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“me? having a crush on that viper? jun-kun, have you lost your mind?”
hiyori kicked his feet onto the table and huffed, pushing his work to one side in the process as he began his daily sulking session. whenever the green-haired student folded his arms and puffed out his cheeks, nagisa and jun knew that their point was not going to be considered in the slightest, seeing as hiyori would put his persuasive essay skills into practical use to make the pair seem ridiculous for even considering that thought.
but who on earth would write an entire poem about the grace and beauty of your opponent, just to ‘surprise’ and ‘shock’ them out of first place in a poetry slam competition?
“…i think jun has a point, hiyori.” nagisa replied, his arm wrapped around the youngest’s waist as nagisa’s head rested on his shoulder. before this, the pair of them were attentively watching jun’s abilities on his games console, with nagisa eagerly listening to all of jun’s tips and silent cheers. they had to do something whilst hiyori plotted his next scheme to take down ibara saegusa. “…why would you spend so long over this poem that’s clearly based on ibara, whilst saying that you hate him in the same breath?”
hiyori huffed again as his eyes opened to meet nagisa’s. “and where did you miraculously find ibara in my prose? you’re stretching more with those claims than that mao kid before his dance classes…”
“ oh the apple of my eye! you draw me closer with every bite! every drop of venom beckons me closer into your hemisphere! take off your rose-tinted lens and let me dive into your azure paradise! ” jun recited word for word, chuckling as he mimicked hiyori’s passion from his numerous rehearsals. the grey-haired boy curled into the younger’s chest from laughter, whilst the corners of their eyes spotted a flustered hiyori tomoe.
“you guys are so cruel! how could i be so unlucky to have two boyfriends who bully me so intensely!” the blond whined loudly, burying his face in his hands.
the worst part about hiyori’s dramaticized sorrow wasn’t that his partners were lying and teasing him over nothing. in fact, they were absolutely correct.
every time he saw ibara’s name above his on the leaderboard, he could feel his heart jump behind his ribs, excitement bubbling in his stomach as he could stand beside the burgundy boy on stage once more, accepting the highest awards for their effort and persistence. even when their battles had died down after exam season, hiyori’s mind couldn't help but race to where ibara was waiting, armed and ready to face the older once again to be at the top of their degree once again. the desire to fight against the viper day after day, week after week, is what fuelled hiyori’s veins. no matter whether he won or lost the battle, ibara would give him the signature smirk that would burn a dangerous flame under hiyori’s feet, melting him to the ground in awe of the beautiful being god had crafted.
nagisa and jun were very clearly aware of hiyori’s giddiness around the other boy, and acknowledged their own feelings towards him as well. they were ready and open to let the burgundy boy join their relationship and provide him with the love they always hand to hiyori on a silver plate…if only hiyori was open about his own feelings too.
but why would the hiyori tomoe drop his guard and admit something so detrimental to his academic pride?
“…we only bully you because we want the best for you.” nagisa sung softly, clasping his hand around hiyori’s wrist in an attempt to drag him onto his lap for a hug. hiyori willingly obliged.
“yeah ohii-san, we’re not tryna be mean.” jun paused his game to smile at the whining blond, moving to pet hiyori’s softly curly hair. “we’ve seen how fond you secretly are of ibara, especially how much you love how he calls you ‘your highness’, even if it's out of spite. you can’t hide anything like that from us.”
hiyori let out a short giggle as he felt jun’s hand move to pinch his reddened cheek, because he knew how dangerously right they both were.
“…and how much you love his academic writings.”
“and how you tell us to shut up when he’s presenting!”
“…and how you watch him like he holds the secrets to the universe in his eyes.”
“and not to mention—“
“okay fine! i’ll admit it!” hiyori’s face has turned to the shade of a tomato at this point, struggling to hide his face as nagisa and jun had occupied his entire view. his hands were shaking before nagisa’s cupped them in his own, with jun’s hand still smoothing the skin on his cheek to calm down the intense heat that had spread across the blond’s body. “…maybe i do have a small, minuscule, tiny, microscopic crush on the viper…”
the pair instantly jumped to shower hiyori with proud kisses, each fluttering kiss tickling his skin and cooling him down as he struggled to control his laughter. he even noticed jun’s small whine when nagisa kissed hiyori on the lips first, which was so typical of the youngest boy. each kiss felt like a flower finally blooming in spring, a hidden secret finally coming to light to show to the world - his world.
“now it’s just telling ibara how you feel...and how we all feel.” jun grinned, moving his hand away as he glanced at the two older students.
sighing as he struggled to think, hiyori rested his chin on his palm. “but how do i do that?”
with that question, the pair thought for a second, before nagisa’s eyes glanced down to hiyori’s ipad, spotting the poem still present on the screen. the neatly handwritten words were surrounded by red hearts, and nagisa noticed how the last part was left unfinished. a lightbulb sparked in his mind.
“…fufu~”
shaking hands with the proclaimed viper, hiyori gave ibara a cunning smile to mask how fast his heart was racing in his chest.
“good luck, your highness! i’m sure your performance will be a great stepping stone to showcase my unmatched intelligence afterwards!”
“are you sure you won’t be flustered and lost for words after i present my work of art, viper?”
“any sort of emotional reaction will only enhance my poem and allow it to bloom and shower you with feelings of yearnings! so show me all of your wishes and desires on stage!”
hiyori chuckled, giving him a small wave before drifting into jun’s magnetic field, wanting to see them once more before he was due to perform.
ibara, who had no one to support and comfort him present, couldn’t help but watch as hiyori was gifted with small affections from his boyfriends backstage; and for some reason, he could feel his heart rattling in his ribcage.
there was no reason for him to feel such sensations. he was aware of ran nagisa and sazanami jun through classes and clubs they shared at the university - and of course tomoe hiyori had the absolute pleasure of knowing of his existence. yet, their acquaintanceship was nothing to raise an eyebrow over; to ibara previously it did seem like they were just a group project member or a dance partner, a minuscule part of ibara’s circle of associates who he would collaborate with. but what made him question his thoughts was the fact that the three of them were always in his vision. sharing food in the cafeteria, cuddling on the social room couches, exchanging kisses behind library books - and the worst of all, praising hiyori after every single event he attended. ibara couldn’t escape them.
rephrase: ibara couldn’t escape his feelings towards them.
spending any extended amount of time with a group of people will cause some assortment of bonds to emerge naturally, along with an array of emotions to pair with it. ibara knew of this when he was familiar with people from his young adolescent years (a certain blue haired, soft spoken boy always comes to mind, but ibara pushes those memories to one side), but some reason that not even his textbooks could explain, these emotions were different.
these emotions made him sweat even in the snow, these emotions made him short of breath even when he was standing still, these emotions made him crave attention and contact even when he was sitting in his dormitory alone in the dark. all rational jumps out of the window when these emotions appear in his mind, and he feels his heart begin to empty, desperate for someone else’s love to fill his chilly soul once again. although, this saviour never does arrive, so ibara is forced to cover his sorrows with a mask - hence why he channels his distress into his studies against hiyori, to keep the gentle boy and his partners in his mind one way or another.
which is why he dedicated his poem to the three people who have lived in his mind ever since he knew of their names.
which is why his jaw dropped in shock when hiyori was reciting his poem, live on stage, to him .
as each stanza was spoken, as each word passed through hiyori’s lips, his eyes stayed focused on ibara, as if he was the only person in the theatre hall. the younger’s breath hitched, their usual poems were about nature, weather, heartbreak - anything to waiver the judges’ emotions to draw in more points. yet somehow, against all odds, both of them happened to write a delicate, desire-filled love poem for each other.
the words wrapped around him like a warm hug, and sent a wave of butterflies to swarm in his stomach and chest. eyes widening, he listened intensively, eager to fill his mind with the delicate stanzas accompanied by the sickeningly sweet voice of tomoe hiyori. pressing his feet to the floor to keep himself grounded, he could tell that the blond knew he was blushing, because he just brought more passion to his performance, as if ibara was the smoke fuelling hiyori’s sparkling fire. the rumors weren’t false anymore - hiyori truly was the sun, and ibara couldn’t bear to stay in the dark any longer.
once the blond was finished, he gave a quick bow and rushed off stage, where ibara could see him jump into the arms of his boyfriends.
why did he yearn to fall into nagisa’s comforting arms and let him carefully pass his fingers through his hair?
why did he desire for jun to whisper praises of love into his ear as he continued to close the distance between them?
why did he want hiyori to gently tuck his red hair behind his ear before meeting his lips and tasting the sweet taste of dessert?
ibara shook his head. he needed to focus. it wasn’t just a competition he had to win now. he now had to win over three very complicated hearts.
ever since the day of the competition, the day where confessions were exchanged and hearts expanded to fit one more, hiyori still hasn’t gotten over ibara’s poem.
whether he was studying with ibara, playing games with jun, or sharing a milkshake with nagisa, the soft words continued to circulate his brain like the moon following earth’s every move.
it made him weak in the knees, craving to hear ibara’s sweet and honest words once more - and it turns out that hiyori wasn’t the only one with the desire to indulge in the poetic genius once more.
“…ibara, do you still remember your poem from the slam competition?” nagisa spoke softly as the four of them laid upon jun’s bed, snuggling under the comforters (and copious amounts of blankets hiyori had hoarded in his room across the hall). his arms were encompassing hiyori’s waist, but he still managed to reach up to comb ibara’s hair, hearing a soft hum from the younger as he leaned into jun’s chest.
“of course i do, your excellency, how could i forget something as monumental as my confession to yourselves.” ibara grinned, watching as hiyori scoffed with a smirk that could make anyone drop to their knees.
“even though you may have lost to my masterpiece of a prose, i will admit that it would be an honour to hear your poem once more, viper…”
with a blush covering both ibara and hiyori’s cheeks, they both softly giggled before hiyori sent the younger boy a motivating kiss, making him perk up with excitement.
“so cute…” they could hear jun and nagisa mutter in unison, prompting hiyori to get ibara to start reciting, giving the redhead the same star studded eyes from the competition, and smiling at him in the same fond manner as their first meeting, before academics even came in to play with their crushes between the four of them.
“ my sweet cinderella, stay with me until the end, watch as my smile forms from the words your lips send.
my sweet juliet, let me call out into the night, watch you spread your wings and take flight, showing me worlds i had never known, before drawing me into a world of your own.
my sweet venus, hold me until the sun begins to fall, drifting in your arms throughout the halls, begging to stay in this dance until i’m left in a trance by your delicate lips.
my sweet eve, share this apple with me, in this world of sin and sea, the only ones left to exist are we, so let's sparkle in each other’s limelights and watch this future, just the four of us, which i can see… ”