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Friday morning, Yosuke found a note in his shoe locker.
This by itself was only slightly unusual. Yosuke’d gotten a number of notes in his locker since Junes had started to run shops out of business, along with tacks in his shoes, and trash and, on one memorable occasion, dog shit. It was easy enough to figure out who sent most of the items; the boys who did it always watched him the rest of the day, waiting for some sign that he’d been bothered by it. He had been at first, but it occurred less often now and when it did he barely gave it a second thought, especially now that he had more important things to worry about like solving the murders.
What saved this note from immediately being torn up was the obvious care that had been put into it. Picking it up, it was clear the sender had splurged on the paper. It was thick and heavy and on the front someone had written his name in perfect calligraphy.
He glanced around but didn’t see anyone paying him any attention. Trying to hide what he was doing, he opened it.
On Komochi Mountain
From the time the young leaves sprout
Until they turn red
I think I would like to sleep with you
What do you think of that?
There was no signature.
He felt his ears start to burn as the words sunk in. What the hell? This was some joke, right? But the careful calligraphy carried over from the front and if it was a joke it was a weird one. It would have made more sense to pretend some girl was confessing to him, tell him to meet up at some location, and beat him up when he got there.
This…kind of seemed sincere, if odd.
He stood staring at it until the bell rung and then had to run and slip into class, thankfully managing to get there before Kashiwagi. He thought about it all through classes, though, resisting the urge to pull it out and look at it again only because he worried about getting it taken away. Kashiwagi would probably read it aloud too and do her best to embarrass him, and he’d never live it down.
When the bell rang for lunch, Souji invited him to the roof, though the invitation was unneeded at this point; Souji hung out with other kids after school, of course, but he’d put aside lunch for Yosuke for weeks now and rarely changed up. Yosuke didn’t mind. Not only was Souji the best cook he’d ever met, but they had the roof to themselves nine times out of ten and this meant they could indulge in almost public displays of affection, sitting close and holding hands and occasionally risking a kiss or two.
The minute they were alone, Yosuke pulled the letter out. “Hey, check this out.”
Souji set aside his bento – Yosuke took his chopsticks and started picking at it, his own self-made lunch forgotten – and examined the letter. His face was blank as he read but a blush started to appear even before he was finished.
“Crazy, huh? I mean, if you’re going to leave a love note in someone’s locker, wouldn’t you start off with something a little less forward?”
“I…sorry, I thought it was a good poem to go with.”
“What?” Yosuke paused with the chopsticks halfway to his mouth. “You wrote this?”
“Don’t you recognize my handwriting?” Souji stared at his shoes, blush intensifying.
Looking over his shoulder and seeing the words in a new light, one more pleasantly suggestive instead of oddly forward, Yosuke found nothing familiar in the way they were written and realized the problem. “Dude, how often do you write notes to me in calligraphy?”
“Oh.” Souji frowned. “I didn’t think about that. You probably thought this was from someone else.”
“Well, no one in particular came to mind but, yeah, I didn’t consider it being from you. I mean, you’re pretty good about saying what you’re thinking straight out and I’ve never pegged you as a love note kind of guy.” Yosuke rested his chin on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Why’s this different?”
“Well, it’s not the kind of thing I can just say, is it?” Souji took another look at the letter and folded it, avoiding Yosuke’s eyes. “I’ve been thinking about it and I know you’ve been thinking about it—”
Yosuke laughed awkwardly, remembering how he’d gotten a little out of hand during their last make out session. Only inexperience and the overwhelming urge to come as soon as possible had kept him from trying to slide his dick into Souji.
“—but I couldn’t think of how to say I wanted it without sound all…vulgar.” He worried the edges of the letter and Yosuke plucked it from his hands so he wouldn’t ruin it. “Did you…? You probably thought it was super stupid, right? Who writes something like that?”
“It was nice,” Yosuke said and pulled Souji closer. “I’ve never gotten anything like this before and, yeah, it was kind of weird to get a poem of all things but after wondering if it was a joke, the idea of someone doing this was pretty flattering.”
“What would you have done if it was from a girl?” Souji peeked at him.
“Told her that I’m dating someone, duh.” Yosuke nosed his cheek. “We’re together, unless you forgot.”
“What if she was really pretty?”
“Souji.”
“Haha, I’m joking.” Souji leaned against him. “What’s, uh, it’s kind of a question, you know? What…”
Yosuke let his lips brush over Souji’s ear and felt him shiver. “Hey, Souji? Would you have sex with me?”
Souji laughed shakily. “You don’t answer a question with a question, and, yeah, that was just as crude as I thought it’d sound… Say it again? And do that thing where you—”
Yosuke licked the shell of his ear. Souji kept chuckling nervously as he melted against him; he was an embarrassed, nervous wreck when he got aroused and Yosuke loved reducing him to it. “You know, my parents are working late tonight.”
“I’ll ask Dojima if I can spend the night.”
“Sounds good.”
By the time they turned their attention back to their lunch, they barely had time to eat anything before the bell rang.
The next morning, Yosuke felt completely obvious. He kept fighting back a smile whenever he looked at Souji, who kept giving him dopey looks, and, really, someone was going to notice and say something. It hadn’t been great last night – in fact, it’d been confusing and a little painful and pretty damn messy – but Souji had laid under him and trusted him completely and he’d kept saying Yosuke’s name in that voice, the one that drove Yosuke crazy, and he’d had this look on his face when he finally came that—
He covered his mouth; he was grinning at nothing in the middle of class and starting to get hard. No good, especially since Chie was giving them odd looks. Souji especially; his hair was all out of place, he was doodling on his notes, and he’d sat down gingerly, though Yosuke was pretty sure he was the only one who noticed it. Then again, a lot of people liked Souji so who knew who was checking out his ass when he took a seat.
Yosuke waited until Kashiwagi was in full ranting form before passing Souji a note.
Hey, fix your hair, you’re a mess.
The response came back in painfully perfect handwriting:
This morning I will not
Comb my hair
It has lain
Pillowed on the hand of my love
Yosuke blushed. Seriously, where did Souji get these? He should write something smart back, maybe call Souji a sap. Instead, he carefully folded the note, secured it in his pocket, and spent the next ten minutes drawing patterns on Souji’s back.
Totally obvious.
A week later before class, Yosuke invited him over again, partially because he hoped they could do their homework together and partially because he was hoping Souji would want to fool around. Kashiwagi had just started talking when Souji reached behind him and dropped a note on his desk. Fancy paper; Yosuke had the sneaking suspicion that after he’d told Souji how much he’d like getting something he’d obviously put thought into that Souji had gone back and bought more.
Shall we stay in the
House to make love, when over
The grasses of the Inami Moor
There glows the moonfilled night?
Yosuke scrawled back: So, what, you want to do it on the flood plains?
Reading it, Souji broke out into his nervous chuckle and, unable to explain why he was laughing, almost got detention.
“It’s your own fault,” Yosuke said when they were released. “You left yourself wide open for that.”
“Yeah, well, you like it when I’m wide open for you, don’t you?” Souji spoke just loudly enough for him to hear, blushing all the while. A rush of heat went through Yosuke; Souji rarely said anything dirty, but fuck if Yosuke didn’t love it when he did.
“So that’s a yes to my idea?”
“You idiot.”
Yosuke walked him home the long way that took them by the flood plains and Souji was red the whole time.
They hadn’t told the rest of their friends about their relationship. It was less of a desire to keep it hidden and more to keep it personal while they figured things out. The problem with this, though, was that it limited how affectionate they could be when they were around them. Generally, this wasn't a problem – neither of them were huge on public displays – but occasionally they slipped up and came within inches of exposing themselves, as happened a few days later.
Fighting Shadows usually wore Yosuke out. The constant battling, having to stay on his toes so he wasn’t caught off guard, watching Souji’s face for orders while the music pounded in his ears – all of it left him a sore, tired mess, and he was more than willing to lay in bed the rest of the day and just sleep. Sometimes, though, when things went right – battles finishing fast, each attack connecting, advancing in the dungeons with ease – it had the exact opposite effect. Yosuke was full of restless energy, feeling on top of the world and like he could do anything.
And he got really hard.
Thankfully, his shirts were long enough to cover this problem and he’d just sneak off after they were done and rub one out. That had changed once he and Souji got together. Once Souji realized how worked up he got – Yosuke supposed he didn’t hide it very well – he was more than willing to sneak off with Yosuke and help him work off that extra energy.
Usually, they could wait. Today, not so much.
“Fuck, Souji, the others are right there.”
“They’re busy,” Souji said, and continued tugging Yosuke’s pants down. “You know, taking care of the Shadow themselves, it’s good practice; I should let them do it more often.”
“Uh-huh.” Yosuke wet his lips as Souji knelt down. They were right around the corner; he’d have to be quiet and, shit, he was terrible at that. But he could manage, he would have to manage because Souji was already sucking, quick and hard and doing this thing with his tongue and the tip of Yosuke’s cock that let him know he wasn’t going to last five minutes. He could be quiet for that long, he was sure—
“Senpai?”
Souji coughed and choked on his own spit, bending over to hack. Yosuke fell down next to him and started slapping his back, blushing so hard he thought he was glowing.
“You okay, Senpai?” He heard Kanji step closer and prayed he wouldn't be able to tell that he was hanging out of his pants.
“I’m fine,” Souji managed and turned his head away to hide his red face. “The battle go alright?”
“Piece of cake.”
“Great. Uh, we’ll be there in a second. Find the next fight for us?”
“Sure thing.”
Yosuke glanced over his shoulder and, seeing that Kanji was gone and coast clear, zipped himself back up. “Fuck, that was too close.”
Souji laughed. “I knew there was a reason we always waited.”
“Imagine trying to explain that.” Kanji would give him shit for weeks. He adjusted himself and couldn't help but look wistfully at Souji’s mouth.
Souji noticed. “Can you wait another few battles?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
It was absolutely worth it; five minutes in Souji’s mouth was nothing compared to when he took his time.
He found another note in his locker after classes the next day and wondered when Souji had slipped out to put it there. Maybe when he’d claimed he was using the bathroom at lunch?
I do not care if
Our love making is exposed
As the rainbow over
The Yasaka dam at Ikaho
If only I can suck and suck you
“That’s just dirty,” he told Souji later when they were lounging in his room, Nanako downstairs in front of the TV like always.
“Haha, it’s a good one, right?” Souji sucked on his neck and laughed again, embarrassed by his own forwardness.
“You know,” Yosuke said, putting the letter away (he’d add it to the others hidden in his room), “I did some research and you’re totally stealing these. They’re from the Man'yōshū.”
Souji pulled away and frowned. “You figured it out? I couldn’t come up with anything myself so I thought borrowing them was alright. Does it bother you?”
“What? No, why would it? You didn’t write them, yeah, but you’re still the one giving them to me. It’d be nice to get something from just you, though.”
“I’m awful at trying to tell you how I feel, you know that. Remember how long it took me to confess? But I can talk you through a problem if you want.” Souji perked up at the possibility.
“No problems right now.” Yosuke nudged him. “Plus, I suck at it too. Nothing wrong with that. And I liked hearing your confession. It was cute.”
Souji nudged him back. “You’re messing with me. I looked like an idiot.”
“So did I,” Yosuke reminded him. “We were idiots together.”
“I guess so.” Souji chewed on his lip. “Something just from me, huh?”
“Don’t stress over it.”
“No, wait, I’ve got something.” Souji took hold of his hand and kissed him, pulling away just enough to murmur, “I love you.”
Yosuke’s insides twisted, dropped, and he felt a little lightheaded. Unable to stop himself, he let out a nervous, embarrassed laugh very similar to the one Souji was prone to. Souji jumped and started to move away, but Yosuke caught him and muttered, “You idiot, you can’t just spring that on me without warning, now I’m all—I feel like a girl or something. I’m not blushing, am I?”
“Like a girl.”
“Ugh.” Yosuke pulled Souji onto his lap, tempted to grope him but remembered Nanako and refrained in case he didn’t want to stop. He settled with biting his neck.
“Maybe I should have just said that from the start. You look really happy about it.” Souji looked proud of himself for managing to say it without giving into nerves.
“I don’t know,” Yosuke said, “that poem about sucking was really good, I might hold you to that.” When Souji blushed and tried to wiggle away, he trapped his arms and buried his face in his neck. “I love you too.”
Souji stopped struggling and relaxed, and they stayed that way for a long time.
The next day, Yosuke slid a note of his own into Souji’s locker saying just that. It was just on a piece of notebook paper and his handwriting sucked, but he caught Souji looking at it all day and almost a month later, when he reached into Souji’s pocket, it was still there, soft from constant handling.