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“Nire-kun,” Suo-san calls out to him softly and Akihiko almost jumps out of his own skin. And here he thought he ran fast enough. Should have known Suo-san is faster and once he was noticed there was no getting away. Suo-san takes a step towards him, barely smiling and Akihiko takes a step back, gulping as he feels the edge of the stairwell under his heel.
“I-I didn't mean to…” he gestures, trying to convey all that he didn't mean to do and still did; like walking into someone's apartment uninvited and like seeing Suo-san in Sakura-san's lap and like seeing them holding onto each other as they pressed their lips together, and like Suo-san's palms gently cupping Sakura-san's face burning red and… Akihiko's own face is no better. “I didn't mean to interrupt.”
“Nire-kun,” Suo-san repeats with a hint of a laugh and Akihiko shuffles, looking up at his face. He's not… well, he might be a coward, but he's trying not to be. He's promised. So he can't close his eyes, no matter what.
Suo-san's lips are wet and his cheeks are pink, he looks warm and unexpectedly soft and… and like he's just been kissing, while straddling someone's lap. Which is exactly what he's been doing so why the hell is Akihiko surprised.
He swallows again. Suo-san takes a step forward and his eye glimmers.
“It's quite alright, Nire-kun. You didn't have to run away,” Suo-san reaches out and brushes his cheek with a knuckle, tilting his head and oh, there it is, the cheeky smile, the not-a-nice-guy-at-all smile. Akihiko balks at it, even though it's soft, and for a good reason. “You could have joined.”
His mouth is dry and his head is empty. Akihiko blinks rapidly and then shakes his head, going even redder than Sakura-san, by the feel of it. Suo-san and his teasing!
He tries to say something, but all that comes out are high-pitched sounds which could be called inquisitive only if you're feeling real generous. Akihiko shakes his head again, just to get those thoughts out. He's not actually thinking about what Suo-san just said, is he?! It's clearly teasing! W-what that would even look like, joining them?
No, no, no, he's not even going to think about it, he's not going to imagine sitting in Sakura-san's lap like that or having Suo-san's hands on his face or- or- he's not gonna think about it!
Suo-san grabs him by the back of his collar and Akihiko squeaks as his attempt at getting away is squashed before he can even move.
“S-s-su-suo-san!” the nerves get the better of him, stutters come back in full swing. “Wh-what are you even saying?!”
“Ah, it seemed to me you wouldn't mind. Was I wrong?” Suo-san tilts his head.
And he's not wrong.
Akihiko wouldn't mind. Hell if he knows when it started being like that but he wouldn't mind kissing Sakura-san or Suo-san. But that's not the point, is it?! He doesn't know when it started being like that for him, but he knows when it started being like that for them. Everybody does.
It was hard not to notice. Suo-san never hid teasing turning flirtatious and Sakura-san tried to play it cool, of course, but had the same success as he always does with any lie (none). It was only a matter of time before it would turn into something.
It already has. Sakura-san wouldn't let Suo-san kiss him like that if they've never done it before. And about time, honestly! Sakura-san was really taking awhile to understand what was going on! It was almost painful, having to watch Suo-san make his feelings clear again and again only for his words to go over Sakura-san's head completely. Akihiko wished them both happiness, as did everyone, and if his desire for it was just a little stronger than everybody else's… we'll, what's so wrong about that, huh.
It doesn't change the fact that this thing is theirs. Akihiko doesn't have a place in it, besides being a supportive friend.
“Suo-san, d-don't joke like that…” his words come out in a stuttering mumble, how embarrassing. He can't even force a laugh.
He has two options: looking at Suo-san in the present, soft and mussed, or looking away and straight into the memory of the kiss, in those several long moments before his hands went weak and he dropped the grocery bag he was carrying. Akihiko can't pick and keeps glancing at Suo-san only to look away the next moment (and it's the worst, third option that combines both first and second horribly). He clenches his fists to keep from shaking.
“I wasn't,” Suo-san is closer, somehow. Akihiko hasn't noticed him taking steps, but he clearly has. Suo-san sighs, looking at him for a long moment, and then turns back. “You don't have to run away. Come. The tea is growing cold.”
It's a lie, there is no tea yet, but Akihiko ends up at the table with them both anyway. Suo-san looks perfectly content, sitting in a proper seiza and waiting for the tea to steep, while Sakura-san… is red.
Very, very red. He looks ready to explode, glaring at the corner, arms folded over his chest. Instead of threatening, the way it would have been just a couple of months ago, he looks cute. Pouty, grumpy, a little nervous and very kissable.
Akihiko almost hates Suo-san for planting thoughts like that in his head. At least before this the desire was shapeless, easily sated by simple things, like dragging them around despite their protests (as if they both aren't capable of breaking free of him) or clinging to them, despite Suo-san's usual distance and Sakura-san's low tolerance for it. Now though, now the desire has a shape, one of hands on Suo-san's back and of his spread thighs and of Sakura-san's soft red cheeks and half-lidded eyes. Akihiko almost hates Suo-san for making him think about it.
Almost.
The fairer (traitor!) part of Akihiko points out, rightfully, that he would have been thinking about it anyway.
The silence is tense, but not for long. Sakura-san clearly can't stand it.
“So… sorry, I didn't… I didn't hear you come in,” he's gruff, but his words are stuttered and it's cute, it's so very cute. At this rate, Akihiko is going to explode much sooner than Sakura-san, considering he's probably very used to going so red! Practiced at it in the way Akihiko just isn't! “We…we would have…”
“It-it-it's okay, Sakura-san..!” Akihiko opens his mouth at the same type, overlapping. They shut up at the same time too. Sakura-san looks a little wild around the eyes and Akihiko feels that on a soul-deep level.
This is awkward.
“I wouldn't have,” Suo-san puts down the teapot with a soft clink. “Stopped, that is.”
Sakura-san snaps his head over to him so fast it looks painful. Akihiko's own stare joins a moment later, as he's putting the pieces together way too slow.
“Whu- why- what?! Why?!” Sakura-san is as confused as Akihiko's ever seen him.
Suo-san blinks at the sputtering and takes a sip of his tea, as Sakura-san goes through… something. Then, Sakura-san blinks and his eyes are on Akihiko's, wide and vulnerable.
There's no blood, but the look is the same one he had after the fight with Endo, his layers of skin lifted and ribs pulled apart to show everything gentle and soft underneath. There's no blood, but it's gruesome anyway.
(And enticing, so enticing, Akihiko wants to touch and hold and feel his pulse straight from the source.)
Akihiko is on his knees and leaning forward over the table before he even realizes, worry strongarming everything else outta his head.
Sakura-san blinks and changes his target, shutting it all away.
“Suo, what the hell are you sayin'…”
Suo-san doesn't tease anyone in Bofurin too much, doesn't ever step over the line with them, but this… Akihiko doesn't get what he's playing at, but he doesn't like it if it makes Sakura-san look like this. No matter how much better Suo-san might understand him!
(No matter how nice it might feel to be let in.)
“I am just saying that Nire-kun was welcome and is welcome to stay.”
Sakura-san goes red in the face again, doubling in force, and Akihiko feels his own burning up too, his hands shaking.
“Suo-san, that's enough..!”
“You! You can't just..! You have to ask him!”
They speak at the same time again, Akihiko with hands on the table and Sakura-san already halfway to standing up. It doesn't register right away for either of them, but then Akihiko swivels his head (and ouch, it does almost hurt) just as Sakura-san's eyes go wide again and he looks away, mumbling and hunching his shoulders.
Suo-san laughs quietly into his tea.
Several things click into place at once for Akihiko.
For one, this is not the first time Suo-san brings up this crazy topic with Sakura-san. For two, Sakura-san isn't disagreeing, if anything it's the opposite, like he's already on Suo-san's side and the only one left to speak is Akihiko. For three, Suo-san said he wasn't joking and he always comes clean about his lies because keeping them going is not the point. For four, Suo-san would never be cruel to Sakura-san, Akihiko should know better.
This feels more and more like a trap. Suo-san sitting right in front of the only exit besides the window is not helping.
“W-what do you mean you have to ask me?”
Sakura-san sits back down with a huff, looking embarrassed and small, but still opening his mouth…
And closing it. And opening it again. And closing it. He doesn't seem to be able to find the right words.
“Nire-kun, would you kiss Sakura-kun if you could?” Suo-san doesn't have that same problem. Akihiko's eyes fly open and he gapes like a fish, looking straight at Suo-san and his unexpectedly, unusually serious expression. He gulps, shooting a quick look at Sakura-san and…
Well, the answer is not hard to figure out at all, really, he's had it pinned down for awhile. The problem is getting it out.
He grips at his pants, his knuckles white, and swallows again.
“Y-yes,” he nods, catching Suo-san smiling out of the corner of his eye before giving Sakura-san his full attention. Akihiko looks him in the eyes, as lightheaded as he felt after KEEL, and nods again. “I would.”
If he could. If he can. And it seems like he can, despite how crazy the idea is.
Sakura-san's eyes are still so wide, his mouth open, and he looks surprised, as if kissing him hasn't been on Akihiko's mind forever and he will blame the lightheadedness for his next words, if anyone asks.
“Can I?”
There goes the sputtering and trying to power through the blush and the shyness, and then Sakura-san grabs Akihiko's face with his shaking hands, pulls him closer gentle as a kitten and kisses him.
His lips are soft even if a little chapped, his touch is adorably uncertain and Akihiko can't help a little sigh as he melts into it. Sakura-san's hands are surely the only thing keeping him from becoming a puddle on the floor.
It doesn't last long and Sakura-san can't look him in the face as they break apart, but it's fine because his hands are on Akihiko's face for a moment longer. Lingering. Then, he crosses his arms again and sits back, blushing furiously. Akihiko licks his lips.
He wants to ask if it was alright, the question a physical thing, stuck in his throat and dancing on the tips of his fingers like static, but he keeps himself in check. Suo-san's words come to mind, from that time Sakura-san got sick; about how they can't force him to become alright with all this and how it just takes time for people to adjust.
He remembers his own dilemma from back then, too, and the decision he has come to.
All they can do is reach a hand out and hope Sakura-san takes it. In this case, quite literally.
Akihiko brushes Sakura-san's knee with his knuckles lightly, ignores the flinch and let's his hand rest, palm up. Several long seconds pass and then Sakura-san slips his hand into Akihiko's, still turned away.
Suo-san was right back then.
Speaking of…
Akihiko lifts his head up, meeting Suo-san's watchful eyes.
It's awkward. He just kissed Suo-san's boyfriend, however unofficial, right in front of him. With his encouragement! But still… Awkward.
And he's too far away. Sakura-san shifted closer as he went in for the kiss and now there is a table between the two of them and Suo-san, a distance he doesn't seem intent on crossing.
“Suo-san?”
“Yes, Nire-kun?”
He smiles and Akihiko can't help, but stare at the curve of his lips.
“I thought… I mean… I would if I could.”
Sakura-san is silent next to him, but Akihiko can tell he's looking at both of them from under his hair.
“Yes, I can see that.”
“No, like…” he flushes, the brief bout of confidence fading. Still, it's enough. He takes a deep breath. “With you, too. Would if I could.”
And that surprises both of them, for some reason. Suo-san's eye goes a little wider and Sakura-san's grip goes tight, his breath audibly hitching. Akihiko doesn't have a lot of time to doubt his decision — Suo-san gets up in one smooth motion and crosses the little space between the three of them.
He goes to his knees and crowds into Akihiko's space, in a way that would be too much had Akihiko not spent so much time training with him. Now, it's comforting.
“Hello, Nire-kun,” Suo-san says with a teasing lilt, but he doesn't move any closer. He's still keeping that distance of his, except for the eyes. Those flicker down to Akihiko's lips for just a second.
A second is enough.
Just like Sakura-san before, Akihiko reaches forward and presses his lips to Suo-san's. He doesn't let go of Sakura-san's warm hand and keeps the other on his thigh, though, giving Suo-san freedom to move away.
He doesn't.
Akihiko kisses him, using all of his limited experience, and for a long moment it is just that, Suo-san frozen in place and Akihiko tugging at his lips softly.
Then, Suo-san leans forward even further, pressing closer, and bites at his bottom lip. Akihiko can't help a gasp, one that Suo-san immediately swallows, using the moment and deepening the kiss. He tastes of tea as he pushes at Akihiko's lips with his tongue, hot and wet and immediately messy, by the feel of it. Suo-san buries his hands in Akihiko's hair, fingernails scratching at his scalp, and his sigh is not a moan… but close to it.
Akihiko doesn't notice Sakura-san's grip going bruising nor does he notice sliding until his lower back hits the table and he hisses out in pain. Suo-san stops.
“Table,” Akihiko grumbles, catching his breath. Slightly above him, Suo-san is flushed, eye shining and unfocused for a second. It's such a difference from his usual face that Akihiko would blush, if he wasn't already burning a cheerful tomato red.
“Yes, I see,” Suo-san nods, visibly clawing his composure back together (blinking away the haze, relaxing his shoulders and the grip on Akihiko's hair). “Apologies, Nire-kun.”
Akihiko swallows, licking at his lips and registering the hand he is still holding as Suo-san looks over at Sakura-san (who has been there the entire time, who saw it all, oh god). Suo-san's earrings swing as he tilts his head.
“Did you like it, Sakura-kun?”
Akihiko would wheeze in old-school mortification, very proper, if he wasn't so busy looking.
Sakura-san was watching. He still is, having been too slow to turn away before Suo-san spoke, now staring straight at them and baring teeth.
(It's cute.)
“Shuddup!”
Akihiko will never be a tease like Suo-san, but it doesn't mean he can't be a little bit like him, when the situation calls for it. Which it definitely does now.
With wide eyes, he looks at Sakura-san, projecting all the innocence he can muster.
“You didn't like it, Sakura-san?”
“What a pity,” Suo-san is right by him, with the same tone of voice and the same look. “I really hoped you would like it, Sakura-kun.”
“I- You! Shuddup! Shut your mouths!”
He's not denying it though. Akihiko glances at Suo-san.
“Well, we can't help it if you didn't like it, Sakura-san…”
“It's not..!” Sakura-san shouts, then huffs and turns away, as far as he can with his hand still in Akihiko's. “I… I liked it…”
Akihiko smiles.
“I'm glad.”
“We can do it again. Or with you.”
Suo-san throws gasoline in the fire, as always, glancing at Akihiko and patting his own cheek with a nod at Sakura-san.
What..?
Oh. Oh.
They move together, while Sakura-san is sufficiently distracted, catching him between each other (“Wha- wait, what the hell are you two doin'-”) and pressing two kisses to his cheeks.
It's worth it, even as he pushes them away.
(It's worth it, when he lets them hold both of his hands, later.)