Chapter Text
late winter couldn't be any uglier, or at least that's what she saw. The cold air stung as it hit her lungs, but there was no more snowing to make it worth it-the streets were just filled with dirty ice that just begged to make someone fall down.
Maki wasn't someone who really cared about the weather or what she saw on her walk, but having something to distract her from the nightmare creeping over her would've been lovely.
Never before had she cared about holidays-let alone one as useless as valentines-but the implications of it this year were far too heavy to ignore.
She bought some chocolates for the occasion yesterday, but the anxiety and shame of doing that caught up to her the second she walked out of that store. She didn't even have a plan, most people just left their gifts on their crushes locker and waited until it just magically worked, but was that even an option for her? chocolates alone were kinda useless if they didn't come with some sort of confession.
After everything that occurred to her, she had deemed herself as incapable of love, having the chocolates already felt like too much, and writing a confession? what does she even write in those? “ily lets meet up?” putting in so much effort for a guy who saw her as his best friend was useless. She would put the chocolates on his locker without a note or anything he could use to trace them back to her. Everything else he did or didn't do was 100% his fault.
Since clearly having to walk through a cold street that did nothing but just depress her further wasn't enough, she just had to hear his voice getting closer from behind-with no time to even understand what he was saying until she felt his voice get this really high pitch and go low to the ground-the change in the sound came immediately followed by a loud thump. The ice and his summer slippers clearly didn't quite get along.
•
dear god. Why did he have to fall? out of all things that could've happened to the already strange morning he just had to fall down right behind her. He quickly stood up, pretending he didn't see her hand attempting to help him up as he brushed the mix of ice and dirt off-at least his clothes weren't too wet-he didn't lose a sandal either, which was clearly the most tragic scenario of them all.
“you okay? Why are you running anyways? it's 7:30 and it's hard enough to even walk as it is”
maki's concern for him was wonderful to just make him forget the recent embarrassment. He was clearly head over heels for her, not like he put any effort to hide it, if he were a girl, he would've bought every gift under the sun to give her tomorow–he wouldn't wait for white day if it were on him-but she was so pretty that if he got her something for tomorrow, it would make sense for it to get confused as one of her possible female admires gifts.
“don't you even worry maki-roll! a little ice has could never hurt the luminary of the stars”
Kaito spoke as he started to walk right besides her, keeping the pace as slow as possible to make the moment last a little longer
“but you know, i've had the weirdest morning ever, like, when had i arrived anywhere near on time before? it's not even 8:30 and i'm here”
Before maki even had enough time to nod along, he went on a rant about his day. He couldn't stargaze last night because of how cloudy it was, so he had to actually go to bed before 3 AM. She wished she could say that he went on to talk about anything remotely normal or related to what he had started out with, but by the time they got to the school gate, he was telling her about a documentary she had heard about ten times before.
“so, Valentine's tomorrow, did you buy something ya big softie?”
Kaito was trying his hardest to look easy about her possibly buying chocolates for someone, but in the attempt, he only made himself look weird as fingers gunned her, hoping to get some soft of reaction out of her
“no, of course not, who would i even buy something for?”
Fuck, oh fuck, maki wasn't getting anyone anything? he could've sworn miu told him she saw her buying chocolates yesterday-not like miu is the best source there is-but still! or what if she did buy something and just didn't tell him? oh dear lord what if she was daiting someone and didn't want him to know because she knew he liked her?!
Kaito's spiral that took him over a million emotions in under two seconds made him start asking questions. He asked absolutely everything about what she did yesterday and what she was doing tomorrow until he annoyed her just close enough to the sun. This was the perfect moment to see if she was telling the truth
“so… you super pinky promise u’re not giving anyone anything? and you're also free tomorrow?”
he walked in front of her as she tried to open her locker to change shoes. He wasn't taking any chances at missing the faintest clue of a lie coming from her. Altough he felt hey eyes roll before staring into his very soul, she couldn't be that annoyed this early.
“dear lord… no, for the fifth time, no. How many times do i have to say it for it to get through your head?”
she pushed him to the side so she could finally change her shoes, which he also did as the entrance slowly filled up with people arriving, Kaito stayed close to her, fully intending to make them think they were having some important conversation, no one would steal his girl while she was right in front of him.
“oh, that's good, yk, i was thinking-since you're not booked for tomorrow… i'm actually hosting a bit of a hangout tomorrow night, wanna come? i could pick your up from your place if you wanna”
there it was. It was just an invitation, maki was good at picking up clues, she'd realize he was trying to flirt with her in her language, what even were the chances of getting rejected?
“you're inviting me to a party for valentine's? people are gonna think i'm your girlfriend or something, i have other stuff to do”
Before he even had the time to try and tell her that the valentine's hang out had nothing to do with valentine's, she was already gone, her long, black hair brushing any sort of expectations or hope he had left off as she turned the corner into the school, leaving him with nothing but a sense of defeat. If he wanted to ask her out, he would need a much better than this.