By Zephyria Even while eating together as usual, Koi’s attention was entirely focused on Ashley. He was joking, laughing, and chatting with the other guys as usual, but Koi couldn’t do any of that. His heart was pounding, and he was so nervous that he couldn’t do anything at all. He put the dry, tough hamburger back in his mouth when Bill’s voice reached his ears.
“Come to think of it, they never found the guy who posted that he liked Ash on the bulletin board, did they?”
Gasp.
The other guys continued to talk, completely unaware that Koi had swallowed his breath without realizing it.
“He’s probably just some loser who lives somewhere. He might not even be from our school, Ash is so famous.”
“That’s true.”
The guy who agreed let out a short laugh.
“That guy must be an Omega, right? It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.”
“Gulp.”
This time, he swallowed his drink out loud. But no one seemed to care.
“Of course, he would be. Doing that kind of thing between the same gender is because they’re Alpha or Omega, there’s no reason for a Beta to do that, right?”
Ashley suddenly objected to the guy who looked around for agreement.
“Liking someone doesn’t necessarily mean you want to have sex.”
At those words, Koi stared intently at Ashley’s face. Ashley was still looking at his friends, but Koi somehow felt like he was saying that to him.
“Oh, of course, that’s true.”
Another guy chimed in.
“Then, Ash, if you like someone, you don’t have to have sex? You won’t even kiss them?”
“Ehhh, yeah right.”
“Oooooh, Ashley Miller. Liiiiiar.”
Ashley chuckled at his friends’ reaction, who were giving him the thumbs down and booing. Koi looked at Ashley’s profile as he changed the direction of his hamburger. Before he put it in his mouth, he answered first.
“Of course, I have to. I’m so eager to do it right now.”
After saying the last words, Ashley suddenly looked at Koi. Koi’s heart sank at his narrowly opened eyes and somehow persistent gaze, and the guys who were gathered around shouted in unison.
“What?”
“What is it?”
“What did you just say?”
The eyes in the cafeteria were on them, but everyone was too busy badgering Ash to care. That was the same for Koi as well. But his head was working differently. The hand holding the hamburger trembled slightly. He was definitely hungry, but his chest was so full that he didn’t want to put anything in his mouth. Koi just fiddled with the hamburger that he hadn’t even eaten half of and didn’t bring it to his mouth at all. Even in the midst of all this, the guys were busy asking Ashley this and that.
“What, did you start dating someone new?”
“Who is it? When? Since when?”
“Wow, but you didn’t tell us?”
“Is it someone from our school? I haven’t seen you hanging out with anyone.”
“That’s right, you’ve only been hanging out with Koi lately.”
At that moment, everyone’s gaze focused on Koi for the first time. Koi, who belatedly came to his senses, was startled and quickly shook his head.
“N, n-no.”
“Hey, did you guys see the Saint Paul High School player list this time? The captain changed, right?”
Bill suddenly changed the subject. Soon after, the conversation moved in that direction, and Koi barely let out a sigh of relief and stroked his chest.
That was close.
He glanced at Ashley again. He was participating in the conversation normally. But when he recalled the passionate gaze that had been directed at him just now, he felt strange.
Has Ash always looked at me with those eyes?
“Koi.”
When the meal was over and everyone got up from their seats, Ashley suddenly spoke to Koi. Koi, who had been off guard, almost fell over, but he barely overcame the crisis.
“Oh, uh-oh.”
When he quickly straightened his body and raised his head, Ashley, who had reached out to grab him, smiled. Could it be that he’s going to talk about what happened last time? In a place like this?
The noise of the noisy kids was passing by around him. Ashley said to Koi, who was nervously anticipating what he would say.
“You have the second test today, right? Let me know the results when it’s over.”
“Huh? Oh…”
Koi nodded absentmindedly. He was right. Today was the day of the second tryout for the cheerleading team. What Ashley said was extremely ordinary, but Koi heard it differently today.
〈Let me know the results when it’s over.〉
Could this mean.
Is he telling me to let him know my feelings after it’s over?
When he looked up with a pounding heart, Ashley kindly added.
“Do your best.”
Koi nodded, fixing his gaze on him.
“Yeah.”
His heart was pounding as if it would pop out of his mouth.
“…I will.”
Let’s talk, today.
Koi decided. Let’s ask Ash. If he likes me. Even if I’m wrong, Ash won’t laugh at me.
I.
I.
Koi’s heart was pounding so much that he couldn’t even think anymore.
*
When he stopped his feet to the beat with a thud, the surroundings became quiet in an instant. Koi waited for the reaction of the girls who were watching him, panting. The girl standing in the center of them was Ariel, the team captain.
She, who usually had her hair tied up high in a ponytail, watched Koi’s choreography with a serious face and furrowed brow. Koi, who was inwardly anxious, looked back at her, who was silent, with her arms crossed over her other arm and her remaining hand rubbing her lips.
“Hmm.”
After a long time, Ariel opened her mouth.
“Not bad. No, it’s definitely gotten better.”
Koi’s face immediately brightened. Ariel continued to speak with a still stern face.
“But it’s still far from enough. There’s no way you can get into our team with this. You know we’re the Buffalo High School cheerleading team.”
“U, uh-huh.”
When Koi, who was nervous again, nodded, Ariel looked around behind her once and said.
“We worked incredibly hard to get here. It’s going to be difficult if you don’t have that kind of determination.”
“O, of course. I’ll work hard, no, I’ll do my best.”
Koi answered hastily this time as well. He was so anxious while waiting for the answer. Just as he was clasping his hands together as if praying, his mouth was parched.
“Corner Niles, you passed the second test.”
“……!”
“But.”
Just as Koi was about to shout for joy, Ariel continued to speak right away.
“Your current physical condition is very serious. It’s good to be thin, but it’s a problem to be unattractively thin. You’ve been hanging out with those gorillas for months, but you haven’t even become a chimpanzee yet?”
Ariel, who had her arms crossed with a frown, added coldly.
“You’ll have to strictly manage your physical condition before the season starts in earnest. We’ll never be lenient, so be prepared.”
“Yeah, I will!”
“Good.”Ariel nodded.
“I’ll accept you as our temporary member. Congratulations, Corner Niles. It’ll be about three months, but do your best to keep up.”
Ariel, after saying those last words, smiled for the first time. Along with her, the others clapped and congratulated Koi. Koi was so happy with the result he’d hoped for that he couldn’t speak. Koi, who was just opening his mouth and blinking, managed to stammer out greetings to the kids in turn.
“T-thank you, thank you. I, I’ll really work hard. Thank you…”
After exchanging greetings for a while, Koi joined their basic physical training for the first time. And as Ariel had said, it was several times more grueling than anything he’d experienced before.
*
Haaah.
Koi staggered across the field with weary steps. He never imagined that the girls, who always smiled prettily and moved as lightly as the wind, were undergoing such harsh and rigorous training behind the scenes.
Well, that’s probably why they can do those moves so easily.
Realizing their greatness anew, he soon puffed out his chest. He may be temporary, but as long as he’s part of that group, he has to do his best not to cause trouble. Of course, he was confident in that. The only thing Koi had was the fact that he did his best in everything.
First, I have to tell Ash about this.
The moment he thought of Ashley, his steps suddenly lightened. Of course, Ashley would be very happy. Koi was realizing for the first time how happy it was to have someone to share his joy with. The fatigue that had been building up until now vanished, and his whole body felt light, so he soon hummed a tune and hurried on his way.
The training should be over by now.
At other times, he would have gone to Ashley’s car and waited for him, but today he was too impatient to do that. Wanting to see him as soon as possible, Koi headed straight for the ice rink.
“Oh.”
Perhaps the training had ended earlier than usual today, because he could see the group he always hung out with in the distance. Happy to see them, Koi was about to greet them when a mischievous impulse took hold, and he tiptoed on the tips of his toes.
He was going to surprise Ashley, who always surprised him. Hidden behind these big kids, Koi’s figure would never be seen.
Smiling slyly, Koi approached them, only to realize that Ashley wasn’t among the group.
Soon, joy faded and his heart felt empty. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask where Ashley was, one of them said.
“Hasn’t Ash been acting really weird lately?”
The other guys agreed and chimed in.
“I know, right? He doesn’t even hang out with us like he used to.”
“And he didn’t even show his face at the party, did he?”
“I don’t know why he broke up with Al, either.”
Everyone agreed here and there, and then someone asked.
“Doesn’t it seem like it started happening after he got close to Koi?”
Koi was startled by the sudden mention of his name and quickly hid behind a nearby building. He could still hear the guys chattering behind him.
“Come to think of it, Ash has been hanging out with Koi a lot lately, hasn’t he?”
“Hey, now that you mention it, I got chills earlier.”
“It’s not really Koi, is it?”
Soon, a chorus of shouts erupted from here and there. Koi’s face turned bright red, and he covered his mouth with both hands. What do I do, do they all know?!
“No way, that guy and Ash? How dare he?”
At someone’s words, Bill said.
“That’s right, Ash is just including Koi in the group because he feels sorry for him.”
…Huh?
Koi’s pounding heart suddenly sank coldly.