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“You know, I’m really starting to think that Akito might be sick, or something,” is the first thing Shiraishi An says when she slides into the booth bench next to Azusawa Kohane in Weekend Garage. Upon this… statement, Aoyagi Touya peers over the rim of his coffee cup and raises an eyebrow. Both, actually- he looked pretty baffled.
Kohane tilts her head curiously as An puts her arm around her shoulder and leans over to take a sip of her girlfriend’s strawberry milkshake, courtesy of Ken-san, of course. “Is he really? I didn’t know that Shinonome-kun was sick… He says that he has a really high tolerance to these things, doesn’t he?” It honestly was a little confusing. Really, the most prone to being sick was probably An out of the group, mainly because she wore shorts almost every day and couldn’t care less about staying warm. Even during the winter. “Maybe he just isn’t feeling up to speed..? We all have off-days, I think!”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Kohane!” An snaps her fingers confidently- to the outsider, you’d think that she has absolutely everything under control. “Akito’s a liar, that’s what he is! He’s definitely sick. I just know he is. He’s been avoiding me whenever I try to talk to him. He hasn’t attended our last practice despite him showing up almost all the time… It’s kinda weird, y’know!”
It’s this exact accusation that leaves Touya to set his cup down onto the little platter provided for it. “I’ve noticed the same, but I don’t think Akito is a liar,” he offers, “He’s very honest.”
An snorts. “Of course you’d say that, ‘cause you’re biased, gay boy.”
“... What?”
The girl decidedly ignores his question and turns back to put her head on Kohane’s shoulder; Kohane doesn’t seem to mind this, and pats her head lovingly. “If he’s sick, we need to at least help him, right? Vivid Bad Squad isn’t going to be the same if one of us isn't feeling too good! And Akito is usually the one who points out our emotions, so we have to do the same for him too.” She glances at her two other teammates around her, nodding. “I propose a movement! It’s called… umm… Akito Sick Squad! Touya, An, and Kohane are going to figure out why Shinonome Akito’s acting so weird!” An opens her eyes once more, and there’s practically fire in her eyes, warmth radiating off of her. She lifts her head off of Kohane’s shoulder to finish off the rest of the milkshake they were sharing. “You guys in?”
The brunette beside her smiles and kisses her girlfriend’s cheek, laughing a little more when said girlfriend blushes a bit at the affection. “I’m definitely in! I want to help Shinonome-kun, and since An-chan is confident in her skill, I’m sure it will go well!” She looks over to the opposite bench of the booth. “Aoyagi-kun?”
Touya nods and offers a smile in return, setting his coffee cup down onto the plate and adjusting his tie. “I’d like to help Akito no matter what, as well. I don’t think he particularly enjoys being upset,” he adds, but his eyebrows furrow suddenly, and he turns his head confusedly to look at An. “ Akito Sick Squad. ‘A.S.S.’ Really, Shiraishi..?”
An spits out the rest of the milkshake and starts laughing.
School, the next day, was something that An was looking forward to. Of course, Kohane didn’t attend Kamiyama so she couldn’t exactly help with those things, but she had Touya to help her carry out the plan. Touya, after all, had been Akito’s partner for years and knew him better than anyone- he knew Akito’s favorite food, how he liked apple juice more than orange juice because it had a sharper taste, and how he preferred flannels over hoodies on occasion. There was no one that knew Akito better than him (and An had gotten to witness their… ‘friendship’ on several first-hand accounts, because according to Akito, no, he didn’t love Touya that way.)
See, this fact would be particularly helpful if Akito was anywhere to be seen at Kamiyama in the first place.
“Seriously, where is this guy..?” An mutters as she waits near the hallway corner where she, Touya, and Akito usually met before lunch, and Touya shrugs, shouldering his school bag and glancing around. Apparently, Touya hadn’t even seen him on his walk to school earlier even though they walked to school together every day, nor was he in any of the bathrooms when they checked. He wasn’t picking up his calls, or checking his messages. All in all, just a little bit eerie, and a little bit tiresome considering An was hungry for lunch and just wanted to eat her food, for god’s sake.
The two teenagers make their way outside to the courtyard, following the path slowly and still glancing around at the small groups around them, trying to pick out familiar orange hair with a blond streak. Akito’s disappearance was definitely a mystery, since the three Vivid Bad Squad members ate together at lunch every day. At the failure to find him, An sighs, letting her chest fall, and she looks over at Touya to see if he’s found anything, but his eyes are staring at a particular individual- or two, actually. The black-haired singer groans and rubs her forehead. Tenma-senpai and Kamishiro-senpai.
“Please, Touya. Can we not talk to them, plea-”
“Akito mentioned once that Tsukasa-senpai gave him cheesecake at lunch, and he sees him around a lot, too,” Touya cuts in, his eyes still focused on the two. Tsukasa, holding his lunch, was currently scolding the boy sitting next to him, and the boy in question was laughing. “We were able to work with Kamishiro-senpai at that wedding event, Shiraishi, and he isn’t as much of a nuisance as you say he is… I find him quite respectable.” There was so much determination in Touya’s voice that it scared her in the slightest. “I’d like to at least ask. Maybe they know where Akito is.”
An realizes that she never really did have a choice when she follows Touya over to the two boys, her hands on her hips, and they both look up at her, glancing between . She was a hall monitor. She could handle this perfectly fine.
Rui purrs (yes, he purrs), “Aoyagi-kun, Shiraishi-kun” at the same time that Tsukasa hollers with every bit of volume he can muster, “SHIRAISHI! TOUYA!” and suddenly, An is burdened with every single regret she’s had in her lifetime. And, well, obvious embarrassment.
Beside her, Touya is surprisingly smiling at the sight of his upperclassmen, nodding at the acknowledgement. To be honest, it was a little cute- An was well-aware of how much Tsukasa meant to him as a whole, as they were practically brothers, and seeing how happy that the blonde made him reassured her just a tiny bit. “Hello, Tsukasa-senpai and Kamishiro-senpai. It’s good to see you two. I have a question for you.”
“And I have an answer!” Tsukasa exclaims, his eyes narrowing as he stands up, puts a hand on his chest and poses. An tries not to laugh at how dorky he sounded and how stupid he looked.
“Fufufu. How cute of you to say, Tsukasa-kun,” Rui muses, looking as if he was seriously considering the thought, “So boisterous, as always.”
“You cannot just insult me like th- Did you refer to me as cute?” Tsukasa’s face goes pink, to Rui’s amusement.
An narrows her eyes in a little bit of, admittedly, disgust. “Umm- aside from that, we’d just like to know where Akito is, if either of you have seen him?” She looks up at Touya, and he nods as insurance for her to keep speaking. “We’re suspecting that he hasn’t been feeling okay lately, and we wanted to talk to him about it since he’s not picking up any of our calls or texts, either. So if you could help us with his whereabouts, that’d be suuuper nice, thanks!”
Rui hums with a nod in understanding, and he closes his eyes for a bit. “He and Tsukasa-kun were talking earlier today, if I remember correctly. Occasionally I’ll see Shinonome-kun in the hallway, but I haven’t seen him at all whatsoever. It is a little strange, now that you put it that way…” The director glances up from his seat to meet Tsukasa’s eyes, which were looking back at him intently, and he smiles. Fondly. An was starting to think that there was a little more under the surface than what these two showed. “Tsukasa-kun, if you will..?”
“Ah- right, yes!” Tsukasa clears his throat and goes back to looking at his underclassmen. “Akito and I… He asked me a question out of his own will, a little weird if I must admit. Something along the lines of how to deal with certain things… Emotions, was it? And he presumed that I’d be the most fitting for the question, because I myself am a star actor! Though I fit every role, nonetheless!” He’s smiling broadly now, the confident smirk back on his features. “He also asked me not to tell any of his friends, but I know just how much Akito means to Touya, and to protect Touya’s happiness is my wish!”
Stunned by his words, An takes a peek at Touya’s face, and he looks happy by how passionate Tsukasa was about helping Akito, and Touya in the process. He’d mentioned on several occasions that Tsukasa had helped him with figuring out his own business, but never did An imagine that he looked up to the actor this much. They really were close, maybe to the point where it’d be considered close in the way that brothers were. “Ah… Thank you, Tsukasa-senpai. I’m very much honored that you feel that way,” Touya replies, bowing a little, and Tsukasa laughs. “And thank you for the account, as well. Do you know where he is right now?”
Tsukasa tilts his head. “Well! There’s only one way to find out.” He then steps onto the stone fence around the grass and trees, and cups his hands around his mouth, taking in a deep inhale. “AKITO! AKITO, WHERE ARE YOU? SHINONOME AKITO! AKITO! HELLO?”
Rui stares for a moment or two, before his shoulders shake, and he starts laughing, putting his face in his hands and chuckling quietly into his palms.
“Oh my god, Tenma-senpai-” An yelps, and immediately grabs his arm to pull him back down onto the ground. He really is super weird! “Please, do you just know what direction he went in?!”
“That might’ve been an easier thing to say in the first place…” Tsukasa taps his chin, before gasping and verbally going ‘a-ha’. “Hmm! From what I can recall from our conversation, I advised that he either take his mind off of the situation or start taking action for it. And he told me that in order to fulfill that, he may just cut his classes for the day. I believe Akito was going to go to the mall and look for something. I don’t exactly remember what that is, however!” Sighing, he sits back down next to Rui, picking up his bento and his chopsticks. Rui steals a piece of sausage and Tsukasa shoots him a small glare. The director, in turn, only pokes him on the cheek playfully, and he rolls his eyes. “But yes, that will most likely be your best guess!”
An grins, crossing her arms with relief. Touya was right- it was a good idea to ask Tsukasa, who knew practically everyone and anyone from his reputation both as a part of the council and as part of the infamous weirdo pair in Kamiyama. “Thank you, Tenma-senpai, Kamishiro-senpai! We’ll definitely use it wisely. But…” She turns to Tsukasa once more, the boy raising his eyebrows in response. “You mentioned a situation. What situation is Akito dealing with?”
Tsukasa grins, in a way similar to how he’d confidently smirked on stage with his leading role as Romeo.
“As much as I do want to tell you, I think it’s something I’d rather you find out on your own.”
As soon as school ends for the day, An and Touya leave at once and make their way to the shopping district, partially on the bus and partially through walking. An had called Kohane on the journey there, filling her in on what had happened and telling her to meet them at the bistro near the entrance of the mall, and she obliged. For right now, though, they were casually sitting in fancy-looking wooden seats with two cups of coffee in front of them.
“Seriously, Touya…” An mumbles, shooting a disgusted look to her nearly-full coffee in front of her, “how do you drink this stuff without milk or sugar or cream or- or anything?”
He shrugs, finishing off his own cup with ease; it’s amazing how he was able to drink it without any sign of being affected. “It helps if I miss sleep. I’ve just grown accustomed to the taste, Shiraishi, I promise it isn’t magic.” Smiling, Touya exhales and peers over at An’s cup, glancing from it to her. “You aren’t going to finish it, I assume?”
“It’s all yours! I only took, like, one sip,” An exclaims, immediately pushing it towards him, and he chuckles, taking it gently into his hand.
“An-chan! Aoyagi-kun!” calls a familiar voice, and Kohane’s approaching them with her bag over her shoulder and her pigtails a little higher than usual, if An was looking correctly. Kohane was always cute, no matter what occasion it was or how late or early it seemed to be. She was cute with her hair down, cute with her hair up, cute with her hair up and down… thinking about it only made An’s heart full with love for her girlfriend. “I’m sorry I’m late!”
An jumps out of her seat. Touya’s coffee nearly spills from the table shaking. “You’re not late at all, Kohane!” She starts running to the girl, and when she reaches her, An wraps her arms around her and spins her around. Kohane yelps in surprise, but starts laughing and hugs the other back as much as she can. “I missed you so, so much!”
“I missed you too, An-chan!” Kohane replies happily, pressing a kiss to her cheek once they’ve settled down again, and her girlfriend giggles.
Out of the corner of her eye, An can see Touya come up to them with his bag over his shoulder, and continues to lean against the brunette. “Ah, it’s good to see you, Azusawa,” he greets, nodding in acknowledgement to the girl, and Kohane smiles brightly back. “Shiraishi and I were about to set off to go look for Akito. I wish Tsukasa-senpai told us what exactly he was looking for, but…” He clicks his tongue. “I’m sure we’ll have some way of finding him.”
“I did have an idea!” Kohane offers, and she searches around the mall before gasping a little and pointing to one of the stores- oh, it was the clothing store where Akito worked. She really is brilliant, An thinks to herself. “Maybe we can ask if anyone has seen him, or maybe he’s there himself! Surely it couldn’t have been too long, right..?”
“You’re right! Let’s be on our way, then,” An proclaims, and she slips Kohane’s fingers into her own and starts running towards the store. Touya exhales and dutifully follows along.
Once they do make it inside, An looks around for any sign of people who’d possibly know Akito, whether it be his boss or a coworker. Her eyes surveyed the racks of clothing, taking glimpses of flannels, hoodies, pants, and even a dress that she personally thought would look awfully cute on Kohane. It takes only a few moments for her to take note of a particularly familiar red bow.
“Mizu-chan?” An calls out, looking back at Kohane and Touya and nodding, making her way slowly towards the bow.
“An? Is that you?” From behind a rack of clothing, out pops a flustered looking Akiyama Mizuki holding several pieces of clothing attire on both of their arms. They visibly brighten at the sight of the girl, smiling at the other two that were with her and grinning at her presence. “Hey! I wasn’t expecting to see you here, hehehe.”
“Yeah! Kohane and Touya and I are on a mission right now. A.S.S., if you will,” An cheekily remarks, winking back, and Mizuki giggles. “But we were wondering about something, Mizu-chan.”
“Ohhh? Depends on what it is. Might have to charge you a few yen…” Their expression is serious for a few moments before they drop the act and smile, placing their clothing finds to the side on a nearby table. “Heheh! I’m only joking. But what’s up? I can try and help as best I can.”
An looks back to raise her eyes at Touya, and he nods. “By any chance, Akiyama, have you seen Akito? We’ve been looking for him for a while, and we assumed that he’d be here since he went to the mall, but he’s nowhere to be found.” He sighs softly, and An watches as Mizuki’s lips part into an ‘o’ shape. “It’s really worrying, as he usually at least tells me where he’s going.”
“That’s coincidental! No lie, but I just saw Otouto-kun in here, which is why I came into the store in the first place,” Mizuki muses, and they twirl a bit of their sidebang around their finger, averting their eyes to the ceiling. An assumed that they were thinking about the question and the means for it. “He was probably about to leave or something, ‘cause he didn’t have a uniform on. I saw him around the front of the store so I went up to him and said hi! Then, what’s really peculiar is that he asked me a super weird question.”
Kohane tilts her head, her hands bunching together a little nervously. “Ah, Akiyama-chan… What did he say, then?”
Mizuki smiles amusedly. “Asked me where to get really good chocolate. Probably for someone or something, by the look of how embarrassed he looked when asking.”
An can only blink for a few seconds. He said what?
“I asked why he wanted to know, but I redirected him to a candy place, and he said he was just gonna go home afterwards. So,” Mizuki explains, their ponytail swinging as they walk over to the table and pick up their belongings, “I assume that if you wanna find Otouto-kun, you gotta go to his house now! If I remember correctly, he and Enanan live together, and the candy place isn’t that far from her house.” They finish with a smile, dimples showing as they glance down at the pile of clothes in their arms and start sorting through the different attire.
An turns to Kohane and Touya. “Are we all down to take a little visit to Akito’s house?”
“Of course! I’m worried for him,” Kohane responds quickly.
“Same here… then we’ll be on our way,” Touya agrees, and looks back at Mizuki. “Thank you for your help, Akiyama. I’m certain we’ll find him this time.”
Mizuki laughs. “Tell him I said hi, will you? I kinda owe him. That candy shop’s chocolates are super overpriced.”
It takes around 15 minutes to walk from the mall to the bus, and take the bus to the stop nearest Akito’s house, and then physically walk to Akito’s house. Every single one of those minutes were spent very anxiously by all three of his teammates, even if Touya was busy looking out the window and Kohane was sleeping with her head on An’s lap and An was running her fingers through her girlfriend’s hair. They were all nervous, especially for Akito, who’d disappeared so suddenly and was going around asking people- read, Tsukasa and Mizuki- weird questions out of nowhere.
An’s fingers are laced within Kohane’s as they walk down the street where Akito’s house was. They’d all been there at least once or twice to hang out, respectfully ignoring his father, of course. And even though each of the Vivid Bad Squad members were familiar with the atmosphere, somehow, their legs felt heavy walking down the path to the door.
“Aoyagi-kun, I think you should knock,” Kohane suggests quietly, and An nods in full agreement. He hesitates, and complies with the offer, holding his hand out to knock it against the wood of the door, and Touya steps back once he’s done.
The door opens to reveal not Akito, but Shinonome Ena, his sister, with her phone pressed to her ear. She takes one look at them wordlessly, then turns her head back to yell out into the house, “Akito, your friends are here!”
There’s a crash of some sort, and a small yell. “My friends are what?”
Ena rolls her eyes, mouthing ‘ he’s so stupid’ to the group before walking back into the house. An, Touya, and Kohane share a confused look to each other, and when they look back, Akito’s standing at the door, his chest heaving, and his body leaning against the frame with his arms crossed.
He looked… relatively normal. Based on how quickly he’d managed to run from wherever he was to the doorway, it seemed like he was in good health, too. His hair was a little messier than usual and his lips were chapped (An winced a little bit and even licked her own glossed lips subconsciously), but overall, Akito looked the exact same as he always did, save for his lighter clothing choice of shorts and a t-shirt. The same orange-haired guy that supported them through hardships, and the same guy that choked on sunflower seeds and got excited over the prospect of challenging other people.
“Hey, you guys,” Akito says, and his voice breaks just the smallest bit, and he clears his throat.
Well, maybe he wasn’t the exact same as he always was.
“Akito, where the hell have you been?!” An exclaims, stomping forward and grabbing both of his shoulders, shaking them roughly. He yelps and starts hitting her wrists lightly in an attempt for her to pull away. “We’ve been looking for you for ages! You can’t just leave us like that!”
Kohane reaches out to pull her girlfriend back, but still she’s smiling in a nervous fashion. “We were really worried, Shinonome-kun… An-chan or Aoyagi-kun didn’t see you at school when you all saw each other every day.”
Finally, the boy in question manages to release himself from An’s grip, and sighs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Well, that’s… Listen, I’ve been dealing with some stuff lately, yeah? And even if I were, I guess it was a pretty stupid idea to ignore all of your calls and shit. I promise that I’m perfectly fine, and I’m not sick or anythin’.” His voice is lower than usual and quieter, too. Averting his eyes to the ground, Akito doesn’t look back up until he’s finished speaking, then glances up to meet Touya’s eyes exactly. “I, uh… I actually need to talk to Touya, so if you two could..?”
“Ah!” An gasps, and nods slowly, side-eyeing Kohane. “Yep! Kohane and I will… erm…”
“We’ll get going!” Kohane finishes the thought for her, and takes her arm and drags her away from the two. They turn the corner and stop behind a bunch of bushes near Akito’s house, and An sighs in relief.
“Kohane? Can we eavesdrop? Please please please?”
The other considers the question for a while, then giggles. “Okay! I want to know why Shinonome-kun felt this way, after all…”
The two girls very subtly peek their heads out of bushes, and look over at Touya and Akito. They were still talking, and Touya’s hands were shoved into his pockets. Akito kept glancing from the doorframe to Touya’s face, and occasionally, he smiled. From a bystander’s point of view, they looked happy together, and truthfully, that was what made An smile even if she didn’t realize it.
“I’m gonna be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to happen this way,” Akito is saying, “but, uh… I guess there’s only so much a dude can confess, right?”
Kohane taps her shoulder, coming a little closer to An and resting her head on her shoulder. “Is he..?”
An didn’t need the rest of the sentence to figure out what she was implying. “Yeah, I think so!”
They focus back on the conversation, and Akito turns to reach behind him and takes out a box of chocolate, holding it out to Touya. It’s a little hard to tell, but with a bit of squinting, An notes that he’s blushing faintly. “... For you. Like I said, I thought I’d have some more time before you went searching for me, but…”
Touya looks up at him and takes the box into his hand, running his fingers over the heart-shaped box and the velvet ribbon. “ Akito, what is this..?”
“I really like ya, Touya. Not in- y’know, the normal way, but in the way that makes me feel so… so…” Akito sighs, kicking his foot on the ground. “ It’s different when I’m with you than when I’m with, like, Kohane or An. And to think that I only just realized a few days ago… God, I’m so stupid.” An’s eyes widen and Kohane gasps from their spot behind the bushes, and An can feel Kohane put both of her hands onto her shoulders and squeeze them from excitement. “ That’s why I was gone today. Was too embarrassed to talk to ya or anyone from VBS, so I went to Tsukasa-senpai about it ‘nd he told me to confront it or take my mind off of it. Went to the mall to try and find somethin’ to get you, then I saw Akiyama and they told me to get chocolate, and… here we are.”
Exhaling deeply and trying to recollect her thoughts, An nudges her head against Kohane’s lightly. “So that’s why he got the chocolates! Mizu-chan mentioned that he looked embarrassed when asking, didn’t they?”
Kohane hums affirmatively. “Mhm, Akiyama-chan did mention that… I didn’t remember until now! Ah, that’s really brilliant of you, An-chan!”
Seriously, Kohane is the sweetest… An feels her cheeks heat up, and embarrassed, she turns her head to press a kiss to Kohane’s cheek. The other giggles happily. “H-hey, it’s nothing, really.”
Now, Akito looks extremely embarrassed, bright red tints against pale freckled skin as he nervously touches the back of his neck, and An can tell from his mouth movements that he’s stuttered a few times. “ S-so… Agh, god, I’m not good with words. I feel really strongly about ya, Touya. And- if you don’t feel the same way, that’s fine. In fact, I don’t really expect you to, but-”
The box of chocolates falls onto the floor, and Touya reaches out to pull Akito into a hug. Akito looks shocked for a few moments, but he settles into their embrace and puts his arms around Touya’s shoulders, tightly grabbing the back of his jacket and hugging back. His eyes are shut, his brows furrowed, and he looks like he’s close to tears.
It’s unfortunate that Touya’s back is turned to the two girls anxiously awaiting a reply, but they can certainly hear what he says next. “I like you too, Akito. In the same way that you feel for me, I’ve always felt for you.” His tone is filled with fondness, and love for his partner; it’s a tone that An realizes he’s always used, especially when talking to Akito. For good reason, of course- there wasn’t anything like the bond that they shared and still share for years and years to come.
She excitedly throws her fist up in the air and yells so loud it makes Kohane jump, and they fall out of the bushes, right onto the pathway where the two boys were standing.
The bell hanging over the door in the Street SEKAI’s cafe rings when Akito and Touya step into the room, with Aktio waving a hand as his greeting and Touya nodding to the general space. Akito yawns a bit, fully dressed in his uniform from school and a little tired from the night prior. “Hey.”
From her spot behind the counter, Meiko looks over at him and grins knowingly, pouring out a cup of coffee for Touya and starting on a milkshake for Akito. “Oh, congratulations, you two.”
Touya looks confused as he approaches the counter and takes the coffee into his hands, blowing away the steam. “How did you..?”
Akito’s eyes suddenly narrow and he sharply turns his head to look at the seats near the window, where a very smug-looking An and a sheepish Kohane were sitting, drinking tea with each other. “An, what the hell did you say?”
“Nothing!” she lies, holding her hands up innocently and feigning a sad expression. “I don’t even know why you’d accuse me of that.”
“‘Cause Kohane has human decency and wouldn’t go around telling people about me ‘nd Touya.”
“I’m just excited for my favorite queers of the year, that’s all!”
Touya chokes on his coffee.