Work Text:
Hiiro Amagi was highly familiar with culture shock.
It was the sort of thing that plagued him at every waking moment, spreading an itchy feeling under his skin that made his stomach feel funny and his head start to spin. At first, the city was unbearably exciting and amazing in seemingly every way. Now though, he’d been there for a few months at this point, and everything had suddenly begun to make him uneasy with how unsettlingly different it was.
He had never realized how vulnerable to change he was until it had happened. It vaguely reminded him about all the little changes to his living space or routine would throw him off. Somehow, he had been too caught up in the wonder of a completely new space to really take in how uncomfortable the change was.
One thing that Hiiro had come to find distasteful were the streets.
Every time he had to go out (which was often), he found himself bombarded with copious amounts of sensory stimulation. Put simply: the city streets were overwhelming. He usually found himself with too much of everything. Too many smells and sounds, too many people close to him. Too much to worry about and overthink.
It also had a tendency to bring his mood down. Every time he found himself in the middle of foot traffic or sitting on a subway alone, it only served to make him frustrated and upset. Hiiro also came to notice that people also got upset when he snapped at them. It wasn’t his fault that everything was dirty and gross and people were probably staring at him because he was walking weird or he accidentally looked at them wrong. It wasn’t his fault that the city was too much.
Some people didn’t mind when he fell into that state of distress and got frustrated over small things, though. Two of those people were Aira and Kohaku.
Hiiro sometimes felt like crying from guilt whenever he got angry around them.
Each and every time, without fail, they were all gentle smiles and open ears. They would listen to what he needed, even if it seemed stupid to Hiiro himself. He appreciated it to no end, however. This whole boyfriend thing was new to him, so admittedly he hadn’t expected the seemingly insignificant things they would do for him.
It still came as a shock whenever they would offer the silliest little things and it ended up feeling like they had just offered him the world on a platter.
..
“Otouto-san, are you ready?” Niki’s voice called, notifying Hiiro that Aira and Kohaku had probably already arrived.
He tumbled across the room, practically diving for his closet and retrieving his coat. “I’ll be there in a second!” he responded, struggling to find which part of his coat went where. It took a few moments that seemed endlessly embarrassing despite the fact that nobody was in the room with him. His socks were all mismatched, for some reason that Hiiro couldn’t fathom, so he ended up with one grey sock and one white sock.
Finally, he made it into the foyer where Niki was chatting with both Aira and Kohaku.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, please forgive my lack of preparation.” Hiiro bowed, a genuinely apologetic look on his face.
The three turned to look at him, Aira speaking first. “Awh don’t bow Hiro-kun. It’s okay, we weren’t waiting for too long.” Kohaku nodded along, smiling reassuringly.
“Plus, I’m just a delight to talk to.” Niki commented from behind the pair.
Kohaku glanced up at the chef, rolling his eyes playfully. “Don’t give yourself too much credit.”
“Okay, okay, you three get outta here. And make sure to call me if you need anything, I’m not out of bail money quite yet.” Niki joked, sending them off with a wave.
“Goodbye Shiina-san.”
“Seeya Niki-han.”
“Bye!”
..
Hiiro couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread as he stepped out of the dorm building, trailing along behind the other two members of the group. He tracked the sidewalk intently, stepping over every crack while mentally mapping out the plan for their date. It wasn’t the date itself that he was worried about, it was the travel. As many people did, they usually walked on foot most places. That usually wasn’t a huge problem, as Hiiro was getting more used to it by the day, but today he must have woken up on the wrong side of bed because the very notion had him reeling.
“Are you feelin’ alright Hiiro-han?” Kohaku voiced his concern, stopping to look at the boy.
Hiiro looked up from the concrete, eyebrows raised. “Yes.” The response was curt and simple, which seemed to make Kohaku even more concerned.
“I’m not buyin’ it. What’s going on?”
Hiiro exhaled through his nose, resigning himself to his fate. He wasn’t particularly stubborn about telling his boyfriends about things, especially since they had established that communication was an important part of their relationship. “‘m just not a fan of walking places in the city. It’s overwhelming and all that. It’s okay though, I will be fine.” he grinned at the two, careful not to allow a single drop of his anxiety slip through.
“Right. Here, want me to hold your hand?” Kohaku held out his hand in offer.
Hiiro found the gesture to be sweet, but he couldn’t connect the dots as to why Kohaku was offering. “Why?”
Aira began to giggle from beside Kohaku. “Hiro-kun, that’s what partners usually do! It’s a gesture of affection.”
Hiiro’s face went red with embarrassment, and he suddenly felt silly for asking a question with such an obvious answer. “R-right! I’m sorry, I’m a bit out of it today.” He moved forward, taking Kohaku’s hand into his own. “Thank you Kohaku..”
Kohaku only nodded as Aira took Hiiro’s other hand, humming contentedly.
“Now we get to take up the whole sidewalk and piss off everyone.” Aira smirked mischieviously, a devious look overtaking his eyes.
Hiiro felt a jolt of panic at that, wondering if this was a bad idea. “Aira are you sure we shoul-”
“Yes. Onward! Let us take to the streets as an undiluted triple threat!”
..
The streets are a lot less scary with the people you love there to help.