Archive of Our Own ^beta

Akito and Toya didn't fail to click on many things. They shared a passionate love for music, a desire to climb their way to the top of the world, and of course an intimate mutual understanding of how it felt to be isolated and unloved… It seemed like no matter what, they would always operate on an identical wavelength to the point that they knew each other inside and out.

One thing Akito would never understand, though, was his partner's extremely rigorous studiousness. Logically speaking, he knew it made sense to put in the effort to be a good student, but it seriously felt like Toya transformed into a different person once they stepped onto school grounds… His ever sweet, infinitely kind partner would disappear and a gigantic stick in the mud would take this place.

For example – when they began their first year at Kamiyama together, one of Toya's immediate criticisms was that Akito should at least be hiding his piercings and the dyed portion of his hair while they're at school. That front long since proved to be a lost cause, the older settling for watching his partner put on his typical false goody two-shoes act on inspection day, but it certainly set an unexpected precedent for the years to come…

Though Toya often fell for half-assed excuses like “my bike broke down on the way here so that's why I'm half a day late” or “I actually caught a cold every afternoon last week and this morning so I couldn't take any notes” when they came from someone like a particularly annoying classmate of his, he was too intimately acquainted with Akito's every habit and mannerism to believe such things coming from his mouth. As such, the younger was subjected to the version of Toya that had no problem forcing him into line more often than he'd like to admit…

In particular, Toya's strict side tended to bubble up on days where he had to work his shift for the library committee. Right before the start of their second year, the whole squad made an effort to rearrange all their club activities to ensure they could get to practice straight out of school – that meant if Toya couldn't be found glued to his partner’s hip at around noon, chances are he was working in the library. It also happened to entail Akito being forced to drown in his own boredom for an entire period.

While you could catch Akito helping out the soccer team on occasion, he didn't officially belong to any designated club. His biggest principle was to never half-ass things, so he took zero interest in pretending like he wouldn't rather be out singing on Vivid Street. Not that there weren't any music clubs within Kamiyama – in fact, Akito's vocal prowess had earned him quite a number of invitations. As for his opinion on the groups in question… pretty much everyone who could relay the answer would paint the image of an arrogant brat lording over them.

Either way, that particularly obnoxious combination of hindering factors usually left Akito unoccupied and missing Toya for nearly an hour. It wasn't every day that Toya needed to work, but that little taste of freedom only pissed Akito off further once the time came to deprive him of its sensation once more. He sort of wondered if this was how Toya felt always waiting for him outside the apparel shop like a lost puppy…

The obvious solution was to just visit Toya while he was working, but Toya was far too honest to ditch his librarian duties just because his partner was bored and wanted to chat. Not only that – avid reader that he was, Toya always insisted against the notion of misusing the library's services with unshakable fervor. As much as he loved being with Akito, this was a place of education and literature at its core, and he showed remarkable self-control in upholding his oath to that value.

Of course, if Akito planned on borrowing a few workbooks to study with, that seemed to be acceptable… hence how he found himself currently able to bypass Toya's usual defenses, haphazardly claiming he wanted to brush up on English slang and conjugation. Of course, seeing as he had zero intention of actually studying, he quietly snuck some manga to gander at in between the pages of his textbook, but Toya was occupied enough that he likely wouldn't question it.

One good thing about forced inactivity was that – in this case, at least – it gave Akito a great excuse to stare at Toya uninterrupted. He felt like a sappy loser every time he thought about it too hard, but he'd developed a fondness for watching his partner simply go about his business. Whether he was gathering his equipment for singing practice, immersed in his textbooks while he went over his daily review… or even right now, as he carefully restocked and arranged the bookshelf precisely parallel to Akito's seat. Something inside the younger's heart would always warm up at the sight of Toya just… being Toya.

In his defense, admiring Toya wasn't exactly a Herculean task. Akito wasn't so stupid that he couldn't recognize the fact that his partner was pretty damn easy on the eyes, though he wished he could say he was less familiar with the feeling of his stupid gay brains turning to mush over it. Every part of Toya glowed with beauty so easily that even some of their female schoolmates were a bit jealous, and Akito found it exceedingly difficult to avoid letting himself drown in his shine when the reminder that this ethereal boy belonged to him was always sitting in the back of his mind.

As if sensing Akito's increasingly homosexual thought patterns, Toya turned his face to the side with intent to scan over the remainder of the shelf he was organizing. The result, though, was a flawless highlighting of his sharp features – pointed and elegant even down to the distinct upturn of his gorgeous silver eyes, yet well-rounded by the visible pillow softness of his porcelain skin to give him an undeniable factor of cuteness. Not even the tiny little beauty mark underneath his eye could count as a flaw amongst his seemingly perfect collection of features, only enhancing his effortless divinity in its offering of an easy target for Akito to daydream of stamping his lips into.

Oh, and when Toya finally returned his head to its original position, pressing the head of his pencil to his lips, Akito swore he was gone, if only for a moment. The older was merely studying the clipboard he brought along with his cart of books, yet Akito's point of fixation instantly found center at the point where that pink eraser repeatedly teetered into plush lips of an adjacent hue. Of course, Akito's trance contained within those couple of suspiciously hour-like moments was brought to an end when Toya began to push his cart away once more, but unfortunately his mind had been rendered sufficiently gooey enough that he chose to remain in his state of idle daydreaming.

Even the way Toya's hair ever so slightly bounced as he walked at a brisk pace had its own method of total mesmerization, swishing in a way that rewarded only the closest of dedicated observers with the fleeting promise of silkiness. It certainly didn't help matters that Akito and his overly affectionate hands knew quite well that he could make good on such an unspoken promise, that feeling of soft blue locks easily threading through his fingers just barely out of reach…

…Goddammit. Sometimes Akito hated how tidily Toya had him wrapped around his finger. Realistically, he could absolutely just get up and act on those stupidly cheesy yearnings welling up in his chest – or at the very least, leave and do something else in avoidance of the absolute torture that was dangling the object of his desires right in front of his face… but doing either would surely make Toya upset, and so there he sat. Glued to his chair like the obedient dog his partner had somehow managed to train him into.

Why couldn't this stupid free period be over already…?! At least then, he could make do with a quick goodbye kiss as they parted on their return to class… Damn whoever was cruel enough to gift him such a picturesque angel like Toya only to put him in a situation as evil as not letting them kiss when all he wanted to do was smash their lips together and-

“Akito? Is everything alright? You've been staring at me for quite a while.” interrupted the voice of Toya, his sudden appearance right beside Akito's table ironically having gone completely unnoticed by the younger.

“Huh? Oh… Yeah, I'm fine.” Akito answered with a shrug, doing his best to pretend like he hadn't spent what a cursory glance at the clock told him was a half hour violently yearning for his kiss. “I got kinda stuck and zoned out a little bit, I guess…”

“I see… At least you're making an honest effort.” spoke Toya with a nod, though the slight jab at his less-than-ideal academic habits made Akito scrunch up like a scorned puppy for a moment. “Is it anything I could help with? I'm very equipped to provide textbook recommendations.”

Right… not only was Toya a naturally gifted prodigy and probably one of the most exemplary honors students to grace Kamiyama, he was also well-versed in multiple languages. Three, to be precise – Japanese was his native tongue, he knew enough English that his only concern about an overseas trip to the US was the corresponding plane ride, and his parents had apparently tutored him in German as well… Honestly, there probably wasn't a better person to ask among the entire student body if you were interested in expanding your linguistic repertoire. And he was offering to help Akito out so readily…

“...Guess I'll have to rely on you, partner…” Akito ended up sighing, unsure if Toya was even cognizant of his victory over his partner as he lit up in response. An unfairly gorgeous smile brimming with pure warmth took over Toya's face, signaling that usual wave of happiness that washed over him whenever Akito willingly engaged with his studies – and if that was one of his primary reasons for stuffing his manga into his bag as Toya turned his back, that was his business.

Still, even if Akito had made the decision to lock in, that didn't stop his incessantly pounding heart from having other plans… After all, watching Toya simply do his thing unobstructed was already a favorable pastime – which, of course, meant seeing that little extra bounce in his partner's step as he whisked himself around the library with that same smile on his face was an entrancing sight worth burning into his brain forever.

Akito's line of sight eventually fell to Toya's hand, the paled index finger on his left trailing along a particular shelf in search for a book that would help Akito. He'd be lying if he claimed something didn't stir inside his core as he watched those slender, delicate fingers card through each cover protruding from the shelf, treating each text gently as though concerned it were possible to harm them. And when his palm finally flexed into the spine of its intended target, Akito swore his heart skipped a beat.

It was a bit stupid from Akito's point of view, but he'd already thrown himself shoulder-deep into his starved ruminations as things were, so there wasn't much point in pretending like he could look at Toya's hands right now and think of anything other than the way they excelled at holding him. Whether those cool fingers were intertwined with the calloused warmth of his own or wandering over the curve of his shoulders with the aim of traveling down his back and toward his waist as their lips softly entangled…

“Here you go, Akito.” announced Toya in another bout of suddenness, one of those pretty hands laying flat on a stack of several English textbooks. “I took the liberty of marking the most relevant passages I could think of, and some of these books even have a few of my personal annotations. They should serve you well.”

“Ah… Thanks, dude.” Akito blinked helplessly, slowly shutting his previous book as the realization slowly dawned on him that in order to make Toya happy by studying, he'd have to actually do the work of studying first…

“Do you need anything else?” Toya asked with a hum, his posture straightening back up as though he were Akito's personal assistant – in ironic contrast to his previous failed attempts at customer service.

“Nah, I've got this.” Akito drug his chair forward with an affirmative huff, immediately grabbing a book off the stack as if intending to prove himself. “Go ahead and do your job, man. No need to keep dotin’ over me.”

“But you're a customer of the library, Akito. If you're in need of my assistance, then that's my job right now.” Toya explained, his tone unwavering as he made his way behind Akito step by step. “Besides… It's rather slow right now, so Kusanagi should be alright on her own.”

“K…kay.” Akito swallowed heavily, hoping the source of his hesitation – being that having Toya step into his personal space with a casual placement of palms upon his shoulders did absolutely nothing to hinder his aggressively gay thoughts – didn't show on his face as he opened up the first marked section of the textbook.

“I believe this should suffice as a warmup exercise.” Toya spoke with an infliction that suddenly seemed a million times more sultry than it probably was in actuality, leaning down right next to Akito's ear in pure obliviousness for the bullet-like thumping of his heart and the scorching heat in his cheeks. “You did very well on your last few tests covering conjugation at this level… Here, try translating it.”

“Yeah… Got it.” Akito muttered lamely, doing his very best to pretend the bulk of his current thoughts didn't consist of ’Oh my god he's so close why does he have to be so pretty I wanna kiss him so bad this sucks this sucks this SUCKS-’ as his pencil began to move.

The first couple of problems came to him easily enough – which was a miracle, seeing as the feeling of Toya's palms rolling into his shoulders as he felt the sensation of a ghosted breath against his ear served as a pretty nice distraction from his studies… At least it proved he was somewhat making progress in his English studies, though it would be laughable to consider him conversational still.

“That's exactly right, Akito… Good job.” Toya praised in a near-whisper – realistically because that was considered the standard of politeness while inside a library, but it made Akito's heart flutter regardless. It was a nice thought that Toya would reserve such words for his ears alone, rolling off his tongue in a tone specially designed to make Akito melt into a puddle… Fuck, it had to be cruel and unusual punishment that he would be forced to study for an imaginary test instead of going in for a round of tonsil hockey with Toya.

It was only when Toya finished speaking that Akito realized his partner had gradually snaked atop his arms until his hands sat flat on either side of his own. Akito was sure the positioning would look exceedingly intimate to any passersby… but unfortunately, his brain didn't qualify that as a good enough reason to stop right now. He was only a man, after all – and he'd have to be quite a stupid one to turn down the feeling of his beautiful boyfriend leaning against his back while whispering pretty words into his ear.

“Hm… You seem like you're doing better now. It seems like a change in material was what you needed after all.” Toya eventually hummed as he continued observing Akito's work, a mixture of pride and relief filling his softened voice. “Don't feel afraid to ask me for help again, okay? I didn't mean it purely in a musical sense when I asked you to rely on me more.”

“Yeah yeah, I'll keep that in mind…” Akito let out a faux grumble as he shut the textbook he'd been transcribing – though, in actuality, his real takeaway from this lesson was that he was indescribably weak for his partner. Actually using his free period to study just because Toya wanted him to… When the hell did he let himself become so thoroughly tamed?

Luckily, right then was where the bell decided to ring, hence signaling the end of Toya's shift and beckoning the both of them back to class. Choosing not to skip a beat while the opportunity to avoid dwelling on how pathetically easily he'd allowed himself to be subjected to the leash and collar was sitting before him, Akito quickly clamored together the study materials he'd taken from his bag.

“Let me know if you need any more help, okay?” Toya offered in that effortlessly sweet tone Akito had learned he couldn't not sit and roll over for. “We could meet up at MEIKO-san's place and do our daily review together over snacks and coffee.”

Akito couldn't help the fond chuckle that wisped through his lips at those words. Toya was an endlessly polite individual at his core, so all of his invitations tended to be phrased as suggestions for their recipient. Luckily for him, Akito knew Toya well enough to decipher the little quirks in his mannerisms on top of his apparent complete inability to reject his partner's desires.

“Sounds good, man.” said Akito with a casual shrug as he finished stuffing his belongings back into his bag, which was then slung back over his shoulder – despite Toya's semi-frequent warnings that he'd wreck his posture carrying it like that. “Let's meet up in SEKAI after school then, kay?”

“Indeed… I'll be looking forward to it.” returned Toya with a nod, a smile overtaking his face which clearly painted the picture of his welling excitement at the prospect of getting to spend time with his partner. “...Oh, and Akito?”

“Yeah? What's up, du-” Akito could've finished his thought – if it weren't for a pair of lips lovingly stamping into his the moment he raised his head to the appropriate level. The motion was almost over as soon as it started, with Toya offering the tiniest of follow-up pecks while his parting caused a particularly intense flush to bloom in Akito's cheeks.

“...Thank you for being so patient.” Toya smiled like he hadn't just frozen Akito in place with one swift move – though whether he had actually recognized the true source of Akito's distraction was hardly clear. “I'll see you after class, okay?”

This boy was seriously gonna kill him someday…!