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Chiaki dashes around his room, trying to make sure he has absolutely everything: winter gloves, scarves, extra socks, athletic tape in case someone rolls their ankle in skates and he’s there to help, a thermos with tea (not that he likes tea very much, but it’s warm), boots that aren’t the fashion ones Kaoru got him this Christmas (no offense, but they’re hard to put on, and they’re not even warm! Why would you wear boots if you're not going to be warm in them?), and… and…
Oh, right! His wallet!
The door creaks behind him, and Chiaki spins around and freezes, his mouth hanging open.
Sakuma chuckles. “Are you almost ready?” he asks, in a teasing tone of voice. He’s wearing a thigh length black wool coat, black jeans, and a fuzzy purple turtleneck.
He’s also wearing bright red earmuffs that Chiaki is 90% sure were part of a Ryuseitai merch campaign last month.
100% sure, when he sees the Ryuseitai logo on the side of the headband.
Sakuma leans his head on the side of the doorframe. “Cat got your tongue?” He flutters his eyelashes at Chiaki, and glances around the dorm.
Chiaki makes some sort of noise. “Um. No! My tongue is still safely in my mouth, worry not!” He laughs nervously. “I was just making sure I have everything, for, um…”
Sakuma leans forward to peer at Chiaki’s bag. “Athletic tape and three water bottles?”
“Hydration is important,” Chiaki protests. “Have you drank water recently, Sakuma?”
Sakuma takes the water bottle Chiaki shoves at him with an amused smile. “Ah, I don’t believe I have. What would I do without you, Chiaki-kun?” He downs the water bottle, and Chiaki tries not to stare at the way his throat moves when he swallows. “I did need that,” he admits. “Are you almost ready to go?”
Chiaki shoves his pile of scarves into his backpack—he can decide on one when they get on the train. “Yep! Are you ready? I mean, of course you are, you’re here. Okay, let’s go!” He closes the door behind him in a flurry.
He’s standing. Very close to Sakuma. Close enough to see the moisture hanging on his lips from the water bottle.
“The station isn’t too far,” Sakuma says, in a far too normal tone of voice. Chiaki can feel his breath on his face.
“Okay,” he says, in what he hopes is a normal tone of voice, except it doesn’t really sound normal; he sounds nervous, maybe, his voice a little shaky. Is it possible to shiver when you’re indoors and totally warm?
Sakuma starts walking, and Chiaki has to do a little hop-skip-hurry to catch up to him for a few steps before they settle into a kind of rhythm. Chiaki is wearing his big puffy red jacket, so he hears the elbow brushing up against Sakuma’s arm where it swings at his side, but he can’t feel it, and that’s more frustrating than he’d expected.
Almost as soon as they step out of the immediate vicinity of ES, there’s a lot more people: it is the season when people are still excited about winter, and also shopping in the days of post-Christmas sales, so. The crush is expected.
It still makes Chiaki slightly frantic when he looks around him after a minute and doesn’t immediately see Sakuma. He takes a deep breath. “Sakuma?” he calls, not quite yelling, but if he’s louder than usual, that’s understandable, right?
“Boo,” Sakuma whispers in his ear. He laughs softly at Chiaki’s surprised shriek. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I got us snacks.” He holds up two crepes.
Chiaki gasps. “Thank you! Ah, but please don’t do that again! I was very worried!” He takes one of the crepes carefully, and observes it from every angle to decide how he should start eating it.
Sakuma nudges him with his elbow. “We can eat while walking, yeah?”
“Great idea!” Chiaki loops his arm through Sakuma’s and heads in the direction of the train. He hears a slight laugh, but when he looks over, Rei is digging into his crepe with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
They get through the train station with no incident, except almost getting stuck in the turnstile when Rei forgets to scan his card and Chiaki bumps into him. They’re sitting down in the train, Rei pressed up against Chiaki’s puffy coat, when he licks the last of the crepe off of his lips and realizes something.
“A scarf!” he gasps. He opens his bag and dives into it, pulling out the four scarves he brought with him. He picks up the fuzzy red one he usually wears, and glances over at Sakuma. “You need a scarf too,” he decides, winding it around Sakuma’s neck. His hand brushes Sakuma’s cold cheek, and he shivers.
Sakuma laughs, muffled by the scarf. “It matches the earmuffs.”
Chiaki nods, sorting through the scarves. He picks out a dark purple wool one for himself and puts it on, tying the ends in front of his face to keep it in place. “Now we’ll be warm,” he says decisively, feeling his voice reverberate through the fabric.
Sakuma takes Chiaki’s hand in both of his and looks at him with an incredible, sincere smile. “Thank you for looking out for me, Chiaki-kun.”
Chiaki feels a rush of heat to his face. “No—it’s no problem, really!”
The train announcement system dings and alerts them that they’re arrived at a stop—their stop, in fact. Sakuma stands up, still holding Chiaki’s hand as the latter fumbles to put his extra scarves back in his bag. They leave the train, a chill wind slapping them across the part of their faces not protected by the scarves.
Sakuma nudges Chiaki with his shoulder, not letting go of his hand. “Come on, the rink isn’t far.” He’s right; it’s hardly a two minute walk before they reach the edge of the rink, where the skate rental is set up. Sakuma asks Chiaki his shoe size, and pays for two pairs of skates before he can protest. He finally lets go of Chiaki’s hand so they can both carry their skates.
Chiaki is a little disappointed about that, but excitement begins to fill his chest as he takes his boots off and puts the skates on, his tongue sticking out as he ties the laces in a big bow. When he looks up, Sakuma already has his skates on, and is waiting for him at the edge of the ice.
“You’ve skated before, right?” Sakuma holds his hand out to Chiaki.
“Of course! It’s part of my training for stunt work!” Still, Chiaki takes his hand as they step onto the ice. He wobbles at first, but angles his skates for a better stance, and soon the two of them are skating around—slowly, but they’re moving. They’re still holding hands, and Sakuma keeps glancing over at Chiaki.
Chiaki gazes around the rink, taking in the beautiful, snow-covered park and the other people enjoying the ice. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Sakuma grins. “Hold on,” he says, and turns on his skates to skate backwards, now holding both of Chiaki’s hands and leading him.
Chiaki laughs. He speeds up as Sakuma does, and slows down the same, getting into a comfortable rhythm on the ice. They do a few laps around the rink like this.
“Sakuma, you’re so good at skating!” Chiaki exclaims, after watching him nimbly dodge a patch of rough ice that nearly made Chiaki stumble.
“You can call me Rei, you know,” the other man says with a smile half-hidden by Chiaki’s scarf. “But thank you.”
“Rei,” Chiaki says, just to say it. “Rei!” He laughs.
Rei slows to a stop on the ice. “Chiaki,” he says fondly.
“I’m glad you invited me to do this,” Chiaki says, pleased. “I would’ve expected you to bring along Hakaze, or Kanata, or…”
Rei looks at him very seriously, then deliberately pulls Chiaki’s gloves off and puts his hands to his lips. “I wanted it to be you.”
Chiaki doesn’t know what to say. He’s aware that his mouth is open, and he can see his breath misting in the air.
Rei smiles at him, and he doesn’t need words.