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The strings of his bass hummed under Touya’s fingertips as he idly strummed the length of the instrument, staring out the window of the band room. Autumn had come, as one could tell by the warmer colors of the leaves falling onto the dormant grass, and Touya was left with nothing more than a satisfied feeling in his heart. Arguably he could claim that autumn happened to be his favorite season, comparable to Azusawa’s love for the springtime and An’s insistence that summer was the best, if only for the sole reason that it happened to remind him of a particular drummer in the band they were in.
Where is he, actually? Touya thinks, suddenly, and turns a little in his seat to look around the room. He was the only one present in the band room- it was school after hours, of course, and most of the students had gone home or had gone out with their friends. His eyes landed on the familiarity of a black drum set and his heart ached, wishing that Akito were there with him. Before forming a band with that of Kohane and An, they’d been a duo; the drums and the bass were two very popular instruments, and combined with their voices, it wasn’t hard for their name to gain a reputation. So, perhaps it was reasonable in all of its likeliness for Touya to miss the one boy he’d grown to love.
It takes him a little longer to realize that the drum sticks that were usually sitting on the seat of the instrument were gone, meaning Akito had been there at some point and would return at, well, some point. A smile subconsciously makes its way onto Touya’s face just at the thought. He’d be able to see Akito, and maybe even play some songs with him.
The door to the room swings open, and- look at that, Akito walks in wordlessly with his drumsticks in one hand, and plops himself down behind the drum set with a scowl.
Instincts kick in, and Touya finds himself looking at his… partner with knitted eyebrows, hands moving down from his instrument to fold in his lap. He couldn’t say that it was rare Akito would act this way, but Akito always had a reason for these kinds of things, no matter if he admitted it out loud or not. “Akito?” Touya says, testing the waters. His shoulders relax as Akito looks up to the sound of his name, head tilted to the side. “Is there something wrong? I don’t like assuming too much, but…” The older bites the inside of his cheek and somewhat shrugs. “You don’t look all that well.”
Akito stares back into his eyes for a few moments, and a small moment of worry pains Touya’s chest. It’s a little more relieving when Akito finds it in himself to laugh, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck and resting his drumsticks on top of his snare drum. “Hah, well… I’d tell ya, Touya, but I feel like you’re gonna laugh at me if I tell you why I’m feeling so shitty.” Akito tilts his head downwards to avert his eyes to the floor- is he blushing, Touya wonders- and he clicks his tongue. Surely enough, the drummer’s face was dusted lightly with the slightest shade of pink. “Kinda embarrassing, you know? It’s fine, I’m good.”
“Try me,” Touya replies with his mouth moving faster than his mind, and Akito looks a little startled by the statement, “You can tell me whatever’s on your mind, Akito.”
“... Touya, I-”
“Go on..?”
Akito’s head falls to the point where he’s looking straight at the ground, avoiding all forms of eye contact with his partner sitting a few paces across the room. “I wasn’t able to get the deluxe pancake deal from the cafe today ‘cause of school. And since we have practice, it’s not like I can get them after school, right..?”
Touya stifles a laugh behind his hand, trying to turn away so Akito wouldn’t see it, but the orange-haired boy narrows his eyes for a moment and grins, getting up from his seat behind the drums to approach Touya with a smirk. “Hey, I told you you’d laugh at me! You’re the worst,” he comments, but continues to smile as he walks up solely to flick Touya’s forehead lightly. The latter winces at first but smiles warmly as Akito leans forward a little more, making himself comfortable and resting his head on Touya’s shoulder. Akito’s hands curl at the base of Touya’s nape, and Touya’s hands lazily wrap around his partner’s waist, simply enjoying the embrace.
After a few quiet moments, Touya’s hand makes its way to Akito’s hair, ruffling the locks. “Alright, we’ll go get pancakes in a bit, if it makes you happier,” he proposes, loosening his hold around Akito and proceeding to get down from his seat, carefully handling the bass and lowering it down into its guitar case. The original plan was to do some light cleaning, maybe even fine tune some of the other instruments in the band room, but dire problems called for quick solutions (even if such a problem was small and happened to deal with pancakes). “I believe Azusawa and Shiraishi are busy, anyway, so we’re left with time alone.”
Akito blinks a few times and he looks positively confused. Touya smiles fondly at the sight. “Wait, so we seriously can go now..? You really want to go with me?”
“There’s nowhere else that I’m better off, Akito,” he responds, laughing as he walks to his bag and pressing a kiss to Akito’s cheek as he passes by. With a small shrug of his shoulder, Touya hauls the bag over his body, glancing down at his watch and back out the window once again; the leaves were still falling slowly to the ground, as if nothing had changed in the time that Touya had spent with Akito. He supposed it’d always be that way, with their routine staying casual as ever in each others’ presences. “I’m excited to have some of these pancakes that you’re awfully enthusiastic about.”
He looks back at Akito to see the other scoffing, his face a familiar shade of peach. “Oi, shuddup, you- and don’t just do those kinds of things outta nowhere!” Touya’s only given a moment’s notice before Akito’s in front of him again, a hand wrapped around his tie to pull him in gently and let his lips brush against Touya’s. Both fleeting and yet so emotional, Akito’s kisses were nothing less than fragile. “You’re the best, though, Touya. Seriously.”
“You’ve already told me that enough,” Touya chuckles, allowing himself to be pulled along to the sound of Akito’s victorious laugh and the feeling of his partner’s fingers intertwined with his own, and yet he can’t help but feel as if he could hear Akito say it forever.
He wanted to hear Akito say it forever, and maybe Touya knew that Akito would do that and more in a heartbeat, just for him.