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The weather forecast had predicted rain, but it hadn't specified how much.
Or maybe it had.
Maybe Hayate had simply missed that part.
Which was a bummer, because he'd been so proud of himself for checking the weather app on his phone before heading out to Mima's place that morning.
Mima had invited him and the others over to try out a board game that his company was marketing. Hayate, figuring that would take at least a few hours, had made extra sure to bring an umbrella since it was supposed to rain that afternoon. He'd thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show Mima—and the others, but mostly Mima—that he could be a bit cool and responsible too.
And it did rain.
But it wasn't the sort of cute little shower that you could brave with an umbrella and a brisk walk.
It was more of a typhoon.
The sort that made the trains stop running.
Shun, Souma, and Igarashi had all taken their leave before the storm hit. Igarashi had a book tour starting in another city the next day, so he'd gone home quite early to finish packing for the trip. Shun and Souma took off just a short while after that, with Shun needing to get home to feed Sakura and Souma having an important assignment to finish for class.
Hayate was the only one who stayed back to help clean up, though really there wasn't much that needed to be done. Mima had treated them all to takeout for lunch, which meant 'cleaning up' consisted only of tossing out the trash and washing the glasses they'd used for drinks.
He and Hayate wound up chatting for hours, though.
That was happening more and more often these days. Hayate found it so easy to get lost in conversation with Mima, and they could seemingly talk about anything for ages. Sometimes, they talked about a book Hayate had read or a movie they both wanted to see. Sometimes, they talked about Hayate's classes and internship prospects. Sometimes, they talked about Mima's work or his sister's kids who seemed to be getting bigger every other day.
There was never an uncomfortable silence between them, and Hayate never got tired of talking to Mima. He was aware by now that he had a little—or, okay, a really big—crush on Mima, so of course he never turned away from a chance to get to know Mima better.
Unfortunately, that meant he could become so wrapped up in talking to Mima that he failed to notice anything else. Like the way the wind had started howling, or the way the windows of Mima's apartment were practically trembling under a torrential downpour.
It wasn't until he opened the front door to take his leave, not wanting to overstay his welcome, that Hayate realized how bad the weather had gotten. A strong, wet gale met him, blowing a bucketload of cold rainwater into his face and the apartment's entryway.
Hayate yelped and rushed to slam the door shut. He distantly heard Mima calling out his name in alarm, and it wasn't long before there was a hand at his back, steadying and soothing him.
"It's raining," Hayate stated in a stunned stupor.
Mima breathed a soft laugh. "That does seem to be the case. I'm sorry, Hayate-kun. It completely escaped my notice."
Hayate was still so dazed that it was all he could do to let Mima lead him back into the living room. Mima left him there for a moment, ducking into the bathroom before returning with a towel so Hayate could dry his face.
"Thank you, Mima-san," Hayate mumbled. He felt, and probably looked, a bit like a half-drowned hamster. "I did check the weather report this morning, I brought an umbrella and everything. I just didn't think…"
Mima smiled and laid a reassuring hand on Hayate's back again. "I'm just glad it didn't start pouring when you were out there."
While Hayate dried his face, Mima fetched his phone to check the train schedule. Considering the intensity of the storm he'd nearly walked into, Hayate wasn't surprised to hear it when Mima told him the trains had stopped running for the night.
Hayate was just about to offer to see if he could get a cab when Mima spoke again first.
"Stay," Mima said simply, like it was the most obvious solution.
Hayate blinked, lowering the towel once his face was dry. "I wouldn't want to be a bother."
Mima smiled again and held out a hand for the towel. "You could never be a bother, Hayate-kun."
Hayate quickly passed the towel back over to Mima, and he was grateful when Mima went back into the bathroom to hang it up to dry. It allowed Hayate to take a moment to compose himself, and to breathe away the flush threatening to rise in his cheeks.
And so, Hayate stayed.
They cooked together and had dinner in the living room, where Mima put on an old movie Hayate had once mentioned wanting to see. Afterwards, Hayate did the dishes and checked on the trains again, but they were still out of service.
The storm raged on.
Hayate wasn't exactly in a rush to leave. The thought of spending the night at Mima's place actually had him feeling a bit giddy. But he did worry about being an imposition.
That was one of the side effects of realizing he had feelings, like feelings, for Mima. He was more self-conscious around Mima these days. Still comfortable, but a little more anxious about what Mima thought of him. He cared, more than ever before, about being perceived by Mima as a cool and capable young man.
He'd crashed on Mima's couch before. Several times, in fact. This wasn't a first in that sense.
But getting stranded at Mima's place, leaving Mima no choice except to let him stay the night…
That wasn't very cool or capable of Hayate, was it?
Hayate flumped onto his back on the couch and threw an arm over his eyes. Mima was in the bath; he'd offered to let Hayate go first, but Hayate had insisted that Mima take his turn first, since Hayate was the unwanted guest here.
Mima had looked a bit amused at that. "You're far from unwanted, Hayate-kun."
Heat had risen in Hayate's cheeks again, but luckily Mima didn't argue further before heading into the bathroom. Hayate really hadn't been fishing for compliments or reassurances, but it was undeniably nice to hear Mima say such things.
Mima was so kind that Hayate did wonder, at times, if it was possible Mima liked him back. It didn't seem especially probable, since Mima was so much cooler than him, but there were moments when Hayate felt faint flickerings of hope.
If he wasn't unwanted, did that mean he was wanted?
Hayate jumped when his phone buzzed all of a sudden, pulling him out of his thoughts. He checked his notifications to find a new message from Igarashi, which he scrambled to open. It was still a bit of a trip to be getting messages from one of his favorite novelists like this, but Hayate was at least kinda-sorta starting to get used to it.
Hayate, Igarashi wrote. I tried to drop off my spare key so you can feed Uni while I'm away, but you're not home?
Hayate hastily wrote back, Ah, I'm sorry. I got caught in the storm and wound up staying at Mima-san's place.
Oh?
Hayate blinked. That short little message, along with an animated sticker of a teddy bear that seemed to be smirking, was all Igarashi sent. Hayate wasn't totally sure what to make of it.
I'll leave the spare under my doormat, then, Igarashi added a moment later. Have fun.
A winking sticker followed that message, which Hayate did now understand. Igarashi knew about his… feelings, for Mima. Igarashi had actually been the one to point them out to Hayate in the first place.
But surely he also knew that it wasn't like that.
It's not like that, Hayate wrote. Mima-san is just being kind enough to put me up because the trains stopped running.
There was a lull this time, before Igarashi sent another rather cryptic message.
Oh.
That was all he wrote.
Hayate stared at that final text until he heard the bathroom door open and close. He put his phone down when Mima called out to him, to say that the bath was free.
"Coming!"
Hayate hurriedly got up to take his turn. He knew it was already about the time Mima usually went to sleep, and he certainly didn't want to disrupt the man's schedule more than he already had.
To get to the bathroom, he had to cut through Mima's bedroom. He darted past Mima very quickly, being careful not to let his gaze linger too long on the sight of Mima in a bathrobe, with his damp hair enticingly slicked back.
"I'll be quick," Hayate promised.
"Take your time," Mima said.
His voice was so soft, so warm, that Hayate could swear his own cheeks were burning even hotter than the bathwater when he climbed into the tub.
Once he was dressed again, in a spare set of pajamas Mima had thoughtfully set out for him, Hayate slipped out of the bathroom and prepared to tiptoe back to the couch in case Mima was already dozing.
Mima was still awake, though, sitting at the edge of his bed and staring at something on his phone. He'd dried his hair and changed into pajamas as well, looking all comfortable and even softer than he usually did.
But the look on his face made Hayate freeze in place.
It wasn't a bad look per se. Hayate didn't think Mima was angry or upset. But there was a small furrow between his brows, and his lips were quirked ever so slightly downwards.
Mima looked… a little confused, maybe? Or concerned?
It was certainly concerning to Hayate, because Mima didn't look nearly as relaxed and at ease as he had a few minutes ago.
Had something happened?
"Mima-san?" he called out tentatively. "Is everything okay?"
Mima looked up from his phone. The furrow between his brows disappeared as soon as he saw Hayate, replaced by the gentle smile he always showed Hayate these days. "Yes, of course. It was just… a rather interesting message from Motoharu."
Hayate froze, again. Only his eyes widened a fraction.
Igarashi had promised not to say anything about Hayate's feelings to Mima. He had been the one to insist it was only right for Hayate to confess his own feelings, when he was ready. So, surely… Igarashi hadn't written to Mima about that.
But the timing, after the ominous little message Igarashi had left Hayate with, was worrying to say the least.
Mima patted the spot on the bed next to him. "Join me, Hayate-kun?"
An ill-timed rumble of thunder made Hayate jump in place. His heart was already racing, and getting even closer to Mima probably wouldn't help that in the slightest, but he still found himself shuffling over to the bed and sitting down next to Mima.
Mima sounded quite serious, after all. Which made Hayate rather nervous, but undeniably curious as well.
For a moment, Mima didn't say anything. It wasn't until Hayate shifted somewhat anxiously that Mima turned to him and caught his gaze.
"Would you care to share the bed tonight, Hayate-kun?"
Hayate felt his jaw drop, just a little. He couldn't have guessed what Mima was going to say, but never in his life would he have imagined it would be that. Forget about forming a response; he could hardly begin to convince himself he'd heard Mima correctly.
Mima, seemingly taking Hayate's stunned silence for hesitation, quickly added, "There is absolutely no pressure at all. I understand that this is your first relationship, and I would never want us to rush into anything you're not fully ready for. You're more than welcome to take the couch again if you'd be more comfortable there, but since we've been dating for a while, I wanted to make sure you know you most certainly aren't unwelcome here."
"We've…" Hayate felt his voice catch in his throat, almost like he was choking on air. "We've been dating for a while?"
Mima blinked. He stared at Hayate for quite a long moment before a soft, helpless laugh broke from his lips.
"Motoharu was right," he murmured, nodding over at the phone he'd left sitting by his pillow. "He just scolded me for not being proactive enough with you, and warned me I could be giving you the wrong ideas."
"We've been dating for a while," Hayate echoed yet again, still completely stuck on that one point.
Mima flashed him an apologetic smile. "I'd thought so, but it seems I've been a little overcautious."
Hayate's mind spun around and around, and though he was stunned enough to feel dizzy, he started to see that maybe, just maybe, there had been signs.
Glaringly obvious signs that he'd somehow completely failed to notice before.
Their conversations. Their hours-long conversations that had become more and more common as of late.
Had those been dates?
Movie nights. Dinners, both at home and out at various restaurants that they took turns choosing. Visits to the small animals cafe on the days their schedules lined up. So many visits that they'd become regulars there, in fact.
Had those all been dates?
After the first night Mima spent at Hayate's place, Mima had turned to Hayate in the doorway and smiled. He'd smiled so warmly that Hayate's heart had skipped a beat, and he'd said, I enjoy spending time with you, Hayate-kun. I hope we'll do this again.
Had that been… a confession?
Igarashi had promised not to say anything to Mima about Hayate's feelings, because he'd wanted Hayate to confess on his own. Could it be that Igarashi thought Hayate had already confessed?
Hayate hadn't noticed that a whole storm had brewed up outside, just earlier that night. He hadn't noticed because he'd been so lost in Mima, because he was so enamored of Mima. And Mima hadn't noticed the storm either, until Hayate had nearly walked right out into it.
Could that have been because Mima liked Hayate just as much as Hayate liked him?
There were, admittedly, several things that would make so much more sense if he and Mima had already been dating for a while.
"But we haven't kissed or anything," Hayate blurted out.
Mima nodded, still looking rather apologetic. But there was nothing he actually needed to apologize for, because Hayate was already starting to understand.
"You were being a gentleman," Hayate whispered. "You were worried about taking things too fast, because I'm young and inexperienced."
Mima ducked his head in a rare show of sheepishness. "I may have worried a bit too much."
Hayate shifted suddenly, folding one leg under himself to face Mima properly. He almost tipped too far forward and lost his balance, just barely managing to catch himself with one hand against the mattress before spilling right into Mima's lap.
Not that Mima would have minded, apparently.
Because they'd been dating.
For a while.
Apparently.
Hayate wasn't sure what kind of face he was making. His heart was still pounding. The storm of emotions that roiled in his chest rivaled the very literal storm raging outside. He was shocked, bewildered, embarrassed, and above all—
Elated.
"I may be inexperienced," he said softly. "But I think we skipped a step, and I think I even know what step we skipped."
There was a twinkle of mirth in Mima's eyes, like he already knew what Hayate would say, but he still gave Hayate the chance to say it.
"Tell me."
"I like you, Mima-san." Hayate breathed all those words in a half-jumbled rush, before he could lose his nerve. But when he saw how they made Mima smile, he found the courage to continue with confidence and an answering smile of his own. "I like you so much, so please go out with me."
Mima lifted a hand to cup Hayate's cheek. He leaned in and bowed his head, until his forehead brushed Hayate's.
"I like you, Hayate-kun," he echoed, his smile growing wider and brighter just as Hayate's did. "I like you so much, so please go out with me."
A small puff of laughter escaped Hayate. He hadn't meant for Mima to repeat his words exactly, but he couldn't deny that it was cute that Mima did or that he liked hearing it.
What he would like even more, what he wanted even more—
Hayate didn't have to say that part. He only had to tip his head up, ever so slightly, for Mima's lips to meet his own.