Work Text:
The bookstore felt strangely quiet on a business day in the afternoon, with the chimes on the door occassionally ringing every half hour or so. The aisles filled with restocked manga volumes had a few teenagers looking through as it is finally after school, a cashier's voice rings out as she checks out the buyer's chosen books to buy, and Tetora Nagumo, an idol, still had his feet glued onto the same spot since he saw one of the latest magazines put on the racks.
A familiar face with the all too familiar pair of aquamarine eyes was on the front—the goddamn cover—of a newly released edition of a monthly magazine. The face of someone who belonged in the same unit as Tetora does. Midori was not one to often share about what the specific work he does nowadays (only complained about photoshoots and other solo work to Tetora and Shinobu) so such a fact shocked him to his very core, considering how he had freezed up the moment he saw it. In fact, he may have been already staring at it for more than just a few minutes now, the people working and passing by may as well be concerned for the poor guy. He picks up the magazine—finally—and takes a closer inspection on the cover. An entire section with an interview with Midori-kun, not only that but he ends up being the one featured on the cover page? Tetora could not move on from one fact alone, along with that he does not think he can even proceed to read further and check the interview section.
It took so long for Tetora to finally come out of the bookstore, the same cashier greets him with a 'thank you and please come again' yet dons a concerned look for the guy, who was growing a bit red but not enough like the color of his hair streaks. After all, what kind of person stays in one place, staring, for such a long time? The minute he was paying for his stuff, it finally dawned upon him and the embarrassment was starting to creep up his face. The chimes start to lower in volume as he steps out and the door clicks.
'Ah.. I really bought the magazine..'
Tetora holds closer the paper bag that contained a manga volume of a series he recently picked up and the damn magazine that had Midori's entire being plastered first thing when you look at it. 'This was quite a shock~. I didn't expect Midori-kun's face the minute I entered the bookstore.' As he makes his way back to the dormitories, his mind is completely wrapped around the thing that has been bugging him.
'Midori-kun looked really cool in the magazine, but…'
"Tetora-kun?"
The raven hair almost comically jumped, whipping his head to view the person who had just called out to him. "R–real life Midori-kun?" Tetora had hurriedly and blurted out a response in a weird panic, which made the brunette raise an eyebrow out of worry. "Real life what…?"
"Nevermind that… I didn't expect to catch you here." He tried to divert the topic away and caught Midori sighing as he inches closer. The shorter guy's hands grip a little tighter onto the paper bag he was holding. "Work ended much quicker than expected today… I am really glad it did, I was gonna check out and buy the new manga volume in the bookstore when I saw you dazed outside…" How embarrassing, Tetora thought to himself, fighting the urge to say a word about what was even going on. "Oh, the series you recommended to me previously? I can lend you the copy if you'd like." "Really? So that was what you were getting huh… I'd really appreciate it, Tetora-kun." "Ossu! I got invested and managed to catch up, so I went ahead and bought the latest." Tetora was not telling the other party that he was mainly pre-occupied with a different thing back in there.
His heart rate was finally getting back to a normal pace. Tetora was glad that they could freely converse at times like this. "I don't need to go in there now, thankfully… Although, that was going to hit the racks today isn't it…" Midori spoke normally but then began to murmur the second half, it was still enough for Tetora to somehow hear. He chose to pretend to not catch what he had said, "Hm? What was that?" he asked the taller fellow, who simply shook his head with an unrecognizable expression on his face. "Nothing… Say, let's head back to the dormitories together…?" Midori had asked him with a rather gentle smile, something that the magazine front cover didn't have.
"Alright!"
The walk from the bookstore back to the dorms wasn't normally long, however today felt relatively shorter for Tetora. Autumn leaves are slowly falling down further from the branches, winter is already knocking on the door. The wind may be getting chillier for the year and snow will start falling soon, Tetora felt warmth despite the circumstances. With how busy Midori gets each passing day due to a bunch of solo work he takes in, even walking together to go back just the two of them was nearing to be a rare occurrence. Interacting with each other about the schoolworks or random things they had encountered that made them think of the other, Tetora had put a genuine smile through it. Things still feel slightly sour, but it will all be alright.
Just in a matter of minutes, they reached Seisou Hall. The two of them bid each other 'see you later' and proceeded to their own dorm rooms, with Tetora's being on the first floor and Midori's on the second floor. The black haired guy wished for the moment to last a little longer, but alas there are more days to come with the two of them hanging out together, hopefully.
The door clicked and Tetora took a peek into the room, which was unsurprisingly empty as of now. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding, entering the room then making his way and sitting down comfortably on his own bed. His hand still clutching onto the paper bag, he released and took out the magazine first from the inside, the same fellow he was with was now staring at him once more. Tetora felt his cheeks heat up, recalling the moment from the bookstore up until walking back to the dorms with Midori. He finally opened the magazine and looked through the content, his eyes glued onto the pages that involved Midori which had even more pictures from the photoshoot. He looked astonishing in them, Tetora won't lie. He fondly thought about what had happened earlier and even to what had previously occurred to the two of them.
'But… Midori-kun looks much more handsome up close, doesn't he? The gentle smile he had on today, the excitement on his face when it comes to yuru or mascot characters. It's all much better when you see it face to face, doesn't it…'