Chapter Text
Over the course of the next week, Tetora spent every afternoon in the handicrafts' clubroom. Mika was amazed to see how fast he improved, and during that week, they were able to cut the pattern and start sewing. Of course, there were parts they had to redo repeatedly, but it was nothing compared to some project Mika had done himself in the previous years. He still shuddered thinking about that one jacket that was a nightmare to make because of the massive amount of decorations on it.
He believed they could finish the basic shape today – ah, that could be nice. In his mind, he already thought about how they should proceed with this project. He spent a lot of time thinking about it, more than the attention he gave to others, probably because it was a gift for Arashi.
"You don't listen to me either." Arashi poked him. "What's up with everyone today? Why does no one want to listen to me?"
"Gah, sorry, I was just distracted." He made up an excuse. He promised to keep up the secret, so he can't go screw it up now.
"I can tell." Arashi faked a hurt expression. "No one pays attention to me, I'm really sad."
Somehow, Mika could tell who the other distracted person was. Not that he could cheer her up openly, he wasn't supposed to know yet. Ha, he couldn't believe she didn't tell him! And it seemed like Midori knew! He should ask how that happened.
"Sorry?"
"You should be. Nowadays, our lunch break is the only time we can spend time together."
"Yer right, sorry, Naru-chan, I'll listen carefully to every-thin' yer sayin'."
"In that case, I have something I want to ask you." She rubbed her hands together, with a predatory look Mika knew too well.
"Actually!" He stood up. "I suddenly remembered Yukkun sayin' he'd help me with the homework!"
"Ah, ah, you can't escape away from me that easily!"
"I think I need to redo that part." Tetora said miserably.
"Probably, eh, don't look like that. Yer doin' fine, trust me. I was even worse." Mika comforted him. He could've offered to sit down and help with the complicated parts, but Tetora insisted on doing it on his own. Mika felt his heart warmed by his cute underclassmen, always looking to help, or working so hard. They were all too adorable! He almost scolded himself for thinking Tetora looked a bit scary when he first met him.
"I can't imagine that." He said with such a serious face.
"Really, Oshi-san used t'say I have two left hands." He waved his hands with a small smile. "He'd never let me do anythin' because I'd mess it up."
"Well – I think senpai is amazing!"
"Nah, I could say the same about ya. Yer very determined t'do it, even though ya never sewed somethin' that complicated before."
"Ah, I just wanted to, but without your help, I wouldn't be able to do half it." He suddenly became so bashful hearing a compliment, but quickly returned to his straight posture. "I mean, a real man is never afraid of unfamiliar things, right?" He puffed out his chest, as if to emphasize his point.
Mika giggled for a bit, then watched as Tetora ripped out the stitches. That was a process that took some time, so he allowed himself to go over his lists in the meanwhile. He had bought the supplies he needed in his last shopping trip, but there were things he forgot to include, as usual, and he had to plan the next projects as well. Managing the club on his own was hard work, but he promised Shu he'd take care of everything.
He put down the pen and turned his gaze to Tetora, to see if he was struggling with something. However, he wasn't done with the ripping. Mika didn't mind the silence in the room – that was the common practice when he worked with Shu – but there was a subject that piqued his interest.
"Say – Tetora-kun, do ya mind if I ask about how Naru-chan and ya started goin' out?"
"That's…" Tetora's face reddened quickly. He stared at the two pieces he needed to work on before clearing his throat. "Well, it's a bit of a funny story. For others, probably. I had a crush on her since last year, so I…uh, ended up confessing with some help…"
"Oh." Mika's eyes widened. Confessing to someone else, he thought, Tetora-kun must be so brave. "Yer really the amazing one, Tetora-kun!"
"You compliment me too much, senpai." Tetora sighed. "I'd like to say that I was able to do it on my own, but in reality, I wasn't. I had to get help from others. And in the end, if it weren't for Taisho, I wouldn't even be able to ask her out."
Taisho? It took Mika a few minutes to realize that he was talking about Kuro. Thinking about that, Mika found it unbelievable. Asking him for advice regarding dating? He was aware of their close friendship, but his respect for Tetora went up, nonetheless.
"Then…the dress? Why do ya wanna make one?"
"I wanted to prepare a special gift! I figured a handmade gift is the best! But, uh, I'm really bad at cooking, so I can't make a nice dinner…I thought a dress would be simpler to make."
"Yer really bad at cooking?" Mika was baffled. How bad was he that such an intricate design seemed simpler to him?
"It's a long story, but yeah. Lots of people said I'm not allowed to cook, especially grilling."
"Heh, I'm actually the same. Oshi-san wouldn't let me cook 'cause I'm always burnin' stuff. Though, I'm doin' that on purpose, I like burnt food."
"Really? It's so hard to imagine that." Tetora stared at him with wide eyes. "You give an aura of a sophisticated person."
"Ehh…" Mika made a noise. "Maybe Oshi-san, definitely not me."
"I might've misjudged you senpai. Ah, I don't mean in a bad way! You always seemed hard to approach, but talking to you like that made me realize you really aren't…"
"Tetora-kun…" Mika started with a wide smile but was interrupted by a loud ahem coming from the door.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Midori said, with a slight intimidating stare in his eyes.
"We were talkin' 'bout how we both are terrible at cookin'!"
"Actually, Midori is a pretty decent cook." Tetora said. Might as well throw him a bone, because, after this conversation, Tetora could see why Midori liked him. And that may help with the blank expression Midori was wearing, the one that others usually interpreted as boredom, but Tetora could tell it wasn't.
He turned to the sewing machine once again, letting them talk with each other, and shifted his concentration from the background noise to the fabric laid underneath the needle.
Arashi flipped through the magazine she held. In truth, she didn't even read the articles, despite the feature one that caused her to buy it in the first place. It was a two-page spread about Ryuseitai promoting their closest live, with a short review about the unit's history. She mostly stared at the pictures of the members in their unique poses, with quite the fond look. No one could blame her for favoring her boyfriend's pose, right?
However, said boyfriend was acting strange lately. For one – he was coming home late every day. She could excuse it with the fact that he had been busy with both the event and the karate competition, but…it didn't mean that she wasn't allowed to feel lonely. Especially when he seemed to have enough time to spend with his classmates. With Mika too…that was the second thing she found odd. Of course, she didn't mind them spending time together, if anything, she was happy that two important people in her life were getting along. Still, they became so close without her noticing, and she had a suspicion they tried to keep something from her.
Not to insult them, but neither of them was very good at keeping secrets. Their reactions were similar, actually – they tended to freeze in shock, then stutter some nonsensical excuse.
"What should I do?" She sighed to herself. She didn't want to push them, but…it did feel lonely.
"I'm back!" She heard Tetora's loud voice, followed by his steps to the room. Looking at her phone, it was late evening, and today wasn't a club day. No, she shouldn’t think that, perhaps he practiced on his own.
"How was today?" She closed the magazine and stood up to greet him.
"Tiring." He shrugged, reluctant to share any more information.
Poor thing, she wanted to spoil him so badly, so she started with a small kiss on his forehead but stopped when she noticed that he put his hand behind his back.
"Ahem?" She pried the hand to take a good look at it. "Your hand is covered in so many band-aids…what…" That couldn't be because of karate practice. "Why?"
"I was a bit clumsy today…"
"You?" Unbelievable. That was a Mika excuse. "Doing what?" She crossed her arms, now angry with his response. She gave him enough space to do…whatever he did that he wanted to hide from her, not even complaining, but that can't go on. "I'm waiting…"
"I'm really really sorry, but I can't tell you?"
"Should I be worried?"
"No, not at all. Just…maybe turn a blind eye? It's nothing bad, I promise."
That made her soften immediately. She couldn't stay mad at her boyfriend when he looked at her with such determination. And…at least he didn't try to hide it anymore. And she didn't distrust him, he was too much of good, earnest boy…
"Fine." She gave up. "But, in exchange, you must promise to pay more attention to me."
"O-of course! We can do anything you want right now!"
Although Arashi promised to turn a blind eye, it didn't mean that she couldn't have the subject come up naturally in a conversation.
"Naru-chan…please don't stare at me like that, it's scary…" Mika whined, but it didn't deter her. He was an accomplice, so he couldn't claim he didn't deserve it. She couldn't interrogate her sweet boyfriend, but her best friend was a fair game. Though, interrogation was a strong word, she simply asked him a few questions.
"I'm just curious."
"Eh…" Mika made a pitiful noise, which, okay, was cute and made her feel bad. "I don't understand…"
"Mika-chan…" No! She couldn't let herself be that soft. She must steel herself and ask him! "It's not such a hard question. As I said before, I'm simply curious." Truthfully, her question might've been a bit harsh, but she couldn't word herself very well. How else can she ask her friend, who was never fond of interactions with strangers, what made him change and seek out an underclassman?
"He's Midori's friend…" He said, and it made sense. The problem laid with the way he averted his eyes and sound overly guilty. Sure, under other circumstances, she would've accepted this answer, but this was too incriminating!
"Is that all?" She nudged him a bit. He still couldn't look at her in the eye. Should she retreat? She did feel bad for stressing him, and it might not even be related to Tetora's sudden disappearances. Unless… "Do you know?"
"K-know 'bout what?" There it was, the panicked look.
"Mika-chan, honey, I love you, but you're such a bad liar. He told you about…about us, right?" She lowered her voice, since they were in the classroom, surrounded by students.
"Ya didn't tell me!" He made a sad puppy face.
"Because you're a bad liar! Hey, don't look like that, let me explain." She signaled him to move closer. "It's a fairly new relationship and…well, you know we share the same room in the dorms. What if someone caught wind of it and told management? Of course, we can lie to them and tell them it's wrong, but they would want to move us, as a precaution."
"I guess yer right. I'm sorry! I'll try to keep quiet, I promise!"
"Do try." She smiled. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I should've..."
"Naru-chan…" Mika said, then stared at his buzzing phone. "Oh, oops. Gotta go to the clubroom."
Arashi didn't have the time to ask him what that was about, there were no other members besides him, but he bolted out of the classroom before she was able to, and probably didn't even hear her telling him to return quickly. She looked at his lunch box, only half of it eaten, and sighed to herself, already knowing he wouldn't eat the rest. Must he make her so worried? Who else would look after him now that his dear Oshi-san wasn't around, if not her?
Not two minutes afterward, the classroom's door opened again, but this time it was an underclassman. Takamine Midori, actually, obviously looking for Mika.
"Hey!" She waved at him, catching his attention. "Mika-chan is not here. Went to the clubroom for a while. He would be back in a short while." Hopefully, she told herself.
"Oh? Really?" He was about to step back, but Arashi motioned him to come closer. If plan no. 1 failed and plan no. 2 was half successful, then there is no choice but to turn to plan no. 3.
"Yes?" He asked cautiously. No doubt, this one was much more difficult from her boyfriend and best friend.
"I don't think I told you, but I'm really grateful for you keeping up Mika-chan's company."
"Oh, no, you already did." He said flatly. Oh, this one got a mouth on him, huh? Not very cute, but if her boyfriend thought of him as a very close friend, maybe she was missing something.
"Now, now, I'm just glad – very glad – to see the three of you getting along."
"Is that it? Or do you want to say something else?" So blunt! Blunt and un-cute. She was about to retort, but surprisingly, Mika returned to the classroom.
"Midori-kun? What are ya doin' here?"
Fine, she felt like she wouldn't get anything out of him, anyway. And, regardless of her questioning, she promised Tetora she'd trust him. It was best if she kept her promise and didn't try inquiring too much.
Tetora hated the thought of keeping Arashi in the dark for too long, but he couldn't help it. Even though he spent almost every afternoon on it, the project was slower than expected, thanks to some stupid decorations. By the time he was able to get half of them done, he shared Mika's passionate hate for decorations. He mostly cursed himself for thinking about this complicated design, but when he imagined Arashi's surprise, he knew it was worth it.
Still, he felt like they didn't spend enough time together, and he started to notice the worried expressions on Arashi's face for a few seconds here and there, hear some sighs from time to time, enough to make him feel like he was a bad boyfriend.
That led him to send her a message about the close weekend, asking her if she wanted to stroll around town after his first match.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked. They sat down at a nice café, waiting for their order to come. Tetora didn't realize how much he missed it, but he wasn't in the best of moods, and he feared it showed.
"Yes, it's alright. I knew we couldn't get to the regionals…" He had no excuse for his performance, though. While his underclassmen were mostly inexperienced, he certainly wasn't. It would make sense they'd make the mistakes he did, out of excitement to compete in a high-level competition, but Tetora was ashamed. He even had Kuro coming all the way to cheer up on him, and no doubt, the notification on his phone was from him, telling him something along the lines of don't worry, you still have next year. He couldn't bear opening the phone to read it, knowing that he might've done his best at his match, he didn't practice nearly as much as he should've.
"Do you…want to go home?"
"No! Uh, I'm sorry for ruining the mood with that, but I really don't want to go home."
"If you're sure." She said with uncertainty in her voice.
Right then, the waitress came and put their plates on the table. They ordered a light dinner, alongside soft drinks.
"Would it help to take your mind off the matter if I talked about something?"
He nodded eagerly, always happy to hear his girlfriend speak.
"Well, yesterday, at our gym class, Ritsu fell asleep while we were preparing to run."
"You mean…while he was standing up?"
"Yes…oh, that happened a few times before, actually, but that's not the funny part. He somehow managed to slap Koga-chan in the process. But with his fist, so like a weak punch, right to the cheek."
"Wow, I wish I could've seen that. I imagine he didn't take well to that."
"Nope! He snapped at him."
After the dinner, which brightened up his mood, they spontaneously decided to go to the cinema and see if they could find an interesting movie to watch. They couldn't hold hands on their way to the cinema, but they could do so while watching the movie. It's been so long since the last time they did that, making Tetora renew his motivation for finishing the dress. When he's finally done, the busy schedule would be no more, and he could spoil his girlfriend with many more dates like this one.
"I'm done! I'm finally done!" Tetora felt like crying. After almost three weeks of hard job, he was done. In front of him was the dress, fitted on the mannequin in all its glory.
"Ya did great, Tetora-kun!" Mika praised him. "It looks amazing!"
"Ah, I can't believe it." He collapsed on the nearest chair. "I thought it wouldn't end. All these small decorations and details…"
"Eheh, it feels like that, but isn't it rewardin' to see yer creation like that?"
"So…what do I do now?" It suddenly struck him that he didn't think about the next steps in his plan. He was worried over sewing all the details that made him miserable, that he didn't think about how he should present it.
"Well, ya can take it to yer room. Just…be careful with transportation. I'm sayin' it from experience."
"Right." He bowed deeply in front of Mika. "Thank you so much for your help, senpai. I would've not been able to do it without you."
"O-oh! Ya don't need t'be so formal! It's fine, really! Now, hurry up before Naru-chan finishes her trainin'. Ya wanna be there before her!"
"Yes, I will leave now." Looking at his clock, he'd be able to make it if he left now. "I will definitely repay you for your help, senpai. I promise this, on my pride!"
Mika helped take the dress off the mannequin and put it on a hanger. With the hanger in one hand, he bowed once again, before leaving the clubroom at a fast pace.
"Sheesh, he surely is excited about it." Midori yawned.
"Hey, hey, don't be like that, Midori-kun. Ya saw how much effort he put into that. And the result looked great!"
"Yes, I'd be lying if I said otherwise."
Tetora heard their voices getting farther as he walked down the stairs, two at a time, anxiously hurrying to get back to the dorms before Arashi did. On his way, he made sure to look at the field, and took notice of Arashi standing on the side, cheering up the new underclassmen in her club. He stopped to smile, but quickly scolded himself.
The walk to the dorms was short, thankfully, and he passed through the lobby with some people raising an eyebrow at him. Some tried to start up a conversation, evidently curious about the hanger he was holding, with the large cover hiding most of the item inside. He politely told them he was in a hurry, dismissing their questions and promising to answer them later. He arrived at the room short of breath due to that.
By now, Arashi should be finished with the training. She was probably on her way already, unsuspecting of the surprise he had prepared. Well, mostly. She knew something was up, but not to this extent. He looked for a place to hang the hanger on, but with the height of the dress, he couldn't find anywhere that will fit.
That was…a miscalculation on his side. Never mind! He was fine with holding it until she came! Though, his arm did start to hurt and shake.
He was about the switch hands when she finally came. He heard her cheery voice before seeing her, feeling his heartbeat quickening. He still wasn't used to it, and frankly, it was bewildering how one girl could make him the same as he felt when he competed in karate or performed on stage.
"How was your day, dear – oh, my, what is that?" She stopped in her tracks. "Are you holding a costume for a live?"
No, the bottom of the dust cover was big, by the looks of it, it didn't look like a simple costume.
"It's a gift! For you!" Tetora's face was getting redder and redder with each word, the confidence seeping out of his voice. "I…I made it for you."
"You…made me…ah." It suddenly clicked. Arashi couldn't contain herself, breaking into a big smile. "Don't stand there like that. C'mon, I want to see your gift."
"Y-yes!" He moved next to her and pulled the zipper for her. The, now-zipped, cover felt to the ground, revealing the dress he's been working on for so long.
"That's…" Arashi stared at it with an open mouth. "That's so beautiful…"
An off-the-shoulders dress, in a sparkly white fabric, which dyed into a light shade of blue at the ruffles at the bottom. The top was adorned with fabric flowers in white, blue and gold, with a few placed slightly beneath the top, towards the ruffless. It almost looked like a princess's dress, she thought to herself, how suiting of Tetora to make such a dress. And how adorable it was, she looked at him fondly.
"You like it?"
"Of course, I do. This dress is astonishing, really." She lightly touched the fabric to feel it. Looking at the color scheme made her realize… "Did you…have Knights' uniform in mind when choosing the colors?"
"Yes, I did." He smiled shyly. "So it looks like a uniform for your unit."
"Oh…my…God…" This…was too much. Tetora was too thoughtful. She recalled the times she complained about her uniform and how she wished she could've worn a pretty dress on stage, but going to the extent of preparing one for her? "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
She felt the tears welling up, but it didn't stop her from seeing Tetora with the most flustered face she'd ever seen.
"I-I do too."
She didn't know if she wanted to pinch his cheeks or kiss him breathless. She might do both, but the dress comes first. "Let me try it on."
"R-right now?"
"Yes, I want to wear it right away!" She took the hanger from his hand and left for the bathroom. Tetora waited anxiously for her return, a little less nervous now that he knew she liked it. He stared at the bathroom's door, then at his hands, and then at the window, wondering if the dress was too complicated to put on alone, and regaining his flush when he thought about helping Arashi into it.
"Here I am." At last, she came out of the bathroom with a soft smile. If she thought the dress looked beautiful, then he had to correct her and tell her that the sight of her wearing it was simply stunning. He tried to put it into words, but the struggle was hard with his sudden stutter.
"Thank you so much, sweetheart." She gave him a small peck on his lips. "This is the best gift I could ask for, truly."
"I'm just happy to see you happy."
"Aw, you're making my heart melt. How did I deserve such a sweet boyfriend? A boyfriend who made me a gorgeous dress, all on his own?"
The praise was starting to get to his head, and he puffed his chest. "Only the best for my girlfriend."
"Seriously, it is the best. I must go and show it off to everyone!"
"O-oh?" Tetora couldn’t say another word before she left the room like a tempest, holding the dress to keep it from touching the floor, in speed that reminded him how that she was the track and field club. Peeking out of the door, he heard her excited voice as she went from room to room. He felt warmth expanding in his chest upon this sight.
He could wait until her return to ask her more about it, but he felt he succeeded at creating a Cinderella dress for her, and that was all he cared about.