Another piece for the 365 Days of Mikayuu project on Tumblr. Yuu's POV is so fun to write, I love it and I love him (and Mikaela too).
It's a fourshot, and the last piece will be uploaded on the 16th of April. :) Hope you all like it!
Lettuce Be Friends!
Summary: Yuuichiro Amane loves guinea pigs. And visiting the guinea pig shelter. And maybe the shop's super cute manager, Mikaela Shindo. What could happen? [Written for the 365 Days of Mikayuu Project 2018]
Every afternoon, just before the sun sets red and Yuuichiro Amane is finished with his four-pm university class, he rushes over through the bustling town streets, makes a sharp right, and stops by the display window of the third shop to his left. It's secluded from the rest of the town, the kind of alleyway one wouldn't want to traverse at the dead of the night. Beyond the shop, however, is a jovial wonderland — plastic balls of different sizes stored beside a full shelf of supplies, co-inhabited glass containers and warm colours. Yuu's brilliant green eyes light up. With his face and hands against the separating glass, he watches, yearning deeply to go through the doors; of holding, pampering and caring for the little bundles of joy.
And he'd be lying to himself, perhaps even blind, if he said the owner of the guinea pig shelter wasn't a total cutie. He couldn't be older than Yuuichiro, with his kind smile, pretty eyes and venerably calming presence. Soft blond locks line the sides of face, the rest of his hair either tied behind him in a loose ponytail or covered by a new bandana every day. Mikaela Shindo, Yuu thinks his name was. He's never gotten close enough to be able to read the name tag pinned on the man's chest, but he'd heard it from the girls who came in and went occasionally.
Tch. The lucky bastards. Of course they'd stop over from whichever place they've come from, finding this specific dead end of the city, pretending to be interested in the guinea pigs just to be able to talk to the manager. Why, if Yuu could only take their place—
He huffs, shaking his head to clear his imaginative thoughts. Residing in the bottom display container, a ginger guinea pig with dollops of white by its hind legs and rear sniffs at the wood shavings surrounding its territory. When it looks up at him, Yuu's hardened heart melts and he drops to its eye level— so pure, so precious. Adorable little thing.
Truly, Mr-Pretty-Face is only a bonus of his afternoons. Yuuichiro stays because he loves guinea pigs, and when he'd heard they'd replaced a decrepit shoe store for a fresher, much homelier pet shelter, he just knew he had to come by every day.
"Back again this afternoon? You are free to come inside, you know. I tell you this everyday." he hears a young man speaking to him. Yuu turns to his left and shrugs at Mikaela, the latter poking his head through the opened door. He's dressed in red today (It looks sort of good on him? Yuu's mind provides for him) and the white bandana he's wearing is decorated in a blue, pink and yellow-patterned print.
"I'm fine here, thanks." he replies curtly. It's a lie. He wants more than anything to be at the center of the shop, flitting to and fro each glass container while he fills up the guinea pigs' bowls to the brim.
Mikaela nods once, seeming to understand. Yuu is grateful that he's not being shooed away; not today or on the other days. Heck, if another, less kind individual was looking after the shop, he'd be dubbed a loiterer and a creep, simply staring inside from the display window for three or so hours. A low-quality poster of his face would be plastered on the door — four simple words indicting him of his crime. This Guy is Banned.
The sweet-natured Mikaela would never do that to him, though.
"You're always outside," the blonde manager points out the obvious, leaving the shelter momentarily to converse with him. "Don't tell me you're one of those guys who hates being associated with cute pets because of some societal-driven image?"
"No!" Yuu argues. "No, of course not, the heck if I care what people think of me."
"Then come in." Mika gestures to the door with a tilt of his head. "I can show you the ropes? I've been aware of you enough to know how much you love guinea pigs. I would know. It's been a dream of mine for a long time to be managing a pet shelter of my own."
Sweet-natured Mikaela, heaven sent and suddenly one of Yuu's closest allies. It's a tempting offer, but before he can disagree or think hard about it, Mikaela grabs a hold of one of his hands and drags him in.