Work Text:
They're alone in the gym loft. Sun slants onto Kohei's hair, turning it golden, his skin honeyed. A cigarette hangs off his lips, smoke curling like a veil across his eyes. If Ryo were to kiss him now, the nicotine would slide right onto his tongue.
But he won't. He's managed just fine so far. Since Ryo had made a failure of himself at Senomon, since he's groveled and cried, Kohei had stopped. He hadn't pulled Ryo into the shadows once. Hadn't swung an arm around his waist when no one was around. Hadn't so much as looked at his lips.
Kohei breaks him out of his reverie when he says, "My parents are out on a business trip."
"What do you have planned?"
"Come over tomorrow. We can watch a movie."
His breath catches. His fingers tingle to reach out and touch. What does it mean, to be alone and uninterrupted together after so long?
"Sure." His voice is quiet.
**********
Silence had etched itself into the house's bones. The staff had left for the night, and the expensive furniture sucked up any noise of their foot steps. It was a cold vacuum, until they got to Kohei's rooms.
He had a whole suite to himself, bigger than Ryo's family apartment. His TV room rebelled against the house's minimalist decor. Posters plastered the walls, deep red curtains hung across the windows, and all the lamps were strong wrought iron. Kohei dimmed the lights with his phone and dropped onto the sofa. The cool light of the television was too far to reach him. Had Ryo's family not lost everything, would he have had a room like this?
Kohei patted the spot next to himself. “Sit down, would you. You’re blocking the TV. Unless you didn’t want to watch the movie anymore?”
Ryo lowers himself onto the other side of the loveseat. The ample space they had at school meant it had been a while since he’d sat so close to Kohei with nothing separating them. The car rides with his father chauffeuring were cozy, but never private. Kohei smirked in his peripherals, and his heart stuttered.
He stretched out languidly, resting his arm along the back of the sofa. His fingers trailed along the hairs on Ryo’s neck, and he could feel the heat of skin behind him. Ryo's shirt was too tight. Every nerve ached with the nearness of Kohei. But reaching out, moving closer, anything to get him to Kohei might as well have been the same as fighting Suzuran and Oya alone.
The movie starts in a rush. He might have been facing the TV, but in his peripherals all he could focus on was Kohei. Was he smiling? Was he enjoying the movie?
His palms prickled with sweat. He shifted his focus to the sofa. The supple leather was too soft under his fingers. A whole decade had passed since he’d touched something this luxurious. Had Kohei just moved closer? Was he going to make a move? His heart rate picks up.
Kohei said something to him. But he'd been so focused on not turning red, it flies right over his head. He paused the TV and turned to Ryo. When he's silent for too long, Kohei presses a finger into his cheek. The contact is electric. His body lists towards it. Kohei's brows draw together, and he sighs.
Ryo's messed things up. It's barely been an hour, and it's going wrong already.
"Are you bored?" Kohei asks.
"No."
"Then what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Kohei's eyebrows tilted towards his hairline. He moved closer, crowding Ryo against the armrest. His gaze was intent like his face would lay all his secrets bare, and maybe the stiffness of his forehead or his overheated ears would give him away. Ryo snapped his face away. If Kohei didn't want him anymore, would he find Ryo disgusting for being unable to let go? Would he stop treating him as something more than a pawn?
"You're too close."
Like a cord had been cut, Kohei snapped away from him. He scoffed, and Amagai was back in an instant. "Right. Friends don't do that right?"
He turned the movie back on. The sudden rush of coldness left Ryo queasy. His voice stuck in his throat. Why couldn't he fix this? His chest ached. Kohei's words played in a loop through his head. Could he have thought he didn't want Kohei near him?
The movie ended to sounds of sirens fading into the black. Kohei got up like he'd been waiting.
"You can find your own way out, right?" There was a familiar sneering lilt to his voice as he turned away. Amagai, who hid all his hurts behind his sneers, was in control. If he left like this, would Kohei ever let him back in?
Ryo's mouth went dry. This would be it. Forget anything more, their friendship was breaking before his eyes. The first time, it had slipped away through the years, and it had cut at him. Ryo wouldn't be able to handle it if he broke it with his own words.
He reached out and grabbed Kohei's wrist before he could get farther. "I wasn't saying you should move."
"No?"
"It was distracting. You haven't kissed me since Senomon. I can't… I can't stop thinking about it."
Kohei wouldn't turn around, but he hadn't pulled his wrist away. His pulse was thrumming a little to fast. Their heartbeats matching in intensity and speed. "Friends don't kiss. We're friends now aren't we?"
"What if I still wanted to kiss you? Would you forgive me?"
Kohei rounded on him so quickly, he reflexively reached out to push him away, stopping just shy. They ended up instead on the sofa, with one of Ryo's hand on Kohei's chest and the other on his wrist. He was drowning in the deep bass ricochet of Kohei's pulse under his skin.
"You better be sure," Kohei said.
"I am."
The kiss was blistering. He forced himself to let go of Kohei's wrist before he left a bruise. Kohei was pressing closer, hands on his neck to move him to a better angle. Ryo clutched his shirt to pull himself back to earth.
When the kiss ended, they stayed close. Ryo was warm like he'd spent hours under the sun. His mind was at peace for the first time in months.
"I'm not stopping again," Kohei promised. "Last time.. last time you asked to be friends. But I don't want that. We should be boyfriends instead."
A smile broke out on Ryo's face. He leaned in to kiss Kohei again, and he could feel a matching smile meeting his.