Work Text:
Toya walked down the hallway of the Tenma household, heading toward the bathroom before leaving the house. As he neared the bathroom, a glint of light caught his eye—a shimmer reflecting off the marble counter beneath the mirror. Though he hesitated for a moment, curiosity got the better of him, and he stepped inside to investigate.
On the countertop, he found a small white piece of cardboard holding two sparkling objects. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were silver, heart-shaped earrings. Toya assumed they belonged to Saki; after all, he’d seen her wearing earrings many times before. However, these particular earrings didn’t look familiar.
As his thoughts lingered on the wide variety of Saki’s earrings, another image surfaced in his mind: Akito’s usual earrings paired with a small piercing. And then, a brilliant idea struck him.
Since he couldn’t recall ever seeing Saki wear these earrings, surely she wouldn’t mind if he borrowed them... right?
Toya repeated the familiar action of heading to the bathroom, but this time it was at the Shinonome household—and with both heart-shaped earrings tucked discreetly in his pocket.
Akito, unsuspecting as ever, gave a brief nod and drifted into his own thoughts as Toya slipped away from his room. Unbothered, Toya made his way to the bathroom, fully aware of Akito’s habit of keeping his piercings and earrings in a small clear plastic box stored in the bathroom drawers. He searched for the box and found it quickly. It was empty, of course—Akito was wearing his usual piercings and earrings at this current moment.
Toya glanced around the room, momentarily feeling like a mischievous character in a cartoon, and then quietly placed Saki’s borrowed heart-shaped earrings inside the translucent container. With his task complete, he left the bathroom and returned to Akito, wearing a calm and pleasant expression that betrayed none of his secrets.
Akito welcomed Toya’s return with a small smile, evidently reassured by his composed demeanor. Toya smiled back, keeping his thoughts hidden. His plan would remain undiscovered—at least for now. Later that night, when Akito opened the box to store his piercings, the surprise would be waiting for him.
What would Akito think when he noticed the earrings? How long would it take him to realize their origin? And what would he do? Would he ever consider wearing them?
These questions swirled in Toya’s mind, concealed beneath his serene exterior. Akito, oblivious to the silent turmoil of Toya’s thoughts, continued speaking, content in the belief that his friend was as composed as he appeared. After all, when Toya wore that tranquil expression, Akito knew everything was fine.
Akito groaned as the morning sun intruded on his room, its rays slipping through the cracks in the blinds and piercing his barely-closed eyes. Annoyed, he got up just enough to slam the blinds shut before collapsing back onto the bed. He tossed and turned for a while, grumbling half-formed complaints, until a sharp knock at the door broke his cycle of reluctant rebellion.
“Get up already!” Ena’s voice carried her usual impatience. “And don’t even think about whining to me later if you’re late for school.”
Reluctantly, Akito dragged himself out of bed. After sluggishly putting on his school uniform, he shuffled to the bathroom for his morning routine: washing his face, vaguely combing his hair, and—most importantly—putting on his piercings and earrings.
Still half-asleep, Akito rummaged through the drawers until he located the familiar clear plastic box. The early morning grogginess, paired with water still clinging to his lashes and the faint translucency of the box, blurred his focus. Without noticing, he grabbed the two unfamiliar earrings nestled inside that he didn’t even know had appeared there. It didn’t even register. The heart-shaped earrings felt no different to him than his usual ones. Oblivious to the subtle change in shape, Akito slipped them on, mistaking them for his regular circular earrings. Barely awake and too weary to notice the slight oddity, Akito finished up and left for Kamiyama High, entirely unaware that he now walked through the morning streets with tiny silver hearts dangling from his ears.
The day unfolds as usual, with no one paying any particular attention to Akito's earrings. At a glance, they blend in, irrelevant to anyone who isn’t looking closely. Akito himself remains oblivious to the small hearts adorning his ears.
But Toya notices. He notices immediately. Catching sight of the heart-shaped earrings on Akito’s earlobes brings a faint smile to his face. It’s subtle, the kind of smile Toya wears when a quiet amusement strikes him. He considers saying something, teasing Akito about the unexpected choice, but then hesitates. What if Akito put them on deliberately? Or worse—what if he hasn’t realized yet? Toya decides to wait and see how this plays out.
Akito, however, catches the faintly mischievous expression on Toya’s face. It’s suspicious—Toya is rarely this amused without a reason. Raising an eyebrow, Akito tugs lightly on Toya’s pinky, a wordless cue for attention.
“Toya? What’s with that face?” Akito’s tone is curious but tinged with mild suspicion.
Toya remains composed, his amusement hidden behind his usual calm demeanor. He decides to keep his secret a little longer, letting the moment stretch until Akito either admits he deliberately wore the earrings or discovers their shape on his own.
He shakes his head lightly, his smile lingering as he gently intertwines his pinky with Akito’s. “Nothing. It’s nothing,” he replies smoothly, his tone unbothered.
Together, they continue their walk to the library, Toya’s secret safely tucked away for now, and Akito none the wiser about the tiny hearts framing his ears.
Akito’s fist slammed against the bathroom counter with a loud thud, his knuckles trembling as his anger boiled over. He glared at his reflection in the mirror, his face twisted with fury so intense it felt like it could shatter the glass. His gaze then dropped to the ridiculous heart-shaped earrings he had just yanked off. Heart-shaped earrings. He had been wearing heart-shaped earrings all day.
The thought made his blood boil. Who would do this? It couldn’t have been Ena—she didn’t even wear earrings, and her baffled expression when he confronted her only confirmed her innocence. But then, an image flashed in his mind: Toya’s suspiciously cheerful face earlier that day. The puzzle pieces clicked into place. Akito’s fists clenched tighter, and his expression darkened further as realization struck.
“ TOYAAAAAA!!! ” His voice reverberated through the walls, carrying all the wrath of someone utterly betrayed.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom of the Tenma household, Saki frantically rummaged through the drawers, her movements increasingly desperate. “Where are they?” she muttered to herself, her tone a mix of frustration and anxiety. The silver heart-shaped earrings she’d just bought with Tsukasa’s hard-earned allowance were nowhere to be found.
“Where have I left them...?” she whispered, her worry growing. Little did she know, her earrings had been on quite the journey.