Chapter 3
Len looked at the clock. It was 5:30. His alarm clock would be going off in an hour, and he had gotten no sleep at all. He was just so confused about what he should do that he hadn't been able to fall asleep no matter how hard he tried.
He kept replaying the day's events in his head. He had gotten to Gakupo's house, and he was amazed by it. It was as big, or bigger than Kaito's. He then figured that Gakupo probably had rich parents too. Gakupo showed him around, and took him to his room. It was huge and almost every inch of the wall was covered in swords.
"I have a thing with Samurais," he had said, "I'm originally from Japan so I guess it's just my way of getting in touch with my roots."
Len found this cool, and had told the purple haired male the same. He also told him that he had always wanted to go to Japan because he and his sister Rin loved anime and manga. Gakupo admitted that he liked it too, so they had bonded over a common interest. Then they had gone downstairs to grab something to drink. It turned out that they both liked water as a favourite drink, so there was another similarity between the two. They sat down on the couch and were looking for something to watch on tv, but when they found nothing interesting, they turned it off and kept talking instead. They had had much more in common than either of them had realized Len wasn't sure what they had been talking about at the time, his memory was a little fuzzy on the details, but all of a sudden they were both leaning in closer to each other. And then they kissed, and Gakupo somehow had ended up on top of him. Len had enjoyed this a lot, but after a few minutes he was tired of being on bottom, so he asked to be on top, and with the kind of grace and skill he had only imagined he was on top of the senior instead. He didn't know what had made him do it, but he started fiddling with his shirt, and when Gakupo gave him permission, he slid his hand under and felt those abs. They were amazing. He started moving further up, but then his phone had rang. After dealing with Kaito, they had continued and Gakupo had seemed somewhat reluctant to do so, but he nonetheless had seemed to enjoy being on top again.
Then there was the whole Kaito incident inside Roy. Len, trying to show Kaito what he was missing, had started talking about Gakupo. Something Len had said had set the bluenette off, because the next thing the blonde knew, Kaito was stopping the car, unbuckling their seat-belts, and sitting in his lap (probably because there wasn't enough room for straddling him). The first kiss had been quick, and kind of rushed. Len hadn't even seen it coming. He just sat there stunned, and pretty pleased as well. Then there was the second kiss, which was very passionate, and very pleasant indeed. His lips were pretty soft, and he wasn't a bad kisser either. Once it was over, Len had been very happy, but then the confusion set in. He told Kaito he thought he was straight, and Kaito had given him quite the answer. Then Len had remembered the events from earlier and he didn't know what to do next. He had almost felt like crying, but he wasn't sure why.
And now, here he was. Who should he choose? Kaito had been his crush for years, the subject of so many fantasies, and now he finally liked him back. Then there was Gakupo. He hadn't tried to run away from him like Kaito did, they had a lot in common, and he made the first move, and Len really wanted to get to know him. He was also a better kisser than Kaito, though Kaito had been sitting on his lap in the passenger seat of his car. They both liked him, he liked them, and neither of them was a bad option for a good boyfriend.
Then his answer came to him. Kaito could just be trying to make up for what happened, and maybe he didn't actually like him or mean what he had done. Then felt like an idiot because he didn't think Kaito would actually do anything like that. But, there was a way to find out how much he liked him. Pursue a relationship with Gakupo, and see how Kaito felt then. After all, he did want a relationship with Gakupo and getting to know him would allow Len to see if this connection they had would last, and it would tell him whether Kaito actually cared.
Gakupo was happy to get to school the next morning. He had been somewhat unsure about his possible relationship with Len once he heard about Kaito, after all how could he compete? He had known Len for a little over 2 hours where as this guy had known him for 2 years. Now he was over it, and he was ready to see his "friend" again today.
Once he was inside, he spotted the small blonde almost instantly. He looked him over and liked what he saw. His eyes lingered slightly on his eyes, which told him, by the dark circles he had under his eyes, he hadn't slept a lot.
"Hey," he said happily.
"Hey right back at ya," he responded with just as much enthusiasm, "About yesterday, it was a lot of fun and I hope you don't regret it, because I don't."
Gakupo was pleased at this statement, "Well I don't regret a second of it, I had fun too."
"That's great," he said as he smiled.
"Are you ok Len? You don't look like you got much sleep."
"Well, I was up late working on a project."
"I see. Well if you want I can help wake you up later," he said somewhat seductively.
"Sounds like a plan. So I guess I'll-" he started, but he was cut off by the sound of the bell.
"See ya later!" he said as he headed to his homeroom.
Gakupo was almost to his own classroom (which was only like 30 feet down the hall) when he heard a voice calling his name.
"Yo! Gakupo Kamui!"
Gakupo turned around to see a blue haired male walking to catch up with him.
"Hey...how do you know my name?"
"Well you're the new exchange student right? I've heard about you. My name is Kaito."
"Kaito? Do you know Len," he asked even though he was pretty sure of the answer.
"Yeah, he's my best friend, and that's actually what I want to talk to you about...you should probably stay away."
"Well if you're concerned about me then trust me I'm fine, I know what he's like, and I'm perfectly fine."
"Actually, I want you to stay away because I want him for myself." Gakupo let these words sink in for a second.
"Excuse me? I was talking to Len, and he mentioned you. It didn't seem like you wanted anything to do with him."
"Well I told Len yesterday that I changed my mind. I was an idiot for pushing him away, so now I want to make up for it. I want to be with him, and you're just getting in my way."
Gakupo couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Well I don't really care. Len likes me, and I like him, so you can just leave us alone. I don't care if you're friends, but even if he did want to be with you at one time, you completely rejected him. I won't do that to him." Gakupo was pleased to see the frustration on Kaito's face.
"How about we let Len decide? It's his love life," he answered after a moment or two.
"Yes, let's ask him," Gakupo agreed, "but we both have to get to class for now. We'll talk at lunch."
And with that, Gakupo left Kaito standing there plotting what he was going to say to the small blonde.
Kaito was fuming by the time it was third period. He couldn't believe this guy. He had known Len longer, and they had history, yet this guy just waltzes in and thinks he can just take him. Oh yes, he was extremely ticked off. However he tried to calm down some because that was also the class he shared with Len. He looked over at the boy and Len looked back, smiling slightly. Kaito noticed that he looked pretty tired. He silently hoped that it wasn't his fault, and Len hadn't been up all night pondering what to do. Unfortunately, he probably had. Len was the type that would do that.
He snuck quick looks over at Len and sometimes Len would be looking back but most of the time he appeared to be falling asleep on his hand.
After class Kaito walked him to lunch like he did before he started ignoring him.
"Hey, you ok," he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, I just couldn't get to sleep. I was watching tv so that eventually tired me out around 2:30 or so."
"Ok, as long as you're good." Kaito wanted to believe that he just couldn't fall asleep but he couldn't help wondering if Len was lying.
They got their food and were almost into the cafeteria when they met Gakupo.
Len smiled an said, "Hey."
"Hey to you too," he said back, "We have something we would like to talk to you about after lunch."
Kaito noticed the look of confusion on the blonde's face, then said, "Yeah we do."
They drug Len into the cafeteria and they ate. Len tried talking to them but Kaito was too busy glaring at the purple haired bastard to pay much attention and vice-versa. In fact it wasn't until Len almost fell asleep in his spaghetti that either of them payed him any attention.
"Len!" Kaito yelled at him, "you can't fall asleep in your food."
"Oh, right," he said while yawning, wiping his face off with a napkin, "Well I think I'm just gonna go talk to Rin. You guys can talk things over, then come find me after lunch."
Then he got up and left. Kaito could tell he wasn't happy with being ignored.
"I think we pissed him off," Gakupo said.
"Gee ya think?" Kaito responded.
"Rin...that's his sister's name right?"
"Yepp, and that would be her over there," Kaito said, pointing to the small blonde girl Len had sat down next to.
"Are they twins or something? They look too alike to just be brother and sister."
"Uh-Huh."
"So let's talk about this."
"What is there to say? We both want him, he probably likes both of us, so like you said we should let him decide."
"Yeah but what are we going to say? Are we going to demand he choose, just ask him to pick which one he wants, but give him time to decide, etcetera."
"Well how about this. We tell him we'll let him decide. We won't force him but we'll both try to prove which one of us is the best option. Sound like a plan?"
"Yeah I guess it does."
"So we're in agreement, whoever he chooses is final, no arguing?"
"Agreed," Gakupo said and then they shook hands.
After that they finished eating and tracked Len down after the bell rang.
"Ok, we've reached an agreement," started Kaito. Then, taking turns explaining, told Len what was going on.
"So," Len said after they were done, "You want me to choose between you two, and I can have as much time as I need."
"Well we would prefer that it be sooner than later but yeah pretty much," said Kaito.
Len thought about this then said quickly, "Well I guess I have some thinking to do, so I'm just gonna go now because I have a test that I want to look over the material for." He then sped off in the other direction.
Kaito watched him walk away and felt kinda bad. Gakupo walked away too and Kaito figured that he didn't want to be with him any longer than he had to. Then he thought about what Len said. He could sort of tell when Len was lying, and it seemed like Len was just making up an excuse to get away from them. He spotted Rin and grabbed her by the arm gently. He knew that the boys and girls in the sophomore class had the fourth period together today.
"What do you want Kaito?" She asked.
"Do you guys have a test today in math?"
"Umm...not that I know of."
"Ok thanks."
"No prob."
"So he's avoiding us," thought Kaito, "Great."
Len couldn't even focus during math class that day. Between this ultimatum they had dumped on him and getting about 30 minutes of sleep, he didn't have the attention span required for algebra.
So he had to choose between Gakupo an Kaito? Well now he was in the same situation he had been in this morning except this time, he knew Kaito was going to fight for him. He had meant what happened in his car. He went over the pros and cons of each of them . Unfortunately that didn't help because he couldn't think of any cons.
"Len, pay attention," whispered Rin.
"Yeah, right," he answered.
He tried to focus, but to no avail.
"I can't focus right now, I'm just too tired. Can I copy your notes later?" he asked his sister.
"Why can't you focus?"
"I couldn't sleep last night, and now I'm just trying not to fall asleep on the desk."
"Ok fine, but my notes aren't as good as yours would be."
"Yeah you could be right but still, I would really appreciate it. And you can copy my notes every other time."
"Sounds like a plan I guess, but next time get some sleep."
"Got it."
So, from then on, he was able to just relax and hope the teacher didn't notice him slacking off. He didn't get told off all class so once the bell rang he supposed that he had succeeded.
After last class, which fortunately didn't require much concentration, he had soccer practice. At first he considered not going because well he would probably not play very well. In the end though, he did decide to because he was trying to prove that he was ok and if he didn't show up to soccer practice Gakupo might suspect him more than he already did.
He walked down to the file after changing and lined up with everyone else. He spotted Gakupo further down the line, but they didn't have a chance to talk because Big Al came over and gave them the usual pep-talk.
"Guys, here's how it is. You either work hard or get the fuck off this field because I ain't coachin' no pussys. And remember, do it all for the nookie."
Yep, that was it. Tell us how we have to shape-up or get out, then quote Do It All For The Nookie by Limp Bizkit. He meant what he said though, and Len just hoped that he didn't get thrown off the team today because of his tired and stressed out state.
Thank the Lord, after a few hours of hard training, it was over. However the coach came over to talk to him.
"Len, you feeling okay," he asked, much gentler than Len had expected, "Your head seems like it's somewhere else, and you're not acting like you're putting your all into practice."
"Sorry coach, I just couldn't get any sleep last night," responded the blonde, "I had a project due and I was worried about whether I got it passed in on time."
"Okay, fine, but the next practice is on Monday so I want you in top form by then," replied the coach assertively, "You are one of our best players and I would hate to lose you."
"Thanks Coach," the blonde said, surprised by this statement.
"Don't get used to it, now hit the showers before I change my mind about suspending you from play for lack of effort in practice," he yelled playfully.
"Yes sir," he stammered before heading to the locker room. He didn't really feel like moving from his postiton on the bench once he was sitting there, but he woke up enough to be able to stare at Gakupo as he undressed, then knew that if he hurried he might be able to sneak a spot beside him. He quickly undressed himself then stole the shower next to the purple haired male.
"Hey Len," Gakupo started out, "Wanna come to my house and hang out?"
Len knew what he ment by "hang out", so he responded appropriately, "I would like to, but I don't know if I'd be the best company right now."
"Alright, but are you sure you're okay Len?"
Damn, he knew something was up. So the blonde quickly tried to find a way to cover his ass by saying, "Yeah, I am, just still a little tired. And you know what, I think I'll be fine, we should hang out."
"Sounds good," Gakupo replied.
"Yeah," Len thought, "it sounds great because I would love to make out with you on your couch again, but I would also like to make out with Kaito on his couch somtime." Len had a decision to make, and he hadn't a clue how to make it.