* S U N E A T E R .

                                          I JUST WANT TO GO HOME

“I don’t think he’s nobody. I think if you like a guy, he’s gotta be the best! I mean, you’re you. You’re the most amazing man alive, Tamaki. And you don’t have any reason to be nervous about it. If I had the chance to date you, I’d take it in an instant! So I’m sure he will, too.”

Is that overstepping? Probably not. People don’t seem to take anything Mirio says too seriously, and knowing Tamaki, he won’t even realise that’s a confession. His self esteem is too low. That’s one thing Mirio never thought he’d be glad for.

“If you really wanna drop it, we can,” he says, growing quieter.

“I just want you to be happy. You know I love you, right, Tamaki? I think you deserve all the love in the world. So if you’re not comfortable with this, we can just let it go. But I really do wanna help make sure you get all the love you deserve.”

Even if it’s from someone else. Even if it means Mirio has to let go of the hope he’s gonna be the guy who gets to make Tamaki happy, and burn his dinner, and see him all soft and bleary-eyed in the morning. Because that’s what good friends do. They love each other, and they help each other out, no matter what.

     there was so much to take away from what mirio said, tamaki wasn’t ready for this, he never was, but THIS? actually talking about how he felt about him? mirio saying that he loved him? tamaki knew that he felt the same about him, but it was stuck in his throat, too scared to say anything but wanting to desperately. 

         “mirio i---” his hands fidgetted against the sides of his person, shaking his head to get himself in the right mindset. he had to say something because mirio was opening up his own heart to him, tamaki couldn’t just leave this conversation without being honest. 

           “it was you, the person i was talking about.” of course it was him! mirio was everything to him! he just didn’t have the right words to say, he always came up short when wanting to say how he truly felt and he HATED himself because of it. “you’re the one who’s--perfect and beautiful and i...i love you too. i have ever since we were kids..” 

“Anything for you, Tamaki.” Mirio steps closer, then sits down on the floor, leaning his head back on the bed.

“Everything was pretty normal for me. Classes, lunch, more classes. Nothing really interesting that you weren’t there for.

“But, y’know, I saw the prettiest boy today. Nejire pointed him out to me after combat training. He was looking at me like he thought I was cute or something, but, I dunno, I thought he was the cute one. All tall and lean and strong with really nice hair. Cute little smile, too. I liked his smile a lot.

“Maybe you know him! The name’s Tamaki Amajiki?”

Mirio doesn’t care if the punchline was obvious. He laughs and squeezes Tamaki’s hand, doing his best to look up at him.

“No, but really, I didn’t do much. Biggest breakthrough was when I was doing hand to hand against Nej and she managed to totally wipe the floor with me by distracting me once and just not giving me a chance to get it together. Gotta work on staying focused. She’s the first person to trip me up by making me laugh, though, so it’s a new weakness to fix up. I’m excited! Gonna get stronger from it, y’know?

“Anyway, I can quiet down if you need rest. I’d be totally happy to just sit with you and hold your hand.” Yeah, sure, Tamaki asked to hear about his day, but the poor guy must be tired, and far be it from Mirio to keep his boyfriend from getting the sleep he needs.

     at first tamaki was worried, there was a hint of jealousy in his heart from hearing mirio talking about someone else in the way that he did, however, he heard more about this guy and oh there was a blush showing on his face. it was a good thing that his blanket was easily available, he could cover himself with it so that his blush wasn’t seen, taking his hand along with him. 

         “did you really have to go with that description?” not to mention hearing his name like he wouldn’t have gotten it eventually, mirio was really a lot to deal with somedays. though, if he was being honest with himself, tamaki was glad that his day went well, and he got some good training--but damn, this guy. 

“ do you need anything else? “

          “you’ve done so much for me already, i can’t rightfully ask for anything more.” just knowing that he was cared for, that was enough for tamaki as he bowed his head. “thank you.”

“Kerro? Okay, how does take-out at that restaurant that’s close to the school? I like the bento boxes there.”

“Alright! If that’s what you want!”

Mirio notices how red Tamaki goes. He always notices. He just doesn’t say anything, out of respect for Tamaki, who’s flustered enough already, and because it doesn’t really matter. He’s gonna love Tamaki and do whatever he can to support him either way. So he keeps his gait even as he carries Tamaki to his room, and he presses a kiss to his forehead as he sets him down.

“You want me to stick around, or do you need to be alone? I’d love to hear about your day if you’ve got it in you.”

     when he was set down on the bed, he felt the kiss to his forehead and he felt like he was going to pass out from the affection. it was a lot for him to take in all of a sudden. however, when mirio asked if he wanted him to stay, tamaki would take a hold of the other’s hand.

Eri had finally stopped flinching at that sort of touch, at least for people that had been there that day. Even though she had never seen Amajiki-san there, she had asked Aizawa-sensei about it once, so she knew that he had been, somewhere. Apparently he had been very brave, and fought a lot of bad guys all on his own.

She nodded, reaching up to put her hands over his. “I wanna be as brave as Deku and Lemillion-san and you!”

     to be lumped in the same category as izuku and mirio, oh his heart was beating faster now, he didn’t know what he did to make her want to be like him--but the pride welling up inside of him wouldn’t stop.

“Not yet, why do you ask?”

Eri smiled back, glad she could help! “My day was good,” she said, keeping her voice down so she didn’t hurt Amajiki-san’s head. “Um- I got really tired, though, because I went to my therapist and that always makes me tried afterwards, because we talk about lots of big feelings. So I had a nap after.”

     with everything she had been through, tamaki could only guess that when she went to talk about it it would become tiresome for the little girl. he knows it was hard for him to talk about what happened to him after he came back from saving her. so for eri to talk about the torture she went through, he couldn’t imagine what those sessions were like.

     he then put a hand on top of her head, offering her a bigger smile, wanting her to be nothing but happy.

“Of course! And, hey, if your leg hurts, why don’t I just-” And Mirio picks Tamaki up bridal style.

“You wanna go home? I can carry you to bed and tuck you in.”

     his whole face seemed to go red when he was picked up in mirio’s arms, all he had to do was breath and he would be fine, but being this close to the other---shit, his heart was pounding in his chest.