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If there was one thing Asahi Shiina had to choose to love more than almost anything else, it had to be Fridays — specifically Friday evenings when school was over. Don’t get him wrong; he loved swim practice and his friends; in fact, that was another one of his favorite things, and for the most part, he also liked school. He was pretty popular; his more annoying traits had mellowed out a little bit with age, making him instantly more likable than draining to be around. It also helped that his family had ceased constantly moving about and settled roots in Iwatobi, allowing people to actually get to know him. This brought him back to his favorite thing about Fridays — Ikuya. Without fail, his best friend always came home with him every single Friday and stayed the night. It was the best part of his week, what Asahi looked forward to the most. It meant so many things. It meant that his mother would be more herself, would graciously make a feast and rent a bunch of movies for the boys to watch as if Asahi didn’t have a smart television with all the streaming services. She would smile, laugh, and ask actual questions. She would be present. She always woke up whenever other people were around. It also meant more Ikuya. More Ikuya was always a good thing to him.
“Asahi?”
The Shiina in question is immediately jerked from his thoughts, realizing his mother, with her ever-tired eyes, was trying to get his attention while the three of them were finishing dinner.
“Yes, sorry! Gotta lost in the cloud.”
Ikuya stifles a giggle behind his napkin. Asahi pokes him in the side in retaliation. It makes the boy giggle again. “I was asking about your school life. Anything new? Anyone special?” She asks, and Asahi feels his neck go warm. He brushes off the second part of his mother’s questions, a thickness in his throat that hadn’t been there before. “School is fine. I have a project for English class due by the end of the year. Gotta write a short story.” His mother hums, eyes actually sparkling with interest in what she hears for once. She’s here.
“Oh, how I hated English. I always felt it was pointless, but it didn’t help that my teacher was ugly. That teacher you both have — he’s the foreigner with the blonde hair and glasses? That’s a proper teacher if you ask me.”
Asahi lets out a scandalized gasp, and Ikuya falls into a series of delighted giggles that make his mother giggle, distracting Asahi. His heart swells with it. His mom hasn’t laughed like her old self in months, and Ikuya brought it out just by being Ikuya. He wipes his palms on his knees. Eventually, the giggles stop, and a warm comfort falls upon them. They’re all done eating by now, enjoying each other’s company. Finally, his mother extends the same question to Ikuya.
“What about you, hon? How’s school? I bet between the two of you the are girls panting.”
“Ma!”
He is thoroughly embarrassed now, ears bright red. He hates it when people talk like this, especially about girls. “Whaaaat?” She draws playfully, and Ikuya turns a light pink on his cheeks, which makes Asahi’s fingers itch. And his lips ache to just… Before Asahi can reply to cut that out, to not say those kinds of things to his friend, Ikuya replies. “There may be someone, but you wouldn’t know them. School is fine for me too. I’ve been looking into universities, thinking of what comes next.” His mother has more interest in the first part of his answer. “Oh, I’m so happy you’ve found someone! Be good to her, okay? And if Asahi does anything to keep you from being with her, I’m only a text away. Young love must blossom!” Asahi wants to groan, but his jaw sets stiffly. He knows Ikuya isn’t seeing anyone and has never seen anyone or expressed interest in anyone, but imagining him with anyone makes Asahi furious. He hates the imaginary other person. Hopes they die. Ikuya does not respond to her, but she doesn’t notice anyways. As they clean up for the night, she wishes them sweet dreams and kisses their foreheads lovingly before going upstairs to sleep. Before she goes, he sees her pull the sleeping medication she uses from her purse, and he sighs to himself. He knows she can’t sleep without it, but he hoped she wouldn’t tonight. If Ikuya notices it, he says nothing. But as Ikuya washes the dishes and Asahi dries them, their fingers meet every time Ikuya hands him a plate or a utensil, and every touch makes Ikuya blush again, makes Asahi’s heart skip a beat. Before they head up to Asahi’s room, they stop at the family shrine. They kneel at his family’s shrine, a picture of his father there — where he was laughing, and his eyes crinkle in the corners. “Good night, Mr. Shiina. Sleep well, okay?” Ikuya says in his gentle way, teal hair falling into his face from where he bows his head to the shrine. He stands and moves to the stairs, where he waits for Asahi. The sleeves of his sweater fall over his hands cutely, and Asahi’s lips burn again. “Hey, old man, just wanted to say love you. Please look over Mom and Akane for me. And Kon. Yeah… goodnight.” Asahi bows his head and rises to his feet. Ikuya gives him that special smile and takes his hand as they ascend the staircase to Asahi’s room. He stops on the way and peaks into his mother’s room to find her completely knocked out; alarm clock pointedly unplugged from the wall. He whispers his love to her, covering her up where she had fallen asleep before she could do it herself, slipping a pillow under her head. Later on, after showers, the boys lounge in Asahi’s room. The Little Mermaid plays in the background, Ikuya’s favorite movie of all time, and Asahi is focusing on his homework or at least trying to. His eyebrows furrow where he concentrates, the math page making his head hurt and eyes ache. It’s several minutes of hearing Ariel go on about mermaid life before Ikuya whines. “Asahiii.” He immediately turns, and if he feels any particular way, Asahi isn’t sure. But he knows his throat goes dry, and his palms itch. Where Ikuya sits cross-legged on his bed, teal locks falling into his eyes, he looks like a statue hand-crafted with love and care from marble. His eyes are shy, lips pouty.
Kissable.
And the sweater he had stolen from Asahi to sleep in hangs off one shoulder. It isn’t like he’s never seen Ikuya without a shirt on before — they’re on the same swim team and have competed together every summer since their first year of middle school. He’s seen him without clothes more than he has with his skin covered. Not to mention the latest adjustment to their friendship… but something about this feels so much different than all of that. It feels like something he shouldn’t be seeing, and a good friend would pull up the corner that hangs off almost far enough to show his nipple. Asahi Shiina is maybe not a good friend. Asahi’s mouth salivates. “Awww, is the little princess lonely?” He coos teasingly, and Ikuya’s pout worsens, cheeks puffing up. “Am not.” The other boy cuts his eyes, not unlike Haru when he’s trying to hide his real feelings. On Haru, it’s funny, but on Ikuya, it’s just… adorable. Asahi gets up and plops down on top of Ikuya, who squeaks at the impact of Asahi’s much larger frame smothering him. They lay like this, Asahi giving Ikuya all his attention with his body. Some may find Ikuya’s need for attention, his need to be seen even if being seen was sometimes too much in itself, to be annoying but it would never be too Asahi. He liked to spoil people but especially liked doing it for Ikuya. Ikuya was special. He doesn’t quite catch on immediately, but strong thighs wrap around his waist, arms linking behind him. And then Ikuya is kissing his neck, soft lips caressing his skin. It isn’t the first time or even the thousandth, but it never fails to send flames right through Asahi’s veins.
“Ikuya…”
He tries to pull up, but Ikuya whines so pitifully that it makes Asahi want to tear up. He has never been one to deny Ikuya a single thing, and he isn’t gonna start now. He does pull back, though, and Ikuya’s big amber eyes almost seem to swim with tears as he does. Like he’s afraid that this is the time Asahi will reject him. Ikuya’s hands come together over his chest in a way that is unbearably shy and painful, and he even moves to roll over. Away from Asahi, and he cannot have that. “Hey, hey, come back,” Asahi whispers, gently pushing Ikuya back in place as he settles into the space between Ikuya’s thighs. “Don’t run away.” He whispers, rose orbs staring into amber. Lips meet gently, with the same hesitation now that they always did when this usually started. Not because he didn’t want to, because that wasn’t true in the slightest. This always came with feelings Asahi didn’t quite understand. Was he gay? Asahi had always thought he was attracted to girls, and it wasn’t that he lacked their interest. He couldn’t go a day without having a small group of girls huddled nearby. But at the same time, this with Ikuya was more fulfilling to him than any fantasy he’d ever had about a girl when alone in his bed. More than anything he had found online, or read about in Akane’s smutty book collection. Ikuya was Ikuya, nothing else could compare to him, but Asahi didn’t know what that meant either. Ikuya’s whines changed from sadness to something entirely different, and the first shift of their groins rubbing made Asahi grip the headboard, tendons in his arms more prominent. They rocked together like this, and Ikuya’s smooth thighs returned to his hips which Asahi was incredibly grateful for as his fingers itched to smooth against creamy skin, to grip and massage. “A-Asa…” Ikuya is trying to say his name, but the short form only Ikuya called him came instead, and Asahi smirked. He loved Ikuya like this, drunk on his own hormones and needs. Like this, he can imagine them doing more than just grinding against each other, more than just kissing. It isn’t hard to imagine what Ikuya would be like if he managed to slip his fingers down to the cleft between his cheeks and rubbed or if he got more than just fingers there. But no, no, he couldn’t do that. “Fuck Ikuya!” He whispers open-mouthed against kiss bruised lips. The hesitation was gone now, replaced with a need to not just cum himself but to get Ikuya there as well. Their hips become more insistent — Asahi knows his mother won’t wake after her pills; not even the wrath of God would wake her until no later than midday tomorrow, so he knew the headboard softly thumping wasn’t a problem.
“Want!”
“What do you want? Tell me.”
“Asa…” Ikuya’s eyes are closed, but he can tell it isn’t just from pleasure but also shyness. Fear. Asahi hated Ikuya being afraid of anything ever but, above all him. “Come on. Tell me.” His hips slow, frustratingly so, and his hand leaves Ikuya’s thigh to cup his cheek. “Tell me, Kuya.” A few more minutes and Ikuya opens his eyes. “I want you inside….” His hands rub at his own stomach, and Asahi very nearly goes blind with the want of it.
“Inside?”
Ikuya nods, and it clicks. “Ikuya, let's…” How does he say that up until now that he’s been able to do this because it’s just been kissing and some grinding? That he’s scared of what it means to actually fuck a guy? How does he begin to say without hurting the only person he cannot stand to hurt? People in Iwatobi were kind and accepting. Lots of gay people came to the coastal town to be in peace; in fact, his neighbors Allegra and Jasmin were lesbians and had been feeding him almost every night since his dad passed. Iwatobi was a placed where people judged you for your kindness, not your identity. But that was one thing. He didn’t know how to… “It’s okay.” Ikuya whispers. He leans up and kisses Asahi as if to make him forget. But Asahi cannot forget it. Won’t. This, with Ikuya, was the best thing he had going for him. Better than the team, better than his stupid part-time job at the shop, better than anything at home. He didn’t want to fuck it up like everything else he did.
“Let me just… let me figure it out first.”
Figure what out exactly Asahi didn’t know, but he would work on it. He’d do it for Ikuya. It wasn’t like Asahi was one of those people. He knew most of his friends were gay or on that spectrum somewhere, knew that Ikuya was, and he loved them all and was proud of them for being them. Would fight to the death for them all. But that was different. What was he? Who was he? Was he gay for this? Did he have to be? The other boy seemed to accept this, and soon Ikuya was rutting against his thigh, and Asahi was peppering kisses down Ikuya’s throat until he reached that bare shoulder that had teased him earlier. He doesn’t care that this is his shirt, that he’s stretching out the neckline even more by pulling it down. He doesn’t care because his lips seal around a perky nipple and lavish it with the tender love and care owed to it. And Ikuya seems to see stars because he grips red strands of hair so tight Asahi swears he lost hair from it and cries out into the night. His lithe form dances in Asahi’s hands where he holds those narrow hips, and Asahi is suddenly aware of something wet dripping. He mournfully releases the nipple inside his mouth to see Ikuya’s release dripping down the inside of his thigh, pearly white and mesmerizing. It never failed to amaze Asahi that he could do this to Ikuya, and his fingers danced around the fluid, rubbing it into his skin. There’s silence as Ikuya comes down, the redheaded boy placing gentle kisses on his face while he does — eventually, they speak.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“You didn’t…”
Asahi is now incredibly aware that his cock is so hard he feels a gentle breeze could snap it hard. To be fair, Ikuya usually gets him this way, so it’s almost expected. “Oh… yeah, I can go-”
“No.”
“No?”
Ikuya wiggles impatiently, slapping at Asahi’s sweaty shoulders until he can escape. Asahi, even in the room's low lighting, is incredibly aware of the teeth marks on Ikuya’s skin. He doesn’t feel bad but does worry about if Natsuya or anyone else saw. He is suddenly aware that Natsuya is much bigger than him and has other friends bigger than Asahi who would maybe happily beat him into a pulp for touching Ikuya. Despite his near always absence, Natsuya was very protective of his brother. The boy in question pushes him over onto his back, the tenth in his shorts so big he fears he’ll rip the fabric apart.
“Ikuya?”
“Shhh. Wanna make you feel good too.”
Graceful hands open his bedside table and pull out the half-empty bottle of lube he has, and Asahi almost protests because Ikuya doesn’t have to do all this when he perches, not unlike a cat, down on his thighs. Fingers grip the waistband of his shorts, and his cock is now visibly throbbing. Strong fingers wrap around Ikuya’s dainty little wrist, and Asahi bites his lip. He knows Ikuya’s intent and that they’ve never gone this far. It’s always been limited to grinding, maybe light touches, and kissing. Ikuya smiles warmly and leans over to kiss him. “Don’t be scared. It’s just me.” And it is just Ikuya, but it can also never be just Ikuya. He could never label Ikuya as something so simple. Ikuya was so many things and more. But Asahi relaxes, and Ikuya takes this as the clear invitation that it is to proceed. Ikuya only pulls them down far enough to release his leaking cock and intensely throbbing balls, relieved at being freed. It slaps wetly against his abs, where his shirt is pushed up nearly to his pecs, and a string of precum connects between his flushed head and where it had hit. Ikuya stares in awe at him, and Asahi blushes furiously. “It’s so… big.” The smaller whispers, and he runs a finger down the length of it, from tip to base, which makes Asahi his. And look, Asahi had always considered maybe he wasn’t average, but then again, what was average? He was a secure guy for the most part, so he had never even considered looking it up online, and of course, he isn't the type to look in the locker room after swim practice to see what the other had going on. He was pretty sure Makoto was packing major heat, though, and Sousuke over at Samezuka. “Is… is that bad?” Asahi asks, suddenly self-conscious. He didn’t wanna have a freakish dick. “No. That’s really good.” He hums, and without his consent, his cock jumps in interest of its own volition, a fat glob of precum beading at his head where Ikuya inspects it. Here they were, just two guys who had known each other since middle school, and one was totally checking the other’s dick out like it was a brand new specimen of some animal no one had ever seen. “Can I?” Ikuya asks, and he takes a big deep breath before nodding at his best friend. The cap on the lube pops open like a gunshot, and Asahi steadies his nerves for what is coming, and Ikuya giggles sweetly at the obvious nerves. He gives Asahi the benefit of warming the lube in his palms before taking hold of Asahi’s manhood like a tool to be cherished. Something sacred to him. Asahi nearly sees God.
Tight. Slick. Smooth.
Those are his thoughts as he watches with heavily lidded eyes, watches his best friend use both hands to jack him off. He’s getting his first-ever handjob, and it’s better than anything he’s ever done to himself in his whole eighteen years of life. Ikuya’s hands are soft, and he carefully rotates his wrists. He has this very intent look on his face like he is concentrating very hard, and maybe he is because Asahi has never seen Ikuya not take anything seriously in his life. There is a filthy shlick shlick that fills his bedroom, and too soon, much too soon, Asahi can feel the crest rising. Shit, he’s leaking like a broken faucet and Ikuya seems to love it.
“Fuuuuck, Ikuya, I’m so close already.”
Ikuya doesn’t say anything or stop; in fact, his hands seem to grow more insistent but do not change speed. Asahi grips the headboard and his pillow, muscles bulging. Usually, Asahi can tell what kind of orgasm he’s gonna have, and he can tell now that he’s probably gonna leave this dimension just by the surging in his balls, the way he can feel the load traveling up through his body. “Oh fuck Kuya, I can’t- Shit, I can’t stooo- god fucking!” The world goes white for no less than what feels like a century. When he comes to, Ikuya is milking out the remnants of his load onto his fingers, and he can tell two things: he has never cum that hard, and he has absolutely covered them both in perhaps the biggest load ever produced in his life.
“I-Ikuya…”
He doesn’t know what to say. That this was the best orgasm of his life? That his best friend is undoubtedly the handjob master? Thank you? His chest is heaving, sweat slick on his skin. He watches as Ikuya, like a cat, licks the cum from his hand with the pinkest tongue to ever exist. Amber eyes sparkle with pleasure, and soon Ikuya is leaning over Asahi. He is licking the ejaculate from his body with careful strokes of his tongue that make the larger of the two whimper tiredly. By the time he reaches Asahi’s face, he realizes it too late he had gotten some there too, had shot further than he realized. Ikuya, of course, doesn’t even second guess licking his jaw clean.
“Ikuya…”
“You taste really good.”
Asahi is stunned. He is not disgusted; he is so turned on that he can barely think. What the fuck is even happening in his life right now? “That was… fucking amazing.” Asahi finally answers, body slightly shaking still from the orgasm that rocked his entire plane of existence. “If you want, I’ll do it again for you sometime.” Because, of course, this isn’t the last time — Asahi doesn’t even know how many nights have ended similar to this. “Yeah… Yeah I would love that! But first.” Asahi kisses him, and Asahi can taste himself there on Ikuya’s tongue, and the other boy is very happy to be kissed. It feels almost like he’s claimed the boy.
Maybe he has.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Ikuya wakes up in the morning, it’s to an empty bed with no warmth from his favorite companion. He isn’t cold but he does wish the window was open to let in fresh air, but he also misses Asahi’s body heat to keep him toasty.
Asahi.
Just thinking the name makes his heart do a couple of backflips, and if Ikuya manages a happy little sigh and a sleepy little grin then that’s just his own business. Ikuya doesn’t understand why he’s so happy, it isn’t like he and Asahi are dating, though that certainly isn’t from lack of Ikuya trying. It isn’t like he’s trying to force himself on Asahi, because he would never do something like that, but Ikuya has certainly spent the better part of five months trying to get Asahi to see that they were more than just friends.
Just friends don’t make out pretty much every day, cuddle and sleep in the same bed, and make each cum on a consistent basis.
He was in love with Asahi, and boy if he wasn’t getting real fucking impatient with the clueless redhead. Ikuya knows Asahi wants him, why can’t Asahi also see it? How many times did they have to do this in the dead of night in Asahi’s bedroom before the reality of it would actually sink in? He knew facing one’s identity was a process, that not all had the blessing of just knowing who they were like Ikuya had. He had even spoken to Makoto about it numerous times, though never had come right out with the why or who he was talking about. Ikuya would never risk possibly outing Asahi, not even to their friends. He just… desperately wanted this more than he had ever wanted anything in his whole life.
He sighs, jumping out of bed. He quickly sheds his clothes, unworried about Asahi’s mother seeing him in the nude on his way to Asahi’s bathroom for a shower, bag in hand. Asahi may not see it, whether by choice or cluelessness, but Ikuya’s cousin Keiko wasn’t in a place too different than Asahi’s mother and for similar reasons, had been for years until his mother stopped letting her come around. Ikuya knew addiction when he saw it and knew one thing — it was that even if she was awake by this time, she wouldn’t remember a thing. She probably didn’t even remember their dinner last night.
Ikuya knew she didn’t need his pity, but he felt sorry for her. He had known the woman for years, and she had always been kind to him. Eccentric, perhaps a little bit, but kind. He hated to see her struggling, suffering with her grief like this. He hated even more that Asahi was subjected to it, handling it alone. Maybe he even hated Akane a little bit for not seeing what was happening and doing something to help. He didn’t care that she had her own life happening with a baby on the way and a brand new business to manage, she had effectively abandoned Asahi in Ikuya’s eyes and he found himself resenting her for it.
After his shower he made his way quietly downstairs, bags in hand and hair still slightly damp. Ikuya had been expecting to find Asahi waiting for him, eager to begin their weekend, but he finds instead that the kitchen is sadly empty, no sign of Asahi anywhere, but a plate of breakfast food wrapped on the counter does catch his amber eyes.
In Asahi’s messy handwriting, a Post-It note is carefully placed on the covered plate.
Ikuya! Decided to go into the shop today for some extra cash — Ken needed the help. Please take this offering of foodstuffs as my most humble apologies, but I’ll see you in a few hours! A little arrow points to the back, and Ikuya flips the note. Makoto texted that the team wants to go to Samezuka for a friendly match later! You in?
Ikuya scoffs, his frown fighting to turn into a grin as a poorly drawn figure of Little Iwatobi, their swim team’s mascot, swimming next to a screaming shark mascot takes up the rest of the back. Ikuya pockets the note, shouldering his bag and grabbing the plate of food even if he would rather toss it just to be petty — unfortunately, his hunger won out over his hurt feelings of Asahi halfway screwing him and leaving with the sunrise. In his own home, no less. Ikuya eats the food on his walk home, moodily munching on pancakes that somehow have syrup cooked into them. He tries to figure out how he did it in his head while also mentally stabbing Asahi with knives when his phone starts vibrating, mouth full of sweet pancake when he answers.
“Hey, Nagisa.”
“Iku!” He hears the younger boy call out to him in that shrill way of his, barely containing his own grin — he doesn’t want to be happy after being effectively ditched mid-sleep like a drunken college misadventure, even if Nagisa has a way of infecting him with happiness. He loves all of Nagisa’s little nicknames for everyone, though he much more prefers Asahi’s own nickname for him.
“Wassup?” The words come out a little muffled due to the food, and Nagisa blanks momentarily.
“Wait — are you eating without me!?” The accusation makes Ikuya wince, holding the phone between his shoulder and ear as he sticks a whole piece of bacon in his mouth — floppy, just the way he likes it.
“No! Of course not.”
“Liarrrr!” The boy whines, and he can vividly see the way he would stomp his feet petulantly. Before Ikuya can reply, there is the sound of two people arguing before another voice takes over.
“Ikuya?” He hears Hiyori, also hearing the sounds of struggle as he holds the phone out of reach. Hiyori is surely holding Nagisa back by his forehead as he usually does.
“Hey, Hiyori. What’s up?”
“Oh not much, just making sure you got Asahi’s note?”
“Yeah,” He grumbles, and he is absolutely sure Hiyori catches it. They’ll definitely be talking about it later. “What time?”
“Makoto said Asahi told him he’d be off by one or two o’clock, and giving an hour or so for travel and showers, maybe three o’clock? That sounds okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just be prepared to lose.” He taunts, shoving more bacon in his mouth and crunching loud enough for Hiyori to hear. He can almost hear the eye roll before Nagisa gets the phone back.
“I’m coming over and you better have food for me when I get there!”
——————
Ikuya, in fact, did not have any food for Nagisa when the blonde came barreling through his front door, making Ikuya’s mom giggle at his antics. Ikuya does treat Nagisa to Bow Bows to make up for this ‘devastating blow to their friendship’ as the blonde puts it. By the time they had reached Samezuka at 1:45, Nagisa was shoving not his second, not his third, but the remnants of his fourth cheeseburger in his mouth.
“You know you’re going to get cramps from eating right before swimming, right?” Ikuya fiddles with the strap of his duffle bag.
“That is scientifically untrue!”
“Inaccurate.”
“Nuh-uh!” Comes Nagisa’s childish reply, and he runs around Ikuya with his arms outstretched like the wings of an airplane.
“No I mean-”
“Hey, guys!” Ikuya’s attention is immediately taken from Nagisa’s antics, gaze drawn to the entrance of Samezuka Academy where Asahi stands waiting, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans.
“Asahiii!” Nagisa calls shrilly, and it makes the redhead laugh as the smaller of the three flies at Asahi like the flightless bird he is, clinging to the taller boy with all his might. Asahi holds him for a moment before lowering Nagisa to his feet, ruffling his blonde curls.
“Surprise! I got off early!” Asahi announces, arms spread wide to Ikuya as if expecting a hug as he would usually receive — they were always affectionate, even in public where some people tended to be more conservative with their affection. Asahi was so used to it that he had grown accustomed to his open arms always being filled with his friend whenever he wanted. Ikuya instead turns his nose up and his body toward the entrance with a sharp movement, cutting Asahi off without a word. Asahi stands there, mouth agape in surprise. Nagisa definitely notices the exchange, or the lack of one.
“Yikes! Any colder and you might have gone full ice age!”
“Yeah.” Asahi nods, swallowing. Had he done something wrong? He thinks over the entire day. He’s still thinking in the locker room when they’re changing and Ikuya is definitely not paying him any attention, and thinking even harder as they all take turns warming up. The background chatter doesn’t even register to him, can just hear the way Nagisa calls out to Aii who he chases around the pool with threatening fingers that dance at the silver-haired boy’s sides and the conversations he makes with Romio and Shizuru when Makoto calls out to him to quit running.
“Asahi.” He’s torn from his thoughts as Makoto nudges him, green eyes regarding him thoughtfully. He can see something is wrong.
“Sorry cap! My turn?” He asks, masking his thoughts and emotions as best he can as he steps up, slipping his cap over his hair and goggles over his eyes. Rei is coming up now, just seconds away from reaching him. The second Rei touches the pool wall he shoots off the starting block like a torpedo.
Unfortunately, that’s as good as it gets for Asahi — he’s slow, and distracted, and even though it’s only a friendly match as an excuse for them all to hang out, he’s disappointed that they lose the relay because of it. Everyone tries to tell him it’s okay, even Gou with her crimson doe-eyes and cheeks that always go a little pink whenever she’s around him. It should make him feel better, and it almost does when she hugs him and makes him laugh with a comment about Rei’s first attempts at swimming, but he catches Ikuya’s antarcticly cold gaze and his heart takes a swan dive straight through his bowels when his lov- no, his best friend turns and walks off to the guest locker rooms with all his usual grace but none of the warmth he normally had.
“Hey. Excuse me, I just remembered something I gotta tell Ikuya.” It’s a dreadful lie, but Gou doesn’t seem to catch it despite how eagle-eyed she normally is about those kinds of things, thankfully. His feet slap wetly on the tile, and he ignores Makoto being a mother hen once again as he calls to Asahi to not run.
The locker room door nearly slams against the wall when he bursts through it, and Ikuya jumps where he stands at his locker, caught in the middle of pulling his black Calvin Kleins up his thighs. It isn’t like Asahi hasn’t ever seen Ikuya in a state like this, but it’s more skin than he expected to see. His eyes trail, lingering on the shape of Ikuya’s backside and the perfect peach shape of it. It makes his skin tingle as if Ikuya were dancing his fingers over his body like he sometimes did when they laid in bed together.
Ikuya scoffs when he takes notice of Asahi’s attentions, jerking the material up his thighs as if it had offended him. It does nothing to shield his body, as there’s little cloth to do much seeing as it’s little more than a thong, to begin with, but Asahi does manage to turn his gaze to the back of Ikuya’s head. “I’m sorry if I did something to upset you.”
“You didn’t. I’m perfectly fine.”
“No, you aren’t. Please just tell me so I can fix it.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Asahi crosses the locker room in five steps, standing almost directly behind Ikuya. “Well, I am. I don’t like this. Just tell me.” He pleads, wringing his hands at his sides.
“You weren’t there this morning. You left.”
Oh. Oh.
“Ikuya… I didn’t think I just-”
“It’s fine. Don’t even worry about it.” The boy had finished dressing, and shut the locker closed with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. Asahi catches his elbow and pulls Ikuya back as he moves to step around Asahi, pressing the smaller back against the locker.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t do it to hurt you, I just didn’t wanna wake you up because I know your insomnia has been bad lately and you were sleeping well. I’m sorry.” He presses his forehead against Ikuya’s, cupping his cheeks with his hands. “Please believe me. I just wanted to get some extra cash for us, for when…”
“For when?”
“When we go out sometime.”
“Out?” The word hangs between them, Ikuya’s eyes all wide and cute when he gets genuinely surprised. It makes Asahi’s chest get all warm and tight. Like something is gripping his heart. God what even is this? What are these feelings supposed to be?
“Yeah. I was thinking we could go to the movies or something. If you want.” He replies, voice going shy and small. Nervous.
This seems to calm the storm within Ikuya even if only just a little, but the smile that had nearly crossed his face falls into a frown, and Asahi wants to punch the air as if to say ‘Fuck you, gods! Just let me have this!’ or something else along those lines. “I saw you.”
“You saw me?”
“Yeah. With Gou, by the pool.”
Asahi tilts his head to the side, and to Ikuya he doesn’t look too different from a retriever hearing a strange noise. “Okay… What about that?”
“You both seemed close. It was very cute.”
His tone suggests it was anything other than cute and Ikuya has turned his face away from Asahi, glaring off at nothing just like he had learned from Haru. Asahi nudges Ikuya’s cheek with his nose, which has puffed up a little with a pout.
“She was just hugging me, Ikuya.”
“That wasn’t just hugging. She plastered herself all over your half-naked body and you didn’t seem to mind one bit, in fact, you seemed to enjoy it. I know she did.” Ikuya wants to regret it as soon as he says it, and he does a little bit. Gou is his friend, a good one, and here he is in his head feeling she’s trying to steal something from him. He hates her for the idea and himself for thinking it. Hates it because Asahi is not his and never will be. If Gou tried hard enough she and her short skirts and perky breasts would have Asahi and he would be a short-lived memory Asahi would never tell anyone about twenty years from now, about the time he got some stupid gay boy to jack him off and fall in love with no effort on his part. He hates her for it.
“Nooo.” Asahi does his best impression of Nagisa, but he isn’t half as heart-warming as their younger friend. “That was nothing. Gou is just a friend, you know that.”
“Maybe someone should tell her that.”
“She knows we’re friends.”
“No, she knows that she has a crush on you and you don’t do anything to deter it.”
“Why does she maybe having a crush on me bother you, and why should I bother embarrassing her by calling her out?” Asahi stops for a second before a shit-eating grin takes over half of his face. “Ikuya Kirishima… are you jealous?”
Asahi’s face could have melted straight off his head from the scorching, venomous glare directed at him. He half expects Ikuya to spit venom at him, like one of those dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. “No,” the teal-haired swimmer hisses at him, pushing with all his strength at Asahi’s chest. He hates how Asahi doesn’t move even an inch despite the effort he had put into it. “I couldn’t care less. We’re just friends and I don’t ne-”
“Boy, if you don’t…” Asahi pushes Ikuya back against the lockers with much greater strength than Ikuya has, hands coming to rest on either side of his head. In that moment Ikuya is painfully aware that Asahi is much stronger than him. “I. Don’t. Want. Gou.” Each word is said slowly, carefully, clearly trying to drill the words into Ikuya’s psyche so he can’t mince them in the way he always manages to. “She’s just my friend. Even if she has a crush on me it doesn’t matter. I don’t want her.”
Ikuya stares at him all wide-eyed, mouth hanging open in a perfect o-shape. After a few moments of silence, Ikuya speaks. “Then what do you want, Asahi?”
“I… I just…” Ikuya sighs in half annoyance and half hurt and maybe more than half exhaustion, and he clearly means to slip away but Asahi crowds him back in with his body. “Look I know you’re tired of me, I know it. I just… I don’t know what I am or what this all means.” The words are rushed, and he rests his forehead back against Ikuya’s. “I’m not Makoto and Haru, okay? I wasn’t born just knowing what it all means. Please just… please just be patient with me? Please?” Asahi is one second from going to his knees to beg, but it seems to break something in Ikuya.
“I don’t want to go to the movies. Take me to the zoo.”
Asahi grins, and he pulls Ikuya to his chest to crush the younger with a hug. “I’ll take you anywhere you wanna go.”
They stand like this, chests rising and falling and looking into the pools of each other’s eyes, until Nagisa bursts in and they separate as quickly as possible.
“Guuuys hurry up! I’m hungry again!”