His fingers drifted along the sheets, preoccupied with the intricate wrinkles smashed into crisp linen. "Being here really does bring back memories", Ryoji murmured, "even though it was just me bouncing around your room and telling you stuff that you probably already knew."
Minato tried to meet Ryoji's soft, yet sharp eyes, wetting his lips as he formulated his response. The all-too-inevitable one-liners that Ryoji was familiar with – that Ryoji was expecting. "I appreciated the gesture," he replied. His hands balled up into fists inside his pockets, trying to keep the anxiety from showing on his face, at the very least.
The time he had – everyone had – was limited. Too limited. A month was too short, but spending nearly every day anticipating his… friend's tragic fate made each hour feel infinitely longer. Here, in his room, with Ryoji, Minato's heart raced, and now seconds and minutes haphazardly collided into the next.
"You did? I'm glad to hear that." A heavy smile graced his features, though even that dark blue tinge couldn't diminish its allure. "I mean… I suppose I already knew that. To be honest, the behaviours I showed earlier were things that I picked up from you."
He hoped Ryoji couldn't see his ears reddening. Ryoji apparently picked up his charming façade from him. It wasn't a comment that painted him in a good light, yet Minato also couldn't help but linger fruitlessly on the pinch of endearment within that unsettling revelation.
Ryoji was more like Minato than he'd care to admit. Aloud, anyways. The distance between them and their true personalities, metaphysically and physically, wasn't big. Not at all. In fact, he could even call it small.
Should Minato be ashamed of his awareness, and wilful ignorance of that distance – especially in the face of his indulgent imaginings? Of him. Ryoji and himself. He and Ryoji. Close. Together. Inseparable. "Is that a compliment?" Minato asked, wondering how the words came out so slyly; so coyly.
Now, was that love? Frustratingly, the details were fuzzy, even to Minato. That prism clear thought blurred when he tried to peer further ahead.
Ryoji's laughter; a quiet, amused chuckle. It wasn't that dissimilar to Minato's own brief moments of amusement, few and far between as they might've been. "Maybe," he said. "You are quite the charmer yourself, aren't you?"
"N-Not purposefully," Minato all but spluttered.
If he were being honest, he never really felt strongly about the romantic affection any of the girls had shown him. He answered them, however, because he felt obligated to. Or, perhaps, he was too cowardly (for all his 'badassery') to have ever tried clarifying the situation. Too conscious of the many different ramifications on his power if he rejected them.
On the other hand, it could've been an excuse to deny the reality of his 'magnetic' personality. Was he that promiscuous at heart?
Did Ryoji realise that?
"Well, we'll call it 'unintentional', if it makes you feel better, Minato." He put on a knowing smile, and it jabbed at Minato's sore spot. Seeing him flinch, Ryoji softened his expression. He didn't intend to cause Minato more trouble out of something which had already been said and done.
And, seeing that, Minato's reeling mind fell back on the way his name rolled off Ryoji's tongue. It was… comforting? Exciting? Natural? Then, the vagueness of his emotional turmoil built up the crinkled dissatisfaction.
"I can sort of guess how you're feeling. I've been with you this long, after all," Ryoji says. "So long, in fact, that I even made you my… 'model'."
"Model?"
"My model for being human, that is," Ryoji replies. "I admit, it's a narrow field of vision. And you had so many friends which you'd gotten to know, too."
Why him? Minato had never thought of himself as the 'best' or most 'righteous' person. Surely, there was better out there. If the convenience hadn't been an issue, then… "Why?"
Ryoji's blue eyes peered curiously up at Minato's barely hidden anxiety, trying to decide how to answer Minato's more-than-warranted question. "Because… I…" His smile turned wry, as if he just realized the meaning behind the words he was about to utter. "I wanted to be close to you. Metaphysically. Physically."
Minato looked down at himself, and, then, at Ryoji's facial features. If his hair wasn't styled, then he probably wouldn't be far off from how Minato normally looked, would he? Suddenly, Ryoji stood, and there was only a small distance between the two of them.
Physically.
The syllables rolled about in Minato's mouth, sweet, and sharp, and the dimensions of that word were finally bared. All he could bring himself to do is let Ryoji close the distance.
No, he wanted Ryoji to close that distance, 'letting' him be damned.
"Is it a bad thing?" Ryoji asked, and, then, he shrank back into wry smiles and laughter. "We're not meant to be together for that long… But I still can't help craving the feeling. You feel it too, don't you?"
The response was caught in his throat, for a moment. "I do," Minato manages – pauses – and continues, "so can't you… indulge me?"
For a moment, Ryoji was taken slightly aback by Minato's response. He'd thought it was coming, of course, but Minato didn't always string full sentences together. He must've been seriously considering it.
Though there was a part gently, but insistently tugging at Ryoji's thoughts, the thoughts stood strong. Stronger than that little part of him, anyways. Surely, it was the same for Minato.
"I suppose I can," Ryoji whispered after a moment, stepping forward until there was barely a few millimetres of nothing between their noses. Their vision was filled with moonlit eyes, slightly widened, their lips parted as if they were searching for the words to break their turbulent silence.
That is, until Minato couldn't stand the quiet any longer. Ryoji only barely noticed how Minato tugged his yellow scarf away and made way to Ryoji's lips; slightly chapped, but soft from his warm breath.
Passion? An afterthought. However, neither of them weren't relishing the feeling. Their closeness. How, even after everything, they could still momentarily calm the incoming storm and put each other at ease, even if it was only for a few collapsed seconds.
Ryoji pulled away first – a pause to ask a question. A question answered by Minato coaxing him back into his grip. A hug. Lips against each other's. Radiated warmth and tortured cloth.
In an instant of colliding seconds, time paused in its relentless march, each perfectly content, and safe, in each other's arms. The more rational, forward-thinker in Minato thought that maybe the pain of their eventual separation was worth this.
The other? Well… Wanting the moment to last wasn't a bad thing, was it?
Ryoji led the two of them back to Minato's bed, stifling a small laugh as the mattress squeaked beneath their weight. As he settled on the edge, Minato shifted so he was perched on Ryoji's lap, this time, unable to choke the amusement back as they took each other in. "How do you kiss people with that fringe of yours?" Ryoji peered up at Minato, brushing pieces of hair back with an impish smile.
"A lot of unspoken sputtering," Minato retorted. "And your scarf?"
He just laughed. "Well, I usually take it off in situations like these," Ryoji answered, and Minato began undoing the yellow, moon-dipped loops.
"What sort of situation is this?" Minato pried, obviously looking for a playful rise out of him. Though, knowing Ryoji about as well as he knew himself, there was no way he'd take up that challenge.
"One… which I wish wouldn't end," Ryoji whispered, crashing his lips into Minato's once more.
Honestly, Minato had to agree, so he just shut up and let Ryoji do his thing. This kiss, however… the type, anyways. It was familiar.
In the past, he just… sort of let the girls take the lead. Here, however, he was equal parts butterflies and exploding flames. When had he ever felt so intensely towards another person? Bonds were one thing. This connection, however:
Lips now tangled in each other, eyes half-shuttered to briefly anchor them back to reality, arms – warmth – radiating against each other… Need had begun seeping into their breaths, hauling them into demolished time and space where sound, touch and nerves couldn't be forgotten.
Was that love? Minato wasn't sure. Neither was Ryoji.
Dripping in moonlight, they traced the light and shadow across their skin, trying to get a read on what the other was thinking. Minato's gaze was fixed upon Ryoji's slightly swollen lips, trying to reveal the words trapped behind their slight upturn. Ryoji's was on Minato's gunmetal eyes, trying to uncover the mysteries he wanted to quietly make sense of.
Then, Minato whispered, jolting Ryoji out of his reverie. He didn't think he would be the one to speak up first. "I like this." Ryoji raised an eyebrow at his words, seconds smashing into the next as he attempted to decipher the syllables and bring them back into coherence.
"That's all that matters," Minato finally whispered, and, suddenly, in a chorus of thunderstruck thoughts, they were on the same wavelength. He then closed his eyes and held Ryoji closer.
Only he and Minato mattered for a while. That was okay, even if the feelings didn't quite make sense. So, Ryoji just smiled into the embrace, and let fragmented seconds melt away into sleep.