Chapter twenty-six:

"Love advice from the love pillar"

Saturday noon, Muichiro was sulking.

The sun was high up, the clouds rested beside it, with the bright blue on the background; but to Muichiro, it felt as if the clouds were gray and wanted to rain down on him, because he was not fine.

He had left you practicing total concentration constant; while he went out in casual clothes to go buy some groceries.

And he was sulking so hard that his eyebrows seemed to fusion with his eyes. The annoying feeling he got whenever he was around you was starting to bother him. He didn't understand why he felt hurt whenever you got hurt during practice, or why he would stay hours lost staring at you instead of the clouds or stars. He needed it to stop, or at least, to understand it.

Walking on the sidewalk, he stared intensely at the pavement beneath his shoes all the way to the grocery shop where he's used to buy stuff. Before entering, his eyes caught a bright pink and green, which immediately made him raise his head up. Next to the grocery shop was a café, and right outside of it enjoying her last dango, was the love pillar, Kanroji Mitsuri herself.

«Hell no.»

He halted, then rolled on his feet towards the opposite direction. He could find another store, any other, as long as it wasn't close to the ball of rainbows and kittens that was that woman. He was determined to pretend he didn't see her and move on with his life.

Mitsuri patted her belly, smiling widely at how much delicious food she had eaten. That's when her big, round eyes recognized the short figure of her fellow pillar, who had just turned around.

"Oh! Muichiro-kun!!" she called, waving at him happily as she got up after having paid and running up to him.

He stopped, rolled his eyes, and reluctantly got into the store. Maybe, if he avoided her, she would give up and go.

Wrong.

Mitsuri followed behind him, skipping with the biggest of smiles; through the many hallways classified by types of food, even taking a trolley for herself. She didn't care that the other people on the store were staring at them as if they had committed a crime just for standing out.

"Muichiro-kun, how is [Y/N] feeling? Has she made any progress? Last time I saw her she was making the total concentration breathing constant seem so natural! Oh, and I promised her that I'd help her practice her flexibility so she can have an easier time dodging attacks! I'm sooooo excited for the final selection! Our girl is gonna kick their butts!" she spoke excitedly, exaggerating any gestures she made, while Muichiro silently selected what kind of cereal he would buy.

«Honey or chocolate flavored...? Or maybe something healthier? Are there any carrot flavored cereals?»

He was taking a really important decision and Mitsuri's buzzing wasn't helping.

When they moved on to the cheese section, he was getting impatient. He opened his mouth to ask her to shut hers, but before he could say anything, Mitsuri continued speaking.

"You should've seen her the last time we took a shower together. She's so adorable, seriously, I can't believe she's your tsuguko and not mine."

He slowly closed his mouth, letting her continue talk, although his mind was going crazy and his face felt hotter than fire on fire.

He simply took the first two types of cheeses he saw and continued on to the next hallway, in which he knew he would've to buy a lot of stuff, since it was dedicated to snacks and that's what motivated you to push harder whenever you were feeling lazy.

"Anyway, her technique is getting much better, so she might climb ranks fast once she's all done with the selection. I'll love to have her as a pillar too... but there can't be two of the same, can they? She might need to develop a new breathing style out of yours. Oh! I have some ideas, maybe you can tell her for m—"

"Shut up before my ears start to bleed."

His words were as sharp as a knife, forcing Mitsuri to stop acting so ecstatic. She simply nodded, and silently followed him around the store.

After several minutes of peaceful silence, Muichiro came to a halt, closing his eyes in deep thought as he made up his mind about asking something to the pink-haired girl.

"If I tell you something, will you leave?"

It was more of a question, but no need for specifics. Mitsuri was already excitedly nodding, she expected him to say something about you. It was part of being cupid on Earth, she knew of stuff like that, she could feel it in her bones.

He took a deep breath in before speaking.

"Whenever [Y/N]'s around, it hurts here" he placed his hand over his chest, his face showing nothing more than the usual dullness. His brows then furrowed, thinking about it "It feels as if some demon set my face on fire, or electrified me, or I just... know that I'm breathing but I feel breathless. I don't know, I don't get it. It's not unpleasant, I don't hate it... I want more and yet..."

He stopped talking when he noticed that Mitsuri was squealing and hopping around him uncontrollably, making everyone stare at them again.

"You're in love! So cute!!"

Muichiro only turned around and shrugged, but as he did so, the words hit him harder.

"Look, look, Tokito-sama! It's raining! I can really feel it!"

"If you leave, I might die alone"

"Thank you for having me as your tsuguko, Tokito-sama"

"Can I call you my family?"

"If anything were to happen to him, I'd be too devastated to fill his position"

"It's good to help people. If you help others, good things come to you"

"I'm happy just spending time with you."

"Happy birthday, Tokito-sama!"

They kept filling his head, overwhelming him. They were all thoughts of you. From seven, five, three, two months ago... from last week, from yesterday. Every single day.

"Come home safe, master!"

Even that very same morning.

His eyes grew large in shocking realization, his whole body tensed. He clenched his aching heart, as his breathing became uneven and his heartbeat quickened. The look on his face was that of a troubled boy who had just discovered what love meant.

"...Am I?"

He didn't know the emotional meaning of love, but the textbook definition came to mind. It was mix of hormones, something so useless and meaningless that he didn't care to remember, but in that exact moment, it hit him like a large wave in the sea.

Mitsuri's expression softened, as she slowly nodded making sure to voice it as well. "I believe you are"

Muichiro stayed silent, trying to process what those words meant. He shook his head, and continued walking.

«That's stupid. Forget it. Kanroji is just making stuff up.»

Mitsuri frowned, following behind him. She knew that he was in denial.

"If [Y/N] were to leave you to be my tsuguko, how would he react?" she asked, determined to make him admit it.

Muichiro serenely responded, "Easy. I'd kill you."

Mitsuri, sweating aggressively with a big smile, decided to formulate the question a little bit better "How would you feel like if that happened?"

"Annoyed"

Mitsuri pouted. That boy was denser than her bones, seriously.

"How would you feel if she just eloped?"

Muichiro frowned harder, the question made him uncomfortable.

"That isn't possible. She wouldn't run away with anyone, she only knows me and Shinobu well enough."

"Just answer the question!!"

At that point, everyone in the store was staring attentively. They wanted to know, just because life around there was so boring that gossip was really enternatining, although they didn't even know Muichiro's name nor had seen him.

Muichiro looked down, thoughtful, mouth pressed into a thin line.

"I don't know. Even now, I miss her. It became a habit to look for her around the house and talk with her daily, so without her, I'm... lonely."