Archive of Our Own ^beta

"W-who is that?" 

Lumine lifts a brow and starts to turn to face the direction Gorou is half-heartedly pointing. 

"Don't look!" Gorou hisses. "You'll draw attention to us!"

Rolling her eyes, Lumine blows a puff of hair over her forehead in a vain attempt to move her bangs out of the way. "How am I supposed to know who you're talking about if I don't look?"

"Th-that's!" Gorou clears his throat. He swivels his stool back and forth, toe tapping against the clay-speckled linoleum floor. "He's pretty… unique-looking. Super tall, really really buff, like he could bench me buff—"

"Please cease your gay panic, you're going to run a hole through that mug." Lumine juts her chin toward Gorou's pottery wheel. 

He yelps and pulls his hand away immediately. Ears pressed against his head, he frowns down at the moist lump of clay that might resemble a mug if you close one eye and squint really hard. 

"Anyway, those are extremely unhelpful descriptors. Be more specific." 

Gorou shakes his head, physically willing away his stray thoughts. "He has long white hair, kinda messy? A-and he's wearing red eyeliner. And, um, lots of chains and studs and stuff."

“Ah. Exactly your type.” Lumine nods, pressing her palms into the vase(?) she’s making—really badly, Gorou notes. “That’s Itto.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s nowhere near my type—I don’t even have a type!” 

Lumine shrugs nonchalantly. “Sure, whatever you say. I can introduce him if you want.”

“Th-that won’t be necessary.” Gorou bites his lip, dipping his fingertips into the bowl of water between them. 

“Oh? Do you have a plan of your own to seduce him?” Lumine asks, all faux-innocence. 

By some stroke of luck, Gorou manages to suppress the heat threatening to darken his cheeks. “There will be no seduction—”

“Hey hey hey, look who it is!” 

Thoroughly shocked, Gorou’s eyes widen comically large. 

The stranger—Itto, apparently—lifts a hand as if he’s about to slap Lumine’s back in a show of friendly camaraderie but stops the motion midair, hesitating. He slowly lowers his arm back to his side. He mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot like, ‘No touching without permission.’ 

Unfazed, Lumine doesn’t even look up from her wheel at the intruder. “Hello, Itto. I didn’t expect to see you in a pottery class.” 

“Yeah, well, what can I say?” Itto looks up from Lumine and finally notices Gorou, acknowledging him with a wink.

Gorou’s going to die. 

“I’m a man of many trades, of course!” Itto laughs, loud and raucous and full-bellied. 

“You need an art class for your breadth requirements and you thought this would be an easy A, didn’t you?” Lumine counters.

“Pssssssh.” Itto waves a hand dismissively. “A-and if I did take a class that I knew I could pass with flying colours, that just makes me smart, y’know? Proactive.”

Oh, Gorou thinks, he’s an idiot.

“Anyways!” Itto steps even closer to where Lumine is hunched over her wheel, and Gorou swears he can smell the Axe body spray from here. “Who’s the pup?” 

A sick mix of embarrassment and red-hot anger flares in his gut at the less than appealing nickname. 

This time, Lumine does lift her gaze to meet Itto’s. “That pup could kick your ass.” 

Itto’s eyes grow the size of saucers. “For real?!”  

Gorou splutters. “That’s an exaggeration, Lumine, don’t be—”

“Look at his arms.” Lumine points a clay-coated finger at Gorou’s arms, bare from the elbow down since he’s had to roll up his sleeves to work on his mug. “He’s a master sculptor and he’s captain of the archery club.” 

“Woah,” Itto says with feeling, and without an ounce of sarcasm. “You look really small, but if that’s true… Ooh, I know! Let’s arm wrestle!”

“Right now?” Gorou asks, skepticism dripping in his tone.

Itto grins. “No time like the present.”

“Um.” Gorou looks down at where his mug has completely fallen apart while he’s been paying more attention to the giant, hot man in front of him instead of his project. He raises his hands and wiggles his fingers. “I’m kind of covered in clay.”

“Riiiiiight,” Itto drags out the syllable. “Then it looks like we’ll have to postpone. That’s fine—gives me a chance to train. Sounds like I’ll need it against the likes of you!”

Never one to back down from a challenge—even if he’s pretty sure he’d lose this one, given that one of Itto’s arms is the width of Gorou’s head—Gorou opens his mouth to throw back what he thinks is a clever quip, but before he can say anything, a booming voice interrupts him. 

“Sorry everyone, Professor Tougo had a last minute meeting, so he asked me to come in, and I was all the way across campus—oh, hi Gorou. I didn’t know you were in this class.” Hajime takes his place at the front of the classroom and smiles lightly at Gorou. “I see you’ve already started on something.”

“I, yeah. Sorry?” Gorou lifts a hand to the back of his neck, a nervous habit, but stops short just in time to keep from getting wet clay all over his hair. 

“No worries, I know you know what you’re doing.” Hajime turns his attention away from Gorou, gaze roving over the students milling about. “Anyway, I’m Hajime and I’ll be your TA for the semester. Tougo sends his apologies for missing the first day, but we aren’t doing much anyway. I, uh, don’t have copies of the syllabus so we can’t go over that…”

Lumine chuckles under her breath, turning off her wheel. 

“I guess this is where I welcome you to intro pottery. We’ll spend the rest of the class getting acquainted with the wheel. She’ll be your best friend this semester.” Hajime pauses, glancing at Gorou again. “Gorou, since you’re familiar already, would you mind helping me get everyone set up?” 

Gorou makes a terribly embarrassing noise in the back of his throat, doesn’t move. Lumine elbows him in the arm and whispers, “Go help him.”

“R-right, yeah, I can do that.” Gorou laughs, but it’s a stilted breath more than anything.

Hajime nods once, in that stern kinda way that Gorou has grown familiar with during their shifts at the workshop together. “Okay then. Now, for those of you who don’t know, this here is a pottery wheel…”

🏺

The class goes by relatively smoothly. A few of the other students have obviously never even seen a pottery wheel before—Itto being one of them, but Gorou could’ve guessed that even before he saw the man overenthusiastically spin the wheel, launching a giant chunk of moist clay directly into the wall. Frankly, Gorou is just glad there weren’t any people in the line of fire. 

Since he has a bit of a gap before his next class, he offers to stay after and help Hajime clean up. He’s elbow-deep—the edges of his sleeves unfortunately wet because he can’t roll them up any higher, drat—in a sink full of soapy water, scrubbing under his fingernails to get the stubborn clumps of clay off of his skin, when he hears that unmistakable voice. 

“Hey, doggy TA!” 

Gorou’s shoulders rise, back tensing. “I-I’m not a TA. I’m a student.” Gorou pauses. “And my name is Gorou.”

“Right, right.” Itto sidles up right next to Gorou. He’s warm, inexplicably so, what with the air already cooled by the early September chill. “So, uh. How do you know Lumine?” 

Humming thoughtfully, Gorou pulls the plug at the bottom of the sink to let the water drain. He figures he’s gotten as much of the gunk out from his fingernails as he ever will. “We went to the same high school for a little while, when she moved to Inazuma.” 

“Cool cool, very cool.” Itto nods enthusiastically. His head looks like one of those bobble dolls Gorou used to beg his mom to buy from the expensive toy shop in Inazuma City. He leans back on the counter, stretching his arms behind him. 

Gorou pointedly ignores the bulging of his biceps. “How—how do you know Lumine?” It’s safe territory, asking about their mutual friend. The best course of action while Gorou has to try really, really hard not to stare at Itto’s muscles while he dries off his hands and forearms with a paint-stained towel. 

“We’re in the same kickboxing class,” Itto offers smugly. Or maybe it’s pride, Gorou can’t quite tell with him yet. “She may look puny, but she knows how to pack a punch. And a kick.”

“I’m thoroughly unsurprised.” Gorou chuckles, rolling his sleeves back down to his wrists. He grabs his sweater from the countertop and hastily pulls it over his head. He smoothes out the wrinkles he can see, makes sure the collar of his button up isn’t placed all wonky. 

Once he’s thoroughly checked over his appearance, he looks back up at Itto, who has fallen awfully quiet while Gorou made himself presentable. 

“Um, Itto?” Gorou waves a hand in front of his face. 

“Y-yeah, right, uh totally.” Itto shakes his head. “Sorry, did you ask me something?”

Gorou tilts his head curiously. “I didn’t.”

“Ahaha, yeah, I knew that!” Itto runs a hand through the bits of hair that have fallen out of his low ponytail. 

They stand there, at the counter in the pottery classroom, for several silent moments. Gorou glances at the clock and sees that he only has 10 minutes to get to his class on the other side of campus—turns out cleaning up after 20 pottery newbies takes way more time than he anticipated. 

“Um,” Gorou starts quietly. “Is there something you needed from me? I have a class soon and it’s in the history building—”

“No! No, nothin’ at all! Go ahead, doggy genius!” Itto tosses him a two-finger salute. “I’ll see you next time, yeah?”

“...yeah, see you around.” 

And then Itto disappears out the door without so much as a backpack on his back. 

🧼

The next day, Aether finds him sitting by the water fountain in the middle of campus, a half-eaten sandwich in his hands. Aether plops right next to him, his fishtail braid thwacking Gorou in the shoulder.

“So,” Aether says, in that I’m about to ruin your whole day but I’m too adorable so you’ll still like me after kinda way that only Aether can achieve. 

“Please not in front of my lunch,” Gorou pleads. “I spent an hour making it this morning so I’d like to enjoy it.” 

Aether laughs, bright and bubbly, leaning back on his hands to support his weight. “A certain someone wouldn’t shut up about the most adorable dog hybrid they’ve ever seen in their whole life.”

Gorou chokes on the bite that he definitely shouldn’t have taken, knowing how Aether is.

“Apparently there’s a student who’s enough of a genius that he got asked by the TA to help out on the first day of ceramics class.” Aether grins. “This same doggy genius also wore the, quote, ‘softest-looking, cutest pale yellow sweater.’ Which I happened to see you in yesterday. And, like, every other day in the fall.”

With the bit of sandwich dislodged from his windpipe, Gorou manages to wheeze painfully. 

“I was intrigued, of course.” Of course, the sneaky bastard would be! “So I asked for more detail about this mysterious dog hybrid who wears yellow sweaters and is really good at pottery, because this sounded very much like a dear friend of mine.” 

“Aether…” Gorou whines.

Aether barrels on, though, completely unaware and/or ignoring Gorou’s plight. “Boy, did Itto go on in detail. The colour of your hair, that little patch of white fur, the shape of your ears, the fluffiness of your tail… It’s impressive, honestly, how much he remembered.

“And, oh, how could I forget?” Aether hums, lifting a finger to his chin as if he’s thinking about something very deeply. How best to get Gorou to run away from this encounter with his tail tucked between his legs, probably. “Your vertically challenged stature seemed quite intriguing to him.”

Gorou groans at that particular piece of information. “Why are you like this?”

“In a coincidental turn of events, my dear sister texted me last night, asking if I knew Itto. And then she told me all about your little gay panic while you were waiting on the professor to show up for class.” Aether chuckles. “There’s a word for that… serendipity, I think it is?”

“Genuinely,” Gorou breathes out, “why must you torture  me?”

“It’s not torture,” Aether says emphatically. “It’s matchmaking.”

Panic seizes Gorou’s whole body, heart clenching. “No, nonononono don’t even think about—”

“Hey hey! Aether, my man! And who’s this?” A sharp, over-dramatic gasp. “Doggy genius!”

The universe must really have it out for Gorou. All he wanted was to eat his lunch in peace, soak up the last few rays of September sun before the autumn gloom rolls in for the season. But no, of course not. Of course he couldn’t have this one thing.

“Woah, how do you know Aether?” Itto slaps Aether’s shoulder playfully, unrestrained, and then walks around to plop onto the edge of the fountain on the other side of Gorou. “What a coinki-dink that we both know Lumine and Aether!”

“Um.” Gorou whips his head around to look at Aether. He hopes the SOS is clear. 

“Itto…” Aether starts, slowly. “Lumine and I are siblings. Twins.”

Itto’s eyes widen, red and shining. “No way, dude, that’s so cool! Can’t believe I didn’t know that before, but hey, it’s fine that you didn’t tell me. Water under the boat and all that.”

“It’s water under the bridge,” Gorou says quietly. 

“What’s that, little guy?” 

“I-I’m not little!” 

Aether snorts. “You kinda are.”

Gorou shoots a glare at his supposed friend.  

“If it’s a sore spot I won’t mention it again. Promise! I’ll just stick with doggy genius.” Itto grins, so wide and broad and obviously carefree, the tiniest hint of extra sharp fangs poking over the edge of his lip. 

Gorou’s heart stops dead in his chest. 

Aether clicks his tongue haughtily. “Okaaaaay, well, I have a class to get to, so I’ll leave you two to it.” Aether winks—the bastard— at Gorou before he hops off the fountain and ambles down the quad. 

Leaving Itto and Gorou to it. Alone. Whatever it is. 

“That looks like a super good lunch, doggy genius.” Itto points at Gorou’s open bento, at the rice ball he’d painstakingly molded into the shape of a panda. 

Itto’s finger nail is painted black. The polish is chipped at the end. 

Fuck.  

Gorou chuckles awkwardly. “Y-yeah, thanks. I… made it myself.” 

“Woah, you’re a wizard potter and you can cook?” Itto whistles. “Impressive. Mind if I join ya for your meal?” 

What the hell is Gorou supposed to say, no? He nods his head, not trusting himself to form a coherent sentence. Or even a single word, at this point. 

Itto keeps that grin on his face as he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, something brightly wrapped that Gorou can’t quite identify. Carefully, Itto unwraps…

“Is that… a Hi-Chew?” 

“Oh yeah!” Itto pops the candy into his mouth, shoves his hand back into his pocket, and drops five more mango flavoured Hi-Chews onto the small bit of concrete between them. He wiggles his fingers and waves his hands over the small pile like he’s revealing the grand prize on one of those terribly-lit daytime game shows. 

“...Is your lunch… candy…?”

Itto laughs, and it’s that loud and booming thing that rattles Gorou’s bones. “You betcha! I won it all fair and square from the neighborhood kids.”

“You took this candy from children?!”

“I-I didn’t take it!” Itto shakes his head vehemently. “I won it in a game of cards, I swear!” 

Gorou sighs heavily, shoulders slouching. 

“Ever heard of Uno? That’s the game I played.” 

“Yes, Itto, I have heard of Uno.” Gorou shakes his head and tuts. He moves his bento box from his lap onto the fountain wall, next to Itto’s pile of apparently hard-earned candy. “Here, we can share.” 

Itto blinks down at Gorou, three, four times in utter silence. 

Gorou swallows thickly. “If it’s not something you like, then don’t—”

“No! No it’s not that, it’s just—that’s mighty nice of you. I don’t wanna take all your food, though.” For the first time in their admittedly few interactions, Itto looks… slightly abashed. 

“I-it’s fine,” Gorou says. He coughs into a closed fist, shifting his weight on the ledge. “I made way too much. I can’t finish it by myself, anyway. I insist.” He pushes the box closer to Itto for emphasis. 

“If you say so!” Itto wastes no more time, reaching immediately for the panda shaped rice ball. He cradles it carefully in his hands, like it’ll fall apart if he’s too careless. “This is hella cute, y’know.” 

Gorou nods, unsure of what to say, and takes a giant bite out of his sandwich to maybe hopefully distract him from thinking about how he wouldn’t mind being held carefully in Itto’s palms, like he’d fall apart if Itto is too careless. 

Itto inspects the rice ball closely, bringing it so close to his face that his eyes cross. Right before he takes a bite, he says so casually, so nonchalantly, “Not as cute as you, though.”

Gorou chokes.

🍙

Gorou walks into the ceramics classroom fifteen minutes before class the next morning, because he in fact did not die from choking on a bite of sandwich yesterday. He hasn’t yet decided if he should add thankfully to that ‘did not die’ bit on the account of Itto repeatedly slapped his back to dislodge the bit of food from his windpipe and Gorou was so embarrassed he literally ran away with his tail between his legs after the ordeal. 

(His dreams last night definitely weren’t quasi-nightmares of Itto slapping his back so hard with his ridiculous tree trunk arms that his heart shot right out of his throat.)

All of that was yesterday. Today, Gorou is wearing his favourite sweater he found during a particularly fruitful thrifting excursion with Aether, he listened to his most upbeat playlist as he got ready this morning, and he already has an idea for his semester-long project in this intro pottery class. 

It’s going to be a good day—a great one, even, because Gorou is going to make it so. 

He sets down his bag under the table he and Lumine had co-opted on Monday and settles into the squat stool in front of the wheel. Slowly, he runs a finger over the edge. It’s not as nice as the one he uses in Tougo’s workshop—this one has clearly been used by lots of different people and not super well maintained, but it’s still enough to make Gorou feel like he’s home.

“You’re here early, doggy genius!”

Gorou’s finger slides across the surface of the wheel, old bits of clay gathering under his fingernails. Swallowing thickly, Gorou chances a glance over his shoulder at the doorway. 

Sure enough, there stands Itto in all his stupidly tall, stupidly buff glory. Today he wears a dark gray hoodie with some sort of leather and chrome harness over top, baggy pants with approximately a thousand chains criss-crossing in every direction, and the broadest smile Gorou has ever seen. 

Inhumanly sharp fangs poke out over his bottom lip. 

Gorou nearly weeps at the sight. 

Itto strolls into the classroom proper, sloping gait entirely carefree, like he isn’t giving Gorou heart palpitations from simply existing. He walks right up to Gorou, bending over so they’re at eye level. “Whatcha doin’ here so early?” 

Gorou leans back a few inches to allow himself some breathing room—a difficult task, given Itto’s proximity—and contemplates how to answer. I’m a nerd who shows up super early to all my classes seems way too lame. I didn’t have anything better to do is equally uncool. I managed to catch the earlier bus isn’t even true. “I like to get set up in peace,” Gorou decides on. 

It sounded way better in his head. 

“Riiiiight.” Itto nods slowly, standing back up to full height. “I can totally walk to the other side of the room and you can pretend I’m not even here.” 

You don’t understand that I actually can’t do that. “N-no!” Gorou says forcefully. “Um, it’s okay. You can, ah. Stay here, if you want.” 

Why can’t Gorou get out one single sentence without blubbering like a fool?

Itto’s grin doesn’t falter as he unceremoniously plops into the chair next to Gorou, on the opposite side from where Lumine sat last class. 

“Sooooo.” Itto drags out the syllable, languid. “You seem pretty chummy with the TA guy. What’s the deal with you two?” 

“Hm?” Gorou flicks an ear curiously. “Oh, Hajime and I work together. Tougo owns one of those pottery painting shops, the kind where you buy a premade piece and then paint it.”

“Cool cool cool, so you’re coworkers. What a relief!” Itto laughs, loud and booming and echoey in the empty room. 

Gorou doesn’t get the joke. “Er, yeah…”

“How long you been workin’ there? Prob’ly a while, seeing as you’re so good at this pottery stuff.” Itto pushes the wheel in front of him with a push of a single finger. It spins, barely. 

“I started working there my freshman year of high school. At first, all I did was babysit the kiln and glaze stuff, but then Hajime showed me how to do the more hands-on parts.” 

“Neato burrito,” Itto says so sincerely that Gorou can’t fault him for such a silly line that would’ve been on-trend approximately 35 years ago. “Say, do ya have plans for lunch today?” 

Besides making sure he can get through the midday meal without choking half to death this time? “No, I don’t.” 

“Sa-weet! Have lunch with me, then!”

Admittedly Gorou has not known Itto for long. He’s had only a few encounters with the man, and most of them have involved overwhelming thoughts about how much Gorou would like to feel Itto’s fangs on his neck. But from what he has learned, this statement is a very Itto way to ask someone to lunch—he doesn’t ask, just says that Gorou should. 

It’s hard to explain, but Gorou just knows that Itto says things like that not because he’s full of himself or wants to boss Gorou around, but because he… genuinely thinks that’s the best course of action. 

And right now, with Itto’s deep red eyes staring expectantly at him, the corners of his lips stretched so wide his cheeks must be sore, Gorou can do nothing but nod in agreement. 

Itto whoops, punches the air with so much enthusiastic force that Gorou hears the wind whistling past his clenched fist. 

And then Lumine is walking into the classroom with a very, very terrible glint in her eye and a mischievous smirk on her face, and Gorou wants to curl up into a ball and wither away.

🕚

As soon as his art history professor lets the class go for the day and not one second after, Gorou pulls out the thrice folded piece of paper in his pocket, the one Itto had shoved into his hands before waving animatedly and walking out of the ceramics classroom that morning. 

same fountain
same time
bring ur doggy appetite!

Gorou doesn’t know what a doggy appetite is or how it’s any different than a normal appetite, but he supposes he’ll bring whatever he can anyway. He walks down the quad from the history building, tail swaying back and forth behind him as he feels the early autumn breeze on his face. He breathes in the scent of the colour changing leaves, spares a moment to mourn the fleeting nature of this moment. 

A flash of pale yellow in the corner of his eye catches his attention. He sees the amorphous shape dive behind a bush, but before he can investigate further, he hears Itto shouting his name. 

Well. Not his actual name, of course, but rather an exuberant, “Doggy genius! Over here!” which is really just par for the course, isn’t it?

Either way, Gorou makes his way over to the fountain, where…

Where Itto has spread out enough food for at least 5 grown adults. 

Tupperware, little glass cups, a couple paper plates, and one cardboard box all spread out along the edge of the fountain. There are rolled omelettes and grapes and some kind of bready pastry looking thing and maybe a salad? And—gods, is that a whole cake?

Eyes wide with wonder, Gorou stops dead in his tracks a few paces in front of Itto. “Um, what’s all this?”

“Lunch, duh!” Itto’s grinning, wide and wonderful, eyes shining in unbridled joy. 

Gorou blinks. “Did you—did you make all this?” 

“You betcha.” Itto chuckles, pats the empty spot on the fountain next to the plate piled high with what looks like egg salad sandwiches. “Stayed up all night cookin’ it up for ya. Well, I spent most of that time being scolded by Shinobu.”

“Shinobu?” Gorou gingerly takes a seat amidst the feast, careful to curl his tail around his thighs to keep it out of the way. And also so it won’t make any embarrassing sort of movements.

“She’s my roommate. Always on my case for somethin’. I tell you, she’s tiny but ferocious. ” Itto shudders. “But! She offered to help me learn how to make a few things, so I took her up on that. Turns out cooking is way harder than I thought, though, so it took some getting used to. Nothin’ the great Arataki Itto can’t handle, of course!”

It’s so ridiculous, the mental image of this giant hulking man getting bossed around in the kitchen by some small woman. So Gorou laughs. Full and unrestrained, the kind that rips a snort from him without his permission. 

The sound is jarring and ugly. Heat rises to Gorou’s cheeks, his hand flying to cover his mouth. 

But Itto is still grinning down at him. He doesn’t make a comment about it, doesn’t even look at Gorou like he’s just snorted all gross. 

Gorou’s chest aches.

“Well, whatcha waitin’ for? Let’s dig in, yeah?” Itto winks at Gorou— winks— and then picks up one of the egg sandwiches. It looks comically small in his huge hands. 

The huge hands that would probably cradle Gorou’s cheeks so well—

No, no, absolutely not. He can’t—won’t—thinking about Itto… Itto cupping Gorou’s face like he’s something special—

“You okay, puppy?”

Puppy?!

“You’re really red. Are you sick?” Itto leans forward, presses the back of a hand against Gorou’s forehead. 

It’s warm. So, so warm. 

Gorou is going to explode.  

“Hm, you don’t feel like you have a fever…” Itto hums thoughtfully. After a moment, he snaps the fingers of his free hand. “Wait, I know! Eating will make you feel better! C’mon, there’s a ton of food here!”

Gorou slowly lowers his hand from his face, lets it fall into his lap. He scans over the assortment before him, heart all stuttery and weird, fingertips buzzing with something he can’t quite place. 

“I made it all for you, so eat up!”

There’s—

That’s—

Gorou’s head snaps up. He searches Itto’s gaze. Is he making fun of Gorou? Is this some kind of weird elaborate prank? Gods, is he trying to rush Gorou into some awful frat?

“Why?” Gorou blurts out, way too caught up in all the terrible things that could possibly possess Itto to make so much food for him—

“To pay you back for yesterday, of course!” 

“Yesterday? I didn’t—” Right. Lunch. The, like, half lunch that he shared with Itto. “That was way less than all of this!” Gorou frantically flails his hands about in a vague gesture at the feast before them. 

Itto shrugs, taking a hearty bite of his sandwich. With food still in his mouth, he says, “I don’t do things by halves.” 

🥪

That night, his phone buzzes obnoxiously against the wood of his desk. The screen lights up, the friendly face of Nifuji Nao smiling up at him. 

New message from [unknown]

Gorou’s heart instantly lurches into his throat. 

With a shaking hand, Gorou picks up his phone and unlocks it, thumbs over to his messaging app. 

[Unknown]
hey doggy genius 🐶

Right. 

Yeah, right. 

Gorou had given his phone number to Itto shortly before rushing off after the very satisfying, surprisingly delicious lunch. In a very embarrassing manner to boot, because this is Gorou. 

Gorou pulls Itto’s note from his pocket and carefully tears a third of the paper away at the crease. He digs out the pen he keeps in the side pocket of his backpack and scribbles 10 digits on the torn scrap, shoving it into Itto’s chest with an abrupt, “My number. So you don’t have to wait until Friday,” and then he runs away. 

Literally runs across the quad.

In front of at least a hundred members of the student body. 

Groaning, Gorou presses his phone against his forehead in pure, unadulterated shame. He can never show his face on campus ever again. 

Still pressed to his face, his phone buzzes again. 

[Unknown]
its ya boi, arataki numero uno itto!!!!!!

Gorou huffs a laugh. He types out a message— Who else would it be?— but quickly erases it. He tries again— Took you long enough— but his thumb hovers over the ‘send’ button for half a second too long, and Gorou likes to trust his gut when he hesitates. He holds down backspace and starts over.

[Sent]
Hello, Arataki Numero Uno Itto. That name sounds familiar…
Do we know each other?

The next thirty seconds is the most excruciating moment of Gorou’s life. Biting his lip, he wonders if maybe that was a little too mean? He’s been told that he can get a little carried away with the teasing sometimes…

He nearly throws his phone when it buzzes in his clutches for all he’s surprised. 

[Itto]
you almost had me for a sec there!!
doggy genius is a lil feisty, eh?

Gorou starts typing out a panicked apology, but before he can settle on something—

[Itto]
i like it ;p

Gorou drops his phone.

📱

Gorou agrees to lunch the next day, too. 

Only after he tells Itto to not make any food for him again. Gorou still has a whole container of rice balls tucked into the back of his fridge, courtesy of Itto pushing leftovers onto him. 

(Itto sent back a pouting emoji. Because Itto is, quite apparently, an avid user of emojis.)

((Gorou learns his fun fact because he may or may not have spent the entirety of his Wednesday evening steadfastly ignoring his reading assignments and texting Itto instead.))

While Gorou waits for Itto—this time at some picnic benches thankfully very very far away from the fountain at which Gorou has thoroughly made a fool of himself—he recounts the things he learned about Itto during their conversation last night. 

1. Itto is a geology major—i found out sometimes you have to lick rocks to figure out what type they are!!! isn’t that sick??? was his only reasoning for the choice.
2. Itto didn’t know Aether and Lumine are twins because he went to boarding school with Aether but graduated a year ahead of him, so he only ever knew Aether was looking for his long-lost sister, not that the two met—i’ve never seen em in the same room together!!!
3. Itto is on the Inazuma City University lacrosse team—been playin since high school :)
4. And the bowling team, because apparently they have one of those—it’s fun and the old lady at the local alley’s concession stand always gives me free hot dogs.
5. Itto has always wanted a pet dog but couldn’t have one because his granny is allergic—don’t worry, i don’t think it works like that for hybrids, so i’m sure you can meet her someday no problem!

There are a thousand other little things, too. Maybe he should write them down so there’s no chance he’ll forget any of them.

He can’t contemplate the merits of creating an Arataki Itto Record for long, because the man himself is bounding over to Gorou with that broad, toothy grin plastered on his face. Gorou can’t help the way the corners of his lips tug upward at the sight. 

“Hey hey doggy genius!” 

Gorou huffs, crossing his arms. “I have a name, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Itto’s smile turns sheepish around the edges as he takes a seat in the bench across from Gorou. He pulls out a small container—thankfully small enough that it could only contain food for him and not the both of them. “But I think nicknames are pretty fun! Everyone can give you a different one, so it’s like a special name just for them. Neat, eh?”

“I… never really thought about it that way.” Gorou lowers his ears slightly, contemplative. 

“A lot of people don’t, but that’s okay. Different priorities and all that.” Itto winks—something he just does, apparently, much to Gorou’s dismay and also detrimentally his heart health—and opens up his lunch, munching away without another word. 

Taking his cue, Gorou takes out his food and slowly unwraps the plastic wrap around his sandwich. As he chews, he watches Itto. Watches him pluck omelettes, vegetables, even clumps of rice between his fingers instead of using chopsticks. Watches him methodically move from one side dish to the next, never mixing the flavours together. 

It’s fitting, Gorou thinks. Itto is definitely rough around the edges—brash, loud, imposing, maybe even a little rude—but… thoughtful. And kind, even if his manners aren’t exemplary. 

The complete opposite of Gorou, definitely. 

Gorou, who looks small and soft and unimposing, but has been told by his father, Kokomi, Lumine—everyone, really—that he gets just a little too intense when he sets his mind to something, that he gets too competitive, acts too brashly, always caught up in the next move—

“Hey, you okay?” 

Itto’s voice, softer than Gorou has ever heard it, pulls him from his thoughts. 

He blinks back into the present, nods slowly. “Y-yeah. Sorry. Just thinking.”

“Seems real serious.” Itto clicks his tongue. “Now that’s why I try not to think too much.”

Giggles bubble in Gorou’s chest at the bold declaration, said with Itto’s entire chest, without a single ounce of remorse or shyness. Laughter spills out of his mouth, making him double over with the effort. He laughs, and laughs and laughs until his stomach hurts. 

When he’s finally able to gather his wits about himself again, he looks up at Itto, the realization that he just laughed in Itto’s face for a solid thirty seconds dawning on him. Crap, he really hopes Itto isn’t offended—

But Itto is smiling warmly down at him, eyes alight, shining brighter than the sun itself. 

Gorou swallows. His throat burns.  

He blames it on the laughter. 

“Hey, doggy genius.” 

Gorou makes an affirmative noise in the back of his throat, untrusting of his voice right now. 

Itto’s smile is small compared to the grin normally splitting his face in two. Small, but sweet, syrupy. “I have a lacrosse meet in Seirai this weekend, so I can’t do lunch tomorrow. But I’ll be back on Sunday, so let’s hang out then.”

Is it really that easy?

“You’re kinda new to town, yeah? Lumine told me you never really went anywhere outside of Watatsumi until you moved here.” Itto places the lid of his bento back into place, sealing it with a firm snap. “I can show ya around to all the best spots!”

“I-I’ve already gotten a tour from Aether—”

“Aether prob’ly didn’t show you the best of the best. He’s a cool dude, but a bit of a fuddy duddy, y’know what I mean?” Itto’s grin is back, full and blazing, blinding. “I’ll take ya to the comic shop, and the best ramen stand, and to my favourite places to look at the stars. And a bunch of other places too, if we have time.”

The comic shop checks out, Itto seems like the type, yeah. And the ramen stand is innocuous enough and probably has nothing to do with the fact that ramen is Gorou’s favourite meal. But…

Looking at the stars?

Stargazing?! Stargazing?!

That’s…

It’s such a romantic thing to do. It’s something Kokomi used to tell him she wanted to do, whenever she found the right girl.  

It’s something you do on a date.

“Oh, dang!” Itto stand abruptly, staring at the screen of his phone. The very completely shattered screen of his phone. “I didn’t realize what time it was already! Gah, I have class.”

Gorou stands, too, and he’s not sure why. At this point he’s lost all control of himself since his brain is too occupied by the fact that Itto wants to take him stargazing.

Itto starts jogging backwards, back toward the path that leads to centre campus. “I’ll text you the details! See ya later, Gorou!” 

And then he disappears through the trees lining the way. 

Gorou raises a hand to his chest, gripping the well-worn material of his sweater in his fist. 

That’s the first time Itto has called him by his name.

🍱

Aether and Lumine bring pizza and a stack of DVDs over to his apartment on Saturday. Gorou has the popcorn and sour gummy worms already set out on the table by the time they knock obnoxiously loudly on his door.

They push the couch back as far as possible in Gorou’s admittedly tiny living room and spread out the mish-mash of fleece blankets Gorou has accumulated over the last few years of weird gifts from his too-big family. Lumine plugs in her laptop into the TV and pops in the first of the movies. 

“Tonight’s theme is nostalgia,” she declares as she rights herself. “I dug up all my old Barbie movies and Aether so kindly found some gems at the thrift store.”

Gorou hums thoughtfully, closing the blinds by his desk to keep the last rays of sun out of the room. “I never watched a lot of movies growing up, so I don’t know that I’ve seen any of these.” 

“Don’t worry, even you can understand their plot,” Aether teases from his spot on the floor, his feet kicked up against the coffee table. 

“So rude!”

They watch no less than three different iterations of Barbie somehow solving major world problems ranging from socio economic imbalances to environmental disaster with nothing but friendship and girl power, followed by a tale about a man turning into a llama and somehow keeping his kingdom from collapse because a tired farmer took pity on him, and then Aether brings it up. 

“So,” he says in that stupid, dangerous way.

Gorou groans and proactively throws a piece of popcorn at his face. 

“And you called me rude?” Aether scoffs, picks the popcorn up off the floor, and shoves it in his mouth. “Anyway, a not-so-little birdie told me about your plans tomorrow. With said birdie.”

“Wait, what? What plans?” Lumine sits up, resting her weight on her elbows. She sends a betrayed look at Gorou. “You didn’t tell me about any plans.”

“H-hey now, don’t gang up on me!” Gorou whines. “You know I hate it when you do that twin stuff.”

Aether rolls his eyes, flicking his braid over his shoulder. “They’re going out on the town. Itto has a whole day planned. Did you know he asked me for a good scheduling app so he could keep track of everything?”

Curling into himself, Gorou mentally curses the day he met Aether.

“The best part is,” Aether says, like he’s conspiring a great plan to assassinate a political leader and not discussing something as inane as a weekend hangout between friends, “at the end of it all, they’re going stargazing. Stargazing, Lumine.”

“Woah,” Lumine breathes out, eyes wide. “That’s a hell of a first date.”

“I-it’s not a date!” Gorou defends, sitting up ramrod straight. “It’s—we’re just hanging out! He never mentioned a date or anything like that. We’re just, um. Bros.”

“Uh huh. Tell me, Lumine, have you ever gone stargazing with any of your bros?”

“Can’t say I have, Aether.”

“Right, right.” Aether taps a finger to his cheek. “And have you already picked out an outfit for tomorrow, Gorou?”

“Th-that’s…” Gorou swallows thickly, daring himself not to glance over Aether’s shoulder at the fully assembled outfit he hung up on the outside of his bathroom door earlier that afternoon. He clears his throat, squaring his shoulders. “You know I like to look presentable when I—”

“Yeah, but if it is just a bro hangout, why bother?” Aether gestures to Gorou’s current ensemble of cow-patterned pajama pants and paint-stained hoodie. “We’re currently in a bro hangout and you didn’t bother to change for us.”

“Yeah, but that’s different!”

“Because it’s different with Itto, right?” 

“Maybe, yeah!” Gorou runs a hand through his hair, right between his ears. “I-I don’t know if he thinks it’s any different though! That’s… that’s the problem.”

Lumine and Aether share a look, one of those ones that makes Gorou think that twin telepathy is a real thing. 

“Gorou…”Aether starts, gently, too gently for what was supposed to be a goofy Saturday movie night. 

“No, it’s fine!” Gorou sits up on his knees, putting his hands out in front of him defensively. “Itto is really kind, and sweet, and funny, and honest in a really refreshing way. He’s a good friend—a great one, even, and that’s okay with me. It hasn’t even been that long, so it’s all good, honest.”

Aether presses his lips together into a thin line, eyes narrowing. 

“Maybe you should ask him tomorrow if it’s supposed to be a date,” Lumine offers. “Even if he didn’t explicitly call it that, maybe he just assumed you would know that’s what he was asking for.”

“I-I don’t want to make things weird,” Gorou says, ears drooping. 

“Itto isn’t very good at making friends.” Aether leans forward, resting his chin in an open palm. “A lot of people think he’s too much. He has a lot of acquaintances, people who know his name and what he looks like, but not much else.”

Gorou pulls his bottom lip between his teeth. “You know him well.”

“We were roommates for a few years.” Aether waves his free hand flippantly. “My point is, you could be really good for him, Gorou. I’ve heard a lot of people say a lot of things about Itto, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone describe Itto as kind.”

“I—” Gorou starts, stops abruptly. He doesn’t know what to say to that, partially because Itto is kind in big obvious ways and also little tiny things and people must be really oblivious if they don’t see it, partially because Gorou doesn’t think he’d be particularly good for anyone, let alone someone as bright and bold as Itto.

“And don’t discount yourself,” Lumine adds, chiding. “If you’re really not sure what the deal is, just go with it. And be open to certain… developments.”

“Why did you pause?”

Lumine busies herself with putting in another disc into her laptop instead of answering him.

“Lumine, why did you pause?”

🎥

Gorou wakes up because something hard is pressing into the small of his back. Hard and buzzing incessantly. With a hearty groan, Gorou cracks open his eyes and assesses the situation. 

Okay, so Aether’s face is shoved into Gorou’s armpit. Lumine has an arm flung over Gorou’s waist, curled into his side, snoring away. The thing digging into his back is still buzzing. 

His phone. Yeah, that’s probably what’s buzzing. 

He wiggles around, trying to maneuver an arm under himself without jostling either twin too much. As soon as he wraps his fingers around the thing, it stops buzzing. Of course. He pulls it out from under him. Lumine lets out a big breath, but doesn’t stir besides. Aether stays as still as a rock. 

Squinting against the bright sun seeping through a pesky crack in the curtains, Gorou unlocks his phone and sees that he thankfully didn’t miss a call, just a slew of texts from none other than Itto himself. 

[Itto]
mornin puppy~ 🌅✨☀️🌻
im on my way back to narukami now!
should be in inazuma city by noon
so give me like an hour to shower n stuff before i pick you up
i smell like a locker room lolz
wait
is that too early
are you a late sleeper????
you dont seem like the type but i never asked!!!!
one of my teammates said im sending too many texts in a row
but this isnt too many right puppy????

He squeezes his phone, knuckles turning white with the force. He glances at the clock in the top left corner and lets out a relieved breath. It’s only 10am, so he’s got plenty of time to pull himself together before Itto picks him up in a few hours. 

The relief is short-lived when Gorou realizes that Itto has called him puppy. Not once, but twice. He really, really hopes the nickname stays inside their silly phone conversations and does not transfer into real life, because it’s so embarrassing.

“Gorou,” Lumine grates between clenched teeth. “Your tail is going to give me a bruise.”

Yeah, that’s exactly what’s so embarrassing about the name. 

“Sorry,” Gorou whispers. He carefully extricates his arm from behind Aether’s back, gently pushing the sleeping man so his face rests on Gorou’s bicep instead of his ribs. He grabs his tail and curls it against his chest, tucking it into the crook of his elbow as he types out a reply. 

[Sent]
That’s not too early :)
It’s not too many either
Your teammate seems boring

The response is nearly immediate.

[Itto]
right!!!!!
boarding the plane rn gtg
see u soon puppy 💖🐾

Gorou’s heart swells, presses up against his ribcage painfully. He presses his phone to his chest in a vain attempt to calm its rapid beating. 

“Gross,” Lumine utters. “I can hear you swooning from here.”

Gorou shoves her lightly. 

“What time is he getting back?” Lumine turns on her side, propping herself up on her elbow. 

“Noon.” Trying his best to not disturb Aether—who is an absolute nightmare if he’s awoken from his precious beauty sleep before he’s ready—Gorou sits up. “He’s coming to get me around one.”

Lumine hums quietly. “Are you gonna ask him if it’s actually a date?”

“I…” Gorou pulls his knees to his chest, tail still tucked under his chin. “No, I don’t think I will.”

💕

It’s 12:59pm and Gorou is freaking out. 

Even though both Lumine and Aether told him the black crop top and red flannel look was cute—Aether used the unfortunate descriptor of delectable— Gorou isn’t so sure. Is it too casual? If it is a date, it’s definitely too casual. But if it’s not a date, which he’s pretty sure it isn’t, if he dresses up any more he’ll be overdressed and that would be even worse. 

Probably. 

…Would it, actually? 

Gah, this wouldn’t be a problem if the twins hadn’t brought up the whole maybe kinda sorta potential romance thing! When Gorou picked out this outfit yesterday, he was confident it was perfect for an afternoon stroll around town. But now?

Now he’s having a full-on meltdown. 

There are a few button ups tucked into the back corner of his closet, and he thinks he has some nice-ish pants that don’t need pressed—and those shoes, yeah, yeah of course he can just—

Rapid knocking interrupts Gorou’s spiral.

He spins around on his heel. The clock on the oven informs Gorou, regretfully, that it is indeed exactly one o’clock. 

Okay, then, the flannel and jeans combo it is. Gorou looks at himself in the mirror, taking a deep, steadying breath. 

They’re just friends. It’s a bro hangout. And if it is more, then that’ll be… fine. Good, even. But he has no expectations. 

No expectations.

He nods at his reflection resolutely. 

The knocking continues, syncopated and completely out of any sort of rhythm. Gorou huffs a laugh under his breath as he walks to the entryway. 

He’s thoroughly unprepared for the sight that greets him when he opens the door. 

Itto stands, as tall and imposing as ever, wearing. Um. A very tight shirt that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. And those baggy cargo pants with the chains all over them, and scuffed up combat boots, and that damned leather harness.  

His nails are freshly painted, too, not a chip to be seen. 

Belatedly, Gorou realizes Itto is grinning down at him, nearly predatory. 

“Hiya, doggy genius!” 

Gorou swallows thickly. “H-hey.”

“Ready to go?” Itto’s grin widens impossibly wider. “You’re wearing sunscreen like I told ya? We’re gonna be walking around a lot so I don’t want you to get sunburnt.”

The purely earnest way Itto says it makes Gorou smile lightly. “Yes, I did put on sunscreen. I just need to put on my shoes and then we can go.” Letting the door stay open, Gorou bends down and slips on his shoes in the genkan. “Okay. Let’s go.” 

Itto’s expression brightens. He steps out of the doorway to give Gorou room to shut and lock the door. “First thing on the agenda, Komore Teahouse.”

“A teahouse?” Gorou asks as they exit the building. A curious choice he wasn’t expecting. 

“Yupp! A friend owns the place and it’s a staple locale in Inazuma City.” Itto waves his hands around as he speaks. “Figured we could grab a small bite to eat to tide us over until dinner, too. I didn’t wanna eat anything too heavy for lunch, since Ichiraku has unlimited noodle refills.”

Itto pauses, scratching his temple. 

“Well,” he says, “they usually cut me off after a while, but that’s because I’ll supposedly eat the place outta business if they let me go crazy, or something.”

Laughter bubbles out of Gorou’s mouth at the mental image of Itto surrounded by giant stacks of empty ramen bowls and some poor old tired chef chastising him. 

Itto is quiet while Gorou gets his giggles out, just keeps walking along one of the side streets of downtown Inazuma City. 

Gorou looks over at Itto, biting his lip. But Itto is smiling down at him, that same small, gentle uptick of his lips that he wore on Thursday. Self-conscious, Gorou clears this throat. “W-why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your laugh is cute,” Itto says, shrugging. He turns his attention back to the road in front of them. “Oh hey, there it is!” He points at a nondescript building tucked behind what looks like a pretty large shopping plaza. 

Gorou can’t recover from Itto complimenting his laugh because Itto grabs his hand, dragging him along the sidewalk, and all thoughts of anything fly out of his brain. 

All thoughts except Celestia why are his hands so big?!

Itto nods at a woman in a traditional yukata standing by the door. She lets him in with a smile that looks more like a grimace than anything, but Itto doesn’t seem to notice. He barrels through the doorway, still gripping onto Gorou’s hand with all the grip strength in the world. If Gorou’s hands weren’t used to, well, being used for strenuous activity, he’s pretty sure his bones would snap under the pressure. 

“Hey hey Taroumaru!” Itto waltzes up to the host stand and pats the head of the dog standing primly at attention. 

While wearing… a robe?

The dog—Taroumaru, apparently—barks twice and uses a paw to push forward two laminated menus in Itto’s direction. 

“Thanks, Taroumaru!” Itto grabs the menus with his free hand. He starts to drag Gorou down the corridor, but stops abruptly. Gorou almost smashes his nose into his back. “Oh, I almost forgot! Taroumaru, this is Gorou. Gorou, this here is the owner of Komore!”

Gorou bows politely. Taroumaru barks. 

“Um, yeah,” Gorou responds. 

A few more barks—it’s always been hard for Gorou to translate into the common tongue, but it approximates to Welcome, this is a safe space for your kind and Gorou has to try really hard not to tear up at such a heartfelt sentiment. 

“Thank you,” Gorou says with all the sincerity he can muster. He bows again, deeper this time. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Itto looks between them, brows furrowed in obvious confusion. He shakes his head a few times and then tugs on their conjoined hands—because he is still holding Gorou’s hand— as he makes his way down the corridor for real this time. 

He leads them into a small room toward the back of the surprisingly spacious building. The decorations are sparse, but the tatami mats are clean and clearly well taken care of. In the center of the room is a low table with two cushions placed on either side, a lit lantern flickering in the middle of the otherwise empty surface. 

Itto finally releases Gorou’s hand when he sits down at the side closest to the door. Gorou follows suit, lowering himself into the seat opposite Itto. 

“So,” Itto starts, anticipation making his voice slightly unsteady. He slides a menu to Gorou. “You can talk to dogs?”

“Oh. Um, yeah.” Gorou picks up the menu, eyes scanning the different options for tea and snacks. “It’s a hybrid thing, I guess.”

“Woah, that’s so cool!”  

Gorou looks up from the menu. Itto is practically vibrating. “I… suppose so.”

“Y’know,” Itto says, leaning forward so his elbow rests on the table, chin resting in his upturned palm. “I’m a hybrid, too. I don’t have any cool powers like that, though.” 

“Really?” Gorou lifts a brow. It’s not that he doesn’t believe Itto, but there aren’t a whole lot of nonhuman hybrids these days—most of them have been… more or less bred out of existence. Besides his family, he’s only met a few others. 

“Yupp.” Itto pops the ‘p’ at the end of the word for emphasis. “Oni, to boot.” 

“Really?” Forget cat or fox or dog hybrids—oni have been considered basically extinct for generations. “Wow. You don’t… have…” Gorou trails off, unsure of how to phrase it without sounding weird. He makes an aborted gesture to his forehead. 

“Oh! Yeah, no, totally don’t have horns anymore.” Itto leans back, lets his hand fall into his lap. “It ain’t that big of a deal anymore, but they got cut off when I was a kid.”

“Oh.” Gorou frowns. “I’m so sorry.”

“Eh, it was so long ago. I don’t really remember having them at all. I got stuck with some shitty foster parents when I was real little and they thought it would make my life easier or some bullshit.” Itto huffs. “I’m pretty sure they just didn’t wanna deal with people judgin’.”

Gorou’s frown deepens. He’s heard of people going to extreme measures to hide their nonhuman features, but that’s just… “Itto, I’m so sorry, that’s horrible—”

“It’s just how it is, y’know? I used to have ‘em, now I don’t. Besides, when Granny finally got custody of me, she really gave them a good old fashioned lashing.” Itto grins, like he isn’t talking about a horrifically traumatic childhood circumstance. “That’s what I think makes you so cool. Well, partly. I have a lot of reasons, actually.” 

“W-what?” 

“I see lots of hybrids that hide their tails under skirts and in baggy pants and clip their ears back to look like their hair. But not you.” A slow smile stretches across his face, languid, soft soft soft. “You proudly have your ears standing on end, your tail waggin’ behind you constantly.”

Instinctively, defensively, Gorou curls his tail around his legs. 

“You live proudly, without embarrassment.” Itto leans forward, his long hair pooling on the table. “That’s really, really cool to me, as a hybrid who wishes they could do the same but can’t.”

Oh.

“I-I’ve never thought about it that way…”

Itto’s smile morphs into a full blown grin that punches a hole straight through Gorou’s chest. “That makes you even cooler, Gorou.”

“Itto, I—”

“Hello, gentleman. Are you ready to order?” The gentle voice of a waitress interrupts Gorou, and he’s honestly so thankful because he has no clue what nonsense he was about to spout. 

“Heck yeah!” Itto answers for the both of them, his enthusiasm palpable. “Let’s get a plate of those egg sandwiches, and the fruit sandwiches, and—ooh, yeah, some dango…”

🍵

An hour later, the two emerge from the teahouse with full stomachs. Not too full, of course. Itto would be devastated if Gorou doesn’t eat at least 5 bowls of ramen tonight. 

He said so himself. 

“Alright, next up is the comic shop.” Itto cracks his knuckles as he ambles down the sidewalk, combat boots slapping against the concrete. “Normally I wouldn’t take just anyone here, but Aether tells me you have an impressive manga collection.”

“He did, did he?” Gorou isn’t one to be self-conscious over his hobby of collecting the sappiest, cheesiest shoujo he can get his hands on, but for Aether to just… put it out there like that? With someone he… may or may not have… a passing infatuation. 

Yeah, that’s a good name for it. 

“I gotta warn ya though,” Itto says brightly, “there’s a lot of cool stuff in there. Don’t be surprised if you walk out with an empty wallet.”

A few blocks later, Gorou realizes that Itto was not exaggerating the least bit. 

To call it a shop is an understatement. It’s like a giant warehouse that’s been filled wall to wall, floor to ceiling with manga, comics, graphic novels, and figurines. 

The figurines.

Beside him, Itto chuckles. “See? What’d I tell ya?” 

“You told me alright,” Gorou says, dazed, “but I still wasn’t prepared.”

Itto just laughs again. He nods his head in the direction of the back corner and starts walking that way. Gorou dutifully follows. 

And is met with an entire wall of manga. A giant wall of manga. Organized by genre, the only acceptable way to organize manga as far as Gorou is concerned. He quickly scans over the signs posted, separating the section into different categories. As soon as he sees the one labelled Romance, he sets a warpath, completely ignoring everything around him. 

Which is how he ends up running into someone, completely unaware of their presence. 

“Excuse me, I’m so—”

“Gorou?”

That bubbly voice is absolutely unmistakable. 

“Kokomi?” Gorou’s eyes widen. “What are you doing here?” 

Kokomi stifles a giggle into the palm of her hand, raising the other to show Gorou her spoils. “I stopped by to pick up a few light novels.”

“No, I-I mean, why are you in Inazuma City?” Gorou frowns. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“I was going to surprise you, of course.” Kokomi smiles, a tiny little thing that makes Gorou’s chest feel warm anyway. “I planned to stop by your apartment… later…” she drifts off, her eyes darting between Gorou and something behind him. 

Gorou glances over his shoulder and sees that Itto has walked up to join them. “Oh, right. Um, this is Itto. Itto, this is Kokomi.”

“Hey,” Itto says. Even though his eyes are slightly narrowed, he raises a hand to wave once. 

“Kokomi is my sister,” Gorou explains. Just in case. To clear up any potential confusion. Because Gorou wouldn’t want Itto to think that—that he and Kokomi are, like. A thing. 

Itto tilts his head. “She doesn’t have the, ah.” He makes a vague gesture to Gorou’s ears. 

“Step-sister, technically,” Kokomi clarifies. “We usually don’t make the distinction. Family is family, after all.”

“Oooooohhhh. Right right, that makes total sense.” Itto nods solemnly.

Kokomi clears her throat, turning back to Gorou. “I’m here for a few days and was planning to stay with you, but if you’re… busy…”

“N-no! It’s not like that!” Gorou lifts his hands desperately. “I-I mean, I will be home, just. Later. Lumine has a spare key—you can ask her for it.”

“Okay…” But the way she says it doesn’t sound like this is the end of the discussion. Unfortunately. “Well, I’ll purchase these novels and then seek out Lumine. I will see you later.” 

Gorou lets out a sigh of relief. 

“But I won’t bother waiting up for you, I suppose.” Kokomi giggles, sends one last wave, and then disappears among the sea of shelves. 

More to gather his wits about him again than anything, Gorou stares after her for a few moments. Itto blessedly remains silent. 

Only for a little while. 

“So,” he starts. His voice is loud, too loud for this quiet corner of the shop, even if Gorou knows it’s quiet compared to Itto’s regular speaking voice. “Lumine has a key to your place? I knew you two were friends, but I didn’t realize you were that close.” 

“She’s my best friend.” Gorou runs a finger over the shelf of shoujo starting with the letter M. “She and I became fast friends practically as soon as she transferred here. She was a runaway when she came to Inazuma, you know? So she didn’t have anyone… Lumine would come to my family’s place for holidays and stuff. And then once she found Aether, he started coming, too.”

“Wow. So she’s like your family too, huh?” 

Gorou chuckles. “Yeah, you could say that. I’ve always had a big family, so a few more members isn’t exactly shocking.”

Itto smiles down at Gorou, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Huh. Anyhow, let’s find you some manga to add to that collection of yours, eh?”

Gorou laughs lightly, his heart inexplicably swelling. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

📚

They do find him some manga. And a figurine of his favourite sailor scout. And a comic book about a magical time- and space-traveling cat, per Itto’s enthusiastic recommendation. Itto walks out with his own plastic bag filled with snacks and a couple packs of trading cards from what is apparently a very popular, up-and-coming trading card game. 

By the time they’re satisfied—though desolate their wallets may be—it’s already getting dark out. 

“Yeah, that’s about what I figured.” Itto pulls out his phone, thumbing through something. “I had a few other things planned in case we had some free time, but it is ramen o’clock! So we’ll have to do those other things later.”

“Later?” Gorou raises his brows at the presumption. 

“Uh, I-I mean! Yeah, of course, later, psh.” Itto flicks his wrist dismissively. “If you aren’t tired of me yet, I figured you might wanna, I dunno, do this again sometime.” His voice lilts upward at the end of the sentence, making it sound almost like a question. An insecure one, at that. 

Don't ask what exactly this is. Don't ask. No expectations.

"A-anyway! Ichiraku is a few blocks away. I hope you're hungry, doggy genius."

"I promised you I could eat at least 5 bowls, didn't I?" 

"I'm holdin' ya to it!" 

Gorou eats 7 bowls, thusly keeping his promise to Itto. There isn't much talking going on because of the, ah, stuffing their faces, and they aren't even looking at each other because the stools are side by side at the counter rather than face to face at tables or booths. 

It suits Gorou just fine, because if he had to look Itto in the eye while Itto makes those… um… noises as he slurps, he would explode. And yeah, sure, the ramen is delicious—probably the best Gorou has had from a restaurant before—but he's not sure it warrants all the moaning and groaning going on beside him. 

Itto slams down his last bowl, smacking his lips and sighing exaggeratedly. “Well, well doggy genius! Looks like you kept up just fine!” He chuckles, loud and full. “Not sure where you put it all, but I’ll let a man keep his secrets. You finished?”

Gorou dabs a napkin at the corner of his mouth, eyeing the stack of bowls next to Itto’s stupidly bulging bicep. It’s a perfect mirror of Gorou’s, 7 high. “Itto?”

“What’s up?” Itto swings his feet forward, back. 

“You said this place limits you. What’s the limit?”

At that, Itto’s feet stop mid-swing. His brows knit together, confusion written clean across his face. “Seven. Why?”

Gorou’s lips stretch into a smirk. Slowly, never breaking eye contact with Itto, he raises his hand to grab the attention of the server. “Excuse me, can I get another bowl?”

“W-wait—how many bowls is that?” Itto looks to Gorou’s stack of dirty dishes and starts counting under his breath. 

“Yes, yes, coming right up!” the cook shouts from the steaming water bath. 

“Eight,” Gorou says, letting the smug pride he feels swelling in his chest seep into his tone. “I’m not full yet, y’know?” 

“Arataki.” The tired voice of the server interrupts whatever Itto was about to say. She has a small pad of paper in one hand, a pen poised in the other. “I see you’ve brought… someone along this time.”

Itto spins in his chair, grinning broadly. “Yeah! This is Gorou.”

Gorou does a little half-bow, the best he can do given his seated position. 

The server seems to age approximately fifteen years, shoulders hunching. She scribbles something into her notepad. “Great, he’s added to the list.” She shifts her gaze to Gorou. Her eyes look dead, a dull blue unlike any sea or sky or any of those things people usually compare the colour to. “Next time, you’re cut off at 7.”

She walks away without giving Gorou a chance to respond. 

Gorou is left there, gaping like a landborne fish, completely awestruck. 

He—he didn’t even have that much! And now he’s getting limited?

Unknowing of Gorou’s internal conflict, Itto laughs, raucous. He slaps his knee to emphasize just how funny he finds this whole situation. 

Gorou glares at him, bares his teeth. 

“Aw, c’mon, that’s hilarious. ” Itto slaps Gorou on the back, his palm nearly covering the entirety of it. “Welcome to the too-cool-for-unlimited-noodles club!”

“I’m not sure that’s a club you should be happy to be in…” Gorou grumbles. 

Itto simply laughs in response. If it were anyone else, Gorou would think that he’s laughing at him, but Itto is really the type to laugh just to laugh. 

It’s… nice. Even if Itto’s laugh is usually too loud for the room, it spurns a warmth somewhere in Gorou’s gut and makes him smile, too. 

“Your ramen, sir.” The server sets down the bowl a little too harshly, the broth sloshing dangerously close to the lip. “I do hope you enjoy it, as it will be your last of the night.”

“Pft.” Itto tries and mostly fails to stifle his laughter as the server bows half-heartedly at Gorou before walking away without another word. 

Gorou sighs, dutifully picking up his chopsticks. He swirls them around in the soup, stirring in the different toppings. “Wow, this looks so good,” he laments dramatically. “I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have this last bowl…”

Without so much as sparing a side-eye toward Itto, Gorou begins the very suave act of shoveling piping hot noodles into his mouth. He slurps them all up, picking at the toppings and creating the perfect next bite. The entire time, he feels Itto’s heavy gaze on him. 

He spoons a few sips of the delicious broth, takes another couple of bites, all while ignoring Itto—who has grown inexplicably quiet. 

And then, another giant bite of noodles poised directly in front of his lips, he makes the mistake of looking over at Itto. 

Itto, whose red, red eyes are wide and shining, lips downturned in a displeased pout, brows all furrowed—Celestia, is that a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth? To put it simply, he looks…

Pitiful. 

This grown, hulking giant behemoth of a man, is pouting because Gorou got an extra bowl of ramen. 

It’s ridiculous, logically. There’s no reason for Itto to be so genuinely devastated by Gorou’s eighth serving. Gorou should be annoyed, or frustrated, or something. Instead, he… his heart lurches at the sight. It’s weird, seeing Itto’s face that’s normally so bright, so joyful at any given moment, turn downtrodden. 

So Gorou does the only thing he can. He pushes the bowl closer to Itto, halfway between them. 

“Here,” Gorou says, voice strained. He’s stuck somewhere between laughing and crying at Itto’s expression. “We can share this one.”

Itto blinks. Once, twice, mouth agape. “Are you for real?!”

“Y-yeah.” Gorou taps his chopsticks against the rim of the bowl. “Turns out I am a bit more full than I thought.” 

Itto’s lips stretch into a face-splitting grin. It suits him better than the frown, Gorou thinks. “You’re the best!” Itto grabs his own utensils and digs in without preamble. “We totally gotta arm wrestle after this!”

Smiling, Gorou leans over the counter and rests his chin in his hand. “Yeah, okay.”

🍜

Itto stretches his arms over his head, groaning loudly. “Ah, that really hit the spot! What did ya think, doggy genius?”

The air has taken on a bit of a chill since the sun has dipped below the horizon entirely. Gorou’s glad he has long sleeves, at least, but he has to tug his shirt over his exposed belly to keep it from getting covered in goosebumps. “It was really good. Did Aether tell you ramen is my favourite food or was that pure coincidence?”

“No way!” Itto shakes his head. “Nah, he didn’t tell me that. Guess it was fate, then, hehe.”

Gorou smiles lightly, pulling his shirt tighter around his exposed midriff.

“The clearing is a little ways away, so it’s a bit of a walk. Gives us a chance to digest all those noodles though!” Itto rubs a hand over his belly for emphasis. 

They walk side by side, quiet for all of half a block. 

“Hey,” Itto says into the night air. “You look kinda cold.”

Gorou shakes his head vehemently. “I’m—no, I’m fine!”

Itto narrows his eyes, skeptical. “Ah! Hang on! Gimme your hands.” 

“Um. Okay.” Hesitantly, Gorou outstretches his hands in front of him. 

Which Itto immediately scoops up between his own much, much larger hands. He brings them up toward his face, but he still has to bend over to reach them with this—

With his mouth?!

Itto cages Gorou’s hands between his cupped palms and blows over them. Warm air ghosts across Gorou’s cooled skin, at such extreme odds with the crisp breeze. A shiver zips down Gorou’s spine at the contrast. 

No other reason, surely. 

When Itto finally pulls his face away from their clasped hands, he’s grinning. “Better?”

All Gorou can do is nod numbly. 

“Well, just in case, we better hold hands the rest of the way.” Itto drops one of Gorou’s hands, twining his fingers with Gorou’s other. “So you’ll be at least a little warmer.”

And then Itto continues walking down the sidewalk, like they aren’t holding hands. Again, actually. For the second time today. 

Gorou trails after him. He does feel a lot warmer, but he has a sneaking suspicion it’s not purely because Itto is basically a walking talking space heater. 

“So, what do you do in your free time?” Itto asks, filling the silence between them. 

Now that he’s had a few seconds to recover from the shock, Gorou settles his hand more comfortably in Itto’s grip. “Between school and work and the archery club, not a whole lot… You know I read manga. Um, I also read novels, sometimes. And watch movies when the twins are around.”

“Huh. Seems like you do a lot.” 

“I-I guess so?” Gorou feels his shoulders relaxing the more they talk. It’s normal, talking like this with someone else. Even if Itto is, like, the hottest person Gorou has ever seen and is also holding his hand and walking him to a field at the edge of town so they can look at the stars. “What about you? You mentioned you played card games with… children.”

“Ohh yeah I do! I usually win, too!” Itto says with all the pride of someone besting an expert, not a few kids. “I volunteer at the temple’s youth shelter a few times a month. Mostly I entertain the kids for a few hours so the caretakers can catch a break or go shoppin’ for the kids or something.” 

That certainly makes Gorou feel a bit better about the whole taking candy from children thing. It’s easy to imagine that Itto takes playtime just as seriously and with as much exuberance as he does anything else, and the mental picture that paints is… certainly something. Something that makes Gorou’s chest all warm.

“School and sports take up a lot of my time during the semester though, so I don’t get to play as much as I want. But!  I’m super good at multitasking, so I can watch stuff while I do my homework.” 

Gorou has a sneaking suspicion he’s not as good at multitasking as he thinks he is, but he lets it slide. 

They chat amicably about anything and nothing for the next several blocks. Itto tells Gorou about the time Aether dared him to put ten packets of pop rocks into his chocolate milk at their school cafeteria, how he did, and then described in explicit detail how the frothy milk sprayed out of his nose uncontrollably for a solid fifteen minutes. Gorou tells him about his rival in the archery club, the VP Sara Kujo whose entire goal is seemingly to make Gorou’s life miserable. 

The whole time, Gorou’s hand remains gripped tightly in Itto’s. He feels warm, inside and out. 

Gorou’s perception of time has always been decent, but tonight his internal clock is thrown off. They reach the outskirts of the city lights in what feels like less than five minutes, but Gorou knows it has to have been at least twenty to get so far from the ramen stand. 

“Here she is!” Itto uses his free hand to gesture to the field in front of them. It’s mostly flat, with a few big rocks near the shoreline. A giant cherry blossom tree stands in the center of the area, tall and wide. “Far enough away from the light pollution to see the stars, but not so far away you’d be worried about being eaten by a bear.”

“Are there bears on Narukami?” Gorou is no wildlife expert, but he’s pretty sure his high school geography courses mentioned that bears don’t exist on most of the islands outside of zoos. 

“W-well, I don’t think so, but you never know!” Itto tugs Gorou closer to the tree. “Anyway, I have some stuff here, includin’ a blanket so you won’t have to worry about being cold anymore.”

When they reach the base of the tree, Itto lets go of Gorou’s hand, but not without a final parting squeeze. He tilts his head in either direction, the sound of his neck cracking so loud that Gorou can hear it. He pushes the soles of his boots against the bark of the tree, walks a few paces away, and then—

Then he takes a running leap onto the tree. He grabs onto one of the lower branches, pulling himself higher using nothing but his arm strength. With practiced ease, he swings a leg over the branch and crawls toward the center of the tree, reaching into the little divot there for something. 

“Catch,” Itto calls down to Gorou. Immediately, without giving Gorou any chance to actually process what the hell is going on, he tosses down a bundle of cloth. 

Instinctively—thank the gods Gorou has decent enough reflexes for it—Gorou’s arms shoot out to catch the balled up blanket. 

It’s patterned with chibi cows. 

Effortlessly, Itto hops down from the tree, landing next to Gorou. He plucks the parcel from Gorou’s hands and kneels onto the ground. He starts untying the knot at the top and says, “See? Told ya I had some stuff.” 

The blanket opens up, revealing a few bags of chips, a couple candy bars, and two bottles of green tea. 

Gorou looks down at Itto curiously. 

“This is why I needed an hour after I got off the plane today. It only takes me like, five minutes tops to shower.” Itto grabs the items and stands, nodding in the direction of an open patch of grass a few meters away. “I brought the blanket so we could lay on it if you didn’t like the way the grass feels—I know some people get itchy, y’know?—or for warmth if you got cold.” 

Gorou trails after Itto as he walks over to the area he gestured to earlier. Itto takes a seat on the grass, settles the snacks next to his leg. Following suit, Gorou lowers himself into the grass, tucking his feet under his knees. 

He holds out the blanket to Gorou. “So here.”

“Th-thanks.” Gorou takes the blanket with a smile tugging at his lips and settles it over his lap. He watches as Itto lays back, hands resting behind his head, gaze turned to the sky. “Do you… wanna share…?”

Itto shifts his eyes to Gorou. From this angle, the curve of his jaw is accentuated, statuesque. 

Gorou’s breath catches in his throat. 

“Nah, big guys like me don’t get cold. You can keep it all for yourself.”

Wh—

For as, ah, bold as Itto is, he doesn’t seem to get the hint.

With a sigh, Gorou reclines so that he’s laying next to Itto. The grass is a little itchy, sure, but the warmth of the blanket is way better than the barrier it would create on his back. 

Gorou lifts the edge of the blanket. “Even if you’re not cold, we could—could share. And be… close. To each other.” 

Itto opens his mouth as if to say something, shuts it. Opens it, shuts it. And then it seems to dawn on him, his eyes widening. “Oh. You wanna cuddle.”

Gorou rolls his eyes. He takes the elated expression on Itto’s face as permission and tosses half of the blanket onto Itto’s body. He settles into his side, scooting as close to Itto as possible without actually touching him. 

Purely because the blanket isn’t that big and he is cold—he needs to be this close so he can be completely covered by it. Nothing else. 

He hears Itto adjust the blanket, probably pulling it over his body to the best of his ability. After that… it’s quiet. 

If Gorou strains his ears, he can hear the distant sounds of the city as the bustle starts to die down on a Sunday night. But he doesn’t, so all he can hear is the chirping of crickets, the gentle swooshing of leaves in the breeze, and Itto’s rhythmic breathing. 

The stars are gorgeous. Watatsumi Island doesn’t have the same city life as Narukami, but Gorou never took the time to go out at night and look at the sky. He’s pretty sure that even if he had, it wouldn’t be the same as it is right now. 

Itto’s body heat is frankly insane and quickly warms up the inside of the blanket to the perfect temperature to snooze in. Gorou is far too wired to consider sleep, though. It’s weird, because his heart isn’t racing, his palms aren’t sweating, his blood isn’t rushing—his body feels as relaxed as it’s been in. Well, ever, probably. 

But his brain is alight. Running a million miles a minute, because Itto’s arm is an iota of a fraction of a centimeter away from Gorou’s arm. And they’re sharing a blanket. And the stars are twinkling in the sky above them, winking white and bright and shiny against the inky-blue of the surrounding outer space. 

And all Gorou can think about is how he wants to stay here forever. 

It’s stupid— forever is such a permanent term. A ridiculous one. An impossible one. But here, with Itto’s knee shifting to press against Gorou’s shin, Itto’s elbow brushing Gorou’s—

It doesn’t feel impossible. 

“Y’know…” Itto starts, voice softer than Gorou has ever heard it. It doesn’t sound sad at all, just as bright as ever, but tempered. Honeyed. “It might not seem like it coming from such a cool guy like me, but I haven’t been on many dates before this one.”

Date.

Ah. 

So it is.

There’s rustling from beside him, enough to force him to tear his attention away from the sky. 

Itto turns on his side, props his head up with a hand. He’s close still, soso soclose. “I dunno what it is about you, puppy.” 

Gorou swallows, traitorous heat rising to his cheeks. Face surely aflame, Gorou mimics Itto’s position, resting on his left hip with his cheek cradled against his palm. “I-I don’t know what it is about me, either.”

Itto chuckles, quiet, loud enough only for them. His breath puffs over Gorou’s cheeks, their faces are so close. The hand that isn’t holding his chin reaches up, cups Gorou’s cheek. 

Slowly, painfully tantalizing, Itto drags his thumb across Gorou’s cheekbone. “Gorou, I—”

“Kiss me,” Gorou breathes out, equal parts desperate and terrified.

Itto obliges without an ounce of hesitation. 

He doesn’t have to go far, leans in the few scant inches between them, brushes his lips against Gorou’s lightly, tentatively. 

Gorou presses back with tantamount fervour, scooting his whole body forward so he’s pressing into Itto’s broad, broad chest. His free hand shoots up, clinging to the sleeve of Itto’s hoodie. 

Itto eagerly returns his energy, surging forward considerably more forcefully than his initial peck. He breathes in sharply through his nose and Gorou feels his fingers flex against the back of his head, his nails digging into his scalp slightly. 

It stings just enough to punch a gasp out of Gorou. Itto wastes no time in taking advantage of his parted mouth, swiping his tongue against Gorou’s lips before pushing in. 

Gorou is immensely glad that they’re already laying down, because if they were standing, his knees would surely buckle at the feeling of Itto’s tongue languidly licking into Gorou’s mouth. 

It should be gross, honestly, but Gorou wants more.  

Itto gives and gives and gives, only ever separating their lips when he needs to regain his breath, always dipping back into Gorou’s space to steal the air from Gorou’s lungs. Gorou drinks it in, soaks in the feeling of Itto’s fingers carding into his hair, relishes in the press of their chests together under the covers. 

Gorou’s hand slides down Itto’s bicep, trails along his side, finds purchase on Itto’s exposed hip. He clutches onto the hard muscle here like a lifeline. He’s sure Itto will have bruises in the next few hours, but with the way Itto uses those inhumanly sharp teeth to dig into Gorou’s lip every time Gorou reflexively squeezes, Gorou can’t imagine he’ll mind too much. 

Only once Gorou’s head feels so light he’s worried it’ll float up into space does Itto pull away far enough that Gorou can’t chase after his lips for immediate reconnection. His breath comes out in harsh gasps. Itto isn’t doing much better, what with his breathless heaving. 

“Wow.” Itto’s voice sounds about as wrecked as Gorou feels. 

“Yeah, um. Wow is certainly… a valid statement.”

Itto laughs. This time, Gorou can feel it rumbling through his chest. 

His brain is hazy, blissfully spinny, coated in a fog of euphoria. 

Itto swipes the pad of his thumb against the plane of Gorou’s cheek. “I should probably get you home before your sister starts to worry.” 

A whine spills out of Gorou’s throat. “Can’t we watch the stars a little bit longer?” 

Itto slides his hand to the top of Gorou’s head, scratches along the base of Gorou’s ears. “Sure, puppy. For you, I’ll allow it.”

🐶👹

[bonus]

Itto holds his hand the whole walk back to his apartment. When they’re standing in front of Gorou’s door, he squeezes Gorou in a bone crushing hug topped off with a chaste kiss pressed to the crown of his head. Gorou glares (read: pouts) up at him until Itto laughs, bends over and gives him a proper goodnight kiss on the lips. 

Gorou doesn’t turn to unlock his front door until he sees Itto disappear down the street. As soon as he spins on his heel, key in hand, the door flies open. 

Lumine is staring at him with wide eyes. Aether has a camera held up to the height of the peephole. Kokomi has both hands pressed to her mouth, her eyes watery.

A moment of utter silence passes between the four of them. 

And then Lumine pulls a party popper from her pocket and rips the string. 

Pitiful clumps of confetti land square in the middle of Gorou’s chest. 

“You’re all awful,” Gorou says miserably. 

Kokomi sobs into her hands. “I’m so happy for you—”

“—we waited for hours—”

“—your mouth is so red ohmygod did you make out—”

The three clamor around him as he pushes his way into his own apartment, asking for details, telling him how tousled his hair looks, etc etc. As soon as he manages to toe his shoes off in the entryway, his phone buzzes in his pocket. 

He ignores the nosy threesome, retrieving his phone and swiping it open. 

He can’t help the goofy grin that splits his face as he reads the message. 

[Itto]
lunch tomorrow?