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Valentine's day.
It had always been one of Yuga's least favorite holidays. Mostly because he had never been anyone's valentine.
He wouldn't deny that he was bitter. But he tried not to let it show.
He was happy for his friends. That didn't make it hurt any less.
Everyone was so happy that the holiday had fallen on a Saturday this year. Everyone except Yuga.
Saturday. The day when he would usually go out with his friends. Now, he was going to be alone with the acute knowledge that he still was not good enough for anyone.
He hadn't expected any differently, but it was still deeply saddening.
Or at least he thought that would be his reality.
He had made the mistake of going outside. Surprisingly, a lot of people were loitering on UA grounds with their dates.
Yuga was immediately tempted to go straight back inside. But that would draw far too much attention to him.
So he cut his losses and headed out of the dormitory.
This was his second mistake, because he ran straight into someone. Literally.
They both ended up on the ground.
Yuga ended up squeaking. “Désolé!”
The person he had knocked down was none other than Neito Monoma. As though Yuga's luck couldn't get any worse.
Monoma's scowl could be compared to that of an outraged wolf. Aka dangerous. “Do you 2-a kids not know how to watch where you're going?” he demanded.
Yuga quickly stood up, dusting himself off. “Oui. We do. I suppose the real question is whether or not you can.” Normally, he would not be this confrontational. However, pairing the fact that he was forced to interact with Monoma and that he was already in a foul mood produced disastrous results.
Monoma's right eye twitched. His face was slightly flushed. “Typical class A. Never able to admit when they're wrong.”
Yuga crossed his arms. “This coming from the man who has complimented me more times than he has spoken to me.” Was this on topic? No. But as he said, he was not having a good day.
Monoma's face fully flushed red. “E-excuse me?! What does that have to do with anything?!” The fact he didn't deny it was almost funny.
“Rien. I just don't think I'll have another chance to point it out.”
Monoma's scowl deepened. “How do you even know that, if you're so convinced that it's true?”
“Yanagi is friends with Toru. It passed along the grapevine.”
Monoma took a whole five seconds before he came up with a retort. “Don't you have anything better to do than stand around arguing with me? Don't you have a date or something?” He sounded weirdly angry at the possibility. Perhaps because no one would ever ask him out.
Yuga shook his head. “Non. I do not.”
Monoma stared at him as though he had just declared war on the ocean. “Y-you don't? You. Yuga Aoyama. Do not have a date on Valentine's day?”
Why was that so surprising?
“Oui. . . And I never have.”
Monoma choked on the air. “Never?! How? Is everyone blind?!”
Yuga was mildly flattered by the insinuation, but it was overshadowed by how utterly confused he was. “I. . . Um. . . Merci?”
Monoma regained his dignity. “No matter. I have important places to be.”
“Do you have a date?” Yuga asked, out of genuine curiosity.
Monoma's sour glare spoke more than words would ever be able to articulate. “Not yet.” He grumbled.
Yuga had to use all his willpower to prevent himself from chuckling. “Who's the confident one, now?” He questioned, just to be an asshole.
Seriously, what was up with him today? He didn't even particularly dislike Monoma. In fact, the two had a very neutral relationship. Apparently, he had decided that directing his bitterness towards the newly discovered to be also single blonde was a good course of action.
Old habits died hard, he supposed.
For some reason, Monoma started giggling. Not one of his self-centered manic laughs. No, this was legitimate, completely genuine giggling.
“Oh, so you can be mean? Actually mean? That's fucking adorable, actually.”
Yuga did not know why his comment made his face so warm.
“Tu es plutôt étrange.” Yuga murmured.
Monoma huffed. “Oh, I'm strange? Okay. Let's go with that.”
Yuga blinked. “You speak French?”
“Duh.”
“That's lovely.”
Monoma's head tipped to one side. “I cannot tell if that was meant to be sarcastic.”
Yuga shrugged. “I couldn't tell you either, honestly.”
And just like that, tension packed its bags and jumped out the window. Probably broke its ankles on the landing, too.
Monoma was quiet for a few moments. “You're pretty chill, honestly. I quite admire your efforts during the war.”
Yuga was put slightly on edge by this comment. “Oh. Merci. I hear you did exceptionally as well.”
Monoma grinned. “Indeed I did. I'm surprised someone from 2-a would have the ability to acknowledge my accomplishments.” His tone was strangely teasing, completely lacking in any of its previous bite.
Yuga smirked. “Well, it was the first one you ever made.”
Monoma laughed obnoxiously. “Well, then. I suppose that makes it quite clear where we stand with each other.” His grin was almost infectious. Why did he look so genuinely happy? Yuga hadn't known that was even possible for him.
Monoma flicked his hair out of his face. “Anyhow, do you have any plans on this accursed holiday, since you don't have a date and all?”
Yuga shrugged. “I just felt like getting some fresh air. What about you? May I assume that your non-single friends have abandoned you?”
Monoma huffed. “Of course they have.” he winked. “But since it seems we're in the same boat, perhaps we could be lonely together.”
Yuga realized that he was being dead serious. “Are you suggesting we. . . Hang out?”
Monoma giggled again. “Why not? That way our friends can't bully us for being alone. Hell, maybe I'll end up being friends with a 2-a kid. Wouldn't that be a surprise!”
Yuga was hesitant, but he eventually decided that he could probably just run away if the worst came to worst. (He came to this conclusion because he heard from Toru who heard from Yanagi that Monoma had broken his ankle the previous week and had refused to have it properly treated.)
“You know what? Sure.”
~☆~☆~☆~
Neito felt as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning. Except that it was February and his heart was going at a mile a minute.
He was hanging out with Yuga Aoyama. On Valentine's Day.
He was impressed with himself for containing squeals of excitement. God, he was acting like such a fan-boy.
This was fine.
This was not the most insane thing to ever happen to him.
He was just on a walk with the boy he had been crushing on for almost the past two years.
This was fine.
Aoyama gave him an odd look. “Are you alright?”
Neito tried to laugh casually. “Of course I am. What, you think I'll die if I spend more than half a second being nice to someone from class A?”
“You look about half a second away from passing out.” Aoyama retorted dryly.
Neito moved his hair so that it was somewhat covering his face. “Tch. No. I'm fine.”
“Your voice is about an octave higher now.”
“Shut up!”
“You're stuttering.”
Neito glared at him, then realized his companion was giggling.
God, why did he look so fucking adorable? Hello? Who gave him the right to be so cute?
Ach! It was distracting.
What was wrong with him?
Neito shook his head, fighting to clear it.
“Where are we even going?” He asked, trying to retain some of his dignity.
Aoyama shrugged. “This was your idea, musaraigne.”
Neito stared at him. “Did you just call me a shrew?”
Aoyama smirked. “Perhaps I did. Perhaps I didn't. You may never know.”
“So that's a yes, then?”
Aoyama grinned. “Perhaps.”
Neito did not like how the tables had turned. He did not like to be the one getting embarrassed.
Neito put his hands in his sweater pocket. “You know, there's a park around here with a nice walking trail.” He ventured.
Aoyama raised a brow. “Wisteria Park?”
Neito smiled. “Wisteria Park.” He confirmed.
Aoyama winked. “Allons-y alors.”
The two were silent on their walk to the park, Neito couldn't decide whether or not that was a good sign.
Their silence didn't feel awkward, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. It was just. . . Acceptable.
Neito broke the silence once they began walking along the trail. “So, do you come here often?”
Aoyama shrugged. “Toru and I have walked this trail a few times. I come here alone fairly often, you could say.”
Neito nodded. “Reiko and I have been coming here for years. Oh, yeah, we've been friends since kindergarten. . . Or so. I've lost track. Most people don't even realize we're friends, it's honestly kind of funny.” He was stumbling over his words, talking just for the sake of filling the silence.
Quiet scared him, one could say.
His family was always loud, his classes were always loud, hero work was often loud.
Quietness was associated with things like tests, suspense, etcetera.
Aoyama smiled. “It's not that hard to see that you're friends. Anytime I see you outside school, you're with her.”
“Why are you watching me while I'm not at school?”
Aoyama's face tinged pink. “Other than the fact that you tend to cause havoc?”
Neito huffed. “I do not.”
“Oui, you do.”
“You can't prove anything.”
“Yanagi films it and sends it to Toru.”
That made Neito pause. “But why? What is the reason?” He asked in pure incredulity.
Aoyama shrugged. “I don't pretend to understand how either of you two behave.”
Neito smirked. “Are you saying I'm mysterious?”
Aoyama rolled his eyes. “Perhaps I am. Perhaps not. You may never know.” Was that just his trademark phrase?
“I would know if you just answered the question.”
“Now where's the charm in that?”
The silence was back again.
Neito had absolutely no way to fill it.
He scrambled to find anything. Anything at all.
“Why did you even agree to this?” It was a risk, but he had already been considerably bold today. Why not take it a step further?
Aoyama considered the question. “Well, I could tell you it was because I had nothing better to do. But even then, it is quite strange that I would agree to do anything with you, unless I was being held at knifepoint.”
Neito huffed. “That implies you wouldn't agree if you were being held at gunpoint.”
Aoyama snorted. “How did you even manage to draw that conclusion?”
He shrugged. “Just trying to say something.”
Aoyama nodded, a shimmer of seriousness creeping into his eyes. “I get that. Sometimes I start rambling, just so there's some noise in the air.”
Neito blinked rapidly. “Really? I thought I was the only one.” He admitted, considerably sheepish.
Aoyama turned to him, smiling softly. “You're not alone.”
His words carried more weight than Neito could have anticipated. He didn't know why, but the simple statement was enough to make him tear up.
“Yeah. . . I suppose that's true.” He stumbled, trying to hide how close he was to crying. “Thank you, Aoyama.”
Aoyama's brow furrowed. “Perhaps we could drop the formalities? I reckon our friends will find out about this one way or another.”
Neito had the strangest sense that there was some other reason for the suggestion, but he could not decipher what that might be.
“Well then. . . Thank you, Yuga.”
He bowed, exaggeratingly formal. “You are quite welcome, Neito.”
Oh god. Why did he have to say his name like that? Like it was important? Like it wasn't just. . . His name?
Yuga blinked. “Are you sure you're not ill?”
“Oh no, I'm fine. More than fine. I'm great.”
Yuga giggled softly. “You are so weird. I love it.”
This statement did nothing to cease Neito's embarrassment. Or how much he was fairly certain that he had just fallen in love.
~☆~☆~☆~
Yuga and Neito ended up falling into considerably pleasant conversation. It was mostly over meaningless topics, mostly just whatever the newest gossip was.
And yet it was the most fun Yuga had ever had. He couldn't explain why. It was just nice. Very, very nice.
At some point, he ended up forgetting that it was Neito Monoma that he was speaking with. That didn't matter. He was just a person. A person whom Yuga had learned he quite enjoyed spending time with.
Yuga was honestly extremely disappointed when they finished their walk and returned to UA.
Neito bowed to Yuga as they reached the dorms. “Well, see you tomorrow.”
He blinked quickly. “Tommorrow is Sunday.” Yuga pointed out flatly.
Neito gave him a blank look. “I know what I said.”
He then proceeded to pull him close and place a kiss on his cheek, before running off like the absolute coward Yuga always knew he was.