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It all started when Reo got off of the phone with some obnoxious, theatrically-evil sounding man named Kaiser.
Kaiser, who talked like a cartoon supervillain, had called Reo and Nagi’s magic shop requesting them to make a love potion. Now, love potions were a little bit illegal. Perhaps even very illegal. But money was money, and this Kaiser guy was offering Reo a lot of money. Money that he definitely needed ever since his parents had pulled all of their funding from their shop.
Besides, Isagi had vetted Kaiser when Reo had asked about him.
(“Knowing Kaiser,” Isagi had said. “He’s not trying to take over the world yet, he’s just trying to get someone to do his evil bidding for him.”)
Regardless of Kaiser’s true intentions, Reo wasn’t an idiot—if there was anything his parents had taught him about running a business, it was how to keep your corrupt and unethical policies safe from legal scrutiny.
So he’d accepted Kaiser’s illegal love potion order.
Nagi, of course, was unaware of such a potion. Reo handled the business side of their magic shop—Nagi mostly helped out with potion and charm-making. Nagi was a magic prodigy, it seemed, and while Reo was certainly excellent at magic on his own, Nagi was… Well, he was really something else. The instant Reo had seen Nagi’s magical powers during high school (back when they were both attending a prestigious business school for the non-magical), Reo immediately knew that he needed Nagi to create a successful business in the magic world.
Years later, they were on their way to making that dream come true. Business was booming for their small magic shop, despite the fact that Reo’s parents had told him that he was being ridiculous, and that it was too difficult to serve the magical community.
That was fine, though. Reo preferred it this way, if anything—he didn’t want to be handed things by his parents in the first place. Where was the satisfaction in that?
So now, here he was, crushing up rose petals to place inside the small, stone pot on the counter that was simmering with a blistering, blood-red potion.
Nagi was at home, probably sleeping or playing video games. It was too early in the morning for Nagi to drag himself out of bed and to the shop, so Reo was working on the potion by himself. Not that he really needed Nagi for it in the first place—love potions, though highly illegal, were notoriously easy to make as long as you had access to the correct ingredients. Which, as the owner of a magic shop, Reo definitely did.
Reo dumped the petals into the pot, and waved a spell over it to slow down the boil. As he did so, the door behind him swung open, a tiny bell jingling.
“What’s up, Purple Bun!~”
Reo, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, sighed.
“Hi, Shidou,” he said flatly.
“Any new heart-exploding orders for me to complete today?” Shidou sing-songed as he stepped into the shop.
“No,” Reo replied quickly. “Just the 24-hour truth serum from the other day.”
Shidou, although insanely irritating and wildly unpredictable, was working part time at Reo’s magic shop. In truth, Reo was about to leave the shop for a business meeting as soon as he wrapped up the love potion order—which he did not want Shidou to know about. If Shidou knew that they had the ingredients necessary to create a love potion, who knew what he’d decide to use them for.
“You’ve got it, boss,” Shidou said, in a poor imitation of Nagi.
“Do not talk to me like that,” Reo hissed, glaring at Shidou.
Shidou just cackled loudly, and then called, “I’ll be preparing in the back!~” before he wandered off to the back room of the shop.
Reo let out another sigh of frustration, then turned back to the potion on the stove. The simmering had slowed down quite considerably, so that the liquid was relatively still. Occasionally, a bubble would gurgle to the surface, before slowly popping and disappearing on its own.
It looked good enough.
Reo fished around in one of the cabinets before pulling out a set of three red vials. The vials were a bit bizarre looking. They were quite large, and colored a brilliant red, their glass decorated ornately. They looked nearly like a cup or jar of some sort—strange and off-putting enough that no one would suspect it was actually a vial holding a love potion, Reo hoped. He’d been saving these vials for an occasion such as this, and was sure that their customer would appreciate the discreteness.
Carefully, Reo began ladeling the potion into one of the three vials. The mixture was gooey and thick, steaming slightly, but it slid smoothly into the vial. The color was that of a shiny red apple.
He was about to write a label with the customer’s name on it (how did you even spell “Kaiser,” anyway?) when his phone suddenly rang shrilly.
Startled, Reo fumbled around in his pocket, quickly wiping off his hands on his apron. The name of the business partner he was meeting flashed across the screen. It was then that Reo noticed the time—it was five minutes past their scheduled meeting time.
Shit, Reo thought as he frantically tugged his apron off, draping it across the counter.
“Shidou, I’m leaving now,” Reo called over his shoulder. “I left a potion on the counter, I’ll put it away later.”
He supposed he’d have to finish writing the label another time.
“Okay!” Shidou chirped back happily. “I’ll say hi to your boyfriend when he comes in later!”
“Not my boyfriend,” Reo protested. “We’re just business partners.”
And then he rushed towards the front door of the shop before Shidou had the chance to respond, flinging his coat around his shoulders. As Reo stepped outside, he raised the phone to his ear.
“Hello, this is Mikage Reo speaking. I’m so sorry for the wait.”
*
From: Nagi <3
did u bring lemon tea for me :x
From: Nagi <3
shidou said u had some
Reo hummed happily as he walked down the street back towards the magic shop.
His meeting had gone well, despite his tardiness. The magical herb supplier had agreed to sell him some discounted herbs in bulk, so it was a win in Reo’s book. He was now on his way back to the shop, swinging a bag in hand. He had known that Nagi would be at the shop by the time Reo got back, so he had made sure to stop by some vending machines to pick up a bottle of lemon tea.
To: Nagi <3
Yeah! I’m OMW back now.
Sure enough, a few moments later, Reo was pushing open the door to the magic shop, setting off the gentle tinkling of the bell above the door.
Nagi was slumped over the counter, absentmindedly stirring something in one of the pots behind the counter. When he saw Reo, he temporarily paused his stirring to give Reo a lazy wave. It made Reo’s heart thump just a tiny bit, as a familiar giddy feeling rushed through Reo.
As Reo made his way behind the counter, he reached over to place one hand in Nagi’s hair.
Running his fingers through Nagi’s hair gently, he said, “Good morning, my treasure! What’re you working on?”
He peered over Nagi’s shoulder to look into the pot. The mixture was something that was a dazzling, glittering purple.
“...Dunno,” Nagi said, shrugging. “Whatever that is.”
He jerked his chin towards a book that was lying on the counter. Across the top of the page it was open to, were the words Sleeping Potion: Extra Strong.
“A sleeping potion?” Reo replied. “It looks great, Nagi!”
Nagi just hummed noncommittally, before responding, “Can I be done after this?”
“No way!” Reo exclaimed, feeling a giggle bubble up inside of him. “We’ve got a long list of potions to make! I need help charming some stuff too.”
Nagi groaned, and knocked his head against the table.
“That’s a pain, Reo,” Nagi mumbled. “I’m too sleepy...”
Reo found himself laughing fondly at that.
“You can sleep after we finish these potions,” Reo said. “Look, I brought you some lemon tea.”
At that, Nagi lifted his head from the table to give Reo a confused look, eyebrows pinched together.
“I already drank Reo’s lemon tea,” Nagi said matter-of-factly.
“What?” Reo replied, a bit puzzled himself.
Nagi pointed across the table. Reo followed the line of his finger, stomach dropping as he slowly realized what Nagi was pointing to.
There, sitting neatly atop the counter, was that large red vial that Reo had poured the love potion into. The large red vial that Reo had chosen specifically because it looked discrete enough to pass as a cup or container. The large red vial that Reo had forgotten to label as a potion.
Reo tore his eyes away from the vial to look at Nagi, who was still peering up at him in confusion.
“Reo?” Nagi asked.
“Sorry,” Reo said, breathless, head suddenly spinning. “Sorry—Yeah, you’re right. My bad. I forgot I left that here. I just picked up even more tea for you. Haha.”
He began running his hands through his hair, a bit frantic.
Fuck, how could he have been so careless? How come Shidou hadn’t thought to put Reo’s potion in the back with all of the other potions? Why had it been left in plain sight, where a goddamn customer could’ve waltzed right in and taken it?
Nagi drank the love potion Reo had made. Nagi drank a love potion. And Reo was currently the only one in the room with him.
The weight of that realization hit Reo like a truck, and he felt an ice cold shiver overcome him.
“Yay,” Nagi said, in that half-hearted manner of his. “I love it when Reo does things for me.”
Reo stilled at that.
Okay. Okay, just because Nagi had said something a bit out of the ordinary, something a bit too emotionally charged that he otherwise probably wouldn’t, didn’t necessarily mean anything. This was fine. It didn’t mean anything. It could just be a coincidence.
“Why are you making that face?” Nagi muttered when Reo didn’t answer him right away.
Right, right. Okay. Reo had to at least keep his cool, even though he was internally freaking out. That was what he had learned to do as a Mikage heir.
Turning to give Nagi a flashy grin, Reo said, “Don’t worry about it, Nagi. I’m just thinking about my next meeting.”
Nagi blinked once, then shrugged.
“Okay,” Nagi said.
Reo felt the tension seep out of his shoulders at Nagi’s very normal, run-of-the-mill answer. Maybe earlier had been just a coincidence after all. Maybe there was still time to find out how to nullify the love potion before it took effect.
Until Nagi suddenly mumbled, “I want to kiss you.”
“What?!” Reo blurted before he could stop himself.
“I want to kiss you,” Nagi repeated automatically, before he began to blink rapidly. A look of bewilderment crossed his face, as if he had surprised even himself by saying that.
Fuck, Reo thought.
*
“What?” Chigiri’s voice rang out across the receiver. “Nagi drank a love potion and now he’s in love with you?”
The tone of voice in which he was speaking was one of incredulity, as if Reo wasn’t making any sense.
Reo, pacing back and forth in the back alley of the magic shop frantically, replied, “That idiot Shidou didn’t put away my love potion this morning. And Nagi thought it was lemon tea for him, so he drank it.”
“I don’t get it,” Chigiri replied. “He couldn’t tell that it was a potion?”
“It was in this weird looking vial that I bought so that I could give it to the seller conspicuously,” Reo hissed in exasperation.
“So, what, he’s acting like he’s in love with you now? What’s new with that?” Chigiri scoffed.
Reo felt like he was about to rip his hair out.
“He said he wants to kiss me,” Reo said. “Even he looked weirded out by it. What am I supposed to do now?!”
(The brilliant answer that Reo had come up with earlier was apparently to rush out of the shop in a supposed hurry, feigning an important business call, and leaving a confused Nagi behind the counter.)
“Okay, I guess that is a little weird, even for Nagi,” Chigiri responded. “Look, just calm down, okay? I can do some research and see if there’s a way to reverse the effects quickly. Just entertain your boyfriend for now.”
“Don’t call him that,” Reo hissed, feeling as though his blood pressure was rising.
“Yeah, yeah, my bad,” Chigiri said, a bit callously. “Look, you’ll be alright, okay? I’ll help you fix this.”
At least there was that.
“Thanks,” Reo bit out.
Then, with a quick goodbye to Chigiri, he hung up the phone and stood there silently in the back alley.
The law was right, Reo thought miserably. Love potions really should be illegal. Even if it was only to prevent scenarios like this from occurring.
Chigiri was also correct, though. There wasn’t much Reo could do right now, besides suck it up and deal with it while Chigiri searched for an antidote. As soon as Reo was back at home, he was sure that he’d be obsessively searching for one as well.
He exhaled sharply.
Okay, that was enough freaking out. Reo was a Mikage, for god’s sake. If there was anyone who could take control of an unpredictable situation, it would be Reo. All he had to do was manage his emotions properly, and not let himself be fazed by Nagi’s remarks.
He could do that. He did it all the time with other people, after all.
(No matter that other people were not Nagi. That wasn’t relevant right now, Reo decided).
So Reo smacked his cheeks with his hands firmly, and he resolved to go back into the magic shop acting as if nothing was wrong.
Turning on his heel, he exited the alley, and pushed open the door to the shop.
Nagi was still sitting at the counter, but he had moved on from lazily mixing one of the potions to now lazily pouring the potion into an appropriately-sized, decidedly non-cuplike vial. When Reo entered the shop, he barely batted an eye.
“The call went well!” Reo said cheerily. “The herb supplier said they’ll give us even more of a discount. We’re on the road to becoming billionaire magicians, Nagi!”
Nagi hummed at that, and then let out a small noise when he accidentally spilled some of the potion along the side of the vial. With the instinct of a genius, though, he used his magic to suck the potion right back into the tube.
It made Reo swell with pride for a second, before he remembered exactly what his mission was here. To be unfazed by Nagi, and to stay on top of his feelings.
Reo sat down in the seat next to Nagi, and pulled out one of the giant boxes filled with the ingredients to make potions. He reached over to position the potion list so that it was lying on the table between the two of them, and he quickly got to work, willing himself to stay distracted so that his mind wouldn’t start wandering to thoughts of how Nagi might act under a love potion.
Nagi made no mention of the comment from earlier, so Reo didn’t bother addressing it either. They fell into a simple, familiar rhythm as they worked on the potions and charms together. Reo found it easy to make small comments about the day’s earlier meeting, and to tease and prod Nagi about how he’d lazed around for the entire morning.
At least, everything was easy, until Nagi flopped onto the table, cheek pressed against the cool wood.
“Reo, I’m dying,” Nagi whined.
Reo huffed out a laugh, and reached over to mess with Nagi’s hair.
“Okay, fine, you can have a break,” Reo said. “I’ll still need your help with charms later, though.”
That was all Nagi needed, apparently, to dig his cell phone out of his pocket and begin booting up one of his mobile games. Reo let the familiar sounds of loud clashes and bangs fill the room as he patiently continued working. It was calm, it was quiet. It felt normal.
The disaster that was the love potion faded from Reo’s mind as he meticulously continued sorting, content to listen to the sounds of Nagi’s game and relish in the presence of Nagi beside him.
The comfortable air was broken after Nagi let out a little huff next to him. Reo, still focused on sorting the herbs in front of him, heard Nagi set his phone with a soft clunk. He’d probably died in his game, if Reo had to guess.
“...Cute.”
Reo froze, hand hovering over a pile of herbs.
“...Did you say something, Nagi?”
Heart rate quickening, he turned to look at Nagi.
Nagi was peering at Reo with a strange sort of intensity, one that Reo wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with. Nagi sometimes would get in these moods when he’d stare up at Reo owlishly, and Reo could never figure it out. Now, though, paired with this love potion business…
“...Reo’s cute,” Nagi repeated, still staring at Reo.
Reo’s face instantly flushed, his heartbeat suddenly quickening.
“W-what are you saying, Nagi,” Reo stammered, twisting one of the herbs in his hand anxiously.
He was very much trying to ignore the pounding of his heart—Nagi saying these sorts of these were not good for his health, regardless of whether or not he actually meant them. They brought dangerous fantasies to the forefront of Reo’s brain that he usually tried to keep tucked away in the back of his mind.
“When you’re concentrating like that,” Nagi continued, still fixing Reo with his stare. “You look cute.”
“I…” Reo trailed off, unsure of how to respond. “Thanks?”
That seemed to satisfy Nagi enough, who stared at Reo for a few more seconds before shrugging and turning back to his game.
Reo, meanwhile, tried to still the sensation of his heart beating as he tried to think of how he would survive the rest of the day.
*
Reo managed to keep a hold on his emotions until he returned home with Nagi. While this was mostly due to the fact that Nagi hadn’t said or done anything out of the ordinary since, Reo felt relieved nonetheless.
Of course he had feelings for Nagi—that was obvious to just about anyone who observed the two of them for even five minutes. If Nagi had been anyone else, it would have probably been obvious to him too. Alas, Nagi wasn’t the type of person to think about things like love or romance—those were definitely considered a hassle, Reo figured.
So Nagi drinking that love potion and falling in “love” with Reo was just about Reo’s worst nightmare. And yet, the words from earlier that day continued to replay themselves over and over in Reo’s head as he entered his apartment with Nagi after their day at the magic shop.
I want to kiss you. When you’re concentrating like that, you look cute.
It made Reo giddy despite it all, and a little selfish—he almost wanted to hear more. To indulge in this situation, to see what it would really be like to be in a relationship with Nagi. To see what it would be like if his feelings were reciprocated. Of course, Reo would never actually do such a thing. This would all just have to be fuel for his future daydreams.
That was the loop that was playing in Reo’s mind when the two of them stepped inside their apartment. Nagi immediately flopped onto their couch before turning to Reo, expression devoid of any visible emotion, and said, “Come here, Reo.”
When Reo sat down on the couch next to Nagi, Nagi slumped forward and leaned against Reo. That wasn’t particularly unusual for Nagi. What was unusual was how Nagi buried his face in the side of Reo’s neck and mumbled something against his skin.
The sensation made Reo shiver, and it also made him ask, stupidly—“What did you say?”
Nagi lifted his head up briefly, looking at Reo with large eyes. “I said hugging Reo is the best.”
Reo’s heart spasmed in his chest.
“Hah,” Reo wheezed. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to get up and shower, aren’t you?”
He expected Nagi to admit to this, or to perhaps not respond at all. Nagi, though, just doubled down, nuzzling his face into Reo’s neck and saying, “No… I just love hugging Reo…”
The words love and Reo being used so casually in the same sentence only made Reo’s heart beat faster.
Stay calm, Reo. It’s just the love potion talking.
…Right. The love potion. This was all because of the love potion—there was no use in indulging in such behaviors, or dwelling on them. This all meant nothing to Nagi, in actuality.
That snapped Reo into reality a little bit, and he pulled away from Nagi. This earned him a frown from Nagi, one that was ridiculously cute, but the thought of love potion, love potion ran in circles throughout his mind, which made it a lot easier to stand up and leave Nagi sprawled on the couch.
“I’m going to go shower,” Reo said. “And after that, you’d better shower too, Nagi!”
“...That’s a hassle,” Nagi groaned from the couch.
“Too bad!” Reo called cheerily, as he began walking to the bathroom. “If you don’t shower now, you’ll complain about it later when you want to go to bed!”
Nagi made a noise of indifference then, and Reo closed the door behind him.
*
After his shower, Reo was sitting in his bed, typing away at his computer. He was searching, somewhat frantically, for an antidote to a love potion. So far, not much was coming up. He had texted Chigiri as well, who had concurred—information about love potions was pretty difficult to come across.
Reo supposed that this made sense. In fact, he had only initially managed to obtain the recipe for a love potion by using one of his business connections. Hence warranting the hefty price that this Kaiser guy was willing to pay for it. Reo wished that this search would be as easy as it was for truth serums, which had perhaps the simplest antidotes to create in the world.
What Reo did find was a page describing the basic components of love potions, along with detailed explanations of how they worked. This, at least, was pretty straightforward. All someone had to do once they had created a love potion was to administer it to an individual, and then make sure that they touched the desired target that they were supposed to fall in love with.
…Of course, Reo had been the only one who had touched Nagi earlier that day in the magic shop.
He was so engrossed in reading this page that he didn’t notice when Nagi entered the room.
“Ah, Nagi, you’re finished?” Reo asked, quickly moving to close the tabs he had open about love potions. “Did you see the dinner I left on the table?”
“I ate it,” Nagi said.
“Ah, okay,” Reo replied. “I’m just finishing up some work. Do you want me to come with you in the living room so you can play games?”
“No,” Nagi blurted. “I want to play games here.”
“...Here?” Reo questioned, tilting his head slightly.
Nagi’s response to this, apparently, was to walk over to Reo’s bed and slowly crawl under the covers. Reo could do nothing but stare in surprise, thinking surely this must be because of the love potion, when Nagi buried himself under the covers, pressing himself against Reo’s side. Reo watched wordlessly as Nagi pulled out his phone and began tapping at the screen.
Feeling Reo’s eyes on him, Nagi glanced up briefly.
“...Is it okay, Reo?” he muttered.
“It’s fine, Nagi,” Reo said, all of a sudden hyper aware of the lack of space between them.
Nagi was warm. It was always comforting to sit beside him, and to have Nagi drape himself over Reo, but this time they were basically cuddling in Reo’s bed, for absolutely no reason. This didn’t seem to bother Nagi, however, who nodded at Reo’s affirmation and immediately began clicking away at his phone screen.
Reo took this as his sign to try and actually get some work done, even if it would be incredibly distracting to think about the fact that Nagi was quite literally in love with him right now.
That thought was jarring enough that it immediately set Reo back to work on his laptop—there really was no going back once he started entertaining an idea such as that.
So the two of them fell into another quiet, familiar lull as they completed their separate tasks. The sounds from Nagi’s game, as well as the occasional muttered frustration from Nagi, were pleasant background noise as Reo worked on some actual work for the shop. It was mostly just completing paperwork and responding to emails, but Reo let himself lose himself in it. It was easy for him, after all.
By the time he had finished and glanced up at the clock, his eyes widened.
“Nagi, it’s almost midnight,” Reo said.
Nagi, still tapping away at his phone, just hummed in response.
Nudging Nagi a bit with his elbow, Reo continued, “You should go to sleep. We have to be at the shop early tomorrow.”
And if it’s possible, I need to research more about love potion antidotes, Reo thought to himself.
“...Don’t wanna,” Nagi said. “Wanna stay here with Reo.”
“What are you saying?” Reo scoffed. “I’m about to go to bed.”
“I know,” Nagi mumbled. “I wanna sleep here in your bed, Reo.”
“Huh?!” Reo hissed, then remembered that he was supposed to be appearing calm. Quieter, he added, “You can’t be serious, Nagi. Won’t that… be a hassle?”
Reo was just saying something to hopefully convince Nagi to go back to his own room. If Nagi was sharing a bed with him, Reo had no idea how he would even get to sleep.
“No,” Nagi insisted, turning his phone off to look at Reo. “I want to spend the night here.”
“But… why?” Reo asked incredulously.
“Mm… I like being with Reo,” Nagi said simply. “We’ve done it before. On the couch.”
Right, well. Sure, the two of them had fallen asleep slumped over each other on the couch before, but they had never shared a bed. …Reo almost felt as though he was living a life straight out of a cheesy romcom movie.
Reo was weak to Nagi’s words, though, and the way that he was looking at Reo expectantly. Besides, the thought of sharing a bed with Nagi, while stressful, was undoubtedly appealing—and surely quite harmless. He wouldn’t be betraying Nagi’s trust by doing this, right?
Nagi’s intense look, with his large, pleading eyes, wasn’t helping Reo resist at all.
So, even though he knew this wouldn’t be good for his mental state in the long run, Reo sighed, and then said, “Okay. But only if you go to bed right now.”
“Okay,” Nagi responded, quick as lightning.
And thus, the two of them began preparing for bed—Reo got up to brush his teeth, mind racing all the while. When he washed his hands after rinsing out his mouth, he imagined his sanity was swirling down the drain along with the water.
When he walked back into his room, he found Nagi snuggled up under the covers, eyes already closed and phone placed on the bedside table. It was an endearing sight, no matter the circumstances, and Reo found himself smiling fondly as he lifted the covers.
As soon as he had slid into bed and turned off the bedside lamp, Reo felt Nagi flop over and wrap himself around Reo. He was still warm, and Reo felt as though he was enveloped in a crackling fire.
“Night, Reo,” Nagi said sleepily, burying his face in Reo’s neck again.
“Goodnight, Nagi,” Reo said softly.
He lay there, relishing in the warmth and comfort of Nagi’s embrace, as Nagi’s breath slowly evened out into the rhythm of someone falling into a deep sleep.
The proximity to Nagi surprisingly didn’t make it difficult for Reo to fall asleep. Perhaps Reo hadn’t expected to feel so relaxed—Nagi’s weight was comforting, and Reo found himself reaching up to curl an arm back around Nagi as his eyelids fluttered shut.
It would be nice to fall asleep like this every night, Reo mused.
Although that would be impossible. Nagi was only acting like this because he had unknowingly drank a love potion, not because he actually loved Reo. Not because he actually wanted to do any of this. Nevermind how real it felt, nevermind how Nagi being here, lying in Reo’s arms, was a tangible thing. Nagi’s feelings hadn’t even existed before today.
Reo should stop giving himself hope, and stop letting himself imagine that maybe one day, they could have this for real. It left a hollow ache in Reo’s chest to think this, because no matter what, he knew that he truly did want to be together with Nagi until the end.
This ache in his chest remained even as Reo drifted off to sleep, carding his fingers through the fluffy strands of Nagi’s hair.
*
The next morning, Reo disentangled himself from Nagi’s embrace before climbing out of bed to make breakfast. Nagi didn’t seem to be bothered by this—although he had resisted a bit, blinking up at Reo sleepily, as soon as Reo had smoothed Nagi’s hair down gently, Nagi’s eyes drooped shut once again.
As he made breakfast, a myriad of feelings twisted up inside of his stomach. Reo had probably had the best sleep of his life the night before, finding it all too easy to sink into sugary sweet dreams of what it would be like to be in a relationship with Nagi. But the fact remained that none of this was real, and that was enough to stop Reo from indulging in any further, waking daydreams.
As soon as he set breakfast down on the table, Reo saw Nagi emerge from his bedroom door sluggishly, looking as though he was still half-asleep.
“Good morning, my treasure!” Reo chirped.
Nagi didn’t answer verbally, just made a noise of acknowledgement, before trudging his way over to the table and sinking into a chair. Attempting to lift the spoon to his mouth, Reo watched in amusement as Nagi’s eyes closed once more, and his hand slowly dropped back down to the bowl—spoon never reaching his mouth.
“Pfft,” Reo found himself laughing. “Do you need some help?”
“Mm,” Nagi hummed.
Reo gave him a grin, before he sat down beside Nagi and scooped up a spoonful of breakfast for him. He held up the spoon to Nagi, who grasped it in his own hand and shoved it in his mouth, rather ungracefully. This was enough to make Nagi finally energized enough to crack open his eyes.
“Did you sleep well?” Reo teased.
“...Yeah,” Nagi replied, scooping another bite of breakfast into his mouth. “I love it when Reo takes care of me.”
Well. Reo wasn’t expecting to hear that so early in the morning. It sent a lovely little fluttering feeling through his chest.
Remember, it’s the love potion talking, Reo chanted to himself mentally. Calm yourself, Reo.
“Yeah, sure,” Reo huffed in mock annoyance. “You just like using me as a pillow.”
“You were using me as one too,” Nagi replied, giving Reo a flat look.
Reo pursed his lips. “Well, I guess.”
Reo’s phone buzzed suddenly, and Reo dug around in his pocket to fish it out.
From: Chigiri
found a potential antidote for the love potion. meet you at the shop in an hour?
Reo inhaled sharply at that. His eyes flitted over to Nagi.
“Come on, Nagi,” Reo said abruptly. “We’ve got to be at the shop soon.”
*
As Reo pushed open the door to the magic shop half an hour later, dragging a pouting Nagi behind him, he was trying to push away a worrying train of thought that was running through his head.
It went something a bit like this: What was going to happen when Nagi found out that he had accidentally taken a love potion that made him fall in love with Reo? Would he blame Reo? Would he be disgusted by his previous words and his previous actions? Would he stop acting like he usually did around Reo, for fear of how his actions could be misinterpreted? Would he abandon Reo entirely, leaving him to go be best friends and business partners with someone else?
Realistically, some of these thoughts didn’t even make sense—Nagi wasn’t the type to think deeply about his actions or his words, because he was a man who followed his instincts more than anything else. But it didn’t stop Reo from worrying, nor did it stop Reo from feeling a pang of sadness when he realized that there would never be another opportunity to get a glimpse of what it would be like to really date Nagi.
It did, however, squash the remaining hope that lingered in the back of his mind when it came to Nagi potentially reciprocating his feelings.
The two of them closed the door to the shop behind them, and Nagi made a beeline for the counter, where he immediately slumped over one of the chairs so that he could play games on his phone.
Well, that was fine. Reo was too busy trying to get things ready for when Chigiri showed up, anyway.
He was going around, collecting various ingredients, pots, and vials, hoping that at least some of them could be useful in making the antidote. Hopefully, that could ensure that the process went as quickly as possible, so Reo could hurry up and get his heartbreak over with. If the antidote required any ingredients that they didn’t have… Well, Reo supposed that they’d cross that bridge when they got to it.
While he was in the middle of bringing a packet of herbs to the potion-making station, Reo accidentally bumped into Nagi.
“Oops,” Reo said, giving Nagi a blinding smile. “Sorry, Nagi.”
Nagi glanced up at Reo, and he stared at him for a moment.
“It’s okay,” Nagi said, after a brief pause. “I love you, Reo.”
Reo froze, a nauseous feeling swooping through his stomach, as if he was plummeting downwards on a rollercoaster. He felt cold all of a sudden, the smile dropping off of his face instantly.
“What are you saying,” Reo whispered, horrified.
That was too much for Reo to handle, love potion or not.
This was the spitting image of every daydream, every fantasy that Reo had ever indulged in—Nagi staring up at him adoringly, professing his love to Reo. And yet, despite the fact that this was ripped straight out of a page of Reo’s reveries, it felt oddly like a nightmare. Because none of this was real. None of this mattered at all. Nagi wasn’t speaking those words because of his own true feelings.
It felt as though someone had thrust a knife into Reo’s chest, and twisted it back and forth.
Nagi, however, didn’t look fazed at all. Rather, he looked confused.
“I love you, Reo,” Nagi repeated. “Obviously.”
Yeah, obviously, Reo thought. Obviously for this past day, because you drank a love potion, you idiot!
“Nagi,” Reo said hoarsely, panic beginning to rise in him. “Nagi, no you don’t.”
“I don’t what?”
“Love me,” Reo replied, sounding desperate. “You don’t love me.”
“Eh, what do you mean?” Nagi murmured, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “Are you okay, Reo?”
“No,” Reo said. “No, I’m not okay, because… Nagi, you’re only saying all of that because you drank a love potion.”
The words tumbled out of Reo’s mouth all too easily then, feeling completely overwhelmed by this situation. He had to end this now, before things got too far—he had to cut off all semblance of hope, and make Nagi come to his senses, lest he embarrass himself further.
When Nagi didn’t respond, just looking at Reo quizzically, Reo continued.
“You… Yesterday, you drank from a weird red vial, didn’t you?” Reo asked, beginning to pace the space behind the counter in anxiety. “That was… that wasn’t lemon tea. I lied. It was a love potion I made earlier, but I forgot to label it.”
Nagi still looked confused.
“Are you sure, Reo…” Nagi said, slowly. “I don’t feel any different.”
“That’s how love potions work, Nagi,” Reo said, throwing his hands up in the air exasperatedly. “You’re not supposed to feel any different. You’re supposed to think that you just fell in love with someone all on your own. But you didn’t.”
At that last admittance, Reo felt all of the energy fizzle out of him suddenly.
“Nagi, please,” Reo said quietly, voice cracking. “Please don’t say things like that.”
Nagi only stared at him, not saying a word. It made Reo feel antsy, even as he slumped backwards against the counter in despair.
Nagi had just opened his mouth, presumably to reply, when the back door to the storage room suddenly slammed open.
Both Nagi and Reo jumped in surprise, before Shidou emerged from the doorway, scowling at the both of them.
“Hey, what did you two do with my truth serum?” Shidou said, glaring at them.
“I—what?” Reo replied, still startled.
“My truth serum,” Shidou replied, slowly, glowering at Reo. “I put it on the counter yesterday before I left.”
“Don’t talk to Reo like that,” Nagi replied, sounding annoyed as he glared back at Shidou.
“I… It’s fine, Nagi,” Reo said absentmindedly. “But what do you mean you left it on the counter yesterday? All I saw when I came back from my meeting was my…”
Love potion, he thought.
“Your potion?” Shidou finished for him, still scowling. “I put that in the back, Purple Bun. That was my truth serum on the counter. I used one of your fancy ass vials ‘cause that shit made my heart explode. The hell did you do with it?”
Shidou’s truth serum had been on the counter…
Realization dawned on Reo then, and that familiar icy cold feeling of shock hit his body. He clasped a hand over his mouth, as he looked back and forth between Nagi and Shidou feverishly.
Nagi, who had previously looked confused, suddenly nodded his head sagely.
“Ah, Reo made a mistake,” he said, sounding as listless as ever. “I drank it.”
This last part was directed at Shidou, whose eyebrows instantly shot up to his forehead.
“You what?”
“Shut up, Shidou,” Reo said firmly, feeling as though adrenaline was buzzing through his veins. “Move out of the way.”
And then Reo began pushing his way past Shidou into the storage room. Nagi and Shidou both watched Reo—undoubtedly curious at how strangely he was acting—as Reo yanked open the cabinet doors to search for where Shidou could have left Reo’s potion.
He spotted the strangely-shaped red vial on one of the shelves, and quickly grabbed it. Uncorking the top of it, he peered inside the vial—and sure enough, what met him was the sight of a red, goopy liquid. Nothing like the minty clear color of a truth serum.
He stared at it for a few seconds, only able to hear the blood rushing in his ears.
Nagi really hadn’t drank the love potion, then. He had drank Shidou’s truth serum. Which meant that…
Reo closed the potion vial, set it back on the shelf, then shut the cabinet door firmly. Grabbing one of the truth serum antidotes that they kept on one of their potion racks, he walked back over to where Shidou and Nagi were standing.
He tossed the antidote bottle to Nagi, who fumbled around before catching it.
“Drink that,” Reo said, head buzzing. “And Shidou, get out.”
“Hah?” Shidou said incredulously, leering over Reo. “Your loser boyfriend drinks my potion, and now you tell me to get out?”
“I’ll make another serum for you later,” Reo snapped. “Seriously, just leave, Shidou. I have to talk to Nagi about something.”
A look of recognition slowly crossed Shidou’s face. As he straightened up, he glanced between Reo and Nagi, eyebrows raising once again.
“Oooooh, a truth serum, huh,” Shidou said, face suddenly morphing into a mischievous grin. “I see what’s going on here. Lover boy finally confessed his feelings, huh?”
“Get out.”
Shidou’s cackles filled the room then, and Reo felt a vein in his forehead twitch.
“Fine, fine!” Shidou said, sounding way too happy considering how angry he’d been just moments before. “Have fun!~”
And then he wiggled his eyebrows at Reo before practically skipping out of the shop. It was silent for a moment as Reo watched him leave, waiting until the door swung completely shut behind him.
Then he turned to Nagi, who was wiping his mouth with the back of the sleeve, fidgeting with the antidote vial in his hand. Reo, meanwhile, felt at a loss for words.
If what Nagi had taken was actually the truth serum, then everything that Nagi had said in the past 24 hours, everything he had done…
“Nagi,” Reo said, voice shaky. “I… You… I thought you were saying all of those crazy things because of the love potion.”
“What crazy things…?”
“You can’t be serious,” Reo said, staring at Nagi. “You told me that you love me, you called me cute, you asked to sleep in my bed!”
Nagi shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to tell Reo those things.”
Now it was Reo’s turn to stare at Nagi in confusion.
“Why didn’t you, then?!” Reo asked incredulously. “Isn’t it obvious how I feel about you?”
He said the last part almost without thinking. Never in a million years, under a million circumstances, would Reo normally think to confess his feelings to Nagi in this way—not when he was convinced that his feelings would never be requited. Even now, even when there was evidence present, right in front of him, that Nagi might reciprocate his feelings, Reo still felt unsure about whether or not this was the right thing to do. There was still doubt twisting around in his gut.
To Reo’s surprise, however, Nagi just hung his head glumly in response.
“...Yeah,” Nagi said. “You don’t love me back.”
That made Reo freeze in his tracks.
“...What?” Reo said.
“I’ve been trying to tell you that I like you, but you’ve never said anything,” Nagi said sullenly, staring at the floor tiles. “And then yesterday when I was saying everything because of the truth potion, you didn’t react at all either…”
This statement made Reo begin to feel desperate all of a sudden.
“Nagi,” he said. “Nagi, I didn’t ever realize! When were you even trying to tell me that?”
“All the time,” Nagi said, finally looking up at Reo. “I thought if I told you that I wanted to be with you forever, that you’d get it…”
There was a look of hurt splashed across Nagi’s face, real and raw.
The look of hurt was what caused Reo to spring into action, eyes widening as he realized that Nagi was serious. Nagi had been serious all this time—all of Reo’s wallowing and worrying and suppression had been for nothing. What’s more, it had all been hurting Nagi.
That sent a spike of guilt shooting down Reo’s spine. Perhaps it was time to put aside his feelings for now—perhaps it was time to try and accept what was in front of him.
So Reo, not trying to stop himself, leaned up to touch Nagi’s cheek and cradle it in his hand.
“Nagi,” Reo murmured softly. “I do want to be with you forever.”
Nagi looked up at Reo at that, eyes shining. Some of the hurt faded away, morphing instead into a hesitant shock. It was enough to make Reo think that he should throw the rest of his reason out of the window.
Then, taking a deep breath, heart hammering, Reo continued, “Nagi, I love you too.”
Nagi’s eyes widened at that, and Reo watched as his gaze softened completely, stars decorating the pupils of his eyes.
“Oh,” Nagi said.
As the look of hurt melted off of his face entirely, Reo found himself smiling. Nagi was staring at Reo with a gaze so soft that Reo couldn’t recall how he had ever thought that his feelings weren’t requited. Reo’s face was flushed, and his heart was fluttering gently.
Then Nagi’s eyes dropped to Reo’s lips, and he stared at them with such intensity that Reo forgot about all of his nerves, and let out a small laugh.
“Is there something you want to ask me?” Reo teased.
“CanIkissyou,” Nagi said automatically, all in one breath.
The stare he was fixing Reo with was so intense, and all Reo could do was nod before Nagi was leaning forward and closing the gap between them.
Reo’s heart soared as Nagi kissed him, gripping the back of his shirt lightly. It was all so much, Reo thought dizzily. Everything he’d ever wanted was here, right in the palm of his hands, kissing him in their shared magic shop. Every worry that Reo had seemed to melt away, every doubt and night stressing about his unrequited love for Nagi fading into the background.
…At least, that was until Reo heard a sharp buzzing sound, a loud pop, and the back of his eyelids were painted a pitch black.
Reo pulled away, mostly out of surprise, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the electricity in the shop had cut out. The room was completely dark. And if he squinted, he could see a few of the potted plants floating in the air.
“...Sorry,” Nagi said, not sounding sorry at all. “I got so excited, I think I lost control of my magic…”
Reo burst out laughing at that, leaning forward to briefly rest his head on Nagi’s shoulder.
“We should probably go fix the electricity,” Reo said.
“...That’s a hassle,” Nagi replied, predictably. “Can’t I just kiss you again…”
This made Reo laugh again, but he lifted his head from Nagi’s shoulder and gave Nagi a grin that Nagi probably couldn’t even see in the darkness.
For his response, Reo tugged Nagi forward so that their lips could meet once again.
*
When Chigiri burst through the doors a few moments later, Reo and Nagi sprang apart awkwardly, despite the fact that Chigiri couldn’t even see them in the darkness. Reo, quite frankly, had forgotten all about Chigiri.
“So, about that love potion antidote…” Reo said, clearing his throat. “I think there was a bit of a mix up…”
“Yeah, yeah,” Chigiri said, quickly lighting a flame using his magic. “I ran into Shidou on the way here, he told me everything. I’m just here to make sure that nobody’s hearts are broken.”
Face now illuminated by the flame floating above his palm, Chigiri took in the scene in front of him. He looked pointedly at Nagi, who was busy fixating Reo with a gooey, love-eyed stare.
“Congrats, you two,” Chigiri said, visibly cringing.
“Thanks,” Nagi said.
Then, wasting no time, he began to pull Reo forward into another kiss.
“Okay, I’m leaving,” Chigiri said, and promptly extinguished the flame.
Reo, amused, laughed into the kiss with Nagi.
When Nagi pulled away, he looked right into Reo’s eyes when he said, “I love you, Reo.”
This time, with no truth serum needed.