Archive of Our Own

This was it.

This was the day Hanamaki decided he’d had enough. He wished for nothing more than the sun to blow up and engulf the earth right now.

“Hiro, stop sulking like a child.”

“I’m not sulking,” he huffed, crossing his arms.

Hanamaki stared out the car window, watching the rain fall. He liked to think the raindrops were racing each other down the window. He wished he could be a raindrop. Maybe then he would get out of this.

Matsukawa gave him a soft look out of the corner of his eye before focusing back on the road. He took a hand off the wheel to pinch at Hanamaki’s cheek.

“Cheer up. It’s not that bad.”

“Isseiii,” Hanamaki complained, slapping the other’s hand away. “You don’t get to judge me, you haven’t had to get your wisdom teeth removed.”

“That may be true, but at least your dick isn’t getting removed,” said Matsukawa while patting his shoulder, “that’d be truly something to sulk about. Or like a single testicle.”

Hanamaki thought about it then nodded solemnly in agreement before turning back to watch the rain.

“Dentists are evil,” he mumbled under his breath.

Matsukawa sighed; this conversation had happened at least 10 times within the past 24 hours. Hanamaki knew it was likely annoying by now, but he couldn’t help himself. And it didn’t help that Matsukawa never backed down.

“No they’re not.”

Hanamaki quickly turned himself around to face his boyfriend, his eyes narrowing. “Yes they are. I can tell. They fail the vibe check,” he said, voice dead serious. Matsukawa tried to hold back a laugh. Hanamaki knew what he was thinking: Why would anyone think all dentists are evil? He didn’t have a good answer. Anytime he tried to explain it, the conversation would only get more incomprehensible, so this was something he just had to be trusted on.

“Hiro, these people are medically trained to help people’s teeth, why would they be evil?”

The light brown (almost pink) haired man frowned. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask the evil dentist next time you see him, if he’s not too busy inflicting pain and torture on to his many victims.”

Matsukawa rolled his eyes at his exaggerated comment.

“Well aren’t you lucky? You’re his next victim. Don’t try and get on his bad side now, ‘kay?”

Hanamaki went silent, pressing his lips together and slightly to the side. He knew, objectively, there was nothing to fear, but the anxiety clawing its way into his heart wouldn’t listen. The radio station played softly, crooning whatever shitty American pop channel it was stuck on. There was an incident a little over a month ago involving a lot of spilled Red Bull and a live chicken named after Kindaichi, and now the radio was stuck on one channel, and it would not change or turn off. It was a good idea at the time, but now both men were now fairly educated on western artists, whether they wanted to be or not. Hanamaki watched Matsukawa’s face drop after he noticed the lack of retort.

“What did you do to the poor dentist?” He accused.

Hanamaki gasped dramatically and crossed his hands over his heart. “I didn’t bite him, I swear.”

Matsukawa glanced at him, face scrunched up in confusion. Hanamaki thought it was cute.

“That-that’s not even remotely what I thought you did, but now I’m starting to think you did bite him.”

“Nooooooo,” Hanamaki complained. “I bite one and only one person I promise,” he assured, not-so-innocently batting his eyes.

“Last time you promised me, we ended up stranded in the woods.”

“I swear I had the right directions—”

“Clearly not.”

“Well how was I supposed to know? It ended up being a fun day trip anyway.”

Matsukawa bit the inside of his cheek. Hanamaki knew he won this round. They may have been lost, but they got to hang out. Just the two of them. In a place full of serenity. He considered it the perfect accidental date. Iwaizumi wasn’t happy though when he had to pick them up off of a random back street they managed to find. He turned back towards the window to watch the rain. Good times. After a few minutes of silence—except for the distant sound of Poker Face by Lady Gaga—he started to giggle. He remembered something.

“What now?” Matsukawa asked, faking annoyance.

“Nothin’ just recalled something.”

Matsukawa waited for him to continue, but he didn’t like the little shit he was. If Matsukawa wanted to know, then he’d have to ask.
“And that was?” Matsukawa prompted, checking his blind spot before switching lanes.

“Ok,” Hanamaki turned completely to face him. “Do you remember when we were in those woods walking around or whatever and a ladybug landed on your shirt…”
Matsukawa’s eyebrows furrowed and his face started turning red. Matsukawa didn’t get flustered or embarrassed often, but Hanamaki knew better. He knew what made him tick.
“And you absolutely freaked the fuck out,” Hanamaki burst out laughing. “I’ve never heard anyone scream so loud. And we’re friends with one of the biggest drama kings in the world.”

“It’s not funny.”

“It is funny. Who the fuck is scared of ladybugs?”

“Well at least I’m not afraid of dentists,” he shot back. “People are scared of bugs all the time.”

Hanamaki frowned at the reminder. If they kept messing with each other, he probably would’ve forgotten where they were actually going. “That’s not fair.”

“Yes it is.”

“No it's not.”

“Yes it is.”

“Suck my nuts.”

“Gladly.”

“Shut up and keep driving, loverboy. Let me mourn my teeth in peace,” Hanamaki pouted, dramatically crossing his arms. He stared wistfully out the window like an angsty teen in a movie, and he knew it. He could hear Matsukawa about to let the conversation go but then he heard him take a small inhale. Hanamaki guessed this topic wasn’t over yet and likely wouldn’t be for a while.

“You didn’t even know what wisdom teeth were until a few weeks ago. You’re not going to miss them,” Matsukawa explained.

“Maybe I will. Have you thought about that? I’m going to host a funeral and everything,” Hanamaki countered. Then his eyes widened at a thought. “Do you think they’ll let me keep my teeth?” Matsukawa paused, then shrugged.

“Maybe if you ask nicely.”

“I’m always nice.”

“Says the dentist biter.”

“Low blow. Almost as low as your mom was last night.”

“That barely makes sense.”

“Your mom barely makes sense.”

“I’m going to tell her you’re making jokes about her.”

“WAIT NO I’m kidding I love your mom Isseii ple-”

The word died on his tongue. Hanamaki recognized the street they were on and the buildings that passed by. Did the drive really go that fast? He could have sworn they had more time. When the name of the dentistry came into sight, he started fiddling with his fingers. This couldn’t be that bad…right? Nothing scary here. Nothing at all. It was only some grown adults with sharp tools poking and cutting people’s mouths open. Well, soon enough it would be his mouth. That they would be cutting open. To remove his wisdom teeth. With sharp tools. That would be cutting through his gums. In his mouth.

The graphic images from a late night internet search flooded his mind. His heart began to thump faster in his chest and his body felt hotter. Was the car getting warmer? The fiddling of his thumbs turned to picking at the cuticles as his mind wandered. He thought of the bloodied gums, bruised skin, the sharp tools cutting into the mouth and extracting the tooth. Hanamaki shut his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. He thought of better times, better places. He tried to look back on the fond memories in the woods, but he was haunted by images of blood and stitches.

Matsukawa grabbed his hand and squeezed it once. Hanamaki squeezed back and didn’t let go.

Hanamaki swung his legs back and forth. They made it to the dental clinique alive, sadly, and checked in. Now they were both sitting in the waiting room. The wallpaper was an ugly shade of off-white, stupid photographs of smiling families hung on the walls, there was a suspicious couch and some chairs in the center of the room, which he and Matsukawa were currently sitting in. No one else was there, which wasn’t surprising. Most people would probably be at school or work at this time, but since they both took the day off for this procedure (or more like Matsukawa took the day off) here they were. At a stupid time in a stupid place for a stupid surgery.

The clock ticked loudly, marking every second passing by, every second closer to bye bye wisdom teeth. The sound made his right eye twitch. He hated this place. He hated wisdom teeth. He thought it was a bunch of bullshit. They should’ve let him keep his teeth in his mouth. Was that not where they belonged anyway? As the time passed by ever so slowly, he noticed his leg starting to bounce against the floor. Matsukawa glanced at him every few seconds before returning to his phone, playing some random cat game. As his foot continued to tap against the ugly red carpet, he realized how shitty the designer of this place was. Seriously though, why red? Literally any other color would’ve been better. He made a comment about it when they first sat down. Matsukawa told him it was because red would hide the blood stains better. He hadn’t talked since.

His anxiety and boredom started to tag team him. His leg bounced faster and he was desperate for a way out. He tried to distract himself on his phone. Didn’t work. He tried to distract himself by watching the whatever shitty house realtor show was playing in the waiting room. Also didn’t work, but made him realize most people had zero sense of style. That left one option...

“Explain to me why I have to do this again.”

“Because it’ll prevent pain and other issues later on. You got too many teeth in your mouth. They have to remove them to allow there to be room,” Matsukawa responded with his monotone voice with ease, sounding like he had already answered this question a thousand times. Hanamaki supposed he had, but he needed to hear it again.

“Maybe I want to have a lot of teeth. Like a shark,” Hanamaki quipped.

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you graduated from dental school or studied marine biology,” he replied, disappointed in Matsukawa’s lack of a creative response.

“Says the person without a real job.”

“Says the man with a—”

A woman wearing scrubs entered from the side door to the all but empty room.

“Takahiro Hanamaki,” she called. Hanamaki felt his blood run cold. Theoretically, he knew he was going to have this procedure today and was in fact waiting to be called back, but when the dental assistant called his name, it felt real. He was actually about to have his wisdom teeth removed. Subconsciously he found Matsukawa’s hand and held it tight.

“Yeah that’s me,” he responded softly. He was about to get up, but noticed the woman walking towards them, so he stopped. Matsukawa put his phone away and stared at him with a blank expression.

“Your legs shaking reminds me of cricket,” he whispered, leaning closer. Instead of responding, Hanamaki stomped on his foot as subtly as possible. The dental assistant stopped a few feet in front of them, ignoring Matsukawa’s pained hiss.

“Before I take you back there and we get started, I am obligated to ask if you have arrangements for someone to drive you home. If not, I’d advise you to do so now.”

“Yeah, I’m good. I brought this sack of flesh,” he said while jabbing his thumb towards Matsukawa, who gave a small peace sign with the hand not cradling his stomped on foot. The woman nodded in acknowledgment.

“We should be done in about 45 mintues to an hour. We may call you back while he’s coming off the anesthesia and get him all set to return home,” she told the both of them, mostly directed towards Matsukawa. “Do either of you have any more questions before we go back?”

The two men shook their heads.

“Ok then, sir if you follow me through these doors we can get you set up,” she said, heading back towards the doors she originally came from. She stopped and held the door open, waiting for Hanamaki, who was staring down at his hand intertwined with Matsukawa’s. He turned towards Matsukawa and hugged him tightly; he let out a deep sigh, then got up to follow her. He took one last look back at his boyfriend.

“Wish me luck,” he said with fake enthusiasm, throwing up a pair of peace signs.

“It’s just teeth,” Matsukawa responded impassively.

“Wow, you’re such a romantic,” he said disappointedly. “Whatever, I’ll see you in an hour.” He blew a kiss before going through the doors. Matsukawa rolled his eyes, and Hanamaki swore he caught sight of a smile. He tried to convince himself it was all going to be okay. He’ll see Issei soon. It was just teeth like he said.

Hanamaki blinked slowly. Time had passed, but he didn’t know how long. His mind felt foggy, like the windshield this morning when they drove in the rain. Was this how raindrops felt? People had entered and exited the room a few times, but he could never remember who by the time they left. He was still sitting in the chair where the surgery was done. The dentist had left a while ago. It was merely him and a different dental assistant now. She had long dark hair and thick eyebrows. It reminded him of someone but his brain wasn’t working well enough to know who.

“Heyyy sexy, you...you here often?”

She glanced at him from where she was standing at a counter across the room organizing something with an amused look on her face.

“Yes. I work here.”

Hanamaki’s eyes widened in surprise. Then widened further when he realized there was cotton in his mouth.

“Theresomthing in there,” he whispered. The lady chuckled softly.

“There’s some gauze in your mouth to help with the bleeding. Try not to dislodge it. Your friend will be here soon.”

“Isseei,” he said in bewilderment. “Isseiiis going to be here?”

“Yes. The doctor went back not too long ago to get him.”

“Isseiii,” he hummed happily, slightly kicking his legs like a child. “I love ‘em so much he’s so nice to me.” The lady smiled at his goofy attitude.

“Is that so?” she asked kindly as she moved to grab something on a counter behind Hanamaki.

“Yeahh he always takes good care of me. Very good care. He’s so nice…” he paused for a moment, reaching to poke at the cotton in his mouth before he was told not to do that. “I love ‘em. He’s pretty. He’s also got a big co—”

He was cut off as the door slid open as the dentist led Matsukawa into the room. They were talking about something related to the procedure and recovery but were interrupted by Hanamaki’s sudden outburst.

“Isseiii,” he cried and reached out to him with both arms. “Why’d you leave me here withese evil people?”

Matsukawa stood there confused for a second before going to hug him. Hanamaki could feel that his cheeks were a bit swollen and probably looked stupid, but overall it could be worse. But as of the present, he only thought of Matsukawa around him.

“Do you mean the dentist and everyone?”

“Yesss they stole my teeth fromme,” Hanamaki said, starting to cry. Matsukawa hugged him tighter; he didn’t know why he felt emotional. He just did. In the back of his subconscious he felt amused. Perhaps it was because Matsukawa never knew how to comfort someone who was crying. He always ended up looking like a deer in headlights, so naturally Hanamaki made fun of him for it. However, hugging usually worked, so they stayed like that for a few more seconds, till Hanamaki felt satisfied enough to let him pull away. Matsukawa straightened up and turned to address the doctor.

“The anesthesia is mostly worn off by now right? So he’s all set to go home.”

The doctor looked up from his clipboard from where he was highlighting what looked like instructions for how Hanamaki should care for his mouth for the next few days. That was probably what he was telling Matsukawa on their way back.

“Yes. The type of anesthesia used in this procedure wears off relatively quickly. He may feel out of it for a little while, but the effects don’t last long. He should avoid…”

While the dentist was enlightening Matsukawa on the proper ways Hanamaki would have to take care of himself after the procedure, Hanamaki got bored and decided to take it upon himself to try and befriend the dental hygienist again. She was still leaning against the counter to his left, focused on the conversation in front of her, but felt Hanamaki’s stare and turned her head to meet his eyes.

“Did you know I robbed a bank once?” He said, completely unprompted and looking quite proud of himself. He couldn’t smile that well with his swollen cheeks and gauze in his mouth but he tried, resulting in a dorky look on his face.

“Hiro, stop telling people you’ve robbed a bank,” Matsukawa chided, then turned back to the doctor, “Sorry, what were you saying about salt water?”

Hanamaki sent a small glare towards his boyfriend before slowly turning back towards the hygienist, who was watching the entertaining situation. He dropped his voice to a whisper, but it was still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“And I’d do it again.”

“Oh? Won’t you get caught?” The lady whispered back. Hanamaki shifted himself into a more upright position. Wouldn’t he get caught? Little did she know that he had a whole plan mapped out in his head.

“Not if I run fast enough. I am speed. Like Sonic the Porcupine.”

“Isn’t it Sonic the hedgehog?”

“Ohh, right. You're so smart. I’ll forgive you even though you stole my teeth.”

“Thank you,” she looked back toward the doctor, “Well it looks like they’re wrapping up everything over there so let’s get you up so you can rest at home,” she said calmly, helping Hanamaki out of the chair and over to Matsukawa. Hanamaki was perfectly capable of walking normally, but chose to throw his whole weight onto Matsukawa, almost making him fall over. They said their goodbyes, which included Hanamaki whispering ‘call me’ to the hygienist, and made their way to the car, which from their current pace would take forever because he didn’t feel like using his legs. What was the need when he had Issei?

“Hiro, please stop dragging your feet. I know you can walk normally. They did surgery on your mouth, not your legs. You have no excuse,” Matsukawa accused while hauling his boyfriend across the parking lot. Nothing says love like all but carrying a fully grown man.

“I do have an excuse,” Hanamaki protested, latching onto Matsukawa tighter. Matsukawa sighed.

“And that is?”

“Your beauty has left me paralysed.”

Matsukawa paused and stared at him, unamused, which Hanamaki smiled at, looking a little too proud of himself. Perhaps it would've been cute if he weren’t trying to avoid being scolded.

“Cute but if you don’t pick up your feet I’m calling Iwaizumi.”

“Not fair,” Hanamaki grumbled, his smile immediately dropping to a frown.

The rest of the walk to the car passed rather normally after a certain someone managed to walk mostly on his own. There were no further complaints besides Hanamaki calling him a bitch under his breath which Matsukawa ignored. Matuskawa didn’t use the threat often, but it had a 100% success rate. Hanamaki hadn’t been the only victim. The name Iwaizumi Hajime instilled fear through his disappointed dad-like tone in most who had interacted with him. Oikawa threatened Matsukawa with it once, and Matsukawa swore he had never shaped up faster in his life. It was terrifying.

As they approached the car, Hanamaki was starting to lean heavily on him again, mumbling things Matsukawa couldn’t quite catch as he fumbled for the keys. Once he managed to unlock the car, he opened the passenger door and helped Hanamaki in, or more like watched his boyfriend flop into the vehicle like a drained inflatable, before getting in the car himself. He started the engine, double checking that Hanamaki had his seatbelt on first before starting the drive home, the radio playing softly in the background. The rain had cleared up, but the sky was still dark with storm clouds.

A sudden noise started blasting out his phone, it was duck sounds or otherwise known as Oikawa’s ringtone. Oikawa said it was stupid, but to Hanamaki and Matsukawa it made sense.

“Hiro can you grab that? It’s Oikawa. He’s probably calling to check on you anyway.”

Hanamaki only grumbled in response but grabbed the phone and answered the Facetime call where he was greeted with a familiar face and loud laughter. Oikawa slapped a hand over his mouth and inhaled deeply before dropping it.

“Sorry. I just didn’t expect your cheeks to be so...puffy,” he finished, trying to suppress another bout of laughter.

“I will piss all over your front lawn,” Hanamaki shot back at which Oikawa lost it.

“I can’t Hajime please you take the phone I can’t look at him seriously. I'm going to cry,” he giggled, the camera going blurry as he presumably passed the phone to Iwaizumi. Dark hair and piercing green eyes came into focus as said man adjusted the phone to fit his face in frame. When he saw Hanamaki, he repressed a smile threatening to make an appearance.

“How are you holding up Maki?” The nickname started off as Oikawa’s alone but at some point it became a habit for Iwaizumi as well. Matsukawa wasn’t allowed to say it though. Hanamaki drunkenly ranted to him for half an hour once about the specifics of who could call him that and when.

“My mouth is bloody, my face hurts, I’m tired, and everyone keeps making fun of my cheeks,” Hanamaki frowned, sinking down in the car seat. “If you keep bullying me, I will start crying and that will be your problem.”

Oikawa popped back into frame. “Nooo Maki, we aren't bullying you. I promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise,” he assured. “By the way, where's Matsu?”

“Yeah, he didn’t abandon you right?” Iwaizume added, pushing Oikawa away, ignoring his protests.

Hanamaki turned himself so his back was on the armrest to get Matsukawa in shot. Matsukawa took one glance at the phone, threw up a peace sign, and went back to focusing on the road.

“How was he? Tooru was a fucking menace—ow.” A magazine was launched and hit Iwaizumi on the back of his head. The phone made a thunk noise as it fell to what was assumed to be the floor. The screen went black but the sound of them bickering was clear as day.

“You said you wouldn’t talk about it,” Oikawa whined.

“Tooru, it's a joke.”

“No it’s not. You were about to make fun of me,” he accused. The line went dead and all that was heard was the quiet hum of the car, and by default the radio. Hanamaki shifted to face the front of the car, stretched his shoulders, and stared out the window peacefully. He slowly began slouching down in the seat and kicked up his long legs onto the dashboard. He carefully held Matsukawa’s now silent phone that was turned off and continued to gaze at the trees passing by. It didn’t take long for Matsukawa to realize what happened.

“Hiro…” Hanamaki slowly tilted his head to look at the man speaking. “Did you just hang up on our friends?”

Hanamaki lips curled into a smug smile, like he knew full well what he did and did not regret it one bit.

“Perhaps.”

Matsukawa let out a soft sigh. He couldn’t exactly blame him. Oikawa and Iwaizumi fought like an old married couple almost daily. They essentially were an old married couple at this point. But their pointless bickering got boring quickly and could last for way longer than it should have, or end in something that definitely should’ve happened in private. Matuskawa was 99% sure that they had scarred some children in their time. He and Hanamaki included.

“If they ask what happened, you know what to say right?”

“We lost connection.”

“Precisely.”

It worked every time. They didn’t make a habit of hanging up on friends, but sometimes it was in everyone’s best interest. It helped that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were both blockheads when it came to technology. They should have known by now what places were dead zones for phone service, and that Matsukawa and Hanamaki were almost never in them.

The rest of the car ride carried on in serenity—at least as much as it could while Toxic by Britney Spears played in the background. The seemingly never-ending trees on the side of the road gave way to numerous buildings and living developments. Matsukawa navigated the roads with ease, knowing the most stressful part of the day was close to an end and all that remained was getting home and the recovery period. He knew Hanamaki was going to be a piss baby about it the whole time but he’d be fine. They’d been through worse.

As they pulled into the parking lot of their apartment complex, Matsukawa took a quick look to the side to see Hanamaki drifting between states of consciousness. He assumed that was why the car ride had been oddly silent for the past chunk of time. But that left the question of how were they going to get upstairs to the fourth floor between one lanky man and one equally lanky man, only this one was half asleep, still coming off of anesthesia, and took 3 advils immediately after getting in the car. Overall not an ideal situation to be in.

Pulling into his designated parking spot, Matsukawa tried to figure out the best course of action. He could hypothetically carry Hanamaki, but that was deemed questionable at best and there was the possibility of dropping him which he was worried about more than if other residents saw him carrying an unconscious grown man through the building. Waking him up made the most sense, but Matuskawa would still have to all but drag him into the building and to their apartment. It would be the Dental Clinique’s parking lot all over again but worse. Matsukawa didn’t know if he could go through that again so he decided to take his chances. If he accidentally dropped him or whacked him into a wall then oh well. He’d be fine.

Matuskawa turned off the car, pocketed his keys, phone, and anything else that needed to be brought inside, and exited the vehicle. Hanamaki was still drifting peacefully in the passenger side, his facial features relaxed, but when Matsukawa opened the door on that side, letting in the frigid midwinter air, his mouth dropped to a small frown, eyebrows furrowed, while he curled into himself, trying to stay warm. Matsukawa stared down at him affectionately, the edge of his lipping tipping upwards, smiling softly. Hiro always fell asleep after him, so it was a rare sight if he could catch a glimpse of his boyfriend sleeping. It made Matsukawa want to fall to his knees and thank whatever god that had blessed him with this angel. Instead he brushed Hanamaki’s bangs back and leaned down to press a fleeting kiss against his forehead.

Matsukawa, backing away, ignored the warm feeling in his chest and broke out of whatever spell had encapsulated his mind. He could admire his boyfriend later, but right now he had a difficult task at hand. Mission getting slightly unconscious man inside without any delays or other issues.

He stuck an arm under Hanamaki’s upper chest, making sure Hanamaki wrapped his own arm around Matsukawa’s neck. Then hoisted him slowly out of the car. Hanamaki slowly opened his eyes, grumbling, and leaned his body heavily against Matsukawa, who was trying to shut the door and lock the car. He may have had his post-mouth-surgery boyfriend to take care of, but a stolen car would not be on his list of problems.

After tucking his keys back into his pocket, he tightened his grip around Hanamaki while bending slightly to stick his other arm under Hanamaki’s knees. He rose steadily, leaning back, trying to not drop Hanamaki on the concrete. Matsukawa was most definitely straining his muscles at the moment, but it wasn’t too bad. Though the icy wind certainly wasn't helping. Hanamaki peered up at him, eyes droopy but clearly showing amusement.

Matsukawa looked down at him, fighting back a smirk at their situation. “Hold on or I’m dropping you,” he threatened. The arms looped around his neck grabbed on tighter, but Hanamaki looked calmed. They both knew Matsukawa wouldn’t drop him.

Now that he knew that the carrying plan would work, he started heading towards the doors of the apartment building. Matsukawa had to stop a few times to adjust his grip but they made good time considering, well, everything. When they finally reached the entrance, he was never more thankful for automatic doors in his life. Though he did have to turn sideways to avoid hitting Hanamaki’s legs (or head) on the glass. He found that out the hard way. Considering it was late afternoon, the average person was still at work, so thankfully the lobby was mostly empty besides the man working at the front desk whom Matsukawa avoided any eye contact with at all costs as he made his way down the hall, but he felt his gaze burning into his back. Neither of them said anything.

Matsukawa should’ve known this was all going a little too easy. Something had to go wrong. So naturally it did. And that came in the form of none other than his lovely boyfriend whose arms started to go limp, making him significantly harder to carry. Sure, Matsukawa had a good amount of strength, but he was no longer an athlete, so carrying a fully grown man was never going to be smooth sailing. But still…

Matsukawa had to readjust his grip yet again because Hanamaki kept slipping. Dropping someone after surgery, even if it was just wisdom teeth removal, didn’t sound like it would be on the list of things to do during recovery.

“Hiro I need you to hold on again or I will actually end up dropping you.”

Hanamaki looked up at him, blinked once, and only responded with “tired,” before dropping his arms like deadweight.

Matsukawa couldn’t even muster up a sigh. Time for a new plan. He gently set Hanamaki’s legs down on the marble tile, keeping an arm under his shoulder so he didn’t topple to the floor. The elevator was fortunately right around the corner so Matsukawa could soon enough have a brief period of time where he didn’t have to carry any weight but his own. It wasn’t like he minded, but god damn was it making him realize he may have overestimated his strength and endurance. It was probably karma for the night Hanamaki had to drag him back home when he got wasted with some old friends. If he retained the memories of that night perhaps he would’ve been able to remember how Hanamaki got him to the apartment. But alas, his memory was wiped, like a blank SD card.

Matsukawa took small steps forward, bringing Hanamaki with him. The latter's shoes squeaked across the floor from refusing to pick up his feet. Matuskawa wondered if this was what it felt like to be old and unable to walk at a socially acceptable speed. The walk to the elevator shockingly didn’t take as long as he thought it would. He held onto Hanamaki with one arm while he reached the other one out to press the button. And then…they waited. Waited for the dumb metal box of verical motion to reach ground floor. Matsukawa stared up at the illuminated numbers counting down slowly. He hoped that no one was currently in it so he could avoid one less judgemental stare. When aforementioned dumb metal box finally reached them, the doors opened and no one was inside.

Matsukawa pulled Hanamaki up on his feet and tugged him into the elevator. He let him lean against the walls in the corner as he pressed the button for the fourth floor; it was sticky. He didn’t like that. He took a step back, leaning his weight against the back railing. Matsukawa sighed, releasing the tension from his shoulders. He realized that this would’ve been a lot easier with literally any other person, but since Hanamaki was a little bastard (affectionately) and knew quite well that Matsukawa would go to great lengths for him, he abused that power. The worst thing was that Matsukawa knew all of this, but still followed through. Every. Single. Time. And that was why he was stuck dragging his boyfriend through the apartment building with little effort on Hanamaki's part. God, he was such a simp.

The elevator doors were starting to close when the sound of footsteps started rapidly approaching.

“Wait,” a voice called, a little out of breath from running down the hall. Matsukawa wondered if he would be considered an asshole if he pressed the close door button a few times right about now. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared less, but at that moment he was done with everything and wanted nothing more than to get home. And when he saw who it was, it made him want to press the button a little more.

He was spared the decision of choosing when she caught up to them, sticking a hand between the closing doors forcing them to reopen. A young girl entered the elevator. She looked like an average Tokyo middle schooler, except when you looked into her eyes and saw the mischievous glint. Then you would know immediately: she was the scheming type, always up to no good. Matsukawa looked down at the whole situation unamused. They’d had a few run-ins before considering they did in fact live on the same floor, but every interaction left Matsukawa confirming he hated kids.

“Would it have really been that hard to help a neighbor out?” she commented, not holding back on the amount of annoyance bleeding into her tone. She sent a glare towards Matsukawa, who just stood there watching the elevator doors finally close.

“We aren’t neighbors,” he replied, uninterested in starting up a conversation, which she did not seem to pick up on, or simply chose to ignore.

“Close enough,” she responded, looking up at Matsukawa to make sure he could see her roll her eyes. Then she noticed Hanamaki was there as well. “What's up with gumdrop over there? He looks like shit,” she said, voice dropping to a half-assed whisper.

“You know I can hear you right?” Hanamaki answered, surprising the both of them. Their self proclaimed “neighbor” slid her eyes from Matsukawa to Hanamaki, taking a good look at him before responding.

“Fine then. You look like shit,” she directed at Hanamaki who flipped her off. She gasped.

“I’ll tell my mother,” she threatened.

“Then I’ll tell her that you were the one who pulled the fire alarm last week,” Hanamaki retorted casually, though the gauze in his mouth made his words sound messy. Nevertheless it didn’t stop the two of them from having a mini stand off in the elevator as Matsukawa stood there waiting for his suffering to end. Apparently, the two of them came to a wordless agreement, and everything was silent except for the hum of the elevator and the broken sound of classical music playing through the defective speakers. Hanamaki needed to stop befriending future troublemakers, but every time Matuskawa brought it up he would respond with some variation of ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ Since there was no harm, Matsukawa learned to accept it. Besides, seeing Hanamaki interact with kids was endearing in a way, and it made those demonic creatures called children a little more tolerable. Only a little though.

They reached the fourth level with no further issues or unwanted commentary from their troublesome pre-teen floormate. She all but booked it as soon as the doors opened. Weird kid. Matsukawa shifted over to Hanamaki, lifting one of Hanamaki’s arms to wrap around his shoulder, intending to help carry some of his weight as they walked to their apartment, but apparently, Hanamaki had different plans. He encircled both of his arms around Matsukawa, hugging him softly. Matsukawa stood there, unsure what to do with himself, as he felt his cheeks warm a bit. Not wanting to be stuck in the elevator for another trip through the floors, he lifted one of Hanamaki’s arms and placed it on the same shoulder as the other one. He crouched down slightly to wrap an arm around the backs of Hanamaki’s knees and lifted him up, slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Hanamaki instinctively grabbed onto Matsukawa wherever he could to stabilize himself.

Once Matsukawa was confident neither of them would fall, he ventured out into the hallway. They were finally almost home. Matsukawa let his gaze wander to the peeling white paint on the walls, flickering yellow lights illuminating the hall, and the patterned carpet beneath them that someone should have gone to jail for as he let his feet carry the both of them on the well familiar path to their front door. When they reached said door, Matsukawa tightened his grip around Hanamaki while using his other arm to fish the keys out of his pocket. There was the sound of a door closing to their left that caught his attention. Matsukawa craned his neck to see it was their elderly neighbor leaving her home and catching sight of the peculiar situation in front of her. He waved. She didn’t look surprised, or at least didn’t show it, and carried on with her day, leaving the boys behind. Matsukawa liked having her as a neighbor. She never judged or questioned any of the previous situations she has seen them in. In return, he or Hanamaki helped carry her groceries upstairs. It all worked out perfectly.

Sliding the key in place, Matsukawa unlocked the door and let the relief of making it home wash over him. He slipped out of his shoes, and pulled off Hanamaki’s, before further entering their home. He slowly made his way over to the living room and gently laid Hanamaki down on the couch. Matsukawa took a step back and stretched his shoulders while Hanamaki yawned. He grabbed the blanket that was hanging off the back of a chair and wrapped it around his boyfriend, turning him into one big cocoon. Hanamaki was the first to break the silence.

“This shit sucks,” he complained. Matsukawa stifled a laugh. Realistically, the pain shouldn’t have been bad considering he took some painkillers not too long ago, so Matsukawa went for the next best thing.

“Lay down, I'll grab you an ice pack.”

“Fuck you and your ice packs.”

Matsukawa ignored him and left to go into the kitchen. He rummaged through the freezer to try and find an ice pack or two. He found only one ice pack, however, he did find a bag of frozen vegetables which was the next best thing. He was about to leave the kitchen, then stopped and turned back to grab a glass of water just in case.

When he entered the living room, he found that Hanamaki hadn’t moved and was simply waiting for him to come back. Matsukawa handed over the cold packs, which Hanamaki hesitantly applied to the sides of his face. His face twitched in discomfort, but he kept the ice packs on nonetheless.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. He rested his eyes for a few seconds, letting the cold seep into his swollen face, then looked up at Matsukawa, who was studying his expression. Matsukawa wished he could do more to soothe the soreness of his face, but he couldn’t. There was only time now. He sank down next to Hanamaki, turning to place his back towards the arm rest and put his legs on both sides of Hanamaki. He wrapped his arms around his waist and gently pulled him back to rest against his chest. Hanamaki curled into him, closing his eyes once more as he smiled softly which tugged at Matsukawa’s heartstrings.

They stayed that way, basking in each other’s warmth and affection, for quite some time. They had all the time in the world. Productivity could wait. Matsukawa wouldn’t change anything. All the pain, annoying situations, and difficulties. They didn’t matter when he could have moments like this. Just the two of them. Together.