Work Text:
“HaHa, Shisho~! Are you on break? Good work on practice today! ☆”
Natsume’s gaze followed the source of the voice that called out his name. While continuing to rub his towel to get rid of his sweat, he found his junior coming into the practice room looking as energetic as ever.
“Sora. Did you just finish your meeting?”
“Yup~☆ Everyone was kind and everything went smoothly!”
As he approached, Sora gave a bottle of fresh drink he got along the way. He mentioned how he wanted to “buy one for Senpai too, but Sora remembered he wasn’t going to be here today!”. Natsume winced at the mention of the blue haired fellow, but he managed to smile as he took the drink from Sora’s hand.
The man in question--Aoba Tsumugi--was absent from today’s unit practice due to him getting a personal work offer to play in a commercial. Today happened to be the commercial’s shooting day. Natsume didn’t recall much about the offer, other than Tsumugi’s bewildered reaction when he received it. At first he seemed reluctant in accepting, Natsume had heard his mumbles about how he’s not suited to do these kinds of jobs. It annoyed Natsume when Tsumugi did that--so he urged the older man to take on the job, or he’d place a curse on the man. At least that did the trick.
“Speaking of Senpai, Sora heard from Sparkly-oniisan that Senpai is trending on the internet! Sora doesn’t know what that means, but that’s what I heard!”
That statement raised Natsume’s eyebrow. His first guess was that the paparazzi had taken an offshoot photo and shared them online. The media is probably just exaggerating so they could sell the photos like hotcakes. That was something common after all; then the agency would track down the perpetrator and have the photo taken down. Well sure, things could be worse than that, but Natsume tried not to pay too much attention to it.
Of course, he emphasised on the tried.
Sora continued to spit out light conversation topics, but he had no attention span to continue listening. Growing curious by the second, Natsume caved in and took out his smartphone to look it up on the internet. He typed in the culprit’s name into the search bar, and he watched the screen loading--then he immediately found the mentioned photos already circulating on various social media. Photos of… Tsumugi, naturally. There were a lot of photos circulating around, but one in particular caught his attention the most. He tapped the screen again to take a closer look. In the picture, there was another figure beside Tsumugi--his work partner, Natsume assumed. The photo was taken from a back angle, so Natsume couldn’t figure out their face, but judging from the small stature and long hair, Tsumugi’s partner seemed to be a girl.
Natsume narrowed his eyes even further at the sight. The girl in the picture was clearly holding Tsumugi’s arms. In fact, her entire body was clearly pressed on Tsumugi’s. Even if they were coworkers, their proximity was way too close. Natsume went silent.
The hell? Who even allowed this to happen?
Natsume unintentionally gripped his phone harder. He gripped so hard that he might’ve as well crushed butter with his bare hands (with his average build, it was the thought that counted anyway). Sora called out to him, but his ears only managed to pick up the sound after the third time his name’s been called.
“-sho! Your phone’s gonna break!”
Seeing the concerned look by the usually bright Sora, Natsume finally lessened the grip, ultimately saving the device from a potential terrible fate. He tried to remain as calm as possible when answering his junior,
“Sorry. It’s nothing.”
“Really~? Sora doesn’t know what Shisho saw, but your colors are mixing into a scary one…”
It was virtually impossible to lie to Sora when he could literally see Natsume’s emotions. He knew he needed an excuse to escape questioning.
He faked a cough.
“My throat’s a bit dry now; it seems I need more water than I thought. I’ll go out and buy some. You wait here, okay?.”
He moved his feet as quickly as possible before Sora could even give him an answer. It was a bit awful for him to do so, but he desperately needed to get out of the room. He kept the little sorry for another time.
With heavy steps he made his way to an empty hallway. After making sure no one was around, he sat on an empty bench, taking a moment to recount what had happened. No, actually, he skipped that part. He took out his phone from his pocket and resumed staring at the unbelievable picture he had to see with his own two eyes.
Something stirred in Natsume’s heart. Was it anger? Was it disappointment? He couldn’t pinpoint it, but he felt his stomach tickling him. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, he had to say.
Shit.
He absolutely hated the feeling. Seeing Tsumugi getting intimate with another person--a total stranger on top of it--awoken something slumbering deep inside him. It was like someone put a curse on him. Once the magic was set, you needed to go on a quest to seek out the remedy. Failure leads to an unhappy life. But Natsume didn’t have a knight on a white horse to come aid him.
He had only himself to deal with this newly discovered feeling inside him.
He absolutely could not talk about it to anyone else, especially Tsumugi. He couldn’t--let anyone know what was happening.
“That stupid mophead senpai…” he muttered to himself.
Natsume didn’t know why he even had feelings for the blue haired man. He was just so disgruntled over the whole news for God knows what reason. He did, however, know for certain that he didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t know how to face Tsumugi tomorrow--if ever. He wanted to disappear from the face of the earth and forget all about the stupid glasses guy.
He sighed and put down his phone. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down. After several breaths, he picked up the phone again and saw his feed had refreshed by accident, and saw an even worse sight.
It was a photograph of the girl kissing Tsumugi’s cheek.
Thankfully Natsume still had some sanity left inside him, else he would’ve thrown his phone to the cold hard ground. Instead, he quickly turned off the screen and kept his eyes shut.
That idiot was dead to him.
*
Tsumugi came to his unit practice the next day, having finished his commercial shoot. He heard several people whispering when he passed by, but he had no idea they were talking about him. In his mind, he was just happy to see Natsume (and Sora) again after several days.
He opened the door handle and greeted his fellow unit mates,
“Good morning!”
Correction. He greeted his fellow unit mate .
Only Sora alone was present in the room, with no visible signs of Natsume anywhere.
Tsumugi blinked several times, trying to process the scene. He didn’t hear news that Natsume would be absent from today's practice. Sora answered his greeting, so Tsumugi came over to the younger boy.
“Sora-kun? Why are you here alone? Where’s Natsume-kun?”
“Senpai~ Shisho said he was sick and won’t be coming today… He looked like he had a fever when I last saw him yesterday~...”
A fever? Was Natsume overworking himself without taking any breaks? He swore, that boy…
Tsumugi gave a weak smile. “I see, so that’s what happened. That’s too bad. We should go ahead and practice today without him then.”
He was worried about Natsume, but he couldn’t abandon his responsibilities. He’d just have to check up on Natsume later after practice ended. He went to get prepared, but he felt Sora following him. He saw the younger boy fidgeting, as if he had something to say. Instead of asking, he waited for Sora to speak on his own.
“Shisho’s colors were really scary yesterday! It changed after he saw something on his phone. Sora doesn’t know what he saw, but Sora thinks that’s the reason he fell sick!”
Tsumugi thought that was an interesting bit of information. If Sora didn’t know what it was that Natsume had seen, he assumed he’d have no way of knowing other than straight up asking the person in question. Nevertheless he thanked Sora for sharing that and promised him he’ll catch up with Natsume later on.
Practice continued as planned, but it was clear that they weren’t making much progress without Natsume around. They were supposed to match their dance for their upcoming live concert today, and that was hard to do with one member missing. Not only that, Tsumugi was also distracted. He made no attempt to conceal it, with his steps being off timing and clumsy. It eventually hindered the whole practice session, and they decided to end early for their own good.
Once he was able to take a breather, Tsumugi took out his phone and sent a text to Natsume.
‘Natsume-kun’
‘I heard from Sora-kun that you’re sick’
‘Are you okay? Should I come visit?’
He didn’t really expect any reply soon. If Natsume was down with fever, he should be sleeping right now. Not replying to texts.
Yet, Tsumugi’s phone vibrated almost instantly.
‘No.’
No one was there to see it, but Tsumugi made a troubled face to himself. That answer was truly Natsume-like that he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. He moved his fingers to reply, but the red haired replied even faster.
‘I’m fine. I’ll show up tomorrow. Don’t come here’
If Natsume said he didn’t want to be visited, then Tsumugi had no choice but to comply.
‘Okay. See you tomorrow.’
He genuinely hoped that Natsume had recovered and everything would return to normal tomorrow. If not, then…
Tsumugi sighed. Let’s not think about that, he said to himself.
With that in mind, he tried to distract himself and forget about the younger man until tomorrow came.
*
The next day, Natsume showed up as promised. While he didn’t seem to be sick on the outside, it was very clear that he wasn’t mentally there. Not as normal. He was much colder, avoiding Tsumugi’s gaze altogether. When Tsumugi greeted him enthusiastically, pleased to see the younger man, Natsume only gave a curt reply and physically distanced himself.
This was something Tsumugi had feared. He was awfully aware of his dense personality, so whenever Natsume decided to act cold around him, it made him anxious. What had he done wrong this time? He subconsciously furrowed his brows in frustration.
Over the course of practice Tsumugi tried casually calling out to the younger boy several times, only to have the latter ignore him. He sighed each time he failed. If it was personal matters, he would’ve liked Natsume to speak up to him. Neither of them were even concentrating on practice anyway.
Eventually break time came. Natsume was the first to sit down alone--a bit farther than Tsumugi would’ve liked. Tsumugi visibly fidgeted, still thinking up a strategy to approach the red haired.
Sora was somewhat aware of the heavy atmosphere between them.
“I’m gonna go buy some drinks for us!” he said without skipping a beat, dashing out of the room. Tsumugi wondered when Sora became able to read the room like that--he noted to talk to Sora about that later.
For now he had something more important to do.
Tsumugi approached his fellow magician.
“Natsume-kun? You look distraught…”
*
The next day Natsume had no choice but to show up for practice. Thankfully, his fever wasn’t a serious case. It was already gone after a couple hours of sleep. Perhaps it was stress that caused his fever, rather than an actual illness. Natsume sighed as he got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He saw a reflection of himself in the mirror. He remembered the silhouette of the girl in the photo he saw--slender with long hair. While he hadn’t seen her face in detail, he imagined her with fair skin. It made sense if she were pretty, as she was most likely a model.
He returned to assess his own reflection. He was average height for a man, which meant he was much taller than the girl. His face was youthful, but it wasn’t pretty (at least, he didn’t find himself so). He kept his hair a little long, but it was still mostly short.
He realized he was the total opposite of Tsumugi’s partner.
Seeing Tsumugi getting that close with that girl off photoshoot… meant he must have liked her right? And Natsume himself was nothing like her.
“.......”
He wanted to scream. He ruffled his own hair in exasperation.
Remember. What’s so good about that mophead idiot anyway? Focus, Natsume!
He sighed. This was stupid.
He didn’t have time to sit around and mope around. As much as he didn’t want to face Tsumugi, he knew he had to get going soon. Perhaps he’d sort out his feelings along the way.
Well, that was what he hoped for.
In reality, the moment Tsumugi came into the door--a little later after Natsume had arrived and started doing stretches--he was struck with another wave of… negative feelings. He averted his gaze and barely replied any of Tsumugi’s greetings. He just--couldn’t do it. He thought he’d forget about it by the time practice had started, but it was the exact opposite. He recalled everything he saw and grew sullen almost instantly.
Tsumugi must’ve realized it, as Natsume felt the older man’s gaze at him throughout practice. They both made mistakes in their steps, a sign that neither were really paying attention in their session.
By the time break time came around, Natsume was still lost in his swirl of emotions inside. He sat down on a corner, distancing himself from his fellow unit mates. He faintly recalled hearing Sora going out of the room to buy some drinks or whatever.
“Natsume-kun? You look distraught…”
He flinched hearing Tsumugi’s voice. He was too preoccupied with his thoughts that he failed to notice they were now alone in the room, next to each other. Natsume’s heart palpitated at the realization.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Natsume-kun. You were making mistakes throughout practice. It isn’t like you.”
He mentally cursed at his own failure. He really didn’t want to admit anything to the older man, but he wasn’t coming up with any good excuses.
“It’s really noth…”
“If you don’t tell me what’s going on I don’t know what to do!”
Natsume was surprised to hear Tsumugi raise his voice like that. It threw him off guard that the gentle, normally lighthearted senpai he knew would be so assertive. He was left speechless for a moment, though the person in question seemed to be as shocked as he was.
For a moment, he thought that maybe… now would be a good time to do something bold as well. He saw how Tsumugi opened his mouth--presumably to apologize, but Natsume beat him to it. Driven by the momentary impulse, he hurled out spirited words.
“Okay, fine! You want to know what’s going on --it’s because I love you!” he blurted out.
He blinked a couple of times before shutting his mouth again.
He said it. He finally said it. He felt his heart rate increasing tenfold, his face flushing in deep red. He immediately brought his hand to cover his face, too embarrassed by his own words. He didn’t even have time to check Tsumugi’s reaction. He must be disgusted--that someone like Natsume would even like him--
“...I love you too.”
Huh? What had he just said?
“What.”
“What?”
“You said something--”
“I said, I love you too.”
…?!
Again, Natsume was left speechless. His mind was going haywire at the confession scene unfolding before him. If embarrassment were deadly, Natsume would’ve been long gone by now.
“But you- the girl in the photo …!”
Tsumugi tilted his head in confusion. Natsume continued watching as Tsumugi seemed to have been trying to recall what Natsume was talking about. When it finally clicked, he saw Tsumugi’s mouth forming to the shape of an O, as if finally comprehending what this--all of this--was all about.
“Natsume-kun, were you jealous of the girl from the photoshoot?”
Bingo. As much as Natsume wanted to deny it, he did, in the end, realize that he was jealous of the girl. He was jealous that someone was being intimate with his crush. That fact had tore him apart for the last two days. He had repeatedly thought, if only he didn’t have a crush on Tsumugi, then he didn’t have to undergo such a tormentful ordeal.
Natsume silently nodded, unable to do anything than come clean by now.
He heard Tsumugi letting out a ‘I see~ So that’s what this is all about’ while he continued facing the floor. He saw a reflection of the man sitting beside him, looking all relieved.
“You see, Natsume-kun. That girl was trying to blackmail me.”
“She- what?!”
Tsumugi chuckled at Natsume’s response.
“Yeah, she went on and on about causing a scandal or something. I didn’t really take her seriously. How did you know anyway, Natsume-kun?”
“There were… leaked photos on the internet.”
“I see, I see~ I didn’t even realize she had someone take those photos, haha!”
“How are you laughing about that?!”
“Why not? The agency took care of it didn’t they?” he genuinely inquired. Natsume couldn’t deny the question. “Besides, because of her I finally got to hear Natsume-kun’s real feelings for me!”
How simple minded--even though Natsume had been stressing over it for the past two days straight. He felt dumb, but he was secretly glad. He had been worrying over nothing.
… He couldn’t believe Tsumugi actually liked him back.
“Hey, Natsume-kun?”
His head shot up at the call.
“Can I… kiss you?”
He saw the serious look on Tsumugi’s face. Supposedly it made sense. They had confessed to each other, and kissing was an act of love. As much as he wanted it, not even in his wildest dream that he thought Tsumugi would kiss him though. He was growing redder by the minute, but he managed to whip up a small ‘yes’ accompanied by a couple of nods.
He stayed as Tsumugi’s face leaned into his. He closed his eyes in anticipation. Their lips eventually met, and his brain was no longer able to comprehend the feeling. The split second they shared felt like an eternity for Natsume. The man he loved was kissing him.
It was breathtakingly magical.
When they broke the kiss, both parties were beet red. They both needed a moment to return to their original state, and they looked away from each other. Tsumugi though, crept his hand on top of Natsume’s and tightened his grip. Natsume simply accepted the gesture.
In the end, he didn’t need a knight on a white horse to come and rescue him. But as he felt the true love kiss lingering, he admitted it was exactly how it was portrayed in the children’s books he read as a child.
While it wasn’t a happily ever after, it was joyous indeed.