#izumika for my soul

[tsundere-model]

[Day 10 + Mika] Blind Date

Setting: Simple college AU. Izumi and Mika have never met before.

No, he wasn’t interested in a blind date. He insisted once and twice and thrice, from several days prior to the date in question and with a whole dissertation on the many reasons why it was destined to fail.

Naru was, however, as stubborn as expected; easily ignore his many complains and laughing off his arguments.

“It’s a good boy Izu-chan, you’re gonna love him. I can guarantee” she would say with that adorable little smile that made it impossible to say no.

Still he tried. He knew he was destined to fail, and that as long as she had decided on it, he would end up in that blind date whether he wanted it or not. But he tried.

He wouldn’t find love in a blind date of all places, he insisted. It would be a big failure, he argued. He didn’t wanted to waste his time like this on his birthday of all days, he protested.

And yet, when the day came, he was right on time to the agreed place, dressed up and with just the slightest bit of makeup -as suggested by beauty guru herself, Arashi Narukami-.

Indeed, while he was certain the date would be a complete miss, he refused to look anything less than perfect for it. Both for his pride and to correspond to Arashi’s kindness - because yes, he was aware her intentions were nothing but good, and she probably truly believed he’d love the guy.

A quiet sigh, he sat down in one of the tables to wait, already counting the lateness as a minus point for the guy.

“Awa! Yer Sena-san, aintcha?” It had been maybe a couple of minutes when he heard the loud voice from over the crowd, addressing him in a strong accent “Did I madya wait too long?”

Looking up from his book, Izumi peered into the stranger he had been set up with, apologetic blue and golden eyes meeting up with him right away.

The guy in question was rather tall, with tousled black hair tied in a small ponytail and clothes that seemed a bit too big for his frame, his turtleneck swallowing all the way to his chin with ease.

Though the fashion sense of the guy made him crook and eyebrow, he had to admit his face was very beautiful even if a bit childish -though it was probably because of his nervous wide eyes and pursed lips-, with those heterochromic completing the painting. If anything, Naru had a good eye for what Izumi considered ‘attractive’.

“Yeah, that’s me. I hope you have a good reason for making me wait” he started, making a small gesture for the other to sit down in front of him.

“Ah… no… it ain’t somethin’ that can justify my gettin’ late…” he looked up expecting for the explanation to follow and the guy perked up slightly, quickly restarting the engine of his words “I ain’t much of a fan of bein’ outside, yanno? Crowds make me feel uneasy… i tried to avoid bein’ stared at and ended up goin’ in the wrong direction… so then i had to run here.”

… for real? For real. He didn’t seemed to be lying -and why would someone lie in such an outrageous way in the first place?

“Hmmn, was it really okay to pick a cafe for this then?” he questioned back, quickly scanning their surroundings. It was one of the currently more popular cafes, with reservations needed one week in advance -which also meant all the tables were occupied.

“It’s fine! Don’t mind me! Naru-chan said ya’d like a fashionable place so I tried to pick one… Is it maybe… not to yer likin’?” the cheery tone from the start seemed to die out into a much lower and shaky tone by the end. What a curious guy.

“So you picked it… I thought it might have been Naru-chan, since she has done nothing but talk about this place for the past month” Izumi finally replied, fingers reaching forward to lift the menu and give it a look “That’s to say I don’t mind it. I was curious about it anyway”

Sneaking a glance from the menu to the guy, he noticed the other’s expression seemed to have returned to normal

“So… I actually don’t know much about you. Except that you are Naru-chan’s friend from college… Mind telling me a bit more about yourself? Maybe starting by your name?” he asked gently, worrying just a bit that this wild-animal would run in fear if he pressed too hard.

“Ah! R-right…My name is Kagehira Mika. I’m a fashion designer…” he explained, still timid and fidgety. Maybe he was feeling intimidated? Or simply didn’t liked Izumi (or the date) all that much? “Naru-chan talks a lot ‘bout ya so it kinda feels like I already know ya... sorry ‘bout that”

“Hmnn” another look down, Izumi finally settled for a seafood salad and a green smoothie, putting a finger on top of the order as if to not forget until the waitress arrived to their table “Fashion designer, you say… What kind of things do you design? LIke… the kind of thing Naru-chan wears?”

The heterochromic eyes that until then had been having a hard time picking where to look at, finally looked directly at him, sparkles appearing right on them. It seemed like asking about his job had been a good choice.

“I… I like frills and lace the most… so I often do lady outfits” he explained, a hand going to the bag on his side, fishing around it for a few moments before pulling out a sketchbook of yellow pages and flipping it a couple of times to show some of the designs.

He felt compelled to tell him to stop, as he wasn’t really asking for a whole explanation, but his words disappeared in his mouth right away.

It was amazing. The lines seemed to have life and the colors made it easy to guess the fabrics that had been planned for it, little cuts of said fabric also taped to the paper along with little comments in black marker.

“I like the blue one” he found himself saying, and the guy grinned from side to side cheerfully.

“That one is my current fave… it’ll be my final project this semester! Ya can see all these layers here?” he pointed with a long and pretty nail “It all has to be cut and sewn in a circular progression and connected to the corset on this side...”

Completely absorbed in his own world, the timid guy continued to talk about all the details in the dress he wanted to made. How he had picked some of the fabric and even dyed part of it himself to get the exact color, and how he had been working in the details first because he lacked a model that could really pull it off.

When the waitress finally arrived, the guy asked for a simple sandwich and a dark coffee with plenty of sugar before continuing his animated talk.

And he hated to admit it. He really did. But it was kind of fun to hear him talk like this. His love for his own work just soaking every word he said, and making it all sound so very interesting.

He only stopped when the food had arrived and suddenly, he realized his date had been in absolute silence for the past many minutes. To which he apologized profusely and sincerely -like everything he did apparently.

“It’s fine. It was surprisingly entertaining to hear you talk” He admitted. Simple and direct, the straw now caught in between his lips as he took a long sip of the smoothie. Tasty. As expected.

On the other side of the table, Mika was now blushing hard, not even daring to reach out to his own coffee or sandwich. Which was amusing in its own right, but almost a bit cruel.

“You want me to talk now so we’re even?” he asked, finding the other’s nervousness was decidedly good at bringing his kind side to the forefront. With a nod from the other, he tried to think of something he could talk about himself.

So he decided to talk about work too. It was most of what he did anyway, so he had plenty to talk about when it came to that. About the latest photoshoots he had, and about how the make-up artist hadn’t arrived on time, and about how he felt limited by the ‘cool and princely’ style when he’d like to try different things.

Much to his surprise, Mika’s expression was the same now as it was when he talked brightly and charmingly about his own projects. As if Izumi’s words were truly the most interesting thing he had ever heard, and he just couldn’t wait to hear more about it.

So he giggled.

The treatment was such a shock -half flattering, half embarrassing- that he didn’t knew what else to do but giggle. Which only worked to make Mika feel confused, not asking why Izumi was laughing then wondering if he was okay when he couldn’t stop. Then just being worried about him.

And what could he do to such earnest yet misdirected worry but to giggle even more -uncontrollably so. So much, in fact, he started to feel hot on the face and unable to breath properly. Something that rarely happened.

It was so silly.

“I’m… fine… you’re just too funny” he finally got calm enough to talk, even if it was in between chuckles and wiping the tears from his eyes -careful not to mess with his own mascara.

“D-did I say somethin’ weird?”

Controlling himself not to start laughing again, Izumi simply nodded twice in a row, lips still marked in a long curved smile. What did this boy said that wasn’t weird?

“... Izumi-san… yer so pretty”

Now he wasn’t laughing anymore, even the smile turned into a flat line. Silence overpowering as the words settled in his head, lips parting softly and then closing up again.

“E-excuse me?”

“I… I’m sorry! Don’t be mad... I just… when ya smile like that, yer like… the prettiest person I’ve ever seen” the boy visibly panicked, hands waving all over the place.

He was being sincere, that much was easy to tell, a light blush showing on his cheeks as he tried to explain himself.

Thump.

Izumi’s cheeks started to get redder… and redder… and redder… until his whole face, all the way to his ears, was beetle red. Noticing the heat, he rushed to cover his face with both hands, a rushed movement that most certainly didn’t fit the most elegant movements he had done until then… prompting a worried question from Mika’s part.

“N-no… I’m not mad.” he half explained, face still covered with both hands “I’m… not. But you should, think before talking...”

“I’ve been told that plenty” the raven-haired male replied in a tone all too cheerful, an apologetic look in double colored eyes remaining in place “But it’s the truth, so it ain’t nothin’ bad about sayin’ it, right?”

Ah… the earnest tone on the other’s voice was doing everything to make him dizzy and confused. His heart was thumping hard in his chest, and he couldn’t control the blush on his face either.

“Say… ya were talkin’ ‘bout how ya don’t like bein’ confined to just one role, right? That ya wanna try new stuff” Mika continued, as if prompted by Izumi’s blushy awkwardness “W-would ya model for me? I just… when I see ya… I feel like I’ve found myself a muse, yanno?”

He couldn’t even think anymore. He was seriously starting to melt down at the sincere compliments. And just like that he found himself nodding in agreement, just like that accepting to meet again.

God, he could already see Naru’s smug ‘i told you so’ grin.

He guessed having a nice date, and maybe probably a future boyfriend for his birthday wasn’t half-bad.