Chapter Text
When Kazuha first heard the name of his long-lost childhood best friend coming out of Lumine’s mouth, he was this close to bursting.
In anger, of course.
“That bastard—” Marching off to the cafeteria where Lumine had promised to meet, with the girl having to run after the fuming man, Kazuha told himself not to forgive Tomo at all, no matter what reason he had for leaving him without saying a word.
And as per their childhood days, he failed. The moment Kazuha saw the blond’s sad puppy eyes, he succumbed.
“It wasn’t like I moved away willingly. My dad got a better job offer and my mom wouldn’t let me stay in your place no matter how much I begged. Please forgive me?” the damned man apologized, complete with those pout and pitiful expressions, as Kazuha pulled him by his collar upon sight.
Kazuha sighed and let go. “And you never thought a goodbye was necessary? Do you know how shocked I was when I heard from the teacher that you have moved away to a place I had never heard of before?”
“I know I should have told you about the move, but I had a feeling that you would cry and how was I supposed to leave after that?”
“Don’t you get smart with me! Crying over your leaving but believing we will meet again in the future is much better than thinking that I wasn’t important to you, that I didn’t even deserve notice at all.” Kazuha balled his fists, those feelings he had buried for almost a decade resurfacing.
When he heard the news from his teacher and ran off to Tomo’s house to see that it was empty, he was devastated. Not because his best friend had moved away, but because he was so worthless that Tomo could abandon him oh-so-easily.
The blond man’s eyes widened. “Why would you think that? Kazuha, you are my first and best friend, the person I cherish most, I would gladly lay my life for you. Don’t you ever think that you’re not important, because you are the greatest person I know."
With Tomo pulling him into a hug, Kazuha could feel that a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. If he was in his friend’s shoes, he knew there was a big chance he would do the same thing, so he would let him off easy. But just this once.
“Buy me lunch for a month, then I will forgive you,” Kazuha said, burying his face between Tomo’s neck and shoulder.
“As long as I get to eat with you, I will pay for dinner as well.”
Kazuha lightly snorted but a small smile was blooming on his face.
Watching the two being so cloyingly sweet, Lumine wondered why she even bothered in the first place. She should have just let Kazuha beat up her high school friend for all she cared about.
“While I’m happy that you two have made up, we are going to be late for our next class, Kazuha. You know how Professor Zhongli gets about punctuality.” The stiff yet damningly hot professor would deduct their credits if he found them late to his class.
Tomo reluctantly let Kazuha go after hearing that. “Right, better not be late, you two. I have to go to my class, so let’s catch up later, Kazuha.”
After the two men exchanged numbers, Lumine quite literally dragged Kazuha off to their class, not even bothering to say her farewells to Tomo, unlike a certain someone. If she was going to be late because of these two, she would sever her friendship with them for good.
“Thank you, Lumine,” Kazuha thanked his classmate midway to their class.
Lumine shrugged. “It’s not like I did anything worth thanking for.”
Which was the truth, those two probably forgot she was even there. And they had resolved their problem on their own without her saying a word.
“Oh, today is also the day you’re finally moving to your new dorm room, right? I hope you get a good roommate this time.”
Kazuha nodded, hoping that he wouldn’t end up with another rude person who kept picking fights over the littlest thing.
‘How awesome would it be if Tomo ended up becoming my roommate?’ Kazuha couldn't help but think so.
Though, seeing as a month had passed since the semester started, the chance of that happening was slim to none.
As it turned out, Tomo was his new roommate. Kazuha never knew he was that lucky.
“Should I try buying a lottery ticket?” Kazuha mumbled as he put the cardboard box he was holding down in his new room.
“Hm? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Ah, be careful with that one, some of the contents are fragile.”
Tomo blinked, a mischievous expression on his face. With Kazuha going out to bring in the last box, Tomo used one hand to support the bottom of the box and his other hand to open the top.
“What’s this? Pictures? A flute? And a stone?” Tomo rummaged around the box some more until an exasperated voice stopped him.
“Why am I not surprised?”
Tomo almost dropped the box from sheer shock.
“If you drop them, you’re dead.”
Hearing those words, Tomo used both hands to hold the box and put them down on the floor.
“I can understand why you bring some pictures here, but what’s with the stone?” Considering it was something so ordinary you could find it anywhere in the street, Tomo couldn’t see how it had any sentimental value.
Kazuha looked at Tomo, really looked at him, only to see that the man truly didn’t remember.
‘It was something that you gave me when we first met, you idiot,’ Kazuha wanted to say, but he had no energy to spare to jog his friend’s memory.
“Get out, I need to unpack.”
“Wait, I can help—”
Pushing the taller man out of his room, Kazuha slammed the door firmly shut and turned to the stack of boxes littering the floor.
“This is going to be exhausting,” Kazuha sighed.
He didn’t mean the unpacking. If his roommate was going to start questioning all the things he gave him long ago, Kazuha might as well not display them in his room.
Little did Kazuha know that Tomo, being left to mope on his own after being chased out, had come up with ridiculous ideas to get back into Kazuha’s good graces.
“So you’re saying that Tomo is your new roommate? Wait, how did you know Tomo again?” Aether, sitting beside Kazuha in their shared class, asked.
Lumine, sitting on the other empty seat beside Kazuha, rolled her eyes. “I told you, Kazuha is that person Tomo has been moping about every time he sees you and Teppei together.”
Every time Tomo saw the two besties interacting, he would start wailing about the best friend he left behind in his old place.
“Oh, right, that .” Aether could not help but be thankful now that the two had reunited, Heavens knew how close he was to stabbing Tomo if he had to hear him whine one last time.
Lumine nodded, sharing the same sentiment as her older twin brother.
Unfortunately, the twin was feeling happy far too soon.
“Hey, Kazuha, someone’s here looking for you!”
“Hm? Be right back, guys.” Wondering just who it could be, Kazuha walked towards the door, thanking the person who let him know on the way.
Only to be taken aback when he saw who it was that came to see him. “Tomo?”
The man grinned as he waved. “I know you said to buy you lunch, but I don’t have morning classes today. That’s why I took the liberty to cook you lunch made full of love. Let me know if my cooking suits your taste.”
Giving the lunchbox Tomo was holding a ridiculous stare, Kazuha didn’t know what to say.
He could also feel his classmates staring at him.
“Sure, thank you?” Taking the lunchbox from Tomo’s hand, all Kazuha wanted was for the floor to swallow him whole.
“Good luck with your studies, I will pick you up after my afternoon class ends so we can go back together!”
With that, the blond man winked then darted off to their shared dorm to finish cleaning up.
“Please don’t,” Kazuha pleaded, but his friend was too far away to hear it.
Trudging back to his seat with a lunchbox in tow, Kazuha tried to ignore the intense gazes his classmates directed at him.
“You don’t have any class after this,” Lumine reminded, having gotten used to seeing Tomo’s antics.
Aether on the other hand couldn’t stop looking at the lunchbox. “Am I supposed to do these things with Teppei too?”
Kazuha merely tuned the twins out, shoving the lunchbox into his bag. Though, deep down, he couldn’t help but feel warm. As frustrating as Tomo could be, he was also the kindest person he knew.
Oh well, waiting for a couple of hours wouldn’t hurt. He had business in the library anyway so he would wait there.
Tomo’s amusing behavior didn’t stop at just cooking Kazuha lunch and dinner. It got way, way worse as time passed by.
When Kazuha had free time in his schedule since one of his afternoon classes got canceled, he decided to wait for his next class in the cafeteria as well as to get something to munch on.
It was the worst decision of his life.
“Here, your Grilled Unagi Fillet, no rice, and hot Green Tea. Pay me back before class starts,” Beidou reminded as she put down two trays full of food.
Kazuha looked up from his assignments to thank his friend. That was when his eyes landed on his friend’s choice of beverage. “Is that beer? How did you manage to procure one?”
“A girl has her ways, kiddo. This is why I keep telling you that socializing is important.”
Kazuha merely scrunched his face when she told him that. There was no way he would approach someone first if it wasn’t for an assignment or class.
That was also why he mostly hung out with people he had known before he entered University. The only two new friends he had made were Aether and his sister who shared almost all classes with him.
A psychiatrist would say that being left behind without a word by someone close to him was the reason he avoided social interactions, but Kazuha would argue that he was merely being cautious.
“I know, I know, Hell would freeze over before you’re going to get all chummy with a stranger.”
“Now you’re just exaggerating.” Kazuha fished out his wallet and paid for his meal before going back to his books, occasionally taking bites of his snack.
Only to look back up when he heard a ruckus.
“Oh, ain’t that your long-lost lover boy?” If Beidou wasn’t his friend since elementary, Kazuha would have left this very table and pretended he didn’t know her.
Actually, he might just do that, but to the person running over to his table carrying a huge flower bouquet instead.
“Why is he doing this?” Kazuha asked no one in particular, mortified.
“Didn’t you say he was trying to make amends to you?”
Kazuha knew that, but would a normal person do such a ridiculous thing?
He was about to say something snarky in return when he jumped off of his seat in shock when he saw Tomo slip and fall a few feet away from his table.
“Oh my God, are you alright?” he asked once he got to where his friend was sprawled on the ground, the bouquet crushed under him.
Tomo lifted his head to give Kazuha a big, reassuring grin. “I’m fine as long as you are.”
Kazuha could not help but wrinkle his nose at the cringy reply.
“If you’re able to spout such nonsense, then you’re fine. Come on, I’ll help you up.” Kazuha offered Tomo his hand, pulling the taller man up with much struggle.
“Why are you so heavy?” Kazuha grumbled as Tomo dusted off his clothes from all the stray petals and dirt.
“It’s not that I’m heavy, you’re just too short,” Tomo jested, laughing when he saw the annoyed expression on his friend’s face.
“I should have left you to suffer.” Tomo just smiled as Kazuha kept going on and on about how vexing his friend was.
But that smile quickly died down when Tomo caught sight of the bouquet he had personally arranged for Kazuha.
“No, my apology gift!” With a crestfallen face, Tomo gathered the mangled flowers into his arms, planning to dispose of them.
Until Kazuha stopped him. “Who said you can throw it out?”
“Huh?”
“They’re for me, aren’t they? Give it.”
“Yes, but I kinda destroyed them. Let me give you a better one later, yeah?”
"I don’t need a better one, I want the one you are holding now.” With that, Kazuha snatched the bouquet from Tomo’s hands.
At first glance, they might look broken, but Kazuha could spot some flowers that could still be salvaged.
He had needed a good bookmark lately and just so happened to be holding a bouquet full of beautiful flowers.
“I’m going back to the dorm first. Beidou, I will come to find you after I’m done with this.” Kazuha put away his assignments then slung his bag on his back.
“Take all the time you need,” Beidou grinned, hands itching to send the video she took to her girlfriend.
Kazuha then looked at the people in the cafeteria who were doing a poor job of avoiding his eyes. He just hoped no one he knew, aside from Beidou, was here.
Too bad his luck had failed him this time. A rumor soon spread about the lovebirds early the next day, with almost everyone on campus talking about it.
Everyone except for the two people involved in the rumor who were the last to hear about it.