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1.)
Tamaki Amajiki had never been good with people or feelings or confrontation or confessions— or anything social really. Mirio, on the other hand, was outgoing. He loved talking to anyone and everyone, making them laugh and smile. He could make conversation with even the crankiest people. And Tamaki was drawn to him like a moth to the sun. He’d had a crush on Mirio for years now, pathetically enough. Nejire had been his only confident for his feelings all this time and she’d been pushing him to ask Mirio out.
After two whole years, Tamaki had finally relented and agreed to finally confess to Mirio. She gave him the courage, hyped him up, made him repeat affirmations, and sent him on his way.
As Tamaki walked closer and closer to Mirio’s dorm, he could feel all the confidence he’d built slowly dwindling into anxiety. By the time he reached his door, he was a shaking mess. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his palms. He shakily balled his hand into a fist and raised it slowly to knock on the door. He rapped his knuckles and waited, clenching his fists at his side. Soon, the door opened and Mirio was standing there. Beautiful, bright, wonderful Mirio with his golden hair and bright blue eyes.
Oh god. He couldn’t do this. Tamaki absolutely could not do this. He stared at the boy and his mouth gaped open and closed like a goldfish.
“Hey Tama! What’s up?” Mirio smiled warmly at Tamaki and that was it. He knew he couldn’t do it. He felt his face heat up rapidly.
“I- uh- I- I,” he stuttered pathetically. “M-Mirio I- uh- um- I”
Oh lord this was so embarrassing. Shut your mouth Tamaki! He needed to stop talking immediately. Well, if you could even count his muttered stumbles talking.
“Are you alright Tamaki? You’re all red and your stuttering is worse than usual. I thought you didn’t get that nervous around me anymore?” Mirio’s smile dropped and was replaced by a look of concern.
“I- yes! Fine! I’m fine! Goodbye!” Tamaki said much louder than he needed or meant to before running away as fast as he could without looking like a total fool.
Oh god. He really can’t do this.
2.)
“Come on, Tamaki! You got this,” Nejire said in her upbeat voice. “You spent all week perfecting these chocolates, he’ll love them!”
“But what if he doesn’t like them? O-Or he gets other Valentine’s Day chocolates and likes those more?” Tamaki couldn’t help but worry. He had made chocolates for Mirio for Valentine’s Day but he’d never done this before. They didn’t look awful but what if Mirio hated them?
“You’re overthinking this, Tama! Mirio would love them even if they looked and tasted like crap because they’re from you,” she attempted to reassure him, though it only made it worse.
“Do they taste bad!?” He shot his eyes up to hers.
“What? No! They taste great Tamaki! It was hypothetical!” She facepalmed. She loved Tamaki, really, but he was so dense sometimes. Mirio was clearly in love with him too, but she didn’t want to outright say that, it wasn’t her confession to make.
“Oh god I should just trash them! He’s gonna hate them!” Tamaki slumped to the floor, huddling his head between his knees and his hands over his head.
“Tamaki, come on.” She poked his head gently. “You’re being ridiculous. This is Mirio we’re talking about. He loves anything. You even wrote him a card with a pun! He loves that stuff.
“What if the pun is too corny for him? He’s gonna hate it! I can’t do this Nejire!” He whined.
“Tamaki. Mirio literally made a joke the other saying he’s ‘to gato go’, I think corny puns are the last thing you have to worry about,” she countered.
“But-“
“No buts! You’re going to go give Mirio those chocolates and confess to him and you’re gonna stop being a wuss!” She declared, pulling him up and shoving the heart shaped box with the note attached to it into his hands.
Tamaki let out a long sigh. “Okay. Yeah. I can do it.”
“That’s the spirit! Go get em’ tiger!” She cheered and Tamaki headed towards Mirio’s dorm.
All he had to do was knock and hand him the box. He didn’t even have to talk. Once Mirio read the note, he’d understand everything. The note was a love confession and had everything Tamaki wanted to say written down. All he had to do was lock and give it to him. Knock and hand it over. Knock and hand it over. He repeated it like a mantra in his head the whole way up the stairs and down the corridor that felt longer than it was.
He stopped and stared at the door to Mirio’s room. He knocked quickly and waited. He could do this. He’d give Mirio the box and note and Mirio would read it and then… and then what? What if Mirio declined? Would that make things awkward between them? Would he lose his best friend of years? Oh god. He hasn’t thought this through. Through the door he could hear Mirio’s footsteps approaching the door. He couldn’t do this.
He set the chocolates down, ripped the note off them, and dashed away as fast as possible. Right as he rounded the corner, he heard the door open and Mirio’s confused muttered. He heard him pick up the chocolates and then the closing of the door. Tamaki sighed and slouched against the wall. He had been a coward, once again. How could he ever expect to be a hero and fight villains if he couldn’t even confess to his crush?
Later on, after Tamaki received an earful for bailing again from Nejire, the two along with Mirio went out to a cafe to look at some Valentine’s Day specials.
“It was so weird earlier! I heard someone knock on my door but when I opened it, there was just a heart shaped box with chocolates inside. They looked home made too. I wish they’d left a note or something so I could’ve at least thanked them,” Mirio recounted what had happened earlier, only he hadn’t known it was the boy who was sitting right in front of him who’d left those chocolates there.
Tamaki tensed up at the mentioned of his embarrassing fail.
“Yeah weird. I wonder who could’ve done that,” she said in a tight voice, subtly glancing over at Tamaki who slumped in on himself. “Were they at least good?”
“Yeah! Honestly they were probably the best chocolates I’ve ever had! They were sweet but not too sweet, ya know?”
“R-Really?” Tamaki looked up at Mirio, his eyes widening slightly.
“Yeah! I wish I had knew who gave them to me. I would’ve loved to thank them,” he said wistfully.
Tamaki slouched in his seat again. He was never going to confess at this rate.
3.)
White day was tomorrow. Another chance for Tamaki to redeem himself. This time he’d really do it. He’d spent all week learning how to bake cookies (with Nejire’s help, of course) and finally perfected a recipe. S’more cookies. Pieces of chocolate and marshmallows cooked into the dough. Mirio had always talked about how much he wanted to try the American delicacy and what better way to confess than make him what he really wants?
“These cookies turned out great, Tamaki!” Nejire said as she shoved one into her mouth.
“You think? Don’t eat too many or there won’t be enough.”
“Okey dokey. And yes they’re very tasty. Mirio will love them.” She patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve got this Tama! Third times the charm!”
“That’s an American saying,” he pointed out.
“These are an American delicacy,” she countered.
“You know what, fair point.”
The next day, Tamaki brought the cookies he made to school, carefully placing them in a container so they wouldn’t get broken. He had written another note but this time it wasn’t attached straight to the pastry itself. He planned to give him the cookies first then the note. At least, that was the plan. All day Tamaki kept looking for the right moment to give Mirio the cookies, and all day he couldn’t find one. Mirio was a really popular student, he knew that, but it didn’t really hit him until he needed a moment alone with him. Mirio was constantly surrounded by people.
By the time lunch came around, Tamaki still hadn’t had a chance to give Mirio the cookies. He sat down at the table with Mirio and for the first time that day, they were alone. Well, this was it. This time he’d to it.
“Hey Mirio-“ he started but was immediately interrupted by Nejire coming over and plopping down.
“Hi cuties!” She squealed happily. “Mirio, how were the cookies Tama gave you?”
Tamaki wanted to die. Nejire was going to kill him he just knew it.
“Cookies? What cookies?” Mirio tilted his head like a confused dog and looked at Tamaki.
“I- um- I baked you cookies,” he stuttered and reaching into his backpack, pulling out the plastic container and placing it in the middle of the table.
“For me? But why?”
This was it.
“B-Because- um- I wanted to- uh- I- I was t-t-trying to- for- for both of you!” He said finally and turned his face away. He couldn’t do it.
Nejire gave him an incredulous look. He knew he’d be hearing all about this later.
“Oh! For both me and Nejire? How sweet of you Tama! What kind are they?” He grabbed the container to inspect the treats.
“S’mores.”
“Really?” He looked up at Tamaki hopefully. “I’ve wanted to try s’mores cookies for a while now! I just never had the time to get around to baking! Thanks Tama!” He smiled and Tamaki’s heart skipped a beat.
“Don’t thank me yet, you haven’t tried them,” he murmured.
“Oh shush I’m sure they’re great,” Mirio exclaimed. He opened the container and grabbed a cookie, taking a bite. “These are so good! I didn’t know you were such a good baker Tama!”
“You think so? Really?” He looked up nervously.
“Yeah!” Mirio smiled at him and he felt his face heat up.
He couldn’t do it. His heart stopped any time Mirio looked at him, or smiled, or laughed, or made a joke, or did anything really. His breath caught in his throat just thinking about trying to say those words. The note in his backpack now felt like a 100 pound bomb. He most positively could not give it to Mirio. He couldn’t risk losing his friendship with him and losing all of this. Losing his sun. It wasn’t worth it.
Tamaki had given up on ever confessing.
-1.)
Tamaki headed through the halls of the dormitory, duffle bag in his hand. Mirio had invited him and Nejire over for a sleepover. He said with how much time they all spend with education, work studies, and practice hero work, they rarely got time to spend together anymore. Tamaki arrived at his door and rapped his knuckles quickly on the wood. A few moments later, an eagerly smiling Mirio answered.
“Hey Tama! I’m glad you could make it! Come in.” He moved out of the way to let Tamaki inside.
“Hi Mirio. Is Nejire not here yet?” He responded as he stepped inside, Mirio closing the door behind him.
“Uh no. About that, she couldn’t make it tonight,” he said and Tamaki could’ve sworn her heard a hint of nervousness in his voice.
“Oh. Okay then.” Tamaki suddenly became a lot more anxious. Hanging out with Mirio along with Nejire was fine. But hanging out alone with him? It felt like a trap for his raging feelings to try and burst free.
“Is that an issue?”
“No it’s fine. So, what did you wanna do?” Tamaki asked, setting down his duffle bag.
“I planned some activities for us! Come on!” He cheered and started pulling out some stuff.
The rest of the night was full of random and fun activities that almost made Tamaki forget about his anxieties completely. They tried to cook dinner for themselves but it turns out Mirio isn’t particularly skilled in that aspect. He had Mirio on cutting duty until he sliced his finger. After bandaging it up he sent Mirio off to be on cooking duty instead which only consisted of watching the food, mixing it at appropriate times, and taking it off when it was done. However, apparently the instructions weren’t very clear and the veggies Mirio was watching went up in flames. After a few panic filled minutes, they managed to put out the fire without the fire alarm going off (somehow) and decided maybe takeout was the best option for them tonight.
After they finished eating, Mirio pulled out air dry clay. He said he’d seen something about both participants trying to make an animal or certain thing and seeing who does it best. They attempted to make a squid, cat, turtle, penguin, and shark before ultimately giving up. Neither of the two were very skilled when it came to artsy stuff and all their animals ended up looking like a first grade art project.
After resigning their art projects, the two finally settled down on Mirio’s bed to watch a movie on his laptop.
“What movie you wanna watch?” Mirio asked Tamaki.
“I’m fine with whatever honestly.”
“Hmm.. what about ‘Hero’s Mission?’” Mirio suggested. He knew that movie was Tamaki’s favorite, no matter how many times he’s watched it.
“Yeah sure,” he agreed.
As Mirio hit play, Tamaki had to scoot in closer to get a better look at the screen. His arm was pressed right up against Mirio’s. They were practically squished up against one another. It didn’t help that Mirio was so bulky (not that Tamaki didn’t enjoy the view). After a while of the movie, Tamaki started to doze off. His head lolled to the side a couple times. He almost fell asleep until her heard the movie pause and Mirio cleared his throat.
“Um. Tamaki?” Mirio said nervously. Tamaki was now fully awake again and looking over at Mirio.
“What’s up?”
“Nejire… she didn’t cancel plans on us,” he admitted.
“What do you mean?” Now Tamaki was confused.
“I- never invited her. I mean, she knows we’re having this hangout but I didn’t invite her to it for a reason that she knows about.” Mirio glanced around apprehensively.
“Which is?” Tamaki prompted for him to continue.
“I- wanted to tell you something.”
Tamaki nodded, his breath catching in his throat. This couldn’t be… could it?
“I… I really like you, Tamaki. You’re so awesome and cool. You’re an amazing hero and person. You’re always inspiring me to try harder and get better and become the best hero I can be. I honestly don’t think I could’ve made it this far without you. You really mean a lot to me and,” he hesitated for a moment before continuing, “if you don’t feel the same way it’s okay. I really hope we can still be friends and all that because I really don’t wanna lose you. I just- I couldn’t hold these feelings inside anymore.”
The silence hung between the two as Tamaki stared at Mirio in shock, his mouth hanging open slightly. After a long moment, Mirio spoke again.
“Tama? Please say something, you’re making me nervous here,” he laughed out anxiously.
“You- you like me? Romantically?” He finally muttered out.
“Yes.” Mirio nodded.
“Like… like like?” He asked again.
“Yes, Tamaki. I like like you.”
“Oh.” He stared at the blonde and could feel his face burning.
“Do you… do you like me too?” Mirio asked hesitatingly.
“Whu- oh! Yes! Yes I l-like you too Mirio,” he stuttered out awkwardly.
Mirio broke out into the biggest grin Tamaki had ever seen on his face, which was a hard record to beat considering Mirio smiled a lot. He lunged forward and wrapped his hands around Tamaki, pulling him into a tight, almost strangling hug.
“I can’t believe it. You really like me back?” Mirio practically squealed and Tamaki found a smile on his face too.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I? You’re perfect, Mirio,” he said, snuggling his face into the blondes shoulder in embarrassment.
Mirio pulled back, staring him into the eyes before his eyes flicked down to Tamaki’s lips quickly before they went back to his eyes.
“Tama can I… can I kiss you? Please?” Mirio’s eyes once again darted between his eyes and lips.
Tamaki’s breath caught in his throat once again as he nodded. Mirio leaned in and pressed his lips against Tamaki’s. He had to be dreaming right now. Mirio felt so warm and his lips were soft. He leaned further into the kiss, tentatively raising his hands up to grab Mirio’s arms that were holding his face. The kiss lasted longer than either of them thought it would (with no complaints on either end) and when they pulled back, both the boys had dopey grins on their red faces. Tamaki couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all. He’d tried three times to confess to Mirio and had still been beaten at his own game. Not that he was complaining.
“Does this mean we’re dating now?” Mirio asked hopefully.
“If you want to be.” Tamaki replied.
“I do. I really really do. If you’ll let me. Tamaki, can I be your boyfriend? Please?” He stared down at Tamaki with a silly grin and puppy dog eyes.
“I would like that a lot,” Tamaki answered as he shoved his head down into Mirio’s chest to his the embarrassment that flushed his face.
He felt a kiss pressed into the crown of his head before strong arms wrapped around his shoulders and help him close. He sighed and relaxed into it, suddenly feeling the most calm he had in a while. He started drifting off the sleeping, basking in the comfort of his now boyfriend’s arms.
(Extra:
Nejire sat on her bed when her phone chimed with a picture. The picture consisted of a sleeping Tamaki snuggled into a very giddy Mirio’s chest. Mirio’s head was slightly buried in the mass of black hair but even through it all she could see his wide grin.
<Sent> Omg you did it????
<Mirio!!> Yep! He accepted it and now we’re boyfriends!!!! <33
<Mirio!!> I’m so happy Nejire
<Sent> Finally one of you is brave enough to do it!!
<Mirio!!> wdym??
<Sent> Tamaki tried to confess to you
<Sent> Like 3 times
<Mirio!!> WHATT???? WHEN?
<Sent> Once on that one random day he knocked at ur door, babbled, and ran away
<Sent> Again on Valentine’s Day, he was the one who left those chocolates btw
<Sent> And again on white day. Those cookies he baked were only for you, not both of us. He just got freaked out and changed it
<Mirio!!> Omg I’m an idiot.
<Sent> You are but it’s okay bc you’ve got the best wing woman ever!
<Mirio!!> We definetly do! Thanks Nejire!!
<Sent> No problem! Now get back to being all gross and cuddly like I know you are
<Mirio!!> O7 )