dream dreams

“Have a good evening?”

Michinaga’s cheeks warmed up despite the chill, averting his gaze away from the man in front of him. “It was nice, thank you.” He looked back up at him, giving him a little nod. 

“You don’t have to be so formal.” Ace reminded him gently, stepping closer and bringing his hands up to kiss them with warm lips. “I am Haruki-kun’s teacher, not yours.” The man teased and Michinaga rolled his eyes, but expression softened quickly.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Thanks for taking me out.”

Ace grinned and nodded, lowering his hands but not letting them go. “Much better, Azuma-kun~” He winked at him and the man stuck his tongue out in response. Ace leaned down, kissing the man’s temple gently, causing him to relax.

“Will you be available next week?”

Michinaga sighed, leaning against him a bit. “I’m not sure, I think Toru has work next weekend.” And Ace was well aware that he didn’t trust just anybody to babysit his brother, so the teacher gave him a small nod.

“That’s alright, we’ll find time.” Ace gave his hands a squeeze and let them go. “I should go before the last train leaves.” He finally let go of him, but reached into his bag, pulling out a small tupperware. “I made these for you though.” He handed Michinaga the box, who took it, lifting it up to eye the cookies within.

“Haruki will be happy. Thanks.” He lowered the box, stepping forward so he could push himself up and sweetly kiss his companion. Ace’s eyes fluttered shut, hand coming to rest on his waist as he kissed him back. It was short and gentle before Michinaga was pulling back, not that he really wanted to.

“Tell Imai-san thank you for babysitting from me.” He squeezed his waist. “Have a good evening, Micchan~”

“Night, Ace.”

Michinaga watched him walk away, disappearing around the building. Then he turned and headed to the entrance, taking his keys from his pocket. He quickly headed up to the apartment, immediately being greeted by a seven year old ramming directly into his stomach.

“Michi-nii!”

“Oof..” Michinaga laid a hand on top of his head, ruffling his dark hair. “Hey, kid. I’m home. Did ya miss me?” He looked down at him, met with his brother’s big grin and a nod. “Sorry sorry, didn’t mean to stay out so late.” He adjusted his grip on the tupperware and then bent down, picking up Haruki with ease.

He carried the boy to the kitchen, where Toru was sitting. Michinaga sat him down on the counter, putting the box of cookies in his lap. “He wasn’t too hard on you, eh, Toru?” He turned towards his friend who shook his head. 

Haruki opened the tupperware, immediately sneaking a cookie from within. “Nah, Haruki here is always good. We stayed up late, ordered pizza, definitely didn’t devour your candy stash.” Toru leaned back in the chair with a grin, earning an eye roll from his friend.

“Did you meet with sensei, Michi-nii?” 

Michinaga froze, blinking a couple of times since Haruki couldn’t see his face. Then he turned towards him, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” He tilted his head to the side, as if it would help hide the truth. 

“These are his lemon cookies!” Haruki proudly announced, holding up the glazed yellow cookie. He looked so proud of himself for figuring it out. Michinaga looked away, clearing his throat. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Toru looked amused by the situation, giving his friend a look.

“Wait, why?” Haruki squinted at him. “Am I in trouble?!”

“Haah? No! You aren't in trouble.” Michinaga promised, stealing the cookie from his brother's hand. “We were hanging out as friends.” He explained carefully, he didn't want Haruki to be uncomfortable with the idea of his brother dating his teacher. In general, Michinaga avoided dating since they left home.

“Hmmm, will I get more cookies?”

“Probably.”

“Okay!” He happily accepted this answer, taking another cookie since his older brother so rudely stole his. Michinaga sighed in relief, finishing the cookie as he turned back to Toru. “Can we watch another movie before niichan goes home?” He asked, and Michinaga was just glad the conversation about Ace didn’t progress.

“Yeah I got time for that, Michinaga?”

“Sure.”

Michinaga took the container from him, closing it and putting it aside. Then Haruki jumped down from the counter. “I’ll go pick!” He ran off to the living room, the two men chuckling at his still excited behaviour at almost midnight. Toru pulled himself up from the chair, pushing it in when he stepped away.

“Good date?”

“Very. I’ll text you later.”

“Aye aye.” 

“You work next weekend, yeah?”

“Ugh, yeah, the boss has me covering for the site supervisor. Apparently his wife had the baby.”

Michinaga bit his tongue, but nodded. Neither of them liked the site supervisor. Toru grabbed his elbow, stopping them in the hallway before they reached the living room. “You’re not gonna be able to hide Ace from Haruki forever anyway. It’s been like eight dates. Just do something family friendly with them both.”

“I hate when you try to read me.”

“Yeah, cause I’m always right.” 

Toru laughed when his friend shouldered past him and into the living room. Michinaga hated when he was right. Toru dropped it for the time being, following him into the living room where Haruki was impatiently waiting for them. The boy ran up to them, grabbing a hand each and tugging them over to the couch.

“You're way too young for this.”

“Niichan let me play dead by daylight with him!”

Toru coughed into his elbow.

Michinaga turned to look at him.

Haruki ran ahead of him towards the arcade in their neighborhood, already excited for the premise of playing games all day. Michinaga followed behind, hands in his pockets as he watched his brother carefully.

“Don't go too far!”

“Then hurry up, Michi-nii! You walk slow!”

“Brat..” Michinaga mumbled under his breath, picking up his pace to catch up with him. He watched Haruki take a sharp turn into the open door of the arcade, ducking inside. He was quick to follow him though, not actually wanting to lose line of sight on the boy. 

Haruki was already animatedly chatting to a familiar tall man, and Michinaga felt immediate relief. He didn’t seem to be put off by Ace’s presence. The man walked up to them, removing his hands from his pocket, along with his wallet. Haruki looked up at him, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Sensei is going to play games with us!” 

“Mhm, I know. Excited?”

Haruki gave him a thumbs up. “Great,” Michinaga opened his wallet, pulling out some of the cash within. He handed it down to Haruki. “Go buy tokens.” He ushered the boy towards the counter and he ran off with the money. Michinaga zipped his wallet back up and pocketed it. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” Ace leaned down, kissing his temple as per his usual greeting. Michinaga tensed at the display of affection, but didn’t pull away. He had to get over himself. He leaned against him, nuzzling his shoulder a bit instead of saying anything. “I was surprised you asked me out like this.”

“Yeah well, he already likes you. May as well make it official or whatever.” Michinaga straightened out, watching Haruki return with a bag of tokens. Ready, kid?” 

“Mhm! Come play air hockey with me, sensei!” Haruki grabbed Ace's hand, tugging the tall man along. 

“Coming coming.”

Michinaga followed them, his heart stirring in his chest at the image before him. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad, letting their little family grow. He had never really given it a thought, it’d just been the three of them for five years now. But Ace was really good with him, both inside the classroom and out. 

It resonated with Michinaga's wishes.

He really was in too deep now, wasn't he? He wanted to sigh, but couldn't bring himself to. Instead standing beside the air hockey machine to watch their little match. 

“Can you even reach?” Michinaga teased his brother who definitely did. He caught the mallet that was halfheartedly tossed at him, snickering as he placed it back on the table. He slid it towards Haruki once more. The boy caught it and stuck his tongue out at him.

“Now I feel like I have to go easy on you.” Ace chuckled, his mallet sliding between his hands on the air table.

“No way!” Haruki shook his head, grabbing the puck from the slot. “I'm going to kick your-” he stopped, “butt!” He continued. Ace side eyed Michinaga, the man looking away and whistling. He was a guardian sure but he was a brother first and foremost.