“Uhm, y-you usually don’t take the train at this time, d-do you?”

We were sitting quite close to each other, close enough that I could feel the temperature of his skin on mine. Should I move away? Or would he misunderstand that?

But I had pulled my arms together when he sat down, so now I was sitting uncomfortably squashed. If I relaxed, though, I’d be completely pressing against him, so maybe move over and then place my arms down- 

He took that choice away from me when he twisted his body so that his back was facing more towards me and leaned against my arm.

...In that case, it doesn’t really matter how my arm is placed, right…

“Hm. But you do.”

So you took the earlier train to go to school with meeeeee-

He was comfortably leaning against me, eyes on his phone. I stared openly at him, not hiding it at all. We were in the hindmost part of the wagon and the next people, meters away from us, were facing the other way. This much was fine...

Mizuki tilted his head up. Even if I hadn’t looked, I could feel the movement on my skin. He blinked slowly.
“Are you staring at me?”

“You said I can”, I defensively squeaked, lowkey worried he might get mad.

“I only said it’s not creepy if it’s you”, he muttered back, tilting his head down again. “But, alright, fine. You’ll get tired of staring soon enough.”

I hummed lowly, muttering. “I don’t think I’ll get tired of staring at you. I like looking at you.”

Wah, embarrassing. That was the decision of a sleep-deprived brain - cause I spent the whole night tossing and turning - or I wouldn’t have said that.

He didn’t answer but I felt him lean against me even heavier than before.

With his phone in his left hand, he let his other hand dangle on the seat. My eyes moved over to his free hand.

[It is alright.]

Okay, so you’re reacting now even before I’ve finished my thoughts? Now that’s what I call service.

I overly carefully sneaked my hand towards his, inching forward in the speed of a snail and then halted right above his.

I… Can I just, like, take his hand? Should I ask? Isn’t that awkward? Even if it’s not visible because we are blocked by other seats, maybe I shouldn’t do it?

I think Mizuki felt the warmth radiating from my hand, since he twisted his head a bit. I couldn’t see what his eyes were turned towards to, but I guessed that he was looking at our hands. I was frozen at being caught, when his index fingers moved up.

He hooked it around my finger, tugging down and so settled my hand half on his. Maybe it was a childish variant of holding hands, but I felt loving warmth bubble up in my heart.

“Hehe”, I chuckled, happy, and curling that single finger around his as well. He huffed lightly.

However he was feeling, I was wide awake now and in a mood good enough that I would jump on my way to school. Painfully obvious. I had no doubt my friends would know right away, but who cares. 

Absentmindedly, I rubbed my thumb over his hand, a rhythmic and monotone movement that felt incredibly calming to me. The feeling of his skin was nice, warm and rough, not soft like a woman’s. It wasn’t like the skin of my thumb was soft, either.

“Don’t make me fall asleep”, he grumbled, his voice low and sleepy. I stopped caressing his hand.

“Uh, does it make you sleepy?”

A low hum. He did indeed sound like he was about to fall asleep again and when I looked at his phone, the display was dark already.

I lamented we weren’t on a sofa. If we were, I’d let him fall asleep against me, maybe start caressing his hair.

Hm? Do I have a hair fetish? It's not the first time I thought that. I really want to touch it, it looks soft. I’d like just pulling him against me, feel his chest rise and fall with deep breaths and hide his eyes from the bright sunlight.

“Sorry, it’s probably not a good idea to fall asleep now, you’ll have a hard time waking up later.”

No answer. Well, even if he has fallen asleep, I’ll wake him up before we have to leave. 

I looked outside the window again.
The world outside was bustling with life, while we were in this quiet wagon, a short time of peace before reaching our stop. We had been in a group for the charity project so everyone knew we were acquainted, so I could probably walk to school together with him. It’d just be two people who have the same way going together. I didn’t think I could interact too much with him at school without getting stared at like an animal in the zoo, but at least this much would be nice.

Going to school with my boyfriend.

It wasn’t a sentence I had ever thought would come true. I sunk deep into my seat, holding back the urge to wrap my arm around Mizuki and give him a kiss.

I fell into a peaceful daze of watching the world outside go by until the announcement of our station sounded through the wagon. I pulled my hand back from Mizuki and patted it against his arm. He moved, then dazedly tilted his head up at me.

Looks like he fell asleep, after all.

That was a very dangerous, very adorable visual attack.

“Our station”, I said softly.
He sat upright, body swaying along with the wagon’s movement. I lifted my hand to touch his cheek.

Mizuki’s head tilted lightly against it, just for a short, intimate moment. Then he lifted his hands to rub his eyes and stretched.

“Go together?”, he mumbled, the words barely comprehensible.
“Yeah, sure!”

I fidgeted happily, beaming at him. He looked at my face, then turned away from it. Hopefully from embarrassment and not because I looked weird.

“Your friends?”
“We usually meet at the corner where the cafe is. They quite like you, so if you don’t mind we could go the last bit together…”

If he did mind, I’d have no qualms telling them to go first. At least for the first while after just going out!

“Hm.”
Mizuki nodded.

The train slowed down and then halted with a jolt, prompting us to stand up and leave. Walking next to Mizuki, I wanted to reach out for his hand but didn’t.

After all, I had just taken five steps before I felt the stares and pulled my head between my shoulders.

“...”

A few male students were observing with raised eyebrows, but most of them were females. I saw faces gnashing in envy or anger, some just pure curiosity and some with the judging expression Haru and Risa had towards two male characters interacting. Basically, debating whether they would ship the couple or not. Going by their half raised, half furrowed brows and my experience with that face, they were still deciding.

I did look into the windows of the stores we passed. We were reflected in it, two figures walking side by side.

Since we were on the streets I had to watch out where I walked to, but every few seconds I glanced into the windows. Straightening my back, I watched the tall figure grow almost a full head taller than the smaller one. The smaller figure looked at ease, walking forward with a neutral expression, though his eyes and brows showed how relaxed he was. The taller one was walking half a step behind him, shortening his stride to keep the same pace as the other.

Somehow, I didn’t feel that we looked that bad together. Not because I suited him with my average face, but because we looked comfortable around each other. That made the atmosphere around us much more harmonious than when Mizuki walked with someone else.

Was my perception of it, anyway.

Mizuki’s chin lifted a bit and I looked to the front, seeing my friends at the corner. They stopped leaning against the wall and observed us approaching.

“Eeeeeeh~”

Tarou dragged the sound and Kaoru joined in midway. Yuji hit them.

“Caught him?”

I cleared my throat, looking away. What an appropriate term for me and my… target.

Tarou perked up.
“Cool! Does that mean he’ll be around often? Do you think I can use his popularity to snatch some girls that planned on approaching him?”

Yuji mustered Tarou up and down before clicking his tongue.
“I fear standing next to him will just make you look uglier.”

A shocked gasp. Tarou pointed at Yuji with mock-anger.
“How dare you! I curse you to never find a girlfriend!”

Kaoru snorted. When Tarou looked over to him, he grinned.
“I remember you saying that to Riku some years ago. It worked.”

“Ha ha”, I complained. “Very funny.”

Owl

......Gaaaaaay.
Let the fluffs begin? Mizuki loves cuddling. Riku... loves his hair. For the rest of the story.

Mizuki's theater:

Mizuki: "Stop making me tired"
Riku: "Okay."
Riku: "What am I doing though?"
(Mizuki gestures)
Riku: "...O...kay?"