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“Swimming was really tough today, right?” Nagisa said, collapsing onto Rei’s bed as soon as they entered his room.
Rei hummed in agreement. They were training particularly hard to make sure that they were fully prepared for Haruka and Makoto’s last high school relay. Rin and the Samezuka team would be tough opponents, as always.
“I’m really sore,” Nagisa said, stretching his arms above his head, revealing his flat stomach and the top of his underwear.
Rei turned away, trying not to gawp. It was ridiculous that his face was heating up and his heart was beating faster at just a glimpse of his friend’s abdomen, when an hour earlier Nagisa had been riding around on Rei’s back wearing nothing but swimwear, in the shower of all places, and all Rei had felt was tired and irritated. It was like something changed whenever they were alone.
“Can I get you some food?” Rei asked. “A well-balanced snack should restore your energy levels.”
“Rei-chan, you’re the best,” Nagisa smiled, rolling happily from side to side. “Make it something sweet.”
“Something healthy coming right up.”
Rei swiftly exited the room before Nagisa used his perfected pout to convince Rei to prepare junk food in his own home. Rei may be an ideal host, but there were lines he wouldn’t cross.
It didn’t take too long to prepare a snack that would be filling enough to satisfy their appetites until Rei’s parents returned from work and made dinner. (Rei had no doubts that Nagisa would be staying for dinner, before returning home to eat a second evening meal with his own family.) He walked back with a feeling of dread in his stomach because he hadn’t heard a single murmur from his room and if he knew anything about Nagisa, it was that he was only silent when he was planning something particularly preposterous or embarrassing.
He was surprised to find Nagisa tucked up in bed, snoring lightly. His hair was still damp from swimming, he was drooling slightly and the pile of clothes on the floor indicated that Nagisa was curled up in a bed that wasn’t his own, wearing nothing but his school shirt and underwear.
“Nagisa-kun,” Rei hissed, frowning and setting the tray down on his table.
Rei called his name a little louder, but Nagisa just rolled over, a small sleepy moan escaping his lips that made Rei’s stomach flip. His friend looked so rarely serene and sweet that Rei couldn’t quite bring himself wake up Nagisa and shout at him for being an impolite house guest. That didn’t stop him from making more noise than usual as he folded up Nagisa’s clothes, changed out of his own uniform and laid out his homework on his desk. Frustratingly, Nagisa didn’t even stir.
Rei sat on the floor, busying himself with a book for one of his classes. It was a luxury, to have a bit of peace after school to properly concentrate on his studies. He wasn’t annoyed at Nagisa, not in the slightest. It was actually a perfect situation. Rei needed to catch up in Biology since Nagisa (who their teacher liked enough to let him get away with the murder of Rei’s education) had been passing him notes and even taking the time to write back “please stop bothering me” was a distraction.
Despite how much Rei wanted to learn, it was hard to resist turning to observe Nagisa’s sleeping face. He was still drooling on the pillow and that kind of disgusting, but Rei couldn’t look away. It was impossible to explain why, but the tiny murmurs his friend made in his sleep were far more fascinating than his textbook.
Rei had read the same paragraph approximately seven times when Nagisa started to talk in his sleep. It was mostly nonsense – words like pizza, bikini and ice cream - until he breathed out “Rei-chan” and Rei’s whole body jolted. He sat in complete silence, holding his breath, not daring to move, until Nagisa finally mumbled, “don’t forget to water Haru-chan” and Rei scolded himself for foolishly hoping that Nagisa might be dreaming about something meaningful.
Nagisa didn’t have to worry about the sorts of uncomfortable dreams that haunted Rei. Things like, Nagisa gluing live fish to the whole swim team to improve their times, Nagisa turning into a penguin and chasing Rei around school, Nagisa soft and pale and naked whispering Rei-chan…
“BIOLOGY,” Rei shouted, jumping to his feet. Biology was of the utmost importance and there was no need to dwell on anything else!
It was another 10 minutes before he gave up on pretending to read. Nagisa was sleeping too deeply and some unexplainable force was preventing Rei from shaking him awake, so there was only one logical conclusion. They had slept together before – in a literal, platonic sense of course. There was nothing wrong with two teammates sharing a room or two classmates napping on a senpai’s floor, so surely there was nothing odd about two friends sharing a spacious bed.
After accepting that he would only have himself to blame if he woke up with a face covered in marker pen and his hair in tiny pigtails again, Rei removed his glasses and climbed carefully over his friend. He slid under the covers after a moment’s hesitation and a (completely unintentional!) glance downwards confirmed that Nagisa was sleeping in someone else’s bed in just an open white shirt and tiny pink penguin briefs. Rei turned to face the wall, eyes squeezed shut, trying to think of soothing scientific theories, trying to think about anything but that.
***
When Rei woke up light was glaring through his window. He rolled over, eyes squeezed shut because it was uncomfortably bright. It was probably about time to get up for school, but he’d wait for his alarm to sound. He was just about to doze off again, when he felt warm lips press against his forehead, the sort of thing his mother did when he was younger, but different; more tender and lingering and so lovely. It was over so suddenly that Rei grumbled, reaching out until his hands found something soft and warm, flinging his arm over it like he used to do with the old teddy bear that he hid under his bed (because cuddling stuffed animals was certainly not beautiful). Rei felt a warm breath on his face, followed by the soft press of slightly chapped lips against his own, and then it was over. His eyes snapped open. He remembered everything.
Nagisa was in his bed.
Nagisa was in his bed.
How could he forget for one idiotic, drowsy moment that he was sleeping beside his half-naked best friend? Worst of all, Rei had been trying to cuddle him, which was simply mortifying, and then there was the kiss. That soft kiss had come from Nagisa and Rei was 90% certain he hadn’t imagined it and that meant… what did that mean? Rei shuffled backwards, only stopping when he hit his head on the wall, face burning bright red.
“Nagisa-kun?”
“Ah, Rei-chan, sorry,” Nagisa stuttered. “I don’t know why I…” He laughed nervously and disappeared under the bed covers. “I didn’t - I didn't mean to.”
Rei bit his lip, body frozen as his mind replayed what just happened. Nagisa, who never seemed to be nervous about anything, was wriggling around, making small uncomfortable noises. Rei took a deep breath, just like he did before he dove into the water, and ducked under the covers. Nagisa was curled up in a ball, facing away from him. Rei placed a gentle hand on his friend’s back and Nagisa – constantly physical, touchy-feely Nagisa - flinched and shuffled away.
“As far as wake up calls go, that one was preferable to you drawing on my face with a permanent marker,” Rei said softly.
Nagisa chuckled but it sounded empty.
It was hot and stuffy under the covers, Rei’s vision was impaired and his neck was extremely uncomfortable since he wasn’t quite lying on a pillow. It was hardly the ideal situation to try and work out their adolescent feelings, yet he still asked, “Why did you kiss me?”
“Ah, I don’t know!”
“Please tell me,” Rei said, slowly lowering the bedding so that they could talk it through without the risk of passing out from lack of oxygen.
Nagisa curled up smaller, if possible. “I just woke up and thought, it’s Rei-chan!! And you looked beautiful, even though you were frowning in your sleep and you’ll definitely get wrinkles if you do that all the time, so I... I just tried to help you relax.” He took a deep breath. “And then when you hugged me I was so happy, so happy to wake up with you and I just…”
Rei put a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder to stop him burrowing under the bedding again, while attempting to steady his own breathing. Although it wasn’t physically possible for his heart to beat out of his chest, it certainly felt like it might. He sat up, rubbing the sides of his face where his glasses should be, until he finally worked up the courage to say, “I’m happy you kissed me.”
Nagisa’s head whipped round so fast, it was a surprise that he didn’t seriously injure himself. “Really?” He asked, rolling his body to face Rei, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Really. Of course, it had its flaws. It only lasted a few seconds. Hardly a fair test.”
“Eh?”
Rei was starting to sweat. “There was no time to master the theory or judge if it was the right thing to do. In fact, I’d suggest that we try it again. For scientific purposes. If you want to.”
“EHH?”
“If you want to.”
“Rei-chan wants to experiment on me?”
“Ah, it might be more accurate to say that I’m trying very hard to come up with an excuse to kiss you again, Nagisa-kun,” Rei said, face hidden behind his hand.
Nagisa sat up suddenly, and with his huge grin, his bed hair, his blushing face, his slim thighs, there was no denying he was beautiful. “I don’t pay attention to stuff like you do, but I think maybe for a long time now, I’ve wanted to…” he said, leaning over Rei, trembling slightly.
In a sudden rush of bravery, Rei reached over to lace his fingers through Nagisa’s hair and pull his face closer until their lips met again. It started out short and sweet, with their eyes squeezed shut and their hands shaking, hardly daring to touch each other because this side of their relationship was so new and fragile. When Nagisa moved a little closer, applying more pressure, Rei lightly pinched the skin of his own hip to confirm that he wasn’t just having an incredibly vivid dream.
They moved together until Rei was lying completely on top of Nagisa and they both gasped into the kiss when the hard parts of their bodies pushed together. It made Rei’s stomach flip in excitement; his whole body was tingling. Their hands were more daring now. Rei touched all the parts of Nagisa’s body he’d only ever been allowed to stare at; the back of his neck, the fluffy curls on his head, the soft skin on his lower back just above his underwear. Nagisa ran his hands over Rei’s muscles. Their tongues licked together, Rei could hear the wet sounds they were making and taste Nagisa’s sleepy breath. Really, it was all quite strange, but it felt so good. It had to be Nagisa, it had always been Nagisa.
“Rei, I’m home,” his mother called out suddenly.
Rei rolled off Nagisa and onto the floor faster than he had ever moved in his life, and he had been a valuable member of the track team. He managed to confirm that his bedroom door was closed from the crumpled pile of sheets he was tangled in on the floor, before calling out, “welcome home!”
He scrambled up, grabbing his glasses, gulping down a drink, splashing some water on his face and smoothing down his terribly messy hair. He hissed for Nagisa to put some clothes on, who was still lying on Rei’s bed, looking flushed and impossibly seductive, which was not helping Rei to cool down! After a few more deep breaths, Rei strolled out into the hallway, as smooth and casual as he had ever been in his life.
The first thing his mother said was, “are you ok? Why do you look so flustered?”
“Nagisa-kun and I were training in my room. Yoga. Highly recommended by Coach Sasabe.”
“Nagisa's here? I’ll go say hello.”
“No!” Rei shouted. “You take a seat, mother. You’ve worked so hard, let me bring you a drink! Nagisa-kun will be out any moment, after he’s finished stretching. Safety first!” He laughed loudly. “In fact, I’ll start making dinner. You just relax until father gets home.”
Certain that he had got away with that without arousing any suspicion at all, Rei started to gather the ingredients he needed. It wasn’t long before he heard giggling from the other room. Like most people, his parents found Nagisa charming. He only hoped that Nagisa had got dressed properly and was managing to appear as cool and collected as Rei had.
When Nagisa finally joined him in the kitchen, Rei jumped in surprise, narrowly missing one of his fingers with the knife he was using. Nagisa was smiling brightly, dressed in a pair of Rei’s shorts and one of his shirts. They were way too big for him, the shirt was falling off one shoulder and even with a belt the shorts looked like they were going to fall down any moment. He looked ridiculous. He looked adorable.
He squeezed Rei’s free hand and said, “Rei-chan,” with that glint in his eyes that he got when he had a wonderful or a terrible idea. “Want to finish that experiment after we’ve eaten?”
“Mother,” Rei yelped, spilling an entire bag of rice on the floor after Nagisa touched him in an entirely inappropriate place. “Can Nagisa-kun spend the night?”