Work Text:
Are you two dating?"
Some days ago, Itsuki heard a girl's voice formulate that question to the boy sitting in front of him during the small break before the 3rd period. He didn't need to be a genius to know their classmate was talking about them: from a time now he could feel the gaze of others over them when they used their time slacking off together. That day specifically, they were gossiping over a new game Hanae managed to make Itsuki play with him, and now Hanae decided to use their free time to explain to the blonde how the hell he was supposed to build the new character he just got -and Hanae didn't- because it would 'be a real shame' to let it just be there. To be honest, Itsuki wasn't into gacha games that much, but they gave him an excuse to have something he could talk about with his employee.
Are you two dating?
Were they so obvious? It has been only a little over a month since they got together, but both of them decided to keep their relationship as subtle as humanly possible, and things actually didn't change that much after Hanae's confession.
Yes, it was Hanae the one who gathered all of his courage to declare his feelings to Itsuki. The blonde still had burned deep down the image of those azure blue eyes burning with desperation, under the mild light emanating from the temple behind them: the plan for that night was to greet the new year at the temple, because Hanae believed it would bring them and their business good luck for the rest of the in coming year, and Itsuki played along with it because it was the only way to make he blue-eyed shut up, besides it was convenient to pay Zenko her new-year-visit right away so they wouldn't have to come back other day and, since she would be busy helping the visitors, they wouldn't have to stay long. It was a win-win. But that idiot Hanae... He had to take Itsuki to the side after their prayers, right when the young master was willing to call it a night. He had to stand there among the trees, with his face burning in a shade of red so bright it was noticeable even with the poor light.
Itsuki was not innocent nor a fool, he knew fairly well what was happening from the very first moment Hanae opened his mouth and stumbled on his words, but waited patiently for the boy in front of him to be done putting in words the feelings they both had been guarding inside their chest for what felt like an eternity, because it was always hard for him to clearly express what was inside his mind, so he let Hanae to do it for both of them; all Itsuki had to do was to close his golden eyes and press their lips together. It was kind of embarrassing to admit it was a clumsy first kiss, but it was enough to seal the deal and pass a message: I love you too.
After that night, things stayed pretty much the same between them, except from some stolen glances and a quick kiss here and there when no one was looking; both actions that came to them as natural as breathing, as if things had always been like this. They created a third secret world where they could forget about human or youkai related work, the few minutes of free time that belonged only to them to leave everything and everyone behind and focus only on being themselves together. The only down side was precisely that last one part: they only had a few minutes a day to act like an actual couple all because Itsuki didn't want to make their relationship a public matter because of all the unsolicited attention they would get, and attention was something he could't deal with, so not even the Mononokean knew about them yet. He knew it was all his fault perfectly well and he was willing to face the consequences from the start so... Why did he feel so angry when Hanae denied they were a couple?
He wasn't mad at his boyfriend, that was for sure, but he was still bothered by the idea of other people thinking they could try to make a movement on Hanae because, to them, he was single. No, he was actually mad at Hanae for being such a likable person; if he was a little more reserved or cold, Itsuki wouldn't have to see a slowly growing pile of chocolate boxes and bags on top of his boyfriend's desk.
Valentine's day wasn't a date Itsuki would normally look forward to because of all the loud noises and complicated performances expected from a chocolate exchange; people seemed to think this was the perfect day to declare their love with sweets, and it always ended up with some happy yelling or a raw cry.
Who came up with the idea that chocolate equals love anyway?
"Ashiya-kun." Itsuki turned his head fast as lightning at the mention of his boyfriend. Hanae was just returning from the school's store with his friends, carrying their lunch and some snacks in his hands.
That sight wasn't uncommon, since the boy would go buy food for both of them almost on a daily basis, but the girl standing next to Hanae, giving him a bag with clearly home made chocolate made him frown. It was the same classmate who asked if they were dating.
So she asked just to see if she had a chance.
Normally, Hanae was the type of person who could not say 'no', his soft heart couldn't handle turning the other person down, but today was different: today he accepted the friendship chocolate and politely refused to accept the ones that clearly had other intentions.
It was hard to keep the smug smile down. Not that Itsuki was actually trying to hide it.
"Ah, you're awake." Hanae happily put the food down on Itsuki's desk and turned his chair around so they could eat together.
"Did you buy my onigiri?"
"It's inside the bag." While Itsuki looked for his food, Hanae took a sip of his bottled green tea. He recently started bringing one around when eating together. "You know, Abeno-san, you should eat something more nutritious. No wonder why you are always so low on energy."
"Huh? I won't accept criticism from someone who eats noodles on a bun."
"Don't dare to talk bad about my delicious Yakisoba-pan!"
Messing with Hanae had some charm. It was delightful to see his stubborn face defending the most dumb things as if it was the most serious matter in the world.
"I'll give you half of it to show you what you're missing!" Hanae declared, already breaking the weird 'sandwich' in half. It definitely wasn't appetizing to Itsuki, but he was willing to taste it if Hanae fed it to him; yet they were at school, with some of their classmates around them, so he had to settle with just taking the bun from the boy's hand.
Unfortunately, the blonde couldn't even take a bite of the pan, because an oblivious voice called from behind.
"Ashiyan, Abenon, come play with us!" A boy that looked like the human version of a sloth waved a box of classic Pocky in the air.
"We already have a lot of chocolate, Fusshi!" Hanae responded pointing at the boxes on his desk.
"But we are going to play the Pocky game!"
"Fusshi, if you scream like that, the teachers will know." The other boy in Hanae's friend group scolded the first one. Behind them a group of at least half of the classroom gathered in a circle.
The Pocky game... Itsuki never thought it was an actual game, but something made up for anime and manga, but now a fair amount of boys and girls were willing to play a game where the main goal was to have a chance to kiss your 'opponent'. Not that Itsuki needed that excuse to kiss Hanae, but there were some girls that declared their love to the blue-eyed, and some that also looked at Itsuki with some yearning.
A new wave of bitter jealousy rose in his chest. Not that he actually thought Hanae would accept to play with anyone, but he couldn't stand anymore the thought of random girls trying to hit on his boyfriend. Maybe it was time to get done with this.
"I don't think it's a good idea..." Hanae tried to laugh out the topic, probably because he could already picture how angry Itsuki would get if someone didn't back up and ended up kissing him.
"Eh... Why not? It's just a game." Fusshi insisted. He definitely had his head full of air.
"Because... Only people in a relationship kiss each other!"
"We'll play." Itsuki declared, standing up before the conversation could continue. He could already hear a wave of murmurs spreading around, especially among the girls. Most of them excited because 'they would have the chance to kiss Abeno-kun'.
"Are you sure?" Hanae asked him with a thin voice "I thought you don't like this kind of thing."
"I know what I'm doing."
Both boys made themselves a small place in the circle, watching their classmates take turns to grab a Pocky and put it in their mouths, waiting for someone brave or comfortable enough with the idea of kissing the other. To make things a little more exciting, the punishment for backing up was to give the other person 1500 yen (around 10 USD). Some of them were brave enough to kiss the person in front of them in the hopes of ending being a couple, some tasted luck with their friends wishing the other would prefer to lose the money before kissing. And so, after a while, the time came for Hanae to pick up a chocolate stick and put it in his mouth. The boy even closed his eyes hard, probably wishing no one would pick a try with him, but life wasn't kind with him because a girl, different from the one before, stood up and walked towards the dark haired. It was time for Itsuki to take action.
The blonde took Hanae by the chin and made him turn his face towards him and then bit the end of the Pocky. Some loud gasp filled the room, making Hanae open his eyes. It was obvious he expected anyone but Itsuki, because he tried to back away immediately but the boy took him by the arm, preventing him from running away. Sheepishly, Hanae took a bite of the cookie-only part of the stick, which Itsuki took as a sign to keep going, so he grabbed the other boy's cheek as the Pocky grew shorter.
He could feel the dozens of eyes over them, waiting for one of them to let go and declare they lost, but for once Itsuki couldn't careless about being the center of attention. His own heart was beating like crazy against his chest, and the blood it bombed muffled the sounds around him, all he could concentrate on was on this beautiful boy in front of him, in the vivid azure staring directly at gold until the very end, until they reached the last part of the cookie stick, and then both closed their eyes as their lips met, soft and sweet, with light traces of the candy they just shared together.
The kiss itself wasn't something out of the ordinary for them: something soft, sweet and small, yet their public acted as if they just made something disruptive, holding their breath in amusement.
Itsuki looked at their classmates, making sure the message was transmitted properly.
"Only I can kiss my boyfriend."
"You didn't need to do all of that, you know?" Hanae's voice took him out of his slumber. They were taking the afternoon off work, resting at the rooftop where the sunlight hit in the perfect angle to enjoy its warmth but also the wind prevented them from getting over heated. Itsuki opened his eyes to stare at the boy who had his hand over his head. He had almost fallen asleep using Hanae's thighs as a pillow.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He closed his eyes back, trying to end the conversation, only to get a small laugh from Hanae.
"If you wanted them to know so badly, you could've just say so."
"Hmmm. Do I now need a reason to kiss you?"
"No, Itsuki, you don't." It was easy to catch the mischievous tone on Hanae's voice, but Itsuki had no time to answer before feeling a soft and endearing press on his lips.
"What was that for?"
"I don't need a reason to kiss my boyfriend."