Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The two of them are seated on a table that’s directly beside a glass window where Taka can see the night lights of the establishments outside. It’s beautiful from where he was sitting; he can see the people passing by from all walks of life. Some students, some workers, some children, families, friends. It warms his heart and soon he realizes it’s been a long time since the last time he went out with his family like this. And more significantly, it’s been so long since he had let anybody else in his life the way he’s letting Toru now.

“Why did you want to come here?” he asks the blonde who’s busy choosing the food from the menu a waiter handed to him.

“I like the interiors, and I searched the internet and this place got good reviews,” the blonde answered without taking his gaze off the menu. “Should I order for you? Don’t worry, it’s my treat.”

Taka shyly smiled at the blonde even when he has been internally screaming since they had started walking to that place.

He nods and says, “sure you can. I can eat anything. Also, can you get me a glass of passion fruit juice? It’s my favorite.” Wow, getting comfortable now.

Toru snickered at that, placing the menu down and looked at the shorter boy.

“You’re adorable,” he says, after which, Taka can already feel his cheeks on flame, and he can’t even stare back. “In case you’re wondering, I brought you here for a very special reason.”

The blonde teenager fishes out his phone from his pocket and starts scrolling on the screen as if looking for something. When he finds what he’s looking for, he shows the phone screen to Taka. It’s the calendar highlighting the date that day, December 7, 2006. Taka frowns in confusion, not quite understanding what the calendar means.

“I’m not sure what I’m looking at,” he responds and Toru chuckles, not putting the phone away from Taka’s face.

The short boy stares some more at the calendar until he sees a cute, little icon of a birthday cake just at the bottom right of the box for December 7. He slaps his mouth with his palm in surprise and disbelief.

“It’s your birthday today?” he gasped.

Toru nods and says, “17th birthday, to be exact. Thank you for being here, Taka.”

A small band from the far corner of the restaurant begins to play a song. Customers start to fill in the place, most of them probably coming from after work, making Taka and Toru the only young people inside the fancy restaurant.

“You should’ve told me before we came here so I could’ve bought you a present,” Taka speaks with regret, but his stomach is a sanctuary of butterflies as Toru gives him the brightest and warmest smile he has ever seen in his entire life.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to give me anything. You already allowed yourself to come with me tonight, which by the way, I assume you’re already considering me a friend, and I’m very grateful for that,” the blonde boy responds, and Taka can see the honesty in his gleaming eyes.

Before the food gets served, Taka excuses himself to the washroom to which Toru just nodded. Toru busies himself, watching the people walk by outside, when suddenly, he hears a familiar voice. He looks around the restaurant, looking for the source of the voice, and halts when he finally sees Taka on the mini-stage by the electronic keyboard. The blonde can feel his face burning as Taka starts to press the keys in the tune of the Happy Birthday song. He really wants to stop himself from smiling too much, but how can he when he hears the most beautiful voice he had ever heard, singing and wishing him a happy birthday? Screw it. He grins and grows shy at the attention from the other customers who has also started singing along with Taka and even clapping their hands for Toru. Right there and then, Toru has just witnessed the ultimate charisma of his new found friend and has yet again understood why he’s loved by a huge population of students at their school. He feels so lucky that he thinks he might cry. But that’s out of his character. So, when Taka comes back to their table, he covers his face with his hands, feeling a little too shy from the act that Taka just pulled off.

“No wonder girls easily fall for you. You’re such a charmer,” he utters as soon as Taka sits down.

“I wish I wasn’t” Taka replies and adds, “that’s the only thing I could give as a present. Corny, I know. But what can I do? I’m only a high school student.”

“It’s the best, Taka. Thank you so much.”

When the food arrives, the two of them eat without talking. Sometimes, Taka would glance at the boy in front of him and observe the way he eats. Not in a creepy way. He’s just admiring the view, is all. He has noticed how Toru has removed the bits of tomatoes from his marinara pasta and that he only drinks warm water, never iced or cold.

“Did you like the cake?” Toru asks him after he finished his food.

“Oh my God. Did you buy this cake coz it’s your birthday?” Taka gasps, looking at the unopened box. “We didn’t eat it. I’m sorry.”

“Better. I bought it specifically for you anyway,” Toru says, words smoothly gliding out of his mouth, shameless. Taka blushes again and awkwardly drinks from his glass of passion fruit juice.

“I saw you at the soccer field today, by the way. With a girl,” the blonde says.

Taka almost spits the juice out of his mouth in embarrassment as his eyes went wide at the blonde’s revelation. Suddenly, the air in the restaurant turns stuffy in his lungs as he calms himself. The blonde just sneered at his as if he’s aware just how shy and nervous Taka has become.

“Another confession, I guess? But you looked down after though. What happened?” the blonde asks, leaning closer, curiosity obvious in his gleaming eyes.

And holy fuck if Toru’s eyes aren’t the most beautiful set of eyes he has seen in his entire life. He’d be lying if he says he’d rather stare at Toru than talk about the tragedy that is the confession he got from a friend. He just smiles back at Toru before he decides he is to be trusted with his feelings.

“Everybody befriends me, and I honestly like that so much. But then some just have their ulterior motive, mainly something romantic. It’s something that makes me sad. I just wanna have friends, but by the time they tell me their real feelings, and I can’t reciprocate, I lose them. Then I feel empty,” Taka says, melancholic amidst the pop music in the background.

“You have Tomoya, Ryota and Kaori,” the blonde replied.

“The only ones that stuck with me through it all. Honestly, what would I be without them?”

The short boy brushes his fingers on the side of his glass, the cold liquid seeping through it.

“And now, you have me,” Toru declares, the tips of his forefinger almost touching Taka’s hand on the table.

As if on cue, the band on stage starts playing a sappy pop love song that wraps the entire place, other diners enjoying their food, and Taka being electrified by how close Toru is and he can’t understand it. The world stops when Toru smiles like that—so assuring and happy. Happy, happy, happy. Fireworks bloom in his stomach, but there’s a storm in his head because he doesn’t understand it. He can’t comprehend the strange feelings boiling within his chest, and he wants so bad to know why he feels so. It’s a crush, for sure. But is it really just a crush when he sits there, Toru on the other side, and he badly wants to touch that hand and just tell him everything about himself?

The world moves again when Taka’s phone rings violently in his pocket.