Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Future Echoes ❯ The fight at school, and what happened afterward ( Chapter 2 )

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Sorcerer Hunters

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Future Echoes

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~2~

 

 

 

The next morning, the incident of the night before wasn't mentioned. Gateau seemed much better for having had a night's sleep; he offered to take Marron to the cinema, and, in a state of confusion and bemusement at how someone could change moods so fast, Marron had agreed. They ended up going to the cinema, the restaurant next door, the arcade next door to that, then to the library so Marron could pick up some books he'd had on order. Studies of animation in the late twentieth century. Just what he'd needed for his course.

 

Neither Gateau nor Marron realised - and Marron wouldn't have known to have realised in the first place - that, to a degree, they were being followed. Occasionally, Marron would be stalked around the college, or around town, by his devoted fangirls. He never paid them much heed. Gateau was likely victim of the same, and he would have had much the same reaction, unless he'd realised just who it was who was following him around on that day. The girl seemed normal enough, casual clothes, about eighteen or so, purple hair down to just beyond her shoulders... had Gateau seen her, he might have realised that she was the girl from the night before. But he didn't, so... he didn't.

 

Gateau was enjoying his little series of date-like ventures with Marron. Over lunchtime pizza he grinned at Marron, "So, ya ever been on a date before?", Marron had just looked away, Gateau had laughed, "Just joking.", though inside him, he felt that perhaps part of him wasn't; whatever Marron wanted to think, Gateau would count it as a date... it was him, it was Marron, it was them going places slightly out of the ordinary to have a good time, why not count it as a date? If Marron didn't want to think that way, then he didn't have to. Gateau might not have been so energetic about attempting to trounce Marron on the arcade games if he'd noticed the girl standing not too far away; she didn't seem to be doing anything, she didn't really seem to be with anyone, she was just... standing there. Watching Gateau.

 

Eventually, another girl appeared from somewhere, and said something to the purple-haired girl. The purple-haired girl pointed at Gateau, then slightly reluctantly at Marron. The other girl, who wore square glasses propped to the edge of her nose, gasped slightly, and whispered something to the purple-haired girl. She then looked shocked - she looked from her friend, to Gateau, to Marron, to Gateau, to Marron, to her friend again. Whatever it was her friend had said, it hadn't pleased her too much. They were joined by a third person, a boy with messed-up blonde hair. He tucked his arm around purple-haired girl's arm, but she didn't look too happy. She explained something to the boy, he looked angry... he made a motion as if to head towards Marron and Gateau, but he was stopped by the girl with glasses. She looked at him with a patiently serious look, and he seemed to give up for the moment... and the three of them left the arcade.

 

Marron and Gateau were blissfully unaware of the exchange that had just taken place there, and wouldn't be aware of it's implications until the second event happened, the event that took place a few weeks after the first. In retrospect, Marron was surprised that it'd taken that long... but sometimes, that's just the speed of the school-college information network.

 

The event in question was really several events that lead to one eventual outcome. The first event was that the college basketball team had been put forward for a pretty important - important to the sports department, anyway - basketball game. This meant that Gateau was suddenly around even less than he had been after school prior to that, but Marron didn't mind. He even took some pride to his friend being part of this event that seemed to be buzzing around on the lips of most people in school... most of the times, the crowds of people watching the basketball were girls. There was really no difference, except... this time, it was a crowd of mainly girls... and Marron, always standing at the front, near the center, calmly with his hands against the wire mesh of the basketball courts, watching Gateau as he played the game so naturally... Marron never really understood the appeal of team sports until he saw Gateau playing one. Not that he suddenly wanted to sign up for the basketball team or anything, but he could see what all the girls liked about the sport. The guys running around in shorts, how they got all hot and sweaty, and of course, Marron smiled to himself, how much did that leave to the fangirl imagination?... Gateau always noticed when Marron was there to watch him. He'd always come off the courts afterwards, towel around his shoulders, and pat Marron heartily on the back, usually making some kind of flirtatious comment to go with it. Marron, somehow, didn't mind.

 

With the coming of the sports event, comments to Marron about Gateau increased slightly. "Are you Gateau's friend?"... "Yes"... "Are you... his boyfriend?"... "I'm not."... "Oh, I just heard you were, sorry..."

Marron was used enough to comments like that to not really think much of it. Even when Marron came to his locker one time to find "Marron Glacé takes it hard from Gateau Mocha in the bedroom" written in not so many words in (reasonably) permanent marker pen on there, he didn't feel much in the way of misgivings. Just stupid people being immature, Marron thought with a sigh as he contacted the main office to report the case of graffiti. The graffiti was gone by the morning, fortunately enough. Marron had told Gateau about it, at the time, Gateau had laughed, "Well, whatever they want to think!! Almost a shame it isn't really happening, isn't it?"... "Gateau!!"... "Come on..."... "Just joking?"... "You know me too well.". Gateau might not have laughed if he'd known what the locker thing was a prelude to.

 

One time, a couple of days before the big basketball event was about to take place, Marron was waiting for Gateau outside of the changing rooms. He milled around absently, kicking at a random stone in the dust, playing with his bag's strap, small things like that to keep him occupied. Eventually, a voice he didn't recognize said "... Hey."

 

Marron looked up. "Hello?"

 

The person who'd spoken was someone who seemed like he'd be in one of the older years of the school. His build was somewhat slight, but he had a mean air about him... there was something shrewd and quick about him, too. Something sly. He had messed-up blonde hair that fell over his eyes, he was the boy who'd been angry in the arcade on sunday. He just stared at Marron for a few moments, sitting on the wall near to the changing rooms. Marron watched him, eying him with slight curiosity. "Can I help you?"

 

"Are you Marron Glacé?" He jumped down from the wall, and leant against it.

 

Marron nodded slightly hesitantly. "Yes, why?"

 

"You're friends with that... Mocha guy, aren't you?"

 

"Yes, friends..." Marron frowned. Was this going to turn into another verbal attack? "... just friends."

 

"Oh yeah? Well, see, that's not what I've heard... and I've heard quite a bit, let me tell you... how about we go on a walk or something, just you and me? And I'll tell you some of the things I've heard about that big boyfriend of yours."

 

"He isn't my boyfriend. I don't know what you've heard, but-"

 

"Marron, is this guy giving you trouble?"

 

Gateau had picked that moment to emerge from the changing rooms, wiping his brow off with his towel, sounding somewhat harsh... he glared the other guy in the eye. Marron looked up at Gateau, shaking his head.

 

"No, no trouble."

 

"I was just askin' him something. Quite protective over your pretty little bitch, right, Gateau?"

 

He started walking past Marron and Gateau, in the direction of the school gates. As he walked past Gateau, he paused for a fraction of a second, "Bet he screams when you give it to him, right?"

 

Gateau turned round to snarl and perhaps land his fist in the other guy's head, but by that point, he was gone. Gateau frowned, trying to work out where he'd gone.

 

"Damn... too quick... Marron, who was that guy?"

 

"I'm not sure... he seems too old to be in my year... I thought that perhaps he came from your year. I don't know, I'd not actually seen him before..."

 

"Spiteful vindictive little bastard... well, let's forget about that and go get some soda or something, I could do with something cold to drink."

 

Marron nodded. "Yes, that sounds good."

 

The next time Marron saw the blonde boy again, was on the night of the basketball event.

 

That morning, Gateau had been bouncier than a boxful of rubber bands thrown from a cliff; he was so sure all the training he'd put in was going to pay off, he was so sure that his team were gonna win, they'd kick the other team's asses so hard they'd be biting the labels off their underpants, or whatever it was Gateau said. Marron just listened with his distanced amusement; he wasn't really listening to what Gateau said, just understanding the gist of the ramblings. It was also the last day of that term, as well as being the day of the basketball event. That way, it gave the losing school the holiday to recover from their defeat, and the winning school the holiday to celebrate and devise ways of kicking even more ass in the future.

 

The basketball game started at lunch, or preparation for it did, at least, and it went on until sometime after school. Marron promised Gateau he'd be there watching; after the amount of training and effort that Gateau had put in, Marron wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he hadn't have gone. So the day went on, Marron not really thinking of anything but the upcoming match... and at early lunchtime, a message had been sent around the school, saying that afternoon lessons had been cancelled in favour of the basketball game. This came as a pleasant surprise to Marron, who wasn't sure he'd have been able to concentrate on his afternoon lessons in any case. After lunch, a quiet non-Gateau lunch, Marron started to make his way down to the sports department; he never got that far.

 

Between the canteen and the sports department was the labyrinthine formation of the art and design block; some people swore it'd been designed by the kind of modern artists that adorned it's walls, such was the confusing design. It wasn't just art, there were also food science, woodwork, metalwork and computer classes fitted into that department, but for ease of use, it was referred to as the art and design block. Doors tended to go off to random parts of the school from that department; doors at the back led to the humanities block, doors at the front led to one of the sports pitches, the corridor one way led to music rooms, another corridor led to the canteen. Only confusing if one wasn't particularly used to it.

 

Marron had made a slight noise of surprise as he felt someone grab his bag and tug it in another direction; Marron managed to regain his balance before he fell, but was still a little startled.

 

"Hey... what was that for?"

 

Marron found himself faced by about five people; two girls and three boys. Had he known, he might have recognized the two girls as the purple-haired girl and the girl with glasses, but he didn't. The only one he recognized was the boy with blonde hair; the other two boys seemed fairly non-descript, brown hair, no real redeeming features...

 

The boy with blonde hair smirked.

 

"On yer way to see yer precious boyfriend push some balls around?"

 

"... I'm on my way to see the basketball event, if that's what you mean." Marron dusted at his jacket.

 

"You wish Gateau was bouncing YOUR balls around, right?"

 

Marron took a step backwards, fuming inwardly. Trust this sort of group to show up now... the brownhaired boys prevented Marron from leaving the corridor; one boy blocked one end, the other blocked the other. The girls and the blonde boy stood in the center, watching Marron with a level gaze. Marron looked around, trying to work out what to do. He could either try and work his way out sensibly, or fight; fighting seemed a viable option, he wasn't sure if these people would listen to sense... but he decided to hear them out, in case all they wanted was their verbal fun.

 

"Our relationship isn't like that."

 

"Jeezus, you're always so damned calm and polite and crap. Don't you ever get worked up or anything? Jeez. ANYway... you remember me from the other day, right? I was gonna expose ya into a few little home truths about your boyfriend; what would you say if I said he was partial to attacking innocent girls?"

 

"I'd say you were lying."

 

The blondehaired boy pushed the purplehaired girl forward. "C'mon, tell him what happened. See, Marron, things like this are best out of the mouths of the victims... if ya don't believe me, you might believe her."

 

The boy nodded at the girl; she spoke.

 

"Well... it was... a few weeks ago... I was working at the same place as Gateau, and... and... he..." she started crying. "He... he tried to rape me!!"... the other girl flung her arms around the purple-haired girl, as if on some kind of cue. There was something Marron didn't like about the situation, but he couldn't quite put his hand on it...

 

"... because... we were working, and then he asked if I wanted to go for a drink with him... I agreed, thinking that it'd be harmless enough... then after that, we were walking home... he insisted on following me home, I thought he was just concerned about me, but... we got to the park, and... he dragged me down, and... he said he'd take me, no matter what I said!! I fought and I fought and I fought and I fought but he wouldn't let off, and... he said that he'd make me scream his name... but he said he wouldn't even whisper my name... he'd only whisper his boyfriend's name, 'Marron'... he'd make me scream under him like he'd made you scream underneath him, that was what he said!"

 

Marron just raised his eyebrow. He remembered the incident a few weeks ago, where Gateau had come home late that time, when he'd been quiet, introspective... it must have been the same incident that they were talking about, but... these people seemed to have a twisted view on what happened.

 

For a second, the thought 'Did that really happen?' crossed Marron's mind, before he shook it away, angry at himself for even thinking that. Of course that hadn't happened. These people were just vindictive, angry at Gateau for no discernable reason... Marron wondered how far he'd get with what he knew of the truth.

 

"I think I know what you're talking about... it didn't happen like that, did it? What Gateau told me... the two of you just went for a drink, then... I'm sorry to say this, but... you-" Marron indicated to the purple-haired girl, who was sniffling slightly in the blonde-haired girl's arms. "- threw yourself at him! You were the one who started it, or at least, that was what Gateau said. Gateau said that... he... he'd said someone else's name, then you got angry, and... that was where it ended. He'd seemed quite upset about the whole incident, however."

 

There was a pause. The members of the group glanced at each other; the boy scowled, pointing at Marron.

 

"He's lying!! He's lying, right? Tell him he's lying!"

 

The girl looked a little unsure for a few moments, then nodded. "Marron, you're lying."

 

Marron noticed that the girl looked away when she said this, almost as if she couldn't meet Marron's eyes while she spoke...

 

"He definitely definitely tried to rape me... he kept saying your name, he just... he was on top of me, I couldn't do anything, it was scary!"

 

"If you couldn't do anything, then how did you escape? Or are you about to amend your story to say he did rape you after all? And even if he did only attempt it, why are you even standing here telling me about it weeks after the event? Why didn't you go to the police straight away and report an attack?"

 

Marron had a couple of other questions, but the boy stopped him before he could say anything else.

 

"HEY, pretty boy! Stop giving her a hard time about it, okay? It was a difficult thing for someone to go through, I mean, jeez!! Maybe she just didn't wanna go to the police, dija think of that? Maybe she's too scared, too embarrassed? Don't try and write everything off!!"

 

"He's denying too much... alright, alright. Even if you are telling the truth, which I can't bring myself to believe... what do you expect me to do about it? Meet with Gateau after the basketball game and wag my finger at him? I don't know why you're telling me about this, if it happened, then it happened, and you should try and cope with it..."

 

Marron looked at the crying girl with sympathy. "I don't know exactly what happened that night, but... whatever happened, I'm sorry on Gateau's behalf; something happened that night that shouldn't have happened, and... I'm sorry."

 

The girl blinked at Marron, wide-eyed. Marron nodded slightly at her, showing he didn't show any animosity towards her; something seemed to connect, she nodded back. She spoke quietly.

 

"Y-yes... something happened that... shouldn't have happened... Marron, but he DID say your name, he... he said your name, did he tell you that?"

 

The girl spoke with conviction; Marron had a feeling that this was the truth, however she was trying to hide her words from the others. This situation seemed complicated, but the girl obviously knew more than she was letting on about the situation... and it hit Marron that she could speak about that so truthfully. He knew that Gateau had said a name that he shouldn't during that time, he... he hadn't said what name, he hadn't even said what the girl was called, and he'd gone to bed soon after that... Marron knew that Gateau obviously had feelings towards him, deep friendship or more than that, but... was it possible that... Gateau had actually said his name that night? He'd said Marron's name... and that was why that night had messed up... that was why Gateau had wanted to talk about it, perhaps?

 

The more Marron thought about it, the more confused he felt.

 

"N-no, he didn't... you have my thanks for your honesty, though..."

 

"Hey, shut the fuck up! If she's only just being honest, then what the hell was she on about before? I don't even know what the hell you're on about, d-damn, she's my girlfriend, and it was YOUR freaking boyfriend that tried to rape her! That's all that happened, right? I mean, can you even begin to imagine what she went through? That's a traumatic experience, and you're just standing back, 'oh, I don't believe that'...?! Shut up, just... just SHUT UP!"

 

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the blonde boy leapt at Marron; Marron was caught by surprise, he fell backwards, landing on his bag. He made a noise of surprise, slipping his bag off and rolling to the side as he dodged a punch from the boy... so, it'd turned into a fight. Marron fought back as well as he could while trying to avoid the hits of the boy; the girls cried at him, begged for him to stop, but he wouldn't stop, something had gripped him, and he was too far gone.

 

He took hold of Marron's hair, yanking it, pulling Marron's head back, smirking sadistically. "Anyone'd think ya wanted to be a girl or something. Why don't you get it cut?"

 

Marron hit the boy away, "That's none of your business." Marron wasn't totally sure, but this wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He stood back, managing to get to his feet; despite his avoidance, he'd been hit a few times, and his head was starting to feel that pain. He put his hand to his eye, touching it lightly... it hurt, that'd probably leave a bruise, come the morning. The boy hadn't finished- he leapt at Marron, pinning him against the wall. The boy was shorter than Marron, but blind rage kept Marron pinned.

 

"Heh, stupid gayboy, right? You're probably getting turned on right now, yeah? You want me to give it to you like Gateau does, you wouldn't mind if I ripped the clothes from yer body and fucked you right here and now, would you? You'd scream and cry, but you'd enjoy it... hey, why don't I do that? I mean, my girlfriend almost got raped by that boyfriend of yours, why don't we give him a taste of his own medicine and rape HIS significant other?"

 

At this point, Marron's anger rose. Marron's anger became a blind rage, and he pushed the boy from his shoulders with little effort. The boy was surprised, and fell backwards; Marron put his foot onto the boy's chest, moving it up to his neck, pressing down just a little too hard... Marron's eyes glistened with crazy anger, and, while Marron spoke, the boy didn't fight back.

 

"I can't stand people like you... you'll make up lies for your own pathetic amusement, you'd make fun of people you see as lower than yourselves, again, just for kicks... but no-one is lower than you... you... you thought I'd be a pushover, did you? You thought you'd try and get to Gateau through me? If you want to fight Gateau, then why don't you just fight him? You're too scared. You thought it'd be easier to get to me first... but I'm no easy fight, I won't let myself sit back and take your insults... I... I won't forgive anybody who... hurts..."

 

Marron felt another name on his lips, just for a fraction of a second... he wouldn't forgive anyone who hurt him himself? No, that wasn't it... he wouldn't forgive anyone who hurt Gateau? That wasn't it either. He wouldn't forgive anyone who hurt... his... who hurt his... no, it was gone.

 

The boy seemed to notice Marron's momentary confusion, and leapt up from underneath Marron's foot.

 

"Fuck, he's a psycho... hey guys, give me a hand here! He's really pissin' me off!!"

 

The other guys leapt forward, and grabbed Marron while the boy hit him. Marron was too preoccupied by what he'd felt before to really care about the fight. That had been a weird feeling... like deja vú... had that feeling been deja vú, his anger, the fact that he wouldn't forgive... them... whoever 'them' was... for hurting... hurting who? Marron rarely got into fights, it wasn't something he routinely shouted at people... who was it that he felt that he had to protect, in a fight? It wasn't himself, it wasn't Gateau, who was it? Nothing came to him; he realised the depth of the situation when he realised that the two larger boys were holding him against the wall, and the blonde boy was standing about a foot away, wielding... a knife?

 

Marron paled slightly. Weapons of any kind weren't allowed on college grounds, it went against any and every rule in the book, but... people like this obviously didn't care about that. Marron struggled against the hold of the other two, but they fought back just as much; the blonde boy lunged forward just as Marron managed to break free. Marron wasn't sure where the blonde boy had been aiming, but Marron's movement had caught him off-guard, and the knife caught him, instead of wherever it'd been meant to go, deep into his lower shoulder. It dragged downwards before the boy realised what he was doing and dropped the knife; it held in Marron for a few moments before clattering to the floor. Marron let out a slight cry, and fell forward, clutching his shoulder. He brought his hand back, dark blood was on it. Great.

 

Surprisingly, the two girls leapt forward to Marron's defence. The blonde girl dabbed at Marron's wound with a tissue, "Will it be alright? God, I'm so sorry, I didn't know he had a knife on him, I'm so sorry, he... I'm sorry!"... Marron just shook his head, "It couldn't be helped... it'll be alright, it can't be that deep..."

 

The girl looked at Marron seriously. "Have you seen the blood here?"

 

Marron noted that his jacket was already stained with blood. His shoulder felt numb, and it stung... perhaps the wound was a little worse than he'd given it credit for.

 

He looked at the boy, who was sat against the wall, looking dazed. "The blood... the blood..."

 

The purple-haired girl went up to him and slapped him hard around the face. "You IDIOT!! Have you seen how much he's bleeding?! That's a really bad wound! You always have to go way too fucking far, don't you?! Jesus, you're gonna get expelled for SURE this time, you gotta keep holda that temper! Didn't I say the last time something like this happened that I was gonna finish with you?!"

 

He looked up at the girl, sadness in his eyes. "B-but... I was fighting for you!"

 

"I know, but not every girl WANTS to be fought for! Not like this! I'm even scared of you at times, never knowing how you're gonna react... that's how this whole damn situation came about in the first place!! My friends were right, I should never have got involved with you... forget second chances, you had them all the time ago, we're THROUGH!!"

 

The girl glared at the boy, who looked quite broken as he sat there. She approached Marron, and looked genuinely sorry. She produced a tissue from her sleeve, folded it up into a padded square, and pressed it to Marron's shoulder. "Look, I'm... I'm really, really sorry about that. He gets pissed off sometimes... a lot of the time... jesus. I don't blame you if you want to go straight to the principal with this one... we'll even come along with you, right?" The girls nodded at each other.

 

Marron smiled, holding the tissue to his shoulder, despite it not really helping too much.

 

"No, I... I won't go any further with this. He seems sorry enough, and... I think he might have learnt his lesson..."

 

"Don't you bet on it. I don't want anything more to do with him, but... Marron, he had a knife on him! Even carrying a knife is enough to get after-class detentions for the rest of the year! And he attacked you with a knife! I mean... man, I'd heard you're nice, but that bastard doesn't deserve you being that nice... if he's done it once then he's just gonna do it again, maybe not to you, maybe to someone who's less likely to fight back... he's probably just surprised that you fought back... no offence, but you don't really seem the type who'd... um..."

 

"Who'd fight back? I'm not the kind of person who'd sit back and take that kind of behaviour. I don't see the point in it and I wouldn't exactly instigate it without reason, unlike some other people, but... if I'm capable of protecting myself, then I should, shouldn't I? I'm not as pathetic as some people might want to make me out to be." Marron smiled, pressing his shoulder.

 

The girls both blushed, looking downward. Oops, Marron thought... given them too much to think about.

 

The purple-haired girl looked up, blushing, smiling.

 

"If you and Gateau are together, then... man, I'm jealous for the both of ya, I mean... I... I like Gateau, but... I'd heard a lot about you, I'd never really spoken to you or anything, but... hehe, you two would make, like, um, a cute couple... 'cause Gateau's hot, and you're really nice, and, uh, haha... um... I'll shut up now. Sorry."

 

Marron just laughed. "No, no, you don't need to apologize. Would it really be that disappointing to you if I told you that there was genuinely nothing going on between me and Gateau?"

 

"There really isn't?"

 

"There really isn't. We're just friends. Honestly and genuinely."

 

Both girls stared at Marron; the girl with glasses clicked her fingers. "Damn, there goes my fantasies."

 

"Whaat?!"

 

"Hehe, nothing!! Hey, um..." She looked back at the blonde boy; the two other boys had long since run off, but the blonde boy was still sitting against the wall, staring blankly at some patch of ground a meter or two in front of him. "... Marron, I know you don't want to say anything, but... it's the last day of term..." She nudged her friend's side with her elbow. "If we were going to say anything to the teachers, now would be the time, I think. Hey, um, Marron... do you want one of us to take you to the medical room or something? I don't care what you say, that's like, a hole in your shoulder, you should at least get it bandaged up or something like that..."

 

"What's the time?"

 

The blonde girl pulled a watch out from underneath her sleeve. "About half two, why?"

 

"Still another two hours to go... oh, but everyone's at the basketball game, aren't they?"

 

"Did you want to go and catch the rest of that? Gateau's playing..."

 

Marron thought about it. He'd promised Gateau that he'd watch the basketball game... most people would be at the basketball game... people were pretty much allowed to come and go as they pleased from the college, as long as they turned up to their classes, and there were no classes for the rest of the day... there was going to the medical room, like the girl had suggested... but at that moment, the idea of going home and sitting in front of the television with a nice hot drink seemed the most desirable idea. Perhaps a bath. He could clean his wound up a little there, and see how bad it really was... the girls were looking at Marron with curiosity. He realised their looks, and shook his head.

 

"I'd wanted to see the game, but... I'm sure I'll hear all about it when I get home... I'm feeling a bit tired now... I just want to go home."

 

"You're tired? Hey, are you sure it's not from bloodloss or something? Maybe one of us should walk you home or something... né, um," The purple-haired girl turned to her friend. ", maybe you should take him to the offices or something. Say what happened. Say I took Marron home, okay?"

 

The blond-haired girl nodded, and went off to take care of the blonde boy. Marron smiled at the purple-haired girl; seemed he wouldn't have been able to stop her wanting to make herself useful, even if he'd wanted to.

 

So the girl walked Marron home, constantly questioning him as to how he felt, wanting to be sure that he wasn't about to pass out on her; he didn't, but he let himself relax a little in the girl's presence.

 

Eventually, the two of them reached the home apartment block. The girl looked around with wonder.

 

"Hey, isn't Gateau supposed to live around here someplace?"

 

"Actually, we share an apartment."

 

The girl blinked in amazement. "What, really?"

 

"Yes, really. But it's totally innocent; Gateau's my friend, I'm his friend... but... I don't want anything more from him. I know what school rumor is like... school rumor would assume 'oh, they're friends, they gotta be bonking', and moreso at the fact that we're sharing an apartment... but it was just an arrangement that was useful to me at the time. My situation changed suddenly... it was the best idea at the time to move in with Gateau."

 

"Whee, I see... well, I still think you two could be a cute couple, but, haha, I'm just weird like that. How's your shoulder? Has the bleeding stopped? I'm kinda worried, Marron... I mean, that was really brutal of him, I mean, we knew he wanted to fight you, but we never guessed he was carrying a KNIFE on him... he's just violent. He'll probably end up in jail before he's twenty." She reached up, smoothing Marron's hair back a little. "Want me to stay here a bit and take care of you? I wouldn't mind..."

 

Marron smiled, partly to himself. "I don't need to be looked after, I'll be fine, honestly. Besides, Gateau'll be back in a couple of hours..."

 

"... He can take care of you?"

 

"... ye- no, wait, I don't want you taking that in the wrong way! I mean, if I pass out or anything, he'll find me and phone an ambulance or something. Really, I'll be alright. I'm thankful to you for coming this far with me, but I don't need to be babysat. I'll be alright."

 

The girl looked concerned, but she nodded. "Well, if you're sure... hey, um... got paper? I'll give you my phone number. I'm sorry about the whole thing, what happened with you, what happened with Gateau... not trying to be all crushy, but you are nice, I wouldn't mind hanging out with you and Gateau a bit more. If you ever wanna come out for the night or something, just ask, I wouldn't mind."

 

Marron nodded vaguely, and handed over the address book that sat next to the phone on the table in the hall. The girl wrote down her name, address and phone number, then handed the book and pencil back to Marron with a smile. "Cool! You don't have an excuse now!" She winked, then looked Marron over a little more. "Hey, what year are you in?"

 

"Two years below you."

 

"What, really?! Man! That's weird! You don't look it. That means that... you're 16, right?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"Wow! You look older than some guys in my year!! Don't blame the girls in your year for going on about you so much. Ya know my friend back there? She's got a younger sister in your year, in your class I think, actually... apparently she's always on about you. She's always on about you, your friends are always on about you... well, um, hey, you probably already knew that. So you're sure you don't need looking after?"

 

"I'm sure." Marron spoke with slight amusement.

 

The girl smiled, and backed off towards the door. "Well, can't stay around here all day. If I've got the afternoon off, well, there's no harm in hitting the shops or something! Seeya around."

 

"Bye..."

 

The door shut, and Marron was on his own in the apartment.

 

He smiled, shaking his head slightly. Seemed that girls were girls, no matter what year they were in.

 

Marron sighed, going through to the kitchen, turning the kettle on. He leant against the sideboard, feeling a shooting pain as he did so. He sighed again as he slipped his jacket off; he wandered through to his room and threw it into the pile next to the door, clothes that needed to be washed. Marron wondered how easy it'd be to wash blood out... he glanced down at his shirt. The shirt itself was red, but blood had left it's mark, and there seemed to be so much of it... but that was, Marron reasoned, just because fabric was an awful conductor of these kinds of things. Even a drop of liquid ink would spread on a shirt. The shirt also had a nice gaping hole in it now, from where the knife had gone in... fortunate that he'd learnt basic needlework some time ago. Always came in useful. He slipped the shirt off, it almost seemed to peel from his body around his shoulder.

 

Marron also slipped his vest off, and threw all his garments next to the door. He turned the light in his room off, and went to the bathroom to check out his hurts in the mirror there.

 

Marron winced when he first saw himself in the mirror. It wasn't that the knifewound looked bad, it didn't look good as such, things like that were never really supposed to look good, but it was just the blood around the wound that made Marron's eye twitch. The blood had dried somewhat now, and... didn't look particularly nice. First off, Marron decided, was to clean up that blood.

 

He leant over to the sink, running warm water onto some tissue paper. He touched the paper to his shoulder, and winced again. It stung... he sighed, this had to be done. He was still a little more careful as he touched at the skin, pressing harder where the blood had dried, but being careful over the wound itself. He idly wished magic existed, or something. Ah, to have the power to cure wounds and such with the touch or the wave of a hand... that'd be a nice power, Marron smiled to himself. What a silly thought. No-one had that power, things like that only existed in computer games and television shows.

 

Still, Marron thought, in situations like this, it'd certainly come in useful... he hoped the wound wouldn't get infected... well, as long as he tended to it, he figured it'd be alright.

 

Once the dried blood was gone, his shoulder looked somewhat better. The cut itself was bleeding slightly, probably, Marron thought, from his poking and prodding around it with tissue paper. He pulled himself a small wad of tissue paper, and dabbed at the blood, holding it to his shoulder. Marron idly wondered if there were any bandages in the apartment. Gateau was a keen sportsman... it made sense, sports people were always getting injuries and things like that, weren't they? Marron searched the cabinets in the bathroom, and eventually came across a couple of rolls of bandage. Marron smiled to himself, pulling one out, and arranging it on his shoulder so that it was partly wrapped around his arm, then around his shoulder. It went a little up his neck, but it covered the wound, and that was the most important thing.

 

Marron went back to his room for another shirt; much as Gateau respected Marron's want for platonic friendship, Marron wasn't sure how Gateau would react at Marron wandering around the apartment practically shirtless.

 

Marron glanced at a clock; it was half past three. An hour, more or less, since the whole incident at college had happened... Marron wondered how the basketball game was going. He felt slightly guilty for not turning up to the basketball game, but it couldn't have been helped, it wasn't as if he'd purposefully asked to be attacked at knifepoint by upperclassman psychos anyway. He was sure that he'd hear all about how the game went once Gateau returned home, but... he hoped Gateau wouldn't be too disappointed that Marron wasn't there.

 

Marron wondered how Gateau would react if he knew that Marron'd been attacked. Attacked on Gateau's behalf, even... Marron wasn't sure. Well, he could deal with that when Gateau came home.

 

Marron remembered that he'd been boiling a kettle; the kettle'd probably boiled itself out by now. He went back into the kitchen, boiled another kettle of water, and made himself up some tea. Tea was nice. He also remembered the noodles Gateau always had in the cupboard... it was long past lunch and there was still a while to go before dinner, but... Marron wrinkled his nose, why not. After all, he'd had a shock to his system, what harm was there in indulging a little? He made himself up some noodles, and took his drink and noodles through to the lounge, where he switched the television on. It was around the right time for children's television to be on... Marron smiled into his tea. Children's television was always amusing and relaxing to watch.

 

Marron watched television for several hours; he was a little shocked when he saw that the clock said that it was coming up to 6.20, but... it had been relaxing to watch television, even though there hadn't been much on that was intellectually stimulating, cartoons and chat shows were easy enough to sit in front of with tea and noodles and relax.

 

Marron yawned and stretched out in the chair. He wondered what time Gateau would be home at... he shrugged to himself, scratching at his ear as he took his used cup and bowl through to the kitchen. He washed up, and looked out of the window. It was just starting to get dark outside. The basketball game couldn't go on for much longer, surely... Marron realised he didn't know, really, when it was going to end... well, it'd been going on since lunchtime, so... hm. He thought about it. It'd been going on since, that meant, about half past twelve... and it was almost half past six... no, it couldn't be going on for much longer, Marron was sure of that.

 

Marron quietly watched television for about half an hour longer, until he heard the front door slam. The sound was enough to startle Marron; he stopped stock still in his chair for a few moments, frowning. What had that bee- Marron nodded to himself as he realised. Gateau must be back.

 

Gateau was back!

 

Marron lifted himself from the chair, and switched the television off; before going to go through to the front hall; Gateau stormed through before he could meet him there, Gateau went through to the kitchen without a word.

 

"Gateau?"

 

Marron followed him through. Gateau stood in front of the sink, the kettle was being boiled.

 

"Gateau, are you... alright?" Obviously not, Marron thought.

 

Gateau turned around, fixing Marron with a glare. "Nice of you to turn UP to the damn basketball game, Marron. I know it's probably the kinda thing that'd bore the hell outta ya, but you KNEW it was important to me, you promised you'd come watch!"

 

Marron looked down slightly. "Gateau, I'm sorry... it couldn't be helped, I mean..."

 

Marron didn't think that Gateau was in the best of moods to handle Marron's reasonings with the best possible calm dignity... he tried to divert the subject slightly. "... how did it go?"

 

"We lost... damn, I'm so pissed off... I mean... damn, I just... it's all my fault, I just couldn't keep my mind on the game! Kept looking up to see if you were anywhere..."

 

"Gateau, are you blaming the loss of your basketball game on me?" Marron spoke seriously, trying not to be accusing, but ready to defend himself if Gateau was going to lay into him.

 

Gateau paused, turning around, leaning his shoulders on the sideboard. Marron's arms were folded across his chest, one arm holding the other; it hurt to support the other on it's own. Gateau's look softened; he'd obviously been angry, but at seeing the defiance in Marron's eyes, Gateau couldn't keep the anger up.

 

"... Sorry. I... I wasn't trying to say that at all. Jeez, but even afterwards in the changing rooms, the others seemed to notice there was something up there... heh, they'd noticed I kept looking around, not really with my mind on the game... they kept asking me if I was looking out for a girlfriend or something like that. I just waved them off, 'something like that'. I mean, I know we're not... like that, but it kinda felt like... well, I don't know, it just woulda been nice to have ya there, y'know? Probably just me wanting to show off, but... we've been training for ages, I woulda liked to shown off to someone I felt it mattered to... it's okay having all the girls from your year screaming at me, but... can't I show off to you a bit too?"

 

"Gateau, I'm sorry... I would have come along if I was able. But... um... I got cornered by a teacher... wanted to have a word with me about some... late coursework... he... kept me back for a couple of hours to... catch up on the coursework..."

 

Marron wondered how obviously he was lying. Gateau was obviously cut up about losing the basketball game; Marron didn't want to worry Gateau any by saying he'd been attacked... Marron decided it wouldn't do Gateau any good, not in his current situation.

 

Gateau seemed to be buying it.

 

"Oh yeah? Man, that sucks! And you always work so hard on yer homework and stuff... man, that really sucks. I always hate getting kept behind 'cause of work and stuff... didn't you say that you wanted to watch the basketball game? I woulda thought that everyone woulda been there, even the teachers... still, some teachers just won't listen... sorry if I seemed angry. I'm just a bit pissed off at myself, I mean, this was an important game, ya know? Jeez, when we get back, the coach is sure gonna wanna have some words with me... oh well, that can wait, we've got a holiday now, ain't we?"

 

The kettle whistled that it was finished; Gateau prepared himself some coffee. "Want some?"

"No thanks, I just had some tea."

"Oh, right."

 

Gateau poured the hot water on, and went through to the front room. Marron followed him; the two of them sat on the sofa. Gateau sighed.

 

"Well, I guess if we weren't supposed to win, we weren't supposed to win. Woulda been nice to win, though... jeez. Well, holiday now. Time to relax! You wanna do something tomorrow? I feel like going out someplace, forgettin' about what happened."

 

"Tomorrow?"

 

"Saturday."

 

"... If you want to go somewhere, I'll go with you."

 

Gateau smiled into his drink. "Yup, that's good enough for me."

 

The rest of the evening went by quietly enough. Gateau ended up going to bed remarkably early, for a friday night. Marron had gone to bed at the same time, not seeing much reason to stay up. Gateau didn't seem angry anymore; maybe he'd been angry at Marron for not turning up, but... it seemed that Gateau couldn't stay angry at Marron for long, and would rather aim his own anger at himself... yes, that seemed like Gateau.

 

The next morning.

 

Marron had woken up early, troubled by his shoulder. He woke up, realised he'd been sleeping on it... his bandages felt trapping, he decided that perhaps he should change them. He went through to the bathroom, and decided that perhaps he could do with a bath as well; it wouldn't hurt, since he'd forgotten to have one the day before.

 

He ran the bath, waiting until the water was warm enough, then plugging the bath in, running some bath bubbles into the bath too; Gateau reckoned that no-one was too old for bubbles in their bath and so always bought a large bottle every week... Marron smiled wryly, thinking it'd be nice to have a big foamy bath.

 

He waited for the bath to fill itself up, taking his nightclothes off, discarding them in a pile to the side. It was early, too early for Gateau, Marron thought. However, the early night had taken it's toll on Gateau, and, even though it was early, it seemed that Gateau couldn't sleep. It also seemed that he hadn't heard the water running, because he walked into the bathroom with no prior thought.

 

He stared at Marron.

 

Marron stared at him.

 

Gateau's eyes darted down Marron's body, and Marron quickly turned away from Gateau, embarrassed.

 

"If I was wearing clothes, he'd be undressing me with his eyes... don't do that, Gateau. I... should have locked the door..."

 

"Hey, you were having a bath?" Gateau was already making his way out of the room. "Sorry, sorry, I, uh, I shoulda realised you were in there. Sorry."

 

Gateau grinned round the door. "Cute ass, though. Wah!"

 

The 'Wah!' came from Marron throwing the bubble bath container at Gateau, it hit him squarely on the nose. Gateau rubbed his nose, still peering round the door. "Hey, can't blame me for having a little peek, can ya?"

 

Gateau smirked, but his smirk vanished once he noticed a couple of things.

 

"H... hey, Marron..." Gateau sounded concerned, concerned and serious.

 

"What is it?" Marron slipped into the bath, deciding it'd be easier to hide his body from Gateau under the cover of the water and the foam than from just standing there wearing nothing but a blush. "I want to have my bath."

 

"I'll let you have yer bath, but... what the hell's that on yer shoulder?"

 

"My shoulder? ... There's nothing wrong with it."

 

"Don't give me that." Gateau walked back into the room, kneeling next to the bath. Gateau reached over, brushing foam away from where it gathered around Marron's shoulders; Marron glowered.

 

"Gateau, do I walk in when you're having a bath and continually perve on YOU?! It's nothing, just leave it, okay? Ah-"

 

Marron froze as Gateau's fingers came into contact with his wound; he couldn't deny it, it did hurt, it probably didn't help that Marron'd been lying on it for most of the night. The hot water also made it sting... Gateau retracted his fingers, clenching his hand into a fist as he saw that blood tipped his fingers.

 

"Marron, I'm not here to perve on ya. That's a pretty bad cut you've got there..." He brushed more foam away, looking at the wound properly. "... how the hell did you get that?"

 

"It's been there a while..."

 

Gateau looked at Marron's face, and gasped; "You've got a black eye too... don't say you've had THAT a while too... jesus, Marron! You're covered in bruises and stuff. What the hell happened?! And don't say you walked into a door or something, 'cause ya don't get things like that there on yer shoulder from walking into doors, not even big doors. You... get into a fight or something?"

 

Marron avoided Gateau's stare, drawing his knees to his chest and holding them there.

 

"Just let me have my bath."

 

"Well, sure... but come see me afterwards, maybe we can put something on that cut, cause it looks pretty damn deep... I'm worried, Marron. If you DID get into a fight..." Gateau's mind put two and two together. "Did you get that in a fight? 'Kay, I'm even more worried now..."

 

Gateau stood up. "I'll be waiting outside. I'm not gonna let ya get away with not talking about this, Marron... whoever did that... damn... I'm..." Gateau looked away, frustration on his face. "Just... just have yer bath."

 

Gateau sighed, and left the room, the door clicking as he left.

 

Marron stared at the door. He laid out in the bath, letting himself sink down a little. The water covered his shoulder, and it stung... Marron noticed blood in the water. Damn. The water must have irritated the cut... and it'd been bandaged all night, of course. The cut must have been more delicate than Marron had originally thought... he shook his head, trying to forget about the events of yesterday and the followup to that, and trying to concentrate on cleaning the rest of his body.

 

Outside the bathroom, Gateau leant against the wall, deep in thought. Marron was hiding something, it seemed... Gateau wanted Marron to talk about it. Gateau wouldn't let Marron not talk about it, but still... Gateau leant his head against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. If Marron had got into a fight... he sighed. Probably idiots from Marron's year taking the piss again, or something. Gateau closed his eyes, idly wondering on the situation... his eyes snapped open as he remembered yesterday. Marron had seemed evasive when talking about why he hadn't been at the basketball game...

 

Had Marron not turned up to the game... because he'd been in a fight?

 

Gateau frowned, staring down at the floor. He didn't like the situation at all. He hated the thought of Marron getting hurt, he hated the thought of anyone having that much vehemence to want to hurt Marron... Gateau thought about when he'd just walked in on Marron, before he'd got into the bath. Gateau hadn't really taken the time to notice, being more preoccupied with other things, but now he thought of it, Marron had seemed to have had bruises all over him...

 

"I can't forgive anyone for them wanting to destroy Marron's beauty!! Marron's too beautiful to fight alone... I won't LET him fight alone..." Gateau sighed, remembering Marron's gasp when Gateau had touched that area on his shoulder. "... I won't let him cry alone either... if he needs to cry, I'll let him cry on me... I'll hold him, I just want to protect him, I wouldn't ever be able to forgive myself if anything happened to him, he's my best friend, he's everything to me, he's more than a friend, more than my best friend, I love him!... ... I... oh my god..."

 

Gateau froze. His thoughts had run away with him.

 

Was that what he really thought?

 

Gateau fell to a sitting position against the wall. The muffled sounds of Marron splashing around in the bath were audible through the wall, through the door... they seemed too loud in the silence of the apartment.

 

Gateau was angry that someone'd been angry enough with Marron to fight him and cause that kind of injury to him, yes. And, of course, there'd been the feelings that Gateau had been carrying with him since before he'd known Marron... when he'd first seen Marron in and around college, he'd seen that beauty and something had just hit him... not just 'wow, he's pretty!', there was just... something else that Gateau had felt. Almost like he knew Marron from somewhere, though that was impossible. The feeling had been, partly, what made Gateau so nervous originally. There was something about Marron that seemed, stupid as it sounded, familiar. If not Marron himself - for how could Marron be familiar? Gateau had never even spoken to him before - then at least the feelings that Gateau had for Marron. At seeing Marron, it felt natural to want him, to want to be close to him... the feelings had almost scared Gateau. No-one had ever made him feel like that before... was this what love at first sight was? Was this love? Gateau hadn't been sure, but he'd been sure of one thing; he was sure that he wanted - no, needed - to make himself known to Marron. Even if he was rejected like everyone else seemed to be, Gateau needed for Marron to know who he was. After watching him for a week or so, Gateau realised that that wouldn't be enough; he didn't want Marron to know who he was, then reject him and forget about him... he didn't just want Marron to know who he was. He wanted Marron to know who he was... not just know his name and that, he wanted Marron to know him. He wanted to know Marron. He wanted to become friends, perhaps more, but only if Marron was comfortable with it.

 

But love... Gateau thought about it seriously. Was he, Gateau Mocha, in love with him, Marron Glacé?

 

... Yes.

 

Yes, he was.

 

Gateau felt a tightness in his chest for thinking about that, but... it seemed... right... it seemed right, it seemed natural... he loved Marron. How could he see Marron in any other way? Surely he'd thought of this from the beginning... even though he'd insisted on it so much in the beginning... how could he have been seriously happy with only Marron's friendship?

 

Gateau remembered the incident a few weeks ago, where he'd said Marron's name to that girl... that obviously had to be a sign of it. Marron had been preying on Gateau's mind enough for him to be whispering Marron's name in such a situation, even when he wasn't with Marron at the time... sure, there were all of Gateau's perverted comments, all his little flirting gestures, but... there was a barrier between him and Marron, and he knew that just as much as Marron did.

 

Did Marron wish as much as Gateau that that wasn't so?

 

Gateau put his hand to his face, leaning it against his knee. He suddenly felt so confused... he was lucky enough to even have Marron in his apartment, the two of them with such a trusting friendship, the two of them living together... Gateau couldn't even picture life without Marron now.

 

Gateau was disturbed from his thoughts by the sound of the bathwater inside the bathroom draining away. He stood up, Marron must be finished. And they were going to talk about something serious.

 

Gateau felt just a little nervous.

 

Marron emerged from the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. Gateau just stared for a moment. There was something about Marron, wearing that bathrobe... Gateau blamed his hormones. Marron looked good in a bathrobe. That was the only reason why he couldn't stop staring... and it wasn't another one of those 'he looks familiar' feelings. Gateau mentally kicked himself, of course not! He'd never even seen Marron in a bathrobe before, but of course he was going to look familiar, he was the same Marron he'd seen day in day out for the past couple of months...

 

Marron shut the door behind him, leaning against it a little. He looked up at Gateau, reaching to switch the light on, bringing light to the dark area.

 

"So. You wanted to talk?"

 

"Y-yeah... uh... M-Marron, I know this'll sound weird, but I don't mean it in a pervy way, I promise. But, uh, could you go through to my room and lie on the bed? And, uh, sorta slip the top of your robe down. Kinda. I mean- it's cause I wanna look at that wound, I mean, it's not cause I'm gonna... uh... I mean, no, I'm... just do it, please?"

 

Marron nodded. "I see."

 

Gateau watched him as he walked into his room; he was slipping his robe down as he went. Gateau blushed, then cursed himself. He'd just seen Marron naked, why was watching Marron slowly slipping the white fluffy material down his smooth pale shoulder such a turnon?

 

Gateau shook such thoughts from his mind, and went back into the bathroom, gathering up medical aids. TCP. Cotton wool. That kind of thing. He caught his reflection in the mirror; somehow, he looked... almost guilty, to his eyes. He spoke to his reflection.

 

"It's nothing sexual! I'm looking after him 'cause he's a friend and he's hurt!!"

 

His reflection stared back at him.

 

"It's... it's really nothing like that!!"

 

His reflection didn't look as if it believed him; did he believe himself? He sighed, gathering up bandages, and shutting the door after him. He took a deep breath as he walked into his bedroom.

 

Marron was lying on Gateau's bed, his robe around his waist... the robe covered his legs, but the way part of it fell open... a section of leg was revealed to the room, running up to a thigh, suggesting... further things...

 

Gateau turned away from that, concentrating on Marron himself. Marron was indeed lying on the bed, his eyes closed, his breathing soft, steady... Gateau just stood there for a few moments, watching in silence. Marron was silent on the bed, Gateau was silent in the room... Marron was just... so incredibly beautiful... his hair spread around him on the bed... the way it lay over his naked shoulders, his naked chest... the way his arms hung to his sides, unmoving from his sides, resting so gently on the bed... Gateau didn't want to turn the light on, he didn't want to do anything to disturb that beautiful figure on his bed, so still and silent he could have been sleeping... Marron was a sleeping beauty. Gateau felt suddenly torn; he knew what he had to do... he also knew what he wanted to do. He knew that Marron wouldn't let him do what he wanted to do, though. Marron wouldn't let Gateau walk up to him, wrap his arms around him, softly kiss those lips, kiss that skin... maybe slip that robe down, let it fall to the floor... they'd be on the bed, Marron might wrap his legs around Gateau's, pulling the two of them closer...

 

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me, or were you going to do something?"

 

"Uh? Oh, uh, sorry."

 

Gateau flipped the lightswitch on, brightening the room. Gateau went forward, and sat himself on the edge of his large bed, brushing hair from Marron's left shoulder, focusing himself on the wound.

 

Gateau hissed slightly as he saw it.

 

"Damn. Looks painful. So, how did you get it? Was it a fight?"

 

Marron opened his eyes, meeting Gateau's concern... Marron sighed, looking to the side.

 

"Y-yes... yes, it was a fight."

 

"Was... that why you didn't show up to the basketball game?" Gateau was shaking the bottle of TCP onto a small wad of cotton wool. Marron looked at Gateau suddenly.

 

"H-how did you...?"

 

"Hey, I'm not as stupid as I look. You come home with a gapin' thing like that, all bruised up... you did promise you were going to be there, I wouldn't have thought you'd be the kinda person to let go of promises lightly... it kinda adds up, I guess. Does in my mind, anyway."

 

"I see..."

 

"Careful, this is REALLY gonna sting."

 

"Oh? Oh, right."

 

Gateau pressed the antiseptic to Marron's shoulder; Marron hissed suddenly, his fists clenching around the bedsheets, his knuckles white from the force of the pain. Gateau watched sympathetically.

 

"Sorry... but I guess it'd hurt more if it got infected."

 

"Why can't they make an antiseptic that doesn't sting so much?"

 

Gateau laughed softly. "I don't know. For the same reason they can't make a paracetemol that tastes nice, I suppose. You... okay? Mind if I dab it a bit?"

 

"Yes, I'll be alright. I was just a bit shocked before."

 

"Kay..." Gateau dabbed at the cut, wiping at it with strong strokes. He shook a little more of the liquid onto the cotton wool, and carefully watched Marron as he tended his shoulder.

 

"You sure it's okay?"

 

"It feels a little numb now, actually..."

 

"Yeah, well, that's the medicine in it workin', I guess. So, uh... how come you got into a fight? You're not the kind of person to randomly pick fights, I know you. Was it pricks from your year, looking for trouble?"

 

"Actually, it was people from your year, Gateau..."

 

Gateau pulled a new piece of cotton wool from the bag, and pressed it to Marron's shoulder, cleaning it up a little. He looked shocked. "What?! People from my year?! What're people from my year doing on picking on people two years younger?! That's stupid!"

 

"Do you remember a few days ago, we saw that person we suspected was from your year, and you said you thought he was a spiteful little bastard, or something?"

 

Gateau nodded, "Uh-huh?"

 

"It was him and two others... I don't know who the others were. There were two girls there too, one with purple hair, shoulder-length purple hair... the other had blonde hair in two plaits, and small square glasses... Gateau, it was that girl from a few weeks ago. The girl you met from work, remember?"

 

Gateau stopped in his motions for a moment.

 

"Really?! How... how did you know?"

 

"The whole group of them had some twisted version of what you told me. From their reckoning, it would seem that you were the one forcing yourself onto that girl... she made you out to be some kind of monster, almost... saying how you held her down, she tried to escape, but couldn't..." Marron's lips curled in a slight smile. "They also said that you kept saying my name, saying that you wouldn't say her name, saying that you'd only say the name of Marron, your boyfriend... silly ideas these people come up with sometimes, don't you think?"

 

Gateau was looking away from Marron; he'd been unable to meet Marron's honest eyes when he'd been telling him about the whole situation in the first place... and... he couldn't meet Marron's eyes now that the very object of his oppressed desire was talking about the situation... Gateau's silence spoke volumes.

 

"Gateau? What is it?"

 

Gateau didn't move.

 

"Gateau, say something... you're making me nervous. You didn't... attack that girl, did you?"

 

"Attack her? No, I didn't attack her. I don't care what they said, but... you believe that they're lying, don't you?"

 

"Well, of course... I mean... I know you, Gateau. You've got power, but you wouldn't use it like that... you wouldn't abuse it like that. You're not the kind of person to go around attacking girls. Besides, as I challenged them... if you really did attack her, then why didn't they go to the police immediately? At that point, the purple-haired girl's boyfriend got angry... that was around where the fight started, really. But... what do you mean? I believe that you were telling the truth, don't you think that I'd believe you? You're my friend, Gateau. I'm more likely to believe you than those other people."

 

Gateau paused for a moment.

 

He set the TCP and cotton wool onto his bedside cabinet, sighing.

 

"No, but... yes, they were lying about me attacking that girl... but... they were lying about who's name I said too, right?"

 

"I assume so... you never told me who's name you actually said, but... that's not important, is it? You said someone else's name, that's enough to make someone angry, or so I'd imagine..."

 

"Marron, I said your name."

 

"... I mea-what?!"

 

There was silence. Gateau had spoken while Marron spoke, but what he said was enough to stop Marron from speaking. Marron sat up slightly; Gateau turned around, glancing sadly over his shoulder at Marron. Marron just stared at him, disbelieving... his brow twitched into a frown.

 

"Gateau... what?"

 

Gateau spoke sadly. "Is it that hard to understand? I said your name when I shoulda been saying someone else's name. Mar-ron. That was the name I said. Only, it was more..." Gateau closed his eyes. "M-Marron... Marron, oh god, Marron... Marron..."

 

Marron just glared at Gateau, totally thrown as to how to react.

 

Gateau's eyes opened, looking so sad as he met Marron's glare. "That was the name I said, and how I said it. Maybe you understand why she got so mad... thinkin' I was gay, I suppose. Am I gay? I don't know, I just like people who catch my eye..."

 

"... And I caught your eye?"

 

"... yeah. Yeah, you did. Look, Marron, I don't know what to say... I don't want... to say too much... I don't want to scare you, I... I don't... I don't want to push you away from me, you're... I want to tell you that you're the most important person to me, I want to tell you... I want to tell you exactly how I feel, but it's all jumbled up inside, even I don't know how I'm feeling at times... the most important feeling to me is... is that I want to keep you as my friend... I don't want you to look at me like you do all those people in your year... when you reject them, when you write their feelings off as being stupid..."

 

Gateau looked away, looking straight in front of him, his hands netted together, clenched.

 

"... god, why is it suddenly so hard to even TALK to you? I... I just don't want you to think of me like another person who's crushing on you... it took so long to even approach you, but... that... that was even because of this - I didn't want you to meet me, decide in an instant that you didn't want to know me, and dismiss me, like you do all the others... when you spoke to me, I... I knew I had to be careful... I had to lock my feelings away deep inside, 'cause I didn't want to send you running... now you're here, in my apartment, in my bedroom... and it's been months, every morning and every afternoon and every evening I see you, and sometimes I can convince myself that we're just friends. That I'm happy with us just being friends. And if friends is all I can have from you, then I honestly honestly don't mind... no. I do mind. But I don't want to demand anything from you... I couldn't demand anything from you... I... I'm talking too much, but there's just so much to say..."

 

Gateau put one hand to the bed, leaning on it... he felt one finger against Marron's hand. Marron either didn't notice the half-gesture or he didn't mind it, because he didn't move his hand... that little gesture from Marron's side meant a lot to Gateau.

 

Gateau paused, sighed a long, shuddering sigh, then continued.

 

"... no-one else knows how I feel... just me... 'cause... if anyone knew how I felt, they'd just take the piss, Gateau Mocha running around like a fourteen-year old with a crush... maybe it IS just a crush on you, but jesus does it feel like more. I just... want... I don't know. From you, I don't know what I want... it's enough to have you live with me, it's enough to be friends, but do you know how hard it is to stop myself saying too much? I know I'm always flirting, and I know you know I'm joking... but flirting doesn't come from nothing... I... remember that thing with that girl, and I was sad when I came home? Part of me was sad 'cause... it's... it's almost like... I couldn't go any further with her, 'cause all I could think about was you... her hair was soft, long, as I ran my hands through it, I was wondering if that'd be how my hands would feel, running through your hair... as she touched me, I wondered if that'd be how it'd feel to have you touch me... no damn wonder I said your name. I wasn't sitting there about to have sex with that girl. I was having a very vivid fantasy about my room-mate, Marron Glacé... I'm actually glad she ran off when she did. 'Cause how weird would it've been, having sex with some girl and thinking - dreaming - it was you? You're not a girl, after all. You're beautiful, you're... you're Marron. I..."

 

Gateau stopped suddenly.

 

Marron felt numb, and not from the antiseptic.

 

Yes, he'd had the girls (and guys) from his year flirt with him endlessly. He'd had them flirt with him, had them try to Confess True Love to him before... most of them had never got that far, though. Most of them just blushed and mumbled and Marron sent them away... but Gateau... Gateau was Marron's most trusted friend, and here he was, dangerously close to saying 'I love you', and Marron had no idea on how he'd react if Gateau were to say that.

 

Gateau didn't say anything else for a few moments... Marron sighed, and decided that perhaps he should say something after all. He sat up on the bed, pulling himself up, leaning against the pillows and the headboard of the bed... he looked up at the ceiling.

 

"Gateau, I... I wish I knew what to say. I... feel a little uncomfortable, I mean... you've not said... it... but I think you're about to. Or you want to. And I really don't know what to say to that... you... seem to be afraid that I'd reject you like I do all those others... I couldn't reject you like that, I don't even know those people, but... you're my best friend, you're... you're my best friend, Gateau. I don't want to hurt you. I don't know what I should say in return, but... I don't want to hurt you. I don't know if I can react in the way you want me to, but... just carry on with what you were saying. I... need to think a bit."

 

Gateau moved on the bed so that he was facing Marron. Marron just looked at Gateau; the two of them stared at each other, before Gateau looked away, pulling Marron's robe over his exposed leg.

 

"S-sorry, that was annoying me... but... I... I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable... if you want me to go, then I will... I'll leave you to your own devices, I'll... I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life if I can just say what I wanna say... even though... I'm not sure... I..."

 

Gateau put his hand over Marron's hand; Marron just sat there for a few moments, numbed to perfect stillness.

 

Gateau took advantage of the stillness.

 

"Please, Marron, forgive me, but... I want to kiss you... I... I think that... I love you..."

 

Gateau leant over, his heart pounding in his chest, his hand closing around Marron's hand... Marron's hand felt warm in his own, even if it wasn't holding back. He pressed his lips to Marron's own, his other hand reaching for Marron's chin, holding it gently, kissing against Marron as opposed to with Marron... Marron just sat there, not knowing what he wanted. Gateau was kissing him... did he want to kiss back? Did he want to get angry? Did he want to... no, he didn't want to get angry. He wanted... he didn't know what he wanted. Gateau's lips were warm, warm and soft against his own, though... Marron opened his mouth slightly, as unsure as Gateau sounded he felt, but wanting... to at least try to understand Gateau's feelings...

 

Gateau pulled back suddenly, looking... almost hurt.

 

"... Marron... Marron, I'm sorry... I didn't even ask you, I just... god, Marron, I'm sorry..."

 

Gateau stood up. "I... if you hate me, if you see me as nothing more than another one of those stupid stalker people from your year, I... I understand... I... you don't haveta talk to me again if you don't want to."

 

Gateau then left the room, shutting the door with some speed.

 

Marron just sat there for a moment, totally amazed by what'd just happened. He also felt slightly empty... how Gateau had said that... he said that he'd leave Marron alone for the rest of his life, if he could just say 'I love you'... and he HAD said 'I love you'... did this mean... Gateau didn't expect Marron to want to talk to him ever again, or something?

 

Marron got up from the bed, pulling the robe up around his shoulders. Wherever Gateau was going to go, Marron felt that he needed to stop him before he went... Marron had a real fear that, should Gateau leave the house, he wasn't going to come back again...

 

Marron stood in the front room, looking around, but Gateau wasn't there. He ran to the front hall, finding Gateau sat there, doing up his outdoor shoes onto his feet.

 

"Gateau, where are you going?!"

"You're probably not gonna want to even speak to me after that, I mean, I... I'm sorry. I shouldn'ta jumped those feelings on you."

 

Marron walked purposefully over, and knelt over Gateau's outstretched leg, his hands on Gateau's shoulders.

 

"Gateau, I can't say I know how I feel... but I don't want you to leave, never to be seen again...! I meant it when I said you're my best friend. You said you'd leave me alone for the rest of my life... did you really mean that? Do I want you to leave me alone? Gateau, being alone is being melancholy as I wander around school, because I'm suddenly alone, with no-one to talk to. I don't know what you think I think, but... I enjoy your company, Gateau. I like talking with you. I like going places with you. I like you."

 

Gateau looked at Marron for a few moments, unable to deny that Marron's position against him felt quite nice. Marron's body was warm, and... moments ago, he'd been kissing those lips... Gateau almost felt tears in his eyes.

 

"Marron, it's too late now. I've kissed you once, I... I wanna kiss you again... I never wanna stop kissing you... you're warm against my leg... I want to hold you to me, I wanna know what you'd feel like against me... now I've done it once... Marron, do you know how much self-control it's taking me right now to stop myself holding you down and kissing you again? I really don't wanna scare you, though. I don't want to scare you, I don't want you to hate me, but if I stay around you any more, then you're gonna end up hating me, 'cause I won't be able to stop myself..."

 

Marron half-swept one hand through his hair, looking detached for a moment. He was thinking.

 

"Gateau, I... when you kissed me, I didn't know how to react... when you said 'I love you', I didn't know how to react. Today's just a whole day of me not knowing how to react... if you'd acted like this a couple of months ago, I'd probably have been angry, pushed you away... but you're not the only one to have feelings, Gateau. I can't say 'I love you' because I couldn't say that unless it was something I honestly felt, and honestly, I don't know how I feel."

 

"Marron...?"

 

"Let me just try and sort this out. It's been a couple of months... the last time you got all serious with me, when the whole thing with that girl happened... I ended up thinking about... how strange it seemed to me. That it seemed strange that you had sex with other people... I don't know, it sounds... almost selfish to say, but... you always flirt with me. It wasn't that I assumed that you'd only want me, but..."

 

Marron paused. "... perhaps that is what I assumed... I don't know. I don't even know what I'm trying to say, I just... I'm not as sure in my feelings as you are in yours, but... I don't hate you just because you love me, Gateau. If you really honestly do love me, then I'm flattered... you're such a constant in my life, other than school and work, you're the constant in my life, you're certainly the constant that keeps me from turning into a work-pressured overworked college student, at least."

 

Marron stopped, falling back in his kneel, dropping his hands from Gateau.

 

"It's just... if you did want to kiss me, and kiss me, and keep kissing me... I... wouldn't exactly want to stop you... just... don't be surprised if I'm hesitant to kiss back, do you see what I'm saying? I'm almost jealous... you're so sure of your feelings. I don't know how I feel. Can't you... coerce me a little with your feelings?"

 

"M-Marron, I... I don't want to force anything onto you..."

 

"Gateau, you wouldn't be forcing anything onto me. I... I want to understand your feelings... let me be yours a bit. Hold me. Kiss me. Maybe I'll understand in time."

 

Marron could hardly believe that such things were being said in his voice, but... he didn't want Gateau to leave. He wasn't sure if he felt what Gateau felt, but... he knew that he at least wanted Gateau near, even if he didn't know how he wanted him near...

 

Marron let out an 'oof!' as Gateau's hands wrapped around him in a powerful glomp. Marron blinked, trying to extract his body from Gateau's powerful arms.

 

"G-Gateau... you're hurting me."

 

"Huh? Oh, sorry, the bruises and stuff... of course..."

 

Gateau let go, a little regretfully.

 

The two of them looked at each other for a few moments. Gateau looked away.

 

"So, uh... you still wanna go out later?"

 

Marron remembered yesterday, that Gateau had suggested going out at some point during the day. He smiled lightly, nodding.

 

"Yes. I want to."

 

Gateau looked at Marron, seeming to slowly realise the implications of what'd just happened. "Y-yeah... you do, don't you?"

 

That day had been the day where it'd started, but despite that, it'd taken a while for anything else to happen; Marron was happy enough with how events had unfurled, and Gateau seemed in a daze for weeks afterwards that Marron didn't hate him for what'd happened; Marron'd always laugh, how could he hate Gateau? Gateau would look at Marron, look at his smile, and he'd smile back.

 

Gateau wasn't sure whether it was just him reading too much into the situation, but... Marron had seemed almost to change slightly for having what happened, happen... perhaps it was just because of the situation, but... Marron almost seemed warmer with Gateau; not that he minded, he just noticed it with some bemusement. It was little things that Gateau noticed. Marron leaning against him while they were waiting for a bus in town. The little brushing touches, the way Marron'd tug on Gateau's hair when he wanted him to look at something... the way he never minded if he was standing in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil or something, and Gateau went up and kissed him... the kettle'd boil itself out sometimes, but neither of them minded. Still, after this had happened a few times, Marron'd gone out and bought an automatic kettle, it had a little switch that switched itself off once the water was boiled. Gateau agreed that this was a good idea, wondering how many cups of coffee they could have made with the amount of water they'd ended up not using...

 

Every day or so after that day, Gateau would insist on checking out Marron's body for progress on how his hurts and bruises were getting on; it took some time, but eventually, the bruises faded, and even Marron's knifewound seemed a lot better. Gateau still treated it, and it seemed to help.

 

Once the holiday was over, classes started again. It eventually came to Marron's attention that the boy from before was on suspension, possible expulsion from the school. Marron'd been required to go to the offices and show them his knifewound; it was healing, but it was undeniably there, and thus, the boy was expelled from the college. Marron didn't hear anything of him after that, thinking that perhaps it was for the best.

 

However, he did hear something from the girls, the girl who's sister was in his year. One registration, he was approached by a girl who looked vaguely familiar... Marron made the connection, and realised that this must have been the sister mentioned. He'd smiled at her, she'd seemed a little nervous; seemed that she had a letter to give him, from her sister. He'd smiled, nodding, "I know your sister."... she'd gasped, Marron couldn't help but laugh. "There's nothing going on between us, though!!"... Marron was sure he'd seen a subtle look of relief settle over the girl's features. No, they never changed.

 

Marron turned his attention to the letter. Basically, the letter seemed to explain the events that had led to the fight before the holiday; it seemed that Gateau's version of events was the truth. The purple-haired girl had something of a crush on Gateau, and so had attempted to seduce him after work one time. Gateau had said Marron's name instead of the girl's name, and she'd run off, angry. She'd run off to the blonde girl and told her all about it, and then worried in case her boyfriend, the boy with blonde hair, found out. She'd gotton herself a little too worried about this, knowing what a temper he had, and so the two girls had concocted a slightly different turn of events. She didn't want to risk Gateau saying anything once they'd got back to college, and so had told her boyfriend that Gateau had attacked her; Marron realised that that must have been where the boy's anger came from. He couldn't help it - he didn't know what'd really happened... Marron had a feeling that, had the boy not been angry at Marron for being Gateau's friend or whatever, his anger would have been directed at the girl for almost cheating on him. At reading the letter, Marron understood what'd happened, and was glad that at least something had been done about the boy. The girl went on to explain, in the letter, that he frequently got angry; he'd never actually hit the purple-haired girl, but apparently he'd come close to it, over the stupidest things... she was happy that her friend was away from that monster, and she thanked Marron for being able to bring the situation about in the first place.

 

Marron smiled and put the letter away in his pocket to show Gateau later. Justice had been brought about, and it warmed Marron to know that.