((I know I’m extremely late, but this was supposed to be my contribution for:
Night time was the best time to go running. There was barely anybody to get in the way. It was like having the whole campus to themselves.
Nitori wouldn’t stop talking, while Rin’s deep breaths filled the air.
It was a pretty common scene. In fact, they had been doing that a lot lately. However, Nitori realized something was off. Rin seemed unfocused for some reason and his stamina was wavering.
“Senpai…Is something wrong?’’ Nitori suddenly asked. He stopped running when he noticed Rin had stopped moving as well. The red haired boy was bending with his hands on his knees. He was clearly taking a needed break.
”…I feel like shit today…’’ Rin panted.
“…Wah! Are you ok? Something hurts?”
“Nah. I just…Feel like shit.”
“I…I see…”
Nitori wanted to keep his cool, but he couldn’t. This was an emergency situation. He had to do something! Rin was always discrete about how he felt, so the occasions when he would actually open up to him were rare. Nitori secretly hated the idea of not being helpful at all when those scarce moments came.
Yes. He definitely had to do something…But the question was…What?
Maybe traiting him to drink would help? Rin did that for him all the time.
No. That wasn’t enough.
…Some piece of advice?
No. The issue was Nitori was better at listening than speaking. Besides, he didn’t know the real reason why Rin was feeling down.
The younger boy wanted to scream in frustration.
“Let’s go, Nitori. It’s getting late’’ Rin suddenly said after a while and started walking.
The boy remained in his position, thinking really hard. He tried to think about things that made him feel better when he was sad. He came with the answer quite quickly actually.
Maybe it was childish, but he remembered how his mom would just hug him tight and all of his problems seemed to vanish like they were nothing.
However…Wasn’t hugging his senpai kind of…Too much? They didn’t had that kind of relationship. A hug was way too intimate…Rin could feel uncomfortable instead…and that would be terrible…
Nitori hesitated while staring at Rin’s back as he was slowly walking away. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he could almost sense a sad aura surrounding him.
And that was it.
Rin was so deep in thought he had to stop and process what was happening. First he had the sensation somebody was pushing him…But no, that wasn’t it. He suddenly felt two arms wrapping his hips from behind and then a whole body pressing against his back. It was…Warm. Surprisingly warm.
”…Ni…Nitori…? What are you…?“
”…B-Better?“ Nitori had his eyes shut, as if he was making a huge effort. His face was red, although Rin couldn’t see that.
”…What?“
’‘Do you feel better?’’
Rin was confused as hell, but the confusion only lasted a minute. Then, he understood what the boy was doing perfectly.
Nitori was almost expecting a negative response…After all, wasn’t he going a bit over the top? But it was too late. Maybe he was being insolent, but his intentions were good. Nitori was about to let go and explain himself when he heard Rin’s voice.
”…Yeah.“
’'Huh?”
“…Yeah, I feel better now.”
Wait. What? Did it work? Did it actually work?! Nitori was so overjoyed he hugged Rin tighter, forgetting all of his worries. The hug was too tight, perhaps.
“…But, you know…You can stop now…I can’t breathe…” Rin whispered, embarrassed.
“Oh! I’m sorry! I just…”
Nitori let go at would stare at the floor. He didn’t dare to make eye contact.
“Senpai, if you ever feel down again…Please, count on me. I know I can’t do much…But I’ll try my best.”
It was a pity Nitori wasn’t looking at his roommate because he missed a genuine smile from him that the boy wasn’t used to see.
“…I’ll take it into account. Can we go now, Nitori?’’ Rin started moving again.
”…Of course, senpai!!! I have some homework to do as well, so I…“
After that, Nitori continued talking as cheerfully as before.
He admired his senpai so much…He wanted to know everything about him…And he kind of did…Except from a couple of things…
But it wasn’t until much, much later until Rin let him know those two things: How lucky he felt when he first met his kohai…
And how deeply Rin would grow to love him.
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines
