Archive of Our Own ^beta

Aoyagi Touya has always been a hard working student. He studies a lot, he tries getting the best grades he can and actually tries learning at school.

Me on the other hand, I would rather spend my energy on something that I'll actually use in life.

I don't even know how I got into college. I guess I just tried way harder than usual at my exams, turns out I'm not as stupid as my dad always says.

I met Touya when I was looking for roommates. He was a quiet, nerdy boy that somehow didn't mind having someone as me as his roommate.

I was seriously expecting us to not get along as well as we have been for... is it 2 months now? At first I was a bit hesitant, the only roommate I've ever had (I don't even know if it counts as a roommate) is my sister, Ena, and all she ever did was beat me up. We never got along. But this boy I've met only recently didn't seem to be interested in bumping heads. He just studied at our shared desk all the time and ate pre-packaged meals with me at the kitchen table, and that was basically it. No talking neccesary, though he would sometimes ask me for small favours or basic questions like 'Do you have a spare pen?' or 'Where are the paper towels?'.

But somehow I grew attached to this distant boy living with me. The little things, like his proper clothing or his perfume won me over (of course he wore perfume). We didn't even talk and he managed to get me to think about him all the time!

Touya is gorgeous. He really is. His hair is so.. elegant and how it curls at the ends... Ugh.

He made me feel something I haven't ever felt.

I tried talking to him more. I would ask him 'How was your day?' and he would say 'Fine' and then I would talk about my day, maybe encouraging him to do the same, but he never elaborated. Aoyagi just stood there, staring at me. I felt like I was talking to a wall like an idiot.

The day I became closer to Touya was the day of the exam results coming back.

We both were studying non-stop for an upcoming exam and it was a big one. Touya didn't say anything to me, but I could tell he was extremely nervous.

When we left to go take the exam I patted him on the back and said 'I'm sure you'll do great!' to try to make him feel a bit better. He smiled (first time he actually showed any emotion) and a tear rolled down his cheek. 'Thank you, Shinonome.' he responded and then left.

After a week, the results came back. 'An 83? Heeeck yes.' I would have settled for something below 70 too, so I was hyped that I finally got a grade above that.

I walked in the apartment with a spring in my step, maybe I really was learning something at this college. I expected Aoyagi to be his usual self, sitting at the laptop or studying, but he was doing neither. I went to the bedroom and I saw him in his bed (our apartment had 2 beds in a small bedroom since we couldnt afford to stay somewhere with 2 bedrooms) and he was.. crying. This man was crying.

I didn't know how to react. How do I comfort someone who has been ignoring me for so long now?

I went and got him a cup of tea and sat down on his bed. 'H-hey.. How are you doing?' No response. '..Are you sad because of the exam results?' Stupid question, I thought, of course he got a high grade, dummy. He spent so much time studying, it would be a shame if he did get a low grade.

'Dad is going to be so mad at me.'

My eyes widened. 'What? Why?'

'H-he calls me and asks how school is doing and I *hic* always respond with "I got a 90 again" and he says "study more" a..and when he calls I'll have to tell him that I got..'

'What grade did you get?'

'..82.'

HE COULDN'T BE SERIOUS. My whole life I haven't got a grade higher than 80 and now this man is telling that an 82 is not good enough.

'He won't be upset, it's still a good grade. Don't worry.'

He sniffles and takes a sip of his tea. 'Dad thinks that any grade below 90 is for "people who settle for second place". He'll definitely stop sending me money when he hears about this.'

Now I really got angry. I couldn't believe it.

'Well, you know what? Maybe you should get to party before you can't afford to do so. We're going to the karaoke place 2 blocks away in 20 minutes.'

'Huh?'

When we got ready, we exited the apartment and accidentally met our next-door neighbours. A blonde guy and a purple haired guy.

'Hi! I'm Tsukasa, nice to meet you! This is Rui, my boyfriend. What are your names?'

'Uh, I'm Akito and he's Touya.'

Tsukasa shook hands with both of us.

'We wanted to go out with some of our friends and our group kinda,, cancelled last-minute, so we were looking for someone to come with us to the karaoke place not too far from here. Would you two want to accompany us?' Tsukasa smiled, awaiting a response.

Touya made the mistake of not declining their offer. 'We were just heading there too-'

'Great! See, I told you that this would be a great idea, Ruru. Let's go!'

At the karaoke place I discovered that Touya wasn't just beautiful, he also had a mesmerizing singing voice. Add it to the list of reasons why I can't get this guy off my mind.

Rui and Tsukasa were also shocked of how talented he was.

He was a bit flustered when we all started clapping for him, so he awkwardly sat down and took a sip of his drink.

Rui and Tsukasa decided to do a duet, I had the opportunity to actually talk to Aoyagi.

'Just so you know, you sound amazing. Your singing is seriously impressive.'

'Oh, thank you. I.. actually don't sing a lot, mainly beacuse I play the piano and don't need to sing as well-'

'Wait, you play the piano?!' Everytime I found out something about him he would get even more attractive.

'Yeah, though I don't actually enjoy playing it. Dad forced me to learn to do it and now I have been playing the piano for.. around 15 years.'

'Well, do you enjoy singing more than playing the piano?'

'..Hm. I guess so.'

'Then you should do it more often!'

We got silent and watched Tsukasa and Rui finish their duet. They turned to eachother and kissed. I think they were drunk.

I was surprised that they were so comfortable.. kissing in front of people they met like 2 hours ago.

Rui got dizzy and that was our sign that we needed to go home, we were not gonna be there when Rui threw up on the carpet or something.

Tsukasa got him a glass of water and we left.

We entered our apartment and I instantly got in bed.

I couldn't stop thinking about Touya. I wanted to get to know him better. We finally talked! I wanted us to become friends.

..Really? I spent so much time thinking that he was attractive and now I want us to be friends?

I went to the living room couch to somehow get myself to stop thinking about Touya's voice. And his two-coloured hair. And.. his lips.

I found him studying at the desk. In the middle of the night.

I put on Doctor Who since it was the only good show airing at 1am.

When he got tired of his homework, he sat next to me on the couch and watched the TV for a while.

No one said anything. I was too afraid to turn my head to look at him for some reason.

'This evening was fun. Thank you for making me forget about my grade.'

'Oh, uh, don't worry about it.'

We turned to face eachother on the couch and in that moment I thought that Touya looked so vulnerable. His pyjamas, his scruffy hair and the sleep deprived look on his face made it clear that we needed to go to bed.

For some reason, we both decided not to.

I looked at his lips and his cheeks gained a rosy tint, though that might have been from the TV.

We got closer and closer.. and our lips touched.

We started making out on the couch. Touya grabbed my neck and I grabbed his waist and there we were, two people who barely know eachother making out in the middle of the night on a couch with Doctor Who playing on the tiny flatscreen TV they found in the apartment.

I'm gonna stop here. The only thing I want to add is that we both slept very well after our make-out session.

Yes, there was tongue and I can proudly say that we are not good kissers at all.

But we felt free. I always thought that two boys doing stuff reserved for couples was straight-up insane, but now I realize that it doesn't matter. Anyone can kiss anyone (with consent) and if I want to kiss Aoyagi Touya, then I will!

In the morning, we woke up in the same bed and I don't even remember moving from the couch.

'Good morning.' Aoyagi's gentle voice woke me up.

'Ugh, what time is it?'

'It's 8 am.'

'Ughhhh I don't like waking up early.'

'I usually wake up at 6 am..'

'Well, I'm clearly not as good at planning my day as you.'

'By the way, I moved you to your bed when you got too tired.. and jumped in bed with you, I think you were cold because your teeth were clacking.'

'Oh..'

'I wanted to ask.. are we together now? Is this just a fling?' Touya got up from under the blanket.

'I mean.. I think I want to explore this relationship more than.. just a kissing session.' My cheeks start burning up, either from the embarrassment I just got saying that sentence out-loud or from how warm I felt under that blanket.

Touya goes to the kitchen and I fall asleep a bit more.

At around 10 am, I hear the front door opening and I realize I should probably get out of bed as well.

On the countertop, I see a plate of pancakes drenched with maple syrup.

I see a note next to them:

'to my new boyfriend

p.s. we are dating now'