Work Text:
It was a sweltering summer afternoon, and Kazuichi Souda had traded his typical beanie for a sweatband across his forehead. He was laying on his mechanic’s creeper underneath an unkempt antique racecar, working away, replacing old, rusty parts with shiny, new ones, careful replicates of the crumbling originals. He had some music on, playing softly from a speaker in the corner, just background noise for his own thoughts. A sense of time escaped the mechanic completely as he focused, craning his neck to see what he was working on. He was only made aware of the lateness of the day when the long rays of the sun finally were at such an angle that could reach him underneath the racecar. He was too lazy to roll back out and check the clock on the wall, so he kept working through the fading rays of the sun.
“Hey, Kazuichi!” A booming voice echoed in the mechanic’s cluttered little cave, and Kazuichi could see sandaled feet approach him from the garage door that could only belong to Nekomaru Nidai.
Few of his fellow Hope’s Peak students ever joined Kazuichi in his workshop, probably because they weren’t used to the smell of gasoline and the utter disorganization. There were parts and tools scattered everywhere, mostly in places Kazuichi knew and could make sense of, but to anyone else, it looked like a junkyard. “Yeah?” Kazuichi called. He was almost done loosening an old screw that had rusted into place, so he finished twisting it out before he rolled back out from under the car.
“Where are you?” Nekomaru sounded confused, but then he let out a surprised little breath as Kazuichi slid out from under the jalopy. The mechanic wasn’t paying too much attention to where he was, still preoccupied by the repairs, but he found himself looking directly up at Nekomaru, who was holding something in one hand, and the other was resting on his hip. “There you are!” Nekomaru laughed a loud, genuine laugh that Kazuichi couldn’t help but smile at. The guy was always so positive, and it was kind of infectious, Kazuichi had to admit.
“Hey, Nekomaru. What can I do for ya?” Kazuichi expected Nekomaru to have a favor to ask, as most people that came to his shop did. The mechanic began to push himself up from where he was laying, but Nekomaru offered him a hand. Kazuichi froze for a second, then took it, practically being lifted off his feet by the sheer strength of the Ultimate Team Manager. Nekomaru’s hands were much bigger than Kazuichi’s, but their palms were both a little rough, one from years of barbells and another from years of wrenches.
As Kazuichi let go of Nekomaru’s hand, he felt a little guilty, noticing a black smudge of grease on Nekomaru’s palm that could’ve only spread from Kazuichi’s. He quickly whispered an apology and grabbed a rag from his back pocket, rubbing at the spot of grease. Nekomaru stood there for a moment, his palm open, letting Kazuichi try to get rid of the grease before Kazuichi realized that maybe this was an awkward situation he had created. Stuffing the rag back in his pocket, he chuckled nervously.
“No worries, Kazuichi.” Nekomaru’s good natured laugh echoed in the garage once again. “You were not at dinner tonight, so I brought you something to eat. Skipping meals is not a good habit! You have to keep your strength up!” Swearing under his breath, the mechanic realized that today was the one day a week his whole class had agreed to have dinner together, and it was usually a fun event. He had completely forgotten all about it. Nekomaru held out a plate to him, upon which was an unusual looking sandwich.
Kazuichi was kind of flattered that Nekomaru would think of him like that, but he also didn’t necessarily trust how green the filling of the sandwich was. He was kind of a PB & J guy after all. “Wait, you brought this for me? Thanks, Nekomaru! But… ah… what’s on it?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Just some superfoods! Teruteru mentioned you hadn’t been to the dining hall all day, so you need something nutrient rich.” Nekomaru held out the plate for Kazuichi to try. The mechanic had no idea what a superfood was, but he wasn’t about to say no to food someone else was offering him. He cautiously picked up a neatly cut half of the sandwich and tried a little bite.
To his surprise, it was actually quite delicious, sweet and bitter and salty all in one bite, and the bread was even toasted, giving it a nice little crunch. “Wait, this kinda rocks!” Kazuichi exclaimed with his mouth still full of food. “What is this, avocado?” He took the plate and went back in for another bite.
“There is some avocado in there, but a master never reveals all of his secrets.” Nekomaru smiled down at Kazuichi, giving him a solid clap on the back that made him wobble on his feet just a little. “Ah, I almost forgot! While the protein and vitamins in that sandwich are great, you also need to keep your blood sugar up!” Nekomaru produced a bottle of soda, holding it out for Kazuichi to take.
Kazuichi’s eyes widened. “Hey, this is that new brand I wanted to try! Dude, you’re the best!” He set down the plate on the hood of the car and took the bottle in his hands. Too lazy to find an opener, he pried the cap off with his teeth, then spat the cap into a pile of junk in the corner of the shop. Nekomaru was looking at him funny, so Kazuichi stopped before taking a sip. “What?” He asked.
Nekomaru just smiled and shook his head. “It was a twist off cap.”
“Oh.” Kazuichi inspected the bottle, and saw that there were in fact grooves for twisting off the cap. The two boys couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that, Kazuichi a little embarrassed that he’d acted like a ravenous animal trying to get into the bottle, but Nekomaru didn’t seem weirded out so much as genuinely amused.
After their laughter died down, Kazuichi looked around at his workshop, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck and realizing Nekomaru was probably right. It wasn’t good for him to be cramped under a car all day without moving or eating. His hands were a little shaky, and now many of his muscles were complaining from being forced to hold the same position for hours. He rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen them up, but the pain made him wince just a little.
“Hey man, thanks again for—” Kazuichi began, but Nekomaru interrupted.
“Let me help you with that.” Nekomaru motioned for him to come closer.
Kazuichi was confused about what he wanted at first, but then he remembered Nekomaru was the self claimed Ultimate Masseur. Kazuichi took a step towards him, a little nervous but also curious, knowing Akane raved about the guy’s massage abilities. “O-okay,” He replied.
Nekomaru slowly reached up and placed a hand at the base of Kazuichi’s neck, gently searching for the knot. His hands were warm on Kazuichi’s bare skin, and his touch was so faint and delicate, it almost tickled. Then, the knot in the muscle revealed itself, and Nekomaru’s fingers pressed firmly, working out the tension in slow circles. Kazuichi felt his eyes flutter closed, feeling the pain get up and leave his body just like that.
Nekomaru’s hands left along with the pain, and Kazuichi’s eyes flew back open, his cheeks reddening, in disbelief that he had closed his eyes like that in the first place. “Wow, uh… thanks, Nekomaru,” Was all he could say.
“Hey, no problem! Anytime you need it, the Ultimate Masseur is here for you!” Nekomaru put a reassuring hand on Kazuichi’s shoulder, then turned and left the garage.
Kazuichi just stood in place, staring out after him and at the red glow left by the sun after it had disappeared below the horizon, wondering why his hands, his shoulder, and his neck, all the places Nekomaru had touched, felt so funny. His stomach also felt kinda funny. Kazuichi didn’t think it was related to the new brand of soda or the superfood sandwich, but something else entirely.
*******************************************************************
Ever since that day when Nekomaru had thought of him and brought him a sandwich, Kazuichi was having a little extra trouble focusing in class. He found his eyes trained on trees out the window and his eraser between his teeth as he thought about many things that did not include how to calculate the volume of water rising over time in a cone, or whatever the hell kinda stupid question calculus had to come up with to make its concepts practical to a teenage mind.
Kazuichi was not the best at making friends or showing affection. He either pushed people away or became a little too obsessed, both of which left him alienated. He was really struggling to come up with a small way to say thank you to Nekomaru for thinking of him without seeming like he was coming on really strong. Hell, he didn’t even know if Nekomaru liked guys at this point, so he would have to come across a little bro-y just in case.
Maybe Kazuichi had resorted to keeping tabs on Nekomaru to figure out what he liked to do. Not in a creepy way or anything, he was just… poking his head into the gym to see who was there, taking a quick note that Nekomaru was eating sunflower seeds as he relaxed after a workout, paying attention to which classes he seemed to enjoy or dislike, or casually asking Akane about him at lunch. Akane definitely seemed a little suspicious of his question, but she was too focused on her meal to read into it, so Kazuichi breathed a sigh of relief. He did discover that all the Hope’s Peak jocks, Sakura, Aoi, Leon, Akane, and Nekomaru, would often get smoothies after class together, and Kazuichi finally had his idea.
The door to his garage was almost always left open for the sake of getting a breeze and in case anyone had any projects for him, but today, Kazuichi brought in a box fan and closed up the garage door. He didn’t want anyone to see what he was working on until it was completely finished. Normally, he would’ve slaved away for hours without eating or moving, but the little Nekomaru on his shoulder scolded him, so he made sure to take breaks and eat a healthy snack.
When Saturday evening rolled around, Kazuichi was finally finished with it. He thought about wrapping it in colorful paper, but somehow that felt like too much. He also didn’t want to walk across campus with the thing in his hands in case he ran into someone and they asked him about it, so Kazuichi just stuffed it in a cardboard box.
Campus was busy on a Saturday night, as was expected. Students were getting ready to go to the movies or a party, many socializing on the quad as they waited to meet up with their peers. Kazuichi just sped through, waving briskly to anyone who said hello to him, but too nervous to stop and chat.
Kazuichi arrived at Nekomaru’s dorm room and then hesitated, realizing he hadn’t yet planned out what he was gonna say or do. Maybe this was too weird, to just arrive at his door with a gift…
But Kazuichi had already made the thing and gotten his ass here, so here goes. He tucked the box under one arm and knocked on the door. At first he wasn’t sure if he had knocked loud enough, so he put up his hand to knock again just in case. A voice from inside stopped him, shouting “It’s open! Come on in!” Kazuichi took a deep breath, then turned the handle.
Nekomaru was reclining in a big, leather loveseat, studying some kind of chart, a pencil behind his ear. He had a television on in the background, and on it a few men were discussing the strengths and weaknesses of a rugby player Kazuichi hadn’t heard of. Nekomaru’s signature jacket was on a hook next to the door and his impressive biceps were just… out.
“Hi.” Kazuichi dragged his eyes to meet Nekomaru’s.
“Hello, Kazuichi!” Nekomaru set down what he was holding on a stack of similar papers on his desk. Kazuichi thought they must be statistics or something. He never really thought about how much research the Ultimate Team Manager must do. Nekomaru stood up and turned off the TV, then looked like he was going to ask Kazuichi the obvious question of what the hell he was doing here with a big cardboard box on a Saturday night.
“I made ya something!” Kazuichi blurted out, holding out the box. “Ya know, to say thank you for, uh… thinking about me the other day.” He looked down at his feet, wishing he had spent a little less time on the gift itself and a little more on planning the delivery.
“Woah… this is…” Nekomaru looked into the box, then gently pulled out Kazuichi’s latest creation.
“I, uh… noticed you like getting smoothies. So I made ya a super high powered blender. For like… your superfoods and stuff.” Kazuichi snuck a glance up at Nekomaru, who was just beaming.
“Kazuichi, this is incredible!” Nekomaru’s voice boomed. “You have my gratitude from the bottom of my heart!” He put a hand on Kazuichi’s shoulder, and Kazuichi felt like that was the only thing keeping him from exploding into a million tiny little pieces. Nekomaru liked his gift! It hadn’t even been that awkward! Suddenly, Nekomaru’s hand on his shoulder turned into an arm wrapped around him, and he was being steered out the door. “We must try it out immediately!” Nekomaru pulled him along, and they headed towards the dining hall.
Fortunately, Teruteru had other things to do and people to flirt with on a Saturday evening, so there was no one in the kitchen when they arrived. Nekomaru excitedly plugged in the super blender and threw open the doors to the refrigerator. He started pulling out tons of fruits, some of which Kazuichi didn’t even recognize, and then he took some jars down from a high shelf that contained different colored powders.
“What are we making here?” Kazuichi asked, picking up one of the powder containers and attempting to read all the big words in the ingredients. “What’s creatine?”
“Creatine is great for building up muscle!” Nekomaru grinned at him, then dumped a scoop of the powder in the blender on top of some fruits and ice cubes.
“Doesn’t sound like it’ll taste good, but I trust ya after that sandwich the other day.” Kazuichi shrugged as he watched Nekomaru work some magic. He was so enthusiastic all the time, and Kazuichi admired him so much for it. Seeing the big grin on his face at Kazuichi’s gift made the mechanic want to make even more things for him. Maybe they could create new kinds of exercise equipment together… Kazuichi shook his head a little, bringing himself back to reality. Nekomaru seemed to really be enjoying this gift, but Kazuichi still couldn’t tell if they were just guys being dudes right now or if there was a chance Nekomaru might be feeling the kind of butterflies that were fluttering around in Kazuichi’s stomach right now.
“Alright, let’s see how this thing runs!” Nekomaru finished adding ingredients and slapped the top on.
“Wait, Nekomaru, you have to snap it on—” Kazuichi tried to stop him and tell him there were little clasps on the sides to make sure the top stayed on properly, but it was too late. Nekomaru flipped the switch and the super blender roared to life, shooting the top off and expelling its contents all over the kitchen. Kazuichi pounced on the switch, turning it off, but the damage was already done. There was pink, half-blended smoothie covering the counter, on the ceiling, on the doors of the fridge, and all over both Nekomaru and Kazuichi.
Kazuichi was mortified. He had spent all this time making this thing for Nekomaru, all this time coming up with a cute idea of a gift for his stupid crush, and now it just blew up in his face, quite literally. He turned to look at Nekomaru, dreading what he thought he was going to see.
Nekomaru, however, took a look at his smoothie covered arm and licked a little bit off. His eyebrows raised. “Hmm. Tastes pretty good to me.” He beamed down at Kazuichi, then cracked up.
All the nervousness and all the humiliation that had just poured into Kazuichi’s veins evaporated in an instant. He should’ve known Nekomaru wasn’t the kind of guy to get mad at him for something like this. Soon, he was laughing too, overwhelmed by the ridiculousness of it all, disarmed by the piece of banana in Nekomaru’s hair, weak at the knees from the strawberries stuck to the ceiling.
When they finally caught their breaths again, Kazuichi retrieved the blender lid from across the room and demonstrated how to properly secure it, still giggling a little as he emphasized the snapping sound the clasps made to let you know the lid was on right.
“We should probably clean this up, or Teruteru might kill us.” Kazuichi surveyed the room, impressed at just how many surfaces the blender managed to affect.
“Yeah…” Nekomaru shook his head, amused. “Let me start with this.” Nekomaru reached over and ran his thumb over Kazuichi’s cheek, wiping off a splash of smoothie, then licking his finger. Kazuichi stood completely still, Nekomaru making eye contact the whole time as he did it.
Now, as his cheeks turned entirely red, Kazuichi wasn’t so sure this wasn’t just guys being dudes making smoothies together anymore. Well, maybe Nekomaru was just like this with all of his friends. He was such a warm, affable guy, that this could just be best friend behavior. But Kazuichi harbored some hope there.
Once he got over the initial shock and the backflips his stomach was doing at the look in Nekomaru’s amber eyes, Kazuichi decided he was not one to be one-upped. He quickly plucked the slice of banana out of Nekomaru’s hair and popped it in his mouth, not nearly as smoothly as Nekomaru had done, but he was trying his damn best.
Nekomaru put his hand on the top of his head, surprised that a banana slice had been hiding up there. Then he chuckled, a little color rising to his cheeks as well, and Kazuichi felt like he was on top of the world.
*******************************************************************
After crawling around on their hands and knees and scrubbing the smoothie off the kitchen floor, Kazuichi and Nekomaru were both a little exhausted, so they headed back towards the dorms, clean super blender in hand. As they walked, Nekomaru casually threw his arm over Kazuichi’s shoulder, and Kazuichi leaned into it.
“Man, I can’t believe how pink that stuff was. It was really hard to get off the counters!” Kazuichi rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it stained your insides, eating that all the time.” He elbowed Nekomaru playfully.
“I doubt it stains your insides. It certainly doesn’t come out pink.” Nekomaru said that extremely matter of factly.
Kazuichi immediately giggled. “Good to know.” He replied. Most people found Nekomaru’s casual bowel movement conversation to be off putting, but Kazuichi appreciated his honesty. It made him feel like Nekomaru wouldn’t shy away from talking about anything, and Kazuichi really admired that when he himself got anxious discussing a lot of topics.
They got to Nekomaru’s dorm room first, and as they neared it, Kazuichi was a little worried Nekomaru would take his arm off Kazuichi’s shoulders and say goodnight, and that would be the end of this crazy little day. But Nekomaru simply unlocked his door and they entered his room together. They finally pulled apart when Nekomaru went to set the super blender down on his desk, straightening up his notes and things so there was enough space for it.
The walls of Nekomaru’s dorm room were decorated with lots of sports posters, photos, and jerseys, and some were framed and signed with personal messages to the Ultimate Team Manager. It was an impressive array; even though Kazuichi wasn’t the most well versed in sports, he recognized quite a few names. After a few moments of staring, Kazuichi realized Nekomaru had kicked off his sandals and plopped down on the couch, patting the spot next to him. Kazuichi followed suit, sliding off his sneakers and sitting next to Nekomaru, drawing his knees up to his chin.
He suddenly felt anxious, not knowing what to talk about or how to act. He’d had tons of crushes over his lifetime, but usually they were on distant, unattainable celebrities or students older than him that would never even bother to look his way. There was some comfort in that, knowing that they could never really reject him if they didn’t know he existed.
But this crush on Nekomaru was something different. Nekomaru was someone he had thought of as a real friend, someone who cared about him, someone who gave him more than the time of day. And then, of course, there were those frickin’ biceps that he definitely didn’t mind having wrapped around his shoulders. Kazuichi found himself staring, then looked away, sheepishly.
“Ah, Kazuichi, I wanted to ask you about that racecar you were working on the other day.” Nekomaru spoke up. “It’s a Deora II, isn’t it? Quite a rare car these days.”
“Wait, you’re into racecars? Dude!” Kazuichi immediately sat up, excited.
Nekomaru shrugged. “I know a few drivers through another team manager.” He gestured to a small, framed photograph on the top of his desk, featuring the Ultimate Team Manager and a Grand Prix winner.
Kazuichi leaned over to get a better look. “No fucking way! You know Kurt Wylde and you didn’t even tell me about it?” He buried his face in his hands and rocked backwards onto the arm of the couch, in utter disbelief.
“Hah! Most people would come into my room and fall all over this photograph with me and Michael Phelps, but not you!” Nekomaru shook his head.
“I mean, that’s cool too, but…” Kazuichi trailed off. “Man, I can’t believe you even know what a Deora II is. I can’t believe you recognized that pile of junk as one either! The previous owner did not take care of her at all. The exterior is rusted to hell, the shocks are a mess, and there was a huge dent in the hood when I got it, but it was pretty easy to pop back out…” Kazuichi realized he’d been rambling, but Nekomaru seemed genuinely interested. “We can take her for a spin once I get her in good working order.” He smiled. “But only a short one, ‘cause else I’ll throw up.”
“Wouldn’t want you to barf up all the nice smoothies I’m going to make you!” Nekomaru smirked and put his hand on Kazuichi’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb over his collar bone. If he kept doing that, Kazuichi was worried the butterflies in his stomach were going to make him throw up on this couch. He playfully shrugged the hand off, trying not to think about how Nekomaru just kinda promised to make him smoothies.
“Any other random celebrity friends of yours I should know about?” Kazuichi asked him, curious. Nekomaru thought for a moment, then got a funny look in his eye, chuckling to himself. Kazuichi just knew he had some kind of juicy secret. “What? Who? Tell me!” He scooted just a little bit closer to Nekomaru.
“I have been sworn to secrecy as to the identity of this individual, because now they are an internationally recognized athlete...” Nekomaru began, with Kazuichi listening eagerly. “They were just an Olympic hopeful back then, and I was just an aspiring manager. Needless to say, we kissed once in the locker room.” Nekomaru laughed wholeheartedly over the story, and Kazuichi was just shocked.
“You did what?” He blinked.
“We were just middle schoolers, and it was barely a kiss, but now I live every day knowing my lips once met with those so widely displayed on sports drink billboards!” The Ultimate Team Manager sighed, looking off into the distance.
“No way! You’re shitting me! Now I’m gonna look at every sports drink billboard and think about kissing you!” As soon as the words left his mouth, Kazuichi realized that didn’t come out the exact way he had intended. “Uh, I mean…” Not knowing how to recover, Kazuichi just pulled his beanie down over his eyes.
A big thumb peeled back the hem of his hat as Nekomaru peeked at his eyes, his face both concerned and curious. “Do you… think about kissing me?” He asked, tilting his head.
Kazuichi scooted away, curling up in the corner of the couch, his arms crossed. “Maybe sometimes…” He finally admitted, biting his lip. “I’ve… I’ve never kissed anyone, okay?” He huffed. It was quite ironic, really. Kazuichi Souda, known to the entire school to be very girl and boy crazy, had never kissed anyone in his entire life. Not even a stupid peck in grade school or anything. How embarrassing…
“Hey…” Nekomaru slid over towards him on the couch, softly placing a hand on Kazuichi’s arm, making him melt instantly, his body language relaxing. “It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with that.” His usual booming voice had become very quiet, a husky whisper. “And don’t worry, I can help you learn. I am a world renowned coach of many sports, after all.” There was an almost sly grin on Nekomaru’s face.
Kazuichi finally allowed himself to look back at Nekomaru, and he remembered why this silly crush had started in the first place. It was because Nekomaru was so kind, it was because he wouldn’t judge, it was because Kazuichi felt like he could be his authentic self around him. And his authentic self liked making fart jokes and blathered about antique cars and tried new foods even if they looked gross and had never ever kissed anybody.
“Can… Can we try?” Kazuichi asked, reaching across his body and placing his hand on top of Nekomaru’s.
“I would love to.” Nekomaru breathed. He took Kazuichi’s hand in his own, steadying the trembling. “Just relax.”
Kazuichi took a deep breath, pink eyes flicking back and forth between hazel ones. Nekomaru slowly leaned towards him, and Kazuichi’s heart felt like it was beating at the speed of light. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, so Nekomaru tenderly guided one to the base of his neck. Kazuichi reached up with the other and found Nekomaru’s rock hard abs, so he had nothing to complain about there.
Their noses were almost touching as Nekomaru reached up and parted Kazuichi’s lips with his thumb and whispered, “Close your eyes.”
Kazuichi did, and at long last, Nekomaru’s lips met his. It was like the world around them melted away, and there was nothing but the gentle movement of Nekomaru’s lips against his, and the warmth of Nekomaru’s body, and this funny sensation in Kazuichi’s heart. He leaned towards Nekomaru, just wanting to be as close to him as he possibly could be, to feel safe and comfy surrounded by those big biceps, to feel like the warmth radiating from Nekomaru’s kind heart was permeating the air they breathed.
But suddenly, Kazuichi was forced to pull away, not able to stand it.
“Are you okay?” Nekomaru asked immediately, studying the look on Kazuichi’s face.
“Yeah, sorry, I just… I can’t stop smiling.” He giggled, and Nekomaru just pulled him into a big hug.