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Tatsumi opened his eyes, and Rinne was beautiful.
“Oh! Are ya finally awake?”
Eyes blue as the sky, unclouded and clear. His bright, red hair swayed with the gentle wind…
And just what was Tatsumi doing, laying there on the grass as he waxed poetic about the beautiful young man that happened to be his teammate’s brother? He needed to get a hold of himself.
First, his memory. He recalled going out for a stroll in the nearby ES parks when his leg had suddenly begun to ache, thus leading him to sit on the warm patch of grass he now lay on.
Ah , he concluded, I must have fallen asleep .
And Rinne had found him, it seemed. He stood behind Tatsumi’s head, face tilted down to make eye contact and conveniently cover the otherwise blinding sun.
And silent he was, so Tatsumi supposed he awaited his answer. “Rinne-san. What are you doing here?”
Then, curiously, Rinne laughed, fishing his hands out of his pockets as he crouched down, knees on either side of Tatsumi’s head. “What are you doing here? Not exactly my first choice of place to take a nap.”
Hm. Why indeed. Tatsumi was having a hard time trying to think of a reason as Rinne started to poke at the two moles on his face. Incessantly. Was it odd to find such childish act cute?
But Rinne was waiting, cyan eyes wide with interest. Perhaps wonder, even, should Tatsumi be a little self indulgent in his thoughts for a moment.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I just thought I would lounge in the sun for a bit.”
“Oh yeah? You trying to tan, Tatsu-chan?”
Tatsu-chan . Tatsumi had finally been graced with his very own infamous Rinne-nickname. Though most other victims of the phenomenon seemed to regard theirs with disdain, Tatsumi could not help the burst of warmth the name brought within his heart. He must have flushed, too, as he suddenly felt hot beneath the glaring sun and equally hot colour of Rinne’s fiery hair. In this sense, he really did seem like the sun. Then Tatsumi began to wonder if Rinne had a nickname for himself as he did for everyone else. Something related to sunshine, perhaps? It would be fitting, if not too cheesy… Rin-chan?
“Hey, hey! Are you falling asleep on me?” the pokes on his cheek turned into little taps of the palm.
“Rin-chan,” Tatsumi blurted out eloquently, quietly, but clearly not quiet enough if Rinne’s surprised expression was anything to go by. Now his own face felt hot, too. He really should take off this accursed, red cardigan. Oh dear, the man was everywhere, wasn’t he? He resided in the sun, in the wool of his clothing, the burning of his cheeks… What more was to come? Would he next make a home for himself within the crevices of his heart? Oh dear. Instead of taking responsibility for his own absurdity, Tatsumi shut his eyes, allowing his head to tilt sideways as he feigned sleep.
“Ta—Tatsu-chan? Hey—I know you’re not asleep!” Rinne’s voice was light with joy, and he cackled as he shook Tatsumi’s definitely-sleeping shoulders. Damn his lovely voice and contagious laughter, it made the corners of Tatsumi’s lips twitch up into a tiny, quaking smile. “Yer tryin’ not to laugh, I know you’re awake~”
Damn that man. Tatsumi was doomed. He opened his eyes, only to immediately wince and squint, right arm rising to cover the radiant sun up in the sky from his field of vision. Having had enough, he finally sat up, and Rinne followed suit and rose to his feet. Tatsumi looked up, and noticed the hand he was offered. Smiling politely, he took it and stood up with a slight stumble; his leg needing a little adjusting to the oh so difficult task of keeping him upright. Oh, right, their hands. Tatsumi quickly let go of Rinne’s cold, inviting hand and sighed, “thank you, Rinne-san.”
For whatever reason, Rinne’s shining smile faltered, but he said nothing. Instead, he stuck one hand into his jean pocket and turned with his other making a makeshift cap above his eyes, humming thoughtfully. Then, he turned back to Tatsumi, speaking with a pleasant lilt to his voice, “I forgot to say—I’m here ‘cause you went missing, so we better hurry back before we get a rescue party sent for the both of us.”
“Missing?” Tatsumi blinked, following behind Rinne as he began guiding him past trees of green, “the sun hasn’t moved much since I first went out on my walk… it couldn’t have been more than an hour ago since I last saw everyone.”
Rinne hummed, “it’s been…” he paused, even in his stride, and Tatsumi waited beside him as he mentally calculated. “… about three hours, Tatsu-chan. Apparently, ALKALOID was s’posed to have dance practice or something like an hour and a half ago. They were all super worried about ya, ‘specially ‘cause you never bring your phone anywhere with ya. Worried enough to ask lil’ old me and my team for help.”
Tatsumi burnt once again, this time out of guilt and shame. He truly hadn’t meant to fall asleep like he had, much less worry everyone. Okay, it really was getting too hot in here. He promptly took off his cardigan, folding it neatly over his left arm.
“So, yeah. But seems like I’m the only one who thought to look through the spooky ES jungles; lucky me~” He grinned, glancing over the glum Tatsumi, who felt too regretful to notice his comment, “who would’ve thought our prim and proper Tatsu-chan would’ve been out here, napping on some—” he cut himself off abruptly, face twisted into a frown, and halted suddenly.
Oblivious, Tatsumi continued to walk, only stopping when Rinne pulled him by the wrist. Blinking, he stumbled back, tripping and falling back into his strong arms. He opened his mouth to speak, but found his voice to have escaped him, leaving him a silent fool with eyes wide and ears red. Red.
“Tatsu-chan.” his face was so close, Tatsumi could feel his hot breath hit his skin, enveloping his face. Red . “You’re hurt,” he said.
What? Tatsumi blinked, suddenly broken out of the trance those beautiful, beautiful eyes had stirred. “What?” he uttered dumbly. Then, Rinne moved to face him and sat the both of them on the grassy ground, Tatsumi’s back against a tree. He backed away slightly to then delicately lift Tatsumi’s knee, only to freeze as it caused a grunt of pain to sound in front of him.
“Your leg,” Rinne commented slowly and softly, as if he worried that his usual sharp voice would somehow harm those faulty nerves etched deep into Tatsumi’s injury, “you’re forcing yourself to walk through the pain. Why didn’t ya tell me?”
How observant he was. Learning this only served to charm Tatsumi further. Regardless of the warmth blooming in his chest, however, he shook his head, giving a kind yet strained smile, “I appreciate your concern, Rinne-san, but I’m alright. My leg has been like this for a while now, so I’m quite used to it.”
“And I’m not sure walking on it’ll help ya heal at all.”
“It’s been healed for a long time. All I have now is… phantom pain.”
Rinne’s eyes narrowed, and his hands absentmindedly massaged down the leg while he mused, “now that ya say that, I do remember seeing Mayoi-chan carry you on his back a few times, even when he’s got such scrawny little arms… makes sense if it was ‘cause you were hurting.”
Finding himself wanting to defend his teammate’s honour, Tatsumi opened his mouth, a defensive reply barely making it on his tongue when a sharp pain in his knee caused him to yelp instead, “o—ow! Rinne-san!”
And Rinne jumped, staring down at his own hands in bewilderment, as if he had just realised what they had been doing. “Oops! My bad.” he rubbed the spot as an apology. “But anyway, seeing that made me wonder—is Mayoi-chan really that strong? Or is Tatsu-chan just really light?”
Tatsumi frowned, “huh?”
Nothing could have prepared him for what came next.
As if the young spring breeze had possessed him, Rinne swept Tatsumi right off his feet in a swift bridal carry, and time seemed to slow as Tatsumi floated into his arms, the wind rushing past his ears, making way for the blazing shimmer of Rinne’s sunny smile. “Whuh—huh?!” Tatsumi sputtered, arms instinctively rising to encircle around Rinne’s neck as the man began to continue their trek back to modern society.
“Hmm,” Rinne’s hands squeezed a little where they held on beneath Tatsumi’s knees and shoulders, “as much as I’d like to show off and talk about how strong I am… Tatsu-chan is pretty light after all! Lighter than my lil’ bro, at least.”
Silence overtook them for a minute or so, until Tatsumi sighed fondly and finally relaxed, resting his cheek against Rinne’s collarbone with a real smile, “you’re almost like a prince, Rinne-san.”
“Yeah? Then does that make ya the damsel in distress?”
“I’d hardly call this being in distress. I just feel…” he averted his gaze bashfully, “oh no, nevermind. I’m getting ahead of myself.”
But it was too late, Rinne was curious now. “Hmm? Hmm? What is it, Tatsu-chan? Don’t get all shy on me now! What are ya feelin’?” Tatsumi wondered if this was his way to check up on him, that teasing him was his way of making sure he was okay… Perhaps he really was getting ahead of himself with these selfish thoughts.
“Well,” his self-indulgent thinking somehow converted itself to bravery, and he smoothly spoke, “I feel like I understand how all those fairy tale princesses—” fall in love so easily , is what he would have said, had Rinne not suddenly begun sprinting before leaping above a rushing stream, unconsciously holding Tatsumi’s body closer as he did so.
“Phew!” He then whistled, shaking off but a single drop of sweat from his forehead with a bright, charming, charming smile, “sorry about that. I think we’re gonna start running from here. Also, what were ya saying?”
Tatsumi blinked, his grip around Rinne’s neck tightening as they sped up, “no, um… nothing.” with that shot of adrenaline now gone as fast as it came, his courage completely plummeted. Instead, as he closed his eyes against the wind, he tried not to think of how attractive that leap had been, nor of how his heart was most definitely not only racing due to the rush.
But as all good things did, this too had to come to an end. Eventually, the pair reached their exit and slowed as they approached the crowd gathered in front of the Starmony dorms. Sensing that their parting was near, Tatsumi leaned further into Rinne, inhaling his hot honey scent to remember. A little souvenir of this dreamy afternoon.
“Tattsun-senpai!”
“Tatsumi-san!”
“Tatsumi-senpai!”
His poor teammates. How could he have worried them so? Tatsumi lifted his hand and gave them a reassuring smile. A smile that said I’m okay .
Beside those three stood the rest of Crazy:B. Niki who looked like he was about to pass out from overexertion, Kohaku who simply sighed with relief, and HiMERU who avoided his gaze the moment their eyes met—though the slight sag of his shoulders betrayed his true thoughts.
Tatsumi’s smile widened into something a little happier. These were people who truly cared for his well-being. Friends. Family .
Rinne seemed to sense what he was thinking, and he whispered, “Ai-chan almost cried, ya know? And even though my lil’ bro was comforting him, he didn’t seem any less scared. Mayoi-chan panicked at first, too, but he took the lead fast.”
This all seemed like things Rinne would say to tease them, but the fact that he had said them so quietly that only Tatsumi would hear proved that he had truly just wanted him and him alone to know. As if saying you should be proud . And yeah, Tatsumi was proud. But at the moment he mostly felt guilty. Especially because while he was getting all giddy, mentally gushing over Amagi Rinne’s otherworldly beauty, his friends had been out here searching for him for over an hour, worrying themselves sick. All while he had napped and been treated with utmost chivalry by the man he… had a crush on?
Hold on, since when? When did this even start? Tatsumi had no time to think it over as ALKALOID made their way to him. But they were behaving strangely; Aira was red in the face and fidgeting with his sleeves, Mayoi kept opening and closing his mouth like he kept hesitating to say something, and Hiiro stared with wide, puzzled eyes. Silent, calculating. That was the look he tended to give before asking a potentially career-ending question.
And it seemed like Rinne had picked up on the cue, for he suddenly stiffened, jaw falling open as he attempted to prevent the unstoppable force known as Amagi Hiiro from his painfully curious mouth and innocent puppy eyes. “Ah—!” is all he managed to shout as it happened.
Hiiro—with completely good intentions, as always—asked, “Tatsumi-senpai, are you dating my brother?”
… Silence.
Tatsumi would have exploded on the spot if not for the fact that Rinne was still holding him and would have been caught in the explosion and died, as well. Also, because he heard an adorable squeak which took all his attention away from Hiiro and instead to his brother, who was looking uncharacteristically embarrassed at the moment—and as a result, absolutely a sight for sore eyes.
His mouth was still agape from his failed attempt of stopping this madness from ever erupting, and his entire face burnt a red almost as intense as the deep shade of his hair. His eyes shook with every thump of his speeding heartbeat—which Tatsumi could very much hear from beneath where his ear lay—and his hands became clammy, to which he responded to by tightening his grip on Tatsumi. Perhaps out of fear that he would slip and fall out of his arms.
Alright, enough admiration. It was time for Tatsumi to take charge this time. The silence had gone on for too long and was now absolutely unbearable, after all.
“Hiiro-san,” he somehow said without a stutter, “why do you ask?”
“Because,” Hiiro blinked, “he’s carrying you like they do in those dramas I watch with Aira—mmpf?!” The muffling at the end was courtesy of Aira, who placed a very, very late hand against Hiiro’s mouth and gave a sheepish smile.
“This is a waste of HiMERU’s time.” There it was; the tension breaker. Everyone let out a breath they hadn’t realised they’d been holding. “Amagi, won’t you put down that… Kazehaya Tatsumi already? HiMERU agreed to be treated to lunch by you, not whatever this… this awful game of hide-and-seek has been.”
Then Rinne and Tatsumi exchanged a look, lost in each other’s eyes as Rinne slowly, gingerly set Tatsumi down, carefully setting his red cardigan around his shoulders.
“Ah, thank you,” he mumbled, feeling a lot more embarrassed about having been carried this whole time now that he was back on his own two feet again. Wait, had he really been carried this whole way? Was he not too heavy…? He quickly added on, “I’m very sorry that you had to carry me all this way, it must have been quite the, um, strain. On your arms.” his big, strong arms .
“Eh? Ah, nah, it’s fine. Like I said, you’re real light. And I’m real strong! So, nothin’ to worry about.” he flexed his arms for emphasis, “seriously, I forgot I was even carrying ya.”
Well, that much they both did. Or perhaps the better explanation would be that they were too comfortable remaining the way they were, breaths almost intermingling, hearts aligned…
“Okay,” Kohaku’s voice cut into the strange air, “I’m going to the car. There is no way I’m stickin’ around to watch those two flirt.”
“HiMERU is inclined to do the same. You too, Shiina. Let’s go.”
“There’ll be AC in the car, right? Sorry Rinne-kun, I’m going ahead!”
And with that, Crazy:B was gone. The protagonists of the afternoon glanced over at the remaining three, and Mayoi smiled nervously before grabbing the children and dragging them into the building behind them. Tatsumi chuckled at the sight.
“So…” Rinne’s voice made him turn right back around, giving his undivided attention to the sheepish lilt in his voice and tender eyes, “are you fine now?”
“Huh?”
“Your leg, I mean.”
“Oh!” Tatsumi nodded violently, “yes, yes, my leg. It’s… it's alright. I mean, I’m alright now. Thanks to you, Rinne-san.”
“Cool. Glad to hear it.” Rinne nodded, staring at the ground. Then he stared past Tatsumi at the building. Then he turned his head and watched his teammates walk off to the parking lot.
“So, um…” Rinne’s head snapped back as Tatsumi spoke again. He took notice of his gentle purple eyes, the hesitant pull of his smile, “HiMERU-san said you were treating them to lunch? Are you driving them somewhere?”
Rinne could not help the fond smile from forming on his face despite himself, “ah, yeah. It’s Merumeru’s car, but I’m gonna be driving it.”
“I see,” Tatsumi nodded politely, and then his smile shifted into something a little more timid, “I’ve got a car of my own, too. If you’d like… I could take you out for a drive? Whenever you’re free. If you’d like.”
Rinne’s heart soared. He could not begin to understand why. “Yeah. yeah, sure—sounds like fun. I’ll definitely hold ya to that, Tatsu-chan.” He began to back away. Thus came their reluctant parting. “Well then. I’ll see ya around?” he saluted, giving one last goofy grin.
“But of course! Let’s meet again soon; this time, without me being asleep for a large portion of the time…”
Rinne laughed heartily as he walked on, waving away. It was goodbye.
And see you next time .
.
.
.
Rinne searched tirelessly for a hint of mint hair, to no avail. Finally, he stopped for a breather, needing a moment to think. If he were Kazehaya Tatsumi, where would he go?
The distant chirping of birds caught his attention. Rinne’s head turned to the faraway park with a pensive frown. Tatsumi did seem like the type to enjoy walks in nature, if not the type to absentmindedly walk into forests and get lost.
Rinne straightened his posture and began walking onto grass, hands in his pockets to look as casual as possible, should he run into Tatsumi soon. How could no one else think of the park as an option? Not only was it huge, but also sickeningly pleasant. And green. Rinne briefly wondered if he would be able to spot Tatsumi amidst all this green. He quickly shook the silly thought away—of course he would. Tatsumi wasn’t grass.
Anyway, this search was clearly making him go insane. And it seemed like the world was at last ready to show him mercy, for he finally spotted a large figure in the corner of his eye. He turned, then jumped at the sight of a large pool of red surrounding a body.
But it was just a cardigan. He sighed in relief, making his way over, “what do we have here~?”
There lay Sleeping Beauty in all his minty glory, eyes shut against the blinding sun as he slept on peacefully, blissfully unaware of the trouble his disappearance had caused.
Rinne wanted to feel frustrated at the fact that he had just wasted his precious time searching for a guy who napped alone without a care in the world, but in all honesty, the sight mostly served to comfort him.
He stopped by the sleeping man’s head, shoulders hunched over to get a good look at his upside-down face.
Well, he was beautiful. Very beautiful, even. The most beautiful Rinne had ever seen him be.
He lifted a hand from his pocket, only for it to still in the air, unsure. He knew everyone was waiting for them, he knew everyone was worried, but…
Somehow, he couldn’t bear to disturb this peace. He stuck his hand back into his pocket with a sigh, and continued to watch. To wait. To admire.
And eventually, Tatsumi’s eyes fluttered open.