Chapter Text
Chapter 1: It’s you!
Sasaki was two weeks away from graduating college. He and Miyano had finished signing the lease of their very own apartment three days prior – something that was long overdue after way too many incidences of Sasaki's dormmate not abiding by the “do not disturb” sign – and his life was generally pretty awesome. No more classes, he would start applying for jobs soon, this weekend he would be moving in with his boyfriend, and honestly, Sasaki never imagined he could feel happier than he did the day Miya confessed his feelings, or their first date, or their first time.
But apparently, every new first just came with even more happiness, and Sasaki was excited about how many more firsts they still had ahead of them. Almost four and a half years into their relationship, and while they had their occasional fights, they always talked it through, and found their way back to that exhilarating and tingly connection that followed them from the moment they met.
A moment that literally changed the trajectory of his life. Sweeping up the hallway near the walkway to the quad, because Hirano had a terrible habit of signing the two of them up for any and every mundane task that none of the committees wanted to deal with, was when he first saw Miyano Yoshikazu; Miya. Even with his growth spurt right before he started at the same college as Sasaki, he still hadn’t quite broken 170 cm, but a respectable 168 cm, and yet the day they met, he seemed so tiny. So delicate, and soft, to such an extent, Sasaki wasn’t even sure if he was a boy or a girl at the time.
Something he never told Miya, considering, especially when they first met, Miya had a lot of insecurities about his appearance, his overall androgyny. Sasaki would never not feel proud of his hand in helping his boyfriend learn to accept and eventually appreciate and embrace his femininity. Honestly, he would love Miya no matter what he looked like.
But when that dainty student was about to intervene in a fight – well… less a fight and more a bullying situation, because three against one was never fair, unless the one was Bruce Lee or something – Sasaki remembered how his heart jumped into his throat when he realized this unnamed kid was about to get himself hurt by trying to do the right thing. It wasn’t even a thought, Sasaki handed him the broom and swooped in, distracting the bullies long enough for Kuresawa to get away.
Did it get his ass handed to him? Sure, but then, it was better than what they probably would have done to Miya. After that, Sasaki couldn’t take his mind off of the kohai whose name he still didn’t know, that was, until said kohai sent a message of gratitude for Hirano to pass on, and Sasaki finally had a name to a really, very cute face.
Miyano.
And then, somehow, they became friends, and their relationship continued to grow, and bloom, and Sasaki found himself falling harder and harder for Miya with every single moment they spent together. After nine months of bonding over borrowed manga, and a year of flippant flirting that would make Miya blush so beautifully, Sasaki couldn’t take it anymore and finally told him on Field Day that he liked him. Then he happily waited for Miya to think about his own feelings.
Six months. Sasaki waited for an answer for a little over six months. And it was worth every painstaking moment, every almost touch that pushed Sasaki to the point of pure torture, every regretful moment where he allowed his emotions to get the better of him – and still Miya forgave him, understood, was so kind, and sweet, and just so… Miya. And then that magical day, when Miya finally gave him the answer he had been waiting so patiently for, and Sasaki was surprised his heart didn’t fly out of his chest.
Now almost half a decade later and they were still in love, and moving closer and closer to the happily ever after he had read over the years in countless borrowed BL manga. Unlike Miyano, Sasaki didn’t tend to liken their lives to BL tropes and setups, but if he was honest with himself, their love was better than most of the stories he read. Sasaki was a damn lucky man.
Tonight was date night, and while the plan would involve much less fun date stuff, since Miya was coming over to help him finish packing, Sasaki had a surprise for his boyfriend. He had planned to give it to Miya their first night alone in their apartment, but Sasaki finally got it yesterday morning, and he didn't like waiting.
As though Miya could sense that Sasaki was thinking about him, his phone started ringing. Sasaki smiled as he looked at the picture of the two of them at a concert together. Miya’s eyes were closed and he had the biggest grin on his face as Sasaki had his arm wrapped around his boyfriend, his lips pressed against a heated and sweaty cheek. That concert had been the night of their second anniversary, and Miya surprised Sasaki with tickets because it was the same band of the first CD he had let Miya borrow all those years ago in high school.
“Hey, Miya, what’s up?” Sasaki greeted as he drew the phone to his ear.
“Shuumei!” Miya sounded a little breathless. “I’m going to be late. I got so distracted with this new series while waiting on the platform. The uke had been kidnapped by an evil wizard, and the seme was on his way to rescue him, fighting off a horde of goblins, and… I had to keep reading, so, of course I wasn’t really paying attention, and I missed my train!” He let out one of those cute little whines, and Sasaki loved his boyfriend all the more.
Sasaki drew his hand over his mouth to help contain his amusement. All these years later and his boyfriend was still so easily entranced by BL manga. So cute. “As long as you don’t give me any more spoilers, I’ll forgive you for being late,” he teased.
Honestly, he could feel the way Miya was blushing, even though he couldn’t see him. “I’m so sorry, Shuu. But I’ll be at your dorm as soon as I can, okay?”
“Take your time, Miya. We still have a couple of days before the actual move.”
“You aren’t beating the delinquent allegations. I’ve been packed and ready since last week,” Miya said with a slight huff, but there was no venom. Miyano’s organized and structured personality always balanced Sasaki’s chaos, and he kind of loved that about them.
Sasaki did snicker into the phone then. “Well, if I’d already packed, then I might not even get to see you tonight.”
“Or maybe you would and we could be doing something a lot more fun than packing,” Miya said, his voice dipping an octave.
Fuck. Sasaki loved when Miya hinted at sex. Despite how nervous and clumsy they had been their first time, it was kind of crazy how easily they fell into the BL trope of not being able to keep their hands off of each other after that night. Not that they got alone time anywhere near as much as Sasaki would like, something that was thankfully changing by this weekend. But what he was pleasantly surprised by was how… comfortable Miyano got, and so fast. It was kind of like a light switch being turned on. And despite earlier protestations, Miya wasn't just an uke, but an enthusiastic one at that. Not that Miyano didn't enjoy being the seme from time to time, but he confided in Sasaki that he loved being under him. And seeing as Sasaki would take Miya in whatever position, as long as it was with Miya, that was all that mattered.
Maybe Sasaki had all those years of reading BL to thank for Miyano’s sex drive and capabilities. Either way, the intonation in Miya’s voice did not leave him unaffected. “Oh, yeah? Like what?” he growled.
“Shuumei,” he whined again, but this time his voice was breathy, “don’t tease me. I’m in a crowded train station!”
Sasaki laughed and felt like he was falling in love all over again with his boyfriend. “Alright. I’ll play nice, Yoshikazu. Just get your cute little butt on the next train and I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“It’s not that little,” he said in a petulant voice that had no right being so cute on a twenty-one year old man.
“Oh, I know,” Sasaki purred as he worried his lip between his teeth and willed his erection to go down, considering he was literally in the middle of the quad, on his way back to his dorm room. But damn, did Miya have a great ass. It was perfectly round, and surprisingly meaty considering his smaller stature.
“You’re incorrigible,” Miya chastised with no heat behind it. “I’ll see you soon, Shuumei. I love you.”
“I love you more,” Sasaki returned with a grin, knowing exactly what was to come next.
“I love you most.”
“Well, I love you your entire BL collection.”
Miya laughed and said, “Fine, you win.”
With an even bigger grin, Sasaki said, “Don’t I always?”
He could feel Miya’s eye roll too. “I’ll win one of these days,” he promised.
Sasaki didn’t have the heart to break it to Miyano that as long as he was on the receiving end of Miya’s love, he would always be the winner. “Sure you will. Now make sure you don’t miss the next train, no matter how much peril that uke is in!” He proceeded to gasp as he draped the back of his hand against his forehead, causing a couple of students sitting on a nearby bench to look at him a little funny.
That was met with a chuckle before Miya said, in an incredibly fond tone, “You’re an idiot. I’ll see you soon.”
After Sasaki pressed an audible kiss to the receiver end of his smart phone, they disconnected, and he decided, now that he had extra time, that he was going to that donburi place Miyano liked not far from his dorm to pick up dinner for them. He turned on his heel and started making his way toward the alley between the two dormitories that was a shortcut to the street the izakaya was.
Just as he stepped into the alleyway, that was when he saw a couple of guys, probably close to his age, holding a black haired kid, who couldn’t have been older than seventeen, against the wall. The kid was crying and begging them to stop.
For whatever the reason, he saw Miya in that kid and his heart dropped into his stomach as that old familiar anger started to consume him. Sasaki clenched his fists and rolled up the sleeves of his black denim jacket. “Hey!” he called out as he approached, drawing the attention of the two bullies.
One had green hair and a couple lip piercings, while the other had silver hair and twice as many earrings as Sasaki. They were both dressed in all black, and turned to the sound of Sasaki’s voice with twin snarls.
“Two against one just ain’t fair. Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size?” Sasaki challenged.
And just as he hoped, the two thugs released their grip on the kid – who had the foresight to book it as far away from them as quickly as possible – and approached him with menacing glares.
The taller of the the two, the guy with green hair, said, “Who the fuck are you?”
Sasaki just flashed him a smile. “Well, seeing as I’m about to dispense some vigilante justice… Just call me: Batman.” While he was big, and pretty strong thanks to Ogasawara forcing him into working out with him on a weekly basis, he wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t a trained fighter, and their imposing stature meant there was little to no chance of Sasaki winning this fight. But he was in it now, and hopefully it would make them think twice about trying to hurt some young kid again in the future.
Hopefully they didn’t kick his ass too much; he could only imagine how pissed Miyano would be if he found out he got into a fight instead of packing.
***
Miyano couldn’t believe he missed his train, and all because of BL. In his defense, though, this was a new series that was surprisingly well written, and subverted a lot of tropes in a really enjoyable way. He was pretty sure Sasaki would love this series, and seeing as he would probably be finished with the first two volumes by the time his train arrived at the stop by his boyfriend’s dorm…
The downside of it being an in-progress series meant that when he reached the end of this volume, he would have to wait until the next volume was released. Which would be torture, because the uke was presently in a coma in the hospital, after the seme had successfully rescued his lover, and was at his bedside, hoping for the uke to wake up. The art and the writing were both so visceral, Miyano couldn’t help but feel the same level of helplessness, and hoped for this fictional character to wake up soon.
Just as Miyano got to the last page, the uke woke up and… asked the seme who he was. Oh, no! He had amnesia. Miyano frantically flipped to the back page to be greeted by the damned and torturous phrase: “to be continued”. What an awful place to leave this volume! The author was clearly a sadist and wanted to torture their readers without their consent. With a huff, he slammed the manga closed and stuffed it into his satchel.
Thankfully, the train slowed to a stop at the station he needed. Perfect timing, because if he ever needed to be cuddled by his boyfriend, it was right at this moment. As if Sasaki had some sort of sixth sense, just as Miyano stepped onto the platform, his phone rang. He pulled it out, only to furrow his brow to see Sasaki Satoko’s name on the screen.
“Satoko?” he greeted, unsure why Sasaki’s sister would be calling him. While they had exchanged numbers a couple of years ago, after Sasaki had hurt his ankle and broken his phone helping out in the bakery, and Miyano had gone hours worried out of his mind…
That was when the dread started to fill him.
“Yoshikazu! Shuu… Shuumei is hurt!” She sounded frantic, which wasn’t really out of character for her, but…
Miyano felt sick. Every single worst case scenario was playing through his head, and he could feel the tears burning at the corners of his eyes. “What?” was the only word that escaped. His mind was running a million miles a minute, demanding he ask so many more questions. Where was he? What happened? Was he alive? Was he…
Thankfully, those words never had to pass his lips as Satoko told Miyano that Sasaki was found unconscious in an alley between the two dorms. A bystander had called emergency services when they found him, and he was currently in a bed at the nearest hospital. Satoko had been called first because she was his emergency contact, and the second she got to the hospital and learned that Shuumei was stable, she calmed down enough to call Miyano.
As if in a daze, Miyano started running. He knew that the hospital was less than a mile from the train station. He ran so hard his lungs burned, but he didn’t care. His boyfriend, the love of his life, was currently in a hospital, and the last thing Miyano said to him was to call him an idiot! What an awful, terrible boyfriend he was. Miyano promised himself if Sasaki turned out to be okay, he would never end a phone call like that ever again.
Please be okay, Shuumei. Please be okay.
Despite never being much of a sprinter, Miyano reached the hospital in an insanely short amount of time. He was shaking when he reached the reception desk and gave Shuumei’s name before he was handed a visitor pass and told the direction of the inpatient unit on the fifth floor. When the elevator finally brought Miyano to the right floor, he sprinted down the hallway until he saw Satoko standing near the nurse’s station, her and Sasaki’s parents talking to a physician.
When he reached them, the doctor stopped talking and stared curiously at the now breathless Miyano.
Satoko was at his side and waved her hand. “You can keep talking. This is Shuumei’s partner.”
With an understanding nod, the doctor turned her attention back to his boyfriend’s parents as she continued, “So, it appears, on scan, to be a concussion. We saw no bleeding, no fractures, and no internal swelling. So, that’s a good thing. When he wakes up, he will need to be monitored for the first forty-eight hours. No strenuous activity, mental or physical, but common daily tasks are okay, and it’s better for concussion patients to not hole themselves up in a dark room. Limit screen time, and if he develops any severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, or neurological deficits, bring him right back.”
“So… he’s going to be okay?” Miyano managed to ask, his voice quiet, and he felt so tiny, so terrified.
The doctor pulled down her mask, revealing a youthful face with a soft smile. Her dark brown eyes held sympathy, and she said, “I think so. We’ll wait until he wakes up before discussing discharge, but considering he has lost consciousness, and has some bruising on his abdomen, we’ll want to keep him for observation for the next twenty-four hours, maybe longer, but after that, he should be free to go home. We’ll also refer you to a physiotherapist to help with any recovery needs.”
Miyano was relieved, but until his boyfriend woke up, he knew the heavy pit in his stomach wouldn’t be going anywhere. He turned to Satoko then and said, “Can I see him?”
“Of course,” Satoko said softly, kindly, and guided him into the room. She opened the door for him, and with a bow, closed the door, leaving Miyano alone with Sasaki.
His handsome boyfriend’s bright ginger-orange hair was mostly covered by a garish white bandage holding an ice pack in place, and he… he looked so fragile and pale, laying flat against the barely elevated bed, with a breathing tube in his nose.
The sob that escaped was completely uncontrolled, and he dropped himself to the chair right next to Shuumei’s bed. He clutched that cold, unmoving hand, and pressed kiss after kiss to his knuckles as the tears just flowed. “Oh, Shuumei. Please wake up.” His thoughts instantly took him back to the manga he had been reading, and then he felt sick again.
If he hadn’t been so distracted, he would have been there! Whatever caused this injury to his beautiful, sweet, enduring, and patient boyfriend wouldn’t have happened! This whole mess was Miyano’s fault for being so stupidly engrossed in a manga of all things!
In that moment, Miyano prayed to whatever might be listening, any of the gods he didn’t believe in, and promised that, if Shuumei woke up, if Shuumei was fine, and recovered well, that he would never read another BL manga for as long as he lived.
That was when he felt Shuumei squeeze his hand.
Miyano gasped and sat up, using his free hand to wipe his damp face. “Shuu?” he whispered, watching with baited breath as his boyfriend started to furrow his brow and shift in his sleep. It looked like he was waking up. Despite the fact he did not want to leave his boyfriend’s side, he knew Sasaki’s family would want to be here when he woke up. Reluctantly, Miyano let go of Sasaki’s hand and ran to the door.
After he excitedly told the Sasaki family that Shuumei was waking up, he was back in his seat at Shuumei’s bedside, both hands braced on the mattress as he watched him shift more and more.
Satoko and her parents were standing on the other side of the bed. Sasaki Saeko leaned over and braced her hand on her son’s forehead. “Come on, Shuu. Wake up for us.”
With a soft gasp, Shuumei’s beautiful gray eyes fluttered open and he flashed his parents and sister a lop-sided grin. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?”
Miyano could have sobbed again. His sweet, silly boyfriend.
When Sasaki turned and locked eyes with Miyano, his expression changed from familiar to bemused. He tilted his head and said, “It’s you!” similarly to how he used to greet Miyano back in high school.
“Yes, Shuumei. It’s me,” he said as he braced his hand over Sasaki’s on the bed.
To make things even weirder, Sasaki slowly and carefully drew his hand away. While he still had a smile on his face, his expression was even more confused, and a little uneasy.
Before Miyano could say anything, Satoko furrowed her brow. “Shuu. Why are you being weird? Don’t you recognize Miyano?”
Sasaki hummed and murmured, “Miyano,” to himself before he turned to look at Miyano again. “So, that’s your name? And you look kinda… different from earlier today. Oh, crap, is that why I’m here? Did those first years knock me out? Did you come with me to the hospital?”
That was when it all started to click into place. While Satoko and her parents shared bemused glances with each other, that pit of dread multiplied tenfold and Miyano stood up, leaning forward. If Sasaki was referring to what Miyano thought he was referring to… He held his boyfriend’s gaze and said, “Shu–Sasaki. Can you tell me what year it is?”
Sasaki shrugged and said, “Why are you asking that?”
“Humor me, please. What year is it?” Miyano asked again, dreading the answer, and hating the way his lungs constricted as he waited for what he was suspecting to be true.
“It’s 2016,” Sasaki said, so matter-of-factly one would think he assumed Miyano was the one with the head injury.
Miyano shook his head and willed himself to not cry, ignoring the shocked gasps from the Sasaki family. He had never wanted to experience a BL plot line in real life, not even when his own love story kind of pushed it when it came to the BL setups. Despite coming to terms with falling in love with a boy in high school, dealing with all of the unexpected emotions that came with questioning his sexuality, and walking face first into too many tropes considering he desperately tried not to, Miyano never expected any sort of plot twist like this.
“No, Sasaki. It’s 2022.”