Work Text:
Inspiration: “boys” by charli xcx
summary: kou tries to keep in contact with mitsuba. The methods are often absurd. Aka the mirror phone.
A dumb mini chapter set to an idea I had and couldnt shake. I had a ton of fun with it!
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There was a new rumor circulating around the school. Not one that lead to a mysterious supernatural occurrence, but rather one involving a fairly popular upperclassman's younger brother. Perhaps you've even heard of it.
They say that Minamoto Kou has lost his mind. He talks to no one in bathrooms and sticks around late after school despite not being in any clubs.
Why he did this, well...
Everyone had their own theories. Some thought that he was part of a gang. Others thought it was 8th Grade Syndrome run rampant.
Sato was becoming worried about his friend. He knew that Kou wasn’t in any gang related trouble, because the dopey blond was far too much of a lawful good to ever do something criminal.
“He's probably caught up with exorcising ghosts.” Yoko joked, smiling as he packed his bag for the day.
Sato eyed the empty desk beside his own. “Maybe.”
Kou had always had a pretty bad case of 8th Grade Syndrome. Or at least, that’s what Sato told himself. It was easier to excuse the boy's eccentricities with that than to acknowledge that sometimes, he saw things he didn’t want to.
Still, there was a lot of damage control to perform if they wanted their friend to escape this problem scratch free. It absolutely did not help that for whatever they tried, Kou was already being labeled as an “other”.
“We can help him become a socially acceptable person again!” Yoko said cheerfully, taking his shoes from his locker.
“That’s a good idea.” the other boy nodded quickly, determined. “We'll fix it!”
000
“Oh, hold on... this is an important call.”
Yoko blinked, looking up from his lunch. “Oh?”
Kou didn’t deign to answer his searching expression, taking out an orange phone from his bag. The design wasn’t unlike a regular phone, except for two major features. One, was that it was undeniably a plastic toy phone. The other, was the square slab of mirror glass super glued to the screen.
The boy couldn’t take his eyes off of the bold display of absurdity. Kou tapped the mirror three times, before bringing it to his ear. A cheerful smile lit the boy's face up, although Yoko didn’t hear anything come from the phone.
“Hey, I'm about to have lunch! Did you want to meet up with Yashiro?” his tone was light and airy, a lovestruck note to it. “Awesome, I made you a really good lunch this time! … Don’t make it weird.” A blush climbed up Kou's neck, turning the tips of his ears bright red. “You to. See you there.”
He lowered the phone, pressing the rubber home button. Nothing happened, but Kou sighed happily and dug inside of his bag as if he'd just had a legitimate conversation with a lover. Yoko stared dumbly, trying to figure out what exactly he'd just witnessed.
“Sorry,” Kou offered a sheepish grin. “I'm gonna go eat lunch with Yashiro-senpai today. I'll see you guys later!”
With that, the cheerful blond stood with his lunch and traipsed out of the room. Turning to look at Sato, Yoko found the same exact look of bewilderment on the other's face. A quick glance around the room proved that they were far from the only people who'd witnessed the bizarre encounter.
That day, Yoko and Sato learned a very important lesson about plans and how an oblivious moron could plow through them without a thought.
000
The phone made an appearance almost hourly. Kou would get a mysterious “call” that he absolutely had to take and he'd spend anywhere from a minute to ten talking to no one. A dopey smile pulled at his face and he looked like he'd swallowed the sun.
Maybe he was having a delusional fake relationship. Maybe he'd really lost his mind.
Sato refused to believe that his friend was a lost cause. After class, before he could miss his chance, he stood in the way of Kou's path towards the door. The blond looked at him funny, tilting his head.
“Uh...Whats up, Sato?”
“We're worried about you, Kou.” he said, frowning. “You've been acting really weird.”
“Weirder than usual.” Yoko corrected gently, smiling sweetly from where he stood.
Kou looked between them owlishly, dumbfounded. They'd cut off all of his means of escape, the way a tiger might corner a wooly mammoth. “Whats going on??”
Yoko pointed to the plastic phone he held, smile never leaving. “That’s whats wrong.”
“Or...well, that’s the summation of it, but...” Sato mumbled. “You've been acting really weird and we're worried.”
The boy stared at them in confusion, before it seemed to dawn on him. “Ohh... You mean the rumors and stuff, huh?”
Glancing between one another, it was their turn to be confused. “You knew?” Yoko asked, cocking his head.
Kou itched his cheek, glancing away. “Well, yeah. I'm not dumb.”
Frustration warred with curiosity, neither quite winning over the other. “So then, why...?”
Looking at the floor, the normally cheerful boy seemed at a loss for words. “Well... I...” he paused, then sighed. “I'm dating someone.”
A pause, before twin cries of shock. “Ehhhh????”
Kou made a face and the two boys reeled in their shock marginally. Yoko leaned closer, eyes wide and curious. “Who is it??? Someone we know???”
Waving his arms, the boy stammered, “No! Its...actually...” he sighed, itching his head. “Someone from another school.” Doubt settled over the two. Kou looked at the ceiling awkwardly. “Its a guy. His family is pretty... about that, so we've been trying to be sneaky.”
A series of realizations hit the two boys at once. The first, being that Minamoto Kou was capable of lying, even if only by omission. The second, being that he was allegedly having a secret affair with a guy from another school.
Whatever they thought he was going to tell them, this hadn’t even cracked the top ten of their theories. They looked at one another wordlessly, trying to figure out what to say. Yoko was the first to speak.
“This isn’t a lie, right?” the boy asked, watching the way the blond fidgeted. “You're really having a top secret affair with a guy?”
Kou sighed heavily. “I'm not lying.”
“Then what about...” Sato gestured to the plastic phone.
“Its a real phone.” Kou defended, frowning. “Its just got a busted screen.”
Yoko and Sato shared a look, doubt clear in their gaze. Then, Yoko smiled gently. “Well, if that’s all, then its fine.” he poked the other boy lightly, smile turning into a soft frown. “But remember, we're here to support you! Don’t hide things from us, alright?”
A strange look passed over Kou's face, before morphing into a small, watery smile. He itched his cheek, laughing faintly. “Thank you.” then, looking up, he flashed a warm smile. “I'm really lucky to have friends like you!”
It was hard to put aside his concern, but seeing that smile made it easier to swallow. Sato offered a small one back. Kou glanced at the phone and laughed nervously, raking a hand through his hair. “I really gotta go, but I'll talk to you guys later!”
Kou raced for the door, leaving his friends behind. They watched him go, the sounds of the school hanging in the air. Glancing at Yoko, the boy mumbled, “That was a lie, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“What should we do...?”
“I don’t know.” Yoko answered honestly, turning to his own bag and gathering his things together. “All we can do is just support him, right?”
Sato wasn’t so sure about that. Still, his friend had a point. If Kou felt like he needed their help, he knew he could seek them out. That was all they could do in the end. “Do you think there’s really a guy he's dating?”
“Probably, its kind of specific right?”
What kind of person had caught Kou's interest? Sato wondered as he grabbed his bag.
000
“So, I'm a guy from another school now?”
Kou rolled his eyes, pushing a cookie into the redhead's mouth. “I couldn’t exactly tell them the truth.”
Mitsuba bit into the sweet, munching and humming thoughtfully. “I guess that would be hard to explain.”
“Maybe we should figure out a different way to keep in contact...” the blond mumbled, sighing as he leaned against the sink. “I really thought this was a good idea.”
The spirit eyed the boy, raising a brow. “You're joking, right?”
“Can it.” Kou stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend. “Your idea was a pocket mirror. I'd look way crazier!”
“Says you.”
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kou's excuse was 900% yashiro's idea. We all know thats way too complex of a lie for him to even comprehend by himself. He also traded his share of dessert for tiara's toy phone.