Chapter Text
The screeching of the train halting to a stop was abrupt, since it felt like Akito had only been sitting there for a few minutes.. But time always passed quickly when he was with An.
“This is my train,” Akito slipped the strap of his bag over his head and laid it on his shoulder, standing from the bench he sat on with her. An had sighed, leaning back on the wall with her arms crossed.
“I can’t believe I missed mine,” An complained, a huff coming out along with her words. Both Akito and An had missed their train that day, actually.. They were out too late at the cafè they met a lot of the time after school. They lost track of time, and it’s even worse since they took separate trains.. An’s was going to come last.
Akito couldn’t help but scoff. “We both missed ours. It’s horrible for me, as well.. I left cheesecake in the fridge, my sister probably got it already.” He sighed dramatically.. He was looking forward to that cheesecake. Every single last piece.. He bought it himself! If Ena ate it, he wouldn’t know what to do. Probably eat the rest of the pieces in sadness and anger all at the same time. “Well, I’m going. See you tomorrow.” Akito waved her off and turned, walking to the open doors before An responded behind him quickly.
With her hands cupped around her mouth: “I hope your sister ate all your cheesecake!” Akito couldn’t help but glare back at the girl who was giggling mischievously.. That was quite possibly the worst outcome!
But anyway, now Akito could finally be on his way home now. It was quite a relief, since he’d been out for so long again. Tonight, Akito had a plan. Get home. Eat cheesecake. Get to bed. Hopefully, arguing with Ena about his delicious snack wouldn’t budge into his agenda.
Akito sat down on the seat, and luckily since it was late, there weren't many people. The only good aspect about this is indeed the quiet. Grabbing his phone and his earphones from his pocket, he put one of the ear pieces in his ear and scrolled through his playlist. This was the most important decision of the day.. What song to start his ride home with? It wasn’t a long ride, no, not at all, which was why he needed the perfect songs to go along with his short ride. And so the train closed its doors, and headed off.
The ride was going incredibly smoothly,
especially with how it wasn’t as crowded as it would be if he went on his own train. He was even almost home, which was quite the relief. But.. Although everything felt nice, suddenly Akito felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Like a shiver went down his spine all too suddenly, and it caused him to look up and glance around. Perhaps it was just because of the train starting to move? Maybe he was tired. But then out of the corner of his eye, he watched as someone’s eyes darted back down to stare at whatever they were holding.
Akito turned his head to look over. The boy was just a few seats away on the other side. He seemed quite peaceful.. Staring into a book with a focused look on his face. He nibbled on his lip slowly, and his split-colored hair fell on his face beautifully. Akito didn’t expect the boy to slowly look back up at him, though. He caught the glimpse of a small smile. He swore he saw his lips curl up a little, and his heart pounded harshly in his chest, which caused him to look back at his phone in utter panic.
With the mere second that they made eye contact, it was like Akito copied that picture into his head. His smile, though small, was incredibly nice to look at. It was sweet. His eyes were pretty silver.. That eye color wasn’t something you see everyday. A mole laid beside the corner of his eye. Defining.. You’d be able to see this guy and recognize him out of a crowd.
Wait. Akito placed a hand on his own cheek, feeling the warmth that spread through it. How embarrassing. What was he doing..? Analyzing this man as if it mattered. Copying such a beauty into his head wasn’t right of him.. Did he have to word it like that in his head? This is a rare occurrence. Hell, he’s pretty sure he’s never felt like this before. He sees people who do have good looks, yes, but this particular one.. Akito felt as if his heart would burst out of his chest.
This unfamiliar feeling was overwhelming as well. Akito couldn’t help but wonder if he was overthinking this. This is the last time I’ll be on this night train and I won’t see him again. He told himself, taking a deep breath. But he couldn’t help it. Akito still felt shivers down his spine, and he was pretty sure this pretty man was still looking at him, or maybe just glancing at him.
Finally, the doors opened at his stop. Akito stood up and placed his bag on one of his shoulders, letting out an exhale. Freedom. Sparing one more glance at the boy, he saw he was looking at him.
Akito wonders.. What if he stayed? Sat down next to him. Maybe even got to know him. Wait, what was he thinking? He needed to get home. Quickly, Akito stepped towards the doors and walked out, but a pang in his chest was telling him to go back. He’d hardly even looked at this man, yet he was wanting to go back in and risk a 45 minute walk home just because he wanted to get to know him? Now that he thought about it, it sounded incredibly stupid. So Akito began to walk home and the train’s doors closed, and the realization slowly set in that.. He would never see that boy again.
Ah, whatever. Akito couldn’t be pestering himself with something like this.
“Calling me at 10 pm is not like you at all. Clearly you need me for something.” Mizuki’s voice chimed. They weren’t wrong.. Akito needed some sort of reassurance that he won’t think about this guy anymore. That whole walk home, all he saw was his face in his head. When he tried to close his eyes to sleep, there he was. “Don’t worry, Lil’ Bro. I wasn’t planning on sleeping anytime soon. It’s an honor to be here—“ Their voice was definitely raised in order to tease him, and Akito could tell they were standing in their room with pride.
Akito placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose, sighing. “I only need you for a second.” Mizuki went silent, starting to listen to him. It was hard to say he glanced at someone on the train and it suddenly felt like they had a connection. Wow, that’s the worst way to word it. A connection? No. He was just attracted to him! “..Helloo?” Mizuki’s voice rang through the phone and Akito cleared his throat. “Give me a second. I’m trying to figure out how to word this.”
Mizuki laughed. Laughed at his pain! His absolute struggle in life right now! With a man he probably won’t see again. Akito huffed, not allowing them to say anymore. “Me and An missed our trains.” Mizuki let out an ‘mhmm’ as he spoke and he scoffed. “Let me finish. Okay, me and her missed our trains. I got on mine.. Long story short, there was a guy there.” He stopped for a second, wondering how to continue this. Akito exhaled, putting a hand on his forehead and sitting up from his bed. “It’s.. um. He looked at me. It was so weird.” Suddenly, Mizuki was giggling on the other side.
“He looked at you..? How atrocious.” Mizuki teased, the sound of hangers clicking together on the other side. Were they organizing their closet in the middle of a crisis on the other side of the phone..? “Are you bothered by that? Someone looking at you?”
Groaning, Akito covered his red face. “Please, let me finish, Akiyama..” He took a deep breath before he let it blurt out. “He was really handsome, alright? I could even consider him pretty. He.. I didn’t get his name. I couldn’t even walk up to him. I can’t get his dumb gray eyes out of my head.” Another deep breath. “He smiled at me, Akiyama, and it stuck with me. It’s sticking with me like a— a tattoo..!” Akito finally admitted.. and maybe this admission was to himself as well.
Silence was on the other side for a bit, as if they were shocked at the sentences that just came out of their friend’s mouth. “I’ve never heard you say you were actually interested in someone.” They said, and the clacking of the hangers stopped on the other side.. Now, Mizuki was really interested in what was going on. “And since he goes on another train than yours, you’re assuming that you’ll never see him again, right?”
Akito shifted in his bed, uncomfortable with how easily he was read. “It shouldn’t matter. I shouldn’t care about this random guy.” His words were let out exhaustively, as if he’s tired of this. Akito moved to stand from his bed and pace around. “I’m not even interested in him.. I just.. I’ve never seen someone like that before. Ever.” It’s quite the predicament, the one that he’s in.
How are you able to go on knowing you lost someone who could potentially be.. even a good friend? He seemed nice enough. Though, Mizuki sounded like they already got it all figured out.
“Akito, if your main problem is the fact you won’t be able to see him again, why don’t you just catch his bus tomorrow instead of your own?” Ah. That sounded like a great plan. It made Akito feel stupid that he hadn’t even thought of that before.
A bubble went in his mouth as the quiet strung on for too long between them, but Akito finally let out an exasperated breath. “And walk up to him? What if I get too nervous?”
“You won’t. Just be like how you always are, Lil’ Bro! He’ll like you for how you are.”
“And how are you so sure..?” Akito put his hand on his other bicep and raised an eyebrow as if Mizuki could even see him.
Mizuki laughed a little randomly. “Because you’re a likable guy, obviously.” The sarcasm in their voice reeked out. Akito rolled his eyes, not buying that. “Kidding. I mean, while you could be.. Not including your fake personality while you’re at your job—“
“It’s called customer service.”
“Kidding! Anyway, it’s because he already seems to show interest in you.”
Now, how did that make sense at all, Akito wonders. “Er.” He murmurs, making the most unimpressed face. “I didn’t even look at him for more than 5 seconds and I doubt he didn’t either, and you’re telling me he’s showing some sort of interest?” Akito sits down again. “Tell me more.” Not that he believed them, but.. hey, he’s curious to what they’re thinking!
It was as if Mizuki was ready to explain since the beginning. “I personally think the intention was always to get your attention. How often do you think he was looking at you? It could even be in a platonic sense, of course. Who knows? He might think you look interesting.” A small clack sounded on the other side of the phone along with water rushing down the faucet. “Sorry, I’m washing my face. But you see where I’m coming from, right?”
Akito thought about what they said a bit. Well, the guy did look multiple times. Akito knew that. But what if that was just because he was looking over..? No, the first time Akito saw him he was already looking at him. “..Sounds reasonable. But I don’t know if this is true or not. Maybe he was.. curious.”
“Curious in you! That’s the point. I’m sure he wants to get to know you.” Mizuki chimed.
“..What if it’s not like that?”
“You’ll never know unless you find out. Go on his train tomorrow, Akito.”
..They weren’t wrong at all. Again. Maybe this guy was interested in getting to know him as much as Akito was interested as well. He still couldn’t help letting out a frustrated sigh and Mizuki laughed on the other end. “Sorry, but I need to do my skincare. Call me tomorrow after the train and tell me how it goes!” They said enthusiastically and Akito sat down on his bed again, exhausted from the pacing he’d just done around his room.
After a silence, Akito nodded. “No promises I’ll actually go on his train. Goodnight, Akiyama.” And before Mizuki could complain, he hit the hang up button, and there he was again.. deep in thought.
Skipping his train and going on the night train was just so ridiculous. Could Akito really just.. go and sit next to him? He didn’t know why he was so concerned about this. He found it hard that he could live in some sort of fairytale like Mizuki was imagining in their head. Sometimes, fairytales don’t have happy endings, either.
Laying down, Akito stared at the ceiling once more. He wondered if this random boy on the train was thinking about him as well. Maybe this random boy was thinking about him the way Akito was thinking about him.
Pretty.
Very.. very pretty.
..How torturous.
Oh. Akito was doing this.
This was the dumbest thing ever. Sitting on this bench, alone because An refused to wait with him, and waiting for this night train to come. He tapped the back of his phone as he sat quietly and listened for any train to be screeching by.
What if the boy wasn’t on the train? What if he was only on the train once? What if the boy didn’t want to talk to him in the first place? Oh, no. Akito should’ve thought about this more carefully.
No, Akito feared he wouldn’t be able to go to sleep if this boy didn’t even know his *name*. To be stuck in such an elementary level situation was so.. so dumb. Could this even be considered a crush? Did he have a *crush* on this random guy? No. It was possible he might just.. like the way he looks! That might be it!
The amount of possibilities for his horrid thinking were mounting up in his head, he’s been thinking of them ever since last night, after all. It was quite the hassle to think of as many options in his head, but it.. worked. A little. Not enough to make him not show up, but..
While Akito was stuck in thought, the train suddenly appeared right in front of him, and his breath hitched. Oh. It’s here. Oh, it was happening. Akito stood quickly, maybe even swift enough to dodge a bullet, but now he was slowly— very slowly— walking towards the bus. Stalling. Yup, just stall a little longer. Wait, no, that wasn’t going to help anything. Akito shifted uncomfortably and began to walk at normal speed, walking into the train. As soon as he turned his head, he was there.
The beautiful stranger who had been smiling at him just the night before. But now, he was holding quite a few stuffed animals. Akito wasn’t one to judge.. in the back of his mind, maybe he could even see it as a bit cute. He took a deep breath, realizing that this was indeed happening. That he was about to walk up to this boy.. Oh, whew. This be happening.
But apparently the Gods weren’t on his side today because the boy was looking up and over at him again. As Akito was just.. standing there. Staring.
Akito wanted to scream into his pillow. Now, he had to walk over in the most awkward way possible.
Way to go.
Step by step, Akito walked over to the boy who was looking up at him.. He saw the corners of his lips twitch up a little bit. Maybe Mizuki was right. Wait, no, he’s thinking way too forward! Who wouldn’t spare a smile?
“Hello.”
Ah. His voice.. It was gentle. Akito swore his ears had been blessed by some sort of god when he heard him speak.
“Hi. ..Do you mind if I sit here?” It was asked nervously. Akito couldn’t remember the last time he was just so.. shaky. Maybe it was his first performance that he felt this nervous— That’s a long jump, but it was true. He shouldn’t be too nervous, should he be?
The boy scooted to the side and nodded as a sign of ‘yes’, and Akito sat down. He’s done it. He did what he planned to do..!
Ah. Conversation.
Akito’s mind scrambled to find *something* to say, and finally, something came up. His eyes darted to the stuffed animals. A star shaped one with dot eyes on it and a wide smile, a pink dolphin, and a nice looking panda. “..Those stuffed animals. Do you enjoy stuffed animals?” Was he prying too much? Was that question embarrassing..?
To the boy beside him, it wasn’t. At least, it didn’t seem like it was. Instead, his head moved to look down at them as well. “I don’t mind them,” He told Akito. “But I’m really good at the claw game at the arcade. I get a ton of these, but I hardly keep any. You see, I have siblings. Well, not my actual ones, but they enjoy these more than I do. I give these to them when I can.” He shifted in his spot, looking at Akito and.. Now, Akito realized how he seemed a bit taller. Akito wondered how much taller he was when he stood up..?
“Claw machines? I’ve never heard of someone having such a talent before. But then again, I don’t go to the arcade that much.” Akito smiled a little, already enjoying the little conversation he was able to make up.
The boy spared a small nod before he spoke again after clearing his throat. “Toya. I’m Toya. Aoyagi Toya.” He repeated his name three times which Akito found quite endearing, especially with the gentle look plastered on this boy’s face. Toya.
Contemplating sticking his hand out to shake, but that might’ve been too formal, so he decided against it. Instead, Akito shared the same kind look on his face. He wondered how An would react to such gestures coming out of Akito, which makes sense. He isn’t *usually* like this, not with people he knows well, anyway. Would that be considered fake? No, he’s trying to make a good impression on this guy.. This wasn’t bad. Right? “I’m Akito Shinonome.” He responded.
Great. Akito finally got through the ‘knowing-the-boy-on-the-bus’-name’ phase, and now.. It was all having to do with getting to know him. The last part of his plan? Well, of course, getting his number. That would be the most difficult part, wouldn’t it? What if he was rejected? That would be the most embarrassing thing. But suddenly, Toya was holding up the panda stuffed animal.
Akito could tell he was holding his breath for a second before speaking. “Would you like this?” He questioned, and Akito felt his heart drop.. In a positive way, of course. “I don’t know if this sounds weird, but.. I was only planning on giving these two to my siblings and keeping the panda because.. well, they’re overloaded on stuffed animals.” Toya coughed. “I don’t want it, either. I’ve won this one many times, but they’re all different colors.”
How could Akito say no? Such a gift.. Maybe he didn’t like stuffed animals all too much, he never really had too much of an interest, but he had to take up this offer. It was sweet that this guy wanted to give a stranger a stuffed animal.
Reaching out, Akito took a hold of the soft animal plush. “Thank you.” He smiled at Toya, a light pink complexion on his cheeks. He thought that maybe having a conversation with this new boy would calm him down a bit, but now Akito feels more interested in this boy than ever. Well, now that he knows his name, he can actually refer to Toya other than.. ‘this boy’.
Who knew simply getting a gift from someone he hardly knew was able to put Akito into such a twist? His stomach was burning. The butterflies that flew around in it were getting more rapid by the second.
But now.. An awkward silence. No one was saying anything and there obviously wasn’t any conversation coming up between them. Oh. This was horrible. Akito racked his mind for any sort of conversation. Any.. He felt as if he was back at square one. “Do you go to Kamiyama High School?” The boy beside him asked. “You seem.. familiar. You.. I see you from the library while I’m on the helping shift. Do you play soccer?” Really? He’s seen him before? “I hope this doesn’t sound weird. Your hair is very recognizable.”
That.. made a lot of sense. “I just help on the soccer team. I don’t think I remember seeing you at school?” He sighed out. “Sorry, I don’t pay attention to a lot of people. Not anyone I need to, anyway.”
Toya smiled beside him, shaking his head. “Don’t worry. I’m not very stand-outish, am I?”
“That’s not what I meant at all. I’d notice you through a crowd if I tried to. I’m not the only one here that has recognizable hair,” Akito commented as he looked at his split.. dyed? hair. There’s no way it’s natural, right? He must take very good care of it if it looks like this after being dyed. “Not to say it looks bad, of course. I think it’s pretty cool.”
With a nod, Toya looked at the plushies again. “Thanks, Shinonome.”
“Akito is fine,” Akito told him. “And Toya is fine with you?” He asked, tilting his head a little and Toya glanced back at him with another nod.
He’s gotten permission to call him by his name. He felt his heart about to burst. Akito wanted to talk to much more to this man, suddenly topics were coming up in his head—
What music does he enjoy?
Where does he eat lunch?
Does he enjoy the (dumb) tests the school gives them?
Does he have good grades?
What are his hobbies?
Akito’s mind was truly running at 10,000 miles per hour, but suddenly, the train came to a stop.
..It’s his stop. He had to get off.
As everything was going well, this damn train decided to come to his stop! Oh, he should probably get off, right? He wanted to groan, but he just exhaled as he stood and dragged his bag on his shoulder. “It’s my stop.” Toya let out a small ‘oh’.
“It was nice to meet you, Akito. I hope we can talk at school.” This boy gave him the gentlest smile known to man as he waved at him. His heart stopped for a second for the final time before he nodded back as a bye, rushing off the train. As soon as the doors behind him closed, he took in a deep breath and the train sped away.
..Oh.
Akito took out his phone, staring down at it. Dumbfounded.
Akito didn’t get Toya’s number.
“It.. was awkward,” Akito murmured as he played around with the cereal in his bowl, his phone set up on a facetime call with Mizuki again. “Well. Not too awkward. It was fine, I guess. He gave me a stuffed animal.” He scooped up some cereal and placed it in his mouth before hearing Mizuki gasp.
Akito looked over and they were leaning forward closer to their phone, it only showing their forehead and eyes. “You’re telling me he gave you a stuffed animal and you were normal about it? Akito! Did you even get his name? His number? Anything?”
Exhaling, Akito put his spoon down as he munched down on the delicious, sweet food in front of him. “First of all, he only gave it to me because he said he had too much. Which is still nice, don’t get me wrong, but nothing like you were thinking.” He took a deep breath. “Second of all, his name is Aoyagi Toya.”
“I know him! He goes to this school! Tsukasa is a good friend of his.” Ugh. Tsukasa. “I spoke to him once in the library. You could say it’s ‘customer service’, but he was pretty nice!”
..Akito knew that much. He was nice. And pretty. And he seemed pretty cool, too. “..I didn’t get his number, though.” He murmured under his breath before Mizuki leaned closer to the phone.
“ Huh? I can’t hear you.”
And under his breath again, “I didn’t get his number.”
“Blah, blah, blah, muffle, muffle, muffle. Speak up!”
“I didn’t get his number.” Akito said in a louder voice and they ‘ooooooh’ed before they gasped.
“You didn’t get his number? Lil’ Bro.. You could’ve been on call with him right now instead of listening to your boring friend talking about him with you!” Mizuki huffed out, shaking their head. “So, what? Are you going to walk up to him tomorrow at school?”
Akito scoffed. “I won’t go through the effort to find the guy. I don’t know. I might go on the night train again. Just one more time, then I’ll stop.”
Going on the night train, as much as it was helping him talk to Toya.. It was already getting tiring. He didn’t mind, and he probably shouldn’t, but Ena has stolen his cheesecake one too many times since he’s been on the night train! Well, she didn’t tonight. Why? Because he didn’t have any for her to steal!
Cheesecake is a luxury. It’s practical theft, what she’s doing!
“Hey, I can ask him for you, as your amazing friend. I can say,” They ‘ahem’ed, “My good, good friend—“
“Stop right there.”
“Let me finish!” They shook their head before they ahem’ed one more time. “My good, good friend, Shinonome Akito, we all know him well. Amazing singer, great music artist, so very cool, right?” Akito rolled his eyes. “He wants your number! He thinks it’d be very, very nice to get it.” Mizuki’s voice goes deep. “Then he’ll say, ‘Oh? The cool guy on the train last night? Oh, great! I like him so much, you know?’ Then happily ever after.” They hummed in happiness.
Akito stared at the phone, deadpanning. “Goodnight.”
“Don’t hang up, Lil’ Bro! Wait! Just one second.”
“Hm?” He murmured as he picked up his phone.
“Don’t press the hang up button, don’t you dare! This is valuable information!……… Toya is in Class 1-B. Just thought you should know.”
“..Night, Akiyama.”
Unfortunately, Akito ended up doing nothing with that information. He was caught up in during-school tutoring due to his bad test scores. He would’ve if he had the chance, truly, but he didn’t even know what he’d do if he walked in there.
What would he even say? “Hey! Akito here! Looking for a guy I just met yesterday! Can I have your number!!” That would be insane. He decided he’d just go on the train again.
Luckily, Akito was pretty sure he would’ve needed to go on that train anyway. He signed up for an event today in Vivid Street, so it seems that he would be out late, anyway!
“Nice job, Akito!” A bystander said from beside him. “It seems that you get better at every event. The people are starting to recognize your name a lot more!” He smiled at him, to which Akito nodded.
“Unfortunately, I won’t get too much farther if I don’t find a partner soon.” Akito looked at his phone to check the time and he picked up his bag. “Thanks,” He told him. “The train will leave soon if I don’t get going, though.”
..A partner. See, his goal is a big one. It’s to surpass a night that has truly made such a mark on him. RAD WEEKEND was the night he was trying to beat, and it isn’t such an easy feat. With such amazing artists that were in there, Akito knew he’d need to find a partner to assist him in his journey.
..But, who?
Akito walked out of the event area. He exhaled, about to turn to the right to head to the train station, but his ears were ringing with another sound coming from the left of the street. He turned around, eyes flickering around. It seemed as if it was coming from around the corner. It was a boy singing. As he listened from here, he could tell it needed some work, but.. God, he was curious. He doesn’t think he recognizes that voice from anywhere. Not anywhere he’s heard anyone singing.
Suddenly, he’s turning to walk over. He wouldn’t mind listening for a bit, if this person was planning to stay. He walked around the corner and sure enough, there was a small crowd listening to him. It seems he’s gained quite the audience— Is he any good up closer?
Walking closer, Akito navigated through a few people before he got to the front, stepping in front of a few other people before he saw it
Akito’s mouth fell slightly agaped, and his palms suddenly got sweaty in his pockets. His eyes widened with the sight of the boy singing in front of him, and his heart thudded in his chest too loudly that it might be clashing over the music.
It’s him. There’s no mistaking it. With his hair, his eyes. The only thing different was that his face was now filled with determination other than gentleness or kindness. His heart was pouring into this music. Akito found it interesting as he stared at this boy, enchanted by his voice. Was this a spell?
..Toya. What are you doing to me?