I'll take care of you [M. Togata]
synopsis: after your mom's reminder about your brother's engagement party approaching, you fold under the expectations of your family and lie about having a boyfriend that you'll be bringing as your plus one to the event. you very much don't have a boyfriend, but perhaps asking your best friend to fill in the spot won't hurt, right?
contents: Mirio Togata x fem bestfriend!reader, college!au, they have quirks but it's not relevant for the story, fake dating [wc: 2.8k]
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Hot summer sun filtered through the branches, casting leaf-shaped shadows over the big cloth you all sat on. Laptops, textbooks and snacks laid scattered over the checkered fabric. Finals were coming up, and since the AC system in the library was busted, you had to try your best and survive with what nature had to offer. Individual study in your dorm rooms wasn’t even an option, especially because Mirio and Nejire would’ve personally come to collect both you and Tamaki, even if that meant physically dragging the two of you outside.
You didn’t imagine your college experience to turn out like this, but it’s not like you could’ve done anything to prevent it when Mirio Togata’s presence crashed into your life like an unruly truck, though you could’ve described it more like rays of sunshine forcing their way through black, stormy clouds. Yeah, that’s how meeting him had felt. You hadn’t planned on making friends that early into the start of the spring semester, still trying to settle in after moving far from home.
What you remember of that day was still clear in your mind, even after a whole year. You had been packing up your belongings after attending one of your first classes when a loud, enthusiastic voice reached your ears. A boy with blond hair and eyes the color of the ocean was talking animatedly to the girl with a periwinkle bob that sat a couple rows from you. The room had been almost empty, and you had felt like you were intruding on a private moment.
Still, the sight of the boy had made something spark in your chest, an unfamiliar sensation that you immediately bottled up and tucked away. The same thing had repeated itself for a couple weeks, and sometimes the blond tagged along with a boy whose eyes were almost always covered by thick bangs and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Perhaps out of pity, perhaps out of genuine curiosity, one day the girl with pastel colored hair had asked you to tag along, and the rest is history.
Now you were attending your second year of college, and you couldn’t have asked for better friends. Even if Nejire was the first one you got to know better, now you could confidently say that Mirio was the one you had grown the closest to. Sometimes you wondered if he just had a magnet for introverts, since from the stories they’d told you, Tamaki had been sucked into Mirio’s orbit almost the same way.
Somewhere next to your laptop, something vibrated, and your phone lit up with the caller ID. “Hey hey Y/n, your mom’s calling you!” Nejire chirped, peeking over at the screen. You grabbed it and scrambled up to your feet, muttering a quiet apology and putting some distance between you and your friends before you picked up.
“Hi, muffin!” Your mother beamed from the other end of the line. “You sound quiet, were you in the library?”
“I, uh…no, I’m outside, don’t worry. What is it?” You asked quietly.
“Oh well, I know your exams are coming up and you’re probably busy, but…I’m sure you remember your brother's engagement party is in a few weeks, yes?”
“Right, yes, of course!” The words came out way too fast for your liking. “How could I forget, hah…”
Your mother was either too oblivious or your poor attempt had actually sounded genuine, because her voice didn’t betray anything. “Oh, that’s lovely, muffin! Look, your dress should be delivered to your dorm building today, snap a pic for us, okay? I’m sure you’ll look stunning!”
Dress. Delivered to your dorm. How did they even get your dorm address…? Doesn’t matter.
“Oh, and…” she dragged on, and from the lilt her voice had taken, you could picture her face perfectly. “Are you gonna come with a boyfriend? I mean, there must be a reason why you haven’t told us anything in two whole years!”
Your fingers turned limp around your phone, but you managed to keep your grip solid enough to not let it slip to the ground. A beat passes, then two, then—
“Uh…yeah, mom. I-I mean, yeah, I actually do have someone to bring along. He’s a-a guy from school and—”
You winced and angled your head away from the speaker, your mom’s squeal so loud you thought the whole quad might’ve heard it. “Oh my god, that’s amazing news! Why didn’t you tell us? Oh tell me more, tell me more!”
A chuckle was forced out of your lips in a semblance of confidence. “It’s a surprise, mom. You’ll meet him at the party, don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll like him.”
“Awh, don’t leave me hanging!” You were pretty sure she was pouting right now. “But…okay, miss mysterious, I can’t wait to meet this charming man of yours! Now I have to go, muffin, toodles!” She hung up before you could even say goodbye.
What the fuck had you just gotten yourself into?
A cooler breeze rustled the grass, the temperature dropping to somewhat bearable only after sunset. Summer had hit very aggressively, and studying had become even harder in this weather. Mirio’s steps fell in sync with your own as he quietly walked beside you. Tamaki had taken Nejire to her place, having left the library an hour before you, so now Mirio was the one walking you back to your dorm. The AC system was working again, so you had ditched the picnic setup for a setting that actually motivated you to do some work.
Mirio was the textbook definition of a chatterbox, but he also knew when to give you space, because existing next to each other was already enough to bring you comfort. You were lost in thought, so high up in your little world to not notice the way he would steal glances your way every so often, or how he was hyper aware of how close the back of his hand was to touching yours.
You were thinking about finals, about how tired you were and just wanted the term to be over with, about summer vacation, about—
Your step faltered, a pair of hands immediately stretching forward to save your face from having a closer encounter with the gravel. “Woah, hey there,” Mirio sounded almost breathless with worry, a crease forming between his brows. “What happened? Are you too tired? I knew we should’ve gone with the others—”
Shaking your head, you reassured him with a dismissive wave of your hand. “No it’s…I-I’m sorry, it’s nothing,” you quickly brushed off. You turned to look at him as his hands fell from your waist, wide blue eyes staring back at you with rosy lips pressed together. Maybe—
No. What the hell are you thinking? It would never work!
But the more you gave it thought, the clearer your plan turned in your head. Your brother’s engagement party was only over a week away, that’s what you had remembered, and with that, also came the memory of you telling your mother that you were going to bring a boyfriend. Working for finals had occupied your mind, so that huge fuck-up of yours had totally slipped. But maybe, just maybe, your last-minute strategy could’ve worked.
“Uhm…Mirio?” You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, trying to come up with the best way to put it. He straightened his posture, patiently waiting for you to speak, lips curled in a gentle smile. It was like he had completely wiped off the flustered state he’d been in just a minute ago.
“So…I might’ve gotten myself in a bit of a predicament a couple weeks ago. Do you remember that call with my mother?” He nodded. “Well, she was reminding me of my brother’s engagement party, and, you know, one thing led to the other…I said I would’ve brought a plus one.”
You blurted out everything in a single breath and stood there, bracing yourself for whatever was to come. He cocked a brow, not really understanding the implication.
“As in…a boyfriend,” you muttered, looking down at your feet. “A-And I clearly don’t have one! Now the party’s in a week, and I don’t know why I said that—”
Your eyes snapped up at him, lips parted as you held your breath. Mirio simply shrugged, a wide grin spreading over his soft features at your dumbfounded expression. “You need a plus one, don’t you? I’m assuming you were telling me this because you wanted to ask me to fake being your boyfriend. I’ll do it.”
Your heart started beating again after skipping over its rhythm, relief washing over you. “Oh my god, you’re literally saving me! Thank you, thank you!” It came natural, your arms coming around his wide torso, enveloping him into a hug. Mirio looked down at you, stunned for a second, and it was that moment of hesitation that allowed you to process what you were doing. You peeled yourself off his chest, cheeks burning up as you muttered apologies profusely.
He let out a loud, hearty chuckle, trying to diffuse your embarrassment, but really, he was hoping to feel your arms around him again. You weren’t as closed off or socially constipated as Tamaki was, but you were pretty shy. Even after knowing you for a year and becoming your closest friend, Mirio still noticed how you would hold yourself back. Perhaps it was just your personality, but since the first time he saw you, he couldn’t help but want to see more, know more, have more of you.
Yeah, he had been keeping his feelings a secret from you for over twelve months now. Nejire pestered him about it constantly, telling him that he should’ve just confessed already, but even Mirio Togata could get nervous around somebody, and you had cut through him in a way he had never experienced before. Tamaki wasn’t much help, since he had a higher chance of having a plane falling on his head than making the first step in a relationship, but even after the girl’s advice, he still hadn’t found it in him to actually come forward about it.
Now, his chance had come.
“—and I’m sorry, Mirio, but I totally can’t trust you to pack the right boyfriend outfits on your own. That’s what I’m here for!” Nejire beamed from the spot she had taken on Mirio’s bed in his dorm room, lying on her stomach while kicking her legs to and fro.
The first thing he did after you asked him to be his plus one, of course, was texting Nejire and Tamaki. Perhaps he had also clarified that by “plus one” you meant pretending to be your boyfriend– they went insane over it. Why did he have to pretend, anyway? They agreed that he should’ve just confessed and asked to be your actual boyfriend, he argued that you looked like you already had a lot on your plate, so he didn’t want to overstimulate you. All excuses, really.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Mirio sent a teasing grin her way, then went back to raking through the different clothes hanging in his closet. “I’m not sure I even have appropriate outfits for the occasion,” he admitted with a soft, defeated sigh.
“Don’t you have some friends in fashion?” For the first time in the past twenty minutes, Tamaki contributed to the conversation. He sat on the chair by the desk, just quietly watching the situation unfold. Nejire’s head turned to look at him, and Mirio pretended not to notice the way his friend’s cheeks caught a pinkish tinge. “You are so right, Tamaki! I can always ask if you can borrow some clothes! We have enough time to alter what you already have— wait, go back a couple hangers.”
Mirio did as instructed, stopping at a navy suit jacket. He looked over his shoulder, blue eyes shining bright as she gasped. “Hold it, hold it!” Nejire pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her denim shorts and started to go through it. Mirio glanced over at Tamaki, who just gave him a helpless shrug of his shoulders. “Care to enlighten us?” Mirio asked after a couple more seconds of fingernails tapping on the screen. Nejire’s lips pulled in a victorious smirk, finally looking up. “Is that a suit?”
“Uh…yeah, but I haven’t put it on in so long…” Mirio grabbed the hanger and pulled it off the rack for the others to see. It was a classic suit jacket, with an outer breast pocket and silver-colored cuffs. “I’m not sure it still fits, honestly. This is the one I wore to that party after graduation,” he added, looking at the garment with a fond, nostalgic smile. He would’ve reminisced some more, but the situation at hand had absolute priority over everything else.
“Try it on,” Nejire urged. “If it fits, then we have a winner! I can’t say why, I don’t want to spoil anything, but…let’s just say I have some intel.” She put her index over her lips, giggling. “Y/n told her everything,” Tamaki explained. “What!? And you didn’t tell me?” Mirio’s brows shot up his forehead. “You just love to watch me struggle, don’t you?”
“No, but it would be major girl code violation.” Nejire said. “I was just given some deets, but I’m sure it’s all stuff you already know! I won’t tell you any more than this.”
Mirio sighed, but understood where she came from. Still, a million questions flooded his mind— did you talk to her about him? Were you regretting your decision? Was he just getting worked up over nothing? Did you just ask him because you trusted him as your best friend?
“Nejire…I think you’ve broken him…” Tamaki whispered, a hint of worry in his voice. Nejire just laughed loudly, and it snapped Mirio out of his thoughts. “I think this is the first time our big guy has ever been this nervous!” She poked at him playfully. Mirio just chuckled, his free hand coming up to the back of his head. “C’mon now…I just want to leave a good impression, you know? It’s still her family and— oh god, I’m gonna meet her family—”
“Just try on that jacket, already!” Nejire cut him off. “I don’t have all day, and neither does Tamaki.” The poor guy pointed at himself, confused. “I-I’ve got—” but she gave him a pointed look, “Oh, shush,” she shut him up successfully.
Mirio watched the exchange with an amused smile, slipping the wooden hanger off the sleeve holes of the jacket. He put in one arm first, and it wasn’t as much of a tight fit as he expected. By third year of high school he had pretty much stopped growing, and he’d kept working out to maintain his physique. Most he’d put on was a few pounds of muscle mass, which explained the strain of the fabric when he tried to button it up.
“Halt there!” Nejire sprang up, hopping off his bed. She leaned forward to examine the jacket, and Mirio stood still, used to being thoroughly inspected whenever she’d force both him and Tamaki to go buy new clothes. “Hmm…if we distress the chest darts, I think you’d get the couple inches you need to get it to close,” she mumbled. “Then we can adjust the cuffs…” As she went on with her musing, she lifted up Mirio’s arms, made him turn around and move like a rag doll. He never protested, since he was just grateful to have a friend like her always ready to help him out and understood how much this meant to him. She was also your number one shipper, so she needed this to work out.
“You’ve got the pants for this, too, right? Put them on,” Nejire stepped back, then looked at him expectantly.
“I’ll look away…” Tamaki murmured, covering his eyes with one hand while spinning in the chair until his back was turned.
“Yes here, now! Time’s already running out, and we have at least five more outfits to plan!”
Mirio knew it was going to be a long day.
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