NOVEL NEXT Arc 3, Ch.17: Fluffs fluffying fluffier than fluffy
“You’re not playing around with him, are you?”, they questioned, eyes squinting. Under their scrutiny, I depended on Yuji taking stance next to me for support. Uncomfortable at being under their eyes, I chewed the inside of my cheek.
[Don't be scared. You can do it.]
I swallowed, then tried to retort.
“I’m not, but that isn’t really any of your business…” Because it isn't. No one else should need to care about my relationship.
My voice was a bit too powerless for that sentence, but one way or another they relaxed.
“We just don’t want him to be unhappy, but if you’re serious about him, then that’s fine. We’re fine with just watching!”
I’m sure you are.
I had some doubts, but maybe those girls were just like Mizuki - aware of the number of people following him with hidden intentions. Not that surprising that people might question why I am into him.
“Girls, he doesn’t have the strongest guts, so don’t surround him like hyenas, alright?”, Yuji scolded carefully, and they gave a twitch. It looked like they did know that what they were doing was crossing boundaries. ...Or maybe no one had ever called them out on it.
“We just wanted to ask”, they justified themselves before hurrying away.
I exhaled and sunk lower. Mama Yuji was next to me, patting my head and speaking gently.
“See? It’s not that hard to chase them away.”
I answered quietly, exhausted. “Being gay is not a nice thing. The tolerance towards it has risen, but it’s still far from normal. I’ve spent years worrying about how people around me would react if they found out. Even though everyone is being supportive, that fear doesn’t just vanish, you know?”
He didn’t answer, maybe because he knew I didn’t want one. He just stayed by my side for five, ten quiet seconds, then went back to his place.
Until the teacher arrived, I just stared out of the window.
Kaoru was literally laughing his ass off when I started the webcam for chatting.
I could see him in the corner of my screen, wearing his headset, and heard his laughing through my speaker. We were meeting up online for a dungeon, so we had started a videochat since it was funnier.
Today, Mizuki had spontaneously come over - to the delight of the female half of my family - and had decided to stay until late hours, when his parents would drive by and take him along home if he didn't feel like staying over night. A spontaneous decision.
He had taken his place on my lap, lounging there while reading, and had refused to move even as I pulled my laptop over.
So, the situation was us two sitting on the bed, Mizuki lying so low his head was under my chin, reading, and I above him, looking into the camera. I was speaking using my laptop microphone today, since I didn’t want to wear the headset (since I wouldn’t be able to hear Mizuki talking).
The sight must have looked rather amusing, with my wry smile and Mizuki’s overly serious reading-face.
“Is that comfortable? I can’t imagine that it’s comfortable”, Tarou mused loudly.
Mizuki looked up, blinking into the camera. “It is.”
“Sigh, I want a girlfriend that I can put under my chin, too. Is it fine for you to play when he’s at your place? Don’t you have better things to do?”
“...My family is at home, you know?”, I responded, cursing Kaoru’s dirty mind. “And he doesn’t mind. He’s reading, after all. He’s just as distracted as I am.”
“Darn, though. I wanted to press you for details, but he’s here. I decided it doesn’t matter whether you have a girl- or boyfriend. Just gimme those stories.”
“Don’t mind me”, Mizuki commented.
“Wait, don’t allow him, or he will-”
“Nice! So what’s it like? Different from porn? Is it very different with a guy? I heard it hurts like hell for a guy at first, is that true? How did you decide when the time is right?”
“...-ask way too many private questions.”
“My god, Kaoru. Are you serious?”
“Hahaha! What the fuck! Do you even want to hear those answers?”
“Why not? Not like I can ask anyone else about their experience with sex, can I? We’re a group of virgins!”
“I almost feel like answering in a way that possibly fits any of these questions and let him wonder which one I answered”, Mizuki answered thoughtfully, stopping after turning a page. I felt a sweatdrop roll down my forehead.
“Huh? Could you?”
“Well, three of those were yes-or-no questions at least.”
“Oh oh! Answer, please!”
“Alright then. ‘Yes.’”
“...Okay. Let me think. For which one does that make sense…”
Yuji shook his head. “This feels like someone just having found a new puppy they can toy with.”
“It’s the puppy’s fault for being easy to bait, though…”
Mizuki snuggled himself into a more comfortable position in my arms, shortly causing the conversation to stop. I kept my lips from trembling, trying to ignore my blazing face at their staring.
“Say what you want”, Yuji commented. “but you two look like a freshly married couple.”
“Right! So when you two gonna move together?”
I opened my mouth to answer - that we weren’t going to rush, that we weren’t ready, some kind of excuse.
Mizuki spoke before I could.
“Few months. Gonna share when we’ve moved.”
…
“Whoaa! What the fuck, Riku, you didn’t tell us?!”
“Hey now! Why were you hiding that?”
“When did you decide on that?”
“We didn’t”, I gasped, shocked, and looking down. “It’s the first time I’m hearing this!”
Mizuki blinked up at me with a languid expression. “Hm? I thought the only problem of this was my opinion. So, as soon as I agreed, we were going to move together, right?”
Uh, true? I mean, yes, I had made it obvious that I would love us moving together, but Mizuki hadn’t said anything yet so I guessed he didn’t want to.
On that note: Our parents already prodded us on that topic. My parents felt like I was less stressed when Mizuki was around, and his parents were overjoyed to find out that I knew how to cook, wash and do all the other household tasks…
Something that Mizuki was amusingly bad at.
Basically, they agreed and even preferred us living together, but we hadn’t said anything yet.
I stared at Mizuki, who placed a kiss on my chin from the low angle.
“Complaints?”
“...None.”
“In a few months, then.”
“...Yeah, you’re actual newly-weds. Oh well. As long as you’re happy…” - Oh my god they're still there -
“Who would have thought Riku would be the first to end up with such a stable relationship?”
“...All thanks to my game system that helps with dialogue choices. Or do you think I could have managed talking to him without help?”
I joked around a bit until I heard Mizuki hum thoughtfully.
“What?”
“How long have you liked me exactly?”
Since the middle of year one? So, two years? Can we not talk about this?
I shut my mouth and tilted my head up to stare at the ceiling.
“Gaaaay.”
“Obviously, idiot.”
“I gotta say, your interactions are hilarious to watch. I can kinda see why the fujoshis like you.”
I glared at them - a bit, at least - and changed the topic.
In fact, I had lied, my family wasn’t home and Mizuki was likely going to stay the night. I had been looking forward to that ever since he told me he was going to come along, using everything possible to distract my mind from wandering thoughts.
It can’t be helped, it has already been quite a few days since we did it, and my thoughts were still circling about him saying that there was no need to wait longer than for his body to rest.
Also, for nighttime.
It actually wouldn’t change too much, funnily. The house was empty anyway and shutters open or closed didn’t matter considering you couldn’t peek into my windows.
Still, there was a weird sense of shame I felt at the thought of doing so many intimate things while the sun was up. ...Again.
Since I looked like an abandoned puppy the moment the sky darkened, he had gotten my drift quite fast.
Sitting on the bed, he simply put away his book and crooked a suggestive finger at me.
I jumped over.
