sock

minors, please interact at your own risk. I'll label +18 post as needed and even place content warnings so I can create a safe environment for those who choose to engage. I trust all minors to do their own due diligence and not to engage with post labeled as +18.

other than that, I'll also mention not to leave hateful comments under my posts. I'm a creative writer, I know the difference between constructive criticism vs. horrible comments. as mentioned I want my works to bring comfort, and the same should apply to the comment section as well. Any comments that break this rule will automatically be deleted and blocked.

in any case, here are fandoms I write for

Dungeon Meshi

Fields of Mistria

Full metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Gachiakuta

Tamon's B-Side

Twisted Wonderland

Hirose and Nakamura were friends for what was starting to feel like a very long time. From the moment Nakamura stopped Hirose from pouring water over the octopi during their home economics class in their first year, Hirose had passively introduced the idea of being Nakamura’s friend long before Nakamura himself asked to be friends with him in Yokohama.

Their friendship was something Hirose had believed was special for both of them. On more occasions than Hirose could count, he’d confided in Nakamura with his insecurities he’d never unveiled to anyone else. And sometimes, when his pleading had worn down Nakamura’s defenses, he allowed himself to be fully honest around Hirose. In Hirose’s mind, he was the closest friend and confidant of Nakamura Okuto, so why was it that Nakamura only ever seemed to laugh louder when he was around Kawamura and her group of friends?

Hirose watched from his table as Nakamura sat beside Kawamura, Okuda, and Hamaoka in the usual corner by the classroom door. They were giggling about whatever it was that had gotten them into a good mood on this particular day, Okuda’s elbow going to nudge Nakamura’s side, causing him to blush over what it was she said before he burst into a fit of laughter. Hirose was never upset by their friendship; even in this moment, he was happy that Nakamura had other people he got along with that weren’t him, but he still couldn’t shake off that nagging question in his head. Why doesn’t he laugh like that with me?

The straw of Hirose’s half-empty juice box was pinched between his teeth as he stared at the group. Of course, Hirose himself was in conversation with Takeuchi and Mukai, but it had grown clear that the two of them had caught on to his ongoing distraction.

“You better not be staring at my girl there,” Takeuchi said as a half-threat, but Hirose knew it held no merit.

His juice box fell from his lips as he turned to look at Takeuchi. “You know I would never,” he said a little harsher than intended. He cleared his throat and calmed down whatever it was that was spiking inside of him. “I was just curious about what’s going on there.”

Mukai glanced at the group and hummed. “Maybe they’re talking about BL stuff. You know how those girls are.”

Something crawled inside Hirose when Mukai’s words settled with him. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what this sudden feeling was, but he just let it pass. “You think Nakamura’s into BL?”

“It wouldn’t be that weird if he is,” Mukai answered. “It would explain why they got so close.”

“What?” Takeuchi groaned as he threw his back against his seat. “I don’t need that guy having anything in common with Hamaoka.”

Hirose picked up his juice box, sparing one last look over to Nakamura, watching him carelessly smile. Whatever it was they were talking about, it was apparently leagues more interesting in comparison to anything he and Nakamura ever talked about before. But still, how nice that smile looked on him.

Over the last three years of knowing each other, it had become part of Hirose’s and Nakamura’s daily routine to walk home together after classes were over. Sometimes they would go a random new route or take a turn where they weren’t supposed to, to explore the area between school and their respective homes. It’s how Nakamura and he found some of their favorite bakeries, cafes, and random third spaces to sit and chill for a while. They even found a board game store where they could book a table and just play games together for hours. It was the only time Hirose got to hang out with Nakamura outside of the very few weekends when both of their schedules aligned.

Nakamura walked by Hirose’s side on their way back home together. He had noticed how Nakamura had stopped bringing his bike to school since they had started keeping each other company after school, but today Nakamura had it with him. Hirose, in that moment, recalled how Nakamura didn’t have the time to hang out today since he had some study time to catch up on. Hirose wanted to ask earlier if he could study with him, just for the sake of spending more time together, but a part of him felt like he wouldn’t be able to focus in Nakamura’s presence.

Hirose and Nakamura waved each other goodbye, and as Nakamura mounted his bike and went off, Hirose continued to stare as Nakamura peddled away, unsure of why his chest felt so heavy.

Hirose ultimately decided to head to Cafe Saku, the same one he and Nakamura went to just the other day, and waste his time away. There wasn’t much he wanted to do, but perhaps eating the sweet treats in this cafe would remind him of his time spent there with Nakamura.

Huh?

Hirose tried to shake the thought out of his head. There was absolutely no reason to be thinking of Nakamura in this very moment. Sure, they were best friends, but Hirose could spend time completely on his own without needing to think of his handsome, kind, and gentle friend. Hirose’s body warmed up at that thought.

“Hirose?”

Hirose looked up to the side when he heard that familiar sweet voice, and was met with the sight of Sakamoto standing right next to him. Since the two of them broke up, they stopped referring to eachother by their first names, and after becoming classmates during their second year, they managed to find a way to just be friends and let their previous relationship stay behind them.

“Oh, Sakamoto, what are you doing here?” This could be a good distraction from what was going on in his brain.

“Hifumi told me about it,” Sakamoto answered. “She started working here recently, so I came by to see her.” She looked around the cafe and sighed. “I guess she doesn’t work today…”

Hirose already knew that Sakamoto and Kawamura had become friends last year since she was also in the same class with them. The two of them were as close to each other as Hirose was to Nakamura, so he understood Sakamoto’s dismay when her dear friend wasn’t here.

“Do you want to sit?” Hirose asked her, and Sakamoto nodded, taking the seat opposite him. “Sooo, you came all this way without knowing if Kawamura was here?”

“Umm, well…” Sakamoto immediately erupted into an intense blush, leaving Hirose confused over what could have made her react that way. “I was hoping to surprise her is all. Ya’know, so we could walk home together after she was done with her shift.”

Was she willing to wait four hours in this cafe just to walk home with Kawamura? Maybe they were closer than Hirose originally thought. Though, to be fair, he would do the same with Nakamura if he had a job.

Their conversation was put on pause when the door opened, and a woman came through, immediately calling out a name. Hirose and Sakamoto turned to look at the woman as she walked over to the counter in the back.

“Rie!” she said gleefully, calling for the attention of the woman behind the counter, who also happened to look about the same age. “Sorry, I came back so late. I tried wrapping it up as quickly as possible, but they kept finding more ways to keep me there.”

The woman behind the counter lifted the flap on the table to let the other woman go right behind, and as soon as the two women were face-to-face, they leaned in to kiss one another and parted like it was the most casual thing in the world. For Hirose, however, it felt like his whole life had been flipped on its head. He knew a bit about LGBTQ, or at least bits and pieces, like people having attraction towards people of the same sex, but he had never seen it in person before.

“Those two are the owners of the cafe and Hifumi’s bosses.” Hirose pulled his eyes away from the two women and looked over to see that Sakamoto was watching the sight too. “The one who just came in is Himari, and that’s her wife, Rie. I’ve only talked to them once before, but they’re really nice people.”

Hirose couldn’t find the right words to say; in fact, he had no idea what to say. Sakamoto picked up on his silence and turned to look at him, laughing a little.

“It’s your first time, huh?”

Hirose cleared his throat. “Yeah— I mean, I don’t find it weird or anything,” he quickly defended. “I just never saw something like that before.”

“It’s not that different from when a boy and a girl kiss.” Sakamoto looked over to the two women again, who were now in their own world of conversation. Seeing them together changed that part in Hirose’s heart that he didn’t understand, the part that pinched and swelled when he was with Nakamura. “I’m in love with Hifumi.”

“Huh?” Hirose could hardly register what she had just said, letting out the first sound he could make. Does Sakamoto like girls? But she dated him just two years ago. Could people really go from liking boys to liking girls that quickly?

Sakamoto fiddled with the hem of her sleeves, shifting the fabric between her fingers. “Sorry, I just thought…”

“No, it’s just— it wasn’t that.” Hirose didn’t want to make it look like he wasn’t accepting of Sakamoto. He wanted to be her friend, but this part he found just a little confusing. “I just… I thought you liked boys.”

“I do,” she answered honestly. “And I also like girls.”

“You can like both?” Hirose was surprised by this. He had always thought it was one or another, but never both. His reaction seemed to put Sakamoto at ease as she laughed again.

“That’s what people call being bisexual. Plenty of people these days are more open in saying they like both boys and girls,” Sakamoto explained carefully. “So yeah, I like Hifumi.”

Hirose smiled back at her. “Kawamura is one lucky girl.”

Hirose and Nakamura had made weekend plans to hang out with each other at the park and have some sort of picnic together. They had just finished eating their lunch, and Nakamura was rambling about his pet octopus Icchan. Hirose, on the other hand, was lying down on the blanket, looking up at the clouds as he listened. It was one of the rare occasions in which Nakamura led the conversation, and Hirose would much sooner throw himself into the sun than interrupt him. But somewhere in between, Hirose’s mind wandered into other territory, namely, the conversation he had with Sakamoto yesterday.

He had stayed up later than usual last night, thinking about what she had said, trying to figure out why it stuck to him for so long. he wasn’t taken aback by the idea that she liked girls, not at all, but when he tried applying that same concept to himself, something in him felt off.

Hirose had entertained the idea of liking boys before, back when he was in middle school, and he thought the sheer amount of affection Matsumura was throwing in his direction felt a little bit confusing, but he let the thought go as quickly as it emerged. Hirose is a boy; it was only natural that he should only like girls, but somehow, that thought didn’t feel right either.

“What happens if you like both girls and boys?” Hirose had blurted out before he could even pass it through some sort of filter. Nakamura immediately put a pause to what he was saying and looked down at Hirose from where he was sitting. Hirose, in an instant, felt his face heat up to a feverish degree, but he stayed quiet, waiting to see if Nakamura would say something.

“Well…” Nakamura started, trying to find the words. “What makes you say that?”

Hirose tried and failed to dampen the drumming of his heart, but he found the words regardless. “I just realized recently that the world doesn’t have to be so black and white, this or that. And that maybe… I didn’t have to be like that either…” It only started to settle with Hirose what he was suggesting as the words left his mouth. A mountain of dread fell upon him in that very moment, in fear that maybe Nakamura wouldn’t be as accepting of this topic as he and Sakamoto were yesterday.

“Hirose.” Nakamura moved closer to him, leaning his head down and blocking out the sun from Hirose’s view. They were close now, though perhaps, only Hirose was hyperaware of their distance. “No matter what you choose, or who you turn out to be, I’ll always be your best friend.”

What felt like a lethal pang in his chest sent his heart racing faster than ever before, and suddenly all of his worries melted away. It was in that moment that Hirose found himself becoming infinitely more honest than he usually would be whenever he was with Nakamura.

“Can you laugh with me, the same way you laugh with Kawamura and her friends?” Hirose asked. “You can tell me anything you want, if you like BL, I want to know about it, I— I want to know everything.” Nakamura’s eyes shifted from surprised to a breathtaking softness at Hirose’s question. His chest only felt tighter at the sight.

“Of course,” Nakamura said just as softly.

And then something settled with Hirose. So much has changed with Nakamura over the years, and it wasn’t just the fact that he had become more open with time, but he’d also grown, too. Even if Nakamura wasn’t the type to be into sports, he somehow managed to keep himself in pretty fit condition; he even bulked up a bit. But that wasn’t all, he’d grown taller, almost a whole head taller than Hirose, and although Hirose himself had grown to be five foot six, Nakamura was now six whole feet. He was already 18 years old and looked so mature now, but he was still the same Nakamura.

Hirose couldn’t say for the life of him what this feeling was, but maybe in time it would become clear to him, and he’ll look back and wonder what took him so long to realize. And at the very least, he knew he would have Nakamura by his side for all of it.

There are many things in Nakamura’s life that he knows to be a certainty; the first on this long list is his sexuality. From the moment he was in his fourth year of elementary school, he had already become abundantly aware of the fact that he’d much sooner swear his hand in marriage to a boy than he ever would to a girl. The second is that octopus mothers are extremely devoted to their eggs, forgoing food and sometimes sleep for several years to ensure the survival of their children. The last of these three main facts is that he is madly in love with Hirose Aiki. From when they met on the first day of high school, a part of Nakamura tied itself intrinsically to the mere concept of Hirose. Heart being tugged along with the flutter of his lashes, ears tuning in to the sound of his voice. Every part of Hirose lit up every part of Nakamura, and this certainty was the worst of all.

In all three years of knowing Hirose, even when Nakamura was hit with the cruel reality that Hirose would never fall in love with him, his heart and mind still dreamed of and only loved that boy. He had learned to be content with knowing that he’d be nothing more than Hirose’s best friend, but a part of his naive heart still reared its jealous head when a girl ever openly flirted with Hirose in front of him. And his stupid heart was doing just that in this very moment.

Nakamura wasn’t one for rumors, but he’d heard plenty about Yamamoto Akane long before she made her way into his classroom every lunch period. Nakamura and Hirose had the misfortune of running into her when they went to the cafeteria to grab food two weeks ago, and she had not peeled herself from Hirose’s side since then. Constantly finding excuses to intrude on a conversation or interrupting when she realized that the topic was no longer about her or Hirose, and worst of all, she was incredibly rude to Hifumi, Masako, and Yuuka.

“I hope she falls down a manhole on her way back home,” Okuda said as she stared over to Hirose, Takeuchi, Mukai, and, unfortunately, Yamamoto. Neither of the boys seemed all too happy to have her sitting at Hirose's table, but they knew that any attempt to get her to leave wouldn't work.

“You can't say things like that, Masako,” Hifumi quickly said in a hushed tone. “That's bad karma!”

“I don't care,” Masako groaned out rather loudly. “She's messing up the vibes with her weird obsession with Hirose. Right, Yuuka?”

Masako turned to face towards Yuuka, who had her face buried in the latest volume of Lovable Lunches. She looked up from the manga and peered over to Yamamoto. “I don’t like her much,” Yuuka admitted as calmly as she always spoke.

“See!” Masako said to Hifumi. “No one here likes her, I’m sure, even Okuto here doesn’t like her.”

“Whoa, don’t get me roped into this,” Nakamura said, hoping to calm Masako down before she had half a mind to go over there and throw Yamamoto out of the classroom window. No matter how much Nakamura wanted to join her in doing so.

Masako gave him an angry look, though he knew that anger wasn’t actually directed towards him. “Oh, please, aren’t you upset? It’s Hirose she’s after.”

Of course, he was upset. Nakamura was always upset when anyone would show any level of romantic interest in Hirose. But after Hirose first started dating Hana and promptly got broken up with, he promised himself that he would never interfere with any of Hirose’s relationships; it was his happiness over Nakamura’s after all. So if Hirose decided that he wanted to be with Yamamoto, no matter how much he disliked her, he would let it be and support Hirose however he could.

Yuuka seemed to catch onto Nakamura’s silence and gave him an out. “Let’s just focus on other things for now. I’m sure this whole situation will work itself out in no time.”

“Right, sorry, Okuto. I didn’t mean to…” Masako trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud.

“It’s alright, really,” Nakamura said, offering her a smile. He moved in a little closer to the group and spoke in a smaller voice. “But you’re right, I don't really like her much either.”

Masako smiled at his comment, and only then was she able to finally move on from Yamamoto.

Nakamura didn't necessarily come out to these three girls of his own volition. After about a month of hanging out with each other near the end of their second year of high school, Yuuka and Masako had cornered him and asked him directly if he was in love with Hirose. At this point, he was already fully aware that Hifumi knew about his overwhelming affection for the boy, so Nakamura didn't see the issue in fully coming out to them. They were kinder to him than he had expected them to be, and it was for that reason that Nakamura was able to comfortably express himself around this group of girls.

He was happy that they called him a great friend, and that Nakamura thought the same of them too.

If there was one thing Nakamura cherished above all other things in his life, it was the fact that he and Hirose would always walk home together. Sure, sometimes they would be accompanied by Tsukasa, but over these last two years Nakamura learned to accept him as a part ofHirose’s life. Besides, Nakamura was more than happy to call him a friend, too. On this day, however, Tsukasa would not be joining them on their walk as he had his own business to get to, as he was dealing with the responsibility of being the president of the film and theater club, all while being a 3rd year.

“I’m soooo tired,” Hirose said as they walked down the hall heading towards the main entrance and shoe cubbies. “I don’t know how much longer I can deal with this. Yamamoto is starting to be too much for me.”

Nakamura leaned down a little to make sure only Hirose could hear what he was saying in this half-empty hallway. “If you need help shaking her off of you, maybe I can do something…” Nakamura’s words came to a natural stop when he realized how red Hirose’s ear had gotten, with his right hand moving to try to brush off the flush. Maybe he’s just sensitive. So cute.

“It’s fine,” Hirose said, not meeting Nakamura’s eyes. “I’m sure it’ll pass over.”

Nakamura stood up straight again with a curt nod. As much as he didn’t like the situation, if Hirose said it was fine, then Nakamura would have to believe it was fine. Though he wasn’t sure just how much more of Yamamoto he could take.

And just like the devil itself, the moment he thought he wouldn’t have to deal with Yamamoto anymore, she was standing right in front of Hirose’s shoe cubby.

She smiled and said in a sickly sweet voice, “Hi Aiki!”

Nakamura looked down at Hirose to watch his face go from somewhat relaxed to annoyed in an instant. Regardless, Hirose walked over to her and pulled his outside shoes from his cubby, subtly trying to shove her out of the way. Nakamura watched the scene unfold as he changed into his outside shoes.

“Maybe some other time, I’m hanging out with Nakamura today,” Nakamura smirked inwardly to himself. There was pride in knowing that Hirose was actively choosing him over Yamamoto.

“Why not just leave him?” Yamamoto looked at Nakamura. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn’t impressed by the sight of him in the slightest. And it was for that reason why she wasn’t quiet when she said, “I mean, don’t you think he’s boring. I don’t get why you spend so much time with him.”

Yamamoto’s eyes bored into Nakamura; resentment, and maybe a little bit of disgust, came off of her in waves. Nakamura turned away from him and focused on putting on his shoes, sooner choosing to disappear and be gone from the situation rather than bring himself to agree with her. He never wanted to think about it, but sometimes the ugly question appeared in his head, too. Why did Hirose hang out with him anyway?

“I think you need to leave Yamamoto.”

Nakamura looked up again to see them. Hirose looked down at Yamamoto. Just last year, he would have been around the same height as her, but now, in their 3rd year, he’d put on some height. Yamamoto gave Hirose a confused look.”

“Aiki, what-” She tried to sound nice again, like she wasn’t in the wrong, but Hirose quickly cut her off.

“I said you should go,” Hirose said firmly. He didn’t normally hold himself firm in many situations, usually preferring to defuse rather than escalate, but this felt different. “It would be better for all of us if you just stopped trying to hang around.

Yamamoto was rendered speechless. She looked back at Nakamura again and over to Hirose once more. Before she could even try to say anything, Hirose walked past her,

“Come on, Nakamura, let’s go,” Hirose said without looking back at him.

Nakamura quickly walked past Yamamoto, only sparing her a glance before catching up to Hirose. Hirose, on the other hand, didn’t say a word about what happened, holding his composure cold and steady… up until they both rounded the corner of the school gate. Hirose, in an instant, let out a long and exasperated sigh as he shook his shoulder.

Hirose finally looked up at Nakamura, giving him a shaky smile, but a smile nonetheless. Whatever had washed over him earlier with Yamamoto had almost completely washed over.

“You think she’ll stay off our back now?” Hirose said with a chuckle.

Nakamura felt himself lighten from a weight he hadn’t known was there. He could never get enough of Hirose’s uncanny ability to make any bad situation feel like it didn’t matter as much.

“With the way you talked to her, I don’t think she will.” Nakamura’s voice softened the way it always did whenever Hirose tugged at his heartstrings. But before he could try to make light of the situation himself, what Yamamoto had said about him just moments ago started to settle with him. What part of him did Hirose find interesting enough to want to hang out with him, or was their friendship really just Hirose pitying the fact that Nakamura had no friends prior to them meeting?

Hirose insisted that they should hit up a cafe he had heard about from Hifumi the other day. He kept going on about wanting to destress about the last two weeks of having to deal with Yamamoto, and it wasn’t like Nakamura would ever reject Hirose’s offer to be together for a while longer.

It was a cafe that was right between both of their homes and about a fifteen-minute walk from school. From the looks of it, the cafe itself hadn’t been there for long, but it had an assortment of potted plants and flower arrangements that made the cafe blend in well with all the other stores and restaurants on the street.

“Saku?” Nakamura asked, making sure they were standing in the right place.

Hirose looked down at his phone and up again at the cafe. “Yeah, this should be the one.” Hirose turned his phone towards Nakamura, showing him the text exchange between him and Hifumi. He then pocketed the phone the moment Nakamura was done looking through it. “So what do you say. How about we head in?”

Nakamura nodded with a smile and followed Hirose as he opened the front door. The inside of the cafe was just as pretty as the outside. Tables for groups of two or four were pushed near eachother which encouraged conversation amongst people across tables, while there was a nice bakery section to the cafe near the back of the cafe with a selection of freshly made goods.

Nakamura and Hirose took the two-seater table right by the entrance since it looked like it was a sit-and-serve yourself kind of cafe, and they set their bags at the table. Hirose took it upon himself to get food for both of them, insisting that he knew Nakamura’s taste well enough to get him something he would like, and while Nakamura himself wasn’t much of a picky eater, he would never deny the idea of Hirose being confident in knowing Nakamura.

But the moment Hirose left Nakamura at the table, he wasn’t allowed the distraction of Hirose rambeling about who knows what. Now that he was alone, all he could do was ruminate on what Yamamoto said about him. Truly, Nakamura didn’t know why it was weighing him down so much. He knew that Hirose saw him as a very close friend; they’d spent so much more time together after the end of their first year, and now they hung out every day after school. If Hirose really didn’t like hanging around Nakamura, he would’ve known by now.

Before Nakamura could get more into his head about the topic, a cup of coffee was placed right in front of him. Nakamura looked up to see Hirose wearing his usual smile.

“Something got you down, buddy?” Hirose asked as he set down his own cup of juice and sat down in front of Nakamura.

Nakamura wondered for a moment if he should even mention what he was thinking about. If he was right, Hirose might brush off the question and pretend like there wasn’t any issue, but if he was wrong… Nakamura hoped he was wrong.

“Do you… think I’m boring?” Nakamura asked. He was careful, making sure that his words didn’t come off as harsh, but he was a little nervous when Hirose’s eyes widened at his question.

“Of course not,” Hirose quickly said. His tone was kind and gentle, easing Nakamura’s nerves a little. “Don’t pay any attention to Yamamoto, you’re my best friend, Nakamura, and I love hanging out with you. I don’t think there is a more interesting person in my life that I spend this much time with.”

Best friend? Best? Friend!? He was Hirose’s best friend!?

Nakamura could feel his insides melting at speeds never seen before. Every morsel of his being had a reaction to what Hirose said, especially his heart. And before Nakamura could even try to put a lid on his consuming emotions, he had already blurted out his next question.

“What’s so interesting about me?”

Hirose seemed more taken aback by this than Nakamura’s previous question, but the growing blush on his face and the sounds of an unknowing answer escaping him gave him more hope than needed.

“Well…” Hirose started. He was silent for a few moments more, and for every second that passed, Nakamura’s insides fizzled and burned. “Well… ugh! Everything, honestly.” There was a ting of resistance in Hirose’s voice, though it didn’t sound like what he said was a lie.

“Hirose!” The two of them were interrupted by the sound of a woman calling out from the counter for Hirose to collect the food he’d ordered, and very quickly Hirose stood up.

“I’m going to get out food!” Hirose said a little louder than usual, but Nakamura was far too captivated to realize this change.

No matter how many days, months, and years pass, Nakamura knows the certainty that he’ll always be in love with Hirose Aiki.

Perhaps Yamamoto was good for just this one thing.