**move 007**
<< t o s h i r o >>
6 YEARS AGO.
"TOSHIRO-KUN, PLEASE TELL US THE ANSWER IN ITEM NUMBER 9."
"M-Me?" My knees were trembling as I slowly stood up from my seat. I could feel all of my classmate's eyes boring into me. "Uhmmm…"
I don't like this…
I don't know the answer…
"Negative 40 degrees…" Suddenly, a very silent whisper stopped me from self-destructing. For a second I thought it was the voice of my guardian angel saving me from this terrifyingly embarrassing situation, but when I glanced down at the person sitting beside me, I saw him slightly holding up his notebook with '-40 degrees' written on it in bright red ink.
"Toshiro-kun?" Ms. Yumi, our science teacher, called out for my name once again in her ever gentle voice.
"Ah… it's negative 40 degrees." I have no idea what I'm saying but I'm obviously in a panic and desperate situation. Aside from the fact that I have no idea what the answer was, I don't even know the question to begin with.
"That's right! Celsius and Fahrenheit scales equal at negative 40 degrees. Please check your classmates' paper if they got it right." Ms. Yumi's eyes found me again. "You can sit now, Toshiro-kun."
As soon as I sat down, the guy beside me leaned closer. "Nice one!"
He was grinning so big that almost his entire front teeth were showing. I've always been a shy kid. That's why it's not even a surprise that I haven't made friends in the class yet, despite being here for almost 2 weeks already. I don't even know the name of this kid.
As soon as the class ended, everyone stood and prepared to leave for the next class. I figured, at least, I have to thank him.
"Uhm… T-Thank you…" I mumbled, hoping he was able to hear my quiet voice.
The corners of his lips instantly curved up, "Don't worry about it."
"Hideki, Let's go!" Another kid from beside him called.
He was about to turn to follow his friend but he suddenly glanced back to look at me. "Let's be friends, Toshiro."
Again, with that big smile on his face.
***
HIDEKI AND I BECAME FRIENDS AND GOT CLOSE PRETTY INSTANTLY. He's fun to be with and, it may come as surprising, and believe me even I was surprised, we get along so well and like the same stuff. Because of Hideki, I learned how to be outgoing and get along with people. I found myself laughing a lot when I'm with him and the same goes for him.
We would hang out on weekends – in his house or my house, it doesn't matter. Every time we have an assignment, we would always do it together, and he would always help me with mine. I'm not a bright student and I'm not actually fond of studying, that I admit, so during exam period, he would always patiently teach me. Mom was so happy seeing the improvement in my grades and because of that she treated Hideki as if he was her own child.
For a year, we were inseparable.
Until that day.
---
"HIDEKI. LET ME COPY YOUR ASSIGNMENT…"
One of his (old) friends was pestering him so early in the day. There's only a few weeks left in our first year of high school but these kids never ceased doing these – taking advantage of Hideki's kindness. They would always, always, copy Hideki's assignments or ask Hideki to do theirs.
"You should have done that at home…" I said to myself but, obviously, with the intention of making them hear my thoughts and sense my annoyance.
"Shut your trap, Toshiro. You and I better that you're also clinging onto Hideki's ass."
"What did you say?!"
I was about to charge into him but Hideki stood in front of me. He was looking at me as if saying I should just ignore his old friend. I stared into Hideki's eyes for a moment and then to his old friend. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. When he realized that I already cooled my head, he then turned towards the direction of his old pals.
"Take this. You guys don't have to fight over this kind of thing." He pulled out his notebook from inside his backpack, surrendering it to his bastard friend.
"There you go! Thanks Hideki. Next time you should hang out again with us, it's been a while since we had fun." He wagged Hideki's notebook mid-air until a piece of paper fell from it, gliding back and forth against the air until it rested over the floor. "Oopps, what's that?"
The bastard leaned down, picking up the paper. When I glanced at Hideki, I was surprised to see blood drained out of his face as his eyes fixed on the paper in that bastard's hand.
"W-Wait. That's mine." Hideki's voice cracked midway as desperation in his tone resonated in my ears.
Something clicked in that bastard's mind. "Eh? What's this? Love letter? Who are you gonna confess to, Hideki? Maybe, I could lend you a hand giving this letter. Tell me, who is this girl? Is she our classmate?"
Hideki shook his head frantically, "N-No. Please give it back to me."
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy Hideki… Aren't we friends?" The bastard unfolded the paper that was neatly folded in half. His eyes widened as he scanned the letter and when his eyes left the paper, it instantly made its way to meet mine.
At that instant, my heart stopped a beat.
"Hideki, you're in love with Toshiro? You're gay?!"
I haven't noticed if the room has been silent for a while now but… at that moment, this guy's word was the only thing I was able to hear. My whole body froze. I wanted to force out a laugh, to change the topic. I wanted Hideki to burst into a fit of laughter and tell us that it was just a mere prank.
But when I looked at Hideki, he was just standing still with his head hanging low as his whole body trembled.
'Why won't you say something, Hideki? Tell us you're just joking. That we're just friends.'
"Hideki, are you planning to pull a prank on me?"
Those words left my mouth before I even realized it. He looked at me with eyes filled with tears ready to fall any second now. He's trying hard not to blink—to hold back his tears. And I can see how painful it was.
"Hey, the class is about to start. Return to your seats!" We were too caught up in this painful situation to even realize that our teacher already entered the room.
We just did as we were told in complete silence.