Noriyuki Gets Hit On Part 2

“GOOD MORNING KUU-CHAN!!!” Noriyuki yelled out as Tomohiro came out of his room. Noriyuki was in an apron carrying a spatula as he greeted Tomohiro outside his door. Tomohiro just got done getting ready for the day; he was dressed in a blue t-shirt with slim-fitting black jeans and a gray zip-up jacket.

“Good morning,” Tomohiro greeted back blank-faced.

“I made you your favorite this morning! Tamagoyaki with ketchup on top and rice on the side,” Noriyuki said with excitement.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m going to go have breakfast with Nonoka.”

Noriyuki’s fiery heart was replaced with a dark aura surrounding it. His smile was replaced with a vengeful look. “That Nonoka. Always trying to steal my Kuu-Chan away from me. First you took away my day with him and now you’re taking away our breakfast time together. I’ll get you back somehow. Someday.”

Tomohiro had a nervous look on his face as he witnessed Noriyuki’s small breakdown. “Uh, I’ll be back in time for dinner,” he tried to lift Noriyuki’s spirit.

“Okay!” Noriyuki’s expression quickly changed back into a loving smile with hearts in his eyes. “Be ready for the best meal of your life today,” he confidently declared.

“You say that everyday,” Tomohiro walked to the living room to grab his bag and swung it over his shoulder.

“But isn’t everything I make for you the best thing you’ve ever eaten?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tomohiro walked over to the door then paused. “Oh yeah, who are you meeting today anyway?”

“Just a second-year who needs help with a class I already took.”

“I see, do I know this person?”

Noriyuki put his finger on his chin with a thinking face, “I don’t think so. She said she just transferred this year. Maybe you’ve seen her around before! Her sense of style is amazing.”

“I don’t focus on people’s style as much as you and Nonoka do,” Tomohiro retorted.

“Oh…,”

“Well, just a good senior to her. Don’t scare her off with your craziness.”

“No one’s ever been scared of my craziness before,” Noriyuki rebuked with a crazy expression.

Tomohiro lightly chuckled, “ You may be crazy, but your kindness overshadows that.”

Noriyuki blushed, “Kuu-Chan…”

“Well, I gotta go now, see you.” Tomohiro went out the door as he waved goodbye to Noriyuki.

As Tomohiro left, Noriyuki stood in the living room still blushing. He put both of his hands around his cheeks and had a lovestruck smile on his face, “Kuu-Chan just complimented me,” he snickered.

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Tomohiro and Nonoka were out walking to the train station side by side. The streets weren’t as busy and the both of them were one of the few people out that morning.

“So, Noriyuki was probably threatening me this morning, wasn’t he?”

“Sorry?”

“I felt a chill up my spine as I got up this morning. I assume it was a sign that Noriyuki was plotting something against me,” Nonoka’s expression turned sinister.

“What’s with these two,” Tomohiro thought.

“Since you’re here, he must be bored out of his mind today.”

“He’s actually meeting someone today.”

“Really? Is it Osuke?”

“No, he told me he was going to help a junior with a class he already took.”

“Really? Who is it? Maybe I know them since they’re in our major,” Nonoka asked excitedly.

“He didn’t give me a name. All I know is that she’s a transfer student and has a good style.”

“Transfer student?”

“Do you know anyone like that?”

Nonoka thought carefully, “I feel like I’ve been told something about a transfer student before, but I don’t really remember anything. I was too busy looking at clothing stores this week,” Nonoka looked proud of herself.

“You should’ve been busy focusing on school,” Tomohiro retorted.

“Maybe I’ll remember if I think about it hard enough,” Nonoka brushed off Tomohiro’s reply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That’s it!” Nonoka sounded as if she had just come upon an epiphany.

“What?”

“The transfer student. I know where I heard about her from!” Nonoka and Tomohiro were sitting across from each other at a restaurant booth. They recently got off the subway train and were now at their designated city for their shopping trip.

“So, recently, some girl came up to me and called me out for being her rival in love.”

Tomohiro felt secondhand embarrassment after hearing that, “What is this? Some romance anime,” he thought to himself.

“I got some information from other students and found out she just transferred here. Hanazawa Erisa was her name. She’s pretty popular with the second-year guys; I think she’s known as the Fashion Idol in the department. But one day she bumped into me and told me how she’s in love with the prince of the fashion department and how I shouldn’t let my guard down or she’ll steal him,” Nonoka tried to recount the many things that were said to her.

“Prince? Rivals? Idol?” Tomohiro couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Fashion majors are so dramatic. I’d feel embarrassed if I was this ‘prince’ person,” he took a sip of his coffee.

“Noriyuki’s the prince,” Nonoka added nonchalantly which caused Tomohiro to do a spit take upon hearing that.

He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth, “You’re kidding, right?”

“He’s been known that ever since he was a freshman.”

“Do these people still think this is high school or something,” Tomohiro thought to himself. “So, this ‘rival’ of yours is in love with my boyfriend? And she thinks you’re in love with him and wants to steal him from you?”

“Basically.” Nonoka smirked and laid back in her seat, “Little does she know that Noriyuki is super into you and only has eyes for you.”

Tomohiro’s face turned red and he looked down to hide it from Nonoka.

“Whoa! You’re blushing a lot,” Nonoka leaned towards Tomohiro to catch his embarrassment.

“No, I’m not,” Tomohiro denied it.

Nonoka chuckled at the cute sight in front of her. “It’s true though. He only sees you and no one else.”

Tomohiro smiled as he heard that.

“But…doesn’t it make you feel a bit jealous that there’s someone else after your man?” Nonoka’s expression turned serious.

“No,” Tomohiro quickly replied with expressionless eyes.

“Eh? Really?” Nonoka’s expression turned to a dumbfounded one.

“Mm.”

“You’re not the least bit worried about that?”

“You just said it, he only sees me. I trust him enough to let him be around whoever he wants.”

Nonoka gently smiled hearing her friend’s words. “Guess like I’ll need to learn from you whenever I date someone.”

Tomohiro chuckled, “Although I am worried that his kindness might be taken the wrong way by that girl. And I’m worried that he might be dense about the signals she gives him.”

“Don’t worry about it too much, we don’t even know if she is the exact same person he’s meeting today.”

Tomohiro smiled, “You’re right. I’m not gonna worry about something that might not even happen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right back at Noriyuki’s apartment, there was a knock at the front door. “Ah, she’s here right on time.” Noriyuki checked the time on his phone: 12pm, the exact time they agreed upon during their first encounter. They’ve also exchanged numbers so that Noriyuki could send Erisa the address for his place. Noriyuki went to open the door and Erisa stood there with a cute, proper pose. She was dressed in a white button-up shirt with a yellow, plaid jacket with a matching skirt of the same design. On her head was a beret that had the same design as her jacket and skirt. Her outfit was similar to that of a school uniform, but more fashionable. She also wore a backpack that made her look even more like a high school student. As Noriyuki saw her, his eyes were filled with sparkle at what she was wearing.

In her head, Erisa snickered and thought, “Judging from the way he’s looking at me, he’s at a point of no return now. It was easier to pursue him than I originally thought.”

“Another fashion masterpiece,” Noriyuki thought as his eyes analyzed her outfit.

“Hello, Aikou-san, can I come in?” Erisa greeted him which disrupted his thought.

“H-hi, of course, come in,” Noriyuki felt embarrassed and gestured to her to come inside. “Also, let’s skip the formalities and just call me Noriyuki.”

“Already first name basis,” Erisa thought. “This guy is really just going to go all in. Well, just like I said, no guy can resist me,” she secretly wore a mischievous expression. “Well, then,” she turned back into her cute facade, “Call me Erisa!”

Noriyuki smiled at the sight of his cute and happy junior. “Okay, Erisa. Let’s get started then. You can go sit on the couch.”

Erisa followed suit and Noriyuki sat next to her. “Okay, then,” she reached into her backpack and got out her laptop and her textbook. She opened up her laptop and tapped on the icon for the design software. “Can you tell me how to use this?” She turned her laptop screen towards him.

“Let me see,” he grabbed her laptop from her, “It might be a bit harder to understand by explaining so why don’t I show you how to use it with an example.”

“Sure! That sounds good!”

“Hmmm, how about we try to make your outfit.”

Erisa blushed, “M-my outfit?”

Noriyuki smiled and blushed, “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, but I really like your style. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, then we can try something else,” Noriyuki looked away to hide his embarrassed expression.

“No, it’s fine! I’d be happy if you used my outfit as an example,” Erisa smiled at the sudden compliment from Noriyuki.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you have a bathroom I can use,” Erisa asked Noriyuki as he was in the middle of helping her with the software.

“Oh, it’s the door at the end of that hall,” he pointed to a hallway behind the living room that consisted of his room, Tomohiro’s room, and the bathroom at the end.

“Thank you, I’ll be back soon.” Erisa got up and quickly walked to the bathroom and locked the door once she was inside. She took out her phone and contacted Sae.

“Hello?” Sae answered on the other line.

“Sae, I need help!”

“Erisa? What’s wrong?”

“I’m at the prince’s place.”

“Oh yeah, how’s that working out?”

“Not well. It was going good at first, but now I can’t even tell where this is going. This whole thing is becoming pointless.”

“I don’t think getting help for class is pointless.”

“It’s not the class that matters, it’s whether I make him mine or not.”

“Wouldn’t the class matter more?”

“What’s with you and class and studying? What exactly did you come to college for?”

“Do you not hear yourself,” Sae retorted with a dumbfounded tone.

“Anyway, at first he seemed interested. He was staring at me with loving eyes when I arrived here and he even said to skip the formalities and to call him by his first name. Then he suddenly complimented my style and said he liked how I dress,” Erisa blushed as she said the last part. “Now he’s been too focused on that software for the past half hour and hasn't given me any attention.”

“Hmmm, judging from what you said. He could be interested or he could just be a player.”

“Then how do I know if he’s actually interested?”

“Aren’t you the one who watches all those romance shows? Look for the signs!”

“I’m not getting any signs. At this point, everything’s just slow.”

“Don’t sweat it. Even if it’s slow, you’ll still end up with him anyway. I mean, the main female lead always ends up with the male lead no matter how slow it takes.”

“Yeah, but it usually takes them one whole season to actually start dating and I can’t wait that long. I want to date him by the first episode!”

“Then, we’ll speedrun through your story.” Sae’s tone suddenly turned serious.

“Huh?” Erisa was confused, but was all ears to hear her friend’s plan.

“You’ve already passed through the part where you meet him in a cute scenario and now you’re past first name basis as well as him inviting you over to his place. That’s basically half a season already in romance shows. Now you’re stuck in filler episodes where the romance is leading nowhere and you’re just killing time.”

“Really? Then what do I do next?”

“Now comes the part of the accidental kiss and that’s when you both realize you’re in love with each other but you won’t say anything yet even though inside, you’re filled with love to the brim. When it comes time for you to go home, confess to him and your romance life will start its second season beginning with you dating him.”

“Sae…you’re a genius! I’ll speedrun through the process and then my confession arc will be completed!”

“You got this! I’ll be rooting for you.”

“Thanks, Sae. I gotta go now.” Erisa hung up and left the bathroom to meet with Noriyuki back in the living room.

“Are you okay?” Noriyuki had a concerning look on his face.

“I’m okay, I just–” Erisa forced herself to trip as she walked to her seat. She grabbed onto Noriyuki’s shoulders for support but ended up pinning him down to the couch; her laptop fell off of Noriyuki’s lap and hit the carpet mat. “I-I’m sorry,” Erisa blushed as she looked at Noriyuki from above. Noriyuki was also blushing due to the situation they were in.

“U-Uh…,” Noriyuki was speechless.

As they stared into each other’s eyes for a bit, Erisa closed her eyes, “Okay, here I go,” she thought and slowly brought her lips down to him. Noriyuki panicked at what was happening and interrupted her.

“I can’t do this!” He quickly yelled out which ruined the mood.

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

Erisa's face turned red at her embarrassing attempt to try and kiss him. “B-But why? I thought you liked me. You invited me over and looked at me so lovingly, and you said you like my style. We’re even calling each other by first names now,” her voice was quivering due to embarrassment.

“I did all that to make you feel comfortable since you’re a new transfer. I didn’t have any other intention besides that,” Noriyuki quickly explained.

Erisa paused for a moment to try and wrap her head around the situation. “It’s that girl, isn’t it?”

“Huh,” Noriyuki was confused.

“That girl you were talking to the other day. You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking–”

“Just give me a chance. Give me a chance and I can make you fall in love with me!”

“What?” Noriyuki’s internal danger alarm was going off. He wanted to get her off of him but didn’t want to hurt her while doing it. Her hands were on his shoulders but they weren’t too strong, so he could at least move his hands to protect his face if she tried to go in for another kiss.

“Trust me, I can make you forget all about her,” she started leaning in again and Noriyuki was ready to defend himself, “Just trust–”

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Tomohiro appeared with Nonoka standing behind him. He had a dark aura surrounding him which complimented the death stare on his face. “What’s going on in here,” he asked with no emotion.

Erisa quickly turned around and let out a small squeal. “W-who are y-you,” her voice trembled in fear as she made eye contact with Tomohiro.

“The real question is, who are you and what are you doing to my boyfriend?” Tomohiro’s emotionless tone made him sound even scarier than usual.

“B-boyfriend?” She turned to face Noriyuki who had a nervous smile on his face.

“Kuu-Chan, you made it just in time to save me,” Noriyuki nervously chuckled.

“Kuu-Chan?” Erisa’s head was spinning at this new revelation.

“It’s in your best interest to get off of him now or you’ll regret it.” Tomohiro put one of his hands on Erisa’s shoulder which caused the other to be startled. She didn’t want to turn around and face him out of fear.

“I-I-I I’LL GO NOW!!! I’M SORRY!!” She quickly got off of Noriyuki and ran out the door, passing Nonoka, and into the streets.

“Well, that was easy,” Tomohiro said as he watched her rush out of the apartment with an indifferent expression.

“Kuu-Chan!!” Noriyuki quickly got up and gave Tomohiro a hug. “You came back just in time!”

“Mm, my boyfriend intuition was correct then.”

“Eh? What?”

Nonoka sighed, “We had to cut off our shopping trip short because of you. You’re lucky he’s able to sense when you’re in danger.”

“Kuu-Chan,” Noriyuki had tears of joy forming in his eyes as he embraced Tomohiro.

Nonoka sighed, “Well then, looks like you two need some time alone, so I’ll get going,” Nonoka was about to leave until she noticed the laptop laying on the carpet. “Was that hers,” she pointed at the laptop.

“Ah, yeah. It’s going to be awkward when I give this back to her,” Noriyuki scratched his head out of embarrassment.

“It’s okay. I got it.” Nonoka grabbed the laptop from the ground, “I’ll probably see her again soon and I’ll give it back to her. Plus, it’ll save both you and her the embarrassment of seeing each other again. Okay, I’ll get going now. See you!” Nonoka exited the apartment and closed the door behind her.

Noriyuki felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to see Tomohiro looking at him. “Are you okay?”

Noriyuki’s face returned to his usual bright expression, “Mm, of course I am if you’re here.”

Tomohiro smiled and rested his head on Noriyuki’s stomach as he continued to hug him, this time even tighter. “Then let me stay like this a little longer.”

Noriyuki patted Tomohiro’s head and let out a small chuckle, “You can stay like this as long as you want.”

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“So, how was your day with him,” Sae excitedly asked her friend. She and Erisa were in the Arts Department building lobby sitting next to each other on a couch.

“Ah, it was nothing special really,” Erisa tried to brush off the topic.

“Really? You were so into him before and now you sound so disinterested. Did he reject you? Was he actually dating that other girl,” Sae pried her friend for more information.

“I can’t just tell her it’s because he’s into guys and has a boyfriend currently. That would be too embarrassing,” Erisa thought to herself. “Well, let’s just say I’m not his type,” Erisa nervously chuckled.

“Really? What’s his type then?”

“Uhhhh…men–”

“Men?”

“-tally stable girls. He’s into mentally stable girls which of course I’m not considering how I was trying to make my delusion happen in real life,” Erisa quickly added.

“I see,” Sae seemed dissatisfied with that answer.

“Hey,” a voice called out from behind the couch.

“Huh?” Erisa turned around and when she saw Nonoka behind her, she flinched. “You!” She quickly hid behind Sae, “He’s not with you, is he?” Her eyes shifted towards multiple directions hoping not to see Tomohiro.

Nonoka chuckled, “No, he’s not with me. I just came to give this back to you.” She went into her bag to grab Erisa's laptop and hand it to her. “You left it when you rushed out of his apartment.”

“You rushed out of there?” Sae questioned her friend which caused Erisa to blush in embarrassment.

Erisa quickly grabbed her laptop and hugged it between her arms. She wouldn’t look up to face Nonoka or Sae so they couldn’t see her embarrassed expression. “It’s nothing like that. It’s not like I was scared or anything–”

“She realized that she had another assignment due that weekend and wanted to get started on it as soon as possible,” Nonoka helped out Erisa with a good excuse.

“Ohhh, I see. Finally, it seems like you’re taking school seriously,” Sae commented to Erisa.

“Uh…yeah. I mean, I came to college to learn, right?” She looked at Nonoka who smiled at her brightly.

“Well, I have to get going now. I’ll see you around.” Nonoka held up a hand as a gesture of goodbye. After taking a few steps, she stopped in her tracks and slightly turned her head around. “Also, you don’t have to be scared of him. He won’t do anything to hurt you. He just cares a lot for the people he loves and how much he loves someone can be scary at times.” After saying that, she walked away leaving Erisa in awe of her words.

“What was that about,” Sae wondered.

Erisa chuckled, “Who knows. But, I wish to have someone who treats me like that one day. I want them to love me so much that others are scared by how much love they have for me,” she looked at the ceiling and smiled as she thought about Nonoka’s words.

“Wasn’t that just how you were towards the prince,” Sae ruined the mood.

“Why can’t you just let me have this tiny moment,” Erisa whined.

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Kuu-Chan Shorts

“Kuu-Chan, what were you going to do to her if she didn’t listen to you,” Noriyuki asked as he sat across Tomohiro at the dinner table.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing. I know I scare people with my face so I just used that to my advantage to threaten her.”

“Your face isn’t scary at all!!”

“It’s okay. I have a scary face and you have a crazy personality, that’s why we’re perfect for each other.”

“Kuu-Chan,” Noriyuki looked at him with tears of joy.

Trivia: Hanazawa Erisa is an avid collector of shoujo romance manga