*:･ﾟYou Bet I Stare ･ﾟ:*

CHAPTER 13 - small worlds

KOU
—❁—

I rush into my house, already preparing myself for a big lecture from Teru-nii. As I opened the door, Teru rushed over to me and gave me a big hug. "Kou!!" I forgot how big of a baby Teru got when he was worried about me. "Where have you been! Leaving me and Tiara to starve like that.. how could you!!" He whines as I shake my head, smiling as he pats the top of my head. "What happened to you always telling me where you'd be? And more importantly, why are you all beat up?" I sigh, walking to the kitchen as Teru follows me. "I had a little mishap with this apparition, but I got it under control." Teru watches me put my apron on, preparing to make dinner for him and Tiara—since I already ate at Mitsubas place. "Why did it take you so long to make it back home, though? You know you're always supposed to come right home after something like that happens. Dad's rule-" Teru grabs my hand and looks at all the injuries that were already patched up. "Who patched all of these up?" I take my hand back and start washing my hands under the lukewarm sink water. "I uh.."

Teru would've gotten even more suspicious if I told him I went to a friends house and let him patch me up instead of coming here—so I made a different excuse. "A friend saw me and walked me to the nurse, and the nurse wanted to wait until I felt well enough to walk back home." Teru looks at me for a second, but I guess my lie was foolproof enough for him to let it go. "Oh okay. Well I'll be doing homework upstairs, just let me know when dinner is ready." I nod my head at his request, then I get started on some easy dinner that would take me only 30 minutes or so to prepare. After they were sat down eating their dinner, I went upstairs and got ready to take a quick shower before getting ready for bed.

Eventually, I was laying in bed texting Sousuke back and forth. I couldn't help but feel like things were different between us after what happened at his house, not like it was in a bad way—but it was just different.

[MITSU!] : can i be honest with u, lame-o ?

[KOUMOTO] : Of course you can Mitsu 👍

I watch the dots move around as he types. Part of me was hoping that he was preparing to let me know he changed his mind about taking things seriously between us, but I began recalling what he told me before I left.

[MITSU!] : earlier when we were hugging or whatever
[MITSU!] : i couldnt help but want to kiss u (TT)

My eyebrows raised as I saw that message. I couldn't tell if he was just playing with me or what, but I didn't let my altruistic soft spot for him shine through.

[KOUMOTO] : I'm sure you did I'm pretty kissable in my opinion 😼

Now I guess I'm an idiot that's full of himself.

[MITSU!] : LMAO
[MITSU!] : dont tell me ur becoming full of urself bcuz the cutest person in town hugged u
[MITSU!] : ur too wholesome for that

I smile at the three messages that Mitsuba sent before sending him a response back.

[KOUMOTO] : Are you down to call again?? I enjoyed talking to you yesterday night 😸

[MITSU!] : im sure u did u goofball

[KOUMOTO] : Leave me be! It's not my fault that you're an enjoyable person to talk to

I then accept the call request being sent to me by Mitsuba, but this time it was a video-call. I guess he didn't really care since I just saw him not even an hour ago. "You weren't hesitant about a video-call this time?" Mitsuba looks at me through the phone, his eyes and forehead being the only thing peeking from the bottom of my screen. "I have something you forgot, Minamoto.." He mutters, trying to sound vague—then he held up his hand; this caused me to noticed my red sweatband on his wrist. "Hey! Where'd you get that?" I hear him lightly laugh, "A certain someone forgot it when he was digging through my closet earlier." His finger then points right at me. "It's actually quite comfy, I get why you wear this." I could tell he was wanting to keep it, but lucky for him I had many others like it. "If you want it, you can keep it. I have a whole drawer full of them." He looked at me, not even phased by the comment I just made. "I'm sure you do—" Mitsuba looks at his wrist and smiles before looking back at the camera. We continued our random little conversations back and forth until we eventually had to end the call, since Mitsubas mom wanted him to head to bed for the night.

After turning my phone off; I looked up at my ceiling, smiling at the thought of Sousuke. I was just excited to see him again tomorrow. Should I get him something? I shrug to myself before turning over, catching a whiff of the t-shirt Mitsuba lent me. It smelled like him and it was soothing to me, and I found myself drifting off to sleep in no time.

I could feel a calming sense of warmth in my core as I hugged the t-shirt that I was wearing like a lovesick idiot, but I couldn't find it in me to stop. I was finally beginning to understand why people were so obsessed with the cheesy romance, even if me and Mitsuba technically aren't even a thing yet.

One day, I hope that changes.