Akira's eyes had a tint of red in them, breathing uneven, his body was shaking, all the while being enveloped by something warm. This was the solace he had always hoped for. At first, he resisted the urge to cry, only letting the tears build up in his eyes. But the moment he felt that comfort surround him, the tears came rolling down.
He became a mess, streams of tears were rolling down his face which was followed by incessant sobbing. The feeling in his heart felt more at ease as he let out the emotions. Even after he was done crying, he was still stammering and sniffling which made him feel a bit embarrassed.
Jun had stopped hugging him at that point but still sat beside him, their shoulders only a few inches apart.
"I... I'm sorry."
"You know, I can't say I know what you're going through," his crush replied with a sincere smile, "but hopefully you don't hold it in too much." It was a very blunt reply on his part, and it took Akira a bit by surprise.
"...Huh?"
He shrugged in response. "I know it's hard for you, man. But if it makes you feel better, I'll be here for you," he stated as he closed the gap with his closed first and Akira's chest, "just call out to me, okay?"
Akira spent a good few seconds just gazing back at his crush. He had made the right choice was the thought in his head.
"But having said that, try not to rely on me too much, okay?"
The androgynous boy fidgeted a bit. "I—I'll t—ry."
Jun was right. He couldn't rely on someone to fix his problem. What they provided for him was simply support. He would still be the one going through the steps. Akira didn't want to nor could he give the responsibility to anybody besides himself.
"Hey, Jun," his stammering and sniffling had started to fade, "you know I like you, right?"
He snorted. "Well, I wouldn't say it was subtle."
"And so?"
"...And so?"
He positioned himself in front of Jun and rested his head on both of his palms. "I mean an answer, dummy." The expression on his face at the time was something odd. It felt like he was happy but he was simply forcing himself to say it.
He started dusting himself off. Levering himself up, he walked a few steps away leaving Akira with a rather worried expression.
"That's a no. For now."
(For now, huh? I wonder...)
"Anyway, I'm gonna head out for a bit. Gonna get some drinks—"
His statement was abruptly cut off as a girl with dark purple-ish hair came running from out of nowhere. She was waving enthusiastically as she made her way over to Jun.
"Hey!" she yelled out. "Got some spare time to kill?" As she finished asking her question—or yelling it out, more accurately—she looked over to the bleachers and spotted a blue-haired person. Her expression was a mix of confusion, excitement, and jealousy. He meekly waved at her rather intense glare, to which she reciprocated. She focused her attention again on the runner and they had some idle chatter for a few seconds before she made her way to the bleachers to sit down.
"Wattup? You skipping classes too?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah..."
"Guess we're partners in crime then!" she stated as she extended her hand. "Name's Sara. Nice to meetcha!"
He giggled in response to her overeagerness. "I'm Akira. Nice to meet you too." The two shook hands for a bit before resuming their conversation.
"So, why're you out here skipping? You don't look like the type to just randomly do that," she stated. Akira wanted to respond with how her feminine name didn't match at all how she looked, but he kept the comment to himself.
He reddened a bit at the question though and started fiddling with his fingers. There was probably no harm in telling her that he liked the boy, maybe. They both didn't really know each other well enough—or at all, really—for romance talk. But against his better judgment, he decided to tell her anyway. Subtly.
"I just wanted to hang out with him for a bit," he responded, scratching the back of his neck. "I just like being around Jun a lot. He helps me calm down, you know?" He went on for a bit more. Complimenting and talking about Jun, but not really going into any specifics. Honestly, the more he talked, the more he realized that he was talking like how a child would.
After a few minutes of this, he turned to look at her reaction. She seemed to have paid full attention to his ramblings, her sight was fixated on him. Not in a weird kind of way, just in a very attentive sort of way. She seemed to be thinking about something, judging from her suddenly looking upwards even though there was only the roof of the bleachers there.
"Y'know, I wanna be like you," the dark-haired girl snapped back.
That was not the reaction he was expecting at all.
She rested her head over both of her hands as she laid down on the bleachers. "I actually got someone I like too. At least, I think I do." The girl seemed to pick up on the fact that he had a crush on Jun, not that that was a very well hidden secret in the first place.
"You think?"
She snapped herself back up. "Well, uh... I'm not really sure myself," she replied as she emotively flailed her hands about. She seemed a bit anxious to talk about the topic; playing with her hair, her eyes were darting around all over the place, her head was faced towards the ground, and the aforementioned flailing. Akira could even spot a bit of her rose-tinted cheeks.
"I wanna confess to him but I don't think we'd really go well together, you know?"
Saying that he and her didn't really match well at all was a statement he found a bit questionable. Does it really matter if you don't or do fit? He didn't ponder on the thought too much. Instead, he gave his full attention to her, just as she had done previously. According to her, she was very rowdy in comparison to the boy she liked who was more reserved in nature. The thing he found the weirdest about that was that she even fell for someone so socially deprived. Because even to Akira, Sara definitely looked like the type to have friends from all over school. He figured that was what she meant by them not going well together.
He started thinking for a few seconds before snapping his fingers. "Well, you know what they always say, 'opposites attract' right?"
For a few seconds, she was surprised at the statement but quickly transformed into a happier expression.
"I guess you're right," she said as she stood up, dusting herself off. "Well, I'm gonna go cut classes somewhere different. I'll give you two some alone time." The dark-skinned girl replied with a rather suggestive smirk on her.
"Wha— No, that really isn't necessary, I swear!" He was visibly flustered despite the fact that they've already been alone for quite some time, but it being stated so weirdly felt off to him. And that smirk definitely did not help.
"It's fineee!" she said, running off without giving him a chance to get argue back. People in the track club are insane at running, he thought. But then again, that was the whole point of the club.
After a few ways away, she saw Jun who was carrying three cans of soda. She asked if that's the only reason he went out, and the answer she got was quite the surprise.
"No, haha. I just...wanted to think about some things," he answered, his gaze in the direction of the bleachers, obviously pointing towards the blue-haired boy.
"Cool, cool! Thanks for the soda, I'm gonna go. She's a pretty nice girl."
"What?"
A few seconds pass by, the two confused at each other's sentences. It was then that Jun tapped his open palm with his fist. He realized that he hadn't explained anything at all to her. He went on a rather embarrassing explanation, which mostly consisted of him saying Akira was a boy, Sara going "What?!" and then him going "Yep!". After a few more minutes of this, he concluded his explanation. Conclusion? Akira was a boy.
"...Come again?"
"Yeah, he's a dude."
"You're...kidding, right?" she asked as if the last few minutes didn't just happen.
"Nope. Not at all."
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she took a deep sigh. "So you're telling me Akira's a guy that dresses like a girl?"
"Yep." That's literally what he explained just a short while earlier.
Sara raised her arms in the air in defeat. She then proceeded to leave without saying a word.
"Haha, I guess that's a unique reaction."
(How the hell is a guy cuter than me?!) Was the one thought that echoed throughout Sara's mind.
Running back to the bleachers, he saw a tired Akira who seemed to be sleeping on the bleachers. He set aside the drinks he had beside him as he took in the sight. He was cute, undoubtedly. Though it did feel weird thinking that, he admitted. Moving over a bit, his right thigh was snuggling right beside Akira's hair. At this point, he was already blushing like a girl with massive amounts of makeup.
Taking in a few deep breaths, he carefully raised Akira's head and maneuvered his lap to be used as a pillow. He gently raised it then proceeded to carefully and slowly scooch his legs below Akira's head, trying not to disturb his sleep.
Looking more intently, he noticed that his sleeping face really was a sight. His lips were slightly open, his eyelashes were naturally longer, and he just generally looked relaxed. A face he realized Akira didn't have very often.
Without any hesitation, he started caressing his hair. It felt soft.