#flufffff

The blue morning light seeps through the blinds and now you're somehow on the other side of him.

Leg thrown over his as you snore softly into the crook of his neck, He huffs and looks at the clock again.

5:34 AM

He wraps his arms around you and holds you even tighter, placing soft kisses on your forehead.

You stir in your sleep, humming lowly as his hand draws light circles on your back, he notices you crack an eye open before shutting them and nuzzling into him more.

"My apologies, did I wake you?" He mumbles softly into your hairline.

"No.." your voice is small and raspy from sleep, you shake your head.

He places another kiss to your forehead, tightening his hold on you he carefully rolls over, bringing you with him, you whine from the sudden movement.

You rest your head on his bicep as he curls his arm around you, he nuzzles into you more, his chest pressed against your back.

"You've been tossing and turning all night." You mumble, placing a soft kiss on his bicep.

"Whats the matter?" You lean into him.

"It was just a hard day, nothing to worry about." He says softly, bringing his hand up to play with your hair.

He buries is face is your hair, rubbing his thumb back and forth on your hip, thinking of what to say. Nothing particular happened, it just felt like a hard day.

"You sure?" You question, intertwining your hand in his, arm limp under your head twitches to life to hold on to your hand.

"Yes." He kisses your head,

Laying in silence, his thumb goes back to tracing your hip, he presses his body into you more.

Seeking more of you and your warmth, he tries to flood his senses with you, keeping you pressed against him, shoving his face in your hair inhaling your scent.

Neither of you know how long you've been quiet for, half asleep and soaking in each other's company.

"Turn over." You mumble breaking the silence, "gonna rub your back."

He hums lowly before pulling his arms away, even under the covers you feel cold at the loss of his arms around you.

He turns to have his back towards you and you reach out, slowly rubbing your hand in circles on his back.

He feels the tension in his shoulders melt as you scratch and massage him, he sighs, letting the last bit of stress and tension escape him before he finally drifts off.

You continue to rub his back for a few more moments, drifting into sleep yourself but before you finally succumb to sleep, you sit up and glance over his shoulder.

His eyes are closed and soft breaths fall from his lips, you give a lazy kiss to his shoulder before plopping down behind him.

You press your chest to his back and wrap your arms around him, allowing yourself to fall back asleep.

The camera was set up perfectly, the soft glow of the ring light casting an ethereal aura around Ariana as she adjusted the R.E.M. beauty products on the sleek glass table. I stood behind the camera, adjusting the focus, but honestly? I was already mesmerized.

She looked up at me through her thick lashes, lips curving into that signature mischievous smile. "Babe, you sure you don’t want to be in front of the camera this time? I need a model."

I groaned playfully. "Ari, I don’t trust you with this power. You’re gonna make me look like a clown."

She gasped, feigning offense. "Excuse you! I am a professional. You’re gonna be stunning whether you like it or not."

I sighed dramatically. "Fine. But only because I know you won’t let this go."

Ariana grinned in victory and pulled me in front of the camera, making me sit on the stool while she stood between my legs. As she picked up a fluffy brush, I instinctively moved my hands to her waist—then quickly remembered we were on camera and awkwardly put them back on my lap. Ari noticed, her lips twitching as she held back a smirk, giving me a look that said I saw that.

She tapped the brush against my cheek, laughing softly. "See? You have such nice skin already, but this just… enhances everything."

I smirked. "Are you sure you’re testing makeup and not just finding an excuse to touch my face?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. If I wanted to touch your face, I wouldn’t need an excuse."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "You’re impossible."

"And you love it," she shot back, dabbing the concealer under my eyes. She paused for dramatic effect. "Wait… are we about to have a makeup montage moment? Because I feel like we should have some soft, emotional music playing right now."

I laughed. "I’ll edit in some cheesy rom-com soundtrack later."

Ariana gasped, looking at the camera. "You guys heard that, right? If this video doesn’t have Can’t Help Falling in Love playing in the background, we riot."

I shook my head, laughing. "They’re gonna say we’re insufferable."

"And they’d be right," she agreed, tapping my nose with the brush before turning back to the camera with a grin. "And that, my loves, is how you make your partner let you do their makeup."

She held up a highlighter next, the shimmer catching the light beautifully. "Okay, we’re going to glow now. Close your eyes."

I obeyed, and she dusted the highlighter along my cheekbones, giggling softly. "Oh, babe, you’re about to be radiant. The camera won’t even know what to do with you."

I cracked an eye open. "So, is this an attempt to blind me, or do you just like making me sparkly?"

She shrugged. "Both? Honestly, you’re kind of giving fairy vibes right now. Peter Pan who?"

I scoffed. "That’s it, I’m reclaiming my camera."

She yelped and grabbed the highlighter, holding it up like a weapon. "Step back! I’m not done making you pretty!"

We both burst into laughter, and she leaned forward slightly, nudging my knee with hers. "Seriously, though, you’re such a good sport. I know this isn’t your thing, but I love that you let me do this."

I softened, meeting her gaze. "Yeah, well… I love watching you do what you love. Even if it means becoming a glitter bomb."

She beamed and turned back to the camera. "And there you have it, folks! The best girlfriend and best friend in the world. 10 out of 10, would recommend."

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe I was supposed to be behind the camera, but if this was what being in front of it meant—with Ariana doting on me, teasing me, and looking at me like that?

"Yoriichi, do we have a project?" Michikatsu asked, looking tired as hell as he trudged down the stairs alongside his twin brother.

"Yes, why?" Yoriichi said. This time it was a History project. They were supposed to make an artistic representation of one of the World Wars for a reason nobody understood since they'd just been on the topic of something completely different. 

"Wait, we do? When is it due?" Michikatsu said, suddenly looking wide awake.

His brother laughed. "In a week. Do you even know who you're working with?"

"Uhm... Sumi'?" he asked uncertainly. 

"Yes, Sumiyoshi already started it for you I think."

"Oh. Great! Who's your partner?" Michikatsu asked, grabbing a bowl from the kitchen and searching the fridge for some food.

"Uhm... the girl who sits next to me always? I don't know if you know her. Her name is Uta." Yoriichi paused. "Ah, I need her contact number."

"Why, you gonna ask her out?" his brother teased, plopping down on a chair.

"No!" Yoriichi said, flushing. "I need to be able to speak to her about the project. I forgot we still didn't have each other's number's though we often work together."

"Yeah, how the hell do you do that then?"

"We just do it at school, like staying a bit later or going there early?" he said, chomping his bread rather aggressively in attempt to hide his embarrassment.

"Boringgg, how could you go to—... Wait is that why sometimes I wake up an hour late for school and you're not there??" Michikatsu said, a sudden thought striking him. "You dump me for detention to go on a book date with your girlfriend?!"

"We're not dating!! And I did wake you up but you always go back to sleep later!!" Yoriichi said, huffing. "Are Muichiro and Yuichiro awake yet? We need to drop them off to their school before we go." 

Michikatsu rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, whatever." He left his bowl on the table and traipsed up the stairs shouting, "MUI AND YUI GET YOUR ASSES UP IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!!"

×××

"Good morning," Yoriichi said, nodding towards Uta who gave him her usual cheery smile as they sat down, waiting for the class to start.

"Good morning! How are you today?" she asked, lifting her bag and placing it on her lap, rummaging through it. 

"I'm well, and you?" he said, turning his gaze to the front of the room which was full of students filing inside. 

"I'm okay. Can we work on the project at lunch, maybe? I have something after school," Uta said, taking out her notebook and giving him another bright smile. 

"Of course. Oh! And about that, I wanted to ask if we... could exchange numbers? We could more easily contact each other then," Yoriichi said nervously, unsure what she would say.

"Oh, sure! Ah, let me find my phone," she said, laughing and going back to searching through her bag.

"Alright," he said, taking out his own and waiting.

×××

Lunch period and everyone was filing into the cafeteria, lively chatter filling the air. (y'all guess what idk how middle school or high school is like irl except from books i've read ;-;)

Yoriichi stayed behind in class, waiting for Uta to finish packing her things.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Mhm!" She stood and the two walked to the library.

On their way there, they bumped into Muzan, who was Michikatsu's boyfriend. 

"Oh, hello," Yoriichi said, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Hi." Muzan turned to Uta and stage-whispered, "Who is that? Your boyfriend?"

Yoriichi flushed. Why was it that people kept saying that?? 

Uta only laughed though. "No, he's not. We're only going to do a project in the library."

"But it's lunch time?" Muzan whined. 

"You go eat with your boyfriend!" Uta said, sighing. "Where is he anywho?"

Muzan pointed to behind them were Michikatsu was walking down the hall.

The two turned. 

"Oh, there you are," Michikatsu said, directing this to Muzan. "Let's go eat lunch. We can leave these two to their book party now."

Yoriichi sighed. "Don't cause any trouble." 

"No promises!" Michikatsu said, saluting the two and dragging Muzan away with a wink.

"...Okay, let's go to the library now," Yoriichi said, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"Alright!" Uta said cheerfully, not seeming bothered at all by this.

"You know Muzan then?" he asked as they made their way down the hall. 

"Yep! We've known each other for, like... since we were little," Uta said, turning a corner.

"Oh? Have you met my brother before?" Yoriichi inquired, tilting his head curiously in her direction.

"I've heard of him from Muzan here and there. We never really 'met', only just seen each other or spoken when he goes to steal Muzan," she said, laughing. "Have you got the part of the project you've done so far?"

"Yes, it's in my bag," he said, patting his bag.

"Mkay! Well, we're here now. Hmm... Do you suppose we should look at more of the books?"

×××

It was getting late and Yoriichi trudged through the halls of the school, having stayed back to wait for Michikatsu who was in detention—who wouldn't say why he got it. 

Finally—finally—Michikatsu met his brother in the hall, an annoyed look written all over his face.

"I'm finally out!" he whined. 

"Yeah, you wouldn't be in there if you hadn't gotten yourself in trouble again," Yoriichi said, sighing. 

"Not my fault you're such a goody-two-shoes," Michikatsu huffed. 

"You're the one who insists on making a lot of trouble... Shall we go now?"

"Yeah, okay."

As they walked home, Michikatsu recounted his day. At one point they'd decided to tell each other how their days went as they went home and it became a sort of tradition between the two.

"And... then I had detention and Prof. Urokodaki was being real strict again. What about you?" Michikatsu concluded, turning to his brother with a grin.

"Me? I mostly went to my classes and did my project with Uta," Yoriichi said. "Nothing quite so eventful about my day."

"Oh, Uta? Right. She and Muzan are friends," Michikatsu noted, walking backwards to look at his brother while he spoke. "Yorii'?"

"Hm?"

"Do you like Uta?"

Yoriichi spluttered and nearly tripped onto Michikatsu. "What? She's my friend! So, no, not like how you're implying," he said, flushed. 

"But your face is literally redder than Muzan's eyes right now," Michikatsu said, poising his hands on his hips. "You do like her!"

"I do not!" He didn't, did he?

"Yes you do! You always look so happy when you talk about her," he said, jabbing a finger at Yoriichi's chest. "Just admit it!"

"I... I do not like her like that," Yoriichi mumbled. "Let's go home now. We're only a few blocks away," he said, moving quickly around his brother and dashing off. 

×××

"Muzan!! I have something to tell you," Michikatsu hissed into his phone, glancing at his door. 

"Hm? What is it, my love?" Muzan asked curiously.

"Yoriichi likes Uta!! It's so obvious but he keeps denying it. Anyways, you know Uta, do you know if she likes anyone?" Michikatsu said quickly, lowering his voice. 

There was silence for a second before Muzan burst into laughter. 

"What??"

"Uta was just telling me she had a crush," Muzan explained. "She said he asked for her number so they could work on their school project together or something and she went on gushing about how happy she was."

"...Yeah that's probably Yorii' then," Michikatsu said. He flopped down on his bed, his eyes still keeping a close watch on the door. He and Yoriichi shared a room, as did Muichiro and Yuichiro, so he had to be careful. Yoriichi was currently helping their younger brothers with their homework, though, so they had a little time.

"Mhm. Want to do something about it?" 

"What do you mean?" he asked, hearing the smirk in Muzan's voice.

"Let's set them up. Ooh! We could invite them to go on a walk and coincidentally run into each other and then I'll steal you and we'll spy on them," Muzan said.

"Alrighty. When do we go? It's literally the middle of the week," Michikatsu pointed out. 

"Yeah, uhm, how about tomorrow? Wednesdays we have less class time, so we can go in the evening?" Muzan suggested.

"Great! Text me the place and I'll tell Yoriichi to go with me there for a bit."

×××

"We rarely go on walks now, it's so nice to be out just... like this!" Uta commented, smiling as she skipped along the path.

"Yeah," Muzan said, his mind on the fact that they had to be at the park in less than two minutes and they were still fifteen minutes away from it. "I'll race you there!!" he said, dashing off.

"Hey!!" Uta whined, running after him.

They got to the park, tired as hell, but they were there. A bit late, though.

Muzan spotted Michikatsu looking confused at the tree they'd said they would meet at and pointed there. 

"Uta, look! It's Michi and Yoriichi," he said, pulling her there.

"I'm still tireddd," Uta pouted, but followed him. 

"Oh! Funny to see you here," Michikatsu said, looking relieved. 

I'm sorry we're late, Muzan mouthed.

Michikatsu shrugged. 

"Yeah!!" Uta agreed to Michikatsu's previous statement. "What're you two doing here?"

"Walking. Muichiro and Yuichiro wanted to come here," Michikatsu lied, pointing to his two youngest brothers who were climbing on top of the swing structure... 

"Oh! They're so grown up," Uta said, her eyes sparkling.

Yoriichi agreed.

Michikatsu and Muzan's eyes met and the two seemed to be trying to tel each other the same thing before they made loud excuses to go check on Yuichiro and Muichiro to make sure they didn't fall and break their heads.

"Hmm, hello, Yoriichi!" Uta said cheerfully.

"Hello," he said, nodding at her with a nervous smile. 

"It's really pretty this evening, right?" she said, moving her hands in a wide motion in front of her as if she were displaying a work of art.

"Yes, the sunset is beautiful," Yoriichi murmured. Like Uta. She was beautiful too. 

"Do you like walking outside?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"It's nice. I like the air when it's a little colder, makes you feel... alive," he commented, nodding. 

"Ohh, yeah!! It's nice for a little breeze anyways. When it's warmer I get drowsier," Uta said, tapping her chin. "Your brother is very lively, you know. He's always getting into trouble."

"Mhm." Yoriichi averted his eyes. Did she like livelier people? He had never been like Michikatsu, able to jump from one person to another. He'd always been quiet and on the shyer side, afraid to speak up unless it was important or amongst people he knew and trusted.

"You seem to be a lot better at keeping calmer though!" Uta said, smiling. "You're also lots more relaxed, I think."

Yoriichi looked up. "Oh..! Thank you?" he said quietly.

She nodded. "Mhm! I can never keep too quiet and I'm too energetic. Someone told me they would tape my mouth shut if I kept talking but then Muzan told them that he would tape them to an electricity pole in the middle of a tornado and they shut up," she said, laughing. "He's too harsh but he means well."

Yoriichi raised an eyebrow. People didn't like her energy? "I... I admire your energeticness. I never know how to be that social so... I keep quieter. You have a friendly quality to yourself that I find comforting," he said, offering her a smile.

Uta stared at him for a long moment and he felt like he'd said something wrong before she tilted her head and gave him a shy smile. "I... Thank you. No one really tells me that. I only konw that they like talking to me if they don't leave," she said, laughing nervously. 

"Really? I would've expected more people to compliment you..." he said, trailing off when he realized what he just said. He flushed and turned away. "Uhm... Let's go check on my brothers and Muzan. Make sure they're not causing chaos?"

Uta nodded, her smile growing and her cheeks tinted pink. 

×××

Over the course of the next few weeks, Michikatsu and Muzan continued finding excuses (to not make this so detailed/j) bring Yoriichi and Uta closer together, making up random things so they have to leave them alone together or inviting them over only for Yoriichi and Uta to third-wheel them, eventually going to a different room to talk. 

Somehow, neither Yoriichi nor Uta caught on with these antics no matter how obvious they were. It couldn't be more conspicious and yet Michikatsu and Muzan still managed to get by all of this with everyone but the two victim's noticing.

And finally, their work paid off.

Because they were seriously running out of ideas.

"Alright, we'll leave a note to them asking to meet at the café, right? Then... pretend Yoriichi and Uta sent them to each other, I guess?" Michikatsu said, listing it out in his head.

"Right. There's another place across the street from it we can go to to watch them," Muzan said. 

"Okay! It's settled."

×××

"Uta?" Yoriichi said, surprised to actually see her there. He'd recognised her handwriting—although it looked a bit messier than usual—and had come here to meet her.

"Hi! You... wanted to meet me?" Uta said, smiling.

"Oh! I thought you wanted to see me."

They stared at each other for a second then glanced at the café they stood in front of.

×××

Inside the café, it was very noisy and they struggled to find a place to sit after ordering their drinks.

"Soo, how're you?" Yoriichi asked, tapping the table mindlessly, unsure what to say.

"I'm fine! It's such a nice day out, no?" Uta commented, her voice ringing much clearer through the noisy din. 

"Mhm."

They waited a bit, their minds both on the fact that this might as well be a date.

Then, quite simutaneously, they said, "Can I tell you something?"

They started at each other for a second and then Uta laughed, causing a smile to spread on Yoriichi's face. 

"You can go first," he said gently.

"We can say it at the same time?" she suggested.

Yoriichi didn't know how they would hear each other then, but he agreed. 

"On the count of three," Uta said. "One, two three."

"I think I like you," Yoriichi said at the same time Uta said, "I like you."

They blinked.

Flushed, Uta said quickly, "Y...You do?"

"Yes..." Yoriichi mumbled. "V...Very much so." His cheeks were a blotchy pink and both of them averted their eyes, unsure what to say.

"Uhm... Do you want to go out?" Uta asked nervously.

"I... I would!" Yoriichi said, his eyes shining much like hers did quite often. 

She laughed. "I'm so happy!"

"Me too," he said. "Me too."

{Word count: 2475}

WAHHAHSHA THEY'RE SO CUTE I'M GONNA CRY 😭

SHIT ENDING BUT YAYAYAYAY!!!

i forgot i was gonna say smth else but my stupid ass mind forgot what it was

Oh also

the title used to be "shy" bc i didn't know what to do BUT!!

i like this one better