♪ — COULD YOU BE MINE?
❥ summary: they love you so much it hurts
❥ characters: gorou ; yae miko ; shikanoin heizou ; mona ; xiao ; collei
❥ content: some angst but mostly fluff, gn reader
❥ note: this was so much fun!! i worked soo hard and i hope you enjoy it!!
♪ GOROU
he pulls himself to a sitting position besides you, and stubbornly stares straight ahead at the drifting clouds, wishing his gaze would stop falling to your face. "i'm glad we're friends," you say with the happiest of expressions, and you look so contented, so truly at peace that it almost causes physical pain. "i really like being around you."
"yeah," he manages, and holds his tongue as best he can, focusing on the clean line of the sunny horizon and forcing down what rises in his throat and threatens to push its way out, allowing himself barely a selfish thought of saying his greatest desire out loud, that thought that in itself is a betrayal to both the friendship you treasure so much and to you.
"but i want to be -- " he bites his words back at the last second, a hand falling limply to his side, and he watches you stand up, your hair blowing gently in the wind, wishing with all his heart that he could be a person you expected to always be beside you. but you don't bother to check behind you to see whether he's following, even though of course he is, he always is. and he could never fault you for being oblivious, not when it's his own fault that he's too nervous to speak up.
of course, it's not your fault you're his only weakness, the person that makes his breath hitch and him stumble when it matters most, and he wishes he could blame you for everything, the terrible words that choke him and the wish to forever be close to you, but he knows that it's only his fault. and he can't do anything about it because when you laugh, your eyes crinkling with mirth and happiness -- it's like the whole world disappears.
♪ YAE MIKO
she smirks, and laughs, and curls her hair around one finger as she speaks to you, and wonders if you know she's helplessly hyper aware of your reactions, that after so long of keeping her eyes on you it simply became muscle memory.
the hopeless truth that she scans you after every sneaky comment to see if you're turning red, the absurd adrenaline rush that it gives her to see you knocked off balance for barely a moment. it almost feels sadistic, how she loves the power she lords over you, wants you to feel the electricity in her fingertips when she brushes her hand over your skin.
but at the same time she wants you to be flattered, to see how hard she's trying, how much she's hoping that you'll return one of those tiny compliments she says as often as breathing, and she prays that you're catching on even with how you seem to brush off her comments like crystalflies alighting on your sleeves, so used to it that it seems more routine than sincerity at this point. what would she give for the same treatment from you ... ?
how embarrassing, she thinks, that she's memorizing every little part of your face so hopelessly, watching you when she hopes you're not looking because she just couldn't look away for a moment longer. she barely knows what she's searching for but she just loves how you light up in a blush when she startles you with a compliment, and she thinks that even if it is embarrassing she'd be able to put up with the mortification if it meant spending every waking moment with you.
♪ SHIKANOIN HEIZOU
it's hard for him to admit when he's wrong. after all, his role has been unquestioned detective for so long, his words always having been thought of as law, that after the initial feeling of adrenaline and superiority came a sense of lulling into boredom and security. there's never been a case he couldn't crack, an argument he couldn't win, no wall in his way as he walked down the path that he had easily carved out for himself, by himself.
but it's with unflinching confidence that you step up and argue, with a smooth charm and steadiness that rivals even his, and you knock the blade from his hand with one strike -- a singular piece of evidence he failed to consider, and force him to recognize his newfound laziness in this world where his verdict is final and taken without question.
he somehow loves it, loves the terrifying sensation of his breath being taken away, rendered speechless for the first time in who knows how long. that someone could finally counter his reckless announcements, his arrogant dependence on the irrational factor he called "intuition", brings him a heretofore unfound joy that he can't help but relish. a challenge, a race that he had previously been running alone, that makes him feel alive like nothing else.
the detective with no shame and no weaknesses, somehow brought to his knees after being graced with your presence, who runs like the wind itself and spends every waking moment on the move, finds himself slowing down for the first time. he can only reason that he must treasure his time in this waking dream so pleasing; knowing that someday it will end -- that it must -- but praying that the moment never comes.
♪ MONA
before she met you, she had locked herself into an endless struggle, a perpetual purgatory of her own making that she regretted with every exhausted breath. she bore it alone on her own back, pained by the knowledge that this terrible, bland existence was of her own making. a pitiful story that kept her unable to ask for help, struck silent at the idea of explaining the result of the vain desire she had followed across the world.
she had seen it in herself, the glimmering of boundless potential like the reflection of a starry night sky in the sea, and reached grasping for her dream. far from her home, constantly barely scraping by, she found herself a stranger, somehow invisible to everyone who passed her by ... the brilliance that she upheld as her greatest belonging, the only treasure that she would always possess, going unrecognized.
but you had seen her somehow, understood the prideful astrologist who fights an uphill battle for respect, become the one person able to push past the waspish bitterness she had somehow rightfully harbored. you had offered your help, a hand up, wanting nothing more than to clear away the thick fog that had seemed to hide her true self from view. it was a gesture that said nothing less than "i care about you", a gesture she had silently hoped to see for so long.
and she took it; flushed with embarrassment, finally allowing herself to understand that she couldn't do it alone, and being set free by it; becoming finally able to showcase the erudite, archaic wisdom she was so proud of. you had presented her thoughtlessly and thoughtfully with what she needed and wanted most. you had helped her, refusing to let her feel indebted, and yet she would give anything in the world to make you happy, the person she loves most in the world and the person she thinks deserves all it has to offer.
♪ XIAO
it's an unfamiliar feeling, the complete lack of animosity and hostility and suspicion, the gaze upon him being a kind one for the first time in what seems like millennia. yours is a face he could never be tired of seeing, someone who clearly, truly cares for him. for so long he had been trapped in his strained, painful routine; an unshakable, constant underlying tension stole into every interaction, made him even seek a slight relief in the comfort of battle knowing he would return there eventually, no matter how long he was away.
now, however, that artificial relief is replaced with the truer feeling of admiration, maybe even a quiet adoration for you that he holds within himself, treasuring as the best version of him there is, understanding silently that he is capable of loving another person and that even after all this time he has not lost his humanity. you truly seem to bring out the best in him, and it means more than he could ever put into words.
he almost feels weightless, safe, like being with you is a shield that hides him from the world that demands his help in every waking moment, a softness that allows him to melt into the moments that he silently longs to spend with you forever. it's a gentle, serene exhaustion that overtakes him in a matter of moments, a silent pensiveness not unlike floating in the ocean and allowing yourself to be carried along by its gentle waves.
and he feels so strangely happy about it, finally somehow some semblance of normal, just another teenage boy with a person he likes. but he thinks this feeling must be more than the simple "puppy love" that everyone seems to go through, because with the way his breath falls away when his eyes fall on you, he can't imagine how anything in the world would ever get done.
♪ COLLEI
how could she ever allow herself to expect someone to love her? it's a question that she asks herself every day in disbelief at the way she settles into the motions of a relationship with you -- someone who offers a comforting eventuality that she thought would be difficult to ever find again. how ridiculous, such a question, that she would imagine there was someone willing to stay with her for so long, and yet you have, and it's almost a miracle to her.
she thanks the archon that she thought had forsaken her a time ago, but clearly that wasn't the case, because you became her blessing in disguise, and as you would tell it, she became yours. it still surprises and flusters and pleases and amazes her every time she hears your praise, your thrillingly sweet compliments, and she's more than a little embarrassed to admit that they make her feel so joyful to hear, but when she tells you this with a rose-red blush you simply smile and offer yet another.
it's shocking to her that you would accept her as she is, with her flaws, the huge deal breakers that she has always imagined them being. it was impossible for her to believe there was anyone in the world who could ignore them. the many that she has are so seemingly obvious to her, and yet it's like you don't even notice them, or if you do, you simply look past them and see the real her that she has only ever wanted people to love.
and you do, you love her, and she knows because you tell her so, tell her as often as you think she needs to hear it and as often as she wants to hear it. this is her happy ending that almost feels too amazing to be real, but it is, and she feels so heart-achingly happy that it fills her up with an almost chokingly powerful love that brings tears to her eyes, you are her one and only, someone she would be thrilled to be with until the end of time.
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