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A cold breeze blew by as small hands cupped themselves around a warm cup of hot chocolate and leaves gently fluttered to the floor as amber eyes looked up and down at the pacing boy in front of their line of sight. Leaves crunched underneath his boots as he chewed on his lower lip and the eyes could only watch as he grumbled and muttered underneath his breath, nearly rolling to the back of their owner’s head when the boy started to do it even faster . “Hey! Hey!” The owner made a quiet whine, stomping their feet on the floor, “Stop that, stop that already! You’re making me dizzy, and—and your chocolate is gonna get all cold .”
No one liked cold chocolate when it was already November, they summarized and their pout stayed on their face even when the boy paused and nearly slipped and fell on his butt. “Ah, was I pacing too much, Tsukasa?” He looks sheepish and Tsukasa frowns, their brows furrowing as they grip their cup of hot chocolate.
“ Was I pacing too much, Tsukasa ?” They repeat the words, huffing as their identical twin looks a mix between nervous and exasperated. He had nothing to be annoyed over! “Yes, in fact, you were pacing too much, Amane, so much so that your chocolate is cold and if I look at you any longer, I’m going to push you into the street .” Their eyes look terrifying when combined with that happy go lucky smile and shivering, Amane nodded, suspending his movement to plop himself down on the bench. His hands curl around the cup, a frown on his face as he realized how the warmth had begun to recede.
Tsukasa didn’t seem too happy about it either. “I told you it was getting cold,” they grumble, “but noooo, you wanted to pace around and stay out in the wind when there’s an arcade right behind us!” They pout, drinking the rest of their chocolate just as another voice yelled out to the twins and without warning, they looked up, eyes widening at the three figures making their way over. Nearly knocking Amane to the ground, Tsukasa jumped up, rushing over to tackle the middle member of the trio into a sudden bear hug. “Kou-kun, Mitsuba, Nene-chan! You all came, we waited hours— ”
“No we didn’t!” Amane tried to pry his brother off the sheepish looking Kou, rolling his eyes as he did so. “Don’t listen to them, we—”
“He was pacing around all worried too! His chocolate got all cold!”
“ Tsukasa !”
Pushing a hand against their mouth, Amane yanked them off Kou with a grunt and was immediately given a look of thanks by the victim of his brother’s hugging attacks. To Kou’s right, Mitsuba is rolling his eyes, wearing that same plaid sweater that Amane swore he’s seen on the boy ten times already. “Considering you’re trying extra hard to silence your brother, I’m inclined to believe him, Satan spawn.” He makes a face when Yashiro scolds him for the nickname, whining as he did so. “Eh? Eh? What’s wrong with it, it’s the truth!”
Letting the two bicker amongst themselves, with Kou as the unfortunate mediator between the two of them, Amane released his brother from his grasp and ducked from the sudden swing at his face. “ That’s for covering my mouth,” Tsukasa huffed as they turned around and marched up to the bickering trio—apparently, the mediator was now holding Mitsuba in a chokehold while Yashiro messed up his hair. “And this —” They kissed Kou on the cheek first, effectively making him too frazzled to keep holding onto Mitsuba. The moment Mitsuba crashed to the floor, Tsukasa was right there with him, giving him the same peck on the cheek they had done with Kou. “—is for coming to hang out with us!” Before either boy could do anything, and before Yashiro could congratulate Tsukasa on silencing them once and for all, the boy had whirled around, clapping their hands together with a bright smile.
“Now that that’s settled…” they pumped their fists into the air, “let’s go have some fun!”
The arcade that was only a few hours away from Kamome academy was a go-to hangout for all sorts of kids. Whether they wanted to escape their friends or bring them over to have some fun, the building was a delight for anyone who just wanted a day of fun to themselves and it was only amplified by the fact across the block from it, a gaming center had built up a shop as well taking in all types of gamers. It was the perfect way to unwind after a long day of completing what amounted to hours and hours of schoolwork, that is, if the two boys at front of the entrance could stop bickering for one thing or another.
Amane didn’t even know why Mitsuba and Kou were arguing again, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked between them and then down at his brother who was either obviously ignoring the two and drinking their chocolate or the more likely scenario, was waiting for their chance to catch them off guard once again. “And I’m saying that as their boyfriend, I should be the only one winning him anything he wants in there!” Ah, the older of the twins could only spare Tsukasa an apologetic glance, so that’s why they’re fighting.
“Haaah? That makes no sense, you discount Kirby! Who are you to judge who wins and doesn’t win them prizes?!” The boy figured that Tsukasa had exclaimed about wanting a prize of some sort as soon as they rushed into the building and both boys had immediately jumped at the opportunity to do so—completely negating the fact that the person who wanted the price was currently ignoring their very existence. “Honestly, I bet you’re awful at these games, anyways—” a loud shriek from Mitsuba makes Tsukasa jump, their eyes swirling as they stumble back to Yashiro.
Having enough of the bickering, and just wanting to play some games, Amane stepped forward, clearing his throat as he did so. “Ladies, ladies, I’m sure Tsukasa thinks you’re both pretty,” he grins, bowing as he finished his sentence, “but I’m afraid that I am the prettiest out of the three of us because unlike you, it’s me who will be winning my dear girlfriend—” Amane does a gesture towards the deadpanning Yashiro with a bright smile, “—whatever prize she desires!”
And just like that, the two boys had whirled around and Mitsuba looked as if he was absolutely fuming. “Are those fighting words, Devil? Because ohoho, if they are—” he gets cut off when Amane happily grabs at his face, and Kou’s as well, with both of his hands. He smiles and the two swear there were some sort of sparkles surrounding the short little engineer.
“What if they are fighting words?” He puffs out his chest as if to appear bigger than people twice his size, “are you two even up for the challenge? Can you win Tsukasa prizes before I do for Yashiro? It shouldn’t be too hard right?, unless you’re—”
Mitsuba is the first to slap his hands away, crossing his arms against his chest as he stares him down. It would have made him shrink away if the pink haired boy didn’t look like someone just stole his crayon. “You’ll eat those words, you hear me?” He doesn’t waste any time in grabbing at Kou and yanking him deeper into the arcade. “ Eat them!”
Staring at the retreating backs of his friends, Amane blinks before rummaging through the pockets of his jeans and handing his brother a wallet of jingling coins and paper bills. “Don’t give those two any of your coins.” He grins at Yashiro, tugging her forward and grasping her hand in his. Without warning, he pumped his fist into his air, dragging his girlfriend, and by extension his brother, deep into the building full of all sorts of games.
It didn’t take the group long enough to all find a row of games that they all liked and separating from each other, they all began their respective arcade machines. Kou had one that sold anime figurines and had his tongue out while trying to concentrate, Mitsuba was trying his best to get a plush toy that Tsukasa kept their eyes glued on like a hawk, and Amane was much more content with trying to win Yashiro the toy bear she had requested, all dressed up in an old school Japanese uniform. With the merchandiser games now in session, it left both Yashiro and Tsukasa to try their luck at other arcade games in the general vicinity.
Most of them had only been single player, greatly aggravating the boy until Yashiro gently tugged on their wrist, pointing towards the two player racing game that just had two occupants leave. Eyes lighting up, the boy didn't waste any time in dragging her to sit down, eagerly inputting the tokens they had exchanged their money for to begin. From behind them, they could hear the various sounds of their brother and friends arguing amongst themselves though immediately, both friends had begun to tune in their focus towards the computer generated race track.
Just as the game started, a light tap on both of their shoulders caused them to swerve, crashing into other computer generated cars as Tsukasa leaped up, ready to hit whoever had interrupted their gaming only to blink when instead of a person, they were met with a large elephant plush. Silence seemed to settle upon the group for a moment before Tsukasa let out the loudest squeal ever possible suddenly jumping up and down the chair as if it was a trampoline. “Hey, wait a minute, don’t do what I think you’re going—”
Mitsuba couldn’t even finish his sentence when his boyfriend tackled him with such vigor, it caused both boys to crash to the floor. He wheezed as his back slammed against the reflective arcade floor and nearly choked as Tsukasa had him in a death grip. “Whaaa!! You won it? You won it? Thank you so much!” They were practically suffocating him, hugging so tight that the pink haired boy was grateful when his boyfriend was tapped on the shoulder and another ear piercing shriek happened as Kou went tumbling down to the floor.
Trying his hardest not to laugh at the way Tsukasa was going back and forth with excitement, vibrating in place and kissing both boys out of nowhere before they could even speak, Amane carefully inched his way towards a smiling Yashiro, tapping her on the shoulder. “Hm, is—oh, Amane-kun! Did you win me something too?” Her eyes softened just a tad as the sweater wearing boy in front of her grinned sheepishly, hands behind his back.
“Uhmuh…. Yeah,” he finally mumbled, nodding his head without looking at her, “I sure did! Uh, it’s—well, here!” Pulling his hands away, Yashiro nearly became a second Tsukasa at the sight of the plush bear wearing a gakuran and old school hat, red socks and brown loafers. Resisting the urge to tackle Amane to the floor, and have him suffer the adorable sight that was Mitsuba and Kou getting absolutely attacked with kisses, she opted to grab the bear gently, turning it over in her hands with wide eyes. “Was it what you wanted? I uh also thought of getting you this too—” a keychain is dangled in front of her eyes, the radish swinging back and forth as he grinned. “Looks cute right?”
This time, Yashiro didn’t hesitate to use her newly acquired bear as a weapon.
The sun was beginning to set by the time all five students had exited the building with bags of prizes in their arms. Tsukasa, of course, demanded that they hold their plushie which left Kou and Mitsuba with holding the other prizes they had won for each other. Amane, on the other hand, was rubbing his cheek from where he had fallen on the carpet and scraped the skin just enough to cause scratches. Beside him, Yashiro hovered, rubbing his cheek with him and profusely apologizing for startling him when he had been playing skee-ball.
The trio of boys had decided to play other games and while Amane chose the most easiest game he could win without any luck involved, Kou and Mitsuba had gotten into a heated argument over who was better at Dance Dance: revolution and when Tsukasa absentmindedly mentioned how the arcade building did have a rhythm game (or rather a ton of rhythm games if they were being honest), the two had all but dragged them down towards the carpeted areas of the building. Tsukasa didn’t know how long they had spent watching the two play various rhythm games before Amane reminded them all of their time but surely, it had been enough for Mitsuba to start complaining about his body hurting as soon as they began walking away from the building.
It seemed as if all the pain was just now wearing down on their boyfriend and with a concerned glance, Tsukasa gingerly took up the very few bags Mitsuba had on his person. They hadn’t been much, not when Mitsuba’s frustration had caused him to lose a majority of the time, but the amount he did get was still a great haul. Kou patted his back in sympathy, legs aching as Tsukasa sipped at the boba he had bought before they left the block completely—distinctively, they remember Amane yelling after them as they ran to the shop and came back with bags of drinks for everyone, wheezing throughout it all.
“I can’t believe we played for six hours straight,” Yashiro mused as she glanced up at the darkening sky, a sliver of the moon beginning to appear, “the arcade was pretty fun though, and it was a nice session away from—”
A loud noise cut her off as she, and the rest of the group, turned towards whoever had called out the girl’s name. Rushing towards them was yet another girl, purple hair down and large headphones slung across her neck. She didn’t have glasses on but no one could mistake those bright purple eyes for anyone else’s but— “Ao-chaaaaan!!!” Tsukasa practically shrieked her name, bouncing in place as the girl skidded to a halt smiling at the group.
“Tsukasa-kun, Nene-chan,” she chirped, “I had seen you guys enter the arcade before but Akane-kun was going to beat me to the computers if I stayed to chat…” she trailed off and the group follow her gaze to Mitsuba and Kou, both of whom look completely confused at the sudden stares directed their way.
Mitsuba, of course, was the first to snap them out of their stupor. “The hell are you guys staring at? Amazed by my cuteness that you keep denying exists? Go on, admit it!”
The quiet giggle that leaves Aoi’s mouth makes him scowl. “What’s so funny? My cuteness isn’t a laughing matter!” Amane buried his face into Yashiro’s chest, shoulders shaking as she shook her head, lips twitching with the effort to hold in her laughter. Instead, she pulled a compact mirror out of her bag, gently angling it so that both Kou and Mitsuba could see their faces.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it was your cuteness that got us staring….”
All over their face, and smeared on the collar of their shirts, were lipstick stains all in bright strawberry red and if it was possible, Mitsuba and Kou’s face suddenly turned even pinker than the stains as they glanced at each other and then the former of the two, completely pink with the new addition of strawberry kisses all over him, whirled about on the youngest member of the group with a high pitched shriek.
“ TSUKASA!”
His boyfriend only grinned nervously, lips as bright red as a ripe strawberry.