Work Text:
I Like Your Eyes.
That’s all the cryptic note laying on his table says. Red, cursive font and all.
I Like Your Eyes.
To Shouta, that could mean many things. For one, his eyes are the power center of his quirk, so this could be someone complimenting him on his abilities. At the same time, the note could mean that someone just likes his eyes for their beauty, which he highly doubts considering they’re always accompanied by heavy eyebags.
I Like Your Eyes.
Shouta folds the note back up and puts it in his pocket to decipher later. He’d rather not tell anyone about this now, too afraid that he’ll have to confront a secret admirer or creepy stalker. Either one of those would be difficult because, for the former, he’s actually already got a crush, two crushes actually (though he doubts they’ll like him back), and for the latter, well, his caution with that seems pretty self-explanatory.
Whatever it means, he’ll just figure it out later. Its just one note. This can’t snowball that far yet.
****
I Love Hearing Your Voice.
The note had fallen out of Hizashi’s locker and opened up right next to his foot in all its red, cursive font glory.
I Love Hearing Your Voice.
An admirer perhaps? Possible. From his personal opinion, he is quite the charmer, but unfortunately, most of his classmates think his voice edges more on the annoyingly loud side rather than the loving and beautiful side. So that doesn’t really leave him with many options as to who could have written this. A bit ominous…
And even if he did have an admirer he’d have to turn them down, unless, of course, it was Aizawa or Shirakumo (or both, please be both). He’s already got exactly who he needs, even if they might never see him they way he would like.
I Love Hearing Your Voice.
Hizashi will just have to wait and see how this note plays out.
***
Oboro could scream.
“Operation: Confession Time” went just as planned! He left the notes for Yamada and Aizawa at the end of the day and saw them pick it up and take it home with them. Perfect. Oboro has a few more well thought through letters to give them, which will eventually end in a meet up with both of them for his confession.
He already knew the two of them liked each other (honestly, anyone with eyes could tell), and, while he wasn’t quite sure if they liked him, he was going to risk it anyways. He can’t just wait around for something to happen. He’s gotta know for himself.
But damn, he really, really hopes this ends well. He’s not quite sure what he’ll do if it doesn’t.
“Shirakumo!”
“Huh?” Oboro blinks and Kayama is in front of him waving a hand in his face.
“Earth to Shirakumo. We need to work on that case for the internship, or have you forgotten?” Kayama points out. “I can’t stay at your apartment forever. My roommate is going get worried.”
“Right, right, right!” Oboro shakes his head and snaps back into focus. “Um, we were talking about a team strategy for….uh…”
Kayama sighs and shakes her head in disappointment. “For tracking down smuggling ring. Shirakumo, please focus. You can’t just drift off into dreamland thinking about those two, you know?”
“Those two?? Whaa?? Hahaha! I wasn’t daydreaming about Yamada and Aizawa!” Oboro tries to play it off as best he can.
“Sure you weren’t. And I never said anything about Yamada and Aizawa.” Kayama’s accompanying eyeroll and smirk only proves that Oboro is horrible at lying. “Now back to the strategies.”
Oboro nods, even as he does exactly what he’s not supposed to do and daydreams about Aizawa and Yamada liking him back.
***
“Yamada? Are you okay? You seem…off.”
The question almost makes Hizashi jump out of his skin. He hadn’t even heard Aizawa coming. He really needs to keep better aware of his surroundings, especially since…
“Nothing’s the matter, bro! Just feeling a little off is all!” Hizashi lies through his teeth.
Frankly, he was not okay. This is the fourth weird note he’s received in a row. He thought that maybe it could be a secret admirer or something, but the notes have been getting weirder and weirder.
I Love Hearing Your Voice.
I want to take you out.
I’m so lucky I get to see you everyday. And yet, somehow I wish there were more days in the week, so I could see you even more.
The way you scream is like music to my ears.
“Hizashi,” Aizawa’s tone is gentle and soft. “You know you can come to me if there’s something bothering you, right?” Aizawa puts a hand on his shoulder and makes him blush, the comforting weight is almost enough to make him forget about what’s got him so worked up.
“Of course! I will! But I’m good right now. Honest!” Hizashi keeps up the charade. The problem with the notes was that the only people he saw daily (including weekends) were Aizawa and Shirakumo. And Hizashi definitely cannot ask either of them if they’re his secret admirer because…well…what if he’s wrong? That could mess up so many things.
The fact that Aizawa doesn’t seem to be acting any different and Shirakumo is still as lively as he always just proves to Hizashi that its likely neither of them sending these notes. He won’t risk his friendships by asking them. But if its not them, then who the hell could it be?
“I’m being serious, Hizashi. If there’s something wrong, I won’t mind helping you. With anything.” Aizawa tries one more time.
Hizashi smiles and nods. “Same here, Sho!” Even if this is as far as their relationship will go, he thinks he’s already pretty damn lucky. “Now let’s get some grub, yo!”
***
“UGH! When’s Shirakumo supposed to be done with this internship thing?” Yamada complains from his place on the rooftop.
“I guess when he catches that group they’ve been tracking,” Shouta swallows his food and sighs. “It has been weird only seeing him in class though. We’ve barely even talked this week.”
And Shouta seriously needs to talk to Shirakumo. Because these letters are getting increasingly specific and its making him a bit nervous. Yamada hasn’t exactly been in a joking or even happy manner (at least not one Shouta would associate with sending love letters), so its probably not him, but Shouta hasn’t seen much of Shirakumo the last week so there’s a possibility that it might be him.
But then again, why would Shirakumo write cryptic and almost-threatening messages to him?
I Like Your Eyes.
You’re strong enough to take on every villain in the city. I could watch you beat ass all day.
I love how great you are with that capture weapon. You’ve captured quite a few hearts. I hope I can catch your’s.
Your quirk might erase other people’s power, but it can never erase how I feel about you.
They read like thinly veiled threats. But what could this be about? He’s only 16. He’s too young to have made any enemies of this nature. And yet, here they were. How did they feel about him? Vengeful? But for what? And what do they mean when they say “I hope I can catch your’s”? They say he’s captured quite a few hearts, but he doesn’t know what that means. Then they say they want his?
Well, jokes on them. His heart already belongs to two people, even if they don’t know it yet (and likely will never know it to its full extent). But what if it means…
What if it means they’ll go after the people he’s given his heart to?
“Hey, Hizashi?”
“Yea Sho?”
“You promise to tell me if there’s something wrong?”
“Jeez, Shouta. I already told you nothing is the matter. I’m just a little off my rhythm is all,” Yamada shrugs and Shouta guesses he’ll just have to accept that answer.
“’Kay. Thanks,” Shouta tries to play off the nagging sensation. He doesn’t want to worry Yamada with his possibly threatening notes considering his friend is already “off his rhythm” so to speak. Its…probably just Shouta overreacting.
Right?
He’ll message Shirakumo the same thing he just told Yamada. Just to be safe.
***
Oboro phone chimes successively. It’s some texts from Aizawa.
Hey Oboro, just wanted to check up on you. I know you’re really busy with your internship and we haven’t talked much this week so I just wanted to make sure you were safe.
You know, because of the internship.
Or unless there’s anything else bothering you. You can always come tell me. I’ll have your back no matter how dangerous.
Oboro can’t stop himself from squealing. Aizawa is concerned for his safety AND willing to face up against danger with him. That’s so sweet! This could mean Aizawa is catching on to his letters and who its really from. Or it could just be Aizawa being a good friend, but Oboro’s an optimist, so he’s more inclined to hope for the best.
“Loud Cloud, did you get that?”
Wait. Wait focus, he’s in a mission briefing. “Huh?”
Midnight sighs. “Seriously dude. We’re taking down some branches of the gang tonight. Are you sure you’ll be up for it?”
“Yeah, sorry.” Oboro apologizes genuinely and tucks his phone in his pocket. “I just have so much going on this week.”
“Hm. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to send those letters out this week then?” Midnight teases him with a wink.
“Well I had this planned a long time ago and I didn’t think the internship work would be bumped up all of a sudden and—wait a minute,” Oboro looks back to Midnight and tries to lie again. “Wh—what letters? Haha. No letters here! What are you talking about?”
“You really need to get better at lying.”
Oboro chuckles sheepishly. “I guess you’re right about that. I’ve actually got a big thing planned for tomorrow. I was, um…planning to confess. I was actually supposed to be setting up everything tonight, but with the mission, I might have to skip school and fix things tomorrow.”
“You really like them, don’t you?” Kayama smiles at him.
“So much, Kayama! I just really want things to go well.”
“I’m sure things will go great. Right now, put away your phone and lets focus on taking down these villains so you can go back to stealing hearts,” Kayama ribs him in his side and laughs.
Man he really hopes tomorrow goes well.
***
Hizashi hasn’t seen Shirakumo all day and this is a problem.
Last night, Hizashi knows that Shirakumo had something big going on with his internship but he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. And now its 3pm of the next day and they haven’t heard anything from Shirakumo. He wasn’t in class and he hasn’t answered any of their texts or calls. Shirakumo never forgets to callback. He knows how much Hizashi worries sometimes.
And considering the notes he’s been receiving from some anonymous sender regarding their intrigue in him, Hizashi thinks he has the right to worry.
I Love Hearing Your Voice.
The way you scream is like music to my ears.
Don’t worry about those bullies. You’re quirk is great and it’d be a shame if you tried to hide it.
Mind if I steal you’re heart the way you stole mine?
I want to take you out.
No, no, no. Don’t think that way.
Maybe Shirakumo was just resting. Maybe Hizashi has blown this out of proportion. He’s probably just tired from all that work.
Please oh please just be that. Hizashi can’t bare the thought that Shirakumo could be hurt somewhere without his two best friends. They’re a trio. They have to be together.
“Yamada!” Aizawa shouts from the end of the hallway, practically running to get over to him. “Are you okay? Have you heard from Shirakumo?”
“Huh? Aizawa, we’ve only been separated for 15 minutes. Of course I’m okay,” Hizahi pauses and assesses Aizawa. No visible injuries (thank Horikoshi), but he looks stressed. “I haven’t heard from Shirakumo, but uh, are you okay?”
“I…Yamada I haven’t been honest with you,” Aizawa blurts out, too embarrassed to make eye contact. “I think I might’ve put you and Shirakumo in danger. I’m…I’m so sorry.”
“What? What do you mean Aizawa? Is everything okay?” Hizashi gently grabs Aizawa’s shoulder in hopes of comforting him. “Shouta, if you’re in danger you have to let us help.” I don’t what I’d do if you got hurt.
“Its better if I just show you. Here, look,” Shouta pulls out slips of paper from his pockets and opens some of them for Hizashi to see. “I’ve been getting these all week. I thought they were just some creepy stalker, but now I’m worried this could be serious.”
Opening the notes, Hizashi can feel a well of dread pooling in his stomach. The notes were exactly like his. Same font. Same color. Same creepy aura.
I Like Your Eyes.
You’re strong enough to take on every villain in the city. I could watch you beat ass all day.
I love how great you are with that capture weapon. You’ve captured quite a few hearts. I hope I can catch your’s.
Your quirk might erase other people’s power, but it can never erase how I feel about you.
I want to take you out.
Someone seems to be targeting Aizawa for his quirk, but it’s the last one that really has Hizashi gasping.
If you want to know who I am, meet at Triangle Park at 5pm. If all goes well, another person you love will also be there.
No no no no…
Hizashi stammers. “Wait, do you think this is—”
“A ransom note. Yes. What else could it be?” Aizawa starts breathing a little harder and pulling a hand through his hair like he does when he’s stressed. “Hizashi, I’m so sorry. I put the two people I love most in danger—”
“Shouta, stop.” The two people he loves most? Wait no, focus Hizashi. Oboro might be in trouble. “Shouta look, I’ve been getting notes too. See.” Hizashi opens his locker to grab his own creepy notes when another one falls to the ground in front of him.
If you want to know who I am, meet at Triangle Park at 5pm. If all goes well, another person you love will also be there.
Its exactly like Shouta’s, except Hizashi’s has a cloud drawn on in the corner.
“Oh no,” Shouta gasps as Hizashi picks up the note. “They really have Oboro. Hizashi, they have Oboro. We need to call the police now.”
“Wh—why—who could they even be? I don’t remember making anyone angry enough to do something like this.” Hizashi starts muttering.
“Oboro had mentioned that his internship involved some kind of smuggling, and with the notes we’ve gotten, do you think it might be a quirk smuggling ring?” Shouta’s eyes intensify as he reads the rest of Hizashi’s notes. “Hizashi, why didn’t you tell me about this? Has this what’s been bothering all week? You promised you would tell me if something was wrong.”
Hizashi hesitates and twiddles his thumbs, realizing he’s been caught red-handed. He can’t deny he feels a little guilty about that, but, “I—well you didn’t tell me about your’s either.”
“Hizashi, this one says ‘The way you scream is like music to my ears.’ This reads exactly like someone is going to kidnap and hurt you!” Shouta raises his voice and turns darkly serious. “Forget about me, what if someone had taken you too?”
“Forget about you?! Are you kidding me Shouta?! I’d rather they take me and leave you two alone,” Hizashi’s quirk leaks into his voice and he doesn’t miss the way Shouta moves to erase his quirk. He can’t help it. He’s just so— “You guys are the two most important people in my life! I can’t handle losing either of you! I can’t just forget about you, Shouta. You can’t just ask me to forget about you! What am I supposed to do if you got taken away from us? Pretend everything is okay? Because it wouldn’t ever be okay if you’re gone! You don’t even understand! I like you!”
The words spill out of Hizashi mouth before he can think better of it. Realizing his mistake, he quickly shuts up and finds Shouta near tears and with bleeding ears in front of him. Oh shit, shit shit. He’s hurt Shouta. He made Shouta cry.
Hizashi takes a deep breath and tries to calm down, doing his best to hold back the sobs that are inching their way up his throat. “Sho…I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to use my quirk…I didn’t mean to—”
“You like me?”
Hizashi can feel his face go red hot, whether its from the crying or the embarrassment he has no idea. “I’ve liked you, er, loved you for a really long time Shouta. Both you and Oboro.” There’s no turning back now. This is going to ruin his friendships.
“Hizashi…”
“I know! I know! Its stupid! I know you guys don’t feel that way and I’m sorry! I can’t help it! I—” Hizashi doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because Shouta shuts him up with a hug. Its comes as such a surprise that Hizashi yelps when he feels Shouta’s arm grasp him, but eventually hugs back. Its exactly how he imagined it would be.
“You’re an idiot, Hizashi,” Shouta whispers through his sobs. “I love you too. I always have. Both you and Oboro. When I got the note, I thought they’d taken you too. I thought I lost both of you.”
Its Hizashi’s turn it be stunned. He pulls himself out of the hug but clings on to Shouta’s shoulders like if either of them let go the other would disappear. The tears in Shouta’s eyes don’t belong there. Hizashi hates seeing him cry. “Sho…I had no idea.”
“I thought telling you or Oboro would ruin our friendship. I couldn’t risk it. But the thought that I’d never get to tell you guys is so much worse,” Shouta takes a deep breath and steels his feelings. “We can’t loose him, Hizashi. We have to save Oboro.”
Hizashi pushes aside his shock to focus on what really matters: making sure the two people he loves most are safe. “We’re not going to loose him. We’re going to save him.” Even if I gotta sacrifice myself to save you two, goes unsaid.
Time to be a hero.
***
Its been an emotionally draining day for Shouta, and it hasn’t gotten any better.
Him and Hizashi are sitting in the police station under their protection, waiting for a hero or officer to tell them any news about Oboro. No one’s been able to get a hold of him and its long past the time they were supposed to meet at Triangle Park.
“We should be out there helping look for him,” Hizashi grumbles beside him. The frustration is shared. “We’re heroes in training. We should be able to help.”
“They’re targeting us for our quirks, Hizashi. Going out and fighting is exactly what they probably want us to do,” Shouta tries to reason, but honestly he feels the same way.
They had told the police their hunch that the notes where from a quirk smuggling ring, the one Oboro had been working to stop. However, because the officers that Oboro and his internship group were working with were actually across the city, they couldn’t get a hold of those files to confirm or not. Nevertheless, the officers took the threat seriously and told them their safety as minors was to come before their responsibilities as heroes. Since him and Hizashi were the ones being targeted, it was imperative that the two of them didn’t get put into any more danger.
The police had been the one to stage the stake out of Triangle Park, and while Shouta and Hizashi were in the station nearest to the park, they were not allowed to go there unless they were needed. The minutes ticked by with no word from the police or any heroes in the area. Soon, it was already an hour and a half past 5pm with still no signs of Oboro.
“This is taking too long,” Hizashi complains under his breath. “I should have just gone and traded myself—”
“Shut up. You’re not going to sacrifice yourself. I refuse to loose either of you,” Shouta grounds out, mindlessly reaching for Hizashi’s hand. “Its illogical to think of what we should have done. We just need to focus on right now.”
And even if Hizashi’s plan to sacrifice himself would work, it should be Shouta sacrificing himself for the other two. He would not accept anything else.
“Well right now we’re just sitting here with no news about Oboro. What if they found out we went to the police? What if they’ve already taken him half way across the ocean? He could be anywhere right now!” Hizashi doesn’t shout, but he’s getting close to it.
“It’s illogical to think of what if’s. And you aren’t even giving any credit to Oboro. He’s strong and he’s smart. He’ll give us a way to find him,” Shouta tries to reassure Hizashi, but honestly, he’s just trying to reassure himself.
“Aizawa! Yamada!” Someone calls from down the hallway.
“Kayama?” Shouta stands up in surprise and is quickly encompassed by a bear hug from her. After she’s down with him, she grabs Hizashi and gives him a tight embrace as well. “What are you doing here?”
“Well someone had to come and make sure you two were okay,” Kayama explains as she looks them up and down. “Sorry it took me so long to get here. I only heard it from the other students. They said you two were almost kidnapped by a quirk smuggling ring and that you were with the police. Are you guys okay? You don’t look hurt, thank fuck, but where’s Shirakumo?”
“They haven’t found any news about him yet,” Hizashi explains and angrily plops back down in his chair. “They’re making us wait here because we’re apparently not capable enough to help search for him with the rest of the heroes, despite being heroes in training ourselves! Can you believe that?”
“Search? What are you talking about?” Kayama asks honestly.
“Kayama, Oboro is the one who’s been kidnapped. We haven’t heard from him since the raid last night for his internship, then we got ransom notes,” Shouta tells her. “They kidnappers didn’t show up when they said they would, so now they’ve just been trying to reach the heroes Oboro was working with last night to see if we can figure out the last place anyone saw him. But for some reasons the heroes aren’t answering either.”
“Oh that’s because the raid last night ended up being a lot bigger than we expected so there’s a lot of technicalities being processed. It was an animal smuggling ring so you can imagine how difficult it was to get three elephants to move,” Kayama casually says and Shouta and Hizashi whip their heads to look at her. “And, I saw Shirakumo last night.”
“Wait, you and Shirakumo worked together on the raid?!” Hizashi jumps to his feet and is quickly in her face.
“You saw him last night? When? Where?” Shouta starts interrogating.
“Hold up! Hold up!” Kayama puts her hands on their shoulders to keep them in place. “Yes, Shirakumo’s hero and my hero as well as some others teamed-up for the raid. I saw Shirakumo, after the raids. We live in the same building just different floors, so I’m sure he made it home last night. Now, tell me about those ransom notes you received.” Kayama demands skeptically.
“Here I took pictures before they carted it off to evidence,” Hizashi pulls out his phone and lets Kayama look through it. “That last one there has the place and time we were supposed to meet, but no one showed.”
Kayama looks at each picture, analyzing each note carefully and glancing towards Shouta and Hizashi every few seconds. Her face slowly morphs from skeptic to disappointed. Its not until the last note, the one with the cloud drawn in the corner, that she stops to talk to them.
“These aren’t ransom notes, guys…they’re supposed to be love letters. But considering the way he does it, I can see how you two might have gotten confused.”
“Love letters?!” Hizashi shouts.
“How do you know that? And who would it be from?” Shouta almost feels bad about how accusing he sounds but—
Kayama puts a hand over both their mouths. “Shut up and listen. I don’t think he wanted me to tell you this but considering how far you two have taken it…they’re from Shirakumo.”
Shouta’s brain stalls.
They’re from…
They’re from…
“They’re from Oboro?!” Hizashi ends up finishing his thought. “But that means—“
“Yes, Shirakumo is your secret admirer.”
“So then—“
“Yes, he does love you. Both of you. Very much.”
“Would that mean—“
“That the met up was supposed to be a confession moment? Yeah…”
“So then he’s not in danger?” Shouta finally gets over his shock to ask.
Kayama looks at him softly and smiles. “No, he’s not in danger. Last night, I think his phone might’ve taken a hit from an electric attack that fried a lot of our devices. Probably did a number on his phone too. That’s why you couldn’t contact him today. Serves him right for bringing his phone to a raid.” Kayama rolls her fondly. “But if you want, I can call my roommate, see if she’s seen him today.”
“Please.” Shouta pleads.
“Of course. Your love-life drama is really entertaining and I’d like to see you guys get your happily ever after,” Kayama winks before hitting the dial button on her phone.
It doesn’t even reach the second ringtone when the call is answered. “Hey Emi! Just wondering have you seen Shirakumo today?”
Whoever this ‘Emi’ on the other end of the line is, she’s loud as hell. Almost as loud a Hizashi. “Hey hun! Uh…yeah I did. I just ran into him in the elevator actually, but he was kinda…sad. So I tried to cheer him up a bit with my quirk but I think that just made it worst! He’s in his apartment now.”
The moment Shouta hears the phrase ‘in his apartment,’ he’s grabbed Hizashi by the arm and sprints with him towards the exit. No way. So Oboro has been okay this whole time? And he’s just home now? Shouta has to see this for himself.
He ignores the shouts and protests from the officers and Kayama as he charges out of the station and towards Oboro’s building. It’s a bit of a run, but he and Hizashi are heroes in training. They can make it. Anyways, it seems like Hizashi and him are on the same page, seeing as the blonde isn’t slowing down at all.
He’s going to be okay. Oboro is going to be okay and Shouta and Hizashi are going to tell him they love him. Shouta isn’t going to wait for another kidnapping scare to finally let his feelings show.
Its confession time.
***
Oboro throws the flowers onto the side table and plops down on his bed, mentally, emotionally, and physically drained from the day he’s had.
Absolutely nothing went his way today. He woke up late, he half-assed his outfit, he missed class to set things up, he bought ugly flower arrangements, he almost forgot to leave the last notes, and worst of all, his plan fell through anyways because of some apparent function at the park an hour prior to their meet up. He had tried entering the park but was turned away when an officer had redirected him.
Its all very frustrating, but not as frustrating as the thought that Hizashi and Shouta were probably turned away at the park too. He couldn’t even text them to let them know not to go to the park since his phone had been busted from the raids the night prior. Kayama had been right about not bringing out his phone during herowork. If only he had listened.
Oboro stuffs his face into his pillow and lets out a muffled scream. He’s emotionally exhausted from the disappointment and doesn’t mind getting a little teary eyed right now. Who’s here to judge him, anyways? He lives alone. No one else to hear him cry—
Crash.
Or so he thought.
It sounded like it came from his kitchen, which has a window that someone could possibly climb through. The problem: he lives on the 4th floor of his building, so whoever is breaking and entering would have had to climb up here, which opens up all new types of problems. Why would they target his room specifically? Is it someone who has something against him, or just pure coincidence? How in the world did they reach up here? If they climbed, they must be pretty skilled with the strength to back it up. Anxiety spikes at the thought of having to face a serious competitor with how beat he is from the day.
Oboro doesn’t have the time nor patience to make a plan, and with his phone still busted from the raids, he can’t call anyone for backup. That really just leaves one option. He grabs his bowstaff from the corner of his bedroom and readies himself to charge for a fight.
3…2…
His bedroom door creeks open before he can finish his count.
“OBORO ARE YOU—“
Wack!
“OW!”
“Hizashi?!”
“Oboro, stop! Its us!”
“Shouta?!” Oboro blinks once, twice, and then realizes Hizashi is on the floor with a hand to his head and Shouta is starring at him with erasure on. “What are you guys doing here?!”
“We’re here to check on you!”
Huh? On him? Once Shouta is sure Oboro is more relaxed, he lets go of erasure and the two of them bend down to check Hizashi’s head.
“Hizashi! I’m so sorry! I thought you guys were intruders or something. Here,” Oboro pops a cloud up in front of him and pushes it towards the bump forming on Hizashi’s head. “Put this on bump for now while I get you some ice from my fridge. It should at least reduce the swelling a little. And its fluffy and soft and you can cry into it if you like. Oh jeez, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to. You guys had me scared and I just reacted and I am so sorry.”
When Oboro finally finishes rambling, he looks at his two crushes—really looks at them— only to find tears in their awe struck eyes. “Uh…guys? Why are you looking at me like that? And…why are you both crying?”
There’s silence for a beat, then Shouta shakes his head and Hizashi lets out a weepy laugh and asks, “Oboro, dude, are you for real?”
“What? Why? Did something happen while I was gone?”
Hizashi laugh-sobs in disbelief. “Yeah, something happened” he gets through his sniffle to say. “You were gone.”
Huh? “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The thing that happened was that you were gone, and we couldn’t find you,” Shouta finally fills in. “You didn’t answer any of our calls or messages, you didn’t come into class after you had that really dangerous mission last night…what did you think we would think?” Both Shouta and Hizashi give him a glare, but the tears in their eyes dull the intensity.
“Ah jeez,” Oboro scratches the back of his neck and ducks his head in embarrassment. “I’m really sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to make you worry. My phone got busted last night from patrol and I couldn’t get it working. And I was uh…busy today. So I skipped class. I swear, I was going to call you guys back eventually though. I just—“
Oboro is interrupted by a sudden bear hug from Hizashi. He hadn’t been expecting that but its…nice. And warm. It feels like coming home. Slowly but surely Oboro hugs back tight and can feel the shaky breaths and sobs coming from the blonde. Actually, he feels really hot right now too, like he’s just come from the gym. “Did…did you guys climb the side of my building to get in?”
“The frontdesk doesn’t let people in after a certain hour without notice and you weren’t answering,” Shouta once again supplies as he inches closer to the hug and rubs circles on Hizashi’s back. “We had to take measures into our own hands.”
“Take measures into your own hands, huh? You guys must have really missed me,” Oboro tries to lighten the mood as he’s squished by Hizashi’s hug. It makes him all giddy inside knowing that they care so much.
“Missed you?! You don’t even know the half of it!” Hizashi all but shouts into Oboro’s ear. Hizashi pulls away from the hug just to look Oboro straight in the eyes. “We thought someone had kidnapped you!”
“Wait what?! How did you get that idea?”
“These,” Shouta pulls out his phone and shows Oboro a picture of the last two notes he sent. “And the rest of them as well. You’re not very good at writing letters.”
“Yeah man! They read like someone was targeting us!” Hizashi slumps back but keeps Oboro and Shouta shoulder to shoulder with him. “I was really scared for a second there.”
“Wait…you guys know they’re from me?” Oboro asks hesitantly. When he gets two nods in reply, something in him wilts just little. This was not how today was supposed to go at all. “Guys…I’m sorry. They were supposed to make you happy, not scare you. I’m sorry if it upset you.” Oboro can’t keep the guilt down. He really missed the mark on that one. With how badly Shouta and Hizashi reacted to his little stunt, he’s a bit surprised they aren’t angrier with him.
“Hey,” Shouta’s voice coaxes him out of his own head. “We’re not upset. Or at least, we’re not upset for the reasons you think we are. I…Oboro, look at us.”
Oboro looks up and sees the smiles and the tears and the beautiful messes he fell in love with. He wonders how he ever got so lucky to have them in his life.
“Oboro,” Shouta starts again. “We aren’t upset about the letters or how creepy they were written. We were upset because we thought someone took you away and that we’d never get to see you again.”
...oh.
Its Oboro’s turn to be a mess now. The words barely make it over the lump forming in his throat. “You…you scaled the side of my building because you were worried someone had taken me…” Its more of a statement then a question.
Hizashi lets out another wet laugh. “That’s not the only thing we did. We also called the police and had them stake out the entire park we were supposed to meet at! We were ready to rip through the entire city if it meant we’d have a chance at getting you back!”
“Wait! The park? So that’s why they closed everything off,” Oboro’s mind reels. “I was heading over there but some park rangers said the police were doing investigations and that we weren’t allowed in. So you mean to say the entire time they were looking for—”
“You? Yes.” Shouta quickly finishes his sentence. “I thought we’d made a mistake at first. No one came to the park, and we couldn’t find you anywhere. I really thought maybe the kidnappers had found out we went to the police and took you away for good.”
“Aww…guys, come here.” Oboro doesn’t wait for their permission. He’s got them both in a group hug and he’s never letting go. “I’m perfectly fine. I promise. No need to worry about me, but thank you. You guys are really the best. I love you.”
“And we love you too.” Shouta replies.
That one line makes Oboro freeze. Its not so much about what’s being said, but how its being said that makes a difference. Oboro is always very open with his feelings and casually says ‘I love you’ a lot, and at most he’ll get a ‘right back at you’ from Hizashi and a small nod from Shouta.
And maybe Oboro had hoped for them to at least casually say ‘I love you’ back, but never like this. He had never imagined Shouta sounding so calm and gentle and genuine about his feelings. But no…it couldn’t be…Shouta just said that…that he loved…
“Hey, earth to Loud Cloud, did you hear him? He said we love you. Both of us. And its true, alright? We both like-like you, so much that we love you.” Hizashi nuzzles more into the hug and Oboro’s heart skips a beat.
Oboro doesn’t dare try to pull out of the hug. Right now, its easier for him to talk if he doesn’t see their reactions. “Shouta…Hizashi…you both….”
“Kayama told us what was supposed to happen in the park and what all those letters were about and how you’ve had this planned for a while,” Hizashi explains. “I’m sorry it didn’t go according to plan, but…the message got across.”
“I’ve been so scared to ruin the friendship we all had. I thought that telling you how I really felt would be the thing that would cost me our friendship,” Shouta sniffles a bit and hugs the other two tighter. “But when I thought one of you were hurt or that I may never see you again, I thought I’d blown everything. So…I won’t waste this second chance being scared. I love you two idiots and I want…I want to be more than friends.”
“I want that too,” Hizashi pipes up from inside the hug. “I want to be more than friends with both of you.”
“Oboro?” Shouta hesitantly asks.
“I…” Oboro can’t—he’s too overwhelmed. His heart is beating a mile a minute. His head is spinning. He needs to ground himself somehow. He needs—
Oboro pulls himself out of the hug and looks at the other two with their anxious expressions and red, puffy eyes that probably mirror his own. A smile steadily forms on his face. “You guys are all I’ve ever wanted.”
The minute the words leave his mouth Hizashi and Shouta pounce on him in giggles and laughter, leaving all three of them in a dog-pile on the ground. This is a dream come true. Hell, this is better than he ever could have hoped for. Everything turned out okay, even if it took them a couple extra steps and a whole kidnapping scare. What matters most right now are the two people he’s got trapped in a hug. Oboro thinks this is perhaps the best way this day could have ended.
If only it ended there.
The door suddenly comes flying open and standing in the frame is what Oboro can only describe as rage given human form.
“Kayama?!”
“You! You! And you!” Kayama points to all three of them. “You all left me to deal with your mess! You know how much processing I had to go through once the dynamic duo over here left the police station without so much as an explanation?!”
“Babe, maybe we should just let them have their moment?” A green haired girl tries to pull back Kayama, but the woman isn’t going to move. “Oh! Haha! Hi Kayama’s friends! I would uh….suggest you start running?”
“Babe?” Shouta asks and turns to Kayama. “I didn’t know you were dating.”
“We’re roommates.”
Hizashi, without a beat, as if on instinct, immediately replies with, “And they were roommates.”
“Alright, Yamada you die first.”
“He’s not wrong though babe. We are roommates…and bedmates.” Emi states with a devil’s grin.
“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight,” Kayama says. “And you three. You’re going to regret leaving me with your mess.”
“B-but…Kayama, look! We…uh….we all confessed! And now we’re more than friends! A-and its all because you helped us!” Oboro offers in a nervous condolence but that does nothing to quell the look of bloody murder in her eyes.
“Five.”
“What?”
“Four.”
“Kayama, why are you counting?”
“Three.”
“Oh shit. It’s a countdown.”
“Two.”
“Shit! Guys, run!”
Kayama doesn’t even make it to one before she’s sprinting into the room and aggressively wrestling all of them into submission. Emi takes a video from the sidelines and saves it for the trio’s one-year anniversary. And they all lived happily ever after.
“Kayama wait! I’m sorry!”
“Too late!”
Well, they mostly lived happily ever after.