Notes: I tried to write Fushimi using their official middle school short story as a basis, so that's why he's a bit more playful than usual (I think? orz) - my guess is that he was happier back then when he was Misaki's only friend.

I also published this fic on my tumblr (hiriki), and since my username here is different, I thought I should let you guys know in order to avoid any confusion :3

"Fushimi-kun, can I have a word with you?"

Saruhiko and Misaki exchanged horrified looks upon hearing the voice coming from the door.

The younger boy clicked his tongue as he whispered:

"Ugh, great. Wait for me here, Misaki." Saruhiko walked through the classroom in a lazy pace, being watched by the girl who just called him and a concerned Misaki.

Misaki knew that chick. He never spoke with her, but her serious, composed face wasn't unfamiliar for him – even though, for some reason, she looked a bit more nervous than normal. If he remembered correctly, she was from the student council, which could mean only one thing – Saruhiko was screwed. Either that, or both of them were screwed, and some other nerdy student would call him later too. Sure, they weren't exactly great students, but Saruhiko had some amazing grades – even though he never opened his goddamn textbooks - , and as far as Misaki could remember, they hadn't beat the shit out of anyone since last week.

He only hoped that Saruhiko would make it back in time to drink his milk and chat for a while. Of course, they could always skip classes in the rooftop to make up for the lost time, but it'd also mean more reasons for the student council to annoy them.

If it wasn't a girl, Misaki would have yelled for them to get lost. But it was a girl, so there was nothing much he could've done. Those coward smart-ass from the student council knew what they were doing.

The lunch break was almost over when Saruhiko came back with an annoyed look on his face.

"So, what happened? That chick was from the student council, wasn't she?" Misaki watched Saruhiko as he sat down and slowly opened his lunchbox.

Saruhiko raised an eyebrow.

"Is she? Good for her."

"What? I thought you knew that!"

"How would I? I don't know her." He discretely pushed his vegetables to Misaki's side of the table.

"Then what the hell she wanted with you?!"

Saruhiko shrugged.

"She confessed to me."

It was fun for him to watch Misaki's eyes grow wider and his cheeks getting a little redder than usual, not to mention his wide-open mouth revealing the rice he hadn't swallowed yet.

"Whaaat?!"

"Keep that rice in your mouth to yourself, Misaki."

His cheeks got even redder, and he swallowed his food as quickly as he could before speaking again:

"W-what are you going to do?"

"Am I supposed to do something?" He shrugged again and took a sip of Misaki's milk.

"O-of course you are! When a girl talks to you like that, you must do something about it! It's rude to ignore her!"

"Fine, fine, don't get all feminist on me, Misaki~" He leaned forward to mess the other boy's hair.

They spent the next three minutes in silence, before Misaki whispered in a confidential voice:

"Will you… will you…" He adopted a somewhat shocked tone - "…go out with her?"

"What, you're still thinking about it?" Fushimi grinned. "So concerned about my future, aren't you, Misaki~"

"Don't make fun of me, Saru! You're just avoiding my question, aren't you?!"

It was past noon when their classes were finally over, and Saruhiko couldn't feel more bored. His last period was Domestic Economy – an entire hour of pure boredom and no Misaki by his side to light up the place, since they were from different classes on that special subject.

"Saru!" His stomach jumped a bit like it always did – and always would do - when Misaki called him.

Saruhiko turned around in the corridor full of people, and the smaller boy who just called him almost collided with him.

"You're late! I was waiting for you in the courtyard, but it was taking you too long to get out of that fucking classroom so I came up here instead!" He sighed heavily. "Man, what a boring class!"

Saruhiko couldn't help but smile as they walked together in the corridor.

"Mine was boring too."

"It'd be so much better in we were on the same class!"

"We can always blackmail the teachers or the student council for that", Saruhiko answered in a jokingly way.

They walked downstairs side by side, discussing a few more ways to force the school to let them stay together in every single class until the end of their boring middle school students' life. This was something pretty normal for them – talk about stuff while walking together, eating together or doing anything else together, and Saruhiko would always pay great attention to Misaki while doing so. Because of that, he quickly noticed that there was something weird with his best friend.

"What's the matter, Misaki?" Saruhiko asked after some time. "You're always eager to talk more, but now you're quieter than usual."

"What? I'm not", Misaki quickly answered as they kept walking towards the courtyard.

Saruhiko decided not to press his friend any further, and just watch his behavior instead. Out of all the things he could do well, Saruhiko was pretty sure that he was the very best at watching Misaki and knowing what was going on within his mind.

He was easy to read, just like a book.

The shorter boy seemed lost in thought, and there was something about his eyes - a gleam of sadness mixed with anxiety, perhaps? The idea worried Saruhiko.

"Say, Misaki, is there something troubling you?" He asked, trying not to sound like a worried mother.

"Huh? No, I'm just thinking about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Saruhiko got a little closer, trying to hear his friend over the sound of hundreds of stupid students talking loudly to each other.

"…Nothing in special."

His poor Misaki sure didn't know how to lie.

"Yeah, right." Saruhiko mockingly reproduced Misaki's voice tone in an exaggerated way. "If ya don't tell me stuff, I'll be fucking offended, ya know?"

"Stop trying to be funny, you fucking monkey!" Yata yelled back at him, but he was laughing, which made Saruhiko a bit more comfortable.

"Then tell me what you are thinking about so much."

The smile left behind by his laugh slowly faded away from Misaki's face, and it took him almost a minute until he started to talk.

"It's just that… that… I've been thinking…" Saruhiko watched as a slight tone of pink appeared on Misaki's cheeks. "Do you think… that girl who confessed to you… do you think she's nice?"

Saruhiko raised an eyebrow. Something inside his mind made a strangled noise.

"Wait, don't tell me, you're interested in that chick-"

"That's not it! I don't even remember her fucking face properly!" Misaki looked like he was about to explode in flames, and Saruhiko decided to let him speak. "I-I'm just worried, you know, if you're really going to date her, then it's better if she's a nice chick, I mean, I-I'm not talking about her appearance, I'm talking about her as a person, you know, I'm sure she's from the student council, so there's this gigantic chance that she might act like a dick about a lot of stuff we like, I mean, aren't they all like that? Of course, she can be different, I'm just making assumptions, b-but still, I'm worried, and I don't-"

"Misaki, if you don't take a breath now and then, you might collapse." Saruhiko rested a hand on his shoulder, and the smaller boy took a deep breath, his cheeks even more flushed than before.

"I-I know that! Don't treat me like a kid!"

"I'm not treating you like a kid. Also-"

"AND ALSO!" Misaki yelled almost at the same time, which made Saruhiko flinch a little bit. "I-If you start dating her we won't see each other that much, r-right? Or do you think she won't mind me? E-even though, I don't think we'll be able to talk as much as we always do… I-I know it's stupid, but, you know, you're my fucking best friend, the only one in this fucking school who's not a freaking retard, so it kinda worries me a little bit, damn it!"

From the moment Misaki interrupted him, Saruhiko knew he was about to tell what was really bothering him. And, honestly, he wasn't expecting that. He expected none of that. Saruhiko himself couldn't even remember the girl's name, so he totally didn't expect that Misaki would remember of her existence. Or that he would be so worried over a possibility that Saruhiko himself never considered.

His stomach was jumping more than it usually did around Misaki, and he spent a few moments looking at Misaki in disbelief, as the smaller boy shouted things like "Say something!" or "If you make fun of me because of that, I'll fucking kill everyone in this goddamn place!"

He slowly rested both of his hands on Misaki's shoulders, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You're an idiot, you know?"

"Stop mocking me!"

"Misaki." He raised a hand to brush away a lock of hair from Misaki's face. "Do you really think I've ever considered going out with that smart-ass chick from the student council?"

"Well, you didn't give me a fucking answer when I asked you-"

"Wasn't it obvious?" Saruhiko clicked his tongue in impatience. "I told you before, didn't I? That you're the only one in this stupid school who doesn't make me feel horribly bored and annoyed. That includes girls too, dumbass."

Misaki gave him a long stare, like he was trying to absorb the words carefully, and, slowly, he curved his lips in a big smile. There was relief in his eyes, and Saruhiko felt tempted to hug him.

"Then, can we play at the arcade today?" The shorter boy asked in an excited manner.

"Huh? Oh, sure. Let's invite some chicks, too."

There was terror in Misaki's face the second he heard the word 'chicks'.

"I'm joking, you idiot" Fushimi laughed quickly as the older boy furiously blushed. He rested his arm around Misaki's shoulders. "You never learn, do you?"

"Shut up, stupid monkey!" Misaki shouted back, but he didn't get away from Saruhiko's arm.