A Slight Slip
by: Yidkirkin of the Warhammer
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
SPOILERS
"R-Reigen-san, can I kiss you?"
Reigen looked up from the path and focused on the red tint to Serizawa's cheeks, the twinkling Christmas lights reflected on his eyes, and the small patch of facial hair he'd missed in the morning. They kept walking through the park, locked hands swinging slightly between them, and Reigen smiled, and he answered without thinking.
"I'm pretty repulsed right now, Serizawa, sorry." He looked back to the path and missed how Serizawa's face drained of colour, running his thumb over Serizawa's knuckles when his hand suddenly turned tense and clammy.
"O-Oh, I-I'm sorry." Serizawa stuttered, and Reigen nodded to show he'd heard, pressing up against the taller man when another couple passed them from the other direction. "I'll-ll j-j-just-" Serizawa tried to slip his hand out of Reigen's without having to tug, but the hold Reigen maintained wouldn't budge. "I-I should g-go. Pl-l-lease Reigen-san, I'll-I'll go."
Reigen had only half listened to the first apology, and had assumed that the shifting of Serizawa's hand was merely him trying to adjust his grip. It was the hitch in his breathing, the increase in stutters, and the strained tone to his voice more than the actual words themselves that gave Reigen reason to pause. He looked up again at Serizawa, and with a jolt realized that the ESPer –still walking, still staring at the path –had hunched his shoulders in and begun to cry.
Reigen was many things. He was lazy and a liar, a fraud with a silver tongue, cheap and sarcastic and he always lost his temper if he had to deal with someone thick in the head; but Reigen wasn't stupid. As soon as what he was seeing registered in his mind he gently steered Serizawa off of the path so that they stood underneath a bare, glowing cherryblossom tree, and he moved to hold Serizawa's face in his hands. His thumbs wiped at the moisture flowing over Serizawa's cheeks while his boyfriend's sobs grew louder and he curled into himself even further.
"S-Katsuya, I didn't mean I was repulsed by you." Reigen assured him firmly, pulling him down to rest their foreheads together despite the embarrassment that came with the action. "I could never feel like that about you, I love you."
Serizawa took a shuddering breath in and sobbed when he released it a second later, but his shoulders had stopped shaking and his hands had moved to grip at the front of Reigen's coat. Reigen moved slightly closer and kept stroking Serizawa's cheeks, making small shushing noises to try and soothe his nerves, guilt curling in his chest at being the cause of this.
"Wha-at d-did you m-me-mean, the-en?" Serizawa asked around a wet hiccup, one hand leaving Reigen's jacket to lie overtop of one of the hands cradling his face.
"We were a little tired, but do you remember when we talked over our boundaries that first night you stayed over?"
"...I-I do. I got confused a-about what a-ace meant." Serizawa confirmed hesitantly, his shoulders relaxing a little even if his pinched expression remained.
"It doesn't happen often, and I only explained about my positive and indifferent moods back then, but sometimes I also get... well, repulsed by even the thought of sex, or nakedness, or-or kissing. It really isn't anything you've done, it just happens." Serizawa's grip on his jacket relaxed, his breathing even out some more, and his eyes stayed closed –Reigen couldn't help but stare to try and catch even the smallest hint of anxiety.
"I'm sorry I didn't warn you, Katsuya, and that I said that so callously. It's been years –I'd forgotten what it felt like." Serizawa sighed, and brought his hand away from Reigen's chest, gently taking his unoccupied hand off of his cheek and entangling their fingers once more.
"Thank you, Arataka, apology accepted." He said, smiling now; his tears were all but dried and the furrows had smoothed out of his brow. Serizawa drew back a little and opened his eyes, and his expression was so soft, so utterly besotted that Reigen felt something jagged inside of him he'd forgotten was even there –left over from the years of failed relationships and crushing loneliness –begin to stitch itself back together, if only the tiniest bit.
"But-" Serizawa went on, reddening again. "I know it's only been a few months, but –can you tell me you love me again?"
Reigen let out a relieved sigh, his own face turning pink as he realized that he had said it out loud for the first time since they had begun dating. "I love you, K-Katsuya."
Serizawa sniffed, but he didn't start crying again; instead he leaned in so their noses touched, and lifted their clasped hands near to their chins, leaning into Reigen's palm. "Could I kiss your hand, then?" He asked, and Reigen laughed giddily and nodded, fondness and warmth surging through him as Serizawa pressed a chaste peck to each of his knuckles.
"I really love you, Katsuya."
"I love you, too."