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“Wow,” Souta said, settling onto the floor next to Nao. “Haven’t done this in a while.”
“Well, you’re hopeless at studying without me, so…” Nao teased.
“Jerk.”
“You love it.”
“Please stop with the flirting.” Keisuke groaned. Frankly, he was sick and tired of the lovebirds act. “We should get studying. We don’t have all night.”
Miyako nudged him, a small smile on her face. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” Keisuke asked, genuine surprise in his tone. “When am I ever—”
“Now look who’s flirting,” Souta teased. Both Miyako and Keisuke blushed at that.
Keisuke cleared his throat, busying himself with unloading his bag. “So, what are we starting with?”
“Should probably start with math,” Nao suggested, only glancing once at Souta’s face of agony towards the suggestion. “Get that out of the way.”
Miyako nodded and pulled out a sheet of scratch paper. “I do pretty well with math, what about you Himura?”
“Same here. I think Souta is the only one who really hates it.”
“That’s because it’s evil.” Souta groaned. “Also, I’m terrible at it. I never understand it when the teacher explains it.”
“Well, that’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?” Nao said simply, not even looking up from his paper. Souta stared at Nao like he’d hung the moon, while Keisuke and Miyako shared a glance. “Anyway, let me see your notes so I know what I’m working with.”
Souta nodded, fishing a creased notebook out of his bag to pass off to Nao. Nao tried, and failed, to fold it down flat—crinkling his brow at the disorganization of it. Inside was even worse, but no one at the table was surprised by that.
Nao looked at a particularly challenging section and asked, “Souta, what does this even mean?”
Souta placed his chin on Nao's shoulder and tried to read over what he wrote. It was a confusing mess. “Honestly? I have no idea.”
“Remember, you’re supposed to be writing it down so you can understand it.”
“Don’t lecture me,” Souta grumbled, digging his chin into Nao’s shoulder. Nao responded by pinching Souta on the cheek. Keisuke watched them with a look of exasperation.
“Would you like to work on a few problem sets, Himura?” Miyako asked softly, so as not to disrupt the couple. Keisuke dragged his eyes from where Souta was wrestling against Nao’s grip to pinch Nao’s cheek.
“Sure.”
The four of them worked together pretty seamlessly. Keisuke finally interrupted the lover’s quarrel to ask Nao about a particularly difficult question, getting the study session back on track. They moved onto English next, then ended the session on Japanese.
“Next time we’ll have to work on Biology,” Miyako told the group as she packed up her things. “That’s one of my worst subjects.”
“I didn’t know that,” Himura said, sounding overly concerned. “Why didn’t you say so?”
Miyako blushed slightly. “I guess I’ve been putting it off.”
“We’ll start with that next weekend, then,” Nao said. Keisuke nodded in agreement, while Souta groaned. “Does Sunday work again?”
“Works for me,” Souta said, haphazardly shoving his notes into his bag. Nao about wrestled the papers from him to put them away in a somewhat organized manner.
Miyako nodded. “Same for me. Himura?”
“Sunday works.” Keisuke nodded.
Nao slung Souta’s bag over his shoulder as he stood to walk the group out.
“Thank you for your help today, Iseya,” Miyako said. “And for inviting us over.”
“Yes, thank you,” Keisuke said in agreement. He glanced at Souta, prompting him to speak up, too.
Souta smirked in response, then leaned over to Nao and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Nao,” he whispered in Nao’s ear.
Keisuke rolled his eyes when Souta flashed him a shit-eating grin, while Miyako kept her eyes on Nao. He wasn’t blushing, but his face was suspiciously still.
“Himura, you take the train home, yes?” Miyako asked, grabbing onto Keisuke’s sleeve and tugging him towards the door. “Let’s walk there together.”
“I didn’t know you took the train,” Keisuke replied, but let himself be manhandled out the door.
“Well, I just felt like it tonight,” Miyako said, turning back to Souta and Nao with a smile. “Have a good night, you two!”
“See you tomorrow!” Souta waved the pair off. When the door clicked shut, the genkan fell into an awkward silence. Souta knelt to put his shoes on, but Nao stopped him. When Souta looked up, Nao’s face was unreadable. “Nao?”
Nao knelt down to meet Souta. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”
“What do you—”
Nao didn’t let Souta finish, cutting him off with a kiss. It was incredibly warm, like fire passing over Souta’s lips. He opened his mouth to quell the heat and Nao took the opportunity to slip his tongue in. It shocked Souta enough that he stumbled backwards, falling flat on his back to break the kiss. Nao followed him down, pressing him into the wood of the floor.
Souta wriggled his arms out from under Nao’s hold, reaching up to rest his hands on Nao’s shoulders. He should’ve pushed Nao away, should’ve been more concerned about the two of them making out in such an open part of the house—when Nao’s dad could walk in at any time and catch them, but…
He snaked his hands up Nao’s neck and felt Nao shiver beneath his fingers. Their mouths worked overtime, slotting against each other perfectly. It was better than any daydream Souta had ever had.
When they finally broke apart, blushing and breathless, Souta let out a small grumble of dissent. Nao dove back in for a single peck that felt to Souta like reassurance. This wasn’t the time, nor the place, Souta remembered as his head began to clear. For a moment, they just lay there, Nao hovering over Souta as the two of them tried to catch their breath, staring into each other’s eyes like the entire universe could be mapped out within them.
With a shaky inhale, Nao pushed himself up and sat back on his heels. Souta propped himself up on an elbow and tried not to look as wrung out as he felt.
“Can I walk you home?” Nao asked. Souta’s smile was soft, just for Nao.
“Of course,” he said softly. He leaned forward to cup Nao’s cheek and Nao nuzzled into the touch, desperate for any ounce of affection Souta was willing to give him. It took everything in Souta’s power not to pull Nao back down again.
He distracted himself with tying his shoes. Nao followed suit, sitting down next to him, close enough that their arms brushed with every movement. Souta got his shoes on first and jumped to his feet, wringing his hands together nervously. Nao stood behind him and reached out, taking one of Souta’s hands in his own.
Lifting Souta’s hand to his lips, Nao placed a gentle kiss on Souta’s palm, then his wrist. He had to stop himself from going further, from trailing kisses all the way up Souta’s arm and neck. Souta’s expression was slack and comfortable when Nao looked up at him.
Then, Nao let go of Souta’s hand and opened the door.
“I hate you,” Souta mumbled.
“Sure you do,” Nao said, choking back a laugh at Souta’s glare. Their bickering continued as they stepped outside and made the slow walk back to Souta’s house. The winter air bit cold against their skin, but the warmth of their kiss lingered long into the evening.