Work Text:
If Mizuki is going to be honest, they didn’t know what they were expecting when Akito had asked them - out of the blue, mind you - to meet up at the rooftop after school. Maybe just a simple favor or something.
But no. Akito had to ask for something more .
“Will you date me?”
Mizuki blinks once. Twice. Three times. “Ha- what?” One of their eyebrows lifted up, questioning the ginger as their eyes widened.
The other bites his lip, flailing his hands around desperately. “Ah, wait, shit that sounds bad. Okay, um,” Akito blabbered on for a little while longer, adding a couple phrases such as ‘Fuck I didn’t mean it like that,’ ‘I’m not into you ,’ (with a ‘The hell’s that supposed to mean?!’ coming from Mizuki) and ‘I just need help with something,’s.
Placing both hands on the other’s shoulders, Mizuki shakes him a tiny bit in order to get him out of his frenzy - which it does, and Akito, albeit a tiny bit stunned, watches Mizuki open their mouth.
“Okay. Backtrack for me, ‘kay?”
Akito nods mindlessly in response.
“So, you don’t like me romantically.” Nod. “But you asked me out anyway.” Another nod. “So… why are you doing this?”
The ginger looks away from Mizuki briefly, making them let out a harsh (and condescending) sigh. “C’mon, lil’ bro. It can’t be that bad.”
Akito opens his mouth to say something, but nothing but grumbles emit from his throat. Mizuki decides to pat his shoulder with one of their hands. “You got this. It’s okay.” They smile, trying to come across genuine - though, they aren’t really sure if it does.
Whatever affect Mizuki’s words (or smile?) has on Akito magically works, the latter letting out a fairly harsh sigh.
“So, ugh- this is so embarrassing to admit out loud, you know how Touya is dating someone?”
“Touya is dating someone?!”
“So I need- yeah, wait, you didn’t know?”
Mizuki blinks their eyes at Akito, an unreadable expression plasters their face. Their eyebrows furrow as they shake their head as if to say ‘No??? What the fuck.’
Akito leans his head back and brings both his hands to his face, letting out a small groan. “God I thought even you would know, they’re all over each other.” He grumbles, somehow pressing his palms deeper into his face. Akito momentarily debates his life choices - given the fact that he stays in that position for at least five seconds - before he leans his head forward, his hands falling down to his sides.
“Yeah, so, anyways, Touya is dating Nene, right?”
Mizuki’s eyebrows crease even deeper as they cock their head to the side, giving a very slow nod in return.
“And I like Touya, romantically-“
“That’s obvious.” Mizuki snickers.
Red slowly consumes the man’s cheeks. He barks, “Will you shut up for three seconds?!”
The pink-haired individual grins at Akito, finally letting go of his shoulders - why were they still there? - and goes to cross them across their own chest. A small hum of agreement is let out before Akito lets out a sigh for the second time in the span of ten minutes.
“Okay, as I was saying,” He darts Mizuki a glare, for which Mizuki playfully puts their hands up. “I like Touya romantically, and so I thought that maybe, if I dated someone, he’d get jealous and break up with Nene.”
Mizuki gives Akito a deadpan stare. “That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of. Even coming from you.”
The ginger crosses his arms and squishes his nose up. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Will you do it?”
Pursing out their bottom lip, Mizuki moves one of their hands to the back of their neck, scratching it in thought. “You know, you could have gone to someone like Tsukasa.”
“Isn’t he dating Rui?”
“Yeah, but I mean, he does look like he’s into you too.”
It’s Akito’s turn to give Mizuki a deadpan stare. It somehow looks even more condescending than what theirs felt like. “No, I will not go to Tsukasa. Plus, he’d probably rat me out to them. Isn’t he pretty close to Touya and Nene?”
The feeling of Mizuki’s nails scraping against their neck intensifies. “True,” they grumble. “Still, why me? I’m sure there’s tons of people fawning over you, lil’ bro.”
“You like Ena, don’t you?”
Mizuki practically chokes on their own spit.
“Yeah, okay that answers that.” Mizuki shoots him a glare, letting out a few faint coughs here and there, while the other’s lips slowly turn into a sly grin. “If you date me- er, fake-date me, you’ll be closer to Ena, won’t you?”
The latter’s face scrunches up in thought. They never really thought about it like that. If they get invited over, they can see Ena more - despite the fact they can probably just ask her to go into the Sekai and talk there - and they’ll know more about Ena from Akito, hopefully. Akito can probably spill what Ena likes, dislikes, her embarrassing moments during the times she was a kid, and-
“Akiyama? Did I lose you there?”
Mizuki shakes their head, moving their hands to pat the sides of their face. Now is not the time to get lost in thought. “I’m in.”
Akito’s eyes widen in shock. “Wait, seriously?” He asks, confusion riddling his voice. Out of everything that’s been happening in the past few minutes, that almost takes the cake of things Mizuki was not expecting to hear.
Blinking at the ginger a couple times, they ask: “Did you seriously think I wouldn’t accept?”
“Well, uh, not really?” Akito lifts one of his hands to scratch the side of his cheek with a finger, biting the side of his bottom lip.
Mizuki lets out another condescending sigh, mumbling, “The hell was your back-up plan then,”
Sputtering, Akito’s eyes flail away from wherever Mizuki’s vision is. “Didn’t really have one,”
“So you just wung it.” Mizuki narrows their eyes at the other.
“Basically. But hey,” The ginger’s eyes return to Mizuki’s. “you accepted, Akiyama! I can bring you over to my place sometimes to sell the point more if you want, or-”
Shaking their head, they lift a flat hand in front of Akito's face, making the latter immediately shut up. “Okay, first of all, we drop the names. I drop ‘lil’ bro’ and you drop ‘Akiyama’ in favor of our first names.” Akito nods at them again. “Second of all, do you want to do couple things? Like holding hands? Or kissing even,”
“Ah, um, no kissing. Everything else is fine.” Akito bites his lip again, a faint blush spreading to his ears.
Nodding, Mizuki continues: “Gotcha, no kissing. What about dates?”
The other looks away for a second, probably thinking about it more deeply. A few periodic ‘hmm’s come out of his mouth. “That’s fine, but whenever Touya and his partner go out we follow them. Got it?”
An eyebrow raises on Mizuki’s part. “Ookay.. odd request but that’s fine.” Akito shoots them a scowl, making a smile bloom onto their lips again. “I think that’s all I’ve got, unless you have any other suggestions.”
Akito purses out his bottom lip as he opens his mouth before shutting it quickly. Mizuki stares at him dumbfoundedly. “What? Got another thing you wanna add on?” They ask, playfulness oozing out of their tone.
“Yeah, um,” the ginger clears his throat, fidgeting with his stud earrings with one hand. “If one of us ends up losing feelings for either of them, we end things immediately.”
A small hum emerges from Mizuki’s throat, pausing for a second - incidentally trying to come up with a witty comment, but nothing comes up. They’ll take defeat this time around.
“Deal.” Mizuki gives Akito their signature grin, extending a hand out.
Akito takes it gracefully. “Deal.”
They shake on it.
-
As it turns out, this whole fake dating thing is a lot harder than what it seems.
People have been asking, no, practically harassing Mizuki about if they’re dating Akito because he walks them to their class now. They don’t even hold hands, for god’s sake!
On one particular day, Akito drops Mizuki off to their classroom, giving a slight wave. “See ya later, Mizuki.” He says as he walks off. Mizuki swears they see a smile tug at the corner of his lips. They also swear that they do not find him cute. Not at all. Their heart belongs to Ena, after all.
With a sigh, they enter the classroom, and, with another sigh, place themself down into their seat - guiding their head down onto the cold, yet comforting wooden desk.
Maybe the reason they keep getting bugged by people about their dating life is because they’ve been to school more than usual - at least three times a week, to be exact. Mizuki promises themself that it means nothing more than to briefly communicate their plans with Akito. Nothing else involving Akito. Nothing. Definitely not how they started to notice small actions done by Akito that most people would probably not have seen. The way he gently smiles everytime he watches Touya (though, an unsettling feeling lies in their abdomen everytime - they don’t really know why), the way he fidgets with his earrings when he’s nervous - rubbing the circular bud between his pointer finger and thumb, the way his ears slowly engulf in red when Mizuki brings up how he’s staring too hard at Touya, the way his hands involuntarily tuck small strands of hair behind his ear, the way that - given Mizuki stares long enough - his lips so rosy that they just want to softly cup their hands on Akito’s cheeks and pull him into-
A pair of footsteps snaps Mizuki back into reality. They tilt their head to the side, attempting to see who’s going to bother them this time around. Surprisingly, black-to-blue hair enters their field of vision.
“Mizuki,” the voice starts.
“An,” Mizuki retorts with no real venom. They lift their head up to get a better view of An; getting an eyeful of the girl’s mixed emotions on her face - curiosity, worry, frustration, excitement, you name. “…what’s on your mind?” They ask as they raise an eyebrow.
An lifts up her hand to pinch her nose as it scrunches up, letting out a sigh. “God, it sounds bad, even coming from me, but have you heard the rumors?”
Hell, of course they’ve heard of the rumors. They aren’t that stupid. Though, to their better judgment, Mizuki decides to feign innocence. “Rumors of…?” They scrunch their eyebrows together to further sell the deal. In all honesty, they’ve only heard small conversations here and there, but not the whole story - so why not drag An to tell them everything?
Somehow, An’s face squishes further together. “I swore you would’ve heard something by now, especially someone like you .”
“‘Someone like me’?”
“Yeah,” A groan escapes the girl’s lips. “Whatever. You know how Akito’s been walking you to your class?”
Mizuki hums in acknowledgment.
“So people have been chalking it up to you two dating..? God, this is so stupid, ” An grumbles, a hand lands on her hip and grips tightly . “And since you’ve been coming to school more, they think you guys like, do more ? I don’t-”
“Wait. Wait wait wait. The fuck does ‘do more’ mean?!” Crimson slowly creeps its way onto Mizuki’s ears and, god, this is worse than Mizuki could have ever imagined.
“You know, like- wait.” The black-haired girl abruptly slams her hands into the latter’s desk, catching them - and everyone around the two - off guard. Eyes start to prick Mizuki’s back, and, oh god. “You didn’t deny you and Akito were dating.”
“ That’s the part you’re focused on?” The pink-eyed person whisper-yells at An, sitting up straight and leaning over towards her. Their eyes desperately flicker back from An’s eyes to the pairs of eyes watching them like a fucking hawk. “Can we talk about this later,” Mizuki says through their teeth as they bite their lip - hard enough where the imprints of their teeth will last for a good while.
An raises an eyebrow, then peers over to where Mizuki’s eyes are so focused on. A small ‘oh.’ is let out before the black-haired woman slowly backs off. “Uh, yeah, sorry. Talk to you at lunch.” She murmurs, swiftly walking over to her own seat.
The gazes of their classmates still pierce Mizuki’s skin. They wonder what it would be like to die right there and then.
“Yo, Mizuki.” Akito calls from outside their classroom’s door. He should be lucky that everyone has left already, or else each person in a six foot radius would turn their gaze onto them.
A half-hearted hum emits from Mizuki’s throat. They tap their pencil on their lips mindlessly, focused on the work that they should have done last night but, hey, they had a call with Niigo, and what’s more important: Niigo or their homework? Definitely Niigo, that for sure.
Their brain snaps back into reality as they feel a warm breath on their ear. The ginger has, miraculously, moved so quietly over to Mizuki’s desk and is currently leaned over their work, taking an eyeful of the writing splayed out in their notebook. Mizuki swears that they stopped breathing for a second.
“What’s this for?” Akito asks nonchalantly. Like he isn’t even paying attention to the way Mizuki’s heart flutters, does a couple backflips, then dies all in one go.
Taking in a sharp inhale, they spin their head towards Akito and - oh my god.
Mizuki attempts to calm their heart down with slow and steady breaths, but the moment they turn around, all those efforts flush away. Akito’s lips are just barely inches away from their own, and it takes everything in Mizuki to not flicker their eyes down at them. Unconsciously licking their lips, they start to open their mouth - however, Akito soon realizes their situation and steps away, turning his head from their view. They watch as a slow blush creeps up onto Akito’s ears. Mizuki is definitely going insane, aren’t they.
“Ah, um, sorry,” The ginger uncharacteristically stutters, desperately fidgeting with his earring. It’s a cute gesture Akito does when he’s nervous, and, god, does it take a lot in them to not stand up, grab Akito by the collar and-
A cough interrupts their dilemma. The two spin their heads simultaneously towards the noise, revealing a lengthy - yet somehow also short? - figure standing a couple feet away from the two. They rest their hands on their hips as their voice booms through the empty classroom.
“So I get to ask you both now?” The individual - An - begins. With creasing eyebrows, Akito glances over at Mizuki, who looks back - only to give a shrug as they press their lips into a thin line. A short sigh leaves the ginger’s mouth as the two look over at An again - one of her hands pinching her nose.
“I talked about this with Mizuki earlier, but have you heard the rumors about you two, Akito?” An begins, her free hand lifting up to softly scratch her neck.
Eyebrows furrowing deeper, Akito glares at the girl standing in front of them. “What rumors?”
“ God you’re both helpless ,” An grumbles, letting out an exasperated sigh. “That you two have been dating.”
“…and?”
“Oh my god, just admit that you’re dating instead of dodging the question!”
“We’re dating,” One says.
“We aren’t together!” The other quips.
Mizuki and Akito whip their heads towards each other. The older scrunches up their face - confusion written all over. Their eyes ask: ‘What the fuck are you talking about?? I thought we agreed on this??’ Akito glares back with narrowing eyes, practically replying ‘Yeah, but it’s An! She’ll see through everything!’
“Will you guys stop ogling one another for one second?”
Ginger hair swiftly spins towards An, practically shooting daggers into her skin. The girl sighs, her whole body dragging as she leans forward. Her black bangs cover her eyes, probably filled with an onslaught of emotions ranging from pure confusion to downright annoyance. “Okay, just, like, talk to me here. What the hell is going on between you two?”
Mizuki is still looking at Akito when their eyes meet again. Mumbling, they ask “You wanna tell her? Or should I?”
“Tell me what?” An lifts her head up, revealing a moved eyebrow - curiosity plastered all over her face. Mizuki and Akito let out a groan together.
“So, uh,” Akito starts, fidgeting with his earring with one hand. He glances over at Mizuki, who gives a sincere smile and nods; Akito lets out another sigh. “I guess, technically, we aren’t really dating? It’s just a ploy, y’know? Like we act like we’re a couple, I walk them down to their classroom and we - sometimes - eat lunch together.”
Curiosity that once took over An’s face slowly morphs into confusion. She opens her mouth a couple of times, but no words seem to fall out. A couple seconds of silence berate the three as they all stare at each other. Eventually, someone speaks up.
“So… can I ask why, exactly, you're doing this?” An attempts to speak with a plain tone, but the edges around her message carry annoyance with her. Mizuki can’t really blame her.
“It’s, ah, kind of embarrassing.” Akito bites down onto his bottom lip, lifting up his hand to scratch his cheek with his pointer finger. “It’s ‘cause-”
“Y’know what? Don’t answer that. I think I already know.”
Akito, eyes facing down towards his feet, murmurs “You know?”
For a moment, An shoots a small, yet worried, smile before she spins around and struts towards the door - briefly stopping to eye down Mizuki. She mouths ‘Don’t hurt him. Please.’ All the latter can do is nod shortly in reply before An truly leaves the vicinity.
Pink eyes peer over at the ginger, who’s tightly gripping the bottom of his blazer. His eyes are still locked down at the ground, as if contemplating something. Mizuki attempts to open their mouth and ask if he’s okay, but something in them makes them stop before the words come tumbling out of their mouth. He looks so much more pitiful, like a wet cat drenched in the rain.
Sighing, Mizuki quickly shoves their - still unfinished - work into their hand, the other grabbing at one of Akito’s. The gesture makes the latter quickly whip his head up at them, olive-green eyes piercing into their own. They offer a gentle smile, slightly tugging at the ginger’s hand.
“C’mon, let’s go. Don’t want to wallow here in this classroom, do you?”
Akito’s death grip on his blazer softens as he turns his hand around to cup the pair’s palms together. Mizuki offers soft brushes with their thumb against the back of Akito’s hand as an attempt to calm him down. It works, to some extent.
“Yeah, you’re right. Lead the way, Mizuki.” Akito gives a smile back. It feels more genuine than usual.
Mizuki is going to deny every feeling they have in their chest as Akito interlocks their fingers together. They’ll stop feeling like this eventually. Surely.
-
“Why are we here again?” Mizuki groans, cupping their ears with the palms of their hand as they desperately try to block out the loud arcade music.
Akito deadpans at them, his hands shoved in his pocket as they walk in deeper - dodging people left and right. “We’re here to watch Touya and Nene go on a date.”
The corner of their lip rises in annoyance as they grumble. “Shitty place for a date, in my opinion.”
In all honesty, the arcade itself isn’t all that terrible. Well, it is somewhat bad because of the hundreds of people somehow huddled into a 50 foot by 50 foot area - people constantly shoving one another to mingle their way into the machines. It has a small prize area huddled in the corner of the place, offering things that range from candies to virtual reality sets (do people really have enough energy to stay for that long?). Next to that, though, is what really catches Mizuki’s eye: the claw machines.
They’ve got to admit, yeah they may be here with Akito to stalk his best friend for some reason, but hell, they’re still technically on a date, right? So couldn’t they just… drag Akito to the claw machines? Shifting their view up towards Akito, they lean in closer towards him - arms stretched out and hands linked together.
“Can we-”
“No.”
Mizuki sinks back to their original position, eyes darting straight into the crowd. They grumble under their breath as they pout. “You’re no fun,”
Ginger hair falls in front of the other’s face as he lets out a huff. He’s dead set on going somewhere - probably where Nene and Touya are - from the way he keeps slipping by people left and right. Mizuki helplessly trails behind, attempting to slip through the crowd as effortlessly as Akito does.
“Akito, can you stop moving so fast?! I can barely keep up,” Mizuki half-yells, their pace quickening as they desperately try to catch up to a very eager Akito.
The man spins his head back, furrowing his eyebrows as he notices the distance between them. He squeezes through some people in between the pair, with seemingly with no effort at all. Eventually, Akito stands in front of Mizuki, and before they can properly react, a hand reaches down and grabs their own - a small noise of surprise escaping their throat. “Sorry,” he mutters, hands - yet not fingers - interlocked.
Loud thuds against their ribcage make Mizuki keenly aware of their situation. Biting down on their inner lip, they struggle to keep a straight face. Akito’s hand is so much warmer than what they would have expected - a small bit bigger than theirs too. They wonder what it would feel like to have his hands on their- Mizuki strangles that train of thought before it reaches anywhere they really aren’t willing to go to yet.
“‘s fine,” They grit out, eyes glancing down at the pairs feet. Having long legs must be nice, since Mizuki - still - struggles to keep up as Akito passes by people, despite the fact that they’re holding hands.
Attempting to calm their pacing heart with deep breaths only earns them a pair of olive-green eyes looking down at them. Akito’s face seems neutral, but something in his eyes screams something different - something like worry. “You good?” He asks, tone wavering between cool and concern. Mizuki doesn’t know if they even have the voice to reply, so they settle with a quick nod. Akito seems to accept it, as he starts up the pace again.
Even though it’s only been about a couple minutes, it feels like hours have passed by. Faces blur by them as Mizuki tries to not focus on the way their hand starts to feel clammy in Akito’s grasp, the way their heart feels as if it’s going to burst in a couple seconds, the way butterflies litter their stomach as the two breath together.
Akito’s grip tightens suddenly as he comes to a full stop, Mizuki slamming nose-first into the ginger's back. They stammer away, about to yell at him before they squint at what he’s looking at and - oh.
Oh. They see why he stopped now.
Nene and Touya are kissing. They’re kissing right in front of Akito - the man who’s oh so deeply into Touya.
They can’t see Akito’s face, but they know enough that he shouldn’t stay here anymore. With a tug, they bring the ginger’s attention back to them. “Wanna get out of here?” Mizuki asks, one eyebrow raised. They hope that they don’t look too worried.
With a small hum in agreement from Akito, it’s Mizuki’s turn to drag him along. It feels weird, having someone you’re holding onto as you swerve left and right through people, but oh, does it make Mizuki want to implode on the spot. Their clammy hands grip one another tightly, Akito, once again, making the effort into intertwining their fingers together once more. And, fuck, does it mess with Mizuki’s brain.
Instead of going directly to the exit, pink eyes lock onto the claw machines - beelining towards them. A second passes before Akito lets out a sigh, it somehow seeming more fondly rather than condescendingly.
“I can’t believe you managed to get me over here anyways.” Akito smiles through his voice, making the pink-haired individual’s heart do a backflip.
Their pace slows down as they reach the machines. “I have my ways,” Mizuki giggles, eyes not daring to look back at the person behind them. They don’t think their heart could take it - the way they know that he’s staring at them with every ounce of gentleness.
Faint glowing of the artificial light inside the machines begin to become brighter as the two close in. There’s about six claw machines lined up next to each other, but one has caught Mizuki’s vision ever since they’ve laid eyes on it.
Making a mad dash (not exactly mad nor a dash, but what’s the fun in that?) towards the machine, the finally place themself in front of it, letting go of Akito’s hand - with a small groan escaping his lips - and shoving a finger at the glass. “You’re going to help me get that pink cat right there.”
Scoffing, Akito crosses his arms around his chest, raising one eyebrow. “And if I don’t?”
“I’m not buying lunch.”
“You don’t seem like the type to pay anyways.”
Mizuki squints their eyes at Akito. “Fine. I’ll buy you dessert. Whatever you want.”
A pregnant pause in Akito’s voice catches them off guard. For a brief moment, his eyes light up. He’s so cute, they think, before smothering the thought with their metaphorical foot.
“…anything?”
One groan escapes Mizuki’s lips. “Yeah, sure. Just don’t make me regret it or anything.”
“Deal.” Akito nods, his eyes filled with determination. Mizuki lets an unconscious smile graze their lips. If he had a tail, it would be wagging like crazy right now.
He slips a coin into the machine, grabs the handle to move the claw, and proceeds to spend about 30 seconds squinting his eyes at the machine, occasionally popping his head to the side of it - probably trying to guess the distance of the claw versus where the plushie lays. His bottom lip juts out as he concentrates on moving the contraption.
Mizuki can’t help but be lost in how focused he is. It’s borderline silly, but hey, they’re getting a plushie out of it, so what’s the harm? They attempt to focus on the movement of the claw inside the machine, but their gaze ends up drifting towards Akito instead. His eyes glint with focus as he fidgets with the controller - occasionally leaning forward and squinting even harder. They wonder if he’s always like this: so focused on one goal that he doesn’t realize the glares of people behind him, so focused that he doesn’t even notice Touya and Nene watching him. Mizuki tries to nudge Akito and tell him, but he only replies with “Stop, you’re going to mess me up,” instead.
Eventually, Akito presses the button. He watches the claw open its mouth, glide down, grab the plushie, lifts back up and slides over to the hole - dropping it successfully without having to redo anything. He lets out a breath, placing his forehead on the glass.
Mizuki’s eyes follow the ginger as he swiftly bends down, sticks his hand into the trapped door contraption, and slides his hand out with the plushie. “Here,” He says, shoving it into Mizuki’s arms. He lifts one hand up to fidget with his earring. “Sorry it took so long.”
Pink eyes blink a couple times, their mind still reeling as to what had just played out in the span of - maybe? - two minutes. They settle for a brief shake of their head. “Don’t worry about it. Where’d you wanna go?”
The two set off towards the exit of the arcade. Mizuki is ever so glad Touya and Nene left before they said anything. Akito rambles about some café that’s just opened up recently, talking about their sweets - specifically the pancakes. They don’t mean to tune out his words, but Akito’s voice feels so smooth and passionate that they can’t help but lose themself in his banter.
This fake-dating thing is going a lot better than Mizuki could have ever imagined. Although they don’t necessarily hang out with Ena more, they do learn new tidbits about her that they didn’t know about before - and in theory, they should be happy, right?
They like Ena, right? So taking the position of dating Akito should make them happy that they’re getting closer to her.
So why does Mizuki’s heart ache whenever they watch Akito stare longingly at Touya?
An unexplainable feeling settles in their abdomen when Akito talks about Touya in such a high regard. It’s not them being worried. It’s not excitement flowing in their veins. So jealousy, maybe? No, but why would they be jealous of Touya? It’s not like they like Akito, right?
It’s not like they stare at Akito the way they used to stare at Ena in the sekai. It’s not like their heart jumps every time the two lock hands. It’s not like they wonder what it would be like to kiss Akito on the lips- wait.
Oh.
Oh my god.
They like Akito .
What the fuck are they supposed to do now?! They made a promise to end things if one lost feelings towards their crush, so is Mizuki just supposed to end everything and move on to casual bickering with Akito? Are they supposed to act like every somewhat couple-ish action they do doesn’t have an effect on their heart? Is he going to get mad at them for losing feelings for Ena? How do they go about this? How are they supposed to go back to ‘normal’ now, whatever that means. How-
“Mizuki, am I losing you?”
Pink eyes move up and over to meet with the respective olive-green ones. They stare at Akito’s face - his eyebrows pressed together, worry spread all over. They want to stare at him for longer: to watch the way his chest inflates and deflates as he breathes, the way his orange hair slowly sways with each step he makes, the way small moles plaster his face that Mizuki has definitely not noticed before.
Tearing their vision from him, they reply with a soft hum and the shake of their head. They shouldn’t be doing this anymore, shouldn’t be doing this ploy with Akito anymore. Shouldn’t indulge themself deeper.
With a sigh, Akito opens the door to the café - when did they get here? - letting Mizuki in first. They nod a ‘thank you’ before entering. The hold of the plushie in their arms tightens. They resist the urge to smother their face in it.
A waiter pops by and wisks them away into a booth, one smudged in between two other tables with occupants already sitting in them. The waiter smiles as they hand the two menus, giving the basic restaurant spiel that practically everyone has heard of. Akito replies with something that Mizuki doesn’t catch (probably because they’re too busy spacing out to reel in their surroundings), and the waiter nods, turning around to leave the pair.
“This place is kinda expensive, but I’ve been here with Touya before, and their sweets are really good.” Mizuki hears Akito ramble on, placing his elbows on the wooden table in front of him. “I’m obviously biased, but their pancakes are divine. Like, I’m serious, they’re so fluffy. It makes me want to shove my face in the food, but obviously I’m not that much of a maniac to rid myself of basic manners.”
Mizuki’s head is turned towards the window to the right of them, slowly nodding their head at Akito’s word vomit. They listen peacefully as the ginger chatters on and on, enjoying the moment - before it gets cut off abruptly when Akito stops talking mid sentence.
“Mizuki,” He says. It sends a chill down their spine.
“m’?” They reply, not daring to look over at him.
Warm hands suddenly grasp their face, turning their head towards the man. A sudden flush starts to consume their whole body.
“You good? You’ve been acting weird all day.”
With a rapidly beating heart and their face slowly growing ever so red, they attempt to speak: but all that leaves their mouth is some incoherent nonsense that doesn’t even make sense in their own brain. Akito looks at them while he squishes his eyebrows together - wrinkles forming in his forehead. Mindlessly lifting their hand, they push his eyebrows back, trying to smooth out his skin. Muttering under their breath, they inhale a “Stop furrowing your brows. You’re gonna get wrinkles.”
A brief flash of red appears at the tips of Akito’s ears. His eyes squish as he slowly lets go of Mizuki’s face (to their dismay). “Yeah yeah, okay, fine - can you stop that now?”
Mizuki hums as they slowly drag their finger away, ignoring how their heart hopelessly thumps as Akito’s eyes trail along as it leaves.
The silence between them is brief, but welcome - giving time for Mizuki’s face to slowly fade from a fierce tomato red to a rosy pink. They lean their elbow on the table, their hand cupping their face as they look outside.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Mizuki.”
With their eyes glancing over towards Akito, they notice how serious he looks. His brows aren’t pressed together this time, but the look in his eyes scream with worry. Posture straight, his hands lay flat in his lap - a foot subconsciously bouncing, given that his body is slightly shaking.
They shake their head, offering a grin. “I’m fine, Akito. Why, worried about lil’ ol’ me?”
Mumbling something under his breath, he opens his mouth to retort something, but before anything spills out, their waiter arrives.
They quickly ask what each of them want, Akito replying with their signature pancakes and Mizuki asking for a chai latte. The waiter nods, jotting down the orders in their notes. Just as soon as they arrive, they’re quick to depart. Akito takes this as a chance to speak again.
“Just a chai? You sure you aren’t gonna get any food?” He raises an eyebrow at them.
“Could ask the same for you, y’know. Not even a drink? Plus, I’m on a diet - I think I can afford to skip out on lunch.”
“Uh huh,” Akito mutters, furrowing his eyebrows again. Mizuki resists the urge to push his brows back again. “If you’re hungry I can share some of my food with you.”
A giggle erupts out of their throat. “Wow, the Shinonome Akito offering some of his food with me? What did I do to deserve this offer?”
Ginger hair quickly whips around, giving Mizuki a chance to see the flush spread from Akito’s ears to, presumably, his cheeks. “Don’t make me regret sharing.” He snaps playfully. Call them crazy, but they swear they can see a smile sneaking its way to the tips of his lips.
Half-heartedly rolling their eyes, Mizuki lets out a gruff. “Sorry, sorry.” They purse out their lips and leans back into the cushion of the booth, crossing their arms.
A couple minutes pass, the pair making small conversations with each other, until their food arrives. A relatively petite coffee cup is placed in front of Mizuki, and a stack of three medium sized pancakes drizzled in maple syrup with raspberries and blueberries neatly placed on top and around said pancakes. If they’re going to be honest, it does look appetizing right about now.
Grabbing their cup, they slowly press the hot liquid onto their lips before quickly - but not fast enough that their drinks spills all over the place - pulling the cup away. Their tongue sticks out dully as they scrunch up their face, eyes glaring down the oat colored liquid.
“You burnt your tongue?” Akito chuckles, small clicks and clacks echo from the plate as he cuts into the pancake.
Mizuki darts their gaze from their latte to Akito, glaring him down. “Maybe,” they grumble, tongue still sticking out.
Retracting their tongue back in their mouth, they slowly carve their mouth into an ‘o’ shape, blowing onto the coffee. They half expect a ‘oh, you know that doesn’t do anything, right?’ from Akito, but nothing but comfortable silence greets them. Part of them wants to enjoy the silence while it lasts, and the other wants oh so dearly to hear Akito’s voice.
Luckily for them, Mizuki’s stomach grumbles. Letting out a groan, they softly place down their cup and softly slam their head into the backboard of the booth - hands cupping their face.
“Told you that you’d get hungry.” Akito perks, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips.
Muffled by the weight of their hands pushed onto their face, Mizuki lets out a whined “That’s not what you said. I’ll just eat when I get home later,”
“I said I’d share, didn’t I?”
Rapidly, Mizuki’s hands slide off their face, their pink eyes squinting at the other. “You were being serious?”
Akito takes a couple seconds to reply, given that he has a bite sized piece of soft and fluffy pancake shoved in his mouth - thank god he has some type of manners.
“Yeah? Why would I not be serious about that?” He finally answers, a confused look plastered on his face.
“I don’t know,” Mizuki briefly sputters, waving their hands in the direction of the stack of pancakes. “You just seem so protective over your food, especially when it comes to your favorites - is that stupid of me to think so? I swore I’ve seen you physically snatch your bento away from people when they reach out to grab something.”
Akito stabs his fork harshly into the flesh of the pancake, the metal making a small klank against the ceramic plate. “You’re different,” he mumbles - almost quiet enough that Mizuki swears they didn’t hear him right, yet not confident enough to push any further.
Mizuki lifts their latte, the ceramic warm to the touch, but probably cool enough to be able to drink without burning their tongue again. They close their eyes, trying to indulge themself in the sweet tasting chai, before another - softer - clink against the dish across from them makes Mizuki open their eyes.
They watch Akito gently cuts off a piece of his pancake, slowly and delicately. When it’s fully cut off, he pierces its flesh with the metal. Instead of moving the piece towards his own mouth, he guides his hand towards Mizuki’s and- oh.
The pink-haired person’s brain short circuits for a second.
“Don’t leave me hangin’,” The ginger remarks, smiling widely.
“I don’t want your-” A grumbling stomach cuts them off. With a groan, they place their cup down on the table. “You better not use this as blackmail.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He snickers. God, he’s cute.
Mizuki leans forward and bites over the pancake, their lips sliding off the fork for a second. They start to chew - albeit slowly. A couple moments pass until the swallow. “Oh shit,” They quip, placing a hand on their cheek. “That's good.”
Akito shrugs, a smug smile plastered from ear to ear. “What’d I tell ya?”
The two eat in silence for about 10 more minutes, Akito munching away on his pancakes slowly and Mizuki occasionally asking if they can have some. He asks once, ‘Do you want a whole one?’ for which Mizuki replies with ‘Nah, I’d rather feed off of you.’ Akito shakes his head, retorting a ‘Whatever,’ back.
Eventually, the two step outside of the café. It’s about midday - 14:15 to be exact - and to be honest, Mizuki doesn’t have any plans for the rest of the day. They could ask Akito if he wants to do something else, but the tingling in their heart makes them second guess their train of thought.
“Hey,” Akito starts, Mizuki tilting their head to look up at him. “You free tomorrow after school?”
“Should be, why?”
“Ya wanna come over?”
Mizuki almost chokes on their saliva. “Uh, sure, but why?” They attempt to seem level-headed, but with the way their voice wavers, they’re not exactly sure it has any effect.
Akito’s view is pointed towards the street, which, is lucky for Mizuki, because they are 90% sure they look like a tomato. Again. He shrugs nonchalantly. “Dunno, maybe I just want you over. You get to see Ena too, right?”
Right. He still thinks they like Ena.
Tearing their vision away from him, Mizuki quietly murmurs. “Yeah. Okay, I’ll go.”
It doesn’t dawn on them until after they had gone home, showered, got changed, and placed the plushie snugly between the pillows of their bed, that Mizuki had indirectly kissed Akito during their outing. They flop onto the bed, face smothering into their pillows.
They end up screaming for a solid ten seconds.
-
The Shinonome residence is a lot nicer than what Mizuki had expected. Not like they expected some run down building or anything! But it’s a lot neater compared to their home, at least. Grabbing the back of their shoe with their pointer finger, they slip off both shoes in the doorway - Akito mimicking the same action.
“Parents aren’t home today, so we can just do whatever.” He breathes. It sounds a bit weirder than usual, but Mizuki doesn’t press him on it.
“Ena here?” They ask instead, looking up at the ginger as they set their shoes next to his.
Akito pauses for a second, probably thinking about something. “Should be,” he mutters, setting off to the kitchen.
The ginger has insisted that Mizuki walk home with him, for some reason. This, obviously, made the surrounding people talk amongst themselves as the two made their way outside the school - a bit closer than usual.
“You can’t even let me change out of my uniform first?” Mizuki groans. Their hands are sitting comfortably behind their head, elbows facing outwards - creating some distance between the pair as they walk through the shaded sidewalk.
“If you wanted to, you should’ve said something before we left.” His eyes face forward, hands shoved in his pocket.
Their eyes flash towards the street. “True… but, hey!” Mizuki turns their head towards Akito once more, “You can change into something more comfortable while I can’t!”
“Sucks to suck.” Akito turns towards them with a tongue sticking out. They stick their own tongue out in retaliation.
“You could always let me borrow a shirt or something,” Mizuki grumbles.
Akito momentarily loses his footing, tripping over his own shoe as he flaps his arms in an attempt to keep his balance. He doesn’t fall, to Mizuki’s disappointment.
A small snicker falls out of their mouth, watching the now disheveled Akito pretend like none of that occurred. “You good there?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah. Fine.” He shoves one hand into his pocket and uses the other to fiddle with his earring.
“Whatever you say,~” Mizuki teases. They practically eat up how Akito’s ears slowly flush again.
Ena was, in fact, not home. God knows where she is, but the fact still stands - neither of them know what the hell to do.
Letting out a huff, Mizuki leans back in the wooden chair of the Shinonome’s residence dining room. They lift up one of their arms and places the other around its elbow, stretching. If their phone wasn’t at 10%, they’d be using it right now.
Their eyes slowly drift upwards to the warm glow of the light above them. Akito has been… distant lately. He feels almost out of it. Even though it’s only been a day, his whole demeanor has changed - whether that be good or bad. They sat with him during lunch today, and Mizuki couldn’t help but feel the stare on them whenever they looked away from Akito’s direction. Did he always used to do that? But, fuck it all, did the vision made Mizuki’s heart patter. Maybe they should stop this dating thing with him after all - given that they don’t even like Ena romantically anymore. What should they do, though? How would they tell him? Should they tell him straight up that they like him now?
A faint smell of batter fills the air, bringing Mizuki out of their spiral. It seems to come from the kitchen, and, out of pure boredom (is what they tell themself), marches their way slowly into it.
Fresh batter lays inside a black non-stick pan, the cream color occasionally being broken up by bubbles. Mizuki makes their way to the side of Akito, who hasn’t noticed their presence yet. They waltz behind him, leaning their head to the side, getting a better view of the pancake.
“Pancakes? Again?” Mizuki jokingly questions with a hushed laugh.
Ginger hair quickly flys by, the tallers olive-green eyes piercing into their pink hair. He stumbles a bit, hand separating from the hilt of the pan to the air. The other hand holding the spatula, his grip on the stick tightens.
Pink eyes tear away from the batter to Akito’s disordered face. “You good there, ‘kito? You’re acting like you forgot you’re the one who invited me over.”
Akito stammers, incoherent words falling out his mouth. He desperately tries not to look at them. “Ah, yeah, I’m… fine. Sorry.” A short pause greets the two, before the ginger locks eyes with Mizuki, his brow raised. “Wait, what’d ya call me?”
“Um, ‘kito’? Why?”
Akito’s warm beige skin slowly creeps into crimson. He shoves his gaze away from them. “No… no particular reason.” He mumbles.
Giggling, Mizuki turns their vision from the flushed man to his pancake.
“That things’ gonna burn if you don’t flip it.”
Muttering a ‘fuck’ under his breath, Akito grabs the handle of the pan again, shoving the spatula under the batter with the other. He quickly flips it over, fast and effective, like he’s done this millions of times. “Damn it,” he bemoans, head leaning back as a scowl crosses his face.
“You got any pancake mix left? I think that one’s a goner.”
It most definitely is. Instead of a fluffy, caramel brown greeting them, it’s charred - slightly hard around the edges. Honestly, it’s an accomplishment in itself to burn a pancake.
“Should,” Akito murmurs in reply. He slides the spatula under the food, lifting it up and placing it on a plate nearby. He grabs his pancake mix and pours some in the pan.
Chuckling, Mizuki lifts a hand and pats him on the back. The latter immediately tenses. “Need any help there? I’d call myself a decent cook, tee bee h.”
Akito turns his sight away from the pancake and to Mizuki, eyebrow curiously lifted. “You? A good cook? I doubt it.” He smiles briefly - Mizuki definitely not wanting for it to last longer - before shifting his vision back. “I’m fine, though. Not having a distraction would be nice.”
A downturned smile slams into their face, immediately flushing a bright red. “Did you just call me ‘distracting’?” They whisper, as if it was a crime to say out loud.
Halting his movements, Akito blinks a few times. His ears prickle with crimson. “Just get out of the kitchen.”
Mizuki happily obliged.
Their phone is now, officially, dead. Stifling another groan, they slowly lean onto the cold wooden table. A pink phone case laying back-up towards the ceiling. Mizuki wonders how long they can go without doom-scrolling on social media.
Eventually, soft footsteps echo into the dining room. The small clatter of two plates being placed on the table alerts Mizuki. They lift their head up to see two pancakes stacked up on top of each other laid before them.
“You made me some?” They ask quizzically, staring at the pancake. The dish has a fork already splayed on the side, so they use it to lift the top cake from the bottom. There’s no burnt one. “Huh. I was half expecting you to give me the bad one,”
Akito scoffs lightly, he raises his fork to hastily cut into his food. “Of course I did, you’re a guest, aren’t you? Also, who do you take me for? Why would I give you the burnt one?”
“Dunno, you seem like the type of person to do that.” Mizuki shrugs. They cut into their own respective pancakes.
Remember that comment from yesterday about Akito having manners? Yeah, well, that’s thrown out the window now.
The ginger eats like it’s the only food he’s had for days - when, to be clear, it isn’t. He’s had lunch today. Akito shoves food in his mouth aggressively, eating like a rabid dog. It’s kind of cute, if Mizuki thinks about it hard enough.
“Mizuki?”
Akito’s voice brings them back to reality, and, oh- fuck, were they staring?
“Yeah?” They reply, hopefully not too fast.
The man leans back, one-third of his stack of three pancakes already gone. How the hell does he eat so fast? “Do I have something on my face? You looked lost for a second.”
“There’s a little bit of syrup on your cheek.”
Akito lets out a small curse, wiping both his cheeks with a nearby napkin. It’s honestly adorable how his eating habits change when he’s around people and with closer ones.
Closer ones? Is Mizuki a close friend to him?
The word friend rattles in their brain. Right, they should tell him.
“Hey, Akito?” They breathe out under their breath, olive-green eyes looking up at them.
His reply is too natural for them to process what they’re about to do. “Yeah?”
“I think we should stop this fake-dating thing,”
Mizuki’s heart pounds against their chest. They watch Akito’s eyes go from confusion, to brief anger, and finally landing on worry.
“…why? You like someone else now?”
You. They want to reply.
Akito chokes on his food, coughing aggressively. Why? Did… shit.
Fuck .
They said it out loud, didn’t they.
“I should go,” Mizuki pushes themself up and away from the table, swallowing down the lump in their throat. They ignore how their heart is desperately beating. It makes their head spin.
A choked “Wait,” escapes Akito before he starts coughing again. “Don’t-”
“I’m sorry,” They bite down on their lip. Snatching their dead phone, they bolt towards the door, hastily slipping on their shoes. Fumbling with the lock, they hear Akito’s panicked footsteps, but he’s too late. They make a dash for it towards their house.
-
Mizuki has successfully ignored Akito for about a week.
Sometimes they see him by their locker, so instead of changing their shoes, they walk home in the school ones.
Sometimes he’s waiting outside their classroom door, so they use the opposite door instead.
Sometimes he’s sitting in their usual spot. The one they used to sit at together when they were “dating”. It makes Mizuki’s heart squeeze. Their eyes sting as they make a break for it in the other direction.
Fuck it all, Akito is everywhere .
An has even come up to them a couple times to ask if everything is okay. They nod their head, giving a fake smile. It’s not like their heart burns in their chest everytime they see Akito. Definitely not. It’s not like it feels like time stops when they see him.
Mizuki makes it home with a rapidly beating heart. They check their phone and, low and behold, there’s about ten messages from Akito on this day alone.
lil bro (kito <3) : 14:51
Mizuki?
Please answer me
Please
lil bro (kito <3) : 15:10
You cant keep ignoring me
Please
Just
Talk to me
Please
lil bro (kito <3) : 15:30
I cant keep this up
I just want to talk
A new message pops up on their screen. It’s not from Akito this time.
ena :P : 15:40
get on nightcord
you : 15:40
why
ena :P : 15:41
just get on
you : 15:41
k
give me a couple minutes
Slipping their headphones on, they join the call on nightcord.
“What is it, Enanan-”
“The fuck did you do to my brother?” Ena presses, anger lining the edges of her voice.
They furrow their eyebrows. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
An audible sigh rings in their ears. Ena is upset. Very upset.
“He’s been all mopey lately after you two hung out at ours! Even his friends have contacted me asking if I knew what was up!”
“He is?”
“Fuck you mean, ‘he is?’?! Have you seen him?!”
To be honest, no. They haven’t seen him, or, his face, really. They don’t think they have the heart to face him after the whole fiasco. “…no.” Mizuki replies quietly.
Another sigh exits Ena’s mouth. “What happened that day? I swear you’ve been acting all weird too.”
With a pause, they think about it for a minute. Should they tell Ena? What would she say? Would she berate them? Maybe.
“I, uh, may have accidentally let slip that I liked him,” Mizuki shoves their elbows into the desk, palms holding their face.
Ena raises a brow. Mizuki knows this because they used to pay attention to her like a hawk, taking in every little action she does everytime she talks. “Okay, so it’s reciprocated. Cool. That doesn’t explain why you’re ignoring him.”
“Wait, it’s reciprocated ?”
“I mean, yeah? Have you seen the dude gawk at you? Hell, remember that day you guys went to the arcade? The guy took probably an hour asking me what he should wear. I even asked him once if he likes you, before this,” Mizuki feels like Ena is waving her hands in the air right about now. “whole… thing.”
“…what’d he say?”
Ena sighs, grumbling. “He denied it, like an idiot. I think it’s fairly obvious that he likes you, in my opinion. He talks about you a lot, y’know. Kinda sounds like he’s in love-”
A brief knocking on Ena’s end alerts the both of them. The voice is muffled, so they can’t really hear the person talking, but they’re 95% sure it’s Akito.
“What? Leave me alone, I’m talking to someone. … Maybe. Hey, no, don’t come in!-”
“Mizuki?!” A gruff voice booms through the mic. Yep. It was Akito.
“Sorry Ena. I’ll text you later,”
“No wait, please-” Akito’s voice calls. He sounds hurt. Way too hurt.
They leave the call before he says another word. Tears dare to prickle their eyes as they wander their way back into their bed. Can they skip doing their homework? Maybe they should just stop showing up so often too. What if they just don’t show up for the rest of the year? Would that be too suspicious?
A text message makes their phone buzz, snapping Mizuki out of their loop by proxy.
lil bro (kito <3) : 16:00
I just want an answer
What did you mean when you said “you”?
Did you seriously mean me??
When did you stop liking Ena?
Please talk to me
I cant handle this
Mizuki
please
Mizuki’s heart squeezes tightly. They impulsively start typing, watching as the “…” typing bubble pops up.
you : 16:02
yes i meant you
im sorry
i didnt mean to ruin things
lil bro (kito <3) : 16:02
What??
You havent ruined anything
Mizuki please talk to me
Mizuki shut their phone off, ignoring the constant buzzing of Akito’s texts. They’re definitely skipping tomorrow.
They do not skip. An’s message about a test today makes them sit up in their bed quickly, hastily scrambling out of the covers as they start shoving clothes onto their body. They don’t have time to make themself something, so just soon as they get up, they leave their house.
The bell rings just as Mizuki enters the classroom. They ignore the curious stares of the people around them and place themself in their seat.
Luckily, the test is right before lunch, so they don’t have to spend time worrying about it. Unlucky enough, though, they didn’t study. At all. Probably doesn’t help that their mind is racing.
Why is it racing? Take a wild guess.
As the day passes, it feels oh so slow. An hour period feels like two. The drawing of teachers talking gets muffled as Mizuki zones out. They would tell themself to focus, but god, it’s been so hard to focus lately - given that Akito is so terribly trying to get something out of them, and Mizuki is trying their best to ignore him.
They’re grateful that no teacher has called on them. Maybe they noticed how out of it they looked and took pity on them. But wouldn’t that make a teacher also want to call on someone? Whatever, doesn’t really matter anyways.
Screeching, the bell rings. Their third period has ended, and now comes the next - along with a test. They quickly pull out their math notebook for some cram studying.
“Mizuki?”
Pink eyes fly up towards the voice. They stare into the person’s eyes. “Yeah?”
“Can you talk to Akito?” An replies.
Mizuki bites their lip. Hard. “I’ll think about it,” They mumble.
An sighs, scratching the side of her head with her nails. “Good enough for me.” She waddles her way back to her desk just as the teacher walks in.
Grumbling, they scan their notes, trying to take in as much knowledge as they can before the bell rings. In the back of their head, they think of Akito: his soft orange hair that they’ve only dreamed of touching, his rosy lips that are begging to be kissed, his olive-green eyes that stare down at Mizuki with so much genuine fondness that it makes their head spin, his stupid laugh that sends butterflies down into their abdomen.
They’re pretty sure they won’t pass this test.
Shuffling out of their seat immediately as the bell rings, they swiftly walk towards the door. They feel a couple of eyes prick their neck, but they ignore it - instead making a beeline towards their new and improved spot under the stairs spiraling up to the rooftop. However…
In their haste, they bump into someone’s back. Maybe they should have kept their eyes opened as they walked.
“Fuck, sorry,” They open one eye, peering into the back of a masculine uniform. “Wasn’t looking where I was going.” Mizuki’s vision moves up the back, revealing orange hair.
Shit. Orange hair.
“Mizuki?” Akito twists his head with such force that Mizuki wonders how his neck isn’t cramping.
“Ah, sorry, I’ll be going now,” They spin around and attempt to jog away, but a warm hand grabs their wrist instead. “Let go,” Mizuki mumbles, biting their inner lip.
The ginger lets out a choked breath. “No- please, Mizuki, I just want to talk.”
It feels like Akito’s words are purposefully tugging on Mizuki’s heartstrings. With a writhing chest, they attempt to twist their wrist away, but the grip on their wrist only tightens. Please, let go , they want to say, but no words form in their mouth.
“Just hear me out, please?” His voice stings with pain.
“…fine.” Mizuki finally mutters out.
It definitely does not make their heart flutter when Akito’s hand slips down from their wrist to their hand.
Akito leads them towards the roof - the place where it all began. Or maybe, he just led them there for more privacy. Who knows.
He stops suddenly once the door closes behind him, turning his body around. A mix of distress and sorrow covers his face. It makes Mizuki’s heart ache.
“Were…” Akito’s gaze peaks away for a moment, only to come back with a more pleading look. “Were you being serious when you said you liked me?”
Mizuki attempts to give a playful scoff. They’re not sure how well that turned out. “I already answered you, didn’t I?”
“I just want to hear it aloud,” The ginger says, staring directly into Mizuki’s eyes. If they squint hard enough, they swear they can see his eyes flicker down to their lips.
A sigh escapes Mizuki’s mouth. “Yeah, okay. Yeah, I do like you. Was this all you wanted to talk about or- mph! ”
With one hand gripping Mizuki’s hand, the other maneuvers over to their cheek as Akito pulls them in for a kiss.
God, it feels like they’re floating. They eat up how soft his lips feel against their own. He tilts his head slightly to deepen the kiss, his hand gliding over to the back of their head in an attempt to push them closer.
Akito pulls back abruptly, letting go of Mizuki’s hand and face. “Fuck, sorry, I don’t know wha-”
Mizuki man-handles the lapels of his blazer, making the boy lean forward - confusion splattered all over his face - before they promptly shove their own lips on his again. A muffled voice makes Mizuki pull harder on his collar.
Remember when they said they felt like they were floating earlier? Well scratch that, because they feel like the whole world revolves around them and only them at the moment. What’s better is that it’s Akito they’re kissing, and after everything, he’s kissing them back.
Akito places one of hands on the back of their head, gently guiding them into a deeper position. His other hand finds its way to Mizuki’s waist, pulling them impossibly closer. Their tongue prods at Akito’s lips, the taller opening his mouth slightly agape for them to slide it in. Mizuki giggles as he lets out a soft grunt when they slide their tongue across the roof of his mouth. It’s nice how such a gruff guy can fold over a kiss, how he - probably involuntarily - presses them closer to his body. Obviously, Mizuki reciprocates by tugging on his lapels harder.
Seconds pass into minutes, and the two stay in their positions, give or take a couple moments where one (Mizuki) pulls away to take a breather, and the other (Akito) hopelessly chases their lips. Akito attempts to reciprocate the kisses Mizuki has given, but it doesn’t turn out as well - they give him credit for trying, though. Every noise Akito makes in the back of his throat only makes them press harder into his lips, teeth almost clacking at the sheer force.
The ringing of a bell draws them out of the moment, Mizuki pulling back and catching their breath. The other looks completely disheveled, hair sticking up all over the place and bangs sticking to his forehead. He tries to chase Mizuki’s lips once more, but they promptly shove his shoulders away. Akito lets out a whine, pushing out his bottom lip.
“Hey, hey. We have class, lover boy.” Mizuki smiles, letting go of the taller’s collar and walking towards the door. They turn back, peering over at Akito, who’s silently staring at them. “You coming?”
Snapping out of his moment, a tongue runs over his top lip as he jogging over towards them. “Yeah, yeah.” He says, breathless.
Mizuki enters their classroom after waving Akito goodbye. Their heart is pounding seemingly endlessly, like they just got out of the best moment in their life - which would be true in some sense.
“I’m guessing you ‘talked it out’ with Akito?” An asks, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She does air quotes when she says “talked it out.”
Mizuki gives her a weird look. “Why’d you put the air quotes for ‘talked it out’?”
“Your lips are swollen.” An replies, a grin plastered on her face.
A small “fuck,” leaves Mizuki’s throat as they hide their lips in their mouth. Embarrassment pools in their stomach.
Damn Shinonome Akito and how stupid cute he can be.