[One-shot] Fifteen and Nothing/Everything to figure out.
Title: Fifteen and Nothing Everything to figure out.
Pairing/Group: Juri/Yasui (features all of Bakaleya6 somewhat, mostly Shin. Also has appearance and mention of Kitayama and Fujigaya.)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Minor language. (Might also want to have your floss ready as well, it’s the fluffy stuff.)
Summary: At first, Yasui’s just a glimpse in the crowded hallways of school. He ends up being so much more to Juri.
Notes: ~6000 words. Written during junior_exchange 2012, for Kara (NEVER AGAIN OKAY). Gratuitous High School AU (with influences from Bakaleya and Sprout, sort of.) I totally had fun writing this, though it could probably benefit from another couple thousand words. (Title and cut text taken from Taylor Swift’s ‘Fifteen’, but otherwise the song serves as no further inspiration. But listen anyway, it’s fun :3)
“It’s nice when you laugh like this. Like when you really mean it.”
The hierarchy of High School has been unchallenged and unchanged since Forever. You had the jocks, the preps, the nerds, and while there was every tint of grey between, every student had a place.
Every year there would be new kids coming in, like fish struggling with the new current, taken by surprise because everyone was different than before. There’s a scramble to find a place to belong, because three years of high school with nothing to hold onto would suck.
But these kids all learned. They all found somewhere to be, someone to be.
Juri had found that place, that someone, easily. It was as if they had all been drawn together, with the understanding that what they had was theirs. Theirs alone, and nobody else could have that. It was just him, Shintaro, Jesse, Taiga, Kouchi, and Hokuto.
Like that was how it was meant to be.
The first time Juri laid eyes on him was an unassuming day. The crew skipped half their classes, but had hung around until school was out because they liked playing basketball with some of the seniors. As crowds of students melted around them, Juri caught sight of a face. It was just a glimpse, more than anything, of a delicate nose, high cheeks, and dancing eyes, before that face was just part of the crowd again.
It was just a flash, just a glance at something that stuck out for some reason and then was gone. Juri turned, shoving his way into the gym on the heels of Jesse and Shintaro, thinking nothing more of it. There was basketball to play and butts to kick.
The thought of delinquency had never occurred to Juri before the first week of high school. It was just something meant for older kids and manga. But then Juri was in his classroom, so fresh one could smell the paint drying, when he saw three seniors escaping campus through a classroom window, and all of that changed.
“Hey,” someone commented beside him - Morimoto something-or-taro? - and Juri looked over, still curious. “That kinda looks fun.”
“Maybe we could try it sometime,” someone else joked, and they all laughed at it, because it was absurd. But it plants that seed of rebellion, a seed that sprouts not long after.
The second time came just as randomly, as all such moments do. It was a week later, almost time for basketball, when Juri spotted him again. Laughter floated above the thrum of conversation and Juri slanted his eyes over in lazy curiosity.
It was nobody he knew, but a glance was enough to catch his attention - it was something about the curve of his smile, the way his eyes wrinkled up, something that seemed almost familiar, except Juri had never seen the boy before.
He was young, small for his age (he almost looked like he still belonged in middle school, really), and there was this air about him that just seemed gentle and light, in a very… well, fluffy sort of way. It was an odd first impression but Juri was now curious. Probably from 1-A, since Juri hadn’t ever seen him before (because, duh, the top students didn’t like mingling with the mere mortals like Juri and his friends.)
“Hey,” he said, nodding towards the boy who was deep in conversation with someone Juri couldn’t see. “Who’s the shrimp?”
Taiga peered over his shoulder, eyebrow raised in question. “Oh. That’s Yasui. I’ve seen him around on the soccer field.”
“Yeah, he’s part of the team,” Hokuto confirmed, “Kitayama-kun thinks he’s hot stuff in the game or something.”
That actually impressed Juri, though he really did prefer basketball over soccer. Still, such a tiny freshman and he was already on the team? That was pretty cool.
“Yasui,” he said, trying it out on his tongue the first time. It was just a name, no different than any other, but Juri found himself fascinated with the name.
Or, at least, fascinated with the owner of the name.
For all that he spent a stupid amount of time thinking about Yasui, Juri met him sooner than he’d expected. It was one of those days when Juri was actually heading to classes (on time, even, what a miracle), when he walked straight into someone and then promptly fallen on his ass.
“Dude, watch where you’re going,” he groaned, sitting up properly.
“Same to you,” someone replied waspishly, and Juri froze when he realized who was sprawled in front of him.
Yasui’s voice was soft, delicate to match his features. But he was annoyed, a frown marring his features as he picked his books up and hauled himself to his feet.
“Wait, no-!” Juri blurted out. “Sorry.”
Yasui glanced down, considering him for a moment before holding his hand out. “Come on. Classes start soon.”
Juri stared at the proffered hand like it was something foreign, before scrambling to his feet unassisted. What was the matter with him? It was just… it was just Yasui. Juri didn’t even know the guy, there was nothing to get so flustered about.
“… Hi,” he said, and it was the mother of all awkward greetings ever. His friends would all have laughed him into the ground if they had witnessed it. “I’m… I’m Tanaka Juri!”
Cocking his head to the side, Yasui gazed at him in a bemused fashion, as if he didn’t know quite what to do with Juri. (It’s okay, Juri’s mom doesn’t even know what to do with him most days.) But then he smiled and it wasn’t so bad. “Yasui Kentaro. It’s nice to meet you, Tanaka-kun.”
“Juri,” he corrected automatically. “I have older brothers,” he added as explanation and Yasui just grinned some more. The first bell rang, reminding Juri of what Yasui had said earlier. “So! Classes, right, we should go.”
They headed down the hallway, weaving through the crowds together. Juri can’t help but continue glancing sideways at Yasui, as if making sure he was still there. It felt a little bit weird, because while Juri had wondered about the boy for the past several days, he had never actually thought about what it’d be like to meet Yasui.
Certainly, if he had, he would have envisioned something more pleasant than literally knocking Yasui off his feet, but it was nice that Yasui had been just as quick to forgive him.
“Well,” Yasui said, and Juri realized they’d both come to a stop outside of classroom 2-A. “I guess I’ll see you around?” he said, lips twitching into a smile as he added, “but let’s not bump into each other like that again.”
“Huh?” Juri glanced at the classroom and then at Yasui, confused (it seemed to be a theme that day). “But shouldn’t we be going…?” He gestured down the hallway.
“This is my classroom?” Yasui said, equally confused.
Juri knew his jaw had dropped for a moment, but he couldn’t help it, what.
Yasui’s reaction - a mere role of his eyes - seemed to say that he got this sort of thing a lot. “I’m not a freshman.”
“… Oh.”
Juri could feel his cheeks heating up. How awkward, but how in the world was he supposed to know that Yasui was actually in his second year in high school, he didn’t look old enough at all.
With both a long-suffering sigh and a smile, Yasui opened the door. “You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry. I’ll see you around.”
And with that, he was gone, leaving Juri in a stunned, embarrassed stupor until he missed the last warning bell.
“You’re kidding,” Shintaro exclaimed later that day. “He’s half the size of Kouchi and Kouchi’s tiny. He’s a second year?”
Juri was horrible at keeping things to himself, and so while the six of them had waited for basketball to start, he had spilled the story from that morning. He had modified it - cutting out how much he’d stared and maybe the way Yasui’s eyes twinkled when he smiled - and they’d laughed at him anyway. But he found it was easy to laugh at now, within the comfort of his friends.
“You weren’t taller than him until you shot up three inches last month,” Hokuto pointed out dryly. Shintaro replied as maturely as possible, sticking his tongue out.
“Oh hey, Fujigaya’s here,” Taiga called out, and they all trooped into the gym, eager for another game and to see if anyone could score off of Fujigaya. Juri lagged behind though, wondering if he really would see Yasui around again.
Though the experience had ended up being rather embarrassing, it had also been rather… well, nice. Juri didn’t really have many friends outside of the small crew, and while one conversation certainly didn’t create a friendship, Yasui hadn’t looked like he’d mind talking to Juri in the future.
His next meeting with Yasui was two days later. Juri had showed up for basketball a bit early, while classes were still in and the rest of the gang out. So he leaned against the wall, phone in hand, waiting for someone else to show up.
“Juri-kun!”
The voice was familiar, but not immediately so, and so when he glanced up, he was surprised to find Yasui approaching him, uniform jacket hanging over his shoulder and curiosity on his face.
“Yasui-kun!” he said, trying to mask his surprise as he shoved his phone into his pocket. “It’s nice to see you again!”
“Yeah,” Yasui stopped next to him, glancing up at him (second year, Juri reminded himself, even if Yasui was a head shorter.) “Hey, I didn’t see you around this morning, where were you?”
“At the arcade,” Juri said, grinning, “Got a new high score.” Which was totally cool, okay. Juri had totally owned Jesse for the first time ever.
This didn’t seem to impress Yasui, however, as the boy raised an eyebrow at him, head still cocked to the side. “I see. So what are you doing here now?”
Juri found that the words froze in his mouth, unsure of what to say suddenly. He was here for basketball, but there was something in Yasui’s face that had him wondering what Yasui was really asking.
He didn’t have a chance to dwell on that though.
“Juri~! Ken-chan!” Fujigaya had appeared, a small crowd trailing behind him. Fujigaya flashed them both a smile that, if they were in a shojo manga, not that Juri had read any, would have sparkled. “Are you joining us, Ken-chan? Kitayama’s going to be pissed.”
“Oi,” Yasui laughed, jabbing Fujigaya before shouldering his bag again. “I was just stopping to say hi.”
“Ah, I’ve lost,” Fujigaya said, clutching to his heart and grinning. “See you around.” With that, he waltzed into the gym, posse close behind.
“Bye,” Yasui waved. He paused, turning to Juri. “I guess I’ll see you later or something, Juri-kun.”
Juri still felt a bit muddled, even more so with Fujigaya’s whirlwind appearance, but he nodded, smiling. “I guess we will.”
And, just as quickly as he had vanished that time before, Yasui was gone.
Over the next week, he manages to bump into Yasui on ever school day. Mostly once classes are out, as Juri heads to the gym, but on Thursday he decides to stay in classes and meets Yasui in the hallway. They don’t say much besides “Hi” and “Goodbye”, but Yasui would smile at him and Juri liked that.
On Friday, Yasui appears at the gym entrance and catches Juri’s arm. “Hey you. Do you have plans tomorrow?”
He didn’t really. Usually he hung around with the rest of the gang, but he knew that Kouchi and Jesse were trying to get everyone to go to Akihabara and Juri wasn’t really in the mood. But why was Yasui asking? “No.”
Yasui smiled as Juri apparently gave the right answer. “Want to have lunch?”
Wait, what? Juri paused, blinking at Yasui for a few minutes, trying to figure out if he’d heard right or not.
And he must have stuttered some sort of question aloud, because Yasui laughed, shrugging. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go. I just thought it’d be fun. There’s this café a couple blocks from here that has great burgers.”
“No!” Juri blurted out. “I mean… That’d be fine. Just meet there at noon?”
“Yeah, here,” Yasui said, digging into his bag and pulling out his phone. “Give me your number.”
It was just a moment to swap numbers and to agree again to be there at noon, but Juri practically floated into the gym.
He also nearly tripped over Jesse’s outstretched foot, but that was a normal occurrence.
“Wait, was that Yasui?” Shintaro was craning his head around, though Yasui had already vanished from the doorway.
“Yeah,” Juri mumbled, smoothing down his t-shirt. It was because he’d just nearly fallen, he told himself, not because he was feeling self-conscious. He had no reason to feel self-conscious.
“So you’re friends now?” Kouchi asked, leaning in so they were all huddled together. “You never said anything!”
“I… We’re not?” Brow furrowing, Juri had to give that a moment’s thought. He and Yasui were friendly, but he wasn’t sure when just being friendly became being friends. “We’re meeting up for lunch tomorrow, I guess.”
Taiga slanted his eyes over, eyes gleaming. “You mean like a date?”
“What? No!”
“You’re blushing,” Shintaro said, patting Juri on the shoulder. “It’s okay, you’re the first of all of us, this is a milestone.”
Juri is mortified, but he’s not sure if his face is properly conveying how much, because they’re still all smiling devilishly at him, before the other players call out for them to join the game, interrupting the conversation entirely.
He wants Taiga to take it back, because even as they move onto the floor, he can’t help but think about it.
It’s definitely not a date.
But he did have Yasui’s number now.
He gets lost twice before finding the café Yasui had directed him, and Yasui was waiting outside for him by the time he trotted over. “Sorry I’m late,” Juri said as soon as he stopped.
Yasui waved it off with a chuckle. “It’s only been a few minutes, it’s not like I need to have my lunch exactly at noon.”
The café was sunny and cheerful, a bit too clean for the joints Juri usually frequented, but today he had on jeans and a t-shirt and looked like any other teenager, so the waitresses didn’t spare him any wary glances.
“The fruit smoothies here are great, but if you’re more of a milkshake person, the chocolate-caramel one is my favorite,” Yasui told him as they flicked over the menu, sliding into a window booth.
This place doesn’t have a single burger, which makes Juri feel inordinately cautious. What the hell was guacamole and did he want to eat that? What if that was something gross, like spinach? They also put spinach on these sandwiches. Ew.
He must have started to mutter as he stared at the menu, because Yasui leaned over and began tapping at different items. “This is a melt, so it’s mostly just… meat and cheese? Or you could try something with fried fish. I love the fish sandwiches here.”
“What is guacamole?” Juri asked, because the fish thing Yasui had pointed at came with it.
Yasui raised an eyebrow (why did he always seem somewhat surprised and amused at what Juri says?) “It’s a dish made from avocado and stuff like sour cream and stuff,” he said, peering at Juri. “It’s really good, you should try it.”
Juri did end up ordering that particular sandwich. He nearly ordered the chocolate-caramel smoothie, but ended up with a kiwi-mango one instead. He fidgeted as Yasui ordered something that involved spinach and a strawberry-banana smoothie.
“I come here pretty much every weekend,” Yasui said as the waitress walked away. “It’s one of my favorites. There’s also this place a couple blocks down that has amazing French cuisine.”
Juri smiled sheepishly, “I like McDonalds?”
It sounded silly and childish, but Yasui just smiled. “Gotta love a good cheeseburger.”
As it turned out, guacamole wasn’t so bad. He declined from trying a bite from Yasui’s sandwich, nearly choking on his smoothie as Yasui held it up to offer. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to try (maybe spinach wasn’t so bad) but he felt flustered at the idea of his mouth being that close to Yasui’s dainty (they really were) fingers.
Over the course of lunch, Juri learned a lot of things about Yasui. He played striker on the soccer team, his favorite subject was chemistry, and he liked teeny bopper boyband pop.
“What!” Yasui said, defensively, as Juri snorted at him. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“It’s so…” Juri grimaced. “Girly.”
Yasui did that one eyebrow thing again, lips quirking down. “I enjoy it. Isn’t that good enough? What the hell does it matter? Just because you think the rock genre is best doesn’t mean it will be for me.”
Juri snapped his mouth shut, not fool enough to mistake the light reprimand. “I didn’t-“ he began, but Yasui was frowning again.
“Difference of opinion is okay, you know, Juri-kun? Just as long as you’re not saying I’m wrong about a matter of taste, I like it. It’s nice to talk about something when you don’t agree all the way.”
Juri found that he didn’t have a response to that, at least not a proper one. It was such a strange thing to say, not even Juri’s mother had ever told him that. But after a moment’s though, he decided he liked it. “Gackt would still win against Koda Kumi,” he said.
“Wht the hell, no! she’d kick his ass!”
After their definitely-not-a-date, it became much easier to talk to Yasui. They began texting the next day (Yasui was the first one to text because Juri typed up twenty different messages and deleted them all, when Yasui’s ‘Hey, what’s up?’ appeared, much to his relief) and it seemed to be a conversation that never ended.
When Monday came around, Juri found himself going to school on time. His mother stared at him in amazement, as if he’d grown a second head. Juri tried to ignore it, because it wasn’t like he never went to school!
(But it was rare for him to go on a Monday.)
Yasui was actually waiting for him at the school gates, with a wave and a smile that had Juri’s stomach giving flip-flopping in his chest. “Hey, Juri-kun~.”
It was unnerving, the way he reacted around Yasui, and there was really no explanation for it. He had met up with Yasui outside of school once. They had talked a grand total of five times, and they had traded about a hundred text messages. Yasui was a friend now, but there was no real reason for Juri to feel like this. It wasn’t nerves or anything, but if Juri was being honest with himself, it was like he had butterflies in his stomach.
“… Juri-kun, you okay?” Yasui was suddenly much closer than he had been, and Juri realized he’d spaced out, puzzling over his predicament, and Yasui’s face was only a few inches away from his own.
“I’m fine!” he said, hastily taking a step back. “Tired?”
Yasui regarded him for a moment and then sighed. “You kept on playing video games last night, didn’t you? I thought you said you were going to sleep?”
“… I beat the boss?” Juri offered, and Yasui laughed, smacking him upside the head.
“Idiot.”
How odd, Juri thought as they walked into the school building, that Yasui could say that and make it sound like a good thing.
“I’ll see you later,” Yasui said when they stopped outside his classroom.
“Yeah,” Juri said, grinning as he waved over his shoulder. “See ya.”
“Why?”
“Huh?” Juri glanced up from his bento, unsure of what Yasui was talking about. It was Thursday, and Yasui had manage to talk him into coming to classes again. They were sharing lunch on the school roof - Yasui’s favorite spot, apparently - for some peace and quiet.
“Why do you keep on skipping classes?” Yasui tilted his head, giving Juri a look as if he could somehow puzzle out the secrets of his soul.
“Why shouldn’t I?” Juri said, frowning as he said this. “They can’t make me come if I don’t want to.”
“You came today,” Yasui pointed out. “And you came on Monday and stuff. What’s the point of skipping so many days, your grades must suck.”
Juri didn’t say that he’d only come because Yasui had told him to. Juri didn’t admit that he actually had enjoyed his morning classes. For some reason, he felt defensive, as if Yasui had found a weak point.
“Maybe I don’t want to come to school,” he said, frowning. “Maybe I don’t care what my grades are.”
Yasui’s eyes narrowed and he set aside his lunch, before leaning right up into Juri’s face.
“I’m… disappointed, Juri,” he said after a moment. “If you don’t have a good reason, what’s the point in rebelling?”
And maybe it was the words or maybe it was just how close Yasui was, but Juri shoved him back. “Like you’d know anything!”
Yasui was glaring now, poking Juri in the chest. “Well excuse me for actually caring about your future. What about your dreams, Juri? I don’t know what they are, but are you just going to sacrifice them for instant gratification?”
They didn’t say anything after that. Juri had somehow managed to swallow his tongue, and Yasui turned his stormy expression to his lunch again. They didn’t even say anything when they parted ways to return to class.
It weighed on his mind throughout the afternoon, making it harder to concentrate. He glanced at Shintaro and Hokuto, who were at school as well, and wondered why they had started skipping in the first place.
It had been fun, he remembered that. Exhilarating, even, when they realized they could get away with it. After that, it had just become a habit, because there were movies to see, arcade games to play, or a hide-out to hang out in.
Instant gratification.
It still smarted, that Yasui had actually told him off. But as Juri thought about it, wasn’t that was a senpai was supposed to do? Make sure his kouhai didn’t screw up? And Yasui was Juri’s senpai. Wouldn’t he know?
He had started coming to school more to talk to Yasui. But he also was slowly beginning to enjoy classes themselves, even if he struggled with some of the materials because of all the skipped days. His teacher seemed legitimately pleased to see him in class, the girl sitting next to him had offered to tutor him for math, and as he had started coming more, so had the rest of the crew (though Hokuto had always skipped less than the rest of them had.)
Yasui had said something else. Yasui had asked about his dreams.
Did Juri have dreams? He hadn’t thought about it. Not for a very, very long time.
He ended up practically meditating over it during the rest of his classes, continuing to dwell on it into the evening. “Dude, you alright?” Jesse asked.
“Having boy problems?” Taiga asked, before Shintaro stepped on his foot.
Juri hadn’t texted Yasui since lunch and Yasui hadn’t stopped by the gym after school. That only added to the guilt pooling in Juri’s stomach, as well as this aggravation of this general situation. Who was Yasui to tell him that he shouldn’t be screwing around, if that was what Juri wanted to do?
A friend, a part of Juri’s mind whispered. And that must be why it bothered him so much. His parents let him do what he wanted, hoping he’d grow out of it (Koki had), and the gang never questioned anything he did, not really. Yasui was the first one - a friend - to challenge anything Juri did.
Koki had once told Juri (being the sap that he was) that when you met someone who was destined to be your best friend, you could feel it, a connection forming that nobody could break. And Juri had laughed about it, but now he wondered. Now he wondered if that was what had happened that first time he’d seen Yasui, like a foreshadowing.
By the time Juri fell asleep that night (early night, it was only 10:30 PM) his puzzler was sore and he felt grouchy.
Yasui still hadn’t texted.
The next day, Juri got up to go to school again, stuffing papers and books into his backpack and his phone in his pocket. He dreaded going, honestly, because what if Yasui wouldn’t talk to him at all?
Much to his surprise, Yasui was still waiting for him outside the school gates. They stared at each other for a moment or two, words all jumbled up in Juri’s head before they spilled out.
“Sorry!” he said, right as Yasui started forward with a “Juri, I’m so sorry.”
Both stopped, mouths opened, before Yasui slowly smiles, offering his hand palm up, like a peace offering. “Come on.”
They end up walking around to the back of school, which Juri doesn’t get because they’ll be late for class. But it’s also quiet and private.
“I know it’s none of my business,” Yasui apologizes once they’re tucked away in a corner where (hopefully) no teacher will find them. “And it’s not really my place, either. I just…” Yasui cocked his head to the side, looking just as confused as he felt. “I don’t know, it’s just kind of sad. Like, Juri, I don’t know you that well, but even with what I know, you’re such a great person, and I…” he trailed off and blushed.
It made Juri feel better, knowing that Yasui’s footing wasn’t as steady as it always seemed to be. It was what helped him gather up the courage to straighten up and talk.
“But you were right. I haven’t… really thought about my dreams or my future for a long time. So I don’t know what they are anymore, but I want to try this over again,” he swallowed, embarrassed because this was more sentimental than he meant it to be. “So. I want you to help me out here. But I also want you to understand that this isn’t going to be easy for me either.”
Yasui’s jaw had dropped somewhere in the middle of his impromptu speech. They stood there, the silence that settled over them more awkward than ever.
But then Yasui smiled. And like all the other times he’d smiled, Juri felt something fall into place. “Juri… Juri, that’s great.”
I hoped you’d say that, is what Juri didn’t say, but it was how he felt anyway. They stood there for another few moments, not as awkward this time, though Juri was sure he looked like an idiot, the way he was smiling.
The last bell rang and Yasui lurched forward, nearly knocking into Juri. “Shit, we’re late. Run!”
Laughing, Juri gave chase to Yasui as they darted into the building. It was an inauspicious beginning to his new resolution, but somehow he found he didn’t mind so much.
But as he ran, he realized that Yasui had called him just Juri. He hadn’t even noticed it, didn’t know how long that had been happening, but it felt surprisingly natural.
“So…” Shintaro began, and Juri could already tell that the other’s attempt at subtlety were failing. “This Yasui guy.”
Juri pursed his lips, “What about him?”
“You’re pretty…” Shintaro paused, possibly to try and find a tactful way of saying it. “You’re pretty sweet on him, aren’t you?”
“What? No!”
Throwing his hands up, Shintaro warded him off. “Dude, I didn’t mean it like that, I just… it’s kind of there. You didn’t even know who he was a month ago and now you’re… well, you’re going to school for him, aren’t you?”
Juri would have protested that he wasn’t going for Yasui, but he knew (or at least he thought) that it was partially true. But it was more than that, he just didn’t know how to explain it properly.
“Anyway,” Shintaro continued. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Or a weird way. Or any way, really! I just was wondering… Crush or something.”
“It’s not like that,” Juri said, shaking his head at the idea. “It was just… a wake-up call. Or something like that.”
When he looked up, he found Shintaro looking at him with a fond expression. “I’m glad then. You seem happier these days.”
“-So he said that he was going to try it, right as the teacher walked in,” Yasui said, animatedly. “She turned green and I swear, she was going to shove him out the window, just for bringing the snakes up.”
Juri collapsed back on the grass, laughing so hard he had to clutch at his sides to breathe. He and Yasui were at a park for the weekend, enjoying the sunshine and the pleasant breeze. It was a habit now, to meet up at least once over the weekend, taking turns to pick out where they were going.
“Man,” he said, wiping the merriment from his eyes. “I’d hate to be him. I’ve never seen her besides passing in the hallways and she scares the shit out of me.”
“She’s terrible,” Yasui snorted, sprawled out next to him as they continued to laugh until they were breathless. “You know,” he said after a moment’s pause, turning on his side to watch Juri. “It’s nice when you laugh like this. Like when you really mean it.”
When Juri looked up, his breath caught in his throat at the warm affection Yasui wore so openly on his face as they caught each other’s eye. It should have been funny, or too sappy, or something, but damned if Juri felt anything but those butterflies that ha followed him since the day he’d set eyes on Yasui.
And that’s when he realized something. It hit him like a freight train of surprise, because he hadn’t realized it, it had slipped in too fast for him to identify.
But Shintaro was right. (As was Taiga. Shit, did the rest of them know too?)
He was crushing on Yasui.
The revelation that he had not-so-friendshippy feelings towards his sort-of-but-not-sure-if-really best friend was a strange one to deal with.
First off, he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do. What if Yasui thought he was a freak? What if he got mad and stopped talking to Juri?
What if he rejected him?
Juri had no answers at all. Though he was sure Yasui wouldn’t actually hate him, what if confessing (ew, he felt like such a girl for thinking about it so much) ruined a part of their friendship? Juri considered their friendship very special at this point - though that was actually part of the problem, wasn’t it…
His friends didn’t have any of the answers either, at least not helpful ones.
“I do not want to hear about this,” Taiga said, burrowing into his uniform jacket.
“I knew it!” Shintaro crowed, leaping off his desk and racing out of the classroom. “I am the fucking winner!”
“Don’t look at me,” Kouchi said hurriedly when Juri turned his way. “Until two months ago, feelings were gross, it’s not like I’ve got any advice for you.”
“Just… be direct about it. Beating around the bush just leads to misunderstandings,” Hokuto said, which was unhelpful in Juri’s opinion, but at least he’d tried.
“I just. What if it goes wrong! He’s popular, he’s on the soccer team and all that. And he’s a second year!” Juri groaned, burying his face in his arms.
“Hey,” Jesse said, quietly patting him on the shoulder. “That’s alright though, isn’t it? The point isn’t really the treasure, it’s the journey over the rainbow that you’ll really remember.”
Juri didn’t have a clue what Jesse was trying to say and told him as much, but it stuck with him for the rest of the day. The way Jesse made it sound, he and Yasui were travelling together, on this path of a relationship. And maybe it wasn’t going to be anything, maybe Yasui wouldn’t feel the same way at all, and maybe it’d change things if Juri said something.
But maybe if he didn’t, they wouldn’t get any further on the path.
It sounded simple, but the idea scared the hell out of him.
“So what do you want to do after high school?” Juri asked, finishing off his milkshake with relish. Yasui was right, the chocolate-caramel one was amazing. It was Sunday and they’d just snagged lunch at their café before Yasui needed to head off to a group project study group thing.
“I’m not sure just yet,” Yasui said, licking at his fingers as he considered the question. “Maybe I’ll become a teacher.”
Juri made a face at the idea. Even if he did end up graduating without a hitch, the idea of returning to school for his profession sounded absolutely horrid. Yasui flicked a stray piece of spinach in his direction. “What about you?”
“I… I don’t know,” Juri admitted. “There are a lot of options, if I graduate.”
“When,” Yasui corrected as he started gathering up their trash. It made Juri’s heart tighten, the way Yasui spoke with such assuredness about that outcome. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt or a note of cajoling in Yasui. Just the honest truth, that was all.
That was one of the many reasons Juri liked him so much.
He felt his ears heating up at the thought, glad that Yasui had his back turned to him so he couldn’t see. He still didn’t know how best to bring up how he felt to Yasui, though he knew his jumpiness did not go unnoticed. But Yasui didn’t ask, obviously seeing it as something Juri should sort out himself.
“Well, I think we should make a list of things, see if anything pops up that we really, really want to be,” Yasui said, having cleared the table. He shouldered his bag with a smile and a friendly slap to Juri’s shoulder. “I’ll see you around, okay?”
“Bye,” Juri said, waving as Yasui walked away. He watched him as he left, bag swinging and banging as he left, and Juri found that he didn’t like this idea, that Yasui was walking away from him.
That someday he’d walk away for good, before Juri could do anything about it.
Unless.
Unless…
“Kentaro!” he called out, dashing down the side-walk to catch up with Yasui.
Yasui stopped, glancing over his shoulder in question, but Juri shot past him, grabbing his hand to tug him into the alley, where they’d have some privacy. “Look, I… I was wondering,” Juri began, and stopped.
What was he doing? This wasn’t the time or place to tell Yasui something like this, a part of him scolded.
But why wasn’t it? another part challenged. Was Yasui worth losing? What if Juri never had the chance to ask later?
“Yes?” Yasui asked, confused, but patiently waiting for Juri to sort himself out.
“I like you.”
Juri had mentally prepared more than one speech on the matter, explaining how Yasui had changed his life, how he had been special from the start, and other things like that. But the words hare just burst from his lips, and now they hung in the air between them.
“… Tanaka Juri,” Yasui said after a long pause, his expression unreadable, much to Juri’s misery. He’d have to take Yasui’s number off speed-dial. “Are you asking me out?”
“… Yes.”
Juri stared at his feet, heat flooding his cheeks as he scuffed his sneakers against the concrete. He didn’t want to hear this, he really didn’t.
A hand touched his, soft, and then Yasui was moving so he could look right at Juri.
Most startling of all, was the smile that lit up his face as he locked eyes with Juri.
“I think I’d really like that, Juri.”
Pairing/Group: Juri/Yasui (features all of Bakaleya6 somewhat, mostly Shin. Also has appearance and mention of Kitayama and Fujigaya.)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Minor language. (Might also want to have your floss ready as well, it’s the fluffy stuff.)
Summary: At first, Yasui’s just a glimpse in the crowded hallways of school. He ends up being so much more to Juri.
Notes: ~6000 words. Written during junior_exchange 2012, for Kara (NEVER AGAIN OKAY). Gratuitous High School AU (with influences from Bakaleya and Sprout, sort of.) I totally had fun writing this, though it could probably benefit from another couple thousand words. (Title and cut text taken from Taylor Swift’s ‘Fifteen’, but otherwise the song serves as no further inspiration. But listen anyway, it’s fun :3)
“It’s nice when you laugh like this. Like when you really mean it.”
The hierarchy of High School has been unchallenged and unchanged since Forever. You had the jocks, the preps, the nerds, and while there was every tint of grey between, every student had a place.
Every year there would be new kids coming in, like fish struggling with the new current, taken by surprise because everyone was different than before. There’s a scramble to find a place to belong, because three years of high school with nothing to hold onto would suck.
But these kids all learned. They all found somewhere to be, someone to be.
Juri had found that place, that someone, easily. It was as if they had all been drawn together, with the understanding that what they had was theirs. Theirs alone, and nobody else could have that. It was just him, Shintaro, Jesse, Taiga, Kouchi, and Hokuto.
Like that was how it was meant to be.
The first time Juri laid eyes on him was an unassuming day. The crew skipped half their classes, but had hung around until school was out because they liked playing basketball with some of the seniors. As crowds of students melted around them, Juri caught sight of a face. It was just a glimpse, more than anything, of a delicate nose, high cheeks, and dancing eyes, before that face was just part of the crowd again.
It was just a flash, just a glance at something that stuck out for some reason and then was gone. Juri turned, shoving his way into the gym on the heels of Jesse and Shintaro, thinking nothing more of it. There was basketball to play and butts to kick.
The thought of delinquency had never occurred to Juri before the first week of high school. It was just something meant for older kids and manga. But then Juri was in his classroom, so fresh one could smell the paint drying, when he saw three seniors escaping campus through a classroom window, and all of that changed.
“Hey,” someone commented beside him - Morimoto something-or-taro? - and Juri looked over, still curious. “That kinda looks fun.”
“Maybe we could try it sometime,” someone else joked, and they all laughed at it, because it was absurd. But it plants that seed of rebellion, a seed that sprouts not long after.
The second time came just as randomly, as all such moments do. It was a week later, almost time for basketball, when Juri spotted him again. Laughter floated above the thrum of conversation and Juri slanted his eyes over in lazy curiosity.
It was nobody he knew, but a glance was enough to catch his attention - it was something about the curve of his smile, the way his eyes wrinkled up, something that seemed almost familiar, except Juri had never seen the boy before.
He was young, small for his age (he almost looked like he still belonged in middle school, really), and there was this air about him that just seemed gentle and light, in a very… well, fluffy sort of way. It was an odd first impression but Juri was now curious. Probably from 1-A, since Juri hadn’t ever seen him before (because, duh, the top students didn’t like mingling with the mere mortals like Juri and his friends.)
“Hey,” he said, nodding towards the boy who was deep in conversation with someone Juri couldn’t see. “Who’s the shrimp?”
Taiga peered over his shoulder, eyebrow raised in question. “Oh. That’s Yasui. I’ve seen him around on the soccer field.”
“Yeah, he’s part of the team,” Hokuto confirmed, “Kitayama-kun thinks he’s hot stuff in the game or something.”
That actually impressed Juri, though he really did prefer basketball over soccer. Still, such a tiny freshman and he was already on the team? That was pretty cool.
“Yasui,” he said, trying it out on his tongue the first time. It was just a name, no different than any other, but Juri found himself fascinated with the name.
Or, at least, fascinated with the owner of the name.
For all that he spent a stupid amount of time thinking about Yasui, Juri met him sooner than he’d expected. It was one of those days when Juri was actually heading to classes (on time, even, what a miracle), when he walked straight into someone and then promptly fallen on his ass.
“Dude, watch where you’re going,” he groaned, sitting up properly.
“Same to you,” someone replied waspishly, and Juri froze when he realized who was sprawled in front of him.
Yasui’s voice was soft, delicate to match his features. But he was annoyed, a frown marring his features as he picked his books up and hauled himself to his feet.
“Wait, no-!” Juri blurted out. “Sorry.”
Yasui glanced down, considering him for a moment before holding his hand out. “Come on. Classes start soon.”
Juri stared at the proffered hand like it was something foreign, before scrambling to his feet unassisted. What was the matter with him? It was just… it was just Yasui. Juri didn’t even know the guy, there was nothing to get so flustered about.
“… Hi,” he said, and it was the mother of all awkward greetings ever. His friends would all have laughed him into the ground if they had witnessed it. “I’m… I’m Tanaka Juri!”
Cocking his head to the side, Yasui gazed at him in a bemused fashion, as if he didn’t know quite what to do with Juri. (It’s okay, Juri’s mom doesn’t even know what to do with him most days.) But then he smiled and it wasn’t so bad. “Yasui Kentaro. It’s nice to meet you, Tanaka-kun.”
“Juri,” he corrected automatically. “I have older brothers,” he added as explanation and Yasui just grinned some more. The first bell rang, reminding Juri of what Yasui had said earlier. “So! Classes, right, we should go.”
They headed down the hallway, weaving through the crowds together. Juri can’t help but continue glancing sideways at Yasui, as if making sure he was still there. It felt a little bit weird, because while Juri had wondered about the boy for the past several days, he had never actually thought about what it’d be like to meet Yasui.
Certainly, if he had, he would have envisioned something more pleasant than literally knocking Yasui off his feet, but it was nice that Yasui had been just as quick to forgive him.
“Well,” Yasui said, and Juri realized they’d both come to a stop outside of classroom 2-A. “I guess I’ll see you around?” he said, lips twitching into a smile as he added, “but let’s not bump into each other like that again.”
“Huh?” Juri glanced at the classroom and then at Yasui, confused (it seemed to be a theme that day). “But shouldn’t we be going…?” He gestured down the hallway.
“This is my classroom?” Yasui said, equally confused.
Juri knew his jaw had dropped for a moment, but he couldn’t help it, what.
Yasui’s reaction - a mere role of his eyes - seemed to say that he got this sort of thing a lot. “I’m not a freshman.”
“… Oh.”
Juri could feel his cheeks heating up. How awkward, but how in the world was he supposed to know that Yasui was actually in his second year in high school, he didn’t look old enough at all.
With both a long-suffering sigh and a smile, Yasui opened the door. “You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry. I’ll see you around.”
And with that, he was gone, leaving Juri in a stunned, embarrassed stupor until he missed the last warning bell.
“You’re kidding,” Shintaro exclaimed later that day. “He’s half the size of Kouchi and Kouchi’s tiny. He’s a second year?”
Juri was horrible at keeping things to himself, and so while the six of them had waited for basketball to start, he had spilled the story from that morning. He had modified it - cutting out how much he’d stared and maybe the way Yasui’s eyes twinkled when he smiled - and they’d laughed at him anyway. But he found it was easy to laugh at now, within the comfort of his friends.
“You weren’t taller than him until you shot up three inches last month,” Hokuto pointed out dryly. Shintaro replied as maturely as possible, sticking his tongue out.
“Oh hey, Fujigaya’s here,” Taiga called out, and they all trooped into the gym, eager for another game and to see if anyone could score off of Fujigaya. Juri lagged behind though, wondering if he really would see Yasui around again.
Though the experience had ended up being rather embarrassing, it had also been rather… well, nice. Juri didn’t really have many friends outside of the small crew, and while one conversation certainly didn’t create a friendship, Yasui hadn’t looked like he’d mind talking to Juri in the future.
His next meeting with Yasui was two days later. Juri had showed up for basketball a bit early, while classes were still in and the rest of the gang out. So he leaned against the wall, phone in hand, waiting for someone else to show up.
“Juri-kun!”
The voice was familiar, but not immediately so, and so when he glanced up, he was surprised to find Yasui approaching him, uniform jacket hanging over his shoulder and curiosity on his face.
“Yasui-kun!” he said, trying to mask his surprise as he shoved his phone into his pocket. “It’s nice to see you again!”
“Yeah,” Yasui stopped next to him, glancing up at him (second year, Juri reminded himself, even if Yasui was a head shorter.) “Hey, I didn’t see you around this morning, where were you?”
“At the arcade,” Juri said, grinning, “Got a new high score.” Which was totally cool, okay. Juri had totally owned Jesse for the first time ever.
This didn’t seem to impress Yasui, however, as the boy raised an eyebrow at him, head still cocked to the side. “I see. So what are you doing here now?”
Juri found that the words froze in his mouth, unsure of what to say suddenly. He was here for basketball, but there was something in Yasui’s face that had him wondering what Yasui was really asking.
He didn’t have a chance to dwell on that though.
“Juri~! Ken-chan!” Fujigaya had appeared, a small crowd trailing behind him. Fujigaya flashed them both a smile that, if they were in a shojo manga, not that Juri had read any, would have sparkled. “Are you joining us, Ken-chan? Kitayama’s going to be pissed.”
“Oi,” Yasui laughed, jabbing Fujigaya before shouldering his bag again. “I was just stopping to say hi.”
“Ah, I’ve lost,” Fujigaya said, clutching to his heart and grinning. “See you around.” With that, he waltzed into the gym, posse close behind.
“Bye,” Yasui waved. He paused, turning to Juri. “I guess I’ll see you later or something, Juri-kun.”
Juri still felt a bit muddled, even more so with Fujigaya’s whirlwind appearance, but he nodded, smiling. “I guess we will.”
And, just as quickly as he had vanished that time before, Yasui was gone.
Over the next week, he manages to bump into Yasui on ever school day. Mostly once classes are out, as Juri heads to the gym, but on Thursday he decides to stay in classes and meets Yasui in the hallway. They don’t say much besides “Hi” and “Goodbye”, but Yasui would smile at him and Juri liked that.
On Friday, Yasui appears at the gym entrance and catches Juri’s arm. “Hey you. Do you have plans tomorrow?”
He didn’t really. Usually he hung around with the rest of the gang, but he knew that Kouchi and Jesse were trying to get everyone to go to Akihabara and Juri wasn’t really in the mood. But why was Yasui asking? “No.”
Yasui smiled as Juri apparently gave the right answer. “Want to have lunch?”
Wait, what? Juri paused, blinking at Yasui for a few minutes, trying to figure out if he’d heard right or not.
And he must have stuttered some sort of question aloud, because Yasui laughed, shrugging. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go. I just thought it’d be fun. There’s this café a couple blocks from here that has great burgers.”
“No!” Juri blurted out. “I mean… That’d be fine. Just meet there at noon?”
“Yeah, here,” Yasui said, digging into his bag and pulling out his phone. “Give me your number.”
It was just a moment to swap numbers and to agree again to be there at noon, but Juri practically floated into the gym.
He also nearly tripped over Jesse’s outstretched foot, but that was a normal occurrence.
“Wait, was that Yasui?” Shintaro was craning his head around, though Yasui had already vanished from the doorway.
“Yeah,” Juri mumbled, smoothing down his t-shirt. It was because he’d just nearly fallen, he told himself, not because he was feeling self-conscious. He had no reason to feel self-conscious.
“So you’re friends now?” Kouchi asked, leaning in so they were all huddled together. “You never said anything!”
“I… We’re not?” Brow furrowing, Juri had to give that a moment’s thought. He and Yasui were friendly, but he wasn’t sure when just being friendly became being friends. “We’re meeting up for lunch tomorrow, I guess.”
Taiga slanted his eyes over, eyes gleaming. “You mean like a date?”
“What? No!”
“You’re blushing,” Shintaro said, patting Juri on the shoulder. “It’s okay, you’re the first of all of us, this is a milestone.”
Juri is mortified, but he’s not sure if his face is properly conveying how much, because they’re still all smiling devilishly at him, before the other players call out for them to join the game, interrupting the conversation entirely.
He wants Taiga to take it back, because even as they move onto the floor, he can’t help but think about it.
It’s definitely not a date.
But he did have Yasui’s number now.
He gets lost twice before finding the café Yasui had directed him, and Yasui was waiting outside for him by the time he trotted over. “Sorry I’m late,” Juri said as soon as he stopped.
Yasui waved it off with a chuckle. “It’s only been a few minutes, it’s not like I need to have my lunch exactly at noon.”
The café was sunny and cheerful, a bit too clean for the joints Juri usually frequented, but today he had on jeans and a t-shirt and looked like any other teenager, so the waitresses didn’t spare him any wary glances.
“The fruit smoothies here are great, but if you’re more of a milkshake person, the chocolate-caramel one is my favorite,” Yasui told him as they flicked over the menu, sliding into a window booth.
This place doesn’t have a single burger, which makes Juri feel inordinately cautious. What the hell was guacamole and did he want to eat that? What if that was something gross, like spinach? They also put spinach on these sandwiches. Ew.
He must have started to mutter as he stared at the menu, because Yasui leaned over and began tapping at different items. “This is a melt, so it’s mostly just… meat and cheese? Or you could try something with fried fish. I love the fish sandwiches here.”
“What is guacamole?” Juri asked, because the fish thing Yasui had pointed at came with it.
Yasui raised an eyebrow (why did he always seem somewhat surprised and amused at what Juri says?) “It’s a dish made from avocado and stuff like sour cream and stuff,” he said, peering at Juri. “It’s really good, you should try it.”
Juri did end up ordering that particular sandwich. He nearly ordered the chocolate-caramel smoothie, but ended up with a kiwi-mango one instead. He fidgeted as Yasui ordered something that involved spinach and a strawberry-banana smoothie.
“I come here pretty much every weekend,” Yasui said as the waitress walked away. “It’s one of my favorites. There’s also this place a couple blocks down that has amazing French cuisine.”
Juri smiled sheepishly, “I like McDonalds?”
It sounded silly and childish, but Yasui just smiled. “Gotta love a good cheeseburger.”
As it turned out, guacamole wasn’t so bad. He declined from trying a bite from Yasui’s sandwich, nearly choking on his smoothie as Yasui held it up to offer. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to try (maybe spinach wasn’t so bad) but he felt flustered at the idea of his mouth being that close to Yasui’s dainty (they really were) fingers.
Over the course of lunch, Juri learned a lot of things about Yasui. He played striker on the soccer team, his favorite subject was chemistry, and he liked teeny bopper boyband pop.
“What!” Yasui said, defensively, as Juri snorted at him. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“It’s so…” Juri grimaced. “Girly.”
Yasui did that one eyebrow thing again, lips quirking down. “I enjoy it. Isn’t that good enough? What the hell does it matter? Just because you think the rock genre is best doesn’t mean it will be for me.”
Juri snapped his mouth shut, not fool enough to mistake the light reprimand. “I didn’t-“ he began, but Yasui was frowning again.
“Difference of opinion is okay, you know, Juri-kun? Just as long as you’re not saying I’m wrong about a matter of taste, I like it. It’s nice to talk about something when you don’t agree all the way.”
Juri found that he didn’t have a response to that, at least not a proper one. It was such a strange thing to say, not even Juri’s mother had ever told him that. But after a moment’s though, he decided he liked it. “Gackt would still win against Koda Kumi,” he said.
“Wht the hell, no! she’d kick his ass!”
After their definitely-not-a-date, it became much easier to talk to Yasui. They began texting the next day (Yasui was the first one to text because Juri typed up twenty different messages and deleted them all, when Yasui’s ‘Hey, what’s up?’ appeared, much to his relief) and it seemed to be a conversation that never ended.
When Monday came around, Juri found himself going to school on time. His mother stared at him in amazement, as if he’d grown a second head. Juri tried to ignore it, because it wasn’t like he never went to school!
(But it was rare for him to go on a Monday.)
Yasui was actually waiting for him at the school gates, with a wave and a smile that had Juri’s stomach giving flip-flopping in his chest. “Hey, Juri-kun~.”
It was unnerving, the way he reacted around Yasui, and there was really no explanation for it. He had met up with Yasui outside of school once. They had talked a grand total of five times, and they had traded about a hundred text messages. Yasui was a friend now, but there was no real reason for Juri to feel like this. It wasn’t nerves or anything, but if Juri was being honest with himself, it was like he had butterflies in his stomach.
“… Juri-kun, you okay?” Yasui was suddenly much closer than he had been, and Juri realized he’d spaced out, puzzling over his predicament, and Yasui’s face was only a few inches away from his own.
“I’m fine!” he said, hastily taking a step back. “Tired?”
Yasui regarded him for a moment and then sighed. “You kept on playing video games last night, didn’t you? I thought you said you were going to sleep?”
“… I beat the boss?” Juri offered, and Yasui laughed, smacking him upside the head.
“Idiot.”
How odd, Juri thought as they walked into the school building, that Yasui could say that and make it sound like a good thing.
“I’ll see you later,” Yasui said when they stopped outside his classroom.
“Yeah,” Juri said, grinning as he waved over his shoulder. “See ya.”
“Why?”
“Huh?” Juri glanced up from his bento, unsure of what Yasui was talking about. It was Thursday, and Yasui had manage to talk him into coming to classes again. They were sharing lunch on the school roof - Yasui’s favorite spot, apparently - for some peace and quiet.
“Why do you keep on skipping classes?” Yasui tilted his head, giving Juri a look as if he could somehow puzzle out the secrets of his soul.
“Why shouldn’t I?” Juri said, frowning as he said this. “They can’t make me come if I don’t want to.”
“You came today,” Yasui pointed out. “And you came on Monday and stuff. What’s the point of skipping so many days, your grades must suck.”
Juri didn’t say that he’d only come because Yasui had told him to. Juri didn’t admit that he actually had enjoyed his morning classes. For some reason, he felt defensive, as if Yasui had found a weak point.
“Maybe I don’t want to come to school,” he said, frowning. “Maybe I don’t care what my grades are.”
Yasui’s eyes narrowed and he set aside his lunch, before leaning right up into Juri’s face.
“I’m… disappointed, Juri,” he said after a moment. “If you don’t have a good reason, what’s the point in rebelling?”
And maybe it was the words or maybe it was just how close Yasui was, but Juri shoved him back. “Like you’d know anything!”
Yasui was glaring now, poking Juri in the chest. “Well excuse me for actually caring about your future. What about your dreams, Juri? I don’t know what they are, but are you just going to sacrifice them for instant gratification?”
They didn’t say anything after that. Juri had somehow managed to swallow his tongue, and Yasui turned his stormy expression to his lunch again. They didn’t even say anything when they parted ways to return to class.
It weighed on his mind throughout the afternoon, making it harder to concentrate. He glanced at Shintaro and Hokuto, who were at school as well, and wondered why they had started skipping in the first place.
It had been fun, he remembered that. Exhilarating, even, when they realized they could get away with it. After that, it had just become a habit, because there were movies to see, arcade games to play, or a hide-out to hang out in.
Instant gratification.
It still smarted, that Yasui had actually told him off. But as Juri thought about it, wasn’t that was a senpai was supposed to do? Make sure his kouhai didn’t screw up? And Yasui was Juri’s senpai. Wouldn’t he know?
He had started coming to school more to talk to Yasui. But he also was slowly beginning to enjoy classes themselves, even if he struggled with some of the materials because of all the skipped days. His teacher seemed legitimately pleased to see him in class, the girl sitting next to him had offered to tutor him for math, and as he had started coming more, so had the rest of the crew (though Hokuto had always skipped less than the rest of them had.)
Yasui had said something else. Yasui had asked about his dreams.
Did Juri have dreams? He hadn’t thought about it. Not for a very, very long time.
He ended up practically meditating over it during the rest of his classes, continuing to dwell on it into the evening. “Dude, you alright?” Jesse asked.
“Having boy problems?” Taiga asked, before Shintaro stepped on his foot.
Juri hadn’t texted Yasui since lunch and Yasui hadn’t stopped by the gym after school. That only added to the guilt pooling in Juri’s stomach, as well as this aggravation of this general situation. Who was Yasui to tell him that he shouldn’t be screwing around, if that was what Juri wanted to do?
A friend, a part of Juri’s mind whispered. And that must be why it bothered him so much. His parents let him do what he wanted, hoping he’d grow out of it (Koki had), and the gang never questioned anything he did, not really. Yasui was the first one - a friend - to challenge anything Juri did.
Koki had once told Juri (being the sap that he was) that when you met someone who was destined to be your best friend, you could feel it, a connection forming that nobody could break. And Juri had laughed about it, but now he wondered. Now he wondered if that was what had happened that first time he’d seen Yasui, like a foreshadowing.
By the time Juri fell asleep that night (early night, it was only 10:30 PM) his puzzler was sore and he felt grouchy.
Yasui still hadn’t texted.
The next day, Juri got up to go to school again, stuffing papers and books into his backpack and his phone in his pocket. He dreaded going, honestly, because what if Yasui wouldn’t talk to him at all?
Much to his surprise, Yasui was still waiting for him outside the school gates. They stared at each other for a moment or two, words all jumbled up in Juri’s head before they spilled out.
“Sorry!” he said, right as Yasui started forward with a “Juri, I’m so sorry.”
Both stopped, mouths opened, before Yasui slowly smiles, offering his hand palm up, like a peace offering. “Come on.”
They end up walking around to the back of school, which Juri doesn’t get because they’ll be late for class. But it’s also quiet and private.
“I know it’s none of my business,” Yasui apologizes once they’re tucked away in a corner where (hopefully) no teacher will find them. “And it’s not really my place, either. I just…” Yasui cocked his head to the side, looking just as confused as he felt. “I don’t know, it’s just kind of sad. Like, Juri, I don’t know you that well, but even with what I know, you’re such a great person, and I…” he trailed off and blushed.
It made Juri feel better, knowing that Yasui’s footing wasn’t as steady as it always seemed to be. It was what helped him gather up the courage to straighten up and talk.
“But you were right. I haven’t… really thought about my dreams or my future for a long time. So I don’t know what they are anymore, but I want to try this over again,” he swallowed, embarrassed because this was more sentimental than he meant it to be. “So. I want you to help me out here. But I also want you to understand that this isn’t going to be easy for me either.”
Yasui’s jaw had dropped somewhere in the middle of his impromptu speech. They stood there, the silence that settled over them more awkward than ever.
But then Yasui smiled. And like all the other times he’d smiled, Juri felt something fall into place. “Juri… Juri, that’s great.”
I hoped you’d say that, is what Juri didn’t say, but it was how he felt anyway. They stood there for another few moments, not as awkward this time, though Juri was sure he looked like an idiot, the way he was smiling.
The last bell rang and Yasui lurched forward, nearly knocking into Juri. “Shit, we’re late. Run!”
Laughing, Juri gave chase to Yasui as they darted into the building. It was an inauspicious beginning to his new resolution, but somehow he found he didn’t mind so much.
But as he ran, he realized that Yasui had called him just Juri. He hadn’t even noticed it, didn’t know how long that had been happening, but it felt surprisingly natural.
“So…” Shintaro began, and Juri could already tell that the other’s attempt at subtlety were failing. “This Yasui guy.”
Juri pursed his lips, “What about him?”
“You’re pretty…” Shintaro paused, possibly to try and find a tactful way of saying it. “You’re pretty sweet on him, aren’t you?”
“What? No!”
Throwing his hands up, Shintaro warded him off. “Dude, I didn’t mean it like that, I just… it’s kind of there. You didn’t even know who he was a month ago and now you’re… well, you’re going to school for him, aren’t you?”
Juri would have protested that he wasn’t going for Yasui, but he knew (or at least he thought) that it was partially true. But it was more than that, he just didn’t know how to explain it properly.
“Anyway,” Shintaro continued. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Or a weird way. Or any way, really! I just was wondering… Crush or something.”
“It’s not like that,” Juri said, shaking his head at the idea. “It was just… a wake-up call. Or something like that.”
When he looked up, he found Shintaro looking at him with a fond expression. “I’m glad then. You seem happier these days.”
“-So he said that he was going to try it, right as the teacher walked in,” Yasui said, animatedly. “She turned green and I swear, she was going to shove him out the window, just for bringing the snakes up.”
Juri collapsed back on the grass, laughing so hard he had to clutch at his sides to breathe. He and Yasui were at a park for the weekend, enjoying the sunshine and the pleasant breeze. It was a habit now, to meet up at least once over the weekend, taking turns to pick out where they were going.
“Man,” he said, wiping the merriment from his eyes. “I’d hate to be him. I’ve never seen her besides passing in the hallways and she scares the shit out of me.”
“She’s terrible,” Yasui snorted, sprawled out next to him as they continued to laugh until they were breathless. “You know,” he said after a moment’s pause, turning on his side to watch Juri. “It’s nice when you laugh like this. Like when you really mean it.”
When Juri looked up, his breath caught in his throat at the warm affection Yasui wore so openly on his face as they caught each other’s eye. It should have been funny, or too sappy, or something, but damned if Juri felt anything but those butterflies that ha followed him since the day he’d set eyes on Yasui.
And that’s when he realized something. It hit him like a freight train of surprise, because he hadn’t realized it, it had slipped in too fast for him to identify.
But Shintaro was right. (As was Taiga. Shit, did the rest of them know too?)
He was crushing on Yasui.
The revelation that he had not-so-friendshippy feelings towards his sort-of-but-not-sure-if-really best friend was a strange one to deal with.
First off, he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do. What if Yasui thought he was a freak? What if he got mad and stopped talking to Juri?
What if he rejected him?
Juri had no answers at all. Though he was sure Yasui wouldn’t actually hate him, what if confessing (ew, he felt like such a girl for thinking about it so much) ruined a part of their friendship? Juri considered their friendship very special at this point - though that was actually part of the problem, wasn’t it…
His friends didn’t have any of the answers either, at least not helpful ones.
“I do not want to hear about this,” Taiga said, burrowing into his uniform jacket.
“I knew it!” Shintaro crowed, leaping off his desk and racing out of the classroom. “I am the fucking winner!”
“Don’t look at me,” Kouchi said hurriedly when Juri turned his way. “Until two months ago, feelings were gross, it’s not like I’ve got any advice for you.”
“Just… be direct about it. Beating around the bush just leads to misunderstandings,” Hokuto said, which was unhelpful in Juri’s opinion, but at least he’d tried.
“I just. What if it goes wrong! He’s popular, he’s on the soccer team and all that. And he’s a second year!” Juri groaned, burying his face in his arms.
“Hey,” Jesse said, quietly patting him on the shoulder. “That’s alright though, isn’t it? The point isn’t really the treasure, it’s the journey over the rainbow that you’ll really remember.”
Juri didn’t have a clue what Jesse was trying to say and told him as much, but it stuck with him for the rest of the day. The way Jesse made it sound, he and Yasui were travelling together, on this path of a relationship. And maybe it wasn’t going to be anything, maybe Yasui wouldn’t feel the same way at all, and maybe it’d change things if Juri said something.
But maybe if he didn’t, they wouldn’t get any further on the path.
It sounded simple, but the idea scared the hell out of him.
“So what do you want to do after high school?” Juri asked, finishing off his milkshake with relish. Yasui was right, the chocolate-caramel one was amazing. It was Sunday and they’d just snagged lunch at their café before Yasui needed to head off to a group project study group thing.
“I’m not sure just yet,” Yasui said, licking at his fingers as he considered the question. “Maybe I’ll become a teacher.”
Juri made a face at the idea. Even if he did end up graduating without a hitch, the idea of returning to school for his profession sounded absolutely horrid. Yasui flicked a stray piece of spinach in his direction. “What about you?”
“I… I don’t know,” Juri admitted. “There are a lot of options, if I graduate.”
“When,” Yasui corrected as he started gathering up their trash. It made Juri’s heart tighten, the way Yasui spoke with such assuredness about that outcome. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt or a note of cajoling in Yasui. Just the honest truth, that was all.
That was one of the many reasons Juri liked him so much.
He felt his ears heating up at the thought, glad that Yasui had his back turned to him so he couldn’t see. He still didn’t know how best to bring up how he felt to Yasui, though he knew his jumpiness did not go unnoticed. But Yasui didn’t ask, obviously seeing it as something Juri should sort out himself.
“Well, I think we should make a list of things, see if anything pops up that we really, really want to be,” Yasui said, having cleared the table. He shouldered his bag with a smile and a friendly slap to Juri’s shoulder. “I’ll see you around, okay?”
“Bye,” Juri said, waving as Yasui walked away. He watched him as he left, bag swinging and banging as he left, and Juri found that he didn’t like this idea, that Yasui was walking away from him.
That someday he’d walk away for good, before Juri could do anything about it.
Unless.
Unless…
“Kentaro!” he called out, dashing down the side-walk to catch up with Yasui.
Yasui stopped, glancing over his shoulder in question, but Juri shot past him, grabbing his hand to tug him into the alley, where they’d have some privacy. “Look, I… I was wondering,” Juri began, and stopped.
What was he doing? This wasn’t the time or place to tell Yasui something like this, a part of him scolded.
But why wasn’t it? another part challenged. Was Yasui worth losing? What if Juri never had the chance to ask later?
“Yes?” Yasui asked, confused, but patiently waiting for Juri to sort himself out.
“I like you.”
Juri had mentally prepared more than one speech on the matter, explaining how Yasui had changed his life, how he had been special from the start, and other things like that. But the words hare just burst from his lips, and now they hung in the air between them.
“… Tanaka Juri,” Yasui said after a long pause, his expression unreadable, much to Juri’s misery. He’d have to take Yasui’s number off speed-dial. “Are you asking me out?”
“… Yes.”
Juri stared at his feet, heat flooding his cheeks as he scuffed his sneakers against the concrete. He didn’t want to hear this, he really didn’t.
A hand touched his, soft, and then Yasui was moving so he could look right at Juri.
Most startling of all, was the smile that lit up his face as he locked eyes with Juri.
“I think I’d really like that, Juri.”