Summary: Sorry, it's not so fluffy at the beginning but I swear it gets better at the end, but this one-shot is about Yuu having a rough day and in the end, I love yous are exchanged.
A/N: Well I planned for a fun beach fic to come out next, but with the first snowfall of the year here and with finding out my unpleasant work schedule and class schedule for next semester, I switched gears and ended up writing this at about midnight and finishing it around 2:30 in the morning. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one. Thank you in advance for the reads, any reviews (especially reviews because I love hearing thoughts and comments), and any future follows and favorites!
It had been a rough day for Yuu. A day so rough that he found himself alone at the park a few blocks away from his house, the urge to be alone prompting him. He sat on one of the cold, hard plastic swings, arriving just before snowfall. An hour had passed since then, Yuu merely pushing his legs back and forth without his feet leaving the ground in a half-hearted swing, his eyes watching the snow as it fell, sparkling in the light as it did.
Surprisingly, Yuu didn't feel cold. He wore a pair of sweatpants, snow boots, and only a t-shirt under his coat, his hood over his head to protect him from the cold, wet snow. He held out his hand, a couple snowflakes melting against his skin as Yuu thought back to how this crappy day had begun.
Today Yuu had experienced a snowball effect of crappiness, all of it beginning with his first period: math. Geometry, to be more specific. Algebra Yuu was fine with; he could see where you would apply some of it to the real world, but geometry? How would he ever use the Pythagorean Theorem in the real world? This sort of thinking is what landed him in trouble that day once their teacher handed back their tests from the week before.
Yuu's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets once the teacher dropped off his test, a red F sitting at the top along with a request for his parents to sign it so that Yuu could give it back to the teacher. Yuu groaned inwardly, declaring his official hatred for the class in his head. This had been strike one for the day.
"You didn't do so well, did you?" Mika asked Yuu, his tone lowered so other students wouldn't overhear.
Yuu flipped his test to the back and shot Mika a frown, the blond sitting to Yuu's left. "No. Did you?"
Yuu knew Mika had a little more geometric skill than he did, so he knew Mika would pass the test, but one glance at Mika's 88% score seemed to crumble most of the happiness for his boyfriend that Yuu had. Not because Yuu wasn't happy that Mika did well, but because Yuu felt inferior, like a total failure compared to Mika's score, and he hated that feeling. He hated the pang of jealousy that stemmed from seeing that damn score.
"I passed," Mika spoke in a rushed tone, quickly flipping his test over at Yuu's glance, a nervous smile on his face. "But there's still the final, I'm sure you'll do fine on that one, Yuu-chan."
Yuu nodded, not so sure. He opened his mouth to change the subject but was cut off when he heard the kid on the other side of him mumble about her test falling. She moved to reach her test, smacking her arm into her desk accidentally. The thermos sitting on her desk wobbled, the lid falling off, bringing down the whole thing, the contents of the thermos – coffee, of all things - spilling all over Yuu and the floor. This wouldn't have been such a bad thing if it hadn't been for the fact that the coffee was still hot and for the fact that Yuu had decided to wear his brand new, white t-shirt today. The shirt stain and the small burns from the coffee created strike two.
Strike three occurred during lunch with Mika, Shinoa, Kimizuki, Yoichi, and Mitsuba. All five of his friends had arrived at the table sooner than Yuu had, but they'd left him his usual spot between Mika and Yoichi, both of whom were more preoccupied with studying for an exam than actually partaking in the conversations at the table.
"Yuu, I think you spilled a little something on your shirt," Kimizuki said with a chuckle as Yuu sat down, gesturing towards the coffee stain as a sly grin grew on his lips.
Yuu exhaled in frustration, sitting down with his lunch. He shot a glare at Kimizuki, not in the mood for jokes. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up all you want. Some idiot next to me in math dropped their test and knocked their coffee all over the damn place trying to grab it."
Yuu violently stabbed his piece of chicken, angrily biting into it as Shinoa leaned forward, raising an eyebrow. "That's unfortunate. So how'd you do on the test? That goes for you too, Mika."
Mika glanced up from his notebook, his face impassive. "I did fine, I passed." Yuu could see him bite on his lip ever so slightly as his gaze dipped down back to his notebook, indicating that Mika would be listening to Yuu's answer.
Yuu shrugged. "It's a math test, nothing big." He couldn't tell them how badly he'd messed up. He would never live it down.
Shinoa narrowed her eyes. "You didn't give me a direct answer. Did you fail it?"
Surprisingly, her tone didn't sound as harsh as Yuu would have expected. He didn't think he heard a mocking tone in it either…was Shinoa giving him a break for once? He didn't know for sure, but he remained quiet, taking in another bite of food, not wanting to answer the question.
"So much for claiming you were going to ace the class," Shinoa replied with a shrug. "Can you even pass the class at this point? Didn't you get low scores on your other exams, too?"
Kimizuki chimed in then with a few scores ranging from a low C to a D, trying to help Shinoa figure out Yuu's current grade in the class.
"What the hell does it matter if I'm passing or not?" Yuu exclaimed, slamming his fork into the table, earning looks from not only his friends, but some students around them. "It's none of your business or concern, so stay the hell out of it. This is why I never tell you guys about my grades."
That had been strike three. Yuu knew they hadn't meant it in a cruel way, but their debating whether he was failing or technically passing with a D pissed Yuu off and only reminded him of how much of a failure he felt like. He knew they were concerned for him in their own way, but sometimes their own ways bugged him.
"Yuu-chan, they didn't mean-" Mika tried to interject, but Yuu cut him off.
Now, you would think three strikes would be it, right? Nothing else could make things worse, right? Well, for Yuu, there were two more strikes. Strike four was his own fault. Yuu knew he shouldn't have erupted in front of everyone at lunch, and he especially shouldn't have turned on Mika as he had, the guilt of the memory forming in his stomach as he thought about what he'd said.
Yuu had stood up quickly, grabbing his bag and shaking his head at Mika. "No, Mika don't. Not right now; I don't need you defending them right now, especially when you did so well on the test like you always do. You never have to put up with ridicule or your friends questioning whether or not you'll be able to pass the class with a D or not. You never have to stress about passing a final exam just so that you could skid by the class with a barely passing grade because you do so damn great with those tests. You don't even have to worry about getting a signature from your parents because you failed the test, a lecture about how much of a failure you are just waiting for you the moment you show it to them." Yuu turned to leave, Mika's hand wrapping around his arm to stop him.
Yuu could see Mika's sapphire eyes grow dark with sadness, his boyfriend standing up as he spoke, his voice pleading with Yuu. "Yuu-"
He couldn't let Mika finish that sentence. He knew Mika would try to talk him down and reason with him, empathize with him, and it would end in a whole bunch of emotions that Yuu didn't want to feel at that moment in the lunchroom, surrounded by curious peers. He wanted to talk to Mika, he never needed to so much before, but he couldn't. He knew Mika would listen, but he wasn't sure Mika could truly understand. So Yuu pulled his arm from Mika's grip, hating to do so.
"Mika, just leave me alone. Please."
Yuu knew Mika would do as he asked; Mika was very good at respecting Yuu's boundaries – it was one of the things he loved most about the boy. Knowing that he wouldn't chase after him, Yuu bolted out of the cafeteria without looking back, hiding in the parking lot for the rest of lunch until it was time for his next class.
The final strike was his conversation with his parents, which he didn't want to recall. Yuu had hated walking into his house after school, hesitantly presenting his parents with his test and his plan to pass the final exam to pass the class. His plan had been met with disappointed faces and mutters of his parents wishing they'd had another child, a less problematic child who could achieve better academically – it wasn't the first time they'd said something along those lines. But they'd signed the test and handed it back to him, offering a few choice words and punishment for being such a failure and a disgrace to the family.
Yuu didn't respond to them, stuffing his test into his backpack and grabbing his jacket before he told his parents he'd be back later and slipped out of the house at dusk.
His need for escape had led him to the park, the place he'd always run off to ever since he was younger and needed to get away. Though he never played here anymore, Yuu still enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, especially at night when the children were at home and he could have the whole place to himself to think. His favorite time to think was during the quiet hush of the snowfall as the white blanket silenced everything at this hour.
Yuu closed his eyes and breathed in the cool, fresh air, leaning his head against the chains of the swings as he listened to the silence. He remained in the position for a while, the sound of soft footfalls when boots met snow approaching. Yuu kept his eyes closed, figuring it to be some stranger who felt the same way he did and needed to be alone. He only opened his eyes and turned to the newcomer when he heard their voice speak.
"I didn't know if I'd find you here, but I figured I'd give it a shot," Mika said, dusting off the swing next to Yuu before taking a seat on it.
Yuu gazed at Mika questioningly. He had made Mika seem like the bad guy at lunch today, so why was he hear searching Yuu out? Yuu had expected Mika to ignore him for a while, causing Yuu to be the one to reach out first. "Mika," Yuu said in a soft tone, ready to apologize for his outburst.
Mika stopped him, though. "You cut me off earlier, so now it's my turn to talk," Mika spoke sternly, his sapphire eyes meeting Yuu's emerald eyes with determination.
Yuu nodded. "Fair enough."
Mika smiled softly at the compliance, his gaze and tone softening. "Yuu-chan, I'm not mad at you for anything you said earlier. You were upset, and I know my getting a good grade on the test didn't help any." Yuu opened his mouth to interrupt with something along of the lines of how he didn't mean it like that, but one look from Mika and he shut up. "I tried texting and calling you to see if you were alright after school, but you didn't answer. I assumed you did want me to leave you alone, but then your parents called me to lecture me about how you're grounded and that I was to bring you back since they were sure you'd left to meet up with me, and then I realized you might have just left your phone at home. I told them the truth, that you weren't with me and then I hung up and left to find you."
Yuu's gaze slid to the snowy ground, feeling guilty over what he'd said. Mika hadn't deserved any of his stress. "But why?"
Mika laughed, shaking his head. "That's a stupid question. Ask questions like that in geometry and you really won't pass."
Yuu shot him a shot him a look, the joke not really bugging him like it would have earlier. "No, really. Why'd you come out here to look for me? I appreciate it, but after how I acted I don't deserve it."
Mika winked. "Because I love you, Yuu-chan!" Mika's face grew serious. "I mean it; I love you, Yuu-chan. I couldn't sit at home knowing you're upset and alone out in the cold. I knew I had to go find you…Yuu-chan, are you alright?" Mika stood up from his seat, his face crinkling in worry.
Yuu used the back of his hand to wipe away the tears that had begun to stream down from his eyes, sniffling as he tried to stop himself. But hearing Mika's words right then made him so happy, happier than he'd felt in a long time and certainly happier than he'd felt all day. They had never said the words 'I love you' before though they'd been dating for a few months. Yuu had always been shy to say it, and his insecurities had tricked him into thinking he would only scare Mika off if he did, so hearing Mika say it first erased those thoughts and all of the strikes that had occurred that day.
Yuu chuckled at Mika's comment before he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that no one has ever really said that to me before…and I always worried that you wouldn't feel the same way. It's stupid, I know."
Mika's face collapsed into an expression of what Yuu could best describe as understanding and utter sadness, his warm arms embracing Yuu tightly, awkwardly maneuvering around the swing. "I am so sorry that you've had to feel alone like this, Yuu-chan." Mika's voice was low, his breath hot against Yuu's ear. "You never have to feel this way again, not with me around."
Yuu smiled and returned the embrace, more tears streaking down his face as his heart swelled with joy and love, never having been more grateful for someone in his life. Being here with Mika like this, he never wanted to leave his side. He never wanted to feel alone again, and it felt like a weight off his shoulders knowing Mika would be there for him regardless of whatever stupid things he said or did.
"Thank you for being in my life, Mika. I love you, too."