Chapter Text
It was the beginning of the new semester. The air was just starting to chill, canceling out the stagnant heat from the summer. This felt like a fresh start for most people, but not Meruem.
He wasn’t even a month into the the school year, and he was losing his mind. Feeling restless, he had decided to take a walk to clear his head. This was his favorite time of year and he couldn’t even enjoy it.
He needed to find some place to be alone. Meruem had just moved into a dorm with a few of his friends for his 3rd year, and things were getting crowded. Youpi and Pitou were bearable, but it was Pouf who was driving him up a wall.
If he wasn’t practicing his violin at an ungodly hour, he was following Meruem everywhere he went that wasn’t class. Pitou and him had suspected this would happen since Pouf’s feelings were so transparently clear.
Regardless Meruem was over this behavior, they’d have to have a talk sooner than later.
It was always pretty empty around midday because most people were in class. The ones who were there normally kept to themselves or reserved a study room. It would be a nice place to collect his thoughts on what to do about his current rooming situation.
Finding a spot near a window, he sat down and opened it a crack to let in some air. He had to go about this somewhat delicately since Pouf was easy to upset.
He idly scrolled through his phone as he went through the pros and cons to his ordeal. It had been about 20 minutes when a distinctive bump startled him out of his thoughts.
Annoyed he looked up to see a girl setting down what looked to be a board game and a bag.
He looked around the library to see if the tables had suddenly filled up without him realizing it, but no there were several empty tables in their area. Looking behind his chair he noticed there was another free window spot.
Did this girl want something from him? It had been about five minutes as she settled her things, and she had still said nothing. It was then he realized she had her eyes closed the whole time as she fiddled with her things. Did she not know he was there?
How odd.
He narrowed his eyes at her in a fruitless attempt to intimidate her away from his table, but of course her eyes stayed shut. She was currently wiping her nose on the white sleeve of her over sized sweater, and going through the small bag she had sat down.
Normally he’d find this gross or unsightly but the way this girl held herself made her running nose seem almost endearing.
It had been about fifteen minutes, and neither of them had acknowledged each other. This was getting ridiculous, he had to say something.
“Comfortable?” was his snide remark.
That seemed to do it, because the girl jumped in her seat pushing her cane over in the process. Meruem blinked, he hadn’t noticed the cane before. Could it be that she couldn’t actually see him?
“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, standing up, “I--II had no idea anyone was here...I can go to a different spot!”
“You can stay, I don’t mind,” he said confusing himself. Then again he wasn’t about to push a blind person’s stuff off and make her move.
“Oh.. are you sure?”
“Of course,” he said, “What is it you have there?”
She sat back down, leaning her cane back against the table, “It’s a gungi board. Have you ever played?”
“No,” he answered, taking a closer look.
It was a plain brown board, almost like a slab of wood, with a grid etched into it. It looked rather simple for a game, but he had no idea what the rules were.
“It’s my favorite game!” she said raising her hands as she talked, “I’ve started playing in competitions this semester, and I haven’t lost yet!”
“Interesting…How do you play?”
“Oh you really want to know?” she sniffed, wiping her nose again, “Yea, I can show you. It’s a little complic--”
“SSHHHH” shushed a nearby librarian.
Meruem abruptly turned and glared at them, but they glared back just as hard. He hated being interrupted, especially in such a rude way. When he turned back the girl had her head sheepishly turned her head down with her arms crossed.
He felt another rush of anger, but he wasn’t sure why. He had just met her after all.
After a few moments of silence he spoke up, “Continue.”
“Sorry…” she whispered, “Sometimes I don’t realize when my voice gets louder…”
“Don’t worry about it. Tell me how to play, I want to know.”
She spent the next half hour explaining the basics of gungi with Meruem hanging on her every word. The bag had been emptied to reveal black and white pieces that she placed on either sides of the board. She then went through the moves and strategies to get to the games end goal.
It was interesting, but still pretty confusing. This girl seemed smarter than she initially appeared if she was able to play this complicated game competitively with no losses.
“Do you want to try to play me?” she finally asked.
“Are you sure? What if I break your winning streak?” he asked feeling cocky.
“I guess I’d be impressed,” she replied nonchalantly, “but I doubt you could beat me on your first try right?”
“You seem confident, but I’m a fast learner,” he flicked one of the pieces at her.
She laughed, “Me too! That doesn’t mean anything!”
He found himself smiling and was thankful she couldn’t see him. Normally if anyone else had acted so casually with him he wouldn’t like it, but he felt at ease. Their back and forth was nice.
It wasn’t everyday someone challenged him so openly even it wasn’t serious. He intimidated most people he met, and if they stuck around it wasn’t for long. His roommates were his longest standing friends.
“Sorry.. Did I upset you?” she asked suddenly, “You haven't said anything…”
“No, I was just thinking...I honestly only remember half of what you said so maybe we can play sometime after I read the rules.”
“Oh okay!” she said handing him a small book from her bag, “Here you go!”
“I…” he stared at the book she gave him, smiling more now, “This is….”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t read this,” he laughed, tracing the braille scattering the book.
“Wha-- Oh duh of course,” she said as she accidentally grasped his arm instead of the book, “Sorry! Sorry!”
This is nice.
It was started to worry him though, they had only spent a little over an hour together. This girl just showed up out of nowhere, and now he laughing and smiling like some idiot. It’s not like they’re friends… yet.
A thought suddenly occurred to him, “I don’t know your name.”
It was more of a statement than a question, but it got the point across. She looked up at him opening her eyes a for second before closing them again. He barely caught a glance of blue.
It wasn’t enough.
“Komugi,” she said, her eyes fluttering once more.
“What?” he starred.
“That’s my name, Komugi.”
He continued to stare until she sneezed breaking his trace. She almost rubbed her nose on her sleeve like usual, but stopped looking a little uncomfortable. She patted around the table and gave up with a sigh.
He handed her a tissue box from the ledge behind him, “Meruem.”
“What?” she asked as he nudged the box at her.
She looked relieved and blew her nose loudly, going through at least three tissues. He forced himself to keep a straight face even though she wouldn’t know if he didn’t.
“That’s my name,” he said once she was finished.
“Meruem…” she repeated back, “Thanks, my nose is always running…”
“Allergies?”
“It’s always been like this..” she said quietly, “but it’s getting colder so that doesnt help.”
“I like this time of year. Right before it gets too cold.”
“Is that why the window is open?” she asked surprising him, “I could feel the breeze.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No.”
The conversation was starting to lag, and Meruem wasn’t sure what to say to keep it going. He didn’t want to end their interaction awkwardly if he wanted to see her again.
Which he definitely did.
Drumming his fingers on the table he thought for a minute. She had quietly started rearranging the pieces on her board, probably reviewing some moves she was planning. He watched her go through the motions with mild interest, whatever spell they were under was broken now.
Just then a big gust of wind came through, cracking the window open further. The chill caused a rough shiver to go through Komugi making her sneeze three times in a row. While she was blowing her nose, he slammed the window shut against the strong wind.
Then an idea stuck him.
“There’s a coffee shop nearby,” he started, “Did you want to go? You can bring your board if you still wanted to play.”
“I thought you didn’t want to play right away?” she questioned, already packing up her pieces to go with him.
“If I forget something you’ll let me know.”
“Yea! You can ask me anything!”
He smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
--
Meruem got back to his dorm later than he intended. Komugi and him had played several rounds of gungi at the coffee shop, and then he had walked her home.
It felt like the right thing to do since it was dark out, but she said it didn’t make any difference since she couldn’t tell anyways. He didn’t tell her that wasn’t why he was worried, but it made him realize how innocent she was.
With every game they played he felt himself growing more comfortable with the rules. By the time they had played five games he was pretty confident in himself.
He was nowhere as good as her though, he didn’t expect he would be. She always had a counter to his moves, she wasn’t surprised by any of his strategies.
Meruem never had such a good time losing at something before. Normally if he couldn’t do something right the first time it infuriated him to no end, let alone someone beating him at something.
He should be fed up with her and the whole day he’s had, but instead he was looking forward to seeing her again. He was looking forward to losing to her again.
The door to his room he shared with Pitou opened. They came out carrying some books and their laptop and settled themselves next to him at the table.
“You’re home late,” they stated coyly, “Get into any trouble?”
He rolled his eyes, “It’s not that late. Are the others around?”
“Just us for the time being,” they answered, “How long that will last? Who knows…”
He sighed, resting his head on his arms. He totally forgot about talking to Pouf. Meruem had no idea what he was going to say, and honestly didn’t care at this point.
He was still feeling content after his day with Komugi, and he wasn’t about to sour that by confronting Pouf. Still they needed to set some boundaries soon.
“I don’t think we should talk to Pouf tonight…”
“Oh don’t worry about that. Youpi said he’d take care of it, thank god,” they replied, “I think that’s why they’re both out right now.”
He sat up, “Oh really? That’s going to be an interesting conversation…”
“Yea well, it’s already embarrassing enough to have your crush tell you ‘I’m not interested’ when they weren’t supposed to know in the first place!” Pitou laughed, “He’ll probably sulk for a few days, but we don’t room with him so it’s Youpi’s problem now!”
“How empathetic of you,” he smirked.
Pitou leaned in giving him one of their flirtatious looks, “So…. where were you then?”
“Out.”
They sighed, “I don’t know why I expected anything more.”
--
The next morning Komugi woke to one of her cats pawing at her face. She shot up and sneezed twice scaring them away.
Going through the motions of the day, she got up to start getting ready. Everything felt off as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. It was a weird stagnant feeling in the pit of her stomach that made it hard to focus.
Was she feeling anxious?
Yesterday sent her spinning, she had made a new friend in the most peculiar way. Just by accident he took an interest in her. That didn’t happen often, even though she made similar mistakes at least once a day.
At first she thought he was just being nice, but when Meruem had invited her to that coffee shop she knew it wasn’t about being civil. He actually liked learning about gungi and playing with her multiple times until he got the hang of it.
It really warmed her heart, and she hoped she would see him again.
There really was no telling if she would though. He didn’t give her his number or vice versa so there was no way to get a hold of him. He would just have to find her.
After he dropped her off she realized this and had been thinking of how to reconnect with him.
An idea finally hit her, but it would take some waiting.
--
Wednesday. 3:15 PM.
That was when they had first met at the campus library. Komugi figured that if she wanted him to find her the smartest thing to do was be in the same place, at the same time, on the same day and the rest was up to him.
So, that’s where she found herself the next Wednesday at 3:00 PM in the library playing herself at gungi and taking notes in her head on different strategies. She was hoping she’d find Meruem or he’d find her before today, but there was no sign of him.
To be fair she was a shut in during the weekend and then was rushing to classes to get ready for her midterms.
The worst part was he could be in the library right now, and she wouldn’t have a clue. He was very quiet the last time she remembered, and she wouldn’t put it past him to sneak up on her. He had that type of personality.
This whole thing made her feel ridiculous, there was no real guarantee he’d show up, but if he did.. Oh god what would that mean?
What would be worse? If he didn’t show up and disappointed her or if he did show up and what? Would she disappoint him? She was used to disappointments regardless, but now she was thinking this was a bad idea.
She was about to pack up and leave until she heard the sound of someone scooting a chair.
“You beat me here,” Meruem said sounding amused.
“Oh I w-wasn’t sure you’d come..” she said unsure of herself, “I’m-- that’s why I came…”
Komugi groaned inwardly, this was exactly what she was worried about. He actually does show up right on time and she acts so awkward. As if this actually meant something more than… whatever this was.
Maybe this anticipation she felt had spoiled things after all.
She was too distracted with her own thoughts at first to hear Meruem turning the pages in a book and writing down notes, “Oh are you doing some school work?”
“Huh?” he said as if he just realized she was there, “Oh no sorry, I found this book about gungi, and I had some questions.”
“What?”
She was almost glowing. He had gotten a book about gungi just to play it with her? He had questions? This was completely surreal, nothing like this happened to her.
“Well I had been writing down some strategies but then I keep finding ways you would counter them... “ he sighed, “It’s frustrating, how can you corner me at every move?”
He sounded almost deep in thought, not as if he was joking with her. She asked him what strategies he had written down. He thought of some pretty clever ideas that she herself had used in tournaments as well, but there was a counter move to everything he suggested.
Meruem was thinking too early into the game, while when she played she read the opponents moves as they played out and made her own pattern around them to victory. It was hard to explain, but he listened contently all the same.
It was nice to have someone to talk to about gungi with that was interested to learn from her. She had won her fair share of competitions early in the game, but no one had yet asked her to teach them her moves. She was too new to be sought after for advice, but won too much to be a novice.
Before she knew what was happening, an hour had gone by and they had already strategized and played a few games.
Was this going to be a common occurrence between them, she thought during their fourth game. Would they do other things together?
“I still have a lot to learn about this game…” Meruem sighed after his fifth loss, “To think I was so confident before.”
Komugi laughed, “You’ve gotten alot better from last time!”
“At least there’s that,” he agreed, “anyways thanks for taking the time to teach me. This game is very interesting.”
“It’s no problem, I think so too!” she said, “No one’s ever asked me for advice about it.”
“That’s surprising, if anything I’d say you’re the one to ask.”
“II- I don’t know, but thanks so for saying so,” she sniffed.
The silence that came next was long but comfortable as Meruem wrote in his notebook about their last few strategies. She continued move the various pieces on her side, noting their titles in her head. It was a very tranquil moment in a way.
She wondered how long this would last. Not just today, but their future interactions if there were going to be more. Komugi tried to think of other things they could do together to keep their acquaintance going a little longer.
Gungi was one of the only things she really focused on, so once this was burnt out what else was there. Maybe it was too early to have these thoughts, or at least entertain them. She was probably the only one having these weird doubts.
Out of the blue, Meruem asked, “Do you ever listen to our university’s radio station?”
“Huh? Oh sometimes yea,” she said, “It depends what’s on.”
“You should listen tonight,” he explained, “I’m going to have a slot to play music with my friend.”
“Oh wow that’s so cool!” she gushed, bringing her hands to her face, “What time?”
“It’s at 8:00 PM, lasts an hour,” she heard him start to put his stuff away, “I have to be there an hour early though. Do you want walk around until then?”
“Sure!” she said, “Walk around where?”
He picked up her board once she put the pieces away and put it under his arm, “Who cares, it’s a nice day out. I’ll carry your board.”
“Thanks!”
--
They ended up walking to the arboretum across from the library. It wasn’t much to look at with the current weather in Meruem’s opinion, but Komugi didn’t mind.
What she did mind was the ‘nice day’ he’d mention earlier. It was freezing outside with the wind coming and going, even with her coat wrapped tightly around her. Meruem didn’t seem to mind however, and had even claimed he’d taken his jacket off.
There was a comfortable silence between them again as he led her threw the paths around the dying gardens. It was that same tranquil feeling.
It had been an hour since they started and they had already reached the entrance again. Meruem led them to a bench nearby to sit for a while.
They had started talking again, but it was about themselves this time. Komugi told him about how she found her two cats, they were abandoned outside her dorm freshman year. She wasn’t supposed to have pets, but she couldn’t leave them out in the cold. Meruem thought this spoke very true to her character, and only made her more endearing to him.
When she asked about him, Meruem wasn’t as open about himself, but he did tell her some things. She found out he had three other roommates who he had been friends with for a while, and that he was an only child of a single mother.
Normally these claims would have been followed with some sort of emotional story or anecdote, but he expressed his thoughts more as statements than sentiments.
She wasn’t going to pry for more information though. It was nice to at least know something about his past.
The wind had picked up considerably, and it was starting to get to Komugi. The longer they sat there, the colder it got, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand.
She knew her nose was running a lot more than usual, but she had come prepared this time with tissus. When she couldn’t hold it in anymore she sneezed four times in a row. Meruem had finally realized the discomfort she was in, and tried to resolve it.
“Hold on,” he said reaching into his bag. He handed her what felt to be a plush knit, “My roommate stuck their scarf in my bag.”
She wrapped it around herself quickly to cover her blush, “T-thanks!”
“Just keep it, it serves them right to think I’d take care of their stuff..”
Komugi let out a loud laugh, “If I let you borrow anything, don’t just give it away!”
“I won’t!” he jested, putting an arm around her and pulling her close.
Komugi decided she didn’t mind the cold that much anymore.
--
Meruem showed up to the station five minutes before they were about to start their slot to Pitou’s dismay. They had no idea what the theme was for the night and Meruem was the one who had the playlists.
When he finally got there in the nick of time, they were up in arms, but there wasn’t enough time to give him a full lecture.
“That’s the last time I let you decide the show’s theme!” they scolded, putting their headphones on, “At least you showed up.”
“I lost track of time,” was his apology.
“Doing what? It’s not like you to be so out of it,” they asked, “Does this have anything to do with the reason you got home late the other night?”
How do they know everything ?
He got his computer set up and headphones on. Pitou didn’t seem truly upset, but he knew this gig was important to them so he did feel a little guilty.
They had worked hard to get their slot at a normal hour so their show could actually be heard, which was a hard thing to do at this university. They had some competition with some other groups who had music themes and talk shows that were well liked in the community.
“You can do whatever intro you want, here’s some notes,” he said handing them a notebook, “Just wing it, I can change things up if you go off script.”
They looked less annoyed and more thankful now, “Okay fine, but we aren’t done talking about this.”
“Yeah yeah.”