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“Do you think it really works? That magic spell,” Aiba says as he bounds into their dorm room. His eyes are positively sparkling. “Do you want to try it out?”
Nino gives him a look that could shrivel flowers. “I see you’re taking your idiocy to new levels, Aiba-san.”
“But it’s the latest thing! It’s all over TV, c’mon, pleeease. What’s the worst that could happen?” Aiba counterattacks Nino’s glare with his best puppydog eyes, and shoves his phone screen filled with a paragraph of instructions for the spell up into his face.
I could end up finding my true love, that’s what, Nino thinks, but he allows himself to be dragged up from his bed and positioned within a circle of runes constructed with post-it notes.
Nino is officially in the Games and Animation Appreciation Society, but on occasion Aiba drags him out to do some drills with the rest of the university baseball team. It’s to keep him from getting rusty, Aiba says, not to mention it’s way more fun than staying cooped up staring at a screen all afternoon. Nino can’t say he completely agrees, but it is good to get out and play catch for an hour or two.
He’s not sure whether it’s because all he had for lunch was a carton of chocolate milk, or if it just isn’t his lucky day, but Nino throws the ball in a completely different direction than intended. He stares at Aiba’s distant empty glove in disbelief as a delayed yell of pain is heard throughout the grounds.
“Ninomiya, I don’t let you play here to kill someone!” the coach shouts as he runs up to the figure crouched down and clutching his shoulder.Nino joins the growing circle of students around the boy he recognises as Matsumoto Jun.
Just great, he thinks, so it isn’t just going to be the coach pissed at me, it’s going to be all the girls from our department out for my blood too.
He watches Jun give the coach an unconvincing smile that ends in a wince when his shoulder is examined. The coach looks around and gives Nino a pointed look.
“Take him to the infirmary, Ninomiya.”
“Sorry, Jun-kun,” Nino says sullenly. The infirmary nurse had thankfully diagnosed the shoulder pain as nothing serious, just a little ice and rest needed, but Jun’s arm was put in a sling to make sure he kept it still anyway.
Jun gives him a small smile. The way it suddenly softens his strong features strikes Nino; from what he’s seen of him around campus he’s usually looking brooding and mildly irritated, as if he’s always five minutes late. “Not your fault, it happens. And hey, thanks for carrying my things,” he says.
While the rest of the walk to the dorms is filled with meaningless small talk complaining about lecturers and the ridiculous amount of written tests for their courses, Nino does learn that Jun is a surprisingly avid fan of all the Super Mario games. Apparently, he’s also good. As they reach Jun’s dorm room, Jun takes his bags back from Nino one-handedly. With a throwaway comment that he should come play a round or two of Mario Kart with him sometime for a real challenge, Jun flashes him another one of his smiles and waves goodbye with his good arm. The door closes shut with a soft click.
Nino should not be looking forward to taking up that offer so much.
“So,” Aiba says slowly. He puts down his fork and knife, dinner tray cleared out.
“No,” Nino replies back. He sucks on his chocolate milk straw obnoxiously.
Aiba lunges over and slams his hands on the cafeteria table dramatically, soy sauce and ketchup bottle in his way be damned. “You can’t escape me! My interrogation tactics are flawless!” he shouts, a little too loudly, and the surrounding tables give them tired, used-to-their-stupidity looks.
Aiba looks Nino squarely in the eyes and puts a microphone-fist to his pursed mouth. “What are your thoughts about Matsumoto Jun?”
Nino can feel his willpower weakening. Before he lets himself say something stupid, he mumbles, “He’s nicer than I thought he’d be,” and leaves the table before Aiba’s interrogation actually manages to dig up something he’d never be able to live down.
As he makes his hasty retreat, Aiba calls out with a whooping cheer, “The spell worked!”
A deep breath in, a deep breath out, and knocking on the door before he has a chance to think about it and chicken out. A spell can’t do everything for him.
Jun opens the door and gives him a curious smile. “Hey. What’s up?”
“So how about that round of Mario Kart?” Nino tries to ask suavely.
Jun frowns, though it’s more in confusion than unwillingness. “You do realise I still can’t use one arm fully?” he asks good-humoredly, gesturing to his arm still in its sling.
Nino shrugs but can’t contain his smile. “You also said you were good, I just figured you could do with a handicap.”
Jun rolls his eyes and laughs; Nino is delighted. “I see you plan to weaken my defenses both on a physical and mental level,” he says, opening the door wider to let him in.
“Glad to see there’s no secrets between us.”