Chapter Text
Once springtime officially hit the city, it felt like finals week began rapidly approaching. At one moment Otoya was checking his online university portal for his midterm grades, and the next he was seriously trying to figure out if his car would survive the drive back home for the summer. Thankfully he still had a couple weeks to figure it out, but the thought of his old car breaking down on the side of the highway with all of the things he had brought to college packed inside of it made him stress a bit. He wished he could have a fancy new car like Yukimiya, or at least a functional one like Karasu.
Speaking of his roommates, it was going to be weird having the three of them leave this triple room for good. In freshman year he wasn’t in his dorm all too often honestly, but this year had found him almost getting attached to the place where he and his best friends lived in close quarters. Not that he wasn’t looking forward to the upgrade next year; they had agreed to stay living together, but now that they’d be upperclassmen they were given the option of living in an apartment on the outskirts of campus. It was going to be great getting their own kitchen and living room, but of course Yukimiya had only agreed to living with them if he got to call dibs on the one single room in the apartment. Guess the guy finally got sick of dealing with his and Karasu’s shit. That was fine, though. No Yukki in their room just meant that he and Karasu would have an easier time goofing off in their double room without having to worry about giving their dear friend a headache.
But until then, they still had a little bit of time left as underclassmen roommates. Otoya was relaxed on his top bunk, propped up a bit from where he lay on his stomach so he could watch the rest of the room. Yukimiya was seated on his bed across the room, finishing typing up some response essay to a book he had been reading for class over the past two weeks.
And as for Karasu… It was hard to not watch the guy with how he was pacing back and forth in the middle of their room. Otoya felt like he was watching a pendulum swing as his head followed Karasu. His friend would walk from one end of the room, mutter something to himself, walk to the other end, adjust the cuffs of his button-down shirt or fix his hair in the mirror, and then repeat. Otoya wasn’t sure if he had ever seen the guy look so frazzled.
“You’re gonna burn a hole in our floor and make us pay a repair fee with all that pacing, Karasu,” Otoya called out to him after he watched him pace for another minute. “What’s got you so wound up?”
Karasu harshly sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They’re giving out these awards, and I’m just worried that I won’t-” he started, but then stopped and shook his head. “So, it’s an awards ceremony for people of mine and some other majors. Underclassmen are getting recognized for the work they’ve done, and since I was a major contributor to that project I was working on all year that got presented at University Day I’m one of the nominees.”
That sounded cool as hell. Otoya thought only seniors got recognized with different awards, but then again it wasn’t like he was too in-touch with all of the academic things going on at school to really know. He didn’t really get why Karasu would be nervous, though. If he did all that work and was getting an award for it, shouldn’t he be excited or something? The only thing he could think of was that Karasu’s family wasn’t able to show up since they lived far away and he wasn’t happy about that.
“Want me to come?” Otoya offered, getting up and sitting cross-legged on his mattress. “Yukki and I can go and we can be like those parents who scream and obnoxiously take photos of their kid when you win your award.”
“Don’t invite me to things without my permission, please,” Yukki chimed in, but still agreed that he would come if that was what Karasu wanted.
“... You wanna come? To my awards ceremony?” Karasu questioned, staring up at his friend skeptically.
Otoya shrugged. “Why not? You being nervous makes me feel weird, so I’ll show up and make you stop feeling nervous. Easy,” he replied like that was all there was to it. Ever since he and Karasu had made up, Otoya had honestly been trying to actually be more of a nice guy. If he said he would show up for Karasu, this time he wouldn’t get sidetracked and would actually be there. He didn’t want to fuck things up between them again, because every time he thought of Karasu actually tossing him aside and giving up on them it seriously gave him chills.
“That’s not…” Karasu trailed off, now having turned back to the mirror so he could adjust his tie. But then he turned his head to look over at Otoya and smiled. “Well, thanks. Just don’t embarrass me ‘n walk in mid-ceremony or I’m not gonna forgive you, okay?”
Otoya gave him the smallest smile, pointing two fingers to his forehead and saluting. “Aye aye, captain. You can count on me.”
–
It sucked that Karasu’s awards ceremony had to fall on a Friday evening since it left Otoya barely any time after his classes to grab dinner and make it over to the campus building that the ceremony was being held in. And since the dining hall was always packed on Friday nights, Otoya made the decision to take his piece of junk car out into town and grab something light at his favorite place and then head back.
As he left the little cafe Otoya shot a quick text to the others to let them know that he was on his way back from dinner and made his way through the plaza to get back to where he parked. He hadn’t been to a ton of ceremonies in his academic career, but as a student who had gotten as far as college he definitely had experience with a couple. He tried to think if there was anything special he had to do for it or if he was literally just expected to sit there and watch, when his eye caught sight of something in the window of the market.
Since it was springtime, tons of stores had sales on seasonal decor and flowers. Otoya wasn't one to really decorate like that so he never gave much thought to the sales before, but now he found himself walking in. He felt out of place walking around in the floral department of the market, but he had remembered that people getting recognized at ceremonies were supposed to be given gifts or flowers. If Karasu was just some casual friend he wouldn't bother with it, but especially considering he and Yukimiya were the only ones showing up for him... maybe they were supposed to be the ones to give him flowers.
So, Otoya decided he would just go find the cheapest ones and then head out. But when he saw that the cheapest flower bouquet for sale was this boring combination of plants that kind of looked like they were wilting, Otoya continued to look. One bouquet was all white and that wouldn't do because just having white flowers in a bouquet was boring, and then the others just didn't feel like they fit Karasu
Eventually he noticed another bouquet hidden among the ones he had previously looked at. It wasn't that big so it wasn’t obnoxious or over the top and it was decorated with a variety of blue flowers with some small white ones as an accent, so Otoya decided that that was the one. It was a little pricier than some of the other bouquets, but when he picked it up his brain supplied him with the image of Karasu showing off his new fancy award while holding a bouquet that Otoya gave him, and he wondered what employee suddenly turned the heat on in the building. And then when he went to check out the item, the cashier asked him if the flowers were for a special someone and Otoya realized he didn't know the answer.
Once he got back to his car, Otoya gingerly placed the flowers in the passenger seat so they wouldn’t get damaged. It’d be a total waste of money if he bought that bouquet just for it to get all messed up from the car ride. He’d have to make sure to avoid any potholes so the car didn’t jostle the flowers too much. And with that said, he buckled his seatbelt and turned on the ignition. His car clunked, and then petered out. What?
"C'mon, dumb car..." he grumbled and turned his key again. More clunks sounded from the engine, but it didn't start. Seriously? Now of all times his car decided to die on him? He tried to start it a few more times, but it just wouldn't go. Dammit, he knew he should've brought his car into the shop again instead of testing his luck with it. Calling for someone to come check on his car was going to take up the rest of his evening for sure, so he took out his phone and quickly called up Yukki. Of course, though, he didn't pick up.
Otoya groaned. How was he supposed to get back to campus now? He couldn't just leave his car in the parking lot and walk, right? No, even if he tried to run all the way to campus there was no way he would make it on time. But who did he know who had a car and could help him? He couldn't call Karasu, obviously, Yukki wasn't picking up, and freshmen weren't allowed to have their own cars on campus until next year.
Then his eyes landed on a contact in his phone, one who he hadn't personally texted in months. It wasn't ideal, but... they would have to do.
And in eight minutes flat, a fancy van pulled up to the parking lot and the window rolled down. At just the right time, a gust blew at the perfect angle as his savior called out to him, allowing his luxurious locks to blow in the wind while a few petals from the flower blooms on the trees rode the breeze around him.
"I have arrived! " Aryu announced, posing like there were invisible paparazzi snapping hundreds of photos at that very moment.
Otoya, however, didn't have time for his theatrics. He just rushed to open the passenger door and hopped in. "Yeah, thanks. I owe you one."
"I will be sure to keep that in mind! And I admire your dedication to keeping your promise to Karasu," Aryu responded as they pulled onto the road. But he then glanced at Otoya and grimaced. "I must say, your outfit is so not stylish right now. Completely unfitting for a ceremony."
“No one gave me a dress code," Otoya replied with a shrug. He didn't really see why the audience would need to be all dressed up anyway, but he supposed he would just see what happened when he got there. It wasn't like campus security would really kick him out for wearing his normal everyday clothes.
When they pulled up in front of the academic building that the awards ceremony was being held in, Otoya was about to just hop out of the car and rush inside, but he stopped himself once he took a few steps away from the car and turned around.
"Thanks again, Aryu," Otoya told the man earnestly, or should he call him his friend now? "Now I won't be breaking my promise to Karasu. See you."
"Your style shines brighter when you're honest, Otoya," Aryu proclaimed to him because of course he had to say something weird. But whatever, Otoya honestly found his way of talking to be kind of funny. "Good luck, my friend."
Good luck? Otoya peered at Aryu in confusion, wondering if maybe he meant that about his car troubles, but then Aryu waved at him and rolled the window up. Otoya watched him drive off and then checked his phone: 5:58pm. Shit, he had to get inside now.
–
Otoya hadn’t expected this place to be so packed, it was crazy. The room wasn’t huge or anything, but he had never seen it where almost every single seat was filled. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable… and underdressed. He hated that Aryu had been completely right.
He searched the room with his eyes, looking for a familiar mop of brown hair in the crowd, and perked up when he saw that Yukimiya had already found them seats. It looked like his friend was looking towards the entrance to find Otoya, so they quickly locked eyes and waved at each other.
“Yukki. ‘m not late, right?” Otoya asked once he awkwardly shuffled down the row of chairs to his saved seat.
“Right on time, actually. The ceremony’s about to start any minute now,” Yukimiya responded in relief. It was rare that Otoya was the recipient of his friend’s proud smiles, and maybe he should feel a little offended that Yukimiya probably thought he was totally going to flake on something as important as this but in the moment Otoya was just glad that he actually made it. Maybe he wasn’t always a great guy, but he honestly did want to be a good friend. Especially to Karasu.
Otoya was still basking in the small amount of silent praise that he didn’t even remember what he was holding in his hands. So when Yukimiya raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “so… flowers?” he tensed.
“... Isn’t that what you’re supposed to bring to these?” Otoya asked, trying to keep his voice nonchalant. He had thought the bouquet was a smart idea. In what kind of ceremony was it weird to bring flowers?
“I mean you can, I guess,” Yukimiya replied, still smirking even when Otoya began to scan the rest of the audience to see how many people had also decided to bring a bouquet with them. “No no, Otoya, don’t let me stop you. It’s cute that you thought to get it, really.”
“I’m not trying to be cute here!” Otoya hissed, trying to keep his voice down so they wouldn’t attract the attention of anyone who might know them. “I thought it was like, you know, an obligation! Don’t get it twisted.”
“Uh-huh,” was all Yukimiya said in response. It made Otoya shuffle in his seat, feeling antsy. And when Yukki leaned in and whispered that he was sure Karasu would love receiving flowers from him, Otoya felt that weird feeling that had been swirling in his stomach all day surge through his limbs. What was wrong with him today?
As the award nominees took their seats and the first speaker stepped up to the stage to begin the ceremony, Otoya tried to pretend that he was perfectly fine.
–
Honestly, if he was asked about it Otoya would not be able to remember a majority of the awards that were being given out. And why there were so many random speakers in between actually handing out the awards was beyond him. He didn’t even know what parts he should pay attention to and what parts he could ignore, since if it wasn’t relevant to Karasu getting some kind of award then why would he care?
But as time went on and he still hadn’t heard any of these old geezers call his best friend’s name, he started to get genuinely annoyed. How long was he expected to sit around here bored out of his mind? If things kept going like this then part of him wanted to follow in Nagi’s footsteps and catch some z’s in his seat. Otoya had noticed that the giant sloth of a freshman hadn’t even made it through fifteen minutes before his eyes fell shut, totally missing when Reo was called up to receive his award, but if he knew anything about Reo then he probably would just be happy that the guy even spent his energy making it to the ceremony in the first place.
The last thing Otoya wanted was to fall asleep right before Karasu got his big moment, so he forced himself to stay awake and was only moderately annoying to Yukimiya about how bored he was.
“Are you twenty or are you twelve, Otoya?” Yukimiya stage-whispered, his tone reminiscent of his elementary school teacher scolding him for talking to his friends during their fifth grade graduation rehearsal. It was pretty funny.
“I just wanna know when Karasu’s actually getting an award. It feels like it’s almost about to end and he still hasn’t got called up,” Otoya responded, and he really hadn’t thought much about the implications of that until Yukimiya frowned and looked away.
“... He might not get one,” his friend explained as he stared out at the stage where some random girl was called up for an award. “The whole group gets acknowledgement at the end, but it’s not like Karasu’s guaranteed his own special thing. There are only ten individual awards. You didn’t know?”
No, he absolutely did not know. That must’ve been why Karasu was so worried in their room that morning. Otoya prided himself on knowing his friend better than anyone on that campus by now, save for maybe Yukki, so he knew that one of the only things Karasu hated more than losing a game was feeling painfully average. Not getting proper recognition after working this hard all year would be a huge blow to his ego or worse.
“Shit..” he whispered, not sure what else to say to that. Some old lady in the row behind them shushed them and scolded him on his foul language, but he didn’t even give her the time of day.
There was just no way these professors wouldn’t give Karasu an award. Didn’t they see how hard the guy worked? Otoya definitely did, at least. He had to deal with the crankiest roommate whenever Karasu had to pull an all-nighter to finish that big group project that his dumbass groupmates didn’t do properly. He had to get dragged to all those annoying study sessions where Karasu practically bore holes into his laptop from how hard he would stare at the screen as he wrote up pages upon pages of essays and assignments. And he had to watch as Karasu picked himself apart every time he didn’t do as well as he had aimed for on a test, as if there was something fundamentally wrong with himself just because he didn’t get an A+ or something dumb like that. In short, Karasu worked his ass off. He deserved this award.
He was so mad that random people kept getting called onto the stage instead of his best friend, and then before the final two awards could be called yet another old guy came up to the podium to talk about some bullshit that he couldn’t care less about, that he almost completely zoned himself out to anything that was being said on the stage.
But then he felt Yukimiya nudging him and heard him say, “Otoya, did you hear that?”, and he looked on the stage to see someone with that familiar spiky hairdo stand up and shake the hand of that old guy who had droned on and on for the past ten minutes. And then Karasu turned to look at the audience and smiled for the cameraperson like the other eight awardees had before him and Otoya felt himself grinning before his brain had actually caught up to what was going on.
That weird feeling he felt earlier that day roared back to life, or maybe it hadn’t actually stopped since he bought the flowers, and he wasn’t sure what happened but Karasu’s eyes suddenly widened. Weirdly enough, so did some of the people around them because now multiple people were looking at Otoya. Only when Yukimiya started slapping his arm and whisper-yelling something like, “oh what the hell, Otoya, we’re not supposed to be loud-!” did he realize that he had accidentally let out a cheer at the realization that his friend won the award. Oh. Oops.
His worry was extremely short lived though. For one, if he already cheered then he might as well own it, right? And two, seeing the clear embarrassment plastered on Karasu’s face made it more than worth it. It made that weird feeling flow through him a little more, and strangely enough Otoya was starting to like it even though he didn’t have a clue as to why. So, he relaxed his elbow on the armrest separating his and Yukimiya’s seats and gave what he hoped was a cool smile and wave with his other hand to his friend, all topped off with a wink. Yukki groaned in annoyance and Karasu, in a rare moment of mortification, quickly turned around and rushed back to his seat with the other students. He could see the grin on Reo’s face as he said something to Karasu that made the sophomore glare daggers at him. And then the ceremony continued as if nothing had ever happened.
At that moment Otoya felt like a winner, and he wasn’t even the one who got an award.
–
The ceremony’s afterparty was pretty normal, all things considered. He had been to a few afterparties for school events in his two years at this university, so he knew what he was looking for and in what order: Karasu, the dessert bar, and the nearest exit. Too bad there were so many people that he couldn’t see where his friend even was. In these moments he found himself insanely jealous of the two inches of height that Yukimiya had over him.
He also found himself possibly feeling more than a little insecure about these damn flowers, because why were the only people who brought flowers for someone either their parents or partner? “Yukki, wanna take half of the flowers I brought and we can both give them to Karasu-”
“Nope, you’re on your own with that,” Yukimiya replied and gave a firm pat to Otoya’s back. “Never took you for the shy type.”
There he went again, twisting his words. Otoya was definitely not the shy type, but he also wasn’t the type to give another guy flowers unless it was some kind of joke… Well, actually, maybe he could just pretend it was a joke. Like it was something he did to embarrass him? That would totally be in character for him, no one would even know he got the flowers as a serious gift. So, Otoya decided that would be his plan.
Well, that was until they actually saw Karasu.
He was talking to some girl who Otoya vaguely recognized as one of the other awardees from the ceremony, so she must have been one of his classmates. They looked friendly with each other, but clearly they were each waiting for someone.
As Yukimiya and Otoya made their way through the mass of people to get to their friend, Otoya caught sight of a tall man interrupting Karasu and the girl’s conversation. While Karasu said hello to him and politely stepped away, the girl called out the guy’s name and was immediately wrapped up in a hug and presented with an impressive display of roses. When the two shared a loving kiss, Otoya ripped his eyes away from the scene and found himself staring at the bouquet of flowers awkwardly held in his hands. Was it too late to bail? Everyone was going to get the wrong idea no matter how he presented these goddamned flowers to Karasu, but if he threw the bouquet away then people would also get the wrong idea in a different way. He didn’t know what to do. Just thinking about handing the bouquet over to Karasu made him feel like there were sparks of electricity in his veins.
He was about to honestly beg Yukimiya to help him out and give Karasu the flowers instead, but when he looked up again he saw that his friend had left his side to go congratulate Karasu on his own. What a traitor! The two briefly hugged and shared a laugh over something Yukki said, and Otoya just stood there and watched them like an idiot while that weird feeling that he hadn’t been able to make go away all year flooded his system and made his heart feel like it was beating out of his chest. Unlike earlier during the ceremony it didn’t feel good at all, and he swore he had never felt anxiety like this in his life. Why was he feeling like this now? What the hell was wrong with him, genuinely!?
“Otoya,” an all-too-familiar voice called out to him, and Otoya snapped out of his own stupidity and locked eyes with his best friend who was staring at him with a mix of confusion, concern, and that 'something else' that he was never able to decipher.
But then Karasu asked him, “why’re ya just standin’ there, moron?” and Otoya decided to just say fuck it and go with the flow. There was no backing out now, so he’d just roll with it and see what happened.
Otoya pulled together as much confidence as he could muster and marched over to his best friend, stopping when he was right in front of him. He briefly forgot what he was doing when Karasu stared down at what was in his arms, but he ignored the buzz in his limbs as he held out the carefully protected bouquet to him.
“I got you these,” he stated simply because it was true, wasn’t it? “Congrats, you deserved that award. I saw you work your ass off all year, and I swear if you hadn’t gotten called up for an award I would’ve made sure everyone knew how much you-”
“They’re blue,” Karasu interrupted like he always did. Was he not listening to what Otoya was saying?
“Uh, yeah?” Otoya replied, feeling a little dumb now that his cool guy speech was so quickly cut off. “What, did you suddenly change your favorite color or somethin’?”
“No, I just…” Karasu trailed off, looking a little bit like he had when Otoya waved at him during the ceremony but it was even better because now he was up close. It reminded him of the time Otoya complimented him after Aryu messed with his hair, and Otoya felt similarly to how he did back then too. In the back of his mind that part of him that was still freaking out wondered why he always enjoyed seeing Karasu like this, but he ignored that thought since the other man was still talking.
“I, uh, don’t think anyone’s ever gotten me flowers before… Well, not since I was a kid,” Karasu explained as his eyes flickered back and forth, looking to see if anyone was watching before taking the bouquet and holding it to his chest. He looked at it happily for the briefest second before he caught himself and eyed Otoya suspiciously instead, but there was something in his expression that was almost hopeful at the same time. “Is this a joke?”
Immediately Otoya felt offended that Karasu would ask that, but then he remembered that just a few minutes before he actually had been completely set on playing this off as one of his bad jokes that would make Karasu get annoyed with him or shove the bouquet back at him or something like that. Karasu was literally giving him the perfect opening to get out of this, to make this foreign anxiety go away, and all he had to do was say yes. But for some reason he couldn’t.
“C’mon, why would I embarrass you like that on your big day?” he instead responded, grinning when Karasu gave him an unimpressed look. The cheering really wasn’t that bad, was it? “But really, uh, I got you these. For real. If you actually listened to what I was saying before you would know I was being totally serious the whole time. Sorry for the surprise though; I know being given stuff out of the blue gets you uncomfortable sometimes. But in my defense Yukki said you’d like it!”
Karasu made a strange expression, one that was full of as many conflicting emotions as Otoya was feeling, and then they were hugging with the bouquet trapped between them.
It was weird to be this close to Karasu. Not that they had never been this close before, of course; Otoya’s brain helpfully reminded him of the night Karasu was sick out of his mind and they watched shows and talked together in his bed, but given how royally he had messed that night up he tried to not remember it for too long. But the more he thought about it, the two of them really were always in each other’s space. Whether it was Karasu throwing an arm around his shoulder or Otoya tugging on his arm or the two of them pushing and pulling at each other when they squabbled, every time they got all up in each other’s business it made Otoya feel strange. And now that he was thinking back on it all, those moments where they got really close to each other were kind of embarrassing. He had claimed they did all of those things because they were such good friends, but… everything about this was starting to feel a little different from a regular friendship.
Despite being a few inches taller, Karasu still buried his face in Otoya’s shoulder since there was no other place to hide his embarrassment, and Otoya’s body felt like it was made of pure electricity. His brain was sounding every alarm imaginable, warning him that if he let this go any further than he wouldn’t be able to turn back. He had to step back now, or else.
But when Karasu let out a shaky breath and asked, “Eita, can we go home?” Otoya realized that he had already passed the point of no return. Fuck, he was hooked. He couldn’t recall a time anyone had ever made him feel so special. Why was it Karasu who had to make him feel this way?
“Yeah, ‘course we can,” he replied, because what was he supposed to say? Karasu could have asked him to travel to the other side of the world and he was so caught up in the moment that he probably would’ve said yes… but it didn’t mean he had to be nice about it. “What, did I embarrass you too much today?”
“Yes,” Karasu grumbled into the crook of his neck, and Otoya chuckled into his ear. They stood together in their embrace, breathing in tandem, and Otoya was in so much shock that he couldn’t even process his thoughts.
Karasu, however, seemed to be thinking entirely too much. After a little bit of time, his friend gripped the fabric of Otoya’s jacket tightly and squeezed, and then he spoke in a quavering voice without lifting up his head. “Stop being so… We’re- we’re gettin’ too close again, I think. It’s gonna make people think you’re somethin’ yer not, and I know ya don’t want that… I know you don’t.”
Oh.
Right.
Suddenly the high that Otoya was riding faded and he was sucked back into the real world with the too-crowded room and the bright overhead lights and the loud noises and all the eyes. And Otoya, he wasn’t… He couldn’t be… He couldn’t actually like Karasu, could he?
But what if he did? What would people here think of him? What would his friends back home say? God, what would his family say? Would anyone even believe him? He was the guy who notoriously insisted he was straighter than a pole for his 20 years of life, after all. It was probably hard to switch up on that without everyone thinking it was a joke or a lie.
Part of Otoya felt shitty that he suddenly seemed to care what everyone else thought. Another part of him, the nagging part in the back of his mind, suggested that maybe he always cared a bit too much about what other people thought. That was why he always acted too cool for his friends. That was why he did whatever he had to do to seem normal. That was why he had to like girls. And that part wasn’t a lie, of course; he really did find girls attractive. But he felt different than all the other kids who genuinely liked the people they found attractive, so of course he had to bury that shit in the grave. But now he liked someone for real and he had no clue how to backtrack. He didn’t know how to let go of who he thought he had to be. He just couldn’t do it.
“Right, yeah…” is all he ended up saying because he was an idiot, and he took a small step back. Karasu attempted to get himself composed again but his face was still a splotchy red and the bouquet- well, it was crushed. Neither of them commented on it.
When he didn’t see Yukimiya while doing a quick scan of the room, Otoya figured their friend had either already left or found some other friends to chat with, so he opted to shoot him a quick text letting him know they were on their way out. And as he and Karasu escaped through one of the open side doors, he wondered how he was supposed to act after having the realization of a lifetime. Was Karasu expecting him to talk about it? His friend was staring at the bouquet, but then he closed his eyes and sighed.
“Wanna order pizza tonight?” Karasu suddenly asked and pulled his phone out of his pocket, already pulling up the app to their local pizza place. He looked normal again. “I don’t feel like eating dining hall food tonight. I’ll pay if y’cover the tip.”
He should say something. They were alone. This would be the time to say something, anything.
(”Can we talk about what happened earlier?”)
“Otoya?”
(”Can you call me Eita again? I liked it. I think I like you.”)
“Hey, you okay?”
(”I don’t know what to do about what I’m feeling right now. Help me.”)
“... Seriously, if this about earlier then-”
“You shouldn’t pay for dinner when we’re supposed to be celebrating your award,” Otoya chose to say instead and not-so-gently nudged at his friend’s arm with his elbow. “I’ll just call up our dear Yukki and tell him you’re ordering pizza for us and I’m sure he’ll feel bad and pay for it. And yeah sure I’ll cover the tip or whatever, that’s no biggie. Just make sure to get a pizza without the gross veggies on it.”
Well, he supposed that was the only answer there ever was going to be. The only thing he was going to do about this situation was bury it, just like he did with everything else, because at the end of the day he really was just a kid who didn’t know how to change his ways.
Karasu rolled his eyes and said, “yeah, duh. I got yer order saved in my phone,” and something curled around Otoya’s chest and squeezed. A little voice in his head that now sounded strangely like Yukimiya told him that it still wasn’t too late to say something, to not miss this opportunity while it presented itself.
He ignored it.