Chapter Text
Midori was never a morning person, but today's morning was slightly improved after he happened to cross paths with Mika. It was probably because Mika showed a new plushie he'd sewn, one that was a mix of three animals, and it was extremely cute. He was surprised to find someone who shared his love for hybrid mascots, even though Mika dotted on him like he was a kid sometimes. Or maybe the head petting and the candies were things he did to all of his underclassmen. Who knows?
He almost missed the second bell as he hurried to the classroom with his pocket full of cheap candies. He didn't know what he should do with them, but he figured he could hand them to his classmates.
"I didn't know you and Kagehira-senpai are close." Tetora raised an eyebrow.
"We just happen to share the same level of stupidity." Midori said.
"What level of stupidity?"
"The one when you can't tell apart a regular door from a sliding one…"
"I feel like I'm missing something?" He stared at Midori suspiciously.
"Never mind that, it's better if you don't know."
"Huh." Tetora stopped. Midori feared that he will try to bother him regarding that. He'd prefer if that little incident stayed between him and Mika (and Chiaki and Tsumugi, and the number of people involved was suddenly awfully a lot). "Actually, if you're that close…could you, perhaps, ask him a favor for him?"
"Oh, no." Midori groaned. He didn't expect the conversation to get in that direction. "We're not that close."
"He gave you a pat on the head, how is that not that close?"
"Okay, okay, fine. I could try asking, but I can't promise anything. What kind of favor?"
"Well, Kagehira-senpai is in the handicrafts club, right? He knows how to sew…"
"Yes…" Midori waited for him to continue, even though he already had an inkling about what Tetora wanted help with.
"I wondered if he could help me sew something…"
"I feel like I know where it's going. Alright, I'll…see if he's available." Midori sighed with resignation.
Mika was in the middle of panicking over the chaos in the clubroom when he heard a knock on the door. He was thoroughly miserable, thanks to an item he couldn't find, which he really needed at the moment.
"Senpai?" The door opened slightly, and even before Mika could see his face, he recognized Midori's voice. "Are you busy?"
Technically, he was. If he could find the fabric, that is. he had two outfits that needed some finishes and he wanted to use the sheer glittery fabric he had, the one that he couldn’t find because he was terrible at keeping the clubroom organized. He would've answered with a yes, but ever since he got stuck with Midori in the storehouse, he found he had a soft spot for him. Seriously, his face lit up with such an adorable expression whenever he showed Mika his favorite characters!
"Kinda? Ya can come in."
"Sorry for disturbing you." He stepped into the room, making a good job avoiding the various obstacles on the floor. Mika knew that none of the fabric rolls should be there, but he couldn’t help it, in his state of panic, he just…put them there.
"Nah, ya didn't. Ya never do, really, yer welcome here anytime. It's that…I'm lookin' for somethin' and…well, let's say it's hard to find it in this mess." He said with a bright smile, genuinely happy to have Midori around. Though the timing today wasn't the best, it wasn't Midori's fault in any way.
"Do you need help finding it?" Midori offered, ever being the helpful underclassman. Mika felt déjà vu, though, fortunately, this time, they can't get stuck in the clubroom. Uh, or so he thought.
"Oh? No, no! I wouldn't want to take up yer time. Ya must be busy yerself, right?" He dismissed him, suddenly full of thoughts about getting locked in the clubroom because that could happen.
"No, please, let me help you. I do want to ask a favor of you, so that's the very least I could do." Mika wanted to tell him that it was nonsensical, after what Mika had put him through, he'd help him gladly with whatever he wanted. "What are we looking for?"
"Um…" He was unsure, but if Midori was so willing to help and with the schedule being so tight, he could hardly refuse. "A fabric. It should be folded, probably, glittery black, a bit sheer. Oh, not the one over there." Mika pointed at the table, which had a pile of fabrics. The one he talked about was more of a midnight black, but he figured Midori couldn't recognize the difference in the shades. "What kind of favor?"
"Well…" Midori started searching around, picking up some of the clutter off the floor. He folded the fabrics that didn't match the description, which almost had Mika crying since he never bothered to so, so no wonder that clubroom was in that state. "I need you to help me sew something?"
"Wait, really?" Mika stopped to take a proper look at him, and once he saw Midori was serious, he beamed. "What do ya wanna make? There're some things I'm not the best at, but I'll help for sure! I can ask Oshi-san about things I don't know, too!"
"It's not for me, actually." Midori felt a bit guilty. Mika could be too precious sometimes, and he hated to take advantage of that. "It's for a friend. And it…uh, a personal project? Not for school or anything, so it's okay if you don’t have the time for it."
"I'll need to finish the outfits for the school's projects before, then, if that's okay with ya." Mika's smile still remained.
"You…would help?" Midori was surprised.
"Of course!"
"Senpai, thank you so much." Midori let out a small smile himself. "How can we repay you?"
"Nah, ya don't need to. I just wanna help ya and yer friend."
"Please don't say something like that." Midori's face was disapproving. "Do you need help with anything? Maybe organizing the clubroom? We could definitely do that."
Oh, that was a good offer. Mika could use some help in that. He didn't have enough time nor motivation to put everything in place without Oshi-san scolding him, and it was starting to cause problems for him. As apparent by the hard time he was having finding the one fabric he searched for.
"Also, I might be wrong, but isn't that the fabric you were talking about?"
"Wah, it is! Ah, thank ya kindly, Midori-kun!"
"So, did you ask him?"
"Yes, yes, don't be so impatient. He said he'd help, but he's got some school's projects to finish before."
"Wow, I can't believe he agreed!"
"What - ?! You didn't think he would? Then why did you make me ask him in the first place?"
It wasn't for another week until Mika texted Midori that he was finally done. He set a day to meet up after school, and as the hands of the clock turned, it felt more and more real. Tetora was anxious, truth be told. Although he never interacted with Mika before, he had a fair share of running into Shu, especially when he was with Kuro. The impression he got from Shu wasn't…the best, to say the least. Ah, if he was honest, Shu was downright terrifying. Maybe it was the wrong timing, but he always seemed stressed and angry, and Tetora had no clue how to deal with it. There was even one time that Shu snapped at him, and to this day, he had no idea what he did wrong to deserve such a reaction.
That was the reason he got Midori to accompany him. Despite Midori's grumbling about not wanting to come along, he still did. Tetora held his tongue on saying anything regarding that, though, he certainly didn't want him to vanish right now.
"Kagehira-senpai?" Midori knocked on the clubroom's door. "Are you here?"
After a couple of seconds, they both heard a muffled yes and Mika telling them to come inside.
The first thing he noticed, even with Midori's tall frame blocking most of the view, was the messy state of the room. Uh, he knew Midori said they need to clean it up in exchange for the help, but he didn't think it'd be that bad. Tetora never allowed his room to end up in such a state. Sure, there were occasions he didn't have enough time to make sure everything is organized, but he liked to follow the saying of clear space, clear mind as best as he could.
"Eh, there ya are." Mika started with a small smile, though Tetora could tell he was somewhat wary.
Right, he should introduce himself first! "Thank you for your help, senpai!" He said with a small bow. "I'm Nagumo Tetora!"
"Oh! Um!" Mika was taken aback by his action. "I'm…Kagehira Mika?!"
Midori could only facepalm seeing the bizarre situation in front of him. He almost joined them and introduce himself as well, because it was funnier than he cared to admit.
"Well, this is the friend I was talking about, Kagehira-senpai." He said after neither of them moved. "So…"
"Yes, I wanted Kagehira-senpai's help with making something." Tetora managed to say. He was visibly nervous, even though so far Mika was seemingly nice, if his previous interactions with the other half of the handicrafts club's members were anything to go by, then…
"Yeah, I heard that from Midori-kun." Mika's voice was now softer, and he seemed to be more relaxed. "I'm not as good as Oshi-san." Tetora almost gulped at the mention of Shu. "But I'll try helpin' ya. What did ya want to make?"
"Ah…" Tetora scratched the back of his head. "Well…it might sound a bit weird, but I want to make a dress."
"A dress." Midori repeated after him.
"Not for me, obviously!"
"A dress, huh?" Mika said thoughtfully. "I don't have much experience with women's clothes, actually…do ya have a pattern in mind?"
"No?" Tetora said. "I…really don't know anything about it. I just wanted to make a pretty dress. I figured senpai might have better ideas because he knows more than me about fashion."
"Uh, that's…" Mika's face reddened at the compliment. "Really not…gah, never mind! I have magazines about the latest trends, so how about we read through 'em and see if we can find somethin' we like!"
He led them to the cabinet in the back of the room, even Midori followed, to Tetora's surprise, and pulled out a stack of magazines in a foreign language.
"Are those in French?" Midori asked.
"Yeah! Oshi-san sent me those! These are the latest trends in France!"
Oh! Tetora was getting excited. If those were trends from France, they must be very fashionable, right? But… "Aren't these really complicated?" He said while directly staring at a dress made of features. He was a complete amateur, after all…
"Don't worry 'bout that. We're just lookin' for the general figure, we'll change some things so we can make it. Even I can't make some of these…" Mika admitted. "I'll tell ya if the pattern is super hard to make."
"I see!" Somehow, Mika was more reliable than he thought he'd be. Not to mention, much less scary. Now that he thought about that, he wasn't scary at all.
After half an hour of browsing through the magazines, they were able to settle on one pattern they all agree on.
"It looks really nice." Tetora said as he looked at Mika's drafts. "What the next thing we should do?"
"Goin' out to buy fabric. We can't use leftovers for a dress because it requires lotsa fabrics! Ah, the measurements, too. We can't start without it."
"Right." Tetora said awkwardly. "It's supposed to be a gift for someone."
"Who?" Mika asked. "Uh, I mean – Oshi-san and I sewed outfits for lots of students, so if it's someone from school, I may have their measurements already…"
"That's…"
"For Narukami-senpai." Midori said flatly when he was tired of Tetora's hesitation.
"Wha? For Naru-chan?" Mika stared at him.
"Yes, they're dating."
"Yer datin'…" It took a moment for the realization to hit Mika. "Yer datin'?! Naru-chan never told me that!"
"Ah, please don't anyone! We want to keep it a secret for now." Tetora said. "Also, about the whole dress thing…"
"Alrighty, I won't tell her. I don't have her measurements, though, 'cause I don't sew the outfits for Knights, hm…"
"What a pain in the ass." Midori sighed.
"I mean, I could ask Naru-chan…"
"But isn't it like telling her? Won't she become curious?" Tetora was worried, knowing his girlfriend.
"Yeah…"
They were stuck, figuratively, for Mika's luck, until Midori decided to be more helpful. "You are her roommate. Can't you check it somehow?"
"Check it how?" Tetora wondered. "Like go and measure her clothes or – hey, don't look at me like that, I can't go around and do that!"
"Of course not." Mika nodded, and for a second, Tetora was glad someone was taking his side, until he continued. "Ya can't measure her clothes. Ya gotta measure something that is custom-made."
"Oh, because other clothes have generic sizes, right? So something like the unit uniform should be good…"
"Right, the unit uniform, yer a genius, Midori-kun!"
Their chatter blended into background noises as Tetora felt the blood draining from his face. He couldn't believe he was going to do it….
Mika instructed him how to take the pattern off the shirt, saying they'll use that. Tetora was grateful only the top was needed, but it didn't make him any less anxious. How was he supposed to do that? Sure, Mika's instructions were easy – take the jacket, fold it, and draw the outline on a large sheet of paper, but that only sounded easy.
The worst part was the fact that the Knights' uniform was hanged on the chair, right in front of him, as if it taunted him to go ahead and follow the plan. Which he couldn't do at that moment.
"Are you okay?" Arashi's voice made him jump a bit, and he turned to look at her. "You've been staring awfully a lot at my uniform."
"I…uh, I've been thinking about it?" He said lamely. Great, that ought to set her off.
"About how ugly it is?"
"What? No." He said quickly.
"Just kidding. I'm probably exaggerating, but it's fine, sweetie, you can just say it. You also think our uniform and boring and uninspiring, right?"
"Yes…?" He answered hesitantly. Frankly, he wasn't sure if he could speak, seeing his own unit's uniforms. They were dressed like they were straight out of Power Rangers… "What about mine, then?" He asked out of curiosity.
"It's cute?" She giggled. "I don't think you can really compare it to other units'. Ryuseitai is…a different sort of idol unit. It does fit your image, though. And you look very handsome in that jacket." She added with a wink.
He found himself getting flustered. Great, he was busy being swayed by his girlfriend's smoothness instead of focusing on his mission. His best idea was to wait until she goes to shower, but her skincare routine was just too long…
"Do you have a live soon?" She changed the subject when she figured this was enough teasing for today.
"No? Why?"
"Ah, I just saw you had a large piece of paper there, I figured it had something to do with it. Like that time you ended up drawing a big picture with the kids after the live."
"It's…for school project." He tried to dodge the topic. Her eyes were too sharp, he got to be careful after drawing the pattern!
"Well! I guess it's time for a short shower." She finally put down her cleansing products. Tetora only knew because he mistook them once. These aren't the same, there was a water-based cleanser and an oil-based one. And there was a toner and essence, and serum…
Everything that ensured that even a short shower will take long, because every product took time to set and you had to put it in a certain order. Or something like that.
He waited nervously for her to enter the bathroom and took a couple more minutes, until he heard the sound of the water stream. Then, he rose slowly, before he realized that was a stupid idea and everything should be done fast.
He grabbed the rolled paper and the jacket and did as he was told. He felt the adrenaline rushing as he tried to draw the outline with a shaking hand. This was insane, he spent so much time in numerous competitions, so drawing on a paper should hardly equal to that in its difficulty!
With the outline drawn, he put the jacket back, hoping it didn't look too out of place, and folded the paper, to be put right in his bag, where Arashi couldn't see it.
He sat with crossed legs on his bed, staring at the wall across the room, when he heard a soft hey.
"Y-yes?" It might've been the adrenaline rush, but his instincts were still heightened, and he could clearly hear the smallest sound. Even his vision was hyper-focused.
"You're shaking?" Arashi was worried. "Did something happen?"
"Nothing at all." He put his hands on his thighs and pressed them hard in an attempt to calm himself down. "Just a long day."
"Really." She sounded unconvinced. "I won't pry too much, but please tell me if there's something wrong, okay?"
"Yes, I-I will."
He thought that was it, yet it wasn't. He didn't expect her to sit next to him.
"It's still early, and I wanted to show you something if you don't mind." She had her phone out.
"Oh? What?"
Whatever it was she said, he didn't hear it. He blanked out after she came closer and had one of her hand next to his, on his thigh.
So…that adrenaline rush took some time to calm down.
"What's up with you?" Midori asked him the next morning, concerned with how Tetora has flopped over his table.
"I'm…completely hopeless…"
When he didn't get any reaction, he raised his head slightly, to see Midori's horrified expression. That was enough to raise his spirits.
"Is that how I sound?" He asked.
"Probably?"
"No." Midori denied it. "It just sounds wrong when you say it. Never say it again."
"Alright, whatever you say. When are we going to see Kagehira-senpai?"
"We? No, no, I'll give you his phone number, but that's it. I'm not getting involved in that anymore."
"Sure." Tetora rolled his eyes. He struggled to not comment about Midori having Mika's phone number. Probably texting him often, too, even though he ignored half of Tetora's messages. Ugh, the struggle was hard.
Oh, Tetora regretted that. If he knew Midori was going to tag along to the clubroom, he would've said right there and then that someone is having a crush. But he couldn't say it in front of Mika, so he settled on glaring hard at Midori, who avoided his gaze. And he had the nerve to laugh at Tetora not being to confess his feelings.
"Ya got the pattern? I can take the measurements from it~" Mika was cheerful today. He had bags full of supplies, or so Tetora assumed. "Ah, I had to shop for fabrics yesterday, so I got one for our project too. Hope ya don't mind it."
"Not at all!" If anything, he was glad. Finding time to fit in his schedule was becoming difficult due to an upcoming tournament. "I'll return you the money later. Um, is it going to be okay with the pattern, though?"
"Yep. I got one that's a bit stretchy, so even if yer drawing isn't perfect, it should be fine." Even though Mika stated he wasn't experienced with women's clothing, he seemed very confident in anything he said. "Well, we'll be working with the sewing machines in school because it's easier. Did ya use one, by chance?"
"No…" He could do the basics. If he wasn't able to, after being taught by both Kuro and Arashi, he'd be a lost case and would never think of trying to sew an entire dress, but he never touched a sewing machine before.
"Ah, I see. Don't worry, it's really easy. Here, I'll show ya how ya use it." Mika signaled him to come closer.
At first, Tetora was scared of breaking the machine, especially when it was school's property, but it was fairly easy to operate it. Mika put it on the lowest speed at first and showed him how they can change the type of stitch, but mentioned they'll be working mostly with a straight stitch. And while the operation was fine, it didn't mean he sewed straightly. Half of the time he ran over the edge.
"It comes with practice." Mika reassured him. "That's why we started with the leftover pieces."
He was never one to shy away from challenges, so it only encouraged him to work harder. Meanwhile, Midori, who spent most of the time fawning over the various plushies in the room, commented here and there. Tetora wished he could ask him to be more useful, but he wanted to make this entire thing on his own.
"It's gonna take a while, huh?" He said after noticing that two hours flew by.
"Yer a beginner, so yeah…but ya will get better in no time. Somethin' like learnin' curve? Eh, I'm not sure, but Oshi-san used t'say that a lot."
"We should be heading home." Midori reminded them.
They put the items they used back to place, and after they left the clubroom, Mika locked the door and they all headed to the front gate.
"We'll meet up again tomorrow, alrighty?" Mika said before waving at them. He didn't live in the dorms like them, so he went in the opposite direction, to the train station.
They saw his figure getting distant, both walking still standing in place, when someone called them out.
"Hey!" It was Arashi. "Did you just finish your practice?"
In any other time, Tetora would've been more than happy to see her, but today…after feeling guilty over yesterday, he was nervous.
"Yes." Midori answer with definite. His expressions tended to blank around people he wasn't as comfortable with, thus making him a good liar, and Tetora was grateful that he didn't have to respond to it himself. He wasn't as nearly as good at lying.
"That was Mika-chan, right? I didn't know you were friends." On the surface, she acted curious, but Tetora knew it, she was suspecting!
"Yeah, apparently, Midori-kun and Kagehira-senpai are really good friends." He allowed himself to say, knowing that Midori wouldn't say such things.
"Really? Oh, I guess I did hear from Mika-chan about you getting stuck in the old storehouse together."
Ah, so that was what Midori referring to?
"You got stuck because you didn't realize the door was a sliding door?!"
"Yes – stop laughing! That's not funny!"
Arashi looked at them with a fond smile. "Mika-chan is a good boy, so I'm happy he has new friends. Though, if someone were to hurt him…"
The threat present between the lines caused Midori to shudder and Tetora to laugh even more. "You don't need to worry. Midori-kun might be big, but he can't hurt anyone. Besides, they're very close, I'm sure he doesn't want to hurt Kagehira-senpai."
"Oh, I see."
Midori didn't understand the weird smile they both shared, but he had a feeling they were laughing at his expense and that he didn't want to expand on this subject.
"I'm not going to ask, let's just…go home."