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Keisuke had seen a lot of weird stuff in his life. Be it that time when he saw Shinichiro woke up in the middle of his sleep and processed to look for Mikey everywhere until he found him and then he hugged Mikey like his life depended on it or that other time when he first saw Takemitch and his first instinct was to punch him in the face. 

Most of it was all funny memories for him, even though Takemitch may or may not agree with him in this. Still, on that same day, Keisuke remembered watching in the front seat as Mikey looked at Takemitch for the first time. Somehow, deep down in his mind, he thought it didn't seem to be the first time for them at all. For the longest time as they grow up, Takemitch would make jokes about this life not being their first life or not being their first chance, something like this. Being completely honest, Keisuke never gave a damn about it. 

But what he does know is that a lot of things happening around him do feel weird as hell. Like for example, the first time that Mikey met Draken. Keisuke was there and he doesn't know how, but on this day, he could swear on his life Mikey knew this was about to happen. Even more than that, he was sure Mikey was waiting for it to happen, yearning for it.

More than once, he had heard Mikey talk to himself or whisper for Takemitch words like "I miss Ken-chin" or "I wish I could see Ken-chin". Keisuke never knew what a 'Ken-chin' was until Mikey introduced Draken to him and started calling the boy by the nickname.

Around that time, It was also visible that change in Mikey when he found that boy. And what Keisuke means for it is that Mikey has always been spoiled, but when he was with Draken he would just be a hundred times worse, all that because even if Draken complains, he still would do everything that Mikey asked him to. 

The worst of it was that Mikey was aware of everything, that his Ken-chin was really a fool. 

Once again a strange thing, but Baji was sure he must be just overreacting or overthinking stuff, so he let go of this. 

But that doesn’t mean those things stopped happening, because Keisuke was also there when Takemitch met Hinata. Different from that time with Mikey and Draken, this doesn't feel like a deja-vu for him, but it feels like something he already knew about or maybe something that he should know, except by the fact that it just happened right before his eyes in that exact instant.

Of course, they start out being friends, but even a blind man would be able to see that something else was going on between them. Not a relationship yet, but something like a promise.

Takemitch was lazy and clumsy and Keisuke had no idea what Hinata saw in him, but who was he to judge? 

Keisuke does find it weird when he overheard Takemitch speak to Mikey something about getting married to Hinata. Like, they're not even in high school yet, why would any of them think about getting married at all? Especially when he is almost sure they don’t even date yet.

But that was the thing about Mikey and especially about Takemitch, sometimes, when they are too tired or too happy, they don't look or talk like their age. They look like they're much older than that. It’s particularly scary and unsettling sometimes, but Keisuke handles it anyway. He can’t help but notice that there's something melancholic about Mikey’s smile and it doesn't matter for how long Keisuke had known him, he still can't explain. Sometimes, Mikey would look at him with such kindness in his eyes and then he would hug Keisuke and tell him 'I missed you' out of nowhere. He used to be embarrassed by it, until he got used to it. And Mikey would do this with almost everyone around him. Emma. Shinichiro. Draken. Like at any given moment they would leave him for good.

Ah. Like he could get rid of him so fast. Baji Keisuke isn’t going anywhere.

One of those times, Keisuke had come to Sano's home only to find Mikey sleeping profoundly in Draken's arms. Hugging the taller boy like his life was on line and other times, Mikey would get extremely defensive over him, but you would have to be close to Mikey and to know him for a long time to notice. It wasn't something natural to Keisuke to see Mikey avoiding a fight, but for many times he would be able to read Mikey's expressions recalculating the route so no one would get hurt. 

Keisuke thinks he understands Mikey and Takemitch for the first time when he meets Kazutora. 

Founding Kazutora was like a rain of feelings, because even if he was trying to play it cool. He knew he would be friends with that guy. Kazutora looked like a small hurted tiger when they first met. But, God, how Keisuke was happy to find him. To introduce him to his friends and to help him. 

Introducing Kazutora for his group of friends was sure to be another strange experience once again because of Takemitch and this time, especially because of Mikey. 

Different from everything else, Mikey was speechless when he first saw Kazutora, he stayed so quiet that Keisuke feared he had made a huge mistake. Then after a few seconds and an amazing atmosphere reading, Draken was the first one to introduce himself to Kazutora and to offer him his hand, Keisuke was sure as hell graceful for this. 

Kazutora would still be a ball of anxiety and Keisuke was worried that Mikey's reaction may have affected him, but this didn't happen because seconds later, Mikey finally would welcome Kazutora with a big smile on his face. Days later, Mikey would say words to Kazutora that Keisuke would remember until today. 

"You are mine now. All your problems and all your mine are mine too," 

A little too dramatic for Keisuke's taste but whatever Mikey says. 

Keisuke continues to live a lot of weird moments like this as life goes on. Meeting Draken's sword brother, Mitsuya. Or Pah. Creating Toman and all of those things felt like a fucking Deja-Vu, but more than that, it would feel just right. Like the gears of a clock running in synchrony.

Still, it would take a little bit more of Baji to finally understand certain things. To finally understand the mechanics of his life. 

Even with Toman being created and growing bigger, Keisuke would pass most of his days missing something he never had, that he didn't even know what it was. Sometimes, he would stare too long at his own portion of food and wonder why there's so much in his plate or he would just wait outside the school even through he would always come back home by himself, he would too, always walk by his apartment complex feeling like someone was staring at him or saying his name even if he was alone. And especially, Keisuke's eyes would always be looking for someone in crowds, like there is someone out there waiting for him to show up. 

Maybe that's the reason for this, because when Baji Keisuke meets Matsuno Chifuyu for the first time, he has something that much later he figures it could be called an ‘epiphany’. 

If Mikey had felt half of what Keisuke did seeing Chifuyu for the first time, then he would understand why the boy would say he missed Draken even before meeting him. 

Maybe they're right. Maybe this isn't his first life at all. This is all Keisuke can think while Chifuyu corrects his grammar in the exercise he is doing. 

But of course for the guy he just met, Keisuke doesn't say any of those things. He doesn't want to freak out the boy in front of him, talking about others' lives or whatever, he doesn't want to be weird like Mikey would normally be every time they meet someone new. 

No, he wants that boy to not run away from him. So instead of this, Keisuke just says, "Thank you, you're a nice dude".

That was it. Perfect. 

-

This one Keisuke's plan wasn't perfect at all because right after this, the boy just disappeared in front of him and went back to his class. 

Later but still on that same day Keisuke was graceful for something he knew wasn't right at all, but who did he want to fool? The brutal truth about it was that he was kinda happy to be able to save Chifuyu from those bastards that day. And right there, behind their school, he felt it again, something similar to what he had felt when he first saw Kazutora and still, completely different for him. 

Years later Chifuyu would tell him that there exists a word for all of those things he felt. “Nostalgia”.

But in this moment a small part inside of Keisuke's mind screamed another word. "Finally". He doesn’t know what this means, but he completely agreed. Fucking finally. 

He gave Chifuyu his best grins, so full of energy that he thought he would be able to punch more 50 men if necessary, but thank God it wasn't. Thank God, he could just smile at the boy in front of him and ask the silliest thing he could ask at the moment. 

"Do you wanna eat some peyoung yakisoba?" 

And, of course, Chifuyu followed him. 

The weird stuff continues to happen around Baji and he doesn't know if he can still ignore it. Not when Chifuyu fell into tears at the first sight of Takemitch. At first, Keisuke was ready to fight, it wouldn't be the first time he would punch Takemitch in the face, and despite not wanting to upset Mikey, he really was tempted to take the risk. 

Keisuke was ready to fight, because there wasn't any logical explanation for the cute boy he just met to be crying because he saw Takemitch. But apparently it wasn't going to be necessary, because as soon as Takemitch put his eyes on Chifuyu, he hugged the younger boy like they know each other for years, all of this in front of the whole Toman and Takemitch even said something in Chifuyu's ears that it makes his whole face bright up. 

Because of this, Keisuke put away the uglier feeling that was growing up in his chest and decided to ignore it just like he ignored all the other crazy things that had happened around him. 

Just like he ignored when Draken asked "Do they know each other?" 

And Mitsuya answered, "I don't think so, I think they're just like you and Mikey" 

Something tightly in Baji's chest at those words and he immediately says, "No, they aren't like that at all," 

Between the exchange of glances Draken and Mitsuya shared, Keisuke kept his eyes on Chifuyu and Takemitch. They seemed to be immediately attached to each other and deep down, Keisuke is happy that his childhood friends and his new friend are getting along so well. But he can’t help but thinking that maybe it's too soon, maybe he should have just gatekeeper Chifuyu only for himself for a while more. 

After a long talking between Chifuyu and Takemitch, the younger boy went back to Baji's side, where he belongs . Not that Keisuke is jealous, but he was the one who found Chifuyu first, it was only right for him to stay by his side. 

"Ha, have you met this idiot before?" Keisuke asks him. 

"Who? Takemitch. No," Chifuyu replied, cheeks burning red. "I don't know what happened, I just felt like- I don't know" 

Yeah. Keisuke doesn't know either. But he gets it, he really gets it. 

"Don't go crying over every single person you meet, idiot," Keisuke complains. 

"Ah? But Baji-san, it was just with him!" He sounds indignant. 

Even worse, Keisuke wants to say.

"Don't be a cry baby, I can't have a member of the first division crying all the time" Keisuke tries to kept his expression as blank as possible, but he just can't hide the smile on his face as he watches the words get into Chifuyus mind and his whole face his bright it up to his words. 

"Do you mean it?" Chifuyu asks, holding his arm. "Do you really mean it?" 

"Don't be so loud" Keisuke is doing his fucking best to be tough in front of Chifuyu right now, if he keeps looking at him like this it will fucking ruin this, "Of course, I never say things I don't mean to, Chifuyu" 

Chifuyu jumps in joy as if Keisuke had given him the best news in the entire world. He turns around to look at Keisuke and confirm that he is not dreaming and Keisuke wants to scream, Chifuyu is so silly that never fails to make him smile, this is going to ruin his reputation in the future, he's sure of it. He already can hear Mikey and Draken teasing about it, but he couldn't care less. He is as happy as Chifuyu right now. 

"Baji-san, I swear, you're not going to regret it, I'm going to protect you with my life! I will do whatever I can to help you" Chifuyu solemnly swears in front of him and Keisuke knows everybody around them is watching them. 

"Don't be so dramatic over this" Keisuke answers trying to look more contained than he really is at the moment, "Just stay by my side and it's going to be fine" 

"I swear, Baji-san, I'm going to be by your side forever!" 

Damn right you will. That voice again. 

"Ha, tell that again, Chifuyu" Keisuke is sure he must have the biggest grin on his face right now. He is sure he will have a lot to explain later for his friends when they ask him about it, but he just can’t keep it to himself. Having Chifuyu by his side makes him really happy. 

When Keisuke went looking for Mikey to say goodbye, he found him and Takemitch whispering between the trees, they're having one of those conversations that had always left Keisuke feeling uncomfortable, the ones where they look much more serious that they normally look and that they talk stranger as fuck. 

Mikey has this contemplative look in his face and Takemitch looks like he is about to cry. 

"They finally met," Mikey told Takemitch. 

"Finally" Takemitch complete, "I was starting to get worried" 

"It's your fault for not wanting to introduce them before" Mikey accuses. 

Mikey looks much older when he talks like this.

"I couldn't. They have to met in the same way or else their bond would change," 

"Then they would just build up that again" He sticks to his argument.

"Like you are doing with Draken-kun?" 

"Ha, like you are doing with Hina?" 

Keisuke is sure he shouldn’t be hearing them, whatever this conversation is, it’s not for him or any of their friends to know. But even knowing this Keisuke doesn’t stop hearing it, he can’t. Part of him is looking for answers and he knows where to find them, he just never went looking for them.

"I promised her," Takemitch says.

"And promised him" Mikey answers him.

"He promised you too, you know. Before," 

"I know” Keisuke wishes he knows too, whaever they are talking about, “After all, I know Kenchin better than anyone in the world," Mikey continues.

Takemitch doesn't answer Mikey for a while, but right when Baji is ready to say something, the boy speaks again. 

"This time, this time they will have their happy ending. Mikey-kun, I swear" 

"Idiot, this time they at least have a chance. They already found each other, they will work everything out" 

"I wonder where Kazutora is..." Well, Keisuke wondered that too. 

It ends up that Keisuke didn't say goodbye to any one of them. He shouldn’t be eating their conversation without them knowing, but it also feels extremely wrong that he did, beside this. 

Keisuke always has the anger to ask them about it. But something deep inside him always holds him back, that damned little voice that always asks "Isn’t this enough?" 

Was it?

Right at this moment and in many others, Keisuke didn't ask them the questions that really matter. And as the time passed, Keisuke would forget he even had those questions, but the most important of it all was that the small voice in his head was right, it was more than enough for him.  

For now. 

Keisuke leaves Toman's meeting that night the same way he arrived, with Chifuyu sitting behind him on his bike. 

It was really a shame that Kazutora wasn't present that day, because Keisuke really felt like introducing them was something he had to do, to at least start to understand that feeling he had meeting the two of them. 

Unfortunately it never seems to work. Even though Chifuyu seemed to be glued in Baji most of the time, everytime Keisuke is with Kazutora, Chifuyu is nowhere to be found. Or he just appears right after Kazutora left. The same goes to Kazutora, even if Keisuke schedules to meet him after class, if he is with Chifuyu, Kazutora never makes it in time. 

Its fucking annoying and if it was any of his others friends Keisuke couldn't care so much, but since it's Kazutora and Chifuyu it bothers him a lot. 

Kazutora is one of the most important people in his life, and Chifuyu was just growing his way to the top of the list very quickly. And soon Keisuke realized it was impossible not to be evolved by Chifuyu's personality, even his own mother had adored Chifuyu in the first second she had put her eyes on him. 

Pah-chin had said they are a good match, whatever that means. And Draken and Mitsuya have been whispering behind their backs since that last Toman meeting. Takemitch had said for a thousand times that he better take care of Chifuyu this time and Keisuke didn't really understand, and he fears that he doesn't want to know what Takemitch means by that, but who do he take Keisuke for? Of course he will take care of him. He's a member of Toman now, most importantly, he was a member of the first division, his vice captain. Of fucking course Keisuke is taking care of him, Chifuyu was his, afterall . And there was Mikey, Mikey who has been teasing him for days now, he knew it was going to happen after Chifuyu had made that whole scene in front of anyone, but Keisuke couldn't really make himself care about him. 

Most of Keisuke's friendships were made when he was still a child. It was good to be able to connect with someone now that he was in his teenage years. 

That's why Keisuke needed to find a way to make Chifuyu and Kazutora meet, there is no way in hell they won't like each other.

- 

Keisuke wants to kill Kazutora and Chifuyu. After all his efforts he can't believe this. 

It took Keisuke three months of hard work and crazy plans to finally be able to introducing Kazutora and Chifuyu to each other, just for them to stare each other’s face for 30 fucking seconds and to say, at the same time “You know that guy?”

Apparently, they met once when Chifuyu was looking for Peke J around the building. And apparently too (Keisuke was sure this has happened) Kazutora has called Chifuyu’s cat “that ugly ass cat”. Damn, Keisuke could hear Kazutora’s voice saying those words to Chifuyu.

“I didn’t say it, Baji!” Kazutora defends himself as Chifuyu accuses him of insulting Peke J, Baji is in the middle of the crossfire between both guys, “Will you really believe this little guy instead of your best friend?”

“This is your best friend?” Chifuyu voice trembled with outrage, “I’m going fucking get you for talking about Peke J like this!”

“Peke J? What kind of name is this? Are you really fighting with me over a thing called Peke J?”

“It was Baji-san who gave him that name, you fucking bastard!” 

“Well, that explains a lot, in fact!”

“Enough!” Keisuke screams at both of them. Kazutora who is right in front of him and Chifuyu who Baji is trying really hard to keep behind him so he doesn’t impulsively attack Kazutora.

This isn’t anything like Keisuke had planned at all. He was ready for them to not immediately bond once they met, but this? Keisuke didn’t know how to fix this.

He looks at the two with an exasperated energy. 

There’s only one way to fix this.

“Kazutora,” Keisuke said with his captain tone, “Say sorry to Peke J”

“Ahn?” Kazutora's expression revealed pure shock. Not even Keisuke was expecting those words to get out of his mouth, but it seems only fair since Kazutora has also insulted the amazing name he has chosen. 

"That 's right!” Chifuyu said, still behind Keisuke, his head peeking over the taller boy's shoulder. Keisuke couldn't see his face very well, but he knew Chifuyu must look like a fucking cat right now. But he needs to focus, focus on resolving that situation.

“You can’t be serious” Kazutora was about to scream or laugh, Keisuke could say with one was going to happen faster.

“Peke J is a beautiful cat” Chifuyu continued to defend the honor of his cat.

“Have you fucking seen this thing?”

Keisuke once again had to hold Chifuyu in his place so he didn’t jump in Kazutora.

“He’s a cutie,” Keisuke catches himself defending Peke J with Chifuyu, “How can you say that about our cat?”

Kazutora blinks really slowly and takes his time looking between Keisuke and Chifuyu, then he shakes his head.

“So this is what is going on? I can’t fucking believe this, Baji” Kazutora is laughing now and Keisuke doesn’t know if he should felt relieved or worried, “A cutie is all it takes for you to make me apologize to a cat? Ok, you win”

“What is he talking about?” Chifuyu asks, whispering in Keisuke’s ears while having his arms around his shoulder. Keisuke takes a glance in the mirror, he sees that Chifuyu is on his tiptoes and it looks like he is hugging him from behind.

Fucking fuck.

Keisuke’s cheeks turn in the darkest shade of red in the blink of an eye, but he doesn’t remove Chifuyu from there, no. Instead, he decided to focus on Kazutora who seems to be ready to tease him about it.

“I fucking apologize to your cat” Kazutora says, “The cutie doesn’t need to worry about it anymore”

Keisuke doesn’t know if Chifuyu had realized or not that the cutie that Kazutora was referring to was him, Keisuke supposed he doesn’t because of the way he smiles after Kazutora’s words, but he knows that he would be able to escape Kazutora’s teasing later.

It’s no surprise when Chifuyu and Kazutora don’t immediately fucking bond after this. And neither of them are helping Keisuke over here since they can’t finish a single sentence without insulting one another, but Keisuke will take what he can have. 

Being with the two of them by his side unblock a feeling he still hasn't felt before, different from the all weird stuff, this one doesn’t feel like a deja-vu, it seems more like a dream come true.

Keisuke doesn’t want to think too hard about what this means, he feels like the answer for it may ruin everything. In that afternoon, in Keisuke’s room, with Chifuyu and Kazutora fighting over the minimum things and with Peke J on his lap, Baji feels the most happy that he has been in his life. He is at peace.

Fucking finally, the voice says and Keisuke agrees.

-

Kazutora continues to fucking tease Keisuke about Chifuyu as soon they are alone. He is not the first of his friends to say things like this, but it does annoy Baji to hear him calling Chifuyu a ‘cutie’. He wasn’t even talking about Chifuyu, it was about fucking Peke J. Their cat.

“You know it doesn’t help you at all to say you guys have a cat together, right?” Kazutora asks him and Keisuke doesn’t know what to answer, because it’s the fucking truth.

Peke J belongs to the two of them, the cat chooses so and who are they to go against it?

“When they told you act different around him, they weren’t lying” Kazutora continues,

“Ahn? I act just fine”

“Yeah, but are you letting him on your shoulder? C’mon Baji, you don’t have to lie to me”

But Keisuke wasn’t lying, in fact he had tried his best to act normal with Chifuyu on his shoulder.

“I was just stopping him from fighting you,” Keisuke lies even though he doesn't know why.

“Whatever you say, loverboy” Kazutora grins at him, “You know, Takemitch is taking Hina-chan to a festival next month, you should go too, with Chifuyu”

“Kazutora,” Keisuke says very quietly, “This may be your very first good idea in your life”

Five seconds later Kazutora is running after Keisuke with a knife while screaming, "I'm going to stab you now!"

If Keisuke has a bad feeling about it, he ignores it. And he continues to run from Kazutora while laughing along with his friend.

-

Before Keisuke can even realize what is happening, he begins to create silly habits evolving Chifuyu, those are soon to become traditions for them, but for now Keisuke just knows that he likes to do things in Chifuyu’s company.

One of the most known habits they have is to share food with each other. Baji kinda wishes he didn’t know when this habit started, but he does. It’s printed in his mind like a picture and Chifuyu didn’t seem to complain about it, so it was just perfect. Another not so known habit of theirs was Tuesday’s Investigatives TV shows. Keisuke has always liked those types of shows and it’s nice to have someone to watch it with him. On the other hand, he had to watch with Chifuyu those Thursday’s Shoujo Animes. It was a good exchange, even if Keisuke pretended he didn't like it in front of Chifuyu, just to hear him defend the show with everything he had.

But sometimes he just didn’t understand at all, like when they’re watching a shows where the male lead gave to his love interest a fucking jewel, a pedant with his name's initial on it. Keisuke was about to make a sarcastic comment when Chifuyu suddenly stood up and took a small notebook out of his pocket. Does he always carry this thing with him?

“What the hell are you doing, Chifuyu?” He asked while Chifuyu was writing in his notebook.

“Writing,”

“I can fucking see it,” Keisuke answered him, “ Why?”

“I’m helping Takemitch with something” Chifuyu’s answers weren't enough for him. Not when he wanted to know every single thing about him.

“Fucking Takemitch, and what are you helping him with?”

“He’s taking Hina on a date,” Chifuyu explains when he stops writing, “He wants to give her something. Something meaningful and I think I found just the perfect present.”

Keisuke looks at Chifuyu in disbelief, “Ahn? How is this the perfect present? It’s just a fucking jewlery”

“Well, some people like it. You like it, Baji-san!” Chifuyu accuses him, pointing to his necklace with a cross pendant, to his bracelets and rings.

“Yeah, but why would I give someone something with my initials on it? It makes no fucking sense” 

“Because it’s romantic,” Chifuyu argues like his life depend on it, “It means you will always have something that remind the person you love with you,”

“It’s a fucking shame if you need something like this to remember”

“For God’s sake, Baji-san” Keisuke wanted to laugh at how cute Chifuyu sounds when he is angry, “It’s not that you need this to remember them, it’s a symbol. Even if the person is not with you right now, a part of them will always be there. You will never be alone. It’s not because of the object, but because of what it means,”

Keisuke is about to retort Chifuyu's point of view until something inside stops him. Something that says, ‘Don't talk about what you don't understand.’ So, he pays attention to Chifuyu's face and how his expression has changed from that cute face when he's angry, to a painful expression.

That also happens sometimes. The first time Keisuke noticed it, he thought it was similar to what happened to Mikey, that contemplative look on his face that he could never explain. But over time he started to realize that it wasn't exactly like that with Chifuyu, sometimes, when they slept in the same room during study afternoons, Chifuyu would wake up first and the first thing he would do was check Baji's breathing.

It was a strange habit that Keisuke never questioned, whatever it was he felt it soothed Chifuyu.

That same feeling manifested itself in other actions, such as when Chifuyu's face lit up whenever Keisuke appeared in front of him.

“I’m sorry, Baji-san. I don’t know why,-” Chifuyu speaks again and Keisuke realizes that the boy is touching his own ear, as if something was missing there.

“Tsk. Don’t apologize, idiot” Keisuke tells him, “I get it” He doesn’t, but it breaks his heart a little to be so sure that Chifuyu does. 

Keisuke feels like he has to do something about it.

-

It’s a beautiful afternoon when Keisuke asks Chifuyu on a date. Except he doesn’t think Chifuyu does quite catch the ‘date’ thing. He can’t blame him since Keisuke didn’t also quite understand that he was asking Chifuyu on a date until the very moment they were walking side by side on the festival Kazutora told him about.

It’s also a beautiful night when Keisuke takes Chifuyu on that date. Chifuyu likes stuff like that, or at least he always gets excited when there's something like that on the shows he watches. Keisuke can't deny that he also likes festivals, he likes the food, the games and the fireworks at the end. Particularly, he prefers to skip all the drama that happens in those episodes, but it's still a beautiful night.

The realization only comes when Keisuke analyzes his surroundings. Most people walking together are friends that came with a group or families that came as, well, families. There was also a third thing that he notices: couples. A bunch of them, walking hand in hand like lovebirds, Keisuke had also seen them in shows and he supposed that’s where Takemitch and Hina were included. 

Takemitch and Hina found them much earlier than Baji had imagined, once again, Keisuke found himself thinking that he should just have kept Chifuyu to himself for more time, but now it’s too late since he sees them running in their direction. 

Hina is wearing traditional clothes and she looks delighted to see him and Chifuyu there, most especially Chifuyu than him since they are good friends too and Chifuyu looks just as happy to see them and for that Keisuke doesn’t complain or suggest that they should just ran away from them.

“What are you guys doing here?” Takemitch asks.

“Baji-san suggested that we should come to the festival! So we are here!” Chifuyu says excitedly. 

In fact, Chifuyu is like this the whole night. It just warms Keisuke’s heart to see him so happy and excited.

“Baji suggested it?” Hina says, arching her eyebrows like he knows some shit that Baji doesn’t know about, “Takemitch asked me to come too, look!” She shows them a necklace with a four leaf clover pendant. “He also brought me this!”

Keisuke is trying to tell her that this was Chifuyu's idea, but he doesn't. No, because it would also spoil his surprise for that night.

Instead, he observes as Chifuyu’s eyes shine when he sees the present, “This is so beautiful. You did well, partner!”

Takemitch looks embarrassed, but Keisuke has to admit that that was a really good idea. What's more, Hinata also seems happy with the gift.

Together, the four walk through the festival for a few more minutes as Hinata suggests they should play a game together. It's not what Keisuke planned for that night, but he's willing to go if that's what Chifuyu wants.

But thank God it's not.

As Takemitch and Hinata turn around to see if they can find any games for four. Chifuyu pulls Keisuke's shirt sleeve so that he looks at him, "We have to get away from here"

Keisuke smirks at him showing his fangs and then takes Chifuyu's hand, "I thought you'd never ask".

Before Chifuyu can change his mind, they are already running together. If Takemitch or Hinata notices, they wouldn’t be able to know since neither of them looked back. Keisuke doesn’t know for how long they ran, but they just stop when he is sure they won’t be interrupted again. They are already out of the festival when they do, and both are panting and still holding hands.

One thing about it is that it's really hard to run when you're holding hands with someone. But even so, it's not Keisuke who let go of his hand first, it was Chifuyu. 

Keisuke throws himself on the ground as soon as it happens while Chifuyu leans against a tree and goes down little by little until he is sitting next to Keisuke with his breathing uneven.

“Fucking fuck” Baji speaks, “I’m tired”

“So am I” Chifuyu agrees with him, “When I suggested we should drop them there, this hasn’t what I have in mind,”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, to walk slowly behind them and disappear?”

“Your plan fucking sucks, mine was best”

“And now we are fucking dying here” Keisuke throws himself on his back and laughs while listening Chifuyu’s complains, “Your plans always have a imminent death risk”

“Oh, but you love those” Keisuke tells him, because it’s true, Chifuyu is always with him in his crazy ideas, “And you were the one who want to escape,”

“Oh, don’t say it like you aren’t planning this escape since we found them!”

Keisuke arches his eyebrows as if asking, 'So you knew?' But it was a silly question, of course Chifuyu knew. He knew him very well after all. Maybe that’s the reason why Chifuyu doesn’t answer him after that, instead he lays down beside Keisuke on the grass. They spend a few seconds in silence waiting for their breathing to normalize.

“Takemitch had planned something for today” Chifuyu tells him, “He is going to promise to marry her again, at least that's what he told me”.

Again? It’s what Keisuke thinks, but not what he asks.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Chifuyu turn his face in Keisuke 's direction.

“They are too young to get married right now, so it’s just pointless”

“It’s a promise,” Chifuyu persistently explained to him. It’s funny how often this had happened, how often Chifuyu has to explain feelings for him, but just like everything else Chifuyu teaches him, he listens “That no matter what happened, they will be together in the end”

“But it’s useless”

“It’s romantic,” Chifuyu defends,  “You don’t have a single romance cell in your body, Baji-san”

“I don’t get it, if they want to be together for so long, why don't they just be?”

It’s not like Baji is fighting him over this, he just wants to understand.

“Because people need reassurance” Chifuyu’s tone is very soft when he speaks “If you want to stay with your loved one you have to say it and you have to ask things and talk, and promise things that seem obvious because sometimes things aren’t as obvious for the other person at all. It’s not easy to be with someone for so long, it takes effort. Sometimes people fight and say things they don’t mean or they act like they don’t care anymore when in fact they do care and those things, like gifts, promises of marriage and whatever helps people to find their way back to each other. It takes work to make sure you will be with someone forever”

Right now, Chifuyu is speaking like someone who has been through this even if Baji knows that he didn’t, it still causes a strange feeling in him. He feels the urgency of comfort.

“I guess I get your point,” Keisuke tells him even if it’s not completely true, but at least he thinks he understands the main point. Suddenly the weight that he has been carrying with him in his pocket feels heavier than usual and remembers why they went there in the first place.

Keisuke wanted to give Chifuyu something.

“Thank God” Chifuyu smiles at him.

“So we should do this,” Keisuke is sure now.

“What?”

“Promises. Marriage. The whole thing.” Keisuke says as if it’s simple. And for him it really is, he likes Chifuyu so much.

“Ahn?” In Chifuyu’s face there is only pure confusion and shock.

“You said yourself, it takes work to make sure you will be with someone forever,” 

“I know what I said!”

“So?”

“Do you understand what you are asking me to do?” He asks very seriously like he’s afraid that Baji is making one of those spelling mistakes, but this time Keisuke had said exactly what he wanted to, Chifuyu was the one being with comprehension failure right now.

“Of fucking course I do, Chifuyu. Do you think I’m stupid?” Baji was persistent about it, “You already promised to stay with me forever, don’t you want anymore?”

“I do,” Chifuyu said right away, “Of course I do, Baji-san! I just want to make sure you know that marriage is something serious and it’s between two person that love each very much and-”

“I love you,” Oh. Baji didn’t even realize when those words left his mouth, but they didn't sound wrong. And more than that, it doesn’t feel wrong either. In fact, it seems obvious, he is shocked he didn’t realize it before.

“Don’t say it like this! Oh my God.” Chifuyu hides his whole face between his hands and Keisuke is sure that he’s blushing.

“But it’s true” Baji says while looking for something in his pocket “I know what I’m asking, Chifuyu” He takes a small gift box out of his pocket and shows it to Chifuyu, well, he shakes it in front of him, “Here, look.”

Chifuyu takes the small silver box in his hands and watches it apprehensively, he takes his gaze to Keisuke who only encourages him to open the damn box soon.

Baji doesn't think he can hold the serious pose for very long, it would help him a lot if Chifuyu just opened the box soon.

As if reading Baji's mind, Chifuyu comes out of his state of trance and opens the box revealing the gift Baji ordered for him one day after their conversation about pendants with initials.

It wasn't a pendant, mostly because Keisuke refused to give Chifuyu the same thing Takemitch was going to give Hinata. No way he was doing that. Chifuyu deserved something unique for them (and he had also touched his ear that time when he was explaining why those things are good gifts to Keisuke).

It was a silver earring.

Chifuyu gently observed the jewel, but he said nothing to Baji. Perhaps it was the first time Keisuke had seen him speechless and it was driving him fucking crazy right now, not being able to contain his anxiety, Keisuke said, "Look what's written inside"

Chifuyu turned the small object between his fingers and brought it closer to his face so he would be able to read it better. The place they were standing in wasn't very bright, but Chifuyu could still see.

On the earring were the initials K.B.

Keisuke Baji.

Chifuyu was out of breath.

“I was going to give you this anyway, because I already thought about you like you are already mine, but since you say people need to talk and ask for stuff I’m doing it now.” Keisuke speaks faster than usual because he feels anxious, and the lack of answers from Chifuyu is making him nervous.

What if he gets this wrong? What if that damn voice and everyone else is wrong too?

“Baji-san if you keep talking like this I think I might die” Chifuyu finally says something.

“You are not dying before you give me an answer,” Keisuke threatens him, partly joking and partly not.

“Of fucking course I’m marrying you, Baji-san” Chifuyu says jumping on him, his arms going around Keisuke’s shoulder in a hug, “Like there is any other answer for this! I’m staying by your side forever, damn, I’d marry you right now if we could”

Keisuke finally hugs him back, putting his hands on Chifuyu's waist and pulling him even closer.

It seems like a fever dream. One that has always been present inside of him.

“Will you use the earring?” Keisuke asks, whispering in Chifuyu’s ear and gently touching it. Chifuyu shakes in his arms and he is more than happy about it.

“With your name on it? Fucking give it to me, this is never leaving my ear” Chifuyu answers him moving his body away from Baji’s.

Chifuyu stares at the earring once more and then hands it to Baji to place in his ear. It's not an easy mission to put the earring in the dark, but he manages to put it on in time to hear the countdown to the fireworks.

If Keisuke was a little more romantic, he would wait until the end of the countdown to kiss Chifuyu with the fireworks in the background. But he isn't, when the count reaches 7, his lips are already touching Chifuyu's.

And he wouldn't want it any other way.

(Even in a moment like this, Keisuke still feels that strange feeling that has accompanied him for most of his life, except now, whatever it was has calmed down. 'It' seemed satisfied enough that Keisuke is rarely aware of it. It takes a few years for Chifuyu to comment on having the same exact feeling and even more years for Takemitch and Mikey to explain why. Whether or not Keisuke believes what they tell him, he can't deny everything he's ever seen or felt over the years. If some part of him still remembered a past where his love could not come true, Keisuke was hoping that it could have peace now, after all, he and Chifuyu had all the time in the world now and they would make it count).