Odd Jobs

Chapter 13 - Butterflies

Mika's eyes slowly fluttered open. He groaned softly, annoyed by the bright lights of the room he was in. This definitely wasn't his dorm. Did he faint again? He tried retracing his steps in his head. Yuu had left with his friends, and Mika made his way to the library. He did a lot of studying there, eventually getting disturbed by Lacus. Eventually, he...

"Of fucking course.", he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was then he noticed a warmth in his left hand. He looked over, seeing his hand clutched tightly by a certain black haired boy. He had his head rested on the bed, asleep. Mika smiled. There was that bubbly feeling again. "Stop making me fall for you, damn it...", he whispered. He gently moved his leg, hopefully causing Yuu to wake up. It worked. "Morning." The ravenette nodded and yawned, rubbing his eye. It then seemed to dawn on him that Mika was awake.

"Mika!", he exclaimed. He shuffled his chair a little closer to the blonde, not letting go of his hand. "You're okay!"

"Well, yeah. I just fainted."

"I don't like how you say that so casually."

"It happens a lot, though. I should be out by tomorrow." Yuu sighed, clenching the blonde's hand. Mika chuckled. "You're mad."

"Yes. Yes I am. How did it come this far, Mika...?"

"It's just... I know I don't eat enough, and I realise I definitely have a problem when it comes to energy drinks, but... I can't really... Find the effort? To do anything about it. So this just happens again and again."

"And that's all?" Yuu's thumb caressed Mika's forearm. The blonde felt a lump in his throat.

"Right. That." He glanced at the black haired boy, who had his gaze fixed on the scars and cuts. He noticed some tears in his eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's okay. Just know that you can."

"Thanks..." Mika reached over to grab his phone off of the small table, only to realise it was dead. "Ah, shit. You don't happen to have a charger on you, do you?"

"No, sorry. But I'll be dropping by our room in a bit, I'll bring it with me.", Yuu said. He still seemed pretty out of it.

"Yuu-chan..."

"I'm fine." His voice cracked. "I'm the one that needs to be worrying about you, not the other way around. So I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"You'll be keeping an eye on me?"

"Yeah. Every day we have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. I'm gonna watch your energy drink intake, aswell."

"You're gonna be my mom?"

"If I need to be, yes!" They chuckled. "Have dinner at my house this weekend. Yoichi and Kimizuki are dying to meet you.", the ravenette said as he held Mika's hand close to his face.

"You're not even gonna allow me to go home?"

"Nope. Not even to sleep." He sighed. "I can't lose you, Mika... What if you don't wake up next time? Or hit your head on something sharp? Or if-"

"That won't happen, Yuu-chan."

"You say that now..."

"I'm sure of it."

"God, you lie a lot.", Yuu chuckled. "Just be honest with yourself."

"Honest with myself, huh?" Mika thought back to the bubbly feeling in his stomach. It hadn't settled at all, unlike what he thought would happen. In actuality, it was getting worse with every breath of Yuu he felt on his hand. He'd been feeling it for a while, ignoring it. But he couldn't anymore. As much as it hurt to admit, it ought to be.

Mika had fallen in love with Yuu. That was the truth of the case.

He was doubtful whether to admit it to the raven haired boy. He definitely knew his feelings wouldn't be reciprocated, and things would get awkward. Yuu would stop his playful flirting as promised, which the blonde also didn't want. He wanted to cling to that false sense of hope. He also didn't want to admit that Yuu was definitely his type. And as cool as he was with Mika being gay... It wouldn't be the first friendship to perish under a stupid crush. Mika wanted to keep on sleeping in the same bed. He wanted to keep on watching dumb movies together and commentate as if they were Youtubers. He wanted to keep pretending there might still be a chance for them. Which was something that would come to an end if he shared his feelings.

"You seem deep in thought, Mika.", the boy said.

"A little..."

"Oh!", Yuu exclaimed as he let go of Mika's hand, resting his own on his lap. "I met your coworker! Crowley, I think his name was?"

"You what?!" Mika sat up.

"Yeah! My friends dropped me off at the gate of the school, and I saw Lacus standing in front of our dorm. He dragged me here, and his brother was here aswell. So we met!" The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose, releasing a deep sigh.

"Where are they?"

"Cafeteria, I think. They mentioned something about giving us lovebirds some privacy."

"Lovebirds, huh?" Yuu flinched.

"I... did not realise that. Sorry."

"Don't apologise, idiot.", Mika said as he gently nudged Yuu's arm. He shot him a warm smile. "Would you mind grabbing them for me, Yuu-chan?" A soft blush tinted the ravenette's cheeks at the sound of his nickname. It felt different than the one time Akane referred to him that way. With Mika it felt so... Natural. His sleepy eyes, warm smile and soft voice complemented it perfectly. "Yuu-chan?"

Shit. Was he staring?

"R-Right!", he said as he got up from his chair. "I'll be right back!" Yuu darted out of the room, releasing a breath he didn't realise he was holding in. He made his way to the stairs, and started the two floor descent.

A/N!: A short but sweet chapter! Hopefully the next chapter won't be a long wait. Thank you all so much for the support on this story <3