Rei Ryugazaki was finishing his last algebra problem when his phone buzzed. A quick buzz, like a hyperactive bee, then two long ones.
The designated tone of Nagisa Hazuki.
Rei heaved a long-suffering sigh and flipped open his phone.
Rei-chan! Come over! We need to bake a cake!
-Nagisa
Rei frowned and tapped away at the keyboard.
Nagisa-kun, I am doing homework and therefore do not have time for your antics right now.
-Rei
The reply came almost instantly. Rei found himself half-smiling as he read it, imagining Nagisa's little mouth curved into a pout.
Rei-channnn~! It's Haru-chan's birthday! We need to make him a cake!
-Nagisa
Nagisa, do it by yourself. I must study for our chemistry test.
-Rei
You'll get a hundred percent anyway! Come on, Rei-chan! We can eat cake batter!
-Nagisa
Rei rolled his eyes and pushed his glasses up his nose with a finger.
Cake batter is bad for you, Nagisa-kun.
-Rei
And it's also delicious! Live a little, Rei-chan!
-Nagisa
Rei's mouth curved into a wry smile in spite of himself.
And how am I meant to get to your house?
-Rei
He could practically hear Nagisa's shriek of excitement.
Take a train! Get your parents to drive you! Fly! See you soon, Rei-chan! :D
-Nagisa
The blue-haired boy sighed and stood up, stretching his long limbs and dropping his phone into his satchel.
Nagisa did that. Here Rei had been planning for a quiet afternoon of studying, and now he was packing for an evening out. The smaller boy truly did have Rei wrapped around his little finger.
He slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way down the stairs, popping his head into the dining room and informing his mother that he would be out for a few hours.
As hard as he tried, he could never get annoyed at Nagisa, no matter how pushy he was.
Vaguely, Rei wondered if that was a bad thing.
Rei had always liked Nagisa's house. The knobbly ceramic gnomes in the overgrown garden, the multicoloured washing flapping on the washing line. Rei saw a pair of yellow boxers amongst the maelstrom of cloth and hastily looked away, part of him wondering if they belonged to Nagisa, and the other part flushing bright red.
In any case, Nagisa's house had always seemed more homely than Rei's own. Sure, he'd been shocked at first… but the slightly ramshackle-looking house had a sort of charm about it. It wasn't traditional beauty, like Rei's own - polished and immaculate, straight from the pages of a glossy Interior Design magazine - but it had a kind of beauty all the same. Echoes of laughter and fun.
Shaking his head slightly, Rei picked his way up the garden path and hesitantly knocked on the door.
There was a yell of "I'm getting it!" then a chorus of giggles and a shriek of "It's your boyfriend, Nagisa!" More laughing followed this outburst, and a few thuds that made Rei wince slightly.
The door was torn open and two girls spilled out onto the doorstep, laughing hysterically.
Rei took a hasty step back. It always unnerved him a little, to see Nagisa's sisters.
They were very pretty young women, that wasn't the problem.
The problem was that they had the same wild yellow hair as Nagisa, and the same wide, pink eyes. It just made uncomfortable to realise how pretty Nagisa was, and that led Rei to trains of thought he did not like to explore.
"Ooh, what are you thinking about?" one sister asked, pressing close to Rei's chest.
Rei swallowed hard and looked away, willing himself to stop blushing, and at the same time thinking how much she resembled Nagisa, and it was almost like Nagisa was pressing close to his chest…
After a few seconds, the girl pulled away and laughed heartily, slapping a small hand to Rei's shoulder. "I'm only kidding, Rei-kun! I know your heart belongs to my younger brother!"
And then Nagisa himself appeared, towed along in a headlock by his other sister.
"Nagisa! Don't ignore your boyfriend!" she scolded, stopping short in front of Rei. "Ne, didn't we teach you any manners?"
Nagisa twisted out of his sister's grip and shook his head violently, a hint of blush dusting his cheeks.
"Eh… sorry, Rei-chan…"
"Rei-chan!" His sisters squawked, retreating back down the hall, gleeful grins on each of their faces. "Have fun!"
And then he was alone in the hallway with Nagisa, and you could have cut the tension in the air with a knife.
"Cake," Rei blurted.
"Cake…?" Nagisa looked puzzled for a second, then relaxed. "Oh - right. Well, come on through."
Nagisa turned and set off down the corridor toward the kitchen, and Rei took the oppurtunity to appreciate how cute Nagisa looked, with the front of his hair pulled up, ready for cooking.
Cute. It was still a word Rei was coming to terms with. It wasn't beauty. To be beautiful, you had to be elegant and poised and Nagisa was certainly neither of those things.
In fact, Rei couldn't explain what he found so enchanting about Nagisa. Maybe it was just the way everything before he first met the blond seemed so routine and, quite frankly, boring comared to now. Maybe it was the fact that even the slightest mention of Nagisa's name could bring a small smile to his lips.
Or maybe it was just the little flips his heart did whenever he brushed against Nagisa, or when the smaller boy smiled at him with such happiness, such trust, that Rei couldn't help but smile back.
Evidently over his sisters' teasing, Nagisa's usual bubbly self was back. He bounced over to Rei and grabbed his hand (while Rei tried to ignore his heart leaping like a jumping jack) and dragging him down the corridor.
"So… I thought we could make a chocolate cake, because who doesn't like chocolate cakes? Well, of course Haru-chan would like a mackerel cake more, but I don't know how to make one of them… do you? I think it might be a bit of a disaster… Ugh… Mackerel's nice on its own, but in a cake, with sugar and butter… urk… I know, we could make a pineapple cake… but how would you make that? Would you grind up canned pineapple, or..."
Rei let himself be towed along by the blond, smiling slightly at the waves of inane chatter.
When the smaller boy paused for a second, Rei managed to get in, "I think Haruka-senpai would like chocolate just fine."
His friend blinked up at him. "Really? Okay!"
And with that, they entered the Hazuki's cramped kitchen. It wasn't so much small, just full. Ancient crayon drawings of misshapen animals adorned the walls, and stacks of books and recipes taller than Rei himself threatened to topple over and crush them both. The dishes from lunch hadn't been washed yet, and Rei quickly glanced away, slightly sickened by the sight. At least everything seemed clean. He ddin't think he could stand if it wasn't.
"Are you ready, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked excitedly, gazing hopefully at Rei.
With a skip in his step, he made his way to the bench. "Okay, so to make a cake, you need butter, right? And eggs?"
Rei sighed and leaned back against the wall. "And sugar, milk, and flour. If it's going to be a chocolate cake, we'll need cocoa. But Nagisa, we're going to use a recipe, aren't we?"
The smaller boy happily shook his head. "Let's just improvise!"
"But…" Rei's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "We have to use a recipe! The instructions… the rules…"
"It'll be fine!" Nagisa grinned, smacking a hand to Rei's chest.
Rei spluttered indignantly. "Nagisa-kun!"
"Okay, so… sugar!" Nagisa bounced over to the cupboard and extracted a bag of sugar. Before Rei could stop him, the blond had poured the entire bag into the mixing bowl. "Sugar makes stuff taste good, right?"
"Nagisa-kun!" Rei moaned.
"And… don't you have to melt the butter?" Nagisa unwrapped a pack of butter and put the entire thing inside the microwave, dancing around impatiently while Rei stood, frozen.
"Eggs, right? Heh… it doesn't matter if some shell gets in the mixture, right? Ah -"
Nagisa gazed down at where Rei's hand gripped his forearm. "Rei-chan?"
Rei heaved a sigh. "You don't want to follow a recipe, fine. But at least be sensible about it."
As he said it, Rei knew it was useless. Nagisa wasn't sensible. If this was his way of making a cake, then he'd make it this way.
So that was why his jaw dropped when Nagisa turned his gaze to his feet, face contrite. "Huh, sorry, Rei-chan. Maybe you should be in charge of making it… I guess I'm not cut out for cooking like Haru-chan is, huh?"
And now Rei felt bad. "Don't be silly," he said brusquely, half turning away. "You'd make a good cook, if you really wanted to be. You'd just need some supervision."
"Rei-chan? Do you really think that?" Nagisa's voice was close, and Rei's head shot up. Nagisa was close… too close… no… stop, Rei! He found himself leaning down closer to the earnest little face and forced himself to turn away, rolling up his sleeves and pushing his glasses up his nose in an effort to hide his blush.
"O-okay… go get some flour from the cupboard, and… Nagisa?"
Rei's face felt even more red. Any more of this and he would spontaneously combust.
"N-Nagisa… why are you staring at me?"
His blond friend shook his head. "Eh… I wasn't staring! Okay, flour! Right!" He skipped over to the cupboard and Rei turned back to the bench, trying to stifle a smile.
He measured the sugar, melted the approximate amount of butter, and was creaming them together when Nagisa spoke again.
"Rei-chan, is it white flour or wholemeal?"
"White," Rei said, without bothering to turn around. "And be careful carrying it over."
He should have known that would jinx it.
Floof! A strange sound made Rei spin around, where he heard the late "Oops!" from Nagisa.
The kitchen was a winter wonderland. Flour blanketed everything, clinging to every surface like snow, and all Rei could see of Nagisa were the tufts of golden hair and his large eyes, blinking innocently out of his pale face.
Rei dropped his head into his hands. "Nagisa. You dropped the flour."
"My hand slipped!" Nagisa wailed. "I'm sorry, Rei-chan!"
Rei heaved a long sigh. He seemed to sigh an awful lot around Nagisa. "You're covered in it, Nagisa."
"So are you!"
Nagisa was right. Rei himself was covered in a light dusting of flour. He mentally suppressed his horror.
"Come on, Nagisa-kun, let's get you cleaned up."
Nagisa took a step towards him, and Rei frowned. "Nagisa-kun? What are you…?"
The blond took another tentative step, and Rei took one backwards, his back pressing against the white-blanketed bench.
"Um…"
Nagisa took yet another step, a little more confidently this time. Rei had nowhere to go, and he and his friend's chests were almost touching.
"You have a little flour on your face," Nagisa said, in a husky voice that didn't suit him.
Rei tried to summon words, but all that came out was a strangled squeak.
After one more step, the smaller boy was pressed up against him, and Rei seemed to be having trouble breathing. His lungs wouldn't work, or something. Maybe all the blood rushing to his face was sucking the oxygen from his chest-
Nagisa gave him a tiny smile, staring up at Rei through open and honest eyes. "Rei-chan."
"Ehh…?" Rei couldn't think properly. His heart seemed to be trying to explode from his chest.
"Bend down." Nagisa reached up and rested a gentle hand on Rei's shoulder. "Or I can't kiss you properly."
Rei's splutter was drowned out, as Nagisa - Nagisa - lightly pulled his head down and pressed his flour-y lips to Rei's.
And something snapped within Rei. Months of silently watching and analysing his friend's behaviour, months of longing for this moment to finally come to pass…
Completely overthrown by the explosions going off inside his head, Rei grabbed the front of Nagisa's shirt and swung him around, slamming his back against the bench and angling his head so he could kiss his best friend deeper, almost violently.
Nagisa gave a soft moan against his mouth and pressed against Rei's chest, standing on tiptoe to reach him better…
And then, it happened.
It was inevitable, really. Flour covering the floor, and all.
Rei slipped, and, still holding tight to Nagisa, they fell to the floor.
When the flour cleared, he realized that Nagisa was lying on top of him, and he panicked, because that wasn't what he had in mind at all and what if Nagisa got the wrong idea…
But Nagisa was just staring at Rei in complete and utter amazement.
Of course, Rei blushed. "N-Nagisa-kun?" His voice sounded strange, even to his own ears.
"Rei-chan." It wasn't a question. It was an affirmation.
Wriggling forward a bit, Nagisa lay nose-to-nose with Rei. His breath came in pants, and it was warm against Rei's cheeks.
"Flour," Nagisa said softly.
"Wha…?" Rei could barely believe he could still formulate words.
"You still have a little flour on your lips, Rei-chan." Nagisa gazed at him innocently. "I think I'd better get it off."
And then their lips were pressed together again, and the thing took control over Rei again, and he grabbed the collar of Nagisa's shirt with shaking hands and pulled him to him, and they rolled over and over in the flour, and the fact that his clothes would be completely ruined didn't even cross Rei's mind,
In fact, his mind had been reduced to a pea-sized lump that shook like jelly and could only process one word - Nagisa.
He ran his hands through Nagisa's hair and felt the smaller boy shudder under him.
God, I've been wanting to do that for so long, was the only thing in Rei's mind. His hands moved by themselves and tugged at Nagisa's hair, pulling him closer, and closer still.
Eventually, the raging blaze in Rei's chest calmed down enough for him to pull away gently, and rest his forehead against Nagisa's. The blond stared at Rei with wide eyes, and for a moment, Rei was terrified he'd done something wrong, hurt Nagisa in some way, and he quickly rolled off the smaller boy, beginning to stutter an excuse for his actions, but Nagisa shook his head violently and sat up, turning away and leaning over.
Rei cocked his head to the side, confused.
"Nagisa?"
After a moment, the smaller boy scooted to the side, and showed Rei what he was doing.
There, written in Nagisa's scrawling handwriting, in the flour only moments before they had been making out in, Nagisa had written something.
As Rei read it, his heart swelled, and he was flooded with contentment. And in that second, he knew this thing, him and Nagisa, would work out.
Because, there written in the flour, was this.
I love Rei-chan.
A/N: OH WOW GUYS I FELT SO DIRTY WRITING THIS EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING ;-; SINCE I'M SO INEXPERIENCED IN THIS AREA I ASKED MY FRIEND WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT WHILE THEY WERE, UM, KISSING SO YEP AND THEN THIS HAPPENED. WHY AM I WRITING ALL IN CAPS? I HAVE NO IDEA.
So… sorry if they seem OOC or if you spot a mistake or something… please review, it literally makes my day - I'm not kidding, my friend (the one who helped me writing the making out scene) was round at my house and I checked my and someone had commented on my MakoHaru fanfic and I literally fell off my bed, sobbing and hugging my laptop. I love you guys, and I love your comments ;A;
I'm going to write a Rintori one next, before the ship completely sinks! I know a lot of people have been jumping ship and going to SouRin, or NagiTori (whatever THAT one's called) and though I love the new characters, I just want to write a Rintori one before everyone leaves me alone in the ship. ;-;
So… on another note… Holy Haruka, I'm not ready for the next episode! "The Butterfly of Farewell"... NO DO NOT SPLIT UP MY OTP I WILL MAIM YOU
AND ON THAT NOTE MAKOHARU WILL NOT BE SPLIT UP EITHER UGH OH HECK NO
I think KyoAni knows that if they split up either of these pairings for good, a hoard of rabid fangirls (including me) will descend upon them and rip them to shreds ;A;
Hehe… okay, I'll shut up now. Please review, and follow me on Tumblr! :) I basically just use it for fangirling and spamming my followers with Free! ES liveblogs, but oh well.
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Wuv you all! :') xx