Blue Butterfly | Amajiki Tamaki

| 08 |

3rd POV

Stealing a sneak peek at the person beside her, [Name] heaved a hefty sigh, brushing her bright [h/c] locks obscuring her vision as she peered at her phone screen.

Tamaki, with his intertwined hands resting atop his lap and eyes drooping, slumped further into his seat, dark bangs sweeping past his nose as he slowly shifted into a more comfortable position. Lustrous rays of light bouncing off the train window basked his black-inked clothes with an undimmed glow, mellow warmth melting into his pasty skin as it soaked through every open pore. He opted to tug his black hoodie further down his face instead of constantly shifting, the luminosity a little too much to absorb at the present moment.

Snapping his eyelids wide open, he timidly settled his dusky orbs onto [Name] who happened to be scrolling through her news-feed on her smartphone, stray strands of her hair peaking out from her neatly curled bun; serene as her [e/c] eyes glittered in the dazzling light. Tamaki felt the balance of his temperature topple, kindling into a blazing fire as he ogled at her more, noticing the tiniest features tickling her face.

Whatever she was gazing at clearly looked amusing as her lips twitched into a crooked smile; awkward but natural—the kind of sparse smile that sets the looker in a reverie full of enchantment upon a single glance.

She was like the sun, like Mirio: bright—flaming—any fancy word you could use to describe the fiery, dome-shaped star hovering in the far-off galaxy.

And like a petite moth, he was drawn to the smoldering flame.

He nearly leaped out of his seat, grabbing the armrest when [Name]'s gaze landed on his, unbeknownst to the intense gawk Tamaki was giving her. Cheeks flushing in deep red, the dark haired teen nervously shuffled, blocking out the distant screeching of the moving train.

"Amajiki-san," she called out, directing his attention to her screen. "This reminds me of you."

[Name]'s shoulder collided with his, a gentle touch of fabric-to-fabric; but it still sent Tamaki quivering, his nerves wrecked and shooting all over the place, "A-A cat...?"

"Y-Yeah," [Name] chirped, her habitual stutter joining with her speech. "Y-You know how it's hiding in that box? It reminds me of when you shyly slump against the wall."

"You... think s-so?"

"Plus isn't it cute?" Tamaki's face reddened, feeling the tips of his elf-like ears dip into a pool of scarlet at her comment.

"Y-Yeah."

Not even an hour had elapsed since the train took off, Tamaki's energy for the day diving low. He wondered if she meant that indirectly, but the thought of her calling him cute caused him to fluster, yanking his hood further down in embarrassment; first the brightness and now the dreadful humiliation, it was too much to stomach.

"I'm... really worried right now."

Tamaki snapped his head towards her direction, perceiving the solemn expression on her face, "Y-Your aunt, right?"

"Yeah. What could have been so important that she needed to go back to the countryside? To that place?" [Name] inquired, a swirl of mixed emotions in the pit of her belly. "I mean, there's no reason to go there after all this time even if the house is still vacant..."

"Your parents' house," he muttered audibly.

"It's just a husk of memories," she said, plopping her phone onto her lap. "But I haven't seen it in a long time, I'm sure it needs some care here and there."

"Yeah, s-seeing where you grew up for a while would be... interesting."

"Hm? Why's that?"

Tamaki panicked, "Uh... b-because y-you're odd, [Surname]-san!"