Chapter Text
“Did I ever tell you that you’re beautiful?” Satoru randomly complimented. You eyed him for a moment, unnerved by his sudden kindness. It seemed too forced, seemed too much. His aura was usually obnoxious and outweighed your mentality, so this act really put you off in a flurry of suspicion.
He seemed as if he had a motive, as if he wanted something.
As bone-chilling it was, the little girl in you squealed. You thought you abandoned your childhood crush years prior before you two became adults. Seemed it had made an appearance once more. “Are you okay?” You asked seriously, concerned for your friend’s wellbeing and for your own.
The snowy-haired male looked scandalized, “Why wouldn’t I be?” he spoke curtly, the edge to his voice running deeper the more you stood frozen with curiously.
“You seem sick,” you voiced.
Satoru merely blinked slowly before bursting in laughter that made him look like a mad-man. The need to slap him out of his amusement rang through your ears. “S-Satoru?” you reached out to pat him on the shoulder with forced reassurance. “You must’ve really liked that ex-girlfriend a lot if you’re reacting like this.”
“Gosh (Name)! Let me flirt you every once awhile! Oh and she wasn’t my girlfriend.”
You inwardly cringed. The thought of him making flirtatious gestures nagged your head. It wasn’t the fluttery butterflies plaguing your stomach but the sickening kind—the ones that made you want to throw up.
He snorted, pinking a tear away from the corner of his eyes. “A little flirting would’ve worked on any normal girl but I guess you’re not normal,” he laughed, “I’m joking of course!”
You should start planning his death.
“‘Kay, what do you need again? I’m not doing another bet,” you huffed, annoyed at how childish he was acting as he slapped his knee with joy. “Stop laughing I’m serious!” you pushed.
That shit-eating grin was permanent on his face. “So am I!” he linked his arm with yours, marveling at how smaller you were compared to him. “I need you to do me a little favor.”
“Little?” you narrowed your eyes. Hardly anything he asked of you was little. The time he ‘asked’ you to attend a meeting with the higher ups. The other time he took you a field trip to the mountains just to ‘ask’ you to take a picture of him high up in the clouds. You nearly died on that trip. “Define what you mean by a little favor?”
He shrugged with a nonchalant expression. “Okay not little but think of this as payment for all the times I stayed up with you until 3 a.m.”
You made a sound of offense, raising an eyebrow while you perched your hip higher. “What do you mean by stay up? You watched the show with that model you like so much while I finished your work!”
Satoru let out an awkward laugh, suddenly realizing how close you were as he saw the cut out of your low rise shirt. “My dearest (Name), let’s compromise okay? I was really bored!”
“That’s not an excuse,” you squeezed his arm harder.
Satoru almost felt ashamed of the lewd thoughts popping in his head with a little wave. Should he push you off or enjoy your anger a bit more?
“Please (Name). This is really urgent and I might die.”
You loosened your grip on his arm, “Die?” you questioned quietly, almost whispering as if you were afraid someone could hear. “What do you mean by die? How is that even possible?”
“Well first,” he gently took your arms off of his, regretting the loss of touch rather quickly. “You need to listen.”
You bite your cheek in deep thought, making a mental note to block his socials if this turned out to be a joke. “Go on...”
“The elders are planning to arrange with my some girl from this clan,” he started. “They’re saying I need to get married so I can pass on the Six Eyes.”
“And what does this have to do with me?” You cursed yourself for sounding insensitive. Your hatred for the higher-ups was shared mutually between you and him. It was one of the things you found decent about him.
“I need you to do something for me.”
You squinted for any sign of honesty in his eyes; he was telling the truth. “What is it?”
“Go out with me.”
Nearly choking on your words, you judged him playfully. “Huh? It isn’t April Fool’s Day today right? There’s no way you would tell me your fake story than ask me out. The Satoru I know wouldn’t do that,” you laughed in a monotonous tone, eyes closed as your continued to nudge him. You didn’t want to fall victim to his games again.
The first stage of grief was denial.
“No seriously I need you to be my girlfriend let me explain.”
You nodded rigorously, desperate for the answers you sought in this dire situation. You didn’t even care if it overwhelmed you. Desperation’s power was indeed formidable.
And so he explained and you felt even more confused. Why did he ask you of all people? Was this a joke he was pulling? You decided to ask him either way. “Satoru are you being for real?”
The glasses slid further down his nose as he leaned down to stare at you, his height giving him an advantage to peer down. “Yeah hundred percent for real.”
“Then why ask me? What about the girls you date for like two weeks?” you continued to persist.
He cooked his tongue, “You think I can? They want a sorcerer and you were my final option.”
The words ‘final option’ stuck with your head and glued onto your skin. Your hope that this charade was a silly joke grew stronger the longer you stood face-to-face with him. “When is this?”
He postured himself to his full height, nearly towering you in the process. “In a week.”
The stupid part of you made you want to feel petty in a negative direction. This might cost you more than it helped. “Sorry I’m already seeing someone.”
Satoru felt his insides disappear as if there was nothing there to begin with. His mouth remained an unsettling line amid the veins on his neck. He looked angry—no angry would be an understatement. He looked ready to kill.
‘Who’ was the first question that popped in his head. It seemed uncharacteristic of him to be acting possessive but he was never the same when it came to you. “Really?”
You nodded, “Yes really.” The lie wasn’t completely bullshit either. You were seeing someone. It was blind date but the two of you remained somewhat interested with one another. You reminded yourself to ask the man if he wanted to go out for dinner some time soon.
“Do I know him?” It’d make it easier if he did.
You shook your head, intrigued at what got him riled up. It was only a fraction of time but the furrowing of his brow and grimace he wore revealed it all. Satoru was never a predictable man but yet he faltered around you. Only you.
“No you don’t know him,” you widened your eyes once it hit you in the spot. “But if I don’t go you’ll die right?”
“I’m the strongest,” he chirped. “A bunch of geezers can’t kill me, but heartbreak may,” he dramatically flailed, pouting at your bewildered stare.
“You must’ve really liked that ex-girlfriend,” you cooed. “There, there.”
Satoru could feel his eye twitch at your dense profusion. He aimlessly took your hand with a delicate grip, swinging it around with a haphazard motion. “I told you it wasn’t like that. The engagement might cause me to die from stress though.”
Crossing your hands, you posed your neck higher and tilted your head, “Not my
problem-“ your stature shifted, as you started to second-guess yourself. “Can you die from stress? You’re not that old, right?”
“We’re the same age (Name),” he deadpanned, “Buttttt... I might die if you let go of my hand.”
You gripped his hand harder playfully laughing at the sight of his face. “You look like a fish.”
“You can really hurt a man’s ego huh...”
You shrugged with feigned sympathy, “My bad,” blinking profusely you shook his hand rapidly, the movement barely moving him yet it amusing him.
“Yes?” he chuckled at your approach to ask a question.
“Enough with dying. If you need me to pretend to be your girlfriend I’ll do it.” As soon as the words left your mouth you instantly slapped a hand to your mouth. ‘Oh my god.’
Satoru immediately latched himself onto you with an instinctive precision. His limbs wrapped around you in an iron clench—the sight of pretty blue eyes became visible once you peered behind his jacket’s sleeves. He was absolutely delighted.
His eyes were so different in moments like this. Dazed with a stupor, you nearly fell infatuated with the unknown emotion swirling in the rings of his gaze. It was nearly impossible to ignore the protruding hues of his eyes; they seemed as if they had a mind of their own.
Looking down swiftly, you racked your brain for an ingenuity that could balance your composure. Glancing to the side would be futile as the warm air of his breath burned the side of your neck. Trying to free yourself from his hold would only make him see it as a challenge to persist. It was pointless. There was no way you could hide the red creeping up your face.
“Huh? What is this~?” It had already started.
Satoru’s hands danced along your throat, a touch that made you stuck in a dilemma: to lean in or to lean out?
“Why are you blushing when you said it cutie?”
“W-What?” You ended up leaving away from his touch. “I’m not blushing you’re being delusional Satoru,” you cursed yourself for stuttering.
“Shhh,” he cooed, enlightened that he was lucky enough to see that flustered expression of yours. It made him want to monopolize you. He was a nice guy though. “I didn’t know you wanted to be my fake girlfriend so badly~”
“Am not! You know what-“ you squirmed against his ridiculously strong grip. For a man so obsessed with sweets he sure had the strength of a thousand. “You can die for all I care!”
“Nope,” he emphasized the ‘p’ with a pop to his vowel. “Not when you agreed to being my girlfriend—or fake girlfriend.”
“But-“
“Didn’t you wanted to marry me as a kid?” he interrupted impassively, the shit-eating grin lenient on never letting go of that memory.
It was true. The two of you were practically inseparable growing up. It was such a shame really—to see that sweet boy grow up into a piece of shit was nearly painful.
“As a kid Satoru,” you corrected him. “Don’t forget that you proposed to me with a ring pop when we were kids too.”
The snowy-haired shaman merely placed his head on your shoulder. If any other bystander were to see this scene with their owns eyes they’d be convinced that you two were being lovey-dovey. With the way his arms were wrapped around you comfortably, his back arching so he could match your height; the way you subconsciously played around with his fingers, rubbing his thumb as it were a habit; the overall pleasant atmosphere you two radiated in your own way—it seemed borderline normal, nothing too controversial.
“You still accepted,” Satoru chirped. “So are you going to do it? Or is that date of yours getting in the way?”
You sighed softly, a frown permanent on your face. “No one is getting the way Satoru. Yes I’ll do it, but you owe me big time.”
As if your words were absolute truth to the shaman, he untangled his limbs from your waist. “Okay~ The first task is to meet my family.”
That’s when you pulled back completely from his arms. “Huh? What?”
“You need to meet the-“
“I heard what you said!” you scampered to regain your footing. “What? Like in a week?”
He simply smiled, “Whenever they say so.”
The blunt of his words nearly took half of your lifespan. When was ‘whenever?’ Will this burlesque of a soap opera end sooner or later? You didn’t know anymore. It was almost as it the heavens were laughing down at you.
“W-When is that?”
You could feel your reality crash when you heard his mocking laugh. “I have no idea!” he grinned.
You had played in his hands once again.