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Yuusuke opens his eyes to a weight half-pressed against his chest and straight raven hair tangled on a pillow.
Morning light seeps through the blinds and bathes Toudou's room in bronze gold. Both the other man and the small third-year between them – Sakamichi-kun, Yuusuke remembers – are still fast asleep even through the lack of room in the bed and the uncomfortable positions, chests rising and falling in time. They almost seem like brothers, Yuusuke thinks: the same slick, black hair, the blue eyes, the slightly tanned skin – although any skin tone appears tanner next to his own, white as milk skin – and the small, slim, but still toned and fit bodies. Toudou's lets out a sigh as he turns around and lies on his side, and golden light and dark hair dance over his face to the rhythm of his breathing.
Yuusuke manages to move and get up without waking the two boys, and silently makes his way to the door, quiet as a shadow. He gently turns the knob, and steps in the bright living-room, throwing one last glance towards the bed as he closes the door again. He looks across the living-room: he's alone, as Toudou mentioned that his roommate was away for the weekend, and somehow it looks almost out of character for a guy like Toudou to live in such a quiet, tidy flat. Yet Yuusuke is certain that Toudou was the one deciding on the decoration and furniture: a huge couch and armchairs frame a wooden coffee table with a carpet underneath, and on the walls are hung vintage-style posters and photographs. A record-player lies on a bedside table in a corner, as well as a basket full of vinyl discs, and Yuusuke is reminded of his own record-player, the one he had back in his London flat.
He absentmindedly starts rummaging through the basket, fingers flicking the discs one after the other. Perhaps this is also why Toudou seems so familiar to him, despite having met him only a few days ago; he wouldn't have looked out of place in his Londoner circle of friends, Yuusuke thinks, what with the great, eccentric style and fashion taste, as well as being an excitable party animal – with apparently amazing music tastes.
Yes, Yuusuke would almost feel jealous, if he didn't actually kind of like the guy.
He picks Wish, by The Cure, and immediately flips it to the B-side before starting the record-player. He thinks back of the first time he met Toudou, and the obvious interest the boy manifested towards him makes him chuckle with embarrassment. Yet he hadn't mind Toudou asking him to come to Arakita's party, and Yuusuke could have always pretexted that he only wanted to help Hayato out in scoring his maybe-future-boyfriend, but he strangely hadn't felt the need, part because Hayato seemed to handle himself well enough on his own without him – but mostly because Toudou truly was an interesting person, which made him even more annoying.
They had spent the night before sipping drinks and Toudou gossiping about which guy had slept with whom, which girl had wanted to date him before realizing he was as gay as they came, and how one night when they were in their first year of college Arakita and he had went to support Machimiya's younger brother in a volleyball tournament and had unknowingly ended up sleeping with all his teammates – when Yuusuke had asked for details, he had only received an impressive death glare with a “First rule of gay sports club: we do not talk about gay sports club” –, how Arakita and Shinkai were so all over each other it was almost gross to look at, but how Kinjou was even more all over Fukutomi and it would be utterly adorable if Fukutomi wasn't so dense, and Yuusuke had found himself laughing at all of his ridiculous anecdotes, and before he knew it he was going back to Toudou's flat because apparently two drunk people could be trusted with checking on four other drunker boys.
The thought makes him chuckle as he opens the door to the kitchen – “if you wake up first tomorrow, just make yourself at home, Maki-chan!”, Toudou had said – and looks for a teapot and some tea. He flicks his gaze to the clock above the door. 11am. He's slept way more than he should have, and Yuusuke has a client at the tattoo shop at 2pm. I don't care if Monday's blue, the record-played sings as he grabs a mug out of a cupboard, Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too. He hears the door creak a little, and Toudou steps into the kitchen, still dressed in yesterday's clothes, fingers raking hair back before his bangs fall back over his face. It suits him better, Yuusuke thinks.
“Hello,” Toudou whispers in a rough voice, heavy with sleep and the remnants of drunkenness. Yuusuke guesses Toudou doesn't handle alcohol as well as he does, and probably has a killer headache, so he chooses to reach for a second mug before heating some water in the teapot. Toudou falls in a chair in front of the kitchen table, eyes closed and head slightly thrown back, and it's strange to see Toudou so quiet, but also quite refreshing. Thursday I don't care about you, it's Friday, I'm–
“So you like The Cure?”
Yuusuke hums. “I'm in a retro mood as of late.”
Toudou chuckles. “I like old music better.”
“I used to have the same record-player,” Yuusuke mentions as he pours boiling water over tea leaves.
“Used to?”
“Back in London. I left it back there.”
Toudou remains silent for a second. “Wait. You lived in London?!”
Yuusuke sits in a chair opposite of Toudou as he hands him his cup of tea. “For almost three years, yeah. I came back here in February.”
“So you've been living in England since you're 17? Wait, we are born the same year, aren't we?”
“I guess. I'm turning 20 in July. I lived with my older brother. He's a fashion designer, and I wanted to go to England since I was little, so... I learnt to tattoo there too.”
“Really?” Toudou seems completely awake now, blowing on his tea before taking tiny sips, and Yuusuke finds it almost cute.
“A friend of my brother had a parlor. He told me I was very good at drawing, and maybe if I wanted to he could teach me how to tattoo.”
“So you did.”
“... I guess I was kind of intrigued by the whole thing.”
“So intrigued it's now your job.” Toudou laughs cheekily. “If I didn't know better, I'd say you're embarrassed to admit you loved it, Maki-chan.”
Yuusuke chooses to sip his tea instead of answering.
*
Sakamichi-kun is currently being cuddled on Toudou's couch by a half-sleeping Manami when Yuusuke takes his bag and opens Toudou's door.
“Thank you again. For allowing me to stay here.”
“Ah, it's nothing, Maki-chan~,” Toudou answers, all cheerfulness and enthusiasm and headband back after having taken a shower and changed clothes. “I would have felt bad to leave you in the wolf's den anyway.”
Yuusuke smirks, fingers untangling his too curly hair.
“I guess we'll meet at the shop. I'll tell Hayato you say hi.”
He starts making his way towards the staircase, but Toudou stops him with a call of his name.
“Do you know which way to go?”
“... Well, my phone has a GPS, just in case.”
“Technology cannot be trusted, Maki-chan. I can't walk you back, though. I trust Manami even less.” Toudou glances back with a look of suspicion on his face, almost as an authoritative brother watching over a guy wanting to sleep with his younger sibling – which is exactly what the situation was, really. Yuusuke remembers Toudou threatening to lock Manami in the bathroom if he even tried to sneak next to Sakamichi-kun in bed.
Yuusuke sighs. “Give me your phone.”
Toudou obliges, a look of surprise and excitement on his face, and Yuusuke enters his number and sends himself a bunch of emojis – he doesn't even want to know why the eggplant emoji is the one Toudou uses the most.
“There. If I have a problem, I'll call you.”
Yuusuke leaves a dumbfounded Toudou on his doorstep with only a slight wave of his hand.
*
Giving his number to Toudou, it appears, is the worst idea Yuusuke ever came with, as he doesn't stop receiving messages from the cyclist just to update him on how his day is going and asking him if he's well – and that's because Yuusuke actually had to tell Toudou not to call him in the middle of work the afternoon before as it greatly annoyed both his client and Hayato's uncle.
Monday you can fall apart, Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart, his Spotify account plays. He wonders why he finds himself listening to The Cure on repeat these days – nostalgia, he guesses, as it was one of his friends' favourite bands back in England, and many of their pre-parties were set to the rhythm of one of their Greatest Hits albums. He wonders if Toudou ever went abroad. Thursday doesn't even start, it's Fri–
His phone beeps as he's about to ask via text, and Yuusuke catches himself smiling when he reads a tirade about how Arakita and Hayato didn't even kiss when the first walked the latter back to the train station on Friday night – “I wish him all the best and hope that one day, Arakita can afford the surgery to remove his head from his ass” were the exact final words. Another beep. “In other news, I massively over-caffeinated this morning. Everything is vibrating and I can see through time.” Yuusuke laughs as he makes his way to his bathroom for a long, hot Sunday bath, and feels pleasantly surprised to discover that Toudou can apparently also be kind of funny.
Later on, he also discovers that Toudou sends eggplant emojis every five minutes if people don't reply to his texts. Yuusuke seriously contemplates changing his contact info to “NO” and a picture of Satan.
*
“Jinpachi is a blessing to this world.”
Yuusuke raises an eyebrow as he stares to a blissful Hayato from above his round glasses. He's only barely finished his sketch for this afternoon's tattoo, and he still needs to make some adjustments – yet as the tease he is, Hayato stands there, quiet, gazing at Yuusuke with a cheeky smirk on his face, as he waits for him to take the bait and ask what's up with the sudden burst of affection towards his crush's best friend.
“You know this tattoo won't sketch itself alone, and I don't have all day. Spit it out.”
Hayato flashes his white-teethed smile, but it seems brighter than usual, Yuusuke thinks.
“Yasutomo's sick.”
“Wolf boy? How is that good news?”
“Jinpachi called and asked if I cared to go there and nurse him a little.”
Yuusuke laughs as he ties his hair into a bun. “And here I thought that I would get to be the mom in this relationship.”
“I won't be his mom, Yuusuke. That's creepy.”
“Because being a nurse is better?”
“Says the one who owns a 'dirty nurse' Halloween costume.”
“Says the one who wore a maid outfit and spent your whole night sweeping away people's crotches with a feather duster and saying they hadn't get any action in a while.”
Hayato laughs. “You got me there.”
Yuusuke is about to resume drawing his tattoo when Hayato leans down over the counter with his usual smirk on his face, and he knows from experience this forecasts nothing but trouble.
“Anyway, Jinpachi must be interesting if the mere mention of his name managed to make you raise your gaze from your sketch.”
Yuusuke thinks Hayato already knows him too much for his own good, but there is no way he will ever admit that he finds Toudou kind of intriguing, really.
“His music tastes aren't bad. And he dresses well. But he's loud and obnoxious, always complaining about one thing or another, usually his roommate, sends too many texts and uses too many emojis.”
“I've never heard you say as much of someone you're supposedly indifferent to, Yuusuke,” Hayato says, and Yuusuke wants to punch his arrogant smile off his face. He scoffs instead, and almost doesn't hear Hayato leaving the room with a “you should ask him out on a date, if you're so obviously interested in him.”
Yuusuke mulls over the thought as he erases some lines from his sketch. He wasn't like Toudou. Even if they haven't known each other for long, from what Toudou had drunk-revealed Friday night, Yuusuke is pretty sure he managed to understand what kind of guy the cyclist was when it came to relationships: the type to have a high school crush he never truly got over, the type to have thunderous love affairs only ending in tears and sometimes blood, the type to fall in and out of love as fast as a song comes and goes. Yes, Yuusuke wasn't like Toudou; Yuusuke had broken off his only long-term relationship when he had moved away from England and back to Japan, Yuusuke had never cried for someone, Yuusuke hadn't even been truly in love with that girl to begin with – he loved her, yes, but loving and being in love are two different things, he believes. And he'd rather not ruin the possibility of a friendship with Toudou with unnecessary things such as dates.
Even though Toudou is possibly one of the most attractive people he had ever seen, inside and out. Yes, that Yuusuke can admit.
I don't care if Monday's black, his phone rings, and Yuusuke wonders why he switched his ringtone to this song again, Tuesday, Wednesday heart attack, Thursday never looking back–
“Maki-chan, you've got to help me out!!” Toudou's voice echoes through the speaker, and Yuusuke almost groans.
“If it's still about whether a coffee maker goes into a dishwasher or not, I don't know, Toudou.”
“No no, I actually put it in the dishwasher, you know, for the element of surprise, but that's not what I'm calling you about. See, this Monday night is movie night at Arakita's, but Shinkai will probably be there–“
“Yeah, he told me you asked him to nurse him in your place.” Yuusuke snickers. “Good job.”
“I know right. I really am the best wingman. I wingman for people without any of them being there. Aren't I great?”
“Not if you fuck up your dishwasher.”
“Be a little supportive, Maki-chan,” Toudou sighs. “And Kinjou and Fuku will both be there too. For movie night, I mean.”
A small silence, and Yuusuke guesses exactly where all of this is going.
“So you don't want to third-wheel.”
“Of course I don't. With my luck, they'll all probably start making out right in the middle of the second film, and I'll be stuck alone with the two loves of my life: Ben and Jerry.”
“So?” Yuusuke asks, amusement dripping from his voice.
“So please come to movie night. Really, you don't have to bring anything but your pretty face and beautiful hair and horrible tank-tops.”
“You're hurting my feelings, Toudou.”
“Please please pretty pleaaaase?”
Yuusuke wonders for almost five seconds what he should do about this. Hayato's smirk and voice comes back to him. You should ask him out on a date, if you're so obviously interested in him. Yuusuke has already decided he doesn't want to, though. Nevertheless, he guesses movie night at Arakita's isn't truly a date, is it?
“Guess I'll share your ice-cream.”
Toudou stays blessedly silent for a second and a half, before “OH MY GOD!! Really?! Thank you so much Maki-chan guess I'll pick you up at 6!!”
“Wait, wha–“
The phone beeps dead in Yuusuke's ear.
*
Yuusuke guesses it isn't truly a date, indeed, even when Toudou pops up at the parlor at 6. He gathers his things and throws his jacket over his shoulders before waving goodbye to Shinkai-san, and Toudou's stares him down as he steps out into the street.
“... Is something wrong?”
“It's the first time I've seen you in a dress, Maki-chan.”
“You met me literally two weeks ago.”
“Still.”
“It's the third time we're seeing each other.”
“Still!”
Yuusuke sighs as he absentmindedly toys with the hem of his dress. The dress itself is one of his prettiest, a marvel of cream lace and gossamer, but it's not as if he knew he would see Toudou tonight when he put it on.
“It suits you. It's pretty.”
Yuusuke dismisses the compliment with a laugh as they make their way to the bus stop at the end of the street.
“Wait, does that mean that today I have to use she pronouns or something?”
“You're over-thinking things, Toudou. Better stop before you hurt your brain.” Still, Yuusuke internally wonders if Toudou is always so thoughtful. He reminds him a bit of Hayato, always cheerful and even-tempered, yet he also seems to have taken from Arakita's more tempestuous and choleric nature; and maybe there are also other sides to the boy, such as the quiet, gentle Toudou he had had a glimpse of that Saturday morning, the one with the bangs over his face who takes tiny sips of tea for fear of burning his tongue. Toudou probably cries a lot too, as emotional as he seems, yet Yuusuke instinctively knows that true sadness is something he never wants to see on his pretty, pretty face.
And as Toudou smiles like the sun when he tells him they'll wait for Kinjou and Fukutomi in front of Arakita's building, the early evening night turning his eyes almost purple, he truly wishes he won't be the one to break him.
*
Yes, movie night truly isn't a date, not when a half-sick Arakita keeps pointing out angrily all the incoherences and failed cuts in the movies they're watching – he becomes particularly bitchy over The Last Airbender, and Yuusuke can't help but agree with him –, not when Hayato almost falls asleep on Arakita's shoulder and all of them are not really sure if it's his fever or his crush the size of the living-room that makes him red in the face, not when he ends up chatting a lot with Kinjou in-between movies, the green-eyed guy being incredibly cultivated and absolutely great to talk to, not when Toudou and him still end up sharing ice-cream along with everyone else, not when Sand Sharks truly is an enjoyable movie of the so-bad-it's-good category.
“So, which shark movie is the best?” Toudou teases Arakita when the credits roll, and Arakita only mutters under his breath.
“His heart belongs to Sharknado, Toudou,” Kinjou intervenes, “but I think we'll all agree that Sand Sharks is the better movie.”
Arakita sighs defeated as all of them, even Fukutomi, nod in approval.
“So what do we do now? Watch another movie?” Hayato asks.
“Let's go to bed,” Arakita almost pleads, but Fukutomi has already got up and is rummaging through a drawer.
“I have a better idea,” the blonde boy says as he pulls out a box, and Toudou claps his hands in excitement, Arakita groans, and Kinjou hums thoughtfully.
“What's that?” Yuusuke asks.
“Let's play a game of Risk.”
“So you basically think our friendship needs to be destroyed,” Arakita deadpans.
“This could be fun.” Kinjou smiles.
“Fun because we all know you're going to ruin us, Kin-chan.”
“This time I'll make sure to win!” Toudou stands up and makes his way to the kitchen to grab more Bepsi and whiskey.
Yuusuke exchanges a glance with Hayato and smirks.
Two hours later, everyone looks up in awe as Yuusuke claims victory.
“You just got lucky, you got Australia,” Fukutomi pouts.
“Not really. I got Europe and yet I finished second,” Hayato smiles knowingly.
“And of course I got fucking wiped out with Asia.” Arakita downs what now must be his twenty-third glass of Bepsi as a coping mechanism.
“At least you didn't end up losing first like me, Arakita.” Toudou glances to Yuusuke. “I'm never trusting you ever again, Maki-chan.”
“I can live with that.”
“SO MEAN!!”
“Now let's get to the bottom of the question,” Kinjou declares, and everyone turns his eyes on him. “Who gets to take Arakita's bed?”
They end up unfolding the convertible couch and playing another round to decide, and the losers fall asleep halfway through until only Hayato and Yuusuke battle for victory again.
“I'm tired,” Hayato yawns. “Let's say it's a tie.”
Yuusuke laughs and high-fives him. “Let's say it's a tie. We do make a good team at this game, though.” He watches how Toudou has spread his limbs so wide in his sleep that one of his feet pokes uncomfortably in the middle of Arakita's back.
“I feel bad taking Yasutomo's bed without his permission. Maybe we should do like Juichi and sleep on the floor.”
“Maybe we shouldn't. Go sleep next to your boyfriend.”
“Only if you sleep next to yours,” Hayato smirks.
Yuusuke doesn't have the strength to contradict him as he lies down by Toudou's side.
*
Yuusuke shouldn't get so used to wake up to a pool of raven hair over a pillow and dark bangs over slightly tanned skin and golden light dancing over a ridiculously pretty face.
But maybe just this time it's okay, he wonders as Toudou turns in his sleep and faces him, as he lets out a small moan and crinkles his closed eyes and quietly stretches his fingers and arms and shoulders, as his dark eyelashes open like someone unties black shiny ribbon and the morning light turns his hazy gaze into gemstones, as the small frown on his face leaves place to a small, gentle smile.
Monday you can hold your head, Tuesday, Wednesday stay in bed, he thinks he hears Hayato sing from seemingly far away. On Thursday, watch the walls instead, it's Friday, I'm in–
“Hello,” Toudou whispers in a sleepy voice, and Yuusuke's heart almost skips a bit.
*
On Wednesday, Yuusuke watches as Hayato comes back from Arakita's flower shop, lips red and raw over the brightest smile he has ever seen him wear.
“I think Yasutomo is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” his friend says, and Yuusuke snickers.
“As long as you don't do your dirty things on those armchairs, mom approves of your relationship.”
“Which probably makes Jinpachi the dad, then.”
Yuusuke coughs and turns an almost offended gaze to the redhead.
“Oh come on, Yuusuke. You think I didn't see how you kept staring at him Tuesday morning?”
“Wipe that smile off your face or I'm disowning you.”
“What are you scared of, really?” Hayato asks as he rakes a hand through his hair. “I think he really does like you.”
“Doesn't mean he'll still like me in two months' time.”
“Stop over-thinking things and live a little. It'll last if it's meant to last, is all.”
Yuusuke scoffs. “Since when have you started to believe in things like fate or something?”
“I don't,” Hayato sincerely answers. “Doesn't prevent me from wondering sometimes, though.”
“Why don't you just ask him on a date and see what happens?”
Both Yuusuke and Hayato stare at the woman sitting in front of the tattoo artist.
“There's a song like that, I think?” Yuusuke's client goes on. “Saturday wait, and Sunday always comes too late, but Friday never hesitates... Whether you believe in fate or not, if you don't do it now, the opportunity will fade away one day and you'll just have to bite your nails in defeat. One date is nothing, and it certainly can't hurt.”
Yuusuke stares dumbfounded.
“Oh, sorry if I overstepped any boundaries, Makishima-san, I really didn't mean to!”
“That's okay, I don't mind,” Yuusuke answers with a small smile. “... Maybe you're right.”
Yes, maybe Toudou's attraction to Yuusuke will fade away in time, just like a song on a vinyl record, maybe Toudou will decide it's for the best if they stay friends. That evening, as Yuusuke calls Toudou to ask him if he wants to watch a new movie with him this Friday, he only hopes he won't become the one wanting to play that song on repeat.
*
Toudou looks otherworldly pretty as he makes his way across the road to the cinema. Yuusuke is almost self-conscious of his own clothes – a simple white shirt and teal-blue cargo pants, his hair in a fishtail side-braid – compared to Toudou's own dark green shirt ornamented with golden laurel leaves on the collar, tucked in a black chino, as well as a headband with golden ivy leaves sitting on his head like a crown, bright smile blinding in the fiery evening light.
Yuusuke tries not to get too bashful when Toudou grabs his wrist and gently drags him inside the cinema, nor when their hands brush when they reach inside the popcorn bag and Toudou turns a bit redder and smiles shyly, nor when they both look at each other and snicker under their breaths during the boring parts of the movie, nor when the main protagonist dies in his love interest's arms at the end of the movie and Toudou cries so much that Yuusuke boldly takes his fingers in his and strokes his knuckles to try and comfort him, nor when Toudou dries his tears away and asks him if he wants to go eat something somewhere as a 90's song plays in the background as the credits roll.
“That wasn't bad,” Toudou decides in front of his katsudon as he brings the chopsticks to his mouth. “Definitely not the best film I've ever seen, but not too bad.”
“Yeah, I'd probably give it a 7 out of 10,” Yuusuke wonders aloud, sipping on his soda.
“I loved the ending song, though,” Toudou adds as an afterthought.
“You're such a 90's kid.”
“You say that like it's a bad thing!”
“It's not,” Yuusuke says, and he can see the sincerity in his voice takes Toudou aback. “It's almost cute.”
Toudou flushes a pretty pink and grins that blinding smile of his. “Heehee, so Maki-chan finds me cute!”
“Almost, I said, don't get your hopes up.”
“So mean!!”
They end up splitting the bill, and both make their way back to the closest train station, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
“Ah, I'm going this way,” Toudou mentions.
“And I'm going the other way.” Yuusuke stares at Toudou's almost purple eyes. “... I had fun tonight. We should do that again, some time around.”
“Then what about Wednesday?” Toudou asks, excitement glinting in his gaze, and Yuusuke lets out a small laugh. “Okay then. Let's go out again on Wednesday.”
“Great! See you then, Maki-chan!” Toudou exclaims as he whips around, and later fails to bump into someone when he turns back to wave at him.
As he climbs into his own train, Yuusuke's phone beeps. “I also had a lot of fun tonight!”, the text says, followed by a dozen emojis. Yuusuke smiles.
*
Toudou looks tired when they meet for their second date, which probably explains why he had called Yuusuke earlier to ask him if he'd like to down a few drinks in a pub in town. As they ask for two pints of beer at the bar and settle comfortably in a booth, Toudou sighs as he takes off his headband and rakes back his hair with his hand.
“I'm so, so tired. Even though I'm not going on the Tour this year, my team still asks me to follow the same training regimen than the ones who go to France... And it's very, very hard.”
Yuusuke hums as he sips on the cold beer. “So you're not even accompanying your team there in July?”
“Nope. Staying here and watching the biggest bike race in the world on my internet browser. Thanks Obama.”
“You really spend too much time on Tumblr.”
“Internet culture is important too! I swear if I'm not making it into cycling, I'm becoming a Youtube beauty guru.”
“Why become a beauty guru when you can just go to the Fashion Week catwalks, though,” Yuusuke wonders to himself.
That seems to grab Toudou's attention again. “Wait, what? What do you mean, go to the Fashion Week catwalks?”
“You know my brother's a fashion designer, right? So he often travels all around the world for different Fashion Weeks. He used to bring me with him. I saw a lot of those.”
Toudou's eyes snap up as he grabs Yuusuke's hands. “For real?! I didn't know you had travelled so much! I didn't really go anywhere outside of Japan. Where did you travel?”
“Mainly Europe,” Yuusuke hums. “Paris, Milan, Stockholm once too. I went to New York once also, but it was way too big.”
Toudou is now looking at him as if he is the eighth wonder of the world, and Yuusuke finds himself blushing. “What?”
“Ugh, you're so lucky!” Toudou dramatically puts his head in his hands. “You know, my dream holiday would be to do a road trip all around Europe. Like, discovering all the big cities for a month or so, on the road.”
Yuusuke chuckles. “Do you have your driving license?”
“Err... No?”
“Are you an idiot?”
“Well I'm just hoping to find someone to drive me there! You have your license?”
“Passed it while I was in England.”
Toudou opens his mouth as if to say something, but holds himself back and looks back at his hands, a slight blush on his face. They remain silent for a while, then, sipping beer and listening to the song playing in the background. Dressed up to the eyes, it's a wonderful surprise to see your shoes and your spirits rise, throwing out your frown and just smiling at the sound...
The ringing of Toudou's phone breaks the comfortable silence. “Hey! ...Yeah, where are you? ...Oh, okay, we're in the usual pub! Tell Fuku to come too!” He hangs up, saying Arakita and Hayato are both coming, along with Kinjou and Machimiya, and Yuusuke feels almost disappointed.
He feels even more frustrated when Toudou and he have to sit in front of Hayato nuzzling Arakita's neck and exchanging small kisses. When his gaze accidentally crosses Toudou's, they both turn back around and sigh in embarrassment.
*
“Hey, do you want to come watch a movie at home tomorrow night? My roommate's gone on a weekend trip with his family, and I don't want to be alone”, Toudou's text reads as Yuusuke listens to The Cure.
“Are you scared of the monsters under your bed?” Yuusuke types away while he sketches a drawing of some dahlias and peach blossoms. His phone beeps again.
“Nothing is scarier than Arakita~~ Plus watching movies alone is boring! I'll cook us dinner if you're hungry :)”
Yuusuke thinks for a while, wonders if Toudou knows how suggestive the texts sound, if he realizes how all of this might end. ...And as sleek as a shriek spinning round and round. He thinks back of Toudou's eyes shining purple in the light, of long dark bangs falling over longer and darker eyelashes, of liquid gold dancing on skin. Always take a big bite, it's such a gorgeous sight to see you in the middle of the night. He thinks back of quiet smiles and quieter hellos, of orange and red flowers inked into skin, or warm hands gripping his, of hot breath whispering in his ear and making him shiver, and Yuusuke finally sees what has been in front of him all along. You can never get enough, enough of this stuff, it's Friday, I'm in love.
“So? What do you say?” The next text reads, along with a picture of Toudou smiling and winking at his phone's camera. Yuusuke throws caution to the wind.
*
Yuusuke had thought it was impossible for Toudou to get even more perfect, until he tasted his cooking.
Toudou had cooked them a full-course French meal, with for starters a salade niçoise, a vegetable and ham quiche as the main course, and even some crême brûlée as dessert, and even back in Paris, Yuusuke had never eaten so well. Toudou seemed incredibly proud of himself as he put on a DVD – Woody Allen's Whatever Works, apparently his favourite movie – and sat contentedly on the couch.
Which brings them to their current situation as the movie is about to end, Toudou's head resting on Yuusuke's shoulder, and Yuusuke's own fingers brushing Toudou's hair away absentmindedly, which makes them tickle his neck even more, and even though Yuusuke is pretty sure he must be pink all over, he has never felt so comfortable in his life. The realization that he was in love with Toudou strangely wasn't had to come to terms with; yet the fact that he may end up heartbroken when Toudou gets tired of him still crawls up into the back of his mind as the main character ends his final monologue. “That's why I can't say it enough times. Whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace... Whatever works.” Maybe Yuusuke should take movie wisdoms in better consideration next time, he thinks. Yuusuke's hand stops stroking Toudou's hair as the credits roll, and he reluctantly unties himself from the boy at his side.
The clock shows 11:30pm as Yuusuke gathers his jacket and small bag and opens the flat's front door, Toudou lagging behind, almost fidgeting. They wait here for what seems hours, after saying goodbye, Toudou training his eyes on the ground then on Yuusuke then back on the ground, red creeping up his face. Yuusuke knows Toudou isn't going to try anything, that deep down he's a hopeless romantic who feels like every romance should happen like those in British romantic comedies.
So just once, Yuusuke indulges him as he cups his face and kisses him.
The feeling of Toudou's own lips on his lingers as they slowly draw apart, Toudou's ridiculously long eyelashes opening as he closes his own hand into Yuusuke's shirt, face determined and completely enthralled, and Yuusuke has never found him more perfect than now.
Toudou pulls Yuusuke back inside as he closes the door and kisses him again.
*
For the third time, Yuusuke wakes up to golden light and dark hair blending away into pillows. He also wakes up to warm skin against colder skin, to arms around his waist, to deep breaths against his neck, and the brand new feeling has him mesmerized as ever.
He slowly untangles himself from Toudou's sleeping form, pressing a feather-light kiss over his head, and goes into the living-room. Instinctively, he walks to the record-played, takes a vinyl disc, and puts it on before making his way to the kitchen and taking out two mugs as well as a teapot. His gaze flicks to the clock above the door, before he remembers that it's Sunday, and they have all the time in the world, really. The door creaks a little before he feels a pair of arms circling his waist and soft lips pressing kisses up his shoulders.
“Hello,” the quiet voice whispers like a secret, and the arms withdraw slowly before fingers start trailing over Yuusuke's tattooed arms as if they were carving the drawings themselves. “Still in your retro mood?”
“No, I just like The Smiths,” Yuusuke answers as he pours hot water over tea leaves, and Toudou lets out a light-hearted laugh as his arms tighten around his waist again. “Careful, the tea's hot.”
“I know,” Toudou says as he props himself against the counter, bangs falling over his face, naked but for the tattoo on his upper right arm, and he blows on the tea and takes a tiny sip, gaze trailing over tattooed arms and wavy green hair.
Yuusuke leans forward and kisses him once.
“You look better with your bangs down.”
*
Jinpachi smiles as he looks back in the rear-view mirror. Yuusuke also glances, and sees Arakita and Hayato sharing a pair of earbuds and watching what seems to be a movie on Hayato's tablet. Arakita quietly lets his head fall on Hayato's shoulder, before he glances up and blushes as he catches Yuusuke's gaze.
“Say, Maki-chan, do you believe in fate?”
Yuusuke turns his gaze to Jinpachi, elbow on the side-door windowsill, a hand in his hair flowing in the warm wind, eyes shining dark purple in the golden summer light, smile on his face as he gazes outside.
“Not really.”
“Yeah but just imagine,” Jinpachi continues, and Yuusuke knows there's no way he'll stop his train of thoughts now. “What if you hadn't kissed me that night?”
Yuusuke hums thoughtfully, and Jinpachi starts talking again.
“What if I hadn't got tattooed at Hayato's parlor? What if I had, but you hadn't been there that day? What if Arakita never went and had a job at Izumida's, and therefore never met Hayato, and therefore never brought me to his tattoo shop? What if you hadn't chosen to work at Hayato's tattoo shop when you came back from England? What if you had never come back?”
“That is an awful lot of what ifs,” Yuusuke snickers.
“You know what I mean.” Jinpachi stares at him, as if waiting for an answer.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Yuusuke finally says. “Who cares if it's fate or luck or both? It's not important.”
“Then what's important?”
“That I love you.” And Jinpachi's eyes widen slightly, before a pink blush spreads over his cheekbones.
“No matter how many times you say it, I don't know if I'll ever get used to it.”
Yuusuke laughs. “I lied. There's another important thing.”
“You lied about loving me?! How cruel, Maki-chan!”
“Look for the white envelope in my bag, you idiot.”
Toudou pouts as he rummages through the bag and gets out the piece of paper, and looks inside.
“What are those?” Jinpachi asks as he reads the two tickets. “... Wait. What do you mean, leaving to London on the 8th of August?!”
Yuusuke smiles as he turns to look at him. “Didn't you want to go on a road trip?”
Realization dawns on Jinpachi, and he almost jumps on Yuusuke as he shrieks in happiness.
“You're kidding, right?! Oh my god Maki-chan you're perfect I love you so much–“
Jinpachi breaks himself off as he kisses Yuusuke, and even though Yuusuke ends up scolding him because I'm driving for God's sake Jinpachi, the sound of his boyfriend's laughter as he shows his gift to their friends in the back seat fills his world like a song on a Friday morning.