Work Text:
When Akito sees Toya barrel into his classroom during the lunch break, the first thing he thinks is that Toya’s dad did something again.
“Akito, please, I need a favor.” Toya says, practically shaking.
“Anything.” Akito replies.
“I haven’t even told you what it is.”
“Don’t need to know. If you need me, then I’m always here for you.”
“Don’t agree too fast, partner. I… I need a date.”
Akito blinks a couple times. Okay, he definitely hallucinated that.
“Sorry, I think I just hallucinated, what did you say?”
“I need a date. To a wedding. It’s this Sunday, and I’ve just discovered that my father’s planning to set me up with someone there. Please, Akito, help me. You’re my only hope.”
Akito’s mouth drops open slightly. Toya’s asking him to be his date to a wedding?!
“Whoa, whoa! Wait, we’re not even dating!”
“I know, but Tsukasa-senpai and Saki are already attending with Kamishiro-senpai and Hoshino-san and if I don’t get a date by then I’ll be set up with someone and I think both of us know by now that I wouldn’t be able to shoot them down fast enough. Please just pretend to be my boyfriend for one night! My father already thinks we’re dating, this won’t be much different.”
Toya’s eyes are desperate. Partner, please.
And, as always, Akito physically can’t say no to his partner.
“Fine. Just because it’s you.”
Toya lights up, pulling Akito into the biggest hug he can muster before sliding directly into his partner’s lap.
“I can’t thank you enough. Saving me again, partner.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
~
Akito feels like he blinked and then it was Sunday. He’s dressed in the same sweater vest and slacks he wore during that other wedding, and he hopes it’s good enough. Toya did say it was a garden wedding, so…
Soon enough, the lock opens and suddenly Toya’s footsteps bolt up the stairs.
“Akito, are you ready?” The familiar voice rings out, and Akito opens his bedroom door and is face to face with Toya.
And oh shit, Toya just takes his breath away.
It’s nothing Akito hasn’t seen Toya in before, it’s just the same outfit he wore during that wedding, but god Toya looks so good. Like a fucking Disney Prince. He really didn’t take enough time to appreciate how good Toya looks in a sui— Wait, he’s staring.
Akito forces himself to look away from his pretty partner and pretends to cough into his hand to hide his blush. This is already bad for his heart, he doesn’t know how he’s going to deal with actually pretending to be Toya’s date.
“Wow, partner. You clean up nice.” He says, trying to cover up how embarrassed he is.
He can feel Toya smile at the compliment, and Akito’s cheeks burn even more. He’s not going to be able to get through this, is he?
“Thank you, partner. You look very nice yourself.”
Agh! Toya’s too sweet!
Okay, just gotta think about romance movies… What the hell does someone do during a fake date to a wedding?
Akito raises his bent arm, and Toya looks at him slightly confusedly before registering that he’s supposed to take it.
Toya gently grabs onto Akito’s arm, and the realization that they’re on a date really hits him. It’s completely fake, sure, but the pure affection in Toya’s eyes turns Akito into putty in his partner’s hands.
“Thank you so much for this.” Toya whispers. “It’s not too far from here. We should take the time to plan out what we need to do.”
“Eh?”
“Well, I don’t want a miscommunication to cause us to do something that may be uncomfortable for one of us. So we should set up some boundaries.”
Akito would genuinely be okay with making out with Toya on a table, but if that happened there would be no way that Akito could handle not confessing his feelings for Toya.
“Ahh, yeah. Well, I think we should save lip kisses for an emergency, but are you good with cheek kisses to sell the bit?”
Toya’s face suddenly turns bright red, as if the idea of even a cheek kiss is his dream come true.
“I-I’m fine with that.”
Cute, so cute, he is going to give Toya so many cheek kisses.
“I mean, anything less intimate than that we do on a daily basis, so… I think that’s all we needed to talk about. Unless you want to make out on a table~”
Toya’s eyes say yes, but his mouth says “That’s probably going too far.”
Eventually, they end up at the wedding venue, and Akito suddenly feels a little nervous about all this.
Whatever. It’s fine. If it’s for Toya, he can do literally anything.
And so they join the line of people showing their invitations to walk in, but when they make it to the front, Toya simply flashes a glance.
“Aoyagi-kun, nice to see you. Your father’s waiting for you inside.” The literal butler says, and Toya just walks in. Akito tries to follow him, but he’s stopped.
“Invitation, please.”
Toya turns around again and silently gives the guy a nod, and Akito’s suddenly let in.
“Sorry, partner.” Toya whispers. “I didn’t expect that.”
“D-Don’t worry.” Akito says. He suddenly feels completely out of place.
Toya gives him a sympathetic glance.
“I hate these things too, don’t worry. These people respect you more if you come from a good family, so perhaps bring up your father in conversation. And whatever you do, don’t drop your elegant mode unless you’re alone with me.”
Akito wasn’t planning to, but it’s good to know that his nice mode will really be put to the test today.
“Anything for you. But you owe me so many pancakes after this.”
“Of course.”
Toya’s face turns back into his resting neutral face, but Akito can see the small quirks in it. He doesn’t want to be here.
And then Toya sees his dad, and his face falls into such a heartbreaking frown that Akito can barely resist the urge to snuggle his partner until he sees that pretty Toya smile.
Toya simply leads Akito by the hand to the table, and Toya’s dad’s face shifts into a frown at the sight of Akito.
“I told you that you didn’t need to bring a date.”
“I know, but I wanted to.”
There’s a frosty stand-off between them, and Akito just squeezes Toya’s hand.
“Partner, didn’t you say you were going to introduce me to some people?”
Toya snaps his eyes away from his father, and his eyes soften at the sight of Akito.
“Right. You’re right. Come with me.”
Toya pulls Akito along, and Akito gives a bunch of polite smiles and waves. At some point, all the rich weirdos start to blur together.
But then there’s the blushing bride, looking stunning and radiant.
“Toya-kun! Hello there!” She says. “I’m glad you could make it!”
“I’m glad I could too, Miyuki-san.”
“Oh, and who’s this?” She asks, pointing to Akito.
“Ah, this is my partner, Akito.”
Akito gives her a polite smile and a wave, and she gently waves back.
“Hello, Miyuki-san. Congratulations on your wedding. May you have many happy days.”
“Oh, thank you! I just wanted to pop out and say hi to everyone, I better head back to my dressing room before Akihiro shows up!”
“Of course. I’m sure the ceremony will be lovely.” Toya says, and then he actually smiles for the first time since they got here.
“Thank you! Goodbye!”
Miyuki-san runs back to her dressing room, and Akito turns to Toya.
“I’m kinda jealous. Someone else here got you to smile.”
Toya lets out a soft laugh at Akito’s mock annoyance.
“Miyuki-san is really quite kind. She and her fiancé are the only reasons I came.
“Well, alright. As long as you’re happy. I think you’re prettiest when you smile.”
Akito didn’t mean to let that last part slip out, but Toya smiles so brightly that he can’t regret it for a second.
Oh, and there’s that “I want to kiss my partner!” look.
…Oh, yeah. Toya’s dad is walking over. If there was ever a time for a quick peck on the cheek, it’s now.
Akito wraps his arm around Toya’s waist and stretches up to gently kiss Toya on the cheek. And the way Toya shudders under his touch, Akito could get addicted to that.
Akito wants to whisper something sweet into Toya’s ear, like You’re gorgeous, or I love you, but unfortunately his dad is approaching fast and Toya doesn’t seem to have noticed him, so he settles for “Your dad is coming.”
That seems to snap Toya out of his trance, gripping onto Akito and flicking attentive glances at his father.
“Father.” Toya says simply.
“Toya, it’s rude to spend all your time with your… date. ” Toya’s dad adds, his voice dripping with contempt.
Toya flashes an apologetic glance at Akito before being pulled away, and Akito sighs and just turns to the snack buffet.
He’s about to grab a macaron when he feels a familiar weight gripping onto him.
“I hate it here.” Toya says, muffled by Akito’s shoulder.
“I know. Don’t worry. I’m here.”
He grabs a macaron from the buffet and holds it out to Toya, who takes a bite of it and instantly gets a little happier.
Akito turns it back to himself and takes a bite.
Holy shit, that’s so good.
He reaches his other hand to Toya’s head and holds the cookie out to him again.
Toya just opens his mouth, and Akito instinctively reaches over to feed him.
God, that cheek kiss was a bad idea, now he can’t stop thinking about how much he wants to cover Toya’s face in soft kisses.
Well… Toya did say they had to act like a couple, right?
Akito leans in and plants another kiss on Toya’s cheek, and he revels in the pink blush that it causes.
“You’re really cute, you know that?”
Toya’s face starts going from pink to red, and he buries his face back in Akito’s shoulder.
“Oi. Don’t hide your face. I can’t feed you cookies that way.”
Toya pulls his face up just slightly, resting his chin on Akito’s shoulder as Akito gives him another bite of cookie.
They just kind of stand there for a little longer, enjoying each other’s company as they share cookies from the snack buffet.
“Akito?” Toya says.
“Hm?”
“I love you.” Toya says. It’s so gentle, so soft. He means it. Oh, god.
Akito lowers his voice, just so that only Toya’s finely-tuned ears will pick it up.
“You’re a great actor, partner.”
Toya closes his eyes and a slight look of annoyance crosses his face before it’s carefully arranged back into neutrality. And Akito pretends he doesn’t see it.
Because, the truth is, Akito knows he isn’t good enough to really date Toya. No matter how addicted he’s getting to being Toya’s fake date.
~
Fuyune sits at the Aoyagis’ table, just waiting for that bastard to finally show up. She can’t believe that out of all people, her parents want to set her up with Toya Aoyagi.
And eventually, he does.
…On Aki’s arm.
Oh, this day suddenly just got a lot more interesting.
“Shimizu? What are you doing here?” Aoyagi says, genuinely confused.
“This is the young lady I wanted to set you up with, before you rudely stood her up.” Aoyagi’s father says.
“N-No! It’s really fine, I don’t mind. I actually go to school with one of their friends, if I had known it was going to be Aoyagi-kun I would have declined. No offense, it’s just kind of obvious that you only have eyes for Shinonome-kun.”
Aoyagi gives her a fake grateful smile before eyeing the last chair.
“Oh, right, I’m sorry.” Aoyagi’s father says. “There are no chairs left for you. You should go sit somewhere else.”
“No, don’t worry, it’s fine.” Aoyagi says. “Akito, you sit down.”
Oh, hell yes! He’s going to go find somewhere else to sit and leave Aki with her!
At least, that’s what she thought until Aki sat down and Aoyagi-kun instantly settled into his lap.
Aki’s just as shocked as the rest of them, but he just rolls with Aoyagi’s attention whore behavior. At a wedding, no less!
Aoyagi doesn’t even flinch as the food’s brought over, grabbing a bite, but Aki sighs at the sight of it.
“Damn. Carrots.” He mumbles, and Aoyagi suddenly gets a vaguely displeased look as he bites into something. “There’s squid in this too, isn’t there?”
Aoyagi simply nods, and Aki sighs again before reaching over to Aoyagi’s plate and eating a piece of squid off of it as Aoyagi takes a carrot from Aki’s. God, do they ever stop?!
They don’t stop. Aoyagi gently caresses Aki’s face and gets his signature “I want to kiss Aki!” look.
It’s fake. It’s so fake. It’s obvious. If they had actually somehow started dating under her nose, they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off each other. Aki’s a very physically affectionate person, and Aoyagi’s all too happy to take advantage of that.
Eventually, they just give up on feeding themselves and just feed each other. Ugh.
Soon enough, the sun sets. The ceremony is going to start soon. Great, she doesn’t have to deal with them anymore.
“He’s horrible.” Fuyune mutters under her breath, but unfortunately the Aoyagis all have ears that could pick up half a decibel.
“I agree. That Shinonome boy’s a horrible influence on Toya.” Aoyagi’s father says. Oh. Oh. This could be interesting.
“I don’t even think they’re together. I think your son just wanted to get a fake date so you wouldn’t set him up with me, and Shinonome-kun was just the obvious choice.”
“What? They’ve been dating for a long time. They even sign off their texts with ‘I love you.’”
“I think they’ve been conning you. Your son does enjoy making you angry, doesn’t he?”
Aoyagi’s father’s face shifts into an angry look.
“Well, you are a reporter, correct? I should trust you.”
Yes!
“I think I can get them to reveal the truth, but I’ll need some help. Will you?” Fuyune says.
Aoyagi’s father nods, and Fuyune can’t help the smirk that appears on her face. Game on, Aoyagi.
~
Toya didn’t think that he’d ever look forward to Shimizu’s approach, but whenever someone comes by Akito kisses him on the cheek again and Toya can’t get enough of that.
“Well, well. When did you two actually get together?” She asks. Oh, dear. She knows about their relationship being on the edge of romantic and platonic.
“Just recently.” Toya says, gently squeezing Akito’s hand. Let me handle this, partner.
“How recently? I’m sure all your friends at Kamikou would love to know. I believe there’s a betting pool on you two.”
Akito flashes her a gentle smile, and Toya wants to try and stop him, but it's too late.
“Just a couple days ago, honestly. I finally worked up the nerve and asked my pretty partner out, and it just ended up working out. I can’t get enough.”
Akito plants an overexaggerated kiss on Toya’s cheek, even making a little “Chu!” sound. It’s so unlike Akito that Toya almost wants to throw up. God, he hates Akito’s elegant mode.
Finally, finally, Shimizu walks away and Akito drops the act.
“Ugh. That’s starting to get exhausting.”
“I’m getting tired of seeing it.”
“Oh, yeah. You hate it when I do that.”
“Mhm. I don’t like elegant mode Akito. I like my partner.”
Akito’s face turns into that familiar teasing smirk.
“Oh, yeah? What do you like about me?”
“How can I pick just one thing? I like everything about you.”
Akito’s teasing smirk shifts into a genuine shocked blush, and he hides his face with his hand.
“Y-You can’t just do that to me, partner.”
Toya enjoys seeing Akito flustered. Breaking down the confident facade Akito puts up.
Toya’s the only one who can do that. Who can see… this.
He’s sure it shows on his face. He wants to kiss Akito so badly.
But, of course, Akito is an idiot. He won’t see it. He never does.
~
Akito, contrary to Toya’s perspective, is not an idiot. He sees how desperately Toya wants to kiss him until the rest of the world falls away.
He sees it in every motion that Toya makes, in the gentle way he unconsciously nibbles on his bottom lip, in the way he gently cups Akito’s face…
And in his eyes. Oh god, in those eyes. There’s a storm, a hurricane of emotion that can be distilled into three words. Kiss me, Akito.
And Akito is more and more tempted the longer they’re like this, surrounded by flowers and pretending to be Toya’s boyfriend.
His eyes drift to Toya’s lips, and Akito can hear the soft gasp that Toya lets out.
“Akito…” Toya whispers, clearly throwing all caution to the wind.
And Akito’s either the luckiest or unluckiest bastard alive, because at that moment, the music starts and the guests are told to be seated.
It completely destroys the moment, pulling Akito and Toya back into the real world.
Akito extends his hand, and Toya takes it gently as they walk towards seats near the aisle.
~
Perfect timing! Great, now Aki and Aoyagi won’t kiss!
They were just about to, but Fuyune slipped 2000 yen to the DJ to start the music thirty seconds earlier.
Soon enough, Fuyune is seated next to Aki, who seems to be looking anywhere but at Aoyagi’s face.
Soon enough, the groom is waiting at the altar and then the bride is walking down the aisle.
She looks radiant. Just as a girl in love should be.
Someday, Fuyune will wear a dress like that. And it’ll be Aki waiting at the altar for her.
Ah, it’ll be so romantic! It will make this wedding look like a sham!
The bride makes it down the aisle, and then the ceremony starts.
“Akihiro, I can’t help but smile when I’m with you. I want to marry you a million times over.”
“Miyuki, you’re my angel. The sovereign of my heart. If you’ll let me, I’ll spend my every waking moment making you smile.”
And then it’s timed perfectly. Their first kiss as the sunset illuminates them. The photographer better have gotten good shots, it’s really the perfect photo-op.
~
Soon enough, the ceremony’s over and it’s time for the first dance.
The DJ’s playing a slow song, but before the dance can even start, the speakers cut out and all the fairy lights strung around the garden go dark.
A blackout? Well, that’s unexpected.
Soon enough, Toya feels a hand on his shoulder and his eyes have adjusted to the dark just enough to see Kamishiro-senpai.
“Come with me. Both of you.” He says, and suddenly Toya feels himself and Akito being dragged along by Kamishiro-senpai.
The DJ station is completely dark, but Kamishiro-senpai stands up there with Tsukasa-senpai anyway, typing out something on his phone for Tsukasa-senpai to read out.
“Hello there! I’m Tsukasa Tenma, and this is Rui Kamishiro! We understand that you might be nervous right now, but rest assured that you have a lot of young musicians on your side! We have Ichika Hoshino on the guitar, Saki Tenma on the piano, and Akito Shinonome and Toya Aoyagi as vocalists! Now, if everyone could please turn on their phone flashlights and direct them to the dance floor, we can get this properly started!
Kamishiro-senpai’s eyes glitter in the darkness, and Toya’s phone suddenly vibrates.
Saving a Wedding… 2!
✨⭐️☄️🧨Kami🧨☄️⭐️✨: Okay, what kind of slow love songs do you know how to sing/play?
✨⭐️☄️🧨Kami🧨☄️⭐️✨: Preferably something we all know.
Pegasus☆: Or at least something that Saki and Ichika can play and Akito and Toya can sing!
ichika39: Leo/need is mostly a rock band, I’m not really sure I know very many slow love songs.
Nocturne☆: Do you know Aun no Beats?
ichika39: I do.
Akito: oh toya and i r rlly good at that one
sakiii☆: !! Yay!! Lezzgo!!
Soon enough, an acoustic guitar starts strumming and there’s a flash of blue-black hair in the corner of Toya’s vision.
It’s time. Akito starts singing, and they harmonize as perfectly as always.
Toya would be a liar if he said that he didn’t love this. Singing with the girls is fine, but he misses when it was just the two of them. When he had Akito all to himself.
~
Toya lets out a lovestruck sigh and turns toward the dance floor, putting his neutral face back on.
The phone flashlights illuminate the dance floor pretty well, but Akito can’t help but think that the better view is Toya’s pretty side profile. Akito’s eyes are fully adjusted to the darkness by now, and he can make out Toya’s face. From the sharp gray eyes, to the gorgeous beauty mark, and the light side of his hair bringing it all together. God, he’s so gorgeous.
Like an angel, staring down at the dance floor as silent as a mouse.
Ichika’s playing starts up again, and Saki’s quickly joins it.
Ikanaide. They sing it perfectly, and other people start to join the dance floor.
Akito clears his throat slightly and gets Toya’s attention, and then he holds his hand out in the way that they always do in movies.
“Partner, may I have this dance?”
Toya gingerly takes Akito’s hand, his eyes lighting up. Soon enough, Akito’s run down the stairs, hand in hand with Toya.
Akito knows that they’re not alone, that there are a hundred people dancing around them, but when he’s staring into Toya’s eyes he can’t help but feel like they’re the only people in the world.
And then Toya’s pretty smile shows back up.
They’re dancing really closely now, and Akito feels someone’s eyes on him. Probably Toya’s dad’s or Shimizu’s.
And Toya has that same look. The one pleading for a kiss.
Agh! Fuck it!
Akito puts his thumb on Toya’s lips and slams his lips onto it.
~
The first thing Toya registers is that Akito is kissing him.
The second thing is that Akito’s put his thumb between their lips.
The third thing is the sheer murderous rage he feels at Akito for teasing him like this.
When Akito pulls away, Toya gives him his best glare and Akito completely misinterprets it because of course he does, why does he expect anything different at this point?!
“Sorry, partner. I think your dad and Shimizu were looking at us.”
Toya’s eyes flick past Akito and he notices his father dancing with his mother, his jaw practically on the floor.
Oh, that’s amazing. He’d love a picture. He can barely restrain the laugh bubbling up in his chest.
“Turn us around. You have to see this.” Toya whispers, and Akito quickly dances until they’ve shifted positions and Akito can also barely restrain his laugh.
“This was worth every second.”
It really was. Toya didn’t really enjoy being with all these people, but being on a fake date with Akito and seeing his father make that face was worth it.
Akito plants another kiss on his cheek, and it sends more shivers down Toya’s spine.
“His face got even better. Let’s keep going.”
Akito must have read his mind.
Akito pulls him even closer, to the point where there isn’t even a sliver of light between them.
“I love you.” Akito says, pushing his face so close to Toya’s that it would look like they’re kissing from the distance that his father was looking.
“I love you too…” Toya mutters, and they keep going, looking as if they’re kissing non-stop on the dance floor.
Soon enough, Toya’s father pushes through the dance floor and physically pulls them apart.
“You really don’t have any decency, do you, Shinonome?” He grumbles, grabbing Toya by the wrist and pulling him off the floor.
Akito winks and smirks, mouthing See you later! to Toya and blowing him a kiss, which only aggravates his father further.
“The moment this all is over, we’re going home and I’m transferring you out of Kamikou.” His father grumbles, but Tsukasa-senpai and Saki overhear that and double-team him until he backs down.
Soon enough, the lights go back up and everyone not on the floor turns off their phone flashlights.
The rest of the wedding is perfect, and Akito manages to sneak over and steal Toya away again.
Soon enough, Miyuki-san approaches them with a smile and happy tears in her eyes.
“Toya-kun, I can’t thank you enough! Without you and Akito-kun, my wedding would have been ruined! Thank you so much!”
“Oh, don’t thank me. All I did was sing. It was Kamishiro-senpai’s plan.” Toya says, and Miyuki-san puts a finger on her chin.
“That’s Tsukasa-kun’s date, right?”
“Yes, exactly. He’s right over there.”
Toya points out Kamishiro-senpai, who is about to set off his rose petal cannon.
“…Should I be worried?” Miyuki-san says.
“No.” Toya says.
“Yes.” Akito says, at the exact same time.
“It’s just the one he used at the last wedding.” Toya says, not wanting to give away the surprise.
“Yeah, but who knows what he’s done to it by now?”
At that moment, Kamishiro-senpai sets it off and crimson rose petals fall all around the garden.
“See?” Toya says, holding his hand out as a petal falls into his hand.
“Fine, fine.”
And then Akito gets a look in his eyes. That look that Toya only sees when his life is about to go straight to hell.
Akito pulls the petal out of his hand and puts it to his lips before brushing it against Toya’s lips.
Toya feels his face and heart being set ablaze, and Miyuki-san lets out a laugh.
“Well, I’ll leave you lovebirds alone! Don’t forget to invite me to your wedding!” She says, before running off to dance with her husband among the falling flowers.
Akito lets out a laugh too.
“We pissed off your dad so much just by pretending to date, wouldn’t it be hilarious if we got married?”
Toya lets out a gentle laugh, and Akito shakes his head with more laughter.
“We give your dad a front row seat as I tell you you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. And then I take your name.”
Toya laughs incredulously at that.
“Why would you ever want to do that?”
Akito’s shaking with laughter at this point.
“Well, Akito Aoyagi just kinda rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Plus, it would piss off your dad so much.”
Akito suddenly stops laughing and stares at Toya.
“Y’know, if we’re both single at thirty and gay marriage becomes legal here, we should get married. For the tax benefits.”
…What?
…Was that a proposal?!
…Did Akito genuinely just propose to him without ever asking him out?!
…Well, Toya’s not really complaining.
“Deal.”
~
Ugh! Fuyune can’t believe that Aoyagi would take advantage of Aki like that!
Aki was offering to get married just to save Aoyagi some money, like he doesn’t have enough of that already, and he’s taking it like it’s romantic.
Aoyagi’s father might be stupid, but Fuyune sure as hell isn’t. She’s so attuned to their every move. They never actually kissed, and they especially aren’t dating! She should write an exposé!
No, no. Discipline. Discipline, damn it.
Aki’s “partner” might be a piece of garbage and taking advantage of him for his own purposes, but she sure isn’t.
Her plan goes into motion soon.
She’ll save him. And she’ll make sure Aoyagi rots in prison for the rest of his pathetic, miserable life.