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For as long as Draken had known him, Mikey had always been… fussy, to put it lightly.
For as impossibly strong as he was, for as much respect he commanded and as great of a friend he had always been, he could, and Draken was saying this with love, sometimes act like a damned toddler. It was surreal to witness just how quickly he could go from mowing down an entire rival gang by himself to splashing around in puddles and throwing a fit about his bread tasting slightly sweeter than usual.
As annoying as it could be at times, Draken really didn’t mind it. If anything, he found it relieving that Mikey could still enjoy himself like that after everything he had been through, that he could still be a normal teenager even with the weight of Toman on his shoulders. Though, he wasn’t sure how much of Mikey’s behaviors qualified as ‘normal’—he didn’t think any other teenage boy could taste the exact sugar-to-flour ratio in sweet bread quite the way Mikey could.
But if there was any time that Draken questioned that line of thinking, it was in the mornings.
Mikey was not a morning person. To be fair, Mikey wasn’t really a ‘being awake’ person in general, but he was especially not a morning person. If anyone so much as got near him before eight, they would be lucky to leave with all of their limbs still attached to their body. The last time Draken had tried waking him up before then had been two years ago, and that was for a reason. He swore he could still feel the impact of Mikey’s foot hitting him square in the nose even now.
Even waking him up after eight could be dangerous. Well, ‘dangerous’ was relative. He didn’t kick and scream like a toddler if woken up later in the morning, but he did still cry and whine like one. “Five more minutes, Ken-chin…” Mikey would mumble out into one of the twenty trillion pillows he slept with, always sensing Draken in his room before he’d even said anything. And, being the idiot that he was, he’d always give it to him, and they’d end up missing half of the school day.
So, when Draken had delegated this task to Takemichi for a day, he had fully expected for him not to make it out alive.
It wasn’t really his decision. Okay, well, it was, but Draken didn’t want to have to take the blame when Takemichi ended up getting kicked in the face and screamed at by a disgruntled, half-awake Mikey.
Takemichi apparently didn’t like the fact that he and Mikey had been over an hour late to school every day for the past two years. He also didn’t particularly seem enthused by Mikey sleeping through all of his classes and almost exclusively eating sweet bread, but there wasn’t much he could do about that unless he could somehow think of something that Draken already tried.
“Maybe you’re just not trying hard enough?” He’d actually had the balls to suggest, and it had taken Draken an obscene amount of effort to not punch him in the face. Not trying hard enough. The thought made him laugh to himself. He was trying harder than he had any right to, and if Takemichi ever had to be around Mikey in the morning, he would understand that. “I mean, you obviously care about him a lot, but you gotta be tougher on him! Like, carry him to school if you have to, y’know?” Ignoring the fact that that’s what ended up happening half the time anyway, if Draken ever tried to carry Mikey to school after waking him up early, he would end up with more scratches on him than if he’d done the same to a stray cat. It was obvious that Takemichi was only saying that out of concern for Mikey, and Draken appreciated that, but he was out of his element here. He knew Mikey better than anyone, and he knew that trying to wake him up before school started was like willingly walking into a cage full of hungry tigers.
But if Takemichi really thought he just wasn’t trying hard enough, then maybe he was better off trying to do it himself.
“If you really think that, why don’t you try waking him up tomorrow?” Takemichi’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting that response. “You’ll have to get him up a few hours earlier than normal if you both want to make it to school on time.” The reality of the situation started to set in for him as soon as he said that. Trying to get Mikey up for school on-time was awful enough, but early? He was trying to get Takemichi to realize the ignorance of what he had said, not kill him. “There’s still time for you to back out if you don—”
“Okay!” He smiled, the idiot actually smiled, and Draken’s heart sank. It was nice knowing him. “I’ll get him up at six-thirty tomorrow. Ooh, maybe we’ll have time for breakfast if I get him up at six instead!” Draken felt himself physically wince.
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” he warned, but as he always did, Takemichi brushed it off with a smile and a wave of his hand.
“You’re acting like he’s a wild animal or something. It's just Mikey.” It’s just Mikey. He says that now, but he’d surely understand how wrong he was by tomorrow morning. “I doubt it’ll be easy to get him up on time, but it can’t be as impossible as you’re saying it is. He’ll do it if it’s to make his friends happy.” Oh, how naïve he was. He had some balls for trying to tell him how supposedly willing Mikey would be to wake up two hours early if it was ‘for a friend,’ as if that hadn’t been exactly what Draken himself had been trying to do for years, but he had to admire his courage. With some of the things Takemichi said about Mikey, it was like they knew two entirely different people. Draken would be lying if he said it hadn’t occasionally gotten on his nerves, but he tried to brush the feeling off. It was probably just because Mikey had known him for longer, and therefore felt more comfortable being his whiny, childish self around him than Takemichi. Probably, though he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was… off.
“I’m praying for you, Takemitchy.” Draken didn’t attempt to argue with him any further, because he knew it would be equivalent to trying to argue with a brick wall. And besides, for all he knew, this was the last time he would see Takemichi with all of his limbs still attached to his body, and he didn’t want to pre-emptively rub salt in that wound.
———
Going to school on-time was… odd for Draken.
This was the first time he’d actually been at the school gates before the end of his first period class in almost two years, but he couldn’t say he missed it very much. His peers looked at him strangely as he walked, and though he wasn’t sure if it was because he was actually on-time or because Mikey wasn’t with him, Draken hated it. Oh well, it’s not like this was a permanent arrangement. Once Takemichi realized what he’d gotten himself into, he’d be back to dragging Mikey out of bed two hours late as per usual.
He wondered how they were doing right now. Takemichi had said that he was going to try waking Mikey up at six, which meant he would have been there for almost an hour and a half by now. And, as much as Draken loved spending time with Mikey, being around him for over an hour at six in the morning could have been legally classified as torture.
Maybe he should have tried a little harder to talk Takemichi out of what he was doing. Maybe that way he’d still be alive by tomorrow.
“Oh, hi Ken-chin!!”
Draken’s head had never whipped around so quickly in his life.
“Mikey!?” He blinked a few times. Then cocked his head. Then blinked again. But no matter how many times he tried to wake himself up from what surely must have been a dream, Mikey was still standing directly in front of him, staring up at him and smiling. Takemichi was standing right next to him, giving Draken a stupid little ‘I told you so’ smirk, and holding onto Mikey’s hand like this whole routine was something they had done time and time again.
There was no way this was actually happening.
Either he had pulled a Mikey and fallen back asleep and this was all some weirdly realistic dream, or Takemichi had done something unspeakable to get Mikey awake in order to prove his point. But judging by the way Mikey was smiling and holding his hand it couldn’t have been the latter, and with the way Draken couldn’t seem to wake up no matter what he did, it couldn’t have been the former either.
What the hell, Mikey?
“What’s this about, Ken-chin?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. As if Draken couldn’t have asked him the exact same thing. “Couldn’t be bothered to come get me this morning?” It was only then that he noticed Mikey was chewing on something—taiyaki, probably—and he somehow got even more surprised. Had Takemichi actually managed to take him out to breakfast? This early? Not only that, but Mikey seemed particularly energetic, as if he had slept longer than usual instead of the opposite. He blinked slowly, letting this all sink in.
“No, it’s not like that,” Takemichi answered for him, shaking his head. “He was telling me about how difficult it is to get you up in the morning, so I wanted to see it for myself.” He still had that same stupid smirk on his face, and, once again, it took him a significant effort not to punch it off of him.
“Ohhh.” He seemed genuinely surprised, which caught Draken a little off-guard. Had this really not come up when Takemichi had burst into Mikey’s room unannounced? Not only that, but there went his growing theory that Mikey had actually woken up on time this once purely to spite him; he couldn’t have done that if he didn’t know why Takemichi was there today in the first place. “It’s a little mean to complain about your friends like that, Ken-chin.” Mikey’s smile didn’t fade, and it was obvious that he didn’t care much one way or another, but there was something just a little odd about the look in his eyes. Draken brushed it off. He was probably just tired.
“I wasn’t complaining. I was telling the truth.” And, really, that wasn’t a lie. Though it could be frustrating at times, and though he would never forget the pain of Mikey’s sleep-kicks, he wouldn’t trade this routine of theirs for anything. It was part of looking after Mikey, and he had accepted that a long time ago; he would never genuinely and full-heartedly complain about it. “The last time you were on time for school was two years ago when I lied and said they were serving donuts for breakfast.” …And then when Mikey found out that wasn’t true, he was so upset that he didn’t talk to him for three days. So even though it technically worked, Draken didn’t dare try it again.
“I’m still never forgiving you for that,” he pouted, crossing his arms.
“It was two years ago.”
“And you still haven’t bought me the donuts you promised me afterwards.”
“Yeah, because I was flat broke and didn’t really have money to spend on your stupid—”
“Uh, sorry to interrupt your… argument?” Takemichi said, sounding genuinely apologetic as if he had interrupted an actually important conversation. “But I, uh, really have to leave now if I want to make it to class on-time.” Oh, right, Takemichi’s school was a little while away from here. That made it even more strange that he’d walked Mikey all the way to the school gates before leaving. Hm. Maybe those two were a little closer than he thought?
“Aww,” Mikey frowned slightly, squeezing Takemichi’s hand that he was still holding. “Well thanks, Takemitchy. I’ll see you later.” He let go of his hand and waved him goodbye, finally finishing the taiyaki he’d been eating.
“It’s no problem!” Takemichi grinned, and Draken didn’t miss the quick glance he gave him as he did so. At least he wasn’t smirking anymore. “See ya!” He gave a quick wave back before taking off, speed-walking so he wasn’t late to class, and as soon as he was out of sight, Draken turned back to Mikey.
“What the hell was that abo—” He started, but Mikey was already gone.
Huh.
What an odd morning.
———
He couldn’t have cornered Mikey after school fast enough.
He would’ve brought it up while they were in class, but, as per usual, Mikey slept through most of it. He had a few opportunities while he was awake, but he figured this was a conversation better had alone anyway.
Mikey was standing right outside the school gate waiting for him as per usual, and the unusual expression he wore implied that he already knew what Draken was going to ask him.
“…So,” he started, not fully sure how to bring this up without sounding like he was insane and getting worked up over a minuscule change in routine. “Why’d you actually get up on time today?”
“What do you mean?” Mikey asked with faux-innocence as they started to walk home, as if they both didn’t know exactly what he was talking about.
“Every time I’ve tried to get you up earlier than eight-thirty you’ve kicked, screamed, or thrown something. One time you tried to bite me.” Mikey had actually apologized for that one. It seemed that only a part of the way he acted in the mornings was intentional, and the rest was just whatever demon possessed him when he was tired. “So why are you actually able to wake up when it’s Takemitchy instead of me? What, did he also lie to you about donuts?”
“Do not bring the donuts into this,” he warned, though Draken had a feeling that was just a way of dodging the question.
“Well, it’s the only way I can think of for him to actually get you up.” Mikey glanced away from him for a split second, so brief that Draken wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t so familiar with his behaviors. His brows furrowed. Something was going on here. “Look, if you won’t tell me I’ll just go ask Takemitchy himself.” That seemed to get Mikey’s attention, his eyes widening the tiniest bit.
“Why do you care so much?” He asked with a shrug, but, once again, there was a strange look in his eyes that made Draken feel uneasy. Just what was going on here? Takemichi hadn’t threatened him or anything, had he?
No, obviously not. The thought of him trying something like that made Draken laugh to himself, even ignoring the fact that he’d never do something like that to Mikey in the first place. He obviously hadn’t done anything to hurt or upset him, but if that wasn’t the case, how the hell had he managed to get him awake early enough to eat breakfast before class? He couldn’t quite figure it out, and it didn’t look like Mikey intended on telling him.
“I just wasn’t expecting it,” Mikey continued after he didn’t get a response. “You’ve been the one to get me up almost every day for years now, so the shock of it being Takemitchy instead was enough to get me awake, I guess.” Was that really it? It made perfect sense, and Draken felt like an absolute idiot for not thinking of it before, but something still didn’t feel quite right.
He shook his head. He was probably just overthinking all of this. It was just one day; it’s not like Takemichi had single-handedly solved Mikey’s hypersomnia or anything.
“Makes sense,” he said, ignoring the tiny voice in the back of his head trying to argue with him. “So, how was your breakfast?”
———
Draken didn’t plan on asking Takemichi about his side of the story.
He’d considered it, still not fully convinced of Mikey’s answer, but he realized that Mikey was probably right about it all.
“Why do you care so much?”
Why did he care? Other than his initial shock, why did it matter? Why could he not shake the feeling that there was something going on that he didn’t know about?
He didn’t plan on asking, but Takemichi apparently planned on rubbing his victory in his face.
“I told you you just weren’t trying hard enough!” Takemichi gloated the very next time Draken ran into him, an annoying sing-song tone in his voice. “I got him up early enough for us both to make it to school on-time, and for us to grab breakfast together, and it wasn’t hard at all! All I had to do was tell him it was me and he woke right up! Man, I didn’t think it would be that easy.” Wow, way to rub salt in the wound. Not only had he somehow managed to get Mikey to school on-time, he’d managed to do it with ease. He supposed that made sense if what Mikey said was true; hearing someone else’s voice in the morning when it had been Draken’s for so long must have startled him enough to shake away his tiredness.
“That’s only because he wasn’t expecting you,” Draken explained, because he wasn’t about to listen to Takemichi gloat about this for months on end. “Or, at least that’s what he told me.”
“Oh.” Takemichi’s frown was so prominent that Draken almost felt bad for telling him the truth. “Well, what if I do it again? Then that can’t be his reason, since it wouldn’t be the first time!” Draken sighed quietly. What was with Takemichi and wanting to prove him wrong so badly? Still, though, the idea intrigued him. A part of him still doubted that Mikey had been telling him the whole truth, and running this silly experiment again would answer his question. And, if Takemichi was so determined to get sleep-kicked in the face, who was he to deny him that?
“Fine,” he answered with a smile. “Why don’t you wake him up for the rest of the week?” Takemichi’s eyes widened a little, but he still nodded enthusiastically.
“Deal.”
———
Every day.
Takemichi and Mikey walked hand-in-hand to the school gates every day for the next week.
On-time. Sometimes early, so much so that Draken nearly missed them entirely.
Every. Single. Day.
And every day, Mikey gave him a different excuse. He couldn’t sleep, he had gone to bed early and wasn’t tired, Takemichi had told a really funny joke that had woken him up, etc. Draken tried not to push too much, still under the impression that he cared a little too much about this when, at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter.
But after an entire week of it, he had gotten suspicious enough to dig further into it.
“How the hell are you doing this?” He asked Takemichi the first time he’d seen him after the week was up, wanting to be the first one to say anything on the matter in order to avoid his inevitable gloating.
“How are you struggling so hard with it?” Strangely enough, he didn’t sound boastful about it. He sounded genuinely confused, as if he didn’t understand why Draken had always struggled with waking Mikey up in the morning. As if he knew a different Mikey. “He always wakes up as soon as I say his name. Actually, the last couple days he’s already been up and waiting for me. Are we even talking about the same person?” Takemichi laughed, but Draken was genuinely starting to wonder about that. He was seriously telling him that Mikey had already been awake when he’d gotten there? Mikey? Mikey, who had once managed to sleep for a solid twenty hours straight? Mikey, who Draken had to physically carry to school at least once a week because that was the only way he could get him to go? Mikey, who somehow got sleepy both before and after eating? He had been awake and waiting for Takemichi?
Something was going on here, and it was starting to make him genuinely concerned.
“Don’t come get him tomorrow.” Takemichi looked ready to complain, so he continued before he could. He had a feeling that seeing his puppy-dog eyes would wind up convincing him to let Takemichi come get Mikey in the morning for the rest of time. Which, judging by how the past week had gone, may not have been the worst idea. “I wanna see something.”
“Okay…?” He seemed confused as expected, but thankfully didn’t question any further. Draken started to walk away, but stopped as he remembered something.
“Thank you for looking after Mikey.” He smiled. “I appreciate it.”
———
Draken opened the door to Mikey’s room at promptly five-thirty the next morning.
He was fully awake. Fully dressed. His eyes the size of saucers, a bright smile on his face as he sat criss-cross on his bed.
What the hell.
“Gooooood morning Takemitchy!!!” He beamed, apparently not being awake enough to notice that the person in his doorway was very much so not Takemichi. “I was thinking today we could stop by that sit-down breakfast place close to your school! Maybe I can walk you to school today instead of the other way around. You’ve walked soooo much further than you need to because of me, and—” Mikey finally, finally made eye contact with him, and, upon realizing who was actually in his room, his voice dropped almost an entire octave as he frowned. “Oh. Hi, Ken-chin.”
“Why the hell do you sound so disappointed?” More importantly, why the hell was he so enthusiastic and ready to start his day at five-thirty in the morning? This was even earlier than Draken woke up, and he was a normal person that didn’t sleep for over half the day. It seemed that Takemichi really was telling the truth, then, and it was even more exaggerated and absurd than he’d made it out to be.
“I’m not disappointed,” he lied, and Draken knew it was a lie because he was still frowning. “I was just expecting Takemitchy.”
“Expecting him so much you’re up and dressed at five-thirty?” Who knows how long he had been sitting here, too. Was he really that excited to see Takemichi? He saw him almost every day anyway!
“Well, that’s usually when he comes to get me,” Mikey ‘explained,’ even though that didn’t actually explain anything. “That’s why.”
“I always come get you at exactly eight-thirty, and you’re always still asleep and in your pajamas.” Somehow, it seemed like Mikey didn’t expect him to see through the obvious flaw in his logic, and he looked away.
“Ah, well, that doesn’t matter,” he shrugged, then stood up with a stretch. “Since you’re here, why don’t we go get breakfast? Maybe you could finally buy me those donuts you promised.” Mikey elbowed him playfully in the side, plastering on a bright smile that Draken had long-since learned to be at least in part a façade.
“What’s going on?” He asked, and Mikey’s face dropped for a fraction of a second. “You’ve been acting weird.”
“You’ve been acting weird, Ken-chin,” he rebutted, though, again, he was dodging the question. “How come you’ve been sending Takemitchy to come get me up? Did ya get tired of me or something?” The smile on Mikey’s face looked a lot more genuine this time; at least they both knew that wasn’t the reason.
“It’s the same reason as before. You said the reason you actually woke up that first day was because you hadn’t been expecting him.” Like clockwork, Mikey’s face fell again, though so quickly and so insignificantly that anyone except Draken wouldn’t have noticed. “So he wanted to see if that was true.” Technically, that wasn’t entirely the truth. It was Draken who had a sneaking suspicion that Mikey had been lying to him; Takemichi had only wanted to prove himself.
“Ah.” Mikey looked away, then back at Draken with an expression he couldn’t quite identify. “Well, y’know, it’s only been a week. I’m still not used to being woken up by someone that doesn’t physically drag me out of bed.”
“I don’t drag you out of bed; I pick you up and put you on my shoulders because that’s the only way you’ll actually go to school.”
“Same thing.”
“No, it’s really not.” Draken sighed, rubbing his temples together. Somehow, this was even more difficult than he thought it would be. “But you’re dodging the question.” In all his wisdom, Mikey answered him with a shake of his head and a simple, “Nuh-uh.”
“I already answered your question, silly. I wake up for Takemitchy because I’m still not used to being woken up kindly and gently. Maybe if you send him after me for a few more months…” Once again, it was an explanation that made sense, but there was something still bothering Draken about it all. Whatever Takemichi did to wake him up, there was no way it was apparently so ‘kind and gentle’ that it got Mikey of all people awake at five-thirty in the morning. There was something that didn’t add up, but he couldn’t quite—
Wait.
“Why are you up and dressed right now, then?” Mikey cocked his head in confusion. “If the reason you wake up is because Takemitchy is soooooo nice to you, why’d you wake up before he even got here?” Now that he thought about it, Takemichi had said that Mikey had already been awake the last few days he’d gone to get him up. Had he finally caught him in a lie? Was Mikey finally about to explain why he suddenly stopped being a little bitch in the morning whoever Takemichi was around?
“What’s with you playing detective recently?” Mikey smiled softly, laying back down on the bed and spreading his arms out like a starfish. “Finally figured out how to use that little brain of yours?”
“Did you finally figure out how to stop acting like a toddler when someone tells you to wake up at a normal time?”
“It’s not my fault they made school start so early,” he pouted, then laughed quietly to himself. “But fine. Since you care soooooo much this tiny little thing, I’ll tell you why I’ve been getting up early.” Draken waited eagerly for a response. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect, in all honesty. If he had to make a guess, they had both made a deal purely to spite Draken, even if that didn’t completely add up. Because why else would adding Takemichi to the picture suddenly change a routine of Mikey’s that he's had since elementary school? He couldn't think of another explanation. “It’s because…” Mikey’s voice lowered down to something hardly above a whisper, something so unusual for him to do that it almost didn’t sound like him at all. “I like Takemitchy.”
…
Huh?
“Well, yeah, so do I! He’s our friend; of course you like him!” Not only was he confused, Draken was annoyed. He’d spent so long trying to get to the bottom of why Mikey had been acting so weird lately, and his answer was that Takemichi was his friend? Hey, wait, did that mean Draken wasn’t his friend? The hell was he implying here!?
“You’re such an idiot.” Mikey laughed softly, sitting back up. Now he was even more confused, and, to be honest, about ready to deck him in the face. “No wonder you— well, nevermind.”
“No wonder I what?”
“Nothing.” Mikey hummed, picking at his nails with a sort of bashful expression on his face that looked wrong on him. It felt like he was talking to the Mikey that Takemichi always described—kind, thoughtful, and gentle when he wasn’t in battle, if not immature at times—and not the one Draken had known for years—fussy, always exhausted and starving, a little bitch when he wanted to be. Was Takemichi really not exaggerating, then? Was Mikey really just that different when he was alone with him? Why? It was just Takemichi, it wasn’t like he was with some girl or someth—
Oh.
Ohhhhhh.
That’s what he had meant by ‘like.’
In an instant, everything made sense. Or, at least, more sense than it had before. It explained why Mikey was actually waking up early, which had been the main question on his mind this past week, but it also explained something else he had been wondering about recently.
Takemichi had never been describing a different person whenever he spoke about Mikey. He spoke about him the way he did because Mikey was a different person around him. He was more energetic, more gentle. Less… fussy.
Because Mikey had a big fat fucking crush on him this whole time.
God.
Apparently Draken’s change in expression gave away his realization before he could speak a single word, and Mikey chimed in. “Took you long enough.” He looked up from his nails, and he still had a vaguely embarrassed expression written on his face. It didn’t look like Mikey, and Draken was amazed that Takemichi had managed to make him act this differently.
“You could’ve told me.” Despite everything, Draken found himself laughing. He had to, or he’d feel embarrassed that he’d missed the signs for so long. “Here I was thinking you’d actually learned how to sleep like a normal person.”
“It’s so bad, Ken-chin,” he whined, frowning exaggeratedly. “He wakes me up so early. He got here at four-thirty yesterday! Four-thirty! Who does that!?” Draken winced at that. Four-thirty was disgustingly early even for a normal person, but for Mikey? No wonder he hadn’t wanted to do anything after school for the past week; he’d probably been too busy catching up on all the sleep he’d missed.
“Well, if you weren’t so goddamn whipped for him, you could’ve told him to come back at a reasonable time.” That earned him a playful shove in the side, though it wasn’t as hard as usual. Draken had a feeling that meant Mikey knew he was right.
“He already felt so bad for coming early, I couldn’t do that to him.” Draken could easily picture that in his mind. Takemichi apologized so much, even when he hadn’t actually done anything wrong. Though, in this case, an apology actually made sense; Draken probably would’ve killed him if he tried waking him up at four-thirty in the morning. “But we ended up going on a motorcycle ride together before class. It was… nice.” Mikey lingered on that word choice for a second longer than he needed to, as if he was originally going to say something much more embarrassing.
“I can’t believe you’ve had a crush on Takemitchy and you didn’t tell me.” Though, with the way he was acting right now, maybe that was a good thing; Draken wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take. “How long has this even been going on for?” Mikey shrugged.
“I dunno. That’s too much thinking.” Okay, at least he was almost back to his normal self. Still, the idea of Mikey having a crush on someone at all felt wrong somehow. He’d never had any interest in girls since they had met, and, oh, that made sense now too. Well then.
“When are you gonna tell him?” Maybe he was jumping the gun on that one, but he had to admit he was curious. There was no way he was essentially going on dates with the guy at five in the morning if he didn’t plan on telling him how he felt, right? Then again, this was Mikey he was talking about; imagining him of all people trying to confess his love to someone almost made him laugh to himself.
“Uh, never?” Somehow, Mikey seemed genuinely confused by his question. “Why would I do something like that?”
“Because you’re so in love with him you wake up early every day just to see him? And you hold hands on the way to school?”
“Exactly.” Mikey yawned, stretching his arms. “We’re doing all of that right now, so why would I ruin it by telling him?” Ruin it? Did he seriously think that telling Takemichi how he felt would ruin their friendship? It was Takemichi; even if he didn’t feel the same, the worst that would happen is that he’d end up crying out of guilt. “I’m pretty sure he has a crush on that Hinata girl anyway.”
“Crush? Weren’t they dating?”
“I dunno. I don’t wanna ask.” Mikey yawned again, and Draken had a feeling this conversation was going to be forcefully cut short. “Either way, I don't wanna mess with things, y’know? Mitchy’s happy the way he is.” A bittersweet smile tugged at Mikey’s lips, and though this was far from the most serious issue he had dealt with, Draken couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart. It was so stupid, but it made him want to do something about this whole situation, at least enough for Mikey to spit out his feelings eventually so he wouldn’t be stuck holding onto them forever.
And, more selfishly, so Draken wouldn’t have to hear about his feelings forever. Because…
“‘Mitchy?’ Really?” He rolled his eyes, and Mikey crossed his arms, though the widening of his eyes seemed to prove that he hadn’t meant to let that slip.
“I didn’t say that,” he lied, as if Draken was somehow supposed to believe him.
“Yes you did.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Okay, whatever.” Draken didn’t need to win the argument; the fact that Mikey was apparently so in love with Takemitchy that he’d created a nickname for his nickname was so funny that it was already a victory in and of itself. “Are we still going to breakfast? Hey, maybe I can invite ‘Mitchy’ with us.” He’d expected to get another jab in the side for that one, but, for better or for worse, all he got was the sound of soft snoring.
Draken smiled. Good to know that Mikey was still Mikey.
———
It didn’t take Draken very long to realize that he had absolutely no clue how to go about this.
He obviously couldn’t just ask Takemichi directly, because unless he managed to pull some insane excuse out of his ass, that would pretty much be a confession in and of itself. And, ignoring the fact that Mikey would almost definitely kill him for doing something like that, that was the last thing Draken wanted to do. This was Mikey’s stupid crush, not his. And if he truly was adamant about keeping it a secret, then that was his choice.
Eventually, after using a little more brain power than he wanted to for what essentially boiled down to a game of matchmaker, he decided on a different approach.
“Are you and that Hinata girl dating?” …Okay, maybe that was a little too direct, especially when it came out of nowhere while they were both sitting on opposite sides of a park bench, but that was his only idea other than locking the two of them in a room until they sorted something out. And somehow, Draken felt like the latter wouldn’t quite work out so well.
“H-Huh!?” Takemichi’s face turned bright red immediately, and his eyes grew to the size of saucers. Already not a great sign. “Where is this coming from?”
“Just asking.” Draken shrugged. He hoped Takemichi would accept that as an answer, because he had absolutely no excuse prepared if he didn’t.
“O….kay?” He was rightfully confused, but at least didn’t question it any further. “W-Well, uh, no, I’m not.” Draken breathed an audible sigh of relief, which he only realized looked incredibly suspicious after the fact. “Why? What, don’t tell me you have a crush on her or something?” He didn’t say anything for a second, wondering if Mikey’s stupid crush was worth the possibility of accidentally getting matchmade with someone he didn’t even know, but Takemichi continued before he could decide one way or another. “Sorry to tell you, but she, uh, doesn’t like guys like that.” Oh? Judging by the pure look of pain in Takemichi’s eyes, there must have been some kind of story there. Poor guy. “We’re still really good friends, though!” …But with the way his face lit right back up immediately, he seemed to be incredibly grateful just to know her at all. He was so caring; Draken knew he would take good care of Mikey if this all ended up working out. “Is, uh, that all you needed to know?” As tempting as it was to say yes, he knew that wasn’t going to be enough. Even if he went back to Mikey with this new information, he sincerely doubted it would suddenly give him the courage to confess how he felt. In fact, he doubted that anything would give him that courage, as annoying as that was to consider.
So, maybe he had to be just a little more direct.
“…How do you feel about Mikey?” Takemichi gave him the same confused stare as before, which, again, Draken didn’t blame him for.
“Are you feeling okay, Draken-kun?” The genuine concern in his eyes as he asked that felt almost pitying. “Why are you all of a sudden so interested in—” Takemichi cut himself off, his face burning an even brighter shade of red than before. “Are you asking if I’m dating Mikey!?” Draken bit his lip. Close, but not quite. He took note of the fact that Takemichi didn’t seem uncomfortable or disgusted, at the very least.
“What? No! Don’t you think I’d know if you two were together?” Though, he had somehow managed to miss Mikey’s fat crush on him, so maybe he’d manage to miss that too. The thought was a little scary.
“Oh, haha, right.” Takemichi nervously scratched the back of his head. “Whew, I was gonna say! What a crazy thing to ask, haha! I mean, me and Mikey!? Dating? Wowww… what a weird thing to ask, haha…” Draken blinked slowly, wondering if he was really hearing what he thought he was. Takemichi’s face was somehow an even darker shade of red now, his darting frantically between Draken and the ground and a giant grin forming on his lips, and even though Draken had the same level of romantic experience as a stale bagel, he immediately knew what was going through Takemichi’s mind.
How was he even more mushy about it than Mikey was!?
Though he hadn’t actually said it out loud, Draken knew both Takemichi and common sense well enough to know what his reaction meant. Friends don’t blush and giggle when someone assumes they’re dating, and they certainly don’t smile like an absolute idiot during it either. If someone asked Draken if he and Mikey were a couple it probably would have ruined his entire day; there was no way Takemichi could be this flustered about it if it didn’t mean something.
Draken breathed a sigh of relief. To be completely honest, he hadn’t expected this outcome. He knew that Takemichi cared about Mikey immensely, that he loved him immensely, but he’d always thought it had been an exclusively platonic type of love. Though, as he sat here watching him stumble over his words and blush the shadow of a tomato at even the mere mention of him and Mikey in a relationship, Draken wondered how he’d ever made that assumption to begin with.
“I think you should talk to him.” Draken stood up, a smile tugging at his lips. “He’s probably napping right now, but he’ll wake up if it’s you.”
“H-Huh?” Takemichi stuttered out, standing up and meeting Draken’s gaze. “Talk to him about what? W-What do you mean?”
“I think you know what I mean.” He sincerely hoped so, anyway, or that would make for one hell of an awkward conversation. “Just trust me.”
“Wh—Huh!? Wait, are you…!” Draken couldn’t decide if Takemichi looked more like a deer in headlights or a short-circuiting computer. Either way, he couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for doing this to him. He was sure that Takemichi would thank him soon enough, but right now, the poor thing must have been so embarrassed and confused.
“Take good care of him, alright?” He winked, and Draken was genuinely expecting to see Takemichi pass out as he walked away.
———
When Draken went to wake Mikey the next morning, he was already awake and dressed. Not too unexpected as of late, he supposed, though shouldn’t he know by now that Takemichi wasn’t the one coming to get him anymore? Why was he awake so early just for him? Was this about yesterday?
Draken got his answer as Mikey sat up and slapped him across the face. Hard.
“Ow! The hell was that for?” He yelled, rubbing his cheek. He was used to Mikey slapping him, but he wasn’t used to it being full-force.
“Whyyyyyy would you do that!?” He whined, an exaggerated frown on his face. He seemed more annoyed than genuinely upset, which was a good sign. If Draken had wound up accidentally getting Mikey rejected, he would’ve gone a lot worse than just a little slap. Though, still, whether or not this was all a good or a bad thing remained to be seen. “Didn’t I tell you not to say anything?”
“No, actually, you didn’t. You called him ‘Mitchy’ and then passed out. Never said anything about me meddling.” Mikey’s brows furrowed.
“Oh. Well, it was implied.” For once, Draken didn’t disagree with him. The fact that Mikey never planned on telling Takemichi how he felt definitely meant that he didn’t want Draken trying to play matchmaker for them, but he had ignored that implication for the sake of making Mikey happy and not forcing him to keep his feelings bottled up until the end of time. He wished he could see if his efforts had paid off, but someone seemed more intent on arguing with him than actually telling him how the conversation had gone. “I can’t believe you would just go and tell him like that! And I thought we were friends, Ken-chin.”
“There’s only so much of your moping one person can take, y’know.”
“I was not moping!” He crossed his arms with a pout. Draken laughed quietly to himself.
“Well, whatever it was, I wasn’t just going to sit there and watch.” Mikey looked ready to clap back at that, and, not particularly interested in starting an argument this early in the morning, Draken shifted the topic of conversation to something that actually mattered. The one thing he’d been curious about since he’d gotten here, but Mikey seemed intent on avoiding. “So, uh… how’d it go?” He asked awkwardly, not quite being able to look him in the eyes. He couldn’t help it; if he was about to find out that he’d ended up ruining one of Mikey’s closest friendships, he’d never forgive himself.
“Oh, we’re dating now,” he answered with a smile and a nonchalant wave, and Draken choked on his own spit.
“You can’t just drop that on me!” Why the hell was he so calm about it? After he’d just been all embarrassed and mushy about it just the other day? Ignoring that, though, Draken breathed a sigh of… relief? It was probably relief. His silly match-making efforts hadn’t been for nothing, and Mikey wouldn’t die still holding onto those feelings of his. More importantly though, he was happy. They were happy. Mikey was smiling softly to himself, in a way that almost looked as if he was trying to hide it, and, though he hadn’t actually seen Takemichi yet, Draken could just as easily picture him with a bright grin on his face and a few tears welling up in his eyes. Even though it had taken a bit more meddling than he’d wanted, and even though he had just doomed himself into being a third wheel for the rest of his life, it was all worth it just to see his two closest friends so happy. Of course it was; Draken had never doubted for a second that he would be.
“Aww, are you happy for me, Ken-chin?” Mikey teased, running a finger through his messy bedhead, which reminded Draken that, since Takemichi had been coming to get him in the mornings, he hadn’t had the chance to style Mikey’s hair in over a week. Yet, somehow, it still looked just as fluffy and soft as it always had been. Had Takemichi really learned how to style Mikey’s hair just for the week he’d had to wake him up? Wow, he really should’ve noticed the signs sooner.
“Of course I am, idiot.” Draken sat down next to Mikey on the bed, realizing he still had a stupid smile tugging at his lips. “I’m glad you found someone that can actually handle you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m sure you can figure it out.” Mikey frowned exaggeratedly, elbowing him in the side with a thankfully normal amount of force this time. He stayed silent for a moment, his eyes darting awkwardly around the room in a way that seemed unbefitting of Mikey, before he finally spoke up in a voice hardly above a whisper.
“Thanks, Ken-chin.” He wasn’t trying to hide his smile anymore, and it made Draken’s own one grow. He couldn’t help himself; it was refreshing to see Mikey so unashamedly happy like this, especially over a friend. Well, boyfriend now. God, that thought was a little scary. “This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for you being nosy and messing with things that aren’t your business.”
“It really doesn’t sound like you’re thanking me anymore.” Mikey shrugged.
“I am. I’m also just saying that you were being nosy. Which you were.” Fair enough. It’s not like he was wrong about that, though if anyone else had to watch Mikey of all people start moping around over a guy, he was sure they’d do the same thing. “Oh, by the way—” Mikey cut himself off as he heard a quiet knock on his bedroom door, then the even quieter creak of it swinging open.
Draken knew who it was before the door was even open.
“Uh, um… hi? I hope I’m not too early, I just— O-Oh! Hi, Draken-kun!” Takemichi bowed, as if that was something he suddenly needed to do when interacting with him. As if they hadn’t been friends for months now. Draken laughed; these next few weeks were going to be interesting, weren’t they?
“Hey,” he greeted, then snuck a glance at Mikey, who looked completely and absolutely overjoyed.
“Mitchy!” He smiled so brightly that it was almost blinding, then proceeded to get up off of his bed and hug him. Draken sighed quietly. He was seriously calling him that out loud already? And since when did Mikey actually hug people? “Nice to see you.”
“Uh, nice to see you too!” Takemichi’s face was burning bright scarlet, and, Draken may have just been imagining it, but he swore he could see just a few stray tears forming in his eyes. Just as he’d expected. “Are we still going to breakfast? I don’t want to, um, interrupt anything…” Mikey shot a quick glance at Draken, and he smiled.
“Of course we’re still going! Me and Ken-chin weren’t doing anything important.” If they were in any other situation, Draken may have taken offense to that, but he was right. Besides, he’d much rather Mikey go out on what probably amounted to a first date than have to sit here and watch him get all mushy over Takemichi like a schoolgirl for any longer.
“Oh, okay!” Mikey pulled away from the hug and took Takemichi’s hand in his, gently interlocking their fingers together. “W-Well, there’s this new coffee shop that opened up across the street. I’ve heard that they have some really great donuts, so maybe we could go there?”
“Yeah, sure!” Mikey beamed, and, before Draken had the chance to think of a comeback himself, looked back and stared him dead in the eyes. “At least someone knows how to buy me donuts. Maybe you should learn from him, Ken-chin.”
“Again. That was two years ago.”
“And you still never made it up to me. Unlike Mitchy here.”
“Are you seriously calling him that to his face? Already?” Out of pure curiosity, Draken shot a glance at Takemichi, who was somehow blushing an even darker shade of red. Was he okay? Did they need to get him to a hospital…? That couldn’t be normal, right?
“Not my fault you don’t understand romance.” If this was what romance was like, Draken was more than happy to stay the hell away from it. “So, are you ready, Mitchy?” He turned back to face Takemichi and, with the most nervous expression Draken had ever seen him wear, he nodded.
“Y-Yeah! Oh, and don’t worry about paying for anything this time! I found a thousand yen on the sidewalk yesterday, so I can pay for us both.” Takemichi looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet. As painful as this was to watch, he had to admit to himself that it was at least a bit cute. At least he couldn’t make fun of Mikey for being the mushy one anymore.
“You’re so sweet, Takemitchy.” They walked over to the door and turned the knob, but both paused at the exact same moment.
‘Thank you,’ they both mouthed in sync as they turned around, both seemingly unaware that the other was doing so. Draken could only smile in response, giving them a slight wave as they both disappeared through the door.
Sitting alone in Mikey’s room, Draken laid down on the bed with a sigh. He figured he should be going home right about now, but he needed just a moment to let all of this sink in.
To think this was all because of Mikey’s terrible sleeping habits. The thought made him hold back a laugh, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn’t true. That was the reason on a technical level, but, really, this had all happened because of how much Takemichi cared about Mikey. He cared about Mikey’s sleeping habits, cared about him being late to school all the time. And, though Draken had never once needed reassurance on the matter, that realization gave him some regardless.
Takemichi would take such good care of Mikey.