"Hey, Natsukage!" Nanashi bounced happily at seeing Natsukage in his doorway. He was still wet from the pool at 307 Tower.
"I promised to come after practice." he smirked. Nanashi grinned and nodded as he moved out of the way to let him inside.
Mikado and Misane were in the sitting room. When Misane saw them, she greeted Natsukage with a wave and gave Nanashi a small smile. Mikado attempted to hide a smirk but failed, and he went back to work on his laptop.
Nanashi smiled back at Misane, and dragged Natsukage by the wrist back to his room.
"That's your brother, right? What's his deal?"
"That's… um… he's my cousin, actually." Telling the truth would just be awkward and confusing. "And… well, they both know a little bit…"
"What?! I wasn't ready to tell anyone about that!" Natsukage was blushing fiercely. He looked up to see Nanashi blushing as well, though it was much more noticeable on his pale face.
"I- But, it wasn't my fault!" Nanashi waved his arms in panic. "Um… Mikado made Misane follow me yesterday. She only saw us at the stadium when I asked you if you wanted to go to the park yesterday. She didn't follow us to the park."
"Okay… and then she told Mikado?"
"Yes. All they know is that I like you. And we went on a picnic. But I didn't give details on that."
Natsukage calmed down, which in turn made Nanashi calm down.
Natsukage walked over to sit on Nanashi's bed.
"Hey, you're still wet!" Nanashi laughed. "You're going to get my bed wet!"
Natsukage stood up quickly. "It's… it's not that wet." he said, staring at the spot where he just sat.
"You should dry off first!" Nanashi walked to the hall to grab a towel from the closet. It was fluffy and white, with pink and black stripes on it.
Natsukage took the towel and looked at it for a moment. "Hey, it kinda looks like you." he laughed.
"I look like a towel?"
"What? No! The towel looks like you!"
"... What's the difference?"
Natsukage dried the majority of the water off of himself. "Well… You were here first." he tried to explain. "... And I was talking about the color scheme."
"Oh! Yeah, it does kind of match me, huh?" Nanashi giggled.
Natsukage spotted a hamper in the corner and tossed the towel across the room. He wandered over to Nanashi and took each of his hands. "So what do you wanna do?"
Nanashi blushed at the contact. "U-um… Actually, I wanted to ask you something."
"What's up?"
"I like watching you practice, and I was wondering what it was like on one of those boards." Nanashi watched as Natsukage swang their arms back and forth.
"You wanna try Sky-Sea-Run?" Natsukage liked the idea of playing Sky-Sea-Run with him, but Nanashi might need to build his stamina a bit more first.
"That would be fun, eventually, but actually… Well, you guys are in the water a lot…"
"That's why it's called Sky-SEA-Run!" Natsukage laughed and rested his forehead on Nanashi's shoulder.
Nanashi's face felt like lava. "U-uhm… I knew that! But uhm… I just…"
Natsukage lifted his head again to meet Nanashi's eyes. He was really flustered. Natsukage smiled and kissed his cheek. "Haha! You're cute when you're all worked up like that."
Nanashi gasped and looked away. Natsukage wondered if it was possible for Nanashi's face to get any more red. "So… You just what?"
"Oh, right. I- um. I figured you probably have to swim when you're in the water like that…"
Natsukage took a moment to answer. "You- Do you know how to swim?"
"No, actually. I was hoping maybe you could teach me?" Nanashi cocked his head. He was adorable.
Natsukage smiled and pecked him on the lips. "It would be my pleasure."
Nanashi waved at Misane and Mikado as he and Natsukage left.
"Have fun!" Mikado said as they closed the door. Teasing his younger self was fun, but he also genuinely wanted him to enjoy himself.
Nanashi and Natsukage were headed to Rintata in Cocoa Alley to look for a swimsuit, because Nanashi never needed one. It was pointless if you didn't even know how to swim.
"So… how do you swim?"
"It's one of those things you have to learn by doing. Like riding a bike."
"Oh."
"It's fun once you get the hang of it, though."
Nanashi smiled at that. He was pretty sure he was going to like this. "It's probably a useful skill to know, too."
"Definitely. You never know what could happen. Don't wanna fall in a pool or a lake or something if you don't know how to swim."
Now that he thought about it, that sounded kind of scary. It made him more eager to learn.
They chatted some more as they walked. At one point, Nanashi thought about holding Natsukage's hand, but he said he wasn't ready for other people to know about them yet. Whatever they were.
The walk didn't seem nearly as long while talking to each other.
When they reached Rintata, Nanashi remembered that he spent all his bits yesterday. He stopped in the middle of the store and hid his face in his hands.
"Nanashi? What's wrong?"
Nanashi mumbled into his hands. "I… don't have any money left…"
Natsukage smiled. "I know. I'm getting it for you."
"What? Wh-why? I don't… We should go…" Nanashi didn't want to make Natsukage pay for his swimsuit.
"No, we're not leaving. You're learning how to swim. You said it yourself, it's an important skill to know." Natsukage pulled Nanashi's hands off of his face and dragged him by the wrist over to the swimming wear.
Nanashi decided not to argue anymore after Natsukage expressed his reasoning and worry.
"Oh! That's the kind you have!" Nanashi pointed up to a pair of navy and blue checkered swimming trunks.
"Yup. This place actually has pretty good swimsuits and things. Considering it's near Sweet Beach and the Sky-Sea-Run stadium."
Nanashi looked across the different swimming trunks. He grabbed a pair of shorts with blue and green fish on it, and a black pair with pink stripes on the sides.
"You wanna try those on? The dressing room's that way." Natsukage pointed to the fitting rooms around the corner.
"Yeah, I'll be right back." Nanashi wandered around the corner and saw some women's bathing suits. One of them was a one-piece that looked like a mini dress, black with a pink stripe around the chest, and pink straps. He was curious of how it would look on him, so he snatched it before walking into the dressing room.
He tried the one-piece first. It actually didn't look that bad on him. It would've looked even better with those hairclips and fake ponytails Kirara made him wear that one time.
He didn't want to actually get this one, but he called Natsukage to see it anyway.
"What? Did you find one that works?"
"I wanted you to see."
"I'll see it when we go to swim." Natsukage rolled his eyes.
Nanashi opened the door anyway. He was wearing the small size, so it didn't look odd that the chest didn't fill out.
"What are you wearing?! Why did you get that?!"
"I just wanted to try it!" he looked amused.
"It- Go put some trunks on!" Natsukage was beet red.
He rounded the corner again to see the store owner, Momori. "Having fun?" she asked with a smirk. She chuckled when he didn't reply, and watched him march back over to the swimming trunks.
Nanashi took a few more minutes, and then went back to the swimwear section to find Natsukage. His face was still pretty red, but not as much as earlier.
"I like the pattern on these," he said, gesturing to the pair with the fish on them. "But these ones actually feel best…" he said, holding up the other pair.
"You want to get the ones that feel better." Natsukage explained. "Pink actually looks good on you though, so don't be upset." Natsukage tried to speak quieter so Momori wouldn't hear him.
Nanashi smiled and caught on. He put back the blue and green trunks. "It's just… It reminds me of your bitphones." he spoke just as softly.
Natsukage turned his face away. "W-well, let's go then…" He turned to walk up to the register while still trying to hide his face, but Nanashi saw the small smile.
"You boys going swimming?" Momori asked them as Natsukage got ready to pay with his bits.
"Yeah! I'm going to learn how!" Nanashi bounced with excitement.
"That's wonderful! I wish you luck!" she returned the enthusiasm.
"Thank you!" Nanashi exclaimed, and they left the store.
"So are we going to Sweet Beach? Or does the Sea-Sky-Run stadium have regular swim times or something?" Nanashi asked as they reached the roads that led to Sweet Beach or Blue Sun Street, respectively.
Natsukage turned towards Blue Sun Street, so Nanashi followed, carrying his new swim trunks. "I'm not teaching you at the beach. The ocean can be unpredictable, and waves and the tide could pull you under easily."
"... Oh." Nanashi didn't like the sound of that. "Have you ever swam in the ocean?"
"Yeah, actually. Like I said, waves pull you under." Natsukage didn't like this memory. "... The lifeguard had to go and get me. I was unconscious, and they had to perform CPR."
Nanashi was shocked. "I'm so glad you're okay!" he threw his arms around Natsukage and they just stood there for a moment.
"I'm alright. That was a long time ago, I was just learning how to swim myself."
Nanashi remembered that they were in public, and let go of Natsukage. He was walking a little closer to him now, though.
"Nanashi."
"Yes?"
"I'm going to trip on you if you walk that close."
Nanashi took a step to the side. "Sorry…"
They made their way to 307 Tower and boarded the elevator.
"So they let people just swim here, too?"
"Yeah, there's a separate pool for warming up and stuff, but nobody should be here now."
"Wait, so is it still open?"
"Yeah, but everybody should be warmed up at this point. So nobody's in there."
They walked to the stadium where everyone was practicing, or watching the practicing. Natsukage led them to the locker rooms to put on their swimsuits. They locked up their clothes and rounded a corner to a door that Nanashi never even noticed, and sure enough there was another pool room. It was in fact, empty.
Except for Yukinaga.
They both jumped when they saw him standing there. "Eyy, Nasshi! You gonna try playing?"
Nanashi looked nervous, so Natsukage answered for him. "We were just gonna swim around for a bit."
"Cool! Well, have fun. Hope you try playing sometime!" Yukinaga left for the practice stadium with a wave.
"... You okay?" Natsukage seemed concerned.
"Yeah… I was just a little startled. I didn't think anyone would be here." Nanashi waved him off, so Natsukage dropped it.
"Okay. Well, that's the shallow end. It's only three feet deep, so you can stand in it. We're gonna go over there to get used to the water."
Nanashi trotted along after Natsukage, but then almost slipped, so he walked behind him much more slowly. "You almost slipped yesterday, too. You gotta be careful in here!"
They reached the steps and slowly descended into the water.
"It's cold!" Nanashi squeaked.
"That's why we have to wait to get used to it. It doesn't take that long, just keep moving."
They moved their arms and legs around in the shallow water until it didn't feel that cold anymore.
"After you learn, you can just jump in. You get used to the cold a lot faster that way."
Nanashi swished his arms in a circle, and Natsukage bobbed down to get his head wet.
"Okay, hold your breath and bob underwater like I just did."
"Just to get wet?"
"Yup. Just a couple of seconds. Take a deep breath and hold it, dunk your head, and pop back up."
Nanashi did as he was told, and came up shaking his hair like Natsukage did.
Natsukage laughed. "Alright, the first thing you need to learn is the doggy paddle. I'll teach you other styles and things later, but that's the most basic swimming technique. Actually, I don't know if it counts as a technique, but it works well with beginners."
"How do I do that?" Nanashi scratched the back of his head.
"Here, watch me." Natsukage kicked his feet and paddled the water with his arms. Nanashi watched closely. Natsukage came back and stood back up.
"Now you try, but stay on this side of the pool so you can stand if you need to."
Nanashi tried to copy what he saw Natsukage doing, but he wasn't kicking hard enough, and he started to panic, and began sinking. Natsukage grabbed his arm to help him stand again.
"If you panic in the water like that, it'll make you sink. So you gotta stay calm, okay?"
Nanashi nodded.
Natsukage thought about how to help. "Okay… How about you try again, but this time I'll hold you up, and you just kick."
Natsukage crouched so the water was shoulder-level, and he grabbed Nanashi's sides right under his arms. Nanashi held onto Natsukage's shoulders tightly.
"I'm not letting go. Try putting your feet up now."
Nanashi tried lifting his feet up to the surface, but couldn't figure out how to float.
Natsukage noticed this. "Oh, okay, stop for a second."
Nanashi stood up again, confused.
"I forgot to show you the other most basic thing. You need to learn how to float."
"Oh! On your back, right? I've seen people do that before."
"Yeah. The key is to calm your breathing, and take deep breaths. I'll show you first. Watch me, okay?"
Nanashi watched as Natsukage took a deep breath and flipped onto his back. He sprawled his arms out and let his legs dangle under the water. His breathing was calm, and he stayed afloat for about 15 seconds before standing back up. "It's a great resting technique, like if you're in the water but too tired to swim."
"... Does that happen often?"
"If you're in a lake or a large body of water where there's waves and ripples and slight currents, it's really good to know. It also helps when you're just learning to swim, or if you get a cramp or something. It teaches you to calm your breathing. I can't believe I almost forgot to show you this."
"It's okay. You're showing me now. That's what matters, right?"
Natsukage hummed in agreement. "I guess so. Anyway, it's your turn now."
"But how do I get on my back?!"
"I'm gonna hold you up until you get the hang of it, okay?"
When Nanashi nodded, Natsukage reached down and lifted him bridal-style. Nanashi blushed.
"Calm down. You need to control your breathing."
Nanashi took some slow, deep breaths until he thought he was calm enough.
"Okay, I'm going to hold my arms out, and you lay flat on the water. Your ears are going to go under water, but not your whole head."
Nanashi nodded again and straightened himself out rigidly, like a wooden plank.
"I meant lie flat, but relax a little. That's the whole point to this. My arms aren't going anywhere."
He tried relaxing into the pose he saw Natsukage in earlier.
"Good! Now the reason people can float like this is because the air in your lungs hold you up. So you want to take a deep breath."
Nanashi took a deep breath as instructed, and then held it.
"You don't want to hold your breath though. Keep breathing slow and calm."
Natsukage stood there holding Nanashi as he inhaled and exhaled, until he seemed to have a nice, calm rhythm. He looked really relaxed. He would kiss him right now, but that would get him worked up and mess with his breathing.
"You're doing pretty good now. So I'm going to lower my arms a little, but they'll still be there if you start to sink, okay?"
"... Okay…"
Natsukage could hear the nervousness in his voice. He slowly moved his arms lower and held them under Nanashi, ready to catch him.
Sure enough, Nanashi started almost hyperventilating and sinking. Natsukage grabbed him quickly and lifted him back up.
"Come on. Deep breaths." With anyone else, Natsukage would have been less patient.
Natsukage breathed with him, and Nanashi watched to follow his breathing pattern.
"You okay now? We're gonna try again, alright? Don't freak out on me. I'm not going anywhere."
Nanashi nodded blankly.
"Hey, look at me!" Nanashi turned his head to Natsukage. "I'm right here. I'm not leaving. Okay?" he made his voice as reassuring as possible.
"Okay. You're here." Nanashi assured himself, and looked more confident.
"Ready? I'm moving my arms down a little now."
"I'm ready!" Nanashi smiled determinedly.
Natsukage lowered his arms, and the look on Nanashi's face made it obvious that he was really trying to stay calm.
"I'm right here. You're okay. You're not gonna fall." Natsukage spoke softly. "Remember to breathe." the words were really helping.
They stayed like that for at least half a minute. "You're doing really good, actually! See, you can do this!" The encouragement was important.
Nanashi flipped to stand back up. He had the brightest smile on his face. Natsukage chose now to kiss him, short and chaste. Nanashi grinned wider.
"Okay, now float on your own. I'm going to be right here, though."
Nanashi leaned back again and inhaled deeply. He watched Natsukage, as if to confirm that he actually wasn't leaving, and kept his breathing calm.
"You've got this!"
Nanashi was proud of himself. He was going to do great!
He got excited and started sinking, and Natsukage pulled him back up to a standing position. "Don't get too excited." He laughed. "This is good, though. It'll really help with your doggy paddle. But first, your kick wasn't that strong. Let's practice just that."
Nanashi grabbed Natsukage's shoulders again and Natsukage held his sides.
"Okay, use the breath technique you just learned to make yourself float up, but on your stomach."
Nanashi found it difficult to breathe like this, so Natsukage lifted him a little higher.
"How are you lifting me so easily?"
"It's not hard at all. You're floating pretty well, plus everything feels lighter in the water."
"Oh."
"On top of that, you're really not that heavy anyway." he looked concerned for a moment. "You're eating enough, right?"
"Yes!" Nanashi got flustered for a moment. "I just… need to build some muscle. I'm better at walking, now! I can go pretty far." he squeezed Natsukage's shoulders and smiled.
Natsukage grinned. "Why are you so not used to walking, anyway?" he tilted his head in question.
Nanashi got nervous. People seemed to leave him when he told them this.
Natsukage seemed to pick up on the fact that something was wrong. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."
Nanashi thought for a minute. Natsukage wouldn't leave if he knew Nanashi was a shut-in, right? He decided to tell him about it.
"I… Well, I used to be a shut-in. My friends always left me, and I ended up not going to school anymore. That's when I moved here with Mikado." he frowned and looked away.
Natsukage pulled Nanashi back to a standing position and hugged him tightly.
Nanashi hugged him back, glad that he didn't seem to be going anywhere after knowing this. "Um. When I met Misane, she forced me to go out and make friends." Nanashi was mumbling into Natsukage's shoulder. "And I'm really glad she did. I have so many friends now. Do you know…"
They just stood there like for a while.
"... Do I know what?" Natsukage asked after a long silence.
"... You were actually my first friend. After everyone else left. Misane and I were wandering around looking for friends for me, and you were the first person we found."
They stayed in each other's embrace until Nanashi broke down crying.
Natsukage started panicking. "W-what is it? What's wrong?" he rubbed Nanashi's back as he tried to catch his breath.
His voice was watery, and still muffled against Natsukage's shoulder. "P-people… They usually leave me… w-when I tell them… that…"
"I'm not leaving…" They stood there for a few more minutes while Nanashi calmed his sobbing, and then Natsukage figured it was probably a good idea to get him home. "C'mon, we're gonna get cold in here." He ran his hands up and down Nanashi's arms, and then tugged him towards the steps.
They got out of the water and found a couple of towels. Natsukage handed one to Nanashi as he started to dry off himself, but Nanashi just wrapped the towel around his shoulders and stared at his feet.
After watching him do nothing for a few seconds, Natsukage pulled Nanashi's towel over his head and ruffled his hair, which earned him a squeak. "Come on, we're going back to your place."
"Y-you want me to go home?!" Nanashi looked on the verge of panic again.
"I'm coming with you, dummy." Natsukage smiled at him. His voice was soft.
Nanashi finished drying off and they headed towards the lockers to get their clothes. They got dressed and walked through the main pool area.
"Yo, Nasshi, you okay?" Yukinaga looked a little worried.
Nanashi realized he probably still looked like he was crying. "Just something in my eye!" he waved him off and smiled.
Natsukage apologized when they got outside. "I should have waited until your eyes didn't look so red…"
"It's alright, he believed me!"
"I still should have waited for you…"
The walk back to Nanashi's apartment was short, since it was on the same street as the tower. He stopped Natsukage before he reached for the door handle. "Are my eyes still puffy?" He didn't want Mikado and Misane to question them on what happened.
Natsukage brushed a strand of hair out of his face. "Uh. Wanna go get ice cream first?"
Nanashi smiled and nodded, and they took off to Yasune's candy store.
They both got choco-banana and sat outside the store. It was sunny with a nice breeze, and they enjoyed the feeling of it on their faces.
There was a pleasant silence as they watched the leaves sway in the wind, and finished their ice cream pops.
Natsukage tossed his ice cream stick in the nearby trash can and helped Nanashi to his feet. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah, actually."
"You don't look like you've been crying anymore."
Nanashi was glad. "That's good! Let's go back home!"
They waltzed back to the apartment and Natsukage held the door for him.
"Thank you." Nanashi wandered inside and waved at Mikado and Misane. Natsukage followed after, and they went straight to Nanashi's room.
"So…" Natsukage started.
"... You can leave if you want to." Nanashi sounded dejected.
"Hey!" Natsukage sped across the room to reach Nanashi. He grabbed his face.
Nanashi was still trying to look away, despite having his face held towards Natsukage.
"Look at me."
Nanashi finally met Natsukage's eyes.
"I'm not leaving you."
Nanashi paused, but looked more confident when he spoke. "You're not leaving me."
They both smiled and Natsukage kissed Nanashi on the mouth. He dragged him to his bed, and they both flopped on it.
"Okay. You're not leaving. What do you wanna do, then?"
"I dunno. You tell me about your video games a lot. Maybe we could play some?" Natsukage shrugged.
Nanashi grinned wide and let out a squeal. He'd never shared his games with anyone but Mikado, who was technically himself, so this was really exciting.
He ran to the kitchen to grab an extra chair to put by the computer, and Mikado saw him. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah! We're going to play video games!" Nanashi's voice was filled with absolute glee and he skipped back to his room.
"You're really… bouncy." Natsukage observed.
"I've never gotten to show anyone my games before! This is going to be so fun!"
Nanashi pulled out his box of computer games. Over half of them were puzzle or horror genre. Some were both.
"So what do you want to play?!"
"I honestly don't know anything about any of these, so which one is your favorite?" Natsukage lied. He actually recognized a few titles, but was also genuinely curious about Nanashi's favorite games.
Nanashi stared down at his box and thought a moment before pulling out a few different games. He seemed to be separating the ones he picked into two categories. He arranged them to hold three in one hand and four in the other. "Okay, we could play multiplayer, with a split screen," he said, holding up three games, "Or, we could play a single-player game and take turns!" gesturing to the other.
Natsukage grinned. "I'm fine with either, really. But which one do you like best?" he asked again.
Nanashi set the games on the desk and pulled one out. "This is one of my favorites! It's about this mad doctor named Kreyton who goes around with a little vampire boy named Duke, trying to solve puzzles and mysteries and stuff! There's a lot of jump-scares in it, too! It has a really great story, and a twist ending!"
"Wow! That's a lot of genres in one game." they both laughed. "Okay, let's try it then!"
"Are you okay with jump-scares, though?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
They both took turns playing through the story, and there were plenty of jump-scares. Natsukage said he'd be fine with them, but he actually got spooked pretty often. He grabbed at Nanashi's sleeve more than once, but Nanashi never said anything about it.
They helped each other with the puzzles, and made comments on different aspects such as art style, music choice, and what a cool vampire Duke was.
It was easy for them to lose track of the time in each other's company, and around 9 o'clock, Mikado came in and asked if Natsukage wanted to sleep over.
Nanashi got excited and danced around the room. Natsukage took one look and a grin spread across his face. There was no way he could say no to that, especially not now.
So Natsukage messaged his parents on Mutter, and they said it was okay for him to stay over.
"I have some baggy sweat pants and a t-shirt you can wear for pajamas!" Nanashi exclaimed as he continued to dance around.
"We have a spare toothbrush you can use as well." said Mikado.
When Mikado left the room, Nanashi grabbed Natsukage's hand. "Dance with me!"
Natsukage giggled at him as Nanashi tugged his arms back and forth, bouncing on his feet.
"Come on! You're not dancing!"
So Natsukage started bouncing around too, and they danced for maybe another minute before Nanashi claimed he was tired.
After a while, they got ready for bed.
"I still wanna find out what happens in Doctor Kreyton."
"You're always welcome to come over to play more!"
"That's very true, haha." Natsukage was planning on coming over more often.
"You can take my bed." Nanashi smiled at him.
"But where are you gonna sleep?"
"The floor! I'm going to go get some pillows and blankets!" he skipped out of the room, not leaving any room for Natsukage to retort.
He came back trying to carry a really long blanket, and tripped over himself.
"Be careful!" Natsukage helped him up. "I feel really bad about making you sleep on the floor…"
"Don't worry about it!" Nanashi smiled and stretched the blanket across the floor and laid down to wrap himself up like a burrito.
They turned out the light and layed down. The atmosphere was quiet for at least an hour, but Nanashi couldn't fall asleep.
He couldn't stop thinking about Natsukage. He thought about it a little earlier that day, when they were walking to Rintata to get a swimsuit.
They had only been together for one day… maybe that was too early to say anything? He wouldn't know, he'd never actually… been with someone before. Maybe this is dating?
"... Natsukage? Are you still awake?" he whispered in case he was already asleep.
"Yeah. You alright?" he whispered back. Natsukage rolled over to see Nanashi, though it was difficult in the dark.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Nanashi stared at the ceiling.
Natsukage could sense there was something else, so he waited for a long moment, until he realized that Nanashi wasn't going to say anything.
"C'mere, there's room up here for both of us." Natsukage rolled over to the wall to make room for Nanashi, who didn't argue. He settled next to Natsukage. "So what's up?"
"Um… I don't know anything about… um…" Nanashi was stumbling over his words.
"... Don't know about what?"
"Uhm… So, I like you."
Natsukage laughed. "Yeah, you told me yesterday."
"... And… um, I'm pretty sure you like me, too?" he gave a small smile, but there was a question in his eyes.
Natsukage raised a brow at him. "Would I have kissed you if I didn't?" he tried to remain serious, but a light chuckle got out.
Nanashi laughed with him. "No, I guess not."
"So what's bothering you, then?"
Nanashi squirmed. "Well, um… What would that make us then?"
Natsukage hummed, looking him in the eyes. "Uh. I didn't really think about that yet…"
"I was just curious… I've never actually had my feelings reciprocated…"
"Me neither…"
They just stared at each other for a minute.
Nanashi broke the silence. "... So would we be… boyfriends, maybe?"
Natsukage smiled softly. "I like the sound of that."
Nanashi smiled back, happy that they figured it out.
They were boyfriends.
That was amazing!
"Could we still not tell anyone yet, though? I just…"
"I know, I still need a little time too." Nanashi answered.
"Thanks." Natsukage smiled. Nanashi kissed his forehead, and they fell asleep next to each other.
Nanashi woke up to Natsukage staring him in the face. He smiled. "Good morning, boyfriend." he murmured and yawned.
Natsukage returned the smile. "Hey." he chuckled. "You drool in your sleep."
"Eh?!" Nanashi got flustered and started to furiously wipe his face.
"It wasn't that much, don't worry!" he gave a full body laugh.
They got out of bed and took turns getting dressed in the bathroom.
"Hey, Nanashi!" Natsukage called through the bathroom door. "Put your swim trunks on under your clothes, and we'll go swimming again today!"
Natsukage rapped his knuckles on the door and Nanashi cracked it open to take his swimming trunks. "That sounds fun! I never got to learn the doggy paddle yesterday!"
"Oh, you're learning how to swim?" Mikado sounded happy. He remembered when he learned to swim. He learned much later than age 14. He was proud of his younger self.
… Misane was right, they really are two different people now.
Nanashi popped out of the bathroom and Natsukage took his turn.
After they were both done getting dressed, they grabbed their bags and headed out the door.
"Bye, Mikado! Bye, Misane!" Nanashi waved.
"See ya." Natsukage followed him and waved as well.
"Have fun!" Mikado was enthusiastic.
Misane just smiled.
"I'm so excited! I'm going to be so good at this!"
Natsukage chuckled. "You bet. You're going to be the greatest." he tapped Nanashi with his shoulder. "Hey, but um… there's probably people in the warm-up pool right now. Wanna go get some ramen on Sunset Hill first?"
"Ooohh! Ramen sounds really good!" Nanashi bounced off to the left, and the bright hues of Sunset Hill came into view. Nanashi paused and turned back to Natsukage. "Um. I still don't have any bits."
"I'm paying." Natsukage smiled.
"B-but… I feel bad making you pay for all my stuff."
"Okay then. Well… how about we go anyway, and I pay, but you pay when you get more bits?"
Nanashi stared for a moment
"I just really want ramen right now."
"... Okay." he smiled and continued walking. He was planning on working to earn more bits tonight or tomorrow.
They sat at Shiren's ramen shop and talked for a little while. Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was around the time the warm-up pool was empty again. Nanashi and Natsukage thanked Shiren for the ramen and made their way back to 307 Tower.
There actually wasn't anyone in the warm-up pool this time. Nanashi and Natsukage both sighed in slight relief.
"We have to get used to the water again, right?"
"Right. And then I want you to show me your floating again, just to make sure you have that down."
"Okay!"
Natsukage was really surprised when Nanashi jumped feet-first into the shallow end. Nanashi stood and laughed. "That's really fun, actually!"
Natsukage just looked worried. "Don't ever jump into the shallow end! You could really hurt yourself like that."
"Oh, sorry... I won't do it again…"
Natsukage smiled. As long as he said he wouldn't do it again.
He walked to the deep end. Looking up at Nanashi, he smirked and dived into the water. There was almost no splash. He swam underwater over to where Nanashi was standing.
"Wow! That was cool!" Nanashi grinned, eyes glistening.
They waited a minute while moving around, but Natsukage was right. It's a lot easier to get used to the water when you jump in.
"Okay, let's see your floating again. Do you remember how?"
"I think so. Just…"
"... Just?"
"... Stay here? Like yesterday?"
"Of course! I'm not leaving!" Natsukage would say it a million times over if that's what it took for Nanashi to believe him.
Nanashi remembered how to float, so he demonstrated it well. Natsukage stayed less than a foot away as he said he would.
After about a minute, Nanashi popped back up looking very proud of himself.
"You did awesome! Good job."
"So, the doggy paddle now, right?"
Natsukage nodded. "We're working on your kick first, though, remember?"
Nanashi didn't say anything, he just grabbed on to Natsukage's shoulders. Natsukage lifted him again, and Nanashi let himself float up.
"Okay, just kick now, and we'll figure this out."
So Nanashi started kicking. Natsukage spoke up after a few seconds. "You need to kick harder, because it's your arms that direct you but your legs power you forward. You won't go anywhere unless you kick harder."
Nanashi squeezed Natsukage's shoulders tightly and tried to kick more, and after a few more seconds he found the problem. "Your kicks are really big, but it works a lot better with more medium-sized kicks."
So Nanashi made his kicks a little smaller, and then Natsukage actually felt him pushing back. "That's really good! Do it like that!"
They took a break on the steps because all the kicking made Nanashi tired. They sat for about five minutes. "Okay, I'm feeling better now!"
Natsukage showed Nanashi how to scoop the water with his hands when moving his arms. He then went to stand about six feet from him. "Okay, I want you to swim to me now."
Nanashi looked nervous.
"You're going to do fine, I promise. You can stand up if you sink, and I can reach you from here, too."
"No you can't… You're six feet away…" Nanashi was staring at the space between them.
"Nanashi. I can lunge forward and grab you. I can swim to you in less than two seconds."
He looked up at his boyfriend and calmed down slightly.
"You can do this." Natsukage held his arms out.
Nanashi nodded and shot himself towards Natsukage. He basically just did a giant leap, and wrapped his arms around Natsukage's stomach.
Natsukage laughed. "It's not going to work if you just jump. That's not swimming." he made Nanashi stay put as he moved to the other side of him. "Okay. Six feet, you can stand if you need to, and I'm going to catch you, alright? You can do this. I know you can. Just make sure you actually swim this time."
When Nanashi looked nervous again, Natsukage offered more encouragement. It really did help him. Nanashi finally looked slightly confident, and he crouched, getting ready to swim.
He powered his legs and scooped his hands through the water, and made it to Natsukage rather quickly.
Natsukage wrapped his arms around Nanashi as he wrapped his arms around Natsukage's waist. He pulled him upright and kissed him. "See? I knew you could do it!"
Nanashi's smile felt permanent and he hugged Natsukage back.
After about a minute, Natsukage pulled away and stood farther. About ten feet this time. "Come on. Let's do it again."
Nanashi swam up to Natsukage four times before being completely confident in himself.
"Can we try swimming to the other side of the pool now?" Nanashi really wanted to see the deep end up close.
"Yeah. I'm going to stay close to you though."
They swam across the pool, and Natsukage kept a close eye on Nanashi, but they made it to the other side just fine. Nanashi held the edge and looked down in awe.
"Wow! It's really deep!"
"Yup. It's ten feet."
"Can you touch the bottom?" Nanashi smiled.
Natsukage smirked and swam down. He put his palm flat on the bottom of the pool and spun a 180, shooting himself back up.
"That was so fast!" Nanashi exclaimed excitedly as Natsukage shook the water from his hair.
"Well, I'm here almost every day. Lots of practice."
"I guess you'd get really good like that if you're here that often." he giggled.
They swam back and forth across the pool for another hour before Nanashi needed to rest again. They sat on the steps for a few minutes, before he decided it was a great time to splash Natsukage in the face.
"Oh, you are so getting it!" he grinned widely and slammed both fists into the water. The splash looked explosive! They both giggled.
They continued their water war for a while, and then Natsukage pretended he saw something. "Ooh, come here, look at this!" he cupped his hand on top of the water in front of him.
"What is it?!" Nanashi hopped to where Natsukage was, and looked down into his hand. Natsukage aimed and squeezed his hand quickly, and Nanashi got a squirt of water to the face.
"Hey!" Nanashi splashed him half-heartedly, then tried what Natsukage just did. He got it after a couple of tries.
They had a lot of fun, and lost track of the time.
Out of nowhere, Yukinaga cannon-balls into the middle of the pool. When he shot to the surface he looked at Nanashi and Natsukage who were staring back in shock. "Yo, whassup dudes?"
"Y-Yukinaga. How was practice?" Natsukage seemed nervous about something.
"Practice was great! You should've been there. Why you in the warm-up pool?"
Natsukage froze, so Nanashi spoke. "I was learning how to swim!"
"Really?! Is Orca a good teacher?" Yukinaga was enthused.
"Yeah, actually! I can float on my back and doggy paddle now!"
Natsukage watched as the excitement in the room inflated. It made him feel pretty good, actually. He glanced at Nanashi and his face softened. Nanashi saw him and smiled joyfully.
Yukinaga watched as they stared at each other. He smirked and shook his head, but the other two didn't seem to notice it.
Nanashi tried not to stare too long, so he turned to look at the clock. "Oh! We should probably be going now, we have to do that thing, remember?" he glanced back at Natsukage with a slightly pointed look.
Natsukage caught on quickly and nodded along. "Yeah, we still have to do that."
Nanashi gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Yukinaga. We can hang out sometime this week though, maybe?"
"Yeah! I wanna see what Orca taught you! The three of us can swim in here!"
"That sounds good!"
Nanashi and Natsukage were out of the water when Yukinaga swam up to the steps and began to climb out as well. "Wait, Orca! Can I talk to you for a minute? Sorry Naashi, we'll be only, like, two minutes."
"Yeah, sure! I'll go dry off then." Nanashi smiled and headed towards the lockers.
Natsukage wasn't sure whether to be confused or worried, so he settled with both. "... Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." he gave the biggest smile Natsukage's ever seen on him, and he smiles a lot, so that's saying something.
"What is it then?" Natsukage crossed his arms.
Yukinaga watched Nanashi leave earshot, and then spoke quieter than usual. "Do you like him or something?"
Natsukage's face was burning.
"You do! You should totally tell him!"
"I- um. Can we not talk about this?"
Yukinaga was silent for a moment. "... You know, it's so obvious you two are over the moon. You look so happy."
Natsukage couldn't help smiling. It left his face quickly, and he adapted a more serious look. He checked to make sure nobody but Yukinaga was listening before he whispered. "Look, it's only been two days, okay? We just need a little time."
Yukinaga looked gleeful at the information, but continued to keep his voice down. "Wow! I'm happy for you, Orca! That's awesome! … I won't tell anyone, promise. But if you don't want people to know yet, you probably shouldn't make your eyes all gooey like that in public."
Yukinaga wasn't all that bright, but he could be really observant when he wanted to be. Natsukage huffed a laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Yukinaga chuckled. "Cool! Again, I won't tell anyone. Now go get your boyfriend, he's probably waiting for you now."
Natsukage smiled and they waved at each other as he took off towards the lockers.
Nanashi didn't ask anything until they left the tower. Then his curiosity got the better of him. "So… What did Yukinaga want to talk about?"
Natsukage laughed and looked at Nanashi. They stopped walking for a moment.
"Um. He said I should ask you out."
Nanashi laughed with him. "He noticed?"
"Yeah, according to him we "made gooey eyes" at each other."
"Oh. Well, I guess he wasn't wrong…" Nanashi hummed.
"So I told him we got together a couple of days ago. He promised not to tell anyone, and I believe him. He's pretty good with secrets."
Nanashi paused. "Are you okay with him knowing about us, though?"
Natsukage took a minute to answer. "Yeah. Yukinaga's okay."
"Three people know now." Nanashi reminded him.
"... Right, I forgot about Misane and your brother. Or… cousin." he shrugged and smiled. "I'm okay with that, though. I mean, I don't want to hide the fact that I like you."
Nanashi was confused now. Natsukage saw his face and tried to explain.
"I mean, I'm not ashamed of liking you. Is what I mean. I've just… never had a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, actually. What about you? What do you think about this?"
They opened the door to Nanashi's apartment and paused the conversation to get to his room.
"I think… I want some time to process this too, but I'm alright with them knowing."
"Okay." he smiled and kissed Nanashi. "Good."
They talked about everything and nothing before Natsukage's parents said they wanted him home.
"Thanks for having me over, it was a lot of fun." he grinned. "I'll come see you again tomorrow, okay?" he kissed Nanashi on the nose.
Nanashi giggled and waved, and Natsukage opened the door to leave. Misane was standing in the doorway.
"Hey, I was just leaving." he waved and walked past her.
Misane turned back to Nanashi. "Hey."
"Hey!" Nanashi was still wearing a massive grin on his face, and Misane was happy for him.
She smiled. "So I heard you were learning how to swim?" she sounded excited.
"Yeah! Natsukage showed me the thing where you float on your back, and I can doggy paddle now!" he swooped his hands forward as if he were swimming.
"You look so happy!"
"I am happy! I swam for over a whole hour! And Natsukage was there! He showed me the thing where you squirt water with your hands, and... " Nanashi proceeded to list everything that had happened that day and the night before in no particular order. "... and Yukinaga jumped in and startled us, and somehow figured out we were together but he promised not to tell anybody, and…" Misane listened patiently and smiled and nodded at appropriate times, until Nanashi let it slip that he and Natsukage kissed.
"You kissed him?" she was smiling, but Nanashi was frozen still and he felt his face get warm. "Don't get embarrassed, you guys like each other. I'm happy for you!"
Nanashi still wanted to keep some things secret. Misane seemed to get it without him saying anything else, and she just nodded with a soft smile. "Sorry." she tried to help brush the topic over. "What else did you do?"
They talked for a long time, until Nanashi yawned. "We should be going to bed soon, you seem pretty tired."
He nodded at her, and they bid each other goodnight. Nanashi got ready for bed and checked his mutter as he layed down. There was a message from Natsukage.
Good night. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?
Nanashi smiled and replied. See you tomorrow! :)
He layed there for a little while longer before hearing another message pop up.
Hey, Nanashi?
Yeah? he responded.
I won't ever leave you.
Nanashi saw the last message from Natsukage and smiled. It took him a minute to notice, but he found himself crying.
He believed every word.