Chapter Text
The sound of clinking metal coupled with the intoxicating aroma of coffee beans permeate the atmosphere, but it does nothing to soothe the awkward tension in the air that came with the words that Mitsuri has just said. Sanemi’s quiet, his actions methodological as he cuts into his ohagi and chews slowly. Mitsuri squeaks when he meets her eyes and looks down immediately again at her wringing hands.
Her words echo in the silence. Shinazugawa! Please go out with me!
“What the hell brought this on?”
Mitsuri flushes bright red. Heart caught in her throat, she does nothing but stare at his glaring eyes. There’s a confused frown on his brow – Shinazugawa! How adorable you look right now! She clears her throat and smiles sheepishly at him.
“W-Well! See, my parents are coming sometime this week, and I’ve kind of told them dating someone right now. It’s only while they’re here. And you can decline, of course! But, um, yeah . . .” she trails off with a laugh. “I didn’t know who else I could ask.”
“Why don’t you ask Iguro? Why me?” he persists. “Aren’t you two dating?”
Mitsuri winces. “Um! Iguro’s a bit preoccupied right now.”
Sanemi doesn’t reply again for a while, merely resorting to watching her suspiciously as she fidgets on her seat. He doesn’t question her further on her statement, and the considerateness makes Mitsuri’s heart flutter. He’s so nice!
“We have to set boundaries,” he says finally, drumming his fingers against the table. Mitsuri claps a hand over her mouth to muffle an excited squeal, though it does nothing to prevent Sanemi from rolling his eyes upward at her antics.
“Y-Yes!” Mitsuri exclaims. Ah. That might be a bit too excited. She clears her throat and tries again. “I mean, yes. Of course. Boundaries. I’ll respect whatever you set, Shinazugawa!”
“Sanemi.”
Mitsuri’s heart jumps. “H-Huh?”
Sanemi just shoots her an exasperated look. “You can’t be so goddamned formal with me if we’re going to be dating, idiot.”
He’s allowing her to call him by his first name! What an honour!
“Of course! You’re right! Sanemi.” She tastes the word on her lips. “Sa-ne-mi. Sanemi! You have a very pretty name, Sanemi!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Sanemi grumbles, shrugging her compliment off. “Now, rules.”
Mitsuri fumbles through her bag. “Of course! I’ll write up a contract for agreement too!”She comes up with a notebook and a pen, and looks towards Sanemi eagerly. “Just tell me your rules and I’ll write my own too, then we can sign it!”
Sanemi nods in agreement, looking off to the side in thought. The pale sunlight streaming from the windows hits his face just right; it highlights the lavender hue of his irises and the angle of his cheekbone so wonderfully. Mitsuri bites the inside of her cheek.
“So, first of all, set the date when we’re going to end this.”
Mitsuri blinks, taking the cap off the pen with her teeth. “Oh, right! So, my parents are going to be here for a few weeks, I think? We can end it by then.”
Sanemi nods. Mitsuri jots that down and turns back to him. “Also, I’ll have to ask you to live with me while we’re dating, if that’s all right with you?”
Sanemi grunts. “Why?”
Mitsuri bites her lip in embarrassment. “I might have told them my boyfriend and I have been together for years, and that we’re living together now.” She chuckles awkwardly.
Sanemi, bless him, doesn’t comment further. He nods again, and Mitsuri writes that in the notebook. They exchange rules and boundaries until Sanemi’s satisfied. Mitsuri’s tea has long gone cold. What a shame. The barista must have worked hard on it, too! A twinge of guilt pinches her heart at the thought of wasting their effort, so Mitsuri sips at the cold tea even as the bitter taste overwhelms her tongue. She makes a face.
“Is that all, Shina – Sanemi?” she asks when the silence has gone off a few seconds.
“I think? Lemme see it.” He holds a hand out and wordlessly, she passes the notebook over. He scans over her notes, a brow raising as he browses further down the page. Mitsuri holds her breath in anticipation. Finally, he looks up at her. There’s a look in his face that Mitsuri can’t read, but she decides it suits him a lot, anyway.
He turns the page towards her. “Really? Pink glitter pen?”
Mitsuri claps her palms against her burning cheeks. “It’s my favourite colour! And it looks so cute!”
Sanemi rolls his eyes again. “Whatever, just give me the damned pen.”
Still red in the face, Mitsuri hands the pen over. Her skin is aflame where he touches her as he takes the pen. Sanemi signs the paper with little fanfare and Mitsuri watches as he basically signs over his time to her. It’s so incredibly nice of him to do this for her! A hand raises to touch the spot where her heart beats, to feel it flutter with admiration for the man.
Everything’s so anticlimactic when he slides the notebook back to her. Mitsuri signs, making sure to add a cute little heart by the edge of her name. That’s it. Done. She’d been building courage to ask Sanemi out for days, and here, he’s agreed without so much of a fuss!
“Is that all you wanted to discuss?”
Mitsuri nods, energetic. “Yeah! That’s all!”
Sanemi utters a small ‘good’ before tucking a bill underneath his plate and standing up. A pang of disappointment hits Mitsuri as she realizes that he’s not going to stay to hang out a bit more with her. But Sanemi walks around the table to pull her chair so Mitsuri can stand. Belatedly and with her heart pounding in her chest, she realizes he intends to leave with her, and her lips twist into an uncontrollable smile.
“Thank you!” she exclaims as he helps her stand up. Mitsuri squeals internally at how cute he is! So gentlemanly! So kind! How lucky the girl who’d end up really dating him would be!
“So, we’re really gonna do this,” Sanemi says as they step outside the coffee shop. Pale sunlight reflects against freshly fallen snow and catches in Sanemi’s hair, and Mitsuri really can’t help cooing at how pretty Sanemi looks like that, with a winter wonderland backdrop softening his features. He looks so good! Almost like an angel! It's such a pity his rugged look always scares people away when he has such a kind heart!
“I-I mean! You can always back away anytime! I won’t hold it against you or anything.”
Sanemi rolls his eyes again and huffs. Mist fans out and disappears in the cooling air. “I already agreed, didn’t I? I’m not backing out that easily, stupid.”
“Yeah!” Mitsuri smiles bashfully at the ground. She changes her mind, and smiles up at Sanemi instead. “I’m really grateful for this, Sanemi. This is a huge favour! Let’s both do our best!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sanemi says as he diverges from her path to go to his own apartment. “I’ll pack up a few clothes and meet you tomorrow in your apartment.”
“Of course!”
Mitsuri watches him walk off, face set in a fiery blush. She clutches her notebook to her chest and sighs. That’s one problem solved, but the world seems lighter already. It’s probably because the hard part of the problem has just been solved and Sanemi agreed to date her for a while, but Mitsuri can’t keep her grin down for the rest of the walk home.