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This is a bad idea.
This is an awful idea.
Tomoya sped his way out of the mall, while praying to whatever God there was out there that no one say him, wondering if this purchase was worth it or not. In his hands was Trickstar merch, specifically a small plushie of Hokuto who just had to me his upperclassman that he was shamefully crushing on. Tomoya was starting to get nervous about an upcoming performance in which he played the main character, who is a detective and Hokuto as the charming phantom thief who teases the main character. As much as he’s doing his best to act, he can’t help but get flustered while Hokuto teased and played with his actual heartstrings under this phantom persona.
He made it back to his dorm and held the small plush in his hand. He consulted Hajime about it earlier that week and he suggested getting a lucky charm of some sort to calm his nerves. He did see Hokuto as a huge inspiration and it’s not the first time they acted as the main characters together. However, ever since he realized this tiny admiration was not just not but a long lasting crush, it’s made it a lot harder especially in this circumstance.
This was, contrary to the beginning, an amazing idea.
It was actually working? He couldn’t explain it. He pressed the plush to his cheek before rehearsal and his nerves calmed down significantly. The flirting between their two characters still flustered him but he was able to twist it into acting instead of the actual raging crush he had. He started performing this little “good luck ritual” often. He made sure not to forget to do it and sometimes do it multiple times when they were on a break for an extra boost. This was likely all in his head and wishful thinking but it wqs working so why fix what’s not broken, right?
Until, one day. The club had finished rehearsal for the day. Tomoya still wanted to practice his lines a little more so he stayed back on his own to practice more. Hokuto stayed behind for a little bit which concerned Tomoya slightly.
“Are you not leaving yet Tomoya? You shouldn’t overwork yourself.” Hokuto asked, watching Tomoya flip through the script again.
“You can go on ahead Hokuto-senpai, I just want to practice my lines more. I’ll be okay!” Tomoya smiled, he didn’t think he could handle practicing with Hokuto alone. His character was so charming, he might die—
“We should practice our lines together, Tomoya.” Hokuto offered, catching Tomoya off guard completely.
Well shit.
That’s how Tomoya ended up practicing with Hokuto. Alone. Together. By themselves. The scene they were practicing with right now was where the mainn character encountered the phantom thief for the third time. The thief toys with the detective and flirts with him trying to get a reaction.
“Impressive detective, in fact, I’m almost flattered you’ve put so much time into my case.” Hokuto hummed, a playful tone in his voice
“It’d be best if you just turned yourself in! I have you cornered! Reveal yourself now and this can all end!” Great! Confidence! This is what the main character is supposed to sound like! He could do this, this wasn’t so bad after all— Hokuto stepped forward, holding Tomoya by the chin so the two could keep eye contact.
“Oh, you’d love to know what I look like do you? You must like me~”
Tomoya froze up at the contact, Hokuto never did this in the rehearsal with the rest of the club. This wasn’t in the script either. His voice was so calming to him. Hokuto’s eyes were so pretty, he could stare into them forever. Is this a dream? Tomoya never wants to wake up. This was practice however, he had to say his line. Wait, what was his line again? He couldn’t remember, his face was flushed. Hokuto went from acting to genuine worry.
“Tomoya, are you okay?” Hokuto’s voice cut through Tomoya’s embarrassment and snapped him out of his daze.
“I’m sorry Hokuto-senpai! I froze up…” Tomoya apologized profusely. Hokuto put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.
“It’s okay, I improvised the last part so it’s reasonable that it caught you by surprise. I’ll go get us some water.” Hokuto smiled, leaving the clubroom.
Tomoya needed his lucky charm.
The room was silent with just Tomoya’s footsteps filling the room. He ran to his bag to take out the Hokuto plush he keeps in there. He held the plush to his cheek, breathing in and out. Trying to calm himself down. Just then, the door slid open which caught Tomoya off guard. Hokuto stood at the door with two water bottles, staring at Tomoya with surprise and confusion.
“Is that…?” Hokuto began, recognizing the merchandise as he has one of himself and the rest of Trickstar.
“I— A…Well… Hokuto-senpai… I— You see! It’s, uhm…lucky charm…?” Tomoya stammered, wanting to explain himself and why he was practically cuddling a plushie of him. Hokuto huffed affectionately, making his way over to where Tomoya was sitting and taking the spot next to him.
“So that’s what you do when you step out during our breaks.” Hokuto chuckled, causing Tomoya to grumble and hide his head in his arms.
“Don’t make fun of me… It’s embarrassing…” Tomoya mumbled into his arms. Hokuto laughed and placed his hand in Tomoya’s head.
“Don’t worry, it’s flattering, I promise. It’s nice that it brings you luck. But…” Hokuto’s hand moved from his hair to his cheek. He nudged the rabbit to lift his face up to look him in the eyes. Tomoya, with blush dusting his cheeks, obliged and lifted his head. He leaned into Hokuto’s hand unconsciously.
“I’m right here, you can come to me instead~” Tomoya flared up again and hid his face on Hokuto's shoulder. Not the best place to calm down but it was the first place Tomoya had.
“Hokuto-senpai…” Tomoya mumbled, the embarrassment from his words as well as being caught making him want to curl up into a ball and disappear. Hokuto chuckled again and helped to stand up.
“We can stop here for today or continue practicing if you want.” Hokuto picked up his mask from the place he left it.
“Y-Yes! I wanna continue!” Tomoya straighten up, grabbing the script from off the floor. He wasn’t quite over what just happened but he was determined to get this role down.
“Hm, when Ra*bits comes out with plushes, I should get one too…”
“Hokuto-senpai!”