Part one- In which strangers are kind
At first when he saw him he wasn't sure what to do, because asking if he needed help implied he didn't think he could do things for himself, which wasn't true, but then to assume he was okay and walk past might seem callous if he was struggling. He debated with himself only for a couple of moments, noticing the other shivering and making a decision, because he had to be stuck, why else would he be sat in the middle of the street by himself?
"Hey, um, not to be presumptuous or anything, but are you okay?"
"Well, not really, the pavements here are terrible, I'm a bit stuck," he sounded a little sheepish, and Mizuki thought it was rather an obvious statement, because he'd tripped more than once on an uneven paving slab or stepped off a pavement only for it to be abnormally high and almost send him toppling. Navigating them in a wheelchair was not something he'd much enjoy doing.
"Thought as much, you need a hand?"
"Well I'd prefer some legs, but yeah, a hand works."
He wasn't sure if he was meant to laugh at that but he did anyway, a half-hearted sort of chuckle because for all he knew the boy was 100% serious and he'd just basically laughed at his self-pity and his apparent disability. "Where are you trying to get to?"
"Well I wanted to go to the convenience store on the next street, I know they have a ramp, I didn't really think much about actually getting there. But… I think I just wanna go home now."
"Okay, so where's home?"
"Just off Aoyagi street, in the Old Residential District, it's only like ten minutes away, on foot anyway."
"You didn't get far then," he remarked, feeling only a little awkward as he stepped forwards, looking over the smaller front wheels and noticing one of them had fallen into a hole in the pavement, almost the perfect size for it. That explained the reason he was slightly lopsided in the chair then, knowing he wouldn't really be able to help without lifting him out, listening for his response as he bent down a little at his side, knowing he was being watched as he gripped the chair and easily lifted him out.
"Not really, oh, I feel stupid, I knew it was a bad idea… Just, my brother's always saying I need to try and get out more and do things for myself," he looked horribly guilty as Mizuki got behind him, focusing on pushing him in the direction of home, having noticed already how sore and red his hands looked where they'd spun the wheels.
"Hm, is it a new thing then? The chair?"
"Oh no, I've been in one most of my life, I just usually go places with people, I think he got a bit sick of having to go everywhere with me."
"How come he didn't come with you tonight?"
"He's at work and my Grandma was out, I messaged him telling him I was stuck but he won't be done for another hour."
"That sucks, so how long were you just sat there?"
"Nearly half an hour."
"Seriously? But it's kinda cold out, didn't you have anybody else who could get you?"
"Yeah, I guess I put it off a bit, I sort of thought I could work it out myself, didn't go so well." Mizuki smiled then, huffing out an amused breath and wondering if he'd been scared, stuck there in a fairly quiet street and with night slowly setting in, cold and basically unable to get anywhere "Oh, it's this way."
He steered him right accordingly, and they fell quiet for a couple of streets, the boy just pointing him in the right direction and checking his coil once, reading a new message and not bothering to respond, just tucking his hands into his hoodie pockets and trying to hide a shiver.
"Oh, I just realised I never asked, what's your name?"
"Sei."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Mizuki," he paused then, actually stopping and Sei looking up at him with a little confusion, bartender turning to work out where they were and tilting his head to the side. "You know, if you live where I think you do there's a convenience store like a street away, its 24 hour too."
"Really? I live on Hanabira street."
"Yeah, it's on the next street, it's really new though, only opened a couple weeks back. I'll show you if you want? I think you'd be able to get there easy."
"Does it have a ramp?"
"Nah, doesn't need one, no steps."
"Oh," it was obvious he was surprised, maybe a little pleased, and he knew he wanted to know where it was even before he responded. "Well, I mean if you don't mind. It feels a little unfair for me to take up this much of your time."
"I don't mind at all, what's unfair is that you can't even go to the store by yourself without getting stuck on crappy pavements."
"Well I guess I'm-" But then his coil rang and he answered it, shrill, alarmed voice coming out of the speaker and Sei actively flinching even as Mizuki did his best to pretend like he wasn't listening to every word, not that he had much choice.
"Sei! Where are you? Are you still stuck? I can't believe you went out without me, and at night! What if something had happened? Haga-san says I can leave work to get you, where are you?"
"Aoba, relax, I'm fine."
"Are you home?"
"No-"
"Then you're not fine! You must be so cold, your doctor's going to go crazy!"
"Aoba shut up! I said I'm fine, somebody's helping me."
"Huh?"
"My wheel got stuck in a crack but somebody came by and lifted me out, he's taking me home, I'm fine."
"Sei! What if he's a creep?"
"Aoba, I'm pretty sure he's not a creep," he paused then, ignoring his brothers alarmed squarking and turning apologetically to regard Mizuki who had one amused eyebrow raised, not sure he appreciated his character being questioned. "You're not a creep, are you?"
"I'm going to say no."
"He's fine, Aoba, I'm fine. He just saw me stuck and offered to help, I'll be home really soon, okay?"
"If you're sure."
"Positive, look, I'll ring you the minute I get in, alright?"
"Video call me so I can see you're okay."
"Yeah, whatever you want, okay? Now go back to work."
"Mm, and you! Lay a hand on my brother and I'll kill you!" With that he hung up, and under his mixture of indignation and amusement he could see Sei actually hunch into himself, seemingly mortified at his brothers ending statement, voice endlessly apologetic and nibbling his lip nervously when he turned to see him.
"Sorry about him, he's really protective of me, he wouldn't actually kill you."
"I did assume that, but hey, this is your street, right?"
"Yeah, that's my house there," he pointed it out and they rolled right past, Sei not too alarmed by that given Mizuki's promise to show him the 24 hour store, knowing they'd be coming back soon enough anyway and certain he wasn't creepy at all, in fact he seemed genuinely nice.
"Alright cool, the stores just around... Here!" They turned the corner, and there it was, glowing with bright light and as promised, without a step in sight, large glass sliding doors right at street level and the pavements all the way there completely without bump or crack, perfect for him to manoeuvre by himself. "Pretty cool right? And I know you said you just wanted to go home, but I'm pretty sure that was a lie and you really want to buy delicious snacks or whatever."
"How perceptive," he smiled then, because the only reason he'd said he didn't want to go to the store anymore was because he hadn't wanted to inconvenience his helper, also he felt so defeated he just wanted to crawl into bed and pretend he was just like everybody else. "But I can take it from here, thanks."
"Sure thing. Not to be creepy but I do want to buy stuff so I'm not just following you."
"Right, good to know," he grinned then, rather glad to be back in control of his own chair, not that he minded being pushed much, but sometimes he felt like he was just being shoved around wherever and his wishes weren't being taken into account. Also now he could be beside him as they walked into the store, both of them going in different directions at the entrance, Sei almost sure Mizuki would insist on making sure he got home okay, he seemed like that kind of guy and he was just glad somebody so nice had helped him.
He knew exactly where he was going, heading straight to the freezers at the back, locating the ice-cream flavour he wanted, then sighing because there was no way he could reach it without standing up, which he of course couldn't do. He had two options, ask the staff for help and deal with their awkwardness towards him, leave without it and deal with two disappointments in the same day or-
"Sei? Why are you glaring at that freezer?"
"Oh, I can't reach what I want," he explained, not even surprised when Mizuki stepped neatly in front of him as he wheeled back, opening it and waiting for instruction. "The chunky monkey, on the top shelf."
He plucked it out easily and Sei took it with a quiet thank you, rest of the visit passing smoothly, paying easily and glad the counters here weren't so stupidly high as they were in some places, exiting with Mizuki behind him, having purchased his own items at the other till. He waited for him to speak, to come up with some excuse to see him home, and had to hide a smile when he immediately did exactly as he expected.
"I'm heading this way anyway, may as well make sure you get in okay so your brother doesn't try to skin me or something."
"Oh yes, he's a big fan of skinning," Mizuki laughed at that, his bag rustling in his hand and Sei's ice-cream cold on his lap, at his street in mere minutes and Sei feeling significantly better than he had when he'd first been discovered, glad things had worked out okay. They paused outside the front, Sei turning so he could see Mizuki properly, "thank you, Mizuki, it was really nice of you to help me."
"Sure thing, I just hope it doesn't happen again," Sei looked a little confused then and Mizuki clarified, smiling lazily. "You getting stuck, not me helping."
"Oh, right yes me too. But thank you."
"Mm-hm, anytime, have a good night, Sei." He grinned then, clapping a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner and waving as he strode off and Sei wheeled up the ramp, reaching into his pocket for his key and just looking forward to getting in, putting on a movie and eating his entire tub of ice-cream.
He'd just put his key in the lock when the door burst open so violently he almost fell out of his chair, key yanked out of his hand and blinking in alarm as Aoba's worried face met his and he just knew he was going to freak out.
"Sei! I was so worried about you! I ran here from work what took you so long? Are you alright? You're icy cold!"
"Aoba- I-" But then his brother shoved his head past him and out of the door, all but shoving his crotch into his face as he leaned right over him, something that had always bugged Sei a hell of a lot, stranger or not.
"Is that the guy?"
"Yeah," he answered a little reluctantly, because the second Mizuki had heard his brother yelling he'd broken into rather an awkward jog, presumably trying to escape before he got grilled again but face to face this time.
"Was he creepy?"
"Not even a little bit."
"Oh good," then he'd shoved his face out the front door and was yelling before Sei could do more than hide his head in his hands, utterly mortified at how dumb his brother was, wishing he'd warned him beforehand how late it was and that it was really no time for yelling. "THANK YOU!"
There was the briefest pause in which Sei could almost feel the annoyance of his neighbours, then Mizuki yelled back and he snorted, "YOU'RE WELCOME!"
Part two- In which friends know when you're lying
Then they finally arrived, Aoba having taken over for the last stretch where the pavement got a little bumpier, Sei very grateful for it as his arms were starting to hurt, having not really been such a long distance before. But finally the restaurant came into sight and his heart dropped into his shoes, knowing that he was going to spoil everything and deciding to feign indifference even as he felt so disappointed he could almost cry. "Oh, it's got stairs. We should go somewhere else."
"Sei, we came here especially for our birthday, Noiz has had it booked for weeks."
"Yes but I can't get in, what do you want me to do? Drag myself along with my arms?"
"Of course not! Just- Ugh, this is such bullshit," he sounded genuinely angry and Sei blinked in surprise, placing his hand on his arm, trying to soothe him and voice calming, noticing Ren and Noiz watching them curiously, waiting to see what they would decide.
"It's fine, we can go somewhere else."
"But you've been looking forward to it for weeks!"
"I know, look, I'm sorry okay? Why don't you just go? I don't mind just going home."
This was when Noiz moved, Koujaku having approached while they were talking, greeting hand lowering as he took in the situation and frowned at the stairs that led to the restaurant as if they had personally offended him. Sei didn't even have time to register what he was doing before Noiz was right in his space, putting a hand on his shoulder he assumed was meant to be comforting, "sorry about this, Sei."
But then suddenly he'd picked him up and he yelped in alarm, clinging onto his neck and not sure whether to glare at him or not, just noticing how gentle his grip was, as if he was afraid he might hurt him. "Noiz! Wha-"
He entirely ignored his questioning speech, just turning to the others, "Ren, can you get his chair?"
"Understood," he just nodded, and Sei watched with wide, surprised eyes as he and Koujaku picked it up neatly between them, Noiz forging a path up the stairs and Aoba jogging ahead to hold the door open for them.
So that was how they filed in, the woman at the entrance looking alarmed for a moment, at least until she saw the wheelchair and went a little pale, Sei glancing up at Noiz to see he was all but glaring at her, as if it was her who hadn't installed a ramp.
"Table for five, name's Seregaki."
So he let Noiz carry him to the table, glad the place was mostly empty and the majority of nosey diners turning away with ashamed cheeks as Ren wheeled the chair along behind them, their odd party being seated and the waitress removing one of the seats so he could be carefully put back into his wheelchair.
"Noiz, what was that?"
"Now we can all eat here," he answered shortly, but the annoyance in his face was clear and Sei felt a little damp eyed, Koujaku beaming as if it had been his idea and Ren doing that odd habit of squirming when he was happy. Aoba just squeezed his hand under the table, examining the menu and remarking excitedly how nice everything sounded, Sei thoroughly happy to just be there since he'd never have managed it by himself, there was one slight issue though.
"Next time you want to carry me somewhere please ask instead of just manhandling me."
"Right. Sorry," he looked mildly guilty, and Sei supposed he now felt terrible for having just carted him around like he didn't have his own issues with that, cheeks turning pink when he just shifted a little so he could kiss one.
"Thank you though," then Aoba made a joke about Sei stealing his boyfriend, and Koujaku responded saying nobody would want to do that, and things were back to normal, and if the waitress was a little too nice and brought them complimentary sake, they pretended they didn't notice.
