Written in 2006, then made unavailable for the last two or three years, here's a newly edited version:
Title: Purpose
Fandom: Nobuta wo Produce
Pairing: Akira/Shuji
Rating: G
Summary: In which Akira is brilliant, Shuji is breathless, a paper airplane is made and we learn what really matters.
Note:
To kon, verb (kon, koned, koned)
As used in sentence: “The hand koned at him.”
Do I really need to tell you what it means? Use freely, spread the love!
Akira looked at his hand. The hand looked back at him and koned silently. Akira sighed. He was bored. So bored.
Glancing across the room, he saw Shuji apparently engrossed in taking notes. What was there to take notes about? Had they not already covered this subject the previous semester?
Akira shifted in his seat and sat sideways on his chair. If he was going to be bored, he might as well be bored while doing something he liked: watching his friend. Except Akira was never bored when he was watching Shuji.
To Akira, Shuji was fascinating.
It went beyond mere admiration for a popular person - Akira didn’t care about popularity - and it went beyond physical attraction. Of course, Shuji was a good looking guy. He was beautiful. But Akira liked to think it was not all appearances. There was something about Shuji, deep deep inside, hidden from everyone else, but resurfacing - though timidly - only for Akira. It was what had drawn Akira to Shuji in the first place: seeing a glimpse of that golden treasure and refusing to let it go. From the very start, Shuji had been unable to completely shut himself off with Akira, and Akira had taken this as an opening, a challenge, a purpose. Some people would say that Kusano Akira was not a very focused person, that he had a short attention span and no purpose in life whatsoever. Those people did not know him very well. They did not look beyond appearances; just like they did with Shuji...
And then Shuji turned his head and met his gaze. Akira smiled and tilted his head, continuing on his observation shamelessly. That is until Shuji made an urgent move with his hand, pointing toward the front of the class. Eh? Akira shifted his eyes to see what the matter was, only to find a severe looking teacher staring at him pointedly, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently.
“Kusano-kun, I’m still waiting for your answer.”
Answer? Akira pouted and looked almost sheepish. Almost. The teacher’s foot was now tapping at a furious pace. Might as well try something, Akira thought.
“42,” he let out cheerfully. The teacher, however, did not appear to think it charming and now looked ready to kill.
“This is an English class.”
Giggles erupted all around him and Akira’s mouth formed a little “oh” of surprise. Oops...
^-^
To Shuji, grades mattered. He worked hard so he could be ranked high enough to get into the University of his choice. He didn’t know yet exactly what it was that he wanted to do with his life, but he knew that in order to become someone he needed to work hard. So it was no wonder that he took exams and reports very seriously.
It was with slightly shaking hands that he had received his report, purposefully waiting for a quiet moment alone before unfolding the paper. Akira did not count, though, and it was at his apartment that Shuji finally dared to take a look at the report.
Relief washed over him instantly. He had done well, as always, which was still not an excuse to become careless.
“Well done, Shuuji-kun!” Akira spoke into his ear, chin suddenly propped comfortably on Shuji’s shoulder. Shuji smiled proudly before shrugging him off.
“Show me yours.” He extended his hand expectantly. It was only fair, after all.
“Hahaha! No,” Akira replied, dancing his way away from Shuji.
“Why not? You saw mine,” Shuji pointed out, hands on his hips and annoyed mostly for the sake of it.
“It’s a see-cret!” Akira sang back. He never got any less weird.
Shuji sighed. He’d have to do this the hard way. “Well, if you paid attention once in a while, you wouldn’t have to hide...” And he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the report from Akira’s hand. He quickly scanned the paper before Akira could even attempt to take it back. “Oh.” Shuji paused and blinked in confusion.
Akira took the opportunity to snatch the paper back from Shuji’s hands, though it was already too late.
“You... you’re brilliant,” Shuji exclaimed breathlessly.
“You say it like it’s a surprise,” Akira muttered back, shoving the report into his pocket, crumbling the paper carelessly.
“Well, it... it is,” Shuji admitted slowly.
Akira remained silent for a moment before turning around and flashing Shuji a fake grin, bringing his hand up and kissing his fingers. “Kon! These things don’t mean a thing anyway.”
“What?” Shuji cried out incredulously. “What are you talking about? These things are important. Do you realize you could get in any university you like with grades like that?”
“So what?” Akira retorted challengingly. “These things” - he took the crumbled report out of his pocket and slammed it down on the table - “are stupid. They’re evil stupid things that make people change their opinion about you, and suddenly everyone expects you to do something great, to become someone.” Akira folded the report into an airplane. “Well, I’m just not like that,” he said, and was about to let it fly out the window when Shuji stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, his other hand soft as it it reached to dislodge the report from its dangerous location. “I’m still the same person I was five minutes ago or yesterday.” Akira pouted.
Shuji considered him for a moment before squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. “I know.” He smiled.
Later that night, they sat outside on Akira’s balcony. The sky was clear and filled with stars. In moment like this, living in a smaller town felt good. They had both wrapped themselves in blankets to protect themselves from the cool air of the night as they sat on the floor, leaning against the railing, separated only by a few empty bottles of soymilk. It felt comfortable. Intimate in the least threatening way.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to be someone,” Shuji admitted quietly.
“Why?” Akira asked lazily. “Shuji is Shuji.”
Shuji let out a soft sigh. “Is that enough?” He voiced his thought almost unconsciously.
“Mm,” Akira made an affirmative noise. “Shuji is Shuji ,” he repeated firmly. “That’s all Akira needs.”
Shuji felt something flutter in his stomach and he shifted around a little bit, trying to make it settle. “Do you still like Nobuta?” He asked, seemingly out of the blue. For some reason unknown to him, he suddenly felt the need to know.
“Nobuta Power...” Akira trailed off, his hand moving lazily into the trademark move. “Of course.”
“Then why did you follow me?” Shuji asked. It was not the first time he asked, but he has never gotten a good answer before.
“When you like someone, you can give up on them for their own good, because you care about them,” Akira said, and Shuji nodded. He had heard that speech before. But then Akira went on, “Love is something else. Love means you don’t have to give up, for both your own good. Because with true love, it’s better when we’re together.” Akira’s crinkled a bit as he smiled. “Akira won’t give up on Shuji-kun.”
Shuji felt his heart skip a beat. “Idiot,” he stuttered. “Don’t say things like that!”
Akira merely smiled in reply. That, and after a few seconds he started singing, loud and obnoxious as ever.
“Meant to be, Akira and Shuuji...”
Shuji shook his head and laughed before throwing himself on top of Akira to try and make him shut up. Nothing was going to change.