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When the day ended Nagisa noticed a text from an unknown number on his phone, he had a feeling he knew exactly who it was.
And he was right, it was White Mask.
‘Surprise! I have your number memorised :p’
Cute.
Sure there was no overt sign that it was White Mask but who else could it be?
‘Are you at my house?’
‘Our house but yeah’
Well if he wasn’t sure before, he was now. It made Nagisa think back to the Music Room. To the line, the insistence of Our Name, Kamishiro Nagisa.
If the two of them were going to enter a relationship, any kind of proper relationship, Nagisa needed to learn just who it was he was entering a relationship with.
Was White Mask really him? Nagisa had his doubts and he would say he had made them pretty clear before but White Mask’s reaction to being called his name, their name.
Could they really be the same?
It wasn’t a long trip from school to home but it was enough time for the thoughts of just who White Mask, Wonder, Kamishiro Nagisa was to ruminate within his mind
Was White Mask even human? Did Nagisa care? Was this a rabbit hole he wanted to travel down as he approached his front door? No it wasn’t.
Still his mind pondered as he opened the door to his house.
No one was there.
Which duh, Nagisa never said how long it’d take until he arrived, of course White Mask wasn’t at the door waiting. Despite that, Nagisa still saw him rush down the stairs a moment later.
Latching onto Nagisa almost immediately, White Mask grinned. “Get changed out of your school clothes, we’re going out.”
White Mask was definitely dressed to do so, Nagisa hadn’t seen the hoodie in a while.
“Out? Like a date?” Nagisa couldn’t help but perk up at the thought.
“If you want it to be.” White Mask hummed, “Nothing formal.”
Formal or not, it was a date. Nagisa had never been on one before and he was unsure just how experienced White Mask was with relationships in general so this was exciting. White Mask was his first and Nagisa was maybe his depending on just how much they were the same.
Nagisa quickly made his way upstairs and picked something that had a similar sort of casual feel to White Mask’s outfit though he knew that it was mostly just to hide his face. Wherever they were going was semi-public at the least then.
As much as Nagisa wished he could see White Mask’s full face the whole time—how narcissistic—It was for the best that he had to look to see. Dealing with accusations of being incestuous with a twin did not sound fun, and if it made its way back to the other Phantom Thieves…
The complaints would just have to stay internal, he could do that. No point ruining their first date with his whining anyway. They were going to have a good date, Nagisa was going to enjoy it and learn more about White Mask.
When he arrived back downstairs, White Mask looked away from his phone to smile at Nagisa. “Ready?”
“Where are we going?”
“The Aquarium.”
Nagisa blinked in surprise, it was a romantic date spot. “Any particular reason why?”
“Because I know you’re a nerd.” White Mask booped Nagisa’s nose. “And because no one other than the two of us is needed.”
“How sweet.” Despite the sardonic tone Nagisa really meant it. It was sweet. “Thank you.”
White Mask didn’t say anything more, instead he opened the door and gestured for Nagisa to follow.
White Mask took hold of Nagisa’s hand as soon as they exited the building. To not get separated, he claimed. Though Nagisa didn’t believe that was the sole reason at all.
It was a comfortable silence as they walked, going from one subway line to another and eventually making it to the aquarium.
They were still holding hands.
Apparently White Mask already had tickets which was slightly suspect, supposedly he didn’t think Nagisa would find him and had Nagisa not found him then he doubted what happened would have happened at home later.
Or in the metaverse, though meeting White Mask in the metaverse very rarely went well for Nagisa. He rolled the shoulder that got stabbed as phantom pains threatened to irritate him.
Thinking on it now, they would probably have to talk about it sometime. White Mask admitted to wanting to see Nagisa in pain, Nagisa was pretty sure he didn’t want to be hurt. He wasn’t sure what he would do if White Mask attacked him again, not now that they had made so much progress.
But talking about that now could ruin their date.
Unfortunately asking about White Mask’s identity likely would too.
But that was something Nagisa really wanted to have a little clearer by the end of their date.
When would be the best time to ask?
“What’s your favourite fish?” Nagisa decided to ask, those questions could wait until they got home.
“Care to guess?” White Mask grinned, like he already knew that Nagisa would guess wrong.
“Blobfish.” Nagisa’s own favourite.
“Nope! Cute to choose your own.”
Was that a point in favour or against White Mask being Nagisa? They didn’t share a favourite but he knew it was Nagisa’s despite that not being a well known fact. A matter of an obsessed stalker or the same person with differences due to gaps in experience.
“Well I’m all out of guesses then.”
“You’re no fun.” White Mask huffed, “I’m basic and really like Angler Fish.”
“And Blobfishes aren’t basic?”
“Maybe that’s just an inherent part of us, that we’re basic.” White Mask shrugged, “But it’s not like either of us are finding our favourite today, they don’t tend to keep deep sea fishes in aquariums.”
“Is there a fish you like that you do want to see today?” Nagisa wasn’t actually all that big on fish, though they and the ocean were really cool it was never a main interest.
“Sea Butterflies! They’re so pretty but here so inconsistently and I need to figure out their criteria for showing up.”
“You come here often then?”
“I typically come around this time.”
“What like annually? Is there an annual pass?”
White Mask snorted, “For the aquarium?”
Nagisa blushed but stood his ground. “Researchers come to places like this often enough, there could be an annual pass.”
“Well there isn’t so those poor researchers have to buy regular tickets like the rest of us.” White Mask gave a mock pout, “Not that I bought our tickets.”
Nagisa did a double take. Had he unwittingly been an accomplice for fraud? “What?”
“There’s a raffle and it’s rigged but I know how they rigged it so I used that in my favour.”
Oh.
Well if it was rigged anyway…
“Thanks for that.” Feeling a little confident Nagisa brought White Mask’s hand to his face and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
Nagisa’s face was then pulled towards White Mask for a kiss that made him blush heavily, but he also internally wished it lasted longer.
“This makes you embarrassed when you bit me earlier.” White Mask chuckled, booping Nagisa’s nose and giving him another quick kiss.
“It’s different.” Nagisa hissed, “There are other people here.”
“No one you know.”
“Still.”
With a smile still on his face, White Mask rolled his eyes.
They continued to walk, asking inane questions all the while. Sometimes they would comment on the fish or snicker at some of the passerbys. It was oddly casual, it was easy to be with White Mask.
Was it odd that Nagisa still called him that in his head? He had introduced himself as Wonder and supposedly his name was Kamishiro Nagisa. It would be strange to internally refer to someone else with a name that he referred to himself with.
If White Mask knew he was White Mask rather than Wonder or Nagisa, would he be upset?
“Nacchan, Nacchan look!” With only that as a warning White Mask dragged Nagisa towards a tank, “Sea Butterflies.”
“They’re here this time, they’re pretty.” Nagisa commented.
“Still no closer to figuring out why they only appear sometimes.” White Mask sighed, “But I like seeing them with you.” He pinched Nagisa’s cheek and laughed at Nagisa’s attempts to get him to stop.
“Have you considered asking the employees why?”
“I get a different answer every time.”
Nagisa hummed, he had a feeling that he didn’t have the full context on the Sea Butterfly issue and that the little context he did have simply wouldn’t be enough to help figure out a proper answer. “Maybe they recognise you and do it on purpose.”
“Now there’s a terrifying thought, being recognised.”
“I recognise you.”
“Yeah, as White Mask.”
Nagisa flinched. Had he ever said anything about it? He was fairly sure he hadn’t.
“Aw, don’t look so surprised.” White Mask cooed, “I’m sure I’ve said it before but I know everything about you.”
“…Because you are me.”
White Mask pouted, “You sound like you don’t believe me.”
“I don’t even know what you mean when you say that you are me—”
Nagisa was interrupted by another kiss, he accepted it but didn’t push it further.
“Does it really matter?”
“Yes.”
White Mask clicked his tongue, “Fine, later.”
How long later would be wasn’t specified but Nagisa was hoping that maybe tonight he would get some answers.
Things were a little stilted after that but eventually they relaxed enough for things to feel normal again. Not once did they let go of each other’s hands though, if anything, White Mask’s grip only got tighter. Sometimes their hands would shift in a way that let Nagisa feel nails digging into his skin.
There were probably marks and he was fortunate that there was no bleeding, White Mask kept his nails longer than Nagisa did. It made Nagisa wonder if White Mask struggled to play the bass earlier.
Then finally, they had reached the end, or close to it.
“Gift shop!” White Mask cheered, “Pick something, anything, my treat.”
“Anything?” Nagisa grinned and got a flick to the forehead.
“Within reason.” White Mask corrected and handed Nagisa a card, “You know the pin.”
Nagisa’s grin stayed on his face, he didn’t know how rich White Mask was but there was a lot of money to be earned in the Metaverse and he had more time to burn in there than Nagisa did.
That left another question to ask. How often was White Mask in the Metaverse? Did he live there? Was he from there? He had a bank account apparently, and of course they had the same pin number because… they were the same.
Later.
He could ask these questions later.
Instead he should focus on the gift shop and finding an item to be gifted. Something nice, that he would actually use and could remember the date by. Not an article of clothing, they weren’t something Nagisa would wear outside and none of them seemed comfortable enough to be used as pajamas.
Maybe something practical like a bottle or a decoration like a keychain or maybe something that was both like…
Plushies!
There was quite a selection actually but two in particular stood out to him.
Taking both of them, Nagisa paid for each separately. The one he intended on keeping he paid with White Mask’s card, the other he paid for on his own.
White Mask brightened when he saw Nagisa exiting the store, if he was a little faster then maybe Nagisa would have missed him scowling at his phone. However he wasn’t, Nagisa wondered what other contacts White Mask had. Were there people that White Mask had met that Nagisa didn’t know? People who thought that White Mask was Nagisa?
The only other person Nagisa knew for certain that White Mask knew was Merope.
That would be a dangerous question to ask.
Nagisa still remembered the one and only time he tried asking.
“What did you get?” White Mask asked, looking at the paper bag the clerk insisted on giving Nagisa.
Rather than saying anything, Nagisa pulled out an Angler Fish plushie. It was incredibly derpy and silly looking rather than the eerie creature of the deep that lures you in with false promises in order to consume, and thus it was perfect.
“I also got you something!” Nagisa didn’t see White Mask’s initial reaction with his attempt to grab the second plushie. He held it out with a smile and snickered when he saw White Mask’s completely dumbfounded expression.
“I… never knew they sold these.”
It was a Sea Butterfly plushie. Very soft and cuddly, more so than the one Nagisa got for himself but that was fine. Angler Fishes were White Mask’s favourite, what better to remember a date with him by? Sea Butterflies were clearly special even if Nagisa didn’t understand why, so White Mask got one.
“It could be a recent addition.” Nagisa suggested, but the pinched expression on White Mask’s face told him that it definitely wasn’t that. “Do you not like it?”
“No! No, I like it.” White Mask insisted, forcing his expression into something positive, “I just wasn’t expecting you to get a gift for me, or for it to be this.”
“Well expect more gifts from me.” Nagisa booped White Mask’s nose and took delight in his surprised little blink and the way he stared at Nagisa’s finger like he had never seen one before. “I want to spoil you too.”
“Sap.”
Nagisa flicked him. “C’mon, lets go home.”
He put his plushie back in the bag though White Mask seemed insistent on continuing to hold his own. Still, it left one free hand for Nagisa to hold.
“Inviting me over to spend the night?” White Mask’s expression turned wry, “My my Nacchan, it’s only the first date. I’m not so easy.”
“Oh hush you.”
White Mask laughed and hugged his gift tight.
“Unfortunately, I mean it.” White Mask’s smile broke away to something else, “I would love to stay over but I have somewhere to be.”
Nagisa frowned. “Where?”
“Somewhere in the Metaverse.”
“Can I come with?”
White Mask scowled. “You aren’t allowed in there alone, or have I not taught you anything?”
Nagisa forced down a flinch. “I won’t be alone, I’ll be with you.”
“Nagisa, Beloved,” White Mask started and then faltered, “This is something for just me to deal with. You go home and get some sleep, you’ll have a busy day tomorrow. Riko has a request to make.”
Confusion spread across Nagisa’s features. “Will you be safe?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me what this is about when it’s over?”
“Probably not.”
“Will you tell me anything?”
“I said later, didn’t I?”
Nagisa couldn’t help the disbelieving expression that he wore as White Mask said it.
“Next time we meet.” White Mask relented, “You can ask your questions the next time we meet. Let’s just end this on a happy note.”
A wish they both shared.
Deciding to let it go for now, Nagisa brought White Mask close for a goodbye kiss.
“I’ll see you later.”