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It’s very hard not to smile, Toya realises, as he watches Akito’s eyes widen as their server delivers a large, tiered stack of pancakes to their table. He can tell he’s trying to hide his excitement, likely as to not embarrass himself in front of said server, but it slips through the mask by way of his bouncing leg under the table. It’s adorable, Toya thinks, as he watches him over the coffee he’s been sipping absently for the last few minutes. Akito waits until the server is out of sight before truly letting his joy show on his face, digging into the cream-topped delight with fervor.
The he stops, after a brief glance up at Toya, resulting in a long look in which his smile fades. “...What’re you grinnin’ at.” he huffs.
Toya blinks. “Oh… I was?” he replies. I guess it’s even harder than I thought .
“Yeah, you were!” Akito retorts, becoming defensive as he chews his bite of pancake. “Is there, like, cream on my face?”
Toya begins to say no, but then he notices a fleck of white right by the corner of his mouth. “No.” he says anyway, hiding his smile by taking a longer drink of coffee.
Though clearly suspicious of him, his pancakes take priority, and Akito indulges in his dessert once again.
Toya’s more careful with his expression this time, instead striking up a conversation about an upcoming film adaptation of a favourite book of his. Akito chats back happily with him, promising to see it in cinemas with him sometime, whilst demolishing his pancakes. The moment is something that Toya would describe as pure happiness, if not the closest thing to it-- seeing Akito so unguarded is perhaps one of his favourite things in the world. The easy smile he wears when he’s comfortable is one that stays in Toya’s mind that he drifts back to in his quiet moments apart from him.
And once again, Akito frowns at him, his cheeks flushing lightly. “Dude, seriously. I’m gettin’ self conscious.”
Realising he must be smiling again, Toya chuckles. “Sorry, I don’t mean it.”
“‘S watchin’ me eat really that funny?” he grumbles, lathering a piece of pancake in cream.
“Funny?” Toya echoes. “No, not at all. You’re just cute, that’s all.”
If he was pink before, now he’s a bright, firetruck red. His hand freezes, fork halfway to his mouth, and he has to cover his face with his free hand to try to hide it. “Toya… C’mon…”
“What?”
Akito gives him an odd look before sighing into his hand, shaking his head. “You’re… really somethin’.”
Confused, Toya waits for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. Instead, he shoves his forkful into his mouth, his cheeks warm. In the process, he accidentally smears some more cream on his cheek. This, Toya finds funny, genuinely this time.
“Akito, hold still.” he tells him, chuckling quietly when Akito freezes as instructed, his cheeks full. He leans across the cafe table and with his thumb, wipes away the cream by the corner of his mouth. He cleans it off on a napkin as he sits back down, before his attention is caught by the way Akito begins to splutter, his face redder than ever.
“Y-You said I didn’t have any on my face!” he whispers angrily, trying to keep his voice down as to avoid attention from the other customers.
“Sorry, I lied.” Toya admits. “I thought it was cute.”
“Toya…” he whines. “You keep sayin’ that, I’m gonna die of embarrassment…”
Toya laughs. “Sorry, again. I’ll stop.”
At this, Akito looks at him with surprise. “O-Oh. Thanks.” His eyes drop to the table.
Ah. Toya smiles. He can tell that Akito isn’t sure how to feel about that. Slowly, he adds, “...Unless you don’t want me to?”
“...Wh,” Akito stutters, eyes wide. “I never said anything!!”
“You didn’t have to.” he replies, prompting yet more spluttering from Akito.
Toya spends the rest of their meal finding ways to compliment him, to Akito’s vocal disdain. But they both know that it makes him just a little bit happy, even if in secret.
Toya happily foots the bill.