Chapter Text
Not for the first time that week, Tsubaki wakes up with a start, feeling an unusual heat swirling in his stomach and an uncomfortable throbbing between his legs.
His face immediately flushes, recognizing the source of his reactions, and he quickly lifts the blanket to observe the clear bulge in his shorts. He sighs.
It's been a while since he's been having those strange dreams about Yuu almost every night, and they always produce the same effect. He doesn't understand why his body reacts in this strange way, nor why his brain keeps conjuring images of Yuu in different positions beneath him, always with a blush spreading across his chest and cheeks, his eyes misty as he's pressed against the sheets by Tsubaki's smaller hands.
Tsubaki recalls the sly, drawn-out tone with which his name rolled from Yuu's tongue within the dream, entirely at his mercy, and, feeling the heat in his cheeks intensify, Tsubaki buries his face in the blankets to stifle the cry of pure embarrassment that escapes him.
He can't think about Yuu-nii that way! It's wrong!
With a grumble, Tsubaki rolls over in bed, pouting, and decides to go back to sleep hoping the throbbing will disappear. If his mother comes to ask him about school, he'll just say he's sick.
"I have the perfect solution for you!" exclaims Higa, pointing to his own puffed-out chest with his thumb. "You can trust me, I know what I'm talking about!"
Tsubaki, stretched out on his bed with his cheek pressed into his arms, groans.
"I don't think there's a solution for that." Desolate, he murmurs.
“Yes, there is! Listen to me, I already know what you should do.”
Disinterested, but still searching for answers, Tsubaki rolls his head in his arms to face Higa with tired eyes. He has already lost all hope.
“Go on, then.”
Higa's smile widens impossibly. He sounds very confident of his next words.
“All you need to do is seduce him!” he says abruptly, a mischievous glint dancing in his eyes. “I've read that a lot in my novels, and that's how they usually do it. If you push the right buttons, Yuu will be so crazy about you that he'll accept your feelings. Nobody can resist a good tease.”
Tsubaki's lips part with a soft pop, his eyes widening.
“Crazy about... me? You think so?”
Higa nods quickly.
“Absolutely! If you do as I say, you can bet he'll fall for you in a second."
With a jump, Tsubaki sits up, in a listening position.
"I'll do it!"
"Good," Higa drags out the words, without losing his smile. "Here's what you gotta do..."
It's to be expected that Higa's advice embarrassed Tsubaki to the point that he crossed his arms over his face, his cheeks burning as he shouted back:
"This is too much, I can't do this!"
Higa's response is to clench his fists and, with all his insistence, ask:
"Do you want the strange dreams to stop or not?"
And Tsubaki immediately wilts.
"… I do."
"Then do what I'm saying!"
Tsubaki's blush disappears beneath his shirt, spreading to his neck and chest, and he buries his face in his hands, hiding from Higa's eyes.
"But that's too daring… it's the kind of thing that appears in those adult films that Mom never lets me watch. If I do that with Yuu-nii, I…"
The gentle touch of a hand on his shoulder makes him separate his fingers, his eyes peeking through the gaps between them. Before him, Higa looks resolute.
"Aren't you the one who keeps saying you love him? That you want to be his boyfriend?" he snaps. "Then be a man and act like one! He'll never be interested in you if you don't show him what you're capable of. He needs to see you as a potential partner, and for that, you need to show that you know these naughty things."
"But I don't know any naughty things," he murmurs.
"You'll pretend you do until you get the hang of it," he says. "Or I could show you some videos on my laptop…"
"No!"
An amused smile tickles the corner of Higa's mouth.
"Whatever you say…"
Eventually, Tsubaki resigns himself to the fact that doing what Higa suggests is the better — if not the only — option he has. And because he really wants to get rid of the dreams and stop waking up feeling strange, Tsubaki gives in.
He doesn't like keeping secrets from Yuu, and hatching this whole plan behind his back seems very wrong. Yuu is usually indulgent with him, but Tsubaki doesn't know if he will continue to be after all this.
"Tsubaki, you've been a little distant lately" Yuu murmurs that morning as they walk side by side to the subway. The rising sun reflects on the top of his hair, bathing him in its warm rays, and Tsubaki feels breathless for a moment, staring at him with wide pupils. It's like looking at the sun itself. "Tsubaki?"
Blinking out of his daze, Tsubaki shakes his head, focusing on Yuu's furrowed brow. He hates being the one to put that worried look on him.
"Is everything alright?" Yuu asks, oh so gently, and the mere sound of his voice, soft and mellifluous, transports Tsubaki straight back to the sounds he made in his dream; the whimpers that left Tsubaki feeling all hot and flustered. "A penny for your thoughts?"
A furious blush climbs Tsubaki's face at the question, and he leaps a foot away, mortified. His mind fills with unwanted images of Yuu's bare chest, so real and palpable because he's seen him shirtless countless times, and the blush only intensifies.
Stop, brain, stop! We're in front of Yuu, I can't think about these things!
Adorably confused by his departure, Yuu tilts his head to the side. He looks to where Tsubaki was less than a second ago, and where he is now, having fled as if Yuu had the plague.
"Why are you so scared? Did I do something to upset you?" His voice comes out in an insecure whisper this time, the corners of his mouth twisting down. Tsubaki's heart skips a beat.
He can't let Yuu think there was anything wrong. He can't hurt him like that.
"No! Yuu-nii never does anything wrong!" he exclaims, hurrying to stand beside him again. A little shy, but feeling sufficiently encouraged, Tsubaki reaches for Yuu's hand and gently wraps it around his, twirling his little fingers around Yuu's, and squeezing in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture. "Let's hold hands now. I'm not mad, okay?"
Yuu's lips lifts in a smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
"Okay, then. You really scared me for a second."
And there, looking at Yuu's smile and feeling the weight of his hand against his, Tsubaki realizes he will have to put Higa's advice into practice as quickly as possible, because his heart feels like it's about to explode.
The first step is: casual touches.
“Be subtle,” Higa had told him, his index finger raised as if giving him a valuable lesson. “Don’t go too far at once, but don’t be too much of a pussy either. Touch the right spots to embarrass him.”
Tsubaki goes over these pieces of advice in his head as if flipping through a magazine while looking down.
He’s at Yuu’s house, sitting on the edge of the sofa with his little feet dangling as he watches Yuu crouched in front of him, rummaging through the drawers of the cabinet located right below the TV.
They’re enjoying the weekend watching Yuu’s favorite movie series — actually, the initial plan was to watch Tsubaki’s favorite cartoon, but he’s trying to please Yuu and suggested he choose the movie for the evening.
Yuu stands up with the DVD in hand and inserts it into the TV, programming everything before turning and sitting right next to Tsubaki, his back against the upholstery.
Slowly and carefully, Tsubaki's eyes creep towards him, observing him cautiously. It's the perfect moment to act, isn't it? It seems convenient.
Tsubaki closes his eyes tightly, trying to gather every ounce of courage contained in his body, and then moves closer, pressing himself against Yuu's side.
"Yuu-nii, I'm cold," he murmurs, though he isn't, and rests the side of his face against Yuu's chest. He can hear the steady beating of his heart.
Without perceiving anything suspicious, Yuu allows the closeness, and extends his arm to embrace him, placing his hand on his shoulder. His thumb begins to caress Tsubaki's shoulder, who melts in his arms, emitting a humming sound.
Yuu's contented giggle sounds above him, amused by his receptiveness to the touch, and Tsubaki takes this as a signal to advance further.
He places his hand lightly in the center of Yuu's stomach, then begins to move down, and down, and down, until his open palm is just above Yuu's thigh, which is, conveniently, clad in a pair of shorts.
Yuu doesn't react by trying to push him away, so Tsubaki, after casting a discreet glance in the teenager's direction, slides his hand a little further, until his little fingers are nestled on the inside of Yuu's thigh.
He feels Yuu shift, trying to get comfortable, and bites his lip. Experimentally, he puts pressure on his fingers and squeezes, managing to feel a bit of Yuu's exposed skin, and hears his heart race below his ear before he gasps and leaps away.
"Tsubaki!" he exclaims, red to his hairline, his legs now pressed against his chest, and Tsubaki feels the taste of anticipation melt on his tongue. He wants more. Yuu's skin was so soft beneath his fingers… Embarrassed, Yuu covers his face. "You can't… it's not right to touch there."
"Why not?"
Yuu's eyes peer through the gaps between his fingers. He's completely red.
"Because it's… it's wrong."
Tsubaki tilts his head to the side.
"And why is it wrong?"
Tsubaki grumbles into his hands, hiding his face again. He doesn't know the answer.
"… Never mind."
Victorious, Tsubaki hides the smile that stretches his cheeks in his hand. He calls that progress.
Tsubaki continues making very subtle advances.
The next thing he does is collect a drop of chocolate from Yuu's cheek with his tongue while they share a cupcake, and Yuu covers his mouth with a bright blush spreading across his face, smoke practically coming out of his ears.
Afterwards, Tsubaki starts to get bolder, randomly placing kisses on various areas of Yuu's face. On the cheek, on the chin, under the eye, on the forehead, and on the tip of the ear. Once, he even kissed the knuckles of his fingers like a sailor kissing the hand of a princess, and Yuu was so affected that he made an excuse and ran home.
He still daydreams about the day he will kiss Yuu on the mouth again.
The dreams, however, don't let up. And tonight, he dreamed of Yuu having two of Tsubaki's little fingers in his mouth, sucking on them like a lollipop, though it must have been a very good lollipop, because Yuu was drooling around them, saliva dripping from his chin as he took them out of his mouth to lick each one individually and then slid them back in again with a satisfied sound vibrating in his chest.
"Tsubaki…" he murmured in short intervals in that needy, languid tone, his eyes misty and cloudy. "Kiss me…"
Tsubaki wakes up.
He's really throbbing down there, and he thinks he can feel something sticky in his underwear, running down between his legs.
This has never happened before.
Gasping and confused, Tsubaki slips his hand inside his underwear and, feeling strange, curls his fingers around himself. He whimpers. Something viscous is leaking from the tip and running down, and he panics for a moment, thinking he's wet the bed. He's too old to be wetting the sheets.
But then, exploring a little more closely, he realizes the fluid in question is different. It's not as liquid, but it's not that pasty either. The sensation is different.
He moves his fingers upwards and his stomach clenches, another involuntary sound escaping him.
Startled by his own reactions, he pulls his hand away.
Why his body insists on reacting this way is a complete mystery, but if there's one thing he's sure of, it's that he needs to change that.
He needs to win Yuu over to end these dreams once and for all.