Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Woah, wait wait! Put away your abs!!"

"You surprised me." Ida blinked, but obediently lowered his shirt back anyway. "What's wrong?"

"Don't 'what's wrong' me." Aoki pressed both hands against his eyes. "Why are you taking your shirt off in front of me?? Go change somewhere else!"

"But..." Ida was confused. "We change in the same place for PE class, don't we?"

Aoki was silent for a moment before turning away and covering his whole face. "Alright. Fine. But be quick!"

"Okay."

Long after that incident happened,  Ida still never really understood why Aoki absolutely flipped his shit at the sight of his abs. He was just changing clothes – it wasn't supposed to be a big deal. After all, for Ida, it wasn't.

Was not.

–

"Ugh, where did this rain come from??"

Ida tried to shield Aoki from the rain using his bag, and Aoki tried his best to cover up too - but ultimately, their efforts were futile. By the time they managed to take shelter, they were both soaked to the bone, hair sticking to their foreheads like a pair of wet dogs.

"Well, that was for nothing." Ida murmured. "Aoki, you're soaked!"

"You're no better." Aoki wrung his sleeves, grimacing when the water made a splash on the floor.

"You're gonna catch a cold this way." Ida muttered again, glancing at the still-pouring rain. "We're already soaked anyway, let's just make a run for my house! I'll lend you something dry to change into."

"In this downpour??" Aoki groaned, seemingly already hating the idea. But the rain didn't show any sign of stopping anytime soon, and they were soaked all the way down to the socks, losing body heat every second. "I guess we have no chance..."

"Be careful with your steps, it's slippery." Ida cautioned, already positioning himself to run. "Ready? Let's go!"

He tugged on Aoki's wrist, and within the next second, they were practically flying on the sidewalk, Aoki's screams swallowed up by the rain.

"I shouldn't have agreed to Akkun's stupid idea~~~~!!!"

The sudden blame against Aida didn't come out of nowhere. It was only because he stopped Aoki on his way home and begged him to attend a limited edition game launching together that they even ended up in this position.

"Aoki, pleeeeeeease!!" Aida clutched Aoki's arm desperately. "One person has only one chance on the gacha. I need more than that to pull the rare item!!"

"Does it have to be me??" Aoki groaned and tried to pull away fruitlessly. "I don't even play that game!"

"I just need another set of hands. Please!!" Aida stared at him with wide, pitiful eyes. "You're my best friend, aren't you? Aren't you??"

"Argh, fine!"

"Huh, Aoki? Aida? Where are you two going?"

Aoki turned around at the unexpected feminine voice. "Hashimoto and Ida? I thought you two had a student council meeting today?"

"We did. It was a short one."

"The vice principal only wants to make sure we all got the new student council badge." Ida added. "It wasn't an important meeting."

"Now that Hashimoto is here." Aoki forcefully pried his arm off Aida's vice grip. "Hashimoto, what do you think about going on a date with this guy today?"

Hashimoto blushed furiously in an instant. "A- a date??"

"There, you have your extra set of hands." Aoki gestured at the girl. "Now can I go home?"

"Actually." Aida smirked, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Why would I go with only one more set of hands when I can have three ??"

"Remind me to never let that guy drag me anywhere ever again." Aoki grumbled as he tried to dry off his hair as much as possible using the towels Ida's mom gave him. They were sopping wet when they arrived and dripped so much water on the floor that Aoki felt bad, but Ida's kindhearted mother was more worried about them catching a cold than anything. She ushered them to Ida's room quickly, telling Aoki not to mind the floor and giving them a bunch of towels to dry off with. She even offered him to take a bath, which Aoki was thankful for but politely declined.

"I think it was pretty fun." Ida lightheartedly answered, walking into the room freshly changed with his hair half-dried. "Aida got the item he wanted too, right?"

"Yeah, Hashimoto's luck is awesome." 

Aida had the stupidest jaw-dropped, starstruck expression on his face when Hashimoto pulled the rare item. For Aoki, it was a wonderful chance to make fun of his best friend. "If he wasn't already head over heels in love with her, I know he will be now."

"You got a pretty good one too." Ida chuckled, handing Aoki neatly folded clothes. "Here, change your clothes. I think the shirt and hoodie are a little big but the pants should fit just fine."

Aoki looked a little hesitant, but he accepted the clothes anyway. "Sorry to trouble you."

"Not at all." Ida smiled. "So... should I leave?"

Aoki waited for a full three seconds before answering. "No... it's fine... just, maybe, don't stare?"

"I'll look the other way." Ida walked past Aoki and turned towards the window, looking at the sky outside. The rain clouds have dissipated just the slightest bit, but the light showers still remained.

Ida could hear sounds from behind him - the clinking of belt buckle, the slight rustle of fabric – and he unconsciously brought his gaze down. With his perspective changing a little, Ida realized – belatedly – that the reflection of his bedroom could be seen on the window, albeit a little unclear. And with the sky darkening from the rain clouds outside, he could see what Aoki was doing.

He was unbuttoning his shirt.

Ida stared at the reflection, almost unblinking, as if he was hypnotized. Aoki's slender fingers moved deftly on the buttons, undoing them one by one until he reached the last one. His soaked cardigan already lay on the floor next to his socks and tie. Aoki's hand moved back up, slipping under the shirt to slide it off his shoulder.

Ida couldn't stop staring.

From the slightest sliver of skin he could see in between the front of his shirt – more and more of Aoki's skin was exposed. Ida watched the scene unfold like it was a slow motion picture, eyes landing on the reflection of Aoki's collarbone on the window, slowly following the shirt as it slipped off. From what he could see on the daily, Ida already knew that Aoki had fair skin – fairer than his own, at least – but seeing what was usually covered exceeded all of Ida's expectations. Aoki's skin was fair and smooth, almost unblemished, like high quality silk. Aoki often complained about his skinny body and lack of athleticism, but now Ida could see that he was actually in quite good shape, with just the right amount of muscles on his slender body. The muscles seemed to move underneath his skin as Aoki continued to undress, and Ida's gaze followed them down to Aoki's torso. His waist was so thin, like he would snap in half if he bent over just a little too hard.

Slowly, Ida's gaze traveled dishonestly upwards to Aoki's bare chest, and he held his breath for a second. They were both guys, and there was nothing on Aoki's body that Ida hadn't seen on himself, but nevertheless, the sight enthralled him. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost see the remaining droplets of water creating a sheer layer over his skin. Aoki patted himself down to dry off more – his long and slim fingers fluttering lightly on the smooth skin, all over his torso.

Ida swallowed thickly.

When Aoki grabbed his pants around the waist, Ida instinctively knew that it would be way too much for him to handle. So he quickly looked away, staring at the ruffles on his curtains as if trying to count them.

--

"Thank you for the clothes. I'm sorry for the trouble."

Aoki bowed deeply, and Ida's mom practically flailed at him. "It's no trouble at all! In fact, are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner? We can all eat together!"

"It's okay! I need to go home anyway." Aoki smiled. "Thank you so much for your offer."

"At least let Kousuke take you home." Ida's mom frowned slightly in worry, glaring at her son when he didn't move or respond.

"Oh, there's no need! The rain has stopped, and I'm heading towards the station, so I can walk home together with my dad."

"If you say so..." Ida's mom trailed off, ending it with a sigh and a smile. "Just to the front gate, then."

Aoki thanked Ida's mom one more time with a polite bow, and the two made their way to the front gate. Ida was uncharacteristically quiet the whole time and somehow Aoki noticed it.

"What's with you?"

"Huh?" Ida snapped out of his thoughts, finding Aoki looking at him with a somewhat troubled look. "Wha?"

"You're awfully quiet." Aoki mumbled, fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie. "Something bothering you?"

"Oh. No, nothing." Ida was quick to reply. "Are... are you sure you're okay walking home alone?"

"Yeah I'm fine, it's not like I'm gonna walk alone for that long anyway. I'm meeting my dad at the station."

"Oh. Oh, right. You mentioned that." Ida rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, see you at school, then."

"Thanks for lending me these. I'll return them quickly."

"Don't mention it. It looks good on you." Ida blurted out. Aoki flushed slightly, lifting both hands to cover his face again – but then he stopped in the middle, as if just noticing something. 

Ida just stared at him curiously, raising a brow.

"...What's wrong?"

Aoki's hid a smile behind his hands, looking somewhat shy. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking..."

Aoki brought the sleeve of his hoodie – Ida's hoodie – to his nose and sniffed it slightly, his eyes glimmering as he peered at Ida from under his lids.

"...so this is what Kousuke smells like at home."

Ida watched the gesture, seeing himself reflected in Aoki's eyes and his shy smile – Aoki, wrapped in Ida's own clothes, possibly with Ida's scent all over his body—

Yeah, that's definitely too much.