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"Sorry, I'm late. Have you been here long, Touya?"
A sound of the door sliding open turned his eyes away from his glass. "Not really, I just arrived around 10 minutes ago. Sit down, Akito," he said while gesturing him to sit down. After giving him a brief nod, his partner then sat down across of him.
"It's been months since we last met, right? How have you been?"
"Hmm, I've been... not bad, I guess."
They were planning to catch up with a lot of things today, so they decided to book a drinking room in this izakaya instead of drinking at the usual table to talk more freely with each other.
Akito shook the glass in his hand after Touya poured the sake for him; gaining a clinking sound from the ices inside. It had been 5 years after the day they fulfilled their dream of surpassing RAD WEEKEND. It was crazy how quick time could fly, seeing how he already changed from a hot-headed 16 years old boy into a fully-grown 26 years old working adult man now.
It became harder to see each other after they became adults, but they did see each other once in a while, especially if there were special occasions. Just around five months ago, they met to see Touya and Kohane's newborn son. He'd never forget the way Touya looked when he was holding his baby. So careful and nervous, like he's holding the most precious thing in the world, but the look on his face with Kohane giggling beside him was in pure bliss. It was nice to see them doing well, that couple.
"I see," Touya smiled. "I've been doing good too. Look, I took a picture of Tetsu's first time rolling from his back to his stomach. He's so adorable."
Touya showed him a picture of a cute boy with the color of his eyes and Kohane's hair, Akito could guess if he were to scroll over Touya's gallery right now it'd probably be filled with the picture of their son. It looked like Kohane gave her hobby of taking many pictures at a time to Touya.
"Come to think of it, An has been saying she wants to meet Tetsu for some time now. Maybe we should arrange a meeting for all four of us later."
"Yeah, that sounds nice."
"Well, for tonight it's our men-only night though. Cheers, partner?"
The man chuckled a bit before lifting his own glass, "Cheers."
Their glasses met with a clink and they drank it with a pleasant feeling. Be it back then or now when they didn't sing regularly like before anymore, he and Touya were partners. The fact would always stay like that even after they formed their own families.
But, eh... my own family, huh.
"How about your relationship with Shiraishi, Akito?"
"We're doing fine... Just yesterday, she came home when I was watching a new-released horror movie and accidentally saw the jumpscare part, so I have to keep the light on in our bedroom that night because she was too scared. What a pain."
"Shiraishi is still scared of ghost, huh? To be honest before this I wouldn't have thought she's the type who can't handle horror stuffs at all... I mean, knowing her usual image."
"Right? But, well... The gap between her strong image and her scaredy-cat self isn't bad. It's kinda cute actually..."
"Haha... I see."
"What? What are you laughing about?"
"It's nothing, really." Touya took another sip from his drink as Akito complained. "Is there anything else about you guys?"
"Why are you so curious today, Touya?"
"Kohane is always curious about your development with Shiraishi... Well, I'm actually curious too."
"Geez, you guys..." Akito scratched his head. "... Just a few days ago, Akiyama visited us in our apartment. They said they just came back from a famous onsen for a business trip and gave An a relaxing bath bomb from the onsen as a gift."
Touya listened attentively, but Akito thought for a while; gripping his glass before opening his mouth to speak again.
"She was pretty curious about the bath bomb because Akiyama said it'd do good for her fatigue. An wanted to try it right away that night... but, she suddenly started worrying about me."
"Because there's only one?"
"Yeah. I had an overtime work just the day before, so she asked if I wanted to use it instead. I already told her it was okay, but she wasn't convinced at all. She kept saying I needed it more than her."
"That sounds like Shiraishi."
"That woman is too kind for her own good," Akito agreed. "In the end, a crazy suggestion came out from her mouth... 'How about we take a bath together then?' she said in her usual carefree tone. I was pretty sure I had a stupid expression on my face when she suddenly said that. I mean we did it regularly, but something like taking bath together... we never did that kind of thing before."
This time Touya raised a brow, "That sure... is something. Then how did it go?"
"How did it go... If you mean something heated or sexual then no, there wasn't anything sexual at all. Just affectionate gestures... one after another." The orange-haired man stared at his drink. The lightning of this room was enough to get Touya a clear look of his partner's content face. Even at a single glance, Touya could already see that he was still on cloud nine.
He continued, "The tub wasn't that spacious, but it was enough for her to sit between my legs.... At first I was really nervous. The sound of drops falling into the bathtub sounded louder in my ears than usual, and the occasional rippling sound the water made every time either of us moved made me even more self-conscious. Yet, all of a sudden she turned around and stroked my cheek..."
"It's okay, so Akito can relax."
She said that with no apparent worry seen on her smiling face, and his tense body was immediately relaxed.
"I decided to wash her hair to lessen my nervousness. I always like the feeling of running my fingers through her long hair and she seemed like she was enjoying it too, so I took my time there. After rinsing her hair thoroughly while making sure to protect her face from water running over it, I worked with the conditioner. Slowly massaging her scalp then while letting the conditioner sit for a minute, she held my hand... saying how my hand is a lot bigger than her and stuffs."
Touya was quietly listening while looking at Akito's face the whole time. To say that friend of his was in love would be an understatement, for he was completely head over heels. He silently acknowledged it.
"Sorry, I must sound like a silly high school boy rambling about his first love right now. It’s kinda embarrassing... Let's stop here.”
"No, it's okay. I enjoy listening to your story with Shiraishi."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, and thanks to you I have a story to tell when I get back home."
Akito hissed at how Touya was practically bragging about having a wife waiting for him at home, but he continued his story anyway. Maybe he was already drunk that he didn't mind rambling on like this, or maybe he also wanted to brag about it to someone.
Who knew.
"Well... after the conditioner set in, I rinsed and combed her hair. I was planning to just let her relax for the rest of the bath and also to keep my mind occupied, but she insisted on doing the same to me. So... yeah, we switched position. She gently ran her fingers, applying the shampoo through my hair. When I tried to close my eyes, I felt like floating." The corner of his mouth raised a bit as he remembered it, "...The whole moment was just utterly pleasant. I'm not sure how else to describe it... Man, I’m really bad with words, aren’t I?"
He pulled on his hair before sighing. Touya knew it wasn't a frustrated one, so he just watched in amusement.
"When we were both already clean, we just soaked in the tub. An leaned on my chest while I hugged her from behind. She then turned around to land a kiss on my cheek, giggling with that silly smile of hers plastered on her face. It caught me off guard. God... I don't know, I think I've come to love that silly smile a lot.
Eventually she fell asleep in my arms. I guess it’s because she was too relaxed that her eyes finally gave in. I rinsed our bodies once again, wrapped towels around her, and carried her to the bed. I was trying my best not to wake her up."
"Ah, did you help her change or...?"
"...Don't get any weird idea, of course I helped her change. Wouldn't want to risk her catching a cold by sleeping naked."
"Yeah, that's very Akito."
"Do you know that you've been having this annoying grin on your face, Touya? Don't think I didn't notice just because your expression doesn't change much," The man huffed.
"Anyway, I laid down beside her after we were both clothed in our pajamas. My eyes were heavy but I didn’t wanna go straight to sleep... Before I knew it I was watching her, she was there, sleeping soundly on the other side of my bed with her night sky hair sprawled out behind her. That night was somehow different than any other night... like I could probably indulge myself in the sight of her all night. Her body moved slowly in the rhythm of her soft breath, I found it adorable somehow. She smelled like my shampoo, but I swear it never smelled as good as it was on her. Strange, huh?"
Touya smiled too when Akito couldn’t hold his smile anymore as he talked, "You must be enjoying yourself a lot, Akito."
"... Yeah," he answered honestly. "I know she’s a really strong girl, capable of things, but at that moment I think she looked so fragile. As if she would break if I were to touch her. My hand was hesitating. I was scared, Touya. I might go crazy if she left me now."
Akito took the last sip from his glass, it was now empty.
“But suddenly she woke up, still half-asleep as she put my hand on the side of her face, saying 'Why are you not sleeping yet, Akito? It's okay, you don't have to try so hard in front of me. I will love you regardless.' before went back to sleep. I was left there dumbfounded. Do you understand how I felt back then, Touya?"
"Let's see..." he started to think. "Ecstatic?"
"Very."
For a man with inferiority complex like him, those words gave him a hard-to-explain sense of ease. He'd always try his best, even pushing himself to his limit, so he could stand on the same stage as the others. Yet, she assured him that it was okay to relax once in a while. She somehow always managed to say the things he wanted to hear, Akito chuckled a bit.
“That night I fell asleep while stroking her cheek, and when I woke up in the morning, we were already hugging each other with our legs intertwined. The first thing she did after opening her eyes was giving me a brief kiss and telling me that she loves me. Really, I don't get what was going on with her at all that time... Telling me her feelings again and again was too much, don't you think?”
His heart wasn't strong enough to handle that much affection after all.
"Shiraishi loves you a lot."
Akito nodded, "I love her a lot too. She probably doesn't realize it, though."
"No, I'm pretty sure Shiraishi understands. She isn't as dense as you think."
"You think so?"
"Kohane said so."
This couple, Akito sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "Just how often do you guys talk about us? Mind your own love life, Aoyagis."
"It can't be helped, we're always excited to talk about when are you guys going to get married," Touya said lightheartedly while emptying his own glass. "Ah, by the way... why were you late earlier, Akito? Were you with Shiraishi?"
"Nah, I dropped by a place before coming here."
"A place?"
"Yeah," the man grinned, his hand was gripping something inside his pocket. "A jewelry store."
Touya widened his eyes for a while, before smiling back. "I see..."
It probably wouldn’t be that long until they got to hear a good news.