Work Text:
maki probably doesn't fit the bill for what a typical kindergarten teacher looks like — he's a typically masculine guy, he likes to work out so he's pretty muscular too, and his closet consists of only black, grey, and maybe a couple white tank tops.
but, despite his outward appearance, he loves his job. he loves working with kids, and he fucks with arts and crafts hard. really, maki thinks finger painting was his true calling in life.
so when he saw a job opening for a visual arts teacher at his local kindergarten, he jumped at the opportunity. having a whole room dedicated to his own arts and crafts, and teaching children what he loves — it's the dream!
maki's settled in pretty well too, if he does say so himself. the kids love him, parents too! he's managed to make friendly banter with most of the other teachers when they cross paths, but there's always been one that has avoided him somehow:
shigeta harua-san, or, as affectionately known by the kids, harua-chan.
their classrooms face each other across the hall. when maki's mindlessly cleaning up after a class, his eyes naturally wonder through the window and into harua-chan's classroom.
harua was born to be a teacher — his voice is naturally cute and squeaky, always adorned in cute, colourful outfits, and its as if he speaks with an unconscious cuteness filter. even his powerpoint slides are pink and sparkly, with extravagant transitions and gifs. the kids love it! hell, maki does too! it's like if pinkie pie from my little pony came to life and vomited joy and happiness into a classroom, or if one of those fruit baby sensory videos was a person. there's something truly addicting about him, and maki couldn't get enough.
maybe maki was a little too obsessed. he caught himself staring at harua more often than not, unconsciously remembering his little tunes or songs he would sing for the kids, humming along from across the hall.
he even caught himself sketching out different outfits he would see harua wear day-to-day; his favourite was a matching pink tracksuit set, decorated with different yellow, fluffy stars, paired with his platform pink crocs. he even had cute jibbits. jibbits!!
maki had to do something. he was never one to be shy around people, especially not a coworker. they were the only two teachers similar in age, he had to have somewhat of a chance.
but he could never catch him. harua was always so quick to leave after the final bell, and was somehow never in the break room at the same time as maki. every time maki tried to start conversation, it was as if harua was ignoring him, leaving his mouth agape and hand in the air mid-wave like an idiot.
but maki was nothing if not persistent.
"kei-san~" maki sang as he spun the roller chair towards kei's (mr. koga; kei was his unofficial nickname, coined by yours truly. duh) desk.
"what now, maki? i told you already you can't use my classroom's spare tissue boxes! i need them!" kei groaned, placing his salad down on his keyboard. kei was one of the older teachers at the school, teaching english; for being at a literal kindergarten level, he took that shit very seriously.
"what? no— i finished that unit ages ago how are you still— anyways! no! harua-san… do you…"
kei peered over his glasses at maki, his eyebrows furrowing as his face crumpled in distaste.
"are you trying to start an office romance right now? seriously? right in front of my salad?"
"wha— dude, you have to stop jumping to conclusions. that's crazy. i just wanted to know more about him as a coworker. a friend, even. perhaps…"
maki flinched as kei erupted with laughter,
"that's so funny. we aren't even friends."
"kei-san! i'm being serious right now!" maki's voice wavered pathetically as he dramatically draped himself across kei's desk. kei made a noise of disgust, attempting to poke maki's arm out of the way of his paperwork with the end of his pen.
"every time i try talk to him it's like he ghosts me irl."
"you're being dramatic. what does that even mean?"
"in real life. he avoids me. like, won't respond if i say hi— jeez kei-san, how do you not know what ghosting is? do you even have a smart phone?"
"no. no i don't. but are you sure? have you tried catching him on his lunch break? he always hangs out here for a bit to eat his food, isn't he back there right now?"
maki went to speak before stopping himself. he awkwardly walked his chair backwards, leaning over the back of it to peer around the corner of the wall. and there he was, harua, sitting with his knees to his chest on his desk chair, eating while he tapped away at something on his ipad.
maki snapped his head back to kei, who simply shrugged, gesturing for him to go over to harua. when maki tried to protest, kei waved him away with his spare hand before resuming his half-eaten salad.
with a huff, maki abandoned the rolly chair and began walking towards harua. once he was looming over his desk, maki rolled his shoulders back, straightening his posture before awkwardly clearing his throat.
harua lifted his gaze upwards before he pulled one airpod out of his ear.
"can i help you?" harua asked, tone slightly irritated.
"uh, yeah. kinda. well, i—"
harua cut him off, "does this have to be a now thing? i have like, five minutes left on this episode."
"oh— yeah, sure. no. that's fine. it can wait."
harua puffed slightly, shooting maki an odd look before pressing play on his ipad.
maki rocked back and forth on heels awkwardly. all he could do was watch harua, but that's when he started seeing different things he could never notice from far away; harua's ears were lined with all sorts of piercings and silver hoops, everything at his desk was black and devoid of any sort of colour, and maki swears he could see the beginning of a tattoo on his collarbone peaking out from underneath his fluffy, pink hoodie. harua chewed on his food loudly as he ate, chuckling to himself at whatever he was watching. that chuckle seemed so much lower than the voice maki knew.
when harua's show was over, he looked up to see maki still waiting over him and groaned to himself.
"okay. what is it?"
"i just haven't been able to catch you to introduce myself. i'm riki mauss, but it's easier to just call me maki. i only started recently, really…" maki trailed off. you could seriously cut the awkwardness between them with a knife.
"oh. i didn't even notice. nice to meet you, i guess, dude."
dude?
harua held out his hand for maki to shake. maki hesitated, but eventually gave in. harua shook his hand once before immediately going back to his ipad.
maki lingered for a moment, slightly unsure what to do with himself. he quickly spun on his heel before making a beeline back to kei's desk, where jo was now leaning against it, playing with a stress ball idly in his left hand.
"hey mr. mauss! what's wrong? you look like you've seen a ghost," jo smiled gently, while kei blatantly laughed at maki's expression. clearly his face wasn't hiding anything.
"hey jo. i told you, just maki's fine. seriously. but kei-san over here—" maki pointed his finger accusingly at kei, who held up his hands in a surrender motion, "just sent me into the lion's den with no warning!"
"rookie move to assume he was as cute as he looks, maki-san~" kei sang teasingly, "he's like one of those big plant things that's secretly evil."
"a venus fly trap, yudai-san," jo added quietly.
"yes! a venus fly trap! harua could seriously bite your head off if you get too close," kei continued, laughing as maki's face fell.
"you didn't say that! i thought he was like, a big human teddy bear!" maki sputtered, waving his arms around dramatically and whisper-yelling as to avoid harua hearing. not that he could hear anything past those noise-cancelling airpods, anyways.
that earned a laugh from both kei and jo.
"sorry, maki-san. harua-san might be as soft as a prickly cactus. but, he can be quite sweet once he opens up to you!" jo chimmed in, and maki just groaned, running his hands down his face.
"but— he's so…"
"cute?"
"pink?"
"tiny?"
"fluffy?"
"yes! all of those things!"
"poor maki-san~ his little heart is broken~" kei cooed, resulting in a light slap from jo.
"maybe you'll just have to try harder, maki-san!" jo was always so positive it was actually sickly. maki used to be convinced he was some sort of robot-human, until they added each other on fortnite and he learnt jo gets ragebaited really easily.
wait— that's it! maki just had to treat it like it was a video game; you can't just go straight for the final boss, you have to learn its weaknesses first! he had to earn harua's attention.
maki started to make an effort to always say hi to harua in the hallway, or wave to him in the break room. he began holding the door open for him, or dropping off an extra black coffee in the morning. harua had even started responding! he even smiled at maki once. that was crazy! he was actually making progress! it made maki feel like that one symphony meme, like he was dolphin bouncing in the waves with a dramatic sunset and rainbow in the background. maki was a simp, frankly.
maki started observing harua more, too. of course, he was still the cheerful, ray of sunshine teacher he had always been during class. it was clear he had a lot of love for his job and kids, despite whatever hannah montana thing he had going on.
but he started making mental notes of what the real harua liked outside of class; he always ate something sweet alongside his lunch, never without an accompanying reality show or k-drama to watch, and he always listened to older japanese rock songs while he set up his classroom in the morning.
one night, harua lingered after class a little longer, so, naturally, so did maki. he pretended to mark assignments at his desk (there are no assignments. this is a kindergarten art class.) before slinking out to subtly follow harua as he left.
maki didn't even know what the purpose of following him was, really. maybe he was in a little too deep, but he was way too committed to stop now.
he felt a little creepy, so he lingered around the entrance idly when harua reached the parking lot.
he watched as harua seemingly lights a cigarette as he strolls leisurely towards one of the darker corners of the lot before a group of three dark figures start to walk towards him. seemingly appearing from the shadows, they were all dressed in black monochrome, with their hands in their pockets. maki can feel his heartbeat spike. harua doesn't even notice them creeping up behind him! maki has to do something!
"harua-san!" maki yelled as he started to run towards him. harua visibly startles before spinning around at the sound of maki's voice, just to come face-to-face with the three figures.
no! it's too late! harua! he— he's… hugging them?
harua hopped on the spot and engulfed the three figures in a giant group hug, his half-smoked cigarette fluttering out of his hand and onto the concrete floor.
maki is puffing by the time he reaches harua, slowing to a jog before stopping an awkward distance away from the group. harua notices him instantly.
"maki-san? what's up?" when harua questions him, all three of the figures turn around; they're all quite taller than harua, one with pink hair, one with glasses and his hood up, and the other with a backwards cap, audibly chewing on gum.
"oh— i—" maki stuttered. he messed up, clearly. how does one get out of this situation?
"sorry, that was rude. these are my friends: nico, fuma, and yuma. we're all about to head out drinking. did you need a ride home, or something?" the three guys wave at maki, and he suddenly feels very small with four sets of eyes on him.
"uh… yeah… a ride home… but, you're busy, so it's fine! i—"
"why don't you join us, man?" the man with glasses interrupts. his big, round eyes and sincere smile makes maki hesitate slightly before wanting to instantly reject them. he cannot possibly hang out with harua outside of work, let alone with his friends AND drinking. it's a recipe for disaster, and there is no way in hell harua would ever agree to that proposal either.
but then harua grabs hold of maki's bicep, making him flinch.
"come on, maki-san. join us at least for one round. don't be a pussy," harua tuts and pulls maki towards the car parked nearby before pushing him in the backseat next to the glasses guy and squeezing in beside him. maki was suddenly hyper aware of all the different points of contact their bodies are sharing right now (which is a lot, since maki isn't really a small guy, and is, like, double the size of someone who should realistically be in the middle seat).
"i'm fuma, by the way," the glasses guy grabs onto maki's shoulder to get his attention, flashing him that same bunny-toothed smile.
"that one's yuma," the backwards cap guy shoots maki a two finger salute from the passenger seat, "and the one driving is nico. we all know harua from college. did you guys meet at work?"
"yeah, i only started there recently. i'm an art teacher actually—"
"fuma-san, dude!" harua cuts maki off abruptly, "you should see some of the shit he makes, it's so fucking cool!"
okay, so maybe he has a foul mouth too. add that to the list.
maki startles at the sudden compliment, glancing over at harua, who shoots him a questioning glare before punching his thigh lightly.
is this… flirting?
no. maki has to be delusional.
the three of them fell into small talk for the rest of the ride, while the two in the front seats bobbed their heads along to whatever rap song nico was blasting out of his aux. maki wasn't oblivious to how harua was shooting him looks out of the corner of his eye, or how their legs kept touching, or how harua's hand kept lingering against his thigh.
after yuma and harua bicker over the best place to take maki for his 'first time' (implying more times? what had maki committed himself to?), they settle on a small izakaya tucked away in an alleyway. it was a pretty hidden place that they clearly frequented often judging by the bartender's reaction when they enter.
the bell above the door rings as nico holds it open to let the rest of the group pass him. the sound immediately captures the bartender's attention whose large, round eyes sparkle at the sight of the pink-haired guy and his friends.
"nicol! rua! hey guys! long time no see!" the bartender chirped, flashing the guys a wide smile, his eyes mooning against his full cheeks.
rua? oh god. how many dudes was maki competing with here?
"hey juju," nico dapped 'juju' up over the bar, before claiming the stool closest to him. yuma soon slinked over, draping himself over nico's shoulders.
"nicholas was complaining that it had been soooo long since we had come to visit you, euijoo hyung. so he forced us here, all to see his juju~" yuma cooed, resulting in a harsh slap from nico. maki swears yuma basically hissed in retaliation.
fuma was already preoccupied, claiming a booth for the group and reading over the menu, clearly a little eager to start eating.
suddenly, harua linked his arm around maki's, guiding him closer to the bar. maki swears he could feel his skin tingling at the contact.
"euijoo-san, this is my friend maki. we know each other from work, he's the art teacher at the kindergarten!" harua basically presented maki to the bartender, grinning with his front teeth, and patting maki's bicep encouragingly.
friend? oh my god. maki might explode at any moment.
"hey man! nice to meet you, i'm euijoo. any friend of rua's is a friend of mine," euijoo smiled at maki, and his genuine kindness seemingly radiated off him like sun rays.
in a blur, the first round of yakitori and beers were ordered, as the group slid into the booth closest to the bar. the guys chatted about work, catching up on life as maki listened, nodded, and smiled along, with euijoo joining in in-between customers. by the second round, the awkwardness had faded, and maki felt himself laughing along at inside jokes he probably had no business finding funny. by the third beer, maki's vision was starting to blur at the edges, and everything felt very fuzzy.
maybe he should've considered his poor alcohol tolerance before agreeing to go drinking with his coworker/friend/work-crush/actual love of his life. he was already an incredibly light-weight at the best of times, but trying to keep up with harua and his friends' exorbitant pace was proving an almost impossible task.
when harua, yuma and nico excused themselves from the table to share a smoke outside, maki took it as a window of opportunity to down two whole glasses of water before pathetically hobbling to the bathroom.
he swayed down the tight hallway, shoulders colliding with opposite walls as he tripped over his own feet repeatedly. three beers deep and maki was already struggling to walk in a straight line. he had to get a hold of himself. he refused to embarrass himself in front of harua and his cool, edgy, handsome friends.
maki squished into the furthest stall from the door and curled himself into a ball against the toilet. he just kept telling himself he needed to breathe. he refused to throw up. he was a man, for fucks sake! three beers! three!!!
before they left, nico and yuma were already discussing which bar would be their 'next stop', and maki had to stop himself from gagging at the thought. it was only 10pm on a friday night — maki knew what he was committed to at this point, and he refused to back down.
his mission was to impress harua. he was finally making progress. he just had to calm himself down and man-up!
the creak of the bathroom door made maki jump slightly, his heart starting to race.
no… no, no, no…
"maki?" harua's tone was gentle as it bounced off the tiled walls.
this was maki's worst nightmare come true. maybe if he stayed still and quiet harua would give up and leave. that thought was quickly crushed after maki felt his foot be kicked under the door by those stupid pink crocs.
"i can literally see you, idiot."
that was more like the harua maki knew.
"go away," maki croaked.
"i seriously do not care if you're throwing your guts up. you've been basically shrek green for the last hour, now unlock the door and let me in."
with a groan, maki reached up to undo the latch. who was he to not listen to harua's demands?
the door swung open instantly, revealing a visibly displeased harua, crossing his arms across his chest and popping his hip. he tapped his foot against maki's. maki suddenly felt much smaller compared to him, like he was looking up at a giant. why was it kind of turning him on?
"i told the others to go ahead. i lied and said you texted me about your sister going into labour, so you better be a convincing actor when we get to the next bar."
harua crouched down to meet maki's eye level, and maki looked at him with a puppy-like look on his face, lips pouted as they became to quiver.
"thank you, harua-san," he whispered. he felt pathetic, to be seen by harua like this. especially on their first time ever hanging out. this was the most they had even held eye contact, and he was sitting on the sticky floor of an izakaya bathroom with his elbow resting against a toilet bowl.
harua rolled his eyes, "geez, drop the formalities. just call me harua."
absentmindedly, harua rested his hand on maki's knee. drunk maki felt like he was a firework that had been set alight, like his brain was exploding in his head — actually, maybe in his throat? oh. wait…
"i— 'm gonna—" maki couldn't even finish his sentence before he leaned over the toilet bowl and spilled his guts. harua made a noise of disgust, face scowling, yet he still rubbed maki's back in circle motions, whispering encouragements as he tried not to gag.
after an embarrassingly long time separated from the group, maki and harua finally caught up to them at the next bar. euijoo's shift had seemingly ended as he was the first to wave them over across the dancefloor. harua had offered maki his hand to help him off the bathroom floor, before cleaning him up and making him look presentable again. he hadn't let go of maki's hand since. he led maki through the crowd of people, sparing him occasional glances over his shoulder.
really, maki should feel mortified. he was sure it would catch up to him in the morning, but, for now, the fuzziness of the alcohol was making his heart flutter. he had never realised harua was so cool; he was effortlessly a social butterfly, always making his friends laugh. he was so cute when he smiled, adorned in his usual colourful attire even when surrounded by his more alternative friends, but he was also surprisingly masculine, taking the lead and making maki feel so protected.
it was so different to the harua maki thought he knew. yet, somehow, maki liked this harua even more. he swears every time he and harua make eye contact he can hear that classic k-drama sha la la la la la~ echoing in his mind. god, maki really was such a simp.
harua slipped into the booth besides yuma, dragging maki in next to him.
"finally decided to join us?" yuma teased, wriggling his eyebrows. euijoo kicked his shin under the table, resulting in a yelp from the other.
"shush. how's your sister maki?" euijoo directed his attention back to maki, smiling at him across the table.
oh. yeah. maki's sister… who was in labour…
"she's doing good! (maki doesn't have a sister.) the baby is happy and healthy! (there is no baby.) everything's fine, nothing to worry about!" maki tried to pull the most convincing smile he could, bearing his teeth and forcing his dimples to pop as much as possible.
"she had the baby already?" nico cut in with a confused look on his face.
"yeah… really quick labour… it was quite, uh, sudden… on the side of the road actually! crazy…" maki scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. nico and yuma shared a glance.
"that's crazy maki!" euijoo piped up, beaming as usual, and maki felt himself let out the breath he was holding.
"super crazy," harua hit maki's thigh under the table as he spoke, grabbing the flesh there, "anything crazy happen at work lately, euijoo-san?"
of course, harua was great at deflecting, as usual. maki had learnt that much from work. really, he should be somewhat concerned at how easily harua lies through his teeth, but he was too preoccupied having his thigh squeezed by his dream man right now to think logically.
harua's question sets euijoo off like a match as he entertains the table with stories about different drunken mishaps his customers had caused that week, waving his arms animatedly as he spoke, successfully distracting everyone.
maki takes this chance to look to his side at harua, studying his features in the glow of the bar lights. his eyes were so round and sparkly, glazed-over slightly under the influence of the beers and whatever cocktail he had in his hand that yuma had passed him when they arrived. his fluffy, butter-yellow sweater had shifted and now hung loosely off his shoulder, exposing a delicate, fine-line flower tattoo that trailed across his shoulder blade and reached onto his collarbone. maki fantasied about running fingers along the different lines and petals.
harua turned his head to meet maki's gaze. their eyes caught, and it felt like the world around them muted. he smiled sweetly at maki before intertwining their fingers and placing their joined hands in his lap, mindlessly rubbing circles in maki's palm. maki watched as he easily slipped back into the group's conversation, laughing along with whatever joke fuma had made.
god, maki was doomed.
he doesn't even really remember getting home. a few more drinks were had, and the group had stumbled in and out of basically every izakaya in the neighbourhood. maki doesn't think he can eat anymore edamame for, like, a month.
he faintly remembers harua hailing him a cab after they left the last bar, kissing his cheek, shutting the door, and waving him off as the car pulled away. maki was kind of half-convinced last night was a figment of his imagination. a dream too good to be true.
he used to be fully convinced harua hated him, and now he's kicking his feet and giggling at the thought of how harua held his hand. he felt like a teenage girl. it was amazing. he was totally going to make a scrapbook spread about this night.
1:32AM : big m 🐶
takiiiiiii
you won gues wat happen 2night
3:26AM : big m 🐶
broo
5:02AM : big m 🐶
taki.
answer me.
7:11AM : big m 🐶
taki i'm going to kill myself if you don't respond to me
8:54AM : big m 🐶
ok. that's it. i'm killing myself
9:31AM : takichan 🐥
what the actual fuck
9:32AM : big m 🐶
TAKIIIIIII
FINALLY
OH MY GOD
maki immediately pressed the call button, his phone ringing twice before stopping.
"what is your fucking problem," taki's voice was still raspy from sleep.
"good morning to you too, sunshine~ i love hearing your sexy morning voice."
"yuck. you're actually messed up in the head."
"you love it~"
"can you shut up and just spit out whatever it is you want to tell me this badly."
"you're always so mean to me."
"maki i'm going to hang u—"
"HARUA KISSED ME ON THE CHEEK LAST NIGHT."
"p— oh."
there was a pause before maki's speaker was filled with the most obnoxious laugh he had ever heard.
"fuck. dude, you are actually such a simp. you sound like you're thirteen," taki had to physically stop himself from wheeze-laughing in maki's virtual face. maki groaned.
"bro. i'm being for real right now. he introduced me to all his friends and we went out drinking last night. we even held hands, like, a lot."
"drinking? you never drink."
"well. yeah, but—"
"did you throw up?"
"wha— what? no! haha no… that would be soo embarrassing…"
"oh my god! you threw up in front of him?!"
"i didn't say that!"
"oh my god you totally did!" taki snickered, "and did he kiss you on the cheek before or after that?"
"… after…"
"WOW! fuck, this is so fucking funny. he must be as down bad as you are."
"you think so? i genuinely can't tell if i was just drunk or if he's, like, actually into me."
"was he drunk?"
"i— um, actually. i don't know."
"okay. well, just text him. if he hates you he'll just ghost you."
"i don't have his number."
"YOU DON'T? bro. email him or some shit. message him on microsoft teams, or whatever teachers do."
"you suck. bye."
"wait, maki—"
maki hung up the phone, changed taki's contact name to dickhead 👎 before slamming it face down onto his mattress. he sat up, running his hand through his hair nervously and groaned to himself. monday was going to be so awkward.
maki rocked up to school at a whopping 6:20AM. he had never even been in the school grounds this early, let alone having his classroom set up and ready for his first lesson. he thought maybe if he was already settled and "busy" then harua would simply leave him alone and they would never ever have to address friday night ever again.
kei walked past maki's classroom around 7 with his brown leather messenger bag slung lazily over his shoulder and cup of steaming coffee in hand in his 'to tea or not to tea?' (a shakespeare reference in a kindergarten, mind you) mug. he glanced in through the window, smiling at maki unconsciously before coming to an abrupt stop, reversing and sticking his head through the open door.
"what is wrong with you? did you die and get replaced by a clone?"
"morning, kei-san," maki's voice was still groggy and his words slurred slightly, "i just thought i would maybe come in a little early today. ya know, be a good teacher, or whatever."
kei's eyebrows furrowed questioningly, "what are you avoiding? or who?"
"no one! i'm avoiding no one," maki defended, voice peaking slightly.
"ah ha! it is a person!" kei pointed his finger accusingly at maki before setting his mug down and walking straight up to him. he stood basically on maki's toes — he was really, really tall up close. he leaned his face close to maki's, narrowing his eyes, studying his face.
"oh my god, is it harua-chan?" he gasped, covering his mouth abashedly, stepping back to widen the gap between them. maki felt like he could breathe again.
"seriously, am i this much of an open book?"
"your expressions leave much to the imagination, maki."
maki rolled his eyes and sat down at his desk, slumping in his chair. kei pulled up one of the kid's chairs to sit alongside, knees basically touching his chin as he struggled to fit his large frame into such a small, plastic chair.
"whatever it is you're trying to avoid, you can't run away from it forever. like i always tell the kids: no snatching, no touching, and always talk it out like big kids." kei tapped maki's desk encouragingly, flinching when his fingers came in contact with wet… paint? he grimaced, wiping them on the wood of the desk as his body shivered at the gross sensation.
"we already broke one rule, kei-san! we touched!!" maki's head fell into his hands dramatically. kei made a noise of disgust.
"i'm ignoring whatever that means. maki, you are not five. you are twenty. talk to him like a big boy or you'll regret it."
kei stood up, groaning in pain as he stretched out his crumpled legs. he gave maki two harsh slaps on the back before collecting his mug and sashaying out of the classroom. maki could hear him call out to jo in the hallway before disappearing.
unfortunately, kei was right. maki was a big boy — big feelings and all. he had to face the situation head on, just like a playground squabble. he just had to talk to haru—
"maki?"
maki's head snapped up at the sound, his eyes finding harua standing anxiously in his doorway. he had never seen harua so nervous, who stood there tapping his foot like a rabbit as he picked at the hem of his baby blue hoodie. the hoodie was a part of a matching sweat set, bedazzled with silver gems and adorned with a motif of an angel wing on the front. the blue colour made harua's spiky, blonde hair pop against his somewhat tanned skin.
"oh, harua! haha, hey…" maki awkwardly jumped to his feet, leaning against his desk in an attempt to appear nonchalant, despite the way his face being contorted in a way that screamed 'I'M SO UNCOMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW!'.
"i was just wondering if we could talk about the other night," harua's voice was like honey in maki's ears.
"yeah, yeah, of course! take a seat anywhere, sorry about the mess."
harua nodded politely before crossing the room to perch himself on maki's desk, danging his legs over the side of it. sure, maki said take a seat anywhere, but he wasn't expecting harua to sit literally centimetres away from him. typical harua fashion, really. what else should maki have expected.
"maki…" harua started, looking up at maki with those stupid, big doe eyes, "i'm going to ask you something, and do not lie to me." his tone was stern, like he was using his teacher voice on maki. why did that turn him on? god, he was a freak.
maki shuffled awkwardly on the spot, "i would never lie to you, harua."
"do you like me?"
"uh— uh, yeah. i like you. i'm glad we're friends now," maki was hesitant, trying his best to make his smile less awkward and forced.
"not like that, you idiot. do you like me?"
"oh."
maki tried to study the look on harua's face, but he was like a doll without an expression. his face was blank, with little emotion in his eyes. he was serious.
oh.
"yeah… i do."
suddenly, harua's face lit up.
"fuck, thank god!" harua slapped maki's arm as he let out an excruciatingly long laugh, leaving maki frozen in shock, "i was so fucking nervous, especially after you didn't text me the next day. dick move, by the way. but i forgive you. i guess."
"wha— wait what? text you? i don't have your number, how could i text you?!" maki sputtered, grabbing harua's foot to stop him from kicking maki in the shin repeatedly.
"are you stupid? i put it in your phone before i sent you home, idiot. did you even look?"
maki grabbed his phone off the desk and opened the messages app, scrolling until he saw a new name:
ruru 🐰
get home safe maki~
"ruru? i got promoted to ruru? and i didn't even know?!"
harua laughed at maki before hopping off his desk. he stood on his tippy toes to reach maki's height, supporting himself with one hand on maki's shoulder, before pressing a kiss to his cheek and turning on his heel to leave as quickly as he arrived.
"find me at lunch!" he called back over his shoulder, winking at maki before crossing the hallway into his own classroom.
oh, my god.
maki had to physically stop himself from celebrating, as harua was literally still directly in his line of sight. instead, he had the most idiotic smile plastered across his face the entire rest of the morning.
7:34AM : big m 🐶
i won
fuck you
10:02AM dickhead 👎
what?
the fuck?
the fuck did i do
maki genuinely skipped to harua's classroom the minute lunch started. he waved to the kids as they left with their lunchboxes in hand, high-fiving some of them on the way out. harua rolled his eyes as maki pretended to shoot finger guns at a kid. once the last of them had left, it was just harua and maki inside the classroom.
maki was still leaning out the door waving when harua cleared his throat, instantly gaining his attention like a dog. maki grinned from ear to ear.
"door, maki."
"oh— yeah. sorry."
maki quickly shut the door behind him before crossing the room to meet harua near his whiteboard. harua was still rubbing off the last remainders of whatever lesson he had been teaching.
"if we're going to do this, i have rules," harua began, leaning back to look maki in the eyes. maki was too excited it was like his imaginary tail was wagging, eagerly nodding his head.
"one: no flirting in front of the kids." maki nodded more.
"two, you're mine and mine only. you can't see anyone else." maki nodded more.
"three: no kissing at work." maki's nodding slowed to a stop.
"seriously? you literally just kissed me on the cheek this morning!" maki whined in protest.
"that was different. this is real dating, now."
"dating, huh?" maki smirked, raising his eyebrows at harua, earning a groan.
"you are so fucking annoying. don't make me regret it," harua slapped at maki's chest, making him wince in pain, before kissing his cheek again and giggling.
maki had finally made it. he's not quite sure how he got here, but god was he happy.
sure, maybe harua was a bit rude. maybe he was a little standoff-ish, with horribly vulgar language and a unhealthy smoking habit. but he was maki's. and maki loved him just the way he was, matching pink tracksuits and all.