Ryū could not believe what he had done. The first thing that he did after getting drunk was to unconsciously look for that annoying underclassman of his, whom he had recently met at the park. Why did that good-for-nothing Ken not stop him? On top of that, why, of all people, did he look for that foolish boy when he was in that state?
Thinking about all of this made Ryū’s head ache terribly as if a big rock fell on his head. All of a sudden, a brief hazy memory flashed in his mind.
“Don’t move…Bench Boy, I’m tryin to shleep.”
“This is your punishment.”
When he recalled these two lines that he had uttered last night, he covered his face with his hands out of shame. His face and ears turned red. He was, indeed, flustered. He heaved a long and deep sigh, then shook his head. “Pull yourself together, Ryū,” he said to himself.
After saying this, he took a quick warm shower and as soon as he finished and came out of the bathroom, he changed into clean clothes and dried his hair. Before going to bed, he chugged down on a bottle of hangover remedy drink that he bought earlier from the convenience store. He had a serious hangover, so he decided to sleep all day. It was a weekend, so he did not have to worry about going to school and they did not have any scheduled basketball practice anyway.
Once everything had been taken care of, he laid down comfortably on his bed. Just when he was about to cover himself with the quilt, he heard someone knock on the door. Fuck.
He was hesitant to go and open it. Should he pretend that he was not at home? He was too lazy to get up and open the door.
However, as he went on ignoring the incessant knocks, they kept on getting louder and louder. Who could that with prick be?
In the end, he was forced to get up and open the damned door. Heh, and as he had suspected—it was none other than that foolish Bench Boy.
“Uhm, Ryū-senpai. I’m gonna go home to my family. Can you take me to the station?” Kichirō shyly asked.
Without responding and keeping a wooden look, he slammed the door shut. Ryū’s heart was racing. Wait, why is my heart racing? Is this some kind of weird side effect from that hangover drink? And why’s he asking me to go and take him to the station? Is he some damsel needing a knight in shining armor? He can definitely go there by himself. Can’t be bothered.
Nonetheless, Ryū decided to go back to his bed; however, while he was sluggishly walking back to his bed, he heard those incessant knocking sounds again and it was even louder this time.
“Ryū-senpai! Open the door. You need to take responsibility!” Kichirō shouted. It was even loud enough for the next-door neighbors to shout, “Go fuck yourselves! Too noisy!”
Left with no choice, Ryū helplessly opened the door again and asked, “What? Tell me what I did to take responsibility.” God, this kid’s making my head ache even worse.
“Well…” Kichirō’s voice trailed off as soon as he heard what Ryū said, but then he raised his face and spoke with sincerity, “You slept with me and even touched my body!” He whined. “You need to take responsibility!” He was like some girl who was impregnated by some random guy. How could this boy be shameless?
“Get lost!” Ryū yelled and then closed the door again.
Ryū rushed to his bed, laid down in a hurry, covered himself with the quilt, and covered his head with a pillow to muffle the noise coming from Kichirō’s never-ending knocking.
In the end, Ryū was forced to agree to accompany him to the station.
Before they left the dormitory building, Kichirō said with a pleading look, “Senpai, please help me carry some of my stuff.”
“Don’t have hands?” Ryū sarcastically asked.
“Please carry it for me. My body’s aching. I think I have cramps because you hugged me so tightly,” Kichirō reasoned as he flashed his adorable puppy eyes on Ryū.
“Just this once,” Ryū helplessly responded. He did not want the other boy to continue whining anymore. Once he gets on the bus, he would be free to sleep.
Hearing this, Kichirō looked delighted. “I’m sorry to bother you today. I don’t have anyone to help me out. My friend’s busy with something so he couldn’t accompany me today. We’re counted as friends now, yeah?”
Ryū did not say anything in response.
“We’re friends, ain’t we? You implied it earlier before you left my room.”
Ryū sighed and lightly nodded to get it over with. He never expected that this boy, whom he had thought was shy and awkward, would be this talkative and brazen.
Kichirō smiled then changed the topic, “By the way…I’m just curious. Why…why did you do that thing?”
“What thing?”
“You know…back in the rest room at school.” After saying that with hesitation, Kichirō blushed.
Ryū’s ears became pink in an instant. Why did he have to open that up this early in the morning? But yeah, why did I do that for him? he pondered. He could not think of any rational answer for that question. Even he, himself, did not know why he did something like that for Kichirō. In the end, he explained, “I uh…I saw you when you were on your way to the rest room, looking troubled. When I saw the paper and vial you were holding, I immediately knew what you were worried about. So…so I thought I could give a hand to a kouhai who was in need.”
“Oh wow. I never saw that coming. I didn’t expect other people would do that for someone they just met. Thanks, Ryū-senpai. You’ve already helped me twice. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”
“Twice?” Ryū asked.
“Yeah. First, that thing. Second, you cooked a yummy breakfast for me. You’re even here with me, accompanying me to the bus station. I didn’t know senpais like you would help out nameless kouhais like me. You’re the best senpai I’ve ever met.”
Ryū was moved by what Kichirō said. It felt like his headache from earlier immediately vanished, making his mood lighter. Though he felt glad to hear those comforting words, he maintained an expressionless face. “If I didn’t go with you, I bet you’d break my door down. And what do you mean by ‘senpais like you?'” Ryū frowned.
“Uhm. I’m not telling, hehe.” After dodging Ryū’s question, Kichirō ran ahead of him. He looked back and stuck his tongue out at Ryū, as if teasing him.
“Why you little…come back here! You haven’t granted my wish!” Ryū chased after him.
🌙🌙🌙
Upon reaching the bus station, Ryū handed over his bag and immediately went off without even saying goodbye.
“Hey, you could’ve at least waited for me to get on the bus!” Kichirō shouted as he waved his hand.
Ryū stood there, frozen. He felt the weight of the stares of the other people around them. It was as if they were staring at him, thinking that he was this idiotic boy’s lover. Without looking back, he bit his lower lip, raised his hand, waving goodbye.
“Never mind. Thanks, Senpai! I’ll see you on Monday!” Kichirō happily yelled.
Finally, he was free to sleep. What took less than an hour felt like ages. After at least an hour or two of sleep, Ryū was awakened by the ringing of his phone. He did not pick it up. He turned to the other side, covered his ear, and continued to sleep. A few seconds after, the ringing stopped. However, a few minutes after, it rang again. For fuck’s sake! Why won’t you let me have some sleep?!? He knew it was Ken.
He agitatedly grabbed his handset and answered the phone, yelling, “Fuck, Ken! I’m trying to get some sleep!”
“Ken who? Ken-senpai?” Asked the person on the other end of the line with a puzzled tone.
Ryū was speechless. He knew exactly who that irritating voice belonged to. “How did you get my number?” He asked without answering the other person’s question.
“I got it when you left your phone in my room to get food earlier,” the person answered.
Ryū immediately disconnected the call and switched his phone off. He left his phone switched off until Monday. That Kichirō was really testing his patience. Had he known Kichirō would be like this, he would not have been so considerate of him.
Crescent Moon Translations 