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It happened slowly, Akane would later realize once she had retreated far away from their rehearsal space.
Kazushi anticipated that perhaps she might flee. Glaciers were fast paced in comparison, really. The consideration for her made her blood race unexpectedly to her heart.
But wasn’t he always considering her?
His eyes were warm, glittering in the light as they exchanged a breath of air between them as Kazushi paused, giving her an out.
She surprised them both by leaning forward, giving him the confidence to close in.
Akane had been kissed before.
Her first kiss had been a fellow drumming student from a different middle school. He had kissed her awkwardly after practice and her only remembrance of it was his sweaty lips sliding quickly against her surprised lips.
Her second had been much later, in her last year of high school. He had been a popular baseball player who couldn’t carry a tune to save his life but had thought Akane to be a musical genius. That kiss had been significantly better but still had that tinge of teenage awkwardness.
There had been a third and then a fourth boy who kissed her too at university, all perfectly okay. Nothing to write songs about.
This kiss with Kazushi though?
Akane would chase the feeling forever.
She allowed him to deepen the kiss after a long moment of testing each other to see if either would break away first. One of his hands found their way to her hair, his fingertips brushing against her scalp before tugging slightly.
She shivered.
Only when she inched closer did he reluctantly pull away, his forehead landing to rest on hers.
They stared at each other, catching their breath.
“Akane,” Kazushi whispered, his hand drifting to her cheek. Her heart beat once, twice.
The moment shattered on the third heart beat.
Movement caught both of their eyes from what they had both assumed were forgotten blankets from a recent late night jam session.
Naoki popped up in a daze, blinking sleepily until his eyes cleared. Kazushi and Akane scrambled back like they were burning on fire.
Naoki’s lips quirked up in amusement as Akane gasped, “sensei!”
“Oh, Akane-chan. Kazushi.” He tilted his head. “I must have fallen asleep. Or am I dreaming awake?”
Just as soon as they caught his attention, they lost it again. Naoki grabbed a fresh piece of paper, humming a mysterious tune as he scribbled down what they could only assume were either lyrics or notes.
His interruption was long enough to hammer away the spell of the kiss.
Akane leaped up from the floor. “I need to help at the cafe, I’m late, uhm, see you later…”
She fled before Kazushi could chase after her. He stared at the door, wondering how on earth he felt simultaneously elated and pitiful.
A piece of paper, scrunched up yet otherwise clean of any words hit him on the side of the head.
He whirled around to glare at Naoki.
“Your thoughts are loud. You’ll feel better if you write them down,” Naoki wisely said. He offered a quiet smile before tuning the world out again
Kazushi sighed and ignored the paper ball to instead approach his keyboard.
He would let Akane process their kiss; his feelings for her were hopefully obvious enough by this point. Now he needed to work off the adrenaline rush’s crash in the best way he knew how.
Music.
His fingers tapped the keys.