Work Text:
What are you up to today?
The word's appear on Daichi's screen before he's even awake, but they still bring a smile to his face. Waking up to messages from X are the best and tend to leave him with a dumb look on his face. He almost never gets to reply right away, because he's inevitably slept too long and is late for class, unless he hasn't slept at all (which isn't uncommon).
I'm stuck in classes again, is his reply, and he carefully tucks the phone in his jacket pocket before turning back to the circuit he's supposed to be building.
"What are you smiling about?" Asuna says, sticking her face close to his. Daichi yelps and backs up. "You have that dumb look on your face again."
"Nothing!" he says. "Just a message from a friend."
"Your Canadian girlfriend again?" Asuna says with a sigh. "Will she ever come to visit you?"
His friends have been asking about his foreign, Canadian girlfriend for the longest time now, but Daichi doesn't have the heart to tell them the truth. He's nervous, partly because he and X only know one another from online, and partly because X isn't a girl or a human.
"Uhm, well," he starts, fiddling with their circuit. "Maybe she'll come visit sometime soon..."
"I'd love to meet her!" Asuna says, and he knows she's not joking: occasionally, he'll let Asuna or his other friends type to X, though it's always been under the guise of X being his Canadian girlfriend, and X and Asuna get along quite well. "Tell her I say hi!"
Daichi is just about to come up with some sort of excuse when he realizes (too late) that his hands have fidgeted so much that they've plugged things in incorrectly, and-
The circuit sparks, and one of the capacitors smokes dangerously. Daichi yelps and drops the entire apparatus, which draws the attention of the teacher.
"Please be more careful," Tachibana calls from the front of the room. "We don't need a repeat of last week."
"That wasn't even my fault," Daichi mutters under his breath. "You can't trust Zero with anything more delicate than a brick."
Asuna snorts, helping him clean up. "C'mon," she says, "let's go get something to eat before you forget again."
--
You'd like my school, Daichi messages X while Asuna is off finding something to eat. It's a little crazy, but I think you'd enjoy the people here.
He glances over once to see Zero tackle his friend Glenfire to the ground. The red-haired boy goes down with a shout, calling out for help from their friend, but Mirror doesn't move from where he's reading through his English textbook. Two of their other friends, brothers who are both named Jean (or so Daichi remembers), dive in to pull a triumphant Zero off of poor Glenfire.
He doesn't really want to know what sort of argument they'd been having. Knowing Zero, it was probably something stupid. The other boy was good at sports and coaching, but sometimes Daichi wondered if he was good at anything else.
There are some strange people here, which means it's never boring, he continues. What's your school like?
X's response is rather immediate: I would love to visit sometime!
Daichi beams. He's always wanted X to come and visit. Though they've talked about it, it often seems nearly impossible to achieve. X had some sort of condition that meant he wore out very easily, so traveling was nearly out of the question, and Daichi didn't have the money to be able to go and visit him. He'd been saving up, but it was hard to do when he was a full-time student.
May I call? came the next message.
During school?
I have good news I wish to tell you.
That was good enough for him.
"Daichi," comes X's voice through his headphones. There's something about the quality of the voice that sends shivers down Daichi's spine every single time X says it. "Good news."
"Yeah?" Daichi felt his heartbeat increase. It felt almost ridiculous to get this flustered to receive a phone call, but X was special to him, and if he really did have good news...
"I am doing much better," X says, "and I have been for quite some time now. I didn't want to tell you, in case something else happened, but I should be well enough to come visit you."
Daichi nearly drops his phone. "Come visit?" he squeaks, "Here!?"
Asuna picks that moment to reappear, Wataru and Hayato by her side.
"She's finally coming to visit?" Asuna says, looking excited. "Do we finally get to meet your girlfriend, Daichi?"
"Is she hot?" Wataru asks, only to be elbowed in the ribs by Hayato.
"We'll be delighted to meet her, I'm sure," Hayato says. "Kamiki and Tachibana are going to have a field day."
Daichi freezes. He wants X to come visit, but...
"I'll be out next week," X says. "You mentioned the spare couch at your place, so if that's still alright.."
"I-It's fine!" Daichi stammers out. His friends cheer behind him. "J-just. Uh. Are you sure you want to come all this way?"
"I couldn't be more certain," X replies with a chuckle. "I've been looking forward to seeing you in person."
"I have been, too," Daichi says, and it's not a lie. "U-uh, then...then I'll pick you up-"
"No need," X says. "I'll meet you after school in a week's time. Perhaps you can introduce me to your friends as well? I've been looking forward to meeting them."
"U-uhhhhhmmm..." How is he supposed to explain this situation to X?
"Til then, Daichi." The line goes dead with a click.
Daichi can't argue. Not when X says his name like that. Though when Asuna and the others look back over at him and Wataru winks way too knowingly, he considers calling the entire thing off.
--
It was difficult enough to maintain a long distance relationship, but the distance meant that Daichi often forgot that X was one of the Ultramen. At the end of the day, Ultras and humans weren't too different and shared similar appearances save for a few things (like their glowing eyes and silvery hair). There were creatures other than humans and Ultras that inhabited the Earth, but their appearances were usually less humanoid, with a few exceptions. Zero's friends were neither human nor Ultra, and neither was Mebius' boyfriend, but what exactly they were was mostly unknown. Daichi was an engineer, but he'd been interested in aliens and monsters since he was small and knew a lot about them. He'd made an effort to learn more about Ultras as well, so that maybe he could find some sort of cure for whatever disease X had, but he'd figured out absolutely nothing in that regard.
As the days drew closer, Daichi found himself wondering what X would look like (other than their online icon). He was so nervous that he cleaned and rearranged his entire house. What if he and X didn't get along in person? What if X didn't like him after all?
He thought about talking to Asuna, but she didn't know anything about humans and Ultras being together. In the end, desperate for an answer, he texted Shou.
Don't be so weak-willed, came the reply. Shou's skills, it seemed, did not extend to tact. But I'm sure it will go fine. If things are going downhill, touch the color timer on their chest: they won't be able to stay upset for long after that.
The color timer? Daichi sighed. So much for good advice.
"Gomoraaaaa," he whined, beckoning the tiny creature closer. Gomora had been with him since before his parent's deaths, and the little lizard-like creature crawled into his arms, snuggling into the embrace. At least when things got rough he could always count on Gomora to be there for him.
"You'll get to meet X tomorrow, too," he said. "I wonder what they'll think of you..."
--
Daichi is terrified that day at school, waiting for X to appear. But he's expecting X at the end of the day, and not really paying attention. He's only half-heartedly watching the fight between Zero and the substitute teacher, Belial. They got into it on such a regular basis that Daichi was amazed that Belial was ever asked back to teach. But he's less watching a fight and more staring at the wall, thinking about how to best get X away from the school before any of his friends could speak to him. Daichi is so immersed in his thoughts that he misses another body slide into the chair next to his.
"Daichi," says a familiar voice, and his breath catches in his throat. Daichi spins, his brown eyes meeting illuminated, yellow ones.
"Daichi," X says again. "Hello."
Fear and nervousness give way to excitement: here is X, alive, in front of him, the most wonderful Ultra he's ever seen. A grin breaks out on Daichi's face and he embraces X in a hug, laughing happily. "It's good to see you!" he says. "W-when did you-"
"I thought I would show up a little early, so you could show me the school." X smiles gently and Daichi feels his heartbeat speed up. This is nerve-wracking, but somehow everything seems a little better now that X is by his side.
"You look different from what I expected," he confesses. "I thought...your hair..."
X's hair is a darker shade of silver shot through with lighter highlights and red tips. Their face is refined but not overly so, with a genuine smile and bright eyes. They sport a large pair of headphones over their ears.
"You were expecting it to be lighter?" X says, laughing. "It is a little strange, I suppose."
"It looks nice, actually," Daichi confesses. "I was just-"
"Oi, Daichi!" Asuna calls, and Daichi freezes. "Come over here."
"I'll be right back," he whispers to X. "Just...stay right here." X nods, looking confused, but they oblige.
Daichi is terrified as he walks over to Asuna, but she just playfully nudges him in the ribs.
"Who's the new kid?" she asks. "And can you introduce us? Because, wow..." She sighs. "Even for an Ultra, he's really handsome."
Relief floods his body. Oh, so it's just like that. "Ah, X? Yeah, I'm pretty sure they'd want to meet you, Asuna."
"That's great!" Asuna cheers. "Then, now?"
"N-now?" He hasn't even explained to X that his friends don't know, yet! "Uhm... Well..."
"Oh," Asuna says, smiling, "looks like you don't have to do anything, anyway."
X seems to materialize at his side, a hand slipping swiftly around to rest on the small of Daichi's back. It's an extremely intimate gesture, and Asuna pauses.
"You're Asuna, aren't you?" X says with another small smile. "We've talked before, but Daichi has told me much about you, as well. How do you do?"
Asuna's eyes are wide and disbelieving. "D-Daichi. Your girlfriend. This is your Canadian girlfriend."
"U-uhm..." is really the best he can come up with.
"Girlfriend..." X presses their lips together in a thin line. "I am neither a girl nor Canadian, so why..."
"We need to talk!" Daichi all but shrieks. "I know a place. Come on, both of you!"
--
And that's how the three of them end up on the roof of the physics building, Daichi rapidly spilling his guts to both Asuna and X. Both are thankfully understanding, though Asuna does spend the majority of his confession laughing at him.
"I was just worried that you guys would think I was...weird," he says. "But I didn't mean to offend you, X."
"You haven't offended me at all," X insists with another soft smile. "I know that, to humans, certain relationships are still viewed in somewhat negative lights."
Daichi sighs, relieved. "I just have to tell the others, now."
"Heck," Asuna says with a shrug, "I can do that if you don't want to. Besides...you should be spending time with X today, not here with us."
"But-"
"I'll come up with an excuse," she says. "You two just go home and enjoy being around one another." She catches X in her gaze. "You probably don't know this, but he talks about you all the time. He gets the dumbest, happiest little smile on his face whenever you so much as send him a message."
It could be Daichi's imagination, but X's cheeks appear to grow darker in color. "I see," they murmur. "Well, then... Maybe we should head back to your place?"
X takes Daichi's hand. Their grip is warm and reassuring, and Daichi squeezes back.
"Okay," he says. "And thanks, Asuna. I owe you one..!"
She winks. "You always do. Now, get going before someone else sees you."
--
Gomora greets them at the doorway with a happy roar, and X even stops to pet him. "He is larger than in the pictures," they remark. "And you are...skinnier than in the ones you sent me. Have you not been eating?"
"I've been busy!" Daichi protests, crossing his arms. "But I bought good things to eat while you're here, and everything is clean..." He pauses. "Though...you don't need to sleep on the couch? There's....there's plenty of room in my bed."
X frowns. "I don't want to disturb what little sleep you actually get-"
"We're dating!" Daichi replies, throwing his arms up in frustration. "It doesn't matter if I do or don't sleep: I want to be with you, now that we can be next to one another..." He can feel his cheeks heat up. "If you want to, of course!"
X laughs and closes the distance between them, pressing his lips to Daichi's in a kiss. They linger like that, Daichi’s fingers creeping up to tangle in X’s hair. When they finally pull away, both are blushing and sharing shy, smiling glances at one another.
"I do want to," X says, voice breathy. "And...and I'm very glad you want to, as well."
X takes Daichi's hand in theirs once more, twining their fingers together. It's one thing to talk to someone and be happy only hearing their voice, which Daichi had been, but being able to be together in person.... It was magical.
He and X spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing little more than cuddling on the couch, talking about the same things they always did, like whether or not you could hear the music of the universe without any sort of translator, or whether there was a more efficient way to travel through space that humans had just missed. They fall asleep on the couch, Daichi wrapped up in X's embrace, their fingers still intertwined.
--
The next day at school is nothing short of amazing.
"That's the nicest Canadian girlfriend I've ever seen," Hayato says when he meets X for the first time. Wataru elbows him in the ribs.
Rui is astounded. "You're dating an Ultra?!" she all but squeals. "You'll need to report back and tell me the differences, you know, biologically speaking-"
Daichi whisks X out of the lab: he doesn't need Rui and the team running experiments on his date.
X sits in classes with him as well, and Daichi finds that somehow he knows a bunch of the other people at his school. He knows Zero, for one, and Ginga and Victory. Daichi is amazed.
"I thought you were from far away," he says.
"I am," X replies. "However, I used to visit this place from time to time." X grows suddenly quiet. "I know it is only the second day," he says, "but...I am enjoying this, being here, and...."
"I-if you want to stay longer!" Daichi says, "you can!!"
"I meant quite longer," X murmurs, voice low. "If that is-"
"YES." Daichi's reply is a little too fast, and X laughs.
"Then I'll stay, for as long as you'll have me."
--
Life falls into a routine, after that, but things aren't too different from what they were before. X and Daichi still spend much of their time talking, chatting amicably into the early hours of the morning. X refuses to let Daichi snuggle unless he promises to sleep as well, which is usually met with half-hearted protest until Daichi inevitably dozes off in X's arms. The way X says Daichi's name also never fails to send shivers down his spine, even after months of hearing it every morning.
The school itself stays mostly the same, even with X's arrival.The teachers are still as weird as usual: Seven is still ignored by Ace, and still goes to Zoffy and Leo to cry about it. Ace still gets in trouble for losing his temper. Zoffy dances around asking out Hikari, the chemistry professor, though the two are often seen out for coffee. Taro does his best to fit in, but he's still the baby of the group, and Ace is relentless in his teasing.
"The Ultra Brothers are weird," Daichi tries to explain to X, though that's about as far as he gets in his explanation before another lunchroom fight breaks out. This time, it's Glenfire and Mirror who go tumbling to the ground in a heap, yelling and cursing at one another. Daichi turns away and pretends not to notice, but it's difficult to miss the entire scene when the Jean brothers are still trying to break them apart...and the whole thing is only exacerbated by Zero, who throws himself into the pile with a shout of, "I'm gonna wreck both of you!"
X chuckles and takes Daichi's hand in theirs, squeezing gently. Daichi squeezes back. Even with the craziness of the school, X is always there, a solid comfort he can lean on.
"Hey," Daichi says, "do you think that humans could ever learn to understand the music of the universe, and not just hear it? If we could, maybe we would be able to live together in harmony with everyone else."
"I think," X replies, "that you are learning slowly..." They lean in, pressing a kiss to Daichi's temple. "But that you are doing a good job, so far."
They sit there together for the rest of lunch, chatting and enjoying their comfortable companionship, totally oblivious to the world around them.