[fic post] stutter, mibutaka, 2.9k words
title: Stutter
pairing: Mibuchi Reo/Takao Kazunari
wordcount: ~2.9k
summary: Takao finds an unexpected item on his balcony, and finds his world turned upside-down when he meets its owner.
also posted on AO3
Alq has done it once again, dragging me into a rarepair... So I thought I'd try to jump back into fic writing, to celebrate the Rakuzan-Shuutoku game, that should be happening any time now in the anime!
This is the first fic I've written in over a year and a half, so I'm kind of nervous about it, but I'm more excited to drag other people into the beauty that is MibuTaka
So, without further ado, here's the fic.
Enjoy!
____________________________
Kazunari Takao had often heard tales of blessings coming down from the sky. However, the particular blessing that had just landed on his balcony wasn’t exactly the stuff fairy tales were made of. Not those for children, anyway.
His life wasn’t extraordinary by any means. He worked a part-time job as a cashier in order to pay for nursing school and for his tiny-but-practical apartment, went to bars with his friends on the weekends, played some basketball with his highschool teammates, and occasionally wondered what it would be like to live something out of the neatly ordered routine he was used to.
But never something like that.
The… garment that had just landed at his feet on the tiny stone balcony was something straight out of those fancy magazines his mother liked to read. It was red and incredibly frilly, looked expensive, and Kazunari had a feeling he would probably burst into flames if he were to touch it. Jesus, had it really been that long seen he’d seen any action? He had a silent confrontation with the the thing for a good moment, until he heard a knock on his door that made him jump out of his skin. Pondering whether or not he should answer the door while holding the garment in his hand, he opted to leave it where it was, lest he look like a pervert who went around picking up women’s underwear. Hurrying towards the door, he started fantasizing about what the owner of that fancy piece of underwear could look like. Surely, a beautiful woman with expensive taste, someone he could never dream of winning over in a lifetime. She probably worked a high-end job in some fancy part of the city, made every man turn his head when she walked past. Definitely someone completely out of his reach. He had no idea why someone like that would even be living in the dingy apartment complex, but his train of thought was cut short when he opened the door.
Standing before him, leaning on the doorframe in a way that somehow look graceful and obscene all at once, was, objectively, the most beautiful person Kazunari had ever laid eyes upon. Raven-black hair, sharp green eyes framed by impossibly long eyelashes, full lips stretched in a half-smile that made Kazunari weak in the knees, and an aquiline nose not unlike those of the greek statues hailed as some of the wonders of world. To add to that, the apparition was tall, taller than Kazunari by quite a margin, and towered over him like an all-powerful nature god, which Kazunari had somehow convinced himself they were.
Swallowing hard, he managed a squeaky “hello” before the person spoke, their voice soft and engaging.
“Oh hi. I’m sorry to bother you, but it seems one of my belongings fell off my balcony onto yours. I just came to get it back.”
At that moment, Kazunari felt like his brain and body had been frozen into place and then set on fire in rapid succession. Too much information, too much imagination, and the end result was a rapid series of “I.. um… I…. wait…. just…. wait…”, and then mentally kicking himself for being completely useless in the face of ethereal beauty.
“Do you need a minute to go get it?” the voice snapped him out of his panic. “Or are you trying to devise an excuse to cover up the fact that you wanted to keep it for yourself?”, it added with a little laugh.
Kazunari thought he was going to implode.
“Wait. No. No no no no. I swear. That’s not what I had in mind.” Fuck. “I just. I. I just didn’t.” Oh goddamnit. “I didn’t expect…”
“You didn’t expect something like that to belong to someone like me?”
Oh no. This was the last thing Kazunari wanted. The person probably thought he was some kind of judgemental asshole, or a pervert, and frankly he wasn’t sure which one was worse. He didn’t want the picture of perfection to be mad at him, to instantly write him off. And as if they could read his mind, said picture of perfection broke the awkward silence that had settled between them.
“Hey. Relax. This isn’t exactly an extravagant neighbourhood, so someone has to spice things up, right?” they said, smirking, and Kazunari felt his face catch on fire. He needed to end this situation right now before dissolving into a puddle of embarrassment.
“I’m. Right. I’m gonna go get your… thing.”, he replied, hurriedly going to the balcony and picking up the garment between two shaking fingers. His mind was a constant stream of panic and “I should have said that instead”, and he wanted this whole thing to be over as quickly as possible, so he could dig a hole and live in it for the rest of his existence. He wasn’t the type of person to get worked up like that over such trivial things, and had it been anyone else he would have probably laughed about it, but something about the person still standing in his doorway made him completely lose his balance. Returning to them, he handed over the weapon of the crime, and was about to wave goodbye, shut the door and fall flat on his face on the carpet, when the soft voice spoke again.
“Thanks. I guess I’ll be leaving now, I’ll be more careful with these things in the future.”
“Yeah. Right. Okay.”
“I guess that means I won’t be seeing you again… If you do manage to get over this incident though…” Oh god, were they making fun of him? “Feel free to knock on my door. You know where I live now.” they added, along with the smile that Kazunari was pretty sure could blind the average human. “And by the way. The name’s Reo. Don’t forget it.”
And then they were gone.
*
During the entire week that followed the… incident, Kazunari tried to make sense of what exactly had happened. One thing he couldn’t understand was how he managed to be so pathetic, and completely lose his composure, while he usually prided himself on being a pretty detached person. He knew attractive people. He had attractive friends. He couldn’t remember feeling so shaken when he’d met Ryota or Satsuki, who were arguably two of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen. But there was just something about Reo, the way they spoke, held themselves, that slight smile that made him stumble over his own feet, that had left him completely unable to stop thinking about them ever since they invited him over.
He’d tried bringing up the issue with his oldest friend, Shintaro, who had asked for Reo’s date of birth and proved completely useless when he wasn’t provided with it. Kazunari was pretty sure horoscopes weren’t going to help him in any way, so so he took the matter to Ryota, whose reply Kazunari had been replaying in his head over and over for days.
“You should go! It’s not everyday you get an invitation like that”
Right. He should go. What’s the worst that could possibly happen. They were both human adults after all, and Kazunari had sworn to himself the moment Reo had walked out that he wouldn’t be cornered like that again. The problem was keeping that up. Truth be told, he had no idea how he would behave if he ever were to see Reo again, or how he would react to what they would do or say. Some part of himself desperately wanted to change the horrible impression he must have left after that first meeting, and another kept telling him that he would never be worthy of standing in the same room as Reo ever again after the debacle on his doorstep. Lastly, a voice that sounded nothing like his own and suspiciously like Ryota’s told him that he had nothing left to lose, and should just honor Reo’s offer. After all, Kazunari realized that he couldn’t really do much worse than what had happened the first time.
*
It was with all these conflicting emotions still battling inside him that he found himself on Reo’s doorstep on a Tuesday evening, with a bottle of sake in one hand and his pride in the other. He had tried his best to dress for the occasion, but ended up feeling like he was overdoing it just as he reached the door. It was too late to turn back now, though, and before he knew it, his finger was pressing the doorbell button.
When he heard footsteps coming from inside, his heart made the quick journey to his throat and he felt his face grow hotter which each second. When the door finally opened, Kazunari could have sworn his entire body tensed.
Reo was just standing there, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but they still looked like some kind of nymph from a distant world.
“Oh my, if it isn’t Mr Steal-your-underwear.” Reo said, with a light chuckle. “And I see you brought a little something to appease the situation!”
Kazunari froze in place, but felt his face grow red and sweaty.
“I. Um. Yeah? It’s me. Hi. I’m sorry, am I interrupting? It’s just that, you said to come over sometimes and I thought-”
“Darling, it’s seven A.M. on a Tuesday. You’re not interrupting anything, trust me. And I’m happy you remembered.”
“Ah. Yeah I guess…. I assumed you must have a more interesting life than I do. That maybe you’d be busy.”
“Well, as you can see, I am in fact tragically alone tonight, so don’t just stand there.” Reo smiled at him, and an angel probably got its wings somewhere up above.
Kazunari had never felt so out of place in his life, and things only got worse when he entered the apartment.
Everything was neatly ordered and arranged, with art lining the walls and candles bathing the room in an otherworldly glow he felt was appropriate for the place where such a being as Reo lived. The entire room was more elegant than his whole existence would ever be, and a quick look around told him Reo was definitely someone who had their life together.
Unlike him.
He was snapped out of his reverie when Reo’s hand landed on his shoulder, almost feather-like, but still firm enough to make him straighten up immediately.
“Let’s go in, shall we?”
Oh god. This was it. There was no turning back, no pushing the bottle of alcohol in Reo’s hand and apologizing for disturbing their peace, then storming down the stairs, into his apartment, and into a shame spiral. Kazunari couldn’t remember the last time someone had made him this nervous. Back in high school, on the basketball team, he’d played against guys that were nearly half a foot taller than he was, without flinching. He was almost crushed a few times, but always made it out with a smile and a joke that usually made his teammates shake their heads in disbelief (and his friend Shun laugh hysterically when Kazunari would recount it afterward). But Reo just made him feel like he was completely and utterly inadequate, and he didn’t really feel like joking anymore.
He sat down as close to the edge of the couch as was humanly possible, placed the bottle on the table with a little more care than was necessary, and kept his hands to himself while Reo was away in the kitchen. He really needed to get himself back together. He was Kazunari Takao, who cracked jokes at every opportunity and was constantly berated by his friends for being a little too cheeky. Where was that guy anyway? Ever since he’d met Reo, he’d watched himself become a stuttering mess, and wondered if he’d ever get anything right again.
When Reo came back and sat in the armchair directly opposite to him, their legs crossed in front and their head slightly tilted, as if they were examining him, Kazunari decided he’d had enough, and needed to set the situation straight.
“Look. Um. I don’t know if this is as strange for you as it is for me, but really, it’s very strange for me, and I. Well. I don’t know if there was some sort of malicious god that made your… your underwear land on my balcony, but I feel like it’s made my life very complicated for some reason, and I just wanted you to know that I don’t think anything about… your fashion choices. Maybe you thought I was judging you, and you invited me here hoping that I’d feel cornered and apologize, and trust me I really feel cornered, and I want to apologize if I made you think I was thinking bad things about you, because I wasn’t, and I think you’re really pretty and you seem like a cool person but I’ve been thinking about what happened nonstop for like a week now and I need to know that you don’t hate me or think I’m a pervert or something like that, because it’s been eating me alive and I don’t want someone as pretty as you to hate me, and…”
Reo’s laughter echoed across the whole room, and Kazunari realized he hadn’t been breathing and suddenly felt like he was about to pass out. Why did he say all this? If Reo didn’t think he was weird before, they certainly did now. And they were laughing. And clutching their sides, and wiping the corners of their eyes. And Kazunari was livid.
When the laughing subdued, Reo took a deep breath and spoke.
“Well, that was certainly an interesting tirade if I’ve ever heard one. And entertaining, too.” They exhaled and sat up straight in the armchair. “And I hadn’t laughed like this in a very, very long time. Thank you.”
Kazunari felt like he stepped right into the twilight zone.
“Wait so… You weren’t mad at me? This was just....”
“Just an honest-to-god, friendly invitation.” Reo leaned back, their eyes stopping on the ceiling for a moment “I moved to this city not too long ago, and as sad as that sounds, I haven’t really made any friends outside of my co-workers. Who are nice people, don’t get me wrong, but… It gets a little lonely sometimes.”.
“Oh.”
“So when the wind blew my underwear away to your balcony, I thought it would be as good an opportunity as any to try and reach out to someone. It just happened to be you, and let me say, you have a very peculiar way of interpreting situations” Reo said, and smiled that smile that made Kazunari want to climb Mount Everest, and feel like he could do it, too. “I like peculiar people.”
Kazunari felt his entire body unwind, and he let out a breath he had been holding for a little too long. So he hadn’t messed up as badly as he thought. So Reo was just lonely, a little like him. But the thought of someone like Reo being alone, even worse, lonely, didn’t sit right with him. There are just some people that are made to be showered with love and affection, and Kazunari knew for a fact, although he’d only known them for a week, that Reo was one of those people.
“I’m sorry I freaked out on you. I guess I’m not as cool as I thought I was.” he said, finally relaxing for what felt like the first time in months.
“It’s okay.” Beat. “And at least you didn’t actually steal my underwear.” Reo added, before they started to laugh again.
Kazunari watched them in disbelief for a second before joining in, and soon enough they were both trapped in a giggling fit, throwing their heads back and enjoying the breathing space that had just opened up between them. When they managed to regain their composure, Kazunari felt like it was time to finish turning the situation on its head.
“So that was… an interesting way to start.”
“Sure was.”
“Say… I was wondering. As interesting as it was, I feel like… I feel like I should’ve done better.” Kazunari clenched his hands together in his lap. No turning back now. At least Ryota would be proud of him. “And just now, you tell me you don’t really know anyone… I don’t think someone as cool as you should be lonely. It’s not right. I don’t want to sound patronizing but. I really want to make it up to you for this whole situation.” Just spit it out. Just do it. “So, I was thinking, if you have the time this weekend… I could take you out? There’s this amusement park that just opened, and…”
“Okay.”
“What?”
“I’d be… Actually, I'd be more than happy to go there with you. I really need to get out more, and doing so with a cute boy will be even better.” Reo let out a small laugh “Hey. Hey, you’re turning red again.”
“Wh-what? Am I?” He knew he was. Reo seemed to have that effect on him, and that was something he was just going to have to accept. He swallowed his pride and continued.
“So, that’s a yes?”
“Absolutely.”
The rest of the night went by too fast after that, and Kazunari cursed himself for ever wishing it would end.
