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Endo is sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall, he is alone in an apartment.
That is, because the person who actually lives here, isn't currently home.
Ah, it's alright! It's not the first time Endo lets himself in! He is only here to wait, wait until the cutest boy he knows returns. Sakura doesn't even lock his door. Surely that means this is alright.
While the room is still barren, multiple things immediately stand out. Overly cute pillows, random exercise equipment, boxes of chinese tea. His cute cat probably throws a fit over those guys bringing and leaving what they please, but knowing him, knowing how much he adores them, every random little thing must bring him comfort. There is so much sweetness to him.
The door opens.
“Sakura!” Endo brightens as soon as he sees him, opening his arms towards him. He is just glad that he is alone. Maybe he should ask beforehand, but he likes to surprise him.
Sakura doesn't look all that surprised anymore, however. His immediate reaction is simply to sigh. But he still blushes, which is absolutely a win for Endo. He looks away with squinty eyes and his cheeks tinted red, so cute that it makes Endo’s heart ache.
“You are here again…”
“Of course! You said I can visit!” Endo keeps his arms open, waiting for a hug.
Sakura groans, closing the door behind him. “How long have you been here…”
“Only a few hours. You don't have to worry about me, I’m quite patient!”
“I don't worry about you.” Sakura deadpans, before sitting on the floor right in front of the larger man.
Endo, of course, doesn't waste a single second. As soon as Sakura is in his reach, he grabs him and pulls him into a hug that meets only a little resistance. “You are so soft, Sakura!” And his face is so hot with embarrassment that Endo can feel it even through his clothes.
“I'm not…” Sakura responds, irritated.
“You are. Holding you is my personal heaven.” He isn't exaggerating. When Endo loves, he loves with overwhelming strength. There are only two people he loves, after all. He pulls away just slightly, enough to be able to see Sakura, see his pouting lips and furrowed brows. “You are always incredibly cute…” Endo pets his head.
Obviously, he expected that gesture to meet a negative reaction. Complaints about being treated like a pet, or something.
Instead, Sakura closes his eyes, becoming a cuddly, spoiled kitten right under his touch.
Endo’s entire body felt like it was set on fire, his breathing stopped for several seconds, his smile grew larger to a scary degree. Oh, he's been blessed. He just witnessed the most magnificent cuteness, a sight not even the most skilled artists in history would be able to replicate if they worked on it for a million years.
Noticing that he is no longer being pet, Sakura looks at him, weirded out by how stupidly happy he seems. “Endo…?”
“I am… too lucky…” Endo whispers, shakingly. He will never in his life forget the way Sakura slowly closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle caressing so much he couldn't bring himself to fight it or pretend not to like it. He could die at this very moment, and he would die satisfied.
Sakura's face meanwhile has turned redder than red itself. He looks like he wants to say something, an insult at the very least, but is too embarrassed to speak. He tries to stand up, to either kick Endo and demand he gets out, or to leave himself.
But even if he is deep in pure bliss, Endo is quick to react, grabbing Sakura and trapping him in a tighter hug. “Oh, come on! Don't get all cold towards me now!”
“Shut up! You are being weird! And creepy!”
“Sakura, you are wounding me with your words. How could you call me creepy, I am just admiring your cuteness.” Endo gets hit in the head repeatedly. It hurts a lot less than when Takiishi does it, of course. Sakura does hold back, after all. “Alright, alright…” He slowly lets go of him, making Sakura slowly stop fighting him.
As much as he enjoys teasing him, Endo doesn't want to cause Sakura to close off. He can't risk losing him… his heart aches at the mere thought of it. He will never find someone else like Sakura, with such a perfect combination of unstoppable fierceness and gentle softness. And either way, he wouldn't want to.
Now able to stand up, Sakura stares at him with waryness. Like a cat unsure if he can trust a human. Although all Endo has done was express joy.
It's fine. He knows exactly how to get him docile again. “Want to go out for dinner, Sakura? I'll take you anywhere you want! Doesn't have to be in town, if you have something else in mind, I'll definitely get it for you.” The lengths Endo would go to in order to satisfy someone he loves are, well, extreme. If Sakura told him he wants to eat a dish only found on the other side of the country, Endo would take him there without a second thought.
But to his surprise, Sakura doesn't seem to be tempted by the offer. How strange, the boy is quite the glutton. Sakura shakes his head. Even the way he rejects him is cute! “I don't want to go out.”
“Ah, you want to be home. I get it, this way we can cuddle.” Endo grins, annoyingly. “Then, let's order dinner. Just tell me what you are in the mood for.”
Endo waits for a response, but no, Sakura shakes his head a second time.
“Not hungry?”
“It's… not that.” Sakura's face turns red, which is quite common, but this time Endo has no idea why. “I don't want you to buy food for me.”
Endo blinks. “Money isn't an issu-”
“I know that!” Sakura suddenly looks frustrated, stepping away from him and moving towards the window, probably so there won't be any eye contact. “Every time you show up, you buy me things. You give me food and clothes and other random shit. And… it's been bothering me…”
He takes a deep breath, scratching the back of his head because he simply needs to be moving, doing something with his hands. “I couldn't figure out why, so… I talked to my friends…”
You talk to your friends about me?
Endo feels a sense of pride over that little detail that isn't even what Sakura cares to communicate to him.
“And, uh…” His voice goes quieter. “They said… that I probably just want to do stuff for you too… or something like that…”
A blushing and awkward Sakura is always incredibly adorable, but Endo’s brain is still stuck in Sakura has conversations about me.
Or at the very least, had one single conversation about him.
He wonders how all those good boys Sakura hangs out with feel about it. Surely they hate him at least a little bit. Surely they aren't exactly joyful that their precious friend is spending time with the man that caused them so much trouble.
“Are you paying attention, you asshole!?”
“Yes, of course.” Endo smiles at him, standing up and stretching his arms. “I'm head over heels for you, Sakura! There's no way I wouldn't listen!” He pulls him into another hug, caressing his two toned hair.
Truth to be told, Endo feels like he should have predicted this. He is extremely used to relationships that center completely around one giving to the other. Him giving to Takiishi, and all those women giving to him. This is his normal, his usual, and he has no real problems with it. But Sakura is good-natured. There's no way… he would be satisfied with a dynamic that twisted.
“Do not worry, there's plenty you can do to make me happy.” Just allowing Endo to watch him eat and stuff his cheeks like a hamster is enough to make him plenty happy. But that sort of answer wouldn't do. “For example… how about cooking for me, then?”
There are many more ideas coming to mind. Most of them are sexual in nature. Sakura's innocent mind wouldn't understand it if Endo was to say something suggestive, so those will be ignored for the time being.
“I… don't really know how to cook.” Sakura admits. He instinctively looks at the direction of his little portable stove. Endo heard before that it was a present from one of his classmates. “I only ever make instant ramen… b-but I haven't burnt it lately, and I've been learning to put stuff on it! You know, like boiled eggs…” His eyes stare at the floor, disappointed in himself for being unable to offer anything better. “You wouldn't like that, right…?”
“Hm?” Endo chuckles in amusement. He can't look at himself, but he is sure he must have an extremely endeared expression on. Sakura has the talent of making his heart melt.“Don't decide for me, Sakura. I would be happy to eat anything you cooked.”
Like a child being told they are about to receive a brand new toy, Sakura brightens, his pretty eyes almost sparkling. He pushes Endo away with too much force, but Endo knows there was no intent of harm in it, his cute cat is simply nervous.
“You… go sit down.” Sakura commands, pointing at him while avoiding eye contact. “D-don't interfere. You are the… guest, I guess. So stay away until I'm done.”
“Got it.” Endo replies calmly, in contrast to Sakura's stiff voice, he will stay on his spot on the floor. He rests his chin on his hand and watches Sakura go into the bathroom, coming out without his jacket and with pajama pants instead of his school uniform. Too shy to change in front of him? How cute.
Endo is not looking forward to a boring dinner that might somehow end up burnt despite instant ramen being about the easiest thing to cook ever. He is, however, really enjoying watching Sakura in such a domestic setting, wearing comfortable clothes and boiling water while reading and rereading the instructions on the back of the instant ramen, as if there was anything to it other than ‘put in water’. Careful and mindful and trying to keep his movements delicate to not fuck everything up.
Sakura fascinates him. Even before their fight, before he watched him at his fiercest, before he figured out everything he loves about him, just from the first time they briefly met… Endo knew immediately that he likes Sakura.
So to him, this is the best entertainment there could be. He pays attention to every one of Sakura's actions, how he cuts vegetables too slowly and yet with too much force, like a cooking knife is a strange object he had never touched until quite recently.
How his focused face makes him look like a little kitten on the hunt. How he almost cuts and burns himself multiple times. How he struggles to peel the shell off the boiled eggs and becomes frustrated.
I could watch you forever.
I want to watch you forever.
His attempts to convince Sakura of moving in with him always end in a very decisive ‘no’. But they are still so young! Surely if he keeps trying, with time-
“Done.”
Sakura holds a bowl with his dinner right in front of him. Honestly, it does not look delicious. It's not that Sakura did anything wrong, exactly, but it's an uphill battle when your base is really damn cheap instant noodles that smell like plastic.
Before Endo can grab the bowl, it is pulled away.
“You don't have to eat it if you don't want it.”
“I didn't say I don't want it.”
“You look like you don't want it.”
Endo laughs. That's probably true, whatever face he made couldn't have been too excited. “Of course I want it. I would never say no to anything from you. I love you.”
“D-don't just… whatever!” He pushes the bowl onto him, forcing him to take it. “Eat it all, then. I'll beat you up if you don't.”
Endo’s smile widens. “Now come on, Sakura… both of those options sound good.”
He is hit on the head again, almost causing him to spill the food. He laughs a second time. Sakura flusters so easily, it makes being around him too much fun.
Endo grabs the provided chopsticks, patiently eating his dinner. It's really not too bad, or maybe he thinks that because his emotions are getting in the way. That's what being in love does to you.
While he swallows down the meal, he notices Sakura flopping down near him, although keeping a distance. And looking away from him, of course. “It's… my first time…” He murmurs.
And hearing such words makes Endo almost choke. Ah, his dirty mind can't handle Sakura's cute voice saying that!
“cooking for someone…” Sakura continues, too innocent to realize he gave Endo quite perverted thoughts. “it makes me a little happy, when I get to do things for the first time.” There's a smile on his face, small and faint.
Endo feels his heart soften with endearment, even if his immediate mental response was ‘let me take your virginity, then’.
“Is that so? I'll give more brand new experiences, then!” He puts the bowl of okay-ish noodles down. “For example…” He stretches his arm, so he can touch Sakura's cheek with his knuckles. “Would you like to have your first boyfriend?”
He's never kept his feelings a secret, and Sakura has never pushed him away for them. And, they have had enough physical contact for this dynamic to arguably not be exactly platonic. Still, Endo isn't one to care much about labels. He has had too many ‘girlfriends’, and the word never held any significance.
But if it's with Sakura, that changes everything.
And more importantly, for Sakura, this absolutely has massive significance.
That's confirmed when Sakura doesn't slap his hand away, doesn't have any sort of explosive reaction. He stares at him for a few seconds too long, then closes his eyes, then stares at a wall instead. It's like he is in deep thought, so Endo pulls back his hand.
Funny, now he is somewhat nervous, despite how casually he said that. He realizes he doesn't want to be rejected. He's been rejected plenty in his life.
“I… I'll do my best.” Sakura whispers, with his head down but trying to properly look his way.
Endo has to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing, Sakura takes everything so seriously. Of course, that's a big part of his charm. How precious.
He pats the floor, the space right next to him. “Come here.”
Sakura hesitates. Once he is done hesitating, he slowly makes his way to his side. What a good boy!
Endo immediately wraps an arm around his shoulders. “You can lean onto me.”
Sakura nods.
The two fall into silence. Endo is happy, of course. Overjoyed, even. But maybe he is so calm because this feels surreal. Cutesy romantic relationships like this one do not fit him, and it wasn't too long ago that he would have been certain a genuine dating situation was to never happen in his life. Maybe his brain hasn't fully processed that his now boyfriend is cutely resting his head onto his chest, eyes half closed. He looks as cute as when he was being pet! Endo can't stop grinning like an idiot.
“I told you to eat it all, asshole…” Sakura murmurs, side-eyeing the still not empty bowl.
“Aw, come on. We are having a romantic moment, are we not?”
“Eat the damn thing.” Sakura glares at him. As always, that just makes Endo’s heart pound.
“Sorry, sorry. I understand, you put so much love in it just for me. Oh, I am so lucky-” His hair is grabbed and pulled. It hurts, obviously, but Endo can only think of what a silly, cute way to attack him this is.
“It's a waste of ingredients if you don't.”
“Right, of course.” Nope, it's totally the love thing! Endo goes back to swallowing flavorless noodles. Sakura added vegetables, but not anything to give those any extra flavor, either. Even the underwhelming dinner is insanely charming to him. Nothing Sakura made with his own hands could upset him.
Endo wasn't joking. He is so lucky. He eats the rest of his meal without hurry, feeling the warmth of Sakura's body resting against him.
The plate is now empty, the sky turns darker and the apartment becomes colder, and he can tell how, subtly and slowly, Sakura is moving closer and beginning to cuddle instead of just leaning. He is truly a cat, a shy cat that won't admit how much he deeply wants affection.
Endo stays still, letting him do as he wants, get comfortable. He waits for several minutes until Sakura stops moving.
“I think I'll stay the night.”
“Huh? Don't just decide that on your own… I only have one futon…”
“Nothing to worry about! I can stay up all night just fine. That way I can watch y-”
“We'll share.” Sakura says with a sigh, defeated. Guess he isn't in the mood to try and argue or kick him out. That would ruin how relaxed he seems.
“Heh. If you insist.”