Chapter Text
Hopeless.
Matsumura Kousei stared at his phone for what seemed like forever, watching as the line goes to voice mail yet again.
He sighed.
Glancing up, he saw a sight that was once breathtaking—the wonderful greenery around the picturesque school that catered to every niche. It was nice to see a place where everyone could belong.
But perhaps, it could've been better if the pressure to fit in never arose in the first place.
Because some people..
Will never belong.
Matsumura sees a dark haired boy staring at a box of chocolate enclosed within his hands, muttering his every thought out loud and forcing every soul in the vicinity to listen.
"I can do this.. !! Surely, he'll only see it as a friendly gesture and appreciate me and slowly start to fall in love with me!"
The boy waits, and Matsumura waits.
But the boy they were both waiting for is no-where to be found!
Matsumura lets out a sigh not for the first time that day.
He feels stupid. He knows Hirose forgot about their hang out again. He never remembers, after all, he's far too occupied with his other friends.
Matsumura wishes he could be nearly as hopeful as the monologuer to his side, and decides to cast a final glance his way before leaving.
He looks to his left to find—no one...?
Did that boy give up too?
At least he's not alone in his hopelessness.
He's about to turn to leave when he feels a gentle touch on his shoulder from behind, undoubtedly one of the girls who were giggling and blushing, secretly watching him from afar. He's had this encounter numerous times before, so Matsumura turns with a practiced charming smile, only to meet the eyes of the boy from earlier.
"Oh." He says dumbly.
The boy is a lot prettier up close.
"Are you.. Ko-chan?" The darling boy asks, innocently.
Suddenly the air feels warmer, and Matsumura's shirt feels tighter—although he gets his uniform tailored to fit him perfectly and he maintains a consistent figure—and his heart was beating.
Well, it would be more concerning if it didn't.
"Y-yes?" He stuttered.
Pause.
Who is this? Matsumura Kousei stuttered?!
"Ah..! I didn't see you there earlier.. Hirose told me to tell you that he's gonna be late.. "
Hirose who-rose? Matsumura he notices the boy's lips moving and his ears come back to life, and his mouth opens without permission.
"Yes, of course." Matsumura prays that would be an appropriate response.
"I'm Matsumura Kousei, and you?" He asks elegantly, as if he was not sputtering a moment ago.
Apparently, that was the best move, because the boy's face heats up faster than his heartbeat, and he bends to a bow so deep you'd think he cursed Matsumura's whole bloodline on accident.
"I'M SORRY!!!! I THOUGHT KO-CHAN WAS YOUR NAME BECAUSE HIROSE KEPT SAYING THAT BUT IT'S OBVIOUSLY JUST A NICKNAME AND I DIDN'T REALISE THAT, I'M SO SORRY!!" The poor boy says with his eyes shut and almost brimming with tears from embarrassment, and it makes Matsumura's heart go doki-doki.
Again, it would be more concerning if it didn't.
"Ah, no.. it's okay, you can call me Ko-chan." He assured with a smile.
Wait.
No, that's weird.
Is there even a way to mend this damage?
"Ah, okay .. Ko-chan.. My name's Nakamura Okuto.. You can call me Okuto?" Nakamura says, hoping to help relieve some of the embarrassment.
So kind, so.. cute?!
Matsumura wordlessly hands over the chocolate box he prepared meticulously for Hirose. His hands are braver than himself, it seems.
He watches as Nakamura cautiously accepts it, and shifts his eyes from Matsumura to the box, then from the box to Matsumura, and then back to the box...
Oh, this is nerve-wrecking.
He then unties the ribbon, staring at the chocolate, trying to make some semblance of sense of the situation.
"HAAH?!" Nakamura exclaims gracefully. And then he goes significantly more reserved. "Oh wait. Did you want me to pass it on to Hirose?" He asks, as if anything but fluff had been in Matsumura's mind this whole time.
"Yes. Oh, no. I mean.. no. It's not for him. You can keep it."
Very eloquent, Matsumura. He should give himself a pat on the back.
Before Nakamura can even think of mustering up a reply, a familiar face welcomes them both.
"Nakamura, Ko!" He greets before pausing incredulously, seeing the faint blush on Matsumura's face combined with the puzzled expression Nakamura wears with a box of chocolate in his hand.
What's with all the pauses, can someone click fast-forward?!
Hirose decides to shrug it off and casually snags a piece of chocolate from Nakamura's box, plops it into his mouth and perks up in delight.
"This is delicious! Did you make it yourself, Nakamura?"
"No.. uhm.. K-ko-chan made it ..!" Nakamura says in a loud whisper, trying to manage not embarrassing himself in front of Hirose with trying not to embarrass Matsumura either.
"Ko-chan?" Hirose questions.
Nakamura looks at Matsumura hoping to get him to explain, only to find Matsumura staring at him already.
'Does he think I'm going to be the one explaining?! No way!' Nakamura worries, while Matsumura on the other hand was already off to dreamland.
Hirose watches Nakamura panic and Matsumura depart, reasonably confused.
The only sound emitted being Hirose's chewing doesn't make it a lot better. He swallows the last bit of the chocolate and properly faces Matsumura.
"Ko, Nakamura and I were going to head home together.. do you still want to hang out?"
"No." Matsumura replies without even sparing a glance. That infuriates Hirose, who in response grabs his collar and shouts, "Hey! Did you even hear me? I said, do you still want to hang out?"
"Oh. No, you guys can move along. I have some assignments to complete, I just remembered."
And his current assignment?
Figure out the ideal relationship between Okuto and Ko-chan.