[log] Tachibana & Kamio

[saypassion]

Who: Tachibana Kippei and Kamio Akira
What: Kamio picks Tachibana up from his place and they go out to dinner where Tachibana asks Kamio out on a Christmas date~
When: Later in the evening on November 18th
Where: Yakiniku restaurant
Rating: G

The idea had come to Tachibana weeks ago.

He had begun to discuss with his mother what they wanted to prepare for their annual new year’s meal, a feast that would surely be more food than any reasonably sized family could ever hope to eat, when his mind began to wander toward thoughts of the other major holiday of December; one that was typically reserved for either bringing joy into children’s lives with the warm fuzzy thoughts of Santa-san or couples. He hadn’t ever really celebrated Christmas with anyone in the past - though he had dated over the past few years, it just never seemed to pan out in such a way that would allow for Christmas celebrations. And he was just as content to spoil his sister, anyway.

But after everything that had happened over the months with Kamio - the physical affection, the intimacy, the words exchanged that were perhaps not quite suited to that of those who simply considered themselves to be good friends, even best friends, it all led Tachibana to a place that he wanted to further explore whatever this was. And the best way he could think to do so was to invite Kamio to go on a proper date with him on Christmas.

Yet doing so was going to likely be a bit of a feat in and of itself, since Kamio had a tendency to react quickly and without thinking, and Tachibana was concerned that he might genuinely run away before he could truly ask him. As quick on his feet as Tachibana was, there was no matching the pace of the self-proclaimed speed master. So, it was over dinner that Tachibana thought he would ask Kamio out - almost like… a date within a date. Just the second date would be the actual date and the first date would be simply dinner, just the same as any other time.

It hadn’t actually been his intention to go out after nearly 9pm in the evening on a Sunday night, but any desire to spend the evening at home was quickly overrun with the desire to ensure that Kamio ate a proper meal since it was clear that the redhead had been working all day. His work-life balance needed some… work. Or perhaps some coaching. Tachibana wasn’t quite sure what was needed, but something was needed nonetheless. But that was a concern for another day.

Nervous jittery energy had him rummaging through his closet for something appropriate to wear out for dinner. It wasn’t like it was any fancy occasion or anything - just jeans and a sweater would suffice - but there was a part of him that did wish to dress, well, appealingly. Especially because he had promised Kamio online that he would give him the biggest hug ever once he arrived. He examined a few options in particular before ultimately settling on a pair of stylish, dark washed jeans that were fitted nicely to his strong calves, and a charcoal gray henley long-sleeved shirt with the top button left undone that complimented the lavender in his hair quite nicely. For something that had been meant to be a dare, he had actually grown to be quite fond of the colour, and had continued to dye the tips even long after the appeal should have worn off.

The outfit was complete with a leather jacket, a pair of black boots that were a recent addition to his wardrobe, and his hair pulled back into a small ponytail that left wild pieces of hair framing his face. It wasn’t quite long enough to pull back entirely, but he liked the look of some of it off his neck, and, well, he wondered if it was something that Kamio would enjoy. A thought that had Tachibana nearly knocking his head against the wall for these were the sorts of thoughts that he had been having in the weeks following their encounters and they made him feel all sorts of squiggly things inside that he still didn’t have a name for.

Yet, anything short of perfect composure was not befitting of Tachibana Kippei. It was with the level of patience he mustered for any sort of gathering with his former teammates and the damn butterflies that threatened to rear their head that he perched himself on the arm of the couch, waiting for the inevitable knock at the door that would indicate that Kamio had arrived.

It wasn’t until after he made plans with Kippei — plans that had him smiling stupidly in the mouth of an alleyway — that Kamio realized that he looked less than ideal for dinner with his former captain, his Top Secret Crush, the sun in the sky, his good friend. He gave his armpit a sniff and scrunched his nose; the body odor was probably worse than his rumpled clothes and helmet hair.

Kippei wouldn’t grudge him a shop stop. He would probably be grateful for it. So Kamio ducked into Donki, bought a shirt that wasn’t heavy with sweat, and sampled the hair spray mostly for the clean scent it carried. At this point, he was getting more accustomed to changing and reapplying deodorant in alleyways. Such was life on the run.

Feeling much fresher, for the half wardrobe change, Kamio shrugged back into his weather-beaten leather jacket and sped onward to Kippei’s. If a bit of speeding brought him quickly to his friend’s front door, well, no one had to know. He could change shirts all he wanted, but only a big hug would charge up his depleted energy stores (food might also play a role).

“Kippei,” he grinned at the sight of him. It was impossible to do otherwise.

Tachibana realized belatedly that he should have anticipated that Kamio wasn’t going to be necessarily dressed to go out, either, considering he had made it very clear that he had been working all day. Despite this, he was pleasantly surprised and somewhat amused to see that it was clear Kamio had made a slight modification to his state of dress - the shirt looked brand new, in fact - and Tachibana thought that it was rather thoughtful of him, though of course not necessary. It wasn’t as though Tachibana was expecting him to put any sort of thought into his wardrobe choices, anyway, as Kamio just wasn’t into those sorts of things, and, well, now he was just overthinking things and hadn’t he promised Kamio a hug?

“Akira,” he greeted warmly in return, holding open his arms as an invitation for Kamio to cash in on his request. The redhead looked a little worse for the wear, likely in need of a hearty meal and good company; Tachibana thought that he could give him just that, though the hug certainly needed to come first before anything else.

Kippei looked great and felt even better when Kamio went in to hug him. With an unconscious sigh, he buried his face on the taller man’s shoulder and curled needy fingers against his back. Kippei had tied his hair up, he noticed, mostly because his cheek could make such easy contact with his neck. Although Kamio hadn’t realized he closed his eyes, he opened them to spy on the soft strands at Kippei’s nape that escaped the ponytail.

“I’m charging,” he murmured, a smile in his voice. “Kippei is powerful as usual.”

A small chuckle rumbled through Tachibana’s chest, reverberating through Kamio as they were so well connected. Though there was a clear height disparity between them, it was actually quite lovely as Kamio seemed to fit nicely against him even standing. It reminded him off how it was to hug Chitose - the height difference was probably quite similar, though it had been years since Tachibana had known first hand how tall the redhead stood. He had no reason to keep track of those things after not being his captain for so long.

“I’m glad.” Tachibana gave him a squeeze, though he did not pull away. The fingers resting over his back were a happy reminder of sitting in front of the TV, not paying the movie any mind as roaming hands explored warm skin; a time that Tachibana wouldn’t mind repeating in the least. “Always for you.”

A powerful surge of energy accompanied that squeeze — and then even more powerful for those sweet, unexpected words. No matter how fast Kamio was, Tachibana always hit the ball to some surprise corner of the court to keep him on his toes. This was no different; his heart skipped a few beats to keep up.

“A very reliable sun,” Kamio agreed, tipping his face up to peer directly into the spellbinding rays. He wasn’t ready to let go, so he held on for another softly-smiling minute. “Any certain place you want me to take you?”

Those eyes - those eyes were so captivating no matter the time of the day, the circumstances, the atmosphere. The nighttime light combined with artificial created an interesting effect on Kamio's eyes, two parts dark as the night with one part a subtle glimmer that reflected his expression back at him. Tachibana had to fight the urge to close the distance between them, instead focusing his energy to instead hold that eye contact no matter how badly it felt like he was going to fall into the depths of the midnight sky.

“Hmm,” he hummed in response, wondering if Kamio was going to catch on to the effect he had on him. “As I mentioned, I'm just craving yakiniku. We can Google a place and just go there since I don't have any particular preference, unless you do.”

Kamio was contented to stare up at the small sun in his arms, and he didn’t seem to notice that the fascination was entirely equal. He could only convince himself to start untangling because Kippei would have to hold onto him as they rode on the bike, too.

“I know a place,” Kamio said. It was true -- one couldn’t spend all their time riding around town and not know places. “I’ve never eaten there but the owner is nice and the patrons seem happy,” he handed Kippei his spare helmet.

It was years of conditioning of being in a leadership role where so many people looked up to him that had Tachibana capable of masking the feeling of disappointment from Kamio pulling away. It was silly, they were going to dinner together and there was plenty of time to enjoy one another’s company, but the physical press of Kamio against his chest was beginning to feel so normal and natural that it seemed preposterous that it should be any other way.

Tachibana took the helmet and shook his head once to get his hair away from his face before putting it on. He’d likely need to redo his hair when they got to the restaurant; in his quest to figure out what he wanted to wear, he neglected to remember that wearing a helmet would be a thing. “That sounds great.” He wasn’t particularly picky about food, but he trusted Kamio’s judgement of character. “Then lead the way.”

Kamio straddled the bike and shot Kippei one more wide smile before snapping the visor down over his face, “Make sure you hold onto me tight, Kippei.” Mostly because he wanted Kippei’s warmth wrapped around him as they sped around the side streets. But obviously, safety was important, too.

Having recharged with body contact and anticipation, Kamio was rearing and excited to drive; it meant that he could have two of his favorite things in the world at the same time.

It wasn’t as though Tachibana was going to have to be told twice. The carefree grin on Kamio’s face now sheltered by the visor was right up there with the allure of his eyes. Kamio had of course always been very handsome, Tachibana had watched him grow up from a thin, awkward teenager to a strong, confident man who worked tirelessly on running his business, and it was extremely, well, attractive.

Tachibana made a similar adjustment to his own helmet before settling down on the back of the bike behind Kamio and wrapping his arms around him. Even through many layers of fabric, he could feel the warmth radiating off Kamio; but Tachibana wasn’t sure whether or not he could call it Kamio’s warmth or his own body brimming with heat. It had been hard to tell with Kamio, these days.

“I won’t let go,” he confirmed, leaning in close to the redhead, though the helmets prevented him from being able to get as close as he wanted to be.

Maybe he was overcharged, because part of him wanted to scream when Kippei put his arms around him again. A good scream though. Definitely a good scream. Screams caused by Kippei would always be good, but he thankfully held back from screaming long enough to hear the words spoken so gently to his back.

The bike came to life under him, and Kamio fully trusted it to hide his soft, unsure words, “Never? You promise?”

That was asking for too much. But Kamio had been gifted with this beautiful night, so he brought his splendid company through it. Kamio gave his heart permission to soar as they sped together into the whipping wind and streets with lights like stars. It probably would have shot up to the moon with or without Kamio’s permission, because that was the kind of influence Kippei had on him.

“Almost there,” Kamio said over the roar of the motor, once the streets had narrowed into one ways or bike crossing only, the tiniest capillaries of the monster known as greater Tokyo. He stopped on a corner, an intersection of two smaller streets with the main crossing visible just a little whiles away. The place was the perfect mix of convenience and privacy, he thought.

No matter where Tachibana looked, there were stars. The light pollution settled over the city blocked out any real view of the actual stars above, but it was no matter for the Tokyo lights glimmered and shone as they sped through the streets, and there was clearly the brightest star of all held firmly and safely in the circle of his arms. Even without the business that relied on the bike to provide timely deliveries to its patrons, it was easy to understand why Kamio enjoyed riding so much - there was something strangely freeing and wild about experiencing the night like this.

It certainly helped that the man guiding the bike was all that he was and more, Tachibana thought idly as he instinctively held on a bit tighter.

The pressure and the wind whipping through the tips of his hair free from the helmet came to an end as Kamio brought the bike to a stop, the cool air of the evening welcome to the flush of his cheeks. It took a moment of careful consideration before Tachibana hesitantly unwinded his arms from Kamio’s waist to sit back straight on the bike. “This is it?”

A big part of him wanted to declare no and speed away, just so Kippei would be holding onto him a little bit longer.

Instead, he flipped up his visor and said, “Yeah, we’re here, Kippei. It’s a basement place, just down the stairs.” And before he could think of it as an invasion of space, he helped Kippei unstrap his helmet and gave it the gentlest coaxing off.

Somehow, the Kippei under the helmet was even more handsome than the Kippei earlier. It was unfair, how he grew more and more beautiful every minute they spent together.

It was as though time slowed down to a near halt when he felt the brush of hands against his jaw as Kamio undid the helmet and pulled it off. The same warm, patient smile formed on his lips as they met eyes. “Great,” he said, not really paying much attention to their surroundings. They could have been in the middle of the ocean and Tachibana would not be any the wiser.

Kamio put down the helmets, but he picked up Kippei’s hand and kept it. The longer they looked at each other, the more color rose to his cheeks. He could blame it on the autumn wind and would be entirely wrong in doing so.

“It is,” he agreed with a smiling breath and led Kippei down the stairs and into the inviting smell and atmosphere. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the owner. She’s really nice. I always fetch her things from wholesale.”

It was halfway to a miracle that Tachibana was able to follow Kamio down the stairs, but really it was the hand holding his own that drove his feet to take those steps forward. As best as Tachibana could tell, this was just the way things were now - they couldn’t do anything without touching in at least some form or fashion and Tachibana didn’t think he minded. The way Kamio’s hand fit around his just so was… nice. Very nice. And welcome.

“Oh really? That’s great.” As much as it would have been quite appealing to stand there at the bike, embracing one another because that just seemed like the appropriate thing to do, it was hard to deny his stomach - the smell of sizzling meat coupled with the pairing sauces immediately flooded his senses and made his stomach grumble. “It smells amazing,” he added.

Kamio agreed with that, too. The savory smell immediately reminded Kamio that -- despite hugs from Kippei -- he did in fact need to eat. They made their clumsy way into the warmth, and were immediately welcome by a small, pleasant woman who welcomed Kamio by name after he introduced Kippei.

“Oh come in out of the cold,” she bid, beckoning them over to a small table with a bench that hugged a corner. Kamio was secretly grateful that they would still be able to touch each other. Apparently that was the woman’s plan all along because she said, “He’s as handsome as you said, Kamio-kun.”

Slightly less grateful, Kamio flushed again and sputtered. Fortunately, the owner simply chuckled and handed them menus.

As with any time that Tachibana was presented with someone who was older than him, in particular in the service industry, he was ever so gracious - thanking her profusely and giving her a charming smile, even though it was clear that she was embarrassing Kamio. Tachibana wondered when Kamio had the opportunity to discuss him with her or why he was telling her about how handsome he thought Tachibana to be, but it was a question that could wait in the name of food.

He settled in the booth and removed his leather jacket, gently resting it on the bench. It felt somewhat strange to not be touching Kamio in at least one form or fashion, so he gently rested his foot on the other man’s calf. “This place is lovely,” he commented, opening the menu and reviewing the first page. “I can see why you like it.” Of course, the semi-private table was also much appreciated.

Kamio, it seemed, was still not ready to create words. His face was hot enough for steam to curl out his ears, and he made a small fort with his menu to compose himself somewhat privately. Why was he so embarrassing? Kippei didn’t seem too awkward about it. Why was he being awkward about it? Even before they had kissed, Kamio had always described Kippei as handsome when asked.

Maybe that said a lot.

Another deep breath, and Kamio was able to peek over the menu at his extremely handsome table partner. Date. Person. Friend. All the above. “Yeah, I like it,” he agreed quietly. “But. Yanno. I’d probably say that of anywhere that Kippei is.”

To Tachibana’s credit, he didn’t notice that Kamio all but hid behind the menu as he scanned through the many offerings of the restaurant. It would probably be best to pick some sort of combination meal - one that they could pick their favorites from and then grill veggies side by side the meat. Combined with the side dishes, it would be a great amount of food to share.

To share.

Tachibana wondered why he felt giddy over that thought. They had surely eaten a meal together hundreds of times in the past if not more. Why was this particularly special?

“Well, thank you.” His eyes raised from the menu, anticipating Kamio’s dark eyes reviewing his own menu and the rest of his face, and instead met with the back side of the menu and a view of Kamio looking right back at him. “Yes?” He asked with a warm smile.

“....” Kamio retreated behind his menu again. It felt very childish, so he steeled himself and lowered the menu entirely. “I...forgot what I was going to say.”

How was he supposed to keep track of words when Kippei looked at him like that? Kamio smiled sheepishly, hoping that Kippei’s use of the menu had been somewhat more adult than his own. “Does anything look good to you?”

Similarly, Tachibana lowered the menu, though he kept the page open to show Kamio. The sheepish smile on the redhead’s face was rather sweet - it made Tachibana’s stomach do a flip flop, though he tried his best to remain task on hand. “I was thinking this.” He motioned to a spread meant for two, with a variety of cuts and types of meat. “How does that sound?”

Kamio wiggled closer into the corner to see the text. Of course, the movement also had the advantage of bringing him closer to Kippei. “Good choice,” he said, after reading the part where it came with vegetables and a few cuts of meat that he liked. “I haven’t had beef in awhile, it’ll be a treat.”

He relayed the order to the owner when she came over, and he added a draft beer for himself. His gaze shifted to Kippei to let his partner order to his own preference.

Tachibana also ordered himself a beer and watched as she wandered off to put in their orders. It was the sort of place that Tachibana could see them coming to again - especially if they got this particular table. The atmosphere was overall quieter despite a decent number of tables having patrons and the idle chatter that filled the restaurant; it seemed to be a popular place given the time of evening.

“Great,” he responded once they were alone once more, turning his head to lean closer to Kamio given his closer proximity. “Thank you for showing me this place.”

Kamio shook his head, “Thank you for coming out.” His thigh accidentally brushed Kippei’s when he shifted it, but he couldn’t bring himself to move it away. “I...know it’s a bit later than normal to eat. But I’m really happy for the company.”

For Kippei’s company specifically. “And it’s really good, I think, to support small businesses.” As an entrepreneur-in-training, Kippei would probably agree with that sentiment.

And Tachibana couldn’t agree more. It was important to him to support small businesses as much as possible - there were far too many corporations that had squashed the smaller businesses as is, and Tachibana didn’t want to see that become the way of the world. In particular when he himself aspired to have a few businesses himself one day and Kamio had been quite successful with his.

It was natural as it was nice to press his thigh into Kamio’s - he, too, didn’t pull away. “I couldn’t agree more. The small businesses deserve to be praised - they’re often filled with people who work the hardest.” Like you, was the continuation of that thought, but Tachibana knew that with his request for that Christmas date looming, he should probably save some of the words that could possibly cause Kamio to dart.

“But of course, it’s my pleasure. There’s nowhere else I’d like to be tonight.” And that was more than the truth - in fact, Tachibana had looked very much forward to seeing Kamio again after exchanging comments back and forth online.

Kippei’s agreement had Kamio proudly straightening his back and beaming. Although Kippei was no longer his captain, these kind of discussions with him still brought on such satisfaction. “I’ll keep Kippei to myself tonight, then,” his smile went down in brightness but not at all in happiness. Since they had their beers, he raised his, “To small businesses and being where we wanna be?”

Because the same was true for Kamio. He was his happiest self in this moment with Kippei.

And in addition to there being nowhere else he wanted to be, Tachibana also couldn’t think of a better thing to toast to than his friend’s business and his future businesses. “Absolutely.” And he meant it to both of the statements, too. He clinked his beer against Kamio’s and took a sip, leaning back in the chair, though he didn’t move his leg away.

Along with the toast came a small bubble of nervous feelings in his stomach. It seemed quite silly to feel apprehensive about asking Kamio out on this Christmas date - not because he thought that Kamio was going to turn him down, in fact he thought it was going to be quite the opposite - but because it seemed so… like it was a next step in exploration of this expression of his feelings that had more solidarity and a name rather than “whatever this was,” that had been his fallback.

It was with a look of intensity that Tachibana looked at Kamio. The expression was unintentional, Tachibana had simply gone down the new train of thought that left him thoughtful and curious, but it was not much different than how he used to regard the team before riling them up about making it to Nationals.

Kamio happily indulged in the beer to cool down his face and the patter patter of his heartbeat that was starting to become baseline Kippei (brushing legs or no brushing legs). When he put down his beer and found Kippei’s smoldering stare, the coldest drink in the world wouldn’t have kept the flush from his face. Completely pinned to the force of gravity that was Tachibana Kippei, he didn’t even try to look away.

A couple of moments passed before Tachibana realized that judging by the pink on Kamio’s cheeks, that he was actually giving him quite an intense look. It fade into a more gentle smile and he said with a chuckle, “I’m sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment.”

It seemed as good of a time as ever - asking him on the date before the food could come and they’d be busy preparing it on the table set grill. The ambient smells wafting to their table from the others were enticing, however, so he wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait.

“So. I’ve been giving it some thought.”

Somewhat weakly — because if he couldn’t be weak at the knees he’d have to be weak in every other way that mattered — he said, “it’s okay, you found me.”

Kippei always did. Even when Kamio said stupid, embarrassing things like that. But before he could suggest that his own beer might be better off poured on his head, Kippei changed the subject and had him sitting up. “...it?”

And for some reason, that was when his heart began to pound against his chest. It was no big deal, truly - it wasn't as though Tachibana was asking him to move in or anything quite so bold, but just the thought of doing the things that couples did when they went out together on Christmas, well, it was a bit nerve-wracking. Especially when Kamio was looking him at that.

Whether it was to steady himself or keep Kamio from bolting, Tachibana didn't know, but his hand found Kamio's thigh, keeping his gaze trained on him. With a warm smile, he asked, “I'd like to go on a date with you. On Christmas.”

Kippei’s hand was warm on his thigh, and time stopped. Kamio blinked once, twice, flossing the words between his ears over and over until they actually formed a true sentence.

Slowly, Kamio looked behind him. Was anyone there?

A window. Just a window. His reflection blushed back at him as he turned toward Kippei and pointed a finger at his own face in question.

Tachibana watched Kamio’s gaze as he seemed to go through the motions, looking first if there was anyone else behind him (there wasn’t), and then concluding that the question was for him (it was). It was admittedly quite cute, even though Kamio had no reason to believe otherwise - Tachibana did indeed want to go on that date.

“Yes, I’m asking you,” Tachibana confirmed, sliding his hand up Kamio’s thigh as though to reassure him. “If you would do me the honor.”

Kamio’s mouth wobbled, torn between a hundred thousands expressions of surprise, happiness, curiosity, vindication, euphoria, pure shock -- and the smallest bit of fear that things were going just too well for him to ever be real.

But the attentive hand on his leg was real. And so were Kippei’s eyes, fixed on him with such a patient warmth, sweet and bright enough to banish all apprehension. Fast as his reputation, he occupied Kippei’s space and kissed him hard and fast. His hands cupped Kippei’s cheeks. His thoughts ran around in circles, each one chanting yes with climbing emotional fervor. High school girls giggled and clapped in the window behind him, but Kamio didn’t care as long as this moment was really and truly theirs.

Without any direct response, Tachibana had the briefest moment where he wondered if he was actually going to get a confirmation in words, as endearing as the neverending number of expressions passing over Kamio’s face were, but then quick as the wind the redhead was pressed against him, his hands were fire on Tachibana’s cheeks, and he returned the kiss with a similar flame of passion.

Strong arms circled around Kamio to hold him close, dimly aware of the girls giving their blessing, though attention firmly on Kamio. A small, private smile passed over his lips as he murmured, “So, that’s a yes.”

Kamio’s heart purred a brand new rhythm. Surely Kippei could feel it, for how close he held him against his chest. He smiled into their kisses, then he smiled against the words on Kippei’s lips, and he continued to smile like an idiot when he clumsily whispered his own, “Yeah.”

His face kind of hurt from smiling this much. He felt very much like that dog who had sprained his tail from wagging it too hard. “We can do anything you want.”

On Christmas? Forever? Kamio wasn’t quite sure how he meant that.

And he could feel it. The rhythm of Kamio’s heart was a perfect compliment to the steady thump of Tachibana’s own and in that moment he felt as though he could spread his wings and soar. “I can’t wait,” he said softly, brushing his lips delicately to Kamio’s. The smile was infectious, Tachibana could feel it spreading across his own cheeks, as his mind jumped to all the possibilities that they could possibly do on the holiday for their date.

“Why don’t we figure that out together?” The suggestion would only open the door further to their creative selves, and maybe find some things to do that they didn’t even know to be something they’d both enjoy. “Then it will be our unique date.”

“Yeah…” Kamio whispered again, honestly still dazed from Kippei’s kisses. His smile wasn’t helping much either. Birds could start flapping around his head and he wouldn’t notice -- there was a good chance that they already were there, attracted by his sappy soaring mood. Mirth, however, needed an outlet, and because he couldn’t run, he laughed. It was a full-bodied thing that shook his shoulders and etched the corners of his eyes with happy crinkles.

“Can I keep part of it secret, though,” he asked, somewhat bashful with his cheeks still pink with the giggles. “Like. I would really enjoy having a Kippei surprise hour. At the start or end.”

Perhaps it was biased, but Tachibana couldn’t get enough of that laughter. Knowing that it was he who brought it on and that it was their continued togetherness that prolonged that laughter was one of the greatest joys he had ever experienced. Even if there was absolutely no other reason, the unadulterated joy that twinkled in Kamio’s eyes was the true culprit of the butterflies in his stomach.

“Absolutely,” he said with a decisive nod, his thumb strumming an absent chord upon Kamio’s back. “I would enjoy that very much.” With Kamio, there was always a wealth of secrets to discover - that had been one of the most exciting parts of the new direction their relationship had taken - but a time set specifically for that purpose was enough to make his heart throb in anticipation.

Between their kisses and closeness afterward, Kamio had all but wedged himself into the corner against Kippei. It was the best place to be in the entire world, if he said so himself.

“I’ll surprise you for sure, then,” he wriggled with delight and picked up his beer again. “Get ready with your surprised face, Kippei, it’ll be awesome.”

Their server smiled knowingly and asked, “should I surprise the pair of you with a dinner plate, too, or do you need a little more time to order?”

Having quite forgotten that they were in a restaurant, Kamio’s grin turned a bit sheepish. “Uh.”

“I’ll prepare it. I can’t wait.”

Kamio’s weight against his side gave Tachibana all the courage he could possibly need to take the world face on. Even when they were approached by the server, very clearly not paying much attention to the world around them, Tachibana simply gave the server a warm smile. Such open public displays of affection weren’t usually acceptable at such establishments, so he appreciated that there was no judgement on their part.

“That would be lovely,” Tachibana said, his hand slipping away from Kamio’s thigh to motion to the menu. “We were thinking that the selection on this was great, so anything with variety would be wonderful.” The server took note and then excused themselves to put in the order, that same knowing smile still present on their face. Perhaps they enjoyed young love.

With a chuckle, Tachibana also retrieved his beer. “Should we make a toast?”

Kamio let Tachibana handle the business of ordering, since at this point it was beyond him to do anything but listen to the voice so close to his ear and watch his companion with a sense of wonder. What had he done in his past life to earn this kind of good fortune?

“Yeah,” Kamio agreed, raising his arm to clink their glasses. His eyes were only for Kippei. “To Christmas, then? I’ve never looked forward to it more.”

Not that Tachibana was doing much better. He may have gotten out coherent words to order their food, but not so coherent that any sense of logic or reasoning didn’t just immediately fly out the window once the server was gone. “Nor I,” he agreed with a tap of their glasses together. “Any moment with you is the greatest moment, but I know that Christmas will bring something magical.”

It was a good thing that Kamio hadn’t sipped at his beer yet; he would have spat it out on the table and completely destroyed the moment. His tomato-red features and wide eyes were embarrassing enough. A squeak might have escaped his bitten lips.

And so did something else. No more happiness could fit into his body, and Kamio blurted out, “because you’re something magical.”

An amused smile lit up Tachibana’s eyes, his hand finding its resting place upon Kamio’s knee once more. “Thank you,” he said, and truly, he meant it. It wasn’t one of those things that he said expecting to be told something in return, but it did warm him to the core. Especially with the way that Kamio was flush like the beautiful illumination displays that had taken over all of Tokyo for the season.

Gently, he rested his temple against Kamio’s hair, and closed his eyes. He could soak up this time, just the two of them, though it was inevitable that they would be interrupted by their plate of meat arriving.

Kamio felt like he could be hungry forever as long as they were just like this, and he could taste Kippei’s every breath against his. His energy escalated but he didn’t feel like running away. It felt like one of those scenes in the movie -- the kind of scene where a protagonist gains superpowers and the screen shows electricity changing their every cell.

Like that. Activated.

Although wasn’t a superhero by any stretch of the imagination, Kamio felt like one for the joy and responsibility of making Tachibana Kippei smile. Now he just had to surprise him, too.

There weren’t as many intelligent thoughts going through Tachibana’s mind like they were Kamio’s, but regardless of anything he was greatly looking forward to their date, and all of the hopeful dates that would come as a result of that date. Even after this, even after discussing things with his sister, Tachibana still wasn’t quite sure what to call it, but he didn’t think it needed to be called anything. What was important was living in the present - and looking to the future to create a future they wanted most.

It wasn’t so different from the cries of, “To Nationals!” as teenagers. It made Tachibana feel a surge of pride then, and a brilliant surge of pride now. The redhead’s hair tickled his jaw, but it was a delicate reminder of the warm body that seemed to fit against him just so.

Tachibana smiled privately to himself.