Four (Second Part): Late night conversations.
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❝ You're someone that was stuck to me like glue, but I didn't had the heart to remove you. ❞
― ✧ ―
The glow of the moon and stars served as the only light on his room. It was dark outside. The breeze of the cold night entered through his open windows, the curtains swaying with the wind.
Feeling tranquility and calmness, he wondered why he ended up in his bedroom in the first place. He still remembered the afternoon he spent with Kou, yet after the said incident, it was all a blur. But before that, the constant sound of notifications caught his attention. It irritated him to the point that he didn't feel the aesthetic vibe anymore.
Picking his phone up, the lockscreen was filled with text notifications, showing forty more. Sent by just a single person who texted like there was no tomorrow.
It was no other than Kou
Minamoto.
His forehead irked in annoyance, thinking why he would send forty continuous messages to him? And for what reason is he getting all overdramatic?
In order to find out the answers, he had to ask him. So after a while of thinking, he texted,
"Why in Pete's sake are you sending me forty-plus messages in the middle of the night!? You hella-lame earring boy!" You can already notice he wasn't pleased with it.
And the punctuations were intended as such. Mitsuba thought that he would reply after a while, considering that the messages had stopped coming.
But, oh boy, he was wrong.
As fast as the speed of light, Kou replied without a sweat. "Mitsuba-san! Thank goodness, you replied! Has your fever gone down? Are you still feeling dizzy?" it was written on the screen.
Mitsuba thought that it was a good idea to just ask him since he was the one who was with him in the scene.
But being bombarded by questions that was too much for him to answer one by one was not what he expected. He wondered if he should even be concerned (or touched) that he cares about him in an overly dramatic manner.
"First of all, you answer my questions first!" Mitsuba typed furiously.
"You got me worried about you all day and you want to have your questions answered first?"
He could already see Kou scoffing in disbelief.
"Imagine my surprise when all I can remember is that we were walking in the hallways and then I woke up at home! Who knows what perverted things you've done to me!" Okay, that was a bit harsh but who can blame him? He didn't know.
The next reply took a few minutes, making Mitsuba wonder if he was making up an excuse or something along the lines.
"If you had the nerve to say things like that, then maybe I don't need to wonder if you're alright. You suddenly collapsed on me, and your temperature was high. I had to call your colleague to carry you home and that's what you're accusing me of?" Sure, Kou wasn't bothered by the weird insult but he really was concerned about him to the point wherein he'll wait hours for him just to wake up.
Fake coughing, he cleared his throat in embarrassment, cursing at himself for suddenly jumping to conclusions. "So that's what happened. I don't quite remember the incident earlier that much so don't think so highly of yourself. Hmph." He wrote as a reply. Grunting stubbornly. Kou replied with a laughing sticker of some sort.
"But why did you suddenly have a fever though?" Kou asked the question that lingered in his mind. It took Mitsuba aback, for he didn't know too.
"I don't know too. I just unexpectedly had a bad headache." It felt like dejâ vu but atleast he felt a little better.
Kou wrote back, shrugging the idea off, as there was nothing to lie about. "Oh, say, have you eaten yet?" And just as Mitsuba received the message, he felt his rumbling tummy, asking for food. He hadn't ate anything for dinner yet.
His eyes searched through his room and noticed the rice porridge in a bowl placed on his side table. There was a yellow sticky note on the side, which said;
'Eat this and get better. We can cancel tommorrow's blog if you don't feel that good. I'll take care of the manager.
-Sakura.'
There were also weird lines that seemed gibberish. He figured it was Natsuhiko's handwriting, or something.
A small smile was plastered on his lips. Thinking that, even though he had a warped personality and sharp tongue, even though it was quite straightforward, people still worried and cared about him.
He took a spoonful of food and tasted it. It was kinda normal but he can't complain anyway. It would had been better if it was a bit warm. He ate until he was satisfied and full.
His hand reached for his phone, a late reply in which he was sure Kou won't see. The status said he was active a while ago.
"I just finished eating, my advisor left some food."
While reminiscing through his sea of memories when he was sick, he unconsciously typed,
"Your cooking was better
back then."
After being in a daze, he snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Kou's status go online.
Seeing his own message, his eyes widened in surprise. He felt his stomach churn and cheeks heating up. He immediately pressed the remove button before Kou could see it. Well, hopefully.
Kou was typing.
And after a few seconds, a message lit up in his notifications. "What was that removed message, Mitsuba-san? I was late." was his seemingly innocent reply.
Mitsuba heaved a sigh of relief. He sat by his window sill, looking up by the dancing stars and dark blueberry nights, thinking up an excuse.
"It was nothing, wrong sent. You want to know so you'll threaten and blackmail me with that, isnt it?!" Arrogantly as always, Mitsuba wrote back.
"You're too ahead of yourself there. I was just asking, sheesh." He typed speedily. "And there's a new opening arcade near my house, do you want to go tommorow?" He offered.
Kou really was the one who always takes him out in a place. With Mitsuba's eyebrows knitting together and flushed cheeks, he typed back, "Are you asking me on a date? Well, it can't be helped I'm too cute for my own good."
On the other line, Kou chuckled at his never-changing personality. Smirking, he wrote as a reply, "I figured we might had some memories in arcades. Now, aren't you thinking to highly of yourself?" He was sure it would break the mood, but he wanted to get back at him somehow too.
Mitsuba didn't hate the idea that much. In fact, he kinda, liked the idea, a bit. Just thinking that he could spend time with him more (of course, he'd say it's for the sake of him remembering) was one thing that made him felt excited and giddy.
'Wait! What are you thinking Mitsuba?! Snap out of it!' He thought, slapping both of his cheeks at the same time. An attempt for him to snap into reality. But then after a few seconds, he rubbed it, feeling the pain.
Nevertheless, he grumpily replied, accepting the offer. "Don't get any weird ideas, got it?!" He added.
"Haha, as if I'd even do something like that to you." It was meant as a joke, but Mitsuba thought he might be thinking of him as someone lowly.
"Hah?! Are you saying I'm not cute?! You need to get your eyes checked!" He responded, boasting. Well, people did admire him for his looks, and that was all there was to it.
"I never said something like that though." Kou chuckled, grinning from ear to ear.
They talked so casually as if Kou didn't forget about the times
they've spent with each other. Their conversation ranged from simple ones to trivial topics, from sarcastic laughs to corny jokes and puns. And their usual nickname callings that was nostalgic, at least for Mitsuba.
And to say the least, it was fun. He hadn't talk to someone like this for a while, for he had an image to maintain and a plastic smile to show off. Mitsuba felt the gentle breeze of the night swept away his soft, straight locks. The sparkling lights of the stars reflected into his eyes, the gleam never disappearing.
He let out a relieved smile, and smiled genuinely while looking at the magnificent night sky.
It was enchanting.
The thought made him glance at his phone, seeing the ID he placed. He briefly thought about his features; his annoyingly stunning sky blue orbs that captured him, his envious lightly tanned skin, and his irritating cute grin.
And yet, he couldn't hate him. Even though having him forget about his existence, which was understandable since eight years had passed. But Mitsuba knew he could make him remember and regret forgetting about him.
"You were someone who stuck to me like glue, but even back then, I didn't have the heart to remove you." Mitsuba muttered, the moon serving as his light in the cold but alluring night.
― ✧ ―
Kou placed his phone on his night stand, feeling as a blush threatened to creep up his face. His ears were tinted a light color of pink.
He rolled and rolled in his bed, overwhelmed by the message that Mitsuba thought he hadn't read. The blanket was a mess, and his untamed hair was too but it was disregarded as one thought crossed his mind.
"So. . my cooking was
better huh?
．
．
．
Maybe I'll cook something
for him then."
― ✧ ―