Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

An and Kohane finally got together recently, and they've been insufferable. It seemed Toya didn't care for their constant flirting and PDA. Akito can't deal with it anymore, they were so overly affectionate it made him sick. It wasn't like he could do anything but complain. Hopefully An would just get sick of his complaining.

It was about mid January when he had enough. The girls were planning a Valentine's Day date while he and Toya sat across from them. Kohane said they wanted both Toya and Akito's input too, asking after every date idea if it was romantic enough. Toya was no help, zero, but he was trying.

Akito just shrugged every time until he spoke up, "Did you really need the both of us here or did you want to rub it in?"

An let out a fake gasp, clutching her heart, "How could you! Kohane and I just wanted to have a second opinion to make sure our Valentine's Day was perfect. Just 'cuz you aren't dating anyone doesn't mean you have to take it out on us."

Instantly, Akito argued back, "What do you mean I'm not dating anyone? I'm dating someone." Three pairs of eyes bore into him, but he stood his ground. 

Kohane was the first to ask, "So… who is it?"

"Toya."

"No it's not." An and Kohane said at the same time.

"No we aren't?" Toya turned to Akito, confused.

Akito let out a nervous laugh, side-eying the boy in question, "Of course we are, come on." But Toya didn't budge, he just looked more confused.

Shaking his head, Toya replied, "I don't date. Akito, you don't think we're dating, right?" Oh god he looked terrified.

"No! I just, y'know I thought you'd play along that's all!" 

"Aha!" An shouted, slapping her hand down on the table not too far from Akito's own hands, "I knew you were lying!"

Akito scoffed. "So what if I was? I bet I could find a date before Valentine's anyway, it shouldn't be too hard." He swore he could hear Kohane giggle at that, but he ignored it in favour of An smirking.

"Bet, you say? How much?"

"However much you want, I won't lose."

An hmph-ed, pouting before whispering something to Kohane. Whatever it was made her smirk too, whispering back. When the two had decided on… whatever it was, An put her hand out, "Loser pays for the couples Valentine's Day date."

Akito didn't hesitate to shake her hand, "Deal."

Maybe he shouldn't have agreed so quickly without thinking it over first. Akito didn't really want to date anyone right now, so stringing someone along just so he wouldn't have to fork over cash is pretty shitty. Then again, he didn't want to just give up.

He could probably get someone to pretend with him, it wouldn't be hard. Just a date or two, post it online, maybe 'accidentally' run into someone while on one of those dates. The issue would be, it would have to be convincing, and again, Akito didn't want to bring someone he wasn't close with into this.

Toya was out of the question, he already blew Akito's cover once. Plus, he doesn't date.

Obviously he can't beg Kohane, as easy as it would be to pretend with her. And yeah not An either, ruins the whole purpose for this bet.

… So who else? Someone Akito was close to, preferably a good actor, a guy he wouldn't mind pretending to be in love with… maybe, a little annoying… easy to trick… blonde…

It's fucking Tsukasa Tenma, isn't it. 

Akito looked at the date. Less than a month. They agreed on the bet just yesterday , was it too late to back out?

He let out a groan, burrowing his head into his arms. He had school tomorrow. God. The least he could do is mention it to Tsukasa, and if he doesn't understand what Akito's asking, he tried.

He'll just ask An how much she wants for that date and hand it over.

With how good Akito is at hiding from Tsukasa whenever he seeks out his company, you'd think it would be easy to find him. Akito was ready to just give up entirely, tell An she can forget it and take his money, when he ran into Mizuki.

"Woah! Watch out," They called out, grabbing onto Akito's shoulders. They smiled at him, tightening their grip as he tried to break out, "Hohoho, where are you off to in such a rush lil bro?"

Finally, Akito broke free of their grasp. He tried to side-step them, yet Mizuki wouldn't let him pass. "It's none of your business. Move."

"That just means it's all my business, Akito-kun. Spill, who're you seeing?"

"No one, now will you leave me alone?" He finally got past Mizuki, until they spun around and latched onto his arm.

"Come on, lil bro! I'll help you find them."

A tempting offer. Lunch didn't last forever and Akito was losing his patience. However, that does mean Mizuki will know he's looking for Tsukasa and word might spread. He weighed his options carefully.

"How much not to gossip about it?”

“Buy me lunch for a whole week.”

“Three days.”

“Five days.”

“No, three days. You’re gonna make me spend so much. Three days, final.”

Mizuki narrowed their eyes, “Four days.”

“I’m not falling for that, it’s three days or nothing.” Akito watched as their cheeks puffed slightly, Mizuki pouting.

“How come that always works in movies…?” They sighed. “Fine, yeah, three days of lunch. Get that wallet ready, little brother, ‘kay? So, who is it?”

Mizuki was practically bouncing on their feet, waiting to hear. Akito already knew they were going to tell Ena about this, but he can’t really stop that. (If she found out, would that make this whole ‘dating’ thing more convincing… or more annoying?)

He sighed, “It’s Tsukasa-senpai.” Akito barely finished saying Tsukasa’s name before Mizuki started dragging him in one direction. “Wh- Hey! Careful!”

“Oh, you’ll live! Stop complaining!” They chastised, pulling him harshly through the halls. “I know where he is. I saw him with Rui-kun,” Mizuki turned to face Akito, “I think they’re practicing!” They sung, causing Akito to groan.

He didn’t… mind Tsukasa’s acting, quite the opposite, really. The guys good at what he does. He can just… get really into his acting, and Akito would much prefer to ask Tsukasa about this in private. Today. Before lunch ends, hopefully.

The two stopped in front of a classroom, the sound of Rui’s voice muffled through the door. “Here we are, and they’re still in there. Oh, I hope they’re still practicing!” Mizuki smiled brightly as they opened the door. Akito begrudgingly followed in after them… only to see a disheartened Tsukasa being told off by a stern looking Rui. Okay yeah, now he does really hope they’re still acting.

He leans over to Mizuki, who also froze in the doorway, “Are… Is this a bit…?”

They spluttered, looking up at him, “A bit? Akito-kun, what? No! I think this is real…” They trailed off as the two returned their gaze at the actors. Huh. What could Tsukasa have done that made Rui look so… is disappointed the right word? He can’t tell.

Rui did notice the two at the door, and lit up when his eyes fell to Mizuki. “Mizuki, are you well? I told you I’d be practicing with Tsukasa-kun today,” He approached the two, leaving Tsukasa where he is.

Akito awkwardly watched as the couple talked, shifting over slightly to look at Tsukasa. “Rui, what’s up with him?” He motioned to the older boy. Rui hummed in response, looking over at Tsukasa too.

“Oh, well…” He trailed off, looking a little uncomfortable. Rui lowers his voice before answering, “Our next play is a romance and Tsukasa-kun here kept freezing up. I told him he should consider not playing the lead if he can’t get this down.” He sighed, Mizuki patting him on the arm. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

“Oh yeah! Little brother, didn’t you want to ask him something,” They teased Akito, smirking at him. Akito felt his face flush at their implications… well, no, they weren’t too far off… but it wasn’t like that . He shoved them lightly, both Mizuki and Rui laughing at him.

That had caught Tsukasa’s attention, his head snapping up and making eye contact with Akito. Oh God there is no way he could bring up pretend dating in front of Mizuki and Rui. “Ah, Tsukasa-senpai, did you wanna go for a walk with me?” He strained out, pointing a thumb out the door and into the hallway.

Akito could feel Mizuki elbow his side slightly. “No! Don’t worry about us! Rui and I were going to enjoy the last bit of lunch together, weren’t we?” Mizuki quickly added before Tsukasa could respond. Akito looked over at the couple, both grinning at him. He felt a shiver go down his spine.

“Oh yes, I did miss you, Mizuki. I’d love to join you for lunch,” Rui practically purred. Okay yeah Akito was going to be sick. He knew Mizuki was just trying to get him and Tsukasa alone (for whatever reason), but it almost seemed like Rui was oblivious.

Before Akito could call the two out on their bullshit, Mizuki dragged their boyfriend out of the room. “Oi! Come back!” Akito called out after them, his head sticking out of the doorframe. The two were gone, or just hiding to see what Akito was going to ask.

… It was definitely the second one.

He sighed, closing the door behind him and coming face to face with Tsukasa. “Akito! Hey, what did you need? You know, you can confide in me with anything!” Tsukasa grabbed onto Akito’s shoulders, beaming at him. “So, what did you want to tell your amazing senior?”

With Tsukasa smiling at him so openly, his grip tight on his shoulders, Akito felt his brain fizzle out. He stayed silent for a moment, Tsukasa growing concerned and tilting his head to the side.

That was the final straw for Akito. “Go out with me, Tsukasa-senpai.”

Akito watched as Tsukasa’s eyes widened, and his face flushed slightly. He raised an eyebrow at his junior, “P-Pardon…?”

He spluttered out, realising he didn’t tell Tsukasa anything before blurting that out. “It’s not like that, really. I just, y'know, heard about your uh play and wanted to see your,” Akito took in a deep breath before continuing, “ Amazing acting firsthand, Tsukasa-senpai.”

Tsukasa’s entire demeanor changed instantly. His face lit up and a smug smile appeared on his face. He tightened his grip on Akito’s shoulders, laughing loudly in his face. Okay this is getting weird (not weird weird just… Tsukasa weird), maybe Akito should have just payed for An and Kohane’s date. “Oh, of course Akito! You didn’t need to be so embarrassed!”

Akito had no time to react before Tsukasa let go of his shoulder’s, grabbing onto one of Akito’s hands and dropping to one knee. Yeah, this is not what Akito was expecting. A simple yes or no would have been fine! Akito felt his face flush, surely embarrassed in case anyone came in and saw him like this.

Tsukasa held onto Akito’s hand gently, raising it to his lips and leaving a soft kiss. He didn’t move Akito’s hand away when he looked up, “I would be glad to have you as my boyfriend, Akito.”

He’s so fucked.

Chapter Text

Akito shook Tsukasa’s hand off of him, stepping back with wide eyes. “Yeah, come on, get up. I don’t want someone thinking something else is wrong with you.” He ignored Tsukasa’s quiet “What do you mean else ?”, rubbing his hand hard against his pants. He could still feel Tsukasa’s lips on his hand, ugh why won’t it rub off?

“Oh, Akito, was that too far…? Sorry! I wasn’t sure what to do to show you how great I’ll be as your boyfriend, so I did something I saw in a movie! Tell me, Akito, was it everything you wished and more?” Tsukasa stood up, his hands on his hips. Akito could swear he saw actual stars in his eyes as Tsukasa looked at him with a determined face.

There’s no way Akito would be able to deal with this until An was convinced he was dating someone. “Uh, yeah sure just don’t do it again,” He finally stopped rubbing his hand on his pants, Tsukasa pouting slightly with pinched eyebrows.

“Why not? You wanted to date me, people do romantic things when they date people.”

“No, I don’t want to date you, I have to.” Probably not the best choice of words, but Akito needed to get this across to Tsukasa before the older of the two ran off and really did believe his acting captivated Akito so much.

He really should have worded that better, Tsukasa’s body deflated slightly. It wasn’t noticeable if you weren’t paying attention, but Akito saw. His smile now seemed sad instead of the smug look he usually donned when talking about his acting. “Right, that’s fine. I’ll tone it down for you Akito…”

Akito let out a groan at Tsukasa’s moody behaviour, “N-No you don’t have to tone it down just… set some boundaries with me. I actually need you to…” He trailed off, the idea finally setting in. This is stupid. This is so stupid . Who even thinks to ask your senior to pretend to go out with you just so you don’t have to pay for someone else’s date? “… Pretend to date me for Valentine’s day…”

He knew Tsukasa wouldn’t laugh at him, or even tease him for it (loser, Akito would if their roles were reversed) but it was still embarrassing to admit. “Hm? Why’s that? Surely you can get an actual date.”

Yeah Akito wasn’t going to unpack that right now. “I don’t want to date someone I don’t like to win a bet with An. Look,” Akito took in a deep breath, rubbing his neck. He didn’t want to bring up whatever happened earlier between Tsukasa and Rui… but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t concerned. “I know you’ve got something on your mind about your next play. I’ll help you, if you help me.”

It was clear Tsukasa became closed off at the mention of the play, but he didn’t outright reject Akito’s offer. He could see Tsukasa thinking about it, surprisingly quite hard too. “Alright, I’ll grace you with my help! Be prepared, Akito!” He grabbed one of Akito’s hands, squeezing it in what he probably thought was reassurance (it actually just kind of hurt). “I swear, you’ll fall for me!”

Akito knocked his hand out of the other’s hold, scoffing. “Yeah, I know, you did that already. We just need to look all lovey-dovey so An believes us. I just don’t want her spending all my money.”

“That won’t be hard, I’m an incredible actor afterall! How about I walk you to your next meetup with your team, hm?”

That’s… not actually a bad idea. If An sees them both together before Akito tells her he’s dating Tsukasa, it might be more believable. “Huh, you really are smart Tsukasa-senpai.”

“Why do you sound surprised…”

“If we really want to sell this act, we have to come up with a story. How did we meet? When did you fall for me? Who asked who out?” Akito started rambling, ignoring Tsukasa’s worried look.

“Akito… I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but… we don’t need a dramatic backstory for our relationship,” Tsukasa struggled to get that out, looking at Akito with a strained expression. Huh, weird. Akito thought Tsukasa would jump at the chance to have some big, romantic backstory… “It’d be easier to keep our story straight if we didn’t change anything… you asked me out, let’s go with that! You already did anyway.”

Again, Akito looked at Tsukasa in surprise. “Tsukasa-senpai, stop making sense… it’s getting scary.”

Tsukasa spluttered out, his face going red (probably in embarrassment), “While we’re on the topic! Drop the honorifics! If you are to be my boyfriend, you will call me Tsukasa. I doubt you’d be able to call me any pet name-”

“And why’s that? I could call you something… cute.”

“Oh? Like what? I’d love to hear it, Akito!” Tsukasa looked at the other with damn near stars in his eyes. Akito was gonna get sick of looking at him, he could already tell.

It took Akito a lot longer than he’d like to admit to think of a pet name (literally any would do, it’s not real it doesn’t matter) before he let out a strained, “Babe…” He was met with an unimpressed look. “Hey! Don’t say anything, okay? I don’t see you coming up with any bright ideas!” Akito hit Tsukasa square in the chest, embarrassed. The other held where he was hit, laughing softly.

“No, no. It can work just…” Tsukasa was cut off by his own snort, “You looked really funny saying something so basic !” He let out another loud laugh, causing Akito to grumble quietly. It didn’t take long for Tsukasa to calm down, taking in a deep breath. “I’m okay now… I’m fine…”

“Are you,” Akito narrowed his eyes at his senior, “ babe ?”

Akito repeating the pet name and scowling at Tsukasa caused him to lose it again

The two boys had to leave for class before they could actually talk about what they were comfortable doing. Akito just assumed that Tsukasa would be okay with anything Akito is, but he still didn’t want to make the first move.

After the school day, Akito almost completely forgot about Tsukasa’s offer to walk with him. He was walking with Toya, talking about nothing and everything when Tsukasa yelled out, “Akito-chan, wait for me!”

Akito practically choked at the nickname, and felt even more embarrassed as he felt Tsukasa grab onto his arm. “Wh-What are you doing?” He whispered to his senior, already mortified. His face was on fire, and Tsukasa was just smiling at him. This free “date” is not going to be worth dealing with this .

“What do you mean? You promised to walk with me after school! Don’t tell me you forgot about your boyfriend !” Tsukasa whined out, clinging onto Akito’s arm tighter. He tried to push the older boy off of him, whispering for him to cut it off, but Tsukasa wasn’t dropping the act.

Toya watched as the two fought, confused, “... Did you say ‘boyfriend’?”

Both boys looked over at Toya before responding at the same time, “Of course I did!”, “No, he’s lost it.” Toya watched, even more confused, as Tsukasa and Akito both shared an annoyed look.

“Akito I’ll… I’ll see you at the caf é, okay? Bye Tsukasa-senpai,” Toya gave the two a small smile, even if it seemed awkward, and a wave before walking off. The two stood in silence, watching Toya walk off before Tsukasa glared at Akito.

“I thought you wanted people to think we were dating?”

“Not like that! What was that, huh? You were acting like a schoolgirl!”

For some reason that didn’t deter the blonde, just made him more proud. “I’m glad you noticed! That’s what I was going for, afterall!” He was met with a blank stare, causing Tsukasa to panic ever so slightly. “Wh-What’s wrong, Akito-chan? Are you already smitten with me? I knew my acting abilities would capture your heart!”

“First, what is with the ‘Akito-chan’... and I am not smitten, far from it, Tsukasa-senpai.”

He was met with an overly offended sounding gasp, and a harsh tug as the two started walking. Akito noticed he failed to knock Tsukasa off of his arm… but he doesn’t seem to find any energy to try again. “It’s the cute nickname I have for you! Don’t you like it? Nothing else seems to really fit you… And I told you to drop the honorific!”

As they walked, arms linked, Akito noticed Tsukasa leaning closer to him. It could be his acting, trying to perfect even the smallest of details but… no, it was probably the acting. It didn’t take long for him to fold to the stupid nickname, but he still refused to give Tsukasa one (much to the other’s dismay). 

… He even decided to stop using the honorific even when they were alone.

When the two reached Weekend Garage, Akito saw his friends already inside, waiting for him. “Alright, I’ll see you later Tsukasa,” He went to let go of his senior as he saw An wave at him.

“Wait, Akito.”

He was stopped by Tsukasa’s hand again, holding onto his arm tight. The other looked determined, even with his face flushed. Why was his face flushed? “... Yeah?”

“Can I give you a kiss? To seal the deal.”

Before Akito could properly process Tsukasa’s words, he unconsciously nodded, watching as Tsukasa leaned in… and kissed his cheek gently. Akito felt his face heat up. He tried to school his expression, knowing his friends were watching him, but it was almost impossible when Tsukasa looked back at him, and smiled.

“Bye, Akito-chan.”

Akito just barely held back the urge to touch his cheek, An now barreling into him as Tsukasa walked away. “What was that? Huh! You have to tell us!” She pulled away from Akito, calling out to Toya and Kohane, “That happened, right? I’m not seeing things?”

After taking a moment to recollect himself (which he really didn’t need? It wasn’t a real kiss, it was just for show), Akito looked smugly at An. “Didn’t think I could score a date?”

“With Tsukasa-senpai? What the hell? When did this happen?” An pulled him into the caf é, sitting him down. She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe this, it can’t be real. You and Tsukasa-senpai? No way.”

At this moment, Toya decided to chime in (thank god Akito had a witness), “No, Tsukasa-senpai called himself Akito’s boyfriend. I think it’s real.”

Kohane also tried to calm her girlfriend down, “An-chan, maybe it’s real?” She didn’t sound very convinced (who can blame her, anyone can just fake a kiss… which they did. Fake it.), but she still looked at Akito, giving him a friendly smile, “I’m sure you two will be a fantastic couple!”

With Kohane’s words, Akito’s decision is finally setting in. He’s… lying… to all of his friends. Just for, what, a bet? An wouldn’t actually spend that much on her date with Kohane, so who’s he kidding? This is stupid.

He almost caved, and told them all it wasn’t real anyway. He wanted so bad to tell An she can just take his money already, spoil Kohane as much as she wants… but he said he’d help Tsukasa. Obviously, Akito could do that anyway but… it almost seemed like his issues were with the whole ‘acting’ part. Maybe he doesn’t have as much experience in acting romantic (yeah he’s really rusty), and Akito can’t just throw that away now. He’d feel like shit if he made a promise only to go back on it in a few hours.

“Thanks, Kohane. Yeah I’m… happy to be with Tsukasa now. The bet An and I made gave me the courage to confess and well,” Akito shrugged, trying his best to look as nonchalant as he could, “here we are.”

Toya and Kohane both smiled at him, giving him their congratulations (he really does feel awful now), but An narrowed her eyes at him, pouting. “What made you fall for him, hm? The way you act around Tsukasa-senpai doesn’t really read… love.”

His face felt hot again at An’s wording. Love? Really? After one measly kiss, she thinks it’s love? “He’s passionate about what he loves, and inspires a lot of people around him. I really admire that in him, how could I not fall for him?” That’s almost the only truth he’s told his friends since getting here. The only lie is falling for Tsukasa.

“Hm. I’m asking Mizuki about this. I know they like to annoy you, they might know something about this ‘dating’ thing.”

That really only helped Akito’s story further. Mizuki already believes that Akito confessed to Tsukasa just today, and if An asks them about it, they’ll only be more convinced. He really hopes Ena will be easy to deal with, Mizuki’s going to tell her as soon as An blabs too.

“Go ahead, I don’t care.”

At Akito’s disinterest, An dropped it. Only for now, he knew she’d keep questioning him at some point. He could only hope the next few days will go smoothly too, and since he’ll be at school, maybe he won’t have to see Tsukasa as much.

Chapter Text

It honestly took Mizuki longer than Akito expected to reach out to him. It was the next day after school (with Tsukasa again) when Mizuki found them. “Akito-kun! Tsukasa-senpai! Stop right there!” Mizuki’s voice was a tad bit loud as they rushed over to the two boys, tugging Rui along with them.

Seeing the pair made Akito groan, Tsukasa squeezing his hand in reassurance. They had started holding hands earlier today when Akito caught sight of An eyeing the both of them dubiously. While Mizuki was looking at the two with a smug expression, Rui appeared quite happy to see them, waving at Tsukasa. “Hello Tsukasa-kun. Were you two about to head off?”

Before Tsukasa could respond, Akito glared at Mizuki, speaking up in a harsh tone, “Yeah, we were. Did you need anything? We’re kinda busy.” Mizuki’s expression didn’t waver at all at Akito’s tone. In fact, they looked even more smug.

“Doing what? ‘Cuz Rui and I were about to go to this totally cute café, and I wanted to see if we could turn this into a double date?”

“That sounds great! We’d love to join you two!” Tsukasa blurted out before Akito could warn him. Mizuki was definitely only inviting them out to see if they are dating, but Tsukasa wouldn’t have caught on. He probably thought they were being nice.

What didn’t help was Tsukasa looking over at Akito and smiling at him, and with such a determined look on his face. Ah, he was doing this for acting practice. Still, Akito felt his heart stutter, the traitor.

Unable to keep looking at his… ‘boyfriend’, any longer, Akito turned to glare at Mizuki. “They’re kinda blowing up on social media for their pancakes.”

Instantly, Akito’s glare turned to a smirk. Damn them. “Why didn’t you say so? Where’s this café, I’ll be the judge.” The others laughed at his change of mind, but Akito was being serious. He started dragging Tsukasa to the school gates, deadset on finding this café.

“Shinonome-kun, you’re heading the wrong way. You know, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of this place. Surely you should at least be aware of it, yes?” Rui’s voice was already getting on Akito’s nerves. He has no idea how Tsukasa and Mizuki can listen to him all the time. 

Akito just grumbled, deciding to bite his tongue and ignore Rui. The pancakes will be worth the migraine he’ll certainly have after this. “Oh, yeah. Akito-chan, how come you don’t know about it? I’ll make sure to take you out more often to broaden your taste!” Tsukasa squeezed Akito’s hand tighter as he spoke (more yelled), and even let out a short self-satisfied chuckle. Jesus Christ, he’s the one fake-dating this guy.

“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t want to owe you for anything.” His words earned him another squeeze, this one actually harsh and not in a comforting way. Akito hid his expression, hoping Tsukasa didn’t mean it.

He was wrong. Mizuki picked up on what he said and hummed, narrowing their eyes at him. “Ohohoho? What did you mean by that, lil bro?” Before Akito could try and save himself from more suspicion, Mizuki tugged Rui down to their level as they walked. He stumbled slightly, but happily indulged in his partner’s question, “Tell me, oh dear boyfriend of mine… who paid for our last date?”

“I did. But does it matter? I’d happily pay for all your meals, oh dear partner of mine.” Rui’s low chuckle, and the fact that Akito could see him nuzzle against Mizuki, made him gag openly. 

The couple didn’t notice him, but Tsukasa found his reaction humorous. “You should see him when we have unit meetings. It’s all ‘Mizuki’ this, and ‘Mizuki’ that,” Tsukasa was grinning at Akito, before joining him in fake gagging.

Rui and Mizuki broke out of their own little world when Akito let out a loud laugh, pulling Tsukasa against him. It was nice knowing he wasn’t the only one who found their PDA overly gross. Mizuki huffed, walking ahead of them with Rui trailing not too far behind, “Fine, be that way! Just ‘cuz Rui and I love each other and want everyone to know, doesn’t mean you gotta make fun of us! I don’t see you two doing anything together.”

Tsukasa faked offense at their words, putting a hand over his chest, “Mizuki, I’m wounded. Are you implying Akito-chan and I don’t love each other? Hah! What a joke!” He grabbed onto Akito’s arm, nuzzling into it and sighing blissfully. “Can’t you tell? We couldn’t be more in love even if we tried!”

“Get off of me, gross.” Akito pushed Tsukasa off, grimacing. Though, he didn’t let go of Tsukasa’s hand, still holding it tightly. That’s probably why Rui and Mizuki shared a small laugh instead of being suspicious about the two. Yeah, it was definitely that and not how flustered Akito looked at his senior’s affectionate touch.

The rest of the walk to the caf é was spent with the two couples idly chatting; if anything happened at school, in their respective friend groups, sometimes even anecdotes about past dates (Tsukasa came up with a few stories on his own, Akito just provided one which was… vaguely based off something from a soap opera).

He honestly couldn’t understand how good Tsukasa was at acting like this with him. Akito knew he was a good actor, a really good one, but he thought Tsukasa struggled with romantic stuff? This didn’t seem like struggling to him, this seemed like flourishing. 

It was only until the four were about to sit down in a booth when the first question came up. Tsukasa slid into the booth first, and Akito went to slide in opposite him. “Uh, Akito-kun, what are you doing?” Mizuki looked at him, utterly confused. Uh oh, he’d clearly fucked up.

“... I like to feed Tsukasa, so I usually sit across from him.”

“How cute. I didn’t know you had it in you Shinonome-kun, I guess I was wrong. However, Mizuki and I like to sit next to each other. We apologise.” He didn’t sound sorry in the slightest. Akito just clicked his tongue at him, sliding in next to Tsukasa. The other two took their seats, and lo and behold, Rui sat opposite Akito. Maybe if he got bored, he could kick this weirdo in his shins. Hard.

Tsukasa was looking over the menu, same with Mizuki. Rui was still giving Akito this… look. He didn’t like it at all. “Shinonome-kun, how long have you liked Tsukasa-kun?” Ah, so he’s not as oblivious as Akito thought. Mizuki must’ve gotten to him, the damn devil.

Rui’s question caught Tsukasa’s attention, but he didn’t try to show too much interest (he already failed though, Akito could see him looking at him expectantly). “Honestly? Not until a few weeks ago. No way was it love at first sight, but he grew on me. What about you? How long did you like Akiyama before you two started dating?” Hopefully turning the question back on Rui would make him lose interest in interrogating him.

Thankfully, it worked. Rui’s eyes lit up at the chance to talk about his love for his partner. Akito really didn’t actually care about what he was saying, only half listening. Every now and then he would pitch in with a “is that so?” or “hm, yeah I know”. Finally, a waiter came over to take their order, only Akito hadn’t even glanced at their pancake options.

Mizuki had ordered for both themself and Rui, knowing exactly what he would want. Tsukasa started to order too, while Akito reached for the menu, “I’ll have a strawberry crepe, and the pancake stack with extra toppings, thank you.” The waiter left, taking the menus before Akito could stop them. He turned to look at Tsukasa, but he was just smiling at him (now, Tsukasa didn’t do anything wrong. Akito was going to order that but to order for him?).

“Did you want something else? I wanted to try it too! It does look really good.” Tsukasa even had the nerve to reach out and hold Akito’s hand, giving him this dumb, stupid, bright smile. Akito can’t stand him.

To keep up appearances, Akito just rolled his eyes, not letting go of Tsukasa’s hand. “I was going to give you some anyway, don’t worry.” He was not going to do that, but now he kind of has to.

Before the two could get carried away again, Mizuki cleared their throat. “So… you two, huh?” They both looked at Mizuki for a moment, before they gave the two of them a smug grin, “Tsukasa-senpai, when’s my little bro’s birthday?”

Both Tsukasa and Akito answered at the same time, “November 12th!” “Oh come on.”

At Akito’s disapproval of the question, both Rui and Mizuki gave him a confused look. “What’s your problem? Don’t tell me you don’t know Tsukasa-senpai’s birthday…” Now they look at him with an amused glint in their eye.

“I know it’s not too far from now, but not the exact date. Happy? We just started dating, sorry that I can’t remember his birthday.” Akito tried to ignore how Tsukasa deflated slightly at Akito’s answer.

Mizuki, on the other hand, visibly sagged against Rui, letting out a groan. In sympathy, Rui patted their arm. “You’re no fun, Akito-kun. Why can’t we ask about you guys, huh?”

“I love the questions, keep them coming Mizuki! Shoot, ask me anything about Akito-chan and I’ll have the answer!” Tsukasa’s demeanor changed again, completely hiding his hurt feelings from earlier. Akito tried hard not to mull over it, failing miserably.

At the challenge, Rui smirked, chuckling softly, “Anything, Tsukasa-kun?” His gaze hardened as he looked at Rui, who backed down, “Fine. I just want to ask, Tsukasa-kun… What’s a habit of Shinonome-kun’s you can’t stand?”

Mizuki perked up at this, their eyes lighting up. “Oh! Yes, spill! So, you see, Rui, he gets way too invested in his work,” They turned towards Rui, giving him an apologetic kiss (followed by complaints from both Akito and Tsukasa), “I’m sorry dear, I know I do too but really, it’s unhealthy! You don’t take breaks.” Rui only chuckled in response, whispering something to Mizuki before turning his gaze back towards Tsukasa.

Akito… would actually like to see what Tsukasa comes up with. Oh shit, maybe he should think of something too. He already had a few things Tsukasa did that annoyed him, but how could he word them in a way that sounded endearing instead of pissed off?

A hand on his thigh broke him out of his thoughts. Tsukasa sighed, squeezing Akito’s thigh (Why was his hand there? Mizuki and Rui can’t even see that? Hello?!), “Akito-chan can be quite pessimistic… while I love it, it’s probably my least favourite thing about him! Oh, I don't think I’d change it, don’t you think it balances us out?” Tsukasa’s voice was still loud even though he probably tried to sound sheepish.

Tsukasa had leaned closer towards Akito as he spoke, leaning his head on Akito’s shoulder, his damn hand still on his thigh. Honestly, Akito barely comprehended what Tsukasa said, utterly embarrassed by their proximity (embarrassed only because if the two across from them found out this isn’t real , he’d become a laughing stock… no other reason). Mizuki had cooed at Tsukasa’s answer, spouting some nonsense about their own stupid boyfriend.

It almost seemed like Rui was fine to let Mizuki do all the talking, so Akito took his lead and let Tsukasa lead their half of the conversation.

So far, Tsukasa has decided; they haven’t had their first kiss (“We want it to be romantic! Right out of a play, right Akito-chan?”), Akito loves spoiling him (“Akito-chan buys me cute little keychains whenever he sees one that reminds him of me!”), they want to keep their relationship on the downlow (“I want everyone to know how much I love my Akito-chan, but he doesn’t want our relationship to affect our units at all…”), and that he is the big spoon (“Akito-chan stayed over at my house and he let me spoon him! He was so cute, Mizuki!”). He must have told Saki about this whole… arrangement or else why mention going over to his house?

While they were talking, the waiter returned with all of their orders. Mizuki had only ordered some sickly sweet looking drink, while they ordered a cake with way too much on it for Rui (he looked quite happy about it though). Tsukasa’s crepe didn’t look that sweet or filling, thank god because Akito’s pancake stack was huge. Why did his loser of a fake-boyfriend have to order extra toppings too?

“Akito-kun, that looks so good! Oh, lemme take a pic and send it to Ena!” Mizuki leaned across their table, phone out and taking photos of his food. Akito scowled slightly, hoping they weren’t taking photos of him too (knowing Mizuki, they totally were). 

When they had sat back down, done fiddling with their phone, Akito was worried he’d now be asked a barrage of questions. Thankfully, Rui whispered to Mizuki, the two now talking quietly. Huh, real couples act like this. Maybe him and Tsukasa could take pointers…

Thinking about it, Akito cut into his stack of pancakes, scooping up toppings to go with it. Instead of eating it himself, he turned towards Tsukasa. “Tsukasa, open up.” 

He had three pairs of eyes on him instantly. Akito didn’t understand, he already lied about how he feeds Tsukasa, why were they all so surprised he actually did it? Mizuki and Rui watched in awe as Tsukasa opened his mouth, Akito feeding him the pancakes. With the way Tsukasa reacted, the pancakes seem good, but it wouldn’t hurt to actually… hear him say it, right? “So, are they good, or should I throw them out?” He tried desperately to hide the tremor in his voice as Akito watched Tsukasa’s face.

Tsukasa smiled at him, laughing softly as he took the fork out of his hand and cut some for Akito too, offering the fork back to him. “You tell me, Akito-chan.”

God he wants to take the fork and stab Tsukasa’s hand so bad. He knew he was blushing, badly too, at the nickname (he was still not used to it, and every time he heard it he felt sick… in a good way?). Instead of stabbing his assumed to be boyfriend in front of their friends (?), Akito opened his mouth and let Tsukasa feed him.

Oh fuck. They were good. Akito practically snatched the fork out of Tsukasa’s hand, digging into his food. Tsukasa chuckled at him, slowly starting to eat his crepe as he watched Akito enjoy his food.

Mizuki and Rui were still watching them, shocked. Only they saw the smitten look on Tsukasa’s face. 

After parting ways with Mizuki and Rui, Tsukasa had offered to walk Akito home (the idea possibly only came to his head after Rui mentioned walking Mizuki home). With nothing better to do, Akito accepted. He still didn’t like the way Tsukasa smiled so brightly at him when he let him do anything romantic with him. They were pretending to date, what did he expect? Akito to half ass this? As if.

He didn’t even needed to be reminded to hold Tsukasa’s hand this time; he even initiated it for God’s sake. The other boy’s hand felt nice in his. That didn’t mean it was actually a nice hand to hold. Tsukasa’s hands weren’t soft (but that’s okay, Akito knew his weren’t either), they were so clammy it was almost concerning, whenever Tsukasa spoke he’d wave both hands around, and sometimes he squeezed too tight.

Despite all that… Akito enjoyed holding his hand. For some gross, awful reason he didn’t want to think about, not yet. He was fine right now, looking at Tsukasa as he recounted some story about something Saki did. It seemed like an interesting story, and Akito really did want to pay attention it was just… hard. Having contact with Tsukasa as he spoke, listening to the way his tone changed when talking about his sister, the way his expression changed and… and the way he was now looking at Akito with that same expression. Fuck.

“Akito-chan? What about your sister? How’s she going?” Jesus Christ even his tone hadn’t changed. It’s probably because he’s asking about Ena, maybe thinking about Saki too but… it still didn’t sit right with Akito.

He stumbled over a response (if you could even call it that), mumbling out a quiet, “Yeah, no she’s good. Busy with her… stuff.” He almost didn’t even want to talk about Ena right now, his brain was running overtime. Akito also didn’t have the best stories to tell about his own sister like Tsukasa did. Really, he was jealous.

… Is that what this feeling is? Is he jealous of his senior? But, what is he jealous about? He feels this way when Tsukasa calls him Akito-chan, when Tsukasa touches him in anyway, when he smiles at him, when he looks at him, when he laughs, when he just… is around Akito. That can’t be jealousy. Or is it? Maybe he’s jealous of how easy this whole pretending thing is for him.

Tsukasa’s voice brought him out of his thoughts, with a squeeze of his hand, “Are you alright, Akito-chan? I can hear you thinking, y’know.” He had poked Akito’s forehead this time, giving him a teasing smile. He can’t do this anymore. He really does feel sick.

Akito tried to let go of Tsukasa’s hand, thankfully he got the hint and let go too. He took in a few deep breaths, calming himself down. It was difficult with Tsukasa now fussing over him, in his space, rubbing his back. Akito knew he was trying to help, really, but with the way Tsukasa was so close to him, muttering reassurances to him in such a soothing voice. He couldn’t take it. “Tsukasa-senpai, please leave me alone. I can go home myself.” His harsh tone even surprised him, Tsukasa stepping away from him.

The blonde cleared his throat, now standing awkwardly away from Akito as he tried to catch his breath. He really was going to throw up, he can’t do this anymore. “Are you sure, Akito? I… I’m sorry if I overstepped at all. I thought I was within our boundaries.” The choice to not use the nickname Akito had now gotten used to didn’t go unnoticed, nor did the guarded way Tsukasa now spoke to him.

He felt his throat close up, not able to answer his senior. He could only nod stiffly in response. Tsukasa just sighed, giving him a sad smile as he moved to leave, but not before pulling him into a quick hug. He had muttered a quick goodbye before leaving. 

Akito stood there for a moment. Alone. He still felt so sick. He could feel Tsukasa’s touch still on him, and it made his skin crawl. His mouth was dry from how he was attempting to breathe properly again, his head now hurting. Was… was he going to cry? He could feel his eyes prickle with telltale signs of tears and he rubbed at them, quickly willing them away. It was stupid. Akito shouldn’t be this worked up over a boy like this. He just shouldn’t.

He didn’t regret sending Tsukasa away, even as he walked home on shaky legs. He didn’t regret it even when he felt like passing out just as he reached his street. He didn’t regret it, not at all, even when he was in the safety of his own home, dry heaving over the toilet. He didn’t regret it. He didn’t. He won’t regret it.