Chapter Text
It’s noon, April 14th, and Kuko Harai is having the best day of his life. He’s free of his nagging monk parents, the day is bright and the weather is fucking perfect, and best of all? He’s getting to spend the day taking his boyfriend-who's-really-not-officially-his-boyfriend Jyushi Aimono on a birthday date around the city. Of course, he’d had to take Jyushi when the tall, shy boy had said he had never had a “real birthday celebration”, because that was his best friend and it was totally normal to take your best friend (who’s also kind of your crush) on a date around the city. Not a romantic date but...a bro date?
Kuko was really bad at this crush thing, it seems.
And anyone would be, because for a boy who’s raised his whole life taught to focus on purity and spirituality and all the bullshit about “temple first and play later”, it was terrifying to realize one day how you’d fallen head over heels for your best friend. It was even more humiliating when your division member laughed at you when you came nearly crying to him early in the morning because you’d had your first dream about kissing somebody since you were 12 and worried about the really good looking hero you’d seen in a manga before, but instead of Superman, it was a lanky boy with dyed hair and a stuffed pig clenched to his chest. Only this time, instead of waking up a bit off-put by the sudden attraction you’d hadn’t realized you could even have, your heart started racing . Full-on, faster than the rushing speed of light--your heart seemed to be trying to kill itself with how it banged against your chest. You couldn't forget the way your skin flushed or your eyes couldn’t meet his without needing to look away, and you especially couldn’t forget how every time that you thought of him, you always dreamed about being more than “just friends”.
After all, normal friends don’t dream of kissing each other under the moonlight or some shit like that.
Do they?
Either way, Kuko still found himself racing along the city road, weaving in and out of shortcuts, body nearly glowing with sweat and the gleaming reflection of the glaring sun. His hands clamored as he moved, and his heart was an explosion of fireworks over a dark sea: popping, illuminating, and beautifully frightening. The day was ablaze with the flames of young love, consuming him whole as he made his way to the boy of his metaphorical dreams, and a wide smile overtook the boy’s face as his mind wandered to daydreams of all the things he’d do with Jyushi. Movies, arcades, restaurants, parks, and at the end of the day, he’d finally confess the feelings that had taken ahold of him. And then...him and Jyushi would finally be boyfriends and holy motherfucking shit. That was a thought that had him nearly about to collapse before he could let it go any further.
Except, there was a...tiny problem in his glorious plan.
Kuko Harai was running late to the dream date with the boy he’d dreamed about nearly since the first time they met. His perfect date and he was running very, very late.
Well. Shit.
There’s a thick heat radiating within the fabric of his jacket-- a mixture of the spring heat and his own embarrassment coating his body with a thick warmth that he would only hope the other boy wouldn’t care too much about. It was selfish of him to expect that Jyushi would be so forgiving that he showed up late looking like a fucking trainwreck on legs, but part of him hoped Jyushi would have the heart to push it aside. But, of course Jyushi would, because Jyushi was Jyushi, and despite his chuunibyou facade, the boy had a heart bigger than most people Kuko knew. Of course, his view might be a bit biased, but Kuko liked to believe he’d fallen for the sweetest boy alive.
A sweet smell of chocolate wavers through the air, entangling with the savory smell of cinnamon glaze. Kuko can tell he’s getting close, as stalls and market vendors begin to line the streets, the hum of voices already beginning to fill the streets. And there, at the end of the street, is an old cafe, with one tall, fidgeting boy standing nervously outside.
Kuko sighs as he slows down, catching his breath as he tries to compose himself, sauntering up to Jyushi in typical “Kuko Harai” fashion. Hands slick back his hair and steps slow as he straightens his back from the usual slump. He looks great.
Does he? He’s telling himself a lot of things right now, and he doesn’t really believe any of them, but he’s really trying to “fake it till you make it” his way out of this panic he’s in. But suddenly, he’s in front of Jyushi, and Jyushi is looking at him, and he feels like the world around him has stopped.
God. Love is really fucking weird, huh.
“Kuko! You had me worried...I mean! I was never worried...I was pondering on the dark power of the world! Uuu, and all the world I have yet to conquer! That we have left to conquer!” Jyushi’s begun on his own little tirade, slipping back into his childish nature as he goes on trying to compose himself in the most Jyushi way he can. Kuko flushes a bit, whether from the heat or the realization that the boy in front of him...is cute. He wouldn’t say it out loud...it’s damn embarrassing to say that out loud, but he’s thinking it. A lot.
“Yeah, yeah. Darkness has gotta wait, though? We gotta fucking world to conquer today too, just you and I.” Every word out of Kuko’s mouth feels completely disconnected from him, as if it’s somebody else with his voice saying it. His palms clamor as he shoves them into his jacket pockets.
Jyushi nods eagerly, hands clutching onto the worn stuffed pig he’d had hidden behind his back.
“Bad Ass Temple! The gods of this world!” His face lights up with every word he speaks. Kuko remembers how the boy once was, so reserved and held back, but now, there’s a light to him that he hadn’t so openly expressed before. Kuko hates how he can’t help feeling more and more farther away from the boy. Jyushi feels like a sun he can never reach.
“Oi? It’s not ‘Bad Ass Temple’. It’s Jyushi and Kuko, that’s all. That fucking corrupt moneybags would die if we tried dragging him along, heh.” Kuko shoots Jyushi a wide smile. “We got today all to ourselves.”
“E-Eh!? You don’t mean we’ll be...doing anything too dangerous?! Uuu….” Jyushi’s nearing the brink of tears again, hands trembling. Kuko sighs, shaking his head.
“Of course not. I’m not enough of a dumbass to go get recklessly into trouble...if anything, I’m a fucking angel. And you’d die if I tried dragging you into anything stupid.” Kuko reaches out a hand to rest on Jyushi’s shoulder. “We’re just going to...hit up some arcades? Get food? I dunno...normal shit? I was just saying that old man wouldn’t...care? He’d be off doing whatever the hell it is he does for fun, like yelling at teenagers and shaking his fist or...whatever the fuck...it is he does.”
Kuko hadn’t meant to sound rude, but he’s panicking, trying to make it not sound like he wanted to just spend time with Jyushi, because what if Jyushi found it weird? He knew Jyushi would never say anything cruel to him, but if Jyushi left him…
Kuko stops the thought before it can fester any longer than he wants to let it.
“Plus, it’s your damn birthday. He’ll have something of his own for you, so just spend the time with me, kay?” Jyushi nods along, and Kuko hopes it’s out of genuine agreement and not just Jyushi’s habit to agree with anything people around him say. Really, it was such a bad habit. No wonder the dude seemed like such a pushover--he was.
But Kuko didn’t care if Jyushi was a pushover or the strongest boy alive. As long as he was still Jyushi, the Jyushi that left Kuko’s heart pounding in ways that were neither normal nor healthy, then Kuko didn’t care about the other things. He’d seen a passionate Jyushi too, and it left him feeling a confusing mixture of adoring and fear because holy shit was the boy strong when he was mad. Not even just anger, but in the little moments, like when Kuko would let him ramble on about his recent adventures with Amanda, or when Hitoya would treat the two boys to a bit of Korean-styled barbeque after a practice gone wrong. Kuko remembered how he once joked about wanting to hop on a boat and just move to Korea after some particularly tastebud-melting gwalbi, and Jyushi had clung to him, crying for the other boy to not leave him.
Moments like that...they made him wonder if his feelings were as one-sided as he thought. But such thoughts are only false hope, and are never entertained past a fleeting second.
Except, now, the tall boy’s face is filled with the warmth of a soft smile and it’s directed straight at Kuko and ohmyfuckinggod. He think his heart stops right there.
“Onward we explore then! To the depths of the unknown, and to a night of festivity we explore!” Jyushi’s gesturing now, poor Amanda being flung around nonstop, and Kuko’s glad he knows how to sew with how badly that pig’s been torn up from Jyushi’s bold nature.
Seriously, how the fuck had that pig not being ripped to shreds yet?
Kuko decides to assume it’s some sort of god, and quite frankly, he’s about to start praying to the damn pig. Kuko Harai, rotten monk and worshipper of the great Pig Goddess, Amanda. It’s a good thing he’s got the whole street surrounding him to keep his head on right, because he was about to get on his knees and start praying.
He doesn’t, of course, but he does wish for a bit of luck as he takes Jyushi’s arm in his own, smiling up at the boy as he squeezes their arms together in a totally non-flirtatious, just friendly sort of way.
“Geez...you make the arcade sound like it’s some sort of...I don’t know...hidden treasure? I mean, it’s got sweet prizes and snacks if you don’t give a shit about the whining kids or damn couples making out.” Jyushi’s face falls a bit, and Kuko rushes to give him a reassuring hand along his arm, smiling even wider. “Dumbass. I wasn’t saying you were wrong or nothing...you’re cute when you talk like that, yeah? All magical and fantastical and shit. Hell, I can’t even write a rhyme half as good as your normal talk.”
Kuko does his best to give a good “Cheer up Jyushi!” talk. And it backfires. Completely.
Because he, Kuko Harai, just called his crush cute without realizing it. The same crush who bawled when Kuko bought him an ice cream once for no reason other than “he looked like he needed it”.
But Jyushi seems unfazed by the comment, even giving Kuko a large smile as he tugs the boy along with him, jumping a bit in glee.
“You’re right, my best friend Kuko! Let us go venture on!” Jyushi tries to even pull the two along, but stops when he realizes he doesn’t know where he’s going. A bright blush rising on his face, he leans down to whisper to Kuko. “Eh...where are we going?”
Jyushi’s at the perfect height for some good head ruffling, and so that’s what Kuko does. He presses a hand to Jyushi’s hair, before giving it an affectionate ruffle. He doesn’t do it too hard--Jyushi would kill him for ruining his hair-- but it’s enough to get across his point.
“Follow me, ‘kay?” And so, Kuko leads them on, arm still interlocked with Jyushi’s. The other boy makes no attempt to pull away, and Kuko thinks his heart might skip a beat.
Because, for the entire time there, Jyushi’s right there next to him, leaning on the boy or keeping him entertained with lively recounts of his day.
At some point, Jyushi’s hand finds its way into Kuko’s, and Kuko swears his heart might stop right there.