Archive of Our Own

Hokuto was deeply traumatized.

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but Hokuto truly felt like his life could never be normal. Kochi had told him to see someone or just do something because even he (who had been extremely patient and kind which Hokuto was incredibly thankful for) was starting to get sick of it. Everyday, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, plaguing his mind every waking second. Every night, it kept him up in bed, wondering if it would ever end.

It had been 5 years.

Ever since his first year in highschool, it had haunted him.

-

In his first year of highschool, he had a girlfriend.

He and his girlfriend had been going out for about maybe 8 months. In all honesty, Hokuto wasn't sure, but he knew that she would remind him soon enough. They had met at a group date between their two schools where her persistent flirting and suggestive touches became reason enough for Hokuto to finally give her his number. Eventually, along with the push of his classmates, he figured that it wouldn’t hurt him to try asking her on a date.

She was small and cute and liked cute things. She always had a sweet smile and spoiled him the most she could with signs and tokens of affection. With the way his classmates would express their envy of his relationship was enough of a hint to believe that their relationship was going well.

Hokuto certainly had nothing to complain about. He liked her and found her nice. She was Hokuto's first girlfriend and after a while he had thought that she could also be his only. Things had been moving along well between them.

Hokuto was happy.

When fall came around, she invited him to her school cultural festival. After he accepted, Hokuto was happy to see her happy as she excitedly chatted about him meeting her friends and how she would shamelessly show him off to them. If these things made her happy, Hokuto was willing to comply.

The day of the festival, the weather was good and the sun was bright. Hokuto’s girlfriend tugged on his arm, holding his hand tightly in hers as she led him through the front gates of the school. Hokuto liked how small hers felt in his as their fingers laced together.

Hokuto was happy. He couldn't say he wasn't.

He smiled down at her as she beamed up at him, both of their smiles bright. They really did look like a perfect couple, happy and blissful without an argument between them.

As they passed by the booths and stalls at the entrance, the series of smells and shouting voices filling his senses, he noticed an empty stage at the front of the building. It was thoroughly decorated with ribbons and flowers, an unused microphone settled in the middle to fill the vast vacant space.

Hokuto felt the hand in his tighten for his attention, drawing his attention to her.

"I actually wanted to surprise you." She said with a teasing smile.

"Hmm? What is it?" He smiled back with the sweet voice he had learned from her.

"There's going to be a miss's pageant and do you know who's gonna be in it?"

Hokuto feigned ignorance as looked over at the stage.

"I'm not sure… could it be you?"

She giggled and hugged his arm excitedly.

"Aren't you proud?? I'm in the running to be first! If I win, you'll be dating the number 1 girl at J High School!"

"I'm sure you'll win," He chuckled, putting his free hand on her head, "but either way, you'll be number 1 to me."

She blushed and laughed, making Hokuto satisfied with his cheesy words. They were embarrassing, but he knew how happy they made her and that was enough for him.

"You'll cheer me on, won't you?"

"I'll be right there at the front of the stage."

She beamed in delight by his words as she began to excitedly pull him to her class café. It was as expected. The coffee and drinks were overly sweet and the food was extremely homemade but nothing that didn't satisfy his tastes. ‘Good enough’ was the best way to put it. There were certainly other places where the food would be better, but this was enough to at least fill his stomach.

From the corner of his eye, Hokuto could see his girlfriend and a group of unfamiliar girls giggling and chatting as the snuck glances over at him as he sat alone. He could only assume that they were the friends she spoke about and she was taking full advantage of bragging about him. He was glad that he was something to brag about. He was doing everything a boyfriend should (as far as he was aware.) At least if she was bragging, then that meant he was doing something right. He was happy that she was happy.

Hokuto was happy. It’s not like he wasn’t happy, so that meant that he was happy.

Right?

After Hokuto had felt like he had left just enough of his coffee and food to be polite, his girlfriend told him that she would be going to prepare for the pageant. Even though they had enthusiastically done so, he rejected the offer of her friends to show him around and chose to spend time by himself. His girlfriend gave him a quick kiss on the chin, receiving ‘oohs’ from her friends before running off, him waving after her as she left.

The pageant would be in an hour. He mentally took note of the time, giving himself about 30 minutes to himself before he would find a place near the front of the stage as he promised her.

Hokuto walked through the busy halls by himself, finding that he had attracted many stares from the other students. It wasn’t anything that he didn’t expect. As a tall individual wearing a school uniform different from the others, he stuck out like a sore thumb. A tall differently cladded sore thumb. Though it didn't particularly bother him as long as no one came to talk to him, the noticeably thin to absent traffic to the fifth floor became more and more attractive.

Once Hokuto gave in and escaped to the fifth floor, the loud sounds of the festival faded into a low murmur behind him. The sudden change in energy had made him feel that maybe he had gone somewhere he shouldn’t have.

Yet the peace he got from the quiet made him stay.

Hokuto let out a breath of relief as he looked out the window seeing the bustling crowd below, the buzzing finally fading from his ears. In the silence, a soft hum of people could still be heard through the window as they ran from booth to booth, either enjoying the festival to its full extent or rushing to keep their momentary job running smoothly. He leaned his back against the warm window, checking his watch.

15 minutes.

In about 15 minutes he would go back down into the crowd, but for 15 minutes, he would enjoy the silence and his head could rest, not knowing that his peace would soon be torn from him for years to come.

The 15 minutes passed by in a flash and It was about time to go. Hokuto stretched his body, putting his phone, which he had used to kill his time, in his pocket to make his way back down the staircase. Immediately the buzz started to fill his head again. He would have to re-enter the thick crowd, back under people’s stares, to keep his promise that he made to his girlfriend to make her happy. He took in one last look through the window at the swarm of people below that he would have to face, giving a deep sigh before turning to return to the staircase.

When he turned, the wind was nearly knocked out of his lungs as a weight slammed into his chest.

Hokuto’s body switched into survival mode, holding onto whatever it was to his chest, when his feet faltered under him, sending him stumbling backwards. A loud thunk echoed through the hall as his head hit hard against the glass window behind him.

"Fuck-…"

Hokuto held his eyes shut tight, hissing as the pain throbbed from the back of his skull to the rest of his body. Once the dizziness subsided from his head, he remembered that he had caught something in his arms.

Someone.

When his eyes finally opened, all he saw was blonde.

A mess of smooth blonde hair.

"Hey… are you okay-"

Hokuto's voice caught in his throat.

His mouth went dry.

His heart stopped before it began to pound in double time.

His blood rushed through every vein in his body, lighting his skin on fire as the other pushed herself back from his chest which was barely holding back his heart that threatened to break loose from it.

Beautiful.

The girl before him was beautiful.

No, that felt like an understatement.

She was nearly angelic.

The long light blonde hair that spilled over her shoulders lit up her face, making her pale skin look soft to the touch. Her large but sharp shaped eyes shined with a beautiful shade of brown that made Hokuto sweat as they looked into his. As she spoke, her small but full and soft lips glistened with the light gloss that laid over them, even in the dim hall of the unfamiliar school.

All together, everything made her breathtakingly beautiful, as Hokuto had become quite literally breathless.

Most of all, she was only inches from Hokuto's own face which burned red from his cheeks to his ears.

Hokuto had never felt like this before. Even if his brain could function properly, he didn’t think he could ever recall a time where his heart had throbbed so hard it was nearly painful. It didn’t feel this way when he and his girlfriend became official. It didn’t feel like this when they were on their first date and held hands for the first time. It didn’t when his girlfriend leaned in to kiss him after their date was over. It didn’t when she trailed her nails across his skin when they made out. It didn’t even feel like this when her hand moved suggestively up his thigh or when her fingers dipped into his shirt when he visited her room for the first time before being interrupted by her mom entering the room. Maybe it was just the throbbing of his head mixing with the pounding of his heart that was making his mind get lost completely in a haze, but he was sure that this wasn’t like anything he had ever felt before.

At that moment, Hokuto didn't know what it was.

Only later he would learn that he had fallen completely and utterly in love with the person who was in his arms.

"I-I'm so sorry… uh…are you hurt?" He said, not wanting to let her go, but knowing it was inappropriate to hold onto someone you had just met. Her legs had tangled slightly with his as they fell, Hokuto noticing how wonderfully long and thin they felt, but his catch had kept her from collapsing to the floor.

Hokuto held her up by her arms, helping her to her feet as she stood to her full height, shocking him to how tall she was. Her eyes darted from Hokuto’s eyes as she gasped, seemingly only just catching up to everything that happened.

"I should be asking you that!" She whispered loudly as she brushed down the skirt of her uniform that matched the one his girlfriend wore, glancing over her shoulders both ways before reaching up to feel the back of Hokuto's head. "Are you okay?? It sounded like it really hurt."

Hokuto lost his voice when she leaned towards him, her thin fingers feeling through his hair for a bump, sending shivers down his spine. As she tilted her head to the side, he couldn't help but notice the sweet smell that came from her clothes and the small birthmark placed on the edge of the shell of her ear. Hokuto's head was still spinning, unsure at this point if it was from the pain, the girl's fingers through his hair, how close she was to him or from how badly he wanted to touch her pale skin.

She blinked as Hokuto’s body moved by itself, taking her hand from his head into his own, unable to ignore how nice her long graceful fingers felt against his palm.

He fought out words from his throat, doing his best not to get lost in her eyes as he spoke.

"I-I'm fine, but you- who-"

"Kyomo!! I know you're here!! Stop running!! You know we made a deal!!"

A voice echoed through the hall, making the girl flinch and grip tightly onto Hokuto's hand, not knowing that she might as well have gripped onto his heart as it clenched from her tightened touch.

"I gotta go! I'm sorry! Don't tell anyone you saw me!" She whispered quickly before ripping her hand away from his and sprinting down the hall.

Hokuto could only watch blankly as she disappeared, his hands still frozen in place feeling emptier than they've ever been, not noticing the rapid footsteps that approached behind him.

A hand grabbed his shoulder as a notably skinny boy appeared before him, clearly out of breath. "Did you see…" he panted, "Did you see someone come through here??"

Hokuto didn't know how to respond as his mouth opened voicelessly, looking down the direction the girl had disappeared.

"Okay! Thanks!!"

The other boy gave a courtesy smile, interpreting Hokuto's look as a direction before he ran down the hall, calling the name he shouted earlier.

As the boy rounded the corner out of his sight, Hokuto was left alone back in the silence.

Though the quiet he had once found comfort in returned, it was disrupted by the roaring of his mind.

In the matter of seconds, Hokuto found and lost the love of his life. His head was lost in a whirlwind that was only broken through once an amplified voice sounded through the window outside, announcing the pageant his girlfriend would be participating in was to begin shortly.

Right. The pageant.

The one he was heading to before she-

No, he had to focus. He needed to keep his promise to his girlfriend.

Hokuto quickly made his way through the crowd, making it to the stage and getting a seat near the front just as he said he would be. His girlfriend was cute and small. She was still cute as she walked onto the stage with a frilly dress and her hair done up in curled buns, but his mind was consumed by the girl who he had held in his arms.

Hokuto didn't notice the cute outfit his girlfriend wore, or the dance she did for talent, or her winning first place, or the groans of disappointment from the crowd when it was announced that their surprise contestant ran away and would not be showing on stage.

His mind was only thinking about her.

The girl he had met for approximately 20 seconds.

He couldn't stop thinking of her.

Of her eyes.

Of her lips.

Of her pale skin.

Of the small mark on her ear.

He couldn't stop.

He couldn't even if he wanted to.

This was the beginning of his trauma.

After the festival, he and his girlfriend got in their first fight. Everyone had come to congratulate her and told her how cute she looked, but the first thing Hokuto asked when she excitedly approached him, expecting praise and affectionate words, was if she knew a tall blonde girl at her school. Even though she screamed and cried in his chest after he endlessly apologized, he couldn’t stop thinking about how different the blonde girl felt in his arms. How she was thin but tall and how perfectly she seemed to fit in his arms, even if it had only been for mere seconds.

Hokuto later learned that colored hair wasn't allowed at his girlfriend's school.

Two months later, his girlfriend told him he wanted to break up, telling him he seemed like he didn't love her anymore. When he decided to be honest and told her that he had only recently understood what love felt like, he received a well deserved slap across the face. Kochi couldn't contain his laughter when he saw the bright red handprint that burned on his cheek. He tried to comfort Hokuto, telling him that at least he didn't tell her that he had fallen in love with a mystery girl he barely knew.

While it brought little comfort, what hurt most of all was that this mystery girl was nowhere to be found.

Kochi had to convince him not to stand outside the gates of her school, worried he would get taken in for questioning or even possibly arrested for stalking. The thought of him running into his ex was enough for him to listen to Kochi's reasoning.

As Hokuto entered college, he tried to take Kochi's suggestion and date other girls. He said that maybe he would find someone better. Someone might be more perfect than the girl who came and disappeared in seconds.

Hokuto tried to date other girls.

He tried.

He tried really hard.

He tried really really hard.

He tried to find her in other women.

All of them were tall and pale with long bleach blonde hair, but it was never the same.

They were never able to make him feel as he did in that moment.

They didn't have her eyes, or her lips, or the small mark on the edge of their ear that had all burned into Hokuto's memory.

Hokuto had become so desperate, he had sacrificed his own pride and texted his ex-girlfriend asking her if, even just possibly, any of her friends knew a blonde girl who attended her school. All he got in response was a "fuck you" and a blocked number, cutting off the last and only connection he had to the school he could only assume his dream girl attended.

It was his second year of college and he was still thinking of her. Kochi had long given up on trying to convince Hokuto to let her go, seeing as all his previous attempts had been hopeless. They sat near the front of their college lecture room, arriving 20 minutes early as Hokuto had made a habit of doing. It was 20 minutes of watching the other students walk in, hoping that at some point one of them would be her. Kochi, who was nice enough to join him each time, watched as Hokuto's eyes remained on the door.

Hokuto let out an exhausted sigh.

"When do you think you'll give up?" Kochi asked, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head as he leaned back in his chair, "she could literally be anywhere…"

"I know!... I know…" Hokuto said, at first frustrated with Kochi's dismissive words, but knew well Kochi was right. The tension left his body as he sank slightly in his chair.

"I just… she has to be somewhere…"

"She will always be somewhere…" Kochi sighed, laying a comforting hand on Hokuto’s back. Every time it was difficult to see Hokuto disheartened. Kochi also hoped that one day she would show up, just so Hokuto could at least stop searching.

Hokuto had been looking for so long. Even though he felt more and more hopeless as each day went by, he still hoped that one day she would walk back into his life as she had in the quiet hall of the school he didn't attend.

He had dreams of meeting her again. Some were sweet dreams where he finally found her, appearing exactly as Hokuto remembered. In those dreams he would finally hold her again with her hugging him tight, his heart near to bursting. He would pour every word of love he knew to her before waking up just before their lips could meet. Others were nightmares where she was only just out of his reach. No matter how loudly he called to her or how fast he ran, he was never able to reach her. Regardless of which type of dream it was, Hokuto always found himself waking in a cold sweat. Sometimes he didn't know which was better, the dreams that taunted him, or the reality where he didn't even have a single hint to where she was.

Hokuto's eyes started to fill with hopelessness. Kochi was starting to feel guilty watching his friend in despair, but before he was able to reach over to Hokuto to suggest they go out to drink tonight, Hokuto shot up from his seat, sending his chair, and nearly Kochi, tumbling backwards to the ground.

When Kochi looked to the door Hokuto stared at, he saw not a girl, but a man.

Hokuto looked like he had seen a ghost.

It was him.

Hokuto remembered him so vividly.

It was him.

Hokuto rapidly approached him, leaving Kochi helpless and only able to watch.

"You!"

Hokuto knew it was the same person.

Even though his hair was no longer the natural color it once was, Hokuto wouldn't forget that face.

The man staggered backwards as Hokuto suddenly appeared before him.

"Woah!! Hey!! Sorry! You surprised me!" He shouted, putting his hand to his chest as if to keep his heart from jumping out.

The man's thin and skinny physique was as he remembered. Though he was now wearing gold necklaces, had colored hair, and a few years older, it was unmistakably the person who had chased after the girl after she disappeared from his sight.

"You-!..." Hokuto took a moment to calm himself and not act like the person at the edge of desperation he was, "Uhh...Y-you went to J Highschool, right?"

"Uhh… Yeah! Um… why do you know-... What? Why?" He stammered, still completely caught off guard by the stranger who suddenly approached him as soon as he walked through the door.

"Do you know of a tall blonde girl who went to your school?" Hokuto asked, almost afraid of the answer he would receive.

Hokuto watched the confusion grow on his face as he thought.

He had to know.

There was no way he didn't know.

He was there.

This was the best chance Hokuto had. This was even possibly the only chance he had left.

He begged.

He prayed.

He had to know.

He had to.

"Blonde?... Blonde wasn't allowed at our school... I don't remember any girl like that…"

The high that Hokuto was on washed out of his body in an instant as the man spoke. The spark of hope fizzled as soon as he found it. Hokuto felt his fingertips go cold watching the other man ponder in confusion, stating how it was impossible for a blonde person to exist at his school.

He didn't know.

He didn't know who she was.

How was that possible?

He was there.

It didn't make sense.

None of it made sense.

He didn't know.

That was it.

If this man didn't know, then there was no one else in the world who possibly would.

It was hopeless. Hokuto would never find her. No matter how desperately he tried, she would never appear before him.

Hokuto started to consider if she even exists. Maybe he was just seeing things. Was it possible that it was all some kind of delusion? Was he only seeing visions after he hit his head? Was she just some creation from his mind that molded together the one and only person he fell in love with?

But she felt so real. He had felt her in his arms. He had felt her fingers in his hair. She had to be real.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Hokuto felt his heart drop into his stomach as reality started to wash over him.

Maybe it was about time for him to move on.

He couldn’t do this forever. He had to consider his self worth and well being and this was only going to slowly drive him crazy. It was already consuming him.

He had to let her go.

"Are you sure that it was J school? Could it have been-"

"Juri! When I turned around you were gone. Why didn't you wait?"

"Ahh sorry, Kyomo. I didn't notice you stopped.”

Kyomo.

Wait.

Kyomo.

Hokuto looked over to the person in the doorway.

There was no mistake.

Those eyes, lips and pale skin that haunted him for years to the point they were burned into his mind. Ones he wouldn't ever forget. Even the small mark on her ear was as Hokuto remembered.

She was right in front of him.

Before Hokuto even knew it himself, he had taken that person’s hand into his own, recognizing the feel of her long thin fingers, just as he had done 5 years ago.

She blinked as she looked at him, exactly the same way he remembered, her eyes as vibrant as he remembered. Everything was exactly the same.

"Please go out with me."

"Huh?!" Kochi, who had been watching the whole trainwreck from the sidelines, shouted from his seat. The man named Juri also clasped his hand over his mouth, not sure if he should laugh or pull this person who had suddenly taken his friend’s hand away from them.

Out of the four people involved, no one knew what was happening. Not even Hokuto, who had suddenly blurted out words that were still registering in his brain as he looked into the eyes of the person he had been searching for for so long.

"Uh… Sure. Why not."

"WHAT?!?"

This time Juri joined Kochi, both staring at their respective friends in shock.

Taiga laughed awkwardly as Hokuto's grip tightened over his hand. "Are you sure you’re okay with another man though?"

Oh.

Oh.

Sure enough, once Hokuto’s mind had finally returned to him and he had looked over the person in front of him, she was a man. A man wearing simple clothing which some could say lacked a bit of style, far differing from the girl’s school uniform he remembered.

His hair was also not long and blonde, but a short and dyed brown, the length only reaching just under his cheeks.

Despite all of that, Hokuto didn't feel himself any less in love with the person in front of him. It didn’t matter if it was a girl or a boy. His heart was soaring after finding the person he yearned for after all these years.

His eyes were the same. His nose was the same. The small curl in his lips were the same. He had found him. He had finally found him.

"I-It doesn't bother me at all." Hokuto stammered, his heart feeling like it was going to burst from his chest when Taiga smiled up at him.

Taiga gently pulled his hands from Hokuto's to fetch his phone from his pocket.

"Let's exchange numbers then."

Hokuto’s hands fumbled as he searched for his phone in his bag. Once they both opened their messaging applications, their phones recognized each other in their contact search, filling their names into the search box.

Matsumura Hokuto.

Kyomoto Taiga.

Kyomo.

Kyomoto.

Kyomoto Taiga.

Hokuto still couldn't believe that he finally knew her name.

His name.

And that he finally had her number.

His number.

Hokuto stared at the name that was now registered in his phone as Taiga tucked his phone back in his pocket, looking over at Juri who had placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Class is starting soon." Juri said, directing his head toward the seats in the back.

"Ah. Okay." Taiga nodded to Juri before bending slightly towards Hokuto’s phone to take Hokuto’s eyes off of the screen and onto his own.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" He smiled, placing his hand over Hokuto’s for just a moment before following Juri towards the back of the classroom. Hokuto felt his skin burn where Taiga’s touch had left it.

Hokuto watched him walk away blankly before calling after him.

"I-I'll see you again, right?"

It was a stupid question, but in his chest, he just needed to know. Just some kind of insurance that they would meet again.

Taiga looked over his shoulder at him in surprise before his lips curled up at the corners, seemingly holding back laughter.

Taiga held up his hand, miming a phone, as his other hand tapped his palm.

Right.

This time he had his number.

This time, he wouldn't disappear.

This time, he would find him again.

Hokuto felt a tug on his arm, finding Kochi pulling him back to his seat, breaking him away from watching Taiga walk away.

When Hokuto sat back down in his chair, his mind finally came flooding back to him.

He found him.

In some ways, he still couldn’t believe it. Only moments ago he was about to give up, assuming that Taiga was just a vivid image that manifested through head trauma.

But right now, Hokuto’s body felt warm and his mind had the clarity it hadn’t had in ages. Everything seemed to have had added color to it. Hokuto wasn’t sure if he had ever been happier in his life than he was right now.

As the professor walked in to start the lecture, Hokuto found himself still looking over at the new number at the top of his contact list, reminding himself that this was all still real.

Kyomoto Taiga.

A name. A name to the face he couldn't forget. He resisted smiling to himself as he opened the contact, seeing the empty chat box with Taiga’s name at the top. This time, he wouldn't be letting him go so easily.

Both his and Kochi's hands slammed over his phone when the messaging app pinged loudly, the ringing sound echoing through the room and effectively cutting the professor off and bringing the lecture to a screeching halt.

Hokuto could hear the sounds of a muffled burst of laughter from the back of the room, his face turning red as he could only assume the laughs came from Taiga and Juri.

Hokuto willed the professors’ glare away from him, bowing his head in a silent apology as the professor turned his head back to his writing. He heard Kochi sigh next to him as they both removed their hands from his phone which glowed with a notification of a new message on the screen. Hokuto made sure to mute his phone before opening it.

The simple white icon with a red bow tie in the middle sat next to the new message with Taiga’s name over it.

Taiga:
- Are you available to get dinner tonight?

Taiga:
- Juri will be coming. He doesn't trust leaving me alone with you lol

Taiga:
- Your friend can come too!

Hokuto slipped his phone under the table, nudging it against Kochi's arm, getting his attention to read the message on the screen.

Kochi shrugged before giving the okay sign with his hand.

Hokuto:
- We'll come.

Taiga:
- Great!

Taiga:
– I'll see you after class.

Taiga:
– Please take care of me from now on, Matsumura Hokuto!

“Just how many times are Jesse and Shintaro going to make me retell that story.” Hokuto huffed, watching his breath curl into wisps in the winter night air. Their younger friends who had entered their college a year later loved to hear Hokuto's story, bursting into laughter at the sheer absurdity of how Hokuto and Taiga finally met.

Taiga chuckled before teasingly bumping himself against Hokuto’s shoulder as they walked together along the dark road, “They’re just upset that they were the only ones who didn’t get to see it.”

“They should have been born earlier then.”

Taiga laughed, “I mean, it really is a funny story, all things considered. It's also a great story to tell at drinking parties, it really gets the crowd going.”

“It's funny at my expense.”

“Do you regret it that much?”

“No…” Hokuto mumbled as his voice became quiet, “because I got to meet you in the end…”

Taiga paused, surprised by Hokuto’s serious response before smiling to himself.

“...Are you just saying that to be sweet?”

“No. I really mean it. Finding you was the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Maybe his words were cheesy, but Hokuto was speaking straight from his heart. Everyday since Taiga came back into his life, even his worst days were more colorful because he was next to him. He wouldn’t change a day in his life if changing it meant that it wouldn’t have led him to Taiga. He would have been willing to embarrass himself 10 times over as long as Taiga ended up in his arms.

Hokuto was broken from his thoughts when shivers ran down his spine upon feeling Taiga’s ice cold hands invading his warm pockets, joining with his in the confined space.

“This is punishment for you being embarrassing and making me feel embarrassed.” Taiga grumbled, satisfied with Hokuto’s reaction to his cold fingers.

Hokuto couldn’t help but smile when he noticed Taiga’s ears turn red beyond the pink from the bite of the cold breeze, the small birthmark on his ear glowing. The mark that Hokuto now had the privilege of running his fingers over time and time again and laying light kisses onto it every chance he had. Taiga had asked him why he seemed to touch and kiss his ear often, but Hokuto had yet to gain enough courage to tell him that he was only fulfilling what he had been wanting to do for 5 years and intended to take full advantage of it now that he finally could.

"If this is punishment, then I'll gladly take it." Hokuto replied, lacing Taiga's long fingers between his. He loved how Taiga's hands fit in his, how they seemed to fit together perfectly like two pieces made for each other. The two of them walked in silence to the apartment they shared, hands tightly intertwined, Hokuto slowly warming Taiga's fingertips with his own body heat.

Hokuto looked over when he felt another bump on his arm that this time stayed against him. His sight was filled with Taiga’s smooth brown hair as Taiga rested his cheek on the curve of Hokuto’s shoulder.

“… I like hearing the story too…” Taiga murmured, shivering as the wind blew past them. It didn’t take another second for Hokuto to remove his scarf to wrap it around Taiga’s neck before he could object. Taiga knew well enough that arguing wouldn’t change Hokuto’s mind.

“Why?... Isn’t it embarrassing for you too? Your boyfriend fell in love with you all because of a bet your friend made with you,” Hokuto asked as he pulled the scarf up Taiga’s nose.

Taiga buried his face into the soft fabric, not minding the smell of Hokuto’s cologne that lingered on it as they began to walk again, Taiga now sticking close and leaning against him.

“It’s embarrassing but… I like hearing about how much you loved me.”

Hokuto pressed a kiss into his wind tousled hair.

“I still love you.”

“I know that…” Taiga pushed himself more onto Hokuto’s shoulder, making him stagger slightly before adjusting for Taiga’s extra weight.

“Are you drunk too?”

“Mnn… Maybe a little.”

“Do you want me to carry you home?”

Taiga laughed, pushing Hokuto away, but not enough to separate their hands which stayed hidden in Hokuto's pocket.

"That's way too embarrassing!"

“Nothing will be as embarrassing as when I found you again.”

“...Hey, Hokuto?”

Hokuto blinked when Taiga pulled at his hand, stopping his feet and pivoting him to come face to face with Taiga. The two of them looked at each other in the dark winter night, only dimly lit by the street lights around them. There was no one else except them. Even if there had been, it was uncertain that they would have even noticed. Hokuto looked into the eyes of the person he loved, who he had loved for 7 years and would no doubt love for as long as he physically could.

“Yes, Taiga?” he said in a near whisper as Taiga stepped closer to him.

Taiga adjusted Hokuto's coat collar, pulling it up to warm his neck, before leaning in to kiss him gently on the lips.

At this point they had kissed many times, but every time lit Hokuto's heart on fire. The feeling of Taiga's lips made his world still as his whole heart belonged to Taiga. Every time, Hokuto fell in love with Taiga over and over.

As Taiga pulled away, Hokuto chased his lips, stealing one more kiss, Taiga smiling into it.

Every moment Hokuto spent with Taiga beside him, he knew.

He was happy.

"Thank you for finding me."

"I would have looked forever to find you."

Extra:

Taiga smiled to himself as he sent his last message, seeing Hokuto glance back at him from the front of the room, before quickly turning back, embarrassed that their eyes met. The last few minutes were a wild and confusing few minutes where he ended up with a boyfriend he barely knew.

Juri bumped his elbow against his before leaning towards him.

“Are you sure about this guy? Isn’t he kind of weird?” Juri whispered to him, idly tapping his pen against his notebook.

“He just seemed so excited… It was almost so sudden I couldn’t think of a reason to say no.” Taiga whispered back, watching the note in the chat box indicating Hokuto was typing, appearing and disappearing. “Also the fact that he’s attractive doesn’t hurt.”

Taiga absent mindedly jabbed Juri’s hand with the end of his pen, making Juri scowl as he pulled his hand away. “What were you two talking about before I came in anyways?”

Juri rubbed the spot on his hand, “he was asking about some blonde girl at our school…”

“Blonde?... But-”

Suddenly vivid memories started to flood back to Taiga, bringing him back to his time in highschool.

“Hey… Didn’t you make me put on that blonde wig once with the girl’s uniform? When I lost that bet with you?”

Juri’s mouth fell open as he slowly turned his head to meet Taiga’s eyes, who was staring back. Juri’s lips started to form into a smile as his fingers covered his mouth. Taiga mirrored Juri, covering his mouth in shock and holding back the laughter that threatened to escape.

It went without saying that both of them had put together the pieces of their memories, realizing who this blonde person Hokuto was asking about was.

Juri lowered his hand, glancing at Taiga’s phone with Hokuto's contact still upon it before looking back up to him.

“So… so when do we tell him…?”