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Amidst hundreds of sakura trees settled across the busy avenue, the vibrancy of delicate pink and white blossoms adorning it's branches, stands a restless, waiting Shohei clutching a flower bouquet in his hands. A light breeze blows past him, tousling his dark hair up gently. Shohei watched as branches swayed rhythmically from the wind, watched as the sun sprinkle its morning rays across the petals. The tree’s vibrant colors wrapped around the pathway and across a bridge, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The view was breathtaking. Shohei had walked that trial many times with his family when he was younger, yet he still feels the same, familiar spark of excitement wiring his body, still wears the same facial expression of a small, giddy child.
Because today was going to be different from every other time he's been here. Today, Shohei was going to walk it with Yuzuru.
Just the thought of it made his heart beat a little faster, his hands hot and clammy. He had planned to take Yuzuru around the park today, show him all the different attractions unique to his hometown. Shohei briefly reminiscent on all of the awkward flirting (mostly on his part), late-night messages, all of the initiatives that Yuzu had taken for them to get to this point. The memories made Shohei want to hide his face in his hands, but he doesn't, lest his flowers would get ruined. Shohei still has difficulty believing that he was going on a date with Yuzuru, the same person he couldn't make eye contact with a year ago.
Not to say that he’s the best at it now, but at least he’s getting a lot better.
Shohei had arrived earlier than their scheduled time. It was probably to his advantage, anyway. The warmth of the morning sun touching his face helped calm his mind and ease away some of his jitters. The weather was cool enough for sweaters to still be essential for the season, but warm enough to symbolize the new spring.
The feeling of nervousness is one that Shohei has gotten accustomed to, like an old friend he’s used to seeing. It's nearly impossible not to, being a professional player and all. But it's different with this date; there's this feeling of elation and thrill that keeps bubbling up no matter how hard Shohei tries to keep at it bay. So he had stopped trying, even though the random smile that keep appearing on his face probably looked goofy to other people, and Shohei had to mask it by rubbing at his nose from time to time.
Shohei's eyes roamed through the crowds, searching for someone cute and small and Yuzu-like. His height gave him a nice advantage of scanning the field around him. He doesn't see Yuzuru yet, but Shohei had the patience of a mountain. There were still plenty of time before they were supposed to meet, anyway. Shohei stands alone for a few more minutes. He stares at the curves of his shoelace, fidgets with his shirt collar, shifts his weight from foot to foot until—
”Shohei!” A familiar voice broke his train of thought.
Shohei's head snapped up so quickly it rattled him. Turning towards the sound, Shohei was met with an arm waving excitedly in his line of sight and a slightly out of breath Yuzu scurrying towards him, nimble with his movements to avoid bumping into other people. There was no smile that could rival the one on Shohei's face when he made eye contact with Yuzuru.
“You’re here early!” Yuzuru exclaimed. His cheeks were flushed a light pink, whether from the cold or from maneuvering through the crowd to reach him, Shohei wasn't sure.
”You are, too,” Shohei says. "Did it take long to find me?"
Yuzuru laughed brightly and shook his head. "It's kind of hard to miss seeing you." He makes a show of pointing out their height difference, standing on his toes and gesturing cutely between their foreheads. Yuzuru lands back on his heels with a little bounce. "It's a good thing I have such a tall boyfriend, huh?" The last syllable came out as an airy exhale as Yuzuru caught his breath.
"Yeah," Shohei replied with a wide smile. Boyfriend. He can feel his cheeks tingle with a blush. He's still not used to the term yet, but he loved the way Yuzuru says it, so natural and tender and soft. Shohei reminds himself that it's about time he does get used to it, because he's going to have Yuzuru with him for the rest of the day, and it might become chaotic if he melts at everything Yuzu says to him.
For now though, he's just gonna have to deal with the monumental squeeze in his chest.
"Ah—" Shohei suddenly remembers the flower bouquet he has in his hands. Hastily, he handed Yuzuru the gift that he spent an unreasonable amount of time at the florist shop pondering over the day before. “I, uh, I got this for you. A little something to celebrate our first date together."
Yuzuru's face visibly lit up. He took the bouquet from Shohei and cradled it in his arms, eyes sparkling with diamonds at the miscellany of flowers arranged so carefully for him beforehand. He had expected, somewhat, that Shohei would do something sweet for their first date considering his personality, but there was still no denying the genuine joy oozing out of him. Yuzuru noticed Shohei's gaze awkwardly shifting from the ground to his face, and then back down to his feet, seemingly eager for a reaction. Adorable. Yuzu wanted to squish his face in his hands. "It's beautiful. I love it, thank you."
Shohei silently wonders if the rosy hue across Yuzuru's cheeks has anything to do with him now.
He rubbed his neck, feeling bashful. "I'm glad you liked it. The florist at the counter was starting to give me a weird look because I was there for so long. Eventually she had to come help me."
Yuzu was grinning with so much gratitude at him, but he doesn’t try to back back a light-hearted tease. "Are you sure it wasn't because they thought you were handsome?"
Shohei pretends to mull seriously over that suggestion, a finger to the chin and brows knitting together. "Actually, it could be, you never know."
The sound of Yuzuru's giggle buzzes pleasantly in his ears. Shohei clears his throat. "Ready to go?" he asked, gesturing with a slight tilt of his head.
"Yeah— ah, hold on."
Yuzuru turned to place the small bouquet inside his backpack, arranging his items so the flowers could stick out of his bag, expression twisting into one of comical concentration to make sure that the flowers wouldn't get crushed. Yuzuru would've been happy to hold it in his arms the entire time, but he predicts that his hands would probably be preoccupied with other things, like holding Shohei's hands and pointing at the scenery with the others.
When Yuzu bounces back up, he does just that. He takes Shohei's hands in his with one swift movement. "Let's go!"
If Yuzuru noticed Shohei's eyebrows shooting up in surprise, he doesn't show it.
Allowing himself to be dragged away, there’s a moment of silence before Shohei collected himself, before he could register that Yuzuru's delicate hands were now in his own. Huh. That worked out quite nicely. Shohei stared wide-eyes at their interlocked hands for a few more seconds before he very carefully, delicately, laced their fingers together.
"Yeah," he echoed. "Let's go."
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It takes them a prolonged amount of time to reach the train station as night began to fall, neither one feeling compelled or hurried to revitalize their pace. Several hours had gone by in a flash, much to Shohei's surprise. It had felt much longer when he was walking the trail alone or with his family, and when Shohei looked up beyond the trees he saw that the vivid, cerulean sky from earlier had dimmed down to hues of purple and orange.
The street's eerie ambience was severed by their interminable chatter, Yuzuru's giggles and Shohei's refined laughter biting the air. Yuzuru squeezed Shohei's arms, a single antennae of his hair lightly brushing against Shohei's neck. The temperature had dropped in concordance with the sun as the evening fell upon them. As the weather got colder, as if through an irresistible force, Shohei's hands had somehow ended up around Yuzuru's torso to keep him close by his sides. Yuzuru plans to never complain about his ineptitude to handle the cold again if it meant having an excuse to nestle close to Shohei like this. Shohei was impossibly warm, like a human furnace.
They stood for a long time in front of the train terminal.
"Hey," Yuzuru says, softly. He stares up at Shohei's taller form, taking in the soft lineament of Shohei's face, at the gaze in Shohei's eyes that is always so tender towards him it hurts. "Let's meet again soon?
Shohei, with the constellations in his eyes and his heart on his sleeve, dipped his head up and down in agreement. "We will," he promised.
"Like, tomorrow, soon?" Yuzu laughed, pink lips tugging up into a bright smile and eyes disappearing into half-crescents.
Shohei wanted to kiss him.
"I don't see why not," he says. He strokes a thumb across Yuzuru's cheeks, pushing through his own layers of embarrassment, and cupped Yuzuru's face in his hands. There were fewer traces of modesty in his actions, now, diminished so vastly just from a day spent with Yuzuru. Shohei hesitates, just for a single instance, before he finally began to close the distance between them.
And Yuzuru, always the professional at reading what Shohei wanted, tiptoed to meet Shohei's lips with his own.
Aside from the ringing whistle of the train announcing its arrival, at the moment when Shohei kissed Yuzuru, there is no force on earth that could have pulled them apart.