Work Text:
Matthew sat at his desk, exhausted. He had been busy studying for his exams for the past few weeks and hadn’t been able to take a proper break and relax for a bit. He had just finished his exams today, hoping for good scores, but part of him stayed very nervous. What if he had answered the questions in a wrong way or missed a few questions accidentally? Usually, he would get good scores, but even then, the feeling of failing the test wouldn’t leave him for a while.
His mind was so caught up in the thoughts about the possibility of failing the tests that he had missed the small chime from his phone. The second chime came in soon after. It went unnoticed at first, but Matthew quickly realized he was receiving texts and opened up his phone. He smiled, seeing it was Kiku who had been texting him.
Kiku had been his friend for a few years now, having first met online on Tumblr and had bonded over Urban Legends and later on, TV shows and books that they had shared. They hadn’t met face to face yet, as Kiku had lived all the way in Japan and Matthew had stayed in Canada for the majority of his life, aside from a bit of traveling to America and France. Both of them had part-time jobs outside of their classes to save up, but they were far from saving up to buy a ticket and then stay at one or the other’s place.
However, they both trusted each other a lot, as they’ve been friends for years now. This bought Matthew to start crushing on the male. He wouldn’t admit it outright, but he knew he had feelings for the man.
Matthew opened up his phone to Kiku’s text, which seemed very welcoming, then asking if everything had gone well.
Are your exams done?
Matthew had remembered how he told Kiku about the exams and even went off social media for a bit, which he didn’t mind too much. He was happy that Kiku had cared and remembered though.
Yeah, my last ones were today
Matthew held his phone in his hands, waiting for the reply. Nearly right away, the next text popped up.
Can we call then?
This irked Matthew as a bit strange since if Kiku were to do anything like call, it wouldn’t be that often. Often, the two would send each other voice messages if they wanted to talk or to listen to each other.
Sure
He waited patiently, and the calling screen popped up soon, showing the picture of Kiku that he had given to Matthew a while back for contacts. Matthew swiped up and put the phone up to his ear. The first thing he heard wasn’t Kiku’s soft voice but some bustling area. Where was Kiku?
“Hello, Matthew,” Kiku finally spoke up. He sounded awfully tired like he had been awake forever. It wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, as the two often stayed up to speak with each other.
“Kiku? You sound tired, you should go home and sleep,” Matthew replied, chuckling at the sleepy Kiku a bit. He sounded adorable.
“Ah, about that. Don’t worry. Mhmm… say, are you free this weekend?”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t really have anything due from my professors for once,” he chuckled. “Why do you ask?” he leaned back into his chair, becoming just as sleepy. It was only 6 pm though, but it made sense with how much he had been studying.
“Alright, um, so you had mentioned how there was going to be some parade on your birthday or something, right?” Kiku’s voice stuttered through the phone. Why was he nervous? Matthew became a bit worried. He knew Kiku had the habit to be nervous, especially when they first started to talk with each other.
“I mean, it’s for Canada's International day, but yeah, it happens to fall on my birthday so my family and I will be watching the parade and the fireworks,” he replied.
Kiku exhaled, relieved. “Alright, well, um I’ve got to go now, but I have a surprise for you on your birthday."
Matthew lit up. Birthday gift? Matthew felt bad because he hadn’t really given Kiku anything that great aside from a birthday wish and a small song he had written for the guy. Before he could’ve said thank you, he heard an announcement in the background from some speakers. He could pick up some English in the background which was really odd.
“Hey, Kiku, um, before you go, where are you?”
Kiku seemed to be caught off guard with the question and stuttered for an excuse. “I- uh, sorry, I am on a trip with my history class. We’re at the airport. I have to go bye,” he quickly left the call before Matthew could ask further questions about his friend. He didn’t stay bothered for long because Kiku had texted him right after.
I might sleep off soon, today. Hope you have a good night <3
Matthew blushed but smiled at that. He typed goodnight back to Kiku and put his phone down, hearing his father call him down for dinner. He did his best not to get too excited for whatever Kiku had in store, but hoped whatever it is would be safe.
Matthew stood outside, smiling at the parade. Next to him was his brother, Alfred, who had arrived two days ago from New York two days ago. He was happy to have his brother here with him during his birthday. The two watched the parade happily, their fathers behind him.
After the parade had ended, the four decided to have lunch in a secluded spot without too many people, enjoying each other's company. Matthew got up, paper plate in hand to throw it away. Next to him, Alfred walked, talking on and on about how he was preparing for The Fourth of July for America with barbecues and fireworks with friends he made at his Uni and whatnot. His brother smiled, loving the idea of spending more time with his brother.
Matthew paused, his attention flickering away from his brother to another person, who stood a bit away from them. Was that Kiku? He couldn’t tell as their back was turned from him. Before he could linger back and approached them, Alfred had taken his brother’s wrist and dragged him back to their parents.
“Hey, we all should go swimming for a bit! It’s a hot day and I am sure we’d all enjoy it!” Alfred suggested, all pumped up and hyped.
Arthur shot him a glare. “Yeah, right. You all know I can’t swim,” he replied, packing up everything.
Alfred and Matthew shared laughter. “You can sit there like the old man you are,” Alfred teased, stretching his back.
“Am not!”
“Are too! Mr. Old Man loves reading by the beachside anyway!”
Francis tried to step into the bickering to stop them but it just turned into more of a playful bantering. Matthew watched, happily.
Between their bickering, they all failed to notice a small man making his way to them. It was only when he spoke up that everyone drew their attention to him.
Matthew was taken by surprise, seeing Kiku there. How? Was this the class trip he had been referring to?
“May I borrow Matthew for a bit?” Kiku asked respectfully.
Matthew could feel the heat rising up his neck and to his ears. Ohmygod, his voice was so much softer in real life than on the phone. He couldn’t believe that though. First, Kiku was actually here? Second, Kiku actually wasn’t some creepy guy, and lastly, he seemed just as kind in real life, if not more.
Matthew looked at his fathers, who gave each other wary glances. “Matthew, darling, you know him?” Francis was the first to speak up.
Matthew nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry about it, Papa. He couldn’t hurt a fly,” he smiled.
Kiku shot a glance at Matthew, embarrassed. “I- uh, yeah. I am not a person of ill intentions, sir.”
Arthur seemed more protective but eventually with Francis nagging him to let Matthew hang out with a friend.
Alfred stayed back with his parents while Kiku and Matthew headed a bit away from them.
“Is this what you meant by surprise?” Matthew was the first one to speak up on their way.
“Well- yeah. My university gave us a chance to travel somewhere. There were a few choices between France, Canada, the United States, and a few other countries. at the end, we settled on Canada,” Kiku briefly explained.
Matthew took in Kiku for a minute, unsure of what to say or do. He never imagined meeting Kiku so soon and on his birthday nonetheless. He really shook at this. “Wait, so when did you reach here?” he asked Kiku, stopping in front of the large lake.
“A week ago. We have one more week till I return to Japan,” he replied, stopping next to Matthew.
“Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve spent longer, y’know? I could’ve shown you so many cool things about Ottawa,” Matthew looked at him, a bit sad that Kiku didn’t tell him earlier.
Kiku looked off to the side, “sorry. I thought it would be a good surprise for you,” he muttered. He didn’t want to upset Matthew at all, and he sure hoped he didn’t. “I was hoping you would like the small visit.”
Matthew’s eyes widened. “What?! Of course, I would! Kiku, you’re literally one of the best people in my life. I care about you so much and I want you to have the best experience in this country and my capital. Yeah, I am a bit sad you didn’t notify me earlier, but you’re the best thing that has happened to me this entire day! Heck, if I could, I would love to stay with you, here or in Japan. It doesn’t matter, okay? As long as I get to spend time with you and everything.”
All of that, it came out of nowhere. To both of them. Matthew quickly had realization set into him and he turned around, about to walk off. He didn’t know what else to say, and it could also ruin their entire relationship as friends of five years, damn. He just hoped Kiku wouldn’t take it negatively.
He didn’t. Instead, Kiku jogged up, next to Matthew. “Matthew, please wait up. I don’t want you to run away or anything,” he said, quickly catching up to him.
Matthew turned away from Kiku and faced the lake. “Forget it, I just ended up making a fool of myself,” he muttered, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed and upset he said that to Kiku. What if he hurt Kiku’s feeling though that? Kiku traveled across the world to see him.
“Matthew, you don’t need to feel bad. I came to visit you because I do want to spend time with you, off the screen. We don’t need this to be a big mess. Alright? I would love to spend time with you, anywhere,” he replied, placing a hand on Matthew's arm. It was somehow enough to calm him down. He couldn’t believe he got so big and upset over something minor he said.
“Désole*, I really didn’t mean to make it into a big deal or anything..” Matthew muttered, running his fingers through his hair. [* french -Sorry]
Kiku nodded. “It’s okay. All of us slip up sometimes… do you want to walk around to calm yourself? We can go watch the fireworks together, later.”
Matthew smiled shyly. “Yeah, that’d be very nice, actually.”
Kiku nodded, and took Matthew’s hand, walking down the path and further into the park.
“J’taime*,” Matthew softly muttered. Little did he know that Kiku had taken beginners french, and he had picked up on what Matthew had said. He didn’t reply with anything than a simple smiled. He didn’t want to fluster Matthew more. [* French -I love you]
word count - 1981
phew! This one took longer than I thought, but I genuinely had so fun with this. I hope you enjoyed reading this!