"Come on, Shark, don't be like that! Come here, let's hug it out!"
Ryoga barely stopped Yuuma from pouncing on him, and Yuuma yelped as Ryoga shoved his face away in a desperate attempt to keep things form getting even more humiliating. Why did Astral have to open his mouth in the first place? So maybe he did duel Yuuma to make him feel better. Even if it were true (okay, it was completely true) why did anyone have to know?
Yuuma was important to him. Yuuma was special. It was unbearable to have him cowering under the weight of his own fears, and none of his other, soft friends were going to smack sense into him. There was no need for anyone to make a big deal about it.
"Get away from me! I mean it, Yuuma, you're going to ruin my threads!" Again, he refrained from saying, because Ryoga had to replace this outfit every time Yuuma landed his ass in the hospital, and they were expensive. The last thing he needed was to have to replace this one again, right as the hospital was letting them go.
(Alright, so that was a stupid reason to give for not wanting a hug. Whatever.)
"You can't ruin polyester!"
"Did you say polyester?" Ryoga asked indignantly, certain he had heard wrong – then again Yuuma wore white pants everywhere, he clearly couldn't dress himself – but was Yuuma implying he would wear synthetic crap? He stopped short to give Yuuma a piece of his mind, but that was a mistake, because as soon as he gave Yuuma an opening he was tackled onto the ground as Yuuma hugged him tightly around the waist.
"Got you!" Yuuma sat down on top of him on the ground, and Ryoga gave up, sat up, and let him crush him in an embrace. Maybe if he let Yuuma 'hug it out' he would stop being all…all emotional about everything.
And then Yuuma kissed him.
What the hell is he – an accident. This is an accident, his mouth probably just…fell on me but then…why isn't he stopping?
Yuuma's mouth was awkward against his own; probably this was the first time he'd ever tried to kiss anyone. (And what a thrilling thought that was, that Ryoga might be the first.) But it was warm, and gentle. It was the way Ryoga imagined it, when he was alone and he let himself have stupid, impossible thoughts.
He isn't stopping which he means he must mean it which means we are making out on top of this hospital. Right now. YES.
It was only then that Ryoga realized, dimly, that his body was ahead of his brain and that somehow he was holding onto Yuuma, and they were locked together, with Yuuma's hands on his back. This jacket was probably ruined, and so were these pants, but Ryoga's heart was racing and he could feel Yuuma's pulse in time with his and nothing else seemed to matter.
His lips felt cold when Yuuma broke away.
"Hey, Shark," he said. His cheeks were pink. He was cute, and it was unfair, because Ryoga wanted to be mad at him for forcibly hugging him. "You're…um…thanks? For doing that for me…"
I love you, Ryoga thought. What came out of his mouth was, "Shut up, Yuuma. You're dumb."
"Hey," Yuuma said, but Ryoga hauled him back down to kiss him again, and he fell silent against his mouth. They clung to each other, Yuuma pushing him down against the concrete of the helipad, Ryoga's fingers tangled in Yuuma's soft hair.
"But Shark," Yuuma whispered, only a hair's breadth away, "Do you…?"
"Yeah," he said. There was more, more that he wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come out, stuck in his throat, choking him with fear. But his feelings must have reached Yuuma, who smiled and put a hand on his face.
"Me, too." Yuuma said, and then he leaned down to kiss Ryoga for the third time.