Work Text:
"The star child, huh?" Rom asks with amusement, as if he were entertaining a child playing make-believe.
"It's because I was born on the seventh of July. In the East, we call it Tanabata," Shuu says with a grin. "The star festival that celebrates the two lovers."
Rom snorts and scratches the back of his head in thought, but ultimately concedes. "I guess it fits someone like you."
Shuu weaves his fingers between the holes in the chainlink fence, gives them a squeeze, and looks up at the dusky, orange-magenta sky.
"Whenever my parents took me to the festival, I liked to pretend it was actually my birthday party," Shuu continues wistfully. "Thinking about it really makes me miss home."
Finally, Rom looks up to Shuu; his expression is a sad one in spite of his smile. Rom was quick to learn that sometimes Shuu's smiles weren't really simple and clear. It was difficult, but he was beginning to notice the subtle nuances of Shuu's expressions.
It was like he never stopped smiling. Rom liked that about him, but he hated it just as much.
Rom hums in thought before rising to his feet, and with a few long steps, stands at Shuu's side. He watches him out of the corner of his eye, and feels an affection inside of him so strong, it almost makes him sick.
"They celebrate it deep in the eastern part of the city," Rom begins. "Tanabata, I mean."
Shuu feels as if his entire body is glowing with hope. Despite this, he remains quiet, tries to keep his grin to himself as he watches Rom curiously. It was terrible of him, but watching Rom squirm with awkwardness is too cute to resist.
Shuu's efforts are rewarded with a gruff growl of frustration before Rom turns to face him fully.
"Do you want to go? To the Tanabata festival," and after a beat passes, his face gives way to youthful redness, and he finishes his request. "With me."
Shuu wants to leave the other boy hanging for as long as he can, but is quick to light up as he turns to face Rom as well. He can feel his ears getting hot, as they often do in Rom's presence.
"I was hoping you would ask," Shuu says with a dazzling smile. "What took you so long?"
Rom scowls, but Shuu can tell it's rooted in embarrassment rather than any real anger or offense.
"You only told me about this birthday stuff a few minutes ago! How was I supposed to know?" he barks, fists clenching. Shuu wonders if Rom can tell his cheeks are red too.
The fact that Rom is asking him out during a summer sunset on the eve of his birthday doesn't go amiss to Shuu. He wonders if this is deliberate, if Rom is aware of how romantic and heartfelt he truly is deep down-- or maybe this is fated, written in the stars like everything else between them seemed to be.
All Shuu can do laugh behind a small hand. "I guess you're right. I won't tease you about it this time."
Shuu can tell Rom wasn't anticipating his excitement, but revels in the way Rom's eyes widen in reverence when he sees him in his expensive yukata and hairpiece of blue flowers and jeweled stars.
He extends his hand to Rom, waiting for the other boy to take it. Rom slowly accepts it, fingers curling around Shuu's soft palm. His hold is gentle but possessive.
Rom leads him to the eastern half of Midi City, where there was indeed a Tanabata festival going on. It wasn't as grand and lavish as it would have been in the East, but it was still crowded and bright enough to invoke the right kind of nostalgia in Shuu.
They spend the whole night laughing and smiling, and by the time they reach the wishing tree in the center of the district, Shuu is clinging onto Rom's arm. Rom doesn't mind it one bit. If anything, he seems happy about it.
The wishing tree is surprisingly splendid, though nothing compared to what Shuu is used to. It sits in the center of the shopping center, surrounded by glowing lights and hanging lanterns. The branches are long and dripping with all kinds of papers tied to strings. Most were the traditional little rectangular slips, but there were also stars, hearts, and other simple shapes. There was even a white paper crane hanging at one of the highest branches.
Shuu dislodges from Rom to take a few steps towards the bamboo tree, admiring how tall it is, before eyeing a long bare branch. He looks to Rom from behind his shoulder, and the other boy looks curious and excited.
"What?" he asks. "Are you going to make a wish or not?"
Shuu laughs behind the back his hand.
"I just brought a regular fortune with me," he says with a tilt of his head. "I couldn't really think of anything I wanted."
Rom's eyes widen, incredulous. "For real? A spoiled kid like you can't think of a single thing in the world he wants?"
"Hey!" Shuu says with a sneer. He's far from offended. "What about you?!"
Rom grins and gives his chest a thump with his fist. "If I want something, I use my burning spirit to get it! I don't do wishes!"
Shuu gives him a withering stare before finally bursting into laughter.
"Again with that manly spirit stuff?! You're crazy!" he says from behind his hand, eyes squinted shut to keep his tears down.
Rom flusters, his tail giving a wide swish as he balls his fists. "Only a crazy person would call someone else crazy, so that makes you the crazy one!"
Shuu gives his glittery green eyes a swipe with the back of his hand, and watches Rom once again, this time with a tenderness far too complex for his young heart to understand. The way Rom stares back at him, relaxing and no doubt falling under the same all-consuming warmth in his chest, makes Shuu unbearably happy.
Laughing and smiling on his birthday with the boy he likes-- Shuu never wants a single part of this night to end.
Shuu gives Rom a coy grin before sending a cute little wink his way. "Crazy for you, maybe."
While Rom is trying to fight back the urge to shout at him, Shuu approaches the wishing tree to tie his paper to a branch.
Once he makes the final knot, he spins around quickly, skitters up to Rom, and grabs him by his bicep.
"Hey, take me somewhere special," he says. "Somewhere we can be alone-- with a great view of the fireworks!"
Rom blinks down at Shuu's beaming face, unseeing and thoughtful for a long moment.
"Somewhere special..." he mumbles mostly to himself. After Shuu gives him a squeeze, Rom's ears twitch. "Follow me."
Shuu isn't sure what to expect, but Rom never fails to surprise him. When Rom grins down at him, boyish and excited, it makes Shuu's heart tremble in delight. Rom always seemed to know how to make him happy and give him what he wanted.
Deep down, he hopes he can do the same. Not enough to spend a wish on it, because he has a feeling he does, but the desire is still present.
Rom's pace is quick as they weave through the herds of Myumon making their way through the festival, most heading towards the wishing tree themselves. It's only when the crowd begins to thin out does Shuu realize that Rom never let him go.
They end up past the festival grounds; it looks like a forest, though there's still a cobblestone path lined with lanterns before them. Shuu is lost, and though he trusts Rom completely and utterly, he never denies the opportunity to speak up.
"Where are you taking me?" he asks, more curious than anything.
Just as Rom is about to answer, the distinct sound of fireworks goes off in the distance.
Rom curses quickly under his breath before looking down at Shuu with a grin.
"You'll see in a minute. C'mon, we'll miss the fireworks."
He takes Shuu's small hand in his, and he pulls him along the path until they reach a small set of stairs leading up to a traditional Far East temple, its black roof and red pillars evoking vivid memories to Shuu.
His perpetual blush never disappears, even when Rom leads him up the stairs. As soon as they arrive, Shuu whips around, and sure enough the sky is clear, littered with bursts of light and color.
"You were right," he mumbles in awe. He stares up at the sky, transfixed and amazed, feeling small. "It's beautiful up here, Rom. The fireworks, the stars..."
When Rom steps up next to him, his hands in his pockets, his face turned up towards the blooming sky, Shuu can't help but look at him from the corner of his eye. The natural light of the fireworks' colors give Rom a warm glow that Shuu swears is breathtaking. Profound is the only way he can think to describe it.
"Rom," he says quietly, turning to look at the other boy. His smile is soft and starry-eyed.
Rom turns to look at him, eyes widened as if he wasn't expecting Shuu to say anything. "Yeah?"
Shuu can't help it; he reaches over to latch onto Rom's arm and buries his face in his shoulder. He can't think of anything in particular to say, which is a first for him. He expects Rom to say as much and tease him about it, but once again Shuu is surprised. Rom is quiet too, silently looking down at Shuu and simply watching him.
I love him, Shuu thinks happily to himself. I really love him.
He wonders if Rom is thinking the same thing, if that's why they're both quiet. The booming and crackling of the fireworks might as well be nonexistent to him, because all Shuu can think about and hear and feel is the perfection of the night.
Shuu finally looks up, grinning at Rom. "I know what I want to wish for now."
Rom returns his smile, though his is more subdued. "What is it?"
Shuu is quiet for a long while; he thinks about Orihime and Hikoboshi, the way they watch each other from across the river all year until this very day. He thinks about the beautiful, talented princess, and the way she fell so deeply in love with that common farmer boy that she'd given up everything just to be with him.
Orihime, Hikoboshi, Shuu thinks to himself. Make this feeling last forever. Make our love last forever.
"It's a secret," Shuu says with a wink.
Rom just laughs.
It was the first and last time they celebrated his birthday party. They're busy; some years they play lives, and other times, time just slips away from them without their realizing it until it's too late.
The first year they separated, Shuu spent the night after his birthday party crying, angry and bitter and hateful. He hopes Rom sees fireworks and does the same.
The first time they look at each other the way they used to is at Plasmagica's final concert. The falling lights, the sweet and pure-hearted music-- it reminds Shuuzo of happier days. When he catches Rom watching him, smiling at him, Shuuzo thinks about Orihime and Hikoboshi for the first time in years.
Shuuzo's birthday parties are mostly used as public relations opportunities. He'll throw private shows for his fanclub or invite all the major celebrities to shower him with gifts and praise and attention.
This year is no different. All the hottest bands, actors and actresses, and personalities are crowded into a villa on the western side of Midi City. The event is a formal one, with suits and ties and lavish dresses themed after stars.
He made sure Shingancrimsonz and Plasmagica received invitations as well. Admittedly, he's somewhat surprised when Shingancrimsonz shows up, and dressed mostly properly at that. There would be performances that night, so the boys keeping their natural punk flair was to be expected.
Shuuzo soaked up the attention, but the parts he looked forward to most were the little concerts throughout the night. Alice Beans, Shizuku Secret Mind, even Plasmagica performed little numbers for him.
Shingancrimsonz doesn't even cross his mind for the most part, not until their set. They sing a different song than their usual hits, which Shuuzo is surprised by. It's hard to divide his attention between keeping his distaste for their overdramatic music to himself, and watching Rom work at his drums with his usual passionate expertise.
Last Flower, the song was called. Shuuzo almost wants to ask about it.
Of course, once the applause dies down and they leave the makeshift stage, he approaches the band to thank them for their performance. They give their usual responses, declarations of their eventual victory over Trichronika (those are always funny), along with the traditional staredown with Rom.
This time, there's no resentment in his gaze, and Shuuzo doesn't watch him with expectant, challenging, eyes. Shuuzo feels longing and nostalgia begin to creep into his chest. He almost wants to blush.
Shingancrimsonz storms away with flourish before Shuuzo can say anything. His eyes linger on Rom's broad shoulders all the while, and he decides he looks very, very good in that suit.
He's tempted to leave it all alone after that, but one of the highlights of the evening is Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan, whom not even Shingancrimsonz can resist watching.
The hall is bathed in blue and crimson light, rose petals falling from seemingly nowhere as Darudayu sings a song about a grand and endless love (KOI, the song is called). She dances with an umbrella, her voice pained and longing and starstruck all at once.
Falling in a sweet love, I'll support you by your side, she sings, and that's when Shuuzo feels a familiar pair of eyes on him. He looks to the side, and sure enough, Rom is watching him. At its core, the song is a sad one, so Shuuzo is surprised by the fact Rom is smiling at him.
He can't help it. Rom's gaze reminds him of the same looks they'd given each other at the last birthday they'd shared together, a memory that Shuuzo had nearly lost through time, a memory that had been colored by bitterness and angry longing until now.
Shuuzo's glitter-glossed lips pull into a bright and cheeky smile. He nods to the side, toward a place he knows Rom will understand.
Darudayu's voice is haunting but soothing. No matter how many years pass, I'll be by your side, always.
The back of the villa has a garden that sprawls out further than Shuuzo can even see. There are trees and roses and tall lamps decorating a path that leads to the garden's maze, but he has no real interest in it. Instead, he waits nearby the central fountain.
When Rom approaches him, he isn't sure whether to be surprised or not. One thing he is certain of is that he's happy, happier than he should be.
"It's been a really long time, hasn't it?" Shuuzo says when Rom stops a few feet away from him. His expression is noncommittal. "Since we spent my birthday together."
"It was only that one time," Rom says, expression growing distant. "When we were teenagers."
Shuuzo chuckles into the back of his gloved hand. "It was the first time you asked me out, remember? You were blushing so hard, you looked like you could have started crying."
Rom snorts, giving Shuuzo a dry look. "Yeah right. I'm pretty sure you're the one who looked like he was going to pass out from all the blood going to his head."
"Bullying the birthday boy?" Shuuzo chides coyly, slowly closing the distance between them with long, elegant steps. "Mean as ever, aren't you Rom?"
Rom says nothing, though Shuuzo can tell it isn't because he's at a loss. After a few moments of silence, Shuuzo relaxes and averts his gaze to the fountain's pool. His expression grows distant, content, and lonely.
"That isn't true, is it?" he mumbles, a sad smile pulling at his cheeks despite the heartache beginning to seep in. "I'll admit it. You always spoiled me."
"So you're not completely delusional," Rom says, though there's no severity in his tone.
Shuuzo sends him a sneer. "It's your own fault for always giving me what I wanted. You never told me 'no.' You treated me like a princess."
He sees a flash of anger in Rom's eyes, and it scares him a bit. He misses the boy he'd fallen in love with, the one who smiled at him as if he were the only thing that mattered in this world.
Maybe Rom misses the same thing, Shuuzo thinks sadly to himself.
"You know," Shuuzo begins with a smile that's a little more sly than he intended. "I always think it's funny that Shingancrimsonz calls their fans their cattle."
Rom's eyes narrow, a disapproving frown beginning to show itself.
"What's so funny about it?"
Shuuzo gives Rom a chiding look. "Don't you remember? The story about Orihime and Hikoboshi!"
Rom hums in thought. "Oh yeah, that's right. The farmer--"
"The princess and the farmer who can only meet on my birthday," Shuuzo says wistfully. "I haven't thought about them in a long time."
"Me neither," Rom says. "I'm not into fairy tales and stuff like you are."
Shuuzo's smile remains soft and distant. "I miss them. I haven't celebrated Tanabata since that day."
He knows his words are vague, but judging by the calculating expression on Rom's face, Shuuzo can tell Rom knows just what he means. He wonders if Rom will ever be able to let it go, or if the memory is tinged in darkness and sorrow.
"Yeah, well," Rom says, clenching his fists unconsciously. "I thought about you. Every year."
Shuuzo is at a loss for words, doesn't feel right teasing Rom all of the sudden. He isn't surprised Rom would remember him on such a lively day, but the thought of him remaining lovestruck and yearning, even after all these years-- it makes Shuuzo's heart warm.
Suddenly, he has an idea. His expression lights up, and without thinking, he stands in Rom's personal space.
"We're here together now so let's go," Shuuzo says with finality. "Take me somewhere special. Let's be alone together, even if it's just for tonight."
Rom looks at Shuuzo as if he were crazy. Shuuzo supposes he is.
"You want to ditch your own birthday party? For real?" he asks.
Shuuzo turns his nose up. "It's my special day, so I can do whatever I want."
"That's kind of a dick move Shuu."
Shuuzo's heart warms when he hears his name come from Rom's mouth like that. He still gives him a skeptical look however, despite the offensive redness threatening to bloom over his cheeks.
"Do you really think I care about that kind of thing?" he asks flatly.
Rom can't but grin. "No, you're right about that."
Shuuzo is strangely triumphant, and the feeling of satisfaction is only amplified when Rom glances down at his hand as if contemplating whether it would be appropriate to take it.
"Fine," he says. "I know a place, but it's pretty far off. You sure you can handle it, birthday boy?"
Shuuzo meets Rom's gaze head on with a challenging smile.
"Try me."
As they weave through alleys and empty streets, Shuuzo's a bit disappointed when Rom doesn't take his hand, but he's happy to follow Rom anyway.
"Where are you taking me, Rom?!" Shuuzo whines after far too much walking.
"I told you it was out of the way," Rom says cooly. "We're going to the other side of the city. The eastern district."
Shuuzo doesn't know if he wants to punch Rom or kiss him. He settles on neither, meeting the options halfway and choosing to tease Rom instead.
"To the Tanabata festival grounds? Where you took me on our first date?" he says coyly. "You always were a romantic, Rom. Look, I'm blushing."
"Shut up," Rom barks back at him. "Just hurry up and stay close."
Shuuzo's grin softens into something familiarly adoring when he sees the smile on Rom's face.
The festival is long over by the time they make it to the center of the eastern district of the city. While he was practiced in the art of ducking and dodging fannish eyes, it was still a little difficult in costume.
Because of this, Shuuzo stumbles over uneven cobblestone and gives a shrill yelp before latching onto the back of Rom's jacket. As if nothing were amiss, he pulls himself up elegantly.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Rom scolds as he straightens. Shuuzo steps around him with a lively bounce, looking over his shoulder to poke a little pink tongue out at him.
"Quit yelling or someone will hear you," Shuuzo says as he stops before the wishing tree.
It isn't much different from the one they saw that day. Something about it seems brighter, however, warmer. It makes him think of sunsets, all the ones shared and all the ones missed.
Shuuzo is so enamoured with the sight and all the sweet memories it revives, that Rom settling at his side with a heavy step nearly escapes his notice. It isn't until Rom is looking up at the tree does Shuuzo turn to watch him.
He remembers the last time the two of them stood before the wishing tree like this, wonders if this counts as celebrating. Something petulant inside of him didn't want to count the party they'd escaped; this moment is different. It feels intimate and warm and Orihime, Hikoboshi, he thinks to himself, the voice in his mind trembling. Did you make my wish come true?
When Rom looks down, Shuuzo follows his gaze, his sight falling on a small table littered with strips of all kinds of paper, along with crayons and markers and brightly colored pens.
"They're probably for the kids," Rom notes, his tone strangely distant.
A few beats of silence pass before Shuuzo smiles. He takes a long step forward, stoops down to mull over the papers, before selecting one that was, predictably, decorated with pastel stars. He plucks a green marker along with it before straightening.
Without a word, he skitters behind Rom, before uncapping the marker, letting its lid fall to the ground, and pressing the strip of paper to Rom's back.
Rom tries to squirm forward, looking at Shuuzo from over his shoulder, eyes sharpened in annoyance, teeth bared. "What do you think you're doing?"
Shuuzo only moves after him, never letting go of the paper. He gives Rom a pouty frown.
"Sit still! I need something flat to write on!"
Rom's vexed expression softens into one of disingenuous annoyance, before he sighs in resignation and straightens his back. Shuuzo can tell Rom can feel his smile boring into him as he scribbles his wish onto the slip of paper.
"I didn't think you still did this kind of thing," Rom notes.
Shuuzo's expression softens as well, into something distant and dreamy. His marker stills for a moment.
"I don't," he begins, before putting the finishing touches on his paper. "But I haven't made a wish since that day."
With that, Shuuzo draws away and steps past Rom to approach the Tanabata tree. His expression is reverent, as if Hikoboshi and Orihime themselves were watching him. Perhaps they are-- Shuuzo can't shake off the feeling he's being watched and judged by something unnamed. Perhaps the two lovers are deliberating on whether he deserves what he'd asked for even after all that he's done.
With a deep breath, Shuuzo reaches up, the backs of his gloved fingers brushing another long slip of paper hanging nearby, and ties his wish to a thin little branch of bamboo with an unoccupied string.
When he's finished, he gives the paper a little tap with his fingertip and delights in the way it spins. He doesn't watch it for long, and turns to look at Rom who had been watching him this entire time.
Shuuzo can't help but wonder what Rom was thinking about as he watched him tie his wish to the tree. There's no way he wasn't thinking about happier, more innocent days. Shuuzo certainly was, had been this entire time. Rom might be a romantic at heart, but seven years is a long time. Shuuzo isn't as sentimental as Rom is, but even he can recall every single little detail of the last Tanabata they shared.
It was impossible for him to forget the night he realized he had first fallen in love. It wasn't part of his wish for Rom to remember the same thing, and Shuuzo knows it would just be downright spoiling him if he did, but he still hopes for it. He hopes Rom felt the same sweet little pain in his chest at the same time he did.
"Feel better now?" Rom asks briskly, brow raised in perplexed annoyance, as if he had been waiting on a child.
Shuuzo matches Rom's expression with an annoyed one of his own.
"You're acting like I dragged you here against your will!" he grumps.
"You did!" Rom barks back.
Shuuzo scoffs, though he smiles, devilish. "You could have left any time, but you followed me instead. It's your own fault."
"Tch," is all Rom responds with before he crosses his arms. Shuuzo can see him eyeing his wish as if trying to make out the thin characters. Rom couldn't read script from the Far East. Shuuzo gloated mentally for his foresight.
As silence settles over them, Shuuzo can't help but feel at ease. Normally silence between them was disastrous, an omen for something far worse to come, but things have changed. It was as if the possibility of losing Rom twice, to an insipid little snake no less, was what it took to unlock Shuuzo's ability to learn the emotion of regret. It was strangely fairytale, and it isn't as if that was enough to earn Rom's forgiveness and understanding no matter how much magic continued to find them, but it gave Shuuzo hope.
The silence ends, but not in a way that's sudden.
"What did you wish for?" Rom asks, seemingly disinterested.
Shuuzo looks away, though his smile never wavers. "If I tell you, it won't come true."
Rom growls, vexed. Shuuzo is genuinely surprised Rom would actually care that much about something he'd been calling trivial all night.
"It's the truth!" Shuuzo insists with a whimsical tone, along with a starry wink.
"That rule's only for western wishes! Even I know that much!" Rom bites back, scowling, his fists squeezing shut.
Shuuzo gives an overdramatic huff. He doesn't want to divulge something so intimate to Rom, regardless of how intimate the night has been so far.
However, he concedes.
"Fine, I'll tell you," he says with an elegant loll of his head. "It was the same thing I wished for the last time we came here together. Happy now?"
Rom seems strangely satisfied with that. All the tense anger emanating from moments ago was slowly ebbing away, right before Shuuzo's eyes.
"That was a long time ago," he says. "You seriously wanted the same thing after all that time?"
Once again, Shuuzo is surprised Rom cares, but can't deny the fluttering in his heart from the mounting hope he's being filled with.
"Is it that surprising?" Shuuzo asks coyly.
"Since it's you, not really," Rom replies with an edge. He gives Shuuzo a hard look. "So why won't you tell me what it is?"
Shuuzo goes quiet, his showmanship fading into something a little sad. It's one of those moments where he forgets to hide it.
"I wasn't ready to tell you back then," he begins. His smile turns bittersweet. "Now, it's too late. There's no point in telling you."
"You can't say that to me and expect me to leave it alone," Rom presses, taking a few careful steps towards the flighty Shuuzo.
"Too bad," Shuuzo says, wagging his finger. "It's a prince's secret. I won't ever tell, so give it up."
When Rom reaches for him suddenly, Shuuzo anticipates an angry swipe and leans back to swerve away. Instead, Rom takes him by the wrist and pulls him back in. It's rougher than he intends, but Shuuzo knows Rom isn't always aware of his strength.
"I'm not giving up this time," he says firmly, determined eyes boring down into Shuuzo's playful and defiant expression. "For real."
"You're wasting your time, Rom," Shuuzo says coquettishly.
"If you don't want to tell me then why did you drag me out here?" Rom asks, voice lowering but still retaining its angered edge.
Shuuzo gives an elegant shrug. He realizes he's forgotten to pull away from Rom's grip, and gives his arm a slight pull. It's nothing in the face of Rom's right grip.
"I don't know. I just felt like it."
"You still think you can jerk me around, don't you?" Rom seethes under his breath, giving Shuuzo's wrist a hard squeeze.
"It's not that," Shuuzo says firmly, giving his arm a firm yank this time. "I said I don't know, so I don't know."
Shuuzo's attempt at escaping makes Rom ease his grip.
"Bullshit," he hisses.
Shuuzo huffs in an attempt to retain some level of bravado. It hardly works; he feels stripped bare and cornered, like a fool for indulging in such a dangerous whim without realizing the inevitability of this outcome.
"Why do you still care this much?"
"Because I can't forget how we looked at each other at Plasmagica's last concert," he says, resolute and decisive. "So I'm not going to let you throw everything away again. I'm not losing you twice."
Rom sounds just like that boy he fell in love with all those years ago, the one who was hardworking and determined, who spoiled him rotten and always wanted to see him smiling.
I love him, Shuuzo thinks to himself as a painfully familiar feeling creeps into him. I really love him.
"I felt the same way," he admits in a murmur. He finally looks away from Rom's determined eyes. "I don't want to lose you twice either. That's why I can't tell you anything."
"Shuu," Rom says, voice so soft and caring that it makes Shuuzo's raw heart swell with affection and ache all at once. "Just tell me what you wished for."
Shuuzo's smile turns bitter and sad, as if ashamed of what he was about to admit. A few long moments of silence pass, Rom not budging or relenting in his hold, Shuuzo never turning his gaze upward to Rom.
It isn't until Rom gives his wrist a light squeeze that Shuuzo crumbles beneath the weight of his desire.
"I wished for..." he stops for a moment before looking up to Rom and finally meeting his eyes.
The way Rom is looking at him, gentle and patient and kind, so unlike his usual angry, miserable self that Shuuzo seemed to bring out of him-- Shuuzo feels as if the last seven years, all the birthdays missed, are converging on him all at once. The intensity of it is so overwhelming, it makes the part of him that's still lovestruck and single-minded want to cry.
"Just tell me," Rom urges, thumb smoothing over the soft skin inside Shuuzo's wrist.
Shuuzo shuts his eyes and brightens his smile, furry ears perking
He hears Rom murmur his name. "Shuu."
"I want this this to love last forever."
Rom says nothing, and Shuuzo begins attempting to rationalize the inevitability of it to belie the disappointment beginning to settle. He tries to force the bitter resentfulness down into the pit of his stomach so it may die, but as the silence persists, a single thought begins to prevail. His wish-- it isn't going to come true.
He's about to open his eyes, smile coyly, and laugh the whole thing off, but Rom tugs him back in. Shuuzo hits his sturdy chest with a sharp breath, and before he knows it, they're kissing. They're finally kissing.
It's dreamlike and wonderful, fills him with a warm glow just like the fireworks at the end of a festival would color shadows. It reminds him a bit of the first kiss they'd shared, but of course it's wildly different. Shuuzo can feel all the pain and resentment and bitterness that had settled at the bottom of his heart lifting away, bit by bit.
He's barely aware of it when they finally pull away for breath. The feel of Rom lingering so closely to him, keeping his word on never letting him go, makes Shuuzo dizzy with happiness.
"It'd be pretty messed up if your wish only worked on you, wouldn't it?" Rom says against his lips, his tone light.
Shuuzo's daydreamy expression gives way to a grumpy little frown, and he gives Rom's broad chest a half-hearted bat.
"What's wrong with you?!" Shuuzo barks inelegantly. "How can you say something like that after what you just did?!"
Rom just laughs at him, making Shuuzo's frown deepen.
"That's just like you," he says with a grin. It isn't a challenging one for once. "Always teasing other people, but getting mad when they tease you back.
"You make it sound like I'm some kind of brat!"
"You are a brat!" Rom says. His smile softens, along with his hold around Shuuzo. "You got what you wanted on your birthday, and you're still freaking out."
Shuuzo wants to argue back, maybe even punch Rom or shove him against something vertical and kiss him quiet, but he's far too transfixed on Rom's words.
He got what he wanted, he said. Shuuzo turns it around in his head over and over again.
"Maybe," Shuuzo says with a cheeky smile. "But that's just how I am. That's the me you can like, right?"
"Dumbass," Rom murmurs with fondness before ducking down to nudge the tip of Shuuzo's nose with his own. "That's the you I've always loved. You should know that by now."
"That's right," Shuuzo says, overjoyed. "So you're not allowed to tease me about it."
"Like hell I'm not!" Rom says with a grin.
As they cling to each other and smile and laugh, just like they used to, Shuuzo can't stop thanking his lucky stars, every single one of the birds smiling down at him from the black July sky.
"It's too bad," Shuuzo says softly, his smile growing somber. "We missed the real festival because of my party. If we'd talked sooner, then--"
"It's fine, isn't it?" Rom says before ducking down to press his forehead to Shuuzo's. "There's always next year."