Work Text:
“Kiss me Soryu.”
They had been in their room.
Eisuke on his bed. He was reading a book.
Soryu was on the other end, at his desk, filling out homework.
The first tendrils of spring floated passed their window as the late evening light poured inside. It trickled along the hardwood floors and bathed soryu in an orange fire glow. The day was warm, the kind to send winter’s goosebumps reeling and for the outside to be perfect for lunchtime breaks. Earlier they had done just that. Eisuke wasn’t fond of the idea, that subtle frown graced his features like a leaf floating from its branch. Still, he humoured Soryu who wanted to read with birds in his ears.
Now they were inside, the school day long over and followed by a tower’s worth of math questions and physics quandaries. Eisuke finished his part a long time ago and took to reading some business book as part of his new oath to that father of his. Soryu, on the other hand, was still preoccupied with his own work, not bothered with finishing it in any style.
Then, out of the blue, Eisuke demanded something of him.
Kiss me, he had said. It was forward enough. Oddly romantic too. Soryu recognised the phrase from his detective novels. Romance wasn’t an uncommon subplot and for some writers part of the detective’s identity. He’d read his fair share of confessions and thrills by that point to know the weight of those words. What Eisuke said wasn’t really anything romantic yet love still tinged his words. It was typical of Eisuke yet what he demanded of him was anything but. It was Out of usual. Unusual. Perplexing. The words were not fitting for this scene. Soryu didn’t understand it. He knew what kissing was, he wasn’t that naive, but he didn’t know why Eisuke asked that of him.
They were boys.
Fifteen.
They should be wanting to date girls, be out with girls, kiss girls. Not inside, doing homework and asking to snog each other.
Soryu’s head snapped up. It was the elastic band you pulled taut with your fingers to breaking point. His head parted from his neck, flew off. At least, it felt like it. His ears heard Eisuke’s words but they felt jumbled. A message played backwards or a sentence disorganised. A puzzle whose pieces are missing or a picture with only one section intact, the rest scribbled out.
His pen rolled across his desk and tipped off it, plummeting to the floor. The clang of it wasn’t loud but was deafening to his ears. Silence had reigned in that room all evening but now the words of Eisuke invaded, the flip of his page a cannon.
The sunlight felt hot on his neck as Soryu peered at his friend. Eisuke appeared fine, as if he asked him if he wanted to play soccer or head to the library. You wouldn’t have thought he was the boy who asked his friend to kiss him.
Eisuke’s leg crossed over his other as he leaned back into the wall by this bed. It didn’t seem like an interesting book, the way his face rested on his right hand made him look sleepy. Eyes half-lidded, plump lips tugged into a thin line skewed to the side. His eyes scanned the book with a carelessness that suggested to Soryu that he wasn’t really reading it.
“What?” Soryu asked. His ears must have betrayed him. He needed to be sure he heard right.
“I said, kiss me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I told you to.” He replied simply enough.
Eisuke still had yet to remove himself from his book. In fact, he flipped to the next page and resumed reading. Out of all the things to treat so casually he chose this. He held peas in a higher, more important, regard. It felt wrong to Soryu. It was too callous of him.
“I’m not going to,” Soryu replied, just to spite him.
“Maybe it’ll make you taller,” Was all Eisuke said.
“....”
It didn’t hurt Soryu in any way, it was a friendly jab. But, there wasn't really a way to reply. He could only ignore it. He knew Eisuke meant harm, but what he chose wasn’t actually dangerous. It was more like a bee sting than a knife or a prick. What hurt was the blaze way which he had approached Soryu. He could have at least paid actual attention to him. To ask for his first kiss with such little regard was offensive (even for Soryu who didn’t really care for them.) It was a step in the wrong direction. unfortunately, that was part of Soryu’s own fault. His lack of care towards love meant Eisuke thought he could take it for himself like most things. His icy lifeless grip snatching it like everything else he wanted.
Soryu got up and snatched the book out of EIsuke’s hand.
“Hey!” Eisuke reached out for it but he just about moved it out of his touch. Eisuke grabbed onto his shirt and twisted it in his hands but Soryu didn’t give up. His left leg was placed between Eisuke’s, holding his weight.
“Give it.”
“No.”
Eisuke leapt for it but failed, bumping into Soryu and knocking his legs off-kilter. In a cruel twist of fate, Soryu fell back and took Eisuke with him. He was on top of him like it were some cheesy romance novel but without the glamour. Soryu’s head hurt from the book bashing against it. Eisuke’s legs hurt from the way Soryu’s crashed into his.
Eisuke cursed and sat up. He scowled at Soryu, saying look at what you’ve done. Soryu met it with his own powerful grimace, telling him it’s your own fault. They were too made at each other to say anything out loud.
He had to admit though, in his dazed state, Eisuke looked sort of not bad. If a man could be not bad. The way his pout made his lips look was appealing and his expressions, like most, made his eyelashes stand out in a graceful way. The sun made him bright too. For once.
“Why do you want to kiss me? I’m not some girl.”
Eisuke shrugged,” because I want to.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Eisuke huffed. “I want to know what it's like,” he said, simply enough, looking off to the side.
“Find some girl to snog then, not me.”
Soryu dismissed him but he was curious: What brought this on? Out of nowhere, Eisuke was asking to kiss him. There were no talks in school about dating and Eisuke wasn’t the romance reader type. He didn’t have a girlfriend and no crush bloomed for one. Eisuke was more bothered with school. His last few months had been repairing the “damage” he created from not caring about anything. Kissing was the last thing Soryu would have guessed to be stuck on his mind. It had to have been though. For Eisuke to demand that of him had to have meant it bothered him for some reason. While he was studying, did it plague his mind? Did it tease him like a bully while he ate his lunch? Why did he turn to Soryu who made it clear love was what he felt for mystery novels and family? Why did he think it was a good idea to kiss a boy?
He must have assumed he would have went through with it. That was the only logical answer.
Soryu chucked back his book. It slid.
In spite of the warmth the sun was throwing away, it was chilly in the room. It should have been warm yet Soryu was ready to reach out for his jacket. A minute ago he was pleasantly fine. It was weather Keets would have written about. Now it was cool. An autumn breeze.
Soryu got up and dusted his legs, sparing one last glance at his friend. They couldn’t sit on the ground forever.
”I’m interested in what’s it’s like,” Eisuke finally spoke,” Girls are too bothersome. If I use one she'll only want more. That’s too annoying. It’d be easier to kiss you once and be over with it.” Eisuke told him this as if he was reciting a history report. Nothing but facts. No speculation or opinion or uncertainty. Plain truth. That made it more offensive to Soryu. It was not that he expected any other answer, it was incredibly Eisuke, but because he assumed Soryu would be fine with it. He would easily toss away firsts because Eisuke willed it. Because he assumed. How very much Eisuke.
“Forget about it. I’ll find someone else.”
Eisuke grabbed his book and went to return to his bed. He shunned Soryu for not giving him what he wanted, for making it hard. The rich boy was out tonight. He was too spoiled, Akira spoiled him, he already thought he owned everyone’s love. Soryu would kiss him because he demanded it. He believed so with little regard to his friend.
It was sickeningly naive.
Soryu sighed, Eisuke was running his fingers through his hair. It seemed to stress him out more than schoolwork. Did he want to kiss someone that bad? Bad enough he’d dare ask Soryu? Bad enough he’d go after someone else? He wasn’t enough of an idiot to tell a random boy to kiss him so maybe Eisuke would go through the hassle and use some girl. If Luke was still here Soryu held not doubt he’d ask him, use his weird bone fascination to worm a kiss out of him.
Could he leave people alone for once? It’d be trouble if Eisuke were to upset some girl and it wasn’t in Soryu to let him get away with it. And unluckily, It’d be best to let Eisuke have his fun. Rather Soryu be run over than some innocent girl.
Soryu was already regretting it. Why couldn’t Eisuke be normal?
Soryu swallowed his pride, saying,” Fine. But, just this once.”
With that Eisuke lit up like a Christmas tree. It was the look of a boy who’d gotten his way. He remembered it from when he beat that boy who framed him and when Soryu fell for his Pea lie. It was vicious. It suited a shark and was most impressive.
Soryu was regretting his mistake. His heart thundered, pounded his ribcage like a prisoner trying to escape.
With renewed desire, Eisuke sauntered over but once he was in front of Soryu, he didn’t make another move. Was he waiting for him? Did he expect Soryu to make the first move?
Soryu did know what to do so he asked Eisuke outright.
“What are you waiting for.”
Then, Eisuke’s lips were on his. Then, they were not.
The smooch of the peck echoed out, louder than it was actually. It was like a bird when it robs the soil of a seed. It was like when you nab a bit of food from the hot stove. Snatch it quickly before your aunt catches you.
He felt his lips then he did not.
It was a million things at once. A million thoughts, a million statements, all racing in Soryu’s mind. It too fast for him to catch a single coherent thought.
It was nice though. That was certain. To Soryu, it was fact.
It was a note worthy of being in a history report.
It was over too fast.
It didn’t last long enough.
Eisuke was a bastard, he didn’t let Soryu savour it.
You couldn’t seduce a girl with a kiss like that.
It wasn’t the kisses in some of Soryu’s mystery novels.
“Hmm, not bad,” Eisuke commented before returning to his book. He was back on his bed like he had been there all along.
A bird who snatches a seed doesn’t really feel it. It’s not something they’ve eaten. They only earn the satisfaction of stealing it. They take it, devour it and move onto the next with little regard for what it leaves behind. That’s not eating, that’s not savouring. It’s just taking for the sake of taking. Because it is something to do.
Soryu didn’t like birds, they were too bothersome to him, yet he still fed him. He would always give them a bit from his pouch of seeds and would do so until there would be nothing left. And then maybe he would give them some more too.