Chapter Text
Aoyagi Toya is pretty.
Gorgeous, beautiful, in fact. This was probably known universally.
He had soft, thin hair the colors of the sky, captivating and catlike grey eyes that ignited when he was happy, like when he was singing. Akito swore that making eye contact with him on stage was simultaneously the best and worst thing he could do in front of an audience, both stunning and motivating him to push further and give more.
Somehow, all at once.
Toya's skin was somehow porcelainlike, glassy and smooth and soft, yet cold to the touch. His face was decorated in careful placement of few moles and beauty marks, one on the left corner of his face, a few centimetres below his hairline, covered by his bangs. One sat directly above his right eyebrow, aligned with the inner corner of his eye.
One above his lips, the outer left line.
One on the right of his face, at his temples.
There were a few others on the rest of Toya's body as well, Akito noticed, like the cluster of three on the back of his right hand, one on the tip of his ear, on the back of his neck. the side, under his ear.
And as Toya sleeps next to him, arms tucked on the coffee table, Akito sees a new one on the underside of his jaw on the left. He swears that it hadn't been there a week ago.
Not that he spends a lot of time looking at his partner. Jeez.
Toya was just very pretty. Prettier than any girl Akito'd ever seen, for sure.
Many things about Aoyagi Toya intrigued Akito. He was as alive as life itself, just now discovering how he could live the way he wanted to. When Akito had gotten close enough to hear Toya's story he only admired him more.
This was one of those things.
Toya was a pleasant boy with a hidden fire that burnt like the sun when it came to singing. Since giving up on trying to appease his dad, Toya had been learning to express himself, to accumulate his life, and he was growing happier, Akito could see it every day with each small shift in him. He was getting lighter. Brighter.
Of course, Akito knew Toya wasn't 100% happy. He still lived with his old man, after all. He still saw that piano in his room every morning when he woke up, even if it may be hidden forevermore. He still faced reminders of his lock-and-chain, of his prison.
But he was so happy around Akito.
Why was he so upset in his sleep?
He frowned. His thin eyebrows pinched in the middle. Sometimes he shook, literally trembled as he snoozed.
Akito got so scared when that happened. He'd sit there in panic, staring, unblinking, at Toya until he stopped, unsure of what to do, what he was allowed to do. What Toya would be comfortable enough with.
Of course he wanted to help. He wanted to stop whatever was causing his partner so much distress, but he didn't want to overstep his boundaries.
In the end, he'd just sigh and gaze longingly, wanting to reach out and wanting to do nothing.