Merry Christmas! (even though it was yesterday where i live lol) Here's the backstory that I've been waiting to post for ages but never wrote down.
Also no one knows what polysexual is so here I am to teach you
“Will they be nice?” Five year old Maru whispered, looking around the park. “I don’t think I’ll like them,”
“Well if you don’t like them we can leave, but try to give them a chance okay? Sakamoto Ezume said, ruffling his daughter's hair. “I’m introverted too, but this girl’s father has been my friend for a while, so it’d be great if you could befriend her,”
Maru nodded, murmuring the word ‘introverted’ under her breath, making a mental note to search it up in the large dictionary that was on the bookshelf outside her room once she got back home. She glanced up at the man next to her. “But even if I don’t like her I can still get a treat from the bakery on our way back home right?”
“Of course,”
An unfamiliar voice made her turn her head quickly, moving closer to her father. It was a happy shriek as a girl went down the slide upside down, using her hands to stop before she hit the ground, but the momentum carried her farther causing the roll off the bottom, hitting the grass with a cough.
You scrunched your face up, shaking a bit before standing up. “I did it!”
“(Y/N)! I told you not to run off without me!”
“But I didn’t get hurt…” you frowned.
You father laughed, rubbing his forehead. “Yes I suppose you didn’t, but be careful,” he shifted his gaze to the two people staring at them, and his face lit up in a smile. “Ezu-kun!”
He nodded, giving the man a calm smile. “Been a while Isao,”
“Five years! Way too long! It’s great that you moved to the area. I’m surprised you were able to find a lady to get busy with,” he laughed, lowering his voice as he glanced at Maru, who seemed confused.
“What’s that supposed to mean,” Ezume narrowed his eyes.
“Nothing, nothing. You know better than to take anything I say seriously!”
“I guess that’s true,” he laughed. “This is Maru,”
“Hey kid,” Isao squatted down. “I’m (L/N) Isao, and this my daughter (Y/N)!”
Maru gave you both a small wave while taking a step backwards. You sat on the ground, staring up at her with wide eyes. You must have noticed how quiet she was, because you didn’t say anything, but didn’t look away either. Maru frowned, shifting her gaze. She’s staring at me. It’s kind of awkward.
You gasped, seemingly offended that she looked away and copied her, turning your head and crossing your arms with a pout. “I don’t like her,”
“You haven’t even said a word to her!” Isao gaped at you.
The other girl glanced back at you, making a face. I didn’t want her to say that. “Sorry,” she murmured.
You huffed, squinting at her. “You’re a lot big than me,”
“You mean taller?” Isao raised an eyebrow.
You nodded. “You’re a lot tall than me,”
“Er,” he corrected again.
“You’re a lot Er than me,”
Maru giggled. “Hey, are you doing that on purpose or you just stupid?”
You gasped again. “I’m not stupid! Why are you so mean?!”
She frowned. Oh. That is kind of mean. I didn’t…
“But I’ll forgive you just this one time! And only if you play with me!”
“Huh? Really?” She snapped her head up to look at you.
“Yep!” Then your face broke out into a smile. “So will you play with me!?”
She nodded. “Okay,”
-o0o-
“(Y/N)! Maru-chan! I forgot to mention that I invited some other kids too,” Isao walked over to the two of you. They were still at the park, but the sun was setting and you were both tired out, so you were sitting at the ground, trying and failing to braid Maru’s hair.
“You did?” You looked up at him. “But I already have a friend now. I can’t have anymore,”
“What? Of course you can have more than one friend!”
You shook your head. “Nope. Maru-chan has to be my only friend. Right?”
Maru shrugged, playing with some blades of grass. “I don’t really know, but I think you can have more than one friend,”
You stopped braiding her hair and sat down next to her. “Okay! But you’ll be my best friend! How does that sound!?” You grabbed her hand.
“I dunno… I did just meet you,” she looked down at her grass stained knees.
You frowned, letting go of her hand. “Fine then! I’ll find another best friend!”
She snatched your hand back quickly. “No. I’ll be the best best friend you’ll ever have,”
“You better not be lying!”
“Girls, they’re here,”
You hopped up, still holding Maru’s hand, dragging her to meet the other kids. Two boys, around her age. She glanced at their hands, which were also intertwined, though the boy with spiky dark brown hair didn’t seem too happy about it. You must have noticed they’re hands too because a smile spread across your face as you jumped from foot to foot. “Are you holding hands because you’re best friends too?!”
“Nope!” The taller boy smiled. “We’re holding hands because we’re getting married!” He exclaimed with a proud tone.
Maru blinked, knowing what was going to happen as you turned your head to face her with sparkling eyes. “Are we-”
“No,” she cut you off and you let out what would only be described as a whine as Maru felt you tug on her hand, gesturing for her to let you go. She frowned again, shaking her head. “Because we’re best friends,”
She watched as you tilted your head, obviously trying to contain a smile before turning away in a huff, but keeping your hand where it was. “Fine,”
“Oh! My sister made milk bread!”
“Milkbread?”
“It’s good,” the shorter boy said, speaking for the first time.
-o0o-
The four of you were only in your first year of middle school when Maru started to realize how easy it was to be taken advantage of. Not her of course, she didn’t particularly like talking to others, so she kept to the small friend group she had created. But watching you, who always had a smile on your face and eager to help, she wondered if you were oblivious to the fact you were being used.
“(Y/N)-san! Could you do my cleaning for me? I have to leave,”
“(Y/N), I need the homework answers for math or else I might fail!”
“Could you bring these boxes to the class down the hall? It’d be a great help,”
And everytime Maru would watch as you nodded eagerly, running off to do the task at hand. “Do you think she realizes?”
“Realizes what?” Tooru looked up.
“Everyone is totally taking advantage of her,”
“Probably not,” Hajime mused. “But even if she did, I doubt she’d do anything about it,”
“I don’t think it’s such a bad thing,” Oikawa shrugged. “She seems happy right? And it’s not affecting her grades or health in any way,”
Maru frowned. “And I guess she’s making plenty of friends,” she watched as you chatted happily with the large group surrounding you.
“That’s actually what I’m worried about!” The setter sat up. “What if she leaves us behind?!”
“What?” She snapped her head towards Tooru. “Don’t be silly. She would never do that,”
“C’mon Maru. Look at her. If she’s not already, she’ll be popular in no time,” Iwaizumi said, waving to you.
You looked up, waving back and rushing over there. “Hey!”
“(Y/N)-chan! You’re not leaving us right?!” Oikawa shook your shoulders, making you sway back and forth.
“Huh?! Stop shaking me- no I’m not!” You grabbed his hand, taking it off your shoulder. “What are you talking about Tooru? Don’t be stupid,” you laughed, hooking arms with Maru and walking away.
“She’s so nice to everyone but me! I don’t get it,” he frowned, crossing his arms.
“Maybe she likes you,” a second year girl passing by said, giving him a smirk before continuing.
He gasped, a hand flying up to cover his mouth. “Oh no! How do I tell her that I just think of her as a friend! Iwa-chan I have to go!” He rushed off, leaving Hajime with a frown as he stared at the floor.
-o0o-
“Just who do you think you are?”
“Well… nobody too important,” a nervous laugh escaped your lips.
“The hell?!” It was the same second year, who pulled you by the collar of your shirt, narrowing her eyes.
“Listen, we don’t need to do this,” you tugged at her hand lightly. “H-How about-”
She dropped you, letting you fall to the floor, hitting your head on a bench. “Shut up. You think you have so many friends because your so nice but in reality they’re just using you,”
“Well that’s rude,”
“No shit-”
“Not that,” you shook your head. “The fact that you think I didn’t know,” you rubbed your head. “I’m not stupid. I just act like it because it’s more welcoming for people to know someone isn’t that serious. I act like an idiot, but I’m not. So please don’t assume that about me,” you averted your eyes.
“You-”
“(Y/N)?” Maru stood at the end of the hallway, looking back and forth between the two of you. “What’s-”
“Nothing,” you spoke quickly.
“Nothing?? Don’t lie to me,” she scoffed, but didn’t seem like she could move, her hands shaking slightly.
“No it really is nothing,” the second year backed away, her backpack slipping off her shoulder a bit. “Don’t worry about it,”
“Wha-” Maru shook her head, trying to clear her mind. “(Y/N)-” she watched the girl walk away, her school binder falling out and some papers scattering everywhere. She didn’t seem to notice as she kept walking.
You stood up, glancing at the papers on the floor, before bending down again, placing them back in the binder. You hummed quietly as you moved around the floor, pushing all the papers towards one place where you could stack them up.
“(Y/N)!” Maru finally seemed to move, running over to you and pushing the papers, leaving them all over the floor again. “What are you doing?!”
“Don’t worry about it,” you said, starting to gather the papers again. “Did you know Shichiro and Akito got in trouble at school again? Apparently they switched classes again,”
“Wha- stop changing the subject! I know that wasn’t nothing! Stop gathering those papers! She just hurt you. Why are you helping her?!” She tried to scatter the papers again but you held them together with your hand.
“I’m sure there are important assignments here. She could fail if she doesn’t have them,” you said, keeping your eyes concentrated on the papers.
“So let her fail,” Maru moved your hand away from them. “Why are you lying? (Y/N)-”
“I just don’t want you to worry!” You turned towards her. “Please! I get that you and Tooru and Hajime are all strong and that maybe I’m not but please let me handle myself!” You let out a shaky breath. “I want to keep up with you guys but it seems like the only way I can succeed is by leaning on others so if I’m going to do that I might as well have as many friends as I can!” You looked down again. “But… I’m not using them just for that I swear. B-because that’s manipulative and I would… I would never because I would never use people for just my own purpose even if that’s what they do to me and-”
“You knew?! That people were just using you?”
You teared up. “Does everyone think I’m stupid? Does everyone…” you wiped your tears before they got too far. “Does everyone think I’m oblivious to what’s going on around me?!”
“Wait (Y/N), I’m sorry. It’s just that I do worry. And so do Tooru and Hajime… where are you going?!”
You stood up with the binder, now full with the papers. “I’m going to bring these back. That girl was a second year right? So the floor above us. I wonder why she even noticed me…” you mused on as you walked.
Perhaps Maru would have tried harder. Maybe she should have, but at that time, everyone seemed to have their own problems to deal with.
-o0o-
“Polysexual?”
“Isn’t that just a rip-off bisexual?”
“I thought it was polyamorous,”
Maru stared at the floor, wondering how it had spread from just her three friends to the entire school. She had come out behind the gym, thinking that one besides them was there.
“Maru-san! You’re bisexual??”
“No-”
“Well polysexual doesn’t seem like a real thing, so…”
“It is real,” you shook your head. “Polysexual, not to be confused with polyamorous, is attraction to some genders, but not all,”
“So straight or gay?”
“No, there are more than two genders, it’s not just boy or girl,” Oikawa cut in.
“But-”
“If you’re going to say science proves otherwise, you’re wrong. It’s scientifically proven that there are more than two sexes, besides male and female. The chromosomes XX and XY aren’t the only possibility, but in general, gender is just a social construct, or idea,” you said, trying to explain it clearly, using some hand motions here and there. “Maru is polysexual. And that’s that,”
Everyone nodded slowly, seeming to understand at least partly understand, before someone else spoke up. “So which gender are you not attracted to?!”
Maru stared at the floor even more than before, not wanting to talk, but feeling guilty that the others were explaining everything for her. “Um-”
“That’s none of your business,” Iwaizumi placed a hand on Maru’s shoulder, giving everyone in the hallway an intense glare. “And you don’t need to know,”
“But I’m sure she likes one of you three though,”
“Couldn’t be me,” you laughed. “I already got rejected by Maru,”
“You did?!” Even Tooru looked surprised, gaping at you.
“You did?” Maru blinked, finally looking up.
“Yeah.. That one time when we were five, remember? We were holding hands and all but then you refused to marry me. I totally got friendzoned,” you beamed at her and she snickered, covering her mouth.
“That doesn’t-” she paused to let out a giggle. “That doesn’t count,”
“Really?! So we can get married?!” You jumped a little.
“Well no- but- you-” she laughed, moving her hand up to her forehead before bringing it down. “You’re so stupid,”
“That’s what you said back then too! In our first conversation you called me stupid!”
“How do you even remember this stuff?” She couldn’t help from laughing, and soon Oikawa was chuckling, placing his forehead on Iwaizumi’s shoulder to keep him up. The laughter must have been contagious, because it seemed to spread quickly (just like Covid lmao) as soon enough all the kids surrounding you four in the hallway were laughing at the sheer stupidity of the conversation.
And the four in the center, who were laughing the hardest out of everyone, thought that nothing could go wrong.
-o0o-
“Maru-san!”
For as long as anyone could remember Akito and Shichiro had tried their best to be completely identical. Of course, there were the similarities from when they were born of course, but everything after that was their doing. Same haircuts, same clothes; everything was identical. You remembered when Akito got a scar on his cheek, he had fallen off a bike at age five while trying to learn, the next day Shichiro had gotten his hands on his father’s razor, and had a cut too deep for anyone’s liking in the same stop. It wasn’t enough to send him to the hospital, but enough for their mother to give them both a serious lecture. Even that day, at nine years old they were still identical.
“Hello,” Maru smiled down at the twins, ruffling their hair. “Is Riko here too?,”
“Not now, Mom brought him to a friend’s house,” Akito explained, skipping alongside Shichiro. “(Y/N) is in her room though,”
“Thanks,” she nodded, walking up the stairs to find you sitting up in your bed, staring intensely at some cards, playing Solitaire. (Okay not gonna lie, I’m a fucking boss at ANY cardgame ever) Maru sat down, careful not to move the cards, and picked one up, placing it on the second pile and flipping over the remainer card. “There you go,”
“Right! How didn’t I see that!?” You nodded with a smile, moving the cards around as the four aces up top got more cards piled on to them. “Let’s play video games after this,”
“Okay,”
An hour later you were on the floor, the cards back in the pack they came in. You groaned. “The controller is broken!”
“I think you’re just bad at the game,” Maru said.
“I am not! I’m the best at this!”
“(Y/N)! Maru-san! Will you come outside with us??” Akito stuck his head into your room.
“Give us a second,” you muttered, trying to kill your friend’s avatar on the screen.
“A second, yeah right,” Shichiro laughed. “Come out now! It’s going to start raining soon!”
“It really will be just a minute! I wanna beat Maru first!”
“That’s going to take a while,” she chuckled quietly.
“Maru!” You whined. “You two go outside, we’ll be there soon,”
“Fine, fine,” they both pouted, and you could hear them running down the stairs.
“I’m telling you, this controller is broken,”
“(Y/N)-”
The two of you got carried away, switching controllers to prove a point, and eventually giving up and reopening the cards. You might not have moved from the spots for the rest of the day, but the sound of a car horn made you groan. “The cars are so loud around here. I bet they honked for no reason,”
“Maybe we should check it out,”
“Eh,” you shrugged, placing a card down on the pile. “Maybe,”
Maru stood up, walking to your window and pulling the curtain back, looking down at the road in front of your house. “Maybe they did just-” she cut herself off, a hand flying up to cover her mouth.
“Hmm? What happened? Was it an accident?” You hopped up quickly, a worried look growing on your face. “Is there blood? I don’t really think I want to-”
You took Maru’s hand, letting the curtain drop as you tugged her downstairs. “I’m hallucinating,” you whispered to yourself. “It’s not real,”. You knew you were lying. There was no reason for you to hallucinate, so it had to be real, but maybe if you told yourself that it wasn’t then it would be fake. Maybe if you had…
A hand tugged at your shirt, and Shichiro stared up at you, shaking. “A-Akito…”
Maru clutched your hand, squeezing it hard enough that you could barely feel it anymore. You winced, but covered your mouth with your other hand. I’m going to vomit.
“But he’s just faking it right? Because he would never actually… he would never-” the boy sniffed. “It’s a lot of blood. But I bleed sometimes, and I’m still alive, which means-”
“Shichiro,” you placed a hand on his head. “That’s… that’s not how it works,”
“Yes! Yes it is! Because in movies people will bleed but they’re still alive and there was that one time you fell out of a tree and bled but you’re still-”
“Did the truck just drive away?” Maru asked, staring past the body on the road, looking away. She needed to focus on something else. It could be the smallest detail, but she needed something else to concentrate her attention on. Anything else but the body laying in the road. “We need to… we need to call…”
-o0o-
The next few days and even after that were slightly fuzzy in your memory, but you could clearly remember the glare Shichiro had given you at the funeral. It said that it was your fault. It said that if you hadn’t been selfish maybe you could have saved him. Or maybe it was because you were the oldest, so it was your job to protect him.
Isao was the first to leave the funeral. He hadn’t said a word the entire time, and got into his car the second it was over. No one questioned it as the rest of you piled into your mothers car, taking a turn out of the parking lot. Your mother, Miyabi, might as well have been the complete opposite of your father. Some might mistake her personality to be similar to Maru’s, but you found the two extremely different. Miyabi was always unavailable, emotionally or otherwise, and perhaps that’s what Maru seemed like to others, but anyone who got to know her knew she was reliable. The same couldn’t be said for your mother.
She was often dropping Riko or the twins off at friends houses, in order to have time for herself, and asking Isao or you to pick them up from school. She knew why the children favored their father, and didn’t do anything to try and change it. But sometimes, when talking with her, it felt more like talking to a stranger than your mother.
You wished you could say that you at least had a mother figure in your life, but you couldn’t. Some might say it was Maru, but she was more a sister than anything. And you wished you could say that Maru’s mother treated you like her own child, but you had never met the woman. Except for once, that is, though her relationship with her own daughter didn’t seem much better than your mother’s with you.
Perhaps it was the reason that the marriage wasn’t working out anyway, and everyone knew, that your father left. Maybe he was already doing unwell, and Akito’s death had pushed him over the edge. Or maybe it was some other reason, that you had woken up one day to find him gone, leaving most of his belongings in the house.
“Where’s Dad?” You looked around the breakfast table. It was the day after the funeral and only four of the six seats were filled. You had prepared yourself for one of them, but the idea that two empty seats might exist never crossed your mind.
Everyone shifted their eyes away, and Miyabi continued to feed Riko, which was supposed to be Isao’s task. Shichiro poked at his food, which seemed messed with but uneaten, and stayed silent.
You bit your lip, staring at the ground, before walking out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, wondering if he was still asleep. When he wasn’t there you frowned, rushing off to check the rest of the house. Your father was gone.
You made you way back downstairs, and looking at the boy poking at his food you scowled. “Akito! Where is Dad!?”
Even your mother visibly tensed, and Riko could tell something had changed, as his giggles stopped. Shichiro dropped his fork, his hands shaking, before some tears fell onto the tablecloth.
“What the heck is wrong with you?!” He stood up, kicking the chair backwards.
“I-I’m sorry,” you muttered, slapping a hand over your mouth. “I didn’t mean to…”
-o0o-
“I want to see you smile again…”
At the time, Maru hadn’t realized what a big impact those words would have on you, and her as well. She didn’t realize that you would think about those words for days, trying to perfect something that wasn’t even real. So when you came into school one day with a bright smile, Maru didn’t know what to think. It was obviously different than the smile before, but it seemed so real that she had no choice but accept it.
What was the difference that she was seeing? Was that it never seemed as bright as before, even though everything was the same. You still smiled with your whole face, eyes crinkling and the corners of your lips rising, but something was off. Maybe it was that you seemed to smirk more than smile, and the old glint in your eyes was less excited and more bored.
Despite never being able to place a finger on it, Maru continued to watch you carefully.
If they did notice anything, Tooru and Hajime didn’t mention it, but were relieved when you entered the classroom with a bright smile. The next few days after that weren’t bad at all, but the other three had to have known something was off.
“(Y/N)-san? I need the answers to this project or else I’ll fail,”
You looked up at the boy standing by your desk before tilting your head. “Do I know you?”
He froze up, and Maru’s head snapped towards you, narrowing her eyes. The boy shook his head slowly. “Not really… no. But-”
“But?” You raised an eyebrow. “If you didn’t do the project then that’s on you, but if you’re going to fail, I don’t really care anyway,” you rested your head on your arms, folded over the desk. “Do you have something to say?”
“...No,” the boy backed away, averting his eyes.
You sighed, ignoring the twinge of guilt you felt in your chest, and turned your head, where you saw Maru staring at you. “What… What was that?”
You blinked at her, forcing the corners of your lips to rise in a smile. “Nothing really,”
She let out a shaky breath. “That was fake,”
“What?” You glanced back at her.
“The smiles aren’t real. But what’s the point if you’re going to pretend to be an asshole. It seems like you're contradicting yourself,”
You looked down. “It just feels safer,”
Maru huffed a bit, grabbing your arm and pulling you out of the classroom. “What? Why are you doing this? Now? Because of Akito? It doesn’t make any-”
“I know it doesn’t make any sense! But everything kind of just blurred together and I don’t know what to think now!” You looked down. “Everything is all mixed up in my mind, and suddenly I don’t want to be used?! I don’t know! It just feels like my fault and maybe I need to change to prevent it from happening again and-”
“See now I know you’re upset! You always rant when this happens! There’s no need to be like this! People will distance themselves from if you act like an asshole all the time!”
“Then I’ll find a place in between! It’s all trial and error right?! That’s all life is! I made an error, so I’m trying something different!”
“You can’t describe life as something as simple as that!”
“But that’s really what it is!” You sighed. “I don’t care if I’m fake, but I want you and everyone else that I care about to be happy. If I don’t know them, they don’t really matter to me. Maybe that makes me selfish but… it makes me feel safe too,”
-o0o-
Maru never brought it up again, and the topic had still gone unspoken by the time you entered high school, the group of four going separate ways.
“I can’t believe Tooru and Hajime went to Aoba Johsai,” you said, adjusting your new school uniform. “But what I’m really mad about is that they decided without us,”
“We did decide without them too,” Maru said.
You frowned. “Yeah I guess that's true. Will you be joining the volleyball club here?”
“Yeah probably. You?”
“I dunno. I don’t really want to, but I might do it anyway. I hate having too much freetime,”
“You could always join another club,”
“Yeah but I’ve already played volleyball in middle school, so I don’t want to start something new. Plus, we might make new friends,”
“I guess-”
There was a yell and a thud as someone coming around the corner practically barreled into them. Maru was able to get out the way in time but you weren’t so lucky, falling backwards as you got hit in the head with multiple textbooks which were probably unnecessary for classes.
A boy stood up, not bothering to offer a hand. His sand colored hair fell in his eyes which were the same color as he hurried to pick up the books. “Watch where you’re going next time,”
“Watch where I’m going?! You’re the one that ran into me! And why don’t you have a backpack anyway! Who carries all those books around by hand?!” You sat up, glaring at him.
He seemed slightly surprised you had yelled back, but scoffed anyway. “None of your business!”
“Half those books just hit me in the face! I’ll be damned if it’s not my business!”
He ignored you, scowling as he muttered stuff under his breath, still trying to pick up the books. “...gonna be late for class… still don’t know which way… shit… so tall… tired as fuck… she got so goddamn mad… would be kinda cute if she wasn’t so rude… math sucks… guess I’m rude too… ha,”
His thoughts only came out in bits and pieces, and while you hadn’t heard anything, Maru frowned, taking a step forward in front of you. “Get to class,”
He looked up, now holding all the textbooks. “…tall people,” he frowned. (Guys I know for a fact that Akinori was really short until his second year and then he finally got a growth spurt)
“What an asshole,” you scoffed.
-o0o-
“(Y/N),” Maru and you laid on your bed, both facing the ceiling. It was raining heavily outside, but the power had gone out, so a flashlight laying on the bed was the only source of light. There were some abandoned laptops on the ground, where the presentation you were supposed to be working on wouldn’t be finished until tomorrow.
“What’s up?” You spoke in a whisper, but you weren’t sure if it was because you didn’t want to disturb the setting, or because you were simply too tired.
“I know what you are,”
“Human? Or have you discovered my secret?” You raised an eyebrow, soft giggles escaping both of your mouths.
“No, no. You’re an eccedentesiast,”
“Ahh yes. Alien,” you nodded.
“Incorrect,” Maru reached her hand over, flicking your forehead. “It’s someone who fakes a smile, when all they want to do is cry,”
“Well that got dark quickly,”
More giggles spread across the room, before dying out again. The silence wasn’t tense, but familiar.
“My smiles are real sometimes,”
“I know,”
“No one else on the team can tell the difference,”
“One day someone besides me will be able to,”
You sighed, bringing a pillow to your chest, hugging it tightly. “I know,”
(Back to present time)
Maybe Maru hadn’t told him everything. Maybe she only told him what she saw as necessary, but what Akinori didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. He already seemed guilty, resting his head on a balcony railing.
“Fake smiles?”
“A lot of them,”
He stood up straight again, biting his lip as he frowned. “Does she… still do that?”
“Hmm?” Maru glanced to the side, studying his face.
“All of the smiles I’ve seen… they’ve been real right? I… I haven’t been watching her fake smiles all this time and haven't noticed, right?!”
Now, see Maru as what you want her to be, whether it be a caring friend or a heartless monster, but looking at someone who called her a friend on the verge of tears, she didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. That yes in fact… so many of your smiles have been fake, and that he hasn’t been able to tell. Because Maru didn’t know how she would explain that it’s not just him, or that not all of the smiles had been fake and there were plenty of times that she wasn’t there when you could have smiled. But she didn’t know how to say all that, so she took a deep breath and tried to replicate the perfect smile you were able to give.
“(Y/N)’s smiles are real now. Don’t worry,”
Konoha let out a relieved sigh, running his fingers through his hair. “Can I go talk to her? Or should I let her…?”
“Go talk to her,” she nodded.
“Okay!” He seemed to be thinking hard about what to say as he walked away, but paused looking back. “And thanks,”
Maru blinked at him for a second before smiling. “Of course,”
When Akinori knocked on the hotel door for the room you hadn’t left, he didn’t expect an answer to come instantly.
“Who is it?”
“Akinori,”
“Oh come in!” Your voice seemed perfectly happy, and when he entered he could see that your expression matched it. “I just got off the phone with Shichiro,” you smiled up at him.
He frowned, crouching down besides the bed you were sitting on and cupping your face. “Why are you still smiling?”
“...What?” You blinked at him.
“You’re obviously upset. Anyone can tell that much, but you still smile. Why?”
You averted your eyes, bringing a hand up to touch his hand. “I don’t want you to worry. I don’t want anyone to worry,”
“But… all your smiles are real right? That’s what Maru told me and-”
“Maru told the truth. So don’t worry,” you cut him almost desperately, and he sighed wrapping his arms around you, lifting you up. You let out a yelp, clutching on to him. “If you drop me I swear I will-”
He set you down on the bed before you could finish, pulling the blankets over both of you and kissing your forehead with a smile. “We don’t cuddle nearly as much as we should,”
You gasped just a bit, but didn’t move as he pulled you closer. “You’re right,”
“And honestly, it’s all I want to do with you,” he rested his chin on your head. “(Y/N) I…” he paused, letting out a breath before squeezing his eyes shut. “You mean a lot to me,”
You nodded into his chest, not particularly feeling like saying anything, so instead you found one of his hands in the dark, squeezing it lightly.
Guys Aki is a coward!! And you know he is don't lie to yourself.