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Thinking back on it, the two things that happened that summer — namely, Shizuka getting a girlfriend, and Otogi coming back from break having gone from attractive to dazzling — were really what started it all. The first one Honda had found out about approximately when it happened, from a Jounouchi bursting with pride — he’d delivered the news to Honda with a bit of a threatening edge to it. Damn, had been Honda’s approximate reaction, because she was after all really cute, but he wasn’t as disappointed as he’d thought he would be. After some thought, he decided to take it as a sign of him becoming mature and not bothering himself with such silly matters as chasing girls — when he proudly told Jounouchi this, he was greeted with a guffaw and a “Yeah, right.”
So that was the first one. The second one he found out about the day before school started back up again, when Otogi got back from his internship and Anzu got back from her vacation and they all decided to meet up again, have lunch together and catch up for a bit before classes hit them in the face. As you do.
Shizuka was there, was the first thing Honda noticed, and the usual “!” faded into a brief stab of disappointment and then both were gone. The second thing he noticed was that Yuugi had gotten taller, and then there was a big hair-ruffling fuss to be made about that while Yuugi grinned awkwardly. Anzu announced her determination to show them vacation pictures, and Jounouchi feigned irritation at the concept as a matter of course before leaning in. And then —
“Yo! Sorry I’m late.”
Anzu was the first to look up, her eyes widening. “Otogi!”
At the sound of the shock in her voice, Jounouchi looked up with a frown. Honda had no choice but to follow suit, of course, and became faced with the uncomfortable realization that Otogi had become gorgeous.
All right, that might have been laying it on too thick — was his second thought, to which his third thought was that — no, no it wasn’t.
“It’s been a while!” said Otogi, with a grin, and Jounouchi said, “Holy shit.”
“What?” Otogi cocked his head with a puzzled frown. “What are you all staring at?”
“You got hot, man!” Jounouchi brushed past Honda for a closer look. “I don’t mean I’m into you or anything, but, man —”
Otogi’s face cleared, and he laughed breezily. “Oh, that!” He brushed a few stray locks of hair aside with a flourish. Showoff. He was positively glittering. “I figured it was time for a change. Plus the excessive eyeliner made it hard to get a job. Oh — didn’t I tell you? I’m working at the food court now —”
“Food court?” Yuugi had been starry-eyed with the rest of them, Honda could tell, but his eyes refocused as the conversation shifted back to serious matters. “Aren’t you not allowed —”
Otogi brought a finger to his lips and winked and oh — oh, that was just not fair, not fair at all. “Don’t tell, okay?”
“You’ll get in trouble,” said Yuugi, with good-natured exasperation. “Anyway, it’s good to have you back.”
“You too,” said Otogi, and, as he brushed past Honda on the way to take a seat, slid a finger under Honda’s chin — really not fair in the slightest — and said, “Pick your jaw up off the ground, all right, Honda-kun?”
Honda snapped his mouth shut. “Are you —” he managed. “Are you wearing cologne?”
“Professional touch. Do you like it?”
“You’re insufferable.”
“You too. It’s good to be back. Yuugi, what did I miss?”
.
As they were going their separate ways from the cafe Honda took it upon himself to break the news to Otogi that hadn’t come up during lunch; namely, Shizuka’s girlfriend. It was a chilly day; April enough for the cherry trees to be in bloom, early enough for some of the bite to still be left in the air. Honda kept his jacket on and Otogi had a scarf, his hair spilling out from the top of it.
Otogi took the news with a thoughtful frown. “I see.”
“Sucks, doesn’t it,” said Honda sympathetically.
Otogi shrugged. “Not really.” At Honda’s noise of somewhat indignant surprise, he added, “I don’t know, I got over her a while ago. Basically realized I was projecting.” He didn’t elaborate on that. “Anyway, you don’t look so upset yourself.”
That caught Honda off guard. “I don’t know. I guess… I also kind of got over her?”
“I see,” said Otogi, and smiled. “I’m glad to be back with you, you know that? Even if it’s just for us to annoy the hell out of each other again.”
“Same here,” said Honda, and he meant it. The subject change was sudden, but Otogi was right. “Why would we spend time together if not to annoy the hell out of each other?”
Otogi’s smile grew a touch wider. He had the look of sharing an inside joke with himself. “Why indeed,” he said, and provided no explanation. “Anyway, I’ll go on ahead this way, okay? Take care —”
“See you in school tomorrow!” called Honda after his retreating back, and Otogi gave a wave without looking back.
.
The problem, as the days went on, wasn’t that Honda had noticed that Otogi had just about doubled in attractiveness. Everyone had noticed. It was near impossible to miss. The problem was that he couldn’t stop noticing.
“You’re staring again,” said Jounouchi through a mouthful of food.
Honda snapped out of it. He became aware that his eyes had been tracking the curve of Otogi’s wrist under the plate, the shape of it made slender and graceful by that glove… thing… whatever it was. Seriously, who came up with that kind of fashion? And why did it work so well? “Like hell I am,” he remembered to say.
“No, you are.” Jounouchi reached across him with a french fry in the direction of the dipping sauce. “It’s seriously weird. I mean, I haven’t been staring at him, and I’m — y’know.” It was a peculiarity of Jounouchi’s that he tended to substitute the word “bisexual” with a casual shrug. “You sure you’re not into him?”
“Course not,” Honda scoffed automatically. Across the food court, Otogi was talking to a young girl, no doubt trying to coax her into become a customer; his head tilted, a sleek black curl falling over his face. He laughed. Honda couldn’t hear it from where he was.
“I’m just calling it like I see it,” said Jounouchi with a shrug. “I mean, seriously, you might want to think about — Hey! Are you listening to me?”
Honda pulled his gaze away from the mesmerizing sight of Otogi tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear. “Course I am. Think about what?”
“I’m just saying,” said Jounouchi. “You’ve been staring at him because you think he’s hot, right? Not because he has something weird on his face or anything like that?”
Honda frowned. “I wouldn’t say ‘hot’, but yeah, I guess. He looks good, and all that.”
“Mm,” said Jounouchi, and shoved an entire french fry in his mouth. “All I’m saying is, think about it, okay?”
“Think about what?” repeated Honda.
“Oh —” another shrug. “You know.”
He did know.
.
It was when Otogi was helping to close up at his shiny new job that Honda managed to catch him, wandering into the kitchen as he pulled plates out of the dishwasher one by one. The kitchen was tiled and echoing and mercifully empty all around them, the other employees out in the front.
“Hey,” said Otogi, acknowledging him with a glance.
“Hey. Uh, I have something I needed to ask you about.” Honda shoved his hands in his pockets. How was he going to word this? Where was he supposed to begin? Knowing his face looked set and stony right now didn’t help things.
Otogi wasn’t fazed, of course. “Yeah?”
“I think you’re really attractive,” blurted out Honda, far too loudly, and a moment later slapped a hand over his face. God. That was the worst possible way to start this conversation.
Otogi, to his increased embarrassment, was laughing. “Is this a confession?”
“You wish,” muttered Honda, removing his hand. “I just meant, uh…” He shuffled his feet, realized he didn’t know where to put his gaze. “Is that normal?”
“I’ve been reliably informed it’s very normal to find me attractive.” Otogi went back to stacking plates.
“No, I meant… since you’re a guy.”
Otogi stopped, straightened up, and fixed him with a stare that had something of a piercing edge to it. “Why wouldn’t it be normal?”
“I mean —” God, he really wasn’t good at wording any of this. “Normal for me.”
Otogi tilted his head back and gave him a long, measured look. “Because you’re straight.”
“Well — yeah.” Okay, he wasn’t sure, and that brought up a whole lot of things, but —
Otogi let out a long exhale and pursed his lips in thought. “I think we need to have a good talk about this. I’ll finish up in the kitchen and then we can go for a walk together, okay?”
.
The walk ended up taking them along the segment of road that accompanied one of the streams leading to the river, a generous bike path alongside bordered by a railing separating the pavement from the slope of the riverbank. It was Otogi who first spoke.
“So, talk to me. What’s the issue?”
“I don’t know,” said Honda, feeling intensely foolish. “I just… think you’re really attractive, I guess. Don’t laugh. But I don’t… like guys.”
“Mm.” Otogi appeared to think about it. “So you really think you’re straight?”
“Never had any reason to think I’m not.”
Otogi turned and faced Honda. “Let me level with you — have you ever had any reason to think you are?”
The question brought Honda up short. “What?”
“I think you heard me.” Otogi’s face was neutral, probing.
The obvious came to mind. “Uh, I like girls.”
“So do I. Next.”
“I’m not… attracted to guys.”
Otogi stepped closer. “You’re attracted to me.”
The sun was casting him in shadow, a warm kind of shadow reflected between him and Honda. His eyes were very green and Honda swallowed. “Only — only your face.” Okay, well that wasn’t true — it was also Otogi’s hair and his neck and his wrists and his shoulders, and his laugh, but what he meant was — He tried again. “I mean, I’m not, like, into you.”
Otogi tilted his head. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” replied Honda automatically.
“That’s a shame,” remarked Otogi, and pulled away, and resumed walking. His shoes scuffed among the cherry blossom petals that dotted the sidewalk here and there. “I mean, I’m into you.”
Honda stopped in his tracks, sure he hadn’t heard that properly. “What?”
Otogi stopped, turned to face him and gave him an odd look. “Is that so weird? You can ignore it if you want. It’s not like I’m dying for you to date me or anything, it’s just there. No big deal.”
“I…” Honda tried to process this. “What? Since when? How come?”
Otogi shrugged. “Since a bit after Battle City, I think? I’m not too sure. And — hey, don’t sell yourself short, there are lots of reasons for someone to like you. But back to what I was saying… You’re attracted to me. Or my face, or whatever. But you say you don’t like any other guys?”
Back to what he was saying. Okay. All right. “Yeah,” managed Honda, through the entirety of how much that was to take in. “That’s about it.”
Otogi leaned on the railing and hummed lightly. “Exceptions aren’t really a thing, you know. No matter how much you hear about them. If you like one guy you probably like them all.”
Honda snorted and joined him at the railing, resting his elbows on the cool metal of it. The day was getting warmer, but there was still a faint hint of chill lingering in the hair; the tip of Otogi’s nose was red with it. It was pretty cute, all things considered. “You make me sound easy.”
Otogi elbowed him. “I mean as a principle, dumbass.”
“I don’t think you should be calling the guy you like a dumbass.” It felt very natural and comfortable to say that. A cherry blossom petal drifted through his field of vision.
“That hasn’t stopped me for a long time,” said Otogi lightly. His clear eyes were tracking the progress of the same petal and Honda felt a sudden and unexpected urge to kiss him.
It was inordinately powerful. He hadn’t quite felt anything like it before. He was debating whether he wanted to express it — a very new and intimidating idea — when Otogi’s gaze slid to look at him out of the corner of his eye. “You’re staring at me.”
“Yeah,” said Honda, because there was nothing else to say.
“What are you thinking?”
Might as well go for it. Honda squeezed a deep breath into his lungs and took the plunge. “I’m thinking I want to kiss you.”
Otogi’s eyes widened; the effect was almost comical. “Really?”
Honda couldn’t help it — a snort escaped him at that face. “Weren’t you supposed to be the smooth one about all this?”
“I just mean—” Otogi pulled on an affronted look. “You don’t have to make fun of me, all right, I was just not expecting that. Since when did you decide you—”
“Since now, I guess.” Truth be told, Honda was almost as surprised by the impulse, even more that he’d gone as far as to say it out loud; but now that the thought had come into his head it was deliciously tempting. He’d never kissed anyone before.
“Still think you’re straight?” said Otogi teasingly, and Honda replied, before he could stop himself, “Only one way to find out, is there?”
“Oh, that is not fair,” breathed Otogi, a hand coming up on Honda’s neck, “you’re not supposed to be smooth,” and then they were kissing, naturally enough that it almost took Honda by surprise. As first kisses went, it wasn’t bad. Otogi was pretty good at this.
When they broke apart Honda cast a quick look around to see if anyone was staring — no one seemed to be — and Otogi said lightly, “Verdict?”
It took Honda a moment to remember what he was talking about. “Um… I think I need more data.”
“Happy to oblige,” murmured Otogi against his mouth, and Honda decided that he really liked doing this, especially when Otogi’s fingers started tracing light circles in the shaved-short hair at the back of his neck. A breeze came through and the stirring of Otogi’s curls tickled Honda’s face; the white-pink of the cherry blossoms shivering above them. It was all very romantic.
When they separated for a second time, Honda let out a breath — his nose still brushing Otogi’s — and said, “Okay. I’m probably not straight.”
“Probably,” hummed Otogi, tracing his thumb along Honda’s jawline, the contact softly electric. “Just probably?”
“Almost definitely.”
“I see.” Otogi pulled away and began walking again. His hand took Honda’s, fingers tangling and pulling him idly along as though he wasn’t even thinking about what he was doing. “Glad I was able to help.”
“So.” Honda stumbled after him. They didn’t seem to be heading in any particular direction at this point, but that was fine. “Are we dating now?”
“Do you want us to be?”
Honda thought about it. It sounded like a nice prospect, but — “I don’t know, I’ve never dated anyone before. Sounds intimidating.”
“Nah, it’s pretty much just what we’re doing right now,” said Otogi, then cast Honda a calculating look. “Intimidating, huh? And yet you wanted to date Shizuka, didn’t you? Before, I mean.”
That was a weird question. “I guess?” replied Honda. “I mean — I dunno, I thought she was cute, so.”
“You got all up in my face over it,” said Otogi with a slight smirk. “That sounds like more than thinking she’s cute.”
“Maybe you just have a naturally irritating personality,” groused Honda, and got an arm around Otogi’s neck to drive the point. (He thought he heard Otogi gasp “That’s no way to talk to your potential boyfriend” through the headlock, and the slight burst of warmth at the sound of those words prompted him to loosen his grip slightly.) “Anyway, why are you interrogating me over this?”
“Oh, nothing,” said Otogi, maddeningly airy as he straightened back up. “Just that, back when we were fighting over Shizuka, it took me a while to realize I was just projecting. Wondered if it might have been the case for you.”
“Projecting?” repeated Honda, nonplussed, and retracted his arm.
“That I was getting all intense over the rivalry because I just wanted to date you instead,” said Otogi simply. “Once I realized that, a lot of things made sense.”
Honda didn’t know what to say to that. “You — really?”
Otogi shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah.”
Honda thought about it. It… it sounded plausible enough, and it would explain why he had been a lot less upset than he’d expected to realize that Shizuka had a girlfriend. And the time he’d grabbed Otogi’s phone number from her hands and felt an odd sense of satisfaction that had nothing to do with rescuing her… and the fact that that had been the beginning of their phone contact together…
The pieces assembled themselves, slowly. “Oh.” God, of course.
Otogi laughed in delight. “You too, huh?”
“I — I wanted to date you? This whole time?”
“You tell me,” said Otogi, unduly smug, and then, “If you want to, you can, you know. Nothing stopping us.”
Honda contemplated it, still in some disbelief. Otogi was still holding his hand. “Okay,” he decided.
“Just okay?”
“Sure,” said Honda, a bit more louder. More strength of conviction this time.
“All right,” said Otogi, and smiled. “It’s done. We’re boyfriends now.”
“Boyfriends,” echoed Honda. This was a lot happening at once, and it was a lot to take in, but not in an entirely bad way. He could manage it. He could… the prospect was very nice.
.
Honda delivered the news to Shizuka via text. He had a feeling she’d like to know.
Really? was her reply. That’s kind of unexpected, but congratulations!
I think you getting a girlfriend helped, replied Honda before he could stop himself, then, Sorry for all the trouble back then.
Don’t worry about it (￣▽￣*)ゞBesides, you’re happy with each other now, right?
Honda’s fingers hovered over the buttons on his phone. He typed out Too early to tell, deleted it, typed out Probably, then deleted that too, and finally sent, Yeah. I am.
Good to know!
She really was a good girl.
Exiting the conversation, a new message from Otogi caught his eye; an overly peppy, bright How have you been, Hiroto-kun? (* ^ ω ^) When Honda’s stomach did a warm somersault at the use of his given name and he stabbed the View conversation button for details, the next message that greeted him was, If you don’t start calling me Ryuuji soon I’m filing for divorce.
A laugh rose in Honda’s throat without his meaning to.
And we wouldn’t want that, he replied, would we.