Chapter Text
“You know, you never told me how you came back,” Akito said one day.
The two of them were in Akito’s room. They had gone to his house after school, taking a break from their normal activities. The curtains in front of his window were drawn; afternoon sunlight illuminated the room. Akito was looking at his phone on his bed while Toya was reading a book on the ground, Toya sitting with his back to the bed, absorbed in his reading.
Toya paused and looked at the page number, memorizing it before closing the book and setting it down to the side. Akito moved so that he could drape his arms around Toya, who smiled, lacing his fingers with Akito’s.
At this point, the two of them had been dating for a few weeks. It felt natural — a few months after Toya came back, one day, Akito had blurted out that people thought they were dating. After all, the two of them were always around each other; where there was one, there was the other.
“They thought we were dating,” Akito had shaken his head, scratching the back of his head.
They had planned to meet up to go to a cafe together, but Akito was stopped by a classmate as he was leaving a classroom.
“Did that bother you?” Toya frowned, seeing the way Akito reacted.
“Nah, it didn’t really bother me,” Akito’s face started to flush red. “But like, you know, we aren’t actually dating. I mean — like if we did I wouldn’t mind — it’s just I don’t like it when people assume things that aren’t true and-”
“Wait,” Toya cut him off, Akito looking at him in surprise. “You… wouldn’t mind?”
“I-” Akito froze, and Toya’s face started to turn a faint pink as well. “Well, yeah. You might think it’s weird, so you can just forget it if it makes you uncomfortable…”
“No, actually, I wouldn’t mind either…”
Akito’s face betrayed surprise. “So, you’re saying that you’re okay with us dating.”
“Mm…” Hearing those words made Toya feel even more embarrassed, his cheeks burning.
“Then… if I asked you out right now, you’d say yes.”
“I would…”
The two of them awkwardly skirted around the topic until Akito finally broke, reaching up to cup Toya’s face in his hands. “We’re dating,” he said seriously.
Toya could only nod slightly. “Yes.”
Akito blinked once, then twice. “Oh,” he dropped his hands, unsure what to do with them. “Um… then, does our plan of going to the cafe count as a date?”
“I guess,” Toya thought about it before affirming. “Yes, it’s a date.”
“Okay, great,” Toya could basically hear the gears turning in Akito’s head. “We’re going on a date.”
“Yes,” Toya couldn’t help but smile as Akito started saying things as if it wasn’t true until he said it.
The two of them had only walked a few minutes off campus when Akito suddenly made a noise of surprise. “Wait, you just? I- huh?” Akito looked dumbly at Toya, who looked back at him. “We’re dating?”
“You just said we were a few minutes ago.”
“Okay yeah, but like-”
Akito started rambling as they walked to the cafe, a small smile on Toya’s face as he walked next to him. Even though they said it was a date, nothing much changed from before. However, a few hours after Toya got home, he got a text from An, who said that Mizuki said that Ena said that Akito had screamed into his pillow for a solid five minutes before Ena yelled at him to shut up. Toya chuckled softly as he imagined that. When he brought it up to Akito the next day, Akito’s face was dusted with pink as he told Toya to forget that.
…
“Actually, I wasn’t too sure either,” Toya said, recalling what he had been told. “There was just a day when I suddenly woke up with Tsukasa-san and Rui-san next to me.”
Akito mumbled something about it’s always those two before he let Toya continue.
Toya had woken up with a large amount of his memories gone — rather, they were blurred and he couldn’t make out most of it. Tsukasa and Rui had made some crazy deal to trade for Toya’s humanity (they wouldn’t tell him what it was), and had managed to get him back.
For a year or so, he started to slowly regain his memories. The most vague ones were the ones regarding the boy in the forest. Because neither Rui nor Tsukasa interacted with him much, they couldn’t tell Toya much about him. Those memories were pushed to the back of his mind until Tsukasa suggested that they attend the summer festival, as it could maybe help Toya remember something.
Toya remembered that they had told him his soul had initially scattered because of something that happened on the night of a summer festival, and it was due to that that his memories were unclear. He knew that the two of them were trying their best to have him regain his memories, so he agreed to go.
When they arrived at the site, Toya suddenly felt some of the memories becoming clearer — he could recall the kitsune mask he wore around the human and the cloth that they had tied around their wrists. But it wasn’t until he saw the performer on stage that the memories rushed back to him.
The performer was singing a song that Toya had never heard of, but his voice was clear and full of emotion. When their eyes met from a distance, Toya felt a sharp pain in his head, and Rui quickly escorted him out of there, bringing him to a quiet place away from the noise.
His memories of Akito came back all at once, and he could barely hold back as the emotions slammed into him. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure if he could still talk to Akito like he did before. At some point, Rui had left to give Toya privacy, and Toya climbed onto the structure without thinking. He didn’t dare look down, instead looking up at the stars above.
Unable to put those emotions into words, he decided to sing, hoping his voice would convey those feelings into the night air. Some of the songs he knew when he first woke up had initially felt strange and unfamiliar — it was only now that he realized that those were songs Akito had taught him before.
Toya, now human, felt a multitude of emotions that he hadn’t while he was under the curse. But out of all of them, the one he felt most was still the same — longing. In the dark night, he sang and continued to sing until he heard someone approach him. He couldn’t tell who they were, but when he turned around and saw Akito’s stunned expression, all he could feel was relief.
The song he had been singing was for Akito as well. After all, it was Akito who told him all about the city. He was finally there — the only person missing the entire time was Akito himself. And now, Akito was there too… Toya felt the tears prick at the corners of his eyes as he looked at Akito.
And the rest… well, Akito knew how the rest went too.
“I see…” Akito hummed.
“I’m actually quite surprised you kept the mask,” Toya commented offhandedly when he saw where it was, hanging on the side of the room.
“Is it really that surprising? It’s the only physical thing that I felt was tied to you.”
“That’s true…”
“By the way,” Akito got up, walking over and taking it off the wall. “Can you see through this thing?”
“You’ve never tried it on?” Toya asked, slightly stunned.
“No…” Akito said, embarrassed. “It felt weird to do so without your permission. The only time I took it off was when I wore it to the festival. And even there, I only wore it as an accessory.”
Toya stood up too, making his way over to where Akito was. “Why don’t you try it on, then?”
“Is that okay?”
Toya nodded, and Akito slowly put the mask over his own face, holding it in place with his hand. “Oh, I didn’t realize that there were holes for the eyes.”
“... Did you think I could see through the mask?” Toya asked, a little dumbfounded.
“I’m not that stupid,” Akito retorted. “I just never thought about it.”
There was a moment of silence as Akito heard Toya shift, then he saw Toya’s face through the mask. Toya leaned in for a brief second, and Akito felt his face heat up.
“Hey,” he took the mask off, and Toya could see the red coloring Akito’s cheeks. “If you’re gonna do that, do it properly at least.”
With that, Akito used his free hand to grab Toya and pull him in, pressing their lips together. It was a brief kiss, Akito shifting back a few seconds later and turning away to hang the mask back up as if nothing happened.
“Akito,” Toya said as Akito’s back was turned to him, moving forward and wrapping his arms around Akito’s waist and resting his head on Akito’s shoulder.
“What?” Akito reached back to ruffle Toya’s hair.
“I’m very happy right now.”
Akito froze for a second before he laughed, turning around. “If you’re happy, then that’s good.”
“Mm,” Toya looked at Akito and let his arms drop to his sides, hesitating before saying, “Can we do that again?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Akito asked before leaning in again.
“You know, you don’t always have to be so scared to do things,” Akito said as they broke apart. “You can just do what you want.”
“Hm?” Toya tilted his head. “Alright… Then, I like it when Akito makes coffee for me.”
“Wha- hey! You can’t just say that!”
“But you said that I can do what I want?”
“That’s different-” Akito averted his gaze, embarrassment causing his face to flush.
Before Akito could properly retort, Toya laughed, his eyes curving as he brought his hand up to his face. The words died in Akito’s throat as he smiled fondly at Toya, indulging in the moment.
I was right, he thought to himself as Toya opened his eyes, the smile still on his face as their gazes met. Toya really does look nice when he smiles.