Chapter Text
He's one of your best friends, one of your favorite people and a childhood friend.
You've known him since middle school all through high school and into your first year of University; you went through your angsty phases, multiple bad partners, all sorts of classes and issues; you've essentially grown up together, and the relationship between you two has stayed strong.
You're over at his and Sanemi's house so often that it's basically like your second home, and Sanemi treats you similarly to Genya, like a sibling.
Him and Sanemi are on their own living in their parents house; the rest of their family died in a car crash many years ago, so it's just the two of them (and occasionally you).
It's sad but doesn't affect either of them like it did when it first happened; life goes on and before you know it you're both in college working hard for your associates degrees.
Genya has taken to inviting you over for study sessions and to do homework which is why you're there today, and most days.
As of right now you're laying back on the couch in their living room reading a book for your Language class, feet propped up in his lap while he plays videogames.
You've warned him to not procrastinate on his work a couple of times throughout the afternoon but each time he brushes it off and tells you that he will after the next match, then the next. At this point you've given up trying to get him to work on it, instead focusing on your own stuff.
At some point Genya finally puts the controller down and looks your way, staring holes through your book, willing you to look at him.
You don't even notice until he drops his hands down onto your ankles, looking up quickly when you feel his position shift.
Your eyes meet and the two of you end up just staring, neither one of you moving or saying anything.
Clearly your expectant expression isn't doing anything, so you eventually ask, "Can I help you?"
"No." He replies quickly, flushing immediately after, "Actually... um, I'm getting a little hungry, do you wanna make something with me?"
Obviously you do.
You save your page and sit up quickly at the mention of food, super down to whip up a quick study snack. "Of course I do! I'm basically starving."
Despite his blush he smiles a little, though it drops milliseconds after.
Before you know it you're both in the kitchen working on a very healthy study snack; cookies and sandwiches.
Genya makes the sandwiches while you bake a quick single batch of cookies, pacing next to the oven impatiently because of how damn good they smell.
Eventually you resign to the fact that the cookies are going to take a while and hop up on the counter next to where the mohawked Genya prepares the sandwiches, looking down at the messy formation of the 'snacks.'
At this point it's more like lunch, but that's probably for the best since neither of you have eaten since the morning.
Once they're done he shows them to you, waiting for your approval, and once he gets it in the form of a nod he puts them back down and leans against the counter next to you, too tall to sit on it.
"They should be done in ten minutes." You nudge him with your shoulder and look to the side, reaching up to mess up his hair.
Before your hand makes contact he swats your hand away, trying to appear cross despite the light blush dusting his cheeks.
He's been doing that around you much more as of late, blushing, stuttering, and being all flustered, so you have fun with that on occasion. You haven't put a label to his behavior yet since you're too busy having fun with it, but maybe it'll hit you someday.
"I hate it when you do that." He grumbles after successfully warding off your itching fingers, though there isn't any actual irritation in his voice, "You're always messing with my hair."
"Yeah because I like it." You say it so easily since it's true, but it still catches him off guard.
Genya looks away sharply and crosses his arms over his chest appearing displeased, but in reality he's relishing in the semi-compliment.
"W-Whatever. Just try not to mess it up if you're going to."
That's his way of consenting to you playing with his hair, you've known him long enough to detect the hidden message.
You, of course, accept the invitation without hesitation, lightly petting the top of his head with a delicate hand.
His hair is so fluffy and well kept considering how unruly it looks, a fact that only you have been let in on; he never lets anyone touch him for the most part, it's really just you and Sanemi.
His skin resembles a ripe tomato and his eyes are shifty and anxious, meanwhile you're having a ball smoothing back his hair and just petting him.
You almost point out his blush but are interrupted by the sound of the timer going off, signifying that the cookies are done.
Without hesitation you hop off the counter and go to get the pan, pulling it out and placing it down on the counter so the cookies can cool off.
However disaster chooses now to strike; right as you're pushing aside a couple of things to put it down you hear something glass sliding along the counter, then a large shattering sound.
Stunned you hurriedly plop the pan down and look to the right towards the sound, horrified to see Sanemi's favorite food plate in pieces on the ground.
Slowly you turn to look from the broken platter up over to Genya who wears a similar expression of panic, both of your hearts dropping all the way to hell when you hear footsteps coming from upstairs followed by a loud call; "What's going on down there?"
Immediately after you hear his voice you scramble for the boom and begin to sweep it up, internally thanking Genya when he calls back in a shaky voice, "Everything's fine! Nothing is going on!"
There's silence following that filled only by the frantic sweeping sounds of your broom and shifting ceramic, then you hear his heavy footsteps thudding down the stairs.
It's a terrifying melody singing 'death' and 'pain' once he finds out what you've done which encourages you to sweep even faster.
Before you know it Genya is snatching the broom from you and Sanemi is entering the kitchen, standing stock still in the entryway as he just processes the scene before him.
First he's just in shock, but very quickly does the shock turn to anger.
Sanemi's face turns a furious red and he looks at Genya with a shriveling glare, "You broke my shit!?"
Uh oh.
You open you mouth to take accountability for the destruction only for Genya to cut you off and shoot back, "It was an accident! It's just a stupid plate, so you don't need to get super upset-"
"Stupid plate?!" He yells, pointing an accusatory finger his way, "That was a gift from one of my work friends!"
"You mean Miss Kanae. Don't pretend you ever used it, you just like that she bought you something for your birthday!"
Oh god, oh god, he's just digging the hole even deeper.
Even you know his crush on Miss Kanae is a sensitive topic, yet here he is trying to use it to diffuse the situation.
If it were physically possible steam would be shooting from Sanemi's ears, he just looks so pissed.
"That's it, I'm going to fucking kill both of you!"
"Both of us?!" You cry, flabbergasted that he's blaming you for just being there (even though it actually was you).
Now both of you know that Sanemi won't actually hurt either of you, he's not like that, but that doesn't mean he won't catch you, yell at you for a really long time, and give you both a horrible punishment like yard work, the stick of pain (not as scary as it sounds, it's just a bar you hold out until your arms feel like jelly), or something else.
That doesn't mean that you won't run, however.
Before Sanemi can get his strangling hands ready Genya drops the broom and snatches your wrist, yanking you along out of the kitchen and down the hallway with lightening speed.
Thundering footsteps can be heard behind you while you both bolt for the front door, said man yelling at you both as he tries to catch up.
"Get your asses back here! I take it back, I'm not going to just kill you- I'm going to skin you alive then boil you for dinner and bring you-" There's a slam no doubt from him running into something, followed by loud cursing. "Fuck! God fucking damn it, that shit hurts!"
"Are you okay?" You call after stopping at the front door while Genya fumbles with the lock. "If you stop trying to murder me I'll come back and help you clean up."
"You think sucking up is going to save you now?! Come back here so I can kill you properly!"
Looks like he's still a little heated, it'll be better to come back later when he's in a better mood.
You almost laugh at the understatement that you just thought of, but you know that he'll probably just take it as you laughing at him so you hold it in and rush out the door once it's open.
"We'll be back later, Nemi! Help yourself to the food we made!" Genya shuts the door hurriedly after and drags you down the driveway and to the sidewalk, speed-walking towards the park.
You glance back a few times while zooming down the concrete side-walk to make sure he isn't following, and at one point you get a glimpse of him in the window giving you both the middle finger.
Yeah, he loves you guys.
"I can't believe we made it out of that alive." You sound relieved and a little winded, and you are since you just did a full sprint through his house to escape Sanemi's wrath.
Genya doesn't reply, instead he just squeezes your hand and continues to pull you along as if you don't know where you're going.
You do, of course, but you let him hold your hand since it's nice.
"Don't you think we're too old for him to be punishing us like children?" He grumbles once the park is in sight, loosening his hold on your hand as if he's only just realizing that he's been holding it the whole time.
The short answer to his question is 'yes,' but the silly one is the one you come out with to lighten the mood, "Probably, but I don't think skinning and boiling children is a normal punishment. I think he's becoming more creative now that we're not in High School anymore."
He just scoffs and drops your hand completely, making a beeline for the swing-set so that you can both sit.
The two of you have been coming to this park for as long as you can remember, the swings and picnic tables being your favorite spots.
It's always nice coming over here for breaks, to hang out, or eat, and, you suppose, now to escape Sanemi.
You take a seat on the far right swing of the 4 sets, Genya taking his place next to yours.
There are no kids at the park right now since it's still too early for them to be out of school, so you enjoy the tranquil silence and the feel of playground sand beneath your shoes.
It remains quiet and peaceful for a good few minutes before Genya breaks the silence. "You didn't get cut by the glass, right? I didn't get a chance to check since Sanemi came downstairs so fast."
"I didn't." You say that but in truth you actually don't know, you were too shocked and afraid of getting yelled at that it didn't occur to you.
You look down at your shoes which you pulled on at the front door then lean down to take them off and double check your feet, only you stop before you can when you see a line of red along your ankle.
It looks like a piece of the glass cut your leg when it shattered, how unfortunate.
"Ah shit, I guess I did get sliced and diced a little right here." You twist your foot to turn your leg and show him, not panicking about it since it's short and only bleeding a medium amount.
Even despite your nonchalance Genya still freaks at the sight of your blood, jumping up from the swing and patting down his pockets for a napkin or tissue, "Damn it, if I had known I wouldn't have made you run all the way here!"
"But then that means we'd have to stay and face Sanemi's wrath."
"He wouldn't have been that mad if he knew you were hurt, he would've let it slide."
He sounds genuine and you know it's true from experience, but this was more fun.
You shake your head and get up to pat your own pockets, dismayed when you find nothing to stop the running blood from reaching your socks.
Luckily Genya happens to have a folded napkin in his pants for whatever reason, so he urges you to sit back down and kneels on the ground next to your hanging legs to gently dab at the cut and remove the blood.
"I'm fine. It's not even that bad, plus you would've gotten in trouble for what I did which is completely unfair."
The last thing you want is for him to get lectured and forced to do hard labor because you weren't being careful.
"Whatever. You're lucky that it's not bad, but when we get back we should put something on it."
"Aye-Aye captain!"
"Stop that."
---
You and Genya wind up hanging out at the park for a few hours, sitting around, talking, chilling in general, and you're both having a really good time.
At some point the two of you settle at a picnic table where you sit together and just enjoy the nice weather, at least, that is until you decide you wanna look at clouds and lay down on the bench with your head in his lap.
While he usually hates it when anyone touches him with a burning passion, with you it's different.
His first reaction was stuttering and an obvious blush, but it calmed down before long and he got used to it.
"That one kind of looks like a rabbit." You comment, point up at a fluffy, shapeless monstrosity of a cloud.
"Are you dumb? That's clearly an alligator." He shoots back easily, looking up towards the sky at the same cloud. "It doesn't look like a bunny even a little bit, you idiot."
"Aw, your pet-names for me are so sweet." Sarcasm drips from your response but there's an underlying level of fondness there, you think it's a little endearing after all.
Normally such a comment would make him a little flustered, but he only scoffs and reaches down to squish your cheeks. "If you're looking for sweet then you should go find someone else."
He's trying to sound cool but you've got just the thing to catch him off guard.
"Oh, like Sanemi? He's really warm and cuddly, I'm sure he'd be much sweeter."
There's silence following your teasing words, then laughter because of how ridiculous it is.
Genya stops squishing your face and throws his head back as his whole body shakes with laughter, finding your words equally parts hilarious and ridiculous. "Yeah just like Nemi, he's the most delicate and comforting person ever."
You're glad that you can get him to laugh like that, the sight of his obvious joy making you feel all fuzzy and warm inside.
With a careful hand you reach up and press your palm against his cheek, smiling softly yourself, "I really like it when you laugh like that."
All sign's of amusement dissipate in an instant when you touch his face and speak to him so affectionately, thinking for a split second that you might just like him too before warding off those thoughts.
"You know we've been friends for a long time." You say eventually, dropping your hand from his face to lay on your stomach, "Have you ever thought about what it'd be like if we started dating?"
It's so shocking and out of nowhere that he's left speechless, eyes wide and lips parted as if he wants to speak but can't.
Of course he's thought about it, he's thought about it a whole lot actually since he's very clearly in love with you, but he's never had the confidence to bring it up.
He tried talking to Sanemi about it a couple of times but each time he either offered very bad advice and got mad when Genya said it wasn't good, or told him to figure it out himself.
It's only because Sanemi knows fuck all about romance, but still, it doesn't instill confidence in someone to hear 'figure it out' or 'just go for it the fuck?'
"I... I have." He finally manages to get out, looking away from your intense gaze sharply.
When he doesn't add anything after that you prod for more information, "Okay. What did you think about it?"
"Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?!" Genya snaps, clearly agitated because he isn't sure about your thoughts on it at all.
His vexation is clear as day, so you sit up and turn towards him with a new frown, "Because I've been thinking about it a lot and I'm tired of just thinking about it all by myself when we can think about it together."
What is this? Are you trying to tell him something right now or is he just reading between nonexistent lines?
"W-What are you trying to say?" He doesn't want to say something embarrassing only to find out that you're thinking about how gross it'd be, about how he's like a brother to you or something devastating.
"I think we'd be a cute couple, personally, but I might be delusional so I'm asking for your opinion."
So blunt, so honest.
He just has to sit there and process it for a second, not entirely sure that he isn't dreaming or hallucinating right now, and it isn't until a few seconds later that he finds his voice, "H-How long have you been thinking about this?"
"I don't know, a while? I mean I thought I was making it obvious that I liked you and, well, I feel like you like me back but nothing was happening. I see you almost every day and you haven't made a move or anything, and it's really starting to bug me because I just hate not knowing."
Honestly you're not entirely sure where this sudden honesty came from, maybe it's the near death experience or just the fact that you think he looks really handsome right now; the only thing you know for certain is that you're sick of beating around the bush.
"Well? If you're going to reject me that's fine, but don't say nothing at least."
"N-No! Why would I reject you?" He sounds so panicked you almost feel bad, "I just... you caught me off guard."
"Fair enough, I did just spring this on you..."
You look down at the bench below you and frown deeply, feeling a sudden spike of guilt. He's not the most confident person in the world despite his prickly outer appearance, so you probably should've approached it in a gentler way.
Genya looks at your dejected form and sighs heavily, trying to soothe his nerves with a deep breath before grumbling, "It's... it's whatever. You know I can't be mad at you."
There he goes trying to be all cool again, but you find it endearing.
"So... you are interested in me then?" You ask, wanting some clarification to settle your insecurity.
So direct, he can hardly handle it.
"Well I guess if you want to put it that way..."
"Come on, Genya, I want you to say it."
"I mean you're nice to look at I guess, and I don't hate being around you..."
"Say it right."
"Ugh, well you kind of-"
"Genya!"
"Damn it! I'm interested in you, okay?! Romantically!"
You smile after finally getting your way, reaching up to pat his cheek lightly, "That's better."
He glares half-heartedly and tries to calm his raging blush, frowning despite how light and happy he is inside. "You're so annoying sometimes."
"But you like me anyway!"
True.
"So..." You hum when he doesn't reply, leaning forward into his space, "You wanna kiss?"
He looks at you incredulously and almost fucking explodes from embarrassment, yelling in shock, "What!?"
"Just kidding!" You laugh once, then turn dead serious, "Unless...?"
"S-Stop messing with me." He's back to grumbling now, mortified that he actually got his hopes up for a second there; of course he wants to kiss, but not when he's unsure about how serious you're being.
"I'm not- well, okay I am a little bit buuuuut... I mean if you want to..."
You're not giggling or making that mischievous face you usually have when you're teasing him, so he actually, shockingly, believes you this time.
"M-Maybe later... we, uhh, we have to head back soon to apologize to my brother."
A fair point, if you stay away for too long then that grace period where's he's cooled off will dissipate and he'll get mad again at you guys for leaving for so long without your phones or wallets (you unfortunately left them in their living room).
"Hm, and acceptable answer. We can build up to it."
---
You both walk back into the house and are shocked by how quiet it is, no sign of the white-haired man or the broken plate.
Maybe he left to clear his head? To go meet Miss Kanae and tell her what happened? To fix it somehow even though it's in a million pieces?
At least that's what you were thinking until the door to your left creaks open and you hear a scary voice.
"So, you've finally come back..."
Fuck.