It was Soji's idea in the first place.
"You should pierce my ear," he had said one night in the chaos that falls at the close of practice, when the rest of the group were discussing dinner plans or evenings outings and Soji had found his way to Hijikata's side, as he always does. The words were soft, purring low in the back of his throat the way his suggestions always do, but he still dropped his voice softer still as Hijikata looked at him, leaned in close so he could murmur the words against the dark of the other's hair. "So you could mark me as yours."
Hijikata had thought at first that Soji was joking, that he made the suggestion he did with the same off-hand flippancy he regularly uses for suggestions intended more to get a rise from the other than with any basis in sincerity. He had rolled his eyes at the idea, had agreed out of a desire to shift the subject more than anything else, and when he offered a new topic Soji seemed willing enough to be moved onto a fresh train of thought. But then he brought it back up a week later, while he was sprawling across Hijikata's sheets with the pale shading of his hair falling to a tangle over the dark of his eyes, and when Hijikata had looked at him there wasn't any mockery under the curve of the other's smile, just soft-shadowed warmth like he offers, sometimes, when they're alone, when there's no audience but Hijikata to see. That time Hjikata had come back in for a kiss, and for the purr of Soji humming satisfaction against his mouth, and they had stopped talking about it; but Hijikata didn't forget, that time, and when Soji mentioned it again three days later Hijikata had said, "Next week," and meant it as a promise instead of a diversion.
It's next week, now. Soji arrived exactly as agreed, his eyes all smoke and his mouth all curving anticipation, dressed in the casual clothes he wears when they're not going out for a public appearance. Today that means a yukata, with a violet pattern running along the folds a perfect match for his eyes, and Hijikata would be distracted by the low dip of the neckline if he weren't so focused on what they are about to do.
"Sit there," is what he says, offering a command instead of the greeting he might use in other circumstances; and Soji gives him obedience back, complete surrender to Hijikata's words without even an attempt at a comment. He's moving to kneel as indicated, folding himself to the floor in an elegant movement Hijikata barely pauses to watch before he draws the door shut again and turns to pick up the tools he's collected for this. There's the needle, of course, the point as sharp as he could find but still promising the pain he's leery of giving; and the earring itself, the bright sparkle of color against the silver setting that Hijikata found four days ago and bought on-sight. Soji had smiled when Hijikata showed him yesterday, his expression shimmering to appreciation behind the color of his eyes, and that was as much approval as his silent obedience is now, as his unusually calm consideration from the middle of the room is demonstrating. Hijikata brings both over, the earring and the needle together, and Soji's gaze catches against the shine of the needle but skips away almost immediately, landing on the sparkle of the earring and lingering there as if his attention is held by the catch of the light against the facets of the jewel. Hijikata kneels alongside Soji, sets both earring and needle on the floor between them; and then he takes a breath, and straightens his shoulders, and looks to Soji just as the other lifts his head to meet Hijikata's gaze.
"Soji." Soji's name is warm on Hijikata's tongue, purring into familiar appreciation at the back of his throat. "Are you sure about this?"
Soji's lashes flutter, twilight shadows falling over the violet of his eyes. "Do you have to ask, Hijikata-san?"
"I do." Hijikata doesn't blink at the flirtatious weight of Soji's gaze on him, doesn't look away. "This is a permanent decision. I won't do it if you're not sure."
Soji's mouth sets, hardening into a line that looks almost offended. "I'm sure," he says. "Are you?"
Hijikata takes a breath, lets it out slow. "Yes," he says, and then he reaches out with deliberately steady hands to press against Soji's shoulder and hold him still. Soji takes a breath at the contact, his mouth easing into the start of a smile at the weight of Hijikata's hand against the neckline of his yukata; but Hijikata isn't watching his expression anymore, isn't paying attention to the quirk of laughter threatening against Soji's lips. He's reaching for the other's hair instead, catching his fingers under the weight of it to push it off Soji's face as if he's lifting a curtain. Soji turns into the force of the touch, catching his breath as the weight of his hair comes up from his skin, but he doesn't speak as Hijikata collects the pattern of the other's braid under his fingers to push it away from his right ear.
"Hold this up," Hijikata says, and keeps his hand in place until Soji has reached to fit his fingers to the hold instead. Soji's touch drags over Hijikata's skin, his fingertips drawing flickers of heat out into Hijikata's veins; but Hijikata just waits until Soji has steadied his grip before he slides his hand free and away. His hand at Soji's shoulder comes up, his fingers trailing against the curve of the other's throat; he can see the breath Soji takes shift under his fingertips, can see the flutter of the other's eyelashes as he dips his head to the friction. It's a surrender in miniature, a tiny gesture of submission as much agreement as Soji's words were before, and Hijikata can feel the weight of that, the responsibility and the power settling into his bones at once as he presses his fingers against Soji's skin to pin the other's ear in his touch. Soji shivers, just once, a tiny frisson of motion Hijikata can barely see; and Hijikata takes a breath, and steadies his focus, and looks down to reach for the needle without drawing his touch away. His hands are still steady as he lifts the bright of the needle up, he's glad to see; but Soji is starting to go tense, his shoulders are collecting strain as Hijikata shifts as if he's just now realizing the ramifications of this process, as if he's just now realizing the immediacy of the commitment. Hijikata slides his thumb away, clearing the space for the piercing at the very bottom of Soji's ear as he braces the needle between two fingers; and then he pauses, one last time, and glances back to Soji's face.
"I'm about to do it," he says, his voice level and calm like it sometimes gets when his heart is beating too hard to allow space for his thoughts to fit in his head. "Are you sure you don't want me to stop?"
Soji swallows, takes a breath. "I don't want you to stop, Hijikata-san."
"Okay." Hijikata looks back to his hands. "This will hurt for a minute. I'm sorry." And he moves without waiting for a response, pushing the needle into Soji's ear while the other is still opening his mouth to offer some kind of a response. Soji's coherency fails, turning into a hiss of sudden pain as his fingers holding his hair up tense with involuntary strength against the strands; but he doesn't let go, and he doesn't flinch away, and Hijikata is drawing the needle through the other's ear without giving either of them time to think about what he's doing. His heart is pounding, he realizes distantly, some part of his mind is trembling with the overwhelming adrenaline of the moment; but his hands are still moving with his initial focus, drawing the sharp needle through Soji's ear and pushing the new earring into the piercing in the same motion. Soji gasps at the movement, his shoulders tensing against the flare of what must be pain; but the earring is in place, the bar of it fitting into the new piercing through Soji's ear, and Hijikata is pushing the clip at the back over the end while Soji is still shuddering through his exhale of reaction.
"There," he says, and then, as the necessity for calm gives way to the thud of adrenaline in his pulse, "I'm sorry I hurt you."
"Ow," Soji says, but he doesn't sound incoherent with the pain, and his expression is still relatively calm. "Couldn't you be gentler?" He makes a face, starts to lift a hand to his ear; it's only Hijikata catching at his wrist to keep his touch away that keeps his fingers from finding the weight of the earring.
"Don't touch it," Hijikata warns, the command stern on his lips. "It needs to be left alone."
Soji's expression tenses into a pout; when he shifts it's with discomfort, his fingers curling into a fist against his palm where Hijikata is still holding his hand away. "It hurts."
"I know," Hijikata soothes. "It'll just hurt more if you touch it."
Soji makes a face, his mouth dragging to a frown, but "Fine," he says, and lets his hand go slack enough that Hijikata is willing to let his hold go. Soji lets his hand fall to his side where it was, his other still occupied in holding his hair up; but he's turning his head now, his attention dragging sideways in a futile attempt to catch a glimpse of the new jewelry. "How does it look?"
Hijikata swallows back tension. "Good," he says, the word coming out so rough in his throat that Soji's attention skids back up to him at once, the other's gaze going dark and focused on Hijikata's face.
"Show me," Soji orders, his voice falling to the casual command that would be so startling to his fans, that is so familiar to Hijikata. "I want to see."
"Okay," Hijikata agrees without attempting even token resistance. "Hold still." He leaves Soji to hold his hair up off his ear as he gets back to his feet and goes to retrieve the small square of a mirror from the dresser in the corner of the room. Soji has shifted to the side when Hijikata turns back around, moving so he's sitting on the floor with his legs angled alongside instead of under him, but he hasn't let his hair fall, he still has his fingers caught into the strands to hold them up and free of his face. He reaches out as Hijikata approaches, stretching a hand out to reach for the mirror, and Hijikata lets him have it, hands over the weight of the glass to Soji's unspoken demand for it before moving to kneel on the floor in front of the other again. Soji isn't watching him at all; his attention is wholly on his reflection in the mirror, his gaze fixed on the image as he tips his head into an unconsciously elegant line so he can watch the shift of the earring against his neck. Hijikata can see the light catch off the pendant, the jewel catching to glow with blue light as if it's being illuminated from the inside out; and Soji sighs an exhale as if of relief, as if the tension of anticipation in his chest is only just now easing.
"Perfect," he says, lifting his gaze from the mirror to Hijikata's face before tossing it carelessly aside. His mouth is curving on a smile, his eyes are bright under the weight of his lashes; there's the beginnings of color spreading across his cheeks, a flush of happiness rising across his face as he smiles slow and warm at Hijikata. "It's perfect, Hijikata-san."
"It's the wrong color," Hijikata points out, reaching to catch the fall of Soji's hair as the other lets his hold go so he can ease it back into place over the shine of the earring without jostling the new piercing. "You wear purple, not blue."
"Yes," Soji says, and he's smiling wider now, his eyes going dark as he rocks up onto his knees so he can move forward towards the other. His hand catches at Hijikata's shoulder, his other arm curls around the other's neck; Hijikata reaches for Soji's hips as the other shifts his knees apart so he can come in close enough to straddle his lap, steadies the other's balance as Soji settles himself atop him. "That's why everyone will know it's not my earring."
"It is," Hijikata says, but he's distracted by the glimmer of light under Soji's hair, is reaching out to push against it so he can see the shine of blue at the pendant again. "It is your earring."
"No," Soji says, and he's leaning in closer, pressing himself against Hijikata's chest and ducking in to ghost his lips against the other's forehead. "It's your earring that you put on me." He takes a breath against Hijikata's hair, his mouth tightening to the weight of a kiss for a moment. "So everyone can see who I belong to."
"You don't belong to me," Hijikata says, but he's undermining his words even as he speaks them, pinning Soji's hair back so he can see the shifting color of the earring glint against the curve of Soji's throat.
"I do," Soji tells him, winding his arms close around Hijikata's neck and ducking nearer still to sigh warmth over the other's lips. "I'm yours, Hijikata-san. Don't I look pretty with your mark on me?"
"Soji," Hijikata sighs, but Soji turns his head in to catch his mouth against the other's, and Hijikata's protest fades to a groan of heat against Soji's lips instead. By the time Soji pulls away Hijikata has entirely lost the thread of conversation and doesn't pick it back up again until Soji purrs a laugh and asks again, "Aren't I pretty?" with the singsongy lilt that says he knows the answer already.
Hijikata presses his fingers into the soft of Soji's hair, holding the pale weight of it up and off the high angle of the other's cheekbone and well clear of the sparkle of blue at the earring hanging from his new piercing. Soji tips his head, letting the jewelry drag against the curve of his throat, and Hijikata lets himself surrender to the inevitable.
"Yes," he says, and Soji laughs into heat in the very back of his throat. "You're very pretty, Soji."
The sparkle of light off the earring matches the bright of Soji's smile as he leans in for another kiss.