Author: Andy-chan (antimiya88 )

Third Wheel

“I’m not going!”

“C’mon, Aibaka! For me…”

Masaki looked at the puppy face of his best friend with narrowed eyes. “It’s not working, no matter how much you try, Nino! I’m not going! What’s the purpose of me being there, anyway?!”

“The purpose to have you there is to help me not throw myself all over him. If you hadn’t been there the previous times I’d have shoved him in the toilets from the first minute and I don’t want that! Having you there makes me feel reserved!”

“Reserved?! You?! If sitting on his lap while kissing in that… dirty way you usually do, means reserved to you, I give up!”

“If you weren’t there, I would have probably slept with him from the very first date!”

“While now you have done it over your clothes! It was pretty obvious that he had made a mess of himself when we left that Mexican bar!” Masaki said folding his hands in front of his chest.

“But-”

“I’m not going!”

“But he told me this time he will be his friend, as well!” Nino tried once again just to be hushed.

“See you…” Masaki said, ignoring Nino’s words as he left the room heading to his own at the end of the corridor.

***

“Sato, are you listening to yourself?!”

“I’m not deaf, so yes!”

Sho sighed. “There’s no way I’m going to this date of yours with that Nino guy. I will never understand what the hell you found so attractive on him but if it works for you, I can only be happy, as long as I’m not involved!”

“But it’s important to me! I want you to get to know him!”

“I know, Sato and that was the reason why I came to that damn café… to get to know him but the only piece of information I managed to get was what a shameless pervert your boyfriend is! Not interested for a second time! One is more than enough! Believe me!”

“He will behave this time and don’t call him a pervert! He’s just enjoying his life without caring what others might say!”

“Good for him but I’m a person who cares about what others might say and I certainly don’t like to be with someone who would-”

“He was only being cute!”

“By pampering you in the most ridiculous way in public…?” Sho said and turned his head to the book he had opened on his lap.

“He just gave me two pieces of cake!”

“With his fingers that he so provocatively licked right afterwards! We’re talking of the definition of cuteness!”

“You’re just jealous because you turned 22 and you still have not been in a relationship!”

“I-” Sho couldn’t find anything to contradict him. Satoshi had hit a sensitive nerve there. Yes… he still haven’t had anyone special but it wasn’t as if he could something about it. So far, he had either met a bit too ‘expressive’ people like Satoshi’s new boyfriend or a bit too ‘reserved’, shy, that automatically required from him to make the first step; something impossible.

“Look, you don’t have to worry! This time he told me he’ll bring his best friend along!” Satoshi told him as he went to the door. “Be ready at eight o’clock! See you!”

Sho looked at the closed door sighing. Satoshi had done it once again.

***

“No, it’s you the one who’s cute…”

“No… you are cuter… much cuter…”

“No, Toshi… these screaming-to-be-pinched cheeks of yours make you look cuter…”

“No! Your moles, especially the one just under your ear, makes you a lot cuter than me…”

This conversation was continuing for almost ten minutes now making Masaki and Sho sigh in the same time. They looked at each other and muffled a laugh.

Masaki realized that Sho wasn’t the type to start a conversation so he cleared his throat and turned to the other. “They brought us here and didn’t even care enough to introduce us! I’m Aiba Masaki. 3^rd year. Physics department. Nice to meet you!”

Sho was taken aback from the wide smile Nino’s friend flashed him. “Nice to meet you, too. I’m Sakurai Sho, 4^th year. Economics department.”

“Oh! You’re a senpai!” Masaki said in a slightly teasing tone but instead of causing irritation to Sho, the latter found himself feeling rather flattered by the way it had sounded.

“You can call me, Sho…” Sho whispered with difficulty.

Masaki smiled when he caught the faint blush that had covered Sho’s cheeks. “Of course! If you’re ok with it! And you can call me Masaki!”

“Ok… Masaki…” Sho said reluctantly gaining another smile.

They had tried to learn more about each other, what they liked, hobbies, interests but without big success as the explicit sounds coming from their friends on the side made them stop several times.

Sho was ready to speak when he saw Masaki patting his friend’s shoulder gaining his attention. “You know two blocks from here there’s a decent love hotel. You can go there and have as much fun as you want without needing to try to muffle yourselves and before you say anything, this is your fourth date, I’m sure Satoshi-kun won’t think of you as easy! Aren’t I right, Satoshi-kun?” Satoshi nodded hurriedly. “See?! Nothing to worry about! Now, go and have some great time! You have our blessings!” Nino was about to start cursing when he was pulled by a way too eager Satoshi and led outside the bar.

“I’m sorry if I scared you but it had become tiring!” Masaki said once their friends were out of sight.

“Tell me about it! Last week I was obliged to sit and watch Nino feeding Satoshi!”

“You’re lucky… Two Saturdays ago, I was a witness of them having reached… bliss, if you know what I mean, in a damn crowded bar!”

“Seriously?!” Sho asked with bulged eyes.

“Seriously! I wanted to die from my shame… I love Nino but sometimes he just can’t control himself!”

They looked at each other and burst into loud laughs.

“Do you want us to leave?” Sho asked reluctantly. He didn’t know why but he didn’t want to leave; not yet.

“Honestly? I’d like us to have another drink so you can continue talking about trips… You made them sound very interesting, Senpai!” Masaki told him leaning closer, his hot breath hitting on Sho’s skin that out of the blue seemed more ticklish; sensitive.

Sho’s mind was telling him that the other was a bit too close to him and that it wasn’t that different from the way Nino was clinging on Satoshi but this time he couldn’t come to say to the other to move away. This warmth somehow felt nice… and even if he couldn’t admit it to himself yet, he wanted to feel it more, if possible. He took a deep breath and turned his gaze to Masaki who was staring at him intensely, his lips slightly curved into a hint of smile. Sho felt hotter but didn’t stop. On the contrary; he spoke as much as possible, making sure his voice was lower than normally, sexier. He wanted these eyes to continue looking at him; he wanted to hear this voice calling him ‘senpai’ again…

***

“Hey… Kazu!”

Nino ignored his boyfriend’s calls, having his eyes fixed on his best friend who was leaning a bit too close towards Satoshi’s friend, laughing a bit too loud at his admittedly tasteless jokes and was wearing clothes that made him look a bit too sexy for going to the café close to the university campus on a Sunday morning.

“Kazu! Are you listening to me?”

“Don’t you see anything weird?!” Nino finally spoke without turning to look at his boyfriend.

“Weird… as?”

“As your friend accepting a piece of Masaki’s cake right from his hand when he was all that stuck-up in our case!”

Satoshi looked over at Sho who was chewing with a shining-from-happiness face.

“I can’t believe it! First, Aibaka keeps complaining about him being the third wheel and now he does it himself!”

“Hmm… Kazu, technically, we’re not the third wheel, we’re together!”

Nino looked at him with narrowed eyes. From the other side of the table, loud giggles could be heard, making him growl in frustration. “That’s enough!” he muttered under his breath and grabbed Satoshi’s hand pulling him up from his chair.

“Kazu, wait! We can’t just leave like that!” Satoshi’s voice faded away as Nino led him out of the small café, leaving behind a giggling Masaki and a smirking Sho.

“That served them well!” Sho said as he sipped some of his cappuccino.

“I had told you my plan would be a total success!” Masaki winked at him before finishing the remaining coffee in his mug. “And you realized that sometimes letting go is not such a big deal…, right?”

Sho cleared his throat, feeling both his face and his ears get hotter, at the intense way Masaki was looking at him at the moment.

“You know…” Masaki let his hand touch Sho’s, his index move feather-like from his wrist up to his elbow. “Being relaxed and more… expressive in public… I could tell you were not laughing just because you had to, Sho!”

Sho blushed even more. The other could read him easily and he cursed inside for being so obvious.

“You don’t have to look like that! I am a person who is observant with the ones who really catch my attention…”

“You mean…”

Masaki leaned closer till his hot breath was hitting on Sho’s lips. “I mean that you have caught my attention, Sho. From the first night we were obliged to tag along on their date. I saw you blushing and keeping your head lowered, looking at your lap when our arms brushed accidentally. I have never seen anything cuter than this… All I wanted to do was to grab your chin and kiss these lips of yours that looked and look so deliciously inviting…”

Instead of rushing to go and escape as fast as possible, Sho found himself staring at Masaki’s mouth. “I…”

Masaki smiled coming a bit closer leaving only a few centimeter distance between their faces. “Yes…?” his voice low, huskier than before… sexy.

“I… want to… taste them…” Sho unconsciously brought his hand to the other’s lips, brushing the lower one slowly with his thumb while his heart was pounding crazily in his chest.

“Finally…” Masaki whispered and with a smirk leaned closer, his hand grabbing the collar of Sho’s shirt as he crushed their lips together.

It was only when Sho heard high-pitched voices that he was brought back to reality. He broke the kiss to realize that in front of their table there were some - probably high-school - girls looking at them with faces that showed either surprise or excitement.

“Oh my God! They’re both so beautiful!” “It’s as if I was watching a yaoi manga coming to life!” “So hot!” were only some of the remarks that Sho managed to hear, making him want to dig a hole and hide inside forever.

“Oh… c’mon… It wasn’t that bad! I mean… we even had fans! If Nino finds out, he’ll die from jealousy!” Masaki told Sho as they were walking back to their dorms.

Sho was only pouting. “I don’t care…”

“Then can I tell you something I’m sure you’d care about?”

“What?” Sho looked bewildered at Masaki who was smirking.

“You are one damn good kisser… senpai!” Masaki whispered in Sho’s ear before waving him goodbye.

***

“Stop sulking! You deserved it!”

Nino turned around and saw Masaki standing at the door of his room. “So you want to say that you did that only to get at me?!”

“Not exactly. I’d call it… a bonus!”

“YOU. Get out of my room!”

Masaki closed the door behind him and ran to his own. He pulled his phone from his pocket and start texting.

To: Sho

Interested in going to the movies?

Promise not public display this time!

I prefer having my privacy.

It gives me the chance to explore more

without having to hold back!

“That’s perfect!”

***

Nino was still sulking when he met with Satoshi secretly at the latter’s room later that night.

“Why do you have to be like this?!”

“I can’t believe they actually did that! Instead of being indebted to us for having them met, they pay us like that!”

“We did it as well and don’t forget that-”

“But we didn’t have an audience!” Nino cut his boyfriend off, sounding angrier.

Satoshi sighed. Now, he knew why his boyfriend was so worked up. “Kazu…”

“Why them and not us?! We’re cuter! Much cuter!”

Satoshi took Nino in his arms, his lips ghosting on his hair. “I’m sure this was the first and last time they did something so ‘expressive’! Sho is the shy type of guy!”

“Are you sure?” Nino asked in a tiny voice.

“I’m sure! Do you feel better now?”

Nino found his smile back. “Yes… and I’ll feel even better if you kiss me!”

Satoshi muffled a laugh and turned them a bit so that Nino was now lying underneath him. “How much do you want it, Kazu?”

Nino licked his lips, his hands wrapped around Satoshi’s neck. “Badly…” and with that crushed their lips together.

***

Sho and Masaki would still hold hands together when they’d be outside and occasionally, Masaki would peck Sho’s lips or call him ‘senpai’ when he wanted to provoke him and pass a passionate night that only an angry Sho could give him. They had decided to let their two friends be the “two stars”, knowing that they owed them that much. It was because of them that they had met and now were together.

It was lunch time and they were sitting at the main dining room of the campus watching Nino and Satoshi share their spaghetti as if they were reacting the famous scene from ‘Lady and the Tramp’.

“They won’t change…” Sho mumbled to himself as he tried to focus on his plate and ignore the curious gazes that were coming from everywhere.

“I guess not... but I’m happy they’re like that!”

“Eh?!”

“If they weren’t this… expressive… then I probably wouldn’t have complained so much about being the third wheel and if I hadn’t, then I may have never got to know you…” he leaned closer to Sho’s ear “Sakurai-senpai!”

Sho could only smile. “If you put it that way, I can only be grateful, too!”

They looked at each other and without saying anything else they kissed softly, not caring about where they were or how much attention they’d attract either. It was only when they heard Nino clearing his throat in a warning way that they stopped. They only smiled, their hands intertwined. Yes… they were more than ok with leaving their two friends being on the spotlight.

THE END