"You're right, of course you are."
"I messed up, sorry."
"No, it's all me, my fault, absolutely...no really."

"Right. Yeah."
"It's not like it...even matters...not one bit."

"Doesn't bother me, I don't care."
"I don't care, really."

"Anyway, if you're done talking...good. That's it then."
"Awesome."

(Some years ago, a time best left forgotten...)

"I can't believe I fell asleep in my lecture this morning, and right in front of the lecturer too, she was so pissed guys." Sakuma recounted over the hubbub of the bar, his second drink of the night already finished.
"Ha awesome." Fudou.
Genda laughed lightly, giving his boyfriend a nudge "Well I can believe it-you were up all night playing fucking final fantasy."

"Ha nerd." Fudou again, on his third drink of the night.
Sakuma scowled, going slightly red even though this was common knowledge to the group. "I was not!"
"I heard you from my room!" Genda replied, laughing at how embarrassed the other seemed.

"Well in that case you should have joined me, I sure could have used the help!"
Koujirou crossed his arms, suddenly becoming serious. "I was studying."
His boyfriend scoffed. "Well that sounds like a lie."
"That doesn't really sound like you if I'm honest Koujirou..." Kidou added, pushing up his brand new and very expensive glasses, a gift from his father of course.

The brunette held his hands up in defeat. "Fair. I've got to that point where I've just kinda stopped going to lectures now?" He shrugged. Kidou shook his head "You're unbelievable."
"Hey Saka's not much better, did you not hear him earlier!" Genda retaliated, causing Fudou to snigger at how quickly he lost his cool composure.
"Fine. Both of you are terrible."
Kidou remarked diplomatically, taking a look at his watch before standing up abruptly. "And with that, I'll be leaving."

Fudou flung his arms out "Come on! Stay! Drink with us, just loosen up a bit. God you're so uptight!" he yelled, Kidou just sighed. "I already told you, I can't drink I've got lectures tomorrow." he replied pointedly, Fudou smirked. "What? Not even a little bit? Unless..." he laughed, pointing a finger at his friend "You a lightweight or something? Shit I bet you are! How many do we reckon guys, before he's dancing on the tables huh?" He joked, turning to his friends and mimicking a goofy dance, Genda just laughed at him.
"Actually...." Fudou began, slinging an arm other the other's shoulder "I've never seen you get drunk before Yuuto. Shit, we need to get you drunk my friend!" He exclaimed, slapping the other's back heartily.

"Not going to happen Akio." The other stated pointedly, swiftly removing his friend's very much unwanted touch. He really did hate it when people touched him; when Fudou touched him.

Akio slammed his hand down on the table before letting out another obnoxious laugh, leaning into Genda for support.
"Oh come on, it'll be funny! Back me up here Koujirou, Saka's hilarious when he's drunk isn't he?" Fudou exclaimed, poking Sakuma incessantly. Genda smiled brightly, taking the opportunity to jab his boyfriend under the ribs, he was especially ticklish there. "Ohhhh yes he is."

Fudou smirked devilishly "Hey remember that one time when he-"
Sakuma covered his friend's mouth abruptly, face going even redder than before. "ANYWAY!...we're not here to talk about that right now." He laughed nervously before directing the attention onto the only other person in the group that wasn't planning to sabotage him "Hey Yuuto, did you, you know decide on what you're gonna do next year...I mean, because the offer's still on the table..."

Kidou thought for only a second before sighing "I mean, I appreciate the offer to live with you guys but...I'd prefer to be here. It's just, closer and I won't have to worry about being late to lectures you know?"
Sakuma frowned "Seriously? But-"
"-You have a car, you could just drive. And better yet, drive me and Sa-"
"Not happening. You two would only make me late." Kidou stated matter-of-factly. Fudou laughed, slapping his hand on the table once again, an action that was beginning to get on Kidou's nerves. "Wow, you are such a nerd! You're in Uni Kidou, lighten the fuck up!"

Kidou grumbled at him, Fudou smirked in response.
"Are you sure you really don't want to?" Genda tried once again, but his friend nodded defiantly. The tallest brunette put a hand on his chest mockingly, the alcohol he'd consumed chipping away his usual more stoic persona "You don't want to live with your two best friends? I'm wounded Yuuto, wounded I say!"
"You'll get over it."
Genda laughed awkwardly, going quiet after a while before his boyfriend grabbed hold of him, shaking his arm. "Gen, Gen we need to find someone else now."

"Dammit you're right, I was totally holding out on Yuuto to rescue us-"
"Who?..." Sakuma bit at his nails, other arm still clutching tightly to his boyfriend. His eyes suddenly grew wide as the disturbing realisation presented itself. "Oh my god Gen, how do we have no more friends?!"
"You even have to ask that?" Fudou smirked, it wasn't surprising to him, the four of them only ever hung around with each other.

Well, things were a little different now that they'd all swanned off to University without him but-
"Shit, how did this happen?" Genda's reaction was just the perfect thing to pull the other brunette out of that thought. He laughed again, Kidou scowled at him from across the table.
"Um we could try...Kazemaru?" Sakuma offered, noticing said man standing across from them at the bar.
Fudou couldn't contain his laughter yet again "Kazemaru?"
Sakuma stiffened up "Yeah Kazemaru, what's wrong with him? He's our...our friend?.."

This was really priceless. "Oh really? Tell me, what course is he on?"
The couple looked at each other, Koujirou thought for a moment "Uh...English?..." his boyfriend tugged on his sleeve "No it was accounting, definitely accounting...or was it management?..."

"Wow guys. Why don't I just ask him? Yo Kazemaru!" Fudou yelled, Sakuma practically leaped across the table in an effort to silence him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You're gonna make us look desperate!"
"But you are desperate." Fudou said with a smirk, Kazemaru stared at them for a moment before walking over, clearly very confused and somewhat...concerned? Well Akio Fudou had called him over so...

"Oh y-you ask him Gen!" Sakuma exclaimed, hiding behind the tall male.
"No way, you ask him it was your idea!" Genda replied, attempting to drag his small boyfriend out from behind him.
"But!-"
"Come on, you're adults, when are you going to start acting like it jeez." Kidou stated cuttingly, pushing his glasses up, the couple stared at him. Genda let out an awkward laugh, detaching himself from his boyfriend "Um ouch? Well why don't you ask him then?"

"You can't expect me to just hold your hand forever, you're both old enough to start making your own decisions in life. Stop acting like a couple of dumb teenagers." Kidou replied icily, folding his arms. The cozy warmth around them soon turned frosty.
"I mean I'm just saying." He continued, unfolding his arms momentarily before standing up abruptly. "I'm gonna get some air, it's too damn stuffy in here." He announced before walking off into the crowd, Fudou simply gave his friends a look before patting them on the back "Good luck." he murmured, scampering off after Kidou.

"That was pretty harsh."
Kidou crossed his arms, leaning up against the cold brick wall. "Well, it was the truth. The truth hurts."
The two stood in awkward silence; Kidou keeping his eyes firmly set on the ground whilst Fudou's darted around taking in the oh-so-lovely alleyway they found themselves in. He looked over at his friend, the guy was shivering, 'Posh boy's getting a little cold now huh?' he thought to himself, chuckling at the other's stubbornness. Kidou rolled his eyes.

Fudou shrugged and lit a cigarette, instantly catching the other's dissaproving glare. "I thought you said you were gonna quit."
"I say a lot of things."
"You promised."
Fudou raised an eyebrow, Kidou glared at him again before sighing and waving him off lazily, turning his back. The brunette smirked, blowing out a cloud of smoke "Well, I break a lot of promises too."
"Oh I'm already painfully aware of that particularly deplorable trait of yours Akio." The other spat venomously.

Silence.

"So...you wanna fuck or something?"
"Fuck off Akio. You're disgusting." Yuuto replied, already heading for the door, the other grabbed his arm.
"Oh come on, you say that every time!"
The other yanked his arm back, fixing his friend a death glare. "I'm serious Akio, fuck just leave me alone."
The brunette smirked, grabbing for the other's arm again, pulling the two of them close "Aw come on, baaabe-"
"I told you don't call me that." The other snapped, attempting to get away from Fudou "God how drunk are you?"

"I'm not fuckin' drunk. It takes a hell of a lot to get Akio Fudou drunk I'll tell you that." he joked, running his free hand through his hair.
Kidou scrunched up his face "Oh Really? Well you stink of those shitty...cheap mixers anyway, it's fucking disgusting." he sneered, Fudou grinned before taking another drag, blowing the smoke in Kidou's face. "You're so hot when you curse like that." he murmured, pressing himself up against the other.

"Get off me!" Kidou yelled, shoving him off and storming back inside. Fudou watched him go and took another drag of his cigarette. He brought it up to his lips and let it sit there for a moment before kissing his teeth, stubbing the cigarette out instead.

"Move."
Sakuma looked up at his friend, giving him an odd look before shuffling over slightly.
"What's up with you?" Genda asked, placing an arm around his boyfriend, Kidou just grumbled, grabbing his friend's unattended beer bottle and downing it. Sakuma placed a tentative hand on his shoulder "Uh...you okay Ki?" but the other shook him off, huffing in response.

Sakuma tried again but it was futile, his boyfriend shook his head knowing full well that no good would come from trying to interfere with whatever the heck was going on with their friend. He would only keep pushing them away. He'd been doing that more lately....
Yes, himself, Sakuma and Kidou were all at university together, but they barely saw him, he barely even spoke to them anymore. Kidou just shut himself away. Tonight was supposed to change that.

Sakuma sighed, turning towards his boyfriend and stroking his cheek lightly. The brunette brought the other closer, connecting their lips in a soft kiss. "Can you two not? It's seriously embarrassing." Yuuto grumbled, turning away from the couple. Sakuma laughed awkwardly. 'It was one tiny kiss? Not like we were making out or something-'

"Yuuto's just pissy because he refuses to get some himself." Fudou said, appearing suddenly and smelling of smoke. Kidou glared at him.
"Fuck. Off. Fudou."
"Fuck. Off. Fudou." The other mocked before grabbing Genda's beer and taking a drink from it "God you're such a fucking..."
"I'm such a fucking what Akio? Come on then, finish insulting me! You fucking drunk piece of crap!" Kidou yelled, shooting up and pushing the other in the chest, Fudou stumbled back a little, really not expecting this to get physical. Kidou never had to get physical with anyone, least not him.

"Jeez calm down. Christ you two." Genda began, taking a stand between them. "Maybe we should call it a night."
Sakuma reached out for his friend, gripping his forearm firmly "Yuuto..." He hated this. All he wanted was to have a fun night out with his friends. Like old times. Before everything got complicated.

Kidou jostled out of the other's grip, grabbing his coat with a huff and storming out, Fudou trailed after him. "You're just gonna bail like that huh? Huh?"
The other stopped, fed up.
"Listen okay! Just stop, stay away from me you fucking asshole." He exclaimed, hands balling into fists.
"Was it something I said?"
It was said with scincerity, but it was stupid to believe that-Fudou wasn't stupid, he knew what he'd done. And he had the audacity to stand there with that stupid look on his face?

Kidou just exploded. Yelling obscenities at him, calling him every name under the Sun. He wanted to punch him, kick him, but his mind was going too fast for that.
"God, I don't even know why we're even friends!"

Fudou followed him to the bus stop. Followed him to his building. To his room. The door was shut in his face.
He knocked incessantly, refusing to leave throughout the tirade that was being delivered to him.
"Go away Akio! I don't want you here, no one wants you here! Why the fuck did you even show up here in the first place? What were you trying to achieve? Leave me alone, I actually have a future I'm preparing for, unlike you."
Fudou let out a strained laugh "Oh there it is, classic mr high and mighty Kidou Yuuto!"

"But it's the truth. We're all studying, Haruna's started her own business for Christ sake! What are you doing Akio?" The other yelled.
"Well believe it or not I've actually got myself a job! And yeah it's nothing fancy or exciting but it's still a job, a way for me to stand on my own two feet now!"
It was quiet for a moment, before a low voice sounded from the other side of the door. "You-you never said..."

"Well that's because..." he stopped, rubbing the back of his neck "I wanted to tell you all tonight, wanted it to be a surprise." He sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets "I just wanted my friends to be proud of me or something..."
"Oh."
The anger was still there, but Fudou just wished he could see the other. He kicked up some loose carpet outside his friend's door. "Whatever. I bought a flat too. It's nothing fancy but-I don't know, I had this stupid idea that maybe you'd want to...like stay there or whatever after you finish uni..."

No reply and then "Oh...that's...." Kidou thought for a moment, slumped up against the door. He was still angry, of course but-
"Well, you know, father would never allow that-he hates you." He replied matter-of-factly. Fudou slapped his hand against the door, startling Kidou "Oh who cares what that old man has to say! It's your life, not his! It's not like he's gonna cut you from his will or something-"

Fudou was suddenly greeted with Kidou standing right in front of him "-That's a very real possibility." He crossed his arms. The two just stared at each other, neither really knowing what to say. Kidou sighed, dropping his arms to his sides "Alright maybe that's a little absurd."
"So you don't have a problem with it then?" Akio exclaimed, moving closer, Kidou immediately took a step back, a serious expression now etched onto his face.

"I never said that."
Fudou huffed "Look, I know a crappy little flat isn't exactly something you'd be used too but-"
"You think it's that?" The other interrupted stepping forward, expression changing from serious to pissed off "Do you really think I'm that high maintenance?"
"Honestly, yeah." Fudou stated truthfully.

'Is that really what he thinks of me? Wait, is that what Sakuma and Genda think too?-' Yuuto tsked, he was not the kind of person to let his thoughts run away on crazy tangents. "Well...anyway it's not-It's just-" he crossed his arms and leaned on the doorframe, only to uncross his arms a moment later "-it's just...what it means...moving in with...you..."

"I don't-"
"Don't play dumb Akio." he replied sternly, pushing up his glasses. 'God, why do these things keep falling down, they're making me look like an idiot-' "I don't like you Fudou. Not in that way. I don't think I ever could in fact." He stated simply. That was it-the truth. Nothing more needed to be said on the matter.

"Um okay?" There it was, that face. That face that Fudou did that always made Yuuto feel...
"Look, just because Genda and Sakuma are dating, that doesn't mean we have to okay?! Because I don't feel that way about you. In fact I can barely tolerate you sometimes. So just stop trying alright?!" Kidou almost yelled, cursing himself for so easily losing his composure-Akio just had that kind of effect on him.

Fudou just stared at him, it was quiet between the two for the umpteenth time that night.
Suddenly, he spoke. " Wait you thought that-no I mean-" he scratched his neck awkwardly "...we could just live together, as friends you know?"

'Friends? Seriously?'
Kidou raised an eyebrow, attempting to seem unfazed by the whole thing, blasé. Unfortunately for him, his knack for appearing stoic was beginning to wear off. He was just exhausted.
He looked down at his feet awkwardly 'this isn't like you at all-'
"You-you're always...coming onto me, I thought you were..." he trailed off, his face turning slightly red 'God this is mortifying'

Fudou laughed, again, a sound that was beginning to grate on the other's ear; but on the inside he was feeling just as awkward as Kidou. "What? No mate that was just, like banter you know! Testing the waters, seeing how you'd react...it's just me being a dickhead really..." his laughter petered out, the two of them just standing in silence once again.

"I thought..." Kidou began, embarrassed 'he's your friend, how can you not even know if?-'
'Friend? Please, he's hardly anything of the sort.'

Fudou sighed, clearly sick and tired of all of this by now. 'Well better just come out and say it, it's not like it's a secret or anything' he looked at his friend, who was still avoiding his gaze, red-faced. 'What? He's embarrassed now is he? Sure our friends are dating but...he really thought that I-me and him-seriously?'
'I mean can you blame him?' His conscience argued back 'You love to mess with people, ESPECIALLY him, it's not all that surprising really.'

Fudou rolled his eyes, admittedly moreso at himself, but Kidou still took offence to it. Akio just sighed "I mean, if I had to label myself I'd say I was pan but...well you're not my type anyway."
"Yeah-um you're not mine either, if I was-" Kidou stopped, internally berating himself for how stupid that sounded.

Fudou rubbed the back of his neck, deciding finally that he'd overstayed his welcome. "Um...so yeah, the offer's there if you want it, but no pressure or anything. Um well anyway goodnight and uh sorry for being a prat I guess, I'm gonna see if I can take Sakuma's room, since I doubt he'll be in it." He laughed lightly but it just wasn't enough to distract from the frankly plain weird atmosphere between the two. He backed off slowly, unsure if he should wait for a response, a parting message or just run away as quick as possible.

He chose the former, only stretching out the agonising process further. "Thanks." Kidou muttered, barely above a whisper.
"What was that?" Usually that would be said with a cheeky smile (or an angry glare) but Akio Fudou was more just confused than anything else. Had the great Yuuto really just thanked him?

Said male huffed, trying so hard to salvage his no-nonsense reputation. "I said thanks...for the offer."
"Alright, cool..." Fudou replied, waiting for a moment before deciding that yes, this was the moment to make his exit.

"Fudou..." Kidou reached out for the other, even though his mind screamed at him to stop. He only caught air.
"Fudou." He said a little louder, just watching as his friend walked further and further away from him.
"Dammit Akio." He muttered, following after him and physically grabbing his arm, much to Fudou's surprise. Kidou just stood there, body seeming to have shut down whilst his brain frantically tried to understand what had happened in that tiny moment.

'What are you doing?! He was leaving, you got what you wanted!'
'You want to act like you suddenly care now?'
'Couldn't you just leave it?!'-

"Why don't you stay here tonight?" The words came out of his mouth before he could register them. He went red, desperately trying to salvage the situation "Uh...uh I mean it's just their buildings really far away and it's raining and-"
'Nice going genius!'

"You're...you're serious?" Fudou questioned, all sorts of confusing thoughts flying around in his head.
"Absolutely!" Kidou exclaimed, his inner monologue having been reduced to just a warbling, incoherent mess. He coughed "Uh I mean, well since you're already here...it would just be such an inconvenience to-"
"-Thanks, honestly, I appreciate it." Fudou replied, to both Kidou's relief as well as abject horror.

But it was already so late, they were both exhausted. Both of them just wanted this terrible night to end.
"Um, but the bed's kinda small so-"
"I'm sure we can work something out."

((Yeah so that's it- 2 chapters for the price of 1 because I felt so bad for not posting for like 3 whole months now. Sorry, university has just been gradually destroying me :)
But yeah I hoped you guys liked these two chapters; don't forget to vote and comment!
Love you guys!!))