Something short for a Shinomiya Natsuki x Mikado Nagi moment.
In front of the recording studio, they stood before the petite girl after having just changed from their costumes for their partnered project. Her hair blending in with the light that was slightly peeking out from behind the buildings. She gave them a heart-warming smile and a look of admiration, both of them returning the expression back to her.
"I'm glad to have worked with you both, Shinomiya and Nagi." Her gorse eyes—tinting with celery green—averted shyly to the ground as her soft voice flowed passed her pink lips. Bangs shifted slightly towards the left side of the smaller boys' face as he tilts his head to show his acknowledgment, the cosmos pink strands annoyingly brushing up and tickling the pale skin around his eyes—showing her a cocky smile in the process. The taller figure raises his shoulders as he tilts his head to the side as well, but with a more energetic and delightful motion. His dolly blonde tuft atop his head bouncing slightly with his movement as his own strands adorning his face follow the slant of his tilt.
"It made me happy to be able to sing your song, Nanami!" He cheerfully exclaims, his smile widening with each word. The smaller boy beside him glances towards him with a raised eyebrow, his cocky smile having never left him.
"Ahh, I guess I didn't hate being around you two." The pink-haired boy shrugs nonchalantly as an ooze of confidence and playfulness leaks out from his words with his smug expression enhancing his small facial features, earning a chuckle from the blonde male.
The girl nodded to them in acknowledgment before looking down at her watch and slightly jumping—her expression changing to that of realization and her mouth opening slightly with astonishment.
"It's already this late…! I should probably head back." She looks to them with furrowed eyebrows and an apologetic smile—her orange and green-like eyes hinting her want of staying with them longer. With all the duet projects and the Triple S composition requests she was given from Shining Saotome, she's barely given time to actually sit down and hang out comfortably with her friends.
"Thanks for everything, Nanami." The blonde looked at her in understanding as he softly let out a reassuring confirmation that it was alright for her to leave.
"Yeah, the song you made for us was great. Of course, I made it greater with how cute I am!" The smaller one out of them let out with that usual snarky tone of his and a wink. That earned him another chuckle from the blonde and after his small giggle died down, the girl decides to wave them goodbye before walking away from them.
The blonde glances to the boy next to him with his usual smile, the smaller male looks up at him with a raised eyebrow and slightly pouting lips as he crosses his arms uncomfortably. He had no clue as to why the older male was staring at him so it wasn't as if he had idea on what to say to break the confusion and awkwardness he was feeling—they stood there like that for a couple of seconds, it didn't take him long before he gave up on being patient.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He bitterly says, trying his best to show how irritated the older male was making him—shifting his body to turn towards the taller male as the back of his wrists are placed against his thin hips. Apparently the unchanging face he was glaring at right now proved his efforts were done in vain.
"Nagi, I really enjoyed this duet project with you. Would you mind joining me to some ice cream?" He flashes the smaller boy another wide smile as he gingerly requests for his company. Pink strands sway against his forehead as he averts his eyes, his pout staining his lips as his eyebrow twitches. But, the uncertainty within his eyes twinkle—how can he turn up the offer to get a sweet meal around this time? If he was back at the Raging Entertainment studio, he was sure Kira or Eiichi would decline his want of something sugary and sweet before dinner. His shoulders slant down as his arms sag slowly beside his frame, a soft sigh escapes his small lips as he stands up straight—his eyes avoiding making contact with the man in front of him.
"Huh? Well, you have to pay then! You're the one that asked anyways, so I won't pay a single dime, got it?!" He crosses his arms once again and huffs in a very childish-like manner. He hears chuckling again and his body slightly tenses. He gently chews the inside of his cheek as a certain chill of nervousness subtly fills the air within his lungs. The man chuckling at everything he does is somewhat unnerving to the smaller boy, but he refuses to let his uneasiness show for whatever reason.
"Heh, of course!" As if he caught some sort of smiling disease as a kid, his lips curve upwards again—earning a small growl from the boy for his cheeky attitude. Natsuki starts walking, taking the lead naturally seeing as he's the only one that knows where to go and that he was also the one to offer Nagi the invitation so it would only make sense. Each step he takes was more like a skip, making the other second guess his decision and to thoroughly believe that maybe the guy he's following at this moment could be more odd and unnerving than Eiichi Otori.
His axolotl grey eyes widen as he sees the big sundae cup in front of him. He wasn't expecting it to be filled to the point it almost reached his chin from where it stood on the table. Nagi was used to getting almost everything he wanted, including how much he wanted and the quality of the thing He has the confidence to guarantee that HEAVENS lived in luxury and anything less than a fancy and big life wouldn't do, but being constantly denied certain cravings—his appetite and mind couldn't help but have— due to the idea that everyone in the group should be on a specific diet was something he would gladly live without within his 'fancy life'. Without hesitation, he picks up his spoon and gobbles down—in a brazen manner—on the sweet, cold meal.
Every now and then, he'll crunch forward and tightly grasp at his head with both hands—groaning in pain before shaking away the frozen feeling within his head to hastily spoon up more scoops of his frozen treat. Every spoonful that he sloppily shoves in his mouth engraves its flavor on his tongue, a frivolous smile allows itself to embellish his features—rather than his usual snarky grin or cocky smile—before the flavor unsatisfyingly dissipates from his tiny taste buds. His desperate attempts to constantly rekindle the spark of sweetness before it dies down makes Natsuki let out a chuckle each time. With his elbows rested on the table and his cheek lazily resting within his big, pale palm—he watches the smaller boy sitting across from him as he mindlessly stirs his already melted sundae.
At some point, his hand stops moving as he finally hears one of those small chuckles from the blonde male. He quickly—and painfully—gulps down the big scoop within his mouth before retracting his hands away from the sundae cup and placing them on his lap. Clutching his hands into fists as he sheepishly averts his eyes to the ground, gritting his teeth lightly as his eyebrows furrowed downwards. His disposition changes within a mere few seconds as his shy gaze switches to a glare directed towards the male across from him.
"What are you laughing at, huh?!" A light shade of pink adorning his cheeks with the sudden realization of his quick shy response. Embarrassment for his manner up until now flaring up inside him to fuel his dislike of the childish treatment he usually gets, or at least that's what he assumes that's what the man is inwardly snickering about. With the sudden change of expressions and moods before his eyes in a split second, he lifts his face up from resting upon his hand and looks at the young male in puzzlement.
"H-Huh?" Confused about the younger's quick retort, he blinks a couple of times in response. Nagi growls unsatisfyingly at the male, there was no way the older male was playing pretend right now. He believed he wasn't and that he truly might be confused, but that only makes things more frustrating to him.
"You...You keep silently laughing over there everytime I eat!" He states. Again, he just blinks at the boy perplexingly before something clicked. Taken aback that something so small could easily offend the boy, he only lets out stutters as his mind races to figure out something to say and justify his action.
"I...You were smiling like a kid, though…" Natsuki says softly, as if nothing was wrong with it. Of course, Nagi takes it the wrong way as he scoffs at him. He immediately stands up and slams his hands down at the table as his eyebrow twitches in frustration.
"I may be young, but I'm not a kid!" His voice shows exactly how defensive he is about being called a kid. That only surprises Natsuki even more and he quickly starts to panic inside. The last thing he wants to do is get the smaller male upset.
"Wh-Wha..?! That's not what I mean, Nagi!" He hurriedly says, thinking that if he let even one second pass without clearing things up, the boy might really be mad at him later on. A few seconds of awkward silence before Nagi's shoulders slump and he quietly and calmly sits back down, putting his elbow up on the table and resting his chin within his hand.
"Eh? Then what do you mean?" He stares at the man through half-lidded eyes with a boring, yet slightly annoyed, expression. With the change of mood and attitude, Natsuki beams up.
"Nagi's smile was so big and bright when eating ice cream! I couldn't help but laugh with happiness." The smaller boy's cheeks stain with a soft shade of pink once more—he straightens his posture and he stares wide-eyed at the male in bafflement and discomfort.
"EH?!" He yells out, his mind unable to come up with any other response for the male. Natsuki chuckles for was it the fifth time now? And shows Nagi one of his brightest smiles, making the boy lean back into his chair in what seems like an attempt to put more distance between them. As he stares at the older male in astonishment, he can see a hint of sadness within that bright smile of his. His demeanor changes quickly again.
"Thank you. For everything. From when we met up until now." His usual gleeful voice says in what could be a soft whisper. The pink-haired boy sits awkwardly in silence as he tries to put together this sudden appreciation. Feijoa green eyes glance to the melted sundae in front of them on the table, the cold liquid sliding down the cup.
"I thought I knew myself. But, I did feel like I was missing or lacking something in the back of my mind. You've helped me find my other self and I grew from that." He plays with his sundae, stirring it around and scooping bits of it before slightly tilting his spoon to let it all spill out back into the cup. Nagi continues to sit in silence, not knowing what to say or do. But, his expression did seem more relaxed as he analyzed every word.
"I actually thought we felt the same, Nagi. During our meeting for the duet project, I felt like you understood me as soon as you saw me." The boy's lips part slightly as he hears this, his eyes widening a bit before promptly looking towards the ground through half-lidded eyes. A small sense of guilt plagues his mind for a bit as he gently bites down on his lower lip. When the boy first met Natsuki, his teases and flaunts were merely a way to entertain himself.
At the beginning, he can't deny that the small piece of information he found when he was researching the male after his unusual and chilling meetup with his unexpected personality was seen as the start of a game for him. He did want nothing more than to be a vexatious tease, seeing how far he can go with one of the members of his idol group rival. But, as he realized the longing, the loneliness and the pain he was causing—his mindset slightly shifted to slightly favoring on helping the helpless older male out. He knew that the man's other persona wouldn't have liked his plan or at least his way of doing things. And he would admit—to only himself of course—that his actions and words were unnecessary and uncalled for. He was too harsh, rushing the man to recognize and accept. His mouth opens up, signalling that he wants to speak up. But, he closes it immediately after the blonde cuts off his attempt on speaking.
"I can see the same doubt and look of uncertainty within the glint of your eyes." His voice is becoming more firm as if he's stating his assumptions of the boy's worries is a fact. His small figures grasp the hem of shirt in desperation as the sentence echoes in his mind. 'Doubt? Uncertainty? Am I lacking something as well and haven't figured it out yet?' He swallows the lump building up in the back of his throat. Despite not speaking for majority of Natsuki's speaking time, his mouth has somehow become dry. The collected saliva uncomfortably made its way back down and the dull pain made him wince slightly. Or was he wincing from the realization that what Natsuki is saying may be true?
"When you think no one is looking, you have this sort of blank expression on your face and I can tell a dark air forms around you." Nagi makes a discreet startled jump at the implication that he's not truly himself as he'd like to believe. `Is my denial some sort of tell-tale sign?' Each word that comes out of Natsuki's mouth makes the smaller boy question himself more, to the extent he feels this may be some sort of tease or joke the blonde is getting a kick out of as a way of getting back at him for his troublesome attempts at him within the start of their work together. But, when he glances up at the male to read his expression for confirmation, all he can see is a sorrowful smile and worried eyes. His grip on his shirt only tightens.
"Nagi, I feel like you might be in pain. The same sort I felt when I would always black out and come back without understanding a single thing. Something is missing in you, isn't there?" He softly questions the small boy. Why was this man questioning him so much? The first—and only question that should even be on his mind— is why he helped this man to begin with, that was beyond even him. But, here he is, facing more questions before and just as hard as the first one. The more he thought about it, the less clear it seemed. Despite barely knowing each other, there was the need to lend a helping out. Perhaps he did have the sense of understanding Natsuki was talking about—maybe he knew the feelings himself all to well and felt slightly more connected to him because of that, thus making him want to help him boy starts to feel fearful and he timidly starts shaking his head, gradually shaking away the trembling sensation.
"Ha! Don't be ridiculous! As if I'm missing anything or being lackluster. I'm the cutest idol not only in HEAVENS but in the world! How could I be anything less than flawless?" He tries to let out a loud chortle, but only a nervous and feeble snicker leaves his lips, catching himself off guard. Natsuki looks at him in a daze, doing the `I'm so confused` rapid blinking. Nagi pushes his faintheartedness away and pulls off another one of his arrogant smirks, his presumptuous attitude leaking out from within him as he crosses his arms and gives the blonde a look of triumphant. He makes a sneak peek at Natsuki and unfolds his arms, raising an eyebrow as he puts a hand on his hip. He clears his throat as a hint of bashfulness reflects quickly within his stare before vanishing before the older male could even make out what it could mean or even be.
"Just so you know...I only said and did those things so the duet project would succeed. Every member of HEAVENS, their duet projects went well and I wanted to make sure I did just as good if not better than them." He mumbles out timidly, trying to project assurance into his tone. Natsuki dwells on the pink-haired boys exact words. The smaller boy quickly changing his bashful worried expression to impatience and doubt. `Did he even understand a thing I said?' He lazily stares at the man before noticing the curve of his lips.
"Nagi, you're so cute~!" He beams as what the boy would define as mystical warmth radiates from the blonde male. He was quick to lean back in his seat and stare at him in surprise. He can hear his heart thumping loudly in his ears as a wave of insecurity lingers within the bit of stomach. He was used to so many people calling out to him and declaring him as the cutest. But, everytime Natsuki says it, he feels slightly flustered and it genuinely frustrates him. If it was anyone, he would look at them with self-reliance and make snarky remarks about how he's the best. Perhaps it's the fact whenever he sees Natsuki look at him, there's an air of authentic admiration around him and unadulterated adoration within his flashing smile even after seeing what would he claim are his ugly and worst sides of him.
"I-I already know that!" Nagi hugs himself tightly as if that will put up some sort of invisible wall between them, he averts his grey eyes to his half empty sundae cup and watches it melt even more as a way to distract him. `He almost read right through me and now he's making me flustered! Ugh!` He shuts his eyes tightly as his cheeks a deep shade of pink, the heat rising to ears becoming unbearable and his hope of the feeling going away or at least being ignored by the close of his eyes would quicken either wishes. It proved to work as he hears a soft chuckle and then metal clinking right after.
He slowly opens one eye to take a peek at the other male, his shoulders relax when he notice he's staring at his now liquified ice cream and is scooping it up like soup. The breath he didn't know he was holding releases as he lets out a quiet sigh. He slouches in his seat as he examines the blonde happily takes spoonful sips of his ice cream. So many questions were asked today and there were no answers. Nagi did feel he was close to answering the first one though: why did he try to help Natsuki? As much as he'd hate to admit, he did feel the connection between the man, he did feel they had the same sort of aura. But, him being Nagi, he could never allow such things to be let out on the surface. No, everyone viewed him as either upbeat and cheerful or snarky and self-centered. He shouldn't have felt any concern or worry for someone that was considered as one other rivals for HEAVENS, but he did. He was brought back after being lost in thought by the content sighing from the blonde male. An unnoticed soft smile adorns his small and pale face as he mindlessly focuses on the man across from him.
`As long as he okay and he doesn't know a thing, then it's all fine.`
Small Rant: I honestly felt like Nagi has been misunderstood by so many since the beginning. Yeah, we don't really know much about him. If you think about it, many members of HEAVENS did help some members of STARISH face some of their problems in the long run and helped them grow. And what Nagi said about "only doing this because I want to succeed" thing sounded a bit tsundere-ish. You could see he was hinting on wanting Natsuki accept all of himself by realizing and acknowledging Satsuki to become a more fulfilled person and to become stronger by overcoming the fear and pain he felt from his past despite not really remembering it all before because of Satsuki.
Or maybe I'm only saying this in attempt to defend him because I was one of the very few (or what seems like one of the very few) that liked and got attached to Nagi when he was first introduced.