Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Takayama wasn’t the type of person to celebrate his birthday, in fact, he barely mentioned it once, when Karasuma asked him. But that was enough for him to start planning a party with the rest of the group. He wanted something small, because Takayama wasn’t the type to make a big deal out of anything, but Sagisawa, Umino and Kamoda disagreed. There were a lot of balloons involved too. Kamoda baked a strawberry cake and made cookies. Then the gift-giving started: Umino and Irene bought him a huge crow plushie with a grumpy, yet cute, face. The mental image of Takayama’s plain room having a big cute animal plushie in the middle made Karasuma hold his laughter.

“It was so cute! And it’s a black bird, kinda like us, you know?” Umino said with a huge smile. 

“I thought we said it reminded us of Ka-” Irene started saying, suddenly being interrupted by Umino’s elbow, who placed her hands on her hips in an attempt to dissimulate. “Anyway, we hope you like it!” said Irene.

“It's nice. Thank you.” Takayama smiled briefly. 

Kamoda gave him a wool red sweater. “You know, it’s been getting kinda cold, and I know you can use your bird powers but sometimes it’s nice to wear a warm sweater!” Takayama thanked him and tried it on. It looks nice on him .

Karasuma thought his gift wasn’t very special or anything, but he was giving it to Takayama anyway. It was a very small phone from an old generation, nothing special, and a phone lanyard. 

“I’m tired of having to hold hands with people to send you a message if you’re god knows where,” he said, as Takayama opened his present. “And you’re very careless with things, so this way you won’t lose it.” He was looking at the cake, trying not to see the other boy’s reaction. 

“Thank you.” His voice sounded sincerely grateful (not that Takayama could be insincere), so he couldn’t help but to look at him. Takayama was looking back at him with a smile that made Eishi look away again. “I’ll call you, then.”

“Okay.” He replied, sounding a bit breathless. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “Sagisawa, it’s your turn!”

“Great!” The brunette boy grabbed a box and handed it to Takayama. “Not to brag, but this is probably the best present.” Everyone except Takayama rolled their eyes. He opened the present, revealing it was a digital compact camera. “You always take off and go to places by yourself, so you take some pictures now! Now you can get Karasuma to stop bothering about where you went. Maybe. Probably not considering his gift.”

“I just want to make sure he’s not dead or anything.” Karasuma replied.

“Sure.” Sagisawa said, raising an eyebrow. Karasuma just ignored him. “Now you can photograph every nice thing you see.” Takayama thanked him while looking at the camera with curiosity.

Kamoda’s cake was delicious, so much that Irene and Umino were fighting to get the last slices. 

“Hey! it’s Takayama’s birthday, idiots, he should save some for himself.” 

“I’ll save some for my grandfather, thanks.” Takayama smiled again, making Karasuma frown in response. 

“Whatever. Let’s just watch the movie Rei suggested.” Sagisawa beamed at his words and rushed to get his hard drive. It was a romantic comedy, which wasn’t surprising at all, but that never made it any easier for Karasuma to get interested in them. They were boring, people acted so stupid in those movies it made him angry. He complained at first, but then he just sank on the couch. Sagisawa would comment on almost every scene, so he just moved closer to Takayama, who was always silent during any kind of movie.

“So, did you have fun today?” He whispered, hoping the others wouldn’t hear him. Takayama nodded.

“I did. Thank you. For everything.” It took everything out of Karasuma to repress a screech. Why does he have to say stuff like that? 

“Don’t be stupid, it was everyone’s plan. I just told them the date.” Well, he had done a bit more than that, like planning some stuff, bought the ingredients for the cake, suggested the movie idea (and right now, he was regretting putting Sagisawa in charge of that), but he wasn’t gonna tell Takayama all of that.

“Ok. Thanks for remembering then. I’ll thank everyone too.” Karasuma nodded in agreement, and returned to watch the movie, which was still painfully boring. It was making it hard for him to keep his eyes open, even. Before he knew it, he fell asleep. The sound of everyone giggling started to wake him up. 

“I thought I was supposed to be the one taking the pictures.” Takayama’s voice sounded confused, as usual. Also, it sounded very loud, so much that his pillow vibrated a little when he spoke. He rubbed his eyes before sitting straight up, realizing that his pillow was Takayama’s chest. 

Sometimes he wondered how the human body worked. Because he swore his heart stopped for a second, yet the blood was rushing to his cheeks immediately. 

“Oh c’mon Takayama, I just borrowed it this time. It was an iconic photograph, you know.” Karasuma’s mind was just starting to make sense out of everything. But his brain was still a bit dizzy from the nap.

“What are you doing?” He groaned. He knew it was probably ridiculous trying to sound mad (even if he was genuinely annoyed), when his face felt red like a tomato. 

“Just teaching Takayama how to use his camera.” Said Sagisawa with a mischievous smile. “Look at the picture I took. Cute, isn’t it?” The camera’s little screen had a picture of Karasuma resting on Takayama’s chest, mouth slightly open. The other boy had turned his body slightly, so Karasuma’s head could rest comfortably on him. He frowned and tried to take the camera away from Sagisawa’s hands, but failed.  “Wow, you can’t delete it, it’s Takayama’s camera!” 

“Okay! Takayama, tell him to delete it!” He yelled at the boy next to him. Takayama looked calm as usual, as if he wasn't bothered at all by the situation. He looked at him for a moment before speaking.

“I want to keep some memories from today.” Karasuma’s mouth hung open while Irene and Sagisawa laughed at the boy’s response. 

“That’s a good one, Takayama.” Irene said. Karasuma sighed. Whatever . He wanted to yell at everyone, especially Takayama, but it was his birthday after all. I just don’t understand why he would want to keep that, what an idiot.

The party ended shortly after, with Takayama thanking everyone like he said he would. Everyone left except Karasuma, who promised Kamoda he would help him clean after, and Takayama.

“Today was super fun, right Takayama? Ei-chan is a great friend for planning it.” Kamoda said with a big smile. Takayama nodded. 

“I didn’t do much.” He responded, focusing on the dishes he was washing.

“I had a good time.” He smiled again. Lots of smiles from Takayama today, uh. He was fumbling with the camera until Karasuma heard a click sound. 

“What was that?” He asked. 

“He took a picture of us doing the chores!” Kamoda replied. 

“I told you I wanted to keep some memories.” Of course he actually meant that. 

Chapter Text

Karasuma stared at the window, focusing on the clear blue sky. He wondered if Takayama was flying somewhere up there, remembering how they flew together a couple days ago at night, but he suddenly got the need to fly again. He shook his head and tried to focus back on his homework, as he didn’t want to give his mom reasons to argue for now. Thinking of Takayama wasn’t going to help him with that. He finished his assignment after a while, and he knew it probably took him longer than it should from being distracted. Not that he cared that much about a stupid assignment, but he wanted avoid fighting with his mom. He grabbed his phone and he noticed a text message from Umino.

[umino]: hey!! rei, kamoda and i are gonna get some ice cream :p wanna come? i think irene is coming too

He looked at his finished assignment before responding.

[me]: Sure. Where?

[umino]: close to my school! we can meet up there and walk to an ice cream shop nearby 

[umino]: also can you try to get to taka? i tried tweeting but he's probably not close :(

Karasuma rolled his eyes. Of course he wasn't.

[me]: Ok. I don't think he will answer though. 

[umino]: thank u!!!! we'll be at the school at 3 

Karasuma closed the message app and scrolled through his contacts until Takayama's number was on his screen. Why did I even get him a phone if he's not even gonna use it? He knew the phone wasn't a new model, it was an old phone his dad gave him, but it was basically brand new. He pressed the call button, and waited until the call ended without an answer. Well that was pointless , he thought. He went to grab his keys to get ready, and then his phone started to sound, Takayama's name on the screen. 

"You called."

"Yes. Where are you?" 

"In the city."

"Good." Considering how hard it could be to reach Takayama sometimes, he felt he should clarify the context. "This is not an emergency by the way." 

"I know. I would have heard." Karasuma knew that he meant it.

"Ok, weird. Anyway, everyone is going to get some ice cream. Do you want to come?" There was silence on the other side of the line before Karasuma spoke again. "You know you can take a break, right? If there's nothing going on, you can have an ice cream. You know that?"

There was silence for another moment, and Karasuma prepared himself to be turned down.

"I'm going." A smile formed Karasuma's lips.

"Great! Ok, we're supposed to meet-" The beep that indicated the end of the call interrupted him mid-sentence. "What?! He hung up?! But I didn't even tell him where we're going!" He groaned. Somehow Takayama always found a way to make him mad, even if he knew the other boy wouldn’t have trouble finding them without indications.

Kamoda, Sagisawa and Umino were waiting for him on the corner of the school building. They waved at him as he was getting closer. 

“Hey. Takayama is not here yet?” The others shook their heads, and Karasuma sighed. 

“He said he was coming. He should be-”. 

“Takayama!” interrupted Kamoda. He had his school uniform on, and his usual blank expression that switched to a very subtle smile.

The ice cream shop was only a few blocks away and nearly empty. Umino and Kamoda tried to dare each other to pick the weirdest ice cream flavors from the shop, while Sagisawa asked to try a bunch of the premium flavors, only to end up buying some vanilla ice cream. Karasuma just went for a raspberry flavored one, and Irene had 3 different flavours because she couldn’t decide. 

“Mint chocolate chip ice cream? Are you insane?” Sagisawa asked Takayama while sitting at the head of the table. 

“Really? You picked a vanilla ice cream and you’re judging other people’s choices?” Karasuma said. 

“And after trying like 5 other favours.” Irene added. Sagisawa rolled his eyes. 

“Can’t go wrong with the classics.” 

“Well at least you guys picked some tasty ones.” Kamoda complained, while Umino nodded in agreement. “This tastes like food coloring.” 

“Food coloring is not flavoured.”

“That’s the point!” Kamoda whined. 

“Mine is not even sweet, what kind of ice cream isn’t sweet?” Umino said while pouting. “It’s kinda sour. Where’s the sugar?” She tried to eat a little, only to make a sad and slightly disgusted face. 

“You guys are idiots.” Irene said with a smile.  

Karasuma turned to look at Takayama. “How's yours?” 

“It’s ok.” Karasuma stopped himself from smiling at the tame answer, contrasting with the fact that Takayama had eaten more ice cream than everyone else at the moment. Sagisawa hadn’t even touched his, because he was trying to get a photo of it with his phone. 

“The lightning here is terrible.” He said, and took about 10 more pictures before putting his phone down, only to lift his gaze, looking excited. “Oh! Takayama! Do you have your camera with you?” The other boy nodded. Karasuma wondered why. “We should take a picture of all of us having ice cream.” 

He was almost sure Takayama smiled before handing the camera to Sagisawa. The blonde fumbled a bit with it. “I don’t understand how people used to take pics without seeing themselves but we’ll have to try it I guess.” He gave his back to everyone and pointed the camera back at them. “Ok everyone, smile!” He said, just as the camera’s ‘bep’ sound went off. Sagiwasa turned immediately to show them the picture. 

The picture managed to capture all of them, surprisingly. Of course, even if he was the closest to the camera, Sagisawa managed to look good, winking while showing his camera-ready smile. Kamoda had the biggest grin on his face, while Umino smiled holding a peace sign and Irene tried to look smug, but you could see a smile creeping in. Takayama had his usual blank expression, and Karasuma was holding the ice cream in front of his face, but the picture still captured his furrowed brows.

“Karasuma you ruined it!” Sagisawa said to him. 

“It’s fine. I would have looked bad anyway.” He answered. Sagiwasa rolled his eyes and returned the camera to Takayama. 

The afternoon went by and after eating the ice creams they all started to walk home, almost everyone taking different routes eventually. Karasuma was left alone with Takayama on his way home. 

“I bet you would rather fly home now, right?” He asked. Takayama looked at him for a moment before speaking. 

“This is fine.” The other boy said. “I like walking too.” Karasuma gave him a little smile. They kept walking in silence, and Karasuma wasn’t bothered by it. They reached Takayama’s house first. 

“Ok. See you...” Tomorrow , he should have said, “later.” Flying together at night had become an unspoken agreement, and it felt weird saying it at loud, because they hadn't done it in a few days and he shouldn’t just say it. Regardless of his thoughts, Takayama nodded and went inside his house. 

He tried to sleep when he arrived at his house, but he couldn’t do it. He felt trapped inside his house sometimes, especially after going a while without flying. When he had seen how small the city could look from above, his room felt even more tiny in comparison, like he was trapped in it. And yet, after coming back, his room always felt cozy, because flying was overwhelming sometimes. But that feeling of coziness only lasted a while, and tonight it was gone again. 

It must have been 1AM when he took off. He went as high as he could first, and then he kept going with no particular direction. It wasn’t long before Takayama joined him. He didn’t know how much time they were up there, but after a while they landed at the beach. He sighed, thinking about how loud the ocean was, and how when he was flying, despite being the biggest thing he could see, he couldn’t hear it at all. He could’ve kept thinking about the ocean and the sky, but he heard a familiar sound next to him, a camera sound. He screeched and looked at Takayama, who was sitting next to him. 

“Takayama! What are you doing?” He asked, feeling stupid because Takayama had the camera on his hands, and it was pointing in his direction. 

“Taking a picture.” He simply said.

“Of what?!” He asked, looking at the direction the camera was pointing. It was just the rest of the beach, not the nicest scenery by any means, and even less when Karasuma was in the way of it. Takayama hummed, and Karasuma didn’t know if it was in agreement or in question, which made him irrationally angry, because he was sure he could always understand all of those non-verbal replies Takayama always gave. He sighed in annoyance, before talking again.

“So you just carry the camera around now?” He tried to slightly change the topic, because if he repeated the question and Takayama gave him the same answer, he was gonna get mad.

Takayama nodded. “Yes.” He looked at the camera for a moment. “I thought about what Sagisawa said when he gave it to me.” Karasuma tried to remember, but Takayama got ahead of him. “He said that I could photograph any nice thing I see.”

Karasuma tilted his head slightly, not sure about what Takayama was trying to tell him. The other boy stayed silent, but Karasuma felt that there was something he wasn’t telling him. He looked at his hands and wondered if Takayama might show him, just as the bot turned to look at him. He felt his face flush when he reached for his hand, but as soon as they touched that feeling went away. 

It wasn’t nice. It was a car accident. And then someone was bleeding. And then he saw the remains of a fire. And it kept going, even though Takayama only showed him for a couple seconds. 

But then, he saw himself trying to clean his pants, because some of the raspberry ice cream had melted, and Sagisawa giving him a bunch of napkins to clean the mess. And he saw Umino and Kamoda making exaggerated expressions of suffering while Irene laughed at them eating their ice cream. And then, Takayama let go of his hand.

“I don’t see a lot of nice things, I think.” He said while looking at the ocean, and Karasuma didn’t even try to think of an answer, because there was nothing he could say. “But then Sagisawa gave me this, and it feels like it can make the nice things last a bit more.” He paused. “I... I want to keep those memories.” Karasuma nodded. 

“I-” He stopped himself, carefully thinking of his choice of words. “I’m glad.” He was, in a way, but he wanted to say more. “But… I- You know you can talk to me, right?” 

Takayama looked at him. 

“You don’t even have to talk, you know,” he awkwardly gestured at their hands. “Just. Don’t keep everything to yourself.” He winced slightly at his choice of words, because it sounded like he was ordering Takayama and even though he always did that, he didn’t want to do it now. “I mean, you can tell me, okay? Please… please tell me.” Takayama kept looking at him, and then, finally, he nodded.

They stayed quiet for a while, and Karasuma was thankful, because even though he spoke so little, he felt like he had raced against a plane. 

“You weren’t in the photo we took today.” Takayama said suddenly. 

“Uh?” He was confused by the answer. “I’m pretty sure I was.”

“Your face was covered,” he said. “So that’s why I took another picture now.” 

Karasuma felt his face flush a bit, because that meant the picture wasn’t of the beach. It was a picture of him. “Oh,” he managed. “Can I see it?” Takayama nodded and handed him the camera.   

It was a picture of his side profile, while he was looking at the ocean. He hadn’t noticed the camera at all at the moment, so it was him just… thinking. He wondered if that was how Takayama saw him, and didn’t know how to feel about that. He handed the camera back to the other boy. “It’s ok.” He said. “You need to work on those photography skills, though.” 

Takayama looked at the picture again. “I like it.” Karasuma felt himself blush again and rubbed his cheeks, as if that would make the embarrassament go away.

“It’s because you’re new to it. I can teach you how to take much better photos.” He said, and he hated himself a bit for saying it because, yes, he obviously knew more than Takayama, but he wasn't an expert by no means and maybe even Takayama could see that. 

“Ok.” The other boy said, interrupting his thoughts and proving him wrong. “I’d like that.” 

“Ok.” He wondered what kind of photos Takayama would take. What kind of things he thought would be nice.