"Keep this on… and pretend it's Takahiro."
It had to have been one of the most selfish requests he had ever made, and to his closest friend of all the possible people. Had he known the damage it would later cause him, Hiroki would have kept his distance from the notion like it was the very plague itself… but unfortunately such notions did not deem him worthy, leaving the young brunette to suffer the fate he would soon find himself cornered by. He knew this… Hiroki knew this and yet he still asked Akihiko to indulge him this one time; he was never the kind of man to ask things of others, because to do so was to show weakness.
Above all, weakness was one of the very emotions Hiroki despised the most. To show weakness was to show that he had flaws, flaws that would prematurely bring an end to the few acts he enjoyed, such as his relationship with Akihiko. As adults, the two had learned to respect one another's opinions when they differentiated on a topic or in their beliefs, and Hiroki felt the crumbling of his heart when he betrayed that consecration in their friendship. His love for his childhood friend gouged that wound even deeper. Every second that passed between them felt like another slash of a knife, cutting away the layers until the very foundation of his desire for Akihiko lay bare.
Hiroki didn't know why Akihiko had decided to go along with this ridiculous idea, he could only obey the agreement as he fastened a cloth around his crush's eyes to prevent him from watching the brunette's face, thus hiding the heart wrenching emotion that would mar smooth features when things went too far. His fingers trembled as they ghosted down the perfect flesh of the other's throat and across his pectorals, feeling him as if Akihiko's skin was the drug they had so desperately craved, wanting so much to seize every fiber and draw it in to make a part of himself. But with every quiver came the threat of discovery, barely avoided when the silver-haired man beneath him shuddered as well and bit his lower lip to prevent any sort of sound from leaking out. When he brushed against his abdomen and settled limbs over either side, he could have sworn he heard a trickle of vocalization loft from swollen lips; he had to lean closer.
"…. Hiro…" came the muted whisper, lips licked again as they became dry due to the coldness of the air around them. Hiroki's digits froze momentarily as he heard the dull hushes of his name die upon the other's lips. If Akihiko was trying to drown his own feelings for Takahiro by murmuring the name of another man… it seemed like such sacrilege. Hiroki felt dirty even as he willed his hands to move again despite the fact his mind and body were screaming for him to turn back before it was too late, but his heart was betraying both as it attempted to register the murmurs of his name as the slight possibility he could replace the ache Akihiko felt.
He heard it again as he slowly sunk down onto his lap and for the second time, Hiroki's fingers stilled when the soft whispers beckoned him, lured him within rage so he could catch everything his beloved spoke whether it was intended to emerge or not. "Hiro…" it came again, building with every exhale and jostle of hips when Hiroki took control over their dance until finally, at the moment when he felt that he could sense the build of completion, the name that Akihiko spoke sounded clearly and crushed every fabricated illusion Hiroki's mind had spun:
"… Takahiro."
