By Zephyria Ashley didn’t say a single word while taking Koi away. He didn’t even acknowledge the classmates who greeted him, nor did he even offer a short smile. He simply gripped Koi’s shoulder tightly, as if Koi might run away, and moved at a fast pace. Thanks to that, Koi occasionally experienced his feet not touching the ground and was desperately dragged along by him.
The place Ashley took Koi to was the back of a secluded building, a quiet path that almost no one visited. There, Ashley stopped and looked down at Koi. Koi was panting as if he was about to die, but Ashley didn’t let him go. He released the arm that had been around his shoulder and instead grabbed both of Koi’s arms, fixing his gaze.
Haa, haa.
Ashley watched Koi catch his breath for a while. Without saying anything, Ashley looked down at him and finally opened his mouth after Koi’s breathing had calmed down to some extent.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah.”
Koi hurriedly nodded. He couldn’t bring himself to look up at him, fixing his gaze on the ground, when Ashley opened his mouth from above.
“What happened yesterday?”
As expected.
Koi felt the barely slowed pulse quicken again and stammered.
“W-what do you mean.”
He still couldn’t raise his head. Ashley’s heart burned even more at Koi’s reaction, stubbornly refusing to make eye contact with him.
“You said something urgent came up. You didn’t contact me after that, do you know how worried I was?”
“S-sorry.”
Koi hurriedly apologized. It was clearly Koi’s fault. Ashley had been slapped out of nowhere without knowing anything. By Corner Niles of all people.
How absurd must it be.
Koi felt guilty and apologized again.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you’d be so worried.”
“Anyone would worry if they made a promise and were waiting, and then you just send a few lines of text and turn off your cell phone.”
Ashley scolded Koi in a sterner voice than usual. Koi couldn’t lift his face even more.
“Sorry…”
Ashley was silent for a while after his repeated apology. Feeling the gaze that was silently looking down at him, he was completely intimidated, but after a long time, he sighed.
“How was the test yesterday?”
Thank goodness. It seemed like Ashley had decided to move on without asking any further questions. Koi nodded, grateful for his consideration.
“I-I passed.”
“Okay, that’s good.”
Ashley watched Koi’s reaction closely even as he spoke. Koi was strange today. No, he had been strange since the day before. Leaving only that text message and disappearing, constantly avoiding Ashley’s eyes, he had no idea what was causing him to act like this.
Did something happen at home?
That was all Ashley could guess. There was no reason for Koi to suddenly distance himself from him.
“Koi.”
Ashley called his name in a calm voice, and his shoulders flinched. Ashley, still unable to read Koi’s expression, continued.
“If there’s anything I can help you with, tell me anything. Even if you don’t think I can help, tell me. If we worry together, maybe a solution will come out.”
Ashley, having said that much, continued to reassure Koi.
“We’re friends, after all.”
At those words, Koi’s mind, which had been barely holding on until now, collapsed in an instant.
Friends, that’s right, we’re friends. Ash was just being kind to me as a friend, but I didn’t even know that and just misunderstood him.
If Ash finds out that I like him.
Koi felt like he couldn’t breathe just imagining it. Ashley is a good guy, so he wouldn’t despise Koi or anything. But surely this relationship wouldn’t be able to continue anymore. Ashley would distance himself from Koi, and then even greeting each other in the morning might become impossible.
Just imagining Ashley ignoring him and walking away made Koi’s heart ache unbearably.
I have to hide it.
Koi bit his lip and vowed to himself. I must never get caught. I’m just Ash’s friend, that’s all. Yeah. Hooo, after letting out a small, trembling breath, he nodded with difficulty.
“Yeah, thanks.”
It was a voice that didn’t have any strength in it at all, even to himself. Koi tried hard to encourage himself and added.
“I will.”
“…”
Ashley looked down at Koi without saying anything. Something was wrong. No, everything was wrong. Koi not trying to look at him, his voice constantly trembling, him only occasionally giving short answers to Ashley’s words, everything was full of strangeness.
Koi, who was always overjoyed when he met Ashley, wasn’t even smiling. What on earth happened?
Koi was trembling all over in his tightly gripped hand. If he loosened his grip even a little, he felt like he would run away, so Ashley gripped his arm even tighter.
“Koi.”
It was really hard to believe, but he had to ask.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“What… no, nothing like that!”
Koi was surprised and raised his head without realizing it. It was the first time their eyes met, but it was different from what Ashley had hoped for. Instead of smiling at him, Koi’s face was pale and he was looking at him with a look he had never seen before.
Moreover, Koi’s eyes were shaking wildly as if he was terrified. His lips were also pale and trembling.
Seeing that, Ashley was also flustered and froze. Then Koi realized that he had made a mistake and hurriedly stammered.
“Um, I was just, not feeling well. It’s nothing, really.”
Lies.
Ashley thought as he looked down at Koi, who was hastily spewing out words. He was lying so obviously. He would be the biggest idiot in the world if he was fooled by this.
One thing was certain, Koi had no intention of telling Ashley the truth at all. Ashley could tell that very clearly. However, he had no idea what the reason was.
“Koi…”
“Um, and.”
Koi hurriedly added just as he was about to speak again.
“I won’t be able to practice anymore. Um, I joined the cheerleading team. So, we have to train together after class. By the time it’s over, it’ll be too late for skating practice. Thank you for everything.”
“…”
Koi spoke as if reading a script he had been thinking about all night. Ashley looked down at him with a serious face as he poured out words like a waterfall, looking down at the ground again.
“Koi.”
“Thanks to you, I passed, thank you so much. It’s all thanks to Ash. Now, you don’t have to help me anymore.”
“Koi!”Suddenly, Ashley shouted and grabbed Koi’s arm. Surprised, Koi widened his eyes and stopped talking, and Ashley also paused and looked down at him.
“…Sorry, Koi. I’m sorry.”
Ashley, who quickly lowered his voice to apologize, bowed his head and let out a deep breath. Even in the midst of that, his hands were tightly gripping Koi.
“Sorry for yelling, I apologize. But I really don’t know why. Why are you doing this?”
“Reason? There’s no such thing.”
“Don’t lie.”
Ashley suppressed the urge to shout and continued in as low a voice as possible.
“There’s something, isn’t there? Are you angry at me? Did I do something wrong? Tell me, I won’t know if you don’t tell me.”
Ashley continued to press him. Koi felt like he was cornered. He barely managed to answer in a trembling voice.
“You, you… didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Liar.”
“I’m serious.”
Eventually, tears welled up in Koi’s eyes.
“Really, I am. You didn’t do anything wrong. The one who did wrong… is me.”
“What?”
Ashley asked, flustered. Koi couldn’t hold back the tears that were welling up and rubbed his eyes roughly with both hands. Overflowing tears dripped down. Ashley was just confused by his appearance. What on earth had happened in just one day? He couldn’t even guess.
“Koi…”
Ashley opened his mouth again. He needed to know what he had done wrong, what was going on in this situation. He couldn’t stand this right now. Koi wasn’t even trying to look at his face. He wasn’t smiling. His ears, which were always moving busily, weren’t even twitching. Ashley couldn’t understand at all.
What on earth had happened?
He was about to press him again in his anxiousness.
“S-stop it now.”
Koi tried to push Ashley away. He put his hands on his chest and pushed with all his might, but of course, Ashley didn’t budge. Rather, he almost staggered backward, but Ashley was holding him, so he barely managed to keep his balance. Koi hurriedly continued.
“S-soon, it’s, class time, so I have to go in. Now, let’s stop, talking about this.”
“Koi.”
Ashley gripped his arm again.
“I can’t do that. Are we going to end the conversation here? Koi, is it okay to stop like this? Are you serious? I still have things I want to hear from you.”
“I, I told you I have nothing to say.”
“I need to hear it!”
He couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted. Koi kept rejecting him. It was unbearable for Ashley. He gritted his teeth as he looked at Koi’s pale face.
…Huh?
Suddenly, Ashley’s vision spun.