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Otoya wasn’t exactly brilliant when it came to academics. He wasn’t bad either, he just needed to study a bit more to be on par with any other student. But that was precisely the problem: he absolutely hated studying.
Because of that, he had weeks of pending study material piling up while his final exams were just around the corner. At this point, he didn’t even remember how many hours he had spent studying, his brain probably wasn’t even processing what he was reading anymore.
He decided to take a short break. He wasn’t sleeping, just resting his eyes for a few seconds while leaning his head on the dining table. He had chosen to study in the living room, thinking that his bedroom would have too many distractions.
Even in his half-asleep state, he heard the apartment door open—his roommate had arrived.
He was a nice guy. They hadn’t known each other before moving in together, but despite some not-so-great first impressions, they had managed to get along pretty well. After almost three years of living together, he could even consider him one of his best friends.
Otoya didn’t pay much attention to his arrival. He knew Karasu didn’t mind him taking naps in shared spaces, not that he would even call this a nap, just a short break before going back to studying. He could hear him close the door, place his keys in their usual spot, and take off his shoes before stepping inside, as he always did.
‘Just a few more seconds’ he thought, allowing himself some extra time to rest.
Otoya heard Karasu’s footsteps approaching but still didn’t care enough to open his eyes. His eyelids felt too heavy.
“Idiot” Karasu murmured softly, chuckling.
Was he laughing at him? Before Otoya could say anything to defend himself, he felt a hand brush aside the hair covering his forehead and then a pair of lips pressed against it.
Otoya froze in place, not knowing exactly what to do or how to react. He heard Karasu put some things down in the kitchen before heading to his room.
Still completely confused, Otoya lifted his head from the table, staring at his study materials, utterly baffled by what had just happened.
What the fuck?
It had been a very short kiss, just a brief touch, barely a second long. He could even describe it as tender. But why had Karasu kissed him out of nowhere? And more importantly, why wasn’t he even a little mad about it?
After that, Otoya stayed awake all night. But instead of studying, his mind kept replaying that moment over and over again without rest.
…
At this point, Otoya started to wonder if that kiss had actually happened or if it was just a sleep-deprived hallucination. He knew that extreme exhaustion could make his brain see things that weren’t there, especially since Karasu continued acting as if nothing had happened in the following days.
So, he decided to run a little experiment. If Karasu had done it once, maybe he would do it again, right?
He knew Karasu’s schedule, he had told him himself. So, a little before his usual arrival time, Otoya lay down on the couch in the living room and put something on the TV to make it seem more realistic.
The moment he heard his roommate’s keys unlocking the door, he shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep. It felt weird using himself as bait, but he hoped his fake sleeping act would be convincing enough.
Otoya heard Karasu’s footsteps approaching, felt his pulse quicken slightly. Karasu didn’t say anything, but he heard him pick up the remote to turn off the TV and grab one of the blankets they kept in the living room to cover him.
And then he did it.
Otoya felt his hair being gently brushed aside, followed by Karasu’s lips pressing lightly against his forehead before he left to his room to study, as usual.
So it was confirmed: Karasu was, in fact, kissing his forehead when he was asleep. What the hell was he supposed to do about that?
…
Otoya had never questioned his heterosexuality. He had been with more girls than most guys at university. He liked women, and he was sure of it. Maybe he played around too much, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t into them.
So he couldn’t be more confused by his own actions when he started “sleeping” in the living room conveniently close to Karasu’s arrival time.
It quickly became part of his routine. Every time he knew Karasu was about to arrive, he would lie on the couch and pretend to be asleep. If he wasn’t covered, Karasu would drape a blanket over him and then press a soft kiss to his forehead.
Karasu still acted as if nothing was happening when Otoya was awake, and at this point and Otoya found himself wishing it didn’t only happen when he was “asleep” but also when he was awake.
He even considered taking multiple naps throughout the day, not that he actually did it, but the fact that he even thought about it made him realize he might have a problem.
He was so screwed.
Could he still call himself straight if he enjoyed those little gestures of affection this much? It wasn’t just the act itself, it was also who was doing it. It wasn’t just anyone kissing his forehead. It was Karasu Tabito. Karasu was attractive, he could admit that openly, and that seemed to make everything even more complicated in his head.
Ever since he had confirmed what was happening, he couldn’t stop imagining himself in a relationship with his best friend, not too different from the dynamic they already lived together, just with a little more physical affection.
Holding hands, hugs, cuddles, more forehead kisses… regular kisses…
Otoya could feel his cheeks heating up just from those thoughts. Since when was he so shy about this kind of thing? Was he in love? He didn’t remember feeling this way with any of the girls he had dated before.
So what was he going to do? The same thing any normal person would; ignore his feelings until they inevitably blew up in his face.
What could go wrong?
…
With the semester finally over and after successfully passing his finals, there was only one right way to celebrate; parties and alcohol.
Reo definitely threw the best parties in the entire university, probably because his house was even bigger than several clubs in the city and had enough alcohol to get everyone who attended drunk.
At that point in the night, Otoya barely remembered his name. He was starting to think that maybe accepting those drinks from Shidou had been a bad idea.
He didn’t remember when he had walked to one of the bathrooms or if someone else had taken him there, but he had probably already thrown up everything he had eaten that day and a good portion of the alcohol he had consumed. Normally, vomiting made him feel at least a little more sober, but apparently, this time it hadn’t helped much.
He hated the taste of vomit in his mouth, he just wanted to go home, brush his teeth, and sleep, although he still didn’t feel sober enough to even walk out of that stupid bathroom.
"Eita? Are ya in there?" He could hear Karasu’s voice as he knocked on the door from the other side.
"Yeahh, I'm here," Otoya responded as clearly as he could in his state.
"I'm coming in," Karasu said, taking a few seconds before opening the door, only to find Otoya still clearly drunk, sitting on the floor against one of the walls. "Ya look like shit."
Otoya could see Karasu laughing at him, he didn’t even try to hide it. Unlike him, his roommate was completely sober. In fact, he had never seen him drink alcohol at parties. He was sure he had once heard him say he liked staying sober just to laugh at how his friends acted when they were drunk.
Without warning, he felt himself being lifted off the floor. He wasn’t proud to admit that this wasn’t the first time his best friend had carried him like that. It had happened enough times that he was already used to it.
Karasu put him into a car, which Otoya assumed was an Uber, though he didn’t really bother to ask. The trip from Reo’s house to their apartment wasn’t long, though he had little awareness of time in his state. He only knew they had arrived when the dark-haired man took him out of the car the same way he had put him in.
They passed through the reception area, where Otoya tried to greet the doorman politely, then took the elevator up to their floor, and finally reached their apartment.
"Let’s go to your room," Karasu said after closing the door behind them and turning on a few lights. Otoya mumbled a half-coherent response that the dark-haired man couldn’t decipher. He didn’t bother trying to understand and simply continued walking to his room.
When they arrived, Karasu practically threw Otoya onto the bed, making him groan in complaint as he tried to find a comfortable position to sleep.
"Quit whining and just go to sleep," Karasu said, looking at him with his usual teasing smile.
"Aren’t you gonna give me a goodnight kiss?" Otoya whined again, opening his eyes to meet Karasu’s gaze.
"And why would I do that?" the dark-haired man asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at him, seemingly confused.
"You do it when I take naps, you can do it now. Just give me a damn forehead kiss," the green-eyed boy said, a small pout forming on his lips.
Karasu seemed to freeze for a few seconds upon hearing that response, but under the attentive gaze of his still-drunk best friend, he simply sighed.
"We’re talking about this shit tomorrow," he said before leaning in to repeat what he had been doing for some time now.
Otoya closed his eyes as he saw him approach. He felt the blankets being pulled over him, the way Karasu lifted his hair, and finally, the brief press of his lips against his forehead.
He heard his roommate leave the room, and after that, Otoya quickly fell asleep with a small smile on his lips, probably still unaware of the weight his words would carry.
…
The next morning, Otoya woke up with a hangover. It had been a while since he had gone to a party like that, and it seemed he had forgotten how awful it was.
As he reached for his phone to check the time, he noticed some painkillers and a glass of water on his nightstand. He stared at them for a long minute until a flashback from the previous night hit him.
Oh God. Otoya needed to disappear right now.
He covered his face in embarrassment as he felt his cheeks heat up from remembering what he had said. He let out a soft, muffled scream against his hands.
Now he had two options: admit everything and have a probably very awkward conversation that could potentially strain his friendship with Karasu, or pretend ignorance. He had been hella drunk yesterday; it wouldn’t be weird to claim he didn’t remember anything. It wouldn’t be the first time.
But whatever he did, one thing was certain, he had to say goodbye to the forehead kisses that confused both his feelings and his thoughts. Otoya sighed, finally taking the painkiller when the headache became too much to bear, then lay back down for a few more seconds before making a decision.
He would simply pretend nothing had happened and go about his normal routine.
With his heart pounding, he left his room, and before Karasu could intercept him, he locked himself in the bathroom. He had drunk and vomited yesterday, he needed to brush his teeth and take a shower.
After finishing his morning routine, he came out again, this time heading to the kitchen. His heart beat faster with every step toward the common area where Karasu was probably waiting.
And there he was, sitting on one of the living room chairs, eyes fixed on his phone. Otoya could have sworn his heart stopped for a second.
"Morning," Otoya tried to act as normally as possible while entering the kitchen to prepare something to eat.
"Morning," Karasu responded the same way. He didn’t say anything else. Good. He wasn’t bringing it up and seemed to be acting normal. Maybe he had also decided to pretend nothing had happened. That was probably for the best.
Otoya sighed in relief, finishing his breakfast, scrambled eggs and coffee, more than enough to curb his hunger until the next meal.
When he brought everything to the table in the living room, he found Karasu now sitting in his usual spot. His heart did a strange flip again, but he tried to ignore it as he sat down to eat.
"Ya know we need ta talk, right?" The dark-haired asked, making Otoya nearly choke on his coffee.
"Talk about what?" He asked, still trying to stick to his plan, though he could feel his nerves beginning to betray him.
Karasu stared at him for a few seconds with a serious expression, resting his face against his hand. "Yer saying ya don’t remember shit about yesterday?"
"Yeah, kinda," Otoya replied, trying to focus on his breakfast, hoping his best friend would just drop the subject.
"Well, I do, so we’re gonna talk," Karasu fucking Tabito. Why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut for once? "I’ve been giving ya forehead kisses whenever I found ya asleep in the living room, and apparently, ya knew but didn’t say anything. Looks like there’s a lot to unpack, don’t ya think?"
Otoya sighed in defeat, running his hands over his face before peeking through his fingers at his best friend. They were, in fact, having that fucking conversation he had tried so hard to avoid.
"Why did you do it?" Otoya asked, he heard Karasy humming as if he was carefully thinking what to say before answering
"I don’t really know why I started doing it, one day, I found ya sleeping in the living room when I got home, and I just felt like doing it." The dark-haired explained, he sounded sincere enough to believe there was nothing more behind it.
"And why did you keep doing it?"
"Because I kept feeling like doing it."
There were a few seconds of silence, both looking into each other's eyes, Otoya still had things to ask but the tension in the environment made it more difficult for the words to leave his mouth. "Why did you feel like doing it?"
"…" Karasu fell silent for what felt like an eternity. "Because ya looked pretty. I don’t know, ya just looked all pretty and peaceful every time, and I just felt like it."
The green-eyed man felt a slight heat take over his cheeks, how was he supposed to respond to that? He had never expected to hear that kind of compliment from his best friend, much less directed at him, although he was grateful not to be the only one affected by those words, his cheeks were not the only ones heated.
"You like me or something?" Otoya cursed himself in his mind, his mouth was faster than his brain, he wasn't supposed to ask that.
"Maybe I do." Karasu answered the same way. Silence once again, the only thing that could be heard was the noise that probably came through some window that Karasu had opened before he got up. “Since when did ya know? the kisses I mean”
“Since the Thursday I was studying for my finals, since when do you do that?” Otoya answered, still trying to recover from that answer, his brain still didn't seem to process it properly.
“Since the Thursday ya were studying for yer finals.” If it weren’t for the tension that still hung in the air at that moment, they both probably would have laughed at the absurdity of the situation. “Why didn’t ya say anything?”
“Because I kinda like it” Otoya admitted, at that point there was probably no turning back, if Karasu had sunk by admitting it he just could only do the same
“Why did ya like it?” Karasu asked again
“Because I kinda like you” The words had come more easily from his lips than he expected, it had been almost natural to admit.
After a few seconds with their cheeks flushed and hearts racing, they both shared one last look before starting to laugh, it was a somewhat absurd situation, what else could they do besides laugh?
“that’s so fucking corny” Karasu said still laughing
“That's corny? you’re corny!” Otoya shot back.
The tension in the room had completely disappeared. Now, it was just the two of them, with that warm and indescribable feeling in their chests. Words weren’t necessary when they had that mutual understanding built over nearly three years of friendship and living together.
If you asked either of them, the answer would be the same: they were dating now. Maybe there were still things to clarify, but that was the reality, and neither of them seemed to have any intention of changing it, not anytime soon at least.
"Now that I feel like I have the right to ask, give me those kisses when I’m awake too," Otoya finally said, breaking the silence. His words seemed to bring a smirk into Karasu’s lips.
"Ya like them that much?" Karasu asked as he stood up for the first time since their conversation had started.
"What if I do?" Otoya asked, smirking back at him in the same way.
"Nothing. I'm just glad ya do," the blue-eyed man replied as he stepped closer to Otoya, using one hand to push back the strands of hair covering his forehead and leaving another small kiss there.
It was nice to receive those kisses without having to pretend to be asleep or completely drunk. "Regular kisses are welcome too"
He could hear Karasu chuckle softly once again. "Hmm, be patient. We’ll get there."