Chapter Text
Takumi is alight with the fever of Spring and its blooms when he finds his way back to Leo, a bounce in his step and his hair fanning through the air like it holds its very own smile. He’s pleasantly ruffled and, never ceasing a boyish grin, he holds what he had gone on the run for in the first place toward the sky.
“I’m impressed.” Leo says, letting himself smile in return. He doesn’t think he’s capable of quite the same smile that the other boy produces, but Leo tries, nonetheless.
The bag of apples is brought back downward, and Takumi’s grin melts into something with less teeth. “Now we’ll be set for the week.” he says, the fruits hanging at his side. “Where do you wanna go?”
Leo’s eyes follow the bag, and in the dark of the alleyway, he’s glad that he’s not alone.
“Anywhere.” he says, his smile quivering a little. He laughs, then, quiet. “Anywhere.” escapes his mouth again, and in the misplaced heat of the alley, he rakes his bangs away from his eyes.
Truly, he can’t believe he is where he is.
“Anywhere?” Takumi parrots, eyebrows lifting.
“Anywhere.”
Leo lets his hair fall once more, and he shuts his eyes, feeling peace. There’s a rustle, then, and soon something cold is pressed onto his forehead. He opens his eyes only to meet those of the other boy, who’s holding a ripe, red fruit to Leo’s head, smiling still with a gaze that means something else.
“Then let’s get going.”
-
“It’s because I used to steal sweets from the kitchen. No one ever noticed me.” Takumi says. “I know how to sneak around.”
Leo nods, before he realizes that Takumi hadn’t seen the gesture, since he’s walking ahead. “I see.” he says, speeding up in order to walk side by side. Still, Takumi manages a steadier pace than him. “Could you slow down?”
“Sure, sorry.” comes the reply, and the ash blond stops for a moment, peering over his shoulder. They start up again afterward, and in the heat they’re bathed in a silence that’s both comfortable and thriving.
A crow glides overhead in the stark blue sky, and Leo swallows the lump in his throat, paying attention to the feeling of kicking dirt with every step. They’re a ways from town now, walking next to a field of dry grass, listening to the sounds of both the outside and their own silence. Water is flowing somewhere, babbling to thin air.
“I do, too.” Leo says.
“Huh?”
“I know how to sneak around, too. I did the same things you did.”
Takumi turns his head toward Leo, not watching where he’s going. “I’m not surprised.” he says, blinking widely. The bag of apples still swings at his side, now missing two. His smile falls, and he looks ahead once more. “Still, I had to do it.”
Leo chews at his lip. “We could have bought them.”
“We have to save our money if we’re gonna go away.” Takumi says, easy. Leo watches him sidelong, watches the way his honey-colored eyes flit to the sky, watches how his hair sways, how he’s got a face so kind and sweet it’s deceiving. He remembers being on the boy’s bad side, and how the feeling had been reciprocated. Back then, Takumi’s face had been an almost comedic contrast to his attitude, but now… now, it fits him to a tee.
A car speeds past, and Leo remembers where he is. In a remote field, following a lone road to the next town over. He thinks about how Takumi is walking slower than he would normally, just to let him keep up.
“You know…” he says, and after he says it, he sort of regrets it.
“Hm?” Takumi hums.
Leo takes a moment to bite his inner cheek. “Nothing.”
Takumi is quiet, before he makes an odd, breathy noise. He reaches up, smacking the other boy on the back of his head. “Now I want to know.”
Recoiling forward, Leo smiles, blaming the season for the warmth in his complexion. He stands straight once more, and the crow above them caws loudly.
-
There’s some red on Takumi’s shoulders, and Leo wonders if it stings. He doesn’t say anything, though, knowing he has no right to when he’s wrapped up in a sweater and the other boy wears only a tank top.
The seats of the train are cold, but the air of it is colder, and the lights above them flicker in the evening light.
“The only good thing about your weird fashion sense is that it’s warm.” Takumi says from Leo’s shoulder.
“I get cold easily.” he says, explaining what the boy already knows.
“I know.” Takumi says. Leo blinks, slow, letting his eyes stay shut longer than necessary.
“You know that.”
“Mhm, I’ve seen it firsthand.”
Leos shuts his eyes again, breathing easy. The train jostles a little, and the lights swing, going black for a split second. Only one other person is aboard, and they’re on the other side of the car. “When I was younger,” he begins, “I used to wear a cape when I was cold.”
Takumi sits up then. “What?”
“What do you think of when you picture a cape?”
Takumi furrows his eyebrows, looking elsewhere. “I don’t know, a superhero?”
“Right.” Leo says, nodding. Takumi settles down again, but his face is still scrunched from confusion.
“Now think of a supervillain. Like the ones with the pointy collars attached to their capes. That’s what I used to wear.”
Takumi is quiet, and after a few moments the train brakes, screeching to a halt. The one other person on board stands, grabbing their things and leaving through the sliding doors. Once they’re gone, Takumi’s shoulders start to shake, and he giggles breathily.
“Are you serious?”
“I don’t think I would make that up.”
“That’s so lame.”
“I thought it made me look like a wizard.” Leo shrugs, before he remembers that the other boy is leaning on his shoulder. “Sorry.”
In response, Takumi shrugs himself. The train starts up again, and while it does the doors shut once again.
Blooming trees race past outside, bathing in an orange glow. It could have been hours before either one of them spoke again, or it could have been minutes. Within that time the sun had receded behind the horizon, and the world had been covered in lavender. It reminds Leo of where he had been.
“I don’t think I want to ever go back.” Takumi says.
Leo picks a stray string out of his pants, eyeing the stains on the floor of the train. His fingers splay across the fabric, before he sighs, silent. The lavender will fade to black soon. He reaches downward, brushing his knuckles across the Takumi’s wrist.
A still moment, before a breath leaves the other boy, and his hand moves to hold Leo’s. The roughness of Takumi’s skin, and the softness of his own, mean nothing. Nothing while the sky is still lavender, and they’re just in each other’s proximity. It matters not how they differ or how they’re the same. All that matters, is that within each other, they find understanding.
“I don’t either.” Leo says. Takumi shuts his eyes. “And so we won’t. We’ll never go back.”