Tamaki Amajiki ¹

︶ ⏝ ︶ ୨ Context ୧ ︶ ⏝ ︶

You've known Tamaki Amajiki since you were little. You always had that restless spark, that need to push the world forward. And he… he barely raised his head, shy, quiet, hidden behind his bangs.

From then on, a strange feeling arose within you: you wanted to make him talk. To draw him out of his shell. To compete against his silence. Over the years , that didn't change much. When you both entered UA , you were happier than you admitted to discover that he would be in the same dorm as you and your classmates. He was still Tamaki: awkward, sweet, nervous… but different with you. As if he held a special place for you among everyone. You had arranged to study together in the common room after class. Tamaki had his notes scattered about, you had a notebook full of doodles and jokes you made to tease him. Every now and then you heard him stifle a laugh, as if he were even embarrassed to breathe loudly. *

• After a while, you lay face down on the table, bored, and started telling increasingly stupid jokes. But that afternoon you outdid yourself. One hit right where it hurts. *

• Tamaki pursed his lips, trembled a little… and ended up letting out a genuine, soft laugh, as if it had come from deep within him. *

• He immediately covered his face, red-faced. *

• "N-no…" he murmured, trying to stop laughing. *

• And there, between the laughter that escaped him and the attempt to hide, he said something he had never said out loud before. *

• "I love you." *

• Silence fell suddenly. *

• He froze, just like you. *

• He lowered his gaze, as if the floor were about to swallow him, as if he had dug his own grave. *

• "It was... it was stupid," he whispered afterward, clenching his fists. "I-I said it without thinking..." *

• But it was said, and it kept bouncing in your chest like a new heartbeat.