A Moment Too Late (Yaoi boyxboy)

14-Nowaki

I sat at my desk, tapping my pencil on my notebook. I glanced at Kida's seat again. He hadn't come back after leaving at lunch yesterday...I hoped he was alright. I sighed and turned the pencil in my hands slowly. He was never usually this late to class. He only had about five minutes left before the bell rang. Maybe he wasn't going to come at all.

Yesterday had been a bit overwhelming for him. I knew that much...maybe it had been more overwhelming than I thought, though. Yesterday, he didn't look like he really wanted my friends there, but I couldn't just tell them to go away.

Then again...I could have offered to go somewhere else. I could've told them that Kida and I had stuff we needed to finish and that we'd see them later, or something simple like that. Of course, I suppose it wouldn't have mattered. Knowing them, they would have just laughed and followed us wherever we went.

Maybe Kida could warm up to them if they came around once in a while, though. Then it wouldn't be so bad when they wanted to sit with us. Though...it was definitely possible that Kida never would come to like any of them. They were cruel to him, just like everyone else before I decided to become friends with him. He didn't get picked on anymore. At least, not as much as he used to. Sometimes, he would still get called names or tripped in the hallways when I wasn't around...but it wasn't as bad as before.

Still...they had never treated him kindly before, so he probably couldn't handle the situation any other way. He didn't know how to deal with kindness very well. I knew that from the way he acted the first day I met him.

I remembered that day very well...he was all shy and afraid of me. It was sad...but it was kind of cute, too. I liked that he was quiet and I thought it was adorable when he blushed. In addition having this side to him that was almost child-like, he was somehow still able to have this side of him that was mature. It made him an attractive person, inside and out.

"Nowaki." Someone said. That's when I realized my eyes were closed. I opened them and looked up to see Kida standing there. For a second, I just stared at him. He looked tired, that was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was his depressing aura. I sat up in my seat and smiled, trying to shake off the sad feeling he was emitting.

"Hey." I said and turned to face him a little. He looked guiltily at me, and then looked down at my desk.

"I know...I left yesterday. I'm sorry." An ashamed expression took over his face and I felt my heart drop.

"No, no...it's ok. Really." I reassured him. He nodded, though I could tell he didn't accept that as truth. He turned around and left for his desk. Something wasn't right. "Kida?" I said. He stopped and turned his head my way.

"Yeah?" He said quietly.

"Are you alright?" I asked in a concerned tone. He gave me a small nod. His face, however, didn't say the same thing. Something was definitely wrong. He was almost acting like the way he used to when I first met him. Could it be that he was just angry with himself for leaving yesterday? Was my attempt to comfort him not good enough?

Whatever it was, I had to find out so that I could fix it.