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“Hey Toya?” Akito spoke over the phone.
“Yes, Akito?”
“When we graduate…”
Toya frowned when he heard Akito’s voice trailing off. “Go on.”
“Oh, it’s just… when we graduate, do you wanna… get an apartment together?”
It was currently pretty late at night, with Toya and Akito on the phone both doing their own assignments for their classes. The two boys studied at different universities, due to Toya being a much more studious person than Akito. While the redhead somewhat got his act together from studying with Toya back in high school, it still wasn’t enough to keep up with his boyfriend. Granted, the two didn’t let university split them apart, as they called each other nearly every night and Toya always made sure to be available when Akito needed help with an assignment. The two barely changed since high school. While they were still as set as surpassing RAD WEEKEND as they were back then with An and Kohane, they had to admit that it got a bit harder with classes taking up more of their time than it did before.
Speaking of the girls, they still talked with them too, and the four hung out pretty often and sang together at live events as VIVID BAD SQUAD. However, An and Kohane suffered from the same separation that Akito and Toya did, as Kohane had much higher grades than An did.
But it just occurred to Toya that he never responded to Akito. “You want to… room with me?”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m askin’, dude.” Leave it up to Akito to still call his boyfriend ‘dude’, like they’re not even dating. It made Toya smile.
“What about the girls?”
“I already talked with them about it. They’re getting an apartment of their own. I don’t really wanna live with them, though.”
“Hm? Why’s that?”
He heard Akito exhale through the speaker. “Do you really want me to spell it out for you…?”
Toya’s smile widened. He knew what Akito was getting at. “Alright. You are right about that. I love them, but I wouldn’t want to live with them either.”
“So…?”
“Yes, Akito. I’d love to have an apartment with you.”
He heard Akito gasp. “R-Really?!”
Toya chuckled. “Did you expect me to refuse you?”
“A-Ah… I just thought you’d… I dunno… ask more questions first? Like where we’d live… how we’d split rent… that kinda stuff…”
“Does it really matter? I’m fine with anything as long as I’m with you.”
Akito sputtered and couldn’t form a coherent sentence. After continuously failing, he just fell silent, earning a hearty chuckle from Toya.
“Akito?”
The other boy sighed. “Yeah?”
“I really miss living down the street from you.”
He chuckled. “You never actually lived down the street from me, though. It was a pretty longish walk to get from my house to yours.”
“It made walking all that more enjoyable when it was with you.”
“Dude, you’re being so sappy tonight.”
“Oh, please. You can’t expect me to reminisce when you’re asking me to move in with you.”
“I—“ Akito failed to retort. “I guess you’re right.” He sighed and continued. “I really wish I was better at studying. Then you wouldn’t be alone over there.”
“But I’m sure you've at least made some friends over at your university?”
“Nah… not really. Everyone here seems so… indecisive. I honestly don’t get how being like that doesn’t stress them out.” Unbeknownst to Toya, Akito was scratching the back of his head in irritation. “I don’t really still talk to everyone I did back in high school, but basically the ones I’m still friends with are all people you already know.”
“Well, not everyone comes into university with a major in mind, Akito. You should be glad you already found your passion at such a young age.”
The redhead hummed. “What about you? What’d you end up doing?”
The two boys have had a conversation about this before. Toya was glad that Akito would pursue a degree in music theory. He didn’t expect it to be as challenging as it was, but he was still very interested in the classes he was taking. Toya however, wanted to major in something that could grant him something to rely on for a job with a stable income. While Toya loved music as much as Akito did, he had to admit that it wasn’t the most reliable and stable source of money out there. While the boys didn’t know that they would eventually have the conversation of moving in together, Toya knew that—
Wait a minute.
“Before I answer that… you aren’t asking me to share an apartment with you because of rent costs… right?” Toya asked in a joking tone.
Akito laughed loudly. “You can’t be serious! That’s not why I asked you any of this!”
“Of course, of course.” Toya sat back on his office chair and hummed. “I ended up getting a major in computer science. To see if I could end up being able to program a game in my future. Of course, that’d just be for a job. You already know what my main goal is in life.”
Akito clicked his tongue. “Shit, do I?”
“Oh? Is it your turn to offend me now?”
“Maybe. But I sure hope that your goal is the one I’m thinking of.”
Toya rolled his eyes, not like his partner could see it, though. “Akito. You already know that it’s still RAD WEEKEND.”
He heard a chuckle from the other line that made him smile again. “Yeah. I know.”
The two boys continued working on their respective assignments in a comfortable silence. The quiet atmosphere let Toya wander in his own thoughts. He figured he would be perfectly fine with paying a large percentage of the rent for the two, if Akito could continue working on the goal that he’s had ever since he watched that event he held so close to his heart all those years ago. While Toya wants to be there with him when he eventually surpasses it, he also wanted to make sure trivial things such as monetary issues weren’t holding him back. He would never say this to Akito, but Toya specifically was between either being a doctor or a computer science major specifically for their high yearly average income. He ended up choosing computer science because he at least already had an interest in video games and what it took to create them. He didn’t know the first thing about helping people’s physical problems.
While it made him wince sometimes when he thought of money being his driving force behind his major, he reminded himself that it wasn’t for him. It was for his soulmate, regardless of whether or not he would be living with him. That alone kept him going in the field.
“Well…” Toya jumped slightly when Akito suddenly spoke, knocking him out of his trance. “I guess I have to start looking for apartments then, huh? Graduation’s gonna sneak up on us before we know it.”
Toya chuckled. “You’re right. I’ll keep a look out as well.”
“I can always count on you, partner.”
“And Akito?”
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
Toya didn’t see, but Akito was smiling. Normally, a sudden declaration like that was enough to send the boy into a nervous and embarrassed wreck, but tonight felt… different. “Heh. I love you too, Toya. Good night.”
“Night.”
The two hung up their call, as Toya continued to work on his assignment with renowned motivation. No use falling behind now.
~
The years came and passed, and the boys finally graduated together. While they had to attend their graduation ceremonies in different locations, they weren’t on the same date, so one could see the other walk up to receive their diploma. It was an emotional event for the both of them, as Toya wasn’t able to hold back his tears during Akito’s graduation. Akito did a better job, but you could still see his eyes become glassy if you looked hard enough. Not that he’d let you, though.
Toya smiled to himself as he remembered the day that the two walked out of Akito’s ceremony together, as he was the one who graduated second.
Akito quickly took off his cap and gown when the ceremony ended and they were all walking away from the stage. He didn’t feel guilty as some other students were doing it as well. The heat was unbearable as it was beginning to transition into the season of summer, and the cap and gown only made it worse.
Akito had a button-down shirt under his gown as well as some jeans, so it doesn’t look like he’s too out of place with everyone wearing somewhat formal attire. There was no way he’d be able to wear a suit or something. The time they made him wait outside with the other graduates before they were allowed into the building for their graduation ceremony was proof enough that he would not have survived without possibly having a heat stroke.
The redhead looked around for his boyfriend, but couldn’t find him anywhere. He texted him to ask where he was, and the text he received simply told him that he was waiting outside the building.
So he made a beeline for the exit, trying not to run over any other person that may have been in his way. Something inside him felt ecstatic. He felt jumpy and needy. He had this sense that he accomplished something great and maybe he wanted some recognition from Toya? Or maybe he just wanted to see his boyfriend again. Maybe both.
As Akito forcefully opened the heavy doors to the exit along with many others, he quickly scanned the big plaza at the entrance for his boyfriend. He saw him waiting around in the shade, near the corner of the building. He quickly ran towards Toya and the other boy finally noticed him, as he smiled when he saw Akito running towards him. The two met and quickly caught each other in a tight hug.
Akito giggled. “We did it…”
Toya pecked Akito’s cheek. “I’m so proud of you…”
“You talk like you didn’t just graduate, yourself.”
Toya shook his head and held back an emotional sob. “I’m still… very proud of you…”
The memory, which went way further than that as Toya remembers that day very vividly, was always one that would make him smile.
The two boys were currently at a furniture store, looking around for what they thought their house should look like. The two had plenty of money saved up for a budget (they weren’t rich but they have been waiting for this day for a while), so they figured they should look around today for a head start.
The now adult singers made sure to do their research before graduation actually came around. They were due to move into their apartment in a few days. The two already checked the place out and the thought of them living together completely on their own without their familial chains holding them back made their hearts dance. While Akito wasn’t as bratty around Ena anymore now that the two were basically fully grown at this point, he still had to admit that she was a bit too much to handle sometimes. Toya… never truly made amends with his family besides his mother before he left for university. He didn’t plan to now, either.
The previous owner left behind some pieces of furniture that they said was too much of a hassle to take with them to their new house as they moved out without the assistance of a moving company to help them. The boys thought this worked out in their favor, as it's not like the two had any furniture at all to take with them due to living with the standard dorm furniture all this time when they were at their university. Among the pieces of furniture were a couch and a bed, so their sleeping situation was already covered. The two would still have to update their kitchen appliances, figure out how they’d deal with laundry (as the laundromat that was nearby was a bit… less than ideal with how unclean it was sometimes), among some other stuff. They figured that that was all stuff that could wait until they actually moved in, though.
Akito stopped, however, when he noticed that Toya was smiling and looking off at nothing in particular. It wasn’t really like Toya to stare off into space like that.
He walked up next to him and Toya turned to meet Akito’s gaze with a smile. “Yo, you alright?”
Toya shook his head. “I’m fine, just… thinking back on when you graduated.”
Akito smiled warmly. “That just happened like… a few days ago.”
Toya grabbed Akito around the waist with one arm as they continued moving, making the smaller man blush. “It makes me happy to think about.”
“Clearly. You wouldn’t be this bold out in public otherwise.”
Even though the act made him embarrassed, Akito didn’t shake the other off. He just kept walking and leaned into Toya’s touch when they stopped to look at a particular piece of furniture that caught their eye. The two felt comfortable together.
~
Now that their furniture was purchased, they just had to wait for it to arrive at their apartment. Thankfully they were able to pay for movers to come in to deliver and position their furniture for them, as taking things such as nightstands and heavy boxes full of the building blocks needed to build things such as a dinner table and the like may have been something Akito could possibly handle, but he wouldn’t be able to receive much help from Toya, being the less physically capable of the two. Most of the boxes were at the very least a two-man job.
The movers worked pretty quickly, and soon enough, their apartment was almost fully furnished. But, Akito almost forgot the most important finishing touches. Well, they weren’t really important, but to him they had a lot of sentimental value.
Back when Akito and Toya were still in high school, they would frequent the arcade together. Well, it was more like Toya went to actually play and relax and Akito was there to watch him play. While the redhead wasn’t one for all the noise, he still enjoyed watching Toya be an expert in the arcade machines. Most of all, the crane games.
Toya won many different plushies and toys from the crane games at the arcade they went to when they were younger. While Toya handed a lot of them to Akito, he meant for them to go to Ena because she liked posing with them in her selfies that she uploaded to her social media. What Toya did not know however, was that Akito kept some of these plushies for himself and did not actually give all of them to Ena. If he did that, Ena’s room would be covered with more plushies than she knew what to do with. So, Akito kept a box of them in his closet, away from any prying eyes.
And now that the two were finally able to live together, Akito decided he should finally bring out the box that he had hidden in the trunk of his car. It was a box full of crane game plushies, the very same he kept in his closet. He showed up at the entrance of their apartment with Toya close behind him, box in his hands. When Akito moved out of his parents’ home and into the dorms of his university, he made sure to take the box with him. Now here it was… mostly intact. Some of the toys at the top had quite a bit of dust collected onto them. A little smack and feather-dusting would fix them up, good as new.
Seeing the box full of plushies made Toya feel warm. “Did you really keep all those? I thought you gave them all to Ena.”
Akito chuckled. “Why would I give them all to Ena? She already had enough. Also, they were presents from you. You can’t blame me for wanting to keep some of them.” He walked past Toya and into their fully furnished apartment, the sight making the two smile widely.
“It’s adorable that you kept them all this time but… where are we gonna put them?”
“In our room, duh.”
The two walked together to their room, which was lacking a bit of decoration, as Akito didn’t take a lot of his old room’s decorations with him to his dorm. Toya barely had any posters or anything in his room that could serve as decorations. It felt very lifeless, which made him frown when he thought about it. But he threw the thought away when he snapped back to reality to see Akito already placing some plushies on the desk in the corner and some were already placed on the headboard of their only bed that they were sharing. When he was done placing the plushies around their room, he walked back to Toya and hugged him tightly.
“Welp… welcome home, Toya.”
The taller boy chuckled. “I’m happy to be home.”
~
Toya woke up to find Akito missing from his bed. That alone wasn’t much of a surprise, as the redhead usually woke up earlier than Toya anyways. While neither Akito or Toya really liked mornings much, Akito still reluctantly got up as he wasn’t one to stay up late, unlike Toya. The blue half-haired boy usually spent a lot of his days off reading late into the night, which only ended in him sleeping when Akito reminded him of just how late it was. Toya never minded. He appreciated that his boyfriend was looking out for him.
But what was unusual was the aroma of food in the air. Now that Toya actually sat up and started focusing his senses, he could hear the kitchen’s stove being used. Was Akito cooking? That was reason enough to get out of bed, because while neither of the two were that experienced in the culinary arts, Akito’s attempts at cooking were always an experience that you had to be there for. It was either hilarious with how easily Akito messes up his cooking (he gets a bit nervous around the high heat), or he could actually cook his food pretty well. Judging from the smell alone, Toya had to bet it was the latter this time around.
He got up from the bed and brushed his teeth in the bathroom the two shared and then stepped into the kitchen, to see Akito cooking pancakes on the stove. Akito turned around and smiled at his boyfriend, but then quickly turned around when he realized he was still cooking. Pancakes can burn fast.
“Ah shit… I’ll have this one. I’ll make you a better one, I promise!”
Toya went up to hug Akito from behind as the redhead kept cooking pancakes. “Akito, you could just let me make another one for you. We have… a lot of pancake mix.”
“Pancake mix that I’m not letting go to waste. I’m eating it. It’s probably still fine!” Akito leaned into his boyfriend’s touch as he flipped his boyfriend’s pancake on the frying pan. “Could you set the table for us? Y’know, juice and all that. You could also make your coffee if you want.”
“You don’t want coffee?” Toya asked as he backed away from the cook, going to the fridge to retrieve the orange juice that his boyfriend said he wanted. He turned back to Akito to see him shrugging and shaking his head.
“Don’t got much planned today, so I’ll pass on the coffee. You don’t have much planned either, do you? Why don’t we just relax at home today?”
Toya hummed in response. “Not a bad idea. I guess I’ll pass on the coffee today too and stay sleepy.”
Akito smiled to himself as he took the pancake off the frying pan and placed it on another plate. “It’ll make cuddling easier.”
Toya put the orange juice carton on their dinner table and placed the plates with pancakes on them on the table as well. He quickly put their drinking glasses on the table and returned to Akito to peck him on the lips.
“I love you, Akito.”
“Love you too, Toya. Come on, let’s eat.”