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"Nagi. Nagi."
Nagi looks innocent in this moment, like he hadn't just sabotaged their entire afternoon and evening of training. The fluffy silver hair and soft curve of his face makes Reo want to pet him. He won't, though.
"Nagi, I know you're awake."
The silver-haired boy snores even louder now, as if to convince Reo that see, he really is asleep.
"We need to train." The snoring grows louder, the sound now akin to that of a small tractor. The trick hasn't worked on his teachers, and there's no reason it should work on Reo. Reo, who has spent hours matching his breath to Nagi's, watching the rise and fall of their shoulders in sync.
It is another way to be close to him, and so Reo continues living at the same pace as Nagi.
"Don't wanna."
"But you have to - "
"Don't wanna."
Nagi snuggles into Reo's arms, then pauses. The purple-haired boy gently pushes him off - he's getting up, right? Then, they can act like this never happened.
It doesn't mean anything if they don't talk about it. (That's how it works, right?)
Instead, Nagi skims his hands up Reo's sweater, catching the seams of the fabric and peeling it off.
"Too much fabric," he says, and then leans his head on Reo's chest and closes his eyes. Nagi's laying on Reo's chest now, and they're in an awkward position in which Reo is close enough to brush a kiss against silver hair and tuck Nagi's head under his chin.
He does, and the world doesn't end, because this doesn't matter. It isn't real, because two guys don't do this kind of thing on a park bench, and they don't do it at all when one of the guys is a heir to a fortune worth billions. If it's once, though, it can't be that bad.
"Okay, Nagi. Just for tonight."
Nagi either doesn't hear or chooses not to respond, instinctively clinging to Reo's arm when he lifts it away to pluck a leaf out of Nagi's hair.
It's fine, Reo thinks, running his hands through Nagi's hair and hoping, desperately hoping that this moment could last forever.
(We're fine.)
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Even three days later, Reo cannot stop thinking about "that night".
He'd sent Nagi home in a company car (what, like he was going to trust his treasure with a stranger?), and brushed off texts with excuses about homework.
Nagi responded, pointing out that they had the same schedule and that the workload hadn't been out of the ordinary for any of their classes.
It's worse than he thought it would be, trying to ignore Nagi after he's integrated the sloth into every part of his life. Reo finds himself wondering whose bright fucking idea it was to have an identical schedule to Nagi's, and then he remembers that it was himself who had proposed the plan.
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"I'll motivate Nagi to do better!" The guidance counselor had looked at him like he was insane.
"Mr. Mikage - "
"Just Reo, thanks. Mr. Mikage is my father's name."
"...Why would such an excellent student as yourself want to be placed with an underachieving one?"
"That's simple," Reo responded, flashing his teeth in a perfect smile, a confident one that attracted his classmates. Later, it confused them. Why would the Prince of Hakuhou bless the dope in the corner with this honor?
"I like him."
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Past him is idiotic, Reo thinks now, because Nagi is staring at him and seems to be intent on something. Asking him for money? For his sweatshirt, because it was so comfortable that Nagi wants it, permanently? The possibilities are endless.
A motivated Nagi is unprecedented, and therefore unpredictable.
(Reo doesn't know what he'll do if Nagi acts like he loves him, but there's also a solid chance that Nagi will be his characteristically blunt self and leave Reo's bleeding, beating heart on the ground for all to see.)
Reo sprints out of class the moment it's over, grabbing his bag and leaping over the chairs like he's Tarzan.
It's a wonderful sight, seeing the rich kid sweat for once, and people in the hallway gather to watch, speculating what has the Reo Mikage running for his life.
"Is that the Mikage kid?"
"Yeah, looks like his ass is on fire."
"Aren't you just mad that he turned you down for Seishirou?"
"Oooooh - "
"I'm not mad. I'm simply confused as to why he chose that sloth over me - "
Nagi flies past, accidentally knocking over the spiteful student's papers. It would've been a ten out of ten meet-cute if Nagi hadn't been in a rush to find his boyfriend.
"What the fuck - "
"Sorry," Nagi says, and then keeps running, faster, faster. He hadn't meant to follow Reo out of the classroom, obviously. He'd only meant to follow him to the pitch. Or to his home. Or wherever.
He had to ask Reo, though, why he'd looked scared that Nagi wanted to be near him. They were dating, even though they hadn't kissed.
Although. Although, Reo always turned his head whenever Nagi caught him staring, but that was just because Reo was embarrassed at having Nagi as his partner, right?
Dragging around Nagi like a child with a blanket was heroic if it was to help their sports team. However, holding hands with him, carrying him around as a boyfriend? As an equal? That was obviously going to be detrimental for Reo's reputation.
Sadly, Nagi only noticed the flaw in his reasoning now. After he'd slept on Reo. That if "The Prince" was ashamed of Nagi, he wouldn't have spoon-fed him.
Oh, Nagi realized, again too late. Is my boyfriend an idiot?
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Why in God's name, Reo wonders, is Nagi still chasing after him?
It's been close to half an hour, and consequently, they're both half an hour late for Physics.
"Stop - fucking - chasing me!"
Nagi's barely strained response, despite the fact that they must have run at least two miles now down the winding hallways.
"I will."
(Stop putting me in this position where I have to turn you away, Nagi.)
"If you stop running away from me."
Nagi must have jinxed him, Reo later thinks, because he trips only fifteen seconds later on a student's papers.
(Ironically enough, these are the same papers that Nagi caused the student to drop. This is their fourth lap around the building, but Reo's gone down a different way each time to throw off Nagi. Suffice to say, it didn't work.)
It's a testament to Nagi's stamina, really, how when he sees Reo trip he can still speed up to catch him by grabbing the collar of his sweater.
Reo should be grateful right now, but all he can think of is how the same piece of clothing keeps sabotaging him.
"I think you saved me just for my sweater," he says, and he's only half-joking.
"I like you in that sweater."
"Ah!" Reo's eyes light up, and he starts humming. "It's that song - that song from the States - " and Nagi knows exactly what he's talking about. They listened to that same song, sharing a pair of earbuds, over and over again while studying for history together.
"You gave her your sweater, it's just polyester,"
"But you like her better - "
Both of them freeze, are paralyzed at the other woman that the song references.
"I'm not - "
"I'm your boyfriend, though." Nagi screws up his face as if wondering how that would work out. "I don't like sharing."
"What." It's not even a question, just a statement.
"I'm your boyfriend." Nagi's still holding him by the shirt, and pulls Reo into his chest. "So you can relax with your big brain."
"Remind me again," Reo says, but he's not melting into Nagi's arms like he normally would. He's not pulling away either.
"When did I start dating you?"
That...is not what Nagi expected him to ask, and he wonders if there is a line. A line that marks when Nagi has started to love Reo like a craving, needs him like food and water and everything else that's inconvenient but he needs to survive.
"When you started to love me."
Reo blinks, once, twice at that, but Nagi isn't as oblivious as Reo thinks. Apparently, Reo is, because he didn't notice that all the longing stares were being reciprocated.
"The day we met, then."
"That sounds about right."
Nagi sways, moving Reo along with him, and they're dancing in the only way that Nagi knows how. Reo doesn't mind it, doesn't mind staying by Nagi's side for the ride.
"It's just polyester," Nagi sings, and Reo laughs. "Your voice is terrible."
"Shhh," he replies, and Reo can hear the smile even though they're not face-to-face.
"So I can sleep with you now?"
"...If you don't phrase it like that."
"And if I do?"
"You're the only person I'd want to do it with, Nagi."
"I'll keep that in mind. Do you need to wear the sweater to do it?"
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Why would you ever kiss me?
I'm not even half as pretty
You gave her your sweater, it's just polyester
But you like her better, wish I were Heather
Walks by
What a sight for sore eyes
Brighter than a blue sky