Work Text:
"Hakkai! Wait for me!" Takemichi pants, running to catch up.
"I won't be late on my first day because you were busy talking with Hina!" Hakkai calls back before disappearing around a corner.
Takemichi doesn't catch up to him until he reaches the DVD rental store and they both lean against the wall, trying to catch their breath, still with five minutes to spare.
"I told you we'd make it," Takemichi says as they walk into the cool, air-conditioned store.
The store owner greets them and guides them to his office in the back of the store, he gives them their name tags and sends them off to join their other coworker back at the front of the store.
"Hey! You're the new guys right?" Their new coworker asks excitedly, she points at her bedazzled name tag, "Call me Mika-chan! I'm your boss now, okay?"
Mika-chan is their manager, although she seems to be around the same age as them. She's taller than Takemichi, and there are purple highlights in her short, black hair.
She's really pretty -though, not as pretty as Hina, obviously - and she looks at Hakkai with a dazzled sort of look in her eyes.
She only spares a glance at Takemichi to check his name tag and shove a box of returned DVDs into his arms.
"You can go ahead and put these back on the shelves, Takemichi! Thank you! And you-!" She grabs Hakkai by the crook of his elbow, ignoring how he freezes up and drags him towards the registers with her, "I'll show you how to use the register!"
Hakkai gives him a desperate look as Mika drags him to the register with her. Takemichi shrugs, tough luck .
He feels a little bad for leaving him alone with a girl but he gets over it pretty quickly when his back starts hurting after only a few minutes of putting the DVDs back.
Once he finishes, Takemichi drags the empty box back to the front of the store in search of Mika-chan and Hakkai. He finds them both cramped into the small space behind the single register in the store. Hakkai backed into a corner against the wall, the counter, and Mika-chan, who is smiling brightly and pointing at things on the computer screen.
"-but if something like that happens you'll need a manager override, so just go ahead and call for me and Mika-chan will be on her way to help!" She gives him a thumbs up and a wink. Hakkai looks a little queasy but he nods.
Relief washes over his features as soon as he notices Takemichi.
"M-maybe Takemitchy should learn to use the register, and I'll go sort these out," Hakkai says, grabbing another box of returns.
"Ah- yeah, sure!" Mika-chan says, disappointed.
Hakkai doesn't look back before disappearing behind a row of shelves.
Mika-chan sighs heavily before turning to Takemichi, "You know how to use a computer?" She asks, not as cheery as she was just a few seconds ago, Takemichi tries not to take it personally.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Great! You've got the hard part down," She beckons him over and teaches him how to use his employee ID to log into the system. And then teaches him how to scan the outgoing DVDs and receive returns.
It takes Hakkai a long time to come back, but he does eventually. And then Mika-chan has them take turns helping customers, and Takemichi hardly messes up at all so he counts it as a win.
Takemichi still finds himself tired at the end of their shift despite not doing much.
Mika-chan counts the register while Takemichi and Hakkai finish putting back the last of the returned DVDs, and they close the store at exactly 8pm.
"See you tomorrow, Shiba-kun, Takemichi-kun!" Mika-chan waves at them.
Takemichi waves back and elbows Hakkai until he waves back too, just a weak raise of his hand. They watch Mika-chan round the corner before they make their way back towards their station.
"So," Takemichi says, unable to hide his amusement, "Mika-chan is nice, huh?"
Hakkai grimaces. He walks a little faster.
"I think she likes you," Takemichi says loud enough for a few bystanders to hear and curiously turn to look at them.
Hakkai starts running.
Takemichi yells 'hey! ' and 'get back here !' before taking off after him. Damn Hakkai and his freakishly long legs , Takemichi doesn't catch up to him until they reach the station, and by then he's more interested in the vending machine than teasing Hakkai.
"Hey, Hakkai," Takemichi says a few days later, not looking up from where he was organizing the small snack shelves they had by the register.
It's a Tuesday afternoon and Tuesdays are always slow, according to Mika-chan.
Hakkai is manning the register while Mika takes her lunch break, he looks bored out of his mind. He doesn't say anything but Takemichi continues anyway.
"I'm going to the movies with Hina on Friday, but I don't know if we should watch a romance or a horror movie."
Hakkai stares at him blankly for a second, "If you saw a horror movie I get the feeling she'd be the one comforting you ."
Which may have been true, but it didn't mean Takemichi couldn't be offended.
"Hey!" He says, more offended when Hakkai starts laughing.
The door chimes then, letting them know a customer had just walked in.
"Good aftern- oh, Mitsuya-kun!" Takemichi calls out. Hakkai's head snaps up.
"Hey," Mitsuya greets them, he's carrying a reusable grocery bag in one hand and a half eaten chocolate bar in the other.
"Taka-chan, what are you doing here?" Hakkai asks.
"Movie night," Mitsuya answers simply.
"It's Mana's turn to pick isn't it? Did she pick The Sleeping Beauty again?"
"No , thank God," Mitsuya sets his bag down and pulls out his phone, he squints at the screen, "She wants, uh, Sailor Moon SuperS ."
Hakkai types the name of the movie into the system, "That one was just returned this morning," he turns to the box overflowing with returned DVDs that they'd been trying to ignore.
Mitsuya and Takemichi follow his gaze.
"Ah."
"You sure she doesn't want Sleeping Beauty?" Takemichi asks, ever hopeful.
"Very sure," Mitsuya says.
"We watched that six weeks in a row," Hakkai says, he lifts the box up onto the counter and starts sorting through it, Takemichi groans but goes to help him anyways.
"How's it been today?" Mitsuya asks.
Takemichi opens his mouth to tell him it's been fine, just slow but Hakkai beats him to it.
"I got yelled at today."
Mitsuya raises his eyebrows. He breaks a piece off his chocolate bar and waits for Hakkai to continue.
"A guy came in looking for Fast and Furious 2," Takemichi tries really, really hard not to laugh at Hakkai's gloomy tone, "And I told him we don't have Fast and Furious 2. And then he started yelling about how I was trying to ruin his day."
Takemichi snorts, but Hakkai is too busy giving Mitsuya his best kicked puppy look to notice, and Mitsuya is too busy receiving said kicked puppy look to notice.
"Sounds like a really pathetic guy," Mitsuya says. He breaks off another piece of chocolate and holds it out for Hakkai.
Hakkai leans across the counter and takes it with his mouth, his lips brushing Mitsuya's fingertips.
"It's not even a good movie," Hakkai says.
"I thought it was good!" Takemichi says, still digging through the returned DVDs.
"You have bad taste," Hakkai informs him.
Takemichi is about to say something, but he notices Mika-chan returning from her lunch break and thinks better of it. Mika watches Hakkai and Mitsuya curiously before realizing Takemichi had noticed her. She smiles at him, then turns to fix a row of DVDs that seemed to be out of order.
Hakkai is telling Mitsuya about the customer that had asked to speak to their manager yesterday, claiming they were giving the shop a bad image when Takemichi finally gets his hands on Sailor Moon SuperS .
"Found it!" Takemichi cheers triumphantly.
Hakkai takes the DVD from him and scans it, expertly typing away on his keyboard. Mitsuya watches with entirely too much interest and he smiles when Hakkai hands him his receipt.
"You're good at this," Mitsuya says.
"It's not that hard," Hakkai says, self consciously rubbing the back of his neck, his face a little too flushed.
"See you guys later," Mitsuya says once his transaction is finished, he picks up his bag and waves at them on his way out..
"Bye!"
"Bye, Taka-chan."
"Friend of yours?" Maki-chan asks suddenly.
Takemichi flinches, he hadn't heard her sneak up on them. Hakkai startles so badly he hits his elbow on the edge of the counter.
"Uh, yeah," Takemichi says.
Mika-chan leans over the counter where Mitsuya had just been, Hakkai leans as far away as he can in the small space behind the counter.
"Are you guys close?" She asks Hakkai.
It's proof of Hakkai's improvement that he manages a shaky nod, Takemichi feels sort of proud of him. Not too long ago Hakkai simply would have ignored her, but there he was, engaging in conversation… sort of. Who would've thought.
Maybe he'll finally get himself a girlfriend.
Takemichi quietly takes the box of returned DVDs and leaves, completely ignoring the betrayed look Hakkai was giving him. Mika-chan is already asking him something else, asking what his friends are like, what they all do for fun, what his favorite food is. Takemichi doesn't need to stick around to know Hakkai doesn't answer half of those questions. Poor guy .
Takemichi really wants to let it go. He really does.
He stares at Hakkai intently, Hakkai gives him a weary look before going back to eating his lunch.
He can't.
Chifuyu is also giving him an odd look but eventually settles for ignoring him and continuing his conversation with Takuya.
"Hakkai," Takemichi says, overly serious, "What do you think about Mika-chan?"
Hakkai's eyes go comically wide, "What ?"
All conversation at their table effectively grinds to a halt. Everyone turns to stare at them with varying degrees of confusion.
"Who?" Makoto asks.
"Our coworker," Takemichi answers, "She's really nice, isn't she, Hakkai?"
Hakkai looks like he might make a run for it.
"Is she cute?" Makoto asks.
Everyone turns to Hakkai expectantly.
He really does run for it this time, grabbing his half eaten lunch and telling them he has to go before disappearing into the school building behind them.
Takemichi groans, "Now you scared him off."
"Well, is she cute?" Makoto asks.
Takemichi doesn't bother answering him.
His mind is made up, he's going to help Hakkai. But he has trouble coming up with a plan that wasn't just telling Hakkai he should ask Mika-chan out, so he enlists the help of his two best soldiers.
"Maybe he doesn't like her?" Chifuyu says unhelpfully, Hina nods along.
Takemichi sighs, "No, I don't think that's it."
They're hiding out in the empty science classroom during their free period and Takemichi has just finished telling them about his newest mission.
"Have you tried asking him?" Hina asks.
"Yeah."
"Well, what did he say?"
"He ran away."
Chifuyu laughs but stops abruptly when Hina and Takemichi both turn to glare at him.
"I think it's sweet that you're trying to help him," Hina says, smiling that lovely smile of hers, "Just don't overdo it, okay?"
Takemichi, who's never been known to overdo things, nods. He thanks her for listening and promises not to forget about their movie date on Friday.
"I still think he might not like her," Chifuyu says.
Takemichi ignores him.
By the end of the day Takemichi still doesn't have a plan.
He waits outside of Hakkai's classroom so they can go to the station together and hopefully show up to work on time. Takemichi starts to get restless after most of the other students have left the classroom, Hakkai is usually one of the first to leave. He peaks into the classroom to check and sighs when he realizes Hakkai isn't there.
Takemichi asks one of the students if they'd seen where Shiba-kun had gone, and she tells him that a girl from their neighboring class had asked to speak with him, and he'd left as soon as the bell had rung.
Takemichi is at a loss.
He doesn't hesitate running down to the grassy field behind the school, but once he spots Hakkai and the other student, he realizes that he should probably not be there, hiding behind a vending machine and eavesdropping .
"I'm sorry," Hakkai says, with what looks and sounds like a lot of effort, "I already have someone that I like."
There it was. Confirmation that Hakkai did like Mika-chan. Take that, Chifuyu.
Takemichi feels a little bad for the other girl, but she seems to be taking it well.
"Oh," She says, "Congrats?"
Hakkai doesn't say anything, but Takemichi was still really proud of him for getting a full sentence out earlier, so he doesn't hold it against him.
"I'm going to leave now," The girl says, "See you around, and uh- thanks for listening" She waves goodbye and leaves.
Hakkai waits until she's disappeared around the corner of the school building before covering his face with his hands and sighing so loudly Takemichi hears him from where he's still hiding behind the vending machine. Takemichi gives him another minute to wallow before leaving his hiding spot.
"Hey, Hakkai! We're gonna miss the train!"
They don't miss the train, but only because they're both used to running for their lives. Takemichi is too busy catching his breath during the train ride to realize Hakkai hadn't said a word since they left the school.
Mika-chan tells them off when she sees them run in at the last minute, but she's laughing while she does it, so Takemichi doesn't worry about it too much.
"Shiba-kun," Mika says a few hours later. It's Takemichi's turn at the register, and Mika and Hakkai are on the floor, unboxing a new order of DVDs, "I wanted to ask if you're busy this Sunday? My friend works at a cafe nearby and she says it's really good, she's trying to get everyone to try it. I thought, maybe you could come with me?"
Takemichi perks up, discreetly leaning over the counter to get a glimpse at the couple. Mika-chan is smiling, Hakkai looks mortified.
Takemichi mentally cheers him on, you can do it, Hakkai! Mika had done the hard part herself, probably realizing Hakkai was too shy to ever make a move, and now all he had to do was say yes!
"...Sorry," Hakkai says, and Mika-chan and Takemichi both visibly deflate, "I already have plans for that day."
Takemichi suppresses the urge to jump over the counter, grab him by the shoulders and shake him . He really was hopeless.
"That's alright!" Mika-chan says cheerfully, her smile just a little dimmer than before. She knocks their shoulders together, ignoring how Hakkai flinches, "But then, can I at least have your phone number? "
Takemichi wants to high-five her. Good one Mika-chan, atta girl!
Hakkai seems to be doing his best impression of a deer caught in headlights.
"Ah… yeah, s-sure," He slowly pulls his phone out of his back pocket.
Mika snatches it out of his hand, "Thanks!" she says as she goes to type in her phone number. She freezes for a second, fingers hovering over the buttons.
Suddenly, Takemichi remembers the first conversation he had with Yuzuha. He leans further over the counter, peeking over Mika-chan's shoulder, and sees that Hakkai's wallpaper was still a picture of Mitsuya. Takemichi rolls his eyes so hard it gives him a headache.
But Mika-chan recovers quickly, she ignores the phone's wallpaper and goes straight to the contacts screen where she punches in her number, adding herself as a contact named ♡mika♡ .
She gives Hakkai his cellphone back, still smiling sweetly.
"Text me," She says, "So we can reschedule our cafe date."
Hakkai doesn't say anything, just stares wide eyed, phone clutched to his chest.
Mika-chan announces that she's going on her lunch, and leaves the two of them in charge of the store.
Takemichi waits until he sees her disappear into the breakroom before turning to Hakkai. Shit eating grin firmly in place.
Hakkai refuses to make eye contact with him, he puts his phone away and goes back to unpacking the new DVDs. Takemichi is really proud of him, for some reason.
He sends a text to Hina and Chifuyu. Hina responds with a sweet message wishing Hakkai the best, Chifuyu sends back an 'lol okay'.
"Why'd you say no when Mika-chan asked to go out?" Takemichi asks him on the train ride back. It's the first time he's brought up what had happened with Mika, but he figured it'd been long enough that Hakkai had had time to assimilate, and it wasn't like he could run away while they were in the train.
"I'm busy on Sunday," Hakkai says. Takemichi doesn't look convinced, "I am!.. It's movie night," He says shyly.
Takemichi tries very, very hard to be understanding. Who knew, maybe Sailor Moon SuperS was a really good movie, maybe Hakkai was just kind of dumb.
He says, "Okay," and then nothing else for the rest of the train ride, but he side-eyes Hakkai when he changes Mika's contact name to 'Mika From Work'.
The store owner texts him on Friday, asking if he can come in Saturday morning. Takemichi almost says no purely because the text had interrupted his date with Hina, but she tells him it would be better if he says yes, "You'll seem more reliable!"
So Takemichi drags himself out of bed early that morning. He tries not to fall asleep on the train and only half succeeds.
Takemichi works with the store owner, since Mika-chan only worked in the afternoons during the week. It takes Takemichi approximately three minutes to realize how lenient and nice Mika was, and how much of a hard ass the owner was.
"I'm never saying yes again," He says to Hina over the phone, he's hiding in the breakroom, twenty minutes into his fifteen minute break, "He won't let me leave the store for lunch or anything! He says it would make him liable if I get hit by a car or something."
Hina doesn't say anything for a second, "Ah. That… that doesn't sound good."
No, it's not good at all. It's very terrible, actually.
Takemichi gets told off for spending more than fifteen minutes on his break. Takemichi says ' sorry, it won't happen again ' and then hides in the bathroom for another ten minutes.
He texts all of his friends to see if anyone is nearby and can bring him lunch until finally someone finally says yes.
Takemichi almost cries when he hears the familiar rev of an engine. Mitsuya pulls up to the curb with Hakkai riding in the back seat of his bike, holding a McDonald's takeout bag. He sneaks out of the store while the owner is busy taking a customer's call.
"Thank you so much," He says, perhaps getting a little teary-eyed. It was almost noon and he hadn't eaten at all.
"It's fine," Mitsuya says, "We were nearby."
"You don't look so good," Hakkai says, probably because it's more polite than ' you look like shit '.
"It's awful," Takemichi says around a mouthful of fries, "He won't let me rest at all," They both look apologetic, but they also look like they might start laughing at him, Takemichi sighs, "I miss Mika-chan. She'd let me slack off."
Hakkai nervously looks away when Takemichi mentions her.
Takemichi elbows him, "Right, Hakkai?"
"Who?" Mitsuya asks.
Hakkai looks like he wants to disappear.
"Our coworker," Takemichi answers, "Her name's Mika. She's really nice, and she's pretty… and she really likes Hakkai."
Mitsuya looks amused, "Do you think she's pretty?" He asks Hakkai.
Hakkai goes red all the way up to the tips of his ears. He covers his face in his hands and when that's not enough, buries his face against Mitsuya's back. He mumbles something about Taka-chan being so mean to him.
Mitsuya laughs brightly, he pats Hakkai's thigh.
Takemichi hears his boss yell his name and groans, shoving another handful of fries in his mouth, he thanks Hakkai and Mitsuya again. Mitsuya waves him off, Hakkai still too embarrassed to look up.
Takemichi gets told off for leaving the store, he calls Hina on his lunch break and tells her all about it.
He goes out with Hina on Sunday, too. She'd let him complain about his boss, and then she'd complained about her cram school teacher, and they'd gotten ice cream and sat at the park.
It was Monday afternoon now, and Takemichi was still riding that high.
Takemichi stares off dreamily during his free period, not paying attention to the conversation his friends were having around him.
But as soon as Hakkai crosses his point of vision, Takemichi remembers something very important.
"Have you texted Mika-chan?" He asks, quietly, so the others don't hear and scare Hakkai off again.
Hakkai gives him what Takemichi has come to know as his why the hell are you bringing that up face. But Takemichi had his reasons!
Hakkai was his friend. Yes, he was a little awkward, and his intimidating looks didn't make things any easier. But Takemichi liked him. And after everything that had happened he wanted good things for the poor guy.
Takemichi thinks of himself and Hina, and how happy she makes him. How nice it is to just talk to her, to see her, to be able to make her smile. He thinks Hakkai deserves something like that too, even if he was too shy to go for it himself.
"Of course not," Hakkai says eventually, and Takemichi could slap him, he really could.
He doesn't.
He just asks, "Why not?" Exasperated.
Hakkai gives him a flat, irritated look and doesn't answer.
Takemichi is, once again, at a loss.
Mitsuya visits the store again that afternoon, while Takemichi and Hakkai are restocking the snack shelves in front of the register, and Mika-chan takes care of the register.
"Welcome!" Mika-chan greets.
"Hey Mitsuya-kun!" Takemichi waves at him. Beside him, Hakkai is practically beaming.
"Hey," Mitsuya nods at them before turning to Mika-chan, "I'm here to return this," He hands her the copy of Sailor Moon SuperS he'd rented.
"Oh! Are you a fan of Sailor Moo n?" Mika asks as she scans the DVD.
"Definitely not."
"I thought it was good," Hakkai says, "You fell asleep, so you didn't see the end, but it was really good, Taka-chan."
"I wasn't asleep ," Mitsuya says, with a kind of amused exasperation that meant Hakkai must've teased him about it already.
"Ah, of course. Taka-chan was just resting his eyes."
Takemichi laughs at their quiet back and forth. Almost not minding that he has to finish their work on his own now that Mitsuya has all of Hakkai's attention. Almost.
Mika-chan waits patiently for them to be done so she can hand Mitsuya his receipt. After a few more seconds she clears her throat to get his attention.
"Sorry, thank you," Mitsuya says, he takes his receipt and turns back to Hakkai, "Is your lunch break soon? We can go eat together."
"No, it's not for another hour," Hakkai says, already moping.
"It's okay!" Mika-chan says, her face slightly pink, "You can go early, Shiba-kun, it's fine!" She gives him a thumbs up and bright smile, "Takemichi-kun and I will take care of things here!"
Hakkai gives her what must be his first genuine smile since they met, Mika's blush deepens.
"Thank you, Mika-chan."
Hakkai shoves the box of chocolates he'd been holding into Takemichi's arms and all but skips out the door behind Mitsuya.
"I'm glad Shiba-kun has such good friends," Mika says, watching as Mitsuya holds the door open for him.
Takemichi smiles at that. Mika really was a nice person.
Takemichi tells Hina and Chifuyu about the mission's latest development the very next day, hiding in the same empty classroom during their free period.
"Why are you so sure he likes her?" Chifuyu asks, and even Hina looks a little curious.
Takemichi blanks for a second before stuttering out a weak, "He gets so nervous around her!"
"Of course he does, he's Hakkai ."
And Takemichi doesn't have anything to say to that. He spends the rest of the school day wondering if he'd been going about things the wrong way. Then he spends his entire shift watching Hakkai and Mika like a hawk.
Sitting on the train at the end of the day he's still as confused as he was that afternoon. He decides he needs to recruit more help for his mission, he just isn't sure who .
It's not his idea to ask Yuzuha. But after another week of watching Hakkai and Mika's awkward interactions and still not being any closer to figuring out if Hakkai likes her or is just chronically shy, Takemichi is getting pretty close to his limit.
Takemichi is sitting on the Shiba siblings' sofa. He'd gone over to study with Hakkai and Chifuyu but they'd quickly given up on that, and now he was watching one of Yuzuha's slasher movies while they waited for Hakkai and Chifuyu to come back from their snack run.
He takes a deep breath, "Can I ask you a weird question?"
"All your questions are weird," Yuzuha says, not looking away from the screen. Takemichi doesn't even try to argue, "But sure, go ahead."
Takemichi had underestimated how uncomfortable it would be to ask. He pinches the bridge of his nose and tries not to look at Yuzuha when he asks, "What kind of girls does Hakkai like?"
Yuzuha whips around to look at him like a particularly aggressive owl, "Why would you ever need to know that?"
"Because-" Takemichi sighs, "Because our coworker Mika really likes him and I thought he liked her too but now I'm not so sure."
Yuzuha looks like she's not quite sure what to do with her face. She settles for a wobbly smile, brows furrowed, "She likes him?"
"Yeah… she asked him out," Takemichi wonders if he should be telling her this but figures it can't hurt to give her a bit more context.
"What ? They went out?" Yuzuha turns to him fully, eyes wide with shock.
"No, they didn't. He said he was busy," Takemichi says bitterly.
They sit in silence for a moment, long enough for Takemichi to feel queasy at the blood splatters on screen.
"I don't know what to tell you," Yuzuha says eventually, "He's never really liked anyone except- well," She tilts her head as if to say ' you know ', but Takemichi absolutely does not know.
Takemichi doesn't get to ask ‘who?’ because they're interrupted by the front door opening.
Takemichi settles back in his seat. Still pretty confused.
He goes back to his old plan of watching and trying to figure out what the hell was going on with Hakkai, but it yields very little results.
By the end of the week Takemichi is pretty sure that Hakkai likes her, as in, he doesn't dislike her. But that's just about everything he was able to find out. And he's just about had it with both of them. There was only so much awkward, one-sided(?) flirting he could take.
Takemichi is too busy thinking of the best way to tell Hakkai to get it together to notice Draken bunching up his napkin and throwing it at him until it hits him in the face.
"Hey!"
Mikey laughs brightly, "What are you thinking about, Takemitchy?" He'd finished his sundae and had moved onto Draken's without him noticing.
Takemichi debates whether to tell them or not before remembering he didn't have any better ideas.
"Our coworker likes Hakkai," Draken raises his eyebrows, Mikey keeps eating his sundae, "But Hakkai is… really shy. So I thought I'd help him. But now I'm not even sure if he likes her."
It sounds stupid as hell when he says it out loud, but Draken doesn't laugh at him.
"Did you ask him?"
"Yeah, he ran away."
Draken does laugh at that.
Takemichi decides to ignore it, "She even gave him her phone number, and he never texted her."
Draken winces, "Sounds like he doesn't like her."
Takemichi opens his mouth to argue, still not sure what he was going to say, but he doesn't get the chance to stutter out a response because Mikey beats him to it.
"Of course he doesn't," He says with the self assurance only Mikey could ever have.
Takemichi and Draken turn to him, Draken zeroing-in on what used to be his sundae.
"You asshole, you ate all of it!"
Takemichi smiles politely at the people in the surrounding tables that turn to look at them.
Mikey doesn't even have the good sense to look apologetic, he smiles at Draken and pushes him away when he tries to grab him.
"Why do you think he doesn't like her?" Takemichi asks after they've struggled for a good while and Draken had ordered another sundae.
Mikey yawns, leaning heavily against Draken's side, "Because Hakkai likes Mitsuya. Obviously."
Takemichi and Draken turn to look at him with equally shocked expressions.
"What ?"
But Mikey is already snoring.
Takemitchy and Draken stare at each other for a second before the waitress interrupts them, bringing Draken's new sundae.
"Huh." Draken says, then he shrugs and goes back to eating his sundae.
Takemichi doesn't say anything at all.
That Saturday, he and Chifuyu head back to the Shiba's apartment, to actually study this time.
Yuzuha opens the door for them, XBOX controller in hand, "Hakkai's in the kitchen," She says by way of greeting before heading back inside, plopping down on the couch in front of the TV.
Chifuyu quietly closes and locks the door behind them, they both head to the kitchen. The whole kitchen smells like brownies. Takemichi's mouth waters.
"You can bake?" Chifuyu asks, just as surprised as Takemichi was.
Hakkai looks up from where he's cutting a batch of freshly baked brownies with the single minded concentration he should have for school, or work, or literally anything else.
"Uh. Not really," Hakkai says, wincing slightly.
He's cutting the brownies into heart shapes, and he's placing them very carefully in a glass tupperware lined with paper lace doilies. He sprinkles the brownies with powdered sugar.
"Woah, that looks good," Chifuyu says, leaning over the counter to peek at the tupperware, "Can I have one?" He asks, already reaching for it.
"No!" Hakkai quickly slaps the tupperware's top on, startling all three of them, "I- I mean… not these," He says shyly. He pushes a plate of disfigured brownie bits at them, "You can have these, though."
"...thanks," Chifuyu says, more than a little disappointed.
Takemichi pokes at the plate of brownies, some of them are burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. Others are so dry they crumble when touched. He looks back at the container full of picture perfect, delicious brownies.
"Why can't we have those?" He asks, just out of curiosity, definitely not whining.
Hakkai fumbles with the powdered sugar, almost dropping the sieve but catching it before it makes a mess. His eyes are wide, he's blushing.
He looks down at his hands, fidgeting, he says, "Those are for Taka-chan."
Of course. Takemichi never should've doubted Mikey.
Takemichi feels like an idiot, but a happy idiot.
He'd been trying to help Hakkai figure out his feelings, but he'd already had it all figured out. He already had someone that made him happy. And Takemichi’s initial assessment of them was still correct, they really did suit each other.
Takemichi stuffs his mouth full of burnt/raw/dry brownie bits to keep from tearing up. He chokes, and Chifuyu has to slap him on the back a couple times to help him breathe again, but it doesn't matter, nothing dampens his mood. Not even the pile of worksheets they had to get finished before their exam that Monday.
Takemichi doesn't plan on doing anything with this new information. He texts Hina and Chifuyu the next morning to tell them he was calling off the mission, and goes about his normal life.
For all of one whole day.
That Monday, Mika asks Hakkai if he would like to go see a movie with her, "Maybe Sailor Moon!" She laughs, but Hakkai doesn't get the joke.
"I'm sorry," Hakkai says, "I already have plans that day."
Takemichi had started this mission to help Hakkai out, but along the way he'd gotten to know Mika, and he really liked her. He'd even call her a friend. And friends don't let friends pine over guys that wouldn't like them back.
He and Mika are reorganizing the romance section of the store when Takemichi clears his throat, choosing his words carefully.
"Mika-chan," Takemichi says, as gently as possible, "Hakkai is… already seeing someone."
It's deathly silent for a second before Mika lets out a deep sigh.
"Figures," She says, and then a little more light-hearted, "It's always the cute ones."
"Uh," Takemichi says smartly.
Mika-chan laughs, bumping their shoulders. She gives him a bright smile and says, "Thanks for telling me, Takemichi-kun. You're a good friend."
Takemichi smiles back, "So are you, Mika-chan."
On the train ride back home, Takemichi asks Hakkai if he'd given the brownies to Mitsuya, and Hakkai blushes so hard his ears go red, he says 'yes ' with a soft smile on his face. Takemichi feels so happy for him he almost starts crying again.