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𝟑𝟓 || 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 ||

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Takemichi blinks.

    And blinks again.

    And again.

    And again.

    And—

    A hand on his shoulder brings the boy back to reality

    "Woah! Is that a love letter?!" Hakkai asks from behind him, his eyes peering over Takemichi's shoulder with curiosity.

    It seems Hakkai had already gotten his backpack and shoes out of his cubby in the time Takemichi had been staring at the letter in his hands. The noises of many chattering kids finally reach Takemichi's ears, reminding him of where he is, who he's with, and what has him freezing up like a statue.

    He's at school, in the middle of the hallway in front of his cubby.

    Hakkai is behind him, breathing down his neck.

    And the problem is a simple handmade letter with a pink heart stamped on the front of the envelope.

    "I...is it?" Takemichi asks, turning his head to properly gauge Hakkai's reaction. The taller boy scoffs and quickly snatches the paper from Takemichi's hands. The boy lets Hakkai take the letter without any fuss, quickly finding that he prefers the envelope in Hakkai's hands than his own.

    Hakkai inspects the letter like a detective peering at a piece of evidence—turning and flipping the letter around with a raised brow—as if he had never seen an envelope in his life before. Takemichi would've laughed at his behavior if it wasn't for the bright pink heart that practically screams at the curly haired boy, making his face light up like a stop light.

    "Hmm, well let's open it—Takemichi, want me to open it for you?" Hakkai asks, tilting his head with a smirk. Takemichi's shoulders shoot up at the sudden attention, nearly reaching his ears, and his quickly shakes his head no. The poor boy can hardly handle receiving a love letter—there's no telling what would happen if he were to open said love letter! He'd probably pass out on the dirty floor of the school hallways and become the laughing stock of his grade.

    "N-no way! You do it!"

    Hakkai laughs, his indigo eyes crinkling with mirth, and his gaze shifts from the smaller boy to the letter.

    "Ah— ok, ok!"

    Takemichi can't help but cringe when Hakkai carelessly tears open the envelope, effectively ripping the pink heart in half. Inside the envelope is a letter, one full of heart sticks and doodles made out of colored markers.

    Hakkai suddenly clears his throat, successfully gaining Takemichi's undivided attention.

    "Dear Hanagaki Takemichi," Hakkai begins, his voice airy and floaty in his attempt to mimic the mysterious writer. "Even though we're not in the same class or grade, I enjoy watching you from afar. You're very sweet and kind and I wrote this letter to tell you that I like you." Hakkai momentarily looks up from the letter, a small smirk gracing his scarred lips. "Someone's got a stalker~" he sings, making Takemichi blush from head to toe.

    "Shut up, Hakkai! Just finish reading the letter!" Takemichi whines, playfully punching the taller kid's arm.

    Hakkai laughs at Takemichi's reaction, indigo eyes filled with amusement as he stares down at his companion. For a second, Takemichi suspects the boy will continue teasing him with harmless words, but the boy relents and goes back to reading the love letter.

    "I don't have the courage to tell you this in person yet, but I thought a letter would be good enough for the time being. Keep being the sweet Hanagaki everyone knows you to be, from your secret admirer," Hakkai finishes, putting a loud emphasis on the secret admirer that has Takemichi fidgeting on the spot. "Who knew you were popular with the girls, Takemichi! You gotta tell me your secret," Hakkai whistles, his hands carelessly handing the letter back to the boy in question.

    Takemichi takes the letter from Hakkai's hands, a stark red blush still evident on his cheeks, and he pouts at his companion. "I'm not popular with the girls, Hakkai! You of all people know this!" Takemichi counters.

    Hakkai tilts his head, confused.

    "What do you mean I of all people should know this?"

    "W-Well you're the only person I talk to in this grade! It's gotten to the point that people think we're...yknow..."

    "That we're what?"

    "...dating?"

    Hakkai throws his head back and laughs, startling Takemichi.

    "You think too much, Takemichi!" Hakkai exclaims, his laugh booming through the halls of the school. "You shouldn't listen to a thing these nobodies say to you or about you, got it?"

    Takemichi nods his head, taken aback by the ease In which Hakkai used to refer to everyone at their school as nobodies. "Y-yeah, got it."

    "Good!" Hakkai grabs hold of Takemichi's arm, dragging him down the hallway with a bright toothy grin. "Now let's get outta this school before your older boyfriends steal you from me!"

    With just one word, Takemichi's blush darkens.

    "Boyfriends?!"

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Takemichi shouldn't have assumed that that would've been the last love letter.

    A few days later, right after the first letter, another heart stamped envelope was found in Takemichi's cubby.

    Like last time, Takemichi had Hakkai read the letter. His taller companion was more than happy to use his girl voice to read the boy's love letter.

    "Dear Hanagaki Takemichi, I keep thinking about you even when you're not around. I doodle your face on the corners of my homework and I keep drawing our initials in the sand during recess hoping that one day we can be together. I know you have no idea who this is, but I hope that doesn't have to last very long, from your secret admirer."

    Takemichi flushed at the intimate words. As he listened to Hakkai read the letter, Takemichi tried to imagine a doodled version of his face on the corner of a piece of paper. The image that popped up on his mind was terribly drawn, but it still made the boy blush from his neck up.

    "Looks like your secret admirer hasn't lost feelings yet!" Hakkai teases while waving the opened envelope around the air like a piece of useless trash. Takemichi quickly snatches it from his hands, immediately hating the thought of such a well written letter being wrinkled or tossed around like a common piece of paper.

    "Yeah, guess not..." Takemichi mumbles, unsure if he's disappointed or happy that his secret admirer still has a crush on him.

    "So...got any idea who this secret admirer could be?" Hakkai asks, his tone curious yet teasing at the same time.

    Takemichi purses his lips together, his gaze hardening as he tries to think of a student that's been watching him from afar—someone that would be too shy to speak to him.

    ...He comes up blank.

    As terrible as it is, the only names he knows in the entire school are Hakkai, Yuzuha, Keisuke, Mikey, Haru, and his teachers.

    "Nope," Takemichi decides on, secretly embarrassed by his lack of awareness to his other classmates.

    (But none of them truly matter except for the ones Takemichi knows.)

    Hakkai heaves out a sigh, clearly disappointed by Takemichi's lack of knowledge.

   "Bummer. Thought maybe we could make a list to help narrow down the list of potential admirers," Hakkai pouts, walking away from Takemichi with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

    Takemichi trails after Hakkai, the question 'who was behind the letters' repeating inside his head like an ancient chant.

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Small bags of candies start appearing in Takemichi's cubbies along with sweet heartfelt envelopes. While Hakkai cooes at the adorableness, Takemichi flushes a dark pink before opening the bag of candies, reluctantly popping something sweet into his mouth.

    "You're so spoiled, Takemichi!" Hakkai teases from behind him, watching and snickering at the grimace that settles on the victim's face.

    "Am not!" Takemichi half heartedly protests despite knowing that he is...probably...being spoiled. Just the mere concept of being spoiled makes the boy's heart hammer inside his chest, finding the scenario so out of the blue and out of his world. Sure, his mom would spoil him with a hot bowl of ramen when she gets a particularly large paycheck and Wakasa—as of late—as been taking it easy on Takemichi during lessons at the Sano Dojo, but this? Kind letters of encouragement along with bags of sweets that fill Takemichi's stomach with butterflies? It's like something straight out of a fairytale.

    The boy desperately wants to find the kid behind these letters and presents. Even if he won't be able to reciprocate their feelings, he still wants to thank them for making Takemichi feel special.

    And thus the search for Takemichi's secret admirer begins.

    ...With a little help, of course!

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The person Takemichi goes to for help is none other than his best friend Keisuke.

    The curly haired boy finds his longtime neighbor in the playground feeding a group of cats a can of tuna. Takemichi strides up next to him and taps the boy's shoulders immediately drawing his friend's attention.

    Keisuke whips around, an annoyed scowl forming on his face, but it disappears at the sight of Takemichi. "Oh, it's just you, Michi!" With his free arm, Keisuke tugs Takemichi to his side and thrust a can of tuna into his hands. "Here! Feed the little guys while I get us some drinks from the machine."

    "H-huh? But Kei—"

    Takemichi's words are left unheard. Keisuke walks away, leaving the boy alone with about five cats purring and rubbing themselves up against Takemichi's bare legs. The boy's heart softens at the very sight of such adorable creatures. He takes a seat on the sidewalk, earning a few appreciative meows from the cats around him. With careful fingers, Takemichi takes the tube clumps from the can and holds it out for the cats to eat. Like birds of a feather, they all come forth and begin nibbling the food from Takemichi's bare palm.

    A few moments later, Keisuke strides up to Takemichi, a can in each hand, and a fanged smile.

    "I knew they'd warm up to ya fast!" Keisuke exclaims, his brown eyes sparkling with pride. "The old lady a few doors down from us gave that can of tuna to me, said something about how the neighborhood cats will go crazy over it, and BAM!!! We got an army of cats at our disposal!"

    Takemichi raises a brow, surprised at the mention of an old lady on their floor. "Huh? One of our neighbors is an old lady?"

    Keisuke nods and crouches down next to Takemichi, causing a nearby cat to meow loudly and crawl into the newcomers lap. Keisuke welcomes them with open arms and begins scratching the back of their ears, a rumbling purr instantly resonating from its chest.

    "Yeah, she's lived here looooong before my parents moved in and had me. She's pretty cool—just don't mess with her stupid plants and she'll like you," The boy explains, his eyes focused on the cat in his lap. Takemichi feels his chest tightening at the sight, suddenly reminded of how soft and fierce Keisuke is...

    Takemichi looks away, his ears heating up from being outside for too long (probably...). "Maybe..." Takemichi mumbles, his mind drifting to Keisuke to the reason he's here sitting beside him, feeding random cats a handful of tuna.

    Keisuke nudges his shoulder, bringing him back to the present. "The hell's up with you? I thought you'd be up to bribing that old lady with your big puppy eyes for a few more cans of tuna!" Keisuke sneers, shocking a gasp from Takemichi.

    "What?! I would never do that!!!"

    "You would if I asked you to, right?"

    "Well yeah, but—"

    "Good, we'll do it tomorrow! But first things first—" Keisuke grabs Takemichi's cheeks and forces the boy to look at him, their faces nearly colliding with eachother. "What's got you so moody?" He asks, voice tinged with curiosity and...sincerity.

    Takemichi gulps, suddenly feeling the full impact of the heating sun, and gives in.

    "...Promise not to laugh?"

    Keisuke stays quiet, his face carefully blank, and Takemichi thinks—for a few seconds—that Keisuke will let him go and brush off Takemichi's anxiety.

    He doesn't.

    "Promise," he answers, tone void of any mischief.

    "...I have a secret admirer."

    Keisuke blinks a couple of times.

    And a couple more.

    And—

    "WHAT?!" Keisuke screams, squishing Takemichi's face until his cheeks are painfully scrunched together. With a sharp kick to Keisuke's side, the boy releases Takemichi, allowing the smaller boy to take in a deep breath of air.

    "You almost killed me, Kei!!!" Takemichi complains, his nose flaring in anger as he glares at Keisuke. The cats that had once surrounded the pair had scurried off, and rightfully so.

    No one needs to be in the middle of Takemichi's and Keisuke's squabble.

    "YOU. HAVE. A. SECRET. ADMIRER!!!" Keisuke repeats as if he's waiting for something to change.

    Takemichi proves him wrong with a glare.

    "Yes."

    "How long have you had a secret admirer?!"

    "...Almost a month now?"

    Keisuke's face turns red upon hearing Takemichi's answer. "And you never told me?!"

    "I-I'm telling you now, aren't I?" Takemichi stutters out with a sheepish smile.

    Keisuke clicks his tongue, not impressed in the slightest.

    "This has been going on for a whole damn month and you never told me...talk about a shitty friend!" Keisuke spits out, his eyes downcast and glaring at the pavement beneath them.

    Takemichi shrinks in on himself, feeling the guilt box him in, squeezing him from the inside until there is nothing left. Any words that Takemichi might've said died on his tongue.

    Takemichi watches as Keisuke crosses his arms in front of his chest and huffs out a breath of air childishly. "If I had a secret admirer, I would've told you immediately..."

    The box continues to close Takemichi in, enabling him to breathe.

    "Why the hell do you care so much? It's not that big of a deal..." Takemichi mumbles.

    And, out of nowhere, Keisuke flinches as if struck.

    Takemichi straightens up, curious and surprised by the sudden reaction. Did Takemichi say the wrong thing? Was that too offensive? Did Takemichi hurt his feelings?

    Before Takemichi could spiral into the mess that is his mind, Keisuke collects himself and nudges Takemichi's shoulder.

    "I don't care, Takemichi! It's just frustrating when you don't tell me shit."

    Ah, Takemichi supposed that makes sense...

    (But that doesn't explain why Keisuke flinched...)

    "Right...sorry..."

    Keisuke doesn't bother to acknowledge the apology. Instead, he brings his attention back to Takemichi and makes eye contact—brown immediately clashing with blue.

    "Do you know who your secret admirer is?" Keisuke asks, breaking Takemichi out of his thoughts.

    "No...me and Hakkai have been trying to figure this out for awhile but—"

    "HAKKAI KNEW ABOUT THIS BEFORE ME?! THAT STUPID TOKYO TOWER?!"

    Takemichi ignores Keisuke's outburst knowing that, if he engaged, they would get absolutely nowhere.

    The curly haired boy rolls his eyes. "Like I was saying, we can't figure out who's behind the letters," Takemichi finishes. Keisuke's eyebrow twitches, probably still upset over the fact that he wasn't the first to know, and opens his big fat mouth to—

    "Damnit. And have you thrown the letters away yet?"

    ...huh?

    Takemichi raises an eyebrow, surprised by Keisuke's question.

    "Throw them away? Why would I do that?"

    A loud groan escapes Keisuke's lips, further intensifying the tension in Takemichi's shoulders.

    "Because those letters are from some creepy stranger? Didn't Katsumi talk to you about stranger danger before she was sent off to prison?"

    Takemichi recoils at the mention of his mom.

    The smaller boy reels back, creating a safe amount of space before them.

    Keisuke, thankfully, gets the hint. He allows Takemichi to back away without reaching out to him, but the boy could see how desperately he wants to grab him and...

    ...And then what? Make another careless comment about his secret admirer? His mother?

    With narrowed eyes and a nasty glare, Takemichi sneers, "My mom has nothing to do with this, so leave her name out of your mouth."

    Keisuke throws his hands up in the air as if to surrender. "Yeah, yeah, no more katsu name drops!" He sings, not taking Takemichi seriously in the slightest. "But if you won't throw the letters away then I will!" He continues to Takemichi's dismay.

    "No one's doing anything to my letters!" Takemichi shouts. "It takes a lot of courage to write a love letter and throwing them away would be...be wrong."

    "So what?" Keisuke refutes, his narrowed eyes pinned dangerously on Takemichi's figure. "You don't know who they are and they'll never reveal themselves to you. Besides, you don't wanna give them false hope! They might think you actually like them if you continue to keep the letters."

    "...but I don't wanna throw them away."

    Another annoyed groan escapes Keisuke's lips. "I know—that's why I'm offering to throw them away!"

    Takemichi sits silently, contemplating his decisions and taking Keisuke's suggestion into consideration. Takemichi doesn't have any...romantic feelings for whoever is making these love letters, that much is true. But wouldn't it be terribly rude to throw away all of their hard work? But what if they mistake Takemichi's refusal to throw the letters away as some kind of reciprocation?

    Looks like Takemichi needs some time to think about his decision.

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As it turns out, Takemichi isn't given much time to really think about whether or not he should throw away the letters and gifts.

    A few days after his conversation with Keisuke, Takemichi checks his cubby without Hakkai peering over him like a constant shadow. What awaits him is a familiar letter with a heart stamp on the outside of the envelope. With a small grimace, Takemichi crouches down to reach into his cubby to pluck the letter with careful hands. Once the