|| Am I Dreaming? || GontaGuuji Story [SLOW UPDATES]

The Chapter With His Rival

"Love!?" He jumped at the word.

Korekiyo let go of the bar and hid his hands in his lap. He stared intensely at the step in front of as he processed what he just heard.

"Love? No.. No, no, no. No?" Korekiyo had questioned himself. "I never thought of it like that..."

"Are you interested in men?" Ryoma asked.

"I'm interested in all of humanity. Humanity never fails to amaze me.." Korekiyo sighed.

"You didn't seem to have an issue with your partner, so maybe you are interested in him," Ryoma said.

"Are you interested in him?" Korekiyo asked, his head down.

"Me? No," Ryoma answered, making the weight on Korekiyo's should feel like it was lifted by angels. "I'm more interested in my dream partner than anyone else. But, if you wanna know anyone else who is interested in him, talk to Kokichi."

Kokichi?

Korekiyo sped walk through the halls to see the boy Ryoma had mentioned. He turned the corner to see the purple haired boy skipping around Gonta in circles. After a minute of Korekiyo spying from the corner, Kokichi stops in his tracks with his back facing Korekiyo. He leans back and makes eye contact with Korekiyo.

"Hello Korekiyo~" Kokichi snickered.

Korekiyo jumped back, startled. He quickly ran into the nearest bathroom and trapped himself in a stall. He covered his face with his hands and curled into a ball on the toilet. Korekiyo sighed deeply and removed his hands. A pair of familiar galaxy-designed slippers stepped in front of his stall. A small knock just then came from the stall door.

"I saw you run in here. You okay, dude?" A voice from behind the door asked. Korekiyo stood up and opened the stall door.

"No, I'm not okay," Korekiyo muttered.

Korekiyo sat down on Kaito's bed as Kaito shut his door. Korekiyo's head hung low, his eyes tightly shut. Kaito sat down next to Korekiyo and placed his hand on Korekiyo's back. Korekiyo sighed deeply.

"Why are you so upset?" Kaito asked. Korekiyo didn't answer. "...Take your time," Korekiyo jolted upwards, as if his feet decided to stand on their own.

"He just- He makes me so confused," Korekiyo groaned. "I don't know how I feel about him!"

As Korekiyo paced around aimlessly, Kaito sat there confused and worried. Korekiyo never acted like this. He was more quiet and secluded. Whenever he ranted, he did it slowly and in plenty of detail. But this time, Korekiyo spoke quickly. He sounded like a broken radio sputtering nonsense.

"W-Woah woah woah!" Kaito stutters as he stands up. "Calm down, dude," Kaito grabs Korekiyo by his shoulder. They make eye contact for a second before Korekiyo looks down in embarrassment.

"My apologies.. I just can't seem to get him out of my head," Korekiyo muttered.

"Get who out of your head?" Kaito asks, finally getting Korekiyo to sit down again.

"Gonta..." Korekiyo whispers. His heart was beating so hard he could barely hear his own voice. Anytime he was mentioned, Korekiyo felt as if he was going crazy. What was this feeling?

"Is that why you trapped yourself in the bathroom? Because Gonta was standing in the hall?" Kaito questioned.

"Well, yes and no," Korekiyo answered. Kaito looked at his feet, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Ah," Kaito gasps quietly. "Kokichi was there," Korekiyo nods slightly.

"I don't know how to feel about them together. To be honest, I don't know how to feel about him at all," Korekiyo groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Slow down a little," Kaito sighed. "Why are you so worried about Kokichi? You're the person I'd least expect to think about Kokichi."

"I think I'm... jealous of his and Gonta's relationship? But-- UGH!" Korekiyo flung his body backwards in frustration.

"Korekiyo, are you sure not in love with Gonta?" Kaito asked.

"Love? Why is it always love? I don't know love. I don't how love. I don't know if I want love!" Korekiyo complained.

"Why don't you want love, Korekiyo?" Kaito asked again, trying to force an answer out of Korekiyo.

"Because love scares me!" Korekiyo shouted, his arm covering his eyes. "What if I do love him, but I end up losing him? I don't want to completely destroy our scarred relationship."

"Why do you worry about losing him? Gonta is a great guy. He could never hate anyone. Especially you!" Kaito exclaimed.

"For me, love was wrong or right. If it wasn't right, it was wrong. If it wasn't wrong, it wasn't good enough?" Korekiyo sighed, sitting up.

"Who did that to you?" Kaito asked. Korekiyo did not respond.

"...Thank you for helping me figure out my feelings," Korekiyo muttered. Kaito nodded as he pat Korekiyo's back. "I'll be on my way now."

"Be safe tonight, Korekiyo," Kaito said. Korekiyo nodded as he left the room.

Korekiyo exited the room and shut the door behind him. He groaned, overwhelmed by the amount of mood swings he just experienced. He just wanted to lay down and sleep so he could experience another terrible day. That was until a certain someone entered the dormitory.

"Hm..." The person looked over to see the tired, lanky man stand ahead of them. "Ah, Kiyo!"

"Hello... Gonta," Korekiyo greeted the giant in front of him.

"Can Gonta speak to Kiyo in private?" Gonta asked.

"Of course. Follow me to my room," Korekiyo slowly made his way to his room with Gonta following behind him.

After the two sat on the bed, an awkward silence filled the too. Korekiyo was too tired to comprehend what was happening. Gonta, on the other hand, had his hands in his lap. He was fiddling with his fingers awkwardly, as if he wanted to speak up but didn't know how to.

"I can tell you're upset, Gonta. What's troubling you?" Korekiyo spoke up.

"...Gonta saw Kiyo run away earlier," Gonta said.

Of course you did... Korekiyo thought to himself.

"Gonta wanted to know... was it because of Gonta?" Gonta asked, his voice lowering towards the end of his sentence.

"Huh?" Korekiyo gasped. "No, it's not you. It was never you."

"Then why did Kiyo run away?" Gonta asked.

"It was... Kokichi. Kokichi caught me and scared me," Korekiyo lied. The truth was he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Gonta, but that plan seemed to fail either way. "I could never be upset with you, Gonta."

Gonta smiled widely, his worried expression quickly disappearing. Korekiyo sighed of relief.

"Gonta should be going now, Kokichi needs him!" Gonta said and he stood up. Just as he was about to walk out, he was interrupted.

"Gonta, wait-" Korekiyo grabbed Gonta's hand.

"Yes?" Gonta turned to face the nervous Korekiyo.

Just ask him, Korekiyo. You weren't raised to be weak. Korekiyo thought to himself. He sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind, it's not important. Go speak with Kokichi." Korekiyo muttered. He let go of Gonta's hand and watched Gonta walk off. His door finally closed and Korekiyo curled himself into a tight ball. "I hate this..."

Published Sunday, November 28th, 2021