Archive of Our Own

Tanjiro’s first month of high school had been blissfully uneventful. He’d only hung out with Zenitsu and Inousuke, who’d been his friends since elementary school, and to everyone else he’d keep his typical polite, friendly distance. Not because he didn’t like the idea of making friends, just because he felt far to nervous striking up conversation with the plethora of strangers he was now surrounded by. He’d joined the judo club, same as he’d done in junior high, and he’d been enjoying it so far. The seniors of the club were all a bit quirky, but they were nice. So were the other first years. Tanjiro was glad. He felt like maybe he could manage to, just perhaps, make a few new acquaintances. Then maybe his sister would stop making fun of his garbage social skills. That’d be nice. 

Practice today had been sparse, but as Tanjiro had overheard from a couple of the club seniors chatting, apparently a bug was going around and it had knocked out a few people from club for the day. Pair that with another handful of people who had engagements directly after school they couldn’t miss, be it advising meetings or family requirements, and that had left Tanjiro as the only first year who’d attended. 

Now, that usually would have been fine, except for the issue of clean-up, which was left to the first-years. It was pretty much the only sense of hierarchy the club had, and everyone took it pretty amicably. With the typically amount of first-years who’d attend, it might only take them ten minutes to clean up the club room.

Take all that work and toss it to just Tanjiro, and he was really struggling.

None of his seniors had offered to stay and help, but he wasn’t bitter about it. 

He’d been trying to carry an armful of pads that stacked up past his nose towards the storage closest when the door to the room swung open. 

“I just realized you were the only first year! Sorry about that!” A loud, booming voice shouted from the door. 

Tanjiro promptly yelped and dropped all the pads he’d just managed to stack up, whirling around.

Framed in the doorway with his long blonde, red-tipped hair still tied back into a ponytail was Rengoku Kyojuro, a third-year omega and one of the strongest members of the club. He was still wearing his judo uniform, meaning he must have come back from the locker room before showering up. 

“Oh! Rengoku-san! Uh, it’s really no big deal…I can do it.” 

“Nonsense! With two of us, it’ll be twice as fast! I should have noticed sooner and made some of the second-years stay to help.” He strode into the room and started collecting some of the mats they had used for practice off the floor, dragging them towards the storage closet. He had to maneuver them around several training dummies that were set up in the corner near the door to the storage closet as he went.

Tanjiro swallowed. “O-Ok, uh…thank you! I mean, I appreciate the help.”

“Of course!” 

Rengoku’s voice was overwhelming in it’s intensity, but Tanjiro didn’t mind. 

In fact, while he’d only spoken with Rengoku perhaps once or twice in this past month, one of those times being a stiff club introduction on his part, he found there was nothing to mind at all about Rengoku Kyojuro. 

He was extraordinarily even-keel, maybe a little excessively positive, and he was certainly loud. It was hard to miss him. Then, he was still an omega, although he was rather tall for one, standing nearly a head taller than Tanjiro, who was an alpha himself. He still had a gentle softness to his face, albeit sharper than some others, and his muscular physique couldn’t completely disguise the subtle curves that had developed since his presentation. He was seventeen, so he was reaching the end of that strange transitioning phase everyone went through after their presentation hit. 

Tanjiro found him to be uniquely stunning. He’d probably been thinking about this far to often since the start of club activities. After all, none of the other lower members of the club had stuck in his mind the same way Rengoku had. Unfortunately, that had also resulted in him feeling excessively nervous around the omega. To the point where he was pretty sure Rengoku had actually tried to talk to him a few times, but he’d fled the scene when he realized what was happening. Tanjiro was soft-spoken to begin with, and trying to keep himself together talking to someone as beautiful and excessive as Rengoku was beyond him. 

When he realized he’d been spending far to long checking out his upperclassman, Tanjiro scrambled to stack the pads back up. Once he’d done so, he hastily scooped them up and turned towards the closet. 

It’s ridiculous for me to think of him like that…he’d never bother seeing me that way, and besides, I’ve only known him like a month…if you could call it knowing him, I’ve talked to him like twice…ugh, I’ve gotta shake this out of my head. 

His thoughts were awhirl as he carried the pads forward, unable to see very well past them because of how many he had stacked in his arms. 

That was why he wasn’t entirely sure what had tripped him. 

All he knew was his ankle caught on something and he stumbled forward with a cut-off shout. 

The pads went flying again as he collided with Rengoku, who was lifting the large training mats up to hang them from bungee cords on the far wall of the storage closet. 

Tanjiro’s momentum, as well as Rengoku half trying to catch him while weighed down by the mat he was pushing up, sent them onto the ground.

SLAM

The closet was lit by a single dim can light set into the ceiling, and a series of groans escaped as the two of them tried to right themselves. 

Tanjiro, once he’d realized he’d landed on top of Rengoku, threw himself backwards.

His shoulders hit the door with a thud, and for a moment the two of them stared at each other owlishly. The closet was barely large enough to sit with their knees drawn in, and even now they were half-tangled together, Tanjiro having landed on Rengoku’s back, accidentally shoving him face-first into the practice mats.

“Ah! I’m sorry! So sorry! It was an accident!” Tanjiro flung himself onto his knees, and it was only the close quarters that prevented him from fully prostrating himself in his humiliation.

“N-No worries! I understand, you must have tripped on all the stuff still laying around, but…uh…” 

Tanjiro lifted his head, watching as Rengoku drew his knees up and stood. 

“I…think this door locks from the outside.” 

Tanjiro’s stomach did a backflip, and he scrambled to his feet, spinning on his heel and rattling the doorknob. 

It didn’t turn. The metal clacked slightly back and forth within the wooden door, and after a few moments struggling with it Tanjiro’s shoulders slumped.

“…oh, no…” 

To his surprise, Rengoku gave a cheerful chuckle. “Well, isn’t this some predicament? Our advisor will be by to check we cleaned up well, so I’m sure it’ll only be an hour or two.”

An hour or two!?

***

Kamado, right? He’s been quiet in meetings so far…

Kyojuro considered this as they sat awkwardly on the ground of the closet. Tanjiro was sitting on his knees with his hands fiddling together in his lap, while the omega had sat more casually, with one knee up and the other leg tucked to the side. Even like this, only a few inches of space separated them, and as of now Rengoku was just trying to think of some way to fill the silence. 

Of all the people, Tanjiro was both the first and last he wanted to get stuck in a closet with. Rengoku had never exactly been a typical omega, his presentation had been a shock to everyone who knew him. He’d spent awhile trying to figure out how he wanted to fit with his secondary. And in all that time, he’d never met any uppers he found to be particularly attractive. Not until Tanjiro, that is. Which was probably more than a little awkward, but the younger had this wonderful sense of calm clearness about him most of the time, not to mention he was quickly sharpening into a handsome alpha. 

His scent was also nice, not painfully harsh or musky, and Rengoku had found it to be attractive. So he’d tried to talk to Tanjiro, a couple of times. More than a couple of times. The alpha seemed to flee from him at every encounter, either cutting him off insisting he had to leave, or fully dodging away when he saw him coming. 

That hadn’t been good for Rengoku’s already tenuous insecurities. He’d bemoaned how difficult he was to pin Tanjiro down to Shinobu, his closest friend, and she’d empathized with him. Still, she’d insisted maybe he was still nervous, after all, Rengoku was a third-year and one of the most impressive members of the club to boot. He wasn’t running away just to be rude, surely. 

That was why, when Rengoku had realized Tanjiro was the only first-year left to clean up, he’d come rushing back to the club room thinking this might finally be his chance to have a proper conversation with this alpha that had caught his attention.  

But now that he was sitting here, forcibly sharing space with Tanjiro for longer than a few minutes for the very first time, anything he’d imagined they might talk about had vanished from his mind. 

So he wracked his brain, and just said the first thing that came to him. 

“…you know…I think it’ll rain tomorrow.” He began stiltedly. 

Tanjiro lifted his eyes from where he’d glued them to his lap. “Oh, did you check the weather?”

“Not yet, but I’ve just got a feeling. Last time it rained I forgot my umbrella…I wanted to just run to school but it’s hard to run in a skirt when you’re tall…” He gave a lackluster sigh at the end of this sentence, hoping maybe it’d lighten the mood. Tanjiro was clearly painfully uncomfortable, and it wasn’t like Rengoku was thrilled about being locked in here with an alpha for the next foreseeable hour or so, even if it was Tanjiro, but time would probably go faster if they talked, right? 

“I-I left my phone in my bag…I mean, if I had it I would have just texted or called someone to come let us out.” Tanjiro replied, probably thinking along the lines of using his phone to check tomorrows forecast.

Rengoku shrugged. “Mine is in my bag as well…so I guess you’ll just have to suffer my company for awhile.” 

Despite meaning this as a self-deprecating joke, Tanjiro leaned forward with a rather determined expression. “It’s not suffering at all! I think you’re really cool, Rengoku-san!” 

Rengoku blinked. Because that didn’t line up with how Tanjiro seemed to avoid him at every turn. “You…huh…you do? Well, I suppose I am alright at judo.” 

“Not just that! I think you’re…well…anyway, I’m sorry. I haven’t talked much to anyone since school started.” 

Tanjiro flushed and dropped his chin to stare into his own lap again.

Kyojuro got the feeling that the alpha had been about to say something unexpected, but had caught himself. He tilted his head slightly to one side, raising an eyebrow. His ponytail slid halfway past his shoulder with the motion, some of it still stuck to the back of his neck with sweat from practice. He’d come back to help put things away before he’d showered. 

“That’s fine, it’s hard to start up talking to so many new people. Hopefully the club’s been fun?”

“…yes. I did judo in junior high too, so I’m glad I can continue it.”

“I’ve been practicing since elementary school, how about you?”

The words finally began to flow, and Kyojuro was grateful he’d managed to get a conversation going, despite his odd choice of topic at the start. However, even though they were so close together, Tanjiro was doing seemly whatever it took to avoid meeting Kyojuro’s gaze. Which was odd, but then, he’d seemed embarrassed about something earlier. He wasn’t sure what, but Kyojuro certainly didn’t intend to press him. He was just glad he wasn’t going to have to sit here in painfully uncomfortable silence for the next hour or two.

***

His scent is so strong…

Tanjiro swallowed again, trying to settle the fluttering in his chest that had been going non-stop. They’d been chatting for awhile now, to the point that Tanjiro wasn’t sure how long they’d been trapped in the closet. They’d gotten up to try the knob one more time. They’d then tried pounding on the door and calling for help, but that hadn’t worked, so they’d sat down again, resolving to wait until the judo club advisor arrived. 

The problem was this closet didn’t exactly have great circulation, and while it wasn’t like they were going to suffocate or something, that did mean scents grew heavy in the air very quickly.

And Kyojuro’s scent was by far the best lowers scent Tanjiro had ever picked up in his entire life. 

Tanjiro had always had a sharp nose, and presenting alpha had only sharpened it further. But of course, when they were on this close of quarters, it was impossible not to notice the omegas scent.

It was warm and savory, not a sickly-sweet smell like most lowers Tanjiro knew. It reminded Tanjiro of fire. Perhaps the only sweet quality that would tip one off to Rengoku’s secondary was a hint of cinnamon, but even that was spiced and burning. It was getting harder and harder for Tanjiro to ignore, and it was seriously clouding his head.

His beast was fascinated by Kyojuro already, and it didn’t help that Tanjiro had found him attractive before this entire mess. But of course, Tanjiro wouldn’t try anything, never, and honestly even if he did Kyojuro could easily wipe the floor with him. He’d utterly demolished him during a training bout when the first-years and third-years had been cycled around the first week of practice.

Somehow, that wasn’t helping him calm down. 

His fidgeting was increasing, and the amount of time it was taking him to figure out replies or carry on the conversation they were having was getting longer and longer. 

Eventually, Kyojuro noticed, and his sat up a bit straighter from where he’d relaxed back against the folded practice mats behind him.

“Are you ok? Do you not feel well?” His red eyes, rimmed in a way that made them almost seem to sparkle gold, widened with concern.

Tanjiro forced himself to swallow again. “I-I’m fine, really, I…I guess it’s just getting kind of stuffy, maybe?” 

As if that’s the real problem! 

Tanjiro mentally berated himself, so much so he didn’t react very fast as Kyojuro stood up again. “Here, let me try the door again, maybe I can force it…” 

Now, considering all they’d discover later about the series of events that had led them to this moment, as it turned out, what was about to happen was the only true accident of the entire incident. 

When Kyojuro stood, one of the bungee cords for securing the mats hooked his foot, and he stumbled. Given even another few steps worth of room, he would have easily caught himself, but unfortunately, that wasn’t what they had.

What they had was a painfully small closet and Tanjiro scent-addled and quickly losing control of his alphian beast. 

Kyojuro flung his arms out and caught himself against the door, and Tanjiro, who’d been halfway to standing up, found their faces a hairs breadth away. 

And the two of them would fiercely debate for the rest of their lives who’d closed the gap, who’d leaned just a modicum further to bring their lips together, but considering the heat of the moment, it had never been clear from the start.

All they knew what that it had happened, one way or another, it had happened.

Tanjiro’s first thought was that, for a first kiss, this was pretty damn spectacular. Kyojuro’s lips were soft and his scent had just shifted in such a way that Tanjiro could tell he wasn’t opposed to this new development. 

Or at least, his beast wasn’t. 

Well, Tanjiro’s wasn’t either, it had been sitting around restraining itself for nearly an hour now, and it was finally getting its wish. 

Tanjiro didn’t know if this was good or bad or what, his mind was kind of just blacking out and letting things happen. But Kyojuro had pushed back from the door, his arms settling around the alphas shoulders, and one of Tanjiro’s hands had found it’s way up against the sweat-clung strands of the omegas ponytail, and now they were tilting away from the door. His other hand found Kyojuro’s waist.

Despite the uncertainty of literally everything at this point, Tanjiro deepened the kiss, and Kyojuro was more than willing to oblige him. The heat inside the closet only made the brush of Kyojuro’s skin against his own feel hotter. Like it could burn him, but he wouldn’t even consider pulling away. He felt Kyojuro’s grasp around his shoulders tightening.

It went on for a much shorter undetermined period of time, and when they finally did break apart, Tanjiro had wound up pinning Kyojuro back against the practice mats propped up on the wall. 

For a few seconds they met each other’s eyes, hazy and warm and completely unclear of where to go from here, when the clunk of the martial arts rooms sliding door interrupted them. 

“What is with this mess?” A voice demanded aloud from outside.

Kyojuro blinked once, twice, and seemed to snap out of the stupor, straightening up. “Ah! Sensei! We got locked in!” He shouted, and Tanjiro hurried to throw himself backwards, away from the omega. 

The door to the closet opened, and Tanjiro nearly exploded from the humilitation considering how flushed they both were, and the rumpled state of their clothes. 

When they left it had been harried. Kyojuro had hurried to grab his bag and rushed off, saying he had to get home to make dinner for his younger brother, and Tanjiro had wound up mostly cleaning everything up alone anyway, after profusely apologizing to their advisor for the trouble. 

But whatever trouble came from this so-called ‘closet incident’ was something else he had to unpack entirely. 

***

Tanjiro was in a bind. 

It had been three days since the ‘closet incident’ and he’d yet to speak a word with Rengoku. He also swore he noticed Shinobu giving them cheeky, knowing stares and wondered if maybe Rengoku had told her what had happened. They did seem to be pretty close.

That only made things worse.

Getting back on track, during the past three practices he’d avoided Rengoku like the plague, embarrassed and terrified of trying to hash out whatever had happened between them in there. If he’d put in the effort to try not to talk to Rengoku before, now he was really giving it his all. The omega had tried to approach him several times, both before, during, and after practice, and Tanjiro had dodged him every time. 

I’m being so rude. 

The young alpha knew it, but each time he met eyes with Rengoku, he couldn’t escape remembering them hazy, warm and wanting, and touched with an unexplained fondness. He had absolutely no idea how Rengoku would want to deal with what had gone down, if he wanted them to swear it never happened, or…or if maybe he wanted to see where it went?

That’s insane. He’s…he’s this incredible, beautiful, powerful third-year and I’m just some nobody a month into school. 

Tanjiro found himself recalling the several distinctly self-deprecating jabs Rengoku had thrown at himself when they’d been talking in there. His mind continued to churn over the countless possibilities, and it landed on one distinctly. 

That maybe Rengoku didn’t think very much of himself. 

And somehow, Tanjiro didn’t want that to stand. Yet, by avoiding him all week and fleeing home Friday afternoon feeling relieved to finally escape, Tanjiro might only be forwarding those thoughts. 

I can’t do that. 

Tanjiro stared up at the ceiling from where he lay in his futon. His family home was very traditional, and case-in-point when he came around the corner after leaving his room he found his father in a casual yukata, sitting by the low-table in their living room flicking through channels on the TV.

“Hey Dad? Can I ask you something?” 

Tanjuro lowered the volume of whatever news network he’d landed on and turned his head. “Hm? Of course, something wrong?”

“No, nothings…well, not precisely wrong.” Tanjiro pressed the tips of his fingers together as he said this, turning his eyes away to some random corner.

Tanjuro raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound good.” 

“It’s just…so…I’ve been trying to…uh…make some friends at school.” 

Yeah, friend, sure…

“…and one of them…I think I accidentally offended him last week. I didn’t mean to, but a couple, uh…weird coincidences happened and the way I reacted…I’m worried I hurt his feelings. What should I do?”

Tanjuro gestured for his eldest son to come into the room further, turning from where he sat to fully face him. “Well, does this relationship with this person mean something to you?”

Tanjiro thought about it. 

He and Rengoku had barely spoken before the hour or so they’d spent trapped in that closet, and sure, they’d wound up talking for quite awhile in there. But then, when things had heated up, and they’d ended up making out, they were set free and ran away from the whole thing before they could figure out where it was going. 

Or at least, Tanjiro had run away. 

And he still didn’t know how he’d made Rengoku feel by doing that.

The guilt of it all was eating at him.

“I’m…not sure.” He admitted finally. 

His father gave a thoughtful hum, resting his chin on his hand. “…do you think it could mean something to you?”

And again, Tanjiro recalled that warm, heavy gaze Kyojuro had fixed him with when they’d finally broken apart. The way his heart had been racing, and yet, he’d felt this distinct, incredible sense of comfort. In those few moments, like everything had been perfect, and yet perfectly accidental. 

“…yeah. I think it could mean a lot to me.” 

Tanjuro gave him a sideways smile. “Then take responsibility. If you think you’ve hurt him somehow, accidentally or not, you should apologize and sort things out. That’s what a proper alpha should always do.” 

Tanjiro nodded a couple times, almost to himself. “…take responsibility…yeah. I think you’re right. Thanks, Dad. I’ll be sure to talk to him on Monday.” 

***

I guess I scared him off. 

Well, Kyojuro couldn’t blame him. Things had been so spur of the moment, that kiss had been so mind-blowing and then the advisior had arrived just in time to stop them from talking anything out. 

Kyojuro was still wondering what might have happened if they’d been left locked in their together for a couple minutes more. 

He felt a heat in his cheeks at the mere suggestion and groaned, hunching over and planting his face into his hands. Their school had a tree-lined sidewalk connecting the indoor club building with the academic buildings, and along that sidewalk were several benches. Kyojuro would sometimes stop here for a post-practice snack before he walked home, but his usual staple sweet potato chips were doing nothing to calm him down. 

…I’m not exactly a good fit with him. 

Well, from what little he knew of Tanjiro, the alpha was kind-hearted and soft-spoken. He was determined and a little too honest sometimes, and all those things culminated into being exactly not what Kyojuro felt he could compare too. Not to mention he was taller and had easily tossed Tanjiro across the room during their bout a couple weeks ago at the start of club. That definitely hadn’t left a very omegian first impression, but Kyojuro hadn’t even been thinking about that. 

Because sure, Tanjiro might be the first alpha he’d ever found deeply attractive in his entire presented life, but that was just fantasy. 

It was never supposed to get real. 

They were never supposed to wind up making out in a storage closet. 

So here he sat, hashing things out in his head for the umpteenth time, and it hadn’t even been a week since the incident. He finished the last of his chips, crushing the package in his fist and dropping it into his school bag to be tossed out later. He was just about to stand when pounding footsteps met his ears.

He looked up just in time to see Tanjiro come flying down the sidewalk, sprinting the whole way. 

I guess the first years just finished cleaning up…

He considered as the alpha skidded to a halt in front of him, school bag swinging from one strap, half-open from his shoulder. 

“I…Rengoku-san…I…I’m so glad I caught you…” He gasped out, leaning on his knees.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you wanted to see me.” He admitted, standing up, shrugging his own bag onto his shoulder. 

Considering how Tanjiro had dodged him every opportunity when he’d tried to find time for them to talk about what had happened last week, he’d figured the first-year had no desire to even consider things between them.

Not like Rengoku was expecting anything, but still. 

“No! It’s not…I’m so sorry for avoiding you last week. That was so rude of me, I wasn’t trying to offend you. Please forgive me.” Tanjiro bent his head once he finally caught his breath, and Kyojuro was quick to raise his hands disarmingly.

“You didn’t, really. I can understand why you’d just want to forget about the whole thing.” Saying it sent a sharp pang through his heart, but that was fine. Kyojuro was well experienced in putting up a pleasant face, he could hide the hurt for later.

Because it had hurt him, that Tanjiro kept running away. Not that he didn’t get it, because he did, but it felt like it was only proving something about him each time the alpha fled from his gaze.

That it all really had just been a spur of the moment accident. 

That the overwhelming sense of comfort and perfection that’d left him feeling warm and hazy and seeking more had just been his own desperation to feel wanted.

“Don’t say that! I can tell it hurt you. It wasn’t fair to you…and I…I wasn’t avoiding you because I want to forget it…I guess I was just embarrassed.”

“Huh?” Kyojuro found the noise coming half-stuck out of his throat as he stared at Tanjiro. They were finally meeting eyes for the first time since last week, and the omega was still questioning how he’d known it was a lie. 

But that was to be left for later, because Tanjiro was carrying on. Despite the pink hue that was growing darker on his cheeks, he wasn’t trying to escape eye contact like before. 

“I don’t want to forget about it. Do you?” 

Kyojuro found one hand coming up to fidget with the straps of his bag. “Well…no. I don’t.” 

“Then we shouldn’t. Forget about it, I mean.” Tanjiro said it like a quiet declaration, almost like he was giving both of them permission to believe everything they’d felt had been real. 

“Ok.” It was a simple word, but Kyojuro couldn’t come up with anything better. He’d finally gotten his chance to talk things out with this alpha who’d made him feel so many clashing emotions and any script he’d thought up to himself had evaporated on impact. 

A terse silence hung between, until Tanjiro broke eye contact for the first time since he’d lifted his head. His eyes began darting around, from the trees to the whorls in the cement of the sidewalk. 

“…this might be stupid. No, actually, this is really stupid, like, really, really stupid but…I just…what happened was…it felt…”

“Perfect.” Kyojuro found the word slipping from his lips before he could think to stop them, and Tanjiro looked him in the face again. 

The silence was more bearable this time. 

Then the young alpha gave a sharp huff, like he was readying himself. He reached into his half-unzipped bag, rummaging around and producing the absolute last thing Kyojuro had been expecting. 

A small green gift box, tied with a thick white ribbon bow.

“Will you allow me to court you?” Tanjiro thrust the box towards him, and by now the pink hue and gone fully red, and climbed all the way up to his ears. 

Kyojuro had gotten the wind knocked out of him in judo before, but this sensation was far more acute. It was like he was still breathing, but he couldn’t tell he was drawing breath. No, maybe more like he was breathing too quickly, to the point it was making him feel a bit dizzy. 

Elation and confusion fell into conflict in his head, but it all only lasted a split-second. This gorgeous frame he’d have seared into memory, of this boy who’d become his alpha smiling nervously, flushed red, the box offered forth with both hands.  

Kyojuro fisted his grasp on the straps of his bag to stop the trembling that had arrived there, and another simple word made it’s escape from behind his anxiously clenching teeth.

“Yes.” 

Tanjiro gave a single breathless bark of laughter, his tension-wound shoulders dropping downward in relief. 

Kyojuro hesitantly took the box from him, their fingers brushing together during the exchange, and he held it close to his chest like a precious treasure. 

“I thought for sure this was gonna blow up in my face.” Tanjiro slumped forward, raking his hands through his hair. 

Laughter came bubbling up from Kyojuro’s throat, as the tension of the moment began to slowly unwind. 

“It is kind of absurd but…I’m willing to give this a try if you are.”

“Of course I am! But I didn’t want to do things half-way…so…yeah.” Tanjiro gestured awkwardly at the box after he said this, and Kyojuro couldn’t stop the smile that was growing on his face. 

“Yeah.” 

The silence this time was peaceful. Comfortable even. 

“So…can I…take you to dinner?”

“I suppose that’s what courting couples do, right?” Kyojuro asked this with a somewhat puzzled expression, and Tanjiro blinked.

“Have you never courted before?”

“Nope. You?”

“No. You were actually my first kiss.”

“Huh. Huh.” 

The laughter that broke out between the two of them after this was established was all the more sweet. 

After all, they might be each other’s firsts, but they’d yet to discover if they were meant to be each other’s onlys. 

***

Kyojuro lowered his coffee mug from his lips as he gazed across their cramped one-bedroom off-campus apartment. Tanjiro had wound up attending the same university as him, and they’d been mated two years, having tied the knot before Kyojuro had left for his first semester. Tanjiro was sitting cross-legged on their couch, glaring daggers down at his laptop as he tried to finish some essay or another. They’d been living together for nearly six months now, and yet it had never felt like an adjustment. Just like how quickly they’d come together after barely knowing each other, living together had been equally as comfortable. 

Taking another sip as he stood, Kyojuro strode across the room and sat down next to Tanjiro on the couch. 

“You’re thinking to hard.” He commented softly, leaning forward to set his mug on the coffee table. 

“Is that supposed to help?” Tanjiro asked teasingly, finally breaking his gaze away from the documents and spreadsheets open on his screen.

“Maybe not. But this might.” 

Kyojuro slipped an arm around his alphas shoulders and drew him into a kiss. And you would think, after years together, matehood, and growing so comfortable together it was like two halves of a whole, that the spark would dim at some point. That it wouldn’t still feel the same way it had that day in the storage closet of their club room. 

And it didn’t. 

It felt better. 

Because they weren’t clumsy teenagers with no clue what they were doing anymore. They’d had plenty of practice fitting together, and yet that sense of inexplicable perfection had always remained since the very first time. 

The first time, huh? 

They broke apart, and Tanjiro gave a breathy chuckle. “Now you’re trying to distract me.”

“Did I ever tell you you were my first, too?” Kyojuro blurted out.

Tanjiro’s brows knit. “Huh?”

“My first kiss. You were my first kiss.” 

The alphas eyes widened, and a distinct redness returned to his cheeks that wasn’t triggered nearly as often nowadays. After all they’d done together, there was little Kyojuro could do to embarass him anymore.

But apparently this had done it.

“I…yeah, you never mentioned that. Since you’re older, I just assumed…”

“Well, it never crossed my mind to bring it up. But yeah. There was never anyone before you.”

Tanjiro leaned forward to set his laptop on the table next to Kyojuro’s lukewarm mug of coffee, settling back more comfortably into the couch. He wrapped one arm around his omegas waist and brought him closer. 

“And why’d you bring it up now?”

“Ah, I dunno…I was reminiscing, I guess.” 

“About what?”

“The ever-so-famous ‘closet incident’. What else?” He shot a sideways smile at Tanjiro, who leaned his head back with a groan.

“I still can’t believe Shinobu tripped me like that. I didn’t even see her!”

“Well, I can’t believe she hid behind those training dummies knowing I’d come back to help you clean up because I’m ‘a goody two-shoes’.” Kyojuro muttered, but there was humor in his voice. 

“And she slammed the door on us to lock us in, too. What a schemer!” 

Their eyes glanced to the side, then back to meet again. Kyojuro squeezed one eye shut with a thoughtful smile. “Well…if she hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be here…so I guess we ought to thank her.”

“I guess so.” Tanjiro mock-whined over it, and Kyojuro laughed again. 

And as it turned out, the answer to the question posed years ago on that tree-lined sidewalk was a yes. 

They had been each other’s firsts, and now, they were forever each other’s onlys.