Yanagi closed Aoi's bedroom door and turned around with a grim face, "Give it to me."

Aoi put down his bag next to his desk, "Give what to you?"

"That keychain," Yanagi also put down his bag on the low table.

Aoi took out the item from his pocket and dangled it by the end of his finger, "This?"

Yanagi attempted to take it but Aoi swiftly caught it into his palm first.

"Aoi," Yanagi looked at Aoi in warning.

"What?" Aoi feigned ignorance. "Why should I give it to you? It's for my class only."

"I don't trust her," Yanagi scowled. "If she's telling the truth, you should've noticed in class that your classmates have the same keychains."

Aoi's eyebrows rose slightly.

Seeing that reaction, Yanagi dropped his hands, "Do you...like her?"

"Eh?" Aoi blinked.

Yanagi suddenly reached out and caught his waist. He clung to him so tightly that it suffocated him.

"You can't, Aoi," Yanagi whispered in his ears with a cold yet loving tone. Violent emotion turmoiled in his eyes, "I don't mind my feelings being played with by you, but I won't give you any chance to have someone else."

Aoi shuddered from Yanagi's words.

It wasn't a threat.

It was a reminder.

Yanagi let one of his hands go to pry open Aoi's fist and take the keychain into his hands.

A corner of his eye twitched in disdain and he shoved it into his pocket.

Still, once he got what he wanted, he realized that he was being too possessive. He inwardly felt guilty, but he wouldn't take back his words.

"I'm sorry, Aoi," Yanagi rested his head on Aoi's shoulder and rubbed his hair coaxingly. "If she really was telling the truth, I'll get you an identical one to it. Don't be mad, okay?"

Aoi chuckled, "What an unreasonable boyfriend I have."

"I'm sorry…" Yanagi's ears and tail drooped.

"I don't hate it," Aoi patted Yanagi's head. "I'm sorry too. It was the first time I saw you get upset at me and got a bit overboard. I actually know about the matching keychains."

"Eh?" Yanagi raised his head in surprise.

"And I knew that you were watching back in the hallway," Aoi grinned. "You know I can always sense it when you're staring at me."

Yanagi realized that Aoi was just messing with him and blushed in shame.

"Getting embarrassed now?" Aoi laughed. "I'll appreciate it if you trust my loyalty a bit more though. You're my first romantic partner. I can assure you, I'm not a fickle person."

"It's not that I don't trust you…" Yanagi muttered.

This relationship they had was only based on his one-sided feelings towards Aoi and Aoi going along with it. It could either be from interest or curiosity. Maybe pity.

He couldn't help but be afraid that someday Aoi finally lost interest or patience in him.

What if a cute girl confessed to Aoi one day?

He would definitely choose her over him, right?

"Yanagi," Aoi could see that Yanagi was thinking nonsensical thoughts again. He felt a bit offended, "You think I will just kiss anyone? Not to mention a guy? Do you know how much I mentally prepared myself just to kiss you?"

Yanagi snapped out of his thoughts, "A-Aoi...it's not like that…"

"Because you're too afraid of making me hate you, I'm the one who needed to initiate everything," Aoi sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if you're just confusing admiration and gratitude with romantic feelings. If so, we should just break-"

"No!"

Aoi's eyes widened in surprise when Yanagi abruptly held the side of his face and kissed him.

It was longer than their first kiss and Yanagi pressed on so desperately that he was pushed back to his desk.

When they finally separated, both of them were flushed and out of breath.

"I...I want to do many things with you," Yanagi confessed. "Normal things, fun things, romantic things, and of course, p-perverted things."

Aoi listened to Yanagi as he caught his breath.

"But most importantly, I want to treat you properly," Yanagi gazed into Aoi's eyes solemnly. "I don't want to accidentally hurt you by doing things you don't want. Not just because I don't want you to hate me. I simply don't want to hurt you."

Aoi gulped, feeling his heart becoming louder and faster.

"When you told me you weren't ready to kiss me, I was relieved that you told me," Yanagi hugged Aoi again. "I was waiting for you to give a sign that you were ready, but you unexpectedly kissed me first."

"That, I…" Aoi looked away with a faint blush, "...I got caught up in the moment."

"Then...when you get caught up in the moment again, please tell me what you want me to do," Yanagi kissed Aoi's ear lightly. "I'll make the moment more perfect for you."

Aoi felt his ear and face burn. He pushed Yanagi away.

"I get it. I get your point. Stop speaking directly to my ear like that," He covered his ear to dissipate the heat.

"Eh? S-sorry…" Yanagi covered his mouth anxiously. "Is my voice…unpleasant?"

Aoi inwardly sighed. Sometimes he wondered if Yanagi was selectively blind or if his face really wasn't as red as he thought it was.

He straightforwardly grabbed Yanagi's collar and yanked him close before he whispered softly to his ear, "How do you think I will feel when you speak to me like this?"

Yanagi, "!!!"

He jerked away in such a fluster that he tripped his own foot and fell backwards to the ground. He covered his hot and tingling ear as he stared at Aoi in astonishment.

"See?" Aoi said, proving his point.

"B-b-b-but…I didn't speak like th-that…" Yanagi stuttered almost incoherently.

"That's what you sounded like to me," Aoi knelt down in front of Yanagi. "Earlier, you said as if I'm playing with your feelings right now. True, I'm having fun with it. But I'm not playing around."

"What…do you mean?" Yanagi couldn't understand Aoi's words.

"Do I have to spell it out to you?" Aoi sighed. "I'm conscious of you because I view you as my romantic partner, Yanagi. I can get flustered by your actions and my heart can skip because of your words. And honestly, I think you're cute all the time. Especially when you're like this."

Yanagi felt like he just heard something really amazing coming out of Aoi's mouth. His breath hitched when Aoi leaned closer to him.

"I won't say that yet though. If you want to hear it, you have to make me say it," Aoi smiled playfully.

The door was suddenly knocked and Aoi's mother entered with a tray of drinks and snacks, "Is everything alright? I heard a loud noise earlier."

Aoi backed away from Yanagi and stood up to help his mother, "It's nothing. Yanagi tripped and fell."

Aoi's mother lightly laughed and told them to play carefully before leaving the room.

The heat in the room slightly cooled down from her interference. Aoi sat down at the low table and looked at Yanagi.

"Are you going to stay there with a dumb look on your face or are we going to play?" Aoi raised his eyebrow.

"U-un!" Yanagi scrambled to his feet and prepared the game console.

Aoi softly chuckled as he watched Yanagi busy himself.

Truthfully, he still wasn't sure whether he genuinely liked Yanagi as much as Yanagi liked him. That was the main reason why he didn't want to say it yet.

But one thing he knew, he didn't mind spending time with Yanagi like this. It was also proven that he also didn't mind doing romantic things with him. When Yanagi doubted him earlier, he felt a little hurt as well.

Thinking about it too deeply wouldn't get him anywhere. He looked forward to Yanagi turning his feelings into something concrete and forming it into words for him to hear.

Yanagi stayed over until dinner as usual before it was time for him to leave. Even after he was able to visit Aoi's house every single day, he was always reluctant to part at the end of the day.

"What are you going to do with the keychain?" Aoi curiously asked at the front gate.

Yanagi hesitated for a while before he answered with a mutter, "…Burn it."

Aoi laughed, "So decisive."

"Is it…okay?" Yanagi fiddled with his blazer's button.

"What will you do if I say no?" Aoi leaned to the gate.

"I'll…throw it to the river," Yanagi hadn't thought about it yet.

"Don't litter," Aoi helplessly said. "It's fine. Just buy me a similar one as you promised."

Yanagi couldn't contain the bubbling feeling in his chest and stepped forward to kiss Aoi's cheek, "I will."

Aoi stilled in place and watched blankly as Yanagi left with a wave.

He touched the lingering sensation on his cheek as he walked back inside.

If Yanagi started doing this often…

It might be bad for his heart.