silence.

"Did everything go well with Sashinami Shoko?"

Haruto looked back at L-elf a little dumbstruck. "It... uh... it went fine..."

"...? That's it? Weren't you really looking forward to it?"

"I was… I guess I was. Hmm."

L-elf looked at Haruto a bit perplexed, but he questioned no further. As for Haruto, he continued to wonder why he wasn't as thrilled about the results of the night. Well, not that the night was technically over. Was not being able to go with Shoko specifically that much of a strike to his mood? … No, he shouldn't think like that, not after pretty much making L-elf come along. He may have messed up with Shoko, but perhaps he could still have some fun tonight with L-elf, just as he said they would. He smiled a bit, wondering what to do now. The thought of asking L-elf to dance with him crossed his mind, but he quickly pushed it aside knowing that was probably too strange of a thing to ask—why had he thought of it, anyway?

"L-elf, are you hungry? Why don't we get something to eat?" This would do for now.

L-elf hummed a bit in contemplation before agreeing, standing up. The two of them went off to find something to eat and drink, running into others and spending most of their night talking. Even L-elf managed to get into a deep conversation with Renbokouji Satomi about something—something too complicated for Haruto to really care about, but he felt glad L-elf seemed to be enjoying himself in his own way.

Once the dance began to clear out a bit later in the night, Haruto and L-elf decided to take off as well. As they walked through the hallway back to their room, Haruto asked L-elf if he had any fun.

"It was... fairly enjoyable." L-elf replied, looking straight ahead.

"Heheh, that's the best response I'm going to get from you, huh?" Haruto said, looking at L-elf.

"There were still parts of it I did not enjoy. Yamada Raizo and his group were too rowdy, and it grew tiring to keep telling others I did not want to dance with them."

Indeed, a fair amount of girls had approached L-elf and asked for a dance, but he declined every one.

They reached the door of their room, Haruto moving to unlock it. "Oh well, at least it wasn't all terrible, right?"

All he got was a sound of acknowledgment.

As soon as they were inside, both boys began to remove their shoes and blazers. Haruto simply tossed his blazer onto his desk chair, removed his belt and untucked his shirt, sighing in small relief as he dropped the belt to the floor. He looked over at L-elf who was also setting his blazer onto his own chair, though much more neatly than Haruto did. He began to remove his tie soon after, an action Haruto followed up with as well, but as he pulled his own tie off, he paused.

"..."

L-elf was about to move over to his dresser for clothes to sleep in, but Haruto grabbed his shoulder.

"? What is it?" L-elf asked, unfazed by Haruto's action.

"Ah... well, I was wondering..." Haruto began, his words a bit shaky. "L-elf, do you... um, do you want to dance?"

L-elf's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I—I'm asking...! If you want to... dance... you're really good at it, but you didn't dance at all tonight, and I even said I'd make sure you'd enjoy yourself, but I never asked you to..."

"No, asking me to dance with you in public would have been strange, wouldn't it? What are you bothered about?" L-elf stated his observation coldly.

But Haruto didn't feel like dropping it just yet. "Still, though! You taught me, but you lead the entire time, I didn't even get a chance to show you how much I improved on my own! I bet you'll definitely have fun dancing with me this time!"

"What sort of reasoning is that?" L-elf made a doubtful expression, but Haruto simply continued to stare right at him.

"..." After a long moment of silence, L-elf sighed and took out his phone. "Fine, I'll just use this to point out all the mistakes you made while dancing with Sashinami Shoko."

"Eh? Huh? Wait, how would you even know—were you watching?"

L-elf didn't answer, clicking a few buttons on his phone. Soon, music began to play. He set the phone down and walked towards the middle of the room, followed by Haruto. The two of them just stood there for a moment, before L-elf narrowed his eyes and spoke.

"Well? Weren't you going to lead?"

"Oh!" Haruto laughed a bit before holding his hand out, though L-elf didn't seem amused. The latter took his hand, anyway, the two getting into position with Haruto leading. For some reason, putting his hand on L-elf's waist made him blush somewhat, but he wouldn't back down, moving to begin the dance.

Things were going smoothly, but despite leading the dance, Haruto found himself looking down. Was he focusing on getting the steps right so L-elf wouldn't say anything, or was he nervous? Perhaps it was both. A bit further into the dance, he finally glanced up, only to find L-elf looking right at him. He was surprised a bit, his face turning even more red. What was with these reactions of his? He tried to brush it aside.

"S—So? How am I doing?" Haruto asked, faking a laugh.

"You missed a step a few moments ago." L-elf replied bluntly.

"Huh!? No way! When—?"

"You missed another one now."

"Are you being serious!?"

L-elf narrowed his eyes a bit, but it was accompanied with almost a playful smile. It certainly took Haruto by surprise.

"Hmph, you're doing fine." L-elf said, closing his eyes, the smile still remaining.

"Ah..." Haruto could only stare back dumbfounded, the red on his face spreading further. The stupid look he had didn't last long, however, as he yelled in surprise over stepping on something pointy. He had accidentally taken a step right on top of the belt he had tossed earlier. He pulled his foot up quickly, hopping a bit on his other in order to not lose his balance, but doing so only made losing balance that much easier. He fell forward onto L-elf, bringing them both down onto the floor.

"Oww..." Haruto lifted himself up slowly. Upon opening his eyes, he gasped. L-elf was right under him, groaning a bit from the force of the fall. Once he looked up at Haruto, he simply gave him a look that said Really?

Haruto wanted to laugh and apologize for his blunder. In any normal scenario, he would have already gotten up and lowered his head while going "Sorry, sorry!" But that wasn't what he was doing, instead, he was still hovering over L-elf, staring down at him with wide eyes and a red face. The music from the phone ended at just that moment, filling the room with silence.

L-elf stared back up at the other boy with a straight face, but it soon changed into that of confusion when more than enough time for Haruto to get up had passed.

What is this? Haruto thought. He knew he should get up already, but he felt like he was almost in a trance. He could feel his heart racing and his face getting warmer, it felt paralyzing. He could feel his arms beginning to tremble. His attention was focused solely on the silver haired boy beneath him. His gaze moved from L-elf's eyes, to the way his hair rested on his face, to the curve of his jaw, finally stopping at his lips.

L-elf was about to say something until he noticed Haruto's face getting closer.

"What?" That was all he could mutter, this development wasn't one he foresaw, he could only hope the single word would stop Haruto and make the brown haired boy explain himself.

But it didn't. It was only a few seconds later that Haruto closed the gap, pressing his lips against L-elf's.

"Mm—!?" To say L-elf was surprised would be an understatement, he quickly took action, pressing a hand against the bottom of Haruto's chin and pushing him away.

"What are you doing!?"

"Ah—! I— uh," Haruto froze, what was he doing? He really couldn't find a way to explain himself, but a part of him felt disappointed L-elf pushed him away. "I... I was..."

"Get off." L-elf muttered, still holding Haruto away.

"... No."

"Excuse me?"

Haruto closed his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again and grabbing L-elf's hand, pulling it away from his chin so he could look down again.

"L-elf! I think I like you! … Probably. Maybe...!"

"Ha—Haah!? What are you going on about!?" L-elf's face showed the most surprise Haruto had ever seen up until that point.

"B—Because...! I'm always... always wondering what you think of me, and thinking of ways to get you to praise me, though I never succeed... and I get annoyed thinking about how you might look down on me, because I don't want to believe that's true...! A-And just now, I even... couldn't help it and... kissed you..." Haruto trailed off, his voice growing quieter. While at first he had started off looking directly at L-elf, he was already looking away now.

L-elf furrowed his eyebrows. "You..."

But that was all he said.

When it felt like L-elf was taking too long to say anything else, Haruto balled his hand on the floor into a fist. His shy expression turned into a determined one as he looked back at L-elf.

"I just... I want you to notice me!"

"..."

A heavy silence filled the room as the two boys stared at each other. Haruto continued to look down at L-elf with determined eyes, while L-elf looked up in mild surprise, though after a bit his expression softened into his usual indifferent look.

Haruto wasn't sure what to make of that, his own eyes softening back into a worried look.

"... Sorry, I'll..." He looked to the side as he finally began to pick himself up.

But before he could, L-elf grabbed onto his shirt collar, pulling Haruto back down until their faces were inches apart.

"H-Huh? L-elf...?"

L-elf didn't respond in words. He didn't respond much in actions, either. He simply stared at Haruto before glancing to the side, then back at Haruto. It was a sort of gesture where you wanted to try to get a message across, but didn't want to say anything.

But Haruto wasn't very keen on catching these types of messages. He simply looked down at L-elf confused. It wasn't until the boy underneath rolled his eyes a little and tilted his head back a bit did it hit Haruto.

He's... letting me kiss him...? Haruto was hesitant to test the waters, but he really couldn't think of any other message L-elf was trying to get across. He eventually moved in slowly, he could still feel L-elf's grip on his shirt which hadn't loosened one bit, but it didn't really bother him.

He finally reached L-elf's lips, kissing him softly.

There was no denial from the other side. L-elf didn't push Haruto away again, in fact, he eventually returned the kiss as well. As soon as he did, Haruto felt a strange pressure well up in his chest.

He unconsciously closed his eyes.

Doing so seemed to shut out everything else besides the sensation of kissing L-elf. Haruto couldn't help but lean in more, as much as he could, anyway.

They broke the kiss now and then to catch their breath, but continued just as quickly. At some point, Haruto brought one of his hands up to L-elf's face, moving it up his cheek and then down towards the back of his neck. L-elf's hand that had been gripping Haruto's shirt had let go by now, instead grabbing onto Haruto's arm.

Haruto wanted to take it further.

He parted his lips, lightly pressing his tongue against L-elf's own lips.

There was a small sound of protest at first, but Haruto simply muttering L-elf's name was enough for the latter to give in. L-elf parted his lips, allowing Haruto to slip his tongue into his mouth.

It was a weird feeling, and there was no doubt both boys weren't exactly the most experienced in deep kissing, but Haruto didn't care about the details. It felt good, and he didn't want to stop, that was all that ran through his mind. He could feel L-elf's breath against his own, he could hear the soft noises they were both making into the kiss, everything only further excited him.

The hand at the back of L-elf's neck moved down, Haruto moved it slowly, taking in the feeling of L-elf's skin against his fingers. Once he reached the collar of L-elf's shirt, he pulled it to the side, breaking the kiss so he could instead kiss L-elf's neck.

L-elf made a bit of a startled noise, but he grit his teeth to avoid letting any more sounds escape his mouth. Even so, Haruto could still hear the other boy's breathing, which was enough to clue him in on how L-elf was feeling.

Haruto opened his mouth a bit, letting his tongue touch L-elf's skin as he slowly kissed the same spot. L-elf made a bit of a noise through his closed mouth, but he refused to let anything else out. Haruto didn't stop, though, placing more of those types of kisses along L-elf's neck.

L-elf sighed, not so much out of pleasure, but more so frustration.

"Hang on, Tokishi—" He couldn't finish his own words.

Haruto stopped but didn't move away. L-elf could feel the other boy's warm breath on his neck as he spoke.

"Come on, just call me Haruto..."

He didn't give L-elf a moment to reply before continuing his work, moving onto sucking on L-elf's neck. He didn't stick to one place, exploring L-elf's neck and some of his shoulder with his mouth.

L-elf made few sounds, and even when he did, they were quiet and short. His breathing, however, gradually became more erratic. He grabbed onto the back of Haruto's shirt, pulling on it slightly.

"Hah... Ha... Haru... to..."

That was it. That was enough to send Haruto over the edge. He stopped to catch his breath, contemplating what to do next. He came to a decision quickly, leaning back in and kissing L-elf below his jawline, while his hands moved to unbutton L-elf's shirt.

However, he suddenly felt himself being pushed back.

He blinked a few times in a daze, finally taking notice of what happened. L-elf had stopped him, pushing him away.

"...? L-elf?"

There was no answer as L-elf sat up, fixing his collar a bit before looking straight at Haruto. Despite wearing his usual expression, Haruto could see a slight pink tint on his cheeks.

"I think that's enough, Tokishima Haruto."

"...Eh? Ehhh!? Wait—what do you mean—" Wasn't it only getting started?

L-elf glanced to the side. "I won't deny allowing you to do all that... and I even reciprocated, but going any further..."

Haruto seemed to almost pout as he listened to L-elf's words. But as he considered them more deeply, he couldn't deny going further might be jumping the gun. Plus, if L-elf didn't want to, he wouldn't pressure him.

"R-Right, I understand, L-elf."

"If you understand, then can you get off?"

Haruto only then realized he was still almost sitting on L-elf. He quickly moved off, apologizing.

L-elf only spared him a glance before walking over to his dresser, taking out his clothes to sleep in. As he did so, Haruto still sat on the floor lost in thought.

Once he had his clothes, L-elf turned around to head towards the bathroom, but paused when he saw Haruto was still sitting in the middle of the room.

"Are you going to sleep there?" L-elf asked, in a tone that implied what he meant to say was "move."

"Oh, no—um..." Haruto slowly stood up, but he didn't move out of L-elf's way right away.

L-elf knew, the other boy probably wanted to say something. "... What?"

"Er, well... s-since we just... did that... L-elf, does that mean you... also like me?" Haruto's head was lowered, but his gaze was set on L-elf.

There was no answer right away. The silence seemed to go on forever in Haruto's mind. At some point he unconsciously looked down, getting too nervous to continue looking at L-elf as he waited for an answer.

"... I already told you," L-elf spoke quietly. Haruto glanced back up, finding L-elf's own gaze set in a different direction, but he eventually met Haruto's eyes.

"I reciprocated... didn't I?"

Haruto's eyes widened a bit at the remark. He blinked a few times in disbelief, but soon a smile spread across his face.

"Heheh, yeah, you did."

There was another moment of silence, but it was broken by Haruto laughing a bit.

"...? What is it?" L-elf asked.

"L-elf, remember when I asked you to teach me how to dance? And I said I'd treat you to something good as thanks? What we did just now counts, right?"

The only response Haruto got was a smack upside the head.