Chapter Text
Once upon a time, a cecaelia fell in love with a human off the coast of Japan. While merpeople falling in love with humans was a tale as old as time, it was far rarer for a cecaelia to leave the sea to fall in love. But the rules stay the same regardless of whether you have a fish tail or tentacles when you have children with the human. The biggest being… the child will remain human until their sixteenth birthday, which, upon any contact with water, will awaken their mer-side until dried off.
But truly… how complicated could it be to a half-child of the sea?
On the morning of October 24, shy, gay, and newly sixteen-year-old Nakamura Okuto awoke to the sun in his face and phone alarm blaring. He groaned, reaching for his phone to check the time, wincing at the clear 8 AM that flashed back at him. Luckily, it was Saturday, so at least he didn’t need to worry about school, but in all honesty… he wished he had school.
Imagine… his birthday gift from the universe was seeing his crush, Hirose Aiki, had remembered that it was his birthday and gave him a gift with so much thought and consideration that it nearly made his heart jump out of his chest. Or perhaps Hirose, like him last Christmas, spent all his time worrying about the gift, decided to go with something from the heart, and… confessed his secret feelings!
But the universe was never kind to Okuto. He'd be lucky if Hirose knew his birthday was today… hell, he'd be lucky if anyone but his family knew his birthday. Did he ever tell Hirose when his birthday was… surely he had… but granted that wasn’t something that came up naturally in conversation. Of course, Okuto knew his dear Hirose’s birthday was March 2nd!
Now that he thought about it… he wouldn’t be surprised if Hirose didn’t know. Sadly, Hirose's last birthday landed right in the awkward month when he dated Hana — Okuto's first experience with reality and heartbreak. He didn't even give Hirose his present (a set of crab-themed stationery to “help with studying” since it was also exam season) in person; he just left it in his locker with a note explaining he never got the chance to give it. Which was a bit of a lie; he never attempted due to Hirose being surrounded by his friends during school, being with Hana during the breaks, and his own fear he would cry on the spot.
A light tapping broke Okuto’s daydreaming to see Icchan tapping his tank. With a light laugh, he greeted, “Good morning, Icchan! Is that your way to give me a birthday greeting?”
With a curious hum, he noted that Icchan started moving the lid of his tank again. While flattered that his octo-buddy seemed to be eager to greet him, he needed to fix that before Icchan got stuck outside. But he might as well feed him while the tank was already open.
Rushing downstairs to the fridge, his mom, Nakamura Mizuki, cooked breakfast and smiled brightly at him. She greeted, “Good morning and happy birthday, Okuto! Once you get dressed, could you… wait before you go out? I need to discuss something with you and Kana.”
“Uh, sure, Mom,” Okuto replied, half-heartedly, rummaging in his section of the fridge for Icchan’s clams. He usually saved for special occasions, but he was willing to treat the best octopus in the world on his birthday.
Without a second word, he walked back upstairs, dodging Kana loudly announcing she needed to give him his birthday punches. Closing his door, he grabbed the tongs to feed Icchan his special clam when his cephalopod companion reached up to his face with a tentacle.
“Aww, thank you, Icchan!” cheered Okuto… when he began to feel weird. His whole body went cold as if he jumped into the ocean. He blinked as in a few moments he fell backwards with a yelp. With a groan, wondering how he slipped, he looked down and froze. Instead of where his legs were supposed to be were… “Tentacles?!”
With a deep breath, he screamed in terror, loud enough that he was certain neighborhood dogs began to bark. With rushed heavy steps, his bedroom door swung open to show his mom and Kana staring at him in shock, for who wouldn't?! His legs were replaced with black tentacles!
“What the heck?” shrieked Kana, slight disgust on her face. “Why are you an octopus?”
His mom, however, looked more… embarrassed than scared, shocked, or even mildly surprised. Grabbing a towel he usually used to dry off his hands after Icchan maintenance or play, she tossed it to him sheepishly. She bit her lip before saying, “Maybe I should’ve told you two about this last night.”
“You know what’s happening?!” cried Okuto, clutching the towel to his chest.
“Of course,” replied Mizuki, glancing around the room and fiddling with her necklace. “I’m the reason this is happening.”
“What?!” cried the Nakamura siblings.
Mizuki, with a deep breath, said, “Look, the tentacles will go away for a bit if you dry off. Just… dry off; don’t touch any water from here to downstairs. And I’ll explain everything.”
After an awkward drying-off session, Okuto and Kana sat across from their mom, who sipped a coffee, as she started with, “So, you probably have questions. Ask your questions first, and I’ll fill in any of the blanks.”
“Are we mermaids?” Kana started, showing off an image of a mermaid painting.
“No, mermaids have fish tails; we’re cecaelias; we have tentacles,” answered Mizuki, glancing at Okuto. “We’re like the odd cousin of merfolk. Cecaelias are a rare breed, about a one-to-a-hundred ratio.”
“Why now? I’ve bathed! I’ve been caught in the rain! I’ve got wet just by Icchan sneaking out,” demanded Okuto, pulling at some of his hair. “But none of those times have I randomly grown tentacles!”
“It’s because you turned sixteen,” explained Mizuki, before sighing. “When a half-mer, no matter if cecaelia or mermaid, turns sixteen, your body gives the signal you’re almost at adulthood and thinks it's a survival technique to give back the magic of transformation. Hence why it only happens when you touch water.”
“Wait, does that mean this is gonna happen to me too?” muttered Kana, earning a sheepish smile from her mom. “Oh wow! As if puberty wasn’t annoying enough, I gotta look forward to turning into an octopus when I turn sixteen?! Why haven’t you told us before?!”
“Well, honestly… I didn’t think I could trust you with this secret at a younger age. Kids can say the darnest things, but I didn’t want you to do anything dangerous with the knowledge, or worse, someone catching on and well… do who knows what with that information,” answered Mizuki.
“Does Dad know?” muttered Okuto, playing with some of his fringe.
Mizuki nodded. “Yes. He met me when in my full cecaelia form. It’s not uncommon for mers to fall in love with humans. Your dad freaked out at first but genuinely loved me more than any of my odd baggage. I’ll probably inform him about Okuto’s situation after this talk.”
“Yeah, why are you human, Mom?” asked Okuto. “Or I guess… how are you human?”
“Oh, I’m not. I’m still a full cecaelia. Why do you think your dad and I have a separate bathroom just for us? My tentacles take work,” answered Mizuki, giggling as she reached over to hug Okuto. “Oh, Okuto, I’m so happy for you!”
Okuto groaned, face planting his head onto the kitchen table as his mom went on about things he needed to be careful of and questions from Kana. When he said he wanted the universe to give him a present… this wasn’t what he meant.
So here he was on Monday morning, a shy, gay, sixteen-year-old, half-cecaelia madly in love with Hirose Aiki. The weekend did nothing to prepare him for the newly acquired tentacles, as he never realized how often he touched water. When his dad came back with the news that his son grew tentacles, he looked nervous but supportive, and even brought him a special birthday dinner of traditional Japanese food… and octopus.
His mom assured him that mermaids and cecaelia ate other marine life with ease; it’s like humans eating products from farm animals. But for once, he let his family take the majority of the octopus. But then came the problems of minor water things.
One: He couldn’t wash his hands. It seemed like a silly detail, but he couldn’t wash his hands after he used the bathroom or even wash dishes — he did laugh at how his mom told Kana was in charge of dishes and bathroom chores until further notice since Okuto couldn’t do it. Still, in return, he had to take out the trash more often and was stuck cleaning the entirety of the living room. His mom gave him a ton of hand sanitizer to take to make up for the lack of washing hands.
Two: He had to be careful with drinks because of freaking condensation! He found this out when he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and ten seconds later, boom, tentacles. Luckily, the drying off was faster, but now he needed to bring reusable straws everywhere if a place didn’t provide one. Luckily, he was a coffee and tea guy, so it was less likely to happen, but as much as he wished, he couldn’t fully run on only coffee and tea.
Three: He had to give all his teachers, especially the coaches, notice that he was now exempt from any swimming curriculum of any kind, while the swimming classes were no longer required like in middle school and elementary school; sometimes it was used for a credit for physical education. He’s not sure how his mom got a doctor’s note for specifically this or how well it would be received by the staff. But it’s just another thing that will make him stand out even more.
Okuto sighed, plopping his head down on his desk, noting Hirose chatting with Takeuchi and Mukai. It didn’t seem like he noticed him yet, but soon enough Hirose, looking strangely annoyed, walked over to him with a sheepish Oomori by his side. He looked up and greeted, “Good morning, Hirose.”
Hirose forced a smile as he greeted, “Good morning, Nakamura. Did you do anything special this past weekend?”
“Uh, not really?” answered Okuto, truthfully. Outside of the truth bomb of his mom’s heritage, he hadn’t done anything he wouldn’t do on a normal weekend.
Hirose’s smile slipped for a brief second before saying, “Oh? So, you did nothing for your sixteenth birthday?”
Okuto gulped nervously as he shrugged. “I don’t really do much on my birth—”
“That’s not the point!” Hirose cut off, before crossing his arms. “How come I found out through Oomori, who found out because the class rep who keeps track of everyone’s birthdays told him to wish you a happy birthday? Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve done something cool.”
“Honestly, it slipped my mind. I wasn’t sure if you knew or if I brought it up before. And it’s kinda embarrassing to mention it was my own birthday. It seemed… narcissistic,” replied Okuto quietly, noting how some classmates were watching him. Maybe he should’ve swallowed the embarrassment if it meant no one had their eyes on him.
“You could’ve told me Friday, the day before! It might’ve been last minute, but I could’ve gotten you a gift or even… just hang out the day of or yesterday,” argued Hirose, before sighing. “Well, now we need to do something today. Where do you wanna go?
“Today? Uh, I don’t really know,” muttered Okuto, shrugging.
“Why don’t we all go to that sit-down restaurant?” suggested Oomori. “The one with the coffee and hot chocolate dispenser? It’s kinda by some small shops, and if we all chip in, maybe we can get you a cool dessert or something.”
“We… all?” repeated Okuto. “Who else is going?”
“Well, duh, you, me, Oomori, Takeuchi, Mukai… and maybe the girls? I’m pretty sure Takeuchi will try to invite Hamaoka, but you seem close with Kawamura,” Hirose listed off with his fingers. “In fact, I’ll go ask them right now, and we’ll all walk together after school.”
Without a second thought, Hirose walked back to his friends, not noticing Okuto’s shy smile on his face… Hirose wanted to celebrate his birthday.
The school day went by faster than Okuto expected, but what surprised him more was Hirose waiting for him. He took a deep breath to prevent any of his gay panic as he stiffly walked over to him and muttered, “Is it just us going?”
Please say yes. Please say yes.
“Oh, no, don’t worry, everyone is gonna meet us there,” answered Hirose, as they began to walk out of the school.
Damn it!
“When Kawamura found out it was for your birthday, the girls all insisted on getting time to get some last-minute prep time, which I think just means they’re getting you a present,” answered Hirose, opening up his phone. “Takeuchi, Mukai, and Oomori are doing me a favor.”
“A favor?” repeated Okuto, confused.
“Yeah, duh, Oomori is gonna save us all a big enough table… or try to at least. While the other two are, hopefully, getting the surprise ready,” replied Hirose with a grin. “But… I owe you a present!”
“Oh, you don’t need to. This is more than enough,” Okuto reassured, with a wave of his hand that hopefully hid some of his blush.
Hirose pouted as he argued, “No way! You got me such a cool gift with the stationery! I don’t even bring it to school just to keep it safe. So, I gotta get you a present! And to make up for not knowing, you can pick whatever you want… within a 2000 yen budget.”
At the last part, Hirose gave a sheepish grin, making Okuto laugh under his breath. With a nod, Okuto grabbed his bike and started wheeling it toward the direction of the sit-down restaurant. Hirose hummed at the sight before he asked, “Do you want to ride your bike together or something?”
Okuto nearly tripped on air at the suggestion. Hirose wanted to ride his bike… with him? He’s seen this trope in BL before… well, to be fair, it’s in a lot of romance series in general. He couldn’t mess this… he had to say—
“Actually, better not. It’s against the law, isn’t it?” Hirose cut in with a grimace as they passed by some teachers waiting at the gate. “I just feel bad; you’re going to be wheeling it around for a while.”
“I don’t mind!” Okuto reassured. “I’m pretty sure there’s bike parking at the restaurant anyway! I can leave it there, and we can go walking around afterwards.”
“Wow, you really do think of everything, Nakamura!” complimented Hirose, with a half-hearted laugh. “Man, I wish I knew your birthday sooner; maybe I could’ve planned it better.”
“Don’t even worry about it… Honestly, this is the first birthday I celebrated with friends, so I’m excited for that,” replied Okuto, noting the restaurant came into view. He could see Oomori through the window talking with a worker, and began to lock his bike. “So, should we wait for Oomori to finish talking or— What’s wrong?”
His train of thought stopped in its tracks when he stood up and noticed Hirose staring at him weirdly with wide eyes and his mouth slightly agape. His grip on his bag tightened to the point his knuckles turned white.
“Hirose?”
The boy jumped at his name as he asked shakily, “Are you serious about that? You had to have celebrated your birthday with friends before.”
Okuto shook his head, then shrugged. He knew it sounded lame, but it was the truth. “Uh… well, it’s not a big deal. No one really wanted to go places I wanted to go, and I spend all my birthdays with my family at least. So… yeah, what store did you want to check out first? I’m not too familiar with this area.”
Hirose spared a look toward Oomori, still talking deeply with the worker, before giving a big grin. “Let’s go on ahead! I think there’s a Daiso nearby! I’m sure we can find something you like there!”
Okuto would love to go over the details of the Daiso Hang Out (if only it were a date and he could’ve had a nice alliteration), but truly nothing much happened. Okuto wouldn’t call himself a picky person over gifts, but he did have preferences that once you knew were easy to gift… the issue was he had a lot of unconventional interests for the modern-day teen. He learned this much when he hung out with Hirose and his friends all those months ago during exams. He’s tried to get into some of it, but a lot of them weren’t up his alley.
Mobile games just took up space on his phone that he'd rather keep unused for more important things. When he watches movies, he’s been told he either overreacts or underreacts; with romance films he’s an emotional mess even when he’s trying not to be, and he’s practically stone-faced during horror. Hell, he’s a big fan of Chaplin films, and those were hard to find. When it came to drinks, he prefers coffee, tea, and even water over soda — though soda was looking more appealing with his current relationship with water. Okuto couldn’t even answer the simple question, ‘What’s your favorite music?’ He didn’t have one. He just liked whatever he liked, and it could be vastly different… but he did have a soft spot for City Pop music, which many peers told him was outdated.
But the two biggest offenses were, by technicality, that he was an otaku and a fudanshi. The otaku title could be used to mean that he’s a nerd when it came to octopus and his odd knowledge of BL… which tied into the fudanshi thing. Online, he could potentially be the most normal guy because it was a bit more accepted… but in public? No way!
So, yes. He was an easy guy to give a gift to. Get him a film or take him to the movies? Super fun! Give him a pack of whatever drink he liked? He would use it and treasure it to the very last packet. Give him a new BL to read, or something queer-coded (which, in his opinion, was a lot of media if you looked at it); he would read it and become obsessed, and he would cry if someone gave him something ‘Lovable Lunches’ related. But give him something octopus-related? He would cry, scream, and maybe even get sick from pure joy.
Hirose probably could tell when Nakamura kept all his answers pretty tame, like ‘that’s cool’ and ‘I wouldn’t mind that’ when it came to the selection of items meant he would like them (why wouldn’t he, Hirose bought it for him), but he didn’t love it. So, Hirose, with the biggest pout, ended up buying Okuto’s favorite brand of coffee and a keychain pack with eight octopus buddies before they headed to the restaurant.
The crowd of Hirose’s friends sat at the booth with space saved for the two of them. They all talked over each other, discussing different things, but eventually Kawamura held out a gift bag for him with a blushing face.
“Happy birthday, Nakamura!” she congratulated, with her two friends nudging her.
“Thanks, Kawamura,” replied Okuto, grabbing the gift bag and peeking inside, and immediately blushing. He could not take it out of the bag unless every non-BL enjoyer judged him — it was the first volume of a popular Chinese light novel series he’s been meaning to get into about a godly prince and a ghost king.
“What is it?” prompted Hirose, trying to sneak a peek.
“Just a series, I think Nakamura would like,” answered Kawamura, with a smile. “I’ve heard great things about it. It even has an animated series.”
“Oh, it sounds popular,” muttered Hirose, glancing at Takeuchi and Mukai with a hard stare. “By any chance, did you two do my favor?”
Mukai nodded as Takeuchi passed a gift bag, and he commented, “Weird favor, man. I got weird looks in the store when I demanded it.”
Before Okuto could ask, Takeuchi grunted in pain as Hirose muttered an apology that his foot had slipped; guess he must’ve accidentally kicked him while reaching for the bag. Soon enough, Oomori offered to get the drinks for the table, with Takeuchi volunteering himself, Mukai, and Hirose to join… leaving Okuto with the girls.
Hamaoka grinned at him as she said, “So, you like BL too?”
Okuto blushed, but gave a shameful nod. “Yeah… Kawamura told you?”
“If it helps, she tried to hide it when we went to the bookstore, but Yuuka spilled immediately she caught you reading ‘Lovable Lunches’ at school once,” explained Okuda with a slightly matching grin. “So, be honest… Makunouchi or Taku?”
Okuto blushed as he quietly mentioned, “Well… I like Makunouchi, and I like his style, and he really goes for it… but Taku… Taku is just too cute.”
“Taku is cute!” replied Hamaoka. “I love a good seme!”
Okuto laughed in relief when Okuda asked, “Do you only like BL or do you like other stuff? What about GL? Or just manga and anime in general?”
With a hum, Okuto replied, “I do prefer BL content more, but that could just be the fact it’s easier to find. If I found a good GL, I enjoy it just as much. I prefer to read, but I do watch some series when I can because, well…”
“Anything can be BL if you look hard enough?” guessed Hamaoka as she leaned closer. Okuto blushed at the call-out, but nodded. The girls giggled around him. “Oh, Nakamura! I’m so glad we can finally talk; you can be the deciding factor between Masako and me over some seme and uke debates. Hifumi tries to help, but sometimes she has different preferences, which is totally valid, but that doesn’t help the argument, ya know?”
Okuto nodded when Okuda showed an anime poster on her phone with the title ‘Goodbye, Lara’ as she said, “There was this anime that came out a few months ago. You heard of it?”
Okuto read the summary and jumped the second he read ‘mermaid’. Did she know? How’d she figure it out?!
Before anything could happen, the boys returned as Takeuchi peeked at the phone as he asked, “What’s that?”
“It’s an anime about a mermaid trying to find love in the modern world,” answered Okuda, slipping her phone back in her bag. “I don’t think you would like it.”
“But Nakamura would?” Takeuchi replied, giving him an odd look.
Kawamura jumped in, “Because he likes octopuses! Marine life! It might be something he likes.”
“Then wouldn’t he like the bad guy from the Disney version?” commented Takeuchi, passing the drinks around. “What was she anyway?”
“A cecaelia,” muttered Okuto, grabbing the cup of coffee from Hirose.
“A cecaelia?” repeated Hirose, louder, making Okuto jump. He heard him?! “Wow, you even know about the myths about octopuses? I thought it was something the movie made up just to make her different.”
Kawamura hummed as she scrolled on her phone and recited, “Cecaelias are mythical creatures with the upper body of a human and the lower half of an octopus or squid. Some legends depict they’re sea witches with magical abilities compared to their typical mermaid relatives who charm humans with song.”
Magical abilities? Okuto should ask his mom about that to see how true that was. He didn’t want any more weirdness in his life. Why couldn’t his life stop at being shy and gay?!
Soon enough, a waitress came back with a chocolate cake with strawberries, and the phrase ‘Happy Birthday Nakamura’ in icing.
“Hold on! Little something extra!” Hirose’s voice cut in, breaking Okuto’s confusion at the sight of the cake. Digging into the gift bag Takeuchi passed him, Hirose took out two octopus candles that wore a little birthday hat. He winced with an apologetic grin. “I hope this isn’t cheesy, but I saw these at the shop months ago and knew I wanted to use them for your birthday. Each tentacle is a candle, and you’re sixteen, so two octopuses!”
If Okuto were alone, he would cry on the spot. This wasn’t cheesy! This was so cute and thoughtful! Hirose was the sweetest boy ever! The waitress offered a lighter as Hirose placed the two octopuses around his birthday message, as she lit each tentacle with a forced grin.
With an awkward ‘Happy Birthday’ sung to Okuto, leaving him blushing at the attention. The waitress cut the cake into pieces, giving containers for extra pieces; the group dug in while Okuto stared at the two octopus candles with a fond smile. He turned them to face each other like they were holding tentacles, before gently grabbing a container to keep them safe on his way home.
Laughing to himself, he imagined for a brief moment what it would be like for Hirose to know his secret. Would he care? He liked to imagine he wouldn’t. Maybe he would even try to hold his tentacles like they were extra hands. A giggle bubbled from his throat when Takeuchi swore, and he felt something wet fall into his lap.
Looking up, he paled as somehow, when Takeuchi went to grab a container, his drink spilled on the table… dripping right onto Okuto’s lap. Everyone jumped to use the napkins, but all Okuto could think was… ten seconds.
With a yelp, he cried, “I need to go to the bathroom!”
With hurried apologies for definitely bumping into some people on his way out, he rushed to the bathroom.
Nine.
He slid across the floor, his shoes squeaking against the tile.
Eight.
Pushing past some workers.
Seven.
Looking for the bathroom sign.
Six.
Pushing himself into the men’s bathroom.
Five.
Swearing at only one small stall being open.
Four.
Opening and shutting the bathroom stall.
Three.
Trying to control his breathing.
Two.
Slumping in relief.
One.
In a shimmer, his body transformed as his tentacles started to fall to the ground. He yelped, pushing himself up further so none of them touched the ground for two reasons. One: He didn’t want his neighbor or anyone to see them at the bottom. And two: Bathroom floors are just gross.
With a groan, he stared at the tentacles sticking to the sides of the stall with their suckers. How in the world was he going to dry off? He wasn’t risking moving to grab toilet paper, of all things to dry off.
He heard his neighbor flush and leave, but right when he thought he was safe, he heard Hirose’s voice go, “Nakamura? You okay? You’ve been in here a while?”
Crap! The one time, I don’t want you around Hirose! Please, please, don’t notice me.
As if the universe was against him, which honestly, Okuto was starting to believe it might be! He noticed too late; his stall wasn’t locked, as Hirose accidentally opened it.
Well… it was nice while it lasted.
Hirose frowned, but shut the door as he yelled, “Nakamura, you are in here, right?”
Did Hirose not see him? Looking down, he gasped, noticing his entire body, especially the tentacles, camouflaged with the bathroom stall. Maybe being part-octopus did have its benefits. He inched one of his tentacles to the now empty neighbor stall and locked it as he yelled, “Yeah! Sorry, the drink seeped into my pants, and I’m just drying off! I’m in the other stall.”
“Oh! Right,” muttered Hirose. “Well, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You really bolted right out of the booth.”
“Yeah, I, uh, really don’t like feeling… sticky,” Okuto lied, mentally scolding himself at the lie. Seriously, was that the best he could come up with?
“That makes sense. Well, we’re going to clean up the table, so meet us outside, okay!” said Hirose, before the sound of his exit.
With a sigh of relief, Okuto relaxed as he glared at his tentacles. He loved them on Icchan, but on him… they were so annoying.
After an embarrassing amount of time waiting for his body to dry up, Okuto walked out of the bathroom, thankful that for a brief moment his clothes did dry up and rid the soda stain on his uniform. The booth was long empty; the only sign they were there being the waitress was giving it one more thorough wipe-down. He gave her an apologetic bow when he walked out to see Hirose waiting for him by his bike.
With a grimace, he rushed over as he said, “I’m so sorry! I ruined it! The birthday was a great gesture!”
Hirose stared at him before he asked, “What are you talking about?”
Okuto glanced at the fact that they were alone as he clarified, “Everyone left before I could say goodbye.”
Annoyance flickered on Hirose’s face as he reassured with a smile, “I promise you, they wanted to, but they all had rides waiting. Even Oomori, but I told him to go on ahead when his mom started calling him. Kawamura just left with the girls just now, though sorry about that.”
Okuto shrugged when Hirose passed him two gift bags. Peeking inside the first one was Kawamura’s gift, and the second had his container with his special octopus candles and the stuff he got at Daiso with Hirose. He gave a quiet thanks, hooking them on the handlebars of his bike before they started walking home.
Hirose kicked a stray pebble as he asked, “So… how was your birthday?”
Okuto turned to him, surprised, as he answered, “Amazing! Best one yet!”
“Really?” replied Hirose, surprised. “We didn’t do much.”
“Yeah, but it’s the first time I spent time with friends,” answered Okuto, smiling at the memories of just spending so much time with and by Hirose. Definitely a birthday for the books. “Yep, definitely one of the best.”
Hirose quickly turned to the side, noting it was at their cut-off. He turned to him, as he said, “See you tomorrow, Nakamura! Happy birthday again!”
Okuto gave him a wave, sighing wistfully before hopping on his bike to ride the rest of the way home.
His name was Nakamura Okuto. He’s shy, gay, freshly sixteen, madly in love with Hirose Aiki, and a cecaelia.