FOUR YEARS OF FOUR (17 November 2014)

zhongli better come home

Idia drabble, fluff, lots of couple banter

Your wishlist containing released games is empty.

In the next several minutes after saving a title to one, you can expect a notification that the game is getting downloaded, and a mere seconds after that—several messages from your boyfriend.

“thought u would never play it lol”

“weren't you supposed to be studying??”

He sends a meme degrading your hierarchy of values as if he were any better. It is followed by a request.

“stream it to me when you play it”

And you do, after thanking him yet chiding him for wasting too much money on you without a second thought. His reply was a string of emojis and guarantee that he is doing it all for himself, because “educating you on the topic of latest games is his duty” and he cares about “the boyfriend points”.

“I hope my love’o’meter for u was broken by all that pampering lmao”

“waiting for my cg to load up…”

[NAME]: “not enough affection points”

“damn”

“i need a walkthroughyt to this route”

Idia has you join a voice channel, with you sharing your screen. Playing a game in a separate dorm is a whole different experience than having him beside you, with his hands almost trembling to grab your controller if you couldn’t get past a certain level.

He would always wait for you to ask him for help, though. Then he could let the feeling of self-satisfaction sink in as he easily guided your character to another enemy to slash.

If he only has you on the voice chat, you might be able to finish the game almost fully by yourself.

You can hear the soft sound of his keyboard as he plays something as well. He divides his attention between you and his entertainment, and he throws in commentary to your playthrough, teasing you when you can’t find a secret key to the special gate, bullying you when you find the puzzles too hard, or when you pick the wrong dialogue option.

At some point, you might try to (playfully) mute his microphone, but you can only have eight seconds of silence before he hacks into the options.

“No need to be jealous of my gaming knowledge,” he exclaims, and you know he has that big stupid grin on his face. You huff, and he hums. “But if you want me to help, all you need to do is just ask.”

“I want to go through this game myself!”

“Okay, sure. But you know you have already missed the opportunity for the best ending, no?” He laughs. “That’s what you get for muting me, kitten.”

No need to spoil the ending just to get back at me, you’d love to say, but you learned that the shy boy who couldn’t hold your gaze several months ago is actually a big tease. You must’ve grown too much on him, as he would have continued the bickering even if you showed up in his room. No social anxiety towards you—that’s a bit of a shame, he was cute when you first started dating.

…Well, Idia you know now is a cutie as well, even if he can be very annoying sometimes.

“Enough. I’m going to play my otome games, bye.”

You log out, and shut the stream, chuckling all the time. A funny feeling tingled your heart, like always when you won (or have you?) in banter in Idia: your heart is warm enough to probably melt through the ribcage, but a subtle alarm rings in your head. Idia will probably take revenge for this.

He must already be in distress. He doesn’t like you playing otome games alone, as if you could have ever preferred a 2D boy over Idia. The thought makes you laugh.

You plop on your bed, unlocking your phone and tapping an icon of the name game you’ve installed. Although playing it with Idia would have been funnier, you are going to play him just out of spite.

…And after that, you will send him a wall of text about those handsome characters, because he needs to be updated on your current obsessions.

The title screen appears before everything crashes and the screen goes black. Several messages in neon-blue futuristic font colour appear one by one.

An error has occurred.

Caught exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):

File “characters”, line 46, in script

File “stats”, line 153, in script

File “story”, line 665, in script

File “achievements”, line 411, in log.1

File “backup_data”, line 139, in log

To continue:

“[Name]-san. Please come to our dorm. My brother is moping (so he won’t be finishing his project anytime soon, which is, really bad) and I would appreciate you having mercy on him.

Once you come, I will restore your data! It’s a promise :>

— ORTHO”

…Damn those Shrouds.

Yeah see here's the thing

I have only seen the raws of bsd chapter 101 so I do not know what they are actually saying, however, I firmly believe that Chuuya will not die. If Dazai had seemed more melancholy or regretful when deciding to let Chuuya supposedly drown, then yes, I would have my doubts. However, just smiling and letting him? No. Dazai may be very complex when it comes to his feelings toward Chuuya, but letting his former partner die with a smile on his face? I don't buy it.

Some people seem surprised that Chuuya managed to fool Fyodor about being a vampire for less than 30 minutes, but you gotta remember that when he and Dazai first met, Chuuya succesfully hid that he was Arahabaki for two or three days, all while Dazai was specifically investigating Arahabaki.

Chuuya has always been an extremely good liar, and he is kryptonite to people like Fyodor or Dazai (or at least Fifteen's Dazai, he learned from that experience) because he looks brash and impulsive and ""simple"", but actually Chuuya has been lying about who he is for most of his life, and nobody knows how to be a mindless monster better than him.

People message me your phone number iM bOrEd

i love him 🙁

creating the ULTIMATE housewarden

“can i have another bracelet?” gojo was practically flopped on your back, whiny tone prominent as it always was whenever he asked for something he had to obtain. 

“this is your seventh one, you’re going to get a sugar high”, you tried to shove him off, but rolling your shoulder did about as much damage to him as a feather.

you should have known better than to wear a candy bracelet near gojo satoru of all people. a start of a new sweet addiction. he’s managed to eat enough gummy bear packs to make a five year-old with the biggest sweet tooth sick, had somehow obtained the sweetest chewing gum (which you had to throw out because you were sick of how he smacked it so loudly), and don’t even get you started on his chocolate phase. 

“sixth, actually." gojo snorted sharply, “shows how much you care.”

about what? your unhealthy sugar addiction? you brushed the retort aside. it was one thing going quip-for-quip with gojo normally, but doing it whilst he craved any sort of candy like a child who got cleared at the dentist? yikes…

a huff escaped you, “how about you get off of me and i’ll think about it, yeah?” you wished you lead with that statement, sighing in relief as you rolled over. with a turn of your head gojo was now completely in your view, sitting with his legs crossed and a hand outstretched. the sight would have made you laugh if not for the acquired annoyance of the entire scenario leading to it. 

sometimes you wonder if you should have chunked out the bag of abominable bracelets the second your younger brother shoved them in your hands, forsaking them himself. although you suppose it was better that gojo caught you with them instead of him, he absolutely would have bribed the eight year-old into giving them all to himself. 

you held out your wrist, letting him slide one off and breaking the string in the process. your nose scrunched up but gojo didn’t seem to care as he popped the entire bracelet into his mouth much to your horror.

“the string-”

“if’el oum oot.” gojo’s crude crunches only continued as he spoke and you swear you saw the corners of his lips upturn just slightly as he chewed at the sight of your disgust. 

pure exhaustion overtook your facial expression as you brought your hands to cover your face, “you’re so disgusting and you’re going to choke and die on a stupid string.” 

“nah.” he finished it that quickly? you nearly jumped when his hand went to tug off another bracelet on your wrist – your neverending arsenal of doltish candy bracelets, “a stupid string isn’t going to take me out.”

yeah, right. he lifted your hand from your face to take off another candy bracelet properly, realizing that his childish tugs weren’t going to do much in his favor. you felt wet, sweet kiss on the corner of your lips and pushed away his face in a knee-jerk action.

“what the hell?! gross”, you wiped the remains of the kiss from the side of your mouth, listening to him gasp in melodramatic incredulity.

“that’s a product of my pure thankfulness, you heartless scoundrel.”

“please never say scoundrel ever again, ‘toru, or i promise you that will you never see the candy bracelets again.” you heard his mouth snap shut, stopping his rejoinder immediately. now that made you huff out a breath of laughter.

AHHHH

Tobikichi Usahara ✭ Lost Time

Cat’s Note: Why are all of the men in this show so 🦆ing attractive? Uramichi and Kumatani coming soon 🤭

Summary: You broke up with him 4 years ago. Surely, he’s moved on by now, even if you haven’t. But what if he’s still stuck on you just as much as you are on him?

WC: 4.6k

Genre: exes to lovers, fluff

warnings: n/a, barely proofread, random OC

"Oh, Y/n! The girls and I are going bar hopping tomorrow, you should totally go with us!" Your friend Yumi says, lifting a stack of glass plates from a box and placing them on the kitchen counter.

You've just graduated from college, finally returning to Tokyo after 4 long years. Most people would have returned home during breaks, but you, however, had decided to remain in Sendai to work in between semesters. Most people also would have gone to college at 18. But you didn't go until you were 22, having been inspired by your ex-boyfriend's job as an actor to start pursuing videography.

So now here you are, freshly graduated, moving into a new apartment, and very happy to be home. You look over at Yumi as you carry another box into the kitchen, grunting harshly as you hoist it onto the table.

"Bar hopping?" You repeat. You reach for one of the many knives laying around and tear it through the tape on the box, carefully pulling out the pots and pans laying inside. "It may be 4 years since we've been together, but I'm sure you remember I'm not a big fan of bar hopping," you laugh lightly.

"Ahh, yeah, I do remember," Yumi giggles in return, moving the stack of plates into their designated cabinet. "But I do think it would be fun! You said you didn't have much time to go out when you were at school, well, now you have plenty of time!" She turns back to you with a bright smile. "And you never know, maybe you'll meet a cute guy while we're out," she smirks. You roll your eyes at this.

Ever since you broke things off with your ex 4 years ago, Yumi has asked relentlessly about your love life. And while there was never really anything to report, she always seemed happy to hear that you were still single.

"Please, I don't think I'll ever find love again," you sigh overdramatically, pressing the back of your hand to your forehead to nail your performance. As soon as the words leave your mouth, you pause, closing your eyes and bracing yourself for the next words to come from Yumi.

"...you're still not really over Usahara, are you?" Aaand there it is, question number 2 on the FAQ list. Yumi doesn't ask it nearly as much as the first, but she still asks often enough that you can basically tell when it's coming. And you're also tired of hearing it. Not because she keeps asking, you know she just wants to check in on you, see how you're feeling. But because your answer is always the same. 4 years of no contact, and your ex is still on your mind almost constantly.

You can only blame yourself really. You're the one who broke up with him when everything was perfect, when he wanted to stay together, when he was confident that your relationship could survive the distance once you left for school. But you weren't. You knew long distance would strain your relationship too much. It was inevitable. You were just saving yourselves the extra pain. At least, that's what you thought.

4 years and you've only had one boyfriend, and he only lasted for about 3 months. The time in between was full of failed first dates, ghostings, and creeps who were just looking to get laid. Not once did you meet someone who made your heart stop and your stomach flutter the way Usahara did. And you're beginning to wonder if you'll ever experience that feeling again. You groan and go back to unpacking your kitchen supplies.

"I think you know the answer to that, and I would rather not talk about it," you mutter. You turn to put the pots in a cabinet, missing the all-knowing smirk on your friend's face.

"Okay, we can drop the subject. But still, you should come with us! Besides, I want to buy you your first drink back in Tokyo!"

Well, can't argue with that, can you? You stop to think for a moment. Sure, you hate bar hopping, but it would probably do you some good to get out and socialize. And Yumi's right, you never know who you might meet. Maybe Tokyo guys are better than Sendai guys. Won't know unless you try, right?

"Haha. Okay, Yumi, I'll go," you say, reflecting your friend's happy grin.

"Yes!" Yumi exclaims, swaying her hips in a little happy dance.

"BUT!" You interject, cutting Yumi's celebration short. "We're not going out super late."

"No problem!"

"And when I'm exhausted and ready to go, we go?"

"Absolutely!" You would think you'd just told her that you won a million dollars and are giving her half based on the blinding smile on her face. Why is she so excited to go drinking? Should you be worried? You brush it off, chalking it up to your high school bestie just being happy to spend time with you after being apart for so long. You just hope you have enough energy tomorrow to be "Fun Y/n" and not "Tired and Cranky Y/n".

"Alright! Let's at least get your kitchen finished before we call it a night!" Yumi says, moving on to another box. You hum in agreement and follow suit.

"Ready to go?" Yumi calls. You walk into the bathroom to see her putting on her earrings, the finishing touch to her evening outfit.

"Whenever you are," you chirp. You tug lightly at the hem of the little black dress you're wearing. "Is it really okay that I wear this?" Yumi turns away from the mirror to look at you, her jaw dropping.

"Y/n you look gorgeous! That dress fits you a lot better than it does me. Any man should feel lucky to have you even spare them a glance!"

"Is your plan for us to hang out or to find me a boyfriend?" You laugh

"Why not both?" Yumi jokes back. "Seriously though, you should keep that dress. I never wear it anyway." You look at yourself in the mirror and damn, this dress does look nice on you. You mentally agree with Yumi's statement, any man should feel lucky. "The others said they would meet us at the bar, so we can head on over!"

With a new sense of self-confidence, you and Yumi leave your apartment to head to the first bar just a short walk away.

You get there and say hello to the group of girls, some of which you haven't seen since high school. The girls all order a shot or two, trying to get a little buzzed while you're at the cheapest place on the route. You order a drink that's a little lighter on the alcohol, not wanting to risk getting too drunk this early on. Once you're done there, it's on to the next place, and so on.

By the time your little group starts to leave the third bar, some of the girls are already starting to feel the effects of the shots they've taken. Yumi glances at the time on her phone and raises her voice to get everyone's attention.

"Hey, we should go to that little lounge on the next street over!" She suggests excitedly. Before you can agree, some of the other girls speak up.

"The lounge? I thought you didn't like that place?"

"Yeah, you always say it's kinda sketchy."

You turn to Yumi to see how she explains her sudden change of heart, only to see her fiddling with her fingers, something she does nervous. Or when she's planning something.

"Ahh, yeah I know but... but they have a really good happy hour deal at this time!" The girls tilt their heads in question but agree to go nonetheless. You make your way to the next street and see your destination ahead of you and, yeah, it does look a bit sketchy. But, no one says anything as you enter the little hangout.

"Let's sit over here!" Yumi says, darting ahead toward the end of the bar table. You all look at each other, mutually confused by Yumi's sudden enthusiasm and determination to, not only visit this specific bar, but also sit in a specific spot. But you swallow your questions and follow. The first thing you notice is how dark it is, and you don't believe it's purposeful mood lighting either. The second thing is the lack of people. Granted, it's a small bar, but even so, the seating isn't half full. Why are you here again?

You sit beside Yumi who has an unusually bright smile, even for her. You all order your drinks and take your time with them, catching up with each other in quiet chit-chat. You're there for a short time before a couple of guys enter the lounge, walking past the bar to sit at a table already occupied by a couple others.

"Heyyy, sorry we're late, we totally lost track of time," a man speaks from the table. His voice sounds familiar, almost comforting, but you’re too preoccupied with watching Yumi take a shot to really think about it.

"I think you mean you lost track of time," a second, more monotone voice speaks.

"Dude, seriously?!" Okay, you know you know that voice. You lean forward against the bar to take a quick glance past Yumi to the table several feet away from you. You quickly scan over the people, trying to be as casual as possible. You see two dark-haired men sitting beside each other, talking quietly with very neutral expressions, making you question whether they want to be there or not. You feel like you recognize the black-haired man, though you can’t place where you’ve seen him.

To their left is a very drunk woman, tears streaming down her flushed face. Beside her is another man with his face turned away from you, his blond hair, that's obviously dyed and desperately needs a retouch, is swept to the side and clipped with a... strawberry barrette?

Your quick and casual glance becomes a stare as you squint in an attempt to see the hair accessory better. You used to have a hair clip just like that one. You wore it all the time and were quite upset when you lost it. Before it can click in your mind, the man turns just enough for you to see his face and...

No, it's not. There's no way. You feel your heart flutter in a way it hasn't in years, but you still refuse to believe what you're seeing. Yumi notices your shocked expression and follows your line of sight, her eyes widening slightly when they land on the table.

"Yooo, is that who I think it is?"

"I'm... I'm pretty sure it is," you say, dazed. It's Usahara, sitting at the table beside you, wearing the hair barrette you lost at his place years ago.

"You should go say hi!" Yumi encourages, patting you on the arm excitedly. You almost get up from your seat right then, but the little shred of hope in your heart disappears when the crying woman suddenly crashes against Usahara's chest and his arms wrap around her. Yumi, whose eyes are trained on you, completely misses what's happening. "You never know, maybe you can pick up where you left off."

You quickly turn your eyes back to your drink, sinking into your seat.

"I doubt that. It was so long ago, I'm sure he's had several girlfriends since then. Look, he's with someone now," you state bluntly. Yumi turns back to see who you're talking about. The woman is now sitting up again, her face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking. She looks to Usahara who is sitting awkwardly, clearly unsure of how to handle the situation.

"Uhh, something tells me it's not like that," Yumi says. She turns back to you and places a gentle hand on your arm. "Come on, Y/n, just say hi. If he's not happy to see you, then we'll hit the next bar and get so drunk you'll forget you even saw him." Yumi grins and you realize it's the same suspicious smile she's had since she mentioned bar hopping the night before. Hold on a second.

"Why do I get the feeling you knew he'd be here?" You say, knowing it sounds like a serious accusation. But the moment the words leave your mouth, Yumi freezes. Gotcha.

"Whaaat? Nooo we're here for the happy hour! Remember?" She waves her hands around as though to distract you as she does her best to defend herself. You give her a "be honest" glare and she cracks within a second. "Okay, yeah, I see him and his friends here a lot, the chances were pretty high," she mutters.

"And that's why you wanted to come here so badly, isn't it?" You question further. Yumi stares into her drink and starts fiddling with her fingers again.

"Umm, that... might've been part of why. But that's beside the point!" She exclaims, looking back up at you. "We're here, he's here, and you should say something!" You remain quiet, unsure if you really should say anything or just try to leave without being seen. And Yumi seems to be able to tell exactly what you're thinking. "If you don't I will."

Uh oh. If there's one thing you've learned about Yumi in your years of being friends, it's that she's not afraid to embarrass herself. If she says she'll do something, chances are, she will. Before you can even respond, Yumi is taking a breath and turning in her chair, ready to shout to the table.

"HE-" she starts, and you swear your heart stops. You grab her arms and pull her back around to you, stopping her call before it gets very loud.

You hide behind her, mortified that she may have accomplished her goal and drawn some attention. You peek over her shoulder thankful to see that Usahara is too busy drinking his beer to have noticed anything. But before you can sigh in relief, your eyes meet those of the man on the other side of the table, and by the look in his steely grey eyes, it's safe to say Yumi had caught his attention. He breaks eye contact, turns back to his friends, and doesn't say a word.

"Okay, okay," you whisper, letting go of Yumi's arms "Just, please don't yell." Yumi giggles happily, satisfied that her plan is working. You take a deep breath and finish your drink quickly before getting up from your seat and adjusting your dress. Your heart is pounding in your chest, but you realize, it's not entirely of anxiety, but excitement. Yumi takes your hand and gives it an encouraging squeeze.

"I'll be right here, ready to support or fly out of here at the slightest notice." You squeeze her hand back and smile. You let go and make your way over to the table. The first person to notice you approaching is the same man you'd made eye contact with just moments before, though he remains quiet. Usahara is distracted with cleaning up a bit of beer that had been knocked over, still completely unaware of your presence. By this point, you've caught everyone's attention, everyone aside from Usahara.

"Tobikichi?" You say, your voice just barely above a whisper. Usahara stops his cleaning, but it takes him a second before he turns to you. His eyes meet yours and, there they are, the special butterflies that you've dreamed of having again since you saw him last.

"No way... Y/n?" Usahara says, not believing his eyes. His look of shock flips into one of joy as he jumps from his seat and, without a second thought, he's wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug. You hug him back, taking the moment to breathe in his familiar and comforting scent. Yep, he still wears the same cheap cologne. You never knew you could miss a smell so much until you'd said goodbye. He slowly pulls away from you, cool grey eyes scanning over you.

"You look beautiful..." He blurts, causing you both to blush. Before you can accept his compliment, he's moving on. "Haha, ahh, what are you doing here?"

“I’m back from school,” you answer softly. Usahara’s smile grows impossibly wider.

“Like, back for good?”

“Yeah, for good,” you nod in confirmation. Usahara perks, suddenly remembering who he’s with. He moves to stand beside you and places his on your shoulder, sending sparks down your back.

“Oh, by the way!” He starts, lifting his hand to gesture to his table of friends. “You’ve met Kumatani before, right?” Ahh, that’s why he seemed familiar.

“We met once,” Kumatani replies stoically. And now you remember. You’d only met him once, but Usahara would talk about him a lot. He was down to earth and wasn’t afraid to put Usahara in his place when needed. You appreciated it.

“Thought so!” Usahara says, moving on to the other two people. “This is Uramichi and Utano. They’re my co-workers.” You feel relief when you hear “co-workers”. Yumi was right, it isn’t like that. “Too bad Iketeru isn’t here. He’s not a big drinker, so he backed out for tonight.”

“So, how do you guys know each other?” Uramichi asks, suspicious that his annoying co-worker could be friends with someone like you. You and Usahara freeze, neither of you wanting to answer.

“They dated several years ago,” Kumatani answers for you without hesitation. Utano sits straight up, tears still streaming down her face, but at least she’s no longer sobbing.

“Oh, are you the ex he’s always talking about?” She sniffs. You look at her, confused.

“What?” You ask, hoping to get her to elaborate, and Kumatani starts to do just that.

“He talks about you a lot when he’s dru-”

“OKAY!” Usahara shouts, stepping a bit in front of you and cutting Kumatani off before he can expose him any further. “I don’t think we need to talk about any of that.” Actually, yes, I think we do. “Anyway, uhh, are you here by yourself?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, I’m here with-” your sentence is stopped midway through when an arm is slung over your shoulders.

“Me!” Yumi says, leaning over you.

“Oh, Yumi! Long time no see, huh?” Usahara greets.

“Yeaaah, real long time!” Yumi smiles. “Y/n, the girls and I are thinking about getting one more round and then heading out,” she says, pointing back to the bar. You’re about to say that you’ll be right over when Usahara starts to speak.

“Hey, let me buy you a drink!” He offers happily, making Yumi smile.

“Oh, that’s not necessary!” You say.

“Please? As a welcome home,” He says, already pulling out his wallet and heading back to the bar.

“Come on, don’t say no to a free drink!” Yumi pulls you by your arm to follow, and you do, albeit hesitantly. Once you’re at the bar, Yumi returns to the group, leaving you and Usahara there alone.

“Get what you want,” Usahara says after taking a quick flip through his wallet.

“You have the money to make that kind of offer?” You tease.

“WHA-hey! I’ll have you know I’ve gotten better at handling money… kind of.”

“Mhmm?”

“Whatever, I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure.” His face grows red and you laugh at his response. Your eyes catch sight of the little pink and red accessory in his hair again, contrasting sharply against his bleach blond hair.

“By the way, is that my strawberry barrette you’re wearing?” His face couldn’t possibly get any more flushed. His hand flies up to the clip and removes it.

“It… might be,” he mumbles. His hands play around with it, bending the clip back and forth.

“I can’t believe you still have it after all this time,” you whisper. Usahara smiles fondly.

“Well, it is pretty handy,” he jokes. His fidgeting stops and he places the barrette onto the table, sliding it towards you. “Here, you can have it back.” You pick up the hair clip and examine it closely. It looks almost exactly the same as the day you last saw it, aside from some chipped plastic coating on the sides. He’s taken very good care of it. You run your thumb over the bumpy, textured strawberry.

“You keep it,” you say softly. You reach for his hair and gently sweep it behind his ear, clipping it in place with the barrette. “It looks better on you anyway.” Jeez, are you purposefully trying to fluster him? Usahara laughs nervously and rubs his clammy hands on his pants. If his heart beats any faster, he’s convinced it’ll burst right out from his chest.

You order your drinks and sit in awkward silence as you try to figure out what to talk about. You have so much, 4 years' worth. Where do you start?

“So… have you dated anyone since we broke up?” Well, guess that’s one place to start.

“Umm… not really. There was this one guy who lasted a few months, but he turned out to be a total creep,” you answer honestly, your voice faltering a bit.

“Ahh, gotcha,” he says awkwardly. You drag a finger over your glass, watching as the condensation collects and runs down the cool surface.

“What about you? I’m sure you’ve had a girl or two over the last few years, Mr. Mascot,” you laugh lightly, trying to relieve the strange and uncomfortable pressure.

“Haha, I, uh, haven’t had any, actually…”

…Oh

“Hey, Y/n,” Yumi calls. You turn to see her and the others gathering their purses and standing from their seats, some struggling a little more than others. “We’re heading to the next bar. You coming?” Before you can even think of what to answer with, Yumi is shooting you a look that screams “don’t you dare say ‘yes’”. You smile, this was for sure her plan the entire time.

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit longer.” Yumi beams at your reply and walks over to hug you.

“Okay! I’ll see you tomorrow then. Still on for dinner?”

“Yeah of course!”

“Great!” Yumi moves her gaze from you to the man beside you giving him a sweet but serious glare. “Usahara, take care of my girl, ‘kay? Don’t let anything happen to her.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Usahara says nervously. Yumi gives you both another wide smile before walking out the door to catch up with the others. “She’s still as intimidating as I remember,” he says, making you laugh.

You turn back around and catch Usahara already looking at you, an unreadable grin on his face. As soon as you make eye contact, his smile drops and his head whips in a different direction. Subtle. You two resume conversation, catching up on everything you’ve missed out on each other. Usahara’s friends eventually leave as well, leaving just the two of you. You talk about everything, how your schooling went and how much you hate-loved it, how he’s still working as a bunny mascot on a children’s show but he’s generally happy with where he is. Once the initial awkwardness is gone, you speak like no time has passed. It’s as though you had just seen each other yesterday, rather than 4 years ago.

Usahara’s phone buzzes, prompting him to pick it up. His eyes widen when he sees the time. 3 hours have passed, and neither of you can believe it.

“We should probably get going,” he says reluctantly, and you agree. You both stand from the bar and head towards the door where Usahara rushes ahead of you to open it for you. “Let me walk you home!” His proposal catches you off guard.

“You don’t have to do that, I don’t live far,” you say, not wanting him to feel obligated to.

“It’s okay, I want to,” he says confidently. He wants to. You half expected to walk out this door, say your goodbyes, and then be hit with the reality that he didn’t want to see you again. But instead, he’s offering to walk you home because he wants to. You don’t trust your voice to come out clearly, so you just nod and start walking toward your apartment.

The short walk there is silent, but this time, an easy, relaxed silence. You climb the stairs to your doorstep and pull out your keys to unlock your door before you turn back to the man. The atmosphere that was comfortable just a moment ago, is now tense and awkward.

“Thank you for walking me… it was really good to see you, Tobikichi,” you say softly.

“Of course, it was good to see you too,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his weight from side to side. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well.” You continue to stand there; neither of you wants to say goodbye. Then, almost subconsciously, you’re stepping forward and wrapping your arms around his torso, burying your face into the crook of his neck. You feel his muscles tense in surprise before he relaxes and returns your embrace, an arm snaking around your waist and a hand gently holding the back of your head, pressing you closer against him. You have no idea how long you stood there, entangled in each other’s arms and soaking in each other’s warmth. You grasp him as though you’re afraid he’ll disappear.

Usahara finally pulls away from you slowly, but he stops when your eyes meet his. A beat passes before-

“Can I kiss you?” He blurts. What? You don’t answer, your mind still trying to process to be sure you heard him right. Thinking he’s made a mistake, Usahara’s grip starts to loosen, his arm slipping from your side. But before he can let go, you grab onto his shirt, pulling him back against you.

“Please,” you practically whimper. Usually, you would cringe at your behavior. Begging a man to kiss you? Come on. But right now, you can’t find it in you to care about how desperate you may look. You just want his lips on yours, and it’s the only thing you can attempt to be concerned about. His face gets hot, turning almost as pink as the barrette still in his hair, and you can’t help but think it’s a good color on him.

His hands return to your waist, holding you firmly as he leans his face closer to yours. A sharp chill runs down your spine when his lips ghost over yours and you find yourself suppressing a whine that threatens to escape your throat. Usahara smiles mischievously, proud of the reaction he’s so easily able to draw from you. But, as much as he enjoys teasing you, he can’t wait any longer.

His hand runs from your waist, up your side, and to your neck, cradling your face gently. And then, finally, he places a tender kiss against your lips. It’s delicate, familiar, the feeling of his lips moving lightly against yours, like he’s afraid he may break you. Your fists ball in his shirt, tugging him further down in a silent plea, and you feel his lips curve in a smile against yours.

He takes a careful step forward, pushing your back against the door. The kiss quickly moves from sweet and chaste, to needy and passionate. Your hands move from his shirt around his neck, fingers running through his silky hair, pulling a soft, muffled grunt from his lungs.

Your lips part and he gives just enough space for you to see his face and the sight turns your already swirling insides into a storm. Wow, did you miss that look he’s giving you, blushing, flustered and messy. You’re sure you look the same. He leans closer again, pressing his heated forehead against yours.

“I’ve… missed you, so much,” he pants. “You have no idea how happy I was to see you.” He kisses you again, his lips moving feverishly.

“I missed you too. So much, you have no idea. I’m so sorry,” you mutter in between each heated kiss. Usahara breaks the kiss to pull you against him again, his arms embracing you and a deep, contented sigh rushing against your ear. Your hands drag down to his chest and you feel his heart beat frantically against your palms. You stay there for a moment until you remember that you’re standing on your doorstep. He moves to kiss you again, but you stop him before he can.

“Want to come inside?” You whisper against his lips, and he smirks.

“I’d like that. We should start making up for lost time.”