My Moral Compass Points Straight to You (Ishimondo)

Pursuit of Happiness

And, as if nothing happened, Mondo and Taka went back to their budding friendship. Every day after school they would head to the library and study together. But this upcoming weekend, unlike the last, they wouldn't be hanging out.

"Just in case you have any trouble with that english paper," Taka said, handing Mondo back his phone. He had just entered in his phone number as a contact in the other's phone, the name reading 'Ishimaru Kiyotaka'. Mondo deleted it all and replaced it with just 'Taka'.

"Thanks man," Mondo said, grinning at him before they parted ways. They had a bunch of tests recently, but he felt good about all of them (besides the math test, which he struggled just a bit on). Once again, Mondo was on track to better grades and a better life.

The biker mounted his motorcycle, starting it up and all before he noticed Taka walking down the sidewalk, no ride in sight.

"Hey," he called out, running over to Taka, "you just gonna walk home?" Taka looked back at him with wide eyes, obviously surprised.

"Yeah, I usually do," he responded, pointing in the direction he was going, "but I don't live too far away, really." He thought about how he didn't notice before, but realized Taka would always stay behind a little while longer to get some more studying done. He could always go longer than Mondo.

"Do you wanna ride?" Mondo asked, motioning towards the motorcycle. Taka's wide eyes somehow got wider, his face even going a little red.

"W-well," he responded, taking some time to think of some kind of excuse, "well, I couldn't consciously do that without a helmet of some kind, yeah!" It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Mondo.

"Nah, I always got one, I just never bother to use it myself," the biker explained, wearing a bright smile while scratching the back of his neck. Taka looked over at the motorcycle, eyeing it suspiciously as he thought about his answer.

"But it can only seat one, right?" Taka asked with a shaky voice.

"Nah, it can seat two if you sit right behind me. It's not unsafe or nothin'." Mondo was oblivious to how nervous the other was, but thought nothing of it as Taka meekly nodded his head yes.

Mondo mounted his bike once again, handing the moral compass the helmet he had on the side of his bike. He took it and slid it over his head as Mondo chuckled at him.

"It looks a lil' goofy," he explained after Taka gave him a look. Taka mounted the bike behind the other one, seated so very close to him. He fidgeted a little. "Wrap your arms 'round my waist n' hold on." Reluctantly, Taka did as he said.

"You... know where my house is... right?" Taka asked, voice even shakier than before. Finally, Mondo noticed.

"Of course, I remember from when I went over," he explained, turning his head around to face Taka, "and don't be scared. I'm a good driver." Mondo winked at Taka, which didn't help the situation.

The biker started the motorcycle slowly, aware of Taka's fears, and felt the other's arms wrap around him a little tighter. He never had someone ride on his motorcycle with him, and it was nice. He felt like he was protecting someone, in a way. As his motorcycle found its way onto the road, Taka's stomach lurched.

In an attempt to get his mind off of the fact that he was riding on a motorcycle, Taka buried his head into Mondo's back as well as he could with a helmet on. When that didn't help him much, he wrapped himself even tighter around the other's waist. Mondo's warmth calmed him down enough until he was able to open his eyes again.

The road blurred past his eyes pretty fast and he got to see the buildings go by faster than it was when he walked. From where they were, Taka would've already been walking for ten minutes or so.

He adjusted his head to look up at Mondo, only the back of his head visible, but he could make out his bobbing pompadour in front of him. A feeling swelled up in Taka's stomach as he realized something that was pushed down to the pits of his brain was coming back up into his thought process, shoved somewhere that was never reached by his thoughts until now. He wanted to brush it off as a simple thought, that he just thought Mondo was super cool and he wanted to be more like him.

In truth, Taka liked him, even more as a friend or a study partner. He liked him in the way that boys were supposed to like girls, but he never liked girls like that. He liked him in the way boys and girls went on dates in movies, but he never was interested in doing that with a girl. And now, with Taka's chin propped on Mondo's back, the warmth between them being Taka's only comfort, he couldn't keep the thought away.

And so he made a decision during that motorcycle ride. Taka was done pushing his feelings away, and with his first ever friend coming into his life, he decided that he would chase this feeling. He would do whatever he wanted, and he would finally be happy.

Before Taka knew it, Mondo stopped in front of his house and looked back at him as a signal to get off. Taka did, taking off his helmet as the biker propped his motorcycle to stand up as they said their good-byes.

"Thank you for the ride, Mondo," Taka said quietly, the helmet held to his chest with both hands.

"Don't mention it man," Mondo said in an assuring voice, giving the other a thumbs up, "any time!" The moral compass pushed the helmet forward to give it back to the other, but he shook his head. "Actually, why dontcha keep it with you? You're the only one who's ever rode my bike anyway."

"I couldn't," Taka said, shaking his head vigorously, "what if a girl who you are interested in needs a ride home? Wouldn't it be beneficial for you to keep it for that?" Mondo winced at this oddly specific example, but Taka knew exactly what he was doing. The short, yet awkward, silence that followed made Taka's face go a little red.

"You can trust me man, that's not gonna happen to me," Mondo said, laughing, "but anyways, I'll see ya later."

"See you Monday, man!" Taka said, a smile on his face as he waved. Of course 'that's not gonna happen to me' wasn't really a conformation of anything, but with Taka in the mindset he was in, he took it as a green light to go forward with his plan. And what an elaborate plan it was.

Mondo positioned his motorcycle to ride the opposite way and mounted it for the final time that day. As he was riding off, Taka made his way to the front door. Before entering his house, he watched as Mondo rounded the corner and rode out of his sight.

Barging into his house, he slammed the door behind him and ran up the stairs. Usually, he would do all of this calmly, but right now he didn't care. His parents didn't come home until later anyway, so he didn't even bother taking his shoes off at the door yet.

Slamming down a bunch of nice stationary and his best pen on his desk, he realized he should probably thank Mondo for such a kind gesture. He took the phone out of his backpack and started to write a really long message, but realized Mondo was the type to appreciate new, revolutionary, more succinct things. He deleted his three or four sentences written out and replaced it with something way cooler.

'Yo, thanks for the ride, man! ('｡• ω •｡') '