Work Text:
“Furuya-kun, may I—”
"And then I tried the olive oil flavor. Olive oil. I couldn't believe it either."
The girl’s voice is cut off several times by Eijun’s, and she is forced to restart.
“Furuya-kun—”
Eijun continues talking about the new ice cream flavors he tried at the soft serve shop that he often frequents with Satoru and Haruichi. Her patience thinning, the girl grits her teeth and grabs onto Eijun’s arm, rough.
“Sawamura,” she enunciates each syllable of his name firmly. It reminds Satoru of the way his mother says his name when she is scolding him. The two boys look up at her from Satoru’s desk, which is crowded with bread and snacks and various magazines.
“Tanada,” Eijun answers.
“I’m trying to talk to Furuya-kun,” she states, narrowing her eyes at him. Eijun shakes her hand off of him.
“I was talking to him first.”
“You talk to him all the time. It’ll be quick, I swear. Furuya-kun, can we go somewhere more private?”
She turns her head to Satoru, who has only been observing quietly all this time. Before he has a chance to speak, Eijun interrupts again.
“Just say it here.”
“This is none of your business, Sawamura.”
The way she says his name is as if it tastes bad on her tongue. Satoru frowns slightly, even if he knows the two always carry this sort of friendly bickering in their dialogue.
“You can’t just tell me here?” asks Satoru. She breathes out a short sigh, shoots Eijun a wary glance, and then returns her gaze to Satoru.
“Well...fine,” Tanada concedes, lowering herself to her knees and propping her hands onto Satoru’s desk. “It’s not me, it’s my best friend, Hasegawa, in the other class. I’m sure you’ve seen her a few times. Tall girl, long brown hair, hard to miss.”
“Hasegawa, huh…” Eijun muses thoughtfully. Tanada shoots him another glare.
“Don’t interrupt. Anyways, she...is interested in you, Furuya-kun. Would you be willing to go on a date with her this weekend?”
Satoru blinks. In front of him, Eijun’s mouth drops open. It’s not the first time Satoru has been asked out on a date or invited to a mixer, but in the past, he could always just say he had baseball practice. Eventually, people understood that all of his free time was occupied by baseball and the invitations died out, but now that he has played his last game with Seidou, he has an abundance of extra time. It’s not that he doesn’t want to go on a date, it’s just that he’s unsure. His eyes travel to Eijun, who looks like he was the one who has just been asked out.
“Will you go?” Tanada asks slowly.
“Should I go?” Satoru consults Eijun. As he meets his eyes, Eijun feels his stomach clench uncomfortably. A strange feeling bubbles up in his chest, and he swallows hard, as if the action would somehow make the discomfort all go away (it doesn’t).
“Wh-Why are you asking me? Just go if you want to go!” Eijun exclaims, turning his head away. He props an elbow up on Satoru’s desk, resting his face in his palm. Satoru stares at his ear, tinted pink, and his brown, fluffy hair. His mind wanders, and he thinks about running a hand through it.
“Do you want to go?” Tanada asks, the slightest hint of impatience dripping off her words now.
“Oh...well, okay,” Satoru finally answers, still looking at Eijun’s hair. He does want to go on a date, he decides. Tanada’s face brightens immediately.
“Great!” she beams and slaps a scrap of binder paper onto Satoru’s desk. On it, the name and location of a cafe, as well as Hasegawa’s contact information is scrawled in green ink. With that, she rises to her feet again and exits the classroom, humming to herself, happy for her friend. Satoru picks up the scrap of paper in his hand, reading over the words, wondering to himself if this was the right decision.
“Hasegawa is really pretty. Good for you, dude,” Eijun says into his palm. He tries to sound enthusiastic, but his words carry little excitement. Satoru folds the piece of paper neatly and slips it into his pocket.
“Do you want to come with me?”
Silence, and then Eijun fully processes his words.
“What? Come with you where?”
“The date.”
Eijun wants to laugh, he really does, but for some reason his heart feels too heavy to even do that. He slumps down and buries his head down in his elbows.
“Pft. Don’t make stupid jokes like that,” Eijun says, voice muffled. It wasn’t a joke, but Satoru only nods quietly, even though Eijun can’t see him. Right, he remembers. Dates are between two people. Two people that like each other.
“I’ve never been on a date before,” Satoru states. A breeze from the open classroom window flows in, ruffling Eijun’s hair. Satoru doesn’t stop to think before reaching out and smoothing the brown strands of hair down. Eijun jerks his head up, eyes wide, and Satoru pulls his hand back. “Sorry…” He twiddles with his fingers in his lap to keep them put.
“No...it’s fine,” Eijun mumbles, slumping back down into his original position, the tips of his ears now red.
“Eijun, have you been on a date before?”
Eijun doesn’t reply immediately, but his shoulders twitch up, once. He lifts his head again, cheeks still rosy and expression somehow twisted into something both bashful and prideful at the same time.
“W-Well, me? Of course I have! I was really popular in middle school, I’ll have you know!”
Satoru nods thoughtfully. It makes perfect sense to him.
“Then, can you teach me?”
“Teach you…?”
“How to be a good date.”
“Oh,” Eijun breathes out. Right. They’re still talking about the date. About Hasegawa. Beautiful and kind Hasegawa from the class next door. He bites his bottom lip, feeling equally annoyed and lame at how he feels. He wants to be more excited for this, for Satoru. He doesn’t know why he can’t. “Yeah. Yeah! You know what, yeah. I’ll teach you everything, buddy.”
“Okay, then can we go on a date after school today?” asks Satoru, and Eijun just wants to bury his face in his arms again and never face Satoru again. “What is wrong with you?” he desperately wants to ask the taller boy, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just stares dumbly.
“Date…” he echoes. His chest squeezes and he feels himself break into a small sweat. A date? With Furuya? For some reason, the thought terrifies him even though he hangs out with Satoru all the time. It’s probably Satoru who he has spent the most time with these past few years playing high school baseball. The new label— date —changes everything for Eijun. The possibilities underlying that word destroy the peace Eijun had with being Satoru’s rival and friend, pushing him into a precarious space.
“Can we?”
Eijun runs through all the excuses in his mind— I have to study with Kanemaru! I’m gonna train my body! I already have plans to hang out with Harucchi! None of them work. He knows Satoru’s schedule and Satoru knows his. He’s free all afternoon. He blinks at Satoru for a second, before it clicks in his head, and he mentally chides himself for trying to avoid this in the first place.
Because it’s not a real date.
“It’s a practice date,” Eijun says, both to himself and to Satoru. He doesn’t need to be worried, because it’s not a real date. He’ll just hang out with Satoru, give him advice, and it’ll be like any other day. He nods. “Practice.”
*
Eijun is completely fine, and the not-date doesn’t bother him at all, until the last bell signaling the end of classes rings out, and Satoru stands at his desk, waiting for Eijun to gather his things.
He’s never been on a date before either.
He glances up at Satoru and averts his eyes quickly when Satoru stares back. Eijun focuses on very slowly placing his notebook into his bag, trying to prolong the process, hoping that something urgent would miraculously pop up for Satoru and then Eijun wouldn’t have to go on this not-date and pretend he knows what he is doing.
Nothing pops up, and he finds himself five minutes later unlocking his bike at the front of the school, again, painstakingly slow as Satoru waits for him. Satoru pulls out the folded paper from his pocket, reading the address and inputting it into his phone.
“Eijun, we can go to this cafe.”
“G-Good idea! We should scope out the place so you can be a good...a good date to Hasegawa.” Eijun shouts, a little too loud, as he shoves his lock into his bag and climbs onto his bike. The relief that comes with the familiarity of riding his bike next to Satoru does not last long, and his bubble of comfort bursts again when they make it to the cafe. It’s slightly hidden, in the back of some alleyway, but is cozily decorated, with green potted plants surrounding the exterior and a large chalkboard decorated with the daily available coffee blends and pastries as well as some cute doodles. Inside, there is a decent but not uncomfortable amount of people, some studying alone, some with groups of friends, some on what appear to be real dates.
Eijun imagines Satoru sitting at one of the tiny booths, his long legs getting tangled with Hasegawa’s as they share a plate of delicious souffle pancakes. They look good together, in his head. So much so, that it half irritates him to death.
“What’s wrong?” Satoru asks, and it is then that Eijun realizes he is frowning. He quickly flips it upside down and grins at his friend.
“Nothing! It’s a nice spot. Let’s go inside.”
The two find a cushy spot in the corner of the cafe and seat themselves. Satoru digs through his bag for his wallet and then stands up.
“I’ll order for us. Is the chocolate set okay for you?”
“Oh—uh, yeah.”
Eijun watches stupidly as Satoru walks up to the counter to order. His cheeks burn and his hands ball into fists. God, does he even have anything to teach Satoru? He rubs a hand over his forehead and thinks back on the copious volumes of shoujo he has read. He should know better than this. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to compose himself.
He feels a little better when Satoru returns.
“Furuya,” Eijun says. “I know you don’t talk a lot. But make sure you talk during your date. Don’t be boring!”
“Oh...What should I say?”
“Well...it’s always good to give compliments and stuff...Just be considerate, y’know? Ask her about her day. Ask her fun questions so you can get to know her.”
Satoru nods, taking in Eijun’s advice. He stares at Eijun for a beat, before saying: “Eijun, you look nice today.”
The compliment makes Eijun want to disappear into his sweater. He clears his throat awkwardly, hand swiping over his bangs, suddenly self-conscious. He reminds himself that it’s all just practice, and Satoru doesn’t really mean that.
“Y-Yeah, like that! Good job, Furuya! Haha…”
“Mm...but Eijun, I already know you, so I don’t know what sort of things to ask.”
Eijun frowns.
“Furuya, you’re supposed to be pretending I’m Hasegawa, remember?”
Disappointment flashes across Satoru’s face for a second, before he purses his lips into a thin line.
“...Right.”
Before Eijun can give him the next point of advice, Satoru’s name is called out, and he excuses himself for a moment to grab their order. Shortly after, a tray with a chocolate waffle and oreo milk tea is placed in front of Eijun. Satoru has a tray with souffle pancakes with fresh cream and strawberries. A tall glass filled with strawberry smoothie sweats with perspiration.
“Thank you!” Eijun smiles, relieved to have something to train his eyes on besides Satoru. “That’s good, Furuya. Really good. Very gentleman-like to take her order and pay for it and deliver it to her.”
He grabs a fork, just about ready to dig in, but when he looks up, Satoru has a piece of his pancake balanced on his fork and jiggling temptingly in front of Eijun’s face.
“...What are you doing?”
“Feeding you. Isn’t that what people do on dates?”
He pushes the fork closer to Eijun’s lips, and Eijun freezes. Unable to form any coherent thought, he acts on instinct and parts his lips. Chews. Swallows.
“Was it good?” Satoru asks, all while preparing another bite for him.
“Yes. Wait. Wait,” Eijun says, nodding and then shaking his head as his senses come back to him. Before he knows it, Satoru’s fork is positioned at the same spot, and with his cheeks burning hot, Eijun doesn’t really know what to do besides take another bite. Mouth full, he tells Satoru, “Furuya. Don’t do this. Do not do this on your date.”
“Why?” Satoru places the next bite in his own mouth. As Eijun chews, he imagines Satoru feeding Hasegawa as he did to Eijun, and it makes his stomach churn uncomfortably. He swallows and then gulps down his drink in hopes that it would cool his body down.
“It’s! It’s too much. You’re just getting to know her! You might scare her! She might run away!”
(It’s Eijun that wants to run away.)
“Oh.”
“It’s a good thing you have me to practice with, huh?”
“Mm. I’m glad...”
Eijun somehow manages to make it out of the cafe without getting another piece of Satoru’s dessert in his mouth. After some time, he had run out of advice to give or things to criticize Satoru about. He doesn’t think this practice date was ever necessary. Satoru would be fine. Hasegawa is going to adore him.
“Let’s head back now,” Eijun says, somehow more exhausted than he’s ever felt since graduating from highschool baseball. He starts walking towards their bikes, but Satoru hasn’t moved from his spot. “Furuya?”
“Eijun, can we keep going?”
Oh.
Right.
He’s here because he’s helping Satoru get ready for his date. Of course Satoru wouldn’t want his date with Hasegawa to just end after spending time at the cafe.
“...Yeah, of course,” Eijun answers, even though at this point, he feels a little sick of imagining Hasegawa in his place. He kicks at the dirt below him as Satoru starts approaching him. “What do you want to do now?”
Satoru loops his arm through Eijun’s as if it were the most natural thing.
“We can go to the arcade.”
He looks at Eijun, who is looking at their linked arms. He slithers out of it, frown visible on his face.
“Again,” Eijun sighs. “Too forward! It’s just the first date!”
Satoru frowns back at him, lips forming more into a pout. Insistent, he grabs onto Eijun’s hand, lacing their fingers together. He uses his other hand to press Eijun’s fingers down onto the back of his hand.
“You’re not her. You’re Eijun. So it’s okay, right? Besides, it will be practice for later.”
Okay? With an incredulous look on his face, Eijun stares at their interlaced fingers until he’s certain the image is permanently imprinted in his brain. This is definitely not okay. It’s unfair, in fact. Eijun knows that he agreed to this, but he’s starting to seriously dislike being Satoru’s practice doll for his date with Hasegawa.
Yet, he doesn’t exactly want to let go.
How lame.
Hands locked, they walk to the arcade down the street. There, Eijun’s competitiveness kicks in, and everything finally feels normal again. The thought of Satoru’s date with Hasegawa vanishes from Eijun’s mind for a while, and for the few hours they spend together playing games and having dinner, it just feels like another typical day of hanging out with Satoru. By the time the sun has set and the two have made it back to the campus grounds, Eijun is in a much better mood. He decides to give Satoru some final words of advice.
“You should always walk a girl home after a date, especially before it gets dark out. Especially if she has a curfew!”
“We live at the same place.”
“I said a girl. I’m not a girl. I’m not Hasegawa.”
Ridiculously enough, Eijun feels his heart drop at the last fact as he remembers that it's Hasegawa that is going on a real date with Satoru, not him.
“Well, I’ll walk you to your room then.”
He links his arm with Eijun’s again. Tired and defeated, Eijun doesn’t fight it. When the short walk to his room is over, they finally unlink their arms as Eijun digs around his bag for his key. Before he pulls it out, Asada opens the door for him, alerted by the noise outside the room.
“Ah, Furuya, Sawamura senpai…” he addresses the two with a warm smile. Satoru turns to face him.
“I brought Eijun home,” he says. He pulls his sleeve up to read the time on his wristwatch. "Before 9."
“...Huh? O-Oh, um okay,” Asada sputters, confused, his eyes darting between the two. Eijun feels his cheeks grow warm again, so he pushes Asada into the room, shouts goodbye! and then slams the door shut.
He hears Satoru’s voice, faint across the door, say, “I had fun today. Thank you, Eijun.” He waits a few seconds for Satoru to walk away before groaning and throwing himself onto his mattress. Asada approaches his bedside tentatively.
“Um...senpai, do you want me to step out so you can be alone…?”
“It’s fine…” he mumbles back. His grip tightens around his bedsheets, and he sniffles.
Seriously, how lame.
Because he had fun too, but he feels terrible. Terrible because he doesn’t like thinking about Satoru going on a date with Hasegawa. Terrible that he can’t wish them the best with all of his heart. Terrible because he is just Satoru’s practice date and because Satoru doesn’t know that Eijun feels this way.
Because he might have a stupid and lame and ridiculous crush on his best friend.
*
Eijun is right. The date is fine. Hasegawa does adore Satoru. He does everything that he had practiced with Eijun: he buys her food and tea, he does not feed her, he tells her that she looks nice, he carries a conversation with her, he takes her to a movie, he does not hold her hand or link their arms together, and he walks her home before it gets dark out.
But, it’s a little boring for Satoru. His heart doesn’t thump excitedly when they walk to the cafe. His eyes don’t chase after her every action. He doesn’t feel a desire to touch her or see how she looks with red cheeks and a flustered expression. Instead, he thinks back, constantly, to his date—practice date—with Eijun. He thinks about the various colors of Eijun and pretends that it is Eijun in front of him. It makes everything easier.
It makes him realize that yes, he does want to go on dates, but only if it’s with Eijun.
At the entrance to her home, she asks him with pink cheeks and her eyes downturned, “Can we meet again?”
It’s probably not great date etiquette to decline an offer for a second date. He mentally apologizes to Eijun. He’d probably be let down.
*
At lunch on Monday, Eijun drags Satoru to the rooftop, forehead creased in deep concern.
“What happened?! I saw Hasegawa earlier today, and she...she looked really upset! Did it go bad? Did you mess up in some awful terrible way?”
“No, it went pretty well. She asked for a second date, and I said no.”
Eijun feels like the worst person alive for feeling sort of happy about that. He was anxious all weekend over the date. Probably way more anxious than Satoru was. He had pretended he was anxious about Satoru doing something horribly offensive to Hasegawa, when really, he was anxious that the two would fall deeply in love, leaving him alone, with all these strange and complicated feelings hanging over his head.
“...Why?”
“Mm...I kept thinking about when we went on the date. It was a lot more fun. So I’d rather go on more dates with you.”
“Ha, so I set the bar too high,” Eijun laughs boisterously, hand rubbing at his nape. His chest swells with happiness at Satoru’s words, and he can’t help the smile that forms on his lips. Satoru smiles back at him, and Eijun thinks his heart might actually burst.
“So, can we?”
“Hm?”
“Go on more dates.”
“Furuya!” Eijun exclaims, his voice rising in pitch, Satoru’s name coming out in a chiding tone. “Do you even know what you’re saying?” Now, Eijun is actually upset. It feels like he’s being toyed with. “Dates...Dates are for two people that like each other!”
“Yeah, well, I like you,” Satoru states it like it’s the most obvious fact in the world. Eijun flushes and his shoulders rise.
“I mean people that like each other in a romantic way! In a boyfriend way!”
“Yeah?”
Eijun runs out of fiery lines to spew, and slowly, his shoulders deflate, and his frustrated expression melds into a confused one.
“I don’t...understand.”
Satoru takes a step towards Eijun.
“I like you in that way. In the boyfriend way. I want to be your boyfriend and go on more dates with you. Do you understand yet?”
And then he’s frustrated again. “What the heck?”
Satoru was about to grab onto his hand, but the tone of Eijun’s voice makes him falter, and he drops his arm back to his side. This isn’t what he wanted to happen. He stares at his feet and quickly practices an apology in his head. When he raises his head and opens his mouth to say sorry, he sees that Eijun’s face is completely red and his eyes are watering, and no words come out.
“All this time…? Since when?”
“...A while, I think. I don’t remember.”
“Then—Then why the heck did you go on a date with Hasegawa?!”
“I...was confused. After our date and then my date with her, I understood it better."
“You’re an idiot!" Eijun cries out, as if he did not just realize his feelings for Satoru after their date too.
Satoru narrows his eyes at Eijun, who drops down into a squat and buries his face in his hands. He sniffles quietly. Satoru lowers down as well so they remain at eye level.
“Furuya, I like you too,” Eijun confesses with his voice embarrassingly quiet and muffled.
“Okay.”
“...That’s it? ‘Okay’?”
“What else am I supposed to say? I already said I liked you.”
“I don’t know!” Eijun shouts, lifting his head and glaring at Satoru. “Something a little more romantic! Like, ‘I’m so happy right now!’”
“I’m so happy right now,” Satoru says, and his lips curve up into a gentle smile, and that’s how Eijun knows he means it. It makes his chest ache. His expression softens; he can’t glare at Satoru if he’s being like this. Satoru extends his hand out for Eijun, who places his palm in Satoru’s.
“Me too,” he says softly. They share a tender slice of silence together, which Eijun finally breaks by saying, “I’m still sort of annoyed though.”
“How come?”
“I feel like you are always winning against me. You held my hand first. You confessed first. You invited me on a date first.”
“I also became the ace first.”
“You bastard!”
Eijun squeezes Satoru’s hand, hard. Satoru glares back at him.
“Who cares about those things? That’s a stupid thing to be annoyed about. The end result is the same, isn’t it?”
“Me. I care! And it’s not stupid, you’re stupid.”
“I’m not stupid. You are—”
Eijun uses his free hand to cup a palm over Satoru’s mouth. “Okay. Shut up. The moment is getting ruined.”
“You started it,” Satoru grouses into his calloused hand. He peels the hand off his mouth. “You never answered my very first question. Can we go on another date?”
“Yes. You don’t need to ask anymore. We’re dating now.”
Saying it feels so good that Eijun just wants to jump up and scream it again from the rooftop. Satoru holds onto his other hand, and his eyes are practically sparkling when he invites Eijun to go to the aquarium with him. The pure joy and excitement radiating off of him makes Eijun want to melt.
“Oh, and Furuya,” Eijun says in a hushed voice as they descend the stairwell from the roof. “Let’s um. Keep this a secret for now. If Tanada finds out, she’ll kill us. Mostly me, even though it’s 90% your fault.”
“...Got it.”
*
It’s a date. A real one. Not a practice one. Eijun doesn’t have to imagine himself as another person this time. He likes Satoru. Satoru likes him. Eijun’s heart soars every time he thinks about it. High off the excitement, the weekdays, full of secret smiles and stares and touches, pass by in a daze. Eijun is glad baseball kept him too busy to properly assess all the feelings he didn’t know he had for Satoru. He can’t imagine himself staying calm and focused on the mound in the haze of fresh love.
He bounces on his heels nervously as he waits for Satoru at the dorm entrance.
“Eijun.”
Warmth spreads across his chest at the sound of Satoru’s voice. He turns around to face Satoru. He’s wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans that remind Eijun that Satoru is still (unfairly) growing; they fall above his ankles. It’s almost the same as Eijun’s outfit, except he has blue jeans, rolled up, and a light windbreaker on.
“We’re kinda matching,” Eijun notes, pulling down on his faded tee. Satoru nods.
“You look handsome, Eijun.”
Eijun laughs. “You look handsome too.”
Satoru smiles softly and shifts close to Eijun so he can hold his hand. Eijun tries to wriggle free, to no avail.
“Not very subtle. It’s a secret, remember? I didn’t even tell Asada, and I trust him with my whole life. ”
“I don’t care anymore,” Satoru replies. “I’ve been waiting for this all week. I’m gonna hold your hand.”
“Fine,” Eijun says, pretending like he isn’t insanely happy about it. Hand in hand, a light spring in their step, they embark on the short trip to their bikes.
“You gonna let go?” Eijun asks, tugging on Satoru’s hand.
“I don’t want to.”
“We’ll get to do it more later.”
Satoru still doesn’t let go, a forlorn look on his face. Eijun frowns at him, and flicks his forehead softly.
“Well, I don’t want to walk all the way to the station.”
“Then let’s hold hands while biking.”
It’s a terrible idea, but Eijun agrees to it anyway.
So the two unlock their bikes, climb on, and start off, biking at a pace slow enough that it makes them wobble a little. Eijun quickly thrusts his hand out.
“Now! Hurry!”
Satoru grasps onto his hand, pulling Eijun towards him slightly in the process, causing his bike to lean over, and then the two find themselves sprawled onto the concrete, legs tangled with their bikes and with each other. Eijun bursts out laughing, and Satoru insists that they try again.
“I’ve seen it before. It’s possible.”
So they try again, and their little linkage lasts a bit longer this time, until they end up in the same position.
“Dating sure is hard,” Eijun remarks as he watches the clouds in the sky lazily. Satoru reaches around for Eijun’s hand, holds on, and then sighs quietly.
“Yeah.”
*
The two barely make it onto the train on time, and as expected for a weekend, it’s crowded. Satoru grabs onto one of the poles overhead, and Eijun grabs onto...Satoru. His cheeks flush with embarrassment as Satoru situates his free hand at the small of Eijun’s back. The last of the passengers trail inside, and Eijun finds himself pressing even closer to Satoru. He looks up at Satoru, who looks quite pleased. Satoru meets his eyes and pulls him in a little closer, allowing his head to rest in the crook of his neck. Eijun makes a small noise, his grip on Satoru’s shirt tightening.
It’s a little mortifying, doing this in such a public place. He doesn’t understand how Satoru can look so unbothered. This is the last place Eijun had imagined himself holding Satoru so close. He tries hard not to think about how nice Satoru smells or how soft the skin on his neck is.
“You okay?”
“I feel sweaty,” Eijun mumbles. Satoru pats his back sympathetically.
It’s probably the longest thirty minutes of Eijun’s life, but he makes it out of the train with his sanity in one piece, somehow. Thankfully, Satoru had been listing all of his favorite sea animals and random factoids to Eijun, which distracted him from the awful fact that he was inches away from Satoru’s face in front of a bunch of random people.
The walk to the aquarium from the station is short, and now that they’re far from Seidou, Eijun feels a little more comfortable locking hands with Satoru.
“You know, the life cycle of jellyfish is really cool.”
Eijun is surprised he still has things to say. He was certain that Satoru had described the entire ocean to him while they were on the train. But he nods anyway, urging Satoru to go on. It’s not that he particularly cares about the life cycle of jellyfish, but he likes hearing Satoru talk. He usually doesn’t talk much, but Eijun likes his voice a lot, especially when it rises with excitement and happiness and then falls onto Eijun’s ears, like a pretty ocean wave.
Inside, Eijun lets Satoru drag him around, pointing out different marine life and explaining interesting facts about them, his cheeks glowing and eyes sparkling with delight. Usually, it’s the other way around, and Eijun wonders if this is how Satoru feels all the time when he is dragging him around and talking his head off about various things. Eijun kind of adores Satoru like this. His cheeks warm at the thought of Satoru feeling the same towards him.
He interjects occasionally with comments or questions, sometimes also forcing Satoru to slow down and be quiet for a moment so that he can take pictures.
“Do you think I could outswim a dolphin?” he asks, as Satoru scribbles down notes from a plaque about dolphin kinship.
“Mm...It depends on what kind of dolphin it is.”
“There are different kinds of dolphins?”
Satoru frowns at him, but only for a second, before he dives into the different species, the twinkle quickly returning to his eyes.
*
It’s pretty much a perfect date; their trip ends with a pair of matching turtle phone straps from the gift shop, two piping hot bowls of udon, and the lines and curves of Satoru’s hand burned into Eijun’s memory.
There’s just one thing left that he needs to do.
Just as Eijun taught him, Satoru walks Eijun to his dorm room before they part ways for the night.
“Good ni—”
“Wait,” Eijun interjects, holding a firm palm to Satoru’s face. He unlocks the door to his room, peering inside. It’s dark. He flicks the light on. Empty, as he expected. The underclassmen usually gather together in Yui’s room on Saturday evenings after all.
“Come in for a sec,” Eijun ushers Satoru inside of his room and closes the door behind him. Satoru sits at the edge of his bed, hugging the shark plushie they bought at the gift shop to his chest. Eijun prods over and takes a seat next to Satoru.
“It was a lot of fun,” Satoru says, eyes half-lidded, all of the tiredness now settling into his body.
“Yeah,” Eijun agrees, and he takes a deep breath before turning to Satoru and reaching up, holding his chin gently between his thumb and index fingers. His heart flutters at how close they are again. His eyes scan over Satoru’s dark eyebrows, long eyelashes, pale and smooth complexion, and they finally land on his soft lips.
“Furuya, I’m going to kiss you,” he blurts out. Smooth, Eijun, really smooth.
“...Okay,” Satoru breathes out, eyes fluttering shut. Eijun steadies his other hand on Satoru’s shoulder, tilts his head towards him, and begins to lean in. He’s never kissed another person before, and it starts off a little awkwardly, their noses bumping into one another, before Eijun finds the right angle to press his lips against Satoru’s. The feeling of connecting with each other like this is better than he ever expected, and all Eijun can see are stars, so he squeezes his eyes shut and lets himself melt into the feeling.
The shark plush falls to the floor, and Satoru’s hands find their way to Eijun’s face, cupping it in his palms, mouthing at Eijun’s lips needily, desperately, like he would be losing a piece of Eijun if he didn't. Eijun pulls away first, for air, and Satoru whines softly, chasing after Eijun’s lips again, and Eijun thinks he’ll actually die, with how fast his heart is beating. He lets Satoru fit his lips against his own until he is satisfied and finally pulls back, panting softly. Eijun takes a second to compose himself and then beams, patting Satoru’s cheeks.
“I win this time,” Eijun declares. “I kissed you first.”
A bit unhappy at the fact, Satoru’s eyebrows pinch together.
“Well...I’m still in the lead. It’s 4 to 1, now.”
“Hey...Stop it...you’re ruining the moment again.”
“Again, you started it…”
Eijun finally peels his hands off of Satoru. “Alright. You should go to your room now. I don’t want to explain to my roommates why you're passed out on my bed.”
“Okay. But…” Satoru glances between his hands and Eijun’s face. “I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“Can you call me by my first name?”
Eijun blinks, a little surprised at his request. Satoru looks at him expectantly, and Eijun feels a little bad for not calling Satoru Satoru sooner. He had come up with so many lame excuses in his mind, but the truth was that he was always too afraid to do it. Afraid that if he called Satoru by his first name, it would lead him down a slippery slope of intimate feelings.
He’s already there, now. He assures himself that it’ll be fine.
“Sa…” Eijun begins saying, but the edge of his lips ends up curving into a smirk when he sees how Satoru eyes widen and how he leans forward in anticipation. Eijun holds his tongue. Satoru frowns deeply at him once he realizes he’s being teased.
“Eijun…” Satoru grabs his shoulders, shaking him slightly. Eijun snickers. “Eijun, you’re being unfair.”
Maybe this will be the trump card Eijun will hold against Satoru. He smiles, triumphant at the fact. Satoru’s hands slide down, hitting the mattress.
“I’m going to call you Sawamura from now on,” he states coldly, standing up. “Good night, Sawamura.”
Of course. Of course. Eijun can never win against Satoru, because that’s just the way Satoru is. The sound of his family name coming from him makes him feel so distant. It’s awful. He never calls Eijun like that. Eijun grabs onto his arm, pulling him back onto his bed.
“Satoru,” Eijun says. It’s not the first time he has said his name; it’s just the first time he says it directly to Satoru, instead of the bathroom mirror. It’s a lot easier than he expects, and it feels good, saying it. He feels closer to Satoru, like this. “Come back, Satoru, I'm kidding.”
Satoru stares at him, before saying, “Actually, it’s 5 to 1, because I called you by your name first.”
“You bastard.”
*
Before he falls asleep, Eijun swipes through the photos he had taken on their date. He lands on one where Satoru is pointing to the circular tank of jellyfish behind him. Only Eijun’s hand is showing, interlaced with Satoru’s. He smiles and sets it as his wallpaper.
If Tanada ends up seeing it and figures it all out, then so be it.
Satoru had told him that he might be able to outswim some types of dolphins. That means he should be able to outrun Tanada.
Probably.