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The night was cold.
Giyuu realises it when he looks down at his hands resting against his sides. His fogged-up breath covers the view of the two tickets clenched tightly in his fist.
He leaned against a street lamp, the light from above making him all too aware of the shadows of the people who walked past: A boy, and then two older men, and an old lady. The lists them off in his head, nervousness and some sort of excitement mixing up in his gut as he anxiously waits to see a figure that is all too familiar.
Giyuu looks back up, brushing midnight-coloured bangs to the side, twirling some strands around a finger as he recalls.
‘It was today, right? I’m here on time–...could I have gone to the wrong area–’
The thought makes Giyuu look around, this time much more nervously than excitedly. His eyes graze every sight he sees: over the movie theatre, over the sidewalks, over the roads, over that one boy holding a massive bouquet–
Giyuu does a double take, looking at Kyoujurou as he holds a large bouquet of lilies. Pure white, and practically glowing underneath the warm light of the street lamp.
“Hello, Tomioka!” Kyoujurou exclaimed excitedly, coming up to him to give him a soul-crushing side hug. It makes Giyuu distantly think about what an actual hug from him would feel like as he wheezes out.
“..Hi, Rengoku–” He’s immediately met with the bouquet being pushed into his arms, as Kyoujurou says happily.
“I got you these, do you like them?” He asks, bringing up a hand to hold onto the petal of one of the lilies, looking up at Giyuu with wide, expectant eyes. It makes Giyuu stutter, and he says hesitantly, looking to the side in a slightly bashful manner.
“They’re... Nice, I like them..” He pauses for a few moments, before whispering. “Thankyou, Kyoujurou.” Kyoujurou lets out a shy laugh, trying to hide the growing flush on his tan skin. He just brings up a hand to pat Giyuu’s shoulder, saying smoothly.
“Well of course! I need to impress my date, after all.” The stupid grin that shows on his face is supposed to make Giyuu roll his eyes, it’s supposed to make Giyuu think the boy in front of him is completely arrogant, too stupid. Yet for some reason, the corners of his lips quirk up just enough for it to be considered a smile–albeit a small one.
Giyuu looks back over to Kyoujurou when he’s schooled his face into an expression of nonchalance, and he says, looking down at the tickets.
“Are you ready to go in? The movie is supposed to start in a minute.” He says bluntly, his voice as level as he can get it. His grip on the bouquet tightened slightly.
Kyoujurou snaps out of whatever he was trying to do, and he says, looking over to the movie theatre.
“Ah, yes! Come on Tomioka, let’s go!” He laughs, patting the small of Giyuu’s back as he encourages Giyuu to walk beside him. Giyuu just lets out a small huff of amusement, but he covers it up by feigning tiredness and shaking his head.
---
The movie was alright, one of those exciting action movies where the main character is an objectively attractive hero who just happened to be ‘the chosen one,’ and he saves the girl or blah blah blah– to be honest Giyuu wasn’t looking at the movie.
He was looking at Kyoujurou, at the way the light of the large screen reflected onto his features. The way his eyes raked over the screen–trying to take everything in, the way he held his breath during the more intense scenes–just him.
For Giyuu, it was easy to shut down and close up when meeting new people, yet for some reason, Kyoujurou was like a completely open book. There was always something about him showing how he felt. Sometimes he could be so expressive it gave people complete whiplash when talking to Giyuu afterwards.
So when he asked Giyuu out a few days ago, it caught him completely off guard.
If Giyuu had to compare Kyoujurou to anyone, it would be to the main character. He’s good-looking, well-liked and overall one of the best people he’s ever met. But Giyuu knows damn well he isn’t any damsel in distress–hell, he’s not even a damsel.
So why him?
When the credits start to roll and the lights turn on again, Giyuu looks down at the bouquet resting in his lap, and he hopes that the questions that are circling in his stomach don’t crawl up his throat. In the corner of his eye, he can see how Kyoujurou leans down to try and see Giyuu’s face through his dark, thick bangs, and when they make eye contact he says excitedly.
“What did ‘ya think of the movie, pretty cool, eh?” He laughs heartily, leaning against Giyuu’s side as he asks. He can feel the heat of the other man, even through the many layers between them, and Giyuu has to suppress the urge to shudder and lean in as well.
“..Well, I mean, it isn’t different from other movies like that, right?” He mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Kyoujurou gasps, and he says, practically splaying himself across Giyuu as he sniffles light-heartedly.
“?! How could you say that? This movie is ahead of it’s time, it’s so–” Before he can delve into a full-depth analysis about the movie that they just finished two minutes ago Giyuu stands up, huffing out.
“Come on, let’s go,” He starts, grabbing the bouquet and making a move to walk off. Yet he pauses, and as he turns to look over at Kyoujurou, he sighs and holds his hand out hesitantly. “...Let’s go.” Kyoujurou’s eyes light up, and he immediately grabs onto Giyuu’s hand and leans against his side. Now delving into that silly analysis of his.
They leave the theatre, hand in hand–Giyuu is holding his hand–He can feel Kyoujurou’s breath against his neck as he speaks slowly, trying not to disturb the passerby who walks past them with his passionate talking.
Unwillingly, Giyuu has leaned into the warmth of his date. And suddenly, the night doesn't seem too cold anymore when next to him. When they stop in front of Giyuu’s house. The lights are off and everyone inside is asleep or planning to. Kyoujurou’s chatter stops, sulking a bit as he whispers.
“I had a nice time tonight, and, um,” He points towards the flowers, that shy blush returning once again. “I hope you like those as well… “
Giyuu nods, and Kyoujurou moves to turn away, to hide that stupid colour on his cheeks that seems to glow even brighter underneath a nearby street lamp. His heart leaps into his chest, finally vomiting up the question that has been lurking all night.
“Rengoku, I–.. um,” He practically rushes out, and before Kyoujurou can turn around to face him fully, he grits out the rest of the question. An embarrassed flush showed up on his pale features. “...why? I mean, why me?”
The question makes Kyoujurou pause, and he lets out a huff of amusement, saying as if it were obvious.
“I mean, why not you?”
Such a simple answer, for some reason, makes Giyuu’s heartache, as if it wanted to say back: ‘Yeah, same.’ Giyuu just clears his throat, and he says instead, bringing up a hand to push his bangs to the side nervously. “Like, I just thought you’d like someone more like.. You.”
Kyoujurou tilts his head to the side in confusion, and after a few moments, he lets out a burst of hearty laughter, walking back up to Giyuu and bringing up a soothing hand to rest on his shoulder.
“Should I say everything that I like about you then?” He asks light-heartedly, looking down between them at the bouquet in Giyuu’s hands. Giyuu flushes, and immediately he stutters out. “No–no you don’t have to–”
“I like your dark blue eyes, your midnight hair, your pale skin, your low voice, the way you always hide in the corner of each room and yet my eyes always seem to follow you–” Giyuu let’s out a very embarrassing squeak, bringing up a hand to cover Kyoujurou’s mouth. His voice cracks with a whisper.
“Okay, I get it–I get it!” Seeing his pale face turn pink all of a sudden makes Kyoujurou let out a muffled chuckle, and he brings up a free hand to grab onto Giyuu’s hands, his fingers sliding in between Giyuu’s and bringing his hand down in between them.
“For a while, I used to see you in the night sky. I was like, surely you were haunting me, maybe you were into witchcraft or somethin’, I don't know.” Giyuu sends Kyoujurou a weak glare at that, but he doesn't stop him from talking. “But then I realised, honestly? I wanted you so bad it made me sick. And for a while after that, I hoped that one day I could spend a night staring at your pale skin, instead of the moon.”
Giyuu stammers, bringing a hand up over his mouth and mumbling.
“Rengoku–” “–Kyoujurou!” He cuts Giyuu off, his grip on Giyuu’s hand tightening. It takes Giyuu a few slow moments to build up the courage to whisper.
“..okay, Kyoujurou…” He seems to forget what he was going to do as he sees the way Kyoujurou’s face lights up upon hearing his name fall off his lips. “..Uh, um… well, I'm flattered that you think that.” He starts, yet the blush on his cheeks shows that he’s much more than flattered.
“I just–thank you, for giving me a chance..” Giyuu decides to say, his gaze averted as some sick mixture of bashfulness and plain embarrassment makes a mellow feeling rise in him, closing up his throat. Kyoujurou shakes his head and he says simply.
“Nonsense, thank you for even agreeing! I was so convinced that you were going to say no,” Kyoujurou laughs, a hint of relief in his tone as he finishes, "I'm just glad tonight went well... And um, I look forward to the chance that we could do this again?” He says, in a slightly disheartened manner as he asks silently:
‘Would you like to go on another?’
Giyuu raises his gaze, and he stupid, giddy smile threatens to show on his face, his lips twitching as he nods. “Yeah, ‘d like that.”
Kyoujurou nods back in return, and he turns away, as he huffs out: “I’ll text you when I get home!”
There’s a beat of silence in between them, and Kyoujurou makes a move to walk off, but then something soft grazes his cheek– a kiss. He spins around, looking back at Giyuu, whose face is practically painted pink.
“You–you kissed me!” He sputters, closing his eyes and bringing his hands up to his cheeks, feeling the burn under his skin. Giyuu can't help but let out a scoff of amusement, and he mumbles, taking his hands out of his pockets.
“It was my fingers,” He says, hiding his hands behind his back.
Kyoujurou stammers for a few more moments, and Giyuu just turns around, walking towards his house as he calls out.
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow..” He says just loud enough to be heard, and he opens his front door, shutting it behind himself.
After a few moments of standing in the entryway for a few moments, Giyuu lets out a shudder, leaning against the door and sliding down to the ground. Knees to his chest as he brings up a hand to cover his lips. Only a few moments later does he hear Kyoujurou yell to himself from outside.
“He kissed me–He kissed me–!” And the sound of Kyoujurou’s panicked running. Giyuu’s navy eyes shone with a glint of amusement, and he couldn't help but think the sound of Kyoujurou was music to his ears.