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Since they’ve known each other for five years, been dating for three years, and been living together for three months, Abeno feels he and Ashiya should be on a first name basis by now. Somehow, though, the topic has never come up, and Ashiya is still Ashiya to him, and Abeno is still Abeno-san. He can’t believe Ashiya still adds a “-san” to his name.
Once when Ashiya had fallen asleep against him while they watched a movie on the couch, Abeno had tried it out. Opening his mouth, he murmured, “Hanae,” the syllables sliding off his lips as if it were as natural as breathing. He felt pleased, and was determined to never call Ashiya by his surname again.
But when Ashiya slowly blinked himself awake, Abeno had reverted to calling him “Ashiya” from force of habit. He had been mildly frustrated but then realized, hey, why should he be the first to start calling the other by his given name? Ashiya was the one who confessed to him first, the one who has been in love longer, so shouldn’t he also be the one to start switching to given names first?
Abeno sighs as he watches Ashiya place a plate of toast and eggs in front of him before untying his apron and settling down on the other side of the table with his own plate.
“Don’t we have leftover rice?” Abeno asks as he lazily scoots his eggs around with his fork.
“A-Ah,” Ashiya mumbles, his face starting to flush.
Abeno arches an eyebrow and puts down his fork. “What did you do?”
“I--uh--I tried to make fried rice,” Ashiya says. “Uh, the key word being ‘tried.’”
Abeno sighs again. “Even ten-year-olds can make fried rice,” he says, trying to sound less condescending than he did in his high school years because, well, he loves him.
“Well, you still consider me a five-year-old, so I guess it makes sense that I burnt it,” mutters Ashiya before stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth, making his cheeks and lips puff out. Abeno notices his lips are pink and wet, likely from nervous biting after ruining the rice because Ashiya still finds Abeno intimidating at times. The corners of Abeno’s lips curl up, and he leans over until his face is centimeters from Ashiya’s.
“I clearly don’t consider you a five-year-old, considering some of the stuff I’ve done to you,” he murmurs, making sure Ashiya sees the way his eyes stare at his lips.
Abeno sits back in his seat and smirks as Ashiya’s blush turns a thousand times brighter. He watches with a satisfied look as Ashiya struggles to swallow and continues to avert his eyes for the rest of breakfast. It isn’t until he’s washing the dishes that he realizes that would have been the perfect moment to call him Hanae, and he curses his lost opportunity.
xx
When Ashiya is sprawled across the couch, Abeno sees his chance and is not letting it go. He bends, resting a knee on the edge of the couch before shaking Ashiya awake.
“Hn?” groans Ashiya, rubbing his eyes. “What is it, Abeno-san?”
Abeno frowns and declares rather unromantically, “I’m going to kiss you right now,” before pressing his lips against Ashiya’s. Ashiya’s eyes widen before fluttering shut as he lets Abeno run his hands down the front of his shirt. Abeno drags his lips across his jaw. Surely Ashiya would get the message. “Say my name,” Abeno murmurs against Ashiya’s ear.
“Ah...A-Abeno-san,” breathes Ashiya, clutching the front of Abeno’s shirt.
Abeno pulls away from him, expression deadpan. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“W-What?” Ashiya stutters, eyes struggling to open as his still groggy mind tries to catch up with all that’s happened in the past three minutes.
Abeno stands up. “Are you kidding me? You can’t even drop the ‘-san’? We’ve been dating for three years, and you’re still calling me ‘Abeno-san’?”
“I--uh--what?” Ashiya slurs, trying to sit up. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying, we’re already living together, but you still talk to me like I’m older than you. Every time you say ‘Abeno-san’ I remember our homeroom teacher wondering if I’m bullying you.”
“Oh,” Ashiya says. “Um, if it bothers you so much, why didn’t you say anything? You could’ve just asked me to start calling you by your given name.”
“I--!” Abeno pauses. He can’t believe he had overlooked such an easy solution. “I just--I don’t know!”
Ashiya stares for a few seconds before a knowing smile creeps onto his face. He tilts his head. “Were you embarrassed?”
“What?!” Abeno has never felt so offended.
“Were you embarrassed to say anything? You wanted me to mention it first, didn’t you? You’re always shy about these kinds of things,” Ashiya says, looking more smug than Abeno appreciates.
“I-I’m not shy! It’s just--you confessed first, okay? You’ve loved me longer. So shouldn’t you care about this sort of thing more than I do?” Abeno claims defensively.
“You know,” Ashiya says slowly, “the Mononokean said that actually, you fell in love with me first.”
Abeno stares, wide-eyed. “What are you talking about? Remember it took six months after you confessed until I reciprocated your feelings?”
“The Mononokean said you’re always slow when it comes to your own feelings. It even said that maybe you fell in love with me years earlier, back in our first year of high school.”
Abeno opens his mouth to deny it, but seeing Ashiya’s soft smile and light blush, looking as if he’s completely smitten with him, a guy who constantly berates him and is probably emotionally constipated, makes Abeno close his mouth. He really does love Ashiya, after all.
“Well, whatever,” Abeno mumbles, sitting next to Ashiya. “Anyway, can we just--can you stop calling me ‘Abeno-san’ already?”
Ashiya laughs.
“Okay,” he says, leaning until his lips are against Abeno’s ears, “Haruitsuki.”
As blood somehow simultaneously rushes to his face and down south, Abeno realizes this may have been a mistake.