Title: Intimacy Problems, Confession And Love Coming Real
Fandom: Kagerou Project
Pairing: SetoShin
Summary: Shintaro's issues with his crush and boys' love aura everywhere around the base, to other members' luck.
Notes: A story contributed to Shintaro's birthday ~ Hope you guys like it, I was writing like crazy to catch up with his birthday marathon here. And because I posted this on tumblr first so it was a bit late for FF. :)
May contain grammar errors because I was in a rush.
It was a normal day, the members of Mekakushi Dan were doing what they usually did every day. Kido was talking and in the same time hitting and kicking Kano, who was chuckling mischievously with the tsundere danchou. Momo and Mary were talking and laughing about the things they did the other day, which was seemed to be shopping in the mall centre near the base. On the other hand, Konoha and Hibiya were just playing video games near the girls, and the android was losing every single time because of his lack of skills and knowledge when it came to games, while the other brown-haired boy was grinning so widely of his awesome victories. On the TV screen, there was Ene who got so pissed off about Konoha's losses, she would yell and whine anytime the older boy lost, and it was hinted that the blue cyber girl was going to hack the game in order to help the white-haired android win against Hibiya sooner or later. And now there was left with Shintaro sitting on the couch, dully observing at the playing trio as he did not know what to do besides that. Beside him was Seto, who was recently arrived at the base from his part-time job, resting after the long hours of work.
"Hah…I am so tired…" Seto sighed heavily, expressing the needs to refresh his mind right away.
Shintaro turned his head to look at the younger brunette, then he opened his mouth to speak. "You should drink something, such as apple or orange juice." Normally he would recommend people to drink soda, but the idea was obviously terrible because they were not a soda addict like him. Furthermore, it was Seto he was talking to, so Shintaro had to think of something with his most normal common sense.
"That's a good idea! Will you make it for me, Shintaro-san?" The younger boy smiled brightly, his head cutely tilted to the side.
"Eh…ah…okay…I guess I can make simple things like apple juice…" Shintaro hesitantly answered, hand scratching his head. The older boy's original idea was not like this, but watching Seto's hopeful face looking at him with sparkle eyes, he reluctantly agreed.
He stood up and moved towards the kitchen, while Seto waited on the couch, looking exactly like a puppy waiting for his master. And about more than ten minutes later, Shintaro came out with a glass cup of apple juice in his hand. The older brunette walked in front of the younger boy and handed the glass to him.
"Here you go. I used the available apples in the fridge to make it… Erm, I think I put enough sugar in there." Shintaro said when Seto took out his hands to receive the glass, the younger's face gleaming shiningly.
"Thank you so much, Shintaro-san!" Seto brought the glass up to his lips and straightly drank half of the apple juice in there. The boy soon after flashed his most cheerful charming smile ever, showing his best gratitude to the older one. "Ah, delicious! You are really the best, Shintaro-san ~ I like you so much!"
Seeing Seto's smile and hearing sudden confession from nowhere, Shintaro felt like his heart stopped for a moment, and it started to beat faster than the usual pace very much. The brunette could feel his face getting hotter and redder, maybe he was getting embarrassed. But…he could have not become like how he was now just because of a smile and jokingly confession? And damn, to think that he was wanting the younger boy to hug him…
"Shintaro-san, is there anything wrong?" Seto asked, voice full of concern. The red jersey boy was acting weird, so the green-suited boy was worried.
"No, it's nothing. You praised me too much, ha ha ha." Shintaro laughed half-heartedly, trying to ignore Seto's joke earlier and calming himself down. He was restraining his body hard to not act strangely such as doing something which would imply the boy to hug him. Normal girls could do it to each other and did the same jokes as how Seto was unconsciously doing without any problems, but them boys were another story. Him and Seto were all boys, so intimacy was not a good idea for them. Shintaro understood perfectly that he could not do whatever he wanted to the younger boy, as everybody in the gang would look at them in disgust.
He turned his gaze to Momo and Mary, staring at them hard. The two adorable friends were now hugging and patting each other's head lovingly. Such nice intimacy. How he wished to be like them.
"Tch…I wish I was a girl…then this shitty stuff could be better for me and that guy." Shintaro clicked his tongue, unconsciously blurting out his thoughts. To his dismay, everybody in the room miraculously heard him saying this, resulting to seven pairs of eyes looking at him bizarrely, except Konoha who understood nothing.
Realising the members now looking at him as if he was standing naked, Shintaro gasped in horror. Shit, did he just say that out loud?! Furthermore, based on their reactions, it seemed like he really did say something so wrong that even Hibiya, the one who often minded nothing at all, eyeing at him strangely.
"Ah ha ha, I suddenly remember…I have urgent things to do now at home…" Shintaro, with a tense face, slowly moved back towards the exit door and said. "See you guys tomorrow! Bye!"
"Master! Wait for me ~~~" Ene yelped loudly and disappeared from the TV screen, following her master by going back to his phone again.
And his red figure was gone, maybe in a comical way there would be some smoke left. Everyone was speechless for a second, then they quickly gathered into a small group, gossiping about what Shintaro had recently said with serious expressions.
"Hey…did you hear what he said? He wanted to be a girl…" Kido spoke, recalling the sentence which made the others so surprised that they had to pause whatever they were doing.
"Yeah, I can also hear Shintaro-kun telling…could be better for me and that guy." Kano pressed on the last phrase, his normal cheeky attitude was gone as he knew something bad would happen.
"I don't know…but who's this that guy brother was talking about?" Momo joined in the conversation and Mary went along by nodding her head at the same time. Shintaro wanting to be a woman was not a major surprise for them to actually take interest in, but the important thing was that this was related to someone, who might be his crush, or maybe his boyfriend already. More importantly, to call his crush as 'that guy', it must not refer to one of the boys in the group.
"So that old man has a boyfriend and is presently having difficulties about genders huh? Too bad it does not seem like the person he likes is from the boys here though." Hibiya concluded nonchalantly everyone's opinions without knowing, not fully awared of the consequence resulting from his vague statement.
Kido, Kano, Momo and Mary all turned their heads to glare at the youngest boy, making him creep out because of the imagined sharp daggers from their eyes. The boy instantly wondered about what he had said wrong so that they would send daggers to him like that, even Kano who would not often do this, until he sensed something really strange, coming out from someone sitting on the couch near by.
It was Seto, looking to the ground in utmost silence. Although the older boy spoke nothing, but Hibiya could somehow felt the dark aura emerged from him, and the younger boy almost thought that the glass in Seto's hand would come to break already. The tense atmosphere grew terribly, nearly making the group of young people suffocate.
"Erm…Seto?" Mary nervously smiled, offering her thoughtful assistance to the frightened gang. "Is it the time for your next part-time job?"
"Ah…Thanks for the reminder, Mary." The brunette replied sternly and stood up, placing the apple juice glass on the table. His face remained blank, despite the menacing air around him. "I will be…late today. Leave me some food if you can." Finishing his last words, the boy went slowly to the base's entrance and exited.
Watching Seto's shadow disappearing from the door, the gang finally let out a relief sign. The atmosphere just now was beyond their suffering, especially when the usual cheerful and happy brunette boy could turn into a person with such expression like how he was having a few minutes earlier. The gang knew they should never underestimate Seto, because when he was in that mode, things could get very worsen. And the reason which caused it was no other than the person who ran away before Seto's departure, Shintaro.
The fact that Shintaro and Seto were in love with each other was not an unfamiliar thing around the base, blamed on their reactions towards the other person. To be honest, how the hell a single person (except Konoha again for knowing zero about love and romance) would not notice how Shintaro always blushed when talking to the younger boy, and to be contrast, how Seto would always mentally held himself back to prevent jumping on the older brunette. Although both boys tried to hide their feelings, their behaviours could not fool anyone's eyes, not when Mary, the queen of fujoshi, was still in the sight and ready to look for any possible moments of SetoShin's interacts as far as she could. However, it seemed like the two lover boys were too dense to realise the evident noticeable fact and confess to each other already, for other people's sake.
"Oh my god…I thought Seto-san was going to kill us all…" Momo trembled at the memory of Seto in the last few minutes. The green-suited boy, in yandere mode, was definitely the worst thing ever in her past experiences.
"Yeah…I thought so too…" Kido nodded, expressing her approval with the younger blonde girl. She had never witnessed her enthusiastic childhood friend transforming into a fearsome person such as she saw in the previous moments. The Seto Kousuke she knew would always smile over anything, not getting totally worked up out of the sudden and scaring the hell out of people like that.
"I guess Shintaro-kun affects him a lot." With a smirk formed on his face, Kano casually commented. Though he felt amused with the awkward relationship and funny reactions of the two boys, he was not definitely into Seto's yandere mode.
Hibiya and Konoha sat together without saying a word. The youngest boy was feeling guilty for telling unnecessary things about Shintaro without noticing he would cause Seto to get angry. On the other hand, the android had absolutely no idea relating whatever they were saying, so he just listened with a clueless attitude during eating a negima which was bought in the supermarket.
Mary kept silence for a little, as if she was thinking deeply about something. The white-haired girl later gained the gang's attention by raising her hand shyly, but her eyes were shining with tiny sparks of light. "Guys…I have an idea…How about this time we make SetoShin for real?"
The gang was deadly quiet after hearing Mary's suggestion, to the point that the young girl thought her idea was terrible. However, to her most fortune, everyone's lips turned into an elated smile and they all joyfully high fived with Mary, making the girl grin happily.
And so, the mission began, with the ultimate goal of SetoShin becoming forever true and never ever experiencing the yandere Seto again.
Shintaro did not forget things easily, especially when it was about the embarrassing shit he accidently blurted out yesterday. But he knew the gang would not mind them because it was not their problem, so he acted as if nothing happened and went to base like every other days. The red jersey boy went alone without Ene staying in his phone because the cyber blue virus girl was too busy downloading summer clothes for her at home in the computer, and she refused to wait after visiting the base.
When the brunette got to the final destination, he opened the door, expecting the other members would sit on the couch and greeted him. But surprisingly, the space was empty and no one was there…or at least that was what he thought.
"Hmm…Kido? Kano? Konoha? Momo?" Shintaro called out the names he was able to think of at the time, to see if someone would reply to him. That was odd, the members never told him anything about going out today, where were they?
After a few minutes of waiting for answers, Shintaro gave up and was ready to get home, until he saw a folded paper on the table, addressing his name on the white cover. The boy picked it up and opened the paper, carefully reading the notes inside.
Shintaro, the gang is going to the supermarket to buy groceries because we are out of food. Can you watch the base for us? We will return about two or three hours later.
"Perfect. So I am here alone." Shintaro grumbled disappointedly. He had no one to talk to, not even Ene as she was too concern about her latest fashion, just how could he get more bored? Or the boy could sleep for a couple hours in the meantime, because he slept very late yesterday anyway, surfing the net with the worries about the chance of Seto might have known about the true identity of the person he was referring to.
Shintaro came to sit on the couch and covered his eyes with one arm, his body completely rested on it. It was not long after the boy daydreamed and nearly fell into a light slumber, woken up by a familiar voice.
"Shintaro-san?"
The brunette opened his eyes slowly, glancing at the direction where the voice had come from. All he could see was Seto, appearing to be out from bath with a white towel around his neck, standing before the bathroom's door and dumbly looking at him.
"…Ah! Seto!" Shintaro was slightly astonished by the younger's presence. He assumed the boy had gone with the others already, yet he was still in the base. Furthermore…Seto was wearing a thin sleeveless undershirt, showing the well-toned muscles on his arms and Shintaro was also able to see the well-built stomach through the white fabric. Okay, the boy could swear that his cheeks were so hot and might be as well as red as tomatoes right now. "I did not know you would be here!" He turned his gaze away from the boy, trying not to be act suspicious.
"I'm having my day off today." Seto timidly responded, sauntering to the couch and settling down next to Shintaro. He gently smiled with the older brunette. "I heard Kido saying about going to the supermarket, and I was sure you were with them too."
"…Oh really…they did not tell anything…Hah, to think they left without telling me anything…" Although he was signing dejectedly outside, the red jersey boy was literally screaming inside his head while having the conversation with Seto. Shit, shit, shit, so that meant only him and the younger boy in the base…God, he desperately hoped that someone would hit him so hard that he would pass out straight off, because Shintaro was not sure if he could stay calm when being alone with a healthy handsome boy at age 16 like this guy sitting and grinning at him here.
When Shintaro was still busy thinking about his actions and mumbling irrelevant things, Seto's smile dropped. The younger teen started to remember at what the older brunette had told yesterday and his mood quickly turned gloomy. The usual twinkled brightness from the pair of brown eyes disappeared, his big hands and long fingers stirred in an incoherent way.
"Shintaro-san?" He breathed in and started the conversation again tensely, pulling Shintaro from his own thoughts. "Can I tell you something?"
"…Eh? Sure." Seto's unusual serious expression made the older brunette become curious about what the teen was going to say, so he pushed all his abnormal thoughts to a side and sat upright to hear the boy out. "I will be listened. Keep talking."
Suddenly, out of the older teen's anticipation, the younger boy suddenly took both of Shintaro's hands and held them tightly, his eyes turning determined and earnest. Without paying attention the person's face opposite him had become more and more flushed, Seto continued to speak. "I know you will not accept this but Shintaro-san, I will never give up on you. Although you have a boyfriend already, I will take you back from whoever that person is."
Shintaro was stunned for a moment, his brain analysing the information was given by Seto. A good few minutes passed, the older teen's eyes opened widely as if they were going to fall out anytime, he gasped loudly. "…HUH?" Then the boy gulped and requested for a confirmation of the extraordinary statement he heard. "Wait a minute, Seto, what were you talking about?"
"I said that I would never give up…" Seto patiently retold his decision again.
"No no, not that part, I heard that one loud and clear! I need the last part!" Shintaro cried out hastily.
"Erm…I will take you back from your boyfriend?" The younger boy reluctantly repeated, the worries growing in his mind. Did he say something wrong? Why was Shintaro getting so mad?
"HAH? Who told you that I had a boyfriend?!" Shintaro, being incredibly confused now, yelled in frustration. What the hell was Seto talking about? He did not know how, but Seto had gotten all wrong! Who else would he fall in love with beside the boy in front of him now?! And without thinking properly, he annoyingly shouted out the truth about his loved one. "Oh my god, the one I love is you, Seto! You are the one I have been in love for the past months! Seriously, I just don't know where the heck you got that idea about me having a boyfriend!"
"Eh? Shintaro-san, you don't have a boyfriend? But I thought…" The younger brunette was shocked, however, the boy paused when he fully got hold of all of the things the red jersey boy told him right earlier. "…Wait, did you just tell me that you love me, Shintaro-san?"
"What now?!" Shintaro surly covered his face with one palm and retorted in annoyance. Not long after that, he seized up, finally catching on the mistake he made in less than one minute. Fuck, he had confessed his love to Seto out of knowing it!
The older boy's face was blushing fiercely when he registered the reality in his current state of mind. Using both hands, he hid his face in embarrassment, not wanting to face the younger boy who was staring at him with bewilderedness.
"Shintaro-san…" Seto spoke up, his tone containing hope and amazement. "Is it true? That you love me?"
"…Argh…I did not want to tell you in this situation…" Shintaro, still covering his face, muttered against his palms, not denying the fact. He would not have the guts to look straight into the younger's eyes at the moment; instead he wanted to jump off any building in the city so he could die with shame.
When Shintaro was too shy to face his crush, Seto sat there idly. He did not know how to express out all of these mixed feelings he was having, as it was a whole mess inside his heart now. The boy was glad and jubilant at the same time, but his head was left with one wonder.
"Hey, Shintaro-san, look at me please." Seto pulled Shintaro's hands out of his face, but the older boy was insisted not to let go. Therefore, he used a little bit of his strength in order to split the boy's hands out, and luckily, he succeeded in forcing the older one look directly at him, despite Shintaro was sweating intensely. "So if that guy you were referring about is me, then what was the shitty stuff you were implying yesterday?"
Shintaro was puzzled because of Seto's weird question. Fortunately, he came to regain the vivid memory from yesterday's event fast, eventually remembering the last sentence he said before running off the base. Oh, so the younger boy was talking about that.
"That was…well…I…erm…" Shintaro's head directed towards the matted floor, having trouble with the arrangement of his words for the explanation. "…I…sometimes…I was urging to…touch you…but it was difficult for me to do those things…After all, boys like us…cannot intimate openly like how Mary and Momo usually do…"
"Shintaro-san…"
Not letting the younger boy finish his sentence, the older brunette immediately posed his hand in front of Seto's face, preventing the boy to comment about his thoughts. Heck, the younger teen must think he was turning too mushy. "I know, I know, it's kinda lame of me! You don't have to say anything!"
"That's also…exactly the thing I was trying to do when I meet you every day, Shintaro-san. I have restrained myself so hard to not cross the friendship border with you." Much to his anticipation, Seto shot back awkwardly, the boy's cheeks flushed a little. "It was hard for me to hold back every second meeting you because I thought you would not view me in the same way and might hate me for doing those things…but now, I can finally do what I have wanted to do, Shintaro-san."
"What do you…mmm…" Shintaro was going to ask regarding what Seto was planning to do with him, but he was cut short by a pair of warm lips crashing on his own, locking any moments of interaction between them. The kiss was filled with passion mixed with gentleness, and Shintaro shivered when the other person's tongue asked for permission to access inside his mouth. Currently drowning in a sea of pleasure, he allowed the younger boy go further by parting hips lips lightly. Seto, smirking into the kiss, used his tongue and go in easily, taunting with Shintaro's playfully. The hotness and wetness increased, but the available oxygen inside his lungs was disappearing, bringing the older boy to lose his conscious any moment if Seto did not pull out.
The younger teen was pretty satisfied with his masterpiece, especially when Shintaro had his eyes going all glazed and dreamy, cheeks being dyed with the color pink and the breaths he created out of those wet pair of lips were flawless, as well as the tiny trace of saliva left on the corner of his mouth was beyond attractive. Seto smiled sweetly, his hand caressing Shintaro's cheeks. "First intimacy, done! Shintaro-san, can we get to the next one?"
Shintaro had not returned back from his normal condition yet so he did not catch a glimpse of the younger brunette's intention. Nevertheless, the boy snapped back to his sense, as he was embraced by two strong arms, his body falling into a bigger and hotter one.
"Hugging can make we hear our heartbeats better, have you ever tried, Shintaro-san?" Seto whispered into the boy's reddening ear. "I can hear your heart beating clearly, Shintaro-san. You must be very embarrassed now eh? Your heart is beating so fast ~"
"Shut up…" Towards the younger boy's teasing, Shintaro mumbled sulkily under his breath. He was indeed embarrassed to the point of not even feeling the need to hit Seto anymore. Also, the happiness of having the person you love confessing, kissing and hugging you…pretty much leaded him to heaven. That was why the older brunette could only pout cutely.
Seto chuckled at his adorable boyfriend, bringing their bodies closer with a more tighten hug, talking in a low voice. "About the matter with us intimating in front of everybody in the gang, don't worry about it…I'm sure that they will understand, because they are our good friends, neh?"
"I guess you are right…" Shintaro signed, resting his chin on Seto's shoulder. The Mekakushi Dan were all nice people, of course they would kindly acknowledge and accept the relationship between him and the younger boy. Furthermore, there was Mary who seemed to be deeply into the boy's love stuff, so she would support them with all her might. He was getting himself a headache out of nothing.
With a contented smile across his face, Seto dug his nose into the crook of Shintaro's neck. He inhaled the syrupy smell coming from it, calling the boy's name tenderly. "Shintaro-san."
"Hm?" Shintaro hummed, enjoying the serene atmosphere around them.
"I love you." The younger brunette murmured sincerely, expressing his love in the most straightforward method. "I truly do."
Both Shintaro's eyes closed peacefully, his head thinking about the later days, the days after they had become lovers, while replying placidly. "Me too."
Bonus Story
Outside the base, in the middle of the hot summer, there was a group of young people standing without doing anything. They were nobody else but the Mekakushi Dan themselves, spying on the new-formed couple through Kido's phone, the show broadcasted by Ene who was filming the two boys from a secret device in the room.
"Ah ~~~ SetoShin is the best!" Mary chirped blissfully, her two hands entangled with Momo's, moving them up and down frantically, much to the blonde's girl opinion. The result was beyond the white-haired girl's imagination, she did not think her plan of letting the two alone in the base would create a huge success. Now she could freely witness the love moments between the boys. How wonderful was that!
Kido and Kano looked at each other and a steady smile formed on each teenager's face. Their dear childhood friend had finally had a grasp of his loved person, they must be happy for him. Thus, that person was Shintaro, so it would not be a problem. Probably.
Regarding the last two members, the youngest boy in the gang, stood quietly and glanced at the other members, questioning to himself when would it be the appropriate time to enter the base, because he was ready to melt anytime. Konoha, on the contrary, carried on munching his negima in a delightful way, blankly sitting down and waiting patiently.
Hibiya once again peeked at the pair of best friends, Momo and Mary, then at the chattering Kido and Kano, and lastly Konoha, who was doing his best at finishing up the negima bag he was holding. Although the brown-haired boy knew it was good for Seto and Shintaro to come together as a pair afterwards, and the gang might never suffer through the green-suited boy's mood swing again. However, he still howled mentally inside his mind with despair. Gosh, people, can we get into the freaking base already? I am dying because of the damn heat here! Seriously, why am I the only sanest person here?!
As expected, the youngest always got the toughest.