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1. Out shopping
Rui had a bad habit of making promises and not following through with them. Especially in Mizuki’s case. He always promised to do something for them and would get caught up in something else. Whenever this happened, he felt awful. Was he a bad friend? Did it actually annoy Mizuki, or were they just teasing him? He never actually wanted to ask them about any of this though, even if he should. There’s a high possibility he’s just overthinking everything.
Mizuki had dragged him to their favourite shoe store because their current ones were becoming a tad too worn. Rui was happy to just follow his friend around while they compared two shoes. “Rui, which one looks better, be honest.” They turned the shoes over to him. They were the exact same shoe just in two different colours… apparently. He couldn’t tell the difference. As to not be called out, Rui considered each shoe carefully before pointing to the left one. Mizuki raised an eyebrow at him, looking at the shoe in disdain, “In this season? Oh come on, you’re lying. I’ll buy the other pair.” Mizuki sighed as they packed both shoes away, grabbing one box and taking it to the counter.
“I was serious, my apologies if you did not believe me. How could I make it up to you, my dearest friend?” Hopefully his tone was teasing enough, and Mizuki could see the glint in his eyes. Yet, they didn’t look at him as they paid, opening the box and staring at the shoes.
They were silent before looking up at Rui, “Promise to buy me these shoes when they release them in pink? It should be in the next release rotation. That would surely make it up to me.” Ah, they didn’t pick up on the fact Rui was only teasing. Was there a possibility they were now teasing Rui? Or were they serious? As Rui was lost in his own thoughts, Mizuki looked up at him. “You’d do that for me, right? Promise?”
Oh they knew he was weak for them. Rui felt his heart stutter and he wheezed out an affirmative. It couldn’t be that hard to buy some shoes, and it would make Mizuki happy so why not?
Rui woke up in a panic, his alarm ringing through his room abruptly in the extremely early morning. He didn’t go to bed that long ago, staying up late to work on a project. Groggily, he reached over and fumbled with his phone, turning the alarm off. He rubbed his eyes, looking at his phone screen. He set an alarm for the time the shoes would go on sale, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to stay up or wake up that early. Rui tended to crash only an hour before this time anyway.
It was difficult navigating his way to the homepage he needed to be on, as he kept nodding off slowly. Finally, he made it to the website for the company that distributed the shoes Mizuki asked for. He found the exact pair they had asked for, moving onto purchasing them.
Seeing the price woke Rui up completely. A… a hundred and 50 thousand yen?! There was no way Mizuki paid that much for the shoes they bought last time, no way in hell! Why were these so much? Risking it, Rui shot a text to Mizuki, demanding an explanation.
Akiyama <3: these are limited editionnnnn :(
Akiyama <3: theyre pink!!!! come on!!! buy them!!! >:3
… He did promise. There’s no way he could even afford this though! Did Mizuki really expect him to drop that much cash on this? Rui loved them, more than they would ever know but… this is too much.
In his sleep-addled mind, Rui came to the conclusion to purchase a pair of shoes he thought were similar enough to sate his friend, while still loosely keeping his promise.
-
“What do you mean everything was sold out ?! I told you to get in quick, Rui! You broke your promise!” Mizuki was hitting Rui over and over, making their point. He stood there and took it, like the man he is. … He’s going to go cry later about how he upset his crush for sure, but in front of them? Acting tough. So tough.
“I… I did try Mizuki. My apologies. I’m sure they’ll sell something similar soon!”
Mizuki stopped in their torment, looking up at Rui with an innocent gaze. “Oh it doesn’t matter, I knew you weren’t going to follow through somehow , so I bought them myself.” … Huh? They… they just have that much money to spend? This has to be some sick joke.
Seeing Rui’s pained expression, Mizuki let out a laugh. “Kidding! I bought a knockoff brand, similar enough right? They’re just a little lower quality, but I can fix that really easily. Don’t sweat it, Kamishiro!”
2. Having lunch
Every now and then, Rui and Mizuki would sneak onto the rooftop to have lunch together. It wasn’t as frequent as how it used to be but it was still nice. On the days for one of their scheduled lunch time meetings, Rui turned up without lunch. Mizuki shot him a confused look, but didn’t think too much of it. “Hi Rui, where’s your lunch? Did you forget it?”
The expression Rui made told Mizuki all they needed to know. He wasn’t even aware he didn’t have his lunch. “Ah, yes… I must have. You don’t mind, do you?” He gestured to the spot next to Mizuki, who patted it and smiled at him. Rui sat down next to Mizuki, watching them as they ate. They were looking up at the clouds, whatever for, he had no idea.
Halfway through the lunch, Mizuki palmed the rest of their food off to Rui. “I’m finished, you can eat the rest. I’m too full.” They spoke in an overly-cutesy tone, pouting at Rui. His cheeks warmed as he obediently ate the lunch given to him. His gaze never wandered from his friend, who was back to cloud gazing. They ended up pointing at one of the clouds, squinting, “Doesn’t that one look like two people riding a turtle?”
Rui looked up too, still dutifully eating the lunch. “It looks more like a cat on a horse… Or are you looking at a different one?”
“Different one. I named the cat y’know. Her name is Knight Mittens and she is a fearless warrior.”
Chuckling at his friend’s words, Rui looked among the clouds, searching for the cloud they were talking about. He never did find it, but he could see the appeal now, searching for pictures in the sky. He hadn’t realised how lost in this new activity he was until he felt some food at his lips. Rui looked down and was met with Mizuki looking at him, a teasing glint in their eyes. “Promise me you’ll bring your own lunch next time, okay? You don’t eat enough, even when you have your own food.”
He opened his mouth, eyes wide as Mizuki fed him the lunch they had (and probably made themself too… oh his poor heart). It tasted even better when they fed him. Rui only nodded dumbly in response, too awestruck by the way Mizuki was staring at him. They smiled at him, leaning against him as they went back to cloud gazing.
Three weeks later and many more lunch time meetings, Rui hadn’t brought his lunch once. He knew he promised Mizuki, but it was almost like they anticipated this. Every time they met, Mizuki would have an extra serving. They tried to hide it, Rui noticed, making their own portion larger instead of just putting the excess food in a smaller bento box. Mizuki hadn’t brought up the promise unless they were teasing him about being fed (they totally caught on straight away).
When Rui showed up for this meeting, Mizuki actually did have a second bento box with them. “Oh? What’s this Mizuki?” It felt nice being able to tease his friend, watching as their cheeks tinted ever so slightly. It was almost unnoticeable, yet Rui was very familiar with Mizuki’s expressions.
Watching them look away and shove the bento box in his direction, it really made his heart flutter. He chuckled as he sat down next to them, taking the bento box. The both of them ate in comfortable silence, interrupted every now and then by one of the two pointing out a weird cloud they saw. Mizuki had finished their lunch before Rui, as usual. It’s become common now for Rui to ‘forget’ to keep eating, having Mizuki lean against him and feed him the rest of the lunch.
In this case, Rui was fine to break a promise like this if it meant Mizuki would treat him like he was their boyfriend.
3. “Girls” Night
“You look totes cute! Oh my god, please let me take a photo!” Mizuki fawned over Rui, his face completely red as he became overwhelmed from their proximity. They had given their friend a makeover, pinning his hair back and doing some sort of makeup look for him. He never let Mizuki do his makeup until now, and they practically pounced at the chance.
Rui wanted to cover his face, but whenever he tried to get close to it Mizuki would bat his hands away. “I’d rather only you saw this… I’m sure it’s lovely, Mizuki but… it’s, uhm… special?” He struggled through his sentence, but he got it out in the end. His confession only made Mizuki coo even louder at him, his face burning up even more.
Mizuki had practically draped themself on him now, enraptured with him. Rui couldn’t look away, he felt his brain malfunctioning. “You should’ve let me do this sooner. You’re so pretty like this Rui! Oh, how about I do your nails next, hm?” They smiled at him, batting their eyelashes. They knew he was weak to them.
He let out a groan, giving Mizuki a smile back. He couldn't help it, they knew how to play him like a fiddle. “Fine. You can do my nails, I don’t mind.” He offered his hands over to them as Mizuki let out a happy squeal. They grabbed his hands, pulling him with them to a table.
“What colour? Any designs? I can do something cool if you want it! I’ve always wanted to do your nails, you have such gorgeous hands,” Their voice grew softer as they spoke, getting invested in their work. Rui, completely dumbfounded, just nodded and stuttered out an “anything you want”. He was met with a mischievous giggle, multiple colours of nail polish being placed in front of him. “I hope you’re comfortable, this will take a while.”
Rui hummed in response, shifting where he sat as Mizuki held his hand delicately and started painting his nails. He didn’t say anything as they worked, completely taken with how concentrated they looked. After doing one coat on one hand and moving on to the next, Mizuki smirked up at him, “Promise me you’ll take me out to get my nails done? You can choose where.”
He only nodded, clearing his throat. “I promise.”
The weird thing is, Rui didn’t actually forget about the promise he made. The only problem was, Mizuki hadn’t brought it up. At this point, Rui was almost convinced that Mizuki kept asking Rui to make promises, knowing full well that they weren’t going to be kept. He still didn’t know what Mizuki got out of it, bragging rights? To tease him with? He didn’t get it.
Every time Rui tried to bring up his promise, Mizuki would shush him and spin him into a new story they were telling. Eventually, he gave up, knowing that soon there would be another promise he would make with Mizuki that he would break by accident or just completely forget about it.
4. At the servo
After school, Rui and Mizuki decided to walk over to a convenience store not too far from their school. Mizuki had begged and begged their friend to come with them, complaining how hungry they were. When the two finally got there; instead of heading for the snacks or food, Mizuki headed for the drinks fridge. “Mizuki, really? You said you were hungry, get some actual food.”
Mizuki turned around, looking at Rui before sticking their tongue out at him. “I’m not in the mood for food. I’ll just get like, 4 drinks. That should even it out,” Mizuki peered through the drinks fridge, happily taking out 4 different drinks and closing the fridge. They turned back to their friend, holding up the drinks. “If you’re so worried, you could start setting a good example.”
Rui scoffed at that, taking some of the drinks from Mizuki to avoid an accident. Even if he was against substituting food for just sugary drinks, he was too weak for his friend to stop them. “Care to explain what you mean by that?”
“Well, a certain someone I know usually forgets to have something to eat when he’s so focused on work. And, y’know, I’m very easily influenced.” Now that wasn’t… entirely true. While Rui knew he did have the issue of getting so wrapped up in his own work that he forgot about everything else, Mizuki was by no means easily influenced. Then again, Rui didn’t mind them using him as an excuse.
He didn’t complain as Mizuki made it to the counter, happily paying for their drinks. Off-handedly, Rui grabbed a chocolate bar at the counter and paid for that himself. The two left the store, walking down the road to an old park. They were almost holding hands, almost , and it made Rui’s heart go into overdrive. Mizuki had already started drinking one of their drinks already; a green soft drink Rui has never heard of before.
When the two made it to the park, they sat on the benches there, watching as only a few children played on the rusted equipment. They didn’t say anything until after Mizuki had finished their second drink. Their head rested on Rui’s shoulder. He couldn’t bring himself to look any lower than the sky above them, terrified his heart might burst at the sight. Mizuki’s voice was so quiet when they spoke, they sounded so tired, “Please, please promise me you’ll actually eat proper meals, Rui. I worry.”
Honestly, he didn’t think his heart could ache more. Rui knew that even if he told them that he would start eating properly, he knew that wasn’t the case. “I promise.”
Funnily enough, he knew he’d already broken this promise too when he opened the chocolate bar and finally had something to eat that day.
5. Over the phone
It wasn’t often Mizuki would call Rui in the middle of the night. Every time they did though, they never commented on why Rui was also awake so late. When he answered, they didn’t sound upset, or panicked just… normal. Maybe they were simply lonely this time, that’s what he liked to believe. “Hey Rui, I missed you, y’know.”
“We saw each other at school, Mizuki. Whatever made you miss me so much?” He heard them grumble on the other side of the phone, sheets rustling. They must be ready for bed. His heart couldn’t take the thought of how maybe Mizuki called him so he would be the last thing they heard. He sounded delusional.
“Just, y’know…” They sighed and Rui took note of how their voice softened, almost drastically, “... you. I always miss you. Even when we’re together I don’t know I just…”
They trailed off, not finishing their sentence. They weren’t going to and Rui knew that. He didn’t know if this was the right time to say anything, he never wanted to in the first place yet, over the phone was a bit of a letdown. He decided to just tell them the smallest amount, let them in to see how he feels and give them a taste. “I get the same feeling, don’t worry. It’s like something is missing, right? Something you don’t even have and yet you miss it? I feel like that’s normal, I wouldn’t worry too much.”
An almost silent hum right in Rui’s ear? Nearly killed the poor man. Mizuki was falling asleep, he knew it. “Hey, Rui?” He hummed in response, words caught in his throat. “Promise me you won’t hang up, okay?”
Now, as romantic as that sounds… his phone bill would be through the roof if he let this slide. It would become a thing, even if he wanted so desperately for it to be a thing, he can’t indulge them. “I promise, Mizuki. Did you want to talk about anything else?”
Rui was afraid they had already drifted off as nothing followed his question. A few moments had passed and he already considered hanging up, but not before Mizuki mumbled, “Just anything. I like hearing your voice.”
No one had to know that Rui talked for another two hours before almost falling asleep himself, hanging up. He was well aware that Mizuki had fallen asleep quite quickly yet, he still enjoyed talking just knowing Mizuki was there.
+1. At the park
Again, the two had walked back from the convenience store, brushing hands the whole time but still not touching. Mizuki had started at least buying one snack when they went, and Rui had decided to buy a meat bun today. He was slowly but surely working on eating proper meals but it was still hard to keep track of. Mizuki led him to their bench, happily sitting down with him. They didn’t talk, watching the clouds as they ate (or more drank in Mizuki’s case). Now, they didn’t even need to say what a cloud looked like, just point out an interesting one to get the other to smile.
It was enjoyable, spending some afternoons after school with Mizuki. Ah, Rui might be a little biased though, he did have a soft spot for his friend. Really though, they were great company. Mizuki offered Rui bites of their snack (whether they genuinely wanted him to try it or they were just avoiding eating it, who knows), and Rui would offer bits of whatever he brought to them.
Today while cloud gazing; Mizuki pointed up to a cloud, smiling at Rui, and after he had acknowledged it, they left their hand on Rui’s thigh, leaning into him. He was going to implode, he could feel it. Mizuki’s hand was just… staying there… and they were so close to him too! Either Mizuki was unaware of Rui’s internal panic, or they found joy in it. The next thing they did was lean close to Rui’s face, whispering in his ear, “There’s not a lot of clouds today, huh? What a waste.”
Rui tried to play it cool, he really did! He was well aware of the heat radiating off of his cheeks, and how he couldn’t even bear to look down at Mizuki as he stuttered out a reply. “Yeah, you’re right. The clouds, they’re… uhm,” He trailed off, his heart hammering in his chest. Mizuki chuckled softly and sighed as they used Rui like a wall, leaning their full weight against him.
“So… what do you say we do instead? Why not, I don’t know…” Mizuki trailed off as they waved their hand, nonchalant. “Truth or dare?” There was a dangerous lilt to their voice, yet Rui couldn’t deny them of what they wanted. The poor boy just nodded his head, still refusing to look at his crush. “Alright, so what is it? Truth? Or dare?”
If Mizuki knew about Rui’s crush, no matter which he picked he’d be doomed. Truth? ‘Do you like me? Not like that, you know what I mean!’ Dare? ‘I dare you to tell me your honest feelings about me, and spare no expense!’ He was doomed. Though, in this scenario, picking dare might be the better option. He could argue that doing a dare like that is making a loophole and demand a different dare. Soon enough, Mizuki would give in and the two would go on with their day.
“Dare.” His voice was shaky, oh dear.
“Dare?” Rui just nodded his head in response. “Hm… I dare you to…” Mizuki drew out their words as they looked around, searching for something to find. “... put sand from the sand pit over there down your pants.”
… Rui was not expecting that. At all. He gave Mizuki an incredulous look, “I am not going to do that.”
He was met with a pout and their best attempt at puppy dog eyes and oh boy it took everything Rui had to not fold. He held strong though, causing Mizuki to pout for real and deflate, “That just means you answer a truth if you forfeit a dare.”
Now that was something. He wasn’t aware those were the rules but, well, if Mizuki didn’t ask him a dare about his opinion on them, surely a truth would be fine? “I’m… I’m okay with that. Go ahead.”
Rui even felt Mizuki take a breath before they answered, their voice just barely a whisper, “What are we?” While Rui was expecting at least something of that calibre… he definitely did not expect that . He couldn’t answer truthfully, right? What if he took this the wrong way and Mizuki only saw him as a friend? He was fine with that, really. He didn’t need to be more than friends with Mizuki but… if he did tell Mizuki what he wanted the two of them to really be, would they accept him or reject him? It seemed he was too caught in his thoughts as Mizuki’s voice cut him out of his thoughts. “It’s just, we don’t really act like traditional friends, do we?”
He hoped that was in a good way as he replied, “Do we need to?”
Mizuki shifted, looking up at Rui with wide eyes. He couldn’t tell if this was a good thing as Mizuki didn’t say anything at all. They stared at each other, the few children at the park ignoring the two strange teens who frequented. “Rui, I really need you to elaborate on that. In a very good way.”
There was no way Rui’s face could have gotten any redder, and yet it still happened. He felt his eyes widen, and his words were caught in his throat as he looked at Mizuki. He had never planned to confess to them, he didn’t know what to say at all. No words could ever describe how he felt towards Mizuki, would that be a good thing to say right now? Yeah, say that… that sounds romantic. “N-No-”
“No? Why not?” Their face looked even cuter when scrunched up in confusion, or is that anger? Oh God, Rui needs to speak right now.
“Mizuki, look at me,” He took their hands in his, pleading with them. “I promise to always love you. Whether that be as a friend, or h-however else you need from me. I will always love you.”
They teared up at Rui’s confession, pushing him away before pulling him into a tight hug. “If you break this promise, I’m going to kill you, Rui Kamishiro.”
“Oh, I would let you, Mizuki Akiyama. I would let you.” The two stayed like that; Mizuki almost crying, but no tears falling, and Rui holding them in his arms, actually crying. He was overwhelmed that Mizuki would actually accept his feelings. He really would rather die than break this promise.