#kickstart!

kaoru opened his mouth to speak, to offer you a compliment, to ask for your name, but his throat went dry and his mind drew a blank.

he was familiar with this feeling, knew it all too well — the quickening of his heartbeat, the warmth in his face and chest, the utter loss for words that came with it all — but he had never felt it hit him so hard. it was overwhelming, really.

your scent was intoxicating, invading his senses and leaving no room for objection. it wasn’t even a particularly strong scent, and yet he couldn’t help but to let it consume him whole.

and wow … you’re absolutely gorgeous. you weren’t beautiful in the superficial sense that people would use as empty praise, but beautiful in the way you just were and kaoru was being drawn in more and more by the second. you’re an enigma, he concludes.

in all honesty, he was a little scared at the sudden rush in his system. he wanted to run away because of the abruptness of it all. love is a scary thing and kaoru wasn’t sure if he was up to the challenge. in that wave of thought, the image of his past self seeped through his bones and settled in the pit of his stomach; he felt nauseous. he didn’t want to go back, he wasn’t going to go back.

as if sensing his discomfort, you offer an awkward smile, wordlessly and silently trying to comfort him.

oh. kaoru felt like he had just been doused with ice water and his spiraling thoughts came rushing to a halt. so this is what it’s like to have an anchor.

there was a deafening awkward silence that lasted for what felt like hours. the tension was palpable and you felt chills crawling over your entire body.

you cleared your throat. “uhm … you okay? you kind of,” you gestured to your face, then to kaoru’s. “had some panic written on your face …”

“oh. sorry about that,” he flushed, was it that obvious?

oh god, he hopes he hasn’t already embarrassed himself and ruined his impression on your first meeting. kaoru has only known you for a whole couple minutes, but he can feel a tangible attachment to you forming.

ritsu couldn’t help but admire you from his place on your lap. the way your eyes danced across the words upon pages, how your fingers eagerly yet gently flipped to the next page to see what happens next, and how utterly breathtaking you looked with the natural lighting of the sun and the tree’s shadow both casted around you.

this had to be heaven, he’s sure of it. it just felt so therapeutic and comforting to be real. he must’ve passed in his sleep and into the arms of some otherworldly heavenly body, that’s the only explanation his dazed brain could think of.

it had been a bit since he woke up from his nap, but the scenery both around and in front of him dissolved any and all resolve to tease you away immediately, mind drawing a blank.

it’s a miracle how you haven’t noticed that he was awake given his staring.

ritsu started thinking about his life and how much it became better after meeting you, how easily your mere presence softened his pain. and in his dazed stupor, he hadn’t realized he said that out-loud and that now your gaze was fixed on him with a quirked brow instead of on that book you were so intently reading moments earlier. “did you say something, ritsu?”

“hm? oh, nothing. i didn’t say anything.” he supplied quickly, cheeks subtly warming up a smidge.

“that so? must’ve just been hearing things.” ritsu just hummed and you returned to burying your nose into the pages, seemingly too invested in the storyline to continue conversation.

how did his thoughts spiral so much to the point he spoke aloud? whatever, guess that’s what love does to you.

wait. oh god. he was in love.

little does he know that you heard everything and now smiling like an idiot behind the hard cover of your empty notebook.

hiyori never once failed to make your day. you had thought this many times over the course of your relationship, but it’s times like this when it’s most apparent. you watched him fuss over bloody mary and you couldn’t help the smile that spreads across your face. it’s full of adoration. anybody could tell from a glance that you were absolutely smitten. hiyori was always so, so incredibly bright, shining even in moments of respite. this, you had also thought many times, even before your relationship.

you’ve always wanted to tell all this to hiyori, but you were never sure how. you think the words have finally come to you now though.

“hiyo,” you call out.

he glances up to you then back down to bloody mary with a grin. “hm?”

you rested your chin in the palm of your hand. “i’ve had something on my mind for a while … can i say it?”

“oh? i’m curious,” his full attention was on you now. “what is it?”

you huffed, “it’s so weird! like, how does it even work!? i’m stumped …” he didn’t say anything, but you could tell that you got him. “i just don’t get it! the sun is always shining when i’m with you, why is that?”

his cheeks flared but he let out his pretty laugh. “of course it’s always sunny! good weather means good fortune, no?”

you giggled at his response. “i mean it though,” you replied seriously. “you’re my sun, hiyori. i love you.”

“aw, i love you too!” he lifted up bloody mary. “now come here and let us give you some kisses!”

you lightheartedly rolled your eyes and shuffled towards the two.

you love hiyori so much. you don’t think that will ever change.

upon receiving a message on holdhands from tatsumi to stop by the practice room because he had something urgent to tell you, you had finished up what you were doing immediately and headed over.

knocking on the door, you softly call out “kazehaya-san, did you call for me…?” you hear shuffling from the other side before it opens.

“[name]-san…! you came quicker than i had anticipated,” he huffed, holding open the door.

“i got your message and came as soon as i could manage,” his hair was slightly unkempt and his face was stained a light shade of red. that’s … odd? “kazehaya-san, are you alright?”

you examined his face further. his uncharacteristic appearance and attitude was throwing you off. you reach a hand out to check his temperature, but he gently places a hand over yours.

“i’m alright [name]-san, i offer my apologies for making you worry like this,” he paused, seemingly trying to formulate what to say. “i … excuse me.” he let out a small sigh before softly shutting the door.

to say you were confused would be shooting far to low for any accuracy. you had never seen tatsumi so flustered before, you wonder what has him in such a state.

he finally speaks up, “the reason i asked for you to come is … well, it is more so the fact i have a confession to make.” he pauses once again and you hear in take in a deep breath before continuing. “truth be told, you’ve been on my mind recently. though be rest assured, it is not anything indecent, i do not have a low opinion of you. as a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite, actually.

“i believe that the closest analogy would be that you are akin to a flame in my heart. i find that nowadays my heart becomes near uncontrollable whenever i am around you.” tatsumi lets out a breath. “i apologize for the suddenness, but i was worried that these feelings would be too much for me to handle, should they get more out of control.

“i understand if do not reciprocate such feelings, and i understand that me saying this is somewhat selfish, but i just needed to tell you. thank you for listening, [name]-san.”

tatsumi thinks that the silence he is met with is enough of a response for him to conclude that he has been thoroughly left, but to his surprise when you open the door.

“i think that may be where i have to interject, kazehaya-san,” you smile. “i understand how you feel and admittedly, i feel the same way. in all honesty, i didn’t know how to act on my feelings when i found out about them, so i’m actually glad you cane forward about yours first before i would have embarrassed myself.”

“that being said, i do think that we have some work to get to, don’t you think?” you lean forward and press a quick peck on his cheek before turning and leaving with a giddy grin plastered on your face.

“what was that?” it was something that happened so suddenly, it somewhat caught you off guard.

tsukasa just silently set down his teacup and offered one of his usual smiles. “i said that you’ll always be beautiful to me. why? is there something wrong with that statement?” though his voice was quite even, he was a bit nervous at first about how’d you react to his claim, and it admittedly took him far too long to muster the courage to do so.

the gentle curve to his lips and sweetly saccharine of his tone had you at a loss of breath the longer you held eye contact. you felt heat crawling up your neck and warming your face. averting your gaze, you cleared your throat. “no! no, it’s not that …”

“then what is it?” he hummed, a slight teasing (albeit shaky) edge to his voice.

you took in a breath to quell your quickly beating heart while you curse internally at yourself, wondering how something so simple and trivial could make your heart feel like it’s hammering out of your chest. “i’m not complimented often, ‘s all …” you trail off.

tsukasa’s smile seemed to grow a bit, even if by a fraction of a centimeter. “then maybe i should compliment you more often.” if you were to look closely, you’d be able to see the tinge of red upon the tips of his ears and cheeks.

that being said, he’s probably more surprised by this all than you are, where did all this come from?! probably the love fueled adrenaline.