Juuichi felt the soft crunching of gravel under his feet as he walked along the road. He passed the rice fields and a sudden burst of nostalgia for last summer rushed through his mind. He reached up and ran a hand through the fur on his head, smiling at the memories of Hiroyuki.
"That's right...he's coming back today," He whispered to himself.
Juuichi was happy.
"...he's coming back today!"
Juuichi was now panicked. He quickly turned in the direction of the station. He absentmindedly wondered why he had gone on a walk around the same time as his boyfriend was coming back. He needed to be the first one to see him. Juuichi began pushing with his legs harder, sending him into a much faster run. A summer breeze whipped through his fur. He was making good progress, he just needed to-WHAM!
A large yellow-orange blur quickly showed up at a corner and ran into his side. The bear looked down to see none other than Torahiko flat on his back, looking dazedly into the sky.
"Euuugghh...no, Kyouji, I'm sure Sou doesn't think you have creepy eyes..."
"Tora?" The tiger shook his head around before looking at Juuichi. "Hi, Juuichi, I was looking for Juuichi. Have you seen Juuichi around?"
He was still slightly out of it.
The bear crossed his arms as he observed him.
"...Oh, Juuichi! I've been looking everywhere for you! Hiro's gonna be here soon, so we need to be there and you probably were heading there already so I'm just gonna shut up now."
Juuichi nodded and reached his hand down to Torahiko, pulling him up. "C'mon, Tora. Let's hurry."
They took off running towards towards the station.
~present time~
"Alright, then. I'll see you in a month."
The driver gave a firm nod, and then said as if speaking to a child, "Now, don't go forgetting what I told ya."
Hiroyuki smiled. "Of course." The doors closed and he turned to the station. He dropped his bag and looked all around him, then took a deep breath as he looked around before exhaling. It felt good to be back. Now he needed to find everybody...
Wait, where is everybody? Did Kounosuke's tardiness rub off on everyone else? Hiroyuki scanned the station before sighing. He did sort of come unannounced but he told Tora, who probably told everybody else as he had asked. He decided to just wait and sat down at a nearby bench, placing his bag on the ground next to him. He sighed and listened to the ambient sounds of the village. Cicadas continued their constant droning that always seemed to invade his ears in an odd, soothing way. There was the sound of some birds, a nearby small stream, frantic running...
...wait, what? Hiroyuki shot up and turned to see a familiar bear running near the station. He slowed down as he got there and locked eyes with Hiroyuki.
"Juuichi-san..."
Hiroyuki took a few steps toward him. His slightly awed expression soon unfolded into an ear to ear grin.
"Juuichi-san!" Hiroyuki began running toward Juuichi, watching as the bear broke out into a huge grin. He finally reached him and slammed into Juuichi, gripping the bear into a large hug that was instantly returned. He felt the pair of large arms around him tighten.
"I missed you, Juuichi-san...so much..."
Hiroyuki leaned his head forward and buried his face in Juuichi's chest. The bear gave a soft laugh, sending the vibrations to his face.
"So did I...I thought about you every day..." Hiroyuki looked up and saw Juuichi looking down with a blush on his face, though he still wore a smile. They watched each others faces and Hiroyuki said the words on his mind.
"I love you, Juuichi-san."
"I love you too, Hiroyuki." He leaned down to the human and kissed him on the lips, feeling the warmth of his mouth for a moment before pulling back and leaning his mouth to Hiroyuki's ear.
"Welcome back."
Juuichi slowly leaned back up and blushed while looking away. "We should probably head to Raimon..." Hiroyuki smiled and nodded. He held up a finger to Juuichi to signal that he should wait a moment before running over and getting his bag. He ran back over to the bear and nodded once again.
"Now we're good."
And so they set off. Halfway there, they encountered a panting Torahiko running in the opposite direction before he spun on his feet and stopped. They looked back at him and saw the tigers face light up.
"Hiro!" He ran up and gripped him in a big hug, lifting him off of the ground and shaking him around. "We've missed you, man!" He laughed as he finished his sentence, and Hiroyuki did too, falling victim to Torahikos contagious energy. He set him down and put his hands on his hips with a huge grin.
"Juuichi's said a decent amount about you two." He saw Hiroyuki give a questioning glance toward Juuichi. "Oh, don't worry, it's only cause I wouldn't stop bugging him about it. Right, Juuichi?" The bear gave a firm nod.
"It got to the point where I went to school and he'd be waiting right at the front gate to ask me first thing in the morning." He wrapped an arm around Hiroyuki's shoulder and looked at him. "I didn't go into too much detail." Hiroyuki started laughing, making Juuichi blush and look away. "What? What's so funny?"
Hiroyuki wiped a tear out of his eye as he calmed down. "It's just that you're being really physical today, Juuichi-san." He gave a beaming smile. "I like it." Juuichi smiled a little back in return.
"Well, I guess I'll try to keep that up...if I can. Might be a little embarrassing though..."
Hiroyuki thought for a second. "Then, let's start with just holding hands more often, ok?" The bear nodded and grasped Hiroyuki's hand. They turned and saw Torahiko with his fist balled up against his chest.
"You guys are too cute! I'm gonna die, man!" He grinned and pretend fell to the ground, dramatically sprawling out and reaching a hand to the sky. "Tell them...at my funeral...that I was killed by cuteness..." Then, he went limp on the ground. The two walked over to the supposedly dead tiger on the ground and Juuichi lightly kicked him.
"Get up, you drama queen."
Torahiko jumped up and grinned at them. "C'mon, guys, let's get to Raimon."
With that, they set off.