Chapter Text
Most people gush over their high school years once they turn a certain age, saying it was ‘delightful as delightedness can be’, ‘It was more fun than anything ever’, or even ‘that was how I met your parent, they were my high-school sweetheart!’, but not for Atsushi. High school has proven to be the worst thing he will ever experience, considering the fact that he’s utterly in love with his childhood friend (and best friend) which everyone except said friend noticed and realized. Not only that, but Atsushi is painfully aware that said friend is very straight. Well, most of Atsushi’s friends tell him that said friend is ‘very gay for you’, but poor Atsushi doesn’t believe that.
Once again, he is left devastated at the fact that he will forever be lonely if he continues to fawn over his best friend unless he lets this small (well, technically huge) crush go and instead dates one of the students at the school instead of his very pretty, adorable and smart best friend who he is totally not in-love with. Totally.
Well, even if he feels terribly saddened by this, Atsushi must be at least somewhat productive, right? So why not help around the house a bit? Clean the house? Cook lunch (even though he sucks ass at cooking)? Ah, he’ll just ask Oda (or Ango!).
As Atsushi headed down the stairs, he noticed Kyouka, his younger sister, sitting on the sofa, looking through the mail.
“Oh, Atsushi. Look, someone sent you a letter,” Kyouka pointed towards a medium sized letter, black and white wax seal closing the letter as to not let the contents show. The most interesting part of the letter though, were the additions to it. Not only did the paper feel rich and thick, but the right side of the letter was tied with a black ribbon. This intrigued Atsushi, since he’s never received a letter with such care put into it in his sixteen years of life. “Seems like you have a secret admirer huh? Well, no biggie. It’s about time you date someone, I was getting tired of you being single,” Kyouka, sadly, pointed out. Well, it was moderately true, since Atsushi was still single, and, truthfully, wasn’t planning on getting with anyone except his best friend.
With the sudden appearance of this letter, Atsushi forgot all about his main goal, making this letter his top priority.
“What if the person sent me a death threat via letter?”, Atsushi whined, sitting on the couch beside Kyouka, observing the letter as he talked.
“I doubt anyone would hate you that much, unless…”, Kyouka muttered, placing a finger on her chin, “you probably flipped them off once and offended them. I mean, I can see you doing that…”
“Kyouka! Don’t joke about that! Can’t you see I’m truly concerned?!”
“Yes, you’re concerned that if this letter is actually a love letter, you actually have to respond, now, open it.”
Atsushi narrowed his eyes, opening the letter slowly, as if he were afraid it would explode at any given moment.
Instead of finding a death threat written on it, Atsushi found a decently sized paper (which looked very pretty, as the stains on it, probably cause the paper was dunked it tea, made it look old, yet gorgeous). Opening it more so he could take the paper out. Atsushi quickly skimmed through it, making sure he didn’t see any inappropriate things since Kyouka was anticipating his answer.
“Well, there isn’t a death threat here…”, Atsushi mumbled, giving the paper one last look over. “Let me see it!”, Kyouka said, making grabby hands towards the paper.
If Atsushi knew who the person who sent this was, he would’ve been a lot more intrigued and flattered. Yet the person could’ve sent this to the wrong person, or they were just a creep.
Seeing as there’s no harm in doing this, Atsushi gave Kyouka the paper, wincing slightly as she yanked the paper out of his hands.
Apologies if I bother you with this letter. I am writing this with not the idea of you reading it, but more so the idea of placing my feelings on paper. If I do decide to send this out to you, I hope this letter finds you in good shape.
From my time of knowing you, I have never thought I would ever feel this way. You always treated me and others with kindness, even if we didn’t deserve it. You manage to make everyone feel a lot better even if you aren’t contributing to or doing anything. I guess that’s just what you can do. It’s not as though I’m jealous, even if I may envy you a bit. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I find you very interesting.
You are everything I’m not. We’re pretty much polar opposites, yet that has never stopped me from being attracted to you.
As much as I admire you, I also find many things you do nerve-wracking and slightly annoying. You’re very stubborn, childish, and open with everyone. You act as though everyone is your friend. I just want to ask you how you do it. Do you not have trust issues?
I guess that’s a dumb question for me to ask, knowing I already know what you’ll say. Well, I don’t think my mind can keep up with me if I continue writing, since I am saying such good things about you.
Goodbye.
-A
“Do you think they got the right address? I doubt anyone actually thinks of me like this. Oh god, what if it’s a prank?”, Atsushi said, moving his hands frantically as if to prove a point.
“Calm down Atsushi. It’s definitely for you. It seems they know you well. Who do you think wrote it?” Kyouka replied, getting up from the sofa so she could go to the kitchen.
“Well, there’s Ryuu, but he’s my best friend and I doubt he’d write about me like this. There’s Gin , but she isn’t this formal, also, I’m pretty sure she’s a lesbian.. I have few upperclassmen and underclassmen whose names start with A, but…”
“Well, whatever the answer is, I don’t care anymore. I’m going to Elise’s house to hang out. Make sure to at least order lunch before 6.”
Atsushi sighed. It’s always like this with Kyouka. Of course, he doesn’t mind that much, but it’s a bit mean whenever you need genuine help for something. Then again, this isn’t as important, so it’s best to put it at the back of his head. As long as he has Ryuu, everything’ll be okay. He doesn’t need this mystery “secret admirer”.
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Ah, how bored Atsushi is. Unfortunately, Ryuu is out of town, visiting his distant family with his parents and Gin. Atsushi would’ve maybe called Dazai to hang out, but alas, he and Chuuya have gone out to watch a movie. Jūnichiro was also an option, but he’s sick with the flu (curse you Jūnichiro’s weak immune system!) so all that’s left is to mope around the house until either Kyouka or Oda come home.
Now now, Atsushi doesn’t have this little amount of friends. His other childhood friend, Lucy, is actually in Canada right now, also visiting her family. Kenji is currently on a date with Q (how did two 14 year olds get together before Atsushi and his future-husband?) so he’s out of the picture. All Atsushi could do was lounge in his living room, awaiting for his saviour to come.
Maybe Atsushi could work on his homework? It has been sitting on his desk for a few days without being touched, and tomorrow he goes back to school so…
Ah, the thing is, Atsushi always does his homework with Ryuu! But alas, he’s currently not in Yokohama. How saddening. Well, others do say Atsushi needs to work on doing work himself.
Well, to do good in school, sacrifices have to happen. How unfortunate. He was looking forward to working with Ryuu (he definitely wanted to work with him so he could finish his homework, NOT stare at Ryuu’s perfect face!)
Oh well. As said before, some sacrifices have to be made, even if you’re sacrificing the ability to look at your best friends enchanting face do you work with the help of your friend.