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Nagisa was the one who caught him off guard at first, having approached him so suddenly and insistently. Rei hadn't been prepared on many levels, and it took him a while to get used to the blond's rambunctious and happy-go-lucky attitude, but once he did, he knew his life was over and there was no mistaking it.
He knew it then: Nagisa was incredibly, stunningly, and unbelievably beautiful.
It wasn't just his physical appearance that Rei found absolutely gorgeous, but also the shorter boy's personality and outlook in life. At first, he thought the blond was just an overly carefree and completely oblivious child who didn't know how to read the mood and annoyed everyone around him. But after being teammates with him for a few months, Rei found out that was completely untrue.
Even though Nagisa had a tendency to burst into any scene—solemn or cheerful—with very little reservation, it didn't mean that he didn't know how to read the atmosphere. Startlingly, it was because of how well he could read it that he ended up ruining (or improving) so many situations. Just because he knew exactly what was going on didn't mean that Nagisa didn't have a mischievous streak inclined toward (relatively minor) sabotage, after all.
And after he snapped at Nagisa in the summer of the prefecturals and made up with him afterwards, Rei realized that the boy was actually incredibly thoughtful and mindful of others. Even if his methods weren't always effective, his honesty made up for his apparent lack of tact.
There was also something to be said about how Nagisa always, always put in one hundred percent of himself into anything he did, whether it was swimming, eating, sleeping, slacking off, or being a nuisance to Rei. Nagisa didn't know how to do things halfway, and he was always passionate about everything.
To Rei, that constant brilliance and enthusiasm made Nagisa an even more beautiful person.
All these things he noticed about Nagisa added up slowly, and it took the taller boy a few weeks to come to terms with it.
Once, Rei found himself smiling because he remembered something Nagisa said to him in the afternoon after practice. Another time, he realized he was subconsciously adding an extra piece of sausage in his lunchbox for the blond to steal. Then, one night, while drifting off to sleep and wondering what time Nagisa would send him a morning text, he started awake, surprised by the silly grin that had found itself on his lips.
And that was when he knew.
Rei spent the next few days being even more solemn than usual to sort out his thoughts. The task was harder than it should have been, especially since Nagisa kept hanging around him, pulling on his clothing, and asking him what was wrong at every chance he got.
Still, it didn't take long for Rei to sift through his feelings, because they were feelings, and he wasn't going to deny them.
It shouldn't have been a surprise, but the fact of the matter was that he had fallen for Nagisa.
He didn't know exactly when or how, but he had, and he was going to do something about the whole situation.
Nagisa was whining and teasing him after school one day when he reached that conclusion.
They were standing at the platform, waiting for the next train when the blond sighed and shoved his head against Rei's arm.
"Rei-chan, you've been so quiet! You gotta react or something when I mess with you, y'know? Otherwise, it won't be fun anymore," he said, heaving another heavy sigh. "I keep asking you what's wrong, but all you say is," he dropped his voice to a lower pitch, "'It's nothing. Don't worry about me'! But there has to be something if you've been looking like that for so long! It's been days!"
He lifted his head from nuzzling Rei and looked up. Nagisa had never minded getting into other people's personal space, so when he fixed his gaze upon Rei's countenance, they were only a handful of centimeters apart. If Nagisa looked up higher or Rei lower, they could have felt each other's breaths on their face.
Rei's face must have looked weird though, because Nagisa's expression turned confused. His eyebrows were pushed together slightly as he looked up at Rei with his clear eyes, which, close up, were not just one hue but a cut diamond of different pinks and magentas. His eyelashes were long and naturally curled, a point which many of their female classmates were playfully jealous of. His lips were slightly chapped and parted in surprise, but they looked terribly soft to Rei.
His observation was a quick one, since he had always been a master of appraising beautiful things. Suddenly, Rei realized why Nagisa looked so concerned. While thinking about the blond, he had subconsciously drawn his eyebrows together tightly and was frowning deeply. In the split second it took him to relax his features, Nagisa's pupils had dilated in surprise.
A laugh filtered between them.
"Wow, Rei-chan, are you feeling okay?" Nagisa asked, one eyebrow raised in question.
The station's signature chime rang through the air as a pre-recorded message told them the train was arriving and that they should stand behind the yellow line for their safety.
Rei recollected himself and nodded, hair swaying in the breeze that was created by the passing train.
"Yes, sorry. I'm fine. Did I startle you?" he asked.
"Nah," Nagisa answered, shrugging. And then, "You just looked like you had a bad headache." He walked to the side of the opening train doors to get in.
The taller boy did the same after a second of hesitation. He watched as Nagisa absently hummed and rocked back and forth on his feet happily. Rei was sure then, as they stepped onto the train, that he was definitely heads over heels for the boy.
He decided to start his plan of attack immediately, so that night, he texted Nagisa first.
Nagisa-kun, what would you like for lunch tomorrow?
Two minutes later, he received a reply.
(´⊙ω⊙`)! Rei-chan?! Why do you ask? Are you gonna make me food tomorrow~? wwwww
He typed his reply with a smile.
That was my plan, yes.
Nagisa texted him back almost immediately.
! Really?! You're not messing with me, are you? o(-`д´- ｡)
Certainly not. Why would I be?
A break. And then, Rei's phone chimed again.
I don't know. Maybe Rei-chan finally decided to mess with me too! ( ・◇・)!
Rei laughed under his breath.
Nonsense. You always only eat the bread at school. It's high time that someone makes sure you receive enough nutrition, especially since we're swimmers.
The blond's next replies got increasingly enthusiastic.
Hmmm. This is suspiiiicious~! Are you SURE you're feeling okay? But if you're giving me free food (this is free, right?), then I won't complain~ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ
Ummm, let's see! Oh, oh! I really want to eat…
Their conversation went back and forth until Nagisa gave Rei a list that was less "rack of lamb with clam chowder" and more "sweet egg omelet and fried chicken" to work with.
The next morning, Nagisa apparently still did not believe him completely because, the second he saw Rei on the train, he waved him over and started pulling on his backpack straps.
"Rei-chan, Rei-chan! C'mon, let me see if you really made me lunch," he said laughingly. He barely hushed his voice to a level that would be considered vaguely polite, but he was moving around so much that he was surely bothering the other riders.
Rei scolded him and told him to be patient, but he still ended up getting his backpack whisked off his shoulders when Nagisa followed him out to jog the last stretch to school. Nagisa's reaction to the two lunchboxes that were tucked between his textbooks and writing supplies made Rei's heart flutter, and he almost died when the blond look up at him with worshipping eyes.
"No way, you really did make lunch for me!"
The only thing he could do was push his glasses up and reply with, "Of course I did."
He didn't exactly expect the blond to throw himself at him bodily and squeeze him with all his might to express his gratitude.
"Rei-chan!" he said, muffling his voice to the taller boy's chest. "You're the best!"
It took Rei a second to calm himself and react. He placed his hand on Nagisa's back and let it rest there for a while—maybe bit longer than he usually would have—and hoped that the blond didn't notice him breathing in especially deep to memorize the scent of his shampoo and natural smell.
"It's nothing," Rei said, feeling very warm.
Nagisa looked up at him with his arms still around the taller boy's torso and grinned, making Rei's heart go crazy. Just as suddenly as Nagisa threw himself on, he slipped away.
"Oh! If we don't start jogging now, we're gonna be late for school! We'd better go." He turned around to pick up Rei's backpack from where he placed it on the bench and handed it to him. "Don't mess up our lunch!" he told Rei brightly.
He felt silly for how happy he got just by hearing Nagisa say "our lunch" instead of "my lunch," but Rei didn't have much time to dwell on that, because the blond was already starting to jog to the ticket gates and exit.
Rei spent the next few days being just as aggressively affectionate and thoughtful to Nagisa. After all, Rei was a proper gentleman who was willing to go through all the steps of wooing and courtship before being so bold as to ask Nagisa to go out with him.
Rei kept making home-made lunchboxes filled with Nagisa's favorite foods (but also snuck in some healthier alternatives for the blond's sake). He made a new habit of buying a small box of strawberry-flavored chocolate candy for the blond and giving it to him before lunch. They already waited for each other to go to practice, so that didn't change much, but Rei was the one actively waiting now. Before Nagisa could even ask him, Rei would offer to help him with his homework or review the chapters they had gone through in class. Instead of just waiting for Nagisa's texts in the morning or night, he also sent the shorter boy texts of his own after practice and they had parted for the day.
He was sure Nagisa noticed all the small things he was doing. At first, the shorter boy responded with surprise, and then he reacted with teasing jokes and laughter. But for someone who was in a constant state of borderline flirting, Nagisa was surprisingly shy. At least, Rei thought it was shyness, because there was no way Nagisa simply didn't realize what he was doing.
Rei didn't let Nagisa's apparent ignorance dissuade him, however. He was determined to win Nagisa's affection, and he was going to do whatever he could to make it work. Previously, he had read from some very reliable sources that innocuous physical contact would prompt closer bonds between people, so that was his next line of attack.
With Nagisa constantly trying to clamber up his back or grab his arm, Rei reckoned there was adequate innocuous physical contact between the two of them to have formed a very strong bond, but it still wasn't enough. Since it was Nagisa who was always initiating the contact, the taller boy took it upon himself to return the favor.
Rei made sure they weren't very noticeable actions. He'd ask to borrow something and make sure their fingers touched slightly. Or he'd accidentally nudge his knee against Nagisa's when they ate lunch. Before starting their swimming regime, Rei would carefully help Nagisa stretch, but now, his hands lingered for a little longer than strictly necessary. Sometimes, he scolded the blond for not properly combing his hair and straightened out unruly curls for him with his hand or would fix his tie for him.
To these actions, Nagisa never flinched or shied away, but he did begin to look mildly puzzled and intrigued every time. But still, he would smile widely and then carry on whatever he was working on. Rei was beginning to despair and wonder if he wasn't being obvious enough, but, perhaps from his own imagination and wishful thinking, Rei noticed that Nagisa would lean on him or brush up against him more often too.
Like Rei, one of Nagisa's newfound pastimes was messing with the taller boy's hair. Often, Nagisa fluffed up the back or smoothed down his bangs thoughtfully between shared, passing moments. Whether it was true or not, Nagisa insisted that Rei had bedhead and enthusiastically set off to fixing it whenever he had the chance.
He was already a nuisance to Rei in the locker room, but now he practically terrorized him by tugging on his shirt's hem and stealing his towel and glasses constantly. It wasn't until Rei literally caught him and dragged him back to the cubby holes that the shorter boy would return his items. They got scolded a few times by Makoto, but Rei almost didn't care as he held onto Nagisa, who giggled and squirmed in his arms the entire time.
And while they didn't try to keep three seats' distance away from each other whenever they rode the train, the sides of their bodies were now pressed practically flushed with each other. Rei appreciated the warmth of Nagisa's leg pushed against his, though he never said anything.
The blond has had a long history of falling asleep on the train rides home but instead of unconsciously lolling his head over to Rei after he drifted off, he now purposefully leaned on the taller boy before he dozed into a light sleep. This, too, Rei was aware of.
He also started complimenting Nagisa more. They were carefully constructed to be casual statements as not to come off too strongly, but Rei was proud of how subtle they were. To anyone else, they were simple, off-hand statements but, behind the scenes, Rei had actually rehearsed and timed everything to perfection.
Nagisa's hair always looked nicer after first period, because that was when the blond actually woke up; he was most cheerful right after lunch; he appeared most contemplative during their history class; and was at his liveliest just prior to swim practice. Rei mentioned all these things casually and naturally, never going out of his way to compliment Nagisa or making himself seem suspicious.
Although Nagisa responded to each compliment with boisterousness at first, his reactions soon mellowed out into soft smiles and subtle giggles which expressed much less playfulness and much more quiet acceptance and warm pleasure.
Then, he started to compliment Rei as well, even more than he ever did before. It was always about how neat he looked or how cool he was. The returned compliments—which were always cheerful and genuine—made Rei embarrassed and even more determined to make Nagisa feel the same fluttery lightness he got in his chest and stomach every time the blond looked at him.
Rei always wanted to tell Nagisa how beautiful he was when he looked quietly happy, especially after he received one of Rei's compliments, but that was one thing he couldn't figure out how to say discreetly (and without stuttering).
He wondered if Nagisa would ask him about what he was doing, because it was so obvious—maybe, or perhaps Rei was just being too self-conceited to think that Nagisa really liked him that way—that the shorter boy was conscious of everything. He was the master of reading the atmosphere, so he should have noticed already.
But when another few days passed and Nagisa didn't say anything, Rei decided it was high time to take things to the next level. It wasn't hard to (gently) corner the blond somewhere after practice, since Makoto and Haruka always left together, and Gou often had plans with Chigusa afterwards. It was usually just Rei and Nagisa who walked to the train station alone.
Rei had, of course, planned everything to perfection. He had spent the night before carefully going over the things he was going to say to Nagisa in his room. He was nervous, but after so many days of less-than-subtle flirting (maybe? Rei wasn't sure any longer), he was sure that he wouldn't fail. Probably. Most likely. The chances were high, he reckoned. High enough, at least.
Rei didn't get much sleep the night before the big day.
Now, Nagisa was stuffing his towel into his bag and getting ready to leave. Rei had finished changing long ago and was lingering around the cubby holes for the blond. He fixed the straps of his backpack once and left them alone. He couldn't appear too jittery, after all. It wouldn't have been very cool of him otherwise.
In a few seconds, Nagisa finished up and trotted to him expectantly.
"Okay! Let's go home, Rei-chan," he said happily, eyes bright as ever.
Rei furrowed his eyebrows slightly, and then relaxed them to the best of his ability. He cleared his throat. "Just a second, Nagisa-kun, before we go."
The blond hesitated. "Yeah?" he asked, voice not betraying anything at all. "What's up?"
He took in a deep breath. "I'm sure you might have noticed my behavior for the past few days, Nagisa-kun."
"I…?" Nagisa replied, and Rei thought it might have been the lighting that made it look like his cheeks were tinged with pink. Nagisa didn't say any more.
"And I'm certain that you know what reasons they are for," Rei went on. He kept his gaze steadily fixed upon Nagisa's eyes, but the blond's own gaze was so honest and clear that it made him want to look away.
"The first time we met was on the first day of school during homeroom. I remembered that your self-introduction was highly superfluous and frivolous and thought to myself, 'This person will surely be very troublesome. It would be best to avoid him,' and tried my hardest to do that.
"However, even as I thought this, you were the one who approached me and forcefully dragged me into the swim club.
"You really were a troublesome person, and I didn't know how to deal with you at all. It felt like I was only ever being pulled into your schemes," he paused here and smiled nervously at Nagisa, "and even now, I still am. However," Rei stopped and took in a deep breath.
"The more you stayed by my side, the more I realized that you weren't just a nuisance. I came to realize that you have a bright and stunning personality.
"You always do your best to cheer everyone up, you always know if something is wrong, and despite how childish you act, you really are a mature person at heart."
Nagisa had said nothing the entire time, but his face was slowly getting redder and redder. Rei still hadn't torn his gaze away yet, but he was feeling equally embarrassed and hot.
"Despite the fact that I was upset with you involving me in so many silly things, I am truly grateful for everything you've done for me.
"I never thought I'd be able to make so many friends in school or have so much fun. You, Makoto-senpai, Haruka-senpai, and Gou-san have taught me so much, and I look forward to every day I get to spend with everyone.
"But when it really comes down to it, the one I spend the most time with is you, Nagisa-kun. You're clingy and always beg me to buy you food, you constantly bully me and force me to do things, you ask me for help on homework and then don't pay attention...
"But you also show me such kindness and never seem to tire of my company. You always wait for me after class. You always text me good morning and good night. You meet up with me every day in the morning train and often go home with me on the afternoon one, and...
"Somehow," Rei said, a faint smile pulling nervously at his lips, "mysteriously so, I have come to like you, Nagisa-kun.
"If it is alright with you and you do not find me too disagreeable a character, I would be honored if you would go out with me." Here, he broke off eye-contact and bowed deeply at the waist with his hands properly at his sides.
There was silence for a long time, but Rei didn't want to straighten up before Nagisa responded.
After not hearing anything from the blond for a while, Rei finally glanced up in concern. Nagisa appeared to have completely frozen up. If not for his face which was, to Rei's increasing concern, getting even redder, he might have just spontaneously died while standing. His jaw had dropped down sometime during Rei's speech and his eyes were staring unblinkingly at him.
"Nagisa-kun?" he asked, cautiously to see what the matter was. He stood up. "Are you oka—"
"Oh my god," he said in a hoarse and wispy voice. "Oh my god," Nagisa repeated, and then he covered his face with his hands. Slowly, he sank down on the nearby bench.
Rei tried to approach Nagisa and called out his name again but was promptly rebuffed.
The blond held out a hand and stopped him. "Wait, wait, wait wait wait," he said in quick succession. Then, "Just stand right there, Rei-chan."
As Nagisa sat there and breathed deeply, Rei tried to control his breaths as well. His heart was beating impossibly fast, and he had no idea what Nagisa's reaction meant.
He wondered if maybe he messed up somewhere during his confession, but as far as he could recall, he had covered all the points he rehearsed days prior to this. Suddenly, he started to panic. Maybe it would have been better if he didn't list out the bad points he found in Nagisa during his speech. There was no way the blond didn't find that at least mildly offensive.
Rei began to despair with each passing millisecond, feeling like the biggest failure on the face of the Earth. This was the first time he tried to earnestly confess to someone he liked, and he had royally messed up because of his straightforwardness.
Rei's heart slowly sank. He had been so sure, but in the end, he had just been pushing his luck too much. His face flushed from mortification. He cleared his throat. The very least he could do was salvage his friendship with Nagisa at this point.
"Nagisa-kun, I apologize. I shouldn't have made such brash assumptions. I must have made you uncomfortable. I would… I would be glad if we could still remain friends, but if you are not alright with that, then I can remain a professional distance away from yo—"
The startled, wide-eyed stare he got from Nagisa at that moment was so startling that the rest of his words died in his throat. Nagisa pressed his fingers urgently against his own flushed cheeks.
He finally opened his mouth and let his soft and unbelieving voice float into the quiet changing room.
"That was worse than the romance manga my sisters read, Rei-chan."
"I know, I'm terribly sorry an—Wait, you—What did you just say?"
"How were you able to say all of that with a straight face?" Nagisa exclaimed, muffling his voice with his hands as he hid again.
At this pont, Rei felt the fire in his face flare up with a fury he didn't expect. His cheeks actually stung and itched, he was so mortified.
"Don't tell me actually took those lines out of a shoujo manga!" Nagisa looked up with an alarmed expression. His hands fell away from his face as the terrible possibility crossed his mind.
Rei became offended. "Of—Of course not! It took me days to write up that speech! I revised it seven times and made sure I worded everything in perfect order! That was the third final copy that I drafted and—"
A small, stifled giggle stemmed his words. Rei, who had been gesticulating with an unconscious fervor, lowered his hands and closed his mouth. He looked at Nagisa, whose blush had softened into gentle glow and whose lips were still pulled up into an embarrassed smile.
"Did you... mean what you said earlier?"
This quiet Nagisa was one he was not accustomed to and, in effect, made Rei feel warm again. He fixed his glasses.
"Of course," he replied. "I meant every word." He hoped Nagisa wouldn't pick on him for the negative points he had enumerated as well.
Nagisa made a strangled, pleased hum and covered his face with his hands again. Rei could see the silly grin that stretched across his face and couldn't help but smile as well.
"How embarrassing, Rei-chan...!"
He cleared his throat and tried not to fiddle with his glasses too much.
"But..." Nagisa continued on softly, now twisting his fingers in his lap. "No one has ever said that kind of stuff to me, so I'm really happy. Even though it was way too sappy." He smiled shyly.
"I've—I've never done this before either, so—" Rei tried justifying, wondering why he couldn't calm his heart down.
"I kept thinking you were acting kind of weird lately, but I didn't actually believe that it meant you liked me…. I was testing you, you know, but you never said anything, so I thought it was just me who..." he said vaguely. Nagisa looked off to the side and rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, apparently having no intention if finishing his incomplete train of thought.
Rei swallowed. "Then does that mean—?"
The blond nodded once jerkily. "Mmn. I... I like you too." He glanced up uncertainly before looking away. "I've liked you… maybe from the beginning," he admitted.
Rei's throat was already dry, but now he found that he absolutely couldn't speak at all. An absurdly giddy grin made its way to his lips, and he thought his heart was going to leap out from his chest.
"Nagisa-kun!" he exclaimed, incapable of contain himself anymore. He didn't know what to do—maybe go outside and run a mile, maybe swim a five hundred in butterfly, maybe pick Nagisa up and spin him around—but he just felt so happy. In the end, though, all he did was take a shaky step toward the blond, who was still trying to rub the blush off his face with very little success.
Pink eyes looked up at him, and then the two of them had become nothing more than over-excited teenagers with faces which burned with embarrassment and fatigue from smiling so much.
"I guess this means you're gonna be stuck with me for a while longer, huh, Rei-chan?" Nagisa said cheekily.
"I expect you to take full responsibility, of course," Rei countered in their well-versed exchange.
Nagisa laughed and brought one hand up to mock pushing up glasses. He tilted his head back proudly. "Why, of course!" he said in his best Rei voice.
He laughed again, but before he even knew what was happening, his laughter was cut off by warm hands on his face and an even warmer and softer pressure on his lips.
Both of them froze, completely stunned by what happened.
Rei pulled away first, breathless and shaking in excitement.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just—" he said with a fluttery voice.
"N-Now you have to take responsibility too," Nagisa said. His voice sounded strong, but his pupils were dilated with nervousness.
Rei smiled. "Why," he said, hands still on Nagisa's burning face, "of course!"
Rei suddenly found himself being tackled backwards, and his arms circled around Nagisa's torso naturally.
This time, it was Nagisa's smiling lips which sealed their laughter together.