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Andre's foot anxiously tapped against the carpeted floor as his eyes kept flicking between his laptop's clock and the video chat application. It was Saturday afternoon and he was patiently - or rather impatiently - waiting for a call from Minato.
Any minute now… He'd been waiting all week for this, he could wait just a little while longer. He knew that Minato had an errand to run that day and that he'd be free in evening, so he'd made sure to double, triple and quadruple check their timezone differences to guarantee that he would be free at the same time.
It felt a little silly to say but… he was starting to get nervous. When he moved to Japan to attend school there, it never even occurred to him that he'd start dating someone; much less that he'd have to start long distance dating. His face flushed a shy pink as it hit him once again that he actually had a boyfriend. He had a boyfriend who was cool and hot and adorable all at once… Wow, he was lucky!
Ring Ring Ring!
A sudden chime made Andre practically leap out of his skin, pulling him out of his lovestruck thoughts. He whipped his head round to read the notification.
[Incoming call from Minato Arisato]
Andre hurriedly brushed his hair and readjusted his shirt, making 100% sure that he was presentable before picking up.
The sight that greeted him was Minato glaring at the computer screen with a confused scowl, his eyebrows knitted together and his nose scrunched up. He was muttering to himself as he poked at the keyboard.
"Wha…? But I swear I pressed-? It should work?"
Andre couldn't help but giggle, smitten by the adorable hilarity of the situation. "Hello, Minato-dono!"
Minato flinched, his eyes widening as he made direct eye contact with the camera. "Oh, is it on already?"
Andre held back further giggles and nodded with a sweet smile. "Yes, it is. Lovely to see you again, Minato-dono. Konbanwa!"
Minato smiled shyly. "Yeah, it's great to see you again, too. Buenos dias."
"That's Spanish, Minato-dono."
"Ah."
The awkward expression on Minato's face made Andre burst out laughing again. The sound of his laughter made Minato's face flush a deep pink.
"I know 'bonjour' means 'hello' but I can't remember what 'good afternoon' is…" The blue haired boy explained with a bashful pout.
"Bon après-midi."
"Alright. Duly noted."
Andre still had a few giggles in his system. Minato's blush grew deeper.
"Moving on from that trainwreck; how are you? How are things going back in France?"
"Things are going very well! I have been helping my uncle around the house and we've organised a few of my aunt's things. He was kind enough to give me some of them: Like this!"
Andre carefully picked up his favourite ornament that he had inherited from his aunt and displayed it to the camera. It was small and simple; a round base with a white red plaid design, on top of which was an anthropomorphic cat wearing a homely dress and apron with a frilly hat that let her ears poke out. In front of her was a small table with a few small pots and bowls and a large pile of dough, along with the rolling pin in her hands.
Minato leaned in closer to his screen to get a better look. By the way his eyes were darting around, Andre knew he was taking in every last detail.
Eventually, Minato let out a soft chuckle. "That's adorable, kinda cozy too."
"That's exactly why I love it! My uncle let me have the whole collection!"
"I'm sure your aunt would be happy to know they've gone to someone who appreciates them." Minato smiled. His eyebrows raised slightly as a thought occurred to him. "Oh, that reminds me: were you able to visit your aunt? I remember you mentioning that you wanted to do that."
Andre nodded as he carefully returned the ornament to it's designated place among its peers on his windowsill. "I did, it was one of the first things I did when I returned. I gave her some of her favourite flowers and a pain-au-chocolat from her favourite bakery; it was her favourite sweet treat."
Minato smiled lovingly, resting his chin against his hand. "I'm sure that made her really happy. I should probably visit my parents at some point… I always plan to, but then I chicken out…"
The sad, almost guilty look in Minato's eyes pained Andre to see. He completely understood where he was coming from; you want to pay your respects and give them updates on your life, it's just… standing in front of their grave brings back all sorts of memories and it could be a lot to deal with.
"Minato-dono…" The blond's eyes widened as he had an idea. "If it's daunting to visit them, why not go with someone else?"
Minato tilted his head with a baffled expression. "You want me to invite someone to visit my parents' grave with me?"
Andre let out an exasperated sigh. "No! Don't word it like that! Let me finish! You said they died during a big event, right? Some of your friends also lost family members at that time, correct? Why not go to pay respects to all of your families together?"
Minato glanced off to the side with a thoughtful expression. "… Huh… So, like, the solidarity between all of us to make the visit less painful?"
"Precisely!"
Minato nodded slowly. "Okay… I see where you're coming from. Alright, I'll give a try… maybe. We'll see. Possibly."
"I love the confidence, Minato-dono." Snickered Andre.
"Shut up…" Minato half heartedly scolded him with a smirk on his face.
"Alright, well then, what about you? How are things going for you in Japan?" Andre took the hint and changed the subject.
Minato shrugged. "They're going, I guess. Not too much has happened since you left… Uhh… Kaz's knee is recovering well… Kenji's finally moved on from that obsession he had with Kanou-sensei… Fuuka's been having me test her attempts of cooking…"
"Oh, that sounds fun! How is her progress?" Asked Andre.
Minato awkwardly grimaced, quickly glancing over to his dorm room door before speaking in a hushed tone. "I don't think my stomach can take much more…"
This time, Andre was the one who was confused. "Has she been making you eat that much food?"
"It's not the quantity I can't handle…"
"…? I'm sorry, I don't understand…?"
Minato leaned closer to the microphone and spoke with a whisper. "To put it bluntly: her cooking could count as a biological weapon."
"Is it really that bad? Surely, you're being dramatic…"
"The first meal she had me try made me pass out…"
"Oh…! Oh my…"
"Exactly." Minato sighed and looked down at his desk. "I don't mean to be rude… I really admire how she wants to improve and keeps trying despite the failures, it's just… the failures really pack a punch…"
"I get it… It is admirable, but I suppose your stomach doesn't agree."
"-ou c— —y tha- a—in."
Andre frowned as the sound stuttered. "I'm sorry, what was that? The sound cut out…"
"I sai-, yo- —n s— th-t ag—-"
Andre checked his connection. Not the best but not the worst either. He shook his head. "Sorry, I still couldn't hear you…"
Minato rolled his eyes and grabbed ahold of his mouse. "G-ddam—t… Gi— -e a sec—d. Do-s th— —x it? Ca- you —ar me —w?"
Andre grimaced as the sound grew more garbled. It didn't help that now the picture was growing more and more pixelated as well. "No, and now I can't really see you either…"
"Shit."
"I heard that."
"Of co—s- -ou di-" Minato huffed. Andre could hear the compressed sounds of Minato clicking his mouse through his laptop speaker as he tried his best to fix the issue. He vaguely heard Minato sigh to himself.
"Can— se- —ythi—" After that he heard a few sounds he could barely make out, and saw some vague movements through the squares on his screen. Whatever happened, Minato seemed satisfied. "Tha— be—er… No- —t's get a cl—er —ok."
Andre patiently waited as Minato troubleshooted on his end. After a few minutes, Minato sent a text message in the chat app to make sure Andre saw it.
[Gonna have to reset my end real quick. Is that okay with you?]
[Of course, do what you need to.]
With Andre's permission, Minato reset his side of the conversation. The room went silent as Andre's screen went black with just a loading icon in the middle. After a minute or so, Minato reappeared. He wasn't exactly high quality but he was actually visible now so that was a definite improvement.
"Can you hear me now?"
Andre smiled in relief. "Crystal clear, Minato-dono."
"Oh thank god… That was such a pain…"
"Oh!" Andre gasped as a certain detail caught his attention.
Minato flinched, unsure what had gotten Andre so excited. "What?"
Andre pointed towards Minato's forehead. His usual loose hair that usually covered his eye was now pinned to the side by an adorable shiba inu hair clip.
"Your hair! That clip!"
"Oh, that. I couldn't really see what I was doing through my hair so I pinned it back…" Minato replied, downplaying it as he found Andre's adoration a little embarrassing.
"Kawaii!"
Minato turned red. "Yukari got it for me… Said seeing me blowing my hair out of my face while studying was driving her mad."
"Takeba-dono clearly has excellent taste!"
"I mean, she probably bought this one in particular because of Koromaru… Kinda childish, right?"
Andre giggled knowingly. "You say it's childish and yet you're still wearing it."
Minato's blush grew deep as he pouted and averted his gaze. "Shut up…"
"Kawaii!"
"… 'm not…"
Andre rested his chin in his hands and giggly cheekily, greatly enjoying the sight of a flustered Minato unable to hide behind his hair.
"Gomen - Sorry, I'll stop teasing now."
"Good. If you didn't stop, I was gonna grab a red bean bun from the fridge and eat it in front of you." Minato huffed, clearly teasing Andre back a little bit while he had the chance.
Andre gasped dramatically and placed his hand on his chest in offense. "Now, that's just cruel, Minato-dono!"
Minato snickered. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding… But do you really miss them that badly? Surely French food's pretty good too, right?"
"True, we have some delicious food here but… I don't think French cuisine and Japanese cuisine are very comparable; They're very different from each other." Andre muttered, tilting his head to the side as he struggled to think of a way to describe what he meant.
Minato nodded slightly. "Yeah… Yeah, I suppose that was a stupid question. I mean, you'd never really see something like e-"
"What is with the internet?!"
Andre's eyes widened at the sound of another voice. Who was that? He was about to look out his window to see if someone was out there but stopped upon seeing Minato look over at his door.
"Was that someone on your end?!"
Minato awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah… That was Junpei…"
"So loud! I could hear him loud and clear!"
"Yeah, that's pretty typ-"
"Seriously?! It's so laggy! What is going on?!"
"He has a point, I can barely get anything done."
Minato grimaced slightly as Yukari's voice joined Junpei's. He could hear a few other muffled voices through the door as well. He shot an apologetic glance towards Andre.
"Sorry… I think I might have to go… This call is using up most of our internet and no one else can do anything…"
Andre pouted in disappointment. "Already?! It feels like we were barely able to chat…"
"I know… I'm sorry… We'll have to try and schedule something like this again, maybe while everyone else is out."
"Okay… and I'll try to email you more often!"
Minato smiled serenely, touched by Andre's eagerness to speak more despite their circumstances.
"Sounds like a plan. Well then, I'll talk to you some other time. Take care, Andre…" Minato hesitated, turning pink as he quietly added. "I love you."
Andre's eyes shot wide open at that sentence. Warmth immediately radiated from his cheeks as he was overcome with happiness. This was the first time Minato had said it first! He was usually too shy!
The blond grinned with glowing cheeks. "I love you too, Minato-dono. Aishitemasu! I'll talk to you again soon! Bye!"
The last image he saw before hanging up was a bright red Minato shyly waving goodbye. With a melancholic sigh, Andre lowered his hand and leaned back into his desk chair. He couldn't help but giggle to himself while gently spinning his chair from side to side. He really said it first! He said 'I love you' first!
"Andre! I've baked some cupcakes! Come down here and do a taste test for me, would you?" The sound of his uncle's voice from downstairs pulled Andre out of his lovestruck stupor.
"Coming!"