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Weekend Garage, for all things considered, is surprisingly quiet. There’s not many customers loitering around and the usual constant sound of chatter was nothing more than a quiet buzz that could easily fade into the background. Akito imagines the deserted-ness of Weekend Garage is due to Halloween preparations. Vivid BAD SQUAD themselves had helped Ken-san put up the rest of the Halloween decorations that An had forgotten about it after their group practice ended. Now, the four are simply spending their down time in the cafe until they feel like going home or somewhere else.
Mindlessly, Akito stirs a spoon in his now-cold cup of coffee while he scrolls through social media on his phone with his other hand, liking posts every now and then without much care.
“Yo, Akito! Toya!” An shouts, gracefully (not really) sliding into a chair across the table from them. Kohane giggles as she follows An, but unlike An, she sits down in the chair like a normal person.
Toya hums in acknowledgment while Akito glances up from his cold drink, “what?”
“Are you guys doing anything for Halloween?” An asks, leaning on the table with one elbow.
Turning off his phone and shoving it into his pocket, Akito scoffs, “hah? No.”
For a brief moment, An pouts, “lame,” before turning to Toya. “What about you, Toya?”
“Well, I’ve never really done anything for Halloween before,” Toya replies, tilting his head, “so I’m not sure what there is to do.”
“Have you ever gone trick-or-treating?”
Toya shakes his head and An immediately slams her hands on the table, causing everything to rattle and for drops of coffee to spill onto the table. “We need to fix this immediately!” she declares.
“An, we’re high schoolers,” Akito states, his tone nearing that of a reminder.
She shoots him a look, “and Toya needs to experience a good Halloween so suck it up, Ginger Boy!”
Letting out a sigh, Akito turns to Toya, “do you wanna do stuff for Halloween?”
“I think it would be nice,” Toya says thoughtfully.
Leaning back in the chair, Akito hums. Halloween, huh? …he has work that day, doesn’t he?
“Akito, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Shaking his head, Akito waves a hand, “nah, I was just thinking about my schedule cause I have work that day.”
Kohane frowns, “on Halloween?” she asks.
“It’s a boutique so gotta be open for all those people to get their last minute costumes,” Akito explains.
“Oh, that makes sense.”
He glances towards An, “are we practicing that day?”
An pauses to think momentarily before shaking her head, “it’s Halloween so we should just have fun— that means no overworking yourself, Akito,” she emphasizes her point with a glare.
Akito rolls his eyes, “yeah, yeah, I know, I know.” (“You only need to say it once, y’know!”) “I’ll ask for a morning shift then so we have the rest of the day to do whatever,” he says.
Akito feels hands suddenly clasp his - hands that he instantly recognize as Toya’s - at that and there’s a surprised sound bubbling in Akito’s throat before it dies at the sight of Toya’s grey, sparkling eyes. “Thank you, Akito,” Toya says softly, but Akito can hear the hint of excitement in his tone.
Oh shit, Toya looks really cute looking at him like that and he’s so close, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit—
“N-no problem,” Akito manages to stutter out.
“Goddamn, he’s so whipped.”
“A-An-chan!”
Pointedly ignoring An, Akito clears his throat when Toya lets go of his hand - much to his disappointment - and recover his composure, “s-so, what are we planning to do on Halloween exactly?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” An grins, “I already have stuff planned.”
Akito instantly groans, dragging a hand down his face, “oh lord.”
“Hey, I’m going to make sure we have fun!”
Deciding to ignore An again, Akito props his elbow on the table, resting his face in the palm of his hand as he leans towards Kohane with a sly grin. “Hey, Kohane, since there’s gonna be ghost n’ stuff everywhere, make sure to take pictures of An shitting her pants.”
Akito barely catches Kohane blinking in surprise before his forehead suddenly meets the table with a thud, once again, rattling everything on the table.
“Kohane, don’t listen to him,” An says, pressing Akito’s face into the table further in response to him attempting to brute force his way up (faintly, he can hear the sound of Toya sipping his coffee— traitor), “I think you should take pictures of him running away screaming from all the dogs while we’re trick-or-treating.”
Finally, Akito pushes her off, “who the fuck walks their dogs while trick-or-treating?!”
“Oh, Akito,” An shakes her head, repeating his name, “Akito, you clearly have never been trick-or-treating in Vivid Street.”
Involuntarily, that sentence sends a chill down Akito’s spine and he resists the urge to shiver. Instead, he crosses his arms and grumbles. A quiet sound - a snicker - sounds from besides him and Akito turns towards at it.
Akito turns to glare, but his gaze holds no real heat, “what’s so funny, Toya?”
“Nothing,” he answers, “I’m just thinking about how much I’m looking forward to Halloween now.”
“Yeah!” An exclaims, “we’ll make sure it’s the best Halloween ever!”
“I’m excited to take pictures of all our memories,” Kohane hums.
Fondly, Akito shakes his head at his team’s excitement when a thought crosses his mind. “Wait, are we wearing costumes?”
An scoffs, “duh, dumbass. How do you go trick-or-treating without them?”
“What are Azusawa and Shiraishi going to be dressing up as?” Toya asks with a slight tilt of his head.
“Me and Kohane are gonna be matching! She’s gonna be a cute little angel while I’m her devil.”
“Matching costumes…” Toya mumbles, interested.
“Do you want matching costumes too, Toya?”
“Is that alright?”
“Course, we’re partners,” Akito answers easily, “so anything you wanna dress up as in particular?”
“When I think of costumes, I think about the sort that Tsukasa-senpai’s troupe wears for their shows.”
“Tsukasa-san usually plays the role of a hero, right?” Kohane chimes in.
“Hmmmm,” An puts a finger to the side of her chin, thinking, “a hero can be a lot of things.”
“You like mystery novels, so maybe a detective?” Akito suggests and Toya hums in thought. “Is that no good?”
“It’s fine, I suppose.”
“So no good,” Akito says, “we can cosplay characters from a game you like.”
“Ahhh, good luck with that. Most cosplays of popular characters are definitely sold out by now.”
Well, there goes that idea.
Akito suggests another, but it turns out to be no good either. An and Kohane join in to help and the four end up spending a bit of time brainstorming ideas, trying to decide on something that Toya would enjoy and something that would also be feasible with the week and a half they had left before Halloween.
In the end, they decided on a prince and knight. They’d borrow outfits that Tsukasa-senpai’s troupe has used for shows before and Akito would make the proper adjustments to them— he might have to ask Akiyama for help. But, well, it’s to give Toya a Halloween he’ll enjoy so Akito can deal with them.
—
So, yes, he ends up asking Akiyama for help and they are, surprisingly, quite helpful when it comes to helping out with making adjustments to the costumes. Akito knows they’re into fashion, but in all honesty, he didn’t expect much due to the fact they came to him asking about Lolita fashion and upcoming trends that one time. The adjustments they make aren’r that big to be honest, it’s mostly changing some parts of the costume to fit their bodies and builds and changing some details for the outfits to match better. It isn’t hard, but it’s definitely tedious and time-consuming— Akito doesn’t think he would’ve finished on time without Akiyama’s help.
Akito lets out a heavy sigh, blowing a few stray strands of his freshly styled hair out of his face as he pulls on the boot for his costume. He guesses he owes Akiyama one now.
—
Turns out, the plan An decided on is going to Phoenix Wonderland followed by trick-or-treating at Vivid Street. They go on a few rides, making sure to be wary of their various costumes and go to the souvenir stores for a break. They all buy matching Halloween Phenny keychain plushes with their colors. Akito glances down to his Phenny plushies hanging from his belt— it’s kinda lame compared to the others. It’s orange, expectedly, but it’s just dressed as a pumpkin. Kohane said she thinks it’s cute, but Akito only grumbled in response. Kohane’s Phenny is pink and has a witch hat while An and Toyas’ are blue and purple with a vampire cloaks— y’know, actual costumes. Who the hell dresses up as a pumpkin for Halloween?
Despite that, Akito’s, admittedly, having a lot of fun. He thinks what An planned is rather tame, but he won’t complain. He thinks anything more would be overwhelming, really.
Akito realizes maybe a little late that maybe he shouldn’t have jinxed the tame part when Kohane suddenly suggest going unto the haunted house for the Halloween spirit and Akito (reluctantly) agrees— only for the excited look on Toya’s face though. At least he wasn’t the only one who was hesitant to agree…
The four are pretty far into the haunted house at this point. They did rock-paper-scissors to decide who would take the front and rotate based on whoever was last to win a round. Right now, it’s Akito’s turn in front and it’s not that bad, he tells himself. He can’t be worse than when An was in front. Kohane literally—
— a decapitated body suddenly jumps at him.
Akito yelps and takes a few hazard steps back, looking for something to find safety behind which just so happens to be Toya.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the one doing the protecting, Akito?” An teases.
Akito feels heat rush to his face at the remark and he glares at her, “shut up, An!”
An snickers, “pfft, loser.”
“Says you!” Akito snaps back, “Kohane literally had to protect your ass earlier and she took over your turn in front!”
“I-I was just startled, okay!” An protests, “and besides, my dear Kohane is the best protector!”
“Who knew the devil was such a pussy,” Akito mutters under his breath.
”I heard that!”
Akito sticks his tongue out at her and prepares another witty remark, but he stops when he feels a hand touch his head. “It’s alright to be afraid, Akito,” Toya assures softly, patting him on the head. Akito blinks, only now realizing that he’s still clinging to Toya’s shoulders and he swiftly lets go.
“‘m not,” he denies weakly, crossing his arms over his chest instead. Toya gives him a look, but shakes his head fondly and says he’ll take his turn in the front now. Akito thinks his turn was short compared to Kohane, but he’s not complain since Toya’s offering.
The group continues to walk down the hallway, Toya and Kohane somehow managing to remain relatively unfazed most of it.
Suddenly, Akito feels something brush against his leg and he jumps slightly (only slightly). He glances down to find nothing and he had to withhold a sigh of relief, but frowns— he’s sure he felt something. Maybe it was just the wind? Nah, nah, that didn’t feel like the wind.
Daring to take a peek over his shoulder, Akito notices something left on the wooden floor, abandoned. Squinting at it, Akito panics when he realizes he knows very well what it was. His hands are quick to go to his belt, but find an empty space where something should be. “Shit—“ he whispers and he rushes back to retrieve the plush keychain.
Crouching down, Akito feels relief when the soft fabric touches his hand. It would’ve sucked ass to lose it so soon after getting it— it’s meant to be a memorial of today or something after all. Clipping the plushie keychain safely to his belt, Akito stands back up and goes to rejoin the others, but he freezes when he sees no one there, “huh? Guys?”
“Guys,” he repeats, “where the fuck did you go?”
Akito takes a few steps forward, looking around for his team, “this isn’t fucking funny,” he says. “Guys?”
A scream echoes down the hallway and Akito tenses, “c-c’mon, An, let Toya and Kohane help me out already. Stop being a dick.”
“Hey, are you alri—“ a hand touches his shoulder.
Screaming, Akito whips around and throws his fist forward. It connects with something and that’s all he registers before he’s already bolting it out of there.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He just punched something— someone. Oh shit, he probably just punched some poor employee who was just trying to help because he’s a pussy and lashed out before thinking. He really needs to learn how to just think more.
Slowly, Akito slows his sprint until he comes to a stop. He looks around, not seeing anyone. Shouldn’t he have caught up to Toya and the others already? Maybe they’re just further ahead, Akito’s brain says, yet he doesn’t have faith in the thought.
He doesn’t have much other choice though so he starts walking. And he keeps walking. But he doesn’t find anything.
He’s lost. And alone. And it’s dark.
Taking a deep breath, Akito tries to stay calm as he reaches for his phone in his pocket. Powering it on, Akito hopes there’s signal wherever the fuck he is so he can call the others to ask where they are, but he only feels dread at the lack of bars in the corner of his screen.
Shit, what the fuck is he supposed to do?
He could…he could go to the SEKAI. But he’d just end up right back in the haunted house when he came out and the others won’t know he’s there.
Fuck, this really sucks ass.
A distant screams rings out from somewhere and Akito couldn’t suppress his flinch at the sound. It’s probably just some other customers getting jump scared or some shit like that, but Akito really wishes he had his headphones or earbuds on him right now to block out the noise. He knows that, genuinely, he has nothing to be afraid of, but haunted houses fucking suck.
Slumping against the wall, Akito sighs. He supposes there’s nothing else he can do except just sit down and wait for his friends to find him. He slides down the wall and curls his knees to his chest, crossing his arms over his knees and resting his chin in them.
Another screams rings out.
Shakily, Akito takes another deep breath and buries his head in his arms. It muffles the sounds around him to make everything just a bit more bearable.
There’s another scream, this time closer. Akito pretends he doesn’t hear it as screws his eyes shut.
If Akito pretends hard enough, he won’t hear all the sounds and screams that send chills down his spine. If he pretends hard enough, he won’t be alone in the dark.
“..kito!”
If he pretends hard enough, he might hear Toya’s voice calling out his name.
“Akito!”
Oh, wait, that is Toya calling out his name. Akito snaps his head up at the realization and he feels relief instantly flood him at the sight of familiar grey eyes and dual-colored hair. The tension leaves his shoulders and Akito feels like he would’ve jumped into Toya’s arms if Toya’s arms weren’t already gripping his shoulders.
“Akito,” Toya repeats and his voice is full of both relief and concern.
“Toya,” Akito murmurs in reply and he realizes that his eyes are watering when his voice cracks. “F-fuck, sorry.”
Toya shakes his head, “you don’t need to apologize, we’re sorry for leaving you behind.”
“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, Akito,” An chimes in from behind Toya - Akito only just noticed her and Kohane standing a few feet away. “We should’ve been paying more attention.”
Kohane dips her head in shame, “we’re really sorry, Shinonome-kun!”
“‘ts fine,” Akito says, turning his head away in hopes that his team wouldn’t notice the tears pooling in his eyes.
“Do you wanna get out of here, Akito?” An asks, her tone uncharacteristically concerned despite her casual words, “I can find an employee.”
Akito shakes his head.
An gives him a skeptical look— although Akito imagines that An’s not having the greatest time in the haunted house either. “You sure?” she asks.
He nods, “you guys should have fun, I’ll be fine.”
The others look like they still want to protest so Akito sighs, standing up with Toya being there to steady him if needed. Akito gives him a soft smile which Toya returns, yet Akito can still detect a hint of concern. The fact that Toya was— is worried about him fills Akito with both warmth and guilt. He feels bad that Toya has to fuss over him when he’s supposed to having fun.
Shaking his head at no one in particular, Akito begins walking forward before anyone can say anything— he’s not ruining Halloween for Toya. The others are quick to follow him, but he can still feel their concerned gazes burning into his back.
There’s a gurgle sound in front of him and Akito tenses. He kinda hates that he does.
An idea pops into his head.
Reaching out to An, Akito taps her on the shoulder, “hey, uh, An?”
She perks up, “yeah?”
“Do you have your headphones on you?” Akito asks quietly.
An raises a brow, but doesn’t ask any questions. Instead, she nods and takes them out of her bag, handing them to him, “here.”
Gratefully, Akito nods and takes them. He slides them over his head, adjusting it to his size so it could fit comfortably. “Thanks,” he mutters.
Instead of replying, An gives him a thumbs-up and faces forward again. Only to be met with a ghost hanging from the ceiling. An screams and almost jumps on him— well, actually, she did try to, but Akito had taken a few steps back so An ended up jumping onto nothing. Akito snickers at the crumpled An on the floor who glares at him with eyes of betrayal. She flips him off and he does the same in return.
An gets up, with Kohane fretting over her a bit, but the group eventually continues through the haunted house. Somewhere along the way, Akito’s hand find itself intertwined with Toya’s— how? He doesn’t know, but he knows that briefly, Toya tenses when their hands make contact. Akito’s about to let go and apologize when he realizes what he’s doing because holy shit he’s holding Toya’s hand, but stops when Toya squeezes his hand comfortingly. Reluctantly (or maybe happily), Akito doesn’t let go. Toya doesn’t either.
Neither of them comment on the interaction.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally reach a door with light peeking from underneath. An doesn’t hesitate to burst it open and run out and the other three follow shortly after.
As they step out, Akito flinches at the sun’s light, bringing one hand to cover the sun, “fuck, it’s bright.”
Toya squeezes his hand, catching his attention, “are you feeling okay, Akito?”
“Way better now that I’m out of that hellhole,” Akito answers and he takes the headphones off his head.
“We can go home if you—“
“Nah,” Akito cuts in, shutting down the idea before it’s even suggested, “we still gotta watch Tsukasa-senpai’s show later, right?”
Toya bites his lower lip, “yes, but…”
“It’ll be fine,” he reassures, waving his free hand in dismissal, “they do shows for kids, they won’t do anything like the haunted house. ‘Sides, you and Kohane were really looking forward to it.”
Sighing, Toya concedes, “okay, but tell us if you need anything, alright?”
“You got it, Partner,” Akito says, giving Toya a thumbs-up. He notices the way Toya almost instantly relaxes when he says “partner”, Toya is so weak for it.
Akito looks around and An and Kohane seem to have gone ahead and found a table for them to take a break at. Thank fuck because after that, he really needs a break. Akito half-collapses onto the table, setting An’s headphones to the side as Toya laughs and sits down beside Akito.
“Oi, Akito, Toya,” An says, “I’m gonna head to get us some food and drinks before the show, want anything?”
“Anything sweet to eat and water.”
An gives him a look, “we’re still going trick-or-treating later, do you really want sweets now?”
“Never a wrong time for sweets,” Akito shoots back.
Shaking her head (with…is that fondness—?), An turns her attention to Toya, “what about you, Toya? They have a special Halloween menu too.”
“I’m not really sure what’s on it.”
“Wanna come see?” An offers and Toya is about to reject before Akito speaks up.
“Go on,” Akito encourages, “I’ll be fine. Kohane’s here too.”
Grey eyes flicker between him and An before finally, Toya nods and gets up— albeit hesitantly. He follows An to whatever food stand she was eyeing.
When the two are merely a dot in a distance, Kohane speaks up, “Shinonome-kun?”
Akito glances up, “yeah?”
Kohane fidgets with her hands, “if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get lost? We were sure you were walking just behind us, but then you suddenly weren’t.”
“Dropped something, went back to pick it up and you guys were gone by the time I looked back. Tried finding you guys, didn’t work.”
“Eh? What did you drop?”
Carefully, Akito un-clips the plushie keychain from his belt and shows it to Kohane, holding it up by the loop resting on a single finger.
“Isn’t that the plushies we all bought earlier?” Akito nods. “How’d you notice it fell off?”
“I had it clipped on my belt and I felt something brush against my leg when I was walking. Stopped and checked what it was. Turns out it was this.”
At first, Kohane only nods, watching as Akito reattached the keychain to his belt. When she speaks again, it’s not words Akito was expecting, “I’m sorry, Shinonome-kun.”
Akito frowns, “hah? The hell you apologizin’ for? I already said it’s fine—“
“I know, but…it must’ve been really scary being in there by yourself. It’s already scary in a group, but by yourself is definitely worse.”
“You didn’t seem scared,” Akito points out with a hum.
“I-I was!” Kohane insists, but Akito isn’t convinced. The most intense reaction Kohane had throughout the entire thing was when she was protecting An from a ghost and that was because An was scared.
He lets out a sigh, “y’know, you don’t gotta lie to—“
SMACK
— a water bottle hits him right in the face.
“S-Shinonome-kun!”
The water bottle falls to the table and Akito glares at the direction the water bottle was thrown from and of course it’s An who still has her hand in throwing position. “Thanks, An,” he bites out.
An smirks, finally retracting her hand, “no problem.”
There’s a sigh and Toya walks up from behind An, shaking his head at their - An’s - antics. An sits down besides Kohane and sets down some soda drink with those heart straws that couple use a box of French fries.
Meanwhile, Toya returns to his side and places a parfait in front of him, “here you go, Akito.”
Instantly, Akito perks up at the sight of the sweet— fuck, it looks good. “Thanks, Toya,” Akito says as he takes his phone out and takes a picture. The realization that he’s doing the thing Ena does whenever they go out to a cafe crosses his mind, but it disappears the moment Akito puts a spoonful of the parfait in his mouth.
It tastes really good.
Akito scoops another spoonful and holds the bowl of the spoon to Toya’s face, “here you want some?”
Toya blinks at him in surprise— Akito thinks he sees Toya’s cheeks redden and he’s about to comment on it when Toya leans forward and takes a bite from of the parfait from the spoon. Akito smiles when he notices Toya light up ever so slightly.
“We can share if you’d like,” Akito suggests.
“There’s only one spoon,” Toya points out.
Akito raises a brow, not understanding if Toya meant that as an issue or something else, “so?”
Toya opens his mouth to say something, but he ends up just sighing and shaking his head. He accepts the offer to share and the parfait moves to the middle of them as they take turns with the spoon.
Humming, Akito rests his chin on his palm. He wonders what Toya was going to say and what he was getting at… it’s not like they haven’t shared food before, a single spoon shouldn’t be an issue.
Abruptly, Toya’s voice interrupts his thoughts, “do you want the kisses, Akito?”
“Huh?”
“The chocolate kisses,” Toya says, clarifying, “they’re too sweet for me.”
“Oh, sure,” Akito says, taking the spoon back and scooping the chocolate kisses into his mouth easily. Out of the corner of his eyes, he notices a somewhat disappointed look cross Toya’s features, but it disappears a second later. Akito frowns, but doesn’t mention it. If there’s something wrong, Toya will come to him about it eventually— hopefully.
—
The group finishes up their - very - delicious food and get ready to head to Wonderlands x Showtime’s show. They accidentally spent more time they thought eating, so they barely made it on time. Tsukasa-senpai, to no one’s surprise, was the hero. Akito recalls that last year, they did a show about zombies and potatoes…or something like that, but it seems that this year, the troupe had decided on some sort of rendition of Little Red Riding Hood? It definitely isn’t the usual Little Red Riding Hood story with how Tsukasa-senpai’s character being there to fend off the wolf, Kamishiro-senpai, for Little Red Riding Hood who’s being played by Otori. Akito finds the show enjoyable nonetheless— he’ll never admit how invested he actually was in it.
The show ends, the applause of the audience ringing in his ears as he stands besides a sea of unfamiliar faces, clapping alongside them. And before he knows it, Kohane and Toya are leading them to the backstage to talk with the troupe.
“Akito-kuuuuun!! Wandahoi ☆ Attack!!”
— and that’s the only warning Akito gets before something— someone jumps on him from behind.
“Dwah?!”
“Hehe, you’re not frown-y anymore!” Otori exclaims, poking his cheeks.
“Hah? I wasn’t—“
“Kohane-chan said you had a baaaaad time in the haunted house earlier,” Otori starts, interrupting what Akito was going to say, “so I’m super duper happy that you were able to smile during our show!”
Akito blinks, “oh, that’s what you meant.”
Otori nods, getting off his back and looks at him with a more serious look - or at least, serious for her - despite her everlasting smile, “I’ll talk to my brothers and dad about making more obvious emergency exits in case someone gets lost for next year! It’s no fun if people get lost.”
“Sounds good.”
“Now, come, come! Let’s join the others!” Otori chirps excitedly, suddenly grabbing his wrists and dragging him along to the others before running around to all her troupe members. She gives them all kisses as a treat or that’s what she claims. Tsukasa-senpai is startled when Otori comes to him, his face flushing a bright tomato red as only stutters come out of his throat. Kusanagi and Kamishiro-senpai are a lot more dignified in their reactions— well Kamishiro-senpai just gives Otori a kiss back, saying Otori needed a treat too.
Kisses as treats, huh, Akito thinks.
—
After awhile, they bid Wonderlands x Showtime farewell, the group still had trick-or-treating to do after all, so here there were, in Vivid Street. Akito lingers in the back while the rest of his team excitedly went around— well, rather An excitedly went dragging Kohane and Toya around. Akito decided not to trick-or-treat because one, he’s a high schooler— he’s not gonna do stuff like that, and two, he’s genuinely too exhausted to show as much excitement as the other three. And admittedly, An was right (he can hear her saying “told ya so”), eating all those sweets at Phoenix Wonderland might not have been the best idea. Akito’s just gonna leech off of whatever Toya didn’t want when they were done.
Speaking of, the three came back from within another one of the stores giving out candy and Toya offers a hand to him. In the palm of Toya’s hand is two small chocolate kisses.
“More chocolate kisses?” Akito asks with a raised brow, yet he still takes one of the two.
“Yeah…”
“Chocolate kisses get boring after while, don’t they?” Akito remarks, unwrapping one and popping it in his mouth, “I like sweets, but these are kinda mid by themselves.”
“Would you prefer something else then?” Toya asks, holding out this bag of candies to Akito and he can’t help the thought that crosses his mind at the question.
Real kisses from you.
“Eh.”
Akito freezes. Slowly, he turns his head to look at Toya who’s staring back at him with wide eyes. Shit, he said that out out loud, didn’t he?
Nervously, Akito laughs, “haha, that was, uh, um.”
Akito wracks his brain for a response— an excuse, but he can’t think of anything. Fuck, what’s Toya gonna think— actually. Akito takes a peek towards Toya, his cheeks are very pink and brows are furrowed, but he isn’t say anything.
“Toya?” Akito calls out hesitantly. Toya doesn’t respond and Akito frowns. He waves a hand in front of Toya’s face as he calls out again, “oiiii, Earth to Toya.”
Toya flinches and Akito only has a moment to feel bad before Toya speaks, “did you mean that, Akito?”
Akito tenses— right back onto topic, fun. Averting his gaze, Akito’s mouth opens and closes, trying to figure out an reply. Eventually, he manages to stutter out an answer, “y-yeah…”
At first, Toya doesn’t respond and Akito starts thinking that maybe he should’ve lied when suddenly, Toya leans forward and Akito bites his tongue to keep the yelp in his throat from coming out. Bashfully, Toya looks at him with half-lidded eyes, as if asking for permission. Akito nods and a moment later, their lips are pressed together. He thinks the moment is short - or is it? - but Akito still finds himself breathless when their lips part.
Toya averts his gaze after they part, looking anywhere except Akito’s face and fancying the sight of the ground instead. “That was sweeter than the chocolate kiss.”
“Hooo, so you don’t want anymore?” Akito teases, leaning down to be in Toya’s line of vision.
“I didn’t say that,” Toya mutters, pouting.
Akito laughs, straightening his back and patting Toya on the shoulder comfortingly, “I’m just joking, Partner.”
“Oiiii, are you two lovebirds done over there?!” An shouts at them from the end of the street, rudely interrupting their conversation.
Akito sighs at An’s comment, “c’mon, let’s go catch up to those two.”
Akito starts walking, Toya joining him by his side soon after.
“…thanks for the treat, Toya.”
Softly, Toya smiles, “you’re welcome.”
“And, uh, sorry.”
Toya blinks, “eh?”
“Today was supposed to be focused on making sure you had a good Halloween, but I ended up worrying everyone a bunch,” he explains quietly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Toya shakes his head, “it’s alright, I still had plenty of fun.”
“But still…”
“If you want to make up for it…maybe give me a treat?” Toya suggests, a knowing glint in his eyes.
Akito pauses before letting out a laugh. “Sure, sure,” he says before leaning towards Toya and giving him a quick peck on the lips.
“So short,” Toya mutters, bringing slender fingers up to his lips as if looking for the ghost of something.
“You’re not very good with sweets, Toya. I hafta make sure it’s in amounts you can handle, y’know,” Akito says playfully, his hands behind his back as he strides forward with a grin. He laughs when Toya pouts again.
Akito smiles as he stares at Toya, the blush as clear as day on his cheeks. He thinks it’s cute. It’s a rare expression on Toya’s face so Akito’s sure he’ll cherish the sight.
There’s a sigh and Akito turns to see that they’ve met with An and Kohane at the end of the street. “Can’t you guys go two seconds with being lovey-dovey?” An asks, one hand on her hip.
“Congrats, Aoyagi-kun, Shinonome-kun!” Kohane chirps happily, clasping her hands together as she smiles at them.
An turns her head to stare at Kohane in confusion, “eh? Congrats? Why are you saying congrats, Kohane?”
Now it’s Kohane’s turn to be confused, apparently. She stares back at An, “eh? Aren’t they together now?”
An whips her head to finally look at them, “you guys weren’t together before?!”
They shake their heads and Akito can tell An is stuck between shock and disbelief.
“I mean, they are now, right?”
Akito blinks. He turns his head to look at Toya only to find Toya looking right back at him. Neither of them say a word.
“Did you idiots just fucking kiss twice and not talk anything out.”
Looking back at An and Kohane, Akito shrugs, “guess so.”
An blinks at him once— twice, maybe thrice. “Unbelievable!” she suddenly shouts, causing Kohane to flinch beside her. Huffing, An crosses her arms and marches off.
“An-chan, wait!”
As Akito watches the two walk off, he turns back to Toya, “we are together now though, right?”
Letting out a laugh, Toya smiles, “yeah, we are.”
“This was a pretty nice Halloween.”
“It was,” Toya agrees.
Akito finds his hand wandering towards Toya’s and their fingers intertwine for the second time today. It feels both the same and incredibly different, but he supposes at the end of the day, it’s just him and Toya doing their thing.
“Guess we gotta catch up to them again, huh,” Akito remarks.
Toya nods, “do you think Shiraishi will still be upset by the time we do?”
“Meh, if she is then she can suck it.”
Shaking his head, Toya only laughs as Akito starts dragging him forward, their footsteps in unison.