There's a reference to the last School Days chapter here, the one about Sanada. But you don't really need to know it. And no, I do not know why I'm writing this instead of studying. This is because I read Shameless, by mesmerizedbyceruleaneyes, and as a result, read Heartless by chrissie, and as a result of that, ended up watching the Loveless anime. It's shotacon and shounen-ai, and oddly enough, I actually liked it. A lot. I do not know what my friends would think if they knew. So, shh.

Akaya sat on the couch, eyes glued to the television screen. The other regulars were clustered around him, amazed—Akaya only showed this much concentration when he was playing a particularly difficult match. Never when he was doing anything else. Marui waved a hand in front of his face, but Akaya did nothing, still staring at the screen, open mouthed.

"You have courage, don't you?" a character was saying. The character pulled a younger boy with cat ears closer to him, and kissed him.

Akaya sighed dreamily. "That's so romantic," he said. "Look at the pretty butterflies."

Yukimura looked at him, amused. "What are you watching, Akaya?"

"It's called Loveless," Akaya explained, not looking away from the television screen. "It's this really amazing love story. I wish I had a Ritsuka."

"A Ritsuka?" Niou repeated, with one eyebrow raised. "What're you talking about?"

Akaya huffed. "You don't know anything, Niou-senpai."

Niou gave him a withering look, while Yanagi explained, "It's one of the characters in Loveless. Ritsuka has cat ears, and was the one who was kissed by Soubi, the one with long hair. In this show, characters lose their cat ears and tails when they lose their virginity. It's actually a very clever theme, because it describes the underlying tones of sexuality while using one of the oldest theorems, which originated in Greece in 200 BC . . ."

"I stopped listening after virginity," Niou said flatly. He shrugged and went back to talking to Yagyuu and Jackal.

"I never thought you'd be the type to watch anime, Akaya. A yaoi one at that." Yukimura glanced at him curiously.

"What's yaoi?"

"You know," Marui said, nudging Akaya teasingly.

"No, I don't," Akaya replied, confused. "What's yaoi?"

Niou turned away from his conversation long enough to explain, "Hot, dirty sex between two guys."

". . ."

"That was a . . . an unusual explanation, Niou," Yanagi said at last. "Akaya, it's really just homosexuality. Romance between two men."

"That's possible?" Akaya asked, amazed.

"Of course." Marui frowned at him. "The two guys in your television show are both dudes. You know that, right?"

"They are? But . . . Ritsuka's a girl!"

"No, he's not." Yukimura seemed even more mirthful than before. "Ritsuka is clearly male."

Akaya made a face. "Seriously? Guys can kiss other guys? It's not, like, genetically impossible or anything?"

"They can do other things, too." Niou wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Where have you been living for the past two years?" he added. "Under a rock?"

"No, that's fukubuchou," Akaya said absentmindedly.

Sanada looked up and was about to issue two hundred laps, but decided against acknowledging he'd been listening to the conversation.

"Sanada has not been living under a rock for the past two years," Yukimura chided gently. "He's simply technologically and socially challenged."

Marui cackled. "That's true."

"Wait, wait," Akaya interrupted. "So it's really not genetically impossible?"

"What big words, Akaya," Yukimura exclaimed, smiling brightly. "No, it's not genetically impossible. It's very possible—and quite common, too. It's just homosexuality."

Akaya paused. "Oh, so is that why Niou-senpai and Yagyuu-senpai stay behind in the locker rooms and—"

"Hey! Shut it!"