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When Akane hears Teru gasp from across the student council room, he’s immediately on edge and whips around to assess the threat.
There’s a brief moment where his heart hammers in his chest as his eyes are unable to catch onto anything and he even reaches to the top of his head to make sure he doesn’t accidentally have them on, blocking his view of supernaturals.
But no — there they are, on top of his head holding back his bangs as they usually are when it’s just him and Teru in the student council room. Once the panic subsides he sees an unbothered Teru looking at down his phone and feels the usual sense of annoyance at himself that he does when he falls for another one of Teru’s shenanigans
He’s still staring dumbfoundedly in Teru’s direction when the president whips his head up, holding out his (way too bright) phone screen towards Akane.
“Aoi! Look! It’s back!”
Akane has half a mind to smack the offending object away and fix Teru with a glare but, favoring his life, decides to squint at the screen to make out whatever the pres is trying to show him.
There’s an ad with a bright purple, pink, and blue drink with the words “UNICORN FRAPPUCCINO - BACK THIS WEEKEND ONLY!”.
The artificial colors are enough to indicate that this is right up Teru’s alley and peering over the phone has him meeting his partner’s excited smile, eyes sparkling at the idea of being able to devour such a sugary treat. Gently reaching over to push the phone out of his line of sight, Akane can’t help but reciprocate a small smile on his own lips as he meets Teru’s eyes. “You are absolutely going to get a cavity from that.”
Teru just smiles even wider and quickly takes his phone back, tapping on it a few times. Akane feels his phone vibrate and recognizes that he was probably sent a screenshot of the colorful ad.
“I was going to treat you to your own drink if you came with me but I guess you must have better things to do.” Teru dramatically sighs and hangs his head.
Akane gives his arm a light smack with the stack of papers he’d been holding this whole time and there’s slight smiles on both of their lips, as if laughing at their own joke.
“Fine, just let me know when you’re free this weekend. Now get back to work.”
The rest of the afternoon is spent silently working together in the student council room, knees pressed together underneath the table.
On Saturday, Akane makes his way over to the Minamoto household. They had agreed to walk over to the cafe from there, so Akane takes his time and has a slow morning to himself, giving Teru the chance to sleep in on one of the few days he can.
He’s sure Teru will make him try the sugary concoction and while he can’t say he’s happy about the prospect, he’s never been able to say no to that expectant face (especially when it’s accompanied by the jingle of Teru’s prayer beads).
The neighborhood is quiet as he calmly walks by. When his destination is in sight he hears a slight commotion from the house, meaning the Minamoto siblings are probably up and at them.
Punching in the code to the gate, he makes his way to the front of the house and just as he’s about to knock the door is flung open, leaving him halfway through the motion.
Unfortunately the figure in front of him seems to be moving in too much of a hurry to acknowledge the redhead at the door, and so in a blur of movement Akane’s fist makes contact with what seems to be Teru’s jaw based on the way he’s cupping it with a small “Ow!”.
The scuffle stopped him in his tracks and once his brain caught up, he finally registers Akane in front of him and the slight grimace is quickly replaced with a bright smile.
It’s not the pristine one he preens at other people with. No – this one is reserved solely for Akane with the edges of it a bit softer and a twinkling in his eyes that speaks pure unadulterated joy.
There’s a small breath of time between the two just taking each other’s presence before the world spins back into motion.
Akane cups Teru’s jaw and inspects it for signs of a forming bruise. He doesn’t get as good of a look as he’d like before Teru is scoffing and shrugging him off, a mix of playful and real annoyance under the gesture. It frustrates his partner a bit but they’re working on Teru letting himself be taken care of. Besides, there’s a more pressing matter at hand.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” he says lightly, still eyeing Teru’s jaw. He’s never forgotten a date before and as much as Akane would like to believe this is a quick morning errand, the ever present sword slung on the exorcist’s back and the bag likely carrying his traditional attire leave a bad taste in the redhead’s mouth.
If anything, Teru’s crestfallen expression is an answer enough.
“Ah, we’ll have to reschedule. Taku got injured pretty badly on a mission last night so I’m taking over his patrol for the day.”
Teru’s hand nervously fiddles with the edge of his jacket and Akane quickly reaches over to lightly hold it instead. He schools his anger in because Teru already seems so apologetic and Akane’s anger is solely towards the adults who place the weight of the world on the exorcist – prodigy or not, he should be spending his Saturday getting a stupidly colorful drink instead of hunting down the evil of the world.
Akane hums softly in response. “It’s not a problem. We’ve still got tomorrow to get your drink.”
He gets another apologetic smile in response and feels Teru’s lips softly land on his cheek.
“You can still hang out with Kou and Tiara today, so you’re not alone. I’m sure they’ll be glad to spend some time with you without me hoarding you.” Teru tacks on playfully.
It’s a clear attempt to lighten the mood and Akane’s sure he’s held him up enough, so he gives him a nod and reaches over to place a kiss along the injured jaw (that luckily doesn’t seem to be at risk for bruising and only seems to be slightly red).
Pulling back with a nod, Akane brushes off Teru’s shoulders and makes a small show of sending him off for the day.
“Okay. Be safe, yeah?”
Teru nods seriously and goes as far as a salute, cracking a grin. “I shall come back to you unharmed!”
The exorcist begins walking towards the gate and Akane turns back to the now closed front door of the Minamoto household, calling out behind him, “You better!”
He hears Teru’s quiet chuckle in response and before his heart can latch onto the usual anxiety of sending his partner off to an essentially never ending war, the door opens revealing a sheepish Kou and an excited Tiara.
“Bye nii-chan!” calls out the younger boy.
“Akane-chan you have to try Kou-nii’s french toast!” is Tiara’s greeting, pulling Akane into the house he’s grown quite comfortable in and he resorts to spending time with at least some of the Minamoto’s for the day.
Twenty-four hours later, they’re standing in line at the cafe.
The mixture of usual customers getting their fix of caffeine, as well as the masses brought by the limited availability of the “unicorn” drink means the line is outrageously long, leading out of the coffeeshop itself.
It’s a little bothersome to wait so long for nothing more than an overpriced drink but the way Teru is bouncing on his heels in excitement makes it all the more worth it.
“I remember hearing everyone at school talk about the unicorn drink when it first came out! I wanted to go try it so bad but my training was ramping up so I couldn’t skip it. I’m so glad it’s back and that you’ll be able to try it!”
Akane winces at the subtle mention of Teru’s grueling childhood, but Teru giggles assuming it’s at the thought of trying the sugary monstrosity.
The weather is nice enough and with Teru’s warm hand in his, the wait isn’t too bad. They make light conversation about anything and everything — despite seeing each other almost daily at school they never quite run out of things to say to one another.
Their peace is ruined by Teru’s phone ringing. Despite being in the same pocket as the hand that’s holding Akane’s he makes a show of struggling to reach for it with the opposite hand and it’s ridiculous but Akane’s a little bit pleased he didn’t let go of his hand.
He distracts himself by looking at the rest of the crowd and notes that there seems to be more children than average in line and he can’t help but feel his heart clench at the thought that Teru should’ve been their age trying this drink rather than having the unmet desire in the back of his mind for a decade.
His hand is squeezed a bit too tightly for a split second but it’s enough for him to tune into Teru’s side of the phone call and he hears a steeliness in his voice that makes Akane’s stomach churn. He doesn’t have time to discern what’s wrong before he’s being pulled out of the line and led away by Teru.
Protesting silently, he tries to dig his heels into the ground because they did not just wait in line for 30 minutes for Teru to be called away but the exorcist has always been slightly stronger and after quickly ending the call and pocketing his phone, his other hand is freed up to grab Akane by the shoulders and silently guide him.
”Your drink!” is all Akane can say as he continues to struggle in the blonde’s grip.
Teru just hums and Akane sees a smaller coffee shop up ahead that’s fairly empty, with no line. He manages to wrangle himself out of Teru’s grip right as they reach the entrance and when he faces his boyfriend he sees the other just sigh.
Dragging his hand down his face, Teru finally explains. ”Look, there’s been an emergency so I’ve gotta head out but I promised you a coffee so let’s just get one here.”
Akane feels that same anger that always creeps up when Teru’s exorcist duties ruin a good thing for him so it’s not his fault when he shouts louder than he meant to, “They can do just fine without you for a day!”
“Please don’t make this harder than it has to be, Akane,” Teru says, exhaustion tinging his voice.
They’ve had a similar argument many times before. Akane knows that one of Teru’s biggest worries is that slacking off on any exorcist related duties would mean they’d fall onto Kou’s shoulders. As the oldest, he felt responsible for protecting his younger siblings from a similar fate to his own – Akane just wishes he would be a little more selfish and let the other exorcists they work with fend for themselves every once in a while.
Just like always, the argument ends at a standstill, both too stubborn to back down.
He can’t help but feel hurt though so he turns away from his boyfriend, crossing his arms and grumbling, “Fine. Just go then.”
Teru coos at him and Akane really thinks it’s not the time but he feels arms wrap around him and can’t help but melt just a bit.
“C’mon don’t get all sulky now~. I promised you a coffee and I won’t even make you try a sip of what I order!”
Akane rolls his eyes but lets himself settle more into Teru’s arms.
“Fine. I want an americano.”
There’s a giggle from behind him and he feels Teru’s hair tickle his jaw as he snuggles into his neck. “We kind of have to go inside to order.”
Begrudgingly Akane unwraps them from one another but pointedly grabs Teru’s hand once they’re side by side.
He lets Teru order for the both of them while he sits with his thoughts a bit. He’s not angry at Teru himself, but it’s more than irksome that his role as exorcist visibly takes a toll on him yet he won’t dare advocate for himself.
Akane breathes deeply through his nose and squeezes Teru’s hand gently, twice in a row. He feels Teru squeeze back in the same rhythm and feels his heart grow warm.
They wait for their drinks by the counter and as soon as they’re called out Akane reaches for the one with whip cream and some sort of chocolate drizzle on top.
It’s objectively not a bad drink, just way too sweet for the redhead’s taste buds. He instinctively pulls a face and Teru’s twinkling laughter makes it all worth it.
“That thing has way too much sugar,” he grumbles.
Teru just gives him a soft kiss on the lips as he switches their drinks. “That one’s not yours, silly.”
He takes a sip of the drink and Akane knows him well enough to note the slight disappointment in his expression, because although this was likely just as sugary to satisfy Teru’s sweet tooth, it was no unicorn drink.
Still, he makes a show of smacking his lips and humming in delight. “Woow!! This one is sooo yummy Akane, I don’t know how you don’t like it!”
The redhead doesn’t reply, simply taking a sip of his own unsweetened drink and taking some time to indulge in his boyfriend’s presence while he can.
It’s all too soon that Teru is moving to get up, a half full drink still in his hand. He leans over to press a kiss into Akane’s forehead.
“I’ve got to go. Let me know when you get home safely.”
Akane does not sulk because he has more self restraint than that, but he can’t help the sad smile as Teru waves at him from outside the cafe window.
After a short while of scrolling on his phone he gets up to head back home, but on his walk notices the significantly shorter line for the cafe they had originally planned to go to. He considers his options briefly.
Well, it’s not like he has much else to do.
As Teru exorcises the fifth supernatural, he thinks about the unicorn drink.
Akane said it himself, it’s a stupid drink. Teru doesn’t even know what it tastes like because all he’s seen is the promotional ads for it and the swirl of pink and purple is all he needed to know he wanted to try it.
He dodges another attack and thinks back to the initial release.
Everyone in his class and his elementary school in general had talked excitedly about the drink, nothing more than kids with an itch for sugar fix. But even then, Teru had been told his responsibilities lied in more important things than his peers and he had been pulled away from any silly notions of visiting a cafe for a fun drink.
He thinks that maybe if he were more like Akane with such a disdain for such trivial things he might’ve made a better exorcist.
Akane.
Getting together with the clock keeper had been the single best thing in Teru’s life. He had never felt so understood – so seen by someone. It’s like he peeled back all of Teru’s walls single-handedly and didn’t see him as any of his roles. He wasn’t an exorcist prodigy, or an older brother caring for siblings with an absent father. He was just Teru.
Suddenly the thought of the stupid unicorn drink seems like just that – stupid.
He already had Akane as the one indulgence in his life. Who was he to ask for more?
It’s selfish is what it is. For a brief second, while standing in line holding Akane’s hand, he’d thought that maybe the stars had aligned just right for him to get this one silly desire of his. And yet, when he got the call about the supernatural emergency, the disappointment felt empty – he had almost expected something to go wrong as was par for the course in his life.
The next supernatural that crosses his path was definitely done for by the second blow, but the third, fourth, and even fifth ones that follow are unnecessary.
Teru looks at the destruction around him and briefly regards his hands.
They’re heavily calloused from years of handling his sword and when he balls them up into fists his nails are just long enough to dig painfully into his skin.
These hands were made for destruction. They were created to rid the world of evil, one deathly blow at a time to anything that threatened the safety of civilians – of his loved ones.
His mind flashes with the memory of Akane’s warm hand in his, just hours earlier. The affirmative, yet soft touch.
Something uncomfortable churns in his gut.
He didn’t deserve something as gentle as that.
His thoughts are interrupted by one of the other exorcists on duty with him. “Minamoto-senpai! There’s another pack this way!”
Shaking his head to get rid of any lingering thoughts unrelated to eradicating supernaturals, he adjusts the sword in his hand and goes to where he was pointed.
Wiping the sweat off his brow, Teru waves goodbye to his companions from the mission. The sun’s only just gone down and if he rushes he might just make it before the cafe closes for the day.
This is stupid, he thinks to himself as he hurriedly makes his way down the street, going as fast as he can without sprinting.
He rounds the corner and sees the cafe with the windows still lit up.
This is his chance!
There’s no one around but even if there was nothing could’ve stopped him from sprinting to the front door of the cafe.
Finally! This desire that had sat dormant in him for over a decade long could finally be put to rest! He’s resolved to tip the staff heftily for their service, once he steps inside he already knows just how to order the drink and–
The door doesn’t budge when he tugs on it. He stares at it, his mind coming up with a million and one scenarios on why he’s suddenly forgotten how doors work when he catches sight of the store’s hours listed on the glass pane.
Sunday: 6:00am-8:00pm
He pulls out his phone, but already knows what he’ll find..
8:03
When he looks up, he finally registers the chairs already stacked on the tables and the barista cleaning the espresso machine catches his eye and gives him an apologetic smile.
Waving them off, he turns back to make his way home.
He pulls out his phone again and sees the usual notifications from Kou and some additional ones from Akane sent at varying times throughout the evening.
I’m home
Let me know when you’re done and I can meet you in line again
It must be a rough mission, take care
Come see me when you’re finished
The last one was sent a couple hours ago and Teru feels his heart clench. It’s not too late but Akane would no doubt be starting his evening routine right about now.
Teru decides to pocket his phone without answering just yet, instead heading in the direction of the convenience store. There was really no need to bother Akane at this time and they’d see each other at school the next day anyways, he reasoned with himself.
So, he resolves to make himself scarce for a bit longer.
He gets one of those gummy mixing kits and finds a nearby picnic table to work on it. Figuring he could get by without looking at the instructions he manages to muddle it into a gloopy blob.
Using the small utensil that comes in the package to spoon some into his mouth he’s surprised to find that it’s not half bad – if you ignore the questionable texture.
It’s a tad too sweet and tastes about as artificial as you can legally get away with and Teru forlornly thinks about how Akane’s face would scrunch up at the flavor.
Half of the fun in getting Akane to try his concoctions is the cute expression that he’d make when something was too sugary for his tastebuds – his brows would furrow and he’d stick his tongue out a bit as if trying to chase away the remnants. The other half was when he inevitably pressed the offending item back into Teru’s hand, the blonde delightedly accepted the indirect kiss.
Of course now that they were dating Teru could just ask for a kiss whenever, but it seemed like Akane hadn’t quite caught up to his secret indirect kisses (or more likely he didn’t care as much) so Teru continued to have his fun.
Having felt like he sufficiently sulked for the evening, the exorcist quickly cleans up the picnic table and finally heads home for the day.
It’s just about to be eleven when he gets through the front door and is greeted by a sleepy Kou in the living room.
“Nii–chan!”
Ruffling his little brother’s hair good naturedly he finally allows himself to relax, unclenching his jaw and lowering his shoulders. There’s more than enough protections around their household for Teru to feel safe lowering his guard and the day’s events are finally catching up to him.
In front of him Kou yawns and starts heading upstairs. “Dinner’s in the fridge ready to be reheated. Oh–! Akane-senpai stopped by to leave you something too!”
Immediately Teru’s hackles rise.
Akane had been here?
It wasn’t that unusual for the redhead to stop by without Teru being home to spend some time with the other Minamoto siblings. It was one of the reasons he was so smitten with the clock keeper after seeing how well he got on with younger Minamotos.
Surely it was something related to the student council meeting they had the next day, he thought to himself.
Opening the refrigerator proved him wrong though.
Next to Kou’s carefully plated dinner, ready to reheat, accustomed to being reheated by now, was a cup containing the unicorn frappuccino Teru had spent the whole mission thinking about.
Or it had been at one point.
It had been sitting in the fridge for at least a few hours by now, the colors having mixed into some colorful concoction at this point, the whip cream that was melted making it take on a pastel hue.
The condensation had left a small puddle around the cup, but even with lackluster presentation Teru felt his heart swell.
It was so stupid.
The drink he had been thinking about all evening – the very same one Akane had spent calling stupid and silly – was sitting right here in his fridge.
He thought about Akane waiting in that egregious line, just for Teru to have a taste of a small desire that had been in the back of his mind for a decade.
It was so stupid.
Making quick work of reheating the dinner Kou had carefully set aside for him, he sat at the dinner table alone, but with a homemade meal and a half-melted drink in front of him.
Pulling out his phone for the first time in hours, he opens up his chat with Akane again.
The redhead was no doubt asleep by now, but knowing he had spent the earlier part of his evening just so Teru could have a taste of the drink in front of him made him feel especially cheesy.
I’m home now
Holding up the drink to his mouth he takes a selfie, making sure he smiles wide even if it shows the fangs he so carefully hides.
He sends it with a quick, Thank you.
And finally, takes a sip.
The next morning, he walks up to the school building’s front gate with a pep in his step.
Akane is already there as he usually is, and when he spots Teru he puts away his phone and crosses his arm.
“You didn’t have to drink it, y’know”
Teru just smiles and wraps his boyfriend up tightly in his arms even as the other grumbles and flails.
“It probably tasted terrible! Sitting for hours in your fridge probably melted it into a sludge and the condensation left a puddle around it and–!”
“--And it was delicious.” Teru interrupts, finally relinquishing the redhead and placing a kiss at the top of his head.
Akane swipes at the spot that Teru just kissed, making the blonde frown, but it wasn’t uncommon for the other to be so against PDA.
“It tasted like mango,” he continued. “And it was weirdly sour. But delicious! I’m sure you would’ve hated it.”
Twitching his nose, just as Teru had predicted, Akane grumbles, “That’s why I didn’t try it.”
It would’ve been silly, Teru thinks. In another life, maybe he hadn’t been dragged away to an emergency mission and he could’ve coerced his boyfriend to take a sip of the drink – not that it would’ve taken much convincing. And Akane would’ve not-so-reluctantly acquiesced and done his cute routine of scrunching up his face and giving Teru an indirect kiss through their shared straw.
But the universe aligned for Teru to take a very direct kiss, leaning forward to catch the clock keeper's lips in his own.
Short and chaste, but still sweet – better than any drink Teru could’ve ordered.
Pulling away, he makes sure to lock eyes with Akane.
“Thank you.”
Akane’s eyes are wide behind the glasses Teru had enchanted for him, and yet, the ever grounded one of the two, he quickly seems to remember their surroundings.
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
Teru begs to differ and does as much, “It was a stupid want. You said so yourself. There’s so many other drinks just as outrageous that I could’ve gotten at any point,”
The redhead suddenly finds the ground very interesting, refusing to meet Teru’s eyes as he replies softly, “But you wanted it.”
And it really is so simple isn’t it?
Teru has worldly desires – a good life for his siblings, a strong relationship with Akane, a stupid drink – and Akane had simply done the bare minimum to fulfill those silly desires, as best he could.
Filled with such a great warmth in his heart, Teru can’t help but lean forward again to capture Akane’s lips in another sweet kiss.
If he could, Teru thinks, he could die right then and there, and be happy, all of his wants from life met.
“Oh!”
The soft exclamation from behind them has them pulling apart quickly, Akane quickly wiping his face as if that would hide the blush that creeps up his ears, and Teru instinctively putting a hand on his sword.
It’s only Aoi, who had probably come to walk with Akane to their shared homeroom.
She’s long since gotten over keeping up any pretense with the pair and just fixes them with a bewildered stare.
“Am I interrupting something…?”
Akane clears his throat and does a quick shimmy as if shaking off all those icky, gooey feelings that he likes to pretend he doesn’t participate in.
“No no, Ao-chan. Teru’s just being silly,” he says, making his way to stand by his classmates' side. “I’ll see you at the student council meeting, yeah pres?” he says, finally meeting Teru’s eyes again.
There’s a lot of unsaid words in his gaze but the exorcist had become an expert at reading between the lines in their months of dating.
“Yeah, sounds good.” He replies.
He waves as the two walk away but something itches in the back of his mind, making him call out to the pair before they got too far.
“Akane!”
Turning around at his call, the redhead fixes him with a questioning look.
“Thank you.”
Ears immediately burning bright red, Akane turns around without a response and Teru sees Aoi lean in, likely asking what all that was about which only results in Akane’s flush continuing to burn a violent ruby down his neck.
Sweet and sour sure do make a good pair, Teru thinks to himself, making his way to his own homeroom lest he be late.