Letter: C
Prompt: Cheesy/Corny, expanded into Christmas, cold, confession
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairing: Masaomi/Mikado
Genre: Friendship, humor, drama
Summary: Mikado, Masaomi and corny pickup lines lead to an unlikely confession in the snow.
Warnings: AU, boyxboy

A/N: All pick-up lines were found on the internet. =]

"I think there's something wrong with my eyes because I can't take them off you."

Mikado stops walking, blinks owlishly as confusion and 'Damn that's corny.' crashes wildly through his head. He laughs openly at the utter ridiculousness of the statement before punching the blonde next to him in the side, not minding the fact that they're both standing in the middle of a street in Ikebukuro, people giving them weird and condescending looks and them not even paying attention to those looks. Mikado's too shocked to care that they're blocking pedestrian traffic; too caught up in the outlandish comment he misses the strange expression on Masaomi's face.

Right now, Mikado guesses Masaomi's asking him for advice on pickup lines. He laughs even harder at that, if possible.

Seriously. Pickup lines. From him, Ryuugamine Mikado.

Masaomi must be on something because he'd never ask him about hitting on girls. Hell, the blonde enjoyed teasing him about his love life - or lack thereof. Fortunately for him, Mikado does the same back, and in a way he feels is much more effective. Masaomi seems to deflect his harsh comments without a thought however, which admittedly, makes teasing the blonde rather enjoyable.

Oh well, Mikado thinks as he turns completely to the smiling blonde. Might as well be honest about, well-the cheesy pickup line, not to mention his lungs are starting to hurt from all the exertion. He forces himself to calm down.

"Where'd you get that one from, Kida-kun? The internet?" he asks with a quirk of his eyebrow, a smile. "-cause I don't think that will work on anyone."

Masaomi is aghast and utterly horrified by the accusation. Splaying his arms up wide in the air, the blonde asks,

"Why? You don't like it?" Cue childish pout and slumped shoulders.

Mikado shakes his head back and forth as if disappointed in a young child. He almost clicks his tongue. Almost.

"No." deadpans the brunet, who wears the 'Are you serious?' expression on his face like it always belonged there. Mikado's beginning to think that this is the case. After all, situations like this were always bound to happen when one was friends with the chipper blonde. It was almost like second nature to him.

At this thought, Mikado continues walking forward without a backward glance. A leisure wave of his hand is all Masaomi sees as his best friend's body shrinks with each passing second. With a smile and a chuckle, he runs up to the shorter teen and shoves his hands deep into his pockets.

Thinking, "Ahh, I'll continue this next time," Masaomi points put random sights of interest as they continue their stroll through the bustling city.

OOO

"Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"When you fell from heaven?"

Masaomi is smiling brightly. Mikado remembers to close his mouth before someone other than himself thinks he looks like a gaping fish out of water. A starving, dying fish with twitching gills and bulging eyes…

He snaps his mouth shut and the sound of clattering teeth reverberates between the two teens at the local café.

"I know I'm amazing, hold the applause. Let me guess, that one's the best one, isn't it?"

Masaomi has the nerve too look proud, a large grin on his face and arms crossed over his chest as he leans back in his seat. Mikado can only stare blankly at the teen in front of him.

"Umm, no. Quite the opposite actually." explains Mikado as he pointedly ignores his friend by pinning his attention on his math homework. His head is bowed down so he can focus and work properly on the huge assignment that's due the following day. Pencil scratching and the press of calculator buttons can be heard clearly at the table occupied by the Raira students.

Masaomi feels this is boring and is about to reply to the statement to continue the conversation. To his utter delight, however, the blue-eyed brunet does it for him by saying quietly, pencil still flying across the paper,

"That one may actually be one of your worst, Kida-kun…"

Masaomi pouts openly at that before leaning over the small, silver round table, face looming so close to the brunet's, Mikado almost freaks out at the spontaneous action. Masaomi's grinning face is so close to Mikado's, Mikado has to lean as far back as possible without toppling over, a hard feat considering how small the table was and how light the chairs were.

Rather annoyed at his blonde friend's antics, Mikado asks with a frustrated knit to his brow,

"What now?"

"I'll make up my own lines then!" concludes the blonde, who grins so wide his face looks

like it'll crack any moment now.

Mikado eyes him strangely from the corner of his eye before sighing. He shoos the blonde out of his face and forces him back into his own seat.

"You go do that."

OOO

"I don't know which is prettier today: the water, the sky or your eyes."

The sushi making its way to his mouth stops suddenly in mid air, chopsticks held tightly in his hand. Blue eyes widen a fraction before narrowing in suspicion, although traces of a blush appear on the normally pale cheeks. He lowers the sushi and focuses on the blonde who blurted out yet another lame pick up line.

"Did you make that one up yourself, Masaomi?" asks Mikado incredulously, shuffling in his seat because now this feels really awkward and honestly, he is sort of amazed Masaomi isn't tired of this game yet.

Masoami nods happily, like a puppy rewarded for complying to its owner's demands. Mikado can clearly imagine a bushy tail wagging side to side behind his friend in what can only be decided as complete happiness and whatever the hell the blonde thinks is cute and adorable. Should he be surprised?

Not really.

"Yup! It's original, isn't it?" the blonde continues, face beaming and overflowing with giddiness and accomplishment.

Mikado averts his gaze and coughs, feeling the all-too-familiar sensation of second-hand embarrassment wash over him. After all, it came with the package of being friends with Kida Masaomi: skirt chaser extraordinaire and complete fail at all things suave and charming. Now, he had to deal with an apparently-brilliant Kida Masaomi, who's enjoying how apparently-awesome this new pick up line is.

"Yes, but not all girls have blue eyes you know."

The blonde smiles cheekily, tongue sticking out from between his lips. "I know."

Mikado rolls his eyes before plopping the sushi into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully before swallowing thickly.

"Hey, you wanna visit Sonohara-san later on today?" Mikado asks out of the blue.

Masaomi can only nod and smile.

OOO

"Your eyes are blue, like the ocean. And baby, I'm lost at sea."

This time, the words are whispered so close to his ear, Mikado shivers at the strange sensation tickling his skin. In response to the weird act, the class representative quickly pulls away from a grinning, bent-over Masaomi, and scoots inconspicuously closer to Anri who's blissfully unaware of what just occurred between the two males. Mikado shoots the blonde a weird look and says,

"You know, Kida-kun. Not all girls have blue eyes! Try for some variety or something…" Mikado blushes, realizing Anri heard all of that. In fact, the bespectacled girl looked interested. "- not that I know what I'm talking about, err…"

Masaomi laughs, straightens up to the two brunets eating their lunch delicately on the rooftop and spins dramatically on his heel. The blonde stands behind the two surprised class representatives, places a hand on each head and pats them fondly as if they were his own children.

"Now, now kids. Papa knows not all women have blue eyes. Look here at Anri-chan! She has the most beautiful brown eyes like warm silky chocolate…" He licks his lips, testing the waters. And as expected, Mikado appears disgusted but blushes nonetheless, and Anri shyly glances to the side, color adorning her own cheeks.

"No man can determine one's beauty based solely on eye color. After all, all women love the great Kida Masaomi!" Grinning and flashing the piece sign, Masaomi wags his eyebrows suggestively at Anri, who blushes a deeper red in embarrassment.

Suddenly, Mikado jumps up from the bench, plastic food wrapper falling dramatically onto the cement. He releases a breath he hadn't realized he's been holding and says coolly to his friend,

"Kida-kun. Your pick-up jokes are lame. Just stop it already. Plus, you're making Sonohara-san uncomfortable."

However, when both teens look over at said girl, Anri is laughing pleasantly, a hand covering her mouth demurely and her eyes shut tight in mirth.

"You two…are so funny." She manages between the laughter which sounds a lot like twinkling bells; quiet yet pleasant.

Masaomi and Mikado eye each other hesitantly, but then they break out into laughter themselves, chests heaving at the stupidity they were engaged in.

OOO

"Ouch! My tooth hurts!" exclaims a now wincing Masaomi who totally thinks he's awesome and brilliant and other flattering adjectives. Mikado looks up, startled from his essay and tumbles his way over to the blonde while sporting a frown. "Why?" he asks, curious and ready to help him if he so needed it.

Masaomi winces again for dramatic effect then straightens up in his seat in front of his own homework. Brightly, he says, "Because you're sooo sweet, Mikado!~"

Mikado has gotten used to the routine by now, and is actually starting to play along with the blonde as long as it shut him up. But this time, they're studying for exams, and there's no time for fooling around. If he scored poorly on his exams, his parents will have a fit, which means he'll have to move back to Saitama…

"What's gotten into you, Masaomi? There's no time for games. As you can see, I'm trying to study." he tries to explain calmly, blue eyes growing intense as he moves to return to his own seat situated in front of some neatly stacked piles of books and papers.

Masaomi nods complacently, shuts his eyes as he leans back. Mikado has to stop at the motion; he's actually paying attention to the blonde because Masaomi's acting strange - he's unusually obedient. He ponders over this strange occurrence as he watches the other cross his arms behind his head and release a heavy sigh.

"I know. Just thought I'd try to break up the tension in here a bit. Makes it hard to concentrate, y'know?" Masaomi opens an eye and peers straight at him. Mikado is slightly taken aback but find himself completely understanding what the other is trying to say.

Releasing his own sigh and only now realizing how tense his shoulders are, how stiff his neck feels, Mikado gives the blonde a small smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he concedes gratefully. He didn't notice how much studying was taking a toll on him and so he sends a silent thank you to Masaomi. His best friend always seemed to know when something was wrong, even when they were younger.

Masaomi just straightens up and smiles back at Mikado, stretching like a cat, bones cracking with the movement as he nods.

They study diligently for hours after their break, and when exams are over, Mikado places in the top 5 of his class.

OOO

Somehow, they're at a Christmas party. Somehow, alcohol was snuck in. Somehow, everyone around them was drunk and laughing so loud it was starting to grate painfully on Mikado's nerves. The brunet wants to leave this place really, really badly. He considers just dumping the blonde here and leaving, but he knows he can't do that, although the thought of doing so was becoming more and more attractive…

Masaomi is slouched over, leaning heavily against him on the couch. His body is really heavy - (must be the muscles) - and really, really warm, so warm its beginning to feel uncomfortable. Masaomi's drooling onto his shoulder too and Mikado knows he can push the other off him but decides not to.

He sighs, and after seeing another round of booze make its way to the giggling group of teens, he decides that they should leave. Now.

"Masaomi," he whispers, gently pushing the blonde off him. "We need to go now. It's getting late."

Masaomi moans but gets up nonetheless, swaying slightly and holding onto Mikado's arm for purchase. He blinks, trying to focus his blurry vision and spots Mikado through the hazy cloud. "Oh. Mikado, fancy seeing you here."

Mikado responds by dragging him out the house and into the freezing nighttime air, which is snowy, calm and manages to clear his mind. He shivers and squints at the colorful lights before glancing down at Mikado who's checking his phone, plastic clicks and bright light pronounced during the quiet, peaceful walk. Surprisingly, it's not him who starts the conversation, but the other.

"I didn't think you'd be the type to get drunk so easily, Masaomi." the brunet states with no real tone to emphasize his opinion or feelings on the matter. It's very neutral, factual sounding like he's a teacher grading papers and asking about the weather to that one lucky student who happened to come to school early. For some reason, this lack of emotion affects Masaomi more than it should have, and the guilt and all the emotions - the frustrations - feel more powerful than ever before because of that remark.

"I'm not drunk." is what he says, and he's proud that he manages to say it with a straight face. There's no whining or, attitude in the statement, which forces Mikado to look up from his phone and quickly return it to his pocket. He stops walking, breath puffing out in white, ghostly shapes amongst the darkness. Powdery white now falls onto his lashes and Masaomi wants to get closer so he can count them.

"Oh, really?" Mikado says, not believing it one bit but smiling because he thinks Masaomi is a good actor and this is all just a game to him. It's always just been a game, for almost a year now because Masaomi is all about jokes, games, adventure and warmth. Mikado likes that about the blonde. Admittedly, he likes this game, although he'd never admit it out loud.

"Yeah."

Mikado stares at him penetratingly for a few seconds, weighing his options. Masaomi wonders why he's so concerned anyways and keeps on wondering, even as Mikado sighs and continues walking forward, gloved hands fussing with the purple earmuffs that just won't stay still on his head. Masaomi smiles fondly at the action.

Strangely, his mouth decides to blurt out a line before his mind can catch up to it: "I'm

not drunk. I'm just intoxicated by you."

Mikado halts in his tracks and turns around, blinking owlishly like the first day he started using these pickup lines.

"What did you say?" Mikado asks, dumbstruck as he shuffles his way to Masaomi and stands directly in front of him. Mikado is speechless and can't help staring at his best friend's completely serious face. "I think your jokes are getting a little bit too much now, Masaomi…" he trails off, chuckling awkwardly and fiddling with the red scarf he's sporting.

Masaomi looks him straight in the eye. "I'm not joking."

"W-what?" he responds, stepping back a bit.

Masaomi laughs and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Umm…yeah."

"Oh."

They lapse into an awkward silence.

"I don't really know how to say this." Masaomi starts as he pulls on Mikado to continue their walk, their feet crunching against the growing layers of snow. He doesn't know what he should be thinking as Mikado's gaze lingers on the hand gripping his arm. He doesn't want to over think this. All of this.

They're now standing near Mikado's apartment complex, close to the fence and its pretty dark out. Nearby inhabitants are already turning on their lights, heaters on full blast. Masaomi knows he's not drunk, and it seems Mikado doesn't realize that he's serious. He's scared, admittedly, but he has to do this. Masaomi gathers his courage, flexes his gloved fingers, shakes his beanie covered head and looks Mikado straight in the eye, who looks…

…the most confused and lost he's ever seen him. No scowl. No rolling eyes. No smirk. No smile.

Just…wide blue eyes.

'Shit! I probably scared him,' Masaomi berates himself mentally. He considers giving up, playing it all off as one of his jokes, but a hand on his arm catches his attention.

"Masaomi…" Mikado trails off, looks to the side before refocusing on him. "Is there…something you need to ask me?"

Masaomi widens his eyes, swallows the spit gathere in the back of his throat from all the nervous tension, and shuffles awkwardly before giving a firm nod.

"Mikado, can I say something?"

Mikado smiles slightly. "You're already doing that, but yeah. What is it, Masaomi?"

Masaomi can see Mikado breathing slowly, eyes blinking frequently due to all the snow and something else in his eyes. He decides to not give it so much thought and instead opts to say the first thing that comes to mind,

"Umm, I think I may be in love with you...?"

Mikado immediately looks down at the snow gathering on the ground. It's not the reaction the blonde is expecting, and he feels pretty dumb for confessing now. Mikado totally has the hots for Anri. His best friend would never consider the thought of it…

But Masaomi also notices how absolutely red Mikado's cheeks are, how much he's shifting and trying to appear normal. Mikado's not leaving either him, just standing there like he's engaged in some internal debate of some sort. Hopefully this is a good sign.

Yeah. Hopefully.

Suddenly, Mikado's eyes shoot up and meet his. There's a sparkle there and something else. He doesn't say anything, but Mikado seems to know he won't tell unless he himself starts the talking.

"All this time…" he trails off with a strange look on his face, realization meeting his eyes with each spoken word, "…-you were using those horrible pick-up lines on me?"

Masaomi rubs the back of his head nervously and averts his gaze. "Err…yeah. Sorry about that."

Mikado does something unexpected. He laughs genuinely and is smiling so wide he looks younger than he already looks (which is already quite young to be honest.) Masaomi can't help the smile that breaks out on his own face at the expression.

"Was that a confession, earlier Masaomi?"

"What else could it be?"

"Oh…I don't know. But umm…" Mikado steps closer but not too close, puffs of white air brushing against Masaomi's face so he can see the other more clearly. "I guess we could give it a shot…?"

The questioning tilt in that single statement doesn't deter Masaomi from breaking out into a large grin. He wants to wrap his arms around Masaomi because now he finally gets it, after all this time. Now his work paid off (in a roundabout way) and he really, really wants to celebrate. But he also doesn't know if Mikado would want that, so he settles with smiles and almost gives in to the temptation to hug him when Mikado closes his warm fingers around his own cold ones and a hesitant smile is directed at him.

Masaomi closes his eyes contentedly, not minding the cold seeping into his bones because now he can officially say,

'He finally gets it.'