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Suo is a confusing person. Really confusing. It has never been this hard for Nirei to get information about a person before. Not only that, he could never seem to know exactly what Suo is thinking or feeling.
Everything had all started the day earlier, when he was at Sakura’s place, along with his other friends, having a sleepover. They had lots of fun together, baking cookies, playing card and board games that Kiryu bought. And since they don’t have sleepovers very often, they all stayed up really late, talking to whatever that comes to mind.
At one point, the conversation became about crushes. When it came to this topic, Sakura immediately tried to change the subject, but the others wouldn’t let him. It was pretty obvious that Sakura has a crush on Sugishita, even if Sakura refused to admit it. Nirei had also already talked to Sugishita at another point in time, and he poked at Sugishita until he admitted that he finds Sakura pretty cool. Even if Sugishita looked like he was getting stabbed while admitting it, he still said it. There was nothing else for Nirei to do and just let the two figure their situation out.
The whole thing on Sakura didn’t surprise him but what did was that Kiryu somehow got Suo to admit that he also has a crush on someone.
That was already surprising, Nirei doesn’t know why. Even though Suo admitted that he has someone he fancies, he refused to tell them who it was.
Nirei, as much as he wanted to know who it was, was scared to know. Nirei won’t lie, he’s been liking Suo for a long time now and he couldn’t handle hearing that the person that Suo was into, is someone other than himself, even though he was so sure that it is in fact anyone other than him.
That was, until Kiryu begged Suo to give them some hints on who it is since he wasn’t planning on telling them who the person was. Suo gave it some thought and actually gave them a few hints.
The hints were “it’s someone in our class, “ and “someone shorter than me.”
The height requirement already disqualified half the class, but even though Nirei fit both of those descriptions, he had no reason to believe that Suo was talking about him. There were still a lot that fit those, not just him, after all.
While the others were still discussing who the secret person might be, Nirei had been quiet the entire time, spacing off. Suo must’ve noticed how quiet he was cause the second Nirei’s eyes turned in Suo’s direction, he saw that Suo had been staring at him the whole time. Just as Nirei was about to turn away from eye contact, Suo did something unexpected.
He winked. Suo winked at him, smiled and looked away.
That move really confused him a lot, what was that supposed to mean?? After that night, every move that Suo did, Nirei paid lots of attention to.
The morning after the sleepover, Nirei woke up late. He had spent so much time thinking during the night, that he struggled to fall asleep. When he finished getting ready, he walked into the dining area, where everyone else was already eating breakfast ( except Suo who just had a cup of tea, like aways ). He saw that Suo had saved him a spot right next to him. Nirei could've sat anywhere, but Suo wanted to sit right next to him.
After breakfast, Nirei offered to do the dishes, and while he was doing them, Suo came to help him dry the dishes. He told Suo it was fine and he could do them by himself, and that he felt bad that Suo was helping even though he didn’t have anything to eat. Suo shook his head and insisted on helping him. So all Nirei could do was let him.
The group had spent the rest of the afternoon together and during the evening, they all left to go home.
Suo once again walked him home like always, and when they were at the intersection where their paths diverge, Suo patted his hair before waving goodbye.
So he’s now just standing in the middle of the street, trying to figure out what Suo’s intention is. Is the person Suo like, really him? He didn’t want to be too bold but Suo doesn’t treat anyone else like this.
Suo cares for all of his friends of course, but he never ragebaits Nirei like the way he does to Sakura. He never makes pained faces like he does to Tsugeura. Suo is always the first to respond to him, when he makes a text in the groupchat. He never replies that fast with anyone else, he realizes.
If he thinks about it this way, if the crush really is himself, then Suo’s feelings are super obvious, and it took him super long to catch on.
Even so, he is unsure what to do next, since it looks like Suo isn’t planning on confessing anytime soon, Nirei wonders if he should make the first move.
But what if the person was never him in the first place, and he had just assumed that, wouldn’t that be just humiliating?
Confessing to someone was never something he thought he would ever do, just the thought terrified him… but…
His thoughts are all over the place, stuck between telling Suo or continuing keeping his feelings a secret.
As he’s walking, he decides that he doesn’t want to go home and cook dinner, so he’ll stop by Cafe Pothos to get something to eat.
As he opens the door, just expecting to see Kotoha, when he hears another familiar voice.
“It was 50% off !! I couldn’t believe my eyes!”
Nirei’s eyes widens as he looks to who is sitting at the counter, it is Tsubaki, who is chatting with Kotoha. The two turned their heads when they heard the door open.
“Ah! Tsubaki-san! Kotoha-san! Good evening!”
“Oh! It’s Nirei! Good evening!” Tsubaki chirps.
“Nirei, Are you here for dinner? Just your usual?” Kotoha asks.
Nirei nods, as he takes a seat nearby Tsubaki. Kotoha nods as she turns around to start making the meal. As Nirei sits and waits for his food, he falls into another long silence, trying to figure out the next step for what to do with Suo, when Tsubaki speaks up.
“Nirei looks upset right now, what happened? Someone broke your heart?” Tsubaki asks with a hint of teasing in his voice.
Nirei widens his eyes and quickly shakes his head.
“No.. But I am at a loss at what to do,” Nirei admits.
“Would you mind telling me what's up? Maybe I can help,” Tsubaki asks.
If Nirei really thought about it, Tsubaki might actually be a big help, since Tsubaki is dating Umemiya, he must have some experience with confessing or being confessed to. He wasn’t sure if he should just ask, whether that would be considered rude or not, but he ultimately decides to be brave and ask.
“...Tsubaki-san, between you and Umemiya-san, who was it that confessed?”
Tsubaki looks surprised at the question, but the expression quickly turns into a smile.
“Oh! I wasn't expecting this question, but it was me that confessed.”
There are lots of things Nirei admires about his senpais, but one thing he most admires about them is how brave they all are. Especially Tsubaki, since he' s someone who is able to love so outwardly, but had Tsubaki ever been scared to confess? Has he ever had the same fears?
Nirei asks, “ What made you want to confess… and were you scared to?”
Tsubaki shakes his head, “ Maybe a little at first, but I quickly got over it. You never really know how someone feels until it is bought up. I was more curious than I was scared, I needed him to know my feelings.”
“...I wish I was as brave as you are. I am so terrified of destroying the precious friendship we have built, I don’t want to make the next move,” Nirei confesses.
Seems like Tsubaki understood what problem Nirei is having , and he feels Tsubaki pat his shoulders, “You know what I think? I think it's better to regret doing it than to regret not doing it. If I didn’t do it back then, I would’ve never known what could've happened. If I were to wait until I was completely ready, I'd be waiting forever.”
Just then, Kotoha finishes cooking and walks up to him with his omurice, and places it in front of him. She adds in on the conversation they were having, “ Your crush will probably react well, even if they don’t reciprocate the same feelings. Most people understand how hard it is for someone to have the courage to confess, and because of that, they’ll be kind and make sure they don’t upset the other person.”
Tsubaki agrees, “If your friendship with them is so close, I’m sure they’re a great friend as well and wouldn’t want to intentionally hurt you, I think you should go for it!”
Nirei considers all of this and they aren’t wrong. He’s sure even if Suo’s feelings weren’t reciprocated, he can't imagine Suo being in any way rude to him or making fun of his feelings for him. Since Suo has really handsome looks, Suo had been confessed to a lot in the past. Once, someone had even confessed to Suo while Nirei was next to him, and he saw Suo rejecting the girl.
He was really gentle and delicate with the rejection, but just thinking about that confession makes Nirei a little scared again. He doesn't want to be in that same position as the girl, except his stakes are higher, he actually would have to see Suo everyday in class and work with him, since they are both vice-captains and it would be extremely awkward.
Tsubaki then goes on for the next ten minutes talking about what happened after the confession and their first date, Nirei quietly listening while eating his food.
Once Tsubaki was done talking, he suddenly asks Nirei out of nowhere, “ Sooo, who is this lucky person?”
Nirei, who did not expect the question, is caught off guard.
“H-huh?”
“The person you like. Come on, if you’re planning on confessing, and you can’t even tell me who it is, how are you planning on confessing to the person in question?? “
Tsubaki stared at him with such excitement and curiosity in his eyes, and it took Nirei a lot of effort to actually say it.
Nirei takes a quick glance around the room to see that no one else (but Kotoha) is there, and whispers to Tsubaki, “Y-you can’t tell anyone this.”
Tsubaki sees that Nirei is nervous, and reassures him, “I won’t, I won’t! “
“... It’s Suo-san,” Nirei says nervously.
Nirei had expected Tsubaki to be surprised, but instead, Tsubaki just nodded.
“Oh, it is him, like I thought so.”
“Wait!!! What do you mean??” Nirei asks, aghast.
Tsubaki gives one of his bright smiles and explains, “ You two are always together! I, at some point, wondered if you two were already together.”
Kotoha gives a sigh from ahead, “There’s no way you don’t see the expression Suo has on his face when he looks at you.”
There’s no way Tsubaki thought they were dating? And what way were they looking at each other??
“I have a good idea, you wanna practice with me?? You can pretend that I’m Suo, and imagine what you would say,” Tsubaki says.
Nirei is not ready to take that step yet, so he quickly takes the last bite of his food, and stands up, bows at them, and yells, “I-I-I’M GOOD ACTUALLY.. THANKS FOR THE FOOD… AND THE ADVICE, SEE Y’ALL LATER” and he bolts for the door.
—-
The entire night, Nirei was thinking of a plan. His plan is to invite Suo to go somewhere with him over the weekend, where he’s going to tell Suo his feelings. So, Nirei is now in class, early before anyone else has arrived, jotting down in his journal some places and activities the two can do, and some of the things he wants to say.
He wants to go somewhere more private, so there won’t be much distractions and Suo can actually hear the confession, ( also so he won’t make a fool of himself in public.) There is a festival that he was considering but it’s too crowded. Maybe they should have a picnic in the park. Should he consider bringing a gift? Some flowers? Should he have a more simple or more grand confession? The amount of options is really making his head hurt.
As he’s writing, he hears more and more footsteps down the hall, and it seems like more of their classmates are arriving. Nirei looks up just in time to see Suo open the door, along with Kiryu. He quickly shuts his notebook and decides to act like nothing is out of the ordinary.
“Good morning! Suo-san! Kiryu-san!”
—-----
It feels hard to breathe. He’s never ever felt this nervous being around Suo before. He hadn’t felt this way back in class, they were surrounded by all their classmates, after all. It was easier to pretend that nothing was up.
But now it's just the two of them, walking home together. They always walk home together, but it’s the first time he’s felt so awkward. He doesn’t know what to say.
“Nire-kun?”
“H-huh? Yeah?”
“You’re quieter than usual today, is everything alright? ” Suo says, face full of worry.
Nirei snaps out of it fast.
“Oh yes, everything is fine! Don’t worry.”
Based on Suo’s reaction, it’s clear that Suo is not convinced, and before Suo can say anything else, he decides to ask.
“...Suo-san, are you free this saturday?”
“Yes, why?’
“I got something important I want to tell you that day, do you want to do something with me?”
Suo’s face perks up hearing that, and he smiles, “Oh? Something important? What’s so important I can’t know about it now? You’re going to make me overthink until Saturday?”
Well, Nirei hasn’t perfected what he is going to say, so of course, it can’t be today.
“Oh no… You can’t know about it today!! I’m too nervous to confess right now, so you’re going to have to wait until Saturday. “
Suo suddenly stops walking, Nirei doesn’t notice at first and takes another few steps until he realizes that Suo has stopped walking.
Just then, he got the realization of what he had just uttered, and he feels sweat rolling down his face. He hurriedly turns around to look at Suo, and Suo’s face is unreadable, looking like a mixture of amusement and relief at the same time.
Nirei scrambles to explain, but he keeps tripping over his own words.
“S-SUO-SAN… I… Actually… I didn’t mean… Sorry I..”
Suo lets out a little giggle, then bursts out laughing, leaving Nirei speechless.
“...”
It takes Suo a bit to stop his laughter, Nirei is about to die from embarrassment.
“Oh! Nire-kun, you’re too cute!”
Nirei’s face is about to burst from how red he is,“Suo-san!! It’s not that funny…”
“My apologies, I just wasn’t expecting you to say that.” Suo didn't look the least bit apologetic for laughing, Nirei pouts.
Suo continues, “Nire-kun, would you like another few hints on who the person I like is??”
Nirei’s breath stops, as he anxiously nods, unsure why Suo is saying this.
The two are standing in the middle of the street, thankfully, in a more empty part of town. It’s a chilly day, the wind is blowing and you can hear windchimes in the distance. The wind is supposed to feel good, but Nirei feels as if he’s about to be blown away any second.
“The person I like…has bright colored hair! More specifically, the color of mimosa flowers.”
Oh.
Suo didn’t stop there.
“Hmmm, and he also is a very cheerful person, and a little clumsy too, but I think that’s adorable of him!”
“...I-”
“He reallyyyy loves sweets, the way he eats is really cute, and let’s not forget, his beautiful brown eyes, that I want to stare into everyday, and his freckles-”
Nirei steps in front of Suo and slams his hands over Suo’s mouth, trying to silence him.
“T..That's enough!!! I get it…”
Nirei can feel Suo’s lips curl into a smile from behind his hands, and Suo grabs Nirei’s wrists, and pry his hands away from his lips.
“Hmm, Nire-kun, do you know someone like this? My memory is not as good as yours, so maybe you know someone that matches this description?”
Suo is still gripping his wrists, and Nirei has nowhere to run, Suo’s strength being much stronger than his.
“Suooooo!!! Stop teasing me…”
Suo bursts into a fit of giggles again, his hands went from holding his wrists, slides down so their hands are slotted together, as he brings the hands to his lips, and presses a gentle kiss.
“You understand my feelings now? I’m so glad you feel the same way, I’m so relieved.”
All Nirei can do is clench his fingers, against Suo’s. In return, Suo holds his hands tighter.
A smile also slips onto Nirei’s face and he feels all his anxiousness he’s felt for the past day dissipate. Suo feels the same way about him, it seems like he wasn’t wrong about Suo’s actions that day during the sleepover.
He looks up at Suo’s face, and he’s surprised by what he saw.
A gentle smile on his face, and his cheeks a gorgeous shade of pink , and his eyes a little watery, making his eyes sparkle. Such a beautiful face, he becomes even more mesmerized.
“Nire-kun, you’re staring.”
Nirei doesn’t look away and replies, “Well, I can’t help it when someone so gorgeous is standing in front of me, has he ever considered he shouldn’t look this attractive?”
Suo seems shocked by what Nirei just said, and takes away one of his hands to cover his blushing face. Nirei is glad that he’s the one that makes Suo look and act like that, and that he’s the only one able to make him like that.
He feels really proud actually.
Just then another breeze of wind blows by, reminding them that they’re still standing in the middle of the street, and it's getting colder by the minute. Suo takes his hands away from his face and reaches for Nirei’s hands again, tugging him along as they continue their walk home. Nirei just then remembers his whole plan that he was planning on executing on the weekend.
“...Suo-san, sorry everything was so sudden, I really wanted to pick a better place and moment… but I failed…”
“What do you mean you failed? It ended perfectly, did it not? Are we not dating now?”
Right, Nirei had forgotten all about that. That was the whole goal, wasn’t it. Tsubaki was right that he wouldn’t know what would happen if he didn’t go for it, and he’ll regret not saying a thing.
Nirei had been smiling the whole time, and he wants to smile even wider, but he’s sure his lips are going to hurt from how much he smiled in the past ten minutes.
Nirei simply nods, still a little shy.
Suo asks, “... and about this weekend, even if you’re not confessing anymore.. Wanna still go out?”
“Oh… Yea that! Lets!! Do you want to go to that night festival with me..? They have fireworks!! “ Nirei exclaims excitedly.
“We should wear some matching outfits as well,” Suo adds.
Nirei has never been this excited in his life, “Wouldn’t this be our first date??”
“Of course, but it wouldn’t be too different from our other hangouts we have in the past. We’ve done tons of things together, they’re basically dates!!”
True, thinking back on it now, a lot of the things they hanged out in the past did seem like dates. In fact, if anyone else saw the two of them, they would think the two were out on a romantic date.
Just then, they reached the front of Nirei’s house. Still holding hands, the two stand there for a bit, neither wanting to be the first to let go. Eventually, Nirei says, “I still can’t believe I get to call you my boyfriend now.. It’s like a dream. Suo-san, am I dreaming..?”
Suo finally lets go of his hands, but he doesn't step away. He steps closer to Nirei, hands cupping his face, as he brings his face closer to his. Nirei can feel the warmth from Suo, which feels good against the chilly weather. When the two get close enough, and Nirei can feel Suo’s breath, he closes his eyes, and Suo closes the distance between the two of them.
It was a pretty quick kiss, only lasting for a few seconds. Nirei can still remember the taste of Suo’s lips on his, and it's a special feeling. He then feels a pang of disappointment that the kiss lasted so short, wanting more.
Just then he feels a flick on his forehead.
“Nope, Nire-kun, you’re not dreaming.”
There’s no way Nirei is going to let Suo just go home after that, and he rewraps his hands back around Suo’s hands as he tugs him towards his house.
“...?”
“...Stay the night, would you? I don’t want to be away from you right now…”
Suo smiles, "Neither do I.. but your parents..?”
“They’re really nice!! I think they’ll love you. So please…stay tonight?”
“I’d stay forever if you’ll let me, honestly..”