aahh this was requested by an anon on tumblr! i opened up requests for one day and this was one of the things requested. i hope anon liked it!
Noboru doesn't know how much more of this he can take.
The plan was to camp here by the lakeside for three days and two nights as a group, away from school, adults, and Buddies. A break just for human kids, if you will.
The plan was definitely not to watch Tasuku and Gao tip-toeing around each other after an unresolved lover's quarrel over the weekend.
The blond holds in another groan at the sight of Gao, who is peeling the potatoes with him, sneaking a glance over at Tasuku, who is diligently washing the rice for their dinner tonight with Kiri.
It wasn't even a serious fight. In Noboru's opinion, at least.
As he heard from Baku and Kuguru, Tasuku apparently had done something really dangerous just a day before the camping trip, under the name of Buddy Police duty. Gao, hearing about it, had flipped his shit because Tasuku could have gotten himself killed. Tasuku then insisted that he hadto do it, Gao shouldn't worry about him, he came out fine anyway. And that just made Gao even madder, which in turn got Tasuku mad at him, and now they haven't talked since.
Listening to the story the entire time, Noboru could only feel like he was watching some dumb soap opera. And honestly, he's really getting fed up. More so when Gao begins to stick around him to avoid Tasuku.
Noboru steps on Gao's foot. Hard.
"OW?!"
"If you have so much time to look at your boyfriend, then keep peeling."
Gao turns to glare at him, but then a moment later he begrudgingly returns to his duty of potato peeling. "I wasn't looking at him." He insists.
"Uh-huh. Could've fooled me."
"I really wasn't!"
"All I hear are lies."
"Why you-!"
Their banter grew loud and clamorous, attracting the attention of the rest of their camping group from their assigned tasks. And from the corner of his sight, Noboru could see Tasuku looking at them (looking at Gao) with a forlorn look in his eyes.
For fuck's sake.
Later, when its deeper into the night, the group is sitting around the campfire when Gao arrives from collecting more firewood to sit next to him.
Oh no. Nope. Nuh-uh, no way.
Noboru quickly puts a leg out. "Sorry, seat's taken."
Gao blinks. "Huh?"
Noboru can hear Baku and Kuguru's conversation turn to a halt for a moment, glancing at them, before they continue whispering like Noboru's committed the biggest scandal in the whole world. Kazane and Kiri meanwhile, are roasting their marshmallows happily as they sing a song, as if oblivious to the atmosphere.
The blond squints his eyes at Gao. "You heard me. Find somewhere else to sit."
Gao looks a little confused and helpless for a moment, before he shrugs and makes himself comfortable on a vacant log to Noboru's left. The blond feels a littlerelieved.
When he notices Tasuku and Zanya finally come back from the van with more marshmallows in their hands, he quickly waves at them. "Hey, Zanya! I saved you a seat."
Zanya, obviously, looks startled and very much bewildered by this sudden development. He sets down the packets of marshmallows that he's holding on the table, still looking very confused, but he must've understood the look in Noboru's face, since he sits down next to him without much complaint.
"Uh, thanks?"
"No problem." Noboru says, not even bothering to hide the sigh of relief he's been holding in.
Noboru sneaks a peek at Tasuku, who seems a little lost, standing and looking around the group. All the sitting places are occupied, and the only one vacant is next to Gao. The red and blue-haired boy however, is just staring at the fire, ignoring Tasuku's presence so close to him. Noboru internally prays Tasuku doesn't do something stupid, like-
Tasuku does something stupid by saying he's going to crash early tonight and leaves for the tent that he's sharing with Baku.
Noboru wants to scream.
The very next morning he drags Baku and Kuguru, the brains behind the camping trip, to the sidelines of their camp site after breakfast and demand that they get Gao and Tasuku to make up.
"We tried, bro." Baku says, looking almost tired. "The very same day they fought, we tried to get Gao to apologize. Obviously, that didn't work out."
"We tried talking to Tasuku too on our way here, but..." Kuguru says with worry, and shakes her head.
Noboru exasperatedly pulls his face with his hands. "I literally can't take much more of them looking at each other with googly sad eyes when the other's distracted! It's so damned annoying!"
"Well, what do you suggest we do then? The two of them are really stubborn, you know." Baku says with a shrug.
"Are we playing a game tonight?" Noboru asks suddenly, an inkling of an idea forming in his head.
"Uh, not really..." Kuguru says, eyeing Noboru almost with suspicion.
Noboru grins. "How about a Test of Courage, then?"
When night falls and everyone's gathered around the campfire (with Gao sticking to Kiri and Tasuku to Zanya, Noboru notes in irritation), Baku stands to tell the group about the game they're playing.
"It's a test of courage." He says with a mischievous grin. Kazane cheers whereas Kiri looks slightly uncomfortable.
"The rules are simple. There's an abandoned cabin somewhere in the forest near our site. That's the checkpoint. Kuguru and I scouted the place earlier, and nobody's there." Then he gestures towards Kuguru, who hands him a stack of papers, which he shows to the group. "Each group will get a map, a glow stick, and a token with your names on it to leave at the checkpoint as proof that you've been there. You'll be walking in groups of two."
"So, how will the pairs be decided?" Kiri asks, sounding enthusiastic about it suddenly.
"Good question." Kuguru rummages through her bag to reveal her tablet, and she taps on it for a while before flipping the screen over to them to reveal an app. "This generator will decide for us. I've already inputted everyone's name."
"Well, what're we waiting for?" Gao says, looking excited for the first time. "Let's start the game already!"
Noboru can barely hide his own sardonic smile.
Gao wishes he had kept his mouth shut.
How, how, how, how in the name of Buddyfight did the stupid generator in Kuguru's tablet set him up with Tasuku?
Now he's standing next to the teenager that he's been trying to avoid for the past few days, watching with dread as Kuguru ties his and Tasuku's wrists together with some ripped cloth as a 'precaution'. She's doing it to everybody else too, but Gao really just feels like it's aimed to him and Tasuku.
He tries to discreetly take a peek at Tasuku who's on his left, but all he can see is that Tasuku's pointedly looking away from him.
It hurts more than he likes to admit.
He huffs a little himself, and turns his gaze away too. Fine.
"Alright, everyone's all set?" Kuguru claps her hands together, even though her wrist is tied to Kiri's. He lets her do her hand gestures though, smiling in an amused the entire time. "Remember that each of us has a special route to reach the cabin, so don't freak out if you catch one another!"
"All of us are going to start together, right?" Kiri asks her and she nods.
They take their positions at each of their starting points, considerably far away from one another, and Baku, who's paired with Kazane, lifts his untied hand to count. "Three... Two... One... Go!"
Gao takes a step forward into the dark and Tasuku follows. His unoccupied hand that's holding the green glow stick is thrust forward to give them at least an idea of where they're headed. The two of them are walking apart from each other however, the length of the red cloth that's connecting them stretched to its limits. Gao thinks there's at least about three feet of distance between them.
Except for the sounds of their footsteps and the rustling of the occasional grass and leaves, it's a heavy and awkward silence, something that he's never experienced when he's with Tasuku. It's suffocating.
After what feels like an eternity, Tasuku stops walking. Gao's forced to stop too because of it, and he turns around to look at Tasuku and ask why? when he sees the other squinting at the paper he's holding.
Right. The map.
Gao's mouth feels heavy with lead when he asks, "So? Where are we headed?"
God, he sounds distant too.
Tasuku stares for another moment at the map, the green light of the glow stick casting an eerie hue on his face, before he says, "We're in the right direction, but we're supposed to find some form of rock formation on our way."
Even Tasuku sounds cold.
"Let's get moving then. The sooner we finish this, the better." Gao prods and they start walking again, the silence a tad bit more bearable, but still murky and slimy all the same.
They find the rock formation drawn on the map (Gao assumes the rock is supposed to resemble a pegasus, but he can't be sure) and turn left as the map tells them to. He gets the feeling that they're going deeper and deeper into the forest, with the trees growing bigger and more dense. The night sounds of nocturnal animals seem to be louder too, what's more with the quiet between the two of them.
The both of them jolt to a sudden stop when there's a flash of lightning, accompanied closely by crackling thunder.
"That doesn't sound good..." Tasuku notes, looking at the dark sky. Gao merely nods, but it's not like Tasuku's looking at him to see anyway, so he says, "Yeah. The cabin's just ahead, right? Let's go."
They jog when the wind picks up, and run when it starts to drizzle. By the time they see the shadow of the cabin ahead, it's pouring and they're soaked through their clothes.
Gao finds the door and uses his weight to get it open. He shuts it close with more effort thanks to the wind, leaning against the wood before sliding down to the floor. He realizes he's dropped the glow stick somewhere.
Gao's panting from all the running. He notices Tasuku, who's on the floor too, is breathing hard just like him. Rainwater pools around them both, creating one giant puddle that Gao begrudgingly thinks looks like a heart.
"I wonder... if the others... are okay..." Gao starts.
Tasuku nods. "Hopefully... It doesn't seem like there's anybody else in here."
Gao gets up to move away from the door, in case one of their friends would come running through in seek of shelter like they did, and Tasuku does the same.
They move to the window that's slicked with grime and dirt. Just barely, Gao can see the downpour outside. It doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon and he frowns.
"Seems like we're stuck here for a while..." he hears Tasuku mumble and grunts in agreement. Gao turns around and tries to walk away but he's immediately pulled back by something on his wrist.
Oh, they're still tied together.
"Shouldn't we take this off?" Gao pulls at his hand that's tied to Tasuku's to emphasize his statement.
Tasuku actually looks reluctant for a moment, then it's gone the next. "I guess we should."
Gao tries to untie his end of the cloth, but the water's made the knot tighter and harder to pull at, especially with one hand. He looks up to see Tasuku in the same predicament.
Gao says, "Maybe we should try finding something shar-" and then he sneezes, shivering at the same time.
Tasuku looks at him with furrowed eyebrows, the worry apparent in his red eyes. It's the first time their eyes locked in what feels like ages.
"You're cold." Tasukus says, beginning to move around the inside of the cabin. Gao can only follow him, feeling a strange emotion lie in his chest.
The cabin is relatively small, there's only enough living space for at least one person. There's an empty space by the wall that Gao assumes must've been where the stove was at, and a single bed in one corner with a bare mattress on.
Tasuku moves to a closet beside the single bed and opens it to find a lump of something at the bottom. Gao watches as Tasuku pulls the something out and he realizes that it's a blanket the moment Tasuku wraps it around him.
"Wha-"
"You'll get sick if you don't get warm."
"Yeah, but you're just as wet and cold as I am!"
"I'll be fine." Tasuku dismisses him and Gao feels his temper rise.
"Why are you always like this?!" he says, gripping the blanket around him and taking a step closer to Tasuku. "Why do you always act like your health doesn't matter at all?!"
Tasuku looks away. "It's fine as long as I'm alright, isn't it?"
Gao feels even more enraged at this point. He throws the blanket in Tasuku's face, wanting to turn away and pace around but he can't because of this stupid fabric tying him to stupid Tasuku so all he can is turn his back to him. "Of course it's not! Did you even realized how worried I was when Stella told me that you... that you..." his tone of voice drops when he says this, and completely disappears when he thinks of the next words he wanted to say, as if letting them come out of his mouth would make the words seem real.
Hospital. Tasuku.
The atmosphere is silent except for the pitter patter of the rain on the window and the roof, and it stays silent until Gao hears the rustling of fabric and feels the blanket wrapped around him again.
Only this time, he feels a pair of arms around his waist too.
Instinctively, Gao leans back and into Tasuku's chest, closing his eyes and reveling in the shared warmth. A drip of water or two falls from Tasuku's hair and onto his shoulder, and Gao takes a deep breath before he turns around in Tasuku's arms to hug him properly.
He feels Tasuku squeeze him tighter, burying his face in his wet hair, and Gao nuzzles his own face in Tasuku's shoulder.
"...I'm sorry..." Tasuku whispers in his ears. He feels a hand come up to caress the back of his head. "I'm sorry for making you worry, Gao..."
Gao blinks back the tears that were prickling around his eyes. It's been too long since he's heard Tasuku say his name. "I'm sorry too, for yelling at you and walking out on you that day and..." he stops short when he feels Tasuku shift and realizes that he's giggling. "What's so funny?"
Tasuku pulls back. He brushes some of the hair that's sticking on Gao's face away to look at him in the eyes. Gao stares too, still curious on why Tasuku started laughing earlier.
But he forgets all of it when Tasuku leans in to capture his lips in between his, gentle and yet assertive. His heart starts to race, beating at a fast rhythm that deafens his ears. Tasuku coaxes him to open his mouth, and he moans when he feels Tasuku use tongue. He pulls at Tasuku to deepen the kiss, running his hand through Tasuku's wet hair, and pushing their bodies flush against one another.
He only opens his eyes when he feels himself being pushed down to lie on something soft, and sees Tasuku hovering above him, taking in much needed breaths. He reaches out a hand to caress Tasuku's cheek. Tasuku smiles. He smiles back.
Tasuku leans back down again to rest his forehead on Gao's. "I missed you..." he murmurs softly with his eyes closed, a hand holding Gao's tightly, shakily, not wanting to let go.
Gao feels his breath hitch in his throat, as he too closes his eyes and returns Tasuku's steady grip. He leans up to peck him on the side of his mouth.
"I missed you too, Tasuku..."