Chapter Text
Time seems to pass in slow motion. Rei watches as Kaoru glances at his watch, then stares very hard at his countertop, then digs in his pocket for money, and then walks out from behind his booth and comes to stand in front of Rei’s. Should they say something? But what would they say? They can’t catch Kaoru’s eyes, his gaze still downcast, but they can hear his pulse thudding fast, and—
They’re almost not sure they heard the words right. It’s like a movie—they know what Kaoru said, but they’re so sure that he would not say such a thing, not in this reality. It’s as if the boy in front of him, cheeks pink and shoulders firmly set, is a figment of Rei’s imagination, placed there by their own selfish desires. But all their senses assure them that this Kaoru, asking Rei to kiss him, is real.
“You...” Rei stops. They stare at the coins Kaoru laid on their counter. “Y-You can have a kiss for free?”
Kaoru finally looks up, and he frowns. Rei wants to melt into the ground if they somehow fucked this up before it even got to start. “That’s not how the booth works?” he says, and then blinks and lifts his eyebrows. “You mean? Kinda like a real kiss?” His gaze drops down to the counter again, a fresh blush blossoming on his cheeks. “I— I mean...”
Rei laughs, suddenly giddy. “Yes? Well— Did you want to purchase a fake kiss?”
“No!” Kaoru leans closer, his hands on the counter. “I... As real as possible.”
He’s so cute. Impossibly cute. Rei nods helplessly. “All right,” they agree.
It doesn’t seem like the right place for this sort of thing, for something so emotional and embarrassingly earth-shattering as a first kiss with this particular boy to happen in the middle of a crowded street at a fucking kissing booth, but Rei suddenly worries that if they ask Kaoru to move somewhere more private, he’ll chicken out, or Rei will, and Rei wants to kiss him. So they lean across the counter and gently put their hand on Kaoru’s chin, guiding him into a chaste kiss.
They watch as Kaoru immediately closes his eyes and leans into the kiss, and then they close their eyes too, feeling Kaoru’s hands come to rest on Rei’s shoulders. Rei makes a quiet noise and angles their face against Kaoru’s better, kissing him more hungrily now that it’s clear Kaoru isn’t pulling away. Such a fact seems so amazing and impossible and yet Rei has adapted to this new reality where Kaoru does want to kiss them, and in fact is kissing them, remarkably fast. They sneak their hand into Kaoru’s hair and hold him there, thin fingers tangled through soft blond strands. They didn’t expect Kaoru’s hair to be so soft. Kaoru parts his lips, perhaps to breathe, and on impulse Rei slips their tongue into Kaoru’s mouth, tightening their hold on Kaoru’s hair. They can sense Kaoru’s pulse speeding up, and it’s a little bit intoxicating.
They kiss a little longer, Rei getting as much of Kaoru’s mouth as they can, and then they pull back to catch their breath and to get a look at Kaoru. They imagine they look rather the same as when Wataru had kissed them so thoroughly only a few minutes earlier, except now this look is all Kaoru’s, and Rei wants it like that.
Kaoru blinks and sucks in a few breaths, his eyes fixing on Rei’s face and widening. He slides his hands back up Rei’s shoulders, not letting go. “H... Huh.”
He’s cute! Rei swallows and licks their lips. They probably should talk about this, but now that this has happened, Rei wants to be somewhere no one can see them. “We— Maybe we should— Go somewhere else...?”
They trail off, watching as a huge smile spreads across Kaoru’s face, as though he’s just processed what happened. “Yeah,” he says, his grey eyes suddenly bright. “I mean—where?” He pauses, and does a cute little laugh. “Doesn’t matter, I guess.”
Kaoru smiling like that is like the sun coming out, which sounds a lot less cliche in Rei’s head than it would if they said it out loud, surely. Rei blinks a few times. “Okay,” they agree, and then realize Kaoru didn’t actually suggest anything. Rei scans the area around them quickly and points off behind them to the entrance to one of the classroom building wings. “There? We can find an empty classroom?”
Kaoru nods fervently. “Yeah, yeah.” Surging forward, he takes Rei’s hand and starts leading them to the building, glancing around to make sure they’re not being followed. Everyone around them seems to be busy, and Rei knows their collection boxes are secured—well, there’s the coins Kaoru laid on Rei’s counter, but there’s no way Rei’s going back for those now. Kaoru pushes open the door and leads Rei down the hallway, now empty with everyone out enjoying the festival. Kaoru peers through the window on one of the doors and then opens the door, letting Rei go in first.
Thankfully, the room is empty, the lights turned off. It’s a relief to be out of the afternoon sun and inside a dark room, and Rei weighs the pros and cons of immediately pinning Kaoru against the closed door and comes up with only pros, and then they just do it, carefully pushing Kaoru against the door. They slot their body against his and hover close to his face, just in case he doesn’t want to kiss again, so he can stop them—
He does not. Kaoru grabs Rei’s arms and tugs their bodies flush together, and cranes his neck to kiss Rei firmly. Rei half expected Kaoru to stop them and ask to talk about all this, and Rei fully intends to let that happen...eventually, but this is better. They open their mouth and slide their tongue over Kaoru’s, pressing their body forward against his, until they hear the quiet knock of the back of Kaoru’s head against the door and pull back, checking that he isn’t hurt.
Kaoru opens his eyes with a quiet whine, maybe about hitting his head or about Rei’s tongue in his mouth or even about Rei pulling away before he wanted them to, and then he pulls back entirely, breathing hard. “Y-You... Huh...”
Rei licks their lips and reaches up to smooth their hair out of their eyes. The urge to tease Kaoru is impossible to resist. “Me?” they murmur, giving him a tiny smile.
Kaoru squirms, but he doesn’t look upset. “We...” He takes a breath as if to steady himself. “That was great? Was it for you too?”
Rei nods. “Yes. Do I not look like I enjoyed it?”
“I mean... It meant something?” Kaoru lifts his hand and cups Rei’s cheek in his palm. Rei melts a little. “I hope?” He looks uncertain suddenly, as if there’s any reality in which Rei hasn’t wanted very badly to kiss Kaoru like that for the better part of a year.
Rei nods again, quickly. “Yes!” And then they realize Kaoru is probably thinking about the fact that Rei just kissed Wataru like that, and it was just a kiss between friends, albeit very close friends. “I... I’ve wanted to for a while,” Rei clarifies. “Um, that’s why—”
Oh, this is hugely embarrassing. They blush and lower their gaze, taking the hem of Kaoru’s shirt in one hand for something to fiddle with. “I suspect that’s why Hibiki-kun nominated me for our class representative.” That’s not a full explanation, but hopefully Kaoru can connect the dots—that Wataru knew Kaoru would be 3A’s representative, and hoped that over the course of the day, such a thing as this might happen, one thing leading to another...
Kaoru’s gaze softens. “He did? I just volunteered because I wanted to kiss boys.” He hesitates. “Well... I wanted to know what it’s like. It was a nicer thought until all those boys wanted to kiss you...”
Rei laughs, honestly surprised. “Oh...? I didn’t know Kaoru-kun wanted to kiss boys...” They tug gently on the hem of Kaoru’s shirt. “Well, you got your wish in the end, yes? I’m sorry you had to witness so many kisses in the meantime.” They’re going to have to have a talk with Wataru later, about his methods.
“Some of them were far too eager...” Kaoru huffs, pouting. “Like that taiyaki boy.”
Rei does a soft kukuku laugh. “Well... I suppose so. I did not expect many people to want to kiss me.” They move their hands up to tug on the ends of Kaoru’s hair. It’s very difficult to keep their hands off the many parts of his person that they’ve always wanted to fiddle with, now that they seem to be allowed to. “Can I make it up to you?”
Kaoru hesitates, thinking, and then blurts out, “Let me be the only boy you kiss?” As if realizing what he said, he flushes red and buries his face in Rei’s shoulder. “You know... That way,” he amends into Rei’s shirt. “Maybe no tongue for Hibiki-kun?”
This sort of reaction isn’t what Rei expected. They expected, Let me take you to dinner, or something. Perhaps watching Wataru shove his tongue into Rei’s mouth had affected Kaoru more than Rei thought. Rei laughs easily, petting the back of Kaoru’s head. “Oh, he certainly doesn’t deserve my tongue after what he pulled today. But I think I can do that. No first date, though?”
“I think we skipped a few steps already,” Kaoru says, his voice muffled in Rei’s shoulder. He looks up, meeting Rei’s eyes again. “Does the taiyaki count as a date? If not, then... I’ll take you on a proper one. If that’s what you want, too...?”
Rei shakes their head. It doesn’t feel real, planning a date with Kaoru, and yet if it is a dream or something like that, Rei never wants it to end. “I think I’d like a proper first date. Then we can, er... Retroactively include the taiyaki.”
“Lovely,” Kaoru murmurs. He leans in and kisses Rei, this time with no urgency or heat, and sighs when they part. “I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he confesses.
Rei catches his mouth in another quick kiss, then another, unable to help themself. Kaoru’s so warm, and gorgeous, and there’s no way Rei could get enough of him, or make up for all the wanting they’ve done for months. “...me as well,” they say, and wind their arms around Kaoru’s shoulders, going in for another kiss.