Chapter Text
“Hey sis, are you enjoying yourself? I mean, we did organize all this all of a sudden…”
“Oh yeah, don’t worry, you have some interesting friends after all!” She smiles while looking through the fridge for some juice.
“Yeah so uhh… Not all of them are really my friends though… You’ve seen Masachika, he’s a social butterfly, I’m not saying I dislike them, we just aren’t that close, is it weird that they’re at our place instead of Masachika’s-”
“Breathe, Sabito. They all seem like nice people, I don’t think they care in the first place. It’s not like you’ve done anything to weird them out… Right?”
“I haven’t… Guess I am worrying over nothing.” He put some food on the tray, taking snacks from the bag Masachika brought.
“... I’ve noticed that you seem really close with Fuushi’s brother…”
Sabito sighed, he was used to this.
“How many times do I have to tell you, there is nothing going on-”
“But you laughed more than you usually do, you smile at him a lot when texting him and you also talk a lot about him, but like, a lot lot.”
Sabito’s face was starting to turn as pink as his own hair.
“Okay okay! I got it! Just stop listing off that stuff! Seriously, what’s with you and convincing yourself I’m crushing on anyone!”
“You do that to me too. Well, more like the opposite, you get convinced anyone who approaches me in school does so because they’re crushing on me, hehe…”
“That’s not a fair comparison, there’s a lot of creeps out there!”
“... Even the creeps who just want to know what the math homework was?”
“You never know!”
Before he could say anything, Makomo cut him off again.
“Actually, they probably think YOU are the creep instead, since you usually approach them and threaten to hit them if they try to talk to me ever again, it’s kinda silly, in a way. But it’s also a pain to explain that my older brother is just a little too overprotective… A little too much. Anyways, that’s besides the point! I’m sure you actually do have a tiny bit of a crush on Masachika, but hey, I don’t think I can blame you, he’s clearly a nice guy.”
Knowing it was pointless to argue further, Sabito sighed and resigned to his fate of being teased by Makomo again after everyone left.
“Let’s just serve the snacks so they don’t starve to death.”
“Don’t think I won’t forget about this conversation later…”
“I know you well enough to know better.”
As soon as they stepped back in the living room, Masachika and Mitsuri yelled at the same time.
“Finally, fuel for our dying braincells!” Both reached for some of the snacks on the tray and started munching away.
“Leave some for the rest of us, you hoarding hyenas!”
“Hey, get off me Nemi! I’m trying to reward my braincells!”
Obanai sighed, sometimes, not even he could believe they were all friends.
“Stop fighting like children over snacks, I’ve seen five year olds more mature than you two, just knock it off…”
“You’re like their mum, Obanai! It’s kinda silly!”
That comment from Mitsuri was enough to make him blush.
“Well, if I were their mother, they’d be in foster care right now.”
“Trying to play it cool? You’re so mean mum! You love us, right? I mean we’re such good little kids-”
“Zip it or I’m taking that chocolate bar with me.” Obanai decided he’d play along with Masachika’s stupid nature, just this once. Maybe it was because he was in front of Mitsuri and didn’t wish to seem like a rude bastard who hates his friends and lacks a sense of humour, but he’d never find himself admitting it.
“So… A change of topics…” Makomo interrupted, “You guys… are all going to university next year… And I wonder… Do you guys already know what you’ll do, right…? I still have two years to choose and I’m unsure, I thought I’d ask you for help…”
“Oh, don’t worry kid, most of us don’t even know now, what we’ll end up as. Not me though, I know I’m getting that engineering degree and helping my family. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Sanemi responded, he knew what he wanted to do since he was a kid, so he wasn’t really one to struggle when asked about his future.
“Oh well… I… I think you should discard the stuff you hate right off the bat!” Mitsuri smiled, bright as ever. “I mean, I’m also really unsure on what to do but… making a discard pile is helping me! I want to do something related to arts and design but I despise maths and physics, meaning that I don’t want to end up in architecture. Trust me, it saves you a lot of mental trouble!”
“And really, just do something you enjoy, you wouldn’t want to be stuck with something you hate, even if it pays, right?” Kanae added.
Meanwhile, Masachika was absorbed in his thoughts, paying some attention to the conversation to see if any of those tips worked with him. But he was snapped back to reality before he could question himself too much.
“Shouldn’t you be taking notes or do you want my sister to lend them to you?”
“There’s no need, Sabito- I know them all… Tried them a while back.”
“Did you? Well, it is true that having to choose what you’ll be for the rest of your life is a pretty tough question…”
“Just- how did you even do it? How’d you reach the conclusion that marine biology was what you wanted to do?”
“Don’t know. Just… went with the flow.”
“Ha ha, real funny. I’m suffering over here!”
“Oh- I didn’t notice…” Sabito then started laughing a little. “Sorry for that unintended shitty pun of mine, Masachika.”
“It’s fine! I like to see you laugh- Because laughter is the best medicine after all! And you don’t-” He quickly corrected himself, even if he realized he was just digging himself an even bigger hole now.
“What you’re saying is that I’ll die young for not laughing enough. You’re so mean, Kumeno.”
“Me!? Mean? Have you seen me? Do you really think this beautiful face could belong to a mean guy?”
Sabito gave his answer some thought and decided to go for something a little bold, just a little.
“... Nah. Not really, it belongs to a harmless cute puppy which is begging for headpats.”
“A puppy? This face that looks like it’s been sculpted by angels belongs to a puppy!?”
“Puppies are the best thing ever so…”
A lot of thoughts rushed to his head, almost as fast as the blood, which started tinting his cheeks pink.
A puppy. Sabito had just compared him to a puppy, and he said puppies are the best so was he also the best? And he also said a ‘cute’ puppy, could this mean he actually had a chance with him? His brain was starting to short circuit, he needed an out, and he found it in their previous topic of conversation.
“So uhm- back to our topic, the only thing I really like is books, basketball and my couch! What can you even be if you like those three and kind of suck at half the school subjects?”
“You could be a librarian but…”
“I’m too loud, I know… And I did give being a teacher some thought, it doesn’t seem that bad but… I don’t think I can do it-”
“... Oh come on, Masachika, don’t put yourself down like that, you’re great at literature and all languages in general to the point where it’s scary and you could easily get that stuff through my skull and others here, so don’t dumb yourself down. And you’re really nice, I’m sure the kids will like you and won’t bite your ankles.” His voice and gaze softened when looking at Masachika’s warm green eyes to reassure him.
“You really think so?”
“Well, if you want to double check, ask anyone you’ve helped tutor today and you’ll see. I’m always right after all.”
“Like that one time we were 100% losing that match and that we should lose all hope yet you were the one who took us to the win?”
“That doesn’t count because it was me who proved me wrong… And also the whole team I guess… Then I admit defeat.”
“Oh and there we have it, the great Sabito was wrong-”
“Once! once okay!” He held up his index finger. “It was once!”
“Oh oh, I’m getting flashbacks of this one group assignment where you said that we had to-”
“Don’t you dare finish that, you ass!”
“They sure are lively, aren’t they, Sanemi?”
“Yeah… a little too much. Where do they get it from during exam season! They should just lend me some of it…” He answered Kanae’s question. “But back to our topic, in the end kid, just do what you like and makes you happy as long as you know you can do it and pull through, the answer will eventually come to you.”
“And make sure to enjoy your two years before having to make the same decision as us, the same goes to you, Shinobu.”
“I’ll try to follow your advice then!” Makomo smiled at Kanae and Sanemi, who eventually ended up being the ones to guide her through the questions she had.