Work Text:
Manami has known Onoda for five years, but he never fails to get flustered by him. Onoda, his glasses wearing, scrawny anime fan of a fellow cyclist, is just… he’s just so wonderful Manami can’t help but blush whenever Onoda gives him one of those smiles.
They’ve both graduated school and are now part of cycling teams at their respective universities, but they still see each other a lot. Racing with Onoda always seems to make him go faster, loving to cycle with him so much.
But despite how long they have known each other, he and Onoda have never done this: cycling at a comfortable pace through Onoda’s university town, chatting about life and just… having fun.
And as he glances at the man cycling beside him, Onoda’s glasses glinting in the sunlight, he says, “I’ve wanted this for so long.”
“Huh?” Onoda says.
“Ever since we met, I’ve… I’ve wanted to do this,” Manami says, starting to go red. Why is he, a twenty year old man, blushing over this? “I’ve wanted to ride with you, just as us. Not a race, not with our teammates or in any kind of situation that’s competitive. I… I love riding with you, Sakamichi.”
Onoda grins, swerving their bikes closer together. “Thanks. I love riding with you too.”
Manami closes his mouth, not sure what to say now. Should he tell Onoda how he feels, or would that ruin their strong friendship. Just because he adores Onoda and wants to kiss him doesn’t mean Onoda feels the same way.
So he keeps his mouth shut and he and Onoda pick up the pace, changing gears, and prepare to climb a hill.
After half an hour of gentle riding, they reach a rest area.
“Should we stop and get a drink?” Onoda says. “I’m out of water.”
“Yeah, why not?”
They pull their bikes into the rest area and Onoda rushes over to a vending machine. And as Manami takes his half-full bottle from his bottle holder and sips some water, he thinks about the way they first met.
“We met in a place like this,” Manami says. “Remember? You’d collapsed on the ground and I stopped and gave you some water.”
Onoda smiles, blushing. “Oh yeah. Sorry about that again.”
“Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking… Sakamichi, we’re good friends, right?”
“Uh-huh,” Onoda says, nodding. He breaks the seal on his bottle and guzzles about half of it in one go. “Yeah, we’re good friends. Why?”
Manami fiddles with his water bottle, not sure how to say it. But talking just now about that wonderful moment when they first met… no, he’s going to say it.
“I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Oh, is it bad?”
“No… no, it’s not bad,” Manami says. His face burning, he stares down at his bike and tries to stop being so ridiculous about this. “Uh, the thing is… uh… I’m bisexual.”
When Onoda doesn’t argue, Manami wonders if he didn’t hear – and then wonders if he’s mad and going to yell at him. He raises his head –
And sees the biggest smile on Onoda’s face.
“Oh, that’s so great! Me too!”
Manami stares at him. Did Onoda just respond to him coming out… by coming out? How amazingly ‘Onoda’!
“But… why did you choose now to tell me?” Onoda says.
“I guess because… I thought it makes sense to come out before I say…” he inhales deeply. “I’m in love with you.”
Onoda stares back, his eyes wide behind his glasses.
“R-Really?”
Manami nods. “Yeah. I’ve had a crush on you since the moment we met.”
Onoda smiles. “Me too. Our first meeting was like something out of a romance manga, wasn’t it?”
Even though he’s embarrassed as hell, that makes Manami laugh. “I guess it was. So… you really like me back.”
Onoda nods. “Yeah, I really do. Does this mean… are we gonna start going out?”
He hadn’t even thought of that. Part of Manami had been so convinced that Onoda was going to reject him he doesn’t even know how to respond. So he has to force himself out of his dazed state with a rather robotic nod.
Onoda grins. “This, this is awesome! I… I’ve got a boyfriend!”
Hearing Onoda say those words is enough to snap him out of it. Manami smiles and extends his hand.
“Yeah, and so do I.”
Onoda takes his hand and interlocks their fingers, squeezing softly. And Manami smiles, so amazed by what just happened. He’s dating Onoda!
This is amazing.