SHE DID NOT, IN fact, tell Baji she loves him. Not the day after, not a few days after, not weeks after; before she knew it, the second school semester was starting and she had yet to say the three words to Baji.

In truth, she would've felt more horrible if Baji had said the words again, but he hadn't said them either. Both of them pretended like Baji never said anything and Y/n wasn't sure what to think. She was worried Baji was thinking she was simply ignoring them or didn't feel the same, which was the furthest thing from the truth.

But what if that's what he actually thought?

''Y/n? Y/n?'' she looked at Baji, just now realizing he'd been calling her for a few seconds now. ''You okay?''

Y/n nodded. ''Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. What were you saying?''

''I wanted to ask if you want to go grab some peyong after school with Chifuyu and me?''

''Oh, yeah, sure,'' Y/n said, then remembered she had something else to tell Baji. ''Oh yeah, I wrote more last night, do you wanna read it?''

''Didn't you say you'll study last night?''

''. . . I got distracted.''

Baji laughed at her answer. ''Of course, give it here,'' he said, making a grabby-hand. ''I'll have something to do during the boring classes.''

Upon hearing that, Y/n pulled her notebook away from him. ''Hey, not if you're gonna get distracted in class! You gotta pay attention on the first day, Kei.''

He groaned. ''Honeslty, woman, you're acting like my mom.''

''I just want you to pass, Kei.''

''Yeah, yeah,'' Baji rolled his eyes, though he did appreciate the care. It made him feel warm inside. ''I'll read it in the breaks, I promise. Give it here.'' Y/n gave Baji a sceptical look before surrending her notebook.

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Baji was oddly quiet in the break. Chifuyu was watching him read a notebook intensely and wondered what he was doing. The notebook had cats all over it, so Chifuyu crossed out the thought of Baji studying. Then again, he probably shouldn't have thought about it in the first place.

''Yo, Baji-san.'' Baji looked up at the call of his name, facing Chifuyu, who was nodding towards the notebook. ''What're you reading?''

''It's a book Y/n is writing,'' Baji said, a proud grin on his face.

Chifuyu, on the other hand, cocked an eyebrow. ''Y/n is writing a book?''

''Hell yeah! She's so talented, you must be jealous I have such a cool girlfriend.''

This time, Chifuyu rolled his eyes at his friend. ''Yeah, totally. Can I see what she wrote?''

As Chifuyu reached his hand out to take the notebook, Baji pulled it away from him, confusing Chifuyu. ''Sorry, Chifuyu, but Y/n only lets me read. She doesn't like when other people read her things without asking her.''

Chifuyu gave him a smirk as he sat back in his seat. ''Such a nice boyfriend, aren't you, Baji-san?''

''What d'ya mean nice, I'm the best boyfriend.''

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Chifuyu had left around an hour after they arrived at Baji's, having forgotten to buy food for Peke J and leaving the apartment in a rush. The two were now alone, watching a random movie they came across on the TV.

Y/n was leaning on Baji's shoulder as he had one of his arms wrapped around her. Her eyes were trained on the screen, but she wouldn't say she was watching the movie. Her mind was still thinking about how she was going to tell Baji she loves him. Why was it so hard? She just had to say three simple words that she's said about so many fictional characters.

Ah, fuck this. Love is complicated.

Baji's warm lips on the corner of her mouth caught her off guard. She turned to him, only to have her lips captured in a kiss. It took her a moment, but she put her hands on his chest and let him push her on her back, her head almost hitting the armrest of the couch.

It took a few minutes of their lips to get swollen and neither of them wanted to stop. Their breaths were running short, but that wasn't important now. Baji's hand caressed her tigh and travelled up, slowly sneaking under her shirt and coming to rest at her stomach.

His touch felt weird. It felt hungry. Does Keisuke want to . . .

She pulled away from the kiss, turning to sit back up. Baji almost fell off his own couch at the sudden motion, but quickly regained his posture and sat down, looking at her with concern. ''Y/n? What's wrong?'' For all of the time she's known Baji, which wasn't all that long, she's never heard him sound so concerned about anyone besides injured strays.

Y/n shook her head and hugged her knees to her chest. ''I'm sorry, Keisuke, but I don't think I'm ready to do . . . you know.''

Baji took a moment to realize what she meant, his eyes widening slightly and his ears reddening. ''Oh . . . that's fine, fucking fine of course! Don't worry . . . I'm sorry for not asking you first.''

Resting her head on her knees and looking at him, Y/n smiled. ''It's okay. One day, maybe, we can go further.''

This time, his whole face grew red and he hugged a pillow to his lap. ''Yeah, yeah, totally. Lemme, uh . . . find some better movie. Action sounds good, yeah?'' She chuckled at his reaction, her stomach churning.

Baji was truly a blessing in her life.

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Y/n jumped when a pair of hands slammed on her desk and she felt a sudden sense of deja vu. Looking up, she was met with the sight of a grinning Baji, his fangs showing up. She was glad he never got awkward around her after what happened at his house a few days ago.

''You seem oddly cheerful for being at school,'' Y/n commented, leaning back in her chair. Her notebook was left open, as she didn't bother hiding it from Baji anymore.

''Well, it's obviously not because of school,'' Baji said as he sat down on the chair in front of her desk. ''I have an idea.''

''Does it include burning cars for fun?'' It was weird how many times Baji had suggested that activity.

''Not this time.''

''I'm listening.''

''Wanna do couple costumes for halloween?'' Y/n didn't expect that to be his idea out of everything else it could've been.

''Keisuke,'' Y/n said, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. ''Halloween is in, like, a month or more.''

''Yeah, I know that,'' Baji said, rolling his eyes at her obvious statement. ''But my idea was to make self-made Woody and Jessie costumes from Toy Story.''

Y/n blinked a few times before furrowing her eyes at him. ''That's probably the most random thing that's come out of your mouth since I've met you.''

Baji put his hands together in a prayer. This very much felt like back when he begged her to go out with him a few months ago. ''Please, pretty, we can make them together and ask Mitsuya for pointers. You know he wants to be a fashion designer and shit.''

Honestly, Y/n had no arguments against not going along with Baji's wishes. ''Fine.''

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''Look at this flashlight with pictures.''

''Keisuke, we don't need a flashlight, you're going as Woody, not Batman.''

''Ah, I'll be back for this.''

''Oh, oh, Kei! Look, those pistols are nice!''

''Yeah, let's get them.''

''We can cut up that curtain for my jeans and your vest.''

''Yeah, it should work. Why would anyone hang a shitty cow-printed curtain in their house, though?''

After school had ended, the two had went to the nearest 100-yen shop to buy materials for their costumes. They were on a budget so they weren't sure how the costumes would turn out, but at least it was fun and that was what matters, right?

''Man, if Mitsuya actually helps us make these costumes decent looking I'll treat him to a cake,'' Y/n said as she put two fancy belts in the cart Baji was pushing.

''Will you treat me cake, too?''

''Are you a fashion designer who would help us with our budget costumes?'' Baji stayed silent, a small pout over his lips. ''That's what I thought.''

''You're so mean, what have I done to deserve this?'' Baji whined as he pushed the cart after Y/n. ''Are we gonna make them at your or my house?''

Y/n thought for a moment before answering. ''Let's do it at mine. What if cats come to your room and tear the fabric?''

Baji nodded. ''Yeah, you've got a point.''

After purchasing their things, they went to Y/n's house and got to work. First, they spread everything they've bought on the floor, along with a pair of old jeans and a yellow button-up Baji had picked up from his house on the way to Y/n's. Y/n, too, found some of her old clothes she could recycle, not thinking about her parents possibly scolding her later for ruining her jeans.

''Should we look up a tutorial?'' asked Y/n after they simply sat and stared at the things they'd bought, not sure where to start from.

Baji nodded. ''Yeah, probably.''

Y/n grabbed her mother's laptop from her parents' room, bringing it back to her room and sitting on the ground next to Baji. Opening YouTube, there was a cat video on the explore page, which grabbed Baji's attention almost instantly.

''Wait, play this first,'' Baji said as he pointed at it.

''We'll end up getting distracted, Kei.''

''C'mon, it's just one video!''

One video turned into two, two turned into four and before they knew it, they'd spent two hours watching funny cat videos. At some point they'd moved up to her bed, completely forgetting what they were supposed to do in the first place, but they didn't care as they were enjoying themselves.

Baji's phone rang and he groaned. Y/n paused the video and watched as Baji answered his call. ''Yes, Ma? . . . I'm at Y/n's . . . Oh, shit I forgot, I'll go grab them right away. Sorry . . . Yeah, love you too, Ma, bye.''

It was clear he had to go, so Y/n closed the laptop and put it away. Baji sighed. ''Sorry, I forgot I had to go grocery shopping today. I gotta go.''

''Want me to come with you?'' Y/n asked as she watched him stand up and look around the mess he was leaving in her room.

He shook his head. ''It's getting late, don't worry. Let me just quickly help you put everything away-''

Y/n pushed his towards her door. ''Your mom's waiting for you, don't worry, I'll clean up.''

Baji chuckled as he put on his shoes, then straightened up and pecked her lips. ''You're awesome. See you at school tomorrow, yeah? I love you.''

After weeks, Baji said it again. This time, it was definitely not accidental. And Y/n simply stood and watched him walk out, not even uttering a goodbye.

I'm sorry, Kei. I love you, too, she said it, but in her mind. Why couldn't she say it out-loud?