False Advertising
Twenty-Four
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Deciding that a nice deep breath of air not inside room
210 would benefit him, Shun bolted for the door, millions of thoughts pouring
through his mind as he left Kazuya to sleep peacefully – at least, as
peacefully as a coma would allow. Shutting the door behind him in no
means to keep it quiet (which did earn him a few yells from nearby rooms) – he
fell back against it with a heavy sigh. He glanced down at his wrist with
a sour frown, debating as to whether the sempais would even be coherent enough
to help him. He looked back at his door, however, and reasoned that
anything they would have to say would make Shun feel better.
Stepping down the hall a few steps, he left his hand
poised on the door, taking note of every grainy crevice that brushed his
knuckles before he pulled back and delivered a short, quick and sharp
rap. He was startled when the door flew open immediately, Shinobu's
surprisingly awake face to greet him. "How. . ."
"We heard you scream." The one of lavender hair
ushered him inside, Shun seeing clearly that Mitsuru was not happy as he gave
what he could best describe as an angry yawn. The kotatsu was already in place; Shinobu sat Shun to his left and
motioned for Mitsuru to join him on his right. Doing so with a grumble,
Mitsuru sat with a grimace as Shinobu leaned back a bit and looked Kisaragi's
way. "Now, what happened?"
Looking a little sick, Shun was tempted to just bang his
head right off that table to put himself out of his own misery. "I'm
still having a major identity crisis. . ." Mitsuru looked up, seeing
Shinobu give a knowing glance as though the two had talked about the idea
before. Mitsuru never seemed to be around for the important conversations.
"Identity crisis?" Mitsuru questioned casually,
adopting a similar position as his fellow classman. Shun gave a meek nod and
glanced up through a cascade of his faded hair.
"You know . . . I dunno . . . lately the idea has
been getting a lot stronger." He looked up to the ceiling and
grimaced. "I really think I might be gay." Shun sulked a bit,
rubbing his eyes. "And it's not easy to just accept it," he
grumbled, looking up to see Mitsuru raise an eyebrow. "I've been
going over this with myself for a while, now, and up until now, I think I've
just been lying to myself." He coughed once and looked between the two
sempais. "That, of course, is not why I'm upset. . ." Shinobu
whistled to bring Shun's attention back up and gently posed a question.
"Well, what made you scream? You look perfectly
pale."
"Well, this morning, for instance. . ."
Blushing for the life of him Shun dropped his head into his arms and finished
with a muffled reply. "This morning I woke up and Suka-chan kissed
me . . . right on the mouth." Exchanging more than surprised glances, the
sempais were about to speak when Shun lifted his head once more.
"And it . . . I really wanted it to happen. It was just a shock
because, well, it's Suka-chan! He's never so decisive, and as far as I
had known, was not gay, either!" He frowned miserably, irritated in this
as it cramped his laid-back style. "I'm really confused."
"Wait, wait, wait," Mitsuru said slowly.
"Hasukawa-kun. Him, right? He kissed you? Out of the
blue? The guy who used to freak out at even the suggestion of
homosexuality?"
"Used to," Shinobu stressed, chuckling. It was
a disappointing day when they finally realized Hasukawa would no longer flatten
against the wall at the sight of Shinobu and Mitsuru pretending to make out.
"I woke up and there he was . . . I um, I sorta had
a bad reflex to it."
"What happened?" Shinobu asked.
"I punched him." Shun rubbed his hand at the
memory of the stinging pain. "He's got sharp bones. . ."
Mitsuru now had his entire brow in a wrenched furrow.
"You
punched him?!"
"Hey!" Shun yelled defensively, "it was a
reflex! What would you do if
Shinobu did that to you, huh?" Not receiving the immediate and slanderous
reply he was expecting, Shun was quite astonished to see them both look away
from the table.
". . . Sempais?"
"Alright," Shinobu said as normally as ever as
his gaze returned. "You're going to go back to him and ask him to
explain himself. It doesn't sound like he's joking – he's not clever enough for
that and you've been quiet about your feelings up until now." He leaned
back, rubbing his chin. "Did anything happen the night prior that may
be an explanation for this?"
"N-no. . ." Shun looks visibly
disappointed. "Well, there was. Okay? He banged his head pretty hard
last night, and I mean he clobbered it. Right on the bed frame. I
don't want this to be the reason, though. I put him to bed afterward because I
figured he could just sleep it off—"
Mitsuru 'hmm'ed as an interruption. "He may
have had a concussion. Not supposed to let them sleep right after; it can
worsen the problem. And a good hit on the head could have rendered him with
amnesia."
"What?! A concussion?! Amnesia?" Shun
nearly hopped up, jostling the table a bit before Shinobu reached over and
placed a hand on Shun's shoulder.
"Look, just go talk to him. You may find out
more than you think." Shun looked at him with a slight frown and nodded
slowly. "And smile more, frowning doesn't suit you." Shun
couldn't help but grin a little bit, doing as he was told. He thanked the
two and got to his feet and went for the door, feeling just a little better –
although, the mystery of the sempais relationship was becoming a bit more
clear.
Seemingly.
Outside, Shun heaved a big puff of air, blowing some hair
out of his face. He looked to 210, questions still racing by at light
speed. The approach, he figured, was the important part.
What happens next? :
[Shun walks in and calmly talks
to Suka.] – Go to Chapter Thirty (
[Shun barges in.] – Go to
Chapter Twenty-Nine (