"Then, we're friends."

Kinshiro wasn't used to going to Kurotama alone. Specially not when his intention wasn't even to take a hot bath. No. He was here to return the bento box that had stayed with him when Yumoto gave him half of his lunch the other day.

He took a deep breath before actually going forward to enter Kurotama. He was still nervous about how to approach Yumoto. But, hopefully, this wouldn't be too awkward. He doubted Yumoto would think that anyway…

"Sorry, we're closed for the day!" Gora said from the reception desk, clearly in the process finishing up anything he still had to do there.

"I'm not here for a bath. Actually… I'm here for Hakone-san." Kinshiro explained.

"Oh? Yumoto?"

Kinshiro nodded.

"He is at the store right now, but you're free to wait here if you want. He shouldn't take too long to be back. What do you need him for?"

"I… Have something I need to return to him."

"Huh? Is it-" Gora started talking, but was interrupted by Yumoto's voice.

"I'm back!" Yumoto declared with a smile as he walked in. "Huh? What are you doing here, Kin-chan-senpai?"

Kinshiro's face burned and he choked on nothing. He was still a bit embarrassed about the nickname Yumoto used for him. But he managed to quickly recompose himself.

"I just wanted to give this back to you." He said, showing Yumoto the bento box in his hands.

"Oh, thank you, Kin-chan-senpai! I had completely forgotten about it!" Yumoto smiled as he took it from Kinshiro's hands. And his smile widened after he analyzed the box a little. "You even washed it!"

Kinshiro didn't say anything in response to that. But in his head, he did think it was obvious he would do that. It would be rude to return a dirty object, right? Why was it worthy of praise?

"You should stay over for dinner!" Yumoto said.

Kinshiro's eyes widened. "I-I couldn't."

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure my brother doesn't mind either. Right, An-chan?"

Gora smiled. "I don't mind."

Yumoto turned back to Kinshiro with expectant eyes. Kinshiro was quiet for a while, questioning if he really should stay.

But… If he wanted to understand Yumoto more, this should be a good enough starting point, right?

"Fine. If it really isn't a problem…"

"Great!" Yumoto cheered. He proceeded to pull Kinshiro by the wrists, leading him through the house.

He stopped when they reached the dining room. "You can wait in the living room if you want." Yumoto pointed to the way towards the living room. "I'll leave the table set ahead of time and then I'll wait there with you until An-chan calls us over to eat."

"I'd rather help you than just wait." Kinshiro responded.

"Don't worry about it. You're a guest! Please feel at home." Yumoto smiled.

So Kinshiro went to the living room, shyly sitting down in front of the TV. He had been here before, but it was usually with everyone else around. Being the only one at Yumoto's house… It was something he had never done before.

Yumoto came into the room cheerfully. He sat down next to Kinshiro and turned on the TV, to a channel that had a super hero show airing. Kinshiro had heard of it, since it was a popular series. But never watched it himself. All he knew was the protagonist had a motorcycle.

"Do you watch this, Kin-chan-senpai?"

Kinshiro blushed once more as he heard the nickname. "N-no. I've only heard of it."

"I really like it! Maybe you should check it out! En-senpai and Ryuu-senpai watch it too. I remember talking with them about one of the episodes."

"I see… Maybe I'll watch it from the beginning later." Kinshiro said and went quiet. And he felt a bit guilty about it. It was probably rude to just end a conversation like that and say nothing else, right? Then again, Yumoto didn't seem to mind it as he turned back to the TV and focused on the show and the battle happening on the screen.

Kinshiro didn't quite notice how much time had passed. The show on TV had some aspects he found silly, and yet it was still entertaining enough that, when Gora called them over to eat, he for a moment thought he had been too fast.

The three of them sat at the table. Gora had cooked some spaghetti, and Kinshiro was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted.

"This is exquisite. You're a great cook, Hakone-san." He said with a polite nod in Gora's direction.

Gora chuckled. "Thanks, but no need to be so proper! You're Yumoto's friend, so feel at home."

Kinshiro was quiet for a single moment. It sounded so weird to him to be called Yumoto's friend. But the blonde boy just kept on smiling. Clearly, he wasn't bothered by that.

Yumoto raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you okay, Kin-chan-senpai?"

"O-oh." Kinshiro stuttered. "I'm fine. It's just…" He sighed, trying to think of how to ask what he wanted without sounding rude. "I just wonder… Why exactly do you consider me your friend?"

"Well, we don't dislike each other." He paused, and then frowned as he realized something. "Do you dislike me?"

"No! That's not it. I don't dislike you. But…" Kinshiro was the one who paused this time. He wasn't sure if he liked Yumoto, but he wasn't exactly just neutral either. In fact, he enjoyed his time with Yumoto quite a bit… "I'm not sure how I feel about you, but it isn't dislike or hate ."

"We hang out together with everyone, don't we?"

"Yes."

"And you ate half of my lunch the other day. And we're having dinner in my house right now."

"... Yes?"

"Then, we're friends. If we're close enough to eat together, I think that's enough to say we're friends!"

Kinshiro didn't know how to reply at first. As he suspected, he still couldn't fully understand Yumoto and his simplistic thinking.

However… If there was at least one thing he had come to understand, it was that Yumoto had no malice. And, most of all, he was honest. And thus, he'd have no reason to lie about liking Kinshiro.

Kinshiro envied those aspects of him a little, really. He wondered if he could one day be as honest and open as him.

"Are you okay, Kin-chan-senpai?" Yumoto asked.

Kinshiro realized he was probably looking a little too gloomy. He was quick to recompose himself. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Kinshiro was silent for a moment.

Then, he chuckled. And Yumoto seemed glad to see him smiling, given he responded with a wide smile of his own.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to truly consider Yumoto his friend.