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It starts with a key, or with a crazy boy, or maybe when Eugene read his first book and learned about spirits, finding himself full of fascination too great for his body.
Things happen in a rush and a splash, and he laughs to himself, shocked by his own volume, and finds his lips pressing to Mogari's cheek after he whispers, “Thank you for trying to find my bracelet.”
Mogari is bright red when he pulls back, but Eugene flushes even darker when he realizes what he's done.
“Ah, I'm—I shouldn't have—did I make you uncomfortable?”
Mogari stares, wide eyed. “Can you do that again?”
“Oh!” Eugene smiles. He turns to Mogari's other cheek, and kisses the heated skin softly. The flustered curve of Mogari's lips is enchanting.
Maybe it should be weird, or they should talk more about it, but Mogari has never had a friend and Eugene has always been affectionate with his family.
Eugene's lips tingle when he lays in bed that night, though, running the nail of his thumb across them and reliving the moment.
—
Zaki stands with his back to the wall as Tamon washes his mouth out. He'd gotten overwhelmed and nauseous, so here they were. Throwing up that often had to really suck. Zaki didn't envy him a bit.
“Bleh, the taste is still too strong in my mind even though it's gone from my mouth…”
Zaki leans forward a bit. “I've got some chapstick that's flavored, would that help?”
Tamon brightens, smile blinding. “That’d be sweet!”
Zaki digs in his bag, producing a pink tube. “My sister gave me this after I kept picking at my lips, and she nags if I don't wear it,” he explains at Tamon's curious look.
Tamon licking his lips after swiping on the strawberry balm is. Well. Zaki is focused. And clutching his hands into tight fists in his pockets.
“Are you gonna put some on too? This is good!” Tamon says, smile bright despite his faint paleness, and Zaki pauses. He should grab the tube. He should grab the tube and not think about the indirect kiss trope that's just like what he was reading last night.
And he should not grab Tamon by the headphones and kiss him instead.
Well, Zaki's nothing if not a bit of a rebel. Victory is sweet, a bit artificial, and distinctly strawberry flavored.
—
Zaki scrunches his upper lip, balancing a pencil on his cupid's bow. The ceiling tiles above him are so fuzzy he can't tell where one ends and the next begins.
Eugene reaches out again, a motion of grays and orange grabbing at the frames on Zaki's face.
“C'mon, I've got work to do,” he whines, pouting with one cheek on his desk.
Zaki sticks out a blurry tongue. “Can I wear 'em a little longer?” he asks. “It's …ah, nevermind. Here,” he decides, shoving them roughly into Eugene's hand.
A freshly bespectacled Eugene tilts his head at him. “What is it?”
“It's just kinda—it's nice, being able to not see anything like that. I'm better since Mogari got rid of the spirits in my house, but sometimes I don't want to see more than everyone else does,” he admits, eyes locked on the floor.
Eugene's expression goes honey sweet and sympathetic when he cautiously lifts his gaze. “I can understand that. I take off my glasses when I get overwhelmed, and it definitely helps.” He bites his lip, then pulls his glasses back off. “I'll work on that assignment at home. Have a break, Zaki,” he says, smiling warmly.
They bask in their out of focus bliss together, but for once Zaki doesn't wince when he finally takes his stolen glasses off. When he can't see well, the elegant slope of Eugene's nose is obscured. The green of his eyes and his pretty eyelashes aren't nearly as detailed. The light divots pressed into the bridge of his nose where his glasses always sit wouldn't be visible to marvel at.
There's plenty of reasons to be just fine with his special vision.
—
Tamon buries his face in his arms the second they get a table at the restaurant Mogari demanded they visit. “Ughhhhhh,” comes a faint groan.
“Rough day?” Eugene asks the lump.
“Had to give a presentation,” Tamon mumbles into his bicep.
Eugene grimaces, and rubs his back in solidarity. “You rest, then. The others should be about half an hour late anyways.”
Tamon deflates in relief. His rushed inhales smooth down, and his tense features relax as he begins to nap.
Eugene orders for them both when a waitress comes by. He has all his friends’ orders memorized, of course. When Tamon sits up, bleary and disheveled, a ginger ale and pastry are waiting by his elbow, and his three friends are talking in hushed voices across the table.
Well. Mogari can't quite manage hushed, but he's trying. The flutters in his gut, Tamon decides, must be the carbonation of his drink.
—
Yotsuya slumps on the desk across from Eugene, glaring. “I just don't understand you, Korekishi.” It's just after school, and he'd shooed away his club members to get homework done undisturbed for a bit.
He laughs, setting his work to the side. She'll throw a fit if he's not giving his full attention, and probably demand a challenge to his club again.
“Things really aren’t as complicated as you make them, Yotsuya. I like my friends, and I like spending time with them, so I'm in their club. I would be good in the student council, yes, but I wouldn't be having fun like I do here.”
“But…you were the one who taught me about self control!” she protests.
Eugene knows self control, all right. He also knows, in more recent days, the freedom of selfishness. “Yes, well, I guess I'd say that it's bad to go too far in either direction? You need discipline to be successful, but you need to know when to let go, too. No one works well when they never have fun.”
Yotsuya opens her mouth to retort, but Rinri walks into the room at that point and quickly approaches.
“Yacchan! Oh, your hair looks so silky today! Did you do something new with it?” she asks, crowding into her space and completely ignoring Eugene.
Yotsuya catches Eugene's stare. She's bright red. “Ah, Rinrin, you're hugging me too tight again,” she mumbles, looking completely unbothered by it. “And yes, I tried a new hair mask.”
Rinri cards a manicured hand through the locks, making Yotsuya grow somehow more flustered. Eugene is almost concerned for her health. Can one girl be that red?
Eugene offers a polite hello, making very sure to use the right title lest he face his upperclassman's wrath. Rinri barely spares him a wave.
“You aren't busy with this nobody, hm? We should go to a cafe together!”
Ouch. Eugene would be a little offended if he weren't so smug about proving his point.
Yotsuya had spent at least five minutes talking about the paperwork she needed to do today. Yotsuya makes no mention of this when he says, “She's all yours, Goto, have fun,” collects his things, and runs off to the club room.
He opens the door to—hm.
Zaki is slamming his head into the wall repeatedly, fed up with the utter bullshittery occurring.
Mogari has a whiteboard, probably illegally acquired, with scratchy red marker proclaiming “Why We Should All Kiss” and is writing something unintelligibly scribbly in a flow chart as Tamon tries his best to decipher.
“Um?” Eugene manages.
Mogari grins, looking honestly insane. “Koreshiki! Perfect! I'm showing the club my super cool club president plan! Should i get that trademarked?”
Eugene shakes his head, grinning as he pulls up a seat and pats Tamon's shoulder. “Hit me with it.”
Mogari looks honestly surprised that his plan is being considered, as if he didn't expect to make it that far.
“Well, the plan is—kiss! All four of us.”
Eugene blinks. “That's the whole plan?”
Mogari deflates. Zaki briefly pauses in his self-concussing to turn to Eugene. “He has somehow been talking about this single point for half an hour.”
This is the point where Eugene usually takes over as resident voice of reason.
“Yeah, okay,” comes out of his mouth instead.
He turns to Tamon and cocks an eyebrow.
“We're doing this, then?” Eugene asks, keeping his voice calm and soft. It's surprisingly hard to keep a quiver of excitement from his tone.
Mogari and Zaki are both staring.
Tamon is red to his ears, but he makes a short little nod, mouth agape.
Eugene leans into his space. “Please don't throw up,” he murmurs, grabbing Tamon's hands loosely to rub into the anti-nausea pressure points.
To everyone's surprise, Tamon is the one who leans in the final inch. It's a sweet thing, close-lipped but honest, and they both pull away grinning like idiots.
Mogari throws himself onto Eugene's lap. “I made the plan! Not fair you went first.” He slams his chin into Eugene's shoulder, pouting.
His hands steady Mogari by both shoulders, and he chuckles. “Kiss you now to make up for it?”
The next half hour is a hazy bliss of sweet, warm affection. Zaki gives up his tough act quickly and proves to be the best kisser, somehow. Eugene suspects it's all the shoujo manga. They go round and round, dancing around each other to share sugary kisses until they're all red and giggly, lying in an intertwined lump on the floor.
“We should go eat, and then kiss more tomorrow,” Mogari declares.
“Of course you're hungry even now.” Eugene isn't shocked in the slightest.
Tamon begins to drool on Zaki's shoulder. “Mmm, food…”
The way his club members, his friends, his partners through every struggle make him laugh so hard that tears press against his eyelids is reason enough to stay. Even if Yotsuya and his mother don't understand, Mogari, Zaki, and Tamon make him smile like no one else can.
That will always be more to him than a more reputable club or more “acceptable” friends.
Eugene realizes he'd zoned out, and the others are already standing in the doorway.
“Coming, Korekishi?” Zaki asks, shuffling his feet.
His heart has never felt so light.
“Yeah, I'm right behind you.”