Work Text:
Inspiration: “omg” by carly rae, “broken hearted” by karmin,
summary: companion to “sleepover in mirror hell”, kou tests the mirror rumor out and mitsuba decides to play a mean prank that ultimately misses the mark entirely.
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Yashiro's new rumor had taken root and spread like roadside flowers. Mitsuba had watched her work, sewing the seeds with an experienced touch. From one person to another, until suddenly it was all anyone could talk about.
Day in, day out, students murmured.
Have you heard? If you bring flowers to a mirror and knock three times, you might see your one true love. To accept it, you have to seal it with a kiss.
Mitsuba had been surprised, watching students come in pairs or one at a time. Hanako had advised him to be selective, because if it always worked then it wouldn’t be much of a mystery now would it?
At first, it had been overwhelming. Seeing so many faces crowding the mirrors, all waiting eagerly for him to reveal something. The rumors shifted his boundary minimally, but the feeling of losing control even a bit was jarring.
The shock wore off quickly. There was work to be done.
Slowly, the rush began to diminish. Everyone who was ready to seek out his services did so within the first few weeks and that was enough to cement him firmly as a School Mystery. Now, the more timid children crept up to mirrors, encouraged by peers more often than not.
When he was feeling less than kind, Mitsuba would show them something different. Maybe a different face, or perhaps something scary. Watching them squeal in terror and bolt helped to ease some of his own misery.
What good did it do to answer the wishes of others, when his own were left by the wayside?
Ever since the sleepover, Kou had begun to avoid him. Yashiro assured him that wasn’t the case when he'd casually brought it up.
“I'm sure he's just busy with his own things.” she said gently.
Things that had conveniently shown up right after the sleepover. Right. It wasn’t as if he was oblivious. Even someone as socially blindsided as Mitsuba could tell when someone was avoiding them.
He wanted to pretend that it didn’t have anything to do with him. That Kou simply had bigger concerns to worry about. Yet he still made time for Hanako and Yashiro. He knew that, he watched them often.
Part of him wondered if maybe he was an idiot. Trusting someone else, expecting them not to take that trust and shred it. Hadn’t the other Mitsuba learned the hard way that you couldn’t do that?
His heart ached. It did that more often these days. Whenever he thought of the blond, with his sunny smiles and friendly nature, he couldn’t stop the overwhelming emotions that poured forth. It felt distinctly pathetic, falling in love with the first person to show him real kindness.
And yet, here he was.
Sighing, the spirit leaned against the sinks that lined his side of the mirror. Outside, Hanako and Yashiro had stepped out for a picnic. The setting sun cast the bathroom in shades of amber, reflecting off of the colorful glass windows of the stalls. A clutter of flowers had been set into a tall vase, occupying the corner of the room.
The sound of footsteps and voices passed by the bathroom door. Mitsuba wondered if anyone would be coming to call him today.
A familiar set of footsteps echoed off of the tiled floor, as the door opened. Deja vu settled over him, as Kou trotted into the bathroom. He cast a glance around, sighing heavily and then itched his head. As the boy turned to leave, his gaze settled on the row of mirrors and he paused.
Mitsuba's heart skipped a beat and he wondered if somehow he could see him. He hadn’t lifted the veil that kept his side of the glass from view. The boy's expression shifted from curiosity to embarrassment and it became clear what what going through his head.
After all, hadn’t he seen that exact reaction for upwards of a month now?
Dread thumped in his chest, heavy and leaden. Swallowing hard, Mitsuba tried to push it aside. If Kou did the ritual, what would happen? Who would he expect to see? A wry smile pulled at his face. Of course, that would be Yashiro, right?
It wasn’t as if Mitsuba had any illusions of competing against her. The Franken-ghost of a long dead friend couldn’t compare to a lovely, considerate living girl. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed the way the boy looked at Yashiro.
Kou swallowed hard, then glanced around. Once he was sure he was alone, the boy approached the mirror. He raised a hand, paused, then shook his head and brought it down in a gentle knock. One, two, three.
There was absolutely no way that Mitsuba would show him Yashiro's face.
A shot of bitterness raced through him and he tapped the glass of the mirror. The image of himself appeared, reversed from his vantage point. It had a clearly mocking expression, one he hoped would send a message.
Kou had some fucking nerve.
The boy paused, blinking owlishly. Tilting his head, he made a face. It cemented the heaviness in his chest. Of course, this wasn’t the face he'd wanted to see at all. Mitsuba had known that. Of course he had.
It still hurt.
Raising a hand, Mitsuba took a breath and prepared to switch the image. It wasn’t fair of him to treat his friend like that. Even if he absolutely deserved the spite.
“Well... this is good to.”
Huh.
Looking at the blond, he felt his heart skip a beat. A flush had settled over the boy's cheeks, a relief in his eyes that he hadn’t expected. Mitsuba felt his whole world stop.
Taking a deep breath, Kou glanced up at the ceiling and let it out in a heavy sigh. Then, after once again glancing around quickly, he focused on the mirror again. Closing his eyes, he leaned forward.
His head was spinning.
This absolute idiot .
Gripping the sink, the boy pressed his lips to the image. For a long moment, Mitsuba could only stare dumbly. The insanity of the situation was spinning wildly around his head, impossible to think past. If he was honest, seeing Kou embarrass himself like this was possibly the funniest thing on Earth.
Swallowing hard, he leaned forward. As he did, Kou leaned back, sighing.
“I guess this is stupid, huh...” he heard him mumble.
Mitsuba reached out a hand, passing through the glass and gripping the boy's tie. Kou made an undignified noise, lurching forward. Mitsuba leaned out of the mirror, mouth a thin line. He could feel the startled gasp on his cheek.
“You didn’t bring a flower, moron.”
Kou blinked, dumbfounded. Mitsuba didn’t give him a chance to respond, yanking on his tie. He leaned forward, catching the other boy's lips in a clumsy kiss. There was a beat, before Kou relaxed and closed his eyes.
Everything about the kiss was clunky and awkward. He could feel the sink digging into his hip and he'd caught more of the boy's lower lip than he'd thought.
It was heaven.
Someone was laughing outside the bathroom, their voices light and carrying. Mitsuba pulled away first, face beet red. He sunk into his scarf, glancing anywhere but forward. Kou blinked, dazed. For a moment, neither spoke. Then, a smile pulled at the blond's mouth.
“I hope that’s not what the rumor meant by sealing it with a kiss.” he joked.
Mitsuba rolled his eyes. “Get out.”
Kou laughed, the sound sending little jolts of electricity up the redhead's spine. The smile on the boy's face was warm and relieved. Mitsuba distracted himself with Kou's tie, fidgeting with it. He didn’t seem to mind.
“I was worried.” Kou admitted, itching his nose.
“ You were worried?” Mitsuba glanced up at him, annoyance clear on his face. “I thought you hated me!”
The look of confusion was so genuine, he almost felt guilty for saying it. “Huh? Why would I?”
Mitsuba gestured with his free hand, shrugging. “From the sleepover.”
A pause, then, “Oh! Oh. No!” the boy shook his head quickly, frowning. “No way, I don’t care about that at all.”
“Then...” he bit his lip, humiliation stinging his cheeks. “Then why were you avoiding me??”
“Eh?”
“Don’t eh me!” Mitsuba fumed, looking up properly at the blond.
Kou blinked, itching his cheek. “I wasn’t avoiding you.” he said, tilting his head. “I had to help with club stuff. Its the end of the term, so everything is kind of chaotic right now.”
Eying him suspiciously, he found no deceit in the blond's expression. As if Minamoto Kou lied. Could he even? “Oh.”
“Were you worried??” Kou frowned, worry alighting on his face.
What a moron.
“No way! Why should I be!” Mitsuba looked away quickly.
“You were! Oh man, I'm sorry!”
“Go away, idiot!”
It was impossible to express just how he felt in that moment. Relieved, humiliated, butterflies and cotton candy warring in his chest for dominance. Mitsuba decided it probably didn’t matter if he could put a name to it.
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