Chapter Text
Akito and An strike a final pose, stumbling a little as they do. They look back at each other and burst into a fit of giggles as the rest of the room claps for them. Clumsily, the pair make their way off the stage as Kohane and Toya take their place.
~
“Let’s do drunk karaoke!” An had said. The four of them were taking a small break from practicing, sitting around and talking. “It’ll be like a fun little challenge. We can see how well we do under the influence!”
“That sounds like a stupid challenge.” Akito replied.
“Buzzkill.” An pouted. “C’mon! We don’t go out and do enough leisurely things as a group. We need to bond as a team if we’re gonna stand on top of the world!”
Akito paused for a moment. As dumb as the idea sounded, she made a good point there. “I guess group bonding isn’t a terrible idea… but do we really need to sing while drunk?”
“It’s fun, Akito! You guys are with me, right?” She turned to Kohane and Toya.
“I think it would be fun…” Kohane replied, unsurprisingly to Akito. Of course she was going to agree with her girlfriend.
“I agree. Team bonding is very important, and besides, I’m curious.” Toya piped in unhelpfully.
“Traitor.” Akito muttered under his breath.
~
And so here they are. 3 drinks in, singing dumb pop songs together up on the makeshift stage of the karaoke bar.
“That was great!” An cheers, giggling as she leans into Akito to stabilize herself. Akito snorts at her.
“You’re too drunk. No more for you.” He says, taking the cup from An’s hands. He stares at it for a few seconds as An protests in the background before downing it all in one gulp.
“No fair! You’re just as drunk as me!” She pouts. The pout doesn’t last long, however, as Kohane and Toya’s song comes to an end and the two join Akito and An. An cheers, running up to her girlfriend and kissing her cheek.
“You did awesome, Kohane!!”
Kohane giggles, wrapping her arms around An. “Thanks. You did really good too.”
Akito watches the two, a twinge of jealousy sparking inside him. He never really bothered with relationships, always being too focused on his goals to give much thought to it, but that started to change when An and Kohane started dating. He started envying the closeness the girls had, wishing he could find someone like that for himself.
Toya walks up to him, patting him on the back. “Don’t worry, Akito. You’ll find someone.” He says, reading Akito like an open book.
“And now onto our next singer!” The announcer’s voice comes through the speakers. “If you’ll take the stage please, Mr. Tenma?”
Tenma?
Akito’s head whips around to the stage. Sure enough, standing there is a man Akito hasn’t seen since high school. His jaw drops. Tsukasa simultaneously hasn’t changed a bit and has also changed a whole ton. His hair is longer, pulled back into a messy ponytail with his fringe hanging loosely around his face. He’s still wearing that bright, blinding smile, but he looks older.
Akito feels his heart speed up, staring as Tsukasa introduces himself proudly and begins to sing. He’s singing some cheesy love song, his smooth voice carrying through the speakers. Akito gapes at him, he didn’t know he could sing like that!
“Oh! Tsukasa is in town, what a nice surprise.” Toya smiles, watching his older brother figure up on stage. “I wonder why he didn’t tell anyone- Akito?”
Faintly, in the back of his mind, he registers Toya saying his name. But he finds he can’t look away from Tsukasa, who’s bouncing around the stage as he sings. Clearly, the blond hasn’t outgrown his energetic personality.
Finally, the song ends, and Akito is forced to look away as Tsukasa disappears into the crowd. Toya grabs him by the arm, startling him back into the moment.
“Let’s go find him. I want to say hello.” He says to the group.
Kohane lights up, nodding excitedly. “I’d like to as well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Tsukasa-kun.”
They start walking, Akito dragging a little behind. He’s not sure why, but the thought of seeing Tsukasa after all this time is making him a little nervous.
Eventually, they find the troupe of WonderlandsxShowtime sitting at a table in the corner. Tsukasa is telling a story, Akito assumes, because he’s waving his arms around like a lunatic. At least some things never change.
Toya walks up to Tsukasa, dodging his flailing arm with a nonchalance that shows he’s done it a million times before, and taps him on the shoulder. Tsukasa jumps, whipping around.
“How can I help yo- TOYA!” Tsukasa yells out in surprise, his voice loud enough that a few people look their way. He pays no mind to it, instead tackling his younger brother in a tight bear hug. “How are you! I can’t believe you’re here too! Oh but that’s a shame, I was going to surprise you all at your next show…”
Toya, unbothered by Tsukasa’s crushing grip, laughs softly. “That explains why you didn’t tell me you were in town.”
Tsukasa sighs dramatically. “I’ll just have to figure out another way to surprise you then. Oh, hello Akito!”
At the mention of his name, Akito startles. He blinks a few times at Tsukasa before waving a little. “Hey…”
“How is my favorite junior!”
“I’m not your junior anymore, senpai.”
“And I am no longer your senpai!” He laughs boisterously, a sound that makes Akito’s chest flutter.
“I guess you’re right.” He’s suddenly not sure what to do with himself, glancing around the bar awkwardly.
“So, what have you all been up to? Still putting on wonderful performances, I assume!”
He nods a little. “Yeah, we’ve been doing pretty good. Traveling a lot more now, which is cool. Stressful, but cool.”
“That’s amazing, Akito!” Tsukasa hugs him, and Akito can feel heat creep onto his face. “I’m so proud of you all!”
“Thanks, Tsukasa…”
The two groups continue to idly chat, catching up with each other after a good few years of not seeing each other. Akito is just spacing out, listening to the conversations and the music. Apparently, Emu bought them all a round of shots because she walks up to the group holding a tray of 8 shot glasses.
“To celebrate our reunion!” She explains.
Akito shrugs, taking one of the glasses, and the rest follow suit. He holds it up. “Here’s to a night of shitty singing and stupid life choices.”
They all laugh as they clink their glasses together and tilt their heads back to down the shots. Akito makes a face, shaking his head slightly. “Eugh, what is this?”
“Vodka!” Emu replies.
“Straight vodka?!”
“No, gay vodka.” An replies with a cackle. Akito groans.
“I wasn’t planning on getting shitfaced tonight…”
Tsukasa laughs, draping an arm over Akito. “Tonight’s about having fun, Akito! Loosen up a little.”
Subconsciously, Akito leans into Tsukasa’s embrace. “I have work tomorrow.”
“Call out! Have fun with us!”
“Some of us have bills to pay, senpai.”
Tsukasa rolls his eyes. “Well, it’s too late now! You already drank it!”
Akito snorts. “I guess you’re right.”
They stay like that for a while, sitting way too close together in the booth for a little too long. Akito is already beginning to feel the effects of the vodka kick in when An suddenly stands up.
“Let’s do karaoke together! We can pair up with someone from the other group, and then we can all decide whose performance was best!”
Akito raises an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t we all just vote for ourselves?”
“Not if I make it a rule that you can’t! That way, you have to vote for someone else’s performance.”
He shrugs a little, deciding that the logic makes enough sense to his drunken brain. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it, then.”
Nene stands up. “I’m singing with Toya.” She makes eye contact with him, silently begging him to agree, to which he nods.
“Hey, Kohane-chan!” Emu leans forward in her seat. “Do you want to sing with me?”
Kohane giggles and nods. “Sure, let’s leave these guys in the dust.”
“As if!” An crosses her arms. “Me and- uh.” She looks over at the two boys cuddling in the booth.
“It seems those two have gotten rather cozy with each other.” Rui chuckles softly. “Shall we?”
An snickers, whipping out her phone and snapping a picture before Akito can process what she’s doing. “Bet. Let’s beat these motherfuckers.”
Akito glares at her, not having the capability to do much else at the moment, and turns his attention to Tsukasa. “I guess it’s us two, then?”
Tsukasa giggles, also beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol by the looks of it. “I guess it is.”
Once they decided on their pairings, they all entered into the queue. The conversations continued as they waited for their turns, and Akito takes the opportunity to lean closer to Tsukasa again.
“I’ve missed ya…” the words slip out from his lips before he can stop them.
Tsukasa looks at Akito in surprise, and then smiles fondly. “I missed you too, Akito. Things just aren’t the same without you there teasing me or pranking me.” He sighs. “Remember how we’d sometimes have lunch together? I always really liked that.”
Akito looks up at Tsukasa. “Yeah?”
The tone of his voice makes Tsukasa blush slightly, and he averts his gaze. “It was something I looked forward to. I never told you this, but I always brought an extra slice just for you, it wasn’t for ‘after practice’ like I always said.”
He blinks in surprise. “You brought it just for me?”
“Mhm…”
Akito feels his face heat up, and chooses to blame it on the alcohol. “Oh…” he says dumbly.
An awkward silence passes over the two of them, and Akito stares at Tsukasa’s face for an uncomfortable amount of time. He tries to count the freckles, but keeps losing track and starting over.
“What are you doing? You’re staring at me really intensely there.”
“Counting your freckles.”
Tsukasa’s face reddens once again and he giggles. “Why?”
“‘Cause I want to.” He leans a little closer, squinting slightly. “You have a lot.”
Tsukasa sucks in a small breath, straightening up slightly. Unlike Akito, he’s very aware of the lack of space between the two of them.
“Hey, lovebirds! You’re up!” An’s voice interrupts the moment and both of them jump slightly. Akito shoots a glare at An, before shoving Tsukasa out of the booth and climbing out. Tsukasa stumbles a little, grabbing onto Akito’s arm to help steady himself.
“Ready?”
Akito snorts. “Not really. But let’s do it anyways.”
So the two make their way onto the stage. They decided on some silly duet from a musical that Tsukasa likes, one that Akito doesn’t really know very well. But that’s fine, he works well under pressure.
The song starts, and Tsukasa takes the lead. Akito joins in soon after, their voices melding together effortlessly. He glances away from the screen to look at Tsukasa, and almost can’t look away. The club lights flashing above them is making him look ethereal. His breath catches slightly, and he almost misses his cue. He recovers, having years of practice under his belt, but when Tsukasa looks over at him with a blinding smile, all of Akito’s efforts may as well have been in vain. He completely butchers the next line, even stuttering a little through it.
Tsukasa can’t help a tiny giggle, joining in to help support Akito. Akito finally gets back on track, focusing hard to make it through the rest of the song. In fact, he’s so focused he doesn’t notice Tsukasa staring at him the whole time.
Finally, the song ends and the two stumble off the stage, laughing and nudging each other as they do. Akito, who is definitely way drunker than he’d planned to be, drapes his arm across Tsukasa’s shoulders.
“That was ridiculous. But you looked good up there. You really are a star now, huh?”
Tsukasa giggles, leaning into Akito and guiding them to the table. “Yes, I suppose I am now. I’ve starred in a few movies, ya know.”
Akito hesitates slightly. “I know. I’ve watched all of them…”
“Really?” Tsukasa looks at him in surprise.
He nods, looking away. “A few times, actually…”
“Oh…”
“I, uh, kinda had a bit of a thing for you towards the end of your senior year there. I guess it took me a little while to get over it…” As soon as the leave Akito’s mouth, he regrets it.
There’s a suffocating pause. “Akito, I-“
“Y’know what. Forget I said that. Hey, it’s kinda stuffy in here all of a sudden. I think I might step outside.” He shuffles out of the booth, eyes locked onto the exit when he feels someone grab his hand.
“I’m coming with you.” Tsukasa says, tightening his grip.
“I’d rather you didn’t-“
“I’m coming with you.” He grits his teeth. “We’re both drunk, but I’d rather we stick together.”
Akito sighs, giving in. “Fine…”
The walk outside feels like the longest walk of Akito’s life. Tsukasa hasn’t let go of his hand, and the inner turmoil it’s causing him is eating him up inside. They finally make it outside, and Akito pulls his hand away to pull his hood up. He takes a deep breath, leaning against the wall of the building. Tsukasa follows after him like a lost puppy.
“Akito, about what you said…”
Akito tenses. “Look, can you just forget about that? It was dumb, I shouldn’t have said anything, and- mmph?!”
He’s cut off by Tsukasa pulling him in and kissing him. His eyes widen and he stiffens. His brain goes into overdrive as he tries to process what’s happening when Tsukasa pulls back.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that without asking-“
Akito doesn’t let him finish. He lunges forward, pressing clumsily into another kiss. Tsukasa makes a muffled noise of surprise before he’s pressing up against Akito. He wraps his arms around him, pulling them closer together.
Akito feels a hand pull down his hood and tangle into his hair, and he lets out a breathy pant against Tsukasa’s mouth. His hands slowly trail down Tsukasa’s sides, resting on his hips as he feels the blond shudder slightly. He smirks a little into the kiss, tightening his grip and pulling Tsukasa flush against his body.
A slight tug on his hair has him gasping slightly, and he feels Tsukasa’s tongue press its way into his mouth. He can’t help the soft groan that slips out of him, his tongue meeting the other’s in the middle. He revels in the noise Tsukasa makes in response, one hand toying with the hem of his shirt. Slowly, as though testing the waters of how far he was allowed to go, he slips the hand up his shirt, rubbing small circles on his lower back. Tsukasa shivers a little, letting out a breathy sound at the action.
Akito can feel one of Tsukasa’s hands playing with his hair, the other gripping tightly onto his hip. He groans softly when Tsukasa tugs at his hair again, dragging his nails down his back. Tsukasa whimpers, and the sound almost makes Akito’s self control snap. It probably would have, if it weren’t for the clickhe registers in the background.
He pushes Tsukasa back, whipping his head around to stare wide eyed at An, who’s standing there with her phone out. Tsukasa, still coming out of his daze, blinks at An confused. An is giggling, covering her mouth.
“Yknow, when I told everyone I was going to come find you guys, I wasn’t expecting you to be sucking faces.”
“An! What the fuck?!”
“Dude, you two have been gone for like 20 minutes. I was wondering what the hell you could’ve been doing, but I guess I had my question answered.” She snickers.
“Can you leave?” Akito says through gritted teeth
“Not really, Rui said it’s time for them to go. He’s their designated driver and he’s tired.”
Tsukasa pouts a little, reaching down to grab Akito’s hand. The action causes him to flush slightly, but he squeezes back gently. “I’ll text you in the morning, ‘Kay?”
“You will?!”
An snorts. “If he remembers.”
Akito ignores her, nodding to Tsukasa. “Yeah, you just get home safe.”
“Mkay…” Tsukasa lets go of his hand, starting to follow An back inside. “Your feelings are reciprocated, by the way.”
“Wha-“
“Goodnight, Akito!” Tsukasa rushes back inside, leaving Akito standing there stunned.
The four members of Vivid BAD Squad decide to call it a night not long after WXS left. An’s dad picked them all up and dropped them off at their respective apartments, and Akito doesn’t even bother changing out of his street clothes as he falls face first into his bed. His phone lets out a little ding just as he’s getting ready to fall asleep, and he begrudgingly rolls over to check it.
Tsukasa
Goodnight, Akito! I had a lot of fun tonight. I hope you made it home safe!
Akito smiles softly to himself, typing out a reply.
I did, thanks. I hope you have a good night.
You too!
Satisfied, Akito cuddles into his blankets and drifts off to sleep thinking only about Tsukasa.