Chapter Text
Aoba is a complete wreck. He keeps pacing back and forth, mumbling anxiously to himself. Koujaku keeps his eyes glued to him, very concerned and not even bothering to hide it. Eventually, he’s able to at least get Aoba to sit down, putting a comforting hand on the younger man’s shoulder. He notices Aoba is shaking and looking like he’s trying to hold back tears. Koujaku opens his mouth to offer words of comfort, but Aoba interrupts.
“I’m… sorry…” Puzzled, Koujaku raises an eyebrow.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Isn’t it… stupid for me to be acting this way? I mean—”
“No, I don’t think so. It’s normal to worry about someone you care about, isn’t it?”
Aoba nods and takes in a shaky breath, “I guess so…”
And then it’s silent. Koujaku wants nothing more than to wrap an arm around him, place hundreds of kisses on the crown of his head, and tell him everything is going to be all right. But they’re still at Haga-san’s place – Aoba wanted to stay for a while in case he needed anything. Koujaku doesn’t know if Aoba’s told him about their relationship or not (would it be ok to be affectionate with Aoba here?) so he reluctantly settles for rubbing gentle circles into Aoba’s shoulder with his thumb.
“I just…” Aoba begins, but quickly shuts his mouth again, biting his lip; Koujaku waits patiently for him to continue just like always. “I don’t… want to lose anyone else…” Koujaku’s eyes widen.
“Aoba…”
He’s not sure what to say. Of course that’s why Aoba’s so worked up – it seems like he worries more about that sort of thing ever since what happened with Tae-san (though, he’s always been that way, afraid of losing people, of being left alone, ever since his parents left… ever since Koujaku himself had to leave…). For now, Haga-san is just feeling unwell, so, as long as he gets plenty of rest, he’ll be back to his normal self in no time. He’s going to be fine this time, but there will eventually come a day when he…
But Koujaku’s definitely not going to talk about that. But what should he say?
He’s unable to arrive at an answer to that question, so, he takes a deep breath and pulls Aoba into a tight hug, knowing without a doubt that Aoba is going to yell at him for doing it.
But he doesn’t. Instead, he presses his face into Koujaku’s shoulder and accepts the gesture. And soon, Koujaku can feel a wetness soaking into the shoulder of his kimono.