genre: slice of life, (neither fluff nor angst?? just somewhere in between esp if ur queer)
word count: 640
a shinji kido yume here~ i dont rlly insert my sona or myself in my stories tho so do what you will with this information
settings:
- reader is male or male-aligned
- the story has no relations to the plot/timeline of ryuki besides the fact that shinji works at atori the cafe
- shinji is male
consider the above and read at your own discretion
————————————————————
“Say, (Y/N)-chan, do you… have a girlfriend, or a girl you like?”
You were sitting at the bar table at Atori, watching Shinji deliver tea cups around the teahouse. Shinji helps out here sometimes during his day offs from ORE Journal, and you find this whole view really cute. Him having an apron on, him greeting customers with his signature grin, him taking and delivering orders with focus… Shinji was returning the tray to the bar table when he suddenly asked that.
“Hmm… Kind of? I do have someone I like.”
“Oh.”
Hearing your response, Shinji took the tray with him and turned away. You could faintly see the corners of his lips turning downwards as he looked down at his pacing feet. You knew you weren’t being completely honest with that answer, as the person you like was standing right in front of you, clearly having some thoughts over the answer. And this person was so obviously not a girl.
Honestly, you had been dying to tell him what you felt about him. Seeing this reaction, your instinct told you that maybe he liked you back. But what if he didn’t? What if he came to think you were a freak for liking men? Either way, you had to find out what was on his mind somehow.
“Shinji-kun, what about you? Do you have someone you like?”
“I do, I think… Ehh, but I'm not really sure of my feelings, I don't understand it.”
“Oh.”
You looked down at your empty tea cup. You swore you could see the tea leaves at the bottom forming a frowning face. It couldn't be a boy, right? You, especially, had no chance. With all the painful and hurtful rejections you had faced as a queer man, you had learned not to get your hopes up. He definitely didn’t like you back, he had his eyes on a girl, a girl you’ll never be. Meanwhile, Shinji scratched the back of his neck a little, thinking of what to say.
“That person is so kind to me, makes me really happy all the time… I thought maybe it would be nice to be in a relationship with that person.”
Ms. Sanako had crafted a new batch of tea for other customers, so Shinji headed to deliver it, leaving you here with some time to think of an adequate response. You thought about being honest in your jealousy, and maybe, just maybe, he would correct you if you assumed who he liked to be a girl. He came back soon to return the tray.
“I'm glad the girl you like treats you well, Shinji-kun. But I'll be honest, I'll be a little lonely if you get together with her.”
“Umm… How do I say this…? I hope you won’t think I’m weird, but the person I like isn’t a girl.”
Dear God… You couldn’t help but get your hopes up. You felt your heart rate rise at the possibility of you two being a thing.
“Ohhhh, is that so?”
You had to swallow back your cheer, settling for a simple acknowledgment. Should you go for it? Considering the 1% chance of him liking you back, he deserved to get the same feeling of relief he just gave to you.
“Well, thank you for trusting me with that. The person I like is actually a boy as well, if that makes you feel better.”
You could see Shinji's eyes light up as you said that. But that hint of excitement quickly diminished as he took the tray with him again and paced around looking down. His feet led him to a wall, then he sat down against it, hugging both the tray and his knees close to him.
“I’ll be really lonely if you got together with the boy you like, (Y/N)-chan.”
a shinji kido yume here~ i dont rlly insert my sona or myself in my stories tho so do what you will with this information
settings:
- reader is gender-neutral
- reader likes animals lol
- i used they/them to refer to the reader once in a “don’t know this person so I’ll use a neutral pronoun” way, haven’t used any other pronouns for the reader
consider the above and read at your own discretion
————————————————————
“(Y/N)-chan, say cheese!”
For your birthday, Shinji took you to an aquarium. He knew how much you liked all kinds of animals, and so he bought the both of you tickets way ahead of your birthday. Maybe two whole months ahead.
He got his hands on a polaroid camera just for this occasion and was just taking a picture of you.
You don't really know why he hurried so much to “book” you in advance, as you don't have close friends that would ask to hang out, especially not on your birthday. When you asked him about it, he simply said he wanted to be the person you celebrate this special day with. Well, isn't that almost a confession.
You held your hand out and flashed the biggest smile at the camera, with some stingrays swimming around just behind you.
With a ‘ka-chuck’ sound, the picture started to take shape. You rushed towards Shinji, accidentally tripping over your own feet.
“Whaaaaa-”
“Whaa-!”
You two yelped at the same time, attracting stares from the weirded out crowd. Thankfully, Shinji caught you with his arm in time. He gave you a headpat as you settled at the bench by the side, and showed you the now ready polaroid. He sat beside you, your shoulders touching.
“(Y/N)-chan looks so cute as always.”
You couldn't help but blush at his compliment.
“Maybe that's because Shinji-kun is such a good photographer.”
“There you are, not giving yourself credit again.”
“But you did get your practice in at your job I think.”
“Really? …Say, can I keep this picture in my wallet? Of course, I'll take another one for (Y/N)-chan.”
Shinji scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he said that, nervous as he waited for your response. With the intimacy of his request and the physical proximity you were in, you could feel the butterflies fluttering in your stomach.
“Mhm, you can keep it.”
Shinji smiled brightly at your response. He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, and slipped the polaroid behind the transparent layer of the wallet. You looked curiously at the piece of paper notes originally showing through the photo holder. You could barely make out “(Your birthday) - Aquarium with (Y/N)-chan♡”.
After he was done, you brought the wallet a little closer to you and pretended to examine it carefully. At that point you were pretty certain he liked you back, and you had to push it a little since you barely ever did.
“Who could be this lucky person called (Y/N)-chan?”
You pointed at the picture of yourself while giggling playfully.
“Well… (Y/N)-chan must really like you to let you keep a picture of them.”
“E- eh?!”
Shinji looked up at you, completely flustered while you still had your eyes fixed on the picture. You placed your hand gently on top of his free hand, which was resting on his thigh.
“Shinji-kun…”
“I- I thought (Y/N)-chan wouldn't like someone like me back…”
“Say, can I keep a picture of Shinji-kun too?”
“EHHH——?!”
You were finally gathering the courage to give Shinji the taste of his own medicine, but it was so much fun doing so.
