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Hirano felt… inadequate.
Kagiura was just so good at this. Being his lover, to be clear. He was so patient, and kind, and understanding, and Hirano felt like he was drowning whenever he caught Kagiura staring at him with those beautiful amber eyes. (Not that he doesn’t look as well, but that’s an issue he’s gonna repress and think about… never.)
Logically, Hirano knew Kagiura had flaws. Everyone has them. He knows that Kagiura is impulsive, intense, even childish, but the fact is, he doesn’t care. None of those flaws seemed to matter when he was touching Kagiura. The entire world would fall away and they would be in suspended animation, together. It was a stupid, unnecessarily poetic way to put it, but Hirano couldn’t think of a better way.
Hirano knew Kagiura wanted what he couldn't give. The realization had been sitting in the back of his mind for months, maybe even a year now. He wasn’t even sure if he liked the act of touching himself or the effect it had on Kagiura, and before he figured that out, he didn’t know if he could do anything about it. He never knew anything when it came to Kagiura.
He only knew one thing: He liked making Kagiura happy.
The teacher was going on about some new integrating technique Hirano had already worked through himself 15 minutes ago. As the sun streamed onto his desk, his eyes automatically squinted, and he couldn’t help but think back to his first basketball session with Kagiura.
He had jumped out the window for him. In front of Sasaki, no less! To be honest, he didn’t really care what Sasaki thought; it’s not like he’d do anything about it, and he had his own thing going on with Miyano anyway. But he still didn’t want it to be obvious!
Still, the pros outweighed the cons. He had gotten to spend time with Kagiura and see him in his element. He could swear there were literal, mischievous sparkles dancing around him whenever he stole the basketball, and yet he was happy to help Hirano improve. Maybe this was a manifestation of his wish to be “equal”? Kagiura had expressed that he didn’t want to let all of Hirano’s “help” go unreturned, and has asked Hirano to be “needy” with him, whatever that meant.
But seeing Kagiura give it his all from up close was reward enough.
Coming back from his reverie, Hirano blinked against the bright afternoon light, realizing his hand had stilled over his notebook where he’d been mindlessly doodling the outline of a basketball. He quickly (and way more dramatically than needed, Hirano would later reflect) ripped out the page, crumpled it up, and surreptitiously dropped it in his schoolbag. He glanced toward the teacher, but the lecture was still rambling on, completely unaware of his distraction. Good thing Hirano was trusted to be a model student.
Sighing quietly, Hirano tapped his pencil against the desk, trying to force his mind back to calculus. Whenever his thoughts drifted to Kagiura, pulling them back felt like trying to catch air. The guy—his lover—just had an absurd amount of space rented out in his head, completely free of charge.
He shifted in his seat, resting his chin in his hand as he stared out the window. It was ridiculous, really. He was the senior here. He was supposed to be the reliable, grounded one, yet half the time he felt like he was the one trying to keep his footing while Kagiura effortlessly pulled him into his orbit.
This wouldn’t do. He glanced at the clock. It showed exactly 12:00. Only 30 more minutes. Then it would be lunch time, where his thoughts could be, well, relatively, free to wander.
Hirano was at lunch. With Sasaki and Ogasawara, to be exact, and a rare Hanzawa had “graced them with his presence”, as he so eloquently put it. As he ate the green peppers that he knew Kagiura wouldn’t, he didn’t say much as Sasaki and Ogasawara chatted about some band they both listened to. Normally, Hirano would chime in with a remark or two, sometimes even scolding Sasaki for caring more about Ed Sheeran instead of his studies (and no, no matter what Sasaki says, he is not MOMMY HIRANO), but today, his thoughts were preoccupied.
As he reached for another pepper, the metallic chime—the custom tone he’d assigned specifically to Kagiura—cut cleanly through the background chatter of the cafeteria.
At the table, Hirano’s hand froze mid-air, his chopsticks hovering. Beside him, Ogasawara stopped mid-bite, his eyebrows shooting up toward his hairline. Even Hanzawa, who had been inhaling his lunch at record speed before running off to assist the student council, paused to cast a sharp, discerning look across the table. Sasaki merely leaned back, a spark or recognition flickering in his eyes.
Hirano normally kept his phone on silent. Unknown to the rest of this particular lunch group, he had made an exception for Kagiura’s messages, since they often had to communicate about supplies needed for the dorms and similar situations. They had established previously that neither of them would message the other during class time as neither of them desired to get a disciplinary infraction (especially Hirano, he already got scolded for his hair and piercings, he didn’t need "disrupting class time” on his record as well). Lunch texts had never happened before, but were not expressly forbidden.
So Hirano usually ignored his phone during lunch. He was the reliable, no-nonsense senior who didn’t fiddle with his screen while eating with friends. But today, with his head still spinning from math class and the persistent image of amber eyes, he pulled out his phone without a second thought.
Kagiura:
Hey Hirano-san! Hope class wasn't too boring. Have you eaten yet?
The simple message made something tight in Hirano’s chest loosen, only to be replaced by a sudden, overwhelming urge to actually see him. Not later in the dorm. Right now.
Driven by a rare impulse, Hirano’s thumb flew across the screen.
Hirano:
I’m eating now. Can I come see you?
The reply was almost instantaneous.
Kagiura:
EH?? Really?! Of course you can!! Niibashi isn’t here right now anyway, he had an art project to finish so I’m all alone :(
Come to Classroom 2-B! No one's in here right now!
A faint heat rose up the back of Hirano’s neck as he stared at the screen, completely oblivious to how open his expression had just become.
Sasaki simply leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable save for a small smirk on his face.
"You're actually checking your phone at lunch?" Ogasawara asked, genuinely bewildered. "Who's texting you that's got you looking like a deer in headlights?"
Hanzawa adjusted his glasses, his keen eyes practically reading right through Hirano's faint blush. "If you have somewhere important to be, Hirano-kun, don't let us keep you."
Hirano snapped his phone shut, quickly shoving the rest of his food into his mouth. He stood up, grabbing his bento box. "I'm heading out for a bit. See you guys back in class."
Without waiting for their—teasing, confused, intuitive?—responses, he turned on his heel and made a bee-line for Classroom 2-B.
The door to Classroom 2-B slid open with a soft, metallic scrape, and Hirano stepped inside, pulling it shut behind him a little too quickly.
The room was bathed in warm afternoon sunlight, smelling faintly of chalk and dry-erase markers. Kagiura was sitting at a desk near the back, leaning forward with his elbows on the wood, but the second the door opened, he practically bolted upright. His eyes lit up instantly, amber irises catching the light like polished glass.
"Hirano-san!" Kagiura gasped, a bright, helpless grin spreading across his face. "You actually came! I thought you were joking!"
"Why would I joke about that?" Hirano grumbled, though there was zero bite in his voice. He crossed the quiet room, his heart doing an annoying, frantic rhythm against his ribs as he stopped beside Kagiura’s desk. "You said you were alone."
"I am!" Kagiura beamed, leaning in closer, his tall frame suddenly feeling very large in the empty classroom. He looked up at Hirano with that completely open, unapologetic adoration that always made Hirano feel entirely transparent. "Niibashi is in the art room until next period. But... why did you want to see me? Is something wrong?"
Hirano swallowed hard, the noise of the hallway fading away into absolute silence. Looking down at Kagiura—at the faint flush on his cheeks, his messy hair, and those steady, liquid-gold eyes—all the rationalizations from class evaporated.
He didn't have a grand explanation. He didn't know how to articulate the strange, heavy longing that had been pulling at him all morning, or the lingering touch from the night before that still made his skin prickle. He just knew that standing here, under Kagiura’s entire, undivided focus, felt like the only place he was supposed to be.
"Nothing's wrong," Hirano said softly, his voice dropping an octave as he rested a hand on the edge of Kagiura's desk, bracing himself. "I just... wanted to see you."
Kagiura’s eyes widened, a sudden, breathy intake of air escaping him as his own flush deepened past his collar and crept up his neck, spreading like a flower blooming on his face.
“Ah… uh… um…” he stuttered, only getting redder by the second, and Hirano’s heart fluttered with that new word that had somehow nestled in his brain. Cute. Kagi-kun is so cute.
“Is… is that okay?” Hirano scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I know you said that I wasn’t interrupting anything, but this is kinda a new thing and…”
“Can I hug you?” Kagiura cuts him off in a rush, voice breathless, as if he’d been riding a rollercoaster rather than attending his lunch break.
Now it was Hirano’s turn to flush red as a strawberry.
“Right here? Right now?” he said, momentarily misdirected as all his intrusive thoughts flooded in. What if someone sees? Walks in right now? I mean, this is technically an empty classroom, but if we get caught…
“Well, it’s just that…” Kagiura started, face almost… sheepish? “I want to kiss you really bad right now, but uh, I can’t, but I still want to show you how much I love you!”
Hirano’s heart stuttered. He was used to Kagiura’s raw, unfiltered honesty, but it still managed to embarrass him. As he moved his eyes up, they landed on Kagiura’s face, completely unfiltered, as it always was. Even with the door shut and the quiet hum of the afternoon surrounding them, Kagiura’s candid affection always had a way of rendering him completely speechless.
"You really just say whatever comes into your head, don't you?" Hirano mumbled, his hand shifting from his neck to cover the lower half of his face, desperately trying to hide the deep crimson heat spreading across his cheeks.
Kagiura didn't answer with words. Instead, he stood up from his chair, instantly towering over Hirano, though his expression remained soft, almost pleading. He took a hesitant half-step forward, leaving just enough space between them for Hirano to step back if he wanted to.
Hirano didn't move.
With a quiet, resigned exhale, Hirano let his hand drop from his face. "Just... a quick one," he muttered, looking down at the edge of the desk rather than meeting those amber eyes directly. "And don't make it weird."
Before he could even finish the sentence, Kagiura wrapped his arms tightly around Hirano's shoulders, pulling him in. Kagiura buried his face into the crook of Hirano's neck, resting his weight against him with a contented sigh that vibrated straight through Hirano's chest.
Hirano froze for a fraction of a second before his body instinctively relaxed into the embrace. His arms found their way around Kagiura's back, his fingers gripping the fabric of his school uniform. Standing together in the middle of the empty classroom, the lingering worries about school rules, disciplinary marks, and the teasing comments from his friends vanished entirely.
"Thank you, Hirano-san," Kagiura murmured softly against his skin, his arms tightening just a fraction more.
"Yeah, yeah," Hirano replied gently, his chin resting against Kagiura's shoulder, a small, helpless smile finally breaking through his embarrassment. "Just eat your lunch after this, alright?"
10 minutes before the bell rings. Hirano knew he should start heading back soon, but something kept him glued to the floor. His own contemplative thoughts quietly hummed in the background as Kagiura talked about his basketball practice that morning, how “Coach had us do extra drills this morning, said we couldn’t get soft over the exam break!” Hirano leaned back against the wall as they sat side-by-side, a rare moment of true relaxation.
The faint scrape of the concrete against Hirano’s back felt grounding as he leaned against the classroom wall, watching Kagiura animatedly detail every single drill from basketball practice. "Coach was relentless," Kagiura continued, running a hand through his messy hair before turning his head to look at Hirano. Then, something in his eyes shifted, sheepish, yet shining with determination, unlike his previously animated expression. His amber eyes caught the warm afternoon sunlight filtering through the window.
"So... about what I said earlier. About wanting to kiss you."
Hirano’s breath hitched slightly, his heart giving that familiar, troublesome thump against his ribs. He didn't look away this time, though a stubborn heat immediately began creeping up his neck.
Before Kagiura could apologize once more, as Hirano knew he would, Hirano blurted out, "You don't have to feel bad about holding back!
His voice dropping as he rested his arms over his knees, he said "I get paranoid about getting caught at school, yeah, but... it's not like I don't want to… figure out where else we overlap. I just need time to figure all this out. So don't feel like you have to keep everything bottled up."
Kagiura’s eyes widened, the raw intensity in his gaze softening into absolute warmth. A wide, helpless smile spread across his face, and for a second, he looked like he might burst with energy.
"I can wait as long as you need, Hirano-san," Kagiura said softly, leaning his head back against the wall next to Hirano’s. "Just hearing you say that is more than enough."
Hirano huffed out a quiet, fond breath, looking sideways at him. "You really are ridiculous."
He checked the clock, noticing the hand ticking closer to the end of the period. He pushed himself up from the floor, dusting off his uniform before glancing down at Kagiura. "Alright, time's up. Pack up your lunch, or you're going to be late."
"Yes!" Kagiura beamed, scrambling up off the floor with a bright grin. "See you back at the dorm tonight, Hirano-san!"
When Hirano slid back into his seat in his own classroom, he tried his absolute best to look like the model, unbothered senior he was supposed to be. He pulled out his math notebook, smoothed out a fresh page, and held his pencil with practiced discipline.
It took less than five seconds for the act to completely fall apart.
"Well, well. Look who decided to rejoin the mortal realm," Sasaki drawled from the desk nearby, leaning back in his chair. "You look like you just walked out of a high-voltage zone, Mommy Hirano."
"Shut up, Sasaki," Hirano muttered instantly, fixing his eyes strictly on his notebook, though the bright crimson flush burning on his ears betrayed him completely.
Ogasawara leaned over from the side, squinting with deep suspicion. "Hold on. Why are you glowing? And why are your pants dusty? Were you sitting on the floor?"
"It was just... dorm business," Hirano lied terribly, adjusting his collar with entirely unnecessary force while trying to brush off his trousers under the desk.
"Riiiiight. Dorm business," Sasaki chuckled, shaking his head.
"I said drop it!" Hirano snapped.
As the teacher walked back into the room to resume the lecture, Hirano let out a quiet, resigned sigh. He rested his cheek in his hand, looking out the window as the afternoon light caught the edge of his desk. He didn’t like that Sasaki seemed to know way more than he should, and he still had plenty of his own complicated feelings to sort through—but as he remembered those clear amber eyes looking back at him, Hirano figured he could live with it.
The late afternoon light stretched long shadows across the classroom floor, but Hirano found himself staring blankly at the teacher's board, unable to absorb a single equation. Every time he tried to focus, Sasaki's knowing face from across the room flickered in his mind, quickly replaced by the memory of Kagiura’s gentle expression as they sat shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Dorm business," Hirano muttered under his breath, shaking his head. He knew the excuse was weak, but what else was he supposed to say? 'Sorry, I was sitting on the dusty floor of Classroom 2-B getting my head completely turned upside down by a lowerclassman with cute eyes?' Ducking his head lower and gripping his pencil tighter, he determined to play the part of the serious student for the remaining twenty minutes of class.
Yet, as he brushed a bit of leftover dust from the knee of his trousers, the persistent heat on his face refused to settle. He thought about Kagiura back in 2-A, maybe struggling to focus just as much, or maybe beaming carelessly at his own notebook. The thought brought a reluctant, trace-thin smile to Hirano's lips before he caught himself and quickly flattened his expression. Expressions…
He still had no idea how to navigate everything Kagiura wanted, or even what he himself truly felt underneath all the confusion. But as the clock slowly ticked toward the final bell, Hirano realized he wasn't as terrified of figuring it out as he used to be.
Kagiura stared at his phone screen, his heart pounding against his ribs so hard he was sure Niibashi would have heard it if he weren't off in the art room.
I’m eating now. Can I come see you?
He read Hirano’s text three times just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Hirano-san—the strict, reliable senior who refused to break a single school rule—was offering to drop his lunch group and come to his classroom.
Before he could overthink it, Kagiura’s thumb flew across the screen, inviting him over. The second he sent it, he practically scrambled to clear off the desk, shoving his papers aside and trying (and failing) to tame his messy hair in the reflection of the window.
When the door finally slid open with a soft scrape, Kagiura bolted upright. Seeing Hirano actually standing there, looking slightly flushed and grumbling under his breath, made a rush of warmth crash over him.
Later, sitting side-by-side on the floor with their backs against the wall, Kagiura couldn't stop his eyes from drifting over to Hirano. He listened to himself ramble about basketball practice, but his mind was completely somewhere else. All he could think about was how much he wanted to hold Hirano’s hand, or how badly he had wanted to kiss him earlier.
He had braced himself to apologize again—to reassure Hirano that he wouldn't push—when Hirano suddenly blurted out that he didn't have to feel bad about holding back.
Hearing Hirano admit, in his own quiet, embarrassed way, that he wanted to figure out where they overlapped... it felt like the sun breaking through a cloud. Kagiura leaned his head back against the wall, feeling an embarrassing, unstoppable grin spread across his face.
I can wait as long as you need, Kagiura thought as the bell chimed. As long as I get to stay in your orbit.
As Kagiura walked back to the dorm after his shower, his thoughts buzzed a mile a minute. He was a moth and Hirano was his flame.
“He came to see me.”
“He let me touch him.”
“We ate lunch together.”
“I was alone and HE CAME TO SEE ME.”
Not to mention how hard it had been to calm himself down after… that. He was SURE Hirano knew exactly what Kagiura was feeling at the time and had kindly chosen to say nothing. Just another thing to be grateful for in the infinite list of kindnesses his dear Hirano had blessed him with.
Kagiura pulled his towel over his damp hair, giving it a vigorous rub as he reached their room door. He paused for a beat, forcing his breathing to slow down, and took a moment to pat down his cheeks to cool the remaining flush before sliding the door open.
The comforting, familiar scent of their room hit him immediately. Hirano was sitting at his desk, bathed in the warm light of his desk lamp, mechanical pencil moving in precise, disciplined strokes over a sheet of loose-leaf paper.
"You're back late," Hirano said without turning around, though the pencil stilled mid-formula. "Did you actually dry off, or are you dripping water all over the floor again?"
"I dried off! Mostly," Kagiura said, slinging his towel over the back of his chair and taking a seat. He leaned his chin on his palm, unable to stop the stupidly wide grin from stretching across his face as he watched Hirano's profile.
Hirano clicked his pencil twice, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on his notebook. "What are you staring at? Get your textbook out. You said you needed help with the review set."
"Nothing," Kagiura murmured, his voice softening. "Just... thanks, Hirano-san."
Hirano's shoulders hitched slightly. He finally glanced sideways, his mesmerizing blue eyes narrowing, though the tips of his ears turned a faint, telltale pink under his blonde hair. "For what? I haven't even explained the first problem yet."
"Just... for everything," Kagiura said, the overwhelming warmth in his chest settling into something steady, quiet, and grounded. He pulled his math binder out of his bag and flipped it open to the bookmarked page. "Alright, I'm ready. Show me what I did wrong on question four. Please! And thank you!"
Hirano let out a quiet, resigned exhale as he looked at the paper, a tiny, helpless smile tugging at the corner of his mouth before he covered it with his hand. "You got the entire negative sign wrong on step two, idiot. Pay attention this time."
As Hirano’s pencil scratched steadily against his paper, Kagiura’s own hand stilled over his trigonometry worksheet. The numbers and angles on the page blurred into background noise, completely overridden by the soft, warm light of the desk lamp catching the sharp line of Hirano’s jaw and the subtle glitter of his earrings.
God, how had he gotten so lucky? Out of every student who had walked through the gates of their school, Kagiura had somehow ended up in this exact room, sharing this exact space with someone who felt entirely out of reach, yet was right here beside him. He had the most handsome, dazzling, kind, talented, diligent, cute, sharp-tongued, and attractive lover in the whole world.
Hirano must have felt the weight of Kagiura’s stare, because his pencil paused. Turning his head, he looked at Kagiura with the full force of his gaze.
“Why aren’t you doing your homework? Do you need help? Wanna take a break?”
“Nie-actually, yes, Hirano-san! And I have an idea!: Truth or Dare!”
Hirano’s gorgeous face looked like it was morphing into a mix of deep suspicion and quiet amusement. He set his mechanical pencil down with a soft click and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Truth or dare?" Hirano echoed, his eyebrow arching high enough to practically reach his hairline. "Kagi-kun, we are in our dorm room on a school night, supposed to be studying calculus and trigonometry. How on earth did we jump to a party game?"
"It's the ultimate five-minute break!" Kagiura defended smoothly, leaning his elbows on the desk and resting his chin in his hands, flashing his best persuasive grin. "Just one round each. It gets our blood flowing, clears the brain fog, and then I swear I'll knock out questions five through ten without a single complaint."
Hirano narrowed his eyes, studying Kagiura's face like he was trying to solve a particularly difficult equation. The warm lamp light reflected off Kagiura's amber eyes, completely bright and brimming with mischief.
"One round," Hirano said sternly, though the faint pink dusting the tips of his ears betrayed how easily Kagiura's enthusiasm always wore him down. "And if you pick a dare that involves jumping out of the window or breaking any dorm rules, the deal is off and you're doing double the math problems."
But… didn’t he already jump out a window for me? "Deal!" Kagiura beamed instead, practically vibrating with excitement in his chair. He didn't even hesitate. "I'll go first. Hirano-san... truth or dare?"
Hirano furrowed his brows, thinking of, Kagiura was sure, of the least dangerous answer he could give.
“...Truth.” Hirano answered, having seemingly come to a decision.
Kagiura grinned. He had had options for both truth or dare, but, truth be told, he really wanted his question for truth answered.
“How much do you like Sasaki?”
Hirano blinked, the pencil in his hand coming to an abrupt halt. "Hah?"
Kagiura pouted slightly, leaning over the desk until he was practically in Hirano’s personal space. "You heard me! Do you like him? Do you like me more?"
"What kind of ridiculous question is that?" Hirano muttered, his brows furrowing as he tried to process the sheer absurdity of the comparison.
"It's a completely valid truth question!" Kagiura insisted, gesturing emphatically. "You talk to Sasaki-san, you're nice to him, you make him flashcards—I just want to know where I stand! Is he higher on the Hirano-san favoritism tier list than me?"
Hirano stared at him for three full seconds, slightly taken off card with the mention of the flashcards he thought he had hidden well and stunned by the sheer childishness of the rivalry Kagiura had just invented out of thin air. He let out a long, heavy sigh, resting his forehead in his palm before looking back up.
“Kagi-kun.” Hirano sighed, red starting to creep across his collarbone. “I would never let Sasaki touch me “like lovers” for a single second. I definitely don’t feel like hugging him, ruffling his hair, or helping him at all beyond normal classmate interactions. I only did those things for you because I like you.” The blush had now spread to his ears, a pretty bright red that Kagiura wanted to reach out and touch.
Kagiura blinked, the words hanging in the quiet air of the room between them. The slight pout he’d been holding onto completely melted away, replaced by a sudden, wide-eyed stillness.
“...I only did those things for you because I like you.”
The silence stretched for a moment before Kagiura’s brain fully processed what he’d just heard. A overwhelming warmth burst straight through his chest, so sudden and intense it made his throat feel tight.
“I know you like me!” Kagiura said quickly, leaning in close across the space between their desks. His hands hovered like he wanted to reach out and wrap Hirano in a full-body hug right then and there. “I just... hearing you spell it out like that makes my chest hurt.”
Hirano peeked over his knuckles, glaring with no actual intimidation. “Your chest hurts? You’re the one who brought up Sasaki out of nowhere!”
“Because I’m an idiot!” Kagiura confessed instantly, zero shame in his voice. He reached out and gently took hold of Hirano’s wrists, his eyes wide, shining, and entirely without guile. “I got jealous over nothing because you were busy with those flashcards. But... hearing you say I’m the only one you’d ever let do that... Hirano-san, that’s not fair. How am I supposed to handle that?”
Hirano let out a long, defeated sigh, the heat on his face burning hotter by the second. He stopped resisting Kagiura’s gentle pull on his hands, though he looked off toward the wall, completely unable to meet those ridiculously honest eyes head-on.
“You handle it by shutting up and letting me study,” Hirano grumbled softly, his shoulder brushing against Kagiura’s as the kouhai slumped forward in pure relief, resting his forehead lightly against Hirano’s arm.
“Okay,” Kagiura mumbled happily, a massive weight lifted off his chest. “I’ll be quiet now. ...Can I stay like this for five minutes though?”
Hirano stared down at the dark hair pressed against his sleeve, scoffed under his breath, and didn't pull away. “5 minutes. Then back to your own desk.”
Hirano nudged Kagiura’s head off his arm.
"Time's up, Kagi-kun. Back to your desk."
Kagiura let out a quiet sigh of protest, but he obeyed, dragging his chair back to his own side of the room. True to his word, he worked through the rest of the trigonometry set with surprising focus, only breaking his concentration to ask a quick question every now and then. By the time they both packed up their books and turned off the desk lamps, the dorm was entirely still.
Hirano lay in the dark, listening to the steady, quiet rhythm of Kagiura’s breathing across the room. He turned onto his side, staring blankly at the wall, and pulled the blanket up over his shoulders before letting sleep overtake him.
I want to kiss you really bad right now.
Kagiura’s blunt confession from Classroom 2-A echoed in Hirano’s head, sounding even louder in the pitch-black silence than it had in the afternoon sun. Hirano pulled the blanket higher over his chin, his face warming up all over again. He turned onto his side, looking toward Kagiura’s shadowed silhouette.
He still felt a wave of panic whenever he thought about it directly. Hirano liked boundaries. He liked rules, slow progress, and having time to analyze everything until it made sense. But Kagiura didn't operate on a timeline; he felt everything completely and expressed it instantly.
I need time to figure all this out, Hirano had told him. And Kagiura had promised to wait.
Hirano closed his eyes, letting the quiet hum of the room settle his racing thoughts. He wasn't ready for a real kiss—not by a long shot. But as he drifted off to sleep, a small, stubborn realization settled in his chest: he didn't want Kagiura to bear the weight of waiting entirely on his own, either.
The morning sun broke through the curtains early, painting the room in soft shades of orange and yellow. Hirano was already dressed in his crisp uniform, adjusting his collar in front of the small mirror while Kagiura frantically tied his shoes by the door, running late for morning drills as usual.
"I'm off, Hirano-san!" Kagiura called out, slinging his heavy sports bag over one shoulder and grabbing his water bottle. His hair was a chaotic mess, and he looked thoroughly rushed, but his amber eyes still lit up with that bright, familiar energy as he looked back at Hirano. "See you at lunch!"
Kagiura turned toward the door, reaching for the handle.
Hirano’s hand stilled on his tie. Something inside his chest gave a sharp, sudden tug. There were no teasing friends around and no time for Kagiura to overthink or make a grand deal out of it. Just a quick, quiet second before the day started.
"Wait, Kagi-kun."
Kagiura stopped instantly, turning back with a curious look. "Huh? Did I forget something—"
Before his brain could talk him out of it, Hirano stepped forward, closed the distance between them, and leaned up.
It was over in less than a second—a fleeting, warm press of Hirano’s lips against the high curve of Kagiura’s cheek, right below his eye.
Hirano immediately snapped back, his face detonating into a violent shade of red that burned straight down to his neck. He practically threw himself toward his own desk, grabbing his schoolbag with extreme, unnecessary force and keeping his back completely turned to the door.
"Don't be late for practice," Hirano blurted out, his voice a full octave higher than usual, his knuckles white as he gripped the strap of his bag. "Go. Now."
Across the room, Kagiura stood completely frozen, his hand still resting on the door handle. His eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open, and a flush rapidly spread across his nose and cheeks. He touched his fingers softly to his cheek, looking at the back of Hirano's head as if his senior had just cracked open the sky.
A wide, dazed, uncontrollable smile broke across Kagiura's face.
"Yes!" Kagiura squeaked out, his voice cracking slightly before he scrambled out the door, sliding it shut behind him with a loud thud.
Inside the room, Hirano sank into his desk chair, buried his burning face in both hands, and let out a long, desperate groan into the empty air.
He was never going to hear the end of this. But as he listened to the sound of Kagiura’s hurried footsteps fading down the hallway, Hirano didn’t really regret it.