August 15/Heterosexual problems/PG/Closed

[andou]

Characters: Asuka and Sora
Time:.......after school sometime
Location: A place with booths

Ever since the incident, Sora's head had been spinning. He knew he liked Max, but did that mean he liked guys in general? He didn't find any other boys attractive, in fact, the thought of all other boys were repulsive. It was only Max, why? What was happening to him? He couldn't even talk to Emi about it. 'Hey little sis, guess what, I'm questioning my sexuality over my super cute roommate. Who's a boy.' That was something he didn't want to tell his sister.

The frustration was built up so high that he felt like he could cry at any moment. There was too much going on for him to handle all at once, he needed to talk to someone. With shaky hands Sora pulled out his phone and sent out an emergency text to Asuka, telling her to meet him now at the fast food restaurant. Asuka knew Max, and she knew him... kinda. She could help.

The blonde probably looked crazy as he paced in front of the restaurant in his uniform. His bow tie was loose around his neck, collar popped, buttons unevenly buttoned, he was mentally and physically a wreck.

[false]

Asuka had been halfway to her dorm room to change into something more comfortable when Passion Pit blared loudly from her phone's tiny little speaker, cutting through the silence of the empty hallway. Who the fuck could that be? The only people who had her number were her parents, Max, Chiaki, and Kenji - she hoped to god that it was one of the last three.

The number on the screen of her phone was unfamiliar, but its sender's identity was obvious once her eyes caught 'Sora' amidst the text. "How the fuck did you get this number?" she muttered to herself, making a face at the lump of red plastic in her hands. The culprit was likely Max, given the close relationship between the two of them. Reading it over again, she sighed. Even without the tone of a voice it was apparent that Sora was worried about something - he hadn't even bothered to convert the kana into kanji. "I'll be there in a little bit," she responded, turning around so that she faced the school's exit. "Don't wet your pants or anything." It looked like changing would have to wait; Sora was lucky that she liked him or there was no way she would ever have done something like this.

The walk to the burger joint he'd mentioned had been a short one, though Asuka had spent most of it wondering what the fuck he was so upset about that he'd text his roommate's best friend about it. Why hadn't he just asked Max to do this? Again, she sighed. There was something funny going on between them, and it was pretty obvious what it was. Have they figured it out yet? Is that what this is?

Sora looked awful as he paced nervously in front of the building, several horrible bruises showing up on the parts of his skin that were exposed. He had a slight limp, which suggested that he'd been hurt in other areas, too. The difference between the vibrant, healthy Sora she'd seen just days before and the beaten-up one in front of her was startling. "What the fuck happened to you?" Asuka exclaimed as she ran towards him, unable to hide her incredulity. "Did you fall down the stairs? Run through a wood chipper? Jesus, Sora, you look like shit!" If the physical wounds weren't enough, the look in his eyes suggested restlessness, like he'd been worrying about something way too hard for him to bear. This did not bode well. "Why did you call me here, anyway? I know first aid, but... God. Do you want to go sit down?"

[andou]

Every minute or so Sora would look up at the clock. People passed by, and gave him a double take as he walked back and forth. Of course it was due to his appearance, kid looked like he was in a horrible bar fight or something. From the last fight he had with Max's old 'friends' Sora hadn't really done much to patch himself up, seeing that he didn't do much of a good job patching himself up last time he went to the nurses office.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Good old Asuka. He turned his head as she ran up beside him, "Did you fall down the stairs? Run through a wood chipper? Jesus, Sora, you look like shit!"

"Really? I thought the bruises made me look more manly," Sora gave a half-assed attempt to be his old flirty self, but he just couldn't do it today, letting his shoulders slump, "Maxxie and I ran into his old friends." his expression automatically hardened at the mention of them, "Don't worry though, I won. If you think I look bad, you should have seen them... I kinda went a little crazy." Sora laughed a little, every chuckle sending a smarting pain through his torso.

The blonde nodded at Asuka's question and walked into the joint, taking a seat at a private booth. He slid into the seat, "I called you here because you're the only one I can talk to about this." His voice was already shaking. Fuck. There was a tightness at the bottom of his throat, and he could feel the confusion welling up behind his eyes, threatening to transform into tears. "I...I think I like Max." The words came out uncharacteristically soft, as if saying them soft would stop the tears.

[false]

Asuka rolled her eyes at Sora's attempt to waive off his injuries as the result of being a bubbling crock of masculinity. Bullshit, it just makes you look awful. She had half a mind to slap him, but the façade he was wearing was so fragile that it might have fractured. The last thing she needed was for him to turn into a broken, bruised little vegetable right in front of a restaurant. She sighed and wondered just what, exactly, was going on inside his pretty little head.

"Maxxie and I ran into his old friends."

"What?!" Asuka exclaimed, teeth clenched. It was obvious that he'd gotten into a fight, but didn't they live in another town? "Why the fuck were they he--" She was cut off as he elaborated, claiming that they looked even worse than he did. "Good," she said, watching as he laughed, wincing as his chest rose and fell. Asuka spat on the ground, having nothing further to add - nothing that wasn't bloodthirsty, genuinely terrifying.

Asuka was seething as she followed Sora into the burger joint; both at the fact that the bastards had the gall to show up here, of all places, as well as the fact that she hadn't been there to rip them apart herself. At least Sora hurt them, she thought, biting down on her bottom lip as she joined him in the booth. They were in the very back; the look on Sora's face suggested that he'd picked this spot for a reason. It all had an air of secrecy, of the clandestine.

"I called you here because you're the only one I can talk to about this." Sora's voice was shaking and his words seemed reluctant to leave his mind. It was obvious, where this was going. "I...I think I like Max."

Asuka took a deep breath - What am I supposed to say? The art of delicately handling other people's problems was one that she was still learning; and Sora looked more than confused enough for the both of them. "Look, Sora, I..." she trailed off, her tone a tad gentler than usual. Fuck. What am I supposed to do here? Their feelings were mutual, this much she knew; but was it her place to play matchmaker? Probably not, but it couldn't hurt to give him a gentle shove in the correct direction. Again, she sighed. "... I've known that for a while. And you should know this by now, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me. It shouldn't bother you, either." She smiled, just a little, in an attempt to be at least moderately reassuring. "It's okay. You can talk about it if you want."

[andou]

Asuka was turning out to be the perfect choice of people to talk to about this. Ayame was too...confused and well... he didn't really have many other friends. Asuka wasn't going to sugar coat anything for him, she wasn't going to beat around the bush, and she wasn't the type to pretend that she cared. Which meant that her kindness right now, was genuine.

"Look, Sora, I... I've known that for a while. And you should know this by now, but that sort of thing doesn't bother me. It shouldn't bother you, either."

Her words didn't settle is turning gut. They might have been in a burger joint, but the last thing Sora wanted was food. He felt sick, like in a second he could either start crying or throwing up. His glossy eyes glanced up at Asuka, and he decided that he would rather throw up. "Asuka," he whimpered, placing his hands to his eyes. "Give me a second." His voice was thick with the threatening tears.

"It doesn't bother me." That much was true, he was just so confused. If he liked Max, that was fine, but he didn't like boys... Shouldn't liking Max mean that he liked boys? "I like Max. That's just that. But..." The lump rose in his throat again. "I don't like other boys... I don't know what I am any more? Just a couple of days ago I was skirt chasing and today I want to kiss my roommate."

Why the fuck was he crying? He hid his face from Asuka, by placing his face in his arms. "I'm sorry, I'm just wasting your time."

[false]

The sound of the burger joint milling about them - the clang of silverware, deep-friers transmogrifying once-healthy meat into edible thigh fat, garbled conversations - hardly carried over to the booth they were in. Sora looked so forlorn, so utterly confused; Asuka couldn't help but feel a little sickened by the way he held his face within his hands, unwilling to show his tearing eyes to the world.

A waitress who Asuka didn't recognize came up and asked for their order; she waved the woman away, told her to come back in a few moments, as Sora elaborated. None of what he said was particularly surprising; it was all commonplace for someone whose sexuality came under suspicion, given his status as a skirt-chaser and the sheer amount of skirts he inevitably must have caught.

Through the eyes of a previously straight boy, falling in love with a member of the same sex meant one of two things: repress it and be miserable, or act on it and throw your masculinity underneath a bus. Sora was straight, though. Asuka knew this as fact, and Sora knew it, too, deep down. Having seen just how frazzled he was over liking Max, Asuka was glad that she had kept her mouth shut towards his roommate's feelings - there was no telling what would have happened if she had. Asuka took in a deep breath, willing herself to be constructive just for once. Sora and Max were the only people she truly felt comfortable around, sans Kenji, and if I can, I'm going to help them.

"No, Sora. Don't say things like that," Asuka said, reaching across the table, lightly pulling at the hands that covered his face. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't, alright?" The waitress returned only to be waved off again, hopefully she wouldn't kick them out for sitting in the booths without ordering anything."You're not gay, if that's what you're worried about. Max is the only one you like, right? So you're just..." She trailed off, searching for the correct way to put it. "Maxsexual. It's not that he's a boy, it's that he's Max. You're in love with Max who just happens to be a boy. Does that make sense?"

Again, Asuka smiled weakly, not fully understanding this outpouring of sympathy - that's not true, I understand it... This was what it was like to have friends, wasn't it? A feeling that was foreign, but not unwelcome. "And.. it's not really my place to say, but should you choose to act on your desires, you're not as out of luck as you may think."

[andou]

This was all so embarrassing. Sora wasn't the type of person to cry...ever. There was only one other person that had ever seen him cry and that was his sister Emi, who he didn't even want to think about. Sora was sure that she wouldn't judge him, but telling her about this would just confuse her... probably more than he was confused himself. That made him nervous, more nervous than the thought of confessing to Max.

He could hear Asuka wave away the waitress, and he sniffed silently. All of the hustle and bustle of their surroundings proved to be the perfect place to have a mental break down. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own issues to notice a crying boy.

"No, Sora. Don't say things like that. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't, alright?" Asuka was being gentle, pulling his hands away form his face. He looked up at her with bloodshot teary eyes. Sora knew that this kindness didn't come easily to Asuka, so the fact that he was trying to make him feel better warmed his heart. Tears flowed faster now, confused tears, appreciative tears, tears that have been built up for a while now that just needed to come out. He wanted to say sorry for crying, but he knew that Asuka would just blow it off.

"You're not gay, if that's what you're worried about. Max is the only one you like, right? So you're just...Maxsexual. It's not that he's a boy, it's that he's Max. You're in love with Max who just happens to be a boy. Does that make sense?"

That stopped his tears, he blinked them away before staring at Asuka, "Maxsexual." He repeated, as if the word made perfect sense. "Yeah... that does make sense." For the first time that day Sora felt settled, a smile worked itself up onto his face, the remaining tears falling from his eyes. He was straight, no... that couldn't be right because right now not even girls appealed to Sora right now. There was only Max, and maybe there would only be Max for a very long time. Maxsexual.

Sora wiped at his eyes, leaving them rimmed with red, his bright blue eyes contrasting in his pink eyes. "And.. it's not really my place to say, but should you choose to act on your desires, you're not as out of luck as you may think." That one flew right over Sora's head. He was still caught up in accepting Maxsexual.

"Thanks Asuka." He smiled, "But... I don't think I'll ever tell Max the way I feel." Sora brought his hands back to his side of the table and looked down at them, his happy smile changing once again into a melancholy one. "I don't want to freak him out and end up losing him..."

[false]

Asuka watched as Sora cried harder and harder, saying nothing because she knew more than anyone that he needed to let out all of his misery, anguish, heartache - and if he accidentally washed away the walls he'd erected around himself, then so be it. Already, she'd decided that she loved both sides of Sora: him as a casanova, a joker, always bouncing off the walls and coming up with stupid nicknames for things, and Sora as the heartfelt, lovesick mess sitting right in front of her, crying his eyes out over a boy who loved him back but would never admit it. She could feel his pulse with her hand lightly grasping his wrist; she could see his inner turmoil reflected in his pale blue irises, the way his hands trembled slightly as they descended to his sides.

"Maxsexual," Sora said, smiling a little as the last few tears descended down his face. In this moment Asuka knew that she had gotten through to him - the pseudo-scientific term she'd coined without even really thinking about it was an anchor, a voice that said that his entire world wasn't circling the drain. Thank god, she told herself, amazed that she'd been able to help at all. Her last statement had slipped under his radar - he'd been too busy mulling over the concept of 'Maxsexuality' to get it, she surmised. That was okay, he would find out sooner or later.

"Thanks Asuka." She smiled back, vowing to remember forever how those words had sounded in that moment. "But... I don't think I'll ever tell Max the way I feel." His relative cheer deflated back into sadness, his eyes stared blankly at the space below him. Like a flash, whatever comfort she'd been able to bring disappeared; and now, she doubted that being told the truth about Max could rescue him. "I don't want to freak him out and end up losing him..."

Asuka sighed, feeling rather like a hackneyed, incompetent guidance counselor, one who held all the cards but couldn't show them in a way that helped. "Look, Sora... I.. Max... Nevermind." She shook her head, unwilling to go any further. "It'll all work out, somehow. Don't worry."