My brain is dead, and I forced myself to write something before March ended. Please tell me if there are any grammar mistakes and such!
I got this idea from a quote by Scop, that went something along the lines of, "I want to make a guy who claims to like knee-highs nervous by buying him an actual pair of knee-highs as a present." And tada, this idea was born!
I hope you enjoy!
"—I just really like knee-highs, okay?!"
It was far from what Haruka expected to hear when he entered a room full of his friends, but it wasn't as if the Mekakushi Dan didn't have their daily dose of odd conversations. This was probably just one of those.
At least, that was what Haruka had thought before sensing the overly uncomfortable atmosphere he walked straight into.
"Sh-Shintaro!" the leader yelled at the shut-in while ignoring Kano's maniacal laughter, ears fuming. Her face was crimson like the rest of the group, with the exception of the infamous deceiver and Haruka.
"You're disgusting, Shintaro," Takane managed to deadpan with crossed arms, the look of the disgust battling her embarrassed expression. Momo nodded in agreement, tangerine orbs switching from the shut-in to the tiled floor.
It took a while for everyone to notice that Haruka was actually present in the room, turning their heads slowly as they acknowledged the kind teenager. Shintaro, in particular, looked like he was a step away from combusting into scorching flames.
"H-Haruka-senpai?!" the black-haired teenager squawked, his pupils dilating. If his face was hot before, it was definitely burning now. Haruka could practically feel the heat emanating from Shintaro across the whole room.
"I-I," Shintaro stammered, everybody's eyes focused on him, "I didn't mean I liked knee-highs, you know? I thought that they might look good on Momo—"
"Excuse me?" his sister growled, ready to punch her good-for-nothing brother in the face. Seto immediately shielded away Mary's ears with large hands, covering up his own blush in the eldest's hair.
"—Haha, d-did I say that?" Shintaro awkwardly laughed, rubbing his neck in a sheepish (or more like, someone, for the love of God, please help me) manner. "What I mean is that, uh, that knee-highs—"
"Okay," the brunet interrupted, a kind smile on his face. "You like knee-highs. They're probably not some sort of snack, right?"
It was everyone else's turn to blink at the brunet still standing at the door frame. Kano ended up to being the one to break the silence; his uncontrollable laughter bouncing off the walls. Tears formed at the edges of the blond's cat-like eyes, doubling over as he slapped his knee repeatedly. Takane, Kido, and Momo soon followed after, but instead of cackling like crazy, exasperated groans escaped their mouths. Even Seto sighed, although Mary's hair was able to muffle it.
A perplexed expression settled on Haruka's face. With a head tilt, he asked, "Eh? Did I miss something?"
When Haruka decided to not play web games for one day and instead searched up what knee-highs were, he was not sure if he regretted his decision or reveled in the idea of these sort of clothes existing.
As he scrolled down the pages of provocative women posing in knee-highs, he couldn't help but stifle the upcoming blush crawling up his neck. Quietly, he closed the browser before making a bunch of incoherent noises, his own hands covering away his face as if it would help stop the embarrassment.
"So," he mumbled, "that's what he likes..."
It wasn't until a few days later, specifically the NEET's birthday, that Shintaro got a package wrapped in lacy black ribbons. It was all too fancy and cute to be something for him, as if it was something Momo had ordered online, but there was no denying the messy handwriting and the scribbly drawings of the Mekakushi Dan on the homemade card.
Reading the card, he let out a genuine laugh, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something in that sketchy box would make him cringe. But, that was silly, of course, because Haruka was the one who sent him this and—
Once he was face to face with the contents of the gift though, he screamed anyway.
It took a couple of days for Haruka to gather the courage to come to the Kisaragi household. The house itself was not what made him nervous but it was what was inside that would. A large but frail hand motioned to knock on the door before pulling back, and Haruka let out a shaky sigh. It was already past six, so maybe Shintaro was eating dinner with his family and he didn't want to intrude so—
The door swung open, and bright orange met jet black. A short girl stood in front of Haruka, being the only barrier between him and the house, and she offered him a grin. "Oh, hey! Are you here to see nii-san?"
Before he could answer, a loud crashing noise boomed across the house, and the two jumped in response. Momo's grip on the door knob tightened, and Haruka had almost thought that she was attempting to melt it with her bare hands.
"W-well," she answered, her tone skittish, "gotta run! There's a sale at my favorite store, so take care of him, 'kay?"
The brunet nodded, his movements slow and robotic. The girl beamed before bringing her neon pink hood up over her head - a force of habit, probably - and bolted off, leaving the confused teen stranded and alone.
Okay, not really stranded and alone, since Shintaro was here… somewhere.
Haruka wandered into the house, like a lost deer traipsing through an open road. As he removed his shoes, he chimed a small, "Pardon the intrusion!," and marveled at his surroundings: chalk-white walls, old floorboards, and the occasional family portrait hanging on walls or sitting on wooden drawers. It was quiet and cozy, yet the house didn't fit how noisy the Kisaragi family was.
At the silent mention of noise, a powerful crash, similar to the one beforehand, resonated in the house, followed by a series of disgruntled groans. A shiver ran down Haruka's spine, and before he even had time to register what was happening, his feet moved on their own accord. Suddenly, Haruka was running up the flight of stairs, catching his breath as he did so, and was already reaching for the bedroom door.
Swinging the door open, he called out, worry etched in his voice, "Shintaro! Are you all righ—"
"Knock first!" the shut-in hissed, cutting Haruka off. He was on the ground, legs up in the air and arms spread out wide. With a reddened face, he moaned, "Please don't look at me right now..."
Maybe if the room was lit up, then he would be able to see what Shintaro was referring to so easily. With a squint of the eye though, Haruka could tell what he meant and instantly blushed at the sight.
Standing before him was Shintaro. And yeah, Shintaro was cute, sure, but this was Shintaro. In black knee-highs. Which Haruka had bought off the internet.
"I-it's all your fault!" the black-haired teen stuttered, pulling down his red sweater to cover up his cola-patterned boxers. "You got me this, and I have no absolute clue why you did. But it was a gift from you, so, uh, I felt bad and wore it. Or I at least tried to anyway! Trying to wear these is harder than you think, honestly. I think you got the wrong size or something—"
"Shintaro?" the brunet interrupted, an unreadable expression on his face.
"... Yeah?"
It was far from what Shintaro expected to hear when the two were the only ones in the room, but it wasn't as if they didn't have their share of peculiar exchanges with one another. This was probably just one of those.
Haruka blurted out, his facial expression sheepish;
"Is it okay if I like knee-highs, too?"
I reread this fic, and it was terrible. Please save yourselves from writing late at night because your brain will be mush.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this fic! If there are any mistakes, please leave a comment or message me!
Have a good day, everybody!