Work Text:
The melting snow on the sidewalk is almost completely gone, letting the patches of green that have been hiding beneath it the entirety of winter grow once more. Green against sky blue, most trees have recovered their leaves and offer shade on the bright sunny days of spring that is just around the corner. Shou could never understand the excitement about spring days; of new beginnings, of cherry blossoms and earlier sunrises.
Yet when Shou happens to cross Ritsu’s path on his way to school, he thinks the world bloomed into sweet pink beds of flowers, a path covered in baby blue petals and behind every step he takes, Ritsu leaves a soft breeze of confidence that reminded him of the chilly air of these morning walks.
Ritsu keeps moving forward, with firm steps and a calm expression, utterly oblivious of Shou’s presence and the passionate feelings storming inside of him. He knows his face burned with embarrassment; that the ever-growing stems of his spring-fueled love squeeze at his heart, cruelly, when it dares to feel the things it feels. Ever since he laid his eyes on him—what feels like ages ago when they bumped into each other in the worst of circumstances—he knew there was something special about him. He never expected that those simple thoughts would grow into this.
He shakes his head, effectively driving away those thoughts for the moment. He wants to greet Ritsu now when he feels like he isn’t choking on his own tongue, but also because he can take advantage of the situation and take him by surprise.
He knows the red of his face is glazed-over when he smiles broadly, approaches Ritsu with long quiet strides and pats his back with an open-hand, measuring his strength and making sure it’s forceful enough to pass as a friendly gesture, and not much of the soft, tender caress he leaves behind as his hand rests on top of his uniform and in between his shoulder blades.
“Yo!” He makes sure he says it as closely to Ritsu’s ear as possible.
Ritsu jumps when he feels the contact, for a second his aura surrounds him protectively right before as he looks over his shoulder, inky eyes boring into Shou’s own with a mixture of fear and annoyance that, upon the sight of Shou’s mischievous grin, is quickly dissolved into faked irritation. Ritsu lets out a heavy sigh with a lopsided smile; Shou’s heart is quiet for a second as if the beating of his heart could distract him from such an alluring display.
He knows Ritsu is easy to scare—at least to Shou, who can surround himself with his powers and float above the ground or hide behind the invisibility he’s perfected for so long. The reward is always the same: over-dramatic complaints accompanied with cute pouts and if he’s lucky, sometimes they’re accompanied by exaggerated gestures he’s beginning to pick up from a certain con-man down the street.
“Can’t you just say ‘good morning’ like everyone else?” The question isn’t meant to be mean, even when Ritsu is using a rude tone; Shou does use it as an excuse to place an arm across Ritsu’s shoulders. It’s all the heat of the moment, Ritsu’s pretending to be upset—a charming quality, in Shou’s opinion—and Shou’s pretending to be ignorant. Like a worn-out road back home, both of them walk it in familiarity.
His heart skips a beat again, a smirk pulled high on his cheeks. “Aw, Ritsu, there’s no fun in that.”
Ritsu glares at him, shaking Shou off with a shift of his shoulders, and Shou laughs again, promptly keeping up with Ritsu’s pace. He watches the pout—always fake, Ritsu could never be real angry at Shou for this—disappear from his face, and Shou wonders.
Does Ritsu know what he’s doing? Shou knows that he’s exceptionally smart; it’s a matter of time until he finds out—that is if he hasn’t already—that he’s got Shou wrapped around his little finger, that if he ever wanted anything and he if just as much as asked, Shou would provide without question? That if Ritsu asked for the moon he would without a beat climb up to the sky and bring it down himself?
But Shou knows that there’s no way Ritsu knows. And he’s determined to keep it like that.
He can’t be like ‘everyone else’, heck, he can’t even let out too much of himself! Not when he knows that Ritsu is already surrounded by so many high-spirited and fascinating people; not when he is still unsure of how much of Shou can Ritsu take before he gets bored; not when the tiniest gap in his disguise could shed a light into his feelings.
And then Ritsu will read him like an open book. Because if Shou ever becomes a constant, a predictable change like the seasons of the year, then Ritsu won’t ever be surprised to feel the sudden refreshing gusts of the wind on hot summer days; to see the fun in jumping in and over the piles of fallen leaves in autumn afternoons after school; to find something wonderful in watching snowflakes falling from the sky in winter nights, despite the burning cold on his face.
And worst of all, he’ll witness and recognize the flourishing of colorful flowers, the smell of perfumed fields and the fragrance of spring; the bright pink cherry blossoms leaving a path all the way back to Shou’s heart like the leftover trail of a wounded animal.
The stems around his beating heart cram harder, holding the feelings in place to make sure they don’t wiggle out into the world. His heart beats fast again, despite the hollowness and the terror of Ritsu seeing inside of him, to creep him out with his too-corny thoughts: holding his hand, kissing his cheek, fixing his hair. Ritsu isn’t that type of guy. None of those things, he’s sure, has ever crossed his mind. At least, not with Shou as a starring guest.
But it’s fine like this.
He has lost before, so he knows that he doesn’t want Ritsu to become one of those once-used-to-be important people that he remembers with a broken heart and teary eyes. He’ll hold onto Ritsu’s friendship that he already values more than his own ridiculous crush, and he’ll take whatever his friend is willing to give him. Because it’s always been enough for him, to be a friend, to be a part of his life, to be blessed with Ritsu’s playful pouts and rare smiles only ever meant for him. He’ll grow out of this.
It’s fine like this.