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Tsukasa was happy.
Not only had he gained the courage to tell his favourite senpai how he felt about him, but said senpai had admitted to returning those feelings, which was something Tsukasa hadn’t expected at all. The whole thing had gone much greater than he’d ever imagined it would, and he’d even gotten the usually unaffected Ritsu Sakuma to blush, which was an image he’d sworn he would never forget. It was something that hadn’t lasted long, however, because soon after Ritsu was kissing him and Tsukasa’s face had become the warmth of an oven.
And now, a few months later, here they were, laying with each other on Ritsu’s futon in the studio. Tsukasa’s head was on Ritsu’s chest, and Ritsu had an arm around him, holding him closely to himself. Ritsu’s eyes were closed, but for once the other wasn’t sleeping, which Tsukasa could tell from the occasional circular motions Ritsu made on his back with his fingers. They lay there silently, simply enjoying each other’s presence.
The first year smiles to himself when he feels Ritsu’s fingers move again. Although Ritsu was known to be quite troublesome and at times seemed uncaring, he was affectionate, and very observant. He always made sure to reassure Tsukasa in some way that his feelings were returned, since he knew of the younger boys insecurities, even if only through small gestures as he was doing now. Tsukasa, of course, did little things of his own to return those reassurances, though in not-so-obvious ways as his senpai. This was mostly due to the fact that whenever he tried to be affectionate in some way, he would become embarrassed and Ritsu would laugh, saying something like ‘Suu~chan is so cute~’, which would only embarrass him further.
That didn’t mean Tsukasa didn’t want to reassure him, though. Yes, he had his own insecurities, but he was aware that Ritsu had fears of his own (though he hadn’t heard of them through him, Mao had not-so-subtly hinted at it a few times), and he wanted to make sure Ritsu never had those sorts of fears with him.
As he lays there, he remembers something he’d done with Ritsu in one of their dance lessons, the one where he’d begun to realise he had feelings for the other, and it gives him butterflies. At the time, he’d said it was a childish kind of gesture, but Ritsu had said a promise is a promise, no matter how it was done. It seemed to make Ritsu happy, and no amount of embarrassment could stop him from wanting to see Ritsu happy, so he agreed to make one.
“Ritsu-senpai…” He says quietly, causing the other to shift a little and open his eyes so he’s looking at Tsukasa, making a quiet ‘mhm~?’ sound in reply. He feels his face heating up already, which only worsens when he moves his head to look up at Ritsu for a moment. “Do you remember the first dance lesson you gave me when we were preparing for Judgement ?” He asks, moving his head back so he’s no longer looking up at him.
Ritsu nods slightly, smiling fondly at the memory. “You mean the one where you tripped over your own feet…? Fufu~” He smirks slightly when Tsukasa pokes him for reminding him of that, laughing quietly at him as he continues. “What about it?”
“Do you remember... The promise you made to me?” He asks, tracing nervous circles of his own on Ritsu’s stomach.
“You mean… The pinky promise…? Mhm. Didn’t you say that was ‘childish’?”
“W-Well... Yes. But... I wish to make a promise to you, senpai…” He moves so he’s partly leaning on Ritsu with his arms and looking down at him, rather than hiding his face from him. He feels his face becoming hotter the longer he looks at Ritsu, but he’s determined to go through with this, no matter how embarrassed he feels.
Ritsu is giving him a curious look, though he doesn’t say anything as Tsukasa lifts his hand in front of him and closes it, leaving only his pinky showing. Ritsu watches his every move closely, waiting for him to continue.
“I know this could be considered cliché , but…” He takes a quick breath in, refusing to let the heat taking over his face take his voice as well. “I wanted to promise you that I will always stay by your side... For as long as you will allow me to, at least.” He smiles then, ignoring his burning cheeks, and waits for Ritsu’s reply.
He expects to be teased about it, as Ritsu , so he is slightly surprised when Ritsu looks at him with a warm smile, his cheeks nowhere near as red as his own but still showing a bit of colour. He looks… Soft, and Tsukasa can’t take his eyes away from him.
He doesn’t say anything to begin with, silently lifting his own hand to connect his pinky with Tsukasa’s, squeezing it gently when they’re linked. “Even Suu~chan can be romantic sometimes, hm…~?” Again, he laughs quietly, though this time his laughter isn’t directed at him. “I never doubted that Suu-chan would want to stay with me… But… Now that you’re promising me you won’t, you have to stay by my side forever~”
Tsukasa lets out a quiet laugh of his own, replying in a teasing tone (which sounds slightly less teasing when his face is the shade of a strawberry), “ Forever is an awfully long time… But I suppose if I must…”
“Then… It’s a promise~” Ritsu says, leaning up then to press his lips gently against Tsukasa’s. This is something that Ritsu does often, yet, it never fails to make the butterflies in his stomach fly. “I love you, Suu-chan..~” Ritsu says quietly as he pulls back, staring into the others eyes for a moment before laying back down, still smiling at the other, though he doesn’t disconnect their fingers. Tsukasa
“I love you as well, Ritsu-senpai…~” Tsukasa replies, then moves to rest his head back on Ritsu’s chest, pinky still linked with Ritsu’s. He sighs happily, thinking that if life with Ritsu was full of moments such as this, he wouldn’t mind spending forever with him.