v a n i l l a b e a n.

You didn’t know why you got stuck with this ditzy person, and with what you were faced with right now, you were really beginning to question your administrator’s organization skills. Of all people to be stuck being roommates with, it just had to be her didn’t it? What with her short pink tufts of hair and her bright amber colored eyes that held some sort of youthful innocence you couldn’t comprehend. It puzzled you whenever she spared you a smile that held such brightness, and at times you couldn’t help but snort in displeasure at the sight. And yet, your obvious distaste for her optimism always seemed to go unnoticed by her, and this irritated you to no end.

Ever since you enrolled in your first year of college, Mirai always made it out of her own way to attempt to be friends with you. Whether it was going out to the local cafe or simply studying in your dormitory. Whatever the case, it was always the same. The sound of her voice echoed through your head from one of your more recent discussions where she invited you out to lunch with her friends. Obviously, you denied, claiming you had much more important things to attend to, such as studying - this also means lying around in your dorm doing nothing. But that was two days ago, and it struck you strange that she hadn’t been around.

You knew you were on break, so that might’ve been why there was a certain emptiness that loomed throughout your shared living space. You supposed that she had probably spent the night at her friend Mitsuki’s house, but she would’ve been back by now.

You spun around in your computer chair, staring at the door. Your thoughts drifted, and you paid no attention to the fact that you were chewing on your pen habitually, until you tasted ink that is. You coughed, disgusted by the taste of the black substance and wiped your mouth with the sleeve of your shirt, throwing the useless writing utensil away afterwards. After polishing your basketball skills, you spun back around facing your desk and laptop, banishing the thoughts of worry for the time being.

Mirai would find her way back home eventually.

It was the third day, and Mirai finally came home with an expression that was so glum you’d think she might’ve accidentally killed a puppy on her way home. It was your first time seeing her like this, and it brought a strange emotion into your heart which could most likely be classified as sympathy. You felt like comforting her, but forbid yourself from doing so.

What’s the point in crying over spilt milk?
_______________________________________

“(Name)-chan, do you want to go to the park together?”

Mirai’s voice suddenly cut through your private thoughts, and you sighed at her dejected tone. You briefly pondered a possibility for her behavior, and concluded that something must have occurred between her and Mitsuki; although they rarely got into a disagreement, it still took a toll on the pinkette’s emotions. “Can’t. I’m busy.”

There was a silence, and your ears picked up a faint muttering before hearing some shuffling by the door. Your back was currently facing her, so you made it up to your senses to figure out what was going on. She was probably heading out again today. And when your theory was confirmed, you couldn’t help but wonder if she was purposely going out more than usual, she had just come back after all.

You threw your head back, exhaling loudly in annoyance. “Geez.” Becoming a worrisome mother hen was always a good sign. Whatever, she’ll get over it, right?
_______________________________________

Okay, now you’re pretty sure it’s illegal for Mirai to be that depressed. You were getting ready to turn in one of your reports that were due after break ended, and she was moping around the entire time, and that was only when she was home. When Mirai went out, she came back around four in the morning. And if you were being brutally honest with yourself, you often found yourself wanting to wait for her to come back or even to the extent of going out to look for her.

You didn’t know what the hell was coming over you, but you always reassured yourself with the thought of it being a common courtesy to look after your roommate. Maybe she wanted to be alone because you were such a boring jerk face all the time. She couldn’t stand you, so she avoided you on purpose. Thinking of this made your chest clench, and you loathed the feeling, so you disregarded it as it came.

You stood up from your desk, stretching your arms and sighing in content when you heard a satisfying crack. You let your hands fall back down to your sides, and stood there for a moment before addressing the pinkette behind you.

Turning around to face her, you noticed that she was dressed in her nightgown, exposing her slender legs*. She was laying on her stomach with her face buried into her pillow with her familiar red trimmed glasses resting atop the nearby nightstand. “Kuriyama.” It was quiet, but she finally muffled out a response.

“Let’s go grab some coffee.”

Silence enveloped the room once again, but Mirai managed to sit up, her pink locks of hair disheveled and unkempt. Her amber orbs locked with your (eye color) ones, and it seemed like she was attempting a glare. You raised an eyebrow waiting for a response, and after a few seconds, her expression softened. She stood up, running a hand through her hair. “Okay… Let me get changed.”

You immediately panicked, wanting to go back on your word. What the hell were you doing, inviting Mirai out? You shouldn’t care about her emotional state, you shouldn't care about her at all. It was her own personal business that she would deal with alone, and yet here you were, offering her comfort by inviting her out. Well, there was no going back now.

Just this one time, you kept telling yourself.
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Apparently, this so called 'one time thing' turned out to be a complete lie, because you went out to the café with Mirai whenever you had the chance to do so. You noticed that she served to be less annoying than you thought she was, but there was still one thing that pissed you off… You found yourself actually beginning to enjoy her company, almost to the point where you’d ditch your study sessions just to have the chance to hang out together. Luckily, your grades weren’t suffering, but still. Mirai Kuriyama and (Name) (Surname), unlikely friends until the bitter end. Yeah, right.

You snorted, angrily taking a sip from your coffee cup while grumbling unfathomable words that were most likely insults to the couple who were standing just outside the café’s window, smothering each other with pretty little kisses; how damn typical. Mirai, who sat across from you, noticed your distress, and tilted her head to the side, wondering what it was that was causing your distress. “What is it, (Name)-chan?”

You turned your (eye color) gaze towards her, your scowl softening at the sight of her expression. She was genuinely concerned about you. And strangely enough, you didn’t roll your eyes at the notion; in fact it was quite nice that she even bothered to care. Unbeknownst to yourself, you found yourself staring into her amber eyes, not noticing the blush on your companions face when you didn’t look away. Eventually, she was the one to break eye contact, feeling quite flustered at the staring contest the two of you had going on. You finally noticed her shy reaction, and you composed yourself, placing a palm underneath your chin as your gaze drifted back outside. The couple had wandered off and were no longer there.

There was a pregnant silence, and from the corner of your eye, you caught Kuriyama fidgeting in her seat for some reason. It was then you realized that something had to be said. “Kuriyama, we can’t be friends anymore.” The pink haired girl in front of you stared at you, wide eyed, as if she wasn’t expecting you to say something like that. But then her surprised expression evolved into a sad one, even more so than the day she came back to the dorm as if she killed a child by accident or some other idiom you couldn’t remember using.

“Oh, yes… I-I understand.”

For a second, you were confused by her reaction, but then it dawned on you, and for some reason, you laughed. Mirai looked offended by your laughter, and pouted, demanding to know what your problem was. ”That is just the cutest reaction, you know that?” Your comment seemed to be even more unexpected by your previous statement, and the poor girl became even more confused, as she furrowed her eyebrows together. Not without a bright blush adorning her face, of course.

“How unpleasant! I don’t understand you at all right now, (Name)-chan!”

You grinned amusedly, leaning over the table to say, “You don’t have to understand,” your hands reached over and grasped her cheeks, pinching them lightly, “just say yes.” She grimaced at the contact, but she didn’t seem to mind it all that much. You inched closer, and seeing her blush deepen made you give all you have to not burst out laughing. The close proximity made you happy; happier than you’ve ever been in a long time.

“Um...”

“Right, first things first.” You pulled away, sitting back down and taking a sip of your coffee before asking a question. “Why were you so depressed?” This question seemed to take the young woman by surprise, as she stuttered out a response you couldn’t quite understand the first time, so you asked her to repeat herself. “Come again?”

“I... I thought you hated me. That’s why I kept my distance.”

You blinked, mildly surprised. How could you hate Mirai? Even before, you could never hate her, annoyed maybe, but that’s just because you weren’t very used to having such strange interactions with another person, as you never bothered to do so in your earlier years. Actually, with this new leak of information, you even felt a bit sorry for making her go through such negative emotions. “Then I think you’d be happy to know that I never did harbor hateful feelings towards you.” The pinkette smiled widely, taking a sip of her latte. You didn’t need her to say anything to know she was pleased, as her expression was enough for you to understand the great happiness you’ve managed to bring her.

“So, I guess that makes us officially friends, right?”

“No, not really.”

Sadness flickered across her expression, and you were quick to wipe the sadness off of her face by placing a quick kiss on her lips, leaving her surprised, which was sort of cute mind you. You hadn’t known what flavor of coffee she had gotten earlier, but since the taste lingered on her lips, you knew for a fact it was vanilla. “I was hoping we could be something more than friends, if you don’t mind.”

Mirai turned beet red, and she had to remove her glasses to clean off the mist that had formed thanks to the warmness of her face. She looked panicked, but once she put her glasses back on, she met with your eyes with a sort of determined expression. You weren’t sure what to expect of her, so when she suddenly leapt forward and wrapped her arms around your neck, you couldn’t help but yelp as you struggled to keep your chair from falling backwards. She squeezed you in a tight hug, and she surprised you even further when she promptly kissed you on the lips.

The kiss lasted several seconds before she pulled away, giving you the brightest smile she could muster. “I’d love to be your girlfriend, (Name)-chan!”