Short Stories

You're Accepted (And Loved)

Summary: Teruya has a secret, and he feels he has to hide it from his friends. What happens when his secret is discovered?

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Teruya woke up and stretched. Then he looked down at himself and realized what he was wearing.

"Not again..." He said to himself.

He was wearing a button-up rainbow onesie. A stuffed bear and his favorite stuffed rainbow were next to him, and there were various baby toys scattered on the ground.

Yeah, Teruya was an age regressor. And he hated it.

Sure, it felt nice, to just slip into little space and forget all his troubles. But come on! Regressing to a child's mindset? How stupid could he get? He's in high school, for heaven's sake! What kind of high schooler turned into a child every time they were overwhelmed?

Quickly, Teruya changed into his normal clothes and picked everything up and shoved it into a duffel bag, save for the rainbow plushie. He liked that one too much, so he hid it under his covers instead.

He picked up the duffel bag and threw it into the back of his closet and shut the door. He turned around and sank to the floor, thinking.

What would happen if his secret was out? He'd be a laughingstock; he was sure of it! Either that, or he'd be mother-henned to death.

Honestly, he wasn't sure which one would be worse. Which was just another reason to never let his secret out.

Teruya knew when he could admit he was scared. He had enough self-respect for that.

What he was scared of, that was the tricky part.

Well, no time to think about that now. Teruya got up, made sure his closet door was shut tight, and headed out to breakfast. He couldn't make anyone suspicious, anyway.

Teruya stabbed his fork into his pancakes, not actually taking a bite. He kept glancing down the cafeteria, half in suspense and half in worry.

Where were Haruhiko and Satsuki? They were always here before him. Always. Satsuki had even started keeping track of how many days in a row they could beat Teruya to breakfast.

Teruya tried to shrug it off. Maybe they already ate. Or they just got caught up doing some cheesy couples' activity. Either way, it was nothing to worry about.

He ate a bit of his pancakes, his mind going to a few prank ideas he was hoping to pull with his friends.

And then he felt something crash into him from behind and wrap its arms around him.

"WHAT THE- Satsuki! Ya scared me!" Teruya yelped.

Satsuki giggled from where she was resting her head on Teruya's shoulder. "Satsuki is sorry! But also not sorry! Because your reaction was funny!"

"Yeah yeah, ah bet it was." Teruya grumbled.

Satsuki slid into the seat next to him and snatched a pancake. "Yeah! You nearly jumped right out of your seat!" She said, "And by the way, sorry about being late! Looks like I'll have to start all over with my streak of beating you!"

"Don't worry, it's okay!" Teruya said. "Where's Haru?"

"Right here." Haru arrived at the table, out of breath, and nearly collapsed into a seat. "Hey, Ruya."

"Oh, there ya are, Haru!" Teruya exclaimed. "What happened to ya to make ya so out of breath?"

"He challenged me to a race!" Satsuki chirped.