~

"____?"

"Yeah it's me, who else?"

Fuji simply stared at you.

Whereas you tilted your head and crinkled your nose at him, tossing a small, white bag onto his lap.

"Eat up."
You said.

Fuji carefully unwrapped the tiny bag to find a red, squared-shaped container with a utensil box.

"It's your favourite. I made it myself."

Fuji opened the cover.

"An ekiben bento."
He breathed.

"With your favourite side dishes too."

"T-thanks ____, I really mean it."

"I can tell, now eat. I bet you're starved."

Fuji nodded and started to eat the dinner you had prepared him.

More like late night snack.

It was midnight. Fuji was sitting on the curve of a water fountain at a park nearby his house.

You'd figured he'd be there.

Fuji would usually go to that specific park at night whenever he wanted to escape reality.

The park would be crowded by dawn, vacant by dusk. And the park looked like a mythical, peaceful forest at night, at least to Fuji. Tonight, he visited the park again to fix his thoughts.

A few hours ago at U.A Academy, during lunch time, Fuji left school. It was allegedly said that he told the homeroom teacher a good enough excuse to be given permission to suddenly leave school. But know one really knew why he had fled.

And from what his parents told you (a few hours ago), Fuji hadn't eaten dinner and he's been isolating himself in his bedroom ever since he got back home.

Tonight was one of those chilly nights.

And surprise surprise, tonight was the same day you had your cafe date with Tenya.

Since there was a strong breeze tonight,
you wore a white, wool scarf; a big coat; a dark green sweater; a pair of thick, grey sweatpants and your signature small, brown boots.

You had two layers of socks on too, it was that cold.

When it came to coldness, you were extremely sensitive. So you had many thick-layered clothing prepared in your wardrobe. Another reason of why you had so many coats and jackets.

Instead of a Kanken, this time you had a normal black backpack with you. Inside of it, was a present you had made for Fuji a few days ago.

Fuji on the other hand, was wearing his dark grey, winter jacket; a simple white V-neck shirt; long, dark grey sweatpants and a pair of normal red sneakers.

Other than his phone, charger and power bank, Fuji had nothing else with him.

You sat down on Fuji's left as he ate.
After a few seconds of silence, you decided to talk.

"You know at school, in the general department, there's been a bunch of rumours spreading after you left."
You started.
"And, I heard Ayumi got herself beat up. Bad.

She got stalked and abused physically by her psychotic ex boyfriend?

Or something like that.

Anyways, the whole story is honestly too complicated for me to properly comprehend."

You then rubbed your
hands together from the cold weather.

"I also heard that Ayumi's now hospitalised. And that she needs those air mask, tube things to survive."
You said while gesturing a breathing mask with your hands to Fuji.
"Must be tough...being in your position right now."

You then sat closer to Fuji a little closer,
placing your hand on his back gently.

"So, what's on your mind?"
You asked in a calm, approaching voice.

Fuji, in response, gave you an upset look. His face showed two of the most simplest emotions, yet they make people feel so hurt and confounding.

Sadness and confusion.

"She's...she's hurt ____.

Mentally, physically, emotionally.

And what is her oh-so amazing boyfriend doing in this time of darkness for her? Nothing. What did he do during the brutal assault? Nothing.

I wasn't even...I wasn't even aware that she was getting hurt. I did nothing. Absolutely nothing, like foolish, u-useless m-moron. A crap bag."

He began to tear up.

"I...I can't, even, even..."
Fuji mumbled, shaking.

He was obviously holding back his tears.

You then took Fuji's bento away, closed the cover and utensil box and placed it on your left. Why? So that Fuji's tears wouldn't flood his food. You knew he was going to bawl like a baby once you told him,

"If you wanna cry, just cry."

And just like that, he did.

So many emotions were pouring out of the poor boy.
Heavy, unhealthy emotions.

"Don't hold it back too, either way at one point you were going to cry anyways. Just weep it out."
You softly comforted as Fuji sobbed his heart out.

After a minute or so, he calmed down a bit.

Fuji leaned against your shoulder, sniffing.

Your right hand was on his shoulder while your left hand was on his head. You quietly shushed Fuji as he kept on trembling uncontrollably.

Your motherly instincts kicked in again.

"It's good to cry sometimes, I'm here for you.
But if you want to be alone, just tell me and I'll be on my way."
You looked at Fuji.

He was still crying like a waterfall. A combination of mucus mixed with tears stained his face.

You took your left hand off Fuji's head and reached for your bag, you took out a handkerchief out of one of the pockets.

The handkerchief was light blue; it had a flower pattern sewn onto it at the bottom right-hand corner as tiny decoration.

It was a daisy with two leaves coming out from the flowers sides.

You handed it towards Fuji.

He slowly took it and wiped away the goo that had infested his face. After that he blew his nose.

"Breath slower, you'll calm down."
You whispered.

Fuji took a few deep breaths,
afterwards he was able to talk.

"T-thanks for coming here.
I appreciate it. You...you didn't have to."

"That's right, I didn't, I wanted to come here.
Because that's what friends do, support each other when they feel like shit. Also, keep the handkerchief, I have like, a trillion at home."
You grinned at Fuji.

"But shouldn't you be at home right now, asleep?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

And for the first time ever (since lunch),
Fuji chuckled slightly. And smiled faintly. He felt a tiny ray of happiness inside.

But after that tiny
feeling of happiness, he immediately felt guilt.

Fuji's faint smile had vanished in a matter of milliseconds. He began to sulk again.

'Ayumi's in the damn ER and I'm just...I'm here chuckling as if nothing's wrong, what kind of boyfriend am I...'
Fuji thought.

"Don't do that to yourself."
You said.

Fuji looked up at you.

"Huh?"

"It's isn't healthy, and Ayumi wouldn't want it either."

"She wouldn't want what?"

"You to feel guilty, and sulk when you're finally cheering up you dummy. She'd probably want you to smile and not worry about her."

You knew fully well why Fuji frowned, you could clearly tell just by looking at his facial reaction. It was so obvious to you.

You and Fuji had grown so close with each other, to the point where both of you could  easily express any emotion in front of each other. Especially if one of you were in a vulnerable state.

"How could I? At the condition she's in..."

"Fujiyama, look at the pros of this situation:

Your girlfriend's currently getting the best treatment possible at the hospital and that psycho who assaulted her is on trial right now. Most likely getting sentenced to juvenile prison for attempted murder.

Plus there's nothing you could've done either way.
If you had arrived on the scene where she was being beaten up, whatever you could've done would've made the situation more complicated than it already is.

The only con of this situation is the past. And the past is the past, it's gone. Literally."
You lectured with your arms forming parallel lines sprinkled with a ton of hand gestures.

"What're you saying...?"
Fuji muttered.

"I'm saying, one, it was best that you didn't get involved in the fight.

Two, stop mopping about the past.
Moping won't change or help do anything at all.
Trust me."

After that, silence filled the air. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the wind whirling.

"You know, if I was in Ayumi's position,
I would want my boyfriend to not stress on me, rest and be healthy.

She cares about you too y'know. So if we're speaking in a technical term, I guess in a way there is one thing you could do that'd help Ayumi once she wakes up."

Fuji looked at you, this time his face showed
desperation.

"W-what is it? I'll do anything to help her."

"Take care of yourself."

"What?"

"Take care of yourself, simple.
How'd you like it if you found out your boyfriend skipped lunch and dinner, skipped half a day of school and didn't do anything else but worry about your condition as you were unconscious?"

Ayumi would obviously feel guilty.
So, take care of your damn health."

Fuji hesitated for a moment.

"You're right...I...I really should take care of myself."
He sighed while rubbing his temples.

"Damn, mum and dad must be worrying a lot at home."
He mumbled.

"It ain't that bad, I mean they worry about you but they also trust that you know what to do. Plus I gave them my word that I'd convince you to eat."

"Oh, okay then. Ah crap! I forgot to tell them that I didn't attend half a school day's worth of classes to go visit Ayumi after I found out about her hospitalisation! They're gonna kill me..."

"I'd beg to differ, they'll understand. Oh yeah. Speaking of school..."
You reached into your coat pocket to hand out to Fuji a purple piece of paper, folded neatly.

"What's this?"
Fuji asked while he unfolded the piece of paper.

As he speed read the paper, you answered him.
"Midnight handed them out during today's club meeting. I volunteered to pass your's to you."

"Oh, I got Jake."

"Yeah! That's awesome, good job man!

And remember?
That means you'll be flirting with Umeda!"
You encouraged.

You could tell Fuji was a little down now because he didn't get the lead in the play; so you tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"Oh yeah, it says here she got Christine. Good for her."
Fuji nodded.

"You should've seen her reaction. Her smile was priceless. She cried too."

"I'm not surprised she even got the character. Umeda's so fitting for her role. Wait, who got Richard Goranski..."

"Hehe, yeah. Kaneko got Rich."

"Oh, are you okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm happy for that lucky guy,
first his mum gets out of the hospital, now he's got his dream role."

"Oh, his moms out of the hospital already? Good for him."

"Yup, seems like the pieces are finally falling into place for him. Either way, I like my role, pretending to be a so called 'slut' should be fun right?"
You gently elbowed Fuji with a cheeky grin.

"So called slut?"

"I'm playing Chloe Valentine."
You smiled.

"Oh. Yeah, it should be fun I guess."
Fuji said, the tips of his mouth were slowly facing upwards.

"Okay...Jeremy is being played by Nakamura Maedai."

"Yeah."

"Wow, Maedai? That's lucky."
Fuji smiled while weakly patting you on the back.

You were surprised, but grinned back widely.
You were extremely happy that Fuji began to finally brighten up.

"And you're role is Chloe right? If I'm not wrong, Chloe is suppose to act seductive...?"

"Yeah?"
You replied with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, so you're supposed to seductively sing, flirt and kiss Maedai?

Geez, that's a lot.

Heh, how would your 'significant other' react to it the day he and his class watch us perform?
Thinking about it, how would Ayumi react if I had to flirt with Umeda..."

"Hey, Midnight hasn't sugar coated certain parts of
the musical yet, so don't get your hopes up high.

Plus, I'm sure even if we both do have to do those things, our significant other would understand that it's just acting and nothing else."

"Oh, right."
Fuji faintly chuckled.

"To be honest, I'm glad you're finally loosening up."

Fuji took a few big silent breaths again.

"Me too, though it'll take some time."
He replied.

You smiled and checked your watch.

01:37 a.m.

'Dear God, it's so late.'
You thought.

"Fuji, it's 1:37 in the morning, let's hit the hay."

"It's that late already?
Oh geez, we have school tomorrow."
He muttered.

While Fuji got up and quickly packed away the remaining side dishes and rice into his stomach,
you took some things out of your backpack.

Fuji rushingly finished his 'dinner' and returned your container and utensil box to you.

After you kept them safety in your bag, you then told Fuji to stand straight and not move.

You began to wrap a light grey, wool scarf around Fuji's neck.

Then, you gave him a wool blanket, with a light pink, silky ribbon wrapped and placed on top of it like a present.

"Believe or not I made it myself.
It took a month to make both. Those knitting classes we took really were worth those 1,000 yen!

Anyways, they're warm and fluffy, and you can easily wash them in the washing machine too."

"Why are you giving me these?"

"Every morning, you always complain to me on how your blanket was never thick enough or how it was always so cold at night.

So, I made you a blanket, you can cover yourself with two blankets now. The scarf was just for fun. Plus, it generally suits you. You could wear it during winter."

"Oh, thanks."
Fuji mumbled while staring at his sudden gifts.

"C'mon let's go, it's cold and it's late; I'll walk you home."

You began to walk ahead of Fuji.

After a few seconds, you still couldn't hear any footsteps besides yours.

"Let's go Fuji."
You said, not turning back.

"Oh...right, right."
You heard him say.

You didn't bother to look back because you assumed Fuji was just adjusting his new scarf, little did you know,

Fuji was actually blushing.

——————————————————————————

"You snuck out your window?"
You whispered while pushing your glasses up.

You and Fuji were in his backyard,
staring at the back of his house. By the time you both reached his house, Fuji's flushed face had vanished.

"You've gotta be shitting me."

"I'm not, I did it to avoid any suspicion from my parents if I left by the front door, and I wanted to avoid any social contact."
Fuji whispered back.

"But I can easily get back in without waking them up.

You see that dented part of the wall?

I can climb up from there, and continue climbing from that tree. And over there, the bricks are slightly out of place so they make great support rocks.
I've been climbing into my bedroom like this for five years!"

"You're fearless."

"Some say I'm reckless.
Anyways, now I guess is when we part ways.
Thanks for walking me home. And for the bento, and accompanying me."
Fuji whispered to you while scratching his nape.
"I'm really thankful to have a friend like you."

"Don't mention it bro, as I said before,
that's what friends do right? Support each other when they feel like shit."

Fuji nodded with a smile.

"Yeah. And also, thanks for the scarf and the blanket too. It'll keep me warm as hell."

"Good."
You grinned.

You then turned around to climb over Fuji's fence while Fuji began to climb up into his bedroom window.

As you were climbing up halfway, you stopped at the top of the fence to watch Fuji stealthy sneak into his own house.

As he successfully crawled into his window, Fuji looked down to you as you mouthed the words,

'Goodnight.'

at him.

He did the same to you as you waved and jumped off the fence to begin jogging back to your house.

As Fuji sat near the solid window frame, watching you jog away, he hugged the blanket you gave him.

Thoughts were running in his head,

thoughts about you.

——————————————————————————

As you jogged back to your house, Fuji's words kept flashing back into your head.

"How would your 'significant other' react to it the day he and his class watch us perform?"

You jogged a little faster.

'Hell, the whole school is watching us. But, if I do have to sing those songs flirtatiously and act seductively, how would Tenya handle it? I can't actually imagine how'd he react.

And what if I do have to kiss Maedai? In front of Tenya? God, I hope he knows that it's just acting.

Wait, why am I getting so scared about this, I haven't even gotten the script yet!  I should just wait and see how it goes in the future.

For now let's just focus on the present. Right now I really need my sleep. Desperately.'

You hurriedly jogged backed to your home (which wasn't that far away from Fuji's) and rushed into your pyjamas.

You washed your face, brushed your teeth, the whole routine. Afterwards, you plopped yourself down on to your bed and immediately fell asleep.

But while you were jogging back home and during your night routine, you kept on thinking about your date with Tenya at the cafe.

His sweet smile.

The tenderness and love of the kiss you both had shared. The warmth of his hand. You didn't want him to ever let go.

You missed him already. The thought of being away from him for more than usual scared you, although you were still excited to do the play.

The feeling that had coursed through your veins were a mixture between passion and fright.

Passion for being thrilled for being in the play, and fright for being away from Tenya.

But although you were a bit scared of being from him for more than usual, you reassured yourself.

You told yourself that'd it'd be fine and that during the holidays you two could spend some time together to make up for the future past weeks.

'It'll be fine!'
You thought.

'Will it?'

A/N: thx for reading! Next chapter will have some fluff with Tenya in it ;D tee hee hee

Remember to stay happy and hydrated! <3