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The door to the Kageyama household flew open and slammed closed, revealing a disheveled and drenched Ritsu Kageyama. An unexpected rainstorm clouded the sky as soon as Ritsu left the school, and apparently everyone knew, judged by the fact that they had umbrellas ready.
Everyone except Ritsu, of course. This left him one, obvious choice; run home as fast as he can and use his bag as a shield from the downpour. Though it turns out, running faster just made him get wet faster.
He angrily mumbled under his breath as he attempted to slip off his shoes next to the door, words like “late meeting” and “ruining my life”. Emphasis on attempted, because first he tried to slip them off with each foot, and as you could guess—
—it failed, because the water made his socks wet and the socks stuck to his shoes.
After trying that a few more times, he gave up and crouched down, taking off the used-to-be-white shoes. The dirt around the school turned into mud and some shifted on the sidewalk, which got Ritsu’s shoes dirty as well. Not to mention his white socks and the bottom of his pants.
The stairs creaked as he walked up them in his dirty uniform, until the startling sound of loud thunder hit right outside their house.
Ritsu yelped and raised his hands in surprise, losing his balance and falling down the stairs— head-first. Talk about unlucky.
As Ritsu tumbled down the stairs and fell to the floor again with a thump, he heard the light switch from upstairs switch on and the hurried footsteps of his worried older brother.
“L—little brother!!! Are you okay?!” Shigeo tried his best to sound calm, but it was hard to when he saw his clearly aggravated little brother at the end of the staircase on his butt with a dirty uniform on. “..must’ve been a rough day? You’re home a lot later than usual, too.”
Ritsu got back up and patted his uniform down, too exhausted to be embarrassed. “Yeah. The student council meeting was a lot longer than usual today. It’s the last week of school before winter break, so we’re trying to plan some fun things for students to do. So far we have a festival down, like what we did for Halloween…”
Ritsu kept on unconsciously blabbing about what they discussed in the meeting, and Shigeo paid close attention, all while practically dragging Ritsu upstairs.
By the time Ritsu was done talking, he was already in his room. “Sounds like a busy meeting!” Shigeo softly exclaimed as he walked towards the door out of Ritsu’s room. “See you later, Ritsu. I hope your day gets better.” Shigeo wished, as he closed the door and started walking back to his own room.
Ritsu looked to the edge of his bed, where his backpack and a concerning amount of homework waited for him. Ritsu sighed, and got up to take the folders containing what will take up the rest of his day out of his bag.
He sat down on the chair across his desk, tapping his pencil as he thought about the question on the paper in front of him. Out of all his classes, social studies always bothered him the most.
He found himself daydreaming, making small doodles around the paper that he definitely has to erase later. He snapped back into consciousness with a ring of his phone, a text notification..
..from Shou.
He rested his palm on his forehead as he opened the text with his other hand. It said:
Shou Suzuki: Are u hmoe yet????
Yes, I got here a while ago. Maybe around thirty minutes.
Shou Suzuki: r u busy????
Yeah, I’m doing homework.
Shou Suzuki: when ur dun, txt me pls ;P
Noted.
Ritsu slid down on the screen to enable Do Not Disturb, before he got one more text.
Shou Suzuki: I gota surprise 4 u >:) wen u text me I’ll be on ur windooowwww
Ritsu stared at the screen in curiosity, and decided that it was probably nothing important. He continued to put on Do Not Disturb and threw his phone back in his bag.
Now, back to his work—
—until a specific drawing caught his eye.
It was an extremely low effort doodle of Shou, with his spiky hair and making a silly face, like the emoticons he uses when he texts.
He erased it immediately.
***
Ritsu stretched his arms and pressed his back against the chair until it cracked, sending instant relief throughout his body. He’s learned not to do this too much, otherwise it’ll start to ache.
He grabbed the folder on his desk and walked over to his bag, placing it in the appropriate pocket. While he was there, he also grabbed his phone.
He pressed the on button, the bright wallpaper of him and Shigeo on a field trip making him squint and tears prickle the corner of his eyes.
He looked at the clock in the middle of the screen, and his eyes immediately widened in shock, the tears disappearing.
It was 1am. He spent all of his day working on a single world history essay on a topic he hardly knew about. No wonder why he heard his dads concerningly loud snores through the wall again.
Ritsu emitted a loud groan from the back of his throat on instinct, before immediately covering his mouth and frantically looking at the door and listening for footsteps. He didn’t want to get in trouble for being up so late, let alone being loud.
Though that rule disappeared from Ritsu’s mind when he looked over at his window and saw a wide pair of bright blue and green eyes staring back.
He actually screamed, falling from his chair with a loud thump.
None other than the infamous Shou Suzuki opened the window and made an impressively silent entry, jumping from the windowsill and crouching on the floor in front of Ritsu in one smooth movement.
“SHHHHSHSHHHSHSHSHHSHSHSH!!!!!!” Shou shushed Ritsu loudly, putting both of his index fingers on his lips. “SHUT UP, MR AND MRS. KAGEYAMA MIGHT HEAR YOU!!!”
Ritsu pushed the fingers on his lips off of him to cover his mouth with his own hands, both of their heads slowly turning towards the door, preparing for the worst.
Somehow, everyone was so knocked out that they couldn’t hear the loud scream and thump. Shou gave Ritsu a look of shock that he responded to with a shrug. “My family is kind of known for being heavy sleepers.”
Ritsu quickly shook his head and stood up, now staring down at Shou. “What are you doing here at 1-fucking-am? Don’t you know I have school tomorrow?”
What was a worried, yet smug look on the redhead's face turned into confusion. “You…have school on Saturdays?” Now Ritsu was the one looking confused, inching towards his phone and checking what day it was.
It was Saturday. Which also means that he didn’t have to spend all day working on that dumb essay.
As Ritsu looked down on his phone in defeat, Shou stood up and started circling him. “I would never visit you this late on a school night, Ritz! What do you think I am, an animal?”
Ritsu shrugged, “yeah, kinda.”
Shou’s smile disintegrated so fast, it would’ve been impressive if it weren’t… well, Shou. “Just— just sybau.” Ritsu audibly cringed at the use of an online acronym in real life. “Just tell me to ‘shut my bitch-ass up’ please, never say ‘sybau’ again.”
Shou shrugged before sitting on Ritsu’s bed. “So, you’re going out in this weather with that?” Shou pointed at Ritsu’s pajamas.
Shou was wearing a long sleeved white undershirt with a velvet short sleeve on top, showered in stripes and stars. This with normal gray sweatpants, of course. He was also wearing a thick, damp-from-the-rain-that-stopped brown sweater, which dropped on the floor when he went through the window.
Ritsu however, was wearing his blue and white striped pajama pants with an oversized dull blue shirt.
“Oh— we’re going now?” Ritsu pulled on his shirt. “Do you not want to?” Shou turned around to look out the still-open window, a soft breeze coming through that made Ritsu shiver. “We can do this next weekend if you want, or maybe a little earlier tonight.” There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, that someone as blunt as Ritsu obviously didn’t notice. “As in not 1a—“ Ritsu looked at the clock on his phone. “— TWO am.”
“Okay, I get it, I came a bit too late.” Shou chuckled as he stepped back towards the window. “I’ll come at another time.” Shou was about to jump back out, before he felt a tug on his sleeve.
“Wait— um..” Ritsu quickly let go of the sleeve and straightened his posture. “W—we… we can go now. Just go for a second so I can get ready.”
And suddenly, the light was revived in Shou’s voice. “Alright, I’ll be outside!” Shou gave a salute, before falling backwards outside the window. A useless trick, especially with the faint glow of his aura spilling into the window implying that he was floating.
Ritsu shook his head and giggled at Shou’s attempt to look cool, something he would keep to himself forever.
***
Ritsu zipped his jacket as he stood outside his door, now prepared. He was wearing a big blue hoodie with a black sweater on top of it, with dark, baggy jeans.
“Where are you going?” Shou floated inside the room the same way a cartoon character would float when they smelled something good. “I’m going downstairs so I can leave?” Ritsu turned to face the bright eyed boy.
Shou made a tsk, tsk, tsk sound, before tugging Ritsu back before he actually went through his room door. “That’ll take forever. Come on the windowsill.”
Ritsu gave Shou a weird look and hesitated to step near his window, but did it anyway. Who was he to not trust the boy who saved his life a year ago?
He stepped in front of his window, and Shou playfully wagged his finger. “On the window, Ritsu. Like— outside of it.” Shou levitated outside the window to run his hand over the place he wanted Ritsu to go.
“…I can't fly?” Ritsu said with a tint of confusion, yet amusement in his voice. He could name most of Shou’s powers, and Shou didn’t even know he couldn’t fly.
“Oh, I know.” Shou stopped, floated and landed flawlessly on Ritsu’s floor, softly grabbing his hand. The sudden touch made a rose tint appear on Ritsu’s cheeks, his eyes widening. “What are you doing?”
A sudden tingle went up Ritsu’s spine, Shou’s orange and spiky aura engulfing him. “Y’know how my dad sent his power through Claw lackeys?” Ritsu gave a hurried nod, gasping when he suddenly felt lighter.
Next thing he knew, he was levitating. His legs started to tremble and his hands met Shou’s shoulders, gripping tightly. “Holy shit,” he whispered under his breath.
“Shou, how are you doing that?” Ritsu lifted his head to meet Shou’s extremely bright smile and squinted eyes. He responded to the genuine question in a mocking voice, mimicking a line from Family Guy. “I— I don’t know Louis, I’m scared.” He met a light fist to the jaw and a dead serious face from Ritsu.
“Sorry, sorry.” Though Shou’s apologies were also genuine, he couldn’t help but laugh.
They stayed floating like that for a while, going around the room to try and get a hang of it. They learned that every time Ritsu lets go of Shou, his aura would fade and Ritsu would eventually fall.
***
Ritsu pulled himself up, sitting flat down on the roof, looking down and suddenly realizing how high up he actually was. They were gonna go out the window, but decided the roof was safer. Bigger space and no small window to go out of. Based on the way they were traveling, of course. Anyway, the Kageyama household may not look so big, but it was completely different now that he was on the very top.
Shou took his hand and eagerly flew forward, lightly pulled back by Ritsu's grip. “I’m here too, you know.” Ritsu tried to sound confident, but his shaky voice and clacking teeth wouldn’t let him.
The roof wasn’t flat, so it was hard for Ritsu to balance. Not to mention the rain from earlier still left the roof drenched, making it slightly slippery.
So many things could go wrong. Ritsu started to breathe heavily, his chest heaving even faster when he looked down again. So many things can go wrong.
His aura started to get weirdly spiky.
So many things can go wrong—
But all those bad thoughts disappeared when he felt Shou squeeze his hand tighter and give him a soft smile. “You okay?”
Ritsu looked up, and loudly sighed. A mix of relief and annoyance of how gentle Shou can be sometimes. “..I am now.”
He patted himself off and looked straight ahead, his face a lot more determined than it needs to be, earning an amused snort from Shou.
And he shut his eyes and took the first step.
***
To his surprise, he stayed in the air.
It felt… weird. Almost like swimming, but with stairs underneath that you could use to get higher. “How do you feel?” Shou gave his annoying, yet charming, bright smile.
“..fine.” Ritsu couldn’t focus on what Shou was saying, or any sound for that matter. The only thing he could hear was his own heart thumping as he looked down, taking in the sight of what looked like stars below him.
Ritsu unconsciously squeezed Shou’s hand tighter, inching closer to him until they were smushed together.
Now the only thing Ritsu could hear was the blood rushing to his ears once he noticed what he was doing. “S- sorry.” Ritsu mummered, instantly pushing himself as far as he could go away from Shou without them losing touch.
“It’s- it’s fine.”
Ritsu looked up to see Shou's reaction, expecting an uncomfortable expression. He was surprised to see Shou flustered, ears and cheeks red.
“You..you can stay close to me, if you want.” Shou pulled himself closer to Ritsu. “I can expect being this high up for a starter being pretty scary..” Shou shrugged.
Ritsu tried to avoid eye contact, but also inched closer to accept Shou’s offer.
Them holding hands turned into Shou holding Ritsu, slinging his arm around his waist. Just to be secure, of course.
And they finally started moving away from the Kageyama household.
***
Every time they moved an inch away from the house, Ritsu clinged to Shou tighter. He’s never been this far from home without Shigeo or his parents.
The only thing keeping him from freaking out was Shou’s touch.
“You okay? You’re shaking.” Shou made sure to make constant check-ups on Ritsu to make sure he’s comfortable, and Ritsu always responded with a small nod.
“I’m okay, Shou. You don’t have to keep checking up on me.”
“Sorry, I’m just a little worried.” Shou loosened his grip on Ritsu and took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to be scared or anything.”
Ritsu made a sound that was a mix of a sigh and a gentle laugh. “Well, thanks for worrying about me.”
Shou itched the back of his neck and nervously chuckled. “Y-yeah…” Ritsu looked up to even see a tint of pink on his cheeks.
He looked.. weirdly beautiful. The light of the moon illuminated his face, making his freckles pop and his bright blue eyes almost glow.
His fiery red hair and the tight curls around his hairline were bright in the dark sky. His freckles almost looked like stars. Did I mention his freckles?
Ritsu couldn’t help but stare. And after a bit, Shou noticed. “Falling in love with me?” He said between small laughs he tried to hide.
“Shut up..” Ritsu pushed him playfully. “Where are we going, anyway?” Shou tried to hide his ginormous smile. “You’ll see.”
***
They floated down slowly, Shou practically picking Ritsu up and making sure his land was soft. “Thanks.” Ritsu smiled.
“What is this place?” Shou turned to face Ritsu. “Don’t remember? This is the place where I took you.” “Where you kidnapped me.” Ritsu giggled. “YOU AGREED!!!”
The small building itself was destroyed, crushed from the explosion. Rubble surrounded the wide, square-shaped hole where the building used to start.
“Why’d you take me here?” Ritsu glanced at Shou, and watched him step towards the building. “Well, it’s where we first started actually becoming friends. I just thought it would be cool to check this place out again.” Shou sat on top of a medium sized rock, which probably used to be part of the wall.
Ritsu sat on the floor next to Shou. The roof was completely demolished, revealing the night sky. The cool air made the hair on Ritsu’s nape stand up, a small shiver running down his spine. The building was a bit far away from the city, so there was less smog in the sky, completely revealing the bright stars.
“I like how the sky’s clearer.” Ritsu started. Shou slid off the rock to sit on the floor next to Ritsu, resting his arms behind his head.
“Yeah, it’s…a— a lot more pretty.” Shou tried to find something to say, digging in the back of his mind.
They laid there and stayed silent for a while, before a small stripe of white stardust ran across the sky. “It’s a shooting star!” Shou pointed out.
Ritsu sighed and turned to Shou. He had his eyes closed tightly and his hands up, wrapped together.
“Are you really making a wish? Y’know that’s just a meteor, right?” Ritsu’s amused face was met by Shou's fist, a playful punch to shut him up.
“It's the magic of the moment, Ritsu.” The latter laughed softly, rubbing the area where he was punched.
Ritsu dug in his pocket to open his phone. He squinted at the bright screen and stared at what time it was.
3:30 am. He really should be going back home around now, but..
He gazed at the fiery haired boy next to him. He was even more beautiful when relaxed.
He put his phone back in his pocket, and pushed himself closer to Shou. He was the only thing he needed right now.