Chapter Text
The school bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch. Mondo slumped over in his seat with a grumble. The school day was only halfway through, and Mondo was already wishing he hadn’t shown up.
As the other students scattered around the school, meeting up with friends and chatting away, Mondo stayed in his seat next to the window. He folded his arms on his desk and rested his chin atop them, staring listlessly out the window.
It was a nice day out. The sun was shining, but it hadn’t been too terribly hot when Mondo had come into the building this morning. He hoped it would stay this nice the whole day. At least until he got home and worked a bit in his garage.
Oh, right, the garage. Mondo’s mind instantly drifted to the project he had been working on for the past several weeks now. He had been working on refurbishing an old bike he’d come across. It had been going smoothly right up until recently, when he’d hit an unexplainable roadblock.
Mondo sighed as he pulled his notebook out of his bag. Figuring this problem out was as good a way to spend his free time as any, he supposed. He flipped his notes open to an empty page, and began sketching a basic outline of the parts that confused him.
He fell into a soothing rhythm, the scratching of pencil on paper the only sound in the otherwise empty classroom. He nearly jumped when the door opened behind him. Reflexively, Mondo’s eyes snapped to the source of the sound, and he immediately tensed up at who he saw walking into the classroom.
Makoto Naegi, the most popular guy in the school. He was sociable, sweet, and handsome to boot. The other students, even his seniors, tended to fawn over him. Everyone thought he was perfect, though he seemed to be blissfully unaware of this.
Mondo, to his chagrin, immediately felt his cheeks flush. He wasn’t immune to Naegi’s charms, not since the very start of the year. He cursed himself for his flustered nature as Naegi sat down in the seat next to him.
Mondo tried desperately to refocus on his sketches, but Naegi’s presence had thrown him off completely. He couldn’t help but notice the way Naegi sighed as he sat down, seemingly in relief. He couldn’t help but observe the way his cheeks squished when he rested his face in his hands.
Squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head, Mondo made one last attempt to clear his mind. However, he only managed to draw a single line before Makoto was breaking the silence. Mondo nearly jumped out of his skin at the feeling of a timid tap on his shoulder.
Mondo’s head whipped around in Naegi’s direction, eyes wide. Naegi immediately retracted his hand, squeaking quietly in surprise as he pursed his lips.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” He said with a nervous smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Just thought I’d say hi.”
Almost Immediately, Mondo felt a familiar nervousness bubbling in his chest. His jaw snapped shut, his entire body went tense. A blush that felt downright feverish bloomed over his face. Mondo swallowed thickly, trying desperately to hide how shy he felt.
Inwardly, he cursed himself for his shameful reaction. He was the leader of the largest biker gang in the country, feared and renowned for his toughness, and yet he had never been able to handle himself around a crush. Even worse, he had a nasty habit of raising his voice when nervous or caught off guard. It had scared off a number of potential partners, far more than he’d be willing to admit.
However, he knew he couldn’t just stay silent. The longer he went without responding, the further Naegi’s anxious smile dropped. Grinding his teeth a bit, Mondo averted his eyes as he spoke, focusing wholly on his volume. “… ‘S fine… Hey…”
Mondo’s voice came out as a barely coherent mumble. He had been focusing so hard on not shouting, that he seemed to have overcorrected. It was embarrassing, but not nearly as bad as making a huge scene like he normally did. That was progress, he supposed.
Naegi smiled a bit wider once he heard Mondo respond. He seemed relieved, his shoulders dropping the tension that Mondo hadn’t noticed they kept. The genuine expression on his face made Mondo’s nerves dissipate just slightly.
“I’m Makoto Naegi,” Naegi introduced. Mondo thought it was funny that he felt the need to do that, as if he weren’t the most well-liked person in the building. “You’re Owada, right? It’s nice to finally meet you properly!”
Mondo tried really hard not to be flattered by the fact that Naegi already knew who he was. Plenty of people knew Mondo. He was infamous, in fact. Still, it sent a somewhat giddy feeling fluttering in his stomach.
Mondo nodded in acknowledgement. His eyes flickered briefly up to Naegi, and his lips reflexively twitched up in a flicker of a smile. Inwardly, he cringed at himself. Just look at him, Mondo Owada— Co-founder and leader of the Crazy Diamonds— acting like a shy schoolgirl.
Something flickered in Naegi’s expression, an emotion that Mondo couldn’t place. He returned Mondo’s timid smile as he shifted, crossing his arms on top of the table as he tilted his head to the side. “Can I ask what you’re writing?”
Mondo looked down at his notebook, then back to Naegi with a dumb expression. He hadn’t expected Naegi to ask him about what he was doing, he really thought the conversation would be over after they introduced themselves. Everything else was going to be verbal flailing, on Mondo’s part.
Mondo swallowed thickly, suddenly very self-conscious about everything he’s ever done. “Uh… Just workin’ on a project. Personal thing, y’know?”
“Oh! Are you an artist?” Naegi beamed up at Mondo. He seemed genuinely interested in what Mondo was doing, and it made Mondo’s chest feel funny. “That’s really cool!”
“Wha-? Oh, nah, nothin’ like that,” Mondo stumbled. He twirled his pencil between his fingers, and looked off to the side nervously. “Er, I mean… I guess I technically am, but it ain’t, like, my main thing.”
Mondo had to fight the urge to scowl at his own stuttering. Why couldn’t this be the same as speaking in front of his gang? He was always full of confidence when talking with his hoard of large, angry men. Why was this small, very cute boy in his class making him so nervous?
Shaking his head just slightly, Mondo tried again to explain. “I’m tryin’ ta restore this old bike— motorcycle, I mean— that I found a while back. ‘S been givin’ me problems, though. This is just… how I solve ‘em.”
He gestured absently to the notebook, laying open on his lap. He realized too late that it was in Naegi’s line of sight, and his face flushed scarlet as Naegi leaned over to get a better look at the page. Mondo didn’t dare look for Naegi’s reaction, an unexplainable lump of anxiety settling in his throat.
“Wow… That’s amazing!” Mondo’s entire body jolted at the sound of Naegi’s praise. His eyes snapped back to Naegi’s face, wide and shocked. Naegi didn’t look back as he simply admired the sketches in Mondo’s notebook.
“It’s so detailed! You must really know your stuff!” Mossy green eyes finally looked up, and Mondo couldn’t stop the dopey grin that came over him if he tried. Naegi was beaming, expression amazed and fascinated like a kid in a toy store. “Y’know, I’m kinda wishing I knew more now. It seems really cool.”
Mondo pursed his lips. This was it! His chance to spend more time with Naegi! Reflexively, Mondo’s hand came up to fidget with the hair on the back of his neck. He looked away sheepishly as he gathered his courage.
“Well- I mean… I could always—“
“Naegi-Kun!”
Mondo was promptly interrupted by the sound of the classroom door slamming open, followed closely by a whining voice. Jumping in surprise, Naegi looked over to the person calling his name. Mondo did the same, and frowned at who he saw.
Leon Kuwata, another quite popular person in this school, was trudging toward Naegi’s seat. His posture was slouched, and his expression pouting. Mondo clicked his tongue in annoyance, returning to his notebook with quiet irritation.
“What is it now, Kuwata-Kun?” Naegi’s tone was exasperated, though Mondo could hear the smile in his voice.
Kuwata grabbed one of the other chairs in the room, and placed it in front of Naegi’s desk before straddling it. He slumped over with a huff, very clearly feeling sorry for himself.
“I need your help, man,” Kuwata started. “There’s this girl I really like, but she says I’m fake! Can you believe that? Fake? Me?”
Mondo had to kiss his teeth to stop himself from making a snide comment. Kuwata was pretty well known for changing his personality every few weeks. At any given moment, this guy was whatever made the Girl of the Week like him.
“So, I wanna give her a gift! Something that shows her that I’m for real about her, y’know?” Kuwata finally straightened up as he finished. He gestured wildly in Naegi’s direction, in hopes of getting across how genuine he was about the subject.
For a moment, Naegi looked him over. He seemed to be determining whether or not Kuwata was being serious. After the short silence— which Kuwata spent giving Naegi his best puppy dog eyes— Naegi finally sighed, and offered his help.
“Well, you could always come to Dreamy Gardens,” he said. “That’s the flower shop I got a job at recently. You can even get a discount, since I know you!”
As Kuwata shouted his gratitude, Mondo perked up ever so slightly. He hadn’t known that Naegi worked at a flower shop. His mind immediately imagined the scene, Naegi surrounded by colorful flowers, beaming as he arranged a bouquet.
Damn. That was cute.
Well, considering that this conversation got interrupted, Mondo deserved a second chance. At least, that was what he was telling himself. He made sure to discreetly listen in as Naegi explained his hours to Kuwata, forming a plan in his head.
As the bell rang, and the three boys got up to leave the classroom, Mondo walked with a little more energy in his gait. He was already feeling impatient for the weekend to come.