Chapter Text
“I think that’s everything…” Approximately ten minutes after entry, Akito and Touya departed from the store, hands glued together as they often were. In his non-occupied hand, Akito held a bag of flour… and after Touya had looked at him with eyes exhibiting the brightest stars, an expression that prompted more terror than adoration, some cookies and coffee jelly too.
While they had been shopping, Akito had silently wished Len had not gotten his boyfriend hooked on coffee jelly. Although he was equally as attached to the virtual singer as Touya was, he had grown used to being the younger sibling rather than the caretaker of a younger sibling… and, if Akito were to be honest? He could understand his older sister’s frustrations.
Though, he hoped to never have such a thought again, for Ena would mock him relentlessly if she found out. Some things are best left unspoken… sometimes not for sake of the listeners wellbeing, but the speakers.
“Yep, we’ve got what Saki asked for…” Touya checked the time on his phone, still clinging to Akito, then put it back in his pocket as he turned to face his partner. As he did so, using the telepathic tendencies he had developed since he first met the other, Akito instantly understood what was on the tip of his tongue and spoke for him.
“You wanna go to Ken-san’s café to see if An and Kohane are there, right? Since they’re inseparable and all…” Saying that, Touya squeezed his hand and chuckled, silently critiquing the hypocrisy of such a statement. “I can head back to your place and let the others know where you’re at. Just so Tsukasa-senpai doesn’t have me sacrificed, as I’m sure he’d take my head if I lost you…” Once again, Touya laughed.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t be that dramatic about it all… he knows I trust you, so surely he’d trust you too, hm?”
“‘ That dramatic’? Touya, love. This is Tsukasa Tenma-senpai . He’s set fireworks off in the courtyard-” Touya quickly interjected with an ‘actually that was Kamishiro-senpai’, though it was ignored, “and he literally sprinted from our school to Miya Girls MORE THAN ONCE just to see if Saki was okay.” As he often did, Akito spoke with his hands, waving the one holding the back around, somewhat unaware of the possible flour-splosion that could occur at any given moment.
It was sweet, really. Touya had always communicated with actions rather than words, due to an inability to express the words within his brain - ‘what use is eloquence in vocabulary when you cannot apply it to verbal communication?’, is something he often heard from his father, as his inability to express himself was another thing that prompted his father’s frustration. It’s not like he intended to struggle, but ignorance towards a struggle doesn’t miraculously make it go away as he wished he could have said.
Akito had been one of the first people to accept this, and to not question his struggles with socially acceptable expression. He knew Touya well, and rather than making an initial judgment of him being cold and emotionless and mentally pushing him into this box that had no correlation to the truth, he took the time to learn the way Touya expressed himself. Not everyone’s brains are wired the same - something you’d think would be common sense was something Akito had to remind others… and himself sometimes too, when he split on himself and could not offer himself basic kindness due to the instability he experienced at that moment in time.
So, as Touya had always done, Akito had begun to express himself through physical acts, too. Somewhat to offer Touya solidarity, and somewhat for comfort.
“Well, I personally think Tsukasa is perfectly fine as he is,” in his whirlwind of thoughts, Akito had temporarily forgotten the catalyst for said thoughts, and visibly cringed when the cause of his elaborate gestures was once again brought up by Touya, “but each to their own.” As his words trailed off, he brought Akito’s face closer to his, only to briefly pause as he thought about what he was doing. “Can I kiss you goodbye?” Their faces were inches apart, and Akito only stared into his boyfriend’s eyes for a millisecond before closing the gap and kissing him on the lips. He sacrificed holding Touya’s hand for his face, and he could feel the heat rising on his boyfriend’s face… though, there was definitely some ambiguity as to whether it was actually Touya blushing or whether it was Akito as well. After the expression of affection, Akito pulled away and couldn’t help but grin at his adorable partner, who had turned a red so vibrant that Ena would wish she could pour it onto a canvas if she saw it.
“You’re so adorable, dumbass.” All Touya could do in response was nod. As often stated, Touya was not one for words, though this time it was due to a certain ginger rather than his brain’s wiring. “I’ll see you in a bit, okay? Don’t be late, or Tsukasa-senpai won’t be listening to any form of reason…” He shuddered at the concept of not one but two Tenma’s panicking about the third Tenma’s whereabouts.
“Right. See you.” With a wave, they went their separate ways - Akito went the way they came, and Touya turned towards the streets, following a route all too familiar to him.
They say when you go down a path familiar to you, the time breezes by.
Well, it was argued to be true by a psychologist, and they’re hired to understand people’s brains.
As Touya walked the path to the café he frequented with his groupmates, he internally agreed with this statement. He was the type to blast music in his ears as he walked, swiftly and with purpose, as he admired the cosmogyration of the stars above him. While he could not see the pace at which they spun and rotated around him, and the ways of which they lost their ability to shine, he always acknowledged their presence and the vast wonders of the universe.
How strange, to think that the cosmos above him had long since burnt out, yet he looked up at them on nights where he had also burnt out and still saw them for their shine… pondering on the nature of the universe would not miraculously revive the stars, yet it still felt reasonable to respect what remained of the lost.
After all, though they no longer had fuel, they used what strength they had left to pass on the energy to shine to any spectators.
And, well, wouldn’t you shine too, if you were therefore honouring the wishes of celestial beings?
Cutting his internal monologue about stars short, and therefore proving the aforementioned hypothesis regarding time going fast, Touya found himself in front of the café. His heart began to race in a sense of dread, fearing An and Kohane weren’t here and his trip was for nought.
But, with a sixth sense to sense her group members dread, An exited the café and stared at him as he stared in.
“Touya? Are you coming in or what?” At the sound of his name, he flinched, only to process An’s voice and calm down.
“Ah.. yeah. Sorry, I didn’t realise you could notice me.”
“It’s okay! You weren’t there for long, Kohane pointed you out. Come in, come in!” She ushered her friend inside, where he was greeted by a tired Kohane fiddling with her camera. How… Oddly perfect. “Would you like anything while you’re here, or is it just a quick pit stop?” As An unintentionally interrogated Touya, Kohane looked up, and waved at the two of them.
“Ah, Aoyagi-kun! It’s good to see you here… we’ve been so worried when you randomly stopped showing up to practice.” Kohane spoke softly. Her voice had always felt like such a contradiction to Touya, but in the best way possible. She seemed sweet, to a point people always assumed she was just a hollow ‘shy girl’. Although an assumption of shyness wasn’t exactly off (but it was absolutely understandable, new people are terrifying), she had one of the most powerful voices ever encountered in the field of street music, and her talent to make all heads in a room turn and acknowledge her strong presence was not one to ignore. An absolutely incredible leader… to dub his feelings towards her ‘envy’ would be incorrect, it was more… admiration. He admired her. And she admired and appreciated all her group mates, too.
“Sorry for disappearing all of a sudden… some stuff happened, and-”
“Okay, I don’t mean to interrupt you, but there’s no need to apologise in such a sad tone, Touya!” An cut through his words, commenting on a tone he hadn’t even realised was there. She patted him on the back and once again ushered him in her direction of choice, though it was just a few steps. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to, it’s entirely your choice as to what you tell us. We’ll respect you either way!”
“Yeah!” Kohane chirped in agreement, and Touya remembered how comforting these two had always been, even if it were completely unintended.
“Although, it was kinda funny. Akito was full on panicking, he’d like… convinced himself you’d dropped off the earth! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in such a frenzy!” While An laughed at his boyfriend’s behaviour, guilt flooded through Touya’s bones; although he struggled to recognise his own expressions at times, he could feel his face fall.
“Hey, it’s okay… she’s exaggerating, I promise you didn’t upset Akito…” Whispering reassurance, Kohane seemed to pick up on Touya’s internal reaction and helped the temporary panic to leave his body entirely. “What brings you here so late, anyway?” Touya scratched the back of his head as he looked away from the two staring at him.
“Ah, it’s… embarrassing, but… Azusawa-san, do you have any photos of us as a group on your camera?” At the mention of photography, Kohane’s eyes lit up, mirroring the flash of photography.
“Yes…! I have that one from Phoenix Wonderland, that one time we went for my birthday, and I also have a few from after our shows…” As if her voice would run away without her, Kohane’s pace sped up at the mention of a passion of hers, only for it to quickly fade out when she noticed two pairs of starstruck eyes on her - Touya was starstruck as his goal could be achieved, and An was starstruck because she loved her girlfriend’s passion so much. “Ah, sorry, I started rambling…”
“No no, keep going, Kohane! You don’t have to go quiet for anyone!” Touya nodded in enthusiastic agreement, and gestured to the camera, allowing Kohane to continue speaking.
“Ah, okay…! Well, I have a lot of pictures of us as a group, and I have some of you and Akito too, if I scroll through…” With the assumption he’d been prompted to look, Touya stood behind Kohane and stared at all the photos she’d taken. Although some were interesting - like photos of Kohane’s snake wearing a hat reminiscent of hers - all he could notice was just how much An was in these photos. So much so, that he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.
“Just like Saki…”
“Tenma-san…? What about her?” Oops. He hadn’t meant to mention Saki out loud.
“Ah, it’s just… your camera roll is so full of An,” hearing this, An melted into a puddle and Kohane almost did the same, “and it reminded me of my sister. She’s the same with her band, Leo/need, but I’m sure you know that. Aren’t you classmates with Hinomori-san from Leo/need?”
“I am!” She laughed and continued looking through her camera roll, hoping to find at least one picture of Akito and Touya. Almost instinctively, she had figured out his aim behind his query, and had no intentions to let him leave empty handed. “Though, I have to ask… what’s your phone gallery like?” Touya froze.
Ah, right.
The joys of hypocrisy.
Defensively grabbing his pocket, he realised how he’d been foolish to let his guard down for too long, and saw An unlock his phone with the password she’d seen him enter too many times.
Note to self: do not let your friend see you enter your password which is also your birthday because she will use it against you to display your gallery of Akito and stray cats to the world.
“There’s so many cats in this gallery, y’know…” An flicked through it as Touya stood, mortified yet unable to reclaim his dignity in the form of his mobile device. “Ah, wait, there he is.”
The photo she viewed was one from the Kamiyama Festival, where Akito had stolen Touya’s phone and forced him to take a commemorative selfie with him.
Touya had never been one for selfies. The initial assumption was that it was due to insecurity, though he would quickly assure the individual asking that he wasn’t insecure, rather… he saw no use in taking photos of himself, when he could take snapshot memories of things dear to him.
If Akito or Tsukasa were there, he would have told Touya off for not treating himself as something dear to him.
But, if he had a choice of a gallery full of himself, or full of the ones he loves in a platonic, romantic or familial sense, he would always choose the latter.
Yet, as he stared at the selfie, where he gave a small peace sign next to Akito’s wide grin…
Yeah, maybe photos of him were nice, sometimes.
“This is so cute, what the hell… you guys are making me sick. Never speak to me again.” An gave Touya back his phone, and after a mini internal panic as to whether he’d just gravely offended An, she quickly added, “Wait, I was being sarcastic! I’m sorry if that stressed you out, Touya!”
“It’s okay.” He smiled back, staring at the selfie as he silently made it his phone lockscreen; the repercussions of such an unapologetically loving act would be faced once he returned home. “Azusawa-san, please can you get me some copies of photos of us? Any of us, it doesn’t have to be just the group or just me and Akito.” She gave an enthusiastic nod and noted it down on her little memory notepad. Touya had always meant to keep one of those… ah, but he’d probably forget it even existed, so all the reminders would be ultimately useless. Such is the dilemma of keeping a list for memory. “I’ll probably head home soon… Tsukasa might freak out.” At the mention of his upperclassman’s name, An and Kohane shared an understanding glance, but spoke no words about the presumed situation - if Touya wished to speak about it, he could do so on his own terms!
“Alright, see you later!” An chirped in return, as Touya left the café, and almost summoned a text from Akito in doing so.
Akito <3: dude i think ur brother mght actually kick me out if you dont get home soon
Akito <3: no rush but like my life might be on the line
Akito <3: just sayin
The hypocrisy he had, to critique Tsukasa’s theatrics only to put on a Shakespearian performance of distress at the first opportunity…
Touya: I’m on my way back now
Touya: if possible, please be fully intact when I get back
Akito <3: no promises . the pancakes mightve been poisoned man
As he liked Akito’s final text (and, according to him, final words), he plugged his headphones in once more and swiftly walked home, a smile on his face that he was unwilling to depart with.