An Onigiri's Rock Collector (Bo x Masao)

Chapter 4 | The Riverbank

The next morning Bo got up early to attempt to recreate the ponytail Masao gave him, but he quickly realized that despite being titled as one of the smarter students of the grade, doing his own hair was something he was extremely bad at.

He went to school that day having his hair return to normal. He knew he had to ask Masao to do his hair again. He wanted to approach him, but he felt too shy as he didn't want to disturb him from drawing. It seemed he was beginning the first draft of his manga entry.

The final bell rung and Bo decided to leave the school grounds to figure out how he could ask Masao to redo his hair again. He found it hard to talk to him whenever he brought up anything about Ai. It was like a slap in the face, telling Bo that Masao already has someone he deeply cares for and needs no one else. However, he didn't care about that too much, he just wanted to be the only one who could be there for Masao whenever he needed it.

He couldn't get the thought of admiring him so much out his mind, so he chose to take some time at the riverbank to search for more rocks that resembled him. The riverbank was the place where he felt truly in his own world, being able to collect as many rocks as he desired. It was always empty and the sound of the cruising water beside those tall blades of grass was enough to keep him occupied, being washed away by the sound alone. When he didn't feel like making his way through the grass, he could just sit underneath the bridge towering above the river. There was a fair-sized area which was made up of solid ground, nonetheless it was shaded from the sun.

He thought if he went there to gather enough stones, he would finally be able to declutter his mind.

But to his dismay, he heard the rice ball quickly rushing to catch up with him. "Bo-chan!"

Bo was in trouble. "How did you know I was here?" He asked. He hadn't even began to collect any onigiri-like stones.

"Well, I wanted to come here to gain inspiration for my manga. You don't mind if we stay here together, right?"

"Sure," Bo mumbled, lowering his head once again.

"Hey, did you change your hair again? I worked really hard on that ponytail." Masao began to frown, which made Bo feel absolutely awful. He explained to him, "It was hard to sleep with it last night, and in the morning I tried to do the same thing you did. I was going to ask you for help, but you looked like you were busy."

Masao put his hands to his face; he felt like an idiot. "No, I wasn't busy! Sorry about that, I should've know you didn't know how to do it in the first place!"

"Masao-kun."

Masao looked at him nervously. Bo's dry expression as he called his name made him feel as if he'd done something wrong.

"While you're here, could you show me how?" Bo asked.

Masao nodded, The two sat underneath the bridge and Bo let the other teach him how to make a ponytail on his own. Bo watched as he had done it with his own hair, though it was shorter than his. He had copied exactly what Masao had exemplified to him and done it perfectly.

Bo felt a little self-conscious about his new hairdo now that he had done it all by himself. "Masao-kun, do I look like a girl?" Bo asked him.

"Not at all." Masao reassured him. "I think you look as cool as yesterday."

Him saying that while they were alone again made Bo feel much more than flattered. "Can we stay under this bridge for a while?"