The world record for longest time spent asleep was eight days.
Minegishi had seven days to go before they matched the world's record. They had been asleep for one day…one entire day. At least that was what they had been told, anyway. The last clear memory they had was getting on the plane in Tokyo…well they had also stopped to refuel…but that might not have happened. They remembered spilling something on their shirt…and then…breakfast? Yeah, the last thing that they could remember was breakfast…
So how had they gotten here?
They were too hot, way too hot. It was summer but for someone reason someone had seen fit to cover them with what felt like every single duvet in the apartment. These were the ones that came with this place. They smelled clean, not truly clean but hotel clean, which was weird because this wasn't a hotel. It smelled like one and looked like one but it wasn't a hotel…and they thanked God for the small mercies. No hotel couch would ever have been this comfortable. Silk stuffed with…they didn't know. Something that made it soft and springy without any springs poking them in the back…they were so hot…no…warm. Warm and comfortable…soft…like sleeping on a silk covered marshmallow without it melting and getting stuck in their hair…but their hair was kind of sticky…they could feel it sticking to their pillow….and they needed a shower…
After a nice nap, though, a nice…nice….nap….
"Oh! You-you're awake! I…I was worried." Said Serizawa. Minegishi sighed and opened their eyes again. Warmth. There was so much warmth…but now it was back to being heat. Oppressive heat, like they had crawled into the stomach of some big warm animals in an effort not to freeze to death…only they were in no danger of freezing to death since it was lamest august….or maybe it was winter already and someone had seen fit to keep them alive until next summer. Maybe they had blacked out and forgotten half the year. Maybe they would pull this duvet off of their head and see that enough time had passed that all of their problems resolved themselves and they could get back to being something close to being content with their lives.
They pulled the duvet off their head and saw nothing but Serizawa sitting across from them.
He had a Gameboy…or whatever the one with two screens was called, in his hands. He wasn't looking down at his game, no, he was looking at them. On the coffee table between them was a bowl of what smelled like spicy chicken flavored ramen and looked like a bowl of overdone mush that might have been noodles, a glass of something orange and fizzy which had better have been soda, a toothbrush new in the plastic, a tube of children's bubble gum toothpaste still in the box, and a Zootopia glass full of water.
So either this was a peace offering from Sho or someone had a cold.
"What day is it?" asked Minegishi as they sat up. Their body did not want to move. They felt like they were made out of that kids' clay…whatever…that Mukai so loved grinding into the rug. They wanted to tell Serizawa that he didn't need to worry, that actually they resented his worry, since they were an adult and knew what they were doing….but instead all they managed to do was ask what day it was. That was important information, really, not that they had anything planned. They just needed to orient themselves, that was all. Orienting themselves was a bit more important than pissing off the resident unstable powerhouse. A/S/L and all of that.
Twenty nine/non-binary/probably still New York City.
"We're in New York City…sorry! I thought that you were going to ask where you were because sometimes you would get up and ask that…but I always told you the answer so of course you wouldn't have been asking again. I'm sorry! I'm just sort of dumb and-" said Serizawa. Minegishi shook their head and reached for the glass of what should have been orange soda…it was. They drank the entire thing down and then the entire glass of water while Serizawa stuttered and fumbled his way through his usual brand of self-depreciation.
It was exhausting.
"-sometimes I can be clues and Miss Suzuki says that there's nothing wrong with that because she's clueless but she isn't, that's the thing. She's the most clue-full person I know….wait! That wasn't a word…I'm sorry about that too. I can be so stupid sometimes and-" said Serizawa
"Is there an end to this speech?" asked Minegishi as they put the glass down with more force than they had planned. Serizawa jumped. The Gameboy fell out of his hands and hit the rug. That just made him jump again…and the whole room jumped including the spider plants that they had brought from Japan. They were perfect for sucking the life out of people. They reached out and felt the vines growing.
It would have been easy.
Maybe if they sucked the life out of him they could add to theirs. Their head felt like it had bene stuffed with cotton, their limbs felt like they were made of whatever the hell beany babies were made out of. They were heavy and tired…even the vines were heavy. They still had the strength to kill or at least shut someone up if they wanted to…and they did want to….
But that would have been too much effort.
They reached over with the vines and picked up Serizawa's Gameboy for him as he stuttered his way through another apology. They could have killed, or at least maimed, or even seriously injured him but they didn't want to. That would be too much work, too much clean up, and too much fallout for them to deal with. Also Mob would have been pissed at them and they had no reason to piss Mob off. She didn't need to deal with that right now. She had enough to deal with as it was.
And so did Minegishi.
"Um….yes?" asked Serizawa as he took his Gameboy. He put it down on the table…unfortunately. He looked at them like he had something to say. They would have preferred if he had just gone back to his game and left them to their business….but no, he was staring at them like he wanted to start a goddamned conversation. Wasn't he supposed to be a hikikomori or something? Wasn't he supposed to be in his room sitting in the dark and waiting for Mob to get home so she could regale him with tales of the outside world? What was he doing sitting there keeping…vigil…over them or something?
What was with this guy?
"Something you want to say?" asked Minegishi. The room shook…again. Minegishi wondered what the people living below them must have thought. Maybe they were running around freaking out thinking the world was ending. American's were so excitable like that. No wonder this was Ryou's second favorite country….Ryou….
They couldn't sense him…but that was fine.
Ryou was impossible to lose, impossible to get rid of, impossible to…to forget. Not that they wanted to get rid of him or forget him or lose him…the thought of losing him makes the plant beside them wither and die in an instant. They can't lose him…they just…he's there. He's somewhere and…and they had no idea…they loved him and this was the way to feel when you loved someone. You missed them when they were gone and…and he wasn't gone and….God. They were too…whatever. Ryou was coming back and they were being completely and totally ridiculous.
Which was a nice change of pace, really, from the self-destructive idiot they usually were.
"I…I um….I made you soup! I mean…ramen. We didn't have any cans of soup but I made you some ramen…it was in English but ramen is simple. You just boil the noodles and then add the…things." Said Serizawa. He glanced down at the bowl of what he thought passed for ramen. Ryou could have done a better job than that…actually he would have done a better job than that. He always dressed up his ramen with some green onion, a raw egg, some oyster sauce….and vegetables, too, if they felt like providing them. Carrots…spinach….boy choy, too, even though he seemed like he wasn't the vegetable eating type…he loved chocolate but he was capable of eating like an adult…and Minegishi didn't even have to make him eat like an adult. He dressed his ramen up all on his own…and he even shared with them.
They never even had to ask.
"I have to ask." Said Minegishi
"A-Ask?" asked Serizawa
"Is there any particular reason that you made me ramen…and I'm guessing left this spread out for me too?" asked Minegishi as they motioned to the mess on the coffee table.
"I-I…you seemed sick. You were sleeping…well you sleep a lot…and…and you were just….I thought that you might have been sick so I made you soup and…and we didn't have any medicine….but I know that orange juice and chicken soup are good for when you're sick. We didn't have those…so I got what was closest…sorry." said Serizawa. He played with the sash of his robe as he talked. The couch he was sitting on started to rise up from the air. He would have been adorable if he hadn't been so fucking annoying…but that was pretty much how it went with all the men in their life.
"And the toothbrush?" asked Minegishi
"I-I thought that you would have…needed it." Said Serizawa
"Wow." Said Minegishi. They raised the space where an eyebrow should have been. Serizawa squirmed. They made more eye contact. He squirmed some more. The couch swayed as he squirmed. He was still picking at his robe, the hem this time, and he seemed hell bent at picking it apart at the hem. He hadn't thought that one through. Without his robe what was he supposed to hide when he needed to imitate a frightened turtle? He did look like a turtle. He was hunching down and tucking his chin in close like he was trying to go back inside of his shell.
He could have been pretty dam cute if he wasn't so…him.
"W-Wow?" asked Serizawa. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. They rolled their eyes. What was he so scared of? They had already decided that they were going to let him live. They had no idea how one person could have been so afraid of everything, especially someone like him. He was strong enough that he could have taken anyone. Hell, he was big enough that he could have taken anyone through sheer force. He was even bigger than Ryou, and Ryou was incredibly tall. Strong, too. Serizawa wasn't strong. There was a softness to him that Ryou didn't have, physically anyway. Ryou was like those chocolate covered marshmallows he stuffed himself with on Easter. Hard on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside.
Too sweet for them.
"I didn't know that you were capable of being passive aggressive, Serizawa. It's nice to know that you have some layers to you." Said Minegishi with a wave of their hand. One that took too much out of them. They were full of whatever was inside of beany babies. Whatever they have inside of them that makes them so heavy that they can sit up on their own…they hated those things. They had n purpose…kind of like them. They just sat there.
Kind of like them.
"I-I wasn't being passive aggressive! I mean I don't even know what that means but I'm not even the regular kind of aggressive….well when I was a baby I bit my mom but that was twenty seven years ago…well I accidentally sent her flying once but that was an accident and-" said Serizawa
"As much as I love to hear you ramble, truly I do, I have to ask. What's with the toothbrush?" asked Minegishi
"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Serizawa
"Normally giving someone a toothbrush means something along the lines of 'brush your teeth you disgusting cretin' or something like that." Said Minegishi
"I-I-I didn't mean it like that! I just thought that you would have liked to brush your teeth when you got up…I mean that's what you're supposed to do the first thing when you get up…and you've been sleeping for a long time…since we left Japan…and I thought that since you seemed sick you wouldn't have wanted to get up and walk all the way to the bathroom." Said Serizawa. He had found a thread, now, at the end of his robe. He was pulling on it. He was squirming in place and pulling on it like e little kid waiting all by herself at the clinic for a goddamned mother fucking flu shot since the flue sucks and she don't want to have to deal with it again since, of course, nobody gave a damn if she was sick or healthy or living or dying.
"You're right, I don't want to get up….thank you….but next time why don't you get some actual toothpaste? You know, like adults use?" asked Minegishi
"Oh…right. That's just…the kind I like…but you don't like sweet things. I've heard you say that sugar us poison…but it's also kind of confusing since I've seen you eat sugar…and you just drank a glass of soda…and I don't even know why they-they put sugar in the toothpaste anyway. I mean isn't sugar supposed to be bad for your teeth? I think it is. I mean my mom said so. She didn't like it when I had a lot of sugar since I couldn't go and see the dentist…well I could but also I couldn't and-" said Serizawa. He was back to rambling. How did Mob put up with this? Well she was Mob, she put up with everything. She put up with the shrieking demon children that were her brother and sister in addition to the usual insanity that went on in this group. Hell, she had managed to put up with Ryou on coke…God…they couldn't remember the last time they'd done coke together…
But they remembered the first time.
'How about I fuck ya down in Columbia?' That was it. That was the line that had gotten them. They had been in, of course, Columbia. They had to take out the leaders of some rival esper group for whatever reason. Minegishi didn't really care why they did what they did. They just went in, completed their mission, and left. The jungle had been nice, all of that plant life, but the company had been too irritating. Ryou worked too fast, way too fast, and left them with too much to do. When working with a large group the best thing was to pick them off one or two at a time, turn their bodies into plant fertilizer, and then keep going.
Ryou…had his own methods.
He loved to be in the thick of it. He loved being shot at, swung at, stabbed at, pretty much anything that people could dish out he loved to take. He loved to amaze people with how well he dodged and he loved freaking them out by showing them exactly how close he could keep his barrier, sometimes he even throw some of his, actually pretty mediocre, telekinesis in there too. Watching him…well they had been annoyed with how much work they were going to have to do…extra time in the hot, sticky, jungle…the compound hadn't had air conditioning of any kind...it had been annoying but also sort of…good…watching him work. He was strong but not full of himself in that annoying way powerful espers like Suzuki were. Suzuki was full of himself in this arrogant 'bow down before me' sort of way. Ryou was arrogant in the 'fuck you, I'm amazing' sort of way. He was, of course, amazing….and he could fuck then like nobody's business…well it had been nobody's business….
Not that there had been anyone alive who could have made it their business.
He'd been so fucking considerate even in the middle of the jungle….and even though it had only been their second meeting. He actually cleaned them up. He held them close and cleaned them up…and then they'd gone and found even more coke…and the rest of that night was a blur. An amazing blur. An exhausting blur. He'd even put them to bed…neither of them had been tired…and it had been sticky as all else…but he still held them and kissed the top of their head and…and maybe he'd had them then.
Maybe they were just a sucker for anyone who showed them even the most basic amount of human decency and consideration.
"You're like Ryou on coke." Said Minegishi with a laugh, a dry one, mostly because their throat was still dry as hell. Dehydrated. They had been asleep long enough to get dehydrated. So Serizawa had been right, in the end, about the soda and the water. Well that had been considerate of him. He was a considerate guy. It didn't seem like he would have been, with this nervous wreck routine he had going on, but he really was considerate.
"Is that….good?" asked Serizawa
"If you think that going a mile a minute about nothing at all is good then, yes." said Minegishi
"So….yes?" asked Serizawa. God, he was so…earnest. That was the word. He was so earnest and honest…which was actually kind of refreshing he was who he was without that arrogance you usually got from espers as powerful as him. No wonder he was Mob's new best friend. She deserved him, really. He was a nice guy. Considerate, thoughtful, honest, and not that hard on the eyes either. If only he'd gotten the hang of shaving and hair combing…and pretty much everything else that had to do with basic grooming then Mob would have had someone new to crush on. She did have a thing for the tall, greasy, and nerdy type after all. Hopefully her taste in men got better when she got older.
It probably wouldn't, though, if she was going to live by their example.
"Sure, let's go with that" said Minegishi
"Um….alright….do…do you need anything? We have more soda or-" said Serizawa
"Water." Said Minegishi. They held up their empty glass and shook it. He practically bolted up from his seat. He grabbed the cup out of their outstretched hand, almost dropping it twice, and broke out into a sprint to the kitchen. Heh. Maybe Ryou could give him some teleportation lessons. If it had been Ryou getting them water he would have come back with a case of that fancy stuff. The kind that came in the square bottles, maybe, or maybe even the kind that came in that glass bottle that was unnecessarily big and fancy. Ryou had always been a lover of both stealing and giving extravagant gifts. It was his love language. Theirs was…they didn't even know.
Lost in translation.
Ryou showed love like…they didn't know. He showed his love like…well like he had to show it. Like if it didn't get shown then it wouldn't exist…even though it would exist even if he didn't turn it into this great big…display. Schrodinger's love. Heh. It existed and did not exist…like a…thing. They didn't know. They didn't know a lot of things. Like where Ryou was. He had been there that morning and now…now he was gone. Probably off to the glitter factory or…or the races or…or wherever he went. He was…they could have called him. They could have picked up their phone and called him…or just said his name three times…but what if he didn't come back? They had given him no reason to come back…and if he did come back then he would have to go and….and show how much he loved them. He'd get them things, build them a wall of their favorite things. He'd imprison them behind a wall of good vodka and cheap beer. Leafy green plants and orange soda. Chocolate with no nuts and face wash with microbeads. A wall made up of…well also things that they didn't need but he thought they needed…since he was blind. Like…like cheap vodka and craft beer. Or leafy flowering plants and grape soda. Chocolate with nuts and facewash with Dead Sea salt. He'd just build them this wall of stuff…and the 'I love yous' would be the…wall…glue…stuff.
He'd build that wall up.
He'd build that wall up until they were trapped and then…and then he'd get bored. He'd move on. He'd leave the wall half done, he'd leave them behind a wall just tall enough that they could see over the top but not tall enough that they could climb over. They'd pray that he'd come and finish the wall…and they'd pray that he came and knocked it down….and they'd wish that they had knocked it down while he'd been building it. Their prayer would be answered. They'd knock that wall down while it was being built like a little girl who kicked sandcastles over at the park because she couldn't stand to see anyone have anything nice….anything that she didn't have….anything that she wanted…and then when she built her own sandcastle with tall walls, tall enough to keep all the giants out, she'd kick it over on her own…because….
Because they didn't deserve to have nice things…the things that everyone else had.
"H-Here. I didn't know if you wanted it warm or cold so I just made sure that it was in the middle…but if you want it warm then I can put it in the microwave…and if you want it could I could put it in the freezer. I mean I could make ice but I think that making ice would take longer and-" said Serizawa as he practically jogged back into the room. He thrust the glass of water at them so hard water sloshed out of the glass and into their spicy chicken flavored ramen mush. He either didn't notice or didn't care. He just stood there rambling about how it was of the utmost importance that they get water they enjoyed.
Cute.
"It's water. I doubt even you could fuck up pouring a glass of water." Said Minegishi. The held out their hand and made the 'shut your mouth and give me my fucking water already' motion with their hands. He had been holding it just out of reach and they did not feel like getting up…and in the end they hadn't had to. He walked over to their side of the coffee table and handed them their glass of water…and then he just sort of stood there.
"Yes?" asked Minegishi
"Yes?" asked Serizawa
"Why are you looming over me?" asked Minegishi
"I-I didn't mean to loom…and…and I don't even know what looming is. I mean I know what a loom is, my mom had this little one and when I was little she would make me a new scarf every season…well sometimes she would knit them but she liked to loom them for me too since her job gave her a discount on-" said Serizawa
"As much as I would love another riveting tale from the life of Serizawa Katsuya I'm going to have to ask you to stop looming over me, a word which not only refers to a weaving tool but also to the act of standing right over someone, because it's rude as hell." Said Minegishi. Also it made them just a little nervous…but that was their dysregulated nervous system talking. They had been hitting the…well the everything….way too hard and now they were all slow and heavy and tired…and stupid. This was Serizawa Katsuya, pretty much Mob from another dimension if she had been born twenty seven years ago and a guy, so what if he was more powerful than they were and all of their instincts were telling them to turn him into plant food before…well before nothing since this was Serizawa. He was bigger than them, and more powerful, but they were Minegishi fucking Toshiki.
But also they did not enjoy being loomed over.
"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I mean I didn't know that I was being rude and I should have known but it's just…I don't really spend time with people who aren't Miss Suzuki and she never minds…but you're a different person entirely! I didn't mean that in an 'all girls are the same' sort of way…and I didn't mean to call you a girl either! I mean you were born one and you're pretty like one and you wear a lot of clothes with flowers on them but I would never call you a girl. Miss Suzuki explain, well Hatori explained it better, not that you wee-not that Hatori is smarter than Miss Suzuki! I mean not that he's dumb, either, Miss Suzuki is just really smart. She knows a lot of things. Like did you know that cats-" said Serizawa. He just kept going. Minegishi had been curious to find out when he'd stop on his own but he just went on and on and on….if they hadn't known any better, and if Mob had been stoned, then they would have sworn that he was stoned.
But he wasn't stoned or even high, no, he was just incredibly awkward.
Minegishi couldn't take anymore. If he wasn't going to sit down and shut up on his own then they would make him. They reached out to a plant behind him and shoved him down onto the couch beside them. Damn. They had been trying to sit him down on the floor…whatever. This couch was big enough for two people…if those two people had no concept of personal space that is…
Which, evidently, Serizawa did not.
"I-I'm sorry!" said Serizawa. They got the feeling that he was not apologizing to them about how close he was. They were pressed between the side of the couch and the side of Serizawa. They tried to squirm away but he just took that as them making more room for him. Hadn't he spent his life in the dark or whatever? How in the hell had he grown so much if he spent his life in his room in the dark?!
He was just as soft as he looked, though, so at least it wasn't like being pressed up to the seventy three kilograms of muscle and bone that was Ryou…though Ryou didn't run as warm as Serizawa did.
"What are you apologizing for? I'm the one who shoved you." Said Minegishi
"I-I made you shove me! I mean you told me that I was being mean-" said Serizawa
"No, I said that you were being rude." Said Minegishi
"Right, you said that I was being rude for standing over you and-and I wanted to tell you that I was only standing over you so I could refill your water when you were done with it but then I started talking and I forgot what I was saying and you were annoyed and…and I'm very sorry. Can you please forgive?!" asked Serizawa. Minegishi couldn't help it, they smiled. He was just so…cute. Earnest. Honest. He thought that he had fucked up and now he was ready to get down on his knees and beg their forgiveness. The idea of a man his size getting down on his knees and begging them for their forgiveness…it was hilarious.
The begging for forgiveness part, not the down on his knees part.
The one his knees part…well that was a whole other smile. He was bigger than they were. They'd always had kind of a thing for people who were bigger than they were, or at least roughly their size. They had never wanted someone smaller than they were…maybe it was a power imbalance thing. Maybe they needed the odds to not be in their favor. Maybe they were more fucked up than they had ever imagined. Well of course they were. They were imagining Serizawa Katsuya of all people down on his knees with their thighs on either side of his head…of course he'd have been nervous since that was his default setting. He wouldn't smile and make some quip about it being 'dinnertime' or whatever….and he wouldn't do that thumb thing…well they had no idea what he would do. Probably freak out and run away since he was Serizawa after all. Yeah, if they shoved him off the couch and tried to…yeah. He'd probably pull a Hatori and lock himself in the bathroom until Mob coaxed him out.
Or not. Hatori had been…Hatori. Serizawa was…well he wasn't Hatori.
"Well that depends on how well you can kowtow." Said Minegishi with that same smile. God, how could one person be this cute? He was like…well himself. They wondered if he would actually do it. Hatori would have actually done it but Hatori was a greasy, over dramatic, little coward. Serizawa was actually weirdly brave. He had left his room, the only home he'd ever known, to join a cult run by a twelve year old girl. He was one of the few people who joined Claw not because he'd been recruited or Suzuki made him an offer he couldn't refuse. No, he wanted to be here. He had taken one hell of a leap of faith and now…well now he was on the other side of the world serving soup and water to someone who, under Japanese law, could have been classified as a serial killer.
He was brave as hell…but not brave enough to stand up to Minegishi it seemed.
"S-Sure! I mean I've never done that before but I can try. I'll just move the table and then-" said Serizawa. He was actually going to do it. He was actually going to get up and kowtow to them…this was…this was hilarious…but also just…no. They didn't want that. There wasn't any joy to be taken in making someone like Serizawa humiliate himself.
They put their water down on the table.
They put the glass down hard enough to get his attention. He stopped blustering and stared at them. They shook their head. He still stared at them. For once he was keeping his mouth shut. He still looked like he had something to say, though, and hopefully he could contain himself for the thirty seconds it would take them to pick their water up again, drink it, and then put it back down.
Miraculous he managed to keep quiet for thirty whole seconds.
"D-do you still want me to kowtow? Because I can if you want me to. I mean I've never done it before but I could-" said Serizawa. Minegishi reached over and put their hand on his arm. His aura stung where his met theirs…sort of like how Mob's had before she had gotten used to them. It hadn't taken this long. Serizawa had been with them since….around Ryou's birthday….going on a year. Huh. It was amazing that they could have gone a year, almost, living with someone but not had him used to them yet…and maybe that was their fault…not that they had ever wanted to get to know him. Ryou kept them busy enough as it was. With his love…and his jealousy too. He was just as jealous as he was loving…even though he was out there giving it to everybody but his mother…well she was dead but still. So, what, he could stay out all night, fuck whoever he wanted, and stumble home in some stranger's clothes but Minegishi couldn't text a guy they hooked up with…and only once, mind you, only once!?
What in the hell was Ryou on to think that…that any of that was in the least bit acceptable!?
They loved him, they had told him that they loved him, so what else did he need?! He was the one who had pushed them into saying it. Things had been perfect before he had said it. He had said it and told them that they didn't have to say anything back…but just saying it WAS the expectation that they would say something back. Maybe not right that moment but he had been expecting it…and they had said it back…and then that should have been the end of it but it wasn't! After that he wanted to define their relationship…set up rules…new ones. Not just the one where they could only go at it raw with each other, no, rules about love and seeing other people and…and they didn't know if they loved Matsuo or they just really liked him and…and Ryou didn't get to tell them who to love or to like or…or…and…and…and they didn't even know if they loved Matsuo or even liked him as more than a fun guy they'd hooked up with once at a party and…and it didn't matter how they felt or who they fucked!
None of this was anyone's business but their own.
"Um….Minegishi? What…what are you….what's…um…" said Serizawa. He ran a lot warmer than Ryou did…maybe because he was absolutely scarlet. Cute. Ryou turned that same color sometimes, if you got him drunk enough, or when he was in the sun without his barrier up. He never blushed from embarrassment because he was beyond the point of even being embarrassed. Hell, the man had 'must be thirteen years or older to ride' tattooed above his dick and that hadn't been some impulsive thing. It took A LOT of passes of the needle to get words that thick. No, Ryou was a person who was incapable of feeling even then most basic amount of shame.
Even when he was acting completely and totally ridiculous.
"I didn't actually mean for you to kowtow. I was just fucking with you." Said Minegishi. Serizawa's eye darted from their eyes to their hand and then back to their eyes. They maybe should have moved it…but they liked this, watching him squirm. It was cute…earnest…honest. He was nervous and he wasn't afraid to show it….and of course he was. The only person who came this close to him was a twelve year old girl. He'd probably never had physical contact with another adult before, especially one that had been born female, aside from his own mother. Heh. No wonder he blushed like a virgin.
It was kind of cute.
"Oh…ok. Sorry. I didn't mean to…to….um…to…." said Serizawa
"To?" asked Minegishi
"I-I don't know…I lost my train of thought." Said Serizawa
"I'm sure you'll catch another one. You know, I never pegged you for a big talker…but then again I never pegged you for anything." Said Minegishi
"I…I've been trying to practice talking to people more…people who aren't Miss Suzuki. I mean she's very nice, the nicest person I've ever met, but she's just…a lot younger than me I guess. I mean she's my friend and I don't want to be greedy or anything but…but I've always wanted friends…I mean friends my own age. Like when I was in my room sometimes I would imagine that I had people to play with and they were my own age….and…um…." said Serizawa
"Playing dolls all afternoon is nice and all but what you really want is some adult company?" asked Minegishi
"Y-Yes…I mean…we don't really play dolls all that often…but we do play together. Right now we've been playing Harvest Moon together and we have this banana tree, well it's on her farm, but I got her the seed and we've been growing it together and we're going to sell the fruit so we can buy some peach seeds next, they aren't as valuable as bananas but we're trying to grow an orchard with every kind of fruit in it and…and I bet that you would like it! I mean to play with us since you like…plants…and growing things….I mean." Said Serizawa
"Videogames give me a headache." Said Minegishi, their hand still on his arm. He had been relaxed, before, but with the end of that conversation came the return of his famous brand of nervousness. The tension was back in his arm, now, though he still felt pretty damn soft….or maybe they were too used to Ryou. He was pretty much all muscle and skin and bone. Serizawa had a softness to him, a roundness to him, it was actually kind of…cute. Kind of very cute.
The blushing wasn't helping matters.
"Oh….I'm….I'm sorry. What do you like then? I mean I know what you like! I like, I mean I know that you like, to read and you like to watch anime…and movies where people die…and movies that aren't in Japanese….I mean you speak a lot of languages and you're smart and you like to learn things and….and you know a lot of things…like how you know a lot more words than I do…and how you know the names of all the different kinds of plants…and….and those face masks you make look complicated…not to say that you're dumb! You're not dumb! You're smart and…and you know a lot of things and…and um….those are things that I know you like." Said Serizawa. He looked like he'd just run a marathon by the end of it. His face was red and there was sweat collecting on his forehead…and he was still tense as all else. He made no attempt to brush off his signs of nervousness. He didn't tell them that it was hot in there or that he was drunk or high or tired or whatever. He just…was nervous. He was nervous and….and that was it. Nothing more.
He was very honest like that.
"Huh. So you aren't as oblivious as you seem. That's a word that means-" said Minegishi
"I know what it means, it means clueless, but…but I'm not as clueless as people think. I mean I know things about my friends…since you guys are my friends…and I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't know things about you…but not in a stalker way! I would never stalk anyone. People don't like that and…and also people scare me a little! I mean…people I don't know…but also sometimes people I do and…and I just…you're my friend and I notice things about you….and also happy birthday!" said Serizawa
"My birthday was weeks ago." Laughed Minegishi. He was even more worked up than before….how could one person be so worked up? And over nothing. At least he was honest about how he felt. He just laid it all out there and let you make of it what you would. He didn't blindside you with his feelings five years down the line.
"I-I know but Miss Suzuki said that you didn't like your birthday and…and that you don't like big celebrations-" said Serizawa
"They're exhausting." Said Minegishi
"Mi-Miss Suzuki said that you felt that way. She said…well she said not to make a big deal about your birthday and…and I didn't….but then I thought that it had been a while and…and then I remembered that I hadn't made any deal out of your birthday at all…and….and I know that Miss Suzuki said not to make a big deal but then I thought that I didn't know what counted as a big deal or a little deal and…and I said something now. That's…that's all…sorry." said Serizawa. Minegishi…well they didn't have words. Ryou had woken them up by dumping a Costco sized box of chocolates over them before declaring that this would be the best day ever…and parts of it had been…but it hadn't been the day that they had wanted. It had been the day that he had wanted. He had wanted…well not what they had wanted and…and that was just how he was. He made these unilateral decisions and just…expected them to deal with them. He decided that they were in love so they were in love…well they were in love…but Minegishi…they had never asked to be in love! They had never asked to be in this…this…big…permeant…thing! This thing that they were in with him and…and he had never asked if they loved him…he had just thrown this thing down in front of them and expected…expected them to believe that he expected nothing….why couldn't he have just been transparent from the start?! Instead of having all of these…these expectations that they had never agreed to!? Expectations and just….just…
Just…
"Well thank you, Serizawa." said Minegishi. They moved their hand upwards past his elbow. He watched their hand with equal parts fear and elation. Something tipped over. They didn't care, it wasn't like they were the one who was in charge of the cleaning. They weren't in charge of anything, of anyone, but themselves…and they didn't need to just…weigh every single action and thought against whether or not it was worth it to have to deal with Ryou's jealousy.
Ryou needed to learn to deal with his own jealousy.
"Y-you…you're…um….you're…" said Serizawa
"Welcome?" asked Minegishi
"Y-Yes! You're welcome!" said Serizawa
"Am I?" asked Minegishi. They let their hand trail up to his collar bone. His Adam's apple bobbed as they let their fingers rest on top of it he realty was soft. Warm, too, like an electric blanket. They could feel him breathing. He was so…so…well he was cute and he was soft and he was honest and he was there…and they were there…and no one else was there….
"Are you…what?" asked Serizawa
"Welcome." Said Minegishi as they made their way even higher and played with the collar of his sweat shirt. He'd been chewing on it…what was it with them and people who chewed on weird things? Maybe because they used to chew on grass…or something else from their formative years. They didn't know. They didn't have the mental energy to think about anything other than the person sitting right next to them. The person who, for once, was not in love with them. The person who wasn't going to smother them with expectations they had never wanted. Who wasn't going to put them in a roll they had never asked to fill.
They didn't do the partner thing and Ryou knew that. They had never once lied to him.
"I…I…what?" asked Serizawa
"Am I welcome to do…this? Feel free to say 'no', by the way…or 'yes'." said Minegishi
"I…I…what? What do you….what do you….I mean…why are you…what?" asked Serizawa
"Do you want this? Yes or no?" asked Minegishi. They had no idea that one person could have had so much trouble with a 'yes' or 'no' decision. He was stuttering and red and…and it was kind of adorable…but also kind of annoying. They hated indecisiveness. It was so exhausting.
"I…I've never….I mean….um…..do you mean….are you trying to…to kiss…to kiss me?" asked Serizawa. Minegishi's face fell. Well there went tall, cute, and earnest. Sure he was tall, and he was cute, and he was earnest….but he also sounded like as much of a kid as the actual kids. Seriously? That was where his mind went? They were practically sitting in his lap and that was all that he could come up with?
Seriously?
"Well I was going to ask you to sleep with me but obviously that's not on the table anymore." Said Minegishi. They got out of his lap and moved as much to their side of the couch as they could. They could feel his aura, hell they could SEE his aura, their plants could feel his aura…they were recoiling….plaster was raining down from the ceiling…it didn't look like Mob was getting her deposit back…
But at least Minegishi had gotten their senses back.
"I-I-I-I-I haven't ever….I mean I've never even held hands with a girl…not that you're a girl! I mean that…that you're as pretty as a girl and…and you're just…you're you and…and I've never kissed anyone before either and…and you're so pretty and you smell so good and…and I just….you just…you just asked me to…to do….IT with you and…and I just…I have to go! I have to go…charge my DS and….and I've never even seen a naked girl before…in life! I mean of course I've seen…of course…you don't want to hear about that. You don't need to know about that and…and…and…I just…you have a boyfriend and…and I've never…and….and…you're not a girl and…and you have…I shouldn't talk about what you have and….and…I have to charge my DS! Just…call me if you need anything!" stuttered Serizawa before he, literally, ran away. It was amazing that a man his size could run so fast, and in socks too. He was really freaked out….and they didn't blame him.
"Well goodbye to you too, then." Said Minegishi as Serizawa ran away. They heard his door slam…and then all the pictures fell off the wall…and the TV, too, for good measure….which Minegishi deserved. They had just been about to do something so fucked up…so stupid….that they did not even have WORDS for how stupid they had been about to…to be and…and….they just…they were an idiot. They were an idiot, a complete and total idiot. They were someone who should not have been in charge of their own life.
Why Ryou wanted anything to do with them they wouldn't ever be able to figure out.
They had no idea why anyone would have wanted anything at all to do with them….how she had just…how they had just…they didn't know. Their head was stuffed with cotton. Their limbs felt like they were full of whatever it was that beany babies were full of….beans…of course. They were a moron. An exhausted moron.
They laid back down and went to sleep.