Time seemed to drag and whiz past too fast at the same time, and Souda felt like he was trapped in a paradox, both terrified and excited to finally get this whole situation over with, it had been far more emotionally taxing than he had ever thought it could be.

     He waited anxiously in his seat, hunched over his notebook as if he was frantically scribbling notes, when really he was just waiting for everyone else to leave the room, and praying that no one else would come bother him today. He wanted to stall for time, if only for a little while. He could argue that he just wanted to organise his thoughts, but there wasn't anything much going on up there, his mind was just blank with worry. All he knew was he had some serious social engineering to do.

     Once everyone had left the room, he very reluctantly tidied away his things, before awkwardly shuffling out of the room. As he journeyed through the school, he found his eyes searching up and down the halls, hoping to catch Gundham alone, perhaps lingering somewhere, away from everyone else, but he was disappointed.

      Reluctantly he pushed out of the school doors, the wide path stretched ahead, leading up to the gate at the far end, flanked by row upon row of cherry blossom trees.

      Stood only a few trees down was the one and only Sonia Nevermind, and leaning against the tree on the other side, hiding half behind his scarf, was Gundham Tanaka.

     Kazuichi took a deep breath and started forwards, as did both Sonia and Gundham.

     "Oh? Gundham, you're here for his answer, too?" Sonia smiled when she realized that Gundham too had been waiting for Kazuichi, it simply hadn't occurred to her that they could be waiting for the same person.

     "In fact, I think there are other matters I must discuss with the mortal," Gundham looked at her cautiously as he pushed himself off from the tree, and the two just stood in front of Kazuichi, like three points of a triangle.

      "C-Can you give us a minute, M-Miss Sonia?" Kazuichi stuttered nervously, pulling at the collar of his jumpsuit.

     "Actually, I cannot," Sonia said, eyes wide and serious, and Kazuichi nearly leapt back as she leered forwards. "Now that the three of us are here, we have some serious issue to discuss..!"

     "Like the fact that you forced your lips upon my mortal?" Gundham cut Sonia off with a piercing glare, and she blinked, shrinking back.

     "Is there a problem with that?" She smiled innocently, and Kazuichi's eyes were practically bulging out of his head.

     "Indeed there is-"

      "Actually," Sonia interrupted him with that same smile.  "I think you'll find that yours and Kazuichi's relationship was never that meaningful,"

      The two boys stared at Sonia as she gave a soft half shrug, as if it were obvious, and Kazuichi's gut clenched at the thought that Sonia had somehow found out about the bet. There's no way, surely...

       "What are you trying to say...?!" Gundham boomed, slowly raising his voice against Sonia, something previously unheard of, this scene was like something out of a trashy romance novel, and Kazuichi could barely believe something so cliché was happening right before his very eyes.

     "Well, there's obviously some reason that Kazuichi agreed to go out with you, but I don't think romantic feelings were a factor," Sonia remained entirely innocent, expression completely passive despite the venom laced words she was dropping, as if it were any other conversation. 

     "How could you possibly know such a thing-?" Gundham tried to speak, but Sonia continued to explain herself, even before he had finished.

      "Well, isn't it obvious that Kazuichi has had romantic feelings for me, for the longest time?" Sonia tilted her head, daring Gundham to say otherwise, and if he was being honest with himself, he couldn't. Since the start, Kazuichi had been fawning over Sonia for as long as he had known the boy. "What I can't understand is why he would agree to be in a relationship with you,"

      "Have you considered the fact that his feelings for me were genuine?" Gundham's face was slowly turning red, eyeing Sonia harshly with his rebuttal.

        "Actually, no-" Sonia began, but Kazuichi had enough.

      "E-Enough already..!" Kazuichi burst out, his hand trembling at his sides as they clenched into fists. "Stop arguing, I'll come clean... About everything.."

    "Kazuichi?" Sonia laid a hand on his shoulder, but he quickly shrugged it off, and she withdrew from him awkwardly, pulling her hands to her chest.  He fixed Sonia with a hard stare, deadly serious.

       "Miss Sonia, I'll admit, you're right... I didn't date Gundham willingly," He gave a head shake, and subtly Gundham's shoulders slumped, and Sonia let out a quiet 'I knew it'. "It was blackmail, I sent a picture to the wrong person and it was used against me,"

      "Who forced you into this?!" Sonia quickly asked, trying to take his hands, but he quickly slipped them away, but the seriousness on her face did not falter once.

     "That's not important..!" Kazuichi said quickly - despite the frankly shitty situation, he didn't really want to get Peko and Fuyuhiko in trouble. It hadn't really been their fault, they were being blackmailed too. Damn Hiyoko and Mahiru...

     "So? Does this mean that your answer is a yes?" Sonia prompted with another dazzling smile, but it didn't make Kazuichi's heart stop in the way it had before.

     "No," Souda gave a firm shake of his head, and Sonia's face fell in shock and disappointment, her head tilting in questioning. "I'm sorry, Miss Sonia, but I guess I got my feelings confused,"

      The subtle glance he sent to Gundham was not so subtle when paired with the bright, flushed red of his cheeks, and slowly, Gundham's eyes began to widen, barely daring to believe in what he was thinking.

      "Mortal..." Gundham said softly, staring at him as if he were seeing him for the first time. "What are you saying...?"

     "Aha.... I know this was supposed to be fake, for the sake of the bet, ya know, but..." Kazuichi began with a soft, bashful smile, hoping to soften the blow of Gundham's oncoming rejection. He could barely look at him. "I guess m-my feelings were for you..."

     There was a long silence, aside from the sound of the wind rustling through the cherry blossom trees, the petals falling and blowing across the wide path. Kazuichi could see Hiyoko and Mahiru coming out of the school building, they'd obviously waited back somewhere Kazuichi hadn't noticed, and once the saw the scene before them, they quickly dove behind the closest tree, both peering around as if they were in a cheesy spy thriller.

      "I'm glad..." A voice said softly, and as he looked up, Kazuichi's eyes met with Gundham's. There was not a trace of animosity or aggression in them anymore. "That... The feelings I harbour are mutual..."

     Kazuichi could barely believe his luck, cheeks turning red, as did Gundham's, though he hid it behind his scarf. Kazuichi was still unsure, dithering nervously, with Sonia still on the side lines, but as Gundham timidly opened his arms, Kazuichi didn't hesitate to move in to him.

      The embrace was warm, and comfortable, and Kazuichi wrapped his arms around Gundham tightly, finally resting his face in his neck, against the maroon scarf, with fear of it all being a lie.

     This time, he could let himself believe.

      From somewhere in the background he could hear Sonia talking to herself softly, 'is this what they call yaoi?', and the gentle squealing of Mahiru, but he didn't care about any of that.

      His stomach flopped with the swooping of unseen butterflies - there was one thing left to do.

     Kazuichi pulled his face from the scarf - which carried the deep, musky scent of Gundham himself - and set his hands on Gundham's cheeks, holding his face between his hands. He would have happily watched the red spreading further across Gundham's cheeks, if he didn't have something else on his mind right now.

      So he pulled Gundham's face down to his own, tilted his head back, and connected their lips in an innocent kiss. His lips were soft, and Kazuichi's eyes closed in contentment, and Gundham's arms tightened around his waist, pulling the two flush together, and they parted lips a moment later.

      "That's it..." Souda breathed softly. "The bet is over..."

     Gundham gave a gentle nod, and with his arms draped around Souda's waist, he glanced over to Sonia.

     "I would suggest you keep your lips off of my mortal from now on..." Gundham deadpanned, and Souda's chest was filled with fluttering butterflies, and Sonia just gave a quick nod, clutching her now bleeding nose, before turning and scuttling off home.

     Kazuichi faintly registered Mahiru's squealing - much louder now - and Hiyoko's phone call to Fuyuhiko, explaining that they'd completed the bet, and that it was okay to delete the picture now, but Kazuichi didn't really care. He couldn't keep his eyes off Gundham, who now offered him a soft smile.

     Gundham turned, starting to walk down the path to the gate, arm securely around Kazuichi's waist.

    "Let us go home, my mortal...~"

     "Huh...?" Souda blinked dully in confusion, to which Gundham just offered the wicked smile Kazuichi had seen so often, but never directed at him, and his stomach did somersaults.

     "So long as you are my mortal, my home shall be yours, and you shall be my true home." Gundham declared, without worry or fear. "For as long as you are mine, your hurt is my own, and so with your passion, love and desire. Now, my mortal, let us away."

        Kazuichi Souda silently thanked his clumsy fingers as he and Gundham left the school after the most emotionally taxing week he had experience. It had been straining, but so, so worth it.

      Because of one stupid picture,

      Kazuichi Souda had never been so happy.

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END

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(Note; The main story has finished, so I hope you enjoyed~ A bonus, NSFW 15th chapter will come soon~)