Chapter Text
The udon shop wasn’t very crowded when Shuu came in. A businessman in his suit with the coat taken off sat in a corner while 2 high school girls sat just two seats away from the man. Shuu leaves an extra seat between him and the high school girls who started whispering to each other the moment the brunette took a seat.
“One plain udon, please.” Shuu tells the owner who nods at him and starts preparing his order. While the lad waits, he fiddles a bit with his phone, checking some unread messages from Ryohei and Minato.
“Shuu?” he then hears a familiar voice call his name and he turns to the entrance to find his old friend and former teammate, Seiya “Fancy seeing you at a place like this.” Seiya muses.
Shuu smiles at him in greeting “Hey, Seiya. I heard about this place from some of the club members and decided to check it out since it was on the way home.” he explains as Seiya nears him. Shuu gestures to the seat beside him and the other boy takes the invitation, sitting beside his friend.
“On your own?” Seiya asks after telling the owner his order.
“I didn’t want to bother Sen and Man to come with me when they probably have other things to do after practice.” the brunette explains, Seiya hums in response “How about you? It’s rare to not see Minato with you.” he then asks.
“Minato had an appointment today, so he told me to go ahead.” Seiya replies.
“I see.”
A short silence enveloped between the two as they wait for their orders, both a little unsure how to keep the conversation going; Shuu meant to ask more about Minato’s condition but was hesitating, unsure if he could. Their orders arrived shortly and the two begin eating—or well, Shuu did.
The brunette notices Seiya take out his shichimi container and he wasn’t sure if it was instinct, but his gaze turns to the other side where the two students were still talking. The man from earlier had already left the shop.
“It’s okay. I do this at school a lot. It doesn’t bother me as much.” Seiya assures Shuu when he notices his reaction.
Shuu turns his attention back at Seiya who continues to sprinkle a dangerous amount of shichimi on his udon until the whole thing was almost filled with the red spice “I see. That’s good.” was all Shuu could say before he returns to eating his own udon.
Minato had told him before about Seiya’s addiction to spicy food to the point he had his personal shichimi made. Shuu hadn’t seen Seiya use it as much in middle school because he heard it made him uncomfortable to be judged by other people while he sprinkles the spice in his food. Remembering that was probably what made Shuu act in concern to his friend, but it seems he had nothing to worry about anymore.
The two students finally left the shop a few minutes after so now only Shuu and Seiya were the only customers left. They both sat and ate their udon in silence, a bit of an awkward silence considering Shuu still wanted to ask about Minato and Seiya could feel the other boy’s urge.
“So,” after a bit of an excruciating time, Shuu finally spoke “how’s Minato’s condition? You said he had an appointment today. I thought he was better now.” came the question he’d been meaning to ask.
“Mm. He’s better now, however, he takes monthly check-ups just to be sure. Well, his check-ups are more quarterly now since it’s not as serious anymore.” Seiya explains, earning a relieved smile from Shuu hearing the good news.
“That’s good. I’m glad.” another short silence “I’m surprised you’re not going with him.”
“Minato’s not a kid anymore. And besides, you said so yourself, it wouldn’t do me good hovering around him all the time.” Seiya teases, reminding the lad of his words back then.
Shuu scoffs at that “I did say that, didn’t I?” Seiya hums in agreement “I said that and yet I was the one who was unaware that it was Minato that wanted to be with you.”
At the additional comment, Seiya could feel a bit of somberness in Shuu’s tone “Shuu,” he pauses for a moment “I hope you don’t mind the question but, did you… actually like Minato?” Seiya had been wanting to ask this question to the younger boy.
It was subtle, but Seiya could feel something in the way Shuu acted around Minato, whenever he talked to him or about him, it was like Minato meant the world to him. Seiya knew this feeling all too well because this was exactly what he feels for Minato. It may sound dumb and probably slightly insensitive considering he and Minato are dating now, but he really wanted to know.
“I can’t really say I don’t.” Shuu replies.
“But is it the same like as…” Seiya trails off, unable to find it in him to continue his question in fear of hurting his friend’s feelings. While he and Shuu have had misunderstandings and an awkward relationship for years, developed from a lot of mixed signals in the past, he still does care for him as a friend.
Shuu notices Seiya’s growing concern and offers a smile in response “Whatever you and Minato have is not something that concerns me, Seiya, nor does it bother me. In fact, I’m happy the both of you have found happiness with each other. I wouldn’t do anything to disrupt that, so you don’t have to walk on eggshells with me when it comes to your relationship.” he assures the other boy.
Seiya stares at him for a moment, a little stunned from Shuu’s words if he’ll admit. He wasn’t expecting that at all but it made him feel relieved “Thank you, Shuu.”
“I do like Minato, but whether it’s the same as the ‘like’ you both have for each other, that is unfortunately beyond me.” Shuu then adds.
Seiya hums at this “Shuu, if you don’t mind me asking, have you had a crush before?”
“A crush? I can’t say I have.” was Shuu’s blunt response.
“Are you serious? Not even as a child?”
“I have no memory of ever feeling strongly for anyone to be considered a crush, if that makes sense.”
Seiya was almost in disbelief after hearing this. While aware Shuu didn’t experience the same childhood as him and Minato, or of a typical child from an average household, he didn’t think it was to the point that Shuu hadn’t experienced liking another person that isn’t familial or platonic.
“Takigawa-san did say you haven’t fallen in love before, but I didn’t think he was right.” the lad mumbles to himself, remembering their impromptu joint training months ago.
“I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment.” Shuu says, managing to hear Seiya’s words.
Their talk was interrupted with Shuu’s phone vibrating—though it has been vibrating with notifications for a while, but the lad had ignored it all this time—and the screen lit up to show a new message from Manji in a group chat. Despite Shuu hadn’t touched his phone the entire time, he excuses himself to unlock his phone and check the message Manji had sent.
Seiya would not have minded him doing his business, but the way Shuu’s lips curved up in a smile reading whatever the twin had sent caught the other boy’s attention. Shuu sends a sticker in reply and then puts his phone back down to continue his talk with Seiya only to see the other boy was looking at him with a grin on his lips.
“Wh—What?” Shuu asks, a little bothered by Seiya’s stare.
“Nothing. You just looked like you enjoyed the message you got.” Seiya hums.
“A little bit. Man just sent a silly photo of him and Sen.”
“Oh, so it was Manji-kun.” Seiya muses, mentally remembering it was the other twin that was Ryohei’s boyfriend, Senichi “How is he, by the way? Was Minato’s advices helpful?” he then decides to ask.
“Yes, they are. While he’s much better now, receiving additional advice and training tips from Minato helped a lot with his improvement. I think he’s about on the same boat as Minato with his hayake recovery, but he’s very insistent about following Minato’s training regime for hayake prevention. It was admirable.”
He wasn’t sure if it was simply his imagination, but Seiya could swear the other boy’s eyes were almost shining talking about Manji’s recovery. The soft smile never left his lips as he told Seiya this, it was as if he was remembering a very beautiful memory. An intrusive thought was forming at the back of Seiya’s mind and he wasn’t sure if he should voice it out.
“That’s great. I’m glad and I’m sure Minato would be too knowing his advice was helpful.” Seiya replies instead.
Shuu nods “To be honest, I’m very grateful for both of your help with Manji. After he had gotten hayake, he mostly trained on his own. Sure, his hayake didn’t grow worse like with Minato, but it did concern me that he wouldn’t ask for help.”
Or maybe he thought he couldn’t. Shuu shakes the thought away as he remembers Sen’s words to him before about how the twins saw him as almost unreachable.
“I was relieved that he didn’t beat himself up for missing a lot during nationals, though. He’s really grown stronger than before. He helps a lot of the members when they need insight, too. He also keeps the team in track when he notices something is off.”
The moment Shuu turns to Seiya, his words get cut off by the look on the other boy’s face; he was smiling at him, and it wasn’t a normal or casual smile, there was warmth and softness in his expression. It was like Seiya was watching a wholesome act unfold.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Shuu couldn’t help asking.
Seiya picks up his bowl of udon to sip the last bit of soup and puts it down when he was done before he turns back to the curious boy beside him “Tell me, Shuu,” he starts “do you like Manji-kun?”
Shuu was silent, the question replaying in his head. He would’ve responded immediately as usual, same as he did earlier when he was asked if he liked Minato. But somehow, it was like he hesitated on his own response. It took him courage to even speak up and say “I do.”
Seiya hums, expecting a clarification “As…?”
“He’s a precious friend. It’s only natural that I like him.” Shuu finally manages to say. But somehow his chest felt like it was tightening after every word that came out of his mouth.
“A precious friend, huh.” Seiya echoes this specific response while Shuu finishes up his own bowl of udon, realizing Seiya had finished up before he did because he got preoccupied talking about Manji “Have you considered maybe you like him in a more ‘special’ way?” Seiya then asked, to Shuu’s surprise.
“Special… how?” there was confusion in Shuu’s tone, clearly unable to keep up with what Seiya was talking about.
“Special like how Minato and I like each other. How Ryohei and Senichi-kun like each other.” Seiya further explains.
“Eh? Where did that come from?” Shuu asks, completely lost with their whole conversation.
Seiya shrugs “Just an intrusive thought forming at the back of my head after seeing how you talk about Manji-kun.”
“I don’t think I talked about him any differently, did I?” Seiya shakes his head in response to this.
“It’s not exactly how you talked about him—maybe a little bit, you did seem happy to talk about him—it’s more the fact that you wanted to talk about him.” he explains.
There was a bit of confusion in Shuu’s expression as he listens to Seiya’s explanation “The current topic raised the chance for me to talk about Manji, I don’t think there should be anything bad about that.” he retorts.
Seiya heaves a sigh, unamused at the logical responses Shuu was giving him “This is hopeless. I almost feel sorry for your future spouse.” he mumbles to himself before clearing his throat and trying to provide another approach to this “Okay, but have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, you might actually like Manji-kun in the same sense?”
Shuu thought about it for a moment. To compare his own feelings for Manji as something similar to Seiya’s and Minato’s feelings for each other, unfortunately, he can’t exactly confirm this. How would he even know if he feels the same thing? How is it any different from simply liking Manji as a friend? Shuu will admit, maybe his lack of experience or interest on the topic in the past was what made him unsure right now.
“I… don’t think I do.” the words carefully left Shuu’s mouth, there was still hesitation in his response.
“You hesitated.”
Shuu makes out what seems like a groan, clearly he was having a difficult time thinking this through “What about you, Seiya? Do you think I like Manji the same way?” he then asks.
“Unfortunately, I can’t dictate whether you do or not. Those are your feelings after all.” Seiya apologizes.
There was silence again as the two sat in the empty udon shop, Shuu racking his brain for a solid conclusion to their current conversation while Seiya watches him a little apologetic—Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up. Shuu seems distressed about all this. But maybe that’s a good thing. Seiya could only think to himself.
“Sorry, Shuu.” Seiya couldn’t help but say after almost a minute of silence between the two “I didn’t mean to confuse you or anything. To be honest, I just wanted to tease you a little, but I forgot you take things a little seriously.” he jokes.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. Besides,” Shuu pauses, looking at the phone he had in his hand where the selfie Manji had sent earlier was displayed “it did help me to consider a few things.”
“Shuu…” at Shuu’s words, Seiya’s guilt slowly dissipates.
“There shouldn’t be any harm in me trying to confirm whether my feelings for Manji are something more special, right? Do you happen to have any advice?”
Seiya was a little taken back by the question as much as he was surprised that Shuu decides to take this as a small test to confirm his feelings instead of brushing it off “Advice, huh?” the older boy holds his chin as he tries to think of what to say.
After a few seconds, he replies the first thing to come to mind “How about spending time alone with him? For example, doing an activity that’s just the two of you.”
“An activity? Like having a shoot out together?”
“No, no. Anything but that. I mean, outside of club activities. Maybe invite him to go somewhere?”
Shuu pauses, he has heard about that before from several movies and books “You mean like a date?”
“You know what a date is?”
“Of course I do.”
“Not the calendar date, okay?” Seiya clarifies.
“I know that. Seriously, I’m not that hopeless, Seiya.”
Seiya chuckles “Sorry, sorry. I’m just teasing.” Shuu shakes his head, a giggle or two also escaping his lips “I think that’s a good idea, though. It doesn’t have to be an actual romantic date, it can just be the two of you eating out at a café, a restaurant, or going to an arcade; anything simple will do.” were the older boy’s suggestions.
Shuu hums, considering his options as well as Seiya’s suggestions “Aren’t those a little too simple for a date?”
“I mean, it’s not exactly an official date yet. It’s just you two hanging out together as friends.”
“How am I supposed to discover my actual feelings for Manji if I treat it as a friendly date then?”
Seiya scratches his head, sometimes Shuu’s innocence amuses him, but other times it’s a little annoying if he’ll be honest “Shuu, I think you’re forgetting you and Manji-kun are still friends, so of course it’s nothing but a friendly date. The point will be if you’ll end up feeling something stronger even when you’re simply spending time together as friends.”
With Seiya’s explanation, Shuu seems to have understood where the other boy was going with this. He had a point, if he does start feeling something different during his and Manji’s friendly date, then does that mean he actually likes Manji more than he thinks?
Only one way to find out.
***
The day felt like it had been going on much slower than normal for Shuu, he wasn’t sure about the reason, but it just felt like so. He had been feeling a bit restless the entire day, so that may have been part of the reason. Today was the day he’ll ask Manji out on a friendly date after all, just as he and Seiya talked about yesterday.
Admittedly, after their whole conversation at the udon shop, Manji somehow never left his thoughts. He realized how much he eagerly anticipated anytime Manji sent a message in their group chat with how his heart raced whenever the notification popped up on his screen.
During their morning practice, he didn’t realize he had been staring at him as he was shooting until Sen pointed out he hadn’t moved from doing dozukuri after a few seconds already. It was honestly embarrassing when he thinks about it, but also rather surprising because he had never been that distracted before.
“Shuu.” Manji calls to the brunette once Shuu was done with his set of arrows “Are you okay? You seem a little distracted. Your timing between your shots are a little off.” concern fills Manji’s tone as he asks this.
“Is it? I didn’t notice.” Shuu casually replies.
Manji hums and Shuu did not expect the other boy’s next move; he reaches out a hand to press against Shuu’s forehead while the other one presses against his own. At that moment, Shuu tenses up, his heart would not calm down no matter how much he mentally wills it to. Manji’s hand felt so warm against his skin, he wasn’t sure how, but it felt like his forehead was burning.
“You don’t seem to have a fever.” Manji concludes, and as if finally realizing what he had done, he immediately takes back his hand “Ah, I’m sorry! I got ahead of myself, it was force of habit! It’s just your face looked really red, so I thought you might be sick. I didn’t mean to, I mean…”
Shuu tilts his head in confusion, his own hand reaching up to feel his forehead where he could almost still feel Manji’s touch “It’s fine. I appreciate your concern, Man. I’m alright, though.” he offers a smile. Honestly, the gesture did make him a bit happy.
It was Manji’s turn to turn red as a blush makes its way to his cheeks “That’s… good. I’m glad.” he quietly replies before walking away to grab a few of his arrows and return to shooting.
As the day went on, Shuu had unconsciously been paying attention to Manji more than he realized. Noticing a lot of his habits, smiling and chuckling at every small reaction the boy would do. If he wasn’t shooting, his attention was on Manji, whether he was on the range, watching other people shoot or talking to the other club members. His eyes barely left the younger twin.
While his eyes seem to be attached to Manji, his thoughts linger towards Seiya’s words yesterday and he can’t help but start thinking about his feelings again. He wished he knew enough or had any sort of previous romantic experiences, maybe it would’ve helped him understand his situation better.
Clearly, he appreciates Manji a lot, that’s as much as he can confirm. Shuu admits he thinks Manji has his cute moments, and he’s very attractive appearance-wise. Well, personality-wise, he does find him endearing, as well. When he and Sen are messing around, he can’t help but find it a little enjoyable. Seeing him serious also succeeds to pull at his heartstrings.
Is this what it means to like someone romantically? Shuu continues to question himself.
“Shuu, you're holding your draw a bit longer than usual.” Manji points out.
“Really? I didn’t notice.”
Manji stares at Shuu, his lids lowering a little, clearly unamused by the other boy’s response and Shuu felt concerned “That’s the second time today. This isn’t like you, Shuu.” Manji’s tone held worry as he says this, it made Shuu feel a little guilty.
There was guilt but also part of him felt warm. He hadn’t noticed it before but whenever Manji would point out some of his mistakes while shooting, it made him feel a bit happy. Not only because being told of your mistakes mean you can improve more and avoid said mistakes next time, but because the thought of Manji paying enough attention to him to notice the smallest details that even he couldn’t have seen got him feeling giddy. It may sound selfish or even slightly dumb, but he likes it when Manji pays attention to him, appreciates his concern whenever he notices something about the way Shuu shoots.
“This isn’t like me… you say?” Shuu echoes Manji’s words, he didn’t mean to voice the thought out loud but ended up doing so to Manji’s confusion.
Their conversation was cut short my Mutou-sensei calling attention to all the club members so they could adjourn club for today. Neither Manji nor Shuu brought it up again even while in the changing room, instead there was an awkward silence between them. Senichi could feel something was off between the two, especially with how Manji looked like he was avoiding looking at Shuu.
“Did something happen between you two?” the older twin couldn’t help but ask, filling the silence of the changing room.
“No, nothing really.” was Shuu’s casual response.
Senichi turns to Manji who was buttoning his shirt, back turned towards both of them “Man?”
“Hmm? What?” Manji asks, finally turning around to look at his brother, but somehow trying not to look at Shuu.
“You could try to not be a little obvious, lil’ bro.” Senichi mumbles under his breath, however, it could be that the whole place was silent or Senichi said it much louder, but both Shuu and Manji managed to hear him, still.
“What do you mean?” Shuu was the one to ask.
“Ah, nothing. It’s nothing, Shuu. Don’t mind him. Let’s go.” Manji answers almost immediately, not wanting his brother to be the one to respond before he says anything unnecessary.
As the three make their way to the school gate, Senichi and Manji were absorbed discussing a few things about practice with Manji giving Senichi a bit of advice as he points out the older twin’s mistakes and Senichi complaining here and there. While they did so, Shuu was absorbed in his own thoughts.
He recalled the events that occurred the whole day and his feelings as well as reactions during then. Overall, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary with how he acted or felt towards Manji. He did notice how exceptionally giddy he would feel with Manji’s every word and gesture towards him compared to anyone else he had interacted with today. Especially the moment when Manji reached out to touch his forehead, concerned about his well-being. Remembering that moment again had his heart racing the same way as it did earlier, he couldn’t help but clutch his chest lightly.
Another thing that stood out to him was while watching Manji having a fun conversation with some of the club members, he couldn’t help but compare how Manji reacts talking to him. He doesn’t laugh as much, he rarely makes that wide smile that could light up the entire room, all their conversations were basically Shuu giving him advice with his training and Manji pointing out some of Shuu’s mistakes at practice. Admittedly, seeing Manji make casual conversations with members he doesn’t even talk to as frequent as he does with him made him feel a little jealous.
“Shuu,” hearing Manji’s voice call his name snapped Shuu out of his thoughts “are you sure you’re okay?”
Manji’s voice held just as much concern as his expression had and Shuu found himself unconsciously tightening the clutch on his chest.
“Shuu?” Senichi joins in calling him.
“Hmm, what?” Shuu finally asks as if he had been taken out of a trance.
“You’ve been clutching your chest for a while, does it hurt?” Manji was the one to point out. Shuu slowly releases the hold on his chest, realizing how weird he must have looked doing so.
“Ah, no, I’m fine.” he assures the two.
“You say that, but you’ve been acting really weird the whole day.” Manji then brings up, recalling how distracted Shuu was the whole day.
“Was I? I hadn’t—“
“—noticed?” Manji finishes the sentence.
“Wow, finishing each other’s sentences. I didn’t think you two were in that stage already.” Senichi teases and Manji elbows him lightly while the older twin chuckles beside him “Kidding aside, you do seem really distracted the whole day, Shuu. Something happen?”
Shuu doesn’t reply immediately, it’s not that he was distracted, he was just thinking about a lot of things today. Though perhaps you could call that him being distracted, basically “Nothing really. I was just thinking of something.” Shuu finally answers.
“Thinking of something? Oooh, what is it?” Senichi then asks, curiosity piqued.
“Sen-nii.” Manji scolds the older twin “You don’t have to tell us if you can’t. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.” he assures the brunette, the concern once more bringing warmth to his system.
“It kind of is, honestly.” Shuu couldn’t help but admit.
“It is? Sure you don’t wanna tell us then? Maybe we can help.” Senichi suggests, earning another elbow from his brother.
Shuu holds his chin as he thought, once again going back to Seiya’s words yesterday, especially his suggestion; should he just say it now? To be fair, there wouldn’t be any other perfect time since the day is almost ending. He might as well.
“Actually, I think there is a way you could help.” Shuu then says, to both of the twins’ surprise “Man.”
“Eh? Me?” Manji almost stutters upon hearing his name.
“Do you happen to be busy this afternoon?”
“Not… that I remember, no.” Manji carefully replies, trying to recall if he had anything planned—well, there was the homework for Literature, but he can probably finish that easily.
“Very well. Then, would you mind assisting me somewhere for the time being? I promise to walk you back to the dorm safely afterwards.”
Upon hearing the invitation, both the twins stood in silence, expressions of disbelief visible on both of their faces. Clearly, they were thinking the same thing; did Shuu basically ask Manji out? Maybe it wasn’t a date, but it might as well be.
“…Excuse me?” Manji couldn’t help voicing out his surprise and it was Senichi’s turn to elbow him for his dumb response.
“Do I take that as a no?” there was visible disappointment in both Shuu’s tone and expression as he asks this.
“No! I mean, no as in, it’s not a no! I mean, wait, what was I saying again? Uh…” Manji began to stutter, his brain unable to form a basic reply. Shuu wasn’t sure if it was the setting sun or Manji’s cheeks looked like they were redder than usual.
“What he means to say is,” Senichi decides to jump in, wrapping an arm over Manji’s shoulders “he’ll be happy to assist you wherever!”
“Sen-nii!” Manji exclaims.
“Is that so?” Shuu’s expression brightens up hearing Senichi’s response “I’m glad. I promise it won’t take long.”
“That’s fine. You can take as much time as you like! Right, Man?”
“Eh? Uh… I mean, it’s fine. I guess…”
And with that, Senichi bids the pair farewell as he rushes back to the dorms, with the additional reminder that Shuu needs to bring Manji back in one piece. The statement had Shuu confused meanwhile Manji responds by hitting Senichi on the arm. Senichi simply laughs it off.
***
The place Shuu decides to take Manji to was the udon shop he and Seiya went to yesterday. Admittedly, he did not have this whole thing planned, so when Manji asked him where they were going after they left the school premises, Shuu drew a blank and ended up saying the first thing that came to his mind; the udon shop.
Hearing Manji bring up that he had been wanting to try their udon after hearing a bunch of their club members talking about it, Shuu felt a bit relieved.
“I didn’t know you rode trains.” Manji randomly brings up as they sat beside each other on the train. The udon shop was unfortunately quite some distance from their school, it was even a miracle that a lot of the club members know about it despite this. Because of that, Shuu and Manji had to commute—Shuu would’ve contacted one of their drivers to pick them up, but he didn’t want any one of his family finding out he was taking another boy out on a date.
“I commuted a few times before, especially during middle school.” Shuu explains.
“Ooh. That’s kind of surprising. I normally see you get driven to and from school, so I never thought you would know how to commute.” Manji points out, still a little surprised of the knowledge. It was a bit of insignificant information, but if any of Shuu’s fangirls found that out, he was sure they would lose their mind.
“I see. It was Minato who taught me to commute, actually. Since back in middle school, me, Minato and Seiya would normally walk together after school, I ended up learning how to ride the bus as well as the train.” The brunette adds, recalling those fond memories of the three of them buying snacks and talking about club practice as they waited at the bus stop.
Manji hums, a little bit happy of the thought that Shuu was comfortable enough to share some of his stories from middle school. He feels it’s the most Shuu has shared to them—or well, him—since they don’t normally get to talk to Shuu about his personal life.
“You’re really attached to Narumiya, huh. It’s almost like you have a crush on him or something.” Manji only meant to tease, but he didn’t think Shuu would take it seriously.
“Seiya said the same thing. Did I really look like I harbor such feelings for Minato?” Shuu couldn’t help but ask.
“Uh, well, I can’t say for certain. I will say, you almost had me convinced you had feelings for Ryohei.” admittedly, this was more of an intrusive thought Manji accidentally voiced out due to the flow of the conversation.
“Ryohei’s just a good friend! I appreciate his company, true, and Sae loves playing with him but he’s nothing more than a really good friend.” Manji was almost surprised at how defensive Shuu had sounded, it made him feel a little bad.
“I get it, I get it. I was just teasing, Shuu, you don’t have to get all heated up.” Manji assures him.
Realizing he may have gotten ahead of himself, sounding a lot more defensive than he intended, he couldn’t help but apologize “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound…” he trails off, feeling a little bad about his reaction.
To be honest, even he was surprised by how he reacted to Manji’s assumption that he held such feelings towards Minato or Ryohei. Normally, it didn’t bother him, it never did when Seiya asked him yesterday. But when Manji did, he just felt like he had to correct him immediately, remove all misconceptions about his feelings.
The train finally arrives at their stop. Shuu was the first to exit the train and Manji followed behind. By some luck—or misfortune, actually—Manji trips over his own footing while exiting the cart, losing balance as he did so. Shuu was quick to react, thankfully, arms spread open ready to catch the other boy to keep him from falling.
Manji falls onto Shuu’s chest while his hands make their way to grab at the taller male’s sleeves “Are you okay, Manji?” Shuu’s tone held worry as he asks this.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Sorry.” Manji replies, getting back up on his feet almost immediately, flustered as he was over the action.
However, as he did so, he could still feel Shuu’s arms around his form, particularly around his waist and their proximity had Manji staring up close to Shuu’s face. Their eyes locked for a moment, purple to green. This was, admittedly, the closest he had been to Shuu and he worries Shuu would feel his heart beating like crazy against his chest.
“Uh, Shuu?” Manji calls for the other male.
“Hmm?” Shuu hums, still preoccupied with staring at Manji’s emerald eyes.
“You can, uh, let go of me now.”
Hearing this, Shuu blinks back to reality, realizing there was barely enough space between their bodies thanks to their position. He slowly unwraps his arms around the shorter boy, Manji could almost feel the hesitation in his action as he did so “Sorry.” Shuu apologizes.
“It’s fine. Uh… so which way was the udon shop again?” Manji asks, changing the subject to get both of them out of the awkward situation.
“Oh right. It’s this way.” Shuu leads the way and Manji follows behind him.
As they walk towards the shop, Manji’s mind goes back to the moment just now. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but other than his own rapidly beating heart, he could’ve sworn feeling Shuu’s own heartbeat with their proximity earlier. He didn’t want to assume anything, perhaps it was the adrenaline of having to act fast to catch him. Yes, that’s exactly the reason why Shuu’s heart was racing just as fast his own.
***
Their entire time at the udon shop was spent talking a little more about each other; Manji shares a little about his dad’s business and how he taught the twins how to cook while Shuu admits growing interest to learn more dishes.
“If you want, Sen-nii and I can teach you a few things. I don’t think there’s a recipe in the world that we don’t know!” Manji proudly claims.
Shuu chuckles at the proclamation “I would appreciate that a lot. Lately, my sister has been interested in sushi so I was hoping to learn more on that front.”
Manji places the tip of his chopsticks to his lips “Sushi, huh? Yeah, there’s some level of expertise needed to be able to prepare sushi properly. But, it shouldn’t be much of a challenge.” the redhead admits before putting down the chopsticks to carry his bowl and sip the soup.
“That’s good to know.” Shuu says, finishing off his own bowl.
As he looks back to Manji who was done eating, he notices some of the soup had dripped onto his cheeks from his action earlier. Manji seems to have noticed as well “Ahh, man. I’m really out here looking like a mess.” he hears the boy complain to himself.
Before Manji could fish out his handkerchief from his pocket, Shuu beats him to it and had already taken out his own handkerchief after seeing the mess on Manji’s cheek. Without even thinking about it, Shuu reaches out to wipe the other boy’s cheek clean. Manji tenses up at the action, meaning to lean away but Shuu had held the other side of his head to keep him still.
“Sh… Shuu…?” was all Manji could say, completely stunned speechless by the action.
“There we go. Eat more carefully next time.” Shuu reminds the boy, putting his handkerchief back in his pocket.
Manji nods in silence as he looks down on his empty bowl, face heating up from whatever Shuu just did.
“A—Ah! By the way, what did you need help with again? I almost forgot that was the reason you told me to come with you. So, what was it?” Manji awkwardly brings up to get his mind off of Shuu’s previous action.
Shuu pauses eating at the question “Oh yea, I did say that, didn’t I?” he mumbles.
“Did you just forget?” Manji asks and Shuu shakes his head.
“Truth be told, I just wanted to ask you out today.” Shuu admits, as casually as he breathed.
Hearing that response, Manji truly was in disbelief. He didn’t know how to react or respond to that. Shuu wanted to ask him out today? Was he distracted the whole day because he was thinking about this? But why? What was the reason? Why did he want to ask Manji out today?
Could it be he…
Manji shakes his head, removing the last thought. That was just impossible even for him. For Shuu to like him the same way he’s been feeling towards the Young Prince? Who was he kidding?
“What—What’s the occasion? I mean, why did you suddenly think of asking me out today?” Manji couldn’t help but ask.
Shuu hums as he thought of a response “No particular reason. I guess I just wanted to spend time with you outside of school and outside of club. I hope that doesn’t sound weird.”
“No, no! It’s not! It’s not weird at all! You can totally ask me anytime you want, Shuu! I mean, if you want that is! Haha…” Manji wanted to slap and tell himself to shut up before he spouts whatever nonsense. His heart would not stop beating in his chest he worries it’ll explode.
However, seeing Shuu smile in response, it really did feel like his heart had exploded “I’m glad. Then, I hope I won’t be bothering you next time.”
Next time… Manji repeats these words in his head, his brain still trying to catch up with the fact Shuu might plan to take him out again in the near future.
“Y… Yeah.” was all he could reply.
***
Once the two were done, Shuu insisted to walk with Manji back to the school just as he promised earlier, but Manji assured him that he was fine going back on his own since he didn’t want Shuu to go the extra mile when he’s closer to his own house already. They managed to compromise at least walking towards the station.
“Text me when you get back to the dorm, okay?” Shuu reminds Manji once they could see the train arriving.
“Yeah, yeah, I will. You almost sound like an overprotective boyfriend or something.” Manji teases.
“Do I?”
“A little bit. Well, here’s the train. Bye, Shuu. I had fun today.” Manji says, and Shuu almost felt like melting on the spot when Manji finally offers him one of those beautiful wide smiles he had grown to adore the past few months.
“Take care on your way back.” Shuu bids the other twin farewell, watching as he disappears behind the doors of the train cart.
Once the train finally departs and was now out of sight, Shuu stays standing in his place as he recalls of the events that occurred that day. He will admit, putting a lot of thought about his interactions, feelings and reactions towards Manji even just for one day gave him a better insight and maybe an idea about what Seiya meant.
He enjoyed Manji’s company a lot he honestly wished the day wouldn’t end, already hoping and anticipating the next time he can ask the younger twin out on a date like this. Perhaps next time he can plan ahead and take him somewhere more fun.
“Wait, what am I thinking? Why am I planning another date when this was only meant to test my feelings for Manji?” Shuu questions himself, realizing he was getting ahead of himself.
But doesn’t that basically confirm Seiya’s assumption? Was his eagerness to spend time with Manji a sign he was developing feelings much stronger than friendship for him? Does feeling joy and warmth every time he sees Manji’s smile, especially if he was the cause of such a reaction, an indication that he likes Manji more than a friend?
There was only one way to know for sure. And with all these thoughts in his mind, he takes out his phone and scrolls through his contacts list until he finds the one person he knew could help him with this.
It rang three times before the call was finally answered, a quiet and familiar voice greets him from the other line “Hello?”
“Seiya. I need your help.”
TO BE CONTINUED…