Asai stirred. He rubbed his eyes. "Oh, Hana..." He then noticed Shuri. "And you. Still hanging round here despite not being part of the council, huh?"

"On my request," Hana interjected. "Now come on, don't be so grumpy, you're supposed to feel refreshed after a nap, Asai!"

"Mmm...this sport's fest stuff is a pain...there are too many documents..."

"That's why I'm here," Hana said. "Well, not exactly. I was going to take advantage of our cozy council room to do my own homework. But since you're in need of help, I can lend a hand."

"No, I finished them earlier. I was just napping to reward myself. Also, I saw on the papers that you're joining the sports fest this year?"

Hana rubbed the back of his neck a little sheepishly. "Yeah. It's been a while. Besides, red house hasn't won in years now. Maybe I can give us a leg up!"

"You'll be practising a lot to prepare, right? Mind your body."

Hana laughed. "It's long distance running, not judo."

Asai turned his gaze to Shuri, only then noticing how his tie was red. "Oh right. You're in red house too. Are you competing in anything? You seem like you'd be a basketball kind of guy."

"No, I don't do sports."

Asai snorted. "And you call yourself Hana's boyfriend? You two don't even have common interests."

"I don't need a reason as petty as that to love Hana. What, you jealous?"

"Hardly anything to be jealous of. "Anything you do, I can do better, anyway." 

"Both of you, stop fighting," Hana interjected. "Asai, apologize!" 

"What? I didn't do anything wro-"

Hana's eyes brightened, turning almost amber, and his pupils shrunk to that of a snake's. His pheromones flooded the room. They weren't the mating sort, but the dominant ones omegas were capable of emitting to assert their authority. Hana was still too young to control it properly, and the aura was so strong that Asai was hit by an intense wave of nausea. He felt the pressure of Hana's pheromones weighing his limbs to the floor. 

"Okay, okay! What I said was kind of uncalled for. Sorry, Ayase, I was just kidding earlier. Anyway, I need to send some books to the office."

"It's fine," Shuri responded, almost before Asai finished speaking. He wiped the sweat trickling down the side of his head. "Actually, I have to check something too. Be back in a bit, Hana..."

The two alphas got up and slammed the door behind them, leaving Hana alone in the room.

Hana sat there, completely stupified, till the situation clicked and he burst out laughing.

In an ideal world, his childhood best friend and his fated one would get along, but the reality was not so. 

Hana wasn't blind. He knew the way Asai looked at him at times. For years then, Asai had been trying to make Hana return his unrequited feelings, but Hana could never respond in kind. Since the day Hana found Shuri, he had been working up the courage to sit Asai down to have a proper conversation with him. To tell Asai to firmly move on, and not dwell in the past. But it had been over a month since then, and still, Hana couldn't speak those words he recited so often in his head.

He buried his head in his arms and sighed, wondering if there would ever be a right time or place for that conversation. If the courage would ever come to him at all.