Work Text:
How long does it take for someone to fall in love?
It’s a question most people have already asked before, some would say it takes only a day to realize you have attraction towards someone, and the others would say it takes time and patience to even fall in love with someone.
But for Shu, it only took him a few seconds; maybe a whole minute, to fall in love with someone.
It was a normal weekday, nothing special. Shoto was rambling about a new play he had the chance to participate in, “I was casted as the main character too! God, it was such a dream come true.” he said excitedly, he had a bunch of food stuffed in his mouth, making his sounds muffled, his smile was so wide and bright, and his purple eyes were basically sparkling like glitter.
If shu had to describe shoto with one word, he’d pick ethereal.
Shu’s lips curl into a genuine smile, “i’m glad you got it, you deserve the position of main character, after all.” he compliments, shoto chuckles softly at that, turning to face shu with the boastful and proud grin ever, “you’ll be there to watch me too, won’t you, shu?” shoto questions, looking at him with puppy eyes and a small pout, shu giggles at his best friend’s expression.
“Of course I would.” Shu says, in the most genuine tone ever, “I wouldn’t dare to miss it.” he adds, and he meant that more than anything.
Shu wonders why he thinks about that conversation so much, there wasn’t anything special or anything out of the ordinary that happened that day, it’s a interaction that can be easily forgotten, yet shu can’t help but ponder about what shoto said; “you’ll be there to watch me too, won’t you, shu?”. The way he said it made Shu's heart beat a little faster than usual, ‘shoto wanted me to be there for him.’ Shu thinks with a giddy smile on his face, recalling Shoto's excited tone.
That interaction pops up in Shu's head more likely than he wanted, he thinks about shoto’s smile, and how happy he was to talk about the play. He was so excited to ramble about it that he didn’t even bother to chew and swallow all his food first, he even had small bread crumbs on his face, the thought made Shu smile a little. He wondered how Shoto would react if Shu wiped the crumbs off his face with a napkin, or his thumb, even. He wished he did it before, imagining Shoto’s bewildered expression made him chuckle, maybe shoto would flush a little, too?
Oh well, maybe he could try it out next time.
Shu finds himself walking in the school’s courtyard, minding his business until he spots a familiar purple haired boy in his peripheral vision, he turns his head to the side, seeing Shoto sitting on a bench, seemingly focused and concentrated, an idea pops inside Shu's head, making him grin.
Shu carefully walks closer to Shoto, sneaking up on him, and then…
“Oh Shoto~” Shu coos, suddenly putting his hands on Shoto’s shoulders, which makes the other involuntarily scream.
“Fucking–! Shu! What the hell!?” Shoto shrieks, “You–! I almost dropped my textbook! Don’t scare me like that!” he huffs angrily, furrowing his eyebrows, Shu cackles at his expression, looking like an angry baby who didn’t get the toy it wanted.
“I wasn’t scaring you, I was simply calling your name.” Shu smiles, it wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t true.
“Nuh uh! You always try to– jumpscare me or something! Pulling pranks when I let my guard down.” he pouts, but even when Shoto claims to be angry, he moves aside to make space for Shu to sit on the bench.
“What can I say, your reactions are really amusing, Shou.” Shu says truthly, “It’s my way of showing my love, y’know?”
Shoto rolls his eyes playfully, “oh really? And it’s not just to see me suffer?” Shoto raises his eyebrow, putting on an expression that makes it look like Shoto’s judging Shu, “No, of course not! I love you, Shou, why would I like to see you suffer?” Shu smiles crookedly, Shoto feels his face and ears redden at that. “S-Shut up! You’re just proving my point! Always teasing me with words like… whatever!” Shoto sheepishly says, closing his eyes and nudging Shu to make him stop.
Shu felt his smile falter for a little, an unpleasant feeling stirring inside him; Sorrow or Disappointment, perhaps? He didn’t know, but he’ll just have to suck it all up for now. Putting on a happy facade and chuckling at Shoto.
“Hehe, I'm sorry, I told you It’s my love language.” Shu grins, Shoto huffs at Shu’s response, “but..” Shoto trails off for a bit, “I never see you tease the others like that, like.. Mysta or Vox, you always go along with their jokes instead of teasing them..” Shoto murmurs, Shu felt his eyes widen and his heart stop beating for a second, a sudden rush of panic washing over him, but it leaves as fast as it came.
“They’re usually the ones who tease me, plus, it’s not fun when I tease other people.” Shu excuses smoothly, Shoto opens his mouth to protest.
“But—”
“Yo! Shoto! Rehearsals are starting soon!” Reimu, Shoto’s clubmate, shouts, waving her hand to make Shoto notice her.
“...nevermind, i’ll see you soon, shu!” Shoto hurriedly says, before shouting ‘coming!’ at reimu as a response, sprinting towards her.
Shu watches shoto leave, he can feel his emotions trying to break free but he clutches them all and keeps them inside a little box, he can’t let his feelings for Shoto get the best of him, for now, he’ll just have to support and cheer for Shoto in the back.
Shu should be fine with that, it’s what best friends do, right?
…Probably.
“There’s nothing weird with that for me, maybe Shu just likes teasing you a lot! He’s your best friend after all.” Reimu chirps, their rehearsal just ended, and Shoto was sitting next to his clubmate, taking a break.
“No–! It’s just— he never does it to anyone except me, and it’s so weird! When his classmate, Vox, would tease him, he’d just chuckle! But whenever I'm not doing anything he’d pull a prank on me and then tease me endlessly and it’s just—” Shoto stops his rambling, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “...I don’t know, Reimu, everything is so confusing to think about..” Shoto mutters frustratedly, sighing.
Reimu pats her clubmate’s back comfortingly, “Like I said, Shu is your best friend, maybe he’s more comfortable with teasing you than teasing his other friends! Don’t stress yourself because of that, I’m sure Shu means no harm” Reimu explains with a reassuring smile on her pale face, Shoto nods, “sigh, I guess you're right, I’ll just–”
Shoto feels a hand on his shoulder unexpectedly.
“Wha–!?” Shoto yelps, turning around only to see the man himself, Shu Yamino. “Shu–! I swear to god–” Shoto grumpily whines, glancing at Reimu, looking at her as if he’s trying to say ‘that’s what i was talking about!’ without speaking out loud. Reimu snorts, “Nice to see you here, shu!” Reimu greets, Shoto whimpers, ‘you failed me, Reimu!!’ he thinks. Shu waves back.
“Likewise, miss Endou.” he greets back formally, Reimu giggles, “no need for the formalities, Shu, i’m your senior but you’re making me feel way older.” she jokes, shaking her hand to wave it off. “What brings you here?” she asks politely, “oh, nothing, actually.” Shu shrugs, “I heard from Luca that rehearsals for the play just ended, so I decided to stop by.” he answers honestly. “Oh! I wanted to check how our main character was doing, too.” he adds in, adding emphasis to the ‘main character’.
“..oh? I see..” Reimu coos, looking at Shoto mischievously, Shoto gulps. “He was actually just talking about— mmf!” Reimu gets cut off by Shoto muffling her voice, covering her mouth with his hand, his face reddening. “That’s enough for now—! I forgot I had classes to attend with shu soon haha– see you Reimu!” he says hurriedly, grabbing Shu's hand as they race towards the door, Shu doesn’t get to protest as he’s snatched quickly.
Reimu laughs at the scene, “sigh.. High School boys these days..” she mutters, shaking her head. “I wish the best for them both.”
“And then… boom! He literally surprises me by putting his hand on my shoulder! I was almost humiliated in front of my clubmate!” Shoto whines, rolling and screaming into his pillow as his older sister, Bao, watches him while thinking.
“So what you’re telling me.. these past few days Shu has been teasing you? But not like the way he did before?” Bao repeats, rubbing her chin with her finger as if she’s in deep thought. Shoto sighs, “It doesn’t make sense and it’s so bizarre but… ugh, I don't know how to explain it, man.” He sighs exaggeratedly, stuffing his face on his pillow.
“No, give me a minute…” Bao tells her brother, standing up on her feet as she hurriedly goes over to her room. Shoto looks at her dumbfounded.
“Aha! Bingo! I Found it!” Bao shouts across the room, coming back quickly with a thick book in her hand. Shoto blinks, confused.
“I’m trying to complain– not read a book.” Shoto deadpans, Bao shushes him, “no! Silly! Just give me a second to find the page..” she mutters, hurriedly swiping through the pages, squinting her eyes. “No.. not that one.. That’s page 121.. So it’s not that close.. Wait… there! Look!” Bao prods her brother to check, Shoto raises his head, looking at the page. “I’m talking about this part!” Bao points out. Shoto tilts his head. “What’s so special about it? It’s just the classic romance genre.” Shoto mutters, Bao huffs. “Look at what the girl says! Dummy!” Bao explains.
Shoto looks over to the page again, reading the texts in the bubble. ‘Why can’t I stop teasing her..?’ said by the boy, who is supposedly named Hinata, ‘it’s so weird…! Ugh!’
“So.. Hinata is having a crisis ‘cause he keeps on bullying the girl…” Shoto trails off, reading the next line, ‘how do i even tell her my feelings now…’
“...and he doesn’t know how to tell Kyoka that he likes her?” Shoto ends, Bao nods happily, “...okay? Cute but basic story, seen it a million times, I don’t know what that has to do with anything I just said.” Shoto mutters, Bao looks at her brother with a deadpan expression. “You dense idiot! I’m talking about their dynamic!” Bao exclaims, “it’s like.. The bully and the nerd trope! Y’know? The bully teases the nerd a lot because he can’t properly express his feelings.” Bao explains.
“I know.. But Shu doesn’t even bully me! So what does that have to do with…” Shoto trails off, internally thinking to himself and then suddenly, a light bulb just lit inside his head like he just somehow realized what Bao was implying. “Wait–! Wha– huh!?” Shoto squeaks, finally getting the message.
Bao sighs in relief, her dense brother finally got what she was trying to say. “So in conclusion, what i'm saying is Shu probably likes to joke around and tease you because—”
“Shhh! Don’t finish that! Please!” he pleads, covering his flustered face with his hands, Bao frowns, “Why!? It’s the only possible reason why! Plus it’s not like it’s unlikely for him to-”
“It is impossible!” Shoto argues, “there’s no possible way Shu could– li– love– feel that type of way about me!” he stutters, feeling even more humiliated. “I know shu, he isn’t that type of guy to think about romance! He’s always talking about– I don't know! Games! And penguins– and ‘eyyy!’ y’know?” Shoto exclaims, Bao looks at him weirdly, “but that doesn’t really stop him from liking–”
“Don’t say it!”
“Ugh, fine! It doesn’t stop him from feeling that type of way for you, you’re his best friend! Y’know the ‘friends to lovers’ is such a popular trope these days.” Bao counters.
“I’m no longer buying you any books, these tropes are wrecking your brain cells.”
Bao gasps, “noo! I’m serious though! You don’t know what he actually feels.”
“That's the problem, I can’t even pinpoint what’s in his mind or how he feels, it’s gonna drive me insane thinking about it!” Shoto grumbles, “ever since he started teasing me more often.. I get more.. Flustered? I don’t know really, my chest starts hurting a lot but not exactly in the way where I'm dying, the pain actually feels kind of.. Pleasant? Is that weird?” Shoto explains.
Bao thinks for a while, then her eyes light up, she giggles, making Shoto tilt his head. “Bao? Did you think of anything?” he asks curiously, eager to find an answer.
Bao grins, “I sure did… and i’m quite confident about my theory..” she giggles, “just spill it already.” Shoto prods.
“Shoto.. I have a feeling.. You have a crush on Shu Yamino.”
That day, Shoto let out the loudest and deafening screech anyone has ever heard of in mankind.
Friday hurriedly came by, and it was almost the weekend already, Shoto took the time off to relax and focus on the whole conversation he had with his older sister.
The conversation has been occupying his mind the whole day, thinking about his best friend, Shu , possibly liking- no, having romantic feelings for him. It juggles his mind and brings him spiraling into madness. It just didn’t seem possible!
Shoto shakes his head, walking mindlessly around the hallways until he accidentally bumps into someone–
“Ah–! Sorry, i didn’t mean to bump into you, i’ll be more careful next time–”
“Pfft, Shoto?”
Huh?
“...Mysta?” Shoto squeaks out, his fox-like friend starts laughing, “yo! My man!” Mysta grins, wrapping his arm around Shoto’s shoulder, “How have you been doing, dude? Haven’t seen you in a long while.” he says. Shoto giggles, “true, haven’t seen you in a while either, i’ve been doing good, practicing for my play and stuff, just normal things.” Shoto hums, Mysta nods, “yeah, I heard you got a big role or something? I’ll be watching your play so do your best!” Mysta smiles, giving his friend a big thumbs up.
Shoto nods proudly, “you bet i will, i’ve been practicing as much as i can!” he boasts. “Haha! I’m glad to hear that.” Mysta mutters, he suddenly looks over at Shoto’s side, as if he’s trying to find someone… “say.. You’re not with Shu right now?” Mysta asks curiously, Shoto gets startled at that mention. “Well.. yeah, I haven’t seen him today, actually.” Shoto explains, Mysta hums. “Oh, got it, it’s just.. Kinda weird seeing you two not together all the time.” Mysta chuckles.
Shoto raises his eyebrow, “how so?”
“You’re both like.. Puzzle pieces that connect each other perfectly, y’know? You two are always seen together so it’s kinda odd seeing one of you without the other.” Mysta clarified, Shoto blinked at that, ‘was he and Shu really that inseparable?’ he thinks, he never thought about it until now.
“Oh, speak of the devil!” Mysta points out, looking at something behind Shoto.
Shoto tilts his head, about to ask him what’s wrong until he feels someone's presence behind him, putting a hand on top of his shoulder.
Shoto immediately shrieks, stumbling backwards, luckily, the unknown person who scared him was able to catch him safely.
“What the– who the hell–!?”
Shoto looks up to see the unknown figure's face, only to find the man he was going insane thinking about, Shu Yamino . “...shu!! Ugh i swear to every holy being above I will—”
“Good morning to you too, shoto.” he grins, gently pushing Shoto to help him stand up, “I didn’t expect to see you near my classroom.” he says, looking at the empty classroom right beside them, oh right, this was shu’s first class, Shoto didn’t even realize he was walking near it.
“Whatever! stop switching the topic!! you seriously need to stop scaring me! i could have a heart attack or something—“
“I don’t know, it was pretty funny to me.” Mysta snorts, covering his mouth with his hand to prevent him from laughing any further.
Shoto sighs exasperatedly, these two will actually be the death of him, it seems .
“haha, as much as I’d love to stay and tease you with Shu, I'll have to go find my first class.” Mysta says, waving his hand goodbye as he starts walking away, “I’ll see you two lovebirds soon! See ya!”
Shoto nods, “bye Mysta!” he waves off, he expects to see Shu wave him goodbye too, but he only sees Shu turn away, with his ears… blushing?
Shoto tilts his head, why’s he embarrassed? Mysta didn’t say anything…
…’I’ll see you two lovebirds soon!’
In the end, the nearest teacher scolded Shoto for the scream he just let out.
Shoto dearly wished class would end already.
The conversation with Mysta this morning did not help him at all, now that it was mixed together with Bao’s conversation, he’s been thinking and analyzing all the old interactions he had with Shu.
…Was the teasing actually like what Bao said it was? or was he overthinking everything out? and why did Mysta call them both lovebirds ..? Shu and Shoto weren’t acting any different…
All these thoughts were plaguing his mind endlessly, it was distracting him from everything , he didn’t even realize the teacher was repeatedly calling him until she shouts, “ Mister Shoto! ” in an angry voice.
Shoto shakes from the voice, looking up to see Ms. Nina Kosaka looking at him with furrowed eyebrows, he gulps. “yes, miss..?”
Nina sighs, “I'm asking you what’s the answer to question no. 3, Sir Shoto.” she repeats with annoyance in her tone, tapping her heels on the tiles lightly.
Shoto peeks at the blackboard. Quickly finding the answer, he was fortunate enough to get an easy one. “It’s letter B, miss.” Shoto answers firmly, Nina nods her head.
“Very good, but I don’t want to see you being so out of it again, you got it?” Nina scolds, Shoto nods his head sheepishly, “yes, ma’am, it won’t happen again.” Shoto reassures, Nina goes in front of the class again to teach.Shoto straightens his back, trying to listen to the teacher as much as she can, teaching something about calculus or whatnot..
Isn’t Shu good at calculus–
Shoto feels himself thinking about him again, internally slapping himself, his face heating up as he groans quietly, ducking his head in shame. Seriously, what’s up with him today? It’s like his whole world suddenly turned into Shu when Bao slapped some sense into him, he swears he needs to find a solution on why he’s acting like this or else he’ll—
‘Shoto.. I have a feeling.. You have a crush on Shu Yamino.’
Oh .
…Oh. Fuck .
He forgot Bao told him that… Is that the reason? He confidently rejected Bao’s theory because he was so confident that he didn’t have such feelings for his best friend, but now… He’s not that sure, he wants to believe he doesn’t like – have feelings for Shu, but he can’t ignore that sickeningly painful pounding in his heart whenever he thinks about him.
It’s like the pieces are slowly connecting inside his brain, slowly but surely.
His thoughts get cut off as he hears the school bell ring, he hurriedly sprints out to leave the classroom, he needs some fresh air . He might suffocate from his thoughts if this continues on.
Shoto doesn’t notice Shu calling his name when he leaves, his indigo eyes faltering as a slight frown paints his face.
Oh well, better luck next time .
The next day, shu messages shoto.
‘Hey, you free today? Or tomorrow? :]’
Shoto hears his phone buzz when shu sent it, quickly grabbing his phone that was on his desk and typing out a reply.
‘Yea, I'm free right now! What’s up? ^_^’
He presses the send button, and not even a few minutes later, shoto gets a reply.
‘Just wondering if you wanted to hangout, I’m bored, we could play some games or something yk :>’
Shoto giggles at the emote, it was so cute.
Shu was so cute—
Shoto shakes his head, what the hell was he thinking about? He felt ashamed and humiliated, ‘get it together, Shoto!’ he mentally reminds himself, taking a deep breath before responding to the text message.
‘Kk! I’m omw! :D’
He sent it, placing his phone on his desk again and hurriedly switching his clothes. He hears his phone buzz again, thinking it was just shu replying to him with a thumbs up or something.
‘Okay, looking forward to it, love you’
When Shoto checked, the message was already deleted.
“Oh, you bought a lot of new stuff.” Shoto points out, taking his shoes off as he enters Shu's bedroom and sitting on his soft mattress, “oh, yea, I went shopping with Petra the other day, there was a lot of stuff that I was interested in, so I bought some of ‘em.” Shu explains.
Shoto looks around the bedroom, then spots a huge soft dog plushie on Shu’s bed, he gasps in awe. “Aww! Who’s this little guy?” he coos, taking the soft plushie in his hands, gently squeezing it, “So cute..” he mutters, making a pouting face.
Shu chuckles, “I don’t have a name for him yet… I only bought it ‘cause it reminded me of someone.”
‘It reminded me of you.’ is what he wanted to say.
“Mmm.. Shogo!” Shoto suggests, playing around with the plushie again and again, Shu snorts, “pfft, isn’t that just your name but with a ‘G?” Shu mentioned, Shoto giggles, “Yeah.. but it fits!” Shoto says, he takes the plushie and puts it in front of his face, making the plushie wave its hand, “Hi shubert! I’m Shogo!” Shoto imitates, having a high-pitched voice.
Shu cackles, “you look like a dork right now.” Shu teases, and Shoto’s face heats up, grumbling. “I’m just trying to imitate the dog! Jeez! You do it then!” Shoto huffs, giving the plushie to Shu, he gladly takes the offer and smiles.
“My name is Shogo, and I'm a cute husky! How about you?” Shu emulates, tilting the plushie’s head, Shoto snorts, playing along, “I’m Shoto, your owner’s best friend!” Shoto singsongs.
“Shoto? Oh how wonderful! Shogo has heard a lot of things about you!” Shu replies, his voice getting a little higher as if to express joy.
Shoto giggles, “Oh really? Has Shu been saying uncanny lies about me?” Shoto questions, Shu makes Shogo furiously shake its head. “Oh no! Shu only says nice things about you!”
Shoto feels his heart flutter, trying his best not to blush, “...like what?” Shoto hums, he knows Shu is just being a nice friend, it couldn’t be about anything Shoto’s thinking about. “Shu always talks about how amazing you are, and how you’re the best at doing everything..” Shogo starts, Shoto looks at the plushie confused.
“Wha–”
“...not to mention how handsome you are, Shu says you mean the world to him.” Shogo continues, if Shoto wasn’t blushing earlier, he was sure he was as red as a tomato right now.
“...Stop saying that stuff, Shu- Shogo! It’s embarrassing..” Shoto chuckles nervously, trying to hide his blushing face with his hands, this is so embarrassing, but he can't help his heart from beating so fast.
“Aww.. Shoto doesn’t believe me… Shu really did say those things!” Shu fakes a sob, the sob sounded a little too real, though.
“...fine, Shogo, I want you to tell Shu, that if he really said those things, he has to say it directly to me.” Shoto says, trying to keep a straight face, Shoto sees Shu flinch a little.
“B-but–! Shogo’s already telling y-”
“It’s not enough, I want to hear it from him!” Shoto cuts him off, there was a moment of silence, until Shu starts lowering the plushie that was in front of his face… revealing…
…him blushing?
Shoto blinked once, then twice, Shu’s ears were red, and his face was painted dusty pink…
He was embarrassed.
Shoto feels himself blushing even more now, Shu’s expression felt so unreal to Shoto, he was usually the one being humiliated and getting flustered, but seeing Shu looking sheepish and shy… it was a foreign feeling.
…Shoto wasn’t complaining.
“...well? I heard from Shogo you said a lot of stuff about me.” Shoto starts, attempting to break the silence, Shu purses his lips.
“..I did.” he began, “okay.. And care to tell me what you said– ghha!”
Shoto feels himself getting pushed into lying on the mattress, his eyes widen, seeing Shu’s face inches apart from him, he can practically feel his breath.
“I said… you mean a lot to me, Shoto” Shu says breathily, “You’re so special to me, you’re so good at everything and seeing you being so happy when you were rehearsing made my heart flutter so much and I—” Shu breathes in, “I couldn’t hold it any longer… my feelings… I wanted to keep them away because I thought I was already content with watching you from afar, but…” Shu trails off.
“...frick, I’m sorry I went too overboard.” Shu frantically says, sitting up after he realized he just pinned Shoto down, “just— ignore everything I said Shou I’m– mmf!”
Shoto cuts Shu off with a kiss.
It was a pure, innocent, and fleeting kiss. It ended as quickly as it started, and it left the two speechless, but wanting more .
“...you talk too much, sometimes.” Shoto snorts. Shu feels himself blushing even more. “I never said anything about… not liking everything you said, in fact I-” Shoto sighs, “I– I feel the same way, Shu, fuck–”
Shoto laughs, his laugh was so pretty it made Shu’s chest ache, “...we’re both idiots, Shu.” Shoto smiles genuinely.
“...so, you feel the same..? Y-You like me?” Shu asks, if he was dreaming right now he wished he didn’t wake up .
“No.” Shoto begins, “I feel more than that, Shu, I–” Shoto takes a deep breath.
“ I love you , more than anything.” he ends, and Shu can’t help but kiss him again.
It was longer this time, and sweeter, it lasted for a while before Shu pulled out, a string of saliva connecting them, they both pant. “...What about you? Do you feel the same.. Shu?” Shoto questions, although they both know the answer to that.
“No.” Shu begins, “Words can no longer express how much I love you, Shou, my love for you is wider than the universe.” He smiles softly.
Shoto feels like kissing him again, but that’s alright, Shu would oblige to anything Shoto wants.
Let’s recall the first question.
How long does it take for someone to fall in love?
for Shu and Shoto, It only takes a few minutes, not longer than 5, to realize your blooming feelings for someone
…and a few teases, maybe.