Chapter Text
"If you want her to focus on the judo, try taking a different approach," he said, looking over his brother's shoulder at the drawing.
"Yeah! Usually, the main character and the love interest wouldn't be fighting each other..." Rei thought aloud, thinking of a solution. She had been trying to think of stories to go along with Mayu's judo hold illustrations, but she hadn't yet been able to include any actual judo in them. "I know! Try making them rivals!" She clasped her hands in front of herself excitedly. Mayu nodded and got to work editing his illustration. Once he finished, he flipped the paper around to show the others.
"That looks just like your original drawings! If we can't see the second person's face it's not as fun!"
"I'd need a reference," Mayu responded simply.
"You could use manga again," she said, offering him the book.
"No, I don't want you defiling my characters any more." The older Nozaki spoke in a monotone voice, but his feelings were clear. The first time Mayu had used a *Let's Fall in Love!* character as a reference, it had ended in Suzuki doing judo with a girl that wasn't Mamiko. To the mangaka, this was practically a sin.
"Okay, then how about you use real people as references?"
"Like who?"
Rei thought for a moment, then pointed at Mikoshiba. "You and him! I wanna see who would come out on top as a manga hero."
"What?" Mikoshiba asked, a bit startled since he had had no part in most of the conversation up until that point.
"That is the first thing she asked for my opinion on when I arrived," Umetarou pointed out, thinking back to earlier that afternoon.
"Wouldn't it be hard for Mayu to draw himself, though? You should just stick to a manga reference!"
"It's fine. I've already started."
"You have?"
Mayu nodded.
"Well, I guess it should be fine... Just don't make it too weird!"
When the drawing was done, Rei went over to look. She stared at it for awhile, like she was trying to make a decision about something.
"Well? What's your verdict? Who'd make a better hero, me or Mayu?"
"Hmmm, actually..." she hummed, thinking over her options one more time, "I don't think you would be rivals at all now that I can picture it better."
"What? Why?" he asked, confused. "What else would we be?"
"Well... based on this picture, I'd say you look more like love interests."
His face became a color that wasn't all that different from his hair. "Wh-what?!"
"Let me see." Umetarou walked over and picked up the artwork. "Yeah, from an storytelling standpoint that would be the logical thing to decide. If you imagine Mikorin as Mamiko and Mayu as Suzuki it starts to be more obvious."
"Wait, don't tell me you all agree?!"
"Maybe he should have used the manga as reference. As long as it's Suzuki with one of his rivals it should be fine, right?"
Umetarou shook his head. "No, keep it the way it is. I might use it for a reference in a future chapter." He turned to Rei and asked, "How would you feel about Suzuki learning judo?"
"Oh, and then Mamiko could ask him to teach her some holds! That's brilliant!"
The pair continued to brainstorm ideas for *Let's Fall in Love!* while Mikoshiba backed out of the conversation, still incredibly flustered. He crouched by the nearby stone fence, hiding his face behind his knees. Umetarou payed him no attention, still engrossed in the conversation. He was used to this sort of behavior from Mikorin, after all.
Mayu also walked over to the short stone wall, sitting on top of it. He had most likely gotten tired of standing. He also had likely gotten bored of his brother's manga-oriented conversation. Without saying a word, he patted the other boy's head in a stiff yet gentle manner, showing he cared while still staying true to his lazy personality.
It did not make Mikorin any less flustered.
Once the group had split up for the day, Mokoshiba had gone home and immediately flopped onto his bed. It had been quite a day and his social battery had been completely drained. He unlocked his phone, deciding to recharge by having a conversation with one of his favorite people, someone he felt he could open up to, someone completely unconnected to his circle of friends who he could rant to about anything: Mayu-Mayu.
Mamiko:
- Hey! How are you? -
Mayu-Mayu:
- doing good -
- wbu? -
Mamiko:
- I'm doing okay, just a little confused rn tbh -
Mayu-Mayu:
- may I ask why? -
Mamiko:
- Some friends of mine said some things and now I can't stop thinking about something -
Mayu-Mayu:
- were they being mean? -
Mamiko:
- No, nothing like that -
- Just something about a guy -
Mayu-Mayu:
- that's good -
- what about it is worrying you? -
Mamiko:
- I don't know, they just said we look like a couple -
- I thought that I saw him as a close friend, but now I'm not so sure -
- What if I like him? -
Mayu-Mayu:
- I understand -
- I've been feeling the same way towards someone I know -
- it took me awhile to figure out -
- but it was worth it -
- work on figuring out how you feel and go from there -
Mamiko:
- Thank you -
- I'll think about everything and try and come to a conclusion on how I feel -
Mayu-Mayu:
- good luck -
Mamiko:
- Good luck to you as well, I hope things go well with that friend of yours -
- Goodnight -
Mayu-Mayu
- gn -
He smiled to himself as he put his phone on his nightstand, plugging in the charger. He could always rely in Mayu-Mayu to be there for him. Besides, he could tell with every message that she was making progress with her texting skills, going from one word messages to paragraphs full of advice. Other than Mayu, she was the only person he'd ever started to develop feelings for.
Wait, what did he just think? Liking Mayu-Mayu was one thing; she was a girl and he was able to talk to her without worrying about saying something stupid and embarrassing himself. The only reason he wouldn't ask her out is because they'd never meet face-to-face, and she thought that he was a girl.
But liking Mayu? Sure, Mikoshiba considered him to be handsome and he admired how strong he was, but that's something all guys notice about their friends, right? That didn't mean he liked him. Or does it?
He thought about all his other friends, like Hori or Nozaki or Wakamatsu.
He didn't really pay attention to their physical appearance, and if he tried to draw them from memory he'd probably fail and forget major details. So why did Mayu's face seem to haunt his thoughts? When he closed his eyes, why could he see the way his hair would fall over his soft, dark eyes, the way his expression would ever so slightly change with every emotion while still being so... Mayu.
When Waka would talk about basketball, he didn't hang on his every word, he wasn't all that interested in sports anyways. So why was he always so content with hearing Mayu talk about judo? Was it because it was one of the only times he was so enthusiastic? Was it because he just liked hearing him talk? Was it because he secretly hoped that Mayu might one day talk about him like that?
No, he wasn't going to think like that. He didn't like men, and Mayu was his best friend. He liked Mayu-Mayu. He had liked her since the day they started talking, maybe even since the day he'd found her blog. The way she'd drawn the different holds was just so perfect, he'd been instantly drawn to her talent. Maybe that was why he liked listening to Mayu's judo rants, so that he could understand Mayu-Mayu's drawings better.
As if it were a sign from the universe, his phone buzzed. He saw the screen light up with a notification, and he instantly recognized that it was a notification from Mayu-Mayu's blog. It was definitely a sign.
He eagerly tapped at the screen, watching the website load in, but froze as soon as he saw the picture.
It was a brand new update, but it wasn’t brand new to him. He'd seen the drawing before.
He was there when the artist had drawn it.
His eyes immediately snapped down to the caption.
Mayu-Mayu:
- Some of my friends wanted me to try drawing guys today, sorry for the slight change of pace! -
He looked back up to the picture. Back to the caption. Up to the username above the post. Back to the picture. Realization set in.
The knowledge dawned on him like a sunrise (even though it was evening) and he felt disoriented as if his brain had been staring into the sun for too long, and had then decided to spin in circles until it was too dizzy to think properly.
His thought process felt like an electrical circuit with only a battery and a wire, where the electricity has nowhere to go and the whole system heats up. He thought everything over and over and over again, but he still felt incredibly confused.
What was he going to do? Should he tell him? Should he risk ruining one of his closest friendships over a silly crush? He was sure that it was a crush now, because his feelings for Mayu and Mayu-Mayu had merged to create a strong adoration to someone he now saw as a perfect human being.
He was confused, he was tired, and he went to bed with the newfound knowledge that he was apparently bisexual and in love with his best friend.
"Mikoshiba, are you okay? You seem more spaced out than usual."
He looked over to see Chiyo, a worried expression on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking."
"You should probably get to class soon, shouldn’t you?"
"No, I have a free period right now." One of these days she should work on learning more of her friends schedules and not just Nozaki's.
"Oh, okay. I don't, so I should probably get going. I'll see you later, though!"
"Bye, see you later." He sighed as the girl walked down the hall.
He decided that he didn’t want to be stuck inside with his own thoughts for an hour, so he went outside for some fresh air and a walk to stretch his legs a bit. Plenty of other students were out enjoying their free time, but one girl in particular stood out to him.
"Y'know, you really shouldn't keep sneaking onto campus to see your sister."
"I'll be fine." She looked at him with hopeful eyes and asked, "Could you help me find her by any chance?"
"No can do. She's in class right now, or at least she should be."
She sat down on the closest bench. "Alright, I'll just wait here with you until school is out. This is the last period of the day, correct?" Mikoshiba nodded in response. He sat down with her, clearly having no other options at the moment. He was glad she had at least gotten used to having male friends by now.
"While I have the chance, I want to apologize for yesterday."
He stared at her blankly, trying to remember if she had done anything wrong. "Why?"
"I feel like I may have overstepped your boundaries a bit, and I didn't intend to make you uncomfortable."
"Well, thank you for the apology, and I forgive you, but you didn't exactly make me uncomfortable. I was just embarrassed." He paused, not sure if he wanted to ask the question he had had on his mind since yesterday afternoon, but ultimately decided to take the chance. "Did you really mean it when you said we looked like love interests?" He fiddled with the hem of his shirt, staring down at his lap.
"Promise not to get mad if I answer honestly?"
"Promise."
"Yes, I did mean it. Your aesthetics and personalities contrast well, like the 'opposites attract' trope, but they also fit together nicely. Your extroverted personality matches his quiet one, but whenever you're flustered he'd be able to take control of the situation since he's always so calm." She looked at the redhead, pausing for only half a second before continuing her explanation. "Not only that, but, forgive me in advance for saying this, you sometimes act like a typical shoujo manga heroine. You get embarrassed easily and you have a lot of strong feelings. On the other hand, Yumeno-sensei's younger brother is more like the main love interest. He's calm and collected, but he seems like he'd get very protective of the heroine, which in this case would be you." She thought a bit more, catching her breath a little. "If this were a manga, there'd probably be an arc where there's some sort of misunderstanding about whether or not you actually like each other, but then there'd be a confession scene where all your emotions just start pouring out and he comforts you and says he likes you as well."
"Oh, wow, that was... a lot more in depth than what I was expecting."
"I figured it would help."
"Help? With what?"
"That's why you asked me isn't it? You realized that you like him, didn't you?"
"How did you-"
"It was pretty obvious. There's just one thing I'm confused about."
"What is it?"
"You said you were dating a girl you met at the entrance ceremony, right?"
"What? What do you... oh, I remember saying that. It was about a game, where there are different routes where you date a bunch of different girls or guys."
"Oh! I've always been interested in playing one of those."
"If you want, I can recommend some."
Just then, they were interrupted by Mikoshiba's phone, which had been gone off a few times during Rei's rant and had now gone off again. He also knew that he had some unread messages from the start of the school day. He picked the phone up as carefully as possible, but then proceeded to almost drop it when he saw who the messages were from. It was Mayu.
Mayu-Mayu:
- hi -
- did you have a test today? you usually have a chance to respond -
- I know you have a free period right now -
- why aren't you responding? -
- are you okay? -
- did I do something wrong? -
"Oh my gosh, I'm an idiot!"
"Let me see." Rei took the phone from his hands, reading the messages.
"I always text him during school, so now he thinks something is wrong. I'm so stupid!"
Rei scrolled up through the messages. "If you text this person so frequently, how did you manage to forget to respond?"
"There's a lot on my mind today, I guess?" He pressed his hands to his face, cursing himself for being so dumb and forgetful, then jolted upright when he remembered that Rei still had his phone. "Hey, don't look through my messages like that!"
She ignored his protest and continued to look through their conversation from the night before. "Who is this? You seem pretty close."
Mikoshiba sighed and decided that he pretty much had to explain at this point.
"There's this blogger I've been following, and we started talking awhile back."
"So I'm guessing you went to them for advice about your crush?"
"Yeah, that's part of why I'm so out of it today."
"Why? They gave some pretty good advice."
"I found out their real identity last night."
"And that's a bad thing because..?"
He reluctantly pulled up the blog post.
"Still not seeing how this is a bad thing. All you have to do is come clean."
"About..?"
"About how you're in love with him, of course! Now respond to those messages right now, young man."
"Hey, I'm older than you are!"