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“ha ha ha! go, my underclassman!” tsukasa cheers, akito grumbled from beneath him.
carrying tsukasa was probably the most embarrassing thing he’ll do in a while, but he has to suck up his pride to win, anyway.
“can you just shut up for one moment!?” akito yelled out to him, nevermind tsukasa, he could see akiyama’s back, he just had to run a bit faster and he’d catch up.
akito furrowed his brows, sprinting up to mizuki. “wh.. what the!?” mizuki’s eyes widened, seeing akito carrying the blond boy with such ease. “what in the world!?”
mizuki’s face hardened as they began to run even faster, trying to outrun the ginger. “there’s no way..”
akito gritted his teeth, the two were neck and neck now, the finish line being closer than before.
“waaaahhh!?” mizuki shouted out, toppling over their own feet, stumbling forward as they collapsed onto the ground, the red bracelet in their hands flying off.
“and it looks like akiyama goes down after being distracted by shinonome!” the commentator shouted out, cheers and disappointed cries filled the air as akito ran towards the finish line.
akito’s feet pounded against the ground, stepping against the red bracelet, sliding forward, “what the!? oh, shit!” akito yelled out in a panic.
“akito?!!” tsukasa screamed, attempting to cling onto the ginger as he tumbled forward, his grip on tsukasa loosened, and the blond boy soon flung forward as well, both slamming face first onto the concrete, barely reaching over the finish line.
“it looks like shinonome from the red team has won!” the commentator announced, shortly followed with; “but not after taking a tumble from akiyama’s item!”
he took the win, that was all he needed, the weight on his back quickly faded as akito attempted to stand up. when was the light so glaring today? wasn’t it fine just a while ago?
“shit.. did.. did we win?” akito grumbled to mostly himself, staring at the track underneath him. he had heard his name, and people were cheering. akito quickly looked up, stars pricked his eyes as he cursed under his breath.
tsukasa wiped his nose, noticing a large amount of blood dripping, he turned to akito to ask if he was alright, but noticed how scrunched up his face looked.
“akito! are you okay!?” tsukasa screamed, crawling over to him, he stared at the upperclassman with disbelief, before closing his eyes, his head swarming with static as he lean against the blond.
jesus christ, the guy had a bloody nose , and he’s over here screaming at akito with such ease, couldn’t he take care of himself for once?
akito closed his eyes, attempting to push tsukasa away from him.
“can you be quiet? please?” akito grumbled, tsukasa’s brows furrowed, he snapped his fingers, catching the attention of the younger boy.
“how many fingers am i holding up, akito?” tsukasa held up two fingers, waiting for akito to open his eyes again.
the ginger slowly reopened his eyes, before immediately squinted, trying to figure out what he was looking at.
“i could answer you if you’d stop moving your hand.” akito deadpanned, swatting tsukasa’s hand. the blond paled, this was worse than he thought.
“tsukasa-senpai!” toya called out, quickly running towards the two. “are you two okay?” his eyes filled with worry as mizuki and rui tailed behind the blue haired boy.
“he did take quite the tumble.” rui said, staring at the boy who was practically in tsukasa’s lap.
“you’re bleeding, tsukasa-senpai!” toya reached out, but tsukasa shook his head, pushing toya’s hand away slightly.
“i’ll be alright! but, for akito..” tsukasa trailed off, he didn’t want to make toya die from worry, but he had to tell him, after all. tsukasa inhaled, continuing.
“i believe he has a mild concussion.” tsukasa concluded as he placed a hand on akito’s head, he didn’t want to say how bad the concussion was, he didn’t want to ruin the sports festival for toya and the others, so he’ll take care of akito himself.
toya’s frown deepened. mizuki placed their hands on their hips, sighing.
“lil’ bro has a concussion?” they asked, while their face showed slight amusement, their tone was filled with worry.
“we should take him to the infirmary in the meantime.” rui suggested, and tsukasa nodded, slowly bringing akito to stand up.
“it’s okay, tsukasa-senpai.” toya said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “i’ll take him.”
tsukasa frowned, shaking his head. “i’ll be alright, toya. go enjoy the festival, i also need to go to the infirmary, anyway.” toya’s brows furrowed, he had a conflicted look on his face. tsukasa only smiled. “think of this as a ‘thanks’ to akito for helping us win.”
mizuki grinned, snickering. “yeah, a ‘thanks’, nothing else.” they muttered to rui, who only chuckled at their implication.
toya only nodded, walking with mizuki and rui back to the blue team, while tsukasa wrapped an arm around akito’s shoulder, helping him walk towards the infirmary.
“how troublesome of you, to fall like that!” tsukasa lightly scolded, entering the main building to head towards the infirmary.
he slid the door open with his free hand, waving to the nurse.
“hello, yamada-sensei.” tsukasa smiled, the nurse waving hello, before her eyes immediately widened, seeing the blood that ran down tsukasa’s nose. “shinonome-kun and i hit our heads during the sports festival, but i’m worried that he has a mild concussion.”
“that’s terrible! here, sweetie, let me help you.” she frowned, walking over to help tsukasa support the ginger in his arms, gently leading him to a nearby bed. “i’ll get you a tissue and an ice pack, sit here, dear.”
the nurse ran over to her cabinet, pulling out a couple of tissues and an ice pack from the fridge before bringing it over to tsukasa.
“alright, you stay here with shinonome-kun, i’ll ask the office to dial his parents so he can go home early.” the nurse informed, quickly exiting the room, not before switching the lights off, the room immediately dimmed, the only light present was the sun, lighting up the room by just a bit.
tsukasa patted his nose, staring at the bright red that began to form on the tissue. he pressed the ice against his nose, hissing at the slight irritation before frowning.
“gah, this is just a bloody nose! akito has it way worse..” tsukasa immediately stood up, shuffling towards the nurse’s supplies to find some bandages, alcohol and cotton balls, quickly returning back to akito to patch up his wound. he set aside both his ice pack and tissues on the table next to them, and got to work.
the ginger had small scrapes on his jawline, knees, and other parts of his body but that’s nothing a bandage can’t fix. he dabbed a cotton ball in the alcohol, pressing it against akito’s jawline he began to his in pain.
“..ngh..” akito groaned under tsukasa’s touch, attempting to push tsukasa away. “..stop..”.”
“akito, stay still..!” he grumbled, even semi lucid, he was still stubborn as ever. “i’m trying to help you!”
he hurriedly cleaned the wound, finishing his bandaging process with bandaids on his jawline, akito grunted, still continuing to try and pull tsukasa towards him.
immediately after tsukasa was finished with the process, akito gripped his wrist, pulling the blond into his grasp. “akito!”
oh my god, was akito really cuddling tsukasa? the blond flushed red, trying to shift out of his hold, but akito wouldn’t let up, the ginger inhaled deeply, before sighing out loud.
“..warm.” he muttered, squeezing tsukasa a bit tighter.
“a..alright akito!” tsukasa chuckled a bit too forcefully, attempting to pry the boy off of him. “th..that’s enough! i have to clean your other wounds!”
akito only grunted in objection, clinging onto the older blond, he shoved his head in the crook of tsukasa’s neck, his hair tickling his jaw.
"a-a-akito!?' tsukasa shouted, akito whined, pressing his head against tsukasa's shoulder.
"s..shut up for.. for once." akito grumbled, his grip tight against tsukasa's waist.
the infirmary door slid open, and tsukasa closed his eyes, hiding in embarrassment. oh god, the nurse is going to enter and see him in this position..! how will he ever explain?!
"akito, did you seriously get a concussion? you really don't know to be safe, do yo.." an unfamiliar voice trailed off, and tsukasa couldn't help but peek open one eye, seeing a confused brunette.
"..um, am i intruding on something?" her eyes widened, seeing the position they're in, she snickers. "i never knew my brother had a boyfriend~!"
..did she just say her brother ?
“a..ah!” tsukasa attempted to wave his hand around. “no, it’s not what you think it is!”
the girl raised an eyebrow. “oh, really? then what is this supposed to be?” a light smile on her face, watching the blond boy turn more pink.
“i was trying to clean his wounds! but he suddenly grabbed me!” he explained, pointing to all the supplies that were on the table. “can you please help me?”
the girl huffed, sauntering over to the two. “old habits die hard, hm?” she muttered to herself.
“huh?”
“oh, nothing.” she waved him off, before continuing. “akito always acted like this when he was younger, he always got clingy after an injury, no matter the size.”
that’s.. actually really cute.
..as in!! really cute for his sister to remember that, obviously!!
“i’m sorry, but..!” tsukasa started, trying to push akito’s arms away from him. “i never got your name, you’re akito’s sister, right?”
she scoffed, crossing her arms. “my name is ena, and sadly, yes. i also go to the same school as him.”
tsukasa tilted his head, he’s never seen this ena girl on campus, let alone knew that akito had a sister, for crying out loud. akito’s sister must’ve saw the look of confusion on his face, because right after he tilted his head, she spoke up once more.
“i go to night classes, that’s probably why we haven’t met.” ena clarified, helping grab onto akito’s arms, pushing him away from the blond as he finally sat back up. akito whined in resistance, attempting to grab someone.
“sorry for the hassle.” ena groaned, placing a hand on her head whilst she stared at akito. “he’s always been that stubborn.”
tsukasa laughed fondly. “not a problem, ena!”
“any chance i can get your name?” ena asked, now being the one to sit beside akito instead of tsukasa.
the blond grinned, effortlessly striking a pose. “you can call me tsukasa tenma! a future star!”
ena snorted at his words, before coughing. “that’s.. great.” she smiled, her smile quickly dropped, seeing the blood that ran out of his nose. “e..erm! your nose-“
tsukasa immediately slapped his hand on his nose, reaching over for the tissues to help wipe the blood away. “i’m truly sorry! i totally forgot about my injury!”
tsukasa sat down on the bed beside akito, pressing the cool ice onto his nose once more, hearing ena scoff.
“you’re a real troublemaker, y’know?” she muttered under her breath. tsukasa could see that from the corner of his eye, ena was beginning to play with akito’s hair, carding her hand through his locks whilst she scolded him.
“i turn away for one second, and you get a concussion.. jeez, you’re such a handful.”
she’s sending so many mixed signals..!! tsukasa shivered, rolling over to lay on his side. ena turned towards him, noticing the boy now facing her and akito.
“so.. what’s your relation with akito?” ena asked, staring at the boy. his breathing was more relaxed, so he must’ve been sleeping. ena snorted, holding a hand over her mouth to cover her laughs.
“ah, akito and i-“
“are you dating or something?” ena blurted, her eyes bright with amusement as she snickered. tsukasa’s eyes immediately widened, as he sat up quickly.
“wh… no! no, we aren’t..!” tsukasa looked away from ena, feeling heat creeping up against his cheeks, he pressed his ice pack against his cheek instead of his swollen nose, trying to cool himself down.
“he’s just my underclassman..” tsukasa explained, ena raised an eyebrow, deadpanning.
“yeah, just your underclassman?” ena asked, before a teasing smile came on her face. “never knew cuddling with underclassmen was a known thing.”
“that was an obvious misunderstanding!” the blond groaned at her words, the brunette now grinning at his reaction. “you said it yourself, he.. he gets clingy when injured, right?!”
ena only sighed at his defensiveness, before crossing her arms, staring at tsukasa. “yeah, he’s like a big baby, really.”
“a big baby..?” tsukasa muttered under his breath, before a big grin came up on his face. “ha ha ha! akito, being a big baby? how amusing that is!”
ena snickered at his reaction, laughing along with him. “yeah, you should’ve seen him in middle school! he always hugged me like he would die if he let go!”
tsukasa perked up at the mention of young akito. “middle school akito? now that you mention it..” he trailed off, mischief in his eyes rising as he cleared his throat. “now that you mentioned it, akito has never talked about his younger self.”
ena grinned, her brows furrowing as she pulled her phone from her pocket, tapping on her screen a couple of times before turning it around to show to tsukasa.
“o..oh!” tsukasa’s eyes widened, that was akito? the baby faced kid with the biggest grin?? that was the boy who was currently sulking in the infirmary?
“that really is him..!“ tsukasa gasped in shock, while ena giggled. “akito never talks about his childhood, so i’m just shocked to see any remnants of his younger self..”
ena shrugged, turning off her phone. “i guess that makes sense.. this brat over here really doesn’t know how to let anybody in his safe space, except for that blue haired boy...”
akito’s sister grumbled under her breath, while tsukasa began to ponder, well, the things ena were saying were pretty much the absolute truth, i mean, akito is her brother for crying out.
he really doesn’t know how to let people in his safe space? well, that doesn’t seem that unusual for the ginger, akito has and always will be somewhat unnerved around tsukasa, and will most likely keep the blond at an arm's length if possible.
tsukasa sighed to himself in the midst of his thinking, and before ena can speak up, the infirmary door slid open again, the nurse quickly sauntering back in.
“your dad gave you the okay to assist him home.” she said, quickly pulling out a tardy pass for ena. “i’ll write you a late pass if you want to come back to school, if that’s alright.”
ena shook her head, “no, i won’t be needing it, i’ll stay at home after i bring akito home.”
the nurse only smiled, nodding her head before turning to tsukasa. “are you feeling any better? i’ve called your parents and they said you’re free to leave at any point in time as well.”
tsukasa snapped out of his thoughts, and could only muster a small smile, responding with a quick; “i’ll be fine staying until the end of the festival, yamada-sensei. i’ll just have to stay here until my nose is less swollen.”
with that, the nurse nodded, walking to the other side of the infirmary and began doing nurse things. (as tsukasa supposed)
“i’ll see you later.” ena started, before pausing, a light smile on her face”..or, when akito decides to let you hang out at our place.”
“that will never happen! akito always keeps me at such a far distance, just even being a mile near his home gives him the shivers.” tsukasa defended himself, before seeing ena laugh softly at his reaction.
“oh, he definitely won’t mind.” ena vaguely said, holding onto akito’s shoulder (who supposedly had fallen asleep in the span of a few minutes), shaking gently to stir him awake.
“oi, dummy.” ena whispered at the ginger, her small smile quickly dissipating into a frown. “wake up, we’re going back home.”
akito grumbled under his breath, sluggishly sitting up from the bed. “okay, okay, stop shaking me…”
“do you need to lean on my shoulder?” ena asked, a teasing lilt to her voice as akito rolled his half closed eyes.
“i’d crush you in the process, so no.” ena quickly deadpanned at his response, before tugging on his sleeve. “stop tugging me.”
with a huff, ena watched as akito slowly stood up, tsukasa squinted, looking at the brown haired girl having a one sided argument with the drowsy boy, even with her tone, her eyes showed clear worry, and she definitely wasn’t slick with how her hand was positioned behind akito’s back, ready to support him if he fell backwards.
ena and akito slowly exit the infirmary side by side, and tsukasa could hear one final thing before the infirmary door closed.
“don’t forget what i said, see you later!”
the door slid shut, and tsukasa was left with many questions and zero answers.
-
it’s been a week since akito came to school, given the fact that he’s gotten a concussion during the festival and what not, but tsukasa was still getting pretty worried.
in the middle of break, the blond continued to bounce his leg on the ground, letting his foot thump onto the floor with a random beat he created in his head.
hell, he didn’t even notice how anxious he had become in the past couple of days, tsukasa has been staring at the door every time someone slid it open, of course, he was in the second year building, there was no chance akito would enter his classroom.. but still! tsukasa was a bit paranoid.
“fufu.. someone’s worried about akito-kun, isn’t he?” a teasing whisper came from his right side, and tsukasa immediately paused in all of his actions. rui giggled at the sight, continuing to whisper. “i’m sure he’ll pull through, he’s strong enough for that, after all.”
rui’s words helped somewhat, but there was this nagging feeling in the inside of his brain. it practically was screaming at him to check up on akito.
with some stroke of luck, a text message pinged inside his pocket, and out he pulled his phone.
aoyagi toya : i want to go visit akito today, is it alright if you join me after school to pick up some soup for him?
classic toya, so polite, as usual. but the blond couldn’t help but grin at toya’s request, quickly responding as soon as he finished reading.
(future) star!! : of course!!! i know the bestest soup places in the town!!
aoyagi toya : thank you, tsukasa-senpai. i’ll meet you at the gate when school is over.
(future) star!! : anything for my #2 fan!!! :D
-
if it weren’t for toya, he would’ve been practically swarmed with questions by ena on why he was here at 3 pm carrying some soup, tsukasa definitely wouldn’t admit that he was here just to see akito, in a concussed state or not. (was that bad? he just liked seeing akito, any time he could) but he could admit that he was here to bring some soup for akito because he had been worried for his health.
toya gently knocked on the door, listening to a muffled ‘coming!’ and the loud thumps that accompanied the voice.
ena’s voice was a bit more audible and closer by the time the door swung open, revealing the brown haired 2nd year.
“oh, toya! i was wondering when you’d show up.” she smiled, her eyes trailing over to tsukasa. her smile turned a bit more playful. “oh, hello again.”
toya perked up at that response. “you know her, tsukasa-senpai?”
the blond nodded, beaming. “of course! i know everyone, even relatives!” tsukasa claimed, hearing the soft laugh of toya.
“come inside, akito has been dying for anyone other than me to show up in his room.” ena said, quickly motioning for the two boys to enter. “did you just buy that soup? or do you want me to reheat it in the microwave?”
toya looked over to tsukasa, before looking back at ena. “we’ll have to microwave it.” ena’s smile grew as she closed the door behind the boys.
“oh, that’s fine. here, toya, you help me microwave the soup.” ena said, slightly tugging on toya’s cuff, dragging him towards the kitchen. “tsukasa, go greet akito, he hasn’t been doing well recently. so i’m sure he’ll be delighted to see you, really.” ena emphasized, giving him a quick wink.
tsukasa tilted his head at her comment, before shrugging, taking off his shoes and immediately running upstairs.
the blond guessed that he wouldn’t have to ask which one was akito’s room, because the moment he entered the hallway he spotted a door with a poster of RAD WEEKEND, a clear giveaway on which one was akito’s room.
tsukasa knocked hesitantly, not hearing any voice in response, tsukasa knocked once more, before hearing a groan from the other side of the door.
“ena..? is that you…?” akito murmured through the door, his voice sounded fatigued and sluggish, tsukasa was about to respond, before the ginger quickly said; “go away, loser.”
tsukasa snorted, his insult was so curt and rushed, that tsukasa probably wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t trying to pay attention to his voice all that much.
“ah, no, akito.” tsukasa said, loud enough so that akito could hear. “it’s me, tsukasa.”
silence radiated throughout the hallway, and tsukasa could only shift in place, waiting for a response.
“..come in.”
that simple, huh?
tsukasa cautiously opened the door, seeing akito’s messy room as well as posters which littered throughout his walls. tsukasa fumbled forward after slipping on a random plushie that laid near the entrance of akito’s door, and as soon as he tried chastising him for it, the feeling quickly dissipated after he realized what plushie it was.
“..hatsune miku?” tsukasa muttered under his breath, if he didn’t know any better, he’d assume akito had his own sekai! tsukasa laughed at the thought, but then wondered, what would akito’s sekai look like..?
“..tsukasa, why are you just standing there?” akito pierced through tsukasa’s thoughts, ending them abruptly as tsukasa refocused on his task.
“just thinking.” tsukasa dismissed, slowly moving towards akito, the ginger’s face didn’t look annoyed, so the blond made himself comfortable on the edge of his bed. “how are you feeling? ena told me you haven’t been doing well.”
akito grunted in response, turning in his blankets. “she’s right about that.”
“well, have no fear! toya and ena are both microwaving some soup, so they’ll be here shortly.” tsukasa said, playing with his thumbs.
akito hummed in response, letting the two go silent, giving the blond more time to think.
the more tsukasa thought about it, the more tsukasa frowned, during the sports festival, he got away harm-free, mostly. (disregarding his bloody nose, it wasn’t as serious) but akito took most of the tumble, being forced to leave early. akito doesn’t even know if they won.
oh, tsukasa totally forgot.
“we won,” tsukasa said, before quickly adding on; “in the sports festival, we won.”
at the mention of the sports festival, akito turned back towards tsukasa, a slight smile on his face. “of course we did, if we hadn’t, this concussion would’ve been for nothing.”
tsukasa laughed at his response. “although, i’d rather you didn’t get a concussion at all.”
“shit, can’t change the past now, huh?” akito grinned, watching as tsukasa frowned at his vulgar language.
“akito, that’s bad language and you know it.” tsukasa huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance. “i’ll let it slide this time, but once you’re back at school, this won’t be tolerated!”
akito scoffed, waving off the boy (similar to how ena did it back at the infirmary, tsukasa noted in his head). “relax, you’re acting like a mother hen, you squawk like one, too.”
tsukasa gasped at his comment, placing a hand on his chest. “i do not!”
“you definitely do, i’m being serious.” akito teased, his voice giving himself away. “just like a mother hen.”
tsukasa pouted, slumping over in defeat to akito’s teasing.
“hey, come on, you know i’m just joking.” akito reasoned with the blond, nudging him softly with his knee. “but.. it’s nice seeing you after a while.”
akito’s voice got soft, and tsukasa noticed how the ginger scrunched in on himself, toppling over his form with numerous blankets. tsukasa smiled, ruffling the younger boy’s hair. “it’s good to see you too.”
silence filled the air, akito closed his eyes, almost being lulled to sleep until-
“..back at the infirmary, is it true you get clingy when you’re injured?” tsukasa blurted, a grin threatening to break out on his face.
“wh-what!?” akito’s eyes shot wide open, staring at the blond. “okay, not true! who told you that?!”
tsukasa laughed out loud, placing a hand over his mouth before he admitted the truth. “you, yourself.” before tacking on; “and your sister.”
akito groaned in dismay. of course! his sister would do anything to inconvenience him in any way!
“but i figured that out once you began cuddling me in the infirmary.” tsukasa said, watching as akito’s face turned red, the ginger stuffed his face in his pillow, before akito screamed in his head.
no way in hell . did he really do that? akito doesn’t even remember! did he seriously let his guard down!? shit, when was ena and toya coming in with the soup!? how long does it take to microwave soup!?
“i am so sorry.” akito said, the tips of his ears red, his cheeks felt burning hot, god, it must be because of the blankets, right!? because there’s no way he’s getting this flustered and embarrassed!!
“i mean..! it was surprising, sure..” tsukasa’s voice broke akito out of his despair, the blond chuckled, scratching the back of his neck as he continued. “but.. it’s not like i didn’t like it..?”
akito blankly stared at tsukasa, and it was the blond’s turn to suddenly start heating up, becoming flustered as well.
“..i didn’t mean it like-”
“do you want to cuddle right now ? is that what you were implying?” akito’s face was unreadable, but as tsukasa slowly nodded yes at his question, the ginger’s face could only melt into something so soft.
“i’m not opposed.” akito shrugged, feigning indifference, but as akito shuffled over to the side to make room for tsukasa, the blond immediately laid down with him, becoming buried underneath the layers as well.
akito felt tsukasa arms wrap around him, pulling him in closer. akito gave a slight squeeze of reassurance. despite being underneath all the layers of blankets, tsukasa’s warmth felt.. different.
tsukasa snuggled in the crook of akito’s neck, inhaling deeply as he sighed out in complete bliss.
the ginger couldn’t help but have such a stupid, wide grin on his face, trying to get closer to tsukasa as he closed his eyes once more, feeling drained after a mere conversation with the blond.
tsukasa’s slow breathing helped akito get lulled to sleep once more, but not before hearing tsukasa murmur a short sentence.
“i think i love you, akito.”
akito couldn’t help but beamed, feeling tsukasa squeeze his waist once more as the ginger responded back in a small whisper.
“i think i love you too, tsukasa.”