VII

· — if you penetrate,

you'll get closer to being a hero

"Ah? Yume-Chan," Kira cooed as he walked up to the smaller figure during lunch time. Yume halted, turned around, and smiled widely at his senior.

"Hello, Kira-Kun. How are you?" Yume asked as he popped a straw in his pack of milk. He struggled, not looking up at the boy to spare a glance, as he was too focused on poking the straw in the pack.

"Let me help, buddy." Kira said as he took the pack of milk from Yume and swiftly popped the straw in.

"Here."

"Wow! That was so quick! Thank you, Kira-Kun." While he happily took a sip of the milk, Kira watched him fondly. Yume looked up at the older boy and noticed he had a bandaid on his nose and cheekbone and some fresh scars on his pale face. Yume's smile dropped.

"What happened to your face? Are you okay?" Yume asked, concerned as he unconsciously yet carefully reached out to the scars, grazing them lightly, earning a hiss of stinging pain from the older raven head.

"S-sorry..." Yume moved his hand away immediately, a fear in his chest, thinking he had hurt the injured boy.

"It's okay, that didn't hurt much." Kira smiled, to which Yume returned weakly. His anxiety rose.

"How did this happen?" Yume asked, his voice becoming softer and into a whisper while his eyes glistened and that low-key scared Kira.

"Nothing for you to worry about, bud. How's your day going?" Kira said, in an attempt to change the topic of their conversation.

"No, tell me." Yume looked persistent. This isn't good. It did things to Kira's heart. Someone being so concerned about him, apart from his parents and Makino, wasn't orderly for Kira. This thought worried him.

"It's nothing much, I just got into a fight with some kids." Kira said, which was not even close to his truth that he hid under his cloyingly deep voice.

"Why did you fight them? Look at you. You're all bruised up. You should be more careful." Yume softly scolded, his forehead in a soft crease and his pink lips forming a pout, which Kira doesn't know how he stopped himself from kissing.

"Okay, feisty pants. I'm sorry. I won't fight again. It'll be my last time because they've been bullying Makino and I couldn't take it anymore." Another lie.

"Makino?" Yume asked, confused as he wondered if he had ever heard the name before or not. It's been more than a week since Yume and his friends joined Saitama HS, and Yume still couldn't make many friends except for his senpai, Kira. Unlike Kiyoshi and Ryobe, who are now two of the most popular boys in the school.

"Yeah, my brother. His name is Makino." Yume's mouth formed an 'O', which made Kira chuckle softly.

"Wanna meet him? He might be around here somewhere." Kira said as he looked around, trying to find his brother. Makino was standing under a tree shade, staring at his phone. Kira took out his phone and texted the boy to come to him.

"Hey, what's up?" Makino asked, his soothingly deep voice resonating inside Yume's ears and to his heart. He felt his voice in his stomach.

Makino is a beautiful boy. His hair was originally black, but he dyed it. So, now it's black transitioning to grey. He has grey feline eyes, and his nose is small and pointed. He always keeps a stoic face, which makes him look scary.

"Meet Yume, the boy I told you about. Remember?" Kira said, slinging his arm on the shorter's shoulder, bringing him close to him.

"Ah! Hello, I'm Tadashi Makino. Nice to meet you, Takahashi." Makino said as he extended his hand to shake Yume's, to which Yume hesitantly replied.

"Nice to meet you too, Makino-San." Yume smiled, but something in him just went off. He noticed that Kira didn't tell Makino his full name; then how did Makino call him by his surname? Maybe Kira told him before, it's nothing to worry about. It's not that suspicious, right? ...Right?

They talked to each other and got to know more about each other. About how Kira met Yume and the floors and classes in which they are enrolled. How long has it been since they attended this school, and so so.

"Makino-San? Can I ask you something?" Makino nodded, his face stoic as ever.

"You aren't... wearing contact lenses, are you?" Yume felt nervous because of how stoic-faced Makino was. He felt scared to talk to him. Kira was outgoing towards him, but Makino wasn't.

"Oh? My eyes? No, they're natural." Makino said, looking down at Yume.

"O-oh..." It wasn't ordinary for a Japanese person to have perfect grey eyes like Makino's. Yume couldn't believe that those grey pairs of eyes which pierced through him were real. Kira's reason for having heterochromia was understandable, but having grey eyes just naturally as an Asian, maybe it was hereditary. Maybe he got it from his dad or mom. Yume didn't stress much about it.

"His eyes aren't really natural." Kira interrupted the awkward moment between his brother and their newly found friend.

"He had an accident when he was seven years old. He almost lost his eyesight, but thank God our parents are doctors. They were able to save him." Yume's eyes sparkled at the new information he got. At least those eyes weren't natural, technically. Makino scoffed.

"Anyway, Kira. I'm going back to class. You hurry up and come back. I'll be waiting." The latter patted Kira's shoulder and walked away with his hands in his pocket after saying a small bye to Yume.

"Your brother is scary. I'm wondering, should I be worried?" Yume sighed heavily, unaware that he was interacting with the more terrifying one.

"Haha! No need to do that, Yume-Chan. He's cold, but he'll ease up when you get to know him more." Kira said with a hearty chuckle.

"Ah, I see." The bell rang, indicating that recess was over and it was time for them to return to their classes.

"Alright, cutie. I'll see you around. I gotta go. Bye!" Kira winked, and something happened in Yume's stomach.

Time skips to everyone returning home from school. Yume wasn't feeling well. He had a growing headache and was feeling dizzy. This feeling wasn't good. He wanted to go home soon. He packed his bags quickly to go back home early.

"Yume-Chan, are you going home now?" Kiyoshi asked as he saw Yume slinging his backpack on his shoulder.

"Um... yes. I'm not feeling good. I want to go home and rest a bit. " Yume said softly. Kiyoshi frowned and nodded.

"Take care, bro. I and Ryo will come back after we're done with the work in the student council. See you!" Kiyoshi said as Yume walked away from him.

"What's wrong with Yu-Yu?" Ryo asked as he reached Kiyoshi.

"He wasn't feeling well, so he left."

"Oh... Okay," Ryobe said.

"Why do I think we are getting far from Yume?" Ryobe asked, his deep voice low, sadness laced.

"What?! No! We are not! We've been together for over fifteen years in every aspect of life. There's no way we are getting that far. right? ... Right?" Kiyoshi yelled, suddenly frustrated by the question. He can't imagine his life without Yume and Ryobe. They are his life and everything in it.

"Hopefully, we are so engaged with our classmates and other things that we don't look out for Yume anymore. He seemed so distant from us and he seemed to have a new friend. He seems to grow very close to him." Ryobe said. Kiyoshi felt suspicious.

"Yume won't be so far. Let's follow. He always meets that tall senior after school." Kiyoshi said, as he was already on his way to check up on Yume. They both speed-walked to the school grounds to find no one, just some other kids walking out of the school premises, unaware that Yume was getting dragged with his mouth covered tightly.

Yume was casually heading out of the premises to meet Kira at their usual meet-up place, but a bunch of strong arms grabbed him and dragged him away to the back of the school, restraining him from screaming for help. They were a lot stronger than Yume was, and the petite brunette could do nothing but give up on his body strength after a hard kick came into contact with his stomach and something warm and salty filled his mouth. He knew it was going to leave a mark.

"Don't let him move, boys." A voice orders. It wasn't pleasant to Yume's ears, but it was familiar. He knew who this voice belonged to. His eyes widen when the owner of the voice comes into his vision.

"I was just wondering how to take my revenge and then little mister was all alone... leave his mouth." The leader said, leaning over the smaller boy.

"Souta! Let me go! What are you doing?" Yume yelled, struggling in the other boys' grip. Souta smirked as he reached out to touch Yume's smooth cheek with his hand. Yume tried to move away, but Souta gripped his face, the insides of Yume's mouth getting bruised and bleeding due to the pressure.

"I simply asked a question that day, but your jackass friends had to come at me. How dare they?" Yume couldn't talk due to the pain in his mouth. He could taste blood on his tongue.

"Oi! Take off his shirt and pants. Let's check how masculine he is." Souta ordered his fellows to do their thing, and they did. Yume screamed and tried to kick and push them away with all the strength he had. Tears pooled in his eyes as he felt the autumn air hit his honey skin.

'Is this how I lose my chastity?'