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You flop into your seat at your prom table with a heavy sigh. The flashing lights disrupting the otherwise dark room around you make you close your eyes for just a moment to reinvigorate yourself. You came to prom with your friends Mondo, Chihiro, and Taka. Only with them. Unfortunately, no one had asked you to the dance. Not that you didn’t want to go with your friends, but it would’ve been nice to have a date... (...Okay, that’s a bit of a lie, because you only wanted to be asked by one specific person. One specific person with one specific pair of stunning red eyes. Anyone else you would’ve politely rejected. But still!)
Taking a sip of your water, your eyes wander back to the dance floor that you’d just left in favor of taking a break. You easily find your friends, Mondo with his large stature and inky black suit stood out quite well, and while his hair isn’t in its usual pompadour tonight (he’d pulled it back into a ponytail, claiming the sweat from dancing would make his hair droop, and that’s not tough looking) he’s still easy to pick out from the crowd. Matching him is Chihiro, though much smaller, wearing a similarly dark green suit. In stark contrast dancing next to the two, however, is Taka, wearing his usual knee high boots, however this time coupled with a pure white suit.
You laugh quietly at the sight of the three dancing awkwardly together. Despite the awkwardness, you have to hand it to Mondo and Taka. For how stiff their dance moves are there certainly is passion behind them, and it’s only proven when Taka almost elbows someone behind him in the face from how viciously he swings his arm. You let your eyes stay on Taka for much longer than necessary, smiling to yourself as it seems like he challenges Mondo to a dance off.
You rarely ever get to see Taka let go of his usually strict behavior, and while he still has kept order in the dance for people who were breaking rules, you could tell he was still loosening up and actually having fun. Your smile easily breaks into a grin as you watch him attempt to do the robot, and you’re only vaguely aware of how fast and loud your heart seems to beat while looking at him, hastily blaming it on the intense dancing you’d just done.
That’s easily proven as a lie, however, when your heart jumps as Taka suddenly locks eyes with you, smiling widely and waving. You intake sharply and wave back, ignoring the obvious fluttering in your heart and the sudden shakiness in your hand. Taka turns back to his dance competition, but it seems Mondo is more interested in sending you a smug grin, making you stick out your tongue at him. He laughs, and you swear you can hear it over the booming music.
You continue to sip your drink as a few more song pass, occasionally grabbing a cookie from your plate to nibble on as you enjoy the eager atmosphere. As the current upbeat song comes to end, you feel a nervousness climb into your throat as the next song is revealed to be a slow dance. While you weren’t expecting anyone to ask you, you still couldn’t help how awkward you felt watching all of the couples dance when you didn’t have anyone... though the few people trickling back to their tables alone did give you comfort.
You instinctively find your friends again, wondering if they’ll be heading back to join you until the next upbeat song. You’re surprised to find Mondo awkwardly offering his hand to Chihiro for a dance, and you can’t help the grin that spreads across your face as they relax into a close embrace to sway along to the song. This time it’s you that gives Mondo the smug grin, and he just scowls at you before he jerks his head towards Taka, wiggling his eyebrows. You scrunch up your nose, shaking your head as he rolls his eyes and focuses back on Chihiro, who’s giggling at the exchange.
You unwillingly find Taka’s figure in the crowd, curiosity overtaking the fear of seeing him dancing with someone else. He isn’t, surprisingly, but it does seem like he’s talking to someone... who then turns away from him as he looks away, seemingly embarrassed. Did he just get rejected for a dance...? You can’t help the agitation that sparks in you at the thought of someone rejecting him. Even if you were slightly jealous at the thought of someone else dancing with him, he doesn’t deserve to be rejected. You watch as he takes a deep breath and turns to someone else near him who’s standing alone.
“Excuse me,” you’re torn from your focus on Taka by a new voice. You turn to them curiously, cocking your head as you recall it’s someone you’ve almost never seen before. Maybe in one of your classes? “Do you want to dance with me?” he smiles kindly, and you almost take up his offer with a smile before your eyes catch Taka walking quickly out of the room, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
You squint in confusion, trying to find the person he was just talking to, only to find them laughing with someone else, sparing glances at where Taka was leaving. “I’m sorry,” you turn back to him, “I have to go check on my friend.” His eyes flick to where you were looking at Taka and he nods understandingly, backing away with a kind wave.
You quickly make your way out of the dance room, searching for Taka’s familiar figure. You catch a glimpse of him retreating into a more secluded hallway and immediately go after him, worry gnawing at your gut.
You hear him before you see him, quiet sniffles and muffled sobs into his hands as he presses his forehead against the wall. You softly call out his name, making him jump in surprise and jerk his head to you. He quickly turns away again, almost hiding himself away from you as he curls in on himself more.
“Hey,” you make your way over to him, placing a hand on his back to rub it soothingly, “Hey, Taka, what’s wrong?” You slide your hand from his back to his shoulder, gently nudging at it to make him turn to face you. He lets you turn him, still choking back sobs as his watery eyes meet yours. “Oh,” you murmur, tugging him into a hug, “Come here, it’s okay.”
Any resolve he had to pull himself together for you crumbles as he nearly collapses into your arms, sobbing heavily into your shoulder. You wrap your arms around him as he clings to you, clutching the fabric of your outfit as he pulls himself as close to you as possible. His shoulders shake as he buries his face further into you, gasping in between sobs. You hold him tightly, murmuring “it’s okay”s’ and “I’m here”s’ whenever his sobs seem to get especially intense.
His sobs slowly start to ease up, turning into quiet hiccups as he calms down. You continue to silently soothe him as his once violently shaking form settles into mere trembling against you. You don’t let go of him, you don’t even loosen you grip as he stops sobbing, and he doesn’t dare pull away from you. You both stay in the comforting embrace as he shakily finds the composure to explain.
“I-I...” he trails off, swallowing back more tears as he hiccups once more, “I asked someone to d-dance with m-me- but th-they-...” He cuts off, gripping you tighter as he tries to collect himself to finish the sentence. “Th-they said that everyone w-would stare, and that d-dancing with m-me would just b-be an embarrassment,” his voice breaks mid sentence, and you can feel his chest heave as he struggles to choke back more sobs.
Anger sparks deep within you. An embarrassment? Taka is the sweetest person you know, how could they even dare say that to him? Swallowing thickly, you take a deep breath. Now’s not the time to blow up at them, not with Taka so broken in your arms.
“Taka,” you start softly, “They don’t know what they’re talking about. Dancing with you wouldn’t be an embarrassment. You’re one of the sweetest people I know, anyone would be lucky to dance with you.”
“I-it’s alright, Y/N, you don’t have to-”
“No, I mean it. You’re one of the most amazing people I know, Kiyotaka,” you state firmly, and you can feel his hold on you tighten ever so slightly, “You’re- you’re so passionate and kind and caring- everything you do you put your full heart into it, y’know? And I-I just-” You cut off as Taka pulls away to look at you, fumbling over your words as you see the look of tearful wonder on his face at your passionate words.
Swallowing thickly, you’re suddenly aware of just how close you two are (and how his arms are still wrapped around you and vice versa... when did it get so hot in this hallway?), stuttering as you watch his deep red eyes flick between yours.
“I-I- sorry, I’m a little tongue tied,” you try to play off your flustered state, averting your gaze. “I-I’m not used to... I’m a little embarrassed,” you realize your mistake as soon as it leaves your mouth, and you snap your eyes back to his to see them fill with tears again.
He starts to unwind his arms from around you, uttering a quiet, “Oh, I-I’m sorry...”
You’re quick to tug him back to into your arms, frantically trying to explain, “No, no, Taka, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like- like that, I-” You take a deep breath to collect yourself as he tensely rests his chin on your shoulder, arms only loosely wrapped around you from when he tried to pull away. “I-I guess flustered would be a better word?”
“...Flustered?” he asks quietly, and you can imagine the way he’s furrowing his eyebrows.
“Yes,” you agree quickly, not thinking as you try to correct yourself, “Li-like- embarrassed is more shameful, but flustered in this situation implies more romantic... tones...” you trail off, heart jumping in fear as you realize what you’d just confessed. You feel him stiffen as he processes what you said, and when he pulls away you’re nervously avoiding his gaze.
“Wh-... do- r-romantic?” he sputters, and if you weren’t looking at the floor you’d see his face flushing intensely, “Do... do you really feel that way?”
“U-uh,” you unclasp your arms from around him, instead fiddling with your hands, “W-well, uh... Y-yes?” He’s silent for a few moments, and your face feels like it’s on fire. You really had to confess to him, didn’t you? You try to swallow the newfound lump in your throat, “U-um, I’m sorry, we can just pretend I didn’t-”
“No!” his voice is louder than either of you expected, making you both jump. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud... I-I just... I feel the same,” he admits shyly.
“Really?” you ask, bashfully looking back at him. He nods stiffly, a small smile spreading across his face.
He seems to finally realize how he’s still holding you, for his face gets redder as he lets you go, “Sorry, I didn’t realize-”
You wrap your arms around his neck, drawing him in yet again for another hug, “No, no, it’s fine.” You sigh contently as he shakily returns the hug, taking a moment before speaking again with a grin, “Do you want to dance with me?”
He pulls away to look at you, unsure, “...Even if people stare?”
“Let them,” you say immediately, “I’ll let everyone stare if it means I get to dance with you.” You hear him intake sharply and you laugh quietly, “S-sorry, was that too cheesy?”
He shakes his head, smiling widely “...No, not at all.”
“Good,” you murmur, though neither of you make any signs of moving. You’re once again reminded of how close you two are when his nose just barely brushes against yours. You almost instinctively tilt your head as his eyes begin to droop shut. You feel his breath fan across your lips as you almost close the distance, eyes finally closing as you feel his lips just barely ghost against your own. Your lips tingle with anticipation, and you’re about to finally close the gap when-
“Yo, you two back h-?” Jerking your heads away from each other, your’s and Taka’s heads snap to find Mondo at the end of the hallway, looking thoroughly surprised. “Oh, shit, sorry,” he grins teasingly, “Nice, bro!”
“B-bro!” Taka shouts, embarrassed. You groan, covering your face with your hands as you try futilely to hide yourself in Taka’s chest. You smile from beneath your hands as he tugs you closer to himself.
“Sorry, bro, I’ll leave you two be,” Mondo laughs, “Chihiro and I will be at our table.” You hear his laughter fade quickly, likely rushing to find Chihiro and spread the news.
Leaving your hands to rest on his shoulders, you raise your head to look at Taka again, only to find him already looking at you. He tenses slightly as you catch him, stuttering awkwardly, “W-we should get back to bro and Chihiro.”
“Y-yeah,” you nod, but you stop him from moving away when he tries, earning a noise of confusion from him, furrowing his eyebrows at you. “But first-” you lean closer to him again, sliding one of your hands up to cup his face as his eyes widen. “Maybe we should...?” you give him time to pull away as you lightly brush your lips against his, looking at him curiously as he leans in just a fraction closer, only to halt.
"I-I’ve never- um...”
“That’s okay,” you murmur, smiling reassuringly. You slowly press your lips against his, pulling away slightly as he tenses. His eyes almost squeeze shut as he shakily connects your lips again, gradually melting into you as you stroke his cheek with your thumb soothingly. You take it slow, gently moving in sync with him as he lets himself sink into the kiss, bringing up a hand to gently cup your cheek.
When you separate you hear him sigh shakily, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek as if thanking you. You smile adoringly at him, unravelling yourself from him to guide him back into the dance room, fingers laced as you come back just as another slow song begins. You easily lead him onto the dance floor, squeezing his hand reassuringly as he nervously looks at the people around you two.
You bring him close to you, whispering to ignore everyone else and focus on you, to which he smiles and breathes out a thank you as you begin to sway with him. You can see tears shimmering in his eyes as he dances with you, smile growing wider as you grin at him. It’s awkward, with you two stumbling over the other’s feet, or accidentally bumping heads as you lean too close, but it’s endearing, because it’s Taka.
And you’re sure he feels the same, for whenever you two stumble or trip, he always ends up laughing with you at the easy mistake, even despite the blush on his cheeks.
Even when the music changes to a more upbeat song, and when Mondo and Chihiro join you and you all end up forming a strange dance square around each other, his eyes still are mostly on you, and yours on him. Chihiro and Mondo seem to occasionally exchange knowing looks at this, and Mondo even claps Taka on the shoulder, much to his embarrassment.
But as your eyes glide over all three of them to land on Taka awkwardly attempting to do the sprinkler, you decide you wouldn’t have it any other way.