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“Musashi, can I ask you a question?” Mob asks, apropos of nothing. It’s a calm day, cloudy but fair, and everyone’s out and about, including them, walking home from their college classes. Mob’s never been the most talkative– this question must be eating at him.
“Go ahead! What’s up?”
They pause at a crosswalk. “Have… have you…” He clears his throat and looks at him from the corner of his eyes. “Have you ever been on a date?”
Oh. Musashi is not often taken off guard like this, blinking in surprise. Despite himself, an embarrassing blush dusts his cheeks.
“I, uh… once, in my first year of high school. Obviously it ended, seeing as I’m, uh, not dating her anymore!” He laughs a little awkwardly. The crosswalk light signals and they continue. “Coincidentally that was sort of how I figured out I, um, wasn’t into girls. Not as much as I’m into guys, anyway. Heh.” He shakes his head, backtracking. “I mean– I’ve kind of always known, it just got a little confusing when I also, um, realized I was. You know. A guy.”
“Oh.” A thoughtful pause. “Okay.”
The awkward silence that follows is deafening, but there’s some relief knowing Mob already knows he’s trans and he’s totally cool with it.
“What about you?” Musashi asks, desperate to ease the tension.
“Hm?”
“Have you ever been on a date?”
He shrugs, his own face reddening a lot more than his own. He wasn’t expecting the same question in return. “Twice… well. Two different people. I didn’t really know them? I only really accepted because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings, but that… was a bad idea.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah.”
Musashi hums, still desperate to keep the awkward silence at bay. “Why do you ask?”
Mob blinks, avoiding eye contact. “Just curious. What did you do on your date?”
He’s pretty hung up on this dating topic, huh? Musashi decides not to overthink it– it’s just a chill topic between friends. So, he recalls his memory– it feels like forever ago since he’d gone out on that date.
“Mm. Well, I wanted to go to the park, but she wanted to go out for dinner, and I wanted to be nice so I let her choose. So, we had a pretty okay time at a nice restaurant, but it kind of ended on a weird note and she never asked to go out on another date and sort of… avoided me?” He still wonders about that– she never actually technically broke up with him, but a week or so later he’d seen her with another guy. “But, you know. It’s in the past, she’s probably happy doing her own thing now, and I’m happy where I’m at!”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
He waves his sorry away. “Don’t worry about it, it’s for the best.”
A pause, some tension released. “I… went on multiple dates with both of the people I dated,” Mob muses. He’s been in a thoughtful mood lately. He half laughs. “I was a terrible date, though.”
“What!? That can’t be right, I’m sure you were a wonderful date!”
Mob’s cheeks blush further, laughing awkwardly. “No, no, I was really bad. I didn’t offer to pay for the meals or– or anything like that. It didn’t occur to me till later that I should have.”
Well. That is kinda crappy, but he’s not gonna say that to Mob’s face. “There are… worse things to forget about on a date. I’m sure everything else went fine.”
The look on Mob’s face says otherwise. Maybe he should drop the topic.
So, he does, until it’s later and it’s the two of them sitting out on the back porch working on homework while the rest of their roommates hang out inside. A sunset peaks through the thick layer of clouds. He’s not really sure how to smoothly bring up the topic. He doesn’t want to put all the attention on Mob, either… so, he forgoes the more subtle ways of bringing up the topic again, drawing on his own experience.
“You know… when I went on that date, with that girl… I really wanted to tell her I was trans,” Musashi says, his turn to be apropos of nothing. “But– don’t tell anyone this, heh –I got scared.”
Mob’s eyes widen, as if the thought of him being scared just didn’t make sense.
“Really?”
“Really. I felt really shitty about it afterwards, and I wanted to be honest with her and all that, but… she ditched me and I realized her not knowing wouldn’t really matter much. But, I’m not scared about that sort of stuff anymore. I try not to be, anyway.”
Mob gives him a kind smile, leaning back on his hands.
“Were you scared when you told me?”
A chilly breeze blows over them, Musashi scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well… maybe a little. But I knew you’d be understanding at least. Besides, you already knew a lot of the others were trans too before you knew about me.”
“That’s true… I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.” He smiles, fond, and Musashi’s heart flutters for a second. They watch a bird peck around at the birdfeeder hanging by the fence for awhile, content to share their company and forget homework for a little while. He half laughs. “When I went on my first date I was still sort of figuring things out, you know? Honestly, I really just wanted to skip to the hand holding stuff. Besides all the stuff I forgot to do, and the, um… bringing up psychic powers… it wasn’t that bad, but both times I realized I didn’t really… care?” He huffs. “Like… if they hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have been heartbroken.”
Musashi hums. “That makes sense. Both people in a relationship need to want it.”
“Yeah… I was also really bad at breaking up with them, ha.”
“Aw c’mon, give yourself some credit!” Musashi play punches his arm. “You keep putting yourself down, but I’m sure you meant well!”
Mob fixes him with a deadpan stare. “The first time I broke up, I asked Ritsu to tell her for me.”
Musashi winces before he can stop himself. “I… okay. Yeah, that’s pretty bad, but–”
“The second time I panicked and accidentally spilled a drink on him as I was breaking up with him.”
“I…” Musashi tries to hide an amused, sympathetic smirk. “Yeah, you got me. That’s bad. But you know what? Those people were still interested in you to begin with, and you said you went on more than one date with them, right?”
He shrugs. “Yeah…?”
“It’s not the little things you forget or the bad communication skills that matter… it’s the effort you put into it. Obviously you feel bad about that stuff, and I assume you learned from those experiences.”
A noncommittal noise is all he gets in response, but he doesn’t seem too bothered. A hush falls over them. Musashi considers going back to homework. Somewhere a car pulls into a driveway.
“I think…” Mob trails off, leaning forward on his knees.
“You think…?”
He glances at him, and then back to the ground. “I… think you’re a really nice guy, Musashi. You’re always so nice. To everyone you meet. Um. Maybe this is… weird? But, um. I dunno, I just think it would be nice…” Mob takes a breath, and Musashi’s heart pounds in his chest. What is this? Why is Mob blushing? Musashi freezes despite himself, eyes wide as Mob continues. “Do you– do you wanna date? Me. Do you wanna date me?” He half laughs, nerves getting to him. “Um– because– I kinda wanna date you. I do want to date you. A lot.”
Before Musashi can answer, the sound of a second story window slamming shut and loud footsteps inside break whatever tension might’ve been there. Mob’s face turns cherry red– Musashi can’t help hiding nervous snickers behind his hand, overjoyed and completely embarrassed all at the same time. Already he can sense the surging excitement coming from inside– he’d better answer Mob’s question before they all barge out here.
“Yes! Let’s– let’s date!”
It’s not the most eloquent thing he’s ever said, but it’s what he can force out through his nerves before the screen door opens and the whole of the household rushes out and makes a hubbub the neighbors are definitely going to complain about if they don’t quiet down soon. Musashi finds himself surrounded by his close friends and now boyfriend and they’re all congratulating them and Tenga’s saying he won a bet between him and Ryohei, and Musashi wouldn’t have it any other way. And neither would Mob, who’s hugging him now and laughing along with everyone else. Everyone’s making a big fuss over them and for once Musashi has to hide his face behind his hands because this is really embarrassing.
“Finally! The tension between you two was getting unbearable!” Hiroshi says, patting Mob on the back.
“Yeah, your crushes have been obvious since, like, high school.”
“What!?” Jun scoffs. “I think you meant middle school, Hideki.”
“Oh my god, you guys–” Musashi’s cheeks burn.
“Yeah guys,” Tenga smirks. “Leave the lovebirds alone, they probably wanna smooch and stuff now.”
“Tenga!” Both Musashi and Mob yell at him, faces flustered– the gang only laughs more, aww-ing over them and continuing to congratulate and tease them. There are even some teary eyes amongst the group, to Musashi’s utter bewilderment. Eventually, though, they herd back inside, patting them on the back and winking of all things, leaving them standing there like they’d just survived a stampede of wild horses.
Musashi laughs a little hysterically. “Well. I’m. I’m not sure what that says about us, but I’m glad they approve–”
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Mob’s lips are smushed ingloriously against his, catching him off balance with arms thrown around his neck, having levitated himself up to Musashi’s level. It’s over just as quickly as it had begun, Mob’s feet back on the ground, and Musashi thinks he hears someone cheer from inside but he’s a little too stunned to completely register anything besides the fact Mob just kissed him. He blinks in shock, unable to wipe the goofy grin off his face.
Mob actually giggles, beaming behind a hand. Both their faces are a sorry sight, all red and blotchy and grinning like idiots.
“S-sorry, I just. I got excited.”
“Ah– uh–” So much for being eloquent. “Ha– wow. Um. It’s okay! It was– that was nice. And I mean– we’re– uh–”
Mob laughs again, which eases Musashi’s addled brain and he laughs too, and soon enough they’re both in hysterics and hugging and Musashi can’t believe his luck. By the time they go inside again, the gang’s calmed down and everyone’s still so very happy for them, and everything is the best it’s ever been and Musashi never wants to let go of Mob’s hand. He can’t wait for their future together, whatever it might be like or however long it lasts– he knows it’s going to be good. Because they’re going to be together and they’re going to have the support of their friends and family behind them.
He squeezes Mob’s hand– Mob squeezes back.
They’re both excited to see what this can be.