okay, this was just weird. if it had been any other girl but takako, the plushie cheek kiss and the bashfulness might have seemed endearing to him -- maybe not, he couldn't really tell because it hadn't happened outside the romance mangas -- but he'd never be able to see his friend in such a light. a suspicious glare rested upon the figure of the slightly shorter girl. where was the catch? what was it going to be? seemingly there was none, but that just felt even weirder.
unsure of the full meaning of the korean words, yuuki couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "good experiences in making friends?" he repeated the korean words as good as he could before switching to japanese. "is that some kind of new self-praise? do i play along with it now? ah yes, my best friend is amazing, clever, out of this world! so now it's time for waddle dee-ya to pass on those words? in that case, can i whisper a secret to waddle dee-ya to pass on to said friend too?"
shit eating grin evident on his face, yuuki snatched takako's bag upon which the plush had been reattached and ran away holding the bag as high above his head as he could. he stuck out his tongue at takako. "you can't hear this, it's a secret," he teased before speaking towards the bag in a voice that was definitely not a whisper.
"waddle dee-ya, i have a very important message for you to pass on to my best friend. she's a very confident and hard working person, but i know that she's been through some rough times, so sometimes it's hard to be all confident and continue working hard when it seems your actions are pointless. that's why i want you to tell her that no matter how hard it seems, i know she can do it. i don't really know much about all this idol business, but idols are all about inspiring people to be the best version of themselves, aren't they? the fans are the ones who are inspired by them, so i want you to tell her that she'll always have one fan that is inspired to work hard because of her. and if she's ever in doubt of that, she can keep an eye on that one fan to make sure he's not slacking off this time. not again. because as long as her spell of inspiration works, he'll keep going strong."
long monologue done he held the bag out towards takako. "take it back. waddle dee-ya has important message for takako-ssi."
A genuinely amused laugh escaped Takako's lips as Yuuki dryly commentated on her own comments about him being experienced in making friends. Grinning, she leaned back on her hands and regarded the older boy with a fond look, unintentionally letting her guard down momentarily.
「Well, am I wrong, Yuu-kun? From what I've seen so far, you've been hitting it off pretty well with most people here. So I think I can say that you're-- HEY!」
Compliments are broken by an indignant shriek as Yuuki (to Takako's perception, at least) suddenly swooped in without warning and seized her bag. She gave a futile chase, accompanied by some hops as she tried in vain to grab the stolen goods held above Yuuki's head.
「Irie Yuuki! You jerk, give that back, or I swear I'll have you dancing until your legs fall off, I'm serious! Give me back my bag!」
Complaints and insults were hurled in vain as Yuuki simply gave her a frustratingly familiar shit-eating grin and held the bag above his head until Takako finally relented, but not before loudly declaring that she was only stopping because she didn't want to damage her ankles or knees any further and not because she was too short to reach.
She'd die before giving him the satisfaction of that.
Plopping down onto the floor with an exaggerated sigh and deciding that this was a good time for a certified Takako Sulk Moment(™), Yuuki's words to the plush had her suddenly pausing. As as he continued to talk, Takako felt her eyes welling with tears, and she bit down harshly on her lip to stop any sobs from escaping.
Really, what the hell had she done to deserve Yuuki as a friend? Why would someone like him ever put up with a foolish girl like her, who proclaimed one mindset, yet ignored it when things hadn't gone her way?
Maybe it was her that should have had the stage name 'Lucky Child.'
Sniffling a little as Yuuki finally relinquished the bag to her again, Takako stared resolutely at the wall for a few seconds as she tried to collect herself.
"Idiot." She mumbled in Korean, the word harsh but her tone nowhere near it, even with forced back tears choking it up somewhat. Clearing her throat and rummaging in the bag for a bottle of water, she took a few (generous) sips from it before continuing.
"Waddle Dee-ya says Yuuki-ssi talks too much" she bit back, but the look in her eyes as she turned back to her best friend showed there was no malice in the words, perhaps simply a little exasperation. "But he listened well and will remind me of those words. And he also says that if Yuuki-ssi stops embarrassing Takako-ya, she'll buy him anything he wants from the convenience store and won't nag for a whole day. That's fair, yes?"
oh. he hadn't actually intended on making takako cry, again. this was getting to be a truly annoying habit, somehow they'd gone through nearly 6 years of friendship without ever badly upsetting her and yet, in the span of a few months, he's made her cry twice. it wasn't as though she was good at hiding it either, despite her efforts. about to call out to her and mentally bracing himself a bad reaction, yuuki couldn't help but deflate in relief when takako finally returned his gaze.
and of course when her response was the usual insult with no bite to it, followed up by her usual haughtiness with made yuuki laugh, even as it earned him another glower. and though he couldn't understand all of what she said to him, he was able to pick out the most important parts. mainly 'stop embarrassing takako-ya.'
"never. you're too much fun to embarrass. in fact, it's my mission in life to embarrass you." he declared confidenly in japanese, only to have to duck out of the way with a laugh as takako lunged for him with her bag again. with a grin, he disarmed the younger girl easily, tossing the bag away and with a bit of nifty footwork, managed to kabedon her.
it was funny, seeing her expression like this. first shock, then embarrassed and riled up. it would be have been entertaining to keep her in such a position for a little while, just see her reactions change further, but he was acutely aware of the impression they'd leave if someone were to walk in at this precise second.
and he'd be damned if he'd let takako risk her dreams for him of all people.
daring to lean closer for a second, so they were almost nose to nose, yuuki gave her a smirk. "what you said about the convience store though, it sounded good. so i'll hold you to that."
less than a second later he leapt backwards with a nervous laugh as takako tried to push him away, her face scarlet. hopefully, what she had said about the convience store was a good thing, otherwise he was really in for it.
