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The single most stressful moment in Nakamura’s life had passed. He now clutched his driver’s license in his hand, marveling at the person the photo had captured. His sister and mother had gone to town, claiming that there was no way a Nakamura would look ugly for a photograph. His hair was curled and combed to the side. You could see his eyes, which in itself was an achievement. He was smiling happily. He didn’t know how his mother had coaxed that out of him while he was still shaking from his earlier drive.
He had to admit that he looked good. Though it wasn’t like he would be showing it to everyone he met to brag of course.
He was just happy since–
“Wow!” Hirose exclaimed, taking the license from Nakamura to look more closely. Nakamura silently thanked the females of the Nakamura family, as Hirose looked like he was examining everything down to the angle Nakamura’s curls turned.
“Amen,” Takeuchi said, doing an exaggerated double take.
Takeuchi and him used to butt heads back in their first year of high school, but now they were in their third year and had gotten over that. Takeuchi had been jealous of Nakamura, who had grown close to Hamaoka and Kawamura for… reasons. But now that Nakamura was out, to his classmates from year two, at least, Takeuchi saw him as an insider so that he could “spy” on his girlfriend.
“You look so different, Nakamura. Almost… presentable.” Takeuchi snickered. Nakamura threw a pen at him.
Okay, maybe they still butt heads, but they had at least gotten better.
Over the years, Nakamura had been working on his social anxiety, and even found more friends around their school. He was less awkward, though he still preferred to hang out with Hirose instead of his other friends. He was comfortable enough to come out, and even joined the school’s archery club!
It was a miracle, compared to his first year.
But, same as his first year, he was still hopelessly in love with Hirose Aiki, his now best friend.
In his first year, he would say that he liked Hirose because he was near perfect. Both in the way he spoke and how he looked.
Now, he was in love with Hirose because of his imperfections. He still liked everything else, but it felt more real now. He liked how Hirose squinted at the board when he forgot his contact lenses because he refused to wear his glasses, or how he picked at his fingernails because he hated how dirty they got, or how he sometimes slipped up and started speaking in German, the language elective he had chosen.
He was confident in his love for Hirose.
Well, not enough to confess. But enough to entertain the possibility that, maybe, Hirose liked him back.
“Okuto!” Hirose pulled him out of his thoughts. Somehow, Hirose had convinced them to be on first name terms with each other. It gave Nakamura butterflies every time Hirose said his name. Takeuchi, him and Mukai weren’t on those terms though they were close friends. They were all content with last names.
“Yeah?”
“Can I be your first passenger?”
Now, having been friends for more than two years, Nakamura shouldn’t have been as shocked as he was. But the prospect of being in the car with Hirose, alone, was enough to worry him that he would crash, even though he had been told by both his family and his instructor that he was a very calm driver.
“Uh… Sure!” Nakamura said without thinking too much. He had been doing that a lot: letting his heart lead more than his brain.
“Can I come? Yuuka ditched me for a comic convention today.” Takeuchi asked.
Nakamura exhaled. Maybe Takeuchi was good for something.
“I guess.”
“You can’t.”
Nakamura and Hirose looked at each other, having spoken at the same time. Hirose frowned.
“Nope!” Hirose crossed his arms. “I’m going to be the first.”
Nakamura and Takeuchi looked at each other. Nakamura shrugged; once Hirose knew what he wanted, he didn’t change his mind.
Takeuchi sighed. “Fine, I guess I’ll walk home with Mukai. Maybe he’s free and we can finish watching that series Yuuka recommended.”
Nakamura had thought that Takeuchi would be homophobic, but he was surprisingly alright with it, especially since his girlfriend was a fujoshi.
How that related to him and Mukai was that Yuuka had been recommending him shows, particularly Thai BLs, to watch so they could talk about them. Neither Nakamura nor Hirose were interested in watching them, so he recruited Mukai and they became binge buddies. Nakamura tried not to watch BLs; he was content with seeing them in paper form, and watching them gave him weird dreams that he definitely didn’t want to dream.
“Great!” Hirose clapped his hands together. “Can we go today, Okuto-kun? I heard there’s nice weather today, and that there’s going to be a pretty cool sunset on the road near Otaruba trail.”
Nakamura checked his phone. “Yeah, today’s great.”
“Didn’t you drive to school?” Takeuchi asked.
Nakamura nodded. “Mom doesn’t like cars in the driveway, because then the neighbors think we’re home and pester us. Plus, I have club activities after school.” Nakamura looked at Hirose, silently asking if that was alright.
“That’s fine. I have some prep meetings for the Cultural Festival. Will you be done by…” Hirose pulled out the small notebook he kept and flipped through it. “18:00?”
“We finish around 17:50.”
“Great,” Hirose smiled at him. Nakamura smiled back.
“Ugh, get a room, you two.” Takeuchi groaned, then yelped. Mukai had walked up to them and pinched Takeuchi on the neck.
“What was that for?” Takeuchi turned to him, pretending to pout.
“For teasing them. And for not finishing the English homework you said you would finish.” Mukai cast a glance at the blank sheet of paper in front of Takeuchi, sitting down in his seat next to him.
“I was waiting for you to help me with it!” Takeuchi claimed.
Hirose and Nakamura shared an eyeroll, then laughed.
A second year on the student council came into the room. “Hirose-kun! Sensei needs help with filing health sheets.”
Hirose nodded. “I’m coming!” he turned and gave Nakamura a lop-sided grin, to which Nakamura responded with a wink.
Hirose huffed. “We’ll continue this later, Okuto.”
Feeling flirty, Nakamura rested his chin on his hand. “Sure, Aiki-kun~”
Hirose stumbled and his ears reddened. He left the classroom, shooting Nakamura a fake glare. Nakamura waved with a smile. It was one of his many joys to tease Hirose.
“Nakamuraaaaa, help us.” Takeuchi begged.
“Did you forget that Mukai also isn’t good at English?” Nakamura sighed, motioning for Takeuchi to place the paper on Nakamura’s desk.
Hirose came back in when the bell rang, sticking his tongue out at Nakamura and sitting next to him.
“How nice of you to join us.” Nakamura grinned.
“Shut up,” Hirose said, but he was also grinning.
Luckily, the class passed quickly, and since it was their last class of the day, they were free afterwards.
“Bye guys!” Takeuchi waved as he and Mukai walked off.
Nakamura waved back and finished packing his bag. Hirose stood beside him, bag slung across his shoulder.
“Walk me to the student council room?” Hirose exaggerated batting his eyelashes, which made Nakamura snort, and also stirred up the butterflies that had escaped his stomach and entered his bloodstream, making every part of him giddy.
“If you need an escort,” Nakamura offered Hirose his arm. Hirose took it playfully.
“I won’t complain.”
The student council room wasn’t even that far from their classroom, so they were only walking for maybe thirty seconds. Hirose bumped him mischievously and Nakamura stole his bag, all while their arms were still linked.
“Here we are,” Nakamura paused in front of the room.
Hirose snickered. “You look at the door as if it’s your worst enemy.”
“It is,” Nakamura said, face straight. Hirose looked at him. “If it means losing you, Aiki.” Nakamura leaned in, bumping his forehead against Hirose’s.
“Agh!” Hirose huffed. “I should have known that was coming!” Hirose shoved Nakamura’s face away playfully. Nakamura smiled even though Hirose’s hand was squishing his face.
“Hirose! Stop flirting with your boyfriend and get in here!” Mori Masashi, the student council president, called. He stood inside with a disgusted expression and crossed his arms.
“Oh be quiet Masashi! I didn’t say anything while you were flirting with Maoko-chan the other day!” Hirose said.
Masashi flushed.
Nakamura looked at the clock on his phone, choosing not to think about how Hirose didn’t deny the fact about them being boyfriends.
“I have to go,” he told Hirose. “Don’t want any first years trying to stack arrows like Jenga again.” One time had been enough for Nakamura to ban it, as the club’s vice-president.
“Fine,” Hirose said, placing his hand on Nakamura’s shoulder. “But don’t get hurt.” he said jokingly, though a hint of seriousness leaked in.
“I won’t,” Nakamura placed his hand over Hirose’s, letting the moment’s emotions fester. “Mom,” he added.
Hirose gave Nakamura an eyeroll that rivaled the size of a typhoon. “Bye, Okuto.” he said as he entered the classroom.
“Remember!” Nakamura called. “18:00, on the north entrance!”
Nakamura started walking away when he heard Masashi speak again.
“What? Have a date with good old Mr. Popular?” Masashi teased.
He couldn’t hear what Hirose said, but he heard Masashi yelp as Hirose definitely threw something at him. Nakamura chuckled.
After two hours of teaching bow positioning and correcting shooting stances, Nakamura waited, leaned against his car, which was an open-top convertible he had gotten by fixing it up with his neighbor, who was a car mechanic. It was a nice model that had been discontinued, so Nakamura counted himself lucky. He liked old things; he had a record player from his grandfather and a box TV he had thrifted and fixed as well. It was another thing to add to his collection.
“Okuto!”
Hirose ran toward him, clutching a stack of papers. He stopped right in front of him and whistled.
“Nice car,”
Nakamura smiled. “Thanks. I practically built it myself.”
“You’re glowing with pride.” Hirose squinted as if blinded.
“Oh, be quiet.” Nakamura said, taking the papers from Hirose. “What are these?”
“Just some files Fujii Sensei wanted me to organize over the weekend.”
Nakamura lifted an eyebrow. “And why aren’t they in your bag yet?”
Hirose blushed. “I was excited, so I ran out and didn’t have time to put them in,” he muttered.
Nakamura grinned. “We’re not doing anything crazy, Aiki.”
“I know! But… it’s your first car, and I’m the first person you’re going to drive around. Of course I’m excited.”
Nakamura blushed at how sincere Hirose was. “Okay,” he said. “But seriously, Kana is going to kill me for letting you go first. I swear she thinks I’m going to be her personal chauffeur now.”
Hirose laughed. “Well, you might have to. She might be the only reason you didn’t go to take your photo in a hoodie and bed head.”
“Hey!” Nakamura protested. “I’m not that lazy.”
Hirose gave him a pointed look.
“I’d at least wear a knit sweater.”
Hirose laughed and punched his arm. “You’re horrible. You really are.”
“Yes, and horrible men hold the door.” Nakamura opened the car door and gestured grandly.
Hirose bowed and sat down in the car while Nakamura walked to the other side and slid in.
“This is actually really nice. Is this real leather?”
Nakamura nodded. “We were lucky the seats were intact and not faded.”
Hirose whistled again. “You could sell this for a fortune.”
“I’ll sell it when I’m dead.”
“Can I have it when you’re dead?” Hirose asked.
“That’s assuming I die before you.” Nakamura leaned towards him, looking like he had something to say.
Hirose leaned closer, lending him an ear.
“And assuming you learn how to drive.” Nakamura whispered.
Hirose grumbled.
“Put on your seatbelt~” Nakamura said sweetly, putting the car into drive.
Nakamura pulled out of his parking spot, setting the directions on his phone to the route near Otaruba trail.
He and Hirose bantered for the first couple of minutes, then fell into a comfortable silence while they drove out of the more populated areas of the city.
Nakamura took one hand off of the wheel and turned on the radio, changing channels until he found the ‘old classics’ one that he liked.
Hirose watched him. “Do you have bluetooth in here, or just the radio?”
“Both. I just like the radio better. Did you want to listen to something else?” Nakamura asked, already stretching his hand out to connect his bluetooth.
Hirose caught his hand. “It’s okay, Okuto.”
Nakamura short-circuited. He pretended like he wasn’t going crazy.
Their hands were still clasped together. Nakamura made no move to let go.
“Do I get my hand back?” Hirose asked, sounding short-winded.
Nakamura kept his eyes on the road, though he spared a second to look at Hirose and see his adorable blush.
“No,” Nakamura had meant to say it jokingly, but his voice came out in a strained whisper. He cleared his throat and pushed on. “I think I’ll keep it.”
Hirose opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and gave a small grunt of assent. Nakamura kept driving. There were a few times that he almost wanted to take his hand back just to navigate a tricky turn, but he was glad he practiced driving for many hours a day, because he got through them and still got to hold Hirose’s hand.
The road they were on, the one that ran along the Otaruba hiking trail, had a specific part that distinguished it from other roads. It was all smooth except for one part with a slightly steep uphill part that people flocked to see in the summertime for the beautiful view of the ocean. Nakamura had never driven up this part.
They came along the steep part when Hirose spoke.
“I’m glad you brought me along, Okuto.” he said.
“Me too,” Nakamura said.
“No, you don’t understand.” Hirose said while Nakamura pressed the gas pedal a little harder to get them up the hill.
“What don’t I understand, Aiki?” Nakamura turned to him. It was only a second, then he turned back, but he saw Hirose’s face. He looked shy.
“Well… you just don’t. I was so excited when you mentioned you could drive, because then we could go on drives together, and, ugh… What I’m trying to say is–”
Nakamura brought them over the steep part, and the two paused. Nakamura heard himself gasp.
It was beautiful.
Not the scenery, in particular. Sure, it was gorgeous. The sun lit the ocean as if it was Greek fire. The red and orange flowers basked in the sunset. Everything looked straight out of a dream.
But Nakamura was looking at Hirose.
He was bathed in the sunlight. It was as if molten gold was radiating off of him. His hair looked like waves of honey, blowing softly in the wind like a movie. His eyes caught the sun in a way that didn’t seem fair to anyone else. Hirose’s skin glowed as if it should always look that way, glittering and shining and making Nakamura’s breath go uneven.
The car had stopped at some point, and Nakamura had shifted into park. Hirose was looking at him as if everything around them didn’t matter, except him.
“You’re beautiful,” Nakamura blurted. There were no words, except that Hirose Aiki, at that moment, looked like an angel. A God given beauty.
They were still holding hands, so Nakamura took his chance, and lifted their joint hands to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to Hirose’s left ring finger. Hirose gasped softly.
It was deliberate, and cheesy, and perfect for that moment.
“What were you trying to say?” Nakamura murmured, lips still half pressed against Hirose’s hand.
Hirose huffed with a smile that could have rivaled the sun in that moment.
“You already know, idiot.”
Nakamura smiled against Hirose’s palm.
“Yeah,” he said, moving his hands to cup Hirose’s face.
“You look perfect.” Hirose told him. Hirose rested his hands on Nakamura’s forearms, leaning into Nakamura’s touch.
“I feel perfect right now.” Nakamura said, lowering his voice.
“You utter sap,” Hirose teased.
“Oh come on, Aiki, we were having a moment.” Nakamura rolled his eyes.
Hirose laughed, and Nakamura felt it echo into his bones.
“I think you were made for the golden hour,” Nakamura said.
“Now you really are being sappy.”
“Shut up.”
“I wouldn’t complain if you…” Hirose looked down at Nakamura’s lips, then back up, and smiled in a goofy way that shouldn’t have been seductive.
Nakamura choked out a laugh. His face surged forward as he caught Hirose’s lips in a kiss.
Hirose, caught off guard by the sudden kiss, made a strangled sound before he melted into the kiss.
An old song that Nakamura couldn’t name finished on the radio, and an ad for air conditioning came on, but Nakamura could care less.
He felt like he was in paradise.
“Wow,” Hirose gasped as they pulled apart.
“Weren’t expecting that?” Nakamura joked, giving Hirose another kiss on the nose this time.
“I wasn’t expecting you to try to eat my face off,” Hirose fake complained.
“You went slack as soon as our lips met, admit it.”
“Did not!” Hirose protested.
“You liked it~” Nakamura cooed.
“I hated it. You’re a horrible kisser and an even worse flirt.” Hirose closed his eyes as if that finished their conversation.
“Uh-huh.” Nakamura said, not convinced. “Well, at least we’ll have plenty more drives for me to keep trying.” Nakamura leaned back into his seat and started the car, pulling out of where he had parked.
“Wha–” Hirose said. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “You’re even horrible at confessing.”
Nakamura looked over at him and laughed. “Last I checked, you were the one who was confessing, and went totally silent.”
“It was the view!”
“It was not the view.”
“You can’t blame me when you look like that.” Hirose said, looking over and trying to gesture with his arms still crossed.
“Same to you. Took my breath away.” Nakamura said, smiling at how happy he was.
“Oh come on! You can’t go and say something sincere like that out of nowhere!” Hirose covered his face.
“You want something sincere?”
“No,”
“I like you, Aiki.”
“Don’t do this right now.” Hirose said, though his breath caught.
“I’m stopping right there, I promise.”
“Good. Any more and I would have made you swerve.”
Nakamura laughed again. “Star crossed lovers.” he said dramatically, turning to Hirose.
“Eyes on the road, Romeo.”
Nakamura hummed, and held out a hand. Hirose took it, interlacing their fingers.
“You mean it though.” Hirose said.
“Mean what?”
“The thing where you said we’d have plenty more drives together.” Hirose tugged on Nakamura’s fingers, each in turn.
“Yeah, I meant that.”
“Okay,”
“Okay,” Nakamura echoed.
They drove for another minute or so, seeing no other cars along the road. The wind tickled Nakamura’s hair, lifting and parting it. The sky outside had darkened to blues and purples. They stopped at a stoplight and waited for it to turn.
“This one takes forever,” Hirose noted.
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Hirose said.
They looked at each other for a moment.
“Oh, fine.” Hirose said, pulling Nakamura’s face towards his.
What had first been a teasing kiss made its way into an almost heated make out session. Nakamura moved his hands from Hirose’s waist and unbuckled his seat. Hirose gasped as Nakamura hauled him from his seat to on top of Nakamura. Nakamura smiled, pushing back against Hirose’s lips.
When they finally came back for air, Hirose brushed a hair out of Nakamura’s face.
“You’re not being a very responsible driver.” Hirose mumbled.
“Don’t tease me Aiki.”
Hirose chuckled.
“You look good in the blue hour.” Hirose ran his hand through Nakamura’s hair.
Nakamura felt himself locked by Hirose’s gaze.
“I thought we were night and day,” Nakamura said.
“Closer than that,” Hirose smiled.
“Yeah,”
The light turned green, though they didn’t go for another minute.