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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The clock in the corner of the classroom ticked and tocked as each second that passed was an eternity. The room was quiet, and everyone was working on individual projects.
Tamaki, however, wasn't fully focused on his project. Instead, he was looking over at Nejire, who was currently whispering with Yuyu Haya, who was there because Class 3B joined Class A while their teacher was out on a mission. He briefly wondered what they were talking about before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to his best friend, Mirio Togata, who gave him a raised eyebrow.
"What?" Tamaki whispered questioningly.
"Dude, you've been staring at Hado for the past twenty-five minutes," Mirio replied. "I tried whisper-calling your name like ten times before I just decided to tap you."
Did I really stare that long? Tamaki wondered to himself. "Huh, must have been spacing out."
Mirio seemed skeptical, but dropped it for now.
"So, there's a carnival coming to town, you gonna go?" Mirio smirked.
"I don't know," Tamaki answered honestly, not missing the suspicious smirk on his best friend's face. "Big events like that aren't really my thing."
"Maybe you, me, and Hado should go together. Come on, it'll be so much fun!"
"Go to what together?" Nejire's voice joined in. Tamaki's heart skipped a beat. When had she walked over?
"The carnival that's coming to town tomorrow!" Mirio replied with a smile.
"Oooh! Sounds like fun!" Nejire said excitedly. "We should definitely go!"
"Okay," Tamaki agreed. "A carnival does sound fun."
"I thought you said-" Mirio started, but Tamaki covered his mouth with his hand.
Mirio went through his friend's hands and whispered in his ear, "You're only agreeing because Hado does, right?" Tamaki's face went bright red.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong, Amajiki? Your face is all red," Nejire immediately noticed, which made Tamaki even redder.
"I'm fine," He replied while Mirio went back to his previous position. "School is over for the day, so let's head back to the dorms." Tamaki started packing up his stuff.
"Right! I'll see you guys there!" Nejire headed out, having already packed her stuff.
"So..." Mirio began once Hado was out of the room. "Someone's got a crush, huh?"
Tamaki's face somehow went even redder. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, sure you don't. You're a terrible liar."
"I don't have a crush on Hado," Tamaki mumbled.
"I never said it was Hado," Mirio shrugged.
"She's literally the only girl we've been talking about; it's pretty safe to assume that's who you're referring to."
"Fair point, I guess." Mirio finished packing up his stuff about the same time as his friend, and they headed out together.
"Come on, if you do have a crush, you know you can tell me, right?" Mirio said as they were walking back to the dorms.
"Yeah, but I swear I don't-"
"Then describe what you feel when you're around Hado."
"I-" Tamaki stopped for a moment. "My heart always skips a beat when she shows up, and my cheeks always feel warm. It's like I can't help but smile when she's around. And I'm always sad when she leaves, and- Oh my gosh, I do have a crush on her, don't I?"
"Took you long enough, I'm pretty sure everyone knows."
"Everyone?" Tamaki asked nervously.
"Okay, not everyone. But you are so obvious."
"Do you think Hado knows?"
"No, she's completely oblivious, I'm sure."
Mirio had no idea how right he was.
When the two boys made it back to the dorms, Yuyu and Nejire were talking on the common room couch.
"Hey guys!" Nejire waved at them. "What time should we leave for the carnival tomorrow?"
"How about we leave at 10? Then we can stay until after the fireworks show," Mirio suggested.
"Okie dokie! So, should we meet in the common room beforehand and head there together?" Nejire asked.
"Yeah, that'd be great!" Mirio gave her a thumbs-up.
The next morning:
Tamaki was already in the common room at 8 a.m., two hours earlier than when they planned to leave. He had woken up at 6 a.m., though, and hadn't been able to get back to sleep.
So he just got ready super early. He put on a light blue t-shirt with the words 'I came, I saw, I had anxiety, I left' printed on the front with some dark gray pants and a simple pair of blue tennis shoes. He styled his hair in the usual way. He packed a bag with some of his usual snacks (just in case), an extra pair of clothing, and left extra room in case he brought anything back from the carnival.
All of that was done by 7, so he sat on his bed working on the schoolwork he'd been too distracted to do during class yesterday (due to his twenty-five minutes of staring at Nejire Hado), and that was finished by 7:59, where he then headed down to the common room.
Now he was sitting on his phone, scrolling through hero news, but there wasn't anything super interesting right now. He switched to playing a game instead.
Around 9:30 was when Mirio came down, wrapped up in a blanket, looking like he felt like absolute heck. His skin was pale, his nose and cheeks were pink, and his eyes had lost their usual gleam.
"Mirio?" Tamaki's voice made the boy jump, despite how quietly he had spoken.
"Hey," Mirio said in a scratchy voice, sitting on the couch opposite Tamaki. "How you doing?"
"I'm fine. What happened to you? You seemed just fine yesterday," Tamaki replied.
"Well, I was for most of the day. But I went to bed early because I didn't feel quite right and thought maybe sleeping it off would work," Mirio responded. "But I feel even worse now." He then went into a coughing fit.
"It must be some sort of flu. Those do tend to come on suddenly with no warning."
Mirio sniffled. "Yeah. I probably caught it from Eri; she wasn't feeling too good when I went to babysit her a couple of days ago." He coughed again. "Guess this means I can't go to the carnival."
"We could always reschedule-"
"I said that I can't go. Doesn't mean you and Nejire can't. Besides, I likely won't be better until after the carnival leaves." Mirio said with a sneeze.
"But-"
"Come on, wouldn't you like some alone time with your crush?" Mirio gave him a weak smirk. Tamaki blushed.
"I'm really fine with not going, I want you and Hado to go have fun. Maybe bring me a prize if you win any games."
Tamaki nodded. It was then that Hado came down the stairs, wearing a light greenish-blue shirt with a large pink heart on the front, along with gray leggings and pink sneakers that matched the heart on her shirt.
"Hey, you two read- Togata, what happened? You look awful!" She started, interrupting herself when she saw the state Mirio was in.
"I think I caught the flu," Mirio told her. "You and Tamaki will have to go to the carnival on your own."
"But what about you? We could-"
"I likely won't be better anytime the carnival's still in town, it's only supposed to last the weekend," Mirio coughed. "I want you and Tamaki to go have fun, okay?"
"Okay, if you're sure..."
"I'm sure, now go! It's nearly ten now," Mirio urged. The next second, Tamaki and Nejire were out the door.
"I feel a little bad to go without him," Nejire stated as she and Tamaki headed out of the building.
"Me too. But I can tell he meant it when he said he wanted us to have fun. And we can bring him a souvenir."
"Yeah, true."
After a couple of minutes walking, they were coming up on the carnival grounds.
"Whoa, this looks amazing! Come on, Amajiki!" Nejire grabbed Tamaki's hand and pointed towards a game. "How about we go there first?"
"Uhhhh, s-sure," Tamaki replied, lacing his fingers around Nejire's hand. He let her lead him to the game, which was a simple one where you had to hit targets with water guns.
The game was surprisingly hard, but Tamaki managed to win it. He chose a simple plush octopus as his prize. It was very fluffy and was a bright purple color with orange accents.
"Oooo, it's so cute!" Nejire said.
"Yeah," Tamaki agreed. "And it's soft, touch it." He held it out for her to touch.
"This is the best feeling ever! I've never felt anything so soft!" Nejire beamed. Tamaki's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but smile too.
Next, they went over to a spinny ride, where they both got so dizzy they couldn't walk straight for five minutes. They had a good laugh about it afterward, then went to play another game. This time, a game where you throw balls trying to knock over bottles, which again, Tamaki won.
"Wow, you're good at these games!" Nejire complimented. "How do you do it?"
"I don't know, honestly," Tamaki answered. He noticed that throughout the game, Nejire had been focused on a specific plush on the prize rack, a fluffy white dragon with gold accents.
Tamaki grabbed the dragon, handing it to her. "Here, I already have a prize from the last game."
Nejire blushed. "Thank you," she said, for once sounding shy.
"You're welcome."
They continued playing multiple games until deciding to have lunch, gaining a bit of a collection of plushes and bags of candy.
"Okay, okay, but did you see that guy's face when you won that last game? Like, he was so shocked!" Nejire laughed.
"Yeah, he probably rigged it in a way that he thought nobody could win," Tamaki gave a slight chuckle.
"Yeah, but you totally crushed it! It was so cool!" Tamaki blushed at her words.
"So, where should we go next?" He asked.
"Hmm, let's just explore and do everything here!" Nejire smiled.
Tamaki smiled back. "Sure."
Tamaki hadn't been expecting to enjoy this carnival so much. And if Nejire hadn't been there, he probably wouldn't have. But winning all the games with her, riding all the rides with her, holding her hand as she dragged him to the next place-he felt something he never had with anyone before.
They were now heading to the Ferris Wheel, the last place they decided before they would head to the firework show. The two got in a car together and watched as the ground got farther away.
They were both quiet until about halfway to the top, where Nejire decided to ask the question that'd been on her mind all day.
"Tamaki?" She asked. The boy looked at her, waiting for what she was going to say.
"Is... Is this... a date?" Nejire voiced nervously.
Tamaki slightly blushed before placing his hand on hers. "Do... Do you want it to be?" He asked.
Nejire laced her fingers through his. "Yeah," she whispered so quietly she almost thought Tamaki didn't hear. But when she looked at him, his face was bright red, and he had the biggest smile on his face.
"Yeah, so do I." It was Nejire's turn to become bright red.
It was then that the Ferris Wheel ride was over, and they headed out to the field where the fireworks were being shown. They took their shoes off and stood in the soft grass, and Nejire pulled Tamaki into a bit of a dance as music began to play across the field.
The two didn't take their eyes off each other as they danced, as everyone else around was doing as well. It felt like it was just them; nothing else in the world mattered but that moment. When the music stopped, they did too, but they didn't let go of each other.
They looked at each other, both of them shining in the moonlight. Tamaki smiled at her and lightly brushed a loose strand of hair behind Nejire's ear. His hand lingered there, feeling the softness of her skin.
He pulled her slightly closer. She did the same with him, one of her hands now resting on his cheek, the other on his shoulder. Tamaki's other hand went to her waist, pulling her another little bit closer.
Soon, their faces were barely a breath away from each other, and they both moved to close the space. The moment their lips touched, the firework show began.
After a bit, the two pulled apart. They both smiled sweetly.
"You know, I couldn't have asked for a better first kiss," Nejire whispered.
Tamaki smiled even wider. "Same."
The two sat and watched the rest of the show together, their fingers intwined. Once the show was over, the two were exhausted.
"Time to head back?" Nejire yawned.
"Yeah, I believe so," Tamaki replied. They both put their shoes back on and gathered their things before heading off on the walk back.
"So... Does this mean we're like... boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Nejire asked as they were coming up on the dorm building.
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Tamaki replied.
Nejire smiled. "Of course I do. I thought you'd never ask."
"I guess that's a yes to your previous question then."
The two headed into the dorms, which were pretty quiet at this point. Most people were likely asleep or still out at the carnival. The two set their prizes down on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"I'm so tired, I'm not even sure I can walk up to bed," Nejire admitted.
"Yeah, same," Tamaki chuckled. "Maybe we can just stay down here for a bit."
"Yeah, sounds good," Nejire yawned again, before leaning on Tamaki's shoulder.
And within the next few minutes, they were both fast asleep.