fxxkit | Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?

"I've told you, those machines are all rigged." Not that he didn't think it was kind of fun, watching his friend, yes, use the claw machine and get so into it. He was very emotional and those emotions always showed right on the surface, it was very interesting to Chenglei, who kept his own emotions subdued. Or maybe he just didn't have that many, he felt that was a definite possibility too. "Maybe today is the day."

Maybe one day he should give it a try. Might be nice to give Yihao something, while they could still hang out.

"I hope so." Once he was all dressed, he made sure he was all set and had everything before looking at Chenglei and waiting for him to lead the way - he knew where he stood and it was not great, he was very reliant on Chenglei right now. Sure, if he left, he'd cope again because he always did but his hope was for Chenglei not to leave. He liked him a lot. "I read a new manga yesterday, you might like it."

He purposefully read one that looked boring and manly just so he could get closer to Chenglei's taste. "It's called Trigun and it's awesome. Lots of badass action scene." Unlike Fruits Basket.

"Uh-huh. I didn't think that would be to your taste." It was pretty transparent why he was reading it then, because generally Yihao wasn't subtle about that. He still had traumatic flashbacks to the time Yihao tried to talk cars with him and he could not find a way out of the conversation. He really didn't want to be stuck in that loop again. "It's good, Trigun. But, y'know, cute manga can be fun too. I like... I dunno. Oh, You know Ouran High School Host Club? That's funny."

"Oh, I really like that one. I love the anime more though, the manga is a bit dramatic. I love to watch that one when I'm sad." Yihao agreed readily, happy to change the subject from the very dull manga he'd read. He was just so determined to appear cool, he'd rather torture himself than admit to what he liked. He didn't want to be laughed at or hated by Chenglei, he would do nothing to risk the progress he'd made. "You're the cool type. If you were a host club member."

He blushed, realising how dumb that sounded. Damn it, you dumb gay! Stop it.

"I don't think I'd be charming enough to qualify." Not that he wanted to, but honestly? Girls were scared of him more than anything these days. Not that he really minded that either, honestly, he remembered when it hadn't been that way and in retrospect, that seemed like a real pain in the ass.

"You'd be the cute type." That much was obvious. "Eating strawberry cupcakes." Seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

"I do love strawberries. They're just objectively the best fruit." Yihao insisted as he walked next to his friend, bouncing along happily and feeling safe, secure and unlikely to get hurt. As they reached class, Yihao noticed that people whispered when they saw them but Yihao just took a seat at his table and checked to make sure that Chenglei sat next to him.

The teacher explained what they had to do and it was mostly tedious but he liked that he could doodle cute animals and fun messages on paper and flick them at his friend.

Chenglei, as per usual, mostly ignored Yihao's notes, getting lost in his own thoughts instead. He did like woodworking, it always kind of put him into a zen state and he didn't properly look up until the teacher was suddenly there, questioning him about something to do with what he'd done.

Probably because instead of what they were supposed to make, he had ended up making a wooden panda. Huh. He shrugged and pushed it over to Yihao. "There. Keep it."

"... That's not a bookcase. Woah. How did you do that?" Yihao stared at it and he wasn't alone. With him, staring just as baffled, was his teacher and a few nearby classmates. Why hadn't he made a shelf and instead, he'd made a really cute little panda. Yihao blushed as he took it from Chenglei and smiled, amazed by how cool it looked. He was so putting his in a prime spot in his room.

"Check it out, princess piggy is getting a gift from his boyfriend."

The classroom was full of immature laughter but for once, it didn't bother Yihao. He just smiled at Chenglei. "Thank you!"

"Whatever. You are like a cute panda." So he might as well have one, while he couldn't win one from a rigged claw machine. Chenglei shrugged his shoulders and then noticed that everyone in class was just staring. Why did that keep happening? And then they wondered why he kept taking off. This wasn't a school, it was like a weird social experiment. "If I'm done with my project, can I leave now?"

"I suppose you can if you feel you must. Feel free to take your boyfriend with you." The teacher was very dismissive and clearly not interested in his students as much as he pretended to be. He wished he could be more surprised but by now, Yihao had truly understood how little his teachers cared. After all, they were the ones who did things like encouraged his bullying and name calling - and they really didn't notice when he skipped either.

Standing up, he hugged his panda close to his chest and waited for Chenglei to finish up, happily leaving the class. "... I can't believe we got to end already."

"Fun." It was really more depressing, but at the moment? He didn't care. "We can go to some internet café and watch Ouran High School Host Club." Seemed like a much better use of time than hanging out at this school filled with idiots any longer. He looked at Yihao from the side, endeared by how he was holding on to the panda. "You can just put that in your bag. I can carry that for you, if it's too heavy."

He was pretty weak.

"It's okay, I got it. It's not too heavy." He felt his heart race as he stuffed his panda into his bag and slung it back on, adjusting it a little on his shoulder so it wasn't too heavy. All the cool kids had shoulder bags and he wished he had one but his mom was worried about his back so he had to use the uncool rucksacks. So embarrassing!

"Do you want to go to the mall on Saturday?" He knew it was a longshot and they only hung out after school at most but he wanted to try. He liked the idea of having weekend plans, it had never happened before.

"I don't really want to go to the mall ever." If he was being honest here. But he saw that hopeful look on Yihao's face and it wasn't easy to just turn him down, even if he knew that it rightly should be what he did. What was the point of this? He wouldn't be around much longer and he already liked that kid just a little bit too much. "We can do something, I guess. If you really wanna."

"Well, the mall is just a place people hang out. We don't have to do much there but we could get something like milktea and then go on a walk." He did love milktea and he knew just the place to go to get it. That and maybe he could show him where the best manga store was. He knew from all the intense googling he'd been doing to ensure that he could hold a conversation on the topic. "Once we've been there for a few, we can just head back to the manga cafe. I like it there... even if it's a bit sad sometimes."

Lots of homeless people and horny weirdos.

"Because there's a lot of losers like me there?" Chenglei snorted and held the door open for Yihao to walk through, then he fell into step next to him. He looked around, having that feeling of being watched. Now he was getting paranoid too? He really was doing just great. "You need to find some other friends, Yihao."

There. At least he was kind of admitting that he was his friend.

Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?

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