That morning started like other mornings for most of the students of Ryonan High School. It was noisy in the halls as they walked towards their classroom with their friends, chatting about who had done what over the weekend.

Koshino shut his locker door after putting his shoes inside and began to walk towards his classroom.

"Hey Koshino, feeling better already?"

Turning around, he saw his best-friend come bounding down the steps with the same jolly smile on his face.

"Yeah, much better thanks," Koshino answered, smiling back as the taller boy reached him and familiarly dropped his arm on the shorter boy's shoulder. Every morning, Sendoh would do that, wrap his arm around Koshino, and every morning Koshino would shrug it off, as per expectance.

However at that moment before Koshino could do so, Sendoh's eyes fluttered as if he just realised that he has done something bad and he instantly dropped his arm from his friend's shoulder before looking down, seemingly embarrassed.

"What's wrong?" asked Koshino peering at his tall friend. Is Sendoh blushing?

"Ah, nothing," replied Sendoh looking up with a smile.

Koshino shrugged and continued to walk with Sendoh towards their classroom.

"Sendoh, are you sure I didn't do anything embarrassing while I was drunk?" Koshino spoke up after a few moments of silence.

"Um...No..." answered Sendoh,
Only that when we were in your room, you kissed me and you made me dance with you in this sexy dance that made me feel as if we were having sex.
"Nothing" ... much.

"But I have this feeling about ... dancing ... with someone. Not Saeko ... ah, I was probably just hallucinating or something," said Koshino shaking his head.

Sendoh discreetly breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I guess," he said as he followed Koshino into their classroom.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now don't be a sore loser, Koshino-kun."

"But that was a foul!" Koshino persisted, trying to catch up to Sendoh's long strides, "You stepped on the line!"

"I did not," Sendoh repeated as they walked towards Koshino's house.

"Did to!"

"Did not."

"Tadaima," Koshino called out as they entered his house. Then he hissed lowly to his friend, "Did to!"

"Did not," whispered Sendoh. Before Koshino could counteract, Koshino's mother appeared from behind the kitchen door.

"Okaeri," she answered, giving the boys a smile, "Had fun playing basketball? So who won?"

"I did, auntie. Only Hiroaki's being sore about it," Sendoh replied good-naturedly.

"Am not!" protested Koshino hotly.

"Am to," said Sendoh walking up the stairs.

"Am not!" Koshino cried running after him.

"Am to."

"Am not!"

Koshino's mother shook her head in amusement before she went back to continue with her work inside the kitchen.

"Sendoh! You cheat!" Koshino said angrily as they walked into his room.

"And you're a sore loser," Sendoh said sitting on Koshino's bed.

Koshino growled, "Take that back, you cheat!"

Sendoh merely crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Koshino got angrier and lunged at Sendoh, sending both of them sprawling on the bed.
"You jerk!" Koshino yelled, punching Sendoh's shoulder.

"Ow! Koshino!" Sendoh cried out before he pushed the boy off of him and quickly pinned the thrashing boy onto the bed with him on top.

"You are a cheat! Admit it!" Koshino said angrily as he tried to pull his hands free which was held tightly by the sides of his head.

"Ok, I'm a cheat but you're a sore loser as well," Sendoh said smugly. Then he stopped and realised that they were in a rather intimate position. His face was only a breath away from Koshino's flushed face and their bodies were pressed so close that he could feel Koshino's chest heaving against his by the petty fight they just had.

"Sendoh?" Koshino asked puzzled, for Sendoh's smile was gone and the spiky-haired boy was suddenly still.

"A cute sore loser," Sendoh mumured as if his friend hasn't spoken just now. Then Sendoh's head swopped down and Koshino suddenly found himself being kissed.
Koshino's breath stilled as he felt Sendoh's lips moving against his, his mind registering the fact that his best friend was kissing him oh-so softly.

Before the shorter boy could react more than like a still statue, the kiss ended abruptly and Sendoh was looking at him, his eyes wide with horror.

"God! Koshino! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he apologised profusely, before he scrambled off the bed and out of the room. Koshino sat up dazedly and could only stare at his open bedroom door as he heard the front door shut hurriedly downstairs.

"K'so! Why did you do it, you baka?! Baka! Baka!" cursed Sendoh under his breath as he stomped across the street. "Now he's never gonna speak to me again."




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day at school, Sendoh waited until the last minute to enter the classroom to avoid meeting Koshino directly as he still was not sure what he should say to his friend. Everyone was already in the classroom and he appeared only five seconds later after their teacher has entered.

"Gomen nasai, sensei! Ohayo gozaimas!" apologised Sendoh smiling charmingly as he walked towards his seat.

Their teacher humphed as he put his books and pens on his desk, "In the nick of time, Sendoh Akira. Next time I will not be lenient. Now take your seat quickly."

"Hai," Sendoh replied taking his place at the back of Koshino's seat, taking a quick look at his friend as he passed by. To his consternation, the shorter boy wasn't even looking at him but was looking straight ahead as their teacher called out their names.

"Sendoh Akira. Sendoh Akira!"

"Huh?" Sendoh blinked and turned to look from Koshino to their sensei's annoyed face, "Oh, uh, hai!"

When the lesson started he could not concentrate. He tried to keep his mind on the words in the pages of his text book but he found himself constantly looking up at the back of his best friends head, hoping that Koshino would turn his head around to say something or just to give him a smile.
Yeah right, as if that would ever happen...

"Sendoh?"

"Huh?" Sendoh looked up to see his teacher looking annoyingly at him again.

"And the answer to that question is...?" the man asked tapping his fingers on his desk.

"Question?" Sendoh asked back, looking truly lost.

"Sendoh Akira! Weren't you listening?" enraged the sensei, hitting his palm on his table.

"Well... that is... I..." Sendoh stuttered, panicked at he fumbled with the pages of his text book trying to find the answer to that unknown question.

A few moments later Sendoh was standing outside, balancing a bucket of water in his hand. The good thing about being in the Ryonan basketball team was that that punishment was not so difficult to handle since he was used to more torturous exercises under sensei Taoka's coaching. Thus, it gave him time to decide on what to do without thinking about the strain on his fingers and wrist.

What will I do? Sendoh tought dismally, Koshino won't even look at me so I doubt he'll even speak to me. But I must speak to him... but what will I say? Sendoh bit his lip as his eyes wavered to the ceiling as if the source of insipiration could be found there. For a long while, he just stood there in that position that even a ladybug had the courage to fly in a double circuit around his head.
When his teacher finally let him in, he entered the classroom with a sheepish grin on his face, making his classmates chuckle or giggle. However, when Sendoh's eyes fell upon Koshino, his friend was still not looking at him and the boy's face was still set with a stony expression.

Sendoh's mood dropped, I can't do this...

Sendoh was quiet during the remaining part of the lesson and also during the next lesson in the second period. When it was time to have their lunch, Sendoh just walked out without a glance at Koshino's direction, knowing that the boy would just ingore him all day.

The day finally ended. For school that is. Now it was time for basketball practice and Sendoh wondered how in the hell will he handle Koshino being cold towards him when they have to work together on the court. When he reached the gym he looked around, searching for a particular boy with dark hair parted in the middle. When he couldn't find the him, he asked Hikoichi, "Where's Koshino?"

"Koshino? Oh, he said that he wasn't feeling well so Taoka-sensei gave him leave for today," his team-mate answered.

In that practice session, everyone was wondering what had happened to Sendoh. He wasn't joking as usual or goofing off when Taoka-sensei has something to say. Instead he practiced with a grim expression on his face, totally un-Sendoh like, that even Hikoichi was befuddled. Taoka harumphed, hiding his worry.
"Don't worry, Taoka-sensei," Hikoichi assured him, "I'll go ask him."

When practice ended, Hikoichi was the first person to walk up to the spiky haired player as Sendoh was about to change to his casual clothes.
"You were great there, Sendoh-san," Hikoichi said passing the towel to his sempai.

"Thank you, Hikoichi," Sendoh mumbled into the towel that Hikoichi just handed him.

"But you seem.. distracted..." the boy continued slowly, "Is anything the matter?"

Sendoh looked at the year one before answering, "No. What makes you say that?"

Hikoichi scratched his head. "Well, it's just that... wait a minute...," he stopped when he remembered something.
"Did you have a fight with Koshino-san?"

Sendoh went silent. Hikoichi was always very perceptive.

"Y'know, talking always helps..."

Easier said than done, Sendoh thought bitterly.

Quickly changing out of his gym clothes he turned towards the junior and pasted a cheerful smile on his face, "Ne, Hikoichi, thanks. Don't worry about me."
And with that he walked away before the younger boy could say anything else.

Sendoh kicked a pebble as he walked home grumbling to himself, "Talk to him? He wouldn't even look at me."
Sendoh sighed as he kept on walking, "What am I going to do?"

As he passed by a basketball court, he heard the sound of a basketball being dribbled and a swish of the net as the yet to be seen ball fell through the yet to be seen the hoop. Curious, he stopped and took a peek and there playing alone was Koshino.

Sick, eh? Yeah, right, Sendoh thought disgruntled, feeling his irritation turn to anger. He quietly slipped inside and leaned against the wire fence as Koshino did another easy lay up before dribbling the ball again, practicing his fake movements. Silently, Sendoh looked at his friend's body appreciatively as the boy moved. Koshino had taken off his shirt and Sendoh could see that he has been playing for a long time by the amount of sweat on his firm body and fair face.

After a few more minutes, Koshino stopped to take a rest when he suddenly realised that Sendoh was there. For a moment Koshino only looked at the taller boy without a word before the he dribbled his ball slowly towards Sendoh, with his head down and his eyes hidden by a curtain of wet bangs.

Koshino was still silent as he took a seat beside his friend. Of course, Sendoh being Sendoh was the first to speak, "Playing hookie from practice?"

When Koshino did not answer, Sendoh said exasperatingly, "Why won't you talk to me?"

Sendoh waited patiently as Koshino played with the ball, rolling it back and forth on the ground between his knees. However, the words that first came out of Koshino's mouth were totally unexpected.
"It was you that I danced with, wasn't it?"

Sendoh blushed. "You remembered?"

"So it was you."

"Well, err... yeah," Sendoh said before he blurted out, "Look I'm sorry! I didn't mean to take advantage of you that night. It's just that... well... you were so... I mean..."

Koshino arched an eyebrow. "I was..." he prompted.

Sendoh took a deep breath. "Seductive, persuasive..."

"I... see... " Koshino managed, his face doing a slow burn.

"...sexy, a great kisser..." continued Sendoh.

"Ok! Ok! That's enough!" Koshino quickly said as he felt the blood rush up to his face.

After another moment of silence Sendoh asked, "So what now?"

Koshino sighed and leaned his head against the fence "I don't know, Sendoh. We've been best friends for a long time. I think I like you too but I'm not sure if we should - "

Sendoh cut in, "What?"

Koshino blinked. "Huh? What?"

"You said that you like me. Really?"

Koshino blushed again. "Er... yeah... "

A bright smile split across Sendoh's face as he suddenly edged close to his friend. "That's ok then!"

"Matte, Sendoh!" Koshino began pushing Sendoh away, "I just found out that my best friend likes me and..."

"And you like me as well," reminded Sendoh casually.

Koshino scowled. "... and I think we should take this easy for the time being."

Sendoh scratched his head, "Oh, ok."

Koshino breathed a sigh of relief before Sendoh spoke again, "Well, at least can we have a little kiss to seal this relationship?"

Koshino's looked at Sendoh suspiciously. "A kiss?"

"Yes, just a little kiss," Sendoh said indicating how little the kiss would be with his index finger and thumb.

"I guess.." Koshino didn't even have time to finish his sentence before Sendoh's mouth claimed his for a slow and deep kiss. It was not exactly a little kiss as Sendoh had put it but Koshino did not feel like complaining at the moment.
When they broke apart, Sendoh grinned and his breath came out in short puffs as he held Koshino's hands which were still holding the ball.

"Can I have a dance with you later on as well?" the taller boy asked huskily.

"Don't push it, Sendoh."

"Ok, ok. Well, you better put on your shirt quickly then."

"Why?" Koshino asked.

"Coz if you keep on displaying your body to me like that I think I'm gonna jump and ravish you in a minute," Sendoh explained, his eyes scanning meaningfully on Koshino's naked chest before they slid lower.

Koshino's eyes widened as he scrambled to find his shirt and quickly put it on, vaguely hearing the sigh of disappointment from the other boy as his mind wondered, What kind of a relationship have I gotten myself into?
When he heard Sendoh chuckle, he glared at the taller boy and demanded, "What are you laughing at?"

Before he knew it, Sendoh has placed a quick kiss on Koshino's cheek, "You. You're cute you know."

At Koshino's blush, Sendoh chuckled again, "Especially if you blush."

Koshino scowled again, making Sendoh laugh. "C'mon," he said tugging at Koshino's hand, "I'll walk you home."

Koshino quickly picked up his ball and hugged it tight as he tried to match up to Sendoh's cheerful pace. Gripping Sendoh's hand, he looked up at his best friend and ... new boyfriend?

"Uh, Sendoh," Koshino began. Sendoh turned his head to looked at him with a soft smile that made Koshino's insides flutter. Damn, he's cute...

"Is this going to be a regular thing - you walking me home? Your place is way off from where I live," Koshino reminded him.

"Maybe," Sendoh replied pulling Koshino closer to him, "Besides, then you'll owe me a thank you kiss."

Koshino sputtered, trying to tug his hand away from the spiky-haired boy's grip as Sendoh laughed again.
...did I forget to mention insatiable and infuriating?

~The End~