Seasons do come and go. Fall was letting its presence be known, and the wind rose over Samezuka Academy, each gentle whistle of air peeling away at the fond memories of the prior year. Or, at least, that's what our swim club's captain, Aiichirou Nitori, felt.
Another season settling in was another reminder, another day, week, month without Samezuka's finest members of the school's most notable swim team. It was a loss on their part, but also a gain for the junior captain.
A gust of wind batters over the grey-haired teen, and he snugs his wool beanie tighter. Colorful paper lanterns hanging from the eaves of Samezuka's brick arches rattle under the breeze, a sweet touch from the decoration committee, the boy admires. It wasn't a particular bustling day. Aiichirou was hastening back to the dorms, fresh from a personal practice at the pool. A relay was set for the following week, and the duck was not about to get rusty before his trial. In colds hands, the boy clutches a baggy of sakura chips, figuring his roommate might want a little snack fix after staying in their room for the entirety of breakfast, brunch, n' lunch.
'Which was strange,' Nitori thought, since the sophomore he roomed with had the attention span of a peanut.
His loud and boisterous roomie, Momotarou Mikoshiba, could hardly stand still, let alone stay in the same room for more than an hour—sleeping out of the picture. When he'd left, Momo was oddly fixed at his desk, scratching his pencil away at his notebook and studying his pet bug.
'Stag beetle,' Momo's voice internally corrects him. 'Pyuunsuke!'
Nitori inwardly sighs, gently knocking a knuckle against their door to announce his arrival. He enters.
"Momo-kun, I'm—"
"AI-SENPAI," Momo cries in greeting, jumping before his junior like a wild sumo prepped for a brawl. Nitori flinches and blinks, lifting thick grey brows in a mute question. "Pyuunsuke's sick, Ai-senpai!"
"Oh... is that why you stayed in?"
"Yes, yes! And I have the work to prove it!" Momo ambles back to his desk, slapping his composition book open to showcase his hard work and studying. Averse to that, neat work slowly swirled to chicken scratch in the margins, even little doodles of caricatured Pyuunsukes in various spots of the pages.
Nitori scrutinizes the notes with struggling aqua optics, lifting his gaze to the carrot top in wait of his reaction. He offers a sheepish smile. "...Maybe he's lonely?"
Momo's golden optics glaze over dubiously, and he assess his shorter senpai as if he were being challenged.
"Ai-senpai, you think I don't know my Pyuunsuke?"
Nitori's hands fly up, waving frantically. Momo had a way of exaggerating with his bugs, but honestly, he took the specimen too serious sometimes. The boy dispels this with a laugh. "No, no! I never said that! I mean," Nitori approaches the desk, eyeing the stag beetle who was humbly sitting in his mason jar of a home. "He seems awfully sad, Momo-kun..."
"He hasn't been eating his food, either!" Momo cries. "He didn't even touch the fresh melon I put for him... Melon is his favorite, Ai-senpai!" This is followed by a pout and dramatic whimper.
Nitori's fazed visage quickly melts to sympathy for his roommate. As silly as it seemed, Pyuunsuke had become a special addition to their little room. It did a little bruise to Nitori's heart to see his typically jovial friend so hung up over his saddened beetle, and offering uneasy smiles didn't ease his kouhai out at all. So, he draws a puff of air, steps up to the desk and really, really studies the stag beetle. And then it hits him.
"Momo-kun..." Nitori glances over his shoulder, his beauty marked cheek perking under his squint. "I think Pyuunsuke's lovesick."
Momo makes a sharp intake of breath, bolting and hip-bumping Nitori out of Pyuunsuke's field of vision. "Is that it, Pyuunsuke?! You need yourself a lady?!"
Nitori sullenly pouts behind, readjusting his lopsided beanie.
"Ai-senpai!" Momo snaps with a sneer.
"Un?!"
"We have to get Pyuunsuke his mate!"
"His...mate?"
"Yes, yes, yes. And you can help me, right?"
'Another stag beetle to take care of?' Nitori inwardly ponders, mentally kicking himself for voicing his thoughts aloud. He was just trying to comfort Momo, not give the green light to another addition in the room. The boy hums, azure hues darting around the room. He itched at the beauty mark dotting beneath his right eye pensively, avoiding Momo's awaiting gaze.
"...Maybe we should get him a better habitat?"
Momo's jovial expression sank to Nitori's answer, and he puffs out his cheeks in a childish pout. "You're a meanie!"
"Ah!"
Meanie? That was a peg down for his senpai status, and Ai did not appreciate. He folds his arms, adopting a motherly tone. "This is for you to figure out, Momo-kun..." The duck's furrowed gaze drops to the bag of chips in hand, and he extends it to the citrus-haired one before him. Maybe he could put a little bribe out to dispel his answer. "I bought you those sakura chips you like!"
As predicted, Momo swipes the bag out of his hand and marvels it with catlike optics, crooning. "Aweeesome! Arigatou, Ai-senpai!"
Lucky for Nitori, he also happened to room with a huge baby.
It wasn't until 12:00 AM that Momo made his great escape from Samezuka's dorms. He wasn't quiet about it, either. Nothing coming from a Mikoshiba was ever quiet.
The loud clap of their door and 'click!' of the knob is what stirs Nitori. He lazes out of bed, typically neat bob stuck up in tufts. "M'm-kun..." He slurs. "Did you hear..?"
The duck climbs the double-decker's ladder, barely peeking his eyes to his roommate's mattress. To Nitori's discern, no Momo occupied the bed. Just crumpled sheets, a fluffed pillow, and a peach note tagged to the metallic rim of his bed.
went out to find love for pyuunsuke! b back soon!
Nitori's cyan eyes bulge like pen poppers. He let his roommate wander out after curfew. His head would be had if anyone caught him, and the thought of being stripped of a title he'd worked so hard to earn made the boy tremble. The duck quickly scrambles about and out his pajamas, slipping into powder yellow shorts, topped with a key-lime and pink tee. A little duck is stitched to emerge out the breast pocket, and Nitori huffs heroically before snugging a little backpack on.
'Ooowah. Think like Rin-senpai, think like Rin-senpai!' Our little duck chants, fleeing the dorms in search of the escapee. A total Momo thing, so like him to leave Nitori tailing over bread crumbs.
A young carrot head surveys forest grounds, the expanse of grass and trees bordering Samezuka being the perfect spot to catch a lover for his beetle. He hikes the pea green backpack riding over his shoulders higher, a little lantern dangling off a pole protruding from a pocket. Momo's in the zone, scouring the bushes and holding fast to a flashlight. The boy clicks his tongue consistently, a quiet call to the female stag beetles.
Suddenly, a hissed falsetto breaks through the crisp fall air, and Momo turns to see Nitori approaching with a nervous skip in his step.
"Ai-senpai!" He can't resist to disturb the peace of the forest, golden optics glimmering with joy. "You've come to help find Ms. Pyuunsuke!" The boy crows, tossing his flashlight to the grey-haired and crouching again. Nitori struggles to catch it like a hot potato. Momo bobs. "Mrs. Pyuunsuke!" He corrects himself.
"Momo-kun, we're not supposed to be out so late! We'll get in trouble, and—"
"Don't be such a worrywart! Come help me check the bushes over here. I think I saw something scurry!"
Nitori sighs, clicking on the flashlight and trudging to his companion. "Please, let's just go back to our room."
"No freakin' way!" Momo protests, lips pursed in argument. "Stag beetles are nocturnal, and I will not let Pyuunsuke be a lonesome bachelor!"
"Ech..." Nitori cants his head, sweat dotting his cheek as he flares the light off to the trees.
"Maybe we should get two," Momo muses aloud, tapping his chin pensively and crab-walking across the grass. "Stag beetles are spicy creatures, and they like having more than one mate sometimes!"
Nitori sulks. "Oh, that's...unique."
His roommate nods vigorously, a grin breaking off his face.
And with that, the pair begins their little search for Mrs. Pyuunsuke. They scavenge fruitlessly, Nitori crying out false alarms about every time a leaf skitters across his shoe. Momo keeps his head ducked, intent and constantly warbling about anything and everything; the sky, the moon, the stars, and even—
"You think Gou-san will find this romantic, Ai-senpai?"
Nitori stops along a small bush, giving the query a little thought. "She might think of it as very heroic of you. You taking care of Pyuunsuke and offering so much to a beetle..."
Which was, in a sense, true. Nitori thought this awfully kind of Momo to scramble out of his way just to lift the spirits of something so insignificant as a beetle. That was Momo, though. Despite the constant loudness, he was always an encouraging friend and kind boy. He had his quirks, Nitori of all knew...but his passion for the smallest things was moving. His lips shape into a little smile, and he nods. "Maybe."
"All right!" Momo pumps a fist enthusiastically. He returns to busy-body work for a moment before turning to his friend again. "Ai-senpai!"
"Yes, Momo-kun?" the grey-haired lifts his gaze, blinking.
Suddenly, Momo's looking off to the side, twisting the toe of his shoe in the grass bashfully. "Thank you... for coming out to help me," he offers through pursed lips. "It means a lot to me...and Pyuunsuke!"
Nitori blinks doe eyes owlishly before responding with a soft smile, shoulders raised in a little triumph. It was often he ran with along with Momo on his schemes, but only because it was his duty as a senpai. Right? He always appreciated the other's presence, even when he was the most obnoxious. It was a little sweet to know Momo did recognize the effort.
"...hai."
A little rustling disrupts the comfortably prolonged silence between the boys, and Momo quickly whips his head to the noise, hastening to the sound as quietly as he could. That was rendered useless, though, with otter boy's clumsy footing and constant clamor of scavenging tools dangling in and out his backpack. Aiichirou follows in suit, cupping his hands at his mouth and whispering. "Mrs. Pyuunsukeee?"
"Ai-senpai, that's silly. Mrs. Pyuunsuke can't talk, and you'll scare her with your voice." Citrus boy chides in what he thinks passes for a whisper.
Instead of Mrs. Pyuunsuke, a wild raccoon scurries past the boys' feet, and they yelp in surprise, staggering back. Momo rights himself immediately, smacking the back of his hand into Nitori's chest.
"Ai-senpai! It's a raccoon!"
Nitori shakes his head at the boy, blanched and puzzled.
"Raccoons eat stag beetles!"
"...um—"
"Raccoon? Stag beetle? Feast! Put it together, Ai-senpai! That raccoon is looking for food!"
Nitori whimpers, foreseeing a bad idea from the great Momotarou Mikoshiba.
"FOLLOW THAT RACCOON, AI-SENPAI!" Momo darts away, and Nitori is standing in a silent stupor.
"Momo-kun..." He whimpers, dragging his tired legs in haste to catch up with the eccentric ginger.
The duo makes their way after the fleabag, following until they come to a twisting sidewalk that leads back to Samezuka. Nitori skids to a halt, panting vehemently and bending over, clutching his knees.
"M...Momo-kun, wai..."
The sophomore stops in his hot pursuit of the raccoon, which was, by now, too far to be trailed after. He catches his breath within a few seconds, sauntering back to Nitori and patting his shoulder.
"Ahah, don't worry, we'll catch 'im next time!"
To this, Ai sweeps the comforting hand, shaking his head and standing upright. "That's not it, Momo-kun! I'm very tired, and it's so late. We should just go now. We can figure out what we'll do for Pyuunsuke in the morning."
"But, senpai!"
"No, Momo-kun! I'm putting my foot down!" And he stomps.
And he squish.
Slowly, mechanically, the boys look down to the crunch. Nitori lifts his foot, and sure enough, underneath is the corpse of a female stag beetle.
Momo and Nitori lock eyes, slack-jawed. The silver-haired shota finally croaks out.
"I, I'm sure it's not..."
"MRS. PYUUNSUKEEE!" Momo cries, dropping to his knees and clawing hands up to the night sky to express his scorn to this cruel world world and Ai-senpai's cursed top-siders.
Nitori practically squeaks in horror, clutching his cheeks and wiggling his foot out of the weapon of a shoe. He hops away from the crime scene, flailing. "Ah, ah, no! Nooo!"
"NOOOO!" Momo echoes from behind.
After flying away from the incident, runaway Cinderella was being followed moments later. Momo was sprinting to his roomie, flailing in the same fashion Nitori had done when he fled the scene. "Don't worry, Ai-senpai! It was an accident! I know you didn't mean to kill Mrs. Pyuunsuke!"
"Momo-kun, please, don't say I killed Mrs. Pyuunsuke!" Ai's hands fly to his ears, and he pouts loudly to dispel the sound of Momo's raucous voice.
"Manslaughter, then!"
"Momo-kun!"
The klutzy steps of his roomie's sneakers increase in sound as they tunnel through the arches leading back to Samezuka. Nitori's attempts to cloud out Momo's voice lay futile. He incessantly babbled to his senpai, chattering away until finally, he grabs the silver hair's shoulder. "Ai-senpaaaiii!" He whimpers.
Nitori nearly slips backwards, and finds himself face to face with Momo again. It's almost discerning to see so much concern in the boy's gold optics, and he finds himself averting eye contact timidly.
"Look, this stag beetle searching is really your thing, so I should just head back alone..."
"But we're having so much fun, Ai-senpai!"
Nitori's head practically whips back. "Eh?"
"Hunting for stag beetles is fun with you!" The carrot top repeats.
To this, Nitori furrows a brow skeptically, cerulean optics scanning over the individual. What was so fun about tagging along? Did Momo really favor Ai's presence? Why did Ai tag along? Momo had already won over his senpai. Ever since he proved his loyalty to Rin, and the entire Samezuka team. He was a true companion, the best he even had, really. And here he was, a literal smasher of Momo's dreams. He was thoroughly confused as to why Momo would want him by his side, and he remained quiet.
"...Okay," he succumbs, nodding.
"So you'll stay?!" His roommate's eyes light up.
"Hai."
Momo victoriously pumps his fists in the air, bellowing loudly. "YAHOOO! ~"
"But, Momo-kun..." Nitori expels a little sigh, a smile lighting his face to see his friend's childish behavior resurface. "I'm parched. Can we make a quick stop to the vending machine?"
"No need to!" Momo answers, stripping his backpack and pulling out a soda can. He sticks it out to his senpai, eager for the remainder of their expedition.
"Arigatou," Nitori says, snapping open the can.
SPRITZ!
Poor, poor Ai-senpai takes the worst offense, and is mercilessly assaulted by a wave of melon soda. He squeals, dropping the beverage and rubbing his wet face.
Momo stuck in his spot, wincing on the boy's behalf and letting his shoulders droop.
Momo flinches, lips shaping a silent "ooh". He raises a hand to apologize when a loud sniffle sounds before him.
Nitori was making a terrible attempt of holding back tears. Aqua bubbles welled up in the corners of his big, baby blues, and his cheeks were flushed a dainty pink hue. He sniffles again, and the waterworks are beginning to ignite.
But before that can even occur, the most unexpected thing happens: Momo envelops with boy in a tight embrace.
"Un! Momo-kun?" The shorter queries through a stuffed nose, shoulders squeezed under his friend's lock.
"I'm sorry, Ai-senpaaai! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I just wanted to find Mrs. Pyuunsuke, and I ruined your entire night! I'm sorry!" The ginger cries, his voice tight like the last drops of a lemon.
Loud as the other was, Nitori was thoroughly touched by the genuine apology. Momo was hardly one to be rattled, ever, and even hearing an honest apology for something that wasn't entirely his fault moves Aiichirou. His sniffling comes to a slow halt, and he feels an unfamiliar warmth blossom in the pit of his stomach.
'Butterflies?'
Momotarou releases his hold on the smaller senpai, donning a bright n' shiny smile for the other. "Tell you what. We can go grab some breakfast! Maybe some food in your stomach'll help your mood."
"Eh? Breakfast, now?"
"Heheh, what time do you think it is, Ai-senpai?"
"Well... I'm not sure."
"Four AM," Momo laughs, folding his arms with a satisfied beam. "You stayed up with me the entire night!"
"Ah! ...Oh, that's...not like me at all." Ai comments quietly, smoothing his soda slicked hair. He pinches trim ends, grimacing at how much of a mess must have looked like. Truly, he felt disheveled all over, and stepping into a public area looking so trashed did not fancy his taste.
"Don't worry, there's probably no one around at this time, anyway!" Momo echoes his internal commentary.
'...Everyone deserves a friend like Momo-kun...'
"Hai!"
After the boys make entry of the 24-hour breakfast-diner, Momo saunters to the back for Ai's convenience. Quietly, Nitori follows, mazing past the lacquered tables and potted ferns situated towards the back. He does his best to avoid the strange glances from the handful of people occupying the diner, making feeble attempts to fix his mushroom cut hair and veil the fact that he was hobbling with one shoe. His blue-grey locks were sticky and mousy now, like some sugar saturated hairspray.
The pair slides into a corner booth and pick menus from a compartment, skimming over delectables. Of course, Momo had been making commentary about his hankering for some fried eggs and o-j.
'Momo-kun...'
He was such a ditz. And a chatterbox. With zero boundaries. And he'd talk about whatever whenever he felt like, always incessantly rambling about the silliest things. It worked in winning him over, though. Without his permission, a smile forms on the tousled boy's lips.
Momo had a wondrous way of pushing people's buttons and smiles. Especially Nitori, as of late. It seemed that the more time he spent with his roommate and swim club member alone, the more he grew fond of him. He was awfully charismatic, though one wouldn't know, when the ginger seems to strike the most vociferous of impressions all the time. Nitori mentally apologizes for rendering Momo a bigger fool than he really was from the day they first roomed.
"—Ai-senpai! Earth to Ai-senpai, come in, Ai-senpai!" Momo waves a hand before the shota's face.
"Oh! Ah, sorry, Momo-kun. What is it?"
"I asked you what you wanted to order, Ai-senpai," the carrot head laughs, an ear to ear grin plastered on his goofy face. "What's going on in Ai-chan land?" He leans his face into a hand, sneering and batting his eyes shut at Nagisa's nickname for the boy.
The junior puffs a cheek to this, sour. "I was just thinking whether I should get a muffin or strudel," he lies.
"Oh! Mmm, mnnn...strudel!"
Nitori questionably purses his lips. "Do you want me to get strudel because you want to have strudel?"
"Don't be such a meanie, Ai senpai!" Momo dodges. "I'm buying! Since, ya' know, I ruined your night!"
Nitori shrinks with a note of embarrassment, pink tinting his cheeks. "No, Momo-kun, I...had fun. I really did!"
"Wha?! Really?"
"Hai! ...Oh, but I think stepping on Mrs. Pyuunsuke and getting splashed with soda made it less entertaining."
Momo exhales a snicker through his nose, suppressing a barrel of laughter. Nitori just turns a darker shade of pink. "...I'm sorry for that, by the way. I know how much you wanted to cheer up Pyuunsuke."
The orangey boy waves a hand dismissively, an honest and jovial lilt in his voice. "No need to be! I will definitely find another way to cheer Pyuunsuke up! Just watch."
With that, Nitori drops the subject, guilt hanging over him like an anvil the entirety of their conversation. If something happened to Pyuunsuke, Momo would be a wreck. Even though he'd originally caught him for Gou, the sophomore was very attached to his pet beetle. And Nitori had literally crushed its future.
Besides the burden of a bug, Ai and Momo chatter nonstop, and it was so easy to be reeled into Momo's crazy world where everything is in his hands. That's something to really look for in a senpai. Nitori made a mental note to be more of a model for Momo, just as Rin Matsuoka is to him.
At last, their light breakfast was served, and Nitori marveled the perfect muffin he'd ordered. (Momo would have none of it.) It looked to be a cinnamon swirl of sorts with streusel sprinkled on top. The fresh waft of it made the inside of his mouth water, and when he lifted his head to see Momo, the typically boisterous otter was devouring his fried eggs and juice. Nitori smiles at this.
'Slow down, Momo-kun...'
Eventually, the boys make it back to their dorm, partially satisfied from their prior snack at the diner. A half-asleep Momo makes no hesitation to toss his backpack to the side and climb up to bed, ignorant to change out of his daywear.
"Goodnight, senpaaai," he muffles, his lights knocking out with a snort.
Meanwhile, Ai hunches over at Momo's desk, scrutinizing the sleeping beetle that brought them to the situation in the first place.
Two plops of melon sat untouched beside Pyuunsuke. As much of a fan Aiichirou wasn't of creepy crawlies, he sympathizes with the bug. 'I wonder...'
He turns to the sleeping form sprawled above. Momo, so considerate of something so small, just as he is with Nitori. He always encouraged the boy, showered him with compliments, even, and followed along every step of the way. There should be a returning favor, shouldn't there? He had to prove he was worthy of upholding such a title in Momo's eyes. He had to show he could convey the feelings just as equally. After all this time, accepting Momo's praise without even sprinkling a little gratitude felt so wrong. Maybe he could let his actions speak louder than words. Ai checks the clock on his desk: 5:47 AM. This would give him only a few hours to find a beetle by sunrise.
At the base of the bed's ladder, Nitori calls up. "Because it means so much to you...I'll go find a Mrs. Pyuunsuke, Momo-kun! This one's for you."
No response comes, thankfully, and Ai creeps to Momo's backpack. He nabs it, and like the wind, hastens back out of their room.
Hours of fruitless scavenging avenge to victory for Aiichirou Nitori. He'd been about ready to quit, having had the most tedious night, ever. He'd tripped in a bush, gotten chased by a vengeful raccoon, and just when he was getting ready to bawl over his loss—there she was. A lively, little Mrs. Pyuunsuke, teetering up a tree trunk. Ai slowly crept towards her, keeping a firm grasp of his green net. He sweeps and catches the bug deftly, exhaling in surprise of his trophy beetle before carefully jarring her. Ai sniffles, rubbing a fist against his dirt-smacked cheek and continuing his victory trail back to Samezuka's dorms.
But there's big, bad news: students are roaming.
'What, what time is it?!'
Nitori scrambles as fast as he can through the arched sidewalks of Samezuka, tunneling down the halls and avoiding any contact.
'I must have taken too long! Momo-kun, I can't believe I did this! Trying to prove I was an okay senpai! What was I thinking?'
Ai practically flew to his room, akin to a chicken out the coop, the heavy backpack burdening his shoulder blades bouncing with each vigorous step to his room.
Finally, Ai makes it back to the Nitori-Mikoshiba residence, and he enters quietly. The young and disheveled captain shucks off Momo's backpack and slips Mrs. Pyuunsuke's jar out, tottering back to the desk where Pyuunsuke resides. He places the jar on the tabletop and catches his breath.
The night of constantly running and ducking, searching and scouring, tumbling and falling—was it worth it? The junior boy's liquid gaze casts up.
'Did I really do all of this for Momo-kun? Why did I do this?'
It had seemed like a logical idea when he had ran out of their room, but the duck couldn't help but feel an underlying truth in his actions. He relays the past few hours, him and Momo's pursuit of a bug. Momo being perfectly content with conversation, even when his senpai participated out of exhaustion with the other. Even then, the grey-haired found some comfort in the other for being a voice in the void. He finds himself thinking of the way Momo had looked at him, right before the brutal spray of melon soda.
Yes, he is a ditz. Yes, he talks incessantly and yes, he can get annoying sometimes. But, he is Ai's friend and he loves his stupid chattering, and he loves his constant obedience, and he loves his stupid face.
The sun soaking through the window bathes their room in a vibrant peach, and it lingers like a bruise on Nitori's tired lids. His breath catches in his throat, and a swarm of pink invades his cheeks at the realization as to why he felt the needed to do so much nonsense for Momo rose like the morning sun. '...AH!'
"This is not something Rin-senpai would have done," he shakes his head down, expelling a loud sigh and balling pale hands into fists. "I..can't believe I..."
The familiar 'click!' of a bolt interrupts the duck. A bright-eyed Momo slaps the door open, clad in his uniform. Rivulets of water in his shorn of citrus hair tell of a morning shower, and he dashes up to his elder.
"AI-SENPAI! You weren't here in the morning! I thought you'd gotten up earlier than me, so I—wait! Ai-senpai, why do you look so much dirtier than when we got back?"
Aiichirou deadpans briefly to his roommate's clamorous voice so early before another influx of heat dusts his visage. Momo was right, he probably did look like a wreck. His bluish-grey mushroom bob looked like it'd been bulldozed, and it was fairly greasy now. His clothes were caked in patches of dirt, and he still didn't have a shoe!
"Calm down, Momo-kun. I—" Nitori starts, but Momo cuts him off by prodding his cheek with a forefinger.
"Your cheek is scuffed, too, Ai-senpai! What'd you go do?"
The silver-haired mindlessly swats the hand, to which Momo brings back and cradles against his chest, pursing his lips like an injured baby. "Mean!" His voice pinches.
"Momo-kun," Nitori draws a breath, stepping aside to show off the stag beetle he'd worked so hard to catch. "Mrs. Pyuunsuke."
The gingers warbles in excitement, slapping his palms on the desk and rattling the mason jars. "You didn't!" He cries in disbelief, a broad smile popping over his tan features. "Ai-senpai, this is perfect! I can't believe you did this for me!"
"Well, you were really broken up about Pyuunsuke..." The rosy hue lingers in Nitori's cheeks, and his gaze slides to the floor sheepishly. "It's really wonderful that you want so much for something so...insignificant." He alludes, unable to contain a heartened simper.
"Wait 'til Gou-san gets a load of this! ~"
"Eh?!"
"She'll think it's so cool, Ai-senpai!"
"...really." Ai deadpans.
"YES, YES!"
Ai pinches his lips together at this, the innards of thick grey brows pulling up in confusion.
'He doesn't get it.'
"Okay, Momo-kun..." He offers a meek smile, defeated by the other's relentless crush for Gou. "...go show her!"
"I will!" Momo ignorantly agrees, joining Mrs. Pyuunsuke with Mr. Pyuunsuke in the same jar before turning heel. "Wish me luck, senpai!" He salutes, running out the door and leaving the other in a cruel silence.
A sour pang inflates and badumps in Ai's chest, and his big, cyan hues swell with a certain charisma. This was his job as a senpai, after all. To encourage his significant kouhai.
"Good luck...Momo-kun..."
a/n: This story is written to take place after 'Eternal Summer', so it was lotsa fun to write! I ship this to the max, and I totally could not help having poor Nitori tag along with his nightmare of a boyfrie—roomie. Next chapter'll be a sure shooin'. See ya soon!