Chapter Text
HiMERU takes a deep breath as he sips on his coffee. Today was a busy one, photoshoots there, fan meets here, and practices on several shows and performances sprinkled throughout the day. It feels like he has gone around the whole area of Ensemble Square, met every single person under the agency he was under, and even walked miles around the Earth. The breaks weren’t even breaks, it was just a few minutes of breathing and remembering where he should go next.
However, even through it, one thing was in his mind–rather, one person.
Mayoi Ayase
The long purple hair tied up in a braid that crowns his beautiful face elegantly, the beauty mark under his luscious lips, and the eyes that sometimes are almost on the verge of tears, still shine like the sea at night.
He makes his day bright, even just a glimpse of him puts him in a good mood. Even Mayoi keeps berating himself, for him, he is far from what he thinks about himself. Every day, every hour, Mayoi finds a way to sneak into his mind like how he would sneak up in the vents. He sighs, he can’t keep up with this feeling anymore.
What if I told you that I’ve fallen?
He shakes his head, what is he thinking?
Nevermind.
It might have been that he was tired and his brain was finding another sort of distraction other than the work that he was drowning in that day. Whatever fills up his mind and thoughts, and it just so happens that it was Mayoi.
“HiMERU-san?”
He snapped out of his thoughts and slightly trembled at the sudden voice that called him. He slightly spilled his coffee on the floor, making a mess under him. His calm demeanor was shortly wiped at the sound of that very familiar voice. He could practically feel the heartbeat in his hands that gripped the cup tighter after it slightly spilled. It took him a little bit more time than he wanted to collect his thoughts and finally address who was in front of him.
“Oh, Ayase–”
“A-ah! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Mayoi immediately panicked at the sight of HiMERU being terrified at the sight of him (or at least what he thinks). The drops of coffee on the ground made him shiver, blaming himself that a few drops of precious coffee from HiMERU were wasted because of him. His voice is trembling like how his legs are right now, regretting that he even called the tired man in front. “I shouldn’t even be announcing my presence–I’m terribly sorry! I must have scared you. I should go now–!”
Mayoi basically blushed when he felt something wrap around his wrist. His eyes that are on the verge of tears looked at HiMERU’s.
The other looked back as well, studying his features at this distance. Mayoi’s braid was still cleanly tied up, despite having some strands falling out which gave his style some charm and personality. With the other side being a bit messy, HiMERU concluded that he had just come from the vents, probably taking the route since the hallways of Ensemble Square are a lot busier today than any other day.
Most probably because Valentine’s is just around the corner.
HiMERU stayed like that for a god-awful amount of time. His fingers wrapped around Mayoi’s wrist, his eyes piercing through the poor soul in front of him, and he just looked at the magnificent person in front of him.
“H-HiMERU-san?”
He snapped out of his thoughts again, finally addressing the situation in front of him. His eyes wander to him practically restraining Mayoi with his grip. His cheeks slightly flushed and immediately let go of Mayoi who was starting to get scared of him.
“Apologies for HiMERU’s behavior. It must have been his instinct to keep you from getting away since the last time that we talked, you practically bolted away from him. After all, you already offered him company, hm?”
Mayoi immediately bows at him, “Y-you don’t need to be sorry! I-i am the one who needs to apologize for my disrespectful behaviooor. You are enjoying your sweet time relaxing from a tired day of work and I just disrupted your moment of silence from busyness, and I shouldn’t be even talking to you right now and you need your alone time and–”
“Ayase.” He called to snap him out of his rambling. “It’s fine.” He takes another sip of his coffee, hoping that it will calm his heart a bit. Is he palpitating? He isn’t surprised since this is probably the 10th cup of coffee that he has consumed for the past couple of hours. He takes a deep breath.
This isn’t you, HiMERU.
“You aren’t causing trouble, so there’s no need to beat yourself to it.” He puts the cup on the small table beside him. “HiMERU’s work is finally done and he has the rest of his evening free. So, HiMERU could indulge you before he finally collapses on his bed.” He puts on a tiny smile, hoping that it could assure the trembling man in front of him.
“A-are you sure…? I-i can see your eyes are barely open…” Mayoi gulped and looked up at him, finally mustering the courage to see him eye to eye. It definitely made the phantom shiver, but HiMERU was too tired to notice that.
“I… I was just passing by since… Since…” He pulls up a handkerchief, “You… Left this with me back on our last Sweets Fanclub meeting.” He puts on a shy grin before offering it to give back to HiMERU. “Thank you, I’m such a mess.”
HiMERU stares at the handkerchief before taking it. He takes a deep breath.
Yeah, the club meeting.
Four days ago…
HiMERU found himself in the company of his own unitmate, Kohaku, and his cousin from Knights, Tsukasa, and of course… Mayoi.
They were inside a pastel cake shop that Mayoi was excitedly telling them about the last time they met for the club activities. His cheeks were flushed and compared to his deprecating ramblings, it was just pure joy and excitement from him. His eyes were sparkling with joy as he described what the shop looked like and how good their cakes were. It was a beautiful sight for HiMERU until Mayoi took notice he was staring and started apologizing profusely for being too annoying. Which for HiMERU will never be true, he could go as far as to say it was quite endearing.
The cake shop was glittered with purple and pink aesthetics, with a lot of plushies and stuffed toys around. The cake slices were displayed in fancy cake stands. The tables were designed to have a cute and comfy aesthetic to them, the chairs were even bean bags with animal ears and faces. No wonder Mayoi was excited to go to this cake shop with them, it was everything that Mayoi wanted.
“Wow, Mayoi-han… This is…” Kohaku was immediately interrupted by Mayoi, “H-hideous? I-i’m sorry, I thought this was pretty for you guys. I-i shouldn’t have suggested this in the first place–”
“It’s quite the contrary, Ayase-senpai.” Tsukasa looks at him with a smile and a sparkle in his eyes. “It’s comfy and pleasing to the eyes and the food looks DELICIOUS too! I would say that we should go take our orders and finally taste the wonders of this shop.”
HiMERU nods, “I agree with Suou here. It’s a well-thought-out theme and they executed it well. You have a good eye, Ayase.”
Mayoi’s cheek became a tint of pink as he shook his head profusely. “Ah, the shop deserves the praise, not me! I… just happened to wander by this shop while I was shopping with Aira-san.”
HiMERU didn’t notice he was already smiling at Mayoi’s flustered mess.
Their orders arrived, and they decided to try every cake that was offered in the shop. After all, it was their club’s mission to cherish every sweet that is made on this planet (Kohaku would say it’s just Tsukasa’s excuse to eat more sweets than his unit mates prescribe him). Approximately ten different cakes are in front of them right now and there are more coming since the waiter said the staff was still baking some.
“These are all so beautifully detailed–and hopefully DELICIOUS as well!” Tsukasa’s eyes were sparkling with joy, something Mayoi always enjoyed in these club meetings. “I guess per ‘yer words, we should start eating ‘em all.”
Their table was filled with wondrous chatter and Tsukasa praised every flavor of the cakes, even the ones he wouldn’t take a chance on eating in other shops. Which somehow, this cake shop handles it well. Kohaku was enjoying his favorite flavors, intending to get some more if he could. Mayoi seems to be already accustomed to some, however, he willingly tried the other ones, which only gathered positive comments from him.
HiMERU was enjoying his time, well, more so on staring at Mayoi.
Sweets Fanclub meetings weren’t really always like this. Well, HiMERU has started before to steal glances at Mayoi, but it was never that big of a deal at all. Of course, being a club member, he should acknowledge the presence of the phantom.
But this day, well, for the past few weeks as well, he seems to be… attracted to the sight of him.
His plump cheeks as he chews, his face feels with glee as he tastes more cake, his pure looks at the juniors in front of them. HiMERU’s heart is pumping wildly again, is there something in this cake?
He takes a deep breath that didn’t go through without Mayoi noticing.
“HiMERU-san?”
His heart aches again.
“Yes, Ayase?” He managed to say before he could physically fall from his seat (that was already just inches off the ground) just because of Mayoi’s voice.
“I-is… the place not to your liking? Or… the food?”
HiMERU gulps, “N-no. HiMERU finds it amusing actually. It actually reminds him of you.”
Mayoi’s cheek blushed once more. Cute. “A-ah, h-how so…? I-i’m sure it couldn’t compare to someone as filthy and disgusting as me.”
HiMERU chuckles, “HiMERU said what HiMERU said, Ayase. The purples in this place remind him of your hair and the cute things remind him of…”
“...?” Mayoi tilted his head.
HiMERU finds himself chuckling again, “Excuse him, HiMERU is just amused by your behavior.” His eyes peered towards the stain below his lip. He takes his handkerchief and offers to clean it for Mayoi.
“You got something in your chin.” He said before touching the area below Mayoi’s lip, which caused the latter to squirm quietly.
HiMERU stares at Mayoi’s lips. It was never this… beautiful. It was pink and glossy despite them eating countless cakes. He could feel a bit of its plumpness on his thumb. It was never this… attractive.
He looks at Mayoi’s eyes, teal meets gold.
What if I told you that I’ve fallen?
HiMERU feels like he could drown in Mayoi’s eyes. It’s colored like the sea in the night sky anyway. His face seems to be glowing, basking in the light that was given from above. The tint of red on his cheeks was more prominent, it was rather cute. Even his heart keeps beating fast–uncomfortably fast–the world seems to be slower.
“H-HiMERU-san…?”
He snapped out of his thoughts. He looks at Mayoi who was blushing profusely, his hand with a handkerchief still on his chin. He gulped as he settled the handkerchief down to Mayoi’s hands. “Remember to clean yourself up once in a while, the icings in this cake leave quite a mark.”
Mayoi gives him a shy smile, “Y-you don’t have to spare a clean handkerchief for me, HiMERU-san.” He looks at the gaze of HiMERU once more before looking down. “A-ah, but thank you.”
Nevermind.
Present
HiMERU smiles, “No worries, Ayase.” He puts the handkerchief in his pockets, tucking it away. “You could have just kept it. There’s plenty of handkerchiefs hanging around my dorm.”
Actually, his mind was debating whether Mayoi could have just kept the handkerchief so it would remind him of HiMERU every day or he could keep it to remind him of Mayoi every day. At least in that way, their playing field would be leveled.
“A-ah! I shouldn’t be keeping anything pristine that you own–or anyone owns in particular!” Mayoi looks down at the ground. HiMERU frowns at Mayoi’s constant self-deprecation. “Ayase.”
It snapped him from his thoughts, “A-ah! Yes! I think that’s all for me to be needed here. I should be going now. Uue… I’m sorry for wasting your time again!”
“HiMERU thinks you didn’t waste his time at all–or ever.”
Mayoi looks at him before looking back down. He fidgets on his hand, “Even… that time in the garden terrace..?”