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Things have been changing.
Akito has been enjoying life as of lately.
He’s convinced that he’s the most content he’s ever been - and that says a lot, even for him. For someone as restless as Akito was, only by Tsukasa’s side was the only time where he’s able to relax.
A month into their regular meetings, the more moments they share with one another, intimate or not, and with that, their trust only keeps growing.
Needless to say, Akito’s love life has been going amazing.
Never thought I’d say that, but there’s a first for everything, I guess, Akito muses to himself.
After a while of seeing each other in the same place over and over for weeks on end, the two have decided that they should move somewhere else, since it wasn’t the most optimal choice for their meet-ups to be in a classroom in the middle of school where anyone could see them at any time, and Akito thinks, confidently coming to the choice to say that he’d be long dead if someone saw them kiss from the hallways.
How humiliating.
So for privacy measures, the Tenma residence was the next best place.
Akito never once considered that he’d be agreeing to regularly visit Tsukasa’s house to play piano with him of all things.
He also realizes that he’s had a lot of his firsts with Tsukasa. First time actually being head-over-heels for someone. First time wanting to know more about someone, to such a high extent that even Akito couldn’t describe.
First time kissing someone.
Now, their routine goes something like this:
Afterschool, Akito grabs his things, speedwalks downstairs, changes his shoes, and stands outside the gate, patiently - emphasis on patient - waiting for Tsukasa to come down.
When Akito sees him, they give brief greetings to the other before Tsukasa would walk him to his home, the way there filled with his buoyant laughter and the lively banter shared between them.
They get there and step inside, setting their stuff aside and sit, close enough that their knees bump against each other, playing late into the evening, each second better than the last - okay, maybe Akito exaggerated things just by a bit.
Playing all the way into the evening was something that Akito had yet to indulge in just yet, but he can’t say that he isn’t looking forward to when that day comes. As obscure as opportunities like those may present themselves to be, they can’t take those chances given to them, both having their own personal lives, making it difficult for the two to be together for long.
A small buzz in his pocket brings Akito out of his thoughts as he was still waiting for Tsukasa to come by so they can go to his house. He takes his phone out and sees a message notification from the person that he was supposed to meet in a few minutes.
Speak of the devil . Akito huffs as he opens the notification, reading the string of texts that he’s been sent. Skimming through each word, each syllable, the vacant expression on his face slowly morphs into one of a frown. Tsukasa wasn’t free in an hour due to class representative duties and he told him to go on without him first.
Sighing, he sluggishly replies, telling him that he’ll be on his way to his house first, sliding his phone back into his pocket, “There’s nothing I can do about it,” he tries to tell himself, and off to the Tenmas’ he went.
He has the route there memorized for the most part, and he’d assume that Tsukasa would keep a spare key somewhere - under the mat, probably, he thought, but rolled his eyes at how clichéd it sounded.
By the time he was at the front door, he dips down and gently lifts the mat, shaking his head in disbelief when there was actually a key under the fucking mat.
“You really are easy to read,” Akito sighs, “Too bad it’s so difficult to do that when I want to understand you better.”
The door clicks open and he slips in, pushing it close with the hand behind his back, trying to be as quiet as possible even though there wasn’t any reason for him to be silent. It’s not like there’s anybody that could possibly hear him - he wasn’t some kind of burglar.
Well, he did technically ‘break in’ to their house, but that’s besides the point.
There shouldn’t be anyone at home right now. Tsukasa’s parents were away and won’t be back until late in the night, and Saki should still be at school or at band practice-
“…Shinonome-kun?”
He jumped, an embarrassingly loud squeak coming from him as Saki was staring at him with curious eyes, a mug of warm honey tea in her hands, freshly brewed, steam emitting from it. Akito’s jaw went slack.
How the ever-loving fuck was he supposed to explain this to Saki?
“...Saki-san, good afternoon,” he nervously laughs, slipping his well-crafted persona on to mask his surprise, “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
She only looks at him as if she just heard the most baffling thing ever. “But I… live here?” Saki said, but it was more so phrased into a question with how confused she was. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Fuck.
Right.
She’s right.
“Ah, err - I was going to meet Tsukasa-senpai here today, but he had to go on committee duties so he told me to go on without him.”
“Uh-huh…” Saki nods, ever so slowly, as if she didn’t buy anything of what Akito said in the slightest. He sighs - not that he can blame her. Nobody knew that they were even friends in the first place, let alone something more than that.
“Well, come right in then, Shinonome-kun!”
What.
Noticing the visibly muddled expression on his face, Saki laughs and steps forward, pulling his arm. “I had no idea when you started hanging out with onii-chan, but if you’re waiting for him, then I could keep you company until he gets home! Toya-kun has told me a lot about you!”
Akito completely forgot that Toya was friends with Saki.
He prays to whoever out there that Toya didn’t say anything weird about him - but then again, it’s Toya. They can’t possibly say anything that bad, right?
So he tests his theory.
“Do they now?”
They both sit down on the sofa, Saki reaching for a star-shaped pillow, with Tsukasa’s name embroidered on it. She rests her head on top, “Well,” she starts, “They tell me about how much passion you put into achieving your goals and how hard-working you are and how they envy you…”
Off to a good start-
“Oh! They also tell me about how you’re never self conscious about your feelings and that it’s silly how oblivious you can be sometimes!” Saki boasts, looking almost ‘proud’ to have known about that piece of information.
-and we’re at a bad start.
Akito breathes out a chagrined chuckle, like he had been caught doing something that he wanted absolutely nobody to know, “That’s really embarrassing of them to say,” and really - it is. It really is.
Saki thought differently, however, “I don’t think that’s true!” she objects, “I have a friend who acts really similarly as you do, so I honestly think that it’s pretty cute!”
Cute?
Well, that’s a first.
Not a minute later, and Saki was already thinking of more things that Toya has told her about him, “Toya-kun also tells me about how you seem… happy whenever my brother comes up to the conversation as well.”
Ah. This isn’t good.
“...Do I?” Akito was puzzled. Surely, he wasn’t that obvious, right?
Shrugging, Saki says that that was what Toya had told her, so she couldn’t make a judgement herself - of course she couldn’t answer that question, you dumbass .
Saki pouts, “Onii-chan never told me he was so close to someone!” she lamented, “I mean, you two are close, right? I’m not misunderstanding anything, am I!?”
She was not, but Akito doesn’t want her to know that.
He doesn’t want her to think that they’re more than just friends , because what if she wasn’t accepting? Sure, she was now, but that’s because she’s under the impression that they’re friends , not in a romantic context, and hell, they don’t even have a label for whatever their relationship was - who the fuck needs labels anyways?
Great. Now his thoughts are jumbled up, and they’re going to get worse if he doesn’t do anything about his current predicament any time soon.
“You aren’t, don’t worry,” he assures her, “We only ever see each other in school, that’s all.”
Akito didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up like this.
“Really?” Saki inquired further, and when Akito didn’t respond for the first few minutes, she went back into thinking, perking up as if a lightbulb had popped above her head. “Ah! Is it possible that onii-chan has an admirer…!?”
He practically chokes on his own spit.
“A- An admirer?” Akito squeezes out - he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Are you not?” His eyes follow up to meet Saki’s curious gaze. He immediately looks back down onto his hands that were currently shaking on his lap, shame welling up in him - he couldn’t even look her in the eyes, and it’s even worse knowing that Saki is only asking in pure and good will.
He can’t keep this from her any longer. He wants to boast about how he was Tsukasa’s partner - wanted everybody to know about his relationship, wants to be proud of that fact, and the truth is just barely hanging by the tip of his tongue, waiting for him to spill everything out, about him, about Tsukasa, about them - but a part of him is reluctant.
The rational part of him is telling him that he should discuss it with Tsukasa first before disclosing it to Saki. If Tsukasa, Tsukasa who spends hours dedicated to bond with Saki, who would tell her anything and everything, didn’t say anything about him to her, then it’s something worth discussing before letting her know.
So out of consideration for Tsukasa, Akito chooses to bring the topic up another time.
“It’s… a bit difficult to explain,” he starts, and Saki’s listening to him with her full attention, again, with no ill intentions at all. Akito knows an honest person when he sees one, and Saki checks off everything that qualifies as one to him, if not more.
It makes him even more nervous than he already was - is that even possible?
“Toya originally introduced us to each other, and really, I didn’t feel the need to grow closer to him upon first meeting,” and it was true - keyword: was - but once more, she didn’t need to know that.
“Though, I saw him playing the piano in an empty classroom once,” this was something that Saki didn’t know. The surprise showed on her face, but she chose not to say anything before Akito was finished, “and I usually come by in my spare time to watch him whenever he plays, so that’s the gist of what ‘ we ’ are,” he gestures to himself, then to his left, the space devoid of a person who he wished was Tsukasa, “y’know?”
Saki nods fervently when he’s done with his short story, “So that’s how it is! Hehe, you guys unexpectedly make good friends!” She comments, and Akito couldn’t let himself get flustered by the fact that even Saki thought that they were compatible with one another, knowing fully well that she meant it platonically.
“…Yeah.”
That conversation he had with her that day was what led Akito to have a talk with Tsukasa about wanting to disclose their relationship to his sister. It took him a lot of thinking to bring this up to him, as he didn’t know how Tsukasa would respond. A week has passed since the initial talk with Saki, and he was back at the Tenmas’, this time, with Saki being away for the day.
They were about to reach the end of a song, but Akito felt like it would last forever. Thoughts occupied his mind, and never once would he have thought that he’d be thinking: I wish this song would end soon . With impulse running through his veins, he bumped his knee against Tsukasa’s, murmuring in a voice ever so quiet, “I want to talk about something.”
He finally dropped the words.
Tsukasa hummed, his fingers on the keys slowly coming to a stop. “What is it that leaves you troubled, Akito?” He turned to look at Akito, yet he was not bothered by the fact that he had suddenly cut their song short. He didn’t even react that much at all. “I’ve noticed that you’ve had your head up in the clouds ever since I got caught up on my committee duties about a week ago.”
Akito tenses, was he really showing it that much? Then again, Tsukasa has always been perceptive, especially when it came from him, so it wouldn’t be surprising to him that he had noticed something early on and continued observing him from afar - dare he even say that he expected this and had been waiting for Akito to bring it up.
He was so patient with him that it made Akito sick, like his heart was about to hop out of his chest at any moment while being in near proximity with Tsukasa, and sometimes, it felt like he was back to being a guy fawning over a crush, much so that he couldn’t sleep at night.
“It’s just,” Akito’s mouth clamped shut before he could get another word out. Tsukasa has his palm over his hand, gently brushing it with his calloused fingers, “Can we discuss this in your room instead?”
Tsukasa nods, slowly pushing the stool back, taking Akito’s hand in his. “Let’s go.”
The entire walk to his room was an obstacle of its own, with Akito getting progressively more restless as he kept catching Tsukasa’s worried glances at him. Each step up the stairs felt like he was treading on eggshells poking at his skin, and he felt sweat on his palms as he curled his fists, even in the well-conditioned space.
Akito hadn’t realized that the door was already open in front of him until he heard Tsukasa usher him inside. He awkwardly stepped inside, bowing his head down as an attempt to avoid eye contact. It didn’t go unnoticed.
It’s stupid as to how Akito’s even handling this in the first place. What was there for him to even be afraid of? It’s just Tsukasa, and he already learned his lesson the last time he decided to hide things from him.
Well, it wasn’t as if he stopped being secretive around him completely, but it wasn’t as if Tsukasa was any better than he was.
Fingers firmly yet so delicately secured around his wrist, they never left, even as Tsukasa led him to sit on his bed, mattress dipping as it held both their weights. It wasn’t his first time there, but it always shocks Akito whenever he’s in his partner’s room; it just looked so… unsettlingly average .
Looking back up at Tsukasa, he was returning the gaze with an air of expectancy layered beneath, but made no effort to rush Akito. He felt him squeezing his hands, silently urging him, encouraging him that he was there to listen to whatever he had to say.
Akito parts his lips open, letting himself breathe a little and to calm down - to collect himself, his thoughts, and to put sentences together.
When he closes his eyes, he slowly discerns the feeling of a warm embrace around him, face tucked into the soft fabric with the scent of fresh laundry filling his senses. Refreshing. He felt better already.
Opening them again, Akito feels Tsukasa on him, coming to a realization that the comforting things he had felt earlier were all Tsukasa , that he made him feel that way, that he made him feel sound and free of worry.
He takes the first step for him. For Tsukasa.
“Do you… want people to know about us ?” Akito whispered, and he could feel eyes peering at him, studying him, but he wasn’t as worried as he was earlier when Tsukasa answers him, murmuring in the sweetest tone he’s ever heard him use, “I don’t mind it,” the words tumble out, and Akito could already feel the tension beginning to trickle out of his nerves, “but do you want them to know?”
That stirred new thoughts in his head - Akito had been worrying about what Tsukasa thought so much that he forgot to ask himself: did he want people to know? Was he ready for it yet? It took him a while to process that it wasn’t just about Tsukasa, that his input was just as important.
A shared silence, Tsukasa rubbing his shoulders comfortingly. “Yeah,” Akito exhaled, he could feel his bottom lip trembling. “I want them to know.”
“Are you sure?”
Is he sure?
Tsukasa notices his pause. “We don’t have to jump head first into everything,” he began, “Who said that it had to be now?”
His words had sparked something inside of Akito, something that he never began to take into consideration, and he felt foolish for not even considering it in the first place. Tsukasa was right. It didn’t have to be now. He could take as long as needed to mentally prepare himself, and nobody would have the right to judge him for it. Nobody had to know now , but they will one day.
“I’m sure.” Akito looks him in the eye for the first time since they started their conversation, “I want them to know one day . I- I feel like they deserve to know, but…” He trailed off, though knowing that Tsukasa knew what he was hinting at.
At that, he felt two hands on his cheeks that started sliding up to tangle his fingers in Akito’s marmalade curls, bringing him to press his forehead against his.
“Not now?” he asks him, and Akito leans into the touch, softly sighing. “Not now,” he confirms, and Tsukasa smiles, slightly moving his face so he could plant a small kiss on his lips, quickly pulling away before Akito gets to react.
“Eventually,” Tsukasa whispered, “The world will know that this star is in a lovely relationship with one lovely Shinonome Akito.”
Feeling the heat spread through his cheeks all the way down to his neck, Akito allows his head to fall forward, slumping his body against Tsukasa as he wears a grin so large that he could almost feel his cheekbones start to hurt. He felt a light squeeze on his hands coming from Tsukasa, and he squeezed them back as a silent thank you.
The next day, Akito could sit next to Tsukasa without feeling dreaded, leaning on his shoulder, cheek squished against him while he hums whatever tune that comes to his mind, happy that there was nothing weighing on him anymore. He was glad to have the whole house to themselves these past few days, otherwise he might have just gone crazy over the week.
When a song ends, another one begins, and it’s a cycle that Akito indulges himself in, never bored and never wanting more or less of what they have now. Tsukasa’s skilled fingers never cease to amaze him, and he always finds himself earning the first row of a live concert by his one and only.
Tsukasa comes to an abrupt stop. “Hey, Akito.”
“Hm?”
“Could you try playing?”
Akito lifts his cheek up from where it rested on his partner’s shoulder. It’s been a while since he’s played anything on his own, but he figured that he’s gotten better over the course of the month. All thanks to the guidance of Tsukasa. He’s strangely good at teaching - his methods were easy to understand, but that’s a given, considering that he’s just that talented.
Not that he’d ever admit to his face.
Straightening his back, popping stiff bones, Akito muses, “...I guess I could try…” and the rewarding smile tugging on Tsukasa’s lips was already more than enough encouragement for him.
He starts off slow, just as Tsukasa had taught him. Piano takes time, and if you’re patient with it, then it will be patient with you. Akito isn’t at Tsukasa’s level yet - far from it, and he doubts that he’d ever be up there with him, but he’s happy enough to have him beside him like this.
Midway through the song was when Akito gained more confidence. The notes grew louder in volume, and his hands were moving like fluid, smooth and unwavering. He could feel Tsukasa’s eyes on him, yet he didn’t feel nervous. In fact, he wants him to keep looking at him, he wants him to be proud of him, to impress him.
The song ends, and Akito’s rendered to almost no words when he realized that he got through the entire song without any mistakes.
The distant sound of clapping made him steer his eyes away from the keys. “Fantastic! You’ve certainly improved a lot over the weeks! As expected of my Akito!” Tsukasa praised, and Akito’s face bloomed a bright shade of red, suddenly aware of what he’d just done. He actually played through it perfectly.
“T-Thanks,” Akito mumbled, looking away from his eyes as a pleasant warmth shot through his body, yet he still wanted something more than that. A prize for completing a song, perhaps? He directed his gaze which flickered around Tsukasa’s facial features, yet only one fully caught his attention.
Tsukasa wore a sly smile on his face - uncharacteristic of him, as he’s always been the one on the teasing end. “Where are you looking at, Akito?” He cooed, which only made Akito stammer in return. “N… Nothing.” His face was flushed to the brim with embarrassment.
The smile-turned-smirk on his face only appalled Akito even further, but Tsukasa only burst into vigorous laughter, leaving him all the more befuddled. “Why are you laughing…!?”
His question went unanswered as a gratifying grin now etched itself onto Tsukasa’s expression. “You are so cute,” he circled his arms around Akito’s shoulders, “If you wanted a kiss, you could have said so sooner, hahaha!”
“You’re so embarrassing, ‘Kasa-senpai.”
Tsukasa lets out a giggle, holding Akito’s face in his palms before he plants a chaste kiss on his left cheek, before he kissed his right, then his nose, even more giggles spilling out of him with endearment when Akito scrunched his face up, trying to feign annoyance yet not stopping him at the same time.
“Love you,” Tsukasa said between his attack of kisses on Akito’s face, “so much.”
Akito bit the inside of his cheek, lips quivering as he tried to hold in his own simpers, though inevitably letting a few titters out here and there from how much his kisses tickled, but that only egged Tsukasa on to kiss him even more.
“‘Kasa-senpai,” Akito gasped out through giggles, “That tickles…!”
Tsukasa smiled against his skin, pressing even more kisses on his cheeks, on his temple, on his forehead, “You say that, yet you aren’t telling me to stop.”
The affectionate banter between them went back and forth, with both of them being too occupied with each other to even notice the sound of the front door opening, much less the person that stepped inside and closed it behind them.
“Onii-chan!” Saki yelled out with her back turned to the door, walking towards the living room. “I’m…-” her words trailed off, dying on her tongue, “-home…?”
Tsukasa and Akito collectively jumped at the sound of Saki’s voice. Tsukasa quickly turned around, though keeping his hands stationed on Akito’s shoulders. “Saki! I hadn’t noticed that you’ve arrived home!” He tried to steer the topic away from them, but Saki ignored it completely, eyes as wide in surprise. This was the last thing that she expected to see coming home.
“Onii-chan…Shinonome-kun… A-Are you…!?”
Akito’s face gradually grew redder and redder - all that anxiety he went through to plan out how they’re gonna come out about their relationship to Saki went down the drain as soon as she had practically walked in on them doing something that friends shouldn’t be doing.
Out of embarrassment, Akito’s face fell on Tsukasa’s chest, hiding himself from his sister, letting out a groan in the process. He hoped that if he closed his eyes hard enough, then this would have just been a figment of his imagination - or maybe he’d be lying in bed when he opened his eyes back up again and this was all just a dream all along. Either option would be better than whatever was happening right now.
Tsukasa on the other hand, was thinking of several countless different scenarios alongside of just what he’s gonna explain to his sister knowing that Akito was clearly underprepared to have anyone know about their relationship, but… there’s no saving them now with how much she’s already seen.
Though, before he could get a word out, Saki gasped so loud that it even made Akito jolt in Tsukasa’s hold, “You guys are dating…!?” her jaw was practically on the floor, getting progressively hyper as shock laced her voice.
Everything that Tsukasa had thought about went completely forgotten as he could only mutter out, “...Surprise?”
That was all it took for Saki to practically burst into questions, one tumbling out after the other without giving either of them a chance to answer out of sheer excitement. “How long have you two been together? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You’re dating Shinonome-kun ?!”
“Calm down, Saki!” Tsukasa sputtered out, turning to Akito who was still trying to steer himself clear of any attention. Quietly to make sure that Saki couldn’t hear them, he asks, “Do you want me to…?”
Akito shifts uncomfortably, “There’s really nothing to hide from her anymore so whatever,” he grumbled out, trying to mask how mortified he was. “Okay,” Tsukasa confirms for him, and he lifts his head up to look at his sister who was now impatiently waiting for answers.
“So, Saki,” Tsukasa starts, “Akito and I are in a relationship of some form, yes.”
The grin that Saki wore on her face was wide, growing even wider as she exclaimed, “I knew it!” which made Akito whine in embarrassment knowing the fact that she had implied that he had a crush on Tsukasa during their talk a week ago, digging his face further into Tsukasa.
“A-Anyways,” Tsukasa feigns a cough, “We don’t have a definite label for what we are, so I hope you don’t find that odd.”
Saki shook her head, “It’s not weird at all!” she told him, “Either way, I’m still happy for you two!”
“Saki…” Tsukasa sounded like he was about to tear up.
Slightly moving his head so he could see Saki, Akito managed to mumble out a thanks to her through a voice muffled from the fabric of Tsukasa’s shirt while she only laughed in response. “You two are so adorable together!”
“Haha, but of course!”
“You two are the worst .”
They end up spending the evening with Saki offering Akito to stay for dinner, and with both of the Tenmas insisting that he joins them until he had to go back home, there was no way Akito could find it in himself to say no.
After they’ve eaten, they decided to chat a bit more in the living room, mostly about their relationship, how things have been going for them, and Saki expressed how honoured she was when she was told that she was supposed to be the first one that they planned to come out to.
Akito was still a bit jumpy around Saki, but he’s calmed down for the most part - she has a lot of energy, but not so much to the point of exhausting him. She’s pretty fun to get along with, actually. Saki’s very understanding about him and his relationship, and she seemed genuinely happy to know that someone like him is together with her brother.
While chatting on the couch, Tsukasa had fallen asleep at some point, head resting on Akito’s shoulder and tickling his neck. He could see Saki fiddling with her hands, and he feels a bit awkward when it’s just the two of them with Tsukasa sound asleep.
Akito tries to distract himself by playing with the strands of his partner’s hair, but falls short when he could practically feel Saki staring at them, as if she had something to say to him.
“...Do you want to say something to me?”
Saki’s eyes immediately darted away, “Aww…” She hugged her knees to her chest, yet still wearing a giddy smile on her face, “Was I being too obvious?”
“Sort of,” he paused, “Go ahead and say what you want to say.”
Grinning at the encouragement from Akito, Saki poked fun at him, “You’re so sweet,” she all but purred out, “It’s no wonder why onii-chan fell for you!” Laughing even more when Akito flushed, clearly not expecting her to say something like that. Was she staring at him just to tease him?
“Sorry, sorry.” Saki waved the previous topic away. “What I wanted to say was…” Akito looked at her, “I’m glad that onii-chan has somebody now.”
“...What do you mean?”
“Well,” she sits back up, hands brought closer to form a thinking posture, “I do think that it’s great that he has friends over at Phoenix Wonderland, and he really does seem happier nowadays,” the implication that Tsukasa was not as happy as he was now made Akito raise an eyebrow, but he lets Saki finish speaking. He’d inquire about it later.
“But the thought of him having someone who loves him just the same as he loves you is really reassuring to me.” She ends her sentence with a smile, glad to know that her brother won’t be as alone as he was all those years ago.
To say that Akito was surprised was an understatement. He never expected anything like this to come out of her.
Saki had faith in him.
She trusts him to take care of Tsukasa, and he’ll see it through.
“...Thanks.”
“Of cour-” Saki yawned midway through her sentence, “...Man, I’m sleepy,” she blinked herself out of her drowsiness, “I think I’m gonna go make some hot milk for myself, so I’ll leave you and onii-chan be for now!”
She got up, and left for the kitchen, leaving Akito alone with Tsukasa, who was still sleeping like a rock, loud snores coming from him that he couldn’t really be bothered to care about. He sighed fondly at the sight, gently caressing his cheek with his knuckles and brushing away the parts of his bangs that would cover his eyes.
Akito thinks that he’s found some new respect towards Saki. Were they close enough to be called friends now? He guessed that Saki would think the same. A few of what she said about Tsukasa had concerned him, but this wasn’t the right time to ask him about anything. He leaves him be for now, resting up and trapped in a warm embrace tangled with Akito. Somehow, he felt as if this was how everything was meant to be. Just him and Tsukasa.
Just the two of them.