Chapter Text
This story takes place on an alternate timeline, a year after Valentine's Day when Hirose got a girlfriend.
Matsumura Kousei, You Have a Plan
Matsumura stood at the entrance of the high school.
The roses in his left hand tapped against his thigh. The palm of his right hand was becoming sweaty around the box of chocolates.
Inside his chest, his heart beat a loud rhythm.
Stay calm, he told himself. You have a plan.
Matsumura watched the heads of the people exiting the school. The chill of the winter air did nothing to calm his nerves, and he wrapped his coat around himself.
He watched the expressions of the students leaving the school. Most looked happy, relieved to be finished another day. A few looked bashful, hiding identical motifs of chocolates and sweets in their pockets and bags.
A couple of people looked his way. A passing group of girls murmured about the ikemen waiting with the obvious confession of romance.
He gripped the chocolates tighter and felt his resolve clamming up.
Finally, the person he was waiting for emerged. Matsumura’s heart fluttered high in his chest.
There he was—dark hair, dark eyeline, and a bored expression that came off as incredibly cute and made Matsumura’s hand that was holding the chocolates get even hotter.
The person walked down the path towards him. Just as expected, when his eyes spotted him standing there, they narrowed into a statement of discontent.
“What are you doing here?” Nakamura spat the words as if they were venom collected in his mouth.
Matsumura shifted, then held the gifts so they were visible outside the folds of his coat. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” he said plainly.
Nakamura’s eyes flicked down to the roses, then to the chocolates.
When they flicked back up, they regarded Matsumura first with mistrust, then opened as wide as moons as something occurred to him.
“I can’t let you do that,” Nakamura said suddenly.
He shifted his stance, puffing his whole little body up and spreading his arms wide until he made an X in front of the school.
“Hirose is happy,” he continued. “He has a girlfriend now. I’m sorry, I won’t let anyone get close and try to ruin things for them.”
Matsumura’s tongue dried and bobbed in his mouth. His ex-rival's dynamic display of loyalty stalled his heart.
But then a laugh bubbled up from the bottom of his throat.
Matsumura leaned in to study Nakamura’s new expression, and was happy when he saw a blush start to form on his cheeks. “So that’s the stance you’ve taken?" he said. "Normally you’d be out here fighting with me. Don’t you remember our little scramble for the Christmas present last year?”
“That was two years ago,” Nakamura replied, looking to the side, biting his lip. “And whatever my feelings are don’t matter anymore.” He looked back, a bold vehemence burning in his eyes. “You would understand that if you were as good of a friend as I am.”
Matsumura paused. A storm started rumbling in his chest. He knew the feelings Nakamura was projecting. Thankfully, he didn’t have to experience them himself. By the time Hirose had gotten with his girlfriend, Matsumura had already moved on from his crush. But still, he knew the pain. And it rattled him seeing it reflected in the object of his affections’ eyes. “Is that so?” Matsumura slammed the chocolates into Nakamura’s hands. After a beat, he plopped the roses on top.
Nakamura looked down, then up. Then down, then up again. “W-w-what?”
“Since Hirose can’t have them,” Matsumura began, “these are for you.”
There was a thunk.
Matsumura watched with horror as the roses and chocolates were thrown to the pavement.
A warm sting raced through his heart. Matsumura thought he was prepared. This whole ‘play it cool and unintentional’ bit was a part of his strategy. But it still hurt watching his feelings so brazenly tossed aside.
Nakamura wiped his hands, looking pleasantly unaware of his crime.
You’re a fool, Matsumura thought to himself.
Slowly, he bent down. He picked the roses up first and brushed them off. He collected the chocolates next. Then he stood. This time, he stepped a bit closer, giving Nakamura nowhere to run.
He placed both gifts once again into Nakamura’s hands, then looked at him through the heated air that started to form between them. “I’m over Hirose,” he said. “So they’re yours. You can decide what to do with them.” He stalled for a moment, listened to the rhythm in his heart, then looked up at the sky. “But…” he continued, making eye contact again. “I’d like it if you kept them.”
Nakamura’s cheeks quickly filled with colour until they burned bright crimson. He turned his head to the side, and the opportunity Matsumura sensed there vanished the same instant it appeared. “W-what are you saying?” he stuttered. “What kind of nonsense is that? I-I can’t take some secondary gift.”
Nakamura shoved the gifts back into Matsumura’s chest and Matsumura had to bite down a growl. Nakamura’s flaring indignance was threatening to set his entire plan to flames.
Matsumura blinked, took a deep breath, then steadily pushed the gifts once more into Nakamura’s hands. “Please? For me? This can be our last dispute as rivals.” He hoped to soften his voice. He hoped that this would open a new side of him. That it would open a door that Nakamura could look down and eventually find his meaning.
This time, the roses stayed in Nakamura’s hands when he took a step back.
“Only because I’m Hirose’s friend,” Nakamura huffed. Then even quieter: “T-this is my duty.”
Matsumura sighed. This was not exactly how he wanted things to go.
“Mm. Sure, thing—”
“I’m just guarding them!” Nakamura shouted, making Matsumura’s heart pick up tempo again. “I-I won’t eat the chocolates.”
Matsumura waved his hand, then turned before he could contort his heart into an early confession.
“Be seeing you then.”
Matsumura walked away and let the winter chill finally settle his pounding nerves.
He reflected on the future to come. This crush had been waiting in his heart for more than a year. It’s okay if his first move didn’t go as planned.
He had done his best.
And he could wait now. He had no problem. For he finally knew where his true feelings lay.
He smiled as he thought of all the torment to ensue.
Just you wait, Nakamura-kun.