Chapter Text
Mikoto types away on his phone.
He’s never been one to spend too much time on the internet. The most he uses it for is to post anything fashion related. Otherwise, it’s always been something on the back-burner. But for a couple months now, he had been messaging back and forth with somebody he had met online. “Pazuzu_soccer_0419”, or Pazu as he likes to call him, was a boy around his age.
The full memory is blurred in Mikoto’s mind, but he will never forget how their first interaction was a silly internet dispute. Pazu seemed to engage in those often. Mikoto had been one of the lucky people to receive a reply from him.
He calls himself lucky because if Pazu had not replied to him purely just to stir up a fight, none of their conversations in the past few months would have even existed. And quite frankly, Mikoto has been enjoying talking to him.
Mikoto wishes Pazu would be a little more open, though. But he gets it. It’s the internet, and besides, privacy is important! Mikoto goes by an alias, too (if you can even call “Miko” an alias). Unfortunately, that means their interactions have to be limited to Twitter of all places.
“You’re really liking your phone nowadays, huh? Ooh, texting somebody special?”
Mikoto peers up from his screen, watching Mahiru settle into the seat across from him. “Just an online friend,” he smiles and places the phone face down onto the study table. “Is that for me?”
“Yesss, your favorite!” Mahiru beams, handing over his boba to him. She dusts her skirt before excitedly leaning forward with her own drink in hand. “We should go get some sashimi after my next class ends!!! Ah, I’m so hungry…”
“Mappi, I don’t know if I can.” She tilts her head as she sips her drink, silently questioning why. “I have a group project to do. We agreed to meet up in about an hour to get most of it done.”
“You’re meeting up here?”
“I should probably ask about that.” He rushes to put his cup down to pick up his phone.
“Oh, Mikoto.” Mahiru sighs wearily. Her fake disappointment fades in seconds. “Are they cute?”
“Yes, actually.” He answers easily, going to the newly added contact. It’s labeled Fuuta . Mikoto has seen him around; after all, Fuuta is hard to miss with that orange hair. Despite maybe only talking to him briefly once or twice before this, Mikoto felt he’d be comfortable pairing up with him. That's why he approached Fuuta to be his partner. “The downside is that I don’t even think he likes me in the slightest. He’s always glaring!”
“Ask him out! You’ll never know how it’ll go~” She giggles and unzips her bag to start working on one of her assignments.
Yeah, there’s no way he was going to do that.
As Mikoto was placing his phone back down, he felt a buzz. Did Fuuta already respond that quickly? He checks, and realizes it’s Pazu who answered his message on Twitter.
Mikoto smiles to himself and closes out of the app. He looks up at Mahiru, “If Fuuta doesn’t respond, I’ll go get that sashimi with you.”
“It’s a win-win either way!”
Fuuta did not end up answering.
It’s been well over an hour and honestly? Mikoto is somewhat glad he didn’t answer, because he would’ve missed out on some damn good food. So yeah, a win is a win.
Mikoto and Mahiru are strolling throughout the mall now. He didn’t have anything in particular he was looking for, but shopping was always fun to him, especially if it was with Mahiru.
So far, she’d been dragging him through clothing store after clothing store. He’d stay outside all the dressing rooms and wait for Mahiru to try on the outfit that had caught her eye, and he’d give his opinion. That opinion would be the deal-breaker for her purchasing it or not, because who else is going to know more about fashion than the fashion designer? Luckily, Mahiru is very coordinated with her outfits and Mikoto doesn’t have to end up criticizing anything she picks.
They’re at another store and this time, Mikoto looks around to see if there would be anything he liked. He finds himself examining a brown cardigan near the glass windows at the front. Amidst all the dull colors, he spots something bright.
Orange. In his peripheral vision.
Mikoto’s head snaps up immediately.
Not even a second later, he’s running out of the store with Mahiru calling out his name from behind.
Fuuta glances at the figure coming closer to him and he quickly looks away, putting his hood up and tugging on the strings hard. He starts walking much faster.
“Hey, Fuuta!” Mikoto races up to him and Fuuta stops in his tracks. “Fuuta?”
“I don’t know you.” Fuuta, in an unsuccessful attempt to conceal his identity, pulls his mask farther up his face to the point where it’s partially covering his eyes. “Leave me alone.”
Mikoto blinks. “Listen, I’m okay with doing the project another time. We didn’t have to do it today. I’m just confused why you didn’t message me back.”
Fuuta sighs loudly and gives up, pulling his mask below his chin. “I didn’t get any messages from you.”
“I sent some. Can I have your phone?”
He looks at him like he’s grown three heads. “I’ll just open it up myself . I’m not letting you invade my privacy like that,” Fuuta unlocks his phone away from Mikoto’s sight and goes over to his messages confidently, but as soon as he scans the entire screen, he’s hesitant. “No, nothing.”
What a terrible liar.
“Show me?”
Another loud sigh. He faces his phone towards Mikoto defeatedly. There’s his message at the top. Opened. He probably forgot to delete the messages with how confident he initially was.
“Why didn’t you just answer me?” He tries to ask as gently as possible.
“I… was doing work for, um. Other classes.” Fuuta looks away, one hand adjusting the strap of the bag around his shoulder.
Maybe only calling him a terrible liar is too much of a compliment. This man cannot lie to save his life.
“Right,” Mikoto clears his throat. Let’s try again. “What’s the real reason?”
“Can’t you just take my answer and go away?” Fuuta glares at him, but he knows Mikoto isn’t going to leave him alone if he keeps making excuses. He rolls his eyes and mumbles, “I wanted to go to the arcade.”
“The arcade?”
“Yeah. I like the arcade.”
He tugs on the strings of his hoodie again.
Oh, he’s embarrassed.
When Mikoto just continues to stare at him, Fuuta shifts, pulling out his phone to act as a barrier between the two. He purposely holds the screen close to his face to hide from Mikoto and starts typing away on it.
“There, you got your answer. I’m going now.”
Fuuta is about to walk away when Mahiru comes rushing towards them. She ends up brushing past Fuuta.
“Ah, Mikoto, there you are!” She places her hands on either side of Mikoto’s arms as if she was giving him a pep talk. “I’m going to be in here for a while, so it’d be best if you go somewhere without me!”
Mikoto already knows what she’s trying to do. Futa seems to know too, and he starts making distance right away with his face shoved in his phone.
“Mappi…”
Mahiru looks at Fuuta, then to Mikoto. “You were right, he is cute~ Now, go!” She gently shoves him in his direction and retreats back into the store she was previously in.
Mikoto doesn’t know what to do with his legs for a moment. He’s not opposed to spending the afternoon with Fuuta, and he should’ve expected this from Mahiru from a mile away. She’s been trying to play Cupid for him for months on end, and now she has the perfect opportunity to do so because Mikoto’s clearly expressed attraction towards Fuuta.
But the thing is, if Fuuta didn’t like him before, he definitely does now. And honestly, he doesn’t even know if he wants to follow him. Fuuta could’ve just told the truth from the beginning! Besides, you can only get so far with a pretty face…
Yet here Mikoto is folding without a second thought.
He catches up.
“Ah- Fuuta, wait! Can I go with you?”
Fuuta takes his hood down and looks over his shoulder. “What are you going to do in an arcade? You don’t seem like the type to even step foot in one.”
“Ouch. That hurt,” Mikoto brings his hand up to his heart in feigned offense. “I play games, too,” (he, in fact, does not), “plus it’d be more fun with somebody anyway, right?”
Fuuta fully turns around to face Mikoto and scans him. The sudden once-over makes Mikoto straighten out his posture. “You actually play games?”
“You could say that.” If Fuuta asked, he would just say he played baseball in high school. Technically playing a game, right?
“Whatever. Just don’t be weird.”
“I can do that.” He smiles. The other returns it with a scowl.
Mikoto trails behind Fuuta because he doesn’t know where this place could be at all. He’s been to this mall multiple times throughout his life, but he’s never once seen or even gone to the arcade.
As they walk, Mikoto pulls out his phone. He can see Fuuta does the same, though that’s not an entirely uncommon sight.
There was a message from Pazu a few minutes ago.
“Here.”
Mikoto looks up. This place was huge. How the hell did he never see this?
They got inside where it was more crowded than Mikoto expected, especially considering it was a weekday.
Fuuta scrambles for something in his pockets. He pulls out his wallet and sifts through it before pulling out an IC card. “I put more money into this recently, so we should be fine. What do you want to do?”
The question caught him off guard. Mikoto was under the impression that he was going to be paying for his own things. “Me? Well, what do you like to do?”
“The retro games. But you should choose.” He doesn’t make eye contact at all during this conversation.
Mikoto looks around the room and the vast array of claw machines is what catches his eye first. “Can we go over there?”
“Why do you need my permission? Just go.”
He’s never really seen an arcade like this. It was kind of overwhelming. Mikoto didn’t even know where to drag the two of them to, so he decided on strolling through the aisles of all the claw machines. All the prizes that could be earned were cute, though he didn’t recognize most of these characters.
Mikoto turns to ask Fuuta if he knew anything and his question was already answered. Fuuta was looking right at one of the plushies. He immediately brings his attention elsewhere, unaware that Mikoto saw.
He looks at what he has to deal with. There’s a singular bear plush laying face up. It’d be nice to win this for Fuuta since it’s the least he can do at the moment.
“Let me try this one,” Mikoto plays it off as him choosing the machine for the hell of it. But no. He’s going to do whatever it takes to get the bear.
Fuuta holds out the card, and Mikoto is forced to ignore the way his hand brushes against his when he grabs it. Focus, Mikoto.
The concept of claw machines are fairly simple but easily infuriating. This was proven on Mikoto’s first try, where he swears it was perfectly aligned— the claw even picked it up— but it fell right away.
“Oh.”
Fuuta crosses his arms, “Yeah. This is why people always call these scams.”
“I’m not giving up just yet!” Mikoto says optimistically, scanning the card on the reader. This time, he hovers around the glass to get the accurate position of the claw. He pushes the button and… no dice.
He hears a snicker from behind him.
“One more time.”
Not this time.
“One more.”
It falls.
“This one, I promise.”
Nope.
“…”
Mikoto stares hopelessly at the bear. It’s right there!!! There’s not even anything around it to block it! Ah, somebody hold him back before he destroys the glass with a bat.
“I thought you said you played games.” Fuuta teases.
“I do!” Again, he does not. He turns around to look at Fuuta, whose expression is much more relaxed than it was before.
“Then why is the prize still behind there?”
“I— because it’s rigged!” Mikoto protests and then sighs in defeat. He really wanted to win that bear. “Let’s just do something else. You choose this time.”
“Follow me.”
Mikoto basically does a walk of shame as he follows Fuuta throughout the arcade. It’s okay, maybe he can get it another day. It can be an excuse to go to the arcade in hopes of seeing Fuuta.
They stop in front of a rhythm game. It looks like a newer, more upgraded machine. Although Mikoto isn’t too well-versed in the subject, he knows for sure this isn’t one of the classics.
“Don't you like the retro ones?”
“I do,” is all he says, and he scans the card to enter them both in. “Do you like these types of games?”
Mikoto shakes his head. “No… I don’t play these ones.”
Fuuta has a smug look on his face.
“Hold on, are you doing this on purpose!?”
“It’s funny seeing you be an idiot.” How straightforward.
Fuuta digs through his bag, pulling two sets of gloves out. He sets the bag down at his feet lightly. For the brash person he presents himself as, Mikoto found it amusing to see how gentle Fuuta is with his actions.
“You’re lucky I carry more than one of these on me.” He extends his hand to give him a pair.
“What do I need these for?” Mikoto takes them and puts them on, confused.
“You’re telling me you’ve never even seen a maimai machine?”
Mikoto had to pretend he understood the words that just came out of Fuuta’s mouth.
Fuuta gives him a blank look as he puts his own gloves on. “You’re hopeless.” He starts messing around with the buttons on the outer circle of his display. Everything he did on his machine was mirrored on Mikoto’s. After skimming through what looks to be songs, he clicks on one and all of a sudden the game is starting.
Mikoto holds his tongue and doesn’t ask how to play. Instead, he chooses to adapt this time. Big mistake. He doesn’t know what to do at all and ends up making a complete fool of himself.
He’d expected Fuuta to make fun of him for it, but when he took a quick glance, the boy seemed to be completely engrossed in the game. By no means was he a professional, shown by the easy slip-ups he made, but Fuuta still manages to persevere. It’s kind of cool. And adorable.
What? Can you blame Mikoto, with the way Fuuta looks so focused on some silly arcade game? Whenever Mikoto sees Fuuta in class, he looks so bored and tired all the time. Of course, he doesn’t fault him for that, but him being this interested in something isn’t a sight he gets to see often.
Mikoto reluctantly guides his attention back to his own screen, trying his best not to just end up staring at Fuuta.
About halfway through the song, Mikoto started to understand how it worked, but he was still pretty bad with his movements. This is exactly why he doesn’t do these.
The song finishes and Fuuta steps back, proudly admiring his score. He then turns to see Mikoto’s score, and holds back a very obvious laugh.
“Hey…” Mikoto pouts.
“You don’t play games at all, do you?” Fuuta waits for an answer and when he doesn’t get one, he leans over to pick up his bag. Mikoto was lucky enough to see a small smile on his face before he leaned down, “I figured.”
Mikoto takes off the gloves he was wearing and gives them back. Fuuta pockets both his and Mikoto’s. “I was that obvious?”
“Painfully.” Fuuta slings the bag over his shoulder, walking off. Mikoto follows close by. “Do you want to do something? ‘Cause I’m going to head over to the area I usually play in.”
Mikoto has the urge to bring up the claw game again, but decides against it. Though… he does have an idea. “You can head off without me.”
“Oh, you’re leaving?” Fuuta stops to look at him.
Mikoto’s throat suddenly closes up. No!! Obviously I’m not leaving, who in their right mind would leave you?
He shakes his head. “I just have to take care of something.”
Fuuta seems indifferent. That face makes Mikoto think he wishes that he actually left. “Okay,” he walks off without saying anything else.
When he’s out of sight, Mikoto rushes over to the claw machine. He looks for his own card and eagerly scans it. He will get it this time. He will! Surely.
The bear is picked up and dropped at its original position once again.
He’s going to punch the glass.
No, he’s better than that.
Mikoto has to remind himself it is just a claw machine. He does not need to be getting this frustrated over it. After taking a deep breath, he rescans the card.
The claw grabs the plush, and it actually gets knocked down far closer to the goal. That’s all Mikoto needs to keep going. He scans the card one more time, and makes sure to properly line the claw with the prize. One more scout around the glass to check its position before he hits the drop button.
…
Mikoto has never felt more accomplished in his life.
He kneels to get the bear from the compartment and just stares in shock at it. He actually did it. He managed to win this!!! Then it dawned on him that maybe it would have been easier if it was just ordered online. But that doesn’t matter now. It’s right in his hands!
With a little more bounce to his step, Mikoto finds the area where Fuuta had gone off to. He’s playing another game that Mikoto doesn’t recognize, sitting and leaning to the side with his head propped up on one hand. Now that’s a familiar sight. That’s what he always sees when he’s in class with him. Mikoto approaches with the bear hidden behind his back.
“Fuuta~”
The sound of his name catches him off guard. Fuuta quickly sits up straight and looks in the voice’s direction, expression hardening once he realizes it’s Mikoto.
“Huh?”
“Look at what I got!”
He excitedly waves the plush in Fuuta’s face.
“You actually got it?”
“Yes!”
“Congratulations.” Fuuta earnestly says, turning back to the game as he realizes that it’s still going on. The sound of aggressive button clicking fills the silence until he adds, “I don’t know why you wanted it so bad, though.”
Mikoto takes a seat on the empty stool next to him, facing Fuuta. “It’s for you.”
The hand Fuuta was using on the joystick suddenly halts to a stop, and Mikoto can see he loses a life because of that. He watches the screen for a moment, before deciding to give up on the run as a whole. Both of his hands are dropped to his lap.
He turns his head, “What do you mean?”
“I want you to have it.” Mikoto holds out the bear for Fuuta.
“Why?”
“Just a nice gesture!”
Fuuta looks at the plush. For some reason, he really doesn’t want to accept it. His voice turns unnaturally quiet, “Keep it. You earned it. Plus, you used your own money on it, right? So I’m not–”
“Fuuta,” Mikoto interrupts, hugging the bear close to his chest. He looks at the carpeted ground before bashfully admitting, “I was only trying to get this because I saw you looking at it. I assumed you wanted it.”
A noise akin to a deflating balloon escapes Fuuta. He fully faces Mikoto in his seat now. “The whole time, you were getting it for me?” Fuuta furrows his eyebrows. “You idiot, what if I didn’t want it?”
“But you do, don’t you?”
Fuuta avoids eye contact completely. Mikoto holds it out again, hoping this time he’ll accept it. He watches Fuuta carefully, and realizes something absolutely monumental.
Oh my God.
Fuuta Kajiyama is blushing. He’s blushing. His head is slightly turned to the side in a poor attempt to hide his embarrassment, but it’s oh so apparent. Mikoto feels himself get dizzy. There’s no way this was happening.
Fuuta, still not looking at Mikoto, reaches for the bear. “Th… thanks.”
"No problem." Mikoto says, star-struck, not even hiding the fact that he's absolutely soaking in this experience. “Fuuta, your face…”
“Shut up.” He finally locks eyes with him. There’s an angry look on his face but the red on his cheeks coupled with him clutching the bear like his life depended on it makes him appear so much less threatening. If Fuuta looked at Mikoto like that everyday, he would not complain. “I don’t usually get gifts, so. Yeah. Shut up.”
A huge lovestruck grin creeps onto Mikoto’s face.
He’s learned a couple of things about Fuuta just from today alone.
Fuuta is actually a very kind-hearted person. Mikoto was fully prepared to pay for anything he needed to. He was actually going to offer to cover for Fuuta as well, but he was already beaten. Somehow he'll find a way to pay him back even if he did end up getting the bear.
He’s also really good at games. Mikoto knew this already, since he’s seen Fuuta using his laptop during classes for video games multiple times, but to see it up front was something else.
Last, but definitely not least, Fuuta is extremely cute when he’s flustered.