This, Mikado thinks, is even more awkward than that time a group of giggling girls had asked if he and Masaomi were dating or not. All he'd been doing was innocently helping his friend get his sweatshirt off after it had snagged on one of his ear cuffs somehow- granted, his face had been pretty close to Masaomi's, and from far away it might have looked shifty, but Mikado had been too concentrated to notice that little detail. Getting fabric untangled from earrings is a lot harder than one might think.

He wonders now if Masaomi had 'thoughts' about that time, too. It's difficult to even eat around his best friend now, what with the strings of observations he can catch, such as wonder what else he could do with that mouth and wish i could be that ice cream. He's taken to concentrating on Anri's thoughts instead, because she thinks relaxing things like the wind feels nice today and the flowers look more energetic than they did last spring, even though Mikado has caught them both asking themselves what would they think if they found out? and he can't deny that he's thought that before and it makes him a little concerned.

All of that pales in perspective to the lewd things he's discovered Masaomi has fantasized about doing with him.

think he'd blush a lot, think he'd like it when i put my mouth on him-

Mikado does indeed blush a lot, but not necessarily in the situation that Masaomi would want him to. He tries to hide his burning cheeks by turning his head away to stare at a nearby building; he can't recall how he acquired the ability to read minds, but he thinks it might have had something to do with that fortune cookie he'd pulled the previous week, because in the movies it's always fortune cookies or strange occurrences that tell people of oncoming phenomena. Never mind that the fortune read that he simply needed to broaden his horizons- he figures that just hearing what his best male friend wants to do with him is enough broadening of horizons for the whole city of Ikebukuro.

"You okay, Mikado?" Masaomi taps his shoulder, seemingly confused, but he's really staring at the flesh of Mikado's neck. wonder what he'd do if i leaned over and-

"I-..I'm okay!" Mikado lies, talking a bit too loudly in order to dispel Masaomi's thoughts.

The blonde doesn't look convinced, and he lays a hand on the slur of Mikado's shoulder. would be better without this jacket on- "If anything's bothering you, you can tell me, you know."

shouldn't look like that, wish i could just throw him down right here-

"I know!" Mikado clears his throat, looking down so he doesn't have to look at Masaomi. "U-Um, I'm just not feeling too good today, so..."

i can take really good care of you- "Aww...so I guess hitting on girls today is out? Want me to walk you home, Mikado?"

"N-n-no! I can walk myself!"

does he know? how could he have- "C'mon, man. If you're feeling sick then you shouldn't walk home all alone."

"I-I'm really okay to at least walk home, Kida-kun! Really!"

he's hiding something, Masaomi realizes, and Mikado's new skill allows him to register the hurt that shocks through his best friend's belly. "Alright, alright, I get it. Geez, Mikado."

Masaomi is obviously worried, and despite the disturbing things he's thinking, Masaomi is still Masaomi. Mikado sighs inwardly. "U-Um...on second thought, maybe I could use some help..."

For once, Masaomi's thoughts match his restored jovial speech as he perks up instantly, "Good choice, Mikado! I'm magical, so I can make you feel so much better just like that!" Mikado isn't reassured and almost frowns at the second connotation behind those words, but forces himself to smile at the blonde.

As long as he can avoid accidentally answering Masaomi's thoughts, spilling his secret, and being 'accidentally' molested, then it'll he fine, right?

"Do you feel dizzy? D'you need to lean on me or anything, Mikado?" say yes say yes say yes-

It occurs to Mikado that he's dug himself into quite an impressive ditch. He feels fine (well, as fine as he could feel with Masaomi beside him beginning to imagine just how he'll goad Mikado into letting him into his bed) and there's no way he can fake being sick- he's definitely no Hanejima Yuuhei. Hopefully all the blushing that his friend is making him do and the perpetual stammer that seems to infect his speech will be enough to convince Masaomi, who will probably be too busy wrapped up in his own fantasies to notice anything off anyways. "N-No, I can walk fine. My place isn't that far away, you know..."

"No way, you look like you're about to keel over! Your face is burning up! Here, let's do this-" Masaomi wraps his arm casually around Mikado's waist, hand positioned lightly on his hip. Mikado starts violently and flails his arms around, but is effectively unable to remove Masaomi's intruding aid. so, so, close, hand went right past it, goddamn mikado why do you have such a nice ass-

Blinking, Mikado almost turns around to stare at his rear, remembering just in time that such an action would immediately be under suspicion. He...what? Since when did he have a nice...

He figures it's just better not to puzzle over Masaomi's thought process and settles for politely ignoring the fact that Masaomi is now holding him like he hoped to hold a girl someday. Do...do people notice this? He hopes not, fervently praying to whatever god that gave him this 'power' to gift him the power of eternal luck, too.

Mikado bites his lip. He releases it as if he's been scalded as soon as he gets wind of Masaomi's opinion on this habitual gesture; the other boy's attention has sucessfully been drawn to Mikado's mouth and his imagination supplies the rest.

"So, what're your symptoms?" Surprisingly, this question comes without perverted intentions. It's just Masaomi, concerned for Mikado's wellfare among the various other ravenous fabricated anecdotes.

"Um..." Mikado scrambles to think and merely manages to summarize how he's feeling now: "I just feel really warm, and kind of light-headed." Somehow, it's not a bad warm or an irritating light-headedness. Mikado blames this on a natural reaction to being touched romantically because it's the only thing that makes sense and it's the only thing he wants to believe.

"Hmm...maybe just a slight fever? Still, you can never be too careful!" Masaomi directs them both to the right, humming lightly as he helps Mikado dodge a group of elderly folk. fuck, he's so warm- "I'm assuming you've got blankets?" haha, maybe some we can mess up-"Oh, and I'll make you soup, too!"

"Y-Yeah, I've got some. And I have soup, too," admits the dark-haired teen currently suffering from the ultraordinary ability. Mikado can only desperately wonder what he did to deserve this. Sure, people think it would be completely cool to be able to read minds (Mikado had once thought that; it seemed so long ago, that time when he didn't have to worry about whether his friend would give in to the urge to allow his hand to slip lower and drift towards the right), but some things are just-

whoa, i wonder what kind of position he'd wanna do it in?

-better left unsaid.

:

Mikado can't count the number of times Masaomi has visited the small living space he calls his apartment, to do homework, to talk, to eat, anything. It's sort of a routine- when neither has nothing to do, Mikado's apartment is the destination.

The number of comments on how 'sexy' he looks while cooking (Masaomi couldn't figure out how to use the stove, for Pete's sake, and canned soup doesn't even really count as cooking) is quickly surpassing that infinite number. Mikado almost wants to chuck the large spoon he's stirring his soup with at Masaomi's face, if only to assure that his own bloodflow can still go somewhere other than his cheeks. He misses being able to tell him to shut his mouth now (granted, he never had, but at least it had been an option), and knowing that Masaomi will know if he tells him to stop thinking is frustrating.

mikadoooo, i'd taste so much better than that soup, right-

"Could you sto- ...um, Masaomi, could you stop staring at me?" Mikado backtracks just in time; 'staring' would be a lot better to say than the 'thinking' that he'd been about to blurt out, and it might still solve his problem, right?

"I'm not staring," Masaomi grins cheekily. Rolling his eyes, Mikado goes back to firmly ignoring him. He should have known Masaomi would joke around, and the sad thing is that he's slowly, slowly getting accustomed to the blonde's eyes on him. "Almost done?" take your time, i have a nice view-

"Why are you still standing in the kitchen?" asks Mikado in pure exasperation, stutter nonexistent.

"Hm? I'm not in the way, Mikado."

"Y-you're making me nervous," the darker-haired of the two mumbles, anxiety returning, prodding the chicken noodle concoction in front of him with the spoon.

oh, really? Masaomi is pleased about Mikado's admittance. "We should play the nervous game," his best friend says, leering hopefully. it would be the perfect chance-

"No, I...I'm sick, remember?" Mikado, thankfully, has some sort of excuse. Not even Masaomi would chance getting sick.

But Masaomi just scoffs, "I'm not gonna get sick by just touching, Mikado. It's not like I'm shoving my tongue down your throat or anything." that's actually not a bad idea-

"We...we shouldn't take a chance," Mikado argues weakly, staring fixedly at the soup in the hopes that something that would help the situation would magically float to the surface.

"Alright, now we've definitely gotta play later," says Masaomi cheerfully. can't back out now, his mind sings.

Mikado doesn't answer, reaching to turn off the stove while chewing desperately on his lip. If he can distract Masaomi from playing the nervous game for a couple hours, until he has to leave for home...

Hah, fat chance. Even Mikado knows that he's screwed when it comes to something like this. He'll most likely end up saying he's nervous before Masaomi's even touched him, just to avoid the hassle of it. But...what about when he has to touch Masaomi?

Mikado swears he feels his heart stop. "S-s-soup's ready," he informs the boy behind him shakily. If he has to play this game, Masaomi won't ever admit that he's nervous and he'll have to keep going, what does he do what does he do what does he-

"You okay?" Masaomi comes up and places his hand on Mikado's shoulder, leaning over so that he's breathing right on Mikado's ear, and Mikado doesn't have to tune in to his thoughts to know that it's all on purpose.

:::::

Original Prompt:

"Mind Reading- KidaxMikado
One day, Mikado acquires the ability to read people's minds…and finds out that Kida has very inappropriate, dirty thoughts about him.

-An extra embarrassed Mikado, because it's damn hard trying to keep a straight face when someone's fantasizing about you right in front of you.

Actual smut is not required, but would be welcomed!"