Work Text:
I.
The Special Defense Band decides to call an impromptu meeting on Friday, the day before their performance, to discuss things over last time.
At the moment, only Takumi, Omokage, and the Tsukumo twins were present. Kirifuji informed them beforehand that she would be a little late, while Kawana and Aotsuki tasked themselves with dragging Amemiya into the classroom. They are supposed to arrive any minute now.
Takumi likes the music club. Really, he does. It is just that he was not exactly blessed with a sense for music. He came to this realization on his third day of participating in club activities. Which is fine, because if there is one thing Sumino Takumi is—it is persistent. He will not let some lack of talent get to him and consume his only attempt at escaping his normalcy. Another thing about it: the other people here. Sure, Kirifuji is normal. But everyone else is a different kind of extreme, which was pretty off-putting at first. Now, though, he thinks he is used to them enough.
“I brought snacks,” Omokage puts his bag on the desk in front of him. “Help yourselves.”
As creepy as he can get sometimes, Omokage is very kindhearted. He is attentive towards his friends and always helps them out. Takumi doesn’t know how he found himself this many friends with hearts of gold, underneath their odd exterior, but Omokage (unlike others, who wear their hearts on their sleeves when you get to know them) hides more surprises than the rest. He finds himself wanting to dig deeper, discover what else Omokage could be covering underneath all these layers.
“Thank you, Omokage-senpai!” Kako runs up to him in awe, shuffling through the contents of the bag instantly. It does not take long for her brother to join her.
Kako grabs a pack of crab flavored chips and sweet iced tea. Ima sneaks out the gummy bears, and makes an off-comment about putting them on natto along with some mackerel. Takumi tries not to grimace when Kako dunks a chip into the bottle of tea, and picks up the berry soda. Basic, but you can not go wrong with that.
“That was very considerate of you, Omokage. Thank you,” Takumi shoots a smile his way and cracks the can open. Omokage smiles back, albeit shyly, and Takumi finds himself thinking it’s cute. A nice change of pace from his usual alarming ones, at least. He feels, briefly, that he would not mind seeing him like this more often.
The twins decide to mix their snack picks together, chatting about the concoctions they would mix up had they had the ingredients while sitting away in the corner.
“You should try this one, Sumino-kun!” Omokage reaches his drink can towards Takumi with a carefree smile. His calloused, slender fingers grip it in such a way that obscures the label, but Takumi is almost certain it is soda.
“What, is it poison?” He questions in a joking manner as he analyses the can with exaggerated waryness. Some lemon flavored fizzy drink. Figures Omokage would like something sour.
“For the love of murder, is this how low your opinion of me is?” Omokage lets out an exaggerated sigh, pretending to be hurt by the comment. Even though Takumi knew that was said in a lighthearted manner, he still catches himself wanting to retort. He trusts Omokage, and does not want the guy to think any differently, even as a joke. But his concerns are quickly swatted away when, with a shadow cast over his face, Omokage parts his lips in a smirk and starts speaking again. “I took a few sips myself! Though, I added the extremely concentrated hydrochloric acid from the chemistry lab into this, you see, to leave my victi— err, friends with severe chemical bur—”
Takumi does not care much to listen. He is not sure what hydrochloric acid is, but it sounds pretty scary. Despite that, he decides to bite the bullet and take a sip from the can in Omokage’s hand. Omokage would not hurt him. That much, he is sure of. He is not going to fear him like others do.
“Yuck… Too sour,” Takumi droops and scrunches his face. He waits for a few seconds, and when he notices no changes to his wellbeing, he lets out a sigh of relief. He has known Omokage would never harm him, but seeing proof of it makes him feel weirdly warm. Is that the hydrochloric acid he was talking about?
All of a sudden, he realizes that it is unusually silent, and once he lifts his head up to catch the familiar shade of blue, he finds Omokage staring right back at him, shocked. It is the first time ever that Takumi sees him caught off-guard. Before he can ask about it, he hears a gasp from the other end of the room. His eyes shoot right up, searching for the source of the sound until they lock with Kako’s.
“An indirect kiss…,” she whispers, stars replacing her pupils. Her mouth is agape with wonder as she brings a hand up to cover it.
Oh. That was an indirect kiss. That is why Omokage was surprised.
Takumi feels unease wash over him. He just did something weird, had he not? Even if Omokage is very open about the grotesque stuff he likes, actually kissing someone is way more intimate than some inappropriate comments about sticking your hand through your friend’s ribcage. He may be a pervert, but he is still a person, and Takumi does not want to make him uncomfortable with this. (Putting aside the fact that this is Takumi’s first kiss. It should not count.)
“Sumino-kun,” Omokage stammers, breaking the silence, “why did you actually drink it?” His voice is laced with something close to worry. It is new. It is cute, too.
“I mean, you wouldn’t actually…,” he trails off, staring into the faint blue eyes. His own tremor reflected back at him. But Omokage is quick to notice it, and in a blink, that look disappears.
“You could’ve told me if you were willing to let me poison you, you know?” His voice is light and cheery now, and he extends his arms towards Takumi. “I would’ve made the whole ordeal a ton more intimate~” Before he could understand what is going on, Omokage wraps him in something resembling a hug, and it elicits a squeak out of his throat.
“Hell no!” Takumi lightly pushes him off, but Omokage stays clinging, laughing. “Get away from me!”
He clings tighter.
“Imouto-chan, don’t get influenced by these perverts,” Ima dramatically covers her ears and makes a faux disgusted expression.
Kawana and Aotsuki drag a whiny Amemiya into the room, and Kirifuji follows right behind them. They have more important matters to focus on, now that everyone is here.
II.
Takumi finds himself alone with Kawana in the classroom after-hours. Everyone else already left. There are empty snack packs and bottles mindlessly scattered around the desks they pushed together for each other, and Takumi makes a mental note to force everyone to clean up before leaving. His notebook with lyrics for their new song is somewhere among the mess. Their performance on Saturday has been a success, and he managed to only mess up the notes twice. Terrific improvement, if you ask him. They have decided to plan their next one right away.
He glances in Kawana’s direction and briefly wonders why she would stay behind with him, knowing how strict her parents could be sometimes, before she answers the question for him.
“I need to hand over some files to Maruko,” she hums, setting her drumsticks aside. Maruko, the guy in Takumi’s social studies class that also manages the school’s newspaper. It is not a surprise that Kawana would busy herself with promotion of their band, but Maruko is shockingly responsible too. They probably need the pictures from their show to talk about it in the next issue.
“Oh,” he responds, “do you need help with that?” It’s a suggestion that escapes his mouth faster than he could think about it, though he finds that he does not mind it. He hates when the others use his role as the head of the club to treat him like some errand boy, of course, but even he feels like helping out a friend once in a while. Kawana has done a lot for them.
“Sumino,” she stares at him, and he freezes in place. “Do not touch anything.” He gulps and nods.
She makes her way to the folders and binders they keep on their side of the shelves and starts looking through them with dedicated precision, all while humming a random tune. While the rustling of papers sounds in the background, he realizes he needs his notebook back. And perhaps he needs to clean up after everyone, too. The last thing they would need is a roach infestation in the school. Or something. He feels guilty about not helping Kawana, but he was on strict orders.
Picking up a bag from the floor, the one Omokage and Kirifuji brought the snacks in, Takumi starts scooping all the trash on the table, along with the crumbs, in it. He grimaces as he feels a concerningly sweet soda stain the sleeve of his hoodie. Damn you, Amemiya.
The only thing left on the tables now is Takumi’s notebook. A job well done, he pats himself on the back, since he is used to his mom doing all the cleaning up in his life.
Kawana is still humming a tune he can not recognize, though it sure as hell gives him some ideas. It is slow, sweet, and unlike their usual heavy theme. He may not be a musical genius, or any genius for that matter, but he picks up his pen and starts writing.
He wants to try combining the two atmospheres. Perhaps a hint of dreaminess raying through the rough that is their instrumentals. The first idea in his mind has urged him to focus on a relationship. Okay. He has never been in a relationship, but friendships count too. He can write about his friends. Maybe that is what he should have been doing all this time, instead of throwing a bunch of incomprehensible nonsense onto the page.
Abruptly, the calm humming stops.
“Where in the world did the photos disappear off to?!” It has been a few minutes since Kawana last spoke and she is now rummaging around like a mad man. “I need to submit them to the school newspaper by tomorrow!”
“They should be there,” Takumi looks up, “I remember Ginzaki taking them.”
An aggressive grunt and banging on the shelf later, Kawana sighs.
“Everything is labeled wrong.” Her hands drop to her sides in defeat. “Ugh, the twins are definitely behind this.” And that is not an absurd assumption. They love pranking Kawana in particular, for some reason; Takumi can not say he is complaining. To be on the receiving end of their shenanigans sounds like absolute hell. One more point towards Kawana’s awesomeness. “Whatever… Way to kill my mood.”
She stands up and fishes her phone out of her bag. After she is done furiously tapping the keyboard, her nails clicking on it as though they want to create new cracks on the screen, she puts her phone down on one of the desks. Takumi can only assume she was scolding Ima and Kako over this. Kawana really would have made a great club leader.
“Oh!” She beams out of nowhere. “I’m going out to a cafe with Amemiya-san later today.” He is not sure why he is hearing about her date plans. Like, okay, Kawana. Some of us are single— “Wanna come with?”
Takumi is usually dense about these topics. Keyword: usually. Even he could tell that Kawana and Amemiya are dating. Together. Involved romantically. So that request comes off as surprising to him. Kawana is a straightforward person, so this is not a secret ploy. Probably.
“Won’t I be third-wheeling?” He asks, genuine anxiety seeping through his words. Happened before. Would really rather it did not ever again.
“Well, you can always bring Omokage!” Kawana smiles, giving him a look that means something. He just does not know what. He’s not sure he’d want to invite Omokage, of all people, to a cafe. Not only is he not a people person, they would just turn Kawana’s date into a friend outing. It would be better to plan a double date instead, maybe, to not lose its integrity.
“What, so he can fourth-wheel?” He rolls his eyes as he scratches his cheek, previous nervousness long forgotten. What was she thinking? Girls will always remain a mystery to him.
Especially the frown Kawana gives him in response.
He does not go anywhere after school that day. He needs to make a few edits to the lyrics he started writing, anyway.
III.
Takumi’s day is off to a great start.
Magadori caught him before he could make his way to his first lesson, telling him she was tasked with forwarding complicated news. He has had plenty of interactions with her before, since as the head of the Light Music Club, it is his duty to take on all responsibility. And as it stands, Magadori is a part of the Disciplinary Committee.
She was fidgeting more than usual when she said it. The school has been monitoring their behavior, and due to all the trouble that comes from their club, they are considering cutting their budget. Obviously, this is not the first time they receive a warning like that. But if it has reached the Disciplinary Committee, then it may be serious this time. It’s worth being careful.
He spends most of the classes before lunch time with his head in his hands, going over everything he could possibly do to shake the school administration off their asses.
Takumi presumes a good distraction from it would be picking off where he stopped yesterday. Lyrics. He spent a while on them back at home, and yet he has yet to find a satisfying thing to focus on. ‘Love and Peace’. Is there anything he could write about to convey something like that? Amemiya would hate to know he is actually considering Aotsuki’s words while doing this.
The music club is basically his entire life at the moment. But if he writes about them, he would just be falling into the same band cliches he used to complain about.
Well… He loves his friends. Cliche or not, they mean a lot to him. Maybe he could conjure up something that would not be straight up ‘Friendship is Magic’. They are a bunch of weirdos, but weirdos he trusts, even if he does not completely understand them.
His thought process is interrupted by a familiar voice. “Sumino-kun, the bell already rang,” Kirifuji approaches him at his desk.
“Oh, right,” Takumi sheepishly answers, embarrassed.
“On another note, you looked really concentrated. I’m sorry, did I disturb something?” Her fingers start playing with the hem of her uniform skirt. She furrows her brows in concern.
“Note, yeah…” Takumi hums as he stares at his mess of a notebook. His eyes widen when he processes her question. “I mean, no! Not at all. Just thinking about the lyrics I need to write.”
“I see,” Kirifuji smiles, “you take the band so seriously. I don’t think I can be of any help with this, though, I’m sorry… I usually get inspiration from nursery rhymes.”
“Hey, don’t apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Ahaha, guess not, huh? I suppose we don’t need any Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are?” She starts singing, the giggle in her voice shining through. Her voice is really soft, soothing. Really. She would have made a great vocalist for the band.
“Not to quote Sirei-sensei,” he averts his eyes flusteredly, “but I don’t think the live house is a kindergarten…” It earns him a laugh from her, and, in all honesty, it reaffirms what he wants to write about.
“Alright then, Sumino-kun, I’ll be heading to the cafeteria. Moko-chan and the others are probably wondering where I am.” Kirifuji waves at him as she turns back around.
“Good luck— I-I mean, yeah, see you!” He waves back until she is out of the classroom, despite her not being able to see it, and lets his head fall onto his desk.
Takumi gathers his things and trudges to the cafeteria, alone.
“Wonderful seeing you, Sumino-kun!” Omokage greets him as he sits down at the table. He is done with his food, just chewing at the straw of his milk carton.
“Yeah, hi,” Takumi picks up his chopsticks and tries putting his rice down as quick as he could without the pace being suspicious. He does not even spare a glance at his friend. And unfortunately a little too late, he remembers that he is horrible at hiding things.
He can feel Omokage’s eyes boring holes into his face. “Is something the matter?”
Damn it. Obviously he would notice. He does not want to worry Omokage with it, of all people.
“It’s nothing,” Takumi shrugs it off the best he could, clearly lying.
“Oh, Sumino-kun,” Omokage lets out a breathy chuckle, “your ears get red when you’re lying, you know?” His lips twist into a menacing smile. On instinct, Takumi covered his ears and shot the guy the most hateful glare he could manage. Unfortunately, it was not threatening at all.
“I am not lying!” A retort perhaps too high for his liking.
Omokage is silent for a little while, tensely looking at him as though he is in a search for… something. Takumi is not sure what, once again. He stares back, and Omokage looks away.
“Oh, for the love of murder… Do you expect me to believe that now?” His shoulders drop down and he crosses his arms. He is way too attentive than others give him credit for.
They are silent for a few moments until Takumi speaks up, quieter than before. “It’s really nothing.”
Takumi feels grateful that Omokage does not press him any further, despite more or less catching on. He is glad to have a friend as understanding as him. Yup.
“Ah, Sumino-dono!” Magadori greets him as she passes by. “And Omokage-dono.”
He averts his eyes and bites his lip. It’s awkward talking to Magadori at that moment. All he receives out of this is more anxiety about the club than anything else.
“Nice seeing you too, Kyoshika-chan,” Omokage grins and answers before Takumi could resolve himself. Right as he thought Omokage was trying to help him, he wraps his hands around Takumi’s waist. “I was just helping Sumino-kun get off,” he adds, unhelpfully. Wording, Omokage!
“E-Egad! Such indecent behavior is unwelcome on school grounds!” Magadori’s face flushes as she stammers out a response, clearly forgetting her initial reason for approaching them. Omokage hides his face in Takumi’s neck, giggling. It sends a shiver down his spine.
“N-No, don’t listen to him! We weren’t doing anything like that!” He tries to save himself, but it is too late. Magadori whispers something to her sword (are they even allowed to bring weapons on school grounds?) and disappears to seat herself with the other Disciplinary Committee members. That has probably embarrassed both of them enough not to mention to anyone else.
When he turns to look, Omokage winks at him, hands still snugly wrapped around him. Takumi sighs in embarrassment. The blush on his face is there for the same reason.
IV.
Thankfully, the warning from the school administration had not escalated.
Although now, Takumi has to focus elsewhere. The Light Music Club has a composer meeting coming up. Aotsuki has suggested they all try to write something down, expressing their feelings through lyrics, and then combine their ideas into one song. The deadline is soon, so soon, and Takumi still barely had anything. There is not anything remarkable for him to write about to convey something meaningful. Even so, he finds himself remembering the tune Kawana hummed a few days back as he scribbled on that same notebook.
“Kyohohoho,” Amemiya snatches it out of his hands and looks at the opened page, “Takumicchi is writing a love song!”
“Oh, Takumi-kun, did you find lyrics to project your Love and Peace into?”
“What? No,” Takumi groaned. “And it’s not a love song!”
“Darumi’s instincts don’t lie! Darumi can feel it!” She sticks her tongue out and then grins, the white of her teeth shining in the poor classroom lighting sharper than any knife, and Takumi knows that one way or another, he is fucked. “Aheeem— I trace your silhouette with my fingers, As yours graze where this warmth lingers, Even if this heart is—”
“Enough, give it back, give it back!” Takumi lunges at her, and she starts running away while cackling. She waves his notebook over her head, and she is unfortunately taller than him in her platform shoes, so he awkwardly jumps around to try and get it out of her hands.
“Aww, don’t be shy! Darumi’s sure Yugamu would like it,” she snickers behind the palm of her hand.
He stops moving, suddenly. “What does Omokage have to do with this?” The confusion in his tone seems to startle Amemiya.
“Eh? Ima told Darumi you two were literally swapping spit on our last pre-show meeting,” she looks around, clearly taken aback.
Takumi can not stop the blush that creeps up his cheeks upon hearing this. Leave it to Ima to make things weird. Weird! Because that is what it was! His stomach churns with a feeling he can not quite get a grasp on. He is probably flustered, and rightfully so. The way she said it is embarrassing. His mouth opens to retort, but all his words are stuck in his throat.
“Really?” Aotsuki perks up, startled. “Even though we have enough inappropriate behavior complaints…”
“Okay, first of all, they’re almost all because of you!” Takumu groans again. Really, the nerve of some people. “Second of all, we just shared a drink! What the hell is with that phrasing?!” While yes, that is technically true, but the way Ima mentioned it is making it seem worse than it actually was. They were not swapping spit. Takumi was trying to show Omokage that he trusts him, and it just so happened that they had an indirect kiss. Kisses have got to be intentional to count.
“That’s it? Laaaameeee.” Worst of all, Amemiya looks actually disappointed.
“It’s not like we’d do anything like that in front of the twins,” Takumi pauses, and Amemiya looks at him with her eyebrow cocked. Then, with his face reddening, adds: “O-Or ever!”
“It’s okay, Takumi-kun! If you’re in love, you can use this feeling and put it into our music, to spread Love and Peace to the entire world!” He completely missed the point. That is what Takumi has been trying to do, just, well… Platonically.
“Darumi honestly thought they were already dating,” she pouts, ignoring Aotsuki’s comment lest he gets on her nerves again. Wait, ‘already’? Takumi almost asks about it, but holds himself back. When it comes to her, he does not really want to know. “No one likes slowburns this long! Worst RPF ever.”
“I have no idea what you just said. And I’m sure Omokage doesn’t feel that way about me, so calm down. We’re just friends.”
“Takumi just added like 20 more chapters to this.” She mumbles, mostly to herself, because she does not get that no one understands her odd references.
“I’m not sure what Darumi-san is talking about, but I think you should show these to Yugamu-kun, if you wrote it about him! Synergy is the key.” Aotsuki advises. “All for one! One for all!” He points right at Takumi, and Takumi rolls his eyes. Aotsuki’s corniness never changes.
“Geez… Yeah, sure, thanks. Just give me my notebook back.” He sighs in defeat. It does not come as a surprise that he has to wrestle with Amemiya to get it. He loves his friends, really.
Anyway, he will not show this to Omokage. No way. That is just plain embarrassing. Takumi shoves the thought away as he shoves the notebook into his bag, probably crumpling the pages. Though maybe it could help. He has been stuck in one place for a while.
On the way out of school, he catches Omokage by the lockers.
“Hey, Omokage…” Takumi opens his mouth before thinking. What is he thinking? Omokage might not even want to help him with this. He swallows his words back and bites his lip.
Takumi has a backup plan of sorts. He can shelve the matter with the lyrics for later, and tell Omokage about what happened earlier instead. The previous encounter still bothered him, in the club room, that is. He wanted to alert his friend, that is all.
“Yes, Sumino-kun?” Omokage turns around and raises an eyebrow at the sudden conversation. Does he not talk to Omokage much? Takumi always found that out of all the club members, he manages to hang around Omokage the most.
Now, he needs to ask this without being weird. It is either this or bothering Omokage with his own problem. He has never been this self conscious in his entire life.
“You know Ima is going around saying we… ‘swapped spit’?” His face scrunches at the phrase, sounding extremely awkward coming from his mouth. Omokage’s face softens in acknowledgement.
“Quite the mythomaniac, that young one, huh?” And Ima is. Takumi still does not understand what Ima gets from this whole ordeal.
“Well, yeah. But doesn’t it bother you?” He does not know why he asked. Omokage is too laid back, usually. A small misconception like that would not do as much as make him worry slightly.
“The gossip? No.” He waves his hand in the air dismissively, without a care in the world. And in the next second, a smirk is plastered across his face. “If anything, me and you swapped spit—among other things—plenty in my dreams!”
Takumi can not stop the blush that creeps on his cheeks, looking away. It found a home on his cheeks with how often this happens.
“Don’t even joke like that!” He scolds, and Omokage’s smirk widens, somehow.
“…” Omokage makes no attempt to answer, just basking in the silence.
They continue walking quietly, side by side, out of the school. Takumi decides he can not stand the stillness, because in that loud hush, his thoughts ring resoundingly.
“It was a joke, right?” Takumi asks, unsure now. He does not want to know what kind of dreams Omokage has about him. Well, even knowing that Omokage dreams about him makes him feel funny.
“…” As though he sensed Takumi’s worries, Omokage stays completely silent once again.
“Omokage!” He yelps and only gets a sly smile in return.
V.
“Man, I don’t get it,” Maruko huffs, shuffling various papers around on his desk. Organizing the school’s newspaper must be a tough job, considering that he works part-time after classes as well. It seems like everyone got their shit together, except Takumi. But the Light Music Club is supposed to change that, give him a goal to strive for, or something. “Why’d you take Omokage in, anyway?” Maruko continues. Even outside of club activities, Takumi can not stop getting judged over his choices as the one managing the band.
“He may be odd sometimes,” he hums, “but Omokage is not that bad once you get to know him.” He sees the point, he really does, but many people just will not give the poor guy a chance! Obviously, Takumi was one of them previously—you can not blame him for avoiding a guy with a creepy face scar-slash-tattoo and an eyepatch, whose aura obviously screams danger—but it is now that he realizes how wrong he had been.
“Sure, yeah,” Maruko huffs again (or was that a snort?), “like when he goes around slipping stuff into people’s freaking drinks.” He stares at a crumpled paper he fished out from the pile like he is trying to burn it with his gaze. It is probably from yesterday’s failed interview with Omokage.
“That could’ve been someone else,” Takumi does not even sound like he believes the words he is saying. As nice as Omokage can be, he gives the Tsukumo twins’ pranks a run for their money. Takumi just wishes that whatever the guy was up to involved a little less drink spiking, even if what he is sneaking into them is not actually harmful. “The point is, you shouldn’t judge someone before you get to know them. I used to think you were a perverted scumbag before we got seated together.”
“Ouch, man. Whatever,” Maruko waves his hands in the air, sighing. “I heard he’s sick with the guitar, though.”
“Oh yeah, definitely! You should come to our show one day, hear it for yourself.” Proudly raising his two fists, Takumi brags about their performance. No one can blame him for being proud of them when he built this club up with his very own hands. “Omokage is a very passionate person, I guess it kinda finds its way into the way he plays.”
“Passionate person,” Maruko rolls his eyes, “please spare me the details.”
“What?” Takumi is genuinely confused. Maruko always comes to wrong conclusions, and this time is no exception, probably. Still, it is a weird part to nitpick.
“I mean, I know he’s your boyfriend and all, but—”
“Wait, wait— Wait. What?! Omokage is not my…” He sputters for words, eyes darting across the room as though they will find someone staring holes into him. “We’re not together!”
“It’s okay if you’re into dudes, Sumino. I won’t judge a friend,” Maruko pauses, considering. “Okay, I am judging—just your taste in them.”
Takumi looks around, wary. He hopes no one overhears their conversation, so no one else gets any wrong ideas.
“No, Maruko, I’m serious. Why does everyone think we are a couple?” Sure, Omokage acts a bit flustering around him, but the first assumption should not be that they are dating. He does not ponder further why that thought makes him feel warm. He said it himself, after all—Omokage is his friend, and he does not feel that way. But then, why did he act clingier with Takumi than with others? Are his flirty jokes just that? Jokes? Probably. It is Omokage.
“Dude.” He looks at Takumi as if he just confessed to murder, eyes more serious than usual. “If everyone thinks you’re dating, maybe that says something.”
Before he could react, the teacher walked into class. Saved by the bell, and all that jazz.
When the lessons are over, it is time for their club meeting. Takumi arrives last, as usual, and that brings the start of their meeting. It goes by smoothly; Aotsuki shares his progress on his lyrics, and they end up brainstorming the right sound for them. Takumi messes up a few notes, but Aotsuki is there to support his voice, and the rest do not stop playing to berate him or anything. Still, he does so in his head. He can not keep being the only one to butcher his role over and over.
The meeting goes by in a flash, and they start dissipating to head back home. They made quite the advancement today.
Before he can head out the door, his eyes drift to Omokage and Aotsuki making conversation. What an odd pair.
“Of course, Aotsuki-kun,” Omokage crosses his arms and leans over to where Aotsuki is sitting. “You cuties can ask for my help any time!” He hugs himself, or does something that looks like it, and blushes, drooling. That reaction irks Takumi for a reason he does not understand.
“Thank you, Yugamu-kun,” Aotsuki smiles softly and takes his pen out. “A few lines here bother me…”
Takumi does not want to hear any more. Before he shuts the door behind him, he grumbles: “Don’t stay out too late,” instead of a usual farewell.
+I.
“Um… Kirifuji?”
It is a weekend. He has caught Kirifuji by the bookstore he usually avoids and starts a light conversation. The air is warm, no clouds in sight in the sky, and people pass by them, joyous. They chat for a bit, talking about how their day has been going, and about the progress Takumi is making on his song. He decides to let her know what has been bugging him for a while now.
“Is something bothering you, Sumino-kun?” Her face takes on the concerned look she wears around everyone in the band all too often. Her voice is calm and it reassures Takumi, somewhat.
“Can I ask you for something? It may be a bit weird…” At that sentence, he notices her look away for a moment.
“Uhh… Sure. Sure, yeah,” she resolves herself to answer, determined.
“I need advice.” He gives it to her straight. Or as straight as he can be.
“Alright. About?”
“Well… Friends—I think? You have a lot of them, so I figured you’d be the best person to ask.” She does have a lot and he has met them before, Mojiro, Oosuzuki, even Magadori from the Disciplinary committee, though only Mojiro took a liking to him. And Kirifuji is more or less close with Omokage, too. He might get something out of this.
“I see,” she hums, thoughtfully, “I’m listening.”
“So lately I’ve been feeling weird around someone. And I don’t mean that I find them weird - I don’t - it’s just… I don’t know. I think and worry about them way more than usual, and I notice the small things they do for me that I didn’t before and I get oddly thankful?” Each example brings at least two separate memories to his mind, and they make him experience that nervous tingling in his stomach—anxiety, from what his research has shown. Not taking into account that he kept getting unrelated articles when searching.
She gives him a nod, showing that she is following, and signalling for him to continue.
“Then, when I see them talk to anyone else I feel a bit irritated, I guess. I’m not sure why, but I’m worried I’m being too confining?” The memory of Omokage talking with Aotsuki keeps nagging at him yet he does not know why. So what, his friends are also friends? Why does it upset him so much?
“Well… Sumino-kun,” she shifts on her feet, looking him right in the eyes, but her voice is quiet when she asks, “does this person happen to be me? It reminds me of your awkwardness back when we first met.”
“Wh- No! No, don’t worry. Why would you think that?” That is the last thing he wanted, to make Kirifuji uncomfortable. He can not believe she got the wrong idea.
“Because it sounds like you got a crush on this girl.” Wait, huh?
“Huh?!” Takumi squeaks in surprise, unable to hide his reaction. Okay, maybe he used to have a small crush on Kirifuji back then, but he got over it, really. There happens to be another problem with what she said… “Wait, no, that can’t be right. I’m talking about a guy.”
“Oh!” Her face lights up in shock, before she gives him a coy smile. “Well, guys can like other guys too, I think.”
“But I don’t,” he denies, and there is no merit to her words at all; they do not relate to his problem. Kirifuji always seems to be a hopeless romantic, just like the rest of her friends.
“I’m asking you to think about this,” she takes a hold of his hand, squeezing it lightly. “After all, the only one that knows your feelings best is yourself.” Leave it to Kirifuji to get philosophical out of nowhere. Maybe looking after all those kids gets to her, with how parental this whole conversation feels.
“Ugh, yeah, I guess. Thank you anyway, Kirifuji,” he waves at her, sighing.
“Of course, Sumino-kun. Go get him!”
They exchange goodbyes, no matter how awkward, and Takumi heads back home. He has got a lot to think about, and research, if anything. And what is worse, Kirifuji looked as though she knew he was talking about Omokage. Talk about embarrassing.
Okay. Maybe Kirifuji was on to something. And Maruko, too. Even Amemiya. Now that he thinks about it, was he that obvious to everyone but himself? A crush. A crush on Omokage. Fuck.
He will ask him head on the next time they are alone. If all those times Omokage acted that way were just friendly jokes, or if he held any sort of feelings towards Takumi. But Takumi is scared to ruin their friendship if he ends up being wrong.
A perfect opportunity presents itself after yet another band meeting.
Watching Aotsuki take his leave, the only people that stay behind in the classroom are Takumi and Omokage. Rays of sunlight are peering through the window onto the desks, coloring the room honey. Before Omokage can turn to head for the door, Takumi comes up and grabs his arm, making them face each other.
“Omokage,” he rasps, far too aggressively than intended.
“Sumino-kun?” Omokage blinks slowly, looking him up and down as though it would give him a clue for Takumi’s odd behavior.
“I have a question.” The moment is now. Whether Takumi does something he regrets and ruins his friendship with a fellow bandmember, or gets a boyfriend. Maybe. If it is mutual.
“How straightforward,” he strokes his chin, nodding. “Shoot.”
“Doyoulikeme.” The words come out too jumbled and slurred, and he is not sure anyone aside himself can understand what he has said.
“Pardon?” Omokage looks genuinely taken aback, eyes wide.
Maybe this is a mistake. Takumi notices he has been gripping at Omokage’s arm, tightly, throughout this entire conversation, and lets go. His gaze scatters everywhere but the guy in front of him. He realizes that he is nervous, and his hands are clammy. With his eyes downcast, he repeats himself.
“…Do you like me?”
After a silent moment, Omokage avoids answering the question by asking one of his own: “Where is this coming from?”
“Please don’t make this more embarrassing than it needs to be,” Takumi lets out a shaky breath, fidgeting with the sting of his hoodie. Omokage gulps, his neck bobbing, and his collar with it. Takumi tries not to stare too hard.
“Well, I do like you,” he replies, casually, as if he is not about to be the cause of Takumi’s very early heart attack. And then, to make it worse: “I thought that much was obvious.”
“Like… As in… Romantic?” Takumi asks, because he is not himself if he does not act stupid. Feelings are hard, okay? He can not be blamed for not getting them when he can barely understand his own. “I just need to get this right.”
“Your oblivion is cute as always, Sumino-kun,” he chuckles, and it might be the end of Takumi’s world with the way his heart leapt out of his ribcage. “Did you think I was flirting with you for fun?”
“Um…” The thought feels humiliating now. But what he saw that day, Omokage shamelessly calling someone else cute, stuck with Takumi.
“Oh, you wound me! I don’t do this with anyone else, you know?” He gasps at the implicit accusation, and Takumi can not tell whether it is exaggerated or not. Still, he can not stop the shock that seeps through in his tone.
“You don’t?”
“Not to this extent, no,” he confesses, biting his lip.
“But… A few days ago, with Aotsuki…” Nice going, Takumi. His lips move before his mind does, spilling out what he wished to keep to himself.
“Are you jealous?” Omokage coos, and then his lips curl into a sharp smirk. “Does this mean that, perhaps, Sumino-kun likes me too?”
“Shut up,” Takumi groans, trying to mask the blush that once again crept up his face. So, Omokage likes him back. That makes sense. He ought to thank Kirifuji sometime later.
“Is this the part where I say make m—mph?!”
Takumi, like the time with the soda, does not find it in himself to listen. Though this time, instead of an indirect kiss, it is very, very direct. He rests his hands on Omokage’s shoulders, pulling him in, in an attempt at a kiss, and Omokage lightly pushes him in surprised protest. Takumi shuts his eyes the moment their lips touch, but he is certain Omokage kept his wide open. Omokage’s mouth, unsurprisingly, is cold. His unnatural body temperature is something Takumi always wondered about, ever since he accidentally brushed his hand against Omokage’s clawed fingers. Despite it, his cheeks radiate warmth onto Takumi’s own. It is pleasant. He pulls away a few seconds later.
“Sorry I don’t know what came over me, how about you forget— …Seriously?”
Omokage’s face is red. Even he gets shy, huh. Despite all his innuendos and flirtatious comments, it took surprisingly way less to get him shy like that. Once again, Takumi finds the thought appearing in his head: Omokage is cute.
“…Ah.” He blinks a few times, trying to shake off the initial startle. He seems to come back to his senses.
Nervously shifting, Takumi looks up at him. “Where does this leave us?”
“Sumino-kun, you can’t just kiss a guy and ignore its implications. Might as well just break his heart!” He makes a show out of it, writhing around while hugging himself, face twitched in fake sadness. Extra as always. It makes Takumi smile softly.
“Geez. I mean… Would you want to… Go out with me?” For some reason, that takes a lot of effort to ask. He never thought it would go this smoothly. He guesses he has his abrupt actions to thank.
“You know, I’d have to kill you for putting your hands on my heart like that. Courtesy of an assassin,” his sharp stare finds its way right into Takumi’s soul, and he shivers. Even though he looks so cute when flustered, he can still be dangerously scary. He finds that it does not scare him as much as it used to, however.
“Just answer!” Takumi sighs, shifting a tiny bit further from Omokage as he watches the expression on his face lighten.
“For the love of murder, easy, easy. Of course I would,” his eyes shut in defeat. Takumi can tell he means it. There would be no point in lying now, anyway.
“Okay. Okay. So um. Boyfriends?” Takumi asks, clinging to whatever sense of normalcy he can when his crush-now-partner acts like he comes from a family of killers.
“I prefer ‘partners in crime’,” he shrugs, grinning.
“Please don’t drag me into your misdoings.” It would be the end of him and his pride if Maruko or Magadori catch him breaking the rules. But maybe for Omokage, he could. He keeps surprising himself when it comes to this guy.
“Hehe, no promises,” Omokage giggles (giggles!) and pulls Takumi closer.
He is so, so glad no one is around to interrupt.