"You know, I've never seen fireworks before," Yukihira softly murmured, linking fingers with Shinomiya as they stared up at the empty night sky. Their backs were laid flat against the grass beneath them, but their bodies were so close to one another that it was as if there were some sort of magnetic field driving them together.

"What, have you been living under a rock or something?"

"Mmm. No," Yukihira hummed out in response. "I've been living in my kitchen."

Shinomiya softly chuckled, his hand briefly unlatching from Yukihira's as he murmured "sounds like you" in what seemed to be a reply. Shinomiya's reply had been so quiet that Yukihira wasn't sure if it had been meant for him to hear, but Yukihira smiled as if it was anyway.

Moments later, Yukihira could feel Shinomiya loosening the headband from around his wrist and tickling the fabric alongside Yukihira's exposed neck before leaving it to rest on Yukihira's face. Shinomiya was now resting on his side, gazing down at Yukihira with a wistful expression in his eyes as Yukihira puffed his cheeks up to blow the headband away from his face.

"What are you doing, shishou?"

"Nothing," Shinomiya replied, flicking a strand of red hair away from Yukihira's eyes. "Just passing time."

"Wait, wait, look at the sky," Yukihira said, a look of excitement appearing on his face as he pointed directly above him. "There's this thing shooting up into the sky really really quickly!"

"So, a firework?"

Shinomiya let out an amused hum as he allowed his eyes to drift up to the sky, following the golden bullet which was breaking through the empty void of sky and exploding into a burst of flames, igniting the sky with passion as the couples around them let out various oohs and aahs at the sight. Shinomiya was definitely entertained by the variety of colours in the sky, but for some reason, his eyes kept drifting back down to Yukihira. Yukihira and his stupid grinning face.

"It's amazing!"

Yukihira spread both arms out above his head as he looked up at the sky above him, a look of wonderment in his eyes as he let out a sigh of contentment.

"Seriously," Yukihira continued, "did you see how it just burst? And then loads of other golden things came out, and then it got really bright and then it spread over the whole sky and—"

"Hey, calm down," Shinomiya interjected, chuckling as he leaned over to flick Yukihira's forehead. "I'm seeing the exact same colours you are."

"No, you're too busy staring at me," Yukihira corrected, batting Shinomiya's face away with a cheeky grin on his face. "Come on, shishou. You're going to miss the next ones— woah, this one's purple! And pink! Come on, look at the sky!"

Shinomiya wanted nothing more than to keep staring at the stupidly excited look on Yukihira's face, but Yukihira was still using a hand to bat Shinomiya away from him and towards the sky. So, Shinomiya looked up, a warm smile crossing his face as he watched the fireworks fall from the sky, the vibrant embers floating around in the atmosphere and dissipating into nothing. They were soon replaced by another eager round of fireworks which seemed to shoot higher, higher and higher, flying until the air pressure became too much for them to bear. They exploded, Yukihira gasping at each individual burst of colour and life while Shinomiya's gaze kept drifting back over to Yukihira, his eyes wanting nothing more than to rest on the sight of that smiling face.

Yukihira's smiling face.

"You're staring at me again, shishou," Yukihira murmured, those golden eyes of his just as vibrant as the colours in the sky. "What's wrong? Have I got something on my face?"

Shinomiya considered doing it then, but… Yukihira looked so beautiful that Shinomiya couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Yeah," Shinomiya replied, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Stupidity."

Yukihira stared at Shinomiya for some moments before raising an eyebrow and murmuring "I thought you'd say something like that" in response. Before Shinomiya could remedy his statement and try to make it more romantic-sounding, the next round of fireworks came, effectively snatching Yukihira's attention away from him. This next round was blue and even flashier than the last, multiple rounds of fireworks shooting out from different directions to create shapes — stars, circles, diamonds — but at last, a round of fireworks shot out, each ember consisting of a different shade. The embers came together to create a heart, a large heart which spanned the entirety of the sky as stray pieces of light scattered around it, quickly fading away while the shape of the heart continued to float about in the sky.

"Ah… it's over," Yukihira murmured, his voice breaking the silence as he finally broke eye contact with the sky to look in Shinomiya's direction. "That was amazing. Thanks, shishou."

"You really don't need to call me that," Shinomiya grumbled. "I'm no shishou."

"You are now," Yukihira enthusiastically responded, sitting up so that he could face Shinomiya directly. "My shishou."

Shinomiya felt his cheeks beginning to redden ever-so-slightly, although he didn't say anything in response to Yukihira.

"Anyway," Yukihira continued, his gaze still holding Shinomiya's, "you ready to go back? Maybe we can pick up some sparklers on the way, or get some ice cream, or… or… wait, you look like you want to say something."

"Well… I don't want ice cream," Shinomiya quietly replied, sliding a hand onto Yukihira's chin. He was hesitating, waiting for Yukihira to pull away and ask what he was doing.

But, Yukihira didn't pull away.

Instead, a similar expression of wonderment appeared on Yukihira's face as he parted his lips, looking as if he wanted to say something. His lips kept moving, almost as if to ask the question that he probably knew the answer to already. But, after some moments of silence between the two, Yukihira leaned forwards and pecked Shinomiya on the lips, quickly pulling away with a shy smile on his face.

"That what you wanted, shishou?"

Shinomiya raised an eyebrow in an attempt to feign nonchalance, though his heart was thudding fast and hard against his ribcage. Sure, there had been some romantic tension between him and Yukihira for quite some time, but Shinomiya hadn't thought that they'd actually kiss. He hadn't thought that, but yet… his lips were still tingling from the coldness of Yukihira's lips.

"At least give me a chance to kiss you back, dunce," Shinomiya said, angling Yukihira's head to the side with his hand as his breath came out in small, white puffs of air. "Your lips are cold."

"Okay," Yukihira said, trying to stop smiling (and failing) as he leaned towards Shinomiya. "I still won though. I kissed you first."

"That doesn't count."

"Does too!"

Shinomiya rolled his eyes. "If you're waiting for me to say 'does not', you're going to be waiting all night."

"Fine. My kiss," Yukihira declared, erasing the millimetres of distance between their lips as he wove a hand into Shinomiya's hair, pulling him close as the two began to navigate the kiss together. The two were far from being expert kissers — they were pretty shy about having their first kiss, being inexperienced and all — but despite the teeth clashing and the accidental lip biting, it still felt… nice. At least, once Yukihira finally calmed down and stopped clashing teeth with Shinomiya. They were beginning to settle into a sort of rhythm, but somehow, Shinomiya still felt as if the two of them were venturing into a league they weren't yet ready for.

"Woah," Shinomiya murmured, momentarily breaking the kiss to issue instructions to Yukihira. "No tongues. Let's just… go with the flow. Take it slow."

"That rhymed," Yukihira pointed out, a small grin on his lips. "Damn, your mind."

Shinomiya rolled his eyes. "Idiot. Come here."

"Sure. Not like I'm going to disappear."

Before Shinomiya could comment on Yukihira's intentional rhyme, Yukihira pressed his lips against Shinomiya's, silencing any complaints that Shinomiya had been planning to make.

When their lips had first touched, Shinomiya had been wondering why he didn't feel the sparks that people often spoke about when it came to kissing. He'd felt tingly, but that had been because of the temperature difference between his lips and Yukihira's.

The second kiss had consisted of awkward teeth clashing and Yukihira being a general dunce, although Yukihira's hand had felt pleasant when nestled in his hair.

And now that they'd reached the third kiss, Shinomiya could feel every last spark. He felt his heart skipping beats every time Yukihira's hand shifted in his hair, letting out a small gasp when Yukihira's fingers began to trail their way down the nape of Shinomiya's neck. It was hard to describe how it felt to be kissed. Shinomiya usually had all sorts of choice words for all sorts of situations, but right now, Shinomiya had no idea how to describe what he was feeling. All he could do was live in the moment and savour every last second of it, pressing his lips against Yukihira's with all the passion he could muster.

When the two pulled away at last, mutual blushes on their faces as they regarded one another, they noticed that one final firework was making its way into the sky. It was a rainbow firework, the brightest of the night.

It was also the most beautiful.

"I'm glad we did that," Yukihira murmured, leaning his head against Shinomiya's shoulder. "It felt nice. We should come here next year."

Shinomiya let out a hum. "Yeah. I'll take you."

The two remained there long after the fireworks had disappeared, relaxing in the warmth of their newfound bond. Just because the fireworks had disappeared didn't mean that there was nothing to admire, after all. There were still countless stars in the sky, stars which had decided to come out after the fireworks had disrupted their slumber. Those same stars were twinkling down at them, almost as if to lull them to sleep. Shinomiya and Yukihira weren't quite tired enough to go to sleep, although they did eventually end up lying their heads down on the grass, hands interlinked once more as they stared up at the night sky.

No more fireworks were released that night.

And, in all honesty, that was probably a good thing for Shinomiya. Yukihira would get that adorable, excited look on his face, Shinomiya would want to kiss him and then both of them would end up with sore, swollen lips the next day.

Then again… Shinomiya was pretty sure that Yukihira would look even more adorable with kiss-swollen lips.