Work Text:
On a chilly afternoon one day in January, the doorbell rings.
Miyano’s head shoots up. Ah, that must be Shuumei-san, he thinks. His eyes brighten, excited to see his boyfriend again.
The past few weeks have been hectic. Both boys spent their entire days studying, Miyano for his college entrance exam, and Sasaki for his final exams of his first year in college. They didn’t get to see each other often, and when they did, most of their time was spent studying together.
The younger’s entrance exam was yesterday, and Sasaki asked if they could hang out the day after to celebrate. Miyano was reluctant to agree, Sasaki was still in the middle of his finals after all, so he didn’t want to distract him. But, Sasaki was persistent, and said that it’d do him some good to not have to worry about his revisions for his statistics class for a while. He said it in such a hopeful tone, Miyano couldn’t help but agree in the end.
Miyano closes the manga he was reading and gets up from the couch. When he opens the front door, he lets out a gasp. Sasaki looks absolutely exhausted. Miyano has never seen the bags under his eyes this dark. His eyes are barely even open, and his hair looks a little tangled and messier than ever. Miyano rests a hand on Sasaki’s cheek. The usually soft and smooth skin feels dull underneath his fingers.
“Shuumei-san..? Are you okay? Did you not sleep well?” Miyano asks. His eyebrows draw together as he leans in a little to have a closer look at Sasaki’s face.
Sasaki attempts to laugh it off and steps further inside, closing the door behind him. “I’m fine, I’m fine! I just, haven’t… had that much sleep recently,” he admits.
Miyano narrows his eyes as he watches Sasaki hang his coat on the rack. “When exactly was the last time you had a full night of sleep?” he asks.
“Uhm… not too long ago,” Sasaki replies as he takes his shoes off. He nearly loses his balance but catches himself on a nearby drawer. “You don’t have to worry about me, Yoshikazu. I’ll be fine, really.”
Miyano considers just letting it go. He trusts his boyfriend, but he knows Sasaki has a bit of a history of not taking care of himself properly during stressful situations. Miyano thinks of the last exam period, when Sasaki had said that he wasn’t that hungry, and there was no need to worry about him, but his stomach kept rumbling throughout their study date. It was only after Miyano continued pressing the matter that he finally revealed that the last time he ate was last night, almost twenty-four hours ago. After hearing that, Miyano insisted the older stayed for dinner, and the two made dessert together afterwards.
Since then, Sasaki has gotten better at taking care of his health and admitting when something is wrong, but there are times when he still forgets. Miyano suspects this is one of those moments.
As they sit down on the couch, Miyano clears his throat.
“Listen…” he starts. “We have plenty of time to hang out next week, after your exams are over.”
Noticing Sasaki’s frown, he pauses and lets out a giggle. “I’m not sending you away, Shuumei-san, just listen.”
The redhead relaxes and takes Miyano’s hands in his. His thumbs begin tracing patterns on the younger’s skin. “I’m listening,” he murmurs.
“Let me take care of you. I… really think you don’t look too well. You can sleep in my bed, and if you feel refreshed enough when you wake up, we can watch a movie together, or something.” Miyano blushes, still not used to being so straightforward with his affection, but smiles in a way he hopes is reassuring.
It doesn’t seem like it worked, though, because Sasaki’s face falls as he replies, “I thought it wouldn’t be too obvious that I was tired, but you know me so well, you saw through me right away.” He sighs. “I’m sorry. This was supposed to be a fun afternoon, and now you’re stuck taking care of me.”
“I’m not stuck doing anything, Shuumei-san. I offered.” Miyano squeezes his hands. The corners of Sasaki’s mouth tilt up just the slightest bit.
Sasaki looks into his boyfriend’s (beautiful) eyes, and plays with his fingers as he considers the offer. The longer he thinks about it, the more effort it takes him to not sink fully into the couch and let sleep take him. He realizes Miyano has a point, so he accepts his offer. He brushes Miyano’s bangs to the side with one hand and bends down to press a soft kiss to his forehead.
“Thank you,” Sasaki whispers, lips still on the other’s skin. “I love you,” he says as he pulls back slightly.
Taking advantage of their lessened height difference due to being sat down, Miyano tilts his head upwards to leave a kiss on Sasaki’s lips. “I love you too,” he whispers in return.
Affection overtakes Sasaki then, and he wraps his arms around Miyano, one hand moving to the back of his head and the other resting on his slender waist. Sasaki rests his cheek on top of wavy (and soft) black hair. The younger smiles as his cheeks turn a soft pink. He wraps his arms around Sasaki’s torso in return and buries his head in the taller boy’s broad chest. In this position, he can hear Sasaki’s heart beat loudly, and he smiles even wider.
“So… what were you planning on doing while I take a nap?” Sasaki asks. His voice is hushed, not wanting to disturb the comfortable atmosphere they’ve created. “I don’t want you to be bored because of me…”
The younger tenses up, which makes Sasaki lean back and tilt his head in curiosity. The light pink on Miyano’s cheeks turns into a deep scarlet. He avoids Sasaki’s eyes as he says, “Well… I—I was thinking we could take a nap… together? Uhm, if that’s okay…”
Sasaki’s eyes widen, and he feels his mouth fall open. He closes it, swallows, and takes a deep breath. He’s sure he’s as red as a tomato when he stammers, “Y-yeah… yeah, that’s alright.”
The two slowly unwrap from each other, and Miyano grabs Sasaki’s hand to lead him to his bedroom. Once there, he motions for the older to sit down on his bed. He stands in front of him, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie, not sure what to do now. Sasaki doesn’t look any more confident, glancing around the room with slow blinks and playing with some loose threads on his jeans. Miyano’s eyes follow the motion, and he notices that the jeans… don’t look too comfortable to sleep in.
“Uhm…” Miyano starts. Sasaki looks up. The younger continues, “Are you alright sleeping in those clothes? I don’t think I have anything that would fit you, but I could ask if you can borrow my dad’s clothes again…?”
Sasaki smiles. “It’s not super comfortable to sleep in jeans, but I think I’ll manage, don’t worry,” he replies.
“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable though…” Miyano frowns.
Sasaki chuckles. “You’re so cute, Myaa-chan. I’ll be alright.” He pauses. “Unless you’re fine with me sleeping in my underwear?” he asks with a teasing tilt of his eyebrows.
Miyano’s eyes widen as his face turns a deep red. “That’s—I—I mean—you—” he stammers. They’ve seen each other in their underwear before, hell, they’ve even seen each other naked, but still, even after a year of being a couple, Sasaki’s teasing always manages to fluster him to his very core.
He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath to compose himself, and says, “That… would be fine. Uhm, if that would make you feel the most comfortable.”
It’s Sasaki’s turn to blush now. He didn’t expect Miyano to answer to his flirting so seriously. It’s… adorable, he thinks.
“Alright, then I’ll just…” Sasaki trails off and begins unbuckling his belt.
Miyano looks away. “Yeah… uh… oh! Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to ask if you wanted anything to eat or drink, I mean, it’s probably not a good idea to eat something before going to sleep, but do you want some water, or—” he starts rambling, before being interrupted by Sasaki’s enamored laugh.
He’s taken off his belt by now and moves his hands to begin unbuttoning his jeans. “Water is fine, thank you,” he says.
“R-right, I’ll go, yeah–” Miyano says as he all but runs out of the room.
When he’s gone, Sasaki takes off his pants and crawls under the covers. It’s cold outside, but the heater is on and Miyano’s blanket is thick, so he thinks he will be fine, even in just his underwear and a sweater. The bed is so comfortable and warm that Sasaki’s exhaustion returned with full force the second he got in. He idly traces the tattoo on his left thigh in an attempt to distract his brain from falling asleep right away. He definitely does not want to miss out on cuddling with his boyfriend.
Two minutes pass, and Miyano returns with their beverages. At the sound of the door opening, Sasaki looks up and attempts to blink the tiredness out of his eyes as Miyano walks in and sets the glasses down.
“Thank you,” Sasaki says as he props himself up on his elbows to drink his water.
“No problem!” Miyano replies.
Since the pair agreed to meet up at three in the afternoon, it’s still bright outside. He closes the curtains so the sun won’t hinder their sleep and starts rearranging some papers on his desk afterwards.
“What are you doing?” Sasaki asks.
Miyano steps to the side to put a history textbook back to its rightful place on the shelf hanging above the desk. “I’m—uh, tidying up a little. The mess was bothering me.”
Sasaki laughs and places his water down on the nightstand. “You know you can just join me, right?”
“I—I know that, I just… uhm,” Miyano sighs. “I’m sorry, I’m making this awkward, aren’t I?” He walks over to the bed.
Sasaki holds up the covers and giggles softly. “A little bit. But it’s fine, I get it. I’m nervous too.” He smiles as Miyano finally joins him in bed.
They lay on their backs, perfectly still, hearts beating loudly in their chests. Miyano’s bed isn’t that big, which causes their hands to be just one centimeter away from each other. Sasaki doesn’t want to risk making the younger uncomfortable by touching him suddenly, so he presses as close to the wall as he possibly can.
Miyano looks over at his boyfriend, whose eyes are slowly falling shut. He knows Sasaki is handsome, but when a tiny sliver of sunlight manages to slip through the curtains and shine on part of Sasaki’s face, Miyano feels his breath catch in his throat. He’s beautiful. Miyano traces the outline of Sasaki’s nose with his eyes. He has a small mole Miyano has never noticed before, just above the silver stud in his nostril. Miyano thinks he’s perfect.
He remembers when Sasaki got the piercing, around four months ago. Sasaki asked him to come along as moral support, and he’d agreed. He didn’t expect to be getting the life squeezed out of his hand, however. Getting his ears pierced is something Sasaki has gotten used to, after doing it six times. A facial piercing, however, was a very different experience. It didn’t hurt more than getting his helix pierced, he’d said, but it definitely caught him off guard. Remembering the apologetic look on Sasaki’s face as he bought Miyano coffee on their way back, as compensation for nearly crushing his hand, the boy without piercings (for now) lets out a laugh.
Sasaki blinks his tired eyes open slowly and turns over. His heart warms when he comes face to face with Miyano’s tender smile.
“Is something funny?” he wonders.
Miyano laughs quietly as he fully rolls onto his side as well. “Nothing, sweetheart, I was just thinking.”
The older flushes at the nickname. Miyano doesn’t use pet names often, but when he does, Sasaki feels like his heart momentarily stops beating. The way Miyano says it so confidently without batting an eye affects him more than he would like to admit.
Miyano scoots a little closer and tentatively rests his hand on the other’s waist. The sudden touch makes Sasaki tense up for a second. Miyano begins to pull away, but is stopped by a large hand placed on top of his. He thinks he hears the word, ‘stay’, but it was so quiet he thinks he might have just misheard a sigh. Their fingers intertwine.
Sasaki gazes into warm brown eyes, ones he’s come to love so dearly, ones that feel like home. He blinks hard to will his fatigue away, not wanting this moment to end just yet. His gaze wanders to the mole below Miyano’s left eye. Slowly, he reaches out his unoccupied hand and places it on his lover’s cheek. He brushes his thumb over the brown dot that he adores so much, and Miyano turns to jelly underneath his touch.
“You’re beautiful, Yoshikazu,” Sasaki whispers and rests his forehead against Miyano’s.
Miyano giggles and closes his eyes. Sasaki feels the stretch of his smile underneath his fingers, and feels the short exhales of breath on his own lips. It makes him melt.
“I was just thinking the same about you, actually,” the younger whispers in response.
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.” Miyano presses a chaste kiss to Sasaki’s lips. “I love you so much.”
Miyano pulls away, and uses the hand on Sasaki’s waist to pull him in closer. Sasaki wraps an arm around Miyano’s torso and maneuvers himself down a bit so he’s able to bury his head in the smaller boy’s chest.
“I love you too, so, so much,” Sasaki replies, voice laced with sleep.
Miyano wraps his arm around Sasaki properly in return, embracing him tightly. They both let out a satisfied sigh and close their eyes.
A content smile graces their faces as they drift off into a peaceful sleep, arms full of each other.