"My name is Makishima Yuusuke, and I have a boyfriend."

Even now, the sheer intensity of the statement—even just thinking of the word boyfriend—made him catch his breath in disbelief. And embarrassment. Thus, he only said those words in his mind. It wasn't as if he needed to say them out loud, anyway; Toudou raved about it enough for the both of them.

Contrary to what Makishima would've thought, dating Toudou Jinpachi was fun.

Dating Toudou Jinpachi made his heart flutter in a mortifying and exhilarating way.

Dating Toudou Jinpachi was also hard work.

Then again, dating anyone at all would be hard work for Makishima, because it was so different than anything he'd ever considered in his life. Makishima Yuusuke, being in a relationship? With his social skills, that couldn't be possible in a million years—yet, here he was. Everything had changed so quickly since he'd realized these feelings; truly, it was terrifying.

Yes, there were some things that didn't change, and their rivalry never faded in the slightest. But Makishima couldn't help how nervous he felt. There were certain expectations he had to fulfill now, and he wasn't sure he was up to that—wasn't sure he could be enough for Toudou, someone who obviously had high standards. So far, though, everything was going... nicely.

Their first date was awkward and humiliating for both parties, sure, but their second was one of the best experiences of Makishima's life.

Their first time being intimate with each other was even worse than the first date, painfully so. Their second time, though, was (in Toudou's words) "absolute perfection"—probably because they finally discovered that Makishima was more suited for giving than receiving, and vice versa for Toudou.

There had been no third time yet. Thinking about it still made Makishima blush up to his ears, so he didn't want to entertain the idea.

By now, after three months of dating, the relationship wasn't as intimidating as it had been to Makishima at the start. The only thing continuing to cause him anxiety—other than sex and trying to be a "good boyfriend", whatever that meant—was the changes he noticed in Toudou. The other climber's personality didn't waver in the slightest when they were around other people, of course, but when they were alone, something changed. He was still loud, but his words always held so much more weight to them, crushing Makishima and leaving his mind blank.

Only the simplest "Hey, does this look good on me? I care about what you think, you know!" left him speechless.

Oh, and how could he forget the "...You love me, right? Just say it—I wanna hear it, okay?"

Toudou was serious. Yes, his tone was usually joking as always, but Makishima could see the sincerity in his eyes. It was pretty scary; Toudou was just exposing himself to him like that, being completely honest about everything. Makishima had never known all the insecurities Toudou carried, but now he could count off almost every one.

He'd tried being just as honest with Toudou, only to find that Toudou seemed to already know everything about him. Was he really such an open book? Or perhaps Toudou had paid that much attention to him over the years that now he could tell what he was thinking at any point in time. That would be likely, especially since Makishima hadn't paid nearly as much attention as Toudou had paid to him in the past—and now, it was showing.

This was what being in a relationship was like. Scary. But nice. Toudou's sincerity made Makishima feel cared for, in a weird way. Toudou didn't want to share those kind of deep thoughts and feelings with anyone else—only him. He was special.

That's why, when Toudou suggested they go on a third date on Friday after school, Makishima didn't protest. Unfortunately, they didn't get to see each other in person that often due to the two-hour distance between them. Video chat was a wonderful thing, yes, but not enough for Toudou.

Not to mention, Toudou seemed oddly serious again in his text. There still remainedthat heart emoticon that he was so irritatingly fond of sending, but no over-excited "Maki-chan". No exclamation points, either. Worry pooled nauseatingly in Makishima's heart as he texted back a quick okay, already musing about what to wear.

Makishima had expected Toudou to insist on going on an obscene number of dates, so he was glad that it turned out to be the opposite. They were both busy with school and racing, and adding that to the distance between them, it was actually no wonder why Toudou didn't push dates too much. However, that just meant that when he did want to go on a date, the date had to be perfect and for a good—probably serious—reason. It also meant more expectations would be shoved down Makishima's throat, but he would gladly bear them.

Thus, Friday morning, Makishima used that special strawberry-kiwi shampoo and conditioner that Toudou loved so much for whatever reason, and tried to put on something not too "out there". They were going to a café after all; it wasn't anywhere fancy, but not as casual as their other dates had been, so Makishima needed to make more of an effort this time.

Much to his despair, the anxiety festering in his mind only doubled when Toudou barely texted him the entire day—only twice, just checking to see if Makishima remembered their date. Of course he did, but he didn't want to freak Toudou out by seeming mad, so he only texted back a quick "yes". Perhaps that wasn't the best course of action, either...

"Oh, Makishima-san! Did you hear?" To Makishima's dismay, just as he was exiting the club room after practice, Onoda called out from behind him with a large, expectant grin. Unable to leave his favorite rookie hanging, Makishima forced himself to turn around.

"Hear what?"

Onoda's face fell slightly; perhaps Makishima's voice was too harsh? It was just the nerves.

"Oh, just that the whole group was going to have a study session at Imaizumi-san's house today... I thought you would've already known?"

Before Makishima could respond that no, he didn't know this, a large hand came down upon Onoda's shoulder, and the first-year flinched slightly in surprise. From behind him, Tadokoro laughed heartily.

"You don't have to worry about him—he already has plans. Don't you?" Tadokoro looked to him with a knowing grin, and Makishima felt his face grow pale. He didn't remember telling anyone about this, but Tadokoro must've noticed something different in the way he was acting today.

"Eh—What do you know about it?" He responded defensively, only for Tadokoro to cut him short with another laugh.

"About your date with Hakogaku's most 'Beautiful Climber'? More than I want to know, honestly!" By now, all of the other club members had exited the room as well, Tadokoro's proclamation drawing a stutter of disbelief from Naruko in particular while the rest only spared the scene a glance. Makishima figured that everyone knew by now, and wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed or relieved that no one was making a big deal—Naruko didn't count, since he reacted exaggeratedly to everything.

"N-Now hold it just a minute! How did you even find out about that?" Despite Makishima's franticness, Tadokoro's smirk didn't fade.

"Didn't have to—it was just a wild guess." He grinned apologetically at Makishima's accusing glare. Perfect—was he really that transparent when it came to his relationship?

"Oh, I see... Good luck with your date, Makishima-senpai!" Onoda's bright-like-the-sun grin quickly returned, and Makishima couldn't stay mad at that sight.

"Yeah, break a leg." Kinjou sounded out from behind them. Now, a feint blush rose to Makishima's face.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks... Gonna need it, I guess..." He mumbled to himself as he walked away, Tadokoro still chuckling behind him.

The café of their choice—or rather, Toudou's choice—was situated the perfect distance between them, so it was about an hour away. Luckily, Makishima arrived right on time for their reservations, but he still shook with nervousness.

Toudou still hadn't texted him since earlier that day, during school. He thought about texting Toudou himself, just to make sure that nothing was wrong or that their date wasn't canceled, but stopped himself. That would just make things more awkward, wouldn't it? Or were things really not awkward at all, and was Makishima just being paranoid by thinking that they were? Would it put Toudou off if he decided to talk about it?

...Dating really was hard work.

They say that communication is key in any relationship, but it's rather hard to communicate properly when your boyfriend is two hours away. Did that qualify as a long-distance relationship?

Either way, as he stood outside the quaint café doors, he almost thought of bailing, but hurriedly erased that thought from his mind. He couldn't just be a coward like that. Besides, maybe he was just freaking out for no reason—maybe it was just his imagination that Toudou was acting weird.

Inside, the café was rather small, but it was packed full of people this time of day. Still, Makishima could easily spot the table where Toudou was sitting, and didn't hesitate to make his way over, stopping to stand beside it. Instantly, Toudou looked up from where he was staring at the table, and a large grin grew on his face. The sight was strangely breathtaking.

"Maki-chan!" Letting out a cry of happiness, Toudou stood from his chair and pulled Makishima down into a strong hug. The other climber reciprocated hesitantly, his hands resting on the small of Toudou's back and—Toudou's hair smelled nice. Like lavender. He knew what hair product Makishima liked best, so no wonder...

Finally, Makishima relaxed. What was he ever worried about in the first place? Just being here, with his long-time rival—someone who knew him so well, someone who maybe loved him—eradicated any bad feelings that he'd been having.

After what felt like a long time—though it was probably only a few seconds—Toudou pulled away and gave Makishima two kisses. One on his cheek, and another on the corner of his mouth. Makishima grunted in protest, glancing around at their surroundings, but Toudou only continued to smile softly.

"Sorry, I know you don't like PDA. I just couldn't resist! I haven't seen my Maki-chan in ages~!" Toudou mused loudly as they both took their respective seats across from each other.

"Uh, it's okay... Have you been waiting very long here?" A spark of guilt rose in Makishima's chest, although he'd been perfectly on time. Toudou shook his head vehemently, though.

"Not long at all! I just wanted to get here a little early..."

Makishima hadn't had the time to look closely at Toudou, but now that he did, he noticed... He looked stunning. Well, maybe boyfriends were always supposed to think that about each other, but he could tell that Toudou had put more effort than usual into choosing his outfit—as if he didn't put in enough effort already. The mandatory headband was still one of his usual colors—blue this time—but his choice of clothing was right in the middle of 'casual' and 'trying-to-impress'. He considered complimenting him on it, but settled for looking at the menu before jumping straight into social interactions.

Once they had both ordered something, Makishima was left with Toudou simply staring at him, that soft smile on his face. He gulped, feeling anxiety creep back upon him again, before closing his eyes with a sigh and opting to jump right into it.

Communication was key, right?

"Uh, so... You didn't send me as many texts as usual today. Was it just because you were busy getting ready, or...?" He cringed at how awkward he sounded, but Toudou thankfully didn't seem to mind, his smile only fading in the slightest amounts.

"So you missed them, then?" Not waiting for a response to his incessant teasing, Toudou went on, now looking subdued. "My phone just ran out of battery, that's all. It sucks, yeah..."

Makishima was almost about to breathe out a sigh of relief—just the battery, of course—but of course not. Even if that was the truth, it definitely wasn't like Toudou to let their only method of communication fail so easily. If he really just forgot to charge his phone, then that was extremely unlike him.

Still, he let the topic go until their food came to the table, Toudou giving him embarrassing compliments and making blush-worthy declarations all the while. The good news was that Toudou noticed and loved how he'd used that special shampoo. The bad news was that Makishima couldn't shake the feeling that Toudou was trying to hide something. His words just sounded too forced sometimes; maybe other people wouldn't be able to notice it, but by now, Makishima could.

"The weather is so perfect this weekend... Would you maybe want to race some time tomorrow? We could meet up, or I could stay over-"

"Yeah, that sounds great, but-" Makishima cut off Toudou's excited proposal; his nerves were getting the best of him, and by now, he couldn't continue ignoring them. It could very well drive him insane. "...Ok, there's something wrong, isn't there? You can tell me... Jinpachi. You're not acting normally. Is it something I did or what?"

There. He said it. Cringing already, he tried to look away to avoid Toudou's reaction, which turned out to be pure shock before quickly changing to teary eyes. His own eyes widening, Makishima waved his hand frantically as a couple tears spilled down Toudou's now red cheeks.

"Whoa, wait, why are you crying? Don't cry here..." Makishima quickly took a few napkins from the dispenser on the wall to their right and handed them to Toudou, who took them gingerly. It didn't seem like they were causing a scene, but Makishima was still growing more nervous by the minute. Sure, Toudou was the type to cry about many things, but what caused it this time?

"S-Sorry... It's just that..." Toudou's voice, thick with tears as he dabbed his eyes, almost sounded... happy? Makishima blinked; yes, a pretty smile was appearing across his red face. "You... You're really worried about me... I'm so glad you care, Maki-chan! You're so good to me...!"

"Ok, ok, calm down." Makishima rubbed Toudou's shoulder as his tears were wiped away, reeling in confusion. Toudou thought he was... good to him? What was this? Out of all the things he'd expected to come out of his boyfriend's mouth—a pessimistic part of him may have even expected a break-up—this was not one of them.

After a few seconds, Toudou looked up with a dry face and a casual smile—one of the first real smiles Makishima had seen from him today. It looked like he'd done the right thing after all.

"Yeah, you're right... I'm just... Stressed, that's all. The past month has just been getting worse and worse..." Toudou rested his cheek on his palm, looking quite forlorn, and Makishima reached out to him again, hesitantly linking his fingers with Toudou's other hand. There weren't that many people around now that it had gotten later, so maybe he could at least do this...

Sure enough, Toudou looked to him gratefully with the faintest smattering of a blush gracing his face, before sighing. Makishima rubbed his thumb along the back of the other's hand; for once, neither of their palms were sweating in nervousness, and Toudou's skin was smooth. It was nice.

"What does Hakogaku's Sleeping Beauty have to be stressed about?" Makishima asked with a chuckle, and Toudou flashed a small smile as well before pursing his lips.

"Oh, just things that teenagers are usually stressed about... School. It sounds silly, I know, but I've been really busy because... I'm going to fail English... And Math... I'm not good at Calculus... And if I fail, I'm not going to be allowed to spend time in our bicycle club..."

At the unexpected new, Makishima's hand tightened around Toudou's. "Oh... That's not good. Have you been trying to work harder? I never thought that you were having that much trouble..."

Unfortunately, Makishima's words only made Toudou's eyebrows furrow in unease. "I... Well, once I found out that I was so close to failing... It's hard for me to handle this, okay? Like you said, I'm Hakogaku's Sleeping Beauty. Everyone expects me to be perfect. And at cycling—yeah, I love cycling. But in class, I don't feel right, because I'm not..."

"Perfect? You don't need to be perfect, Toudou. No one expects you to be, you know? The only one who is thinking that is yourself." He tried to say it gently, but perhaps it came out too harsh; either way, Makishima simply couldn't stand hearing Toudou say those things. Luckily, his response actually managed to draw another small smile from the other climber.

"...You're right, Maki-chan. I'm sort of a perfectionist, I guess... It's never been a problem until now, though..." He sighed, looking unsure of himself before gripping Makishima's hand tighter and looking him straight in the eyes. Makishima tensed. "...I'm bad at some academic stuff, I admit. But I'm not like someone like Arakita, who just doesn't care about it. I really care... Because I need to succeed, and... I think I care too much to succeed..."

"...I don't understand what you mean." Makishima answered honestly, and Toudou looked as if he was bracing himself.

"Ok, I... In English, we had a test. It was really hard, and there was a time limit too. I didn't know any of the answers—everything looked like a bunch of gibberish! I was so close to failing already, I... I had some sort of panic attack, Maki-chan. I left early. Please don't tell anyone..."

Immediately, Makishima soothed Toudou by rubbing his thumb over his hand, his thoughts racing. Toudou—having a panic attack? ...Well, it would certainly explain his strange behavior lately, but...

"Jinpachi... Are you sure? Were you okay?" At the concerned questioning, Toudou quirked another small smile.

"I... Well, I couldn't breathe right. I was hyperventilating, I'm pretty sure... It felt like a big train was crushing my chest, you know? So, I left, and told the teacher later that I just caught a stomach bug... I tried to calm down outside, and I think it worked. Then I went home..."

At Makishima's still-troubled expression, Toudou hurried on, "Ah, it's only happened maybe one other time after that, though, when I was freaking out... After my parents lectured me... About getting my grades up... I'm trying, I really am! I just keep on thinking about what would happen if I wouldn't be able to be in the bicycle club anymore, and..."

Toudou seemed like he couldn't go on more than that, but Makishima didn't want him to. As he dipped his head in frustration, Makishima reached out to caress his cheek in some sort of consolation. This kind of thing—Toudou just exposing all of his feelings and struggles to Makishima like that, so easily—was exactly what he would be anxious about while in a relationship. Because it was so different seeing this side of him—a side only reserved for someone who Toudou called his boyfriend.

Makishima realized now how much he liked it, though. Could he handle this side of Toudou? Well, he could never be completely sure of that—but he liked being able to see this side of him. And so far, he was doing a good job, wasn't he? That was all that mattered really, right?

"...I'll help you, you know. Uh, with your schoolwork and stuff. I'm good at English, at least. We can study together." Although Makishima's proposal seemed pretty weak to his own ears, Toudou still lifted his head slowly with newfound hope shining in his eyes.

"Really? Maki-chan... You're so..." At Toudou's emotional response, Makishima's eye twitched slightly.

"Oi... You're not going to cry again, are you?"

Finally, Toudou chuckled softly. "No, I'm not..."

"Good... Uh, it's going to be okay. But if something like an attack, or whatever, happens again—you need to tell someone that can be with you right away, okay? Even if it's just Fukutomi or Arakita or something..." He still didn't feel like he was good enough at the whole 'comforting' thing, but Toudou seemed more than enough satisfied with his effort, now smiling affectionately.

"I will, Maki-chan! It's a promise! ...I'm so glad you care for me..."

Those words caused Makishima's mouth to twitch involuntarily, but he tried to stay cool. "Yeah... And, uh, that stuff about your phone? That was true, then? It just seemed weird for you to not charge it..."

Toudou frowned. "Yeah, it was true... I forgot, believe it or not. Heh, I guess that's how you can tell there's something not right. I don't know how it happened—guess I was thinking about too many things..."

"It's alright, Toudou." Makishima didn't want to make Toudou too upset; it would be disastrous if he started crying again. Thankfully, Toudou only smiled gracefully.

"Thanks... I love you."

Such intense words, seeming to come from nowhere, struck a blush onto Makishima. Eventually, he mumbled, "Y-Yeah... Love you too..."

Toudou laughed cheekily, almost looking as if he were about to leap over the table to embrace him. Luckily for Makishima, the eager beauty was stopped by the arrival of their dessert, which Toudou had already protested about before. Chocolate cake was apparently 'off limits' for cyclists, no matter the occasion.

"Oh, lighten up, will you? Just have a bite or something at least..." Makishima grumbled, already shoving a forkful of cake into his mouth. Toudou's eyes lit up fiercely.

"Maki-chan, I'm perfectly light—that's the whole point! LIGHT, LIGHT, LIGHT~! As you should be too! We're climbers, here!" He chanted in protest, slapping the table a few times. Makishima grimaced, thanking the stars above that there were barely any people still hanging around the café by this time.

After getting no response, Toudou huffed in indignation and crossed his arms. "Fine! I'll eat some..." Makishima looked up in surprise, only to see Toudou's mischievous smile flashing back at him. "...but only if you feed me!"

"...Are you serious?"

"Come on~, Maki-chan!"

"We're in public."

"No one is really around now, though!"

"No."

"Maki-chan!"

"Jinpachi!"

A few minutes after Toudou finally convinced Makishima to feed him a small forkful—never again—their waitress hesitantly approached, explaining that it was ten minutes until they had to close shop. After a few more minutes of debating who would pay the bill—Makishima did eventually, once Toudou realized he forgot his wallet at home in his hurry to arrive early—they were released into the night, Toudou holding onto Makishima's arm with joy. Usually, Makishima would protest this, but they weren't in a very populated area. Not to mention that after the conversation they'd had, he felt more eager to show affection than he usually would be.

"Maki-chan! What time is it?"

Makishima checked his phone, curious himself. "It's... 10:47. We stayed out too late... At this rate, we might not be home until midnight. Maybe we should..."

"Maki-chan." Knowing what Makishima was about to say, Toudou tugged to catch his attention back. "Can we just hang around a little longer? I don't want to be apart from you just yet... I feel like we barely got any time together!"

Sighing, Makishima pushed him away to get rid of his persistent tugging. "Fine... But where would we even go now?"

Toudou pondered the question, glancing around the area before grinning and pointing to a hill around 30 or 40 meters away. "There! That's perfect."

"...There?" Makishima raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "...That's just a hill with a few trees on it. Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious~!" Toudou whined, already beginning to drag Makishima in the hill's direction. "It's pretty romantic, huh? We can star-gaze!"

Grumbling uncomfortably, Makishima still relented, and it wasn't long before Toudou was resting his head on Makishima's lap, looking up at the stars in wonder. Makishima sighed, leaning against one of the tree trunks and trying to relax. It could be worse...

"Oh, Maki-chan. Thanks for today. I know it was sort of short notice..."

Makishima scoffed. "Don't worry about it... How long are we going to stay up here?"

"As long as we can! ...I don't want to leave. Ever. Moments like these are..." Toudou, a wistful look growing on his face, suddenly sat up and turned to face Makishima, who only now noticed their incredibly close proximity and flushed slightly. "...I like being close like this when it's just us two, Maki-chan."

Those intensely heavy words again. Makishima shivered slightly, unable to lie. "...I feel the same way."

It was amazing how simply saying that could spark such an emotion of gratitude and happiness in Toudou's eyes. Makishima should've expected it, but was still caught off guard when Toudou leaned in even further to brush their lips together. The simple action sent quivers down both boys' spines, and Toudou pressed on, fitting their lips together perfectly. Makishima soon participated as well, leaning in and lifting his hand to Toudou's hair—time to get rid of that headband, of course. He much preferred kissing Toudou with his hair down.

Toudou pulled away once the headband was off, leaving his hair to tumble down and frame his face gracefully. Makishima brushed a few strands away, marveling at the softness before setting the hairband on the ground next to them.

"You look so great like this..." Makishima whispered—he felt like he would break the peacefulness they'd created if he spoke any louder.

Smirking and rising to straddle Makishima's lap, Toudou whispered back, "So you're saying you don't like how I look with my headband? How mean, Maki-chan..."

Between their chaste kisses and wandering hands, Makishima replied, "You look beautiful... both ways... Just better... without that ugly piece of plastic in your hair..."

Gasping in dismay, Toudou pushed him playfully. "Ugly piece of plastic?! Maki-chan~..." Sighing at the other boy's whining, Makishima pulled him closer again, running his hands under the back of Toudou's shirt. When Toudou hummed in happiness and clutched him back, burying his face in the crook of Makishima's neck, the Sohoku climber paused.

"...What are we doing? We should go back..." He hesitantly proposed, knowing what this would likely proceed to it they kept on going. After all, Toudou usually refused to allow him to take his headband off, unless they were planning on...

"No, can't we stay just a little longer? Like this..." Hearing the muffled response and feeling kisses now spotting across his neck, Makishima sighed. Maybe it wouldn't hurt... But then he felt Toudou's erection press against his own through their clothes.

When had he even gotten that hard?

"Wait, we're in public here, Toudou..." Makishima spoke up a little more, looking around frantically as Toudou eagerly pressed against him again, reveling in the heat radiating through their clothes. From up here and behind this tree, Makishima couldn't see any people at all, but someone could come up here at any moment, right...?

"Maki-chan~... No one's out around here at this time of night. We won't be seen up here. Please?" Toudou whined into his ear while playing with his hair, and Makishima blushed red again. This kind of thing was something he would never imagine doing; frankly, just thinking about it made him want to disappear in embarrassment. But he could feel pleasure building up already... and Toudou sounded so needy...

But what if someone just happened to pass by and see them?

Nope. Fuck no.

"...Jinpachi. Wait."

When Makishima still didn't yield, Toudou leaned back to look in his eyes. Without his hair being pushed back by that stupid headband, Toudou did look... beautiful. His face was red and his eyes looked huge, almost watery, but he was smiling.

"Yuusuke..."

Makishima's eyes widened at the passionate voice, heat immediately coursing down to his lower body. Did Toudou realized how he looked when he said that? Then again, he was probably trying his hardest to act erotic... Doing something like this in public counted as erotic, huh?

Maybe...

Hoping that his palms weren't sweaty by now—who was he kidding, they totally were—Makishima exhaled steadily and cracked one of his genuine smiles, which had Toudou gasping in elation before he was pulled into another open-mouthed kiss.

All Makishima had to do was not think about where they were—don't imagine what would happen if someone happened to pass by right now. Just don't think about it.

In the end, Makishima didn't have much trouble trying not to think about it; he was too distracted by the small gasps and huffs Toudou made between their kisses. He grinded down on Makishima rather forcefully at some point, letting out a moan of frustration and bliss, and Makishima caught his breath in surprise.

"Oi... Keep your voice down..." He choked out between gasps, pressing his forehead again Toudou's own. It hadn't come as a surprise to him that Toudou was rather loud during sex; it certainly fit his personality. But this was the one time that they had to stay quiet...

Toudou let out a small whine in acknowledgement, running his hands through Makishima's hair; it seemed that whenever they were close like this, Toudou had some strange fixation on his hair. Whatever—Makishima let him play with it as he pushed Toudou's shirt up slightly, running his hands along the seam of his jeans.

He'd figured out by now that Toudou had a smattering of lightly-colored birthmarks adorning the right side of his lower stomach, curling around his side. It almost looked as if someone had splashed paint on him. Needless to say, whenever Toudou teased and bothered with the marks on Makishima's skin, Makishima could now retaliate by paying special attention to that birthmark... If only he could see it now. It was too dark outside, though, so he settled for lightly scratching his fingers along where he thought it would be, drawing a few muffled giggles from Toudou.

"Maki-chan..." There came another whisper, but Makishima was already ahead, undoing Toudou's pants carefully and slowly reaching underneath his boxers. Toudou's breath came out in hot puffs against his neck when his hand tentatively felt around his erection, rubbing his index finger over the tip before slowly wrapping his hand around the shaft, just below the head.

"Maki-chan... Hurry..." Toudou whined in a frenzy against his ear, his fingers curling into the back of Makishima's shirt and his hips wiggling slightly. Despite his own growing need, Makishima inhaled deeply and moved his hand in a rhythm across Toudou's cock, his other hand stroking and playing with his now-freed hair.

Toudou's breaths accelerated and grew heavier by the minute, his grip on Makishima's hair fluctuating, and his hips shaking every now and then. Makishima knew he was trying to keep his voice down, but doing so only seemed to make him more frantic. It wasn't long before he was kissing Makishima forcefully, closing his eyes tight and mumbling against the other's lips.

"Maki—I'm... I'm c-c... Mh—Y-Yuusu-ke..." Makishima felt his dick twitch at Toudou's desperation, and inhaled sharply, speeding up his strokes. Immediately, Toudou buried his head into Makishima's neck again and let out a long, muffled moan, his legs trembling around Makishima's hips. Feeling the stickiness now covering his hand, Makishima finally exhaled and retracted himself from the other's pants, settling for wiping his hand on his own pants and carefully wrapping his arms around Toudou, who was still breathing heavily.

Noticing a wetness on his own neck, Makishima rubbed his hands along his boyfriend's back and muttered, "You okay?" Toudou turned his head to look up at him, his face still red and eyes teary from orgasm—the sight made Makishima's own face redden.

"I'm okay... I feel great! That was... amazing, Maki-chan." Flashing a smile, Toudou spoke without shame as always, and Makishima grimaced slightly. It was so embarrassing... but endearing.

"...Good... Uh..." Now feeling unsure, Makishima continued rubbing his hands along the other's back, but was stopped when Toudou leaned back and crawled down his body with a grin, doing his jeans back up in the process. Then, seeing how Toudou was making to undo his jeans, Makishima sat up quickly and grabbed his hands.

"Oi, oi, what's this? We've fooled around here long enough..." He whispered violently, but Toudou responded with a mischievous smile.

"But you're still hard, Maki-chan... I have to return the favor somehow... I need to show you how much I love you!" When his declaration caused another bright blush to appear on Makishima's face, Toudou grinned in pride. "I'll be fast, I promise."

"Toudou-... Fine... Just quit saying stuff like that..." Makishima mumbled, putting the back of his hand to his mouth in nervousness as Toudou worked on pulling down his clothing just enough for his erection to become exposed. When Toudou lowered his head extremely close to his crotch, Makishima realized what he was thinking of, and rose to protest again.

"Hold on a minute—Toudou. Here? Really?"

"You did this to me before, Maki-chan. Remember? I want you to experience this too..." Toudou explained with a smile, already wrapping his hand around the base and tentatively licking the head. Covering his face with his hands, Makishima groaned quietly in both pleasure and aggravation.

"Jinpachi, I swear..." Still, he relented, letting Toudou curiously explore his erection with his tongue. It seemed to take him a while to figure it out, and Makishima was almost ready to yell in frustration at the touches that felt so right but would immediately move somewhere else. Eventually, though, Toudou closed his lips around the head of his cock, and hummed when Makishima let out a choked breath at the heat finally surrounding him. No wonder Toudou had liked this so much...

He wished Toudou would quit looking up at him like that, though—with such a look of intertwined pride and admiration. How could he have the nerve to keep his eyes open? When Makishima had done this, he'd been too shy to keep his eyes open for even a second...

Makishima was suddenly cut from his reverie when Toudou, out of nowhere, grunted and dipped his head dangerously down on Makishima's cock, almost reaching the base with his lips. Feeling him gag around him, Makishima gasped in fervor and pulled on Toudou's locks.

"I-Idiot... Don't push yourself..." Makishima forced the whispers out between his heavy breaths, but Toudou simply winked—winked, that absolute jerk—and started moving up and down steadily.

To Makishima's wonder, the other climber tried a few times again to practically deepthroat him, still gagging but refusing to give up. The spasms surrounding his cock soon became too much for him, and Makishima hissed between his teeth as his orgasm hit him. Unlike how Makishima had done it before, Toudou gulped ferociously to swallow every drop, earning him an embarrassed glare from Makishima's burning face.

"You... idiot... That's gross..." He complained between heavy breaths. Toudou eventually released his dick and smiled as he fastened his jeans back up for him.

"I'm your idiot. That was good, right? I was good? It was pretty fun!" As he asked his questions eagerly, Toudou rested himself back in Makishima's arms, grasping a few locks of his hair again. Makishima sighed.

"...It was great..." He couldn't help his face from reddening in dismay again, though. "...Fun? You thought that was fun? You looked like you were going to hurt yourself..." Makishima grumbled, though Toudou only laughed in response.

"I was just trying my best! I'm sure I'll get better with more practice, though~" At the teasing tone, Makishima huffed and tapped him on the side of the head, only gaining him another giggle in response.

After another minute of silence, both bathing in post-sex bliss, Toudou hummed again and kissed Makishima sloppily, earning him a raised eyebrow.

"I love you, Maki-chan."

The Sohoku climber's eyes widened slightly, before he eventually mumbled back, "...I love you too, Jinpachi..."

"...What time is it?"

Raising his eyebrows at the question, Makishima dug his phone out of his pocket and glared at the screen. "Shit... Quarter to midnight. We're dead."

"Dead? Not necessarily~" Toudou grinned happily and squeezed him tighter. "Can't I stay over tonight? It would be stupid for me not to, at this point. Plus, what about us racing tomorrow? Please~" Luckily for Toudou, Makishima didn't have to think too long about it.

"...Sure, I guess. As long as you don't mind wearing my clothes..." Toudou immediately let out a gleeful shout, hugging Makishima hard before making to stand up.

"I can't wait to cuddle with you, Maki-chan~! We need to rest up for our race tomorrow!"

"Uh... Yeah..." At Toudou's comment, Makishima's mouth twitched. He didn't pull away when Toudou clutched onto his arm again, nor when he rested his head on his shoulder on the way home.

It was only when they got to Makishima's house did Toudou realize that they'd left his headband next to that tree. Though he freaked out and demanded that they go back to retrieve it, Makishima managed to calm him down. He would buy a new one for him tomorrow.

Dating Toudou Jinpachi was hard work.

It was more than enough worth it, though.