𝓸𝗇𝖾 ▬▬▬ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄
(𝗁𝖺𝗋𝗎 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖾𝗒𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌)

𝓸𝗇𝖾 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 𝓖ETO SUGURU STARES THROUGH THE GLASS WINDOW. People walk behind him, in front of him — but nothing shakes his attention. With a tilt of his head, he observes.

The gigantic teddy bear rests atop a wooden pink stool, it's inanimate eyes somehow holding more light than Suguru's himself. It doesn't breath, doesn't move, it just exists. Yet, it has more spirit than most sorcerers he knows. He's certain this teddy bear has a soul.

It seems fluffy, the perfect thing to cuddle with. It's stereotypically exactly what it is : a teddy bear. Warm, lively, serene — like the girl who occupies his thoughts and fills his dreams. Haru and a teddy bear, they're one and the same.

Satoru Gojo is talking his ear off when he abruptly realizes that Suguru is no longer next to him. He turns and sees that the other boy has stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, gazing at a window display, with that utterly lost gaze on him that he gets whenever he's looking at a certain soda-loving, sharp-toothed girl.

He sees Suguru barely notice him out of the corner of his eye, when he walks back and stands next to him. Satoru whistles, hands in his pockets, angling his face down his as his eyes peer above his sunglasses to follow Suguru's gaze. "That's a big bear." And then he turns to look at Suguru, taunting smile and all. "Aww, Suguru, didn't know you were looking for a stuffed animal to help you sleep at night."

Suguru bristles on the spot, his intense focus on the lifeless bear dissipating. "S-shut up, I don't want a stuffed animal." He curses himself for falling prey to Satoru's antics right away. He looks away, suddenly blushing. "It just — reminded me of her," he mumbles the sentence but clears his throat right away. "Whatever. Let's go." He moves to continue their walk down the busy street but stops when he sees Satoru is now the one who's focused on the teddy bear.

"Oh yeah right, that's the famous bear from the cartoon Haru loves so much." He has a hand on his hip as he snaps his fingers, trying to jog his memory. "He's Rilakkuma, right?"

Suguru moves stands next to Satoru. "Yeah. She loves it a lot."

"You should get it for her."

Suguru scrunches his nose. "Wouldn't that be a bit weird?"

Satoru raises an eyebrow at that. "Why? We give each other gifts all of the time." That's true. On occasion , Geto will buy Satoru those gummies he loves so much and every now and then, he'll get Shoko a new pack of cigarettes. Getting something for Haru wouldn't be any different. It shouldn't feel different.

Nodding towards the "for sale" sign next to it, Gojo speaks up, "If it's about the price, I could always help out, you know."

He knows Satoru is offering to assist mainly because he wants to show off rather than actually help Suguru out. He rejects the offer though, because while he's not rich like Satoru, money isn't the problem.

Satoru sighs, suddenly annoyed with the current situation, his brattiness taking over. "Why don't you just buy it and give it to her whenever you're ready? Hurry up, I wanna go to that candy store we passed by earlier."

Suguru mulls it over. For the first time, Satoru has said something that makes sense. "Okay," he whispers and before he can think twice, he's walking into the store, the little bell atop the door ringing. Satoru is right behind him.

𝓣O SHOKO IERI, Haru Kutsuki is like the sun itself. Bright. Blindingly bright. And if you stare at her too long, your eyes will burn, because that brightness is sometimes too much. Shoko is certain that Haru and the sun are one in the same. Maybe it's just Shoko who feels that way, given she's more into doom and despair than bliss and buzz.

They had opted for a girls day, given the fact that Satoru and Suguru had decided to go off shopping on their own. Shoko had wanted a break from the boys' constant bickering and overall annoying energy. A break from the male species is needed every now and then, for mental health reasons of course. Haru skips ahead of her, a matcha boba drink in one hand and her white purse precariously dangling off the other.

They haven't bought anything. Haru, Shoko realizes, is the type of little bitch to spend ungodly amounts of hours in a store and come out with absolutely nothing. And as for Shoko, she can't seem to find the energy to buy anything. Haru says shopping is more about the experience than, well, actual shopping and she's been trying to take those words to heart.

"Shoko!" She almost drops her cigarette when Haru pulls her in close. "Look!" Haru points up at the blue sky, the sun glinting off the many rings on her fingers. The ice in her drink clatters loudly.

Shoko follows her direction to a typical white cloud. Her face drops, bored voice taking over, "It's just a cloud, stop getting excited over stupid shit."

Shoko is about to pull away from the half embrace when Haru pulls her close again. "It's not dumb, look closer." Reluctantly, she looks back up again, this time following Haru's finger which is tracing around the cloud to notice that's in the shape of well, a heart.

Shoko lifts her sunglasses to rest on her head. "Huh. A heart-shaped cloud."

Haru is too good for this world, much like the sun, Shoko suddenly thinks. It's a random thought, but true nonetheless.

It's night time when they arrive on campus. Satoru is skipping over to the dorms, with Suguru in tow, who carries the teddy bear with both arms, cradling it against his chest.

From afar, they spot Haru walking alone. She doesn't notice them, she's all too entertained with jumping over the cracks on the concrete ground. She's not with Shoko — the other girl is probably off in her secret smoking place. Haru never did like the smell of cigarettes.

"Oi, make sure to let Haru know about that thing we're planning to do with Shoko. I don't think she's told her yet." Satoru is looking over his shoulder back at him. He's twirling his expensive shopping bag in his hand.

Suguru shrugs. "Why can't you tell her?"

Satoru stops and turns so he's fully facing Suguru. And then he smirks, like he's Albert fucking Einstein, like he's the smartest person in the world. He takes the stuffed animal from Suguru's arms. "I'll be taking this to your room."

Suguru looks completely unamused as Satoru walks off into the dorms, his cackling laugh resounding in the air. He shakes his head because how could someone so stupid be so smart. Satoru has seen right through him, like he's using a goddamn fucking x-ray. Bastard.

Accepting his fate, he turns in Haru's direction. It doesn't take long for her to spot him — her face absolutely lights up when she notices him and she waves at him immediately, a gigantic smile gracing her lips.

"Suguruuu!" She calls out, her hands cupping around her mouth. She jumps in her spot and waves her hands in the air, in case Suguru hasn't seen her. But how could he not. Even if she's not the first thing he sees, she's the first thing he looks for.

He waves, a timid smile on his face. She jogs over to him, somehow not tripping over her untied shoelaces. His heart is pounding. What the fuck? Could he be suffering from some sort of heart disease at such a young age? Is that even possible ?

Haru stops directly in front of him and Suguru takes in her usual scent : rose water perfume. "How was your day with Shoko?" He gulps, leaning back at the sudden closeness.

Haru crosses her legs as she stands, one pink Nike atop the other. She's wearing the pair Satoru gifted her a couple of weeks ago. The shoes are already dirty, mud speckled across them. God forbid Haru ever white shoes, for fear of the utter atrocity she'd leave them as. She tucks a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear, "It was nice. We didn't really go shopping, we mostly just enjoyed the views. We got here 'bout an hour ago."

Haru gestures to a drink in her hand, "Shoko wanted a chocolate milk," she whines, rolling her eyes, a pout on her face at the mention of doing Shoko a favor yet again. Shoko had been very much like that since the beginning of their stay in school. She liked to take advantage of Haru's kindness and often sent her on errands. But Haru wasn't exactly naive, and she seemed perfectly content with letting Shoko boss her around.

"Oh!" Haru adds, "there's a new soda flavor that's been added to the vending machines. It's kiwi and apple, I think. You should go try it out."

For a couple of seconds, Suguru finds it hard to open his mouth, nervousness clouding his brain. Don't mess this up, don't mess this up, don't fucking mess this up. He stares at Haru and she stares right back. Awkwardness fills the air. 

"Right, sounds good. Speaking of umm ... stuff," Geto shoves his hands in his pockets, shifting in his stance. He looks at everywhere else but Haru, his eyes finally settling on the lamp post which suddenly seems very interesting. "Me and Satoru are planning a small movie night for this Friday at his room. I don't think Shoko has told you yet. It's gonna be a small thing, just for us four."

"Sounds cool," Haru flashes a toothy smile. "Need me to bring anything?"

"Oh, uh," Geto scratches the back of his head in thought, "how 'bout sodas? I'm bringing the pizza, Satoru is already in charge of the snacks, and Shoko is bringing the umm, alcohol."

"Okay!" Haru slightly leans forward, her hands behind her back. "Sounds fun. I'll definitely be there, kay." The most gentle of smiles warms its way on her face and she scrunches her eyes.

"Nice. I'll leave you to ... deliver Shoko's milk." Yes, Geto admits that the sentence sounded way less weirder in his head.

Another awkward pause and this time, Haru speaks, "Thank you for inviting me, Suguru." In that moment, something in Suguru's heart explodes. He blinks, staring at Haru in such a stupid manner he internally wants to punch himself.

It seems like awkwardness is a contagious disease or something of the fucking sort because suddenly Haru seems unsure of herself and she's never unsure. Suguru hopes he hasn't done something to make her uncomfortable. Boundaries. Right. He takes a step back, but his eyes don't leave Haru. She's fidgeting with the pink sunglasses resting on the collar of her shirt. Her honey glazed eyes are genuine. Sincere. Kind. She's looking down , sneaking small glances at Suguru every now and then.

Screw the butterflies in his stomach, there's a fucking dragon swirling about inside him. He feels queasy, lightheaded, in lov— No. That's not it, right? He's never experienced that feeling before, but it can't be this.

"Are you okay?" Haru whispers, tugging at the hem of her shirt. "You're looking a bit red."

The blush worming it's way across his face burns. "Uhh- yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He rushes to cover his face any way he can, playing a facade by idly scratching his forehead. "I'll umm, I'll be seeing you. Have a nice night, Haru."

"You too. See ya!"

They part ways that easily, naturally even. Which is a relief, after that god-awful conversation. He doesn't understand what just happened, only that his beating heart is in desperate need of Xanax.

Suguru's face burns the entire way to his room to the point he thinks his shade will permanently change. His heart won't stop pounding and his mind won't stop repeating the moment with Haru. He should've said something else. Now Haru probably just think he's weird. He mentally kicks himself because why does he care what a sixteen year old girl thinks about him. It's not like he gives a shit what Shoko thinks about him. But Haru isn't Shoko. And that shouldn't make a difference, but it does.

Suguru Geto doesn't know what's going on but he's certain about two things : He's gone crazy and he really needs to figure out a way to gift Haru the teddy bear without dying in the process.

𝓪𝗎𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗋'𝗌 𝓷𝗈𝗍𝖾 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ okie so how do we feel about my writing on this chapter?? I feel like it's lacking a bit of detail compared to how I usually write but I really wanted to write something simple to start the story. I also feel like this type of style is more conversational than what I'm used to bc i usually write more ominous, deeper writing, so idk how to feel about that.

Anyways, I hope u guys liked this first chapter 💕 don't forget to vote and comment <3

© 𝒕𝒗𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒔 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
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