Chapter Text
“What the hell does this have to do with me?”
Uryuu is currently sitting quietly on his phone, across the table in Cafe Pothos from three of the first years Tsubaki seems to have gotten particularly attached to this year. He doesn’t know their names. They fought alongside each other against gravel, he remembers as such, but the situation didn’t exactly provide time for introductions. He makes a few observations as Seiryuu tries to rope the trio into whatever his new idea is.
The one with the 2020 split-dye job gets flustered far too easily. Seiryuu had complimented his fighting style earlier, only to receive no response as the kid turned red as a tomato and looked away. His friend with an eyepatch seemed far too calculating for Uryuu’s comfort. Uryuu wasn’t one to say much either, but something about the way the first year listened to the conversation so intently would give him chills had they not been previously acquainted. Then there was the short, nervous one. He seemed far too invested in this, writing every detail in a little notepad, and Uryuu is convinced his brother has found a partner in crime.
The conversation seems to have progressed since Uryuu had stopped listening.
“You seem a bit too excited about lying to the heads of Bofurin, Nirei.” The red-haired one finally speaks up. He’s smiling, clearly teasing his friend.
Apparently-Nirei frantically shakes his head. “I mean, in the end, it’s helping them both, right?”
“Exactly!” Seiryuu pipes up. “If anything, it’ll improve our team’s efficiency, because our captain won’t be as distracted anymore!” Uryuu doesn’t bother to point out that it isn’t a big enough problem for this strange little group to interfere. It seems reason enough to convince Nirei’s friends that they’re not doing anything wrong.
“Hmm, but is Sakura really the right person to involve in this specific scenario?” Eyepatch asks. This catches Uryuu’s attention. He and Seiryuu slightly tilt their heads in sync. “He’s not the best with… romance.” The way he says the last word makes it sound like a bomb could go off at any moment.
“Oh shut up!” Apparently-Sakura bangs his fist on the table. There’s the bomb , Uryuu supposes. Despite his protests, his face is even redder than before, only proving Eyepatch right. Sakura grumbles something under his breath. Nirei gives him a slight nudge while smiling encouragingly.
“Since you’re asking, you can rely on me,” Sakura speaks up. Seiryuu is beaming. Uryuu himself feels a bit proud — It seems Tsubaki did teach him something that stuck. Even Kotoha seems to have paused wiping the plate in her hand to express her approval, though Uryuu should’ve realized she’d be keeping tabs on their conversation.
He slowly tunes out the group again, opting instead to focus on the food Kotoha had placed on their table earlier. Whatever plan they’re about to come up with can’t be that much better than Seiryuu’s umbrella idea. In fact, Uryuu doubts any plan they come up with will make a big enough impact to cause the two subjects to actually do anything about their feelings. The idea of forcing romance in and of itself is ridiculous. In this case, the only thing fueling Seiryuu’s ambition is that the feelings are already there, however strongly ignored.
Uryuu is brought out of his thoughts by a light bump on his shoulder from his brother. He looks up, sandwich bite still mid-chew. In the middle of the table sat a few pages from the little notebook Nirei was writing in earlier, some with a few doodles and others with detailed writing, partially scribbled out. Nirei places a new paper down, looking awfully proud of himself.
“LOVE LETTER” was written at the top, circled a few times with little hearts for flair. Uryuu resisted the urge to cringe. There was no chance of this ending well.
- —- — -— -
“Oh, and I was going to buy plant food for Ito on my way home, but I’m not sure which kind would actually be helpful…”
Uryuu makes a mental note to remind Tsubaki as she lists her plans for the day. They were heading back from their lunch period alone, where Tsubaki had given him a detailed run-down of how well each hair product Seiryuu had recommended her a few months prior had worked. He pulls up a list of various plant foods sold at a nearby store, showing her that there are benefits of different concentrations of nutrients based on the plant. She nods in understanding.
“I’ll look through some of my photos of the tree, and we can ask the employees to recommend one.” With a slight spring in her step having finalized the plan, she walks a bit faster. Uryuu is caught off guard and takes a few long strides to catch up.
Uryuu wasn’t given orders. He isn’t even aware of the plan, though that may partially be on him. He should’ve paid more attention when their ragtag team of matchmakers was plotting, if only to know enough to be able to stop them from going too far. All he knows is that Tsubaki isn’t allowed to go back to their classroom until at least 1:25 PM. Hare-brained schemes aside, Uryuu takes any task assigned to him very seriously. Curse his earnest nature. He checks his watch and lets out an imperceptible breath of relief. 1:28.
Just as they approach the classroom, Uryuu sees a flash of blond hair round the corner towards the stairwell. This is not going to end well. Tsubaki enters and makes a beeline for her desk, waving at some of the other students in the room.
“Seiryuu!” She cheerily greets. Uryuu watches as he pretends to have not noticed her beforehand. “How was your tutoring session?”
Seiryuu smiles from his seat at his desk and Uryuu has to fight the urge to roll his eyes.
“Went great! I’ll definitely pass the next test.” His ability to lie through his teeth is almost scary. Tsubaki gives him a gentle pat on the shoulder. She’s always encouraged them to work their hardest, whether in combat or schooling. Uryuu feels a subtle twist in his gut at the idea of lying to her.
Tsubaki takes her seat in front of Seiryuu and reaches into the bag on her desk’s hook, fishing for her lipstick. She starts to mention something about studying but cuts herself off. Uryuu sees her expression become confused as she pulls out a loose blue paper folded in half. Uryuu does not want to be here for this.
“Hm, I don’t usually leave loose papers in my bag,” Tsubaki gently waves the paper around. Seiryuu leans forward in his chair.
“Must be important then!” He urges her to open it. Uryuu holds his breath, though he isn’t sure whether it’s in anticipation or fear.
After some painful silence in their corner of the room, Tsubaki covers her mouth with her hand to hide her giggles. Soon enough, the paper is left forgotten on her desk as she clutches her sides and bursts out laughing. Uryuu looks to his brother who couldn’t possibly seem more disappointed.
Following the lack of explanation, Uryuu takes matters into his own hands and reads the letter for himself. Almost instantly, he has to turn his head away to hide his laughter.
O beautiful flower, how my heart hath bloomed in your presence!
Uryuu can’t get past the first line if he’s being honest. Who knows what Tsubaki could’ve read further down to have reacted like that? He needed to protect his peace. Tsubaki slowly calms herself, but that doesn’t stop the few giggles that escape.
“It can’t be real, right?” She asks with a grin, the paper staring at her from her desk.
“I don’t think you needed to laugh at his heartfelt feelings…” Seiryuu tries to salvage the situation. Uryuu can’t see it ending well.
“But you haven’t even read it,” Tsubaki points out. Uryuu can practically see the sweat forming on his brother’s face. He doubts Tsubaki can notice it, though. She has all too much faith in them to find them suspicious in any way, and Seiryuu is clearly using that knowledge to his benefit.
“Well... you know. Unknown paper in your bag that smells like roses, there’s only one thing it could be!” He defends. Uryuu and Tsubaki make eye contact, an unspoken acknowledgment between the two that neither of them caught any noticeable scent coming from the paper. Uryuu realizes it must have worn off before she found it.
Tsubaki smiles at Seiryuu anyway. “I do feel a bit bad, but not because I’m not taking the confession seriously.” She carefully puts the paper back into her bag, rather than throwing it away. “It was brave of this person to come forward,” Uryuu slightly nods. Better than a certain two leaders he knows… wait, this person ? “but I can’t accept their feelings.” Tsubaki continues. “My heart belongs to someone else already.” She winks, turning in her chair to face forward when the teacher walks in.
Uryuu sits at his desk next to Seiryuu’s as well, waiting for class to begin, but not before looking at his brother’s shocked expression after what had just happened. Did he really think that the plan was flawless? Uryuu takes his notebook out of his bag and quietly tears out a sheet of paper. He quickly writes something on it and folds it up a few times before subtly placing it onto his brother’s desk. Seiryuu’s still staring mindlessly at the board up front as he opens the note.
You really forgot to sign it?
Seiryuu only looks mildly annoyed as he writes his response and sends it back.
It was a joint effort. Blame the first years.
Uryuu really wants to roll his eyes.
Some senior you are.
Onto plan C, then.