Ryuji X Reader: I Lied
“I lied…” “Wait, you lied? You didn’t tell her?”
Ryuji rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. There’s no confidence in the way he avoids eye contact with Morgana, or the way he keeps glancing over the bouquet of flowers on the table.
“I told her they were for someone else,” he mumbles, and even before Morgana answers, Ryuji knows he’s in for it.
“You did what?!” The cat jumps down from the stool at the front of the cafe and up to the table, beside the flowers. “Why?” he asks, and there’s not half the trace of teasing as much as there’s just genuine disbelief. It makes Ryuji wince on the inside.
“I just panicked, alright! When she came up to me and asked who the flowers were for, I told her they were for a friend.”
Morgana looks directly at him. There’s a little swish to his tail as he waves it about, and Ryuji can’t help but feel like it’s counting down the seconds till the both of them come to the conclusion he’s a certified imbecile: tick tock, tick tock, tick -
“Wow. I mean, I know I joked about you being an idiot before, but even I could have never predicted this.”
Ryuji smacks his head against the table.
There’s the scent of coffee about, but all it works to do is make him dizzy. He doesn’t even like coffee. The only reason he keeps coming back here is because he likes the way she looks in an apron.
Hell, he even pretends to like drinking it when she makes it for him - because maybe, just maybe, seeing her go through all the trouble to prepare the blend just for him makes his heart leap to his throat in a way that’s worth whatever bitterness his tongue has to endure.
(Besides, it smells a little bit like her, and that kind of makes it alright.)
“You realise that you’ve really done it this time, right?” Morgana says, and Ryuji can’t say he was expecting anything more encouraging. “Valentine’s day is tomorrow, and she’s not exactly unpopular; her phone was blowing up all day.”
“Wait, it was?” He asks, and immediately deflates. “Oh man. I knew she was out of my league, but…” he trails off, and deep lines wrinkle his forehead. Morgana thinks this is probably what heartbreak looks like.
“Yeah. Out of all those messages, she decided to hang out with you for today, and you still managed to mess it up. Honestly, I can’t even say I’m surprised.”
Another bang rattles the entire table as Ryuji slams his head against the desk, but he doesn’t even bother to sit up this time. Instead, he rolls on his forehead to stare at the wall. His entire face is scrunched up, like he’s bracing himself for a physical hit.
“Who else was there?” he asks, knowing it’ll hurt.
“As if I’d remember them all. Half of them were names I’d never heard of.” Morgana leans down on his front paws to stretch. In truth, he’s kind of enjoying this. Whether it’s because he treasures every chance he has at putting Ryuji down (likely) or because there’s still unrelieved bitterness from when he stared forlornly over her shoulder to look at her phone, wishing desperately for a human body that would be more to her liking, (still likely, if he’s honest) he can’t tell.
“Even Yusuke asked her if she was free to go to some kind of museum for the day,” Morgana continues. “I didn’t even realise he knew what Valentine’s day was.”
Ryuji looks surprised.
“Really? I’m getting competition from him?”
“Yeah,” Morgana says, like it’s obvious, “and Mishima.”
There’s a long groan that comes from Ryuji, out from where tangles of frustration frizzle in his stomach. It helps a little at first, because he feels himself get less annoyed, but they’re quickly replaced by long, stringy, clumps of despondence.
Ryuji knocks his head against the table a couple more times for good measure, but he can’t muster up the effort to put any force into it anymore. Morgana catches himself enjoying Ryuji’s despair, and this time he’s sure it’s because he feels the same thing himself.
He wants to drive the point home.
“You can’t even take them to her and apologise. She’ll totally think the other girl rejected you and she’s your rebound.”
It’s not necessarily true, but for the moment, it can be.
“I’m totally screwed,” he says, and Morgana thinks he can hear his voice crack a little.
“Yeah,” Morgana answers, and sits next to Ryuji.
(‘The both of us are,’ he nearly says.)
