Work Text:
It was the 23rd of November. The scorching heat of the sun finally calmed down. It was no longer the heat that was supposed to last all summer long. But rather, the daylight hitting the skin became of a tepid water. It was warm and comfortable. The bright earthly leaves started to fall. The chlorophyll that's supposed to give it its natural green color finally started to be of beige eventually turning to brown. The wind that carried the drought finally became cold, a sign of the next season, winter.
"I never thought you would suggest something like this, Kuni-kun." Aether dryly laughed.
"T-this is only a one time thing, twerp." Although the purple bangs were covering his eyes, Aether could see a blush creeping up to his lover's face.
Aether sighed softly and ran his fingers through the soft purple locks of Kunikuzushi, "Although I wish you'd tell me why you requested me to sit down on your lap, that's very uncharacteristic of you. Almost unpredictable."
Kunikuzushi raised a brow, "So most of the time I'm predictable, Aether?" He sounded insulted.
"You're avoiding the question, Kuni-kun but then again, I guess I don't mind," Aether said.
"W- well if you find this uncomfortable then I'll stop, twerp," Kunikuzushi replied annoyed.
"No, don't! I didn't say anything like that, Kuni-kun." Aether pouted as he hugged Kunikuzushi tightly, refusing to move away from the man's lap, "It just really surprises me. I never expected you to be the person who would seek affection, even if you are unpredictable, I've never thought of this but I don't mind though."
It was already afternoon and Aether decided to stay at Kunikuzushi's residence. Aether looked down as he softly answered, "Also I'm happy that you're doing this because you'll be leaving tomorrow and I'll miss you."
Kunikuzushi was quiet this time. He held the blond's hand, "Me too."
"Alright." Aether lightly chuckled as he embraced the purple headed boy just making himself completely drowned with Kunikuzushi's presence.
___
They grew up together. Aether couldn't ever count all the days that he spent with the purple haired man. Either annoying him, accompanying him, helping him and really just being with him. Aether's head was full of Kunikuzushi but he knew that growing up means growing apart. And it drives him crazy, the thought of growing old.
It was one sunny afternoon when both of them were hanging around their usual spot inside the treehouse when Kunikuzushi decided to drop a bomb at him.
"Aether, I have to go to Sumeru to continue my studies." Kunikuzushi suddenly said while they were eating snacks.
"What?" Aether confusedly looked at him.
Kunikuzushi brought down his plate and shifted closer as he looked at those golden orbs.
"I won't be able to further my studies here. Aether, I'm considering going to Sumeru, their education is more advanced than in Inazuma," Kunikuzushi said seriously until his voice softened, he held Aether's hand.
Aether understood the purple headed man of course. Ever since young, he's always been immersed in stars and Aether knew that it's been his dream to be able to study them on a more professional basis. But still, going to Sumeru, it would take a very long time for him to return. He didn't say anything and just kept his head low.
"Aether?" Kunikuzushi looked at the blond worriedly.
"Are you mad?" Kunikuzushi asked.
"No, I'm not, Kuni-kun.." The blond quietly replied. Aether just kept his head low. It took a minute and Kunikuzushi felt Aether quivered. The purple haired man craned his neck below to see the blond's expression but before he could do so, Aether initiated to hug him.
Kunikuzushi's eyes bore deeply into him and softly spoke, "Twerp."
___
Kunikuzushi had about 20 minutes before the airplane took off.
"Do you want to eat something, Aether?" Kunikuzushi said as he held the blond's hand caressing his knuckles. His mothers, Yae Miko and Ei were behind them. Ei noticed that Aether was very quiet and she wanted to comfort the younger boy but Miko reassured her that there's no need for that as their son is trying his best to give comfort to the boy in the awkward way that he could.
"They grow up so fast, Miko." Ei said she laid her head on her.
"Indeed, never would I have thought that it'd be our Kunikuzushi who would confess."
They were in disbelief at first because they knew that their son wasn't a courageous man but the purple haired boy made them admit they were wrong during one dinner night when Kunikuzushi admitted that he was going out with Aether.
___
"I'm going out with Aether." Kunikuzushi said while eating.
Ei, being the nearest to him, raised her brow and replied, "Where?"
Kunikuzushi had a confused look and cleared his voice, "Mom, I mean, I'm going out with Aether now."
Ei looked at this son even more confused, "At least finish your dinner and it's already late, where are you two going?"
Yae Miko, who was beside the purple haired woman, just chuckled as she drank water before clarifying their son's words, "Oh Ei, Kunikuzushi means that they're dating."
Kunikuzushi who was getting annoyed from confusion suddenly has his cheeks flushed red, "You don't have to put it so bluntly!"
"Oh now, our little boy finally grew up huh, I'm so sad, Ei." Miko sarcastically said.
'It's about time you grow some balls'
Ei who was processing Miko's words had a worried look, "Did you bribed Aether?"
"I, what? No!" Kunikuzushi tried to clarify but his embarrassment just got the better of him.
Nevertheless, Ei and Miko do not need their son to explain for them. Not when the young boy cannot help but to look at the blond with loving eyes although he always tried to conceal it.
___
Ei and Miko looked at the two and they decided to give them some time. Kunikuzushi eyed them and he expressed a thankful look and Miko just nodded her head in return.
"Aether, are you alright?" Kunikuzushi held the blond's hand.
Aether felt the sting in his eyes again as it started to moisten. He only had twenty minutes left with him? "Kuni-kun, can we... just stay here?" he asked quietly, staring down at his lap.
"Yes, that's fine. Are you alright, Aether?"
"I think?"
"You've been really quiet- Well, more quiet than usual."
Aether spoke quietly, "It's just cold in here..."
And I keep thinking about you all day, I don't want you to leave.
"Oh, then..." Kunikuzushi moved forward and started taking off his black coat and handing it to the blond, "Here."
"Kuni-kun? But you're leaving soon..." the blond looked down at the coat, thumbs rubbing over the worn, soft material.
"Yea, keep it." Kunikuzushi said.
"Really?"
"It's getting small for me, so just keep it," Kunikuzushi lied. It was new but if it could help make his lover less sad, he would even buy hundreds of it.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I was gonna give it to you anyway. I know black clothes aren't your thing, but I thought it would be a nice parting gift.", He just shrugged and smiled, watching Aether put on the coat. It was a bit too big, and stood out against his light colored clothing, but looked good on him nonetheless.
The warmth of the coat felt good against Aether's bare arms, and the familiar smell of Kunikuzushi's cologne helped calm him. He really was going to miss this menace. A lot more than he originally thought. With that sudden realization, the first couple tears fell from his eyes. Aether heard Kunikuzushi softly call his name and hesitantly turned to look at him.
Kunikuzushi frowned, "If I had known you were this upset over me leaving, I would have tried to spend more time with you, Aether. I'm sorry..." he leaned over, wrapping his arms around the blond. He could feel each sharp inhale as the smaller boy tried to stop crying. It made him feel horrible to know that he had to leave him like this, and couldn't comfort him.
Aether returned the embrace, holding on to Kunikuzushi's back tightly. It felt nice, having Kunikuzushi hold him. But he knew it was fleeting, and that any minute now he would have to let go and watch his lover leave.
Sure enough, the boarding announcement sounded through the airport and Aether felt his heart sink. He held on to him tighter, hands gripping his black t-shirt.
"Don't miss me too much, twerp." Kunikuzushi reluctantly released his hold, "I promise I'll call everyday." he said, wiping some of Aether's tears away.
Aether nodded sadly, completely removing himself from Kunikuzushi. "Go now, you'll miss your flight.."
"I'll miss you, twerp." he made a signal to his parents as Ei and Miko went to hug their son. He looked at the teary eyed blond as he said one thing before departing off.
"I love you, Aether"
"Mmn, love you too.."
Aether's golden orbs fluttered open and looked up into Kunikuzushi's, he said gently, "Please stay safe, Kuni-kun..."
"I will, don't worry." Kunikuzushi looked back to him, his eyes filled with pure tender.
One last greeting, then he was gone for real this time.
Aether smiled bitterly, sliding his hands into the pockets of Kunikuzushi's coat
He'll return soon.
___
"Twerp, hey are you there?"
Aether blinked his lashes as he stared at the caller on the screen. It was 2 am and he promised to voice call with Kunikuzushi. He looked at the phone screen to look at the caller name and Aether felt his lips curved.
Kuni-kun :D
"Good morning, twerp." Kunikuzushi spoke in a low tone just enough for Aether on the other end to hear. Aether did not reply as if waiting for him to speak more. Kunikuzushi understood these instances and he couldn't help but to smile a bit, but of course, he wouldn't ever tell it to the latter. His stress from studying seemed to have diminished a bit.
"I was working on my academic requirements. Little troubles came to me and now I'm somewhat tired, those Snezhnayan fuckers really know how to annoy the fuck out of me," Kunikuzushi sighed helplessly. His lips pursed a bit before continuing on an almost non-existent tone while shaking a little bit on his phone.
"And yeah well, I just couldn't get myself to study right now because of all of those fuckers so I thought of playing some video games and stuff and ah, I'm rumbling," Kunikuzushi sighed, "Aether, I suddenly miss you."
Aether felt the breathing of Kunikuzushi on the other side of the line and he couldn't help but to blink a few times. Cold breeze entered his room from the open window he had forgotten to close, making his toes curl a bit.
"Kuni, turn your camera, I want to see you." Aether spoke softly as he nuzzled to his pillow.
Kunikuzushi thought that it's nothing much so he opened his camera and saw his little boyfriend stacked with pillows.
Aether's eyes glimmered. No, it sparkled. He was always like this, Kunikuzushi thought. Always like the sun. Sometimes it's too bright, heh.
"Hi, Kuni." Aether yawned softly as he saw his boyfriend looking at his desktop with some complicated math stuff. Aether never had a good relationship with math. Hell, that would be the end of the world.
Kunikuzushi's eyes softened a bit as he saw his very cute boyfriend. He almost smiled.
"Hey, pretty boy." Kunikuzushi smiled. Just a little. The two talked for a bit, not that deep so the purple haired man won't be too distracted. Aether acted more of a pleasant background noise and it should be ironic because pleasant and noise usually don't get along well together, but Aether's like that. A beautiful set of mysteries.
Aether was about to speak again when he heard a foreign voice on the other side.
"Hey comrade, who's that you're calling with? It's 2 am here geez get some sleep."
"Shut the fuck up, Tartaglia, I'm talking to my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?! Aww let me see!" Aether saw a ginger looking at him through his boyfriend's phone and he gave a standard smile and Kunikuzushi could've sworn that he saw hearts forming around Ajax's eyes. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone.
"Had enough? Scram off now, Tartaglia." Kunikuzushi held his phone to his chest and Aether could see the cute dark purple fabric and he simpered cutely to himself. He missed snuggling on Kunikuzushi's chest.
"No fair! I want to see your boyfriendd!"
"The hell you want to see my boyfriend? Get your own boyfriend!"
The ginger pestered the shorter man and Aether could only hear their banters before he felt his eyes slowly falling down. A few moments later, Kunikuzushi sighed after he successfully dismissed the annoying boy. He looked at his phone to see Aether breathing peacefully with his weird sleeping posture. Kunikuzushi knew that he'll be hearing his boyfriend's complain about back pains or stiff neck tomorrow. He left a small message before ending the call.
"Good night, Aether. Sleep well. Dream of me."
___
Coping with the distance has been hard for the two of them at times, sometimes the other is too tired to communicate, too busy to attend to the emotional needs of their lover, and sometimes, the space between them is just...vast.
It was the end of April and May was in plain sight. Aether had always thought that May is somewhat kind to them. Just because it's the month just before the start of the summer season and everyone is just dying to soak in water. But not Kuni.
Aether at some point thought that his boyfriend was hydrophobic and he snorted at that. Who could hate water? A lot of people apparently. But not him. Right now, he's soaking in his tub thinking theories of life.
And it's at this moment that he misses Kunikuzushi so much.
His golden eyes glimmered a bit. He misses him so much and he just wishes that he's here. His hand grabbed the phone and dialed Kunikuzushi. Aether thought of what he should say to him.
'I miss you, come back here soon?'
'Hey, what are you doing?'
'I don't like being alone so much.'
There are a lot of things that Aether wanted to say to him. So many words that he can't imagine or verbalize. So he settled for what he thinks is the best option to say.
"Kunikuzushi, I'm pregnant." Aether whispered softly.
"What the fuck? Are you cheating on me?" The man on the line asked.
"N-no... it's not like that, I dreamed of you and now I'm carrying our baby." Aether giggled.
"Have you been drinking, Aether?" Kunikuzushi asked the blond.
"Yeah."
"It's bad for the baby."
"It's okay, I named it Aebortion."
The two laughed for a good minute before the purple haired man replied to him with a very soft tone.
"I keep checking my inbox to see if there's a message coming from you, hey there."
Aether felt himself heating up word by word as the man spoke through the phone as if whispering to his ear. The husky and somewhat pitched voice felt very nice to hear. His boyfriend is really attractive and Aether's dying to hold his hand.
“Aether? Are you still there? Did you feel asleep? I swear, if you're soaking on your tub, twerp, I will body slam you."
Aether giggled softly. "You know me so much, Kuni."
The man wasn’t sure of what to say to Kunikuzushi. He shrank back his neck to the water all due to the voice coming out from the phone that was dangerously laid on the edge of the tub and Aether internally grimaced of the possibility of it falling and electrocuting him.
Kunikuzushi's voice. It was very gentle, like he was whispering in his ears; it made the blond a little more happy after the last few days of longing. His heart frantically beat and his face flushed a little. It was a very weird feeling but he had long known this feeling.
"Aether, are you still there?" Kunikuzushi asked again.
"Yeah, I'm still here."
"Kunikuzushi.." Aether called his name.
"Yes?"
Aether bit his lip, "Come back here soon, it's getting lonely without you."
The other line didn't reply for a second.
"Can you turn on your camera for me?"
"Yes, just give me a minute." Aether said as he grabbed a phone stand.
Kunikuzushi saw Aether's face. The same face that he had dreamed of and cherished all over these years. The same face now has puffy red eyes, disheveled hair, and tears falling to his cheeks.
Aether saw the object of his longing for these past few weeks and his heart curled both from the happiness and the mixture missing this person too much. He sniffled. Kunikuzushi who saw this had a frown on his face before caressing his phone screen with his thumb.
"Shh, shh, it's okay. It'll be okay, I'm here."
"I miss you so much, Kuni. I really miss you so much." Tears kept on falling from his eyes and he used the back of his hand to rub his cheeks. "I miss holding your hand and hugging you. Sometimes, I'll get one of your clothes and put it on my pillow just to feel that I'm hugging you." Aether confessed as he cried. And then he cried. And then he cried.
"Aether.." Kunikuzushi has a sad look. He doesn't know that his baby is going through so much.
"Goodness...I told myself that I won't miss you so much, Aether or else I will ditch this whole studying thing." Kunikuzushi said sadly.
"Just wait for a little more, alright? I'll return to you soon."
Aether nodded his head and Kunikuzushi smiled.
"Can you wipe your tears for me?" Kunikuzushi gently asked and Aether grabbed a towel and dried his face.
"How are you holding up?" Kunikuzushi asked with worry. Sometimes, he just wished that he didn't have to leave Aether alone in Inazuma. Aether knew that Kunikuzushi was probably beating himself up again so he smiled a little.
"Other than missing you, I'm doing alright. School is fine, I've been visiting Auntie Ei and Auntie Miko." Aether reassured him.
"That's good." Kunikuzushi sighed, relieved. "That's good." He repeated again.
Coping with the distance is hard but it's the people who matter so despite the massive space, they make it work. And maybe that's one of the few things that are most important.
"You should move out of the tub now or you'll get a cold." Kunikuzushi said laced with worry.
"Alright, a few minutes more."
"A few minutes more."
___
Patience hurts the most but rewards the most. Aether realized one afternoon as he received a phone call from Kunikuzushi. The two had been keeping in touch as much as they could. It wasn't excessive but it wasn't also underwhelming, sometimes the phone calls only last for an hour and sometimes they leave their phones open and sleep with each other's breathing. But no amount of phone calls could ever equate to the wonders and magic of holding each other.
"Is it windy there?" Kunikuzushi gently asked.
"I'm not sure, Kuni. Maybe." Aether smiled as he replied. He heard the gust of wind on the other line and he sighed.
"It must be very windy there in Sumeru." He said and he received a light laugh from the purple haired man.
"That might be the case."
"Mmn."
"Aether." Kunikuzushi softly called out to him.
"Hm?"
"It's lonely here."
"....yeah, it's been lonely here too."
"Without me?"
"Without you." Aether smiled as he spoke to his lover.
"Aether, I love you." Kunikuzushi said on the other line and Aether laughed softly.
"I love you too." Aether looked at his phone before sighing contently. He stared at the caller number before kissing the screen. And he kissed it again.
"Aether, I miss our treehouse." Kunikuzushi said.
"It's our baby." Aether chuckled, "Do you want me to go there right now? I can video call you there."
"I'd love that." Kunikuzushi agreed.
And so Aether decided to go to that place, the treehouse, just besides Kunikuzushi's home. The familiar treehouse, the toys, everything is well taken care of. Summer came again, it's been so many years since he met Kunikuzushi. A beautiful destiny.
Aether could still remember the first time he met the man. He was so mean to him and talked about stars as if he's an expert on it. He chuckled sadly as he stood under the tree shade.
Aether thought of Kunikuzushi's bratty smile and his gentle and serene smile, warm and almost non-existent. But it was there at times.
He could almost perceive seeing the purple haired man looking so handsome and intoxicating.
He saw sparks.
He was about to cry again until he felt strong arms hugging his waist from behind. Aether froze.
"Don't go sobbing on me now, twerp."
That voice!
Aether's eyes moistened, afraid to turn around.
"Is this real?" He asked slowly.
"How about you see it for yourself?" Kunikuzushi smiled warmly seeing the cute fluffy blond hair that he'd always adored before kissing it.
Aether quickly turned around as he finally saw the person he's been thinking of all this time.
He's wearing a black sweater, white vest with a splash of indigo on the left shoulder, and navy trousers. Although his appearance was slightly disheveled, it can't hide his handsomeness. His shoulders became broader and he also became much taller than him.
Kunikuzushi looked at him gently and hugged the man again.
Now they're here, back to where it all started, under that treehouse's shade but this time the world is a kinder place. The early summer weather is not so hot and there is green foliage on the trees.
"Welcome back, Kuni." Aether smiled brightly.
"I'm back, Aether." Kunikuzushi replied gently.
"I thought you're still in Sumeru?" Aether looked at him.
"Well, I might have advanced all of my class and requirements because a certain someone missed me so much." Kunikuzushi smiled as he brushed Aether's hair.
"Has it always been windy here?" He asked again, a teasing smile on his lips.
"Oh?" Aether tilted his head before his eyes widened.
"Oh."
The rays of the afternoon sun elongated their shadows and a moment later, the two shadows started to merge before their silhouettes parted.
"Silly, twerp." Kunikuzushi chuckled.
Aether grinned wildly and succumbed more into Kunikuzushi's arms before enveloping his own around the man's neck and pulling themselves together to another kiss. And another kiss. And another kiss.
Looking at each other's eyes, they must have seen something else than love. A sparkle of light. They saw sparks.
END