Chapter Text
It is ten years after graduation that Miyano meets Hirano again.
The only reason he can recognize his old senpai almost instantly is because of his characteristic bright blond hair. The color is a bigger tell than the style, because those pale strands now reach a good few inches below its owner's wide shoulders. Granted, he didn’t expect to see it across from his and Sasaki’s apartment door.
“Hirano-senpai?” Miyano asks, frozen where he was locking the door.
The man turns to him, momentarily giving up on a box he was struggling with. The irritated and confused frown he was sporting vanishes once he recognizes just who is exiting the apartment across from him, and he brushes a long lock behind his ear to better look at his new neighbor.
“Miyano?” Hirano’s voice has a touch of wonder to it. The younger man can relate to it; it is nice to see his old friend. “Miyano! It’s been so long, how have you been? What are you doing here?”
“I- uh, I live here,” Miyano awkwardly points to the door behind him, but he gives Hirano an easy smile. “You’re moving in?”
“Yeah! We needed a place to stay that is close enough to where Kagi-kun’s team trains and the university I work at, so-” the blond cuts himself off, seemingly a bit embarrassed. He shoots an apologetic smile at Miyano and vaguely gestures to both of them. “Ah, sorry. It’s been long and I’m just telling you all this with little context.”
The shorter man just waves the apology away with a hand gesture. He’s way too happy to see Hirano to get upset with him over nothing.
“It’s no problem, really,” Miyano reassures him. However, he gets that little glint in his eye that Hirano just knows means he clung to a little bit of very interesting info. “So, ‘Kagi-kun’?”
There’s a somewhat confused silence as his friend wonders why Miyano is so intrigued by the mention of Kagiura, but then he remembers. He didn’t tell Miyano about the whole situation he had going on in their dorm room back then. Hell, as far as he’s aware those two have never even met properly.
“You of all people would fixate on that,” Hirano sighs, but he does smile slightly at Miyano’s amused chuckle. It’s hard to be annoyed when a dear friend is in front of you after a long time. “That’s my boyfriend, for… a long time already.”
“I knew it! You have to introduce us soon,” Miyano excitedly states, but soon his gaze lands on the box of books at their feet. “Oh, do you need help with those?”
“Eh, don’t worry about them. They’re too heavy,” Hirano heaves a frustrated sigh, completely ignoring the calculating look Miyano is giving the box. “I’ll just wait for Kagi-kun to come home in a bit and we’ll be able to get them in toge-”
He goes silent as Miyano gets the box over one shoulder with one swift movement.
The blond is sure he looks like an idiot with his mouth open. “H… how.”
“Oh, well. I’ve been working at the library for over seven years already, Hirano-senpai,” Miyano cheerfully answers. He happily marches into the apartment with a dumbfounded Hirano behind him, and proudly winks over his unoccupied shoulder. “I’m able to lift heavier things than I did in high school.”
Once he’s able to get his brain working again, Hirano takes a closer look at his old friend. He’s still a good bit shorter than him, and probably didn’t grow taller after his last year in high school. But now Hirano can see that his back seems broader; the big sweater he has on isn’t nearly as loose as it would have been back then. He can even see the outline of his arm muscles now that he’s putting them to work with that box.
He’s not huge, but there’s a clear difference now that Hirano actually pays attention to him.
“You… you can put that on the counter,” Hirano points, still feeling like his brain checked out for the next few seconds. Miyano gives him a cheeky smile as he dumps the box with the same ease as when he picked it up.
“I’d love to talk a bit more, Hirano-senpai, but I really need to go cover a shift at the library,” Miyano apologetically explains, like he didn’t just save Hirano from quite a bit of effort and a headache.
“Of course! But wait, is your number still the same?”
They quickly confirm their contact information, and then both walk to the apartment’s exit. Miyano turns toward the blond on his way to the door, and gives him a quick hug. “Please come over to our apartment sometime this week! I’m sure Sasaki-senpai will be glad to see you. We both missed you.”
Sasaki couldn't manage to make him drop the "senpai" in public, huh, Hirano's thinks in amusement. He barely has time to loosely hug him back before his now neighbor is dashing out the door. A distracted glance at his phone shows that Miyano probably stayed well past the time he should have.
He feels a bit guilty about it, but overall he feels… happy. He truly missed both Miyano and Sasaki, whenever life gave him enough of a break to think back to them.
He can’t wait to finally introduce Kagiura to Miyano.
*******
Minutes after the afternoon rush dies down, Sasaki has a strange encounter while he’s putting freshly-baked pastries in the bakery’s display cases. He hears the bell ring indicating that someone got in, but whoever it is doesn’t walk up to the register for a few seconds. Then, slowly, he hears footsteps approaching.
“Uh, excuse me. Are you by chance Sasaki Shuumei-san?”
Sasaki tilts his head in question but does not look up for fear of dropping the eclairs he’s still holding. That voice is familiar. “That would be correct. Who’s asking?”
“Oh! Kagiura Akira, I don’t know if you remember me,” the rushed introduction and that name pick even more at Sasaki’s brain. He finishes putting the eclairs away and gets up. More surprisingly, even after he stands straight he’s forced to look up. Kagiura… tall as hell and somewhat awkward… His brain supplies the image of blond hair and blue eyes to that line of thought.
Ah, of course.
“Roommate-kun!”
“R… roommate-kun?” Kagiura looks like he can’t decide if he hates the nickname or not, but Sasaki saves him from having to come up with a response to it. The man kinda looks like a kicked puppy as it is.
“My bad, Kagiura-kun. Just force of habit,” Sasaki smiles as he finishes wiping the top of the cases. Kagiura responds with a smile of his own and a reassurance that it’s all good. “How did you even know it was me? It’s been… what, ten years? Pretty sure you couldn’t see my face while I was putting those away.”
“Ah, well. Hirano-san told me that you run a bakery, and you still use the same hair dye,” Kagiura explains as he looks around and admires the decorations in the bakery. There’s a happy glint in his eyes when he notices the wide variety of pastries lining the display cases.
Sasaki tries not to, he really does. But the idea of being recognized by his dye alone makes him laugh in a way that startles his old… new customer? Back then they weren’t close enough to be called anything more than acquaintances.
Still, he feels comfortable around the guy. He’s oddly adorable.
“You mean the same hair dye that other people can also buy?” Sasaki teases, coming out from behind the counter in order to wipe down the few tables in the establishment too. He gestures for Kagiura to sit at one.
The pout that the younger man directs at him while he sits almost makes him burst out in laughter again.
“That’s why I asked when I came in instead of assuming…”
“Okay, don’t pout at me, it’s scarily good for a grown man,” Sasaki acts on the urge to ruffle Kagiura’s hair without thinking, the memory of seeing Hirano doing the same playing on the back of his mind. He immediately tries to apologize, but the brunette just waves it off with a calm and content smile. Must be used to the treatment. It doesn’t really help that he feels a little guilty, though. “Want some sweet bread?”
“Oh! Does it have any fillings?” Kagiura’s enthusiasm for just bread is quite endearing.
Sasaki dedicates a few minutes to telling him all the fillings he puts in sweet bread, surprised when he asks for one of each.
(“Of all of them?”
“I, uh, I have a fast metabolism. So I’m picking up some to snack later, too!”)
He dedicates more time to making a batch with strawberry filling from scratch, because he caught Kagiura’s slight pout when he said those were sold out in the afternoon rush.
(“Ah, hey, you don’t need to-”
“Kagiura-kun, you’re getting one each of all the sweet bread I have on the menu. This is nothing.”)
They catch up while the bread gets prepared and then packed, and eventually Sasaki puts two big boxes of different bread flavors in front of Kagiura. The sparkles in those green eyes make him look like a kid on Christmas.
“How much is it for this?” Kagiura asks while taking out his wallet. He’s about to open it for one of his cards before a hand softly pushes it.
“It’s on me,” Sasaki states with finality. It’s a tempting offer, and maybe Kagiura would take it if it was one or two pieces of bread. But it’s a lot of them.
“Wha- wait no, there’s too many of them for you to do that, Sasaki-san. I can pay them,” Kagiura insists, but Sasaki just pushes the hand with the wallet down again.
“Take it as a ‘hello, again’ gift, Kagiura-kun,” Sasaki reassures him, this time consciously ruffling that soft brown hair. There’s no pout this time, but Kagiura still looks a bit doubtful. “I did tease you first thing after so long, it’s only fair.”
Slowly, Kagiura pulls his hand away from Sasaki’s and pockets his wallet. His unease goes away when a gentle smile is directed his way.
“Well… alright, Sasaki-san. Thank you!” Kagiura cheerfully answers. He picks up the boxes and stands up, ready to leave. “I have to go help Hirano-san move our stuff into our new apartment, but I’ll come back some other day! And I will pay then!”
His determination startles another laugh out of the redhead, who walks Kagiura to the store’s entrance and holds the door open for him.
“Whatever you say. Bye, Kagiura-kun! Say ‘hi’ to Hirano for me,” Sasaki’s amused words get a “will do!” in response as the brunette speed-walks away with a wave goodbye.
Twinkling green eyes and a big smile mark Kagiura’s departure, and Sasaki can’t help but feel content about the idea of seeing both him and Hirano again.
*****
Miyano and Hirano text consistently throughout the whole week, and eventually settle on having dinner together on Friday once they confirm the date with their respective boyfriends.
When Hirano knocks on his friends’ door at the agreed time on Friday night, a very apologetic Miyano opens it. He gives a little awkward smile.
“Ah, Hirano-senpai! You’re here right on time, where’s that ‘Kagi-kun’ of yours-”
“Running late because of practice. You forgot, didn’t you?” Hirano questions, a bit peeved.
He reassesses his annoyance when he sees Miyano look back behind him while biting his lip, a tick of uncertainty he’s had since high school. No, he didn’t forget.
“Not… quite,” Miyano replies. There’s faint sounds of metal coming from inside, and the smell of freshly-baked pastries. In any situation that would be nice, but Miyano looks concerned.
“... Is Sasaki alright?” Hirano asks, no trace of his earlier annoyance in his face or voice. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about dinner if things aren’t fine with either of his friends.
Right on the target, it seems, at least judging from the way Miyano directs a little, concerned half-smile his way.
“He wanted to cook dinner for all of us, and we agreed on it a couple of days back. But today we woke up late, and he had a very bad day at work, and well… by the time he got home, he had completely forgotten to prepare anything for dinner in advance,” Miyano explains. He looks down at the floor, and now a hint of sadness peeks out. “I would have tried to help, but I only got back home a few minutes ago and he didn’t tell me anything beforehand. He bakes when his anxiety goes haywire, and well. Yeah.”
The explanation ends with a wave to the apartment behind him. That explains the very mouth-watering smell, at least.
“You should have just told me, I can help. Plus, it smells delicious in there,” Hirano reassures, though his tone is lightly scolding at first. By now Miyano should know he can rely on him. “If you guys want to still hold the dinner, I can tell you that neither Kagi-kun nor I would mind having pastries. The dessert I brought might be a bit overkill now, though.”
Seeing Miyano relax, Hirano pauses his rambling. Now that it’s gone, he can identify that a huge part of Miyano’s tense demeanor was him watching Hirano’s reaction like a hawk.
Not anxious or scared, like he thought at first. Protective is the right word.
“... Did you think I would react badly? He’s my friend too.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time someone does,” Miyano shrugs, a bit sheepish at doubting Hirano of all people. “Force of habit. I’m not letting anyone hurt him on top of him having a shit day if I have any say in it.”
Well, Hirano can’t be mad at that. Hell, he’s proud if anything. He ruffles Miyano’s hair, much to the other’s surprise. “Keep up the good work, Miyano. Now, let’s go in and help him, yeah?”
“Yeah!” Miyano beams at him, finally letting him inside the apartment. After taking his shoes off and putting on the provided slippers, Hirano takes a look around the space. It’s really warm inside, and Hirano figures it has to do with all the baking. “Are you sure you guys won’t mind eating pastries? It’s… a lot of them. I’m going to go give the excess ones to the neighbors even, since I usually can’t eat them.”
“I like baked goods well enough, and Kagi-kun? He has been gushing over the bread Sasaki gifted him the entire week. Believe me, we’re fine with this,” Hirano soothes him, making sure to send Kagiura a text informing him of tonight’s food.
When they get to the kitchen, Hirano finally understands why Miyano seemed so uncertain.
There’s pastries everywhere. Everywhere. Every single surface where a tray or plate with pastries can be placed, has at least one on it. In the center of the small-scale bakery that his friends’ kitchen turned to, Sasaki is sitting on a chair at the table. His back is visibly tense, and his head is resting in his hands.
It’s a somewhat heartbreaking sight, and Hirano steps up to him to try to cheer him up. It’s his first time seeing his friend in years, he wants to reassure him that he’s glad to see him, pastries or not.
“Hey, it’s been a while,” Hirano greets him. The ginger relaxes at feeling a friendly hand on his shoulder, and looks up. There’s bags under his eyes, but Hirano is glad that this doesn’t seem to be one of his worst crises. Those had been… tough to help with, back in high school. “How are you?”
“Well,” Sasaki sighs with a self-deprecating smile, gesturing at the state of their kitchen. His boyfriend is currently running around, wrapping and packing half of the pastries. Even with just half left out, it looks like a lot. “Could be better, but not the worst. I’m sorry about our dinner.”
With a promise to be back in a few minutes, Miyano steps out of the apartment with his arms filled with containers. Surely, he’s on his way to give their neighbors a very pleasant surprise.
“Nothing to be sorry for, all of this looks delicious,” Hirano states. At Sasaki’s skeptical expression, he pulls up his texts with Kagiura, showing his friend the string of excited kaomojis and heart emojis in response to the information on their dinner menu. “And someone is extremely excited to come eat a good chunk of these.”
The texts pull a warm, relieved smile out of Sasaki. It leaves Hirano a bit perplexed; he knew Sasaki doesn’t mind Kagiura, but he didn’t think he was fond enough for a smile like that.
Then again, he figures that as a baker you don’t just give big boxes of your best bread for free to someone you don’t feel at least some affection for.
“I’ll say though, I don’t think our blood sugar can sustain a lot of dinners like these. Our thirties probably won’t be that generous,” Hirano continues. The comment almost makes Sasaki feel down again, until he hears the rest: “So, how about we prepare it together next week? And the weeks after, assuming this all goes well.”
“Well, if you insist. It will be nice to cook together,” Sasaki accepts the offer. Now that he’s more calm, he takes a second to look at Hirano. Putting aside the obvious subtle changes that come with getting older, he’s glad that Hirano hasn’t really changed. Or well, not for the most part. “You let your hair grow out?”
As if just reminded of its existence, Hirano pulls his low ponytail forward to show the length. “Oh, yeah! At first I was too lazy to get it cut, but then Kagi-kun really took to it.”
A large hand comes up to gently hold the end of the ponytail, and Sasaki hums pensively. “Do you ever style it differently? A braid or something?”
“Ah yes, mostly because of Kagi-kun. He’s pretty good at it thanks to his sisters,” Hirano explains. Before they can continue their conversation, Miyano comes back with his hands empty and a satisfied expression.
“Oh! Right, I didn’t comment on it before, but long hair really suits you, Hirano-senpai!” Miyano gushes when he sees Sasaki admiring it. They expect him to continue, but instead he changes subjects. “Unrelated, but I gave the last box to this really tall stranger at the end of the hallway-”
Just then, the doorbell of the apartment rings.
Hirano quickly checks his phone, and heads toward the door before remembering that this isn’t his own place. He stops awkwardly and points toward the door. “Ah, that must be Kagi-kun…”
With a nod, Sasaki stands up and joins Hirano along with Miyano. The blond can practically feel Miyano vibrating with excitement behind both of them, extremely thrilled at finally meeting the fabled boyfriend.
Sasaki opens the door, and has to stifle a laugh at seeing a wide-eyed Kagiura happily munching on a ham and cheese croissant. He’s nicely dressed and his hair looks a bit damp still, clearly having hurried there after a post-practice shower.
“Hi, Kagiura-kun,” Sasaki greets with a gentle smile. He passes a napkin to the taller man, which he gratefully uses after taking the last bite.
“Hello, Sasaki-san!” Kagiura answers cheerfully. The ginger makes space for him to come in, and he does with a small bow.
He spends a few seconds switching his shoes for slippers, greets Hirano with a quick kiss on the cheek, and turns to Miyano with his friendliest look. The smaller man has to look up even higher than he’s used to.
“Well, time for introductions. Kagi-kun, this is Miyano, an old friend from high school,” Hirano gestures at the shorter man, not without a bit of dread at the noticeable sparkle in those big, brown eyes. “And Miyano, this is Kagi-kun, my boyfriend.”
The handsome man in front of him extends a really big hand, dwarfing Miyano’s own when he meets it for a handshake.
“Kagiura Akira. It’s so nice to meet you, Miyano-san,” Kagiura greets warmly, enthusiastically shaking his hand. Then his smile turns a little sheepish. “And thank you so much for the pastry! Sorry for eating it right there, I always get hungry after practice.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that! Miyano Yoshikazu, and it’s nice to meet you too,” Miyano introduces himself with a smile, staring right into Kagiura’s eyes.
Without letting go of his hand, the shorter one tilts his head to the side. Feeling a bit like he’s being studied and somewhat unsettled under that sharp, clear gaze, Kagiura glances at Hirano for a second and then back at his new acquaintance.
His boyfriend looks a bit puzzled too, but he can hear Sasaki attempting to hold back a giggle behind him.
Miyano is still staring at him, the glint in his eyes brighter by the second. There’s mischief behind those eyes.
“...”
“... Uh, is something wrong?” Kagiura finally inquires.
As if finally enlightened, Hirano’s expression morphs to exasperation. “Miyano… don’t-”
His old friend turns to the blond.
“I always knew you were an uke,” Miyano finally speaks with a triumphant grin, as if winning a long-standing debate.
What would have been a very loud laugh from Sasaki and an annoyed yell from Hirano don’t get the chance to come out, because the line pulls a snort and then a full laugh out of Kagiura. Even Miyano is staring at him in wonder, not expecting his jab to land him laughs from anyone except his own partner.
A glance to Sasaki shows that he didn’t expect that either, though he’s back to smiling warmly at their newest guest. The blond next to him looks torn between humor and annoyance.
“Having fun, you brat?”
The grumbled question makes Kagiura take a deep breath, using his free hand to wipe away a tear as he chuckles.
“I just got reminded of when my little sister called you a ‘cat-coded uke’,” the green-eyed man explains with a playful grin. He feels the hand that is still in Miyano’s grip be squeezed (with a startling amount of force), and turns to find sparkly, big brown eyes trained on him again.
“You like BL?” Miyano excitedly asks. Even with just a few minutes of having met this man, Kagiura feels like this is a bit of an important question.
“Oh, yeah? I don’t read it often but I’m always game to talk about anything you want. Been doing that with my sister for a long time,” Kagiura answers honestly. The delighted squeal that Miyano lets out is very cute, and it pulls smiles out of all of them.
The one on Hirano’s face is as strained as it is fond, but still.
“We are definitely going to become great friends, Kagiura-san!” Miyano states. He lets go of the taller man’s hand, and both of them feel strangely put off by that. Not that any of them mention it, dismissing the feeling as nothing of importance. The shortest man in the room turns to Hirano with a mock-upset expression. “You’re so cruel, Hirano-senpai. I would have loved to meet him sooner!”
They all walk back to the dining room, and both Sasaki and Hirano busy themselves arranging pastries to start dinner.
The blond heaves an exasperated sigh. “Don’t pull that on me, you know damn well why I didn’t. And just because I didn’t introduce you guys doesn’t mean it’s my fault you didn’t meet him before. Niibashi could have introduced you too. Or Hanzawa.”
“Shirahama too,” Sasaki pipes in.
They all turn to him, Hirano with an especially pointed look. He’s saved by Kagiura from having to point out the obvious. “Or Sasaki-san.”
“Kagiura-kun!” Sasaki exclaims with a clearly fake-hurt gasp, clutching at his chest. “I give you some of my best bread, and you betray me like this!”
The dramatics pull a chuckle out of both of the younger men from their seats, but Hirano just rolls his eyes with a smile. He lightly hits the back of Sasaki’s head as he heads for the table. “In his defense, I think Sasaki was trying to respect my decision.”
The ginger nods as he joins them with his own big plate of pastries, putting it in the middle of the table next to the one Hirano placed there.
They all spend a good time having conversations about both their lives and their mutual friends’ lives over the years. The table is also filled with praise for all the pastries Sasaki baked, getting a pleased smile from him.
(“Sasaki-san… these are so goooood,” Kagiura looks like he’s either three seconds away from kissing Sasaki, or crying. Potentially both.
The honest praise gets a giggle from the ginger. “Good thing we live across from each other then, right? I can make these for you when you want some, Kagiura-kun.”
“Don’t spoil him too much, Sasaki,” Hirano scolds with a smile.
“I don’t think you have a leg to stand on when it comes to not spoiling people, Hirano-senpai,” Miyano replies laughing.)
Once everyone is full, they move the conversation to the living room. Their conversations take an even more relaxed tone when Miyano brings out the drinks.
“Miya-kun, Hirano-san told me that you lifted the biiig box of books aaall by yourself,” Kagiura starts, considerably tipsy already. His partner eyes him with a mix of fondness and cautiousness, and takes his drink away from him while he’s distracted talking. “I don’t believe it.”
The claim makes Miyano’s brows rise up, but he looks amused instead of offended. After a sip of his own drink, the shorter man replies. “Well, I did. What, do I look too small for it?”
“What. No?” Kagiura seems confused by the logic, frowning in thought. His eyes scan over the librarian’s body in a way that he probably wouldn’t if he was sober. “You seem solid enough, I just mean like. It took both Hirano-san and me to get it up in the first place.”
“I work in a library and do a lot of heavy-lifting, Kagiura-kun. The other librarians are mostly elderly people and had to wait until maintenance personnel could help them move stuff around before I got hired,” Miyano explains, his mischievous smile growing by the minute.
Kagiura still frowns in thought, probably trying to figure out where Miyano even pulls that strength from. Off to the side, Sasaki enjoys the show. Once his boyfriend got over his height complex and his strength built up with his work, he developed a taste for messing with people. He likes wearing looser clothes and appearing small only to perform feats of strength that surprise others.
In the baker’s opinion, Miyano has taken to teasing beautifully over the years. Not as much to surpass him, but still.
“Hmm… I wanna see,” Kagiura eventually settles for. It’s not an accusatory tone, he simply sounds like a kid who’s looking to see something cool.
“Alright! Anything heavy enough you want me to lift?”
A few seconds go by, before Hirano finally pipes in to help. “We still haven’t unpacked that box of books, if it helps.”
“Perfect! Let’s go for that…” Miyano enthusiastically starts, but then he looks to the side. The warning look in his boyfriend’s grey eyes makes him wince. “... after I warm up a little to prevent an injury?”
The ginger nods in approval. He hasn’t talked much since they started drinking, mostly because it annoys him when it messes with his speech. Their guests didn’t seem to mind, content with having his smiles and reactions to the conversations going on.
While they wait for Miyano to clumsily warm up, Hirano and Kagiura stumble their way to open the door to their apartment. It’s still somewhat messy from the recent move, but they doubt their friends will mind.
Five minutes later, Sasaki and Miyano walk in. The younger man seems to be on the tail end of warming up his right shoulder. It clicks faintly before Miyano lets out a pleased sigh, and then stands in front of their still-crowded counter with a smile.
The sound his shoulder made causes Kagiura to tilt his head in question. He almost tips over to the side due to his alcohol-induced lack of balance, but Sasaki steadies him quickly enough. “That didn’t sound too good, Miya-kun.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s an old thing. Doesn’t give me issues once it’s warmed up,” Miyano reassures with a wave of his hand. Then he nods toward the box in the middle of the counter. “So, can I?”
It is Hirano who gives him the okay with a hand gesture, leaned back on the sofa so he can watch his skeptical boyfriend’s reaction. He feels Sasaki join him, and a head of ginger hair rests on his shoulder. He figures the other man is a sleepy drunk.
Just like he did at the start of the week and without much need to even brace himself, Miyano swiftly pulls the box off the counter and right over his shoulder. He turns easily so he can face his audience, seemingly not hindered by the considerable weight he’s now carrying.
Kagiura’s face is priceless.
“What… there’s no way- huh?” Kagiura’s babbling only gets interrupted when he walks up to Miyano, barely believing what he’s seeing. He checks the contents of the box, and then warns Miyano before he tries fruitlessly to lift the box off the man’s shoulder. “... What the fuck?”
“That’s what you get for not believing me,” Hirano taunts from the side, though he does keep his laughter to a minimum in order to not dislodge the dozing Sasaki on his shoulder.
“I just don’t- do you bodybuild or something?” Kagiura asks, but he doesn’t sound put off so much as he sounds awed. As an athlete, the casual display of strength is like catnip for him.
“Nope! Just almost a decade of getting the grunt work at the library,” Miyano replies. He carefully positions his hand so he can jokingly flex his left arm. “Carrying heavy books constantly can work wonders.”
“... Do I need to volunteer at the library?” Kagiura mumbles. At Hirano’s complaint that he already exercises more than enough, the tall man just shakes himself as if to knock the idea away. “Very sorry to have doubted you, Miya-kun. This is impressive!”
“No offense taken, Kagiura-kun. However, I’ll definitely be taking my sleepy cat boyfriend before he actually uses Hirano-senpai as a bed,” Miyano carefully places the box back on the counter. Then he walks over to the two men leaning on the back of the couch, and softly taps Sasaki on the shoulder.
When he sees the baker stir, Miyano holds out his arms. His eyes are twinkling in expectant joy.
“Nope, I’m walking,” Sasaki yawns and stretches, absentmindedly tapping Miyano’s right shoulder in response.
Even though he knows it won’t work, Miyano pouts in protest. “But I warmed up and everything!”
“No,” Sasaki replies, and that’s enough for his boyfriend to give up. He lovingly takes one of Miyano’s outstretched hands and lets himself be pulled to the door, where he turns around with a sleepy smile and a wave. “Good night, Hirano, Kagi-kun.”
“Good night!” Kagiura returns, and his excited reply comes with a wave from Hirano.
Once the door closes and they’re both alone, Hirano and Kagiura look at each other with expressions of utter contentment. That dinner went even better than they were expecting, and they’re both clearly eager to have a repeat as soon as possible.
With slow but sure steps, Hirano pushes himself off the couch and approaches his boyfriend. Once close enough, the blond wraps his arms loosely around that strong neck. Sultry blue eyes stare right into dark green.
“So, did you enjoy the night?” Hirano inquires with a knowing grin. One of his hands travels up the back of Kagiura’s neck, finally burying his fingers in the soft, dark hair.
The taller man groans at the feeling, practically melting into his touch.
“You know I did! The food was delicious, Sasaki-san’s pastries are so good. And Miya-kun is super nice,” Kagiura sighs, his happy expression shifting to hunger the longer he feels his hair played with. Big, strong hands wrap around Hirano’s waist, pulling him flush to himself. His lips find their way to the side of the blond’s neck, speaking between the kisses he places on it. “So strong too… Do you think he can lift you?”
The stimulation pulls a low moan out of Hirano. He tilts his hips forward, searching for more friction for both of them. Strangely, the topic of Miyano doesn’t pull him out of his rapidly growing arousal. “He definitely can. That box is- mmm- is so heavy.”
“We’ll have to ask him someday,” Kagiura teases, a little breathless. He matches Hirano’s movements, one of his hands slipping down to grab his ass and pull him even closer. “How drunk are you?”
“Not enough to worry about. I swear, Akki, if you don’t fuck me right now-”
There’s no more talk about their friends after that, or much talk about anything at all. The only sounds to be heard in that apartment are a wide arrange of groans, whines, and the muted thud of the bed frame.
In the apartment across from theirs, the situation isn’t that different.
Straddling his partner’s hips, Sasaki keeps a slow and lazy pace as he rides Miyano. It’s his favorite thing when they both get just drunk enough: thorough makeout sessions leading to playful and unhurried sex. It’s one of the few times Sasaki loves riding, barely has to put any effort into it, since neither of them are that eager for an orgasm. Sometimes they even go to sleep without reaching one.
He can take as much time as he wants, feel the slide and press of Miyano inside him. See all the love and desire contained in those half-lidded brown eyes, and reciprocate it with all of his own. Talk about anything they want in the intimacy of that moment.
As he’s rolling his hips with a breathless moan, Sasaki tilts his head to the side in thought. His love is looking at him with a relaxed expression, meeting his movements without any issues, but there’s also that specific look that says he wants to ask something.
“Are you feeling better?” Miyano’s question is a hoarse whisper. The gorgeous man on top of him pauses, and then sits so that his cock will go as deep in him as possible. Both of them moan, and the ginger braces himself with his hands on Miyano’s chest so he can lean a bit closer.
“Much better…” Sasaki sighs. The hands that were resting on those long legs slide up so they can hold his hips, and Miyano steadies him enough to gently rock into him without dislodging him. Giving Sasaki a break. “I missed them. They look ha- ah!- happier… Kagi-kun seems to like me more than before.”
“Of course he does, the guy loves everything you bake. And I can tell he likes that you’re nice to him. Hmm… he’s a bit like a puppy, isn’t he?” Miyano points out with a pensive smile. Apparently more tired now, Sasaki lays most of his torso on top of Miyano, giving him a slow kiss. His hands now play with the black hair splayed like a halo on the pillow. “He’s so tall, too. Taller than you”
“I think he was before too, but not this much. That’s new,” Sasaki whines when Miyano’s hands shift from his hips and move back, each getting a handful of a cheek to squeeze. The baker smiles in that teasing way of his. “Now you have someone else to reach for the top cabinet for you.”
Those words earn Sasaki a playful eyeroll and a slap to his ass, not too hard, just as he likes it. The impact startles a moan out of him, which quickly shifts to a quieter version of one of his characteristic laughs. Laughing gives way to panting and whining when Miyano plants his feet on the bed and picks up the pace.
After so long with a lazy rhythm, the fast upward thrusts quickly become overwhelming. In no time Sasaki gets reduced to a moaning, limp mess on top of his boyfriend. From where his head rests on a strong shoulder, he feels a kiss pressed to his damp, orange hair.
“Or someone else to carry you if you can’t walk tomorrow,” Miyano’s cheery tone is a wild contrast to the way he’s playing with Sasaki’s body.
The older man finds it hot as hell.
Barely a minute into the rougher pace, the ginger shakes with his release. After his own intense orgasm, Sasaki feels too sleepy to do much else. The pace of Miyano’s thrusts slows down considerably, and he flips them over so his boyfriend can rest.
“Sleep, love. I’m almost done,” Miyano reassures him, this time with a kiss to his cheek. He waits until Sasaki nods his permission before continuing.
Despite the creeping overstimulation, the steady pace of his boyfriend’s thrusts quickly lull the tipsy and satisfied ginger to a mostly comfortable sleep.
The last thing he feels is a soft kiss, gentle rocking, and the feeling that life is somehow about to get better for both of them.