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Kou had never been in Mitsuba’s room before.
Normally when Kou visited the Mitsuba household, they would sit in the living room watching TV. Or in the kitchen where Kou made desserts. Or on the patio as they watched the stars. But never his room. This was a fairly normal thing for friends to do, so why did stepping into Mitsuba’s room make his heart beat faster?
“Are you going to stand there forever, idiot?” Mitsuba commented from his side of the room. He laid on the perfectly neat sheets of his bed. Pictures that Mistuba must have taken lined nearly every wall. All of which were breathtaking. The room was surprisingly tidy compared to Kou’s own room. Where clothes, homework, and various exorcist supplies were spread around Kou’s place back at home.
Kou shook his head vigorously, clearing his mind. He should probably respond to fill the silence.
“What, shaking out the last of your brain cells or something?” Mitsuba snickered, effectively cutting Kou off.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Kou sighed. Of course that would be a joke that only Mitsuba would find funny. Kou stepped his way across the room, tossing his backpack towards the bed where the other sat. As he sat down, the silence continued.
Not so long after, they both spoke at the same time, cutting each other off.
“So, what are we--”
“What should we d--”
Mitsuba scoffed. “Hey! Don’t cut me off like that!”
“Hey, you cut me off too! Cut me some slack!” Kou argued back with no real bite behind his voice. He never really got mad at Mitsuba. He didn’t think he ever could.
“Ugh… whatever you say, dumbass,” Mitsuba groaned. He scooted over to the wall on the other side of the bed and pulled a leg up to his chest. “Well, since my mom’s out of the house shopping for groceries, we could probably do whatever we want.”
Kou hummed in thought. Nothing really came to mind. It’s not like anything they normally did would need the lack of supervision.
“How about we play some fighter games or something?” Kou spoke up. He leaned over to grab his new Switch from his bag. He scooted closer to Mitsuba against the wall as he turned the console on.
Mitsuba grimaced. “Gross. I don’t play little dumb, little kid shit like that.”
“Wait, what? Have you never played a single video game before?” Mitsuba shrugged and shook his head. Kou fully gawked at that. “That’s sure as hell gonna change today!”
Before Mitsuba knew it, a controller was shoved into his hands as Kou set up some off-brand fighting game. Nonchalantly, Mistuba tossed the controller back to Kou, which smacked him in the face.
“Hey! What was that for!?” Kou nearly shouted as his face ached.
“Like I said, I don’t want to play your dumbass game,” Mistuba said as he crossed his arms defiantly.
“Oh yeah? Then what else do you suggest, smartass?”
“Ehhhhh…”
“See! Even you don’t know!” Kou thought to himself, crossing his arms as well. Suddenly, something in his head lit up. Kou then picked the controller back up and offered it to Mistuba. “How about this…” Kou started, gaining the hesitant attention of the other. “Whoever wins gets a wish.”
“A wish…?”
“Yep! The winner gets to make a single wish. While the loser has to follow it completely. Therefore granting the wish… as long as it’s realistic, of course.”
Mitsuba scoffed to himself. Before Kou could think he lost the other’s interest, Mitsuba spoke again. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. I’ll play your dumb game,” Mitsuba snatched the controller confidently. He smiled in such a way that Kou’s heart began to flutter mysteriously. “Just don’t start crying when I wipe the floor with your sorry ass, idiot. I’ll be getting that wish.”
“Wanna bet?” Kou said, matching the cockiness with a smirk.
In the first round, Kou beat him mercilessly. Using every strategic combo he knew to completely wipe the floor with him. Using a melee character on a ranged character was easy when the other player had never picked up a game in his life.
Second round, on the other hand, was a little more difficult. Both in skill and also with the way Mitsuba continued to lean into his side as he focused on the game. Almost completely distracting Kou. Mitsuba seemed to have been getting the hang of his character. Just enough to beat Kou until they both had a sliver of health. Ultimately leading to Mitsuba’s victory. Kou swore it was a glitch in his controller that made him miss that final hit, but they both knew that wasn’t true.
It wasn’t until the end of the third round that Kou’s jaw dropped. He gawked at the screen. Player 2 had won the final round by a long shot. Mitsuba cheered loudly, nearly flinging his controller across the room in celebration.
“HA! YES! In your face, idiot! Look who’s the winner now!”
Kou stared blankly at the screen as Mitsuba continued to revel in his victory. With a defeated sigh, Kou exited out of the game and shut the console off. Kou closed his eyes and took a deep breath…
“How!?” Kou nearly shouted. “How did you get so good!? I thought you said you've never played a single video game before, let alone this one! I swore I was gonna win!”
Mitsuba shrugged, “I don’t know. I kind of just hit random buttons until you lost.”
Kou stared at Mitsuba with his mouth quietly hung open. He couldn't believe this. There was no way.
“So you’re telling me…” he breathed out. “That you… button mashed? And… somehow completely won?”
“I guess so,” Mitsuba brought a hand to his mouth to partially hide his snickering. “Are you all sad and grumpy now?”
“I demand a rematch.” Kou seethed.
“Nope! We made a bet, remember?” Mitsuba said as he hugged his legs. A cheeky smile on his face as he laid his cheek on the top of his knee.
Kou would never admit it out loud, but Mitsuba looked very nice like that. Some would maybe even say it was a bit… cute. But like usual, when Kou had those kinds of thoughts, he pushed them way down. They were just friends, after all. No need to mess with that. But sometimes it was a bit tempting to explore. Just sometimes.
Mitsuba waved a hand in front of his face. “Uhhh, earth to Kou? You look dumber than usual. Snap out of it already.”
While the waving didn’t quite snap Kou out of his more-than-friendly thoughts, the use of his name sure did.
“Did… did you just use my name? And not with some insult this time?”
Mistuba turned his face towards the furthest wall to hide his face. But if it hadn’t been for the light streaming through the windows, Kou would have almost missed the slight flush of Mitsuba’s cheeks.
“Yeah, whatever. Don’t get used to it.” Mitsuba mumbled. Kou resigned himself with a sigh, leaning back against the wall. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that wish, though.”
Kou grumbled to himself, rubbing a hand down his own face. “Fiiiine… what do you want?”
“Uh… hm. Hadn’t thought about it.”
“Well, come up with something quick, alright? I wanna get this over with.”
“Hmm,” Mitsuba put a finger to his chin in thought. Once again did Kou have to bury the thoughts of how cute that action was. “How about you clean the whole house!”
“Wh- No way! That’s super unreasonable!”
“You said that the loser would grant any wish!”
“Yeah! As long as it was realistic!”
Mitsuba rolled his eyes, before looking back with a smile. A finger pointed towards Kou’s face. “What did you expect? Did you want me to wish that you’d kiss my adorable self?” He mocked.
“Yes.”
Mitsuba blinked. “Did… wha… huh? Excuse me?”
“What?”
”What.”
Along with Mitsuba, even Kou was shocked at his reply. As the seconds of agonizing silence passed, their faces grew warmer. Not being able to look at anyone else but each other.
Kou gulped. “I, uh, I just thought it sounded, uh… realistic,” he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck out of anxiety. “Maybe even… nice?”
After a moment, Mitsuba bursted into a loud and nervous fit of laughter. One that if anyone else had heard would think that he was going insane.
“I was just joking, dumbass!” Mitsuba practically screamed out through his fit of laughter.
While it struck pain into Kou’s heart, he could tell something was off by the flush that remained on the other’s face. Was he lying? Did Mitsuba actually mean it when he said he wished they could kiss? If so, Kou couldn’t let this opportunity go. He briefly thought that this might ruin their friendship. But he knew that they were strong enough to pull themselves back to each other if all went wrong. Romantic or not, their relationship was sacred. So Kou took a chance.
“I think you’re lying.”
Mitsuba’s laughs got caught in his throat as soon as Kou spoke. “A-about what?”
Another lie.
“That you wish we could kiss. I don’t think that was a lie. It had to have at least been on your mind,” Kou doubled down. His eyes sharpened with determination. He was going to get to the bottom of this no matter what. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have said anything at all.”
Mistuba’s face grew impossibly pink, nearly as much as his hair. “I… I, uh…” he stammered.
Kou thought it was so, so cute. So cute in the way that Mistuba let his facade down, if only for a moment. He started doing that more and more around Kou only. But he was brought out of his thoughts when Mitsuba spoke again.
“Y-you know what? Fine,” Mitsuba grumbled, looking up as his face was as flushed as ever. “Grant my wish.”
Before Kou could process anything, Mitsuba snatched him by his shirt and smashed their lips together. The softness of Kou’s mouth against the rather uncomfortable puckered lips of Mitsuba. While neither of them had any experience in kissing, it was rather obvious Mitsuba had no idea what he was doing. But still, it shot fireworks of warmth through Kou. After only a few seconds, Mitsuba parted their faces and looked up at Kou. Surprisingly confident.
“See! Now that’s how you kiss someone. I would know since I’ve kissed, like, so many people,” there he was, lying through his teeth again.
Kou let out a breathy laugh. He opened his eyes to look into Mitsuba’s lovingly. “That was kinda terrible, Mitsuba.”
Mitsuba’s look of being beyond offended was soon replaced with flusteredness as Kou slid his hand behind the other’s neck. Mitsuba let out a shaky breath as Kou rested their foreheads together. Before Mistuba could say anything, Kou spoke…
“Mitsuba,”
Both of their hearts raced.
“...can I kiss you?”
Mitsuba slowly nodded with permission.
Kou then looked at him with his determined blue eyes. Staring expectantly into Mitsuba’s bright pink ones. He moved his other hand to Mitsuba’s cheek and traced his bottom lip with his thumb.
“I’m gonna need you to say it out loud, ‘kay?”
“Y-yes… you idiot,” he whispered. “Just kiss me already.”
Kou laughed with a sigh, “close enough I guess.” Kou leaned in closer, breath ghosting the other’s lips. “Just relax. It’ll be okay.”
They both closed their eyes as they leaned in for a nice, soft kiss. Warmth spread through their stomachs yet again as they pressed into each other. For a moment Kou pulled back slightly, only for Mitsuba to chase after and seal their lips again. Kou hummed as he pressed the other against the wall. At the same time Mitsuba snaked his arms around Kou’s middle, bringing their beating chests closer together.
Kou had wanted this for so, so long. Longer than he could have ever recognized. Even through the insults and friendly bullying, he had always wanted Mitsuba to be his. To go on dates, to hold hands rather than wrists, to cuddle, to touch, and to kiss. His and only his.
As Kou gained the courage, he slowly began moving his lips against the other. While Kou may have lacked any real-life experience, he always paid extra attention to kiss scenes in movies. So he sort of knew what he was doing. That was until Mitsuba leaned to the side and collapsed on the bed, face up.
“I- Wha-!” Kou stammered, not able to finish a sentence. “Did my kissing kill you!?” he shouted.
He was then grabbed by the shirt once again and pulled down onto the bed, above Mitsuba. Kou lifted himself and felt his face warm. He was a mere inch away from Mitsuba’s face. And even though they had been closer just a moment ago, seeing his long term friend and crush underneath him did things to his head.
With hazy judgment, Kou took the wrists around his side and shirt as he gently laid them onto the bed. Leaning in to kiss him again. His grip tightening into the other’s palms as their gentle kisses became more eager. Kou leaned the right to get a better angle. He deepened the kiss bravely as Mitsuba sighed.
“N-Not… fair…” Mitsuba breathed in between kisses. “It’s… It’s my turn.”
But before Kou could really answer, Mitsuba tightened his own grip onto Kou’s. And flipped them and…
They fell off the bed.
Kou’s back hit the ground with a loud thump. Soon followed by his guts getting crushed from Mitsuba’s weight. A moment of awkward silence passed. Afterwards, Mitsuba raised his head off of Kou’s chest as Kou leaned up off the ground. Staring at each other for a long, tension filled moment. Before they knew it, the two bursted out laughing. It was such a dumb thing to be laughing this hard about, but neither of them cared.
Then there was a creak of the bedroom door opening.
The two looked up off their spots on the floor in the painfully awkward quietness. Only to be met with Mitsuba’s mom. She looked a bit shocked, as any mother would be to see her son and his friend in such a position. She stared back and forth between the two.
“Well, nice to see you two are so close. I just came here to tell you that groceries need to be put away, but, uh,” she then stepped back through the door. “I'll just leave you two alone for a bit.”
“Bu-- But wait, mom! It’s not what--!” Mistuba shrieked as he scrambled off of Kou.
“Have fun!” His mom said before she slowly closed the door behind her.
Kou’s face went completely hot, but not as fumed as Mitsuba’s. Kou sat up off the carpet and put a reassuring hand on the other’s shoulder. Mistuba turned to Kou. His face covered in embarrassment as he pouted, not able to look Kou in the eye. Kou’s gaze softened.
“You good, Mitsuba?”
“Ugh, this is all your fault!” Mitsuba lamented, head in his hands. “What do we even do now?”
“We could… kiss some more?” Kou offered completely genuinely.
Mitsuba continued to look away and sighed. Only looking back when he seated himself into Kou’s lap. Kou’s face grew hot as Mitsuba wrapped his arms around Kou’s neck and pressed their chests together once again.
“I bet this time I can kiss way better than you,” Mitsuba said snarkily.
Kou pulled Mitsuba closer by the waist. A playful look in his eye. “Wanna bet?”