1. Mystery (Kirishima Touka/Kosaka Yoriko)
Sometimes it feels like Touka doesn’t exist, like she’s some sort of transient being that Yoriko dreamed up, that she took her cooking over and just threw it into the dumpster and that she only helped herself in studying, like the way Touka’s so light on her feet means she’s going to sprout wings and fly away and become a bird or disappear into the shadows like a ninja. Sometimes they’re wlking together and Touka hasn’t said anything for a while and Yoriko has to look over twice to make sure she’s still there, that she hasn’t disappeared or that it’s not a trick of the light. But then Touka’s smile, Touka’s voice, the gestures as she rolls up her sleeves, are too real and fill Yoriko’s stomach with too many butterflies to be her imagination.
2. Jacket (Mitobe Rinnosuke/Kiyoshi Teppei)
Mitobe’s uniform jacket is just a little too small for Kiyoshi, straining a little at the seams—he feels kind of guilty, but it’s not for that long and he’d realized he left his jacket at home when there might still have been time to get it—he just didn’t feel like it, and Mitobe is Mitobe. It’s an excuse for them to curl up together in the stairwell when they eat lunch, too—maybe neither of them orchestrated things totally but it’s an outcome that they didn’t hope against to say the least.
3. Lazy (Hazuki Nagisa/Tachibana Makoto)
“Stay, Mako-chan.”
Nagisa buries his face in Makoto’s stomach and theatrically throws his arms around Makoto, pulling his shoulder down.
“I have to get to my morning class.”
“I don’t care,” Nagisa whines. “Are you saying classes are more important than me?”
Makoto ruffles his hair.
Nagisa looks up and makes a face.
“If you’re this awake we can eat breakfast together.”
Nagisa sighs and pouts; Makoto knows much better than to look at that face as he gets out of bed, dragging Nagisa alongside. Nagisa grabs his hand and tries to make him walk slower; as persistent as he is it’s still cute and still flattering even after they’ve been dating this long. It’s only when Nagisa’s hand makes its way toward his ass that Makoto tries to get out of the way—they never have time for this in the mornings and whenever he gives in he always ends up late or close to it.
“Mako-chan…”
He still never regrets it, though.
4. Rain (Himuro Tatsuya/Kagami Taiga) originally published on twitter
It rains when Taiga comes for New Year’s weekend, and Tatsuya is secretly glad because he won’t lose Taiga to the allure of the sun and winter surf. They go to the beach anyway, leave their shoes on the floor of Tatsuya’s car and make their way barefoot through the sand. The raindrops dent the sand and Tatsuya curls his fingers against them, fine grains sticking to his skin and getting caught under his fingernails. The surf is rough (well, what they can see of it) and they sit away from the shoreline in the drizzle, huddled so close together that they can feel each other’s warm breathing on their skin and feel every fraction of each other’s movements. Taiga curls his hand tighter around Tatsuya’s knee.
“Let’s go back,” Tatsuya murmurs, but he makes no move to go—and neither does Taiga, pressing a kiss against his neck.
5. Cute (Five/Clarence)
Clarence is actually pretty adorable—not looks-wise, but the way he keeps expecting her to listen, the way he follows her around and pretends he’s in charge, the way he’s always looking at her when he thinks he’s hiding it—maybe it’s a good enough job to fool people who don’t pay attention but there aren’t too many of those here. He’s incredibly simple-minded, as sharp as he is, and he’s fun to play with; it’s too easy to make him hang on her every word and make him look as she leans just a little bit farther forward as he pretends as if he isn’t. Maybe one day she’ll actually do something, but for now this is enough to amuse her.
6. Dreams (Hanamiya Makoto/Mibuchi Reo)
Sometimes Reo dreams about Makoto, his hands around Reo’s neck and his teeth on Reo’s shoulder and he wakes up surprised that his entire torso isn’t bruised—he’s not surprised that he’s alone (Makoto never stayed) but he’s surprised there’s no rope burn on his wrists, no used condoms in the trash. The dreams are so vivid that they might be a good substitute for the real thing if Reo didn’t miss the ache so much, the marks, the real Makoto—he can never quite imagine the look on that face or the feel of Makoto’s hands on his cock and the dreams always feel slightly wrong, off-kilter, for these and other reasons. Still, it’s better than nothing.
7. Moonight (Nagachika Hideyoshi/Kaneki Ken)
He thinks about Kaneki in the moonlight, for some reason—it’s not like they spent a lot of time together at night, but the thought that Kaneki, somewhere is a ghoul, out at night and doing something, makes him happy. Even if it’s slaughtering humans, it’s still something, and he still exists somewhere, and at least that’s something. At least it’s a start.
8. Check (Himuro Tatsuya/Kagami Taiga) originally published on twitter
The air is thick with moisture, and whether it’s from the humidity of the day or only from their own sweat Taiga can’t say. Tatsuya’s white shirt clings to him like translucent couture (that look sells for thousands on runways even though Taiga’s never really been much of a fan–although it’s ten million times sexier on Tatsuya than it is on any of those wigged-out models) and that’s just from what Taiga can see through the sweat constantly dripping into his eyes. But to stop the game now isn’t an option, even on a day like today (as rare as they are).
Tatsuya checks him the ball; it slams hard against the pads of his fingers, skidding on the moisture but still within his grasp. And then it starts again, the familiar adrenaline spike he always gets from playing against Tatsuya making its way through his veins, the way he drives in harder when he catches that steely focus in Tatsuya’s eyes, colder than the back of the freezer even in this weather.
9. Cat (Yomo Renji/Kaneki Ken)
Yomo’s like the pet cat Kaneki always kind of wanted as a child but could never ask for—it would be just another ungrateful mouth to feed, anyway, and his aunt was allergic. But still, Yomo’s hair under his hand is soft and his throat vibrates when Kaneki touches his ear, and he’s surprisingly affectionate at certain times of day. He’s cagey, too, unavailable when he wants to be—but when he comes back it’s like everything is the way it was. It’s odd, but it suits him.
10. Belief (Kobori Kouji/Kasamatsu Yukio)
They’re probably not going to the same college. Kasamatsu has to struggle through the practice tests for Kobori’s safety school; it’s as it’s always been—neither of them has made an issue of it but they’re made of different stuff academically. Still, after three years of basically living together the prospect of being apart—even if it’s across the same town—is almost revolting.
It’s not that they won’t make it through. They both believe they will, and that simple fact has always been enough. It’s that Kasamatsu just doesn’t want to. Kobori knows, though, knows what he can’t voice and holds him tighter—he can’t voice it either, can he? It’s a realization that’s both lonely and comforting at once.
11. Numbered (Twelve/Nine)
Their days are numbered, just like their identities, controlled and doled out by the government—that doesn’t mean they can’t make the most of what little they have (and they’ve been doing it long enough for it to be second nature—hell, first nature). And they have each other, for whatever their lives and bodies are worth (perhaps not all that much, true), at their disposal. They have fingers weaved together, foreheads pressed against each other, and the uninterrupted cover of night, and that’s a hell of a lot more than lots of people ever get, so by some measures they’re lucky. It’s kind of a funny way to think of things, and maybe it’s just another coping mechanism but what the hell. It doesn’t matter; there’s no one to second-guess their pseudo-self-psychoanalysis and there’s no future for it to amount to anything, and they’ll take what they can get even if it makes them greedy.
12. Sweat (Kagami Taiga/Himuro Tatsuya) originally posted on twitter
It’s too hot to really hold hands but they do it anyway, sweat sticking their palms together and running down between their fingers as they walk–but still they don’t let go. Tatsuya leans in ever so slightly, a barely-noticeable difference from his usual gait, but Taiga recognizes it nonetheless. (He wouldn’t mind Tatsuya’s head leaning on his shoulder, but it’s been ages since he’s done anything like that, not since they were kids falling asleep on the train coming home, knees and palms skinned from falling down on asphalt courts and Tatsuya was far less careful with how much he opened himself to Taiga.) The shadows from the sun are growing longer and everyone who can avoid being out in the triple digit heat is inside, anyway, so Taiga pulls Tatsuya into a doorway and kisses him, presses their bodies close even though it feels like they’re going to suffocate with this heat. Tatsuya breathes his name into the kiss, repeats it when they break apart and grabs taiga’s free hand with his own. The rest of the way back, Tatsuya’s head rests on taiga’s shoulder and his grip on Taiga’s hand is tighter and both of them are smiling brighter.
13. Hell (Hitachiin Kaoru/Ohtori Kyoya)
This week has been hell in the office; Kyoya’s barely been home except to shower and check that the house is still there, and even though he’s answered some of Kaoru’s text messages in brief it’s barely been sufficient contact and he finds he misses him more than he’d like to admit even to himself. It’s not that he’s ashamed of loving him, or that he even thinks he should be this attached to his work (and he resents it more than he should, perhaps, for a path he chose himself). It’s that it’s uncomfortable, regrettable, makes him kind of hate himself, even as he fills out yet another form and answers yet another angry phone call. When all this is over, they’re taking a vacation—well, a weekend, anyway.
14. Alcohol (Nijimura Shuuzou/Haizaki Shougo/Kise Ryouta)
Shougo thinks he can hold his liquor more than he can, doesn’t think they notice his red face or the way he grips the counter to hold himself up until Ryouta steadies him with an arm around his waist, which he actually leans back into—they’re both actually kind of charming and cute like this. Ryouta, of course, hasn’t had too much yet, and he keeps refilling Shuuzou’s glass and Shuuzou knows he shouldn’t but he drinks anyway (his tolerance is worse than Shougo’s) but he can’t say no to Ryouta (not like this), and halfway through the second glass he starts yawning and spacing out even more than usual, even looking at Shougo and Ryouta teasing each other. Everything is fuzzy around the edges and thinking is too complicated; somehow Ryouta manages to get them all to bed and Shougo falls asleep instantly, still half-dressed. Shuuzou crawls in beside him, kisses his for-once-smooth brow and pulls in Ryouta beside them.
Ryouta looks up at him, coquettish under those lashes, but Shuuzou’s too tired to do anything more than tighten his hand around Ryouta’s hip. Ryouta giggles but Shuuzou barely hears—he’s already joining Shougo in sleep.