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Kou was pretty used to walking Mitsuba home after school. The path to his house was a little off of Kou’s, but he always made it in time to make dinner, so Teru couldn’t complain. However, Mitsuba was a lot more stiff than usual today. He kept tripping over his words, fidgeting with his hands, and overall just acting weird.
“Is something wrong?” Kou asks, just as they reach Mitsuba’s house. Mitsuba twiddles with his fingers, and laughs a little too hard.
“So Kou would you… want to go to a painting class with me tomorrow? I mean, of course you would say yes! Why pass up an opportunity to be with me, your cutest friend!” Mitsuba continues to laugh but also refuses to meet Kou’s eyes.
Kou smiles wide and says,
“Yeah! Painting sounds fun. Are Hanako and Yashiro coming too?” Mitsuba immediately goes completely red and finally looks at Kou with a disgusted face.
“No! Obviously not, lame earring. Because… it’s just going to be the two of us.” Kou gives Mitsuba a thumbs up and yells,
“Sounds like a date!” Mitsuba’s eyes go wide and his neck grows even hotter.
“Obviously, idiot! Just meet me at 5 tomorrow at my house, ok?!” Then makes a break for his house.
“Mitsuba..?” Kou tries, but Mitsuba is already long gone. Kou slings his bag over his shoulder and walks home, still wondering why Mitsuba was so nervous about asking him to hang out.
“Of course I’m excited, my baby boy has his first date!!” Mitsuba’s mom squealed. He was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, while she cooks right in front of him.
“Mom!” She giggles, stirring some snow peas in a pan.
“You’re so cute, I was sure it would happen sooner!! You look just like me, anyway!” Mitsuba is nearly pulling his hair out at the encounter from earlier. He keeps thinking about when he freaked out about inviting Hanako and Yashiro. Mitsuba starts to slowly bang his head against the counter before his mother stops him. “Hey! Stop that. Kou must think you’re very brave, for asking him out like that. And he accepted, no?” Mitsuba looks up at his adoring mother's face and reconsiders the situation. All of that is technically true. Kou said yes, but did he even understand it was a date? He called it a date… but maybe not a date date. And there he goes again.
“What if he didn’t mean it like that..?” He whines, looking right at his mom.
“But what if he did, Mitsuba? This Kou kid is pretty dense, right? Try to remind him it’s a date tomorrow, ok? But take it slow.” Mitsuba nods thoughtfully.
“Yeah, I will.” His mom suddenly claps her hands together and excitedly looks towards him.
“Have you picked an outfit yet?!” Mitsuba immediately tries to run away but his mom grabs his hand. “Dinner first.” Like a gazelle caught by a lion, Mitsuba gives in and sits at the table with his mom and crunches on snow peas and salmon before his death. Immediately after cleaning up, his mom stares lovingly at him, and then drags him by the hands towards his room to file through his clothes. Three hours later and she thinks she found something suitable, and Mitsuba accepts without looking at it. Simply because he knows he’ll look cute no matter what he’s in- and he really wants this to end. After demolishing his closet, his mother delicately put it together again, kisses Mitsuba on the forehead, and walks out of his room. Mitsuba lays on his bed, completely spread out, alone with only his thoughts. He sighs, then turns off his light and tries to fall asleep.
Kou pulls up to Mitsuba’s house 5 minutes till 5, and decides to park his car right in front of his house. Kou had to beg Teru to bring his convertible out into the world- it took an hour, donuts, and extra help from Tiara, but he got it. It was all for good reason, though. Today was the day he was going to ask Mitsuba to go on an actual, official, date with him. He showed up early to be able to greet his mother- because Mitsuba never lets him. Now, at the door, he’s never felt more nervous in his life. He’s sure later on will trump this by millions- but his hands are nearly shaking. He gets himself to knock on the door and it is swiftly opened by an older woman. Mitsuba’s mother looks exactly like Mitsuba. Big round pink eyes, shoulder length pink hair, just… older. And a woman. She takes one look at Kou and immediately pulls him in for a hug.
“Your Mitsuba’s Kou, right?” She says. Kou smiles and nods his head. Mitsuba’s mom lets go of him and says, “Oh my gosh! He talks about you so much, right now he’s finishing getting ready, but he’ll be out in a minute. I’ve seen you plenty but I never get to talk to you. I think he’s trying to keep us apart!! Tell me about yourself, Kou.” Kou fidgets awkwardly but steels his nerves and says,
“I’m a junior in highschool, Mitsuba and I are in the same class. I'm the one who makes his bentos. We met a few years ago because his seat was right in front of mine. Y'know Mitsuba can be really loud and cocky and selfish but he’s so kind and strong hearted, I don’t think I could be ok without him, Mitsuba is my best friend and I love hearing from him, and i-” Mitsuba’s mom gently puts up a single finger to his mouth and whispers with a smile,
“He’s around the corner and is listening to everything you're saying right now.” Kou goes completely red and starts to nervously laugh. She nods and suddenly yells, “Mitsuba!!”. Two seconds later and Mitsuba walks out right from where his mom thought he was. Kou’s heart nearly skips a beat looking at him. Cause there Mitsuba is, wearing black skinny jeans, a light pink shirt and a brown sweater, his pink hair braided and then put into a ponytail. Looking like the most beautiful human on the planet. Mitsuba’s mom gently pokes Kou in the back, where Mitsuba can’t see.
“Are you okay?” Mitsuba asks, sounding as cocky and smug as ever. Kou nods his head, because he can’t speak. “Ok well then, Mom, we’re leaving, I’ll call you later.” Mitsuba’s mom kisses him on the head and opens the door for the both of them, waving them off. As soon as she closes the door, Mitsuba starts talking.
“Trying to get with my mom? What, are you into older women?” Kou laughs awkwardly. He’s sure Mitsuba heard all of his rambling, and if he figures out he likes Mitsuba before he can ask him out later, he’ll be in trouble. However, Mitsuba isn’t satisfied with Kou’s response. He expected something more dramatic, and… a confirmation that… he wasn’t trying to get with his mom. Saying nice things about her son in front of her was definitely a way to get into his mother’s heart. Before Mitsuba can spiral, Kou tries to open the door to a very nice car.“Are you really trying to steal a car right now?!” Mitsuba yells- but not too loud, just in case he is stealing a car. However the car opens right up, and Kou gets in with ease. After getting in, he realized he left Mitsuba on the sidewalk, so he gets out and opens the door for him. Mitsuba stares blankly at Kou with a dumbfounded expression.
“Since when did you have a car?” He asks. Kou gives him a smile and says,
“Teru said I could borrow his today.” Kou rushes Mitsuba into the car, and he reluctantly agrees. Kou hurries over and gets in, and then turns the keys to start the car. Mitsuba only continues to spiral with this new revelation. Kou must have begged his brother to have his car. For what? To drive with him on their… date. No! It must have been something else. Maybe Kou wants his mother to see him, oh so responsible, in this nice car, driving Mitsuba like…. Like a son-in law. Mitsuba internalizes the fact that Kou wants to get with his mother. And he also might be crying. At a stop light, Kou looks over to see a teary-eyed Mitsuba and panics.
“Mitsuba?” When Mitsuba looks at Kou, he wipes away his tears, and says,
“Ugh, don’t worry about me, pervert. I’m sure your thinking all kinds of thoughts right now-”
“I’m worried about you, dammit. I can take you home if you want.” Kou cuts in.
“Oh… uh. I’m fine. It’s ok. I was just…thinking. Let’s go before we miss our appointment.” Kou sighs, but keeps driving once the stoplight goes green.
Kou pulls up to ‘Paint with Mates!’ 10 minutes before the class is going to start. Mitsuba and him had barely talked throughout the ride- he can’t call it awkward, but it was not comfortable silence. He takes the keys out of the ignition and looks over to see Mitsuba softly asleep. Kou hadn’t even noticed he fell asleep- but now that he’s looking at him, he’s confused about how he missed it. Mitsuba looks so angelic sleeping. The setting sun is falling on him in all the right ways. Kou feels blessed to have even seen this sight, and he nearly tears up just looking at Mitsuba. Suddenly, he begins to stir, blinking his eyes before noticing Kou staring at him. His mouth immediately quirks into a grin, and then he starts viciously laughing at Kou.
“What are you doing there, Kou? Trying to commit my cute sleeping face to memory? What were you gonna do if I didn’t wake up? Tie me up and drive me back to your house?” Kou laughs, and gets out of the car. He walks over to Mitsuba’s side and opens the door for him.
“Wasn’t planning on it. Let’s go do some painting.” Mitsuba rolls his eyes at his non-reaction. He wishes he could go back to when Kou blushed at every word he said. Instead, he gets out of the car and walks with Kou right into ‘Paint with Mates!’.
‘Paint with Mates!’ is really just one big yellow room with canvases all facing one direction. Of course, there’s drinks and some food, but most of the focus is on painting. Kou and Mitsuba both find two empty spaces in the back right. They know they’re both annoying teenage boys and the other people present don’t deserve to have to hear their fooling around. Mitsuba decides to set up both their paints because aprons haven’t been given out yet, and Kou can’t steady his hands to save his life. While chatting together, Kou catches sight of someone who’s really familiar. Really familiar. Tall, brown hair, brown eyes… Where does he know him from…Mitsuba gets frustrated because Kou isn’t listening and turns to see what’s got his attention. Mitsuba steps on Kou’s foot really hard to get him to look at him.
“That’s Natsuhiko, dumbass!”
“Oh yeah, that’s his name.” Kou smiles at Mitsuba. Mitsuba stares blankly back.
“I would really like to not have a conversation with him, so if you could stop-.”
“Oh look, he’s coming this way.” Kou says. Mitsuba looks back to see Natsuhiko strolling towards them like some sort of model.
“Hey, Mitsuba and Kou! What are you two doing here?” Mitsuba immediately frowns just at the sight of Natsuhiko.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you have to go lick Sakura’s feet or something?” Natsuhiko laughs really hard. Like really hard. And then sobers out of nowhere.
“She wouldn’t let me… Anyway, I hope you two have fun painting, I’m actually teaching today. Let me know if you have questions, have fun on your date!” Natsuhiko pats both of them on the shoulder and then rushes off. Mitsuba sighs really loud. Of course Natsuhiko is teaching this class, what else could go wrong. He begins to complain to Kou, but looks up to see he’s so red he might as well be on fire. He’s covering his mouth, but Mitsuba can still see how positively red he is. He’s almost considering getting him water.
“Are you ok..?” Kou nods his head, and sits down on his stool in front of the canvas. Kou shakes his head a few times and then looks over at Mitsuba with the nicest smile he’s ever seen.
“I’m sure you’ve already got this painting thing down, so don’t make fun of my painting!” Mitsuba laughs gently, and they both lock eyes. They could’ve sat there forever if Natsuhiko didn’t start yelling out of nowhere.
“Hello everyone, and welcome to ‘Paint with Mates’! Since there are a lot of couples here today, we’ve decided to do a cherry blossom scene. Let’s just get started!” Mitsuba wanted so badly for Natsuhiko to be bad at his job. At least then he could make fun of him for it. Meanwhile, Kou is still freaking out because Natsuhiko called Mitsuba and him a couple. Do they look like a couple? Is this a date?! Kou is about to go over every single conversation he’s had with Mitsuba over the last 24 hours, when Mitsuba knocks on his head.
“Oi, lame ass, we’re making cherry blossoms right now.” Kou picks up a small brush and begins to mimic Natsuhiko’s movements, although he’s apparently doing it wrong because Mitsuba’s looks a lot better than his. Kou stops and watches Mitsuba for a minute, watches as his hands delicately place the strokes, his grip light but sturdy enough to hold the brush. Soon enough Kou has forgotten about his painting and is just watching Mitsuba. He finally notices and turns to Kou with his eyebrows furrowed.
“You’re going to get left behind on the first step.” Kou nearly jumps in shock at being caught, and brings up his brush again. He does a few blossoms but Mitsuba suddenly grabs his hand. “Here.” Mitsuba guides Kou’s hand to make a perfect cherry blossom. Kou really wants to listen and have Mitsuba teach him but he’s so close, and his hair is right there, and his hand is on his, and- “Kou?” Mitsuba looks up to Kou, because he’s hunched over him. Kou’s cheeks feel like they’re on fire, but he doesn’t turn away. Mitsuba lets go of his hand and turns back to his painting.
“Mitsuba?” Kou wonders why he turned away. Does Mitsuba hate him? What did he do to Mitsuba that made him hate him? He didn’t really listen to him earlier but that’s because he was so clos- Is he a pervert? Mitsuba was right. He’s just a disgusting pervert and Mitsuba hates hi-
“God, what? You want to see my blushing face? My adorable, cute, beautiful face while my cheeks are on fire? You’re such a pervert, Kou!” Mitsuba still refuses to make eye contact. His face hasn’t hit Minamoto Kou levels but it’s pretty damn close. They were so close, he was holding his hand for god sake! All of sudden, Mitsuba feels a hand come down on his shoulder, hard.
“Oh you two lovebirds have gotten behind! Let me help ya!” Natsuhiko yells. Mitsuba can feel his eyes on him. Natsuhiko suddenly leans in and points at Mitsuba’s painting. “Hmmm. Ok, I see. Your cherry blossoms are very good Mitsuba! Right now we're working on branches and trees, so you can-” he picks up a brush and dips into a rich brown. Natsuhiko continues to explain branches to Mitsuba, before dropping the brush in his hand and going to help another person. Mitsuba takes his advice and works on finishing and connecting his branches. Kou looks over and finally makes his trees. Mitsuba finishes up his connecting trees, and looks over to Kou.
“They look good, but you can add definition by putting some light brown here.” Mitsuba uses his brush and highlights some trees.
“Ok everyone! Now we’ll be adding some ground-age to your scene! All you need to do is start with a broad brush and then fine tune the details.” Mitsuba glances to his right to see Kou with a paint roller and bursts into laughter. Kou turns, confused.
“What?” Mitsuba only laughs harder.
“He said broad brush, not paint roller!! Might as well dumb the paint directly on the canvas!” Mitsuba is still laughing between words, when Kou starts to laugh too. Mitsuba wipes away his tears and grabs an actual brush. “Like this.” And paints just as the example has it. Kou’s heart swells as Mitsuba turns back to him, smiling. Kou finishes his step, with it not looking as great as Mitsuba’s, but not as horrible as it would’ve with the paint roller.
“Ok guys, great work tonight! We’re now on the final step! Now I’m asking for everyone to put something in this painting that means something to them. This could be an item, or even a person!” Natsuhiko says to the class, but then directly looks at Kou and Mitsuba and smiles. Mitsuba nearly gags making eye contact with him.
“What are ya going to put in?” Kou asks. Mitsuba turns to him and immediately gets an idea.
“I don’t know. What are you doing?” Kou looks at Mitsuba and decides automatically.
“Don’t look over here till’ I say so, ok?” Mitsuba hums in agreement, and continues to work on his object. Ten minutes later, Kou exclaims,
“It’s done!” Kou says, wiping sweat from his brow.
“Took you long enough. What did you choose, lame ass-” Mitsuba focuses his eyes on a certain yellow scarf strung on some trees, while a camera lays on the ground. Kou looks over to see Mitsuba’s painting and sees a large blue umbrella resting against a tree, with a traffic safety card hanging on a branch.They catch each other's eyes, and Mitsuba isn’t sure what to say or do- when Kou smiles and laughs down at him.
“Nice umbrella.” Mitsuba smiles back.
“Nice scarf.”
After the class ends, they grab their paintings, and run away from Natushiko before he can start talking. Finally in the car, they sit for a moment, admiring the dazzling night sky.
“That was fun.” Kou says. Mitsuba scoffs.
“Yeah.” Kou looks over at Mitsuba and decides that this is the moment.
“Mitsuba, I uh… I just think… well you're my best friend and I… Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like tonight we had a lot of fun and it would be great if I could take you on a… on an official date?” Mitsuba blinks. One, two, three, four times.
“This wasn’t a date? Oh my god. Oh my god. You didn’t know this was a date.” Mitsuba and Kou sit in silence to process everything for a few seconds.
“This was a date?!” Kou yells. Mitsuba nods.
“You told me it sounded like a date!” Mitsuba yells back.
“I thought you meant like...the date.” Mitsuba feels a sudden urge to bang his head against the car.
“I thought you were into my mom on the way here.” Mitsuba says. Kou howls in laughter.
“Is that why you were crying?! You actually thought that? It wasn’t a joke?!” Mitsuba crosses his arms and pouts.
“It made sense earlier!” Kou finally sobers up.
“You know, you’re the only Sousuke that I like.”
“Shut up!” Mitsuba yells, turning the other way. Kou reaches out his hand and grabs Mitsuba’s chin gently. While turning Mitsuba towards him, Kou whispers,
“Don’t turn away…” Mitsuba lets himself get turned, and is finally met with Kou’s eyes. Their faces are centimeters away when Mitsuba finally closes the distance. It only lasts a second- they both pull back with bright grins on their faces. Kou pulls back his hand, and then Mitsuba shouts,
“Why are you pulling away?!” Kou jumps at Mitsuba's sudden yelling. Mitsuba sighs, and complains, “You’ve ruined the moment. I can’t with you. We’re breaking up.” Mitsuba immediately covers his mouth and looks over to see Kou’s reaction.
“Well now that we’re broken up, will you be my boyfriend?” Mitsuba stares at Kou for 10 full seconds while his face gradually turns into a tomato.
“Of course you would want… want me to be your boy… boyfriend! I am the cutest around, of course!” Kou laughs. “Hey! Stop laughing! You’re just blind! My cuteness can’t be ignored, so you just can’t see!!” Kou leans in and tucks Mitsuba’s hair behind his ear. His fingers linger, and he makes direct eye contact with Mitsuba.
“I never denied your cuteness.” He says simply. Mitsuba leans into his hand, a soft smile on his lips.
“Where are you taking me on our next date?” Kou whispers.
“I want to make dinner for you, so probably my house.” Mitsuba’s heart swells. He moves to put his hand over Kou’s hand on his cheek.
“That would be nice.” He mumbles, leaning in slowly to meet Kou’s lips again. When they pull apart, their cheeks both dusted red, hearts hammering in their chests, they take a look at eachother, and crack a smile.