Chapter Text
“You told them what?” Takemichi asked, exasperated. It wasn’t even his problem really, so in hindsight he wasn’t sure why he was feeling that way. Maybe a part of him internally knew he’d somehow get dragged into it. He'd only been in the apartment for about two minutes before Mikey dropped this on him.
“I told them I have a boyfriend,” His roommate Mikey reiterated as he stood in the kitchen typing on his phone.
“But you don’t-“ Takemichi blurted- only realizing right after he’d spoken how rude that would be if he were talking to anyone else.
“Thanks for reminding me,” Mikey shot back sarcastically, putting his phone in his pocket “I almost forgot.”
“So what are you going to do?” Takemichi desperately tried to change the topic.
“Ask someone to fake date me, what else can I do?” Date me - a small voice inside of Takemichi’s head supplied, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“I can help-“ Takemichi blurted. When Mikey looked over, Takemichi wasn’t sure whether he should have said anything to begin with.
“You can?” Mikey questioned excitedly. It was possible the excitement was just relief, but Takemichi wanted to tell himself it was excitement.
“Yes…” Takemichi already was worried about what he’d gotten himself into. Mikey was… very hard to explain, hard to grasp. If any person was an enigma- it was Manjiro Sano. He was a bit hard to handle sometimes… let alone his family .
They had about seven days to learn as much as they could about each other. Takemichi’s eyebrows furrowed when Mikey handed him flashcards. He was… prepared? Takemichi thumbed through them for a minute or two before he blurted, “I already know all this-”
Mikey blinked a few times, confusion showing on his face, “You do?”
Was he not supposed to ? Takemichi put the cards down, “Well, yeah. We’ve lived together for years.” Takemichi held up one of the cards, “Coffee order? You don’t like coffee.” He put it down on the table, “I would know, I’ve tried to get you to drink it every time I make a different blend at work.” Takemichi held up another one, his face scrunching up, “Favorite food? If I didn’t know this-” Takemichi paused, reworded himself, “It would be kind of pathetic if I didn’t know what our cabinets are overflowing of-”
“Dorayaki is a lifestyle okay?”
“Of course Manjiro-”
Mikey didn’t respond for a moment, his face turning red. Should Takemichi not have called him that ?
“You can,” Mikey mumbled, “I know what you’re thinking but you’re fine. You need to call me that around my family anyway.”
Takemichi was a bit more confused with Mikey’s complexion than his name, “You’re bright red.. Are you okay?”
Mikey turned further away, “I’m fine! It’s just the lighting-”
“The lighting made your face look red?” Takemichi questioned. He was horribly used to bickering with Mikey. He was always really composed around others but when they were alone? He was a completely different person, someone calm, caring and vulnerable? Takemichi couldn’t help but be a bit possessive with his care for Mikey. He was happy- exponentially happy- that Mikey was only himself when they were alone. The thing is eventually Mikey would find a girl and settle down- Wait.
“How can you bring me home to your family- I’m a guy-” Takemichi blurted.
Mikey gave him an almost disgusted look, “Did you really think-” Mikey put a hand on his forehead, hitting it probably a bit too forcefully. Takemichi wasn’t sure whether he’d been joking before when he asked Takemichi or what he’d said to make Mikey react like that- “I really look straight to you?” He almost looked offended when the word straight was spit out.
“I mean-” Takemichi paused. The person in front of him didn’t look straight, but a part of him just assumed Mikey was straight. He was hot, people swarmed around him. In hindsight it made more sense, since… He’d never brought a girl home. To be fair Takemichi hadn’t either…
“Now that you’ve discovered this horribly secret information-” Mikey sighed. He almost seemed to be hesitating as he asked, “Are we still fake dating?”
“Yes,” Takemichi said too quickly. If Baji were there he’d be laughing at how eager he sounded.
“Okay,” Mikey picked up the cards from the table and put them in the trash, “The family trip is in a week or so-”
A week? Takemichi would have to get someone to cover his shifts at the cafe and get a suitcase… There was so much to do!
“That’s okay, right?” Mikey asked. Takemichi hesitated before nodding.
The next morning at the cafe, Baji was laughing at him. “You should’ve just told him-” He almost choked on his spit as he laughed. Maybe Takemichi shouldn’t have mentioned it to him… Maybe he should’ve asked Chifuyu to take his shifts to avoid this. Takemichi gave him a look, “Just… Go in the back until you stop choking, it’s unhygienic…”
Baji waved him off, “I’m fine.” Takemichi wasn’t completely sure he was, but he didn’t feel like arguing.
Mikey walked into the cafe as they were speaking, “Hey.”
When he turned and saw Mikey with his glasses on and hair pulled back, Takemichi felt all the air leave his lungs. “You normally don’t wear your glasses out-”
“I didn’t have time to put contacts in,” Mikey shrugged, “Can I get my usual?”
“Chai tea with extra caramel?” Takemichi questioned. When Mikey nodded he turned around to make the coffee. It was pretty easy to make, just mix the chai syrup with milk and add a couple shots of caramel. Mikey liked sweet drinks. Takemichi had tried to make him sweeter coffee- put buckets of caramel in it, or chocolate, but Mikey still couldn’t stomach it. He’d always say, ‘ It tastes so bitter, I don’t know how you drink this stuff .’
“My keys!” Takemichi had made this a habit, “Chai latte for my keys ?”
Mikey walked up and snatched the coffee out of his hands as he laughed, “I’m gonna shove my keys up your ass.”
“I just was calling you over to get your coffee,” Takemichi tried to say but he was laughing too hard for it to be audible. His roommate’s glasses were falling off of his face, and he was pulling at the sleeves of his hoodie- Mikey normally tried to look very put together when he went out, but Takemichi loved seeing him like this. Maybe not the circles under his eyes but… Takemichi thought every bit of him was beautiful. Takemichi wasn’t sure why Mikey didn’t have a boyfriend.
Mikey sighed, a soft smile playing at his lips as he responded, “I’ll see you later tonight Takemitchy.”
It made Takemichi’s heart flip a little bit. Takemichi couldn’t focus as he watched Mikey put a straw in his drink and walk away. The whole situation made him want to scream.
“You’re so down bad,” Baji said over Takemichi’s shoulder as he watched Mikey leave. “I can’t believe neither of you have said anything-”
“I thought you were making coffee,” Takemichi muttered, trying to cover his face as he felt it heat up.
When work was over, Takemichi and Baji closed the shop together. Baji started to collect the chairs to stack in the corner of the cafe and Takemichi was mopping the floor, “So you’re faking being his boyfriend this weekend?”
“Yeah,” Takemichi sighed. He picked up the mop and dipped it in a thing of water. “That’s why I was hoping you’d cover my shift-” Takemichi explained, trying to mop around where Baji was.
“Chifuyu is working so I don’t really mind.” Baji explained. He continued to stack the flimsy cafe chairs on top of one another. When he turned around to grab one, he looked over at Takemichi, “I think you two should just… you know -”
“No, I don’t know,” Takemichi responded. He was almost one hundred percent positive he wouldn’t like Baji’s suggestion.
“Just actually date?” Baji suggested. It was a crazy idea. Mikey would never date someone like him- like really date, fake dating was obviously different and he was doing it out of necessity.
“That’s insane.” Takemichi sighed, “Why would you even suggest that?”
“I don’t know,” Baji rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe I did that- it’s such a crazy concept.”
“Your sarcasm isn’t helping me,” Takemichi reminded his co-worker.
Baji fixed his ponytail, “ You aren’t helping you. I have nothing to do with it.”
When Takemichi got home an hour or so later, Mikey was typing on his computer, “Hey.”
“Hey-” Takemichi started.
Mikey responded without looking away from his screen, “I made you food.”
“You did?” Takemichi questioned. Mikey normally ordered food out or ate what Takemichi made. He wasn’t the best at cooking- Takemichi wasn’t either but his food normally turned out edible. In regards to Mikey’s cooking… That was usually a toss up.
“Yes, I made you food even though you were picking on me this morning,” Mikey told him. There was a faux irritation in his voice. Mikey had assured him he liked Takemichi’s teasing, even if he pretended not to.
“You know I do it because I care about you-” Takemichi reminded him as he walked into the kitchen. There was a nice plate of curry on the table, “This looks great-”
“I apologize in advance, it's probably a bit too sweet for your taste.” It was a bit heartwarming that Mikey knew his likes and dislikes. Takemichi hadn’t thought much of it before, but now that they were fake dating… It stuck out like a sore thumb.
“I like sweet when it comes to you-” Takemichi blurted. He could feel his face heating up over the blunder and turned to go to his room, “I need to change-”
Mikey stuttered a little as he responded, “Yeah- Yeah okay.”