Archive of Our Own ^beta

“You’re doing really great, Kohaku-chan!” Niki praised, clapping as Kohaku practiced throwing the beach ball around, trying to make it seem like he was a natural at playing and enjoying himself. In all honesty, he wasn’t used to this at all, but he had to appear like a normal fifteen year old– Especially for idol activities, at least he could let his guard down somewhat in front of Madara and Crazy:B, but the public would hopefully never know about his childhood. So, for this gig with 2wink that was themed after summer and whatnot… He had to try his best to make it all seem fluid and normal to him.

“I don’t need praise fer throwin’ around a ball.” Kohaku replied defensively, holding it and turning back to Niki, who was busy making the drinks for their next practice run of LEMON SQUASH CHEERS. He knew the elder meant well, but it felt demeaning to be praised for doing something so mundane, even if he was struggling with it… He kept flinching as it came down near his face, something he knew he’d have to hide better, but any sudden movements near precious areas like that would always startle him.

“I know, that’s not what I–”

Kohaku sighed, immediately feeling bad when he could hear the chef pause his actions to see the younger boy’s reactions clearly. “No, I know, it’s fine… Sorry Niki-han, I guess I’m just– I’m real frustrated that this won’t come more naturally t’ me.” Placing the ball down on the couch, he sat and watched as Niki resumed making the drinks at the bar, resting his elbows on the arm and his chin in his hands. Niki smiled warmly, shaking up the mixture of juice and whatever else was in it– Kohaku just knew it tasted good, so everyone insisted on Niki making a new batch each time they did a dress rehearsal.

“I guess I understand. But hey, it’s not like you’ve only been struggling, right? You seem to be getting along pretty well with Yuta-kun, I’ve seen you guys practicing a lot together.” Niki commented idly, crouching to get some lemons from the counter while Kohaku thought that over. He was friendly with Hinata already, on account of Niki and Hiiro being dormmates with her, and the fact that he often visited their dorm for those two. But Yuta was someone he hadn’t been familiar with until recently, not on a personal level at least– They’d met during the events of that night club fiasco, but never spoken much outside of that.

“Hm… Whaddaya think of Yuta-han, anyway? Rinne-han’s got a real weird relationship with him, an’ HiMERU-han seems… I dunno, they’re friendly enough, I guess? But I haven’t really seen you talk to him, Niki-han.” Standing to grab a piece of ice from the cooler on the countertop, Kohaku began to suck on it and shift it to sit between his teeth, tempted to crunch down on it but knowing better than to do so. Niki squeezed the lemon into the drink mixture and shook it up again, looking thoughtful.

“I guess he’s a good kid, even though he’s pretty harsh to Rinne-kun. I know he’s a real pain in the ass, but Yuta-kun’s… Well, based on what Hinata-kun’s said to me, he can be difficult at times. It sounds like their relationship has had its ups and downs, which I wouldn’t really get since I’m an only child.” Niki could point these things out with such ease, Kohaku mused, it was like he didn’t even care that he couldn’t relate to most of the things everyone else had in their lives. And maybe he didn’t, as long as he had food…

“Anyway, that’s not the point! Rinne-kun kept trying to tease you two, but I told him off, and HiMERU-kun even pulled his hair to shut him up. So do you have a little crush on him or something? You seem pretty happy when you get to play together.”

Ah? Kohaku wasn’t expecting that. The pink-haired boy felt a blush dust his cheeks, something he didn’t experience often, and was almost ashamed of. A crush? He couldn’t deny that Yuta was pretty, with his long hair, and his soft jawline, and his–

“I don’t have crushes!”

“... Right.” Niki was visibly unconvinced, raising an eyebrow and watching Kohaku for a second before laughing it off. Unlike Rinne, Niki would back down pretty easily, less willing to push others’ limits. Kohaku had always been thankful for that, now moreso than ever…

“Well, whatever it is, I’m just glad you’re making more friends! Otouto-san and that, um, Aira-kun from Mayo-chan’s unit… They’re good friends of yours too, but it’s better to have more! I guess Hinata-kun’s your friend too, right? Oh, and weren’t you kinda friendly with that sword kid… Eh… Kanzaki-kun, right? He’s in my circle, but we haven’t had a meeting in a while, so I kinda forgot his name… I should really organize another, but Crazy:B’s work has just been so–”

“That’s great, Niki-han.” Kohaku interrupted, standing and taking the beach ball with him as he headed to the door. Niki stared, unsure of what Kohaku was going to do, then squinted to see better the person who had just come into the building.

“Speak of the devil, huh?” Niki muttered, rolling his eyes when he saw HiMERU and Rinne walking alongside Hinata and Yuta. Their practice wasn’t for another hour or so, but it was always good to meet up and revise things and get a little bit of more casual practice in with a unitmate or two before the real thing.

Hinata was chatting happily with Rinne, who seemed to have had his hair done by someone, as there were clips in it and stickers adorning his face… Niki wondered if he’d practice with those. Probably. HiMERU walked in silence, and Yuta sprung ahead of the group to meet Kohaku, who threw the ball towards his redheaded friend with a smile. Yuta caught it and grinned, tossing it to himself a few times before bonking Kohaku’s head with it playfully once they were closer.

“Hey Kohaku-kun!” The ginger greeted, taking note but not commenting on the way Kohaku seemed to tense when he was ‘hit’. Maybe he should be more careful, he thought to himself, tucking the ball under his arm instead. Rinne approached the two with Hinata still trailing closely behind, ruffling both their hairs while Hinata only shook her head. Yuta shoved Rinne’s hand away, and Kohaku ducked, headbutting the older man in the stomach.

“Heyyy, Kohakyu-chan! Don’t be so cold!” Rinne whined, bracing himself well enough that he didn’t stumble back but looking uncomfortable at the pain. “Your Rinne-senpai’s bein’ so nice to ya, can’tcha just lemme ruffle your hair?” He sighed, eyeing the two younger boys before him mischievously.

“Shove off, Rinne-han.” Kohaku rolled his eyes, turning and beginning to head towards Niki and HiMERU when Rinne spoke up again. “Oh, you fussy I’m pickin’ on you and your boyfriend?”

A small laugh could be heard from Hinata, but Kohaku felt his face go bright red with a mixture of embarrassment and… Something else, something he couldn’t really identify but didn’t care to at the moment. He stormed off immediately, and hearing footsteps coming after him only added to his frustration– He didn’t bother looking back to check who the footsteps belonged to, instead heading right for the dressing room and slamming the door behind himself before whoever was chasing him could enter.

Rinne rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down to Hinata, who just raised her eyebrows at the man. “Not my fault he’s so touchy… Ah, I’ll apologize to him later. Usually he’d just smack my arm or somethin’, so I guess…” He trailed off, toying with one of his earrings.

“Yuta-kun is… He’s also pretty proud, but you know that already from the way he hates you for all that advice way back when.” Hinata began, pursing her lips and thinking. “And Oukawa-kun’s like him. And Oukawa-kun likes him… And vice versa.”

“Wait, for real?! I was just teasin’, their little crushes didn’t seem that serious.” Rinne seemed shocked, eyebrows shooting up as Hinata just rolled her eyes.

For such a smart guy, he really could be unperceptive at times, she had noticed. Well, he tended to catch onto most other things far quicker than anyone else, so she supposed she couldn’t really blame him. Especially when he hadn’t made the first move on any of his own boyfriends, it seemed like maybe Rinne was bad with romance specifically… She didn’t know the extent of their relationships too well, but Niki had spoken of them on occasion during ‘sleepover’ nights, as Hiiro loved to hear about anything to do with Rinne.

“I thought it was more obvious, but I guess not. Yeah, Yuta-kun told me, and Hiiro-kun said that Oukawa-kun had told him…” Hinata just looked a bit dismayed in the direction of the changing room, where Yuta seemed conflicted outside the door. “I guess we’ll see what happens once he goes in.”

“Ya think he’s gonna go reason with Kohaku-chan?”

“He’s definitely not coming back here.” Hinata snorted, looking back to Rinne, who just sheepishly fingered the chain attached to his pants. “Yeahyeah, I guess. Well, whatever, I’m gonna go bother Merumeru an’ Niki, you comin’?”

“I’m– I’ll wait, I want to watch Yuta-kun for now.” She shook her head, to which Rinne just nodded and patted her head before heading off to harass his unitmates, who had been relaxing by the side of the ‘pool’. Hinata watched the redheaded man skip away, then turned to her brother, humming as she watched him enter the changing room.

"Hey, Kohaku-kun…?" Yuta narrowed his eyes a bit, surprised at the fact that the lights were off. Kohaku must have had decent night vision if he was willing to just sit in the dark like this… The door shut behind him with a click, and he squinted more, willing his eyes to adjust faster. There was no sound, but before he knew it, Kohaku had turned the light on and sighed.

"I'm real sorry 'bout Rinne-han–"

"No, it's fine, he's not your responsibility. You don't have to apologize for him." Yuta waved dismissively, resisting the urge to wrinkle his nose at the mention of the man. "I just wanted to check on you. You got pretty worked up, is it a sore subject or something?" The ginger sat on a chair backwards, legs wrapped around the back as he faced Kohaku. The younger boy looked troubled for a moment before sighing.

"It's just that he really gets on my nerves with some of the shit he says. I dunno if he even thinks about it sometimes."

"I know what you mean. But, uh… Is there anything I can do, or whatever?"

Yuta was offering to help? Kohaku raised his brows in surprise. It wasn't like Yuta was a bad person or anything, he was just known to have difficulty empathizing, from what Hinata had told him… So he often tried to remove himself from the troubles of others, having his own things to worry about.

"Nah, there's nothin' to be done here. I just wanna ignore Rinne-han's bullshit an' pray he doesn't keep bringin' it up."

"Hah! Yeah, it'd be a real pain if he kept teasing you about some 'crush', huh?" Yuta felt a bitter taste in his mouth for dismissing such a notion, but he could tell that Kohaku was obviously offended by the joke Rinne had made… He must have been more interested in someone like Aira or Hiiro, Yuta thought. Kohaku just looked at him in surprise, debating how to reply.

"Eh…? It– Sorry, it ain't like that." Kohaku shook his head slowly, looking away and biting his lip as he mulled over his options. He didn't want Yuta to think he couldn't stand the idea of being associated with him, or something like that! But he didn't really want to expose his crush, either…

"It's like, uh…"

"He~y, Yuta-kun!" Hinata sang, slamming the door open with glee suddenly. "Oh good, you're in here! Everyone's looking for you two, it's not nice to run off and leave your big sister hanging!" She scolded, rolling her eyes as Yuta did the same in return. "Yeah, yeah."

"Ah ah, don't just dismiss it! Now c'mon, we gotta practice, you guys!" She grabbed Kohaku's hand unexpectedly, presumably because he was closer– And dragged him out without letting Yuta get in another word. Kohaku allowed himself to get dragged along by the pink twin for a moment before opening his mouth to speak, only to be cut off as Hinata just shushed him mischievously.

"Yuta-kun likes you, too. I wasn't gonna say anything, but I know how you feel, and he'd worry I was sabotaging him if I told him… So I'm telling you! Now go act on it, romance my grumpy little brother Yuta-kun to your heart's content!" She patted the boy's head happily, and he just stood there stunned, blinking at her for a moment before nodding dumbly. Kohaku wasn’t entirely certain what to do, but he glanced back at Yuta as he exited the room, thinking it over.

— — — — — — — —

After practice, Kohaku chased Yuta down, looking a bit flustered. He had been thinking too much about what to do, and all of the possibilities overwhelmed him… What if Yuta actually hated him? Hinata wasn’t one to lie like that, but Kohaku didn’t feel like he deserved the love of so many people, so he found himself doubting it a little…

“Oi! Yuta-han…” He paused, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as Yuta raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”

“I just– Ah, I was thinkin’, it might be nice fer us ta head out an’ get a bite to eat somewhere, whaddaya think?”

Yuta stilled, looking at Kohaku for a moment in disbelief. “Did Aneki put you up to this?”

“What? No.”

“You sure?”

“I’m real sure. I just wanna get to know ya, is that a crime?” Kohaku felt uncharacteristically anxious at Yuta’s questioning, but the ginger relented then, shaking his head.

“Nah, it’s fine. Just– Y’know how older sisters are, right? They like to tease and all, Aneki’s always been trying to get me to make more friends, saying that I rely too much on the ones I’ve got… So I guess I just worried you weren’t really interested.” He seemed dismissive, shrugging a bit. Kohaku mulled it over and nodded, then shook his head.

“Right. Rest assured, I ain’t tryna be yer friend ‘cause of Hinata-han or anythin’. Uh, actually, it’s about earlier, too…”

“Oh, what, you wanna make up for Rinne-senpai’s teasing? It’s fine, he likes lying about random shit, doesn’t he?”

“He– He wasn’t lyin’. Rinne-han’s not really a liar.”

Silence. Yuta blinked.

“But that means you like me.”

“Yep.”

More silence.

“Oh.”

“Sorry– Sorry, Hinata-han told me it was mutual, so I thought it’d be okay to tell ya–”

Yuta put his hand over Kohaku’s mouth suddenly, eyes narrowing a bit as he studied the shorter boy. Kohaku just blinked back at him, unsure what was going on in his head before he was released again. “I’m not sure whether to thank Aneki or kill her, but I guess it doesn’t matter right now. So, you’re asking me on a date?”

“If you wanna go, yeah. We could do it as a kinda platonic thing too, though, if that’s what ya rather.” Kohaku shifted his feet a bit, and Yuta shook his head.

“A date sounds good, actually. I can, uh, get Sakuma-senpai to drive us somewhere, or something. Since I’m guessing Rinne-senpai can’t drive.”

“I’m pretty sure he can, but ain’t a huge fan of it… So I guess Rei-han’s a fair ride, if that’s who ya trust.”

“We as 2wink don’t talk to him all that much since we graduated, but he’s been a pretty important person to us.” Yuta shrugs a bit, toying with the ends of his hair thoughtfully. “I can count on him for more important things, so there’s no way he’s gonna turn down a little car ride.” Kohaku just chuckled. Yuta had an interesting perspective on things.

“So, ehh… How about we just meet at that place Hiyori-han’s family owns? It’s right near that pet store, y’know the one? We can meet up tomorrow, let’s say ‘round 1pm.”

“Yeah, I know it. Sure, sounds good to me. I’ll see you then, Kohaku-kun.” Yuta nodded, flashing Kohaku a real smile. One that made his heart warm unnaturally, one that made him smile back with so much glee that he felt like he might explode. The twin turned on his heel and headed out, while Kohaku stood there dumbfounded for what felt like hours. He’d just gotten a date. Just like that. It was that easy? Did everyone else in the world find it that simple once they’d tried? Was he just stupid for delaying it so much?

“–haku-chan, Kohaaaku-chan! Earth to Kohaku-chan, you there?” Niki waved a hand in front of Kohaku’s face, and the pink-haired boy jumped back suddenly. It wasn’t like him to be caught so off-guard! Niki knew that, too, and seemed to catch on shockingly fast for the fact that he tended to be slow on the uptake.

“You look like you just had the best cake of your life, so I’m guessing your talk with Yuta-kun went well?” He asked, smiling brightly. Kohaku couldn’t even get defensive when the man seemed genuinely interested, so he just sighed a bit in defeat and nodded. “Yeah. I’ve got… A date. Should I tell Rinne-han? He’s gonna be a real pain about it, but…”

“Feels wrong leaving him outta the loop, doesn’t it? I get it. Hm… Maybe just go process your feelings and stuff, you seem really– Um, in your own head, I guess. Looks like you could benefit from a nice meal and a nap!” Niki’s smile turned into full-on beaming, so Kohaku couldn’t help but chuckle lightly in response. “Yeah, not a bad idea, Niki-han. Thanks. Where are the others, though?”

“Oh, they’re still back there.” Niki glanced to the stage, where HiMERU and Rinne were sharing drinks together while Hinata practiced her own choreography. “I just noticed you standing there for a while, ‘cause I was only talking to Hinata-kun for a bit. Those guys have been chatting it up since the second practice ended, so I guess they didn’t realize you were looking like a fish outta water, nahaha~!”

“Thanks, Niki-han.” Kohaku replied, unsure of how exactly to take that. “Can ya get us a ride back ta the dorms, then? I wanna stay with you an’ Hinata-han an’ Hiiro-han tonight, if it ain’t too much trouble.”

Niki clapped in delight. “Of course! I’ll go tell the others, you grab your stuff. We’ll make this the best pre-date sleepover ever! Rinne-kun’s probably gonna show up, though, since he’s so nosy…”

“Yeahyeah, that’s expected by now. Thanks, Niki-han!” Kohaku jogged off to get his things, thoughts racing. He had a date. A real date, with someone he liked, who liked him back. It was a lot to process, but in all honesty, he was just super excited by the prospect of it.

Kohaku had a date. He was going to live a normal teenage life. Nothing made him happier.