“You’re fortunate he seems to have a personality made of bubble wrap - seems like he could bounce back from anything you have to toss, cousin.” Suga laughed - it was true - Kazuki could throw interesting curve balls at people - especially people who wanted to get close to him - because he didn’t know how to deal with that - at least he knew it. He grew serious though. “I don’t know, aha I had this whole speech planned and my reaction when I was let down as well - I didn’t think he’d ever get to shut me down without me saying anything. He should have waited for me to at least try..”

"I'm glad, y'know?" Kazuki places his controller down so he can fully focus on Koushi, turning his body to face him as well. "I hoped it'd work out for you, but, shit, if this is the way he acts then I don't want him anywhere near you. He doesn't deserve you. Better to find out his bad sides before you're in too deep." A sigh leaves his lips and he leans his head forward to rest against his cousin's shoulder gently. "You should just let me hook you up with one of my teammates. Like Momo. You'd be good for him. Or Sousuke... No, not him. I'd get jealous..."

The Process of (Re)Friending

shutoku-sf:

                Kazuki knew he should just let him go. He’d had the same experience with so many other people before. People came and then they left and there was nothing to do to stop them, and there was never any point to trying to stop them (and never any attempt to let those who returned stay). So why make an exception? An exception for Takuya would be understandable, but for anyone else...

                But then there was that scowl. Familiarity in an expression wiped away far too quickly. It pulled the swimmer’s expression into a scowl of his own, eyebrows furrowing together into the deep expression.

               “No.”

                Long, slim fingers reach out and catch a secure hold of the front of the taller’s shirt. The height difference is ignored for once as he looks up at the blond, height complex forgotten in the midst of things that are far more important, and he finds himself wishing for a wall to throw the other against (and the strength to be able to pull it off even if there was a wall).

                “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to just fucking disappear without a fucking word, show up out of nowhere and then try to fucking sneak off like you hadn’t come back. You don’t.” Kazuki’s fingers tighten into the material of Kiyoshi’s shirt, knuckles pulling white from the strain, even as his voice shakes at the edges and his words lose their strength. “You don’t... Why didn’t you tell us? Did we really... matter that little to you? After everything..?”

                He pauses to swallow down a lump in his throat and his hold slackens a little, exhaustion from the long months that the blond’s disappearance from their lives had made seem even longer catching up to him, and his head drops forward, forehead resting on his chest.

               “But you came back... so we have to mean something...”

cxte-yamazaki:

               “Swimming was always my brother’s forte.”                             

Let’s play “yes” or “no.” You ask me questions on anonymous or not, and I can only answer YES or NO.

Kazukin…

His name ran through her mind rather than past her lips, the smaller of the two leaning her head against his as her own silent gesture of support. Quietly, she gave a nod at his saying when he’ll tell her whatever it was that was weighing on her chest; she trusted that he’d explain whenever he was ready to confide in her.

“Then let us find a place with really yummy food, so maybe it will not be as heavy with something delicious to eat..?”

“That sounds like the best idea.” Because he can never turn down food, unless he’s too wrapped up in a game (which is half the reason Takuya’s on his back about meals even when he’s away from the dorm, because he’d spent the night before lost in one of his video games). “You pick where we go and eat, and I’ll pay for us both.”

Kazuki gives her a smile, bright and warm and reassuring. An improvement on his previous expression.

“And maybe while we’re walking... you can help me figure what sort of skirts would suit me...~” Not the entirety of his problem all at once, but he can handle putting out little bits at a time.

Indeed, even that little bit of contact seemed to be enough to even start calming the storm in her heart. After the last few days, it felt so nice to have even just a little bit of the weight lifted from her chest. “Maa, Takkun cares very much about Kazukin, it is very cute~”

Eh–?

Looking to the brunette, the twin-tailed bunny blinked in silence for a moment before squeezing his hand lightly.

“What is the matter, Kazukin..?”

“He does. Though it can be... a little overwhelming sometimes.”

Kazuki’s head lifts a little at the squeeze to his hand and the smile on his lips shifts somewhat. It’s still warm, but it feels a little heavier. A little more worried. He returns the squeeze and leans his head down against hers for a moment before he straightens.

“It’s nothing bad, I promise.” He hopes it’s nothing bad, at least. “Just... something heavy on my heart at the moment. I’ll tell you all about it over food.”

It was really kind of Kazuki, to come all this way to Kyōto and visit her, just to get the girl’s mind off of what had been plaguing it for the last few days. Of the small group of friends they were in that consisted of only two others, of Kazuki’s own partner and of her former one, she was the most recent to have come into it. It felt nice, to be remembered.

“Mm… How about food, first? And then we can try on clothes when our tummies are full~”

Then again, that was mainly on her behalf rather than the swimmer at her side that was Kazuki (a soft and pudgy body only got softer and pudgier after eating, after all).

“That is, only if Kazukin is hungry, as well!””

“If I don’t send Takuya proof that I’ve eaten soon, he’ll probably show up out of nowhere to make me eat.” He chuckles a little, lifting his free hand to place it on the arm his other is looped through, the touch one that he hopes is reassuring and comforting.

(Because that’s the entire point of this trip. To make her feel better, even if it’s only for a little bit.

And maybe other reasons.)

“And then I’ll need your help with something... Something I haven’t even told Takuya about.”

Let’s go, pal.