Once at the crest of the hill, each boy lay down upon the long, soft grass - its hue bright and inviting as the warm, mid-spring dusk began to settle. The sun was low, almost dipping below the horizon and streaking magnificent fiery orange across the cyan sky, with white clouds drifting lazily above them, plump and sparse.
Nagisa slumped to the floor first, knocking the breath out of his own lungs upon landing flat on his back. Rei took a more careful approach, delicately sitting down and crossing his arms behind his head, stretching out next to his friend as he wheezed.
"Take better care of yourself," Rei warned with a shake of his head, smiling slightly as Nagisa's coughs dissolved into giggles.
"I wonder what the time is," the boy chirped once recovered, admiring the flecks of deep red patterning the horizon. As of late, he'd found important matters slipping away from him. Preparing examinations required a lot of work alongside training for regionals, and while at first he'd enjoyed the challenge, it had soon become tedious. Never relaxing, hardly ever seeing friends aside from to train… Nagisa had found himself becoming burnt out.
None of that seemed to matter now, though. Upon this peak, the whole world seemed to stretch below the young men for miles; fields rolling lazily into city skylines - barns and housing into towers and rooftops. Miles away, chimneys belched smoke into the air while planes scratched the atmosphere: it was one of the most oddly beautiful sights Nagisa had ever laid eyes on.
Perhaps it helped that Rei was next to him, stretching out even further upon the grass, crossing one long leg over the other, still wearing his school uniform. He brought his wrist to his face, observing his watch. "It's half-past five," he muttered. "Huh!?" Nagisa squealed. "It seems later than that!"
"Well, the sun does set early in spring." The man continued to look up, at the sky far above that was still bright, light blue, white clouds streaked across it.
In that moment, Rei Ryugazaki looked beautiful. The most amazing man Nagisa had ever witnessed: eyes narrowed slightly as he looked thoughtfully up into the clouds through his glasses. His nose was long and straight, with slightly rounded cheeks upon his sharp face. Nagisa couldn't help but give a soft giggle upon admiring him, utterly enamoured.
"What're you giggling at?" Rei rolled onto his side, giving Nagisa a frown. "Oh, you haven't thought of another terrible joke to subject me to, have you?"
Nagisa thought a moment. What was he giggling at? At how he couldn't believe how lucky he was? For whatever reason, Rei had stuck around. Despite being so smart - so unbelievably out of his league in every way - he'd still joined the swim club and had accepted Nagisa as his new friend. He was intelligent, and talented, and surely had a thousand better ways to spend his evening than to sit upon a hill watching the sunset with Nagisa.
Even so, he'd always devoted time to the boy. He'd helped Nagisa to study; had helped him to pass his classes, create a better training regimen, and had even begun to simply spend his free days in the boy's company. Through Nagisa's panics over family life, and his worries for the future, and the less than great days in middle school. Rei had listened, and had been with him through it all.
"I'm not sure. I suppose I'm just… happy," Nagisa responded, watching as the setting sun kissed Rei's pale skin, setting his eyes alight. With the sun glinting off them, they no longer looked the dull, near-brown they could often appear beneath the man's thick-framed glasses. No, now, Nagisa could see colour within them: now, they looked like two amethysts, burning fiercely in the sun.
"What are you talking about?" Rei shook his head, expression clouding. The two men sat up, Rei looking into the face of his friend with an indistinct expression: almost concerned.
"Oh, you know…" Nagisa hummed, running his fingers through the grass beneath him. "With school, there's so much stress, and all the responsibilities, but… I'm glad to be with you. Glad you… want to spend your time with me."
Rei looked bewildered. After a moment, he rolled his eyes. "I see."
Nagisa emitted a nervous chuckled, a hint of anxiety beginning to flutter in his chest. "Wh… What?"
Upon Rei's silence, Nagisa could not help but admire those striking eyes once more. Their colour was secretly so beautiful; hidden beneath their darkness was a warmth - like the petals of lilacs, with sweet flecks of scarlet almost burning within.
Yet, still, the man remained silent. He reached out a hand to touch Nagisa's hair, fingertips so gentle as they brushed back a honey-coloured curl that had fallen into his eyes. Beneath that guarded expression, the hint of a smile could be seen upon his lips, but as his gaze trailed down from the blonde waves to Nagisa's eyes, it faded. Just as the boy began to feel self-conscious - almost judged beneath the calculating stare - the other man spoke.
"Then, I suppose we feel the same." He lowered his hand, trailing it down the boy's shoulders until it rested upon his forearm, holding it loosely. "I, uh…" Suddenly, he looked a little awkward, almost frustrated. "I want to tell you something."
Fear struck Nagisa's heart immediately; his chest felt a sharpness - a stabbing pain in his lungs. When the boy responded, his voice was shaky. "Yes…?"
"I… I don't know how. Or, if I should." He turned his gaze to the horizon, to the setting sun that lit up his eyes like precious gems. "In fact, I probably shouldn't. Forget it."
"You know you have to tell me, now," Nagisa tried to joke, despite his fearful voice wavering.
Rei brought his hands to his lap, holding his fingers. "I don't know if I should."
"But… you said you wanted to." Nagisa's heart was beating a hundred miles an hour. What if Rei had grown sick of him? Wanted to move on, or leave the club, or move away to do bigger and better things? Maybe Iwatobi simply wasn't working out for him; even worse, what if Nagisa wasn't working out for him? What if the boy's childish antics had irritated Rei one too many times? Perhaps he'd become bored of the friendship - that was, if he even considered Nagisa a friend in the first place. Perhaps he'd been lying this whole time - he'd merely taken pity on the boy who'd begged him to join the club, and who had latched onto him as the closest person in his life-
"I think I'm in love with you."
Nagisa looked at the man. Face serious, eyes hard - almost nervous as the amethyst irises stared into the deep magenta of Nagisa's.
"You…" The younger man felt his head shake slightly, heart now pounding not with adoration, but with fright.
It wasn't possible. Rei - pure perfection - was trying to say he… loved him? It had to be a joke - some sick joke; Rei's twisted, near-none-existent sense of humour wanting to humiliate the breaststroke swimmer. Why would he ever want him? A fumbling excuse of a friend who'd only come into his life through incessant whining; who'd disappointed his family time and time again with bad grades and misplaced passions. He was more focussed on a swim club than on his future, and cared more about making friends than applying for college. Nagisa did not even know if Rei considered him a friend, or if he saw him as more of a pest - an annoyance he paid attention to only so he'd shut up. Nagisa shook his head. "No, you can't, you're joking, no…"
"What?" Rei's voice was a breath, breaking in his throat as he swallowed audibly. "Nagisa, no, I… I could never joke about that."
His eyebrows creased. "You're serious?" His lip trembled. "How could you ever…? Why… me? Rei, I'm nothing compared to you. I'm not smart, or witty, and I'm good at nothing except swimming, and even then I'm not great! And, you… You're everything! You're perfect-!"
Rei's hand came up to Nagisa's face, one thumb gently wiping away tears he hadn't felt fall. "I don't care about any of that, Nagisa. I care about you. I want you. You say that I'm everything, and that I'm perfect, but that's all I see in you. Determination, hard will, a fighting spirit… You're everything I could want in a person and more." Rei's usually-stern face looked almost abashed, pale cheeks tinged by a slight pinkness as his eyes looked into Nagisa's own with fervour. "I just… want to be with you. I love you for you. And nothing can change that." He seemed to come up for breath, blinking as though he was seeing the boy for the first time, eyes lighting up. "I love you."
Tears truly were falling now, Rei's face before Nagisa blurring into one pale shape as he used a knuckle to wipe them from his eyes. He fought to keep sobs from escaping his mouth, but couldn't. "I-I love you too-" he managed to say, eyes finally clear enough to look into the handsome face that became twisted with such shock and joy at his words.
"You… What?" His fingers interlocked with Nagisa's, face showing pure elation.
"Are you kidding me?" He began to laugh a little incredulously. "I've been in love with you since day one! You're… all I've wanted since I met you. Why else do you think I pestered you so much!?"
Rei Ryugazaki laughed now, tears welling in his eyes too. "What!?" he managed, looking so deeply into both of his boy's eyes, squeezing their hands together tightly.
All Nagisa could do was nod, blinking tears down his full-cheeked face. Happiness seemed to burst through all the fear and disbelief in one hot rush - flooding his body with such unabating emotion he could do nothing but let out another sob, tears escaping his eyes once more.
Rei pulled Nagisa into him, holding him tightly against his chest as he buried his face into the golden curls. They sat together in a tangle of limbs, but whether they were laughing or crying into one another, they couldn't quite tell. Perhaps it was both.