Chapter Text
The aroma of tea was one of the things that Amajiki was the fondest of, and it had been that way since he was a child. In fact, the list of things that calmed him the best was lavender, tea, and butterflies in that order. Then, when it was coupled with his two best friends, tea made it next to impossible for Amajiki to find himself in a bad mood.
Togata and Hadou always came to Amajiki’s apartment for their weekly study-and-tea days, and Amajiki had the sneaking suspicion that it was because after he started working at Fatgum Cafe, he had gone and bought a plethora of higher quality tea and coffee-making equipment, and so the drinks always tasted their best when they were made by Amajiki in the comfort of his own home.
“Can you believe that we’re already in our fourth year of college?”
Hadou’s light voice lilted through the air, and Amajiki lifted his dark eyes from staring at his matcha to look up into his friend’s cerulean gaze. He let out a quiet sigh as her words sank in. It seemed like it had only been the other day that the three of them had first set foot on campus, and now they were set to graduate the following semester. It all seemed too fast, but there wasn’t much that Amajiki could do about it.
The thing he despised the most about the thought of graduating was the thought of leaving Kirishima behind. He was pretty sure that Toyomitsu would still let him work at the cafe after graduation, but he wasn’t sure if that was something that he really wanted to do. After all, he’d have his degree in photography at that point, so he figured that he should most likely look for a job closer to his field of study.
The thought of being separated from Kirishima made his stomach clench, so he focused all of his attention on the conversation that Hadou and Togata were having, though thoughts of his future didn’t do much to settle his nerves.
Togata lounged back against his chair, his hands behind his head. “I’m mostly not looking forward to Physics. I’m just not good at science,” he lamented.
Hadou nodded her solemn agreement, and Amajiki did the same. He had always been better at literature and the arts than he had been at math and science.
“Amajiki, did you hear? I got into that advanced zoology class I’ve been trying to get a seat in since second year!” Hadou cheered, slinging one of her arms around his lither shoulders.
He gave her a warm smile in return. Hadou was in the zoology department of Yuuei, which was one of the most popular departments in the whole university, so it wasn’t the first time that Hadou had struggled to register for the classes that she needed for her degree. Thanks to her diligence, and her willingness to take summer classes, she had still managed to stay on top of the necessary credits she needed for her degree, and so she was still going to graduate on time with him and Togata.
A sudden nudge on his left side caused Amajiki’s head to snap up, and he looked at Togata with an affronted stare. “What was that for?” he demanded.
He simply laughed and leaned back into his reclined position, shrugging his shoulders. “You just seem to space out a lot nowadays. I was just bringing you back to Earth before we lost you to your thoughts again,” Togata chimed, and Amajiki felt his cheeks flush. He hadn’t though that he got lost in his head enough for anyone to notice. Then again, leave it to Togata to notice, he thought ruefully. After being friends for so long, Togata could sense that something was wrong with Amajiki just by a stray hitch in the latter’s breathing patterns.
“It’s happened a lot more ever since you started working with Kirishima-kun,” Hadou hummed, and Amajiki didn’t like the mischievous grin that spread across her lips. “It’s almost like you have feelings for your little underclassman.”
If Amajiki had blushed at Togata’s words before, then he was beet red at Hadou’s declaration, and he hid his face behind his tea mug. “I do not like him. He’s just my friend and my coworker,” he argued, his voice shaking with embarrassment.
The looks that he received in return made him think that his friends didn’t quite believe him.
Hadou’s bouncy laugh filled the tiny apartment living room, and she shook her head. “Amajiki, don’t give me that! You talk about him and work all the time, and you’re as confident with him as you are with Togata-san, and you grew up with him!”
Amajiki wanted to point out that he wasn’t really that confident around Togata, but he decided that there were more important things from her sentence to rebut. “I don’t talk about him all the time,” he huffed impatiently. “I only talk about him when you two ask me about my work. I talk about him as much as anyone would talk about their coworker.”
Hadou’s grin never left her face as she leaned closer to Amajiki. “Oh? If that’s so true, then can you tell me what my coworker’s name is? And can you tell me her favorite food?”
His eyes widened in horror. Had Hadou actually told him that? Was he such a terrible friend that he hadn’t listened to her? He lowered his head in shame, swallowing hard. “I… I don’t know,” he admitted, defeat heavy in his voice.
Hadou crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly and turned to Togata. “Now, Togata-san. Can you tell me what Amajiki’s coworker’s name is? Can you tell me his favorite food?”
“Kirishima Eijirou, a second year at our university,” he answered, and Amajiki felt his eye twitch in irritation as he realized the point that Hadou was making. “And he loves meat. In fact, every time Tamaki asks him to join him for yakiniku, his eyes light up and sparkle like stars.”
Tamaki glared at the both of them. They were ganging up on him.
So what that he talked about Kirishima enough for Hadou and Togata to feel like they knew him personally themselves? It just meant that he really loved his work, was all. And the fact that Hadou hadn’t talked about her own coworker as much just meant that they weren’t as good of friends. Right?
“Speaking of your little yakiniku dates, how many of those have you and Kirishima-kun gone on?” Hadou cooed.
Tamaki curled in on himself. He didn’t like the conversation anymore. He hadn’t ever really liked it, to be quite honest.
“Tamaki, you have to see the situation for what it is,” Togata chastised, sighing. “You obviously have feelings for Kirishima-kun. It’s silly to deny that.”
He gave him his best glare, but there wasn’t much fight left him. “I’m not denying anything. And besides, even if I did have a crush on Kirishima, which I don’t, that’s all it is. A stupid crush. You two are acting like I have to propose for him to marry me.”
When his friends shook their heads exasperatedly in response, Amajiki felt his defensiveness rise. Why were they being so difficult?
Hadou finally spoke after she had let a heavy silence fall between the three of them for a minute or two. “Amajiki, you’re such a lost cause. That chicken heart of yours is going to be your downfall, you know.” She stood, standing over him, and Amajiki felt exponentially bullied by the situation that he found himself in. What was with the intimidation tactics? “You need to ask Kirishima out on a date. Today. Understood? If you don’t, Togata-san and I are going to pick your punishment together.”
With that, Amajiki had decided that he’d had enough. He stood as well, barely avoiding knocking into the table and spilling tea everywhere. He grabbed Togata by the arm and pushed him and Hadou to the door, opening it and shoving them as kindly as he could outside.
Hadou didn’t seem fazed since she giggled and headed down the stairs that led to the street, which lifted a load of anxiety off of Amajiki’s chest. He didn’t want her to fight him anymore about what he should or shouldn’t do about Kirishima. To his chagrin, however, Togata lingered, and Amajiki sighed as he prepared for whatever “inspiring” speech his best friend was about to give him.
“Mirio-”
“Listen, Tamaki,” he interrupted, his gaze serious and piercing. “If you aren’t comfortable with asking Kirishima-kun on a date, then don’t do it. There’s no point making yourself anxious over something that’s supposed to make you feel good.”
He nodded in understanding, opening his mouth to retort, but Togata held up a hand to stop him.
“That being said, don’t scare yourself out of your true feelings. If you really care about Kirishima-kun, if you really have feelings for him, don’t psych yourself out of the chance to have a really good thing. Personally, I think anyone would be lucky to date you, and from what you’ve told me, Kirishima-kun seems like a good fit for you. So if you really do like him, go for it. Okay? Promise me you’ll try your best?”
Amajiki nodded mutely, staring at his best friend in shock. He was always blown away by Togata’s ability to talk some sense into him when his brain was so overwhelmed that he could barely make a single coherent thought.
“I promise.”
Togata’s serious expression melted into a fond one, and he gently ruffled Amajiki’s hair, turning to follow Hadou, who was calling to him from the street. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
He watched the two of them head off in the direction of the university, and when they finally turned out of sight he made his way back into his apartment, slumping down onto his couch. All of the tension that had built during their conversation seemed to leave his body as soon as he realized that he was alone in the comfortable silence of his home, and he practically melted against the cushions underneath him.
He had work later that day. If he was really going to ask Kirishima on a date, then he’d have to do it some time when the two of them were working. Of course, he’d really only have the time to ask when it slowed down, and-
He sat up quickly, shaking his head quickly. “What the hell am I thinking?” he hissed, standing and beginning to pace. “I’m not going to ask Kirishima out. I’m not interested in him romantically.”
He got dressed, donning his red shirt, and when he finally made it out of his door, he had about twenty minutes to complete the fifteen minute walk to work. In the time that he had spent getting ready, it had begun to rain, and Amajiki opened up his black umbrella before stepping out into the downpour.
Amajiki had always found the sound and smell of rain to be calming, and he realized that he spent a lot of time trying to find the things in his life that calmed him. There was tea, lavender, rain, butterflies, Kirishima, cats, piano music, photography… His eyes widened. Why had Kirishima shown up in his mental list? He groaned meekly, dragging a hand down his face. He couldn’t understand why Kirishima so constantly plagued his thoughts.
He walked through a puddle distractedly, not even registering when his shoes became soaked.
Did he actually like Kirishima? He had never really had a crush on anyone before, so he wasn’t exactly sure what it felt like, but the more he thought about, the less and less he could rule it out as a possibility. For one, he was constantly thinking about Kirishima, even if his thoughts didn’t necessarily concern him. He talked about him a lot (apparently), and he looked forward to work most days, even though the work required of him wasn’t exactly his favorite.
Truthfully, Kirishima made his job easy for him. He could face the overwhelming rushes and anxiety-inducing amounts of socializing because of the younger boy that was always at his side through it all.
Maybe he did like Kirishima.
Before he knew it, he had arrived at Fatgum Cafe, and he let out a quiet sigh as he folded up his umbrella and pushed the glass door open. Kirishima was standing behind the counter talking to a trio of girls, his bright smile splitting his face as it usually did. When he heard the ring of the door opening, his crimson eyes moved and locked gazes with Amajiki’s and he waved excitedly.
Amajiki waved shyly back, heading to the back room and putting his umbrella and coat in his locker. Thankfully when he walked out to join Kirishima behind the counter he was still conversing with the three girls, so Amajiki was able to avoid conversation as he looked at the tickets that hadn’t been filled yet, and he got to work.
For the first few hours of his shift, it was busy enough that he didn’t really have an opportunity to talk to Kirishima other than a quick exchange of banter or to confirm an order, so there weren’t any bouts of silence where Amajiki would have been given the opportunity to embarrass himself in front of Kirishima. He still wasn’t sure if he was actually going to ask Kirishima on a date or not, so he wasn’t really ready for Kirishima to talk to him long enough that Amajiki would have to decide. He worked diligently to arrange their food showcase full of their autumn specials, which included homemade cookies from Toyomitsu, candy apples, and even some cute little cakes that apparently were pumpkin spice flavored.
Throughout the afternoon, Amajiki did his best to hide his unfocused thoughts, but much to his horror he dropped more than one order as he was making them, and he even made the completely wrong drink more than once, which he had never done before. Finally, it seemed that Kirishima had had enough because he placed a hand on Amajiki’s shoulder and stared into his eyes with a serious expression.
“Amajiki-senpai, are you feeling alright? Do you want to go take a break? It’s starting to slow down; I don’t mind being up here alone for a while,” he said, and Amajiki felt a pang of guilt squeeze his stomach at the sound of worry laced in Kirishima’s words. It wasn’t Kirishima’s fault that Amajiki couldn’t sort through his own feelings. He shouldn’t have had to suffer because of Amajiki’s incompetence.
He shook his head, half of his mind focused on the feeling like fire coming from his shoulder where Kirishima’s hand laid. “I’m okay, really. Sorry for not being focused. I’ll do better.”
Kirishima’s frown deepened, and Amajiki’s stomach clenched even more. He wondered for a moment if taking a break was a good idea, but he quickly banished the thought when he reminded himself that a break on his part meant that Kirishima would have to work all alone.
“I’m just a little stressed. It’s nothing,” he said, moving over to the cash register to take the approaching customer’s order, and he missed Kirishima’s downtrodden look as he did so.
The next hour passed in a mutual silence, only the cacophonous sounds of the coffee machines and the faint sound of the music filling the small cafe. It wasn’t unbearable on Amajiki’s part, but as he turned to look at his coworker as the last person in the cafe left, he noticed a tension in Kirishima’s shoulders that he’d never seen before. Was he the cause of that?
He opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could get the words out, Kirishima whirled around and faced him, and the determined look on his face caused Amajiki’s mouth to snap shut. “There’s a new pottery shop that opened up just down the road off campus,” he said, and when Amajiki’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the spontaneity of Kirishima’s declaration, he continued. “Do you want to go check it out with me after work? I haven’t had the chance to go yet because I… because I haven’t the courage to ask you out on a date. So… what do you say?”
Two slow blinks. The thumping of his heartbeat in his ears. Kirishima’s words echoing in his head.
Kirishima had just asked him out on a date.
It took him a minute to find his voice, and when he finally managed out a response, his voice was squeaky with nerves. “Y-Yes. I would love that.”
He fidgeted anxiously, clenching and unclenching his hands and trembling. He was going on a date with Kirishima. His first date.
Kirishima visibly lost the tension in his broad shoulders, and he leaned against the counter as he sighed in relief.
“Oh, thank God. I was so worried that I had read you wrong and that you weren’t interested and that I was going to ruin our friendship and that you would get so uncomfortable with me that you’d stop working here and stop tutoring me and stop being my friend and then I was worried that you’d been acting quieter than usual today because you’d found out that I liked you and you were creeped out and-”
“K-Kirishima,” he interjected, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “You’re making me anxious when you talk so fast and so frantically.”
He let out a weak laugh, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry. I was just real worried, to be honest.”
Amajiki shook his head, a small laugh bubbling out of him. “I’m surprised. Even someone like you can get anxious, Kirishima.”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise before he laughed softly. “Of course I do. I’m only human, after all,” he pointed out, and he turned to go back to making a coffee for himself. “But anyway, we only have closing left to do. And with the rain still pouring like it is, what would you say if I suggested closing a little early?”
Once he got over his small initial shock, Amajiki nodded quickly, and he immediately moved to close. The sooner he got to go on his date with Kirishima, the better.
He was pretty sure that the two of them closed faster than they ever had before, and the realization of the fact made Amajiki’s stomach flutter. It was hard to deny the fact that it seemed as though Kirishima was just as excited for their date as Amajiki was.
It turned out to be a good thing that Amajiki had brought an umbrella because as Kirishima turned around and looked at the sky after he had locked up the shop, he smiled sheepishly. “When I came in this morning, the sky was clear. I didn’t think I’d need one,” he admitted, and Amajiki bit his lip before shyly holding his umbrella out a little so that Kirishima could fit underneath it as well.
Truth be told, with Kirishima’s broad shoulders, the two of them had to walk close enough that their arms touched just so that they could both avoid getting soaked to the bone. Every time that Kirishima’s arm brushed against his, though, Amajiki felt like he was being zapped, but he did his best to keep his composure for fear of making Kirishima move away from him.
They had walked a couple of blocks before Kirishima suddenly pulled his hood up over his spiky hair, and he nudged Amajiki’s hand that was curled around the handle of the umbrella.
He shot him a confused look and received a chuckle and a blindingly bright grin in response. “Hold it with your other hand. I don’t mind getting a little wet,” Kirishima declared, and Amajiki obliged, though somewhat hesitantly in his lingering confusion.
His confusion dissipated almost instantly as Kirishima laced his fingers with Amajiki’s now free hand, and they both let their arms swing between their torsos. He felt his face burn, and he knew that he was probably bright red, but if Kirishima noticed he was kind enough not to mention it. It was a simple gesture, but Amajiki was pretty sure that his heart was beating so hard that it would thump its way out of his chest at any given moment.
Kirishima squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he shot a playful grin at Amajiki, who found himself smiling back despite the way his mind was screaming at him about what position he had found himself in. He was holding his hand with Kirishima, and they were on their way to have a date.
Kirishima seemed content to walk in silence, but despite the lack of conversation between the two of them, they arrived at the pottery shop, and to Amajiki’s surprise Kirishima didn’t let go of his hand even as they headed inside.
One of the workers came up to them, but Amajiki busied himself with folding his umbrella so that he didn’t have to look her in the eyes or talk to her. Thankfully, Kirishima seemed more than okay with talking with her instead, and he silently thanked him for his bravery.
“Hi there! Are you two here for the couples’ activity?” she asked curiously, and Amajiki finally looked up to see her gesturing at their joined hands.
Kirishima nodded, and he grinned at her. “We are. Where do we start?”
She smiled up at the both of them, showing them to a table on the side of the room. “So first, you’ll pick which pottery piece you want to work with. Since pottery takes quite a bit of time to learn, and neither of you have attended any of our pottery classes, you’ll just be painting and decorating your pieces, and then we’ll bake them and call you back when they’re ready. It usually takes a couple of days since we have lots of customers’ pottery pieces to bake. Does that sound okay with both of you?”
The two of them nodded in unison, too busy taking in all of the information that she had thrown at them to respond verbally. She seemed content with just their nods, and she bowed her head slightly. “If you have any questions, I’ll be in the room, or you can ask any of my coworkers. I hope you both have fun! And because you’re here for the couples’ deal, your prices will be buy one, get one free.”
They nodded again, and after she had turned her back on them, Kirishima smiled determinedly, finally letting go of Amajiki’s hands so that he could inspect all of the different types of pottery that they could choose from.
“What are you thinking about painting, Amajiki-senpai?” Kirishima asked as he pulled what looked like a funny noodle closer to him.
He shrugged, his gaze scanning his options. There were lots of mugs and bowls, and some cute animals, but Amajiki’s interest didn’t lie in anything like that. Instead, his attention was grabbed by a small vase-like cup, and he grabbed it quickly. “This. I’m going to make it into a vase for flowers.”
Kirishima hummed his approval, clapping a few times before snagging a set of paints. “I’m going to paint this snake. It’s going to be fucking awesome!” he cheered, and Amajiki smiled over at him.
“It’s going to turn out great,” he agreed, and he turned back to his own project. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he grabbed a paintbrush and began to decorate the clay with intricate strokes. He wanted it to be beautiful. He used a mix of colors, but the most prominent hues in his color palette were orange, red, and black, the colors of the outfit being worn by the boy next to him.
“Amajiki-senpai, you’re really talented,” Kirishima gasped as he looked over about halfway through their work. “That’s gorgeous! It’s going to be breath-taking after it’s baked.”
He blushed lightly at the praise, looking over to what he had finally realized was a snake in Kirishima’s hands. It was white, black and purple, with eye-catching, vibrant patterns swirling around its slim body, and Amajiki felt like he was looking at some sort of optical illusion. It was captivating in all the right ways, and Amajiki bit his lip as he let Kirishima know.
“Yours is amazing, Kirishima. Really, really amazing.”
He grinned from ear to ear, his toothy grin as radiant as pure sunlight, and Amajiki couldn’t help but grin a little as well. Kirishima’s smiles were just too contagious for him to fight it.
“Thanks!”
They went back to painting, although a little while into their session Amajiki had realized that Kirishima was sitting so close to him that most of his body weight was leaned against him, and it made it a little hard to focus on his painting when his mind seemed to much rather prefer to think about how nice the physical contact was.
Was he really that touch-starved?
Still, Amajiki persevered and made it through, finally finishing his vase and spinning it in his fingers so that he could admire it. In the end, he had managed to blend the colors well enough to make it look as though there was a sunset on it, and he couldn’t help but smile a little proudly at his finished product. It looked much better than he had expected it to turn out.
Kirishima finished a few minutes later, and he puffed out his chest boastfully as he held out his snake for Amajiki to look at. He had kept with the illusion-like patterns, and Amajiki was captivated by the small snake. Kirishima was much more talented than Amajiki had realized.
“We didn’t do too bad,” Kirishima hummed as he led Amajiki to the nearest employee, and Amajiki nodded his agreement as they gingerly handed their creations to her. She placed them on a shelf near a doorway that Amajiki assumed led back to where the kiln was, and then she led them to the cash register to get their numbers and payments.
Amajiki dug in his pocket for his wallet, but when he finally pulled it out, he looked up and saw Kirishima signing his name, and he realized in shock that Kirishima had paid for him before he had even had the chance to offer to pay for both of them instead. He whined quietly in protest, but Kirishima shot him a triumphant grin and shrugged.
“It was my idea for a date, so I figured I’d pay. If you come up with our next date, then you can pay, okay? It’s only fair that way,” he told him, and Amajiki sighed and nodded, not able to argue with his logic.
It was only after they were holding hands again and walking under Amajiki’s umbrella towards the school that Kirishima’s words struck him. He had said “next date”.
“Y-You, uh, really want to go on another date?” he managed out, cutting their conversation about Kirishima’s recent science lab short.
Kirishima chuckled, his eyes crinkling with mirth. “Of course I do. I want to go on as many dates with you as I can, Amajiki-senpai!”
The thumping of his heartbeat began to pound in his ears again, and Amajiki was sure that he had turned scarlet once more, but he forced out a reply before he became too flustered to say anything coherent. “M-Me too,” he choked out shyly.
He nodded, and Amajiki felt his heart flutter a little. “Then it’s decided! We’re dating now, okay? So that means I can do this!”
Before Amajiki could ask what “this” was, Kirishima surged forward and pressed his soft lips to Amajiki’s, and the latter froze in absolute astonishment. It took him a moment to recover enough to kiss Kirishima back, and his eyes fluttered shut as the rain fell around them with a gentle pitter patter. For once in his life, Amajiki wasn’t concerned about what anyone around them thought of them. All that he cared about in that moment was Kirishima.
When he finally pulled back, Kirishima’s cheeks were lightly dusted with pink, and he smiled nervously at Amajiki. “You’ll be my boyfriend, won’t you?”
Amajiki laughed, shaking his head exasperatedly. “Of course, Kirishima. I’ll gladly be your boyfriend,” he assured him, and he was met with Kirishima pressing his lips against Amajiki’s for a second time.
It was then that Amajiki decided that stopping in Fatgum Cafe that day and spilling his coffee all over himself had been the best thing that had ever happened to him.