JudYa (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

And if you’ve ever worked in that kind of field, or even just seen how people act on site, you probably already get the idea. Lots of shouting is normal. Things need to be done properly because one mistake can seriously mess things up. So I can absolutely imagine Mio being strict at work because his field requires skill, precision, concentration and experience. People who slack off probably are not the kind of people he likes being around, or at the very least not the kind of people he’d willingly choose for his team.

So in the eyes of Dionysia students, I can imagine Mio having these two very distinct sides. On one hand, there’s Susu, the reliable and kind hearted Housemate everyone likes. On the other hand, there’s Vice-captain Mio Susuhara, the strict and demanding perfectionist who will absolutely call you out if you mess around on the job. Working with him can honestly be challenging sometimes because he is very very very meticulous, okay?

But genuinely, he is kind hearted. He’s just an expert, and experts tend to be demanding. That’s simply how it is. If you want to work side by side with him, you better get used to it.

Now that I’ve gone ahead and spread my Mio analysis everywhere, I want to circle back to one of the requests I got about Mio x Mortkranken! Reader. Specifically, some mad scientist type Reader.

This absolutely has Rivals to Lovers potential written iykyk

Because both of you are experts in your own fields, and experts naturally come with a certain level of ego. Some people have more of it, some less, but it’s always there to some extent.

You actually respect Mio’s work a lot. Like genuinely. Without him, Darkwick probably would not even function properly. Wtf do you mean this entire school relies on one student to maintain half the infrastructure? That feels like an OSHA violation waiting to happen. But anyway, that’s not the point right now.

The point is, even if you respect his work, you still have enough pride to avoid openly admitting it.

Then one day Darkwick, or more specifically cough Prof Hyde cough, decides it would be a wonderful idea to assign you and Mio to work together on maintaining one of Mortkranken’s facilities. And since Mio is not from Mortkranken, obviously he needs a few students from the House to supervise and help him navigate whatever horrifying disaster zone the place has become this time.

Well uhm… Things do not start off well.

The biggest issue is that both of you have completely different approaches to work and would much rather do things your own way. Mio is hardworking, but he’s also extremely cautious. Even when he acknowledges your capabilities and respects your expertise, there are still moments where he tries to stop you from handling certain things because “it’s dangerous.”

And oh, that hits your ego in exactly the wrong place.

Because what do you mean dangerous? You know what you’re doing! Why is he acting like you’re incapable? Why does he keep trying to handle everything himself? It feels dismissive, even if that’s not actually his intention.

Let you work too, Mio Susuhara!!

And so begins the constant back-and-forth arguments between the two of you.

Mio is the type that rarely raises his voice unless he’s deeply focused on work and somebody clueless wanders into an active workspace. Other than that, even when your discussions get heated and your ideas clash horribly, he never really loses his temper with you. Quite the opposite actually. He’s weirdly patient.

And somehow that makes you feel even worse afterward.

Because every meeting ends with you feeling like maybe you were too harsh on him while he was genuinely just trying to help.

On top of that, Mio becomes one of the only people who can actually keep up with you for long periods of time. Most people struggle to follow your ideas or meet your standards, so you usually end up working alone anyway. So when you first get paired with him, part of you is already waiting for the moment he finally gets fed up and asks to work with someone else instead.

Except... he never does.

He sticks around until the very end.

Not only that, but he handles working with you surprisingly well.

And somewhere along the line, between the arguments, long meetings and endless repairs, you start growing attached to him without even realizing it.

It also does not help that Mio keeps doing thoughtful things for you in the most casual way possible.

Every meeting somehow comes with snacks now.

That broken coffee machine in your office that had been sitting there collecting dust for who knows how long? Fixed.

The cluttered mess of broken equipment in your workspace? Somehow repaired or reorganized.

And day by day, your office slowly fills up with random little tools, gadgets and handcrafted items Mio either repaired or made specifically for you.

You honestly cannot tell if he’s just naturally that nice or if he’s secretly using you as a product tester at this point.

Either way, you are absolutely not complaining because most of the things he gives you end up being very useful for your work.

But I think the thing that affects you the most is how Mio reacts to your experiments.

He never laughs at your ideas. He never dismisses them. He never treats your theories like they’re ridiculous.

Even some of your own Housemates can be skeptical about your work sometimes, but Mio, a guy who barely knew you at first, never once doubted your abilities.

If anything, he’s overly supportive.

Always quietly walking over to stand beside you while you work, peeking over your shoulder with curious eyes whenever you get too absorbed in your experiments to notice he arrived.

And by the time you finally realize what’s happening...

Mio Susuhara has already worked his way straight into your heart.

Oh and he is not even subtle about any of this.

Mio is the type of person who shows affection through actions rather than words, and well, actions are very visible.

Everybody notices.

Your Housemates notice.

His teammates notice.

Even the staff cats probably notice.

Everyone can tell this man is hopelessly gone for you except for you somehow.

Which is impressive considering how intelligent you are in literally every other aspect of life.

Like hello??? He fixes things for you constantly, brings you food, stays late helping you with experiments, listens to your rambling for hours, and looks at you like you personally hung the stars in the sky. How are you still not getting it???

At this point, maybe Jo was right.

Maybe Mio really needs to work on his flirting skills.

Eventually, the situation gets so obvious that your fellow housemates become sick of watching the two of you circle around each other endlessly and decide to interfere directly.

So one day, they tell both of you that they need help with something.

And when you arrive, instead of an emergency or broken machinery, there’s just this huge picnic mat spread out near the field, flowers everywhere, snacks neatly arranged, and warm daylight shining over the entire scene like some shoujo manga confession setup.

Mio figures out what’s happening almost immediately.

Meanwhile, you’re still standing there trying to process the situation.

Then Mio just looks at you for a second before straightforwardly asking if you want to go on a date with him since everyone already went through the trouble of setting one up anyway.

Teehee.

✦ 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝙰 ✦