Archive of Our Own

The familiar, comforting scent of coffee and homemade food envelops Toya as he sips his drink at Weekend Garage. They're having a short meeting before practice, as usual. He watches as Akito fidgets with the string of his hoodie, an old nervous habit. Something is clearly bugging him, but Toya hasn't got the faintest clue what.

“Aah, by the way, I'mma have to skip practice on Saturday. I promise to make it up later.” And there it is. The words sound like they physically hurt Akito to say, which knowing him, they probably do. He hates skipping practice for any reason, and not even sickness can stop him from working. His face matches the tone of his voice well, a sour expression twisting his features.

“Is it about the soccer match?” An asks before he has the chance to. Akito mentioned helping out at the soccer club, saying they're preparing for the first game of the season.

“Yeah. One of the players had to drop out, and they ended up askin’ me to sub in. I can't let them lose this match.” Just for a moment, the sourness on his face is replaced by determination. “‘m sorry.”

“Should we come watch?” Toya suggests. He hasn't had many opportunities to see Akito play, his own library duties often overlapping with the soccer club's meetings.

“I've never seen Shinonome-kun play soccer… It would be fun to cheer him on.” Kohane agrees, and Toya sends her a grateful smile. Akito isn't going to let them skip practice that easily.

“Oi, why do you guys want to skip practice as well?” Predictably, Akito's brow furrows at their suggestion. “We can't afford to lose any time.”

“Hey, at least we'll be going at the same pace if all of us skip,” An notes, and a teasing smirk creeps onto her face, “Unless you don't want us to watch because you know you'll lose.”

“Tch. As if,” Akito scoffs, “We'll win this match no matter what.”

“I won't believe it unless I see it,” An declares. Toya chuckles lightly.

“Fine.” Akito relents, “But we'll work twice as hard to make up for it.”

“Obviously,” An rolls her eyes, “I better see you score at least one goal.” She throws her balled up napkin at Akito's head. He catches it without any issue.

“What was that for!?” He throws it right back at An, who catches it as well. Opposite to him, Kohane giggles.

“Testing your reflexes! I had to make sure you're worthy of representing our school.” An is clearly enjoying herself, a pleased smile on her face.

“I'm looking forward to seeing you play, Akito,” Toya says, and receives a look of gratitude from his boyfriend.

“Thanks, Toya.” Akito scratches the back of his neck and sends An a nasty glare. “Anyway, for our next performance…”

♡

The days fly by, and Saturday finally arrives. Akito told them the match starts at one PM, and Toya agreed to meet up with An and Kohane a little earlier, to get good spots at the bleachers. They find three seats in the second row, and soon after, the match starts.

Toya tries his best to follow the ball, to focus on the match, but his eyes are trained on Akito. This is something he never got to see before, Akito messing around with Len didn't even come close to this. He’s fast and precise, skillfully dodging his opponents and passing the ball to the other members of his team. Toya doesn't know what role Akito has, but he often runs around on the opponent's half of the field, near to where they're seated. They couldn't have picked a better spot, with Akito so close Toya can see how his bangs stick to his forehead, how his shirt rides up sometimes to expose a soft, strong abdomen.

He can feel An nudging him, so he peels his sight away from Akito to look at her instead. “Hm? What is it, Shiraishi?”

“I've been calling your name for a minute now,” Her tone is teasing, and he sees Azusawa's shoulders shake with silent laughter as she turns away, towards the action. “Do you want a drink? I bought you your coffee before we got here.” She pulls out the can from her backpack and offers it to him. Now that he's not looking at Akito, he can see a can of lime-mint soda on the concrete next to her feet, and a can of peach soda in Kohane’s hand.

“Thank you.” He accepts the drink from An and opens it, looking back at the field to find familiar orange hair. Once he locates Akito’s figure, he takes a sip of his drink.

“Busy staring at your loverboy, hmm?” An teases, nudging him again.

“I never got to see him like this before. I want to make sure I remember everything.” He explains. Toya knows Akito is athletic, but there is something special about seeing him play soccer. It's completely different from seeing him dance, different from the stretches he does when waiting for them to gather for practice. Maybe it's because Toya himself was never good at sports, but he finds the way Akito moves mesmerizing. He wishes he could touch Akito right now, feel the muscles flexing underneath his fingers.

“I wish I took my camera with me,” Kohane comments, “I could've tried to snap a few good shots of Shinonome-kun.”

“I think Toya will have no problems with remembering this game.” An pulls Kohane into a hug, “But the offer is very sweet, just like you.”

Toya laughs a little at An's words, and at Kohane's embarrassed “An-chan!” that follows. He sips his coffee as he watches Akito run on the field, and wonders if he noticed them at any point. It would be nice to receive a wave and a smile from his boyfriend, like in that romance novel that somehow made its way into his hands. But his little wish would not come to fruition, as he knows Akito is too focused to look at the bleachers.

But it's okay. He can have all the attention he wants from Akito later, once the match is done. His parents are out of town, as his father was invited to play in a concert hall in Fukuoka and they were staying there overnight. This means that he can invite Akito to stay over after the match, and all of Akito's attention will be on him and him alone.

A loud whistle interrupts his thoughts, and he needs a second to understand that the reason the players are leaving the field is because it's half-time, which means a short break.

“Should we switch seats?” An suggests, “They're going to swap sides, which means we'll be sitting near to our goal.”

“That's a good idea, Shiraishi. Let's do that.” Toya crushes his now empty can and gets up from his seat.

“What do you think of the match so far?” Kohane asks while maneuvering between seats.

“It's really tense! There's been a few close calls on both sides, but no one managed to score so far,” An exclaims.

“I wonder if Akito will score a goal in the second half,” Toya adds. It would be lovely to see Akito score, and he knows Akito will be disappointed in himself if he doesn't.

“He better! I'm not gonna give him pancakes on the house ever again if he embarrasses our school.”

“That's harsh, An-chan.” Despite the words themselves expressing worry, Kohane sounds amused at the prospect.

“It's Akito, it's fine.” An waves Kohane's concerns off. “I would tell him about this but I don't think he even noticed us.”

“He's very focused on the game. We shouldn't distract him.” Toya warns.

“Right, right.” An plops down on the seats they found. “I can just tell him after the match.”

“And if he scores?” Kohane sits down next to An and leans her head on An's shoulder.

“Then I don't tell him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And he would probably ask for free pancakes the next time he shows up at WEG. Best to not give him any ideas.” An winces, as if Akito was singlehandedly putting her dad out of business with his demands of free pancakes.

“He is the pancake monster,” Toya sits down on An's other side, nodding his head sagely. “You do have to be careful.”

Maybe he should buy Akito some pancakes after the match. His love for the dessert was incredible to witness, his face lighting up at the mention alone. His happy smile as he digs into a pile of fresh pancakes at a cafe is one of Toya's favourites, especially when he gets embarrassed after and blushes. Toya finds that extremely cute, even though he knows Akito wouldn't be happy about that word being used to describe him. Perhaps calling him cute would make him blush even harder? This is a theory Toya sets out to test at a later date.

“They're starting!” Kohane calls out, gesturing towards the field.

Toya quickly finds Akito among the players, and focuses on following him as soon as the whistle sounds.

The tension on the field is almost palpable. With the first half resulting in a tie, both teams are even more determined to score. Whenever Akito dashes past where they're seated, Toya can see how creased his brow is. It's the same expression he wears when he's focused on practice, and Toya can't help but be amazed at Akito’s dedication.

Minutes pass by in a flurry of close calls. With each second, the game gets more aggressive, players taking more risks even if it results in an injury. Luckily, Akito avoided getting hurt, although he took a tumble after trying to hit a header and colliding with one of the defenders.

Toya looks away from Akito for a moment to check his phone. Ten minutes left, and the game is still tied, with no goals on either side. At the very least, if the game remains tied, their team doesn't lose.

He looks back up just in time to see Akito take the pass from one of his teammates. He dodges one defender, then another, and then–

Loud cheers erupt as the ball hits the net inside the goal, with Akito getting instantly swarmed by his teammates. Toya joins in to the celebrations, and quickly covers his ear as An nearly deafens him with her powerful voice. Once Akito resurfaces, he looks around the bleachers until his gaze finds Toya's, and the smile stretching Akito's lips mirrors his own. In a rush of what Toya guesses is a mix of adrenaline and dopamine, Akito blows him a kiss, which Toya catches with his free hand by putting it to his heart. This is better than the scenario in that romance novel, and Toya suddenly finds himself wishing Akito wasn't normally averse to PDA.

As the cheering dies down, Toya falls back onto his seat, a pleasant warmth spreading in his chest. He can practically see Akito glow with the elation caused by his goal. He seems in better spirits than before, and Toya looks away for a moment to confirm that the same applies to the other members of their team. As the whistle sounds, Toya looks back to Akito. That determined look is back on his face, as he fights to make sure the opponents don't tie back up. Toya never thought a soccer match could be this stressful.

A shot aimed at their goal causes Toya to gasp, leaning forward to see better. Thankfully, their goalkeeper successfully catches the ball and throws it to one of their players. Toya sighs in relief, and he hears the girls do the same.

“Close one!” An slumps in her seat. “But at least loverboy managed to score a goal. I am not letting him live down that kiss. That was disgustingly cute. Doesn't he hate doing that stuff in public though?”

“He does. I think he was very happy about scoring and acted on impulse,” Toya explains. This kiss, even if indirect, is probably one of Toya's favourites, a rare occasion when Akito was open about his love for Toya in public. It's not that he feels unloved, but he wants to be open about his feelings for Akito in public, and wants Akito to do the same. But Akito is always reserved about his feelings, and it took him a while to open up about his feelings regarding singing. This will probably take a while too, but Toya’s willing to wait. For now, the special feeling of being the only one to see Akito so vulnerable is more than enough.

“I think that was very sweet,” Kohane offers.

“I will send you a thousand kisses the next time I play basketball.” An dramatically turns to Kohane, taking her hands into her own.

“Ah, An-chan, it's not a competition.” Kohane blushes, sounding like she very much wants this to be a competition.

“None of that! I have to let my beautiful girlfriend know that every point I score is for her and her only.” An proclaims, raising Kohane's hands to her lips and kissing them. Her current behaviour reminds Toya of Tsukasa-senpai a little.

“In that case, I have no choice but to cheer you on during every match you play,” Kohane plays along. “I hope you score that thousand, An-chan.”

“A-ah, a thousand might be a bit too much,” An says nervously, looking away from Kohane.

“You can do it, Shiraishi,” Toya adds.

“Eh? Not you too, Toya!” An panics, “A thousand points… I don't even play that much basketball,” She whines, despair painted on her face.

“Looking forward to seeing you on the court, An-chan,” Kohane giggles.

“There's just five minutes left of the match!” An swiftly diverts the topic. “I think we're going to win!”

“That is, if the other team doesn't score.” The time is almost out, but that doesn't mean the other team couldn't score at the last second. Toya really hopes they don't, though.

“Shh, you'll jinx it,” An chides him.

“Sorry. But there's a good chance that we're going to win.”

Toya watches in anticipation for the few remaining minutes of the match. Whenever the ball gets too close to their goal he tenses, worried that Akito's effort will go to waste and the opponents tie the score. Finally, after far too long for such a short amount of time, a whistle announces the end of the match. Students from their school start celebrating the second the whistling ends, and Toya joins in. Once the players leave the field, the cheers start subsiding.

“Should we go find Shinonome-kun?” Kohane asks, getting up from her seat.

“We should find him before his teammates snag him away for a celebration!” An declares, “We're his main teammates, we have dibs on celebrating with him. I think I know where the changing room is.” She gets up from her seat and walks in front of Kohane. “Let's go.”

Toya gets up from his seat as well and follows An to the changing room. He throws away his empty can on the way there, thinking where to go to celebrate Akito's win. Maybe Shiraishi knows a good cafe for them to visit.

They arrive in front of the changing room, and Toya can hear loud discussions inside. He takes out his phone to look for a good place to spend the afternoon, hoping to find a nice cafe Akito doesn't know about yet. He feels a presence behind him, and turns to find Kohane looking at his screen.

“What are you looking at, Aoyagi-kun?” She asks, “Are you looking for a cafe we can visit?”

“Yes. Do you have any suggestions, Azusawa?” He hopes Kohane can recommend a nice place. So far, none of the cafes catch his eye, and if they do, it's a place they've already visited before.

“Hmm, I don't think so,” She muses, “But Shinonome-kun might have a specific place in mind.”

“That's true. Let's wait for him instead.” Toya pockets his phone and looks at the changing room door.

After a minute, Akito walks out, accompanied by another boy from his team.

“It’s like you said, your team is already here!” The boy exclaims, gesturing towards them. “I guess we shouldn't keep you then.”

“I promise to celebrate with y'all some other day. ‘m sorry,” Akito murmurs out.

“I'll hold you to that! But for now go celebrate with your friends.” The boy lightly pushes Akito forwards. “Bye, Shinonome!”

“See ya,” Akito says before the boy goes back to the changing room. “Yo,” He greets, scratching his neck.

“Akito!” An exclaims, tackles Akito in a hug, and quickly moves away. “That was a bad idea. You stink,” She winces.

“No shit.” Akito mirrors her expression, clearly annoyed. “Before we go anywhere, I wanna take a shower.” He starts walking towards the exit, and Toya hurries after him.

“You did amazing, Shinonome-kun. Do you know where you want to go to celebrate?” Kohane asks, catching up to Akito and turning to look at him.

“Karaoke,” He answers immediately.

“Eh?” An runs up to Akito's other side. “You wanna sing after that? You're not tired at all?”

Akito shrugs. “What? I'm really fired up after the match.”

“You did great, Akito. I think we're going to do well if we sing after this. Your performance today will be a great motivator,” Toya chimes in, wrapping his arms around Akito from behind.

“Why are you huggin’ me?” Akito exclaims, “I’m all gross an’ stuff.” He pulls away, much to Toya's dismay. “But thanks. I'm glad you said so.” He turns his head to send Toya a smile, one of the soft, small ones meant just for his eyes.

Toya doesn't really mind Akito being sweaty, but he chooses not to say it to not embarrass him. Toya loves being able to not only see Akito's effort, but also feel it. He's tempted to hug Akito again and run his hands under his shirt, to feel his warm, soft belly and feel the muscles flex as he tenses in surprise. Instead, he files that away in his mind for later. Maybe he should set one day apart to wake up early and accompany Akito when he's doing his morning exercise routine. Akito already tried to rope him into it, but Toya never was a morning person. However, getting to see and feel Akito during exercise will be great motivation to go to bed early for once and wake up at the dreaded five AM.

“Do you have a karaoke place in mind?” Kohane brings the conversation back to the main topic.

“Yeah. There's a new place that opened up recently, apparently it also has really good food.” Akito digs around his bag to fish out his phone. “I'll send you the website.” A few moments later, they get a ping confirming the message has been sent.

Toya takes out his phone to check the site. The place looks quite nice, and it's not too far from Akito's house. “I'll book a room,” He announces.

He gets a small chorus of “thanks” in response. He reserves a room for them and once the confirmation message arrives, he hides his phone again.

“So we're going to Akito's place first, yeah?” An confirms. “Cool. We finally get to see your place because someone–,” She elbows Akito, “Never thought to invite us before. How rude.”

“You say that, but we've never been beyond the cafe either. Who's the rude one now?” Akito elbows her back.

“Kohane has been to my room,” An pouts, folding her arms in front of her chest.

“Your girlfriend has been to your room. How shocking. I could say the same about my room and Toya,” Akito deadpans.

“None of us have been to each other's rooms,” Kohane interjects, “Outside of the pairs that are dating, that is.”

“In that sense, Akito is the first one to invite us over. That's very nice of him.” Toya nods. He can see Akito's cheeks redden slightly in response.

“You guys are ganging up on me. That's so mean.” An hurries her step in offense.

“You literally started this.” Akito catches up to her, purely to annoy her.

“I'm stealing everything of value that I can find in your room.” An speeds up even more, to separate herself from Akito again.

“You can always wait outside,” Akito threatens.

Toya laughs as An sputters, Kohane joining in with him.

“Anyway! The match was super cool. And you didn't embarrass our school,” An changes the topic, slowing down to even out with Akito.

“‘Course I didn't. Who d’ya take me for?” Akito sounds offended at the implication.

“It was very impressive, Shinonome-kun.” Kohane states before An can respond. “And we don't usually get to see you do something like this.”

“And you were the only player to score a goal,” Toya notes, “I'm very proud of you. You won the match for our school.”

Akito rubs his neck in embarrassment. “Aah, it wasn't just me. The goalkeeper n’ defenders were very important to this win. As were the other attackers. It was a team effort.”

“Come on, give yourself some credit!” An nudges Akito. “You were totally the MVP.” Toya sees the corners of An's mouth curl into a teasing smirk. “And you were clearly very happy about scoring a goal. That was disgustingly adorable.”

“I don't wanna talk about it.” Akito hides his face in his hands.

“You’re not even this affectionate when we're sitting in WEG. And you blew Toya a kiss in front of your team, your opponents, and everyone who was watching.” She continues, evidently enjoying herself.

“I don't wanna talk about it!” Akito reiterates, taking one of his hands off his face to push An away. An leans back in and wraps an arm around Akito's shoulders.

“I didn't know you had it in you to act this cute, especially not in front of this many people. I really wish I was recording, it would've been a glorious video.” An pats Akito's shoulder, a wide grin on her face.

“Fuck off.” Akito takes her arm off himself, and stops for a second to walk alongside Toya.

“I liked the kiss,” Toya admits. He takes one of Akito's hands into one of his own. “It felt very special, especially when you don't normally do this.”

Akito chooses to hide his face in Toya's shoulder instead of responding. Toya kisses his temple.

“If you want, you can stay over at my house tonight. My parents are out, and will be back tomorrow evening,” Toya offers in a hushed tone.

“‘Course,” Predictably, Akito agrees. He leans away, his face now barely tinged pink. Toya misses the vibrant, embarrassed blush coloring Akito's skin.

“How much longer until we reach your house?” An asks as they stop on a red light.

“Would it kill you to be a little patient?” Akito snaps, then sighs. “We're almost there, just a few more minutes.”

Kohane reaches for An's hand, and An relaxes a little once their fingers link together.

“With your support, I think I'll be able to make it, Kohane!” An starts swinging their hands back and forth as they walk.

“So dramatic,” Akito grumbles out, exasperated. Toya doesn't miss the fondness coloring his words.

The next few minutes pass by fast, accompanied by the sounds of bickering and idle chit-chat, until they finally arrive in front of Akito's house. Akito takes out his key and opens the door before inviting them all inside.

“Mom, I'm home!” He calls out while closing the door behind them. “My team's here too, and we're going out later.”

“Welcome back, Akito. And good afternoon, Toya-kun, and that's An-chan and Kohane-chan, right? Akito talks a lot about you.”

“Good afternoon, Shinonome-san.” They greet at the same time, bowing down.

Shinonome-san bows back. “How did the match go?”

“Good. Our team won,” Akito responds, toeing off his shoes. “I can tell you about it tomorrow.”

“Congratulations!” She beams at them, and Toya always marvels at her bright smile, the same one Akito usually reserves for after they win a battle. “And are you not planning to come back home tonight?”

Akito shakes his head. “I'm stayin’ at Toya's.”

“Have fun!” With that, the conversation ends, and Akito leads them to his room.

“Feel free to play some music for yourself or somethin’, jus’ don't break the stereo,” He says as he opens the door to his room, “Toya.” His voice softens with the first syllable, and Toya wants to kiss him so bad. “Could you pack my bag? That'll speed things up.”

As Akito beelines for his closet to grab a change of clothes, Toya heads for the usual bag he takes to sleepovers, situated next to his chair. He hears the door close behind Akito, which is when An springs to life.

“He seriously has this many clothes?” While Toya checks if there's anything in the bag, he sees An walk to the clothing racks out of the corner of his eye.

Toya only finds the toiletries bag inside, so he moves on to picking out some clothes for Akito. He walks over to the open closet, surveying the clothes inside. His eyes land on one of Akito's jackets, dark grey with orange accents. He picks it out from the pile and brings it to his face. He takes a deep breath and smiles when he feels the familiar scent of citrus cologne and something sweet. He shrugs off his own jacket and slips Akito's one on. Now he can actually pick out some clothes for Akito.

“Do you think he'd notice if I borrowed one of his shirts?” An asks, and he turns to find An with one of Akito's shirts in her hands. She turns around and places the shirt over her torso. “I bet it would look better on me than on–,” She pauses when her eyes land on him. “It seems like someone beat me to it.”

Toya laughs a little. “Don't tell him I said that, but I don't think he'd notice.”

“Perfect! Thanks, Toya!” She tugs off her backpack to stuff the shirt inside. “Do you want a shirt, Kohane? I saw one in the pile that would look great on you.”

Kohane turns away from the CDs she was digging though to look at An. “Ah, is it really okay for us to take Shinonome-kun’s clothes?”

“He's not even going to notice. He has more clothes than the both of us combined. And loverboy will be too distracted by his boyfriend wearing one of his jackets to pay attention to two measly shirts.” An points to him, and he feels himself blush a little.

“If you say so, then alright.” Kohane turns back to the CDs. After a moment, she pulls one out and gets up to put it in the stereo.

As the sound of metal fills the room, Toya turns back to Akito's closet. He starts carefully looking through the clothes, until he finds what he's looking for. A yellow and pink cropped hoodie that Akito only wears over tank tops. Toya puts it in the bag, conveniently forgetting to pack one of the tank tops stacked neatly next to where said hoodie was laying. He picks out a pair of cargo pants to go with it, then tosses in the first pair of underwear and socks he gets his hands on. He then closes the closet and goes to sit down in Akito's chair.

He looks around and finds Kohane still looking through Akito's CD collection, completely engrossed in the task. An, on the other hand, has finished inspecting Akito's clothing racks and is now looking at the jewellery display.

“Kohane, he even has more jewellery than both of us combined,” She calls out, but doesn't get a response. Kohane's nose is buried in a booklet she took out from one of the albums, focused on reading whatever information is in there.

“He does have a lot of piercings,” Toya points out. He briefly considers packing Akito some jewellery, but he's probably not going to want to change out of his usual steel set.

“But still! This is ridiculous.” An is carefully looking through the display, her face growing a little more shocked with each new piece she notices. “How does he have the money for that?”

“He has a part time job,” Toya says cautiously.

He might've bought Akito a set of jewellery. Or two. Or a few. But An doesn't need to know that, because as Akito said, “She's gonna start callin’ me your sugar baby and I'm gonna have to strangle her”, so Toya avoids mentioning that, even if he wants to show off a little.

“Really?” An turns towards him, face serious like a bloodhound who just sniffed out its target.

“Really. But I did buy him a set for his birthday.” Toya keeps a steady face through the half truth, and for a few tense seconds, the only thing that can be heard is the music and the rustling of pages.

“Huh.” An turns back to the jewellery. “I totally thought like half of this was your sponsorship.” She picks something out, carefully inspecting it. “This one is really pretty.” She turns around to show it off. It's a delicate golden hoop, connected by a thin chain to another hoop. From it hangs a small golden sun and moon, attached to the ring by more chains.

“That's part of the set I got him.” A sun for Akito, who brought light into his life, and a moon for himself, to reflect the light given to him when the sun can't shine. There's more pieces in the set, but Akito keeps those in a container, leaving only this one out. Akito told him once that it's his favourite piece of jewellery he has, and that he sometimes sits and admires it, gently tracing the shapes of the celestial bodies.

“You have a good eye, Toya.” She puts it back down, then turns to join Kohane on the floor.

Toya turns to the table, where an abandoned manga lies, open to a random page, but laying cover up. His heart hurts a little at the mistreatment of the book, so he picks it up, finds a torn piece of paper with some scribbles on it, and puts it inside. Instead of closing it fully, he flips back to the first page, and starts reading.

It's some sports manga he's never heard about, which doesn't mean much when he rarely reads manga anyway. Toya tries to focus on it, but the sports jargon is flying over his head and he ends up skimming through it instead. At least An and Kohane sound like they're having fun looking through Akito's CDs.

Toya isn't sure how many minutes pass, but Akito finally walks through the door. He closes it and pauses as his eyes meet Toya's, before he struts over to his jewellery display. Toya hears him search for something, and then hands appear in his vision and something light hits his chest.

“You look great in my jacket,” Akito murmurs, “I usually wear this necklace with it, so you can wear it too.” Akito clasps on the necklace, kisses the top of his head and straightens up. “We can go.”

Toya lifts the chain with his hand and brushes his thumb over one of the links. Warmth blossoms in his chest at the thought that he's wearing something that Akito wears often, and that Akito dressed him up with his own things even further.

He gets up from the chair and turns around to pull Akito into a brief kiss.

“Thank you, Akito,” He smiles.

“‘s nothin’,” Akito rubs his neck, embarrassed.

“Are we leaving or are you going to keep being lovey-dovey?” An sighs, exasperated. Toya belatedly realizes that the music stopped already.

“You and Kohane aren't any better.” Akito sends An a disgusted glare and bends down to grab his bag.

An is about to retort back, but is interrupted by Kohane.

“Your room is very cool, Shinonome-kun.” Kohane sends An a pointed look, and An purses her lips together.

“Hm? Ah, thanks,” Akito walks over to the door and opens it for them.

An swiftly tosses her backpack over her shoulder and leaves the room with Kohane, and Toya grabs his own bag and follows after them. Akito closes the door and joins them, and after putting on their shoes and saying goodbye to Shinonome-san, they're on their way to the karaoke place.

The walk there is pleasant, even though the streets are as busy as ever. With the sun shining down on them, warm but not too hot, Toya is glad Akito found a place that is within walking distance. Having to use public transport in this weather would be a shame.

They arrive in front of the building after maybe fifteen minutes. They walk in and are quickly led to their room, where Akito instantly goes for the phone.

“Anyone want anythin’?” He asks as An heads for the console, while Kohane takes a seat.

“I’d like a coffee,” Toya says, taking the seat next to Kohane.

“Peach tea for me, please,” Kohane asks.

“Make it double!” An finally stops messing with the console. “I've set it up so we can sing random songs. Who wants to go first?”

Akito raises his hand up, as he's currently ordering their drinks. Toya nods his head, wanting to join in. An presses the button to shuffle and they watch the songs spin, until the selection lands on Dramaturgy. She waits until Akito finishes ordering to toss him a mic. He catches it without any issue, but still sends her a nasty glare for tossing it in the first place. An sticks her tongue out to him and hands Toya the other mic.

“I'll start it for you,” An pats him on the shoulder as he takes the mic, then gets up.

He looks at Akito, who's already holding the mic up to his lips. An starts the song for them, and as the intro plays, Akito rapidly taps the handle on his mic with his index finger five times. Toya nods lightly.

Akito starts off the verse, voice light and delicate, but still firm. Toya smiles a little at the sound; he hasn't realized until now that he missed Akito's singing, even if he heard it only yesterday. Unfortunately, he can't savour the sound for too long, because his part is coming up. He sings the verses they've agreed to, and from there, it comes naturally. Step away for Akito, step in for a solo line, sing together for the next few. It's a dance they've known the steps to for a long time, and it never gets less fun to follow the choreography.

The song ends, and he hears a small applause from their audience. Akito tosses his mic to An, who barely catches it in her surprise, while he chooses to hand his mic to Kohane normally.

“Hey! I didn't even say I want to sing next!” An fakes offense. She's not very convincing when she's already getting up from her seat and pressing shuffle.

“It was painfully obvious.” Akito plops down on the couch, and Toya takes the spot next to him.

As the girls get ready to sing Night Sky Patrol of Tomorrow, Toya reaches under the table for Akito's hand. Akito gives him a tiny smile, a small twitch of the corner of his mouth. This one, Toya has already learned, Akito uses when he wants to smile widely at something small, but chooses to stop himself instead. As the girls fill the room with their beautiful voices, Akito leans his head on Toya's shoulder. Toya brings his free hand to Akito's hair, carding his fingers through soft orange locks. Akito's hair is normally quite fluffy and pleasant to touch, but after being washed and blow dried it's softer than what Toya imagines clouds to feel like. Toya wishes they could stay like this forever, but unfortunately, the song ends and Akito pulls away.

“Yo, Kohane.” Akito gets up from his seat. “Wanna sing?

“Of course!” Kohane grips her mic tighter.

“An, do not throw that mic.” Akito points his finger threateningly at her as he walks out to the front of the table. An pauses mid swing, and thankfully, the mic is still in her hand.

“Fine,” She groans, shoving the mic into Akito's chest instead. She grabs the remote and shuffles the selection.

Meltdown gets chosen, and An doesn't waste time in hitting start. From his seat, he can't see Akito and Kohane communicate, but at least that means the split they choose will be a surprise. The lyrics start, and Toya is shocked to hear Akito open. He expected Kohane to start, her voice is naturally higher than Akito's, meaning she'd be better suited for the higher notes. Toya can't complain, though. Akito sounds beautiful as he nails the beginning of the verse, then gives way for Kohane to sing the next few lines. He wonders whose idea it was to branch out from how they usually sing and swap registers. Their harmonies sound wonderful, too, and Toya makes a mental note to suggest giving them more joint lyrics when they have their next meeting. Alongside suggesting that Akito should sing more high notes, because from what he recalls, this is the first time Akito gets to sing so high for so long, which Toya deems a crime.

The song ends right as their order arrives. Akito's face lights up at the sight of the special pancakes, prepared with seasonal fruits and whipped cream. He abandons the mic on the table, thanks the staff and sits down next to Toya.

“I guess you're sitting out of the next few rounds?” An picks up the mic Akito left and shuffles for the next song.

In lieu of a response, Akito hums around a mouthful of pancakes. His face is pure bliss as he relishes in the flavour, and Toya watches him swallow the bite.

“These are better than the reviews say,” Akito sighs dreamily, before portioning off another bite.

“Here you go, Aoyagi-kun. I already sang with An-chan once,” Kohane forces Toya to stop admiring Akito and take the microphone instead.

Toya gets up from his seat and glances at the screen to check the song. He quickly runs over the lyrics of Dawn and Fireflies in his head, then nods to An. An lifts the corner of her mouth and taps her pinky on the mic twice. As Toya sings the first two lines, he can feel Akito's gaze burning into his back. He glances back at Akito, who paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. Once he realizes Toya's looking, he gets back to shoving pancakes into his mouth. The tips of his ears turn bright red, as red as the strawberry crowning the pancake stack he's eating.

Toya looks away from Akito and focuses on the song, even if he can feel Akito's gaze on himself as soon as he does. It's nice to sing with someone he usually doesn't, they don't normally sing duets outside of their usual pairs. He makes sure to make the most of this opportunity, and sings the best he can for the remainder of the song.

Once they're done, he hears clapping, and turns around to see Kohane clapping for them. Akito has been clearly focusing on their performance, with the way his fork is resting on his plate, his pancakes half eaten.

“You two sounded great.” He flashes Toya a bright smile, and nods to An. Then, he gets back to eating his pancakes.

“Kohane! It's your turn now.” An passes Kohane the mic and shuffles the selection.

Junky Night Town Orchestra is the song that gets selected, and Toya taps his mic twice with his index. Kohane gives him a pleased look, and she smoothly starts off the song. Toya sings the next two lines after her, and from there, the song flows quite well. His voice sounds good even without any warm-up, and he thinks the motivation boost from Akito's game is what's giving him that extra power.

They finish the song without any trouble, and An jumps to take the mic from Kohane.

“Akito! It's our turn!” An hits shuffle and sends Akito an impatient look. Akito shoves the last of his pancakes into his mouth and gets up from his spot.

Toya hands over the mic he's holding and reaches out to wipe some syrup from the corner of Akito's mouth. He blushes slightly at the gesture and looks at the screen.

“‘m not singing that with her.” Akito frowns at the screen, offended by the selection of Gimme×Gimme.

“I should be the one saying that!” An sounds just as offended. “Why would I choose to cheat with you, of all people!”

“You say that as if you'd even be able to convince me to spend the night with you.” Akito folds his arms over his chest. “Can we reshuffle this one?” He asks, reaching for the remote.

Toya looks at Kohane, who seems perplexed, but amused. “We agreed to sing what the random selection picks, right?” She snatches the remote before Akito can grab it.

“Kohane!” An desperately falls to her knees, her free hand fisted over her heart. “Don't make me do this! I would never cheat on you, especially not with him.” She makes a disgusted face as she points to Akito, who rolls his eyes.

“Can we get this over with?” He sighs and glares at An.

“Betrayed by my own girlfriend. I can't believe it,” An laments as she gets up from the floor. She's trying to convince Kohane not to press start with just a look, and she fails as the instrumental starts playing.

Akito and An share a look of misery, and Akito taps his ring finger four times. He looks up to the ceiling, as if in prayer, then back to the screen and begins singing when the lyrics start.

Toya huffs out, biting his tongue to contain his laughter. Akito has never sounded this disinterested, he sings like he'd rather be anywhere but here. He sees An's offended glare as she jumps in, sounding a bit more enthusiastic than Akito in an effort to get him to focus. Her attempt is a valiant one, even as it fails and Akito continues to force himself to sing about loving An. Toya spares a glance at Kohane, who seems very amused by the scene in front of them, then looks back at the singing duo. Although with each second, whatever they're doing resembles singing less and less. An has now resorted to kicking Akito's leg to annoy him into singing better, and Toya can see regret fill her eyes as Akito takes a swing with his own leg, all without pausing his monotone singing. After that, An instead chooses to sing louder to drown out Akito.

Akito, competitive as ever, matches her.

An punches Akito in the arm, Akito punches back.

Kohane bursts out in giggles as soon as the song ends, and Toya joins her. An puts down her mic with barely constrained force.

“What was that? What is wrong with you?” An elbows Akito, who scoffs at her.

“Why would I sound enthusiastic about spending the night with you,” Akito says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Toya, sing the next one with me. Please.”

“You're moving on so fast? I'm never letting you step inside WEG for this.” An flops down next to Kohane and pulls her into her arms. “Stop looking this cute while laughing at my misery.” She kisses Kohane's cheek, which only draws more giggles out of the girl.

Toya shakes his head fondly and grabs the remote. To put it lightly, Akito looks extremely eager to sing something else, so Toya shouldn't stall any longer.

Akito's shoulders sag with relief as TOKIO FUNKA gets chosen. “I was worried it'd be something bad.”

“Like?” Toya asks, and presses play.

Akito only shrugs in response. He lifts his index and middle from his mic, then taps his middle twice. Toya nods, and as they both start on the intro, he notices Akito is back with his usual power. It seems that singing Gimme×Gimme with An really was that bad for him. All the effort that didn't go into the previous song instead went into TOKIO FUNKA.

The song ends far too soon for Toya's liking, and they pass their mics to the girls. Now seated at the table, Toya finally gets to try his already lukewarm coffee. He grimaces as he swallows down what would otherwise be a pretty good cup of coffee, mourning what could have been.

“Sorry your coffee went cold, ‘s my fault.” Akito can instantly tell what's wrong.

Toya shakes his head. “It's okay. Your face when you looked at those pancakes was compensation enough.”

“If you say so,” Akito blushes, looking away to focus on the girls.

“Karaoke was a good idea.” Toya changes the topic. It's not something they usually do, even though there's a karaoke machine at WEG. Maybe they should start using it more often.

“It was mostly a good idea,” Akito corrects, much to Toya's amusement.

“I don't see the issue,” Toya teases.

“Toya.” Akito retaliates by ruffling his hair. Toya only smiles at the action, and Akito smiles back.

“Okay! Let's do solos now,” An announces, and Toya hasn't even realized when the song ended.

“Good job, you two,” Akito praises and gets up to sing. He grabs the remote and presses to shuffle, and Toya looks at the screen curiously.

The randomizer lands on KICK BACK. Toya sips his coffee as Akito starts to sing, his strong voice filling the room. He sounds great, and the song suits his voice well.

The song ends, and Akito drops back next to Toya. An is the next one to pick up the mic, and as Toya looks at the screen, Akito nudges him.

“How long did'ya book the room for?” He asks.

“Three hours. That should give us plenty of time to enjoy ourselves.” He considered reserving it for less, to instead have more one-on-one time with Akito, but he also felt a little weird without proper practice. Three hours of karaoke should fix that weird feeling pretty well.

The time flies by fast, after quite a few rounds of solos and some full group songs, their time is almost up. After they receive the notice, An quickly fixes the console, then queues up the last two songs for them, Alter Ego and YY. Akito pokes fun at her for the drastic vibe difference between the two, and An shuts him up by pressing play and turning up the volume. They do great on both songs, in Toya's opinion even better than in their previous practices. After they're done with YY, Akito sends them a tired, pleased smile.

“Thanks for singin’ with me. We sounded good.”

An claps him on the back, even though Akito doesn't look like he appreciates the gesture. “Anything for our ace!” She smiles, then checks her phone. “I have to run back to WEG. See you tomorrow?”

“See ya.”

Toya offers An a wave, while An pecks Kohane on the lips before she grabs her backpack and rushes out of the door.

“Ah, I should get going too. I promised to get home early today,” Kohane says, “Goodbye, Shinonome-kun, Aoyagi-kun.”

“Goodbye, Azusawa.”

“Bye.”

With that, they're alone. Toya grabs his bag as Akito takes his own.

“Let's go settle our tab. I can pay, so don't worry about that,” Toya offers.

“Nah, let’s split it. I don't want ya to pay for everythin’ yourself,” Akito, predictably, protests.

Toya hushes him by placing his finger over Akito's lips. “I want to do something nice for my star player.”

The small gesture works as intended, with Akito blushing lightly and turning his head away. “Fine,” He mumbles out.

They go down to the reception, where Toya pays for the time spent, as well as the food and drinks they've ordered over the course of those three hours. Then they walk out of the establishment and head in the direction of Toya's condo.

“Did you enjoy yourself?” He asks Akito as they walk.

“Yeah. Overall, that was nice. Did'ya have fun?”

“Yes. Although, I'm not sure if I liked the match or the karaoke more.” Toya chuckles lightly. This day is already full of fond, warm memories, and it hasn't ended yet. He's excited to see how the evening will go.

“Was watchin’ me run around after a ball really that enjoyable?” Akito sounds doubtful, and Toya wants to kiss the hesitation away.

For now, though, he has to settle for something less affectionate. “It was. Soccer was a significant part of your life at one point, so being able to see some of that in your game today is important to me.” Toya reaches for Akito's hand to link their fingers together.

“I guess so.” Akito rubs the back of his neck. “I'm glad you liked it.”

They spend the rest of the walk in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. They arrive in front of Toya's building, and Toya starts looking for his keys.

“Shit, Toya, d'ya have anything easy to eat? I don't wanna cook, and I forgot to ask earlier.” Akito scratches the back of his neck.

“Ah, I don't think I do. But we could come over to SEKAI and see if MEIKO has anything at the cafe?” Toya suggests. “Also, I think someone there wants to talk to you.” Len was ecstatic once he heard Akito is taking part in a soccer match, and demanded to hear everything about it as soon as possible.

“That's a smart idea. And the longer I put off visiting Len, the more upset he’ll be once I actually show up. We should go now.” Akito opens his phone to check his battery.

When they get inside Toya's condo, Akito drops his bag onto the entryway floor and looks over to Toya. Toya leaves his own bag on the floor and once he does, Akito presses “play” on Untitled.

A shower of white light envelops them, and they appear in Street SEKAI. Len is practicing juggling in the main square, and he drops his ball once he notices them.

“Akito! Toya!” He picks up the ball and rushes over to them. “How was the match?”

“I'll tell you all about it once we get to the cafe.” Akito starts walking towards crase cafe, and Len eagerly follows him. Toya walks a step behind them, taking in the sight of Len acting like a little brother to Akito. Akito wouldn't probably say so himself, but Toya thinks he'd do great at taking care of a younger sibling. He already does well with helping Ena, even if he doesn't really admit that he actually cares about her.

A delicious smell welcomes them to the cafe, and Toya sees MEIKO put together a plate of curry for Rin.

“Hello, you two. And welcome back, Len. Done with juggling already?” MEIKO chuckles and hands Rin her plate.

“Akito finally came here! And I'm going to keep practising later.” Len excitedly drops into the seat next to Rin.

“MEIKO's trying out a new curry recipe, and I'm the taste tester.” Rin explains and brings her plate closer. “It looks and smells wonderful. That's already two points.”

“Do you three want to try it? I could use the extra feedback,” MEIKO says as she takes out three more plates.

“Please. I’m starvin’,” Akito happily agrees.

“What's in the curry?” Toya asks. He can't tell what's in it just from the smell and the brief glimpse he took at Rin's plate.

“I tried to combine some of the flavours liked by everyone, while skipping the foods that are disliked. I want everyone to be able to enjoy this,” MEIKO explains as she prepares a plate for the three of them. “I want to make sure the ingredients in the curry go together well before I add it to the menu.”

“We’ll make sure to give you valuable insight.” Toya promises and starts eating once MEIKO places a plate in front of him.

He slowly chews the first bite, focusing on the qualities of the curry. He takes another few bites before he gives his answer to MEIKO.

“The texture is good, and the flavours match together well. The spice level is just enough to warm you up without burning,” He praises, and takes another bite. “You can definitely put this on the menu, MEIKO-san,” He says after he swallows.

“What he said,” Akito mumbles out with his mouth full. His response leaves a lot to wish for, to put it lightly, but the eagerness with which he’s shoving spoonfuls of it into his mouth is probably answer enough.

“This is really good, MEIKO!” Len praises as well. “I like the subtle sourness in it.”

“Any other comment from you, Akito-kun?” MEIKO teases.

Akito swallows the spoonful of curry in his mouth before responding. “Sorry, MEIKO-san. This is amazing.”

“I certainly got that impression.” MEIKO looks amused.

“I agree with them. You get full marks from me!” Rin declares.

“Akito! Can you tell us about the game now?” Len diverts the topic.

“Sure,” Akito gets the last of his curry into his mouth and swallows it.

“In the first half, we had four attempted shots,” Akito starts, “Two from our team, two from the opponents.”

Toya looks away from his curry to focus on Akito instead, his expression almost as serious as the one he wore during the match.

“The first two attempts were made by the opponents. They got very close, but didn't score.” As Akito talks, Len looks more and more invested. “Our team tried to retaliate and score, but we didn't manage to get past their goalkeeper. The last attempt, close before half-time, was made by our opponents as well. They also failed.”

“No way! That must've been so stressful!” Len leans closer to Akito, looking up at him with stars in his eyes.

“It was. And in the second half, it only got worse. Everyone played more risky, too, but no one got seriously hurt.”

“Akito did take a fall after colliding with one of the defenders after trying to hit a header.” Toya adds, and Akito sends him a pointed look.

“You tried to hit a header? Are you okay?” The excitement on Len's face gets overshadowed by worry.

“‘m fine. I didn't score that one, anyway.”

“Did you score a goal later?”

“You'll know once I finish talking, Len.” Akito rolls his eyes in exasperated fondness. “The end of the match was getting close. I received the ball from one of my teammates, dodged two of the defenders blocking my way and kicked towards the goal,” Akito pauses for dramatic effect, “Their goalkeeper wasn't able to defend it and I scored a goal.”

“That's so cool, Akito!” Len sounds very impressed. “Did you keep the lead until the end of the match?”

“Yeah. We kept the score one to zero and won.” Toya smiles at the proud tone in Akito's voice. He's glad Akito agreed to sub in for the match, and he's glad he was there to witness it.

“Congratulations, Akito-kun,” MEIKO chimes in, sounding exactly like a proud mom.

“Congratulations, Akito!” The twins say at the exact same time. They then turn to each other and begin to argue about who was first.

MEIKO looks at the bantering twins and heaves out a sigh. “I'll take care of them. Thanks for the help with the curry.”

“Thank you for the meal, MEIKO-san. And good luck.” Toya looks over at the twins, who only get rowdier with each passing second.

“Thanks, MEIKO-san,” Akito echoes. “See ya.” Akito takes out his phone and pauses Untitled.

They reappear back in the entryway of Toya's condo. Akito grabs his bag and toes off his shoes. Toya does the same, then slings his bag over his shoulder and takes Akito's hand. Together, they head to Toya's bedroom.

Akito drops his bag at the foot of the bed, then sits down. “D'ya know what you wanna do?”

“We could play some games, if you'd like.” Toya proposes and goes to get his Switch.

“Sure. We could continue with Cuphead?” Akito suggests, stretching out his arms.

“Are you sure you want to play Cuphead?” Toya chuckles, passing Akito one of the controllers.

Akito looks to the side, embarrassed. “I won't rage quit this time. Promise.”

“Alright.” Toya gives him an hour maximum before Akito rage quits.

Akito makes it an hour and ten minutes before he rage quits.

It's a new record, Toya will give him that. He was also starting to get a little frustrated himself, but Akito never took this game well. Today, they managed to finally beat Floral Fury and unlock the second isle, but they got stuck on Pyramid Peril. After their nth defeat, Akito tosses his controller onto the bed and starts to curse out the level designers, which Toya takes as his cue to change games.

Toya loads Overcooked 2 instead, thinking that this is the best choice out of the games he has. Any game that is competitive is not going to improve Akito's current mood. He's not sure Overcooked will, but it has a higher chance to.

Their first restaurant goes surprisingly well. Toya finds that communicating is as easy as it is when they’re performing, and they only lose when they get overwhelmed with the orders. Their next few runs go similarly, and they agree to drop Overcooked.

“What d'ya wanna do next?” Akito asks.

“Kiss you?” Toya suggests, grabbing the controllers to place his Switch back.

“Come here, then.” Akito spreads his arms out, and Toya happily places himself between them once the Switch is put away.

Toya puts one of his hands on Akito's hip, and cradles his face with the other. Akito's hands are on his back, and for a moment, they stare into each other's eyes.

Toya closes the gap between their lips with a soft kiss. Akito's response is enthusiastic, eagerly moving his lips against Toya's. Toya lifts up Akito's shirt with the hand on Akito's hip to slide it in underneath. Akito jostles a little and pulls away.

“Sorry, I can never get used to your hands being cold,” He breathes out.

“It's alright.” Toya wouldn't admit that to him, but he likes seeing Akito jump whenever he places his hands on Akito without warning.

As Akito connects their lips again, Toya slowly runs his hand over Akito's hip bone, then up his side, then down to his abdomen. He feels Akito tense as he does so, the sensitive skin of his belly much more susceptible to Toya's chilly hand. He presses his hand into the fat to feel the muscles hiding underneath better, then releases the pressure once Akito relaxes.

“What are you doin’?” Akito pulls away, his tone somewhere between confusion and fondness.

“I like your muscles,” Toya simply says, then moves his hand down to Akito's thigh. “I like how strong and athletic you are.”

Akito blushes a pretty pink, and Toya plants a kiss on his right cheek, then the left. The blush deepens a little in response.

“Toya,” Akito whines, hiding his face in the crook of Toya's neck.

Toya guides Akito's face away from his neck and into a slow kiss. Akito closes his eyes as he kisses back, clearly embarrassed, but still eager. Toya hopes he can express how cute he finds Akito through this single kiss. He’s not sure if he succeeds, but he has to pull away for air before he can try harder.

“I like your reactions to my compliments, too,” Toya continues, as Akito gets even redder.

Akito pulls him into a demanding kiss, much more intense than the last kisses they shared. Toya doesn't mind, even if he can guess Akito's ulterior motive is to get him to stop talking. He tangles his free hand in Akito's hair to keep him close, the other firmly planted on Akito's thigh. Akito breaks away for a moment to take in a few breaths. Toya tries to use this opportunity to speak, but as soon as he opens his mouth Akito's lips are back on his, Akito's tongue pushing inside.

The usual sweetness of Akito is gone, replaced by the taste of MEIKO's curry. Toya breathes out a laugh at the realization that he probably tastes the same. Akito doesn't seem to mind as he licks across Toya's palate, and Toya pushes back with his own tongue. Akito doubles his efforts, his movements becoming more insistent.

Toya breaks away to gasp for air, pleased with the reactions Akito is giving him. He wonders how far he could push Akito before he can't take it anymore, but he has other plans for this day.

“Can you lay down for me?” He asks, removing the hand in Akito's hair to instead lightly push him back.

Akito goes easily, looking at him curiously. Toya lifts himself from Akito's lap, letting him lay down on the bed fully, before he crawls on top of him.

“What'cha plannin'?” Akito asks.

Toya hums, pulling up Akito’s shirt to expose his stomach. He runs his hands from the middle downwards, setting his hands on Akito's hips. He leans down to press gentle kisses into the skin, delicate like a butterfly’s wings. He feels Akito's muscles tense under his lips, and he looks up to see Akito now leaning on his elbows. He carries on with covering Akito's belly in kisses, and pulls away once his lips touch every inch of Akito's skin.

“C’mere,” Akito reaches out to grab his shirt and pulls him up into a kiss. Toya happily reciprocates, letting Akito take the lead. He slowly runs his hands up Akito's sides, then traces the definition of Akito's pecs. Akito pushes them into a sitting position and breaks away.

“You can take my shirt off,” He offers, raising his hands in the air.

Toya stares at Akito for a moment, marveling at the ease with which he lifted Toya and himself. He jolts a little once Akito’s offer fully hits him and he hurries to tug the shirt off, tossing it aside. Akito lowers himself down, gently pulling Toya with him.

Toya places a kiss on Akito's sternum, then moves all the way up to peck Akito's lips. Akito pulls him into a proper kiss, bringing him closer to himself until Toya is laying on top of him. Toya can feel Akito's heart thumping in his chest, synchronized with Toya’s own.

Once they break away from each other to gasp for air, Toya places his hand on top of Akito's chest. Akito's heartbeat is fast and steady, and Toya could count each beat if he wanted to. With his free hand, he caresses Akito's shoulder, then down his chest to his abdomen, to end up at his hip.

“Did somethin’ happen?” Akito asks. “You've been, uh,” He pauses, looking for the right words, “Touchier than usual.”

“Nothing happened.” Toya shakes his head. “It's as I said, I really like how athletic you are. Seeing you on the field today only affirmed that further.” He moves the hand on Akito’s chest down to his other hip. “I like being able to feel the results of your training.”

Akito turns his head away, gorgeous red covering his cheeks and spilling down his neck. Toya kisses under Akito’s jawline, then goes to kiss his chin, but Akito turns his head back in time for their lips to connect instead. During the kiss, Akito flips them over, and Toya finds himself caged underneath Akito's body. Toya can’t help but admit to himself that he enjoyed how easily Akito switched their positions.

Akito pulls away, and Toya is treated to an amazing view of his face. His cheeks are flushed, and he can see the faintest sheen of sweat covering his skin. His bangs fall down as he looms over Toya, and they tickle a little as Akito leans down for another kiss.

♡

Toya isn't sure how long they spend wrapped up in each other, but the sun filtering in through the windows has long since disappeared.

“It's pretty late already,” Toya notes after they break away from another kiss.

Akito looks around the room, his face illuminated only by the street lights streaming in through the open blinds.

“I haven't realized how much time's passed,” Akito stifles a yawn as he speaks.

“I think we should start getting ready for bed.” Toya sits up once Akito falls down to the side.

“You can go first, I don't mind,” Akito says as he adjusts on the bed.

“How about we bathe together?” Toya suggests, only because Akito looks minutes away from falling asleep and he himself doesn't want to wait. “If you're comfortable with that, of course.”

Akito blushes a little, but nods in agreement. “Sure.”

Toya watches Akito drag himself off the bed and walk over to Toya's closet to get their pajamas. He then goes to dig around in his bag for his toiletries and underwear, but he pauses his search almost as soon as it starts.

“Toya.” He pulls out the cropped hoodie Toya packed him. “You didn't pack a tank top?”

“I forgot,” Toya says, hoping he sounds convincing enough.

Akito doesn't seem to believe him as he shoves the hoodie back in the bag. “You know I can tell when you're lyin’, right?”

Toya feels his cheeks heat up a little as he looks to the side.

“Let's go to the bathroom.” Toya changes the topic and gets off the bed.

Akito looks amused as he grabs his toiletries and closes his bag back up. They head to the bathroom together, and Toya busies himself with preparing the bath to give Akito time to shower. For some reason, the bath fills faster than he's used to, and even after Toya throws in some bath salt his mother uses sometimes, Akito is still not done showering. Toya stares at the wall above the bathtub, waiting for Akito to finish.

“‘m done,” Akito says, and Toya turns around to see Akito wrapped in his towel.

They switch spots, and Toya hears Akito get into the bathtub with a pleased sigh. He doesn't waste any time in undressing and showering, and once he's done he gets in on the other end of the tub.

The water is pleasantly hot, and the salts fill the bathroom with a nice fragrance. Toya feels himself relax once he's fully in, even if he has to keep his legs curled up to fit in with Akito. He looks at Akito, who sits with his eyes closed, and closes his own.

Toya has to admit that he enjoyed this day far more than he thought he would. He never expected to like watching soccer this much, but this probably has less to do with soccer itself and more with Akito being one of the players. Maybe he should try to find more time to watch the soccer club, but it's going to be difficult with library duty. Karaoke was great, too, and Toya hasn't really had any chances to try karaoke with his teammates, so he's glad he had that opportunity today. Singing songs they don't usually sing, with people he doesn't usually get to sing duets with was a valuable experience.

Their small pit stop at Street SEKAI was nice, and Toya is always amazed at how much Len resembles the little brother Akito never had. MEIKO's curry was delicious, too, although he wishes they got to see Miku, Luka and KAITO during their short visit.

A small snore pulls him out of his thoughts, and he opens his eyes to look at Akito. Toya laughs a little as another quiet snore escapes Akito's lips.

“Akito,” He calls out, but Akito doesn't stir, “Akito,” He tries again, unsuccessfully.

He leans forward to shake Akito's shoulder, which is what finally wakes Akito up.

“Mm?” Akito hums, then opens his eyes. “Fuck. ‘m sorry for fallin’ asleep.” He straightens up a little.

“It's alright. But I think we should get out now.” Toya smiles a little at Akito's blushing face.

“Right.” Akito grips the edges of the tub, and Toya closes his eyes. He hears the water splash as Akito leaves the bathtub, and he waits for a signal to open his eyes.

“‘m dressed.” Toya opens his eyes to see Akito wearing the oversized shirt that became the pajamas he keeps in Toya's house. Akito turns around, and Toya quickly gets out and dries himself off, then puts on his own pajamas and drains the bathtub.

“I'm done,” Toya calls out.

Akito turns back to him and grabs his toiletries. He takes his toothbrush out, and Toya gets his own. They wash their teeth together, then Toya gets to watch as Akito takes out a spray and a stick that has its ends covered with a thin layer of cotton. Akito sprays one of the ends, then leans in close to the mirror and begins to carefully move the tip around his helix piercing. Toya looks on curiously, interested to see this small ritual that's part of Akito’s routine. After he's done, Akito inspects the tip before throwing it away.

“Let's head to bed,” Toya says and takes Akito’s hand into his own.

They return to Toya's bedroom, where Akito hesitates at the doorway.

“Sorry. I haven't realized I'm this tired,” Akito takes his hand away to rub at his neck, embarrassed.

“Don't worry. You did a lot today, it's normal to be tired after that,” Toya reassures and gets into his bed, “Come here.” He pats the space next to himself.

Akito shuts the door and joins him, laying down on his right side. Akito mentioned having to sleep on his right side to not aggravate his piercing, so Toya wraps an arm around him, spooning him from behind. Akito falls asleep almost instantly, and eventually, his light snores lull Toya into sleep.

♡

Toya is woken up by movement next to him. He groggily opens his eyes to see Akito halfway out of the bed, currently trying to untangle his leg from between Toya's.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?” Akito murmurs out. “I woke up and wanted to get some fresh air.” He points to the balcony with his free hand, the other supporting him as he leans on it. “I'll go back to sleep.”

Toya shakes his head. “I'll go with you.”

He untangles his legs from Akito's and gets up. Akito goes over to open the balcony, shivering a little once the chilly air hits him. He walks outside, and Toya grabs a blanket before he heads over to join him. Akito is leaning on the railing, looking out into the night. Toya joins him and tosses the blanket over the both of them while digging his heels into the ground.

“Is this okay?” Akito asks, concern evident in his tone.

“Yes. I can feel the ground under my feet, and it's not very high up,” Toya reassures and looks straight ahead.

The sky is still dark, the only lights brightening the night coming from the ever-shining city. If Toya were to guess, he'd say it's around five AM, the hour Akito usually wakes up at. As they stand there together, sunrise creeps ever closer, the horizon slowly brightening, yellow seeping into the inky sky. The city is quieter than during the day, but not completely calm, and among the buzz, he can make out an unusual sound. He looks around to spot a few fireflies zipping around, small dots of color across the sky.

He nudges Akito and points to one of the fireflies. Akito's eyes widen as he watches them fly around, amazed at the sight. From what Toya knows, they're not usually here this early, and don't usually stray too far from water sources. They are very lucky to be able to see them.

He feels the faintest touch on his outstretched finger and looks at it. One of the fireflies, an orange one, has perched on his finger. Toya looks at it in wonder, the magic of the moment warming his chest. It flies away after a few seconds and he follows it with his eyes.

As he watches the fireflies, bathed in the first rays of dawn with Akito at his side, he thinks this is the happiest he's ever been.