“Kazuya… why do you insist on living on campus?” Junno asked his best friend as he helped the other with his belongings.

 

“Because I don’t like having my father breathing down my neck all the time?” Kazuya said in a matter-of-factly tone. “Besides, it’s the best way to enjoy campus life, isn’t it?”

 

“Your father is just concerned about you…” Junno tried to reason with his best friend as they approached his hostel room, “He really loves you as a son, you know that. Even after you came out of the closet in high school and only had me as your friend…”

 

“Junno, please don’t go back to that again…” Kazuya begged and gave Junno his best puppy eyes. Deep inside, he knew that all the things his father did were out of sheer concern. But there was a limit to the amount of concern you show. Following him on dates is one thing but scaring off all his potential boyfriends by lecturing them on safe sex was another. If Kazuya stayed at home, he was sure he would remain single for the rest of his life.

 

Kazuya fumbled with his keys and unlocked his hostel room. It was more spacious than he expected but it was very empty with only a few pieces of essential furniture. Junno came in after him moving in two boxes of books and random objects. Kazuya went on to drag his gigantic luggage into the room.The two busied themselves with moving everything into the hostel room. Very soon, both of them collapsed on the floor, both perspiring from the strenuous activity.
 

“Hey, Kazuya…” Junno lowered his voice, “ I think your neighbour might be a very cute guy.”

 

“Junno….” Kazuya sighed , “ I’m not going to scare my neighbours by telling them on the first day that I’m gay. They’re not like you… they might not accept me.”

 

“Maa…I understand.” Junno said as he got up, “ But you are never gonna know if you never try… besides…they might mistake you for a girl anyway…”

 

“Junno!!” Kazuya exclaimed as he wrestled his laughing friend to the ground. Junno started giggling and tried to tickle Kazuya, flipping him over.

 

A knock and the sound of someone clearing his throat caught their attention. Standing at the door was a young man, probably only a year their senior, with brown hair that fell over one of his eyes.

 

“Erm… hi… not to interrupt anything but… I just wanted to welcome my new neighbour." The young man mumbled as he looked away from the two.

 

Kazuya realized that Junno was now hovering over him on his hands and knees while his own hands are placed on his best friend’s waist. Panicking, he quickly got up and pushed Junno aside.

 

“Sorry… this… is not what it looks like.” Kazuy tried to explain, and regulating his breathing at the same time.

 

“ I-it’s ok… I’ll get used to it.” The guy nonchalantly waved his hands and started to walk away from the room.

 

“ Wait! Junno is not my boyfriend!!” Kazuya yelled after him, running into the corridors.

 

“Sure, I understand,” the guy headed for his room ,shaking his head as he opened his door, “Looks like I’ll have to put up with a lot of noise at night…but I'll get used to it...”

 

Kazuya bit his own lips in frustration. This baka just refuses to listen, he thought to himself.

 

“ Look,” Kazuya boldly reached out to grabbed the other guy’s shirt and pulled him back, “ Don’t assume you know everything because you walked in at the wrong time…”

 

“Sure…” the other said, freeing himself from Kazuya’s grip, “ Chill…ok?  and get that thing out of your hair, you look like a terrier, for goodness sake…” And with that the other went into his room and slammed the door shut.

 

Kazuya then realized that his fringe was still tied up in a ponytail from before, and he did look some what like a dog. Grumbling, he made an extra effort to remember his neighbour’s name that was printed at the side of the door.

 

“Yamashita Tomohisa,” he mumbled under his breath, “Thanks to you, my first day on campus is ruined.”

 

“Was he nice?” Junno asked, his eyes fixed on his Nintendo DS when Kazuya returned to the room.

 

“ He called me a dog, what do you think?” Kazuya grumbled as he unpacked his clothes into the wardrobe.

 

Junno burst into laughter but became quiet when he noticed that Kazuya was still pouting from the episode before.

 

“Cheer up,” he said as he put away his Nintendo DS and began to help the other unpack, “ Maybe we’ll meet some better people when school starts.”  Kazuya smiled back and nodded in response.

 

Starting campus life was one of the most exciting and also the most tiring days of Kazuya’s life. The sports teams and interest clubs began to recruit members and it was a tough choice what he should do. Being a long-time baseball enthusiast, Kazuya dragged Junno along to check out the college’s baseball team.

 

“Let’s welcome our star pitcher, Akanishi Jin!” the announcer yelled over the loudspeakers and the crowd, consisting of mostly girls, burst into excited screams and squeals. A dark haired senior made his way to the pitcher’s mound, giving a wave to the crowd which screamed in response.

 

“What do you think, Kazuya?” Junno asked, observing his friend’s face as he asked.

 

“He looks good, I have to admit, but let’s just see how he plays…” Kazuya replied, his eyes still fixed on the baseball grounds.

 

Akanishi Jin was good. His pitches were flawless as every one of them went into the catcher’s mitt without fail. His straight posture, his concentrated expression, the way his dark hair swept over his face as he threw every ball caught Kazuya’s attention.

 

“He’s…fantastic.” Kazuya mumbled absentmindedly as he watched the star player in action.

 

“Aww… looks like Kazuya is in love…” Junno teased, poking Kazuya in the cheeks.

 

Just than, Jin threw his last pitch, which landed beautifully into the catcher’s mitt and ended the game.Kazuya saw an oddly familiar looking guy run onto the field and jumped on his new crush. That guy was none other than his hostel neighbour, Yamashita Tomohisa.