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Yeah, Claude didn’t expect this.
Shu and Claude were assigned a small task, miniscule. Something that required two people. All they needed to do was travel to a repurposed facility for World Omega and collect information on where they might come to next. No fighting, just reconnaissance.
So, just why did Luca decide to join their mission?
“Are you two heading out, Shu?” A blue-haired agent called out from across the station.
The cloaked man, Shu, gave a short thumbs up, grabbing onto his trusted vandal, “Yup! Nothing else you guys need at the moment, right, Elira?”
She returned the thumbs up with a knowing grin, “We shouldn’t, but don’t be out for too long with Claude~ We’ll probably be hosting a celebratory dinner for the new squad tonight!” She winked with emphasis. Shu hid his flush behind his shadowing cloth. Claude walked out from his chambers and Elira smiled harder.
”Oh, speak of the devil!” The engineer smirked, tossing one of her gadgets at Claude. He catches it with ease, “And what were you saying about me?” The sentinel interrogates lightheartedly.
“Nothing! Just wondering where you were. Use that grenade if you’re ever in a pickle. I’m sure you two will be fine though,” she replies hastily, although that dragon smile only grows greater by the second. Claude knows exactly what she’s thinking as her heterochromic eyes flicker between the two men.
“Uhuh… Okay, are you ready to go, Shubert?”
“Eh, just a second. I gotta get some water. Didn’t realize my bottle’s empty!” The controller wanders over to the kitchenette for their quarters and finds their Australian agents fooling around.
“Oh, Shu-senpai! Say, you wanna join for a round of uno? We’re kinda bored,” the bright yellow-haired duelist says, watching Shu hurriedly refill his drink, “Wait, do you have somewhere to be?”
Shu gives his kouhai an apologetic smile, “Sorry, Sonny. I have a quick assignment with Claude. Maybe later?”
The younger nods before going back to the game. His blonde friend stares in his place, “Wait, you have a duo task? With Claude?” The boy exclaims, suddenly dropping his cards.
“Luca!” The other Aussies shout at once.
“Uh, yeah, I do! It’s a reconnaissance mission, so nothing serious,” Shu responds back, curious as to why Luca would throw the game with only 2 cards left.
Luca realizes his abnormal behavior and quickly picks up the cards, throwing them in the main deck before resuming his conversation, “But.. but it’s against the rules to do missions with less than five members!”
Maria jumps in, her heart-shaped ahoge bouncing with her, “Actually, that’s only for the main missions. Small stuff can be handled with less, especially if it’s Shu-senpai and Claude.”
Luca groans a little. You’re not helping! He tries again, “But Claude’s new! You’re telling me they’re gonna allow someone that just started to do spy stuff? It’s- dangerous!”
“I think Claude’s already proven useful, don’t you think? His aim is undeniable and he’s smart, tactical.”
And Luca knows that, he does, but the duelist can’t help but feel a little green. An awful plan comes to mind, “Yeah, but it wouldn’t hurt if you had a third, right? I’ll join!”
“Luca??? We still have a game to finish you idiot-“ Sonny is cut off by Ren, having overheard the conversation and has now taken it upon himself to be the blonde’s wingman.
“I think that’s a great idea! Usually me, Kyo, and Aster do groups of three for our missions too! It’ll be nice to have someone like Luca with good map sense to navigate,” He sends a discreet wink to the rest of them, minus Shu. The cloaked sorcerer sees it, but disregards it since Ren is a certified f-boy, and f-boys wink a lot, right?
“Well, sure, I guess. I don’t think management will mind if I take you with us!” Shu agrees with a shrug, convinced that it’ll be more fun with more friends. It wasn’t a big deal, after all.
Claude walks in right after, wondering where his task partner was, “Shu? Oh, hey guys! Shu, we gotta go. We can’t miss our timing or the gates will close and we won’t get in.”
The controller raises his refilled bottle, “Alright, I’m ready! By the way, Luca’s coming with us.”
”What.”
Now, Claude is stuck with this guy whilst Shu is teleporting around the facility.
“Dude, why are you even here if you’re just sitting around?” Claude whispered, exasperated.
Luca scrunched his face, “Look, man, I’m the one that navigated you here. What’re you doing? I see you blank every 3 seconds.”
This guy can not be serious, ”It’s my security camera! I’m surveying the area for enemies. Did you not read any of TTT’s profiles?”
The duelist was starting to get pissed off by the new recruit. The blonde began spinning his new dagger to release the tension in his fingers, feeling a little embarrassed, “Maybe I didn’t.”
”A—“ the communicator cut off signal suddenly, Shu’s voice higher than usual at the end. He was in trouble.
“Sh*t,” both agents said in unison. Luca released all of his knives, standing up and prepping to fight. Claude checked his camera to see if Shu was in sight.
He wasn’t.
”Well, Luca. You get to be useful now,” the sentinel said with the roll of his eyes, claws coming to his hat as he uses his ultimate.
“Now, where is everyone hiding?”
…Damn, he’s pretty strong. Luca felt slightly intimidated by the sentinel, but he kept his guard up. This was no time to be getting caught up in his weird feelings. No more thinking. Shu might be in danger. Following after Claude, the two men made their way towards the flashing outline of heat.
”Keep up, Clawmark,” Luca dashed forward. He didn’t know why, but Luca needed to be ahead of this guy, even in this urgent situation.
”This isn’t a race!” Claude ran steadily behind him, clearly agitated, either by stress or the rival in front of him.
“Doesn’t matter, we need to get to him quick.”
The opalescent-haired recruit let out a sneer, whisper-yelling at the duelist, “Well, Mr.Kaneshiro, we have to be covert too! Start sneaking.”
As the two stealthily made their way past a group of boxes to an open area of the facility, they stared up into the massive, unopened portal.
What the hell is that. Claude squinted a little, seeing Shu standing with an unreadable expression on his face. He was obviously injured by the thick glops of blood trickling down his arm, but was holding it in as guns were aimed at him from two different directions by anonymous lackeys. The sorcerer looked drained. His teleport still needed time to cool down, overworked.
Keeping themselves hidden behind a large crate with nuclear warnings, the two agents listened in on the conversation as a more familiar face approached their teammate. Claude goes right, squatting behind a pillar. Luca goes left towards the portal.
”Well, if it isn’t the little rodent running around our dignified halls. You aren’t alone, are you? Poor thing, is the VALORANT Protocol that underfunded, understaffed?”
Shu stayed silent, clearly taking in the image of his alternate genmate, Ike… or Eki.
”Nothing? Well, Hikarino will be pleased to see you! He’s always gossiping about you… how much he absolutely despises cowards like you,” Eki smiles menacingly at the last sentence, keeping his bow locked on the controller, “Well, I suppose you’re trying to find out something if you’re by yourself. If you want any information, I could tell you! After all, I’m going to be the one to shoot your head. Wouldn’t want to give Hikarino any satisfaction, so I’ll be the one to do you in.”
Shu grimaces at the words, but refuses to speak. He stares the initiator down, trying not to give away any of his thoughts.
“You’re so stubborn. Here I am, offering all this classified information, and not even a thanks! You’ve got some nerve, my dear Shu. Even better, your teammate is within sight. Our newest agent is quite the reliable security guard. They might even be the same person as your little friend!”
The two hidden men look around and spot the camera a second too late. It hits Claude right in the face, outlining his location. Claude takes his phantom and hits the pawns to the left and right of Shu with a clean headshot.
”Two versus one? So unfair~” The alternate teases, stepping even closer to Shu with the ethereal arrow. Shu makes no move backwards, but visibly relaxes in the presence of his teammate, and the absence of two guns at the neck.
“Ah, no mind though. Backup is coming,” Eki only laughs.
Claude takes a deep breath, evening his voice before he speaks, “I’ll put a bullet through your head if you touch him.”
“Aww, so menacing. I’m sure you’re no match for my squad, though. Shoot me, I shoot him. Even if I’m dead, I’ll be revived. That’s a promise. You know that with his body in enemy territory, you won’t be able to get him back to your healer,” the initiator continued to talk, attempting to buy time.
Claude knew better.
”Get him.”
And Luca did, jumping from his hiding spot, completely undetected. Without time to react, Eki was down on the ground, kunai knifes directly through his throat.
The sorcerer exhaled in relief, “You guys make a great team!”
Luca looked a little offended, “Me? And him? No.”
Claude laughed, “This guy only knows how to kill. He needs some strategy first.”
Shu believed they were bantering, and so he kept that sweet smile plastered on his face, “I’m glad you guys are getting along well, but we need to leave.”
The lights blared in warning sirens as the trio escaped the facility. Claude threw the grenade Elira gave him earlier to prevent anyone from following. Shu limped slightly at the exit, adrenaline depleted.
“Let me carry you, Shubert,” Luca urged, trying to accommodate the cloaked man’s wound.
Claude simpered at the blonde, “Here, Shu, I’m sure you’re thirsty.” Uncapping his bottle, he allowed the dark-haired man to drink his water. Indirect kiss.
The two continued their odd competition all the way to the safety of their aircraft. Shu paid no mind to their antics, enjoying their company all the same.
“So, who do you think is the better partner, eh?” The new recruit pushed.
The duelist only scowled, “I did the hard work. You got caught by other you!”
“Shut it! I had it all figured out! Besides, you’re not supposed to be here. You distracted me!” Claude fought back.
The sorcerer only blinked, not quite understanding the question, “Partner? Eh?…” He began to think deeply about the idea, flushing a little at such a direct query, “Well, I think you’d both be great. Um…”
The two stopped their mini skirmish at the response.
”Wha—Huh?”
”Wait… what did you just say?”
”You guys! Get in already! I swear to God, if you make us late for your own celebration, Claude… Guys!” The boys turned around to see Pomu calling from their organization aircraft.
“We’re coming! We’re coming…” Luca took a final glance at his teammates before walking forward with them. They’d figure it out during dinner.
“God, Shu. You need to be more careful next time,” an elegant man in a green bodysuit murmured as he grabbed a chemical from his lab.
Shu gave a sheepish chuckle, “You say that, but I’m your experiment for poison! I’ll be fine.”
He winced a little when another agent, covered in bandages, began to wipe clean his bullet wound, “You will be fine, but I’d prefer if I didn’t have to see you after every mission. You’re a little reckless for a controller.”
Uki nodded along with the doctor, “You hear that? Zali doesn’t want to deal with your bullsh*t.”
The sorcerer pressed his lips together, thoughts off in another world, “Okay, okay...”
The psychic wanted to press his friend over his distracted mind, empathetic enough to know it must be something personal. However, his abilities were no use against the sorcerer. There was a blockage, as there always has been. Damn, he’s too guarded.
Zali felt some of the tension in the air and decided to change topics, “So, did you bring back any crucial information?”
Shu nodded in confirmation, grabbing a small disc from his belt bag and tossing it to Vezalius for examination, “They’re headed for Icebox. I used one of Elira’s mechs, so they shouldn’t know I got any confidential info. They probably thought this was mission failed for us.”
Uki scrunched his nose up at the thought, “Did you really put yourself in danger to bait the enemy?”
The dark-haired agent shook his head expressly, “No, no… Well… Okay, it wasn’t my first plan. However, I saw the alternate Claude’s camera in the corner of my eye whilst I was about to download and so I knew I wouldn’t have much time before Eki came.”
“Uh huh…” The psychic kept a scrutinizing glare on the controller. Vezalius just continued to listen whilst putting away his first aid kit.
”Yeah- and so, I tried to signal the boys, but my communicator lost connection. I waited ‘til the camera turned off for a second and plugged in Elira’s bot behind the portal—I’m sure Luca must’ve seen it because he gave it back—and then Eki showed up and got owned!”
The doctor laughed at Shu’s unserious demonstration of the death with his hands. Uki kept his pout, “Don’t get caught again. Now we know they also have a Claude. This is reconnaissance, you aren’t a duelist. If you died—“
”You wouldn’t be able to retrieve me. Yeah. I know, I’m sorry…” Shu cut the psychic off, regretting his rash strategy. He made his friends worry before. Zali barely brought him back last time, a little altered, “I won’t do it again.”
“You better keep that promise, b*tch.”
”Mhm…” And there Shu was, thinking about something or someone else again.
“Now that the mission’s over, spill the tea, whore. I know you’re busy daydreaming about Luca’s boobs or something, but at least give the gays the details. Me and Zali are listening,” the psychic demanded, sitting more comfortably to hear the whole spiel. Vezalius looked shocked at the bluntness before remembering it’s Uki.
”Ah…” Shu began, a little taken aback. The sorcerer didn’t really know how to verbalize his issue, “You know how… weird Luca and Claude have been acting towards each other?”
”Yeah, those jealous f*cks,” the toxic controller replied with a roll of the eyes.
“What do you mean by that? Well—I just… I don’t know. I—“
“What, you like both of those meatheads?”
The room went silent. Vezalius was the first to break it up, “Well, Shu-senpai, if you’re interested in two… I’m sure you can work it out. They both want you.”
”Hell yeah they do,” Uki smirked, remembering how badly the both of them had reacted to his teasing.
Shu blushed hard, beginning to feel the blood in his cheeks rush up, “But… how do you know for sure?”
“Oh I know.”
”We know.”
The two confidants were extremely confident in their immediate answers. Shu decided to trust them. He had a little inkling of his own that it’d be okay, “Well, let’s get ready for dinner.”
Brightly colored decorations stringed along the ceiling of the party. In large letters, “TTT” was placed at the center of it all. All of the EN branch of VALORANT Protocol had joined in on the celebration of their new recruits. The vibes were high, the sun was setting. The chattering of his dear friends and found family warmed Claude’s heart.
“Claude! Look at you all dapper~ I didn’t know this event was business formal!” His lively genmate, Kunai, ran by his side, eying his attire. She was wearing a nice burnt orange casual dress. Behind her was his other, more shy, new recruit, Victoria.
“Hey, girlies. I just decided to dress to impress, y’know?”
Kunai wasn’t easily deceived, having known her friend quite well, “Dressed to impress a certain someone, perhaps? Maybe, and this is just a guess, a certain banana-haired senpai?”
Victoria had that special smile on her face, one of complete understanding, “Ooh~ That would be so surprising!” She teased along.
”G-guys! Am I really that obvious?” Claude was red at the tips of his ears, trying not to show how nervous he was.
“You’re so lame! Get your head in the game, dude!”
Elira overheard their little chat and jumped in with the High School Musical song, “Get’cha, get’cha head in the game~” she sang with that pitch perfect voice of hers, even though she was a little tipsy, “What’re you talking about? You three are the talk of the hour! I sure hope you’re not lame. We gotta karaoke!”
“Ah, my shipping queen! Please, help our poor genmate! He’s in dire need of your assistance as Clawmino CEO,” Kunai playfully posed.
“Oh my! Is it time already to make it canon?? Well! Here’s the issue, my dear kouhai… Luca is after Shu too.”
”What the f*ck.” He’s taking his shot tonight? Of course he is! This dude really is pushing his luck.
”—but! Not to worry. I am a multishipper, so it will be easy. Let me do my magic,” the sentinel nodded incessantly, hands to her hips, and completely nonchalant about the entire ordeal.
Claude felt more anxious than ever as the dragon wandered over to Shu’s room, the sorcerer still getting ready.
”Oh buddy, you got competition, but you got this!” Kunai nudged her friend from his right, trying to lighten his mood. Victoria cheered from his left, “Yeah! Just duel Luca! Show that crispy aim and win your mans!”
Claude sighed, the night would be a lot longer than he would like. He still could not forget what Shu had said previously…
”Well, I think you’d both be great.”
Just what did he mean by that?
Shu sighed as he folded up his cuffs neatly. He just got out of the shower, sporting a typical white button up and purplish-black dress pants covered by his signature corset. It’s nothing fancy, but I’d prefer the comfortability over fashion any day.
He was just about to put on his old-fashioned watch when a familiar voice called from his room door with a gentle knock, “Shu! I have to talk to you. I hope you’re not nakey…” It was definitely Elira.
“Ah, coming! Give me a second,” he shouted back, trying to put on his watch quickly. As he opened the door to the blue-haired agent, he couldn’t help but smile at her goofy expression. He scanned down to see her carrying an odd bag.
”What’dya need?”
“Oh, you have no clue.”
Luca was giving the mafia stare down to Claude from across the party room. Sonny could physically feel his blonde friend’s angst, “Dude, chill. I get you have a kindergarten crush, but at least try to be discrete about your hatred. Claude’s our kouhai, he’s new.”
Luca blinked, turning to face his companion, “I don’t hate him… I just.. I have to study this guy. He’s an enigma! One minute he’s all serious macho sigma, and the next he’s all goofy ahh!”
”Hey, that’s just like you,” Ren popped out, decked out in a white suit.
“What? I’m not like that at all! I’m too mean and evil and scary.”
”You ain’t scary at all. I still seriously doubt you’re actually from a mafia family.”
Luca’s pout grew, “The Kaneshiro Family is the biggest and best in the entire country! But that’s beside the point—Claude’s trying to steal Shu!”
”Shu isn’t yours. Maybe if you actually asked him out in your two years of knowing him, this wouldn’t be an issue,” Sonny denounced straight out, hinting that maybe, just maybe, the duelist should confess.
“But… it feels too fast. What if he doesn’t actually like me like that? I have a best friend title to keep!” Luca tried to deflect, but he knew what was coming.
Ren was getting antsy now, “C’mon, Luca! You literally told us what happened at the end of your assignment. He definitely wants you both… Even without that knowledge, we’ve known.”
”Exactly, he wants us BOTH! What if he chooses that new kid instead of me?” Luca whines, drooping like a wilted petal.
“So you’re gonna give up, like a baby,” Sonny mocked, trying to get anything out of the mafioso. The blonde shook his head slowly.
“Then you better work for it,” the brightly-haired man remarked.
“Yo, Shu!”
Holy sh*t. Luca stared, let out a cough, and then stared some more.
Shu strutted confidently into the room wearing that killer eye makeup, a tight, black, sleeveless turtleneck that cinched at the waist with a white corset, and heels. With a luxury coat around his shoulders and fishnet gloves clinging onto his nails, he looked like an expensive supermodel. Worst of all, Doppio came to hold his hand. He smiled brightly talking to the dragon sisters about God knows what.
“Oh, you’re so f*cked,” he heard Ren speak beside him.
“Damn, Shu. Elira really got you all the thrifts,” Selen spoke with that nasty grin of hers, “So, you and Doppio are going to be the ambassadors for the next mission with APEX?”
“Yeah! Really nervous about talking to those spooky diplomat people! I’ll have to pull out all the stops to show them the D in Doppio stands for Diplomatically Brilliant Ambassador-Agent!”
Shu feels like he understands what the chef is cooking, “You got any tips for us, Selen? I know you’ve been the former expert on hosting dual operation events.”
The three continue to talk about actual assignment duties as Elira snickers at her own task at hand. Doppio’s got a certain genmate to seduce, so she played around with her cards and got Shu the position of translator in her place. She’s killing two birds with one stone! This could be a formula for disaster, but knowing Luca and Claude’s personalities, it’ll only push them to try harder knowing the magenta-haired madman was all touchy with the controller. Everything’s set in motion.
”Alright guys! Let’s go eat!”
The group arrived at the extravagant restaurant around 8pm. The table set ups were awful. As luck would have it, Claude was across Shu… and Doppio… and beside Luca. He was going to die sitting right beside the blonde that’s been giving him the death glare since he’s entered the HQ. The air was tense, but thankfully Elira was there to lighten the mood and Sonny was there to reel the mafioso back… and Uki to reel him back. Claude couldn’t help but peek a couple glances at Shu’s outfit. It was downright unfair.
What was more unfair was how much attention he was giving Doppio.
”I see, so you and Shu are the new ambassadors. Good luck, you two,” Sonny gave Doppio sitting on the left of him a pat on the back and Shu a supportive nod of the head.
“Thanks, my man!” Shu replied, as Elira chortled from the old joke.
“..Shu,” the duelist sulked.
Uki felt a little awkward seeing Luca and Claude watch quietly. Attempting to break some of that weird energy, he began to start a new conversation despite his usual silence, “So, how’d your mission go?” He already had a run down by Shu, but the two pining b*tches didn’t need to know that.
“It was kinda cringe. You should’ve seen how Claude got outplayed—“
”Uh, actually, Luca was the one who barged on in, I got two clean headshots. Easy.”
”Yeah, but did you see my knives? I should be Kunai’s coach with how I did that while sliding!”
“Kunai doesn’t need a coach. She’s just as good, you just don’t pay attention us.”
“I know plenty. Let’s get to looting!” Luca imitated Victoria’s voice scarily accurately.
“What the f—“
”Hey guys, the server is waiting. Let’s order, okay? I need some soju.”
By the end of the night, everyone was drunk. Multiple tables had already made their leave to sleep or karaoke.
Shu, being the lightest of the lightweights, was drooping in and out of consciousness, face flushed red.
Doppio, Sonny, and Uki had already went off to sing at the nearest bar. Elira followed after, deciding her scheming was finished. The three were all drunk idiots in love and now they’d be alone to hopefully make some moves with a little less inhibition. The mutual drive to keep Shu to themselves and not Doppio should be enough for them to get along, kinda. Elira shrugged it off, excited to karaoke and pass out. It has been a long day.
Shu yawned, trying to keep himself upright. Maybe he shouldn’t have drank so many shots of soju, but Elira kept pushing new tasty flavors to him and he just couldn’t say no.
Luca was the first to speak after the dragon exited, “Shubert, you look really good by the way, aha.” He was a flirty drunk and barely noticed the fact that his rival was right beside him.
“I think you’re cuter, though,” Claude chuckled with his sultry voice, trying hard to pay attention to the broken conversation the trio was trying to have.
“Oh… thanks guys. You know,,, um. I really enjoy your guys’ company,” Shu blinked, breathing a little uneven.
The opalescent-haired sentinel’s heart melted at the small gesture, completely forgetting why he was so pissed off earlier, “I enjoy your company a lot, too. Um, y’know… Shu, I—“
”I love you, Shu!” Luca interrupted, sobering up all three parties.
“Dude, what the hell! Y’know what, I love you too, Shu!”
”H-huh?” Shu woke up from his half-dreaming, face becoming impossibly redder, “You both? Wha… eh?” As if still believing he was asleep, Shu passed out without another word.
”S-shu???”
”Does this mean we both got rejected?”
”Ugh! This is all your fault!”
”What the hell do you mean by that? Shu being a lightweight isn’t my issue!”
“You’re getting in the way, dumb*ss! I’m not talking about him sleeping.”
”Whatever! I’m tired, let’s just go back to HQ…”
Luca made his way around the table to pick up the sorcerer. His hand was immediately slapped by the other agent, “Nuh uh, allow me.”
The mafioso let out a growl in response, “I call dibs!”
”What are we, pre-schoolers?”
”If that’s what it takes!”
Claude raises his chin in defiance, “I don’t think so, buddy! You don’t make the rules in this establishment.”
“I’m your senpai though,” the duelist shot back, now going to tower in front of the shorter, “…and your heels still don’t make you any taller. I’m way more capable of carrying Shu.”
Claude practically hisses at Luca, “Okay, Mr.178cm! Stop the shortphobia! Just because I’m not titan height does not mean that you get to boss me around. Remember who has the most weekly kills, eh, duelist? Maybe you should do your job better.”
”Whatever you say! Maybe you should drink some milk.”
“Okay, give me yours.”
…
“What?”
“Never mind. I said nothing,” Claude immediately turned around, regretting his entire life choices. Luca could clearly see the red tips of his ears and the sweat dripping down Claude’s exposed neck.
Damn, when’d he start wearing that pretty choker?
“Just… Just pick Shu up. Let’s go back, I’m tired,” Claude finally conceded.
Luca nodded without another word, but continued to observe the other’s movements. Shu laid comfortably in the blonde’s arms in a princess carry. The trio walked towards the restaurant’s grand exit, leaving an extra tip for good measure, and an apology for their bickering and drunkenness.
They waited for a cab in the main lobby. Claude absolutely deplored the scrutinizing watch of Luca. He wanted to say something, take back what he said, but he couldn’t. He was sure the other would make fun of him for it. God, he needed another drink, even if it poisoned him.
At once, the mafioso’s gaze softened, “What do you like about Shubert?”
”…Huh?” The sentinel blinked, surprised by the sudden question.
Thinking the other man didn’t hear him, Luca repeated a little slower and with stronger enunciation, “What do you like about Shu?”
The shorter agent was quiet for a bit, trying to sense anything wrong with the other. He finally responded when they got into the taxi and settled down, “He’s got a cute laugh… and a pretty smile. He’s clever. He’s funny. I mean… he listens when you’ve got something to say and never misconstrues your words. I-I like when my voice is heard, I guess—That someone’s more than hearing but understanding... I don’t know, man—“
”Yeah, I get what you mean. You said you struggle with your voice, right?”
”..So you actually did read our profiles.”
The blonde nodded carefully, giving Claude the confidence to continue speaking, “Yeah… I just have some… insecurity about it,” the man looked down and eyed anywhere but the other person, “It’s taken a lot of time to get over and I’m still not that happy with it…”
”I think it’s nice, actually. It’s something I noticed early on. You sound… anime.”
”Is that supposed to be a compliment or?-“
”Yeah! I mean, you’re like, ikemen and stuff. Same with Shu. I like it.”
Claude’s exterior visibly eased at the praise, “Thanks.”
”Yeah.”
The rest of the taxi ride was in silence, but it was mutual and almost soothing. The murmurs of the sorcerer’s dreams and the sounds of traffic filled the empty air.
Maybe they didn’t hate each other after all.
Shu woke up to the shimmering sunrise shining through the slightly opened blinds of his room. He was bundled in the warmth of a purple blanket he remembered seeing in Luca’s room. Confused, he gets out of his bed (reluctantly) only to see his two previous task partners laying on the floor, cuddled up next to each other. All three of them were in their party clothes from the night before.
Shu smiled. It really did all work out. I don’t remember what happened, though… I hope we didn’t cause any damage or reveal anything to the public!
Slightly concerned that their drunken selves could’ve gotten everyone in trouble, the controller opens his phone. There were a few notifications he didn’t care much about, mostly ads or lame news, but one stood out to him from Discord.
[I hope you three had fun last night 😜🫣] Message sent at 12:03am from Ewiwa
Shu immediately began to text, “Nothing happened!” His flush was undeniable as he laid back into bed and began thinking in his own world how he would talk to his two coworkers on their relationship.
The rustling of blankets alerted his immediate attention. His kouhai yawned as he got up, feeling the arm wrapped around his waist, “…huh?”
His opalescent hair gleamed in the sunrise, falling out of his usual ponytail’s bow. Drowsily, he looked to his side, realizing just who that bunch of silky blonde hair was, “Oh sh*t, the hell!”
Luca awoke from the shout, whining a little as he turned and found the sunlight glaring at him, “Wha? Stop moving… My head hurts like hell.”
”You! You better not have done anything, buddy! I am not trying to lose NNN.”
“Huh??? I didn’t do anything, you *ss!”
The two begin their bickering before hearing the charming laughter of their shared love interest. They turn and melted into those crescent-shaped lids that glowed an otherworldly purple. The fluttering of Shu’s lashes and the smudged makeup made them forget whatever they were doing.
“Good morning, you two.”
”…Mornin’,” the two said in unison, accents the only difference between their guttural morning voices.
Shu’s laughter calmed down but the jovial expression stayed just as bright, ”I love you both.”
”I love you too.. and him, I guess.”
”Hey!”
[Sure, sure. I didnt see claude at training tho. And luca usually does brekky right now~ I dont wanna intrude, but u should thank me for them being in ur room, probably smooching u reallll nice!👉👌] Message sent at 6:38am from Ewiwa
“Elira…”
FIN.