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Chishiya sighs as he gets out of another consultation with a patient in room four at the clinic of the hospital. He usually does not mind doing clinic hours, but today he is really not feeling like it. His head throbs with a new headache, his feet ache from the night shift and he can’t even remember when was the last time he ate something.
Chishiya's stomach growls a second time as he gets to the counter to retrieve the patient's file to the nurses. And he is relieved to notice there is only one more waiting. After this, he is so going home.
“You go, Chishiya. I can take this one.” Ann muses after hearing the complaint from his body.
“No, I’ll take it. You seem worse than I do.” He grins, eyes darting to the purple bags under her cold eyes.
“Scum. We both look horrible.” She flips him off discreetly, a small smile playing on her lips. “But if you insist…”
“I do. Go get some rest. I’ll be right behind you.” Chishiya waves as he walks to the waiting room a few paces away. Only three guys are sitting there and they look quite comfortable sprawled over the chairs.
A man on the left has his black hair poking on all sides of his head and his button up seems to have been forced open, showing another white shirt underneath. He reads a fashion magazine like it's the most interesting thing here, which, to be fair, it probably is.
The one beside him has bleached hair that's already starting to turn yellow. His long body is stretched as he rests his head on the back cushion of the chair, his eyes closed and even breathing indicate he's taking a nice nap. He has the start of a black eye coming up around the sensitive skin.
And the last one seems to be the worst out of all of them. He has a barely contained bloody nose, his long hair is a complete mess and his T-shirt is ripped on the collar. What the hell had he been doing?
Chishiya reads the name on the file out loud, “Arisu Ryohei?”
As expected, the last guy looks up. His dark eyes do a double take before he gets up and walks slowly towards Chishiya, his hand still holding the blood stained toilet paper under his nostrils. His friends perk up as well, sending him worried looks.
“Follow me, Mr. Arisu.” Chishiya turns around and goes back to room four, closing the door behind them as Arisu enters after him. “So, you got into a fight?” He asks, looking over the details on the file.
Arisu Ryohei, age 24, height 1.78, no family history of disease, no known allergies, got into a bar fight and is suspected to have broken his nose.
Hmm, by the disheveled look of Arisu’s friends, they might have joined the brawl to help him out. Brave or stupid of them? Maybe both?
“Uh…yeah. My face hurts like hell.” Arisu complains, taking a seat at the examination table in the middle of the well lit room. Chishiya notices he has quite the outfit on. Floral patterned shorts, worn down blue T-shirt and black sandals. If Chishiya did not know better, he would have thought they were at a beach somewhere.
“I bet it does.” Chishiya puts on a pair of gloves and moves closer. “I’ll take a look for you.”
Arisu watches all his movements attentively like a child and his eyes cross over when Chishiya starts cleaning the dry blood with some gauze and water. Chishiya has to hold in a laugh and, while doing so, he cannot help the sudden thought that Arisu’s natural tanned skin seems very soft under his touch.
“Are you really a doctor?” Arisu whispers. His hot breath, smelling faintly of alcohol, caressing Chishiya's cheeks.
“Well, I do have this special degree on a wall that took me years to get and this pretty ID card hanging off my neck. So, guess.” Chishiya smirks when he feels the man’s skin grow hotter under his touch.
“I just meant… you look fairly young to be a doctor.” Arisu rolls his eyes playfully.
If Chishiya gained one hundred yen every time he heard that, he would definitely be rich enough to retire at age thirty, if he so wished.
“I know. I am.” Chishiya quips and after finishing with the cleaning he is happy to see the nose is not broken, only merely swollen. The bleeding has successfully stopped, so one less thing to worry about.
“So you’re a prodigy or something?” Arisu’s eyes twinkle as he continues to follow the doctors’ moves.
Chishiya almost snorts a laugh. If he had been born with the innate talent to excel in academics, his life would have been much easier. So, since he was not a prodigy child he had to work a thousand times harder to meet his parents expectations. After years and years of private tutors, endless school hours, physical punishments and mental exertion, he finally graduated high school at age sixteen and got into university. Only to end up in a different kind of hell. One that was much, much worse if he ever thought possible.
“Or something.” Chishiya agrees, shining a small light in Arisu’s eyes. All good there, too. “Just graduated early.”
“Cool.” Arisu nods his head a couple of times, his fingers playing with each other over his lap.
“Okay, so good news and bad news.” Chishiya announces, throwing his gloves in the bin beside the table.
“Ah, bad news first, right?” Arisu smiles sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders lightly.
“Bad news is, the swelling will stay with you for about five days and the bruising will take another two weeks to go away.” Chishiya starts writing the prescriptions down on his notepad. “So I recommend applying a cold pack for ten to twenty minutes several times a day and sleeping with your head elevated. You can take pain killers but avoid aspirin for at least the first couple of days and do not engage in strenuous activity, please.”
“Oh, so it’s not broken?” Arisu’s shoulders ease considerably, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of him.
“No. That's the good news. Though, if you feel difficulty breathing I would like for you to come back and see me again. It’s not likely, but you can never be too careful.” Cishiya hands him the prescription papers and gets up to open the door.
“Gladly!” Arisu practically jumps off the table with a pretty smile plastered on his face. “Thanks, doc!”
“Also,” Chishiya calls out. Arisu looks over his shoulder, waiting. “Get an ice pack for your friend with the black eye, too.”
“Will do!” Arisu' smile brightens before turning a corner and disappearing from the doctor’s eyesight.
***
Five days later, Chishiya is at the grocery store trying to figure out which is the damn tomato sauce Kuina needs for her recipes. There are way too many options of different and even from the same brands and they all look so much alike. He's scared to get the wrong one and get a nice beating.
Kuina has been talking about this most perfect tomato sauce in the universe she accidentally bought a few days ago and now it's the only one she allows inside their kitchen. She almost spat in his face when he said it was just sauce.
Ugh. He should have taken a picture of the one they still have at home. Now, Kuina won't even answer the phone to help him out. She's probably showering or napping on their couch.
He sighs again and keeps looking at the shelves of countless packages as if waiting for one of them to come forward and accuse itself of being the one. He almost laughs at his idiocy.
“Hm… tomato sauce. Tough business.” A voice to his right calls his attention. Chishyia looks over to find a familiar face squinting his eyes at the shelves and holding his chin with one hand.
It takes a short moment for Chishiya to remember who the other man is, but eventually he does. He eyes the yellowish-green bruise on the man’s nose which is barely covered by a hot pink band-aid clearly made for children.
Chishiya arches an eyebrow when Arisu looks back at him, a sheepish grin making itself present on the other's lips.
“Ha, hey doc. Everything alright?” Arisu runs a hand through his thick hair, which does not look less messy since the last time Chishiya saw it. Is his hair naturally like this? Interesting.
“Yes. How are you?” Chishiya asks in turn, moving his shopping basket over to his opposite arm.
“Much better, thanks. I have been following your instructions to a T.” Arisu guarantees, smiling like a child fishing for compliments. It almost makes Chishiya smile.
“That’s good to hear.” Chishiya eyes the other’s outfit choice. Again, Arisu looks like he is at the beach with a pair of colourful shorts, a plain shirt and flipflops. Chishiya can almost smell sunscreen and the salty sea air.
When his eyes return to Arisu’s, Chishiya notices he's also under observation. Arisu’s cheeks gain a nice soft pink colour matching his band-aid when he notices Chishiya’s gaze on him.
“Yes?” Chishiya raises his eyebrow again, feeling his chest humming inside him as he notices the reactions he is able to get from his former patient.
“Oh, nothing! Just…um…you look nice in casual clothes. Different. I like the jacket.” Arisu points with his finger to it, awkwardly.
Chishiya glances down at his white jacket. It was a gift from Kuina from several birthdays ago and he cannot, for the life of him, comprehend why he got so attached to a piece of clothing. But here he is, wearing it like a uniform to his casual life outside the hospital.
“Thank you. I like your band-aid.” He teases, glad to see Arisu's eyes widen in comprehension.
“Oh! Shit, sorry. I forgot to take it off. My niece insists I use one everyday so my nose won’t fall off.” Arisu shrugs like he really did not have a say in it and no possibility of going against her either.
“She is right. Better be careful.” Chishiya nods, a serious look to his face like he's giving a medical opinion.
“Ha, right!” Arisu laughs awkwardly. “ So, um… tomato sauce. You seemed very worried about it, for some reason.”
“I am. My roommate is very serious about tomato sauce and I don't recall the exact one she asked for. I'll be in trouble if I don’t get the right one.” Chishiya wishes he was joking.
“Ah, I see. Well, maybe I can help! My friend, Chota, also loves cooking and he says this one right here is the only acceptable sauce he uses. You can try your luck.” Arisu hands him a random brand he took from a random shelf.
Chishiya narrows his eyes at Arisu before taking it. He doesn't have any better options right now and Arisu seems oddly confident this might be the one. Maybe he will try his luck after all.
“Thanks. If I don’t survive, it’ll be your fault.” Chishiya internally smacks himself. Why would he joke with Arisu? It makes no sense. Just take the damn sauce and go home.
“No problem. You can tell your roommate it’s on me.” Arisu laughs it off, starting to head the other direction on the aisle. “See you, doc!”
***
Arisu stares out the window in Karube’s home. The rain pours nonstop outside and the nice soft sound it makes as it patters down on the roof of the small house is enough to soothe his nerves.
Emi had made them a delicious meal and after helping Karube clean all the dirty dishes, Arisu propped himself on the pillowed windowsill and watched the rain with Yui tracing her tiny fingers over the glass to make cute drawings. She had fallen asleep in his arms not long after and Karube took her back to her room.
Now he's sitting in Emi's company as she sipps her tea silently on the living room couch. The TV is on but the volume is minimal, comfortable to his ears.
Arisu loves to be here. He is welcomed and cared for, the guest room is practically all his and he can come and stay over whenever he likes, whenever his dad’s house gets too overwhelming. It's his safe space. Karube’s family is his own. He has always been more of a brother to Arisu than Hajime has ever been and Emi treats him like a brother in law. Don’t even get Arisu started on how his entire heart melts when Yui calls him uncle, it’s just too precious!
Now, in the near silence of the room, his mind starts to wander back to that cute doctor again. He had been surprised to see someone so young attend to him back at the hospital and he had to go and make a fool of himself asking if the man was actually a doctor. Doctor Chishiya had been so gentle when cleaning the blood from his face and he looked even more adorable up close. Those sharp eyes with an even sharper tongue made Arisu’s heart tremble several times. And thanks to his orientation, Arisu’s nose was healing fairly well.
Then he saw him at the grocery store a few days later. The doctor seemed so much softer in casual clothes and the untied hair looked even better on him. Doctor Chishiya looked extremely conflicted and Arisu could not help himself but approach him and try to ease those worry lines out of his forehead.
Every interaction with the man made Arisu feel as awkward as he did back in high school when talking with a classmate he liked. It was even more embarrassing now, but he also could not help but enjoy the flutter of his heart and the way his words stumbled out awkwardly. Also, Arisu had noticed how Chishiya liked to see him make a fool of himself in front of him, too.
“What are you thinking about?” Emi questions, sending him a knowing look from behind her mug.
“Nothing.” Arisu feels his cheeks burn a little bit. He hates how well she can read him.
“Oh, come on. You have the eyes of a fool, so it can only mean you are thinking about someone.” Emi rolls her eyes playfully
“We met just two times. It’s nothing, really” Arisu runs his fingers through his hair avoiding eye contact.
Emi does not answer, but eyes him curiously and knowingly. Ugh! He hates her sometimes, but not really.
“Right, but eyes of a fool? What the hell is that?” He chuckles, finding the expression rather amusing.
“People become fools when they like someone and it shows very well through their eyes.” Emi points shamelessly at his face, which makes him blush harder. “So, who is it?”
Arisu huffs before answering, “The doctor from the other day.”
“Oh! The super young one? Karube told me about him in passing.” Emi’s eyes sparkle. “Do you have a picture of him?”
“What? No, of course not” Why would I?” Did she think he was a creep sneaking pictures of strangers he found attractive?
“Well, I thought you had looked him up on social media or something." Emi shrugs.
Well, that makes more sense. Why had he not thought of that?
“Oh, no. I haven’t, actually. Should I?” Arisu asks uncertainly, his hands already finding his phone in his pocket.
“Hell yeah! I want to see him! Come here, I’ll help you.” Arisu goes over and sits down next to her, handing her his phone. “What is his name?”
“His last name is Chishiya.”
“Wow, very different. It might be easier to find him.” Emi types away for a few minutes before exclaiming excitedly. “Oh, here! Is it this one? Chishiya Shuntaro?”
She hands him his phone back and Arisu scrolls through the man’s internet page. He does not have many pictures of himself here, mostly of a white and gray cat lying in various cute poses and others of nice places around Tokyo.
He eventually finds one where the doctor is in between two other women. One has dreadlocks pulled up in a ponytail, she has her arm around his shoulders and a funny expression with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. The other one has short hair, red lips and a soft smile on her lips. She looks fondly away from the camera to both the girl and Chishiya. The latter looks serene with his lips curving up ever so slightly.
“Oooh, he is very cute!” Emi says, dragging her finger to the screen and tapping twice over the picture.
Arisu startles, practically jumping to his feet and throwing his phone on the armchair close to them. “What have you done?!”
“Liked the picture. Why?” Emi asks innocently, like she had not just doomed Arisu to a social media busting system.
“Yeah, but it’s my account. He’ll think I liked it! Oh, God, what do I do?” Arisu paces back and forth on the soft carpet. He can’t unlike it, the notification already got to him and it'll just make it more embarrassing for him if he takes it back.
“That’s good! Then you can follow each other!” Emi claps her hands and laughs at the doom decorating his features. She's so mean.
Suddenly, his phone beeps indicating a new notification. Both Arisu and Emi freeze and look directly towards the phone upside down on the soft armchair. Arisu walks towards it very carefully, like it’s a bomb and it might blow up on his face. Carefully, he brings the phone close to his face and unlocks it, dragging the notification bar all the way down. His eyes bulge in its sockets and he looks at Emi with terrified eyes.
“What?” She whispers, her hands holding her mug even tighter.
“He…he liked…a picture…back…” Arisu whispers in response, his heart thudding in his chest like a hammer.
“Oh…my…God!” Emi gets up and places her mug on the floor by the couch before jumping excitedly over to him. “This is good!”
“It is?” Arisu breathes out, unbelieving.
“It is!” She giggles, bouncing on her feet. “Now you have to follow him!”
“No way! I can’t take this much in only one day. My heart is going to explode from the anxiety!” Arisu argues back, his heart beat rapidly picking up again.
“Don’t be such a coward. You’re not even face to face. Go on, follow him.” Her smile grows even bigger, which only serves to make him more nervous.
Arisu gulps before going back to Chishiya’s page and staring intently at the follow button for what seems like decades. Can he actually do it? It shouldn't be a big deal, seeing as people follow each other all the time. It’s simply normal, nothing scandalous. Right?
“Don’t make me do it for you, Arisu.” Emi warns him.
He gulps again, harder this time, and finally clicks the damned button.
***
“Why have you been so into your phone lately?” Kuina asks as she plops down next to Chishiya on their living room couch.
“Nothing.” He answers, locking his screen and placing his phone upside down next to him.
Nothing as in: he totally has not been checking Arisu’s social media page for the past few days, wholly entertained by the great amount of silly pictures Arisu has of himself and his friends. Laughters caught mid shot and moments internalized in one frame.
He recognized the friends he saw at the hospital, pictures going back years of the three of them in school uniform and showing much younger and softer features. There is also a little girl being featured on the most recent ones, she is always laughing or being thrown in the air by one of the men. It's honestly too adorable, and for some reason Chishiya cannot help but go back to look at them way more often than he should.
“It honestly kind of offends me when you lie to me thinking I won't notice.” Kuina mumbles, checking her nails.
“Shouldn’t Ann and the others have come by now? We’ll be late for the movie.” Chishiya makes a great show of looking at the watch on his wrist and glancing over at the door.
“You used to be more subtle.” Kuina rolls her eyes at her roommate’s antics.
Just then, their apartment door bursts open and the noisiest friend group Chishiya did not want to have, ever, comes in. They stumble over their feet and words and why do they have to yell when talking?
“Tatta, I swear, if you do not let go of my arm right now…” Niragi trails off, the threat hanging in the air.
“You’ll what? Kiss him senseless?” Usagi provokes, a grin spreading over her small face.
“He wishes.” Tatta laughs it off and finally lets go of Niragi’s arm, joining Chishiya on the couch. “What’s up Chishiya?”
Chishiya only nods, not offering any comments.
“Okay, people. No time to waste, or we will miss the section!” Kuina announces, getting up from beside Cishiya and heading to Ann’s side, getting one kiss on her cheek and one on her lips from the taller woman.
They all head out and walk the short distance to the movie theatre. The weather is nice and warm, but the breeze is almost nonexistent. Maybe he should have worn something lighter, his armpits are already starting to sweat.
“Why is the blondie so quiet today?” Niragi asks, walking a few feet in front of Chisiya.
“He has a crush.” Kuina helpfully chimes in, ignoring the murderous look Chishiya sends her way.
“I do not.” He states, forcing his face not to show any signs that he's super angry Kuina picked up on that.
Not that Chishiya has a crush. The word even feels extremely infantile and wrong. Arise just… intrigues him, somehow. He's also very nice looking, but that has nothing to do with anything. Chishiya's not even sure why he thought it.
“Oooh, a crush, huh? Who is it?” Tatta’s eyebrows dance up and down repeatedly and Chishiya has to fight the urge to roll his eyes.
“No one.” It comes out a lot more aggressive than Chishiya intended.
“I never thought you could like someone else romantically.” Niragi crunches his nose in thought, looking Chishiya up and down trying to assess him.
“I don’t.” The exasperation in his voice is almost touchable, making him cringe internally. His fists tighten inside the pockets of his jacket.
“I think it’s nice. I don’t remember you ever having a partner.” Ann quips, her hands joined with Kuina’s as they walk side by side.
That is because Chishiya never did. No person has ever picked his interest before, not enough to make him pursue them, anyway. A few makeout sessions at a few parties were all he got and he never really needed or wanted more than that. And this, with Arisu, is not even that. He is not interested, not really. He can’t be, right?
And what is it with Kuina to just throw the word like that? A crush? She had never accused him of such a thing before. This is very weird. Chishiya is not sure he likes it.
***
Arisu has Yui sitting on his shoulders as the family makes their way to the movies. He runs around Karube and Chota pretending he's an airplane and Yui laughs a full belly laugh, attracting amused looks from other passerbys.
“Who would have thought Arisu to be so great with children?” Chota muses, laughing at his best friend’s antics.
“The only thing Arisu isn't good at is looking for jobs.” Karube teases and Arisu slaps him over the head.
“I’m sure Arisu will find something he likes eventually. There is no point in rushing him.” Emi comes to his defense and he smiles gratefully at her.
“Movie, movie!” Yui exclaims, pointing excitedly at the building a few paces away. “I want popcorn!”
It's all fun and laughs until Arisu sees the familiar blonde hair in between other people in line at the ticket booth. He trips on his own feet and almost falls down with Yui. He catches himself before anything bad happens and smoothly steadies his niece again.
“Oh! Isn’t that…” Emi trails off, having seen the same person as Arisu.
As his group makes their way in line, the doctor coincidentally turns around taking notice of them. Arisu’s breath catches in his throat.
“So, you’re alive.” Arisu notes, trying not to tighten his hold on Yui’s ankles too much.
Arisu is surprised to hear the other man snort, and so is everybody else around him. “I am. Thanks for your help.”
“What’s up, doc! Long time no see!” Karube pats Chishiya on his shoulder.
“Some would say it’s better that way.” Chishiya shrugs, his eyes never leaving Arisu’s.
“Did he just…” A shorter man with a blue cap trails off, mouth hanging open.
“Make a joke? I’m afraid he did.” The girl with dreadlocks Arisu remembers from the picture answers, her arms crossed in front of her as she eyes Arisu up and down.
“And who the fuck are they?” The taller man from the group speaks up, his hair is tied into a half bun on the top of his head and he has a lot of piercings on his face, too.
Well, now Arisu is unsure. Are they friends? Probably not. But he's also not Chishiya's patient. What should he say? Acquaintance? That sounds weird, but at least it's closer to the truth.
“I’m Emi!” She speaks first, probably catching on to Ariu's internal turmoil. “That is my husband, Karube, and our daughter, Yui.” Karube smiles, hugging his wife by the waist and Yui waves shyly from her spot still on Arisu’s shoulders. “Chota is over there and this is Arisu.” Chota smiles friendly at all of them and Arisu is afraid he will choke on his own saliva.
“I’m…we…us…” Arisu motions between himself and Chishiya, but the words are completely lost. He's just babbling and he's very embarrassed. May the ground swallow him right now, amen.
“They are friends!” Chota chimes in, placing a comforting hand on his arm.
“Friends? You have other friends?!” The tall guy could not look more scandalized if he tried.
“Well, it’s good to know he does. And we are being very rude.” The woman with short hair reprimands. “Chishiya, would you mind introducing us?”
Chishiya merely shrugs, not looking the least bit worried about doing that.
“I’ll do it! I’m Kuina, Chishiya’s best friend and roommate! This is Ann, my girlfriend. She is also Chishiya’s colleague at the hospital.” They hold hands and look lovingly at each other. “That one is Niragi, he has anger management issues and I have no idea how we became friends.”
“Bitch.” Niargi grumbles, crossing his arms and turning away from them.
“Then we have Tatta.” The man smiles and waves at them excitedly. “And Usagi.” Usagi acknowledges them with a nod.
“It’s lovely to meet you guys! Are you also here for the Howl's Moving Castle rerun?” Emi asks as Yui starts squirming excitedly on Arisu’s shoulders at the name.
“Definately! Right, guys?” Kuina shoots a look at all her friends, and even if confused, they agree.
Arisu notices the strange look Chishiya sends his roommate's way, but she just winks at him and turns away, ordering all their tickets at the booth. Arisu and his group are next and soon they are all going inside and lining up again for the popcorn.
He notices Chishiya standing off to the side as his friends argue back and forth about the flavour of popcorn they are buying. He puts Yui down so she can choose the popcorn she likes with her parents.
“Hey.” Arisu gets closer to Chishiya, tucking his hands inside the pockets of his pants.
“Hello.” Chishiya nods in response.
“Sorry if we got in the way of your plans tonight.” Arisu fidgets with his hidden fingers. He has had a few other romantic interests before, but he does not remember feeling this nervous before.
“You didn’t. We had yet to choose a movie to watch. It was nice to have the choice being made this fast, or they would still be arguing about it outside.” Chishiya huffs goodheartedly.
“Yeah, you have a very interesting group here. Nothing like I would imagine your friends to be like.” Arisu looks around, amused by the small chaos in line.
“What did you think my friends would be like?” Chishiya arches an eyebrow.
Arisu tilts his head to the side as he thinks before answering. “More serious and boring doctors , I guess?”
“Pff, Chishiya doesn’t like half the doctors in that hospital. He would be miserable without us.” Tatta gets in the conversation, already munching on some butter popcorn.
Kuina calls him over a few feet away from them and gets him into a headlock as punishment for interrupting their moment or whatever it is she mutters in his ear. Arisu is not sure what that could mean. They are not having a moment, are they? It’s just a conversation. He looks at Chishiya, but the man is quite neutral, no thoughts can be read on his face, or, at least, Arisu is not able to read him.
Inside the dark room full of red velvet chairs, the big group makes their way up to the last row of seats and they cram around together. Arisu’s friends sit and talk with Chishiya’s friends as if they have all been together for years instead of half an hour.
Coincidentally, or not (if having Kuina and Emi wink at them is any indication) Arisu and Chishiya end up sitting side by side. Popcorn and soda cups are passed around until they find their respective owners and both men end up having to share a bowl.
Arisu was impressed by how enchanted every member of their friend groups became from the first minute of the movie to the last. He almost could not hear any breathing and had to look around several times to make sure everybody was still there throughout the session, all the while a warm and cozy feeling settling inside his chest.
***
Chishiya has to admit, Arisu’s friends are not too bad. The little one seems to have taken a special liking to his long hair and asked if she could braid it like she did Arisu’s sometimes (which sparked his curiosity. Suddenly he really wanted to see how Arisu looked with braids) and he said she could next time they meet.
Everyone seems quite enchanted by Yui, like it's the first time they have ever seen a child. Even Niragi is giving her a piggyback ride while the others throw out conversations on the sidewalk after the movie.
“Well, it was good to see you again, doc.” Arisu scratches the back of his head and Chishiya sees a trace of skin from his abdomen as his shirt lifts slightly with the motion. Chishiya is surprised to see a different style of clothes on him this time around.
“The same goes to you. We seem to run into each other a lot.” Chishiya comments offhandedly, his own hands finding their way inside the pockets of his jacket.
“Ha, we sure do! Maybe we are supposed to be friends.” Arisu shrugs, looking at Chishiya over his long eyelashes. Chishiya chooses to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach.
“Maybe.” He looks away, the moon high in the sky looking ever more interesting, it seems.
He hears Arisu clearing his throat before asking. “So, is it okay if I message you sometime?”
“If you want to.” Chishiya looks back, tilting his head to the side in a challenge or invitation? He is not able to tell.
“Okay, I will. You can reach out, too. If you want to.” Arisu smiles, his teeth pulling on his bottom lip. Chishiya gulps.
“I’ll think about it.” His answer comes out in a breathy way. He's about to choke himself to death out of embarrassment. Hopefully Arisu didn't notice.
“Alright, then. See you, doc.” Arisu waves, walking backwards back to his friends who are already waiting for him. Chishiya waves back and almost laughs when Chota, Karube, Emi and Yui yell their goodbyes from afar.
“Until we meet again, Arisu.”