Suggestion by : kasumi_moya

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So, Mui is talking in Japanese most of the time of course, when he talks with his family he always talks in Japanese, even at school with Yui, I am sorry if it might get confusing sometimes, I'll try to write if in a way so it's obvious when he does try to talk in English

Also I am sorry for any mistakes- it's 1am- I don't know what I am writing anymore-

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Muichiro’s pov

I sat on my bed, looking at my trembling hands. Tomorrow it’s going to be my first day at a new school. It wouldn’t be that bad if.. I could at least understand what they were saying. As my mama said.. I will eventually learn english, right? I will find friends.. right?

“Mui I brought you something to eat” My mama said once she came into the room. I smiled and took the plate with food from her “thank you, mama” I mumbled and looked at my food. I wasn’t hungry at all, my stomach was in knots.

“Hey, hunny, are you alright?” my mama asked me and sat down next to me. I shook my head, all the stress from tomorrow slowly swallowing me whole “I-I am.. scared mama.. how am I supposed to go to school when I don’t know any english..?” I mumbled quietly, my hands starting to shake harder.

Mama laid her hand on mine and placed her other hand on my cheeks “hunny, look at me.. you know Yui will be there with you.. he knows english well and he will be by your side, always..” she said but I shook my head once again, looking aways from her “I doubt he’ll just be with me all the time.. he'll find friends and just leave me out.."

Mama sighed "I'll talk to him, okay? And if he'll find someone, I am sure you will too! There might be someone who speaks Japanese and you will get along!' she said excitedly but it was so hard to trust it, I just.. I just didn't know what to do, I couldn't help but still feel terribly nervous.

I just nodded, hoping she'll leave me alone for now.. and she did, she just gave me a little kiss on my forehead and left the room, telling me to eat at least a bit of my food.

I just pushed it aside and laid down on my bed. All I could think about is what will I do? Will I get bullied? Will I end up graduating without ever talking to any of my classmates..?

I hugged my pillow and looked at my phone "I need to do something with it.. maybe.. downloading an app to learn English..? At least so I can introduce myself..?"

I tried to download one app but once I started, I saw all those different looking letters "oh my god.. what's this..? Do we even have this in hiragana?" I thought to myself and immediately gave up. I couldn't do this, there were so many things I had to learn..

I just laid my phone back down and buried my face into my pillow, tears welling up in my eyes "it's okay Muichiro, you'll get through this.. you'll learn eventually.. Remember, you learned how to ride a bike.. learning English can't be much harder.. right?"

…

"Alright Mui! Here is your lunch and remember, if anything happens, Yui is there with you, okay?" Mama said and gave me a little kiss on my forehead. "So you're saying I am his translator, huh?" Yuichiro said with an annoyed tone.

"Yui, don't be mean, you know Mui is trying his best to learn, just help him out a bit right now, he has extra lessons for English after school, he'll learn soon" mama said and patted my head but Yui didn't stop "I doubt that, he can't even do one simple lesson in Duolingo, I bet that green bird is getting depressed just by looking at Muichiro failing the same thing over and over again"

I looked down at the floor, knowing damn well Yuichiro is right. I’ve been trying before and gave up. I wanted to start yesterday again but gave up once again like always.. All I can do is give up over and over again.

“Yui, stop, Mui is trying his best and I believe that he will learn and find a bunch of friends! just give him some time” mama said and hugged me from behind “thank you, mama..” I mumbled and gave her a small smile.

“Okay, now go, dad is already waiting outside” she said and we both nodded before putting on our shoes. I gave her a small wave before walking towards the car and getting in. Once I got in, my father looked at me and smiled “excited?”

I shook my head and looked down at my like “more like nervous.. not excited at all” I mumbled before Yuichiro got into the car. “Complaining again?” he said and laid down his bag on the car floor. “Just shut up already.. you’re not making it better” I snapped.

“Come on boys, don’t fight. Yuichiro you should be supporting Mui and not be mean to him” my father said and started up the car. The whole car ride wasn’t that bad after, we were all sitting there in silence. All I could hear was my heartbeat that was getting louder and louder once we got more far from our home.

…

Once we got to school, I just clung onto Yuichiro, it felt like everyone was staring at us. Suddenly a guy walked up to us and said “Hi! I haven’t seen you here, are you new?”

The guy who asked us that was.. pretty. He had beautiful crimson eyes and ruffled black hair with burgundy tips. I couldn’t help but look at him, I was completely stunned. “Yea we are new” Yuichiro said and they continued the conversation for some time while I just stood there, not understanding a single thing.

“ohh, would you like me to show you your class? or principals office first?” “Can you show us our class first?” Yuichiro asked and the other guy nodded “well of course! follow me!” he said energetically. They began to walk and I immediately followed behind them, having no idea where we were going.

He led us into a classroom and Yui turned to look at me “this is our classroom, go pick a seat” before I could say anything, the guy spoke up again “woah you speak japanese?” he said and Yuichiro nodded “yeah? it’s our first language”

“that’s cool! Your english is great for someone who doesn’t have it as a first language” he said and Yuichiro forced a small smile “thanks”

“Okay, wanna sit behind me? I think there is one free space and I can ask Inosuke to move so he can sit down next to you” he said and looked at me. My eyes widened, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t understand a single thing they said between each other, I just gave him a tiny nod, hoping that it would make sense.

“Alright!” he said and walked into the classroom. We both followed behind him and stopped next to two desks where two more people sat “Hi Inosuke, hi Kanao” the guy said and turned to look at us “these are our new classmates, their names a-... what are your names?” he chuckled awkwardly.

“Yuichiro Tokito” Yuichiro said and then everyone turned to look at me. “They are talking about names, right? Yui said his name so I should just say mine too.. but what if they are talking about something else..” I thought but before I could answer, Yuichiro said “his name is Muichiro Tokito, he’s my younger twin”

“Ohhh that explains why you look so similar! well, I am Tanjiro, this is Kanao and Inosuke” he said and Kanao gave us a small wave while Inosuke just turned to look at Yuichiro and stared.

After some time, Inosuke moved to another seat and Yui and I sat down next to each other right behind the guy I assume was named Tanjiro.. or Kanao?.. or Inosuke..? One of those names, I didn’t understand a single thing.

I still couldn’t help but look at him, he was just.. different.. good different. Maybe if I try hard enough I will maybe have a chance to at least get a good friendship with him.

…

Well.. that’s what I thought at first but.. it was just like I imagined the day before the first day. I ended up without friends, only talking to Yuichiro during classes and being all alone during breaks. Everyone thinks I am mute just because I never spoke to anyone and when I did say something to Yui, it was so quiet that no one could hear anything.

God.. if only Tanjiro could befriend me.. he talks to Yuichiro quite a lot so.. why doesn’t he talk to me.. it must be because I don’t understand any english. But one day that changed.

I was sitting in an empty classroom once again.. all alone just eating my sandwich. Suddenly someone opened the door and Tanjiro walked in, he gave me a small wave and sat down next to me. “Hi there!” he said and my eyes widened. He spoke in Japanese for the first time. Is this my chance? Did he learn Japanese just for me? Woah woah calm down Muichiro, it’s probably not like that, calm down.

“So.. uhh..” he said and took out a small text book before quickly closing it and saying “how are you?” I could see that he was very nervous and struggled with a couple words so he must be really new to this “good, how about you?” I replied and his whole face went red.

“fuck his voice is adorable” he said in english once again. “fuck..?” I said, not understanding what he said and fuck being the only word I understood because Yuichiro made me say it to a waiter.

“O-Oh uhh- I AM GOOD!” he yelled out and I slightly nodded, just ignoring the last sentence he said, hoping it wasn’t anything serious. He took a deep breath and opened his text book again. There were so many written questions in both English and japanese.

“So.. ehm.. I want to.. learn Japanese so I.. can talk to you” he said, still struggling to say a couple words but I understood him clearly. “Really??” I smiled and he looked at his notebook again before nodding "of course!"

I couldn't feel happier. He's trying to learn Japanese just so he can talk to me.. he cares about me even though we never spoke to each other..

I need to try harder too! I will learn English fluently!

…

And I did start to learn a lot, I studied every day for hours and both my English and Tanjiro's Japanese was getting better and better!

One day he came to my house for dinner. I was patiently waiting in the living room, checking the clock every minute.

"Geez, calm down, are you in love with him or something?" Yuichiro said, making my heart drop "HUH?! NO?! I am just excited to see him!" I yelled out, my cheeks turning bright red.

"Right right, I saw you looking at him, from the first day you had eyes only for him" Yuichiro said and I just sat there, not knowing what to say "feelings.. I mean.. yeah.. I guess I do.. have feelings for him" I thought to myself, suddenly feeling nervous that he'll come here in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door which made me flinch a little. I rushed to the door and opened it, seeking Tanjiro standing there "hi Mui!" He said and I smiled "hi Tanjiro! Come in!" I said and owned the door more for him.

He walked in and took off his shoes and coat. "Woah it smells great here! What did you cook?" He asked "oh, couple Japanese dishes, I thought you'd like to try them since you never had them"

"Oh my god, yes! I can't wait to try them!" He chuckled and I did too. Once I led Tanjiro to a kitchen, mama immediately noticed and walked over to me "oh, you must be Tanjiro, it's so nice to meet you!"

She shook Tanjiro's hand and he smiled at her "it's so nice to meet you too, miss"

Mama turned to look at me and said "he's handsome, no wonder you talk about him so much"

My whole face went red as I yelled out "mama! He understands Japanese!" I immediately covered my face, being so embarrassed.

Tanjiro laughed "you talk about me, hm?"

I didn't answer, I just looked away, my whole face red at this point, I was so embarrassed.

…

"Geez it's looking horrible outside, would you like to stay here for a night?" I asked and Tanjiro quickly nodded "sure! I would love to!"

I smiled and once we finished our dinner, I led him to my room. He sat down on my bed and looked around "where will I sleep?" He asked and I replied with "mama will bring you matrace soon, or you can just sleep on my bed if you want to"

"Oh no no, I'll take matrace, but thank you" he said and I nodded. We sat there for some time alone before Tanjiro spoke up again.

'hey Mui?"

"Hm?" I hummed simply and looked at him.

"Do you.. like someone?" He mumbled and my eyes grew wide. I didn't know how to respond so I just asked him instead "do YOU like someone?"

"Well.. yea, I do" he smiled and I looked down "hah.. that's great" I mumbled, feeling a rush of sadness wash over me but once he started talking again.. it changed.

"It's a guy.. a guy I met one day out of nowhere.. he was always someone special but there was something holding me back.. something that prevented me from talking to him..  I am so in love with this boy I could admire him all day. Everytime I look at him I can feel myself falling more and more in love with him.. his eyes, smile, voice, hair.. Everything about him is so perfect.. he means the world to me, he is honestly the sweetest boy I ever met.. and I can't imagine life without him anymore.. he deserves absolutely everything. He makes me so happy and I couldn't ask for anyone better.." he turned to look at me and mumbled "you.. I like you, Muichiro"

My heart skipped a beat and I just sat there, staring at him, trying to find the right words on how to express how I actually felt.

"I.. I like you too, Tanjiro.. from day one too.. I.. don't know what to say, I am so.. I am so shocked that this is actually happening.." I mumbled and looked down.

Tanjiro leaned to me and placed his hand on my cheek "you don't need to say anything, a simple 'i like you too' is enough"

I smiled and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me as well and said "I love you, Mui"

I buried my face into his shoulder, trying to hide my red face "I love you too"

...

Word count : 2559