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When it was Hibiki's 21st birthday, June 10th, in a Summer Vacation that would span a few more months before they continued their years in college, Daichi woke up first with the intention of being productive.
The light from the windows, or rather, lack thereof made the navigation out of his bed without disturbing his best friend who was literally just across the room exceedingly harder than it had to be.
Daichi nearly breathed out through his mouth until his slightly parted lips let out a high whistle instead of a breath. He continued to hold his breath as he tiptoed across the fur rug that covered most of the room. He thought it's faux white color was tacky, but he couldn't help but thank it in his head vigorously for softening the sound of his steps.
The final test, the last obstacle that limited his ability to move as efficiently as he could ever, was the door.
Why Hibiki closed it yesterday, despite Daichi's tendency to open every door that wasn't the front, Daichi had not a clue. Maybe Hibiki just liked annoying him. Or maybe Hibiki just liked closed spaces. The room got stuffy when the door was closed, perhaps Hibiki wanted that- and Daichi brought his focus back to the cold metal of the handle that his fingers wrapped around. He turned it as slowly as he could and pulled.
And froze.
He wanted to surprise Hibiki with breakfast in bed and cake, not a squeaky door that
- was the World against Daichi for not slipping on the rug like the first time?
Daichi swallowed his growing annoyance with the World and its supposed growing contempt for him and focused on trying to move his body through the little amount that he had opened.
When Daichi had finally slipped through and close that door with far more stealth than he expected, he momentarily wondered if the lack of oxygen was doing things to his head. He let out that huge breath that burned his chest, and with a significantly lighter heart and mood, he cracked his knuckles and got to work.
“I'm in the zone now!” he breathed to himself, “You go Daichi Shijima! You can do this without messing this up-” and when he misplaced the eggs and had to pause for 2 minutes to find that he put the carton on the counter next to the gray refrigerator, he finally conceded and opened the lights of the kitchen. All the lights.
His eyes stung, and he recoiled before flipping one of the switches off.
“So much for the zone.”
“That depends on which zone you were in.”
So much for not waking Hibiki up either. While Daichi was at it, so much for not waking the whole apartment- that shrill yelp of his hurt his throat.
“Don't scare me like that!”
Hibiki raised a brow and smiled, sleepy but mischievous, and put a hand on his hip. His hip that was slightly bare with all the wrinkles and the ridden down pants, and at that point, Daichi had to put his attention back to the eggs on the counter and the frying pan on the stove.
“I seem to always scare you like that.” Daichi glared before turning his back to the best friend who seemed all too eager to offer up a reply to everything.
“M’busy. Makin’ you breakfs’t n’ stuff,” Daichi grumbled, going through the mundane motions of twisting the knobs on the stove, “Go back to bed and let me have my zone.”
It wasn't like Daichi expected Hibiki to wrap his arms around him, chest to his back, cheek softly rubbing against his nape. It was too close, and in Daichi's humble opinion, far too early for him to go through the daily motions of trying to slow his pulse from speeding up whenever he or Hibiki decided to be-
“Thank you for breakfast.”
“C-C’mon, i-it’s your special day and- and it's not like I don't make breakfast like, every day or something-”
Hibiki hummed, “Awww, you remembered… Is that why you wanted to keep me in bed? To surprise me?”
“Go to bed and pretend you were drunk and passed out and when you wake up again, I'll surprise you. Oh- speaking of drinking-” Daichi jutted his behind out to push Hibiki away- all that managed to do was make Hibiki make an odd sound out of the already curious one he was making. Daichi decided never to do that again, “You're 21 so- you can drink! Welcome to the prime of your life!”
Daichi didn't say anything when Hibiki only seemed to get closer, he kept his eyes on the sunny side ups and the oil that bounced and when he reached to get the pepper, his fingers wrapped around it too early. When he pulled the pepper out of Hibiki's hand, he did his best to concentrate on the sound sizzling and popping rather than the sound of Hibiki's breathing.
“I don't know why drinking’s such a big deal. Hey, you can drink in two months too, so it's not like you're far behind.”
Daichi took the salt from Hibiki as well, and when he thought it was seasoned enough he said, “Hey, you want em goey as usual?”
Hibiki's chin on his shoulder was far, far too distracting. He had to protest, or he was going to burn something, and he'd be sorry if he burned the eggs or Hibiki.
“Yeah,” Hibiki hummed more than said, “Do I get back to bed now? Are you going to join me too?”
Daichi couldn't find it in himself to object to much else other than, “N-Not now-! I-I mean- yeah you can go back to bed. You're still sleepy- I haven't gotten juice or bacon or…”
“Tea. But that can brew. I'm fine with just eggs, Daichi, just come with me-”
“But duuuude!” Daichi's voice cracked enough without him adding extra strain to whine, “I gotta- just a little, I haven't even made the cake batter yet!”
“Cake can wait for breakfast, and breakfast can be quick- this is the only time I'm not gonna nag about eating on the bed, let's just do it-”
“Why are you such a kid on your birthday?” When Hibiki started to hug Daichi's torso tighter, Daichi realized he answered his own question, “Okay- it being your birthday does not give you an excuse!”
But with how childish Hibiki continued to be, they ended up just having tea, untoasted bread, and sunny-side-ups, gooey, just the way Hibiki liked them.
And with how happily Hibiki continued to drape his body onto Daichi's for the whole day, as limiting as it became a few times, it was safe to say the whole thing was just the way Hibiki liked it. Simple, inside, and possibly Daichi seemed to be the things Hibiki liked the most.
Daichi never saw him touch a drop of wine for the whole day, neither did he see Hibiki express any interest or that glint in his eye when he recognized something.
Daichi found it near hard to believe that Hibiki was as interested in alcohol as he was in romance (“Don't see why I should. Yet, at least.”) and while the latter gave Daichi a light relief, the former just made him burn with curiosity.
“Dude, if I were 21, I'd have gone to a bar just to try!”
When Hibiki pinched Daichi's nose, said, “Then just wait a little longer,” then proceeded to pinch Daichi's cheeks, Daichi dropped the subject.
When it was Daichi's birthday, the two of them only woke up when the sun was far too bright for Daichi's eyes, and the thump that accompanied Daichi falling onto the rug was enough to wake Hibiki up.
“... Daichi?”
“Ugh- that shouldn't have hurt as much as it did- o-oh-” Daichi pushed himself to sit upright, expecting to feel cold at the sudden lack of a blanket until he realized their bedroom door was closed, “What's up?”
Daichi watched as Hibiki slowly lifted himself up, blanket still wrapped around him, and yawn the sleepiest, “Happy birthday.” Daichi had ever heard.
“Good morning to you too-” Daichi had a lingering sense of confusion before he asked, “Wait- it's my birthday today?”
Hibiki raised a brow at him and slipped out of his bed, sitting down directly in front of Daichi, blanket surrounding him like a cape, “No, it's the wall's birthday.”
“Oh- how old is this apartment anyway?” Daichi turned his head to look at the wall behind him, only to fall over when he felt Hibiki's weight push him down, blanket surrounding them both, trapping heat in an already warm room.
“Daichi if you'd please remember the day you were born and get ready to go out, that'd be great.”
“I could if you got off of me- and why am I supposed to go out anyways? I did the groceries yesterday, so you don't have to.”
Then Daichi felt Hibiki's heat envelop him, felt his own face start to heat up, Hibiki got really, really clingy in the morning and Daichi just now noticed this pattern, he could kick himself, “We’re both going out. For dinner. I made reservations since I can't cook something without help.”
Daichi pushed against Hibiki's chest, the material of Hibiki's sleepshirts always seemed to be wrinkled no matter how vigorously Daichi would iron them.
“You made reservations for my birthday? Where?”
Hibiki made a small whine of annoyance that Daichi pointedly ignored. Hibiki conceded and pulled himself and his blanket back to his bed, “Nowhere too special- you know that hibachi place in Shibuya you wanted to try? We passed by it when we were out with Jungo.”
Daichi's mouth started to gape, and his words were nothing more than unintelligible before he finally put a coherent sentence out of his mouth, “But it's- it’s expensive!”
“So?”
“But it's expensive!” Daichi repeated himself.
“And…?” Hibiki practically repeated himself too. He rolled until he was facing Daichi, belly to the bed and blanket rolling him up like some sort of burrito. He smiled.
Daichi took a deep breath, “This is gonna go on for the whole day if I continue this, and then your reservation will go to waste. It's my birthday, so can I consider it a win?”
“It's not a win in the traditional sense, but we’re gonna have some fancy food and some pretty fancy sake, so I'm going to chalk it up to a draw.”
“Eh… fair enough.” It was when Daichi had already gotten up, stretched, and checked out which clothes would be suitable to go out in with the intention of showering that it finally clicked. Daichi turned rapidly with a dress shirt and sweatpants in hand and said, “Wait- we’re gonna drink sake- you know- alcohol?”
Hibiki smiled even wider, “Duh.”
“You haven't touched any alcohol since
birthday, and, I-I’m not gonna stop you man, but why?”
Hibiki groaned, and when he wiggled out of his blanket and decided it was too cold, he wiggled back in, “I just want to drink some with you. Now that you're 21 too, we can.”
“D-Dude! You haven't even tried to tell me about it- and you didn't even look at it, just because you wanted to…?”
Instead of confirming anything, Hibiki just said, “Sweatpants, Daichi? Really?”
Daichi felt compelled to tell him not to change the subject. He also felt compelled to be a little embarrassed, and he shoved the sweatpants back into the closet, to be folded at a later time, “Y-Yeah- so?”
“You'd look good in a suit. Fancy. Do you wanna slick your hair too? Hm… It'd look nice, but I already saw that in your ID so if you don't want to…”
“Dude, it's my birthday, not an upscale party- well, maybe a little upscale…” Daichi realized he was probably wrinkling his dress shirt and so he threw it onto his bed, “What about you? If I'm wearing a suit, you have to wear one too- and could you please get out of bed?”
“I'll wear one if you let me put yours on you.”
Daichi screeched out a “What?!” before ripping the blanket off of Hibiki, who immediately squawked in offense and huddled in defense of his own body heat.
“This isn't fair! I'm gonna sue you for attempted murder by use of a freezing technique!”
“If I don't sue you for emotional distress first! Get your ass up, I gotta make you something to eat for breakfa- … lunch. Probably lunch. What do you want for lunch?”
It was when they ate sandwiches instead of the plan Daichi had, that Hibiki looked like he was ready to object stuffing a tuna sandwich into his mouth before he seemed to have an epiphany, “You're having us eat light.”
Hibiki didn't sound accusatory, but something about his tone made Daichi's cheeks heat up “... s-so?”
Hibiki smiled and just continued the sandwich without any more hesitation. Save for the moment where Daichi pinched one of his legs for laying itself on Daichi's lap. Table manners were extremely important in this household- usually. Daichi just couldn't control how hot his cheeks felt, and he was sure it showed.
Daichi also had to make sure Hibiki wouldn't dive back under his blanket and would actually put his suit on. Hibiki, likewise, did the same thing but a lot more aggressively.
Hibiki had asked “Alright, do you want my help with this?” followed by Daichi skittering off to change in the bathroom followed by Hibiki leisurely after him with a tie in hand, “Did you forget how to tie a tie? You forgot this!”
Daichi thought he grabbed the right pants until he tried putting it on. He made a mental note to stop making himself sweets before bed before opening the door and going, “I kinda remember- hey, do you know where my pants are?”
Hibiki looked down at Daichi's legs, then back up, eyes a little panicked, “Are those mine?”
“I don't know- just help me!”
“Give me those, I'm gonna see if you put them under your socks again.”
“It was one time!”
It ended up being two times.
Going to Shibuya in a suit at night on his 21st birthday made Daichi feel grown up, he couldn't help but straighten up a bit when he and Hibiki finally got off the bus.
The neon lights and the bright screens displaying advertisements made it impossible to feel afraid, it gave Daichi this uplifting feeling of being in on another life entirely-
And it didn't seem to feel that wrong, the large amounts of people traversing the streets seemed like they had an energy to them. It made Daichi feel a buzz of excitement that he couldn't contain completely in his steps, or how tightly he squeezed Hibiki's hand, or how much his head turned to drink in everything he could- the atmosphere, the near painfully bright lights, the people-
“You're giddy tonight.” Hibiki chuckled and squeezed Daichi's hand back.
Daichi couldn't help himself but grin widely, “Dude, we should have done this sooner- it feels like another world!”
Hibiki smiled back, blue eyes bright, reflecting the lights behind Daichi, “We can do it a lot more for sure, I'm betting if we went out any sooner though- we’d have been arrested.”
“I don't mean drink- I mean- y'know, go out at night! Look at all this! I feel like an adult!”
“You are an adult, if you've forgotten, we have been adults for three years now. And going out at night all the time is just irresponsible.”
“I don't mean every night either, yeesh!” Daichi's grin was replaced with a pout, and to distract himself from Hibiki's nudging, he went back to looking around him, “Shibuya’s pretty at this time, though.”
“Tokyo overall is pretty with lights at this time,” Hibiki sighed happily, Daichi looked back at him to see Hibiki still smiling at him, before turning his head back to the street in front of them.
And they walked and walked, and Daichi complained about his dress shoes once before he saw a woman with like, ten-inch heels before he started talking to Hibiki about how painful that
must be to walk in. Hibiki mimicked a couple that was huddled together amongst the crowd, and the next thing Daichi knew, they were walking with arms around the others back in unison. It was a nice walk. So nice, Daichi didn't even feel the aching of his feet as much as the elatedness of his heart at everything.
Sitting down was a blessing though, the hibachi place was crowded, and Hibiki's reservation was a good call. Daichi gave out a huge satisfied sigh when he sat his ass down on the smooth wooden chair, one of the six that surrounded three sides of the grill. Hibiki took the seat next to him and nudged him, “So, how excited about this are you?”
“The night's already been pretty great for me already,” he grinned and leaned forward, noticing the plates at the side and the napkin and utensils under his elbow, “I'm pretty stoked!”
And ‘stoked’ became ‘amazed as all hell’ because the ways the chef moved and the fire danced, and the food tasted made him just- just-
“You're watching the shrimp a lot more intently, you wanna know the secrets?” Hibiki whispered to him.
“Just look at him!” Daichi's eyes were so wide for so long, afraid to blink and miss what he felt was like magic, that they started watering. “This is- this is so cool-” and when fire engulfed the food, but it made it to his plate just fine, juicy and delicious, he reiterated. “Dude, dude really, this is so cool!”
And when he laughed a little, giggled at one of Hibiki's jokes, Hibiki didn't seem to be paying any attention to the show of fire, he didn't really appear to be paying attention to his food either- steak bits and shrimp and grilled vegetables be damned apparently. Daichi found it weird how with every “Oooh!” he'd squeal, Hibiki would smile at him wide and as warm as the fire.
And that was before the sake came in.
After the alcohol was introduced, dessert given and check paid for, Hibiki seemed to do nothing but smile and giggle and stare at Daichi. So, Daichi did the sensible thing, do the same. He didn't like the taste too much, so he swallowed his shots in one fell swoop, and once he drank enough he felt some kind of buzz that made him giddier, maybe a little drowsier, than before.
So that's how they ended up back on the streets of Shibuya, well fed, feet well rested, but it wasn't very easy to put one foot in front of the other when the world was a lot less crisp and clear.
The bright lights blended in with each other, it felt not like a new life, but like some fantasy of shapeless whites and pinks and yellows and oranges. He knew they weren't supposed to be blended like that, that he was drunk, but he thought they were even prettier like that. He looked to Hibiki, who stumbled next to him, cheeks flushed all beautiful and cute.
“You're cute.” Daichi had slurred, “Pretty. You look prettier than the lights.”
“You think so?” Hibiki seemed to have trouble even standing upright, he had a terrible slouch that made him look shorter than he was, but he still smiled confidently, “Thank you, I feel good whenever you say those things to me. It makes me warm inside.”
“... r-really…?” Daichi must have had a weird surprised look on his face because, frankly, he was a little stupefied at the moment. Stupefied- that was a stupid word- Daichi laughed with Hibiki who was probably laughing at him. But it didn't matter. When the lights hit his face like that and he was laughing, Hibiki looked angelic.
“Yes really! Your body is so nice and warm, and your words too. When I couldn't think of anything to do for your birthday I felt really, really bad-” Hibiki's words made Daichi move to catch his body next time he stumbled, which ended up with both of them in a tangle of limbs that seemed just about everywhere.
“I-I wanted to-” Daichi felt like crying, “Wanted to help-”
Hibiki blinked at him and blinked at the position of their hands, “It's okay. We didn't fall. It feels like a hug too,” he paused, hummed, and smiled, “I like this.”
“Y-You do…?”
Hibiki nodded vigorously until he seemed tired of it and just let his head sort of rest on Daichi's shoulder. “A lot.”
Daichi let out a loud, almost whistling sound of relief, “Thank goodness! I thought I messed up as usual!”
“You don't mess up as usual!” Hibiki carefully removed himself from Daichi and wobbled a bit, before leaning his side against Daichi's and sighing, “You're a good support.”
Daichi grumbled out mathematical equations on what Hibiki could have meant by that, either that he liked Daichi, or he wanted supports. Daichi would have to make a note to buy more supporting furniture just in case.
And that's how the walked through Shibuya to the bus station, leaning against each other, arms around each other not as mimicking action but as support so not to trip and fall. If one fell, the other fell, and that was Daichi's main concern.
Hibiki seemed concerned with putting as much of his free hand up Daichi's suit jacket, “Did I tell you that you look hot? Cause you do. You're all swanky, and it does things to me.”
Daichi wondered how Shibuya could have such a big crack, there had to be a reason he almost tripped. Correcting himself was about as hard as comprehending the ad in the distance about- about… ramen noodles…? He hadn't had those in a while and, “You do the same to me” was totally, probably what he meant to say.
It seemed to be Hibiki's turn to almost trip in shock, “I do?”
“You do.”
“Really…?”
“Really really.”
“Pinky swear?”
“Cross my heart and hope to-” Daichi stopped and then said, “mm… I don't really hope to die but… I’mmm… you get the picture, maybe?”
Hibiki looked relieved, super duper relieved, and he started laughing again, the lights of the bus illuminating his face in sharp ways that the buzz couldn't soften. Hibiki still was cute. Hibiki still was flushed. Hibiki still was pretty.
“I thought I wasn't- thought you didn't-”
“I aaalways did!” Daichi cut him off, loud and slurred and Hibiki just held him tighter, “Ahh- I'm sorry Hibiki, did I hurt your ears…?”
“No. I just feel kinda really happy.”
The bus ride home was quiet. It wasn't awkward or anything at all really. It didn't need to be anything. So Daichi leaned his head on Hibiki's and yawned as he held onto the straps. Hibiki's body pressed back, using Daichi for support despite how wobbly they both were. It made Daichi happier than anything he could remember, not including Hibiki himself.
The walk home was even quieter, the road to the apartment complex wasn't packed with strangers, nothing but the streetlights and themselves were guides.
Maybe also the signs.
Probably also the signs.
“The signs are pretty useful, aren't they?” Daichi said, he felt a little sleepy, but he didn't feel any pain from the whole walk from the restaurant to the bus, he felt a small hum of energy despite his drooping eyelids, thrumming inside his heart with every beat, “They're super colorful, can't get lost with ‘em. The words are all weird, am I that drunk or did I forget how to read?”
Hibiki looked at the signs as they passed them, hand digging into his pockets until he heard something, “Crickets. I hear crickets. Do you hear crickets?”
Daichi strained his ears, could hear faint chirps in the distance, “Maybe. I can hear you though. That's what I need.”
And then both Hibiki's arms were around him, Hibiki's face tucked into the crook of his neck, breath hot but it never stopped. They never stopped walking either.
“You know what I need?” Hibiki asked, and Daichi noticed with quite a bit of clarity the vibrations on his neck and how tingles felt like they were shooting all over his body.
“What…?”
“You, obviously. And some sleep, but mostly you. I don't know what I'd be doing today if it wasn't for you, today wouldn't be special if it wasn't for you. I'm glad it is though, you sound nice, and the crickets sound nice, and you feel warm.”
Daichi wanted to stay silent, to let Hibiki's words sink in the clouded head of his, maybe he'd finally hear those crickets too, but instead, he stopped both of them despite the risk of tripping flat onto their faces.
The night was a little chilly, his suit was a little tight, Hibiki's lips were hot against his. Hibiki tasted like alcohol, but Daichi didn't pull away from it. It felt sloppy, rushed, perfect, and when he pulled away with his heartbeat ringing in his ears, he opened his mouth to slur out some stupid thing.
Hibiki's eyes were half closed. He said, “One more.” and that was significantly less stupid than whatever Daichi was going to say.
By the time they'd made it to the complex, lips wet and kiss-swollen, Daichi's heart pumping pure energy into his veins, Daichi still felt the need to blurt out whatever stupid thing that had been itching to get out.
“You're right. The crickets do sound nice.”