Guilty Pleasure Friends

Accidentally Good

Mahiru.

Kuro froze as his senses came roaring back to life, his anger and fury vanishing in an instant and giving way to shock and shame. Mahiru had seen everything. He had seen him fall over and break all the plates and let the snacks he had put so much work into go to waste. And... he had seen Kuro attack Tsubaki. He had seen him fail miserably, at every single thing he was supposed to do.

Kuro had failed him, had disappointed him with every single thing he had done, and Mahiru had witnessed them all.

His hands started shaking. His grip on Tsubaki's collar loosened, and he let go, dropping his trembling hand to his side, allowing the senior to fall back into his chair. Time seemed to stop.

Kuro closed his eyes and waited for hell to break loose.

There was nothing. Nothing but shocked gasps and hushed whispers, but Mahiru remained silent. The only thing that assured Kuro that he was still there was the unyielding grip on his wrist.

It all seemed surreal. Like it was only a very bad dream, a figment of his imagination that would disappear when he opened his eyes to be replaced by the comforting familiarity of his room. But... this was real. He could tell by the warmth of Mahiru's hand, the only thing that didn't seem oddly removed and distant.

He had no idea how long they both just stood there, neither of them saying a word. It felt like an eternity.

Why was Mahiru not saying anything?

Was this some kind of strategy? Was he trying to torment him until his guilt became so overwhelming that he apologized? If so, then it was working like a charm. At this point being yelled at would feel like a relief.

His hands were shaking like dry leaves. Kuro wanted to say something, but his voice failed him, and all he forced out was a dry whisper. "Mahiru..."

"Your costume's done."

Kuro blinked in surprise. Mahiru's voice was calm and patient as usual, like nothing had happened at all, like they weren't standing in the middle of a battlefield. So calm that he gathered the courage to turn around, to meet Mahiru's eyes, and discovered that his classmate was smiling.

Why was he smiling now of all times? Kuro didn't understand, and no matter how much he studied Mahiru's face he still couldn't find an explanation in it, a reason why he was not furious like he had every right to be. Was he just hiding it? That wasn't like him, so what was it?

Well, it wasn't like he could figure it out by continuing to stare. Dropping his gaze, he let Mahiru lead him through the kitchen and into the small room attached to it, the one where kitchen utensils were usually kept outside of home economics class. Now it was mostly empty, except for a chair, across which a set of clothes was draped.

"Your costume," Mahiru explained, catching sight of Kuro's questioning gaze. "It took them a bit longer than expected, but at least it's there now. And it's not like you can stay in these clothes anyway." He gestured to Kuro's ruined outfit, but his eyes lingered on his snack-smeared face and hands, and he made a disgruntled face. "Although... come to think of it, your clothes might not be the only problem."

Turning, he hurried out of the room and came back with a wet towel in his hands. "Clean up a little," he began, then shook his head. "No, wait. It's probably faster if I do it."

Before Kuro could even open his mouth to protest, Mahiru made his way over to him and started wiping his face and hands with the towel, his moves swift and efficient yet strangely gentle. Kuro felt reminded of a mother cleaning her child's face. Really, the only difference was that a kid would probably be embarrassed. Under normal circumstances, Kuro would be embarrassed too - this was kind of an awkward situation after all, having his face wiped by someone else like he was a toddler or something - but right now all he could think was that it felt good to get rid of the sticky mess covering his cheeks and forehead, that the towel felt nicely cool and soothing, and that the movements of Mahiru's hand made it feel like he was being caressed.

He was just about to forget where he was and lean into the touch when Mahiru finished, giving him another light smile. "That's better. Now hurry up and get changed."

The whole reality of the situation kicked back in. Kuro had still messed up, humiliated himself in front of everyone, disappointed Mahiru and proved just how much of a failure he was. He had tried his best but it still wasn't enough. And here he was, supposed to change so he could continue doing what he couldn't do to save his life.

He plopped down onto the chair with a sigh and couldn't bring himself to move, even though he knew Mahiru was waiting. Why was he still expecting him to go back out there and do his job? Even with a new costume he'd still be no good. And nobody would want him at their table anyway. Even with a new costume he'd still be recognizable as the guy who had tripped and dropped a tray of food and attacked a customer.

What if he just stayed here until the day was over? Would anybody even miss him?

The remains of the food and drinks on his clothes were beginning to dry, sticking and clinging to him and reminding him that even if he didn't want to go back outside, changing might not be such a bad idea after all. Hiding out in a closet with dry and clean clothes sounded a lot better than continuing to sit here as a drying but increasingly sticky mess.

Slowly scrambling to his feet, he slipped out of his ruined costume and picked up the new one, eyeing it with mild curiosity. There was a black shirt, a white sweater vest, black pants and shoes and... another animal-eared headband, with some sort of bear ears this time, but at least it looked like this one would be a better fit. What kind of costume was that supposed to be?

Well, never mind. It looked comfy enough, he might as well change into it and ask questions later.

He had just slipped on the pants and was about to put on the shirt when the door opened, and Mahiru popped his head in. "Are you done yet?"

For a few seconds they just blinked at each other, trying to process the bizarre situation they had suddenly found themselves in. Kuro stood still as a statue, frozen mid-motion, turning to face Mahiru, the shirt half-draped over his arms like he was posing for some kind of photo shoot. For some reason he felt exposed.

Why did he even feel exposed? Mahiru had seen him shirtless before, he had even helped him button his shirt back when he had first dragged him to class, so his classmate walking in on him changing really shouldn't be such a big deal. Maybe it was the odd pose he was still striking while staring at the class representative like a deer in the headlights.

Mahiru seemed to get the hint and finally broke the awkward silence. "What's taking you so long? Hurry up, geez!"

"The others are gonna say the same to you if you keep staring at me," Kuro deadpanned, slipping on the shirt and finally covering up his body. "Liked what you saw?"

"That's not it!" Mahiru shot back, embarrassment dusting his cheeks a lively pink. "I just didn't think you still wouldn't be done!"

Kuro picked up the sweater vest and played with it, studying the pattern of the fabric like it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. "I'm not in a hurry," he said quietly.

He didn't look up, but he could still feel Mahiru's gaze on him, brown eyes soft with sympathy, and felt even worse.

Dropping the sweater vest to the ground, he let himself sink back on the chair, pulling up his knees and curling into a ball, wrapping his arms around himself, hiding his face. "I don't wanna go out there again," he confessed. "It's too much... can't deal."

"You're giving up?" Mahiru sounded disappointed, finally, but there was still no anger in his voice. "If that's your final decision then I guess I can't do anything about it but... are you sure? The others need your help, you know!"

Help? Kuro almost felt tempted to laugh at that. "I wasn't helping anyone."

"That's not true!"

Kuro jerked his head up at Mahiru's sudden outburst. "You were trying your hardest," his classmate continued. "I've seen you when we practiced the whole thing with the class, I know it's way out of your comfort zone but you still did your best! And you took care of Tsubaki and..."

"...and dropped loads of food and broke plates and tried to attack him," Kuro finished the sentence, burying his face in his knees again. "Your point?"

"Tsubaki tripped you!"

Kuro looked up again, meeting Mahiru's eyes, staring at him in surprise and wide-eyed shock. "You saw?"

"Of course I did. Tsubaki was out to humiliate you from the very beginning, right? That's why you were having so much trouble!"

"Partly," Kuro admitted. And because I look scary and can't talk to people. Which is kind of the bigger problem here.

"Kuro, you idiot!" Mahiru stomped over to him, grabbed his shoulders and slammed their foreheads together. "Why didn't you tell me? I told you you could always come to me if there was a problem! Why were you trying to handle everything alone?"

Kuro flinched and suddenly found himself hyperaware of the firm grip of Mahiru's hands on his shoulders, the warmth they radiated, the energy spreading through his entire body. Mahiru's face was painfully close, so close that Kuro had nowhere to look except for his accusing eyes. "Telling you sounded like a pain," he mumbled.

"A bigger pain than you dealing with all this mess alone? Like hell I'll believe that!" Mahiru's grip on him tightened. "Stop trying to do everything by yourself, okay? You can rely on me if you need help!"

Kuro shifted uncomfortably, trying to escape from Mahiru's grip of iron. His words felt good, so unfairly good, so much better than he deserved. And... he didn't understand. "You're not mad?"

"Mad? Of course I'm mad!" Mahiru snapped, yanking Kuro out of his chair and up on his feet. "If you'd just told me you were having trouble, none of this would have happened, right? So stop being an idiot and take the help you're offered! That's what friends are for, right?"

Kuro froze. His knees suddenly felt like putty again. His eyes went wide as he stared at Mahiru, trying to understand what his classmate had just said, hoping, praying that he hadn't misheard, that it wasn't just his imagination. His voice was barely more than a whisper, soft and shaky and hesitant as he gathered all his courage and asked, "We're... friends?"

Mahiru blinked in surprise. "Uh... sure!" he said nonchalantly and smiled, another one of those warm, radiant, unfairly bright smiles that lit up the entire room like the sun breaking out of the clouds. "Of course we're friends, Kuro!"

A warm, giddy feeling spread through Kuro's stomach and chest, making him feel light and fluttery and unexplainably, indescribably happy. His heartbeat sped up, sending a glow of heat over his face and urging him to hide his face in his hands to stop himself from smiling like an idiot. Every part of him felt nervously shaky, excited, as he repeated Mahiru's words over and over in his head, burning that memory into his mind.

Of course we're friends. Mahiru had said it so naturally, like it was the most normal thing in the world to be friends with someone like Kuro. Like he hadn't spent a lifetime alone, avoided by everyone. Like this wasn't the first time someone openly called him a friend.

He didn't know it felt so good.

Mahiru's words and smile sent a rush of hope through him, courage, determination. The thought that maybe if he went out there again, tried to be a waiter again, things would be different this time. It was idiotic and overly idealistic and perfectly unreasonable, but... maybe that was the key. Maybe sometimes you had to be an optimistic moron to get by.

Maybe Mahiru was right, and he could do this after all. Maybe a change of costume and some encouraging would actually do the trick, and he could actually be of some help this time around.

Or maybe he just didn't want to disappoint his newfound friend.

Sliding away from Mahiru's loosened grasp, he picked up the sweater vest and pulled it on, reached for the bear-eared headband and planted it on his head, and slipped on his shoes. "Guess another try won't hurt... what a pain."

Mahiru beamed.

Kuro let the wings of that smile carry him out of the room, turning his face away to hide how nonsensically happy he still was, and made his way through the kitchen and over to the room where the guests were sitting. It was even more crowded now; apparently someone had thought it was a good idea to bring a whole horde of elementary schoolers here, and now the brats and their older siblings and parents had occupied all the tables. The other waiters seemed to be having a hard time, running from one table to the other, comforting a crying brat here, wiping a spilled drink there and calmly answering to a lot of whining and nagging and the millionth question asking when the food would finally be ready.

Kuro faltered, stopping in the door frame as his courage left him as quickly as it had come. Could he really go in there like nothing had happened? Weren't the others mad at him, even if Mahiru wasn't? Wouldn't he just get in the way again like he had before, standing around like he was part of the decoration? If he couldn't even handle normal guests, could he really handle a gang of toddlers?

Part of him considered turning around and leaving before it was too late. He couldn't do this after all. There was no way he could. Mahiru would probably be sorely disappointed in him, but he'd understand. It was better than causing even more destruction.

He was just about to turn back when one of the girls met his gaze.

Her eyes went wide as saucers as she gaped at Kuro, who stared right back, trying to understand what the hell it was she was looking at. Was there anything on his face? Unlike all the other guests, she didn't look too intimidated, so what was it?

The girl's friend waved a hand in front of her and said something Kuro couldn't catch, probably asking if she'd seen a ghost or something or what on earth she was staring at. She blinked, then pointed straight at Kuro and loudly proclaimed, "Look, there's a panda over there!"

Kuro turned to peek around his shoulder, trying to figure out if there was anything vaguely resembling a panda behind him. After all, she couldn't possibly have been talking about him, could she? Maybe it had just looked like she'd been staring at him the whole time.

Wait a second.

Kuro looked down, taking in his costume. Black arms and legs... white torso... black bear ears...

Oh.

Meeting the little girl's gaze again, he didn't really know what to do. Should he come over? Or maybe waving would be better. He tried a halfhearted attempt at a wave. "'Sup."

The girl beamed, said something to her friend and waved back with enthusiasm. "Heeeey! Mr. Panda!" she called. "Over here, Mr. Panda!"

Wait. Did this kid actually call him over? Maybe there was some panda standing behind him, some kind of phantom or spirit that was only visible to kids, or something. Kuro didn't usually believe in that kind of stuff but anything seemed more believable than this kid calling him over to her table after teens and adults had spent the whole day shrinking away from him.

He met the girl's eyes with a questioning look. The kid blinked, gave him a confused expression, and tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong, Mr. Panda?" she asked. "Are you not a waiter?"

She was talking to him. What.

Still hesitant and definitely not sure what he was doing, he made his way over to her and her friend, a little boy around her age who didn't seem all too pleased by the girl's interest in Kuro. He stopped at a few feet away, careful not to loom over the table like he had before, trying his very hardest not to appear too intimidating. What the hell was he supposed to do with a pair of kids? He didn't know the first thing about kids. What should he say?

"Hey," he offered weakly.

"Hey!" the girl chimed, accompanied by an even bigger grin and a frown from her friend. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Panda! Do you work here too?"

Kuro nodded, wondering where this was going. "Yeah, kinda. For today."

"Then I'm glad we came today! Can we have the menu please?"

Now this was something Kuro knew how to react to. He grabbed a menu from a table that had just become empty and held it out to the kids, who studied it with curiosity. "There ya go."

The little boy frowned at the menu, then looked up to frown at Kuro instead. "This doesn't have any pictures," he said, pointing an accusing finger at the beautifully calligraphed lines of text.

Oh crap. Right. They were little kids, of course they couldn't read yet! Why hadn't Kuro thought of that? He should have offered to read it out to them or something. Even if that was exhausting as hell.

"What a pain," he sighed under his breath. Out loud, he added, "Want me to read it out for ya?"

"No need!" the little girl chirped before her friend even had the chance to open his mouth. She stared intently at the menu, pointed a finger at one of the items and moving it from letter to letter as she read. "Cho-co-late cup-cake." She glanced up at Kuro with pride. "See? I can read already!"

"Nice," Kuro said, partly because he had no idea what else to reply, partly because he was seriously impressed. This kid was never older than five or six and she could read that well already? He was convinced he would never have been able to read a menu by himself when he was her age.

It was hard to believe after all the disasters that had happened today, but Kuro was kind of enjoying himself. The little girl's simple-minded, outgoing personality and ear-to-ear grin were a pleasant breather, and it really felt nice not to be met with a horrified expression for once. What had happened? Why weren't these two pint-sized guests scared of him like everyone else had been? Was it the new costume? Was it just kids being kids? Or... was Kuro somehow still radiating happiness because Mahiru had called him a friend?

The butterflies in his stomach stirred again at that memory, and a warm fuzzy feeling wrapped itself around his heart like his favorite blanket in winter. Friend. That one word had changed everything, had taken his guilt away and given him confidence, even if it had only really lasted until he had reached the door. But that had been enough, apparently. This unbelievable little kid had seen him and approached him and was obviously trying to befriend him, and maybe the rest of the gang would do the same. Well, at least they would hopefully not meet him with hostility. That was something.

Kuro definitely needed to thank Mahiru later. He didn't know how yet, but he owed him. Big time.

"Mr. Panda? Mr. Panda!"

The girl's voice snapped him out of his reverie. Blinking, he realized that he had been standing at the table and staring off into nowhere for several minutes, and with who knows what kind of expression to boot. He shook himself and turned his attention back to the two kids in front of him, who eyed him with curiosity. "What's up?"

"We're done choosing, Mr. Panda! Can we order please?"

Kuro nodded, took out his notepad and pen and scribbled down the children's orders. He half expected the little boy to change his order a dozen times like Tsubaki had just to spite him, but the kid didn't speak a single word, simply glaring up at him as he left the talking to his friend.

Kuro made his way back to the kitchen, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Mahiru met his gaze as soon as he walked in, giving him a knowing smile. "So how was it? It wasn't that bad, right?"

Kuro shrugged. "I dunno," he mumbled, "there's a buncha little kids sitting out there and they seem to like my costume or something. I just hope they won't start acting too bratty... what a pain."

Mahiru perked up. "Kids?"

"Yeah. Loads of kids without their parents. The whole room's filled with them."

"Without their parents? I just hope nobody used this place as an excuse to drop off their kids so they could look at everything else in peace! Some people are so irresponsible." Mahiru let out an irritated sigh. "Keep an eye out for them, okay? And tell the others to be careful too. It's best not to spend too much time in here right now, just tell me what they ordered and go back!"

Kuro tore the page with the orders off his notepad and hesitated. Sure, this whole waiter thing had just become a lot easier, but that didn't mean he was motivated to play babysitter for a dozen unattended toddlers. "Do I have to? I'm not good with kids."

"Shut up! Tsubaki's gone now and the kids aren't even afraid of you, so you don't have an excuse not to go back anymore!" Mahiru grabbed his shoulders, turned him around and ushered him out of the kitchen. "Well, at least you're back to your normal self... I guess that's a good thing. But don't run away, got that? Keep an eye on them!"

Kuro stumbled through the door and sighed. "Sure, Mom."

"Who are you calling Mom?! Zip it and go back to work!"

The door slammed shut behind him, and Kuro found himself looking into at least fifteen pairs of curiously widened eyes.

Sighing, he thanked fate for his lack of pride, raised both his hands and made a gesture to emulate paws. It was more of a cat pose, really, but they were all still little kids so who would even notice, let alone care? If he'd still had his cat ears maybe he would have meowed too, but since he had no idea what noise pandas made he just offered them a somewhat weak "Hey."

"Hey, Mr. Panda! You're back!" The little girl from earlier smiled and waved, then copied Kuro's paw pose with a grin. "Is this a special panda greeting? I've learned it already, see? That means I'm your panda friend now! Right?"

Kuro stared at her, trying to follow her train of thought and failing. Her babble made no sense to him, so he did what every reasonable human being would do in his situation and nodded awkwardly. "I... guess."

...Had she just called him a friend?

It was strange. She was already the second person calling him a friend today, but for some reason Kuro didn't feel nearly as happy and overwhelmed as he had when Mahiru had done the same. Was it because kids threw the word around lightly? Because the second time didn't have as much of an impact as the first one? Because he barely knew her? Or had he only felt so happy earlier because Mahiru of all people had called him a friend? Was Mahiru... special to him?

What a stupid question. Mahiru was the first real friend he'd ever made. Of course he was special.

...What was he doing, thinking about that again? He was supposed to take care of over a dozen kids, not over-analyze his own reactions to people calling him their friend. There would still be enough time for that when he was finally alone again later. Now he had other things to do.

Mahiru was relying on him, after all.

"Hey, panda," the little girl's friend addressed him, scowling like he was trying to murder Kuro with his eyes. "When's our food gonna be ready?"

"I dunno," Kuro answered and was just about to walk over to another table when he remembered his manners. Well, the manners the others had taught him for this occasion. Be nice to the guests, be polite no matter what. And here he was, talking to a six-year-old in his usual manner.

"I... dunno 'cause I don't make it, gotta ask the cooking guys or something. I'll... do that when I go back to the kitchen." Was that okay? Was that polite enough? At least it wasn't too rude, right? ...Right?

The boy was still scowling, but the little girl smiled in her ever-cheerful manner and nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Panda!"

Kuro was just about to consider which table to go to when a pair of twin girls and a fragile-looking boy shyly waved him over. "U-Um, Mr. Panda, c-can we order please?"

He nodded and made his way over to them, reaching for his notepad and pen and getting ready to write down their orders. They all politely listed off what they wanted, and Kuro was just about to leave again when the boy in the middle spoke up. "M-Mr. Panda, do you always work here?"

"Just for the school festival," Kuro replied, wondering where this was going for what felt like the twenty-first time that day.

Their eyes went wide with curiosity. "So, um," the short-haired twin ventured, "you're a student here?"

"Yup." Kuro didn't know why, but for some reason he felt like adding a little joke. "Pandas need an education too y'know."

They giggled. Now it was Kuro's turn to widen his eyes in surprise, staring at the three kids who were actually laughing at his lame joke, even though they seemed so shy and nervous. Had he just done something right? He had no idea. He wasn't even that good with kids to begin with.

The long-haired twin was the first to stop giggling and become serious again. "But, Mr. Panda," she asked, "what do you need an education for? All pandas do is eat and sleep and look cute, right?"

Kuro sighed, banning the rising images from his stressful school life from his head as they appeared. "That's all I do at school."

"That's not good, Mr. Panda!" the first girl shouted over from her table. "You gotta take your education seriously! That's what Mitsuki-san always says, and Mitsuki-san is super smart!"

"Idiot!" a boy from another table shouted back. "Mr. Panda doesn't even know who Mitsuki-san is! Right, Mr. Panda?"

Kuro looked from one to the other in confusion. Of course he had absolutely no idea who this Mitsuki person was, but that didn't even matter. These kids had just gone and incorporated him into their conversation like it was nothing, like he wasn't some scary ex-gang member surrounded by rumors nasty enough to keep even the toughest mobsters at bay. Like he was an older brother, or a friend, or maybe a parent, a normal, nice person who was good with kids.

It was strange. It was so strange. But... it was fun.

He couldn't believe he was thinking this, but he wanted to interact with these brats. He wanted to ask them questions and hear about them and tell them things about himself and make them laugh with his jokes, and it was the strangest feeling he'd ever felt. Talking to people drained him, and he tried to avoid it as much as he could. But these kids... right now, they didn't seem so draining.

"Who's this Mitsuki?" he asked casually. "Friend of yours?"

"Mitsuki-san is our older sister," the short-haired twin explained. "She grew up at our orphanage, but now she doesn't live there anymore because she's an adult and has a job."

"She still visits a lot though," her sister added. "She came with us today too but she went looking for Lily and Misono." She smiled. "They're our big brothers too, they live right next door so they always come over to play with us!"

Kuro wanted to say something, but no words came out. Orphanage. All these kids were orphans. They'd lost their parents, they'd lost everything, and yet here they were, smiling, cheerful, acting like a perfectly normal bunch of children like their lives had been nothing but sunshine and rainbows.

They were incredible.

"I..." His voice came out hoarse, choked, and he coughed to get it back to normal before they noticed anything. "Anybody else who wants to order?"

One by one, all the children raised their hands.

Kuro could see the other waiters and waitresses move over to help him with all the orders when the children all began to yell and shout at the same time. A little girl even burst into tears. "No!" she screamed as Sakuya approached her table. "I don't wanna order from you! I want Mr. Panda!"

"No fair!" a voice from the other side of the room shouted. "I want Mr. Panda! Over here, Mr. Panda!"

"I called him first! Mr. Panda, come to me!"

Kuro stared at all the tantrums around him and sighed. Little kids were and remained little kids, after all, and little kids had the annoying habit of being loud and bratty and crying a lot. And that was the part he really, really couldn't handle.

"Can't deal," he mumbled. "Hey, calm down," he added in a louder voice, but the kids wouldn't listen.

Great. What was he supposed to do now, calm them down somehow? But how? How could anyone who didn't have superpowers calm down a bunch of tantrum-throwing kids?

...Should he call Mahiru?

He shook his head, dismissing that thought. Mahiru was busy enough already. And he'd trusted him with this. Kuro had already disappointed his trust once today, this might very well be his last chance. No, he had to come up with a solution on his own.

Maybe he should say something. Well, he probably should. These kids seemed to like him, so there was a good chance that they'd actually stop making such a ruckus if he told them to calm down. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that they couldn't hear him. He'd have to shout.

And Kuro hated, hated, hated shouting.

Gathering his courage, he took a deep breath... and released it again. There was no way he could do this. He couldn't just pull a Mahiru and shout louder than everyone else combined and handle the stares that would come with the ensuing silence.

He took another breath and shook his head. He couldn't do this. He wanted to, but he really, really couldn't.

His hands felt shaky. His heartbeat picked up, racing and fluttering in his chest like a nervous swarm of hummingbirds. He could feel his mind going blank, the words he wanted to say disappearing from his head. He couldn't do it. He couldn't handle the stares, the attention, the awkward silence.

"Hey, keep it down," he tried again, but it came out weak, barely audible to him and unintelligible to everyone else. But it was the loudest he could muster.

Relax. Don't panic. He breathed in and out, trying to bring his heartbeat back to its normal speed, and closed his eyes. Focus. You're doing this for Mahiru. He's relying on you here. Don't disappoint him again.

Pictures appeared in his mind, pictures of Mahiru smiling and calling him a friend, pictures of Mahiru grabbing his shoulders and knocking their foreheads together and yanking him to his feet. A feeling of strength rushed through his veins. Courage. He felt powerful, as if Mahiru's energy had transmitted onto him, filling him with strength and confidence.

Alright, you can do this.

"Calm down, everybody," he shouted, his voice as loud as he could manage.

It worked.

Everyone fell silent, blinking at him with wide, round eyes. The only thing to be heard were a few sniffles.

Kuro's throat felt dry. His courage disappeared as quickly as it had come. His heart started to race again as he forced himself not to lower his gaze and avoid the curious eyes of the orphans. He swallowed, gripping his notepad and pen to hide how much his hands were shaking. "You guys are too many," he said, hoping his voice was steady. "Even a cute panda like me can't take care of all of you by himself. These guys are all right though." He practically forced out the next words. "They're... my friends."

He felt ridiculous, lying through his teeth like that, but it was necessary. He needed to pretend to trust the others or the kids never would, and then he'd be stuck hurrying from table to table and taking orders until kingdom come. And nice as they all were, that really wasn't something he would look forward to.

Not that he'd have to do it anyway. Lie or no, his little speech worked.

Most of the children still didn't look to enthusiastic about Kuro's classmates approaching them, but at least they didn't throw a fit again. Some even greeted the other waiters with a smile, curious about Mr. Panda's so-called friends.

Kuro felt a little proud. Problem solved, he thought with a sigh of relief. All by myself, without Mahiru's help. Even though I'm terrible with kids.

Maybe he wasn't such a lost cause after all.

Feeling more confident than he had hoped to feel all day, he walked from table to table, taking order after order, noting everything down and answering the children's questions about himself and his life. When he finally got back to the kitchen, carrying a long list, he felt exhausted and a little lightheaded, wondering if this whole situation was actually real.

It was like a miracle had happened. At first he'd been a failure, a load, only getting in everyone's way and never helping, embarrassing himself and getting humiliated by Tsubaki and scaring the customers away and just showing off all the skills he had with people. He'd been his typical self then, except that he'd been trying more than usual to please Mahiru. And everything had come crashing down. He had thought it was all over.

But it hadn't been over. Mahiru had saved him from making a grave mistake. Mahiru had defused a situation that would otherwise have blown up in his face. Mahiru had given him a new costume and cheered him up and encouraged him and somehow, it had worked. He'd come back to find a whole new set of customers, just the kind who'd be drawn towards his panda costume. He'd somehow managed to connect to the kids and befriend them and talk to them normally and cool them down when they were upset, without even knowing how, and he couldn't help thinking it was all a magic trick. He refused to believe everything had worked out so smoothly without the help of superhuman powers.

Or maybe that was just the effect Mahiru had on people. Kuro had watched and observed him a lot over the past few weeks, simply by virtue of always being near him, and he had realized that this was the true reason why Shirota Mahiru was so popular and admired by nearly everyone. He didn't know how exactly he did it, but Mahiru had the gift of knowing exactly what was needed to say, of bringing out the best in people and giving them new hope when they were well beyond hope. Even awkward outcasts like Kuro.

And an amazing person like that had called Kuro his friend. His friend... Kuro still couldn't believe his own luck. He'd been in this world for over sixteen years, and for all these years he had always felt like the universe hated him, like fate was always going out of its way to make his life miserable. And now the first friend he'd ever made just happened to be Shirota Mahiru.

Kuro didn't even realize that his cheeks had taken on a pink hue until he walked in through the kitchen door and caught Mahiru looking at him with concern.

"Hey... you okay?" he asked, hurrying over to meet him. "Your face is kinda red... is the costume too hot? Did you overexert yourself? You don't have a fever, do you?"

Kuro looked at him in confusion until he noticed what had happened and his cheeks heated up even more. "I'm fine," he mumbled, then realized that this alone would just make Mahiru worry all the more, hastily thought of a diversion and added, "Actually... no, I'm not. I think I caught a cold." He faked a little cough. "I gotta go back to my room and stay in bed for a week."

"Looks like you're fine," Mahiru remarked, although he still didn't look entirely convinced. "But your face looks really red, are you sure there's nothing wrong with you?"

Before Kuro knew what was going on, Mahiru reached up and put a hand on his forehead.

Kuro went rigid. The gears in his brain came to a screeching halt as he stared at Mahiru, whose face was only inches away, dark eyes closely inspecting him for any sign of a cold, brow furrowed in concern. Mahiru's hand felt warm on his forehead, almost soothing, as he took Kuro's temperature like a worried mother taking care of her sickly child.

From the corner of his eye, Kuro could see people staring.

And whispering.

His brain clicked back on. The full reality of the situation settled in. He and Mahiru were standing inches away from each other, with Mahiru all up in his face, taking his temperature like it was the most normal thing to do between friends. To a born mom friend like him, it probably was.

But... to everyone else, they had to look like a couple.

Dammit, why did these things just keep happening? People would get it all wrong.

Brushing away Mahiru's hand with a sharp gesture, Kuro took a step back, almost tripping over his own feet. "I said I'm fine," he snapped, the words coming out louder and harsher than he had intended them to.

Mahiru blinked, taken aback, looking up at Kuro with an expression that seemed startled and surprised and maybe even a little hurt, if that wasn't just Kuro's imagination playing tricks on him. "Kuro...?" he asked quietly, a dozen unspoken questions reflecting in his eyes. "What..."

He followed Kuro's gaze to the others, who were whispering and snickering and giving them meaningful looks, and understood. "Hey!" he yelled at them, blushing bright red in his turn. "What are you guys doing over there? If you have time to gossip, get back to work! We're busy enough here!"

They jumped and did as they were told without complaining, although Kuro swore he could still see some of them smirking to themselves.

Sighing in irritation, Mahiru turned back to Kuro. "Sorry 'bout that," he said, his face still several shades pinker than usual. "I didn't think people would misunderstand... Shut up, you two!" he shouted over his shoulder, silencing a pair of snickering classmates. "Anyway... you don't seem to have a fever so I guess that's the most important thing here."

Kuro nodded, still feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything that just happened. "But, um," he said, remembering why he was even here in the first place, "I got a lot of orders, so..."

"Orders? Oh right!" Was Kuro imagining things, or was Mahiru as happy to steer the conversation away from the awkward scene as he was? "How's taking care of the kids going?"

Kuro let out an exhausted sigh, although even he noticed that it lacked the usual annoyed edge, sounding almost content instead. "Can't deal. They all seem to really love the panda costume. Kids are exhausting."

Mahiru's face lit up, beaming with pride and joy. "See?" he said, sparkly-eyed, smiling from ear to ear like a child on Christmas Day. "I told you you'd be fine! So you're getting along with the kids?"

"Dunno." Kuro shrugged, trying not to stare at Mahiru's shining, sparkling smile. "Getting along's probably an exaggeration, but it's not that bad I guess." Exaggeration, yeah, right, a voice in his head whispered. It's not an exaggeration, these kids adore you and you know that.

As if he'd say that to Mahiru. Happy as that would probably make him, it was still awfully embarrassing to admit that he'd been right, to say nothing of the fact that admitting that he had befriended over a dozen elementary school brats was one of the lamest things he could possibly say. It wasn't really like him to show his feelings and attachments openly, anyway.

Not that Mahiru cared. He took one look at Kuro's endlessly long list of orders and smiled so brightly that Kuro knew he'd been found out, that Mahiru had immediately understood the true meaning of his words. And embarrassing as that was, it wasn't nearly as humiliating as having to spell out what he was thinking.

In fact, it felt... good. He felt like Mahiru understood him, understood what was going on in his head even when he said the opposite of what he meant. Kuro had no idea how he did it, but it was clear that he did, somehow.

Still feeling slightly dazed, he made his way back, carrying the drinks and snacks the little girl and her friend had ordered, walking faster and more steadily than ever. Maybe he was finally getting the hang of carrying trays of food, or maybe it was just his confidence boost making him feel like he could do this. One way or another, it worked, and he carried everything to the kids' table without any problems.

The little girl beamed again, took a glance at her ice cream and pursed her lips. "There's a strawberry here," she mused. "The doctor says I can't eat strawberries, or I'll get this icky rash that itches and stuff." She looked up to meet Kuro's gaze, picked up the strawberry and held it out to him. "Want to have this, Mr. Panda?"

Kuro was tempted to reach for the strawberry until he caught sight of the girl's friend, who was glaring at him like he wanted to murder him with his eyes. "Um," he muttered, "no thanks. Maybe your friend here wants it."

The little boy blushed furiously and mumbled something unintelligible when his friend turned to face him with a surprised look in her eyes, but he took it anyway. Maybe Kuro was imagining things again, but he could have sworn there was some gratitude in the kid's eyes.

That boy was a lot like him, he realized. Awkward, withdrawn, highly protective of what might well be his only friend but too embarrassed to admit that he cared, limiting his expression of jealousy to a death glare whenever said friend wasn't looking. And the girl... come to think of it, the girl somewhat resembled Mahiru too. Maybe that was why she'd taken a liking to him.

He hoped these two stayed friends forever.

...Great, now he was having these sappy thoughts again. He had to be getting tired. Or maybe watching over a bunch of friendly children did that to people. One way or another, this wasn't like him at all and it was embarrassing.

Shaking off the thought, he got back to work. An hour passed by like a minute as he walked from table to table, taking orders, bringing food and drinks, talking to kids, taking care of cuts and burns (he had never been so glad to have watched Mahiru when the latter had tended to his injuries), wiping spilled drinks and comforting crying kids who wouldn't stop apologizing for knocking over their cups, carrying empty plates back to the kitchen. Once he had grown used to it it was almost shockingly easy, no... it was fun. He actually enjoyed interacting with people, random strangers, something he had never liked before, not until these kids had miraculously welcomed him into their middle and declared him their friend.

Before he knew it, it was almost closing time and Kuro was just starting to wonder how he could talk all these children into leaving when Misono and Lily walked in through the door, accompanied by a dark-haired twentysomething woman Kuro had never seen before. They waved and smiled, and the kids waved and smiled back.

"Mitsuki-san!" they greeted her, jumping out of their chairs and into her arms. "And Lily and Misono! We missed you all!"

Lily smiled. "We missed you too," he said, hugging four children at once. "Sorry it took a little longer than expected." He lifted his head, addressing Kuro. "I hope they weren't too much trouble? Sorry for burdening you with them, big brother."

Kuro just shrugged. He couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound either rude or embarrassing.

"Mr. Panda was super nice to us," the little girl declared in his stead. "He's our friend now!" She pouted. "I don't wanna say goodbye to Mr. Panda yet!"

"Me too!" said a few other kids. And suddenly Kuro found himself crowded by a bunch of children hugging him and clinging to his shirt, without any idea of what to do. He sent a helpless glance in Lily's direction, who just laughed.

"I see you're good with kids, big brother," he said and tugged the children away from Kuro, one by one, but they kept coming back. "Come on now, no need to be stubborn. You can come visit Mr. Panda and me anytime!"

That worked, and the children reluctantly let go, although some of them looked quite teary-eyed. Lily, Misono and Mitsuki gathered them into a group and were just about to usher them out the door when the little girl turned and made the paw pose. "Bye, Mr. Panda!"

Kuro was just about to reply something when all the other children joined in, imitating the pose. "Bye!"

He sighed, but it was an almost fond sigh as he lifted up his hands, forming the panda pose that was actually a cat pose-turned-secret panda greeting. "See ya."

The group left at last, and as soon as the last child was out of sight Kuro made his way back to the kitchen and collapsed on the nearest chair. He'd enjoyed himself all right, but human interaction was still draining as hell, to say nothing of being a waiter and befriending a bunch of orphans. It had been fun, but now he really, really needed a break.

"You did well."

Kuro looked up to find Mahiru sitting next to him, smiling an exhausted but fond smile. "I had no idea you were so good with kids."

"...Yeah." Kuro turned the words around in his head, realizing that Mahiru was right but barely believing it himself. "Me neither."