A little different, perspective-wise, this time around.
Summary: -AU- Mugen's accusation stuck in his throat as he registered exactly who'd crashed into him and what the ultimate result had been. The display that had been off to his left and deposited nearly half its contents onto the aisle floor, and the girl who was now picking them up was way too cute to be real.
Pairing: Mugen/Reader
Warning: Very minor language
Walk by,
So fly,
Yeah,
Listen!
In all the months Mugen had been sharing an apartment, he'd never once had to be the one that got the groceries.
Jin didn't trust him to get all the right brands, or so he assumed, so he provided most of their rent, and his bespectacled roommate bought the groceries on the way home from work every weekend like clockwork.
But the idiot had gone and gotten sick, and now Mugen had been shoved out the door on his day off and told to get exactly what was on the list and nothing else.
Jin had even been desperate enough to hand over cash and tell him that it was exactly a dollar more than what he would need to buy everything, and if he didn't come back with change, Jin would never trust him again.
Not that Jin trusted him as far as he could throw him now, but Mugen got the idea.
The two had winded up moving in together during their first year of college and just never thought to change the arrangement. And even though Mugen hated to admit it, he enjoyed the company.
He'd lived on his own for long enough before then that he really had no intention of going back to it if Jin decided he could live with the current arrangement.
Besides his own concerns, Mugen had made a very drunk Jin confess one night that he sort of liked the company too, and that was enough to make him think twice about just walking out.
What he had thought twice about, though, was coming to the store in Jin's place, and when he'd wondered why they couldn't just have the stuff delivered, Jin had told him that they didn't do that, and Mugen had proclaimed it very, very lame.
So here he was, trying to make up his mind to have at least a little fun here and to mess with Jin's head when he got home.
Or at the very least kick his ass at Halo.
I bumped carts at the grocery store,
Spilled that display things all over the floor,
But now I'm face to face with you,
Girl...
Jin's list could probably have fed an army, except that Mugen recognized several different things that all combined to make Jin's-Super-Secret-Awesome-Stew, so he decided not to complain.
Besides, why deny himself the pleasure of eating Jin's food?
He'd admit to anyone who asked that, yes, Jin did most of the cooking, but whenever they had grilled anything, it was Mugen who took over, and Jin never touched the stuff.
The boys had a strange sort of understanding that they would pick up their own stuff and clean their own rooms, but when it came to things like cooking or maintenance, the larger load would fall to the one who was better at it.
Mugen was halfway through wondering why he always got shunted with the electrical duties when Jin's uncle owned an electrical business, when a cart came around the corner unexpectedly and crashed into his.
The brunette doubled over the handle on his cart, trying to minimize the damage it might do to his stomach, and swore as he looked up.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
Mugen's accusation stuck in his throat as he registered exactly who'd crashed into him and what the ultimate result had been.
The display that had been off to his left and deposited nearly half its contents onto the aisle floor, and the girl who was now picking them up was way too cute to be real.
"I was just in such a hurry I didn't think to look before I came around the corner… Are you okay, by the way?"
Mugen quickly stooped to help her clean up the display's mess, giving you a half smile. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Are you?"
You laughed a little nervously, picking up the last of the display's contents. "Ah, yeah, I am… Again, I'm sorry I ran into you."
He shrugged, hands sliding into the pockets of his shorts. "Nah, it's fine." He looked you over again, dark eyes catching on certain aspects of your appearance as they traveled along.
You gave him a soft smile and then returned to your cart, pulling it back far enough to dodge around him.
He watched you go; hand curling around something in his pocket before he remembered it was a list from Jin. Right. That's what he'd come to do.
He pulled the list from his pocket, cleared his throat, and tried to remember where he'd been headed.
Could it be my eyes deceive,
There stands an angel shoppin' on isle 3,
Heaven must be shampoo…
It took the befuddled brunette roughly a minute and fifty-two seconds to remember where he'd been heading and pull his cart around in that direction.
Seeing you hadn't been in his plan for the day, and now he had to wonder if you came here regularly, or if this was a onetime thing. Had Jin met you? Did you two talk? Was he just being absurdly paranoid and maybe a little creepy?
He conceded that the last might be true, but it wasn't every day a guy was lucky enough to run into such a pretty girl by chance.
When Mugen turned the corner to get the particular type of shampoo Jin demanded he spend extra time and money to get (the man had rights, okay, his hair was long and it took time and care to get it like that; and Mugen respected the fact that he wanted it to stay that way), he wasn't expecting to see you there too.
And if he'd thought you were cute before when you were apologizing, you were positively angelic while you worried your bottom lip between your teeth and looked up at the shelf in front of you.
He tried not to stare at you, he really did, but it was hard to look away when he had a completely legitimate reason to be here and was actually looking between you and the shelves trying to find the right bottle.
And then he spotted it, and let out a small strangled noise.
The bottle, all innocent looking and brightly colored, was even with your stomach and was practically laughing at Mugen as he tried to work out what to do.
He could wait till you left, but that would seem weird, especially if you turned around and saw him. He could just reach past you and snatch it, but it was doubtful his hand would behave on the trip there and back and besides, that was just rude.
So there he stood, trying to work out what the hell he should do about this stupid predicament, when you picked up a bottle, turned to put it into your cart, and saw him.
"Oh, sorry, am I in your way?"
And like a glorious ray of light from heaven, there was his chance. "Not really, I can wait." He grinned.
You smiled back. "Go ahead, that's the only one I need."
He took two steps forward, snaking an arm out to snag the stupid bottle and raised and nodded at you as he put it in his cart. "Thanks."
"No problem!" You zipped out of the aisle and to the left and he had to pull himself back down to reality and consult his list.
He was going to murder Jin for this.
Or buy him a present… He hadn't decided yet.
You break necks when you walk by,
You got wings cause you're so fly,
You don't even have to try,
Baby you got it,
You got it...
Mugen would never have described himself as one of those guys who stalks a cute girl through a store just because she's cute and he can claim it's weird coincidence, but he would have sworn that something was making him follow you unconsciously.
Every time he thought he had it beaten, and there was no way you'd be in the seafood section looking for tilapia fillets of all things, you'd be there.
Just out of the blue, you'd appear from behind a display or emerge from an aisle, and he'd have to turn his head away or actually turn fully away so that you wouldn't notice him, or think he was watching you, because that would be creepy, and he really wasn't doing it on purpose!
It was almost more like you were the one following him around, because he would be minding his own business when you showed up out of the blue.
Of course, there was no way that was possible, so he put the whole thing down to excruciatingly weird coincidence and tried not to look your way whenever he caught a glimpse of you out of the corner of his eye.
And not looking was also excruciating, but in a completely different way.
Living with another guy had its disadvantages sometimes, and Mugen would have been lying if he said not seeing girls wasn't one of them.
Jin had rules about that sort of thing, and if you broke them, he'd throw you out. Simple as that.
And when the rules had first been put in place, it had been the school year and they both had to work their tails off to keep up with classes, so it made sense.
But it was summer now, and on more than one occasion Mugen had flipped Jin off first thing after getting home because he'd been that close to bringing a girl back to their place, and then Jin's voice would sound in his head and he'd feel his spirits sink.
Sometimes rules were stupid and lame and deserved to be thrown right out their third-floor window.
You go bang like a firework,
You got flavor like a desert,
I bet you look good in my t-shirts,
Baby you got it, you got it
You got it girl...
And if there hadn't been rules tying Mugen's hands, he would have walked right over to you and asked you back to his place for dinner, because he knew Jin would be confined to bed and he could show off while letting his friend know he was missing out on both great company and good food.
God, was that tempting.
But Mugen didn't like the idea of Jin making good on his promise of throwing him out, even if you didn't seem like the sort of girl who'd spend the night (which was perfect, because he hated chicks who were too easy), so he kept his mouth shut and his mind on other things.
Things that weren't the way you'd tap your fingers against your thigh in a rhythm as you looked over your list, the way you'd play with your hair as you tried to decide which version of something to pick, or the way he'd occasionally catch snatches of whatever perfume you were wearing as you walked by.
Yeah.
Totally not thinking about those things.
And he certainly wasn't watching the way your hips moved when you walked, or snapping to attention every time you got within twelve feet of him.
And there was no way on earth he was mixing up the things on his list and having to take longer than usual because he had to return them and get the right one.
He was ticking things off the list and doing this errand because he hadn't had a choice.
He wasn't imagining you stumbling out of his room still half-asleep and wearing one of his over-sized t-shirts while you asked him what was for breakfast.
God, so not thinking about that.
I got a crush that's so hardcore,
You're breakin' my heart
Through the slidin' doors
Darling turn around,
Let me talk to you...
Mugen still can't remember how he managed to make it through the rest of the list without either losing his mind or screwing the rules and just begging you to come home with him.
Either way, he managed to make it up to the checkout and looked up at the cashier in time to see you pulling into the line just one over from him.
He groaned, and the cashier looked confused for a moment before he assured the poor woman that it had nothing to do with her.
You had a few items less than him, and sailed off towards the doors before him, his eyes watching you the whole way.
He really needed to work on the staring thing.
He was just finishing up, paying with all but the one dollar Jin had told him he would have left, when he noticed the teller who'd helped you call out.
"Miss! Miss, you forgot one of your bags!"
Inspiration struck him like a slap to the face and he rushed out of the line with his cart and over to the teller. "Hey, does that bag belong to the girl who just left?"
"Oh, yes, do you know her?"
"Yeah," Mugen lied through a smile, "want me to give it to her?"
The relief was evident in the cashier's voice as he handed the bag over and Mugen headed off after you, thanking every god he could think of, every star he'd ever considered even the least bit lucky, and even Jin.
"Hey!"
You jumped at the summons, one hand rummaging in your purse for your keys as you turned to look at him. "Oh, ah, hey…?"
He smiled at the uncertainty in your voice and nearly laughed. "Sorry, you forgot one of your bags, the teller asked if I'd give it to you."
You blinked, peering into the bag he held out to you. "Oh! Wow, thanks, I hadn't realized."
"No problem," his smile got a little brighter as he took a deep breath and decided to just go ahead and try his luck, "hey, I know this is sort of out of the blue, but would you like to go out to dinner?"
You stared at him. "What?"
"Me, you, dinner. Tonight, maybe, or whenever is better for you if tonight is out." He kept his smile in place, even letting it turn into a bit of a cocky grin. It had been a while, but it hadn't been that long.
"Oh, wow, umm…" He nearly melted when you actually blushed. "Yeah, that'd be great."
"Perfect. Okay, I'm going to kiss you now, so don't freak out on me."
"Wait, wha…?"
The rest of your sentence was drowned against his lips as they landed on yours, his hands landing lightly on your shoulders.
"Sorry," he murmured, pulling away with a smirk, "just had to make sure you were real. You had me going there for a while."
You managed a soft laugh as one of his hands slipped into your pocket and left something there.
"That's my number. Call me when you want dinner, I'll come pick you up."
You nodded distractedly as he pressed another hurried kiss to the corner of your mouth and started out the sliding doors.
Okay, he decided, definitely buying Jin a present for this.
That girl,
She got it,
12 on a 10 scale,
Mmm she's flawless,
She got game,
Yep she got it,
Yeah I want it...
Love Mugen to bits, and I love the way this turned out. XD
Also, I love how Jin's had no dialog on in, and this one has quite a bit... *gigglescoff*
The song "You Got It" belongs to: Family Force Five
Samurai Champloo and its related characters belong to: Shinichirō Watanabe
