He was standing at the gates of Hyoutei, his overnight bag over one shoulder, feeling as if it might be the last day of the world.

He felt the very moment that Yuushi caught sight of him. The familiar feel of his presence behind him. Just like when they were on court, except the nervousness he felt had nothing to do with a game.

His partner stopped beside him and leant against the gate. 'Are you staying over?' Yuushi asked adjusting his glasses.

Gakuto nodded. He stayed over almost every weekend.

They walked together, the silence a little uncomfortable. For the first time since he'd known Yuushi he couldn't think of what to say. But Yuushi spoke first.

'Yuki came to see me,' Yuushi mentioned, looking over to him. 'She brought me a Ponta… orange.'

Gakuto laughed unexpectedly. 'Orange?'

'Yeah,' Yuushi smiled. 'I think she likes me a little bit.'

'Yuushi?' he asked.

'Yes.'

'The last few days really sucked,' he confessed.

'They really did,' Yuushi remarked.

He walked alongside his partner, the silence a little more relaxed. He asked about the tennis practice he'd missed and before long they were heatedly discussing who would be the top seed player in Kanto.

Yuushi took his bag from his shoulder and tossed it to the corner of the room. 'So movie of my choice, right?'

Gakuto had never enjoyed a movie Yuushi had picked out as much as he enjoyed the stupid one they watched that night. He had no idea what was happening and could hardly be bothered to read the subtitles, but he was sitting with Yuushi again, so the pretentious film was worth it.

After a few rounds of Dead or Alive, in which he'd sufficiently kicked Yuushi's ass badly enough to make up for the film, Gakuto flopped back onto the bed, feeling happy and relaxed.

Yuushi fell down beside him with a huff, dark hair falling across Gakuto's face. He laughed and brushed his partners hair away. Then he became very aware of Yuushi's proximity.

Yuushi rolled onto his side to face him. 'Stay up here with me tonight, my mum pulled all the bedding out for airing.'

'Oh,' he replied idiotically, feeling his throat tighten around his words. 'Okay. I'm going to…' He pointed at the bathroom.

Gakuto grabbed his bag and escaped to the bathroom. He wouldn't think about how hot he felt, or how close Yuushi would be laying to him. He would think of nothing, because right then everything was perfect. Hidaka was gone and Yuushi was still friends with him.

He mechanically prepared for bed. He usually wore just his boxers, but he left his shirt on. He felt a little more comfortable with that thin layer of protection.

When he returned, Yuushi was folding his glasses and placing them on the bedside table, in only his cotton shorts. 'Aren't you going to be hot?' his partner asked, gesturing to his shirt.

Gakuto shook his head. 'I'll be fine,' he remarked, kicking his bag up against the wall, where it wouldn't be in the way.

Yuushi smiled and lay down resting his head on the pillow. 'Do you mind the taking the side against the wall?'

He shook his head quietly and climbed over his partner, tucking his feet up and sliding them between the sheets.

He held his body close, preventing himself from crowding or touching his partner. When Yuushi's foot accidentally brushed against his leg, he tucked his knees in closer, and when Yuushi's arm was squashed against his back, he shifted closer to the wall. It was the most uncomfortable he'd ever been.

'Gakuto?' Yuushi's breath rushed over the back of his neck.

'Yes?' he murmured softly.

The bed shifted under them and Yuushi propped himself up and leaned over him. 'Why,' Yuushi's hand came down to rest hotly on his hip. 'Are you moving away from me?'

His breath rushed from his body as Yuushi pressed his body alongside his, mimicking his posture.

'Yuushi, I…'

The soft brush of skin along the nape of his neck set his skin quivering. A small moan escaped him as his cock pressed hotly against his thigh.

'I love your hair,' Yuushi muttered as his lips began to trial delicately over the ridged of his spine to where his hair brushed against his neck. 'But I won't say it if you don't want me to.' His cock leapt as Yuushi gently bit his neck.

'Turn around, Gakuto,' Yuushi asked, pulling his body back towards him. He allowed himself to be manoeuvred, until he lay on his back, gazing up into Yuushi's face.

'I don't…' Yuushi's leg brushed over top his own. His partners weight pressing his hips down into the mattress and Yuushi's hardness pressing into his thigh.

Hands brushed the hair from his face, as Yuushi leaned in closer, until their lips brushed together, and Yuushi's breath exhaled across his skin softly. His whole body quivered at the gentle touch, the small space between their bodies heating up with every shift in their movement. Then he pressed himself into Yuushi. He couldn't stop himself. He pressed his mouth fiercely and desperately to his partners, his tongue sliding between Yuushi's lips.

Yuushi collapsed down onto him, and they pressed together completely, thigh-to-thigh, chest-to-chest. Gakuto slid his hand into the darkness of Yuushi's hair, a slight moan escaping between them as he gasped for breath. 'Yuushi,' he whispered between kisses.

Yuushi pressed his hips down into his, rubbing their erections together, pulling away from their kiss with a moan. Gakuto trailed his tongue down Yuushi's neck, as Yuushi pulled his shirt away to expose more skin running his hands along his sides and back down towards the waistline of his shorts. 'Yuushi,' he panted into his partner's ears. 'Yuushi wait, I'm confused.'

Yuushi's eyes were dark and intent as he looked into his face. 'Gakuto,' he murmured. 'I'm going to make you feel good, I promise.'

'I do, I feel good,' he panted. 'Really good, but…'

Yuushi's hand on his hip was firm and warm. The palm slid enticingly along his skin and under his shirt, and pulled the fabric over his head. He allowed his shirt to be tossed to the other side of the room. His body was overrun with sensation. The gentle brush of hair across his skin, the warm pad and pressure of Yuushi's fingers.

Gakuto jumped as a wetness enveloped his nipple and suckled, a firm hand wrapped his arousal. He gripped Yuushi's shoulders, fingers digging in with the intensity of the sensations Yuushi was causing. Gakuto threw his head back onto the pillow in relief as Yuushi released his nipple.

His boxers were being tugged down over his hips. Gakuto sat up suddenly pulling the waistband from Yuushi's grip. 'What are you doing?' he asked breathlessly.

'I'm taking off your shorts,' Yuushi replied with a tug.

'Why?' he asked.

Yuushi's fingers loosened their grip on his pants. 'So we can have sex. That's what you want right?' he asked, voice hardening a little.

'No,' Gakuto replied.

Yuushi rolled off of him and sat on the edge of the bed. 'Isn't this what you wanted?' his partner asked wildly.

'No…I—'

'You let that boy come on you,' Yuushi yelled, dashing his glasses from the nightstand. 'You don't even like him.'

'Yuushi, you don't understand.'

'Yes I do. I can be like that if you want me to, Gakuto. It will be better with me, I won't treat you so badly.' Yuushi grabbed his arm pulling him across the bed. 'It can be about sex, I can do that.'

Gakuto wrenched his arm free. 'That's not what I want,' he replied fiercely. 'Why would I want that? To force yourself to—'

Yuushi looked away quickly, his back and muscles stiff. His partner laughed harshly, a dry embittered bark. 'You must really like him.'

'Who?' he cried in confusion.

'Hidaka,' Yuushi spat.

Gakuto shook his head wildly, kneeling up on the bed. 'I h-hate Hidaka,' he stammered. His voice felt strangled and he struggled to breath properly. 'I hate him,' he choked out, fighting against the burning feeling of threatening tears.

'But?'

Gakuto leant forward, resting his head against Yuushi's shoulder. 'I didn't want you to know, but he threatened to tell you. I didn't want you to know…'

'Know what?' Yuushi murmured.

'That I was… that I liked,' his face flushed with heat. 'Liked guys.'

Yuushi turned, wrapping him in and embrace and pulling him into his chest. 'You idiot,' he laughed hoarsely, voice tight with emotions. 'I knew.'

The pressure in his chest burst though in a sob. 'You knew?' he questioned.

'Gakuto, I don't get changed in front of anyone.'

'Oh.' He hid his face into Yuushi shoulder.

Yuushi's hand came down over his and squeezed. 'I was waiting for you.'

Gakuto was surprised to see a hint of tears in Yuushi's gaze. 'You were waiting for me?'

'Until you were ready… I thought I had time. I broke up with Hanako, told her I was interested in you.'

'In me?' he repeated in a daze.

'You.'

'Why were you being so mean, then?' he cried pummelling Yuushi's arm with his fists.

'Ouch, Gakuto stop.' Yuushi grabbed his wrists. 'I thought you knew… when I saw you with Hidaka, I thought it was because you thought my romantic ways were… stupid.'

'I do,' he replied. Yuushi's smile fell from his face. 'That doesn't mean I don't want it though,' he quickly amended.

Yuushi sat quietly at the edge of the bed, thinking his words over with more scrutiny than Gakuto would like. 'I just don't want to be all sappy or sickening… no skirts, or cards with hearts… that kind of shit,' he clarified.

As Yuushi slowly nodded, he let out a sigh of relief.

'But we'll be together… exclusively.'

'Yes.' The word rushed from his lips. 'Just you and me.'

Yuushi's hand slid down his arm, until their fingers intertwined. 'So,' Yuushi drawled his smile becoming ever more familiar. 'We're skipping the public displays of affection, the declarations of love and any sort of construction paper cards?'

'Yep.'

'Well,' Yuushi commented slyly. 'I'd say that puts us squarely at mutually beneficial blow jobs.'

Gakuto let out a yell as Yuushi tackled him down to the bed, using his superior height and weight to pin down his limbs.

They pause nose to nose. 'It's like jumping off the diving platform,' Yuushi whispered.

He nodded, kissing his partner chastely. 'Scared, but you still do it…'

'Right,' Yuushi replied with a kiss.