liar ; lover [ ikuzono ] - on hiatus

[ iii ] breathing + choking

late update !! i'm sorry >_<

mukuro
mukuro sucked in a deep breath.
"in, out, innnnn, outtttt..."
"um, excuse me for asking, but why are we doing this again?"

sayaka exhaled.
"i figured you'd be nervous. isn't this helping? in... out..." she muttered.

although it didn't seem to be working for mukuro as much as her friend, mukuro smiled at the thought of sayaka worrying about her. it was nice to see sayaka at peace, closing her eyes and calming herself with deep breaths. mukuro was grateful for the sunny day, and though she often preferred rainy ones, there was nothing better than the bright blue sky and a shining sun to give you motivation. which is what sayaka had told her that morning on their way to school.

suddenly, a hand snatched hers and mukuro whipped her head to the side. sayaka was pointing at a group of girls heading their direction.
"mukuro!- they're heading towards us... should we do something?" she looked at mukuro with wide eyes. mukuro gave her hand a squeeze.
"sayaka, you're stressing this too much. this is a public bench, roughly a block away from japan's most prestigious high school. of course there are going to be people here."
as the group of girls walked closer, grinning and laughing with each other, mukuro peered closer at them.

"hey, aren't those girls from class 77?" she nudged her friend. sayaka looked at them.
"oh, yep. i kinda know that one-" sayaka pointed to a girl with horns and multicolored long hair- "her name's ibuki mioda. we preformed together in that all main course project a while back, remember?"
the two's eyes followed the four girls as they passed.
"look. nothing happened. they didn't even notice us." mukuro said. sayaka nodded, her grip on mukuro's hand tightening. it seemed to mukuro that sayaka had more nervous feelings with this new plan than herself, despite performing often for large crowds.

mukuro pulled out her phone. the time read 7:42am, and school started at 7:45. sayaka must've seen the time, because she suddenly yanked on mukuro's am hand and they went dashing across the sidewalk, sayaka screaming about being late. the wind whipped though mukuro's ears and hair and she let out a soft giggle, though no one could hear it as the sound was caught in the wind and flew away.

ding dong dong ding!
"we're... not... late-" sayaka leaned over as the first dismissal bell rang, gasping for air.
"you're correct, but we still have to get to first period." mukuro said, not even slightly tired from their run. they both filed out of their homeroom with the rest of their class, as if they weren't nearly late. they nodded at their teacher, who gave them an amused look and finished writing roll.

"you ready, mukuro?" sayaka grinned.
"mhm. you?" mukuro replied. sayaka gave a firm nod and they continued on down the hall, fingers laced together tightly. mukuro wasn't sure what they were asking each other about. were they ready for school? were they ready for a king day of boring classes? or... were they ready for this fake relationship to begin its journey?

lunch.

chatter surrounded mukuro and sayaka as they looked for a place to sit. sayaka had suggested that they sit outside because it was a nice day and no one else was inside. mukuro pointed out a table in the shade of a large tree.
"that one's open," said mukuro.
"perfect! you have such a good eye," sayaka smiled, pulling her friend over to the small table. coincidentally, there were also only two seats, despite the table being big enough to have fit 3 or more people.
as if it were a couple's table, mukuro thought.

the two sat down, folding their skirts underneath themselves in a synchronized manner. mukuro unboxed her lunch from the plain brown bag she'd brought, taking out her regular containers of rice and chicken. she looked up to see sayaka taking out her entire fully stocked bento box, garnished with spices and extra vegetables. both of them shared a small smile at how different their lunches were. and it wasn't as if it were a difference in class or wealth; mukuro was just accustomed to her "boring," simple lunches, while sayaka, as the pop star she was, loved the best and the nicest food she could get.

as mukuro pulled out her chopsticks, about to start eating, they were snatched from her grip. she glanced up in a confused tone at her friend, who was holding the pair of purloined utensils with an intense gaze.

"hey. hey mukuro," sayaka hissed in a quiet tone.
"you don't have to whisper. there's no one else around," mukuro replied.
"i know, but listen to this- what if i fed you your lunch?" sayaka continued whispering.
at this, mukuro's cheeks warmed.
"you make it sound like we're about to commit a murder, with that tone of voice," said mukuro, avoiding the question because of... emotions.

"it's supposed to be a secrettttt, though!" sayaka dragged out the word. "and you didn't answer me."
"can i have my chopsticks back?" mukuro requested.
"sure," said sayaka, "when i get to feed you."
"you're being kind of strangely insistent on this."
"i know."
"okay, fine."
"yayyyy!" sayaka squealed, picking up a clump of rice.

"open wide!" she said. mukuro 'opened wide,' and sayaka shoved the rice down her throat.
leaving mukuro no time to even somewhat chew it.
the large amount of food caught in her throat, and when she began to feel the overwhelming feeling of not being able to breathe, she realized she was choking. muffled noises escaped from the back of her throat as she leaned over and tried to violently cough as quietly as possible.
"omigosh omigosh mukuro are you choking. mukuro answer me. do i need to perform the hamlet maneuver on you? or call someone-?" sayaka panicked.

"it-it's called the heimlich maneuver," mukuro gasped as the rice slipped down her throat.
"oh geez, you really have me a scare there, muku," sayaka patted mukuro on the head.
"you were the one who fed me the food," muttered mukuro.
she raised her head and spotted half of the people in the area staring curiously at the two.
"avoid their looks," whispered sayaka.
"i know. i am," whispered mukuro in reply.
"wanna feed me now?"

mukuro almost choked for the second time that day.
"i think we've had enough."

actually, she did end up feeding sayaka. cute fake girlfriends <3

word count: 1091

i liked this chapter because to me, it felt like a representation of how awkward relationships can actually be. thanks for reading :)