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Akihiko is going to throw up.
Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. He’s feeling a little queasy, and his stomach kind of hurts, but he’s not going to throw up. Yet.
For the entire morning, Akihiko spent his time either cleaning his already-cleaned room, pacing around in circles, or looking out the window and towards the sky hoping some otherworldly being would spawn and save him from the hell that is his own mind. Yes, perhaps he’s being dramatic, but he thinks this is a perfectly well-adjusted reaction.
Because today is the day his boyfriend is coming over. To meet his mother! Let him die.
Akihiko doesn’t even know why he’s so embarrassed. His mother was delighted to hear that he had found romantic love, and she already knows of Suo because his friends have been over a few times. She particularly enjoys doting on Sakura, much to his captain’s chagrin.
But this is the first time someone is coming over as a partner rather than friend. And it feels explicitly important that Akihiko doesn’t magically fuck this up somehow.
Briefly, he realises that he’s not the one to be nervous in this situation—if he was in Suo’s shoes, and had to worry about making a good impression on Suo’s family, he would probably feel infinitely worse. Wait, why’s he thinking about meeting Suo’s family now? He's not known for making strong first impressions. Oh god. Now he’s even more nervous—
The doorbell rings.
Akihiko’s spine straightens so sharply he swears he hears a crack, a sense of doom washing over him. He steps out of his bedroom, feeling like he's drowning when he already hears his mother rushing over to invite their guest in.
Just as Akihiko reaches the bottom of the staircase, he sees the door open, revealing Suo standing on the other side.
“Hello,” Suo greets cheerfully, his usual smile on his face. In his hands is a bouquet of daffodils, tied off with an elegant white ribbon. “Thank you for having me.”
“Oh, wow!” His mother takes the flowers with a delighted gasp, holding them up so the sun catches onto the blooming petals. She’s so easily pleased. “These are so pretty!”
“I chose them because they reminded me of Nire-kun’s beautiful smile,” Suo continues, “but now I see that he got it from you.”
Akihiko needs to die. ASAP.
His mother seems to think otherwise, because she laughs like Suo just said the funniest thing in the world and urges him inside. As she runs off to find a vase for the flowers, Suo toes his shoes off and finally catches Akihiko’s eye.
His smile softens into something a little gentler. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Akihiko mumbles back, suddenly feeling awfully shy. Suo is dressed classy, as he always is, while Akihiko is just in a sweatshirt and shorts. Why didn't he think of making himself look more presentable? Although, maybe it's weird to attempt to be presentable in your own home—it's like he's trying too hard… Anyway!
Technically, they didn’t plan to do anything for the day. Akihiko’s mother just wanted to invite Suo over to get to know him better. When they go to sit in the living room, she brings over a tray of tea and some fruits—Akihiko told her beforehand that Suo was a fan of tea, so she went out of her way to buy some leaves yesterday. A little extra, but Akihiko won't let Suo know that.
At least Suo seems pleased by the offer. Akihiko can tell that his mother is relieved, too. He also got his constant overworrying from her, it seems.
“So,” his mother says after a comfortable period of silence, “Aki tells me that you train him regularly after school! I hope it’s not too much of a bother.”
Akihiko groans. He knew this would be the first thing she brings up.
“Oh, not at all.” Suo picks up a fork, poking it into a watermelon cube. Akihiko momentarily wonders if he’s actually going to eat it, but then Suo brings the watermelon to his lips, feeding him, and Akihiko opens his mouth before he can even think of saving his dignity. “Nire-kun is a very diligent student! He learns quickly, too.”
“I’m glad. I wasn’t sure about him going to such an infamous school, but I can look past it since he’s met such wonderful people.” She shoots Akihiko a playful glare from over the table. “Did you know he enrolled without telling me first?”
“Did he?” Suo’s lip twitches. “No, he never mentioned.”
“It worried me sick! And then he came back on the first day bruised, too! I thought it was someone picking a fight with him at school—”
“I already told you it wasn’t,” Akihiko grumbles. “Sakura-san saved me, even.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you got hurt!”
Suo just laughs, taking another sip of the tea. “I’m glad he has you to worry over him, Nirei-san. Sometimes I think he doesn’t worry about himself enough.”
“Tell me about it!”
This time, Akihiko rolls his eyes. That’s rich, coming from Suo, but he refrains from commenting.
They continue chatting, mostly his mother asking questions about their life in school and Suo answering with little stories. Akihiko notices him dodging some of the more personal questions in usual Suo fashion, but his mother either doesn’t catch on or simply doesn’t want to push him into sharing more. And Suo always manages to redirect the conversation’s focus back to either Akihiko or Bofurin, so.
All things considered, though, Suo plays the role of a perfect gentleman, and Akihiko’s mother has one hundred percent fallen for it. Akihiko can already predict that she won’t shut up about him for at least a week after this.
When they’ve finished the tea and fruits, his mother stands up, stating that she needs to continue with some work around the house. Suo offers to help, but she waves him off and insists that he and Akihiko spend some time together.
Thus, he and Suo make their way towards Akihiko’s room together. Once Akihiko closes the door, Suo pipes up, “You were pretty quiet earlier. Everything okay?”
Akihiko grimaces. “I was just a bit worried,” he mumbles. “I was scared you guys wouldn’t get along.”
“Why, I get along with everybody—”
“You stole and hid Tsugeura-san’s bag of protein powder just two days ago because you didn’t like the smell!”
Suo blinks innocently. “That wasn’t me.”
“I’ll prove it one day!” Akihiko drops onto a throw pillow, huffing, because he is, in fact, certain that Suo was the culprit. Not that Tsugeura even minded, for he just whipped out a Second bag of protein powder, but still.
Suo mirrors his position, sitting with his legs tucked, and he leans forward to press a little kiss to Akihiko’s forehead. “If you say so,” he replies supportively. Akihiko glares back at him. "Your mother is very sweet, though."
"Stop. That was the most embarrassing thing in my life."
"No, it was so cute! I expected her to bring out a baby album, honestly."
Akihiko pales at the mere idea. "Don't say that so loud, she'll hear you!"
Chuckling, Suo leans back on the side of Akihiko's bed, relaxing. Akihiko crawls over so he can sit next to him, then drags his floor table over, where his phone and an open fashion magazine was lying. He picks his phone up and is surprised to see a few messages from their friends, asking how Suo's visit is going.
Instead of replying to the question directly, Akihiko opens up his camera app, switching to the selfie mode, and lifts his phone up.
Suo tilts his head until his earrings are brushing Akihiko's shoulders while Akihiko holds up a peace sign. The picture comes out a little too close to their faces, but Akihiko honestly likes it. He might make it his wallpaper later when Suo isn't looking.
Ooooh, Kiryu's reply comes, instantaneous, alone in nire-chan's bedroom? don't do anything naughty
Akihiko throws his phone onto the table, blushing furiously, while Suo lets out a loud laugh.
"Let me reply," Suo begins, reaching for Akihiko's phone, but Akihiko swats his hand away before he can think of doing anything funny and give their friends the wrong impression. "Aww. I was just going to say that I'm being nothing but a respectful guest."
"No you weren't," Akihiko replies flatly. Suo shrugs, defenceless.
They spend the rest of the afternoon just talking or looking through things Akihiko has in his room. Akihiko is a bit shy about how loud and visible his interests are—when Suo asked why his various fashion magazines had different coloured tabs stuck on the pages, he took a while to admit that he colour-coded the markings based on what he thought his friends would look good in. But Suo just laughed and requested that Akihiko show him everything with a red tab, that is to say, things he marked out for Suo specifically. And Akihiko was more than happy to comply.
Finally, evening arrives, and it's time for Suo to leave. At the doorway, Akihiko's mother asks if he'd like to stay for dinner, but Suo politely declines and cites that he has a meal waiting for him at home.
"Thank you for hosting me," he says with a bow.
"You're welcome over any time," his mother responds seriously. Why are her eyes getting watery? Suo isn't dying. "And I'm really glad my son has you."
Suo hides it well, but Akihiko sees the subtle way his jaw tenses, as if taken aback by the genuine gratitude. "...Yes. I'm lucky to have him, too."
Akihiko suddenly understands why his mother is getting emotional.
Once Suo has bid his goodbyes and the door has closed, Akihiko's mother turns around. Holding her fists to her chests, she proclaims, way too loudly, "Aki, you have to marry that boy! He's perfect."
"I—" Akihiko covers his burning face with a groan.
"He likes you so much! You can see it in his eye, the way he looks at you and all!"
"I'm not having this conversation!" Akihiko replies, racing up the stairs to return to his bedroom. Although, his fluster aside, he is pretty relieved that his mother likes Suo so much—there's no one else's opinion he respects more, and watching some of his favourite people get along is a nice feeling.
("I heard your mother wants us to get married," Suo says in lieu of a greeting when he enters the classroom the next day. "Guess we have no choice."
Akihiko bangs his forehead on his desk and chooses not to reply.)