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It was a split-second decision.
Mitsuya would regret it later. Probably. Definitely. Either way, he would be sorry about it. But he didn't see any other option that could be plausible enough to save him from the situation.
Maybe if Draken had not greeted him that night, maybe if Draken had not been there, maybe if Draken had not just appeared in front of Mitsuya like the answer he had been searching for...
...the outcome would have been different.
"Draken! What are you doing here!"
That was actually a great start, his surprise was genuine.
Draken nodded, pointing at the other side of the room.
"I'm having a drinking party with several business partners." He scanned the crowd in which Mitsuya was part of, before flashing his customer service smile. "Your college friends?"
"That's us," one of Mitsuya's close friends, Miwako slurred her words. If only everyone was as wasted as her, Mitsuya wouldn't get caught in this problem.
"Who is this?"
Mitsuya always considered himself, a very collected, calm, and rational person. He was also pretty good at managing his patience level, thanks to years of handling his sisters and friends. But he had been pushed to the brink of patience, by one hour of interaction with a particular someone, tonight.
Mitsuya would blame it on the pressure and annoyance he had been forced to bear for a short period of time.
Mitsuya would reason that everything didn't happen without any motive. He didn't let his logic hold him back, acting almost without thinking, that he could justify it later.
"My boyfriend," Mitsuya was proud to say, that the words came out firmer than he had initially expected.
If Draken was surprised by the new title that Mitsuya had just pinned to him, he didn't show any of it. His obsidian eyes watched Mitsuya curiously as if he wanted to know how the whole thing unfolded.
Mitsuya felt a little bit braver at the passiveness. He stood up, taking Draken's arm.
"Everyone, this is Draken, my boyfriend."
Mitsuya looked up to him with what people would call, heart eyes, but really those were calls for help. Thankfully, Draken caught up to the situation pretty fast. He subtly nodded and patted Mitsuya's hand instead.
I'll explain later, Mitsuya smiled.
You better, Draken smiled back.
Miwako's eyes widened with recognition. "Draken? That Draken? THE Draken?"
The same person that caused this whole fiasco, straightening himself and sneering. "Huh? Who's Draken? I never heard of any Draken?"
Miwako acted on his behalf when she snorted. "Clearly, you don't know Mitsuya as much as you claimed to be, Kato."
She turned her attention to Draken who seemed amused by the interaction despite him not saying anything yet.
"Hello, I'm Miwako. I heard so much about you, Draken-san. Mitsuya loves talking about you. I just didn't know you two were dating."
"It's very recent," Draken was the one to answer, nuzzling Mitsuya's hair with such fondness, that put all revealing of your relationship scenes in every drama to shame. "We've been friends forever, it's a big step to shift our relationship to something more."
Draken looked down at Mitsuya, giving the kind of smile that Mitsuya had never seen before. "I'm glad, we take the risks."
Miwako cooed at them. "That's so cute! How about you join us, Draken-san? Here, here, there's plenty of space for you. And don't worry about being out of place, everyone literally brought their plus one here. Like, Aira and her boyfriend over there," Miwako tilted her head in the direction of a couple who waved their hands. She then looked around. "And, and, where's Ando and Sayuri? I swear to God if they're screwing around in the bathroom—"
"It's okay if you can't, though," Mitsuya quickly added. "We don't want to bother your—"
Draken shook his head. "Eh, it's alright. We've been here for quite a while, I can make excuses. Besides," He pulled his arm from Mitsuya, only to wrap it around his shoulder. "I'm excited to get to know your friends, Mitsuya."
Mitsuya didn't know if it was a good thing or not.
Kato had adamantly refused to move his ass, that Miwako resorted to switching her place with Mitsuya so he and Draken could sit next to each other (Ando and Sayuri were still nowhere to be seen). This new seating arrangement apparently got Kato seething more, and being half-drunk, he was terrible at hiding that.
He kept throwing murderous glances at him and Draken.
"Childhood friends! How awesome is that!" Miwako always advertised herself as someone who wouldn't fall so easily into cheap romance stories, but it seemed the alcohol brought out the best of hers tonight. "Wait, does it mean, you know that Mitsuya used to be in a gang, Draken-san?"
"Ah, yes, of course, I knew that," he accepted the beer that Miwako slid over the table to him gracefully. "Isn't he badass?"
Mitsuya elbowed him. "Speak for yourself. He's the Vice President. Used to beat down a whole gang all by himself."
Draken ducked his head in embarrassment when Miwako let out a loud wow at that.
"We were the founding members, he kicked people's asses and I made him look good doing it."
Mitsuya laughed, mentally high-fiving himself that his words came out more genuine than he had originally thought. It was much easier to add bits of the truth, while you were telling lies, making the whole thing more believable.
"That's so sweet!" Miwako flicked Kato's temple. "Hear that, Kato, back off. Draken-san can easily kick your ass."
Kato scoffed. But Mitsuya was glad that he seemed to reconsider his action after he heard about the brief history of him and Draken.
However, Mitsuya also should have known that Kato wouldn't be Kato without being Kato.
"I got a black belt in Karate, I think I can handle it, Miwa," Kato drank his beer. "I'm just confused, I have never heard you're dating anyone, and I'm sure I haven't heard about this Draken guy. And now, suddenly, you two are together? I mean after we were talking about the blind date that Miwa wants to set for us?"
Mitsuya thought of himself, a very patient person.
Tonight had been such a challenge for him keep the title.
"I told you, I'm not interested. Miwako doesn't even push me to come. You are the one who keeps pestering me."
"You can just say, you have a boyfriend!"
"Or you can just take no as an answer."
It was probably his calmness that drove him off the road (Mitsuya prided himself on being able to control his emotions when the person he was talking to couldn't even make it without showing every inch of his feelings).
Or maybe Kato was just frustrated he couldn't get anything from him, that Kato changed his target to Draken.
Draken who had been watching the whole thing without saying anything, like he waited to give the best response.
"Are you really Mitsuya's boyfriend, though? Because it seems like he just claimed you on the spot to get himself out of the—"
The sound of glass being put down rather loud was intentional.
"If you're trying to provoke me to do anything to give you any proof of our relationship," Draken leaned forward, only to turn his head in Mitsuya's direction. "then, I think, Mitsuya, you have the wrong crowd to befriend with."
Draken's tone had dropped from friendly and warm while he talked with anyone else, to freaking cold it sounded almost dangerous.
It seemed that everybody noticed the change, including Miwako who was quick to save the situation.
"Not at all, Draken-san!" She pushed Kato off the table. "This banana-head here always talks nonsense when he's drunk. Please don't take any of his words seriously."
Draken emptied his drink in one go. Mitsuya didn't know what to do or what to say. He had never seen Draken like that. A part of himself was scared that he would also say and do the wrong thing.
"You ride here?" Draken put away his glass.
Mitsuya blinked at the change of topic. "Ah no, we're taking Miwako's car."
"I'm taking you home, Mitsuya." Draken's words were final, leaving no other room for any other answer.
In another scenario, he would hate to be dictated like that, but this time, Draken was actually giving him an easy out. He didn't wait for Mitsuya to contradict him like he knew, Mitsuya wouldn't do any of it.
"Thank you, Miwako-san for the invitation, but I think we had enough for tonight, right Mitsuya?"
Mitsuya parroted automatically. "Yeah."
Miwako stood up so quickly to see them out. She profusely apologized, mainly on Kato's behalf, but knowing her, Mitsuya was sure that she would blacklist Kato from any after-class drinking party in the future for his attitude.
"It was very delightful to meet you, Miwako-san, I haven't had any chance to tell you, but I'm glad Mitsuya got you. I also had heard many good things about you, I'm glad we finally met at last."
Mitsuya was pretty sure Miwako's name only came up in his and Draken's conversation a couple of times when Mitsuya was talking about his class specifically.
But maybe, Draken had his own judgment on her based on their limited interaction tonight.
"I hope we can see each other again, Draken-san."
Taking Mitsuya's hand, Draken smiled. "You will, Miwako-san."
For some reason, Mitsuya believed him.
"Draken, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pull shits like that on you—" Mitsuya started while they were in the parking lot, where Draken's Zephyr was parked.
Draken sighed, palming his face, as he leaned on his bike. "You know how much I want to punch that punk's face?" He lifted his thumb and forefinger, pinching them together. "This close."
"He's always like that," Mitsuya huffed. He should be more strict the next day he sees Kato, he had crossed the line and he deserved the consequences of his action. Mitsuya finally had a valid reason to do so. "I just thought by showing him that I'm unavailable, he would back off, I didn't think he would challenge you—"
Draken juggled Zephyr's keys in his hand.
"Is he in your class?"
"Yeah, we share most classes."
"Where does he live?"
"Uh, I don't know, he's not in the campus dorm, that's all I know."
"How long he has been bothering you?"
"Forever, geez. I hope he will stop doing that after this."
"I'll make sure of it," Draken said curtly. "I don't like to share."
Mitsuya blinked, but Draken didn't even elaborate when he spun around to put the key into the ignition. When he realized Mitsuya was standing frozen, Draken tapped the seat behind him.
"Come, Mitsuya, I told you, I'm gonna take you home, ain't I?" He offered the helmet. "Wear this."
Mitsuya stared at the helmet, but he didn't take it.
"What's wrong?"
Mitsuya looked up, opening his mouth to merely clamp it down again.
Draken waited, but Mitsuya clearly needed more time to rationalize tonight's event, that Draken needed to turn the key off when it seemed Mitsuya wouldn't talk any time soon.
It was a split-second decision.
Mitsuya would regret it later. Probably. Definitely. Either way, he would be sorry about it. But he didn't see any other option that could be plausible enough to save him from the situation.
Maybe if Draken had not greeted him that night, maybe if Draken had not been there, maybe if Draken had not just appeared in front of Mitsuya like the answer he had been searching for...
...the outcome would have been different.
"Mitsuya?" Draken called. But for some reason, Mitsuya couldn't make himself to speak. He had made a terrible mistake, he should think more about the consequences of his actions (oh, the irony).
I'm reading too much into it, I'm self-projecting, Mitsuya chastised himself. This was what he got when he decided on something without thinking.
It couldn't possibly happen, it shouldn't be that easy, he reminded himself.
"Hey, look at me."
Would the outcome be really different?
"I hate that it comes from the heels of lying to your friends, especially to keep that asshole off you," Draken was suddenly so close to him. Mitsuya still didn't look at him, that Draken took it upon himself to do it himself.
A pair of warm palms cupped Mitsuya's face.
So gentle, it was almost like a dream.
"But I'm serious, I don't like to share," Mitsuya could swear he saw the stars and the constellations in Draken's eyes. However, what caught him the most was the pinkness dust his cheeks. Those seemed so out of place that somehow they tethered him to reality.
Whose heart beating that wildly?
"And in order for me to do that—" Mitsuya reached for the hem of Draken's shirt when Draken seemingly got closer. "—I need this to be real."
He fisted the fabric, his voice might be small but Mitsuya had never been this loud, when he said, "Can I be yours?"
The smile that bloomed on Draken's lips was so bright it was blinding. "Have you ever been anyone else's?"
Mitsuya blushed, avoiding Draken's eyes. Too much, this is too much. "N-no—"
It was a split-second decision.
Maybe if Draken had not greeted him that night, maybe if Draken had not been there, maybe if Draken had not just appeared in front of Mitsuya like the answer he had been searching for, the outcome would have been different.
Mitsuya didn't believe in Fate much, he believed that every action had its consequence. Every action would lead to another reaction you could have never known.
Even when he barely thought about the aftermath of his recklessness, it was impossible for Mitsuya to get away with his doing.
And yet, as Draken whispered, "Good, since I am always yours too." and he leaned down to capture his lips, Mitsuya thought to himself: I was glad, I took the risks too.
"Oh! You just missed the turn to my dorm, Draken."
"I never said anything about taking you back to your dorm, Mitsuya. I've told you, I'm taking you home."