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ONE WEEK BEFORE VALENTINE'S DAY
Every time he went to the store, Tamao was reminded of what was coming soon. Boxes of chocolate, bouquets of roses, light-up roses, teddy bears, things you see in the giant gift baskets girls would be carrying around on Valentine’s day. He would browse the section, usually with his best friend Rensuke, but he would sometimes look by himself.
It was no doubt that the nekomata liked the newest student, Aiya. From the moment he helped her up on her first day, he was stricken by their odd (kind of off-putting) charm. Anybody could notice it, but the two who saw the worst of his yearning were Mujina, his roommate, and Rensuke, his best friend. Every time him and Aiya had what would be considered a “special moment”, Tamao would react in the way a girl with a crush would―scream into (Mujina’s) pillow, pace around the room with a red face, and gush about it to Rensuke over the phone.
It got to a point. His friend group (minus Aiya) was fed up with the way Tamao would tiptoe around everything when it came to the dodomeki. They tried setting the two up, but Aiya was quite busy as an intern nurse, and Tamao never had the guts to visit them at their workplace. He also didn’t want to see the strange girl play around with guts!
‘Operation: set them up!’ was inevitably a failure. On top of that, most of the group wasn’t even sure that Aiya returned the feelings! Kuniko figured it out on the third night of the Kyoto class trip, and despite also being there, Beniko didn’t catch on. (Quite frankly, she thought that Aiya liked the female anatomical model in the biology room.)
Kuniko never told the rest of the group that Aiya felt the same, mostly because she made a promise to Aiya not to tell a soul. Since Aiya was unreadable to all but her new family, nobody was sure the dodomeki was even interested in romance in itself!
So when Tamao ran into Aiya at the pharmacy, he was a little surprised. He assumed she was here for more medical purposes than he was (standing in front of the Valentine display and maybe grabbing a snack), so he didn’t try to disturb them. It didn’t seem like she noticed him yet…
…They haven’t moved from the display yet. The dodomeki’s eyes scanned the display, before grabbing two large boxes of chocolate.
Before Tamao could panic about his crush already having a valentine, the misunderstanding was rectified immediately. “Kuniko and the other littles like this kinda stuff, right…?”
Oh, it’s just for family! He was pulled out of his thoughts when the girl in question tapped him lightly on the shoulder. It took everything in the nekomata to not jump back 20 feet with a girlish scream. “Akisame-rin, what are you doing hereee?” She asked, that same smile ever present on her face.
“N—Nothiiing… Just restocking the dorm snack supply!” That doesn’t explain why I’m here and not in the right aisle! He angrily thought to himself with an embarrassed look, but Aiya didn’t seem to notice any of it.
“I seeeee!” (Seems the girl has adopted their guardian’s speech patterns.) The two silently stared at the display. “Is this the kinda stuff youkai want for Valentine’s day?” Aiya suddenly asked, turning to Tamao.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing negative, I promiseeee! It’s just that humans would want these kinda things too! I just thought there’d be gifts tailored for youkai-specific wants!” Aiya shrugged, face scrunching up in thought.
Cute… Wait, no!
“Do you like anything special?” He asked, distracting himself from those embarrassing thoughts. Aiya’s eyes widened, before she returned to that same blank smile. “That’s for you to find out yourselfffff!” They sang out, and then turned on their heel and walked away.
It left Tamao both surprised and curious. Talk about another level of hard-to-get… But now, he has to get them something perfect for them by Valentine’s day! It doesn’t seem like simple roses or chocolates would cut it.
3 DAYS BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY
Tamao was running out of time. Four days had passed by in a flash, and he was still struggling on what to get for his crush. On top of that, Aiya’s admirers started making their moves more boldly.
They would ask them to be their valentine, whether through a note in their locker, in the hallway during a passing period, during the lunch break, even in the middle of class they would burst in suddenly and loudly propose.
Aiya had gotten quite uncomfortable with these proposals, and her friends knew it, so the “Aiya Valentine-Confession Protection Squad” was formed, composed of Sano, Kuniko, Yuri, and Hijita. Anytime someone confessed to her, they were then beaten to a pulp by one of the four!
Or merely intimidated into running away and never stepping foot near Aiya again! The girl herself never noticed these actions being taken right in front of her face, but as long as the confessions slowed down! Tamao was grateful as well, but he was worried that he was going to be the next one to be shot down. Although, that wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon considering he was still unsure what to get as a gift.
He knows Aiya likes spicy food, but a package of spicy ramen or chips feels more like a gift for a broke college student… and it was quite unromantic. She also seems to like the sharp medical tools, but Tamao can’t find himself trusting her with anything sharp…
Medical… medical… Oh, of course! Couldn’t he just ask Takahashi? He would know a thing or two about what Aiya would want as a gift, wouldn’t he?
And so Tamao visited the nurse’s office during a break and―“I think she’d like to cut you open and take your heart, Akisame-kun.”―He was a total dead end too! But the doctor’s suggestion reminded Tamao that he should definitely never give Aiya anything sharp, ever. Kuniko walked through the doorway as if on cue to scold her guardian. “Akira-san!! Aiya-chan isn’t― She doesn’t… just say something normal for once, would you?!” The brunette stuttered, finding that the doctor wasn’t wrong.
Did this make Tamao worry for his life a little? Definitely. Was it out of character for Aiya? As hard as it was to admit, no. “Utagawa-chan, do you know what Itou-chan would like as a gift?” Tamao blurted out suddenly, turning a little red at his own question. After a silence grew between the two, he coughed as if to brush it off.
But to his relief, Kuniko was visibly contemplating the question the nekomata had posed to her. “Is this because you want to give her a gift for Valentine’s day?” She eventually asked, which made Tamao’s ‘slightly red’ face turn beet red in a split second. Kuniko let out a giggle at that.
“Figured! Anyways, it’s good you asked around before just getting something without thought for what they’d like.”
“I ran into them at a store and they didn’t seem interested in the staple V-day presents. Figured that wouldn’t cut it.”
Kuniko nodded. “You would be correct. For starters, they hate sweet stuff. Cartoony hearts are also a big no for her… and roses have thorns. We know where that’d go…” Tamao nodded, a cold sweat dripping down his cheek. “What could I get her, then?” He asked, scrolling through his texts with Aiya to find any hints.
“I know they like thrillers a lot. At the moment, they’re obsessed with Squid Game. You know what that is, right?” Kuniko said, and Tamao perked up and immediately opened a shopping app upon hearing that. “Yeah, hard not to. Itou-chan also talks about it a lot. She likes that ‘Front Man’ guy a lot…” The two shuddered. Aiya liking the bloodthirsty antagonist of the series was not helping her case as a major character at all.
Tamao’s idea (approved immediately by Kuniko) was…
“It’s no goodddd! It won’t come in time!” The nekomata sobbed out, cursing at the shipping date. The seventeenth of February. It wasn’t even the delivery date.
He didn’t have a special subscription that would get it to him much sooner. That’s on him for taking so long to pick a gift, but he wouldn’t admit it like that! It was me putting in the consideration for the perfect gift for her, is what he told himself.
“We should probably go back, Tama-kun…” Kuniko sighed, feeling sorry for her feline friend. Maybe Rensuke-kun could help…?
“On a nurse’s office dateeee?” A familiar voice sang out.
Oh no.
“Aiya-chan/Itou-chan?!” Tamao and Kuniko blurted in sync, jumping back at least a few feet. There stood Aiya in the doorway, smile eerie as ever. (Her appearances were so abrupt sometimes, there were people convinced she’s actually a Nurarihyon.) She was wearing a nurse’s uniform. Her bangs were pinned back, but a few strands still escaped, and the rest of her hair was pulled back into two buns stacked on each other, one hidden by that signature nurse hat.
Tamao had never actually seen Aiya in uniform, and now that he actually has…
“Akisame-rin? Are you running a feverrrr?”
They look super professional, and it’s making him feel even more mushy inside than usually just seeing typical Aiya in their typical attire! She soon got worried (Well, as worried as she can get…) when Tamao was unresponsive for a whole two minutes. Kuniko gracefully covered for him. He’ll have to return the favor someday.
“Aiya-chan, are you leaving for your internship now?” She asked, lightly pushing Tamao out of the way. Aiya shook her head. “No, Akira-san put me on school nurse duty with him!” She lightly corrected, pointing to her mentor/mother/father figure, who was sitting at his desk with that ever-creepy smile.
Kuniko and Tamao prayed for the students who might face the misfortune of having to visit the nurse’s office. These two as a duo were even more dangerous than the idiot teacher trio…
“Lunch is gonna end in 20! You two should regroup with your friends before you miss lunch, yeahhhh?” Takahashi chirped out. “Of course, I could fix you two up someth―”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Tamao and Kuniko were already long gone.
“Awww, they’re gone.” He frowned, walking over to Aiya. Noticing their silence, his smile returned again. This time, it was more gentle than creepy. You could say it was his “parental” side kicking in!
“He’s putting a lot of thought into this for you, Aiya.” He reminded her, putting a hand on her head. He had meant to ruffle her hair, but when he felt the nurse’s hat blocking the action, he retracted the hand.
Aiya nodded, looking up to him. Her face was thoroughly flushed, notably her cheeks and forehead. “Yeah, I know..” They muttered, hiding their face in their [currently latex gloved] hands. “I’m worried what I got wasn’t good enough for him… I just asked Nyuudou-rin and Maizuka-rin since I figured they would know and here he is asking Akira-san and Kuniko-rin and Renjou-rin and Sano-rin and―!!!” They cut themself off realizing they were practically yelling now.
“When do people start filing in?” Was what Aiya said after a beat of silence.
3 DAYS BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY (7PM― 7 HOURS LATER)
“Renren, you’re telling me you can get same-day delivery?! How is that possible?!!” Tamao shouted, jumping onto the one-eyed boy in his cat form. Rensuke gently sat back up, letting the nekomata perch on his shoulder. “My father has a lot of connections, remember? He could definitely get someone from there to get it here.” He explained, smile growing as his best friend’s smile grew with hope.
“I’ll pay you back a-bajillionfold for this, Renren!!!” Tamao said cheerfully, jumping off of Rensuke’s shoulder, onto his bed. He turned human there before getting off the bed and plopping next to the Hitotsume-kozou again.
Rensuke patted his head lightly, a warm smile on his face. “You just need to keep working hard, yeah?” Tamao nodded vigorously. Thank god that’s all!!! I don’t have the money or prestige to pay a rich kid like him back!!
Meanwhile at Takahashi’s house, Aiya, Kuniko, and a few of the other girls that Takahashi adopted were huddled around a table. They had been doing this the past few days since Aiya got advice from Rensuke and Maizuka.
“I got the pictures from the newspaper club! Funny, all it took was me asking and they handed ‘em over without a fight!” Aiya chirped as she cut the aforementioned photos out. The Zashiki-Warashi (or Shiki-rin as Aiya would call her) plucked the scissors from her hands and replaced them with safety scissors. “Aww…”
The girls worked as they chatted pleasantly, Kuniko mostly leading the conversation as she instructed the younger girls on what to do for this project. After an hour of working, Takahashi and his nurses brought them refreshments and snacks as they cleaned up the workspace.
Soon after, it was bedtime for most of the girls, so it eventually whittled the group down to only Kuniko and Aiya. They tried to study for the Spookology quiz (it was a pop quiz, but Hatanaka is not quiet planning these in the faculty room.), but Kuniko got a call from Satsuki, which she took into her room.
Now Aiya was alone.
Exhausted from the day, the dodomeki regressed out of their human form and flopped onto their bed, going limp. They remained like that for 30 minutes.
There was a rhythmic knock on her bedroom door. “Come innnn.” the blue haired girl drawled out, sitting up groggily. Although she didn’t care what form people in her home saw them in, they returned to the human form.
The door swung open and Takahashi strode in, a familiar phone in his hand. “Akisame-kun’s on the lineeee. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore!” He laughed as Tamao on the other end was hissing like the cat he is. Aiya shot up and plucked the phone from his hand, pushing him out with their oni strength and shutting the door. “Thanks Akira-san, later Akira-saaaaan!!”
“Itou-chan, thank god you’re hereee! Takahashi-sensei was asking me for blood samples!!” The nekomata whined. Aiya giggled lightly.
“He’s gonna get it from you at some point, whether you like it or not…!!”
“That doesn't make me feel any better!?”
“Don’t worry, Aiya will be the one taking the blood.”
A pause. “Actually, that does help a little.”
“Seriously, you stupid cat?!” Tamao’s roommate Mujina could be heard in the background.
“C’mon Mujina, I’m on the phone with her—”
Click. The line went dead.
Weird is what a normal person would think. Cute is what someone like Aiya, AKA a weirdo, thought.
Weird is what someone normal would think. Not even human normal, just non-class 2-3 normal. Someone like Aiya, who’s a class 2-3 weirdo and Akira Takahashi’s pupil at that, thought it was cute and endearing.
Still, the hundred-eyed demon wonders what Tamao might’ve wanted to tell her.
1 DAY BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY (NEW POV!)
In Rensuke’s honest opinion, it was really embarrassing to watch Tamao scramble over a girl. He didn’t know how much not only Rensuke himself, but everyone else spectating this uphill battle could handle before breaking. It wasn’t that Aiya didn’t like him back, no. It was that neither caught the hints that the other would throw at them!
That, or Aiya would say something very obviously meant to be romantic, and hours after it would happen Tamao would scream about it to Rensuke, and keep asking “Is this a sign?!” Yes, you stupid cat! She clearly likes you! Use that small brain for once! He wanted to scream, but wouldn’t dare to do that. (He really doesn’t have the heart…)
And on Aiya’s end? It wasn’t looking any better. She recognized signs when she saw them, and knew she liked Tamao, but had her own doubts. It slipped from Hijita’s tongue that last summer the guys, including Tamao, had gone to the beach for the purpose of hitting on girls.
Of course the typical girl hearing this would have doubts on if the signs they saw were genuine. Aiya was no exception! Even still, the hundred-eyed demon tried getting closer to the nekomata, observing his actions to see if the connection was real.
It was all real, wasn’t it? With much thought put into it, Tamao planned to confess to her on Valentine’s day. He’d planned that a million times before, but this was the first time he wasn’t allowed to back down. As in, if he even thought to back down, the boys(+Beniko, Kuniko and Yuri) would beat the stuffing out of him.
“Renren! Does this look good?!” Tamao pulled him out of his thoughts, holding up a creepy-looking heart box. 8 months early Halloween present? No. Who even gives presents for that? It was a personalized gift box for Aiya. Apparently they don’t like the typical-Valentine’s day aesthetic? Odd girl. “Yep, it looks perfect for them.” The one-eyed youkai responded with a grin, before inspecting the gift itself once more.
When he verified the quality, he nodded to Kurai, who nodded back as he took his leave. “Okay, it’s totally ready now.”
The gift was put in its rightful place inside the box, and sealed in for life( about 20 hours).
“Now, how do we tie a ribbon?” Tamao asked, holding the two ends of the ribbon, smiling wide but the confusion on his face was even bigger.
The orange haired boy groaned. Dammit. “We’ll just watch a video tutorial or something.”
VALENTINE’S DAY.
Today was the day for most. Maybe not for the antiromantics or most single people, but most likely for the romantics, taken people, and the singles who were gonna shoot their shot! Tamao and Aiya were two of the latter, and their nerves were on fire.
What if she says no…?!
What if he doesn’t accept the gift?!
His doubts had clouded so much of his brain for so long, that the nekomata realized in the middle of homeroom that he hadn’t even decided when to give the gift! He’s not sure if Aiya had their internship to be at after school, or if they had to leave during lunch, so those time slots had a bolded question mark on them.
The other options were during the cleaning period, but Hatanaka was going to be the one monitoring them. Big fat X-mark on that slot. Tamao was about to lose all hope, and then―
“Itou, are you busy after school?”
“No, why?”
The luck gods smiled down at him! Oh wait, that’s just Ebisu-sensei. He’s also smiling up at the nekomata… for some reason. The usual gang (Sano-Mame-Beniko-Hijita) explained their plans for after school to Aiya. Karaoke, window-shopping, and finally dinner. Aiya agreed to join, quite enthusiastically!
“Nyuudou, you joining?” Hijita asked the one-eyed youkai, his gaze pleading. Pleading as in Please bring Utagawa! Nyuudou knew that’s what he meant. He also knew that Kuniko had plans for a girl’s night with Satsuki and Yuri. “Only if Tama’s invited too.” Nyuudou responded with a wry smile. Hijita shot a glare, but there wasn’t much weight behind it. “Sure, sure.”
The day went by in a flash, and Tamao noticed how many opportunities he really had to shoot his shot, but never took them. It felt too soon, even if he was going to act later that day…
The gift sat in his locker all day, waiting for him to return. Maybe Tamao would get the courage sooner and retrieve it! But no, it stayed there until the end of the school day until Tamao brought it with him to the planned hangout.
Coincidentally, Aiya was carrying something too as the gang traversed down the sidewalk. It was a cute bag(which probably originally belonged to Kuniko), probably big enough to hold Tamao in his kitty form.
The group stayed at karaoke for two hours, singing popular songs and then playing blind karaoke until their reserved time was over. They moved to the shopping center, moving around with little breaks for another two hours. They split into smaller pairings, but they never stayed the same for more than fifteen minutes.
In the end, only Beniko bought something—a new video game.
On the bridge, the gang paused their activities because Hijita “wanted to capture the sunset”. Only Beniko stayed with him, while Sano, Mame, and Rensuke went off to an ice cream stand.
That left… Tamao and Aiya. The stars of the show!
It became apparent to the both of them that this was deliberate on the other five’s end.
The silence between them only grew louder, and it had a side effect of turning them pink!
Tamao figured he should just go for it. He opened his mouth to speak, and…
“I got you—”
“I have this th—”
Their mouths snapped shut at the same time, and they only turned a deeper pink. Aiya noticed the nekomata trembling, so she decided to take the lead.
“I made this thing for you! Me and the girls worked really hard on this, so I really really hope you like it!!” She blurted out, pushing the bag into the blond’s chest. He carefully placed the gift for Aiya on the ground, then took the bag from her.
Looking inside it, he saw a thick book. When he pulled it out, the lettering on the cover read “Tama-rin & Aiya-chan!” with cute stickers surrounding it. He flipped to the first page.
It was a scrapbook. Pictures of Tamao and Aiya together, some of them he couldn’t even remember the context of. His heart squeezed. Flipping through the pages, you could see the different styles from the different girls who worked on this.
It was cute. Really cute. He looked up at Aiya, who was staring at him expectantly, the blank smile showing more anxiety and anticipation than the usual neutrality. God, they’re so cute.
“This—This is amazing. Itou-chan, you really thought this through…” Tamao spat out, his hands trembling as he traced his fingers over one of the photos of Aiya. She doesn't have any bad pictures, huh…
Aiya hummed excitedly, eyes glimmering. “I’m so gladdd!! I didn’t know what I could get that wasn’t half-hearted but not too flashy, so Kuniko-rin proposed I’d make something! Nyuudou-rin and Maizuka-rin said you might like something you could keep for long too—” she cuts herself off, realizing she’d begun rambling.
Tamao thought his heart might burst from how tightly it squeezed. WHY IS SHE SO CUTE??!
He quickly put the scrapbook in the bag, scrambling to pick up his gift for her. “I—It’s really great. Thanks so much, Itou-chan!”
The dodomeki nodded vigorously, like a dog after being given a treat.
“I got this for you.. I was really struggling on what to get, too!” He muttered, handing the box to the recipient.
They opened it like an excited kid on Christmas, gasping like one would. “Oh my god, you really got ahold of thisssss?!? Akisame-rin, this is the greatest gift I could ever getttt!!!” she gushed, eyes sparkling more vibrant than ever.
It was a front man costume. A professionally tailored one, at that. She held the signature mask in her hands, throwing (very carefully. more like quickly placing) the box to the ground and tackling Tamao into a hug.
He’d almost fallen over from the velocity of it, but managed to catch her and keep his footing. The shorter girl’s legs dangled in the air. Since she was somewhat oni too, the hug was somewhat crushing the weaker nekomata.
“Thank you so, so much, Tama-riiiiinn!!” Aiya exclaimed, nuzzling their face into the crook of his neck. Tamao started purring, and shunned himself mentally for doing such.
But it already happened, so he might as well let the cat out of the bag(no pun intended.). “Ahhh… Itou—Aiya-chan, I… I like you. Like, like-like..” He stuttered out, turning from red to redder with the last words.
Aiya froze. She lifted her head from his neck, and positioned themself to properly look at his face. “For—For real?” They squeaked out, red creeping on her face.
Tamao couldn’t bring himself to speak anymore, so he just nodded slowly. “Wha—what you called me. Can you say it again?” They whispered, face now thoroughly flushed.
“Aiya-chan?”
“Yes! Again, pleaseee..!!”
“Aiya-chan..?”
The dodomeki looked at him with a pleading gaze that said “again, again!”
“Aiya-ch—” Tamao was cut off by a light tickle near his eye. He saw Aiya pull away quickly, eyes squeezed shut embarrassedly.
It finally registered.
Aiya just kissed him. Maybe she had been aiming for a cheek, but it being near his eye felt so in-character for them.
Before he could question it, Aiya started to speak.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to commit myself yet, but I do like you too…” They admitted in a low whisper. Tamao could feel the shame radiating from them, so he squeezed their arm lightly. As a gesture of reassurance.
“It’s okay, Aiya-chan! I can wait! Even if it’s super long, I’ll still be here.” His reassurance made Aiya’s eyes light up again. She smiled in understanding, nodding at him.
They really, really hoped he meant that.
“‘And besiiides, Renren and Utagawa-chan are kinda like that, aren’t they?”
“Oh, you’re right! At this rate, Hijita-rin and Sano-rin’ll be together before they are!”
“Care to repeat that?”
Hijita suddenly cut in, appearing out of nowhere, and the two (80%) lovebirds split apart immediately. Still, Aiya held her ground.
“I said what I saidddd! They move so so slow that one of the most unlikely pairings would end up together soonerrrr!” She shot back, that blank smile back on her face.
“You—”
“Can it Hijita. We’ll be here all night, so let's just get a move on…” Sano muttered, pushing him in the direction of the restaurant they were headed to. He failed to conceal the blush growing on his neck.
And so, the seven of them ate dinner, two of them being further entwined together than ever before.