Many have asked about the page boys. It’s part of their curriculum. They are assigned on a rotational basis to come up to high school one day a week as pages, fulfilling many little duties. This helps the high school to get its many little chores done and helps the students to learn valuable skills they couldn’t learn in a classroom setting.

—St. Catherine’s Page Program.

Kato walked out of the dorm and noticed Takahashi, Murata, and Nakamura all standing there, apparently waiting on him again. He gave a polite bow and an evening greeting.

Murata came over and grabbed Kato’s arm, saying “Come on! Let’s hurry!” Takahashi and Nakamura simply looked at each other, shrugged, and started walking. Murata pulled Kato along.

Building 12 was a square, multi-story building. Not overly large. There were quite a few other students of all ages filing into the building. Inside, Kato was surprised. It looked just like any other movie theater he’d ever went to before. There was a concession stand and everything.

“This way,” Takahashi said as he grabbed onto Kato’s shoulder and motioned to a shorter line. Murata and Nakamura also followed.

“Huh?” Kato simply replied.

Nakamura spoke up, “The popcorn and soda are free. The rest is not.”

Kato looked at Nakamura. “But I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Takahashi said.

“I don’t either,” Murata spoke up.

“Don’t worry about that,” Nakamura mimicked Takahashi.

When it was their turn, Takahashi ordered two large popcorns and two large sodas. He looked at Kato and said, “You want anything else? I’m buying.”

Kato didn’t know what to say. He picked out some candy. Takahashi pulled out a silver card from his pocket and handed it to the cashier, paying for the candy.

Murata also picked out some candy and Nakamura pulled out his silver card and paid for it.

Kato and Murata both, in unison, said “Thank you,” to their respective semes.

“Let’s go,” Takahashi said as he took the lead down the hallway to the theater.

Again, Kato couldn’t believe the authenticity. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn that he was no longer at St. Catherine’s. Takahashi found four seats in the middle and they all sat down. The semes on the outside, the ukes on the inside.

Kato was excited. He started devouring his popcorn, causing Takahashi to laugh.

“You should slow down, save some for the movie. You’ll get a tummy ache doing that.”

“No, I won’t,” Kato replied.

“Suit yourself.”

He looked at Murata who was busily talking to Nakamura. So, he busily ate his popcorn, watching all the students enter and find seats.

The lights dimmed, signaling the movie was about to start. The room became quiet except for whispering. Kato’s popcorn was all gone. At least he still had some candy, he thought.

The movie started playing. It was old, but Kato didn’t mind so much. He’d seen old movies before. After about ten minutes of the movie, he happened to look over at Murata and Nakamura and noticed that they were holding hands. Damn! he thought. Murata moves fast. What the hell?

He looked at Takahashi who was looking at the same thing. Then Takahashi held out his hand, palm up, like he was expecting Kato to do the same.

Kato glared and whispered, “What are you doing?”

Takahashi whispered back, “They’re doing it. Why can’t we?”

“Because it’s creepy,” Kato replied.

“No, it’s not.” Takahashi responded. “You slept in my lap. How is this creepier than that?”

Kato blushed a bit but remained resolute. He was not going to do any such embarrassing thing.

“Come on, if we’re to be seme/uke, we should at least feel comfortable around each other. This small thing, everyone does it here.”

Kato looked around; he did see some other boys doing it. He didn’t think that qualified as “everyone.”

“Come on.” Takahashi continued.

“Fine.” Kato placed his hand in Takahashi’s hand, and they interlaced fingers. A cold shiver rose up his spine as he felt that it was every bit as creepy as he imagined it would be.

“See? Nothing too it.”

“It’s weird. Boys shouldn’t be doing this,” Kato complained.

“Dude, it’s not like we’re having sex,” Takahashi said.

Kato became angry. Harshly, he blurted out, “We are not having sex!”

The boys around them, who all obviously heard that, started making shushing sounds. Kato became super embarrassed but was still just as angry.

Takahashi coldly glared at Kato for a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity to Kato. He looked very much like the wolf Kato was all-to-familiar with. Takahashi threw Kato’s hand back into Kato’s lap. He stood up.

Kato angrily whispered, “Where the fuck you going?”

Takahashi didn’t bother whispering. He spoke through gritted teeth, “To take a fucking piss,” then walked off.

Kato then felt Murata slap him hard in the chest, whispering loudly, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Kato felt even angrier. Now Murata’s mad at me too? How the fuck did I become the bad guy here? he asked himself.

“Get up, you idiot. Go after him,” Murata whispered.

“Why should I?” Kato whispered back.

Murata pushed him. “Don’t fucking ask ‘why.’ Just do it.”

Kato angrily got up. He didn’t see any reason why he should, but he followed Takahashi.

When he got to the bathroom door, he braced himself. He pondered why he always fought in the bathroom. He entered and saw Takahashi leaning against a wall with his eyes closed.

Kato didn’t have to pee right now, so he went to the sink and just stared into the mirror. He was angry still, yet somewhat afraid.

Again, Takahashi spoke first, with a bit of a growl, “I never said I wanted to have sex with you.”

Kato turned and exclaimed, “Yeah, but you never said you didn’t!”

Takahashi opened his eyes and glared. “What the fuck is your problem? Why do you always think I do?”

Kato threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know. It’s like you send signals.”

Takahashi grimly laughed, “Signals? Like what?”

Kato enumerated, “Little jokes like CPR, or holding my hand during a scary movie, you don’t bite unless I’m into that…”

Takahashi snidely commented, “Jeez. I didn’t know all that translated into ‘I want to fuck you in the ass.'”

Kato yelled, “We are not fucking doing that!”

Takahashi yelled back, “I didn’t say we were!”

Kato screamed, “Then what the fuck do you want from me, Takahashi-san?”

Takahashi angrily replied, “I told you. A friend. Weren’t you listening?”

Kato bitterly laughed. “Oh yeah, right. A friend. Just some boy who you take on picnics, let him sleep in your lap, buy him goodies at the movies, and then want to hold his hand. Sounds more like you want a boyfriend.”

Takahashi replied, “All that. All of that. You saw all of that as a ploy to get into your pants?”

Kato was still angry, but he didn’t think that. “Actually, no.”

“Sure, sounds like it to me.”

Kato threw his hands up and exclaimed exasperatedly, “Fuck me—” Then glared at Takahashi and said, “Not literally.”

Takahashi was not amused. Rather coldly he spoke, “I don’t know why you think this, but I do not want to have sex with you. I’ve known you for four days. What makes you think I want to?”

Kato paused for a moment. He wasn’t actually sure at this point why he kept thinking that. “Well, everyone says we’re dating now. Four days or three weeks, what does it matter? At some point you will want to.”

“Damn, dude. You are so full of yourself. I don’t want to have sex with anyone, let alone you.”

“Oh yeah? Then why were you staring at me when I was getting undressed?”

“Fuck you, Kato-san. You were staring at me and I caught you. You’re no different than my last uke.”

Kato barked back, “I am nothing like your last uke. I would never consider doing any such thing.”

“I couldn’t tell. Looked like you wanted a piece of me right then and there.”

Kato turned his back towards Takahashi and crossed his arms. “You’re a disgusting pervert.”

Kato and Takahashi were quiet for a few minutes. Kato was calming down, but he was also feeling a little sorry that this fight even started. He turned around to check; Takahashi was still leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

Kato sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“About what?” Takahashi growled back. Apparently, he was still upset.

“About staring at you when you were naked. I didn’t mean anything by it. And I certainly would never have forced myself on you. You did nothing to deserve that from him.”

“Yeah,” Takahashi flatly replied.

“I was just curious. I don’t know why. But honestly, I didn’t mean anything bad by it.” Kato confessed.

Takahashi opened his eyes and looked directly at Kato. “Yeah, well, I wish you would stop assuming I’m trying to fuck you. You read into shit way too much.”

Kato looked down at his hands.

“Kato-san.”

Kato obediently looked up.

“We can be friends and not have sex. We can be a seme and an uke and not have sex. Yes, it’s true, I never said I didn’t want to have sex with you. I figured I didn’t have to. I also never discounted the possibility outright. I can’t predict the future.”

Kato listened patiently, not having any idea how to respond.

“I just know that right here, right now, I like being with you, even though we fucking fight a lot. I wanted to hold your hand. Yes, I think it’s creepy too. But if we can’t do such a simple thing, will we ever really be that close? Will we ever really be comfortable with each other? Will I have to blush every time I get undressed next to you simply because we are going swimming? Will our friendship be genuine?”

“I’m just not used to it,” Kato answered lamely.

“Yeah, neither am I. Either I get ukes that wanna rape me or I get ukes that think I want to rape them. How do you think I feel about it?

Kato looked down, feeling a bit ashamed.

“Kato-san.”

Kato sighed and obediently looked up again.

“We’re missing a good movie. Can’t we just let this go? You’ve got candy to eat and soda to drink still.”

Kato couldn’t argue that fact. “Yeah, I’m sorry I’m so hard to get along with.”

“Listen, you are worth it to me. Otherwise I wouldn’t still be here talking with you.”

Kato replied, “Thanks.”

—–

They sat back down, and Murata looked up with a questioning face at Kato. In response, Kato simply put on a fake smile and waved. He wasn’t about to go into detail here and now of what happened.

He opened a package of candy and ate it. He surreptitiously looked at Takahashi then looked down. He didn’t know why, but he felt that he should apologize. He decided to put his hand out, palm down, and looked at the screen while he waited. He felt Takahashi gently put his hand underneath and they locked fingers. That shiver rose up Kato’s spine again. Still, somehow, Kato hoped that this would be seen as his way of apologizing to Takahashi, and he hoped by the response that Takahashi had forgiven him. It still feels creepy as fuck, Kato thought.

—–

“K… Ka… Kato… Kato-san…” He could hear his name being called. He woke up and realized that he had been sleeping with his head on Takahashi, in his arms again. Damn, this makes twice today. What’s wrong with me? he thought. He didn’t immediately open his eyes though. He could hear Takahashi’s heartbeat. He also noticed a scent, masculine, probably Takahashi if he had to guess. But he noticed a second scent, a rather pleasant and airy fragrance.

“Kato-san?”

He sat up, and Takahashi retracted his arm. “I’m awake,” he replied as he stretched.

Takahashi handed Kato his glasses and said, “Come. The movie’s over. Let’s go back.”

Both couples filed out of the theater and headed back. They said their good nights and went their separate ways. One little thought at the edge of Kato’s mind lingered as he watched Takahashi walk off to his wing, why would Takahashi wear cologne to see a movie?

---

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