Work Text:
Freudian Slip
noun. an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings.
When Takeru finally wakes up from his coma-induced state, he's overcome with an irresistible urge to cuss sourly at the universe for the violent headache that kindly greets him in the ridiculous hour of the morning. He also takes into account his sore back and the sweltering heat suffocating him through the mass of thick blankets and pillows, dully contemplating if he should shove everything off the bed so he can at least breathe in peace.
Blearily, Takeru turns around and poises to shove the lump of blankets out of his way, only to jerk to a stop, hands frozen and mind left buffering from the sight of his friend-in-name and enemy-at-heart sleeping soundly beside him.
Incredibly, Takeru wills himself to turn on his back as he stares blankly at the ceiling, not really sure what to do with himself now that he witnessed a scene he could not revoke from his life history. Into the silence, Takeru slowly raises his hands over his face, dryly laughing into them in astute denial. There is no way, absolutely no way. Through his fingers, Takeru takes one more peek at the guy beside him, making sure that this isn’t some form of deluded hallucination his brain cooked up for jokes. He even goes as far as to lift the covers a little, a justifiable action in the pursuit of truth, as he tries to logically assess the current situation. It takes him a good ten seconds of staring at the rough features of his sleeping companion before dropping the covers and coming to terms with the fact that yes, Mori Hisashi, cheerleading teammate and tight-ass extraordinaire, is currently sleeping in his bed, and yes, they are both very, very much naked.
"Fuck," Takeru whispers as he settles back down again, dragging a hand down his face. "Fuuuuuuuck."
There's a small groan from the side and Takeru has half a mind to jump out the window and make an instant run for it, but he ends up decisively staying put for the sake of his pride. That, and the fact that he doesn't want to be charged with public indecency in an attempt to escape the inevitable exchange of mortification and remorse with his teammate and accidental fuck buddy.
Woefully, Takeru sucks it up and peers over to see Hisashi slowly stirring awake – eyes gently fluttering open, hazy and unfocused as he regains some semblance of consciousness. His messy bangs fall to one side as he tilts into the pillow, stifling a soft yawn while his legs shift in discomfort, brushing intimately against Takeru's own.
Takeru finds it hard to breathe all over again.
Eventually, Hisashi blinks a couple times before he finally focuses on Takeru's face, eyes widening for a fraction in recognition before settling into a cross between contemplative and embarrassed. There's no way of knowing what he's thinking and Takeru can't for the life of him remember anything from last night to salvage the impending doom of their questionable friendship. So, he improvises.
"Um, hi." Takeru says intelligibly, voice cracking.
Hisashi blinks again. "...Good morning."
Takeru laughs painfully, possibly digging his own grave, hopefully digging deep enough so that he could hit the earth's core and disintegrate from sheer embarrassment. "Haha, fancy meeting you here, huh? Like, who would've thought, right? It's not every day you find yourself in bed with a great guy like me haha..ha..."
Honestly speaking, Hisashi getting pissed and beating him off the bed would've been much more preferable than the odd look he's giving him now. With a confused reaction like that, maybe... maybe Takeru has been wrong about everything. Maybe his assumption is completely off and nothing happened last night at all! He just happen to take an intoxicated Hisashi home with him after the annual party and, being such a good and kind-hearted team player, allowed him to crash at his place for the night. That's all there is to it, nothing more nothing less. Nothing but him foolishly jumping into conclusions.
Hilariously, not even two seconds later, that same foolish conclusion is just as quick to blast into the stratosphere along with his heart.
It isn’t like he's taken completely by surprise. Takeru had release a huge sigh of relief seconds before Hisashi starts hesitantly leaning into his personal space, not nearly giving him enough time to gather himself together but not so fast that he can't pull away if he really wanted to.
Awkwardly, Hisashi presses his lips against Takeru's, pliant and gentle in contrast to the abrasive comments usually thrown his way. Takeru doesn't even register the kiss until the other has already pulled away, gaze delicately averted. "I guess you’re right,” Hisashi huffs a little. "...For once."
Takeru stares at the sight before him, flabbergasted. For the first time in his life he’s left utterly speechless, his mind still not caught with the current turn of events, much less even capable of making sense of it. He resigns himself to gaping stupidly in awe while simultaneously wondering if he’s ever going to wake up from this absurdly wholesome dream. “Who are you?”
Hisashi rolls his eyes but doesn’t look too offended by his response. Instead he rubs the back of his neck, a nervous gesture if anything, before steadily getting up. He swings his legs over the bed and graciously walks across the room, picking up his clothes that's been scattered around the place. Takeru doesn’t even want to think about the implications of that. Still, the idea insistently dances around in the back of his mind and when Hisashi starts to bend down, Takeru swallows hard, eyes glued to the sculpted body generously presented in front of him and, and –
Oh my god.
Takeru sinks into the bed and throws the covers over his head, the blaring truth screaming into the depths of his traitorous heart.
Hisashi’s got the sweetest ass.
#
“I don’t get it,” Takeru says begrudgingly, shoveling a spoonful of pudding into his mouth while Haru watches on in acute concern. “It makes no sense.”
“Is something wrong, Takeru?” Haru asks carefully, following his line of vision to the brunet sitting at the restaurant’s bar seat. “You guys aren’t fighting again, are you?”
“No no, we’re peachy. More than peachy, even. I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around this – this development,” Takeru professes, shoveling another spoonful of dessert in his mouth. “Like, I’m a pretty open person but I always had a stronger preference towards a girl’s soft, rounded tush than a guy’s rock solid one. But then it’s weird, you know, ‘cause Hisashi has this cute perky ass, and it’s not even voluptuous or anything like that, but it makes me want to press my cheek against it and maybe even kiss it little.” Takeru sighs blithely. “What the hell, right?”
Haru opens his mouth, blinks, then promptly closes it.
“Speaking of kissing, he kind of kissed me too and it was awkward but…it wasn’t a bad feeling? I want try kissing him again but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to. Is there some sort of protocol you have to follow if you want to pursue a second-night stand, because I’m seriously stumped here. What do you think I should do?”
Haru parts his mouth again, words sounding strangled from his throat. “I don’t – I mean, I’m not sure? Is this Hisashi we’re talking about here? Our Hisashi?”
“Right? You get what I’m saying!” Takeru punctuates his sentence by slamming his spoon on the wooden counter, hands balled into a tight fist. “Why am I so nervous thinking about Hisashi, of all people? It’s just Hisashi. I should just ask him straight up what he’s thinking in his head instead of stressing about it all day. You know what, that’s exactly what I’m going to do!” Takeru abruptly stands up, chair scraping against the floorboards as he nearly knocks it over. He hastily grabs his jacket and throws it over one shoulder while saluting with his other free hand. “Thanks for the pep talk, Haru! I’ll update you if it goes well!”
Haru waves in bewildered confusion as Takeru dashes over to where Hisashi has been chatting next to Ton. It’s a good time as any for some other worldly force to intervene just in case this turns out to be a horrible, terrible idea, but Takeru more or less succeeds as he nabs Hisashi by the hand and drags him out of the restaurant with an excitable look on his face. Hisashi on the other hand looks a bit put off by the whole charade, but he half-bows when they pass by everyone else and not once does he let go of Takeru’s hand.
#
“Can I kiss you?”
Granted, there's a much smoother way of going about this, but Takeru is at his wits end obsessing over how it'll feel like to kiss Hisashi again and it left more of an impressionable image than he can imagine. He’s not sure if all this is from his imagination or actual snippets of The Incident that he's been subconsciously pulling out from his drunken stupor, but he knows what he wants and he's never been shy with asking for it directly.
Hisashi is giving him that questioning look again, but the light brush of red on his face is a good sign. It’s a really good sign. “Ridiculous,” Hisashi starts, tone patronizing as always. “You do realize we’re outside in public, right?”
Takeru doesn’t mention that they’re pretty much a good distance away from the cobbled pathway that led to the outskirts of their campus, far away from straying eyes and the student body, hidden behind a tall cherry blossom tree where Takeru is currently caging Hisashi against. He doesn't even bring up the fact that the act of kissing itself should be the real issue here. In any case, the situation is disturbingly similar to a cliché drama scene he once saw on TV: the pretty heroine leaning against the tree as the stunning main lead passionately confesses his love for her. Only, instead of a pretty petite pretty girl, Hisashi is the one leaning coolly against the tree and Takeru sure as hell isn't actually confessing his deep and undying love to him or anything like that.
Is he?
“There’s no one here right now,” Takeru protests, leaning in a little closer, watching as Hisashi’s eyes flicker down at his lips. “Please? I’ve been wanting to do this all day…” There’s a brief lull in hesitation which gives him the perfect timing to hammer in the last nail. “Show me how much of a better kisser you are.”
Just as expected Hisashi raises to the bait, a determined gleam in his eyes as he grabs a fistful of Takeru’s shirt and reels him in, bumping noses and crashing their lips together at an awkward angle.
He’s really bad at this, Takeru thinks, but he can’t help the growing warmth that pools in his chest when he holds the back of Hisashi’s neck, easing him out of the aggressive kisses and into a slower, teasing pace. He moves his mouth against Hisashi’s in a steady rhythm, loving the way Hisashi parts his lips from the onslaught of kissing, so much kissing, and it takes him so much effort to pull away for even a split second.
When they do finally part for air, Takeru deliberately licks his lips. “Is that the best you can do?”
The way Hisashi growls as he pulls him in again shouldn’t be this hot.
#
“Ah, to think you were so shy when you kissed me this morning...I didn’t know you could be so cute ~”
“Augh, shut up!”
#
It sort of becomes part of their daily routine: a good morning kiss when they meet on campus, a quick peck or two after practice, a hidden one behind textbooks in the library, and a gentle lingering one after walking home together.
Takeru isn’t sure what they are exactly at this point, but from the way his heart beats a little faster whenever they make eye-contact is a sure tell sign as any that he might be falling for the guy. Takeru doesn't want to admit it, but there's no denying his feelings when Hisashi had stiffly leaned against his side after a rough tiring day, only to relax once Takeru pulls him in closer, fingers carding through the other’s dark hair in a soothing manner. It's…unexpected? Kind of adorable? There's no one else outside in the courtyard aside from the two of them, giving them all the privacy in the world to indulge in an intimate moment like this. Takeru wants it to last forever.
Yikes, Takeru mentally berates himself. He’s starting to get really mushy these days and wonders if this is how couples go about their lives every day. For a curious moment, Takeru tries to imagine holding hands with Hisashi, calling each other cute pet names and the likes – sugary sweet things like honey ~ and darling ~ perhaps they’ll even feed each other and make kissy faces during their dates.
Hah, yeah right!
If Takeru is being brutally honest, it’ll be really weird if they attempt any of that nonsense considering the huge contrast between their personalities. Still, he'll most definitely get a kick out of Hisashi calling him sweetums if that's ever in the realm of possibility.
Takeru glances down at the sleeping figure slumping on his shoulder and idly plays with the other’s fingers, noticing how large and rough they are compared to a girls’. He entwines their hands together, smiling when Hisashi hums in his sleep and lightly squeezes back.
#
“Just leave the dishes in the sink, I’ll wash them later.”
“Are you sure?” Hisashi raises a brow. “Knowing you, it’ll just keep piling up until it’s as tall as Mount Fuji.”
“Hey, have a little faith in me here!”
“Perhaps in your cheerleading, maybe. But this? Unlikely.”
“Are you shitting on my cheerleading skills now?”
“No, I didn’t say that.” Hisashi frowns, and Takeru hides his bemusement at the other’s troubled expression. Takeru has to give him some credit; Hisashi's been breaking his former self down by a considerable degree and often tries his best to rectify anything rude that may slip out unintentionally. “I’m just saying it could do better.”
“Yeesh, sharp tongue as always…” Takeru shakes his head. “I know it’s your way of encouragement, but not everyone has a mindset of a saint like Ton does. Honestly, did your parents never praise you as a kid?”
“...Putting your best into something is to be expected, not praised for.”
The quiet silence that follow tells Takeru all he has to know. He purses his lips, then pats the spot next to him. “Come,” Takeru orders.
Warily, Hisashi approaches the couch and Takeru doesn’t give him a chance to change his mind – he shoots an arm out and yanks the other down beside him, flicking his forehead and hopefully flicking some sense into Hisashi’s obliviousness to his own insecurities.
“Dumbass,” Takeru replies without bite. “If that’s the case, why do you get so happy when Haru praises you whenever you rave about how many sets you do for training, or whenever you text us about beating your timed runs and share pics of your healthy meals. The others would make encouraging comments on it, wouldn’t they? And so didn’t you become more earnest? Didn’t you feel good about yourself?”
“That’s – I was just setting a good example…” Hisashi trails off, looking annoyed that he can’t refute the claim.
Takeru chuckles. “You need to reciprocate more. You know what, I’ll teach you how to praise someone! Hmm, let’s see…” Takeru taps his chin thoughtfully. “First and foremost, I’m glad that you learned how to be accepting of others and I appreciate how you're now trying your best to get along with everyone too. I know how earnest you are when you’re cheering, and it’s actually really cool and inspiring. Your voice isn’t so bad to listen to either because it’s manly and deep, but at times it’s almost soft-spoken. It’s nice. Ah – you also put way too many veggies in all your dishes but your cooking is absolutely phenomenal! You saw how much I helped myself to another serving or three back there. Hmmm oh! I also like how easily embarrassed you get sometimes. Hey hey, don’t give me that look, you can’t deny how adorable you get when you’re flustered.” Takeru laughs as Hisashi punches him in the arm. He's definitely embarrased. “Okay so now it’s your turn. Say something nice about me! What’s my most redeeming quality?”
“Your afro, I guess.”
“Uwah, was that a joke? Did you just try to crack a joke right now?”
Hisashi crosses his arms and looks away. “You’re…not really funny, but you’re still persistent in your gags even if no one’s laughing. It’s admirable, I suppose. The way you laugh gets on my nerves too, but it feels too quiet whenever you’re not around. I envy how you’re good with people sometimes, and they like you despite how obnoxious you can be. Your energy and happiness is contagious and sometimes I wish I can have that too. I like how true you are to yourself and will defend anyone without thinking about the consequences, but in the end you’re always forgiving and would never hold a grudge. With cheerleading, you're putting in actual effort now. And you…you’re pretty great at what you do when you actually try. And I find that, uh, cool. I guess.”
"Oi oi, what's with all these backhanded compliments." Takeru laughs, softening at that. “...You know, the reason why I didn’t put a lot of effort into everything back then was because I was scared of failing…You wouldn’t know for sure if you’re a failure or not so long as you didn’t try, right?” Takeru distractingly brushes his fingers at the base of Hisashi’s neck, smiling a little as the other leans into it. “Even though I wanted to stand out without putting in any effort…I know it’s a pretty stupid way of thinking, but back then, bearing a lot of the pressure was really tough on me. I guess all that running away I was doing in the past just stuck and became a bad habit. ”
“…I didn’t realize.”
“Mhm. I’m glad I've change that way of thinking, though. Joining this team has opened my eyes to a lot of things…and I guess I have you to thank for as well.”
“…Why are you suddenly thanking me for?”
“Hm, because you push me to try harder, even if it started out as a brutal tongue-lashing. To be honest, I thought you were a total prick at first.”
“Hmph, I can’t say your behaviour was any less tolerable.”
Takeru grins. “We were complete opposites weren’t we? But then you went and pulled off that gag and I discovered how cute you could be!”
“Ngh! Please stop bringing that moment up…I most definitely am not cute.”
“You are!” Takeru laughs amiably, tackling him into a hug. “You sealed in your fate that day and the rest is history!”
“You mean regret of the century…”
“Hehe, don’t be shy ~ don’t be shy~”
#
He likes him.
“If you keep lagging behind I’m going to leave without you.”
“Your jogging pace is ridiculous! Ease up a little for me, would you? Better yet, you could give me a ‘lil kiss to recharge?”
He likes him.
“…I’ll think about it, if you can catch up to me.”
“EH?! Hey – just you wait! I’m totally gonna make you eat those words!”
He likes him a lot.
#
“Go out with me?”
Again, there is probably a much better way of approaching this, but Takeru doesn't have any tact to begin with so it’s understandable when things don't go as smoothly as planned.
“Where to?” Hisashi pauses in the middle of writing on his notepad, no doubt another training regimen he planned out for some of the new recruits. “It’s going to be cold later this evening so we shouldn’t stay out too long.”
“Ah no…I didn’t mean it like that.” Takeru hooks his ankles under the study table and swings them nervously. “What I’m trying to say is…would you like to go out with me?”
Hisashi looks up at him this time, brows furrowed.
“Like, be my boyfriend? My mon amour, the sun and stars to my –“
Hisashi raises a hand, stopping him from embarrassingly rambling on. He looks pensive and it’s making Takeru feel on edge. “...You want to go serious?"
“Geez, it's not like I'm asking you to marry me or anything. I figure it would make sense since we're smacking lips and all," Takeru replies mindlessly, trying his best to play it off casual despite his heart hammering against his chest. "It's not a big deal if you don't want to. I don't really care either way."
"Smacking lips...Just for that, huh." Hisashi crosses his arms, shoulders tense. Takeru recognizes that Hisashi is going into defense mode and Takeru starts to panic. “…Hey, do you remember anything from that night we were together?"
“I…” Takeru chews his lower lip, wondering if he completely fucked up. “If you're talking about the night after the annual party then...no, I don’t. I was completely wasted that day.”
“Oh,” Hisashi says, clipped and short. Rather than mad, he looks almost hurt and that isn’t an expression Takeru wants him to have at all. “Figures it'd be like this, considering how irresponsible you are.”
“Hisashi,” Takeru holds his wrist firmly. He doesn’t get baited into a fight, knows the other is just throwing icy words around to protect himself. “You have every right to be angry at me. I’m a shitty person I know, I should’ve owned up to it earlier. But I want you to know that even after we slept together I – “
“Slept together?” Hisashi tries to pull away, gaze hardened. “You think we – you’re doing all this out of obligation?”
“What? No!” Takeru spits out, mind whirling in absolute confusion.
"Then what, you're playing along out of curiosity? 'Cause you're pathetically bored and got nothing else to do?"
"I –what the fuck is that supposed to mean? But wait wait, we didn’t do it then? If that’s the case why were we naked?”
Hisashi clicks his tongue. “Your AC broke and it was hot. Naturally, you decided to strip and wouldn’t let me sleep unless I did too.”
“I did?” Takeru gapes, dumbfounded. “Hold on, that still doesn’t explain why you kissed me that morning! Do you know how shocked I was?! Why would you do something like that!”
“Are you serious?” Hisashi visibly bristles. “That’s because you – !” He cuts himself then, a harsh breath huffed under his breath as he yanks his hand away. “Forget it.”
Takeru wants to stop him, but he’s not sure what the right thing is to say. How did it come to this? This isn’t what Takeru wanted to talk about at all.
When Hisashi promptly leaves, Takeru is left helpless and bitter as he drowns in his own thoughts.
#
They’re not emotionally driven high schoolers and are mature enough to handle it like adults. Hisashi doesn’t avoid him during practice and talks to him like usual, but even so it doesn’t feel the same. Maybe he’s just being hypersensitive, but it bugs Takeru to no end when Hisashi brushes it aside as if it doesn’t matter because clearly it does matter. There’s a misunderstanding somewhere here and it kills him inside to think that Hisashi might possibly think Takeru has been leading him on out of obligation or something stupid like, like curiosity – which, okay, that might have been what started it, but it’s more than that now. It’s so much more.
“Ah! Takeru watch –“
The world spins and one moment he’s in the midst of cartwheeling on the mat – the next, he’s sprawled out on top of Gen and Mizoguchi who, thankfully, isn’t hurt but is now certainly giving him an earful for being careless.
The one good thing that came out from the blunder is Hisashi approaching him after a quick break was called. Takeru's still sprawled on the ground and the judging look Hisashi throws at him is not something he should be happy about, but Takeru returns it with a sheepish grin anyways.
“Your form is horrible today,” Hisashi says, but there’s no venom in his words. “You haven’t been making any smooth transitions and you keep making rookie mistakes.” He offers a hand for Takeru to take and something swells in Takeru's chest right then and there. “What are you getting distracted for?”
“You,” Takeru says, taking Hisashi's hand. “It’s because I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Hisashi pulls him up but Takeru doesn’t let go this time.
“Andou – “
“Before, back then, I know I messed up, I completely messed up. What’s worse is that I wasn’t able to tell you what mattered most.” Takeru takes a breath and looks Hisashi in the eye, unwavering and genuine. He balls up the rest of his flimsy courage and takes a leap of faith. He has to set things right. “Hisashi, I –“
“Everyone, gather around!
The booming voice of their coach echoes through the gym, forcing Takeru’s words to come to a jittering halt. He curses his ability to always find the worst timing possible when making Life-Changing Decisions and deftly wonders if he's a reoccurring target on karma’s hitlist or something.
When he reluctantly looks up to face Hisashi, he’s surprisingly greeted with an amused smile, a quirk of the lips at most, but it's enough for him.
It's more than enough.
#
“I’m falling for you. I’m really, really falling for you. What did or didn’t happen back then doesn’t change the fact that I’m growing to like you a whole lot and maybe, one day, I’ll even be a little in love with you.” Takeru shifts his weight to his other leg, anxious but resolve coursing through his nerves like wildfire. “I want to genuinely start something with you…but only if you want to.”
They’re in the same place, under the same cherry blossom tree, ways away from the cobbled pathway of their campus and hidden from the rest of the world. Hisashi is leaning prettily against the tree while Takeru is standing in front of him, fighting relentlessly against the jitters in his gut. The scene is definitely from a third rate drama he's watched on TV before; however, this time around, Takeru's feelings are far from cheap and he has every intention of confessing his heart out to the one he likes.
“…Yeah,” Hisashi says quietly, a certain fondness in his eyes. Takeru thinks his heart might skip a couple hundred beats from it. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
#
I like him so much.
#
Hisashi is the one who restarts their routine again by pressing an innocent kiss on his cheek one day, completely throwing Takeru off guard as he ends up watching the other get a head start on their morning jog. It’s killing him. It’s really killing him how unexpectedly romantic Hisashi could be and it pushes Takeru to make a conscious effort to be the bestest boyfriend ever.
Which, as written in bullet points from a reputable online advice blog, involves something along the lines of loving remarks of affection and personally tailored ballads. Although his cheesy pick-up lines and attempts at serenading didn’t quite impress his significant other as the article implied it would, the amused eyerolls and huffs are more than enough to let Takeru know he's doing something right.
Besides, it doesn't always have to be special. Takeru feels right at ease with simply spending his time sharing light-hearted banter in Hisashi's company. It's comfortable, wrapping his arms around Hisashi and holding him close as he mumbles out ideas for the next training session, scribbling them down in his notebook. It feels right, hearing him complain about calories and balanced diets as he feeds Takeru his favourite ice cream brand, ears tinged red when Takeru shuts him up with a creamy kiss – stunned, similar to the time Takeru had made Hisashi a bento before his trip back to his hometown, messy seaweed bits scrapped into a disjointed heart, earning him a heartfelt laugh and a loving caress against his cheek. Takeru absolutely loves it, seeing Hisashi's embarrassed and shy, gentle expressions that only he could exclusively elicit. It's all so, so very precious.
And even then, it's not just on his end. They both learn to appreciate and accept each other in ways he could never have imagined possible before. From the ups and the downs, to highs and lows...as incredibly cheesy as it sounds, they work well together. They support one another. They push each other to be the best they could be.
They're in this, together.
Now, the only one frustrating thing however is that Hisashi still refuses to tell him what exactly went down on the night of The (Not so Incident) Incident, which fine, it doesn't matter because his feelings wouldn’t change regardless. Still, he's curious as heck and plans to tease it out of Hisashi eventually.
Eventually, Takeru thinks. But for now, he’ll enjoy spending every second of his time with his favourite cheerleading teammate.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Hisashi tilts his head to the side, stopping short from writing down an absurd number of reps on his notepad.
“You,” Takeru slips out without much thought, leaning against him. “I’m thinking about you.”