before it's too late (405 w) | kenma/min | idk what au this is | for min (@ibitaniryou)

There's a boy who rides the seven pm train every night. He always sits across from Min, but they've never spoken. She has witnessed his hair change colors like leaves in autumn, from black to gold to an ombré of both black and gold. Or maybe it's blue and white. It's hard to tell in the evening dusk.

Either way, it's not hard to tell that the boy is hot. In a doughy kind of way. Hot and doughy. Perhaps he is hot dough. Perhaps he is a biscuit. But, no. He may be hot and doughy, but he is not a biscuit. He is Kozume Kenma.

Though they normally sit on separate benches, a late rush hour has the two sitting just next to each other, so close that their knees bump when the train lurches to a halt. It’s lucky for Min, who finally gets the opportunity to bump knees with that hot hunk of dough, but unfortunately for Kenma, the battery of his phone runs out and he’s squished between people on all sides.

Min’s thumbs are tapping away on her freshly charged phone when she hears a quiet voice to her left.

“What’s that?”

She turns to see Kenma staring at her screen glittering with celebration at having attained a high score. His face is mopey as usual, but his golden eyes betray how he is internally squealing with excitement.

“Love Live?” Min responds, and Kenma’s eyes widen.

“Can I try?”

“Yeah, um, sure, but–” Min begins telling Kenma that the train is slowing down to a halt at his station, but he’s already reaching for her phone, grabbing it out of her hands to play the shiny new game.

Confusion, frustration, and triumph flicker across Kenma’s face as he immerses himself in the game. Min is so entranced by watching Kenma play that she almost fails to notice the approach of her own train station.

“Hey, Kenma, I have to go now so could I please have my phone back…?”

Kenma’s head snaps up and he fixes his gaze on Min. “It’s too late,” he tells her.

A glowing red triangle starts to appear on his forehead, formed between his middle part and his eyebrows. A triangle…? Min begins to wonder. Could this be…

The train stops and starts moving again before Min can retrieve her phone from Kenma. It’s too late. She looks down at the screen. Game over.