Chapter Text
"Hey! before you go!" Matsumura stopped in his tracks, he could hear the nervous shake in the boy's voice.
"Uhm, thanks man, for…helping me earlier…" He let out a quiet huff, even if they were formidable rivals, Nakamura is clearly just trying to be polite.
"No sweat, I'm just glad our lost friend found his mom." He looked back over his shoulder, waving goodbye with a wink and giving off a radiant smile to the ever so shy Nakamura.
"Well, see you around," Nakamura stared at Matsumura's back as he walked away. 'Its weird…' he thought, 'Ignoring the fact that he's a total stalker and a major weirdo, I actually enjoyed his company…' Nakamura played with the tip of his bangs, twisting the strands, letting his thoughts wander.
"I guess he's a pretty good guy, that must be why Hirose befriended him. But still…A guy like me competing against someone like Matsumura for Hirose's heart? I was bound to lose from the start. What was I thinking…? stupid Nakamura, stupid-!"
He leaned his head up against one of the shelves and clutched at his aching heart. 'I'm so pathetic, why did I even bother thinking I would be a better boyfriend for Hirose? I'm sure anyone would be happy knowing their partner loves them that much. Meanwhile I cant even talk to Hirose without stumbling over my words like an idiot…'
Nakamura's vision blurs, tears bubbling up at the corners of his eyes. Nakamura, the boy who vowed to make Hirose his… now defeated by the likes of Matsumura.
"Hey, Nakamura," Nakamura looked up to the voice in a daze, "M-Matsumura…?"
"You okay? I was gonna leave until I saw you leaning up like that, I thought you were about to faint or something." He tilts his head to the side, seemingly fascinated by Nakamura's sudden melancholic expression. They were just a moment ago, so why is he on the verge of tears? Did he want to give Hirose the shirt that badly?
'How embarrassing! I'm crying my eyes out in the middle of the store and to top it all off, Matsumura's seeing me at my most vulnerable!'
He tries wiping away his tears with his coat sleeve, and shooing away at Matsumura. "I-It's fine! I'm fine! My hair just got in my eyes, that's all…"
Matsumura lowered himself to get a proper look at the teary eyed boy, sliding his hand beaneath his bangs and lifting his hair up. "Now that you mention it, it is quite long,"
'He's really close…' Nakamura blushed a little, while they are rivals, Matsumura is still as good looking as ever.
"You'd look cooler with shorter hair, don't you think?"
Matsumura used a technique he'd gotten so good at doing, it's was almost impossible for anyone to stay mad at him. This technique was—his charm! At this point Nakamura had completely forgot what it was he was so upset about. His words seemed so sincere, it's almost like he's actually trying to get closer to Nakamura.
'He's like a cat found drenched in the rain...'
"Could you leave for a bit?" Nakamura's eyes had a quiet sadness in them, it kind of made Matsumura want to see him cry some more…
'Huh?'
"You can go on your way, I'll be fine." Nakamura gently moved Matsumura's hand away and shifted his eyes to the ground. And for some reason, that bothered something deep within Matsumura.
"You're come with me, m'kay?" He grabbed Nakamura's arm and dragged him off towards a small cafe in the corner, he seemed pretty irritated, even when smiling like that.
"Wait! I didn't agree to this?!"
'Should I start praying for my life?'
***
"Welcome to our humble cafe, may I take you order?" The lady serving them glanced between them and handed them the menu.
'For some reason…'
"I'll have the strawberry parfait and an espresso,"
'I have a really bad feeling about this.'
"And you Nakamura?"
He panicked noticing he'd been spacing out and staring at Matsumura again while they were ordering. "The uhm—"
'I didn't actually pay attention to what they were saying at all! I don't even know what they serve here—'
"Hm, he'll have the teddy bear tiramisu,"
"Alright, anything to drink?"
"Coffee, black." The waitress nodded and punched in their order, though, how did he know he liked black coffee? Matsumura looked unbothered, his attention now focused onto Nakamura, staring into his soul.
Nakamura avoided looking at Matsumura, already embarrassed by his previous outburst. Even his reaction didn't make sense to him, did Maysumura really bring him here after watching him cry out of pity?
Either way, he shouldn't let his guard down around him. "You're weird, you know that?"
"What…?"
"I mean, your attachment to Hirose, it's weird."
"Like you're any better." That's when he'd been reminded of Matsumura's true nature. Looking at Matsumura through a rose colored lens was like being in the presence of a prince, but without those lenses…he was just a jerk with creepy tendencies.
Matsumura leaned forward while resting his elbows on his knees, examining Nakamura's every movement. "You say you like Hirose, but when it comes down to it, you have nothing to show for it. Sure you're friends now, but you want to be more than that, don't you?"
Nakamura wanted to bite back, but he was right, completely and utterly right. It hurt him to his very core, it hurts, it hurts being reminded of what he could never have. "Shut up…You have no right to talk like that." He turned his face away at the large glass window, seeing Hirose's smiling face everywhere he went even if nothing came close to resembling him. He knew, it's never going to happen…He could feel the waterworks coming in again, and yet Matsumura was fixated on his expression.
He pulled out his phone and took a photo of Nakamura being oblivious and on the verge of tears. Would this be considered blackmail? A new collection? Who knows, but Nakamura looked quite upset.
'Perfect…absolutely perfect, he just need to keep looking like that…'
The camera shutter caught Nakamura's attention away from the outside view, he got up in protest."Hey—!delete that!"
Matsumura sneered at him, the face he made was something along the lines of saying 'Where did you get the audacity to think I'd ever take photos of you?'
"Relax would you? I was taking pics of the desserts."
Nakamura looked down and saw that their desserts were in fact on the table. "Oh, sorry…"
He lied, he saved the photo in a hidden album and went back to taking photos of the adorable cakes and coffee on the table. "Thanks for this, but why did you bring me here?" Matsumura looked up from his phone and sighed.
"It's a bad look for me to leave a friend like that in a store, I'd look like a huge jerk! And what would Hirose think?"
He stared blankly at him, "Jeez, all you care about is yourself." He blinked a couple times, thinking over what he said. "Friend? You think we're friends?"
"Well, mostly," They were quiet most of the time, after all, how are they supposed to bring up anything without fighting about Hirose? "So, you wanna talk about your little outburst?"
"-!" Nakamura started to sweat profusely, he didn't think he'd actually mention it because of how quiet he's been, but telling him would just boost his ego. "I just—I was just overwhelmed, y'know when you start to cry out of nowhere and then you think about other things that make you cry so it doesn't stop coming out and—"
"Okay, I got it. I've never heard such a pitiful excuse before, you must be quite embarrassed," Nakamura bit his lip, feeling ever so ashamed that he let his rival see that side of him. He never even let his mom or sister see him cry like that, and all he can do is sit there and look like a fool.
'He probably brought me here just to mock me, I can't believe I let myself get dragged into this mess…I should just leave.'
"Thanks for helping me out and everything, but I gotta go now. So if you'll excuse me–" As Nakamura got up to leave, Matsumura took hold of his hand and looked down at him with such earnest determination. 'He's acting weird, but when is he not?'
"Hey look at those two," A girl whispers to her friend. "Are they fighting?"
"Do you think they're a couple?" She squeals, "They have to be! Look at how desperate that guy looks, I think they're on the verge of breaking up!" He looks back at Matsumura awkwardly, his sparkly good-looking guy aura overpowering his reluctance to say no.
"Stay for a bit, I insist!" He held Nakamura's hand closer to his chest, adding onto the romantic scene.
"I really should get going…" He tried pulling his hand back, only to get pulled closer.
"At least finish your dessert…You owe me that much."
"What?! I don't owe you squat!"
"Please,"
His heart stuttered, Matsumura was begging him, begging to stay despite how little he tolerates him. He nodded quietly and took his hand back, scanning the cafe to see the girls still ogling at them.
'Just great…' He took a sip of his coffee and smiled, 'It's actually pretty good'
"So?" Matsumura rested his cheek on his palm and continued staring at Nakamura. "Is is good?"
"Huh? O-oh, yeah…it's good." Matsumura held out a spoonful of the tiramisu and basically dangled it in front of Nakamura like bait. 'Is this okay? Being here with him? I don't really know what going on in his head or why he'd even go out of his way to treat me like this, but…'
He just keeps getting more and more surprised by the minute, first they fight as if they were in a romance drama, now Matsumura's spoon-feeding him a teddy dessert? What has this world come to?!
Bear~
"Hng, I'm good..."
BEAR!
He shoved the spoon into Nakamura's mouth and refused to let go,"Sweet huh? Go on you can be honest~"
'The way he's talking is creepy-! He definitely has an ulterior motive…'
"Euk- Ah, I-It's fine, can I go now?" It was more than fine, it's was heavenly! Such texture had never graced his taste buds since the day he was born! 'I don't even like sweets that much but this is amazing…'
"Such a buzzkill, but I guess it can't be helped. Sigh, How would you ever enjoy an outing with Hirose when you're so eager to leave?"
"You-!"
"Uhm, sorry to interrupt," Their server holds out a small paper bag and hands it to Matsumura. "This is a little something from the owner."
"Oh, thank you, but…what for?"
"Well, she's a a sucker for romance so she packed a special dessert for you two~!"
"We're not even–" Matsumura elbowed him and took the bag off her hands. "What a precious gift, we'll surely give each other a second chance with this. Right Nakamura?"
He tried lifting himself upward, that nudge to his side left him with a ghastly expression, "Y-yes, we appreciate it…"
"Oh my, what an energetic couple" She beamed with joy.
They stood outside the store awkwardly, Nakamura was ready to leave, but something about Matsumura was yelling at him to stop and say what's on his mind. "Listen I-"
"You're welcome."
"What?! Screw you, I wasn't even going to thank you!"
"Fine by me, and take the dessert why don't you?!"
"Fine I will!"
'Nakamura…He's…'
'Close, so so so close…' Even the slightest proximity seemed to have quite and effect on both of them, could this be…? Matsumura's hand wrapped around Nakamura's fingers passing on something hidden between them. It was–
"Okay! Bye!" Matsumura said abruptly before running off.
'What?'
Once again, Matsumura had somehow tricked him. Nakamura had no energy to chase after him and argue, so it was straight along home for him.
***
"Hey I'm home." His sister looked over her phone and grabbed the paper bag out of his hands.
"You got some sweet treats from outside?!"
"Ugh! You little savage! I barely stepped foot into the house and you're already taking my stuff," He took his shoes off and snatched the bag back. "No one said it's for you!"
"Did you get it from that handsome guy?"
"Huh? Who?"
"He was pretty tall, had the kindest eyes, and he was soooo dreamy!"
"Ew."
"What do you mean ew?! He's your friend isn't he?!"
"My friend? I think I'd remember if I had a friend like…"
"His name was Matsu…something, I don't know. He basically interviewed me and asked a ton of questions about you."
"And you told him?!" He looked down to see that she'd already began eating what was in the dessert box.
"You…Argh, have it! I don't care!" He marched up the stairs and slammed his door. Plopping down onto his bed, Icchan tapped on the glass of his enclosure to get his attention.
"What do I do Icchan? I love Hirose to death, but lately my heart's been acting weird around that guy…" He took out the manga Kawamura drew for him, reading over the lines a dozen times. "I like him, I like him so much...But will he ever feel the same? It's not fair…" He coddles his pillow, comforting himself. "How can I be the only one to suffer while he's completely unaware of my feelings? Maybe that's my own fault…"
His mind starts to imagine Someone besides Hirose. 'Ma-Matsumura?! No way! I don't feel anything for him at all, and I doubt he feels anything for me too…Right?'
"Right Icchan?" Icchan waved his tentacles around in a circular motion. He flipped through the pages of the manga but all of the scenes with Hirose were suddenly replaced with Matsumura. "What the hell's going on with me?!"
***
Matsumura sat alone in his room full of Hirose's treasures, staring at a single photo, the photo of Nakamura. 'What is this feeling? Why do I like this so much?'
He zoomed into his face, that longing expression, the tears threatening to escape his eyes, it was a sight he found quite alluring in a way. "If it was my Hirose…Would I feel the same if I saw him crying?"
'Just imagining it, no. It probably wouldn't be the same feeling as seeing Nakamura like that. There was something different about him, something Hirose didn't have, but that doesn't mean my feelings for Hirose have changed. I still adore him more than anyone in the world!'
He looked down at his desk and held his Hirose collection close to his heart. "Nothing is more perfect than Hirose, I wouldn't dare think of someone other than…him…"
The picture on his phone stared at him, if he had more photos of him like that…it wouldn't hurt to have one or two more.
"Maybe if I mess with him, I could get to see him like that." He gripped the phone tightly in his hands. 'Does that make me a bad person? It's not like I hate him, but seeing him cry like that because of me…It makes me want to do so much more,'
He exhaled softly, his heart racing at the thought of being the reason why Nakamura's emotional state becomes a mess. "I should go out with him again. If he's the unstable about his feelings with Hirose, it shouldn't be a problem to get him to overthink."
'And who knows? Maybe I'll even get him to completely give up on Hirose! Then he'll be all mine!' That's when Matsumura's thoughts began to distort, who exactly did he want to be his? 'Obviously it's Hirose…But why am I imagining Nakamura as well?' He shook his head and brought his focus back to his phone. "I'll get close enough to make him trust me, any closer and I'll…"
'Stop it, I don't want get any closer than that! I'll be a friend he can lend an ear to then–'
His mind starts to imagine a scene where he and Nakamura are alone, he pours his heart out to him and in the spur of the moment, he pulls him in for a kiss and they–
'No no no stop! This is not happening! I would never! How did I even dare to imagine something like that?!'
"Hirose will be mine and mine alone!" His finger hovers over the delete button. He hesitates.
He tells himself it's what's best for him, but his mind holds him back. "It's just a photo…It wouldn't hurt to just leave it alone, right?" He favorites the photo and shuts his phone off. Resting his head on the soft, cold surface of the pillow. His eyes feel heavy, his head dizzy and his heart is in two places.
'I want to see him again…I need to see that face again'