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Today Mitsuba is found at his favorite cafe in his usual spot, which isn’t out of the ordinary but right now he is surrounded by mounds of catalogs.
All in the hopes that he finds inspiration for his latest project for photojournalism class. The assignment is to pick a profession to photograph and create a catalog about what it is, in their own words.
Mitsuba has spent the last three hours pouring over all of these catalogs and the internet trying to find something that catches his eye, plus where they will allow him to come in and take photos.
So far out of the twelve places he has contacted only three have said yes, six have said no, and he is still wanting for the other three to get back to him. This project is now becoming more of a hassle than he thought it would be.
Just as he is about to pack it up a fresh cup of coffee is set onto his mess of a table, with a curious glance at whom it was from he catches sight of familiar dark blonde braids. Reaching for the steaming cup he mutters a thank you taking a sip of the warm liquid, mainly in the hopes it will help clear his thoughts.
Mei, after taking a minute or two to clear off the chair, sits with Mitsuba waiting for him to explain the disaster he left on the table.
With a rather lengthy and slightly dramatic explanation of the situation Mei just watches him rather confused. Taking a moment to wait for him to add anything else, Mei states, rather bluntly, “Why not just go and take photos from the cooking school Kou goes to? I mean they all already know you from the photos you take for their competitions so why not, it is the most logical and easiest choice really.”
Mitsubas’ reaction is not what it normally would have been, normally he would get all wide eyed and flushed stammering an excuse on why he shouldn’t, but now his expression hardens slightly; his eye hooded and dark, with a deep frown on his face.
This was incredibly intriguing to Mei, though she didn’t ask what brought on the change of his reactions.
Waiting patiently for him to either explain his change or come up with an excuse on why not to do it, he slams his hand on the table causing her and a few others by them to jump. Reaching for his phone muttering under his breath about something, Mei only caught the words such as moron and fuck, dials a number waiting for the line to pick up.
Once Mitsuba begins to speak she knows he had just bitten the bullet and called his contact at the school. Standing from the table Mitsuba walks off to finish his call, leaving a rather confused Mei sitting by herself.
When Mitsuba gets closer to the table he has a shit-eating grin, yet again muttering under his breath about ‘Who cares if that idiot is there, I don’t’, yet again curious at his strange behavior she knows not to ask and simply goes with it.
Turning back toward Mei to ask if she would be able to help him do some photo editing with him once he was done taking the photos, she couldn’t say no solely for the fact she was intrigued on what was happening.
The day had finally come, the day Mitsuba and Chef Hasegawa had agreed on so he would have full access to all of the classes, so long as he didn’t interrupt what was going on.
After wandering from a few different classes snapping a couple pictures, all of them were good but none were perfect for the cover, hoping to find a few more photos to take as he kept walking.
When he notices a group of girls hanging around the entrance of a class, all of them whispering and giggling about someone in the classroom. Checking the classroom against the schedule that Hasegawa gave him, it was listed as a lab classroom that a group had asked to use, moving closer to the group of girls in hopes to catch a glimpse of what was happening.
One of them whispered, “He is just so cute! Not a single stain on his coat either!” the others all agreed. Mitsuba was only able to pick up a bit of what they were saying, it was apparently about the so called ‘White Knight’ who all the girls, as well as some guys he overheard, are in love with.
Mitsuba tries to see around the girls, but they are just blocking the whole view, so he does what he always does and passive aggressively makes a comment on how they looked pathetic causing them to walk off in a huff.
Finally with a clear view of the lab he could learn what was special about this ‘White Knight’, and yes maybe take a few pictures for his project.
Holding his camera up focusing his lens on the group, slowly moving over them snapping a few quick pictures, until he freezes in his tracks once a certain blonde appears in his viewfinder. Slowly pulling back from the camera Mitsuba just stares at Kou as he works with his classmates explaining things to them.
A smaller group appears behind Mitsuba whispering about Kou, all of them gushing about their school idol and how he isn’t just nice but how hot he was, one of them finally stating what Mitsuba had realized only moments ago.
Minamoto Kou, Mitsuba’s Kou, was the so-called ‘White Knight’ he was hearing about.
This group only stays for a few moments before moving on, leaving Mitsuba alone in the doorway, his camera and project almost forgotten as he watches Kou.
It has been a week since the night at the karaoke bar, it has also been a week since Mitsuba had seen or heard from Kou, neither knowing what to say to the other. Now standing in the doorway to Kou’s class and hearing him taking time to explain every single step to the group, with a radiant smile dusting over his features.
Mitsuba realizes just how badly he had missed the blond, and that the only reason he was upset with Kou was because of something he didn’t do. He was upset with Kou, not for dropping him on the floor or even leaving, Mitsuba was upset that Kou hadn’t kissed him that night when he had the chance.
Though Mitsuba was more furious with Teru for showing up when he did and ruining the moment they were having, it wasn’t Kou’s fault for that.
Being lost in thought Mitsuba raises his camera back up and snaps a photo of Kou whisking something in a bowl, Kou’s expression is gentle with a patient smile and the light from the windows highlighting him perfectly.
In that moment he could see exactly why they called him the ‘White Knight’.
Taking a few more photos from his spot in the doorway Mitsuba hears a familiar voice call out to him, Kou stepping from around the table toward him.
Kou was slightly surprised that Mitsuba was there, but he was beyond happy to see him after going a whole week without. Noticing Mitsubas’ camera resting in his hands, Kou is now curious what brought him there.
Just as Kou reaches Mitsuba he reaches his hand out for him, just as he always does, but stops thinking back to karaoke night and the disaster it turned into. Kou merely stands there asking what Mitsuba was doing, Mitsuba on the other hand was slightly flushed and stammers out a response so fast Kou has a hard time hearing it.
From what Kou understood it has something to do with a class project he had. Right before Kou could ask if he wanted to stay and listen in, Mitsuba makes up an excuse and runs out, not even waiting for a reply from Kou.
After speeding his way back to his apartment Mitsuba relaxes against his door trying to catch his breath from practically sprinting up the two flights of stairs to his home.
The flush covering his face isn’t just from the run, but also from the realization he had about his feelings for Kou. After being friends with him for years now and knowing Kou was special to him, just always far too stubborn to even admit it himself, but after their almost kiss it’s made things worse.
The sound of his phone ringing startles him from his thoughts, pulling his phone out of his pocket to see he has ten new messages from two people. Kou had sent him eight messages asking if he was okay, and Mei messaged him about coming over to develop and edit his photos.
Taking a moment to decide whom he would respond to first he sends his first message, then gathers his bag he had set on the ground, making his way right back out his door to head over to Mei’s.
Once he was inside he replied to Kou, informing him he was fine and apologizing for running out, saying he had to get to Mei’s before she changed her mind in helping him.
Storing his phone into his bag as he and Mei started going through all of the photos from today, Mitsuba was too engrossed in work to hear his phone chime from a new message.
Mei sitting in front of her laptop scrolling through all of the photos notices one of the last ones, pulling it up to admire it, when Mitsuba tries getting her to look at other photos in a panic.
Smiling Mei states, “Now this is picture perfect without any editing.” Glancing back at a blushing Mitsuba waiting for him to protest, when instead he explained what happened when he was there.
The ‘White Knight’ was a bit cheesy for a nickname but given the situation it was pretty fitting for Kou, but Mei knowing the nickname wasn’t what was bothering him she nudged him to explain.
Once he finished his explanation about; the fan girls, the whispers, Kou being his school’s idol, and (finally) what had happened at karaoke, Mei even had the thought to kill Teru for getting in the way. Watching the pink haired boy's expression she knew he didn’t want her to say anything, so instead she reaches over and pats his head hoping to give him some comfort.
As they finish up for the night, Mei walks Mitsuba to her door, ordering him to message her the moment he is home or she will kill him, closing it once he is out of sight.
Mei settles down on her bed pulling a contact upon her phone, debating if she should call or not she shrugs and does it away, once they answer she states, “So whose bright idea was the karaoke night, and why wasn’t I told, Yashiro?”
The cream and teal hair girl merely releases a chuckle as she goes into a full explanation on what was going on, informing Mei that she and Tsukasa have yet another plan underway. Mei just silently listens to Yashiro’s explanation, thinking to herself ‘Well if it is those two working together it may actually work out’.
Thanking Yashiro for explaining and Mei swearing that she won’t say anything, they say their goodbyes. Now Mei is looking forward to how all of this will work out, and just as she goes to set her phone down a new message from Mitsuba appears letting her know he was home.
Mitsuba, throwing himself onto his bed after a very long and stressful day, pulls his phone back out to read over Kou’s messages. He knows that ignoring Kou isn’t the answer, Mitsuba also knows he misses Kou far too much to not respond, so decides to let Kou know he is safe and sound at home.
This leads to the two boys exchanging messages back and forth, almost exactly like they did before, proving the bond they share is still there and not going away after a drunken night.
Mitsuba pushes his true feelings for Kou to the side for now, figuring he can just deal with them later on, just happy to have his best friend back.