This is the shiny, new, updated and upgraded version of my first fanfiction ever on this site. I read over this and cringed; it sucked. I was thirteen and... don't make me recall it. Ugh. Anyway, I rewrote it this short little oneshot. And just for fun, I'll add the first version in as the second chapter (although it is NOT a continuation of this story; if you're looking for that, go read Kiss Me, the sequel!) just to display how much I've improved in three and a half years. Lol.

"Souji, I want you to hit me." He said it firmly, and at first I thought he was kidding—I could see it in his eyes that he wasn't, though; it was practically stamped on his face. He took a step toward me, turning to the side a bit. "If you do this, we're even."

"Are you high?" I asked him, my voice full of doubt as I took a step closer and put my weight on one leg and my hand on my hip. "This isn't the way to even things out at all…"

Yosuke looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I guess you're right," he said, stepping back a bit and looking a little embarrassed. I was about to be relieved that he'd come to his senses before he did something really stupid, but it didn't last. "We'll both hit each other at the same time; we'll brawl it out! May the best man win!"

"You're serious?" I asked him, no limit to how doubtful I sounded. He gave me a solemn nod and I groaned. "If you're sure that this is the only way…" I couldn't see a way out of it.

"Get ready, man."

We both assumed our "battle positions", if that's what you could call it. I raised my fists although I was completely unsure of whether Yosuke actually planned to hit me or not. He was making himself look like an idiot, but if it was the only way to make him feel that we were even, then I couldn't muster the heart to convince him otherwise.

We collided with force, but not much. I took a few mildly painful kicks from him and I sent a knee or elbow at him lifelessly a couple of times. I was trying to let him have the upper hand, but I was getting the feelings that he wasn't really even trying. This was his request—why was he holding back? At that moment, he seemed to read my mind and he pulled back his fist, behind his body, getting ready to launch a punch right to my face.

But, of course, I couldn't let him get away with nailing me like that while I was attacking him with the power of some middle school kid fighting in the schoolyard.

I brought my first up in the same sort of a windup, gathering my strength and swinging my arm forward with force. He did the same, and both our punches connected at the same time and in relatively the same place. I felt Yosuke's closed fist pound straight onto my left cheek bone. After that I quickly felt the ground beneath me and I heard Yosuke groan.

"Now…" he said, exhaustion clear in his voice, "…now we're even." He sounded like an idiot by every definition and I turned my head to see him smiling stupidly no more than two feet away from me. We'd both knocked each other down and into the sandy dirt of the Samegawa Riverbed.

"…Shut up," I told him, returning his smile.

Yosuke then rolled over onto his side and faced me, propping himself up on his elbow. He shoved his other hand into the left pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small, flat wrapper. He sat up, criss-crossed, and I sat up in front of him in the same fashion.

"You're bleeding," he said, smiling proudly but apologetically and gesturing toward where there was a small cut on my cheek; I could feel it and a bead of blood dripping from it. "Sorry."

I laughed and shook my head. "Don't worry about it."

Yosuke took the small object he'd taken from the wrapper and brought it to my cheek. I felt something adhere there and I was immediately able to figure out what exactly the flat object was: a bandage. My cheeks flushed from the close contact right away and I flinched back a little, away from his hand which still wandered near my face.

"Thanks," I said, my voice a little quiet as Yosuke brought his hand to his lap to join the other. He looked down like there was something interesting about his own hands, but I could see a definite look of hesitance on his face.

"Mm-hmm," he said. He was fidgeting; it wasn't hard to catch. "So… Souji, there's something that I need to talk to you about."

"You always say that when something's up," I reminded him with a friendly laugh. "Is everything okay?" I stood up smoothly and dusted off my pants.

"Yeah," he said, "everything's fine." He laughed a little awkwardly and stood up as well. "It's just that I've really been able to do some thinking over the last few weeks, and I… I don't think that I was ever really in love with Saki-senpai. I cared for her a lot, and really admired her as a senpai, but it… definitely wasn't love."

I wasn't surprised that the conversation at hand would relate to Saki Konishi, but I wasn't expecting him to say that he never loved her. "How did decide that?" I asked carefully.

"It's just that… I think I know what love feels like," Yosuke told me softly, his eyes not meeting mine. "It wasn't anything like this with Saki-senpai."

"So you're in love?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think I am," he said, a dazzling smile working its way onto his face. He seemed to be in some kind of daze before he finally turned to look at me.

The way he was gazing at me was unnerving. "Who is it?" I inquired cautiously, trying not to sound anxious, as I felt.

"You, Souji." He said it firmly, and at first I thought he was kidding—I could see it in his eyes that he wasn't, though; it was practically stamped on his face. He took a step toward me and I eyed him nervously.

"Me…?" I asked hesitantly, quite unsure of how I felt about the situation.

Yosuke nodded a couple of times, looking between happy and scared.

"But… you kind of always seemed straight to me," I said, babbling somewhat aimlessly. I was trying to come up with excuses to back up why this must not be reality. "You act like a homophobe most of the time."

Yosuke nodded slowly and his expression fell a little. "It took me a long time to come up with this," he said shyly. "I've thought about it almost constantly. I wasn't really sure of my feelings for a while… It was kind of like a big act; like a play. I thought that if I just played along with it and pretended I was straight, one day I'd wake up from this horrible nightmare and Saki-senpai would b e waiting for me at Junes the next morning." He paused to breathe. "But a couple weeks ago, when I took you to my special spot, I knew Saki-senpai wasn't the one I wanted to be waiting."

I felt almost like I couldn't breathe. "Yosuke… you really caught me off guard," I said and groaned with frustration.

"I'm sorry," Yosuke said quietly, his former smile now transforming into an expression of disappointment. "I know. You're not gay."

"You shouldn't be sorry," I told him and stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at me with bright but sad eyes that met mine perfectly, his clear pools of light ash brown seeming to light up. I was caught in his stare, completely mystified by a beauty I'd yet to see in anybody prior. Before I found the sense to control my actions, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Yosuke's. Soft.

He responded immediately, putting his hands on my cheeks to cradle my face and he pulled me closer into our kiss.

It seemed like an eternity before we separated, nearly gasping for breath, and we both were flushed completely red. Yosuke smiled shyly at me and I smiled back at him.

"Maybe I could love you too."

Hope you enjoyed this oneshot. :D Don't forget to review! Also, make sure to read the sequel, Kiss Me! Also, there is now a second sequel, Mission: Impossible! Go find and read them; if you liked this, there's plenty more where it came from!