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It was the second to the last day of the winter break, and Nanase had informed his parents and his siblings that by tomorrow, he and Rin would be going back to Tokyo before the actual day of the school day.
It would mean that tonight, it would be Rin's last day to stay with him in his room. Nanase, who took the edge side of the bed, lay on his side to face Rin, who was already fast asleep. He had seen Rin's stoic face many times, but also during the night, he often saw Rin's peaceful face. Nanase bit his lips in embarrassment and in happiness. The two of them had yet to tell Nanase's parents that they started dating during the New Year. They decided not to tell everyone yet because Nanase was giving Rin the time to process things.
After all, Rin had only known football his entire life. He did not know anything about accepting romantic love and acknowledging the feeling before.
Nanase found his hand reaching to touch Rin's fringes, and the other boy stirred a bit without waking up. Nanase smiled as he recalled what happened that led them to this.
During the first day of the school year in April, Nanase was running towards the entrance of the new school. He was an incoming freshman, and he did not want to be late. When he got inside the campus proper, he ran along the long stretch of the cemented road which was lined with cherry trees. The school had an abundance of cherry trees with their pink blossoms seeking attention. But what caught Nanase's eyes as he ran was another guy with dark green hair, the guy who was passing by across him. Unlike him, the other guy was calmly walking. As he walked, pink petal showers fell on him, like flower girls throwing rose petals at a bride walking down the aisle during her wedding march. The scene was so beautiful that it immediately captivated Nanase, and he gasped at such beauty. All around them, all the other students were either walking or running, but it seemed time stopped for Nanase.
It was the first time he saw Itoshi Rin. And in that instant, he had fallen in love.
But he did not know what year level the dark green-haired boy was, but the thought of the other boy never left him. To his surprise, he found out that the boy and he were walking towards the same classroom. Nanase gulped when the other boy looked at him with a scowl. Nanase immediately asked if the other guy would be entering the classroom, but the said guy just entered silently without uttering anything.
Nanase went to him and introduced himself, and the other guy introduced himself briefly. Nanase was astounded to learn of the other guy's name and asked if he was related to the U-20 midfielder, Itoshi Sae. With the mention of Sae's name, Nanase noticed that Rin's eyes narrowed, like he was angry. Nanase apologized and awkwardly looked for another place to stay inside the classroom.
He noticed that though Rin was very distant towards his classmates, the latter was not the stereotypical emo guy who sat at the last chair at the back by the window, or the last chair at the back near the door. Instead, Rin was seated in one of the seats in the middle. Nanase noted that the other guy did not care to talk with the other people who tried to talk to him. Nanase, meanwhile, was seated at the second row near the front. He was seated beside the pink-haired boy with a one-sided braid and with crooked teeth, Kurona Ranze, and they immediately became friends.
During that first week, their class rep told the classmates to find their clubs to join. And as Nanase was a forward in his middle school soccer team, he enlisted in the soccer team in the new school. Kurona also joined the team. To Nanase's surprise, Rin also joined. It was then revealed that he, indeed, was Itoshi Sae's younger brother, but Rin did not want to talk about it. In fact, he preferred to be alone and would not want to deal with the others of his age group, or even with the sempais in the team. Despite that, Nanase and Kurona, but most especially Nanase, would still talk to Rin even if Rin only gave short replies.
To their surprise also, Rin was a monster in the field. Not only were his shots accurate, he also seemed to know where to position himself so he could get the best pass. While Rin became immediately a starter after the tryout, Nanase and Kurona were substitutes, until after the Interhigh. Also, Rin became the second striker at that time, as their main was a sempai. But weeks after the students came back from the summer break, the sempai's family decided to move to the US, so the sempai left school. In effect, Rin became the main striker despite being a freshman. For Nanase who played left wing, Rin becoming a superstar in school was so cool, and he dwelled on his hopeless crush even more.
Nothing of importance happened after the Interhigh and the weeks following the return of the students from the summer break. Nanase realized him pushing his luck, with Rin giving him the cold shoulder, was futile, so he decided to keep his distance and work on himself. It was only when Yukimiya-sempai asked about Rin and Nanase not talking to each other that the issue was brought up. Thankfully for Nanase, he remembered how Kurona answered the sempai. Nanase was busy studying hard because he was simply scouted by the school, and that he had realized he should make the best of what he had.
It was true. Nanase learned from a basketball team classmate that the starting lineup was in danger because the starters had flunking grades, and they needed good grades to compete for the winter games. Nanase realized that as someone who was scouted by the school, he had to work his ass off not only within the team but also with his studies, for the school financed his schooling and his boarding expenses in the school dorm. So, he could not afford to lose his spot as a student athlete. But what he later saw was Rin coming in the library to study on the same table where he and Kurona usually studied (despite sitting from afar). Nanase remembered Kurona talking to Rin, and he did not know what Kurona told Rin. But eventually, Rin sat a few seats away from them instead of in the opposite side of the long table.
He did not know what changed for Rin, but as Nanase looked at the sleeping Rin in front of him, he let out a smile, silently thankful that BFF Kurona was always there to help him.
Still, nothing happened despite Rin seemingly "closing" the distance between them after Kurona talked to him. Nanase knew that Rin was still the apathetic classmate who did not want to talk to the others in class or in the team, but was still trying to study alone in the library a few distances from them. But it was when Nanase realized that Rin was trying to master English because Rin always had a top score in class for that subject alone. As for why Rin burned the midnight oil for English class, he had no idea.
And finally, that day before the winter break. Nanase found the courage to talk to Rin again, and it was only because he knew he would miss his crush that he impulsively invited Rin over for the winter break in his hometown. To his surprise, not only did Rin accept the invitation, Rin also invited him over to his apartment in Tokyo. Nanase remembered being so gleeful that he smiled so wide and excitedly thanked Rin.
And he remembered berating himself afterwards for acting like a high school girl who is in love. But he was so excited to bring Rin with him and introduced the soccer ace to his family.
Nanase really had no idea what happened to Rin. But when Rin invited him to his apartment, the host suggested that Nanase take the bed, as he will be sleeping on the futon on the floor in the room. Nanase remembered Rin seemingly flustered, like he was avoiding eye contact before turning to set his sleeping arrangement on the floor. He also remembered his face feeling very hot at the thought of sleeping on the Itoshi Rin's bed, with the Itoshi Rin in the room with him.
He also remembered their convo that night when Nanase initiated small talk. He told Rin that he had never experienced sleepovers in middle school, and it was the first time he did it in a classmate's living space. Nanase also shared that the student athletes financed by the school and lodging at the school dorm were required to sleep in the dorm during the weekdays, and can go out during the weekends. He also heard of many instances of Nagi going with Reo during the weekends, and he knew Nagi was always in his room during the weekdays because the ever lazy genius would get inside his room and shut in after dinner. Nanase remembered Rin not saying anything about it, but when he asked Rin what Kurona told him about staying near them when they studied, Rin remarked that close to where he first sat where lots of mosquitoes, for that part there near the long table was a bit dark. Nanase remembered laughing, knowing too well that there indeed where lots of mosquitoes especially when the weather was hot. But he did not know that Rin would fall for that speech, and he was a bit thankful again for Kurona's assistance.
His thoughts flew back to the present when he realized that Rin groaned and shifted on the bed, this time facing the wall, his back against Nanase.
"I may have shared too much, huh, Rin-san?" Nanase thought as he leaned forward to wrap his arm around Rin.
His thoughts flew back to his memories when Rin did not stir awake after Nanase back-hugged him.
He felt happy being with Rin here in his hometown, and despite how Rin looked, the stoic ace was willing to experience things outside of his comfort zone. Nanase was delighted to have Rin help him in the kitchen, and was even more so when Rin asked if he could try his hand cooking with Nanase's guidance. But he had the least idea that that day was the day when Rin fell in love with him. Nanase was worried as he applied first aid on Rin when the latter burned his hand after holding the hot ladle by its bowl. He only knew of Rin's feelings a few nights ago during the new year.
But what excited Nanase, too, during Rin's winter vacation with him was their exchanging gifts. It was already past Christmas when they arrived, so when they strolled around buying gifts for his family, Nanase included a fancy ear hook for Rin, the kind where you'd hook to the helix of your ear and pierce it at the earlobe piercing. It was shaped like a dragon, and Nanase thought it would look fabulous on his crush. But poor Rin who never tried having his ears pierced had to get one, and it was only after he was ready to wear the ear hook that Rin wore it on his left ear. Nanase remembered feeling satisfied to see Rin wearing it on the afternoon of the New Year, and it levelled up Rin's badassery even more.
On the second day of the new year, Rin gave Nanase a duplicate key to his apartment. Rin confessed that he had asked permission from the tenant way before that he'd be duplicating his door keys, stating that he would give it to his nii-chan even though it was a total lie. Rin knew it would probably take years for him and his nii-chan to patch up, and he had no idea to whom he would give his keys. A part of him wished that he could somehow give it to someone who would stay with him. Rin confessed that he was envious of Nanase having people who missed him and who waited for him to come home, while he would only go home to a desolate apartment. He also remembered that talk of Nagi going with Reo on the weekends, and the apathetic Rin who still somehow heard rumors, learned that Reo probably had Nagi sleep in his luxury apartment in his personal building.
Nanase remembered his face getting hot when Rin confessed the reason for the key duplication. He realized that Rin wanted someone who'd wait for him in his apartment even if it's only during the weekends, and he wanted it to be Nanase. The country boy nodded excitedly as he received the key, and he looked at it with pride. Not only did Rin used a fancy kind of key, it was a key intended only for Nanase. Nanase confessed that being Rin's boyfriend and having the keys to his apartment were the best birthday gifts he had received this year. For Nanase was born on January 1. As Rin had given it inside Nanase's room, the country boy shamelessly lounged forward and kissed Rin for the first time.
Nanase remembered Rin's shocked reaction to the kiss, and the ace striker said he only know how a kiss looked like whenever he saw some slight kissing scenes in the horror movies that he watched. And to Nanase's surprise, Rin grabbed him by his nape, and Rin closed their distance with another kiss.
Nanase grinned when he remembered that kiss, and he accidentally squealed behind Rin's back. He realized his folly when Rin stirred and asked if Nanase was all right.
Nanase watched as Rin shifted to looking back at him.
"What's wrong, Nijirou?" Rin asked.
"I just... remembered the things that led me to be your lover," Nanase whispered.
Itoshi Rin's lover.
It had a nice and romantic ring to it. The stoic Itoshi Rin got himself a lover over the winter break, and during the New Year. And Nanase got himself a boyfriend on his birthday.
"Come here, my Country Boy," Rin whispered groggily as he wrapped an arm around Nanase to bring the other boy closer.
"I love ya, Rin-san," Nanase confessed again. "I can't stop confessin' to ya."
"Drop the honorifics, Nijirou," Rin replied. "We're the same age. Or rather... our birthdays are just months apart."
"Sorry," Nanase apologized. "Old habits die hard, ya know?"
And Rin replied, "I love you too. So much."
The two of them finally went into Dreamland in each other's arms.
--end--