He had a stalker.

Yes, a stalker.

Don't ask him why someone as plain and ordinary as him had a stalker.

At first, Aoi thought the stalker was tailing him to find an opportunity to kill him or something, but after nothing happened in 2 months, he believed that it wasn't the case.

Today, as usual, that person was hiding behind the school's oak tree watching him eat his lunch.

His stalker had a tall build, though couldn't say to be large, which made him wonder whether his stalker believed that he would never get caught. After all, his hiding place was limited.

And why did he, as a man, have a male stalker?

There were many questions Aoi wanted to ask his stalker. At this point of time, rather than being afraid of him, he was more curious about him.

He had entered this school for half of a semester but he hadn't made any friends yet. Might as well make his first one.

Aoi got up from the bench and turned his head to the oak tree. The person hiding behind it jolted in surprise and hurriedly hid.

It was pretty funny.

With his bread and milk in his hands, he silently approached the oak tree and peeked behind it.

There, his stalker was crouching anxiously, probably worried that he got caught or something. His overgrown hair covered his expression though, so Aoi couldn't say for sure.

When he finally noticed him, his stalker immediately fell back from shock and flailed his hands in a fluster.

"That– This is–"

"If you're going to be here until lunch finishes, might as well accompany me on the bench," Aoi sipped his milk as he raised an eyebrow.

His stalker was so surprised that he felt like he could see a '!?' exclamation mark above his head.

Aoi chuckled in amusement and walked back to the bench, "Come on."

His stalker clearly hesitated, unsure of what was going on. Still, in the end, he couldn't resist the opportunity and sat next to Aoi on the bench, keeping a gap between them.

Aoi stared at him in interest, "Name?"

"...Suda Yanagi."

"I'm Kashiwagi Aoi. My family name is too long, so just call me Aoi," Aoi introduced himself.

Though he was sure Yanagi already knew that.

Yanagi whipped his face to him, his body slightly trembling, "Is...is that really okay?"

"Why not?" Aoi ate his bread, hiding his laughter. "I'll also call you Yanagi."

Yanagi suddenly choked and coughed incessantly.

"!?" Aoi was surprised and hurriedly offered his drink, "You alright? Here."

Yanagi accepted the drink only to pause. He stared at the straw that had been chewed, a habit of Aoi.

This...wouldn't this be an indirect kiss!?

His hand clenched from the thought, spurting out the milk right to his face.

Aoi, "???"

Yanagi, "..."

"Are you okay…? Why did you do that?" Aoi took out his handkerchief and handed it to Yanagi.

Seeing the handkerchief, Yanagi hurriedly stood up, "Aoi's handkerchief will get dirty."

"It's fine. I have more than one at home," Aoi offered it to Yanagi again. "More importantly, the milk will stick if you don't wipe it off soon."

Yanagi stared at the handkerchief long and hard before he finally gave in and carefully accepted it.

"I-I'll take good care of it!" He promised.

"Pft! What's with that?" Aoi laughed and waved at Yanagi to leave. "Hurry and wash your hair and face."

Yanagi nodded and turned around. But then he halted in his steps and looked back at Aoi again.

"That...um...you shouldn't share your drink so easily…"

"Eh? Why?" Aoi was confused by the advice.

"Because...it'll be an indirect k-k-kiss…" Yanagi mumbled.

Aoi, "..."

He watched Yanagi scurry away from embarrassment and couldn't contain his laughter anymore.

What was that?

That was too cute!

Yanagi washed his face and hair at the sink outside near the soccer field.

After no scent of milk was left, he straightened his body and looked at the two objects on top of the sink.

It wasn't a dream.

Not only did he talk and exchange names with Aoi, but he also received two items from him.

And Aoi called him by his name.

Still…he kept embarrassing himself in front of Aoi. Would he think of him as a creep? As a weirdo?

Yanagi couldn't help but gloom.

He wiped his face dry with his shirt, unwilling to soak the precious handkerchief given to him.

Picking the handkerchief up, he studied the pattern on it. It was a yellow bird cartoon character with different expressions, Aoi's favourite mascot character.

He lowered his head and buried his face into it. It smelled like detergent and softener.

Ahh...he wanted to keep it forever…

Could this be Aoi's scent as well?

No, he shouldn't think perverted things or he would disgust Aoi…

He reluctantly raised his face and grabbed the milk. There was still some left inside.

With a blush, he used the chewed-on straw and finished it.

The bell rang and he returned with the two items in his hands. He would clean the milk carton and preserve it along with the straw.

He was ready to savour the memory as his once-in-a-lifetime blessing to get to talk with Aoi. That was why he thought he was hallucinating when Aoi came looking for him in his classroom.

"Are you in any club?" Aoi approached Yanagi's table under everyone's scrutiny.

"Eh?" Yanagi couldn't react.

"Well, if you do, you can't go home now, right?" Aoi tilted his head. "I'm in the go-home club."

Finally understanding what Aoi meant, Yanagi frantically shot up, "I don't! M-me too!"

"I'll wait outside then," Aoi chuckled and walked out.

Yanagi hurriedly swept everything into his bag, not caring how messy his bag became.

What if Aoi changed his mind if he waited too long?

Aoi hadn't even gotten to lean on the window when Yanagi rushed out of the classroom.

He inwardly laughed and cocked his head, "Let's go."

Once they had left, murmurs filled the classroom.

Aoi and Yanagi changed their shoes and headed home at a leisure pace.

"Where do you live, Yanagi?" Aoi asked.

Yanagi quickly racked his brain and said a place in the same direction as Aoi's house. In reality, his house was in the opposite direction from him from their school.

He didn't want to lie, but he couldn't go home together with Aoi if he told the truth.

"You didn't make that up just to go home together with me, did you?" Aoi looked at Yanagi, intentionally narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion.

Yanagi, "!?"

Seeing him breaking out in cold sweats, Aoi laughed and let the matter go.

Yanagi always followed him until he reached back home, so he definitely said that to match their direction.

He wasn't dense in this type of thing, both as a third party or the one involved. Though honestly, this was the first time for him to be the one involved.

With a guy no less.

Just from their short interaction at lunch, he understood without needing to ask why Yanagi had been stalking him.

He almost thought that he had no friends until now because he looked intimidating without him realizing it. Why else would Yanagi choose to stalk him rather than just outright talk to him?

But he understood that that wasn't the case after seeing Yanagi's situation in his class.

"Can I ask you something?" Aoi asked as they waited for the train to arrive on the platform.

"A-anything," Yanagi nervously nodded.

"Why did you stalk me?" Aoi straightforwardly asked.

Colour rushed out of Yanagi's face as he dropped his bag.

Aoi sighed helplessly, "You don't really think I would never notice you, do you? If I'm a girl or someone else, you would've already had a restraining order."

"I-I'm really sorry!" Yanagi deeply bowed to Aoi in shame and guilt. "I never meant to c-creep you out, b-but before I knew it…"

"Well...rather than creeped out, I was scared that I was being targeted by a kidnapper or something. I was glad that it was just a schoolmate," Aoi turned to face Yanagi. "Still, I'll appreciate it if you stop."

Yanagi's fists clenched and bowed deeper, "I will. I'm sorry. I promise it won't happen again."

"Next time, just call out to me," Aoi nonchalantly added. "Isn't it better to chat with me like this compared to just watching from afar?"

"!!" Yanagi snapped his face up in shock and disbelief.

His mouth opened and closed without any voice, not knowing what to say or do.

Aoi couldn't help but laugh, "What's with that face? You look like a fish."

Yanagi felt like his vision spun, dizzy from the dazzle.

Aoi's usual empty eyes were now filled with laughter and cutely turned crescent. He couldn't believe there would be a day that he could witness it close enough that he could correct himself on how long Aoi's eyelashes actually were.

In his daze, he didn't notice the train arriving.

Aoi calmly entered by himself and turned around to wave at Yanagi, "Go home properly. See you tomorrow, Yanagi."

Yanagi snapped awake but it was too late. He resignedly watched the train leave like an abandoned puppy.