Chapter Text
It’s already a winter break at Hyakki Academy Island. The cold weather makes people want to stay indoors as much as they can, especially on Friday. Along the empty streets, there stood an old bookstore.
And sitting behind the cashier desk inside, Sano Mikoto is officially bored.
Don’t get him wrong, he likes working at the bookstore. The manager lady is nice as she doesn’t mind letting him work on long holidays only. The pay is also good and the shop rarely gets too crowded. He only needs to look after the store and tend to occasional customers with his coworker. And so, most of his time here is spent reading books. But even though he loves reading, he is getting bored with the books here after going through almost half of them. Not only that, reading a new book usually means new characters to learn and a new story to comprehend. But right now, he just wants to read some light stuff.
However, a glimpse of his human teacher’s antics went through his mind and made him chuckle. It won’t be boring if Seimei is here, though.
“What are you laughing at, Sano-senpai?” His coworker, Karasuma Tenmaru, asked him. Mikoto has just now realized that the said coworker was looking at him from the side.
“Nothing. Just got reminded of something,” he answered, “finish organizing the back, Karasuma-kun?”
Tenmaru nodded. “Yeah, only a few new books came in this week. Speaking of books, not reading one today?”
“Nope.” Mikoto looked over at the bookshelves. “Thinking about doing something though, I'm currently not in the mood to read a new book.”
“Why not reread the ones you like?”
Mikoto pondered, “Hmm, a pass for now. Although there are no new characters to think about, I already know the story.”
“Oh.” It took Tenmaru a few seconds to make a conclusion. “So you want to read something, with a set of characters you already know, but with a different story?”
“Uh, yeah. How do you know what I want based on our conversation that only lasted less than four lines here?”
“Please do not underestimate my analytical power. After all, I am the scribe of the infamous Karasu Tengu Troupe,” the boy said proudly.
Mikoto sweatdropped. “Right…”
“Anyway,” Tenmaru continued while wiping his glasses, “Sano-senpai, maybe you should give fanfiction a try?”
Mikoto was confused. “Fanfiction? What’s that?”
The wiping stopped. Tenmaru looked at the blond in horror. “What do you mean you don’t know what a fanfiction is?!”
“I’m not chronically online as much as you!”
Tenmaru ignored that statement and put his glasses on. He explained, “Fanfiction is, well, a fiction written by someone–usually a fan–involving characters from a pre-existing work. And because it's fiction, people can write almost anything about the said characters. For example, people can write about the characters having a different life in a different world opposed to the canon story, this is called AU or alternate universe. A lot of people also write about two characters in love just based on their chemistry or looks. Heck, they can even write a story about themselves getting together with the character they like, this is what we called shipping.”
Mikoto thought to himself. To where?
Tenmaru beamed. “And people can tailor it to their liking! A complex or simple story, a one-chapter story or twenty-chapter story where it can rival a New York #1 Best Sellers novel, even deciding the genres! It can be a fluffy cute story about slow romance between two characters that creates butterflies in the readers’ stomach, or full on comedy about someone’s love life that makes the readers laughed so much it hurt their chest, or hardcore angst where the characters die and only despair prevail for everyone, or porn without plot where the characters do nothing but fuck twenty four hours a day with a detailed explanation like--”
“Enough, enough! I get it already!" A blushing Mikoto stops the other person from speaking even more. He does not want to hear the continuation of the last part.
Tenmaru calmed down and continued, “Oops, my bad. Anyway, that’s fanfiction. I think it suits what Sano-senpai wants, no? You know the characters, but with a brand new story.”
“Well…” Mikoto thought for a while. “Yeah, I can give it a try. As long as I get to filter out the works.”
Tenmaru pulled out his phone and opened up the internet. ”Then, you should try out this website. It’s called Archive of Our Own, or AO3 for short. You can immediately filter the works you want to see, like this.” Tenmaru demonstrated skillfully while making sure to not show his reading history, which is something Mikoto’s thankful for. “This is also the website where this story was written."
“I see. Thanks a lot, Karasuma-kun.”
Tenmaru chuckled, “No problem. I hope you don’t get too addicted, Sano-senpai.”
After closing up the bookstore for the day, Tenmaru and Mikoto parted ways. By using Yanagida’s taxi service, Mikoto safely arrived home. After taking off his shoes and putting his bag on the floor, he went to the kitchen. Just like the last summer break, he once again spent his winter break at--
“Ah, Sano-kun! Welcome home!” A familiar voice greeted him in the kitchen. “Did Yanagida-kun just drop you off?”
Mikoto nodded. “Yeah, he sent his regards for you as he needs to go quickly. He had another customer waiting.” He looked at his human teacher. “What are you doing there, Seimei?”
That’s right, Mikoto is staying at the Abe’s once again. His homeroom teacher, Abe Haruaki–or Seimei, as to what Class 2-3 has been calling him since the beginning–offered to bring Mikoto to his home for the break. He doesn’t mind, it’s better than staying at the principal’s home or with his bro– Ebisu Isaburou. Despite Haruaki’s annoying tendencies to attract problems and drag him into the said problems as well, Mikoto enjoys being around him and his shenanigans. And if possible, he wants to be closer to Seimei as much as he can and look after him.
Not only that, Mikoto also realized that he has been thinking about Seimei a lot more than before. It’s not the ‘I wonder what is he doing right now?’ thinking though, but rather the ‘It would have been more fun with Seimei here.’ thinking and…
“Waah! Sano-kun, don’t be mean to my Marshmallow!”
“Boo-hoo! Don’t talk about me like I’m some kind of troublemaker, Sano-kun!”
“Sano-kun, look, look! Akisame-kun got a 52 on his test!”
… most of them are just Seimei being (pathetically) cute in many ways when there’s only the two of them.
He consulted on a few books and the internet on romantic feelings a few times. To be honest, they are not exactly 100% ideal to be used as a guide on romance, but he can’t exactly consult with the experienced adults around him for many reasons (mostly because they are all crooked in the head and partially because he is not ready to let them know yet). The symptoms pointed to him liking the said teacher.
The first step of finding out something like this about yourself is denial. However, after going through so much together, he can’t really deny it anymore. So it’s mostly acceptance on his part. He is not ready to make it known he likes Seimei, though. Not even his tanuki best friend, Maizuka Mamekichi, knows about this. He doesn’t even know how to make the move first. After all, he never liked anyone prior to Seimei.
Back to the present, Haruaki is currently washing the ingredients needed for dinner by the sink. “Preparing dinner! Dad, Mom, and Ame are still cleaning up after the shrine, so they will be a little late. Tonight's dinner is a simple omusoba*!” Haruaki beamed, “Sano-kun, you can take a bath first!”
“You don’t need help on preparing them?”
Haruaki shook his head. “Nope! This is Haruaki’s Special Omusoba! It will be done in just half an hour or so.”
“I’m surprised you can cook, Seimei.”
“Waah! How can you not trust me, Sano-kun?! I’m a responsible adult, you know!” Haruaki comically cried.
Mikoto laughed and went to the bathroom. “Not sure about the last part, but can’t wait for dinner!”
After having dinner with the whole Abe family, Mikoto retreated to the guest bedroom for the night. Seimei definitely didn’t lie about his speciality dish, the omusoba was delicious. And now, he needs to rest. He’s going out with Seimei tomorrow downtown to sightsee and buy some clothes together, after all. That’s right, it will be just the two of them hanging out, him and Seimei. There will be no Abe Amaaki on the trip. Man, it was fun listening to his outburst earlier.
“Haa?! What’d ya mean only the both of ya goin’ out tomorrow?! I’m comin’ as well!”
“Ame!” Mama-aki scolded their oldest son. “It’s Saturday, let Sano-kun go sightseeing around Osaka before the break ends. Haru doesn’t have anything to do tomorrow, but you do! We have an exorcism on schedule!”
“Tch! Haru, I’m puttin’ a GPS on ya!”
“No! We agree not to do that anymore!”
To be honest, Mikoto is not sure whether Doppel acts like that as a usual brocon or he already found out about the Yakubyougami’s crush on his beloved Haru. He sure hopes it’s the former one. But forget about that now, he’s going to do some light reading before sleeping. Just then, Tenmaru’s suggestion echoes in his mind.
“Sano-senpai, maybe you should give fanfiction a try?”
It won't hurt to try . Mikoto grabbed his phone before getting comfortable inside the futon. He typed out ‘AO3’ and started clicking. He chose his favorite manga series and filtered the works with a particular relationship between the two main characters. After a bit of scrolling, a certain work caught his eyes. Mikoto scanned the tags.
Fluff. Romantic Comedy. Oblivious. There Was Only One Bed.
Huh, one bed? He doesn’t remember anything about a bed in the manga. Oh well, let’s give it a read.
It’s nine in the morning, and Mikoto officially has been awake for 24 hours. In the end, he didn’t go to sleep last night. The story was too well written and got him hooked, especially the ‘one bed’ prompt. Then, it went downhill from there. After at least ten works with that prompt, he stumbled upon a new one. A room where you can’t get out without doing certain things. The story was really good, although his face was red while reading it.
Then he found another one, seven minutes in heaven.
Another similar prompt, dating rumor.
At this point, Mikoto already understands his own taste. He realized that he keeps reading the one where the situation pushes the characters to make the first move, or at least make them acknowledge their feelings. He can’t help but think that maybe if this kind of thing happens to him with Seimei, at the very least he already knows what to do to not screw up.
“Sano-kun, wake up! We need to go in an hour!”
Crap. He wants to go to sleep now. The cold temperature makes him want to snuggle even more under the blanket. However, he can’t afford to let go of this opportunity. And so, he ignored the drowsiness and answered, “Yeah, yeah. I’m already awake.”
Thankfully, a day out around Osaka with Seimei is proven to be effective to help him forget the lack of sleep he initially has. They went around and took a lot of pictures. The street foods are also delicious. The shopping spree also went without problem, both of them each found good and affordable clothes. It was a very good day out. Almost too good to be true.
But it seems that Mikoto spoke too soon. On the way to the station, a heavy snowstorm suddenly picks up, making the duo take shelter in the nearest building. Not only that, it’s possible for the trains to get delayed or even suspended for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they didn’t drive the car today, as it is currently under repair.
“What should we do?” Haruaki frowned. “It’s not possible to go home in this kind of weather.”
Mikoto nodded. “Yeah,” he showed his phone, “the website shows that the services are suspended until further notice.”
Just then, Haruaki’s phone chimed with a notification. “It’s Mom!”
[20:17] Haru!
[20:17] The news said there’s a heavy snowstorm going on now.
[20:18] You are with Sano-kun right? Please take care! If possible, just spend a night there and go home tomorrow morning, okay?
[20:20] Don’t worry about us! The storm is not that heavy here.
“Well.” Haruaki showed the messages to Mikoto. “I think we should just spend a night here, Sano-kun. Let’s not take any risk for now.”
“Sure.” Mikoto gestured to the building behind them. “What luck, huh? It’s a hotel.”
Haruaki took the first step. “Let’s get inside then. I hope they still have empty rooms.”
And then, it dawned upon the blond. He’s going to spend a night alone. With Seimei. Just the two of them. He thinks back to what he had been reading last night.
Usually in this unexpected situation, the hotel only has one room left with a single bed. And so, the two characters will have to share the bed together. After so much bickering, they will sleep at opposites’ end of the bed while threatening the other party. But then in the morning, they end up cuddling with each other. Whoever wakes up first usually is the one who catches feelings first for the other person. He hopes it’s him though.
Mikoto got nervous just thinking about it. Finally, a possible way for him to get closer to Seimei by utilizing the situation.
Without realizing, both of them reach the reception desk. The employee behind the desk greets them, “Welcome! How may I help you?”
“Hi there! Do you still have available rooms? We don’t have any reservation due to the unexpected snowstorm.” Haruaki explained.
“I see, please do wait a minute.”
Mikoto gulped. It was wrong to think so, but he wanted to use his power as a Yakubyougami so badly to ensure the possible situation as he had hoped.
After checking the computer, the employee frowned. “We apologize, we are also almost fully occupied tonight due the storm. The only available room right now is the single-bed type room, is it alright?”
Yes! Mikoto internally cheered. It’s really happening--
“Oh, but good news! We still have three unoccupied rooms.”
Mikoto stilled. What?
Haruaki, unaware of the blond’s internal thoughts, beamed at the information. “Great! We will take two rooms then.”
“Understood. Please wait.”
While waiting, Haruaki turned to Mikoto. “Isn’t it great, Sano-kun? We got really lucky here!”
Seimei doesn’t get it. But right now, Mikoto wants to be unlucky! Where did his bad luck go when he needed it the most?! His status as a Yakubyougami is now questioned.
“Here you go!” The employee handed Haruaki the hotel card. “We apologize, your rooms will be on different floors. The rooms are 301 and 501, respectively on the third and fifth floor. Thank you and have a nice night!”
“Thank you! Let’s go, Sano-kun.”
Mikoto silently walked behind Haruaki. On the way to the elevator, Mikoto saw two people just go through the front door and walk to the reception desk. Entering the elevator, he can’t make out what they were exactly talking about, but he already gets the gist.
Before the doors closed completely, their loud shouts can be heard, “What?! You only have one room available?!”
“Sano-kun, I will take room 301, okay? You take 501, here’s your access card!” Haruaki handed him the card. A ding echoes through the elevator, the number 3 on the screen lights up. “Well then, good night, Sano-kun! Let’s meet at nine tomorrow, at the lobby! Byeeee!”
The door closes and the elevator continues going up. Now, it’s only Mikoto in the elevator. He internally screamed.
Damn it!