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“Hirano-san! Please?” Kagiura tugged on his sleeve gently, looking downward with his pupils as wide as saucers in order to get his pleas across.
Hirano huffed, turning his chair back around to face the array of papers before him. With his entrance exams coming up fast, he had to move back to studying at his desk in order to minimize distractions.
“Kagi-kun, I told you— I’ve got entrance exams in a little over a month, and you’ve got a huge game coming up.” He reprimanded, a stern tone in his voice. It was almost as if he was trying to convince both Kagiura and himself that this was a bad idea.
“Even if I had the time,” He turned his head back towards Kagiura’s, who was suddenly grinning expectantly, “Which I probably don’t— You’ve got practices every waking hour that you’re not spending in class. Planning a date now would be impossible.”
Despite what he thought, the expectant look on Kagiura’s face never wavered. In fact, his smile only grew. Before Hirano could open his mouth to even try and retort, the taller boy had already scrambled to his own desk to fish something out of the drawers.
After a few seconds, he took out a calendar that Hirano had never seen in his life. He frantically flipped through the months— most of which were blank and fresh, as if he’d never looked through them in his life— and then grumbled. Hirano could hear him mutter something about this calendar being from a couple years ago, making him truly question whether Kagiura was even capable of organization.
Then, Kagiura was rummaging back through his desk, only to huff something harsh under his breath and reach for his phone laying on the bed instead. He clicked away intently at such a speed that you’d think he was in an internet argument. In under a minute, he gasped, quickly stepped back towards the other, and shoved his phone into his face.
“Here!!”
Hirano, who was definitely more than confused now, nodded slowly. “Uh-huh... A Saturday. What about it?”
Kagiura’s smile turned from expectant to proud. “We’ll go on our date on Saturday! I’ve only got morning practice and you need a break!” He chimed.
He paused, eyeing both him and the phone. “You sure you’ve got nothing else then?” He pointed a finger at the phone, eyes narrowing and accusing. “Your calendar is very disorganized. I wouldn’t doubt if you had something missing from here.”
The other frowned. “Hirano-san...! My phone calendar is anything but disorganized! The orange is basketball, the red is homework, the blue is tests, the yellow— Are you even listening...?”
Hirano, who was most definitely not listening and was instead caught up in endearing thoughts of which Kagiura was the main subject (and he would die before telling him about this), nodded briskly. “Yeah, yeah. Just get to the point.” He chuckled. “Saturday. What’s the plan, then?”
All of a sudden, Kagiura’s eyes went wide. It was like watching a kid on Christmas, except the kid was a 190cm manchild who Hirano was unfortunately infatuated with.
“You—... You wanna— I— Date?!” He sputtered, a slight haze of pink dusting his cheeks. The way he blushed was so dainty and innocent, it was endearing.
The way Hirano blushed, however, was brash and loud. As he stared at Kagiura, he felt his ears burn red and a heat creeping up his neck. “Gh— Yes! Yes, I want to go on a date with you!” He barked, turning back to his desk quickly before he could let the image of Kagiura’s bashful gaze burn into his retinas. “God— We’ve been in a relationship for what— 8 months? It shouldn't be this hard to ask me out on a date, you dummy.”
Kagiura, whose embarrassment was now replaced with a giddy energy, started snickering. “Pfft— You’re saying that, Hirano-san, but I’m not the only one who’s a little flustered!!” He giggled.
Hirano immediately slapped a hand onto the back of his neck to hide the red growing higher and higher, inching into his cheeks.
“You brat!” He scowled, using his free hand to reach for his pencil with sharp movements. “Just— Go do your planning or whatever. Surprise me.”
Saturday morning came faster than expected. Hirano woke up peacefully to see the bed opposite to him completely empty. On his phone was a sticky note.
“Dress warmly, Hirano-san! We’ll leave after having breakfast at the dorms, and I’ll meet you at the building entrance! PS: I turned off your alarm for you.” It read. In the corner was a drawing of a little wolf, presumably done in a rush judging from how lopsided it looked. A chuckle slipped past his lips as he stood up, stretching briefly before leaving to get ready.
Today was his long-awaited date with Kagiura. Was he a little nervous? Sure! But, all for a good reason. Kagiura was being extra careful about keeping the activities of today a secret. Who would blame him for being a little on edge about what he had planned? Anyone would be, right?
After a rather lonely breakfast in the dorm hall (what with Kagiura being at morning practice and it being a little later than the usual time for the morning rush), he rushed to get changed into some casual clothes. He slipped on a loose long-sleeved top, put on some nice jeans, and grabbed his puffer coat. Glancing back at where he set the sticky note down, he hesitated before deciding to grab his own red scarf, too. Just in case.
Now that he was ready, he hastily made his way to the entrance of the dorm building, staying inside in order to beat the wintery frost that awaited him today. It was only a matter of minutes before Kagiura came running, waving his arm happily.
Kagiura was wearing a soft green sweater, a slightly loose coat, and two knitted mittens on his hands. “Hirano-san!!” He chirped, arm waving back and forth with excitement. His face was a little obstructed by the plaid scarf he had on, muffling his voice a little.
Hirano, who was significantly calmer than the other, gave a small wave back. “Kagi-kun, hey. You ready to go?”
“Yep!” He hummed. “I’ll lead the way, but make sure you’ve got your train fare ready.” Clearly, he was excited, starting to walk out the doors with a hop in his step. Hirano followed him quickly, a warmth settling in his chest that could fight off any cold that was sent their way.
During their trip on the train and to their destination, they talked about nonsense. Hirano asked him about basketball practice and scowled when he mentioned his alarm being turned off. Kagiura passed it off with a giggle and then asked what Hirano thought was planned for the day. He answered with a shrug, and Kagiura found it amusing, leading to him laughing to himself while Hirano grouched around about him being a sneaky brat.
While Hirano was expecting something outdoors, judging from the note to dress warmly, he certainly wasn’t expecting this.
“Welcome to the first destination of our super awesome day of dates... The beach!”
Kagiura’s excitement tapered off into a shudder, his arms folded over his chest while he grinned.
“First desti— Day of dates, plural?!” Hirano was hunched over in an attempt to keep his own bodily warmth close with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “What exactly do you have planned?”
“Nooothing, you’re gonna have to wait ‘n see.” Kagiura hummed. He was buzzing with excitement, a sight that could turn the entire world warm with the way it caused a heat in his chest.
Kagiura tugged on Hirano’s arm, beginning to walk from the boardwalk to the sandy beach. Puffs of hot breath materialized against the crisp air of days ebbing towards a chilly February from a crisp January winter.
He looked towards the older boy as they walked, gently tugging on his sleeve again.
“Hirano-san.”
“Hm?” Hirano hummed, his face buried in his own scarf.
“Take your hand out.”
He gave him a scowl. “It’s cold as hell, Kagi-kun.” He remarked, astute and obvious. “There’s no way in hell I’m taking my hand out without gloves on.”
Kagiura scanned their surroundings. It was fairly empty— nobody would bother going to a beach in the middle of winter, anyways. He then tugged on his arm once more. “I wanna hold hands. There’s nobody around.”
“Yeah, I get that, but I— Hey!!” He felt a sharp yank on his arm, his hand flying out of his pocket and stinging from the sudden cold. “You little— Let go of my hand!”
To no avail, Kagiura was not listening. Instead, he was focused intently on getting his right mitten off as fast as possible. Shoving it off one-handed in 4 seconds flat, he forced it onto Hirano’s hand instead, turning a blind eye to his complaints. As soon as he got that done, he put his own hand in his pocket and tightly held onto Hirano’s hand with his left. He shot him a glare, only to be met with a dorky grin.
“There we go! Now you have gloves on. Now we can hold hands.”
Hirano coughed out a sound of surprise and mild distress, the feeling of Kagiura’s warm gloved hand tightly wrapping around his own bringing a rising heat to his face. In an attempt to mask this embarrassment, he dove his face into his scarf, hunching his shoulders up and hiding everything but his eyes and the top of his head into the red fabric.
The sounds of birds and the waves crashing filled the silence, peace washing over them as they stepped in the sand. Hirano quietly thanked himself for not wearing his white shoes, watching the dry grains stick onto the sides of his soles.
Kagiura had a giddy grin on his face, looking from the sea to Hirano. “I wish it was warmer. Then, I could splash a bunch of water on you.”
He stifled a chuckle in his scarf, smiling softly. “Pfft— As if. I wouldn’t let you get close.” Hirano countered. “We could’ve spent time here in the summer instead of now, y’know. Huge oversight on your part.”
Anticipating a silly retort, he looked at Kagiura with an expectant expression, only to see that he was now staring off to the sea, a forlorn gaze shooting past him.
“We’ll be busy in summer,” He murmured, “You’ll be busy with university, and we’ll never get the time...”
This wouldn’t do. They were here on a date! Dates were supposed to be happy and fun, but with the way Kagiura was looking, it seemed like things were taking a turn for the worse.
Hirano gently squeezed his hand and nudged him with his shoulder. “That’s why we’re on this date now, right?” His face felt warm, but he pushed it down to keep his composure. “I’m sure we’ll find time when I get to university. It’s not like I’ll be going out of the prefecture. I’ll be a couple train stops away.”
Kagiura’s head hung low. He kicked the sand below his feet while puffing up his cheeks in a pout. “I’ll miss waking up with you.” He mumbled.
The rest of Hirano’s words caught in his throat. This time, he couldn’t push away the red on his face. He coughed over syllables, and in a moment of desperation, he kicked up the sand in Kagiura’s direction.
“Hirano-san!!” He wailed, shaking the grains of sand off of his pant leg.
Watching Kagiura get so worked up over something so small tugged at the corner of his lips. “What? It’s just a little sand!” He punted another load of sand at his leg, snorting.
As their walking halted with Hirano doubling over in laughter, he was met with a heave of sand directly into his face. He sputtered and spit out the small grains sticking to the inside of his mouth, wiping his face with his scarf using his left hand while his right hand stayed joined with Kagiura’s. Shooting him the nastiest glare he could muster, he tightened his grip on Kagiura and yanked him closer, pulling him down to kick sand towards his face.
“You little—” Kagiura wrenched out of his grasp in a fit of laughter, dodging his measly attempts to chuck sand at him. “Get back here! I’m not done getting payback!”
“You hit me first!! We’re even, Hirano-san!” He giggled.
Hirano shook his head, catching up to him and grabbing onto him with a fistful of sand in the other hand. “Not until I do... This!”
And in an instant, he poured sand right onto Kagiura’s head, laughing at the pathetic pout that he gave in response.
“That’s for kicking sand in my mouth.” He claimed with pride. “I can still feel it on my tongue. You’re lucky I didn’t push you in the water as payback.” Hirano laughed.
Kagiura shook the sand out of his hair, pout cracking into a goofy grin. He reached for Hirano’s hand again and giggled. “Well, now we’ve got sand all over our clothes.”
“Yeah, and whose fault is that, Kagi-kun?”
“—!! You started it!”
“Yeah. After you started being all... Sad and mushy. I did what I had to do!” Hirano’s words were followed by a shudder. He brushed his ungloved hand through his hair once, cringed at the feeling of sand falling on his face, and shoved his hand deep into his pocket.
Seeing this, Kagiura began walking away from the shore, dragging Hirano along.
“Let’s go to the next spot, then!”
The sight of one boy dragging another towards a department store while clad in sand-stained clothes must’ve been an amusing one to see, judging from the many looks Hirano and Kagiura were getting from the morning shopping crowd.
“We made it to our second stop!” Kagiura whirred as he took step after step, arm linked with Hirano’s.
“A... Department store?”
“Yes!” They stepped through the doors and made a beeline for the clothing section. The smile on Kagiura’s face was a tell-tale sign that he was planning something, especially with the way his eyes scanned their surroundings.
“Today... We are...” He fumbled with his glove, shoving it into his pocket. Hirano did the same, albeit in a calmer and more efficient fashion, waiting for Kagiura’s big reveal.
“...Dressing each other up!!”
Hirano nodded slowly. “Uh... huh.”
Kagiura sheepishly laughed. “Honestly, I wasn’t planning to do this... But now we’re kinda sandy, and I want you to look your best for our next date spot!”
He briefly explained the plan. They were going to both go pick out clothes for each other, try them on, and then wear them for the remainder of the day. Even after constant questions, Kagiura remained steeled with his resolve, refusing to disclose any information about their next destination.
After disputing a quick set of rules (no summer clothes, only one accessory to Hirano’s dismay, etc.), they set off to find clothes. Hirano was determined, being a man of good fashion himself. The department store had a relatively easy-to-understand layout, so he managed to find the clothes he needed in no time.
After around 10 minutes, he made it to the fitting rooms with Kagiura coming shortly after. They exchanged the chosen clothes and went to change.
Hirano looked... a little different from what he’d usually prefer.
He was wearing a pastel green sweater adorned with an embroidered dog over a white collared shirt, and some plain jeans. He wouldn’t be lying if he said he looked very dorky. However, he did find it very comfortable to wear— the sweater itself was rather loose, something that he loved with the clothes he’d usually wear, and it kept him warm enough to brave the current weather.
Stepping out of the fitting room, he was met with Kagiura wearing an outfit which Hirano himself thought of as one of the best coords he’d put together. A black loose t-shirt with a golden dragon pattern along the front and side, black cargo pants, and a belt chain which Kagiura was currently holding in his hands with a lost expression. His gaze travelled to Hirano and his outfit, an instant pink haze clouding his face. “Hirano-san, you—”
“Let me help you with that.” He interrupted quickly, wanting to avoid whatever barrage of affection Kagiura was about to unleash. He gently took the chain from his hands and hooked it onto the belt loops of his pants, patting his shoulder softly right after. “There you go. Don’t’cha look great?”
Kagiura gulped and turned to the mirror, tugging at the hem. “The pattern is a little... Uh...”
Hirano gave him a lighthearted glare. “If you’re going to say what I think you’re going to say...”
His face went from hesitation to a sudden smile, turning to Hirano with eyes sparkling. “The pattern is so you, Hirano-san!” He chirped, beaming. “Lucky me, I’ll be carrying a bit of Hirano-san with me wherever we go now!” He hummed, watching Hirano’s glare turn into a scandalized look of horror and embarrassment. The tips of his ears burned with crimson, as did the majority of his face.
He quickly coughed, words catching in his throat as he turned to the mirror, checking out his own outfit.
“The— The sweater’s a little stupid.” He choked out, resting his face in his palm to hide his embarrassment.
Kagiura, who must’ve been dead-set on killing his boyfriend, clapped his hands on his shoulders and responded with what could only be described as both the cutest and worst answer possible for his heart to handle. “Look, Hirano-san. I’m carrying a part of you and you’re carrying a part of me. If you think about it, we’re matching!”
Hirano’s shoulders shot up as he pressed his face into two palms rather than one. “Holy shit— You’re gonna kill me.” He mumbled into his hands, feeling both his breath and the heat on his face against them.
“What was that?”
“...Nothing. It was nothing, Kagi-kun,” Hirano sighed, rubbing his face once and then looking back up at the mirror. “We do look good, though. Even if I look like an absolute dork.”
Kagiura stifled a laugh. “You’re dressed just like me!”
“Exactly. An absolute dork.”
They exchanged light banter as they bought the clothes. Kagiura, despite all protests, beat Hirano to buying their clothes, claiming it was one of many gifts for the day.
They both left the store, Kagiura’s grip on Hirano’s arm gentle as he pulled him towards their next mystery destination.
“A cinema? Really?”
Kagiura nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! We can just watch whatever!”
Hirano peered at the showlist. Two movies were being shown today, one being a corny romance and the other being some slasher horror film.
“Whatever, you say?” He smirked.
Kagiura was quick to interrupt. “—! But we both get to veto one genre each!! I’m vetoing horror, right now.”
Hirano glowered at him. “Seriously? I’m vetoing romance then.” He retorted. The two glanced at the movie list, and then let out a sigh in tandem.
“There goes both our movie options.” The older boy mumbled, a clear frown on his face. Kagiura mirrored his frown, albeit in a more pouty manner.
Then, Kagiura started digging in his pockets.
Hirano curiously watched the boy whip out his wallet. What was he gonna do, bribe the staff??
“We’ll...” He rummaged through the wallet and brandished a ¥100 coin, a grin on his face. “...Flip for it! I call heads!”
“Hey! You didn’t even give me a chance to—” He shut his mouth immediately as he watched Kagiura flip the coin high up, palm facing up and ready to catch it.
And he watched, and watched, and—
“Oh shoot— I think I lost the coin.”
“I’m sorry, you what?”
Kagiura huffed. “I probably threw it too high...”
They glanced at each other, and nodded to each other with the same idea in mind.
“Let’s just— Rock paper scissors.” Hirano concluded. Kagiura nodded in agreement and the two faced each other.
Three rounds and a bit of arguing later, Hirano accepted a cruel fate of defeat. Kagiura ran up to the ticket booth and bought two seats to the romance movie. Hirano took advantage of the opportunity to buy popcorn before the other could cover the price under the guise of being another gift for today. He needed to pay him thanks for planning such a fun day so far anyways, so it was a perfect chance.
Kagiura ran back to Hirano with the tickets, only for him to frown at the sight of Hirano holding the singular tub of popcorn. “You bought yourself popcorn without me?”
Hirano chuckled, using a free hand to pat Kagiura’s back before heading towards their designated theatre’s doors. “Yeah. I got us this popcorn. Just as a thank you for planning all of this.” He said, smirking to himself as he imagined the look that Kagiura probably had on his face. He hoped he made him at least a little flustered with the prospect of sharing popcorn, the possibility of their hands accidentally brushing past each other's while watching the movie, and a romantic one at that, and—
Jeez. If anyone was to blame for this mess of a thought, it was probably Miyano and his tormenting rants and speculations about his love life. He filed away a note in his mind to give him a good smack the next chance he got, and walked onward to the theatre.
The two quickly found their seats and got situated. Kagiura slowly took handfuls of popcorn from the tub while the preshow played, and Hirano settled for only taking two at a time.
As the lights dimmed and the movie started, Hirano found himself strangely interested in the film. It was almost the complete opposite of what he expected— rather than a sappy romance, it took a more desolate turn into tragedy. However, it wasn’t something that kept his eyes glued to the screen.
He reached for popcorn, only for his knuckle to brush against a hand instead. He attempted to draw his own arm back, clearly aware that he overshot his aim, but let out a strangled squeak when he felt that same hand wrap around his own.
Hirano stared at Kagiura with a grimace, only for it to soften at the sight of the boy staring intently at the screen. It seemed to him that the younger simply grabbed his hand without thinking, because all of his attention was directed at the movie. His eyes were wide and he looked a bit emotional, Hirano staring a little too long before remembering that he was in a theater and should at least try to pay attention to the movie. Gawking at his boyfriend can (and should) be an activity reserved for when he’s at the dorms.
Hirano tried to shake Kagiura’s hand off in order to grab popcorn, but he felt a squeeze in response instead. Sighing and accepting his fate, he decided to use his right hand instead, awkwardly reaching for handfuls of popcorn while keeping his left hand safely tucked away with Kagiura’s.
Once the movie’s credits rolled, he heard a small sniffle coming from beside him. Turning his head, he was met with a very snotty and emotional Kagiura. He felt the grip around his hand loosen as the other reached up to wipe his eyes.
“You okay...?” Hirano tilted his head, a little concerned.
“Y— Yeah...!” Kagiura exclaimed quickly, obviously lying as he stood up. Hirano got up with him, grabbing the tub of popcorn and walking with him to exit the theatre.
Hirano tossed the now-empty popcorn into the trash and then joined the other’s side quickly, patting his shoulder sympathetically. Kagiura wiped his eyes, which were flooded with tears now. It seemed that he wasn’t too keen on acting nonchalant anymore. “I— I just— I didn't expect that ending...” He murmured. Hirano patted his back, simply humming in response.
Kagiura sniffled loudly. “How aren’t— hic— aren’t you crying, Hirano-san? It— sniiiiiff— It was so sad!” He whined, burying his face in Hirano’s shoulder with posture that was bound to hurt his back.
Hirano’s right hand, which was free and by his side, clenched softly around nothing. He could still feel the lingering warmth of Kagiura’s hand around his, but he decided not to point it out. He had a feeling that if he did, the other boy’s emotions would be blown out of proportion with the way he was already sniffling against his shoulder.
He brought his hand up and ruffled his hair. “What’s up with you? I haven’t seen you this emotional after a movie since we watched The Notebook...”
He couldn’t hear any response from Kagiura, but it sounded like his sniffling also halted. He continued to ruffle his hair, now chuckling. “C’mon, Kagi-kun. You can’t keep your head there forever...”
He felt him shaking his head. “...One sec...”
“Hah? What do you mean one sec? We’re in public.”
Kagiura sniffed again, followed by a dreamy sigh that sounded off many alarms in Hirano’s mind.
“You smell nice, Hirano-san.”
“Oh my god—” Hirano started pushing his head away, laughing. “Get off of me, you freak!” He exclaimed, words harsh but tone rather lighthearted. Kagiura started giggling as he wiped his eyes once more, grinning like an idiot.
“It’s true! You smell like your shampoo, the one with coconut and vanilla.” He hummed while resting his chin on Hirano’s shoulder, only for him to be met with a palm in his face shoving him away.
Hirano was now turning redder by the second. This boy does things to him. It’s mortifying.
He cleared his throat and smoothed out his collar. “Let's— Let’s go somewhere else now, Kagi-kun.”
Kagiura, whose sadness was long forgotten by now, perked up even more than before, his smile growing by the second.
“Right! Our last date spot! You’ll love it, Hirano-san!”
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Sure I will.”
It was a little after 4:30pm— the sun hung low and the air was crisp and cool. They were in a park now, empty and silent except for the occasional rustle of trees in the light breeze. The two boys were taking a nice and peaceful walk together, Kagiura leading the way.
Hirano’s nose and cheeks were frostnipped and rosy, prompting him to pull his scarf up to cover the lower half of his face. He turned to Kagiura and saw that he was in a similar state, and instantly huffed.
He switched to a faster pace to get in front of Kagiura, effectively blocking his path and forcing him to halt. He then reached his hands up and started fixing Kagiura’s scarf.
“You need to start being more careful in the cold, Kagi-kun.” He scolded, adjusting the scarf and moving it up to cover his mouth. “It’d be bad for you to catch a cold this close to your game.”
He tried his best to act as if Kagiura’s face wasn’t starting to burn red, and turned on his heels with a swift subject change. “So, where are we heading now?”
Kagiura coughed and started walking again, moving beside Hirano as fast as he could. “Oh! We’re— We’re actually just going right up ahead. There’s a clearing over there.” He exclaimed, pointing excitedly in the distance. Oddly enough, he kept his left hand secured in his pocket and made no effort to grab Hirano’s hand with his right. It made him feel a little uneasy. They were alone and on a date, it’d make sense to hold hands in a situation like this.
How weird. Hirano felt almost... Gravitated towards the idea of holding hands. It made him feel a little sentimental, knowing how far he’s gone in his relationship with Kagiura. He felt proud, even.
He reached his arm out and linked it with Kagiura’s, keeping his head facing straight ahead and saying absolutely nothing. He felt his face burn against the scarf, and heard the gentle squeak that was let out beside him, but he said nothing.
They simply walked in silence for minutes, the sun slowly inching lower by the time they reached the clearing.
Hirano let go of his arm and looked off into the distance. It was borderline scenic— an almost empty expanse of lush grass swaying in the breeze, the sun shining through trees surrounding the mini-field. He wanted to take a snapshot of it and keep it filed away forever in his mind.
“Hirano-san.”
He turned back towards Kagiura, only to see him looking away nervously with his arms outstretched. In his hands was a silver chain with an ocean-blue pendant in the shape of a droplet, being presented to him.
Kagiura chuckled sheepishly, refusing to meet the other’s eyes as he shifted in his stance. “I— Uh— I bought these. For you. When we were at the department store.” He let the words fall out of his mouth, staggered and awkward. He looked back at Hirano to see the blonde staring with an imperceptible gaze.
“Um— It’s okay if you don’t like it! I just thought— I mean— It’s a good luck charm n’ whatever, and— And it matches your earrings! And—”
All of a sudden, something came over Hirano, and he found himself practically launching towards Kagiura with open arms. He couldn’t describe what he was feeling, but it made his chest inflate with comfort and an elating sensation of warmth that tingled from his ribs outwards.
He started chuckling when he felt how stiff Kagiura was against him. “Thank you, Kagi-kun.” He said after a few seconds, keeping his arms securely wrapped around him.
Kagiura slowly moved his arms around Hirano, a smile making its way onto his lips as he squeezed him gently. “I’m glad.”
They stayed there for a moment before Hirano stepped back, Kagiura handing him the necklace for him to put in his pocket for now. “I’ll wear it once we’re back at the dorms.” He hummed, adjusting his scarf and looking back at him.
For some reason, it looked like Kagiura had something more to say, but he turned away quickly and faced the sunset once again. It made Hirano a little uneasy. Did he say something wrong? He put a hand gently onto Kagiura’s arm and squeezed softly.
“Is... everything okay?”
Kagiura nodded quickly. “Yeah! Yeah... Just... A little sad...” His voice trailed off as he sighed. “We won’t be able to do this much once you’re in university, will we?”
Hirano felt a pang in his chest, a twisting and wrenching of deep-seated sorrow and pure knowing. He was very much aware of the fact, and it honestly hurt to think about.
“Hey, cheer up! Remember what I said earlier? I’ll just be a few train stops away, Kagi-kun.” He consoled him, softly rubbing his bicep with a gentleness that only made Kagiura tense up.
“I mean... That is true, but you’re aiming for a really good university. You’ll probably be busy with projects and assignments and classes... And... I’ll miss this!” He whined, voice muffled by his scarf.
All of a sudden, Hirano felt an odd tug in his chest. Something that felt as if there was a string from his heart, pulling on his brain and compelling him to take action.
And take action he did.
He let go of Kagiura’s arm and shuffled closer, tugging his own scarf down before reaching up to pull at Kagiura’s. Going a little on his toes, he leaned up and gently pressed his lips against his cheek, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away and fixing his scarf.
In all honesty, he didn’t get the appeal of kissing. It felt like pressing skin against skin, that was it. All he felt was the feeling of Kagiura’s cheek, cold and slightly stiff, pressing against his own slightly chapped lips. It didn’t really stir anything in him.
That was, until he noticed Kagiura’s expression.
There was an oddly giddy smile forming on his face in place of the forlorn sadness from before, accompanied by a rising heat on his cheeks.
“You—”
“Shut up.” He interrupted, fast enough to start turning around and walking away.
Kagiura caught up rather quickly, now buzzing with excitement. “Hirano-san! You— You kissed me!”
Hirano huffed. His entire body felt searing hot now. “Yes. I did. What about it?” He tried to brush it off, speeding up.
Kagiura was now in a fit of giggles, linking arms with Hirano and matching his pace with no effort. Curse those damn long legs of his.
“I can’t believe it! This might be the best date I’ve ever been on!” He piped up, happiness growing the more embarrassed Hirano got.
The two exchanged mindless retorts and responses on their way to the station, all to Hirano’s chagrin. Unfortunately for him, the walk from the park to the train seemed to be way farther than Kagiura originally estimated, only leading to more and more teasing and laughing.
Luckily, by the time they reached the train, Kagiura had tired himself out so much that he was now fading in and out of sleep, head resting on the other’s shoulder in the relatively empty train car. Hirano, however, couldn’t find it in himself to close his own eyes. He instead had his gaze pointed downwards to the silver necklace in his lap.
He examined the pendant, smiling at how reminiscent it was of the pair of earrings he had on. It was sweet, and the sentiment was appreciated.
Slowly, without stirring Kagiura, he reached up and slipped the necklace on, fastening the clasp at the back of his neck and then tucking it under his clothes. The last thing he remembered thinking before their stop arrived was a simple (and weirdly sappy) notion.
I really will be carrying a bit of Kagiura wherever I go.