“Bro, we are in total agreement. I wish there was something we could do to get those guys back. But I guess the world sucks sometimes. Anyway, don’t worry about Nicholas. He’s tough.”
Why would Eugene have told Seiji all this information, unless he wanted Seiji to worry? Preventing Nicholas from being hurt seemed like basic friend behavior. Even Seiji could grasp that much.
Seiji squinted over at Nicholas. He didn’t appear distraught. He was laughing while Bobby dared him to stuff more marshmallows in his mouth. There was already an alarming number of marshmallows in Nicholas’s mouth.
“How would we get those guys back?” Seiji asked. “Like you were saying.”
Eugene blinked rapidly. “I was thinking it would be cool to play a totally excellent prank on them. Make them look as dumb as they are.”
Seiji shuddered. “I don’t think I want to… pull a prank.”
Pranks seemed undignified.
Eugene shrugged. “Yeah, I figured it wasn’t your scene, my man.”
My man was even worse than bro. Seiji endured.
He should’ve felt better now that he knew Nicholas was not angry with him, but somehow, he didn’t. He remained uncomfortable. Of course, he was still at this midnight feast.
Aiden didn’t appear to be enjoying the midnight feast, either. His face was stormy, when normally he was the kind of person who sailed through life on calm waters. Seiji sympathized with Aiden’s antifeast attitude, but he didn’t intend to bond with him. After all, in tryouts, Aiden had brought up seeing him lose against Jesse. He had known it would strike a nerve, and, humiliatingly, it had. Seiji had lost against Aiden, too.
Aiden’s glittering eyes always seemed to read Seiji like a book, as though Aiden saw things Seiji didn’t even know about himself.
Aiden’s lip curled back from his teeth in a snarl, distorting his face further. “What are you looking at, freshman?”
“I was looking at you,” said Seiji truthfully.
Those green eyes narrowed, seeing too much again. “Reliving the day you had to feel like a loser?”
Seiji’s gaze fell away from Aiden’s.
“Seiji isn’t a loser. Being a loser isn’t about whether you lose or win matches,” piped up Nicholas, and Harvard turned around to give Nicholas a fist bump.
Seiji frowned. “Why not? Do words just not have meanings anymore?”
He took this as confirmation, though, that Eugene had been right and Nicholas wasn’t angry with him, so he went back over to Nicholas and out of Aiden’s line of sight.
“Don’t eat an excessive amount of carbohydrates at this hour,” Seiji advised Nicholas.
“I’m gonna,” said Nicholas.
Seiji shook his head, pained. “Try some protein shake.”
Nicholas accepted the shake and took a gulp. Then he immediately spat half of it back into the glass. Seiji stared at him in dismay.
Nicholas wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That’s gross.”
“You’re gross!” Seiji exclaimed. “That is unsanitary! Eugene, may I have another protein shake?”
“Have the one Eugene brought for me,” Nicholas urged. “Please.”
Seiji accepted this peace offering. He sat by Nicholas and drank a new protein shake, and the midnight feast was slightly improved. He declined to eat pasta at midnight. After the pasta was eaten, they roasted the rest of the marshmallows over the burner. Nicholas put his marshmallows into the remnants of his pasta sauce. Seiji was absolutely revolted.
Harvard continued to make conversation. Seiji didn’t know how he did it. People called these interactions small talk: To Seiji, the talk was so small he never seemed able to find it, or sure why he should. Harvard was discussing someone called Neil who went to another school.
Seiji tried to make conversation as well. “Ah, a fencing opponent?”
“No, Neil’s not that into fencing,” Harvard said. “He’s into art. He showed me some of his drawings. They’re really good.”
“Another unusual hobby,” Seiji remarked, and gestured to Dante. “Like Dante’s interest in cookery.”
Sitting in the far corner being tall and gloomy, Dante sighed and gave them what Seiji found to be an unfriendly look. Seiji sympathized. If Nicholas had invited his many friends over to their room, Seiji would go sleep in the salle.
Bobby shook his head at Dante, sparkly clips in his hair catching the light. “They’re welcome! Especially Seiji. It’s an honor to have you here, Seiji!”
That was kind of Bobby to say, though Seiji wasn’t sure why it would be. Seiji nodded uneasily.
“Neil did say he’d like to see one of my fencing matches, though,” Harvard continued, brightening further. He seemed to be in a very good mood.
“Oh, I see,” said Seiji. “Neil is a friend.”
Friends watched each other’s fencing matches. Seiji was aware.
“Well… not exactly?” Harvard ducked his head. Seiji stared in bewilderment.
Nicholas nudged him. “Harvard is dating Neil. The captain goes on many dates!”
“Oh yes,” said Seiji, enlightened. “I remember.”
He was grateful to Nicholas for explaining the matter so that Seiji understood. There had been a great deal of talk about Harvard dating recently. He hoped the captain wouldn’t let dating interfere with his fencing too much.
“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, Captain!” Eugene exclaimed.
Eugene and Bobby leaned forward, both seeming extremely interested. Everyone must share Seiji’s concern about the captain’s fencing.
“He’s not my boyfriend…,” Harvard muttered. “… not yet.”
There was a loud noise. Apparently, Aiden had accidentally pulled the curtain right off the wall. Dante leaped to his feet and Aiden muttered apologies.
Seiji didn’t think Aiden was being a good guest, but he was focused on other things. He required further explanations.
“So is he going to be your boyfriend?” Seiji asked.
“I’m, uh,” said Harvard. “I’m not sure.”
“When will you know?”
“For now, we’re just dating.”
Wasn’t dating what you did with boyfriends and girlfriends? Wasn’t that what they were specifically for? Was there a probationary period? That seemed stressful. Stress was bound to affect the captain’s game. Why was nobody sensible?
Was there a probationary period for being friends? Seiji glanced at Nicholas in alarm.
Why did nobody ever tell Seiji the rules of social behavior? He’d been taught the rules for fencing, and he excelled in that. He didn’t see why everybody expected him to excel in life with no training.
“My dude, this is so exciting and romantic!” said Eugene.
“Do you like him a lot?” asked Bobby, starry-eyed.
Seiji had more questions, too. “Could you not find a boyfriend who was interested in fencing? It seems better to have a boyfriend who is interested in fencing.”
“That does seem true,” Nicholas muttered, but then raised his voice and said with loyalty to his captain: “I’m sure your boyfriend’s super nice, though!”
“He is really nice,” Harvard confirmed, sounding shy. “He’s really cool and funny. He likes comics! He loaned me some and said I could give them back to him on Tuesday. When we have our next date. I do like him a lot. So far.”