of traffic-safety earrings and worn-out cameras • mitsukou week 2020

Day Four: fashion; seasons

day four; may 21, 2020 (written may 24, 2020)

prompt(s): fashion; seasons

universe: canon

summary: Fall brought new beginnings. Winter brought pain. Spring brought realization. Summer brought acceptance. This is what Kou knows.

—

"Nice to meet you."

Kou looked up from his desk and to the boy who just addressed him. Pink hair and a soft smile was suddenly invading his vision and Kou found himself dumbstruck.

"I'm Mitsuba. We'll be sitting in alphabetical order for a while, so I guess I'm in front of you. Let's be friends, okay?" Mitsuba smiled a little wider, so that his eyes crinkled up at the edges. The young exorcist reached out to take the boy's outstretched hand before he even realized what he was doing.

Mitsuba smiled even wider and giggled a little. Kou found himself laughing as well, overjoyed at having a new friend. "Sure!"

The two boys continued to chat for the rest of the day, until the 5 o'clock announcement rang out across the fields and Teru came looking for his younger brother.

Autumn leaves crunched under Kou's sneakers as he bid farewell and promised to play with Mitsuba again tomorrow.

—

"Hey, have you heard?"

Kou looked up from his mindless doodles. He wasn't usually very interested in gossip, but all the adults in school had been acting weird today, and his brother kept sending him pitying glances. He hoped to catch someone talking about the reason why.

"Heard what?"

"Apparently, over the weekend, a kid who went here got into an accident. He died just outside the school! Creepy, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah! I heard his ghost is wandering these halls, looking for someone who remembers him! What was his name, again?"

"Ah, I don't remember. Sousuke, I think?"

Kou looked away, back to his paper. He rested his cheek on his hand and continued to scratch the sheet with his pencil. The story was sad, but nothing he could empathize with. He guessed it explained the adults' gloomy behavior, though why was his brother worried about him? Maybe the kid was in his grade?

Soft, white snowflakes continued to fall outside as Kou tried not to think about how the name Sousuke sounded so familiar.

—

"But you were in that class too, weren't you, Kou?"

Kou widened his eyes in shock and realization, exclaiming "W-What?! I was?!" as he whipped around to face a pink haired boy turning pointedly away from him.

The exorcist was attempting to help his newfound spirit friend pass on to the next life, which necessitated taking pictures of various things important to the supernatural. But they had gotten caught up with the ongoing after-school activities and ran into Kou's human friend, Yokoo, who noticed the camera in his hands.

"Sure were! Though, I guess it's hard to remember now, since we're in different classes." Yokoo chuckled awkwardly before tilting his head inquisitively. "Hey, what're you looking at?"

Kou was too caught up in his memories to respond, looking at Mitsuba with a new view. "Let's be friends, okay?"

Later, Kou would carry the camera home with him with a heavy heart. He would collapse on his bed and go through the photos his friend had taken earlier, attempting to rid the vision of a snapped neck and a gaping hole in a familiar chest from his mind. And he would stay up all night and cry when he discovered a photo of himself looking away, oblivious to his surroundings.

Sakura petals floated gently in the breeze as Kou sobbed and tried to rid the echoing voice chanting "Something important to me, maybe." from his mind.

—

"Minamoto-kun is a piece of crap."

Kou looked up from the sink in mild surprise, still washing his hands. He was met with the too-close face of Mitsuba, who was glaring down at him condescendingly. The supernatural jumped down from the mirror, putting a little space between them.

A typical back-and-forth ensued between the two, until Mitsuba got straight to the point with "So then, Minamoto-kun, what's bothering you?".

Kou stood still in shock. No way... Is this guy actually worried about me? raced through his mind in a frenzied sort of panic. He couldn't even tell what was wrong with him, how was he supposed to tell Mitsuba?

He accidentally tuned Mitsuba out, thoughts racing through his head. Mostly they were skeptic of the spirit's sudden concern for him, but deep in the back of his mind, he felt a sort of peace. Friends worried about each other. Mitsuba was worried about him.

Mitsuba was his friend.

And despite him being a supernatural, his family's sworn enemy, Kou was friends with him and he wouldn't have it any other way. Even if Mitsuba wasn't human, even if his wish to be human never got fulfilled, Mitsuba was still his friend. And because he was his friend, because they worried about each other, Kou decided.

"Mitsuba! I'm okay! I'm not troubled! I want all your wishes to come true! That's why you don't have to do anything! Just sit back and relax!!"

The bright sun shone through the window onto Mitsuba's disgusted face, and Kou felt like laughing because even if Mitsuba was a supernatural, even if he wasn't human, this was a side he would only ever show to those close to him, and that was good enough.

—

this was really more platonic than shippy, but oh well.