Chapter Text
Baji and Kazutora’s hands find each others. They intertwine their fingers and lift their hands up until they’re at head height. Kazutora grins, happily as he looks out over his friends.
“Baji and I.. we’re dating!” Kazutora shouts excitedly, almost jumping up and down as he tries to contain his overpowering excitement.
Baji huffs softly and turns his head to the side, almost like he’s embarrassed, but everyone can tell he’s over the moon by the light blush that’s visible on his pale cheeks.
Takemichi watches as Mikey stares at them incredulously, his eyes wide. He almost expects Mikey to roundhouse kick them, but instead, he gets up and runs to them, enveloping them both in a comforting hug.
“I knew you guys were gay!” Mikey says cheekily to the boys when he pulls away, staring up at them with playful judging eyes. Baji scowls and pushes him away with a glare that has little to no heat behind it.
The rest of the Division Commanders and Vice’s are present, standing around the shrine after a finished Toman meeting — including Takemichi, who is still part of the 2nd Division with Mitsuya. Takemichi isn’t really sure why he has the privilege of standing with these strong people. Well, sure, he saved Baji, Draken and stopped Kazutora from being put back into prison. But is that really worthy of such a place? Takemichi isn’t so sure.
One by one, the present Toman members give their congratulations to the newly formed couple through hugs and pats on the back.
Takemichi watches from further towards the back with a heavy feeling surrounding his heart. He looks at the joined hands and a small flash of pain shoots down his spine. He doesn’t know why he feels so heavy at seeing Baji and Kazutora together. It’s not like he’s homophobic, because Takemichi knows he’s bisexual — he hasn’t told anyone yet — so those two being gay shouldn’t a problem for him at all. But.. it is.
The blonde can’t tell if he’s jealous of the fact they’re in a relationship (Hinata had just dumped him recently, just the thought of it makes his fingers tingle uncomfortably) or if he’s jealous of Baji.. or Kazutora. Both? He freezes up the thought alone.
Someone shouts his name and Takemichi is violently pulled from his inner turmoil with a jerk. “Takemitchy?” Draken’s voice reaches his ears and he snaps his head up from where he was looking at the floor.
“Huh?” Draken motions his head sideways to where Baji and Kazutora stand, staring at him curiously.
Takemichi feels his face heat up, but he’s unsure if it’s because they’re staring at him, the fact he got caught in his own head, or something different entirely. “Oh! Yeah, my bad! I’m happy for you guys, I hope you grow old together.. and all that jazz,” Takemichi’s small speech trails off towards the end. He finds himself unable to believe his own words, he just hopes it doesn’t show in his tone.
It’s here when he realises the answer to his inner turmoil from earlier.
It hits him at full force, almost physically jolting him backwards. His knees feel weak underneath him, trembling almost noticeably, like a new born faun. He wasn’t jealous of their relationship because Hinata had just broke up with him, but instead, he was jealous because, in their relationship, he wasn’t in the picture. With a grimace, Takemichi realises that he’s fallen for someone who punched him and someone who stabbed him.
The blonde shoves his feelings down to the bottom of his core and meets eyes with the two, his gaze flicking between them quickly. Takemichi smiles at the two newly announced boyfriends, his unjelled hair intentionally falling over his eyes to hide the glimmer of hurt that shines in them.
Everyone’s attention is then turned to Chifuyu who stands quite motionlessly to Takemichi’s side. The elder turns to look at his partner when he notices the pain shining in his eyes.
Oh.
Oh.
Takemichi has to hold himself back from gasping at the sight.
The blonde has always though of himself as being observant, noticing things others wouldn’t almost instantly — it’s a curse and a blessing. This time, Takemichi would believe it’s a curse. He knows the look in Chifuyu’s eyes too well, he’s seen it in himself and others. That.. that’s the look of someone who’s heartbroken.
Matsuno Chifuyu is in love with the recently formed couple in front of them.
Takemichi feels his heart shatter, not for himself but for his best friend, knowing that his love may never be reciprocated (even though he himself is in a similar situation). Takemichi has begun to notice the habit he has of pushing his own emotions away until they become irrelevant when it involves someone else — blame his need to save and make sure everyone is happy.
Takemichi turns himself slightly to face his best friend, ready to intervene if anything goes wrong, but is pleasantly surprised when Chifuyu grins at them with a toothy smile, happiness shining in his turquoise eyes. Takemichi’s eyes widen that tiny bit more, and he can’t help but believe that maybe he’d seen it wrong, maybe it was just a trick of the light.
Chifuyu pushes through the members present and walks over to the couple, that same grin plastered on his face, so unrelenting that it almost seems fake.
When he arrives, Chifuyu playfully shoves Kazutora away and wraps his arms around Baji’s torso, pulling him into a hug. They say something between themselves, something that Kazutora can definitely here judging by the smirk that forms on his lips, and then they both pull away.
Chifuyu then turns to Kazutora and the elder opens his arms, like he’s awaiting the heavenly hugs that Chifuyu gives — Takemichi is talking from experience here. The Vice-Division Captain grants Kazutora his wish and he’s pulled forwards with a jerk into the taller’s chest.
Takemichi can do nothing but gawk at them when they pull their heads back, talking about something with hushed voices, looking like they’re fresh out of their honeymoon. Surely, Chifuyu must be dating them as well, but if that’s the case, what was with that sad glint in his eyes.
Kazutora and Chifuyu’s embrace is then broken and Baji ruffles the smallers hair, looking at him with soft eyes.
Someone coughs to the side. The three males turns to the sound and stare at Mitsuya, who has an all knowing look on his face. “Do you have anything else you want to tell us?” He asks, raising his slit eyebrow with a small smirk.
Chifuyu’s eyes widen but feigns innocence by replying with, “huh? What are you talking about Mitsuya?”
The younger then walks back to his place beside Takemichi, seemingly unaware of all the eyes that watch his every move, or at least he pretends to be.
At that, Mikey announces that their meeting has ended and everyone is free to go home if they want to.
Chifuyu is the first to leave, waving everyone goodbye before walking down the shrine steps quickly. Takemichi follows behind, light on his feet, giving a small wave of his own, as he follows his best friend.
“‘Fuyu?” He calls, but the younger just seems to speed up, pretending not to hear him, Takemichi ignores the small pang that strikes his heart. “‘Fuyu? Hey! Chifuyu!” The smaller shouts, almost tripping down the steps as he does so.
Chifuyu is at the bottom of the stairs by now, speed walking to get to his bike by the bushes. Takemichi’s eyes furrow in confusion, not understanding why his friend is acting like this.
The elder arrives on the path and walks over to Chifuyu’s who is getting his bike ready to leave with fast, shaking hands.
“Partner.” Takemichi says sternly when he arrives by his side, demanding with his tone that he look at him. And Chifuyu does.
The sight that greets him isn’t something he thought he’d see. Chifuyu has a couple tears running down his face and his mouth is screwed up in a pained frown. “Partner.. just—” the younger starts, but Takemichi cuts him off instantly.
“You like them, don’t you?”
It escapes his lips before he can stop it. Dread fills his heart instantly, wanting to take back what he said but the damage has already been done. Chifuyu looks at him with an angry expression, his eyes welling with even more tears.
“Fuck you, Takemichi.” He spits out before he’s pulling away on his bike and driving down the streets.
Takemichi can’t get himself to do anything but stare at the road that Chifuyu flew down, his eyes begging to see his figure once more, but as the sound of his bike continues to get further and further away, Takemichi knows his wishes are hopeless.
Behind him, the boy can hear people coming down the stairs, but all he can do is keep his eyes trained on the road. Only when someone’s hand lands on his shoulder is when Takemichi is pulled from his trace like state.
“Take?” Kazutora’s voice reaches his ears and he’s manually turned around. He’s surprised to see the newly formed couple in front of him but doesn’t mention anything, “why are you still here? Where is Chifuyu?”
“He’s gone..”
“Gone?” Baji butts in, almost pushing Kazutora out of the way. It makes Takemichi raise an eyebrow, wondering why the elder is suddenly so worried — is that worry for him, or for Chifuyu? Takemichi looks down slightly, his eyes on level with Baji’s chest, but said boy leans down slightly, so he can meet Takemichi’s lowered eyeline, “where’d he go?”
“Home, probably,” replies Takemichi, feeling numb for reasons he doesn’t yet understand.
“Isn’t he your ride though?” The younger nods at his question. Kazutora continues prying him for answers, his veiny hand resting on Takemichi’s his right shoulder, “what happened?”
“I said something I shouldn’t have. I pushed him too hard—”
“You pushed him?!” Baji almost shouts, his eyes furrowing inwards in anger, but Kazutora is quick to reassure him that it wasn’t a physical push and Baji’s expression quickly smooths out.
Kazutora sighs at his boyfriend before turning his attention back to their smaller friend, “What’d he say?”
“He told me to ‘Fuck off, Takemichi’,” the younger parrots hollowly, his bottom lip upturning in the way it does when he’s about to start bawling his eyes out.
Neither male know how to reply to that. Curses falling from Chifuyu’s lips are very rare, so it was justifiable that Takemichi was acting this way, even just hearing it made the elder two stunned.
“Okay..” Baji grimaces. He opens his mouth to say something more but Takemichi just shakes his head, not wanting to hear any type of comforting that Baji could give. Instead, he reasons for walking over to his motorbike, just a few feet away and climbs on. He then turns towards the two and pats the back of his bike, a wordless call for Takemichi to take a seat on the back.
The younger does without much reluctance, mostly because he definitely doesn’t want to walk 40 minutes to his house, especially when it’s so dark outside.
Kazutora starts up his bike by Baji’s side and they’re driving through the outer streets of Tokyo within seconds.
Takemichi wraps his arms around Baji’s waist and falls into his back, feeling so emotionally exhausted from everything that’s happened today. If Baji feels a patch of dampness start to form on his back from Takemichi’s tears, he doesn’t mention it, and the younger thankful for that.
During they drive, another realisation clicks in Takemichi’s mind. The reason why he feels so shitty after realising that Chifuyu likes Baji and Kazutora is because he also developed feelings for his younger friend. He doesn’t know when they formed, but they’ve probably been there for a while.
Just thinking about the fact that Chifuyu may never want to talk to him again makes Takemichi break out in more tears, soaking Baji’s back in sad, salty water.
When the two men arrive at Takemichi’s house and he gets off from the back of Baji’s bike, they look at him with emotions that he doesn’t have the mental capacity to decipher. But if Takemichi had to guess, their looks are probably directed to the fact he looks like a train wreck. He’d bet on it that his eyes are red and puffy, and his nose is also a light pink.
Takemichi averts his gaze to the ground and thanks them, not wanting to see their expressions before he turns around.
But then he spins back around, one more thing on his mind. “Please don’t bother ‘Fuyu tonight, I’ll talk to him tomorrow, so you don’t need to.. intercede,” Takemichi looks them both in the eyes quickly, his gaze flicking from one form to the other before he looks back down.
“What does ‘intercede’ mean?”
“It means don’t poke your nose in other peoples business,” Kazutora chides Baji, hitting him softly on the back of the head. The elder of the two then turns his gaze back to Takemichi, “we won’t bother him, I’ll make sure of it. Now go inside, we’ll wait until you’re safe.”
Takemichi ignores the bright blush that blooms on his cheeks and turns his back on them, walking to his front door.
He shoves his keys into the lock and walks into his house when it opens. Takemichi then turns back to the elder males and waves sheepishly, they return the wave quickly and Takemichi retreats into his house, a warm feeling blooming from deep inside himself.