Work Text:
Nagatoro relaxed on the couch in the art room, laying on her stomach. She was a sophomore now, the summer having passed slowly. She and her Senpai had spent the summer together, going to the zoo, the summer festivals, and even just walking around the shops closest to their homes. Buying each other gifts and snacks, spending time with one another...it was all a bit too intimate at times. At least for her. She’d have to call her sister to pick her up or make up an excuse to leave, and sometimes she wondered if he did the same thing when he said he forgot to feed his cat or call his mom. But now they were alone again, in a much more comfortable way. He was even wearing the black studs in his ears she convinced him to get at the end of their previous year.
“Nagatoro.” He said, a brush of irritation coming from his tone.
“Wheh?” She said, a bored whiny noise coming from her voice.
“Quit fiddling with your hair clips, I can’t get a solid pose.” He said.
Nagatoro grinned wide, a pink blush spreading across her face. “Wha?! Senpai was drawing me this whole time? What a perverse thing to do, you didn’t even ask permission!” She said, sitting up and ruining the entire pose. “You’re no better than Sakura’s stalker, just taking an image of me like that.” She teased, getting up and walking over, her hands making a grabby motion, probably to rustle his hair.
Senpai blushed, “H-hey! It’s not like that at all, don’t assume such weird things!” He said. He’d gotten more used to fending off Nagatoro’s insults and assertions, but he still wasn’t...great. Better doesn’t mean good. Senpai looked his junior up and down, seeing the same attractive swimmers form in front of him. Nagatoro was a beautiful girl, one he never would’ve seen himself with before she met him. Long sleek black hair, tanned complexion, amber eyes- and her cute incisors always reminded him of a sassy cat. She was funny, smart, yet ultimately rude. He always felt embarrassed to admit that he didn’t really mind that last one.
Nagatoro, of course, took the opportunity to dig her hands into his sheep’s wool curly hair, much to Senpai’s dismay. She relished every time she could make his milky white complexion turn pink, everytime she could touch his faded brown hair, and everytime she could get the timid young man to touch her even a little bit. He was like her own project, trying to get him to break out of his shell. Of course, she didn’t hang out with him just to “work” on him. He was genuinely kind and sweet, even when she was assaulting him with insult and injury. She’d never forget the times he saved her from having to deal with the same awkward popular boys that tried to sweep her off her feet, just for them to fall flat on their face.
Nagatoro got a good look at his embarrassed face before following his gaze to the sketch of her form. A simple lay out of her body looked back at her, the proportions exact and precise.
“...You get better every day.” Nagatoro said, a content smile on her face. She didn’t know why this sentimentality was coming out here and now, but it made her happy. She balanced her elbow on her Senpai’s head, and she could see his embarrassed smile in the corner of her eye.
“Really, i-it’s nothing. I’m not special, I just-” He said, trying to look as humble as possible. Nagatoro squatted down to meet him eye-to-eye since he was sitting on the stool, and gave her familiar sharp smile. “So you’re saying I have bad taste, huh? I never knew you could be so brutally honest, Senpai! I’m tearing up over here!” She said, faking tears.
Nagatoro was shocked to hear what he did next, a complete one-eighty to what Senpai would do about two years ago, when they met.
He laughed.
“Yeah, that’s right, you do have bad taste.” He affirmed, but still didn’t make eye contact with her, looking at the sketch. Nagatoro noticed his hands were trembling against his knees, and it was clear he was working up confidence to say something so bold to her. Well, bold for Senpai. She felt a swell of pride that she had never felt before, and she felt herself smile uncontrollably. “You’re so mean! I’ll never be your friend again!” She laughed, jokingly hitting his head with her hands, as Senpai chuckled under his breath, shielding his head with his paint-stained arms.
The flirting was cut short by Senpai’s phone alarm, which blared a cute anime intro song, along with the title of an event called ‘Paintings!’ Nagatoro, naturally interested, picked up his phone without asking. “Oh, what? I thought you were done painting an hour ago.” She said, and Senpai stood up, “Oh, I was. Yesterday I made a bunch of oil paintings that couldn’t be stored in the art room. I got special permission from one of the teachers to store them up on the roof. I’m supposed to grab them now.” He said, as Nagatoro sat down on the couch again.
“Aw, bummer. I just got into teasing you, now you’ve got to go and handle art stuff…” She murmured. Senpai frowned, “This is the art room, you know.” He said. Nagatoro crossed her legs, before making an insulting face, pulling down her eyelid. “This is the art room you know.” She mocked. Senpai rolled his eyes, before he realized she still looked grumpy. “...I mean...you can come with me.” He said quietly. Nagatoro perked her head up, “But isn’t being on the roof forbidden for students without permission?” She asked. Senpai stopped for a second before he blushed. “I-I mean, it’ll only be for a second. And it’s not like you’re hurting anyone.”
Nagatoro tried to hide how flattered she was that he’d encourage her to break the rules just to hang out a little more. She weighed the pros and cons...then realized she didn’t need to. Spending time with Senpai was all the pro she needed. “Alright! Let’s become delinquents together, Senpai!” She joked, sauntering to the door like her pants were hanging around her ankles. Senpai smiled beside himself and walked with her out of the room and into the hallway, climbing up the nearby staircase.
It was quiet in the halls, and their footsteps reverberated off the walls. It was always strange to see the school after hours, when everyone was either in a club, or unbothered at home. He looked back at Nagatoro, only to find that she was taking a picture of herself with a peace sign. “Eh?” He said, and Nagatoro looked up at him, a little embarrassed. “Heh, sorry. I was taking a picture for my sister. She’s probably gonna pick me up in an hour or so- I hope you don’t mind.” She said. Whether Nagatoro knew it or not, Senpai wasn’t just affected by her. Her rude speech also seemed to mellow out after spending time with Senpai.
“No, I don’t mind. She’s nice enough, and she’s a little…” He murmured something. Nagatoro could take a guess of what he meant. “Hot?” Nagatoro grumbled. Senpai blinked, “W-W-What?!” He blushed, looking at her jealous face. Nagatoro sped ahead of him and turned around. “Everyone thinks my sister is super hot! Just because she’s blessed in the chest doesn’t mean she’s perfect! Gamo-chan is totally in love with my sister, I bet you feel the same way!” She protested, steam shooting out of her ears. Senpai frowned, “I-I never said that!” He said. “I think sh-she’s scary!” He said. “The way she was looking at us when I came over was super intimidating! And I didn’t even get to talk to her much! I used to think you were scary, but she’s on a whole other level!” He said. Nagatoro snickered. “You thought I was scary?” She asked. Senpai blushed, “Pft, well...not anymore. Now you’re just…” He moved his hands from one direction to another, and Nagatoro copied him. “Now I’m just…”
Senpai blushed and curled his arms together. “...I dunno…” He trailed off, and pushed open the roof door, leaving Nagatoro on edge. The roof was mostly silent, until Senpai and Nagatoro’s eyes were drawn to an actual group of delinquents over in the corner of the rooftop. With colored hair, piercings, black jackets- a dress coding nightmare- they all looked over to Nagatoro and Senpai. Nagatoro sighed, “Hey, let’s move on over to the paintings already…” She said, suddenly hasty. Senpai quickly left as Nagatoro shoved him over to the opposite corner.
A display of photo-realistic still lifes- and some various mostly-Nagatoro portraits- were laid out on a drying rack that faced the sun. Senpai sighed and picked up the one on the top, which had dried in a way that made the surface of the paint crack. “...Good, this one was the one that got the sun worse. It was a throwaway after all.” He said, even though it was a cute picture of his cat. Nagatoro smiled, “It looks kind of gritty. Like in movies when a family photo gets thrown on the ground after a gunfight.” She smiled. “Who’d you make so upset, Senpai? You better watch your back.” She giggled.
“Yeah, he really should.” An unfamiliar voice said. Senpai looked up, his brow stitched in confusion. Nagatoro froze, before she sighed, turning around like it was a chore. “...Hideo.” She murmured. Senpai frowned, and looked at this Hideo. He had dyed blonde hair, a lip piercing, and Nagatoro’s upsetting smile. He wore the school uniform with the shirt untucked, and with colorful sneakers instead of dress shoes.
“What do you want?” Nagatoro spat, and Hideo threw his hands up a bit. “Hey, hey. I’m just here to talk, Hayase.” He said, “Catch up, you know? It’s been a while-” Nagatoro cut him off. “Don’t use my first name.” She snapped. Hideo shrugged, “Alright, alright, fine. It seems I’ve lost my boyfriend privileges to this beansprout scrub.” He insulted Senpai. Senpai frowned, but didn’t say anything, still used to ignoring and shutting out his bullies.
Nagatoro sighed, “You’re the worst.” She said, until she saw about three of Hideo’s friends surround them, one standing next to the drying rack. Hideo smiled, “And you loved that. Remember at our old school, how we used to write stuff on people’s desks? ‘Kill yourself’, ‘Die alone’, ‘You’re the worst’...” Nagatoro bit her lip, and Senpai brought himself to speak. “You...You did that?” He asked, his brow furrowed. Nagatoro looked at him with watery eyes, “I-I...It was a long time ago. I-I changed a lot. I apologized to everyone, but...I mean, I…” She didn’t need to admit it, Senpai saw the shame in her eyes.
Hideo sighed, “Yeah, you changed. For the worse. You left me all alone, for what? This weirdo?” He said, hands posed on his hips. Suddenly, Nagatoro felt someone lock their arms around her shoulders, and curl their leg around hers, making her immobile. “H-Hey! Get off me!” She said. Senpai launched to immediately try and help until he felt someone punch him to the ground.
Red hot pain spread through his cheek, and he could feel a bruise would form. Hideo sighed, “Ugh, he’s boring too. Look at that- brown hair, basic uniform- what do you even see in him?” He spat, sticking out his tongue. Hideo sauntered over to him, planting a foot in his chest. Senpai groaned, and Nagatoro shouted out, “Naoto!” She cried, using his real name for once. He looked at her desperate face as someone bent down and grabbed his arms, before pulling him into the same position as Nagatoro. He spit out a bit of blood, as he could feel that his nose was bleeding. Hideo walked to the drying rack. “Ugh. This stuff is a waste of the school budget. It might be impressive, but it’s a pretty useless skill. If I were this school’s treasurer, I’d spend it on...energy drinks in the cafeteria!” He laughed, and his friends chuckled along. He picked up the cat painting and looked over the roof railing before he smiled.
He tossed it over the edge without a care.
Nagatoro screamed. “No! Stop! Those are important, don’t touch them, you prick!” She yelled. Senpai looked at her with bewilderment in his eyes. He never would’ve guessed that she would’ve cared about his art enough to protest like this. “Get off of me!” She said, squirming without end. Hideo was tossing away his still-lifes like they were pamphlets off the building top, until he got a hold of Senpai’s painting of Nagatoro in her swimming suit. Rage lit in his eyes like a fire. “So...so you’ve become some kind of slut, huh?” He barked at her. Nagatoro’s face didn’t even flinch at the word, but instead her eyes caved in like she was actually ashamed. “Prancing around in practically your underwear for a loser like him. I don’t even want your ugly ass anymore. Consider this punishment for sacrificing whatever good you had left to this gross creep.” He said, before he raised his knee and crushed the painting beneath his foot.
Senpai’s eyes darted to his foot, to the remnants of his painting, to the teary expression of Nagatoro. He felt his heart swell with fiery anger. Not because his work was destroyed, not because of the pain blooming in his cheek, but because he dared to talk down to Hayase Nagatoro. He felt a passion bloom in his fists he never felt, and without a second thought, he reeled himself forward and threw his head back, smacking squarely into the nose of his captor. “Augh- shit!” They yelled, and Senpai made a mad dash for his muse. Nagatoro looked shell shocked as everything happened in mere minutes. Senpai squarely kicked between Nagatoro’s legs, hitting the delicates of the boy who captured her. Nagatoro jumped out of his arms as she head butted him too, leaving him incapacitated.
Hideo watched, and growled in fury as he picked up the entire drying rack, tossing the school property off the roof’s edge. The paintings flurried down or dropped like stones, depending on if they were canvas or loose paper. Nagatoro was fuming, as the two other goons were preoccupied nursing their injuries, she started at Hideo, “You. You!” She yelled. Hideo blinked, “..Uh...I-I-” He never got to finish as Nagatoro spun her back leg and caved his cheek in, slamming into him right as he tried to escape. He groaned low, and watched as his other two friends and the other, uninjured ones, saw Nagatoro’s fire power and escaped. He limped up, trying not to lose balance as she watched him leave. “Y...You’re...You’re still a bitch!” He cried, limping away. Senpai felt his anger kick up again, sticking out his foot to trip him. Hideo tumbled, and threw him a glare. “You better watch yourself. I have friends everywhere. You’re gonna die.” He warned. Senpai, for once, felt no fear from someone who tried to hurt him.
“We’ll see how you’ll manage that.” Senpai said, coldly. Hideo stared for one last moment before leaving for the rooftop exit. “This isn’t over!” He called, before the doors clanged shut. Almost immediately after, Senpai clutched his cheek, hissing in pain. “Nao-Senpai!” Nagatoro called, rushing to his side as she corrected herself. She stood in front of him, “I-If we get to the infirmary soon we’ll still have time to save those paintings! We can brush them off and wash them, maybe some of them are even done drying-” She said urgently, even though Senpai had already educated her on how slow oil paints dry. Senpai lowered his head, looking into her eyes and interrupting her words. She slowly stopped talking, before she noticed tears in his eyes.
“Naoto, does it hurt that much? We can get some ice if you want…” She suggested, using his real name again. Senpai murmured something under his breath and Nagatoro moved closer, a hand on his shoulder. In any other circumstance, he would’ve panicked and moved away. But instead he leaned in. “What was that?” She asked tenderly, careful not to use a harsh tone. Senpai repeated himself.
“...You’re not a slut.” He whispered.
Nagatoro blushed like mad, her lip quivering a little in emotion. He was crying for her sake. “...Oh, I…” She stammered, “I used to do some racy stuff in middle school-” She explained. Senpai got louder. “I-I don’t care. You’re not a slut! You’re not a bitch, you’re not ugly!” He affirmed, a tear falling from his cheek. “You’re...You’re not scary like your sister, either!” He said passionately. Nagatoro felt her heart swell in embarrassment. “...Naoto-”
Senpai took her hand in his own, gripping it. “No. No, it’s not- I know I’m overreacting, I...I always do that, but y-you got this look on your face like you believed any of that...that bullshit!” He said, before he took a deep breath. Nagatoro opened her mouth to say something but she closed it soon after. Senpai squeezed her hand. “...I could make a thousand paintings of you, Nagatoro. I could m-make millions, and have them all burn. I’d rather that happen then have some stupid punk say something like that to you- I’d rather have that happen then you get hurt!” He confessed. “Because those paintings...you’re wrong about them. I’m not getting better, because after all this time, I’m still not good enough to make a painting that can compare to you!” He said, closing his eyes and shouting. Nagatoro felt her heart thump against her chest, her breath hitched in her throat. She felt her knees shaking, like his words were a strong gust of wind that would blow over a sapling.
Nagatoro cupped his hand in both of her smaller, softer ones. She could feel the calluses on his hands from years of holding those long pencils. They felt like the warmest, most comfortable hands in the world at that moment. “...S-Senpai, what are you saying?” She said, a look of observable anticipation on her face.
Senpai was debating it in his head. He’d blurted out all this sappy stuff for no reason other than passion, and now he was actually going to bare his soul to the person he’d crushed on since his sophomore year. Was that look just anticipating him to give her new bullying material, or was it actual suspense? He couldn’t process it, he couldn’t handle it. He felt his tears build up, and his hands were trembling. “I-I-I…I-I don’t, I…” He stammered, until he felt a warm, soft touch on his cheek. Nagatoro leaned back from her kiss on his face, before making a goofy face. “I, I, I, I don’t.” She mocked. Her bullying made him relax, for once. Nagatoro smiled wide. “Senpai, you’re not a pervert. You’re not gross or creepy, or anything. You’re kind and cool, talented and super neat. I’d totally be down to be your girlfriend.” She giggled, “If only you’d ask me.” She said, feigning a swooning motion.
Senpai gave her a nervous smile, as he felt heat rise to his cheeks. “...Hayase…?” He asked, his voice breaking just in using her name. Nagatoro turned to him again, clutching his hand extra tight. “Yesss?” She asked. Senpai leaned forward and down, compensating for their height difference as his forehead touched hers. “...Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked a furiously red Nagatoro. She squealed in happiness, “Totally!” She said, and without thinking, threw her arms around him. Senpai laughed as she squeezed him tight, bouncing on her heels. He laughed and did the same, wrapping his long arms around her waist tightly. “...Hey, Naoto.” She said, letting go and moving her head back and meeting his eyes again. “How about we skip to fourth base?” She said, licking her lips.
Senpai blushed like a tomato. “Wh-What?!” He said, even if he didn’t back away from her. Nagatoro giggled devilishly, “A kiss! Y’know, since it has four letters? Fourth base, right?” She snickered. Senpai laughed a little, before realizing she was indeed asking for a kiss. “I-I mean...if you want to…” He said, face still flushed. Nagatoro gave him a smile, before she leaned up. Senpai saw her close her eyes and purse her lips, and he smiled at his new girlfriend. She was so small and fiery, so beautiful yet childish. Not scary, yet intimidating. He couldn’t think of someone more opposite of himself. And yet, he leaned down and cupped her cheek, meeting her blushed lips with his own, for once having full confidence in his actions.
Nagatoro leaned in to his touch, feeling butterflies in her stomach flutter out into her actions. She hugged his neck, and felt her Senpai smile against her lips. They broke apart soon after, the blushing teens looking into each other's eyes. Senpai leaned down for a second kiss before Nagatoro’s phone rang, and she awkwardly fished it out of her pocket, seeing it was her sister. “Oh, she’s probably here.” She said, answering and giving an apologetic look to her Senpai...well, her now boyfriend.
“H-Hey, um…Yeah, I know. Give me a second, alright? No, I didn’t wear tights- I know it’s cold!” She snapped, and saw her boyfriend’s comforting smile, making her blush all over again. Then she thought of something devilish to get back at him for being so cute. “Hey, I know it’s not the best timing, but could Senpai- er, Nao-kun come with us? He needs a ride home.” She explained. Senpai blushed and threw his hands up, “N-No!” He mouthed. Nagatoro giggled, “Yeah, and we have a surprise for you, too! You’ll be excited!” She laughed. Senpai buried his face in his hands, before Nagatoro hung up. “Hey, at least kissing me won’t be the scariest thing you’ve faced today!” She teased. He sighed. “Being your boyfriend isn’t gonna change how you treat me at all, will it?” He asked. Nagatoro smirked deviously. “Nope!” She said, wiggling her arms around him.
He smiled at her. “...Good. I don’t want us to change.” He said, walking towards the roof exit, Nagatoro racing after him.
“Hey, wait for me!”