When Mirio made it back to his apartment, he took off his jacket before flopping down sideways on the couch, settling into the cushions with a content yawn. It had been a long, long day. He'd worked two hours worth of overtime that day, and on the way home had run into Tamaki, new to the city and completely lost. There was no way he could've just ignored someone who clearly needed help, and it turned out to be a plus that he was living on the floor above him.
He was just starting to drift off when the loud ringing of his phone startled him awake again. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and grabbed the phone from his pocket to check the caller ID. It was Nejire Hado, one of his closest friends from high school. He yawned and stood up before answering her call, holding the phone with his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
"Mirio!" She chirped as soon as he answered. "I have the bestest news ever!"
"Really? What is it?"
"It's Yuyu! She asked me to marry her! It was super romantic and everything, we went to the park and while I was feeding the ducks at the pond, she backed up but when I turned around to see what she was doing, she was kneeling on one knee, and she had a ring and then she asked me to marry her!"
"Are you serious? That's amazing, Hado! I'm so happy for you guys!" He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and set it on the counter, leaning against the wood as he listened to his friend ramble on about the huge event.
"I know! I'm so happy! We haven't really talked about when the wedding will actually be, but I don't really care because I'm just really happy that she actually wants to get married!"
Mirio laughed to himself as she talked. Nejire was a bubbly airhead, but she was a big sweetheart and definitely deserved to be this happy. Yuyu was perfect for her; he'd known that ever since they started dating in their third year of high school.
She talked for a few more minutes before something happened on her end and she had to hang up. Mirio congratulated her one last time before setting the phone face down on the countertop and filling the glass with water from the tap. Once it was half full, he chugged the whole thing before filling it again and taking it with him to the living room.
As he settled back down on the couch and relaxed, he found his thoughts unconsciously drifting to Tamaki. He didn't know exactly what it was about him that made him feel that way, but he felt like he'd known the smaller male for forever. Almost like they'd met and become friends from a young age in another world, a whole other universe.
He was glad he'd remembered to give him his number, even if it was in a slightly odd way. He hoped Tamaki would contact him soon; he would love to get to know him better, but he got the sense that Tamaki wasn't the most sociable of people, so he wanted to let him decide if he wanted to keep in contact. If he didn't text or call in a week, he decided, he would assume that Tamaki had no interest in socializing, and leave it at that, no matter how much the thought of it upset him.
Mirio drank the rest of his water and took the glass back into the kitchen to rinse it out. After returning the glass to the cupboard, he let out the biggest yawn yet, and after a quick glance at the clock, he decided it was a good time to head to bed. It was the weekend now, anyway, so it didn't matter just how early or late he went to bed. He stopped to grab his phone in the living room before heading straight for his bedroom. After putting his phone on the charger, he tugged his shirt over his head and trading his jeans for a pair of pajama pants before hopping into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.
Everywhere he looked, there were cherry blossoms. They were scattered across the grass and along the sidewalks, even in people's hair. Mirio was seated on the grass underneath one of the many trees depositing the blossoms, his back pressed against the trunk. It was all so serene, so peaceful. He could see the dormitories of UA High School rising above the treeline."Mirio!" A call of his name in a familiar sing-song tone pulled his attention away from the falling cherry blossoms. He looked up and saw Nejire headed towards him. She was holding hands with Yuyu, who was walking alongside her. Both girls were dressed in their UA uniforms. "There you are, silly!" She giggled, letting go of her girlfriend's hand and rolling onto her back in the grass next to him. Mirio couldn't help but grin at her antics.Yuyu sat beside her and reclaimed her hand. "We were looking everywhere for you." She said."I've been here the whole time." He told the girls. Nejire smiled and rolled over onto her stomach. While she was talking to Yuyu, another voice caught Mirio's attention. This one was much more gentle, more timid. When he looked up to see who had spoken, he was surprised to see Tamaki's dark, messy hair and dark eyes. He was also wearing a UA High School uniform, which didn't make sense because as far as Mirio knew, he hadn't attended UA with him, Nejire, and Yuyu.Nejire spotted him too and hopped to her feet with her usual goofy smile. "Tama-chan! You're finally here!""I...yeah." Tamaki sat down cross legged on the grass on Mirio's opposite side. When he apparently sensed Mirio's confused stare, he turned to him and his expression turned worried."M-Mirio?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"After a few seconds, Mirio shook his head. "No," he smiled at him. "No. Everything's perfect exactly like this."
Mirio woke up feeling more relaxed than when he'd gone to bed. What exactly did a dream like that mean? He'd only just met Tamaki the day before, and he was already having dreams about him? That couldn't be normal, but he would be lying if he said he didn't like the premise of it. The idea of having gone to high school with Tamaki...well, he had to admit he wished it were really true.
With a sigh, he tossed the covers off and grabbed a change of clothes from his closet before heading for the bathroom. He turned the hot water on and got undressed before stepping in, all the while thinking of how much life would've been different if Tamaki had attended UA with them.
Halfway through rinsing out his hair, he heard his text message tone come from his room. He finished with his hair and shut off the water, pulling a towel loosely around his waist and heading back to his bedroom to check who was texting him this early in the morning. When he brought up his messages, he was shocked to see that is was Mr Aizawa, his first year teacher and a current teacher at his alma mater. It was rare to see him awake so early on a weekend.
I'm sorry for bothering you so early in the morning, Togata, but could you do me a favor and watch Eri today? Hizashi is out of town, Hitoshi is with his friends, and I have to teach a last minute supplementary class. I can't leave her alone and she can't come with me.
Mirio's mood got even better. It had been several months since he'd gotten to spend a good amount of time with Eri; he'd missed her a lot. I'd love to watch Eri for the day! We can go to the park or the zoo maybe?
She'll like that. Thank you, Togata. I'll drop her off at your apartment in about thirty minutes.
No problem. Can't wait to see her!
As he locked his phone again and set it down, a thought occurred to him; he could invite Tamaki to go with him. It would be a good opportunity for him to see more of the city, and he could probably get some nice pictures too. Grinning now, he rushed to get dressed, grabbed his phone and pulled on a pair of sneakers, locking his door behind him as he headed up the stairs to Tamaki's floor.
He knocked three times on his door, only thinking after he'd already knocked that he might be asleep. He checked the time on his phone; it was about six forty five in the morning. It was entirely plausible that Tamaki could still be in bed. He was just about to turn around and head back when he heard the door crack open and saw a single dad blue eye peek out.
He smiled. "Morning, Tamaki! Did I wake you up?"
"No," he said quietly, closing the door to take off the chain before opening it all the way. He was still wearing the clothes he'd worn yesterday, but they were wrinkled, like he'd slept in them. "I've been awake for a while."
"Oh, well, that's good. Anyways, I was going to come ask if you wanted to come with me today. I'm babysitting today, and I was planning to take her out to the zoo or the park. I figured it might be a good way for you to see the city and get some nice pictures. What do you think?"
Tamaki chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating the offer for several minutes. Finally, he swallowed before giving a simple, timid nod. "Uh...y-yeah, that sounds nice."
"Awesome!" He exclaimed. "In that case, you can get ready and I'll wait here for you then we can go back to my apartment together to wait for her to get here."
"A-Alright," he turned and walked back into the apartment. Mirio followed, shutting the door behind him. Tamaki disappeared into what Mirio assumed was his bedroom. Mirio leaned against the kitchen counter; Tamaki's apartment was still extremely bare. He didn't even have a couch yet. There were still a couple boxes piled up in the corner of the room, but he had obviously started unpacking some of the boxes. He saw a few framed pictures on the wall that hadn't been there before. When he got closer, he recognized Tamaki standing with two girls. In one photo, he was a small child, awkwardly holding a baby wrapped up in a purple blanket with a beaming woman standing behind him. In another, Tamaki was older, maybe in middle school, and a little girl was clinging to his side with a grin on her face. And in the last photo, Tamaki was dressed in graduation clothes, standing with the woman he assumed was his mother and an older version of the girl. Both girls were grinning at the camera while Tamaki blushed.
"These pictures," Mirio called out. "Are they your family?"
Tamaki briefly poked his head around the doorway to look at what he was referring to before turning back inside to finish changing. "Yes," he said. "My mom and little sister, Cho."
"They look really nice."
"They are." Tamaki entered the living room again, now dressed in jeans, converse and a white sweater. He grabbed his camera, wallet, phone, and keys before following Mirio back out the door.
"I bet it was hard leaving your hometown." Mirio interrupted the silence between them as they walked back to his apartment. "I couldn't imagine just up and leaving my friends and family to live somewhere else."
Tamaki shrugged. "I-It's not all that bad. I like it here so far, even if the transportation system is a little confusing. I miss my family of course, but they can always visit and I can go home to visit. Plus I...I never really had any friends back home. I mean, there was this one kohai I had...I think his name was...Kirishima? But I never really spoke to him after I graduated. I wonder what he's doing now..."
"Really?" Mirio faced him, eyes wide. "That's kind of a surprise. I don't see why, if I'm being honest."
"Well, I never really talked to any of the other kids in class. I was...am kind of a loner."
Mirio grinned at him as they reached the end of the stairs and headed for his door. "Well, they sure were missing out."
Tamaki didn't respond, but he could see his face flush from the corner of his eye. He unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in with Tamaki behind him. The clock on his phone said it was now five til seven. "They should be here any minute now." He said, sitting down on the couch. Tamaki did the same, albeit awkwardly.
Thankfully, it only took a few more minutes before there was a knock at the door. Mirio hopped to his feet to answer it. Sure enough, there was Aizawa, holding Eri's hand. She was dressed in her favorite red and white dress, black tights and brown boots, with her long white-blue hair framing her face. She was wearing a small black messenger bag over her shoulder She smiled when she saw Mirio. "Uncle Mirio!"
"Hey, Eri!" He opened his arms and she ran to wrap him up in a warm hug. He felt Tamaki come around to stand behind him as he lifted Eri onto his hip.
"Thanks again for watching her, Togata." Aizawa said in his normal tired voice. "I should be done around three or four this afternoon. I'll text you ahead of time."
"Of course! I don't mind at all, sir." He noticed the black haired man eyeing Tamaki behimd him. "Oh! This is Tamaki Amajiki. He just moved into an apartment above me, and he's me to the city so I thought I'd invite him too so he can look around some more."
Aizawa eyed him for a few more seconds before nodding. "As long as you're okay with him." He leaned over to ruffle Eri's haif. "Be good for Mirio and his friend, alright?"
"I will!" She promised with a smile. "Bye, Daddy!"
"Bye, Mr Aizawa!" Mirio called after him as he turned to leave. He closed the door and set Eri back on her feet before clapping.
"So, Eri!" He crocuhed down so he was eye level with her. "Do you wanna go to the zoo or the park?"
"Ummmm...can we go to the zoo? They have all those really pretty animals, and there's those yummy apples too!" Her crimson eyes lit up with excitement at the thought.
Mirio smiled and stood back up. "Of course we can! Zoo it is, then." He turned to Tamaki. "You're okay with that, right?"
"Yeah, the zoo sounds great." A tiny smile crossed his face. "I could get some really nice pictures there."
"Awesome!" Mirio pumped his fist in the air. "Alright, team! Let's get moving! To the zoo we go!"