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Sometimes, Rindo muses, the best way to spend time is to do nothing at all.
The two of them aren’t doing anything important, just sitting in Fret’s bedroom and playing some complex amalgamation of several different games since they have nothing better to do, but it’s still nice. Somehow their game of Uno turned into Go Fish, and then that evolved into a competition to see who could bluff more convincingly to keep the other from getting matches, which then involved a quick round of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and whoever lost that game would have to show their hand. Honestly, Rindo doesn’t know how they come up with this type of stuff, but it’s fun, so he doesn’t complain.
“You have a red three?”
Rindo checks his hand—blue five, green six, yellow zero, red seven, green one. He shakes his head.
“Go fish.”
Fret hums and narrows his eyes. “I don’t believe you,” he challenges, and Rindo sighs.
“Fine. Rock, paper, scissors.”
It’s a draw. Double rock. They go again.
“Yes!” Fret cheers, snipping Rindo’s paper with his scissors, and Rindo defeatedly shows his hand.
“I told you, I didn’t have it. You know I’m terrible at lying.”
It’s true. Rindo doesn’t have a single lying bone in his body. He’s just not capable of it. Every time he tries, there’s always some obvious tell that gives him away. Fret listed them off to him one time, and after that, he regretted asking. He decided to just avoid lying altogether from then on.
Fret meanwhile, is a master of deception, and Rindo thinks that makes this game just a little bit unfair. Just a little bit.
“I know, Rindude,” Fret answers, drawing from the deck. “This is just so I can keep track of what you do have for future turns.”
“Isn’t that cheating?”
Fret grins. “Maybe. Maybe not. Unless you wanna add another rule? Oh, and I’ll take that yellow zero off you now.”
Okay, this is just ridiculous. There has to be a way to level the playing field here. Rindo thinks about it for a moment.
“Alright, how’s this,” he begins, relinquishing his card. “Any player who fails to call a bluff draws four cards.”
He’s keeping the original rule from Uno in mind with this one. The goal is to have the least amount of cards with the most amount of matches. Extra cards equal negative points, so if Rindo can sic more of them on Fret, then he wins.
Fret grimaces. “Oof. That’s harsh, Rin.”
“Hey, you brought this on yourself. This is the only way to make the game fair.”
“Alright, fair enough. I’ll play nice from now on.”
Fret then gives him a wink, and Rindo hopes that his resulting blush isn’t obvious. He pretends that the weird feeling in his stomach is from dread at the thought of losing and not, say, excitement because Fret just winked at him. Because now is really not the time to be thinking about his stupid crush on his best friend. He shakes his head and looks back to his hand.
“Blue five?”
“No dice. Go fish.”
Thankfully, true to Fret’s word, the rest of their game goes by much more smoothly. Fret ends up winning, of course, but Rindo blames it on the head start he had for half the game. Still, it was fun, and honestly, just spending time together was enough for him. Rindo treasures every minute with Fret—to him, they’re more valuable than gold—because somehow, their time together always seems too short.
There are times when Rindo wishes the two of them could just stay in one place forever. No worries, no responsibilities… No one else in the world but them. They would have all the time in the world to do anything they want, and no one else would be able to stop them. They could simply just be, without having to worry about curfews or homework. It would be so nice, but maybe that’s why it can never happen. Because nothing can ever be perfect, and that’s just how the world is.
Well...except for one thing. Rindo would argue that Fret is perfect in every way. There’s just something about him that draws people in. That drew Rindo in. He’s charming and funny, and always knows how to make people smile. He’s had Rindo’s back from day one—always loyal and reliable, supportive even when Rindo was at his worst. He’s like the sun after a rainy day, bright and warm, and ultimately full of love. Rindo doesn’t know what he would do without him.
But he does know that he can trust Fret with anything. Throughout their friendship, the one thing that always existed between them was trust. He trusts Fret ultimately because he’s different from everyone else. He doesn’t expect things from Rindo like other people did. He simply accepts him for what he is, and Rindo appreciates that more than anything.
It’s this line of thought that plants an idea in Rindo’s head. Fret’s parents are out running errands, which means the two of them are alone together. No one else in the house but them, and Rindo knows they won’t be going outside anytime soon. It’s just them right now, enjoying each other’s company. The rest of the world may as well not exist.
So, for the first time, Rindo reaches up, slowly, and takes off his mask. Fret had been mindlessly scrolling through his phone after their game had ended, but this action catches his attention. He blinks.
“Is something wrong?”
Rindo shakes his head.
“Oh, okay.” Fret combs a hand through his hair. “It’s just… You never take that thing off.”
His surprise is understandable, Rindo muses. Ever since he bought this mask, not a day has gone by where he didn’t wear it. Still, this is something he’s sure about, so he smiles.
“I figured I’d be okay, since it’s just you. I mean, I trust you, so…”
He doesn’t finish his thought, but Fret understands. He always understands. Except when Rindo looks up, his best friend looks unusually flustered, eyes wide and cheeks painted a bright red. He tilts his head.
“What?”
Fret snaps out of his trance at this, shaking his head furiously and averting his gaze.
“Uhh, nothing, Rindude.” He flushes a shade darker. “I’m just. Honored, y’know? That means a lot, coming from you.”
Oh. Okay. A bit of an odd response, but it makes sense, more or less. This isn’t something he would do around anyone else. It’s only natural that Fret would react like that.
Still… He looks really cute like that, comes Rindo’s next thought. Then his brain catches up with him and he thinks, wait, he made Fret blush? He’s not dreaming right? That’s… That’s almost impossible to do. How did he…?
Somehow, this thought is enough to dust his own cheeks with a shade of red, leaving him wishing he could cover it with his mask. But putting it back on would just feel stupid, so he opts to duck his head instead and wait out the embarrassment. It’s all he can really do for now.
Eventually, the moment passes and the two of them move on to something else. But Rindo still thinks to himself, having a crush is nothing like the romance manga Fret likes to read. It’s a lot worse.
It’s been a few weeks since then, and Fret has tried not to think about it. He really has. Because he has a feeling that what he heard that day isn’t what Rindo actually said, but no matter what he does, he can’t get the memory of his best friend saying those words out of his head.
It’s just… He wants to believe that, even if Rindo didn’t mean to say what he did, it’s still true. Because Fret has been crushing for way too long now, and since that day, he hasn’t thought about much else. He’s done a good job at ignoring his feelings so far, but who knows how long that’ll last? At this point, it may be better to just address the issue now so he doesn’t have to worry about it anymore. And that’s knowing that this could go either way.
It’s summer break. The two of them are sitting by Hachiko. Rindo is leaning on him comfortably with his eyes glued to his phone, and Fret almost feels guilty for breaking the peaceful silence. Still, he can’t keep avoiding this. It has to happen now.
He takes a deep breath.
“Hey, Rindo… Do you remember that time?”
“What time?”
“The time where… Um.” Fret swallows, unsure of how to word it in a way that doesn’t sound totally embarrassing. Unfortunately, there is no other way, which leaves him no choice but to say it directly.
“It was the time when you said you loved me.”
There, he said it. No going back now. Up until this point, Rindo hadn’t looked up from his phone, content to carry this conversation without eye contact. But when Fret’s words reach his ears, he snaps up at lightning speed, nearly dropping his phone in his scramble to put a few inches between them.
“I…” He blinks, eyes wide, shoulders tense. Cheeks clearly flushed despite having his mask up. “I— I didn’t say that.”
But Fret remembers exactly what he heard. He knows now that it wasn’t his imagination.
“You definitely did,” he continues, eyebrows knitted. “I remember.”
The memory is still so clear, even now. Rindo looking shyly down at the mask in his hands, smiling softly, and saying I love you. There’s no way he can forget that.
Silence weaves its way between them while Rindo considers this. He isn’t looking Fret in the eye anymore, instead staring down at his hands in his lap. It’s not visible underneath his mask, but Fret imagines him biting his lip in thought.
“That’s not… I mean. I didn’t…”
He trails off, nervous. Fret waits patiently.
“Trust,” Rindo eventually says. He looks up again. “I said I trust you.”
Somehow, that statement causes everything to make more sense and less sense at the same time. Because of course Rindo would never say something like that, especially not so casually, and yet Fret vividly remembers hearing something different. He finds Rindo’s words hard to believe.
“Rindude, I promise you,” he insists, chuckling in an attempt to clear the tension. It comes off more nervous than lighthearted. “It was— It was love. You know I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”
And he means that, truly. But another part of him just wants to be right about this. Needs to be right about this.
He watches as horrified realization dawns on his friend's face, and how he turns a brighter shade of red behind his mask. Fret would have thought it cute if he weren’t equally embarrassed.
“R… Really?” comes Rindo’s voice, shaky. Mortified. Fret nods and breaks eye contact momentarily.
“Yeah… Really.”
“Oh my god,” Rindo mutters, burying his face in his hands. “I am so sorry. I meant to say trust, but I guess I said—that—instead, and god, now you probably hate me because I made things awkward between us. I promise, I really didn’t mean for that to happen—”
“Wait, Rin, I’m not angry!” Fret cuts in, taking the blond by the shoulders. “I’m—happy, actually. Really, really, happy.”
Rindo stops at this, looking up at him with wide brown eyes. He blinks.
“Wait… What?!”
Fret laughs. “Yeah, of course! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been crushing on you? Like, a while. It’s kind of embarrassing, to be honest. I tried to ignore it, but when you said that, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. That’s why I asked! I wanted to know if you really meant it, even if you didn’t mean to say it.”
“Well… Of course I do,” Rindo says. He tugs his mask down, revealing still flushed cheeks. “I mean. I didn’t wanna say it then, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. I just. Didn’t think you would ever feel the same way…”
“Well, consider yourself proven wrong,” Fret boasts, locking their hands together. “Cuz I happen to love you a whole lot.”
His best friend (boyfriend?) smiles at this, the color on his face upgrading from red to scarlet. He buries his face into Fret’s shoulder.
“You’re so dramatic sometimes…”
“Yeah, but you love me for it, don’t you, Rinrin?”
“God.” Rindo laughs despite himself. “It’s already the middle of summer. I’m gonna melt if you keep saying stuff like that…”
He has a point, Fret supposes. It has been pretty hot out lately. Hot enough for Rindo to shed his coat and just wear a hoodie, which is still too warm an outfit, in Fret’s opinion, but Rindo always has been naturally cold. Still, with the day being as hot as it is, they should probably grab something cold to combat the heat.
“How bout we stop by Sunshine?” he suggests. “We can get some soft serve and cool off.”
Rindo perks up at that, eyes sparkling at the idea of something sweet. He smiles again, soft, shy.
“I’d love that.”
They depart from Hachiko, and when their fingers still remain locked together like puzzle pieces, Fret decides that real life romance is so much more exciting than manga.