The school's hallway

After Jeamesero was done speaking to the old woman he saw the anger in her eyes and began to feel slightly uneasy. When she brought her hand up and down to him, Airamyst suddenly screamed and jumped in between. ‘’NO!!’’
Jeamesero stared in shock how the old woman hit Airamyst's back and her nails buried themselves in Airamyst's shoulder. Jeamesero whimpered softly, tears started to well up in his eyes but he forced them back, he didn't want to cry right now, he couldn't.
‘’So this is the type of people you make friends with, Airamyst?’’, Airamyst's grandmother asked and Jeamesero stared up at her, a shocked look in his eyes still. ‘’Please stop hurting him... please please please...’’, he thought, wishing the woman would pull her hand back from Airamyst. She looked at Jeamesero with this evil smile on her face and she bowed back to Jeamesero. Jeamesero just stared at her. He had never wanted to see anyone hurt, but right now he wished this old woman would get into an accident or whatever.
‘’In any case. I have done business with your father, dear Jeamesero. One of my favorite companies to go to. He's very sweet and honest like you. Seems you have taken to his calm and forward nature as well. Pleasure to meet his son. I would be greatly honored if you and my grandson would show me around this school.’’, she said, her voice sounded rather sarcastic in Jeamesero's ears, though. He gave her a glance but didn't say anything, still hoping she would leave poor Airamyst alone. She did eventually, but Airamyst seemed really hurt by it.
‘’Boy get up now. Stop your whining and come on. I trust you'll make me feel very welcome while showing me around? Please keep in mind that Airamyst's schooling, food, and everything he has ever known rides on this. I'll not support a fagot nor a cross dresser and I would hate for the boy to have no money and have to go away...’’, the woman said as she walked on and Jeamesero swallowed; so one bad move and Airamyst had to go to another school? He would never be able to see the boy again...? He didn't want that to happen, why had he been so stupid?
‘’It h-hurts... so b-bad... g-g-god it hurts... s-so bad...’’, Airamyst said and Jeamesero looked at the boy, a worried and guilty look in his eyes.


‘’I... I'm sorry...’’, Jeamesero whispered as he watched the boy stand up. He had never felt this horrible before; he had been such a bad friend. He had gotten Airamyst in bad trouble.
‘’Pl-please... Please don't leave me... Don't leave me with that... But... but don't say anymore that will upset her further... J-just... just let her do whatever she likes to me... her words don't hurt as bad as her hitting. I really like you a lot, Jayjay~ Th-thanks for trying to help.’’, Airamyst said and he suddenly hugged Jeamesero. In response Jeamesero hugged him back twice as firm, holding him tight. He too began to cry finally but as soon as Airamyst pulled back Jeamesero wiped at his eyes, getting rid of the tears.
‘’Let's go okay?’’, Airamyst asked and Jeamesero nodded hesitantly, before whispering: ‘’O-okay... Though, I will be really late for class, maybe we will even miss our last classes... What if we get punished for that...?’’
He looked up to see Decoris all of a sudden standing there and watching them. He felt more tears come up but he forced them back; he was so happy to see the girl. Having someone around who he could see as an older sibling made him feel so much better and saver. Even if Decoris was the same age as him, he still saw her as an older student, mainly because he acted like he was a freshman or a sophomore, or maybe even younger.
He dragged Airamyst with him towards Decoris, a weak smile on his face though the hurt and sadness was clearly visible in his eyes. ‘’Onee, Onee, we are scared of Airamyst grandmother... Can you please help us...? Please come with us... I hate her, I'm not sure if I can hold up this stupid mature act and throw around insults any longer without support... I am sixteen but I'm really not mature.’’
‘’I wish Nii Nii was here... Where is he right now? And what is he even doing? He can't still be at the nurse's office with his friend, right?’’

Jeamesero had been off the last hour of school but he had promised to wait for Airamyst because Airamyst had Japanese class. He reached the door to the classroom and stood there waiting, taking out his phone and looking at the screen. He hadn't heard anything from Shun for a while and decided to text the boy, asking him where he was right now and how his friend was doing, and if they would meet up soon now that school was over for the day. He kept on asking these type of questions, not really waiting for Shun to answer the boy back; he was literally spamming the boy's phone.
He looked up to see a lot of students leaving the classroom and running away through the hallway. His eyes fell on this black haired boy for a second who passed by, before returning his gaze the screen of his phone. That's when he felt something on his shoulder and heard Airamyst's voice.
‘’Whatcha doing, Jayjay?’’, the boy asked but Jeamesero didn't look up yet. He had one more text to finish and send it to Shun, and he wanted to get it done quickly before talking to Airamyst. Because Jeamesero really wanted his older half brother to come look for him. ‘’Jeameeeeeee. Pay attention to meeeeeee.’’, Airamyst begged and Jeamesero sighed. He just finished his text and put his phone away as the boy said that to him. He wanted to look up at Airamyst and smile, show him he was listening finally and ready to talk to him, when all of a sudden his face was grabbed.
Jeamesero yelped at the boy's sudden actions and stared wide in shock ad Airamyst kissed him. And it was a long kiss, it took a while before the boy pulled back.
Jeamesero felt really uncomfortable all of a sudden. It was not that he didn't like the kiss. In fact he did, but maybe that wasn't a good thing, now was it? It was also the fact that he didn't know how to respond to this, he didn't know why Airamyst was doing this. It confused him badly.
As Airamyst pulled back Jeamesero stared at him in shock and confusion, wiping at his mouth. He realized Airamyst looked just as shocked and confused as he was, and realized the boy actually hadn't meant to do it.
‘’Wow, Jayjay... I... I liked that and... you're a good kisser...’’, Airamyst then said and Jeamesero frowned, really not sure what to do or what to say in response. However, Airamyst spoke again, looking even more scared now than before. ‘’I-I mean... I'm so sowwy Jeames I dunno why I did that!’’


Jeamesero wanted to say something though he didn't really know what, when suddenly someone passed by and pushed Airamyst in the back, and the boy fell into Jeamesero. Jeamesero yelped and so did Airamyst, amd Jeamesero felt the boy pull back quickly. He stood there, staring at Airamyst in shock, still. He had wanted to say something but that action had really caught him off guard and Jeamesero found his words stuck in his throat again. He didn't even have any words to bring out. What should he say?
‘’I-I'm sowwy, Jeames I made ev-everything bad and awkward and n-now you think I'm weird. And I didn't m-mean to like it or any-anything but I did. I liked the k-kiss very m-much.’’, Airamyst stuttered and Jeamesero nervously rubbed the back of his head, blushing rather a lot now. He looked around them, wondering how many people had actually seen this happen. He then stared back at Airamyst, really not sure what to say to the boy.
‘’I... I'm sorry... I hadn't expected this to happen... You startled me, kinda...’’, Jeamesero whispered, trying to find his words. He stared at the ground for a moment, shifting around his feet nervously. ‘’Okay so... why did you... why did you even...? Why?’’
He swallowed, shaking his head after standing there quietly for a moment. Maybe it was best not to talk about it right now. Maybe later, because Jeamesero had texted Shun, and he was waiting for the boy to come heir way. ‘’You know... maybe we should talk about that later... I texted my brother and he will probably come look for us very soon. We can discuss this later...’’, he said before taking a deep breath. He wasn't sure if he should say this but he guessed it couldn't hurt since Airamyst had said the same thing, right? Even though even thinking the words made him feel so extremely uncomfortable. It made him all feel so... strange. He had felt this before and that's why he was so scared; he wasn't too happy about feeling this right now and hoped it would go away soon. ‘’I... I gotta say I liked it, too, by the way... Just saying.’’

Mikazaru hadn't seen Roki anymore ever since the boy had left his side during the end of the lunch break. The boy began to slightly worry about him, wondering where he was. Had he gone to school or not after that? Mikazaru had, but he had been pulled out of the classroom by the teachers he should have had that morning. They had given him quite a speech about getting too late for class or not coming at all. Mikazaru had tried to explain the situation to them, mentioning Roki, but the teachers had told him that was no good excuse for him to skip class and that Roki should have taken care of it all by himself.
Mikazaru sighed and rubbed his eyes; he had missed quite a lot of classes, and all those teachers had come over to him. Why? Why had he been so stupid to follow a younger boy around the school? He had been worried about the kid and it had only gotten him in trouble.
Leaving the art class classroom all Mikazaru wanted to do right now was go home and sleep, but maybe he shouldn't go home just yet. What if the teachers had called his parents and told them about his skipping classes at school? Then they would probably be very pissed at him when he got home. So yeah, Mikazaru was too afraid to go home right now. Too afraid.
‘’I really wonder where Roki is. I hope he's alright... I mean, I feel kind of guilty for chasing him away like that. I should have been more careful choosing my words...’’, Mikazaru thought and he looked around him. He realized he still had to give this boy and girl a tour through the school, too. He actually should get to them right now and make sue to show them around school so next time they would know where to do. And he better do it quick, because the actual school building would close in two hours, he had heard. Or at least, in around two hours.
He stepped around the corner and found Hinami and Abigail at the boy's restroom, standing outside the door. They were most likely waiting for him. Mikazaru was actually surprised they had managed to find back the restroom after heading to class. He was proud of them for already remembering their exact meeting place.


Mikazaru quickly went over to them and waved at them, a smile on his face. He met up with them and lowered his hand, looking at the two, from Hinami to Abigail and back again. ‘’Okay, I'm here. Glad to see you wanted to have this little tour. The doors to the classrooms are closed now but we can still look around the school a bit, let me know what you wanna do.’’, he said, still smiling brightly. He felt a bit better now that he could think about other things, more positive things. ‘’So, where do you guys wanna go first? We have a garden, a parking lot where you can leave your bike and or car. And of course there's the dorm building. And there's a cafeteria inside the school. You can't buy anything there right now but you can still enter it and you can get snacks from the vending machines. And we have a nurse office nearby. Now, let me see... what else do we have here...?’’
Mikazaru thought for a moment, making sure he had named every other place around or in the school still accessible for the students at this time of the day. They could still go almost anywhere. ‘’Oh yeah, and we have a sports field outside, where the students go for PE class during summer, most of the time. And the school's library is still open as well. I think that's all we can go and see. So yeah, let me know what you want to see first.’’

‘’I-I don't kn-know...’’, Airamyst said in response to Jeamesero's question, stuttering. Jeamesero felt bad for asking it all of a sudden. He hadn't wanted the boy to feel all shy and awkward, and to blame for what just had happened between them. But could he say he had blame for it, too? He wasn't really sure.
After saying however that he took had liked the kiss a bit, if not a lot, Airamyst stared at him in confusion and... a hint of hope? At least he seemed a bit more cheerful and for that Jeamesero was happy. But that happiness didn't seem to last very long. Things were growing awkward again between the two, something Jeamesero really didn't want to happen.
‘’R-really? I-I mean... You're welcome?’’, Airamyst asked and Jeamesero chuckled softly. He couldn't help it, it happened automatically, and afterwards he felt quite bad for doing it, guilty. He didn't say anything though, just looked away from the boy. Why had Airamyst just made it so awkward?
‘’It feels just the same as when I was with Jonathan... I loved that boy, yet he left me for someone else... Is this love again? Please say no... please...’’, he thought, worried about the feelings he felt. He had had terrible experiences with love and hoped it wasn't true. Because he was afraid it might start all over again. All the bad things that had happened. The cheating, the leaving, the suffering. Jeamesero took a deep breath at the thought, wanting to forget all about it.
‘’Sooooo... Jeames may I ask you someding? Do... You like other boy right? Like... Like 'like like' them? B-because like... I mean... I... I-I-I... I-I l-like...l-lov..."’’, Airamyst said but he cut himself off in the end, his voice trailing off. Jeamesero gave him a confused look and fear started to grow inside of him; his heart started to beat faster. Was this really it? Was this love all over again, something he had desperately tried to avoid for two years? ‘’N-nevermind I'm being stupid. F-forget I s-said anything.’’


‘’No, no, um... Yes, I... I 'like like' boys... I... I'm homosexual, gay...’’, Jeamesero whispered to the boy, staring at his feet in shame as he his hands behind his back, playing with his thumbs. ‘’So... what did you want to say...?’’
‘’S-so did he say where he w-was?’’, Airamyst asked and Jeamesero nodded, completely caught off guard. But he guessed that if Airamyst didn't wanna tell him anything there was nothing more he could ask of the boy, so he decided to just answer his question about Shun and wait for the boy to answer him or speak up, in case he wanted to.
‘’Yeah, he texted me he was at the dorms, and that he and his friends Hikaru will come our way. We will go to the town together, he said.’’, Jeamesero mumbled, forcing a weak smile on his face. ‘’Maybe we can go buy neat stuff together, or go eat or drink something some place fun, like a cafe, maybe. Does that sound fun?’’

Roki slowly padded down the almost empty halls of the school. He had just found out he missed his final two classes and henceforth not gone to school all day. Even though he had been scared, and still kinda was to be in class by himself, he kept hearing Mika's voice telling him he needed to go.
"Would be a lot easier Nii Nii if you could go with me..." He mumbled to no one really, for there was no other children around him at that time that he knew of.
He looked up his thoughts passing to what Toru hadd shown him and what his father had done mere minutes before. "Wonder if he left the grounds and really went back home." Turning the corner he found another empty hall. Where had Mika and the other two kids gone to?
Roki had thought he would find them in the halls somewhere since he and Mika had siad they would show them around. 'I wonder if Nii Nii still even wants my help...' He thought sadly, hiding his arms and looking at the ground.
He knew had acted like a small child all day. Mika had been right. No highschooler acted like him. Ever. Tears formed in his eyes as he tried to blink them back. "I'm so sorry, Nii Nii..." He whimpered, wiping at his eyes, ridding himself of the few tears that had escaped.
Roki looked up when he heard voices and balled up his fists tightly, a look of determantion falling over his face. "I will make it up to him. I'll use what Toru wanted me to and make everything better."
Suddenly he took off running down the hall, heading in the direction of the voices. One sounded just like Mika's so he was sure that the others would be with him. Once he rounded the corner he saw Mika a short ways away with the two other studants from the restroom.
He yelped softly and blushed a tiny bit, suddenly shy and scared, as he ducked back behind the corner. He looked around at them, hoping no one had seen him. "Okay, Roki..." He whispered to himself, trying to calm his racing heart now. "You have to be mature. Growed up."
Roki smiled remebering Toru's words. "I can do it if I set my mind to it. And one I make Nii Nii-I mean Mika happy he will forget my childish stuff from this morning." Sudden over come with excitement at what he was going to do, and Mika's words of happiness, he had to cover his mouth to stop himself from giggling.
He nodded, fixed his shirt and pants, getting rid of dirt and wrinkles, before putting on avery serious face and walking around the corner again. He held his head high, smiling with confadence as he neared them.
"Evening, Abigail. Hinami." Roki said nodding to each respectfully. He then turned and smiled innocently up at Mika before addressing the older boy. "Good evening, Mika Senpai." He said, using the words Toru had siad he had to.
The way he understood it, Toru had said Nii Nii was a name for babies. Older, more grown up people addressed their peers as Senpai. So after a LOT of exsplaining Roki had agree it sounded way more mature the Nii Nii..
"So I am here to keep my promise and help out." He said nodding to the others before turning hsi head to them. "I am a grown-up and would never say something I would do if I wasn't going to do it."
Roki felt himself glowing with pride at how well he was doing. He hoped Mika wuld tell him how prond he was of his words and actions, even if he was just repeating his older brother. "I promise to make up for acting like such a child earlier today, Senpai. Right after we're done showing them the school grounds."
Quicky he turned back to Mika, ready to move when he was. "Your thoughts on the matter?"

‘’Ah, hey...did you say the library was still open? Since..I was just wondering if we could go there first? If that's okay with you guys, of course.’’, Hinami asked after Mikazaru was done talking and the boy nodded, smiling at her.
‘’Yes, it still is.’’, he said, before glancing over at Abigail who was still standing there with his back leaning against the wall. The boy really seemed unamused, almost bored. Was Mikazaru really that bored to talk and listen to? The thought made him swallow and feel rather insecure about himself all of a sudden. He was a shy and emotional person. Why had he ever come up with the idea to show some students around the school? It wasn't like him at all.
‘’Library sounds good. Library?’’, Abigail suddenly spoke and Mikazaru looked up, noticing the boy was now looking at him. Mikazaru forced back the feeling of being useless and smiled, nodding his head. ‘’Okay then, the library it is.’’, he said, gesturing for the two students to follow him. Yet at that point a voice caught his attention, a familiar one. Mikazaru turned his head to see Roki. The boy appeared different than he could remember. Where had he gone off to? Where had he been all this time? Mikazaru had worried about him, and he still did.
‘’Evening, Abigail. Hinami. Good evening, Mika Senpai.’’, the boy said and Mikazaru swallowed, staring down at Roki in fear and confusion. ‘’What has happened to 'Nii Nii'...?’’, he thought, not really sure anymore if this was Roki. The boy he knew didn't ct like this.


‘’It's afternoon.’’, Abigail said in response and Mikazaru wasn't sure if the boy had just said it to correct Roki, or if he had meant it to sound more sarcastic. Either way, Roki was acting weird and not like himself. Not at all.
‘’So I am here to keep my promise and help out. I am a grown-up and would never say something I would do if I wasn't going to do it.’’, Roki continued to speak and for a moment Mikazaru had the feeling Roki was addressing only him, even though he kept looking at all of them. It made a shiver run down Mikazaru's spine. And that's when their eyes met, when Roki looked at him.
‘’I promise to make up for acting like such a child earlier today, Senpai. Right after we're done showing them the school grounds. Your thoughts on the matter?’’, he asked and Mikazaru nervously rubbed the back of his head.
‘’Yeah... sure... whatever...’’, he whispered, not really sure what else to say. He gave Hinami and Abigail a nervous look, before gesturing them again to follow him. ‘’That's fine Roki. Though, I prefer if you would just call me Mika, or Nii Nii, if you like. After all that was the first nickname you gave me, no? Or, maybe Noah or Mason sounds nice? All four names fit...’’
‘’Now... you wanted to see the library? Let's go quick, before it closes for the day.’’

‘’"Yes. Yes it does sound like fun. I'd like that very very much, Jayjay. I've never been shopping or out to eat with friends so I am not sure how to act but I will do my very best for you~’’, Airamyst told Jeamesero after coming a bit closer and reaching out for the boy's hand. Jeamesero had wanted to pull away from the boy, but decided not to, and just stand there looking at him, smiling weakly. He didn't say anything, as no words could escape his mouth. Though, a few words came to mind, as he realized what Airamyst had said.
‘’Just be yourself.’’, he said, the smile on his face becoming a bit brighter, but he still appeared extremely nervous and a bit scared, shy. Hence he acted more like an adult now, way different than he normal appeared.
‘’So... Wh-what I wanted to say was... w-was... I... I-I-I kinda... 'l-like like' you Jeamesero... L-l-like I... I m-might l-love you...’’, Airamyst said after a moment of silence and Jeamesero swallowed. He had expected these words from the boy yet they came as a total shock to him, mainly because it was so hard to believe that there was someone like him out there in the world. He stared at the ground, a faint blush on his face, as he really didn't now anymore what to say. What should he say? What should he do? ‘’I-I-I mean... Is that okay?’’
Jeamesero looked up after Airamyst had asked that and all he did was shrug, a shy uncertain look on his face. He shifted uncomfortable with his feet, noticing Airamyst felt just as nervous, as the boy was biting his lips.
‘’I... I um... I don't know what to say, I'm sorry...’’, Jeamesero mumbled, memories of him and Jonathan coming back to him as he stared back at the ground. And those memories weren't that nice.
‘’Two years ago I had thought Jonathan was the one for me, yet he moved away and cheated on me with someone else... Who says Airamyst will be different? I can never be certain. He appears cute and sweet, but so did Jonathan...’’, Jeamesero thought, trying to forget about the painful feelings of being left alone, of being abandoned. ‘’He betrayed me and didn't care about my feelings or me anymore after he told me. He just left and never contacted me again... Who says Airamyst won't do the same?’’


‘’Um Airamyst... It's not because of you but I have experienced a failing relationship in the past...’’, Jeamesero began, searching for the right words as he rubbed the back of his head while blushing rather badly. He didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings, or make the boy feel like Jeamesero wasn't going to consider it at all, but he had to think of his own feelings too. ‘’I just hadn't expected you to tell me this, you left me a bit off guard there for a moment. And actually I still don't know what to say... I um... I... maybe we can discuss this later when we're in a place more private? I mean, we're still at school and kind of in the open. Maybe someone can hear us talk about it. I just want to talk about it with the two of us. I hope you understand...’’
Jeamesero looked up, a begging look in his blue eyes as he hoped Airamyst wouldn't feel sad or ignored, because Jeamesero didn't want him to feel like that. They had only just met today, and even though Jeamesero was one of the few people who knew Airamyst was actually a boy, it felt too soon to think about such a thing as a relationship. He wasn't even sure yet if he felt the same thing, and knowing Airamyst was a boy in girl's clothing, it felt kind of weird thinking about. Because Airamyst acted and dressed like a girl. Jeamesero did, too, but far less than Airamyst. Not that he disliked Airamyst in any way. He even found the boy very brave for being who he wanted to be, but it just slightly confused him. ‘’Let's just wait for my brother and his friend to come along so we can go to the town and have fun.’’, he said with a weak smile, hoping Airamyst would agree. ‘’We can talk about this at our dorm rooms after we're back, if you like. Just let me know...’’