Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Hold still- don’t you want to look nice for Toshi?” Mao scolded, yanking Hasegawa’s hair. At this rate she was going to rip it out. “Ow- Mao!” Hasegawa attempted to swat her hands away in vain. “I already told you, we’re just hanging out! I don’t need to look nice….” Judging by the look on Mao’s face, she didn’t believe him. He sighed, knowing he was playing a losing game and went back to messing with his hair. He thought he looked fine, it wasn’t like it was a special occasion. Even if it kinda did seem like a date, aquariums typically being a popular date spot.

Hasegawa shook his head, what was he thinking?? It wasn’t a date. Not to say he was opposed to the idea of a date with Kamimura, it just wasn’t. Was he overdressed? He wore a polo shirt and nice pants, a pretty normal outfit. But Kamimura dressed really casually, so Hasegawa might look a little strange next to him. “I can hear the gears in your brain turning. It’s finee, he probably won’t judge you.” Mao cut through his thoughts, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and leaning close to him. “Oh yeah that’s really reassuring…” Mao shook him a bit. “Actually.. Toshi might laugh at you.” “Mao!” He squirmed, but she just held onto his shoulder tighter. “But that’s just how he is, so it’s fine.”

Hasegawa huffed, wiggling free from her grasp and grabbing his stuff. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

They had hung out plenty of times before, why would this time be any different? He had no reason to be so anxious about it, and he certainly had no reason to overthink his outfit choices. It was going to be fine.

--

Kamimura thinks death is far more merciful than having to deal with Tamba. He envies anyone who doesn’t have to deal with the gymnast. Who, by the way, wasn’t even invited to his house. Or let in. He really needs to start remembering to lock his door after getting the mail, lest Tamba Ruiko decide that means she’s allowed to just walk in and start critiquing his every move. Could he report her for trespassing?

“You should change.” Tamba crossed her arms, squinting at him. He gave her a weird look. He was wearing a turtleneck, hoodie, and jeans. A pretty normal outfit for him. “..No? How the fuck did you even get in?” She rolled her eyes, “Maybe you should learn to lock your door if you don’t want people coming in.” She’s unreal. Actually unreal. “Did nobody teach you how to fucking knock? Why the hell would you even check if the doors unlocked first, let alone just walk in.”

Tamba walked right past him, clearly not caring. “Hasegawa’s gonna be all dressed up and you’re gonna look like a bum.” Kamimura huffed, “Okay then smartass, what do you suggest I wear?” He immediately realized that was not at all the right thing to say. In the slightest. Tamba’s grin only cements this fact. Kamimura was screwed.

And so that’s how Kamimura spent his morning. Tamba prancing around his apartment like she owned the place, destroying his closet and judging his taste all the while. As if she was any better.

Tamba looked absolutely thrilled when she was done, fawning over her work. “See? Much better. Hasegawa's gonna die when he sees you.” She leaned over his shoulder, staring in the mirror with him. “He better thank me.” Kamimura gave her a weird look before glancing back at the mirror. She had him wearing one of his band tees, arm warmers covering his wrists. A pair of black jeans, and a belt lazily across his waist. He had been wearing light makeup before she came over, and she touched it up some. Adding more eyeliner under his eyes to make them pop. His hair was all tousled, messily framing his face. “What do you think?” Tamba beamed at him, clearly proud.

“I think I want my hoodie back.” Kamimura deadpanned. He looked stupid, this was stupid. His normal clothes were completely fine, and he was much more comfortable in them. He didn’t care if he looked like a ‘bum’ next to Hasegawa.

Tamba rolled her eyes, there really was no winning with this guy. “No. You look nice! Seriously, you look actually put together for once.” He huffed, Tamba must’ve been put on this earth for the sole purpose of getting on his nerves. “I really do hate you.”

“Love you too!” Tamba called as she walked to the door, “I’m gonna head out now, you’d better not change! I worked hard making you look presentable.”

Kamimura groaned, hearing the door finally click shut. Why had he let her do this again?

—

Despite his complaints, he kept the outfit. Obviously he liked the clothes- they were his, but he felt like he stuck out. He didn’t need people staring at him. Tamba said Hasegawa would ‘die when he saw him’. Kamimura doesn’t think he looks too insanely different, or that Hasegawa would care that much. And he doesn’t care what Hasegawa thinks of his appearance, either.

Though, the idea of Hasegawa getting all flustered over him simply changing his style ever so slightly was fun. He always got all red and stuttery and fidgety when he was flustered.

He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. The bus was always so damn loud. His music drowned out most of the noise, at least. That and the constant pinging of texts. He glanced at his phone, nothing that interesting. Tamba being annoying, Tamba asking for photos, Tamba being Tamba. The normal. That and Ken sending an update, he wasn’t that far from the aquarium. Mao was probably the one bringing him. He sent him a text telling Hasegawa to say hi to Mao for him before shutting his phone back off, listening to his music.

—

The ride there felt like forever, Mao wouldn’t stop teasing him. Then he finally got to the aquarium, saying his goodbyes to Mao and promising to bring her something. Even though it was more like him being threatened into getting her something. (He would’ve anyways, naturally. He liked getting his family things.)

And then he saw him.

Kamimura was going to be the death of him. Hasegawa thinks he might actually put him into an early grave. His heart rate probably shouldn’t be this high. The heat in his face probably wasn’t normal either. He was expecting the normal hoodie ensemble he wore, he had not been expecting Kamimura to look like…that. He forgets how to breathe for a moment. Seeing him without his hoodie felt strange. He wasn’t wearing a turtleneck either, and seeing Kamimura's neck made him understand how Victorian boys felt about ankles. This was pathetic. He was pathetic. Kamimura would have killed him if he could hear his thoughts. Kamimura should have killed him, this was stupid. Hasegawa can’t help but feel slightly jealous that anyone else gets to see him like this. Looking absolutely beautiful.

It should be just for him, an awful greedy part of him whispers. He wishes only he could get to see Kamimura like this.

He was waiting for Hasegawa, innocently fidgeting with his longer hair pieces. Twirling it around his finger before letting it fall, then repeating. He had no idea the heart ache he was inflicting on Hasegawa by simply standing there. He was on his phone, an amused half smirk on his face. All his attention on the stupid thing and was it even possible to be this jealous over an inanimate object?

Hasegawa walked over, clearing his throat. Kamimura looked up, phone forgotten. Hasegawa’s heart skips a beat. Absolutely smitten, Kamimura didn’t even know the things he did to him. His heart can’t take this.

“Hey. Woww, Rui was right. You do make me look like a bum.” Momentarily Hasegawa forgets he has to talk to uphold a conversation. Wow, he was wearing more makeup than normal. He can tell much better this close, and he curses the low light. He can’t see him clearly. His eyelashes being that pretty should actually be a crime, It wasn’t normal for a boys lashes to be that long right? Kamimura is giving him a weird look and it occurs to Hasegawa that he hasn’t answered him at all.

“Y-you, you look..n-nice.” He finally chokes out, earning a weird look from Kamimura. Hasegawa thinks there isn’t any proper word to describe him. Especially not one as boring as ‘nice’. But Kamimura might actually leave if Hasegawa were to praise him as much as he wanted too. As much as he should.

“You have such a way with words.” Kamimura teased, fidgeting with his hair some more. “Rui broke into my house and demanded I let her play dress up.” Hasegawa blinked. “She..huh?” Kamimura looks back at him, shrugging. “I forgot to lock the door. She decided to just let herself in. Pretty fucking rude, right?” Kamimura didn’t think it was a big deal, if anything it was just a funny coincidence that Tamba would show up the one time he forgot to lock it. But of course he was talking to the most anxious person ever. “Y-you what? Kazutoshi!-” Kamimura huffed, rolling his eyes. “It’s fine, Ken. It was one time. I was leaving soon anyways, it didn’t even matter.” Hasegawa can’t help but worry- yeah, this time was fine, because it was Tamba. “But what if something had happened? You-” Kamimura scoffs, “I live alone, Ken. I’m not stupid enough to just leave my fucking door open all the time. I can take care of myself.”

Hasegawa thinks Kamimura should probably be more concerned about his home safety, but Kamimura had already moved on. Changing the topic to the aquarium. He knew better than to push, he wouldn’t want to upset Kamimura. He was strict with his boundaries. Hasegawa made a mental note to remind him about his door lock later.

—

Kamimura knew that going to the aquarium with Hasegawa meant he’d hear an insane amount of trivia, he had prepared for that. But still, wow, how did this guy remember all of it? He knew Hasegawa knew a bunch, for his quiz shows, but it still always managed to shock him just how much he knew. Guess that’s what happens when you study every waking second. Kamimura already has a permanent headache as is, he can’t imagine trying to commit any of these facts to memory. He has no idea how Hasegawa's brain hasn’t just exploded.

They’d seen plenty of interesting creatures, and Hasegawa had shared plenty of facts. Listing them off as if it meant the difference between winning and losing, even though they were just walking around an aquarium. What a fucking nerd Kamimura thinks fondly, watching him get lost in what he was talking about.

He liked listening to him talk. Kamimura wasn’t the most talkative guy ever, so Hasegawa filling the space like this worked. He enjoyed watching him fidget, watching his expressions as he jumped from fact to fact. Reciting definitions with scary accuracy.

Hasegawa was still sharing trivia about the last animal they had seen when Kamimura stopped, staring at the next exhibit. A jellyfish exhibit, to be exact.
Kamimura wasn’t too impressed with many of the animals in the tanks so far. Yeah, some were pretty cool, or looked goofy as hell and he got a good laugh out of it. But none really amazed him. But watching the jellyfish float around in the water, they looked surreal. How could such dumb little things look like that? He didn’t expect to even really care about them. He liked jellyfish before this, but not a crazy amount or anything. He didn’t really care that much, he just thought they were neat. But seeing them in person? It was totally different than seeing them in photos.

Hasegawa smiled as Kamimura looked at them all, awe poorly concealed on his face. He knew his tells by now, knew him well enough to see the small changes. “That’s a moon jelly. The scientific name is Aurelia aurita. ‘Aurelia’ being the genus, and the species a. Aurita. So.. Aurelia aurita.” Kamimura makes a mental note of the name. The regular name, not the nerdy scientific name. The name made sense, they were kinda moon shaped. “They are a part of the Ulmaridae family. The most recognizable feature is the horseshoe design on the bell! I-It’s actually their reproductive organs.” Hasegawa listed off as if reading from a book, like it was second nature.

“Woww, how inappropriate Ken! Why are you looking at their-” Kamimura snickered as Hasegawa rushed to defend himself “T-Thats not-! That doesn’t even make sense!” Kamimura clicked his tongue in mock disapproval. “A pervert to jellyfish of all things, wow Ken. You’re a total degenerate.” Hasegawa stuttered out broken defenses and explanations, which only fueled Kamimura’s teasing.

“T-they lack respiratory, excretory, and circulatory systems.” Hasegawa launched back into his word vomit, eager to cut off that conversation. “They move horizontally, swimming by pulsating their bell, which always remain close to the water’s surface. With this, they can keep their tentacles spread over larger areas of space, allowing them to capture food easier.”

“A group of jellyfish are called a smack, sometimes several smacks come together and form a larger group. Often due to favorable environmental conditions. That’s called a bloom…Just one bloom might contain more than a thousand jellies.” Kamimura hummed, “A thousand, huh? Would suck to be caught in that.” Hasegawa nodded, eagerly continuing. “Moon jellies can sting, but they aren’t harmful to humans. At most it’s a mild discomfort. There are jellyfish that are dangerous, of course. But these particular ones aren’t.”

Hasegawa stopped talking, and Kamimura assumed he was done. He thought they were pretty cool. Pretty complex for stupidly simple creatures. “You know a lot about them, huh?” Of course, Hasegawa knew a lot about everything. He liked knowing things. It was just the natural response. “They remind me of you.” Hasegawa blurted out before Kamimura could continue, staring at him. He hadn’t even really meant to say it. A stray thought that was supposed to remain tucked away in the back of his head. Hasegawa almost misses the way Kamimura stops for just a moment, like he’s unsure what to do with the statement.

He recovers quickly though, he always does. “I remind you of a brainless blob? Wow, I’m flattered Ken.” Kamimura crossed his arms, sarcasm practically dripping off his words. Hasegawa flushed, rushing to explain. “N-no, not that! It’s uhm. Y-your hair, it reminds me of a jellyfish! A-and-!” Kamimura gave him a strange look, “My hair.” Hasegawa nodded, gesturing vaguely. “Y-yeah, the shape, if you look at it a certain way-” At this point, Kamimura was struggling to hold back his laughter. “Oh, so I look like a brainless blob, awesome. I’m so thrilled!” Hasegawa shook his head, lightly knocking his shoulder. “You know I didn’t mean it like that!” The banter faded into laughter, Kamimura covering his face with his hand.

“Am I at least a nice looking brainless blob? Cuz, that one is ugly.” He pointed to a poor jellyfish that had done nothing to offend him. “Oh yeah, of course.” Hasegawa thinks he’d be the prettiest jellyfish. He’s the prettiest boy he knows. Kamimura grinned, gazing back at the jellyfish. “They’re pretty interesting for such simple little things.”

Hasegawa nodded, “They are, yeah. They are..really pretty. I like them. It’s calming, watching them like this.” A comfortable silence fell over the two, watching the jellyfish swim through the water.

Kamimura tries to connect why the jellyfish would remind Hasegawa of him. He didn’t think his hair was very jellyfish shaped, it seemed like a kind of stupid reason. Maybe it’s the color and cut combined..?

He finds them pretty, they remind him of you and he thinks they're pretty. A pathetic little voice in the back of his head points out, in which he is quick to push away. Because that was stupid and completely unrelated.

Kamimura reached into his pocket, receiving his phone and taking a few photos of the jellyfish. A nice distraction. “For Tamba?” Hasegawa prompted, “Yeah. Think she’ll like them? They’re brainless like her.” Hasegawa can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him, “Kazutoshi!” Kamimura looks back at him. “What, it’s totally true.” Hasegawa shakes his head, but doesn’t rebuttal any further.

Kamimura took a final glance towards the jellyfish before moving on, Hasegawa trailing behind him. He was content to just follow him around like this. A stupid fond smile found its way to his face, and he’s glad Kamimura isn’t looking at him. He was grinning like an idiot, cheeks still tinted the slightest bit of red. Luckily not visible in the low light.

He enjoyed this. Being able to spend time with Kamimura, when the other let his guard slip a bit. Seeing his expressions change as he found something interesting, or thought one of the sea creatures looked funny. Making comments about how a particularly ‘stupid looking one’ reminded him of Tamba. He likes getting to hang out just the two of them like this. Away from their classmates, it allows Hasegawa to get to see facets of Kamimura he’d usually be too guarded to share. Like a puzzle that he slowly gained the pieces to, and eventually they’d all click together.

He’s willing to wait. To take whatever Kamimura will give him. Just being able to stay by his side was enough. He’d stay by his side forever if Kamimura would allow him.

—

Kamimura glanced at his phone, waiting for Hasegawa to finish in the gift shop. Saying that Mao would ‘kill him if he didn’t bring her something’. (Naturally, Kamimura told him to take his time and get her something nice and not a lame meaningless knick knack or anything. Only the best for his favorite Hasegawa.) Tamba had sent him a few messages, asking about how his ‘date’ was going. He’d given up telling her it wasn’t a date. She wasn’t going to take his word for it, clearly. He rolled his eyes, typing out a quick very polite ‘fuck off’, and then the pictures of the jellyfish along with it. To distract her, of course.

Kamimura stares at the photo of the jellyfish. They feel like they are taunting him now. Hasegawa’s remark from earlier shouldn’t be affecting him this much. It lingers in his head, what is he supposed to do with it? Why did that small comment keep worming its way back into his thoughts?

Hasegawa came out of the gift shop finally, saving him from his spiral, fidgeting with the flimsy bag he held. “Hey.” Kamimura gave a slight wave “What’d you get her? I’m sending you back in if it's stupid.” He glanced at the bag. “Oh, I uhm, I got you this.” Hasegawa presented a jellyfish keychain. “I-it reminded me of you- plus you seemed to like the jellyfish, s-so..” It was a blue keychain, the jellyfish's tentacles clacking together when it moved. The clasp a star.

Kamimura took the keychain, fidgeting with it in his hand. “Oh, thanks.” He kept his gaze fixed on the keychain. It made his chest feel weird. Hasegawa saw these little creatures that he found pretty and interesting and thought of him. He noticed Kamimura liked the stupid things and got him a stupid little keychain because he thought he liked it. It was such a small gesture, so why was Kamimura so caught up on it?

Hasegawa was still talking, explaining what he got for Mao. Even as the two walked to the exit and parted ways, Kamimura was still fidgeting with the keychain in his pocket.

Hasegawa was just glad he liked it.

—

Kamimura sat on his bed, finally home. He enjoyed their outing of course, but going out for the day was always exhausting. His body ached, and his eyes practically begged him to sleep. He stretched his back, turning his phone on. Tamba would kill him if he went to bed without replying to her.

Rui:How was your date ;)
Me:I’m going to block you.
Rui:You love me <33
Me:kys.

He was watching the dots as Tamba typed when a notification from Hasegawa came through.

Ken:Today was fun! See you Monday. Please make sure you eat dinner. ❤️
Ken:And that you lock your door. Please tell me you locked your door.

Kamimura huffs. Of course Hasegawa would still be worrying about that. Because Hasegawa worried about everything. Even when he didn’t need to. Kamimura was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

Kamimura sends him a quick reply, reaching into his pocket to fidget with the keychain again. He stared at it, a stupid fondness washing over him. God, since when was he so stupidly emotional? This was more Hasegawa's thing. He was sappy enough for them both.

Moon jellyfish remind Hasegawa of Kamimura, the stupid keychain reminded him of Kamimura. The idea of Hasegawa seeing the keychain in the gift shop and getting distracted from finding something for his sister. Seeing the keychain and wanting to get it for him because he noticed he liked the jellyfish. God, this was stupid.

The idea of Hasegawa finding something so beautiful reminiscent of him sits in his chest in a weird way. A feeling he’s unsure of what to do with. He shoves it all down, because this was ridiculous and it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as he was making it.

He attached the keychain to his keys, maybe the jingling would help him lose them less. He briefly wonders if Hasegawa would be glad to see he did use it. Kamimura knows he would be, he’d grin like a fool seeing it. He sends a goodnight text to Hasegawa, curling up in bed and staring at the keychain.

…Jellyfish were pretty cool, huh?