Matchmaker - Soukoku

Chapter Seven

Chuuya pov

Tachihara and I walk home together, the October/almost-November wind nipping at the backs of our necks.

"I wonder if it'll snow soon." Tachihara looks up, squinting at the bright blue sky.

I just shrug, because I genuinely don't know what to say. "Maybe." We walk in silence for a few minutes, while I internally yell at myself to say something. Jesus, Chuuya, stop being so goddamn awkward and think of something to say before he realizes you're a total dumbass and dumps you...

I barely even realize that we've reached Tachihara's house when we do. He unlocks the front door and opens it wider for me.

"After you, monsieur." He winks and gives me a mock bow, sweeping his arm towards the interior of the house. I snort and shuffle inside, being sure to take off my shoes and gently place them on the shoe rack. I know his mom is really specific about stuff like that.

"I don't think anyone's home yet." Tachihara says. "Actually, Tecchou might be. I honestly never know with him." He walks up the stairs and I follow him, a bit nervous. I never really know what to do in other people's houses, and it doesn't help that he's... well, him, I guess.

We walk down the hallway to Tachihara's room and he flops onto his bed.

"God, my back hurts. I think it's going to break from all my textbooks and things." He groans.

I chuckle. "Hopefully you'll last through our next game." He smiles at me and my stomach does a flip. Calm down.

"You know, you used to come over here like, all the time, practically every day." He says.

"Yeah, and we would, like, play Mario Kart and steal all the chips! I miss those days..."

He grins at me and I grin back.

15 minutes later we're sitting on the couch in his living room, stuffing our faces and yelling about how unfair it is that we're being beaten by NPCs. I laugh at a joke Tachihara makes. Why can't I always just be like this around him? Comfortable.

I hear the front door open behind us.

"Are you guys seriously playing Mario Kart right now?" Comes an exasperated-sounding voice from the entranceway.

"Oh my gosh I love Mario Kart! Can we play!" Comes another voice.

"Tecchou! Jouno!" Tachihara puts down his remote and turns around to greet the two boys. I Tecchou is Tachihara's brother, I've also known him for a while. I'm pretty sure I remember Juono from when I used to come over a lot. Those two have always been pretty close. "Sure you can play," Tachihara continues, "but only if you want to be completely obliterated by my amazing Mario Kart skills."

"Keep telling yourself that." I grin up at him from the couch and he smiles back.

Jouno plops down next to me and reaches for the third controller. "I hate to break it to you all, but I'm kind of the best at Mario Kart." He winks at Tecchou.

...

He's actually not lying, because he won every single game we played. Tecchou stands up and stretches, looking slightly pissed.

"What's wrong?" Jouno teases. "Mad you lost?"

"I'm gonna go have a snack." Tecchou says, walking towards the kitchen.

"I swear to God, if you start eating hot sauce and strawberries again I don't know what I'll do!" Jouno calls before running after him. "You can't think they're a good combination just because they're the same color!"