Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the hallway, Akito mindlessly scrolled through his phone, waiting for his partner to arrive. The two of them agreed to meet up together for lunch today, but Toya seemed to be running late today. Realizing that he could’ve been caught up with library duties, Akito put his phone aside and made his way towards the library.

On the journey there, a loud explosion erupted from the courtyard nearby.

“It’s probably those two oddballs again.” Akito thought as he glanced out the window, “What could’ve happened this time?”

Instead of being met with an arrangement of sparkling confetti or a discarded piece of a rocket, Akito saw a frantic Rui and Tsukasa sitting on the ground.

But…

Is that actually Tsukasa?

-

Sitting in class, he stared at the ceiling, hoping to pass time quickly.

“H-Hey…! Did you hear about Tenma-senpai?!” An said in a panic, slamming her hands on Akito’s desk.

“What did he do this time?”

“It’s so wild! Apparently, Kamishiro-senpai wanted to conduct some sort of experiment- Right? So he took his usual good old test subject into the courtyard to do whatever he was gonna do… Good news is that it worked, thankfully! Bad news…T-Tenma-senpai turned older…!”

Intrigued, Akito tilted his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows in astonishment. Tenma? Older? Is she referring to a few years or a grandfather? Akito wanted to see for himself now.

The bell rang as students were packing up early. Akito threw his things into his bag and sped out of the room, heading straight to Toya’s class.

“It’d be weird if I showed up randomly, so using Toya as an excuse should be okay with him.” Akito reasoned, “Afterall, I’m sure this older Tsukasa isn’t familiar with me anymore. He should still be close to Toya, right?”

“Huh? Akito? You’re here so early.” Toya said as he got up from his seat, “Are you in a rush?”

“Nah, I just needed you for something. I heard something happened to Tsukasa-senpai earlier, and I wanted to go visit and see what he looks like in the future.”

“Tsukasa…? Oh, I’ve seen him already.” Toya said with bright sparkles in his eyes, “Akito, you’d be amazed by how he looks… I didn’t expect that this was how Tsukasa was going to look in the future, it really surprised me.”

Rolling his eyes, the pair made their way to Tsukasa’s class as Toya gushed and talked about his senior.

“Excuse me? We’re here for Kamishiro and Tsukasa-senpai.” Akito announced as he slid the door, peeking his head into the class. Inside, he saw the familiar shade of purple and teal hair sitting at a desk with another figure standing nearby.

Looking up slightly, Akito turned his gaze from Rui to the man beside him.

Oh…

That really is Tsukasa…

His features were sharper and cleaner, his eyes were much more soft and welcoming. The strands of his hair were slightly curled, making him more mature than before. Tsukasa had grown taller as well, taller than Akito. His gaze was gentle and movement was as elegant as a swan. His clothes were freshly ironed and neat, framing his body perfectly.

However, the faces on Tsukasa and Rui weren’t pleasant, instead, they both looked surprised. It seemed like Akito had interrupted their conversation.

“Oh, did I come in at a bad time?” Akito asked.

“No, not at all. I just didn’t think you were showing up.” Rui replied, his head turning between Akito and Tsukasa, “You’re not really interested in these types of things, are you?”

“Not really… But Shiraishi was bugging me so much about it, I eventually got curious myself.”

“Ah, that’s understandable then.”

Looking back at Tsukasa, Akito noticed him looking down at his hand, gently smiling and laughing to himself. Angling his head a little better, a quick shine flashed Akito’s sight, making him wince a bit. But there was something on his hand- And Akito wanted to know what was on it.

“Um, would it be fine to keep calling you Tsukasa-senpai?”

“Huh? I mean… It’s fine. If that’s what you’re most comfortable with.”

“Right… Thanks.”

“So, Kamishiro-senpai, do you know if there's a way to turn Tsukasa back to normal?” Toya questioned, “I mean, having an older Tsukasa is okay with me, but I’m not really sure how anyone else is going to react.”

“Turning him back to his usual self… I still haven’t thought of how to do that. I didn’t actually think that machine would work, so now I’ll have to spend time developing a new one…”

“I see. Take your time, there’s no need to rush. I think this Tsukasa is also nice, just like our usual Tsukasa.”

“Fufu, of course. He did tell me a lot of things about his life as an adult…”

“Really? What did he say?”

“Well, he told me he was engaged to someone, he hasn’t told me who it was though. He also said that he’s living happily with his spouse… So it seems like Tsukasa-kun has lived a comfortable life in the future.”

“Engaged…? That’s surprising. Romance was always something Tsukasa wasn’t particularly interested in.”

-

It’s been a few days since Tsukasa had suddenly turned into an adult. Naturally, one would assume that he would stay home and take care of things, but instead, he decided to attend school to accompany students and teachers. The supervisors were reluctant at first, but seeing how much his behavior had changed, they decided that it was allowed for Tsukasa to enter the school.

“Did you see Tenma today? He was cool as always!” A girl squealed in excitement, “He helped me with my English homework yesterday, if it wasn’t for him, then I’d totally be so behind!”

“Really?! You’re so lucky! Whenever I see him, he’s always filling out paperwork in the teacher’s room!”

Akito had no interest in this, as he didn’t feel the need to reach out for Tsukasa’s help, after all, he had a guy named Toya to keep him steady on his studies. An, however, was less fortunate and needed a lot more help.

“You have to go with me! I’m too scared to go by myself- Pretty please~?!” She begged, “I promise that I’ll get you anything under a budget, just go to a tutoring session with me!”

“Jeez… Fine. You’re pestering me so much these days. When is it?”

“R-Really? You’re going…?! Amazing! Anyway, it’s going to be the library, near one of the windows I believe…? Just be there after the last period, okay? If you ditch…”

Dragging his shoes across the floors of the hallway, Akito made his way to the school library. He had no idea what he was in for, all he heard was to show up and don’t ditch.

Entering the large room, Akito made his ways to where the giant windows were. The sunlight shined through the glass, bouncing off of the floors and wooden bookcases. The view outside of the room was beautiful, the green shrubbery and blooming flowers left him in awe. 

Continuing on, he found Tsukasa sitting at one of the tables, staring off at the scene. The outside world was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Tsukasa. The sun traces the outline of his body, giving it a heavenly soft glow to it. The light brightened his face, the shine in his eyes were sparkling and visible. Shadows on his face carved and defined every detail of his face, making him more attractive than usual.

Akito can’t help but stop and stare, everything about him was perfect. It’s as if he were a sculpture, every crook and cranny filled with care and precision. It was the same feeling as the day he first saw RAD WEEKEND, but the feeling felt more intense than that time.

“Yo! Sorry for being late… I know I said I wasn't going to!” An called out as she entered the library, disrupting Akito’s trance, “Eh? Why are you just standing here? Let’s get over to Tenma!”

“Yeah yeah, I was just being polite and waited for you.”

“Sure, whatever you want me to believe.”

“We’re sorry for arriving late, Tenma-senpai, I hope you’re not too bothered…”

“It’s fine. Come on, let’s get started now.”

Pulling out the chairs, An and Akito sat down and brought out their textbooks. Akito with Math, and An with English.

“Can you help with this? I don’t understand why I got this wrong…”

-

“Ah! My dad's calling, I’ve got to go now.” An said as she ended her call, “See you two tomorrow! Thank you so much for helping me, I’m definitely going to pass English now!”

“It’s not a problem, I’m glad I could be of help.” The elder answered, waving Shiraishi off as she exited the library. “Hm? Akito, aren’t you going to go home either?”

“Me…? Uh, not yet.”

“Well, if you’re not going to go home, why not help me with an errand? I want to make dinner for my family tonight, but I have to run to the store.”

“Errand? I mean, I guess that’s fine.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Akito put on his seatbelt and waited for Tsukasa to start driving. The sun was starting to set, its ombre of colors yet to show in the sky. It felt weird for Akito to sit in an unknown man’s car, but it should be fine, right? It’s Tsukasa, and Akito felt oddly comfortable around him.

Exiting out of the lot, Tsukasa started to tap his fingers on the steering wheel, humming a song stuck in his head. Looking over, Akito noticed the same shining object on Tsukasa’s hand- A ring.

“So… Is Tsukasa engaged? Even married…?” Akito wondered, “I wonder who it is…”

“Hm? Are you curious about my ring?”

“Oh. Did I say that out loud?”

“No, I could tell on your face. Hehe, Akito is pretty expressive after all, I didn’t even need to guess what you’re so curious about.”

A blush formed on Akito’s face, embarrassed that Tsukasa noticed him observing his hands.

“Hm… I won’t tell you, but I’ll tell you about them.” Tsukasa said, “I’m quite surprised we’re together, actually. I’ve liked them for a long time, admired them and wanted to be closer to them. However, they never seemed to be fond of me in the past.”

“Not fond of you?”

“Not at all. They’d always run away or avoid me whenever they could. But I guess something changed. They became more used to me, and started to hang out with me more. I always thought that they were just being forced too, so I tried to stay respectful and not push them around too much.” Tsukasa giggled, “Ah… How wrong I was. I guess acting differently around them made them feel sad, and you know me, I hate it when I make others sad.”

“Yeah. You always shout how you’ll make the whole world smile and that you’ll become the brightest star… Something like that.” Akito mumbled, “How'd you two even get together?”

“Get together? It wasn’t like those romance mangas or shows. They accidentally confessed that they liked me for a long time and that they were too scared to show their feelings. Even assumed I had feelings for Rui because of how close we were, hehe.”

“You don’t like Kamishiro-senpai? I just assumed you two were together from the beginning” Akito said in surprise, “But I guess it makes sense that you guys were just close.”

Tsukasa hummed happily as he pulled into the store’s parking lot and found a place to park.

“Alright, we’re here, Akito. You’ll help me carry stuff, alright?”

In the store, Akito carried a basket that was filled with all sorts of things— Vegetables, meat, fillings, all sorts of things.

In front of him was Tsukasa shopping, picking up each item on display and studying it, making sure that it was absolutely perfect in quality. His hand grabbed a tub of strawberries, but immediately placed it back down.

“Right…” He mumbled to himself, “I’m making something for my family, not…”

“Not for who?” Akito asked

“Ah!” The blond jumped in surprise, “Akito…! You scared me so much!”

“My bad.”

“Sorry, I was just talking about my fiancé. They told me they liked strawberries with pancakes after eating some limited edition ones from a shop.” Tsukasa said with a soft smile on his face, “The look on their face made me so happy when I first served it, I could see a tail wagging behind them.”

Akito nodded his head, watching as Tsukasa placed more products and items inside. For some reason, his stomach and head felt heavy, so it was difficult for him to raise his head.

“…Tsukasa-senpai likes to cook?” Akito mumbled, “Your spouse is quite lucky then.”

“Hehe, of course! They always come home late at night, always so exhausted and hungry. It fills me with joy when I get to see them eat my home cooked meals every night.” Tsukasa happily said, “After that, I’ll always clean up and make the bed for us. Ah… My fiancé always needs to be reminded to not sleep so suddenly either, they have a tendency to fall asleep whenever…”

Tsukasa rambled on about his spouse, talking about how he wakes up each day and prepares the morning for them, about their date nights, little moments in their daily lives that made him happy. Meanwhile, Akito dragged his legs across the tiled floors, trying his best to follow after the blond. His head hung low, staring at the contents in the basket instead of what was in front of him.

“Tsukasa’s cooking…” Akito thought, “I want to try it too…”

Delicious fluffy pancakes with strawberries? That’s something Akito has never tried before. Since it was a limited edition, it should be expensive, right? If Tsukasa’s fiancé was happy with Tsukasa’s version, that means his cooking skills are great.

What about the rest of his meals? Coming home every night to find a full dinner was ready for you to eat, with a gorgeous and gentle husband to take care of you. Akito felt weird. He wanted to experience something like that for once, even if it were just for a split moment.

Exiting the store, the sun was set on the horizon. The gradient of reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks with the fluffy clouds made it seem like a painting. It didn’t feel real, as if he was traversing through old memories or fantasizing about random scenarios.

“It’s getting quite late, I’ll drop you off before you get home.” Tsukasa said as he looked towards the sky.

“Okay.”

After giving Tsukasa his address, Akito found himself staring off to the colorful sunset above. The sun’s shining ray casting a yellow glow on everything, making it difficult to see what was ahead sometimes. He averted his gaze towards the driver, all of his attention on the road forward.

Tsukasa looked good in this lighting too. The warm yellowish orange color of the sun made him look handsome as well. His eyes matched colors with the sky behind, and this hair was a beautiful gradient of yellow to pink.

“His fiancé is so lucky…” Akito thought to himself, staring at Tsukasa’s eyes, “I want to come home everyday to him too.”

Continuing to stare at Tsuksa’s glowing face, Akito fantasized about going to places with him. Where would he like to go… France? Korea? China? What about dates? Is a cinema or film date too cheesy? How about a fancy restaurant that’s 7 floors high? Or maybe, Tsukasa loves to go out at night and observe the stars in the sky, so a planetarium is a nice spot, no?

Before he knew it, Akito found himself in soft slumber in the passenger seat of Tsukasa’s car. The quiet yet soft song playing on the radio lulling him to sleep, the refreshing and cool air instead, the feeling of the warm sun hitting his face, being so close to a man who’d treat him like a prince… It’s all that Akito could desire in life.

-

“Akito, we’ve arrived.” Tsukasa said as he gently shook Akito awake. “I didn’t notice you were asleep till now, were you that tired?”

“Huh…? Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep so fast.”

“It’s fine~ You should get going now, have a good night's rest, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow…?”

“Tomorrow? I mean, I guess that’s fine.” Akito responded as he got out of the car, “Um, Tsukasa-senpai, thank you for letting me be with you today.”

“It’s no problem! I hope my errand wasn’t too much for you!”

Akito waved Tsukasa goodbye as he drove out of the street, making his way back home. Standing idly on the front yard, Akito was still delirious from his nap.

“I embarrassed myself… I should be more careful next time. What if I was snoring or drooling?”

Entering his quiet home, Akito kicked off his sneakers and went to his room. The light outside was getting dimmer, so Akito nearly trampled and fell over from clothes that were tossed on the ground.

Falling on his bed, Akito started to think about today’s event all over again. Tsukasa in the courtyard, the first impressions between them, the study session, the shopping experience, and him being driven back home in Tsukasa’s car.

He slightly curled himself in a tight ball, putting his sleeves up to his mouth and an arm to his stomach. Ever since Tsukasa started to ramble and gush about his partner, Akito had been getting a nagging and sickening feeling in his stomach. It wasn’t like he wasn’t supportive or accepting of his soon to be marriage, instead, it felt like jealousy and envy.

“This kind of feeling… I haven’t felt it in such a long time.” Akito whispered and he curled himself more, “That damn… No… he wouldn’t like it if I called his lover that.”

Hm? When did I start to get so worried about Tsukasa’s opinion?

Pushing that thought aside, Akito started to think about Tsukasa all over again. His sweet voice, his nice personality, the way he moved, the way Tsukasa spoke… It was all perfect to see and listen to. He thought about what it’d be like to be in love with him, even better– Be married to him.

What would he be like on quiet, soothing nights when the lights were low and were comfortable? What about the fun and exciting days, bursting with energy and fun? How about when things got hot and tense, Tsukasa’s warm and blazing touch drowning Akito in utter and pure pleasure…?

No, don’t think about things like that, Akito. You’re only seventeen, you don’t even know how old this Tsukasa is…! Besides, he’ll never accept you, he already has an amazing lover waiting for him back in the future.

As he kept thinking about the possibilities and scenarios in his head, the night came closer. His room was eventually encased in dark blue lights, the only visible light coming from the glowing moon, with its twinkling stars to accompany it. Akito was on his bed, soon to be asleep.

“I’m jealous… I want to be Tsukasa-senpai’s lover now.”

–

Akito used to think others were ridiculous and over exaggerating being in love– He was so wrong. Now, the boy completely understood every comment and concern his classmates voiced and talked about. “Do they like me back?” “Do I have a chance with them?” “Am I in their league?”

All questions had an immediate answer already— No. The way Tsukasa spoke of his lover made it obvious, there’s no chance that he’d ever leave them for a pathetic high schooler.

“Hey, I heard that Kamishiro-senpai is almost done with that machine…” Shiraishi said as she twirled a strand of her hair, “It sucks, Older Tenma-senpai was so helpful— I even managed to pass the English test thanks to him!”

“Seriously?” Akito questioned, “That’s pretty quick to revert someone back to normal.”

“I know right?! He’s like… Oh! A super robot genius!”

“…What are you talking about?”

The bell for class has rung, signaling all students that lunch has started. Akito made his way to the rooftop, the usual spot where he would sit. Toya was busy with the library committee and An wanted to eat lunch with her other friends.

Opening his lunch, his face grimaced with disappointment as he looked at the content inside. Ena, his determined older sister, had proudly stated that she wanted to learn how to cook. Unfortunately, Akito had the misfortune of being her taste tester. It wasn’t horrible, but there were so many things she could improve on that Akito didn’t know where to begin. It wasn’t anything like his usual lunches that the school’s vending machines had, nor his mother’s cooking.

Suddenly, the door to the roof had swung open, an unknown figure standing in the frame.

“Eh? Akito? Why are you up here?” The person called out.

Walking towards him, it turned out to be Tsukasa. He held something in his hands and was opening it while getting closer to Akito.

“Oh… Is that what you’re eating today?” Tsukasa asked as he looked inside Akito’s lunch, “Is that your own cooking…?”

“What? No, it’s my sister’s. I could make a lunch ten times better than whatever he arranged here.” Akito huffed as he stomached another piece of food, “It’s not bad, I guess, it just doesn’t look the most appealing.”

“I see. If you don’t mind, you could have some of mine.” He offered as he showed Akito his food, “Looks good, right?”

Compared to Ena's, Tsukasa's food looked delicious, something that would come from a 5 star restaurant. Everything inside was made with precision and perfection, it was as if the food was glowing.

“You’re basically drooling at this point…” The blond pointed out as he observed Akito’s reaction, “Haha, here comes the airplane~”

“What…? I’m not a child, Tsukasa-senpai. I can feed myself.”

“Right, right. Sorry about that.”

However, a delicious piece of desert was on Tsukasa’s spoon, left stranded and unguarded. Taking this moment, Akito dove in and ate the piece in one bite, hurriedly rushing back to his old position and chewing on the delicacy.

“Eh…? Hey! I was just joking around!” Tsukasa scolded as he cleaned his spoon, “If you get sick, then you shouldn’t be surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“I already ate off of this spoon, you're eating off if it had given it so many germs…!”

The elder rambled on about germs and being sick, not noticing Akito beside him. Seriously? Did he just eat off of Tsukasa’s spoon that he just used? Isn’t this what they called an indirect kiss?

After that thought, Akito’s face flushed with red as he realized what that meant. It wasn’t supposed to be such a big deal, but sharing something so personal with someone this attractive? Akito could die on the spot.

Turning around, Tsukasa noticed how red Akito had become.

“Seems like you already got sick…”

Chapter Text

“Tsukasa-senpai, why won’t you tell me who you’re getting married to?” Akito asked, “It’s not someone scandalous, right?”

“Of course not!”

“If you’re so secretive about it, then It's natural for me to start getting worried about your taste in people.”

“Oh, Akito… You don’t need to worry! After all, this star always knows and chooses the best!”

“Eh? You’re still on that star thing?”

“Why would I not be? I’m an actor after all!”

“Tsukasa-senpai became an actor?”

“Obviously, I worked quite hard for it! I won’t tell you anymore, but just know that I’m doing well for myself!”

-

“You should get up…”

“What…?”

“It’s 8AM, I’ll get breakfast ready, okay? Make sure you brush your teeth and fix your hair beforehand.”

Tsukasa kissed his forehead and ruffled his hair before shuffling out of the bed. He opened the curtains nearby, welcoming the bright morning sunrise and green plants outside. He shook the one sleeping next to him before leaving the bedroom, reminding him to get up before falling asleep again.

Yawning, he forced himself out of bed and walked towards the bathroom. Putting toothpaste on his brush, he started to brush his teeth before noticing the reflection in the mirror. In utter disbelief, he dropped his toothbrush in the sink and looked at himself closer in the mirror.

He looked at his messy orange hair with a yellow streak, his olive green eyes and the slight eye bags under his eyes, the multitude of piercings on his ears. He couldn’t believe it.

“Hm? Why am I in the mirror?”

Akito threw himself awake when the dream ended. It was 5AM, and his phone was blaring the alarm for his morning run.

“Yeah, maybe a run is what I need.” He thought.

Putting on his shoes, he left the house and started his jog around the neighborhood. Running around the sidewalks and greeting his neighbors, he tried his best to shove down his dream.

“Why was I in the reflection? It didn’t look like me, but I knew that it was me.” He wondered, “Maybe I’m just going crazy, there’s no way that we could be something like that.”

-

Akito and Tsukasa? Never. It’s already known that Akito isn’t fond of his senior, often running away from his sight to avoid him. Most students have already assumed that he was more interested in his partner, Toya, but that wasn’t true at all. Akito only saw Toya as his best partner, somebody who was reliable and dependable.

Whenever Akito ran away from Tsukasa, he’d feel a pang in his heart, feeling some sort of guilt after running off. The desperate attempts of his senior trying to catch up made him feel slightly bad, but it wasn’t his fault for being faster than his elder.

But sometimes, Akito would begrudgingly spend time with the blond, eating lunch together on the school rooftop. Just the two of them together. Sometimes, another peculiar senior or Toya would come and join in, but Akito and Tsukasa were always there together. It was those times that it felt peaceful with his elder, the pair not speaking a word to each other, but feeling comfortable in the presence of the other. When the ginger looked over to the one beside him, he noticed the slight swaying of his hair and the expression in his face, happily savoring the sweet meal that he prepared.

“How cute.” He’d think, “He must enjoy his lunch a lot today.”

It didn't help either that Tsukasa loved to put his hands on everyone too– Hugs, fistbumps, high-fives, anything with physical contact he loved to do. Sometimes when the two would walk down the hallway together, his senior would wrap an arm around his shoulder, hugging him closer as he rambled on about his new upcoming show. He never noticed the slight blush on his junior’s face either, so Tsukasa never knew that this kind of thing made Akito’s heart race.

Tsukasa was also adamant on making sure Akito had received a ticket for his show, always running around the school to find him. He’d do all sorts of things to try and convince him, with gifts, favors, poses, special benefits, anything to make sure that his junior would be there. It embarrassed Akito because of how much it seemed that his annoying senior wanted him to attend, so he’d just accept the ticket for Tsukasa to stop embarrassing himself.

But sometimes there were moments where Tsukasa unintentionally made the boy’s heart beat like crazy. The loud laughter at the end of the halls, the striking poses and dialog that would spew out of his mouth, the tenderness and care from the blond. It made Akito’s face blush with red as his senior would get too up close sometimes. The small moments in their school lives make it more interesting and fun. All sorts of pranks and teasing can be done on Tsukasa, Akito couldn't help but find his reactions amusing and fun.

So when Tsukasa had suddenly turned into a new person, all the characteristics and traits Akito found himself drawn too were amplified to the max. The gentle voice, the soft hair, the warm gaze, the sweet laughs, the way he’d ruffle Akito’s hair and hang around him, it made Akito roll around his bed all night. 

“Akito? Are you alright?” A voice called out, “You’ve been staring at me so intensely, it’s kind of scaring me.”

“Huh? Oh… I was just thinking about something.” Akito replied.

He’d completely forgotten that he was dragged into another tutoring session because of a particular classmate. Said classmate wasn’t in the room at the moment, probably something like she needed to go use the restroom.

It was the same as last time. A beautiful scenery outside of the large library windows, with an even more beautiful man to tie it all together. His soft honey colored eyes looked at his core, causing Akito to blush slightly and look away.

“Are you alright? You’ve been out of it for a while and your face seems to be burning up.” He pointed out, “…You aren’t sick, right?”

Tsukasa raises his hand up against Akito’s forehead, testing the temperature. The sudden cool touch of his palm and the shock of his silver rings, Akito instinctively pulled back away from the hand.

“Ah… Tsukasa-senpai, you can’t just do things like that.” Akito mumbles as he rubs his forehead, “Your hands are so cold too…”

“Tenma-senpai! Akito! I’m back~” A cheerful voice echoed from the door, “I hope I didn’t take that long!”

“Oh, look who it is again…”

“Hey! Why are you so mad that I’m back?!”

-

“You know Akito, you’ve been acting weird around Tsukasa. Are you not comfortable with him?”

“What are you talking about, Toya?”

“Well… You always seem so distant and nervous around him. I thought you were just shy around adults, but you’re not that around anyone on Vivid Street…”

“So? What does it have to do with me and Tsukasa-senpai?”

“I just thought you still didn’t like him, you always shuffled your feet and never looked straight at him.”

“Didn’t like him? I mean, Tsukasa-senpai is a bit annoying at times, but he’s still tolerable…”

“Annoying? Don’t say such things about Tsukasa. But really… You don’t need to force yourself around him.”

“Toya, I think you’re just misunderstanding it all…”

“I am? Why are you acting like that then? It’s rare for you to be so shy around someone.”

“Shy isn’t really the word to use… Hm, I don’t actually know. It’s not that I don’t like Tsukasa-senpai, but this version of him makes me really nervous. He seems so much more mature and knowledgeable than the one I’m used to, and he’s more… comfortable?”

“Is that why you’re like that?”

“I’d guess so… He seems to like to give out compliments more too. I always find him ruffling my hair and laughing at my remarks, so it makes me feel a bit weird…”

“Weird…? That’s not good, Akito. I can tell him to stop if it’s making you feel bad.”

“Wait- No, not weird in that way! I just meant that my stomach kind of flutters and feels queasy, and I feel my heart beating a bit faster. It always gets too hot, so it feels like I’m burning alive under all my layers.”

“Oh, weird in that way? Haha, I understand now. I’m glad that you don’t feel anything bad towards Tsukasa…”

“Why would I? He’s really nice and kind. He’s pretty good at teaching others and always knows how to help other people, I think it’s cool.”

Toya looks at him briefly before giving Akito a warm smile, giggling under his breath.

“Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?”

“Your face, Akito. It’s becoming red and softer.”

“The hell does that mean?”

-

“Hey, Akito, wanna know something?” Tsukasa asked as his body leaned towards Akito, “I’ve been wondering what the past version of me went. Aren’t you curious as well?”

“Well, I guess I am. It’s Kamishiro-senpai we’re blaming here, I have no idea where he could've possibly sent you.”

“I’m sure that your version of Tsukasa is fine though… I just have a feeling.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?”

“Lately, I’ve been having more dreams which hasn't been happening recently. In those moments, I’d find my younger self in my apartment, sitting on the couch with my dearest cooking something in the kitchen for us. They’d always come and serve me food, saying that a kid like me needs to eat well and be healthy.”

“Those are just dreams though, Tsukasa-senpai… You don’t know if they’re real.”

“I know, I know. But I have faith, I know my love is a good person, so they would take care of any version of me.” He giggled slightly, his eyes shining like the sun, “Say, what about you? Would you take care of me?”

“I mean, I wouldn't let you die if that’s what you're asking. You’re close with Toya, so if you were to die because of me, then Toya would never forgive me…”

“Haha! That’s so like your old self…”

“What…? What do you mean by old self?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it, Akito. Just do your work, okay?”

-

Even though Akito liked being around this version of Tsukasa, he still found himself missing the old version. It felt inappropriate to do his old antics on the older, afraid that he might find it childish and scold him for doing such things. Of course, Akito kept some of his usual habits, such as snatching the cheesecake off of Tsukasa’s lunch and sitting on the rooftop with him, but he hasn’t been able to tease him about bugs or call him anything bad.

“Hehehe… Guess who it is, Lil’ bro!” An all too familiar voice cooed, “It’s me, Akiyama Mizuki~ Did ya miss me?!”

“Of course not, get lost.”

“Aw, don’t say such things to a cutie like me! Besides, I noticed that you were being accompanied by misery and sitting here by your lonesome, what’s up with you?”

“...None of your business.”

“All of it is my business, Lil’ bro!”

“Nah, you’d just make fun of me over it. Why are you even here? Nothing “fun” is going on at school.”

“Hm? I just felt like it! I mean, I also wanted to see Tsukasa-senpai today, I just felt so terribly sick these days that I haven’t had a chance to go to school!”

On the rooftop, Akito found himself being dragged by the arm by Mizuki, who was all too excited to see Tsukasa. Knowing that he was waiting up there, for him, Akito didn’t like the idea of having another person up there between them.

“Why are you acting like that? Come on, it’s nothing new. You, me, and Tsukasa-senpai are all having lunch together!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re just blasting my ear off…”

The pair walked towards a bench, a figure already sitting on it with food in their hands.

“Ah… Akito? Akiyama? You’re finally here, come on, sit down!” Tsukasa called out as he noticed the two juniors, “I was starting to get worried that you’d never show up!”

“Why would we ever ditch you? That’s something I’d never do! Unlike someone here…”

“Hey! I’ve been here accompanying him all these days, and you haven’t shown up once until today!”

“Haha! It’s just a joke~”

Tsukasa laughed as the two bickered, “It is true though, Akito has been having lunch with me up here for all of these days. I’m quite grateful I didn’t need to spend it alone.”

“Hm? Why not just eat in the cafeteria or at home? I’m sure the teachers would’ve been fine with that.” Mizuki asked.

“Well… Akito didn’t really say anything and just accepted that I was here the first day. It surprised me a lot, so I just assumed that it was fine if we have lunch together as well.”

Hearing these, the pink-hair’s eyebrows perked up, eyes gleaming with mischief.

“Sigh… Look at this kid! He’s growing up so fast! Akito is finally making the first move for once…! Although it could be more, uh… Direct

“Please, just ignore that thing for today…” Akito grumbled with a slight blush on his face.

-

“Akito.”

“What is it now, An?”

“You like Tenma-senpai, don’t you?”

“…No? What makes you think that?”

The girl exasperatedly sighed as she heard Akito’s denial, “Well, you’re always making these heart eyes and following him like a child… It’s not super obvious, but it’s noticeable if you actually pay attention to it.” She started, “You always want to hog him too, always rolling your eyes as I arrive at the study session and looking mad whenever someone else talks to him…”

“I think you’re just making things up at this point.”

“That’s what you think, imagine if Toya told you that. That would’ve had you self-reflecting, wouldn’t it?”

“Ugh… Why’d you bring him up?”

“See? Seriously… I think Tenma-senpai caught on too.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Well, I noticed that Tenma-senpai loves to compliment and praise you, and you’d always go red. I asked him about it the other day, and he told me your reaction reminded him of his fiancé…”

“So? That doesn’t mean anything? If anything, that’d be weird considering how I’m way younger than him.”

“I mean, sure… Yeah, it is— But he’s always so fond of you too. He always takes care of you, ruffles your hair a lot, compliments you, sings high praises, mentions you in other conversations, and always makes time for you.”

“…That’s weird…”

“I thought so too, but it only makes sense if…” An paused, her eyes widening as a thought appeared in her head.

“If…?”

“No, it’s nothing! Haha!”

Akito rolled his eyes and scoffed in discontent, watching as the girl laughed at her new idea. He had no clue what she was on, but whatever it was, he didn’t need any of it in his system either.

-

Okay, fine, maybe that annoying devil called An was right. Maybe Akito liked Tsukasa. Maybe Tsukasa liked to dote and poke fun at Akito. Maybe it’s just Akito losing his mind and overthinking everything at night. It doesn’t help that he can hear Ena talking to her friends on the computer and her annoying mouse clicks constantly clicking through the house.

“Hey guys! I went to school today and had lunch with Lil’ bro!”

“Seriously, Mizuki? Don’t bother with a kid like him…”

“Haha! Anyway, I went to have lunch with him and the ever famous Tsukasa-senpai, but I guess Lil’ bro didn’t like that at all!”

“What do you mean?”

“I could feel him stabbing daggers into my back whenever I spoke with Tsukasa-senpai, I seriously thought I would get thrown off the roof at any moment…!”

Hearing Mizuki say that, was that really true? Was it true that Akito gets seemingly angry when he sees others speaking with Tsukasa? When others are around Tsukasa? That couldn’t be true at all, Tsukasa isn’t his.

Akito groaned as he reached for his phone— 1:20AM. He knew he needed to get to bed now, but his thoughts kept him wide awake.

It was a sunny afternoon, the wind blowing and birds chirping and soaring through the blue sky. On that day, Tsukasa and Akito had decided to eat under a tree, mesmerized by the blooming flowers and petals.

Under the shade, the two talked about plans and what happened to him recently. Lives, wins, shows, plays, planning, all sorts of things as they jumped from topic to topic. Akito ate the sweet cheesecake Tsukasa had given him, savoring its taste and smiling over how Ena would never have a taste of it.

“So, Rui had decided that we should do a play around a prince who wanted to explore the world, yet was confined by his parents to become the next ruler!” Tsukasa said as he showed Akito his notebook, “Of course, I’ll be the lead actor! Rui and Nene will be the king and queen, Nene-Robo will be our assistant knight, and Emu will be our prince’s friend!”

“Sounds cheesy.”

“Come on! Everything I tell you sounds cheesy!”

“It’s no wonder, senpai. You’re putting on a show for kids at an amusement park.”

“And it makes them smile! Come on, what makes you smile, huh?”

“Well… Maybe when I get to play pranks on you… Oh, Tsukasa-senpai, I think there's something crawling by your food…”

“Wha… What?!”

The blond jumped in fear as he heard Akito’s statement. Snatching his food and leaping forward, inching closer to the younger.

“A-Akito, I swear if this is another one of your jokes…!”

“Ah, it seems like it was a petal… Sorry, sorry.” Akito said as he leaned forward to brush it away, “There, gone now.”

But as he got back up, his head turned too soon and was met face to face with Tsukasa’s. Akito found his warm honey eyes so close, he could see all the sparkles and the colors shifting in them. Tsukasa’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, his eyes staring right back into Akito’s.

The wind blew softly as the two figures froze in their places, unable to move a muscle from their position. Akito gasped slightly, his eyes twitching slightly as he realized how close they were. It didn’t help that Tsukasa didn’t move either.

Akito could feel some sort of force pushing him forward, but he resisted. He resisted the urge. He resisted the need. He resisted the temptation of wanting to meet Tsukasa’s lips. Lips that were slightly open from surprise, lips that were rosy, lips that drove Akito insane on some days. Akito wanted to give in and kiss Tsukasa, but he couldn’t act on it.

“A-Ah…! Thanks for saving me, Akito!” Tsukasa exclaimed as he turned away, “Seriously… Those kinds of things aren’t funny! Don’t play such jokes on your elders, hear me?!”

Akito only nodded at his words.

-

“Akito, you’ve been staring at me for so long, I’m afraid that you’re about to shoot lasers through my head.” Tsukasa said as he looked up from his book, “Do you need help? You can always ask.”

Akito realizes he had his gaze stuck on him again. That damn blond to peachy hair with the slight curls at the ends, the shine that emitted from the sun’s rays, the focused eyes on what he was reading, the smoothness of his skin and the way his hands moved.

“Oh no, I was just thinking about other things.”

“Okay then, you should be studying math, right? I’ll tutor you for now, so make sure to listen carefully, alright?”

“Sure, whatever.”

It was after school hours, and Akito was stuck in an empty classroom. He watched as students left the school premise with their friends, laughing and talking with them.

“This is so annoying, I never wanted to take tutoring sessions…” Akito grumbled to himself, “Now I’m gonna have less time for singing practice…”

“Akito! Here you are!” A voice boomed out as the door slammed open, “Haha! I was looking for you all over the building, the teacher never specified what room to meet up in!”

“…You’re my tutor?” Akito asked in disbelief.

“Sure am! Of course , this star will make sure you’ll pass all of your classes— Except for physics maybe… Still! I’ll be sure that you’ll ace all of your future tests!!”

“What a troublesome tutor I was assigned…” He thought.

The older one grabbed out the chair that was in front of Akito’s desk and placed all the textbooks down, creating a loud thud and some dust flying out. Astonished, Akito stared at the tall pile of textbooks that he’d had to go through. Such troublesome classes, like math and english, weren’t off the table either. Instead, they were the two topics that showed up the most commonly out of all of his classes.

“S-Senpai… You don’t think I need all of this right? This is like you’re calling me stupid…”

“You’re not stupid, Akito! Don’t say such things! You just haven’t fully grasped the material yet!”

“Yeah, whatever…”

Tsukasa smiled at him, his eyes slightly crinkling. “I’ll help you with anything, so feel free to come run to me for help!”

For some reason, those words struck Akito right in the heart. The sweet gentle smile of his senpai, the evening sky taking its place, how private the moment was. The ginger couldn’t help but sigh as he realized that Tsukasa was just being friendly, as he always was.

“Hey! Why do you look so disappointed in that?!”

“I’m not, let’s just get started…”

-

Akito was lounging in class when he noticed a star keychain on the ground. Initially ignoring it, Akito assumed that its owner would come and pick it up soon. However, that was soon proven to be incorrect by how everyone seemed to kick and ignore it.

Annoyed, Akito picked up the small accessory and observed its condition. It had some scratches and dirt in it, nothing that a quick rub can’t fix. Noticing that not only was it a keychain, it was one of those types that could open up. Looking inside, Akito saw a picture of a girl with what seemed to be her family, and the other lock had a picture of her and her friends.

“It’d be a pity to see someone freaking out about this later, let’s just turn it in to the teachers.” Akito thought as he closed the keychain shut.

Walking down the corridor to the teacher’s office, Akito found himself strangely drawn towards the small object. The color was a bright yellow, bright like a certain someone. It didn’t help that its shape was a star as well. The fact that it was yellow and had a star shape made Akito think of Tsukasa, with him yelling about he’ll be a future star and whatever.

Reaching the doors, Akito put on his nice persona and knocked on the door. “Hello? I’m here to turn in a lost item.” He said.

“Coming, coming!” A voice replied.

Tsukasa slid the door open, taking Akito by surprise. “Ah! Akito! I didn’t recognize it was you at first, your voice sounded so different!”

“Really? I thought it sounded the same.” Akito responded, knowing that it was just his nice voice,

“Here you go, I found it in my classroom earlier. It’s probably a girl’s keychain from the last period.”

“I see then! Thanks for turning it in, Akito!” Tsukasa said as he picked up the trinket from Akito’s hand, “Hehe, Akito is such a good kid. From what I remember, he loved to poke fun at his senpais, didn’t he?”

“What are you talking about? I’m always nice.” He joked.

“If that's what Akito wants me to think, then I’ll think he was a good kid.” Tsukasa said as his mouth formed into a subtle smile, “You know… You’re good at changing your voice. If you want to try, you could always become a voice actor.”

“A voice actor? No way, I have my eyes set on surpassing and ruling over the world.”

“Haha, I know you are. Seriously though, I overheard some other students talking about you… They said they went to see one of your performances one night and were impressed by how good your singing was. Ah… I’m a bit jealous now, I should make some time to hear you sing, Akito.”

“There’s no need for that, Tsukasa-senpai. I’m sure there’s better singers you’ve heard in your life. I’m still practicing, so my singing isn’t perfect yet.”

“Even if that's what you believe, I’m sure you’re still amazing at singing. I remember I managed to catch one of your shows thanks to Toya, and wow… I was really blown away with you on stage. I mean, I heard you during the festivals, I just never got to hear one from outside of that.”

“Seriously…? It left such a big impact?”

“Mhm, it’s one of my fondest memories from my past if I’ll be honest… It’s one of my clearest memories of you.” He smiled as he said, “Don't feel like your singing isn’t worthy enough for someone like me to listen to. I’m sure those students were right, your singing is very pretty after all…”

“I see… Thanks for the compliment.”

“Hehe, it’s nothing, Akito. You should get to class though, the tardy bell is going to ring soon.”

Akito waved as he slid the door shut, taking a deep breath of air. As soon as he turned the corner, Akito made a mad dash straight towards his seat, his face deepening with red and sweat.

Slamming the door wide open, Akito practically flew to his seat and covered his head with his sweater, pulling at the seams of his hood.

“What’s up? You almost broke the door down.” One of his classmates asked, “Even I couldn’t do that with the amount I exercised.”

“It’s nothing, I just remembered something embarrassing on the way back.”

“Those are the worst things ever!” They laughed, “…Ah, now I just remembered something humiliating too… Thanks, Shinonome.”

It was another typical school day, Akito waiting on a bench for someone, that someone who held his lunch and the main provider of his food. He swiped and tapped on his phone as he played some mobile game, it wasn’t very fun, but it at least passed the time.

He cleared his throat again, having done that multiple times already today. Last night, Vivid BAD SQUAD had put on one of their most impressive lives yet, rocking the house and hearts of the audience. It’s no wonder why Akito’s throat would feel so sore after an event like that.

“Akito! Thanks for waiting” A familiar voice called out, “I’m so sorry! I got busy helping my fellow teachers with something.”

“It’s fine… Where’s my food?”

“Huff…! It’s like you’re using me for food…!”

“I mean, that is what I do during our lunches. Besides, I’m literally starving… You wouldn’t want one of your beloved and cute kouhais to starve themselves to death, right?”

“Come on! You’re over exaggerating it!”

Tsukasa sat down beside Akito, popping open his lunch. Akito stared at the contents inside— Carrots? Yuck. Lettuce? Fine. Strawberries? Edible. Cheesecake? Absolutely! Akito took one of Tsukasa’s forks and snatched the dessert right off, eating it one bite.

“A-Akito…! You can’t just do that kind of thing!” Tsukasa yelped as he watched Akito rob his lunch, “I know you went out on a show last night, but it doesn’t excuse you from taking my food!”

“Eh? You knew I had a show?”

“Of course I did! Toya told me about it, and I just had to run over to support my lovely and amazing friends!”

Akito was curious now— When did Toya ever get the chance to tell Tsukasa about their upcoming show? And when did he ever get the chance to sneak Tsukasa a ticket?

“Hahaha! My lovely kouhai brought me a ticket, telling me that it was going to be your guy’s greatest and biggest hurdle yet!”

“I see… What did you think of it?”

“Akito! It was mind blowing!! Toya wasn’t lying when he said it was going to be very loud and bright, but I clearly underestimated how loud it would be! But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the show! All the musicians and singers were so good, I found myself dancing along with the crowd at some point…”

As his senior rambled on, Akito recalled what happened that night. He was a nervous wreck because Toya had accidentally slipped out that he invited someone special to come see the live show, and how he wanted to give his best performance for them. Akito, however, was absolutely losing his mind backstage. Who could he have possibly invited? Should he try a little harder, but not too much to steal away Toya’s spotlight? What about the audience? Did his knees and joints work still? Are his vocal chords stable?

Taking a deep breath, Akito calmed his nerves and stretched a bit. The crowd was already shouting and rumbling before they arrived, so he and his teammates need to give the best performance they can, especially how Toya invited someone to come and watch. He did say that someone was special, but who knows? It could be someone like the Tenmas.

It was a Tenma. On the stage, Akito already had a bad feeling squeezing his chest and stomach, unknown of what the cause was.

“Am I seriously feeling like this because I know someone special to Toya is watching…? That’s so pathetic…” Akito thought.

After the performance, Akito said his goodbyes and walked out of the venue. Exiting the building, he found Toya chatting with someone near a taxi, presumably thanking them before getting into the car with them. For a split second, it seemed the person had some sort of weird hair combination, some kind of shade of orange or pink near the ends.

Suddenly being ripped back into the present, Tsukasa was still talking about Toya and the performance itself. Going on and on about how much of a new and exciting experience it was. However, he stopped and stared at Akito with a big grin on his face.

“But, I think your solo nearly made me fall in love with you!” He shouted.

“Wha… What?”

“I mean, you’re always like, “Oh… Don’t bother coming… My singing isn’t that good… I’m still practicing my singing…”, but when I came to watch, it was already perfect!” Tsukasa stated, “All of your high notes were beautiful! And your dance moves had me so mesmerized! The look in your eyes nearly threw me across the world!!”

“I see… I’m glad to hear that, Tsukasa-senpai.”

Realizing what he said, Tsukasa’s face shot to red as he started to stammer incoherent thoughts and sentences. Ultimately giving up, he sighed and slumped his body, almost dropping his bento.

“…It is true though. I think Akito’s singing is really good, so there’s nothing to be ashamed about.” The blond said after a period of silence, “But if you really want me to hear your singing at your best… Then I can skip out on a few shows…”

“What? No, it’s fine. You coming to our live show last night just caught me by surprise.”

The elder giggled as he picked up his utensils again.

“My singing is nice… Huh?” Akito thought, “I mean, I’ve heard that my singing has gotten a lot better… But it’s rare for someone to outright say something like that…”

And because of that, Akito’s heart rate paced a little faster and pumped blood faster. His stomach squeezed with an unfamiliar feeling, and his face was starting to feel hotter than before. He grumbled to himself before putting in his earbuds to listen to music, trying to forget about the blond’s words.

-

Akito stared at his ceiling once again, thousands of thousands of thoughts rampant in his mind. Maybe An was right. Maybe he had some feelings towards Tsukasa, nothing wrong with that… He would say if he wasn’t the school’s weirdo.

The way he figured it out drove him insane as well. Meeting Tsukasa’s older version already had his heart racing and heart beating like crazy, but seeing the younger Tsukasa in his actions made him fly towards the sun. Before, Akito shrugged off every word that spewed out of Tsukasa’s mouth, but now, he remembers every word he says.

His friends teasing him either doesn’t help whatsoever. “Haha! Tenma-senpai seems to like our Shinonome a lot, right?!” They’d joke. The fact that he was getting married soon and how he was so caring towards him made his head be filled with unnecessary and false thoughts. At times, Akito would believe that Tsukasa was being nice to him because he was the one that he was marrying, but he’d instantly refute it by saying that they could’ve gotten closer or that Akito was close to mine he was being married to, hence his kindness towards him.

If it was someone close to Akito, then who could it possibly be? Kamishiro? That couldn’t be possible, Tsukasa had already said it was him. Otori? Didn’t know her that much. Kusanagi? Could be possible, but Akito couldn’t see it. Toya was ambiguous, Kohane was definitely a no, An doesn’t seem interested in Tsukasa in the slightest, Mizuki doesn’t seem to have any feelings towards Tsukasa either. The only person left was that demon next door— Shinonome Ena. Akito had no idea if the two had ever met, but he hoped and prayed that they never will.

Checking his watch, he realized that it was nearing 2AM. He should’ve been off in dream land, or the void nowadays, not in his room wondering about Tsukasa again.

“Dammit…!” Akito scoffed, “It’s all Kamishiro's fault…! If only he didn’t do some weird crap with time machines and what not, then I'd still be normal!”

“A… Achoo!” Rui sneezed, “Goodness, that’s the fifth one in a row… Who could possibly think about me this hard?”

Looking back, Rui smiled at the object he made that was sitting in the middle of his room. After multiple hours of research and testing, Rui was sure this was the final product and answer.

“Fufu! The great inventor, Kamishiro Rui, has come to the rescue again~!” He said before slamming into the couch and falling asleep.

Chapter Text

“Everyone! I have great news! I finally built a machine that can bring our dear Tsukasa-kun back!” A maniacal voice yelled down the hall, “Does anyone want to see? Come on down the courtyard!”

“I told him not to do that…” Nene murmured under her breath, rolling her eyes at the tall man, “He’s making it a school wide assembly too… It’s making me so embarrassed.”

“Eh? Kusanagi-san? I’m sure it’ll be fun, let’s just see what happens.” Shiraishi said as she waved her hands, “I’m really excited to see this though…! Wait, where’s my phone? I need to take a video of this…!”

“It’s in your hand.”

“Huh? Oh, thanks, Akito! How didn't I see that…?”

Propping her phone against a ledge, An made sure the angle was absolutely perfect, wanting to capture every second of the process. Many students were watching from the windows or from a far, afraid of what sort of blast would happen.

On the ground, Rui ushered Tsukasa to come faster, as the teachers may take notice at any minute. Tsukasa sped up his pace, laughing as Rui set up the machine and waved at the students in the background.

“Alright, I think it’s all set.” Rui said as he watched the machine come to life, “Wanna say anything else before you go?”

“Anything else…? I mean, I had a lot of fun being back here at Kamiyama. It made me remember a lot of things I’d forgotten, and I managed to meet some old friends.”

“Fufu, that’s good to hear, Tsukasa-kun.”

“And…”

“Hm? Is there something else?”

“You know how I mentioned I’ll be getting married soon, right? Come here, Rui…”

“Oh? I finally got to hear about Tsukasa-kun's future spouse!”

As Tsukasa leaned into Rui’s ear, he whispered a string of words that left Rui speechless, completely confused and perplexed. The purple-haired man nodded, trying to shove down the information inside his head to start the procedure. 

“Oh! Oh! It’s happening! It’s happening…!” An yelped and jumped as she bit her fingers, “I’m so excited, I can barely control myself…!”

“An… Calm down, will you? Tsukasa-senpai isn’t even in the machine yet.” Akito said as he wanted the girl to go into a frenzy.

“Shut up! Just let me be a nervous wreck for a moment!”

As Akito looked down at the two boys in the courtyard again, he noticed Tsukasa staring at him back. He smiled and waved as he slowly entered the device. Not noticing, Akito had raised his hand back and waved.

“Ah… It’s really all over.” He thought, “All of these stupid feelings will go away, so why do I feel kind of disappointed…?”

Rui slammed down the red button nearby, watching the device’s every move and listening to every sound. He’d researched and made multiple variations of it, making sure there was absolutely no flaw or mistake in his design. If he were to return this Tsukasa back with wounds and scars, who knew what the Gods would do to punish him?

It was similar to the first one he built, just with the power of bringing back the high school version of Tsukasa instead of an adult version. Rui still had no idea how the machine even worked, as he only meant it as a joke.

The mechanics and wires built into the machine spurred and rumbled and the machine gradually shook harder and harder, smoke emitting from the bottom of it.

“Well, I guess it’s going as planned since this also happened with the…”

The machine suddenly burst open with smoke and gray and it completed its course, sending Rui flying back a bit and coughing. Raising himself up, he squinted his eyes and tried to air the smoke away, fast enough to get out of the situation before he found himself in the office again.

“T-Tsu…Tsukasa-kun?!” He coughed out as he wobbled towards where his body should’ve been, “Are you there? Tsukasa-kun!”

“Agh… R-Rui?! Is that you? Where are you– I can’t see anything here!!”

His eyes lit up as he heard Tsukasa’s young voice again, running through the field and he got closer to the source of the voice. His rushing footsteps alerted the blond man as he felt himself tumble to the ground once more.

“Ack..! Rui! Get off of me!” He yelled and he tried to push away the taller boy, “First you sent me to some alternate dimension, and the first thing you do when you bring me back is tackle me?! What kind of person are you?!”

“Sorry, Tsukasa-kun! It’s just I missed playing with you so much, that I felt so excited that the machine worked and brung you back…!”

-

Even though Rui had a vow to take Tsukasa and immediately run off to not end up in the headmaster’s office, he still found himself in the headmaster’s office. The poor elder sighing as the two familiar students walked in the room once again.

“Alright, I’m sure you two already know why you’re here…”

“Of course! But, aren’t you glad one of your most famous students is back?! See? Perfect shape and condition!”

“Yes, Kamishiro. I am quite glad to see that my student has been brung back from the presumed future safely, however…”

As the two seniors walked out of the office, after receiving an earful of course, they noticed a group of students waiting for them outside.

“Yo! Tsukasa-senpai! Rui! It’s me, Mizuki~!”

“Ah! Mizuki! When did you get here?”

“An told me that a little fiasco was happening at school, so you bet that I put on my uniform and ran all the way here!”

“When I said there was something going on, it felt like you came here in an instant…!”

The group laughed and chattered about that day’s events, speaking of how ridiculous the entire situation was. Even while it was filled with happiness and laughter, Akito still felt a pang in his heart. He lingered in the feel of that touch, the ruffling in his hair, the kind compliments towards him, the teachings and lessons he was taught. He missed it all too much, and terribly too fast.

When he looked back up at the crowd, he spotted Toya, An, Rui, Nene, and Mizuki huddled up together. Strangely, Tsukasa was slightly behind, his head lowered downwards and not moving his arms. Curious, Akito made his way towards the blond and approached him.

“Tsukasa-senpai, do you feel fine?” He simply asked.

What he got in response was a starry eyed and a red faced Tsukasa. His face nearly blended in with the ends of his hair, showing how nervous or embarrassed he was. Tsukasa halted in his tracks as he made eye contact with Akito, surprised at the sight of the boy.

“A-Akito…! Did you need something?!” Tsukasa yelled, “Sorry, I was in my own world for a second there!”

“Aren’t you always? Whatever, what’s got you blushing so much?”

“I… Uh— I can’t say…!”

“Why is that?”

“Because um, it’s too embarrassing! Plus, I already made a promise to never share it!”

Akito gave Tsukasa a weird look before leaning towards him more to inspect his face. In response, the blond covered his mouth and moved back a step. All the while both of their faces begin to flush.

“Come on, stop acting like that. It’s starting to freak me out.” Akito sighed as he walked towards Tsukasa, “What happened when you were gone?”

“What happened? Um… I met someone familiar.”

“Really?! Let me guess, was it Kamishiro-senpai? Oh, what did he look like? I bet he’s got some crazy thing to do with his hair.”

“Of course not! You shouldn’t be speaking about your senpais like tha! And no, it wasn’t Rui either!”

“...Not Rui? Hm, who did you meet then? Was it Kusanagi? Otori? Eh… What about Saki-san or Toya?”

“No! No no no, don’t just blabber all the names you can think of! I’m not telling you at all!”

“Haha, you’re acting like it’s me.”

“Wha… What…? No! O-Of course not, ha ha ha! Why would it be my dear kouhai out of all people…?!” Tsukasa yelled out as he switched between various poses, “Yeah, yeah… it totally wasn’t you at all…!”

“...”

“Akito…?”

“It totally was me, wasn’t it?”

“What?! I just said no!”

“Now, now, you two squabble birds… Let’s calm down and…” An started as she inserted her hands between the two boys.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!”

“O-Okay…! Jeez…”

“Fufu, Shiraishi-kun is right, let’s settle down. After all, we have our dear Tsukasa-kun back!” Rui exclaimed, “What are you two talking about?”

“Ugh… It’s so embarrassing, and Akito here doesn’t want to listen to me at all!”

“I see, I see… Why not tell me then, Tsukasa-kun?”

“Umm, are you sure you won’t tell anyone?”

“Of course not!”

The two boys walked a little further from the original group, standing next to a window overlooking the other buildings. Tsukasa shuffled his feet as his eyes were fixated on his legs, his thumbs swirling around each other and his face beet red.

“So, what is it?” Kamishiro started, “I’m quite curious too.”

“Don’t rush me, Rui! A-Anyway… You know how you did that entire body alter dimension switch earlier, right? But when I woke up after that machine exploded, I found myself in an unfamiliar apartment…”

“Oh my, you weren't in the process of being kidnapped, right?”

“It’s not time for jokes! Ahem! But when I got up, I found myself in the living room of said apartment, and everything seemed to be in disarray and in chaos. Like… Like an explosion or brawl happened. I heard someone walking in, so I tried to hide cause you know, I was scared for my life and my so-called best friend decided to… I don’t know, transport me to a whole new year or something.”

“Fufu… Those kinds of things you said hurt me feelings…” Rui whined as he heard Tsukasa complain about his actions, “Sorry, sorry. Who was it?”

“It was… Uh… It was…” Tsukasa stuttered and he checked the hall once again, making sure the walls didn’t have any kind of ears or listening device, “It was… Shinonome…”

“Shinonome? Which one?”

“The… You know… The younger one!”

“...Oh… I see, I see! Fufu, what happened after that!”

“R-Rui, I… This man was…! I nearly passed out all over again…! Oh my God! Where do I begin with him?!” Tsukasa said as he held on to Rui for support, “When I locked eyes with him, I nearly died from his gaze! It was so powerful and stern, I almost started to cry…! Apparently he came back from showering and heard a loud noise, and that’s when he found me– Did you hear that?! After the shower! T-That meant…!”

“Tsu…Tsukasa-kun, calm down…”

“No! I looked down and my face basically exploded from how embarrassing that was! I know a proud man like me shouldn't have thoughts like these, but I’m not lying when I say he had the most beautiful and shaped body ever…! Oh– His voice was so low and deep I felt the Earth rumble…!”

“Tsu…”

“No! It was okay though, I saw a ring on his finger so that meant he had a wife? Right?! No! No! I was so wrong…! When I was waiting for him to finish lunch one time, I found myself staring at a wall filled with pictures, and most of them were friends and family, but so many of them… So… So many of them…!”

“Uh huh…?”

“Oh my God– Rui! It was me! Me! Me and him! Can you believe that?! One of me kissing him on the cheek, one of him proposing to me, us on a date, us sharing so many memories together! And then I looked around the house, there were so many things that pointed out that we lived together! Just us…! The decorations, the colors, everything…!”

Rui sighed as he watched the blond ramble on in a frenzy about his time spent in the future, watching him go crazier and madder with every little thing he remembered.

-

“Fufu! I’m here to collect some research, dear kouhais~” Rui said as he entered a classroom, “Ah! Nene! How about you? What did Tsukasa tell you about his future spouse?”

“What…? What are you going to do with this?” The girl replied.

“Oh, I just wanted to see if I could pinpoint someone down!”

“...That’s never going to work. Ugh, I guess he said that he was shorter than his spouse.”

“That’s good! Thank you, Nene!”

“Huh? Uh… I mean, Tenma-senpai said that his fiancé really liked it when he gave them compliments…”

“Tsukasa’s future spouse? I heard that his spouse liked to sing, it’s one of their favorite hobbies.”

“Oh? Tsukasa-kun’s future spouse?! I remember Tsukasa-kun said that they looove warm and yummy foods☆ Hehe, so do I!”

“You’re asking me? Well… Miku kept talking about a fire going off and how it never died out during that entire time period, sorry if it doesn’t help.”

“Miku knows☆ I was walking around the SEKAI and I saw this big and huge stage! There were so many speakers and things Miku doesn't know, I think I showed you right, remember?!”

“Tsukasa-senpai…? I mean, he did say that he and his fiancé didn’t get along before their relationship, so he just assumed that they didn't like him. After that, some miracle happened and now they’re getting married.”

“Hm… I mean, I already know who Tsukasa-kun is marrying, but this was still fun.” Rui said to himself as he looked over his investigations once more, “Shorter than spouse, likes compliments, likes to sing, likes warm and yummy foods, fire in the SEKAI, a stage in the SEKAI, and how they didn’t get off the right foot at first…”

He laughed at himself as he recounted all of his “witnesses” talk about a particular person, unknowingly feeding into Rui’s amusement. Tossing the sheet of paper aside, he grabbed a wrench and started to work on his project again.

“Oh… Where did I put that again…?”

-

Eating his lunch, and sneaking his greens to Tsukasa’s lunch, Rui found himself on the rooftop with Tsukasa and Akito. It was oddly quiet, so quiet that Rui became afraid to eat because of how loud he might be. It was strange though, Tsukasa had always spoken about how he always shared his lunch time with Akito when Rui wasn’t there to accompany him, and how it was always such a nice and fun bonding time.

Despite all of Tsukasa’s good words, the rooftop was deserted, a tumbleweed might come and fly by any minute. Akito was playing games on his phone, no longer paying attention to his food beside him. Tsukasa sighed as he watched Rui place another lettuce in his meal, but didn’t say anything towards him.

“Ah, I forgot. I have to meet with my homeroom teacher during lunch,” Tsukasa said, “I’ll see you two later, bye then!”

Tsukasa soon packed up and ran back downstairs to the teacher’s office for whatever reason. It was then a sly cat and a dog-like not-dog on the rooftop, all by their lonesome.

“Hey, Shinonome-kun, what happened between you and Tsukasa-kun?” Rui asked as he swallowed another piece of meat, “You two were fine back then, but ever since our normal Tsukasa came back, you two are never seen together.”

“Nothing happened… I don’t know either. I tried talking to Tsukasa-senpai earlier, but he just made an excuse and ran off.” Akito replied, “Did you say something weird to him?”

“What? No. I wouldn't dare to do that kind of thing.”

“After you guys talked in the hall on the day he came back, his face would turn bright red and he’d run off before I got to say anything…”

“I see…”

“It’s making me so frustrated too. I mean, I know I wasn't the best towards him at first, I’ll admit that part, I just don’t get why he'd start avoiding me now rather than before.”

Listening as Akito talked more about his situation with Tsukasa, Rui suddenly remembered something.

“Tsukasa-senpai…? I mean, he did say that he and his fiancé didn’t get along before their relationship, so he just assumed that they didn't like him. After that, some miracle happened and now they’re getting married.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that, Shinonome-kun?”

“Well, all he said is that he thought they didn't like him, so he started to keep his distance or something. Made them really sad though…”

“How interesting… Is that all?”

“...He did tell me that they started dating because of an accidental confession. It’s probably something related to Tsukasa-senpai avoiding them…”

“I see, then! Do you have any clue on who it could be?”

“Who is it? Uh… Nothing in mind. He looked older than a college student, so I’d assume it was someone from college…”

“Alright then, thank you for your testimony, Shinonome-kun~”

“Jeez, this guy is acting like he’s conducting a private investigation…”

“Fufu, it seems like they’re at that stage…” Rui giggled to himself, “Ah… People grow up so fast…”

“The hell do you look like that for?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Akito stared at him with a displeased expression, showing his distrust.

It was unexpected, but a welcome surprise. On that day in the courtyard, with hundreds of students watching and curious to see, Tsukasa had told him something so secretive and important, that Rui would die in a gruesome way if it’d accidentally came out of his mouth.

“Rui, I’m going to get married to Akito next month. And you’re my best man. Don't tell anyone, okay?”

“Fufu… I should try to remember as much as I can to embarrass them on their wedding day…”

“...This guy is acting so weird.”

Chapter Text

Once again, an explosion-like noise occured in the living room. Akito grumbled as he heard the noise, forcing himself out of the bed and getting up from his slumber.

“The hell has the kid gotten into again…?” He mumbled as he walked towards the room, “I swear, if he broke something…”

Instead of a young 18 year old sitting in the living room, it was an old and gentle man sprawled across the carpet. His hair was a little messy, some black smudge was on his face, and his clothes were a little dirty, but Akito’s eyes glowed the moment he saw the man.

“Tsu… Tsukasa?!” He shouted, “You’re here again?! What the hell happened?!”

“Ah… Akito? Haha, don't worry so much… I’m sure you managed fine without me.” Tsukasa said as he pulled himself up, “What happened when I was gone? Nothing bad I hope…”

“Ugh… I had to deal with your idiotic high school self again. I had to take some time off of work to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid while I was gone. The guy looked at me like I genuinely lost my mind… So embarrassing…!”

“Haha! Seems like nothing bad happened then, right?” Tsukasa asked, “Akito… I’m sorry… But can you fix me a plate of food…? I’m feeling dizzy at the moment…”

“Of course, just sit on the couch.”

Coming back with a plate with cut fruits and food, Akito placed down an array of foods on the table beside Tsukasa. Thanking him, Tsukasa took a piece of an apple and bit into it, tasting its sweet and juicy flavor.

“You know Akito, I went back to the past and I met your highschool self, similar to you.” Tsukasa said, “Hehe, he was so cute. He’d always stare at me with his big starry eyes and blush at everything I said.”

“Seriously…? I was not like that when I was younger.”

“I know, I know. But I had so much fun teasing him and pushing him around, it really reminded me of how you are now.”

“Remind you…?” He scoffed, “There’s no way I act like that. I’m not the type to get all blush blush when someone I like compliments me.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you nearly exploded when I said you had a nice voice.”

“…That’s a different story.”

Tsukasa laughed as he saw the red cheeks of the man beside him, ruffling his hair as he bit into a grape and strawberry. 

“Still, you can’t be giving compliments and praise all willy-nilly like that, Tsukasa.” Akito said, “You always give people the wrong idea… I don’t like it either when someone else gets your praise…”

“Oh? Is my dear jealous of his younger self? That’s something new…” He teased, “Hehe, Akito is jealous of himself, how cute~”

“Hey! I’m trying to be serious here!”

Akito was going to say until he found Tsukasa’s lips on his own. Tsukasa was peppering kisses all over his face— Cheeks, nose, forehead, everywhere. Moving back, Tsukasa laughed once more as he saw the look on Akito’s face.

Akito’s face flushed with madness and humiliation, his husband was already back to teasing and playing games with him when he just got back home a few minutes ago. Huffing, Akito kissed Tsukasa back. His soft lips came in contact with Akito’s lips.

“Ah… I missed kissing you…” Akito mumbled as he went in for another kiss, “I almost went crazy when you weren’t here… I missed you so much…”

“I missed you too, baby…”

“Don’t call me that.” Akito huffed, “It sounds weird.”

“Okay, baby~” Tsukasa chuckled, “But seriously, I missed you a lot too. It felt nice sleeping in my bed in my old room again— Saki nearly crumbled on the spot when she saw me… I could say the same for mom and dad.”

“I could see that… Imagine how Ena would react if she saw how I looked today.”

Tsukasa laughed as he imagined that scenario. The young artist walking out of her room to find a suddenly older and taller version of her younger brother, she surely would’ve lost it too.

Akito wrapped his arms around Tsukasa’s waist, pulling him closer. He watched as the juices from the fruits left behind a small puddle in Tsukasa's mouth. Bringing his mouth closer again, Akito kissed Tsukasa once more, slowly wiping away all the stray juice from Tsukasa lips. Tsukasa, however, misinterpreted this and opened his mouth slightly.

Shifting his head slightly, Tsukasa opened his mouth more and pressed against Akito. His hand traveled through Akito’s hair and massaged his head, his other hand grabbing another grap from the plate. Breaking the kiss, Tsukasa threw the grape into his mouth, bit into it slightly, and kissed Akito once again.

Pushing the small fruit against Akito’s lips, the flavor of the grape was soon shared between the two lovers. Their tongues and teeth clashing against each other, the sweet taste of the fruit making them crave it more, the sticky liquid trailing down their chins, the way they tugged each other to become closer, it all felt so good and delicious.

Breaking the kiss once more, the two men breathed heavily as they stared into each other’s eyes. Tsukasa chuckled to himself as he saw the sight on Akito's face, it was so needy and pathetic, driving him slightly mad.

“You know… I’ve been wanting to…” He started, “I was having so much trouble relieving myself, so now that I’m here again, won’t you be a good husband and help me out?”

“What…? Are you saying that…”

“Of course I am! After all, Akito has been a good man and waited faithfully for his dear one to come home, so why not reward you with the freedom of being able to do anything to me?”

Akito’s eyes widened as he heard the offer, anything? There were so many things he wanted to try with Tsukasa, he didn’t know where to start. But he laughed and smirked as he realized the opportunity he had right now.

“Anything, you say? Alright then, don’t tell me if it’s too much for you to handle.” Akito said as he pinned down Tsukasa, “Hah… I’ve been waiting too long for a sight like this… I really might go insane.”

“Oh? So early in the day too? My… Akito is so eager to mess up his lover…”

“Oh, come on. You’re the one who started this.”