Archive of Our Own ^beta

Akito never expected himself to fall so hard for his best friend.

He couldn’t help but observe Toya’s every movement, go into a daze watching him in lessons, flinch at every interaction…

Fucking hell, he was in love.

Toya’s slim, long-fingered hands that played the piano ever so gracefully, that grasped the microphone, that did everything so perfectly, Toya’s soft, fluffy, two-toned blue hair, his silvery eyes that Akito could get lost in for almost forever, his lips that Akito so desperately (did not) wanted to…

What the fuck. NO. Get out of my head.

It was insane, really. Akito was insane. Mad, even. There was no way he could possibly like his best friend? No. No way. He was better than this. Aoyagi Toya would not be his destruction.

Except for the fact that he was.

“...Aki.”

Fuck.

“You’re coming to practice today after school, right?”

That voice. That smile. Those fucking grey eyes. Holy shit.

“Akito. Are you feeling okay?” The monotonal boy reached out to place his hand on Akito’s forehead to check for any signs of fever.

No. Don’t.

Akito moved Toya’s hand away. “I’m fine. I’ll see you at practice, eh?” He stood up and walked out of the classroom, ignoring the fact that he left a minute earlier.

An and Kohane strolled past him, giggling about whatever.

“Trust me, I’m going to win.” Kohane’s gentle voice came out.

“Fine! I’ll raise the bet! Twenty dollars.” An’s very recognisable, cheery voice, ringing down the hallways.

“Hm, okay! Your words, not mine!! Be prepared to pay me!” Kohane retorted.

An let out a giggle once again, and the girlfriends chased each other down the hall.

Akito followed, a sigh escaping the ginger’s mouth as he exited Kamiyama’s doors, a grey backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Aki!! Over here, you idiot.”

Akito turned around, narrowly avoiding the sun’s blinding rays. He spotted An and Kohane sitting on a bench, The starry-haired girl waving her hand vigorously, gesturing him over.

“Where’s Toya?” She asked, holding her palm up to shade the sun from hitting her eyes.

Akito flinched at the name.

I’m about to lose my shit.

“I’m not sure.” he replied, trying his best to stay nonchalant.

The moment he opened his mouth, shades of blue could be seen across the field. Three seconds felt like three lifetimes to Akito, his green eyes fixated on Toya’s gray ones.

An’s loud voice broke Akito’s bubble. His attention was stolen by Toya, the way the blue-haired boy’s eyes would curve into arches when he smiled, the way he did everything with such precision and so perfectly at the same time, even something as simple as waving his free hand back at An.

Kohane and An noticed the ginger totally captivated by Toya and shared a glance. Akito and Toya’s situation was obvious to everyone but them.

Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine. You don’t like him. You don’t like him…

Yes you do.

Fuck.

Akito shook his head, clutching his schoolbag tighter. “We should hurry up. Ena told me to get home early today.”

Kohane shrugged, threading her arm through An’s. “Let’s go, then!”

── .✦

Now was not the time. In fact, it was the worst timing ever.

The worst time for Akito to come to a conclusion: he, indeed, liked his best friend.

And not just normally. The boy was head over fucking heels.

Just his luck. The group was in the middle of an important practice performance, and he couldn’t afford to mess his lines up, or ruin the formation of the dance.

His emerald eyes glanced at the clock on the cafe wall. 4:45PM.

Fifteen minutes.

After moments that seemed like forever, Akito addressed the group members. “Should we start packing up now? Ena’s going to murder me if I’m a second late.”

The navy blue-haired girl laughed at this comment. “Hey, Ena’s very nice, you know.”

Akito scowled. “To you!”

The four of them started picking speakers up, unwiring microphones, and resetting lighting. IN less than five minutes, they managed to get everything completed.

The blonde, pigtailed girl heaved a sigh. “Finally.” She then turned to An, a grin spread across her face. “Wanna get ice cream?” she said, winking with a mischievous glint in her eye.

An returned the grin, her head subtly tilting towards the two boys standing around aimlessly. “Let’s grab our belongings first, hm?”

This left Akito and Toya by themselves.

Cool it, damn. It’s just Toya.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

“To—”

“Aki—”

Akito paused, seeing that his sentence overlapped with Toya’s “Uh, you speak first.”

Toya shook his head vigorously, heat rising up in his cheeks. “...No… You go first…”

Akito smiled slightly at the situation.

I’m being stupid.

“Say it at the same time?”

“...Sure.”

“Okay. Ready? ...”

“I like you—”

“Toya. Will you go ou—”

The two of them froze, faces redder than tomatoes. They looked at the floor, avoiding each other’s gaze. Behind them, An and Kohane emerged, laughing as if they’ve never seen anything funnier.

“Twenty dollars, Kohane! Like we promised.”

“That’s not fair!!! They said it at the same time.”

“It was Akito’s idea!! Come on, hand it over.”

“Damn it, An!! You’re paying for my ice cream.”

“Fine. You know I love you.”

Love. The warm feeling Akito felt every time he laid his eyes on Toya was love. The rapid beating in his heart every time Toya did something with him, or for him was love. It didn’t need to be perfect— it never was. All that mattered was Toya was there, with him. That was love for Akito. All he needed was Toya, and Toya only.

An and Kohane’s laughter died down, as the girls left the room to grab ice creams. Akito was pretty sure that Toya hated the awkward silence just as much as he did, therefore the extrovert broke the silence.

“Damn.”

Toya looked up. “Hm?”

Akito felt his face heat up again. “Fuck, Toya. You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to say that.”

Toya laughed. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? I never thought I’d be able to say that.”

The words hung in the air. “I never thought I’d be able to do that”.

Me too. But I’m glad I did.

“Wait. Akito.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

A wide grin spread across the ginger's face. "Yeah, man. I mean--"

An and Kohane burst out into laughter once again, causing Akito to turn around.

“Didn’t you guys go to get ice cream or whatever not?”

An grinned devilishly. “Yeah, we did. Came back to you guys tomato-staring or whatever you were going.”

Akito’s face heated up once again. “Wh…Whatthefuck!! Get out!!”

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Green eyes looked up at the wall. 4:58PM.

“Shit. Ena’s going to kill me.” He dashed out the cafe door, looking back at the group. “Bye, you bitches!!--- Not you, though Toya. you’re not a bitch.”

The three remaining Vivid BAD SQUAD members shared a laugh. At least the burning feeling had left Akito’s chest. He was free of bottling up his feelings, free of silently yearning for Toya.

And he loved it, every bit of it.

Even if it wasn’t perfect.