The evening air drifted cool and fragrant over the courtyard, perfumed with the scent of damp grass and blossoming jasmine that lined the university's walkways. Campus buildings towered like silent sentinels, windows aglow with golden rectangles of light as dusk crept into night. It was the end of a day, but not the end of the unraveling story.
Kaito sat beneath one of the sakura trees in the central quad, still in a slight daze from his "not-a-date-but-definitely-a-date" with Yuuki earlier. His mind replayed snippets like a mixtape—her soft laugh, the way her fingers accidentally brushed his across the café table, how her eyes sparkled when she talked about old novels.
He sighed, leaning back against the trunk, clutching a can of iced coffee Haru had thrown at him minutes ago.
"You're unusually quiet," Haru said, slumping down beside him on the grass, his hair slightly tousled from the breeze. He took a dramatic sip of his matcha drink like he was starring in a commercial.
"I'm always quiet," Kaito muttered.
"Yeah, but this is too quiet. Even for you." Haru narrowed his eyes, poking at Kaito's cheek with a chopstick. "So… tell me everything. You went out with Yuuki. The Yuuki. Mysterious, gorgeous, probably-a-siren Yuuki. I demand details. Was it a date? Did she kiss you? Did *you* kiss her? Did your soul leave your body when she smiled?"
Kaito blushed and looked away, fiddling with the tab of his coffee. "We just hung out. Talked."
Haru clicked his tongue, disappointed. "That's it?"
"She ordered us matching drinks," Kaito added, unsure if it sounded more pathetic or significant.
Haru blinked, then grinned like he just solved a math problem. "Oh-hoh. Matching drinks. And did she 'accidentally' bump your shoulder like this?" He leaned in and exaggerated a nudge, nearly toppling them both.
Kaito pushed him off with a flustered expression. "Stop it."
"You like her."
Silence.
Haru grinned. "You do."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to. I've known you since you spent your nights whispering to books instead of people. Your face is basically a mood ring."
Kaito buried his face in his arms. "I don't even know what's happening. One minute, she's ignoring me. Then suddenly she's laughing at my jokes. Laughing, Haru. No one laughs at my jokes."
"Correction: you don't tell jokes. You just accidentally say things with dry sarcasm that make people laugh. It's a vibe."
Kaito groaned.
Then Haru leaned back against the tree, stretching out his arms, and casually dropped the bomb. "So… boobs or ass?"
Kaito blinked. "What."
"You heard me."
"Why… are you asking that?"
"Because this is an important milestone. Every guy, at some point, must confront the great philosophical debate of our time. Boobs… or ass?" Haru gave him a mock serious look, as if he were Socrates handing over the wisdom of the ancients.
"I… don't know." Kaito stared at his coffee like it would give him divine guidance.
"C'mon, I told you mine like… week two of freshman year."
"I didn't ask for yours."
"Doesn't matter. I'm generous with my knowledge."
Kaito rolled his eyes but smiled, the tension of the past few days briefly melting in the warmth of Haru's antics.
After a pause, he said quietly, "I think… I like eyes."
Haru stared at him.
Kaito looked away, flustered. "I mean not like that. Just… the way someone's eyes look when they're talking about something they love. Or when they're quietly listening. Or when they're smiling even when they don't mean to."
There was a beat of silence.
Then Haru clapped a hand on his shoulder, grinning. "You romantic little introvert. You just raised the bar for every man on this campus."
Kaito laughed—an actual, full laugh—and nearly choked on his coffee. "Shut up."
"I can't wait to see how you confess. Will it be during a thunderstorm? On a rooftop? Under a sakura tree? You'll probably write her a heartfelt letter in cursive or something."
"I don't even know if she likes me that way," Kaito admitted, quieter now.
"Bro," Haru said, eyes gleaming, "she totally does."
The breeze rustled through the trees again, a soft whisper of something unseen yet deeply felt. Around them, students passed in groups or pairs, voices rising in laughter, gossip, or last-minute cramming for tests. But in that moment, under the tree with a friend who knew how to pull him back to earth, Kaito felt something he hadn't in a long time: peace.
After a while, Kaito leaned his head back and looked up at the darkening sky. "Do you think I'm changing?"
Haru lay back fully now, arms folded behind his head. "Definitely. But not in a bad way. You're just… growing. Becoming someone who's not afraid to show his heart a little."
Kaito thought about Yuuki's fingers gently tugging on his sleeve. Sayaka's flustered avoidance lately. The messages from students he never spoke to now flooding his inbox with thanks, curiosity, or admiration. He was still terrified. Still him. But… something *was* different.
And maybe that was okay.
After another stretch of silence, Haru suddenly blurted out, "So… are we still dodging the question or—?"
Kaito smacked him with a pillow of fallen sakura petals.
"Ass," he whispered reluctantly.
Haru gasped like he won the lottery. "*I knew it!* My boy!"
They both burst into laughter, their voices mixing with the wind as it carried the moment into the night sky.