Archive of Our Own ^beta

“—and that’s why I’m pretty sure my sister is dating Asahina-san.” Akito concludes after listing off reasons as to how he reached that verdict. 

Toya simply hums in understanding. After listening attentively to Akito’s reasons, he thinks his partner is right. 

“I mean, there’s also the fact she’s never brought anyone else home. Well, if you exclude Momoi-san.” Akito kicks a small rock that was in his path. “I thought they hated each other at first, but now it’s plain as day.” 

“Sounds a lot like another pair.” Toya says with a neutral face. But… was that a hint of teasing in his voice?

Akito’s face slowly heats up in realization. “Me and him aren’t dating…” 

Toya tilts his head to the side. “Hm? I never said the pair included you.” 

Akito opens his mouth. Then closes it again. He glares with no real malice behind it. “You’ve been spending too much time with An.” He huffs. 

Toya simply smiles. 

The two of them continue their small walk around the school. Usually Akito spends his lunch periods with a certain blond but said blond had texted him earlier today that he would be busy. Luckily, Toya was free of his duties so Akito wasn’t left alone. 

They turn a corner that leads them to the entrance of the school. There was still quite some time left before class started. Akito starts to realize just how fast time moves when he’s with that annoying senior of his. 

“Should we check out the cafeteria?” Akito suggests as he leans onto one of the lockers. 

Toya thinks for a moment before nodding. “Maybe we’ll run into Shiraishi and Akiyama.” 

“Akiyama’s here today?” 

The question goes unanswered when another voice interrupts them. 

“Hey, get the hell away from my locker.” 

The pair didn’t know they were the ones being addressed but looked in the direction of the voice on reflex. Akito raises an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, you. Fuck off my locker.” It was a group of three, the one in the middle was the one speaking. 

Akito pushes himself off the locker. “My bad.” He raises his hands as if surrendering to show he didn’t mean any harm. 

That wasn’t enough, apparently. 

“Oh my god, gross.” The one in the middle looked at his locker with disgust. “Dude, get me something to wipe this down.” He demands the boy on the right of him. 

The no-name then looks directly into Akito’s eyes. “Don’t wanna catch his disease.” 

Akito flinches. 

“What?” 

“You heard me, fairy. Don’t act stupid.” He points to Toya. “You literally got one of your little boyfriends right there.” 

Ah, so that’s what this guy's problem is. 

“We’re not dating, asshole. Even if we were, why does that matter to you?” 

The boy snarls. “I don’t give a shit what you princesses do. I just don’t want to go anywhere near you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. You’re not my type.” Akito snides. He nudges Toya, who had just been watching with a worried look on his face. “Let's go, Toya.” 

“Yeah. I bet your type is loud and irritating.”  The boy tries to quip. 

Akito simply pushes roughly past his shoulder. “Just said you’re not my type, dipshit.” 

That was supposed to be the end of that. Akito and Toya would walk away like the bigger people they were. It would be a waste of time to continue talking with a numbskull like this.

The boy wipes away at his shoulder with a repulsed look. “Not me, that fucking blond upperclassman.” 

Akito stops in his tracks. 

“Ha! Looks like I’m right. Bet you two spend your lunches making out. Fucking disgusting.” 

Akito clenches his fists on his sides and takes a deep breath. He’s not worth it. He’s really not worth it. They just need to walk away from this and hope they don’t run into this guy again anytime soon. 

“I guess he’s got some girly aspects.” 

Breathe in, breathe out. Be the bigger person, Akito. Be the bigger person…

“His body’s real small. I bet it’s easy to hold his waist, isn’t it?” 

Akito’s eye twitches and his fingernails dig deeper into his skin. He hears Toya say his name in concern. 

“And his voice can go pretty high, can’t it? He probably actually sounds like a girl if you–”

Alright, fuck being the bigger person. Akito is about to beat this guy’s ass. 

He spins around and lands a hit right on the dude’s cheek. The boy stumbles backward and hunches over, holding his cheek. When he tastes blood in his mouth, he practically glares daggers at Akito. He lunges too, catching Akito off guard. The two of them end up tumbling back. The boy gets a few good hits before Akito flips them and straddles him, locking him down. 

“Don’t talk about him like that you fucking bastard,” Akito growls as he continues to throw his fists down repeatedly. 

He would’ve kept going too, but Toya eventually grabbed his arm while it was midair. Akito whips his head up questioningly. “What’re you doing?” He barks. 

Toya frowns at the tone. “Teacher.” Is all he says. 

Akito looks at him oddly before turning around and seeing, in fact, a teacher rushing towards them. He curses under his breath. He lets his arm fall limp at his side and looks down at the kid he was just mercilessly beating up. His face was a little bloodied and starting to bruise. He was crying pathetically. Akito doesn’t feel even a lick of guilt. 

He stands upright and leaves the boy on the ground, babbling like a baby. The teacher reaches them and Akito tunes out most of the scolding.  

—

Akito sighs as he sits down in the middle of the bed in the nurse's office. He places the ice pack up to his cheek so it doesn’t swell. Toya is still talking to the principal, trying to clear Akito’s name. The boy’s lackey’s that were at the scene apparently ran off when the first punch was thrown. 

They had told Akito to get his wounds treated before they talked to him anymore about his punishment. Not that he had that many. Just a busted lip, a barely noticeable black eye, and a bruised cheek would’ve been on the list if he hadn’t put the ice on it in time. The other guy had it much worse. 

The bright white of the room did bother him and he was pretty sure this headache won’t be going away anytime soon but other than that, he was practically fine. 

He doesn’t regret a single thing. 

People like that irk Akito the most. It was almost impossible to deal with them civilly, so Akito had to resort to other methods. It wouldn’t have ended this way if the dude didn’t keep saying stupid shit. Akito could ignore the things he said about him and move on. Sure, it made him a little more mad when he tried dragging Toya into it but he knew it wouldn’t bother his friend too much. 

It would’ve been fine if he hadn’t brought up–

“Akito?!” 

An obnoxiously loud and unfortunately familiar voice snaps him out of his thoughts. He looks in the direction of the door to find the owner of the voice. 

As he thought, Tsukasa was there, looking horrified. 

“Senpai? What’re you–”

“Are you okay?!” In a flash, Tsukasa was in front of him. He grabbed Akito’s face and practically inspected every angle. 

“O-Ow! Hey!” Akito squeaked. Tsukasa’s hands still for a second before they retract back to his side.

“I’m sorry!” He shouts a little too loudly. 

Akito winces, which Tsukasa takes note of and frowns. 

“Are you okay?” He asks more quietly this time. 

“I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about.” He gives a teasing smirk just to show that he’s okay. It doesn’t help. He had forgotten about the cut on his lip. It stung when he smiled and Tsukasa must’ve noticed that because his frown deepens. 

“What’re you even doing here? I thought you were busy.” Akito tries to shift the attention off of his injuries. 

“Toya texted me saying you got into a fight. Imagine my surprise when I heard my precious junior had to go to the nurse! I rushed over immediately!”  

Akito pretends that the fact that Tsukasa rushed over doesn’t make his stomach do backflips. “You’re so annoying…” He mumbles.

“What?!” Tsukasa exclaims, then tones it down again. “What? After I ran all the way over here to make sure you were okay?” 

“You didn’t need to do that.” Akito licks his bottom lip where the blood was still, albeit slowly, flowing out. 

Tsukasa watched the action and Akito’s neck felt warm when he noticed. 

“Don’t do that.” Tsukasa suddenly says, still looking at Akito’s lips, confusing him. 

“Don’t do what?” 

Tsukasa looks at him properly. “Don’t lick your lips.” Then he spins around and starts rummaging through the drawers in the room. 

“What are you doing?” Akito watches as Tsukasa makes a mess of the supplies.

“Did you clean your lip?” Tsukasa answers with another question while crouching down to look in the bottom cabinets.

“I rinsed it, yeah.” 

Tsukasa springs up with a washcloth in hand. “Perfect!” He goes to the sink and turns the faucet on, running cold water. He lets the water run on the washcloth, soaking it. Then he turns the faucet off and retakes his place in front of Akito, who was cluelessly watching him. 

“Come here.” Tsukasa sits next to Akito and waves his free hand in a motion that tells him to lean closer. 

Akito complies, still confused. 

Before he can ask, Tsukasa presses a small portion of the washcloth to his lip. His hands were gentle yet the pressure was firm. 

“We need to keep this here so the bleeding can stop.” Tsukasa supplies at Akito’s lost expression. “It’s not a deep cut so it should heal on its own after.” 

Akito would’ve nodded but he doesn’t know if he should move so he just hums in acknowledgment. 

They fall into a somehow comfortable silence. 

Akito’s mind, however, was not silent at all. 

He can practically feel Tsukasa’s breath. That’s how close they are! Where is he supposed to look? Into his eyes? At something behind him? At his lips?! He doesn’t know what to do! 

Who knew Tsukasa could be so gentle and attentive? And he’s being like this towards Akito, of all people! This is an attack on his heart. It had to be! How long are they supposed to be like this? Akito doesn't think he can take a second longer of this. 

But, too bad for him. It had only been half a minute. 

He takes the chance and glances at Tsukasa's face to see how he was faring up. 

Akito half expected Tsukasa to look just as nervous as he felt but instead, he was still frowning. That made Akito frown with him and back away slightly. 

“Ah, Akito, don’t move too much.” Tsukasa tries to press the washcloth back on Akito’s lip but the younger jerks away again. 

“Akito?” He pouts. 

“Why do you look so depressed?” 

Tsukasa’s eye widened before nervously glancing off to the side. “Ahaha..! What do you mean? A star such as myself doesn’t get—”

Akito’s glare shuts him up. 

Tsukasa squirms under his gaze before groaning. “Fine! Can you blame me for feeling bad about you getting hurt?” 

Akito raises a brow. “I get you’re super nice and all, but it’s not like I got hurt ‘cause of you.” Plus, he’s barely hurt at all. “Why would you feel bad?” 

“Toya told me you only started fighting after the guy said something about me! That makes me partly at fault.” 

Akito acts like the call out on the reason he struck first wasn’t embarrassing to have Tsukasa know. “What? That’s stupid. You didn’t do anything.” 

“But still!” 

“No ‘but still’. I’m fine, aren’t I?” Akito uses his head to gesture at himself. He could pass as completely unharmed. 

Tsukasa just pouts. 

Akito clicks his tongue. “Stop that.” 

“This wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t busy! If I had finished my tasks earlier like I was supposed to, we’d have had lunch together as usual and you wouldn’t have had to have an encounter with someone like that. And you wouldn’t be here, in the nurse's office right now!” 

“Are you even listening? I said it’s not your fault.” 

“Then why did you get into a fight?” 

That… takes some time to answer. 

How is Akito supposed to explain that he got uncontrollably angry because some random guy was saying weird things about Tsukasa? And that that fact made him even more upset than when the guy was aiming his insults towards him and Toya at first. 

Tsukasa would probably only feel worse if Akito said that. Because, technically, the reason he fought is because of Tsukasa. Just not in the negative way Tsukasa is thinking. 

At Akito's silence, Tsukasa pouts even more. “See! It is because of me!” 

“I didn't even say anything.” 

“Your silence says enough.” 

“It really doesn’t, if you still think you’re at fault.” 

“If not me, then who is?”

“That guy, obviously. He’s the one who started it.” Which is a half-truth. Akito threw the first punch but the dude spit the first words. 

Tsukasa still doesn’t seem convinced. Akito will never understand people who feel guilty about things like this. 

Akito sighs. “Fine.” Tsukasa tilts his head slightly. 

“I got into a fight because the guy was saying some nasty shit about you, alright? And it annoyed the hell out of me. I wasn’t going to let him talk about you like that, so I shut him up.” 

Tsukasa blinks. 

“Happy?” 

But the blond just continues to frown, clearly not happy. “Of course not! That means you did fight because of me!” 

“Oh my fucking— No!” Akito inhales. “I fought for you. There’s a difference.” 

There was a moment of silence where the words that just fell out of Akito’s mouth really set in. Did he really just say something that… cheesy? And out loud? Bury him now. 

But, it was the best way to get it through Tsukasa’s head. 

“You fought for me?” He asks hesitantly.

Akito’s face warms. “I guess.” 

“Oh.” 

Tsukasa looks down at his lap with pink cheeks and what Akito calls the dorkiest smile he’s ever seen him wear on his face. 

It’s cute. So cute. So cute that it’s unreal. So cute that Akito wants to kiss him. 

Akito always wants to kiss him. It’s not a rare thought. It’s because of the fact he’s had this same thought so often that Akito recognizes his feelings are something far from just platonic. 

It was after a show that he had been dragged to when the thought first appeared in his head. Tsukasa still had the stage glow, or well, natural glow radiating off of him when he and Toya came up to him backstage. While he was grinning and laughing like an idiot, patting Toya’s head despite the boy being taller than him, Akito had thought of kissing him. 

It appeared so randomly that Akito broke out into a flustered mess right then and there, confusing his partner and the star when he barely mumbled a quick ‘I have to go,’ before rushing out with his heart beating faster than it ever has. 

When that happened, Akito freaked out because he thought he was having heart issues or something.

Now he knows it's not heart issues and instead an annoying crush. A very, very annoying crush on a very, very annoying person. 

A person he wants to kiss so badly. 

“Can I kiss you?” 

It comes out before Akito could catch himself. He hadn’t even known his thoughts had spilled until Tsukasa’s eyes went wide and the light pink of his cheeks turned into a glowing red. 

“WHAT?!” 

Well shit. 

How is he supposed to get out of this one?

“Uh… I mean—”

Seriously, how does he get out of this? Think Akito!

“So… Uh. You know that, like, saying?” 

Tsukasa doesn’t react. 

“It’s like, you know.” 

Tsukasa doesn’t know. 

Akito struggles to find out what saying he’s looking for before it clicks. “Oh! Right.” 

“You know that western saying ‘Kiss it better’?” 

“Ah— Uhm, yes. I do.” Tsukasa’s words are rushed yet hushed at the same time. Maybe Akito just accidentally fucked up their friendship. 

“Right, so, I was just thinking, you know, you could… kiss my lip better?” 

This is ridiculous. He’s ridiculous. Someone hit him with a shovel. He didn’t even sound sure of himself. There’s no way Tsukasa is going to go along with this. 

“Oh, really?” Tsukasa asks with genuine consideration. 

…Akito forgot this guy is the epitome of ridiculous. 

“Well, if that’s the case, I can happily oblige!”

Hold on. 

“Huh?” 

“If something like that truly works, then of course I’d want to help you feel better!”

Tsukasa is an idiot. Akito has a major crush on a complete dumbass.

“Wait a minute Tsukasa-senpai. Do you even know what you’re saying?” He’s practically agreeing to kiss him! 

Not that Akito is necessarily complaining but Tsukasa needs to watch his words. 

Tsukasa’s face is still red. “Well, as an aspiring star, It’s very likely that I might get some roles where I’d have to—”

“Shut up. I get it.” Akito grimaces. The image of Tsukasa kissing someone on stage fills him with so much irritation he doesn’t know if he would be able to keep his temper in check. “So you’re saying you’ll kiss me? On the lips?” He just needs to clarify. 

Tsukasa coughs. “I-If it’ll make you feel better.” 

It won't magically heal Akito’s lip but hey, who is he to turn down a kiss from someone he’s been wanting to kiss for months now? “It will. A lot better.”

“Is that so…” Tsukasa balls his hands into fists and presses them into his lap. Despite his outward confidence, his face betrays everything. 

Not that Akito is faring any better. The entire room suddenly feels way too hot. 

How do you even initiate a kiss? Sure, Akito has thought of kissing Tsukasa numerous times. But, firstly he never even thought of it actually happening and secondly, it’s not like he has any kind of experience. 

Should he even be the one to initiate the kiss? Tsukasa is the one saying he’ll do it. So does Akito just sit here and wait? What if it gets awkward? What if Tsukasa decided to back out? That’d be understandable, actually. Who even agrees to something like this? 

People don’t just go around kissing people because of some western saying! And okay, Akito was the one who brought it up, but still! It was only to save himself. He didn’t think Tsukasa would treat it seriously. 

Actually, why did Tsukasa play along with this? He’s kind of dumb sometimes, but not stupid. Surely he couldn’t have believed Akito’s random excuse just like that. He reasoned that his acting might call for a situation like this but, Akito isn’t stupid either. Tsukasa isn’t the type of guy to go around kissing people if he didn’t want to. If he were acting, there are tons of ways to get around scenes like that.

So for him to want to do this probably means that he actually wants–

“Akito.” 

“Hm?” Akito’s voice raises an octave thanks to his flustering thoughts. 

The answer he gets is a soft pair of lips on his. 

You’d think his mind would go into overdrive but no. Instead, his mind was completely cleared. Not a single thought was going on in his head. 

Tsukasa pulls back way too quickly. He was red all the way down to his neck. “Th–There. Do you feel better now?”

“No,” Akito replies quickly. 

“Wha–”

“I need another one.” 

Akito grabs the back of Tsukasa’s neck and pulls their lips back together. Tsukasa lets out a surprised squeak and Akito deepens the kiss. It stings a little, due to the cut still on his lips, but it feels good. 

The kiss lasted a lot longer this time, due to Akito’s hold on Tsukasa. But, alas, the two did need to breathe. 

They draw back from each other, still staying relatively close. They were both burning up, panting slightly. 

Akito mindlessly plays with the stray hairs on Tsukasa’s nape. 

“Now do you feel better?” Tsukasa asks. 

Akito just hums, not in affirmation or refutation.

Maybe he should say no again, get another kiss, and see just how many he can get before Tsukasa denies them from him. Like, seriously. Now that he’s gotten a taste, he wants to do this all the time. 

“I think I need—”

“Akito.” 

“WAAAH!” 

A new voice entered the room and Tsukasa yelped, pushing Akito away from him. 

Which caused Akito to land on the ground with a thud. 

Toya stood at the doorway, looking at the scene with an arched brow. 

“…Tsukasa-senpai. You’re here too.” 

“Ah- Yes! You did text me, after all!” He nods before scrambling to help Akito back up. “Akito, I’m so sorry!”  

“Yeah, warn me before you push me to the ground next time, ‘kay senpai?” Akito grumbles. 

“It was an accident!” 

Akito rolled his eyes but he had a smile on his face. Then he directs his attention to Toya. Although he did just interrupt, him being here means he’s finished negotiating with the staff. “What’s up?” 

Toya eyes his two friends a little longer before answering. “I was able to talk it out with the teachers. You have a week's suspension—”

“Hah?!” 

“—since, even though the other one started it, you beat him up pretty badly.” 

Akito notices Tsukasa give a sad pout from the corner of his eyes but he ignores it. They already clarified why Akito fought in the first place. 

“He has a week and three days, though the teachers think he might be gone longer due to his injuries.” Toya moves further into the room as he explains. 

This time Tsukasa gives a look of apprehension. Akito sucks his teeth. “They’re being dramatic. At worst, he’ll be bruised for a couple of days.” Akito isn’t some sort of monster, after all. 

“You’re lucky his parents aren’t pressing charges or anything, Akito…” Toya takes a seat on one of the stools across from the bed. 

“Charges?!” Tsukasa looks aghast at what he’s hearing. 

“Oh come on! It was not that bad.” 

Akito and Tsukasa end up going back and forth about whether or not Akito using his fists is really justified. Toya watches them, amused to see his two favorite people playfully bickering like this. 

“What would you prefer I'd have done? Let him talk shit and walk off?” 

“Honestly? Yeah!” 

“As if I’d let anyone talk about you like that.” Akito mumbles under his breath. 

Tsukasa doesn’t catch it, but Toya does somehow. Akito’s eyes landed on his partner’s, and he looked away with red ears. Toya gave a warm smile. 

“It was in good nature, Tsukasa-senpai. Please don’t be too angry with him.” 

Tsukasa still had a look of disapproval on his face but he let up. “…Alright. But if something like this happens again, please don’t resort to fighting.” He looks straight at Akito. “I don’t want you getting hurt.” 

Akito ignores his reddening face. “Yeah, whatever.” 

“Akito.” Tsukasa gives him a pointed look. 

“I got it, I got it.” He huffs. “I won’t fight anyone.” 

Tsukasa gives him a smile and, well, Akito is obligated to give one back. 

Toya smiles too, and then stands up. “I have some library duties I need to get to now. You can head home without me, Akito.” 

Akito nods at him. “Sure.” 

“Ah!” Tsukasa suddenly jumps up too. “I still haven’t finished my tasks!”  

Akito tilts his head. “Are you leaving too then, Tsukasa-senpai?” 

Tsukasa looks a little sad to do so, but nods. “I have to get these things done before our next show. But don’t worry my beloved junior! I’ll check up on you as soon as I can tomorrow!” He reaches out to pat Akito’s head and, involuntarily, Akito leans into the touch. 

“Mm. ‘kay.” 

After he finishes ruffling his junior’s hair, he joins his other junior at the door. Toya gives a final polite bow and Tsukasa gives a quick wave before the both of them walk out the door. 

Once they’re both gone, Akito lets out a sigh. Now that he’s without company, he’s reminded of the still very present pain caused by his headache. He lays down on the nursing bed. 

Since he’s here, he might as well take a quick nap until clubs end. He doesn’t really feel like getting up and going home to explain what happened yet anyway.

Before he closes his eyes though, he raises his hand to touch his bottom lip. The cut was no longer bleeding, so that was good. 

He keeps his finger there for a little bit, touching the spot softly. 

He would’ve never guessed his first kiss would have a hint of a metallic taste but, he found that he didn’t really mind it.