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It was early in the morning when Makoto had first woken up. A cold breeze rushed through his open window, seeming to be eager to wake him up. He sat up slowly with a drowsy mind, yawning while tossing the covers to the side, and dragged himself towards the kitchen. ‘Toast will do.’ he thought as he made a simple breakfast for himself. Life for Makoto was always mundane and boring but there was a light to his darkness, something that ignited his passion and made his life more and more interesting. That light was his friend Byakuya Togami. A friend to him, you could say. “Or maybe he is more than that?” Nonetheless, Makoto got himself ready once again and met Byakuya out on the street. “There you are, you took ages, why are you always so late?” He said sternly, Makoto was a little flustered,
“I guess I just overslept haha.” This wasn’t the first time this had happened. It had been harder to get up recently.
“Well come on, we have to go or else we’ll be late.” He turned to walk without waiting for a reply as Makoto followed behind. As they turned corners and streets Makoto tried to glide a little closer to Byakuya, he liked the comfort and felt safe with him. Byakuya glanced over to him, seeming to notice but they kept walking.
As they arrived at the train station a brush of icy winds swept over them. Makoto always had many layers on but Byakuya insisted on wearing his thin suit as always. Byakuya sat down shivering, Makoto sat down next to him accidentally placing his hand on Byakuya’s.
“Byakuya you’re freezing!” His hand was colder than ice!
“I’m fine moron, just sit down and wait.” Byakuya was always quite stern, especially with Makoto, he didn’t mean it but it just came to him naturally.
Makoto took off his jacket and placed it in Byakuya’s lap.
“If you want to you can wear this, I’m not that cold and I don’t want you to get sick!” Makoto said shakily. Byakuya looked down at the jumper in disgust as his face turned pink,
“I don’t need your cheap clothes you idiot!” He yelled as he threw the hoodie back at Makoto, his face still flushed red. He could still tell Byakuya was shivering and didn’t hesitate to put the jacket on him. In a quick flash of movement, Makoto was miraculously able to get his jacket onto Byakuya.
“I don’t need your jacket! Just keep it I don’t need this cheap crap!” Makoto looked displeased, the train had arrived and Byakuya stood up still wearing Makoto’s hoodie and boarded the train, Makoto followed with a smirk on his face as they sat down together on the train.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The train ran by buildings and cities, it made the world seem as if it was rushing by as the train sat still. It was a little crowded, Byakuya and Makoto were squashed in a corner together, their arms pressed up against each other. Byakuya was quiet, he never felt that it was necessary to talk too much, he didn’t need to. Although he didn’t show it, he felt calm and peaceful next to Makoto, though he felt bad for talking to him so rudely, especially after he offered him his hoodie (which he still had on). His jacket was warm and comforting. It felt like he was being hugged by the heat of a warm bakery. It had a soft lining and was a little big. But nonetheless Byakuya liked it. They sat, bags at their feet. Though he didn’t realise it, Byakuya’s hands were brushing against Makoto’s. He could feel the warmth radiating off of him. Suddenly his whole hand felt warm, so did his face. Makoto had pushed his hand closer hoping that Byakuya wouldn’t notice. He held Byakuya’s hand in his, it’s the most intimate he’s been with him, he liked it. They sat like that for a while, hand in hand. Makoto was almost surprised that Byakuya didn’t pull away. He smiled a little. Maybe Byakuya didn’t hate him. Sadly the train soon stopped, Byakuya pulled his hand away and gave his jacket back to Makoto, he didn’t want people to get the wrong idea. Makoto, sadly followed after him, as cold as Byakuya’s embrace was, it felt nice, as if their fingers were like puzzle pieces intertwining together. A perfect fit. As they walked out of the station the large stone walls of Hopes Peak towered over them. More and more people fluttered about as the blanket of mindless chatter washed over them.
“I’m going to my locker, see ya after school -kay!” Makoto said, he ran off to his locker leaving Byakuya standing by himself. He turned the other way and walked down the hall.
Makoto opened his locker as his books tumbled out,
“Ha some lucky student you are!” said a bright bubbly voice next to him. He glanced up, it was Hina!
“Come on, let me help.” She knelt down next to him and picked up a few books, shoving them messily into Makoto’s locker.
“Ah thanks.” He said. He glanced over at her, she was holding a donut as always.
“This is so good!,” she said with a mouthful, “You me and Sakura should go get some after school!” That sounded nice but Byakuya had said he and Makoto were going to hang out. He couldn’t miss that.
“Yeah, maybe next week, I can’t do today though.”
“Aww, meanie…” She mumbled, he felt a little bad. Him and Hina walked down the hallway as they bumped into their other friends till they got to class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Ding Dong~
The bells rang over the school, it was so loud it could make the walls crumble. Makoto got up. ‘Finally’ he thought. The day was so long, it dragged on and on. He headed off to his locker to put his books away. As he walked down the hallway he saw a very tall, skinny figure standing next to it. It was Byakuya! They were going to hang out at Makoto’s house today, he was very excited.
“Gosh, you took so long to walk here.” Byakuya glared at him.
“Uhm sorry! I just have to put my books away!” He rushed quickly stacking his books in a disorganised manner, then he flung his bag over his shoulder and walked out with Byakuya.
They decided to walk home instead of taking the train. It was a nice day. The sun pierced through the fluffy white clouds in the sky. It was warmer than it was this morning.
“H-How were your classes today?” Makoto wasn’t very good at small talk, but he tries his best,
“Fine I guess, though I had art today with Hifumi, he’s useless…”
“Ah don’t be mean! He might be a little… different but I’m sure he means well!” It wasn’t really true but it was just in Makoto’s nature to defend someone.
After that they walked in silence, squashed together on the tiny sidewalk on the road. It was quite hot now, ‘Better get home soon’ he thought.
Byakuya didn’t mind the heat, after living in a black suit all his life he was used to a little warmth. Finally they arrived at Makoto’s house, as they walked in a wall of cool air conditioned paradise washed over them. Komaru was lying on the couch with her girlfriend Toko, they were already asleep.
“Ah aren’t they cute!” Makoto whispered, they quietly walked to Makoto’s room and shut the door. Makoto flopped down on his bed,
“Ah I’m so tired!” He could already feel his eyes closing. But then he felt the bed warp next to him, Byakuya sat down beside him.
“Come on, you can’t be that tired. You’ve done nothing all day!” Byakuya wasn’t wrong. He sat up.
“Okay, do you wanna watch a movie?” There wasn’t much to do that Byakuya liked. They had played video games once but Byakuya would get frustrated when he couldn’t win against Makoto. They tried cooking but Makoto was hopeless so Byakuya ended up just cooking for him. There wasn’t much else to do.
“Sure, just none of those stupid action movies, they’re such a waste of time.”
“Oh okay,” Makoto was somewhat sad, action movies are his favourite and the only other types of movies he had were bootleg disney movies.
“Ah nevermind it’s fine, we’ll watch any movie you want, I can’t be bothered to complain.” Makoto eagerly grabbed a DVD out of a stack, it was a movie he’s been watching since he was a kid, his favourite! He put the DVD in and watched it load onto the old TV set on a desk across from his bed. He leant back against the backboard of his bed and started watching.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were around half way through the movie, it was already somewhat dark outside, the sun had set quickly. Makoto was sitting at the edge of his bed, like an eager little puppy, while Byakuya leant against the backboard, I doubt he could see the tv screen. Suddenly Makoto shuffled back and sat next to him. Makoto’s bed was quite small,not nearly enough room for the both of them, unless… No. That would never happen. They kept watching in silence, their shoulders pressed up against each other. Though Byakuya was stiff and cold, Makoto could still feel the heat radiating off of him.
“You can take off your blazer, if you’re too warm.” Byakuya looked at him a little flustered.
“Fine.” Byakuya said sharply. He took off his blazer and laid it on the floor next to him. Makoto could feel his cheeks sizzle. He wore a white short sleeve top underneath. Makoto thought he looked very… handsome. He didn’t want to admit it but he might’ve liked Byakuya a little. Okay nevermind he liked him a lot. And seeing him like this, his heart wanted to explode! Byakuya looked at him, Makoto sharply turned his head back to the movie. Surely he couldn’t feel the same way? ‘No’ Makoto thought, he shouldn’t get his hopes up.
It was a little while after that, it was getting late, Makoto could feel his eyes shutting, as if they were being pulled down by an invisible string. He dozed off, his head leaning over to one side. Byakuya seemed to not notice, he was actually enjoying the movie. Till he felt something lightly fall on his shoulder. Ah, Makoto had fallen asleep. He was prone to doing that. He would always stay up playing video games after all. Suddenly Makoto felt heavier, he was leaning quite far down now. Byakuya tried to push him up without waking him, but he would just fall back down. He tried moving over to give Makoto more room but was shocked when Makoto's face planted onto his lap. He lifted him up and placed a shoulder around him to make sure he wouldn't fall again. It felt weirdly familiar, comforting a sleeping Makoto. As familiar as it felt, it was still a new experience. It felt warm and vibrant, just like Makoto in a sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little while later Makoto rustled awake. He turned to see Byakuya, his arm wrapped around Makoto’s shoulder.
“Um, Byakuya?” Makoto was very, very surprised. A simple act of affection was so shocking. Byakuya flinched and reclined his arm back to his body,
“Y-you fell asleep.” He said embarrassed.
“Oh! I guess I did hahah!” The small giggle shot Byakuya’s mind to the stars! It was so sweet. It was as if with every bit of laughter the world got sweeter. Byakuya turned away, trying to hide his red-hued face from him. Makoto glanced over at him, like a puppy does when it is concerned about it’s owner. This only made Byakuya more flustered. Makoto could sense the embarrassment and slight frustration. So he sat back next to Byakuya. He reached his soft hand down and grasped Byakuya’s in his. Byakuya sharply turned to him, however before he could speak, Makoto already started,
“This morning, on the train. I did the same thing. I grabbed your hand and you didn’t mind!” Makoto said, staring forward. He was too afraid to make eye contact with Byakuya. “Not only that but when I gave you my hoodie, you kept it on!” Byakuya gripped Makoto’s hand tightly and turned to him,
“I was simply being respectful! If I were to refuse you would whine like a small child. And after all, you offered your jacket to me. You were the one who took my hand!” Byakuya took Makoto’s chin in his hand and turned Makoto towards him. They sat in silence. A wall of tension sat between them, waiting to be broken.
“Byakuya, I- Well the reason I did that was b-because-!” But, before he could finish, Byakuya had pulled Makoto’s face towards his own. Makoto’s soft lips pressed against Byakuya’s. Hand’s still touching, they sat before eventually pulling away. Before Makoto could even look at Byakuya he was pulled into his arms.
“I’m sorry. This was stupid. I should leave.” Byakuya let go of Makoto and went to stand up,
“W-wait! I didn’t even get to finish what I was going to say!” Byakuya turned back and looked at Makoto,
“Why would you want to?!” He sounded frustrated. Not with Makoto but with himself.
“Because I love you!” Makoto almost yelled. This shocked the both of them. A small moment of silence hovered between them.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, I didn’t know how you’d react! I thought you’d hate me!”
“That’s exactly why I need to leave! Look at what I’ve done to you! I was terrible! I made you think I hated you!” Makoto had gotten up by now and stood across from Byakuya. Byakuya tried to walk out but Makoto grabbed his hand. He turned him around and took both of his hands in his.
“I knew that wasn’t true! I know it’s just natural for you to be this way. It’s not the real you! I’ve seen the real you! The you who secretly likes action movies. The you who cooked for me when I burnt half of the ingredients. The you who took my hand on the train!” Makoto gripped Byakuya’s hands tightly. He didn’t want Byakuya to leave, no matter what. He moved his hands to Byakuya’s slender waist and pulled him close. Makoto buried his head in Byakuya’s chest as he panicked to think of more ways to make Byakuya stay. “I love you, you idiot!” He mumbled into Byakuya’s chest. Byakuya slowly wrapped his arms around the distressed Makoto and placed one on his hands on the back of his head. He played with his hair softly before planting a kiss of Makoto’s forehead.
“I- I love you too.” He said, a lot less sternly than usual. This was the real Byakuya. The Byakuya who cooked for Makoto when he burnt half of the ingredients. The Byakuya who took his hand on the train. The Byakuya who loved Makoto.