Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Y’alright?” Akito looked at his uncharacteristically quiet partner beside him, who was more focused on playing with the zipper on his jacket. “Oi, Toya.” He waved a hand in front of Toya’s face, making the other snap back into reality.

The two stayed quiet while Toya tried to figure out why Akito was looking at him with a concerned expression on his face, raising a brow when his confusion was not met with an answer.

“Akito? Is there something on my face?”

“Uh, yeah? Something that looks sad as fuck?” Usually before going up on stage, Toya was intently watching the other performers in the live house – experienced ears listening to the voices of the talented public and taking mental notes – probably – to improve his own ability.. probably. Right now, he looked like a kicked puppy, to say the least.

Toya blinked, staring at Akito before looking down again, kicking the floor “Ah.. I forgot how easily you can read me.”

“What partner would I be if I couldn’t tell what you’re thinkin’?” He let out a huff with a small smile before looking around the room “Well, we still have some time before we go on, y’wanna step outside for a bit?”

Toya hummed and slotted his hand into Akito’s and allowed him to guide him outside, though it was not before Akito grumbled ‘Toya don’t do that shit so suddenly’ with a slightly red face.

Cool air hit the two boys’ faces immediately as they stepped outside and left behind the almost suffocating atmosphere of the backstage area of the live house, muffled music coming on as a person started to sing. Akito ran his free hand through his hair, taking a deep breath, allowing the evening air to fully take up his lungs before he exhaled slowly.

Naturally, his eyes went over to his partner, who still looked incredibly tense.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his brain, a memory coming back up from a couple months ago. Would it really help though? And.. it’s kind of embarrassing.. But don’t knock it till ya try it, right?

“Oi Toya-“ The aforementioned boy turned his head to look at Akito, humming. Akito let go of his hand to stand facing toward his partner and opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. He sighed, muttering ‘I can’t believe I’m about to suggest this..’ before looking back up at Toya again.

“D’ya remember when.. when the girls were out here to destress before a live-“ he looked away “-and they pulled on each others cheeks to destress. I want you to pull on mine since, ya know..” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before looking back up at Toya.

Toya stared blankly at Akito, before letting out a huff of laughter, making Akito feel more embarrassed than he already was just by even suggesting the idea.

“Like.. this?” Toya stepped forward, just centimetres away from Akito and raised his hands to the boy’s face, pinching his cheeks between his pointer fingers and thumbs before stretching them outward.

“Ueah wike that.” Akito slurred out, immediately flushing at hearing how stupid he sounds.

Toya laughed brightly, continuing to squish and pull his partner’s cheeks. It didn’t fail to make Akito’s heart melt, and eventually started to laugh along with him – even if he sounded like an idiot.

“You look so silly Akito-“ Toya interrupted himself mid-sentence to laugh, before moving his hands to cup Akito’s face instead “but I like seeing this coming from you.”

“Whaddya mean by ‘coming from me’..” Akito deadpanned, but didn’t fail to lean into the touch anyways.

“You’re so cool-looking all the time, so I like seeing that mask slip off just for me.”

“Honestly I have no idea if I should take that as a compliment or not..” Toya laughed at this before moving his hands away from his partner’s face (much to the dissatisfaction of Akito) and to Akito’s arms, lifting them up toward his own face.

“You can do me too.” Akito blinked before pinching Toya’s cheeks, having to slightly reach up because of their height difference.

Immediately as he started to pull, Akito’s neutral expression began to crack before breaking out into laughter “You weren’t lying! You do look stupid!” Toya smiled brightly.

“Why wouhd I wie too yoh.” Akito folded over cackling as Toya spoke, despite how corny what Toya said was, continuing to poke and stretch. After a short while, Akito cupped Toya’s face with one hand and gently rubbed his cheek with his thumb.

“Damn, you have smooth skin.”

“You didn’t realise that the other times you’ve cupped my face? We do this pretty often Akito.”

Akito grumbled out a ‘shut up’ as Toya huffed a laugh. He still can’t decide if Toya coming out of his shell enough to tease him was a blessing or a curse, but nonetheless it was Toya so.. he’d tolerate anything as long as it was Toya doing it.

A few more moments of silence between the boys passed before Akito spoke up “Are you feelin’ better?”

Toya nodded, a gentle smile accompanying it “Yeah – much better. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, I’m just glad you’re doin’ alright now,“ He leant in and pressed a quick yet sweet kiss to Toya’s lips before pulling back to continue “We can talk about it after the show, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Speaking of, we should probably get back in before they think we bailed on them, cmon.”

Toya smiled and nodded as he followed Akito back into the live house, the staff immediately approaching them to let them know they’re up soon, to which they gave a thumbs up to and walked to the wing of the stage.

Where would they be without each other?