Chapter Text
Gorou had a crush.
Well, nobody would be surprised to hear that given his track record of crushes in the past. In his freshman year of college alone, he had crushes on all of his (now) friends. Kazuha, who had given him a look full of pity when he confessed to him, Itto, who didn’t even understand that Gorou liked him romantically, and even Heizou! Heizou’s rejection hurt the worst, honestly. The up and coming detective had tried not to laugh in his face as Gorou stuttered and stumbled over his words, proclaiming that he knew the whole time. When Gorou just about cried right then and there, Heizou tried to hastily remedy his callousness by saying he was already interested in someone else.
(That only made it worse)
Nevertheless, Gorou had a crush on someone. Even worse, she was someone he went to highschool with. And anyone who knew him during high school, in his opinion, needed to erase past him from their mind.
Sangonomiya Kokomi. She was absolutely stunning, with pale pink hair that faded to blue at the ends. Her eyes were always bright and eager, and she focused on their professor intently every time he spoke. Gorou, meanwhile, was too focused on staring at Kokomi longingly to even give their professor a second thought. How did he not notice Kokomi in highschool? She was absolutely gorgeous! Then again, he wouldn’t have wanted her to notice him in highschool. How embarrassing.
Gorou shuddered at the thought, turning his attention back to their professor for a mere second. He was an older man, tall and probably muscular underneath the three piece suit he wore. Some of the students were head over heels for Mr. Zhongli, but Gorou honestly thought he was a little…boring. He taught history, you see, and as much as Gorou enjoyed the subject of war strategy and history, Mr. Zhongli’s baritone voice was lulling him to sleep.
The only reason he was awake was because of Kokomi. Every so often, she’d raise her hand to ask a question, her soft voice echoing through the room and making Gorou blush. His head rested on one of his hands, eyes droopy as he watched Kokomi with a lovey dovey expression on his face. He really couldn’t have made it more obvious, but Kokomi didn’t seem to notice.
Gorou’s eyes drifted to where his now best friend Kazuha sat, who was currently giving him his disappointed expression that Gorou was so used to. Slowly, Kazuha shook his head, flicking his head towards Kokomi quickly before he mouthed “Make your move!”
Gorou’s eyes widened in panic as he shook his head fervently. No way he was going to ask the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen out! Well…he had been crushing on her for most of the year, but still! She was way out of his league! Besides, what if she rejected him? What if she actually laughed at him! At least Heizou held back his laugh when Gorou had confessed.
Kazuha leveled him with another disapproving stare before he turned back to their professor, pretending like he was paying the utmost attention the whole time.
Gorou let out a breath of relief, his eyes straying back towards Kokomi, who was now staring at him. His heart pounded in his chest so hard he thought he might genuinely be having a heart attack. Did she notice him and Kazuha’s little interaction? Was she going to publicly humiliate him? No, she’d never do that. She was too nice. She was far too nice to even rude people like Kujou Sara, who was also in their class and was glaring at Gorou like he had killed her bird or something and—
Oh god why was Kokomi approaching him?
The man squirmed in his seat, trying to get Kazuha’s attention, but to no avail. Kazuha was dealing with a very grumpy Sara, who was now aiming her deadly glare at him.
Wait a second. What was going on? Why were Kazuha and Sara of all people together?
Gorou got his answer a second later in the form of Kokomi in front of him, clutching her book to her chest. “Hello there.” She said in her lovely voice. “Mr. Zhongli said we were together.”
Gorou started to short circuit. “Huh?” He asked dumbly, mentally smacking himself in the face for being so stupid in front of her. “Oh! Oh! Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah! Sounds good!” He laughed nervously, pretending like he knew what was going on. “Do you…want to sit…?”
Kokomi looked at him, confusion muddling her expression. “Class is over.” She murmured, holding her book tighter to her chest. “I was wondering if you wanted to get a head start on the project though. We could go to my dorm, or your dorm.” She sounded reserved as per usual, but there was no hint of a blush on her features.
“Oh um.” Gorou said intelligently. He was well aware that he was sweating profusely by now. It was a bit odd given the air conditioning inside of the building, but he hoped nobody noticed or focused too intensely on his nervousness.
“So…did you want to come to my dorm?” Kokomi asked again, looking at him through her long lashes. She had always seemed so meek, but right now she exuded confidence. Confidence that he very much lacked. “You don’t have to, of course. I just thought we could get an idea of what we want to do?”
Gorou’s face turned red. As he tugged on the collar of his too suffocating sweatshirt, he floundered for an appropriately timed answer. “Haha…is it hot in here?”
Great job, Gorou!
Kokomi looked perplexed, but indulged him with an answer anyway. “I…I guess it is a bit hot?” And even he could tell she was just saying that to be polite. “Um…”
“Oh! Yeah! The…the dorm thing…” Gorou tapped his foot against the floor, trying to figure out an excuse. Of course right now his brain would choose not to find any words. It was only inevitable that he would embarrass himself in front of his crush. “I actually have to um…” He looked around nervously, spotting Itto with a doge shirt on (Seriously? What year was it?). “I have to walk my dog.”
Kokomi still looked confused, but masked it well behind a polite facade. “I didn’t know you had a dog.” She clasped her hands behind her back.
His brain stalled for a good few seconds. “I meant me!” He answered finally, stupidly. “I…I don’t have a dog. I just refer to myself as one sometimes. I mean sometimes we all have to walk ourselves. Woof woof, right?”
The woman’s face went carefully blank as she processed what he was saying. For a moment, Gorou thought a small smile quirked up the corners of her lips, but that was quickly gone in the blink of an eye. “Oh…right.” She agreed politely. “Well, enjoy your walk. I can give you my number if you need it so you can reach out whenever you’re ready?”
Gorou nodded quickly, pulling out his phone and fumbling with it to get it open. He really hoped she wouldn’t comment on the nerdy wallpaper from one of his favorite games. Even if she did notice it though, she didn’t say anything about it, instead opting to put her number into his phone. Her fingers moved gracefully over the phone’s touch screen as if she had done this same thing a million times.
He really hoped she hadn’t put her number in everyone’s phone though. Even the thought made his stomach sting with sour jealousy.
Kokomi handed him his phone back as soon as she finished, thankfully not making fun of him for the way he almost dropped it with how shaky his hands were. Once he had gotten a firm hold on his phone, she nodded resolutely and put up her hand to wave goodbye. “I’ll see you soon, Gorou.” Her voice was pleasant as ever as she made her way back to Sara, who was quick to disengage with Kazuha and lead her friend away from the room. When she passed Gorou, she gave him a small sneer. Seriously? Was she her guard dog or something?
As soon as she was out of sight, Gorou buried his face in his palms and groaned loudly.
“Heyo loverboy! How’d it go?” Itto called across the room, alerting everyone in a 5 mile radius with how loud he was.
Gorou just dragged his hands down his face despairingly.
So much for a good impression, huh?
♡♡♡
Gorou tried not to think about Kokomi for the next few days and failed miserably to say the least. Everytime his mind wandered in another class it was always wandering to her. Her and her perfect hair and her plush lips and her doe eyes that seemed demure at first, but were rather sharp and noticed even the smallest of changes. Ugh. He just couldn’t get her off of his mind.
And then there was the fact that he was supposed to reach out about the project! It had been two days and he just hadn’t been able to gather the courage to message her first. Despite the fact that he knew he was supposed to reach out, he still waited with baited breath to see if she’d bite first.
She didn’t, which he didn’t really blame her for given the circumstances.
But today was day three of ignoring that particular responsibility, and it didn’t seem like he could ignore it much longer. Whenever his friends casually mentioned that he should text her he always clammed up and insisted he would eventually–he was just busy today!
(That was a lie)
Alas, tomorrow was Tuesday, and Mr. Zhongli’s classes were Tuesdays and Fridays. And Gorou hadn’t gotten the courage to text Kokomi since she gave him his number. Which was last Friday.
This was a huge problem.
Naturally, Gorou turned to his closest friend Kazuha for advice. Kazuha, who also happened to be his roommate. His very disappointed roommate, at that.
As if Kazuha could sense Gorou emerging from his room, he pivoted on his heel with a foreboding look on his face. Oh no. Gorou did not like this. That expression on his face was his we-need-to-talk expression. Gorou pondered running for a second, but he gave up when he realized that he wouldn’t escape his roommates clutches so easily. Even so, his eyes darted to the door for a mere moment.
Kazuha was faster though. He blocked his roommates escape with his unfairly toned body and looked down at him almost coldly. If Gorou knew better he would say Kazuha was about two seconds away from throttling him to death, but he knew Kazuha would never actually hurt him. Or, at least, he hoped he wouldn’t.
Gorou laughed nervously. “Hey man…! What’s up?” He kept his eyes trained on Kazuha, only pausing for a few seconds at a time to look at the door and calculate how much strength it would take to catch his friend off guard enough to sweep his feet out from under him.
He didn’t even get the chance to think about it for more than a few moments before Kazuha grabbed him by the waist and threw him over his shoulder with way too much ease.
Gorou shrieked loudly as he was hauled like a sack of potatoes, pounding on his friends back. Kazuha didn’t loosen his hold until they reached the couch, in which he dropped Gorou unceremoniously onto the cushions.
The man let out a wheezy groan as he was dropped. The couch was worn down from continuous use, so it wasn’t a very nice fall on his end. But alas, once he caught his breath, he was quick to sit up and glare at the man he thought was his best friend.
Kazuha looked entirely unbothered by the whole scenario, sitting on the arm of the recliner that was stationed across from the sofa. Gorou felt like he was in an interrogation room. “You need to text her.” There was no preamble or anything, but he supposed he appreciated his friend's bluntness. “How long has it been? Last Friday?”
Gorou nodded sheepishly, looking down to pick at a very interesting string that was attached to his sock. “I’ve been busy…” He protested weakly, shutting up when he made accidental eye contact with Kazuha. “You’ve been hanging around Heizou too much lately.” Came the grumbled complaint. “Where is my soft hearted best friend?”
“Gone. Lost to the wind.” A hint of a teasing smile rose to Kazuha’s face, but it was gone in an instant. A small sigh escaped his lips as he placed his hands on his knees, drumming a mindless tune against his thighs. “Gorou…” He started in that tone that drove him nuts. And not in a good way.
“I know. Class is tomorrow though. I’ll just…see her and go from there.” Gorou looked down again, wrapping his finger around the string and pulling at it. The string grew longer instead of snapping off, frustrating him further.
Kazuha looked away, staring at a spot on the wall as if lost in thought. When he looked back at his pitiful friend, he hummed decisively. “Let me put this gently.” He paused for a moment. “You don’t think she’ll be mad at you for not reaching out when you said you would? She’s going to think you’re blowing her off, which will lead to more awkward tension when you have to actually work with her on the project. And by the end of the project, she won’t want to talk to you at all. Why? Because you were too cowardly to text her first.”
Gorou dipped his head again in shame, his cheeks burning. Kazuha had a point. If he didn’t text first because he was too nervous it would…ruin any semblance of a shot he had with Kokomi. Not that he really had one in the first place, but being ignored and resented by her would make his fragile heart break further. Idly, he chewed on his lip, pulling the string again and sighing when the string elongated once more.
“Text her today. Reach out first and explain you were busy, but you’re ready to get started tomorrow. If all goes well, she won’t be as upset with you as she would be if you never texted.” Kazuha shrugged. “Make your move, Gorou. You have the opportunity to get to know her more on a silver platter. You’d be a fool to ignore it.” He got up from his perch, walking towards his friend to put a steady hand on his shoulder. “You’re not bad looking, Gorou. I know you don’t think you’re in her league, but it might surprise you with what you’re capable of. And at the very least, if things don’t work out, you don’t have to work with her again after this project.”
Kazuha’s kind words comforted him immensely. Although he was still nervous, he had a sliver of confidence now. It was more than he had a few seconds ago.
“Think of it like this.” Kazuha continued, pulling his hand away from Gorou’s shoulder to walk to the kitchen. He rummaged through the drawers for a second before finding what he was looking for and trotting back to where Gorou sat. “Your relationship with Kokomi is like this string. The more you pull it, the faster the sock unravels. Obviously you don’t want to ruin your sock, so what do you do?” He produced the scissors he fetched from the kitchen, snipping the string with ease. “You bite the bullet and cut the string. You make your move before the sock unravels all of the way and ruins it completely.”
Gorou paused for a moment before groaning loudly. “I’ll never understand your poetic metaphors. You could have just told me to go for it before it’s too late.”
Kazuha squeezed his shoulder again, setting down the cut string and the scissors on the coffee table. “But then you wouldn’t be privy to my endless knowledge.” He teased. “I’ll trust you to text her before the day is up. If I see you haven’t, I’ll kick you out.”
Gorou wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but he nodded despondently anyway. “You got it boss.”
Satisfied with his answer, Kazuha nodded and went back to the kitchen. “And take care of the scissors and string.” He called out.
“You could have taken them on your way into the kitchen…” He grumbled under his breath, picking them up anyway and returning the scissors to their proper location. With the string, he hesitated for a moment before throwing it out unceremoniously.
He had better get to texting sooner rather than later.
♡♡♡
Gorou arrived at class five minutes early out of sheer anxiety. Three of those minutes he spent pacing outside of the room, attracting all sorts of weird looks from his classmates trying to go into the room before their professor started class. And then in the final two minutes, he slipped into the lecture hall. Sitting down, he kept his head down and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. Of course, his only clean shirt was one of the stupid gaming shirts that Itto had gotten him for Christmas last year. So not only was he embarrassing himself in front of the whole class with his “I paused my game to be here” shirt, but he was going to embarrass himself in front of Kokomi as well.
Kokomi. He had texted her last night. With a shitty excuse, admittedly, but she replied relatively quickly saying it was alright and she’d see him tomorrow. They had tentatively set aside time for Gorou to head to her dorm immediately after class, but the more he thought about it the more it made him nauseous. The thought of spending more than 5 minutes with the girl he had a massive crush on made him want to curl up under one of the tables and pray that everyone left him for dead. He’d starve or die from dehydration eventually. In his eyes, it was a better fate.
The second he raised his head he was greeted by the sight of Sara standing in front of him. He naturally jolted, leaning backwards so far he almost fell out of his chair entirely. He only managed to stop himself by grabbing the edge of the desk and hauling himself back towards it. That didn’t work out so well considering he pulled himself a little too fast and the edge of the desk slammed into his gut.
Gorou let out a weak groan as he lost his breath, resting his forehead on the desk. Maybe if he pretended he was dead she would go away.
Unfortunately the world hated him today and Sara very much did not go away. Thankfully, she didn’t grab him by the hair and brutalize him against the desk, but he wouldn’t really put it past her if he was honest.
When Gorou peeled his face off of the desk, he gave Sara a meek smile. She, in turn, responded with a deep, terrifying scowl. “Heyyyy...” He started as casually as he possibly could. He had no clue what she was here for except to possibly reap his soul for having a crush on her roommate. “Wh-What’s up?” Hopefully she didn’t notice how nervous he was.
Judging by the way Sara’s keen eye caught the bead of sweat rolling down from his temple, he would say she definitely noticed.
“You almost didn’t text Kokomi.” She stated accusingly, giving him no room for argument. As soon as he opened his mouth, she held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t ask how I know. I just do.” There was a long pause. Gorou didn’t dare speak. “Next time, text her in a more timely manner.” Her voice was sharp, but not monotone. It was clear she cared about Kokomi more than she let on. And when she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring down at him once again, he shriveled. “Don’t do that anymore. I can’t listen to her whine all weekend again.”
Before Gorou could ask her what the hell that meant, Sara turned away and made swift strides towards a sleepy looking Kazuha. Gorou almost called out to warn him of the incoming bird of prey, but alas, he was too late. Sara had already clamped her hand around his arm and was beginning to drag him away.
Ouch. Gorou almost felt bad for him.
Just as he looked away from Kazuha and Sara, his eyes turned to Kokomi, who was now standing right in front of him ominously. Pitifully, he let out a strangled screech when he realized she was right there. When he realized who exactly it was though, he was quick to calm down, putting a hand to his chest like an offended church lady.
“O-Oh! Haha…hey!” Gorou tried to sound casual, but failed quite pathetically. “Uhh what’s up?”
Kokomi’s eyebrows furrowed for a mere moment before returning to her usual pleasant expression. “I thought we could work together today in class and then go back to my dorm.” She said softly, playing with the sleeves of her cardigan. “If…you’re not doing anything after this. I’d like to get ahead of everyone else since we lost a few days.” Her words didn’t sound malicious at all—just factual. Hell, it almost seemed like she was…nervous? No, Kokomi didn't have any conceivable reason to be nervous. Especially not around him. He was the biggest loser to exist, after all.
Gorou physically lagged for a second before nodding a little too eagerly. “U-Uh…yeah! Yeah that sounds good.” He rubbed the back of his neck almost sheepishly. “My bad I didn’t reach out sooner…I lost track of time.” It was a bold faced lie, but he hoped it at least came across as genuine.
Kokomi seemed placated by his apology though seeing as she circled around the desk and sat down next to him. Even just being a few feet away from her made Gorou want to slam his head into the desk until he went unconscious. In a good way, of course. She was just way too beautiful for him to even fathom! And the perfume she was wearing smelled really nice. And her hair looked really cute today too. And—
“I was thinking about our topic over the weekend.” Kokomi’s voice snapped him out of his musings. “How do you feel about going over the planning, resources, and money it takes to support a war effort?”
Gorou positively lit up at that idea. He had always enjoyed what went on behind the scenes when it came to national conflicts. War strategizing especially was a big point of interest for him. He was sure if he had a tail it would be wagging at rapid speed right now. But alas, he tried to play it cool. “Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah! That sounds super cool. Fine by me. Awesome.”
Way to play it cool.
Kokomi didn’t seem perturbed by his excitement though. In fact, a small smile twitched the corner of her lips up, showcasing how endearing she found his eagerness. Or, at least, Gorou hoped she found it endearing and not annoying.
“Hm…I suppose we can start our research now that we’ve chosen a topic. Would you like to share a document with each other and find a few sources to start?” Kokomi peered at Gorou through his eyelashes, making his heart pound at the speed of light. He honestly thought he was about to have a heart attack.
Thankfully, he didn’t immediately collapse to the floor. “Yeah! Sounds good!” He gave a cheesy thumbs up before wincing and turning away to pull out his computer. Finding reliable sources would be difficult, but not entirely impossible. He was confident that Kokomi’s idea would blow everyone away. “This is going to be an awesome presentation. Nice job!”
Kokomi gave him the smallest, most reserved smile, but he took it as a win.
For the rest of the class, the two worked in relative silence. The sound of typing filled the entire room as everyone else worked as well, interspersed with small bouts of chatter here and there. And before they knew it, class was over.
That’s when Gorou’s nerves started to kick in. He had promised to go to Kokomi’s dorm to keep working, after all, but a part of him wanted to make up an excuse to get out of it. Not that he didn’t want to go to her dorm—he just didn’t want to embarrass himself. Especially if they were fully alone. Gorou wasn’t sure if her roommate would be there, but he kind of hoped she would be so he didn't immediately start babbling about something that would inevitably change her already low opinion of him.
Kokomi stood up first, packing up her stuff methodically while Gorou sat and tried not to scream. Belatedly, he realized he would have to stop clamming up and actually get his stuff ready to go to her dorm. It wasn’t until Kokomi looked at him expectantly that he jolted and nearly fell out of his seat trying to gather his stuff. In the process, all of his belongings spilled all over the floor.
Thankfully, she waited patiently while he picked up all of his spilled stuff. He would have stuttered out an apology, but he really didn’t want to embarrass himself any further.
Gorou stood up when he had shoved everything messily into his backpack, giving Kokomi a cheesy thumbs up that he was ready to go. If he looked close enough, he would be able to see the small smile that twitched on her lips before she turned her head away.
The two of them walked in silence to Kokomi’s dorm. Gorou would have made some form of conversation, but every time he started a conversation in his head it didn’t go too well. It always ended in him making a fool of himself as usual. Maybe he should have ended up going to clown school instead of university.
When they were almost there, Gorou coughed into his fist. “Is…your roommate going to be home?” He didn’t know how to ask in a less awkward way, backpedaling quickly to remedy the situation. “I-I mean like—she’s with my friend Kazuha right now. I wasn’t sure if they’d be joining us.” He shifted his eyes away nervously.
Kokomi didn’t seem phased, luckily, opening up her dorm and pushing the door open so Gorou could enter first. “It’s just us.” She said crisply, waiting for him to get into the dorm fully before she entered and shut the door behind her. The click of a lock made Gorou feel like he had just sealed his fate. Doomed to make himself look stupid in front of the prettiest girl he had ever known.
While Gorou internally panicked, Kokomi took off her shoes delicately and placed them beside the door, motioning for him to do the same. And when he did, she sat down on the pristine couch and set her backpack on the floor in front of her. She was quick to take out her computer, waiting patiently for Gorou to join her. While he was still lagging, she was getting started on furthering the research for their project.
Eventually, he realized numbly that he would have to sit as well. Hence why he shuffled over and sat down a good distance away from Kokomi. His back was as stiff as a board as he pulled off his backpack and set it on the floor as well, extracting his computer robotically and opening it. His fingers hovered over the keyboard though. He could have done more research, sure, but a part of him wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to talk to Kokomi one on one for once. She didn’t seem as interested in speaking though, hyper focused on the task at hand.
At some point Kokomi must have noticed his zoning out. She was always perceptive like that. That’s why Gorou liked her so much. “Is there something on your mind?” She asked politely, still typing away on her computer, albeit slower now. She was such a good multitasker…
Gorou cleared his throat, turning his gaze away from Kokomi so he wasn’t blatantly staring at her. She was way too gorgeous for her own good. The proximity of their bodies was suddenly setting in as well, making Gorou hyper aware of every single move each of them made. It was mostly him shifting uncomfortably though. “I mean…yes but also no. Kinda? I don't want to distract you…” He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Hm.” Kokomi hummed softly. “We’ve gotten plenty of work done today in class, I suppose we could chat a little bit. I wouldn’t be opposed to it at least…” For once, she sounded a bit nervous. Gorou would have loved to see if her face was pink to confirm his suspicions, but her face was unfortunately shrouded by her hair. “Did you have a question?”
Did he have a question? Sure, he had plenty. None of them were exactly surface level questions though. Maybe he could ask her favorite color to be polite?
“It doesn’t have to be anything basic. I’m open for anything you want to speak of.” It was like she could read his mind, shrugging calmly. “You know…” She stopped herself abruptly there.
Gorou sensed she didn’t want him to question that, so he moved on quickly. “Okay uh…do you like video games?” It was such a nerdy question, but he figured it would be the safest route.
Surprisingly, Kokomi seemed to perk up a little at that. “Um…yes! I do…! I don’t have much free time to dabble with video games, but on the off chance I do get to play, I enjoy it a lot.” She paused. This time he could see a clear flush on her cheeks. “I enjoy…um…otome games. Or any game, really! Not just those ones!” She held up her hands, clearly flustered by the admission.
“I like those kinds of games too!” Gorou said quickly so she didn’t feel as embarrassed. Admittedly, he didn’t play dating sims very much, but he didn’t want to make her more flustered by saying that. “They’re really cool!”
Kokomi seemed to calm down at that, placing her hands in her lap once more. She wrung her fingers together, but at least she didn’t seem as riled up as she did a few moments ago. “I agree…they’re very fun games. I enjoy being a main character even for just a moment.” She spoke wistfully, looking to the side to shield her face once more.
Gorou cocked his head to the side like a confused dog. “What do you mean? You’re prime main character material.” He said confidently, waving his hands around vaguely as he spoke. “In high school you were in the student council, on the honor roll, you played sports…you were like everyone’s idol. If they didn’t want to be you, they wanted to be with you. Y'know?”
Maybe he had gone too far. Kokomi got very quiet all of a sudden, turning her face back towards Gorou with a solemn expression. “I never wanted to be that girl.” She confessed softly. “I never wanted to be everyone’s idol…I didn’t want people to look up to me or try to ask me out or envy me. I just wanted to be me. Kokomi.” She rubbed her thighs methodically. “I think that’s why I admired you so much in high school.”
“You—huh!?” Gorou’s heart skipped a beat at her confession, his eyes widening rapidly. “You…remember me from high school? How? Not to be self-deprecating, but I was a nobody.”
Kokomi’s expression turned softer. “You weren’t a nobody to me.” She looked down at her lap for a moment before drawing in a breath. “I watched you from afar. Pardon me if that sounds odd…but you were always so free. You didn’t care about social status or what other people thought of you. You had few friends, but they were close ones.” She paused. “I wish that could have been me.”
Her confession broke Gorou’s heart. Despite his nervousness, he scooted closer and dared to put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey…Kokomi…I wasn’t all that either, you know. High school is a rough time for everyone. Even for the popular kids I guess. You might have admired me, but I struggled too. With my openness about who I was, I was targeted with a lot of bullying as well.” He shrugged. “It bothered me back then, but not much anymore. I know I’m short, I know I don’t put on muscle easily, I know I’m kind of a loser. I accept these facts.” He hesitated for a moment. “But…it’s not too late for you to be the person you want to be. You can’t rewrite the past, but you can shape your own future. You’re so reserved in class, so I imagine it’s the same way outside of class. You can broaden your horizons though. If you want, I can…help.” He finished lamely.
“You would help?” Kokomi looked up from her lap, staring intensely at Gorou. He shied away from her stare, but nodded slowly. “Can you…introduce me to your friends maybe? I know it might be a lot to ask of you, but I only really have Sara.” She bit her lip in a way that made his heart melt.
“Yeah! I mean, totally. I could introduce you to my roommate. He’s partnered with Sara on this project. He kind of sucks, but that’s okay.” Gorou grinned a little. “I think he’d like you.”
Kokomi nodded, looking at him like he had hung the moon and stars. “Thank you.” She said quietly, her voice tinged with emotion.
Gorou swallowed nervously. “Don’t mention it.” He was about to continue when he got a notification from his phone. It was Kazuha telling him to hurry his ass up and get home. Huh. He didn’t realize how much time had passed. “Hey, uh, it’s late. I gotta go, but we can um…work on the project soon? Just send me a text. Or I can send you one. I don’t mind.” He mumbled, stumbling over his words as he picked up his belongings and shoved them haphazardly back into his bag. “Sorry we didn’t get much done today.”
“Ah…it’s alright…” Kokomi watched him pack up, hesitating like she had something on her mind. Evidently, she did, given the fact that she snagged Gorou’s wrist just as he was about to leave. Her grip wasn’t tight, but was firm. It made his heart jump at the one point of contact. “Gorou?”
“Yes?” His throat felt dry.
Kokomi lowered her eyes for a moment before peering back up at him through her lashes. “Um…I got invited to this party. It should be small, so I was debating about going. Would you…want to go with me?” She had a small blush on her cheeks.
Oh god. He was seriously about to start heaving. But he had to seriously think about this and the implications of a house party—
“Yeah!” Gorou spoke before actually thinking it through properly. It was worth it to see Kokomi’s face light up though. “Just…text me the details okay? I have to get back before Kazuha locks me out.”
Kokomi released his wrist quickly like it had burned her. “Have a good night.” She was back to her usual reserved self it seemed.
“Yeah. You too.”
As Gorou shut the door behind him, he could only think one thing:
Just what the hell had he gotten himself into?