Chapter Text
Kei first noticed it when they were driving away from lunch at a small sit-in ramen restaurant.
Kou was always the one to drive, he hated being in the passenger seat or the backseat, which Kei never bothered to question since he just assumed he got car sick easily.
They normally listened to music when they were in the car, Kou always choosing different songs to see what Kei liked or show him what songs he personally liked. This time however, it was quiet, and through that quietness was when he noticed that Kou was tapping his fingers on the wheel.
It did strike him as odd, since there wasn't any music playing to be tapping along to, but he didn't comment on it out loud. A few minutes later they stopped at a red light, which Kou took the moment to lean back against his seat. His hand moved to his mouth and began to bite his nails.
Kei noticed this as well, raising an eyebrow at it, but again, didn't say anything out loud. He was probably doing it subconsciously too, which irritated Kei a bit. Something about the consistent sound was annoying to hear, so he did his best to tune it out.
Then, it was his leg. They were still at the stoplight when Kou began to rhythmically tap his foot, still biting his nails. Kei really would've ignored it, but the combination of all three different things had him both irritated and curious now.
"Have somewhere you need to be?" Kei finally asked, breaking the silence. Kou turned his head to look at him, noticing the raised eyebrow made him almost immediately stop the thing with his leg and moved his hand from his mouth.
"Shit- sorry, I'll stop." he says.
Kei frowned at that. The fact he had stopped so quickly and acknowledged that he knew what Kei was talking about told him that he was not the first person to comment on Kou's restlessness. "I didn't say that."
"It's fine," Kou shook his head, "I just have a hard time sitting still sometimes." he smiles wearily. The light turned green and he started driving again, holding the steering wheel with both hands this time.
Kei simply stared at him in response, blinking owlishly at the realization he was gripping the wheel. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a small sigh and shaking his head. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and enabled Bluetooth, scrolling through his phone for a moment before tapping on what he was looking for. In began playing a song, a song familiar to Kou.
"Isn't this the song I showed you?" he asked with a surprised look, Kei didn't miss how his eyes had lit up once he recognized it.
Kei nodded his head in response, setting his phone down in the small compartment and allowing it to play.
Kou had a pleasant smile as he began to subconsciously tap his fingers on the steering wheel to match the song, Kei noticed when he began humming along with it as well.
He didn't suppress his smile either.
[-]
After that, each car ride Kei would make sure music was playing. He had told Kou that the song he played for him that car ride was just because it was the first one that came to mind, but he lied because he didn't want to admit to him that he'd secretly made a playlist of all the songs Kou played to him.
He helped Kou's issue with restlessness in the car, but now the issue became apparent after they had to sit with Ogura and Tosaki during an "IBM lesson", where he saw Kou doing the exact same things he saw him doing in the car. His arms crossed along his chest, his right hand's index finger tapping along his arm in a consistent rhythm, his foot tapping in a similar manner every now and then, and predictably, he began biting his nails.
Kei determined that this was too consistent to just be a coincidence.
Later that night, holed up in his room as always, Kei began working on a...project... he would've rather died than be caught in the middle of doing. He locked his door, his universal "do not disturb or else" sign and spent the entire night working with what he had.
Sleeping at 4 A.M., having to wake up at 7 A.M., caring about Nakano this much was too exhausting for Kei to keep up with. With an exhausted sigh, he pressed the off button for the torture device called an alarm before pulling himself out of bed, taking one last glance at the decorative item that laid out along his desk.
[-]
"Nakano, come up here, I have something for you," Kei beckoned at the top of the stairs later that day, making sure Kou heard him before heading toward his room without another word.
Kou looked to Hirasawa for dismissal, to which he nodded his head and sent Kou on his way.
"What's up Nagai?" Kou stepped into his room and approached him, only to be suddenly stopped by Kei abruptly turning around. He turned to face Kou and held out the bracelet he'd spent hours working on. Kou, with wide eyes, looked between Kei and the bracelet, looking baffled.
"I made it for you since you wouldn't stop messing with your everything when you need to focus. It's on stretchy thread, so you can tug on it all you want." he says, setting it on his hand. "And, don't tell anyone I did this, or I'll actually k-"
Kou reeled forward, pulling Kei into a tight hug with a content smile on his face, not even trying to hide the incredible happiness that overwhelmed him at the gesture.
"Thank you Kei..." he whispered, tightening the hug once he felt Kei reciprocate. A few moments later, Kei gently tapped his shoulder.
"Alright that's enough." he said, giving the faintest of smiles and looking at him as he observed the item in hand. It was dark green stretchy thread with two different colored beads, black and red, fit with a few squishy charms. One of the charms caught his eye though, it was a Rilakkuma head.
"Rilakkuma?" he questioned with a smile.
"Strange sentimental value." Kei shrugged.
It was actually something Kou mentioned to him before, he'd said when he was spending the day with Mr. Akiyama and his daughter they'd gone to a toy store where Kou bought her a Rilakkuma plush. He'd spent the entire day gushing about how much fun he'd had and how he was so happy that she liked it, but knowing that Kei had listened and remembered it made him all the happier.
He draped it along his right wrist and fastened it closed, looking back up at him with softened eyes.
"I really appreciate you doing this, it's really nice of you." he smiled, looking back down at the bracelet and gently fumbling with it.
"You're welcome." Kei nodded, giving him the faintest of smiles as well. Kou pulled him into another hug, this time, Kei didn't hesitate to return it.