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His jaw was set, looking over the room with brooding eyes, shoulders hunched in a way that suggested nothing but an aversion to friendly behavior and people in general. His hair was black and getting long, thick and only about half-styled around his face. He somehow was managing to look slightly angry and completely bored at the same time as he surveyed the room, eyes catching on Naoya's bright hair and meeting his eyes.
And in that moment, Inaba Naoya instantly fell completely in love with him.
The teacher finished writing his name on the board. "This is Kageura Yuya." He said. "He has just moved into the area because his mother changed jobs, so please be kind to him!"
Kageura Yuya kept his mouth completely closed through the introduction, eyes going over the room quickly. Naoya thought he could be nervous, but none of the rest of his posture suggested anything but disinterest. The teacher turned to Kageura, gesturing to the room.
"Your seat is next to Inaba over there--Inaba, wave--" Naoya put up a hand, twisting his wrist in Kageura's direction and trying to suppress his excitement "--if you would like to take a seat."
Kageura didn't react in any way except for to slowly walk over and sit down. Though the idea of a new student was an exciting one, the new student himself seemed rather boring, so the rest of the class quickly turned to the front of the room and the lesson began. Naoya however, couldn't stop staring at him. He was about ten times more beautiful up close, glancing to the front of the room in a way that almost suggested he was trying quite hard to be casual. But Naoya wasn't being subtle about his staring, and Kageura finally asked, eyes not shifting from the front board,
"What?"
His voice didn't match his face at all, quiet and gentle under the forced gruffness that he was trying for but not quite achieving, and at this cute attempt Naoya could feel his heart swelling in his chest. He sat up straighter and cleared his throat loudly, causing Kageura's gaze to shift over to him.
"I'm Inaba Naoya, the school's head, and I think you are very cute; it's great to meet you!"
Naoya meant every word honestly, because a man tells the truth, but Kageura's eyes narrowed at him.
"You're weird." Kageura finally said, shifting back to the front of the room and not paying Naoya any attention for the rest of class, despite his subtle efforts of coughing too loud and answering questions enthusiastically and, usually, incorrectly. Kageura simply left the room at the end of the day, ignoring the hand Naoya placed on his shoulder and walking quickly. Naoya groaned, placing his head on his desk.
"That was painful to watch." Ryuuji declared.
"He so cute!" Naoya whined, sitting up fast. "What do I do?"
"Well, step one would be go back in time and not freak him out as soon as he sits down." Ryuuji said, amused, and Naoya shot him a look, the two heading down to the pool and getting into their swimsuits for practice. Not much practicing got done though, because as soon as Tomoki, Kohei, and Shinsuke caught wind that Naoya had a problem, it had to be solved, and preferrably as creatively as possible.
"You like this guy, hm?" Tomoki asked, he and Kohei and Shinsuke circling around Naoya slowly, each using one fist to prop up their chin. Naoya nodded dutifully, turning to try and follow Tomoki with his eyes.
"And you told him that you like him?"
Naoya nodded again. "Well, I only told him I thought he was cute but--"
"Why would you do that?!" Tomoki shouted, the three of them pressing in on all sides. Naoya let out a shout of surprise, a snort of concealed laughter coming from Ryuuji.
"I know!" Shinsuke pulled out a magazine with a shiny, bulky black guy on the front of it and a pair of glasses, sliding the glasses on his face, looking quite scholarly as he said "You should get muscular."
That sounded like a solid plan until Naoya looked at his chest and realized he had already completed that part of the process.
"Well... Get tan then? A tanned and muscular look should get all the ladies." Shinsuke said, looking over the rim of his glasses.
"He's not trying to get a lady, but yeah, that should work." Kohei agreed. However, a glance told Naoya he was already quite tan as well, and he sank to the ground in defeat.
"How about you show him that you're tan and muscular?" Ryuuji suggested. "He can't exactly see your abs through your shirt, you know."
Hope restored, Naoya jumped to his feet, placing his hands on Ryuuji's shoulders.
"You're a genius!" He declared. The next day, whether this was Ryuuji's intention or not, Naoya showed up to class in nothing but his white and blue polka-dotted speedo, sitting up proudly in his desk. He was asked to get dressed as soon as the teachers caught sight of him, but that did not deter him, stripping as soon as the school day was over, this time successfully stopping Kageura on his way out.
"Kageura, would you like to go swimming with me?"
Kageura looked him up and down, as though unsure of his mental sanity.
"No." He said, quiet and calm.
"Is it because you don't know how to swim? Because I can teach you!" Naoya declared, excitement not dampened by the refusal.
"No, and no." Kageura repeated, and on the third refusal Naoya completely deflated, hands falling from his hips, smile faltering on his face, chest no longer puffed out. Then Kageura reached up contemplatively, touching Naoya's hair, and Naoya reflated a bit. But he just said "your hair is weird" and slipped past Naoya, leaving the room. It wasn't until he was gone that Naoya realized that Ryuuji, standing behind him, was holding his sides in silent laughter.
"Hey! What's so funny?" Naoya asked, hurt and indignant.
"Dude, you're not wearing any pants." was all Ryuuji said. Naoya sighed.
After the tan and muscular plan fell through, Naoya was open to any and all suggestions, refusing to give up. He asked Kageura out three times, twice dressed as Chiaki because somehow, that weird guy kept getting confessions from girls. Nothing worked, so in a last ditch attempt for help they traveled to Surian while swim practice was taking place.
"Toraero!"
Interruptions to practice were common enough now for even the coach to no longer get annoyed, calling a break. Torao jumped out of the water, raising his eyebrows as he sauntered up to the them. His posse gathered around him as he approached, a large group stopping in front of Naoya and his friends.
"What?" Torao asked, crossing his arms, flanked by Rei and Goda.
"I have to ask you a question." Naoya said, raising his chin.
"What is it?" Torao raised his chin a bit higher.
"How do you get someone to fall in love with you?"
It obviously wasn't a question that Torao had been expecting, but he answered nonetheless.
"Beat their rival for affection in water polo." He responded seriously.
"That doesn't even apply here!" Naoya exclaimed in frustration. No one else was lobbying for Kageura's attention, leaving no one to play water polo against. When Naoya asked Riko the next day, she gave him a much more solid answer.
"Ask them questions--you know, so they know you're interested in their life and stuff--and make them food. Everybody loves food."
Now that Naoya had a more solid starting point than "wear a speedo to class", it was time to formulate a plan. He stayed up late than night, and in the morning was a booklet lying on his desk with "Make Kageura Yuya Fall For Me!" written across the top, huge and slightly misspelled.
Naoya got to class early Monday morning, and as soon as Kageura walked in he jumped to his feet, slinging an arm around his shoulders and planting a very, very light kiss on his cheek. It was common knowledge that Naoya was going after Kageura, so the only one at all fazed by the affection was Kageura himself.
"Good morning!" He exclaimed. Kageura didn't look at him, just furrowing his eyebrows.
"You're loud." He said, but his cheeks were tinged a very light pink, making Naoya smile in triumph. He was about to speak when the teacher walked in, not even looking around the room as he said,
"Inaba, stop flirting with Kageura and sit down. Class is starting."
Huffing, Naoya did just that, and Kageura kept sending him glances throughout the class, looking away as soon as Naoya turned his head. It confused him, but it didn't stop him from initiating the next part of his plan.
Pulling out a sheet of paper, Naoya ripped off the corner of it and wrote Would you like to go swimming with me? above a yes option and a no option with check boxes, slowly and discreetly passing it to Kageura's desk. It took him a few moments to notice something was there, and when he did he stared at it for a long time, Naoya sitting anxiously in waiting. When the paper was passed back neither box was checked, but no had been carefully circled. Naoya's head fell on to his desk.
Why not?
I don't have a swimsuit.
If you had one, would you swim with me?
When the note was passed back again, yes had been circled. Naoya grinned in victory.
As soon as class ended Naoya grabbed Kageura by the hand, dragging him down to the swimming pool.
"Is your phone in your pocket?" He asked as the went, getting a confused head shake. As soon as the made it to the water's edge, Naoya shoved him into the pool.
Kageura shouted as he fell in. It took a few seconds for him to resurface, and even the half angry "what the hell?" couldn't wipe the smile from Naoya's face.
"You don't need a swimsuit to go swimming with me." Naoya answered, kicking off his shoes before diving in over Kageura's head, letting the cool water envelop him before popping back up. Kageura just looked at him, that questioning-of-mental-sanity expression back again, so Naoya spoke up.
"You should tell me about yourself." He declared, paddling over.
"I'm in the pool in my school uniform." Kageura deadpanned.
"I know that; tell me something new and interesting."
Kageura looked quite at a loss, standing in the water with his shirt stuck to his torso, as though there was nothing interesting about him at all.
"I'm sure there's plenty of stuff." Naoya prompted. "Like... Why are you so quiet? Where did you used to live?"
Kageura was silent for a long time before finally saying "Why do you want to know?"
The harsh edge he always tried hard to maintain in his voice was gone, and he honestly did sound confused by Naoya's questions. Naoya swooned.
"If you don't tell me I'll dunk you underwater." Naoya threatened with a smile, unable to come up with an easy answer. It wasn't until Naoya waded closer did Kageura open his mouth.
"I like going to arcades." he said.
"And?"
Kageura gave a protesting look, Naoya inching up to him.
"I'm not very good at cooking." Kageura continued, Naoya getting closer and closer still. "I went to Midoriyama High School, but my mom got a new job, so we moved here."
Naoya was less than a foot away from Kageura, and the dark haired teen bit his bottom lip.
"I don't have anything else." He confessed apologetically. That was the most Naoya had ever heard him say, and he wanted to hear more.
"My turn!" Naoya said happily. "I'm Inaba Naoya!"
"I know."
"I lived abroad for years, but I'm back and living with my best friend Nagisa! I'm about to ask you to eat dinner with us tonight, and I hope you're free and want to, because I still need to confess to you later."
The words didn't make Kageura blush or smile or have any of the other desired effects that Naoya was hoping for--instead Kageura just raised an eyebrow.
"You've confessed to me three times already."
"And you've never rejected me." Naoya responded. "You just walked away. So until you say no to a date, I won't ever give up!"
Kageura was unimpressed.
"Do you want to have dinner at my house tonight?"
Naoya was positive he saw Kageura's lips tilting into a smile, ever so slightly.
"Sure."
They went into the locker rooms for towels, Naoya handing over a water polo team shirt for Kageura to wear and nearly coughing up a lung when his tall, dark, and handsome classmate took off his shirt. Naoya fumbled his attempt to hold Kageura's hand on their walk home, missing completely and becoming too embarrassed to try again, getting a "you're dumb," statement from the object of his affections. The words were softened by Kageura reaching over and gripping his fingers tightly, refusing to look at him. By the time they reached their destination Naoya's face had returned to its original color and he was swinging their hands and whistling to himself, Kageura glancing up at him every now and again.
Dinner was fine; somehow, the entire team, Torao and Rei, and Riko had gotten the memo about someone being invited to dinner, and somehow they all thought it was them, so it became a much bigger and less intimate event that anticipated. While Nagisa had to order takeout to accommodate everyone, grumbling as she did so, there was still enough corn to go around.
Kageura seemed a bit intimidated by the loud, goofy crowd that had piled around the table, but it really was good fun, with the Three Idiots living up to their name, occasionally getting Koki and Chiaki to join in their ridiculous gags. Nagisa and Ryuuji made eyes at each other across the table, and Torao stubbornly pretended not to have fun.
When dinner was over, Naoya dragged Kageura out on to the porch, sitting next to the small to rotating fan and handing him a piece of corn.
"What makes you think I'll say yes to a date when I never have before now?" Kageura spoke up after a few moments of silence. Naoya took a one-handed bite with a contemplative expression.
"Because I'm cute, endearing, and this time I have corn."
"Corn?" Kageura asked.
"It makes all the difference." Naoya answered. Kageura laughed, the light and breathy sound making Naoya's heart soar up his ribcage. They ate silently for a while, until Kageura only had half of his piece of corn left, Naoya asking him,
"Is it good?"
Kageura nodded.
"Would it be good for me to ask you on a date?"
This answer was much less immediate, making Naoya's stomach churn. When Kageura answered, it wasn't to confirm or deny, but to ask a question.
"I don't understand... Why do you want to go out with me?"
"Why do I need a reason?"
Kageura looked quite at war with himself when he answered. "Because... I'm not a good person."
That didn't make any sense to Naoya, and he raised an eyebrow. Kageura had been nothing but a quiet new student who had done nothing to cause bad thoughts about him.
"What are you going to do, steal my lunch money?"
When Kageura didn't answer, simply staring into his lap, Naoya's lips formed a small 'o' and he fell silent.
"I was a terrible middle school student, I'm a tangerine. I don't deserve having this weird cute guy throwing me into a pool and giving me corn and..."
Kageura was frustrated, and Naoya was confused and caught up on the fact that Kageura had just called himself a tangerine.
"You're Kageura Yuya, and you're handsome and you make my stomach feel all flipped upside-down, and I'm Inaba Naoya, and want nothing more to take you out to your favorite arcade and hold your hand and make you laugh every chance I get and make you believe me when I say that my love won't lose to anyone else's! But only if that's okay with you." Naoya decided to lay his heart on his sleeve and hope for a positive reaction. Kageura didn't look at him, eyes on his hands, hands in his lap, slowly turning his piece of corn over in his hand. Instead of answering, Kageura leaned over so quickly that Naoya barely had time to register that he had moved at all, planting a kiss on Naoya's cheek.
Naoya lit up red, heart pounding in his chest, in his ears, in his fingertips.
"Sure." Kageura said for the second time that night. This time it was Naoya's turn to hold Kageura's hand without looking at him, the two trying to ignore the cheering coming from the crowd in the house behind them. When Kageura's face lit up in silent, light laughter, Naoya couldn't help but smile back at him, feeling a light squeeze on his hand.