
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/2130345.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Johnny's_Entertainment, Bakaleya6, SixTONES_(Band)
  Relationship:
      Tanaka_Juri/Morimoto_Shintaro, Tanaka_Juri/Matsumura_Hokuto, past_Kyomoto
      Taiga/Matsumura_Hokuto
  Character:
      Morimoto_Shintaro, Tanaka_Juri, Kyomoto_Taiga, Matsumura_Hokuto
  Additional Tags:
      Romance, Angst, FQF_Exchange_Fic, Trope_Bingo_Round_3, Trope_Forbidden
      Fruit, Underage_Smoking, Underage_Drinking
  Collections:
      Trope_Bingo:_Round_Three
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-08-13 Words: 5175
****** Asynchrony ******
by Lady_Michiru
Summary
     Shintaro doesn’t understand this thing his best friend has with
     Hokuto.
Notes
     I hope this is to your liking,
     [http://l-stat.livejournal.net/img/userinfo.gif?v=17080?v=118.5]
mousapelli :D Thanks a LOT to my lovely beta, Cortney, for her help and her
caps lock screaming, and to Sheryl for her hand holding and encouragement.
Without you, this would have never been, so THANK YOU.
It starts sometime during winter. Shintaro remembers thick coats and scarves,
and missing Juri’s presence by his side. It usually went like this: Juri would
complain about the cold and stick to Shintaro, because he always said Shintaro
was warm. Shintaro would try to push him away and fail miserably, because Juri
wasn't stronger than him but he was more cunning, and maybe Shintaro didn’t
mind having him pressed by his side that much.
The winter comes, with the cold and the snow. But Juri isn’t searching for
Shintaro’s heat this time.
In the end, even Shintaro can't ignore the multiple “Hey, get a room,” and
catcalls that Juri and the other person are getting about every time they are
together.
"You and Hokuto?? As in you're dating Hokuto?”
"Hey, not so loud!" And the way Juri smiles, a bit embarrassed but not at all
distressed, does funny things to Shintaro's insides. In a bad way.
They are in a small family restaurant where Shintaro is used to eating his
weight in ramen, but he feels suddenly full. With food and feelings he doesn't
completely understand.
"Well... are you?" Shintaro insists, staring intently at Juri’s face because he
just has to know if Juri is messing with him, because he kind of hopes Juri
would crack up and laugh and tell him it’s a joke.
"We are not dating exactly..." But Juri blushes a bit when he speaks, toying
around with his chopsticks as he does, and that about confirms it for Shintaro.
He doesn't particularly understand how this ‘not dating’ thing works. Juri is
spending time with Hokuto and they do... things... and how is that not dating?
He forces the food into his mouth, even if he is no longer hungry. At least
that way he doesn't have to talk.
The next day, when Juri pokes his head shyly into the practice room where they
are pole dancing, Shintaro tries to come to terms with how he feels at his
friend not being there to visit him, but then he loses track of Hokuto and
Juri's whereabouts while he is doing stretches and even though that other kid
is still there, Shintaro feels like the loneliest person in the universe.
                                      ***
It's not that he doesn't like Hokuto. Because Hokku is a terrific guy and a
wonderful friend, and he doesn’t treat Shintaro any different just because now
he is ‘not dating’ Shintaro’s best friend. It’s strange but this is something
Shintaro really appreciates.
It's just that he'd prefer Juri to spend most of his free time with him. As it
used to be.
                                      ***
They are trying to double dutch. Trying being the operative word. It was easy
at first, but then the staff gave them the ropes to take care of and everything
went pretty much to hell.
“Okay, I need a break,” Hokuto all but howls as he throws the ropes he is
holding as far away as he can, which is not that far as his arms are visibly
tired.
This is usually Hokuto’s code for “I need to fool around with someone for a
while,” as Shintaro discovered the hard way. He is still trying to unsee
Hokuto’s enraptured face and his fingers tangled up in Taiga’s hair from that
time, long ago, when they were still filming Bakaleya and Shintaro opened the
door of the wrong room.
Shintaro has come to dread these moments, he doesn’t know why; the turmoil and
uneasiness he feels deep in his stomach only growing as days go by, and he
really, really hates the way Taiga looks at him when Juri stands up and all but
runs to the door after Hokuto, the way Taiga searches for Shintaro’s eyes like
he wants to find something there, some sort of camaraderie Shintaro doesn’t
understand. It makes him want to crawl out of his skin, makes him want to
scream; it makes him want to grab Taiga by his shoulders and shake him until he
explains to him what the hell is going on.
“It’s just a fling,” Taiga rushes to say, hushed into Shintaro’s ear, when
Hokuto an Juri are no longer in the room and Shouki is trying to practice alone
with the ropes, as far away from them as he can.
“I know,” Shintaro says, as noncommittally as he manages. “They are not
dating.”
Taiga’s eyes are too sad as he pats Shintaro’s back, so he has to run away
somehow.
Shintaro walks to the wall, steps one foot forward and takes impulse, easily
pushing himself up into a handstand. Long ago his brother told him that this
was the only way Shintaro could make blood get into his brain so he could
think, but his brother can be a tool sometimes, and he’d got it wrong anyway.
Standing upside down on his hands like this makes Shintaro’s mind blissfully
clear, his whole body focused on keeping his balance, on breathing, on keeping
control. It calms him, reassures him, makes him feel he is on top of everything
even if he knows he is not.
He bend his arms a little, feels the way his whole body quivers with the
effort, the way all his muscles shift and strain, and then he pushes himself up
again. And there’s no trace of anything confusing in his mind, not at all.
Shintaro is sweaty and on the brink of exhaustion, and on his ninth round of
crunches on the floor, when Hokuto and Juri come back to the room. Juri’s hair
is a mess and Hokuto reeks of nicotine, and Shintaro feels sick to his stomach
because since the incident with Ryutaro he really can’t stand cigarette smoke
and much less its smell all over the room.
                                      ***
“Are you still not over him?” Shintaro is unable to look at Taiga’s face, but
the barely concealed snort lets him know he heard Shintaro’s question.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, we never had anything going.” Taiga’s
answer is curt and his voice steady, but the mere fact that he knows exactly
who they are talking about is a dead giveaway.
“So you were not-dating Hokku too…” Sarcasm vibrates in Shintaro’s voice,
because everybody treats him like he was six, but he isn’t anymore; and
sometimes they need to know it.
“It’s just the way he does things,” Taiga sighs. “He’ll get bored soon enough.”
“So you are still not over him.” Shintaro can’t force himself to turn his head
in Taiga’s direction, but he eyes him sideways anyway.
“I worry about you, actually,” Taiga retorts, looking at him with a deadpan.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Shintaro says, but he does know.
Kind of.
                                      ***
The ropes are not cooperating, the choreography is not cooperating, the
Universe is not cooperating and Hokuto is so frustrated with the failure of his
team that for once in a long while he isn't paying any attention to Juri.
Shintaro is happy in spite of himself, even if he doesn't quite know why.
“You all suck!” Hokuto moans miserably, rolling on the floor after getting
tangled on the ropes once again.
“Our captain sucks…” Taiga counters, untangled but collapsing on the floor too,
nonetheless.
“Fuck you…” Hokuto tries to hit Taiga, but he is too far away and Hokuto can’t
be bothered to move.
“Miss me much…?” Taiga hisses, and Shintaro cringes, unable to assess if there
is venom there or not.
“Could both of you please get it over with the wishful thinking and drag your
asses up?!” Juri only half jokes.
The day of the showdown is getting closer and all of them are feeling the
pressure, even Shouki, who doesn’t spend the entire day smiling nowadays.
“Okay that’s it… I need a break from you,” Hokuto gracelessly gets on his feet,
looks at Juri and scoffs at his aggravated face. “From all of you,” Hokuto
rectifies, reaching for the pocket in his bag that not so secretly hides his
cigarettes before leaving the room.
Silence lasts for some minutes, but then Juri approaches Shintaro and smiles at
him.
“It’s about synchrony,” Juri says, and Shintaro can only smile in response.
Juri’s smile has had that effect on him since forever.
They begin by trying to synch their hands, then take the ropes and just move
them around, but when they try to turn both ropes at the same time it gets
messy, and the ropes tangle and Juri gets a laughing fit that is ninety percent
frustration but manages to make Shintaro laugh too anyway.
“Hokuto is right,” Juri says, almost crying from laughter. “We do suck.”
“Hey!” Shintaro tries for outrageous, but his face breaks into a gigantic smile
when Juri rests his face on his shoulder to keep from falling as he keeps on
laughing. “Speak for yourself!” Shintaro insists, as he jabs two fingers under
Juri's ribs.
Juri retaliates viciously, going for Shintaro’s most ticklish spots, and
Shintaro tries to hold Juri’s hands still, but Juri is slippery and fast, and
he turns and twists quickly, freeing himself before attacking him again and
again. Shintaro tries to twist Juri’s arm behind his back to immobilize him,
careful not to use all his force, because they are just goofing around and the
last thing he wants is to hurt Juri, but the sneaky bastard manages to spin
them around and then Shintaro’s own arm is twisted behind his back and Juri is
somehow tying a rope Shintaro didn’t notice him picking up from the floor
around Shintaro’s shoulders, and his laughter teases Shintaro’s ear, and this
is suddenly not that funny anymore.
Shintaro pants, and drops to his knees, trying to escape from Juri’s nearness,
but Juri’s been leaning on him too much and loses his balance, ending up draped
on Shintaro’s back, all his sharp angles and warmth burning through Shintaro’s
clothes, making goosebumps break on his skin when Juri laughs against his neck.
“Give up Shin, surrender,” Juri sighs, with a smirk Shintaro feels in the form
of a shiver that runs down his spine and into every little corner of his body.
Juri tightens his hold on the rope then, and Shintaro feels it digging in, with
enough force for him to notice but not nearly enough to hurt or even hold him
still. And he feels paralyzed anyway.
They are not alone, even if Shouki is taking a cat nap on a chair and Taiga is
so pointedly not looking at them that is annoyingly plain that he is averting
his eyes. Even so, this feels so intimate and embarrassing that Shintaro
doesn’t quite know what to do, doesn’t know why his body is reacting like this
to his friend’s closeness, why his heart hammers wildly in his chest and every
breath Juri takes reverberates on Shintaro’s skin and he feels heated and cold,
and torn inside out.
The door opens then, and the smell of cigarette smoke that precedes Hokuto
makes Shintaro’s blood freeze in his veins.
“This is not what it looks like,” Juri says and cracks up laughing afterwards,
but Hokuto only lifts an eyebrow and looks mildly amused at the display.
Shintaro tries to laugh along, but he has never been any good faking smiles and
soon gives up.
“Okay everybody,” Hokuto rallies them with his best leader voice. “Let’s try to
not suck that much this time!”
Juri takes his place to turn the ropes opposite to Shintaro, as they have been
doing all day, but Hokuto halts them.
“Shouki,” Hokuto calls. “To the ropes, with me.”
There is some weird exchange between Juri and Hokuto when they look at each
other, but none of them says a word as Juri lets go of the ropes and gets in
line behind Taiga to jump. Shintaro follows him, close enough to hear Juri
whisper “It’s all about synchrony, huh?” under his breath.
And Shintaro doesn’t know what to feel.
                                      ***
Shintaro never really understood before why people liked to hold each other’s
hand, or hug or even kiss. It seems so gross and uncomfortable.
But then again, after they successfully go through the double dutch
choreography from hell on the stage and the fans cheer for them, after all the
exhilaration and the sense of accomplishment, Juri hugs him backstage,
celebrating their victory over chaos, and Shintaro doesn’t really want to let
him go.
Ever.
                                      ***
Shintaro’s phone buzzes annoyingly in the middle of the night, it’s enough to
wake him up, even if he is anything but a light sleeper. And he wonders why he
has fifteen missed calls from Hokuto’s cell phone just before the buzz starts
again.
“If this is a prank I will rip your arms off, and you know I can,” Shintaro
greets whoever is calling.
“We are at the door to your house,” comes Hokuto soft voice through the
speaker, but he hangs up before Shintaro can even think of asking who is we.
Shintaro walks toward the door in a semi zombie state, cursing at every step
and wondering why he has such jerks as friends.
For some miracle of life his brother is asleep and not playing some online game
when he passes by his room, and his parents are sound asleep.
Shintaro opens the front door as silently as he can to find Hokuto holding up a
clearly inebriated Juri. One of Hokuto's arms is wrapped around Juri's waist
while he holds Juri's arm secure where it's slung across Hokuto's shoulders
with his free hand.
“What the hell,” Shintaro manages to force out in place of a proper greeting,
but Hokuto only stares sullenly at him.
“Here,” Hokuto says, disengaging from Juri’s arm and putting it around
Shintaro’s shoulder with a gentleness that contrasts with his hostile attitude.
“I’m giving him back to you."
“You are drunk too,” Shintaro hisses, indignation seeping through every pore of
his skin, because Hokuto can be as much of an asshole as he pleases, but Juri
should know better.
“Take care of him, Shin,” Hokuto drawls softly. “And sorry for the late hour.
This won’t happen again.”
Shintaro is too mad to say anything as Hokuto walks away, nothing in the way he
walks betraying his state, and Shintaro chooses to ignore that particular
battle. Hokuto is old enough to take care of himself and Shintaro has a
confused looking Juri to take care of.
Shintaro manages to drag Juri into his bedroom without any major incidents, and
he sits him down on his bed while Shintaro himself crouches down in front of
him on the floor.
“What are you doing, Juri?" Shintaro asks in a small voice. He kind of wants to
punch Juri, or yell at him, but then he sees the trail of wetness down his
cheeks and all he wants to do is make Juri feel better, no matter how.
“I’m sorry, Shin… I’m so sorry. I know I do everything wrong. Everything… and
I’m so sorry…” Shintaro knows enough about life to know this could be standard
drunk talk, but he feels his heart squeezing anyway.
Shintaro reaches out and plants a hand on Juri’s shoulder, trying to convey a
little reassurance even if he still mad at him, but Juri leans into the caress.
"Don't be so careless..." Shintaro whispers and it sounds as tight as his
throat feels right now. “You are supposed to get this, you are supposed to
understand!”
“I do Shin, I really do…” Juri’s eyes meet Shintaro’s and there is so much pain
in them that Shintaro can feel it, and it hurts.
“Do you really?” Shintaro’s voice has barely any depth. “Then don’t do this
again.”
Juri just looks at him, and there is something deep and scorching in his eyes,
something Shintaro can’t name but he can feel it in his gut, in his bones; a
shiver, a pull, something that he can only define as longing even if he doesn’t
fully understand what that means.
Juri lifts one of his hands, reaches out till he almost touches Shintaro’s
face, but then he just shakes his head and looks down, lowering his hand and
breaking their visual contact.
“I’m sorry,” Juri says again, and Shintaro feels disappointed for some reason.
Shintaro helps Juri undress in silence, after making sure he drinks a glass of
water and that he won’t throw up all over his bedroom. He has seen Juri change
his clothes enough times, has even shared showers with him, but he has never
looked at him as he does now, drinking in all of Juri’s slightly golden skin as
he helps him out of his clothes, a tingly sensation that begins at Shintaro’s
fingertips and expands all over his body.
Juri has a small tattoo, too low on his hipbone to show even on a racy photo
shoot, and though it doesn’t look too recent, Shintaro has never seen it
before. It’s the kanji for humility in an elaborate, beautiful calligraphy. It
is also the first kanji of Shintaro’s name, and some uncanny force moves
Shintaro to softly trace it with the tip of his index finger, a strange tremor
deep down on his lower belly expanding like a wildfire all over him,
destructive and confusing and making his heart roar and stop beating at the
same time. Dread in equal parts as something that could be yearning.
Juri stops Shintaro’s hand, covering it with his own.
“Don’t,” Juri pleads.
“Why?”
“Because…” Juri forces out, but he doesn’t explain, he only takes Shintaro’s
hand away from him, gently, and dives under the covers.
Shintaro turns off the light and gets himself into bed, his back against Juri’s
back, and this strange emptiness inside him.
There’s another piercing on Juri’s ear the next time that Shintaro sees him,
but Shintaro doesn’t make any comment about it.
                                      ***
Juri is evading Shintaro, but that is absolutely okay, because Shintaro doesn’t
particularly wants to talk with Juri just now.
He is confused, and he doesn’t know what to do with all the feelings inside
him. Because the happiness and relief he felt when Taiga told them Hokuto and
Juri weren’t an item anymore is not normal, and neither is the possession that
soars in his veins when he remembers Juri’s tattoo.
“And what the hell was that about anyway?” Shintaro asks. It sounds rhetorical,
and maybe it is, but Taiga is beside him and he answers anyway.
“Maybe he is just committed to humility and restraint in his life,” Taiga
deadpans, and Shintaro huffs in frustration. “Or maybe he wants in your pants
and that’s a painful reminder that he’ll go to jail if he indulges in that.
Because you two have never...?”
“No!!” Shintaro’s outrage makes Taiga snicker.
“Do you want to…?” Taiga wiggles his eyebrows provocatively, and Shintaro huffs
again.
“You are useless and gross,” Shintaro says, gluing his eyes to the ceiling.
If he is honest with himself, he maybe kind of wants to be near Juri in the way
Taiga is implying, but talking about it with Taiga makes him feel
uncomfortable.
                                      ***
“Taiga says you want in my pants but are afraid to go to jail.”
Shintaro is in Juri’s room, because a week after the fact Shintaro is just fed
up with the avoiding games and with not understanding anything and he just had
to come here and confront Juri.
“Taiga needs to shut his mouth and mind his own business,” Juri says after
almost choking in the middle of a yawn.
It’s Sunday and Juri had been taking a nap, and his bed hair and confused
demeanor are breaking havoc in Shintaro’s system.
“Is he right?” Shintaro presses, and when Juri looks down to break their visual
contact Shintaro steps forward and lifts his chin with two of his fingers. His
free arm comes naturally to rest around Juri’s waist and suddenly they are
closer than he intended them to be and Shintaro’s heart feels like it wants to
hammer its way out of his chest.
“Shin, stop this,” Juri whispers, but it sounds heated and eager, and all in
all like Juri doesn’t really want him to stop, especially when Shintaro drags
his fingers up from Juri’s chin and begins to trace his lips, possessed by some
strange impulse and unable to restrain himself.
“Is that why you have been avoiding me?” Shintaro manages to say over the roar
of his blood. And then a more sinister idea ignites his brain, and words get
out of his mouth before he can stop them. “Is that what that whole fling with
Hokku was about?”
“I’m not afraid of going to jail! I’m trying to protect you!” Juri almost
squeals, but Shintaro can see he hit home, see it in Juri’s eyes.
“From what?” Shintaro asks as he holds Juri closer, feeling all his blood head
south when Juri gasps. “What do you have to protect me from?”
There is a telltale tingle between Shintaro’s legs but, unlike any other time
he has gotten a random erection that was annoying as hell, this feels good, it
feels right. So he moves forward, parts Juri’s thighs with one of his and
enjoys the heat that is pooling down there, terrifying as it might be.
Juri is thin, but there isn’t anything fragile or helpless about him, and
Shintaro knows Juri could free himself from his grasp if he wanted to.
“Shin… what the hell are you doing…?” Juri asks, but he can’t hide the fire in
his eyes, not at this distance and with their bodies so close.
“I don’t know,” Shintaro answers, because he doesn’t, not really. He just wants
to feel Juri, to revel in the way Juri’s body is always cooler than his and
feel it all over his skin. He wants to make Juri feel pleasure, but most of
all, most than anything in the world, he wants to kiss him.
So he does.
It is Shintaro’s first real kiss, and it doesn’t feel nearly as gross as he
used to think it would be to kiss someone. And Juri doesn’t fight him; after
some brief seconds of reluctance, Juri kisses him back, and Shintaro suddenly
understands why the hell people keep kissing all the time.
He feels a little embarrassed about the butterflies in his stomach, because he
is not some teenage girl, but when they break the kiss and he looks at Juri
blushing he just doesn’t mind anymore.
“Do you want me?” Shintaro asks, point blank. He doesn’t really know how to do
things if it’s not this way.
“Don’t ask me that…” Juri whispers, but his body is answering in its own way,
and Shintaro can feel it, feel the way Juri is hardening through the fabric of
his sweats, right against Shintaro’s upper tight.
“Is it so bad?” Shintaro asks, because this is really confusing for him. “To be
with someone, I mean. Is it so bad that you have to protect me from it?”
“What?” And now Juri looks as confused as Shintaro feels.
“You want me, and I want to be with you. Why do you have to be such an idiot
about it?”
“Do you even know what you are talking about?”
Shintaro doesn’t answer, not with words. He just kisses Juri again, his tongue
breaching through Juri’s lips into his mouth as his hands roam Juri’s back
restlessly. He is not twelve, he hasn’t been twelve for a long, long time now,
and maybe Juri needs to know it.
He backs Juri down until they get to the bed and Shintaro feels a rare kind of
joy when they fall on it, when he covers Juri’s body with his and they move
clumsily around until they are comfortable.
Juri’s hands aren’t still for much longer and Shintaro hears himself gasp and
hiss as Juri explores the skin under Shintaro’s T-shirt. They get fed up with
clothes soon enough, though, at least Shintaro does, and he gets rid of Juri’s
tank top that keeps getting in the way when Shintaro only wants to touch Juri’s
chest, and his shoulders, and every bit of skin that makes him feel good.
And then Shintaro’s hands roam further down, to the waistband of Juri’s sweats
and below, under, in between, to find Juri half hard and swelling fast, and
Juri chokes on a moan and it’s the most beautiful sound Shintaro has ever
heard.
“We can stop,” Shintaro whispers, because Juri’s frown could mean anything
right now and he is kind of whining.
“Don’t… please don’t stop,” Juri hisses, and Shintaro’s hand closes around
Juri’s erection almost by its own will.
“Okay…” Shintaro breathes out, as he begins pumping Juri slowly.
He stops only to help Juri kick off the rest of his clothes and Shintaro
removes his own sweats and boxers in one swift motion. He gasps when he lies
down and can finally feel Juri completely against him.
“I don’t know how to do this,” Shintaro sighs, as his hips begin moving against
Juri’s by mere instinct.
“How do you want to do it?” Juri asks, biting back a moan that reverberates all
through Shintaro’s body.
“I don’t care. If it’s you I don’t care either way.”
Juri groans, his hips thrusting against Shintaro’s roughly. He then stretches
his hand and dives it under the mattress.
“You keep that kind of stuff under the mattress?” Shintaro asks, more
scandalized about the location of the lube and condoms than what’s about to
happen. “And your mom has never found them?”
“She has five sons, Shin. She knows she never has to look under the mattress.”
Shintaro smiles, and this seems to finally make Juri relax a bit.
“Do you really want to do this?” Juri asks then, serious and intense.
Shintaro nods. “I trust you,” he says.
And Juri kisses him.
Juri’s fingers feel weird when they enter him, but it’s not a bad weird and
Shintaro might feel a little bit jealous that Juri seems to know exactly what
he’s doing, but that is also a good thing, he supposes. So he just relaxes, and
it helps a lot, especially after Juri’s third finger, when it burns like a
bitch for a while before it starts to feel really good.
It should make him feel more embarrassed than it does, Shintaro thinks, to be
touched so intimately by someone, but then he contemplates the rapture on
Juri’s face, and his heart explodes, and there is no room for anything else
anywhere in the world.
“Juri… now?” Shintaro pleads, and Juri nods and tells him to switch positions,
and they almost fall out of bed in the process and Juri laughs and the Universe
gets brighter.
Juri hovers above him as he enters him, slowly, carefully, and Shintaro is
grateful and a little annoyed. It doesn’t hurt, not with all the thorough
preparation and tons of lube. It feels good, and then Juri starts moving and it
feels even better, so he tells him so, and Juri’s hips rock into him harder and
deeper when he hears it, so Shintaro does it again, and again.
“Next time I want you inside me,” Juri pants, as he pounds into Shintaro more
and more erratically. "Next time I want to feel you. All of you."
“Juri…” Shintaro moans, clinging to the syllables as he clings to his fleeting
control. He is close, so close. “Touch me, please.”
Juri’s hand wraps around Shintaro’s cock then, and he only needs a couple of
strokes before he feels his eyes rolling to the back of his head, pure pleasure
taking over as orgasm sweeps through him, leaving him weak and tingly in the
aftermath.
Shintaro hears Juri’s grunts and feels him ramming into him through the cloud
of bliss, he pets Juri’s short, sweat soaked hair and smiles as Juri’s glazed
over eyes meet his.
“Let it go, Juri. Come now,” Shintaro whispers, his strong fingers playing with
Juri’s pierced lobe, and he swears he can feel the exact moment Juri twitches
inside him, finally surrendering, before collapsing over him.
Exhaustion and the summer heat make both of them slow for cleaning up, and they
tacitly agree to postpone taking a bath for later, much later.
Shintaro isn’t much of a cuddler, but Juri seems to be okay with that, so they
just lie on their backs on the bed, their pinkies intertwined, and Shintaro
can’t help but keep on smiling.
“I don’t want to not-date you,” Shintaro says, turning his head to look at
Juri’s profile.
Juri seems confused for a very long time, but Shintaro just stares at him.
“Why?” Juri asks finally, and Shintaro just knows Juri doesn’t know what
Shintaro is talking about.
“Because I like you,” Shintaro says, in a ‘duh’ voice that just seems to
confuse Juri further. And they say Shintaro is the dumb one. “I want you to be
with me, and only me.”
“You want us to be boyfriends?” Juri is suddenly propped on one of his forearms
and looking at Shintaro like he just has been told that Christmas will happen
twice this year.
Shintaro isn’t sure of which is his facial expression right now, because he is
trying to nod at the same time he is trying to look nonchalant, but he feels
awkward as hell and he just knows he is blushing, because this conversation is
too embarrassing for life.
“Well… yeah,” he forces out, and Juri just pounces and kisses him, and he looks
so happy that Shintaro knows he did just the right thing. And he feels pretty
smug about it.
                                      ***
They are Bakaleya again for a little while, because the agency seems to enjoy
taunting fangirls with things they can never have, but thankfully Hokuto isn’t
the leader this time. No one is, and it just feels right.
They are practicing an old choreography they already used a couple of times,
but now Yugo knows where his hips are and he is distracting the heck out of all
of them when they hit certain part of the song. So, they call for a break so
Jesse can attempt to tame him or die trying.
Shintaro is sitting on a corner, gulping down water and trying not to smile too
goofily as he watches Juri practicing his rap, when Taiga flops down
unceremoniously beside him. Shintaro eyes him sideways, and yes, that is a
hickey on Taiga’s neck all right.
Hokuto is at the other side of the room, rolling on the floor for no apparent
reason other than being Hokuto and forever in love with it, and Taiga is openly
looking at him, with an obvious and unguarded lovestruck look on his face. The
unguarded part is the only change, in Shintaro’s opinion.
“So, everything is all right because you get to not-date Hokku again?” Shintaro
asks, a little bit of malice showing in his tone.
“Brat,” Taiga admonishes, but he laughs anyway, and he actually holds up a fist
for Shintaro to bro-fist him.
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