"First date," Mao ends up being heartbroken but still goes on a date with Suna. Seems like Brue's magic worked. Or some other magic came to play.
Warning(s): Abuse, neglect, (if this triggers anything for anyone, please skip it.)
Mao was awakened by the smell of churros. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, slipping off the bed as he walked into the small kitchen in his shared dorm. There Jay was, putting some churros on a plate some for her, some for him. He let out a soft yawn as Jay smiled at him. "You slept the whole time I was making these. Has school been stressing you out?" Mao shook his head. "You know the little writing club?" Jay nodded grabbing a churro and biting it. "I've.. started to write a book and they like it, but they wanna make it public and I said no, then they kicked me out so, I guess its about time I start finding a part-time job for now." He said grabbing a churro and taking a large bite out of it. Jay laughed. "It's okay, we just have to work it out. I mean, there's this bookstore a couple blocks down, you can work there. They're hiring. I saw it when I went out to get some stuff for churros." Mao nodded and grabbed a handful of churros and walked over to the couch and sat in front of it. Jay rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed the plate and walked to the couch and sat it on the coffee table then sat down, allowing Mao to rest his head on her thighs. "They still feel like pillows." He blurted out. Jay snorted and flicked his forehead making him sit up and whine. She pulled off his hood and took his hair out of the low ponytail he had it in, and grabbed the brush from off the couch which she had no clue how or why it got there and started brushing his hair. "Your hair had gotten a lot longer. Thank goodness I'm helping you take care of it, otherwise, you'd be bald." Mao rolled his eyes. "Whatever dude,"
And the two spent the rest of their Friday night eating churros, watching movies, and just enjoying each other's company. Brue knocked on their dorm door and when he didn't get an answer he just opened the door and shook Mao awake. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What? It's like 11 in the morning." Brue rolled his eyes. "You have a date today, get up and get dressed." Mao then felt his heart sink. "Tell her I'm not going." He said, laying down and turning over. "Dude. You're about to miss your chance to go out with her, she's down the hall waiting." Mao sat up. "Wh- wait really?" Brue nodded. "Yes now go get dressed," Brue said, standing in the same spot, almost waiting for him to do something. Mao got up off the couch and stretched. "What are you doing?" Mao asked. Brue just stood there. Mao blushed. "Dude! I'm a girl! Get out!" He yelled smacking Brue's arm. Brue laughed. "I couldn't tell! You're so flat that I thought you were a guy!" Brue yelled as he left the dorm. Mao huffed.
After slipping on some sweat pants, a plain white tee, and putting a gray hoodie over top, He was now looking for his shoes. Jay stepped in front of him holding his shoes but held them up. "You're going on a date, so you should wear your hair down." Mao rolled his eyes and reached for his shoes but he couldn't reach them. "I'm not wearing my hair down. Jay sighed. "Fine, just tell me what happens after." Mao nodded as he slipped his shoes on. "Do you have your phone?" She asked. Mao nodded and pulled it out of his hoodie pocket. "Do you have your mask?" Mao pulled it out of his pocket as he tied his shoes. He soon stood up and walked to the door. "I f this doesn't end too quickly I'll be back by 5." He said then left. He spotted Brue talking to Suna who was happily chatting back. Mao rolled his eyes. Maybe I should just call it off. I'm sure Suna would love to go out with him. He thought. Brue noticed him and waved. Mao just stood there. "Brue I-" Mao cut himself off when seeing Suna give him a little smile. He walked up to the two of them and stood there looking down. "Sorry about yesterday, I was just a little upset about something that happened earlier." Mao apologized, shuffling his feet around. "It's fine, I thought I did something wrong to be honest." Mao looked up and gave her a tiny smile. "I know this place in the mall, they have some of the stuff I like. Brue said you were a big fan of fries, and they have some pretty good fries." Mao gasped and grabbed her hand running down the hall. "Cmon, show me!" He exclaimed making her laugh. "Wait! Slow down, Mao!"
Suna and Mao were sitting in a burger place in the mall. The two were just sitting there in awkward silence. Finally, Suna spoke up. "Um.. Brue told me that you liked to write. I heard you were in that writing club across the hall from the chemistry classroom." Mao laughed and played with the ends of his sleeves. "Yeah, it's always so quiet there, and they let you listen to music while you write. It's really the only place where I can write in peace, besides the library and my.." Mao trailed off when Suna pushed a strand of hair covering one of Mao's eyes away. "..Dorm." He finished, then looked away blushing. "Sorry, it was bothering me a bit. Your other eye, it's yellow," Mao shook his head making some loose hair fall over his right eye. Suna huffed. "It's cool, stop covering it." Mao looked away. "Showing it is what got me bullied." He bluntly stated. Suna looked down guiltily. "Oh, right.." Finally, their orders came and they thanked the waiter. Mao looked at his fries and ate one. "Needs a little salt." He mumbled. Suna was going to grab it as well so they ended up grabbing it at the same time. Mao blushed and quickly pulled his hand away. "S-Sorry, I wanted to add some salt to my fries..." He said. Suna pulled her hand away, blushing out of slight embarrassment. "Go ahead-" Mao grabbed the salt and gently shook it only for the top to come off and spill salt all over his fries. Mao left his mouth agape completely surprised. "Oh my goodness, I-I'll get you another plate of fries right now miss!" A waiter exclaimed grabbing the plate of fries and running to the back. It was silent for a moment.
The two then started laughing. Mao snorted. "I should've recorded that." Mao then slumped in his seat and leaned his head on the back of the chair. Suna laughed and started to eat her food. Mao's mind started to drift off to the loud noises, and the yelling all across the mall. He could vividly see his mom on the ground crying, while his dad beat on her, him and his two brothers behind the wall, watching from the stairs. His younger brother was holding the youngest to his chest while he covered his mouth to muffled his cries while Mao peeked from behind the wall, watching as tears streamed down his cheeks.
"..-ao?" A muffled voice called out. Who is that? They sound familiar. He thought. "Mao? Are you alright?" Suna asked. Mao remembered he was with Suna. He felt something hot roll down his cheeks. He sat up and wiped it away, looking at his sleeve seeing a glowing blue liquid on his jacket. Quickly, he stood up and ran to the bathroom. Suna got up from her chair watching the girl run to the bathroom. "Wh- Hey Mao come back!" She exclaimed, and was going to run out but instead quickly went to the counter and paid for the food then ran to the bathroom. "Mao?" She called out as she opened the door. Then stopped. The was a person there, curled up on the floor, with large bright glowing blue deer antlers on their head and their bottom half was the bottom half of a deers without the extra pair of legs. "Suna? Can you call Jay? My.. my phone.. It died." Mao asked, sounding like he was running out of breath. Suna quickly grabbed her phone and started to dial Jay's number, hoping she got it right since it wasn't saved in her phone. For a few minutes, Suna stood there anxiously, waiting for Jay to answer. "Hello?" Jay answered. "H-hey um, Mao collapsed in the bathroom and-" Suna paused and looked to Mao. "Here- Let me show you," Suna said turning on her camera and turning it around to show him. Jay gasped softly. "What happened? Do you need me to come pick you two up? I'll bring Brue so he can help me get Mao to the car, just stay with him." Then the call ended. Suna walked over to Mao and sat beside him.
Curiously, she touched his antlers making him grunt and shift. She noticed he also had fluffy deer ears. Mao then opened his eyes, the yellow one, now visible, and glowing. She poked his deer-like nose. His nose twitched as he looked up at her confused, his eyes were filled with confusion. "What are you doing?" He asked. "Just poking you." She responded. Mao sat up, his ears twitching. "Why?" Suna then poked his ears. "Because." Mao stared her blankly then placed his head on her lap. "Um- I um- Why-" Suna was cut off by Mao. "They're soft." Suna blushed. "Get off." Mao shook his head. Before Mao could speak, he sat up hearing Jay's voice. "Go get Mao." She whispered. "Wh- No- I'm not going in the girl's bathroom!" He whisper yelled. "Just go." Brue sighed and opened the door and walked in. "Why-" Mao started. "Don't. Wait why are you on Suna's lap?" He asked. Mao rolled his eyes. "Help me up." Brue bent down and wrapped an arm around Mao accidentally touching his chest. Mao blushed and nearly shrieked. "Watch where you put your hands!" He eaclaimed as he attmepted to stand on his feet. "Oh you're actually not flat." Brue bluntly stated. "Shut up and get me to the car."
Mao was now in the back of the car Awkwardly laying his head on Brue's lap whil Brue just sat there. "Do you do this to everyone?" He asked. Mao hummed in response. It was silent for a moment. "..Can I touch your ears-"
"I will murder you if you do." Mao responded. "But Suna-" "Shut up." Brue did as told but only for a minute or two. "Can I-" Mao sighed. "Go ahead.." Brue happily started to trace the strange design of the antlers. "They feel weird." Mao snorted. "They're antlers, what did you expect?" He asked. Brue shrugged in response. The rest of the car ride was silent. All of them wondered, How could Mao have turned into this creature? Was there something hidden?
I'll work on the next chapter soon. 3