In his bedroom, Yanagi looked at his lock screen over and over again.

He still couldn't believe that he really went on a trip with Aoi. Only the two of them.

And Aoi kissed him.

It all felt like a dream.

Scrolling through the pictures in his gallery, he couldn't help but remember Aoi's wish for him to trim his bangs.

It was true that he couldn't see his own face clearly in their pictures.

He thought it was enough as long as Aoi was in them, but now…

His long bangs made him seem gloomy and ruined the brightness of Aoi's smile.

The next day, Aoi sleepily yawned as he walked down the stairs.

After playing hard on his trip with Yanagi, he only got Sunday to rest before going back to school on Monday.

He wouldn't be surprised if his classmates fell asleep in class today.

Reaching the dining room, he saw a familiar back sitting at the table. He couldn't process it for a while beacuse of a very significant change.

His hair…

Yanagi turned around in his seat and stood up when he saw Aoi.

"G-good morning, Aoi…" Yanagi scratched his neck nervously, feeling slightly self-conscious.

"Mn. Good morning," Aoi studied Yanagi's face for a long while.

Yanagi didn't only trim his bangs, he went all out and cut his hair altogether. Moreover, he also got a perm no less.

His face was a bit bigger than average. He had droopy eyes with thin eyebrows that made him seem all the meeker like a hamster.

"...Did you choose this style?" Aoi reached out to touch Yanagi's hair in amazement.

"No, um...my housekeeper did…" Yanagi became restless and fidgeted. "I-i-is it bad…?"

Aoi shook his head and smiled, "It looks very good on you."

Yanagi's eyes brightened, "R-really?"

Even if his housekeeper and parents told him that as well, it wouldn't matter if Aoi didn't like it.

"Yes. Very much so," Aoi rubbed Yanagi's head. "Thank you. You did it for me, didn't you?"

Yanagi happily nodded and lowered his head to let Aoi pet him more.

"D-do you like it? Should I choose a different style?" Yanagi hesitantly asked.

"I only asked you to trim your bangs though," Aoi chuckled. "But I like it."

Yanagi's shoulders finally relaxed and inwardly sighed in relief.

Aoi's mother came out of the kitchen with breakfast for the 3 of them. Aoi's father was currently out on a business trip, so there were only Aoi and his mother in the house right now.

After finishing their breakfast, Aoi and Yanagi left for school. On the train, they stood next to the door as usual.

Yanagi was already used to it and found the best position to cover Aoi. It was a little challenging for him though because it felt like he was doing a kabedon on Aoi.

Quite contrary to his worry, Aoi was enjoying it very much.

Not to mention that he could see Yanagi's expression clearly now.

Turns out Yanagi always had this troubled look on his face when they were doing this. He was definitely holding back from leaning closer to him.

The tip of his ears was also slightly red.

So cute.

When they reached school, Aoi saw that Yanagi's classmates only looked at him briefly before looking away, not like the usual staring.

Just as they got to Yanagi's classroom, Kanzaki popped out through the window.

"You finally listened to my advice? Don't tell me something happened on your trip? I heard from your class rep that you went on a trip with him," Kanzaki said.

Aoi looked at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, you didn't come to school with that creep today and got yourself a new guy," Kanzaki pointed at Yanagi with his chin. "Who's this by the way? I didn't see-"

He jerked in surprise when he saw the murderous glare the unknown student was giving him.

Because Yanagi's eyes weren't covered the malice was amplified two times more intensely.

"Huh? Eh? What's his problem??" Kanzaki backed away from the window.

What was this disturbingly familiar sense of danger??

Aoi found it amusing that no one in the class could recognize Yanagi. 

He didn't bother explaining and only patted Yanagi's back, "I'll see you at lunch."

Yanagi's glare dissipated and readily nodded, "Okay."

He watched Aoi leave until the other entered his class before he went to his desk.

When the class saw where he sat, their eyes widened in shock.

This was Yanagi!?

Yanagi ignored his classmates as always. He never really cared about them ever since he had Aoi.

Their opinions of him didn't amount to a hair of Aoi's fleeting thoughts.

Speaking of which, he wondered what Aoi's class would do later for the school festival.

Would it be perverted of him to hope it was a themed cafe?

Aoi looked very cute wearing cat ears the other day. He wanted to see him in many other costumes…

When it was time for homeroom, the teacher was also surprised to see Yanagi's transformation. He thought that Yanagi refused to go on the school trip because he didn't want to go to school anymore.

Thankfully, she was wrong.

When the bell for lunch rang, Yanagi was about to dash out to the cafeteria when his former middle-school classmate, Natsumi, went up to his desk.

Everyone's eyes were immediately on them.

"S-Su...da-kun," the girl stuttered from nervousness and the unfamiliarity of calling Yanagi by his name.

Yanagi was apprehensive and ignored her to leave. But then his blazer was caught.

"Suda-kun, I...I wanted to apologize!" Natsumi hurriedly said.

Yanagi, "..."

"Miwa-chan told me everything," Natsumi bowed 90 degrees. "I'm really sorry for what I did."

"...It's fine," Yanagi lowered his gaze. "It's not your fault anyway."

He looked at his watch and hurried out.

What could he say? It wasn't her fault that she believed what her close friend told her.

If Aoi told him that he got assaulted by someone, he would believe his words without a doubt either. Even if he said it was his own family member.

More like, he would go kill them right then and there.

After Aoi got angry for him, he felt like it didn't matter anymore. As long as he had Aoi, nothing else matters more.

Arriving at the canteen, he found that it was already crowded. Fortunately, he still managed to get the last soba bread.

All his workouts for the past few months didn't go to waste.

Aoi told him that he wasn't bad-looking. Hopefully, he could make Aoi think that he was cool next.

He went to their usual meeting place but found that Aoi wasn't there yet. It was rare since Aoi always arrived here first, waiting for him to get their lunch.

Not 5 minutes passed and he couldn't contain his restlessness. The image of Aoi's classmate from the station the other day popped out in his head.

He finally decided to go to Aoi's class.

On his way, he found Aoi coming out of the teacher's office with the very same girl. He heard the girl thanking him for his help and took out a keychain from her blazer.

"U-um...this is a souvenir from the trip yesterday. Our class bought matching ones and if you don't mind, I...I want to give this to you," Keiko fidgeted as she offered the keychain.

"You're too dedicated, Class Rep," Aoi was slightly impressed. "Even though you got chosen unwillingly."

"I-i-it's nothing like that!" Keiko waved her hands in a fluster. "It wasn't my idea."

"Probably Hikawa, right?" Aoi guessed.

"Eh? How do you know?" Keiko was genuinely surprised.

"Who else could it be? He always has the weirdest idea," Aoi shrugged.

"Kashiwagi-kun…you're surprisingly attentive, aren't you?" Keiko couldn't help but say. "You also know all of our names."

Aoi looked at her weirdly, "Of course, I need to know my classmates' names. It'll cause many inconveniences if I don't."

Keiko didn't know why, but she felt that Aoi was really cool for saying that.

"So, right, um...here," Keiko gave the keychain to Aoi. "I hope you can take this."

Aoi accepted it, "Sure. Thanks, Class Rep."

Keiko nodded with a blush and rushed away.

Aoi looked at the castle miniature keychain briefly before putting it in his pocket and turning around to leave.

It was then he found Yanagi who had been standing a distance away from him. His eyes were firmly glued to him and they were terrifyingly dark.

Aoi only thought it was cute and walked up to him holding back his smile, "How long have you been watching?"

"Long enough," Yanagi said in a low tone.

"I didn't notice," Aoi intentionally said. He walked away, "Let's go have lunch."

On their walk to their lunch spot, Aoi could feel Yanagi's stare drilling into his back. This might be the first time Yanagi got upset at him.

It was interesting.

Surprisingly, Yanagi managed to hold it in until school was over.