It's sometime in the middle of day two at the Academy that Clay decides, in the quiet of his own mind, that Akane is very uncomfortable to be around. It's not that the other boy lacks social grace, or is stiff and silent, or has a mean streak. Nothing like that. Clay can look at the other students around them and determine that they are at least five people who he'd rather not be with, and Akane's fine, he's perfectly friendly and perfectly competent and really pretty attractive, although rationally that has nothing to do with it, obviously it doesn't, but it's a nice benefit.
The problem is that Akane seems aware of all this, on some level, and along with everything else Akane is very good at teasing. Clay doesn't think of himself as stupid, but he is a little slow to pick up on trains of thought, there's always a moment of delay while he processes whatever his conversational partner is saying, so he has to take interactions a little carefully. Akane definitely does not. He's always talking, spilling words out over his tongue as easily as breathing, and Clay keeps getting halfway into a sentence before his brain catches up and realizes Akane is teasing him, again, and he loses his train of thought in a self-conscious blush. This is, of course, where the attractiveness comes in, because it just further delays Clay's responses, and after the first day Akane picks up on this, starts infusing everything he says with a purring resonance until Clay's not sure if everything he is saying is actually a double entendre or if it just sounds that way.
At least the meister shuts up in class, mostly, even if he's always about an inch closer than Clay thinks is reasonable, even if Clay keeps catching him watching the weapon out of the corner of his eye and smirking when Clay flushes red in response. And it's not so bad at their apartment, when Clay can always retreat to his room and the self-consciousness of being in public has faded off a bit. But that still leaves the times between classes, when Akane leans in close to Clay's ear so he can maintain a low murmur and still be heard over the buzz of fellow classmates, when Akane's fingers bump against Clay's until Clay starts to wonder if the meister is actually going to take his hand or just keep taunting him with the possibility. Worst of all, Clay's not even sure all this is really happening, if Akane is trying to flirt him into the first ever heart-attack-by-embarrassment or if he's just being a little overly friendly and Clay's own self-awareness is leading him to overreaction. Even if he is flirting, it might just be to get a reaction out of Clay, not from any real interest; there's no way to know, not for sure, and Clay is starting to feel like his usually-steady nerves are going to fray right apart under the strain.
He's thinking about this when they get out of class, Clay leading the way and trying to walk fast so Akane won't do what he usually does, and which he does anyway, which is come in close enough that their shoulders bump before reaching out to touch the rolled-up cuff of Clay's shirt.
"This isn't a standard uniform," the meister points out. His fingers are hot on Clay's skin when his ring finger maybe-accidentally drags against the inside of the weapon's elbow. "Do you usually go around half-dressed like this or is it just for me?"
Clay's face heats even before he can compose a stammering response, keeping his eyes in front of him so he doesn't have to face the teasing sparkle in the meister's eyes. "I. No. I'm dressed."
You sound ridiculous. He takes a breath, tries to ignore the way it catches in his throat. He would swear he can hear Akane starting to smile next to him. "It's more comfortable this way."
"Is it." Akane sounds like he's laughing though Clay has no idea what he has said to cause it, other than the fact that he can barely speak at all.
"Yeah." His words are coming faster, now, trying to explain his point before Akane can come up with something to stall him again. "It's not all that comfortable to begin with, anyway. I take it off as soon as I get back home."
"You'll have to invite me next time," Akane says. They take another few steps before Clay has entirely processed the implications of the meister's words, but Akane's fingers are still lingering against Clay's arm by the time awareness hits. Clay makes a strangled sound as he tries to blush over every inch of his body at the same time, nearly stumbles as his coordination vanishes.
"Oh my god, Akane," he protests, involuntarily hunching his shoulders up in an attempt to hide his blush. "Why do you tease me so much?"
The fingers resting on his arm turn into a hold, pull him back around even as Akane is saying "Stop" and Clay's feet are halting of their own accord. The meister is smirking when Clay gets around to looking at him, his chin tipped down so he's looking up through his eyelashes at the blond, and that's as far as Clay gets before Akane leans in. Something hits Clay's lips, something warm and soft, and Akane's so close that his hair is tickling Clay's nose and his shoulder is bumping up against Clay's collarbone, they're very close and Clay can feel Akane breathing and Akane is kissing him. He makes the connection just in time for his eyes to go wide as Akane pulls away, lips still curved in amusement even as he takes a half-step back.
The crowd is parting around them, students engrossed in their own conversations barely glancing at the two of them. The sunlight streaming into the hallway is just as bright and hot as it always is and Akane is still grinning at him, there's no trace of self-consciousness in his face. It's like the whole world thinks this is no big deal even as Clay's body tries to figure out how breathing works and if the rush of adrenaline now swamping his blood is needed or not. Clay's exhale sounds a little like a question and a lot like a whimper. He doesn't think he's blinked properly in several seconds and he knows his mouth is open in shock.
Akane laughs aloud. There's a flash of white teeth against his lips and then his fingers come up to touch Clay's cheek. The burst of heat they generate is so strong Clay would flinch away if his surprise hadn't temporarily made him into a living statue.
"You're so cute when you're flustered," Akane says. The hand against Clay's face drops to his tie and Akane tugs gently on it before dropping his hold and turning away. "Come on, Clay."
Clay starts moving, obedient to the order before he can remember how to act. Luckily Akane keeps his back to the weapon the whole way to their next class, so Clay doesn't have to worry about whether he's gaping or glaring at the meister's back since there's no one to see his reaction.
The problem, really, is that when Clay thinks about it, there's no one else in the class he would rather have as his partner than Akane.